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(313) 963-5522 e-mail:newsdesk@michronicle.com Nov. 25 - Dec. 1, 2015
Page B-4
HIRAM E. JACKSON Publisher
Quote of the Week:
CATHY NEDD Associate Publisher
“We do not owe allegiance to any candidate because they share our party or color, but because they share our principles and conscience.” — Benjamin Jealous
KEITH A. OWENS Senior Editor SAMUEL LOGAN Publisher 1933-2011
JOHN H. SENGSTACKE Chairman-Emeritus 1912-1997 LONGWORTH M. QUINN Publisher-Emeritus 1909-1989
National service for a just and equitable society By Adren O. Wilson, Ph.D. CEO OF PUBLIC ALLIES
Since its founding, our country has experienced continual, and often fundamental, changes in the makeup of our population. Right now is no exception. In the last 10 years, our largest cities have been growing at breakneck speed, while simultaneously becoming more diverse racially, ethnically and economically. A record 81 percent percent of Americans now live in cities, according to the latest U.S. Census. Today’s much-discussed Millennials — young adults 18 to 33 — not only live mostly in urban areas, but also represent Adren O. Wilson the most racially and ethnically diverse generation in American history, with nearly half being non-white. At Public Allies, we’ve seen our country’s population change from up close. Since 1992, we’ve partnered with AmeriCorps to train our growing population of diverse young adults through service and community partnerships in urban centers like Detroit, New York, Washington, DC, Los Angeles, Chicago and Raleigh. In working at the grassroots level in these communities, we find that opportunity and access to careers and higher education are not equally open to everyone. With alarming regularity, we encounter young people loaded with talent, skills and ambition who repeatedly find that the doors of opportunity are simply shut to them. Many of our cities’ young adults — our brothers and sisters — who face such inequity end up joining the statistics of the under-educated, unemployed and economically disadvantaged. What we have also found, however, is that national service is an effective and cost-efficient pathway to the very things we value and want more of in our
cities: good jobs, quality education and productive citizens. Our experience and new research show a strong connection between volunteerism and greater employment, civic engagement, educational attainment and economic well-being for young adults. A recent survey of Public Allies graduates showed that more than 90 percent of those who were disconnected from work and school when they enrolled in our program were either employed or in college within a year of program completion. The report, “Opportunity Nation and Measure of America, 2014,” shows the percent of young adults who are unemployed and out of school drops in half through the act of service and volunteering. This holds true especially for African American and Latino youth. Further research shows young adults who volunteer have a 27 percent greater chance of finding employment than non-volunteers, particularly for those with the lowest levels of education. It is for these reasons that we urge our community leaders to raise their voices to save funding for the Corporation for National and Community Service, which helps sustain programs like Public Allies and provides service opportunities to more than 80,000 young adults nationwide each year. Right now, the U.S. House and Senate are considering cuts that could cripple the organization -- either eliminating 20,000 AmeriCorps positions and other national service programs, or significantly diminishing the agency’s ability to continue its cost-effective investments in young Americans. As our cities grow larger and more diverse, we can no longer afford to overlook, dismiss, or ignore the promise and potential of so many who live in them. Justice and economics demand that we create more opportunities for young adults, and national service is a proven strategy. Public Allies operates an AmeriCorps program in 23 communities nationwide, and partners with hundreds of grassroots community organizations each year.
Demonizing ‘Black Lives Matter’ By George E. Curry NNPA COLUMNIST
Led by Fox News, conservatives are trying to discredit the #Black Lives Matter Movement by claiming incorrectly that it is a black hate group that encourages the killing of police officers. On an edition of “Fox & Friends,” Elizabeth Hasselbeck asked, “Why has the Black Lives movement — Black Lives Matter Movement — not been classified yet as a hate group? I mean, how much more George E. Curry has to go in this direction before someone actually labels it as such?” Conservative pundit Katie Pavlich, without a thread of evidence, told Fox’s Megyn Kelly on Sept. 2 that Black Lives Matter is “a movement that promotes the execution of police officers.” At a news conference on Aug. 30, the Harris County Sheriff Ron Hickman acknowledged that no motive had been established for the previous day’s fatal shooting of Deputy Sheriff Darren H. Goforth outside of Houston.
