Facebook Group Opposes Police Brutality Traffic Stops

There's a new Facebook group started by a young Black college student, that's garnered 149 members in less than a week to oppose police color aroused traffic stops and brutality. It's just the beginning.

(Remember that the afrosphere's successful national movement to release Shaquanda Cotton from jail all began with a Facebook group started by a college student.)

Please visit the group and consider joining, if you oppose police color aroused traffic stops and brutality as much as the 149 current college-age Black members of this group do.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=69655372609

Please also consider writing about and linking to this Facebook group at your blog, if you want to support a growing national movement of young Black people who oppose police brutality and color aroused traffic stops and profiling.

S.C. 80% Black Town has 24% Unemployment Rate

Well it's clear that SC Gov Sanford is 'playing race card' not only regarding unemployment benefits but childrens education as well. Now he is responding to President Obama. H/T to Kombiz at the DNC for the link, regarding the plight of Allendale, S.C. You see, Ronnie Jackson – the mayor of Allendale, SC – was on MSNBC today talking about the important role the economic recover funds SC Gov. Sanford wants to reject could have on economic recovery efforts in his community. While Governor Sanford is playing 2012 politics South Carolinians are suffering with unemployment rate as high as 24%.

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford

Tom Gralish / MCT

The segment is a really good view of what's going on in South Carolina while Sanford tries to grandstand for neo-hooverites in the Republican party.




AAPP: I'm glad that the SC Legislature is moving to overide Gov. Sanford on Stimulus Funds.
yes, South Carolina's Republican-controlled General Assembly is poised to rebuff Sanford and seek the stimulus money on its own.

There is more, as reported by LIVE5 News, Sanford wrote a letter to the President last week, asking for permission to use the money to pay off debt. That money has been earmarked for education and job creation. Read the letter Sanford wrote to President Obama here.

Sanford has criticized the $787 billion stimulus plan, saying it will lead to higher taxes and debt.

Click here to read the letter sent to Sanford from 40 mayors who oppose using the stimulus to pay down state debt. More HERE

I can see why President Barack Obama has rejected SC governor's plan to pay debt with stimulus funds.

There is a big question to whether states can circumvent Anti-Stimulus Guvs? I guess we will soon find out.

Ok, back to Allendale. Here is more about Allendale

Estimated median household income in 2007: $19,262 (it was $16,632 in 2000)

Allendale:	$19,262
South Carolina:	$43,329

Estimated median house or condo value in 2007: $69,352 (it was $43,700 in 2000)

Allendale:	$69,352
South Carolina:	$133,900

Mean prices in 2007: All housing units: $92,156; Detached houses: $98,667; In 2-unit structures: $136,563; In 5-or-more-unit structures: $133,102; Mobile homes: $30,430

Races in Allendale:

• Black (80.0%)
• White Non-Hispanic (17.8%)
• Hispanic (2.2%)
• Other race (1.0%)

For population 25 years and over in Allendale

• High school or higher: 54.9%
• Bachelor's degree or higher: 10.7%
• Graduate or professional degree: 2.7%

Is it clear yet, that SC Gov Sanford is 'playing race card' ?


Cross posted on African American Political Pundit.com

World Conference on Racism, Slavery Reparations and Obama

File this under, Can't we just get along! There seems to be a lot of commentary on the planned World Conference on racism.

Get this, first the US withdraws from 2nd World Conference against Racism, now word is, Germany may boycott UN racism talks critical of Israel. The Folks at Monsters and Critics are reporting on how Germany may boycott a UN conference on racism, over concerns that a preparatory document is singularly critical of Israel, daily Berliner Zeitung reported Saturday. As reported by the The NY TImes, The United States will not attend the second World Conference Against Racism in Geneva unless the conference’s main document improves, according to a State Department official, though the Obama administration sent a delegation to preparatory talks in Geneva.

