The National Black Political Caucus Pittsburgh PA, Letter from Edward L. Mixon, Jr., Fourth Ward Councilman, Steubenville Ohio to John G. Craig Jr. Editor of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette

Black Buzz News Service
Ronald B. Saunders Project
Ronald B. Saunders Papers
Archives of the National Black Political Caucus
Pittsburgh, PA
September 30, 2011

Operation Dig Careers, Inc. 1987 Humanitarian Award Recipient

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Obama Apologist Harris-Perry Says Support Prez Because He’s a “Competent” Black Man

Black Buzz News Service
Washington, D.C.
September 29, 2011

Tue, 09/27/2011 - 22:28 — Glen Ford

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A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford

Melissa Harris-Perry, the political scientist and columnist for The Nation, blames “white liberals” that hold Barack Obama to a “higher standard” for the president’s dwindling white support. Yet all the evidence indicates that Obama’s white support is evaporating most rapidly among ‘independents’ – the white ‘swing voters’ he caters to so slavishly – not reliably ‘liberal’ white Democrats. For some Black Obamites, preserving the icon in the White House is paramount, no matter what his crimes.

Obama Apologist Harris-Perry Says Support Prez Because He’s a “Competent” Black Man

A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford

“Clinton’s crew freed Wall Street predators from regulation, while Barack Obama rescued George Bush’s bank bailout and then put at least $14 trillion dollars into the accounts of finance capitalists around the world.”

Melissa Harris-Perry is one of the saddest examples of how the advent of a Black president has distorted the thinking of some of the most promising African American minds. She is a political scientist who has abandoned all the science of politics in order to build a higher Black Wall around Barack Obama, a war criminal with six simultaneous aggressions now running at full tilt, and the prime facilitator of the most massive transfer of wealth in human history. Writing from her roost at The Nation magazine, Prof. Harris-Perry flails about in search of a progressive position from which to defend the First Black President. There being none, she has to settle for saying that Obama is as competent as any white president – Damn it! – and it is white “liberals” that are bringing Obama down by “holding him to a to a higher standard” than his white predecessors – specifically, Bill Clinton.

Essentially, she contends that Clinton did do bad things to Black and poor Americans and to the cause of peace in the world. Obama’s record is, she maintains, “at the very least, comparable to that of President Clinton, who was enthusiastically re-elected.”

We could stop right there and agree with Prof. Harris-Perry that Bill Clinton and Barack Obama are political peas in a pod, both center-right corporate Democrats at the service of the rich, who are eager to ravage welfare as we used to know it, or Social Security as we still have it. Both presidents specialize in opening the doors to the Republicans that they pretend to be opposing. And yes, Obama is every bit as competent at playing the corporate game as Bill Clinton ever was – much better, in fact. Clinton’s crew freed Wall Street predators from regulation, while Barack Obama rescued George Bush’s bank bailout and then put at least $14 trillion dollars into the accounts of finance capitalists around the world. You can’t top that for competence in the service of finance capital.

“Both presidents specialize in opening the doors to the Republicans that they pretend to be opposing.”

Obama has increased the military budget with utmost competence, surpassing George Bush and putting Bill Clinton to shame in his service to the Pentagon. And, when it comes to mounting a frontal assault on the New Deal and the Great Society, nobody can touch Obama, who came into office with a promise on his lips to put all entitlements on the chopping block, and has succeeded in doing so. He is, without question, not just competent, but a most excellent destroyer of social safety nets.

Prof. Harris-Perry’s beef is that “liberals” do not recognize Obama’s competence. She says these liberals are to blame for Obama’s dramatic fall in white approval ratings. It is true that whites, who gave Obama more of their votes in 2008 than they did Democrat John Kerry in 2004, are threatening to abandon him in 2012. But all the evidence indicates that Obama’s white support is evaporating most rapidly among “independents” – the white “swing voters” he caters to so slavishly – not reliably “liberal” white Democrats. That’s why Obama and his crew dismiss liberals – including Harris-Perry’s left liberal colleagues at The Nation – as having no place else to go, and instead spend all their time wooing the political middle of white America. And that’s the same reason Black people get nothing but ostentatious contempt from the White House. The problem is not white liberal racism, but that too many white liberals and African Americans will stick with Obama no matter what he says or does, and will make themselves look ridiculous – and incompetent – in the process. Prof. Harris-Perry, for example.

