Remembering our fallen and departed this Memorial Day

Memorial Day is the time when we celebrate the lives and sacrifices of those who have given their lives in service to this nation. First celebrated on May 1st, 1865 by African Americans commemorating those who had given their lives in the Civil War, it became a National observance in 1868 when the Grand Army of the Republic (a society of Civil War Veterans) called for its observance by all National posts.

But as we pause to remember those who gave their time, their youth, and their lives, to building a better nation through military service, let us also remember those who struggled here at home. For there is no national holiday or observance set forth for the remembrance of those who fought the nation's war against its own incivility. The war known only as 'the movement'. Our longest war; waged to rescue the nation from ignorance, hatred, violence, and oppression. Let us also remember those veterans as well.

As you place those steaks on the grill, carve out a moment to pay tribute and honor to our fallen and departed. Veterans like Ida B Wells, Carter G Woodson, Dr. Benjamin Hooks, Mary McCleod Bethune, Martin King, Malcolm X, Dorothy Height, Enolia McMillan, Queen Mother Moore, John Hope Franklin, John Henrik Clark, Rosa Parks, Thurgood Marshall, Fannie Lou Hamer, Charles Hamilton Houston, Bayard Rustin, Ella Baker, Coretta Scott King, Betty Shabazz, Medgar Evers, Vivian Jones, Marcus Garvey, WEB Dubois, Booker T Washington and countless others.

Let us bring forth the memories and call out the names of those veterans who have given and struggled within our local communities as well. Veterans like Chester I Lewis, Alphonso Harrell, and Jihad Muqtasid of Wichita, and Omar Ali-Bey of my hometown of Cleveland.

But most of all, let us remember this day, the nameless and faceless thousands who fought for us, and prayed for us, and sacrificed for us, and struggled for us, though they did not know our names. Let us remember all of those who braved pick-axes, billy clubs, fire hoses, and police dogs. Let us celebrate those who conquered their own fears and marched, chanted, protested, demonstrated, and faced down the powers that be demanding that this nation honor its own creed.

To you, the UNIA, SNCC, US, the Panthers, the Future Outlook Leagues, to all of you who history never recorded though your very lives shaped history... Today I say thank you... To all of you who cared enough to challenge the schools when they were being unfair to our babies, today I say thank you... To all of you who signed the petitions, carried the signs, or prayed for our deliverance, today I say thank you... To all of you who labored in the background, preparing the meals, setting up the chairs, doing the leg work, and making sure the venues were prepared, today I say thank you... Know that you are not forgotten... your sacrifices are remembered and appreciated... Thank you for your struggles, your battles, your successes, and your setbacks... In large part, it is to you that we owe our freedoms on this day; and for that we are eternally grateful...

Ashe

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Branch member Mildred Edwards appointed to the Kansas Board of Regents

Gov. Mark Parkinson has appointed Wichita Branch NAACP member Mildred Edwards to the Kansas Board of Regents.

"This past legislative session we made a renewed commitment to our regents institutions, acknowledging that the Kansas economy is only as strong as the higher education opportunities that prepare our workforce for the future," Parkinson said. "These newest members of the Board of Regents share that belief and remain committed to seeing our universities and community colleges succeed."

Edwards, of Wichita, is the executive director of the Kansas African Americans Affairs Commission. Prior to her appointment, she was the project director for STAND TOGETHER Coalition at their Regional Prevention Center of Wichita/Sedgwick County. She holds a master's in public health and a doctorate in psychology from Wichita State University.

The Board of Regents is a nine-member body which governs the state's six universities, and supervises and coordinates 19 community colleges, six technical colleges, and Washburn University.

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"What's in in for you?": WSU to host a public panel discussion on the Affordable Care Act

The new Health Care Legislation is complex. Come and gain a new understanding of how it affects you, your family and your medical care!

