civic engagement leader
BALTIMORE (NNPA) - Fulfilling a promise to prioritize
voter empowerment among his first initiatives, new NAACP
President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous, who began his tenure
this week, has named among his first appointees voter registration
activist Kirk Clay.
Clay, the NAACP's new national
civic engagement director, will focus on
mobilizing citizens to register and vote;
and also ensuring equal justice for citi
zens and full participation in the demo
cratic process.
Jealous said during his first press
interviews in May that he was already
mapping a strategy to maximize Black
voter participation and issues in the gen
eral election Nov. 4.
The NAACP Civic Engagement
Department's goal is to increase African
Clay
American participation in the democratic process by removing
roadblocks and disincentives to voting. Its target areas include the
voter empowerment, constitutional rights, redistricting and census
statistics; and ballot initiatives that address social justice issues.
Clay's background in civic participation, social justice and
community organizing spans more than two decades, according to
a statement released by the NAACP.
Prior to joining the NAACP, Clay was the national field direc
tor for Power PAC, a new non-partisan membership organization
dedicated to holding elected officials accountable to their con
stituents.
"1 am proud to represent the NAACP during this historic
moment," says Clay, in a release. "One of my priorities will be to
ensure that every eligible American who wants to vote can, and
that every vote is counted."
State finds that new HIV infections
high among South Carolina blacks
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - New estimates of HIV cases in
South Carolina shows the infection rate among blacks is higher
than for all other races combined.
The estimates released last week by state Department of
Health and Environmental Control also show that men are infect
ed at nearly twice the rate of women.
The estimates come from an analysis of repeat blood tests and
testing history from people who initially were diagnosed in 2006.
Before the state could only count the number of cases detected not
track the true number of new infections.
The number of cases detected has declined steadily over the
past several years.
DHEC estimates there were 990 new cases in 2006, while the
number of people diagnosed that year was 777.
Wake County Dems Photo
The Order of the Long Leaf Pine is presented to Betty
Ann Knudsen.
Democrats honor trailblazer Knudsen
RALEIGH - Wake County Democratic Mencpaid tribute to
the Honorable Betty Ann Knudsen at a sold-out dinner at the
Clarion Hotel in Raleigh on Monday, Sept. 8.
Knudsen - the first woman chair of the Wake County Board
of Commissioners - will celebrate her 82nd birthday in October.
She was called an inspiration to a generation of women in politics
and a fearless advocate for progressive causes.
Rep. Jennifer Weiss (D-Wake) credited Knudsen as a role
model and mentor to her and so many women candidates and
elected officials in Wake County and beyond.
"Betty Ann is rich; rich in character. And, if she had a dime for
every phone call she made on behalf of candidates, she could bail
out Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae," quipped Rep. Weiss.
Several colleagues and friends came to the microphone to tell
stories about Betty Ann. Recurring themes were her political
savvy, her kindness, and the long hours and hard work she has put
in for candidates over the decades.
Personal letters were read from Lt. Governor Bev Perdue and
Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama. Perhaps the
highlight of the evening was the presentation of The Order of the
Long Leaf Pine, which js the highest honor to a citizen that the
Governor may bestow.
Hearing postponed in Obama 4pIot'
DENVER (AP) - man who sparked fears of an assassina
tion plovagainst presidential contender Barack Obama missed a
federal court hegnng/ni a drug charge Friday because he's in the
Denver jail on ^ncrther case,
Tharin Gartrefl was to be arraigned last Friday. The hearing
has been rescheduled for Sept. 19.
Details of the Denver case against him weren't immediately
available.
Gartrell was stopped for a traffic violation in suburban Aurora
the day before the Democratic Party convention in Denver. That
led police to a witness who said Gartrell and two others talked
about killing Obama because he's black.
Prosecutors didn't charge them with threatening Obama, say
ing they were high on me th amphetamine at the time and posed no
credible threat. Gartrell faces up to two years in prison if convict
ed on the drug ch.n >y.
