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JuME 93 - NUMBER 33
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - SATURDAY, AUGUST 16, 2014
TELEPHONE (919) 682-2913 PRICE: 30
Judge: NC vote can be held
with GOP-backed changes
By Michael Biesecker and
Gary D. Robertson
RALEIGH (AP) - North Car-
na’s November election can
1 held under a new voting law
proved by Republican law
yers, a federal judge ruled
ig. 8. The law is considered
ne of the toughest in the nation
d the groups challenging it say
will suppress minority voter
nout.
U.S. District Court Judge
omas D. Schroeder denied a
)tion seeking to hold the No-
mber vote under old rules,
ring the groups failed to show
;y would suffer “irreparable
mi.
“In the absence of the clear
owing for preliminary relief
laired by the law, it is inap-
jpriate for a federal court to
join a state law passed by
duly-elected representatives,
wrote the judge, who was ap
pointed to the federal bench by
Republican President George W.
Bush.
A coalition of groups, includ
ing the League of Women Voters
and the state NAACP, have filed
three lawsuits challenging many
changes to voting laws approved
by the GOP-controlled state leg
islature in 2013.
The groups say the changes
are designed to suppress turnout
at the polls among minorities,
the elderly and college students
- blocs considered more likely to
vote for Democrats.
In a weeklong hearing last
month, they asked Schroeder to
stop implementation of the new
law until a trial to determine
whether the changes violate the
U.S. Constitution or the Voting
M&F Bank
Appoints
James H. Sills
III as
’resident and
CEO
Banking
Veteran has
Strong Roots in
sforth Carolina
JAMES H. SILLS
Mechanics and Farmers Bank (M&F Bank), the wholly owned
bsidiary of M&F Bancorp, Inc., a one-bank holding company
adquartered in Durham, North Carolina, today announced that fol-
wing a national search, James H. Sills III will lead the bank as
esident and chief executive officer effective Sept. 1.
Sills leaves his appointed position of Secretary of the Department
Technology and Chief Information Officer for the State of Dela-
ire to serve as the president and CEO ofboth M&F Bank and M&F
incorp, Inc. Kim Saunders, president and CEO of M&F Bancorp,
c., will step down from her post on August 31, and James Sansom,
terim president of M&F Bank, will continue on in his role as chief
iding officer.
In 2009, Sills was appointed by Gov. Jack Markell to his Cabi-
t. In this role, he oversaw the department’s information technology
dget, implemented numerous enterprise technology projects and
Ithe department’s Technology Investment Council in executing IT
vemance and consolidation initiatives for the State of Delaware.
“Under Jim’s leadership as Cabinet Secretary, our Department
Technology and Information experienced a positive cultural shift
hile implementing technology solutions and programs that are
lot only cost-effective, but enhance productivity and service deliv-
y?’ said Governor Jack Markell. “He earned the respect of many
roughout the State of Delaware and though we are sad to see him
ave, we know his exceptional leadership skills and extensive bank-
g background will serve Mechanics and Famers Bank well.”
With the appointment of Mr. Sills, M&F Bank aims to expand
i connection and service to the community in new ways through
hanced online capabilities while continuing to serve its legacy cus-
mers.
“The future of community banking is in the technology arena, and
ni has been driving innovation at the intersection of banking and
for more than 20 yeats,” said M&F Board of Directors Chairman
mes A. Stewart. “Jim has an impressive track record of success in
ecutive leadership roles, and we are confident that his enthusiasm
id insight will enable us to deliver even greater business value to
istomers across North Carolina and enhance shareholder value.”
Founded more than 100 years ago, M&F Bank holds great his-
rical and cultural significance in Durham. The original nine incor-
irators were prominent businessmen united by a common goal: to
ovide African Americans in their community with banking services
at were largely unavailable to them in the early 20th century. More
an a century later, M&F Bank still embodies its founding principle
service to the community. It is committed not only to meeting the
lancial needs of personal and business customers, but to supporting
iderserved communities and promoting community development.
During her seven years of service as M&F’s outgoing president
pd CEO, Kim Saunders .steered the bank as it fought through and
verged victorious from the financial crisis. “I am confident the new
adership will continue the legacy of success for the community and
e great people associated with M&F Bank,” said Saunders.
Prior to his appointment to the Cabinet of Gov. Markell, Sills
wed in multiple senior leadership positions. Earlier in his career,
Ils served as chief operating officer ofFirst Tuskegee Bank and also
wed as president and CEO of Memphis First Community Bank
ow Landmark Bank). For five years, he served as executive vice
esident of MBNA America Bank/Technology Sector (now Bank of
•werica). Following this role, he founded Homeland Security Veri-
ation, LLC, a small employment verification company, in 2007.
Rights Act of 1965. Schroeder
did deny a motion from the state
seeking to have the case dis
missed, setting the stage for a
trial next year.
