THE CASH STUFF FOR THURSDAY, OCT. 6TH, 2022

 

                                           COLUMBUS COUNTY SHERIFF JODY GREENE

SBI INVESTIGATING ACTIONS

OF COLUMBUS COUNTY SHERIFF

WHO ALLEGEDLY VOWED TO GET

RID OF BLACK EMPLOYEES

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

The State Bureau of Investigation is opening an investigation into the actions of Columbus County Sheriff Jody Greene after a local television station aired an audiotape allegedly of him from a February 2019 late night telephone conversation where he is heard saying, “I’m sick of it. I’m sick of these Black bastards. I’m going to clean house and be done with it. And we’ll start from there.”

According to reporting from WECT-TV, since he won a controversial  and racially heated election in 2018 against the then Black incumbent Sheriff Lewis Hatcher by just 34 votes, Sheriff Greene, a Republican,  angrily vowed to either fire or punish anyone he felt was loyal to Hatcher in the department.

Greene allegedly called the home of then-Columbus County Sheriff’s Dept. Captain Jason Soles, who is white. Greene had already won the election, but Hatcher contested the results. Soles was serving as acting sheriff until the controversy about whether Greene actually lived in Columbus County was resolved.

Soles told WECT that one night in early February 2019, an angry Greene wanted to know who in the department had communicated with Hatcher, and Melvin Campbell, a Black sergeant who would later be fired by Greene. Greene was concerned about a ‘snitch” in his department, and resolved to get rid of them because he felt someone tried to sabotage his election.

“This one particular phone call that [I] received, [Greene] made the comment that he hated Democrats. And then he said, ‘I take that back. I hate a Black f***ing Democrat.’ And, and I knew right then, I was like, ‘Wow, this is coming from the sheriff.’ And, I had to start recording those conversations.” So Soles began recording all of Sheriff Greene’s telephone calls to him.

“They’re gone. This is as fair as I’m going to be. Just giving you a heads up, that’s coming…” Greene continued. They ain’t going to make it brother. I’m telling you, they might as well find somewhere else to go. Because if you ain’t with me - I ain’t referring to you - but if they’re not with me, they’re against me. And they’re gone. And that’s just how it’s going to be.”

Greene is heard referencing several Black employees felt were against him, promising to retaliate against them.

“If I have to fire every mother f***er out there, guess what?,” Sheriff Greene is heard continuing to rant on one of Sole’s recordings. I’m tired of them f***ing with me. It ain’t happening no more. No godd**n more. So you let them know, if I find their numbers in the next day or two, they ain’t going to like it. They damn sure ain’t going to like it. “

Greene continued, “Tomorrow’s gonna be a new f**king day. I’m still the motherf**king sheriff, and I’ll go up and fire every godd**n [inaudible]. F**k them Black bastards. They think I’m scared? They’re stupid,” Greene said. “I don’t know what else to do it. So it’s just time to clean them out. There’s a snitch in there somewhere tellin’ what we are doing. And I’m not gonna have it. I’m not going to have it.”

Sheriff Greene vowed to fire anyone “guilty by f**king association” with Campbell and Hatcher.

“We’ll cut the snake’s head f**king off. Period. And Melvin Campbell is as big a snake as Lewis Hatcher ever dared to be. Every Black that I know, you need to fire him to start with, he’s a snake.”

According to WECT, a number of Black deputies have either been demoted or fired since Sheriff Greene assumed office.

Soles says he took his tape to the Columbus County commissioners to no avail. Even had an SBI agent tell him no investigation can begin unless a district attorney or the state attorney general’s office requested one.

That’s when Soles, no longer with the Columbus County Sheriff’s Dept. and now running to replace Sheriff Greene, went to WECT. The station aired the recordings, and the got the attention of District Attorney Jon David, who opened an Obstruction of Justice probe, formally requesting that the SBI follow through.

Governor Cooper’s office has now also demanded an investigation as well.

For his part, Sheriff Greene denies making the racial statements he’s recorded allegedly making, but resigned from the North Carolina Sheriff’s Association before they voted to kick him out last week.

The story has gone national, shining yet another unwelcoming light on small town shenanigans in North Carolina since the recent Kenly town manager controversy.

And there’s no word as of press time about any of the Black former employees of the Columbus County Sheriff’s Department filing suit against Sheriff Greene.

