January African American Voice by African American Voice

www.africanamericanvoice.net January 2019 Free ESSA: A Roadmap for Achieving Equity in Education

By Elizabeth Primas

States are in the driver’s seat when it comes to improving their struggling schools. But how can we make sure they’re not taking the “path of least resistance” when it comes to this important work, risking the academic prospects for students of color. Building on the work done by Bellwether Education Partners, which conducted independent peer reviews of all 50 states’ and the District of Columbia’s ESSA plans that were required to be submitted to the U.S. Department of Education for approval, the Collaborative for Student Success analyzed plans to see which states are taking advantage of new-found flexibility regarding equity in education.

The new report, Check State Plans: Promise to Practice, found that just 17 states met its threshold for even having enough public information to review. The report notes that the results are “sobering” in that “more than 9 million students attend schools that do not meet anyone’s standard for what is acceptable.” This is particularly acute for students of color and who come from low-income families. The fact is, achievement gaps between white and black students exist. We see this time and again in the National Assessment of Education Progress as well as on individual states’ annual assessments. Students who attend inner city public schools tend to fare worse than their peers

Inmates Expose Systematic Abuse in Georgia Jail

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in suburban public schools. The gaps are even more pronounced when we look at private schools that draw privileged students away from city institutions. These racial divides segregate communities. A report from the Young Invincibles examines these divides and developed three main findings: (1) minorities disproportionately enroll in for-profit and community colleges, which can condemn them to a vicious cycle of debt; (2) college costs hit minority students harder than their white peers; and (3) the achievement gap is racially divided. While 36.2 percent of white students completed four years of college in 2015, just 22.5 percent of black students could say the same, according to the analysis. While that’s much better than the 1974 numbers in which just 5.5 percent of black students finished four years of college compared to 14 percent of white students, that progress leaves little cheer. State education chiefs and their instate partners at teaching and research institutions plus educators on the front lines have a real chance to make a difference for black students and other minorities. But do they have the courage to make the necessary changes? The Collaborative’s report is a good starting point, and it provides a roadmap written by education and policy leaders who are displaying the courage necessary to create bold plans that prioritize equity. Low-performing schools must be identified as such and be given real plans with real accountability measures to improve. There have to be consequences for students who don’t make the grade, but for too long, our education system as a whole has punished See EDUCATION, page 8

Woman of the Year Juliana Stratton is currently the Democratic Lieutenant Governor of Illinois-elect. Stratton won the general election on November 6, 2018, after advancing from the primary on March 20, 2018. Stratton is a Democratic member of the Illinois House of Representatives, representing District 5. She was first elected to the chamber in 2016. After being elected Lieutenant Governor of Illinois, she becomes the first black woman to hold that post. Stratton used her Black Girl Magic to bring to the table most of Chicago’s black women. Governor-elect J.B. Pritzker owe Stratton a debt of gratitude, because, without the legions of black women who joined his campaign out of their love for Juliana, J.B. would have been minus over several hundred thousand votes. See POLITICS, page 3

CFPB Neglects Duty to Enforce Military Lending Act

Although predatory lending often conjures up images of an economically blighted Urban America, seldom does the image of an enlisted man or woman come to mind. But just as check cashing stores, along payday and auto title loan shops focus on communities of color, America’s military is also a frequent target. See MILITARY, page 2

“To be without a friend is to be poor indeed.“ ~African proverb

military CFPB Neglects Duty to Enforce Military Lending Act Vet Organizations, State AGs, and Consumers Sound the Alarm interpretation, and itemizes specific directives and requirements that together pose a legal argument that would be difficult to deny or disprove. Reason, the Trump Administration is directing the CFPB to overlook illegal, usurious lending to our troops within supervisory exams,” said Peterson. “America’s military families deserve the protection from predatory lending offered by the Military Landing Act – not to be abandoned by the CFPB.” Veterans are also expressing their own heartfelt concerns about the unexpected reversal of consumer protection. In a recent blog, Melissa Bryant, a member of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans also spoke up.

post, full of payday lenders and car dealerships who prey upon young troops with little or no credit, but a steady paycheck to spend.” And in a recent town hall convened by CFPB in Baton Rouge, a Commander with the state’s branch of the American Legion faced off with Mulvaney.

By Charlene Crowell Although predatory lending often conjures up images of an economically blighted Urban America, seldom does the image of an enlisted man or woman come to mind. But just as check cashing stores, along payday and auto title loan shops focus on communities of color, America’s military is also a frequent target. For years and near military installations across the country, a profusion of predatory lenders plied their wares, capturing our service men and women into the same web of debt trap loans that ensnared Black and Latino civilians. By 2006, a Department of Defense (DoD) report that delved into predatory lending practices against the nation’s armed services shared how the financial stress wrought affected military readiness. The report shared how predatory lending resulted in multiple negative effects. From “undermining troop readiness” and morale, to even the revocation of security clearances essential to military operations. In part the report stated, “Most of the predatory business models take advantage of borrower’s inability to pay the loan in full when due and encourage extensions through refinancing and loan flipping. These refinances often include additional high fees and little or no payment of principal.” In reaction, to the DoD report, Congress enacted with bipartisan support the Military Lending Act (MLA). Drawing from the report’s recommendations, new military protections assured: a 36 percent interest cap for all costs associated with lending; included both military members and their families; and banned extensions of payday and auto title loans, or other types of predatory credit. By 2010 the enactment of the DoddFrank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the newly-created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) gave the nation for the first time, a full-time consumer cop on the block, dedicated to financial fairness over a wide range of services and products. In 2012, the National Defense Authorization Act authorized the CFPB to enforce the MLA. That legislative move enabled CFPB to use its authority to protect service members. Soon thereafter, veterans, military members, and their families took more than 72,000 lending complaints to the direct attention of the CFPB. Under the leadership of the Bureau’s first director, CFPB returned more than $130 million to the military community.

For several years, the CFPB conducted proactive supervision to verify that financial companies were honoring their obligations under the MLA – to not rip off our troops. Furthermore, the MLA itself was strengthened by DoD policy, which closed loopholes that lenders had been exploiting to rip off our service members. Despite this multi-year drumbeat of consumer concern at the federal level, this year the current Acting Director of the CFPB recoiled from Dodd-Frank’s statutory duty to veterans. Instead of continuing its inclusion of MLA in CFPB supervisory examinations, earlier this year Mick Mulvaney, CFPB’s Acting Director claimed that the agency has no such legal authority. In reaction, a bipartisan contingent of 33 state attorneys general (AGs) directly expressed their concerns regarding CFPB’s abdication of duty to the armed services. Representing coast-to-coast diversity in geography as well as economies were AGs who wrote on behalf of consumers from New England’s Vermont, to the midAtlantic’s North Carolina, the Midwest heartland of Illinois and Ohio, the Deep South’s Mississippi, westward to Colorado’s Rocky Mountain, and the most populous state, California. “[W]e are perplexed by reports they indicating that the CFPB has determined that it needs further statutory authority in order to conduct examinations for MLA violations,” wrote the AGs. “We are also disappointed to learn that CFPB did not consult the Defense Department in developing its new examination policy, even though Congress specified that the Defense Department – not the CFPB – is the primary federal agency responsible for interpreting the MLA.” “By eliminating the proactive examination of compliance to correct problems before affect service members, however, your proposal will limit the CFPB’s protection of service members to reactive enforcement when service members submit complaints,” added the AGs. Nor were governmental officials the only ones to speak up in defense of the MLA. The Consumer Federation of America (CFA), an association of nonprofit interests that together have used a combination of education, research and advocacy to protect consumers since 1968, released a report that challenges CFPB to “Protect Those Who Protect America”. Written by Christopher L. Peterson, CFA’s Director of Financial Services, it rejects Mulvaney’s

