UPW Urban Pro Weekly

UPW URBAN PRO WEEKLY

BLACK HISTORY MONTH EVENTS CALENDAR P.9 Dr. Bobby Donaldson will be the keynote speaker at the Laney Museum’s 10th Annual Heritage Gala on Sat. Feb. 6.

FEBRUARY 4 - 10, 2016 VOL. 5 NO. 18

S l a v e r y BLACK & Capitalism

HISTORY

Commodified human beings led to the emergence of worldwide American economic dominance Credit/Financial Counseling

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UPW FORUM OPINION

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Unapologetically Cam, Unapologetically Black

by Ken Makin “Makin’ A Difference” Throughout the course of the 20152016 NFL season, Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton played the game on his terms, and did so at a very high level.

He danced after first downs and touchdowns. He gave footballs to young children. His style of play led the Panthers to the Super Bowl and a likely MVP honor for Newton.

And then, in an interview, almost in an instant, Newton went from “unapologetically Cam” to “unapologetically Black.”

When asked why he has been criticized so harshly during the course of his career, he did not mince words: “I’m an African-American quarterback that may scare a lot of people because they haven’t seen nothing they can compare me to.”

Let me say upfront that I understand the difference between SuperCam, Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X. Clearly, Brother Malcolm and Ali’s activism is much more profound – much more universal. Yet one can’t help but see their influence and invocation in Cam’s commentary.

Before Newton made the comments, there was a slight pause. For those of us who have ever spoken truth to power, who said something that NEEDED TO BE SAID, we knew what was on Cam’s mind.

“There’s no coming back from this.

Once I say this, there’s no taking it back.”

It was the point of no return. It was also a moment of clarity.

And it is what our community needs right now.

Let’s face it, this is an unrepentant era. Folks are unrepentantly racist.

Politicians are unrepentant in turning folks water to toxic sludge (Flint, Mich.). Cruelty in the world knows no bounds.

There is power in the spoken word – especially from the celebrity. Newton broke through the white noise with his honesty, and the reverb was especially profound.

To understand the gravity of Cam’s comments, we need to understand what it means to be “unapologetically Black.”

Newton

First, it means speaking up about race, no matter how uncomfortable it might make people feel or how controversial it might seem. Cam stood on the shoulders of giants when spoke his mind – those giants being Doug Williams, Warren Moon and Steve McNair, among others. Yet he also understood that he has the freedom and flexibility to say those things that might have doomed black quarterbacks in the past.

Second, it means playing your game, even as the media criticizes your every move. Over the years, mass media has tried to get its hooks in the likes of Tiger Woods, the Williams Sisters, and Cam. Those particular superstars lead me to the third part of the equation – winning big.

Oh, you have to win. Words without works are for naught. Tiger is almost a nonfactor now. The media is revving up on Serena – why? Because she’s lost her last two majors.

Which leads us to the Super Bowl.

From the outside looking in, it appears that all the pressure in the world is on Cam. Here’s the irony, though – when you live your life outside of the pressure of trying to appeal to people’s biases, as well as their perception of how they think you should live, there’s no pressure on you at all.

You can live without regret. And in Cam’s case, it is a life of unapologetic excellence.

Ken J. Makin is the host of “Makin’ A Difference,” an online radio program available on iTunes and Soundcloud (soundcloud.com/makinadifference).

Updates on the show are available at facebook.com/makinadifferenceshow. You can also reach Ken by email at makinadifferenceshow@gmail. com, or via Twitter @differencemakin.

Slave-grown cotton was the only thing made in the U.S. that had the capacity to bring gold and silver into the vaults of the nation’s banks.

To understand slavery’s centrality to the rise of American capitalism, just consider the history of an antebellum Alabama dry-goods outfit called Lehman Brothers or a Rhode Island textile manufacturer that would become the antecedent firm of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Reparations lawsuits generated evidence of slave insurance policies

by Aetna and put Brown University and other elite educational institutions on notice that the slave-trade enterprises of their early benefactors were potential legal liabilities.

Recent state and municipal disclosure ordinances have forced firms such as JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wachovia Corp. to confront unsettling ancestors on their corporate family trees.

THE SIGN READS “AUCTION & NEGRO SALES.” From Wall Street in New York City to Main Street in Georgia’s cities and towns, slave-grown cotton was KING. Photo by George N. Barnard, a photographer who was with Sherman as he marched through Atlanta during the Civil War.

