Monday, June 30, 2008

Black Farmers Planning To Reap Bountiful Harvest In Reparations Pay...



Reopening Black Farmers' Suits Could Cost Billions

By BEN EVANS, Associated Press

Lawmakers budgeted just $100 million for damages when they reopened the government's discrimination settlement with black farmers. They probably should have handed over a blank check.

With more than 70,000 potential claimants, the liability could exceed $3 billion — three times what was paid out in the original 1999 agreement.

The settlement was reopened thanks to legislation added to the farm bill passed last month. It illustrates how lawmakers often manipulate pay-as-you-go budget rules to give the appearance they are balancing the federal checkbook.

Supporters acknowledge that the $100 million was an arbitrary amount that will not come close to covering the actual cost. Yet the measure ran into little opposition during the monthslong debate on the farm bill, mainly because of the artificially low price tag.

"The reality is that we had to fix some dollar amount to this provision because that's what the House rules require," said Rep. Artur Davis, D-Ala., a lead sponsor of the proposal.

With a higher estimate, he said, lawmakers probably would have stripped the provision.

The decision to allow new claims comes almost 10 years after the Agriculture Department settled a class-action lawsuit brought on behalf of thousands of black farmers. The farmers, mainly from rural areas in the South, alleged that local USDA offices routinely denied them loans, disaster assistance and other aid frequently given to whites — practices that often drove them out of business.

At that time, 22,500 farmers filed claims. Nearly two-thirds were awarded a total of $981 million in damages, including one Virginia farmer awarded $6.6 million.

But an estimated 73,000 others were denied payments because they missed the October 1999 deadline for seeking claims. Many said the six-month filing period was too short and that they were unaware of the settlement until it was too late.

The deadline was extended for nearly a year for those who could show extraordinary circumstances, such as illness. But only a small fraction of late claims qualified, and federal courts repeatedly denied subsequent requests to reopen the settlement.

The farm bill provision gives another chance to anyone who filed late claims.

Just days after it passed, more than 800 people sued in U.S. District Court in Washington. Lawyers working on the case say they expect tens of thousands more.

An informational session hosted by Davis in mid-June in Tuskegee, Ala., drew more than 1,000 people, including some who traveled by charter bus from Georgia and Mississippi.

Ronnie Clark, 50, was among the first to sue. He said he tried to grow corn and peanuts in the 1980s but gave up after being denied loans from the government. He said he did not know about the original settlement until the deadline had passed and that the government should pay valid claims whether they were late or not.

"I went and tried to get a loan and they talked to me so hateful that I just quit," said Clark, who is from Brundidge, Ala., and now works on a transportation maintenance crew for the state. "They told me I had to own so much land for collateral. I just quit trying to borrow."

Lawyers involved in the case say it remains unclear how the courts will organize the flood of cases or where the money will come from once claims exceed $100 million.

As in the original settlement, claimants can seek expedited damages of $50,000 under a lower threshold of proof than a typical civil case — essentially by showing they applied for and were denied USDA farm assistance.

Claimants also can bypass the expedited process and pursue larger damages, but most are expected to seek the $50,000 payment.

If just half are successful, it would cost $1.8 billion; a two-thirds success rate would cost about $2.5 billion.

Davis argued that the cost is not likely to climb that high because the new legislation requires all claims to go through the courts. That is a far more difficult task than the streamlined administrative process set up for claims under the original settlement.

Given the uncertainty of the final cost, he and other supporters defended the bill as a starting point to be revisited later.

"There's no doubt that there will have to be more money in the future," Sen. Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican and lead sponsor of the measure. But, he said, "African-American farmers deserve justice."

___

On the Net:

Lawsuit site: http://www.pigfordmonitor.org/

*W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio Special~The State Of Black America 2008*

Summary
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2008/04/we-all-be-news-radio-special-state-of.html

April 13, 2008~The State Of Black America Part One

Saturday, June 28, 2008

(6/28/2008) Soldier Boy Grip Comic & Commentary Of The Week...


(c) By Ronald Herd II a.k.a. R2C2H2 Tha Artivist

Dems And Repubs Are The Same When It Comes To The Race Question...
Tha Artstorian Writes...

Welcome Ye All Faithful As Well As Ye All Fickled!!!