“We know that service members are four times more likely to be targeted by predatory lenders and are in desperate need of stringent oversight and protection measures from fraud,” said Bryant. “If you need further proof, just look down the main drag of any street leading into a military

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Speaking on behalf of veterans, Ricky Griffin told the Acting Director, “Both the Pentagon and the American Legion are extremely worried about your proposal to pull back on enforcing the Military Lending Act. . . With the military currently unable to make its recruitment numbers this year, I think it is wrong for your agents to back off of any enforcement of the Military Lending Act…Why single out military service members?” Mr. Griffin and all of America’s military deserves an answer. Charlene Crowell is the Center for Responsible Lending’s Communications Deputy Director. She can be reached at Charlene. crowell@responsiblelending.org

JANUARY 2019

Politics

Woman of the Year : Juliana Stratton

“I’ve been in

public service for about 20 years on different levels. I’ve been on the city, county and now on the state level.

”

Juliana Stratton is currently the Democratic Lieutenant Governor of Illinois-elect. Stratton won the general election on November 6, 2018, after advancing from the primary on March 20, 2018. Stratton is a Democratic member of the Illinois House of Representatives, representing District 5. She was first elected to the chamber in 2016. After being elected Lieutenant Governor of Illinois, she becomes the first black woman to hold that post. Stratton used her Black Girl Magic to bring to the table most of Chicago’s black women. Governor-elect J.B. Pritzker owe Stratton a debt of gratitude, because, without the legions of black women who joined his campaign out of their love for Juliana, J.B. would have been minus over several hundred thousand votes. His victory would’ve been extremely difficult without Stratton’s Black Girl Magic in full operational mode. Juliana lives in Chicago, Illinois. She earned a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1987 and a J.D. from DePaul University College of Law in 1992. Her career experience includes serving as the executive director of Cook County Justice for Children and the Cook County Justice Advisory Council. She was the founder and president of JDS Mediation Services, Inc. and taught conflict management and negotiation skills at Loyola University Chicago. Stratton currently serves as the director for the Center for Public Safety and Justice at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Stratton is also a lawyer, who was born to a schoolteacher mother and doctor father and raised in the South Side of Chicago, where she attended Kenwood Academy. In 2016, Stratton challenged Ken Dunkin for the fifth district seat in the Illinois House of Representatives. She received an endorsement from President Barack

JANUARY 2018

Obama. In March 2016, she defeated Dunkin decisively, with 68% of the vote, in a race noted to be one of the most expensive in Illinois, with a total of $6 million in contributions for the candidates. This was not only an expensive race but one filled with nasty lies and damaging insults to Dunkin’s character. If Stratton has one visible flaw on her record of public service, it was allowing herself to be used by the machine of Michael Madigan to trash Dunkin’s name and reputation for their (Madigan’s) benefit. Ken did some really good work in the 5th District which is why he served over 14 years as a State Representative. He didn’t deserve that kind of treatment and we only wish that Stratton has or will apologize at some point for such an immoral act. It was revenge politics at its best. But, “If All’s Fair in Love and War,” then Stratton played the game the way politics has been played for centuries! On August 9, 2017, Stratton was announced as Pritzker’s running mate in the 2018 gubernatorial election. Stratton, the mother of three children and living in Bronzeville, cited early childhood education and women’s reproductive rights as two of her priorities, with criminal justice reform as another. Her hobbies are running marathons and triathlons, which has given her the discipline needed for the rigors of campaigning. She is a member of the Chicago Bar Association and the city’s chapter of Jack and Jill of America. Here are excerpts from a interview Juliana did with then editor, Mary Datcher,

of the Chicago Defender: On a hot summer day in early August, people packed into the Englewood field house for an official announcement that some anticipated was the boldest move made by the Pritzker campaign since the billionaire started his bid as an Illinois gubernatorial candidate. The evening before, the news leaked Pritzker tapped 5th District State Representative Juliana Stratton as his running mate for Lieutenant Governor. To political insiders, this decision would not be surprising since the Democratic candidate has laid down stakes in the Black community since May. To select the first African-American woman as a campaign partner brought the added the adrenaline shot it needed and once again thrusts Stratton back into the political spotlight. While she admits her pace has been nonstop as a junior state representative and the office is new, she feels her experience in public service has prepared her for the opportunity to join JB as his running mate. “I’m so excited to have been asked by JB to join him on this team. I very much believe in his leadership ability. I believe he is the one to steer this state in the right direction.

He and I have gotten to know each other over these last several months,” Stratton says. “JB was a leader in early childhood education—that’s a priority of his. He helped to make sure 100’s of thousands of children and low-income families got breakfast. He recognized that getting a good early start in life is important.” Stratton currently serves on several different committees as a state legislator which involves higher education, criminal, mental health, aging, economic and policies. Although she is making strides along with her colleagues in Springfield, the question remains… is Stratton ready to leap into the Lieutenant Governor’s shoes? “I didn’t think about being ready. I’ve been in public service for about 20 years on different levels. I’ve been in the city, county and now on the state level. I went to Springfield because I wanted to be a strong advocate for the 5th district. I went to Spring field because I knew that I had a passion and wanted to work hard for the residents and wanted to be effective.” With the concerns of many Illinoisans throughout the state, the effects of budget cuts have rippled throughout both major townships and rural areas. Towns such as Rockford, Cairo, East St. Louis, Decatur, and others rely on government services when employment is still high—Illinois is at an average 4.9 percent compared to 4.6 percent in the US. “Social service organizations dissipated and cuts to funding that would’ve costs institutions of higher education to close their doors. Gov. Bruce Rauner and his veto of the budget. He vetoed services for autistic children, vetoed domestic violence programs, vetoed funding for violence prevention, senior care, and early childhood education. Virtually everything we could think of that would be necessary for the very fabric of sustaining our communities and communities across the state, not just Chicago,” Stratton continues. The grueling schedule of a state-wide campaign is no joke and pales in comparison to walking the streets of her 5th District. Stratton smiles and says, “I think about a campaign like an endurance sport in some ways. You have to remember to drink your water, you have to get sleep, you have to eat right, and you have to know yourself. That is something I’ve come to know in my years of training; it’s something I’ve applied to my first campaign and this one. To recognize it’s not a short sprint, it’s a long-distance race. We have another 14 months to go—hopefully. I’m keeping my eyes on the prize.” And today, that prize has been won big, as Stratton and Pritzker destroyed the competition to control the Governor’s Mansion! Now, after the swearing-in, in January, Stratton can get to doing the work of the people and transforming the state of Illinois back to being a state that works and solves problems for all the people. And if you know Juliana, after and probably before the swearing-in, it’s gonna be an amazing party in Springfield as well as in Chicago for the folks who couldn’t travel south of the city. Juliana Stratton, congrats and we salute you as Public Eye’s Woman of the Year (2018). - MG Media

M ake some mon ey bu t d on ’ t le t mon ey mak e you “ ~ South African Proverb

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commentary

LeBron James’ Apology & The Roots of Anti-Semitism

“A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.

