March 11, 2020

Why I Support Sen. Bernie Sanders
By Jesse Jackson

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - I am proud to endorse Sen. Bernie Sanders for president of the United States. While I consider Joe Biden, his opponent for the Democratic Party nomination, a decent man, I stand with Sanders.

Here is why. I stand with Sanders because it is vital that President Donald Trump be voted out of office in November. Poll after poll has shown that Bernie Sanders leads Trump, generally with a greater margin than other contenders.

Sanders has the highest popular approval rating of any public official in America. That is not because he is warm and fuzzy. It is because people know that he tells it like it is. Integrity and credibility are two essential attributes in taking on a con man like Donald Trump who lies constantly. Sanders has the history, the vision and the platform to defeat Trump.

He is best situated to expose Trump’s fake populism. He voted against the corporate trade treaties — and can expose the president’s broken promise to workers on trade. He opposed the war in Iraq — and can expose Trump’s broken promise to end the forever wars. He led the call to build an economy that works for working people — and can expose the reality that what Trump calls the best economy ever still does not work for most Americans.

Sanders champions an agenda that will address the fundamental challenges facing working people. That includes Medicare for All to ensure that health care is a right, not a privilege — something particularly imperative in the age of coronavirus.

A Green New Deal that addresses the existential threat of climate change while creating millions of good jobs. Tuition free college and large investment in education and advanced training so that every child can get the education he or she needs. A $15 minimum wage, politics to empower workers and unions, and a trade policy that works for working people. Comprehensive immigration reform, universal childcare, criminal justice reform to end mass incarceration and more.

Sanders will beat Trump by summoning America to a new day, not by calling for a return toyesterday.Democrats cannot defeat Trump without inspiring young people to come out and vote in largenumbers. Sanders is the only candidate who has inspired a new generation and earned theiroverwhelming support.In the face of Trump, many seek shelter in the safe, the establishment, the so-called moderate. Weshould not forget the record of moderate, establishment candidates — from Walter Mondale in 1984to Mike Dukakis in 1988 to Hillary Clinton in 2016.Democrats do not fare well as the party of Wall Street or the credit card companies.

We win when webring the working class and the middle class together, when we stand for diversity against division,for the poor against greed. No candidate has done more to forge that coalition than Bernie Sanders.Dr. Martin Luther King would be proud that African American voters are called the “black firewall”in the 2020 campaign. He would ask a simple question: What will be the return on the firewall’sinvestment?With the exception of Native Americans, African Americans are the people suffering the greatestsocial and economic distress in the United States. Our needs are not moderate.

The most progressive social and economic path gives us the best chance to catch up and Sanders represents that path.Biden is a decent man, but he has a different record. We said no to Clarence Thomas, he said yes. Wesaid no to the Crime Bill, he championed it. We said no to the Iraq War, he cheered it on. We favoredaffirmative action, he sought to limit it.Biden has done well among African American voters largely because he is seen as connected toBarack Obama. Yet he was placed on the ticket to balance it, not to enhance it. Biden has offered novision and no bold reforms. He offers safe haven and moderation.But his moderation does little to address the pain of African Americans, or of working peoplegenerally. What does moderate mean when people don’t have affordable health care?

Or when students are crushed by debt in order to get an education? Or when workers are undermined by tradetreaties written in executive suites? Sanders, on the other hand, is called a radical, a man of the left. But he represents not the left wing,but the moral center. Health care for all is the moral center. Tuition free college is the moral center.A Middle East policy that recognizes both Israel and Palestine, the moral center.When he asked for my endorsement, I expressed my concerns about pressing issues.Sanders was happy to confirm his commitment to almost all of them, ranging from Medicare for All, to a wealth tax that would provide funds to reinvest in America, to large-scale investment in publiceducation, to ensuring that every teacher is paid at least $60,000 per year, to putting an AfricanAmerican woman on the Supreme Court, to promising an end to endless wars.In 1988 when I ran for president championing a Medicare for All plan, Sanders, then mayor of Burlington, endorsed me. Now I am proud to stand with him not only because he stood with me, but because he stands with working people across this country.

March 9, 2020

Black Voters Bring Landslide for Biden on Super Tuesday
By Hamil R. Harris

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - African-Americans across the South went to the polls on Super Tuesday and gave former Vice-President Joe Biden front runner status in what is now a two man race between him and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

“Just a few days ago, the press and the pundits had declared the campaign dead, and then came South Carolina and they had something to say about it. We were told “Well, when you got to Super Tuesday, it would be over.” Well, it may be over for the other guy. Tell that to the folks in Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Minnesota, and maybe even Massachusetts.”

By daybreak Biden would win in Texas and loose California, but by Wednesday afternoon Elizabeth Warren, who was once a front runner, and Michael Bloomberg would be out of the race joining South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, billionaire Tom Steyer and Senator Amy Klobuchar. Though Warren and Steyer have not endorsed yet, Bloomberg, Buttigieg, and Klobuchar all endorsed Biden as well as former candidate Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), joining the powerful voice of U. S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, whose endorsement prompted a landslide for Biden in South Carolina. 

But the war for delegates continues. On Sunday, two days before the all important Michigan primary, Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. endorsed Bernie Sanders for President and in a tweet Jackson wrote, “We look to our youth for energy, expansion and inclusion which leads to growth. The youth that come to these rallies represent hope, healing and promise for our nation. It’s a joy to 'feel the Bern' with Bernie. Keep hope alive!”