    On Monday, District Attorney Jon David sent a letter to Sheriff Greene, requesting that he resign from office.

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JUSTICE COALITION USA SERVANT LEADER REV. DR. CARDES H. BROWN, JR.

NAACP PRES./CEO DERRICK JOHNSON

JUSTICE COALITION REFUSES

TO COMPLY WITH NAACP

“CEASE & DESIST” THREATS

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

The “servant leader” of the Justice Coalition USA,” a growing group of concerned NAACP members, has staunchly refused to comply with with a stern “cease and desist” letter from the national president/CEO of the NAACP, warning hi to stop all pronouncements and activities “…detrimental to the Association.” 

Rev. Dr. Cardes H. Brown, Jr.,NAACP Life member, veteran civil rights activist, and servant leader of Justice Coalition USA, says Derrick Johnson, the national president/CEO of the NAACP, has refused to meet with the group regarding what they charge is the disenfranchisement of elderly NAACP members by instituting an Election Buddy” system for the upcoming NAACP branch elections across North Carolina.

Dr. Brown sent a Sept. 12th letter on Justice Coalition USA letterhead to Johnson at the NAACP Baltimore headquarters inviting him to meet via Zoom, and giving. him three dates from which to choose.

“It is our sincere hope that you will make effort to meet with us to provide clarity and answer the questions necessary for us to participate in one of the most basic human rights in democracy-voting,” stated Dr. Brown’s letter. “We are reaching out to you to try and avoid seeking other remedies to meet our request.”

If the tone of Rev. Brown’s letter was somewhat conciliatory, Derrick Johnson’s Sept. 23rd “cease and desist” response was anything but.

“You have engaged in repeated inimical conduct that is not in accord with the principles of the Association,” the second paragraph of Johnson’s response letter lashed. 'More specifically, you have utilized your leadership position in the Justice Coalition to undermine and discredit the National NAACP and the North Carolina State Conference NAACP. In that capacity, you have engaged in conduct that is detrimental to the Association.”

Johnson’s “cease and desist” letter repeatedly accuses Rev. Brown and Justice USA of making “false statements,” warning that “Article X, Section 2 of the Bylaws for Units of the NAACP states that “[t]he Board of Directors, upon satisfactory evidence that an officer or member of the Association...is guilty of conduct not in accord with the principles, aims and purposes of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People...or guilty of conduct inimical to the best interests of...the Association may order suspension, expulsion or other disciplinary action against such officer or member, after a full hearing if requested by the respondent in accord with the provisions of this Constitution.” 

Johnson then charges that Rev. Brown and Justice Coalition USA “…are dedicated to disparaging the National NAACP and the North Carolina State Conference.” He continues that Justice USA, through it’s website is falsely promoting itself as “…a coalition of NAACP members seeking redress of issues of the NAACP National Organization illegally taking over Branches and State Organizations and to address the apparent corruption existing under the current national leadership.”

Johnson went on charge that Justice USA “…falsely accused the National NAACP of “voter suppression” and “ineptitude in carrying out the [October 23rd, 2021 executive committee] election,” in addition nationally appointed administrator Gloria Sweet-Love “of engaging in “unconstitutional “ conduct” in overseeing that controversial election that saw the removal of then-NC NAACP Rev. Dr. T. Anthony Spearman. 

After listing other charges, Johnson’s letter states, “The National NAACP hereby demands that you immediately cease-and-desist making disparaging and defamatory statements against the National NAACP, the NAACP national leadership, the National NAACP staff, the North Carolina State Conference NAACP, and/or the North Carolina State Conference NAACP leadership,” adding that it demanded the removal all writings and materials detrimental to the national NAACP or Derrick Johnson personally from the Justice USA website, and confirm doing so the NAACP general counsel by Friday, Sept. 23rd.

“Failure to comply with this cease-and-desist letter may result in suspension, expulsion or other disciplinary action,” Derrick Johnson’s terse letter concludes.

On Sept. 23rd, Dr. Brown replied by certified letter, “First, you do not have the authority to regulate or dictate the activities of the Justice Coalition USA.”

“Secondly, you cannot restrict my criticism of the NAACP as my freedom of speech is a constitutional right protected by the First Amendment of the United States.”