The law requires voters to
present a government-issued
photo ID, ends same-day regis
tration, trims the period for early
voting by a week and ends a pop
ular high school civics program
that encouraged students to reg
ister to vote in advance of their
18th birthdays.
Supporters of the measure,
including GOP lawmakers and
Republican Gov. Pat McCrory,
said the law was needed to com
bat in-person voter fraud, which
they said is rampant in the state
despite only a handful of con
firmed cases in recent years.
“Today’s ruling is just more
evidence that this law is consti
tutional, said Bob Stephens, a
lawyer for McCrory, who signed
the law and is one of the defen
dants.
(Continued On Page 2)
Jesse Jackson
Calls Michael
Brown Shooting
Crime of
Injustice’
By Chris King
The St. Louis American
ST. LOUIS - Rev. Jesse
Jackson told The American
he hopes that the U.S. Depart
ment of Justice sees the Fer
guson Police shooting of Mi
chael Brown on Saturday and
resulting community violence
as “systematic of a national
crisis.”
Jackson said,
It was a crime of injustice.”
Jackson said.
The injustice, he said, was
two-fold: a police shooting
of an unarmed black teen fol
lowed by black youth from
high-unemployment neighbor
hoods erupting in rage.
“Black men should not be
the objects of target practice,”
Jackson said of the shooting.
“It’s not a unique situation. It’s
a prototypical American situa
tion. Police departments do not
reflect the population. It’s aw
ful, but it’s not unique.”
The resulting community
violence on Sunday, follow
ing a non-violent candlelight
vigil to commemorate Brown,
should be seen in the context
of a chronic urban crisis, he
said.
“Poverty is a weapon of
mass destruction,” Jackson
said. “Poverty is in the com
munity, guns are in, drugs are
in, jobs are out. Banks are
bailed out without meaningful
community reinvestment. Too
many people have no stake in
the culture.”
Jackson said that chronic
urban problems remain to be
addressed after the shooting of
Michael Brown and the com
munity’s outrage are resolved.
“These kids need educa
tions, skills, job training, jobs,
scholarships to college,” Jack-
son said. “We need a national
forum on urban policy, justice
and repression. This is a na
tional crisis that has manifest
ed in Ferguson.”
Asked for advice to orga
nizers on the ground, Jackson
said, “That’s tough. I saw a
sign that said we need quiet
ness. Quietness is not the an
swer. Quietness is the absence
of noise. We need the presence
of justice.”
When Howell Brown III, a 1 O-year-old boy who is recovering from a rare brain tumor, left his
Durham home with his mom Ms. Sue Brown on Sunday afternoon, he thought he was going to the
Alfonzo Elder Student Union on the campus of North Carolina Central University to play games
and hang out with members of the NCCU football team.
Well, before the fun and games, Howell was greeted by reporters and TV cameras for a press
conference in his honor. NCCU football head coach Jerry Mack called a surprise press conference
to have Howell sign a mock scholarship certificate to make him an official member of the team. See
story on page 6. (NCCU Athletics Photo)
Rep. Brooks charges war
on whites by Democrats
Does That Mean The GOP Has
War On African Americans?
By Erica Werner
WASHINGTON (AP) - A Republican congressman from Alabama says
Democrats are engaged in a “war on whites.”
Congressman Mo Brooks made his comment on conservative talk radio host
Laura Ingraham’s program on Aug. 5. He said the Democratic Party claims
white people hate everyone else and that it’s part of President Barack Obama’s
strategy of dividing people on the basis of race, sex and class.
The remarks came in a discussion of immigration legislation passed last
week by the House that could result in increased deportations.
Brooks was responding to analysis saying that the Republican Party risks
losing any appeal to Latino voters and will not be able to be successful in a
national race if it appeals only to white voters.
“This is a part of the war on whites that’s being launched by the Demo
cratic Party. And the way in which they are launching this war is by claiming
that whites hate everybody else,” said Brooks. “It’s a part of the strategy that
Barack Obama implemented in 2008, continued it in 2012, where he divides
us all on race, on sex, creed, envy, class warfare - all those kinds of things.”
Brooks defended his comments in a phone interview Tuesday with The As
sociated Press and disputed the suggestion they were incendiary. He said that
Democrats were the ones being incendiary, pointing to comments including an
assertion by House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi this year that the GOP’s
failure to act on comprehensive immigration legislation had something to do
with race.
“Race should not be an issue in public policy debates, we should be color-
blind, we should be the melting pot,” Brooks told the AP. “But so long as the
Democrats have a political campaign strategy to divide Americans based on
skin pigmentation then they are the ones who are fanning the fires and doing a
disservice to our country, not those who try to hold the Democrats accountable
for what is a very counterproductive and sinister campaign tactic.”
To a request for comment, the spokeswoman for the Democratic Congres
sional Campaign Committee, Emily Bittner, wrote in an email: “Wow. Con
gressman Brooks is living in his own world of paranoia, but sadly, this is
precisely the kind of divisive rhetoric that has come to define House Repub
licans.”