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House Republicans essentially ignored the Congressional Black Caucus' (CBC) vow of a boycott Thursday, having proceeded with a vote to hold U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder in criminal contempt for terminating the "Fast and Furious Operation," described as an unfortunate operation that began under the Bush Administration.
In an expression of its opposition to partisan activity aimed at Holder, the CBC which had the support of other Democrats as well as Hispanic, Asian Pacific American and Progressive caucuses, maintained that Congress's decision to forge ahead with a vote, had been regarded as a "political stunt," and that a contempt hearing would distract both the Congress in its duty to pass legislation as well as interfere with the Department of Justice in its duty to investigate and pursue real crimes.
The precedent-setting vote -- marking the first time a sitting Cabinet member has been held in contempt -- came after Holder had adamantly refused to hand over nearly 8,000 documents related to the botched gun-tracking operation.
The CBC comprises more than 40 members. Its boycott was reminiscent of similar action taken in 2008 by Republicans after Democrats -- then in control of the House -- voted to hold two top Bush Administration officials in contempt of Congress.
In a letter to supporters this week, the CBC had sought wide-spread unity in its pursuit of justice for Holder, saying that over the past 15 months, the Justice Department had cooperated with the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform's requests for information on "Fast and Furious."
The CBC's letter stated in part that:
"In its history, the United States House of Representatives has never held a United States Attorney General, or any other Cabinet official, in contempt. "
Prior to Congress's vote, the CBC had insisted that instead of Republicans being focused on holding Holder in contempt, their time would be better spent creating jobs.
Bernette Joshua Johnson, an associate justice on the Louisiana Supreme Court for nearly two decades, is poised to assume the post of chief justice early next year when the current judge Catherine D. Kimball, retires in January.
But Johnson, who was first elected to the state's highest court in 1994, is the second longest serving jurist on the bench and is next in line for the post, faces opposition.
Kimball has not only called for a hearing to determine her successor, she has also issued an order recusing Johnson from sitting on the panel that will determine how the issue will be resolved.
Ron Wilson is one of the attorneys who successfully sued Louisiana in 1986 for Voting Rights Act violations surrounding the state's manner of selecting Supreme Court justices. "The constitution says who the chief justice will be, not the state Supreme Court," Wilson was quoted as saying a National Coalition on Black Civic Participation (NCBCP) report.
Marc H. Morial, National Urban League president and an original plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed on Johnson's behalf, has likewise responded saying any efforts to derail Johnson's a appointment is an affront to the Voting Rights Act.
Another plaintiff, Ron Chisom, stated his support.
"Justice Bernette Johnson isn't a token judge; she's a real judge," Chisom said in the NCBCP report. "I'm honored to play any role in fighting for her."
Meanwhile, Johnson just one of just a few African-American jurists to serve on Louisiana's high court. The others include Justice Jesse Stone who was appointed to briefly serve in 1979 and Justice Revius Ortique, who was elected to a seat on the court in 1992.
There is a three year gap between Black and White students. Many people love to believe it's due to income, fatherlessness, educational attainment of the parent and lack of parental involvement. I believe that a major reason for the gap is that we continue to close school for the summer – as if we were an agrarian economy. And I doubt that many Black youth will be farming this summer. If you multiply three months by 12 years you will see the three year gap. It is my opinion that Black youth would have fewer academic challenges if their schools remained open during the summer and/or their parents kept them academically engaged.
Middle-income parents who value education enroll their children in some type of academic experience during the summer. They also visit libraries, museums, zoos and colleges. Other parents allow their children to sleep longer, play more video games, watch more television and play basketball until they can't see the hoop. These students will have to review the same work they had mastered in May, when the school year begins in September.
Black parents cannot allow their children to lose three months every year. Black parents should not say they cannot afford to take their child to the library. It's free! Most museums have discounted days. A male friend of mine shared his experience with me when he took his family to the museum. He wondered why so many people were staring at him. His wife and children had to tell him he was the only Black man in the building! I am appealing to every father to take his children to the library this summer, and to include a visit to the museum, and the zoo. And I am appealing to every mother to make other arrangements, if the father cannot or will not take the children.
We need for every parent to make sure that their child reads at least one book per week and to write a book report. I am reminded of the formula Sonya Carson used to develop Ben Carson to become the best pediatric neurosurgeon. This low-income single parent, with a third grade education, had enough sense to tell her sons to turn off the television, read a book and write a report that her sister would grade!
