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CASH IN THE APPLE 7-27-17
SPECIAL NOTE TO OUR
READERS:
HAS YOUR CHILD BEEN
THE VICTIM OF RACIAL BULLYING AT SCHOOL?
With the
beginning of the school year here in New Hanover County fast approaching, and
many students of color attending schools, The
Journal wants to know, “Has your child been the victim of racial bullying
at school?”
Have you
had to fight the school system in the past because very little or nothing was
done when your child was targeted? Have you feared for the health and safety of
your student?
Let us know
your story here at The Journal.
E-mail us at wilmjournnews@aol.com,
or write to us at [insert address]
The Journal is considering a town hall
meeting where this issue can be discussed, and answers from the school system
can be obtained.
No child
should be the victim of any type of bullying, racial or otherwise, but the
community can’t addressed the problem unless we know about it first. So email
us at wilmjournnews@aol.com, or
write to us at [ insert address ].
We want to
hear from you.
Thank you.
-30-
CASH IN THE APPLE 7-27-17
By Cash Michaels
THE BIG
TAKEOVER – I know, I know, you are tired of hearing of and reading about what
new injustice Pres. Donald Trump is behind, and quite frankly, I don’t blame
you. Even Tricky Dick Nixon waited a while after he got to the White House
before he began acting crazy.
Trump
clearly lost his marbles before the election; during the election, and
certainly after the election. Now this madman is talking about pardoning
himself and his family of any and all crimes should the day come when Special
prosecutor Robert Mueller finally decides to nail their Russian-loving behinds
to the wall.
But in the
meantime, we have to put up with The Donald and all of his craziness until
Mueller and company slap on the cuffs (I know we may never see THAT, but I’m
more than willing to settle for Trump’s fellow Republicans impeaching him from
office. Mind you, that would give us Mike Pence, but with any luck, hopefully
Mueller has plenty of dirt on Mr. “Nice-n-Tidy” too.
But until then,
here’s what’s becoming a growing concern – Trump is filling up federal judicial
seats. He’s picking some of the most right-wing candidates to become federal
judges we’ve ever seen.
In case you
didn’t know it, federal judges, once confirmed by the Senate Judiciary
Committee, serve on the bench FOR LIFE! That’s why, if your court case is in
federal court, you’re essentially dealing with someone you can’t touch, unless
you’ve got photographs of him or her in a compromising position, if you know
what I mean?
Well,
during the eight years that Pres. Barack Obama served in office, didn’t he get
to nominate a whole lot of progressive-to-moderate judicial candidates to fill
various seats? Yes and no. Oh yes, the president indeed nominated many names
for the federal bench, but the Republicans
in the Senate found ways to block those Obama nominees from ever getting
anywhere.
Two of
those judicial nominees were from right here in North Carolina, two black
women, one a federal prosecutor and the other a retired state Supreme Court
justice, and our Republican Senator Richard Burr had a problem with both of
them.
Neither of
them went anywhere.
Well guess
what. The 44-county Eastern District judicial sear those two black women
nominated to by Pres. Obama, is being targeted for a right-wing Republican
attorney named Thomas Farr now. And given how he has led GOP efforts in recent
years to defend voter ID and racially gerrymandered redistricting, his
credentials are exactly what Trump and his clan are4 searching for, especially
since the Eastern District is 27% black.
But even
though Republicans are in charge in the US Senate, surely they will use their
better judgment and not put someone on the federal bench just because he or she
have an “R” after their name?
Guess
again!
Last week,
on a party-line vote, Senate Republicans voted to confirm judicial candidate
John Bush to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Bush is a Kentucky lawyer, but
he is best known as a pretty fierce political blogger (under a fake name) who authored
such gems like Pres. Obama was born in Kenya, and likened the 1973 Roe v Wade decision
to the pro-slavery Dred Scott decision.
At least
one Republican senator was quoted as saying he was “not impressed” with Bush,
but guess what, that GOP senator fell right in line with the rest of his party
and voted the wrong-way blogger onto the court.
So anyone
doubting that Thomas Farr can make it is fooling themselves.
So pay
careful attention of where the Farr story goes now. The NC NAACP has come out
against Farr, as has Congressman G. K. Butterfield and others.
The
bottomline to all of this is that the longer Trump and Pence remain in office,
the more conservative federal judges we will get who will last or a lifetime.
That fact right there should scare
us all out of our minds.
-30-
REDISTRICTING COURT
HEARING:
WILL SPECIAL
ELECTIONS HAPPEN?
