AAVoice 2010_10 - African American Voice

Transcription

African American Voice Octoberalt 10/19/2010 1:57 PM Page 1
“When there is
no enemy within, the enemies
outside cannot
hurt you.
- Cameroon Proverb
oCToBer 2010
“keePIng THe CoMMunITY InforMed sInCe 1991”
election 2010:
free
Why everybody needs to Vote!
rePuBlICAns Pledge: “A TrICk BAg for AMerICA”
The republican Party has spent most of
the past two years as the "Party of no,"
opposing nearly every policy proposed
by President obama and democrats in
Congress --a strategy that has worked
politically, according to polls that say
this november's election could sweep
republicans back into the majority in
the House and possibly the senate. But
until last week, the republican Party
had offered no agenda of its own--so
party leaders finally produced one: the
lofty-sounding "Pledge to America."
sadly but predictably, this Pledge is
nothing more than a promise to return to
the failed policies that created the worst
economic crisis since the great
depression and threw millions of
Americans out of work--with most of
the pain doled out to those at the bottom
of the ladder.
Those who yearn for a return to george
W. Bush's philosophy will cheer the
Pledge's promises of tax cuts for the rich
and lax regulation of Wall street. They
will applaud the republican call to
repeal universal health insurance and to
hand the social security Trust fund
over to Wall street.
But for African-Americans, this retrograde Pledge is a recipe for disaster.
our communities were hit hard by the
great recession, and the economic crisis continues. African-American unemployment now stands at 16.3%.
Working families are struggling to pay
the rent and keep food on the table. And
the situation is critical for our youngest
generation: among African-Americans
ages 16 to 19, the unemployment rate is
26.2% -- and that doesn't include those
with low-paying part-time jobs or those
who have given up looking. for these
youth, the American dream is turning
into a nightmare.
President obama and this democratic
Congress led by speaker nancy Pelosi
and Majority Whip James Clyburn (the
highest-ranking African American in
Congress) inherited this dire recession
A MessAge froM
ColorAdo BlACk Press
Your Black Press has done the
research and it's clear, you must
vote for Michael Bennet. danny
Blakewell’s editorial is about the
impact the mid-term election
2010 will have on the obama
administration. The Colorado
Black Press has endorsed Michael
Bennet for senate.
Message
to
by danny J. Bakewell, Sr.
Chairman,national newspapers
Publishers association (nnPa)
from Bush and the republicans, and
they've directed help toward those who
need it most -- despite stiff opposition
from republicans in Congress. If the
“Party of no” had gotten its way, the
great recession could have been worse
than the great depression – an econom-
MArk Your
CAlendAr
Vote!!!
november 2
The air is filled with complaints about the Congress and
the President. In the midst of
general discontent, we forget
what incredible accomplishments we have had over the
past two years. so it makes
sense to remind ourselves and
our communities that real
change is taking place. These
are just a few of the accomplishments that have worked:
1. health insurance reform
Harrison D2 superintenDent
sincerely
Dr. JaMes tucker, publisHer
StoP diSCriMination againSt the BlaCk PreSS!
www.africanamericanvoice.net
over the next four years we
will see sweeping reform take
effect that protects every generation. 32 million more people
will have a stable and secure
insurance option. Immediately,
children with pre-existing conditions cannot be denied health
insurance. Coverage will be
extended for adult children up
to 26 years of age.
2. recovery act
Continued on Page 6
Coming soon
2011
Be True To deMoCrATIC PrInCIPles JusTICe And equAlITY for All.
2010
Continued on Page 6
Ten reasons to Vote for
senator Michael Bennet
The Black community is sick and tired of Harrison school district 2 discriminating
against the community and the Black Press.
• THe BlACk Press deMAnds You sToP dIsCrIMInATIng AgAInsT THe AfrICAn AMerICAn CoMMunITY.
• We deMAnd You oBeY THe lAW...TITleVI of THe CIVIl rIgHTs ACT.
• We deMAnd eConoMIC InClusIon.
• We deMAnd eConoMIC JusTICe.
• We deMAnd our fAIr sHAre In AdVerTIsIng dollArs.
• We deMAnd More TeACHers of Color.
oCtoBer
ic hurricane instead of a bad storm. They
opposed the recovery Act. They
opposed healthcare reform. They
opposed ending tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas. They even
opposed 7 of the 8 tax cuts Congress has
passed to help small business owners.
We don't need to imagine what would
have happened if republicans ran
Congress. We know their record – and
now we can read their Pledge: to restore
the immoral policies of Presidents
reagan, Bush and Bush II: tax cuts for
millionaires and billionaires and benefit
cuts for everyone else and of course,
nothing special for Blacks.
It is unconscionable that at a time of
our nation’s highest unemployment in
more than 60 years, the republicans
propose a $4 trillion tax cut for the rich.
They're trotting out the same tired argument they've recycled for 30 years: cut
taxes for billionaires, and some of their
Mike Miles
Colorado African
Caribbean
American guide
for more
information
Call
719-528-1954
C
J
r i M i n a l
u S t i C e
What I need To know In order to Vote
Many people in
Can I Vote?
Colorado believe that once you have
a criminal record you can never vote.
This is not true.
Who is eligible to vote in
Colorado?
• People with a criminal conviction
who have served their sentence,
including parole if required
• Pretrial detainees in jail
• People currently on probation for
either a misdemeanor or felony
• People currently in jail serving a
misdemeanor sentence only
The laws about disenfranchisement
(denial of the right to vote) vary from
state to state. That’s one of the reasons why so many people with a
criminal record are confused about
their voting rights.
Your right to vote is determined by
the state in which you live. If you’re
a resident of Colorado and you have
completed your sentence of incarceration for a felony conviction (including parole) you can vote regardless
of where you were convicted. This
right is automatically restored.
People on probation and pretrial
detainees are also eligible to vote.
Voting is one of the best ways to
reclaim your civic voice and an
important part of re-entering society.
Voting is also the responsibility of
every citizen in a democracy. We are
a stronger country when people vote.
What is the law in Colorado?
no person while serving a sentence
of detention or confinement in a correctional facility, jail, or other location for a felony conviction or while
serving a sentence of parole shall be
eligible to register to vote or to vote
in any election; however, a confined
prisoner who is awaiting trial but has
not been tried shall be certified by
the institutional administrator and
shall be permitted to register to vote
by mail registration pursuant to part
5 of this article. Colorado revised
statutes § 1-2-103(4)
Who Can and Cannot
vote in Colorado?
People who may register to vote
and vote include those who:
• are on probation for either a misdemeanor or felony
• are a pretrial detainee awaiting
trial, whether in jail or on bond
• are currently serving a jail sentence for a misdemeanor sentence
only
• have completed serving their sentence for a felony conviction, including any sentence of parole
People who may not register to vote
or vote include those who are:
• incarcerated for a felony in a jail
or prison
• on parole or federal probation following release from incarceration
• transition clients in a community
corrections facility on inmate status
• residential diversion clients sentenced for a felony to a community
corrections facility
The law is not specific enough to
include all of the sentencing scenarios that currently exist, which has
created several gray areas regarding
voting eligibility. CCJrC is working
to clarify these areas, but at this time
we recommended that anyone in the
following situation consult with an
election official before registering to
vote:
• home detention as part of a sentence for a felony conviction
• diversion client in a community
corrections facility who is on nonresidential status
• in jail awaiting a revocation hearing for a probation violation
Just as everything else seems to
change, elections in Colorado are
also changing. In many counties,
more and more elections are being
conducted using mail-in ballots
instead of walk-in precincts and vote
centers. This is because it’s less
expensive to cast votes through the
mail and many voters indicate they
prefer to vote by mail.
iMPortant!
Be sure you understand whether
you are eligible to vote. It is a classfive felony to register to vote or vote
in an election for which you are not
legally eligible.
More inForMation
aBout voting
In order to be eligibile to vote, you
must also
• be 18 years of age on or before the
date of the election in which you
want to vote And
• be a citizen of the united states
And
• live in Colorado at your present
address at least 30 days prior to the
election
FreQuentlY aSked QueStionS
The following questions and
answers may help you understand
more about your right to vote in
Colorado.
How do I register to vote?
Continued on Page 6
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Page 2
oCtoBer
2010
C
o M M u n i t Y
did Councilman Michael Hancock sell out African Americans?
denVer – In 2009, denver City
Councilman Michael Hancock was subpoenaed by Metro Cab to testify at a
Colorado Public utilities Commission
hearing over the licensing application of
Mile High Cab, a cooperatively owned
startup company made up largely of longtime immigrants from east Africa.
But he didn’t mention he had already
accepted thousands of dollars from the
owners and employees of Metro Cab –
denver’s biggest cab company that would
face competition from Mile High Cab’s
lower fares. It was Metro that insisted
Hancock testify.
Hancock did take the stand before an
administrative law judge and said there
were already enough cabs, no need for
more. The official transcripts are available
to anyone.
Attorney Tom russell, representing Mile
High Cab, according to transcripts, asked,
“Have you ever received any money from
Metro Taxi?”
The councilman said “no,” unless
russell meant donations to a charitable
foundation.
russell produced campaign finance
records from 2006, just before Hancock’s
reelection battle in the spring of 2007.
“It looks like the intervenor (Metro) gave
thousands of -- that people working for the
intervenor and the owners of the intervenor gave thousands of dollars to this
Michael hancock
witness in 2006,” russell said in the hearing. “They did, in fact, give thousands of
dollars to this witness.”
