Atlanta Daily World
18 Georgia NAACP branches to ‘Party at the Polls’ in pivotal state
ATLANTA DAILY WORLD — It’s called Party to the Polls, a day that will include symbolic Civil Rights-era marches, bus caravans and carpools culminating in poll parties with music, food, speeches and prizes, and in the era of coronavirus, masks, social distancing and plenty of sanitizer, organizers promised
Atlanta Daily World Staff Report
ATLANTA – In one of the most unique get-out-the-vote efforts this year, 18 Georgia NAACP branches over 19 counties have launched an ambitious plan to get more than 40,000 African American voters to the polls across the state on the last Saturday of early voting.
It’s called Party to the Polls, a day that will include symbolic Civil Rights-era marches, bus caravans and carpools culminating in poll parties with music, food, speeches and prizes, and in the era of coronavirus, masks, social distancing and plenty of sanitizer, organizers promised.
The date is Oct. 24, and from Savannah in Chatham County to Augusta in Richmond County to Peachtree Corners in Gwinnett County and Columbus in Muscogee County, the organizers have planned a flurry of individual voter mobilization efforts. Also participating are NAACP branches in Bibb, Clark, Clayton, Cobb, Dekalb, Dougherty, Douglas, Fayette, Fulton, Henry, Houston, Lowndes, Newton, Paulding and Rockdale counties.
The non-partisan NAACP is the nation’s oldest civil rights organization and has been mobilizing the African American electorate since its inception in 1909. This year, however, its Georgia leadership has decided to take a more strategic approach to maximize Black voting power.
“While the regions we have targeted represent only 12 percent of Georgia’s counties, they include 77 percent of all African-American voters in the state,” said Richard Rose, who is spearheading the effort as president of the organization’s Atlanta Branch. “So, we have come together as a collective to focus our energy and capital to get a greater percentage of Black people to the polls.”
President Donald Trump won Georgia handily in 2016, but the presidential race, as well as two races currently held by Republican senators, have become extremely competitive this year. Experts say the African American turnout could make the difference.
The Black voter turnout in the 2016 presidential campaign declined nationally for the first time in 20 years, falling to 59.6 percent in 2016 after reaching a record-high 66.6 percent in 2012, according to the Pew Research Group.
The 7-percentage-point decline from the previous presidential election is the largest on record for African Americans. The number was even more dismal in Georgia, Rose said, where only 48 percent of Black men and 62 percent of Black women voted in 2016, compared to 67 percent of white men and 68 percent of white women.
Aside from flashy events like Party to the Polls, Rose said, the NAACP branches are attempting to increase Black voter participation by concentrating on local races.
“Understandably, the nation is paying a lot of attention to the presidential campaign, but we believe that by focusing Georgia voters’ attention on county and state races, we can get more people to the polls,” he said. “If they understand that it is those offices – the sheriff, the district attorney, state representatives, boards of commissioners, judges, school board members — who have a huge impact on their daily lives, we believe they are more likely to vote.”
“So, our branches have been hosting online candidate forums on Facebook, Zoom and other platforms to get people more knowledgeable about their local issues.
Still, Party at the Polls will be a signature event, branch presidents said.
The organizations have gotten financial and logistical support from a plethora of groups: Vote Your Voice, an initiative by the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta; The New Georgia Project, a voter-participation project created by former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Staci Abrams, the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Georgia, numerous churches, the 100 Back Men, the National Coalition of 100 Black Women and the National Pan Hellenic Council, which is made up of nine African American fraternities and sororities.
In Fulton County, voters will be admitted to one of three sites, 1362 Metropolitan Parkway in Atlanta, East Point Downtown Commons in East Point and the South Fulton Library in Union City, after showing their “I Voted” stickers where they will be feted to food, beverages and music. In Richmond County, the Rev. Melvin Ivey, the branch president and pastor of Greater St John Baptist Church in Augusta, will be loading people in five vans donated by the New Georgia Project along with buses made possible to the Greater Augusta Interfaith Coalition for a trip to the James Brown Arena, voting at the Bell Auditorium the county’s largest voting site..
