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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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  • 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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  • Bain Sends Illinois Jobs to China

    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.

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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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Photo ID
South Carolina residents don't need a photo ID to
vote in November's election.

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.

The United States District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that South Carolina’s ID law, R54, which the state legislature passed on May 11, 2011, was not enacted to discriminate against black voters because it expands the kinds of photo ID cards that may be used to vote. The law adds passports, military IDs and a new photo voter-registration cards to driver’s licenses and DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) photo ID cards already permitted by the existing law.

“In short, Act R54 allows citizens with non-photo voter registration cards to still vote without a photo ID so long as they state the reason for not having obtained one; it expands the list of qualifying photo ID than it was under the pre-existing law,” the judges ruled. “Therefore, we conclude that the new South Carolina does not have a discriminatory retrogressive effect, as compared to the benchmark of South Carolina’s pre-existing law.”

The current law, which has been in place since 1988, required voters to present one of three forms of identification at the polling place. They are a South Carolina driver’s license, a South Carolina DMV photo-ID card or a non-photo voter-registration card given to all registered voters in South Carolina.

The judges issued the ruling in a case titled State of South Carolina vs United States of America and Eric Hampton Holder, Jr., the U.S. Attorney General. James DuBose was a defendant intervenor in the case. The district court issued its ruling after five days of trial in August and oral arguments in September.

The court granted Section 5 pre-clearance for any elections in 2013, but not for November’s national election.

“Given the short time left before the 2012 elections, and given the numerous steps necessary to properly implement the law and ensure that the law would not have discriminatory retrogressive effects on African-American voters in 2012, we do not grant pre-clearance for the 2012 elections,” the judges wrote in a decision filed October 10.

Under Section 5 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, states with a history of discriminatory voting practices, including South Carolina, must have changes to their voting laws approved, or cleared, by the U.S. Justice Department or the federal district court in Washington. The Department of Justice blocked the law in December 2011, and on Feb. 7, 2012, South Carolina appealed the decision to the district court.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which opposed the South Carolina’s pre-clearance, was disappointed with the ruling.

“The unnecessary burden of requiring certain kinds of photo ID is particularly damaging for our minority, senior and student voters,” said Victoria Middleton, executive director of the ACLU of South Carolina. “We’re disappointed that the court did not make that connection.”

Nancy Abudu, senior staff attorney with ACLU Voting Rights Project, said the law remains harmful regardless of when it is implemented.

More than 178,000 of the state’s registered voters do not possess a valid form of identification, and African Americans account for 30 percent of that number. Blacks also comprise up to 36 percent of those without a DMV-issued identification, the ACLU said.

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