Civic Engagement Headlines
Protecting and Expanding Voter Rights
Educate, Organize and Mobilize – Efforts to protect and expand voting rights in North Carolina continue to gain strength. A few weeks ago I wrote about a plan taking shape by Black publishers and Black elected officials to convene a series
Read MoreThe Third Reconstruction: It’s Televised!
Educate, Organize, Mobilize — I’m becoming more encouraged with the Black community’s response to pervasive inequality on many different fronts. After attending two different leadership conferences, watching television coverage of a Black Lives Matter conference and live coverage of the Justice
Read MoreThe Black Press: Protecting Voting Rights
Educate, Organize, Mobilize – Finally we have a bit of very good news to go with mounting voter suppression threats on the horizon. This week I’ll touch on voting rights forums that are being planned by Black publishers and Black elected
Read MoreMobilizing the Underfunded Underdogs
Moving toward the General Elections of November 2016, I will continue to search the landscape for information on activities, organizations and individuals that are, or should be, playing significant roles in our efforts to protect voting rights and ballot access
Read MoreBen Carson: Destroying King’s Dream
Educate, Organize and Mobilize – Over the past few weeks I’ve written about the campaign of Dr. Ben Carson, Black Republican candidate for President of the United States. Several weeks ago I alerted our readers that much of what I write
Read MoreCarson Supports Voter Suppression
Educate, Organize, Mobilize — Last week I wrote that Ben Carson, Black Republican candidate for President, along with other Black Republicans, is systematically playing the race card for the Republican Party (GOP). (See link No. 1 below). Ben Carson, a medical
Read MoreBen Carson: Playing The Race Card
Educate, Organize, Mobilize — Over the past two years I’ve written about Black Republicans that are aiding and abetting the voter suppression being carried out by the Republican Party. Republican Presidential candidate, Ben Carson continues in the long line of Black
Read MoreVoting Rights: Where Do We Go from Here?
Educate, Organize, Mobilize — My congratulations go out to Countywide Community Development Corporation and its dedicated staff that produced a dynamic program this past week. The program was entitled Celebrating the Dream and commemorated the 50th Anniversary of the
Read MorePolls, Mobilization and Voter Suppression
Educate, Organize, Mobilize – Over the past few weeks I’ve written about the prospects of a massive voter mobilization effort being essential for a successful November 2016. Among other things I discussed the leadership needed by Black elected officials and the
Read MoreSuper PACs Mobilization and AdvanceNC
Educate, Organize, Mobilize – Going forward I will chronicle voter mobilization efforts required to defeat voter suppression in November 2016. Much of my content will not be new but will be presented in the context of a specific plan and the
Read MoreMassive Voter Mobilization Initiative Emerges
Educate, Organize, Mobilize – In my opinion, the evening of June 11, 2015 was a very eventful evening for advocates of voter rights protection and the opponents of voter suppression. It was the evening that North Carolina’s premier Black Leadership
Read MoreOur Selma: Attacks on the Voting Rights Act Effective Community Organizing 2016
Recently the New York Times did a definitive expose’ on the Voting Rights Acts of 1965 entitled A Dream Undone. (See link below). The article covered the 50 year history of the Voting Rights Act and the current threat to
Read MoreBillionaires Against Black Voters #BlackVotesMatter
The Koch brothers have pledged to spend nearly 900 million dollars ($900,000,000.00) to influence the outcome of the upcoming 2016 elections. They are, through the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) the chief architects of the anti-Black, voter suppression laws enacted
Read MoreVoting Rights Mobilization 2016
Educate, Organize and Mobilize — Going forth I plan to be redundant, redundant and redundant. For the last two years I’ve consistently written about what I see as the need for Blacks and progressives to educate, organize, and mobilize to defeat
Read MoreSeries of Protests Call for Change in NC Laws
Every act of change starts with a small group willing to make a sacrifice for the greater good of society. The men and women who participate in the Moral Monday movement are no exception. They gather every week to protest
Read MoreFrom the Confederate flag to the ballot box
Educate, Organize and Mobilize — Last week, our nation witnessed a symbolic victory over one of the most divisive, hateful and destructive symbols in American history. We witnessed the lowering of the Confederate flag from the state capitol grounds of South
Read MoreAfter First Day of Historic Voting Rights Trial, Over Six Thousand March Through Winston-Salem for Mass Moral Monday
WINSTON-SALEM, NC – Thousands of people from across North Carolina and the country descended on Winston-Salem tonight to march for the full restoration of voting rights in the state that is home to what has been described as the worst
Read MoreN.C. NAACP Will Seek to Get Voter Restrictions Lifted
WASHINGTON (NNPA) – In less than a week, a voting rights trial is expected to begin that will challenge North Carolina’s restrictive voting law. Whatever the verdict, experts expect to ruling to have a ripple effect in states that have
Read MoreProgressive Baptist: Taking the Lead
Educate, Organize and Mobilize – Last week I discussed the leadership role assumed by the Progressive National Baptist Convention (PNBC) in the call by Dr. James C. Perkins, (PNBC) President, and faith-based leaders to restore the Voting Right Act that was
Read MoreThe Black Clergy: Mission Against Voter Suppression – Educate, Organize and Mobilize
Over the past few weeks I’ve written about voter suppression and its growing threat to the well being of Blacks and other progressives. Last week I wrote about the need for the Black press to lead in the opposition to
Read MoreThe Black Press Must Lead
Educate, Organize and Mobilize – To suggest that I’ve had an enlightening past few weeks would be an understatement. Our readers are well aware of the seemingly endless articles I’ve written about voter suppression, the “Doctrine of Exclusion” and the expectations
Read MoreOver-tasked and Under-funded? Educate, Organize and Mobilize
Back on May 21, 2015 I wrote a commentary entitled A Battleground for Voter Suppression. The purpose of that article was to highlight the fact that North Carolina will be a battleground state in 2016 and that those candidates whose
Read MoreCan Hasan Harnett Sell Voter Suppression?
