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VOLUME 88 - NUMBER 8
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2009
TELEPHONE (919) 682-2913 PRICE: 30
Johnson Trial - NC man once accused
of murder marks end of ordeal
DUKE ELLINGTON (Courtesy The Bettman Archive, Inc.
District Quarter - DC celebrates
release of Duke Ellington quarter
By Brett Zongker
WASHINGTON (AP) - Jazz musician Duke Ellington has
tecome the first black American to be prominenth' featured on
a U.S, coin in circulation w ith the release of a quarter honor
ing the District of Columbia.
U.S. Mint and D.C. officials celebrated the release of the
:oin Feb. 24 during a ceremony at the Smithsonian's National
useum of American History.
"Like many great Americans who succeed in what they love
^-oing. Duke Ellington was equal parts talent, hard work, pas
sion and perseverance." U.S. Mint Director Ed Moy said.
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was born and raised in
^Washington. He and other black music legends, such as Ella
Fitzgerald, helped establish the city's U Street as an entertain-
j.nient corridor.
Ellington beat out designs featuring abolitionist Frederick
Douglass and astronomer Benjamin Banneker.
Last year, the Mint rejected a proposed design for the D.C.
quarter that included the slogan "Taxation Without Represen
tation." a phrase borrowed by D.C. residents to voice objec
tions that they pa\ federal taxes without full representation in
Congress. Instead, the Ellington coin includes the D.C. motto
"Justice for All."
The coin with Ellington resting his elbow on a piano was of
ficially released Jan. 26. but officials took time Feb. 24 to hand
out some of the "mint condition" quarters to D.C. schoolchil
dren.
, "With Duke on the coin, we are sending an important mes-
'sage to the world that D.C. is a lot more than a government
town." D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton said.
Prior to the Ellington quarter, the only U.S. coin to depict a
black person was a 2003 Missouri state coin that featured ex
plorers Lewis and Clark with a black slave named York. Mint
spokeswoman Carla Coolman said.
Commemorative coins have also featured black figures but
jthose coins weren't put into circulation.
^
On the Net:
U.S. Mint: http://w'W'W.usmint.gov
'Racist’ Cartoon: New York Post
Endangers President and Community
By Cyril "Josh" Barker
Special to the NNPA from the Amsterdam News
NEW YORK (NNPA) - A political cartoon published b\ the New York
Post on Wednesday. Feb. !8. has many alleging the newspaper promotes
blatant racism. The caitoon that ran in the newspaper's "Page Six" section
features two while police officers who have gunned down a chimpanzee
in a poo! of blood.
One of the officers sa\’s. "The> ‘I! have to find someone else to write the
ne.xf stimulus bill." Sean Delonas drew the cartoon. The work is a parody
of a recent news stor\' that broke earlier in the week w here a woman was
attacked in Connecticut b) a chimpanzee. Police shot and killed the animal
.that was being kept as pet. President Barack Obama also signed $787 bil
lion stimulus bill on Tuesday.
The cartoon appeared in the tabloid on Wednesda\ and prompted im-
'.•mediate opposition from civil rights organizations. At the National Action
Network headquarters in Harlem, the Rev. Al Sharpton voiced his outrage.
: "We cannot have different standards in this countr> when it comes to of-
I fending people." said Sharpton. "This, to us. is something that's offensive
I to all Americans, black, white. Hispanic and Asian."
I In an act of protest. Sharpton led picketing of the offices of the New
York Post on Thursday at noon. He's demanded that the paper clarif> the
^ineaning of the cartoon and/or discipline the artist and editor responsible.
I Community leaders and political figures joined him. including Coun-
• cilmember Charles Barron and Assemblywoman Inez Barron.
"The racist rag sheet [the New York Post] has hit an all-time low." said
•Councilmember Barron. "The cartoon is racist and threatens the life of
’ OUT president. Barack Obama. We are calling on the Justice Department to
investigate the New York Post. Overall, our community, city and country
will not accept this.." Sharpton told the AmNews that he is also going to
(Continued On Page 3)
By Marlon A. Walker
GOLDSBORO (AP) - James Johnson's plea Feb. 16 to a felony charge
in connect'on w ith the death of a l7-year-oid Wilson girl marked the end
of his legal ordeal surrounding the case.
Johnson entered an Alford plea to a misprision of a felony charge,
meaning he does not admit guilt but acknow ledges prosecutors mas have
enoL‘-'f evidence to convict him. No judgment goes on his record.
But he and his famil\ said the battle with the legal system that wrongly
jailed him more titan three years continues for anyone w ho may face w hat's
taken him nearly five years to overcome.