We are witnessing in the year of our Lord 2008 a miracle of sorts: An electable (BY WHITESTREAM STANDARDS) Black Presidential Candidate...Many of us in the colored nether regions are welcoming Barack Hussein Obama's bid as a breath of fresh cool minty air or as a Marshall Plan relief package 400 years in the making...However, some of us in Negroland (and rightfully so) are wary of why a person of color would want to represent such a racist and hypocritical country such as our United Snakes of Amerikkka...

Those who are not wiling to go along to get along due to their line of questioning have been in some cases considered and relegated to Uncle Toms, Aunt Tomasinas, Race Traitors, and Judases...In spite of such slander (undeserved in many cases) these "muckrakers for truth" have courageously (or foolishly perhaps) refused to give in to the Change Fever Epidemic sweeping the nation...They refuse to sip on the Obamade or Sizzurp which appears to have gotten the nation high and tipsy with revisionist history and false hopes...

My thing is this, why are people so pressed to think Obama should be different from any other White man that occupied and currently occupies arguably the most powerful office in the world???

Name me one President who has done something to morally correct the historical wrongs in this nation without being forced to by a segment of committed citizens...

"The White Man's President"

Frederick Douglass once said that Power Concedes Nothing Without A Demand...

It was Bro. Fred who demanded Lincoln to use newly free Black men in the Union Army...It was Bro. Fred who called Lincoln 'The White Man's President' at the President's funeral and reminded those in attendance that Lincoln was slow in coming around to ending slavery and its expansion into the frontier...

It was the Black Suffrage Sympathizer John Brown who bled the fields of Kansas and who willing sacrificed himself and his sons upon the Altar Of Armed Revolution For Black Liberation... By doing so John Brown became John The Baptist With A Gun...It was he initially not the other white man, Pres. Lincoln, who helped initiate the war between the states to bring her closer to a more perfectly dysfunctional union...It was Brown not Lincoln who must be given the credit for making the emancipation of the slaves possible...

Although Lincoln thought slavery was morally wrong, he did not feel that African Americans were the equals of White men...He even stated that he would have kept them slaves if it would have preserved the Union...

Woodrow Wilson, The Trojan Horse President

In 1912, Black folks voted in overwhelming numbers to put the Governor of New Jersey, former President of Princeton University and Favorite Son of the South Woodrow Wilson into the White House...

Even before faith based money got involved, many Blacks were already giving their votes away to the most undeserving bidders and masters of their demise I mean destiny...Well known Black leaders such as Dr. W.E.B. DuBois, William Monroe Trotter and Ida B. Wells Barnett were singing and stomping the praises of the academic and elitist Dixiecrat Wilson on Sunday mornings in Black Churches throughout the land...They even stated that Woodrow WIlson was the Presidential Messiah, the next coming of the Lincoln, the new Black President...

However, Woodrow being the fox and racist that he was, betrayed the Black vote and re segregated the federal government and city of Washington D.C. (which remained that way until the Truman & Eisenhower Presidencies)....He even endorsed the KKK movie, Birth Of A Nation...Supposedly at a special White House screening arranged by Thomas Dixon (his John Hopkins University classmate and author of The Clansman, the inspiration for the movie), Wilson showed his approval of the film by stating "It is like writing history with lightning; my only regret is that it is all so terribly true."...

In 1914, Pres. Wilson told the New York Times, "If the colored people made a mistake in voting for me, they ought to correct it."

When a delegation of blacks led by William Monroe Trotter came to the White House to correct their mistake in voting by protesting Wilson's Jim Crow tactics, Wilson told them that "segregation is not a humiliation but a benefit, and ought to be so regarded by you gentlemen."

After debating the President face to face for 45 minutes about his stance and hypocrisy on race relations, Trotter was banned from the White House...

Be wary indeed of the folks who occupy the White House...

Make Me Do It!!!

Years later the great Black labor union and civil rights leader A. Phillip Randolph went to the White House as a dinner guest of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt's to voice his grievances about the state of Black folks in America...Randolph was told by Pres. Franklin Roosevelt that what he said was absolutely true...But FDR also said that if he wanted 'change' that Randolph and his colleagues will have to 'force' or make the President do so through actions and not just words...

Well in 1941, A. Philip Randolph along with Bayard Rustin and A.J. Muste organized and planned the first proposed March on Washington to protest job discrimination in the military industries...In order to stop the march from happening, Roosevelt's hand was 'forced' to sign into law Executive Order 8802 a.k.a. The Fair Employment Act...

