Volume 117 No.

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May www.afro.com 16, 2009 - May 22, 2009, The Washington Afro-American A7 75 CENTS

MAY 23, 2009 - MAY 29, 2009

Howard University Commencement

OPINION

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Sharpton and Gingrich: Unholy Alliance

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Bolden tops List to Head NASA A2

Conyers Moderates after Performance Act Steele to Obama:

By Sean Yoes AFRO Staff Writer Veteran Detroit Rep. John Conyers, (D-Mich.), is amending the controversial Performance Rights Act (H.R. 848) which many argue would cripple smaller radio stations across the country after a firestorm of protest heated radio airwaves across the nation. As everyone in this room knows, the Performance Rights Act is one of my top priorities this Congress, said Conyers during a recent Judiciary Committee hearing, which he chairs. On one hand, I believe that the time is ripe for establishing some form of equity for recording Continued on A4 By Zenitha Prince Washington Bureau Chief

Honeymoon is Over
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. In a speech meant to rev up the GOP into attack mode, Republican Party leader Michael Steele served notice Tuesday that the party would confront President Obama head-on despite his popularity. The honeymoon is over. The two-party system is making a comeback and that comeback starts today, Steele declared before a cheering gathering of Republican state leaders. The remarks came days after a Gallup poll showed a small increase in the presidents approval rating from 63 percent to 66 percent. But those numbers matter little, Chairman Steele seemed to suggest. The president is personally popular. Pity the fool who paid for a poll to figure that out. Theres only one problem. Hes taking us in the wrong direction and bankrupting our country, said Steele, who called the presidents early months a reign of error. The Republican National Committee chairman said there had been too much handwringing and a reluctance to take on the Obama phenomenon within his party. Weve seen strategists writing memos and doing briefings AP Photo urging that In a speech Tuesday, Republican National Republicans Committee Chairman Michael Steele, avoid seen here in this January 2009 file photo, confronting said he is seeing a GOP comeback and urged the party to attack President Continued on A4 Obama more directly.

Alfred Liggins, the president of Radio One Inc., poses at the corporate offices in Lanham, Md., in this 2004 photo. Black radio stations like Radio One are opposing a bill that would force FM stations to pay artists to play their songs.
AP Photo

Rhee, City Council in Ongoing Tug of War

Projected Enrollment Numbers at Issue
By Dorothy Rowley AFRO Staff Writer The tug of war between the District of Columbia City Council --more specifically Council Chairman, Vincent Gray, -- and public schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee seems to have no end. According to Rhee, 350 teachers stand to lose their jobs next fall and she blames the situation on the Council, which she claims cut millions of needed revenue from her 2010 budget. Meanwhile, published reports have stated that the Best Buy Home Depot iron-willed schools chief expects some 3,000 additional students to enroll in District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) next year and that she has yet to prove to Gray that her projection can be etched in stone. Rhee was not immediately available for comment but according to DCPS spokeswoman Jennifer Calloway, the system has not projected an increase in enrollment but notes that it is the charter sector that is claiming an increase of 2,700 students over their October audited enrollment. Calloway said that instead, our estimated enrollment 45,054 which DCPSs Fiscal Year 2010 budget is based on, is actually 2,129 less than the current number of students Continued on A6

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Around the World People Council Moves Closer to Rally for Troy Davis Adopting Bag Tax
was convicted, the August 1989 murder of police officer Mark Allen MacPhail at WASHINGTON a Burger King in The countdown Savannah, Ga. has begun for Troy The fact that no Davisagain. weapon was found The Georgia death and that seven of row inmate escaped nine witnesses execution three times. against Davis have But, since his 30-day since recanted their stay of execution testimonythree Courtesy Photo others also said one expired Saturday, another appointment Troy Davis stay of of the remaining two with death may be fast execution expired is actually the killer Saturday. approaching. supports Davis claim, I dont know supporters said. of anybody who has gone through But the courts have refused to three execution dates, said Jared hear the inmates arguments for Feuer, southern regional director of granting habeas corpusrelief from Amnesty International, USA, who is unlawful imprisonmentbased on affiliated with Davis case. What I procedural laws. think is amazing is he talks about his The 1996 Antiterrorism and case being bigger than him. He talks Effective Death Penalty Act about his faith, his purpose, that his among other thingslimits federal case may be used to stop the death judges penaltythat has been what has from kept him. granting That faith is based on Davis relief if, long-held contention that he is Continued innocent of the crime for which he on A6 By Zenitha Prince Washington Bureau Chief By Dorothy Rowley AFRO Staff Writer Ward 6 business owner Warren Easley is not opposed to clearing the Anacostia River of environmental threatening debris, but he has a problem with the five cents bag tax currently under consideration by the District of Columbia City Council which will help raise revenue for the cleanup. As far as Easley is concerned, with things already tight due to the weakened economy, its unfair to impose another tax on citizens. I own a barbershop and beauty salon and my opposition is having to charge customers for bags when they buy [my] products, Easley said. Im also concerned about the high population of senior citizens in Ward 6 and the impact the tax will have on their fixed income. The issue, which surrounds the Anacostia River Cleanup and Protection Act (ARCPA) of 2009, has already been approved by two City Council committees. Upon final approval it would require taxes on both plastic and paper bags at grocery and convenience stores as well as on street vending businesses such as those that sell hot foods.