When: Saturday, May 22, 2010 2pm-4pm
Where: Rhatighan Student Center (formerly the CAC) Room 203 on the WSU Campus

The panelists:

• Dr. Richard Skibba, M.D., Retired, Board Certified Gastroenterologist and Clinical Associate Professor of Internal Medicine
• Monica Flask, Director of Project Access, Central Plains Regional Health Care Foundation
• David Wilson, President of Kansas AARP
• Bev White, President and CEO the Center for Health and Wellness

Admission is FREE

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The Constitution vs The Civil Rights Act: Is Racial Discrimination protected free speech or a violation of law?

Congressional Candidate Rand Paul recently ignited a firestorm when he suggested that while he personally opposes racism and discrimination, he believes that private clubs, restaurants, and businesses should be allowed to make their own decisions about whether or not they would discriminate [Link to Video]. He went further to suggest that outlawing discrimination restricts the freedom of speech provided by the constitution and that if we say that that private business owners must serve people of all races, then we must also require that they serve patrons who are armed as well.

*Sidenote* Candidate Paul was NOT insinuating that the black or minority patrons would be armed, rather he was making an abstract and somewhat hyperbolic argument that if minorities have the "right" to attend any facility then gun owners should as well...

As the news cycle progressed, a cry came from conservative side of the spectrum that the claim that Dr. Paul offered a tacit defense of racial discrimination was overblown and politically motivated. Rand Paul himself has described the charges as a "red herring". However, the charges are firmly supported by Dr. Paul's previous statements. For example: in 2002, Dr. Paul wrote a letter expressing his opposition to the 'Fair Housing Act' which read in part, "A free society will abide unofficial, private discrimination even when that means allowing hate-filled groups to exclude people based on the color of their skin." He has also come out in opposition to the Americans with Disabilities Act during an interview with NPR in which he opined that issues of discrimination should be handled "locally".

But it would be a mistake to treat these arguments as an extreme position. In fact, Rand Paul has merely demonstrated his firm commitment to the libertarian philosophy. And while Libertarianism is certainly too small of a political movement to significantly impact American Policy on its own terms, the "Freedom from Government" philosophy at its core has certainly become more mainstream with the ascendancy of the Tea-Party groups and the Republican Party's anti-establishment push to the Right. A thread of this line of thinking can even be seen in the Supreme Court where the court recently used the equal protections clause of the 4th amendment to challenge the disparate outcome protections of the Civil Rights Act in Ricci v DeStephano. Shortly after the ruling, Justice Scalia reportedly said that he wished he could review the Civil Rights Act itself. Seen through this lens,  we should be clear that Rand Paul is not the issue, nor is he a monster or an anachronism, he is just someone who was willing to publicly defend and articulate the Libertarian philosophy out to its logical conclusions.

Rather than attacking him, we should challenge his argument. He has articulated the libertarian belief that the rights of private ownership should not be abridged. He has also argued that discrimination in a private business or enterprise is an act of free speech and therefore should be protected. In stating his personal disdain for racism and discrimination and his claim that he personally would not frequent a business that practiced discrimination, he alluded to the libertarian belief that the Free-Market system can and will self correct against racism and discrimination without Government intervention: That good and decent people will simply refuse to do business with people who discriminate and that combined with the cost incentive to serve minorities and others will simply 'drive the racists out of business'.

It is a sound and coherent argument, but it is simply wrong. It is perfectly logical in its abstract form. But the weakness of the argument is that it does not consider a critical and fundamental fact; Racism is irrational.

You can not craft successful social policy based solely on theoretical models because Racism is not bound by the laws of reason. Simply put, there are enough people who ARE willing to frequent those shops and businesses to provide a livable wage to the owners, and racial bias is sufficiently strong in some to lead them to forgo even the promise of higher profits through increased business. When discrimination was treated as a local issue, discrimination was commonplace. For as long as discrimination was not treated as a matter of law, discrimination flourished. The markets did NOT correct it. The markets Could not correct it. It was corrected mitigated only by the law.  To argue otherwise is to demonstrate a historical myopia and perhaps some degree of insensitivity to the real-life consequences of such a nonchalant social acceptance of racism and inequity.