After reminding Johnson that his original Sept. 12th letter was an invitation to discuss “…my objections to the upcoming branch elections by electronic means and to discuss the financial information of the NAACP Empowerment Programs, Inc., a 501(c)(3), registered in New York, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Inc., a 501(c)(4), registered in Delaware,” Rev. Brown further notes that Derrick Johnson’s response, “…requesting that I “cease and desist” is retaliatory to my request and is “inimical” to the best interests of the NAACP.”

Brown ended his response with, “I will not cease and desist from objecting to an electronic election process that will disenfranchise elderly members who are not electronically savvy and members who cannot afford the internet and do not have access to the internet. This practice is not in accord with the purpose of the NAACP.”

At press time, there was no response from national NAACP Pres./CEO Derrick Johnson to Justice Coalition USA Servant Leader Rev. Dr. Cardes Brown’s reply.

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THREE HBCU’s STRIVING

TO IMPROVE AMID 

CHALLENGES

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

One North Carolina historically Black college/university (HBCU) reaches an eight-year peak in student enrollment. A second HBCU receives an $80,000 grant in the aftermath of a bomb threat to increase security and trauma recovery.

And a third HBCU is looking steadily towards redeveloping the  future and making plans to one day be bigger and better.

In the aftermath of the pandemic, at least three North Carolina HBCUs are seeing dramatic changes that may have lasting impact.

Elizabeth City State University [ECSU] enrolled 2,149 students this academic year, the most in eight years, the school has announced. Credit ECSU’s success to the NC Promise program, which helps to attract students to two selected UNC System HBCUs - ECSU and Fayetteville State University - in addition to Western Carolina University, and UNC at Pembroke, with $500.000 per semester tuition costs.

The program has allowed a small school like ECSU to climb back from an enrollment deficit to its current success.

ECSU’s steady expansion in key demographic populations proves that the power of the NC Promise tuition program  is helping us reach more scholars who desire to earn a highly competitive degree t an affordable cost,” ECSU Chancellor Karri Dixon said in a statement.

Last April, ECSU announced that it would provide a one-time  housing grant for students living on campus the semester. And that it had received over $100,000 in grants for two library projects, updating the digital inventory and self-checkout systems at the G.R Little Library, while creating a satellite for the NC Digital Heritage Center.

Meanwhile, over at Shaw University in Raleigh, that private HBCU is planning for redevelopment of its downtown campus property, possibly making way for city rezoning that could allow 40-story tall high rises to be built.

Shaw officials spent part of last month soliciting ideas and gathering responses from the public as to what they consider to be the best uses for some of its city acreage, as well as new facilities for students. It would be called “Shaw U District.”

As one of the largest landowners in downtown Raleigh, the university believes it could generate significant revenue from leasing such of its property for new development.

Finally, safety is the Number One concern at Fayetteville State University (FSU) as the HBCU is receiving an $80,000 Project SERV grant help provide counseling to students after a bomb threat was made on the campus last February.

At that time, campus-wide activities, included classes, were suspended, and students were directed to shelter-in-place for safety. 

Fortunately, no explosive device as found.

At least fifty HBCUs across the country received bomb threats earlier this year, including NCCU in Durham, WSSU in Winston-Salem, and ECSU in Elizabeth City.

The Project SERV grant is awarded by the U.S. Dept. of Education to help fund trauma recovery and mental health services, as well as full-time security officers.

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THE CASH STUFF FOR SEPT. 29TH, 2022

 EDITORS PLEASE NOTE - I won't be doing.a third story on the migrant situation this week because there is pressing North Carolina news as we get closer to the November midterm elections. But I am keeping my eye on it. ALSO, I will be traveling next week to Yale U to be with my daughter for Family Weekend there, leaving Tuesday, Oct. 4, coming back Monday, Oct. 10th. So I will send you stories for next week early Oct. 3rd. As for the following week, I'll have my computer with me, and will try the best I can to send you stories for Monday, October 10th. Take care and GOD Bless!

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NAACP PRES./CEO Derrick Johnson

                                                         REV. DR. CARDES H. BROWN JR.

