40+ Columnists of Color on National, Local Issues
- Amy Alexander, africana.com: Reading Between the Lines: Having Our Say
- Betty Baye, Louisville Courier-Journal: Black political attitudes are changing, but not enough to reverse consensus
- Donna Britt, Washington Post: Make No Mistake: Politicians Love Preying on Fear
- Donna Britt, Washington Post: Election Spins Not Only Facts, But Faith
- Cary Clack, San Antonio Express-News: Undecided voters seem to be swamped by their choices
- Stanley Crouch, New York Daily News: Real issues get buried in the mud
- Joe Davidson, BET.com: Poverty Is Off Presidential Campaign Radar
- Lewis W. Diuguid, Kansas City Star: Cleaning up after President Bush
- Sam Fulwood, Cleveland Plain Dealer: Finally, Blackwell has found religion
- Carlos Guerra, San Antonio Express-News: Electoral College could create post-Halloween nightmare
- Bob Herbert, New York Times: For Bush, Bad News Is Bad News
- Terry M. Neal, washingtonpost.com: Battle for Senate Gets Closer, and Lower
- Derrick Z. Jackson, Boston Globe: Food fight
- Robert L. Jamieson Jr., Seattle Post-Intelligencer: All-woman political Big 3? It could happen here
- Eugene Kane, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: For those under the radar, voting poses a challenge
- Gregory Kane, Baltimore Sun: ‘Nonpartisan’ NAACP taxes IRS’ patience
- Dwight Lewis, Nashville Tennessean: For blacks, it’s neither party nor personality; it’s the issues
- Norman Lockman, Wilmington (Del.) News-Journal: Commander doesn’t really run the war
- Errol Louis, New York Daily News: Paging Gov. Gone
- Myriam Má²±uez, Orlando Sentinel: Dark cloud of presidential infallibility
- Roland S. Martin, Creators Syndicate: Voter Anger Is a Good Thing
- Sheryl McCarthy, Newsday: Trivial coverage for a too-important race
- Courtland Milloy, Washington Post: For Black Voters, A Return to the Age of Nefarious
- Acel Moore, Philadelphia Inquirer: Division rivals that of 40 years ago
- Tony Norman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Recalled reservists feeling a bit of a draft
- Andres Oppenheimer, Miami Herald: Next secretary of state may be forced to look south
- Andres Oppenheimer, Miami Herald: Money talks: U.S. candidates want the Hispanic vote
- Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune: An embedded October surprise
- Les Payne, Newsday: Bush is selling his version of ‘1984’
- Joseph Perkins, San Diego Union-Tribune: Please, no post-election heroic measures
- David Person, Huntsville (Ala.) Times: Casting a sane vote Tuesday
- Alberta Phillips, Austin American-Statesman: Bush missed chances to win over African American voters
- O. Ricardo Pimentel, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Why are hurdles placed in the way of first-time voters?
- Leonard Pitts, Miami Herald: Election winner must find a way to heal the rifts
- Rochelle Riley, Detroit Free Press: Make them work for your vote
- Bob Ray Sanders, Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Divisive voices say help not on the way
- E.R. Shipp, New York Daily News: Of Supreme importance
- Elmer Smith, Philadelphia Daily News: Bush Will Win and the U.S. Will Lose
- Gregory Stanford, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Political truth requires more than a leap of faith
- Paul Street, In These Times: Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
- Wendi Thomas, Memphis Commercial Appeal: Black women need AIDS advocate
- Cynthia Tucker, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Homophobia a cruel choice
- Cynthia Tucker, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Obama may become first black senator with clout
- Adrienne Washington, Washington Times: Black vote could turn Virginia electorally blue
- Carlos Watson, CNN: Handicapping the race
- Rod Watson, Buffalo News: Lowering the standards for the top job
- Tonyaa Weathersbee, Florida Times-Union: Bush helped the terrorists gain mileage from attacks
- Esther Wu, Dallas Morning News: Asian-American groups flexing political muscle
When Mexican Americans Were Barred From Juries
Not all columnists were writing about the election. At the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, editorial page editor Nick Jimenez noted that 50 years ago in Texas, at least 70 counties kept Spanish-surnamed citizens off juries. The man who helped change that, James DeAnda, a former federal judge and still in private law practice in Houston, is to be honored Wednesday.
“DeAnda joined Gus Garcia, a San Antonio attorney, in defending Pete Hernandez, who was accused of murder. Hernandez was convicted and Garcia and De Anda appealed on the grounds that no citizen of Mexican descent had served on a Jackson County jury in 25 years,” Jimenez wrote. The state argued that while blacks were protected from discrimination, Mexican-Americans were not so singled out, so the law considers them white.
“The five young lawyers took their fight to the Supreme Court. LULAC [League of United Latin American Citizens] paid for the appeal, putting together a fund drive built on nickel-and-dime contributions. Gus Garcia, a near legend in his own right, made the oral argument. On May 3, 1954, the court ruled for the plaintiffs. Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote that ‘it taxes our credulity to say that mere chance resulted in there being no members of this class among the over six thousand jurors called in the past 25 years.'”
