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Linda Coleman Strives for Lt. Governor

For Linda Coleman, it’s about the issues, and whether North Carolina families are being treated fairly by this economy, and their government. With a life steeped in public service, Linda Coleman believes as lt. governor, she can make a difference

Black Business Matters: Beyond Disparity Studies

As I’ve written in the past, the Black leadership discussions of politics or economics in North Carolina remained debatable issues until politics gained supremacy at some indefinite time in the early 1980’s. As Black political power grew so did efforts

The State of the Union Address: Class Act, Crass Responses

President Obama did his thing when he delivered the State of the Union address (SOTU) on Tuesday night. There was confidence in his speech, some off-the-cuff humor and a little swagger when he rattled off his accomplishments and asserted that

What We Blacks Need to Do: “Oligarchy Vs Pontifex”

The oligarchical form of government is we, a small number of people, make the rules to benefit us, so you keep your mouth shut, smile, bow and just follow us “aunt and uncle”. The following politicians, individuals, groups, policy and

The Question Was Political Accountability? The Answer Is Profound

Our first Voter Rights Forum, held in Fayetteville in November 2015, revealed the issue that has stymied Black leaders and communities throughout the Civil Rights Movement. The question has always been simple but the answer has always been elusive. The

Vote Your Aspirations Understanding the Value of Political Participation

Educate, Organize, Mobilize – All Americans should support and aspire to equal opportunity under the law. However, the 400 year history of slavery, Jim Crow and anti-civil rights activities continue to impede the legitimate aspirations of Black Americans to equal opportunity

Voter Rights Forums Protecting and Expanding Voter Rights: First Congressional District’s Voter Rights Forums

Efforts to protect and expand voting rights in North Carolina continue to gain strength with voter rights forums. The plan by Black elected officials and a coalition of Black publishers to convene a series of voter rights forums has taken shape

Leaders Provide Vision — Not Division

(NNPA) Leaders provide vision. They help people understand where they are, how they got there and what they must do to go forward. They help calm nerves and strengthen courage. They are steady in times of trouble, inspiring in times

Overcoming Twin Threats to Voting Rights

Educate, Organize, Mobilize – With filings completed, candidates and parties are searching for their paths to victory in the March Primaries and November General Elections. Finding these paths is especially difficult for candidates and parties depending upon a massive turnout of

United Against Voter Suppression and Apathy

Educate, Organize, Mobilize – Over the past several weeks grassroots leaders and Black Elected Officials have combined their efforts to address serious voter apathy in Black communities, and voter suppression. Recently the NC Black Elected Municipal Officials (NC BEMO) and

Commonality of Purpose: Massive Voter Participation

Educate, Organize, Mobilize – Last week my article, If Apathy is the Issue, What is the answer? addressed a major issue identified at our first Voter Rights forum. This week I’ll address the same issue with the objective of leading to

Strategic Power of the Black Press in 2016

For over 45 million African Americans there are multiple priorities that need to be addressed in order to ensure that the socioeconomic and political interests of our families and communities are accurately articulated and fulfilled. We live in a multimedia

What Does Terrorism Look Like?

I am among the tens of millions who had to be peeled away from their television set on Friday, November 13 and in the days after ISIS terrorists randomly massacred at least 130 people and wounded hundreds more in Paris.

If Apathy Is the Issue, What Is the Answer?

Educate, Organize, Mobilize — Our first Voter Rights Forum identified several challenging issues that have to be resolved if we’re to succeed in November 2016. As addressed in my article of November 12, the critical issues discussed were voter education,

Blackonomics: Black Media Ownership Is in a Drought

In war, one of the first things the enemy does is destroy his adversary’s ability to communicate within its ranks. Chaos likely ensues if a fighting force cannot communicate internally. Individual soldiers end up doing their own thing, left to

Book Review: “What We Blacks Need to Do”

Author, James J. Hankins, gives his answer to this age old question in his practical, common sense, easy to read book entitled “What We Blacks Need To Do”. First published in 2007, Hankins observations seem timeless. In the space of

The Changing Political Landscape: A Critical Juncture

Last week we reported on our first voter rights forum. This week we’ll consider our findings and ideas for addressing some of the issues they identified. I’m pleased that we have tentatively scheduled our second forum for January 9, 2016.

