Statement Read by Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II, President North Carolina NAACP State Conference

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 3, 2012   For More Information:           Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II, President, 919-394-8137                                                 Mrs. Amina J. Turner, Executive Director, 919-682-4700   Statement Read by Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II, President North Carolina NAACP State Conference April 3, 2012 New Light Missionary Baptist Church Greensboro, NC   We stand here today on the eve of the 44th anniversary of the assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I’m pleased to be joined by the Chair of the North Carolina NAACP Religious Affairs Committee, Rev. Dr. Cardes H. Brown, Jr., Co-Chair Pastor James Woodson, Rev. Curtis Gatewood, our HKonJ Coalition Administrative Coordinator and other faith leaders to announce the statewide 1000 Churches, Temples and Mosques – 100% Voter Registration Campaign.   From the anniversary of the assassination of Dr. King, through August 28, the 49th anniversary of the March on Washington, the North Carolina NAACP and its religious constituents will call upon one thousand churches, temples and mosques to register 100% of their parishioners to vote. Dr. King, as a social gospel evangelical, reminded us that concern for policies that impact racial disparities, the poor, the marginalized, the vulnerable children and workers are all matters of faith. Whether we look at Isaiah 10, Isaiah 58 or Luke 4, people of faith are called to be concerned about the implications and impact of public policy. After examining data and public policy, the NC NAACP renders the opinion that North Carolina is in a State of Emergency when it comes to public education funding, poverty and jobs, equal protection under the law, injustices in the criminal justice system, access to healthcare, the protection of civil and constitutional rights, environmental protection and immigrant rights for many North Carolinians. Civic engagement is of paramount importance and the NAACP believes that expanding participation in our democracy is critical for this state to choose a better way.      The continuing brokenness, race/class disparities and injustices within our state and society require a cross-examination by the NAACP and the religious community. When you have groups like the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) spoon-feeding State Legislatures with regressive and copy-cat legislation, which is at the center of a national campaign to suppress our voting power, that will have a devastating impact on public policy, the civil rights and progressive community must march, meet, raise our voices and maximize the full strength of the Black, Brown and Progressive Vote. The 1000 Churches, Temples and Mosques – 100% Voter Registration Campaign is an aggressive endeavor, attached to other efforts by the NC NAACP, to match the extreme right’s attack on the rights of African-Americans, the elderly, the poor, women and other minorities.   Not only is ALEC orchestrating regressive voter suppression laws, but they are also promoting Stand Your Ground laws, which give cover to acts of racial profiling with deadly consequences as we have seen in the Trayvon Martin case.      During this electoral season, the North Carolina NAACP and many of the partners in the Historic Thousands on Jones Street (HKonJ) People’s Assembly Coalition, will engage in statewide efforts of 1) mass non-partisan organizing to protect our vote, 2) mass non-partisan voter education on the issues, 3) and mass non-partisan expansion, mobilization and participation in the voting process. We know and we believe that our democracy works better when the electorate is deepened and broadened rather than narrowed and suppressed.     Today we are launching the One Thousand Campaign because North Carolina is in a State of Emergency:   Representation of Minorities is in a State of Emergency when our General Assembly uses high-paid, out-of-state consultants to create redistricting maps that pick apart black communities block-by-block, person-by-person to ensure their political prosperity at the expense of the power of the African American vote. It is a State of Emergency when the North Carolina NAACP and others are in court challenging these maps that have stacked, packed and isolated black voters more than any others have since the 1890s in another attempt to undermine Black, Brown and Progressive coalition building.   