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Holden Pledges Support for Civil Rights A3

David Chance Returns with New Album

P.G. County Briefs

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With one exception, Ward One Councilman Jim Graham, the measure in the past couple years has had 12 Council co-sponsors. If approved, the tax fee would reportedly be split between businesses and the District, both of which would use their share to fund the river cleanup. Graham said hes refrained from support because the bill tacks an unnecessary burden on the Districts poor residents. I think its a worthy thing to do and once I review the bill in its final version, I may vote for it, said Graham. But, This requires two votes and the mayor has to sign it and then it leans toward Congress. Graham said the Council could make its final decision by the first week of June. Its passage would make the ARCPA one of the countrys toughest recycling laws while generating as much as $3.6 million a year in revenue towards the cleanup and offer free reusable bags to low income residents and senior citizens. In addition, the measure would decrease the use of plastic bags by about half during its first year in effect. An estimated 5 billion bags end up as windblown litter each year and they often end up in landscapes or waterways like the Anacostia where they eventually degrade the water and soil as they break down into tiny toxic bits, according Continued on A6

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May 23, 2009 March 2009 The Washington Afro-American, March 7,2009 --May 29,13, 2009

Rhee, City Council in Ongoing Tug of War

Continued from A1 recorded in DC STARS which is 47,183 students as of May 12, 2009. To the that end, the State Education Office has stated for example, that enrollment among DCPS students dropped by about 3,000 students between 2005 and 2006 while public charter school enrollment has continued an upward spiral. The City Council had also expressed skepticism that thousands of new students could enroll next fall when there appears to be a significant trend toward public charter schools. Rhee has also projected that with the budget cuts in place, each of the Districts 123 schools will average a loss of about three teachers. In addition, teachers and administrators at at least six academically troubled schools will have to reapply for their jobs as part of an overhaul mandated by the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2002. Among them are Dunbar and Anacostia high schools, the H.D. Woodson ninth-grade academy at Ron Brown Middle School, Hart and MacFarland middle schools and Ferebee-Hope Elementary School. Faculty and staff who choose not to reapply or are not rehired wont lose their jobs, but instead will be placed on an excess staff list and reassigned to different schools, according to Rhee. Jeff Smith, executive director of the education advocacy group, DC Voice, said that any dispute between Rhee and the Council regarding enrollment projections and budget cuts just highlights a larger issue that has yet to be resolved. In putting together the budget, Id think theyd have projections for increased enrollment, said Smith, but I doubt that the school system was actually saying they really anticipated having [3,000] more students next year, especially based on enrollments from the past few years. He said that as a result, any numbers Rhee has presented would appear to be based on need. Smith added that while Gray might have had a good argument for being skeptical of Rhees enrollment figures, neither the Council nor Rhee has addressed the bottom line. And that is that we is need effective teachers in the classrooms and effective learning habits across the city, he said.