The Richmond Branch, aided by the civic group OneAugusta, had been holding voter registration and Census events before, handing out fruit baskets to attendees.
“This time, we are setting up in the parking lot of the arena, where World Central Kitchen will supply food people can just walk across the street to vote.” Ivey said. “We are planning on a fun day of doing something extremely important.” The branch, which Ivey said has been holding online forums for positions for the local school board, a state senate race, and a race for district attorney, expects 1,0000 people.
“This election is really important,” he said. “We need change. It feels like on the local and national level, they have been trying to reverse the gains that Black people and America have made over more than 50 years.
More than halfway across the state, the Rockdale and Newton county NAACP branches have joined with the Rev J. Phillip Baker, pastor of Shady Grove Baptist Church, and J. Demetrius Myatt for a symbolic “1,000 Male March to the Polls” in each county. The two events will be followed by a Tailgate at the Polls.
In Newton County, Debbie Hillman, activist and co-chair of NAACP branch political action and community involvement committee, said 1,000 Black men and others will mass at 8 a.m. at the old jail before a short walk to the Newton County Administration Building.
In nearby Rockdale, they will be joined by 1,000 men who will gather at the same time in Wheeler Park before walking an hour later to the voting site. Rockdale County Commission and NAACP member said the marches are for everyone, but they are concentrating on Black men because it is important for them to re-assume their roles along with Black as responsible voters.
“As an attorney and county commissioner, II see every day how elected officials affect their lives,” said Washington, one of the organizers of the Rockdale event. When you see the way elected officials, sheriffs, judges, district attorneys, affect their lives, they need to be the first in line at the polls.
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Atlanta Daily World
Rest In Power: The Black stars we lost in 2023
ATLANTA DAILY WORLD — Regardless of how these people left this world, one thing was for certain: they were loved. This is dedicated to the Black stars we lost in 2023.
Atlanta Daily World
This year has seen a lot of highs and a lot of lows for celebrities and their fanbases, but nothing can compare to when high-profile figures pass away. 2023 in particular marked the deaths of some of the extremely influential Black actors, musicians, sports stars, activists, politicians, and other notable figures. Some of these stellar individuals have left behind a long-lasting legacy, while others were taken just as they were making waves in their respective scenes.
Regardless of how these people left this world, one thing was for certain: they were loved. This is dedicated to the Black stars we lost in 2023.
Tina Turner
Jacky Oh!
Harry Belafonte
Lance Reddick
Ray Lewis III
Andre Braugher
DJ Casper
Hughes Van Ellis
Zoleka Mandela
Clark Haggans
Richard Roundtree
Magoo
Cedric ‘Beastie’ Jones
Irish Grinstead
Sheila Oliver
Tasha Butts
Brandon Hunter
Elise Finch
Willis Reed
Clarence Avant
Mike Williams
Mutulu Shakur
DJ Mark The 45 King
Rudolph Isley
Dopeboy Ra / Young Capone
Grace Bumbry
C.J. Harris
Gangsta Boo
James Ingram
Kristoff St. John
Danielle Ballard
The Black Information Network is your source for Black News! Get the latest news 24/7 on The Black Information Network. Listen now on the iHeartRadio app or click HERE to tune in live.
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Atlanta Daily World
COMMENTARY: Soul Stealers… Let’s be Honest — College Football is a Business, with Money Everywhere
ATLANTA DAILY WORLD — On September 12, 1970, USC fullback Sam Cunningham and the USC Trojans routed the University of Alabama at Legion Field in Birmingham by the score of 42-21. The following year Alabama Head Coach, Paul “Bear” Bryant, featured two Black players, junior college transfer John Mitchell and Wilbur Jackson. According to Mike Puma’s biography of Bryant on ESPN.com “By 1973, one-third of Alabama’s starters were Black. That same year, Alabama went 9-0-1 and won its third national championship.” Segregation forever, yeah right. Alabama admitted Black players under “diluted” scholarships knowing that educating these athletes was at the very bottom of their list of priorities. It would take decades before the University of Alabama would tailor their student body admission policies for racial inclusion.
