Home Blog Page 1109

500 Men Making a Difference

Editor, Our Time Press
-
0 


Please join“ 500 Men Making a Difference” to work on the completion of a conference center in


 




Bedford Stuyvesant Brooklyn.


Lets come together and put the Man back in Manhood and accomplish some tangible goals together


Sponsored By Boys and Girls High School

John White Steps Forward to Fulfill Sentence

Editor, Our Time Press
-
0

Flanked by his wife and sons, last week John White reported to the courtroom of the Honorable Barbara Kahn in the Suffolk County Court. He began his sentence of 2-4 years resulting from the incident in which John White was defending his family and home from a mob of drunken teens. That incident resulted in the death of one of those teens.
Noel Leader, along with other members of 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care, escorted John White and his family to the court “because of the sensitivity of the case and threats made to him, his wife and sons.” Leader said, “Members of our organization picked the family up at their house and had the unfortunate task of escorting him to the courthouse, where he was then taken into custody to complete his sentence.”
Describing the mood of the family, Leader said “Surprisingly, John was more upbeat than all of us were. Because of the magnitude of the injustice to him as well as his family, we all were sad. He was very upbeat. He knew what he did was the right thing to do. He had nothing to hang his head in shame over. He was sad over the fact that he was going to miss his wife and children.”
According to Leader, John White’s “sons were, of course, very sad. They know that they are going to miss their father for the next couple of years unless Governor David Paterson does the right thing and grants clemency or a pardon.”
Someone close to the family said John White could not submit a clemency application until White was in custody inside the prison.
John White has exhausted all appeals on the state level. Since that last state appeal was rejected, something occurred to give the family additional hope. The U.S. Supreme Court decided in McDonald v. City of Chicago that the Second Amendment, which protects the right to bear arms for the purpose of self-defense, also applies to the states (not just the District of Columbia, as decided in the Heller case). The family will need to raise funds to start a federal lawsuit.
“Everyone who is familiar with the facts of this case knows that we are not holding our heads down for John.  He did nothing wrong,” Leader said. “All of us will miss him. All of us share the unfortunate time he will now serve in prison. Right now, what everyone is pinning their hopes on is the governor intervening.”
The weapon involved in the incident was a family heirloom. It originally belonged to Napoleon White, John’s grandfather. According to family history, the White family was chased out of Oneonta, Alabama in 1929. One night the Klan came to the family home to get someone in the family. Napoleon White was able to defend the family and get most of them out. The Klan set the house on fire. One of John’s aunts was not able to get out. She died in the fire. In the aftermath, the White family split up. Some settled in Cleveland, others in Georgia. John White’s branch of the family landed in New York.

For the Sake of Truth and Clarity NuLeadership Responds to President Pollard’s Message

