THE CASH STUFF FOR JUNE 24, 2021

 

                                                        MONICA AND DAMEON SHEPARD

DEPUTY, FATHER WHO ALLEGEDLY

LED WHITE “MOB” TO BLACK FAMILY 

HOME, FILES COUNTERSUIT

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

The white former New Hanover County Sheriff’s deputy who allegedly led an armed white “mob” to a black Pender County family’s home in May 2020 has now filed a countersuit, along with his father,  against that family, charging that they “…were exploited by greedy lawyers who preyed on racial sensitivities and falsified a story just to seek fame and fortune by committing racial extortion.”

Jordan Kita, the ex-deputy who lost his job because of the incident, but escaped conviction when the case went to criminal court, has denied, through his attorneys, that race was a motivation in the May 2020 late night incident.

       His lawyer, Woody White, demands that the black family - Monica Shepard and her teenage son, Dameon - apologize to Kita and his father, or else face a defamation lawsuit.

The Shepards refused, feeling that they were the ones who had been originally violated. 

“[The Shepards] were terrorized by Defendants’ actions, which constitute trespass, assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress, interference with civil rights…and violation of the right to fair housing,” their Jan. 2021 lawsuit claimed.

But in their countersuit, Jordan Kita and his father, Timothy, deny that they led an armed angry “white mob” to the Shepard’s home, saying that they and a group of “concerned citizens,” with assistance from the Pender County Sheriff’s Office, were looking for Timothy Kita’s adopted “mixed race” daughter, who “ran away from home” earlier that day.

In fact, despite Jordan Kita ’s appearance at the Shepards’ front door wearing his then New Hanover County Sheriff’s deputy uniform - complete with visible holstered service weapon - and another of the accompanying searchers, Austin Wood, carrying a visible “firearm on his shoulder”  or “some type of rifle” in front of the Shepard’s property, in their countersuit, the Kita’s admit that their group that night was “… involved in a “desperate search,” that caused the Kitas and their search party “…to be under duress and the condition of there minds was one of stress and anxiety…solely motivated by their desire to find [the missing child]...”

The Kitas assert that their conduct that evening “would not have resulted in any injury to any ordinary person,” despite later admitting in being involved in a “desperate search,” that caused the Kitas and their search party “…to be under duress and the condition of their minds was one of stress and anxiety…solely motivated by their desire to find [the missing child]...”

According to press accounts, the Kita search party late night “conduct” at the Shepard’s home was loud enough to wake the neighbors, who promptly called the Pender County Sheriff’s Dept.

The Kitas maintain that they were at the Shepard’s house “a very short time.”

They also deny being part of an “armed mob,” and “..assert that there was implied permission for persons to approach [the Shepard’s] home, and [they] posted no sign or notice forbidding entry to [their] property.” warning  of trespassing.

Legally, trespassing is invoke once a property owner demands that you leave immediately and you don’t, which the Shepards allege happened after 10 p.m on that Sunday night, May 3rd, 2020.

Interestingly, the Kitas admit that Dameon Shepard was “shouting” at them, yet they deny any “confrontation” with the Shepards several times in their countersuit, saying only that they had a “short conversation” with Monica Shepard before leaving to continue their search.

Denying any “confrontation” with Dameon Shepard, the first to answer the door, is critical to the Kitas countersuit, for it was his loud demands for Jordan Kita to get his foot out of the front door and go away that awakened his mother, Monica, and drew her to the disturbance at her home.

The Kitas maintain that all of their actions that evening were without racial malice or threat, even though they also admit to looking for a black teenager named “Josiyah” who they were erroneously told was harboring their young missing family member at the Shepards’ Avendale neighborhood address, and whom they also erroneously accused Dameon Shepard of being initially upon arriving at the Shepards’ home, according to the Shepards’ lawsuit.

In their countersuit, the Kitas claim to not know the race of  “Josiyah,” even though Dameon Shepard claims Jordan Kita immediately accused him of being Josiyah upon answering the door.

In fact, the Kitas’ countersuit says very little about ever speaking to Dameon Shepard at all, even though he was the first to answer the door upon the Kita “search group” arriving, and the first to insist that Jordan Kita allegedly stop trying to put his foot in the door as he demanded answers.

The Kitas claim that attorneys for the Shepards and the media are using race as an aggravating factor because of the “political climate.”

As a result, the Kitas claim defamation, and seek damages and punitive damages of at least $25,000, and a trial by jury.