By Aubrey Bruce | Atlanta Daily World
I must begin this column by putting all the readers on high alert because this is not, nor do I intend it to be, a Black History moment. This piece is strictly dedicated to Black sports reality. On June 11, 2023, author Debra Bell posted an article on usnews.com titled: “George Wallace Stood in a Doorway at the University of Alabama 50 Years Ago Today.” The following quote is an excerpt from the article.
“In January of 1963, following his election as Governor of Alabama, George Wallace famously stated in his inaugural address: ‘segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.’ The staunch conservative demonstrated his loyalty to the cause on June 11, 1963, when black students Vivian Malone and James A. Hood showed up at the University of Alabama campus in Tuscaloosa to attend class. In what historians often refer to as the ‘Stand in the Schoolhouse Door,’ the governor literally stood in the doorway as federal authorities tried to allow the students to enter.”
On September 12, 1970, USC fullback Sam Cunningham and the USC Trojans routed the University of Alabama at Legion Field in Birmingham by the score of 42-21. The following year Alabama Head Coach, Paul “Bear” Bryant, featured two Black players, junior college transfer John Mitchell and Wilbur Jackson. According to Mike Puma’s biography of Bryant on ESPN.com “By 1973, one-third of Alabama’s starters were Black. That same year, Alabama went 9-0-1 and won its third national championship.”
Segregation forever, yeah right. Alabama admitted Black players under “diluted” scholarships knowing that educating these athletes was at the very bottom of their list of priorities. It would take decades before the University of Alabama would tailor their student body admission policies for racial inclusion.
Since the Emancipation Proclamation was signed by President Abe Lincoln, young men of color and their families could no longer “legally” be expected to provide free labor in the cotton fields, the new modus operandi shifted to obtaining cost-free labor from the football fields. The NCAA became the new “overseer” making and supervising laws to penalize young athletes for receiving such petty allowances as a free meal, a plane ticket, or a lousy T-shirt. However, the NCAA refused to acknowledge and address the “unsportsmanlike conduct” of many of the “ethnically insensitive” and even blatantly racist policies that have at times and in many cases continued to govern college football. On October 15, 2018, the college portal transfer program was officially launched, ending the decades-old tradition of a college athlete being forced to sit out a year before being permitted to transfer to another school. However, coaches were allowed to resign and accept higher-paid and more lucrative positions at other colleges and universities without even the blink of an eye. On June 30, 2021, ESPN staff writer Dan Murphy posted the following on espn.com. “The doors to a new era of college sports officially opened Thursday. For the first time, all NCAA athletes are now able to make money from a wide variety of business ventures without losing their eligibility. A mixture of state laws and NCAA rule changes have removed prohibitions that prevented athletes from selling the rights to their names, images and likenesses (NIL). The transformative shift comes after more than a decade of legal, political, and public pressure to give athletes access to a bigger piece of the billions of dollars generated by college sports each year.”
What about a piece of the “Vegas Pie?” Ya know, “FanDuel” and the remainder of the numbers runners.
That means less than five years ago, if a college athlete accepted a plane ticket to go home for the holidays, that athlete could be punished or even expelled from that university. That policy was and has always been a crock. Please allow me to explain why.