The NY TImes, reports the long, unwieldy document seeks to ban criticism of religion, calls for slave reparations and attacks Israel as racist. Israel and some American Jewish groups urged a boycott of the April conference, and several close American allies, including Canada, said they would not go. The United States walked out of the first Conference Against Racism, in Durban, South Africa, in 2001, as a protest against an effort to compare Zionism to racism. More HERE

At the same time, reports Monsters and Critics a German organization promoting ties with the Jewish state is appealing for Germans to moderate their criticism of Israel's role in the Middle-East conflict.

'Germany should not yield to a UN conference that wants to accuse Israel unilaterally,' German Human Rights commissioner Guenther Nooke said of the anti-racism talks, due to take place late April in Geneva.

'We should initially try everything to change the text of the final document,' Nooke told the newspaper. 'But there will be no participation at all cost,' he added.

Several countries have criticised the fact the preparatory document specifically accuses Israel over its occupation of Palestinian territories.

Other misdeeds, such as the atrocities committed in the Darfur conflict, are not specifically named.

Meanwhile, the President of the German-Israeli Society Johannes Gerster has appealed for Germans to show greater solidarity towards Israel, in the face of the continuing Mid-East crisis. More HERE

AAPP says: I guess the Obama administration will have to decide whether it's stands against color aroused bigotry and racism or will it stand with Israel, Canada and Italy who have announced they will boycott the forum in Geneva.

The first conference, held in Durban in 2001, ended up with the US and Israel walking out, upset over statements of some delegates.

Maybe, just maybe, William Reed is right, when he wrote in EUR web recently, "Reparations for slavery is a proposal that some type of compensation be provided to descendants of enslaved people in consideration of the labor provided for free over several centuries, which has been a substantive and influential factor in the nation's development. The prospect of payment is not new." William Reed goes on to say:

In 1865, General William Tecumseh Sherman issued Special Field Orders, No. 15 granting each freed family forty acres of tillable land in the Georgia Sea Islands and around Charleston, South Carolina for the exclusive use of black people who had been enslaved. The army gave mules to settlers. President Andrew Johnson reversed the order after Lincoln was assassinated and the land was returned to its previous owners.

Black slaves built America for free, including the nation's Capitol and the White House. It's important that the nation's 44th President do what the 17th President did not do to properly atone for the ills of slavery - A system that gave rise to poverty, landlessness, underdevelopment, as well as to the crushing of culture and language, loss of identity, inculcation of inferiority among blacks, and the indoctrination of whites into a racist mindset - all of which continue to this day to affect the prospects and quality of Black People's lives.

America, and its companies, were "unjustly enriched" by a system that enslaved and exploited blacks. The Wall Street banks, and its investors, that the nation is writing checks to built America's infrastructure on the backs of blacks. The number of legal claimants for compensation is undetermined, but Obama could consider a $10,000 annual "slavery tax credit" to Americans who can show themselves descendents of slaves. Some two dozen members of Congress are co-sponsors of legislation to create a commission that would study reparations - that is, payments and programs to make up for the damage done by slavery.

The bill, US House of Representative Resolution 40 "Commission to Study Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act" should be addressed so that such a commission will address who, what and how much is due. The NAACP supports the legislation. Cities around the country, including Obama's home of Chicago, have endorsed the idea, and so has a major union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The old dog-eared adage that "the nation couldn't afford to pay" has been eliminated with the Wall Street buyouts.

If Obama has the confidence to think outside the box, he'll realize what economic stimulus reparations payments would be. The question has always been about how America would raise money to pay reparations, but if they can bailout the infrastructure's entrepreneurs to save America, what about bailing out the people who built it? Article HERE

Cross Posted on African American Political Pundit.com

Color of Change Petition Demands Repub. Gov's Distribute Obama's Increased Unemployment Benefits

Dear Readers:

Please sign the Color of Change Petition demanding that Republican governors accept the increased unemployment benefits that President Obama is offering.

The country is in real trouble right now, with unemployment spiraling out of control. President Obama's stimulus plan provides money to expand unemployment assistance. But a group of Republican governors, led by Louisiana's Bobby Jindal, is trying to score political points by blocking that assistance from reaching the people who need it. It's cynical and disgusting.

