Jan. 8, 2017

Diplomacy Ends Deadlock in Congo - Leaves President in Place for Now

(TriceEdneyWire.com/GIN) – Difficult negotiations appear to have finally succeeded in bridging the differences between President Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo and opposition parties who wanted the President to abide by the constitution and step down, having served the two terms he is legally allowed.

President Kabila had sought to stay until 2018 but will now step down by the end of next year.

The deal was concluded on New Year’s Eve in the capital Kinshasa, according to negotiators, ending a lengthy stalemate in the country.

"We have reached agreement on all points," said Marcel Utembi, the bishop who chairs the Episcopal Conference overseeing the talks.

Alexis Thambwe Mwamba, DRC's justice minister, confirmed, saying: "Everything is settled."

“We got the main thing: we have the commitment of President Kabila not to touch the Constitution, neither revising it nor going to a referendum,” said Felix Tshisekedi of the opposition.

Under the terms of the agreement, fresh presidential elections will be held at the end of 2017. Kabila can stay in power until he hands over to an elected successor.

The opposition had previously demanded Kabila's immediate departure from public life.

Until the deal was announced, anger was rising around the country. More than 40 people are thought to have died and hundreds were arrested during two days of violence.

Using Twitter, Jackson Mukunda, an activist for change in Congo, tweeted: “If Kabila stays past the constitutional deadline of December 19, other deadlines mean nothing.”

Afterwards, he wrote: “Let's see what the next few days bring… the reversal of Kabila has spiced the sauce ...”

Meanwhile in Gambia, President Yahya Jammeh continues to reject the outcome of the recent election, which put him numerically behind opposition leader Adama Barrow. Jammeh’s party is challenging the results in court.

Jan. 8, 2017

White Women Can't Speak for Me, So I Will Support the Women's March
By Julianne Malveaux

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - “Ain’t I A Woman”, railed Sojourner Truth, “I have ploughed and planted and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain’t I a woman!   I could work as much and eat as much as a man – when I could get it – and bear the lash as well.  And ain’t I a woman?  I’ve bourne thirteen children and seen most all sold off and when I cried out with my mother’s grief, none but Jesus heard me!  And ain’t I a woman.”

The similarities and differences between Black and white women are captured in Sojourner Truth’s famous December 1851 speech.  She movingly talks about the men who say women should be “helped into carriages, and moved over ditches, and have the best place everywhere”, while “nobody ever helps me into carriages or over mud puddles, or gives me any best place”.  Both Black and white women cry a mother’s grief for the loss of a child, and both endure labor pains. Black women’s lives, while similar, are different and often disadvantaged because they lack the privilege that white women so easily take for granted and often fail to notice or remedy.

Thus it did not surprise me that a white woman in Hawaii called for a “Million Women’s March” on Washington on the day after the Presidential inauguration.  And it did not surprise me when white women took up the call.  Too bad these same white women did not advocate more forcefully against the man who won the Electoral College vote for the Presidency.

My first inclination was to ignore this women’s march.  The organizers have repeatedly struck me as tone-deaf and indifferent to the diverse needs of women.  But when I talked to Tamika Mallory, the dynamic young woman activist who was once Executive Director of Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network, I shifted my perspective.  Tamika shared that, just a few days after the initial call to March was issued, organizers reached out to her asking for help.  She said they said they “needed to ensure that women of color were involved.”

Now, there are four co-chairs of the Women’s March on Washington, including African American leader Tamika Mallory, Latina activist and part of Harry Belafonte’s Gathering for Justice, Carmen Perez, a white woman entrepreneur whose t-shirts have been galvanizing, Bob Bland, and Palestinian activist Linda Sarsour.  I applaud the diversity in leadership, but wonder how many women of color will turn out on January 21.  Tens of thousands of women from all over the country are expected, with more than 100,000 saying they plan to be there.  But many African American women have looked askance, perhaps with distaste from the cultural appropriation of the initial organizing descriptive, “Million Women’s March”, perhaps because we recoil from the strong support white women gave the President-elect, choosing race loyalty over gender, class, or personal interest.