If racism and discrimination are abhorrent as Dr. Paul has stated, then it's simply not enough to decry the practice when prompted. It's simply not enough to promise a symbolic solidarity that you might personally choose to avoid a business or institution that YOU had the right to frequent unfettered and without limitation, while they literally barred others from their door. If racism and discrimination are abhorrent, if you find them evil, if they are a blight on our society, then commit to stopping them. These are not theoretical issues. We can not wish them away. There is no scholarly or philosophical middle-ground. We either tolerate them or we don't.

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Supreme Court Declares Life Without Parole Sentences for Children in Non-Homicide Cases Unconstitutional

NAACP LDF Amicus Brief Cited in Court’s Opinion!

(New York, NY) – On Monday the 17th, the United States Supreme Court declared that children convicted of non-homicide offenses cannot be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The Court concluded that because adolescents are, by nature, less culpable than adults and because life without parole is an extreme sentence which is rarely imposed on teenagers, it is cruel and unusual punishment to sentence a child who has not killed to life without possibility of parole. The Court explained that “[a] life without parole sentence improperly denies the juvenile offender a chance to demonstrate growth and maturity. Incapacitation cannot override all other considerations, lest the Eighth Amendment’s rule against disproportionate sentences be a nullity.”

“Today the Supreme Court recognized that children convicted of non-homicide crimes have the potential to become contributing members of society and that certain life sentences run afoul of the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment,” said John Payton, LDF’s President and Director-Counsel.

The NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF), along with the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) and the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice (CHHIRJ) filed a friend of the court brief challenging the constitutionality of juvenile life without parole sentences. In declaring these sentences unconstitutional, Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the majority of the Court, noted that the NAACP LDF’s brief properly identified the “special difficulties encountered by counsel in juvenile representation” and that “the features that distinguish juveniles from adults put them at a significant disadvantage in criminal proceedings. Specifically, juveniles mistrust adults and have limited understandings of the criminal justice system and the roles of the institutional actors within it. They are less likely than adults to work effectively with their lawyers to aid in their defense.” LDF’s brief also noted the stark racial disparities in juvenile life without parole sentencing -- African-Americans constitute 60% of the youth serving such sentences.

The United States is the only country in the world that permits adolescents to be sentenced to life imprisonment without possibility of parole. Currently there are more than 2500 teenagers serving life without parole sentences for crimes they committed under the age of 18. One-hundred-and-twenty-nine of those young people were convicted of crimes that did not result in death.

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"Institutionalizing Ignorance": NAACP President Ben Jealous and Fmr Education Secretary Rod Paige speak out on the Texas Textbook fiasco

This week the State Board of Education is voting on whether to rewrite the history taught in Texas textbooks. Among the most disturbing aspects of the proposed changes which are based on ideology is their potential to handicap nearly 10 percent of the nation's students who are educated in Texas and affect what students across the country learn about American history.

Texans must compete for college seats and jobs with students from other states, who will arrive equipped with a more complete and mainstream education. Advanced Placement exams, which let students earn college credit while in high school, are not tailored to any particular state's ideology. Similarly, International Baccalaureate exams are benchmarked to world-class university standards. Students taking either exam will be expected to grasp concepts such as capitalism, a word which, under the proposed changes, would be stripped from the state curriculum. By narrowing students' exposure, we cut them off from opportunities for accelerated learning, and free college credits that will be recognized around the country and the world. Without exposure to a range of views and information considered standard in the rest of the country, graduates of high schools using Texas textbooks will lack a solid foundation in general knowledge.

Whether a student attends college or not, he or she will still need a strong and comprehensive foundation in American history and government to perform the duties of informed citizenship. Every voter on a referendum should know how our Constitution and laws have evolved to expand civil rights to all citizens.

Yet the Texas board's proposals would minimize those brave men and women's contributions to our national story. To make informed decisions about the limits of government power, students must know about its past abuses, such as those perpetrated by Sen. Joseph McCarthy. Yet the proposed standards would gloss over such injustices. Students who have studied poll taxes and their abolition will have a better perspective on when taxation is used inappropriately. Our future voters need a strong grounding in our nation's full history.