”

By Shelley Ettinger A beloved athlete posts a brief song lyric on social media. Commentators denounce the lyric as offensive and him as a bigot. He says he didn’t know it was offensive, and apologizes. What does it all signify? It signifies that it is in the interests of the capitalist ruling class to foment division and to blame the oppressed as somehow the real perpetrators of bias and bigotry. The athlete is Los Angeles Lakers basketball megastar LeBron James. The lyric, which he posted to Instagram Dec. 22, included the phrase “Jewish money” from a rap song by the performer 21 Savage he’d been listening to. Reaction was swift. Sports Business Daily reporter Darren Rovell took to Twitter to express his outrage and call on Jewish people, including National Basketball Association Commissioner Adam Silver, to join him. Sports Business Daily is owned by Advance Publications Inc., a media conglomerate with vast holdings. These include Conde Nast, which publishes Vogue and Vanity Fair among other magazines; Fairchild Publications, which owns Women’s Wear Daily and other publications; and American City Business Journals, the biggest publisher of metropolitan business newsweeklies in the United States. SBD is, in other words, a major capitalist media outlet. It posted $2.2 billion in revenues in 2017. Rovell, formerly of the worldwide sports conglomerate ESPN, the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, is one of its best-known commentators and a right winger. In fact, the headline of Newsweek magazine’s Dec. 23 article on this “controversy” characterized James’ Twitter post as “angering conservative critics.” So a reactionary writer for a website devoted to the profitability of professional sports tries to stir up hostility toward one of the country’s most prominent and progressive Black athletes for an unintended and immediately retracted reference. Although the attempt ultimately fizzled, and did not draw in Commissioner Silver, it did gather some support, mostly on Twitter, where dozens of tweets called James anti-Semitic. The day after his tweet, LeBron James said on ESPN: “Apologies, for sure, if I offended anyone. … I actually thought it was a compliment, and obviously it wasn’t

through the lens of a lot of people. My apologies. It definitely was not the intent, obviously, to hurt anybody.” (Dec. 22) It seems clear, it rings true, that James honestly didn’t know the historical meaning and use of phrases like “Jewish money” as fodder for anti-Semitism. He apologized anyway. What more could he do? Also on a Dec. 22 episode of his HBO series, “The Shop,” James criticized the majority of white National Football League billionaire owners for having a “slave mentality” by disregarding the rights of their players, 70 percent of whom are Black. (espn.com, Dec. 22) James made no apology for this accurate statement.

Real source of anti-Semitism

This is far from the first time that a prominent person of color, especially a Black person who is an outspoken activist against racism, as is LeBron James, has been lambasted as an anti-Semite. It’s not the first effort to direct anger and fear, especially Jewish anger and fear, against such a person. The issue, in reality, is never what the person did or didn’t say, or how perfectly phrased the person’s apology was. The issue is that it is in the ruling class’s interest to deflect attention from the real source of anti-Semitism: itself. Anti-Semitism is a very old, very effective strategy to direct the working class’s rage away from the true source of its problems: the ruling class, which is overwhelmingly made up of white, AngloSaxon Protestants. It instead portrays Jewish people, a tiny group — only 0.2 percent of the world’s population — as somehow owning and controlling the world’s wealth by being devious, evil schemers bent on driving workers and the poor into poverty and misery. While its roots are deep and wide and go back millennial, anti-Semitism flourished during the rise of capitalism in Europe. From 19th-century czarism in Russia through the Nazi genocide, it was skillfully crafted as a tactic to break up revolutionary movements. To this day, with resurgent fascist organizing again casting caricatured Jewish bankers as the culprit behind workers’ worsening standard of living in Germany, France and other countries, the capitalists wield anti-Semitism as a favored tool.

-Marcus Garvey

In this context, the absurdity of portraying oppressed communities as purveyors of anti-Semitism should be clear. Who has the motive and the power to foment attacks against Jewish people? Who poses an actual threat to Jewish people? Of course it is not, and can never be, the oppressed. Of course it is only, and will always be, the bosses. The threat is real, as evidenced by the Oct. 27 massacre at a synagogue in Pittsburgh. Emboldened under Trump, previously suppressed elements, the worst violent, anti-Semitic scum, are surfacing and acting in a way that has not been seen in this country for decades. At the same time, racist attacks, already epidemic, are on the rise, whether against Latin migrants, Black youth, or other oppressed people. The only effective response is unity, first and foremost against racism, and against all forms of bias and division, from anti-Semitism to sexism to LGBTQ2S oppression. It’s this unity, rejecting the bosses’ attempts to divert anger away from themselves, that will move the struggle of the workers and oppressed forward against capitalism itself.

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JANUARY 2019

national 2018: A COP GOES TO JAIL, NATIONALISM AND STOLEN VOTES

SW’S YEAR-END REVIEW

The year 2018 saw the emergence and development of trends that are sure to impact politics in the U.S. and around the world — for good and for bad — for years to come. We asked some of our contributors to write about the ways 2018 will leave its mark on the world. It’s impossible to cover all the major events of 2018, but we hope this series will help provide some perspective on what’s changed in the past 12 months, what hasn’t — and what we need to do to come out fighting in 2019. In part four of our series, Todd St Hill and Brian Bean celebrate the hard-won conviction of a Chicago cop, Ashley Smith explains how Trump tried to put America even more first, and Danny Katch argues that voter suppression may have reached a tipping point.

The organizing around Laquan McDonald brought the real problems of racism in Chicago to the fore of every conversation and created a political crisis for City Hall. At every step — from exposures of the video, to the sacking of the police chief, to the decision by Rahm to not run for re-election, to Van Dyke’s conviction — what ensured that the fight was won was years of organizing and protest. These protests had to endure police attacks, press demonetization and co-optation attempts from supposed community leaders, but in September, we finally won — we got him. We have no illusion that jailing one killer cop will put an end to the racist police. It will not bring back Laquan. Nor will it bring back Rekia, Pierre, Roshad, Damo, Stephon, Quintonio, Bettie, Ronnieman, Snoop and countless others. But it did create a crack in the system and let in a little light of a greater justice that still needs to be won.

A Killer Cop Finally Goes to Jail Todd St Hill and Brian Bean | Marching through cold Chicago streets, we have chanted many names of individuals stolen from this world. “Justice for...” is a refrain that is so often a fleeting hope and a lofty aspiration usually unrealized. Justice is rare even though the moderateness of the demand doesn’t seek to end the racist system, but only for the violent ending of a life by a cop to not pass without something happening — for the police to have to at least blink an eye and take a killer cop off the street before they return to their bloody business.

And yet their side knows the power behind this simple cry, because the entire legal and political system is set up to protect the police, and ensure they can kill with abandon and never, ever, face consequences.