By Sven Beckert and Seth Rockman When the New York City banker James Brown tallied his wealth in 1842, he had to look far below Wall Street to trace its origins. His investments in the American South exceeded $1.5 million, a quarter of which was directly bound up in the ownership of slave plantations.

Brown was among the world’s most powerful dealers in raw cotton, and his family’s firm, Brown Brothers & Co., served as one of the most important sources of capital and foreign exchange to the U.S. economy. Still, no small amount of his time was devoted to managing slaves from the study of his Leonard Street brownstone in Lower Manhattan.

Brown was hardly unusual among the capitalists of the North.

Nicholas Biddle’s United States Bank of Philadelphia funded banks in Mississippi to promote the expansion

of plantation lands. Biddle recognized that slave-grown cotton was the only thing made in the U.S. that had the capacity to bring gold and silver into the vaults of the nation’s banks. Likewise, the architects of New England’s industrial revolution watched the price of cotton with rapt attention, for their textile mills would have been silent without the labor of slaves on distant plantations.

The story we tell about slavery is almost always regional, rather than national. We remember it as a cruel institution of the southern states that would later secede from the Union.

Slavery, in this telling, appears limited in scope, an unfortunate detour on the nation’s march to modernity, and certainly not the engine of American economic prosperity.

Yet to understand slavery’s centrality to the rise of American capitalism, just consider the history of an antebellum Alabama dry-goods

outfit called Lehman Brothers or a Rhode Island textile manufacturer that would become the antecedent firm of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Reparations lawsuits (since dismissed) generated evidence of slave insurance policies by Aetna and put Brown University and other elite educational institutions on notice that the slave-trade enterprises of their early benefactors were potential legal liabilities. Recent state and municipal disclosure ordinances have forced firms such as JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wachovia Corp. to confront unsettling ancestors on their corporate family trees.

Such revelations are hardly surprising in light of slavery’s role in spurring the nation’s economic development.

America’s “take-off” in the 19th century wasn’t in spite of slavery; it was largely thanks to it. And recent research in economic history goes further: It Continued on next page

UrbanProWeekly - FEBRUARY 4 - 10, 2016

How slavery led to modern capitalism

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“As some of the most heavily capitalized enterprises in antebellum America, plantations offered early examples of time-motion studies and regimentation through clocks and bells.

Seeking ever-greater efficiencies in cotton picking, slaveholders reorganized their fields, regimented the workday, and implemented a system of vertical reporting that made overseers into managers answerable to those above for the labor of those below.”

Slavery & capitalism from page 3 highlights the role that commodified human beings played in the emergence of modern capitalism itself.

The U.S. won its independence from Britain just as it was becoming possible to imagine a liberal alternative to the mercantilist policies of the colonial era. Those best situated to take advantage of these new opportunities -those who would soon be called “capitalists” -- rarely started from scratch, but instead drew on wealth generated earlier in the robust Atlantic economy of slaves, sugar and tobacco. Fathers who made their fortunes outfitting ships for distant voyages begat sons who built factories, chartered banks, incorporated canal and railroad enterprises, invested in government securities, and speculated in new financial instruments.

This recognizably modern capitalist economy was no less reliant on slavery than the mercantilist economy of the preceding century. Rather, it offered a wider range of opportunities to profit from the remote labor of slaves, especially as cotton emerged as the indispensable commodity of the age of industry.

In the North, where slavery had been abolished and cotton failed to grow, the enterprising might transform slave-grown cotton into clothing; market other manufactured goods, such as hoes and hats, to plantation owners; or invest in securities tied to next year’s crop prices in places such as Liverpool and Le Havre. This network linked Mississippi planters and Massachusetts manufacturers to the era’s great financial firms: the Barings, Browns and Rothschilds.

A major financial crisis in 1837 revealed the interdependence of cotton planters, manufacturers and investors, and their collective dependence on the labor of slaves. Leveraged cotton — pledged but not yet picked — led overseers to whip their slaves to pick more, and prodded auctioneers to liquidate slave families to cover the debts of the overextended.

The plantation didn’t just pro-

The perverse reality of a capitalized labor force led to new accounting methods that incorporated (human) property depreciation in the bottom line as slaves aged, as well as new actuarial techniques to indemnify slaveholders from loss or damage to the men and women they owned. duce the commodities that fueled the broader economy, it also generated innovative business practices that would come to typify modern management. As some of the most heavily capitalized enterprises in antebellum America, plantations offered early examples of time-motion studies and regimentation through clocks and bells. Seeking ever-greater efficiencies in cotton picking, slaveholders reorganized their fields, regimented the workday, and implemented a system of vertical reporting that made overseers into managers answerable to those above for the labor of those below.

