March 2, 2014

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the Richmond Free Press

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Neither the Episcopal Church nor the state are prepared to ride to the rescue of historic but largely empty Saint Paul’s College in Brunswick County. That’s why the private school’s property in the county seat of Lawrenceville could soon be auctioned off under a plan approved by the college’s board.

Saint Paul’s has a proud history. Episcopal Archdeacon James Solomon Russell founded the school in 1888 to serve black people being denied an education by white supremacists. After struggling in recent years, the hardpressed college officially closed its doors to students last June after 125 years — joining a small stream of historically Black schools like Morris Brown in Atlanta that have ended operations.

The board has hired Richmond-based Motley Auction and Realty Group to offer the property on a sealed-bid basis. Motley has announced that the college’s property would be offered in two blocks — the 183-acre campus with 35 buildings and a separate 400-acre of tract of farmable land. However, a date to start accepting bids has yet to be set, according to Motley.

There had been hopes that Saint Paul’s affiliation with the Episcopal Church could bring a flood of new dollars. However, the denomination has told the school it would be unable to finance a fresh start, according to the current president of Saint Paul’s, Millard D. “Pete” Stith.

“We have gone to the national church, which has generously provided some financial help,” Stith said, notably about $160,000 in three chunks in the past year to help with current expenses.

But he said church officials have told him the denomination “doesn’t have the kind of money that would be needed” to revive the school. “They are supportive and encouraging, but that’s the best they can do.”

“We operate on a shoestring,” said the Rt. Rev. Herman Hollerith IV, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia that includes Brunswick County and a member of the board of Saint Paul’s.

He called it a myth that either the diocese or the Episcopal Church “has the financial ability to bail out a college” because some members of its congregations are prosperous. “The majority of funds go to the congregations,” he said.

The bishop, who joined the board in 2009 after his election to his current office, said the school faced problems long before he arrived because of risky and wrong financial decisions. More importantly, he said, the school never created a vision for change for supporters and Episcopal congregations “to rally around. Saint Paul’s has a great legacy of service. But we can’t save the past. What’s needed is a vision for the future, and that has been lacking.”

Stith also has seen his hopes of a possible state interest rebuffed. Former Gov. Bob McDonnell had more interest in providing $11 million for creating a slavery memorial site in Richmond than in spending $5 million to revive Saint Paul’s and Gov. Terry McAuliffe appears to hold the same position. Stith lobbied Midlothian Sen. John C. Watkins and other legislators seeking to at least get language in the state budget to allow the secretary of education to explore a use for the campus. “The language was not included,” said Stith, who previously spent 26 years as a deputy county manager for Chesterfield County.

The board also has been unable to find a public or private university or other institution interested in taking over the college’s buildings. Stith said he anticipates Motley would begin to accept bids shortly and that the board would meet in the next two months or so to review them.

He said the board is interested in at least having the campus continue to have an educational purpose, if possible. He said the board could reject bids from parties it does not consider compatible, he said. However, Stith the board can only be so choosey because the money to keep limited operations going is expected to run out in June. He said he has kept about 22 people on staff, including four security guards, two maintenance people and eight employees of a day care that is still open on the campus.

The college has some major creditors who need to be paid, he said. That includes a bank that is owed $1.2 million on the college’s student union and could foreclose on the building if the loan is not paid. Also, the college owes about $1.4 million on borrowings to support its pension plan that has to be repaid.

Feb. 24, 2014

Black Leaders Reveal Recurring Issues in Conversation with President
By Hazel Trice Edney

President Barack Obama meets with African American civil rights leaders to discuss criminal justice reform, income inequality and the Affordable Care Act, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Feb. 18, 2014. PHOTO: Pete Souza/The White House

(TriceEdneyWire.com) – Issues on the agenda of a White House meeting between national Black leaders and President Barack Obama last week indicate not much has changed over the past year - or the past decade for that matter - when it comes to equality for Black people.

Jobs, poverty, health care, voting rights, racial disparities in the criminal justice system, and gender disparities – all topics of the one-hour White House discussion Feb. 18 – have been pervasive issues in the Black community.

"After hearing President Obama's agenda priorities, the group had the opportunity to present the 21st Century Agenda for Jobs and Freedom, a document created by Black leadership in 2013 detailing their priorities on economic opportunity, voting rights, education, healthcare and other issues,” said Melanie Campbell, president/CEO of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation in a statement.

Sherrilyn Ifill, president of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, said the in depth discussion on the criminal justice system went beyond simple complaints and delved into prospective new policies.

"We were deeply gratified to hear both the President and the Attorney General's commitment in describing the ways in which they stand united in some of the efforts to ensure that our criminal justice system reduces racial disparities and doesn't break communities, as our current criminal justice system is doing, by the kind of mass incarceration, over-sentencing, and misuse of the criminal justice system that has been so rampant over the past 20 or 30 years,” Ifill said in remarks made after the meeting. “We think it's really bold for the attorney general and the president to be making efforts to use clemency power to relieve those individuals who were sentenced before the fair sentencing act."

Ifill said both the President and Attorney General Eric Holder "described in detail" their visions for further reforms to the criminal justice system.

The report from the leadership meeting was short on critiques of the President. Some African-Americans have said he hasn’t done nearly enough on the consistently double digit Black unemployment rate. But, National Urban League President/CEO indicated the topic was discussed in depth with hopes for some resolve.

"We talked extensively about the challenges of unemployment, the challenges of under-employment, the challenges of Black and urban and brown unemployment in this nation," Morial said.

Agreement appeared to be the overriding sentiment coming out of the meeting.