While the cops have murdered an estimated 14,300 people since 2005, only 13 police were convicted of murder or manslaughter from 2005 through 2016. Ensuring that they escape accountability is necessary to preserve the role of the police as protectors of capital and the monopolizers of legal violence of the state. This is why us winning a murder conviction for Jason Van Dyke — the Chicago cop who murdered Laquan McDonald in 2014 — was a triumphant victory this year for those opposed to racism and police terror. The Van Dyke trial put the unraveling of a citywide cover-up on full display. The exposure of the cover-up struck at the racist heart of Chicago and provoked a political crisis that shook the city’s power structure. Mayor Rahm Emanuel was unable to recover from it, as the timing of his decision to not run for re-election shows. Thanks to the efforts of countless activists, organizers and workers (with children of their own) Laquan McDonald became a symbol of police and city corruption, neglect, disenfranchisement, dehumanization and the racist status quo. The organizing around Van Dyke’s trial took place with the backdrop of a City Hall under fire from activists, students and grassroots organizations, and provided momentum to campaigns against the construction of a $95 million police academy and to negotiate the erasure of the CPD gang database. The movement for Laquan also created an atmosphere in which Chicago students pushed for the issue of police violence to be included in the conversation about curbing gun violence. This was an important political intervention into the March For Our Lives protests: demands to roll back police power and funding, and to invest in real safety for Black and Brown communities, provided a counterargument to the racist scapegoating and draconian decrees from the mayor and the police superintendent in response to the city’s homicide crisis.

Trump Doubles Down on Nationalism Ashley Smith | The Trump administration has been befuddling from day one, torn by contradictions and subject to the erratic mood swings of its lumpen capitalist billionairein-chief. Amid all the chaos, though, one reactionary theme has united the regime: a nationalist program to put “America First” that targets global economic competitors, especially China, and oppressed people inside the U.S., especially immigrants, Muslims, women, the queer and trans community, and people with disabilities. The Republican and Democratic Party establishments, which upheld the wretched neoliberal order of free trade globalization, were caught flat-footed by Trump’s nationalist bigotry. After Trump defeated their pretenders to the throne and won the 2016 election, the ruling class and state bureaucracy had no choice but to find a way to live with Trump. The Republican Party built a faction in the administration to discipline him, uphold a muscular version of American imperialism’s strategy of superintending the neoliberal order, and push for traditional conservative fantasies like Trump’s tax cut for the rich and the further deregulation of the U.S. economy. But they faced a hyper-nationalist faction spearheaded by Steve Bannon that was committed to a very different program: engage in a great power conflict with China, abandon free trade for economic protectionism, and enforce traditional social prejudices and hierarchies of nationality, religion, gender and race. When Trump fired Bannon, the establishment seemed like they had won the faction fight. But in 2018, the Trump administration purged most of the “moderates” from the White House, appointing a new cast of nationalist creeps and militarists. Since then, Trump has doubled down on his “America First” program. He has disrupted neoliberal multilateral institutions like NATO and the WTO, thrown alliances with imperial allies like Canada and Germany into confusion, imposed a new sanctions regime on Iran and whipped up a new cold war with China. Trump also further intensified his unceasing war on immigrants, separating children from their parents, jailing them in concentration camps and deploying the military to the border to stop refugees from finding asylum in the U.S. In the process, he fueled the growth of the far right across the country. During the midterm elections, Trump proudly declared himself a nationalist and denounced Democrats with the anti-Semitic buzzword “globalists” — right before a white supremacist massacred worshippers in a Pittsburgh synagogue. Yet Trump’s program isn’t unique. It is part of a rising global right that includes governments like those of Viktor Orban in Hungary, Narendra Modi in India and Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, as well as opposition parties like the pro-Brexit UK Independence Party. This nationalist right is the bastard offspring of the Great Recession. To get out of that crisis, capitalist parties throughout the world bailed out banks and corporations, imposed austerity on workers and scapegoated the oppressed. In the process, they shattered their legitimacy in the eyes of the masses, opening the door for a new right offering reactionary solutions to real problems. But this delegitimization also opens the door to a reborn left — if it adopts the right posture toward the right and the establishment. The new socialist movement in this country must oppose U.S. nationalism full stop, and not adopt the liberal or social democratic versions of it like those advocated in the New York Times by John Judis and David Leonhardt. We can’t sell out our sisters and brothers in the international working class by narrowing our focus to workers in the U.S. At the same time, we shouldn’t dismiss all nationalisms as reactionary. Those of oppressed nations like Palestine and oppressed national minorities like African Americans and Native Americans are progressive because they challenge real hierarchies in a fight for equality between peoples. Over the next few years, we have to build the new socialist movement on a foundation of opposition to imperialism and of solidarity across borders among the workers and oppressed of the world. Those two principles are essential for guiding our struggle to replace capitalist barbarism with international socialism. See CRIME, page 8

Where there are experts there will be no lack of learners. ~ S wa h i l i p ro v e r b

JANUARY 2019

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health

Szechuan Tofu with Cauliflower Health information provided by Mile High Fitness & Wellness

Kim Farmer

Kim Farmer is the president of Mile High Fitness & Wellness. Mile High Fitness & Wellness offers in home personal training, wellness challenges, onsite corporate fitness classes and seminars including cooking demos.

President

Ingredients: • 12 ounces extra-firm tofu, drained and cut into 3/4-in. cubes • 3 tablespoons cornstarch, divided • 2 tablespoons canola oil • 1 cup unsalted vegetable stock, divided • 3 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce • 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar • 1 1/2 teaspoons hoisin sauce • 3 cups cauliflower florets • 2 cups thinly diagonally sliced celery • 6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced • 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted ketchup • 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper • 1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions

Directions: 1. Pat tofu dry with paper towels. Place 7 teaspoons cornstarch in a large bowl. Add tofu; toss to coat. Remove tofu from bowl. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high. Add tofu; cook 6 minutes or until golden and crisp, stirring occasionally. Remove tofu to a plate with a slotted spoon. 2. Combine remaining 2 teaspoons cornstarch and 1/4 cup stock in a bowl, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Stir in remaining 3/4 cup stock, soy sauce, vinegar, and hoisin. 3. Add cauliflower to remaining oil in pan; cook 3 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring occasionally. Add celery and garlic; sauté 2 minutes. Add ketchup and pepper; cook 1 minute, stirring to coat. Add stock mixture to pan; bring to a boil. Cook 2 minutes or until liquid is slightly thickened. Add cooked tofu; toss. Top with green onions.

Stay in the KNOW! Join our Facebook Page at www.facebook.com/milehighfitness for special offers and timely fitness and nutrition tips! Mile High Fitness & Wellness was founded by Kim Farmer whose primary mission is to bring fitness and nutrition to anyone, anywhere, anytime. Mile High Fitness & Wellness is the proud provider of many municipalities, private companies, school districts, non-profits and other groups located in and outside of Colorado. She has partnered with many practitioners to travel to various locations to provide high quality, professional personal training and nutrition programs, corporate wellness initiatives, assessments, workshops, speeches and more.

