Chance To Be Heard

What could be more proof than an eyewitness account of what happened ? The niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Dr. Alveda King offers just that. She marched with her uncle, she was arrested for the cause and grew up in the heart of the movement. You would think Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson would be on a first name basis with her considering her history. It's about as close as you can get.
In all the rallies and marches held in his honor lead by those two, not once have I heard her speak. Thanks to Glenn Beck and a white priest she has a
chance to be heard.

http://www.priestsforlife.org/video/index.aspx?flv=alvedafreedomride

The Great Re(nigger)

Four In Flow

Not that they as state officials have much to do with local issues. Collectively they represent less than twenty-thousand votes. But I was spurred to write this article after hearing comments made this morning by Ulysess Jones on the 'Bev Johnson Show" about consolidation. He didn't give a very convincing argument. He gave a lot of misinformation, He also promised to provide others who share his views. Luckily he ended his comments by saying "in my opinion",

If history serves me right; I already know who those others are. Rep. Jones started us off with his usual twist. Next I expect to hear from our senior Henri Brooks. Out of respect no one ever challenges her. They just let her give her usual speech. Then the quiet statesman Larry Miller will come out of hiding and offer his two cents. G.A. Hardaway brings up the rear.He gets his message from the other three. If you hear one, you heard them all. They're four in flow.

A Waste

The fact that Laurence Fishburne's daughter is doing porn is how the headlines will read. He'll get more attention than her. You would think that a father who earns $375,000.00 a wk. would spare some to keep his wayward daughter out of sight. I don't think he had a chance though. I also find it strange her mother hasn't weighed in on this. At least not publicly. Mr. Fishburne is not noted as a symbol of moral authhority who would take a principled stance on this. I don't see Laurence as one who would ride this one out. He would pay for it to go away. Unless something else is happening here.

I think his daughter is doing this to spite him. She is naive enough to think this is a wise career move. I listened to an interview she gave that ignited my suspicions.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDvxZdXvuNE Instead of Kim Kardashian, she better check out Karron Steffans. Black girls who lead x-rated lives never get beyond their indiscretions. Vanessa Williams is a triple threat and a nude picture still stains her resume. Of all the ways Montana Fishburne could have used her fifteen minutes of fame. What a waste.

She Is An Entertainer

Once again one of our esteemed elected officials is in the news for something not so becoming. To try and understand her trend of thought."What's on the inside will eventually come out." Those are the words of Janis herself. She will always be that BTW majorette from the Gardens, and every now and then it comes out.

I have always said all publicity isn't good publicity http://indepcons.blogspot.com/2006/03/all-publicity-is-not-good-publicity.html. I guess people like Councilwoman Fullilove just don't agree. We live in a time when people like Kanye West have made it newsworthy for popular people to do unpopular things. I think sometimes her position escapes her..I always thought she was a better radio personality than a poltician. Ultimately she is an entertainer.

It's Time

Consolidation facts

Q: How can the new metropolitan government be approved?

A: It must have a separate majority from voters within the city of Memphis and those outside of Memphis. If it does not pass in either area, the referendum fails.

Q: What would be the name of the new government?

A: Memphis Shelby County Metropolitan Government

Q: What jurisdictions would fall under the new government?

A: All of Shelby County. However, the six incorporated suburbs -- Arlington, Bartlett, Collierville, Germantown, Lakeland and Millington -- would maintain their autonomy and individual governments. City of Memphis government would dissolve and be replaced by Metro, which also would govern unincorporated areas.

Q: What about schools?

A: The charter does not apply to schools "and shall not be construed" as consolidating the Memphis City and Shelby County Schools. There is a provision where the school boards could request consolidation.

Q: How are elections handled?

A: Elections would be non-partisan, unless required by state law. There is also a clause for "instant runoff," where voters rank candidates.

Q: How many people would serve on the legislative body?

A: The metropolitan council would have 25 members. Thirteen would come from single districts. The remaining 12 would come from four larger, multi-member districts with three each.

Q: Are there term limits?

A: Yes. No member of the council nor the metropolitan mayor shall serve more than two consecutive 4-year terms.

Q: Who would handle law enforcement?

