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^HI ’ NCC Che CorSja teg OLUME 93 - NUMBER 5 DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2014 TELEPHONE (919) 682-2913 PRICE: 30 Obama Appeals to Public, Private Companies to Reduce Unemployment By Dorothy Rowley Special to the NNPA from The Washington Informer president Barack Obama is appealing to employers na anwide to help put thousands of jobless people back to drk. Obama, who has vowed to support strategies that help w- and middle-income families rebound amidst a re vering economy, specifically reached out Friday to lore than 300 of the nation's largest public and private Bipanies in announcing a $150 million grant competi- an through the Department of Labor to place long-term lemployed citizens in vacant positions. •’While the economy is getting stronger and businesses ke yours have created eight million jobs over the past lur years, and with the unemployment rate lower than s been in over five years, we all know we've still got a Minore to do to build an economy where everybody is illing to work hard and take responsibility to get ahead." bama said during a Jan. 31 assembly of corporate offi- als at the White House. "Getting people back on the job faster is one of our p priorities, but I must confess that last month Con- •ess made that hard by letting unemployment insurance spire for more than a million people." Obama said. He Wed that with each week Congress fails to restore those :nefits. roughly 72.000 people join the ranks of people ho've been out of work for more than one year. According to a fact sheet released follow ing Obama's ate of the Union address on Tuesday, research shows ng-term unemployed job applicants are frequently rerlooked and sometimes excluded from job opportuni- is - even w hen they have resumes and skills identical to lose of other candidates. U.S. Department of Labor statistics released in December show that while the overall unemployment rate has decreased from 7 percent to 6.7 percent, joblessness among African-Americans hovers around 11.6 percent. (Courtesy photo) In addition, labor department statistics released in De- :ntber. show that while the overall unemploy ment rale is decreased from 7.0 percent to 6.7 percent, the jobless- :ss rate for African-Americans hovers at 11.6 percent, id 32.2 percent for blacks between the aces of 16 and MSNBC commentator and civil rights leader the Rev. I Sharpton contends that blacks generally face higher lemployment rates because of where they work. "liver since Obama has been in |oflice| there's been an icrease in jobs in the priv ate sector, but black unemploy - lent has increased. Why ? Because we work in the public :ctor." Sharpton told U.S. News last y ear. In order to combat unemploy ment disparities. Obama using executive authority to issue a presidential memo- indum urging federal agencies adopt practices to ensure lat unemployed individuals and those facing financial itficulties due to no fault of their ow n receive fair treat- lent and consideration for employ ment. Among initiatives to buttress hiring are programs to re- ruit long-term unemploy ed people and strategies to gel lem employ ed in middle- to high-skill occupations. Other measures call for raising the minimum wage to 10.10 for employ ees nationwide and extending emer- ency unemploy ment benefits for three months while re- pients look for work. More desperate spin about the “Carolina Comeback” By Chris Fitzsimon www.ncpolieywatch.com News Analysis Here are two things }ou need to know about this week s news that estate unemployment rate fell half a percentage point in December 1 6.9 percent and is dow n 1.5 percent since December of 2012. fewer jobs were created in North Carolina in 2013 than in 2012. hat s right, few er jobs. That's despite Governor Pat McCrory s con- ant boasting about the "Carolina Comeback” in his first vear in of- And more than 100.000 people dropped out of the state labor force year, so discouraged in their fruitless search for a job that the} up looking and are no longer counted when computing the un- ^loyment rate. That s why the rate has gone down significant!}, not because of lassive job creation but because people can't find jobs no mailer hard the} look. That s not idle speculation from people opposed to the agenda of ^rory and the Republican leaders of the General Assembly that's ^conclusion from a w ide range of economists - scholars associated universities, major banks and even conservative think tanks. Wells Fargo Economist Mark Vitner told the News & Observer the real state unemplo}ment rate is nowhere near 6.9 percent ■ the recent drop in the rate exasmerates the improxemenl in the giom}. ^Continued On Page 4) Parents of Dead Teen Demand Justice By Zenohia Jeffries The Michigan Citizen Warning: /his article contains some graphic imagery DETROIT - Justice for Kendrick "K.J." Johnson is what his par ents want. now. In a visit to Detroit. Kenneth and Mrs. Jacquelx n Johnson told an overflowing room al the Historic King Solomon Baptist Church the} would not give up on looking for their son's killer. "We are not going to stop no matter what it takes.” Johnson told those gathered Jan. 25. for a week!