The San Diego Voice & Viewpoint
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www.sdvoice.info
• Thursday, JANUARY 3, 2019
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Because of the CBC, the Farm Thinking Defensively in 2019 Bill Includes Millions for HBCUs, Black Farmers, and Rural Communities of Color
By Dr. John E. Warren Publisher
By Congressman Cedric L. Richmond (D-LA-02) Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus
When one looks at the number of African Americans killed by police in 2018 and the varying conditions under which they were killed, it becomes clear that law enforcement is basically ignoring the public outcry against their on-the-job deaths of other human beings. It should be very clear that we must do something more than just protest. We must become proactive and we can do that without violence. First, we must train ourselves, and our sons and daughters, that all encounters with police have the potential to be “fatal”. We must learn the tactics of law enforcement for provoking us to escalate encounters from “contact” to “violence and felonies”. We must come to understand that all initial contacts of disrespect are designed to provoke us. We must not confuse our knowledge of having done nothing with their objective of inciting us to anger; we must come to understand that there is a difference between what we have a right to do or say as free citizens “under the law” with what hostile police behavior is set on, in spite of what is obviously right and nonthreatening. We should become mindful of when and where we drive and walk, not because we don’t have a right, but because we refuse to allow our rights to be used against us. To Black males: You have a right
to wear your pants anyway you choose; to actually look like the thug who is really on the streets harming people or selling drugs. But how about choosing not to look like that person. How about making it harder for the cops to do the harassment because there are fewer people on the streets looking and acting like criminals? How about making our language and behavior more respectful of others instead of trying to frighten people into “respecting” you? How about not killing each other, as we appear to be doing here in San Diego, with murder and crime rates down? We must not be deceived by “Task Forces” or “Commissions” and groups that gather data on police conduct, but produce no new policies, laws or penalties for that police misconduct. We can accept that there are some good law enforcement officers, many are our neighbors, family and friends, but they must not be confused with the idea that every uniform is friendly. We must not lose more lives in 2019 to needless police violence in or out of custody. Let’s police those among us who prey on us and let’s be about the business of keeping each other safe and alive. Let’s live and not die in 2019. Not “just because” or for “any cause.” Let this message go out nationwide that all may live and not die.
In 1986, on her award-winning “Control” album, singer-songwriter Janet Jackson asked: “What have you done for me lately?” This is a question the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) is asked a lot. Well, here’s our latest answer to that question: Since its founding in 1971, the CBC has used the legislative process to right historic wrongs and to give a voice to the voiceless, and that’s exactly what we did in the $867 billion Farm Bill that passed Congress, which includes millions for HBCUs, black farmers, and rural communities of color. As a result of the CBC’s efforts, 19 historically black land-grant universities will now get millions of dollars that states have been denying them for years. According to federal law, states are required to match federal funding dollar-for-dollar for land-grant universities, but many HBCUs have not been getting what they are owed. In fact, a 2013 report by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities found that from 2010-12, 61% of the historically black land-grant universities did not receive 100% of the one-to-one matching funds from their respective states. Now states are required to report to Congress how much funding they’re providing to both historically black land-grants and their predominantly white peers. This is something the CBC has been fighting for for over two decades. In addition to this new reporting requirement, at least three of these institutions will get a research center, called a “Center of Excellence”, that will allow them to lead the nation in research on food insecurity issues that affect African Americans in both rural and urban communities. It’s no secret that a lot of lowincome, black communities are food deserts – meaning that there’s no place for the people who live in these communities to get fresh fruits and vegetables. The hope is that the research coming out of these Centers of Excellence will help address this issue and others.
Finally, the 19 historically black land-grant universities will get at least $2 million in additional federal funding for scholarships that they can use to attract new students. This funding will come from the $80 million scholarship program ($40 million in mandatory funding and $40 million in discretionary funding) that the CBC fought to get included in the Farm Bill. When I first came to Congress, the CBC had just helped thousands of black farmers win a billion-dollar settlement against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for discriminating against them for federal farm loans. It took work to get that settlement and it took more work to make sure that settlement was paid out. But the CBC’s fight for black farmers continues. As a result of the CBC’s efforts, black farmers will now be able to get the training and resources they need to better run their farms through USDA’s Farming Opportunities Training and Outreach Program (FOTO), a program that is a combination of the USDA’s Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program and the Outreach and Assistance for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers and Veteran Farmers and Ranchers, the latter of which provides grants to organizations that work with farmers of color and farmers who are veterans. The combined FOTO program will get $50 million in federal funding, a $20 million increase from previous years. As a result of the CBC efforts, black farmers will also be able to more easily pass their farms on to their families. Some estimates show that 60% of land owned by African-Americans in the United States is heirs’ property, which is property that is passed down without a will or transfer of title. Before now, owners of heirs’ property were unable to get the credentials that are required to access USDA programs that could help them resolve heirs’ property issues. The CBC fought to See FARM BILL page 15
LOOKING BACK: In 2018, “Living While Black” Stories Exploded on Social and Mainstream Media By Lauren Victoria Burke NNPA Newswire Contributor
Whether it was sitting at a Starbucks in Philadelphia, sleeping at college or simply walking to one’s apartment in one’s own building, a major social media trend emerged in 2018. That trend was: Documenting bias and micro-aggressions that would later be featured in mainstream media. Much of what was documented was recording by the object so many have with them 24/7: Their cell phone. The wave of incidents documented was not new — but the media attention on such stories along with the responses that have followed signals a cultural shift that’s likely to last for years to come. There were multiple incidents.Below are six that made headlines and garnered widespread media attention: In April in Oakland, California, Michelle Snider posted a YouTube video of Jennifer Schulte calling the police on her and her husband Kenzie Smith. Schulte dialed 911 because she was upset they were BBQ’ing in a public park. The story quickly went viral and Schulte was tagged as “BBQ Betty.” In May in Connecticut, Sarah Braasch called the police on Yale
graduate student Lolade Siyonbola. The problem? after she fell asleep in a common room in her dorm. When police arrived, Siyonbola ran the conversation live on her Facebook Live. In May in Philadelphia, two men, Donte Robinson and Rashon Nelson, were arrested at a Starbucks after an employee called the cops on them as they waited for a business meeting to begin. The multi-billion-dollar coffee chain would later close all of its stores to conduct training for all their employees regarding racial bias. In August in Madison, Wisconsin, Shelia Stubbs, who is the only African-American on the 37-member Dane County Board of Supervisors, was campaigning in her district when someone called the police. In December in New Jersey, Andrew Johnson, a Black high school wrestler, was compelled to have an impromptu prematch haircut after a referee with a racist incident in his past decided Johnson’s hair violated the rules. The referee, Alan Maloney, was later fired. In late December, a security guard at a DoubleTree Hotel called the police on Jermaine Massey as he used a phone in a lobby.
Two employees were fired because of the incident. It was likely not coincidental that such incidents have spiked on social media and in mainstream news during the presidency of Donald Trump. The national political environment has become contentious with President Trump’s relentless focus on vilifying and stereotyping minorities, particularly Mexican immigrants, while at the same time failing to quickly and affirmatively denounce racism and xenophobia. Hate crimes along with a resurgence of white supremacist groups have been recorded by the Southern Poverty Law Center and other hate watchdog organizations.The incidents have highlighted the power of social media a few years after the birth of Black Lives Matter which also featured the power of social media content. Lauren Victoria Burke is an independent journalist and writer for NNPA as well as a political analyst and strategist as Principal of Win Digital Media LLC. She may be contacted at LBurke007@ gmail.com and on twitter at @LVBurke
