No Justice in Georgia- Lawsuit to dissolve cities

The Case

 

The State of Georgia has violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, the Fifteenth Amendment, as well as sections 2 and 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA). The state committed these violations by creating super-majority White neighborhoods and communities within previously existing local government bodies (Counties), in which, African-Americans have historically maintained dominant political control.

These “cities”, (Sandy Springs, Dunwoody, Johns Creek, Milton, and Chattahoochee Hills) provide the exact same local government services and exercise the same government authority as the counties from which they were carved. By their creation, voting strength of African Americans within these cities has been diluted beyond the maximum Constitutional level and grossly in excess of the more restrictive provisions of the VRA. This has effectively taken the right to vote away from these African Americans.
The right to vote is fundamental to our American System, and to limit these individuals right to vote is unconstitutional and without justification.

Via website: justiceingeorgia.org


Video of Dr. Lowery discussing lawsuit to dissolve cities

Free Spring Break Camp

Dear Parents and Teachers, we are offering a free Spring Break Camp to students  ages 5-13 in DeKalb County Schools. If you know of any students in need of a Spring Break Camp, please refere them to our location. We have many activities to provide them with. The Camp begins Monday April 4, 2011  and ends Friday April 8, 2011 and the hours of operation will be from 6:30 am - 6:00pm. These spaces are sponsored By V103's Greg Street and the OCS Street foundation in partnership with Inspiring Kids Academy . Please respond quickly as spaces will fill up.
We will also offer a boys only lock in on Friday April 1, 2011. If you know of any boys in need of these services, please refer them to our program.
 http://www.ikacademy.org/ and retrieve a 2011 registration form and have them email or bring the registration form to our facility located at 5051 Snapfinger Woods Dr Decatur, Georgia 30035 678-418-5118 office / 678-914-1458 cell email us at ikacademy.org

Did your State Rep Vote for HOPE in Georgia?

2011-2012 Regular Session
[HB 326] 
A yea vote increased Hope Scholarship eligibility to 3.7 GPA and 1200 SAT.
A yea vote rejected an income cap of $140,000 on household income, which would have funded full tuition benefits for 94% of Georgia families.
A yea vote means HOPE scholarship amount will be calculated each year, based on Georgia Lottery proceeds.
A yea vote means high school students must take up to four upper level courses in math, science or language to be HOPE eligible.