} Michigan National Action Net work meeting. Detroit was the Johnson's first stop in a national trek, sponsored b} NAN. calling for the truth in their son's death. "We're continuing to heighten the call from Detroit to Atlanta, from Charlotte to California." Michigan NAN President Rex. Charles Williams told the Michigan Citizen, "to engage people in helping shed light on what we bcliexe is one of the most horrific crimes in the 21st centurx." It's been a sear since Kendrick's death. I he student athlete was found dead Jan. II. 2013 rolled up in a gxm mat inside the gymna sium al Eowndes High School, where he was in the lOih grade. His death xxas ruled an accident. The local sheriffsaid the 17-xear-okl fell into the xerticallx posi tioned mat to retriexe a gxm shoe, and became stuck, four months later an autopsy report ruled Kendrick's official cause of death as "positional asphy \ia." meaning he suffocated by his own bod} weight in the mat. "No foul play.” the sheriff said. I he Johnsons don't buy it. I here's no way their son could lit into the rolled-up mat, they say. And the sheriff's explanation of how their son died only proyes to them someone killed their son. and the au thorities arc try ing to coyer it up. "The} said my son was reaching fora shoe. I hv} wanted to make the public belieye al first it was a wrestling mat anil as we all know it probably takes probably lakes 10 people to pick up one. I hey prob ably stand 12 feet talk they stand so tall you probably can't stand them straight up. But it wasn't a wrestling mat it was a cheerleading lumblihg mat.” said Johnson, standing between his wife and fami- hattornc} Chexenc King. "It stands about six feet tall. I knocked it .oxer, and King and I picked it up with one hand with no problem. So wh} i nn son going to gel oxer into a tumbling mat to Uy and retrieve his shoe, when he could h; xe simply pushed it oxer? "Il's nol possible." he said. "The coroner came back and lold us ' ihe hole xxas 14 inches UI ns widest point. I Ie measured Kendrick s shoulders. Kendrick's shoulders were 19 inches across. So it's im possible.” Another flag for the Johnsons was the shoe which Kindred was supposed!} reaching for. If Kendrick bled out as he hung upside down in the mat. "why wasn't there blood on top of the shoe beneath him?” he asked. "Blood (was) up under the shoe.” Johnson said. "( I he} ‘re) just so man} tilings." Inconsistencies and questions keep the Johnsons on their quest for the truth. W hy didn't someone hear their son's cries for help if lie was stuck in a mat when students and staff were in and out of the g}in until S p.m. that exening? Wh} weren't they called to identify their son's body until two da}s after it was found in the (Continued On Page 4) Atty. Chevene King, Kenneth and Mrs. Jacquelyn Johnson ZENOBIA JEFFRIES PHOTO U.N. Urges Countries to Shelter Somalis Feeling Deepening War Special to the NNPA from the New York Amsterdam News GIN) - Hie U.N. refugee agency is appealing to countries not to deport Somali as} him seekers to their counuy of origin as the situa tion in southern and central Somalia is still unsafe and Somalis flee ing those areas arc in need of international protection. As} lum seekers w ho are forcibl} returned risk persecution or seri ous harm, warned U.N. spokeswoman Fatoumaia Eeieune-Kaba. "Monthly fatalities fluctuated between 100 and 600 people." she told reporters. "East June, fierce fighting resulted in 3 14 casualties in Kismayo alone. Civilians risk being killed or wounded by crosslire between government forces and al-Shabab militanls as xvell as b} bomb attacks and as by standers in targeted attacks." Lejeune-Kaba said there is a perception the situation in Somalia has stabilized because it no longer makes headline news. However instead of open warfare as before, she said, the combatants drop a bomb or attack. Meanwhile, over the past weekend, a U.S. drone killed a senior Shabab commander in a late night missile strike. Using his twitter account. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud called the killing a de cisive bloyx to the militant group. I he strike took place just a da} after 4.395 Ethiopian troops were formally absorbed into the African Union force, also known as AMISOM. according to the Sudan Tri bune. Ethiopia's contribution lakes the AMISOM force to the 22.000-slrong level mandated by the UN Security Council. "Ilie Ethiopian deploy ment w ill permit Burundian and I igandan forces to moye into parts of Lower and Middle Shabelle." a new s release from AMIS()M was quoted to sax. A Shabab spokesman responded to the new dexelopments. "We defeated Ethiopia before and we knoxx hoxx to battle them noxx." he said, adding that the inclusion of Ethiopian forces shows a xveaken^ ing of the AMISOM force. "Il reflects ihe fact that Somalia has been partitioned betxxcen Ke- 11}a and Ethiopia, and the international communit} i legalizing that partition." Under the noxx AMISOM concept of operation - to be in - plemcnied in the near future - the Ethiopian forces will take oxer si. tor 3 and help Djiboutian peacekeepers w ho are in charge of -^i Mi ■
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