Public campaign finance records show
Hancock, mentioned by the denver Post
as a possible candidate for denver mayor
should Mayor John Hickenlooper win the
governor’s race, accepted $3,000 in campaign contributions tied to Metro cab.
four donations of $250 each were listed as
filed by employees of Metro, and Metro
owners robert McBride and William
Cotter gave Hancock $1,000 each.
Hancock went on to testify that there
were already too many cabs in denver and
that more would just cause problems for
the city.
drivers fight to own Their own Cab Company, Battle Big Business and government
edem “archie” archibong
denVer – The promise of America
sounds simple: work hard, play by the rules
and maybe you get a shot at the American
dream of being the boss, working for yourself
and being successful.
But 150 front range taxi drivers, legal
immigrants who are mostly east African, are
finding promises are one thing, reality is
another.
edem “Archie” Archibong is in the middle
of a brewing battle shaping up at the Colorado
Public utilities Commission (PuC), the
agency that regulates everything from electricity to taxi cabs. The 57-year-old married
father of two is chairman of the board of directors for Mile High Cab, a startup cooperative
of veteran cab and shuttle drivers who have
pooled their own money to form a company
that they own.
The PuC has blocked them.
“The denver Metro area is yearning for
good service. The taxi market in the metro
area is still wide open,” Archibong said.
Archibong said his drivers don’t want help
from the government. They just want to compete against the four other denver metro-area
companies: Metro, Yellow, freedom, and
union.The drivers will charge each other
James tucker
Publisher
undray tucker
associate Publisher
Phone: (719) 528-1954
james.tucker@
africanamericanvoice.net
P.o.Box 25340
Colorado Springs,
Co 80936
oCtoBer
2010
$250 a week to run the company, keeping the
rest of what they make for themselves. By
comparison, drivers for Yellow Cab must pay
the company more than $900 a week in some
cases before they take home their first dime.
Mile High Cab drivers believe their company would be better for drivers, and they
believae they can offer riders a better deal, too.
rates would be 25 cents less per mile than in
Metro or Yellow cabs, with no more extra
charges for luggage or extra passengers. Mile
High also planned to cut the cost of the initial
fee passengers are charged the moment they
sit in a cab, called a “flag drop” fee.
They discovered that starting a taxi business
isn’t easy. Metro and Yellow objected, and
Metro claimed there are enough cabs on the
road. This summer, an administrative law
judge for the PuC ruled that while the drivers
of Mile High Cab are well-financed and qualified to run their business, the competition
could harm the other companies.
Archibong was disappointed.
“We were going to educate the public thoroughly with the services we can deliver by
constantly reminding them that we are open
for business and letting them be well informed
about all the ways we can help simplify the
difficulties that they encounter in their daily
lives , then sit back and take orders,”
Archibong said. “The devil is always in the
details.”
But the team at Mile High Cab isn’t giving
up. With denver attorney Tom russell, they
are asking the full PuC board of commissioners to review the case, and they’ve told their
story to everyone they can.
Congressman ed Perlmutter, d-golden,
heard them and wrote a letter urging the commissioners to reconsider. so did ryan frazier,
an Aurora City Councilman and Perlmutter’s
republican challenger. democratic state
senator Chris romer backed Mile High Cab
in a letter to the PuC, as did republican state
senators Josh Penry and Ted Harvey.
“our guys aren’t asking for a government
handout. They are hard working family men,”
russell said. “If they don’t make it, they don’t
make it. But I’m betting they will. The government just needs to let them try.”
But in his initial ruling, PuC Administrative
law Judge Paul gomez said he was unwilling
to let them.
“Mile High’s application would significantly
harm incumbent taxicab providers economically,” gomez wrote in his ruling. “Mile
High’s application would do nothing more
than exacerbate existing problems of over
supply.”
russell questions that notion of “over supply.” downtown denver may have taxi service, but anyone living outside the downtown
area, in a suburb, knows it can take hours to
get a cab, he said. Mile High wants to serve
Adams, Arapahoe, douglas, and Jefferson
Counties in addition to denver.
Archibong said the saddest part of the ruling
is that it hurts everyone. struggling to pay
high lease fees to the big companies, drivers
need big airport fares, so they gather downtown, far from their own neighborhoods. That
means plenty of cabs at expensive downtown
hotels. But for the elderly person needing a
ride from her neighborhood to the doctor’s
office or to church or shopping, cabs are hard
to come by.
drivers work up to 80 hours a week to pay
off the big companies, missing their children’s
school plays or family celebrations,
Archibong said. Meanwhile, people who live
in outlying neighborhoods or suburbs wait
hours for a cab to show up, he said.
“The small fares usually originate from poor
neighborhoods, single mothers, fixed income
earners, people who are unable to afford a car,
people who for any reason cannot drive and
the like,” Archibong said. “The high lease
rate, which is always coupled with high flag
drop and high meter rate, is discriminatory to
the poor in general.”
Mile High Cab, with lower leases, would let
drivers work their own schedules and serve
their own neighbors, he said.
“What’s important now, is that this isn’t over
and everyone can make a difference,”
Archibong said. “It doesn’t take much to write
an email or a letter to the PuC. Tell them you
want lower fares, that there aren’t enough cabs
in your neighborhood. This is what they listen
to, the people. go to milehighcab.com and
you’ll find a link to those commissioners.”
russell said Mile High Cab is hoping to hear
whether the PuC commissioners will review
the case by the end of september. until then,
the drivers of Mile High Cab who dreamed of
owning their own business will continue driving for someone else.
Mile High Cab is online at www.milehighcab.com,
on
facebook
at
www.facebook.com/milehighcab and on
Twitter at www.Twitter.com/milehighcab
The American American Voice is published by
The African American Voice newspapers, Inc.
The contents of this publication are copyrighted by The African American Voice
newspapers, Inc. reproductions or use of content in any manner is prohibited without prior
written consent.
the Black Press Creed
The Black Press believes that America can
best lead the world away from racial and
national antagonism when it affords to all people - regardless of race, color or creed - their
human and legal rights. Hating no person and
fearing no person, the Black Press strives to
help every person in the firm belief that all are
hurt as long as anyone is held back.
Page 3
autoMotive
e d We l b u r n - g M g l o b a l d e s i g n l e a d e r
a reMarkaBle Man doing a reMarkaBle JoB
Innovative design, understanding,
and the importance of diversity are
guiding philosophies for general
Motors Vice President of global
design, ed Welburn. “exposure.
reading. Travel, whenever possible…and don’t be afraid to take risks,”
says Welburn about the preparation for
living and working in an increasingly
global world.
since 2003, Welburn, 59, is only the
sixth design leader in general Motors’
history and heads what may be the
largest design organization in the
world. He leads 10 design centers in
eight countries and manages 1,500 creative personalities. It’s not uncommon
to find Welburn at a 6 a.m. design
review or on a late night conference
call -- he is, after all, accommodating
the world’s time zones. design is
around the clock work at a global company.
After the well-publicized news of
general Motors’ financial woes, subsequent bailout and new stock offering, the company is maintaining its
commitment to design. And Welburn
is leading the effort.
Welburn, one of the highest-ranking
Black automobile executives in the
world, says much of his inspiration
comes from his background. Welburn
has loved automobiles since he was a
child when his father, a car enthusiast
himself, took him to an auto show in
Philadelphia.
Welburn received his art training from
Howard university in Washington,
d.C. He attended the historically
Black college in the early 1970s and
said the “interdisciplinary” aspect of
the experience prepared him for his
current role that an art school could not
have.
“life began to open up quite a bit for
me when I went to Howard university.
The school of fine Arts was a fasci-
nating place [to be.] Art, music and
drama…with students like debbie
Allen, roberta flack, Phylicia rashad
and donny Hathaway,” said Welburn
in an interview with the Black Press.
He recalls hearing flack play the piano
when he was on his way to class and
believes his time at Howard contributed to his creative development.
Welburn said studying sculpture at
Howard made his drawings much
“looser” and him a better designer.
“some of my favorite courses were the
life drawing classes. some of my first
drawings were stiff and mechanical
but by the time I left, my work had
more emotion, passion good car
design has passion.”
Along with his everyday work,
Welburn is still involved in the arts.
general Motors hosts art shows at its
design center and the auto executive
has been known to paint in his private
time. Welburn believes that creativity
offers value and opportunity.
While many parents may encourage
their children to stay on more traditional career paths, he believes there is
opportunity in creative fields such as
design.
“Parents tend to direct [children] to
fields they know they will be accepted in. … We have a building full of
sculptors, artists who are working in
the industry.”
Welburn, who regularly travels to
Brazil, Columbia, Argentina and
China, also says cultural fluency and
diversity are important. Although, it’s
sometimes hard to try new things,
adventure and being open-minded are
important aspects of his work, and has
helped him in his current position.
“I took an assignment in germany
and I wondered if I would be accepted. I didn’t have a place to get my hair
cut so that was something to deal with
but I love the cultural diversity…the
ed Wellburn with transformers 3 Camero
challenges.”
Today, Welburn says he has friends
around the world. “And, I connect with
them as strongly as I do with my old
friends from Howard.”
Welburn says the future of general
Motors is in global collaboration.
“It is the future,” says Welburn. “The
development of the new Buick
lacrosse is a very good example of a
collaboration of disciplines.”
