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DECEMBER 14, 2013 - DECEMBER 20, 2013
Obama Praises Mandela State Trooper Diversity ‘Woefully Inadequate’ as ‘Great Liberator’ By Sean Yoes AFRO Contributing Writer
President Obama remembers Nelson Mandela at a memorial service on Dec. 10 in Soweto.
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December 14, 2013 - December 14, 2013, www.afro.com
Volume 122 No. 19
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By George E. Curry NNPA Editor-in-Chief SOWETO, South Africa (NNPA) – President Barack Obama described Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first Black elected president, as “the last great liberator of the 20th century” and thanked the grieving nation for sharing their beloved former leader with the rest of the world. Speaking Dec. 10 at a rain-soaked memorial service here attended by nearly 100 current and former international leaders, Obama said, “It is a singular honor to be with you today, to celebrate a life like no other. To the people of South Africa, people of every race
and walk of life – the world thanks you for sharing Nelson Mandela with us. His struggle was your struggle. His triumph was your triumph. Your dignity and your hope found expression in his life. And your freedom, your democracy is his cherished legacy.” Mandela died Dec. 5 at the age of 95 after a long illness. The memorial service kicked off a week of celebrations that will culminate Dec. 15 with his burial in his ancestral village of Qunu, in the Eastern Cape region. Flags are flying throughout the country at half-staff. Coincidentally, the memorial service fell on
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Black residents of Maryland are about 30 percent of the population, according to 2012 U.S. Census Bureau numbers—by far the largest population of color in the state. Yet, the ranks of Maryland State Troopers are just slightly more than 10 percent Black, a number that has been dwindling for more than a decade. According to state statistics, only 197 of the state’s 1,453 troopers are Black compared to 312 Black troopers out of 1,612 or about 20 percent in 2000. “There has been a decline in (Black) membership due to attrition however, the attrition has not been favorable… The members have not been retiring as much as they have been leaving for other reasons, i.e. resignations and looking for jobs in other locations,” said Rodney Morris, president of the Coalition of Black Maryland State Troopers. Morris, who retired from the department after 25 years of service, has been president of the Coalition since 2011. He said many Black troopers feel alienated within their own ranks
for several reasons. “There is a non-inclusive feeling (among Blacks) within the department,” he said. “The Maryland State Police is not a Democraticled organization. You have a lot of Western Maryland and Eastern Shore… residents generally running the operation…and their ideology is not always consistent with the Governor’s office. They have a policy of diversity, but it’s not being practiced.” Morris, who entered the department in 1986 says Blacks were aggressively recruited in the 1980’s, a sentiment echoed by Dr. Tyrone Powers, director of the Homeland Security and Criminal Justice Institute at Anne Arundel Community College. Powers, a former state trooper and FBI agent, was recruited directly out of high school in the early 1980’s by two Black state troopers and after he left the department was recruited by Black FBI agents, who convinced him to join their agency. Powers and other critics said state law enforcement’s efforts towards diversity in the 21st century are woefully inadequate. “Over the last 10 years, when the agency said they were going to increase recruitment of Continued on A3
Illinois Pastor, Grieving for Beloved Wife, Kills Self One Year after Her Sudden Death Shortly Follows Suicide Death of Macon, Ga. Pastor By Zachary Lester AFRO Staff Writer Pastor Edward Montgomery, a marriage counselor at Full Gospel Christian Assemblies International in Hazel Crest, Ill., allegedly shot himself inside his home Nov. 30. According to news accounts, his mother and son were present at his home at the time. Montgomery, 48, also a railroad conductor, had been mourning the death of his wife, Prophetess Jackie Montgomery, who died Dec. 6, 2012 of complications from an aneurism. The two were
reportedly extremely close. Jackie Montgomery, an ordained minister like her husband, partnered with him to oversee the assembly’s marriage ministry, said the Apostle Ron Wilson, Full Gospel’s senior pastor. Montgomery’s death follows by only 20 days the suicide of the Rev. Teddy Parker Jr., pastor of Bibb Mount Zion Baptist Church in Macon, Ga., on Nov. 10. Parker, who was married and had two
Medical Examiners Say Heart Failure Killed Tyrone West By Blair Adams AFRO Staff Writer Tyrone West died from heart failure—“cardiac arrhythmia due to cardiac conduction system abnormality complicated by dehydration”-- during police restraint, according to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME). Those were the words used by the doctors to describe West’s death in a just-released finding about the outcome of a violent encounter between the man and several police officers in Northwest Baltimore. City prosecutors released the cause and manner of death on Dec. 10, 155 days after West, 44, died in a July confrontation with police. “The manner of death could not be determined because of an inability to determine the absolute relative contribution of each of the described
factors that caused Mr. West’s death,” in a statement issued by the medical examiners. She said it is still unclear whether the use of the taser, the pepper spray or the beatings was the primary cause of death. “What killed him?” she said. The medical examiners admitted they were unclear about the source of trauma that triggered death. Five months later, the family has answers, but they remain outraged and have no sense of closure. “I’m not satisfied with how long this took and everything wasn’t included in the autopsy report,” Towanda West, West’s sister told the AFRO. “It’s misleading information, like my brother had a medical condition—which he didn’t have, my brother was healthy. They beat my brother to death.” Continued on A3
Jackie and Edward Montgomery
daughters, killed himself on a Sunday morning as his family and congregation waited for him to go to church to preach. Wilson said media reports that Edward Montgomery told people he had been hearing his wife speak to him and hearing her footsteps were unsubstantiated. He said the couple’s daughter, Mikia, 27, to whom the comments were attributed, denied making them. Continued on A3
Health Officials Provide Update on Maryland Health Exchange By AFRO Staff Maryland Lt. Governor Anthony G. Brown held a news conference Dec. 10 to update Maryland residents on the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange, including staffing and technology changes to improve the system, according to a statement released by his office. “Our #1 focus—our most urgent priority—is doing everything possible to make sure that Marylanders can sign up for affordable health care and get access to the benefits their families need,” Brown said. “As we move forward, that’s going to remain our focus.
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That’s why the governor and I have made changes by restructuring the Exchange’s leadership and bringing in additional resources.” Exchange interim Executive Director Carolyn Quattrocki said she has met with Maryland Health Benefit Exchange staff. “They, along with our IT teams,
vendors, consumer assistance professionals, brokers and other partners, are acutely aware that this is an all-hands-on-deck operation,” Quattrocki said. “Since the launch on Continued on A3