Month: August 2020

On Friday, August 21, 2020, a racially diverse group of about 30 Baltimore City residents protested outside the United States Postal Service (USPS) office in Govans to air their grievances about the USPS mess. They made their voices known. Signs read: “I Love the Post Office,” “Black Votes Matter,” “Save Our Post Office to Safeguard Mail-in Voting For Nov. 3 Election.”

Courtney Jenkins, a postal worker, served as the main speaker.

They voiced that the taking out of processors and mailboxes, instituting speed-ups, and conducting other so-called reforms remain detrimental. These things put profits ahead of workers and postal customers. Wealthy businessman Louis DeJoy who was a major contributor to President Trump’s election campaign serves as the postmaster general.

According to pundits, many of these issues at the USPS preceded President Trump. However, he has made the situation worse by instituting changes during the year of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a presidential election. Now, the perception is that Trump is using this effort to stymy mail-in ballots for the upcoming November 3 presidential election.

In the past, Democrats, as well as Republicans, manipulated to get their president into office. A case still talked about is that of former Chicago Mayor Daley, now deceased. He reportedly got Kennedy elected in a close race with Nixon. When Kennedy was elected in 1960, the Illinois ballots were among the last to be reported. These electoral votes would make Kennedy the president.

Sources said that a television commentator said that Mayor Daley was out late counting graves of deceased Chicago residents to assure a Kennedy win. Although never proven, the story still demands merit. Then, Blacks were disenfranchised by Democrats in the South and now by Republicans.

Trump’s machinations misleadingly sound the alarm of voter fraud. He says that mail-in ballots create increased voter fraud and slows down of ballot counts. DeJoy’s actions correspond with Trump’s assertions, which are pitted against postal workers.

In the old days, obtaining a job for working-class Blacks in the post office was a gem. Blacks unable to attend college found the post office and industrial jobs attractive good-paying jobs in cities where Blacks resided. The environment was freer from racism than other work venues with half-decent pay and benefits.

I remember seeing the Off-Broadway play Big Time Buck White, as a young man. One of the characters said, “He got a good job working at the post office.” Blacks in the audience laughed because it rang true. “It still is,” said Courtney Jenkins, a postal worker of twelve years.

These jobs fostered Black migration to the north and west. According to the Pew Foundation, 23 percent of the workforce at the USPS is Black.

I place my bets on workers, to tell the truth over DeJoy and Trump. Allow workers to handle logistics, equipment and routes with pay increments. Get customer input. Then, they will be essential workers.

Dr. Morgan is a scholar-activist and former educator at Coppin State University. He can be reached at kmorgan2408@comcast.net.

This month marks the 55th anniversary of the passage of the Voting Rights Act (VRA), one of the most powerful pieces of civil rights legislation in our history. The passage of the VRA into law was the result of decades of struggle and sacrifice and was truly a shining moment in our history.

Unfortunately, the struggle to ensure that all Americans have the right and opportunity to vote not only continues today, we have actually suffered significant losses on this front over the past decade. Some of the most critical protections of the VRA, designed to remove legal barriers at state and local levels that prevented African Americans from voting, were essentially gutted by a devastating 2013 Supreme Court decision. With one stroke of the pen, the Court set us back decades and created an environment where we’ve seen numerous court challenges to voting rights and other legal measures designed to further weaken the protections of the VRA. All resulting in suppression of African American and minorities participating in the process.

Add to this this the fact that many states are imposing strict voter ID laws, cutting voting times, restricting registration, and purging voter rolls. These efforts have kept significant numbers of eligible voters from the polls in recent elections, hitting all Americans, but placing special burdens on racial minorities, poor people and young and old voters.

Adding to these now restored obstacles are new impediments — polling places consolidated in urban areas to make lines longer (and scarier given the poorly contained reach of the deadly coronavirus) and attempts to throw shade on mail-in ballots. Despite the fact that the evidence shows us that absentee voting is safe and secure.

