September 13, 2014 - September 13, 2014, www.afro.com
Volume 123 No. 6
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The Afro-American
SEPTEMBER 13, 2014 - SEPTEMBER 19, 2014
Ravens Fire Rice
Md. National Guard Operates in the Red By Zenitha Prince Senior AFRO Correspondent Drills for soldiers in the Maryland National Guard and other units across the country have come to a screeching halt due to an unforeseen budget deficit. Officials at the National Guard Bureau have identified a $101 million shortfall of federal funds, and they say, if Congress does not find a way to close the gap, training
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By Zenitha Prince Senior AFRO Correspondent The Baltimore Ravens fired Ray Rice Sept. 8 after the emergence of additional video showing the running back punching his then-fiancée in an Atlantic City casino elevator on Feb. 15. The Ravens threw their support behind Rice when the incident became public earlier in the year. But the surveillance footage released by TMZ Sports early Monday morning, which shows graphic details of the domestic violence incident between Rice and his now-wife Janay Palmer, undercut that support. In the one-minute-plus video, Rice and Palmer enter the hotel elevator and appear to be involved in an argument, which quickly turned physical. Rice appears to hit Palmer with a left cross to the face, knocking her out cold. He then stands over her unconscious body and drags her out when the elevator doors open. The video spurred outrage within the NFL and beyond, leniency given to Rice by law enforcement and the Continued on A3
schedules will be disrupted. Brig. Gen. Linda Singh, Army commander for the Maryland National Guard, said the Bureau started off at a financial disadvantage. “The challenge is we started—like most government agencies in general—with a shortfall
higher training attendance, have all contributed to higherthan-normal expenditure rates across the Army National Guard,” said Lt. Col. Robert L. Ditchey II, a spokesman for the Army National Guard, in a statement. In Maryland, training for about 3,700 out of about 4,700 soldiers will be shelved in September to bridge a $1.5 million budget gap, Gen. Singh said. Those who are Brig. Gen. Linda Singh preparing for deployment because of sequestration,” or have just returned from a she said. tour—like the 150 members Then, she added, there of the 1229th Transportation was a “miscalculation,” at Company, who returned the national level, of the from their nearly yearlong number of soldiers who were deployment to Afghanistan deployed versus those who over the weekend—will not were on drilling status. A be affected. higher number of recruits than But the decision has anticipated also tipped the ramifications at the individual scales. and institutional level, Singh “Fewer mobilizations, said. shortened deployments, and Continued on A3
“The challenge is we started— like most government agencies in general—with a shortfall because of sequestration.” –
Black Lawyers to Challenge Police Brutality in 25 Cities By Freddie Allen NNPA Senior Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON (NNPA) – In an effort to combat police brutality in the Black community, the National Bar Association (NBA) recently announced plans to file open records requests in 25 cities to study allegations of police misconduct. Pamela Meanes, president of the Black lawyers and judges group, said the NBA had already been making plans for a nationwide campaign to fight police brutality when Michael Brown, an unarmed Black teenager was shot and killed by Darren Wilson, a White police officer following a
controversial midday confrontation in a Ferguson, Mo. Meanes called police brutality the new civil rights issue of this era, an issue that disproportionately impacts the Black community. “If we don’t see this issue and if we don’t at the National Bar Association do the legal things that are necessary to bring this issue to the forefront, then we are not carrying out our mission, which is to protect the civil and political entities of all,” said Meanes. The NBA, which describes itself as “the nation’s oldest and largest national network of predominantly AfricanAmerican attorneys and judges,” selected the 25 cities based on their
Dr. Jazz at Jericho
National Bar Association President Pamela J. Meanes
African-American populations and reported incidents of police brutality. The lawyers group will file open records requests in Birmingham, Ala.; Little Rock, Ark.; Phoenix; Los Angeles; San Jose, Calif., Washington, D.C.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Miami; Atlanta; Chicago; Louisville, Ky.; Baltimore, Md.; Detroit; Mich.; Kansas City, Mo.; St. Louis, Mo.; Charlotte, N.C.; Las Vegas, Nev.; New York City; Cleveland, Ohio; Memphis, Tenn., Philadelphia; Dallas; Houston; San Antonio, Texas, and Milwaukee, Wis. In a press release about the open records requests, the group said it will
Continued on A3
Baltimore Community Has ‘Ferguson’ Discussion at Town Hall Meeting
By Zenitha Prince Senior AFRO Correspondent
Part two of a two-part feature
By Roberto Alejandro Special to the AFRO
In 1997, Temple University history professor Bettye Collier-Thomas published Daughters of Thunder: Black Women Preachers and Their Sermons, a groundbreaking examination of the contributions of AfricanAmerican women preachers to the church. Modern-day “Daughter of Thunder,” the Rev. Dr. Jasmin Sculark, said reading that text helped her understand her ministerial birthright, similar to what she inherited from the Apostle Betty Peebles at Jericho City of Praise, where she was recently inducted as senior pastor. “When I studied that book, when I looked at all those women, I realized that I am part of a rich legacy,” Sculark said in an interview with the
In the light of the recent events in Ferguson, Mo., the killing of unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown by a police officer, Baltimore residents gathered, Sept. 9, in a town hall meeting titled ‘Now what Baltimore?’ to discuss ways relations between police officers and community members might be improved. Held at the Empowerment Temple in northwest Baltimore, and attended by Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings, and a slew of community activists and leaders, the meeting raised the issue of the Law Enforcement Officer’s Bill of Rights and the need for an ongoing dialogue concerning public safety. For the Rev. Dr. Heber Brown III, community activist and pastor of Pleasant Hope Baptist Church, the biggest takeaways from the meeting were the need to reform the Law Enforcement Officer’s Bill of Rights in order to ensure greater
Photo by Rob Roberts
Bishop T. D. Jakes and Dr. Jasmin “Jazz” Sculark at her installation ceremony as new pastor of Jericho City of Praise. AFRO. “The Apostle Betty Peebles was a … ‘Mother of Thunder.’ She wrote books, broke the glass ceiling, she dared to go where no other man would have gone.” Though burdened by the deaths of her husband and two sons, Peebles built Jericho, based in Landover, Md., into a megachurch that counts among its assets a 10,000Continued on A5
Copyright © 2014 by the Afro-American Company
transparency and accountability, and the need for greater community oversight with respect to the Baltimore City police. Rev. Brown believes the current Civilian Review Board needs to be abolished, and replaced with local boards who have a direct relationship with the district commanders and who would be more accessible to residents looking to file complaints. “The great thing about that is we don’t have to wait to get permission from the city to do something like that,” said he said. “Local people can organize themselves right now, develop their own board . . . and contact the local district commanders and police officers, let them know the board has been established and that they’re going to receive regular reports from this board about what their officers are doing in the community.” The presumptive state delegate for Baltimore’s 40th district, Antonio Hayes, told the AFRO that he planned Continued on A5