FORUM
I
Senators, reconsider your position
on the Loretta Lynch nomination
Alma S.
Adams
Guest
Columnist
March 27,2015
.
The Honorable Richard Burr
I United States Senator
217 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
The Honorable Thorn Tillis
United States Senator
G55 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Senator Burr and Senator Tillis:
?j
We strongly urge you to reconsider
jour position on the nomination of Loretta
tynch for United States Attorney General.
We ask that you set aside partisan politics
ind support the nomination of this quali
fied nominee who is a native North
Carolinian.
Ms. Lynch's extensive resume as a suc
cessful litigator speaks volumes to her
qualifications to fill the role of United
States Attorney General. As United States
Attorney for the Eastern District of New
York, Ms. Lynch has passionately prose
cuted cases involving public corruption,
terrorism, narcotics, and violent crime.
She has earned a reputation from law
enforcement and elected officials on both
sides of the aisle as being a fair but tough
prosecutor who is
more than capable of
serving as our next
Attorney General.
We recognize that
as members of the
Senate it is your duty
to ensure that our
Attorney General
meets the qualifica
tions for this impor
Butterfield
tant position. This is a sacred duty that
must be taken seriously. That is why we
ask that you judge Ms. Lynch's nomination
solely on her qualifications and not allow
partisan distractions to cloud your judge
ments.
As fellow mem
bers of the North
Carolina
Congressional
Delegation, we
strongly encourage
you to stand on the
right side of history
and support the nomi
nation of the first
Price
African American
woman, North Carolina's own, Loretta
Lynch, to be the next United States
Attorney General.
Sincerely,
Alma S. Adams, PhD.
Member of Congress
G. K. Butterfield
Member of Congress
David Price
Member of Congress
Blacks must
re-learn voter
education
James J.
Hawkins
Guest
Columnist
?
We must go back to re
' earn the basic rules of
1 voter education, master
hem, then share them with
3ur sisters and brothers.
THE PROBLEMS:
Many of us have not
aken time to look at our
1 :lected officials, candi
i lates for office or the
ssues we face today. We
lave accepted shortcuts
like sounds bites and photo
opt^rather than doing real
research.
We give too much cre
dence to national corpo
rate-owned television sta
tions, news programs, talk
shows and newspapers. It
is very difficult to tell the
differences, if any, between
their news and entertain
ment.
NOTE: History has
taught us that it is very dif
ficult to defeat our oppo
nent if we do not know
their reputation, values,
personality and tactics.
United States Army
General George S. Patton
and German Field Marshal
Erwin Rommel spent many
hours studying each other
before and during the war.
THE SOLUTIONS:
Two words: voter edu
cation. We need to do an
in-depth study/of the peo
ple we elected; those run
ning for office and the
issues affecting our lives.
Finding all of that informa
tion could be a full time
job, so we need to divide
that task. We can find some
information online, in the
media and conversations
with groups or people we
trust.
Our conversations and
online search will still be a
small part, leaving the
media to fill us in on the
majority of that important
information.
I watch NBC News and
MSNBC for the majority
of my trusted daily news. I
watch FOX on a limited
basis to see what the other
side is saying. I read my
local daily newspaper and
some days purchase USA
Today. For weekly trusted
news, I read my two local
Black newspapers in
Wilmington, N.C. They are
The Wilmington Journal
and Greater Diversity
News.
As you see, it takes a
lot of research to become
the well-informed educated
voter we all want and need
to be. If you do not have or
take the amount time that I
do to become or remain an
educated voter, I have one
suggestion that will help
you on your way.
The majority of politi
cal information we are
seeking can be found in,
our reference book, the
weekly Black Newspaper.
Their professional staff has
done the detective research
for us so we just need to
read, digest it, and then
evaluate our options.
To my knowledge.
there are six more Black
newspapers in North
Carolina. They are:
?The Carolina
Peacemaker in
Greensboro.
?The Carolinian in
Raleigh
?The Chronicle in
Winston Salem
?The County News in
Iredell County
?The Carolina Times
in Durham
* The Fayettpville
Press (monthly) in
Fayette ville
The search for truth is a
never-ending battle. The
early Europeans found
truth by listening to Radio
Free Europe. We, Blacks,
find truth by reading Black
newspapers.
. We must financially
support our papers by pur
chasing a subscription and
advertising our businesses.
If we do not own a busi
ness, we can still partici
pate by buying space for
memorials, anniversaries
and congratulations. Black
papers have no corporate
sponsorship that tell them
what to print, so they can,
and always, tell it like it is.