First Voter Rights Forum: Insights

Educate, Organize and Mobilize – Our first Voter Rights Forum was held on Saturday, November 7th in Fayetteville, NC. The forum was open and free to the public. I describe the forum as being very insightful and suggestive of a

Voter Rights Forum: Desired Outcomes

Educate, Organize and Mobilize – Many of you know that our first Voter Rights Forum is being held on Saturday, November 7th at the Westover Recreation Center, located at 267 Bonanza Dr. Fayetteville, NC 28303, from 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. The forum

Black Publishers: Connecting the Dots

Educate, Organize and Mobilize – Last week I wrote about efforts to protect and expand voting rights in North Carolina. We noted that our first forum will be held at the Westover Recreation Center located at 267 Bonanza Dr. Fayetteville, NC

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

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

Guns – Stopping That One Person

Would making guns illegal in America eliminate our American mass murder horror? Has making marijuana illegal for most of the country eliminated the use of pot? Has making cocaine and heroin illegal eliminated the use of these drugs in our country? Prostitution is illegal

The 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

The 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

A New Breed of Bigoted Politicians

Among the many windswept cliffs that stand guard on the shores of the island of Okinawa, one is known for its particularly gruesome history. “Suicide Cliff” is located on the southern portion of Okinawa. It is so named because thousands

Blacks and Latinos Working Together

If there was ever a propitious time for African Americans and Latino Americans to unite to advance the cause of freedom, justice, equality and economic empowerment, it is now. Today, more than ever, the rapidly changing national demographics and the

Mobilizing 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

Ben 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

Carson 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

Ben 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

Voting 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

White Liberal Conundrum

One of the enduring debates since the enslavement of Africans in the American colonies has been the extent to which well-meaning Whites can appropriate Black suffering and be a true participant in our liberation. From the roots of the abolitionist

Polls, 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

Civil and Human Rights Coalition Mourns the Loss of Julian Bond

WASHINGTON – Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement after the passing of longtime civil rights stalwart Julian Bond, a co-founder of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the Southern

Super 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

Massive 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

Our 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

Billionaires 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

Voting 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

Series 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

From 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

Race Matters for Juvenile Justice

Shannon Robinson In the last decade, arrests of minority youth have increased, with black and Latino youth being twice as likely to be arrested as white youth. When it comes to the juvenile justice court system, those numbers don’t decrease.

Progressive 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

Democracy NC

North Carolina’s new voting law, passed by the North Carolina House of Representatives and signed by Governor McCrory in 2013, has created outrage among many North Carolina citizens. One of the biggest issues people have with the new law is

Dominican Republic’s Ethnic Cleansing

WASHINGTON (NNPA) – A Dominican Republic court order threatens to force more than 200,000 Dominican-born Haitians from their homes in an effort that many human rights watchers have called modern-day ethnic cleansing. Just days after the Rachel Dolezal episode captivated

Race, Flags, and the Second Amendment

The church shooting in Charleston, S.C. once again showed us the connection of guns and race. Statistics of inner city gun violence always showed the connection. In this context, the National Rifle Association actually believes in gun control. “Nothing” says the NRA

Too Many White Americans Identify with Charleston Church Murderer

On Wednesday, June 17, Dylann Roof, a 21-year-old White supremacist, massacred nine Black worshipers in the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C. Among those slain at close range with a .45 caliber semi-automatic weapon, were an 87-year-old

The 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

The Violent Roots of Southern Racism and The Massacre in Charleston: “What Then Must We Do?”

On Wednesday, June 17th, 2015 three black men and six black women were killed by a white youth in Charleston, South Carolina’s renowned Emanuel AME Church. Below are their names: Cynthia Hurd, 54 years old Suzy Jackson, 87 years old Ethel Lee

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