EVENT ALERT: MARCH 26: PHILLY NAACP TO HOLD COMBINED RALLY TO GET OUT THE VOTE AND FOR FALSELY ARRESTED PHILADELPHIA MOM

By Gloria Dulan-Wilson

Hello All:

Once again, the spectre of police brutality rears its ugly head - this time in Philadelphia.  It was learned that the Philadelphia Police department recently went to the home of former  Philadelphia Social Worker, Nicol Newman, with a warrant to arrest her son.  

NAACP/Philly President Min. Rodney Muhammad

When they knocked on the door, on March 9th,  and announced  they were looking for her son, John Newman, the mother, Ms. Nicol Newman answered and stated that her son was not home.  The two white detectives showed a piece of paper that was a warrant for his arrest, and insisted that they be allowed to come in.  Ms. Newman, who knew her rights, stated that since it was not a search warrant, she did not have to allow them into her home to search for her son.  

The detectives then ("allegedly") somehow forced the door open, grabbed Ms. Newman, dragged her out of her home, cuffed her in front of her neighbors, and dragged her into the squad car; arrested her, where she remained incarcerated from12:00 to 7:00PM the following day.  

When the police department was confronted with charges of police brutality, they stated that since she was neither shot nor killed, it could not be considered police brutality.  However, Minister Rodney Muhammad, president of the Philadelphia NAACP, and attorney Michael Coard  differ vehemently with that view point. Not only has Ms. Newman been humiliated publicly, but the officers violated several tenets of the law - including illegal search and seizure.  

Attorney Michael Coard - President of ATAC

Min. Muhammad, announced a Rally on behalf of Ms. Newman to be held at Berean Church,  2101 N. Broad  (and Diamond) on Saturday, March 26, at 12 Noon.  

A press conference, featuring Michael Coard, Ms. Newman and her daughter, and Minister Rodney Muhammad was held on March 23 at the Philadelphia NAACP headquarters on Cecil B. Moore Ave.  

Additionally, Min. Muhammad  informed the media of  a pending court hearing for Ms. Newman, which is scheduled to take place, Thursday, March 24, at 2:00 PM room 404 of the Pennsylvania Criminal Justice Center.  The community is urged to come together and show up in court in her behalf.

Attorney Michael Coard, who can be heard Wednesdays and Sundays on WURD Radio, spoke out against the injustices, detailing the means by which the police department attempted to cover up their egregious acts of false arrest and violation of Ms. Newman's rights.  The Following are Highlights of Michael Coard's statements (i.e. I am paraphrasing his commentary, however some are direct quotes): 

"Ms. Newman who has some serious medical conditions and cannot sleep on certain types of materials, had to solicit sanitary napkins and sandwiches to make a bed so she could sleep in the jail.  The 'negro' cop (my reference, not Michael's) on scene, who was there at the time of the white police dragging her out of her home, stated callously, "Well they could have beaten her down."  Now this was a Black policeman!!

"The police were trying to figure out what to charge with, since they were the ones who had actually violated the law, not Ms. Newman."  At first they tried to charge her with resisting arrest, but a Black detective, who wasn't on the scene, said "but she wasn't under arrest!" So she couldn't have been resisting arrest, since there was no arrest in the first place.  "Then they stated that there was an investigation going on, and she was obstructing.  But there was no investigation; all they had was a warrant.  So they got rid of that.  And then they tried to charge her with hindering - but there was nobody to hinder.  And she didn't touch anybody - she just pulled back so there was no assault.  So they finally got her for disordely conduct."  But that was also erroneous, since disorderly conduct, by definition has to be public disruption; she had to be outside - she was in her own home - everything happened inside her home, so how can someone be arrested for a public act inside a private residence?  So, according to Coard they went from assault to hindering to obstruction, now to disorderly conduct.  

