New Haven Court Ruling Creates New Legal Standard That Restricts Equal Employment Opportunity

The Supreme Court decision in Ricci v. DeStefano is a step backward from the goal of equal employment opportunity. A narrow majority of the Court created a new legal standard that places additional hurdles in front of employers seeking to fulfill their obligations under this nation's core antidiscrimination law. The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) is disappointed that five Justices departed from well-established precedents that were properly applied by the courts below.

"The Supreme Court's interpretation imposes new burdens on employers and makes it more difficult to maintain a discrimination-free workplace," said John Payton, LDF President and Director-Counsel.

The four dissenting Justices, who joined an opinion authored by Justice Ginsburg, accurately explained the critical need for robust compliance with federal civil rights laws, especially in fire departments, which have historically and notoriously denied employment to African Americans, other people of color, and women. Justice Ginsburg criticized the majority for telling only half the story and ignoring that "[f]irefighting is a profession in which the legacy of racial discrimination casts an especially long shadow."

Although we have made some progress as a nation, discrimination in firefighting jobs remains a significant problem. Just this year, the U.S. Department of Justice entered into settlement agreements requiring Portsmouth, Virginia and Dayton, Ohio to cease using discriminatory procedures to hire firefighters.

"Faced with the reality of continuing racial exclusion, an employer has a responsibility to abandon unfair employment practices and adopt those that are fair and effective," said John Payton, LDF President and Director-Counsel.

While the Court's ruling unnecessarily invalidates New Haven's actions, the majority opinion does not forbid employers from careful and deliberate efforts to develop employment selection procedures that fairly predict workplace success without fencing out entire groups. The Court's majority recognized that "employers' voluntary compliance efforts . . . are essential to [our civil rights laws] and to Congress's efforts to eradicate workplace discrimination." LDF believes that ultimately, employers will be able to comply with this decision and continue to take vigorous steps to ensure equal opportunity for all workers.

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Ward Connerly watch: Ward Connerly's anti-Affirmative Action initiative will be back on the ballot in Arizona

Well it appears our old friend Ward Connerly is at it again. Connerly's effort to outlaw affirmative action programs and any special programs or preferences for women and minorities will be back on the ballot in Arizona next year.

On a 17-11 vote the Arizona State Senate gave final approval to a proposed constitutional amendment which purports to prohibit preferential treatment or discrimination by government on the basis of race, sex or ethnic origin. The measure, which already has been approved by the House, will now be placed on the 2010 ballot.

A similar initiative drive in 2008 failed when backers failed to gather enough signatures.

Federal courts have long-since outlawed numerical quotas that spell out that a certain percentage of school admissions, jobs or contracts must go to minorities or women. But judges have upheld various "affirmative action' programs designed to help those whose groups have been underrepresented. And the courts also have allowed certain bid preferences if the government can show that minority or women are not getting a share of contracts.

But Ward Connerly hopes to end all that. His deceptively simple language would formally prohibit any outreach efforts to women and minority owned businesses. It would also prohibit informational forums, such as "how to do business with the City" type forums if they were at all targeted towards providing information to under-represented groups. In short, it would prohibit any official efforts to address under-representation or disproportionalities in public employment, contracting, or education.

So if 99.3% of City contracting dollars were spent with firms headed by white males (as once was the case here in Wichita) that would be fair in the eyes of Connerly. But if that same City were to host informational forums designed to encourage more Women and Minority owned firms to bid on City contracts, that would be an offense to Connerly's sense of justice, hence the need for his tireless efforts to protect the strong and connected from the tyranny of the weak or disadvantaged.

Connerly talks mo' shit than a little bit about fairness and the elimination of preferences and unfair advantage, but make no mistake, Connerly is no 'King'... Ward Connerly is the President and CEO of Connerly & Associates, a California based lobbying firm. Connerly & Associates clients have included the Roofing Contractors Association of California, California Building Officials, the California Vendors Policy Committee, the Roofing Contractors Association of Southern California, and the Associated Roofing Contractors of Northern California. C&A also originates home repair loans, does housing rehabilitation consulting and administers community development block grants.

His efforts are funded by individuals such as:

John Moores: a San Diego-based software millionaire, developer and owner of the San Diego Padres, and chairman of JMI Realty. Moores contributed $400,000 to Connerly’s losing 2003 Prop 54 campaign in California, the so-called Racial Privacy Initiative, which sought to forbid the state from collecting statistics on race and gender. Moores worked with Connerly on the University of California board of trustees, and was censured by the board for releasing his own study criticizing UC admissions policies as favoring minorities. He resigned in November 2007.