VOTER SUPPRESSION CLAIMED 

IN UPCOMING NC NAACP ELECTIONS

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

Saying that the national NAACP is “at a time of crisis,” Justice Coalition USA, a group of concerned NAACP members who have spoken out about what they see as the alleged mismanagement of the national civil rights organization by its current President/CEO Derrick Johnson, is warning that the votes of many rural elderly NAACP members will be suppressed in upcoming November branch elections because they cannot afford the cost of internet service to cast them.

“We believe the NAACP’s staff’s decision to force all NAACP voters to participate through electronic voting for their officers in November 2022 elections, constitutes a breach of membership contracts, a violation of Article IX of the By-laws, and will cause irreparable harm to the many of the organization’s most vulnerable members,” a press release from Justice Coalition USA states.

Rev. Dr. Cardes H. Brown Jr., NAACP Life member and leader of Justice Coalition USA, continued, “You can buy an NAACP membership for $30, but to exercise your NAACP Vote, you need to buy a computer and a wifi connection for $300.”

Rev. Brown has been an outspoken critic of the October 2021 state Executive Committee elections where the “Election Buddy” system was instituted without warning, forcing two elections on the same day, and resulting in the ouster of then NC NAACP Pres. Rev. Dr. T. Anthony Spearman. Voters in the morning that day did not use Election Buddy, and Rev.Brown alleges that their votes were subsequently thrown out.

“The 2021 NC NAACP  State election was conducted under the supervision of the National organization and violated the very Bylaws and rules established by the national organization,” the press statement charges.

“The Justice Coalition USA will not stand idly by while NAACP members’ votes are suppressed through another NAACP election cycle,” it continued. “The NAACP is in a time of crisis, we need all hands on deck to push back against the barriers established by National to suppress the vote of our most vulnerable members, and resist the dismantling of the mission and constitution of the 1909 NAACP.

Rev. Brown also raised concern about a recent story in the Raleigh News & Observer/Charlotte Observer newspapers, which at first falsely alleged that the NC NAACP had its federal tax-exempt status revoked because the state conference had not filed a return for the past three years due to alleged internal conflicts.

It was later reported that no NAACP conference or branch in the nation had actually filed a federal tax return because of a March 2020 agreement between Derrick Johnson and the Internal Revenue Service to allow all NAACP units to be counted in the national organization’s group federal tax return.

“We call on the NAACP /CEO  to disclose the nature of the tax status modifications he made when he set up the NAACP Empowerment Program, Inc. (501)(c)(3) New York Corporation and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Inc. (501)(c)(4) Delaware Corporation,” said Rev. Brown.” We have asked for an electronic meeting about these issues with CEO Derrick Johnson. We await his response.”

Brown contends that most NAACP members are unaware that Johnson created NAACP Empowerment Programs, Inc. in 2019, making it a 501(c)(3) tax exempt corporation, and shifting all NAACP units under that parent organization, even though NAACP units are 501(c)(4), which are not tax deductible to donors.

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JOYCE JOHNSON

                                                           REV. NELSON JOHNSON

TRUTH & RECONCILIATION

SUMMIT BEGINS OCT. 4-8TH

BY Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

On November 3, 1979, Rev. Nelson Johnson was part of a civil war.

Johnson was leading a group of peaceful protesters during a demonstration in Greensboro’s Morningside Homes public housing project when several cars of armed white supremacists drove up, a violent confrontation ensued, and when the smoke cleared, five of Johnson’s fellow protesters had been shot to death.

That tragic event in North Carolina history is infamously known as “the Greensboro Massacre.” It took a Truth & Reconciliation Commission in 2004 to uncover what really led up to that slaughter, forcing the city of Greensboro to eventually apologize for its actions in allowing it to happen.

Over four decades later, Rev. Johnson said of that fateful day, “Could Greensboro become a Moral Model City that inspires much-needed truth, justice and reconciliation processes throughout our nation? It is my conviction that if we can help each other face the essential truths of our todays and yesterdays, perhaps we can, together, forge a bright new tomorrow.”

And yet, almost 43 years later, Rev. Johnson believes that social conditions are such in the state and the nation, that a civil war, this time on a wider, deadlier scale, can happen again.

“As a nation, the US has endured more than 50 years of white males who have refused to accept the victories of the Civil Rights Movement, of second-wave feminism and of queer movements.,”wrote Donald Earl Collins in “The US is heading for a civil war” in Al Jazeera online last May.