They claimed to have had an arrest warrant - that's all they had.  The son was apparently accused of stealing something, he didn't show up in court, so the arrest warrant went out.  "All that means is that if the cop has an arrest warrant, don't let him in or don't answer the door - you know who the criminal members of your family are.  They generally go away.  However, if they have a search warrant, it's something else.  They have something called a knock and announce rule.  So it goes like this:  with an arrest warrant, all they can do is knock on the door.  But if they have a search warrant, they have to knock on the door, and they have to give you a reasonable amount of time to answer the door; they just can't come to the door and kick the door in.  They have to knock on the door first, and if anybody is inside, the size of the house determines how long a reasonable time is.  If it looks like a one floor home, and there's only two rooms in it, and they knock on the door, they figure that ten to twenty seconds is enough time to let them in.  But if you have a three story home, and about six or seven bedrooms, they knock on the door, they have to give you a couple of minutes.  If you don't answer, now they kick in the door, search under the beds, in the closets, basement, anywhere they want."  By the way, cops just wreck people's homes for no reason - they tear everything apart.  

"In Ms. Newman's case they only had an arrest warrant.  She made the mistake of thinking the cops would do the right thing; she opened her main door, then stood at the screen door, and then unlocked it - well she shouldn't have done that; because once that gave them the ability to get their hands in then they dragged her out.  This woman is a City Social Worker; never been arrested before.  And now the neighbors are looking; cops are dragging her out of the house; she's embarrassed and humiliated, it was just a horrible situation."  

As horrible as the situation for Ms. Newman is, we must not forget that the original reason for the Rally on Saturday, March 26, was to remind ALL PHILADELPHIANS WHO HAVE NOT ALREADY DONE SO,

TO REGISTER TO VOTE IN THE UPCOMING APRIL 26 PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY ELECTION -  THE DEADLINE FOR VOTER REGISTRATION IS MONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016!!

The deadline for Pennsylvanians to register to vote in this year's primary election is fast approaching.
In order to vote for nominees in the competitive presidential and U.S. Senate races on April 26, state residents must be registered to vote by next Monday, March 28.
Of course, the state has made it easier than ever to register. Last year, it became the 23rd state to offer online voter registration. So far this year, more than 121,000 people have used the new system.
Democrats lead Republicans in voter registration by a nearly 1 million voter margin thanks in large part to the Democratic strongholds of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. There are currently more than 4 million Democrats on the voter rolls compared to nearly 3.1 million Republicans, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State.

Now that you know, what are you going to do about it???


This Saturday, March 26, 2016, at what was initially to have been a GOTV (GET OUT THE VOTE) RALLY, there will  also be a rally in behalf of justice for Ms. Newman as well at the Berean Presbyterian Church :

RALLY FOR NICOL NEWMAN AND TO GET OUT THE VOTE - BE THERE!! 

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EVENT ALERT: BOYCOTT CHRISTMAS RALLY NOVEMBER 18, AT MUHAMMAD'S MOSQUE NO. 12

By Gloria Dulan-Wilson

Hello All:

Just so you'll know, the Local Coordinating Committies of the Justice or Else March, have been hard at work in the Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore, DC, and Newark areas.  

Philadelphia is planning a rally at the Muhammad's Mosque No. 12 for November 18th at 7:00 PM

The altar call has been made; now let's turn out and show that we have the discipline and determination to make it happen.  Make 2015 the year that we Black Out Black Friday; return Christmas to Christ and away from commercialistic avarice.  

STAY BLESSED

Gloria

<muhammadmosque12@gmail.com> wrote:

As Salaam Alaikum,

Student Minister Rodney Muhammad 
and the Believers of Muhammad Mosque 12
invites you to a City-Wide Community Call for the Redistribution of Pain and Outrage...

"Respect My Dollar!" 