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                                                     AL ROKER

                                             JAMES MICHAEL TYLER

BLACK MEN OVER 40, BEWARE 

OF PROSTATE CANCER

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

If you’re a Black male over the age of 40, this story could save your life.

This week, the public learned of the plight of a white actor who used to appear on the popular NBC-TV sitcom “Friends.” The actor, James Michael Tyler, 59, who portrayed the character “Gunther,” revealed that he is suffering from stage four prostate cancer, and is no longer able to walk.

"I've been dealing with that diagnosis for almost the past three years,” Tyler told NBC’s Today Show. "It's stage 4 [now], late-stage cancer, so eventually, it's gonna probably get me."

The cancer from James’ enlarged prostate has created lesions in his body that have eaten away at his bones and spinal column, making him unable to ever walk again.

Ironically, it was on the Today Show where that program’s iconic black weatherman, Al Roker, 66, announced last November that he was taking a leave of absence to have necessary prostate cancer surgery, because during a routine health checkup that he almost skipped, it was detected that he had a “little aggressive” form of prostate cancer that if caught early (by removing his enlarged prostate), could be neutralized.

“This one was kind of just a weird feeling that nobody can outwardly see anything different about me,” Roker later said. “I looked in the mirror, there was nothing outwardly different. But I knew there was something intrinsically, inherently, internally different.”

Roker’s prostate cancer was indeed caught early, unlike James Michael Tyler’s, and he has since returned to work as the nation’s premiere weather forecaster.

Finally, there is a heretofore unidentified 65-year-old African-American male living here in North Carolina who we’ll call “Jake.”

Just a few months ago, Jake found himself waking up with tremendous pain on his left side, and that pain would spread. He finally went to an orthopedic doctor to find out what was wrong, had x-rays taken, but nothing was determined, so Jake was given medicine for the pain.

Soon after, Jake went in for a routine checkup with his primary physician, who discovered that he had lost a significant amount of weight since November 2020, his last visit. She had a blood test done, and specifically a PSA, or prostate specific antigen test.

“Prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, is a protein produced by normal, as well as malignant, cells of the prostate gland. The PSA test measures the level of PSA in a man’s blood,” according to the National Cancer Institute.

Though there is some current debate in the medical community, men (women do not have prostates) with PSA levels between 1.0 ng/ml and 4.0 ng/ml are generally believed to not have prostate cancer. Men with higher PSA levels are believed to be more at risk.

Jake’s PSA level was over 2,000, and a subsequent biopsy at a local urologist confirmed the presence of prostate cancer.

But what was the source of the pain in James’ side?

Late one Saturday evening, he recalls, James was watching television, and right before he went to bed, he felt his chest and back virually explode in pain. Nothing he did or took could relieve it. His wife rushed him to the local emergency room, where a  more precise MRI was taken.

The MRI revealed that deep lesions had taken hold of Jake’s spine and bones, causing the tremendous pain he was suffering. A visit to an oncologist (cancer doctor) and full body scan confirmed it, and now Jake is under testament for stage four prostate cancer for the rest of his life.

He has to take a chemotherapy drug every day that kills his testosterone (necessary to deplete cancer cells, doctors say), and receive two shots monthly to replenish his bones, in addition to taking daily calcium and Vitamin D supplements.

“I don’t know how much longer I have to live, but I’ve accepted the fact that I probably won’t see my 70th birthday,” Jake now says.

The following is literally true, though doctors admittedly don’t know the reason why - black men are more likely the other men to develop prostate cancer. Therefore, it is important that black men age 40 and over routine have a PSA test done annually. Early detection is the surest way to cure prostate cancer. 

However, doctors have agreed, detecting it too late means that there is no cure. Prostate cancer is more likely in older and non-Hispanic black men. Average age for diagnosis is 65.

Other famous men have been diagnosed with prostate cancer - golfer Arnold Palmer (deceased); singer/activist Harry Belafonte; South African President Nelson Mandela (deceased) and former US. Sec. of State Colin Powell.

Be safe, black men. Have annual blood tests, and make PSA testing a required part of the examination. 

Until medical science finds a cure, prevention for black men IS the only cure for prostate cancer.

For more information, call the American Cancer Society helpline at 800-227-2345.

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STATE NEWS BRIEFS FOR 06-24-21

NIKOLE HANNAH-JONES SAYS “NO”

UNLESS UNC TENURE IS GIVEN

[CHAPEL HILL] NY Times Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones will not take her new job at UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media on July 1st unless she is given tenure, according to a letter from her attorneys quoted in current press reports. That letter was shared with UNC - Chapel Hill Trustee Board members Tuesday afternoon. Depending on how the trustee board reacts, the next show to drop could be a promised discrimination lawsuit from Hannah-Jones. Sources close to the board said she is being denied due to her award winning work on The 1619 Project.