"This agenda … aligns in many respects with the president's agenda," Morial said, referring to the “Jobs and Freedom” agenda compiled after the March on Washington anniversary.

Rev. Al Sharpton stressed his National Action Network’s agreement with the President’s move to raise the minimum wage. “It's not just having a job; but having wages that are guaranteed to provide for our families. We had full employment in the Black community during slavery. We just didn't have wages. So we don't want just a job, we want a job that pays, and pays so that we can take care of our families."

Others present were Lorraine Miller, interim CEO of the NAACP; Wade Henderson, president, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights,

Representing the Obama Administration were Attorney General Eric Holder; Broderick Johnson, assistant to the president and cabinet secretary; Cecilia Muñoz, assistant to the President and director of the Domestic Policy Council; and Phillip Schiliro, White House advisor for Health Policy and Implementation.

Valerie Jarrett, assistant and senior advisor to the president, wrote reflective article following the White House meeting. In it, she said, “What was clear in this meeting was that many of the goals the President set forth in his State of the Union address will become reality because of the strong partnerships that he and his administration have forged with leaders from the civil rights community who work hard every day to advocate equality and opportunity for all.”

Jarrett concluded, “The President will continue to work with Congress where they are able and willing to act, but meetings like this provide optimistic reminders that there remain other leaders in the country who can act right now – to improve the economy, to ensure greater opportunity for all, and to keep this country moving in the right direction. The capacity for the President and his White House to convene thought leaders, decision makers, and community leaders, all of whom have access to both resources and the audiences we aim to reach, is a powerful tool, and one which President Obama hopes to wield effectively in 2014 for the good of all Americans.”

Feb. 25, 2014

Editor's Note: Editors and Publishers: This story contains a derivative of the N-word.

Black History Month Hashtag Viewed as Disgraceful
By Brelaun Douglas

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Search this hashtag: #FirstN*ggaTo- on one of the popular media sites such as Instagram or Twitter and be prepared for a Black History Month shock.

Posts have flooded the internet and social media sites with fictional - and even stereotypical - messages pertaining to the African-American community. Such posts include, but are not limited to, a picture of a baby named Lester J. Green being attributed as the first Black kid to have a light bill in his name; a young man, Claude Malvoux, relaxing in a chair being attributed as the first Black man to extend his break 30 minutes; and “Eddie Jones” as being the first Black man to say “lemme hold sumn.”

Ironically, the controversial memes are often being posted by African-Americans. The question that comes into play here is are these memes funny or offensive? Do they degrade Black History Month - and Black history overall - or do they bring a lighter balance to the standard Black history learnings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcom X, and Harriet Tubman?

“There is nothing positive here,” concludes Sylvia Y. Cyrus, executive director of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH). Cyrus affirms that this month is a “very important celebration of American history and provides the opportunity for Americans to celebrate the contributions of Blacks.”

ASALH, founded by historian Dr. Carter G. Woodson 99 years ago, prides itself for “celebrating Black history 365 days a year”. During Black History Month, the organization holds several major events, including an annual luncheon that seats thousands and a program at the White House.

Black History Month began in 1926 as only a week. Created by Dr. Woodson, often called the “Father of Black History” Negro History Week was meant to highlight the achievements and contributions of African Americans during a time when they were purposely written out of the history books. It was first held during the second week of February and soon became recognized and celebrated across the United States. In 1976, President Ford broadened Negro History Week to cover the entire month of February and Black History Month was born.

But, in the advent of social media, the traditionally serious nature of the month is sometimes undermined for comedic or conversational purposes. Therefore, California comedian Marcus Parker is torn between whether the memes are funny or insulting.

“As a comedian, I get the humor. As a comedian I can live in that world,” he says. “It’s a double edged sword. It would be funnier coming from a comedian, but coming from young Black kids, it shows that they don’t get the gist of what Black History Month is about. ”

To Parker, the month is a time for honoring Blacks and their contributions to history. But he feels that it may not be taken as seriously as it was in the past - and he is “more saddened than mad at these memes, especially since it is more Black people than others posting them.”

U.C. Riverside freshman Cameron Fulton still feels that Black History Month is important and serious. He sees it as a time to celebrate the “people that fought for you” because “without their fight, we probably wouldn’t be here” living the freer lives that we live. Fulton is not sure if it is mainly Black people posting these memes, but regardless of the person’s race he finds it overall disrespectful.

“You don’t know what a person went through, so why when we are celebrating things that they did would you disrespect their fight?” he questions.

Ajah Love, a sophomore at Cal poly San Luis Obispo, agrees with Fulton and finds the memes disgraceful. “When I first saw it I thought it was going to be something insightful and that it was going to be a piece of history every day for the month, but it wasn’t” she criticizes. She asserts that Black history “is not a joke” and that “it’s time that’s deserved.”

She feels that more importance should be placed back upon it with events being held and getting people  involved in the history and that “people are going out of their way” to find something stereotypical for these memes. Instead of using these memes, “Find something meaningful and be grateful,” she asserts.

Director of Howard University’s School of Communication’s honors program, Dr. Audrey Byrd, takes the memes as a sign. “It makes me think all more the importance of using this month to look at who we are and what we have accomplished,” she proclaims. To Byrd the memes show someone who is unknowledgeable of Black culture and views them as “a mark of ignorance.”

Cyrus not only finds the images to be sad and unfortunate but evidence of the lack of knowledge of Black history.  “Only when we know our history well enough,” she declares, “will we be able to rally against those who will alter our image and do this to it.”

Feb. 24, 2014

Environmental Racism: 'New Frontline' of Human Rights 

By Zenitha Prince

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the Afro American Newspaper