For Black Agenda Radio, I’m Glen Ford. On the web, go to BlackAgendaReport.com.

BAR executive editor Glen Ford can be contacted at Glen.Ford@BlackAgendaReport.com

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On Saving the Next Troy Davises

Black Buzz News Service

Washington, D.C.

September 29, 2011

 

 

 

Wed, 09/28/2011 - 12:46 — Bruce A. Dixon

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A Black Agenda Radio Commentary by BAR managing editor Bruce A. Dixon

Troy Davis will be laid to rest this weekend in a public ceremony at Jonesvill Baptist Church in Savannah. The public figures and civil rights honchos who gravitated to his case will have prominent front row seats. What they won't have is an answer to why their kind of movement did not save Troy Davis, or what it will take to save the Troy Davises who will come after this one.

On Saving The Next Troy Davises

A Black Agenda Radio Commentary by BAR managing editor Bruce A. Dixon

From the standpoint of civil rights lawyers and activists, the case of Troy Davis had everything. It had an attractive and well spoken defendant, and an almost transparently false conviction without a murder weapon or any physical evidence. Most of the eyewitnesses recanted, declaring they had perjured themselves under threats from police and prosecutors.

In the tradition of political test cases dating back to the Scottsboro Boys eight decades ago, public prayers, letter writing campaigns, op-eds, demonstrations, meetings, celebrity endorsements and exhortations proceeded around the world while Davis's lawyers worked every available legal angle, managing to bring his case to the Supreme Court not once but twice. By last week, tens of thousands were in the streets declaring their opposition to the death penalty and nearly a million had signed petitions demanding a new trial for Troy Davis. Corporat e news outlets like MSNBC even devoted several hours of breathless “coverage” at the countdown to this legal lynching.

Davis went to his death praying for his accusers and executioners, and talking about the Troy Davises that came before and will come after him. The civil rights style mobilization around his case could not and did not save this Troy Davis, and it will not save the Troy Davises who will come after this one.

It's good that so many people marched and met and prayed and circulated and signed petitions to save Troy Davis. But until we build a movement that stands up for the human rights of ALL the imprisoned, ALL the convicted and formerly incarcerated, including those whose innocence, however you construe that word is not so obvious, and those who may in fact not even be innocent ---- until we stand up for their human rights to education, to jobs and justice including the right to vote, even when behind bars, to health care and a decent chance at life by radically shrinking and ultimately ending the institution of prison, the machinery that convcts the literally innocent will retain its legitimacy and roll on, doing what it has always done.

In other words, coming out to oppose the execution of an attractive, well spoken and clearly innocent person like Troy Davis is low-hanging fruit. It's great that so many people are willing to reach for it. But we will rarely be able to save even these until our movements take conscious, public and deliberate aim at chopping the whole rotten tree down, at de-legitimizing and ending the institution of prison as we know it.

The day we get a million signatures on a petition not just to save an innocent man's life, but to roll back the prison state ---- that will be the day we know we have a movement that can free the next wave of Troy Davises, the day we are close to welcoming them back to help heal and rebuild their own lives, our broken families and our devastated communities.

For Black Agenda Radio, I'm Bruce Dixon. Find us on the web at http://www.blackagendareport.com/.

Bruce A. Dixon is managing editor at Black Agenda Report, and a state committee member of the Georgia Green Party. He lives and works in Marietta GA, and can be reached at bruce.dixon(at)blackagendareport.com.