I have a theory. I believe that I can go into your house and within five minutes tell you the type of student who lives there and predict his/her future. I believe that the items needed in the home of engineers, doctors, lawyers and accountants are very different from the ballplayers, rappers, and criminals. I am very concerned that when I visit a house that has more CDs and downloads than books. My company African American Images has designed a special collection of books for boys. The specific set that I am referencing is titled, Best Books for Boys. We also have one for parents and teachers. We have found the sets to be very resourceful since research indicates that one of the major reasons why boys dislike reading is because of the content.
Let's work together to close the gap. I look forward to your children's teacher asking them how they spent their summer ... and your children proudly answering by saying that they went to the library, museum, zoo, colleges and other great educational institutions.
Enjoy your summer!
Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu is the author of more than 35 books including, "There is Nothing Wrong with Black Students and Raising Black Boys."
For additional information, contact 1-800-552-1991, Fax# (708) 672-0466. P.O. Box 1799, Chicago Heights, IL 60412. Website: http://www.africanamericanimages.com, Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Elaine Anderson has been following the fallout from the hazing death of a 26-year old Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University [FAMU] drum major with increasing dismay.
Anderson, a 49-year-old Tallahassee real estate broker and mother of two, said Robert Champion's death was totally unnecessary and as details of his death emerge, has cast a pall over two renowned institutions: the university and the famed Florida A&M Marching 100.
"It's disappointing first and foremost because someone died," she said. "But it's very disappointing that an HBCU [historically black college or university] was involved. And it's not just that, but it's also because the Marching 100 is a classic. The repercussions go far beyond the school and will likely affect different elements of the institution for years to come."
Champion, an Atlanta resident, died last November after what police described as an incident of hazing. He died after witnesses said he ran a gauntlet where he was beaten with drum fists, bass drum mallets and drumsticks. Champion is alleged to have entered a bus in a parking lot in Orlando at the Florida Classic football game in the hopes of gaining his peers respect by enduring the abuse.
Called the "cross over," successful completion of the ritual – making it from the front to the back of the bus – meant full initiation into the band. Champion died later on the night of November 19 from the complications of blunt force trauma.
A criminal investigation into Champion's death led to the arrest of 13 band members. Eleven of them were charged with felony hazing for allegedly beating him to death. A judge set the trial date for October.
The Marching 100 has a storied past with invitations to perform at lavish events and ceremonies, several Super Bowls and presidential inauguration ceremonies.
Champion's death has pulled back the curtain and exposed a culture of hazing, a pervasive practice that has been a not-so-secret part of the marching band for decades.
Yet even as band members past and present detailed examples of beatings and physical violence, school officials from the president on down, claim no knowledge of the band members' activities.
Sharon Saunders, FAMU's chief communications officer, said two investigations are still underway. One is being conducted by the Florida Board of Governors concerning the administration's response to hazing reports and institutional controls to prevent hazing. And the other, a criminal investigation, is being conducted by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement related to the use of band finances.
Since Champion's death, FAMU President James Ammons has been buffeted by criticism and endured increasing calls for him to step aside. Despite a recent vote of no-confidence by FAMU's Board of Trustees, Ammons refuses to resign promising that he will fix the problems.
The 8-4 vote reflects the trustees' displeasure with Ammons' handling of the hazing death, and concerns about his management of a range of issues, especially what board members see as a lax attitude toward band management prior to Champion's death.
Ammons, a FAMU alumnus who served as provost and assumed the presidency in 2007, remains defiant.
"This is my university. Until the final bell rings I am going to serve as president of Florida A&M," he said, according to published reports.
James W. Haskins, Jr., a retired Professor Emeritus in Journalism, said the decent thing for Ammons to do is to step aside.
"People who say they didn't know are lying. I support the notion that the buck stops with the president," said Haskins, 79, who began teaching at FAMU in 1980. "You can't haze someone without someone saying something. The ultimate responsibility is his. There's no way around it. I think he should resign. Other key players were forced out. There's more than enough culpability to go around."
Haskins described FAMU as a fine institution that unfortunately is "full of deadwood" and plagued by pockets of nepotism, incest, mediocrity and an unwillingness by those who run the university to make the hard choices.