REPUBLICANS DO NOT FUND STATE CAPITOL BLACK HISTORY PROJECT IN LATEST BUDGET PROPOSAL

[RALEIGH] Call it spite, but Republican budgetwriters area now refusing to fund $2.5 million to the much heralded state capitol Black history project, meaning that unless the funding is forthcoming, there will be no monuments honoring Black history on the state capitol grounds. The project has been in the planning for several years, an ben Gov. Cooper had the funding in his proposed budget. Head GOP Senate budgetwriter Sen.Brent Jackson told the News and Observer that given the several confederate monuments have been taken down in recent years, “We felt like this was not the time to put something back up there of any type.” Sen. Gladys Robinson, Black Democrat from Guilford County said, “ Really? That’s an insult.” 

The funding could re-emerge when the final House and Senate budget is debated and passed in several weeks.

McCRAE DOWLESS PLEADS GUILTY IN ABSENTEE BALLOT SCHEME

[GREENVILLE] The central figure in the 2018 Bladen County absentee ballot scandal that made national news pled guilty Monday in federal court to two of four charges stemming from Social Security fraud, 

Minutes before h was scheduled to go on trial, McCrae Dowless copped a plea that also has him paying back up to $14,000 in stolen disability payments. Sentencing is set for August 23rd.

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THE CASH STUFF FOR 06-17-21

                                                                       IAN CAMPBELL

“RACIST” LATTA PLANTATION EVENT

DENOUNCED IN CHARLOTTE

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

An inexplicable “racist” event at the Historic Latta Plantation near Charlotte has been canceled for this Saturday, June 19th, “Juneteenth” because it commemorated defeated Confederate “white refugees” instead of the emancipation of black slaves of African descent across the country.

“Kingdom Coming” was supposed to be a $25.00 per person event this Saturday at 7 p.m., but was cancelled after strong backlash to it’s promoted purpose.

“Mecklenburg County has zero tolerance for programs that do not embrace equity and diversity,” stated the county in a statement last week about the Huntersville event. “Park and Recreation was not aware of the planned event at Latta Nature Preserve until it appeared on social media.We immediately reached out to the organizers and the event was canceled. As a result of this incident, Mecklenburg County is looking at its contract with the facility vendor regarding future programming.”

Even the Queen City’s black mayor, Vi Lyles, turns thumbs down on the event.

“We should not support any business or organization that does not respect equality, history, and the truth of the African-American people’s journey to freedom,” Mayor Lyles said on Twitter Friday. “Despite intent, words matter. And the Historic Latta Plantation should know better.” “Juneteenth,” Lyles continued, “should be celebrated and honored in the most humble way possible, with laser focus on the perspective of the inhumane treatment of an enslaved people.”

According to it’s website, the nonprofit Historic Latta Plantation “…is a circa 1800 living history museum and farm located near Charlotte, NC. Throughout the year, Historic Latta Plantation offers educational and school programs featuring animals, workshops, camps, and reenactments.”

“The plantation house along with a carriage barn, cabins, and outbuildings, give visitors a glimpse into 19th century life in the Carolina backcountry.”

Present day, the Historic Latta Planation serves as a site for weddings, corporate meetings, etc. A look through the page of it’s website show a predominance of storytelling through a white perspective regarding the Revolutionary and Civil Wars.

In the online promo for “Kingdom Coming,” it stated,  You will hear stories from the massa himself who is now living in the woods.  Federal troops (Yankees) have him on the run and his former bondsmen have occupied his home and are now living high on the hog.  Hear how they feel about being freedmen.  The overseer is now out of a job.  What will he do now that he has no one to oversee from can see to can’t see?  White refugees have been displaced and have a story to tell as well.  Confederate soldiers who will be heading home express their feelings about the downfall of the Confederacy.  

Critics have slammed the promo for referring to former slaves as “former bondsmen” and white slaveowners as “white refugees.”

And yet, on it’s Facebook page, some whites are the ones critical of the Latta Plantation’s programming.

“This place is disgusting and promotes hatred and racism. Pure evil!, posted a woman named “Valerie.”

“Horrific experience and horrific programming,” posted “Kaitlin,” while “Leo” wrote, “That Latta white washes history is an understatement. As  Charlotte native this place has always had issues with interpretation but the recent unapologetic, overt racism is over the top.”