troubling number of unarmed African Americans killed by police officers. And for that, they should be commended, not condemned. Despite the highly-publicized killing of police officers in Texas and Illinois, the number of law enforcement officers killed over the first eight months of 2015 is 16 percent lower than it was over a similar period in 2014, according to FBI figures compiled by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. More officers – 38 – died this year in traffic-related incidents than by gunfire and another 21 died from other causes. Felony killings of law enforcement officers decreased by 50 percent from 1992 to 2013, from 10,000 to 5,000 annually. In an attempt to shift the emphasis from the unjustified police killing of unarmed African Americans, conservatives are raising the issue of so-called blackon-black crime – as if that’s an issue that truly concerns them. Larry Elder, a black conservative, made the same point, the same day on the same network: “This is about people whining and bitching and moaning about nonsense. If they really want to talk about Black Lives Matter, the fact is that last year 6,000 Black people murdered other Black people.
Where are they on that?
But that did not prevent him from linking the brutal cop murder to the grassroots group dedicated to curtailing violence.
And the number one preventable cause of death for young black men is homicide at the hands of other Black men.”
He said, “This rhetoric has gotten out of control.” So much so, he said, “to the point where calculated, cold-blooded assassination of police officers happen. We’ve heard Black lives matter, all lives matter. Well, cops’ lives matter, too. So, how about we drop the qualifier and just say lives matter?”
If Elder and McKelway wanted to be accurate, they would have pointed out that just as most blacks kill other blacks, most whites kill other whites. Yet, there is no mention of white-onwhite crime.
Of course, there is not a scintilla of evidence that the Black Lives Matter movement has at any point remotely supported the killing of law enforcement officers.
It’s not just a matter of blacks killing blacks and whites killing whites. Most homicides are committed by people who know their victim. George E. Curry is editor-in-chief of the National Newspaper Publishers Association News Service (NNPA) and BlackPressUSA.com.
Stop the trivialization and preservation of slavery and racism Support Black Friday Boycott Rather, they have highlighted the
By Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. NNPA COLUMNIST
As one of the co-founders of the evolving environmental justice movement worldwide, I am always interested in how some people today who have amassed billionaire financial status view racism, slavery and the issues of diversity and inclusion. But first, let me state for the record, I believe in economic empowerment and freedom for all people. Especially for Benjamin Chavis people of African descent that have experienced centuries of oppression and economic injustice, we should be always aware of the challenges and responsibilities to advance the cause of freedom and human dignity. Usually the standard principles of preservation and conservation are used by people who are committed to caring for the protection of natural resources. Also, conservationists and preservationists are supposed to help people to enjoy and appreciate the magnificent bounty of all of creation. These are lofty terms. So how is it that there is a billionaire named Louis Moore Bacon who prides himself as a conservationist, but yet finds himself now at center of expanding allegations of racist actions in the Bahamas as well as in the United States? Why would a very successful businessman whose family was involved in the founding and funding of the Confederacy prior to, during, and after the Civil War take unprecedented steps to “preserve” and “conserve” former slave plantations? In fact, the National Audubon Society, one of the world’s leading conservation organizations, is now weighing an urgent request to strip New York hedge fund giant Louis Bacon of an Audubon Society award that he received in 2013 for his work in the Bahamas. Bacon had attempted to preserve a historic slave plantation in the Bahamas and the
Audubon Society originally thought that Bacon was up to something positive and good. But in a recent letter to Audubon CEO David Yarnold, famed civil rights and high-powered African American lawyer, William H. “Billy” Murphy Jr., has challenged the Audubon Society and demanded that the unjustified award to Bacon be rescinded. Attorney Murphy represents Vivian Whylly, a 53-year-old native Bahamian of African descent whose ancestors were brought to Bahamas in slave ships and then worked and died as slaves on the former Whylly Plantation at Clifton Point. A relevant note is that Murphy also successfully represented the family of Freddie Gray this year after Gray died horrifically in Baltimore City police custody. According to Murphy, Bacon misrepresented the facts in getting the award and he also made racist comments in his acceptance speech at the Audubon ceremony. Allegedly Bacon went so far as to praise the slave-justifying novel “Gone with the Wind” as his “holy book.” “It was Mr. Whylly and a handful of other local activists who spearheaded the 1999 movement to turn the plantation into a heritage park,” Murphy wrote in his letter. The truth is that many Bahamians took to the streets back in 2013 to protest the Audubon’s actions concerning Bacon and his public proclivities to trivialize the legacy and horror of the slavery of African people. The Audubon Society should immediately rescind the award to Bacon and should itself repent for improperly vetting what was actually happening in the Bahamas. Yet there is the larger looming issue: Racism, slavery, injustice and inequality must be forever challenged. Each generation must rise to the occasion of advancing the cause for freedom, justice, equality and empowerment. No matter how much money someone may have, there is never a justification for the trivialization and preservation of slavery and racism. Dr. Benjamin Chavis, Jr. is president and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA).