The perverse reality of a capitalized labor force led to new accounting methods that incorporated (human) property depreciation in the bottom line as slaves aged, as well as new actuarial techniques to indemnify slaveholders from loss or damage to the men and women they owned.

Property rights in human beings also created a lengthy set of judicial opinions that would influence the broader sanctity of private property in U.S. law.

So important was slavery to the American economy that on the eve of the Civil War, many commentators predicted that the North would kill “its golden goose.” That prediction didn’t

come to pass, and as a result, slavery’s importance to American economic development has been obscured.

But as scholars delve deeper into corporate archives and think more critically about coerced labor and capitalism -perhaps informed by the current scale of human trafficking -- the importance of slavery to American economic history will become inescapable.

Sven Beckert and Seth Rockman, historians at Harvard University and Brown University respectively, are co-editing Slavery’s Capitalism: A New History of American Economic Development, to be published by University of Pennsylvania Press in 2013.

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HAPPENINGS

UrbanProWeekly - FEBRUARY 4 - 10, 2016

COMMUNITY

THE BLUE SERIES

Written, produced and directed by Anthony R. Page Blue Bistro Theater will present “The Blue Series” on February 5th, 6th and 7th at the black box theater space located at 601 Broad Street in downtown Augusta.

‘The Series’ includes four live performances from a collection of works written, produced and directed by Anthony R Page.

The one-act stage plays include: The Commitment — a moving relationship drama that examines the very complex nature of love between a husband and his wife.

Featured actors: Nathan Rothwell

and Cassandra Walton.

The Campaign — is a character driven comedy between two co-workers who have very distinct ideas about African American identity. Featuring & introducing new actors: Victor Corley and spoken word artist: CrimSin. Black Woman You Ain’t — witnesses an interesting, often comedic repartee between three African American women who are hanging out in a local coffee house. Featured actors: Cassandra Walton, Nakiska Jefferson and Laraybia Burnett.

In addition to the presentation of the three one-act stage plays, there will be a special preview of the upcoming feature stage play: Somewhere in Summerville.

Somewhere in Summerville features Olaundra Grace, Nathan Rothwell, Summyr Sheppard, Nathan Ivey, Jalen Frasher, Shatareia Stokes and Jade ‘The Spade’ Ealy.

The Blue Series will be hosted by Sickle Cell Disease Advocate, Dr. La’Veda Wallace-Page and Danielle Parks.

Shero Awards celebrates 10 years of honoring women March is Women’s History Month and in honor of it, Nicholson Revell LLP Attorneys at Law and Cher’s Sister’s Only Club in partnership with WKSP-96.3 Kiss FM will present the 10th annual Shero Awards luncheon, Saturday March 26th, 2pm at the Legends Club.

This annual luncheon seeks to honor women throughout the community who are impacting the lives of others in the area of

Arts, Business, Community Service, Faith & Spirituality, Health & Social Services, Law & Government, Young Shero (high-school senior girl who is impacting the community), and the Military.

Special presentations include the President’s Awards, The Quincy Murphy Vision Award and the Nicholson Revell Woman of the Year.

The speaker for the 2016 Shero Awards 10th year Anniversary

Area students anxiously awaiting the Regional MATHCOUNTS Competition AIKEN, SC Local South Carolina middle schools will compete in MATHCOUNTS, the nationwide math program. The regional contest will be held on Saturday, February 6, 2016, at Aiken Technical College from 8:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.

The Aiken Chapter of the South Carolina Society of Professional Engineers (SCSPE) organizes the local contest. The Aiken Chapter includes middle schools from Aiken, Barnwell, Allendale, Edgefield, McCormick, and Saluda counties. Aiken Technical College donates the use of its facilities for the competition.

The following four CSRA schools in South Carolina are preregistered to participate: Aiken Area Home Educators, Langley-Bath-Clearwater Middle School, Mead Hall Episcopal School, and Schofield Middle School

Local student Mathletes® have been in training at their schools, using specially prepared coaching materials provided by the MATHCOUNTS Foundation to all middle schools across the country.

Prior to the regional competition, the Mathletes® competed within their schools to earn the right to represent their school at the local Aiken Chapter MATHCOUNTS competition. The coach then chose the students who will represent their school in this regional competition.

Additional information on MATHCOUNTS is available at www. mathcounts.org.