Harlan Crow: Considered by Connerly “one of the most important” of his “major allies.” Crow, son of Dallas real estate tycoon Trammell Crow, owns Crow Realty Investors and is president of Crow Holdings, a real estate company.

Thomas L. Rhodes: Co-founder and director of Connerly’s organizations, who along with Zamrzla played a key role in Connerly’s decision to launch the “Super Tuesday” campaign. Rhodes has been vice chairman since 1998 (and a board member since 1996), of the Clearwater, Florida-based American Land Lease, which is engaged in the ownership, development and financing of residential land lease communities. Rhodes sits on the board of directors of the Bradley Foundation, which has contributed millions of dollars to Connerly’s ACRI.

John Uhlmann: Chairman of the Kansas City-based Jabez Territories LLC, which provides construction, general contracting and development services, and is another major backer of Connerly’s initiatives.

John Zamrzla: President and chief executive officer of the Western Pacific Roofing Corporation and a former president of the Chicago-based National Roofing Contractors Association. Zamrzla serves as Connerly’s American Civil Rights Institute (ACRI) board chair. He has also been identified by Connerly as one of “the directors of the American Civil Rights Coalition.”

To be clear, Ward Connerly is no friend of Civil Rights, level playing fields, or fundamental fairness. He is simply a professional lobbyist, funded by Contractors, Developers, and Real Estate Executives, ALL of whom stand to benefit if Connerly can eliminate the competition by re-writing state constitutions and rolling back civil rights programs that help level the playing field for qualified minorities and women.

It is particularly telling that Connerly who publicly affects a moral opposition to preferences, never actually seeks to eliminate all preferences... His efforts in education have never addressed legacy preferences, specific geographic preferences, or preferences awarded to the alumnus of certain pre-determined 'Top" schools, all of which overwhelmingly accrue to the majority. All of which have escaped his scrutiny and his outrage in each and every campaign he's launched.

While he purports to be a man opposed to discrimination in contracting and employment, it is also peculiar that neither Connerly nor his "Civil Right$" institute have ever offered a bill, policy, or proposition to address the underlying institutional discrimination and/or disproportionalities that affirmative action plans were intended to counteract.

While appropriating the language and cloaking his agenda under the mantle of Civil Rights, Ward Connerly is merely continuing his antithetical, multi-state, highly funded, deceptive and disingenuous defense of the status-quo.

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National HIV Testing Day

Did you know that 25-30% of all Kansas HIV/AIDS cases are from the Wichita/Sedgwick County area? Getting tested gives individuals power to lessen the spread and affects of this disease. Additionally, early detection can provide a person with better treatment options—prolonging quality of life.

The Sedgwick County Health Department will recognize National HIV Testing Day by providing free, confidential, rapid-results tests at the Colvin Recreation Center, 2820 South Roosevelt on Friday, June 26, 2009. Free rapid tests will be available from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at this site. Results will be available within twenty minutes.

Free tests will also be available at the 2716 W Central Health Department location; however these tests will not be rapid results tests. Call the Health Department at 316-660-7300 with questions.

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Supreme Court Ruling Leaves in Place Core Provision of the Voting Rights Act

On Monday, the Supreme Court in Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District Number One v. Holder rejected a challenge to the constitutionality of Section 5, the core provision of the Voting Rights Act.

In an opinion authored by Chief Justice Roberts, the Supreme Court recognized that "the historic accomplishments of the Voting Rights Act are undeniable." Todays ruling, which was joined by seven other Justices, recognizes Section 5's critical importance in addressing voting discrimination faced by citizens throughout our country.

"Section 5 remains critical to our democracy and, however grudgingly, the Court acknowledges that in its opinion today. In an unusually harmonious opinion, today's decision upholds the constitutionality of an essential core protection in our democracy," said John Payton, NAACP LDF Director-Counsel. Payton observed that "Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act protects and shields the rights of minority voters from discrimination. Section 5 has long been symbolic of our nation's long and unsteady march toward greater political equality. Without its protections, our nation would unnecessarily face the grave risk of significant backsliding and retrenchment in the fragile gains that have been made."

The Court's ruling ensures that minority voters will continue to have the safeguards provided by the Section 5 preclearance process. The Court expanded the number of places that can seek to "bailout" or exempt themselves from preclearance. However, no Section 5-covered jurisdiction can do so without demonstrating a clean bill of health for a ten-year period.