Voting Rights are in a State of Emergency when a state wants fewer people to vote. A photo ID requirement would disenfranchise more than a half million registered voters in North Carolina, mostly those who have long been the victims of voter suppression tactics before. African-Americans are nearly twice as likely as whites not to have a government photo ID. More than 150,000 of our elderly voters, to whom we owe so much, would be denied the ballot. Many of them can remember a time when people died so that African Americans and other minorities could vote. The leadership in the General Assembly is also holding back millions of dollars in federal Help America Vote Act funds that would help local boards of election expand access to the ballot in 2012. They want to repeal same-day voter registration and shorten the early voting period, and ban early voting on Sundays.   Public Education in North Carolina is in a State of Emergency when $2 billion is being cut from education over the next two years – over $800 million from K-12, $250 million from Community Colleges, and $700 million from universities. When these cuts were made, it caused North Carolina to drop to 49th in the Nation in per-pupil spending on public education, forced tuition hikes that will undermine access to higher education for poor and minority students and passed legislation that will lead to resegregation of public schools.   Healthcare Justice is in a State of Emergency when funding for Medicaid will be cut by nearly $2 billion over the next two years in NC – almost $700 million in state funding and $1.3 billion in lost in federal matching dollars. We have a State of Emergency when there is a chorus to stop healthcare reform when 25% of African-Americans in NC currently have no health insurance.   The Criminal Justice System is in a State Of Emergency when a Southern Legislature chooses to fight against the Racial Justice Act, which only gives the courts a tool to ensure race is not a factor in anyone’s death sentence. They also slashed funding for Indigent Services and public defenders, who are often the only hope for young black men and women to escape an unequal and unfair criminal justice system. We are in a State of Emergency when the State Bureau of Investigation Crime Labs are found to be intentionally perjuring evidence for trials, while at the same time seven men have been exonerated from death row, who would have been wrongfully killed by the State if the system only worked faster.   Economic Justice is in a State of Emergency when we have 1.6 million people living in poverty in NC, over 600,000 of which are children. We have double-digit unemployment amongst African-Americans and Latinos, over 40% of African-American and Latino children living in poverty and one out of every four African-Americans. We have a State of Emergency when, amidst their campaign to take us backwards, so much current of the leadership in the General Assembly is ignoring the plight of the poor and refusing to focus on job creation.   Pre-K Education is in a State of Emergency when the Legislature passes a budget that is found by a Republican Judge to violate the constitutional rights of poor and minority four-year-old children by cutting funds for early childhood education.   Equal Protection Under the Law and the NC Constitution are in a State of Emergency when there is a synthesis of plan and purpose by regressive forces to roll back voting rights, educational rights, civil rights and constitutional rights in a strategy to undermine the fundamental role of government to operate for the good of the whole, provide equal protection under the law and ensure liberty and justice for all. It is especially concerning in a Southern State for powers to set a precedent whereby a majority votes on the rights of a minority in an attempt to move toward a limited states rights agenda as a way of undermining the broad protections of our Constitution. We understand that national Movements must start at the state and local level, and most often from the South. We are continuing to build a Movement in North Carolina on the shoulders of the countless freedom fighters that come before us. The 1000 Churches, Temples and Mosques – 100% Voter Registration Campaign is the most recent endeavor to keep building the aggressive and progressive Movement to push North Carolina to choose a better way. ### Founded in 1909, the NAACP is the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization. Its members throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities, conducting voter mobilization and monitoring equal opportunity in the public and private sectors.        Download Flyer Here (COLOR)  Download Flyer Here (BLACK AND WHITE)