For more details about MATHCOUNTS please visit www.mathcounts.org or contact Don Hallman at 803-279-6981 (cell 803-507-3481) or email donahalmn@aol.com

Luncheon will be Dr. Angela Pringle, Superintendent of the Richmond County School System.

Nominations are currently being accepted for the 2016 Shero Awards now through Feb. 19th. Nomination forms are available at Acura of Augusta (Gordon Hwy), the IheartMediaAugusta office (2743 Perimeter Parkway) online at www.963kissfm. com, www.power107.net or www. sistersonlyclub.com.

Anthony R. Page Photo by Vincent Hobbs

Interested in becoming an attorney?

The Value of Diversity & Inclusion in the Legal Profession

SAT. FEB. 13 AT 3 P.M. Speakers include: Hon. David D. Watkins, State Court Judge; Edward J. Tarver, U.S. Attorney, Southern District of Georgia; Kellie McIntyre, Solicitor General, Mini Theatre production Augusta-Richmond County; set for February 20 and 21 Omeeka P. Loggins, President, Augusta Bar Association; Law Honoring the work of Dr. Martin Office of Omeeka P. Loggins, PC, Luther King, Jr., Augusta Mini Augusta; Theatre’s drama students will conKatherine Mason, Circuit Public tinue the play, The Me I Like, for Defender, Augusta; Harold V. Black History Month, February 20th Jones II, State Senator, Law Office and 21st at 3:00 p.m. It will be held of Harold V. Jones, Augusta; and at the Judith Simon Drama Studio Laverne Lewis Gaskins, Senior (Blackbox) located on the campus of Legal Advisor, Augusta University.

Augusta Mini Theatre. The play and This program is free to the public. lyrics were written by Tyrone J. Butler, If you have any questions, please and music by Claude “Deuce” Harris. contact the Program Chair, Laverne Tickets are $15.00 (adults) and $10.00 (students - ages 2-18). Lewis Gaskins, Senior Legal Advisor, Augusta University at 706-721-4018.

Admission for youth and senior citiPROGRAM SPONSORS: zen (65 & up) groups of ten or more, State Bar of Georgia, Committee in the each group, is $8.50 per parto Promote Diversity and Inclusion ticipant. in the Legal Profession; Office of Tickets are on sale now at augusDiversity and Inclusion, Augusta taminitheatre.com; 706-722-0598; University Georgia Association of and at the Mini Theatre, 2548 Deans Black Women Attorneys (GABWA) Bridge Road.

The Me I Like

UrbanProWeekly - FEBRUARY 4 - 10, 2016

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Augusta University’s Patrick Oliveira returns the ball with during a doubles match against Coker College at Newman Tennis Center.

Oliveira and tennis partner Joao Gabriel Freitas were defeated 8-5.

The men’s team overalll took the victory against Coker with a final score of 6-3. (February 2, 2016 - Augusta, GA) Photo by Vincent Hobbs

SPORTS

AU Tennis

Augusta University’s Gisela Font returns the ball during a singles match against Coker College at Newman Tennis Center. Font, a senior student, won her singles match 6-0, 6-3.

The Lady Jaguars overall defeated the Lady Cobras 7-2 in the final score. (February 2, 2016 Augusta, GA) Photo by Vincent Hobbs

Paine College’s Aalyiha Wright concentrates on shooting a free throw during a game against Clark Atlanta University at the HEAL Complex. The Lady Lions defeated the Lady Panthers with a final score of 61-55. (February 1, 2016 Augusta, GA) Photo by Vincent Hobbs Paine College’s Ashley Watts looks to pass the ball during a game against Clark Atlanta University at the HEAL Complex. (February 1, 2016 Augusta, GA) Photo by Vincent Hobbs

Paine College’s Delisia Sharpe (center) keeps control of the ball on the gym floor during a game against Clark Atlanta University at the HEAL Complex. (February 1, 2016 Augusta, GA) Photo by Vincent Hobbs

UrbanProWeekly - FEBRUARY 4 - 10, 2016

SPORTS Paine Hoops

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MAKIN’ A DIFFERENCE COMMENTARY by Ken Makin ENVIRONMENTAL RACISM – HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH

Failures of Flint, Michigan are racist and political I want to thank you all for the feedback from last week’s column regarding the Oscars.

With that said, I hope this commentary gets 10 times the response, because it is infinitely more important that white folks’ validation of the arts.

I don’t know whether to call what’s going on in Flint, Michigan regarding the city’s water crisis “un-American” in regards to basic human rights, or “American.”

Clean water is a basic human right.