Yield: 4 servings Time: 25 minutes 271 Calories/serving Recipe source: https://www.cookinglight.com/recipes/szechuan-tofu-cauliflower

In Home Personal Training & Nutrition Coaching Starting at $30 www.milehighfitness.com

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JANUARY 2019

special supplement january 2019

Free

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY

About Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day Martin Luther King Jr. Day (officially Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.[1] and sometimes referred to as MLK Day) is an American federal holiday marking the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. It is observed on the third Monday of January each year, which is around King’s birthday, January 15. The holiday is similar to holidays set under the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. The earliest Monday for this holiday is January 15 and the latest is January 21. King was the chief spokesperson for nonviolent activism in the Civil Rights Movement, which successfully protested racial discrimination in federal and state law. The campaign for a federal holiday in King’s honor began soon after his assassination in 1968. President Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law in 1983, and it was first observed three years later. At first, some states resisted observing the holiday as such, giving it alternative names or combining it with other holidays. It was officially observed in all 50 states for the first time in 2000.

JANUARY 2019

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist who was a leader in the Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using nonviolent civil disobedience based on his Christian beliefs. King became a civil rights activist early in his career. He led the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1957, serving as its first president. With the SCLC, King led an unsuccessful 1962 struggle against segregation in Albany, Georgia, and helped organize the 1963 nonviolent protests in Birmingham, Alabama. King also helped to organize the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. On October 14, 1964, King received the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through nonviolent resistance. In 1965, he helped to organize the Selma to Montgomery marches, and the following year he and SCLC took the movement north to Chicago to work on segregated housing. In the final years of his life, King expanded his focus to include opposition towards poverty and the Vietnam War, alienating many of his liberal allies with a 1967 speech titled “Beyond Vietnam”. In 1968, King was planning a national occupation of Washington, D.C., to be

called the Poor People’s Campaign, when he was assassinated on April 4 in Memphis, Tennessee. His death was followed by riots in many U.S. cities. King was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal. Martin Luther King Jr. Day was established as a holiday in numerous cities and states beginning in 1971, and as a U.S. federal holiday in 1986. Hundreds of streets in the U.S. have been renamed in his honor, and a county in Washington State was also renamed for him. The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was dedicated in 2011.

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.

”

-Dr. King Jr.

“Traveling is learning “ ~ k e n ya n p ro v e r b

St. Louis city and St. Louis County Boycott For Economic and Social Justice

The St. Louis County and St. Louis City Boycott consist of grassroots organizations dedicated to exposing the injustice and unfair treatment of African Americans. Missouri is ground zero for the modern day civil rights movement.

Remember, Missouri was a slave state.

• Dred Scott Case • Gaines v Canada (University of Missouri) • Jefferson Bank Lawsuit • Housing Lawsuits • Ferguson Uprising • University of Missouri Football Players Boycott

Arab Businesses

St. Louis Galleria in Richmond Heights

*Study the history of slavery and SLU

“You can pray until you faint, but unless you get up and try to do something, God is not going to put it in your lap.” – Fannie Lou Hamer

We ask conscious people to support the boycott! www.africanamericanvoice.net

JANUARY 2019

special supplement

Martin Luther King Jr., “The Montgomery Bus Boycott”

“

My FRIENDS, we are certainly very happy to see each of you out this evening. We are here this evening for serious business. We are here in a general sense because first and foremost we are American citizens and we are determined to apply our citizenship to the fullness of its meaning. We are here also because of our love for democracy, because of our deep-seated belief that democracy transformed from thin paper to thick action is the greatest form of government on earth. But we are here in a specific sense, because of the bus situation in Montgomery. We are here because we are determined to get the situation corrected. This situation is not at all new. The problem has existed over endless years. For many years now Negroes in Montgomery and so many other areas have been inflicted with the paralysis of crippling fears on buses in our community. On so many occasions, Negroes have been intimidated and humiliated and impressed-oppressedbecause of the sheer fact that they were Negroes. I don’t have time this evening to go into the history of these numerous cases. Many of them now are lost in the thick fog of oblivion but at least one stands before us now with glaring dimensions. Just the other day, just last Thursday to be exact, one of the finest citizens in Montgomery not one of the finest Negro citizens, but one of the finest citizens in Montgomery-was taken from a bus and carried to jail and because she refused to get up to give her seat to a white person. Now the press would have us believe that she refused to leave a reserved section for Negroes but I want you to know this evening that there is no reserved section. The law has never been clarified at that point. Now I think I speak with legal authoritynot that I have any legal authority, but I think I speak with legal authority behind me -that the law, the ordinance, the city ordinance has never been totally clarified. Mrs. Rosa Parks is a fine person. And, since it had to happen, I’m happy that it happened to a person like Mrs. Parks, for nobody can doubt the boundless outreach of her integrity. Nobody can doubt the height of her character nobody can doubt the depth of her Christian commitment and devotion to the teachings of Jesus. And I’m happy since it had to happen, it happened to a person that nobody can call a disturbing factor in the community. Mrs. Parks is a fine Christian person, unassuming, and yet there is integrity and character there. And just because she refused to get up, she was arrested. And you know, my friends, there comes a time when people get tired of being trampled over by the iron feet of oppression. There comes a time, my friends, when people get tired of being plunged across the abyss of humiliation, where they experience the bleakness of nagging despair. There comes a time when people get tired of being pushed out of the glittering sunlight of life’s July and left standing amid the piercing chill of an alpine November. There comes a time.

JANUARY 2019

We are here, we are here this evening because we’re tired now. And I want to say that we are not here advocating violence. We have never done that. I want it to be known throughout Montgomery and throughout this nation that we are Christian people. We believe in the Christian religion. We believe in the teachings of Jesus. The only weapon that we have in our hands this evening is the weapon of protest. That’s all. And certainly, this is the glory of America, with all of its faults. This is the glory of our democracy. If we were incarcerated behind the iron curtains of a Communistic nation we couldn’t do this. If we were dropped in the dungeon of a totalitarian regime we couldn’t do this. But the great glory of American democracy is the right to protest for right. My friends, don’t let anybody make us feel that we are to be compared in our actions with the Ku Klux Klan or with the White Citizens Council. There will be no crosses burned at any bus stops in Montgomery. There will be no white persons pulled out of their homes and taken out on some distant road and lynched for not cooperating. There will be nobody amid, among us who will stand up and defy the Constitution of this nation. We only assemble here because of our desire to see right exist. My friends, I want it to be known that we’re going to work with grim and bold determination to gain justice on the buses in this city. And we are not wrong, we are not wrong in what we are doing. If we are wrong, the Supreme Court of this nation is wrong. If we are wrong, the Constitution of the United States is wrong. If we are wrong, God Almighty is wrong. If we are wrong, Jesus of Nazareth was merely a Utopian dreamer that never came down to earth. If we are wrong, justice is a lie. Love has no meaning. And we are determined here in Montgomery to work and fight until justice runs down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream. I want to say that in all of our actions we must stick together. Unity is the great need of the hour, and if we are united we can get many of the things that we not only desire but which we justly deserve. And don’t let anybody frighten you. We are not afraid of what we are doing because we are doing it within the law. There is never a time in our American democracy that we must ever think we’re wrong when we protest. We reserve that right. When labor all over this nation came to see that it would be trampled over by capitalistic power, it was nothing wrong with labor getting together and organizing and protesting for its rights. We, the disinherited of this land, we who have been oppressed so long, are tired of going through the long night of captivity. And now we are reaching out for the daybreak of freedom and justice and equality. May I say to you my friends, as I come to a close, and just giving some idea of why we are assembled here, that we must keepand I want to stress this, in all of our doings, in all of our deliberations here this evening and all of the week and while—whatever we do, we must keep God in the forefront. Let us be Christian

