We titled this series Habari Gani, a Kiswahili term we use during Kwanzaa, translated as “What’s New”, or “What is the News?” Our intent is to cover recent events that impact Afrikan people.
The Dr. King we need in 2022
As millions of Americans celebrate the 36th Martin Luther King, Jr. federal holiday, the United States is facing yet another moral crisis. The socio-political conditions in this country are in some ways more widely contentious than they were in the turbulent final years of Dr. King’s life. During those final years, 1965-1968, America was wracked with racial violence and urban rebellions driven by oppressive conditions, poverty, an antiwar movement, political repression and assassinations of those fighting the powers that be. The current conditions in the US, exacerbated by ebb and flow of the COVID pandemic, are a powder keg that can either explode into a civil war or something similar to Nazi Germany in the 1930s.
The most obvious missing element in 2022 are the strong Black voices of moral vision and action, which were represented by Dr. King, Malcolm X, and others such as Kwame Ture, and the antiwar white left. While we will once again be inundated with the “Dream Speech,” played by opportunists seeking Black votes in 2022, the critical issues and views Dr. King articulated during his final three years will be largely ignored, as usual.
The Dream and Nightmare
By 1967, an increasingly unpopular Dr. King, facing obstacles from former allies, said in an interview with NBC, “I must confess that dream that I had that day [at the March on Washington] has at certain points turned into a nightmare.”
“We were the dreamers of a dream that dark yesterdays of man’s inhumanity to man would soon be transformed into bright tomorrows of justice. Now it is hard to escape, the disillusionment and betrayal. Our hopes have been blasted and our dreams have been shattered…
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STATESVILLE, NC – I am providing an application that can enhance more city representation for our communities because it is possible. Our influence to bring about more investment in our communities must be our priority to be effective and beneficial for change and improvements expected this year.
Our economics are not only influenced by political officials, and election campaigns; there are dozens of appointees that serve two- and three-year terms on city committees, such as: Historic Preservation Commission, Civil Service Board, Community Appearance Commission, Airport Commission, and others.
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A three-judge panel consisting of two Republican Superior Court judges and one Democrat Superior Court judge ruled unanimously January 11th that the latest legislative and congressional North Carolina redistricting voting maps drawn by Republican legislative leaders are constitutional and can be used in the upcoming 2022 primaries and midterm elections in the fall, even though they give the GOP a definite edge.
“I am disappointed by the three-judge panel’s decision to uphold the partisan gerrymandered maps,” said NC Democratic Party Chairwoman Bobbie Richardson.” The evidence presented demonstrates that Republicans lied to their colleagues when they promised a fair and transparent redistricting process. They cheated by using secret maps and closed-door strategy sessions, then destroyed the maps they used. They are trying to steal seats through illegal partisan gerrymandering and are choosing to proceed with costly litigation that hardworking taxpayers will pay for.
At press time Tuesday, an appeal straight to the NC Supreme Court was expected by the Southern Coalition for Social Justice and North Carolina League of Conservation, two of the plaintiffs in the case.
Democrats outnumber Republicans on the state Supreme Court, 4-3.
The maps have been criticized as being too partisan and drawn to dilute Black voting strength. It had also been determined that the Republican lawmaker who redrew the House districts did so with the aid of maps the had been drawn by someone else in a back room, which was contrary to the GOP claim that the map drawing process was completely transparent. When asked to produce the additional maps, the lawmaker said they had either been thrown away or taken off his phone.
Republicans countered that they did nothing wrong, followed guidance not to use racial data, and were as open as possible in what they produced.
Candidate filing for the March 2022 primaries had been delayed by the NC High Court to May, to expedite judicial review of the new maps and allow for time to redraw them if necessary.
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BarberWhen it was reported last week that Bishop William J. Barber, president of Repairers of the Breach and co-chair of the national Poor People’s Campaign, tested positive for COVID-19, many people, particularly in the African American community, stopped and took notice.
It was just last year, March 5th, when Rev. Dr. Barber, along with then North Carolina Dept. of Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen, publicly were vaccinated against the coronavirus in the parking lot of the PNC Arena in Raleigh.
“It is important, incredibly important, that people know that vaccines work. Now, we must do our part," said Barber. "I wanted to take it today, not just for William Barber, but I wanted to do it publicly with the Secretary to encourage and inspire others."
Fast forward to last week, when Dr. Barber posted on his Twitter page January 6th, “My symptoms so far are very mild, and I am following CDC guidelines to notify close contacts and isolate for five days. I want to express my gratitude for the vaccines and booster shots that prepared my body to fight the virus, and I encourage anyone who has not received a vaccine or booster, if they are eligible, to do so as soon as possible.’
Barber continued, “Even as we take every possible precaution to prevent the spread of this virus, new and extremely contagious variants emerge.”
He added, “…we must do all we can to care for one another by preventing the spread of COVID-19.”
This week, the CEO of Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Albert Bourla, said that his company will have a vaccine specifically manufactured to combat the new Omicron variant, in addition to other variants, coming out this March.
Health care specialists, like Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, however, have said that as long as you have had your initial two shots of Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, or a single dose of Johnson and Johnson, followed by a
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As first and exclusively reported by the Black Press two weeks ago, the Justice Coalition - a concerned group of approximately 37 NC NAACP members from across the state - is formally asking for a “constitutional fair re-election in [the] NC NAACP State Conference of Branches, and for the National NAACP to follow the Constitutional and By-laws of the National Organization with adding the proper governance of electronic voting.”
This, after the Justice Coalition challenged the Oct. 23rd election of officers to the executive leadership in an Article-10 complaint, charging that Gloria Sweet-Love, the national NAACP installed administrator mishandled the election procedures by not following established NAACP constitutional guidelines.
The coalition will not be going to court over the matter because the NAACP Constitution does not allow the organization’ members to sue the NAACP.
In a written response to the complaint, the national NAACP has effectively said that Ms. Sweet-Love was essentially allowed to run the election as she saw fit.
Rev. Dr. Cardes H. Brown Jr., pastor of New Light Missionary Baptist Church in Greensboro and Life member of the NAACP, confirmed during a telephone interview last Monday that even after a response from the national NAACP office last month, effectively denying their Article-10 complaint, that the Justice Coalition would not relent in seeing that justice be done as prescribed by the civil rights organization’s constitution and bylaws.
With the upcoming holiday activities honoring the life and legacy of civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; with eulogies coming in honoring the life of civil rights litigator Lani Guinier, who once worked with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and died over the weekend; and with the U.S Senate preparing to vote on all-important voting rights legislation very shortly, Rev. Brown said
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