We are — and have always been — a nation of immigrants. It is vital for citizens who will work alongside diverse peers to have an accurate understanding of colleagues' background and culture. Minimizing or misrepresenting African American and Latino culture and history can lead to distorted beliefs regarding our fellow Americans. And it can lead students from those ethnic groups to have a skewed picture of themselves and their place in the world. Studies of high school dropout rates have shown that students became disengaged with classes because what they were learning didn't seem relevant to their lives. In a 2006 national study, more students cited disengagement and disinterest in their lessons as a factor in leaving school than those who reported serious academic challenges. With 50 percent dropout rates in some cities, can we really afford to drive any more young people from the schoolhouse door? If learning about César Chávez or Thurgood Marshall will inspire a student to study government or law, we cannot afford to pass up that opportunity.

When the board convenes today, we will raise our voices for accuracy and fairness. Our children are entitled to broad exposure to all the facts of American history, government and economic theory. No one expects a representative board of regular folks to manage the curriculum to that level of detail. Instead, we urge the board to vote down these proposed changes, take some more time to set out broad guidelines ensuring all students are equipped to compete and thrive, then follow the thoughtful recommendations of their fellow Texans who are educators, economists and historians.

Our future is at stake. Will we prepare our youth for success in the 21st century or let nostalgia for the 19th century hobble graduates and leave many students behind? Will Texas prioritize ideology over our children or give students the world-class education they deserve.

Rewriting history is not promoting patriotism; it is institutionalizing ignorance.

Benjamin Todd Jealous is President and CEO of the NAACP. Rod Paige is senior advisor to the Madison Education Group and former U.S. Secretary of Education (2001-2005).

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Get out your Walking shoes -- It's time to MARCH

It's time...
For too long we've dealt with the issues of violence, crime, under-achievement, and low expectations. For too long our community and organizations have been plagued by divisions and mistrust. For too long we've waited for solutions to come from the outside, when we have to power to change our reality right now if we would only come together...

It's time...
On June 26th, at 12:00 noon, the NAACP and the Ministerial League along with other community minded organizations, concerned citizens, families, and youth, will STAND TOGETHER. We will March through our neighborhood, walking past the sites where our young men and women have lost their lives to senseless violence. We are going to March, and sing, and Pray, and recall that spirit of the Community we Used to be... We are going to March together, arm-in-arm, and work together to bring about the Rebirth of our Community Spirit. We are going to March together, and teach our Young People about the beautiful People and Community that God intended us to be.

It's time...
We are going to stand together and say Goodbye to the Ego's, Goodbye to the Silo's, and Goodbye to the divisions that have kept us apart. We are going to stand together and say Goodbye to the violence, Goodbye to the crime, and Goodbye to the low expectations that have afflicted our community.

It's time...
We're going to Reclaim our community by reclaiming our Youth. We are not going to cast these young men aside -- We are going to reclaim them. These are our children - We are going to let them know that we love them, and we are going to bring them back into the fold. We're not going to lecture them about the way it was 'back in the day'... We going to talk to them about the way its 'going to be Tomorrow', and we're going to fight to bring our prodigal sons back home. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

It's time everybody... So get out your old walking shoes. And JOIN US on June 26th... More details will follow shortly through the blog, email, radio, newspaper, text, twitter, facebook, and flyers...

Be ready everybody - Start talking it up - Start praying and Stretching - because on June 26th, we're going to stand together and rebuild our community...

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Sign the petition to STOP the re-imagining of American History

With the Texas State Board of Education scheduled to vote THIS WEEK on the final adoption of Texas' new, politically motivated social studies textbook standards, board member Don McLeroy has proposed some more last minute bits of revisionist history. The changes take clear aim at the separation of church and state and characterize the Progressive Era as a negative influence on America.

There's a good chance the new standards could be adopted this Friday. The People for the American Way have started a petition to the major textbook publishers, urging them to keep Texas's controversial standards out of textbooks sold nationally.  To maximize its impact, we need another 10,000 signatures this week.

Please make sure you are part of this important effort by adding your name now. Then, make sure to spread the word on Facebook and by forwarding this message.

Texas is now seeking to add even more changes school textbooks to:

• Maintain that separation of church and state was not the intent of the Founders.This despite the fact that the phrase "separation of church and state" came from Thomas Jefferson's letter to the Dansbury Baptists where he specifically explained the intent and proper interpretation of the 1st Amendment.
  