Recently, Texas A&M Coach Jimbo Fisher was awarded a $77 million buyout for his “lack of performance” as the head coach. It was also reported on cnn.com that: “When Fisher was first named head football coach at Texas A&M in 2017, the university said he had agreed to a 10-year contract worth $75 million, adding no ‘state-appropriated funds’ would be used toward his salary. The finances behind the decision to fire the coach are ‘monumental,’ Ross Bjork, Texas A&M director of athletics, said during a news conference. ‘As the contract states, there is a buyout provision in coach Fisher’s contract and those details will be worked out,’ Bjork continued on saying: ‘We will use unrestricted contributions within the 12th Man Foundation for the first one-time payments and the athletic department will fund the annual payments for the remaining portion by growing our revenues and adjusting our annual operating budget accordingly.’ 12th Man Foundation may appear to be a not-for-profit organization. This is not the case.”
This next scenario is not a fantasy but a stark reality. Jimbo Fisher is being paid for not doing his job, whereas walk-on players must earn their scholarships. This man is being paid to sit in the back of his mansion by the pool, sipping on mint juleps, while checking his bank account and watching the interest grow on that $77 million. A lot of folks are screaming at the top of their lungs about welfare reform. How about corporate welfare reform? Who is going to emancipate our children from this indentured servant athletic system? Well, I guess we are going to have to wait and see.
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Atlanta Daily World
IN MEMORIAM: Georgia Teen Dies One Day Before His Team Plays State Championship Game At Mercedes-Benz Stadium In Atlanta
ATLANTA DAILY WORLD — Smith was initially reported as missing on Saturday in his hometown Manchester, Georgia, according to authorities. He was found deceased on Sunday evening. Details surrounding his passing has yet to be released as the investigation contiues.
By A.R. Shaw, Executive Editor, Atlanta Daily World
Brandon Smith was one day away from playing the biggest game of his high school football career. But on the eve of the big game, the 17-year-old Meriwether County football was found dead.
Smith was initially reported as missing on Saturday in his hometown Manchester, Georgia, according to authorities. He was found deceased on Sunday evening. Details surrounding his passing has yet to be released as the investigation contiues.
Smith was a defensive lineman for the Meriwether County football team. Tonight, the team will face-off against Bowdon High School at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The teams will compete for Georgia’s 1-A State Football Championship.
Following Smith’s passing, Superintendent Dr. Robert A. Griffin and Principal Mrs. Suze Neal released a joint statement.
“We are heartbroken to hear the news of the tragic and untimely death of one of our student-athletes, Brandon Smith. Manchester High School’s Celebration of playing for the Georgia Division 1-A State Football Championship has unfortunately turned into something none of us could have fathomed.
The circumstances behind this tragedy are still being investigated and will be shared publicly by local authorities.
We continue to pray for Brandon’s family, friends, teammates, and classmates. Manchester High School will have mental health support available starting on Monday morning. Brandon was a loyal teammate and friend who excelled on and off the field. He will be deeply missed.”
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Atlanta Daily World
André 3000 Reveals What It Would Take For Him To Release Another Rap Album
ATLANTA DAILY WORLD — “When people ask me about a rap album, ‘Man, I would love a rap album, I’m with you,’” he said. “But it’s like, I want to be with you when I’m really on it.” He continued, “Maybe I haven’t found a music that’s inspiring enough for me to want to write raps to. Maybe I gotta find a new way to rap.”
A.R. Shaw, Executive Editor
André 3000’s caught most of his core fans after releasing his first solo project, “New Blue Sun.”
But while fans of André 3000 have anticipated this moment for years, it’s not a conventional rap album. The project does not feature rhymes, beats, or lyrical melodies. It’s a musical journey of André 3000 playing contrabass flute, Mayan flutes, bamboo flutes and other digital wind instruments.
During a recent interview with CBS News, the Atlanta-raised artist spoke about his ordeal with rapping during this period of his life.
“Like I’m 48 now,” he said. “I think like the older you get, you kind of get this skin or this…protective layer that’s like…things kind of roll off or you better because you have a better understanding of the rollercoaster in a way.”
He continued, “I don’t sit and try to rap every day like when I was younger, and that’s all I did when I was younger. I miss those times a lot, but it’s like: life changes, life moves on.”
André 3000 also spoke about the possibilities of creating another rap album and what it would it take.