I applaud Tamika Mallory.  She told me “I was not willing to let this convening come together without having black women involved.”  In other words, white women cannot speak for all women.  If white women had their way, the March and rally would probably focus only on equal pay and reproductive rights.  Thanks to Tamika and her colleagues a statement of principles, to be issued next week, will also address racial justice, police brutality, criminal justice reform and mass incarceration.

Absent the involvement of young Black women like Tamika, it would be extremely easy for me to ignore this March.  But because some women have drawn a line in the sand and insisted on space for Black women in this March, they deserve support.  They remind me of the women of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., who in 1913 elbowed their way into the Women’s Suffrage March when their involvement was unwelcome.  They reminded the Women’s Suffrage Association that Black women were also women, and we would not be excluded.

Now, white women are at it again, but strong, brave, black women, the descendants of Ida B. Wells, aren’t willing to sit on the sidelines.  The march is to remind all watching that “women’s rights are human rights”.  Black women’s rights will be considered in this gathering because some black women dared place themselves in an uncomfortable space (working with privileged white women is never easy) in order to make a difference.

Jan. 8, 2017

Consumers to Receive Over $17 Million, Thanks to CFPB
Dodd-Frank Reform Act violations hold credit reporting agencies accountable
By Charlene Crowell

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Millions of consumers who were duped into paying fees for their own credit scores will soon receive more than $17.6 million, thanks to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Affected consumers can expect to receive notification letters in the mail.

TransUnion and Equifax, two of the nation’s largest credit reporting agencies, sold credit scores, credit reports and credit monitoring services to consumers even though the “credit scores” sold were not typically used by lenders to make credit decisions. As a result, what consumers paid to these two firms was of questionable value.

As credit scores are often cited as the basis for many consumers of color to either be denied access to credit or be charged higher than average interest rates, it is likely that many will also be eligible for restitution. TransUnion must now provide restitution of $13.9 million to affected consumers, while Equifax’s cost of restitution is $3.8 million. Assessed fines on the violations will add additional costs of $3 million to TransUnion and $2.5 million for Equifax.

“TransUnion and Equifax deceived consumers about the usefulness of the credit scores they marketed, and lured consumers into expensive recurring payments with false promises,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “Credit scores are central to a consumer’s financial life and people deserve honest and accurate information about them.”

Both TransUnion and Equifax are charged with violations of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Financial Protection Act from 2011 to 2014 and included:

• Deceiving consumers about the value of the credit scores they sold; and
• Deceiving consumers into enrolling in subscription programs.

In its advertising, Equifax falsely claimed that credit scores and credit-related products were free. In the case of TransUnion, the cost was promised to be only $1. What neither made clear to consumers was that unless the ‘service’ was cancelled during its 30-day trial period, consumers would be charged a recurring fee – usually $16 or more per month.

Additionally, Equifax violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act which requires a credit reporting agency to provide a free credit report once every 12 months and to operate a central source – AnnualCreditReport.com – where consumers can get their report. Until January 2014, consumers getting their report through Equifax first had to view Equifax advertisements – another illegal act. By law, such advertising is allowed after consumers receive their report.

Beyond the costs of restitution and fines, CFPB will now hold Equifax and TransUnion accountable for changes in the way they operate. From clearly informing consumers about the nature of the scores they are selling to consumers; to providing simple, easy to understand information on how to cancel the purchase of any credit-related product, and ending billing and collection payments for any recurring charge once a consumer cancels the service.

The two final enforcement requirements are probably the most important of all:

1. Before enrolling a consumer in any credit-related product with a negative option feature, TransUnion and Equifax must obtain the consumer’s consent; and
2. Truthfully represent the value or usefulness of products sold.

“We applaud the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for taking strong and vigorous actions against TransUnion and Equifax to protect the interests of American consumers,” said National Consumer Law Center staff attorney Chi Wu. “In addition to obtaining tens of millions of dollars in relief for consumers, this consent order will protect consumers from being ripped off in the future over deceptive credit monitoring products and sales practices.”

Charlene Crowell is the communications deputy director with the Center for Responsible Lending. She can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

January 7, 2017

Civil Rights at Risk Under Sessions
By Jesse Jackson