. . . Some Columnists Are Thinking About Haiti
Haiti has not been much of a campaign issue in the presidential election, but as Jesse Jackson pointed out last week, Haitians are being denied food and other relief supplies that violence on the island makes it too unsafe to deliver. Jackson called upon the administration to provide the security.
In Kentucky’s Lexington Herald-Leader, Merlene Davis wrote that the holiday season is approaching, and “before we get too wrapped up in giving jewels, cashmere or expensive electronics, I want to offer another means of putting a smile on someone’s face.
“Why not take, say, 10 percent of what you plan to give to relatives, friends and co-workers and give it to one of two organizations trying to give a free education to Haitian children.”
In the Chicago Sun-Times, Mary Mitchell noted Jackson’s point and wrote about the goods stacked up in Chicago.
She quoted Bishop Tavis Grant, pastor of the Greater First Church of East Chicago: “Until we can get some type of clearance from the Haitian government that these goods can be shipped and they can get to their destination, there is nothing we can do. It is a matter of politics now.”
African American Babies Going to Parents Abroad
Here’s a story that has been below the radar:
“At the same time the US is ‘importing’ increasing numbers of adoptive children from Russia, China, and Guatemala, it is ‘exporting’ black babies to be adopted in other countries.”
So read a report by Dawn Davenport last Wednesday in the Christian Science Monitor, for which she free-lanced.
“. . . The US is now the fourth largest ‘supplier’ of babies for adoption to Canada. Adoption by Shepherd Care, an agency in Hollywood, Fla., places 90 percent of its African-American babies in Canada. One-third of the children placed through Adoption-Link in Chicago, which specializes in adoptions for black babies, go to people from other countries.
“The exact numbers are not available, but interviews with adoption agencies and families in Canada, Germany, France, and the Netherlands indicate that the US also sends babies to those four countries as well as Belgium and England. Most of the children are black newborns. Most of the adopting parents are Caucasian,” she wrote.
Davenport, who is white, is a lawyer in North Carolina who says she is trying to make a living writing about children’s issues. She told Journal-isms she stumbled upon the statistic while researching what has become of the so-called “crack babies” of the ’80s, and transracial adoptions.
She is also a parent, and one of her four children is adopted.
“The good news” about transracial adoptions, she said, was that “it works for the children and it works for the families.” She said she was looking for an outlet for her story about the “crack babies.”
The Monitor piece attracted the attention of National Public Radio’s “The Tavis Smiley Show” and Davenport taped an interview with Smiley for broadcast this week.
Networks to Follow Potential Voter Fraud
“Networks are intent on following potential voter irregularities and laying bare their own decision-making processes as results flood in,” David Bauder reports for the Associated Press.
“ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, PBS, CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC will all devote prime time to election results Tuesday night. Smaller networks with specialized audiences, like BET and MTV, have unprecedented coverage because of the intense interest in the presidential race.
“Chip Reid will be stationed at the ‘Making Your Vote Count’ desk at NBC News. ABC’s Jake Tapper will deliver ‘Ballot Watch’ reports. Mika Brzezinski at CBS, Major Garrett at Fox News Channel and Jeffrey Toobin at CNN all have the same assignments: Comb the country for reports of potential fraud or disenfranchised voters,” Bauer wrote.
“BET is also running an Election Night results special. Throughout the day, the network will run on-screen notices and public service announcements filmed by celebrities designed to get black viewers to the polls,” Bauer continued.
CNN’s political analyst Carlos Watson, who was most often the only commentator of color providing instant analysis after the presidential debates, will again be on hand for CNN.
“CNN’s in-studio team, including Aaron Brown, Anderson Cooper, Jeff Greenfield, Larry King, Bill Schneider and Carlos Watson, will be located in a Times Square studio in front of a state-of-the-art, 96-screen video wall presenting real-time vote information, exit polls and analysis of key state races across the country,” a CNN release says.
“For election night, CNN Headline News will report on the latest election results and analysis every 15 minutes beginning at 6 p.m. (ET) while continuing its reports on other news of the day. . . . Headline News analysts Jonathan Aiken, Jeannine Cota, Terry Neal of WashingtonPost.com and Robert George of the New York Post will report from New York,” the release continues. Neal and George are black journalists.
Spanish-Language Outlets Announce Coverage
“Telemundo has its own studio in NBC’s Rockefeller Center complex, where Pedro Sevcec will anchor the Spanish-language coverage,” David Bauder’s AP report continued.
Daisy Pareja’s Pareja’s Media Match compiled this other information from news releases:
Sevcec “will be joined by Chief Washington Correspondent Lori Montenegro along with Pablo Gato from Bush headquarters, Angie Sandoval from Kerry headquarters, Carlos Botifoll in Los Angeles, Gustavo Mariel in Texas, Mariela Salgado in Florida, Ilia Calderon and Rogelio Mora reporting key Senate, House, and gubernatorial races, and Cristina Londoñ¯Š¬t; reporting on voting irregularities.”