Once again FDR did so not because it was the morally right thing to do, but because it was the politically expedient thing to do...

So let this serve as a lesson to all of us that true change doesn't happen from the top down but rather the bottom up!!!

Be the change you want to see in the world and make it happen!!!

For More On The Adventures Of Arthur 'Soldier Boy Grip' Taylor Please Visit http://www.soldierboygrip.blogspot.com/






Buy Soldier Boy Grip Gear Now @ http://www.cafepress.com/r2c2h2

New Article On Sis. Callie Herd a.k.a. Tha Artivist's Mom...

A Life Dedicated To Helping Youth Get Ready For College
by Gail Washington



copyright by r2c2h2/Ronald Herd II

Sis. Callie Herd a.k.a. Tha Artivist's Mom

When the late evening hours find most people winding down from a busy day, it is just getting started for Callie Herd. A native of Memphis, she is the creative force behind http://www.ctherd.blogspot.com/, a web-based resource that provides valuable information to parents and students seeking advice and guidance on the college preparation and application process.

“My blog is actually the result of some soul-searching that I was doing as I faced the reality of my mother having cancer in the early ‘90’s. It allowed me to see that each of us has a purpose in life and that we must seek it,” said Herd.

Several years ago, Herd began working in various capacities as a community volunteer for FedEx Corporate Neighbor Teams. At her mother’s urging, she later began to look for ways to involve her family in community service works and soon she and her children were volunteering at the National Civil Rights Museum.

“I was asked to coordinate volunteers for the National Civil Rights Museum here in Memphis as the FedEx liaison,” she recalled.

One of her initial tasks was to help in recruiting volunteers to help in the funeral activities for the late Alex Haley, renowned author of “Roots.” Herd helped recruit over one hundred FedEx employee volunteers in just two hours. Her dedication and boundless energy resulted in her being named the first Civic Affairs chairperson for one of the FedEx Corporate Neighbor Teams.

With the conviction that college was a must for her children, Herd began to direct much of her energy toward “everything that I could to make sure that they were ready. And to do this, I had to know or have access to a lot of information. So I started researching to be better able to help them.”

It wasn’t long before she was coordinating college preparation programs for her church, World Overcomers Outreach Ministries Church, and at Hickory Hill Community Center with the help of her friend Ivy Caldwell.

In 2004, Herd learned about the Symposium on Career Opportunities in Biomedical Sciences through a friend, Debra Westbrook. Launched in 1987, the Symposium is a project sponsored by the Association of Minority Health Professions Schools (AMHPS) and is aimed at generating interest in biomedical sciences and health-care professions among young students. At the time, Fred Hamilton served as the Nashville-based representative for the Symposium.

“I was asked to recruit one hundred Tennessee high schools students to attend the Symposium each year. Even though it was an all-expenses paid trip, we always came up short,” he said.

“When we were put in touch with Callie, she turned out to be a windfall for us. Not only did she quickly emerge herself into the task, we met our quota primarily because of her efforts,” said Hamilton.

“(Callie was) super dedicated, always making sure that no deserving child gets left out simply because they did not have access to information.”

Herd became the Memphis coordinator on behalf of AMHPS and its annual Symposium.

“We start taking applications for the Symposium each August. Parents and students can sign up for updates by subscribing to my blog,” she said.

Prior to launching the blog, Herd worked hard and eventually compiled an email list of five hundred-plus people who sought information on college preparation. Managing the list, however, sometimes proved daunting, often requiring enormous amounts of time.

“Sleep became a real luxury because I would be up so late at night making sure that information got out to people,” she said.

Ronald Herd, her son and “right hand man,” suggested that she distribute information through a blog rather than bulk email. In 2006, ctherd.blogspot.com was born.

Today, parents and students regularly visit Herd’s blog from across the nation and Canada, including California, Georgia, Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington, D.C. It has also been featured on other prominent Web sites including http://www.streetpositive.com/ and http://www.blackcollegeexpo.com/.

The audience includes undergraduate, graduate and non-traditional students. The time required to maintain the blog now ranges from thirty hours per week to up to eighty hours per week during peak periods, usually when school starts and in March.

Herd’s blog is featured on the Web site for the Black College Expo and she was an official presenter at the 2007 and 2008 conferences in Atlanta.