These governors are playing with people's lives. They're trying to further their political ambitions while showing they could care less about the fate of everyday folks--even in their own state.

Please join me in calling them out and forcing the media spotlight on them. I just signed ColorOfChange.org's open letter demanding they do the right thing. Together, we can help make sure that in times of hardship folks get the assistance they need. It only takes a moment:

http://www.colorofchange.org/govs/?id=1780-175369

It's incredible. President Obama's stimulus package provides money for states to extend unemployment benefits for people in dire need of help, but a handful of Republican governors--Bob Riley of Alabama, Mark Sanford of South Carolina, Rick Perry of Texas, Sarah Palin of Alaska, Haley Barbour of Mississippi, and Bobby Jindal of Louisiana--are putting politics over people.

All six governors have threatened to turn down these funds. Four are 2012 presidential contenders, and they all have a vested interest in seeing Obama fail. They're attacking the President's policies to increase their own profile and cozy up to the most die-hard conservatives. They also claim that taking the stimulus money would leave their states in debt when it runs out in three years. But that argument rings hollow--state legislatures could reduce benefits to pre-stimulus levels at that point.

While these governors posture, Black folks suffer the most. In all of these states, Black unemployment is at least twice that of Whites--and in Louisiana and Mississippi, the two Blackest states in the Union, the unemployment rate among Black people approaches three times that of their White neighbors.

Please join me in telling these Republican governors to stop putting their personal and political interests above the good of all their states' citizens. Demand that they accept all of the stimulus money designated for unemployment benefits. And please ask your friends and family to do the same by passing this message on.

http://www.colorofchange.org/govs/?id=1780-175369

Thanks.

'Slap in the Face' to Blacks? Who slapping us this time?

The highest-ranking black congressman says opposition to the federal stimulus package by southern governors is "a slap in the face of African-Americans."

Blogger, African American Political Pundit says: Your kidding right? Are southern governors in 2009 really slapping black folks in the face? This is 2009 right, not the 1950's.

Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C. is shown in this August file photo at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Clyburn, the highest-ranking black congressman, said that opposition to the federal stimulus package by southern GOP governors is 'a slap in the face of African-Americans.' (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)

Democratic Congressman Jim Clyburn of South Carolina said Thursday he was insulted when the GOP governors of several states said they might not accept some of the money from the $787 billion stimulus package. Texas Gov. Rick Perry said Wednesday he would accept the money.

Rick Perry of Texas, center, is one a number of Republican governors who are considering turning down some of the stimulus package money.

Clyburn said he was trying to protect black Americans when he added a provision to the stimulus package that would let state lawmakers override governors who oppose it. More HERE

As reported by the NY Times, Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, said that he would reject the money for expanding unemployment insurance.

“There is some we will not take in Mississippi,” Governor Barbour told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. “We want more jobs. You don’t get more jobs by putting an extra tax on creating jobs.”

In an interview on Saturday, Mr. Barbour criticized the stimulus law, saying: “It’s filled with social policy and costs too much. You could create just as many jobs for about half as much money.”

Meanwhile, as reported by MSNBC the U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., the No. 3 House Democrat, said the governors — some of whom are said to be eyeing White House bids in 2012 — are putting their own interests first.

"No community or constituent should be denied recovery assistance due to their governor's political ideology or political aspirations," Clyburn said Wednesday.

In fact, governors who reject some of the stimulus aid may find themselves overridden by their own legislatures because of language Clyburn included in the bill that allows lawmakers to accept the federal money even if their governors object. More HERE

AAPP: So, what do you think? Are southern governors slapping black folks in the face? Is this a color or racial issue? Are the southern governors color aroused? Did the highest-ranking black congressman go to far when he said opposition to the federal stimulus package by southern governors is a slap in the face of African-Americans ? Well, there is a history of southern governors doing bad things to black folks.

Of course we should trust Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi to do the right thing for blacks in Mississippi. Right!

But, then again what did the Congressional Black Caucus put in the Stimulus Plan to stimulate the economy in our black communities?

