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VOLUME 93 - NUMBER 6 DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2014 TELEPHONE (919) 682-2913 PRICE: 30
Diverse Assembly Kicked Off a Year of Voter Empowerment, Nonviolent Direct Action and Litigation
More than 80,000 Rallied Outside State Capitol,
Set Justice-Driven Agenda at Moral March
RALEIGH - Protesting against the regressive laws passed by extremists in the Gen
eral Assembly last year, upwards of 80,000 people marched on the state capitol Satur
day morning, according to the march’s logistics and planning experts. Called the Moral
March on Raleigh, the event’s multiracial, intergenerational crowd also advanced an
agenda for moral and constitutional public policy.
Convened by the North Carolina NAACP and more than 160 partner organizations in
the Historic Thousands on Jones Street (HKonJ) People’s Coalition, the march was the
largest gathering in the South since the Selma to Montgomery March in 1965. It also
marked the eighth annual convening of the HKonJ People’s Coalition, bringing together
diverse voices from the civil rights, faith-based, labor, student, women’s rights, environ
mental protection, LGBT and immigrant justice communities.
“We are black, white, Latino, Native American,” said Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II,
president of the NC NAACP and convener of HKonJ. “We are Democrat, Republican,
independent. We are people of all faiths, and people not of faith but who believe in a
moral universe. We are natives and immigrants, business leaders and workers and un
employed, doctors and the uninsured, gay and straight, students and pa
This year’s assembly built off momentum that the Forward Together Moral Move
ment set in motion last year with more than 30 “Moral Mondays” demonstrations against
the General Assembly’s regressive agenda.
“Every major faith tradition lifts up the high standard of justice,” said Dr. Barber,
further citing the U.S. and North Carolina State Constitutions for underscoring govern
ment that is vested in the good of the whole. “When we look at these high standards for
North Carolina and for America, we must declare there are those who have chosen to
live, govern, and act mighty low. In policy and politics, we face two choices: One is the
low road to destruction, and the other is a pathway to higher ground.... Those of us who
love freedom and justice are being called to take this state and nation from the low lands
of injustice and division to higher ground.”
To get there, the NC NAACP has designed a “5-M” grassroots mobilization plan to
motivate every citizen to fight against these extremist policies; meet every challenge to
suppress the right to vote; mobilize all North Carolinians to the polls regardless of party
affiliation; make every effort to fight in the courts against voter suppression and for the
restoration of the Voting Rights Act; and move every obstacle that could keep people
from voting.(Continued On Page 12)
Black Unemployment
Rises to 12.1 percent
By Freddie Allen
NNPA Washington Correspondent
WASHINGTON (NNPA) - The black unemployment rate in
creased from 11.9 percent in December to 12.1 percent in January,
according the Department of Labor’s latest monthly report.
■ At 12.1 percent the black unemployment rate is nearly double the
national unemployment rate of 6.6 percent. The unemployment rate
for black men over 20 years old jumped from 11.5 percent in De
cember 2013 to 12 percent in January, compared to white men who
experienced a decrease in their unemployment rate from 5.6 percent
in December 2013 to 5.4 percent in January.
I The jobless rate for black women over 20 years old didn’t change
pom December to January, staying flat at 10.4 percent, compared to
white women who saw their unemployment rate tick down from 5.3
percent in December to 5.2 percent in January.
■ Young blacks, 16-19 years-old, continue to suffer the highest rate
of unemployment among all worker groups at 38 percent. The jobless
. Jate for whites in the same age group is 17.5 percent. Many econo
mists believe that lack ofjob experience during their teenage years,
hinders blacks from learning crucial job skills at a young age, stunt-
; Fg any future job prospects.
I The labor force participation rate, the number of people who are
; either employed or looking for work, rose for all adult worker groups,
in a statement on the jobs report, U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E.
Perez noted the increase in the labor force participation rate and the
slowly shrinking unemployment rate as signs of economic progress
1 in the flailing economy.
I That progress has not trickled down to the black community,
where the jobless rate for blacks is nearly twice the national average.
The labor force participation rate also increased among blacks, which
may indicate that more blacks were looking for jobs in January, but
hadn’t found one.
Rep. John Conyers wants emphasis on job creation (NNPA
Photo by Freddie Allen)
Last Thursday, Republican senators buried a deal that would have
extended unemployment benefits for 1.7 million Americans. Perez
said that Congress remains a roadblock to progress.
On a post on the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities website
Chad Stone, the center’s chief economist, wrote that, “Families rely
on unemployment benefits to meet basic needs like food, health care,
and housing while they look for work.”
(Continued On Page 12)
STEM Education Gap Threatens
American Economic Success
By Jazelle Hunt
NNPA Washington Correspondent
WASHINGTON (NNPA) - At a time when 6.7 percent unemploy
ment (or, 11.9 percent among African Americans) is an improvement,
the STEM sector still has more available jobs than qualified Ameri
can professionals. And according to a study released last week, the
United States’ will halt its economic success unless the racial gap
in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education is
addressed.
The report, STEM Urgency: Science, Technology, Engineering
and Mathematics Education in an Increasingly Unequal and Com
petitive World, examines the inadequacy of STEM education, par
ticularly among African Americans and Latinos, and how that inad
equacy impacts U.S. economic power. The paper is presented by the
Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a nonprofit, nonpar
tisan think-tank dedicated to research and policy analysis on issues
affecting African Americans and other people of color.
The Joint Center also convened a panel last week to introduce the
paper and discuss its findings.
According to the report, just 17 percent of degreed and employed
black professionals hold a STEM degree. In the field itself, African
Americans make up just 3.9 percent of the ranks of all science and
engineering occupations. White STEM professionals hold 71.8 per
cent of these jobs.
“While these trends are troubling for the nation overall, a dispro
portionate number of people of color - particularly African Ameri
cans and Hispanics - are even further away from becoming STEM-
literate and having the ability to thrive in a hyper-competitive, global
marketplace,” the report states. “Closing the gap in college gradua
tion rates for African Americans and Hispanics could add a signifi
cant number of people to the workforce able to do jobs that require
advanced skills and are in high-growth areas ofthe economy.”
(Continued On Page 12)