October 4, 2012

Supreme Court May Hear Challenge to Voting Act Preclearance
by Frederick H. Lowe The U.S.
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NAACP Takes Fight for Voting Rights for Ex-Cons to the United Nations
Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from GIN (TriceEdneyWire.com) - The NAACP spoke up at the 21st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, recently for the rights of millions of former felons who have been denied the right to vote. “Today, nearly 5.3 million U.S.
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George Soros Donates $1 Million to Pro-Obama Super PAC
Billionaire George Soros, financial backer of the Open Society Foundations Campaign for Black Male Achievement, has donated $1 million to Priorities USA, a super PAC, that is supporting President Barack Obama’s re-election. Michael Vachon, an advisor to Soros, announced the donation last week during a lunch hosted by the Democracy Alliance, a partnership of business and philanthropic leaders.
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Network Announces $10,000 Grants for Schools that Empower Boys of Color
Schools, pre-kindergarten to 12th grade, that demonstrate promising practices in educating boys and young men of color can apply for grants form the Coalition of Schools Educating Boys of Color (COSEBOC). The organization announced on Monday guidelines and deadlines for its second-annual series of $10,000 grants.
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Black Caucus Hosted Voter-Registration Drives in 12 Districts
The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) recently hosted voter-registration drives in 12 Congressional Districts as part of its voter-protection initiative.
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Chicago Pastor Finishes Cross-Country Walk
Chicago Pastor Corey Brooks who went from the rooftop to the road has completed his 2,700-mile walk across the country to bring attention to violence in urban communities and to raise funds to purchase an abandoned building.
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American Express Hit Hard in the Wallet for Violations
by Frederick H. Lowe American Express Co. will have to pull out its Centurion, or Black Card, to pay this bill.
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Report: Businesses Added 162,000 Jobs In September
Businesses created 162,0000 jobs in September on a seasonally adjusted basis, the ADP National Employment Report announced on Wednesday, the day of the first presidential debate between President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Gov.
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Pa. Judge Blocks Enforcement of Photo ID Rule for Nov. 6
by Frederick H. Lowe Judge Robert Simpson of the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court on Tuesday issued a preliminary injunction to keep the state’s tough photo-ID law from taking effect before the November 6 presidential election.
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Black Consumer Buying Remains Strong, Report Finds
(TriceEdneyWire.com) - As a consumer group that continues to grow, has unique generational behavioral trends and characteristics and has a projected buying power of $1.
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Political Observers Fear Voter Apathy Could Hurt Obama in Virginia
Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the Howard University News Service by Christina Downs and Hazel Trice Edney WOODBRIDGE, Va. (TriceEdneyWire.
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We Are One
by Gary L. Flowers (TriceEdneyWire.com) - “Can’t understand why we treat each other in this way…no matter what is said or done, we are one…” - Frankie Beverly and Maze National politics in the United States of America has not been so divisive since the American Civil War 150 years ago.
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Don't Believe the Hype! It Ain't Over 'Till It's Over
by Julianne Malveaux (TriceEdneyWire.com) - In late September the “nonpartisan” website Real Clear Politics reported that President Obama leads Republican nominee Mitt Romney is several battleground states.
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Conservative Whiners Display an Inferiority Complex
by A. Peter Bailey (TriceEdneyWire.com) - One of the favorite sports of conservative propagandists on television, radio and the op-ed pages of newspapers, is to hurl accusations of “whining” at anyone who insists that race is a major force in the economic, political and cultural life of this country.
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Yale University Launches Celebration of Bayard Rustin
The Yale University Law School will show the 2003 film Brother Outsider:The Life of Bayard Rustin to kick off the school’s centennial celebration honoring Rustin, a black gay man who organized the 1963 March on Washington, one of the most successful civil-rights demonstrations in U.S.history. Yale will show the film on October 9, and Walter Naegle, Rustin’s companion, will attend the event to answer questions, said Margaret Chisholm, the event’s organizer and reference librarian at the Lillian Goldman Law Library at Yale.
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Macy’s Plans to Hire 80,000
Retailer Macy’s Inc. announced on Monday that it will hire approximately 80,000 seasonal workers for its Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s stores, call centers, distribution centers and online-fulfillment centers nationwide.
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NorthStar Begins Accepting Ads and Donations
The NorthStar News & Analysis, one of the leading online publications for African-American men, is now offering sponsorship and advertising opportunities for small business owners and entrepreneurs. The publication, which is not published for a profit, is seeking support for its operations through small donations and modest paid advertising.
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Round 1: Romney Takes It to Obama
President Barack Obama never went on the offensive in Wednesday’s night televised debate, possibly prompting concerns by some that the president is a better campaigner than debater.
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$2 Million Investment Made for Black-Male Achievement
The Open Society Foundations Campaign for Black Male Achievement (CBMA) announced on Wednesday a $2 million investment to launch the Leadership & Sustainability (LSI) Institute for Black Male Achievement.
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The NorthStar’s Week in Black History
October 4 to October 10 October 4 1864 ----- The New Orleans Tribune, America’s first daily African-American newspaper, published its first edition on this date.
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Dr. Ron Daniels

State of the Black World Conference Aims to Set Post-Election Agenda

by Hazel Trice Edney
(TriceEdneyWire.com) – As political observers prepare for the final presidential debates and as activists continue to plan get-out-to-vote and voter-protection efforts, at least one organization is focused on the next four years after the election, regardless of who wins.

