VOLUME 96 - NUMBER 21 DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - SATURDAY, MAY 27, 2017 TELEPHONE (919) 682-2913 PRICE: 50 CENTS
Leaders React to High Court’s Congressional District Ruling
By Cash Michaels
Cash Works Media
Now that the US Supreme Court has ruled that North Carolina’s
2011 congressional redistricting maps for the First and Twelfth
districts were unconstitutional because more black voters from
surrounding districts were added unnecessarily, does this hint that an
upcoming High Court ruling on the state’s 2011 legislative maps are
most likely to be seen the same way?
And when will the 2011 congressional maps be redrawn by the
Republican-led NC General Assembly? Democrats and civil rights
activists are certainly hopeful.
The Supreme Court’s May 15 th decision to not to overturn a
lower court’s July 2016 decision striking down North Carolina’s
controversial 2013 voter ID law, certainly put smiles on the faces of
the NCNAACP and others who challenged the measure because it
targeted the African-American vote “with surgical precision.”
With last Monday’s congressional redistricting victory still
echoing in their circles, supporters are eagerly anticipating a
favorable legislative redistricting decision next week. But for now,
this week’s High Court congressional redistricting triumph was both
satisfying, and inspiring.
“This should serve as a wakeup call to the Republican-led
General Assembly, whose voter suppression tactics have been
struck down twice in federal court, in as many weeks,” said black
Democrat Rep. Alma Adams, whose 12 th Congressional District was
ruled unconstitutional because GOP state lawmakers “stacked-and-
packed” it to be minority-majority for electoral advantage.
“As elected officials, we should be working together to make
access to the ballot box easier and more fair. In Congress we must
take swift action to restore the Voting Rights Act.”
“In North Carolina, it is time to appoint an independent
redistricting commission to return our democracy to the will of the
people, “Rep. Adams concluded.
Congressman G. K. Butterfield, the other North Carolina lack
Democrat whose First Congressional District (which encompasses
Durham) the US Supreme Court also ruled was racially
gerrymandered, also applauded the decision, saying that the GOP
redistricting “...was an extreme case of racial gerrymandering.”
The NCNAACP has been leading the charge against Republican
voter suppression.
(Continued On Page 14)
Rev. T. A. Spearman
Announces Bid For NC
NAACP President
By Cash Michaels
CashWorks Media
The Rev. Dr. T. Anthony Spearman, third vice president of the North
Carolina Conference of NAACP Branches, has formally announced
that he is a candidate to become the civil rights organization’s next
permanent state president now that Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II is
stepping away from the post he’s held for 12 years.
Meanwhile Melvin “Skip” Alston, who previously served as NC
NAACP president from 1996 - 2005, has dismissed rumors that he
is interested in running for his old job again, but did say that he will
support NC NAACP First Vice President Carolyn Coleman if she
decides to run for president. Ms. Coleman says she has not decided
yet.
The news comes as Rev. Barber prepares to join the national
“Poor People’s Campaign” to draw attention to issues of poverty
as the country prepares to commemorate the 50 th anniversary of Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr.’s original Poor People’s Campaign next year.
In a May 20 th letter emailed to “members of the NC NAACP,”
Rev. Spearman, who also serves as president of the NC Council
of Churches, announced that he has “...filed as a candidate for
[NCNAACP president] in our next election.”
“Every vote is important, and I am asking for your support to
become the next NCNAACP president,” Rev. Spearman continued.
“Continue the fight with me. Nothing is too hard for God. I invite you
to contact me with you questions, concerns, and ideas. Hear the cry
on the battle filed - “Forward together and not one step back.”
Earlier in his missive, Rev. Spearman recounted how, under Rev.
Barber’s leadership, the NC NAACP “founded a movement,” shifting
from “Banquets to Battle.” He denoted “...the explosive growth of
the Historic Thousands on Jones Street People’s Assembly Coalition
(HK on J)... over the years,” further growing from sixteen coalition
partners to “...over 200 diverse social justice organizations” today.
Spearman also recounted the NCNAACP’s 2012 “Truth and
Poverty Tour” through some of the state’s most impoverished
communities.
“God’s Word compels us to fight this battle defending the poor,
disenfranchised and needy people. We are obligated to create
effective strategies to ensure the political, educational, social and
economic equality of rights of all people. We must defeat the forces
of race-based discrimination and religion-based bigotry.
Pursuing on these battlefields should be the order of each day,”
Spearman concluded.
He has been third vice president of the NC NAACP for six years,
in addition to being chair of the Religious Affairs Committee, and
president of the Hickory NAACP Branch for two years.
Rev. Dr. Spearman is presently the senior pastor of St. Phillip
AME Zion Church in Greensboro.
Though no one else at press time has made it known that they’ve
also officially file for the NCNAACP presidency, Rev. Spearman has
already attracted the support of attorney Alan McSurely, one of Rev.
Barber’s closest lieutenants.
In an open letter to the NCNAACP membership issued May 21st,
McSurely writes that Rev Spearman “...is prepared to carry on Dr.
Barber’s vision and spirit and intellectual brilliance as Barber moves
to another lane to pick up Dr. King’s torch of justice...”
“The call came only after the Lord situated and educated Dr.
Spearman for this challenge,” McSurely continued. “See if you agree
(Continued On Page 14)
North Carolina Central University Professional and Graduate School students celebrate before ceremonies
May 12. See undergraduate and graduate ceremonies photos onpages 8 and 9. (NCCU Photo.)