"FAMU really is an outstanding institution because they understand survival in a white world with white people," he explained. "But FAMU continues to fuel its own downfall. Too many people have no backbone or integrity. They see racism and don't understand it, won't stand up and fight this racism and discrimination, won't fight it and seem to busy driving around in their Lexuses, demanding to be called, 'Doctor, doctor ..."'
Ammons suspended the band last year and announced recently that the band would remain off the field through 2013. Other casualties include longtime Band Leader Julian White who was forced out after more than 40 years at the helm; and two music department professors who stepped down earlier this year when allegations surfaced that they were present while band fraternity pledges were hazed. And as the investigation deepened, university officials eventually admitted that 101 of the 457-member marching band were not FAMU students.
In response to the band's problems, the FAMU Board of Trustees has revised its anti-hazing regulation. An anti-hazing plan has been developed by the university at the direction of the trustees. Elements of the plan include the creation of an Anti-Hazing Special Assistant to the president, with broad-ranging authority to address hazing issues throughout the university; the establishment of a FAMU Compliance Officer for the Music Department, with direct reporting to the Special Assistant for Anti-Hazing; the re-organization and expansion of staff in the Office of Judicial Affairs to facilitate the adjudication of hazing issues and other matters pertaining to the student code of conduct. After input by trustees, the university will implement the plan.
Saunders acknowledged that it is "particularly challenging ... to stop [this crime] because of the conspiracy of secrecy and silence between the perpetrator and the 'victim.' However, because of the special nature of this crime, FAMU is putting anti-hazing initiatives in place to help rid the campus of hazing."
"We also know that stamping out hazing requires a personal commitment from our students to treat themselves and their fellow students with respect and dignity," she added.
Saunders said many students have expressed concern about the attention this matter has received and remain committed to leading the national effort to reduce the incidents of hazing.
School-wide, the university has lurched from scandal to scandal, including financial mismanagement, faulty audits, countless examples of poor judgment, a series of ethical lapses and allegations that minors at the university's Developmental Research School were sexually assaulted.
Anderson fears that with all this turmoil, FAMU may be mortally wounded.
"We stand to lose an icon of our culture," she said. "It's very sad to see that happen. It points to the sloppiness in some black institutions and corruption which seems to be unending. They shoot themselves in the foot and more dirt is exposed even as they are trying to escape a financial crisis."
"We can't blame white people. We really have to look at who we are as a people. We just don't seem to have a sense of discipline and dignity. School officials should have had enough respect for what they had achieved and guarded it more carefully."
Haskins, an Ohio native, recalls pledging Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity and when he was attacked as a part of the pledging ritual, he struck back.
"I had people flying all over the place like they were Superman," he said with a chuckle. "They knew my name after that."
Haskins questioned why anyone would subject themselves to the type of abuse he knows is part and parcel of rituals in the band, sororities, fraternities and other campus groups and organizations.
Although he worked with the Atomic Energy Commission as an astrophysicist, with Dupont as a senior public relation practitioner and in a range of other jobs, he chose to teach at FAMU for a specific reason.
"I thought maybe I could be instrumental in changing some young minds," he said. "But most kids weren't as sophisticated or cared what was going on. They were like their parents: Talk [stuff] and do nothing. I have no intimate knowledge, but FAMU stayed in trouble because Negroes stole the money."
"FAMU could have been a fantastic thing, a break from the past. I know many talented people who could have come here, wanted to come in and shake out things. But their biggest opponents were those holding onto the status quo. I've had a good look at the problems at FAMU. I can't believe I came here 32 years ago and it's the same. It's a damn shame."
The National Newspaper Publishers Association has announced the appointment of William Tompkins to the post of president and chief operating officer of the 69 year-old trade organization. The appointment was made last week during the NNPA's annual convention in Atlanta.
The selection of Tompkins culminates a nine-month search conducted by Carrington & Carrington, Ltd.
According to criteria that circulated throughout the industry, the new president will be charged with developing a new vision for the organization and implementing strategic plans and programs that serve the needs of the more than 200 Black community newspapers represented by NNPA. The trade group is commonly referred to as The Black Press of America.
Tompkins, 55, currently heads his own consultancy firm, Williams Tompkins Associates, in Los Angeles.
Before starting his company, Tompkins held positions at Eastman Kodak, including General Manager and Vice President of the Motion Picture Film Group and Chief Marketing Officer for the company's Entertainment Imaging division.