 

Watkins: Students must embody MLK with their actions, not just words

The change America needs isn’t going to be easy, cheap or comfortable, and it will not come without controversy.

Boyce Watkins, the keynote speaker at the Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Program, urged students, faculty, staff and community members to take action and follow through on King’s ideals and values instead of just talking about them. (More)

Note: I agree 100%. ACTION! Right on!! C. Dancy II – DCN Publisher

[CoalitionofConcernedCitizensforAfricanAmericanChildren] What would Dr. King say???

 

As we reflect on the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, can we say that Wake County citizens have fully implemented his dream? What would Dr. King say about:   *WCPSS racially/economically Segregated Schools such as Walnut Creek   * Our elected officials/community leaders who support segregated schools.    * What would Dr. King say about the children who attend Walnut Creek who lost a semester of learning because of overcrowded classrooms? * If our elected officials/community leaders accepted offers to support segregated schools/kick backs to fulfill their selfish need/greed? * Community leaders who designed programs to attract an all black school   *Broughton High School and other high school today * What would Dr. King say about the Brown vs. Board effort to ensure equal education for all children? *What would Dr. King say about WCPSS Choice Assignment Plan?   According to Dr. King, "segregation is legally dead but it is factually alive." What hidden techniques are being used today to support segregation/economic isolation?  Can we identify them and not be used as a prey? This is a time of reflection.     In his December 15, 1956 speech, King called the Brown decision, “…one of the most momentous decisions ever rendered in the history of this nation…” and how it was a “…reaffirmation on the good old American doctrine of freedom and equality for all men.” However, he also stated that “…segregation is already legally dead, but it is factually alive.”

Dr. MLK Celebrations But Our Education System Is In A State Of Emergency. I Can Not Celebrate.

I would love to see those who are celebrating to join me at the local school board meetings. Education is the key and we are in a state of emergency. I believe education would take care of 99% of our problems especially if it does not begin and end only in the classroom.

I can not celebrate when Edgecombe County do not have a Boys & Girls Club building. I remember when I just happened to be at South Edgecombe Middle School one day several years ago when they were planning on shutting it down. I got on it and along with others they are still there today.

We need a Boys & Girls Club building in Edgecombe County so the children can have somewhere to go to learn and to play.

I can not celebrate when George Washington Carver High School Pinetops NC now elementary made the gymnasium a multipurpose room when this would have been a great location for the children of Pinetops having somewhere to go play basketball. I remember when that was about to happen but I didn’t get enough interest to help fight that cause. Hell for many years there was not a picture of the black principal Mr. Samuel A. Gilliam in the school. I kept asking about that and finally one has been placed there.

I can not celebrate when the children in Pinetops have no where to go and nothing to do but the adults talk about them getting into trouble.

I can not celebrate when I look at how other schools athletes are more advanced because they have an outlet to play sports year round versus the children of Pinetops be able to play only during the school year.

I can not celebrate when the churches and other groups do not participate in hosting and/or doing things to help our children advance in our communities.

I can not celebrate when I know there is enough monies that the churches and certain folks in the county can come together and build a Boys & Girls Club and/or to provide something positive for the children in Edgecombe County.

Someone would say that I continue to talk about sports. Well there are other things that can be done as well, afterschool programs and etc. When I think of organized sports, I think of discipline because a real coach will be more than just a coach to the children but should be a father/mother figure to them.

Okay so after today Dr. King’s Holiday, what’s next? What can I look forward to? Attending the school board meetings and not seeing other parents and the community there. Attending sporting events and very little parents and the community there supporting their children. The list goes on. Well I am going to continue to be where ever I can for them when I can.

See related:

Dr. MLK

Saunders: Live out the dream every day

Can we, at long last, put the kibosh on the kiddie King orators?

Every third Monday in January, well-meaning people all over America get together to "Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing" and honor Dr. King’s memory. On many of these programs appears a precocious prepubescent prodigy who wows everyone by flawlessly reciting "I Have a Dream."

Whoop-de-doo. (More)

Ol’ Dirty MLK: America’s Most Wanted – The BlackList Pub

by TRUTH Minista Paul Scott ~

He was considered by some the most dangerous man in America. He spent many nights locked up in jail cells. There were constant attempts made on his life. During his last years he was constantly harassed by law enforcement. The real reason for his untimely demise before the age of 40 still remains a mystery. I’m not talking about Grammy nominated rapper Russell "Ol’ Dirty Bastard" Jones," I’m talking about Nobel Peace Prize winner, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr…. (More)

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial To Be Dedicated In D.C. (VIDEO)

WASHINGTON — This Sunday, Aug. 28, 2011, marks the 48th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic "I Have a Dream" speech. It’s also the dedication day for his memorial in Washington, D.C. (Video)

DEDICATING “THE DREAM” by William Reed Columnist

A week of events is planned in Washington, D.C. around the unveiling of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial. The official dedication of the King National Memorial on the National Mall will take place at 11 a.m. Sunday, August 28, 2011, the 48th anniversary of the day King delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. Preceding, and following, the dedication will be star-studded concerts, luncheons, dinners and receptions attended by an array of African-American leadership.