 

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Top 10 Reasons Obama Should Not Run for Re-Election

Black Buzz News Service
Buzzards Bay, MA
September 29, 2011

The following commentary comes from an independent investor or market observer as part of TheStreet's guest contributor program, which is separate from the company's news coverage.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Let's put it plain and simple: President Barack Obama should not seek re-election. Without these key leadership skills, he will only continue to handicap America's economic recovery.

1. A leader is at his/her best in a crisis. In America's outsized economic crisis, the President is floundering on three urgent tasks: cost reductions, plans to support wealth creation and motivating the nation.

2. A leader is responsible for motivating specific outcomes. When the President is disappointed in an outcome, he blames Congress or his predecessor. 3. Leaders always operate with well-planned strategies for growing wealth. The President's actions are reactive, opportunistic and disjoint. Any growth would be an accident and/or unsustainable.

4. Leaders are constantly preparing for competitive battle. The President's preferential support for organized labor works against America's flexible labor advantage. It also hurts the competitiveness of the nation' education system, industry competitiveness, and government efficiency.

5. Leaders know how to leverage strengths. The President's group orientation is antithetical to two of America's greatest strengths: Its orientations toward the individual and meritocracy.

6. Leaders know how to identify the best global opportunities. In a world of jumbo emerging market opportunities, the President is struggling to get past Panama, Colombia and South Korea.

7. A leader builds consensus. The President sees the relationship between the Democrats and Republicans, and the public and private sectors as we vs. them. This is divisive.

8. A leader's integrity never lapses. The President's perpetual campaigning abuses his position and his use of "witty" rhetoric can stretch the truth and it can be offensive to the American people and those across the aisle.

9. Leaders know how to prioritize their tasks. Prioritizing Obamacare ahead of economic recovery is not what leaders do.

10. A leader never loses focus on improving the foundations for wealth creation that support job creation. The President's incomplete understanding of the private sector often results in damaging this foundation.

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Obama Humiliates the Black Caucus – and They Pretend Not to Notice

Black Buzz News Service

Washington, D. C.

September 28, 2011

The following article was published in the Black Agenda Report

Wed, 09/28/2011 - 13:01 — Glen Ford

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by BAR executive editor Glen Ford

When the going gets rough, beat up on the Blacks. That’s been a rule of American politics for many generations – so why should Barack Obama be any different? “Obama took his church voice to the Congressional Black Caucus annual awards dinner to very pointedly demand that Blacks stop bugging their president about the economic catastrophe that has befallen them, and his own role in it.” Duly chastised, the Black lawmakers accepted their assignment.

Obama Humiliates the Black Caucus – and They Pretend Not to Notice

by BAR executive editor Glen Ford

“Obama has very publicly commanded them to shut up and perform what he believes is their only legitimate function: to get him re-elected.”

This magazine spent much of the 2008 presidential campaign warning that reflexive, unquestioning, uncomplaining support for Barack Obama would render African Americans politically irrelevant for the next four years. “About 90 percent of Black America has allied itself with a candidate that never promised them a damn thing,” we wrote, back on April Fools Day, 2008. One year before, in Selma, Alabama, Obama had first deployed his pseudo-Baptist preacher delivery to announce that Blacks had already come “90 percent of the way” towards equality, strongly inferring that his election would take us the other ten percent of the way, while simultaneously sending “a signal to whites that the days of Black racial agitation were nearly over.”

Earlier in the year, in Reno, Nevada, candidate Obama

“…expressed deep empathy with those Reaganites who had been so repulsed by the ‘excesses of the 1960s and 1970s.’ On Katrina, Obama declared that government ‘incompetence’ after the storm ‘had been colorblind.’ If that were true, then every act of man in the aftermath of the hurricane was racism-free. That was Obama’s position.”