The car, sold in the united states and
China is the result of german engineers, and u.s. and Chinese design
teams. “It is far better than either team
would have done separately…”
By Catherine kelly (Publisher –
the Michigan Citizen & Special
Contributing editor to the nnP
The Three r's for Cars: reuse, reduce, repower
(nAPsI)--drivers can do their part to protect the environment if they remember the
new three rs: reuse, reduce and
repower.
That is, it can be a wise investment to
hang on to your current vehicle rather than
buying a new one, to reduce emissions
and fuel consumption through vehicle
maintenance and to repower a failed
engine.
explains rich White, executive director,
Car Care Council, "You'll not only protect
the environment, you'll protect your vehicle investment, too."
He offers the following tips:
• reuse. extending vehicle life can be as
simple as taking care of it properly.
follow a service interval schedule, perform routine maintenance and repairs and
only clean your car with proper automotive car wash products, not dish detergent.
• reduce fuel consumption and emissions. Perform regular tune-ups, keep tires
Page 4
properly inflated, replace air filters regularly, replace oil regularly and check your
gas cap. These steps will also help you
save money at the pump. learn more at
www.carcare.org/car-care-articles/fuelsaving-tips.
• repower your engine when faced with
serious engine trouble. A remanufactured/rebuilt engine can give your vehicle
new life for about the cost of an average
down payment on a new car. repowered
engines are dependable, reliable and
backed by excellent warranty programs.
To learn more, visit www.enginerepower.org.
free guide
for a free Car Care guide or more information, visit www.carcare.org. for more
information about making your vehicle
environmentally friendly, visit www.carcare.org/car-care-guide.
Car owners can save money and help the
environment by maintaining their cars.
oCtoBer
2010
e
d u C A T I o n
n o t s o fA s T- g I f T H A s s T r I n g s
african americans for Justice warn that grant
to school furthers unwelcome agenda
Today the daniels fund has
awarded the Harrison school
district a $1,000,000.00 grant
to help it move further away
from the public school teaching
model and closer to the dream
of a Charter school system that
was rejected in a recent recall
election in d-11. The school
Board of this school district
has nearly totally given over its
elected responsibility to guide
the education of the children of
the district to a highly paid
instrument of an undemocratic
ideology. By implementing a
program
called
Coherent
governance which gives their
highly paid superintendent
nearly complete authority and
control, and allowing private
interests to invest in and control
the education policy of the
school the Harrison school district is being financially pulled
toward an educational system
that defies democratic prinicples.
The daniels fund promotes
the same approach to education
as the Board did in district 11
that resulted in a recall of Board
members who supported this
approach. African Americans
for Justice has opposed undemocratic and financially driven
education throughout the state
and supports recall of the Board
Members in the Harrison school
district who are allowing the
children's education to become
hostage to the ideology of
wealthy interests whose agenda
is ideology not education or the
best interests of the children.
nothing about the proposed
application of the grant money
from the daniels fund speaks to
meeting the direct educational
needs of the children of this
district. This is a district of
poor families whose needs go
beyond building more buildings
to provide ways to bring in outside interests to promote the
undeomocratic agenda.
The
proposal seeks to avoid the education selected by elected representatives and impose a way of
teaching that suits the secular
views of a small number of
wealthy people. This is not how
America has taught our children
for centuries.
one of the most obvious
effects of the new administration’s effort to run the district
in ways that the elected officials
cannot control has been how it
has demoralized the highly
qualified and effective teachers.
Teachers no longer have the
freedom to bring their best talents to the classroom for fear of
running afoul of the new and
uncharted course taken by the
uncontrolled superintendent.
Teachers are now fired without
cause or due process and no
teacher is beyond the power or
control of the unelected superintendent.
African Americans for Justice
supports a recall of the Board
members who are promoting
this agenda of allowing outside
people of wealth to come in to
dictate methods of teaching
that have not been approved by
any state or national educational standards.
African Americans for Justice
is a statewide coalition of
Coloradans who stand for diversity and fairness in public life.
The group is frequently represented by dr. James Tucker,
Publisher of the oldest African
American news publication in
southern Colorado, the African
American Voice.
s Tu d en Ts n eed s M u s T Be TH e
P rI M A rY f o Cu s I n
s CH o o l ref o rM
By dr. Curtis dotson
knowledge is cumulative; what
we are prepared to learn today
builds on what we have experienced and learned before. our
confidence in learning something
derives in large part from the
experience we have had in previous learning. All this argues for
maximal efforts to enable students
to achieve success throughout
their years of schooling. so, too,
does the cost of remediation for
those student who have been
failed. As industry has learned, the
fixing of something badly done is
of far greater cost than doing it
right the first time.
Presently, when a student has
failed to learn something identified by the school and teacher as
important, the teacher's and
school's response is to seek out
some deficit in the child's learning. In the new paradigm, of the
new school reform failure to do
so, such failure will be recognized
as the failure of the teacher,
school and school district to meet
the student's needs, and to engage
him or her in the work of learning.
In the new education reform the
new paradigm, will identify the
instructional strategies and adaptations essential for the student to
Page 5
do the work of his or her learning. Building such a plan
involves both knowing the student's needs and the school's
having a wide repertoire of
learning resources and opportunities as well as the flexibility in school organization to use
them.
In keeping with the focus on
the central importance of the
student, we must emphasize
student needs as primary. In
school districts that put students at the center, however
there are consequences for
adults. At the school district
organizational leadership, (formal or informal) we must not
allow the adults whose focus is
political or business careers be
primary or secondary in front
of our students.
The new education reform
involves a shift form seeing
students as recipients or clients
to recognizing them as consumers. While no panacea, in
the marketplace of public education is both an expression of
respect for them and a way to
manifest the recognition that
school is for consumers, that it
is their satisfaction which must
be gained.
oCtoBer
2010
eleCtion
voting information
Continued from Page 2
The easiest way to register is at govotecolorado.com. This website will
let you register online or download a
voter registration form. You may
also check the status of your registration at this website.
You may also register to vote at:
• Colorado department of state,
elections division, 1700 Broadway,
suite 200, denver, Co 80290
• your county’s clerk and recorder’s
office (see elections.colorado.gov
for contact info)
• division of Motor Vehicle offices
• any government office that provides public assistance, like a social
services office
In order to vote in the next election,
you need to register to vote at least
30 days prior to the next election
with the clerk and recorder’s office
in the county where you live or with
the secretary of state’s office.
What kind of identification document is required?
A valid Colorado driver’s license
and state Id card issued by the
Colorado department of revenue
are both accepted, as are a number of
other documents. To see the complete list, go online to govotecolorado.com or talk to your county
clerk and recorder office.
how do i vote?
elections in Colorado can be held
by mail or in person at voting locations. every election may be different so be sure to read any election
notices you receive or visit the
Colorado secretary of state at govotecolorado.com or your local county clerk for more information.
I recently completed my parole. do
I have to prove I have served my
sentence and parole in order to register to vote or to vote?
In Colorado, you’re eligible to register to vote the day you’re released
from parole. However, if your name
still appears on the database as being
under the supervision of the
department of Corrections, the voting official may ask you for proof
that you have completed parole. If
you register to vote soon after completing your sentence, it’s a good
idea to bring your parole discharge
documentation with you when you
register to vote.
If you were a registered voter
before you were incarcerated, your
registration was cancelled and you
must re-register to vote.
If I was convicted of a federal
crime, do I have the right to vote in a
federal election?
It doesn’t matter if you were convicted in a state or federal court.
once you’re eligible to vote in
Colorado, you’re eligible to vote in
both state and federal elections.
do I have to pay off all my restitution before I can vote?
no. Payment of restitution is not a
condition of voting eligibility.
Is it a crime to vote in an election
before I’m legally eligible to vote?
Yes. As of July 2006, it is a class 5
felony to register to vote or to vote in
an election for which you are not eligible to vote (Colorado revised
ten reasons Continued from Page 1
aincome children.
4. Credit Card reform
The Credit Card Accountability,
responsibility and disclosure Act
(CArd) stops unfair credit card company practices that are confusing to
American families.
5. tobacco legislation
The family smoking Prevention and
Tobacco Control Act give the food and
drug Administration (fdA) authority to
regulate the manufacturing and marketing of tobacco products.
6. Fair Pay for Women
despite claims to the contrary, 3.3 million jobs have been funded, including
police, firefighters and teachers. 95% of
working families are receiving the
Making Work Pay tax credit in their
paychecks. More than 7 million low and
moderate-income students will have a
15% increase in their Pell grant awards
to help pay for college.
3. Children's health insurance
The state Children's Health Insurance
Program (sCHIP) was re-authorized
and expanded to add 4 million more low
trick Bag Continued from Page 1
wealth will trickle down to the rest of us.
Meanwhile, the republicans promise to
repeal President obama's recovery Act,
which cut taxes for 110 million families
who dont happen to be rich.
We already know the harmful impact
of trickle-down economics – nothing
ever trickles down for Blacks, minorities
and the poor. under Presidents reagan
and Bush, the economic divide widened
to historic proportions due to huge tax
cuts for millionaires while workers'
wages stagnated. President Clinton
made a dent in pervasive inequality by
raising taxes on the wealthiest
Americans and investing in education,
healthcare, jobs and tax breaks for working families.
While turning the budget deficit into a
surplus those policies were good for all
oCtoBer
2010
2010
statute §1-13-704.5).
