http://nnpa.org/nnpa_newswire/new-orleans-begins-removing-racist-confederate-monuments/
http://nnpa.org/nnpa_newswire/nnpa-newswire-exclusive-bill-cosby-finally-breaks-his-silence/
CASH IN THE APPLE FOR
05-04-17
By Cash Michaels
YOUR
“JUSTICE” DEPT. IN ACTION – By now you know that the United States Department
of Justice, under Attorney General, and son of the South, Jeffrey Beauregard
Sessions of Alabama, Pres. Trump’s treasured pick, has decided not to federally
prosecute the Baton Rouge police officers responsible for the July 5, 2016 death of African-American male Alton
Sterling.
As a video
of the tragic incident shows, the 37-year-old Sterling was confronted by two
white police officers outside of a convenience store, wrestled to the ground,
and then shot by one of the officers.
Sterling
was carrying a gun, however the video shows he never brandished it or pointed
it towards the officers. Plus, under Louisiana law, he had a right to carry a
concealed weapon.
Sterling
was selling CDs outside of the store, and had permission to do so. Police
arrived after reportedly receiving a call from someone claiming to have been
threatened by a man with a gun.
The two
officers claimed that they justifiably shot and killed Sterling only because he
was reaching for the weapon in his pants pocket. The video fails to show any
such movement on the victim’s part.
Sterling’s
family, along with Baton Rouge officials and others, had blasted the Justice
Dept. for taking so long to both reach and announce whether it would be prosecuting
the two officers or not for violating Sterling’s civil rights.
So what
does this tell us? Simple, that the days of Civil Rights Division of the US
Justice Department protecting the rights
of African-American citizens are pretty much over while Donald trump and Jess
Sessions are in office.
Sessions, a
former Alabama US senator who once, as US attorney, prosecuted civil rights
workers associated with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on BS charges (he
thankfully lost that case), has vowed to review any agreements between Justice
and cities that have had well-documented cases of police brutality in an effort
to throw them out.
Sessions
has made it clear that in those types of cases, he’s not interested in evidence
of alleged police abuse. To the contrary, his only interest is to stand behind
the police, no matter what they do, or how they do it. And since he’s working
for a “law and order” president who has threatened to send the feds in to
Chicago and other troubled cities to “restore order,” Sessions certainly is
worried about controversy because Donald apparently has his back.
It’s only
May, but already it looks like it’s going to be a long, hot summer. Can our
nation tolerate a president and racist US attorney general who are more than
willing to incite tensions against the police and the citizens they serve?
We’ll see.
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WALKER, SCOTT CALL FOR
WILLIAMS NEW WPD
DEPUTY POLICE CHIEF
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
Wilmington’s
new deputy police chief believes that building stronger relationships between
the department and its citizens is the key towards better policing.
In fact,
Deputy Chief Donny Williams, 45, is a firm believer in community policing, and
now that he is in the number two spot, expect him to do all that he can to make
community policing a greater hallmark of
the WPD, and ultimately, Wilmington a better place for all to live.
A born and
bred Wilmingtonian, Deputy Chief Williams has been a member of the WPD for 26
years, starting in 1989 as a teenage summer youth worker. In an exclusive
interview with The Wilmington Journal,
Williams recalled growing up as a youth in one of the port city’s public
housing developments.
“I had
always wanted to be a police officer,” he said, “The program was for at-risk
kids. And luckily, I got placed at the WPD between my junior and senior years
in high school.”
In 1990, Williams was hired as a
patrol officer. From then on, he worked in various patrol and special
assignment positions, spanning crime prevention, housing, and even D.A.R.E
(Drug Abuse Resistance Education).
Today he also oversees the
department’s summer youth program, which he
started in 1995.
Moving up the promotion ladder,
Williams’ keen management skills were put to work when he became police
captain. He managed the WPD’s Support Services Division, in addition to the
department’s largest patrol division, its $24 million budget, and the
development and design of the new WPD’s training facility.
Williams believes about 14 percent
of the WPD is African-American, though he suspects that percentage has
fluctuated in recent years. According to City-Data.com, as of 2014 the black
population of Wilmington was approximately 18.7%, or just under 21,000
residents.
While
Williams agrees that having a police force that closely reflects the community
it protects in terms of racial makeup has its merits, he lauds his Caucasian
officers for their work and effort in getting to know the communities of color
they patrol better, and building bonds with the people there.
Asked to
describe the Wilmington that he knows and loves, Deputy Chief Williams said,
“Wilmington is rich in culture and rich in history. It is a place of
opportunity, and a melting pot here.”
He noted that, like other parts of
the country, the port city is dealing with a heroin epidemic, which law
enforcement is working on. It is also
experiencing growing traffic congestion.
And yet, Williams says Wilmington
is large enough “where at some point you can get lost if you want to…”, but
small enough “to where if you go out, people are going to know who you are.”
And what can citizens do to help
law enforcement do their jobs better? Williams says if you see something wrong,
let them know. The police can’t do their jobs better unless the people they
protect are proactive in informing them when they see something out of place
that could be a crime.
Deputy Chief Williams is single,
but, according to him, “I’m in the process of getting married.” Most of his family lives in Wilmington, and
while he doesn’t know what the future ultimately holds, Wilmington, the city he
grew up in, is the only home he ever wants to know.
“This is
where I was born,” Williams says, “and I don’t plan on leaving.”
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WALKER, SCOTT CALL FOR
CONGESSIONAL SUPPORT
OF PELL GRANTS
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
Two
Republican lawmakers sent a letter to the chairs and ranking members of the House
and Senate Appropriation Subcommittees, asking for the restoration of funding
for year-round access to Pell Grants, which students of historically black
colleges and universities (HBCUs) sorely depend on.