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
[GREENSBORO]
Today in a US Middle District courtroom before a special three-judge federal
District Court panel, arguments began to determine when legislative districts
that were originally racially gerrymandered in the 2011 redistricting by the
Republican-led NC General Assembly will be redrawn, and if special elections
can be held before the 2018 mid-term elections.
All briefs in the case were filed on Friday,
July 21st.
Both sides
- plaintiffs (attorneys for Sandra Little Covington and others) and defendants
(lawyers for the Republican-led NC General Assembly and the state Board of
Elections) were scheduled to be given 90 minutes to present testimony by way of
witnesses, and supporting evidence, to convince the court of the best remedy
available.
Plaintiffs
have filed a brief saying, in essence, that the moment the US Supreme Court affirmed
in June the three-judge panel’s August 2016 ruling that 28 of 100 legislative
districts were unconstitutional because of racial gerrymandering, the Republican-led
NC General Assembly had no authority to override Gov. Cooper’s vetoes because
lawmakers were elected illegally, and cannot have that authority until all
districts are redrawn, declared legal by the court, and special elections held.
Plaintiffs
say state lawmakers can redraw the districts when they reconvene during their
upcoming Aug. 3rd special session, which starts next week. New maps
could be enacted by August 11th, with a candidate-filing period
between Sept. 11th and Sept. 25th.
Primaries
could be held Dec. 5, 2017, and the special legislative elections held on March
6th, 2018. Absentee voting for both the primaries and special
elections were built into the plaintiff’s plans when they were scheduled to
introduce in court today, according to documents filed.
Six witnesses are listed for the plaintiffs,
including Gary Bartlett, former executive director of the NC State Board of
Elections; George Gilbert, former director of the Guilford County Board of
Elections; and state Rep. David Lewis (R-Harnett), one of the 2011
redistricting leaders responsible for the racially gerrymander districts.
Per the
defendants’ “witness designation” court
papers, Kim Westbrook Strach, executive
director of the NC Bipartisan State Board of Elections & Ethics
Enforcement, is scheduled to be called. State Attorney General Josh Stein is
representing the state.
Defendants
say special elections cannot be held before the 2018 mid-term elections because
it would be disruptive to legislators elected in 2016 to two-year terms who
would have their tenures unfairly cut short, only to have to run again in 2018.
Most legal
and political observers say so much time has passed since August 15, 2016 when
the judicial panel originally ordered new maps by March 2017, followed by
special elections in August-September 2017. But the US Supreme Court later
stayed that order, at the request of Republican lawmakers, until it agreed last
month that the maps needed to be remedied, and ordered the three-judge panel to
consider other options beyond its original order for special elections.
Gov. Roy
Cooper, a Democrat, ordered the legislature into a 14-day special session to
immediately redraw the maps, but Republican legislative leaders ignored his
order, saying it was unconstitutional, and that he could only do so on
“extraordinary occasions.”
Prior to the federal hearing today, Republican
legislative leaders called for two special sessions in August and September,
adding that based on that schedule, new redistricting maps should be ready by
November 15th, a date that gives no time for special elections this
year.
-30-
ARTIST CONCEPTION OF PROPOSED FREEDOM PARK
TWO STATE
AFRICAN-AMERICAN PROJECTS
IN DESPERATE SEARCH
OF FUNDING
by Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
Last March,
when Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, submitted his proposed state budget, he
appropriated $200,000 for “Freedom Monument Planning,” to provide, “…one-time
funding for the African American Heritage Commission to complete the planning,
construction, and related costs of the African American Monument on the
southeast corner of the State Capitol grounds.”
Republican
legislative budget-writers ignored the governor’s proposed appropriation,
however, and now the Freedom Monument project, planning for which began over
two years ago under Republican Gov. Pat McCrory, is officially idle, unless the
GOP has a sudden, yet unexpected, change of heart.
But the
Freedom Monument is not the only long-term project honoring African American
contributions to the state’s history that Republican leadership reportedly
turned their backs on.
“Freedom Park,” also planned for
near the state Capitol, is a creature of the North Carolina Freedom Project, a
registered IRS 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable corporation. Touted as “…the
public park celebrating freedom and the African American experience,” the
planned park is slated to be developed on one acre of land between the state
Legislative Building and the Governor’s Mansion on the corner of Lane and
Wilmington streets in Raleigh.