Writing the court's main opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts said the Texas utility district should be eligible to seek an exemption from provisions requiring federal approval for any changes to local elections.

The court held that the Texas district could apply for exemption even though it does not register voters, like states, counties, parishes and other sub-units that were the primary targets of the Act.

The "bailout" provision has proven workable and achievable for those jurisdictions that have sought it. It remains to be seen how the Court's interpretation of the bailout provision will impact enforcement of Section 5. If, for any reason, today's ruling renders Section 5 unworkable in the future, Congress could always amend the statute.

"The utility district brought this case to tear out the heart of the Voting Rights Act. Today, it failed. The Voting Rights Act remains one of Congress's greatest legacies," said Debo P. Adegbile, LDF Director of Litigation, who argued the case on behalf of Appellee-Intervenors.

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South Carolina State NAACP releases a public statement and calls for a proper apology for the Michelle Obama 'Gorilla' comment

Dr. Lonnie Randolph, President of the South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP has released the following statement in response to racist comments made by SC state political figure Rusty DePass:

"The NAACP condemns the statements of former South Carolina GOP activist and State Election Commission Chairman Rusty DePass linking First Lady Michelle Obama to an ape that recently escaped from a local zoo. We demand a proper apology from Mr. DePass to Mrs. Obama and to the citizens of South Carolina who are terribly offended by his remarks.

"Mr. DePass’ remarks are a chilling reminder of the pervasive nature of racial bias in South Carolina which readily infects all aspects of everyday life. This unfortunate fact informs us that we must all work to eliminate such offensive references as they do influence our thoughts, our conversations, our choices, and our actions toward others. We clearly have more work to do to ensure that the symbols and attitudes that we promote in our society respect the dignity of every American regardless of their race or ethnicity.”

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Action Alert: NAACP calls on the US Senate for swift enactment of expanded Hate crime prevention and protection legislation

The ISSUE:
Hate crimes remain a festering and horrifying problem in the United States. This form of domestic terrorism is designed to intimidate whole communities on the basis of personal and immutable characteristics – and can spark widespread neighborhood conflicts, even damaging the very fabric of our society. Although there are laws on the books that help deter hate crimes and protect their victims, significant gaps remain unfilled. Sadly, the number of hate crimes in America continues to increase, and the number of "hate groups" (an organization that promotes hate or violence towards members of an entire class of people, based on characteristics such as race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation) in the United States increased to 926 in 2008, up 54 percent since 2000. Just last week, our nation was horrified to witness another hate crime at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.

Currently, the federal government is allowed to intervene in the investigation and prosecution of hate crimes only if they occur on federal property or if the victim was participating in one of six very specific activities, such as voting. The "Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act" (H.R. 1913, introduced by Congressman John Conyers, MI) would expand existing hate crime prevention laws and allow the federal government to assist the local authorities in the investigation and prosecution of crimes motivated by hate, regardless of where or what the victim was doing at the time the crime occurred. It would also expand the definition of a hate crime to include those motivated by the victim's disability, gender or sexual orientation and it would provide money to states to develop hate crime prevention programs. H.R. 1913 passed the House of Representatives on April 29, 2009, by a vote of 249 yeas to 145 nays. We are now awaiting Senate action, where Senator Kennedy (MA) has introduced companion legislation, S. 909.

In short, this proposed hate crimes prevention legislation would allow the federal government to work with state and local authorities to prevent or, if necessary, punish hate crimes to the fullest extent possible. While the NAACP believes that states should continue to play the primary role in the prosecution of hate crime violence, a federal law is needed to compliment state statutes and assist the states in securing the very complicated and expensive cases through prosecution.

Please Click here for the action we need you to take...

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS IMPORTANT MATTER!!!
If you have any questions, call Hilary Shelton at the Washington Bureau at (202) 463-2940.

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NCLB + Title I + The Stimulus package = a Loophole: Increased vigilance required in education

I’ve never been a big fan of the No Child Left Behind Act. I can certainly appreciate and even applaud the goals of the bill. But as a practical matter, its reliance on high-stakes testing as a catalyst for improvement is an ineffective means to increase educational attainment. In truth, the achievement gap can no more be closed by testing than a fever could be cured with a thermometer. Reform is a matter of methodology, not measurement, and in that respect NCLB falls short.