US Rep. Mark Walker (R-NC-6) of
Greensboro and US Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) sent an April 27th letter to
Republican Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt, chairman of the Senate Appropriations
Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related
Agencies, and Congressman Tom Cole (R-OK), chair of House Appropriations
Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related
Agencies, as well as their Democratic ranking members, asking that year-round
Pell Grants be fully funded for the fiscal year 2018 Appropriations
legislation.
“Access to Pell Grants is
particularly important to students attending (HBCUs) and other Minority Serving
Institutions (MSIs),” Walker and Scott wrote. “Around 70% of students attending
an HBCU in 2017 will do so using a Pell Grant. During a recent Congressional
fly-in of HBCU Presidents and Chancellors, year-round Pell garnered nearly unanimous
support from those in attendance.”
Both Sen. Scott and Rep. Walker
were cosponsors of that HBCU fly-in on Feb. 28th, in hopes of
impressing on Congressional leaders the need to increase the federal budget for
traditionally underfunded black schools.
NC A&T University and Bennett
College for Women are in Walker’s congressional district.
“Giving
students the opportunity to use a Pell Grant on a year-round basis provides an
incentive to accelerate their degree and stay on track for graduation,” the letter
continued, earlier noting that the Pell “…is a vital resource for expanding
access and affordability to higher education for some of America’s most
vulnerable and non-traditional students,” with 83% of Pell Grant recipients
coming from households earning $30,000or less annually” during 2013-2014.
Re-emphasizing
that year-round Pell Grants allows students to complete their course work
faster, enter the workforce sooner, and “get out of school with less debt to
pay back,” Sen. Scott and Rep. Walker concluded their letter with, “We believe
the time is now to make this change.”
“We urge
you to consider and adopt appropriate language in any Labor-HHS appropriations
bill and give student the flexibility they deserve.”
US Rep.
Alma Adams (D-NC-12), co-chairman of the Congressional Bi-partisan HBCU Caucus,
of which Rep. Walker is a member, is a strong supporter of year-round funding
of Pell Grants, and blasted the Trump Administration in March when its proposed
budget did the exact opposite of what the Republican president seemed to
promise in February.
“There is no mention in the budget of any federal
investment in scholarships, technology or campus infrastructure for HBCUs that
leaders requested,” reported the Washington
Post then. “And instead of expanding Pell grants for low-income students to
cover summer courses as they had asked, the budget raids nearly $4 billion from
the program’s reserves,” the March 16th story continued.
And outraged Rep. Adams remarked, “Instead of wasting
billions on a useless border wall, Congress should support a budget that
includes restoration of year-round Pell Grants and the substantial
increase of their purchasing power, resources
for HBCU infrastructure improvements, and robust funding for TRIO,
Gear UP, federal work-study, and other essential financial aid programs that
enhance opportunities for students.”
Many of North Carolina’s HBCU
presidents and chancellors, like chancellors Elwood Robinson of Winston-Salem
State University and Harold Martin of North Carolina A&T University, have
also urged both the Trump Administration and Congress to for continuous support
of Pell Grants.
And students from HBCUs in North
Carolina and across the country rallied at Capitol Hill April 27th,
the same day Rep. Walker and Sen. Scott sent their letter to the Appropriation
subcommittee chairs of both houses, asking for Congress to support year-round
Pell Grants and other education funding programs.
Jack Minor, communications director
for Rep. Walker, says that helping HBCUs is a priority of the Republican-led
Congress.
“For us,
most of what we are looking for can and would be done outside the scope of the
budget,” Minor said in a statement. “For instance, expanding Pell grants to
year-round, and focusing on fostering private-public relationships to help HBCU
students with more opportunities after school.”
-30-
STATE NEWS BRIEFS FOR 5-4-17
INMATE TARGETED
FEMALE PRISON GUARD FOR MURDER
[WINDSOR]
The SBI says an inmate at the Bertie Correctional institution plotted to kill
Sgt. Meggan Lee Callahan by setting a fire he knew she would respond to on
April 26th. The inmate, Craig Wissink, then
allegedly beat Callahan to death with a fire extinguisher. Wissink, 35,
is now charged with first-degree murder. The female guard died from her
injuries to her head later that afternoon. She had been with the department
since January 2012.
WAKE SUPERINTENDENT
MEETS WITH NAACP ABOUT RACIAL INCIDENTS IN SCHOOL SYSTEM
Wake
Schools Supt. Jim Merrill met with leaders of the Raleigh-Apex NAACP Wednesday
to discuss the latest in a string of racially charged incidents that have taken
place in the school system since January. The most recent incident involved a
video taken at Apex Friendship High School of a black female step team
performing during a school pep rally. Posted to Snapchat, the video is
captioned, “"plantation owner watches
his former slaves rejoice and celebrate their newfound freedom, circa
1864." The principal has denounced the video as “highly offensive”. The
student responsible for the video has been disciplined, reports say. Rev.
Portia Rochelle, president of the Raleigh-Apex NAACP, says the Wake School
System must do more to stop incidents of hate.
JORDAN VISITS HIS ALMA MATER, LANEY HIGH
[WILMINGTON] They call him the GOAT, meaning the “greatest
of all time,” and this week, Michael Jordan returned to the place where he
learned the basketball skills that made him an NBA legend. Jordan, now owner of
the Charlotte Hornets, visited Laney Hill Tuesday afternoon to film a Gatorade commercial
on campus. But he also took the time to say hello to some of the staff who were
there when he was just a student. Jordan graduated Laney in 1981, and then
attended UNC-Chapel Hill where he helped Dean Smith win a championship.
-30-
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