What’s going on in Flint, where residents were left to drink and bathe in lead-contaminated water for nearly a year and a half is so shameful that it makes me want to send a letter to the United Nations: To Whom It May Concern, My name is Ken Makin, and this is a letter seeking help from the United Nations. I want to inform you of a wartorn country divided by economics and racial issues. For centuries, this country has only stood by while people of African descent originally forced into this country have been treated like second-class citizens. Most recently, this great economic and racial divide has led to a tragedy where some residents do not have access to clean water. It has been revealed that there are political schemes in place to oppress these individuals. Please send immediate support to the people of this country and exercise swift reprimand to the individuals and entities responsible.

Thank you.

Let’s review this situation, going back to April 2014, when the city of Flint changed its municipal water source to the Flint River rather than

UPW

Flint Mayor Karen Weaver, right, and City Administrator Natasha Henderson, address questions about adding supplemental phosphates to the city’s water during a news conference in December. Jake May/ Flint Journal-MLive.com via AP the Detroit water system. This decision is one that people need to pay attention to, particularly those of us who love and care about Augusta.

How often do we hear of municipalities and city officials taking cost-cutting measures at the expense of its residents? We see in Flint just how dangerous this can be. The switch to the river water was overseen by an emergency manager who was able to override local policies in the name of saving money, or “fiscal responsibility.”

This is the type of rhetoric that festers oppression. It’s the type of rhetoric that, even in Augusta,

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keeps us from having serviceable transit. It’s the type of rhetoric that keeps select Augustans living in a contaminated area, while the city sits idly by and does nothing for decades. Oh, don’t tell me y’all forgot about Hyde Park?

What happened after the switch can be described as criminal.

Residents complained as soon as that following summer about foul-smelling tap water. In October 2014, General Motors stopped using river water in its plants. Why? Because workers noticed the water corroded engine parts. Lord help us.

Last January, Flint issued an advi-

CEO / Sales FREDERICK BENJAMIN SR. 706-306-4647 editor@urbanproweekly.com Sales Partner SHAQUANA RICHARDSON 706-910-4357

sory water that contained byproducts of water-disinfecting chemicals.

They stated that the sick and elderly might be at risk, but the water is otherwise safe to consume. I guess the sick and elderly don’t matter in Flint?

Needless to say, the situation gets worst. I would encourage you all to do a Google search for “Flint water crisis timeline.”

What is happening in Flint is a matter of poor politics and the continuing war on the poor, which disproportionately affects Black folk.

Fifty-seven percent of the folks in Flint are African-American.

The lessons of this tragedy are too numerous to count, but we should remember these keys: First, vote in every election and attend city meetings. Knowing what is going on and who has your best interests in mind is key to our well-being.

Second, don’t be afraid to speak up if you know something isn’t right.

Too often, we are pensive in speaking up because we don’t want to be criticized.

Third, challenge your elected officials. They work for we, THE PEOPLE, not the other way around.

Ken J. Makin is the host of “Makin’ A Difference,” an online radio program available on iTunes and Soundcloud (soundcloud. com/makinadifference). Updates on the show are available at facebook.com/makinadifferenceshow.

You can also reach Ken by email at makinadifferenceshow@gmail. com, or via Twitter @differencemakin.

Contributors VINCENT HOBBS Photography & New Media KEN MAKIN contributing columnist

Feb. 6, Sat. - The Lucy Craft Laney Museum of Black History will hold their 10th Annual Heritage Gala at the Augusta Marriott at the Convention Center, 2 Tenth St. Keynote speaker will be historian Dr. Bobby Donaldson.

Dinner and live music. Reservations required. Tickets are $75 each. For more information, please contact the museum at 724-3576.

Feb. 9 Tues. - Augusta University (AU) will host a showing of the film “Cracking the Codes: The System of Racial Inequality” Summerville campus in the JSAC Butler Room, 7-9 p.m.

Co-sponsored by the African-American Male Initiative.

Feb. 10, Wed. - “Researching Ancestors in the Era of Freedom,” 2-3 p.m., Headquarters library on Telfair St. In honor of Black History Month, the Georgia Heritage Room will host a Legacy Family Tree webinar with Angela Walton-Raji, professional genealogist and founding member of afrigeneas.com, who will discuss post-Civil War records, where they can be found and their usefulness to family historians. She will also be available via Skype following the webinar to answer any questions. Free, but pre-registratio​ n required. Call 706826-1511.

Feb. 10 Wed. - “Stopping the Mob: When Judge Lynch was Denied” by Dr. E.M. Beck. University Hall of the AU Summerville campus, room UH170, 2:30-3:45 p.m.