Prior to joining Kodak, Tompkins spent 19 years at The Washington Post, last serving as vice president of Marketing. Tompkins has a degree in economics from Tufts University, where he graduated magna cum laude and also earned an M.B.A. from Harvard University.
Tompkins will report to Clovis Campbell, publisher of the Arizona Informant and chairman of the NNPA board.
Jerry Sandusky, the former head coach at Penn State who was convicted this weekend on 45 counts of child molestation, has been placed under a suicide watch, according to reports.
The 68-year-old Sandusky, who was revered as a pillar of the Penn State community, was jailed immediately after the jury delivered its verdict on June 22. He was found guilty of molesting at least eight boys over a 15-yer period, and could spend the rest of his life behind bars.
"It's hard to judge character on the stand, because you don't know these kids," one of the jurors said in an interview. "But most were very credible – I would say all. I looked at him during the reading of the verdict and just the look on his face. No real emotion," the juror continued, "because he knew it was true."
Among the boys who accused Sandusky of sexual abuse was his adopted son, Matt Sandusky.
"During the trial, Matt Sandusky contacted us and requested our advice and assistance in arranging a meeting with prosecutors to disclose for the first time in this case that he is a victim of Jerry Sandusky's abuse," Andrew Shubin and Justine Andronici wrote in the statement. "At Matt's request, we immediately arranged a meeting between him and the prosecutors and investigators."
Sandusky is scheduled to be sentenced in about three months. But his attorneys plan on appealing the convictions, saying they didn't have adequate time to prepare their case.
President Barack Obama surprised the nation and did an end-around on the Republicans last Friday when he announced an executive order that protects young, undocumented immigrants from being deported.
The decision is not a blanket amnesty for the nation's more than 12 million unauthorized immigrants, but provides those between the ages of 16 and 30 the opportunity to avoid becoming enmeshed in the immigration apparatus. The executive order affects undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. before the age of 16; who have resided continuously in the country for at least five years preceding the date of the Department of Homeland Security [DHS] memorandum and those present in the United States on the date of this memorandum.
"Effective immediately, the Department of Homeland Security is taking steps to lift the shadow of deportation from these young people," Obama said during a Rose Garden press conference on June 15.
"Now, let's be clear – this is not an amnesty, this is not immunity. This is not a path to citizenship. It's not a permanent fix. This is a temporary stop gap measure that lets us focus our resources wisely, while giving relief and hope to talented, driven, patriotic young people."
"These young people study in our schools, they play in our neighborhoods, they're friends with our kids, they pledge allegiance to our flag. They are Americans in their hearts, in their minds, in every single way but one: on paper. They were brought to this country by their parents – sometimes as infants – and often have no idea that they're undocumented until they apply for a job, or a driver's license, or a college scholarship."
The decision has left immigrants generally joyous, cautious and hopeful but some advocates feel that Obama hasn't done enough and they are demanding that he end the deportations and push through comprehensive and far-reaching legislation in Congress.
Undocumented immigrants must be currently in school, have graduated from high school, obtained a GED certificate, or be honorably discharged from the Coast Guard or Armed Forces of the United States to be considered. They cannot have been convicted of a felony offense, a significant misdemeanor, multiple misdemeanor offenses, or otherwise pose a threat to national security or public safety; and they cannot be above the age of 30.
Michelle Mittelstadt of the Migration Policy Institute [MPI] and Mark Lopez of the Pew Hispanic Center said their research indicates that about 1.4 million undocumented immigrants under the age of 30 are affected. Some are already involved in removal proceedings or could be at risk of being deported in the future.
Janet Napolitano, secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has directed the department's personnel to exercise prosecutorial discretion on a case-by-case basis using the criteria outlined in the executive order.
"This is only really a temporary gaining of status for this population," said Mittelstadt, MPI's director of communications. "Under the announcement, there is a certain defined population ... they will be protected from deportation for two years. It's not conveying legal status on this population. Anybody who meets the criteria and who comes up against immigration authorities will be considered."
"This obviously in the lives of these people is a tremendously important action. They don't have to look over their shoulders, they can get work permits and be able to work legally."
Another MPI official elaborated.
"This action by the administration will have a measurable effect on the lives of many immigrants at a time when Washington is deadlocked on making necessary reform to the immigration system," said Muzaffar Chishti, director of MPI's office at New York University Law School. "However, a program of this scale will present significant implementation challenges and will need to be addressed with increased capacity, training and oversight."