• Strike from a high school U.S. history course a 1948 court decision, Delgado v. Bastrop ISD, which barred segregation of students of Mexican descent in Texas public schools, and replace it with a case decided last year by the Roberts Court making it harder for local governments to encourage a diverse workforce (Ricci v. DeStefano). Ricci v. DeStefano was a case where instead of remanding the case back to the City of New Haven and having them follow the existing law and process by "validating" their test, Justices on the Supreme Court who are hostile to Civil Rights used the 'unvalidated' test results to craft a decision that created an entirely new legal standard. They used the Equal Protection provisions of the 4th Amendment to attack the Disparate Outcome protections of the Civil Rights Act. (Justice Scalia even remarked that he wished he could review the Civil Rights Act itself)
  
• Minimize the positive impact of Progressive Era reforms and suggest that the work of the era's reformers like Upton Sinclair, Susan B. Anthony, Ida B. Wells and W.E.B. DuBois created a negative portrayal of America. In so doing they attack the foundations of the Women's Suffrage, Civil Rights, Human Rights, and Organized Labor movements.These movements did more than 'criticize' America, they challenged America to look at herself 'Critically' and to become better. We know that a caricatured 'Pollyanna' type portrayal of America the perfect serves no one! If we can not acknowledge out shortcomings and mis-steps, then we can not correct them. These social movements offered the promise of equality and fair treatment to all of our citizens and helped make America a beacon of hope to people around the world and we must not stand by silently and see them mis-characterized or diminished... 
  

McLeroy even wants to feed paranoid conspiracy theories about "one world government" by adding a standard to high school U.S. history requiring students to "evaluate efforts by global organizations to undermine U.S. sovereignty."

This is nothing short of a naked attempt by politicians to brainwash a generation of American students at the expense of a sound education.

It's not too late to speak up now by signing the PFAW petition to make sure that in the event these new standards make it into Texas textbooks, they don't make it into textbooks elsewhere.

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Governor Parkinson signs SB54 commissioning a mural marking the Brown vs Board decision to be placed in the State Capital

By MATTHEW CLARK
The Morning Sun

The Supreme Court ruling that declared school segregation unconstitutional will be commemorated with a new mural at the Kansas Statehouse.

Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson, on Monday, signed Senate Bill 54, which creates the Capitol Preservation Committee, which is required to develop plans for the placement of a mural in the State Capitol commemorating the United States Supreme Court Decision in the case of Brown v. Board of Education. The bill also prohibits public funds from being used to pay the costs of creating and installing the mural.

“Brown v. Board remains at the cornerstone of the Kansas story, reminding us of where we first began and how far we have come,” Parkinson said at a ceremonial signing at the Statehouse.. “In joining the likes of John Stuart Curry and his Tragic Prelude, the mural will allow future generations to look back and become inspired by our state’s remarkable history.”

The governor was joined by state legislators and members of the Kansas NAACP at the bill signing in the Governor’s Ceremonial Office.

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NAACP joins Legal Challenge to Arizona Immigration Law

The Nation's Largest Civil Rights Organization will not host any events in the State; Calls for Direct Action against the law and will urge MLB to move the 2011 All Star Game

The NAACP in coalition with other civil rights groups filed a class action lawsuit today challenging Arizona’s new law requiring police to demand "papers" from people they stop who they suspect are not authorized to be in the U.S. If an individual is caught without papers they can be arrested and jailed. The extreme law, the coalition charged, invites the racial profiling of people of color, violates the First Amendment and interferes with federal law.

“We are joining this lawsuit because the Arizona law is out of step with American values of fairness and equality. It encourages racial profiling and is unconstitutional. African-Americans know all too well the insidious effects of racial profiling,” said Benjamin Todd Jealous, President and Chief Executive Officer of the NAACP. “The government should be preventing police from investigating and detaining people based on color and accent, not mandating it. Laws that encourage discrimination have no place in this country anywhere for anyone.”