Wednesday, November 18, 2015
Muhammad Mosque 12
2508 N. Broad St Philadelphia, PA 19132
Doors Open @7pm EST


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NAACP 106TH NATIONAL CONVENTION LIVING UP TO IT'S THEME AND CHALLENGE: "PURSUING LIBERTY IN THE FACE OF INJUSTICE"

By Gloria Dulan-Wilson

Hello All:

Before I write my article, let me say this for the record:  If you are an African American, and live in Philadelphia, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, DC, Virginia, or Connecticut, you should definitely be in Philadelphia at this 106th National Convention.   This is about you.  This is about your rights - your family, neighborhoods.  This is focusing on things that impact you.  You need to be here. You need to be supporting this organization that has constantly and continuously laid its life on the line for you.  This cannot be done by remote control.  This requires us all to be a part of this process.  There are issues being discussed that will have pivotal impact on your lives.  It's not too late to be a part of this - Monday and Tuesday are the high points.  Take the time out in the name of enlightened self interest and be a part of this powerful organization.

 The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People - NAACP - set the bar very high for its 106th National Convention, and then exceeded the mark.  Sunday, July 12, 2015 was a history making day, information and action rich, leaving participants ready to get down to the business of developing viable ways and means of surmounting the challenge of "pursuing liberty in the face of injustice."  A theme so profound and appropriate, and at the same time, a challenge that the venerable organization has been tackling since its inception.  
 
How one does that in an atmosphere of the expansion of egregious miscarriages of justice perpetrated against Black men and women, either through false arrests, police brutality and murder, forcible foreclosures of Black owned properties, substandard homes, schools, health facilities, neighborhoods, rising unemployment, and massacres of innocent Black citizens, is what they are tackling over the next few days.  The end result will be an action plan that the members will then carry forth back to their respective chapters to implement in the days, weeks and months to come.

Highlights of Sunday's epochmaking roster of events included a Women's Empowerment Forum and Brunch that featured a keynote speech from Marilyn Mosby, Esq.,  Baltimore, MD's dynamic State Attorney, who indicted all six of the police officers in the violent death of Freddie Gray - who brutally beaten to death after having been arrested and hauled into a police wagon.   The youngest chief prosecutor of any major city in America, she spoke eloquently of her challenges in being elected to the position; and how what she has learned and surmounted is key to how women can maximize their own skills, talents, will, and abilities to accomplish what ever they want.  (I would be horribly remiss if I didn't mention that she is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority).

Marilyn Mosby, Esq, Baltimore, MD State Attorney

The esteemed Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the legal arm of the NAACP hosted a day long series of continuing education seminars that empaneled some of the tops in their fields, covering such subjects as "The Role of Prosecutors in Police Brutality Cases; Title VI and Racism on College Campuses; Ethics: Working with Outside Counsel.

One of the most important legal issues under scrutiny by the NAACP/LDF  was Open Internet: Verizon v. FCC:  Net neutrality, which has become pretty much a buzz word, was the focus of the Open Internet session.  Panelists Hazeen Y. Ashby, Esq, Director of the Washington Bureau of the National Urban League and executive editor of the State of Black America; Kim M. Keenan, Esq., President & CEO Minority Media and Telecom Council in Washington DC; and Hilary O. Shelton, Director NAACP Washington Bureau & Senior VP for Advocacy and Policy.  

The FCC recently ruled on Open Internet under Title Two of the Telecommunications Act.  This in and of itself is considered a good thing.  However, the issue then becomes whether or not the interpretation of Title Two, which was originally enacted during the Administration of President Roosevelt in the 30's is relevant today - does it help or cripple the efficacy of Net Neutrality.  Theoritically Net Neutrality encompasses ensuring that our internet access will not be blocked, or throttled, or slowed down as the result of disparate internet companies making decisions as to whether or not a community should or could have access based on it its economic, geographic, ethnic, or racial status.  The upshot of it is that this governs broadband service - and as Attorney Kim Keenan so aptly stated, you need broadband to live. You have it on your internet, your cell phones - which is good, but does not replace the need to have it in your homes, and have it remain affordable for all families.  The results can be the difference between being able to apply for a job, get a viable education, communicate with the rest of the world.  The NAACP is concerned because the 80 million people who are not connected probably live in Black communities; and not being connected means being left behind.  