Editor, Our Time Press
-
19

Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York (CUNY) was named after a slain civil rights hero and Black leader who spent his life fighting for the rights of all people  to be included in the economic, social, political and educational mainstream of American society without bias or prejudice.  The college that bears his name was founded to provide higher educational opportunities to the underserved urban populations of Central Brooklyn and beyond.  Since its inception, Medgar Evers College (MEC) has been true to that mission.  One of the ways it fulfills its mission is in the creation of centers within the college, which concentrate on specific population groups or academic disciplines: for example: the Center for Women’s Development or the Center for Black Literature. 
One of the centers at MEC, the six-year-old Center for NuLeadership on Urban Solutions, has been singled out for attack, severe criticism and special treatment.  Ironically, and perhaps coincidentally, this center focuses on the population of students who have been formerly incarcerated but are now seeking to turn their lives around through the acquisition of a college education.  For the past several weeks, there has been a continuing controversy between the Center for NuLeadership and the college’s newly appointed senior management staff, led by President William L. Pollard, Vice President Lloyd Blanchard and Provost Howard L. Johnson, over the legitimacy of the Center for NuLeadership and its funding.  President Pollard referenced these issues in the July 8th issue of Our Time Press. It is imperative that we clarify and provide background information on these issues.
In “Summer News from Medgar Evers College,” Dr. Pollard writes about a funding grant proposal submitted by the Center for NuLeadership in January and the fact that “Provost Johnson received the [funding] proposal in May 2010 and raised in writing a series of questions reflecting the college’s legitimate concerns.”  To be clear, there was no grant proposal submitted in January.  The Center for NuLeadership was solicited by the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services to begin a series of negotiations on a Court 2 College grant that would provide formerly incarcerated people with an opportunity to attend college. The proposal to which President Pollard is referring, is a draft proposal and the Center for NuLeadership attempted to meet with the president for several months to discuss the proposal.  Furthermore, the Center for NuLeadership was provided with the provost’s questions related to the proposal on the same day that President Pollard sent a message re: nonresponse to questions on the proposal to the college community. 
The college’s senior management team has used the request for authorization of the proposal as a basis for questioning the legitimacy and status of the Center for NuLeadership. The funding proposal has nothing to do with our application to be approved as a center.  By mixing the two, the president has given the impression that the Center for NuLeadership is unwilling to cooperate with the provost.  Nothing is further from the truth. 
In April 2009, at the request of MEC’s former president, Dr. Edison O. Jackson, the Center for NuLeadership – with the assistance of the college’s legal counsel – submitted a formal written proposal to be recognized as a center within the college.  The proposal was presented to the Medgar Evers College Council, the highest governing body within the college, and approved by a unanimous vote.  The College Council instructed the former Provost to forward the proposal, with their recommendation for approval, to the CUNY Office of Academic Affairs, for final ratification by the CUNY Board of Trustees.  This was never done.  Provost Johnson, with the approval of senior management, has still refused to forward the approved proposal.  Instead, he has drafted a series of questions and demanded that the Center for NuLeadership answer them before he forwards the proposal. 
Simply put, the provost has decided to supersede the authority of the College Council and CUNY Central by disregarding the established CUNY guidelines for the establishment of centers and creating his own prerequisites for approval.  The Center for NuLeadership has no objection to answering the provost’s questions, and will.  However, it firmly maintains that the proposal should not be subjected to any additional prerequisites or requirements not asked of other centers, nor should its application be held hostage pending answers to these additional requirements.  The College Council, not the provost, is the governing body of the college.  It has already voted approval of the proposal.  The provost cannot now impose further requirements and ignore the College Council’s mandate.
For over six years, the Center for NuLeadership has operated at Medgar Evers College with absolutely no problems.  We were assigned an account with the Research Foundation of the City University of New York (RF), in the name of the Center for NuLeadership on Urban Solutions, for purposes of funding, payroll and other expenses.  We have received extensive funding opportunities for the college and have always been self-sufficient in covering the costs of our staff, operations and programs. There has never been any question or issue with any of our grant proposals.   We have always followed CUNY rules and regulations to the letter and have always complied with any and all of the “legitimate concerns” of the college to secure approval for these funds.
While the controversy focuses on the Center for NuLeadership, its outcome has broad implications for all of the Centers in the college and for the relationship between the College and the Central Brooklyn community.  The centers were established to serve both the College and Central Brooklyn Community.  When the college interferes with the governance and programmatic issues of the centers, this negatively impacts the community.  Will the new managers of the college adhere to and respect the rules governing the college or will they continue to attempt to create their own rules, or change the college’s rules when those rules do not suit their purposes? 
Based upon our six-year history at Medgar Evers, there are no reasons why the Center for NuLeadership’s proposal should not be sent to the CUNY Office of Academic Affairs immediately.  There are no prerequisites involved. Sending our proposal to CUNY does not require approval of anyone at the college beyond the approvals already secured.  Finally, there are no reasons why the president and the provost should not welcome the work that the Center for NuLeadership is doing as opposed to trying to curtail it.
Dr. Divine Pryor, Executive Director
Center for NuLeadership on Urban Solutions
 Mr. Eddie Ellis, Deputy Director
Center for NuLeadership on Urban Solutions