But one thing that NCLB Has done, and done quite effectively, is it has kept the achievement gap and the disparities between high poverty urban schools and their suburban counterparts at the forefront. Under NCLB, districts are forced to generate and respond to disaggregated data, to make that data available to parents, and to take deliberate and conscious steps towards improving student achievement and eliminating disparities. Title I schools (those being schools with high concentrations of economically disadvantaged students) face stiff sanctions under NCLB if they are not able to show that all sub-groups within the school are meeting established standards referred to as Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP).

Title I schools are subject to these penalties and sanctions because they receive allocations of Federal funds specifically intended to mitigate the challenges posed by urban poverty. Non-Title I schools are exempt from NCLB sanctions, but may be subject to guidance provided from the State.

NCLB Sanctions

First Year a school does not make Adequate Yearly Progress
No Sanction

Second Year a school does not make Adequate Yearly Progress
No Sanction

Third Year a school does not make Adequate Yearly Progress
“On Improvement”
The school must write a School Improvement Plan and must offer parents Choice

Fourth Year a school does not make Adequate Yearly Progress
“On Improvement”
The school must offer Choice and Supplementary Educational Services

Fifth Year a school does not make Adequate Yearly Progress
“Corrective Action”
The school must offer Choice, Supplementary Educational Services, and take at least one of the following Corrective Actions:

replace school staff relevant to the failure

institute and implement a new curriculum

significantly decrease management authority in the school

appoint outside experts to advise the school

extend school year or school day

restructure internal organization of the school

Sixth Year a school does not make Adequate Yearly Progress
“Restructuring”
The school must offer Choice, Supplementary Educational Services, and a plan to restructure that accomplishes at least one of the following:

Reopens school as a public charter school

Replaces all or most of school staff, including the principal

Enters into a contract with an entity, such as a private management company, with a demonstrated record of effectiveness to operate the school

Presents some alternative major restructuring of the school's governance arrangement

Seventh Year a school does not make Adequate Yearly Progress
“Implement Restructuring Plan”
The school begins operations under an alternative governance plan

While the “Carrot and Stick” approach of Title I funding coupled with NCLB sanctions, is an ineffective means of improving educational attainment, it does provide additional measures of transparency and accountability, and a concrete mechanism for forcing institutional reform. Hence, it is in some ways both a blessing and a curse…

Concordantly, school districts rarely request the full amount of Title I funding for which they'd qualify .

Any school wherein 75% or more or the students qualify for a free or reduced lunch is classified as a Title I school and therefore receives supplementary funding from the Federal Government. However, any school with a “free or reduced” student population of 35% or greater Could be classified as a Title I school if requested by the Local School district. But most districts opt to maintain the 75% Title I threshold, forgoing the potential of additional supplementary funding, because of the harsh sanctions and scrutiny that Title I funding often imposes.

But as our economy languishes, many school districts (including my own) facing budget shortfalls, find themselves faced with a myriad of difficult decisions. In response, the Obama administration has released 2 years of increased funding for Title I schools under the American Recovery and Reinvestment act (ARRA). And given the current economic climate, for many districts, this funding could not have come at a better time.

In order to take advantage of this additional funding and to maximize the potential allocations, many districts (including my own) are choosing to reduce their Title I thresholds below the mandatory 75%. Here in Wichita, USD259 has chosen to reduce their Title I threshold to include any school wherein the ‘free or reduced’ student population meets or exceeds 55% -- which encompasses a full 35% of the district. And the same scenario is being replicated in districts across the country.

As an advocate, I would ordinarily be pleased with the additional transparency and accountability that a shift to Title I provides, …but you see, there’s just one little problem with the timing…

The increased funding provided by ARRA is only available for two years. And if you scroll up and take another look at the Title I table, you’ll note that there are No Title I sanctions for the first two years of the program. So while the ARRA funding provides districts with the incentive to increase their number of Title I schools, that funding ends two years into the program, before any sanctions or mandatory reforms would be applied. And there is no prohibition against a district lowering their Title I threshold, applying for and using the additional ARRA/Title I funding, then raising the threshold back to 75% at the end of the two year period, before any mandatory NCLB reforms were prescribed.

So fellow NAACP’ers, advocates, and activists, we need to keep our eyes on this… We need to make sure that we are paying attention as new educational data becomes available over the next couple years. And we need to make sure that where problems are identified, that our local districts move forward with programmatic change and reforms even after the funding ceases and the thresholds are increased….

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Stimulus Funding now available to assist Non-Profits!!!

Non-Profit Organizations can now apply for federal economic Recovery Act funds to strengthen your capacity to meet your community's needs.