"We can't let it end there." said Johnson's father. Arthur Johnson. A
you just say it's over because of Monda\. b\ Tuesday you're right bacf:
where you started from."
Brittany Willis, police said, was kidnapped at gunpoint on June 28.
2004. from a shopping center parking lot. Authorities found the 17-year-
old's body the next day at a construction site. She had been raped and shot
twice.
Then-16-year-old Kenneth Meeks showed up to the Johnson famil\
home the night of Willis' murder in a sport utility vehicle James Johnson
said he didn't recognize. From there, the two drove to the construction site
where the girl had been killed. Johnson was shown the teen's bod\.
But after he told authorities of what he'd been told and saw. the finger
was pointed back at him. He w as jailed more than three years on murder,
rape and kidnapping charges in Willis' death.
Meeks eventually was sentenced to life without parole in Willis' death.
He later recanted his story to authorities that James Johnson had a part in
the slaying, going as far as to w rite the local paper w ith the information.
Johnson's charges were eventually dropped in December 2007. but a
special prosecutor given the case charged Johnson w ith accessor)’ after the
fact for his role in the incident. The prosecutor claimed Johnson w iped his
fingerprints off W'illis' vehicle.
"I was tired of the court system." Johnson, now 22. said at a pray er vigil
marking the end of his nearly 5-year ordeal. "Even if it w as a 99-percent
chance I'd get off. that one percent ... scared me. I've already seen (my
family) through glass for three-and-a-half \ears."
He said he intended to fight the charges to the end. but fear of going
back to the same place he sa\s he was w rongly held for more than three
years pushed him to accept the plea agreement. He had been released in
September2007 when ajudge reduced his SI million bond.
Johnson was barely an adult when he was jailed on murder charges in
July 2004. Now. he says, he plans to use his stor\ to help other teens going
dow n the wrong road.
"Being in jail. 1 realized some of the traps some of the \ oung broth
ers fall into." he said. "1 want to give them an outlet. I w ant to open their
eyes. ■
The Rev. William Barber, president of the stale chapter of the NAACR
said Feb. 18 more needs to be done to prevent prosecutors from w rongly
targeting innocent people.
"The James Johnson case was never a case about the Willises versus
James Johnson." Barber said. 'The case was about James Johnson
HBCU President Pushed for
Health Secretary
By Hazel Edney
NNPA Editor-in-Chief
WASHINGTON (NNPA) - House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn (D-
S.C.). the highest ranking black member of (Congress, has asked President
Barack Obama to consider the public health-oriented president of a his
torically black university for the post of secretary of Health and Human
Services.
Clyburn is pushing New Orleans' native Wa> ne J. Rile\. a specialist in
internal medicine, who has been president of Nashville's Meharrv Medical
College for two years. He sa\s Rilev would be ideal for the job. in part be
cause of his consistent focus on the disparate rates of health care coverage,
illness, and death in black and other racial minoritv communities.
"There are currently over 47 million Americans who lack health care
coverage, fifty-five percent of whom are minorities." Clyburn sa\s in a
statement to the NNPA News Service in response to a request for com
ment. "As CEO of Mehariy Medical College, a Historical!) Black College
in Nashville. Tenn.. Dr. Wayne J. Rile) is on the front line of the health
care crisis in this countr). His training, skills and experiences make him
uniquel) qualified to lead Health and Human Services at this critical time
in our nation's histor)."
Obama this week turned to health care and budgetar) items after sign
ing the $787 billion stimulus bill last week. Though rumor and speculation
abounded, early this week Obama had not said w ho he would pick for the
top health post. Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebeiius is reported!) a leading can
didate largel) because of her attempts to broaden health care coverage. Ini-
tiall). Obama had selected former South Dakota Sen. Tom Daschle, but he
w ithdrew himself from consideration after the discovery of tax problems.
The U. S. Health and Human Services secretar) is the top cabinet post
for the oversight of health policies. The successful candidate would be re
sponsible for carrying the ball for Obama's promised new national health
care plan. The department also oversees the U. S. surgeon general, often
viewed as the chief health advocate.
Racial disparities in health care systems and statistics had become so
deep that an Office of Minority Health was established in 1986 "to improve
and protect the health of racial and ethnic minoriiv populations through the
development of health policies and programs that will eliminate health dis
parities." according to a description on the agenc) 's website.
Yet. 23 years later, major disparities persist in virtual!) even health
and disease categon’ w ith African-Americans being the worst amidst His-
panics Latinos: Pacific Islanders: Asians: American Indians: Alaska and
Hawaii Natives.