Colorado Criminal Justice reform
Coalition (CCJrC) works to reverse
the trend of mass incarceration in
Colorado. educating people with a
criminal record about their right to
vote is part of this work.
If you think you are eligible to vote
and are told you may not by an election clerk, please contact the
secretary of state’s office for help.
Their telephone number is 303-8942200. You may also contact CCJrC
for assistance.
deadlines
Be sure you register to vote at least
29 days before the election in which
you want to vote! Here are the election calendar dates for 2010.
* october 26, 2010: last day to
apply for a mail-in ballot for the
general election if mailed
* october 29, 2010: last day to
apply for a mail-in ballot for the
general election if picked up at the
county clerk’s office.
* november 2, 2010: general
election 7:00 am to 7:00 pm
Your vote is your voice on the
issues
* Health care
* economic justice
* racial justice
* Criminal justice
* environment
* Children
* education
* Any other issue important to you
Parole is a period of supervision
after release from prison. In
Colorado, parole is considered a part
of the sentence. People on parole are
ineligible to register to vote and vote.
Probation is a sentence ordered by
a judge and usually an alternative to
prison. A sentence of probation
allows a person to remain in the
community under the supervision of
a probation officer. It is legal to register to vote and cast a vote while
under a sentence of probation.
felony is a more serious crime than
a misdemeanor and commonly punished in the u.s. by imprisonment in
a prison for more than a year.
Misdemeanor is a criminal offense
defined as less serious than a felony.
The punishment includes a range of
sanctions, including probation, fines,
and time in jail.
Prisons are operated by the state
and used to confine those convicted
of one or more felony charges.
People confined in prison are not eligible to vote.
Jails are operated by county sheriffs
and used to confine those awaiting
trial, as well as a place to confine
those convicted of a misdemeanor.
some people confined in jail are eligible to vote.
The lilly ledbetter fair Pay Act guarantees equal pay for equal work.
7. hate Crimes Prevention act
This legislation extends new protections to people who are victims of violent crime based on their gender, sexual
orientation or identity, or disability.
8. Supreme Court
Two women appointed to the supreme
Court, including the first latina justice.
9. Wall Street reform
The Wall street legislation includes the
most stringent financial reforms since
those passed in the aftermath of the
great depression. It will increase
accountability on Wall street. And it
will provide more economic security for
families and businesses on Main street.
10. Small Business Jobs act
The new law will give American small
businesses the support and incentives
they need to expand and hire new workers. It includes a number of small business proposals that President obama
began advocating earlier this year, and
small businesses will begin to receive
the benefits of this law immediately.
America. But President george W. short years. Thanks to the landmark
Bush pulled a 180 degree turnaround, Healthcare reform law passed by
cutting taxes for the richest of the rich, Congress and signed by President
letting Wall street run wild, and slashing obama this year – unless the
federal aid to working families. The republicans regain control of Congress.
result: rising inequality, the largest budg- That is why we Blacks have to vote and
et deficits in u.s. history, a cataclysmic get our neighbors, friends and commufinancial crisis and net loss of eight mil- nity to vote. nnPA and our 200 Black
lion jobs.
publishers are asking our leaders to help
That's what the republicans pledge to us in rallying our base: churches, sororirepeat.
ties, fraternities, Black students, comone of the starkest contrasts between munity clubs, Black radio, community
the democrats and republicans can be organizers, Black social media experts
seen when it comes to healthcare. Today, and all progressive people of goodwill.
one in five African-Americans is with- That's right: with the u.s. finally on the
out health insurance. They can't afford brink of joining other developed nations
doctor's bills if they get sick, and an that guarantee healthcare to all their citiemergency room visit or hospital stay zens, the republicans want to repeal
can wipe out their life's savings. But we universal health insurance, snatching
have reason to hope that this shameful healthcare away from tens of millions of
situation will be eliminated in a few people.
The republicans' Pledge makes it crystal clear what's at stake in november.
We can't sit home on election day and
let the republican Party turn back the
clock on our country and on Black people definitely. I pledge, on behalf of 200
Black newspapers in this country, to do
what we can to stop them!
You can mark my words:If they take
back the House (of representatives),
they will launch an investigation on
President obama that will make the
investigation on President Clinton look
like child’s play. They will make his
next two years untenable and miserable,
leading up to 2012.
We will also lose two of our most
visionary leaders of the 21st century in
speaker Pelosi and Majority Whip
Clyburn. We can’t let that happen!
Page 6
MArk Your CAlendAr
november 2, 2010
Colorado gubernatorial Candidate forum on
dIsABIlITY, HeAlTH CAre reforM and CIVIl rIgHTs
on september 14, 2010, a historic
event occurred. for the first time ever in
Colorado there was a candidate forum
with gubernatorial candidates focused
on disability issues. A coalition of
approximately 30 disability and civil
rights organizations joined together and
turned out approximately 500 voters to
listen to denver Mayor John
Hickenlooper,
the
democratic
nominee and dan Maes, the
republican nominee answer questions
on disability issues.
Candidates were asked how they
would include people with disabilities
in all areas of their administration.
Hickenlooper responded that when he
became mayor he had a very inclusive
transition process that included many
groups including people from the disability community. He also stated his
hiring policies have been and will continue to be inclusive. Maes responded
by acknowledging that he knew little
about disability and considered us the
experts—indicating that we would be
appointed to fill relevant policy positions. Both candidates talked about the
need to bring the disability message to
the public to garner public support for
our cause. neither candidate indicated a
willingness to take a lead in making that
happen.
Candidates were asked about some of
the long standing problems in the state
agencies that administer programs
essential to our survival such as
Medicaid and developmental disability
services. Both candidates appeared
interested in ideas to save money—
hopefully they will follow up on their
promise to listen to our ideas and then
act. That was a hope the disability community had for the current administration—initially they did listen but action
democratic nominee,
Mayor John Hickenlooper
republican nominee,
dan Maes
has been slow or nonexistent. neither
candidate indicated support during the
first term for any sort of tax or fee
increase to fund desperately needed
services but both said reiterated the
need to convince the citizenry of the
need. dan Maes did say if the citizens
supported an initiative to create a funding source for disability services, that he
would not oppose it and that the ability
of citizens to decide what services they
want to pay for was what he liked about
TABor.
When asked what they would do about
the abysmal state of education for the
disabled, Hickenlooper talked again
about the need to bring together all parties and figure out what was wrong and
use evidence based practices. Maes said
that he supported educational decisions
at the local level and advised the discouraged audience to “try talking to our
local school boards” about concerns.
The reaction of the crowd was mixed.
Many were disappointed and felt that
the candidates had not done their homework. They felt that the candidates
should have known more about the
audience they were addressing. others
felt that the candidates were working
hard not to answer questions, despite
the persistent questioning of moderator
Aaron Harber. Yet many people were
pleased that the candidates were interested in disability and able to speak to
the issues and pleased that the candidates did acknowledge that people with
disabilities and our families were the
true experts.
The goal of the forum was to show the
person who will be our next governor
that the disability community is large
and well organized. The community
wanted to make sure that when policies
were being formed that the new administration involved us as part of the solution said organizer Julie reiskin,
executive director of the Colorado
Cross-disability Coalition. We showed
our next governor that the disability
community can turn out hundreds of
people in a short amount of time—a
lesson that is important in a state like
Colorado that has a citizen legislature
and a very active disability community.
This event demonstrated that we are
serious about being included in the
process and being part of government
at all levels. We expect our new
governor to appoint us to high level
boards and commissions and to implement a hiring program similar to the
executive order issued by President
obama on July 26, 2010. We also
expect our new governor to take a lead
role in helping us address some of the
problems including the fact that only
20% of the disabled are even in the
labor force at all, and those in the labor
force have an unemployment rate
almost double that of people without
disabilities. We expect our new governor to take seriously the achievement
gap that has only 63% of disabled students graduating from high school and
only 9% from college. These abysmal
statistics lead to the likelihood that we
live at or below the poverty level.
Hopefully the candidates heard that
despite these grave disadvantages people with disabilities do vote, and in
Colorado we vote at almost the same
rate as do people without disabilities
and we make up almost 20% of the
population, said Joe Beaver, President
of the Board of directors of the
Colorado Cross-disability Coalition.
The issues that affect people with disabilities affect all disenfranchised
groups including people of color.
disability itself is more prevalent
among communities of color said
James Tucker, President of African
American’s for Justice and director of
Colorado’s Juneteenth Celebrations.
Tucker said he was pleased that du
sponsored this event and that it attracted Aaron Harber of the Aaron Harber
show to moderate.
october top 10 Civil
rights violators
1. American national Bank
2. Colorado springs fine Art Center
3. Colorado springs utilities
4. denver Public school
5. goodwill Industries of Colorado springs
6. Harrison school district 2
7. lockheed Martin
8. Pikes Peak Community College
9. university of the rockies
10. us Bank
oCtoBer 2010
SPeCial SuPPleMent Page 1
SPeCial SuPPleMent
denVer sTruggles AgAInsT PolICe BruTAlITY, genTrIfICATIon
shareef Aleem started the
Aurora, Colo., chapter of Cop
Watch and was a leading member of Colorado Communities
united Against Police Brutality.
He is the founder of new
ghetto Boogieology and hosts a
radio show on denver’s kgnu.
Aleem was charged with second
degree aggravated assault on an
officer during a regents meeting for Colorado university
Professor Ward Churchill in
2006, but was later found not
guilty.
The following interview was
conducted by denver activist
Melissa kleinman.