“She was phenomenal. She really demystifies the college preparation process,” said Theresa Price, Expo founder. “The sharing of her own experience as a single parent getting her own children ready for college has been a blessing to everyone. People like to hear real-life stories and it helps them to see that the same is possible for them.”

Ahead for Herd, who serves on the board of directors for Memphis Challenge and is an active member of the Memphis graduate chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., is the launch of IAM-Inspiring Academic Motivation. The organization is designed to provide seminars, workshops and training services to churches and organizations in need of advice in setting up college preparation programs.

(For more information about programs or services offered by Sis. Herd, contact her at callieherd@yahoo.com.)

See Also On W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio...

Gift To Class Of 2009 & Others:

W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio Profiles Sis. Herd In "Mothers With Courage Special" (Sis. Herd's Interview Is In The First Hour):

Sunday June 29, 2008 On W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio~Celebrated Author Patrice Gains & Up & Coming Playwright Corey Whitsett...


One Full Year On The Air!!!

June 2008's Theme Is
"Intergenerational Conversations..."

Date: Sunday June 29, 2008

Time: 4pm-6pm Central/5pm-7pm Eastern

Listen To The Actual Show Online At The Following Link: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2008/06/29/Tha-Artivist-PresentsWE-A-LL-BE-News-Radio

Call-In Number: (646) 652-4593

A W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio Exclusive... Special Guests Sis. Patrice Gaines and Bro. Corey Whitsett

Topic: Writing & Speaking Truth To Empower...21st Century Griots...

Definiton of a Griot:

A.) (GREE oh) the name for a western African singer/storyteller who recites oral history; also called a bard or jeli...

B.) Mali and Senegal, traditional keeper of cultural traditions and history of the Mandeng people of West Africa passed through generations kept in form of music and dance, recitations and metaphorical statements. Usually the music form begins slow with singing and becomes fast with dance...

More About Our Distinguished Featured Griots...


1.) Sis. Patrice Gaines~4PM C/5PM E Hour




A summer day in 1970 changed Patrice Gaines's life forever. She was in a Charlotte, N.C. jail, charged with possession with intent to distribute heroin and possession of a needle and syringe. Her mother, unable to bring Patrice's two-year-old daughter Andrea inside to visit her, directed Patrice to look out the window when she returned to her cell. Staring out a narrow opening, Gaines saw her grandfather in front of the jail holding her daughter while her mother pointed to the third floor window. Her daughter looked all about."She is searching for me and she can't find me," Gaines thought, as tears trickled down her cheeks. In that moment, she vowed to do all she could to change her life.Thus began a long and arduous journey, which Gaines chronicles in her autobiography, "Laughing In The Dark: From Colored Girl to Woman of Color— A Journey from Prison to Power."


Gaines outlined her path to change in her inspirational book, "Moments of Grace, Meeting the Challenge to Change."


She has been a guest on the Oprah Winfrey Show and was featured on a segment of Dateline. Her articles have appeared in numerous publications, including Essence Magazine. She has been a commentator on National Public Radio and Pacifica Radio. Today, Gaines is a freelance journalist, writing teacher and motivational speaker, telling her story at colleges, conferences, prisons and drug rehabilitation programs around the country. She is a restorative justice trainer and a "justice reform activist," who encourages discussions on forgiveness in her lectures and coaxes people to redefine "justice." Her goal is to drastically change the U.S. judicial system and prison industry.


Gaines is also devoted to working to empower women, especially those who have been incarcerated. To that end, she and longtime friend Gaile Dry-Burton plan to open The Brown Angel Retreat Center in the Charlotte, N.C. area. The Center will offer a respite from judgment, a place for healing and learning as well as a program of courses and counseling aimed at assisting women in becoming mentally, spiritually and financially healthy.