in all of our actions. But I want to tell you this evening that it is not enough for us to talk about love is one of the pivotal points of the Christian face, faith. There is another side called justice. And justice is really love in calculation. Justice is love correcting that which revolts against love. The Almighty God himself is not the only, not the, not the God just standing out saying through Hosea, “I love you, Israel.” He’s also the God that stands up before the nations and said: “Be still and know that I’m God, that if you don’t obey me I will break the backbone of your power and slap you out of the orbits of your international and national relationships.” Standing beside love is always justice, and we are only using the tools of justice. Not only are we using the tools of persuasion, but we’ve come to see that we’ve got to use the tools of coercion. Not only is this thing a process of education, but it is also a process of legislation. As we stand and sit here this evening and as we prepare ourselves for what lies ahead, let us go out with a grim and bold determination that we are going to stick together. We are going to work together. Right here in Montgomery, when the history books are written in the future somebody will have to say, “There lived a race of people a black people, ‘fleecy locks and black complexion’, a people who had the moral courage to stand up for their rights. And thereby they injected a new meaning into the veins of history and of civilization.” And we’re gonna do that. God grant that we will do it before it is too late. As we proceed with our program let us think of these things. But just before leaving I want to say this. I want to urge you. You have voted [for this boycott], and you have done it with a great deal of enthusiasm, and I want to express my appreciation to you, on behalf of everybody here. Now let us go out to stick together and stay with this thing until the end. Now it means sacrificing, yes, it means sacrificing at points. But there are some things that we’ve got to learn to sacrifice for. And we’ve got to come to the point that we are determined not to accept a lot of things that we have been accepting in the past. So I’m urging you now. We have the facilities for you to get to your jobs, and

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we are putting, we have the cabs there at your service. Automobiles will be at your service, and don’t be afraid to use up any of the gas. If you have it, if you are fortunate enough to have a little money, use it for a good cause. Now my automobile is gonna be in it has been in it, and I’m not concerned about how much gas I’m gonna use. I want to see this thing work. And we will not be content until oppression is wiped out of Montgomery, and really out of America. We won’t be content until that is done. We are merely insisting on the dignity and worth of every human personality. And I don’t stand here, I’m not arguing for any selfish person. I’ve never been on a bus in Montgomery. But I would be less than a Christian if I stood back and said, because I don’t ride the bus, I don’t have to ride a bus, that it doesn’t concern me. I will not be content. I can hear a voice saying, “If you do it unto the least of these, my brother, you do it unto me.” And I won’t rest; I will face intimidation, and everything else, along with these other stalwart fighters for democracy and for citizenship. We don’t mind it, so long as justice comes out of it. And I’ve come to see now that as we struggle for our rights, maybe some of them will have to die. But somebody said, if a man doesn’t have something that he’ll die for, he isn’t fit to live.

”

special supplement Historically Black Colleges and Universities

Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. This was because the overwhelming majority of predominantly white institutions of higher-learning disqualified African Americans from enrollment during segregation. From the time of slavery in the 19th century through to the second half of the 20th century, majority schools in the Southern United States prohibited all African Americans from attending, while historic schools in other parts of the country regularly employed quotas to limit admissions of blacks.[3] There are 101 HBCUs in the United States, including public and private institutions. This figure is down from the 121 institutions that existed during the 1930s.[4] Of these remaining HBCU institutions in the United States, 27 offer doctoral programs, 52 schools offer master’s programs, 83 colleges offer bachelor’s degree programs and 38 schools offer associate degrees.[5] A • Alabama A&M University • Alabama State University • Albany State University • Alcorn State University • Allen University • American Baptist College • University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff • Arkansas Baptist College B • Barber-Scotia College** • Benedict College • Bennett College • Bethune-Cookman University • Birmingham-Easonian Baptist Bible College* • Bishop State Community College • Bluefield State College • Bowie State University C • Carver College * • Central State University • Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science * • Cheyney University of Pennsylvania • Claflin University • Clark Atlanta University • Clinton College • Coahoma Community College • Concordia College, • Alabama (closed 2018) • Coppin State University D • Delaware State University • Denmark Technical College • Dillard University

• University of the District of Columbia E • Edward Waters College • Elizabeth City State University F • Fayetteville State University • Fisk University • Florida A&M University • Florida Memorial University • Fort Valley State University G • Gadsden State Community College (Valley Street campus) • Grambling State University H • Hampton University • Harris-Stowe State University • Hinds Community College at Utica • Hood Theological * • Howard University • Huston-Tillotson University I • Interdenominational Theological Center J • J. F. Drake State Technical College • Jackson State University • Jarvis Christian College • Johnson C. Smith University • Johnson C Smith Theological Seminary * K • Kentucky State University • Knoxville College ** L • Lane College

• Langston University • Lawson State Community College • LeMoyne-Owen College • Lewis College of Business (closed 2013) • The Lincoln University • Lincoln University • Livingstone College M • University of Maryland Eastern Shore • Meharry Medical College • Miles College • Miles School of Law * • Mississippi Valley State University • Morehouse College • Morehouse School of Medicine • Morgan State University • Morris Brown College ** • Morris College N • Norfolk State University • North Carolina A&T State University • North Carolina Central University O • Oakwood University P • Paine College • Paul Quinn College • Payne Theological * • Philander Smith College • Prairie View A&M University R • Rust College S • Saint Paul’s College (closed 2013)

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• Savannah State University • Selma University • Shaw University • Shelton State Community College- C A Fredd Campus • Shorter College • Simmons College of Kentucky • South Carolina State University • Southern University at New Orleans • Southern University at Shreveport • Southern University and A&M College • Southwestern Christian College • Spelman College • St. Augustine’s University • St. Philip’s College • Stillman College T • Talladega College • Tennessee State University • Texas College • Texas Southern University • Tougaloo College • H. Councill Trenholm State Community College • Tuskegee University UWXYZ • University of the Virgin • Islands • Virginia State University • Virginia Union University • Virginia University of Lynchburg • Voorhees College • West Virginia State University • Wilberforce University • Wiley College • Winston-Salem State University • Xavier University of Louisiana

JANUARY 2019

COMMUNITY “one had better

die fighting against injustice than to die like a dog or a rat in a trap.

”

-Ida B. Wells-Barnett

Bolton’s False Claim of ‘New’ U.S. Policy for Africa

By Carlos Lopes Pereira

This article was first published in Avante, the weekly newspaper of the Portuguese Communist Party, on Dec. 27. Its author was a former member of the Secretariat of the PAIGC, the party leading the struggle for the liberation of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde. Translation by WW Managing Editor John Catalinotto. The United States has announced a “new” policy for Africa. It was up to National Security Adviser John Bolton — known for his reactionary and aggressive positions — to reveal the basics of Washington’s strategy for the African continent. This policy was approved by President Donald Trump on Dec. 12.