It's seems that all ethnic groups have been taken care of in the stimulus package but black folks. The Filipino Veterans were taken care of in Stimulus Bill. Native Americans received a well needed and deserved $2.5B for Native American tribes. I'm sure that President Obama’s pick to lead the U.S. Department of Labor, Hilda Solis, will be vigilant in ensuring that Latinos are taken care of. The list of resources to ethnic groups is great. Now the question is.... What did Rep. James Clyburn and other members of the Congressional Black Caucus get for black communities? How many new schools will be built in "our communities" vs wealthy suburban communities or gentrified communities that have turn from black to white? OK, you want to talk about color, you want to really talk about color and race, like Atty General Eric Holder suggested, well let's really talk about it. Don't be scared...

African American Political Pundit is a regular contributor to this blog.

Is Massachusetts Ready To Steal The Stimulus Money?

AAPP: In my home town, of Boston, Massachusetts, the crooks and liars are ready to steal the stimulus money. As reported by The Boston Globe, The real estate developer chosen by Governor Deval Patrick to distribute billions of dollars in federal stimulus money has been receiving a state pension ever since he was fired from his job at a state development agency in 1995, according to state records.

Jeffrey A. Simon, 58, was tapped by the governor on Wednesday to the newly created job of director of infrastructure investment, which will pay him $150,000 a year. The governor promptly posted a summary of Simon's résumé on his website after the appointment, listing a distinguished career as a real estate specialist in government and the private sector, with expertise in redeveloping military bases.

But what the résumé posting did not say was that Simon was terminated in 1995 from his state job overseeing the redevelopment of Fort Devens.

The governor and his staff also did not disclose that, under a Massachusetts pension law intended to protect patronage hires from retribution, his firing entitled him to begin collecting an enhanced state pension while he was in his mid-40s.

Simon could not be reached for comment. His retirement records do not include a reason for his dismissal from the agency where he worked in the mid-1990s, the Massachusetts Government Land Bank. His official résumé suggests he left the Land Bank because he was recruited for a similar job by the government of Bermuda.

A spokesman for Patrick, Joe Landolfi, provided a statement last night that said the administration knew Simon had departed state government. The statement did not address the questions of Simon's pension or his dismissal from the agency, however.

"Mr. Simon was fully vetted prior to being offered the position of director of infrastructure investment. He disclosed that he retired from state service more than a decade ago," Landolfi said. "He is eminently qualified to serve in this critical role, and we are confident he will successfully ensure federal stimulus funds are invested responsibly and transparently."

State retirement records show that Simon has been paid $29,000 to $32,000 a year since December 1995 with his enhanced, early pension. He has collected $403,751.84 in all, according to state records.

Simon will forgo the pension payments while he serves in his new state job, according to administration officials. More HERE

I guess Black Agenda Report was right. Black Folks will get the short end regarding the Stimulus Package. As The Black Agenda Report noted, Obama's economic stimulus plan is built around "shovel-ready" projects already vetted by the states. That means "Mississippi will be enabled to do more of what Mississippi always does." More HERE

Note: Let's include northern Mississippi in the equation, Massachusetts.

More political report and discussion at: African American Political Pundit.com

Who will hold Governor Deval Patrick accountable?

Are We Closer To A Post Racial America?

H/T to the new blog, The Post Racial Blog for the link.

According to The washington POst: As President-elect Barack Obama prepares to take office, far fewer black and white Americans say they view racism as "a big problem" in American society than said so in mid-1996, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

With the nation poised to inaugurate its first African American president, the survey found that just over a quarter of all Americans said they see racism as a large societal problem, less than half of the 54 percent who said so about a dozen years ago. Americans also have high hopes that Obama -- who is of mixed-race parentage but refers to himself as African American -- will inspire an improvement in race relations.

But even as declining numbers of Americans see racism as a big problem for the country, there has been little change in the amount of racism people perceive in their local communities. The survey also found that there has been little change over the past six years in the proportion of African Americans who said they have experienced racial bias in housing, employment and other areas. More HERE and more HERE.

Are we there yet!