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OP/ED cC\ebra^ . 0-7^. Ernest H. Pitt Publisher/Co-Founder "2. " i elaine Pitt Business Manager <2 T/eanf f 6 %, ^ T. Kevin Walker Managing Editor vnily Obama Needs to Run Against Congress Bill Fletcher Guest Columnist If President Obama wants to win in November, he will have to run against the Republican Congress. He will actually not need to spend his time on Romney. When you have people like former President Jimmy Carter sug gesting that Romney is not that bad, you have a message problem and one that may not be resolvable in the short-term. On the other hand, as a few people have suggested, if the obstructionist, wealthy Republican Congress can be tied around Romney's neck, it could quite possibly undermine Romney's campaign. What does running against the Republican Congress mean? It means taking a mes sage to the public about what sort of economy we need. It means picking up on the themes raised by the Occupy movement and hammering away at the policies of the Republican Congress and their support of the upper one per cent. It means walking the streets of our devastated cities and speaking with the unem ployed, and particularly speak ing with those who have been out of work for years, people who fear that they may never be able to work again. Obama needs to become the voice of the voiceless. President Obama needs to remind people about the eco nomic policies that got us into this mess. This is something that the White unemployed and precariously employed need to hear time and again. Too many of them seem to be ready to go one more round in the Republican economic fun house. If there was one thing that Obama need, to do, and I am not sure that he is prepared to do it, it is to encourage protests and action among the bottom 99 percent against eco nomic injustice. I don't par ticularly care that he did not show up in Wisconsin to sup port the anti-Scott Walker recall movement. Wisconsin needed to be about Walker, not Obama. That said, the people at the base need to hear from Obama the way that we did in January 2009, when he supported the demands of the woricers at Republic Windows & Doors in Chicago when they occupied - no pun intend ed - their factory. When was the last time that we had heard a president of the USA take such a stand? We now ask, why was that the last time we heard this from Obama? We also need President Obama to stop trying to out Republican the Republicans when it comes to national security. One of the best ways to demoralize segments of his base can be found in the con tinuing attacks on civil liber ties that have been underway during his administration. "Whistleblowers" have come under attack. Peaceful, non violent protesters - such as the ant i-war protesters in Minneapolis and Chicago - have not only come under sur veillance, but also have faoed various legal chaiges. Look, we voted for a president we hoped would expand democra cy, rather than contract it. We also voted for someone to end these senseless wars. Well, points go out to President Obama for ending the Iraq occupation, but we are still in Afghanistan and these ckone attacks in Pakistan and Yemen do nothing but inflame local tensions and create more enemies. To win, Obama needs an "Obama Doctrine" for the 21st Century, a clear, non-rhetori cal statement that situates his campaign in the hearts and minrfc of the 99 percent. We do not need any more feel-good speeches. We need change that we can see. Bill Fletcher, Jr. is a Senior Scholer a the Institute for Policy Studies, the immediae past president of Trots Africa Forum, end the co-eatthor of Solidcrity Divided. He an be reached at pepaq54@hotmail.com. Florida is Again a Laughing Stock George Curry Guest Columnist \yhen it comes to national elections, no state makes a bigger fool of itself than Florida. The Sunshine State was at the center of an 1876 controversy over the presiden tial election between Republican Rutherford B. Hayes and Democrat Samuel L. Tilden. By throwing out many votes cast by Blacks, Florida was able to give Hayes a one-vote maigin in the Electoral College, although Tilden had won the state's pop ular vote by 260,000 votes. The case reached the Supreme Court, here Florida's chicanery was also upheld by a one-vote margin. There is a book on the election by Roy Morris Jr. called, "Florida's Voting Scandal in 1876: The Fraud of the Centuiy." The 2000 presidential con test between A1 Gore and George W. Bush was the fraud of another centuiy, featuring a governor, Jeb Bush, who was brother of the Republican nominee for president, and Florida's Secretary of State Katherine Harris, with the responsibility of supervising state election procedures, serv ing as George W. Bush's state co-chairman. There was widespread con fusion leading up to Election Day. More than 54,000 people were purged from voting rolls supposedy because they were felons; 54 percent of the group was made up of African Americans. However, it was later determined that many of Gov. Rick Scott those denied access to the bal lot were not convicted felons. This year, Florida officials are not waiting until the November elections to dsen franchise voters likely to vote for President Obama and other Democrats. Gov. Rick Scott signed an executive order that, in effect, permanently disenfranchises ex-offenders. In addition, the state eliminated early voting on the Sunday before elections, a move to dsrupt "Souls to the Polls" voting campaigns oiganized by churches. In 2008, 32.2 percent of those who voted early on that last Sunday were Black and 23.6 percent were Latino. To make it more dfficult to organize voter registration drives, Scott signed a law requiring groups registering voters to pre-register with the state and turn in voter registra tion forms with 48 hours of collection. U.S. District Judge Robert L. Hinkle ruled on a suit that challenged those provisions by the League of Women Voters of Florida, Rode the Vote and Florida Public Interest Research Group Educational Fund. The groups said such requirements infringed on their constitutional rights of free speech and association. Judge Hinkle dismissed the state's asseition that no constitutional rights were being violated "The assertion that the challenged provisions impli cate no constitutional rights is plainly wrong," he wrote in his decision. "The plaintiffs wish to speak, encouraging others to register to votes, and some of the challenged provi sions - for example, the requirement to disclose in advance the identity of an employee or volunteer who will do nothing more than speak - regulates pure speech. This is core First Amendnent activity. "Further, the plaintiff's wish to speak and act collec tively with others, implicating the First Amendment right to association. More importantly, the plaintiffs wish to assist others with the process of reg istering and thus, in due course, voting. Voting is a right protected by several con stitutional provisions; state election codes thus are subject to constitutional scrutiny." The U.S. Justice Department has also objected to Florida making it