By Kim Trent Speakers at the Justice or Else March commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Million Man March last month urged African Americans to send a loud message that Black lives – and dollars - matter by boycotting the rampant consumerism of the Christmas season this year. As we barrel toward Black Friday, how many of us have really considered the powerful message such a boycott could send? How many of us are even willing to sit out Kim Trent the first day of the Christmas season’s shopping frenzy to demonstrate our collective economic strength? There is little doubt that even as Black lives are under siege, Black consumerism is a powerful force. Last year, amid the birth of the Black Lives Matter movement, there was a push to boycott Black Friday in honor of the Black victims who lost their lives in questionable encounters with the police. While it is hard to quantify the impact of that boycott, Black Friday sales indeed dipped in 2014. And Black buying power is estimated as high as $1.1 trillion, a number American retailers can’t afford to ignore. A Black Friday devoid of Black money could demonstrate that we not only understand our buying power but that we’re smart enough to leverage it in a way that makes America pay attention. And beyond the powerful message a Black dollar-less Black Friday could send to big box retailers, department stores and mall outlets, just think of how impressive it would it be for Black Americans to instead strategically spend our dollars that day. How about a real Black Friday, where Black people spend their Black dollars supporting Black causes and Black businesses? As a leader of an effort to raise millions of dollars to process Detroit’s abandoned rape kits, I have found that Black entrepreneurs and institutions have been among our campaign’s most
ardent and consistent supporters. Our campaign’s logo was designed by a local African American graphic artist – Elena Farmer. Our website was created by web designer Sandra James. Campaign co-chair Darci McConnell is one of Detroit’s most trusted public relations professionals and her firm, McConnell Communications, has gained our effort extensive local and national exposure. Two Black spa owners – Cheryl Hudson of Woodhouse Spa in Detroit and Tracey Sanders of Lavender Mobile Spa - held fundraisers for our campaign. Black restauranteur Jai Lee Dearing has opened his Grosse Pointe establishments – Rockefellers and Bootleggers Pig and Whiskey- to us for fundraisers. Black media outlets like the Michigan Chronicle have consistently published stories about our campaign’s progress. Black and woman-owned distillery Our/ Detroit and the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History have partnered with us on an effort to raise money and awareness for our campaign. And Black social justice organizations like the Detroit and Grosse Pointe branches of the NAACP have partnered with us on upcoming fundraisers. What if instead of standing in line to buy toys that will get used for only one day, Black parents bought their children an NAACP membership or a subscription to The Michigan Chronicle on Black Friday? How about a Black Friday donation to a struggling historically Black college or university or the Wright Museum? Or a gift certificate to a Blackowned spa? And at the risk of appearing nakedly opportunistic, might I suggest a tax-deductible donation to the Enough SAID African American 490 Challenge? You’ll have great satisfaction knowing you spent your Black dollars to help Black women get justice on Black Friday! Although lots of African Americans will continue to line up for Black Friday deals, imagine the change we could effect if we used our resources to instead invest in ourselves that day. Kim Trent is a Detroit-based writer and activist and co-chair of the Enough SAID African American 490 Challenge, an effort to raise $657,090 to process 1,341 abandoned rape kits in Detroit. Donations to the campaign can be made at www.aa490challenge.org