Rev. Johnson and his wife, Joyce,  believe that downward spiral towards civil war can be stopped, and people of different walks can turn towards each other in thoughtful, meaningful peace, instead of on each other in violent, civil war.

Thus, the North Carolina Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Process Commission  (NC-TJRC) begins it’s four-day summit, October 4-8 at the Global Learning Center at Bennett College at 521 Gorrell Street in Greensboro for the first three days, and training to be held at the Beloved Community Center (BCC), 417 Arlington Street, also in Greensboro.

Sponsored by the BCC, local, state, national and international faith leaders, along with college students, youth-led organizations, local advocates, grassroots and social justice leaders from around the state and the nation will come together to discuss the current climate of falsehoods, extreme polarization and heightened violence.

They will also explore the hope and promise of a statewide, community-led Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation Process, while identifying the roles each segment of the population might play in bringing such a hopeful process into fruition.

“It is both a public announcement, and a four-day training session,” said Rev. Johnson during a telephone interview last week. Johnson added that the “people-powered process” is designed “to walk the varied segments of NC’s diverse population towards each other so that they may eventually walk together building broad ‘community truths’ about the past in order to peacefully co-exist today.

Rev. Johnson identified several areas of focus, including :

Financial security and wealth creation

Inclusive voter access and genuine democracy

Adequate housing 

Police accountability and judicial equity

Community safety

Quality healthcare and ecological sustainability

Quality, relevant education

Joyce Johnson, BCC co-director , promises that the summit just won’t be speeches, but interactive, so participants can learn from each other and grow.

Not only is the NC-TJRC based on the success of the original Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission, but others from across the globe. Thus some of the confirmed guests include Rev. Dr. Peter Story, South African TRC; Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church USA; Rev. Dr. Jennifer Copeland, NC Council of Churches; Imam Abdul J. Nurridin, Convener of Imams Mid-Atlantic Section, Community of Imam W.D. Mohammed; Ester Anne, Wabanki, Maine TRC; and others.

North Carolina’s own Bishop William J. Barber, co-convener of the Poor People’s Campaign, and president of Repairers of the Breach, is confirmed to participate as well.

The NC-TJRC Summit will begin Tuesday, October 4, 10 a.m.; Wednesday Oct. 5 at 9 a.m. and Thursday Oct. 6th at 10 a.m. at the Global Learning Center on the campus of Bennett College at 521 Gorrell Street in Greensboro. The NC-TJRC training for will be held  at BCC on Friday, Oct. 7 at 9 a.m and Saturday, Oct. 8th at 10 a.m.

There will be a multi-cultural block party at the BCC on Wednesday at 1 p.m.

The first two-days are free and open to the public.

         For more information please contact Beloved Community Center at info@belovedcommunitycenter.org or (336) 230-0001.

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                                                                 BEASLEY - BUDD

WHO WILL WIN 

THE BEASLEY vs. BUDD

DEBATE OCT. 7TH?

By Cash Michaels

An analysis

Most political observers see the Cheri Beasley - Ted Budd race for the U.S. Senate as a dead heat, primarily because most polls have them within 2 to 3 points of each other, covering the margin of error. But that may not last for long, especially not after next week’s October 7th debate between the two.

How rough is Rep. Budd, a gun shop owner and Trump supporter from Davie County, willing to be when he confronts former NC Chief Justice Beasley, a professional, well-educated Black woman who only fell 400 votes short out of 4 million cast statewide of winning her last election?

Or can Beasley convince rural conservative voters that she is a better moderate choice to represent them than the Trump-endorsed Budd, a 13th District congressman who is being highly touted by the controversial former president as recently as last Friday night during a raucous rally in Wilmington?

Budd will try to align the Democrat with Pres. Biden’s spotty economic policies. Beasley won’t have to shade Budd with Trump’s controversies, but instead, attempt to nail Budd with his own. She’ll also remind women that Budd agrees with the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down a woman’s right to choose.

Observers say pay attention to the intensity of the race by the number of campaign commercials increasingly airing on television. If it seems that Budd, the Republican, is airing more of them, it’s because he has more so-called 527 groups buying time to slam Beasley, the Democrat.

There’s little question that Beasley has aired more positive campaign commercials, citing her support from North Carolina law enforcement and support for a woman’s right to choose. But will those be enough to get her over the finish line November 8th with the most votes?