Unauthorized immigrants who are 15 and older will have to present themselves to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and substantiate the deportation-relief criteria the authorities seek. Homeland Security will have to determine the eligibility of about 890,000 people while the agency processes the more than 5 million applications for immigration benefits it handles annually. In addition, DHS will have to lay the groundwork for and execute a comprehensive, multilingual media and public outreach campaign to educate immigrant communities on the details of the deferred action and, in a later phase, how to apply for employment authorization, MPI officials said.
Of course, there is little that occurs in Washington that isn't deemed political, overt or otherwise. It didn't take long for Republican challenger Mitt Romney to subtly criticize Obama's move, although he wouldn't say if he would reverse the decision. Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, however, were more pointed in their criticism, with Brewer calling Obama's decision "outrageous."
Conservative Congressional Republicans and supporters of rigid immigration enforcement accused Obama of overstepping his authority and they condemned the plan as "backdoor amnesty." Republican leaders are also left to worry about being boxed into a corner and they are concerned that Romney's position on immigration leaves them vulnerable with Hispanic voters. Romney has advocated some draconian positions with regards to immigration. He called for the erection of more fences on the border, promised to veto the "Dream Act" and has as an immigration advisor one of the people responsible for crafting some of the toughest crackdowns against immigrants.
Avis Jones-DeWeever called Obama's action a commonsense move.
"I definitely think that this was a direction that needed to be taken," she said. "It was an issue of who was savvy enough to push the button. It could have been Rubio. He [Obama] tried to pass the 'Dream Act' but faced tremendous resistance from Republicans. This, in particular, is really at the root of justice ... it's commonsense and the country will ultimately benefit. This is an opportunity to legitimately give back."
"Although it's stereotypic that this will only benefit Latinos, it will benefit all immigrants who've made their way to these shores. The immigrant community is much broader and more diverse. It's not limited to one particular or specific community."
Several analysts and political pundits credit Obama with seizing the immigration initiative and outsmarting and outmaneuvering the GOP.
Jones-DeWeever, executive director of the National Council of Negro Women and a policy and political analyst, agreed.
"This move is consistent with his past actions. It is not a shallow act," she said during an interview on Monday. "The president faces a concerted challenge. They [the Republicans] have done a tremendous job, a calculated one, then the Citizens United case allows them to spend unlimited amounts of money. They are very strong and very disciplined with their legislative and PR strategy and have opposed everything the president has put forward while creating a false crisis about the deficit which has taken people's eyes off job creation."
The GOP has not helped its case by choosing to pursue "a two-pronged approach of appealing to a monolithic community while engaging in voter suppression and purging voter rolls [of Hispanics, young people and other minorities]," Jones-DeWeever added.
Lopez, the center's associate director, said his fact tank's findings indicate considerable support among Hispanics for a more permanent immigration plan.
He said surveys conducted by the center indicate that 60 percent of Hispanics expressed disappointment at the Obama Administration's handling of deportations. To date, about 400,000 Hispanics have been forcibly removed from the U.S. and sent back to their respective countries. Approximately 90 percent, however, support a federal act like the Dream Act, he added.
Southern Baptists will make history if on Tuesday they elect Fred Luter Jr. their first black president.
This could be a monumental shift for the church, whose beginning in the mid-1800s included a split from the First Baptist Church in America over support for slavery. Northern Baptists believed that God disapproved of racial superiority notions, while Southerners believed that segregation was of God.
Luter, a pastor from one of America's biggest melting pots, New Orleans, said that his church, Franklin Avenue Baptist Church, shares in his joy for the presidential possibility.
"I'm really pumped about this," Luter told Reuters. "My church is so excited man because they know my common background. They know where I came from. ... I'm really excited for them." The Southern Baptist Convention has over 16 million members and was established in 1845.
Luter is credited with growing a post-Hurricane KatrinaFranklin Avenue Baptist Church to the denomination's largest church in Louisiana.
Luter was the first African American elected to the Executive Board of the Louisiana Baptist Convention in 1992. Nearly a decade later he was also the first African-American to preach the Southern Baptist Convention message.
These feats could underscore a shift in Southern Baptists toward inclusivity as the United States' demographics change. Census estimates reported that for the first timemore babies of color were born in the US than non-Hispanic white babies.