Senate GOP says 3 a.m. changes weren’t to
punish Democrats, Durham Could Be Hurt
By Gary D. Robertson
RALEIGH (AP) - Top Re
publicans in the North Carolina
Senate said May 16 that their
state budget amendment in the
wee hours to expand opioid
abuse treatment programs wasn’t
drawn up to punish Democrats
for offering several changes of
their own after midnight.
The amendment emerged as
senators gathered early May 12
for the final vote on a two-year
spending proposal before going
home for a long weekend.
The opioid amendment was
paid for by taking $1 million
from other spending programs.
A couple of reductions occurred
with public school initiatives
with designated funds for east
ern North Carolina counties rep
resented by Democrats. Some
of those counties were removed
from a tuition assistance program
helping teacher assistants obtain
teaching degrees. The amend
ment also blocked $300,000 for
a special math and science pro
gram for needy students.
The reduction caused Demo
cratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s office
and other Democrats to criti
cize the late-night maneuvering.
But Senate leader Phil Berger,
a Rockingham County Repub
lican, said in an interview that
Republicans had no intent to pe
nalize Democrats for their late-
night amendments.
Berger said they were ad
dressing the concerns of col
leagues, based in part on a Dem
ocrat’s amendment, to target
more funds to fight the opioid
epidemic.
“We’d heard a lot of conver
sation on it during the night on
how bad it was, and I know from
personal experience how bad
it is,” said Sen. Brent Jackson,
a Sampson County Republican
and budget committee co-chair
man. Communities that received
the pilot program money are rep
resented by Republicans.
Other reductions to expand
the pilot came from a program
to help downtown revitalization
and for a North Carolina Muse
um of Art expansion. A position
in Cooper’s office also would be
eliminated.
The two parties already had
robust debate the previous day
comparing the Republican pro
posal with Cooper’s alternative
plan before an initial vote last
May 11. The Senate reconvened
at 12:05 a.m. May 12 for a final
vote.
Republicans became upset
with Democrats when they ran
amendments to mirror Cooper’s
budget that had little chance of
passing because they also at
tempted to dismantle GOP tax
cuts.
Senate Republicans recessed
hor two hours and returned to
propose their opioid treatment,
which passed just after 3 a.m.
before the entire budget got final
approval.
Berger said that Senate Re
publicans had been “told by the
minority party that they had no
amendments” to propose for the
post-midnight session.
Senate Minority Leader Dan
Blue didn’t return a phone call at
his office late May 9. Sen. Mike
Woodard, a Durham County
Democrat who led the opposition
debating the Republican budget,
said it was the Democrats’ intent
to offer amendments.
Asked about Berger’s defense
of the amendment, Woodard re-
1 plied: “I didn’t see funds taken
away from districts represented
by Republican senators.”
The budget debate now heads
to the House, which will pass its
own spending plan.
NAA CP president to leave office
as group undertakes changes
By Jesse J. Holland
WASHINGTON (AP) - NAACP President Cornell William Brooks will not be returning as the leader
of the nation’s oldest civil rights organization after his contract expires this summer, officials said May
19.
Brooks has been the NAACP’s leader since 2014 but will not be kept on past June 30, the end of his
current term. NAACP Board Chairman Leon W. Russell and Vice Chair Derrick Johnson will lead the
organization until a new president is selected.
Russell and Johnson announced what they described as a “transformational, system-wide refresh and
strategic re-envisioning” for the NAACP in a Friday (May 19) evening conference call with reporters.
“We understand and appreciate the historic model of protest, but at this point in time we believe as an
organization we need to retool to become better advocates, better at educating the public, better at involv
ing them in our operation” and better at legislation and litigation, Russell said.
Russell, who was made the Baltimore-based organization’s board chairman in February, praised
Brooks’ leadership and said the NAACP remained at the forefront of civil rights activism in the United
States.
“However, modern-day civil rights issues facing the NAACP, like education reform, voting rights and
access to affordable health care, still persist and demand our continued action,” he said.
A national search for a new leader was expected to begin this summer.
In addition, the NAACP planned to embark on a “listening tour” this summer to solicit input on how
the organization should reinvent itself.
Brooks, the NAACP’s 18th national president, replaced interim leader Lorraine Miller. Miller had
served in that position since Benjamin Jealous ended his five-year tenure in 2013.
Brooks, a minister, is originally from Georgetown, South Carolina. It was not immediately known
what his future plans were.
The NAACP found itself battling for attention from black youth with groups like Black Lives Matter,
which rose to prominence behind street-level protests after the killings of African-American men and
women by police, including 18-year-old Michael Brown at the hands of a white police officer in Fergu
son, Missouri.
Catherine Flowers, founder of the Alabama Center for Rural Enterprise, an organization that advocates
for poor and black people living in rural areas, said she wasn’t surprised at the coming change.
“I would like to see more of a grassroots effort” by the NAACP, she said. “Clearly, on a national level
we’re at a crisis and it calls for a new kind of leadership.”
Brooks also has his fans. Ernest L. Johnson Sr., president of the NAACP Louisiana State Conference,
invited Brooks to visit Baton Rouge less than a week after a white police officer shot and killed a black
man during a struggle outside a convenience store last year. Videos of Alton Sterling’s July 5 shooting
quickly spread on social media, setting off nightly protests in Louisiana’s capital.
Johnson said Brooks met with Sterling’s relatives. During a rally outside Baton Rouge’s City Hall,
he said he was tired of victims of police shootings being treated as “hashtag tragedies” instead of human
beings mourned by their families.
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