more dif ficult for citizens to vote. Not surprisingly, Florida officials are appealing the court ruling and the Justice Department's intervention. George E. Curry, former editor-in-chief of Emerge mag azine, is editor-in-chief of the National Newspcper Publishers Associction News Service (NNPA) aid editorial director of Heal & Soul maga zine. He is a keynote spedter, modem or, aid media coach. Curry cat be reached through his Web site, www.georgecurry.com. Best of the Best Submitted Photo Winston-Salem Rescue Mission Executive Director Dan Parsons, left, accepts a certification for the Mission from the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions (AGRM) during the Association's recent annual confer ence in Orlando. Only about 30 of the nation's 275 Rescue Missions have earned this certification, which signals a Mission's commitment to "excel lence in all aspects of its ministry." The Winston-Salem Rescue Mission operates three residential addiction programs. There are currently 84 men enrolled in these programs. Also pictured is Tom Zoble, a certification consultant with the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions. Baptist from page A4 aside for commercial devel opment, including banks, restaurants, hotels and shops. Clearing and grading of the site is expected to take approximately five months. Then, construction will begin on the medical office building and the outpatient center. The four-story. Dr. McConnell 60,000 square-foot building, housing physician offices is expected to be complete in the summer of 2013. The 101,000 square-foot outpa tient center, a complex struc ture with specialized equip ment, is scheduled for com pletion in late 2013. Phase two of the project, which includes the development of hospital beds, is scheduled for completion in 2017. Benbow from page A1 ' ? being able to approach them all in a respectable way and also allowing for (different) voices, I think that's what has made the show, in its own way, successful because peo ple who would probably get hushed in another forum get to speak their mind." The wonders of modem technology allow Benbow to host her show from pretty much anywhere. She is back home in Forsyth County for the summer, and has hosted her most recent shows from her Kemersville home using just her laptop and head phones. She interviews her guests via telephone, cell phone or online communica tions programs. Broadcast through the Blog Talk Radio web site, the series quickly established a fanbase. The very first episode fea tured local pastor Dr. Carlton Eversley of Dellabrook Presbyterian Church. The two discussed the definition of black faith. "I think I even told him that this is just going to be a show of my friends listening," said Benbow, who wasn't far off since only 32 people logged on to listen to the first episode. The show's popularity surged during its second week when she landed Bums Strider, who was the senior advisor and cfirector of Faith Outreach for Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign. The well-known political veteran talked about how faith informs politics, and people listened. The episode drew 4,000 listeners, the highest number in the show's short history. "That changed everything because there were people emailing me who I had absolutely no idea how they found the show," said Benbow. "I think (Strider) changed it in a lot of ways for me, and then made me believe it was actual ly possible to do this." "Divine Dialogue" is more than talk. Benbow incorpo rates music clips, sermon excerpts and live calls from listeners. Benbow said that she booked guests for the first sea son by the seat of her pants, often securing them just days before the broadcast. But her first-season success and her budding credibility as a cut ting ed|ge socio-religious thinker and scholar have made ckawing guests for the second season a breeze. All 12 guests appearing on this season's shows were booked before the season kicked off. "I'm grateful because 98 percent of the people I asked to be on the show said 'yes' and the other two percent just dith't get back to me," she said Some "Divine Dialogue" guests are Ben bow's personal Burns Strider heroes and mentors, including one of tonight's (June 14) guests, Naomi Tutu, the daughter of Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The two women met while Benbow was earning her undergraduate degree at Tennessee State University, where Tutu once , served as deputy director of International Programs. Tutu said she knew Benbow had something spe- , rial to offer the world after Benbow spoke about the chal lenges faring African childen during a contest sponsored by | International Programs. Ben bow's essay and oral pres entation were so impressive that she was one of two TSU students picked to travel to New York City to attend an i event for the International Day of the African Child, which honors those who took part in 1976's bloody Soweto Uprising. Seeing the potential in Benbow, Tutu started calling her "the Rev. Dr. Benbow," fotging a friendship that has ckiven Benbow to develop and use all of her talents. "She's an amazing young woman," said Tutu. "She is a woman of great gifts, and gifts the world really, really needs, gifts of both compassion, but also of critically looking and thinking and being prepared to ask the hard questions." Tutu, who is now a cfiver sity consultant, lectures around the world and recently spoke in Winston-Salem, giv ing the keynote address at the Dr. Otis Moss III YWCA's Women of Vision Luncheon. She catches Benbow's show when her schedule allows. "The ones that I've lis tened to, what has been strik ing to me is the balance she is able to achieve, of not molly coddling the people she's interviewing, not ducking or masking difficult and chal lenging questions... it is clearly about wanting to know what the person thinks, but also wanting to have this con versation to answer some of her own questions," said Tutu. The Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III will also be featured on tonight's show. He succeeded the controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright as pastor of Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ, President Barack Obama's former church. The discussion topic will be "Moving Black America Forward." Benbow, who is working on a book that centers around black religion, hopes to con tinue "Divine Dialogue," which garnered 1,370 listeners for last week's season pre miere, and maybe even get it aired on traditional radio sta tions. Divine Dialogue airs each Thursday from 6:30 - 8 p.m. G o to blogtdkracto.com/dvine dialogue to listen. To listen to episodes from season one, g o to blogtalkradio.com/divined alogue. K?^7^inv^riii*TjiT*ii |\H 11 1 ? |\H ? ?L^i.* ^>>wazingly fast satellite Internet service. I Now available almost anywhere. MBiI?I*18Mls H I Call your authorized dealer now! C.A.O.T.T.I. (888) 308-6520 Actual iptart win vary Not avaMbi* in a* araaa. Chart www aiafli com tar data*.
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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