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October 18, 2012

  • The NorthStar’s Week in Black History

    The NorthStar’s Week in Black History October 19 through October 25 October 19 1949 ----- Peter Tosh, given name Winston Hubert McIntosh, reggae singer-songwriter, musician and founding member of The Wailers, was born in Grange Hill, Jamaica.  As both a member of a band and as a solo performer, he brought international attention to reggae music.  A political activist as well as a performer, Tosh was dubbed "the Malcolm X of reggae music." Tosh was raised by an aunt and learned to play guitar at an early age, imitating perfectly guitarists he saw perform.

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  • Activists Attend Ceremony in France Naming Street for Mumia Abu-Jamal

    Activists Attend Ceremony in France Naming Street for Mumia Abu-Jamal by Linn Washington, Jr. Bobigny, France – Native American activist Bill “Jimbo” Simmons was among the 100-plus people attending a Saturday ceremony naming a street honoring imprisoned African-American activist/journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal in this city located six miles from the center of Paris.

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  • Black Detroit Homeowners Sue Morgan Stanley Over Mortgages

    Black Detroit Homeowners Sue Morgan Stanley Over Mortgages by Frederick H. Lowe Five African-American homeowners on Monday sued the investment banking firm Morgan Stanley, charging that the company encouraged one of the nation’s worst subprime lenders to issue mortgages to borrowers who were certain to default because of the loans’ high debt-to-income ratio.

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  • Highest Court Clears the Way for Early Voting for All in Ohio

    Highest Court Clears the Way for Early Voting for All in Ohio The United States Supreme Court on Tuesday boosted early voting in Ohio ahead of the Nov.

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  • Federal Judges Clear S.C. Photo-ID Law But Not for 2012

    Federal Judges Clear S.C. Photo-ID Law But Not for 2012 A three-judge federal panel has approved South Carolina’s new voter-ID law, but not for the 2012 presidential election.

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  • Andrew F. Brimmer Dies

    Andrew F. Brimmer Dies He was the first African American on the Federal Reserve Board Andrew F. Brimmer, the first African American to serve on the Federal Reserve Board, has died. Dr.

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  • National Baptist Voter Push Criticized as Mediocre

    National Baptist Voter Push Criticized as Mediocre by Maynard Eaton and Carrie L. Williams ATLANTA (TriceEdneyWire.com) --- Despite the fervent tones and solemn faces of the nation’s highest-ranking black Baptist leaders as they preached the importance of voting on Election Day, Nov.

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  • Blacks Must Use Economic Might

    Blacks Must Use Economic Might by A. Peter Bailey (TriceEdneyWire.com) --- Now that the end of the presidential campaign is nearly upon us, it is time to state once again that when it comes to promoting and protecting our individual and group interests in this country, we, as black people, have an extremely powerful -- not influential -- but powerful weapon that we don’t use effectively.

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  • Health Care is a Civil Right

    Health Care is a Civil Right by Julianne Malveaux (TriceEdneyWire.com) --- Our Constitution offers us “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," but we can’t pursue anything if we are unhealthy.

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  • Statue of Civil-Rights Icon Fannie Lou Hamer Unveiled

    Statue of Civil-Rights Icon Fannie Lou Hamer Unveiled Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the Afro American Newspaper (TriceEdneyWire.com) --- She is remembered across the world as the woman who was “sick and tired of being sick and tired.” On Oct.

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  • Pullman Porter Blues Premiers in Seattle

    Pullman Porter Blues Premiers in Seattle by Susan M. Miller Seattle Repertory Theatre opened its 50th season September 27 with the world premiere of Pullman Porter Blues, a new musical by Seattle playwright Cheryl L. West.

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  • Nas’ Atlanta Pad Sold at Auction for $348,500

    Nas SunTrust Bank, the mortgage holder on rapper Nas’s home, has foreclosed on the living space and sold it at auction.

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  • Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith to Host Fundraiser for President Obama

    Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith to Host Fundraiser for President Obama Actor Will Smith and his wife, actress Jada Pinkett Smith, will co-host later this month a fundraiser for President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign. The planned Oct.