Mk: recently there have been
a few struggles in denver. Can
you tell us what happened at the
Zona’s Tamales restaurant, in
the historically Black neighborhood of five Points?
Aleem: The police did a vice
sting on owner Zona Moore, an
84-year-old Black woman, for
allegedly
having
received
stolen merchandise. The cops
say her brother bought a stolen
TV from someone. They
charged Zona with theft by
receiving. Meanwhile, a nuisance abatement was filed
against her Zona’s Tamales,
based on accusations of loud
customers outside the restaurant.
over the last 10 years the city
has used whatever means to
take over not only Black-owned
businesses, but Black people’s
homes as well. Zona’s restaurant sits on prime real estate for
condominiums that Black peo-
ple in the area can’t afford.
Her restaurant has been in the
five Points community for over
40 years. In previous years she
met with the police and the city
because as the neighborhood
became gentrified she received
noise complaints. destroying
her business is a mission they
have had for some time now.
This was their latest effort to
get her out.
Mk: How did the community
organize a defense for Zona?
Aleem: When Zona was arrested — the elder was taken to jail
in an ambulance — her daughter contacted me. Three days
later we held a rally in five
Points consisting of community
leaders, respected businesses
and supporters. There were over
100 people. The community
doesn’t want to see her shut
down. This won’t be the end of
it, even though she’s still in
business.
Mk: recently coverage has
been circulating about a police
brutality case in denver ’s
lower downtown area. Can you
explain the case?
Aleem: In April of 2009
Michael deHerrera was talking
on his cell phone to his dad
while police beat his friend. He
told his dad, “They are beating
up sean.” A cop, hearing the
conversation,
grabbed
deHerrera, threw him to the
ground and beat him with a flip
jack, which is steel with leather
wrapped around it.
The cops later lied on the
police report, saying that
shareef-Aleem, right.
deHerrera tried to punch the
officer, but a video proves that
is a lie.
Mk: How did you organize
support for deHerrera?
Aleem: There has been a meeting with the denver manager of
safety. The Black and latino/a
communities are asking that the
two police officers involved be
fired. There was a march in late
August with that demand. The
officers were only given a
three-day suspension. If the
cops are not fired, then the manager of safety should resign.
Mk: How can we support
Moore and deHerrera?
Aleem: People can write letters to the city of denver at
denver Board of ethics, 201 W.
Colfax Ave., dept. 703, denver,
Co 80202. The letters should
include a statement demanding
the officers in deHerrera’s case
be fired and that Zona be able to
keep her business in five
Points.
Mk: denver is close to
Arizona. How do you feel
Colorado can support the struggle there?
Aleem: first and foremost we
should boycott Arizona, as well
as any business or sports team
that supports the anti-immigrant
legislation. When the Arizona
diamondbacks
come
to
Colorado, for example, we
should be there with signs. We
also need to create awareness
that this could happen in
Colorado. I recently had a student on the radio show who participated in some student
actions against what’s happening in Arizona.
article copyright 1995-2010
Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution of this
entire article is permitted in
any medium without royalty
provided this notice is preserved.
oCtoBer
2010
SPeCial SuPPleMent
alpha kappa alpha Sorority Presents:
reverend dr. timothy tyler
Pastor of Shorter african
Methodist episcopal Church
reverend Tyler was recognized
as one of “Twenty to Watch”
by the African American Pulpit
Magazine.
He developed and organized
the “Cutting Through the Crisis:
An economic empowerment
experience”, a weeklong community focused event. reverend
Tyler is a member of kappa
Alpha Psi fraternity,
Incorporated.
reverend doug Farley, M.ed.
Co-Pastor of Faith Community
Baptist Church
reverend farley is unit
supervisor, Colorado lookout
Mountain Youth service Center.
He developed the “fight free
Campaign” designed to curb violence in youth residence facilities. reverend farley works hard
so that the young men he comes
into contact with, will leave the
criminal justice system with
valuable life skills to ensure they
become productive citizens.
derrick Fuller
district Manager
/vice President Wells Fargo
Mr. fuller is an advocate for
leadership and financial literacy
for youth, social development and
community service.
He was named as a “Young
leader to Watch in Colorado”.
Mr. fuller displays a high degree
of integrity, community responsibility and passion.
robert a. Winn
associate Professor of
Medicine, division of
Pulmonary & Critical Care
Medicine, university of
Colorado denver and health
Sciences Center
dr. Winn has served in
many leadership positions
and has won many awards
for his commitment to diversity on the Cu campus. As
a researcher, clinician and
teacher, he is dedicated to
developing the next generation of outstanding physician-scientists.
lawrence h. Borom
volunteer Chairman,
denver Black education
advisory Council
Mr. Borom is the Volunteer
Chairman of the denver Black
educational Advisory Council
to the denver Public schools,
and officer of the Colorado
Black roundtable. He is a Cofounder of the 100 Black Men
of denver, and the African
American leadership Institute.
Mr. Borom is member of kappa
Alpha Psi fraternity.
C. omar Montgomery
director of Black Student
Services and Coordinator of
the Student advocacy Center,
university of Colorado at
denver
Mr. Montgomery is focused on
the next generation to come
through the establishment of educational institution based programs. He was named as one
of several African Americans
"Who Make A difference" by the
denver urban spectrum.
He is a member of omega Psi
Phi fraternity, Incorporated.
thereon “greg” labrie
Ceo of Briecorp, inc.
Mr. labrie is a respected local
entrepreneur and philanthropist.
He has been recognized for his
leadership in business, community and as a role model. Mr.
labrie is President of the owls
Club denver and a Member of
the 100 Black Men of denver.
He is a member of omega Psi
Phi fraternity.
ron Fontenot Sr.
adjunct instructor at
College america
Mr. fontenot is a former 9
Who Care and 7 everyday Hero
Award Honoree.
He is the founder of the JeTs
(Junior engineers, Tomorrow’s
scientists) Program in denver.
Mr fontenot is dedicated to
exposing denver youth to the
field of engineering, and over
the past 30 years hundreds of
African-American middle and
high school students have been
exposed and gone on to become
engineers.
oCtoBer
2010
Cedric l. Buchanon
BBva Compass Senior vice
President & Commercial
Banking Manager
Mr. Buchanon has been
involved with various organizations and committees
including Junior
Achievement of Metropolitan
denver, the denver Judicial
nominating Committee,
leadership denver and the
100 Black Men. He is a
trustee at shorter Community
AMe Church.
Joseph h. graves, Jr.
legal administrator – denver
Water
Mr. graves is not only a brilliant attorney, but also a talented
actor, vocalist, writer and visual
artist. He leveraged his love/passion for the arts to develop “The
Acting Place” (TAP), a free
workshop where young actors
can develop/hone their acting
skills.
Mr. graves is a member of
kappa Alpha Psi fraternity,
Incorporated.
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oCtoBer
2010
Worrill’s corner
T H e r e A l M e A n I n g o f e d u C AT I o n , PA rT 1
We must stop the “Miseducation” of
our youth. We must help our youth to
redefine the reality of the institutions
that affect us. The political behavior of a
certain sector of Africans in America
leadership in the educational arena
should cause us to ask the question,
“What is the real meaning of education?”
education is the process of instilling
the values of a society, group, nation,
race, or ethnic group. It is the method by
which people are taught the relationship
to their families, communities, nation,
race, and the world. further, education
defines the function of society and
strives to help one become an active
participant in the growth and development of a given society, nation, race,
and ethnic group. It is in this context that
we understand that education is an
important process in helping a people
acquire power for the perpetuation of
their interests.
It should be obvious by now that most
African children in America who attend
the public schools of America are not
receiving an education. At best it can be
called training. That is, learning the
basic skills of reading, writing, and
arithmetic. In many instances, this kind
of training is occurring on a very minimal basis with African children in
America.
It is important that we consult one of
our great educators, Carter g. Woodson,
in helping sum up this awesome problem of education that keeps Africans in
America in a constant state of mental
captivity. Brother Woodson stated in his
great book, published in 1933, “The
Miseducation of the negro,” that, “The
same educational process which
inspires and stimulates the oppressor
with the thought that he is everything
and has accomplished everything
worthwhile, depresses and crushes at
the same time the spark of genius in the
negro by making him feel that his race
does not amount to much and never will
measure up to the standards of others.”
Woodson made it clear that Africans in
America educated in this manner are a
hopeless liability to the race. This is still
at the heart of our educational problem
today.
Therefore, our task becomes one of the
continued struggles to re-conceptualize
the mission of education for our people.
This re-conceptualization must be
based on the premise that Woodson set
forth when he said, “The race will free
itself from exploiters just as soon as it
decides to do so. no one else can
accomplish this task for the race. It must
plan and do for itself.” We will never
acquire real power if this does not happen.
essentially, our mission should be that
of establishing our own educational
agenda that is based on creating a new
educational ethos. The present ethos
instills in African children in America
the idea that if you go to school and get
an education you will get a job. We
should know by now that there is not
necessarily a correlation between going
to school and getting a job. It definitely
has nothing to do with the upliftment of
our race.
The task of re-conceptualizing a new
educational ethos is to understand that
the mission of our education should be
to make a whole people again as the
reparations Movement is demanding.
Making us whole again is a process that
defines education in the context of our
own political, economic, cultural, and
spiritual needs.