“Subjecting human beings to discrimination and punishment based upon race and accent is morally offensive, unconstitutional and un-American, said Wilbert Nelson, the president of the NAACP Arizona state conference “We will fight vigorously to make sure this poisonous law never takes effect. It is part of a menacing return to racial discrimination and the beginning of a slippery slope. Right after this hate law was passed, a statute banning the ethnic studies in our school was passed. "

The lawsuit charges that the Arizona law unlawfully interferes with federal power and authority over immigration matters in violation of the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution; invites racial profiling against people of color by law enforcement in violation of the equal protection guarantee and prohibition on unreasonable seizures under the Fourteenthand Fourth Amendments; and infringes on the free speech rights of day laborers in violation of the First Amendment. A number of other states are considering similar laws.

Several prominent law enforcement groups, including the Arizona Association of Chiefs of Police, oppose the law because it diverts limited resources from law enforcement’s primary responsibility of providing protection and promoting public safety in the community and undermines trust and cooperation between local police and immigrant communities.

“As a former police officer, many of us in law enforcement want to ensure that the resources of the police are put into fighting serious crime and not turn them into federal immigration agents,” said Reverend Oscar Tillman, president of the Maricopa County Branch (Phoenix, Arizona). “It can jeopardize security when victims or witnesses to crime are afraid to talk to police because they might be targeted by this law.”

The coalition filing the lawsuit includes the NAACP, the American Civil Liberties Union, , MALDEF, National Immigration Law Center (NILC), ACLU of Arizona, National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) and the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC) – a member of Asian American Center for Advancing Justice.

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Primary Seatbelt bill passes in the Kansas Legislature -- What does that mean for anti racial profiling efforts?

On Tuesday the 11th, the Kansas State Legislature voted to approve a new Primary Seatbelt Law that will that will go into effect on June 30th of this year. The new law will allow Officers to stop a vehicle and issue a citation to drivers if the driver or passengers are not wearing seat belts.

The Wichita NAACP has opposed the Primary Seat Belt bill for several years. Our opposition was driven by the fact that activists, legislators, and community organizations fought for a number of years to bring an end to the practice of Racial Profiling within the State. In 2006, the Kansas Racial Profiling bill was signed into law and in it were provisions to establish a uniform traffic ticket that could then be used to facilitate State wide racial profiling data collection. A 15 member task force, created by the legislation, was empaneled to develop strategies and recommendations for implementation by the end of 2006. But as of this moment, the 15 member panel, comprised mostly of Law Enforcement, has stalled the implementation of ANY Law Enforcement accountability measures. In fact, the only substantive change they've successfully championed to date has been to have the life of the Task Force extended beyond its originally envisioned end.

If the common sense accountability measures required by law since 2006 were actually implemented, we would have no objection to the Primary Seat belt bill.

We recognize that the Primary seat belt bill is a boon to public safety. And further, we realize that the $11,000,000.00 in Federal Funds the State receives as a result of the bills passage was a powerful motivating factor for Legislators. But we believed, and still believe, that the Police Department must submit to some measure of accountability when it comes to the disproportionate numbers of stops and searches of Black and Hispanic motorists throughout the State. The bill is the blueprint. The arguments have long since been fought and won. All that is left is for Law Enforcement to stop stalling and comply with the Law.

But in the absence of common sense accountability measures and protections from arbitrary, speculative, or purely subjective stops and searches, the Primary Seat Belt bill may well be used to camouflage the continuing practice of race-based profiling. Senator David Haley, one of the authors of the earliest version of the Racial Profiling Bill, described the passage of the Primary Seat Belt bill by saying, “Today, because of our need for public safety and more federal money, we overwhelmingly approve what might be another flimsy pretext for profiling.”

Interestingly enough, during this Legislative Session, the 15 member Racial Profiling Task Force placed a "moratorium" on any action concerning Racial Profiling. So we will now have to wait yet another year to fight once more to have Law Enforcement come into compliance with the law. But in the interim, they will have a new justification for those 'questionable' stops... "Sir, I pulled you over because I didn't observe you wearing your selt belt... now would you mind stepping out of the car?"