Use it or lose it.
To be successful in this
our Third Reconstruction,
we must make the best use
of one hour (60 minutes).
Please spend only five
minutes discussing the
problem and 55 minutes
working on the solutions.
SERENITY
PRAYER: (truncated)
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I can
not change, courage to
change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know
the difference.
James J. Hankins is a
retired vocational educa
tion teacher, past president
of the New Hanover
County NAACP, A&T
State University alumni,
member of friends of
Abraham Galloway and
author of the book "What
We Blacks Need To Do".
To comment or order a
copy of his book, please e
mail him at
jhan606@gmail .com.
Lynch
AP Photo
Burr
VOTE
? ? ,
W :
NNPA event helped me to appreciate the Black Press
Sheridan
Watkins
Guest
^Columnist
Whose genius idea was
to host all renowned
lack publishers and con
ibutors of the Black Press
>gether in one setting? To
ou, I extend the utmost
ppreciation, as it led the
ray for me, an intern at
he Chronicle, to be a part
f Black Press Week this
ear in Washington, D.C.
The National
Newspaper Publishers
Vssociation Foundation
NNPAF ) celebrated 75
^ears of Black excellence
n the media through
lumerous awards, recogni
ions and sponsors and '
nvited 19 eager interns to
see it unfold on March 25
11.
This became an enor
nous platform to network
vith those who have
ecurely established them
elves over the decades and
young prospects who share
similar goals and aspira
tions. Ir;terns and profes
sionals from across the
nation ? Texas, Florida,
Tennessee, California and
Arizona to name a few ?
traveled many miles to wit
ness themselves and their
peers continue the NNPAF
tradition.
Since there was so
much to include in this
week of historic Black
journalism, allow me to
take you on the virtual day
to-day journey of Black
Press Week 2015:
The experience began
as soon as my feet hit the
pavement. Within an liour,
the NNPAF interns were
greeting one another and
gearing up for the first
workshop of the day, with
the editor-in-chief of the
NNPAF News Service,
George Curry.
Curry has gained much
experience in journalism.
He has published a few
books as well as been
involved in many media
organizations.
I could tell by his
demeanor that the interns
were in for an intense les
son, and although the
workshop was not long, he
made sure to share vital
pointers to improve our
feature writing skills.
And from.there it was
time to meet some people
who have been doing our
intended profession long
before we grasped our aspi
rations. Many Black pub
lishers, including The
Chronicle's Ernest Pitt,
were there to network and
share common interests
and advice with the
NNPAF interns. It was
amazing to see Black leg
ends together in one place.
The following day was
the only full day the interns
had to experitnce Black
Press Week in Washington.
DC., and the NNPAF
made sure to take advan
tage of it.
The highlights of that
day were traveling to
Howard University to see
the media lab, the museum
and the library.
The fact that the school
has a historical museum is
astonishing and was unlike
any museum I have toured
before. Although it was not
huge it was filled with
boundless Black history.
Manuscripts of the first
Black publications and
books were all housed in
Howard's museum.
The NNPAF still had
much to show and tell the
interns as we prepared for
the final day of Black Press
Week at the National Press
Club during the last lunch
eon with a panel of dynam
ic NNPAF members.
My presumption that
the panel would present
and expand on the common
cliches of the black com
munity was unfulfilled
because they dug much
deeper than that.
George Curry, whom I
grew much admiration for
over the week, was among
the seven panelists. They
had much to say about vot
ing issues, racism issues,
and addressed an important
and perplexing concern: Is
Black journalism dead?
As the panelists gave
their take on the same
issues, the intelligence of
each of them came through
the power of their words.
"The power of voting is
tremendous," said one.
"Black people have to
be twice as good to suc
ceed," said another.
The panelists conclud
ed that Black journalism
was indeed not dead and
was now in the hands of the
younger generation. But
are we ready? That was a
question that was up for
debate as one of the pan
elists stated the "future of
the Black press is shaky"
because the younger gener
ations do not know our his
tory.
As one of the future
Black journalists, I assure
The Chronicle and the
NNPAF that I am commit
ted to continuing and ele
vating the legacy of the
Black Press that the first
and second-generation suc
cessors have bravely set in
place for us.
The other interns of
NNPAF share my same
mindset. We will not let
you all down.
I TSMSktkSS*
PRESS CLUf^M
Watkins
Chronicle intern Sheridan Watkins and Publisher
Ernie Pitt gather at the National Press Club in
Washington, D.C.