The “new” site manager for the Historic Latta Plantation, Ian Campbell, issued a statement about the now cancelled “Kingdom Coming” event on the plantation’s website.

Identifying himself as “…an American man of African descent …,”Campbell, writes, “ The program “Kingdom Coming” was created by  myself, with the help of others. I, Ian Campbell, Site Manager of Historic Latta  Plantation take full responsibility for its content entirely! To the masses on social  media and politicians, no apology will be given for bringing a unique program to  educate the public about former slaves becoming FREE!”

Campbell continued, “ The Confederacy will never be glorified, white supremacy will never be glorified,  plantation owners, white refugees or overseers will never be glorified. What will be  commemorated is the story of our people who overcame being snatched from their  loved ones in Mother Africa and taken to a new and strange land. To work from can  see to can’t see from birth to death. The fact that they survived and we are here and  continue to thrive and prosper will be glorified.”

“To tell the story of these freedmen would be pointless if the  stories of others were not included,” the site manage continued. ‘Many of you may not like this but, their lives  were intertwined, the stories of massa, the Confederate soldiers, the overseer, the  displaced white families. How would we know how the enslaved became free or  what their lives were like before freedom came? It didn’t happen with the stroke of a  pen. Federal troops came across many of these plantations to enforce federal laws and  many of the owners fled.”

Campbell later lashed out at his critics.

“I by no means will let this  deter me and the vision of lifting the veil of ignorance. The event was canceled due to  security concerns for volunteers and staff. The media’s corps of yellow journalist had  a perfect opportunity to educate, however, they chose to whip the public into a frenzy,  it worked….

 It was not until after the social media frenzy that Latta received numerous emails  and phone calls about the event. I also received a phone call from Vi Lyles, the mayor  of Charlotte. As long as I have been at Historic Latta Plantation as a volunteer, then as  a part-time employee, then as the education coordinator, then as the interpretive farm  manager, then as site manager, I have never seen Vi Lyles, the Mayor of the great city  of Charlotte visit our site or any other influential and prominent government officials.  The same applies to NPR, WBTV, the Charlotte observer et al. 

In closing, my job will be to continue to educate. Historic Latta Plantation’s  narrative will be to give a voice to our ancestors enslaved and as freedmen who were  denied a voice. We will speak for them in a compassionate, accurate, and sensitive  manner,” Ian Campbell concluded.

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                                             NIKOLE HANNAH-JONES

WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT IN THE 

NIKOLE HANNAH-JONES VS.UNC

DENIED TENURE DRAMA?

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

It’s been two weeks now since the UNC at Chapel Hill Trustee Board was given the ultimatum by attorneys for award-winning New York Times journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones to either give her tenure with their offer of employment at the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media, or else face a massive discrimination lawsuit.

But thus far, nothing has happen. The board has not formally met to consider the ultimatum, and as of press time Monday, no lawsuit on Hannah-Jones’ behalf has been filed.

Is there an unforeseen stalemate underway, or are attorneys for Hannah-Jones just cooling their heels while they gather as much legal firepower by way of emails, statistics and research necessary to prove beyond doubt that the reason why Hannah-Jones, who was hired to be the new Knight Chair in Race and Investigative Journalism, did not receive tenure as part of her employment package was because of political pressure wielded by right-wing conservatives on the UNC-Chapel Trustee Board because of her prior controversial, yet much much-heralded work on the NY Times 1619 Project, the 2019 long-form expose that documented how the cruel institution of American slavery signaled the true birth of the United States.

Many Republicans and conservatives - including former Pres. Donald Trump and NC Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson - have denounced the 1619 Project, claiming that it unfairly and inaccurately portrays US history as being undergirded by racism, instead of unbridled patriotism and honor.

Laws here in North Carolina, and across the country, have been either introduced or ratified prohibiting the teaching of any American or state history employing the 1619 Project.

The controversy involving Hannah-Jones and UNC-Chapel Hill is seen as a major embarrassment for the UNC System’s flagship school. There are reports that of the many professors and associate professors teaching at the university, African-American professors hold the fewest number of tenured positions.

There are also reports that at least one heralded black chemistry professor from the University of Maryland in recent weeks turned down an offer to teach at UNC- Chapel because of the Hannah-Jones controversy. Meanwhile, there are other reports citing sources stating that black professors already at UNC-Chapel Hill are anxious to leave and teach elsewhere, feeling that the right-leaning board is too politicized to be trusted.

Hannah-Jones’ five-year term at UNC Hussman School is scheduled to officially begin on July 1st. The trustee board is expected to turnover with new members in July.

