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/c/lUME 93 - NUMBER 36
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2014
TELEPHONE (919) 682-2913
Black Lawyers to Challenge
Police Brutality in 25 Cities
By Freddie Allen
NNPA Senior Washington Correspondent
WASHINGTON (NNPA) - In an effort to combat police brutality
in the black community, the National Bar Association (NBA) recent
ly announced plans to file open records requests in 25 cities to study
allegations of police misconduct.
Atty. Pamela Mearies, president of the black lawyers and judges
group, said that the NBA was already making plans for a nationwide
campaign to fight police brutality when Michael Brown, an unarmed
black teenager was shot and killed by Darren Wilson, a White police
officer following a controversial midday confrontation in a Fergu
son, Mo.
Meanes called police brutality the new civil rights issue of this
era, an issue that disproportionately impacts the black community.
“If we don’t see this issue and if we don’t at the National Bar As
sociation do the legal things that are necessary to bring this issue to
the forefront, then we are not carrying out our mission, which is to
protect the civil and political entities of all,” said Meanes.
The NBA, which describes itself as “the nation’s oldest and larg
est national network of predominantly African-American attorneys
and judges,” selected the 25 cities based on their African American
populations and reported incidents of police brutality.
The lawyers group will file open records requests in Birming
ham, Ala.; Little Rock, Ark.; Phoenix; Los Angeles; San Jose, Ca
lif, Washington, D.C.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Miami; Atlanta; Chicago;
Louisville, Ky.; Baltimore; Detroit; Kanas City, Mo.; St. Louis, Mo.;
Charlotte, N.C.; Las Vegas; New York City; Cleveland, Ohio, Mem
phis, Tenn., Philadelphia; Dallas; Houston; San Antonio, Texas, and
Milwaukee, Wis.
In a press release about the open records requests, the group said
it will not only seek information about “the number of individuals
who have been killed, racially profiled, wrongfully arrested and/or
injured while pursued or in police custody, but also comprehensive
data from crime scenes, including “video and photographic evidence
related to any alleged and/or proven misconduct by current or former
employees,” as well background information on officers involved in
the incidents.
Not only will the NBA present their findings to the public, but the
group also plans to compile its research and forward the data over to
the attorney general’s office.
Meanes said that the group’s ultimate goal is to have a conversa
tion with Attorney General Eric Holder and to ask him, and in some
cases, demand that he seize police departments or take over some
investigations that are going on in states or run concurrent investiga
tions.
Meanes said that federal law prohibits the Justice Department
from going into a police department unless a pattern or history of
abuse has been identified.
“The problem is that the information needed for that action is not
readily available in a comprehensive way on a consistent basis with
the goal of eradicating that abuse,” said Meanes, adding that the open
records requests is the best way to get that information.
Meanes said that the NBA was concerned that the trust was al
ready broken between the police force and the residents of Ferguson
and that the rebellion and the protests would continue.
“We don’t think St. Louis County should investigate this. We
don’t think the prosecutor should investigate this. There should be
an independent third-party investigating this and that is the federal
government,” said Meanes.
Phillip Agnew, executive director of the Dream Defenders, a civil
rights group established by young people of color in the aftermath
of the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager
in Sanford, Fla., said that law enforcement officials taunted, antago
nized and disrespected peaceful protesters who took to the streets
ofFerguson and at times incited the violence that they attempted to
stamp out in the wake of the shooting death of Michael Brown.
“An occupying force came into the community, they killed some
one from the community, and instead of being, transparent and doing
everything they could do to make sure the community felt whole
again, they brought in more police to suppress folks who were ex
ercising their constitutional rights,” said Agnew. “If your protocol
results in greater violence, greater anger, and greater disenchantment
ofthe people, you
have to chart a different course.”
On the heels of the NBA announcement, Attorney General Eric
Holder launched two initiatives designed to calm anxiety and
frustration expressed by Ferguson’s black residents towards the local
police department over allegations of misconduct, harassment and
discrimination. The Justice Department also introduced a “Collabor
ative Reform Initiative” to tackle similar concerns with the St. Louis
County Police Department and to improve the relationship between
police officers and the communities they serve.
During a recent press conference to announce, the new initiatives
in Missouri, Attorney General Eric Holder said that the Department
of Justice is working across the nation to ensure that the criminal
justice system is fair, constitutional and free of bias.
NCCU
NCCU Earns High
Ranking on Annual U.S.
News & World Report List
North Carolina Central University continues its streak of excel
lence, earning an 11th place ranking in the U.S. News & World Re
port’s 2014 survey of historically black colleges and universities
(HBCUs).
NCCU was the third-highest-rated public HBCU in the country
and the second highest among HBCUs in North Carolina. The overall
placement at No. 11 is up one spot from the previous listing, which is
published annually by U.S. News & World Report magazine.
Additionally, NCCU ranks at No. 65 among Best Regional Uni
versities in the South.
The ranking is drawn from data such as retention and graduation
rates, high school class standing for incoming freshmen, admission
test scores, class size, strength of the faculty and reputation among
education administrators.