A: The charter calls for one of the executive departments to be the Department of Law Enforcement, which will handle the responsibilities currently under the jurisdiction of Memphis and the areas covered by the sheriff.

Q: What about the sheriff?

A: The sheriff, as a state constitutional office, remains intact, but the duties change. The sheriff will oversee areas, such as corrections centers and jails. The sheriff's office also will provide courtroom security and handle serving civil and criminal warrants, but not law enforcement, which falls to the metropolitan government.

Q: What are the taxing districts?

A: There would be a general services district that encompasses the entire county, including the suburbs. There would be an urban services district that is now the City of Memphis.

Q: What happens to property taxes initially?

A: The charter mandates a property tax freeze for the first three fiscal years, taking reappraisal into consideration.

Q: If approved, when would the first election be held?

A: The first Thursday in August 2014.

Q: When would the new government take effect?

A: Those elected would take office Sept. 1, 2014, starting the Memphis Shelby County Metropolitan Government.





http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/aug/16/merger-panels-focus-shifts/

The Real Story

Since the primary focus of the recent election seems to be race, how did this victory escape the highlights. This was the biggest surprise of the night. A Black Republican was elected to a countywide seat. With little fanfare Paul Boyd was elected Probate Court Clerk over mainstay Democratic candidate Sondra Becton..

Though I wasn't directly involved.in his campaign, I am particularly proud for this young man. He ran on a common sense platform that wasn't littered with the cronyism usually present. I feel like other Black Conservatives like myself have been chipping away and clearing a path for a time such as this. This was the real story.

http://paulboyd.org/bio

Just The Opposite

There was one good thing about Steve Cohen winning the 9th district. It's official. Thaddeus Matthews doesn't have the political influence that he claims he does. At least not among people who can vote.If anything his endorsement is a liability. I'm sure he loss more votes than he gained for Willie Herenton. Instead of energizing the black vote he seemed to do just the opposite.

Just Correct

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No Cigar

When you look at the August 5th election, Taurus Bailey was heavily loaded with endorsements. Though judges don't claim party affiliation, in Bailey's case it's easy to see where his connections are. I really thought he was going to win. Looked like he lead in voting most of the night. Close but no cigar.

We Support Taurus Bailey for Judge!

Julian Bolton, Esq. (Campaign Treasurer)
Michael Campbell (Co-Finance Chairman)
Arthur Horne, Esq. (Co-Finance Chairman)
County Commissioner Walter Bailey
Javier Bailey, Esq.
Elsie Lewis Bailey
D'Army Bailey, Esq.
Henry Turley
Willie Nelson
Attie Nelson
Randy Wade
Representative Barbara Cooper
Representative Jeanne Richardson
Representative G. A. Hardaway
Representative Ulysses Jones
Howard Richardson
Diane Lamar
Coach Tim Thompson
Paul Harless
Lynn Harless
Elliot Perry
Todd Brooks, M.D
Ben Anderson, M.D.
Andrea Anderson
Clay Perry
Ron Redwing
Herman Shaw
Shep Wilbun
Councilwoman Wanda Halbert
J. Nathan Toney, Esq.
Andre Mathis, Esq.
Councilman Edmund Ford, Jr.
Adam Glankler, Esq.
Jim Allison, Esq.
Juni Ganguli, Esq.
Murray Wells, Esq.
Jeffrey Rosenblum, Esq.
Randal Rhea, Esq.
Hal Dockins, Esq.
Robert Mitchell, Esq.
Taurece Riley, Esq.

(Notice how he failed to mention his brother Javier was his campaign manager.)

Dirty Little Secrets

The result was so irrefutable that by the time U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen asserted in a victory speech that there would be "no more elections decided by race" in Memphis, it resounded like an echo.

Because from the moment early-voting election returns showed him prevailing over former Memphis mayor Willie Herenton and his race-based campaign, those paying attention had already thought, spoke, tweeted, Facebooked or shouted the same conclusion.

Yet, those early returns were telling a different story in countywide contests, where county mayoral candidate Mark Luttrell and all eight of his fellow Republicans jumped to what turned out to be insurmountable leads -- despite the fact that 57 percent of early voters had cast Democratic ballots in state and federal primaries.