By June of 2008, it was clear to Obama and his handlers that there was no insult that African Americans would not gladly endure – even cheer – for the chance to see one of their own in the Oval Office. For the first time in history, Blacks had made not a single demand in a presidential election; their bamboozlement was complete. A no-risk, public humiliation of Black folks was in order, for the benefit of white voters who might still be wondering if Obama was really the kind of Negro who could be trusted with the keys to the White House. What better day to denigrate Black men, than Father’s Day?

“It was clear to Obama and his handlers that there was no insult that African Americans would not gladly endure – even cheer – for the chance to see one of their own in the Oval Office.”

With a feigned familiarity dripping with contempt, Obama scorned and mocked cardboard characters named “Pookie” and “Ray-Ray” for “acting like boys instead of men,” sitting on the couch watching television while feeding cold chicken to their children who were then let out to roam the streets. "You and I know how true this is in the African-American community," said the candidate.

The larger, intended audience – white people, via corporate media – read the reassuring news: "Obama Tells Black Fathers to Act Like Men" (AFP), "Obama Calls on Black Men to Be Better Fathers" (U.S. News & World Report), "Black Fathers Missing From Too Many Lives" (The Age), "Obama Calls for More Responsibility From Black Fathers" (NYT).

Obama shrewdly chose “the politically conservative (in Black terms) Apostolic Church of God as the venue for his blanket Black male denunciation,” as a reminder to “whites that he was no longer a member of Trinity United Church of Christ, formerly pastored by Rev. Jeremiah Wright, also located on Chicago's South Side,” we wrote.

Like others, we at BAR were outraged:

“Can one imagine Obama or any other presidential aspirant repeatedly hectoring any other ethnic group on moral issues? Singling out Jews for excessive materialism? The Irish for excessive drinking? Of course not; that would be unfair and politically suicidal. But there are large regions of the white body politic in which it is not only acceptable, but damn near required, that politicians demonstrate their impatience with the alleged moral shortcomings of Black people. Barack Obama trolls for votes in those foul waters, at the cost of Black people's dignity.”

“Can one imagine Obama or any other presidential aspirant repeatedly hectoring any other ethnic group.”

Three years later, in the same week that he bowed down to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before the assembled nations of the world, in New York City, Obama took his church voice to the Congressional Black Caucus annual awards dinner to very pointedly demand that Blacks stop bugging their president about the economic catastrophe that has befallen them, and his own role in it. “Take off your bedroom slippers. Put on your marching shoes,” Obama hectored. “Shake it off. Stop complainin’. Stop grumblin’. Stop cryin’. We are going to press on. We have work to do.”

Black Caucus chairman Rep. Emanuel Cleaver had earlier told reporters, “If Bill Clinton had been in the White House and had failed to address this [Black unemployment] problem, we probably would be marching on the White House." But Obama came to lay down the law: any marching that you might do will be for my re-election.

The well-oiled crowd cheered.

Los Angeles congresswoman Maxine Waters seemed to be the only Black lawmaker capable of an adult response:

“I’m not sure who the president was addressing. I found that language a bit curious. The president spoke to the Hispanic Caucus… he certainly didn’t tell them to stop complaining and he never would say that to the gay and lesbian community who really pushed him on don’t ask don’t tell or even in a speech to APEC, he would never say to the Jewish community stop complaining about Israel.”

But she won’t hold it against Obama.

“So I don’t know who he was talking to because we’re certainly not complaining. We are working. We support him and we are protecting that base because we want people to be enthusiastic about him when that election rolls around.”

Texas congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee said she “didn’t take offense” at Obama’s language or tone. “I believe I know his heart,” she told PBS host Tavis Smiley who, along with Princeton Prof. Cornel West, has stepped out of the ranks to oppose the president on his record. “The president came in the armor of a brother or a sister,” said Jackson-Lee. “The captain was trying to say, I’m in charge, I want you with me.” The Caucus will continue “crying and complaining, yes we will,” about the pain of their constituents. “We will continue to press the envelope.”