The national press is steadily taking notice of the contest, given that either Beasley or Budd will be replacing the outgoing Republican Senator Richard Burr in the next Congress. It could be the race that decides the direction of U.S. Senate, and whether Democrats will hold onto their slim majority, or Republicans are able to take back control, and continue to wreak havoc on President Biden’s agenda during the last two years of his term.

One thing the GOP clearly wants to put a stop to is the record pace of judges Biden is nominating to the federal bench, and being ratified by Senate Democrats.

Beasley is taking no chances, traveling to all one hundred counties of the state, shaking hands and meeting voters, telling her story. Meanwhile Budd has created controversy, suggesting at one point that he would not honor the results of the election if he loses.

He later backtracked on that notion.

One fact that is interesting about the upcoming October 7th debate on Spectrum News is that neither Beasley nor Budd has debated anyone before this for the U.S. Senate. Beasley had no primary opponents during the last five months on the Democratic side, and Budd refused to debate any of his primary opponents on the Republican side.

Beasley has agreed to participate in at least one more debate sponsored by the North Carolina Association of Broadcasters prior to Election Day, but Budd has not.

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THE CASH STUFF FOR SEPT. 22, 2022

                                                     REV. DR. T. ANTHONY SPEARMAN

SPEARMAN FACED BITTER

NC NAACP ADVERSARIES

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

It was two months ago this week, on July 19th, that Rev. Dr. T. Anthony Spearman’s body was found in his basement near a pool of his own blood. Guilford County authorities investigating the case have said precious little since then - giving no cause of, or reason for the death - and those who knew the former NC NAACP president and respected him, are still wondering why.

But not everyone liked or respected Rev. Dr. Theodore Anthony Spearman, something he was so keenly aware of when he took the mantle of leadership from his predecessor and friend, Rev. Dr. William Barber in Oct. 2017. 

“There are some of us who are in here tonight, who did their best to divide us, and cause a whole lot of hatred to permeate the NCNAACP,” Rev. Spearman, then third vice president elected NC NAACP president, admonished his detractors during his acceptance speech after defeating Raleigh’s Rev. Portia Rochelle. “And I’m here to tell you all that I will not stand for that on my watch! You know who you are, and I want you to know that I know who you are too!”

Beyond the NC NAACP it was not widely known, but Spearman had inherited many of the internal adversaries Rev. Barber had garnered. Adversaries who had problems with Rev. Barber’s direction and style of leadership for the state’s oldest civil rights organization, didn’t like Barber building a large multi-racial, multi-generational progressive coalition on which to build a successful North Carolina, and later, national social justice movement on.

In 2017, when Rev. Barber stepped aside to be succeeded by Rev. Spearman, Barber’s adversaries became Spearman’s enemies, primarily because he promised to continue the direction Rev. Barber had been taking the NC NAACP in.

To say that the NC NAACP under Rev. Barber was wildly successful in pushing the social justice envelope in North Carolina from 2005 to 2017 is an understatement. People from all walks of life were joining, financial donations were pouring in, important voting rights litigation was being won, and the press took events like Moral Mondays and Historic Thousands on Jones Street (HK on J) seriously as thousands of demonstrators, led by Rev. Barber, marched on the NC General Assembly to demand justice for all.

That kind of powerful, successful social justice movement developed jealousies from both inside the NC NAACP, and even from the national office, which wanted a piece of that success, but Rev. Barber refused to bend to its terms.

And Rev. Spearman was right there, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with him.

So when Rev. Barber finally left, Rev. Spearman had to fight enemies willing to destroy him, enemies he would later file a defamation/civil conspiracy lawsuit against.

One NAACP chapter president had alleged that Spearman was allowing a new chapter to be established in her county without her involvement or approval. She accused him of ignoring her concerns.

Earlier this year after he filed his lawsuit, Rev. Spearman sent this reporter a copy of a letter she sent to NC NAACP membership across the state, which read in part:

“In all of my years ministering to murderers, rapists and people who had committed other heinous crimes. I can say that I have never met anyone as hateful as our seated President," she wrote of Rev. Spearman. 

         "The backstabbing and undermining I have endured is reprehensible."