Educate, Organize and Mobilize — Whether he’ll actually pull it off remains to be seen, but clearly he intends to sell voter suppression and if Black voters aren’t educated, organized and mobilized, Harnett may do it. On Saturday, June 6, 2015,
Read MoreA Response to Voter Suppression: Educate, Organize and Mobilize
(thethirdreconstruction.com) — Several weeks ago I wrote an article intended to be an alert to Black voters of the threat that the 2013 NC Voter Suppression Act, aka, the NC Voter Information Verification Act, posed to Black citizens desiring to participate
Read MoreBlack Voter in November 2016
Educate, organize and mobilize — (thethirdreconstruction.com) I continuously monitor the political polls and conversations about the results of North Carolina elections in 2014 and the electoral prospects for 2016. There are several germane topics on these issues that I believe are being
Read MoreA Battleground for Voter Suppression
In early April I wrote that, when the 2016 General Elections roll around, if progressive advocacy groups haven’t engaged in a massive campaign to defeat voter ID and other voter suppression tactics, their inaction will result in Hillary losing North Carolina
Read MoreOrigin of the Baltimore Underclass
TheThirdReconstruction.com — As the world watches, Baltimore deals with an all too familiar incident of police misconduct that resulted in the murder of a defenseless Black man. This incident is not surprising or unusual in the communities of America’s historical underclass. However,
Read MoreThe Alliance Looks and Leads to Tomorrow
Educate, organize and mobilize – (www.thethirdreconstruction.com) – This past weekend I attended the 10th NC Black Summit of the Alliance of North Carolina Black Elected Officials (ANCBEO). The Alliance is presently led by the Honorable Richard Hooker, Chairman. I participated as a
Read MoreStudy: Polarization in Congress Is Worsening, and It Stifles Policy Innovation
American politics has grown so polarized in recent years that there’s hardly any cooperation at all across the aisle, but the process that brought us here started long ago. Disagreements have been growing exponentially since the 1950s, according to a
Read MoreOrganizing Against Racism
Educate, organize and mobilize – Recently I was made aware of an initiative that strikes at the very heart of the current and historical challenge to Black equality in America. After a meeting of progressive leaders from around North
Read MoreCoincidence, Providence, Equal Opportunity?
(thethirdreconstruction.com) Educate, organize and mobilize — Back in December of 2014 I started writing and teaching about the “Third Reconstruction.” I described its mission as creating a network of organizations and individuals that were committed to a non-racial, multi-ethnic, equal opportunity
Read MoreWhere Are the Black Voices?