Speaking at the right-wing Heritage Foundation on Dec. 13, Bolton defined three priorities. The first was to strengthen trade ties with African countries through agreements that benefit both parties. He said, “We ask only for reciprocity, never for subservience.” The second was to contain the “proliferation of radical Islamic terrorism” — namely, “ISIS, Al-Qaida and other terrorists,” which “targeted United States citizens and interests.” The third priority was to ensure that U.S. “aid” is efficient and effective, in line with U.S. interests — while “unproductive aid” should be ended, including United Nations peace missions. He stated, “Countries that

repeatedly vote against the United States and international forums that would take action against U.S. interests should not receive generous American foreign aid.” Bolton stressed that the main aim of U.S. strategy is to oppose and, if possible, to prevent China’s and Russia’s good and cooperative relations with African countries. He said that these “great power [U.S.] competitors are rapidly extending their financial and political influence across Africa” and “are deliberately and aggressively targeting their investments in the region to gain a competitive advantage over the United States.” (CSPAN, Dec. 13) In essence, there is no change of strategy. But Bolton’s speech raises concerns about his threat to reconfigure or end funding for U.N. missions in Africa. These missions contribute to the search for peaceful resolutions of conflicts and wars in Sudan, South Sudan, Mali, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Western Sahara and Somalia. In fact, many of these conflicts and wars have been caused by interference from Washington and its allies. Under the pretext of the fight against terrorism, the Pentagon maintains several military bases in Africa, from Djibouti to Niger, under the United States Africa Command (Africom). Africom has about 7,200 staff members in “advisory missions” in many African countries. Bolton has promised that Washington will reduce the number of troops stationed in Africa by 10 percent and has urged the countries on the continent to assume their own defense. The White House adviser also raised the possible transfer to African soil of Africom, which has had its headquarters in Germany since its inception in 2007.

Moussa Faki Mahamat, chairperson of the African Union Commission, responded to the announcement of the U.S.’s “new African policy” while speaking at the Africa-Europe Forum in Vienna on Dec. 18. He reminded the group that “investors have their interests, we have ours, we know better than anyone else with whom we should trade and cooperate.” Whether under old or new guises, within the framework of its strategy of world domination, U.S. policy toward Africa does not change. It will continue to be one of meddling, military intervention and exploitation of the continent’s wealth. However, this policy faces increasing resistance and opposition from the African peoples, who continue to fight for their complete emancipation.

Ears that do not listen to advice, company the head when it is chopped off. ~african proverb

JANUARY 2019

criminal justice Continued from NATIONAL page 5

Voter Suppression Finally Becomes an Issue

Inmates Expose Systematic Abuse in Georgia Jail By Christian Noakes

Atlanta – Gwinnett County Sheriff Butch Conway and Lt. Col. Carl Sims currently face a federal lawsuit in response to widespread abuse of inmates. Plaintiffs are 75 current and former inmates whose testimonies have revealed systematic cruelty at the county jail. Central to the lawsuit are restraint chairs used to strap down inmates’ hands, feet and heads. In one instance, guards strapped down a military veteran with PTSD after also stripping him of his clothes. Similar brutality has been meted out to several other inmates with physical and mental disabilities. Another plaintiff, 26-year-old Shelby Clark, was severely beaten and partially blinded after guards hit her for having a mental breakdown — one hit her in the face several times. (tinyurl.com/yahku7dx) Such inhumane tactics are used by the jail’s “Rapid Response Team,” which receives orders and direction from the police officers charged. According to one of the attorneys filing the suit on behalf of current and former inmates, video evidence shows that there is often no apparent reason for many of the team’s violent assaults. Guards can be seen in some cases entering cells using “nonlethal” SWAT tactics on noncombative victims — many of whom are then strapped down for hours. Created in 2008, the Rapid Response Team has a long-established record of unwarranted and excessive force. The current lawsuit was preceded by a similar suit by other inmates in 2015 — the case is still pending. The Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office is far from an anomaly. The prison is not a “failing in the system,” but displays the brutal efficiency of a prison system meant to mentally and physically break those it cynically claims to be “rehabilitating.” The jail illustrates perfectly how the prison system, which functions as an apparatus of class rule and white supremacy, both exacerbates and criminalize mental health conditions in working-class people subjected to its tortures. Coast to Coast www.workers.org

Let’s be clear: This is not a speech of concession, because concession means to acknowledge an action is right, true or proper. As a woman of conscience and faith, I cannot concede that.” Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, after narrowly losing an election marked by blatant voter suppression. Danny Katch | Among the many undemocratic features of our democracy that helped Donald Trump win the presidency in 2016 — including the slaveholder relic Electoral College and a two-party system so corrupted that it produced two of the most unpopular politicians in recent history — voter disenfranchisement was a strangely underreported factor. Investigative reporter Greg Palast found that in Michigan, which Trump won by fewer than 11,000 votes, over 75,000 ballots were never counted due to broken voting machines in the mostly Democratic (and Black) cities of Detroit and Flint. Palast also reported that Republican state officials across the country purged over a million people — mostly Black and Latino — from voter registration rolls as “double voters” just because someone with the same name was on a voting roll in another state. But the story of this massive violation of democratic rights went largely untold because most Democrats were too focused on whipping up anti-Russia hysteria — not to mention disdainful of their Black working class base — to organize rallies and hold daily press conferences featuring wronged voters. What made 2018 notable, therefore, was not the outrage of voter suppression, but the attention it finally received from the political establishment. There are a number of probable reasons for this change, from the influx of more combative Black and Brown candidates like Stacey Abrams into the Democratic Party, to increased funding from liberal donors for voting rights organizations. But the biggest factor is probably that Republicans have gone from doing their dirty tricks in the shadows to proudly broadcasting their aims to squelch the rights of non-white Americans.

Of course, if there’s anything we’ve learned under Trump, it’s that public exposure alone isn’t enough. So the question is what the fight against voter suppression will look like in the runup to a 2020 election cycle in which the Republicans will have to steal more voting rights while clinging to outrageous conspiracy claims about Democratic fraud that fire up their shrinking base. Stacey Abrams is backing a lawsuit against the state of Georgia. Up to this point, similar voter rights litigation from groups like the ACLU has been the primary tool used in this fight. Let America Vote was created last year to create more public awareness and target politicians who carry out purges. But there’s an obvious limitation to the strategy of using get-out-the-vote efforts against voter suppression, and Republicans have been stacking the judicial branch with shameless hacks. Something more is needed. It’s hard to think of any issue with more clear lessons from U.S. history than Black and Brown people being denied the vote. It took a broad-based protest movement of sit-ins, boycotts and mass marches to win this right 50 years ago — and the 2013 repeal of the Voting Rights Act won by those protests helped pave the way for voter purges like the one in Georgia. It will take a similar level of popular struggle to preserve the right to vote today. But even though it would be in their party’s short-term electoral interest, we shouldn’t expect Democratic leaders to encourage the formation of a new civil rights movement. Rich and powerful people in both parties know from history that when millions of poor and working-class Black people gain the confidence to demand even their most basic rights, it poses a deep challenge to a country that has never stopped relying on them being under strict control. Socialists need to figure out how to support the fight for voting rights over the next two years — and argue for a movement by and for those whose suppression is so vital to this unjust system. By Mr. Alford & Ms. DeBow /www.nationalbcc.org