“Mr. Spearman has violated the NAACP constitution and Bylaws. He recklessly enlisted individuals to collect funds for memberships for a "new" unapproved ...chapter.  The NAACP National  made it very clear that he was out of order. He has not stopped!

           He does not exemplify the characteristics to lead anyone. He has been divisive, destructive, narcissistic and deceptive.” 

Rev. Spearman told this reporter that this was an example of the “hate” that he was experiencing.

As previously reported, another  NC NAACP chapter president allegedly threatened to physically assault Spearman at the opening of the 2019 NC NAACP Convention in Winston-Salem at a church, so much so that numerous police officers were called to the scene, and came back the following the day for security when the convention activity moved to a local hotel.

At that same convention,  NAACP Pres. CEO Derrick Johnson flew in and held a mass meeting, where he allegedly lambasted the state leadership for allowing a young youth director to go public with her sexual harassment allegations against a NC NAACP executive officer and employee, Rev. Curtis Gatewood, allegations he denied. But after an investigation, Spearman backed the young woman, later finding himself the target of fiscal mismanagement allegations from other NC NAACP executive officers that were never proven.

Gatewood had been suspended.

It was then that Johnson, with the backing of the national NAACP Board, assigned two administrators to oversee the operations of the NC NAACP. 

To Rev. Spearman, per his lawsuit, Johnson would later work with several NC NAACP members to sabotage his leadership because Spearman supported the alleged sexual harassment victim. That “unruly caucus”, as Spearman called them, were named defendants in his lawsuit.

After he lost re-election in October 2021 (Rev. Spearman did not have to run for re-election in 2019 because the national office removed his opponent from membership), he alleged a corrupted election process that resulted in his loss. Spearman demanded that the national office investigate, and vowed not to turn over any documentation from his office until an official probe was completed, but that was eventually denied.

Rev. Dr. Spearman was eventually suspended in February, 2022. In June, he filed his defamation/civil conspiracy lawsuit against six members of the NC NAACP, national NAACP/CEO Pres. Johnson and national NAACP Board Chairman Leon Russell.

He claimed that the defendants conspired to have him removed from office because of his support for the alleged sexual harassment victim, and because of his ‘growing national profile stemming from his many successful and high profiled activities on behalf of the… NC NAACP.”

The following month, on July 19th, Rev. Dr. Spearman was found dead in his home, with no word as to what happened or why.

By the next day, a vicious rumor was being spread that Rev. Spearman allegedly tried to sexually assault a 22-year-old male a week earlier who tried to rob him at gunpoint, and the NC NAACP secretary sent an email out to statewide membership alleging that Spearman may have committed suicide.

To this day, there has been no evidence that either allegation was true.

Nor is there any evidence linking any NC NAACP member to the death of Rev. Dr. T. Anthony Spearman.

With no answers, the.community waits for investigators to complete they job.But Rev. Dr. Spearman is not forgotten.

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VOTER I.D. CASE TO BE 

HEARD BY NC SUPREME

COURT NEXT MONTH

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

To the average citizen it all might be understandably very confusing, but for those keeping track, the NC Supreme Court is slated to hear arguments in yet another case challenging voter photo identification, Holmes v. Moore. Those arguments will take place on October 3rd, and focus on the constitutionality of the 2018 voter photo I.D. law.

“In light of the great public interest in the subject matter of this case, the importance of the issues to the constitutional jurisprudence of this State, and the need to reach a final resolution on the merits at the earliest possible opportunity, … [t]his case shall be scheduled for oral argument as soon as practicable, on a date to be determined during arguments scheduled the week of 3 October 2022, or by special setting no later than 18 October 2022,” according to the order.

What makes this session interesting is the Democrats on the state’s High Court voted 4-3 to hear the case rather quickly, taking it away from the GOP-dominated NC Court of Appeals, so that a decision could be rendered before the end of the year.

A three-judge Wake Superior Court panel previously ruled 2-1 in September 2021 that the voter I.D. law discriminated against African-American voters. When that decision was appealed to the Republican controlled appellate court, the state Supreme Court grabbed it instead.

By holding arguments weeks before the Nov. 8th 2022 midterm elections, that means the case will be considered by the four Democrat justice majority. One of those Democrat justices,Robin Hudson, is retiring.

The other, Associate Justice Sam Ervin IV is up for re-election.