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Non-Profits may lose their tax exempt status on Monday

A change in law put in place through a 2006 federal pension bill requires all non-profits, even small ones, to file IRS form 990s or a simplified version of the form. Nonprofits with less than $25,000 in annual revenue formerly didn't have to file with the feds like larger organizations. But that changed with the passage of the 2006 law. Small volunteer type organizations had three years to comply, but many remain unaware of the impending deadline. The grace period ends on Monday.

The deadline applies to groups that report $25,000 or less in income but excludes churches. Organizations that lose their tax exempt status may not find out until Jan. 1, 2011, when they're notified they have to pay taxes on donations they thought were exempt. And it could be months before their nonprofit status is restored.

Please forward this post to any community groups or small volunteer organizations that currently have 501c3 Tax exempt status...

Organizations can still E-File their 990s form and beat the deadline. CLICK HERE for the E-Filing form.

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Changes coming to the Wichita NAACP Blog

I started the Wichita NAACP Blog a couple years ago with the intent of providing a space to discuss and promote initiatives of the NAACP. I sought to make it an organizational space rather than a personal one, with a primary focus on events and initiatives. While I will continue to use this space as a platform to share that type of organizational information, in the coming weeks and months I will also begin to include more 'perspective' pieces as well.

I believe that it is imperative that we within the organization do a better job of communicating not only the "What", When", and "How" of our efforts and initiatives, but also the "Why". So in addition to our usual descriptive pieces, we will spend more time delving into the philosophies and opinions that under-gird our efforts. Now, what you won't see are pieces about articles I just read from another news source or what I think President Obama should do now... We will not become just another insta-pundit talking head site. But we will endeavor to grow this space into more of a hub where we can discuss not only the current events but also the ideas that influence them. Sometimes you'll agree and sometimes you won't, but when you don't, I hope you'll be willing to share your comments and thoughts...

I hope you enjoy...

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NAACP Endorses Supreme Court Nominee Elena Kagan

May 15, 2010 Hollywood, Florida—The NAACP, the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization, unanimously endorsed Elena Kagan, President Barack Obama’s choice for the Supreme Court, today at their quarterly board meeting.

The organization reviewed Kagan’s available record on civil rights including her recent authorization for the Department of Justice and the Department of Civil Rights to file an amicus brief supporting the constitutionality of the University of Texas’ affirmative action program in Fisher v. University of Texas and her brief in support of African American firefighters who challenged a hiring test used by the City of Chicago under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (Lewis v. City of Chicago).

“After a careful and thorough review of Elena Kagan’s record, we have unanimously voted to endorse her nomination,” stated President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous. “Elena Kagan has demonstrated a commitment to civil rights and equal justice under the law throughout her career. Kagan drew her inspiration from NAACP former counsel and Supreme court Justice Thurgood Marshall who she considers a hero and mentor. During her tenure at the White House, Kagan worked on issues such as strengthening hate crimes legislation and civil rights enforcement. As a law school Dean, she worked to ensure a diverse student body and faculty. And as Solicitor General, Kagan has vigorously defended the nation’s equal opportunity and civil rights laws. We look forward to actively supporting her nomination,” Jealous said.

“Elena Kagan has a track record of bringing people together. She is skilled at forging legal consensus on contentious issues,” stated NAACP Chairman Roslyn Brock. “Civil rights is a bipartisan issue. It is central to the core of our American values. We believe Elena Kagan has the ability to use her fine legal mind, her commitment to diversity and her ability to build bridges to effectively advocate in the Court for the civil rights and democracy enshrined in our constitution.”

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Amnesty International, ACLU, and NAACP stand together for Justice in the case of Reggie Clemons

The NAACP supports Amnesty International's (AIUSA) report on Reggie Clemons "Death by Prosecutorial Misconduct and a 'Stacked Jury.” Along with AIUSA, the Missouri ACLU the Missouri State Conference NAACP stands with the Justice for Reggie Committee to expose the miscarriage of justice that has kept Reggie Clemons on death row for 20 years.

Reggie was beaten by the police and coerced into making a false statement; and was denied an attorney. This statement was compelled by torture that should have been excluded. At Reggie’s arraignment, Judge Michael David noted that Reggie had suffered physical injury while in custody and sent him to a hospital Emergency Room.