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Book: Davis' legacy taking a beating
BY MICHAEL RUB1NKAM
THE ASSOClAJED PRESS
EAST STROUDSBURG,
Pa, - For all the grief that
Sammy Davis Jr. took in life -
remember the uproar over his
embrace of Richard Nixon? -
he's getting it even worse in
death
Eighteen years after the
legendary entertainer suc
cumbed to throat cancer at age
64, his estate is in tatters, bur
dened by debt and infighting
among family members and
business associates. Despite
recording hundreds of songs,
starring in dozens of movies
and TV shows, and giving
countless live performances,
his posthumous earning power
is dwarfed by the likes of Elvis
Presley and fellow Rat Packer
Frank Sinatra.
"This is one of the most
dysfunctional situations, and
they still can't get it together,"
says Albert "Sonny" Murray
Jr.. who should know.
Murray, a lawyer based in
the Poconos, was hired by
Davis's widow to resolve his
staggering $7 million IRS tax
debt and restore the legacy of
one of the 20th century's great
est showmen.
His Herculean efforts,
stretched out over seven years,
are chronicled in
"Deconstructing Sammy:
Music. Money, Madness, and
the Mob," a book by journalist
and author Matt Birkbeck,
expected out this week that
reveals Murray as a man of
stubborn tenacity - and Davis
as one of extraordinary com
plexity.
Here's Davis the showbiz
legend: a consummate per
former who got his start in
vaudeville, a triple threat of
singing, acting and dancing, a
charter member of the high
flying, hard-partying Rat Pack.
Here's Davis the civil
rights campaigner: a man who
endured horrid acts of racism
while serving with the Army's
first integrated unit during
World War II, and who later
marched with Martin Luther
King Jr. and used his fame to
try to heal racial divisions.
And here's Davis the
flawed family man: an absen
tee father, abusive husband,
drug-addled hedonist, and bad
businessman who surrounded
himself with people who didn't
always have his best interests
at heart.
"I think everyone, for the
most part, thought he was
nothing more than a caricature,
a guy who was always laugh
ing, happy and up," says
Birkbeck, 49. "I was really
shocked at how his life behind
the scenes was falling
apart over the last 15 or
20 years."
Davis's remarkable
life is certainly well
trod territory.
Nevertheless, through
interviews with close
friends and confidants
who had never spoken
publicly betore, Birkbeck ^
digs up many startling
details. (Example: Davis
confided in his bodyguard, a
former British Intelligence
agent, that he believed the
Secret Service had a role in the
Kennedy assassination.)
But the real heart and soul
of "Deconstructing Sammy"
belongs to Sonny Murray, and
his quest td save not one
endangered black
legacy - but
two.
I n
1 9 5 4 ,|
Murray's parents
founded a visionary
Poconos resort, the
Hillside Inn, that catered
to blacks at a time when
blacks were routinely
denied accommoda
tions.
The Murrays saw
the Hillside as a wel
coming refuge, and
See Davis on A4
Warith Deen Mohammed passes away
BY YUS?UF SIMMONDS
LOS ANGELES SENTINEL
LOS ANGELES (NNPA)
- He turned the Nation of
Islam towards the East and
incorporated the fundamentals
of Orthodox Islam to his fol
lowers.
Imam Warith Deen
Mohammed, the spiritual
leader of the American
Muslim Community, and the
son of the Honorable Elijah
Muhammad and Sister Clara
Muhammad, died on Sept. 9.
He was 74. He assumed the
leadership of the Nation of
Imam Mohammed
Islam (Nation) in 1975 and
began dismantling the Nation
bringing it closer to tradition
al "Orthodox" Islam. He
rejected his father's teachings
and eventually changed the
name of the followers to
Bilalian and the "Muhammad
Speaks" newspaper to
"Bilalian News." Ministers
became Imams and mosques
became masjids. v ^
In deconstructing the
Nation, Mohammed seemed
more focused on religion and
spirituality than the rigidity
that some of the Muslims con
sidered as a way of life. He
disbanded the Fruit of Islam
(FOI) and allowed the
Muslims to choose their
dress-wear as long as they
maintained a modicum of
modesty.
In the larger sdciety,
Mohammed reached out to
other religions and sought to
be inclusive rather than exclu
sive.
He was reportedly fluent
in the Arabic language and
well versed in the^ Holy
Qu'ran, the Holy Book of the
Muslim Scriptures.
Mohammed's shift towards
Sec Mohwiinn* <m M
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