Whether attorneys for Hannah-Jones, who are reportedly speaking with UNC attorneys currently, are willing to wait until next month to either give the board the chance to resolve the issue, or go forward with their lawsuit, remains to be seen.

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STATE NEWS BRIEFS FOR 06-17-21

NC ABOUT TO GET POST-PANDEMIC REVENUE WINDFALL

[RALEIGH] Hard to believe, but North Carolina will be far from broke after the COVID-19 pandemic continues to subside. In fact, economists say, expect an additional $6.5 billion revenue windfall over the next two years for state government from revenue collections. That means Gov. Cooper and Republican legislative leaders will have important decisions to make about state employee raises, tax custard other spending and saving priorities.

WHITE HOUSE SENDS AIDES TO RALEIGH TO BOOST VACCINATION RATE

[RALEIGH] In an effort to help boost COVID-19 vaccination numbers by the Fourth of July, the White House sent top aides to Raleigh this week to push for a 70% percent goal. Pres. Biden is aiming for t least 70% of adults to have received at least one shot by that time. At present pace, North Carolina will have 57 percent of it’s adult population inoculated by the. Experts say it will take five more months for NC to reach Biden’s goal.

CARY MAKES JUNETEENTH A PAID HOLIDAY

[CARY] Two years ago, the town of Cary commemorated Juneteenth with a celebration, but this year it will be a paid holiday for town employees. The Town Council officially added Juneteenth to it’s list of paid holidays last month. As many African-Americans know, Juneteenth commemorates that day in 1865 when enslaved black people were finally told in 1865 that the Civil War was over, and press. Abraham Lincoln had signed the emancipation Proclamation two and a half years earlier. Cary joins Raleigh, Durham, Carrboro, Greensboro, Hillsborough and Chapel Hill in making Juneteenth a paid holiday. The state does not recognize it yet.

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THE CASH STUFF FOR JUNE 10, 2021

                                                    FREDERICK RODRIQUEZ COX, JR.

                                                                 TENICKA SHANNON

MOTHER OF POLICE 

SHOOTING VICTIM

DENOUNCES GRAND

JURY DECISION

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

The mother of another fatal police shooting victim in North Carolina blasted a grand jury’s June 1st decision not to indict the off-duty, plainclothes Davidson County sheriff’s detective responsible.

“I was shocked…devastated and let down…,” Tenicka Shannon of High Point said as she vowed that justice will be done in the death of her son, Frederick Rodriquez Cox Jr., 18, last November at a High Point church. 

“My son was murdered in a church by a detective!”

Cox was one of many mourners attending the funeral of a teenage murder victim at Living Water Baptist Church on November 8th. After the service ended and the congregation was leaving, a car drove by the church firing shots. Ms. Shannon says her son was heroically opening the door of the church to allow people back in for safety, when the detective opened fire, fatally hitting him four times, twice in the back, according to a subsequent autopsy report.

“He was shot in the back of the neck, which was the fatal shot,” Ms. Shannon confirmed.

It took seven months for the Guilford County District Attorney’s Office to present it’s evidence to a grand jury on Tuesday, June 1st after a questionable probe by the State Bureau of Investigation. 

According to a release by the Guilford County District Attorney’s Office, a majority of the 18-member grand jury, citing insufficient evidence to support criminal charges,  determined that there was no probable cause to sustain a charge (or true bill) of either voluntary manslaughter, or felony assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury.

Last January, the SBI released a preliminary report alleging that “The deputy “observed Cox with a handgun at the time (the deputy) discharged his weapon and other witnesses observed a handgun near Cox after he was shot.”

But in it’s release last week, the Guilford County District Attorney’s Office said, “There was no evidence presented that Cox Jr. was in a gang or that he discharged a weapon,” meaning, as far as many of the witnesses and Cox’s mother is concerned, there was no reason for the plainclothes deputy to fire his weapon at the young man.

“It is a true murderer that’s walking the streets that holds a badge, and does not know [when] to fire his service weapon,” Ms. Shannon said.

“It’s sad and it’s scary.” 

Thus, Ms. Shannon assured that a wrongful death suit is forthcoming, and she will be represented by civil rights attorneys Benjamin Crump, the so-called “attorney general for Black America” because of his advocacy for the families of Black police victims, and atty. Antonio Romanucci.