Hazeen Ashby, Esq., further explained the concern by showing how access to broadband may be divided along economic lines - anyone making less than $30,000 a year most likely would not have broadband in their homes; while there's a 30% chance of those making between $30,000 to $50,000 annually, and an almost 100% chance of those who make $75,000 and above.  28% of African Americans are living in poverty.  Even though a 300 page report has been generated in reference to the broadband, net neutrality issue, no discussion about how those in poverty will get access has been included.  "We know that without access to internet, without access to broadband at home, we will only continue the cycle of poverty."

Hilary Shelton weighed in, outlining the actions as Senior Vice President of Advocacy and Policy for the NAACP - have been meeting with the FCC and service providers.  The real issue centers around content providers and service providers.  The content providers include Google, Microsoft, etc.; service providers include Comcast, Verizon, AT&T - how things are monitored.  The issues center around who brings the most/best service; who gets to do the most expansion, and the quality of that service.  The issue of build out of their services, "which also includes job creation - good living wage jobs," according to Shelton, who further states: "AT&T is the largest unionized telecom in the country." The focus is on whether or not these providers under Title Two will be able to pick and choose, or will they have to provide service on an equal and affordable basis no matter what the neighborhood or the economic standing of its residents looks like.

Hilary O. Shelton

An equally weighty matter, and one that is impacting Black voters throughout the US, was the final panel discussion of the day, "Continuing the Fight for Voting Rights & the 50th Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act."   Panelists included Leah Aden, Esq., Assistant Counsel NAACP LDF, New York, and Julie Houk, Esq., Special Voting Counsel, Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Washington, DC.  

On the eve of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act being signed into law (August 6, 1965) by then President Lyndon Baines Johnson, the Supreme Court has seen fit to strike down Section 5 - the most essential portions of the act -  leaving Black voters disenfranchised and once again vulnerable to the racist laws that had originally been enacted to prevent us from exercising our rights as American citizens.  The situation could not be more dire.  In focusing on Shelby County, AL, the Subprime Court Decision and section five of the voting rights act, and what's happened in the past two years since they struck it down.  

The original Voting Rights, the Fifteenth Amendment, was adopted in 1871 - however, it was not enforced.  It was not until 1965 that real voting rights was granted to Black citizens across the nation, after many people had died fighting for those rights during the fifties and sixties.  Section Two is the general prohibition against discriminatory practices, and is still in effect today.  Sections 5 and 4B were seriously impacted by the Shelby County decision.  Section 5 covered the process of having to submit to the Department of Justice any proposed changes in voting process, location, dates, etc., before they were enacted so that the department could whether or not they had a deleterious effect on the right to vote.  What's important to know about Section 5 is that it required the jurisdiction to prove that their proposed changes were not discriminatory, and would not circumvent the right to vote of people in the effected jurisdiction.  Such things as changing the location, date, time of opening of the polling places, requiring special identification or classification in order to vote or other egregious acts.  Now that Section 5 has been struck down under the mistaken concept that it is no longer necessary, the burden of proving discriminatory policies now rests with the victims - requiring expensive, long and drawn out litigation.  The NAACP LDF has been continuously fighting, and in many cases winning, these cases - but some of the most racist states - Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, and others are still coming up with new ways to disenfranchise Black voters.

According to Leah Aden, Esq, "I can't impress enough how serious this year is.  This is the 50th anniversary of the voting rights passage, this is the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, where people were killed, humiliated, beaten - all to advance our right to vote.  And if this is not the year that we're going to be motivated to advance voting rights and extend the concept, then we are pretty much out of luck. THE TIME IS NOW!!!"  

According to Aden, it is not by accident that we are witnessing an assault on our voting rights; it's because of the changing nature of this country.  There are things that we can do to fight back and should be doing.  Section Two was not struck down by the Supreme court that is still viable and can still be used. There are things that the federal government can do, as well as lawyers, and ordinary citizens going forth to defend the gains we have won and to advance voting rights.