Feb. 17 Wed. - “Maps Tell Some of

the Story for the African-Ancestored Genealogist”, 2-3 p.m., Headquarters library on Telfair St. In honor of Black History Month, the Georgia Heritage Room will host a free Legacy Family Tree webinar with Angela Walton-Raji, professional genealogist and founding member of afrigeneas.com, who will illustrate how maps can reveal unknowns about your ancestral community and help provide a critical background for the family narrative. Walton-Raji will be available via Skype following the webinar to answer any questions. Free, but pre-registratio​ n required. Call the Georgia Heritage Room at 706-826-1511.

Feb. 17 Wed. - “Let’s Talk: Black Lives Matter,” AU Summerville campus, JSAC Butler Room, 2:30-4 p.m. Hosted by Dr. Lindsey West.

Feb. 18, Thurs. - “Restoring Brightness: Recalling the Life and Work of African-American Community Builders of the Early 20th Century.” 6:30 pm. Augusta Main Library, Meeting Room A. Historians and historic preservation advocates Travis Holloway, Elizabeth Laney, Joyce Law, and Corey Rogers will present brief sketches on selected leaders such as Rev. Silas X. Floyd, entrepreneur Dennis Wigfall, artisan Willie McNatt, and educator Amelia Sullivan. In honor of the 2016 Black History Month National Theme “Hallowed Ground”, selected historic sites will also be highlighted. Alysha Griffin of Paine College’s Department of Humanities will serve as moderator.

Call 706-826-1511 for details.

Feb. 19 Fri. - “Lunch and Learn: Black History Trolley Tour” sponsored by the Lucy Craft Laney Museum and SouthStar. Pick up location at noon will be at the AU Health Sciences campus in front of the Kelly Administration Building. If you wish to attend, please reserve a space by e-mailing shtutt@ gru.edu Feb. 24 Wed. - Book Club - “Ta-Neshi

Coates: Between the World and Me” will be hosted by Dr. Lorraine Evans and Dr. Lindsay West. AU Summerville campus in the JSAC Hardy Rm. 232 and AU Health Sciences campus in the Allied Health Building EC2209, noon - 1 p.m.

Feb. 25 Thurs. - Student paper panel - “History in the Making” hosted by Dr. John Hayes. AU Summerville campus JSAC Butler Rm. 227, noon to 1 p.m.

UPW FORUM COMMENTARY

What’s wrong with socialism?

by Thurman K. Brown Lately, socialism has become a dirty word. Conservatives cringe at the thought of socialist ideology.

A perception is given that socialism is feared and hated in America.

Have we forgotten that we are still a capitalist nation? In America, one can still make a billion dollars, get a giant tax cut, and pay employees barely enough to survive while, sailing on a yacht to escape any guilt. A socialized form of government requires everyone to pay a share.

That includes you too, Donald Trump.

Apparently, some folk do not realize that American society could not function without things like Medicare, Medicaid, public schools, police, fire, and rescue services. Not to mention roads and infrastructure, health ser-

vices and government services, and any other service that taxes normally pay for. Simply put, socialism is a political mode of thought which believes wealth and privilege should not be in the hands of the elite.

It has been proven that a small portion of wealth can bring greed and envy if one does not stay grounded.

President Obama has been called a “socialist” for practically every program he has implemented. So was President Franklin Roosevelt, in the midst of the Great Depression.

Socialism is much more tolerable than communism, which centers on the idea that inequality and suffering result from capitalism. It’s refreshing to know that socialism doesn’t hold anyone hostage in thought. It’s only a political system.

What is there to be afraid of?

9 UrbanProWeekly - FEBRUARY 4 - 10, 2016

Black History Month Events

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COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION OF RICHMOND COUNTY The Richmond County School System will accept bids and request for proposals until 3:00 p.m., Monday, February 29, 2016, for the following: 1. Erate 19 (2016) Network Infrastructure (56 Schools) FORM 470#160020905

Bid specifications may be obtained by contacting Cecilia Perkins in the Business Office at perkice@boe.richmond.k12.ga.us or 706-826-1298, on our web site at www.rcboe.org, or at Richmond County School System, Central Office 864 Broad Street, 4th Floor, Augusta, GA 30901.

The Richmond County School System reserves the right to reject any and all bids and to waive technicalities and informalities.

COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION OF RICHMOND COUNTY By: Dr. Angela D. Pringle, Secretary

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