NCCU scored well for its small class sizes; only 5 percent of
NCCU classes have 50 or more students.
Other high marks received for the university highlighted its low
student-faculty ratio of 15-to-l and the class standing of incoming
freshman during the 2012-13 year.
Annual alumni giving - now in double digits - was also a strength
for the university.
“Our students, administrators, staff and alumni have worked ex
tremely hard to help NCCU earn the distinction and recognition high
lighted by U.S. News & World Report, and this is indeed this good
news for our university,” said NCCU’s Chancellor Debra Saunders-
White. “NCCU is a first-choice, global institution offering a premier
higher education and our ranking affirms that we are in the business
of educating and producing scholars and leaders who are prepared for
the global marketplace.”
According to U.S. News & World Report, the top 10 HBCUs in
the nation are:
Spelman College, Atlanta, Ga. (1); Howard University, Washing
ton, D.C. (2); Morehouse College, Atlanta, Ga. (3); Hampton Uni
versity, Hampton, Va. (4); Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, Ala. (5);
Xavier University of Louisiana, New Orleans, La. (6); Fisk Univer
sity, Nashville, Tenn. (7); Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, Fl.
(8); Claflin University, Orangeburg, S.C. (9); North Carolina A&T
State University, Greensboro, N.C. (10).
National Bar Association President Pamela J. Meanes
UNC board elects new
chancellor for ECSU
CHAPEL HILL - Stacey Franklin Jones, a management and
partnerships consultant with a background in higher education
leadership, was elected Sept. 4 as the new chancellor at Eliza
beth City State University.
A statement from the University of North Carolina system
said the UNC Board of Governors elected the Boston native
during a special meeting in Cary.
Jones succeeds Charles Becton, who had served as inter
im chancellor at the historically black college for the last 13
months.
UNC President Tom Ross said Jones brings a blend of
leadership experience with a practical understanding of how
to guide institutions through serious challenges, whether aca
demic or financial.
Jones is a 1982 graduate of Howard University. She later
earned masters’ degrees in numerical science and technical
management from The Johns Hopkins University and a doctor
ate in computer science from George Washington University.
From 1982 through 1993 Jones was in private industry as a
defense and electronic systems software engineer and product
development manager for Northrop Grumman in Maryland.
She then worked for several years as an engineering manager
and system architect for other Maryland-based companies be
fore moving to higher education.
She began her academic career in 1997 in the computer sci
ence department at Johns Hopkins University, where she was a
research scientist and adjunct member of the research faculty,
teaching systems programming, co-designing a “surgery for
engineers” course, and conducting investigations funded by
the National Security Agency.
In 2000, Jones was recruited to Benedict College in Colum
bia, South Carolina, where she served two years as chair of
the Mathematics and Computer Science Department before be
coming dean of the School of Science, Technology, Engineer
ing and Mathematics, a position she held from 2002 to 2008. In
2009, she was promoted to senior vice president.
In July 2010, Jones returned to Maryland to become provost
and vice president for academic affairs at Bowie State Univer
sity. The next year, she returned to the private sector.
President Barack Obama takes a guided tour of Stonehenge with Heather Sebire, property cura
tor, and Matthew Barzun, U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, in Wiltshire, England, Sept. 5,
2014. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Civil rights leaders want meeting with Hawks
By Ray Henry
ATLANTA (AP) - Civil rights leaders on Sept. 8 asked for a meeting with Hawks officials after a
team owner disclosed that he wrote a racially charged email theorizing that black fans kept white fans
away. .
The Rev. Markel Hutchins said he and others wanted a chance to discuss what they think is a racist
attitude permeating the entire organization. He did not request a meeting before hosting a news confer
ence outside Philips Arena, where the basketball team plays.
“Evidently the culture of racism and bigotry that is pervasive and ever-present in the Atlanta Hawks
leadership is embarrassing to the city of Atlanta and undermines the very best of Atlanta’s history of
race relations and being a leader for the nation and the world,” Hutchins said.
It was not immediately clear whether the team would meet with Hutchins and his supporters, who
also called for the team to contract with more minority-owned businesses and offer internships for mi
nority students. A Hawks spokesman did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
Hutchins and others were responding to an announcement Sept. 7 that team co-owner Bruce Lev
enson would sell his controlling interest in the team, thanks in part to an inflammatory email he wrote
two years ago. Levenson said he wrote the email in an attempt “to bridge Atlanta’s racial sports divide.”
However, he theorized that black fans driving off white fans.
Levenson said he voluntarily reported the email to the NBA, which pressured Clippers owner Don
ald Sterling to sell his team after he was recorded scolding his girlfriend for bringing black men to
games. Steve Ballmer became the team’s new owner Aug. 12
In Atlanta, the Rev. Gerald Durley told reporters that the team’s bigger problem was its lack of suc
cess, not the race of its fans.
“Who would come with a team that’s not winning? You’ve got to understand the market if you’re
talking about business,” said Durley, who suggested that black fans could boycott games if they felt
unwanted.