Visit Sis. Patrice Gaines' Official Website:

~~~~~~

2.) Bro. Corey R. Whitsett~Author, Playwright & Musician~5PM C/ 6PM E Hour




Hailing from Chicago, Il a.k.a. The Windy City, most of Bro. Corey Randolph Whitsett's time growing up was spent in his father's church. He gives all credit to God for each and every talent that he is blessed with. Whether writing short stories, plays, poetry or songs for his jazz band, Corey is constantly creating something.Corey has been hard at work producing gospel stage plays through his Christian entertainment company, ACTS Drama Ministries. Some of his plays are: Guess Who's Coming to Church, Till Death Do Us Part, Church Folks, Mary's Baby etc.


ACTS Drama Ministries was founded by Corey R. Whitsett in 1999 to provide Christians with quality alternatives to secular entertainment. Our goal is to further the kingdom of God by spreading his word through the performing arts. Although ACTS Drama Ministries is in the entertainment business, the main focus is the ministry. Their productions are designed to not only entertain but empower God's people by spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ.


Juggling his life at home along with working full-time as a computer consultant, Corey tries to write as much as he can. "I have so many passions in life, my family, music, career, but writing is the only thing that I can't control. God has chosen me to be a writer so I must be obedient when He has a story for me to tell."


He says being a musician and a writer has never cause much conflict because they compliment each other. "Sometimes, I hear music and it makes me write, other times I am reading something and I hear music."Corey has completed one novel, Quiet Before The Storm, and is currently working on his second novel, Epic.



Visit Bro. Corey Whitsett's Official Websites:
http://actsdramaministry.com/
http://www.myspace.com/actsdramaministry


****
Get Involved
As Always You Can Catch Tha Artivist Presents…W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio Live Every Sunday @ 4PM Central/5PM Eastern By Clicking On The Following Link: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe

Please Be Our Invited Guest By Calling Us Live @ 646-652-4593 Or E-mailing Us Your Questions And Comments @ r2c2h2@gmail.com



As Always Please Spread The Good News!!!


~~~~~~



W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio Reps Black History 365 Days A Year!!!
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2008/02/we-all-be-news-radio-reps-black-history_29.html



~~~~~~

Celebrate Black History And Love All Day Every Day With Works By Tha Artivist:
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2008/02/celebrate-black-history-and-love-all.html



~~~~~~



~~~~~~
Buy The Award Winning James Reese Europe: Jazz Lieutenant



*Named To The Smithsonian Institute's Jazz Books For Kids And Young Adults List*



Buy The Book @ Amazon.com


~~~~~~

Get Your Barack Obama "A Legacy Of Hope" T-Shirt Today!!!




http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2008/04/barack-obama-legacy-of-hope-t-shirts.html


~~~~~~

$ Millions Of Dollars In Scholarships, Internships & Job Offers $
Please Visit


http://www.ctherd.blogspot.com/


~~~~~~

Check Out "The Empowerment Hour" Hosted By Bro. Kermit Eady Every Saturday @ 6 PM EST/ 5PM CST


http://www.blogtalkradio.com/EadyAssociates



~~~~~~


Support Akeru Radio




http://www.akeruradio.com/