“This shameful lack of accountability is something we see all too often when young Black men are unjustifiably gunned down by officers,” Crump and Romanucci said in a statement. “Fred Cox was attempting to help his community, already in the midst of grieving the loss of a loved one, when he was wrongly profiled by police and killed because of it. Law enforcement cannot continue to fire their weapons at Black people blindly and without consequence.”

The NC NAACP is supporting Ms Shannon, as is Rev. Gregory Drumwright of the activist group Justice 4 the Next Generation.

The fact that Fred Cox Jr. died trying to protect others is indicative of the kind of young man that he was, Tenicka Shannon says. Her son was mannerly, and “very protective of women,” she says. “I raised this young man by myself. My husband taught my son to open the door for women.”

Meanwhile, in the Anthony Brown Jr. police shooting case in Elizabeth City, representatives of the N.C. NAACP when to Washington, D.C.  last week and met with Asst. U.S. Attorney General Amy Solomon and the Civil Rights Division, delivering a letter requesting a “pattern and practice” investigation of law enforcement in the Pasquotank County region.

Rev. Dr. T. Anthony Spearman, president of the MC NAACP said that he and his group were “well received.”

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POLICE KILLED BLACKS TWICE 

A S MANY TIMES AS WHITES 

IN NC, SAYS REPORT

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

According to a new Harvard University project, African-Americans were twice as likely to be killed by police than whites in North C\arolina between 2013 and 2021.

Furthermore, the project, Mapping Police Violence (https://mappingpoliceviolence.org) a product of the Law Enforcement Demographic Survey and the Washington Post’s police shooting database, revealed that in North Carolina, from 2013 until now, there have been 249 deaths involving law enforcement officers, and rarely has anyone been held legally accountable, with officer prosecutions “extremely rare.”

To be clear, there is no official national database of police related deaths, but rather crowdsources and media compilations.

By the numbers, 35% of those deaths were African-Americans, while only 22% of North Carolina’s population is Black.

Only four officers were actually charged over that time period (three of the charges involved white victims, only one was Black), and 20% of the 94 reporting police departments and sheriff’s offices had staff of sworn officers who were all-white.

In deaths involving firearms, interestingly, the majority of Black victims were not trying to flee, according to the Washington Post.

The low rate of police prosecutions in North Carolina mirrors what is happening in the rest of the country, according to data compiled by researchers. Only 35 police officers were convicted of unjustified shootings nationally between between 2005 and 2019.

When the racial makeup of the police or sheriff’s department does not mirror the community which it is responsible for policing, studies show that use of force incidents go up, and this is especially true in North Carolina when white officers interact with Black citizens from agencies that are virtually all-white.

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STATE NEWS BRIEFS FOR 06-10-21

FEDERAL APPEALS COURT RULES STATE AG, NOT GOP,  SHOULD DEFEND VOTER ID LAW

[RICHMOND, VA.] The U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals this week ruled that NC state Attorney General Josh Stein, not attorneys hired by Republican legislative leaders in the NC General Assembly, will defend North Carolina’s voter ID law in court. GOP leaders felt strongly that Stein, a Democrat, would not fight vigorously to defend the 2018 law, but a majority of the 15-member federal appellate court disagreed. NCNAACP Pres. Rev. Dr. T. Anthony Spearnan hailed the decision, issuing a statement saying in part, “"We look forward to bringing our full case to trial in 2022 as we continue to challenge all racially discriminatory impediments to the right to vote in our state amid the rapidly unfolding national fight for our democracy.” 

LT. GOV. ROBINSON SAYS WOMEN WHO ARE RAPED MUST RAISE THE CHILD

[GREENVILLE] Black Republican NC Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson made headlines again last weekend at the NC Republican Parry Convention in Greenville when he made clear during a speech that he believed a woman who is raped is obligated to raise the resulting the child, saying that once a woman becomes pregnant, “..it’s not her body anymore.” Robinson added that his opposition to a woman’s legal right to choose is an issue he will not budge on.

GOP HOUSE AND SENATE LEADERS SAY TAX CUTS WILL BE BUDGET DEAL

[RALEIGH] Though a deal has not been reached yet, NC House and Senate Republicans say the budget they’re woking to hash out will have more tax cuts, and only have 3.45% in spending over their previous proposed spending plan. Reports say expect a deal  of no more than $25.7 billion annually for the next two years, beginning in July. That is less than the proposed $27.3 billion offered by Gov. Roy Cooper. Cooper’s proposal includes expansion of Medicaid, while the Republican legislative leaders’ plan doesn’t. 