With initial funding starting in
2002 from the Paul Green Foundation, named after the famed Pulitzer
Prize-winning author and playwright, the private effort steadily attracted
donors who shared the vision of a place reflecting the deep roots of black
contributions to the state both in the past, and towards the future.
It attracted august leadership like
historian Dr. John Hope Franklin, and famed civil rights attorney and educator
Julius Chambers.
In 2004, the project, then known as the
“Freedom Monument Project,” received its nonprofit status.
In 2008 -10, under the leadership
of then state Rep. Alma Adams (D-Guilford), the Democrat-led legislature, a $197,500 grant was awarded for planning and
development. Another $100,000 was donated by Paul Green, Jr. and his wife,
followed by various corporate donations.
Professional fundraisers were hired
to develop a strategy, with the ultimate goal a $5 million capital campaign.
In 2015-16, the Z. Smith Reynolds
Foundation helped to redesign the original concept for what was now known as
the “Freedom Park,” bringing onboard famed architect Phil Freelon (known for
designing the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture in
Washington, DC). Freelon’s new design was unveiled in December 2016.
Led by a Board of Directors and an
Advisory Board, the Freedom Park is slated for completion by 2020, assuming its
$5 million fundraising goal is met. By all accounts, however, that effort has
stalled.
Dr. Goldie Frinks Wells of
Greensboro is the co-chair of the project’s Board of Directors. She confirmed
Tuesday that private fundraising for the park has hit a ditch.
“We’re really trying to get a big
donor to get the ball rolling for us,” she said, indicating that meetings with
large corporations are ongoing. “We’re moving forward.”
But Dr. Wells also confirmed that
two weeks before the just approved state budget was passed in June, Republican
House Speaker Tim Moore met with representatives of the Freedom Park project,
was very welcoming and “sounded so hopeful” about their request for state
budget funding.
But in the end, Dr. Wells says,
they got nothing.
“We were left out completely,” she
said.
Civil rights activist Linda Sutton
of Winston-Salem is a former member of the Freedom Park Advisory Committee. She
noted how Republicans appropriated $5 million from the latest budget for the
new Civil War Center in Fayetteville, and not a dime to the Freedom Monument,
or neither, apparently, the Freedom Park project.
“I guess that was more important,”
Ms. Sutton quipped.
-30-
STATE NEWS BRIEFS FOR
07-27-17
COOPER PROMISES
WILMINGTON ACTION ON GENX WATER CRISIS
[WILMINGTON]
With nervous local officials looking on, Gov. Roy Cooper Monday vowed that the
state would aggressively address the Gen X water contamination problem,
starting with denying Chemours, the chemical company in Fayetteville that
produces the substance, a permit to continue to dump it in the Cape Fear River,
the region’s primary drinking water source. The governor also said he is asking
the NC General Assembly for more funding for the NC Dept. of Environmental
Quality to continue it’s investigation and testing. Cooper also said that the State Bureau of
Investigation is looking into possible criminal charges regarding the dumping
of Gen X into the Cape Fear.
Gen X
levels in the Cape Fear have dropped since Chemours was ordered to stop its
dumping several weeks ago.
Dr. Mandy
Cohen, secretary of the NC Dept. of Health and Human Services, said that based
on her agency’s testing, the water in Wilmington is safe to drink. However,
several citizens say they don’t trust the water despite that assurance, and
want done to either filter it more efficiently, or provide other sources for
drinking and bathing.
STATE DEPT OF PUBLIC
INSTRUCTION CUTS SERVICES TO STUDENTS MOST IN NEED
[RALEIGH]
Thanks to budget cuts by the state legislature, the state Board of Education
ordered the state Dept. of Public Instruction to cut $2.5 million. That means
seven full-time employees and three temporary workers are being laid off; eight
vacant positions will be eliminated; and 19 instructional coaches will get pay
cut and have their terms of service shortened. More cuts are expected in the
coming weeks. Officials say the reductions will impact counties with
low-performing schools, and also teacher training. State Board of Education
member Eric Davis said the budget cuts will “adversely impact our students…”
GOOD WEEK FOR
“BISHOP” BARBER AND THE NCNAACP
[NEW ORLEANS, LA.] At the annual
national convention of the NAACP in Baltimore this week, the NC NAACP was cited
being the number one state conference in the nation for membership growth in
2016. That, coupled with the consecration of NC NAACP Pres. William Barber as a
bishop in The College of Affirming Bishops last Saturday in New Orleans made
this a good week for the civil rights leader.
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