Please see this federal notice and links below. As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, $50 million was approved to help non-profit organizations. Note the fairly quick deadline: July 7. Please forward this widely to make sure that service providers get a chance to apply for these funds.

Dear Partners and Colleagues,

The Federal Government recognizes the important work carried out by nonprofit organizations to address the needs of disadvantaged and hard-to-reach populations suffering economic hardships and intends to empower these organizations to be part of economic recovery through the new Strengthening Communities Fund. The Strengthening Communities Fund is now available and applications are due July 7, 2009. Please share this information with your list-servs, networks, and partner organizations. We apologize for any cross-postings.

The Strengthening Communities Fund

Objective: The objective of the Strengthening Communities Fund (SCF) is to enable nonprofit organizations to contribute to the economic recovery and help Federal, State, local, and Indian/Native American Tribal governments ensure that the information and services described in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) reach disadvantaged and hard-to-serve populations.

Program Focus: The focus of this program is to build the capacity of nonprofit organizations, whether secular or faith based, to address the broad economic recovery issues present in their communities, including helping low-income individuals secure and retain employment, earn higher wages, obtain better-quality jobs, and gain greater access to state and Federal benefits and tax credits, including ARRA benefits.

Grant Program: SCF is made up of two separate grant programs.

1. Nonprofit Capacity Building Program: The SCF Nonprofit Capacity Building program will make one-time awards up to $1 million to experienced lead organizations to provide nonprofit organizations -- or project partners -- with capacity building training, technical assistance, and competitive financial assistance. A minimum of 55% of the Federal funds awarded must be provided to project partners through a competitive process. The grant period for this award is 24 months. To read the full program announcement for the SCF Nonprofit Capacity Building program visit: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/open/HHS-2009-ACF-OCS-SI-0091.html

2. State, Local, and Tribal Government Capacity Building Program: The SCF State, Local, and Tribal Government Capacity Building program will make one-time awards up to $250,000 to State, city, county, and Indian/Native American Tribal government offices (e.g., offices responsible for outreach to faith-based and community organizations or those interested in initiating such an effort), or their designees, to build the capacity of nonprofit faith-based and community organizations to better serve those in need and to increase nonprofit organizations' involvement in the economic recovery. Grantees will use program funds to provide free capacity building services to nonprofit organizations and to build their own capacity to provide such services to nonprofits. The grant period for this award is 24 months. To read the full program announcement for the SCF State, Local and Tribal Government Capacity Building Program visit: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/open/HHS-2009-ACF-OCS-SN-0092.html

For more information about this new program, visit http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ocs/scf/

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Open Letter to the Wichita City Council: Concerning the proposed Vietnamese Veterans Memorial

Tomorrow, the Wichita City Council will take action on a proposal to erect a memorial to the veterans of the  South Vietnamese Army who fought alongside the Americans in the Vietnam war. Some who have expressed opposition to the proposal have suggested that Wichita's Veterans Memorial park is only for "our" veterans and not "theirs". Some have suggested that the nearly 8,000 Vietnamese men and women who live in our city should 'just be happy we let them come here'. And still others have suggested that if a memorial is to be erected, then it should be placed in the Planeview area (which is a section of the city with a large Vietnamese population). 

But as an organization that is deeply rooted in the American tradition, one that is intimately familiar with the virtues of sacrifice and struggle, one that fights for the unfettered and uniform application of the rights and liberties that our military men and women have fought and died for, and one that seeks the full and unqualified recognition of the inherent equality of all persons, we could not sit by and ignore those who would advocate such sentiments. What follows is a letter that was sent to Mayor Carl Brewer and all of the members of the Wichita City Council, on behalf of the Wichita Branch of the NAACP.

To the Honorable Mayor Carl Brewer and members of the City Council,

I am writing you today to express our support for the proposed Vietnamese Veterans Memorial to be erected within Veterans Memorial Park. It is consistent with our values that we would recognize and honor the sacrifices of the men and women who fought along side of our troops during the Vietnam war. The proposal before the City Council seems a fitting tribute to this history of shared sacrifice and it recognizes all who bravely fought in defense of freedom during that conflict.

As a Veteran and the child of a military family with roots going back to the Korean war, I appreciate the service and the risks undertaken by the members of the South Vietnamese Army as they fought against the spread of communism. These men and women fought, bled, and many died, along side men like my Father, in defense of the very ideals that we as Americans still hold dear. In honoring them, we honor ourselves...