A Blueprint for the Freedom Party

Editor, Our Time Press
-
1

By Alton H. Maddox, Jr.
While a political party may be established at any time, a political party with ballot status in New York can only occur during a gubernatorial election which, in New York, is every four years. A general election for governor of New York will occur on November 2, 2010. To achieve ballot status, the political party must collect 50,000 votes.
If a political party fails to collect 50,000 votes in a gubernatorial election, it will lose ballot status for the next four years. This means that its statewide candidate for governor must gather 15,000 valid signatures once again. The Working Families Party, for example, lost its ballot status four years ago.
The Freedom Party intends for its petitioning in 2010 to be “one and done”. Once it acquires ballot status, it may nominate its gubernatorial candidate. An example is the nomination of Andrew Cuomo for governor in 2010. By petitioning, however, the person carrying the petition of Charles Barron gets the opportunity to engage the voters during the petition drive.
It is very important to distinguish a designating petition from an independent nominating petition. A designating petition is associated with a primary. On the other hand, an independent nominating petition is associated with a general election.
Any registered voter can vote in a general election and any registered voter can sign any independent designating petition. The names of the statewide slate of the Freedom Party will appear on the ballot in November and not on the ballot in September. The general election happens in November. In New York, only an enrolled member of a political party can vote in its primary.
Before Smith v. Allwright (1944), Blacks were usually barred from voting in primaries. They were referred to as “white primaries”. In this country, there have always been barriers to voting. Universal suffrage is not respected. Thurgood Marshall hailed Smith v. Allwright as his greatest legal victory.
Marshall elevated politics over education. Brown v. Board of Education would be decided in 1954. The sine qua non of politics is the selection and not the election of candidates. The South operated under a one-party system; namely, states’ rights. This was the overt agenda of the Democratic Party before 1968.

Terrorism was the instrument employed before the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to enforce “white primaries.” Co-optation is the tool employed today. Leading Blacks are paid-off not to resist white supremacy. This enables white supremacists to hand-pick “our” Black elected officials. Thus, Black voters endorse their own oppression.
Neither the Democratic Party nor the Republican Party was established to abolish slavery. The “founding fathers” of the Democratic Party include Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson. They were white supremacists. Jefferson penned “Notes on Virginia”. Jackson nominated Roger Taney to head the U.S. Supreme Court. Taney wrote the Dred Scott decision. White Democrats still honor them.
The disenfranchisement of Black and Latino felons must be a concern of the Freedom Party. Our voting ranks are being depleted. In New York, half of the parolees and probationers are Black and a third are Latino. Only Maine, Vermont, Utah and Massachusetts lack a criminal disenfranchisement statute of “one type or another”.
Felony convictions are wreaking havoc in New York. Although the Rockefeller drug law has been softened, New York still refuses to enact “second chance” legislation for ex-felons. Decent employment opportunities still continue to escape them. The lack of “second chance” legislation boosts recidivism.
The three-fifths provision of the U.S. Constitution still apply to Black felons without equivocation. It was sanctioned by the Thirteenth Amendment. Thus, Black and Latino felons are counted in their places of incarceration and not their actual places of residence. They are incarcerated in areas that are hostile to Blacks and Latinos.
Political leverage will be important for the Freedom Party and it will start on August 11. This should be our initial shock in New York politics. It will start with our submission of at least 100,000 signatures to the Board of Elections. This would be more that six times the statutory minimum of 15,000 valid signatures.
In 1994, the Freedom Party was a novice in politics. Yet, the party was able to collect more than 53,000 signatures without the organization nor personnel that exists today. Today, the Freedom Party should be able to easily double its efforts of 1994 although our access to the Black media is more accessible than it was in 1994.
In 2009, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a Republican, could not leave home without the Independence Party. In 2010, Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, has said that he is unable to leave home without the Independence Party. When Councilman Barron secures 500,000 votes, no Democrat nor Republican candidate for statewide office will be able to leave home without the Freedom Party.