One of the nation's most important institutions, religion, must keep pace with the nation's composition.
Southern Baptists are the largest Protestant denomination. When they originated the focus was on "eliciting, combining, and directing the energies of the Baptist denomination of Christians, for the propagation of the gospel, any law, usage, or custom to the contrary notwithstanding," according to the Southern Baptist Convention charter in 1845.
While spreading Christianity was the goal, a noted practice of excluding people of color was the reality. Although the religious group continues to make efforts to separate its present and future from a racist past, Southern Baptists continue to face controversy.
Church officials said that race relations were negatively impacted earlier this year when Ethics Chief Richard Landaccused U.S. black leaders of attempting to use the killing of black teen Trayvon Martin by white and Hispanicneighborhood-watch self-appointee George Zimmerman for political benefit.
Despite Land's ire-earning commentary on the Martin killing, he also spoke out about division to the New York Times and has historically addressed racism.
"(Southern Baptists) were a segregated, virtually all-white denomination as late as the 1960s," Land, who co-authored a 1995 resolution apologizing for slavery and racism, said.
The move to diversify is publicly supported throughout the group.
First Baptist New Orleans Pastor David Crosby will nominate Luter for president. Crosby said that the move will show "we not only love people of color, we want them in our leadership."
Religious leaders express hope and skepticism.
Danny Akin, president of the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina is not convinced that Luter's nomination will rectify history, but he said that it is a step forward for a denomination now seeing growth among people of color.
The vote will occur Tuesday during the annual Southern Baptist convention meeting in New Orleans. Luter is expected to remain unopposed.
Police in Rialto, California are still trying to determine the facts surrounding the death Sunday of Rodney King.
Following a call made to 911 around 5:25 a.m., June 17 by King's fiancé Cynthia Kelley, police responded to the home the couple shared, where they found his body at the bottom of their swimming pool. After several attempts to revive King, 47, he was pronounced dead. No evidence of foul play was discovered, but an autopsy was scheduled.
Now, friends of King who shot to notoriety in 1991 after suffering a brutal beating in Los Angeles at the hands of police officers, aren't buying Kelley's story.
According to a report , the friends claim that each time they hear Kelley's recount about incidents that led up to King's death, the facts change, which leads them to believe she is covering something up.
Kelley reportedly stated that after she had a conversation with King, she heard a banging on the window of their home in the wee hours of Sunday morning. Kelley then allegedly said that after the window rapping, she heard King fall in to the pool.
The report further states that two of King's friends have taken their suspicions to police detectives, who in turn, told them that they would be in touch.
DETROIT — A coalition of groups held a mock funeral for democracy in Michigan on Memorial Day at Galilee Baptist Church on the city's east side.
"Although this is a mock funeral, the death of democracy in Michigan is all too real. The appointment of emergency managers in Michigan cities and school districts has made our vote null and void," said Rainbow PUSH Michigan President Rev. D. Alexander Bullock. "The Michigan Board of Canvassers recent decision to deny Michigan citizens the opportunity to determine the future of Public Act 4 is a blatant form of voter suppression. Since the vote in Michigan is meaningless, we symbolically bury democracy."
The Michigan Board of Canvassers recently invalidated over 220,000 petition signatures. The petition was to put the question of Public Act 4 on the November ballot. The board ruled the petition type size was too small. The board vote was split 2-2 — Democrats against Republicans.
Rev. Bullock said a two-pronged attack is being waged on democracy in Michigan—voter suspension and voter suppression. Public Act 4 suspends voters' right to have the official they have elected exercise their duties, he said.
"If the voters in a municipality elect officials and the governor appoints a manager over those officials, then their votes have been suspended. In Detroit, Emergency Manager Roy Roberts gelded the Detroit Board of Education. It makes no decisions the people elected it to make."
Bullock said Michigan and other states have passed several laws that suppress voter rights as well.
Rev. Mayowa Lisa Reynolds, an assistant minister at Fellowship Chapel in Detroit officiated the pouring of libations for the "funeral."
"We pour libations as an African tradition to honor our ancestors," Rev. Reynolds said. "We honor those who risked everything for democracy, for freedom for liberation."
Rev. Reynolds said the strongest tenet of democracy is one vote, one person — every person is accounted for.