Time for Good Trouble

It comes to this: Americans are being cut out of the process by other Americans. A great victory, fought for on bloody streets and across bloody bridges, a score settled and signed into law all those years ago has been compromised in the courts. Time to despair? Nope. It sounds to me like it’s time again for some good trouble.

Good trouble was what American hero and Congressman John Lewis called the struggle for this all-important right of every American. Lewis, a Democrat from Georgia, served in the House of Representatives from 1987 until his death last month, spent decades working as an organizer and activist, was a founding member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and original freedom rider. He helped organize the March on Washington in lockstep with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and A. Phillip Randolph. He walked into a beating from Alabama state troopers who cracked his head bloody and gassed him along with hundreds of marchers in the cause of voting rights on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama in 1965.

He witnessed and rejoiced in the passage of the VRA alongside his fellow freedom marchers and years later, would have to see the Supreme Court decimate the act. Lewis knew that the court’s decision would reopen the door to voter suppression, but he refused to give in to defeat.

Here is what he had to say about our struggle: “Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.”

Now, It’s Up to Us

So, I say we cannot afford to let go of making good trouble. When U.S. Senator Doug Jones of Alabama said at Lewis’ memorial service, “It is the young among us in Alabama and across this nation who can heal what we have failed to heal in our lifetimes, no matter how hard John tried,” Senator Jones made note that Lewis had been heartened by today’s young activists.

“He confidently looked around and said, ‘All is well,’” said Jones. “‘It is time for the torch to be passed. It is time for me to let go.’”

That torch, brothers and sisters, is for us.

And I would say we have taken hold of it. Today you are seeing it in our protests against police brutality and racism. People standing up for their inherent civil rights. For the right to live, to move about, to vote. You see the numbers and the strength and the outrage.

Today you are seeing it in the House of Representatives, which most recently passed the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, a bill intended to restore the vote to Americans — mostly Black, Latino, and Native Americans — who were disenfranchised by the 2013 decision.

The Voting Rights Advancement Act restores the full protections of the original, bipartisan Voting Rights Act of 1965. It also creates a new coverage formula that applies to all states and addresses measures that have historically been used to discriminate against voters.

A time for action, not despair

Predictably, full passage has been stalled in the Senate, but “our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year,” right? We are fighting the long fight and making good trouble. And we need to see the numbers and the strength and the outrage at the polls.

In a few months, we will be voting in one of the most important elections of our time. You need to make your voice count. Make it count in spite of those who would stop you. Voting is necessary to make the real change we need in this country. We must unite and come together to elect leaders who are committed to reform and to working people. The only way to do that is to vote.

More than 30 states have approved ballot initiatives to allow absentee voting without an excuse. Check out your situation in your state and however you choose to vote, please make your voice heard this November.

Those who read my column know that I am a union man. I can say unequivocally as far as the UAW is concerned, we are not new to John Lewis’ fight. For decades, the UAW has fought alongside freedom marching men and women to ensure that individual rights are honored.

At a time when far too many eligible voters are wrongly turned away from the polls – or simply don’t have access to them – we must rededicate ourselves to increasing participation among eligible voters.

John Lewis said at the 1963 March on Washington in front of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and UAW President Walter Reuther, “I appeal to all of you to get into this great revolution that is sweeping this nation. Get in and stay in the streets of every city, every village and hamlet of this nation until true freedom comes, until the revolution of 1776 is complete.”

In that idea, Congressman Lewis is still right here standing before more bridges that need crossing. Only by voting, can we get to the other side.

Millennials and a younger generation are the targets of the fourth installment of The HeroZona Foundation’s Bridge Forum, which takes place at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 25, at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Phoenix Tempe.

The event is an addition to the Foundation’s series discussing systemic racism in America, and the special segment will include young leaders from various public and private Arizona organizations advocating for change. The invitation-only event is again moderated by National Newspaper Publishers Association President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr.

Supported by the City of Tempe and Greater Phoenix Leadership, the forum will also be live streamed to the public on TheBridgeForum.com.