Press what? The Black Caucus, as a body, meekly murmured and mumbled as the administration transferred the equivalent of the U.S. gross domestic product to the banks while Black America disintegrated. Now, with Obama’s numbers falling, he has very publicly commanded them to shut up and perform what he believes is their only legitimate function: to get him re-elected. In the looming contest, he will again resort to Black-baiting whenever it is useful to shore up white support. In that – as with his foreign and domestic policies – Obama is no different than white corporate politicians. His one great distinction, is to have a core constituency that cares more for his security and dignity, than their own.

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Fact-checking claims about Obama's jobs bill

Black Buzz News Service
Tampa, Florida
September 16, 2011

By Louis Jacobson
Published on Friday, September 16th, 2011 at 10:46 a.m.

Congress hasn’t even taken up President Barack Obama’s jobs bill yet, but supporters and critics have already been praising or criticizing aspects of the proposal. We’ve taken a look at three claims about the bill, two by critics and one by a supporter.
The supporter, Rep. David Scott, D-Ga., claimed during a Sept. 9 interview for local National Public Radio affiliate WABE-FM that the bill is "targeted so that no longer will states have to lay off teachers, and it’s specified in its language," Scott said. "Teachers, firefighters, police officers -- people that we need."

PolitiFact Georgia wrote that the president’s jobs bill does set aside $35 billion for teachers, firefighters and police officers, and it does specify that the bulk of the money go to jobs, rather than administrative costs. This means that even though Scott overstated his claim, the bill is "targeted," as he said, to keep these government employees from being laid off.

Still, PolitiFact Georgia added that while the money could prevent many layoffs, there’s no hard evidence that governments would "no longer" have to let go of employees. His claim has accurate elements, but it’s overstated and could use more context. His claim earned a rating of Half True.

One of the critics, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., took aim at one of the provisions of Obama’s jobs bill in a Sept. 14, 2011, blog post.

The post was headlined, "President Obama's Tax On Soup Kitchens," and it criticized a tax provision included in Obama’s jobs bill.

"Yesterday, it was announced that an astounding one in six Americans are living in poverty," Cantor's blog post said. "President Obama's response? To demand a tax on donations to soup kitchens and other charities that help people desperately in need. The president's proposal will impact approximately 40 percent of all the tax deductible contributions, and essentially penalize soup kitchens, hospitals, and churches that provide essential services to those who need them most. It’s no wonder this tax hike has been rejected on both sides of the aisle."

PolitiFact found that a provision of the bill would generate income by limiting how much certain high-income taxpayers can deduct for charitable donations. That gives slightly less favorable tax treatment to charitable donations, a fraction of which may reach soup kitchens, for a small segment of the tax-paying population. But we concluded that the blog post’s headline exaggerated what the bill did and suggested that Obama actively targeted soup kitchens. We gave it a rating of Mostly False.

Another critic, Fox News host Sean Hannity said on his Sept. 13, 2011, show that under Obama’s bill,"you can sue if you are unemployed and don't get the job and think you weren't hired because you are unemployed."

We found that Hannity was correct. The bill prohibits employers from publishing help-wanted ads that disqualify people who are unemployed, and bars employers from failing to consider or hire an individual "because of the individual's status as unemployed." The bill places similar restrictions on employment agencies.

As for enforcement of the new provision, the bill says that "a court of the United States shall have the same jurisdiction and powers as the court has to enforce ... Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964" -- the landmark provision that bans employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin.

We rated Hannity’s statement True.



Mary's Rock Tunnel
Shenandoah National Park, Virginia
At Mile 32.4, the only tunnel on the Skyline Drive goes through a 600 foot wall of solid rock.  It was built in 1932, and has a clearance of only 13 feet.