Around the World People Rally for Troy Davis

Continued from A1 as in Davis particular case, motions werent filed in the right order or evidence was not introduced at the state level. That those laws would prevent a possibly innocent man from pleading his case, demonstrates the insanity of this system, Feuer said. Davis legal saga has prompted an outpouring of public outrage, expressed at more than 150 events in more than 40 U.S. states and 28 countries around the world during a Global Day of Action for Troy Davis campaign on May 19. In Washington, several anti-death penalty and social justice advocates spoke at the All Souls Unitarian Church before an auditorium of people bearing signs, buttons and T-shirts with the declaration, I Am Troy Davis. Said Amnesty executive Betsy Hawkins of the show of solidarity, When justice is denied to one of us, its denied to all of us. And too often, its Blacks and other minorities like Davis who are denied justice, NAACP Washington Bureau Chief Hillary Shelton said, calling for an end to the death penalty. Weve got to end the death penalty today. Weve got to save Troy Davis, he said. This is about the cleansing of a process of summarily executing people of color for crimes that other people would not be executed for. About 60 percent of all death row inmates are racial and ethnic minorities and most are there for crimes involving White victims, the longtime civil rights activist said, so there are clear disparities. As much as wed like to think that lynching was abolished, this rush to execution is really a modernday lynching, he added. That White supremacist approach to the justice system is still alive today. Law and justice officials should be even less inclined to speedy executionor to any form of capital punishment according to somegiven the number of death row inmates who have been exonerated, activists say. Shujaa Graham, a death row exonoree, said while serving three years in a California prison for robbery, he was wrongly charged for the murder of a prison guard and spent more than a decade fighting for his release. I became politicized in prison and being an organizer, I became a target. So instead of me serving three years in prison and going home, I spent the next 12 years in prison fighting for my life, he said with a tremor in his voice and tears running down his face. The experience affected not only him but also his family, the 58-year-old said. When my mother would visit, I would say, Mama, howre you doing? And she would say, Very well. Shed say, Howre you doing? Id say, Very well. Now I understand my momma and I were lying to each otherwe werent doing well, he said before adding, I feel for the Davis family. Now Graham is using his experience to fight the death penalty. I am not a victim, Im a survivor and I promised myself that if I ever got out, I would fight against capital punishment, racism and fight for social justice, he said. But Davis caseand the many cases like itgo beyond the death penalty and speak to the accountability and fairness of the justice system, Feuer said. This system is set up to pass the bucklike a firing squad where no one knows whose bullet actually kills the person, he said of the continual shifting of the case between the state and federal courts. Feuer said more of the focus seems to be on solving and issuing punishment for cases instead of ascertaining innocence and guilt. I think people are confused and sad that we have a justice system in America thats not focused on right or wrong and innocence and guilt but on finality, he said of public response to the case. That rush to judgment is especially evident in cases involving law enforcement, added Brian Davis of the Death Penalty Abolition Campaign. When a police office is killed theres a lot of pressure to solve the case, he said. Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International USAthe lead advocacy group in this campaignsaid they are optimistic about a possible resolution. Were hopeful hell finally have his day in court because once that happens, we know hell be fine, he said. Amnesty and its partners have met with the Congressional Black Caucus, which has agreed to get behind the case, and are setting up a meeting with Attorney General Eric Holder to seek his support. Were reaching the level where everyone is realizing this will be a travesty of justice and a blot on the U.S. human rights record, he said. But Cox and others agreed that it is the constant agitation and attention from average Joes and Janes all over the world that has kept Davis alive and will eventually gain his freedom. Said Feuer, The death penalty works when executions happen under the cover of darkness. In the light, this case is so egregious that they cant execute him. As long as people stay focused on the case, I dont think they can do it.

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Closer to Adopting Bag Tax

Continued from A1 to the Audubon Society of the District of Columbia. The society also reports that plastic bags, which were introduced 25 years ago, are currently consumed at the rate of approximately 500 billion per year world wide. The Arlington, Va.-based American Chemical Council (ACC) also opposes the bag tax and says that Councils consideration constitutes a blatant tax on consumers. Shari Jackson, director of the Progressive Bag Affiliates (PBA), an arm of the ACC which was created to fight municipal ordinances banning plastic grocery bags, added that while her organization supports the concept of the bill, its disagrees with Councils approach. We just dont agree with it, Jackson told the AFRO. Its a punitive way to get people to do the right thing and we dont think that that is appropriate. Meanwhile, Jackson noted that the issue of bag taxes has been debated across the country. Its been going on now for years now with many states and jurisdictions having looked at it, Jackson said. Weve been engaged in these debates to correct a lot of the misinformation about [plastic] bags and their impact on the environment. She said that in 2007 the latest year for recycling statistics are available 830 million pounds of plastic bags were recycled throughout the country. Thats whats helping to reduce waste in the first place, she said, adding that because so many states including New York and California have adopted bag recycling laws its now time for the District to join the bandwagon as well.

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