“We don’t make any pretense that we have any capacity as a non-profit organization to impact the election,” says Dr. Ron Daniels, president of the Institute of the Black World – 21st Century, which is based in East Elmhurst, N.Y. “But, we want to be in a position after the election to do an assessment of exactly what happened in the election no matter who wins…And then we chart a course. We begin to talk about where we go from here as people of African descent.”

This is the purpose of the State of the Black World Conference that Daniels has announced for November 14-18 on the Campus of Howard University. He describes it as “the first great gathering of black people immediately after the election.”

The long list of more than 100 leading panelists, speakers and contributors are well-acquainted with Black America and its issues. The roster includes names like the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr.; U.S. Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.); U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.); Rev. Al Sharpton and Dr. Julianne Malveaux.

Though these individuals are all orators, Daniels says the uniqueness of this conference is that it will be focused more on action than on talk.

“We hope to come out with a declaration of intent to heal black families and communities,” he says. “In other words, at the conference in working sessions, we’re asking people to do four things.”
They are:

    • Determine what blacks “can we do for ourselves as black people.”

    • Decide and document what we expect from private sector institutions like banks, retail establishments where blacks spend billions a year. What are we asking them to do in terms of reinvesting in our community? “We will also decide how to use economic sanctions or boycotts. We’ve got to fight back.”

    • As tax-paying citizens of the United States of America, decide what we must demand of government, including urban policy, targeted jobs, and economic development “in the hardest hit areas in the black community where people are suffering so badly.”

    • Decide which organizations or combination of organizations will be responsible for moving forward on specific actions that are agreed upon during the conference.

“Our theme, therefore, is ‘State of emergency in Black America – A Time to Heal Black Families and Communities,” says Daniels. “Joblessness, mass incarceration, crime, fratricide, violence – these issues require direct, specific targeted action at the black community."

Daniels has a long history of activism and is is perhaps best known for his leadership of the Haiti Support Project and his mantra, “For the love of Haiti.” He was also a key organizer and advisor to Jackson in his 1984 and 1988 bids for the White House. Registration information for the 2012 State of the Black World Conference can be found at www.ibw21.org.

The Institute of the Black World held a similar post-election conference in 2008 in New Orleans as America basked in the historic triumph of the first black presidency. While polls are currently projecting another likely win for President Obama, Daniels says strategies will differ depending on which candidate prevails on Nov. 6.

“As a political analyst, I’m very excited about the prospect of Barack Obama being re-elected. The reality is that there are huge issues that are unresolved in the black community,” he said. “The expectation is that if black people support President Obama -– a projected 95 percent -- the anticipation is that there will be friendlier ground given the overall philosophy of the Democratic Party and what some believe is the real heart of President Obama.”

He continued, “And so, during the first administration, there’s been some hesitancy to address issues. That does not mean that the accomplishments of the Obama Administration have not benefited black people. It certainly has in many, many, many ways. But, there are some particular issues that I’ve identified where there has been some reluctance,” he said. “Our hope is that in his second administration, President Obama will feel emancipated and free to speak out and not be so constrained and not feel as if he said something relative to black people that somehow he’ll be accused of being pro-black because he is President of everybody. That includes us too.”

On the other hand, if Romney is elected, “it would be a much more complex and much more difficult terrain, which probably would require probably much more direct action in the streets, much more vocal, vociferous protests because their agenda is so antithetical to the agendas of blacks, labor, women and so many groups.”

Daniels added, “If necessary, we would do the same thing with Obama.”

“I don’t anticipate that that is going to be an issue because a number of people have the president’s ear from the African-American community – Sharpton, National Council of Negro Women, Marc Morial and others,” Daniels said. “I would think that they will be stepping up to the plate, and that they will be pushing the targeting of jobs to alleviate the state of emergency in Black America.”

To attract students and other youths, he has invited anti-violence groups and Hip Hop activists. “We’ve got to adopt a more fighting spirit in order for black people to overcome the state of emergency that we face.”

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October 4, 2012

State of the Black World Conference Aims to Set Post-Election Agenda