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TH3 CASH STUFF FOR 06-03-21

 

                                                            NIKOLE HANNAH-JONES

ATTORNEYS FOR NICOLE

HANNAH-JONES DEMAND

TENURE RESOLUTION

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

Attorneys for heralded Black scholar and NY Times journalist Nicole Hannah-Jones have now drawn a line in the sand.

In a May 27th letter sent to General Counsel Charles Marshall, UNC-Chapel vice chancellor, the flagship school of the UNC System has until Friday, June 4th, to offer tenure to Hannah-Jones, or face a federal lawsuit.

The threat comes after Hannah-Jones - Pulitzer Prize winner for commentary in the controversial New York Times The 1619 Project - in addition to other prestigious awards, was denied the customary tenure offer to become a Knight chair at the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media.

In the May 27th letter from the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and the law firms of Levy Ratner, and Ferguson Chambers and Sumter, Hannah-Jones’ attorneys reveal the actual timeline of events leading up to the denial of tenure (otherwise known as lifetime employment).

If the allegations contained wherein are true, the UNC Board of Trustees may have a difficult time explaining why Hannah-Jones was treated differently the previous Knight Chairs.

According to the letter, “…every Knight Chair at UNC since 1980 has been granted tenure upon appointment, [and] many of whom, like Ms. Hannah-Jones, were practicing journalists at the time of their appointments.”

One of the keys to the dispute is that the offer was made to Hannah-Jones by the Hussman School late last year, and was scheduled for ratification by the UNC - Chapel Hill Trustee Board in November 2020.

The board met then, but never dealt with the matter, which was considered odd.

According to the four-page letter, up until that point, both the Hussman School’s review committee and faculty had unanimously recommended tenure for Hannah-Jones. A sign-off also came from UNC-Chapel Hill Provost Robert Blouin and Chancellor Kevin M. Guskiewicz.

Based on all of the above, by the time the November 2020 UNC Trustee Board meeting occurred, Hannah-Jones had already begun the process of securing a permanent residence in Chapel Hill, expecting to begin work at the university in January 2021.

No explanation as to why the UNC Trustee Board failed to approve Hannah-Jones’ tenure contract was given to her. When the UNC Trustee Board met again in January, and did not take up the issue, Hannah-Jones knew something was wrong.

“In late February 2021…,” the attorneys’ letter continues, “…Ms. Hannah-Jones was told that she would be offered a five-year contract instead of being granted tenure. Having already made significant personal and professional arrangements to join the UNC faculty in reliance upon the promise of tenure, and without a full understanding of the reasons for this major reversal, Ms. Hannah-Jones reluctantly accepted the fixed-term contract.”

“It is here where Hannah-Jones’ attorneys make the charge that the UNC Trustee Board “…was motivated by a desire to suppress her research, writing and speech related to the story and legacy of American slavery and its continuing ramifications in entrenched racial inequalities and racial injustices in America, as exemplified by the 1619 Project.”

After making it clear that UNC officials are legally prohibited from doing such, the attorneys add, “in taking an adverse employment action to chill Ms. Hannah-Jones’ expression of First Amendment protected speech, UNC has engaged in unlawful viewpoint discrimination…,” in addition to race-based employment discrimination and retaliation.

Ultimately, Hannah-Jones’ attorneys threaten a federal lawsuit to be filed on Friday, June 4th, if the UNC Trustees don’t replace the five-year fixed term offer with unconditional tenure.

There has been been no official reaction to the lawsuit threat by press time, and the board is not scheduled to meet before then.

There has been uniformed outrage from students and faculty at UNC-Chapel Hill over the alleged circumstances of Hannah-Jones’ hiring.  The outrage has been shared by journalists and celebrities across the nation. 

Political conservatives, especially in the NC General Assembly, all admit that they don’t support Hannah-Jones’ previous work, but they also hasten to add that they had nothing to do with denying her tenure.

Her attorneys are seeking all correspondence between state lawmakers and UNC Trustee Board members to see if that is true.

At least some negative emails about Hannah-Jones have been uncovered, and that’s from the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media’s namesake - Walter Hussman, conservative publisher of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, who donated $25 million to UNC- Chapel Hill previously. In several emails uncovered by The Assembly online magazine,  Hussman purportedly wrote to Hussman School top officials and at least one UNC Board of Trustees Board member,“I worry about the controversy of tying the UNC journalism school to the 1619 project,” in a late December email, later adding, “Based on [Hannah-Jones] own words, many will conclude she is trying to push an agenda, and they will assume she is manipulating historical facts to support it. If asked about it, I will have to be honest in saying I agree with the historians.”