~~~~~~

No Justice...No Sleep!!!
Please Visit
http://www.slepton.com/

~~~~~~




Monday, June 23, 2008

Whatever A Man Soweth...

Media Advisory - The Honorable Sis. Cynthia McKinney Joins Forces With Sis. Cindy Sheehan!


Cindy Sheehan gives the peace sign in front of the White House in 2006.
(left)

For Immediate Release
June 22, 2008
CYNTHIA McKINNEY JOINS CINDY FOR CONGRESS!

-- (San Francisco) Former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney Joins Cindy for Congress as Honorary Co-Chair as No-Strings Occupation and War Funding, Telecom Immunity Bills Are Ushered Through Democrat-controlled Congress

McKinney: "The point was to change Washington, DC, but instead Washington, DC changed Nancy Pelosi"

As a sign of tightening opposition to the string of hope-reversing policies being put forward by Speaker Pelosi, Green Party Presidential and pro-peace candidate Cynthia McKinney agreed to serve as an Honorary Co-Chair of Cindy Sheehan's campaign to oust Nancy Pelosi from Congress. "Nancy Pelosi needs to phone home, because it's clear that she's forgotten the values of the people of California who sent her to Congress. The point was to change Washington, DC, but instead Washington, DC changed Nancy Pelosi," commented McKinney, a former colleague of Pelosi.

McKinney first declared her independence from the national leadership that voted its complicity in war crimes, torture, crimes against humanity, and crimes against the peace at an anti-war demonstration in front of the Pentagon in March of 2007. At that time, McKinney lamented that the Democratic majority in Congress had failed to repeal the Patriot Acts and the Bush tax cuts, introduce and pass legislation for a livable wage and investigate the Pentagon's admitted "loss" of $2.3 trillion. McKinney bolted the Democratic Party afterwards, declaring her candidacy for the Green Party's nomination in December 2007. Today, McKinney adds to that list Democratic leadership's failure to pass legislation providing for a single payer health care system in our country and its inaction on the foreclosure crisis gripping homeowners.

McKinney first publicly endorsed Cindy's Congressional campaign last year in Kennebunkport, Maine near the home of George Herbert Walker Bush. According to McKinney, "Cindy's campaign is increasingly important today as the only way left to put peace, impeachment, and our values back on the table." McKinney added, "Cindy continues to show us the power of one, the power that is within every one of us. Moreover, Cindy Sheehan can win."

"Having Cynthia on board is a significant gain for my campaign. She has experience in tough campaigns and brings a wealth of knowledge. I am running to win, we have already raised close to $200,000 and everyday we get more and more support as people get more fed up with Pelosi's mis-leadership," says Sheehan.

Since the Democrats assumed control of Congress, according to some reports, an additional 1,200 U.S. troops have died and nearly 10,000 more have been wounded, with tens of thousands more Iraqi civilians killed. Hundreds of billions of additional dollars have been appropriated for war and occupation under Pelosi's watch and she took impeachment "off the table." Both Cindy and Cynthia are members of the New Broom Coalition, founded by Dr. Carol Wolman, the California Green Party's First Congressional District candidate, a Coalition that seeks to empower the people by putting a clean sweep to Congress.

Currently, McKinney is preparing to head to Chicago for the Green Party Convention July 10 - July 13. Sheehan is anchored in San Francisco campaigning for the first hurdle of collecting 10,198 signatures needed to get on the ballot in November as a "Decline to State / Independent" candidate.

More information is available at www.CindyForCongress.org or www.RunCynthiaRun.org
###

Please Support Sis. Cynthia McKinney's Run For The Whitehouse By Visiting Her Official Campaign Website http://www.runcynthiarun.org

*W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio Special~Listen To Sis. Cynthia McKinney Give A Full Report On What's Happening In Mexico & The World On W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio Special: The State Of Black America 2008 Part 2 (Her Interview Is In The First 53 Minutes Of The Show):
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2008/04/20/Tha-Artivist-PresentsWE-ALL-BE-Radio

*Listen To U.S. Presidential Hopeful Cynthia McKinney's Interview On W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio~1-13-08

Show (Her Interview Is In The 2nd Full Hour Of Show Segment):
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2008/01/13/Tha-Artivist-PresentsWE-ALL-BE-Radio

Summary

Why Won’t NY Governor Paterson Respect Black Self-Help?

By Kermit Eady

June 22, 2008

My question is inspired by the Governor’s contemptuous disregard for the glaring need to reestablish the Black United Fund of New York, an organization that was vital to the empowerment of the black community.

As you know, Councilman Charles Baron and I sent letters on January 14 to then Governor Eliot Spitzer and Attorney General Andrew Cuomo requesting a meeting to discuss the destruction of BUFNY and the need to revive this much needed organization. As of March 17, when Spitzer fell from power, we had heard from neither official. On April 15, the Councilman and I forcefully made our case for BUFNY’s rebirth in letters to the newly sworn-in Governor Paterson.

As of June 3rd, we had heard nothing from the Governor, a man who owes his political life to the black community from which he came. So, I called Governor Paterson on that date, and I was assured by his secretary that he would get my message. The following day, I did receive a call from the Governor’s aide David Johnson, who informed me that Paterson had asked him to tell me that as Governor, he could not do a thing about the BUFNY situation because BUFNY’s destruction took place under Spitzer’s watch. He said I should take my concerns to Attorney General Cuomo.