“When people ask me about a rap album, ‘Man, I would love a rap album, I’m with you,’” he said. “But it’s like, I want to be with you when I’m really on it.”
He continued, “Maybe I haven’t found a music that’s inspiring enough for me to want to write raps to. Maybe I gotta find a new way to rap.”
Overall, André 3000 seeks to find new ways to be inspired creatively.
“Maybe I exhausted a thing,” he said. “And sometimes you have to kind of try something else.”
In its first week, “New Blue Sun” debuted at No. 1 on Billboard New Age Albums chart and No. 5 on the Top Alternative Albums chart.
The post André 3000 Reveals What It Would Take For Him To Release Another Rap Album appeared first on Atlanta Daily World.
A Milwaukee County deputy was caught on video punching a 17-year-old girl, per CBS 58.
The incident unfolded on Sunday (October 22) when Envy Hampton, 17, and her friends Keviona Brown and Alivia Jee visited the Milwaukee County Zoo.
“We wanted to go have fun and go home and it was just a problem after that,” Jee said.
As they were leaving the zoo, the friends said they were surrounded by deputies. Hampton’s sister, Nayah Dowell, 26, who came to pick up the group from the zoo, was pulled out of her vehicle by deputies, the friends said. Video shows Brown screaming as she attempted to pull Dowell back into the car.
At one point during the encounter, Brown said she saw Hampton being struck by an officer on the ground.
“I only recorded him hitting her three times in the video but before I started the video, he was already striking her,” Brown said.
The Milwaukee County sheriff’s office said the video, which has gone viral on social media, doesn’t paint the full picture. According to the sheriff’s office, deputies were called to the entrance of the zoo for a reported fight, which they didn’t see.
The friends said there was a verbal disagreement within the group but the altercation never turned physical. When Dowell arrived to pick up the group, the older sister said she was met with hostility from police. She declined to show her I.D. when asked and claims she wasn’t told about the reported fight.
According to the Sheriff’s Department, body camera footage shows the people in the vehicle weren’t cooperative. The department alleged that Hampton shoved and hit a deputy with a closed fist. That’s when the deputy used force to handcuff Hampton and take her into custody, the department said.
The friend group said Hampton swung at police but missed.
Hampton and her sister were arrested the night of the incident. Hampton is facing charges including Battery of a Law Enforcement officer. Her bail was set at over $5,000, according to her family.
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Actor and boxer Cedric ‘Beastie’ Jones has died, per People. He was 46.
On Sunday (October 22), Jones’ boxing gym announced that the founder had died on October 16.
“It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of Beastie Boxing Gym Founder, Cedric ‘Beastie’ Jones,” his company said in a statement. “Cedric was a loving father, devoted husband, caring son, brother, community leader, and incredible friend who inspired others. He genuinely wanted everyone to become the best version of themselves. He was a gift. Cedric had dedicated his life to helping people in and out of the gym.”
Jones was someone who “inspired and helped people achieve what they previously thought impossible,” the statement added.
The 46-year-old was also known for his roles in Emancipation, starring Will Smith, The Terminal List, The Magnificent Seven, Southpaw, Princess of the Row, and Marshall County.
Emancipation director Antoine Fuqua posted a tribute to Jones on social media following his death.
“R.I.P to my good brother and friend. You were always the light in the room and on the set,” Fuqua wrote on Instagram alongside a video of Jones praying. “You will be deeply missed and forever loved. MAY THE WIND ALWAYS BE UNDER YOUR WINGS CHAMP as you ascend into the Heavens. Dream team forever🙏🏿💪🏿✊🏿.”
Jones is survived by his wife, Barbie Jones, and their children, Brooklyn, Braxton, and Bryston. A GoFundMe page was started to raise money to support the family.
Jones’ cause of death remains unknown.
The Black Information Network is your source for Black News! Get the latest news 24/7 on The Black Information Network. Listen now on the iHeartRadio app or click HERE to tune in live.
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