“CNN en Españ¯¬º On Nov. 1, anchor Daniel Viotto will host a special election coverage edition of Directo desde Estados Unidos (Direct from the United States.) Washington, D.C., correspondent Juan Carlos L󰥺 will follow the Bush-Cheney campaign while New York correspondent Iné³ Ferr銬t; will be at the Kerry-Edwards headquarters in Boston.
“Univision: On Election Day, “Noticiero Univision: Destino 2004” (Univision Network News: Destiny 2004) will offer coverage beginning on the TeleFutura Network at 7 pm (6 Central). Anchoring from Univision’s election headquarters, news anchors Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas, accompanied by political analysts and legal experts, will be joined by news anchor Enrique Gratas in Miami, who will be following key House and Senate races.
“Anchor Maria Antonieta Collins will also be reporting on voting irregularities along with Los Angeles-based correspondent Jaime Garcia. Chief Washington Correspondent Lourdes Meluza and veteran correspondent Martin Berlanga will be in Washington, D.C., tracking events at the White House and Republican Party headquarters.
“Correspondents Blanca Rosa Vilchez and Luis Megid will converge in Boston to cover Democratic Party Headquarters. Correspondent Lourdes del Rio will be reporting live from Florida polling precincts. Anchor Sergio Urquidi will closely follow Republican hopeful Mel Martinez and his race for the Florida Senate seat against Democrat Betty Castor. Meanwhile in Colorado, correspondent Victor Hugo Saavedra will follow Democratic Senatorial candidate Ken Salazar and his quest for a Senate seat against Republican Peter Coors.”
Journalists Being Intimidated as Well?
“A widely published investigative journalist was tackled, punched and arrested Sunday afternoon by a Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputy who tried to confiscate his camera outside the elections supervisor’s headquarters,” Jane Daugherty reports in Florida’s Palm Beach Post.
“About 600 people were standing in line waiting to vote early when James S. Henry was charged with disorderly conduct for taking photos of waiting voters about 3:30 p.m. outside the main elections office on Military Trail near West Palm Beach.
“Asked why Henry was being arrested, Cinque said, ‘You’re not allowed to take pictures of voters,'” a reference to Deputy Al Cinque, who said he was following a directive from Elections Supervisor Theresa LePore.
“Henry repeatedly told the deputy: ‘I’m a journalist. I’m a journalist doing my job.'”
Bush, Kerry Respond to Robin Washington Request
Robin Washington left his columnist job at the Boston Herald in June to become editorial page editor at Minnesota’s Duluth News Tribune, a Knight Ridder paper.
Today he scored a coup of sorts: Both President Bush and Democratic challenger John Kerry responded to a request he made only on Friday for each of them to write columns for his readers before the election.
“The thought just came to me out of the blue and I had no idea they would jump on it. You gotta love living in a battleground state!” Washington told Journal-isms.
Washington is a former parliamentarian for the National Association of Black Journalists who represents NABJ on the Unity board.
CNNfn’s Valerie Morris to Remain With CNN
Valerie Morris, longtime journalist who co-anchors CNNfn’s “The FlipSide” and anchors CNNfn’s personal finance segment “Smart Assets,” has been asked to stay with CNN after the financial offshoot folds in December, Morris tells Journal-isms.
However, Morris said her producer, Elizabeth Choi, was not so fortunate — she was let go. Morris she said she did not yet know her own new assignment.
Morris said that in approaching her shows, “my things were sandwich-generation issues and diversity. My reference point was specifically as a person of color.”
For one show, she took a genealogy test and discovered maternal roots among the Pima tribe in Arizona, she said. For one on getting out the, she focused on the hip-hop generation. Morris also writes a personal finance column in Essence magazine.
CNN announced Thursday it was shutting down CNNfn, giving up its attempt to compete with CNBC after nine years. It said 60 jobs would be eliminated and a handful of programs would be shifted to the main network.
Ratings Rise for Pacifica Stations in N.Y., D.C.
“With its fund raising drive in full tilt with a goal of $900,000, Pacifica’s WBAI-FM couldn’t have received any better news that their Arbitron ratings have zoomed sky high,” reports Herb Boyd on The Black World Today Web site.
“According to a recent third quarter report, the ratings indicate an amazing 40 percent growth among listeners over the second quarter — from 246,500 to 341,300. Similar good news was reported for a sister station in the nation’s capital, WPFW, where the increase over the same period leaped from 169,000 to 185,000 listeners.
“When asked what he attributed this phenomenal listener jump, WBAI station manager Don Rojas believed it was their coverage of the Democratic and Republican National Conventions. ‘No one provided the kind of gavel to gavel coverage as well as the anti-RNC demonstrations like we did,’ he said.”
South Asians Honor 3 for Business Journalism
“Sudeep Reddy, an energy reporter at The Dallas Morning News, and Krishnan Anantharama, the managing editor of The Wall Street Journal Classroom Edition, are co-winners of the fifth Annual SAJA-Knowledge@ Wharton Awards for Business Journalism,” the South Asian Journalists Association announces.
“Li Jing, a reporter, producer, and anchor for the Voice of America won the 2004 annual AAJA-Knowledge@ Wharton Award.
“The awards are sponsored by SAJA Group, Inc. the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and Knowledge@ Wharton, an online business insight resource.”