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  • Christian College Investigates D’Souza’s Alleged Affair

    Christian College Investigates D’Souza’s Alleged Affair Dinesh D’Souza, who has made a scathing documentary about President Barack Obama, is in hot water with the board of directors of King’s College, a New York City-based Christian school, where D’Souza is president. The school’s board is reportedly investigating D’Souza, who is married but earlier this month filed for divorce, for an alleged adulterous affair with another woman that came to light in September. D’Souza arrived at a Christian event on Sept.

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  • An Energized Barack Obama Changes The Race

    An Energized Barack Obama Changes The Race by Barry Cooper Who would have thought it? The two candidates for President of the United States had another debate, and it was Mitt Romney who appeared to come across as “The Angry Black Man.

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  • Trial Date Scheduled in the Murder of Trayvon Martin

    Trial Date Scheduled in the Murder of Trayvon Martin George Zimmerman is scheduled to go on trial June 10th for the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. Judge Debra Nelson set the date on Tuesday morning following a brief hearing.

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  • Roland Warren to Step Down as Head of the National Fatherhood Initiative

    Roland Warren to Step Down as Head of the National Fatherhood Initiative Roland C. Warren, president of the National Fatherhood Initiative, is leaving the organization to head another nonprofit agency.

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Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr.
Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr.

Bain Sends Illinois Jobs to China

by Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr.
(TriceEdneyWire.com) --- Dot Turner has worked at what is now Sensata Technologies in downstate Freeport, Ill., for 43 years. The company does sophisticated work creating sensors for automobiles. It enjoyed record profits last year. But not enough for its owner — Bain Capital — which is moving the company's jobs and machinery to China.

When Sensata brought Chinese workers into the plant to be trained by those whose jobs they would take, the workers at Sensata protested.

“When we started to demonstrate, they got those workers out of here,” Mrs.Turner told me.

The Sensata workers called on Mitt Romney — an investor in Sensata through his Bain holdings — to intervene. A group went to Iowa during the primaries to ask him to come to Freeport; they met with no success. Another group went to the Republican convention to ask him to come to Freeport; they had no success, either.

So, with the open support of Freeport’s mayor and City Council, the workers set up a “Bainport” encampment in the Stephenson County Fairgrounds right across the street from the plant.

“Welcome to Bainport, a taste of the Romney economy,” reads one sign. “Romney does have a jobs plan; too bad it’s for China,” reads another. And Mrs.Turner and others began to make their voices heard.

“We are suffering from the Bain model of capitalism,” Mrs. Turner said. “This is the way Bain works. They take over good companies, and then ship their jobs to China to make even more money."

“So when I hear Romney talking about creating jobs, he’s saying one thing, and we are experiencing another. He’s creating jobs, but the jobs are in China, not here. And now under Bain, Sensata plans to give the managers and the supervisors their golden parachutes, but not the workers. I’ve been here 43 years, and they offer a lump sum payment for 26 weeks of salary. And the lump sum means taxes will take a big part of it.”

Probably a bigger part than Romney pays in taxes on his income.

“We’re getting the shaft all the way,” Mrs. Turner continued. “And we’re not going to take it quietly. We can fight for our jobs. We may not win, but we are in their face. You may roll over me, but I’m not going to shut my mouth while you do it.”

Mrs. Turner needs to be heard. The workers at Sensata are experienced, skilled workers. Their products are in demand. Their company is profitable and globally competitive. But what Texas Gov. Rick Perry correctly called “vulture capitalists” at Bain do is sweep in and ship the jobs overseas. Bain makes more money, but the families of the Sensata workers are at risk, the Freeport economy takes a hit and America loses more high-tech capacity to China.

In the debate with President Obama, Mitt Romney had the gall to say he had never heard of a tax break for moving jobs abroad. But, in fact, Bain is infamous for taking advantage of every tax dodge and haven known to accountants. They can write off the expense of moving those jobs abroad, and Romney knows it. Romney has his own money stashed in Swiss bank accounts and Cayman Islands shell companies. He even benefited from tax breaks, avoiding capital gains on his holdings of Sensata stock.

Worse, Romney supports a “territorial tax system” for multinationals that would make the rest of the world a U.S. tax-free zone. That would give multinationals a huge incentive to ship more jobs abroad or to report profits abroad to “harvest” another tax break. Romney is pushing national policy that will reward Bain’s model.

Everyone ought to listen to Mrs. Turner.


Reverend Jesse Jackson, Sr., heads Operation Rainbow/PUSH, a Chicago-based organization he founded.


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