"So when you have a system that doesn't take into account, the people, that's the beginning of a dictatorship and aristocracy."
Organizers called Public Act 4 and new voting laws coming from Lansing an attack on democracy and a move to suppress the vote of the people.
"I'm hopeful the community organizers will come together as they did in Wisconsin and stop this attack on democracy and the democratic process," Reynolds said.
Bullock compared having extra ID to vote like having a poll tax on the poor.
"Liberty has been lynched," he said.
Rev. Bullock said the funeral is one in a series of events that will lead up to a national march against violence, poverty and bad public policy. The national march, set to commence Aug. 25, will focus on emergency reinvestment, economic recovery in urban America, the expansion of employment, educational opportunities for youth and returning citizens, the protection of our voting rights, reviving the ban on assault weapons, zero tolerance school expulsion and truancy policies and the racial divide in America. The march will feature peace and justice workshops, music, art, direct action trainings and a job fair.
"It is much more than a march, it is a movement," Bullock said.
After more than a decade in decline, the United States teen pregnancy has been rising in recent years.
According to momlogic.com, the estimated public cost for teen pregnancy in the United States is between $6 and $9 billion a year. Eighty percent of teen moms are on some form of public assistance. Seven out of 10 teen mothers are unlikely to receive prenatal care, which of course has great negative health impacts for their children. Aside from the health risks, kids born to teen mothers are at greater risk for emotional and physical abuse, especially if there is no family support.
"It really is a public health issue," said Bill Albert, chief program officer at the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. "This administration and this Congress have made a historic investment in preventing teen pregnancy. In our view, this investment could not be more timely... given the fact that the teen pregnancy rate in the United States is on the rise. I think one might say, without hyperbole...that one of the nation's great success stories of the past two decades may be in danger of unraveling. So, this investment is right on for content and right on for timeliness."
Teenage mothers are also at higher risk of having emotional and academic problems later in life. Another startling statistic: baby boys of teen mothers are at an increased risk for incarceration later in their lives, while girls born to teens are more likely to become teen moms themselves.
In the beginning of 2009, President Barack Obama signed an appropriations bill that ended federal funding for existing abstinence-only-until-marriage programs and put a new teenage pregnancy prevention initiative in the newly funded Office of Adolescent Health within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that was supported with more than $114 million in federal funds.
While the nation's teen pregnancy rate declined about 40 percent between 1990 and 2005, data released by the Guttmacher Institute in January 2010 showed that the rate rose three percent in 2006. According to the institute, the new data is "especially noteworthy because they provide the first documentation of what experts have suspected for several years, based on trends in teens' contraceptive use — that the overall teen pregnancy rate would increase in the mid-2000s following steep declines in the 1990s and a subsequent plateau in the early 2000s."
And like many other health issues, the U.S. teen pregnancy rate is checkered with disparities. In 2006, among Black and Hispanic teens ages 15 to 19, there were about 126 pregnancies per 1,000 women, while among white teens, it was 44 per 1,000. Such statistics mean the United States has the highest teen birth rate among Western, industrialized nations.
Mississippi, for example, has the nation's highest rate of poverty and the third highest rate of teen pregnancies. New Mexico is third in poverty and second in teen pregnancies. Texas leads in teen pregnancies and comes in ninth in the poverty rankings. Other "risk factors" for teenage pregnancy – being a person of color, being disinterested in school, etc. – similarly dovetail with living in poverty. Pennsylvania is ranked 39th in teenage pregnancies.
According to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, a child born to an unmarried teen mother has a 27 percent chance of growing up in poverty. If the mother has not earned a high school diploma or equivalency degree, the child will grow up in poverty 64 percent of the time. If those numbers are correct, the steep decline in teen pregnancy rates between 1991 and 2002 kept an additional 460,000 children from being born into poverty.
"As a society, we have to continually redouble our efforts to sustain these kinds of (downward) trends over time," said Heather Boonstra, a senior public policy associate at the Guttmacher Institute, which conducts research on a range of sexual and reproductive health issues. "We can't just sit back, because new teens are constantly coming into the field and we have to remain vigilant."
Factors shaping the recent rise in teen pregnancy are varied and complex, prevention advocates say, ranging from years of federal support for rigid abstinence-only programs to tempered fears of contracting HIV, to less teen contraceptive use. According to the 2007 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, rates of teens who were sexually active and those who used a condom during their last sexual encounter remained statistically stalled from 2005 to 2007, following years of positive behavior change.