All but one of those Republicans was white, and all but one of the Democrats was black. The first superficial analysis -- a lot of white Democrats crossed over to vote for a lot of white Republicans -- was hard to square with Cohen's post-racial promise.

"The truth is black candidates have been voting for white candidates for a long time," said Rhodes College political science professor Marcus Pohlmann, who has written books about local race and politics. "The dirty little secret is white voters have not been voting for black candidates very much."

Shelby County Democratic Party chairman Van Turner said he wanted to look closely at precinct-by-precinct data before reaching conclusions, but acknowledged the conventional wisdom that "simple crunching of numbers indicated white Democratic voters would swing the election one way or the other."

In the days leading up to the election, interim county mayor Joe Ford's campaign made direct appeals in news conferences and in neighborhood canvassing to white voters. The Republicans are right-wing, they said in phone calls and rallies. They associated local Republicans with Sarah Palin and the tea party movement, forcing even Luttrell to distance himself from right-wing rhetoric.

Scott Banbury, a Midtown neighborhood activist, had quipped that he would scrape the Obama bumper stickers off cars of white Democratic voters who crossed over to support Republicans.

Pleased that Cohen won handily, Banbury on Friday wasn't quite ready to call white Democrats traitors. Like others, he cited the unprecedented efforts by Republican gubernatorial candidates and GOP candidates in the 8th Congressional District to motivate Republicans, and questioned the quality of Democratic campaigns and candidates in general.

It's also true that turnout by registered black voters, especially in the 9th Congressional District that includes most of Memphis, was lower than expected. As a proportion of the county's registered voters, turnout in the mostly white 7th and 8th Congressional Districts was unusually high -- while only about one-third of the county's voters are in those districts, the 7th and 8th districts generated about 45 percent of voters.

Republican county chairman Lang Wiseman has insisted that the Republican candidates -- which included African-American probate court clerk candidate Paul Boyd -- were much stronger and therefore more capable of motivating their voters to turn out.

Pohlmann said he's eager to see what, if anything, the data will say about the impact race may have had in those countywide races.

"Cohen's statement is very optimistic," Pohlmann said. "I don't know if it's quite justified

-- Zack McMillin: 529-2564

Election Results 2010

http://commercialappealapps.com/election/total/

It's A New ERA

Twenty years ago when Willie Herenton launched his political career their were many more voters who remembered the sixties. Today that's not the case anymore. With interracial marriage and relationships on the rise, the race card is a tough sale. When people who have built their careers on playing the race card decide to no longer play It's a new era.

Different Outcome

Too bad the wave of racial unity didn't make it to the shores of Randy Wade's campaign for sheriff. The spirit of civility of those white voters that even switched parties to vote for Steve Cohen over Willie Herenton, didn't carry over into the sheriff's race. "His brother from another mother," not only had a different mother but a different outcome.

Lead The Charge

The night turned out to be a sweep for the Republicans. Mark Luttrell lead the charge.

His Best Shot

This generation of the Fords won't get to hold the title of elected Mayor. Joe Ford loss a not so close race for county Mayor. His son and nephew hold county commission and city council seats respectively , but don't pose a present threat for the top job. The family stronghold seems only to be in South Memphis. Though Joe probably comes with less baggage than his brothers, he has less charisma than Harold or John. He gave it his best shot.

Still On The Job

One thing that has come through loud and clear is that Lorenzen Wright was devoted to his children and Sherra Wright is their mother. I hope those making that claim aren't basing it solely on the material things he bought them. Money wasn't aalways an issue. Lorenzen and his ex-wife Sherra had seven children together before the loss of their youngest daughter "Sierra". Which brings me to the point of my post.

Strange revelations are yet to come in this murder investigation. Some of the things that many consider a sure telltale sign of guilt on the part of his wife, may just be an indication of a dysfunctional household. What ex-husband is at his ex-wife's house at 2 a.m. after driving around in her car? Let's not assume because she is pretty that she is smart. She has been a NBA wife for thirteen years and helped her husband spend his fortune. Her occupation was being Mrs. Lorenzen Wright. Even though they were divorced, she was still on the job.