Prominent voices in the Black community are encouraging African-Americans to go to the polls in record numbers as the contests continue across the nation as Biden and Sanders make their cases.

“This was a tremendously important event. Presidential campaigns spoke directly to African-Americans about how they would improve our quality of life, create racial equity and provide opportunities for our communities to succeed,” said Dr. Charles Steele, Jr. the President and CEO of the SCLC which hosted a forum in South Carolina. 

Trey Baker, director of African-American Engagement for Vice President Biden, told the audience that, as president, Biden would aggressively use executive orders to counter policies and practices enacted by President Trump.

Noting that Biden would “protect the absolute right to vote,’’ Baker said Biden would “turn back some of the damage that Donald Trump has done to our government, to our bureaucracy and to the Constitution. He will do this through executive orders.”

Moreover, Baker said that Biden’s history demonstrates that he gets things done. “People are confused,” he said. “Being progressive isn’t so much about being liberal; being progressive is getting things done.’’

Baker took direct aim at the 2010 Citizens United Supreme Court decision determining that during elections, government cannot restrict independent expenditures by corporations, associations, nonprofits and labor unions. “What Citizens United did was bring all this flow of money into campaigns,” said Baker, adding that Biden would seek a Constitutional Amendment to overturn the ruling.

Combat veteran Joseph Metty, represented presidential candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard in the forum and she is still in the primary even though so far she has performed poorly in the primary. He said her platform includes reducing the money spent on endless wars and using it to help the Americans.

“We spent trillions of dollars since 9/11 on unnecessary wars,” Metty said. “Why? When we have communities in our state and across the nation that don’t have drinking water, people in many states who have two and three jobs just to keep the lights on, people who are essentially drafted into military service – it’s not an actual draft, but they can’t afford tuition for college or gas for their car to get to work, so that’s why they enlist.”

The African-American vote will be critical in the 2020 race.

On March 10^th voters in six states were set to go to the polls to elect 406 delegates. Those states included Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Idaho and Washington state. Michigan is the biggest prize with 125 delegates.

Biden currently has 664 delegates, Sanders has 573 delegates. In order to secure the Democratic nomination the candidate must have 1,979 delegates.

For context, there are 3,979 pledged delegates in the Democratic contest, and 1,499 will have been allotted after Super Tuesday, with 2,480 remaining.

Both Biden and Sanders still have a ways to go.

Of the 4,765 total Democratic delegates, 714 (approximately 15 percent) are superdelegates, which are mostly Democratic members of Congress, governors, former presidents, and other party leaders and elected officials. In 2018, Democratic party officials changed the rules that prevent superdelegates from voting on the first ballot unless neither candidate had enough votes.

Though Sanders won Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and California, he said, "Of course I am disappointed” after Biden swept Super Tuesday. But he and his dedicated followers are fighting on and anything is possible.

March 8, 2020

Honoring Our Own Mothers
By Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq.

(TriceEdneyWire.com) – Just like Black History month, Women’s History Month started our as only a week. Along the way, we were ultimately honored with an International Women’s Day. Women around the world are celebrated that day. There’s an African proverb that tells us, “It is the women who hold the sky up.” I can vouch for that in the Black community. So many Black women grew up without the benefit of fathers in our homes, but rarely do we to use that as an excuse for our not doing things that should be done to protect our families and communities. I’ve known some of the greatest female activists in the Black community who take on monumental roles.

Every year in March, we do a special celebration of the women. Some celebrate women every day of our lives. On a personal note, my mother is just a few months away from being 98 years old. She’s fine in most ways, but just a bit hard of hearing and having a bit of a challenge remembering things. Though she has lost a bit of her ability to live in her home alone—she wants to live there, and as a family we are making that possible.

When my brother passed away a few months ago, my sisters and I decided to take her to live with one of our sisters a distance of about three and a half hours from where Mother has lived alone all of her life since her 9 children left home to strike out on our own. A few weeks ago, she informed us she wanted to return to her home. We reluctantly took her there. I spent a week with her once she was back. Another sister spent a week. Another sister spent two weeks with her to this point. A niece is on her way to spend a few days with her grandmother. Another sister is coming from Los Angeles to spend a month with her. We’ll then start the cycle all over again. Some might think the scheduling is a bit of a challenge since we are all many miles away, but my sisters and I thought about all the sacrifices our mother has made for us, and if she wants to live in her home, we’re going to make it possible.

While you have indulged me with a personal story, that is the history of so many Black women with their families. I salute all of the Black women who’ve done, and would do the same for their mothers.

Every year women in this country get a Presidential proclamation honoring women. The women mentioned are generally women who’ve made the history books and have had public honors, but so often the women, like my mother, and their caretakers who are just ordinary women who’ve often done extraordinary things to nurture their families and the families of many in their areas, but they never get any special recognition.

I know that we have Dr. Katherine Johnson of Hidden Figures fame, Ida B. Wells-Barnett--our anti-lynching crusader, Sojourner Truth who first sued a white man successfully to get her son back, Rosa Parks who sat on a bus for our rights, Harriet Tubman who brought a lot of our people from slavery to freedom, Fannie Lou Hamer who took beatings to gain our right to vote and others too numerous to name, but for this Women’s History Month, let us vow to honor our own mothers who may not be in a history book, but their greatness comes from what they’ve done for their families and their communities without fanfare and deserve to have their own children honor them.

(Dr. E. Faye Williams is National President of the National Congress of Black Women and Host of “Wake Up and Stay Woke” on WPFW-FM 89.3.)