This new educational ethos must rest
on the idea that the group interests of
our race are more important than those
of any individual. dr. Anderson
Thompson calls this the “African
Principle.” In other words, the only way
we will become liberated and independent is through group thinking and group
action C not as isuccinctly stated, our
purpose for becoming educated should
be one of helping to build a movement
to liberate us from the oppression of
white supremacy and racism so that we
can build a new social, political, cultural, economic, and spiritual order for ourselves as we struggle to link up with
African people around the world.
This kind of education must facilitate
the re-stimulation of the extended
African in American family foundation
as we struggle to become an economically self-sufficient people who produce, process, distribute, wholesale and
retail like everyone else in the world.
finally, this new educational ethos
must instill in us the spirit of producing,
the spirit of building, and the spirit of
controlling what we create. Anything
short of this will merely mimic the education of our oppressors and we will
continue to be their subjects, to do and
be whatever they choose. individuals.
We must work to achieve the greatest
good for the greatest number.
Dr. conrad Worrill, national
chairman emeritus of the
national black united Front (nbuF)
located at 1809 east 71st street,
chicago, illinois, 60649,
773-493-0900, Fax# 773-493-9819,
e-mail: [email protected],
Web site: nbufront.org
BeYond the rhetoriC
$50 Billion and n o Blacks A llow ed
What is happening in Washington,
dC is similar to a situation in oakland,
CA a few years ago. My friend,
shannon reeves, was president of the
local nAACP chapter there. one night
at a city council hearing everyone was
unloading about how bad the economic situation was. finally shannon let
them have it, “You have a Black
mayor, predominantly Black city
council, Black school superintendent,
Black police chief, Black fire superintendent, Black state representative, and
a Black congressperson and Black
everything else. If things are bad then
someone Black has either done it or let
it happened.” In essence, the solution
must start with us and cities like
oakland, Compton, east st. louis,
gary, detroit, Camden, etc. must start
to police and correct themselves.
outside sources are not going to do it
for us.
so far this stimulus Bill has been a
disaster for Black America. We have
participated in about 1% of the revenue at best. only thing is the union
movement is mad about that one percent we have in addition to the 1%
Hispanics have and the 3% women
share. In total that is 5% and they see
that as awful. The greedy unions want
it all to themselves and they aren’t
going to stop until they get it. After all,
they paid the obama Campaign over
$200 million and they want the big
oCtoBer
2010
return on that investment.
The latest union hustle is the High
speed rail system they want built
throughout America. We need this like
a “hole in the head”. our economy is
in the tank. We can’t fill airplanes, normal trains or buses but they want to fill
the nation up with these bullet trains
that will not be used by many. There is
at least $50 billion in jobs doing this
and the unions want all of those jobs.
They already have gotten the obama
Administration to eliminate civil rights
and affirmative action programs
regarding the oversight of this project.
normally, the us department of
Transportation’s
disadvantaged
Business enterprise (dBe) program
would apply. This states that goals
must be set for minority and women
businesses and equal opportunity
employment must be enforced. But oh,
the little bigots have found a loophole.
There is an underutilized agency within the department of Transportation
where the dBe program doesn’t
apply. That is the federal railroad
Administration. so, in a sinister way,
the obama Administration is shifting
all the responsibility for the high speed
rails to this department so affirmative
action and civil rights cannot be
enforced. This is terribly sad isn’t it? It
is change all right – change for the
worst.
Courageously, Congresswoman
gwen Moore (Black democrat,
Milwaukee) stepped in the way and
filed house bill H.r. 5010 which states
that
the
federal
railroad
Administration must abide by the
doT civil rights programs. The bill
states: “To amend title 49, united
states Code, to require that not less
than 10 percent of the amounts made
available for certain high-speed rail
projects be expended through small
business concerns owned and controlled by socially and economically
disadvantaged individuals, and for
other purposes.” she dropped this
April 13, 2010. However, speaker of
the House Pelosi went to work against
it. she assigned the bill to 1 / 2 $50
Billion and no Blacks Allowed
Congresswoman Corrine Brown
(Black democrat, Jacksonville),
subcommittee Chair for railroads and
Congresswoman nydia Velasquez
(Hispanic democrat, nYC), and Chair
for the House small Business
Committee. The bill has been frozen
ever since. It has been over five
months and they are conspiring to kill
it.
strangely enough, there has not been
one member of the House of
representatives to cosponsor this bill
with Congresswoman Moore. no
member of the Congressional Black
Caucus,
democratic
Party,
Transportation or small Business
Committees. Congresswoman Moore
is out there by herself. It is a betrayal of
African Americans, minorities and
women, in every since of the term.
remembering oakland, I must state
that if we have a Black President,
Black House Whip, 43 members of the
Congressional Black Caucus, Black
Attorney general (in charge of Civil
rights) and Black representation
throughout the federal government
then someone Black is doing this or
letting it happen. It is 2010 and they are
openly killing civil rights. somehow
we are going to have to rally and fight
this terrible assault. one thing we can
do is remember this in november
when we go to the polls. If your congressperson is not going to fight this
then you need a new congressperson.
There should be no high speed rail system built in this nation unless it comes
correct. racism should not be allowed
and certainly not promoted by the
democratic Party and supported by the
Congressional Black Caucus. I shall
close this sad commentary with one of
my favorite tunes of the 1960s. “They
are all chicken feathers; all without one
gut; trying to make it real; but compared to what.”
Harry alford is the co-founder,
president/ceo of the national black
chamber of commerce®.
Website: www.nationalbcc.org.
email: [email protected].
Page 7
B
l A C k o n o M I C s
Bi-Polar electorate
their readers with political opinions
and prognostications from one election to the next. Immediately following one election, the next one gets
underway.
Take Alan simpson (as Henny
Youngman used to say, “Please” take
him). President obama appointed this
guy to help straighten out some of the
mess in d.C., and he comes out and
disparages social security and those
receiving it. simpson also castigated
u.s. Veterans for receiving benefits
that are rightly and justifiably theirs. If
simpson and his cronies in d.C. were
forced to participate in social security,
instead of living large on their fat-cat
retirement benefits, that we pay for,
they would not be so quick to tinker
with it; it would always be secure.
What sense does it make for us, the
electorate, to provide jobs for most of
these do-nothing-but-campaign-forthe-next-election politicians while
they do nothing to keep us employed?
We are indeed a bi-polar, schizophrenic, manic depressive electorate.
We vote for one party, and in two years
we are ready to switch to the other
november 2010 will, once again, for
the umpteenth time, reveal the “insanity” that Albert einstein referred to in
his famous quote. You know: doing
the same thing over and over and
expecting a different result. for
decades voters have elected folks who,
once they get sworn in, do absolutely
nothing for the voters and everything
for themselves. We elect politicians
who deliberate and legislate against us
rather than on our behalf. And we keep
doing this strange mating dance ad
nauseam.
Why do so many of us keep falling
for the same old tired game every election? Politics is all about self-interest;
that really says it all. The things we see
in politics today should tell us, in no
uncertain terms, that if we do not play
this game to win, our self-interests will
never be met.
overall, the political arena dominates
our collective psyche; it fills the airwaves of radio stations; it is plastered
on our walls via big screen TVs; it is
served up hot and fresh each morning
in our newspapers; and every month
dozens of major magazines deluge
by James Clingman
party, even though both parties either
take us for granted or couldn’t care less
about us. That is, except when they
need our individual votes.
Thomas sowell is quoted as saying,
“It is hard to imagine a more stupid or
more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in
the hands of people who pay no price
for being wrong.” This is exactly what
we do, and we are about to go from
manic to depressive in november. We
had better change our politics and stop
supporting folks who do not support
us. We put them in charge of our lives,
our destiny, and even though they con-
tinue to kick dirt in our faces, we just
keep on paying their bills and sending
their children to college.
We must be more self-directed and
not be led around like a bunch of lemmings by career politicians who are
directing money into their pockets and
keeping it away from our pockets.
Maulana karenga said, “self-determination stresses the quest for control of
the politics, economics, and cultural
institutions and processes of our communities, and to exercise and receive
rightful representation and an equitable share of the resources of society.
It also requires a political consciousness and responsibility which result in
unity, social activism, and building
institutions that house and advance our
interests as a people.”
James e. clingman is the nation’s
most prolific writer on economic
empowerment for black people. His
weekly syndicated newspaper column, blackonomics, is featured in
hundreds of newspapers, magazines,
and newsletters. He has written six
books.
www.blackonomics.com
a d i FFer en t v i eW
o u r J o B l e s s r e C o V e rY
our economy generated about
431,000 jobs this september.
good news? only if you don't
count the fact that more than
400,000 of the jobs were temporary jobs connected to collecting
data for the Census. Those jobs
won't last for long and when the
dust clears the current 9.7 percent
unemployment rate, down from
9.9 percent a month ago, is likely
to rise again.
still, those who are desperate for
good news are clinging to the fact
that there are more jobs out there.
What they don't understand is that
people are looking for something
more than a few months of work
here and there. nearly seven million Americans have been out of
work for more than half a year.
What has this done to their
finances?
of course the situation is worse
for African Americans, even
though black unemployment
dropped from 16.5 to 15.5 percent
last month. The 15.5 percent is a
modest estimate of what is really
happening. The u6 number in the
Bureau of labor statistics
employment situation report
includes discouraged workers,
those working part time that really want full time work and others
peripherally connected to the
labor market. That number
dropped last month from 17.1 to
16.6 percent for the overall popuPage 8
lation. While the Bls does not
report the number for African
Americans, using the same relationships, the African American
u6 number is at least 25.6 percent. That means that one in four
African Americans is jobless!