Republicans have targeted both seats in November. All they have to do is win just one to take the majority on the state Supreme Court in January.

Not surprisingly, Republican Chief Justice Paul Newby, representing the Republican court minority,  argued that the voter I.D. law appeal did not have to be heard so quickly because there was “no jurisprudential reason” for doing so, and a decision may confuse voters.

The voter I.D. law will not be in effect for the November 8th midterm elections, but a decision by the end of the year will impact the 2024 elections..

If the High Court’s quick movements weren’t already catching attention, Democrats there have also decided to hear arguments pertaining to the constitutionality of the latest state legislative and congressional redistricting maps on Oct. 4th, the very next day.

A decision from that case is also expected by the end of the year.

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CONNECTION BETWEEN REVERSE

FREEDOM RIDES AND IMMIGRANTS

BUSED UP NORTH

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

“A negro couple and their eight children were placed on a Trenton-bound bus in Shreveport, La. this morning by the White Citizens Council of Louisiana,” a Trenton, N.J. newspaper story from the early 1960’s titled “Reverse Freedom Ride: Negro Family on the Way Here” reported.

The family had been given free bus tickets, $75.00 in "pocket money," and “a dozen cans of sardines to snack upon” for the trip. As far as the Black family were concerned, they were leaving the deep, racist South for a better life.

The story continued, “The family of Alan Gilmore - the first “reverse Freedom Riders” to this city - were scheduled to arrive at the Perry Street bus terminal here at 4:20 a.m on Sunday. The children range in age from eight months to 10 years.”

After the U.S. Supreme Court issued its landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision ending school segregation, “white segregationists throughout the South created the White Citizens Councils [WCC],”  according to King Encyclopedia. “These local groups typically drew a more middle and upper class membership than the Ku Klux Klan and, in addition to using violence and intimidation to counter civil rights goals , they sought to economically and socially oppress blacks.”

These racist WCCs also tricked unsuspecting Black families with promises of employment, housing and better lives up North. All they had to do was voluntarily get on the buses headed North, and be dropped off. At least 100 black families took the offer, and thus, “reverse Freedom Rides” were born. It was the South’s callous way of responding to the 1960’s Freedom Rides by White and Black activists from the North to the South to integrate interstate bus travel.

Large Black fatherless families and Black men with criminal records  were selectively bused from deep Southern states to places like Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, where liberal Democrat President John F. Kennedy had a summer home.

The goal was to shove civil rights back in the face of white liberals like Kennedy.

“We have put up with millions of niggers for 100 years, so why should you squawk?” stated an anonymous letter from down South to Northern officials when the Black families arrived.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “ It is an indictment on America and democracy that these ungodly and unethical and un-Christian and unAmerican councils have been able to exist …”

Fast forward to 2022, as the Republican governors of Texas, Arizona and Florida have seemingly taken a page from the White Citizens Councils of sixty-years ago, busing well over 10,000 brown asylum seekers to Northern Black-run Democrat cities like Washington, D.C., New York, and Chicago, using empty promises of housing and job opportunities to lure them onto the buses.

In the case of Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, he chartered two private planes from San Antonio, Texas to fly 50 immigrants to liberal-run Martha’s Vineyard, catching that island’s officials off-guard.

By doing so, legal experts say DeSantis may have broken federal law. 

The Republican governors have rhetorically used the same line as did White Citizens Councils of the past to explain their controversial actions - “We’ve put up with 2 million illegals crossing the U.S.- Mexico border thanks to the Biden Administration, so why should you squawk?”

Two busloads of Venezuelan immigrants from Texas, including a one month-old baby, were dropped off in front of the Vice Pres. Kamala Harris’ Washington, D.C. home. “We’re sending migrants to her backyard to call on the Biden Administration to do its job & secure the border,” stated Gov. Abbott  a tweet. Those immigrants were taken to a local church.

In an interview, Vice Pres. Harris said,  “…[Abbott and DeSantis are] playing games, adding that "these are political stunts with real human beings who are fleeing harm."

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot saw another two busloads from Texas arrive last week, and called Gov. Abbott “unAmerican.”

“What he’s trying to do is play to the lowest common denominator in his party, to burnish his credentials as a candidate for president in 2024,” Lightfoot told CNN.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams is considering legal action against Gov. Abbott.

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