A quarter-million people will gather on and adjacent to the four-acre plot on the northeast corner of the Tidal Basin to dedicate a monument to Martin Luther King’s legacy and its location on American History’s Main Street. The event will feature the first African-American President of the United States as he honors the first African-American with a memorial on the National Mall – and the first non-president so honored. Thousands of contributors and community leaders will join President Barrack Obama at the site. Central to the thinking of Martin Luther King was the concept of the "Beloved Community." The MLK National Memorial’s centerpiece is the “Stone of Hope”, a 30-foot statue of Dr. King, with a 450-foot inscription wall with excerpts of his sermons and public addresses.

The process of designing, funding and constructing the memorial was coordinated by the nonprofit Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation. Harry E. Johnson, Sr., and his Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity deserve credit for arriving at this historical reality. Johnson has served as president and CEO of the foundation since 2002. A former Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity president, Johnson reports that the MLK Memorial cost $120 million to build. The U.S. Congress gave $10 million in matching funds.

In his public invitation, Jonson said: “We look forward to sharing with you a joyous and historic day for our nation”. To many, King symbolizes the Civil Rights era’s great American Revolution. The MLK Memorial to open on August 22. After MLK’s assassination in 1968, his fraternity Alpha Phi Alpha proposed a permanent memorial in Washington, D.C. Alpha Phi Alpha’s efforts gained momentum in 1986, after King’s birthday was designated a national holiday. In 1996, Congress authorized Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt to permit Alpha Phi Alpha to establish a memorial in the District of Columbia, and gave the fraternity until November 2003 to raise $100 million and break ground. In 1998, Congress authorized the fraternity to establish the foundation to manage the fundraising and design and approve building of the memorial.

It was an uphill climb for Johnson’s foundation to build the MLK Memorial. A MLK King Family company, Intellectual Properties Management Inc. proved to be a significant obstacle. The family wanted the foundation to pay licensing fees to use MLK’s name and likeness. The King family pledged that any money would go to the King Center’s charitable efforts. The King Center in Atlanta is the location of King’s grave and a National Historic Site. Established in 1968 by the late Coretta Scott King, the King Center is the official, living memorial dedicated to the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Estimates suggest that the King family charged the MLK Memorial Foundation $800,000 in fees. Now, it’s all “OK” between the foundation and the MLK Family. Children of MLK, Bernice and Martin Luther King III toured the National Mall site in October 2010 and are expected to attend the dedication.

Black Americans have reason to be proud and to be MLK Memorial benefactors. As we raise a toast, it would be “significant” if Blacks contribute to this cause. Most of the MLK Memorial’s construction costs were underwritten by American corporations and organizations such as the National Basketball Association (NBA). General Motors Corporation gave more than $10 million and will serve as dedication chair. The Tommy Hilfiger Corporate Foundation is dedication co-chair, as is Stevie Wonder, who wrote MLK’s “Happy Birthday” song. A minority, female-owned and operated firm, McKissack & McKissack, is a part of the MLK Memorial Design-Build Team. To make a donation, visit www.MLKmemorial.org

(William Reed is available for speaking/seminar projects via BaileyGroup.org)

See related:

William Reed Columnist

CNN Analyst Roland Martin Speaks In Triad – Source: digtriad.com

Winston-Salem, NC — Today is the 25th anniversary of the day Martin Luther King Junior Day was made a national holiday. Federal and state offices were closed, and many students were out of school. Several people used their day off to participate in or attend a Martin Luther King Day parade or other event.

Monday night, Winston-Salem State and Wake Forest Universities hosted a joint Martin Luther King Day event, featuring journalist Roland Martin. Martin is an analyst on CNN, hosts a show on TV ONE, and is an analyst on the Tom Joyner Morning Show. (Read more)

Note: You know words and sense goes hand in hand. Now reading what Martin said about Dr. King and education makes sense. So should we really be mad about children going to school to make up a snow day? You see sometimes we don’t think about the whole picture. C. Dancy II – DCN Publisher

King Holiday Challenge – Okay Powers That Be Such As Churches, Political Leaders, Community Leaders And Others With Resources, I Repeat With Resources

I know some folks don’t like the word lottery. Well I will spend a few dollars a week on the lottery as long as I have the desire and maybe one day I will win but if not I will die trying. I pay county taxes but do my children have access to county recreation and/or is recreation available in my city?