Community Greets Freedom Party Slate

Mary Alice Miller
-
8

Once again, several hundred community members flocked to the Siloam Presbyterian Church. This time the occasion was the presentation of the complete Freedom Party Slate. Eva M. Doyle, candidate for Lieutenant Governor, came from Buffalo. Attorney General candidate Ramon Jimenez journeyed from the South Bronx.
Freedom Party Gubernatorial candidate Charles Barron was greeted with enthusiastic applause when he said, “Freedom Party! Freedom Party! I want you to meet together for the very first time Charles Barron for Governor, Lieutenant Governor candidate of our party Eva M. Doyle, and candidate for Attorney General Ramon Jimenez. I am so excited.”
Barron made this declaration: “I want to say to all gathered, we are going to get these signatures. We are going to get on the ballot. We are going to get more than 50,000 votes after we get on the ballot. And when we do, we are going to rock this state like it has never been rocked before. This will be the first time in the history of this state that we have a Black and Latino, Latino and Black-led party.  We welcome all to join our party. As you see in this room today, we have white supporters, and we thank you for your support.”
“It is time for this state to have a party of Black and Latino people unbought, unbossed and uncontrolled by the corporate interests in this state,” said Barron. “This is a party that is going to say no to war. The Freedom Party is saying no to balancing the budget on the backs of poor and working-class families in this state.”
Describing the current economic climate in New York State, Barron said, “Wall Street made $61 billion dollar profit last year, while everybody else was broke, in the middle of a economic crises. Tax the rich. What about a personal income tax surcharge: Those who make $500,000/ year – 1.5%;  one million a year/ 3.5%; five million a year/ 4.5%; those making ten million or more a year/ 5.5%. There are over 26 million people in NYS, only 63,000 people make that kind of money. If you tax them, you can get anywhere from $8-12 billion a year and the budget will be balanced.  How about a stock transfer tax – 10-15 cents on those stocks that are being transferred every year? You can get over $2 billion every year on a stock transfer tax. We will have a surplus.”
Barron outlined several other issues the Freedom Party will address. “We are the only party, the only team that is going to raise the question of police brutality and terror in our neighborhoods,” he said. “Not only stop-and-frisk, but also the abusive use of deadly force. They need to put down the guns and pick up some humanity and stop killing our people for no justifiable reason. We are going to be the only party that says to this nation that you have to rebuild and return our people to New Orleans. We are going to be the only party that says keep your welfare, keep your affirmative action, give us our reparations. It is a debt owed. We are going to be the only party that says the Black Panther Party, the Black Liberation Party members – those who are languishing in prison because of their political beliefs, their political actions – did their time.  Free our political prisoners.”
Barron closed his remarks by saying, “We are going to be the only party that says to this nation we are no longer going to sit back and allow you to put a racist state structure in NYS. That cannot happen. Fannie Lou Hamer got sick and tired of being sick and tired. She formed the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party for the same reason that we are starting the Freedom Party. Fannie Lou Hamer has to be smiling upon us. For you Fannie Lou Hamer, we say Freedom Party!”
In his introduction of the Freedom Party candidate for Lt. Gov., Barron said, “Mrs. Eva M. Doyle is an Afrocentric educator for 30 years. She has written several books. She writes for the Buffalo Criterion. Chrystal Peebles-Stokes, one of the legislators in Buffalo, said that when she heard that we had Mrs. Doyle with us, we got the most honorable, highly respected from Buffalo.”
Mrs. Doyle said, “I bring you greetings from a great number of hardworking people in Buffalo. We are excited about the Freedom Party. I brought with me today 300 signatures. As I speak now, brothers and sisters are on the battlefield in Buffalo collecting even more signatures.”
“I am doing double duty here,” said Doyle. “I am recording this for my newspaper column ‘Eye on History’, for the Criterion Newspaper, the oldest Black newspaper in western New York. I have been writing the column Eye on History for almost 32 straight years without stop. I describe it as the only weekly column on Black history in Western NY. I have taught as a teacher in the Buffalo public schools for 30 years. I believe in teaching Black history, not just in February but all year long.”
“As I was flying into NY, I thought about the Statue of Liberty. I told my students that the original Statue of Liberty was that of a Black woman,” Mrs. Doyle said. “The tablet she holds in her hand is a symbol of the Abolitionist Movement. I have written 11 books. When I finish this book on the Black Statue of Liberty, it will be my 12th book. I tell my students that Black history is all around us, even on the dollar bill.”
Eva Doyle told the crowd how she came to be on the ticket. “When I was asked to become candidate for Lt. Gov. under the Freedom Party, I must tell you I did not immediately say yes. As a matter of fact, I said no. I can’t do this,” she said. “But then something started to happen. People in Buffalo started to call me. Erie County legislator Billie Jean Grant said, ‘Please give this a little more thought.’ Attorney Alton Maddox called me just about every day. He is the most persuasive attorney I have ever met. Mr. Ted Perkins is the host of a radio show in Buffalo called Perkins Corner. I was listening to his show, relaxing. Alton Maddox was on the show and asked ‘Who do you think would be a good candidate for lt. gov.?’ Mr. Perkins said, ‘Well, what about Eva Doyle?’ I almost fell out of my chair.”