The CDC reported that of the teens who were sexually active, only about 61 percent used a condom the last time they had sex. And according to Lorrie Gavin, PhD, MPH, a health scientist with the CDC's Division of Reproductive Health, current trends point to more than just a teen pregnancy problem — "there's something else going on ... improvements in sexual risk behavior have leveled off in recent years, and rates of some sexually transmitted diseases have increased."
Buying a bagful of multi-colored vegetables at designer grocery stores can easily eat up a significant amount of one's shopping budget. Cost-conscious buyers might be able to make the splurge, but it is not as easy for the millions of people who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, formerly known as Food Stamps.
To help ease the transition to healthier eating for millions of SNAP beneficiaries who live in food deserts, the United States Department of Agriculture announced last month that it is awarding $4 million in grants to state agencies to allow farmers' markets throughout the country to purchase pricey point-of-sale machines. The wireless machines can process SNAP benefits, but can cost as much as $500.
The measure will help reconnect low-income residents with the often more affordable farmers' markets, which have unfairly earned a reputation as being trendy and inaccessible, said Michael Segal, executive director of the Ward 8 Farmers Market in Washington, D.C.
"When there were food stamps and coupons, there was a lot of business at farmers' markets with food stamps. Individual farmers didn't have to make any investments with the old-fashioned system," he said. "When they made the shift to the debit card system, that pattern dropped almost down to nothing the next year. There was no way you could use a debit card outdoors in the middle of a parking lot."
Technically, the EBT cards are not debit cards. And electronic terminals set up to process debit cards, Visa and MasterCards are not wired to process EBT cards. And that's a problem for farmers selling their fresh fruit and vegetables and EBT cardholders who want to buy fresh produce.
"It was really frustrating for us," Segal explained. "There was a moment in history, about 15 or 20 years ago, when you have two things simultaneously going on: there were more markets and more fresh fruit available, and the doors were slamming shut on people who had these cards that we couldn't process," he said. "Farmers' markets had gotten this reputation as these tremendously elite and expensive places, and it's not fair."
Farmers markets, which are largely staffed by volunteers, also run into challenges accessing the market share of people who use SNAP benefits. Problems staffing EBT terminals, letting people with SNAP benefits know that they do accept them, and lack of uniformity in executing the program are some of the issues detailed in "Real Food, Real Choice: Connecting SNAP Recipients with Farmers Markets."
Two of the report's co-authors, Stacy Miller of the Farmers Market Coalition and Andy Fisher of the Community Security Coalition, introduced the report in 2010.
Of the 7,100 farmers markets in the United States, the Ward 8 Farmers' Market is one of more than 1,500 markets that are already able to accept and process EBT cards. With a customer base that's at least 80 percent Black, the market opened for the season on June 2. With many of its food producers residents of Ward 8, it saw a 5 percent increase in purchases made with EBT cards last year, which is in addition to other public assistance options such as WIC and senior vouchers.
"That means a lot for the farmers and turns into 10 percent for them because of a grant from Wholesome Wave Foundation, which doubles the amount purchased, so that's exciting," Segal said.
The grant is only available to farmers markets that don't already have an EBT machine.
Some farmers' markets are in rural areas and don't have access to electricity or phone lines. But advances in wireless technology will open up a new world for them – up to a point.
"One of the things that's really frustrating is that the technology is very, very close to the point where the card use could get much less expensive if Square and other [smartphone] devices started processing EBT cards," said Segal. "There's a lot of security issues involved. Personally, I think it's going to happen. The technology is there."
Bruce Alexander, director of communications for the USDA's Food and Nutrition Service, said, "The program is entirely opt in, it's not mandatory. The funding covers the purchase of the equipment for each farmers market, not for each farmer."
More than 46 million people in the country receive SNAP benefits. Caseload growth year-to-year largely mirror unemployment and underemployment trends, according to the Food Research & Action Center, a national anti-hunger organization.
"Increases in SNAP caseloads between February 2011 and February 2012 occurred in 46 states and the District of Columbia," reported the nonprofit. "The four states that registered double digit over-the-year percentage caseload increases were: Delaware (11.7 percent), Iowa (10.8 percent), Colorado (10.1 percent) and Hawaii (10.8 percent.)"
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