The civil rights question is whether proceedings in which a coerced statement was used, and which resulted in a sentence of death for Reggie Clemons denied him the due process of law guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. In February 2009 the NAACP National Board of Directors voted to support efforts to stop the execution of Troy Davis in Georgia, consistent with NAACP resolutions in 2004, 2001 and 1975. At the NAACP Centennial Convention in New York, July 2009 the Missouri State Conference delegation lead by Mr. Harold Crumpton, Ms. Anita Russell and Missouri State Conference President Mary Ratliff introduced an Emergency Resolution that was passed for a Clemency Campaign to save the life of Reggie Clemons. NAACP Units across the US are collecting signatures on petitions to prevent the execution of an innocent man.

The NAACP also supports legislative efforts to end the death penalty in Missouri:

–House Bill 1683 to create a moratorium was introduced by Rep. Bill Deeken. –Senate Bill SB 591 (Sen. Joan Bray, D-St. Louis) would repeal the death penalty. –House Bill HB 1413 (Rep. Mike McGhee, R-Odessa) would compel counties to cover the cost of prosecuting death-penalty cases and create greater overview of which homicide cases could qualify for seeking a death-sentence. –House Bill HB 1415 (Rep. Mike McGhee, R-Odessa) would open the Parole board clemency hearing to the person scheduled to be executed and his/her attorneys and require the Board’s findings be made public. –House Bill 1550 (Rep. Don Calloway, D-St. Louis) would strive to prevent race from playing any role in pursing death sentencing.

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Kansas Representative Anthony Brown tries, fails to add Arizona immigration law onto the State budget bill

Rep. Anthony Brown of Eudora Kansas, tried unsuccessfully to amend the House’s Appropriations bill to mimic the recently passed Arizona State Immigration bill.

When introducing the amendment, Representative Brown made clear that, “This is modeled after immigration law that passed out of the Arizona Legislature.” Rep. Brown went on to say that the purpose of his amendment was to deny benefits “to those folks who can’t prove their status.”

The Amendment was killed procedurally when Democrats questioned if the proposed amendment was germane to the appropriations bill he sought to amend. In a relatively short time, the rules committee declared the proposed amendment was not germane, referring to it “more policy than appropriations.”

It is not surprising that members of the Kansas Legislature would seek to pass legislation similar to the Arizona Bill considering one of the co-authors of the Arizona Bill was Kris Kobach, candidate for Kansas Secretary of State. But we should not rest... given the impending political shift in Topeka, we can be assured that this bill will come back next session; likely as a stand-alone piece of legislation. Along with it will come the tired-old myths of welfare and voter fraud, calls for voter id's, and the magnification of ANY criminal act committed by a Hispanic, all serving to fuel a nascent anti-immigrant hysteria. (If that sounds at all hyperbolic, just pan through the Wichita Eagle's blog section anytime there's a story that even mentions a Hispanic person...)

But we are not the only community that should be concerned, already the States of Ohio, Oklahoma, Georgia, and North Carolina, have had lawmakers announce their intent to pass similar legislation.

I began speaking publicly a couple years ago about the courts and legislatures trending away from the enforcement and even the vision of civil rights. And that it appeared, even then, that we were moving towards the sort of race/class/nationalism that proved so popular under Reagan. We should not forget that under Reagan a similar hysteria was fed to the masses. But back then, instead of stoking anti-immigrant sentiment, we were bombarded with the notion of "Welfare Queens" which was ultimately used as a justification to eliminate social service programs. We were told about a "Permanent Underclass" which was later used as a quasi-social-scientific justification for corporate greed and a rationale for ignoring the plight of the poor. And we repeatedly heard the mantra of "Personal Responsibility"; used specifically to infer that those who found themselves on the fringes of society, were so only because of their failure to exercise 'Personal Responsibility". This notion was used to stifle any talk about structural inequalities...

Seen through this lens, it appears, at least to me, that these recent legislative acts are not to be viewed as isolated or random. But rather, we are witnessing the makings of a trend; one that will require our vigilance and action in the months and years to come...

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