Mrs. Doyle gave two reasons why she accepted. She said she is participating “in the memory and spirit of the great Fannie Lou Hamer.” Mrs. Doyle spoke of her husband. “I lost my husband last March 2009. Brother Romeo Muhammad. We were married 44 years. If Brother Romeo was here, he would be in this room. He would be behind me 150%. Brother Romeo was a member of the Nation of Islam for 42 straight years. Now I am a member of the church – First Shiloh Baptist Church in Buffalo, New York.  A lot of people have asked me ‘How did you get along with Brother Romeo, a member of the Nation of Islam, and you are a member of the church?’ My husband always believed no matter what religion you were in, what faith you had, we are all Black people.  We are in the same struggle. I know Brother Romeo is smiling down on us. I know Brother Romeo would give me his blessings. He would have beat me to New York City. He would have paved the way, shaking everybody’s hand.”
Barron fought back tears while introducing Freedom Party candidate Ramon Jimenez. “When we think of Ramon, we think of Richie Perez,” Barron said. “Richie Perez was my friend. Whenever we wanted to bring the African-American and Latino community together, we called Richie Perez. I know he is smiling on us now, watching Ramon carry that mantle of making sure Blacks and Latinos stick together. Ramon comes in the spirit of Richie Perez.
Ramon Jimenez: “It is good to be back home. I was a Brooklynite until I was 8 years old. In the Bronx, we have a lot of struggles taking place. We have the Yankee Stadium struggle, where $1.5 billion was spent to build a mega-palace in the poorest congressional district in the United States.  They promised jobs. Let me tell you how many community people got a job in the demolition of Yankee Stadium. One.”
“The Freedom Party is about a movement. We are the mere instruments of that movement,” Jimenez said. “I have organized the South Bronx for many years. When I organized tenants, they are Black and Latino. When I organize parents, they are Black and Latino. When I work with the Woodlawn workers, they are Black and Latino. On the streets, at the base, Black and Latino unity is there every day.”
According to Jimenez, “Historically, some of the greatest movements took place in NY – City College, the movement for Black and Puerto Rican Studies, the Jesse Jackson campaign, saving Hostos Community College. Sometimes we don’t understand unity politics. The rich understand unity politics. The landlords, when they have to come together, come together. When the developers have to come together, come together over their common interests. We let little things divide us. This is the time. We got the biggest slap in the face with what the Democratic Party did. It is not just the Democratic Party. I used to work for the Workers’ Compensation Board as a judge. I used to be the head judge. In the 1980’s when I was a judge, there were 5 or 6 Black and Latino commissioners. Today, there is one Black commissioner. In the 1980’s when I was a judge, there were 15 Black and Latino judges at Worker’s Comp. Today, there is one.  It’s not just the Democratic Party. It is all over.  In a city that is 35% white, 70% of Bloomberg’s managers are white and Blacks and Latinos are being locked out.”
“It is a great honor to be invited to be a part of this ticket. We need a Freedom Party,” Jimenez said. “If we don’t have a Freedom Party, who is going to raise the issue of Wall Street being taxed? Do you think Andrew Cuomo or Rick Lazio is going to raise it? Who is going to raise the issue of gentrification? In an article the other day, Cuomo was investigating housing discrimination. I thought to myself, ‘You are late. It is the end of your term, and you just discovered discrimination in housing?’ In the South Bronx, we have tenant groups, antiviolence groups. The Freedom Party is the only one to talk about their issues. We have a chance to make history. I don’t want to rise from my people; I want to rise with my people! Freedom Party!”
Several whites were in attendance, including two ladies from the Million Worker March Movement. One said, “New York has been a place of Democratic seats having a lot of power. Republicans obviously don’t offer any alternative. Neither party is representing working-class people. In fact, they have taken a very strong pro-Wall Street stance. The laws that exist in the state of New York, like the Taylor Law that prohibits the public sector from striking, has taken the teeth right out of the labor movement. I think that this kind of party is a development that is giving grounds for more progressive politics, for more participation of the average person, who are not represented locally, not represented in Congress. Our tax dollars are used, but we don’t get the benefit.  Workers are not being represented.  We are asked to work, pay the taxes, bear the brunt of all the crises capitalists have thrust upon us. And we don’t get the benefits of it. I think this party will provide a potential platform for people to become politically active, put their demands forward, fight for them and force concessions.”
Kevin Powell, Democratic candidate for congress in the 10th Congressional District in Brooklyn. “I am a Democrat, but I came to listen and show support for Charles Barron and the folks here because they supported my campaign. I support third, fourth, fifth parties in this country. We need more than one or two parties. I definitely support that. I just want to listen. That is why I am here – to listen.”

1...1,1081,1091,110...1,289Page 1,109 of 1,289