Riley. Meharrv's 10th president, previously served as vice-president
and vice dean for health affairs and governmental relations at Baylor Col
lege of Medicine (BCM) in Houston. According to his official biography,
he also has a broad range of patient care and administrative experience,
including at Baylor's affiliate Ben Taub Genera! Hospital, a 500-bed pub
lic hospital that serves the indigent and uninsured of Houston and Harris
County. Texas. Riley was assistant chief of medicine at Ben Taub.
Riley supporters say he is uniquely equipped for the job as an African-
American physician with extensive experience and study in health policy
for the underserved. Some also say Obama's top appointments have
(Continued On Page 3)
versus an arrogant system of injustice."
NAACP officials spent Feb. 18 morning telling stories of others w ho
had been convicted in North Carolina. Some, like Alan Gell. had been sen
tenced to die for crimes they were later found to have not committed. Gell
w as acquitted in 2004 of a 1995 killing after it w as revealed prosecutors
had withheld key evidence during his original trial.
A complaint with the State Bar is still in progress against Wilson Coun
ty assistant district attorney Bill Wolfe, whom the NAACP has accused
of prosecutorial misconduct. Barber has said he's hoping the NAACP's
national office will assist them in fighting what he sees as injustices in the
slate's legal s)siem.
“People keep sasing 'let's heal' from this experience. For them, that
means let's scab over the bigger problem." Barber said. "Until the system
is willimt to call itself out. it's not over."
GOP CHAIR MICHAEL SI EELE
GOP’s Steele Rejects Obama
Coat Tailing’ Theory; Sets Out to
'Engage’ Black Community
By Hazel Trice Edney
NNPA Editor-in-Chief
WASHINGTON (NNPA) - New Republican Part) Chairman Michael
Steele, the first African-American to hold the seat, rejects the notion that
his Jan. 30 w in w as largely due to political "coat tailing" of the celebrated
Barack Obama. America's first black president.
"1 firm!) believe that if Hilar) Clinton had been the [Democratic] nomi
nee and had won or Joe Biden or any of them. I think that it was a moment
in time just as it was for Barack in which various things came together
to create this moment." Steele said in an interview w ith the NNPA News
Service. "Now we w ill see what we do with it. Now we'li see what we II
both do w ith it."
A w idel)-held belief is that the Republican strateg) is now to glean
from the Obama euphoria in order to w in back defected Republicans and
African-American votes in four years.
"While I congratulate Steele. I am also aware that it probably would
never have happened if Barack Obama had not w on the presidency." w rote
NNPA columnist Ron Walters. "So now that he is chair, the biggest ques
tion he confronts is how to turn around the strong perception that Repub
licans are actively opposed to black interests. Steele himself said just after
the recent election w hile campaigning for the office that Republican Party
officials "just don't give a damn'."
Steele concedes that galvanizing the Republican vote enough to lake
back the w hite House in four years w ill be nearly impossible.
"It w ill be like climbing Mount Rushmore in a pair of shorts and a
T-Shirt. It's going to be very. veiy. ven tough." iie said. "You're full)
exposed. And it's a ven difficult thing to do. You're laid bare in many
respects as a party because )ou're tr\ ing to sa). 'Look, this is what we've
done wrong in the past'."
But. he actuall) believes it's doable.
"They didn't have Michael Steele " he said.
Know n for his outspokenness. Steele said. "We did a lot of things that
led the people to distrust our leadership."
By that, he not only meant violating Republican principles of frugal-
it) and fiscal conservatism, but outrighli) demonstrating the insensitivitv
toward black concerns for which the Republican Part) has gained a reputa
tion.
"I got in trouble in 2006 w hen I ran for the Senate because 1 called out
the failure of a Republican administration to appropriate!) and atTectiveK
deal with [Hurricane] Katrina." Steele sa)s He lost that election despite
his earlier w in as Maryland's first black lieutenant governor.
Now. he says, he will use his outspokenness to start an energetic con
versation w ithin the largely southern w hite male party that he believes will
attract others to the table.
Most blacks were registered Republicans until Franklin D. Roosevelt's
"New Deal" from 1933-1938. As late as the earl) lOr.Qs. it was not unusual
for Republican candidates to get 30 percent of the black vote, particularly
moderate Republicans such as New York City Mayor John V. Lindsay and
Connecticut Sen. Lowell Weicker.
A major turning point for the party anci > relationship with African-
Americans came when Republicans chose S. Bany Goidwa'er. an arch
conservative from Arizona, as its presidentia' ndidate in l9o4, smack in
the middle of the civil rights movement. Golc tor r^n on a ^ 's'
(Continued Or. Paste 3)