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                                                   REP. ZACK HAWKINS

BILL TO GIVE HBCUS 

ADDITIONAL FUNDING

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

Once again there’s an effort to fully fund UNC System HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) through the NC General Assembly.

Sponsored by representatives Zack Hawkins (D-Durham), James Gaillaird (D-Nash) and Ricky Hurtado (D-Alamance), HB 966, if passed, is “AN ACT TO ALLOCATE ADDITIONAL FUNDS TO CONSTITUENT INSTITUTIONS IDENTIFIED AS HISTORICALLY MINORITY-SERVING INSTITUTIONS, TO ESTABLISH THE HISTORICALLY MINORITY-SERVING INSTITUTIONS ADVISORY BOARD, AND TO ADD CERTAIN INSTITUTIONS TO THE NORTH CAROLINA TEACHING FELLOWS PROGRAM.

The proposed bill identifies UNC System HBCUs as HMSIs (Historically Minority -Serving Institutions).

Accordingly, the bill states that because of “historical and continued inequality in funding provided to constituent institutions of the University of North Carolina HMSIs and to provide enhancement funding for the purpose of ensuring these institutions are comparable and competitive with other constituent institutions in all facets of their operations and programs, there there is appropriated from the General Fund to the Board of Governors of the University of North Carolina the sum of twenty million dollars in additional recurring funds to be allocated to each of the following constituent institutions for 10 fiscal years, beginning with the 2021-2022 fiscal year until the 2030-2031 fiscal year:

1) North Carolina Central University

2) North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University

3) Fayetteville State University

4) Winston-Salem State University

5)  Elizabeth City State University

6)  University of North Carolina at Pembroke

UNC-Pembroke serves primarily a Native American population.

        The bill goes on to state that the “…funds may be used for scholarships, faculty recruitment, course development and general operational support.

The proposed measure also establishes an HMSI Advisory Board made up of 17 members - Seven appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the state Senate, three of which shall be legislators; seven by the NC House Speaker; three appointed by the governor, with one of those designated as chair.

Nine of those appointed “…shall have attended or graduated from one of the historically minority-serving constituent institutions” of the UNC System.

The purpose of the HMSI Board will be to “…study strategies and actions that can be taken to increase the rate of enrollment, retention, and graduation…” of UNC System HMSIs, among other duties, and “…submit its preliminary findings and recommendations to the Board of Governors of the University of North Carolina and to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee no later than December 15, 2022, and shall submit a final report to the Board of Governors and the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee no later than March 15, 2023. The Board shall terminate on March 15, 2023, or upon the filing of its final report, whichever occurs first.”

The act would become effective July 1st, 2021, if enacted into law.

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STATE NEWS FOR 06-03-21

WAKE SCHOOL BOARD CHAIRMAN ALSO INTERIM WARREN COUNTY SUPT JULY 1

[RALEIGH] A former candidate for NC Supt. Of Public Instruction, and current chairman of the Wake County School Board, has added another moniker to his resume. As of July 1st, Keith Sutton will also be the interim superintendent of Warren County Public Schools. Sutton says he is willing to assume the post permanently if asked, and leave the Wake County Public School Board. Sutton adds that he wants to help Warren County Public schools transition out of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as focus on summer plans and focus on improving academic performance. 

Warren County Public Schools enroll 1700 students.

BLACK GOP LT. GOV. RECORDS MESSAGE FOR BANKRUPT NRA

[RALEIGH] Never mind that the nation is still experiencing mass shootings because of lax gun laws, and never mind that the National Rifle Association - the strongest gun lobby in the world - claims that it is virtually bankrupt, even though it’s leaders live lavishly off of members dues. The black Republican Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina, Mark Robinson, still saw fit to record a fundraising/membership video for the notorious NRA, where he compared efforts at gun control to Jim Crow laws, and “represent an effort rooted in racism that seeks to leave people of color “disarmed and defenseless.” Robinson added that white liberal “bigots” like  Nancy Pelosi and Pres. Joe Biden “work with the Klan to take guns away from Black Americans,” while the NRA “is fighting to arm” Blacks.

As always, there is little to no evidence proving what Lt. Gov. Robinson is alleging.

HURRICANE SEASON IS OFFICIALLY HERE

[WILMINGTON] As of Tuesday, June 1st, hurricane season for 2021 is officially underway, and ends Nov. 30th. At least 6 to 10 hurricanes are expected, with at least 3 to 5 of them become major storms with wind of 111 mph or higher. As always, pay attention to weather forecasts and breaking news tracking the storms s you and your family can get to safety safety.

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