This jobless recovery means that
some economists are willing and
able to have conversations about
the way the economy is turning
around, even as only a few people
feel the impact of the turnaround?
some of the numbers do look
good, but the numbers that matter
- the unemployment rate numbers
are stuck. How can the economy
recover without generating jobs
and what does this mean in the
Julianne Malveaux
long run? We should all be appre- never work again because of her
hensive about public policy that age. Her aura was one of someone
does not embrace job creation, battered and lifeless. she asked
because at the basis of economic me, a stranger, why her company
viability is an individual's ability could have done that to her. Part
to earn and spend. Without jobs, of me wanted to ask if she ever
that just won't happen.
read the headlines. Part of me
As an economist, my focus on wanted to give her a hug.
the labor market is usually about
A young white man who is a
work and pay. several experiences 2009 graduate of a prestigious
in the last few months have forced college delivered my room servme to focus, also, on the human ice, just a few days ago.
consequences of high unemploy- Personable and positive, he
ment, including the mental health shared, as we talked, that he
consequences of being jobless in a worked about 20 hours a week at
culture that says that what you do the hotel. His major is communiis who you are. I met a woman cations, but after sending out
who had been downsized from her more than 100 resumes and tapes,
job at 61. she told me, despon- he has no job offers. so he is waitdently, that she would probably
ing tables, delivering room service, keeping his chin up, and quietly dying. He said he could hardly bear to look at his dad, a man
who had invested in his education.
"I'm still living at home," he told
me. "I should be out doing
things."
This crisis knows no race or gender, but African Americans are
being hit harder than most. Public
policy has to address this. It is
unconsociable that we should talk
economic recovery while people
are not working, while people are
suffering. And we have to consider the many ways our society
pains because of joblessness.
There is a malaise that has infected our society because of this high
unemployment. our mental and
emotional health have been affected by this unemployment. And we
are all too quiet about it because
we don't know what to do next.
Here is what we must do - we
must push our legislators to
address high unemployment. And
we must protect the long term
unemployed by extending their
long-term benefits. A jobless
recovery is no recovery, but
instead it is a joke.
Julianne Malveaux is president
of bennett college for Women in
greensboro, north carolina. she
can be reached at
[email protected].
www.juliannemalveaux.com
oCtoBer 2010
aFriCa
Imperialist domination underdevelops Africa, PArT 3
By Caleb t. Maupin
The Central Intelligence
Agency, a ruthless enforcer of
Wall street’s drive for profits,
publishes
“The
World
factbook.” It gives updated
statistics for every country,
some of which measure quality
of life and societal health, such
as life expectancy, infant mortality, literacy, unemployment
and industrial production. In
this series, Workers World
examines some surprising conclusions, all using the CIA’s
own statistics. even though
these statistics often understate gains compared to united
nations figures, they can’t
help but show that countries
benefit by breaking with imperialism.
Constantly in the u.s. we are
told that the solution for the
people of Africa, who overwhelmingly live in extreme
poverty, is for u.s. corporations and oil companies to
invest there.
for a long time Marxists have
struggled to expose this bit of
supposed “common knowledge.” Walter rodney wrote a
ground-breaking work called
“How europe underdeveloped
Africa” that showed how
Africa was impoverished and
destroyed by Western domination and colonialism.
kwame nkrumah, the first
president of ghana, wrote
“neo-Colonialism: the last
stage of Imperialism.” The
book discussed how even
though some governments in
Africa and other impoverished
parts of the world became
politically “independent” from
colonial masters, starting in
the 1950s and 1960s, they are
still dominated and controlled
by Western capitalists and can
still be subject to direct military repression.
The history of Africa is filled
with examples of u.s. intervention against liberation
movements.
Washington
backed the criminal apartheid
regime of south Africa for
many decades, until the 1990s.
The u.s. also engineered the
assassination
of
Patrice
lumumba, the first premier of
the Congo after it won independence from Belgium. More
recently, the u.s. has bombed
and destabilized somalia in the
name of the “war on terror.”
The u.s. media has whipped
up a frenzy of “moral outrage”
about alleged “dictators” who
are to blame for the economic
woes of African people.
oCtoBer
2010
leaders who oppose the West
such as robert Mugabe and
Muammar qaddafi are portrayed as harming their people
by getting in the way of
Western capitalists.
But even the CIA’s own statistics show otherwise. The
highest life expectancy in
Africa — 77.47 years — is in
libya, where qaddafi leads the
country with an ideology of
“Islamic socialism” and is
consistently demonized by the
u.s. propaganda machine.
Compare this to libya’s
neighbor, egypt, a country not
led by anti-imperialists or revolutionaries, where this same
average is 72.40 years.
nigeria, an oil-producing
country like libya, is another
example of the “wonders” of
Western imperialism. nigeria’s
government has long been a
friend to u.s. and British corporations, such as shell oil.
With friends of shell holding
the government rather than a
popular
anti-imperialist
regime, nigeria’s average life
expectancy is only 47.24 years.
It is odd that Muammar
qaddafi’s regime has been
labeled as having negative
effects for the people of libya,
when people in that country
live longer than those in any
other African country. To the
corporate media’s discredit,
they publish or broadcast little
of the negative impact of privatization in egypt or nigeria,
yet will disseminate much
about alleged evils of countries
like libya that refuse to
become
neo-colonies
of
Western capitalism.
Zimbabwe has long been
demonized as a “dictatorship”
and “economic disaster.” such
accusations against Zimbabwe
are directed at the government
of robert Mugabe, who led the
Zimbabwe African national
union in wresting power from
a regime composed of white
settlers
whose
ancestors
claimed the territory for the
British empire. now the
Mugabe
government
has
angered the West by taking
over and distributing to the
African people the richest
farmland, which had been held
by the settler minority that still
controlled
the
country’s
resources.
literacy
in
Zimbabwe, led by its revolutionary nationalist government, is 90.7 percent, far
above even the world average
of 80 percent.
uganda, where a u.s.-backed
evangelical Christian who
believes in free market capitalism holds the presidency, has
only 66.8 percent literacy.
The nigerian government,
under tight control of u.s. oil
corporations, has established
only 68 percent literacy.
Zimbabwe’s life expectancy,
though low, stands above
nigeria, Zambia and u.s.occupied Afghanistan. despite
this fact, the corporate media
never seem to report on the
“economic
disaster”
of
Western capitalist domination
in nigeria or Zambia, but
focus on the problems of
Zimbabwe. Add to this the
problems caused Zimbabwe by
u.s. and British sanctions and
the maneuvers of Western
bankers to destabilize the
national currency, and you get
the picture.
The CIA’s own statistics on
quality of life in Africa overwhelmingly show that capitalist domination and imperialism
are not “saving” the African
people. The regimes in countries such as nigeria, egypt
and Zambia, which are dominated and controlled by
Western corporations, generally have a much lower quality
of life than those that fight
imperialism and seek to build
an independent government.
Contrary to what is largely
believed in the united states,
people in Africa benefit most
from carving out their own
destiny and removing the
power of Western corporations
and banks. Investment by
imperialists is no help to the
people of that continent; it is
done purely to exploit the
labor and resources that should
belong to the African people.
Claims that imperialism brings
“development” are as phony as
the past claims by the slavetraders that they were “helping
to civilize” African people by
placing them in bondage.
this is a paid advertisement
article
copyright
1995-2010
Workers World. verbatim copying and distribution of this entire
article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this
notice is preserved.
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Page 9
H
e A l T H
&
f
I T n e s s
The Hidden secrets in 'Healthy' foods
While there are many foods
that sound healthy because they
have the word 'salad', 'low-fat',
or 'fruity' in them, you should
educate yourself on what is actually in the ingredients that make
up the foods before you spend
your financial and calorie budgets on them. read these tips to
help you make better decisions
when you purchase your next
meal or snack:
1. some garden and Caesar salads often contain high calorie
dressings and cheeses that boost
the calorie count up to 300-400
calories for a small salad. keep
in mind that dressings are to be
used strictly to add a little flavor
to the salad, and this can be
accomplished by either dipping
your salad into the dressing, or
mixing one tablesppon of dressing into the entire salad. forego
the croutons if you can, the seasoned variety contain almost 200
calories in a cup! As a healthier
option for croutons, make your
own by using broken up whole
wheat bread that you toast in the
oven with a drizzle of olive oil
on top. Turn your salad into a
meal by adding broccoli, green
and red peppers, tomatoes, croutons, apples, low fat cheese, car-
rots, and any other veggies you
find in your fridge.
2. fruit smoothies sound pretty
healthy right? once again, label
reading should be second nature
to anyone trying to lose weight.
That "healthy" berry blend at a
smoothie shop can surprisingly
contain up to 80 grams of sugar,
over 300 calories, no protein,
and very often, little or no fresh
fruit. for many smoothie varieties, fruit concentrates are often
used instead of fresh fruit and
when you add a little ice cream
or sorbet, voila! You have a
'healthy' milkshake! remember
to ask for what you want: fresh
fruit, low fat yogurt instead of
ice cream, skim milk and protein
power to add some balance.