Continued from EDUCATION page 1

As such, the Promise to Practice reviewers evaluated state plans based on a rubric that included whether the state has a coherent vision for improving student outcomes, whether there is a strategic use of funding and alignment of resources, the use of evidence-based interventions, and how well state leaders engaged stakeholders. That last component is perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of ESSA – federal lawmakers required states to gather input from a wide range of groups outside of traditional education. Civic groups, business leaders, parents and community activists were given a seat at the table. We watched excitedly as several NAACP groups got involved from the very beginning, helping policy and lawmakers understand community and even neighborhood needs for the betterment of students. Still, it disheartening to learn that just 17 states are ready to identify and provide the kinds of supports that lowperforming schools require. Other states can look at Colorado, which has developed a clear menu of school improvement items for districts to choose from, or Nevada where districts have to describe how their

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strategies for addressing equity gaps in funding applications. Nevada is also using equity-oriented data like behavior and attendance to understand schools’ challenges. There’s so much anger and divisiveness in our society today, but the importance of education equity should be among the things on which we can all agree. Every single student in every single school, no matter where that school is located or what kind of home life the child has, must be given the tools and knowledge to succeed. We shouldn’t have to fight for this right – the right to an education. And yet we find ourselves year in, year out looking aghast at assessment scores that prove achievement gaps are still there. Thoughtprovoking analyses like that done by the Collaborative for Student Success will help close those gaps until they are well and truly gone. Elizabeth Primas is an educator who spent more than 40 years working to improve education for children. She is the program manager for the NNPA’s Every Student Succeeds Act Public Awareness Campaign. Follow her on Twitter @ elizabethprimas.

JANUARY 2019

Beyond the rhetoric

By Mr. Alford & Ms. DeBow Oh, what a wonderful world this would be for Black communities throughout our nation. We, as a people, have $1.3 trillion (T) in annual spending. However, our Black-owned businesses account for $183 billion. Do you see the problem? We don’t recycle our money within our own communities. Not even 20 percent of what we have stays within our own business infrastructure. As Malcolm X once remarked, “The ‘eagle’ flies on Friday in Black communities and by noon Saturday it is one dead bird.” Nothing recycles and thus, nothing is going to build or grow larger. We are consumer slaves. We live in a complex on the Virginia side of Washington, DC. A few of our neighbors are professional athletes. You can always tell when their crew is assembling. The parking area out front suddenly looks like a Maybach or Lamborghini car dealership. There is a million dollars’ worth of depreciating assets right before our eyes. They think it is so cool. We think it is depressing. I guess it is their money and their business. However, if we look collectively there is an immense opportunity slipping right before our eyes. The Black percentage of professional football players exceeds 70%. The National Basketball Association approaches 90% +. These gifted athletes control billions of dollars that could be directed to significant economic empowerment for the Black communities from which they come. Allow us to show you a few examples of what could be done. Basketball arenas and football stadiums are being built around our nation on an ongoing basis. Right now, there is usually no Black participation included during the construction and design of these stadiums.

Levi Stadium in California had only 1.4% participation. Imagine if the Players’ Associations for these two sports would put this on the negotiating table before the owners: Thirty percent of all construction performed on the next stadiums be done by Black-owned and managed construction firms. That should include architecture and engineering followed by construction management and all prime

farther from the truth. Only 2% of Blackowned construction companies are union. Why? Because of the Jim Crow treatment by these construction unions. The time is overdue for these Black athletes to step up and do the only responsible thing they can do. Don’t tolerate racist construction unions. Hell no! to solidarity. Additionally, where are these teams parking their money? Financial institutions

and subcontracting, accounting, all legal services. The stadiums should be built in areas that will not gentrify Black neighborhoods and business communities. Thirty percent of all concessions, restaurants, etc. that are allowed within the stadiums and arenas must be Black-owned. Black advertising and public relations firms should be included. Levi Stadium brings up another matter. The NFL and NBA player associations seem to have a great affinity to construction unions. They assume that they are fair and equitable to Black labor. Nothing could be

and money management firms should have significant Black utilization. Significant should equate to over 30%. No more scandals such as Merril Lynch biking NBA players with the encouragement of their upper management (a Black CEO). The athletes must participate in the selection of the Super Bowl city. There should be a rating system which determines the likelihood of racially diverse people participating in the wealth that a Super Bowl brings. Which city will have the blackest vendors? Who is printing the jerseys, the T-shirts, the souvenir books?

Who is advertising the Super Bowl? And may we suggest that teams look for Blackowned hotels. These team owners are asleep at the wheel of diversity and inclusivity. They must feel pressured to have a desire for diversity. The pressure will come from the athletes. Just because these teams have been using select vendors for dozens of decades doesn’t mean they can’t change now. The sooner they do it the better off America will be. The player associations should have formal Memorandums of Understanding with the top Black professional organizations such as Black architecture and engineering associations, Black contractors, banks, accounting associations, attorneys, realtors, etc. This God-given natural athletic ability that is blessed on our people must be used via wide distribution of its influence and effects. These MOU’s should be publicized with ongoing updates to ensure that it is not just “window dressing” but real deal economic empowerment. Now, this would change the world! After doing that correctly we could move to our entertainers who would only perform at venues that have documented proof of Black construction, architecture/ engineering participation. Again, God has blessed us with remarkable talent. Let’s leverage it. Oh, how badly we need a bigger share of that $1.3 trillion. We can’t think of a better way. Our destiny is in our own hands.

By Mr. Alford & Ms. DeBow /www.nationalbcc.org

Mission Statement The National Black Chamber of Commerce® is dedicated to economically empowering and sustaining African American communities through entrepreneurship and capitalistic activity within the United States and via interaction with the Black Diaspora.

Organization Profile The National Black Chamber of Commerce® was incorporated in Washington, DC in March 1993. The NBCC is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, nonsectarian organization dedicated to the economic empowerment of African American communities. 140 affiliated chapters are locally based throughout the nation as well as international affiliate chapters based in Bahamas, Brazil, Colombia, Ghana, Kenya, France, Botswana, Cameroon and Jamaica and businesses as well as individuals who may have chosen to be direct members with the national office. In essence, the NBCC is a 501(c)3 corporation that is on the leading edge of educating and training Black communities on the need to participate vigorously in this great capitalistic society known as America. The NBCC reaches 100,000 Black owned businesses. There are 2.6 million Black owned businesses in the United States. Black businesses account for over $138 billion in revenue each year according to the US Bureau of Census. The National Black Chamber of Commerce® is dedicated to economically empowering and sustaining African American communities through entrepreneurship and capitalistic activity within the United States.

JANUARY 2019

4400 Jenifer St. NW Suite 331, Washington, DC 20015 Phone: 202-466-6888 | fax: 202-466-4918 Info@nationalbcc.org | www.nationalbcc.org

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Support Black Banks Yo u a l way s l e a r n a l o t more when you lose than when you win ~african proverb

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JANUARY 2019

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JANUARY 2019

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400 YEARS: ENDING & BEGINNING A CYCLE IN LIFE

1619-2019 THIS IS A NEW BEGINNING FOR AFRICANS IN THE AMERICAS. 12

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JANUARY 2019