“When it comes to major policy change, too often we only speak with elected officials like me,” Tempe Mayor Corey Woods stated in a news release. “It’s important that when we talk about the needs of the next generation, we actually include them in these conversations. That is why I am proud to support the Next Generation Bridge Forum. This event will place a much-needed spotlight on the voices of young leaders who are out in the community making change in unique ways. I look forward to learning the different perspectives of these six exceptionally impressive panelists.”

HeroZona Foundation Founder and U.S. Army Desert Storm Veteran Alan “AP” Powell, said the point of the Bridge Forum series is to be as forward thinking as possible when addressing these difficult issues. “These young voices are the ones who are going to lead us into the future, which is why this installment will be so impactful. We are excited to give them the platform to voice their ideas on how to spark change,” Powell declared.

Not only are these discussions timely but “having this group of young leaders presenting solution-oriented ideas is crucial in inspiring change,” said Ted Trembath, general manager of the Embassy Suites by Hilton Phoenix Tempe. “We are honored to be the host of an event that is truly pushing us toward a better future.”

The event will include a mix of panelists from young prominent community members to policy experts, Powell said.

It includes West Mesa Precinct Judge Elaissia Sears, Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministries Allen Kevin Hunter, Arizona NAACP Youth & College President and organizer of several Phoenix Black Lives Matter protests Armonee D. Jackson, Phoenix Suns Community & Player Programs Senior Coordinator Shaquin Albrow, Arizona Coalition for Change Civic Engagement Director Sena Mohammed, and 100 Black Men of Phoenix Health & Wellness Committee Chairman Navarro Whitaker. Also taking place during the event, 19-year-old local poet Jasmin Artaisha will be performing a piece titled “Can’t Breathe”, based on the murder of George Floyd.

“The voices of young Black leaders in the Valley are crucial to how we move our community forward in Arizona,” Judge Sears stated. “Bridging the gap between seasoned leaders and those who are coming after them allows us the opportunity to achieve greater objectives together.”

The forum is supported by City of Tempe Mayor Corey Woods, Arizona State Representative for District 9 Greg Stanton, Arizona State Representative for District 26 Athena Salman, Maricopa Country District 1 Supervisor Jack Sellers, and Greater Phoenix Leadership President and CEO Neil G. Giuliano.

For more information about the Bridge Forum and to stream its upcoming event on Tuesday, August 25, visit TheBridgeForum.com.

The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) is the nation’s oldest and largest trade association of Black-owned newspapers and media companies. Our NNPA member publishers hire employees, but we also hire a large number of independent contractors across America to accomplish the work and success of the Black Press.

In the tradition of African American business development, many independent contractors in our communities subsequently become the proprietors of their own businesses.

The point here is that today, across the state of California (and for seemingly counterproductive reasons), public policies, laws and regulations are being passed to prevent companies such as Lyft and Uber from having independent contractors drive and conduct related business across the state.

This is another glaring example of good intentions causing bad consequences, specifically for Black Americans, Latinx Americans and other people of color who are trying to work as independent contractors on a legitimate path to becoming sustainable and profitable entrepreneurs.

Systemic racism in America today has many varied and debilitating manifestations that keep a knee on the necks of people of color striving to achieve success, empowerment and lift themselves out of poverty. In my view, the proposed California law, Assembly Bill 5, is unconstitutional and racist. Other states should become aware and alarmed by these non-progressive and regressive regulations.

We have a fundamental right to participate in the emerging gig-economy. Black independent contractors who drive as a means of entrepreneurship do matter.

In fact, all Black Riders Matter. There are hundreds of thousands of people of color riders who depend daily on Lyft, Uber and other ride share companies to provide transportation and other vital services in particular during the devastating COVID-19 pandemic.

A court in California just issued a temporary “stay” on restricting rideshare operations in the state over the independent contractor issue. The court ruling should be made permanent while civil rights and business leaders work together to undo the unjust and unfair rideshare regulations that may negatively impact millions of people throughout America.

The quality of life needs and aspirations of Black Americans and others should not be relegated to the political or exclusive whims of those who do not really care about the empowerment of our families and communities in California and across the nation. This is a growing national issue and I cannot and will not remain silent.