I told Johnson that I was surprised to learn that the Governor was so misinformed as to not understand that the crimes and injustices committed by Spitzer as The Attorney General of the State were in essence crimes and injustices committed by the state. As Attorney Alton Maddox recently said on the radio program, The Empowerment Hour On-Line University, the Attorney General is the state’s lawyer and therefore the Governor’s lawyer. Thus, Governor Paterson has the power to bring justice where injustice was perpetrated.

On June 5th, we learned of an article that had appeared in the Daily News the previous day under this headline: “Paterson Makes Peace with Another Spitzer Enemy.” The piece reported that Paterson had met with Maurice Hank Greenberg, whom Spitzer targeted and forced to step down as head of AIG when Spitzer was Attorney General and known as the “White Knight of Wall Street.” (Spitzer’s office later dropped civil charges against Greenberg.) The article noted that Paterson had thanked Greenberg for investments in medical and science research—including some that relate to visual impairment. They talked, too, about how they might work together.

The irony is not lost on us that on the very day that Governor Paterson sent his aide to inform me that he won’t meet with me because he can’t do a thing about reestablishing BUFNY, he saw fit to make peace with one of Spitzer’s white enemies. Clearly, the Governor sees it as in his interest to work with Greenberg. But why can’t he understand that it is in his interest—and by extension, in the interest of the state and nation—to work with an independent organization of integrity that is dedicated to empowering the African-American community? What is he afraid of? It is very difficult to understand the Governor. At a meeting he called that I attended, he expressed his outrage and anger towards then AG Eliot Spitzer for his destruction of BUFNY. In front of several witnesses, he said that he would hold legislative hearings against Spitzer for his illegal, outrageous actions against BUFNY. However, about a year later we learned that Paterson was joining Spitzer as his running mate in the gubernatorial campaign. Mr. Paterson, please explain.

As the state and the nation struggle to find their way out of the current economic mess, Gov. Paterson could serve as an innovative leader by throwing his support behind an institution that practices economic development and self-help in the black community. He wouldn’t be taking a risk. In fact, BUFNY, with its long track record of success, would make the Governor look good. Through BUFNY, African Americans have taken pride in seeing their dollars provide jobs, as well as more than 400 units of affordable housing. The Black United Fund of NY also built institutions, and provided a range of services, including communication (WCKL radio station), technological (high-tech buildings and tech centers), technical assistance, grants and much more.

BUFNY did all of this and more with very few contributions coming from sources outside of the black community. We did it without receiving one dime from Mayor Bloomberg’s and then Attorney General Spitzer’s “slush funds” that put more than $100,000 in the pockets of Covenant House, a charity that Forbes magazine reported gave only 15 percent of its money to program services and 85 percent to administration—the worst grant-to-administration ratio by a charity in the country. We did it without receiving one dime from politicians like Kathleen Quinn and others who doled out big money to their favorite charities, including many bogus ones.

We did it with the dollars of everyday black people who rightly saw their contributions as an investment in their own community, as an investment in themselves.

Yet, despite the promise of progress and self-empowerment that BUFNY offered to African-Americans—or perhaps because of that promise of progress and self-empowerment—the organization was targeted and destroyed, and Governor Paterson, who has the power to breathe new life into BUFNY, has decided to do nothing while our community suffers.

Why won’t Governor Paterson respect black self-help?

I would also like to thank NYS Assemblyman Karim Camara for joining in the effort to push Governor Paterson to do the right thing.

Members of the public are encouraged to contact Governor Paterson and ask him to “do the right thing” and restore the Black United Fund of NY to the community.
Please Call the Governor at 518-474-8390
or Write to the Governor David A. Paterson, State Capitol, Albany, NY 12224

For more information, please visit www.kermiteady.com/bufny.htm, E-mail info@kermiteady.com or call 1-888-538-9803


About The Author:


Bro. Kermit Eady

Kermit Eady is president and CEO of Eady Associates/Empowerment Institute, founder and former CEO of Black United Fund of New York. You can contact him at 917-642-1878 and by email at: info@kermiteady.com. Listen to the Empowerment Hour Online University every Saturday at 6pm EST at www.blogtalkradio.com/eadyassociates. You may participate in the conversation by calling 646-716-7472.

A Request Of NY Governor David Paterson...


Dear Supporter,

As you know back in April, Councilman Charles Baron and I sent letters to Governor David Paterson requesting a meeting with him to discuss the reestablishment of the Black United fund Of New York. To date the Councilman nor I have heard a single word from the Governor. Last month we also sent letters to all of the African Americans in the New York City council, the State Assembly and the Senate. In addition phone calls were also placed to all of them, and to date only a few have responded. However, we are still, along with a few assemblypersons attempting to speak with the remaining members of the Senate and Assembly.