And as a proud representative of the nation’s largest, oldest, and most consequential civil rights organization, we are proud to stand in support of the members of the Vietnamese community who have brought you this proposal. There are nearly 8,000 Americans of Vietnamese origin, many of whom are veterans of the conflict, who are an integral part of our city. We feel it would send a tragic message were we to segregate our tributes by denying them space within the Veterans Memorial park.

In closing, we reiterate our support for the proposed memorial, and we thank you in advance for your consideration of this request…

Best Regards,


Kevin Myles
President; Wichita NAACP
Political Affairs Chair; Kansas State NAACP
www.wichitanaacpblog.com

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Bridging the Digital Divide: The Wichita NAACP "E-Literacy" Campaign gets underway with the distribution of 17 free computers

The Wichita NAACP E-Literacy campaign officially got underway this afternoon with the distribution of 17 free computers. The objective of this campaign is to gather used computers from various companies as they upgrade their equipment, prep the computers with the necessary software and or operating systems, and redistribute them to organizations or programs designed to promote technological literacy to youth or seniors. Dr. Tony Turner, Uzo Ohaebosim, and others came out to help carry, set up, and prep the computers for distribution.

The first ten computers were donated to First United Christian Church for a program named the MLK Project. The program is designed to work with youth who have struggled academically by helping to improve their study and research skills. Eight more computers were donated to St. Paul AME Church who will use them to create a computer lab for the youth of their congregation.

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Action Alert: Missouri NAACP calls for a Board of Inquiry and seeks clemency to stop the execution of Reggie Clemons

NAACP National Board Member Harold Crumpton and NAACP Missouri State Conference President Mary Ratliff are requesting Governor Jay Nixon appoint a Board of Inquiry and grant clemency to Reggie Clemons who is on death row scheduled to be executed on June 17, 2009.

Clemons, 37, is an African-American man sentenced to death for the 1991 murder of two young women who drowned after plunging from the Chain of the Rocks Bridge into the Mississippi River. There was no physical evidence linking Reggie to the crime for which he received the death penalty: no fingerprints, no DNA, no hair or fiber samples. Reggie’s case is filled with many injustices, including police brutality, gross prosecutorial misconduct and ineffective defense counsel.

“Reggie Clemons was tortured by police into making a statement that was used against him at trial. But even after five hours of violent interrogation, he never confessed to murder,” stated NAACP National Board Member Harold Crumpton. “The two eyewitnesses failed to link Clemons to the murder. One of them initially confessed to the killing, and the other one got a sweetheart deal for his testimony. The other evidence was Clemons’ confession which was induced by hours of torture.” Crumpton said.

“Governor Nixon should convene a Board of Inquiry immediately and grant clemency for Reggie Clemons. More than 20% of black defendants who have been executed in the U.S. were convicted by all-white juries. Although St. Louis is more than 50 percent African American, there were only two black people on Reggie’s jury,” stated Mary Ratliff, NAACP Missouri State Conference President.

“It is wrong to put to death someone who clearly might be innocent. Our nation and our State are better than that. It is not only unjust for Reggie but for the families of the victims who deserve to have the real killers punished. Executing the innocent is a mistake that cannot be rectified,” stated NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous.

The Missouri State Conference of the NAACP is calling on supporters to fax (573-751-1588), send letters and emails to Missouri Governor Jay Nixon and to sign a petition for clemency for Reggie Clemons at http://www.justiceforreggie.com.

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Full Video and Transcript of President Barack Obama's speech in Cairo

Click here for a full transcript of the speech... 

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USD259 releases its list of proposed budget cuts

USD259, facing a 27 million dollar shortfall, released its list of proposed budget cuts at the school board meeting last night. There are 127 items under consideration; several of which would directly affect the minority, low SES, and/or otherwise under-served communities. It is critically important that we take the time to carefully review these proposals and make our opinions and voices known.

Click HERE for an annotated copy of the proposed budget cuts...

Once you've taken the time to review the proposed cuts, please take a an additional moment and send an email to the members of the Board of Education and share your thoughts, questions, or concerns.

Lynn Rodgers: lynnwrogers@sbcglobal.net

Connie Dietz: connie.dietz@wichita.edu

Lanora Nolan: lnolan@bnolan.com

Barb Fuller: barbfuller259@yahoo.com

Betty Arnold: betty.arnold@dol.ks.gov

Jeff Davis: jdavis101@cox.net

Kevass Harding: revkevass@aol.com

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