I have always wanted to come into some money so that I could do certain things. Most important is to do things for the youth.

I have always wanted a big house where my children could have other children come over and they could play in a safe and secure environment.

When I was growing up I had it all. I had bicycles, mini bike, motorcycle, basketball goal, pool table and more. Children from the neighborhood came over to my house to play pool and to play basketball. But maybe it was because I came from a one child home where my mother and father both worked public jobs and we farmed also. I say we because I began working when I was 5 years old. No farms today for children to work on.

The only outlet for children in Pinetops to play basketball is outside the Pinetops Old Sparta Community Center. There is no indoor gym that the children have access to although there sits George Washington Carver Elementary School where the gym was converted to a multipurpose room.

G.W. Carver used to be the all black school until the Class of 1971 and it has only been several years since Samuel Gilliam principal picture was placed in the entrance hallway. And actually it is not posted like the principals are at the neighboring white middle school.

Why in the hell did the people of Pinetops black and white allow the gym to be turned into a multipurpose room? Why didn’t the black community and the few black board members put up a fight? Where were the G.W. Carver Alumni? Well why would they put up a fight when black children didn’t have access to the gym over the years since integration. I joined the alumni for one year and it was not for me. I had a dream and it didn’t include the total mission of the alumni because I feel the children need the alumni all during the year and not just at the end of the year when they pass out scholarships. I didn’t graduate from G.W. Carver but went to school there until the 6th grade.

Okay the Annual Dr. MLK March in Edgecombe County that targets the youth was held on Monday January 17, 2011. I think it is called “Lunch with the King” oh how lovely.

So what does the youth in communities like Pinetops, Conetoe, Leggett and other areas where they do not have the luxury of recreation centers like Tarboro has have to do? Why are there no Boys & Girls Club building/s in the county? Hell they been trying to throw the Boys & Girls Clubs out of the schools in the county since way back when. I know because I spoke out against them kicking them out. I served on the Edgecombe County Recreation Advisory Committee (now defunct) years ago and what did we accomplish? Nothing. But we were able to document how they didn’t want the children to play in the county school gyms and/or use their baseball fields during the summer.

I could go on and on with more of my spill however I think more can probably be found on my blogs over the years. Plus I have stated this over and over again at meetings and elsewhere.

So until the powers that be show me just how much they love the children by providing an outlet for the children, the hell with a March, a Banquet and etc. Children are available year after year just like the annual celebration so while you work on the celebration work on something that the youth can benefit from all year.

But how can these folks who say they love Dr. King continue to use our children of Edgecombe County for posters, speeches and etc. during the Dr. King Holiday Weekend but provide no outlet for them. And then we don’t understand why the children do what they do and do not want to come back to Edgecombe County when they go off to college?

I get it, I got it a long time ago especially after becoming an advocate for children back in the early 90’s. I have no regrets because I have done my share to the best of my ability fighting for them. So this is why I don’t have a problem with not attending the Dr. MLK Celebrations in Edgecombe County.

See related:

Dr. MLK Holiday

Dr. Martin L. King Jr. On Cowardice

"Cowardice asks the question: is it safe? Expediency asks the question: is it politic? Vanity asks the question: is it popular? But conscience asks the question: is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular- but one must take it simply because it is right.": Martin Luther King Jr. 1929-1968

AFRICAN AMERICANS DEFY MARTIN LUTHER KING YET CLAIM HIM AS THEIR OWN.

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." MLK.

QUESTION : WHY DID MARTIN LUTHER KING STRESS FOCUS ON CONTENT OF CHARACTER INSTEAD OF ON SKIN COLOR?? (Read more)