3. 2% milk sounds a lot healthier than whole milk, and while it
does contain less calories and
saturated fat, the difference is
pretty insignificant. It still has
more than half the saturated fat
of whole milk. Whole milk contains 150 calories and 5 grams of
saturated fat, and 2% milk contains 130 calories and 3 grams of
saturated fat per serving. If you
have a hard time transitioning to
skim milk which contains 80
calories and 0 grams of saturated
fat, try mixing it with whole or
2% milk for a while until you can
get used to the taste. You would
be cutting back on the saturated
fat entirely.
4. low fat yogurt can be tasty,
but also very deceptive. often
full of added sugars, it is tempting to assume you are eating
something
healthy
without
knowing that you are filling up
on up to 30 or more grams of
fructose, sucrose or other sweeteners. A typical 6 ounce container should be 90-130 calories and
under 20 grams of sugar. Try
mixing sweetened yogurt with
regular, plain, nonfat yogurt until
you can get used to the nonfat
yogurt and add your own fresh
fruit as a sweetener.
While there are many other
foods that contain surprising
amounts of added sugar and
calories, starting with the four
listed above can be a good start.
The small modifications mentioned can easily be integrated
into your lifestyle. remember to
always, always, always read the
label on everything before you
buy it, and if you are buying
from a restaurant or fast food
location, ask for the nutritional
facts. If weight loss is your goal,
it is imperative that you become
familiar with the calories, saturated fats and oftentimes hidden
sugar that are found in some
familiar, healthy sounding foods.
learn how to combine the not so
healthy food varieties with ones
that pass the label test little by
little until you are eating the
actual
healthy
varieties.
eventually your taste buds will
change which will make it easier
to make food choices that your
body needs.
have a healthy week!
soCIAl seCurITY
reAd THIs If You PlAn To reTIre soon
By rose Fortune
Planning to retire in early 2011?
It may already be time to apply.
Applying for benefits is easier
than you think. especially if you
do it online at www.socialsecurity.gov. The social security website makes the process easy and
convenient.
Just logon to your computer and
visit
our
website
at
www.socialsecurity.gov/applyonline. You can apply online for
your retirement benefits from the
comfort of your home or office. It
can take as little as 15 minutes.
In most cases, once your application is submitted electronically,
you’re done. There are no forms
to sign and usually no documentation is required. social security
will process your application and
contact you if any further information is needed.
regardless of when you plan to
retire, you should consider doing
it about three months ahead of
time. Then you’ll know that your
payments will make it to you on
time.
If you are not quite ready to
retire but are thinking about
doing so in the near future, you
may want to visit social
security’s website to use our convenient and informative retirement planner at www. socialsecurity. gov /retire2. Here you can
find out just how close you are to
meeting your financial goals and
then “ bookmark ” the website to
file for retirement benefits when
you are ready. from there, you
can use our retirement estimator
to get an instant, personalized
estimate of your retirement benefits.
remember that you’re always
first in line when you go online.
learn more about social security
by visiting our website at
www.socialsecurity.gov.
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2010
TH e s Ilen T k I
The silent killer
by Melissa ramirez
do you know there is a silent killer
among African Americans? It targets
the most weak and defenseless of
your people, yet is rarely even discussed or given attention in the
media. reaching much further than
the slave trade or kkk did, its
destructive arm continues to claim
innocent lives daily. some who are
aware of the devastation it’s brought
have termed it “Black genocide” or
“the darfur of America.” In the past
37 years it has taken more than double the lives of African Americans
than AIds, heart disease, cancer,
accidents and violent crimes have
combined. Just what is this silent
killer? Abortion.
everyday approximately 1,300
African Americans die to the cruel
act of abortion. of course people of
every race are victims of abortion,
but the following statistics will
shock you. note: there are 2 abortion
reporting agencies, the Centers for
disease Control (CdC) and the Alan
guttmacher Institute (AgI), the
research arm of Planned Parenthood.
Both use different methods of gathering data, and AgI is usually more
accurate.
*from the most current census
data, the female population in
America is composed of 12.3%
black women and 62.6% white
women. Although white women outnumber black women 5 to 1, black
women account for 37% of all abortions, while white women account
for 34%. (AgI August 2008 report:
Trends in the Characteristics of
Women obtaining Abortion 19742004), Put another way, black babies
are aborted at 5x the rate of white
babies.
*from the same source above, in
2004 the abortion ratio (the # of
abortions per 100 pregnancies ending in abortion or live birth) was 42
for blacks, 15.4 for whites, and 21.8
for Hispanics. notice the number of
black babies dying is nearly 3x the
amount of white babies and 2x the
number of Hispanics.
*According to the CdC’s most
recent
Abortion
surveillance
reports, an average of 483 abortions
occurred for each 1,000 live births of
African Americans, from 2000 to
2006.
*In CdC’s national Vital statistics
report (nVsr) Vol. 57 no. 12, it
shows that there were 617,247 black
births in 2006. That same year there
were approximately 464,640 abortions and 289,971 black deaths from
other causes (nVsr Vol. 57 no. 14).
If we do the math, we can see that
there were a total of 754,611 deaths
in the black community, which is
137,364 more than were born.
*since roe vs. Wade passed in
1973, 52 million babies have been
killed by abortion, and 17 million of
those babies have been black.
According to the 2009 u.s. Census
oCtoBer
2010
Bureau, the Black American population stands at 39.6 million, which
means 30% of Black America has
been wiped out through abortion.
That’s not even accounting for future
generations that would have been
born to those gone.
do you see the atrocity? no wonder
dr. Clenard H. Childress Jr. has said,
“The most dangerous place for an
African-American child to be is in
the womb of their African-American
mother.” But why is abortion decimating African-Americans more
than any other racial group? The
AgI states it’s simply because there
are more unintended pregnancies
among black women. What about the
fact that nearly 80% of Planned
Parenthoods, our nation’s leading
abortion provider, are located in
minority neighborhoods? Is there
some kind of hidden racial agenda?
Margaret sanger, the founder of
Planned Parenthood, was a firm
believer in eugenics. eugenics is the
so-called science of improving the
human race through selective breeding. sanger labeled certain people,
like the physically or mentally handicapped, poverty stricken, diseased,
insane, criminals, or feeble-minded,
as genetically inferior or “unfit,” and
promoted birth control or sterilization to control their reproduction.
Although her writings reveal no
overt prejudice toward any race, but
rather toward the “unfit” in general, she had associations with some
avowed racists, such as lothrop
stoddard, who authored The
rising Tide of Color Against
White supremacy. Also in her
autobiography, she describes her
experience speaking at a kkk
rally in silverlake, nJ and receiving a dozen invitations to speak to
similar groups afterward. By far
the most controversy has arisen
from a letter she wrote to Clarence
gamble in 1939 discussing the
negro Project, which used colored
ministers to propagandize birth
control to the black community. In
the letter she wrote, “We do not
want word to go out that we want
to exterminate the negro population and the Minister is the man
who can straighten out the idea if it
ever occurs to any of their more
rebellious members.” some say
she wanted to prevent the false
idea that promoting birth control
was an effort to eliminate blacks,
while others believe eliminating
them was her real intention.
Moving on from sanger, here are
a few more eye openers. In 1966,
during a public speech given by
Alan
guttmacher,
Planned
Parenthood’s president at the time,
he revealed that there seemed to be
racial motives behind some of his
colleagues’ involvement with the
organization. He was later warned
not to make such comments in
public. Moving forward to 1986
during an interview with Cnn, the
national president of Planned
Parenthood, faye Wattleton, admitted that certain people supported
them because they wanted all welfare mothers and all black women to
stop having children. More recently,
liveActionfilms put videos on
YouTube of undercover callers wanting to make a donations earmarked
for abortions on black babies, which
were readily accepted by the Planned
Parenthood.
looking at the facts, one cannot
deny that there have been racial
motives of people past and present,
working for or partnered with
Planned Parenthood. That’s not to
say that all, or even the majority of
current Planned Parenthood employees are racist. The bottom line is that
this billion dollar blood industry is
killing off our future generations,
and is affecting the AfricanAmerican community most significantly. These unborn babies are crying out for a chance at life and for
their personhood to be recognized.
Will you answer their cry?
earlier this year I read this simple,
yet profound quote from Mr. luther
king Jr., “Injustice anywhere is a
threat to justice everywhere.” Along
with god’s spirit, his words drove
me to help gather the 86,000 signatures needed to ensure the
Personhood Amendment a place on
l l e r
the ballot this november. If it passes,
Amendment 62 will protect all people in our state equally under the law
from the beginning of their biological
development.
Planned
Parenthood and similar organizations have long tried to dehumanize
the unborn by referring to them as
just a fetus, mass of cells, or even
property. But modern medical science, along with an innate knowledge from our Creator, both affirm
that an unborn child is a person. And
nothing can ever justify the killing of
an innocent person! listen to the
words of Alveda king, niece of Mr.
luther king Jr. “It is an unjust thing
to kill a person because they are too
small. If it was unjust to say to
Joretta scott, a slave, ‘You’re not a
person; you’re 3/5 human,’ then it’s
unjust to say to a baby, ‘You’re not a
person because you’re too little.’”
How can we disagree? Black genocide needs to stop! Baby genocide
needs to stop! Abortion is a crime
against all of humanity. Help bring
an end to this silent killer here in
Colorado and vote yes on
Amendment 62. for as Alveda has
asked, “How can the dream survive
if we murder the children?” for
more information please visit: www.
personhoodcolorado. com , www.
blackgenocide.
org,
www.
yes62.com
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C oMMunitY n etWork
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AAVoice 2010_10 - African American Voice

Transcription

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