We all understand that the Governor must exercise his power and meet with representatives of the Black United Fund of New York as well as address the injustices that have been with perpetuated against other individuals and organizations throughout the state of New York, including the African American community. With all of this in mind, we are asking that you call or write the Governor and raise the question of when will he get started on this much needed project. Encourage him to get started now and not wait another day.



The address and phone number:

518-474-8390

Governor David A. Paterson, State Capitol, Albany, NY 12224


Thank you very much for your prompt action regarding this request.

Sincerely,

Kermit Eady


About The Author:


Bro. Kermit Eady

Kermit Eady is president and CEO of Eady Associates/Empowerment Institute, founder and former CEO of Black United Fund of New York. You can contact him at 917-642-1878 and by email at: info@kermiteady.com. Listen to the Empowerment Hour Online University every Saturday at 6pm EST at www.blogtalkradio.com/eadyassociates. You may participate in the conversation by calling 646-716-7472.








Please Read Article Below

Paterson: White and Eady Need Help
By Alton Maddox

Religious and cultural differences should not militate against unity. People should be able to suppress religious or cultural differences, for example, to embrace a lofty principle. One of those principles was espoused by Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. who said, “an injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

Social injustices have been running amuck in New York. There seem to be no relief in sight. This predicament has arisen because most leaders are attached, in some manner, to the Establishment. An effective advocate in the Black community is usually a good Samaritan. In the Black community, this is a job for an unpaid volunteer.

Voting is also not the answer. A political representative must be a member of a political party which was formed to protect a particular group. For example, the Right to Life Party was established to protect unborn children. The Conservative Party was established to advance conservative ideas.

Neither the Democratic Party nor the Republican Party was established to combat slavery or promote Black rights. President Abraham Lincoln favored slavery. In addition to Black militants and white abolitionists, it also took third parties like the Liberty Party and the Free Soil Party to put slavery on the national agenda.

Thus, Blacks would be naive to believe that Gov. David Paterson intends to disrupt the status quo or to correct racial injustices over which he enjoys jurisdiction like pardoning John White for exercising rights of self-defense and rights under the Second Amendment.

White was successfully prosecuted for committing a homicide. The perpetrator was a trespasser, an assailant and a white male. No criminal charges should have ever been lodged against White. The surviving marauders were never charged with any crime. This was an abuse of prosecutorial discretion and the trial judge permitted a kangaroo trial.

The mere fact that White is out on bail pending appeal is no substitute for an executive pardon. White will have to sustain the burden of an appeal. Even if the appeal is successful, the intermediate appellate court would probably only order a new trial. In Suffolk County, this would mean another conviction.

Interestingly, the advocates for White are unaware that Gov. Paterson enjoys the executive power to pardon him. Moreover, some Black preachers made a cameo appearance in Suffolk County without calling on Gov. Paterson to pardon him. With friends like those who needs enemies?

For the two months since Gov. Paterson has succeeded Gov. Eliot Spitzer, I had wondered if Gov. Paterson was aware that he enjoyed the power to pardon. He answered the question this past Friday, May 23, when he pardoned hip-hop artist Rickey “Slick Rick” Walters for attempted murder and weapon charges. He spent more than five years in prison.

No one believed that Walters’ shooting of his relative and a bystander were justifiable. Similarly, I am not arguing that Walters is undeserving of a pardon but I am arguing that Walters’ pardon should have followed a pardon of White for defending his family and his property. White’s conviction is a miscarriage of justice.

Kermit Eady successfully challenged white charitable institutions. Black employees should finance their own charities through their wages. This would ensure that Blacks get a fairer percentage of their contributions going back into the Black community. This sounded too much like Black self-determination and Eliot Spitzer, as state attorney general, sicced New York on Black United Fund of New York.

This was an unprecedented seizure. It had never happened before to similarly-situated white charities. “Might makes right” was the basis for the seizure. While whites are fighting daily for more turf, Blacks insist on continuing to finance their own oppression. Our behavior is abnormal.
Politics has been of marginal value to us because we have only focused on voter education. We go to the polls and vote and we return to the slave quarters. This is like an elementary school student attempting to design and build a skyscraper. Any advancement in politics requires a political education. This type of education has even escaped Black selected officials.

Our first step in assisting John White and Kermit Eady should be to let our voices be heard. All struggles are protracted. Gov. Paterson cannot only help White and Eady but he can also change the operations and mechanics of the NYPD. We only need to do our homework and avoid full-scale pacification programs. Our views can be expressed on postcards and mailed to him as follows:

Gov. David A. Paterson
State Capitol
Albany, NY 12224
518-474-8390

For more information please visit www.kermiteady.com/bufny.htm
E-Mail us at info@kermiteady.com or call 888-538-9803

Eady Associates
PO Box 445
Catskill, NY 12414