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Robinson's and Saunders Gather for Thanksgiving Dinner at the Family Home on Francis Street,1988

Black Buzz News Service
Beatrice L. Saunders Robinson Project
Saunders-Robinson Archives
Pittsburgh, PA
September 15, 2011



Seated from left to right: Janey Lee Saunders, daughter of Thomas J. Saunders, Thomas J. Saunders, son of Beatrice L. Saunders Robinson, Mina Saunders, wife of Thomas J. Saunders, Thomas John Saunders III, son of Thomas J. Saunders; standing from left to right: James S. Robinson, Jr. Wanda Lee Ann Saunders, daughter of Thomas J. Saunders and Beatrice L. Saunders Robinson 




Beatrice L. Saunders Robinson with her granddaughter Carmen Lisa Michele Saunders Moniz at Lisa's home in Georgia in 2003











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Photo of Bridal Shower for Mary Work Held in Beatrice L. Saunders' Home on Francis Street, 1948

Black Buzz News Service
Beatrice L. Saunders Robinson Project
Saunders-Robinson Archives
Pittsburgh, PA
September 15, 2011



Some of the persons featured in the picture are: Mary Work who is sitting in the center, directly behind Mary Work is Adah Lavelle, wife of the late Robert Lavelle, sitting down second from the left is Lorraine Brown, sister of James S. Robinson, Jr. also sitting on the floor on the right is Beatrice L. Saunders Robinson and standing fourth from the left is Toki Johnson, Women's Editor of the Pittsburgh Courier.



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Francis Street Friendly Circle Club Donates a Television Set to the Centre Avenue YMCA in 1949

Black Buzz News Service
Beatrice L. Saunders Robinson Project
Saunders-Robinson Archives
Pittsburgh, PA
September 15, 2011



Pictured on the right is Roma Hatcher, one of the founders of the Francis Street Friendly Circle.  Second on the right is Beatrice L. Saunders, president of the Francis Street Friendly Circle.



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Photo of Beatrice L. Saunders Robinson and Willa Mae Rice on Their Way to the Annual Courier Page One Ball, 1977: In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Pittsburgh Courier

Black Buzz News Service

Beatrice L. Saunders Robinson Project
Saunders-Robinson Archives
Pittsburgh, PA
September 15, 2011



Pictured on the left is Beatrice L. Saunders Robinson, Office Manager. On the right is Willa Mae Rice, Lifestyle Editor. 



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1977 Photo of the Harty Bible School Alumni Association Officers

Black Buzz News Service
Beatrice L. Saunders Robinson Project
Saunders-Robinson Archives
Pittsburgh, PA
September 15, 2011


The above picture are officers of the Harty Bible School Alumni Association before the Annual Alumni Dinner in 1977.  Beatrice L. Saunders Robinson, president of the Alumni Association,  is pictured fourth from the right.  Mrs. Robinson is the only person to serve two terms as president of the Alumni Association.  









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Pittsburgh's First Indoor Horse Show--Socialites Participate in Benefit for Hill City Youth Municipality

Black Buzz News Service
James S. Robinson, Jr. Project
Robinson Family Archives
Slippery Rock, PA
September 8, 2011

The first indoor horse show in Pittsburgh was held for the benefit of the Hill City Youth Municipality.  The Hill City Youth Municipality Program was the first Juvenile Delinquency Crime Prevention Program in the United States and was highly acclaimed.

                                            

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Teen-Age Boys Exhibit True American Spirit

Black Buzz News Service
James S. Robinson, Jr. Project
Robinson Family Archives
Slippery Rock, PA
September 5, 2011

           

They're Pals Now---Alfred Cleveland, Fifth Avenue High School student (left) shakes hands with John Fuimara of Dinwiddie Street, in the office of James Robinson, Hill City director, following a dispute which reportedly almost caused a riot near  Fifth Avenue School last Thursday evening.  Robinson looks on as the two boys make up.  Both youths said they knew nothing about  riot rumors which had circulated throughout the district.

           

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Photo of the 1945 Hill City Staff, Featuring James S. Robinson, Jr. in the Middle of the Back Row

Black Buzz News Service
James S. Robinson, Jr. Project
Robinson Family Archives
Slippery Rock, PA
September 5, 2011
                           The Hill City Youth Municipality Staff, 1945

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