As Aden so appropriately stated, the reason for the assault on our rights to vote stem from the election results of 2008 and 2012, when we overwhelmingly elected Barack Obama as the First Black President of the United States. Our power both overwhelmed and frightened the white infrastructure.  We turned out in record numbers.  The 2010 Census revealed the emerging People of Color nation; we were changing democracy, and we would soon become the majority.  So basically what they have done is set it up to prevent people from either registering, or voting through a series of bogus laws.  "These forms are set up by elected officials and are coming at us in a myriad of forms from all different directions."   Some of them include the requirement for voter ID, change of polling places, and barriers to voting.

Aden recommends that we begin to be the eyes and ears in our own communities, and put them on notice that we are not only aware of what they are doing, by calling them out, but begin to gather petitions and evidence against those jurisdictions that are taking major swipes at local area residents' rights to vote.  "We see you, we see what you are proposing, and we are watching out for you...we're coming after you!"     Texas is one of the most egregious - with a law that allows a concealed hand gun license as a valid ID for voting, but will not allow students to use their identifications to do the same.

Bringing the issue closer to home, New York State Assemblymember Latrice M. Walker revealed that New York State has just recently purged over 160,000 voters from their rolls, allegedly because they had not voted in an election in the past two years.  It was not known whether or not any of the voters were notified, or if a roster of those names have been maintained or revealed - so it's not just the southern states that are committing crimes against our rights to vote.  

Of course, concommitant with that is our responsibility to get out and make sure that each and every African American 18 and older is not only registered to vote, but actively voting regardless of what the election may be for.

Aden also spoke of the issue of using "at large" elections to prevent  predominantly Black communities from electing their own people. When a candidate is running at large, it lessens the impact of the vote from within his or her own constituency.  This is one of the factors that has played out in Ferguson and other predominantly Black areas surrounded by predominantly white areas.  

The pressure is on to get Congress to reinstate the Voting Rights Amendment Act and the Voting Rights Advancement Act,  Each bill is different, but represent responses by Congress to what the Supreme  Court did, which was to physically undo the work of Congress by stripping Section 5 of being operable; it will provide new coverage provision.  It will ultimately restore notice of voting changes, because thousands of voting changes are proposed across the country....and will strengthen it as well."    
The highpoint of the evening was the Open Public Mass Meeting, when thousands of convention goers came together to be greeted by Congressman Chaka Fattah, Mayor Michael Nutter, and Philadelphia NAACP President Min. Rodney Muhammad.  With the highpoint of the event being the keynote speech by Roslyn M. Brock, Chair of the NAACP National Board of Directors.

The entire program for the evening was already charged with energy and enthusiasm, as evidenced by the New York Contingency, led by the great Hazel Dukes, Dr. Marcella Maxwell, Karen Boykin Towns, Geoffrey Eaton, and others.  The event was hosted by Leon W. Russell, Chair of the 106th Annual Convention Planning Committee, and Vice Chair of the NAACP National Board of Directors.

The nearly standing room only even was regaled by gospel songs performed by the Nick Reynolds and Family Affair Choir of Philadelphia.  

Roslyn Brock left the audience on such a high note, extolling the virtues and accomplishments of the NAACP and the fact that when things looked the worst, the darkest and the most dire, the NAACP was always there in the middle of the fray, pressing onward for justice - for liberty and freedom - for the rights of all!

What a wonderful way to start off a Sunday, energized and ready to fact the agenda for Monday, which will include issues on Redistricting, The Role of Prosecutors in Criminal Justice Reform, Keynote Speaker President Cornell William Brooks, Esq., Governor Tom Wolf, Hon. Congressman G. K. Butterfield, US Senator Bob Casey and others.  

This is History in the Making in Real Time - The NAACP - and You need to be a part of it.

Now that you know, what are you going to do?

Stay Blessed & 
ECLECTICALLY BLACK 
 Gloria









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