Educate, organize and mobilize – (thethirdreconstruction.com) – Over the past few weeks I’ve written about the repeated disclosures of racism across America that were intended to remain hidden from the eyes and ears of the public. The racism has been disclosed
Read MoreThe Longest Road: A Dialogue on Racism
Educate, organize and mobilize — Over the past few weeks we’ve witnessed repeated disclosures of racism that were intended to remain hidden from the eyes and ears of the public. Although the disclosures may very well have shocked large segments of
Read MoreThe 400 Year Conspiracy
For many years, I’ve been monitoring the efforts of Blacks–from all walks of life–struggling to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles, to achieve political, economic, and social justice in America. Over the past two years I’ve been writing commentaries that address these
Read MoreSeeking a Post-Racial America
Educate, organize and mobilize — Last week I wrote and published an article entitled; The University of Oklahoma: Anywhere USA, (http://thethirdreconstruction.com/the-university-of-oklahoma-anywhere-usa/). I posted the racist chant video to my Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/greaterdiversitynews ) and asked a rhetorical question. “Where did they
Read MoreVoter Suppression: From Selma to Shelby
Educate, organize and mobilize — On Saturday and Sunday past, (March 7 & 8) tens of thousands gathered in Selma, Alabama to commemorate “Bloody Sunday” the turning point in the 1965 Civil Rights demonstrations that led to the passage of the Voting Rights
Read MoreANCBEO Seeks Community Empowerment
TheThirdReconstruction.com Educate, organize and mobilize – On Saturday, February 21, 2015, the Alliance of North Carolina Black Elected Officials (ANCBEO) reported on recent studies that were commissioned to gather data and information related to the issues pertinent to policymakers and their
Read MoreWhite Supremacy’s Threat To Democracy TheThirdReconstruction.com
Educate, organize and mobilize — I’ve not ventured into the world of international politics before, but believe that the threat to American democracy for Black people is so profound that international parallels must be drawn. In drawing a parallel that
Read MoreLawyers’ Committee Releases 2014 Election Protection Report: Democracy Should Not Be This Hard
WASHINGTON, D.C – On last Thursday, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (Lawyers’ Committee) released a report depicting the obstacles to the ballot box experienced during the 2014 general election season and the work performed by the nonpartisan
Read MoreThe AME Church: Economic Empowerment
http://www.thethirdreconstruction.com — Educate, organize and mobilize — Economic empowerment and wealth creation are considered to be the most significant unfinished business of the Civil Rights Movement. As we’ve reported before, our goal for The Third Reconstruction is to help build a
Read MoreResponding to Voter Suppression The Third Reconstruction
Educate, organize and mobilize — For more than a year I’ve tried to keep our readers informed on the nationwide efforts to disenfranchise Blacks and other voters. Many leading thinkers in the Black community have declared that the latest attack on
Read MoreThe Nation’s Kick-Off Event: The Third Reconstruction
Educate, organize and mobilize — Declaring that Americas race problem will require a new reconstruction to solve, The Nation’s Magazine sponsored a forum to discuss The Third Reconstruction. The Nation is 150 years old and was found by abolitionist to aid
Read MoreVoter ID: The Third Reconstruction
Educate, organize and mobilize: I’m continuing to search for a way to get community participation in our efforts to prepare for our voting challenges in November, 2016 and our standing challenge to create community wealth. Recently, the issues of Voter ID
Read MoreOur Challenge Ahead: Creating Black Wealth – The Third Reconstruction
Educate, organize and mobilize: The date of our Voter Empowerment Summit is still tentative so I’ll not elaborate on it beyond what has been said. However, our challenge going forward hasn’t changed and I’ll continue to address it and outline action
Read MoreThe Voter Empowerment Summit: Black America’s Third Reconstruction
As reported earlier, the Voter Empowerment Summit (The Summit) being convened by NC House Democratic Leader, Larry Hall and the NC Alliance of Black Elected Officials Chairman, Richard Hooker had to be postponed because of insurmountable conflicts. It has been
Read MoreThird Reconstruction vs. New Confederacy
Educate, organize and mobilize: Over the past months I’ve written about the necessity of Black voters requiring patronage in return for electing politicians to office, political accountability and the Voter Empowerment Summit. This week I’ll highlight ongoing discussions and I’ll address
Read MoreThe Voter Empowerment Summit
Educate, organize and mobilize: Last week we announced the upcoming Voter Empowerment Summit scheduled for January 10, 2015 at Martin Street Baptist Church, 1001 E. Martin St. Raleigh, NC 27601. On Monday Night past, a group of us involved in the
Read MoreThe Pawns of Politics Where Is My Patronage?
Educate, organize and mobilize: For more than a year leading up to the recently completed General Elections, I’ve written about Voter Suppression, gerrymandering, the Black vote and voters. The good news from the General Election, if there is any, is that
Read MoreWhere’s My Patronage? Black Voters Search for Benefits
Educate, organize and mobilize: Since the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s many Blacks have been loyal and consistent voters, albeit at levels that need to increase. During our most recent elections and other elections going back to the sixties, many
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Voter Rights Forum to Take Place in Fayetteville Protecting and Expanding Voter Rights
Efforts to protect and expand voting rights in North Carolina continue to gain strength. A plan by Black elected officials and a coalition of Black publishers to convene a series of voting rights forums has taken shape. It is designed
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