House Vote #130 (Agree Sen Sub)
Yea (Y): 136Nay (N): 32Not Voting (-): 6Excused (E): 6
N :ABDUL-SALAAM, 74TH
Y :ABRAMS, 84TH
Y :ALLISON, 8TH
Y :AMERSON, 9TH
Y :ANDERSON, 117TH
N :ASHE, 56TH
Y :ATWOOD, 179TH
E :AUSTIN, 10TH
E :BAKER, 78TH
Y :BATTLES, 15TH
Y :BEARDEN, 68TH
N :BEASLEY-TEAGUE, 65TH
Y :BELL, 58TH
Y :BENFIELD, 85TH
Y :BENTON, 31ST
Y :BLACK, 174TH
Y :BRADDOCK, 19TH
Y :BROCKWAY, 101ST
N :BROOKS, 63RD
- :BRUCE, 64TH
Y :BRYANT, 160TH
Y :BUCKNER, 130TH
Y :BURNS, 157TH
Y :BYRD, 20TH
Y :CARTER, 175TH
Y :CASAS, 103RD
Y :CHANNELL, 116TH
Y :CHEOKAS, 134TH
Y :CLARK, 98TH
Y :CLARK, 104TH
Y :COLEMAN, 97TH
Y :COLLINS, 27TH
Y :COOKE, 18TH
Y :COOMER, 14TH
Y :COOPER, 41ST
N :CRAWFORD, 16TH
Y :DAVIS, 109TH
- :DAWKINS-HAIGLER, 93RD
Y :DEMPSEY, 13TH
N :DICKERSON, 95TH
Y :DICKEY, 136TH
Y :DICKSON, 6TH
Y :DOBBS, 53RD
Y :DOLLAR, 45TH
Y :DRENNER, 86TH
Y :DUDGEON, 24TH
N :DUKES, 150TH
Y :DUTTON, 166TH
Y :EHRHART, 36TH
Y :ENGLAND, 108TH
Y :EPPS, 128TH
Y :EPPS, 140TH
N :EVANS, 40TH
Y :FLOYD, 99TH
N :FLUDD, 66TH
N :FRANKLIN, 43RD
N :FRAZIER, 123RD
Y :FULLERTON, 151ST
Y :GARDNER, 57TH
Y :GEISINGER, 48TH
Y :GOLICK, 34TH
N :GORDON, 162ND
Y :GREENE, 149TH
Y :HAMILTON, 23RD
Y :HANNER, 148TH
Y :HARBIN, 118TH
Y :HARDEN, 28TH
Y :HARDEN, 147TH
Y :HARRELL, 106TH
Y :HATCHETT, 143RD
Y :HATFIELD, 177TH
N :HEARD, 114TH
E :HECKSTALL, 62ND
Y :HEMBREE, 67TH
Y :HENSON, 87TH
Y :HILL, 21ST
N :HOLCOMB, 82ND
Y :HOLMES, 125TH
Y :HOLT, 112TH
Y :HORNE, 71ST
Y :HOUSTON, 170TH
N :HOWARD, 121ST
Y :HUCKABY, 113TH
Y :HUDSON, 124TH
Y :HUGLEY, 133RD
Y :JACKSON, 142ND
Y :JACOBS, 80TH
N :JAMES, 135TH
Y :JASPERSE, 12TH
Y :JERGUSON, 22ND
Y :JOHNSON, 37TH
Y :JONES, 44TH
Y :JONES, 46TH
N :JORDAN, 77TH
N :KAISER, 59TH
- :KENDRICK, 94TH
Y :KIDD, 141ST
Y :KNIGHT, 126TH
Y :LANE, 167TH
Y :LINDSEY, 54TH
Y :LONG, 61ST
N :LUCAS, 139TH
Y :MADDOX, 127TH
Y :MADDOX, 172ND
Y :MANNING, 32ND
Y :MARIN, 96TH
Y :MARTIN, 47TH
Y :MAXWELL, 17TH
N :MAYO, 91ST
Y :MCBRAYER, 153RD
Y :MCCALL, 30TH
Y :MCKILLIP, 115TH
Y :MEADOWS, 5TH
Y :MILLS, 25TH
Y :MITCHELL, 88TH
Y :MORGAN, 39TH
Y :MORRIS, 155TH
N :MOSBY, 90TH
N :MURPHY, 120TH
Y :NEAL, 1ST
N :NEAL, 75TH
Y :NIMMER, 178TH
Y :NIX, 69TH
Y :O`NEAL, 146TH
Y :OLIVER, 83RD
Y :PAK, 102ND
N :PARENT, 81ST
Y :PARRISH, 156TH
Y :PARSONS, 42ND
Y :PEAKE, 137TH
Y :POWELL, 29TH
Y :POWELL, 171ST
Y :PRUETT, 144TH
Y :PURCELL, 159TH
- :RALSTON, 7TH
Y :RAMSEY, 72ND
N :RANDALL, 138TH
N :REECE, 11TH
Y :RICE, 51ST
Y :RILEY, 50TH
Y :ROBERTS, 154TH
Y :ROGERS, 26TH
Y :RYNDERS, 152ND
Y :SCOTT, 2ND
N :SCOTT, 76TH
E :SETZLER, 35TH
Y :SHAW, 176TH
Y :SHELDON, 105TH
Y :SIMS, 119TH
- :SIMS, 169TH
Y :SMITH, 70TH
N :SMITH, 122ND
Y :SMITH, 129TH
Y :SMITH, 131ST
E :SMITH, 168TH
Y :SMYRE, 132ND
Y :SPENCER, 180TH
Y :STEPHENS, 161ST
Y :STEPHENS, 164TH
- :STEPHENSON, 92ND
Y :TALTON, 145TH
Y :TANKERSLEY, 158TH
Y :TAYLOR, 55TH
Y :TAYLOR, 79TH
E :TAYLOR, 173RD
Y :TEASLEY, 38TH
Y :THOMAS, 100TH
N :TINUBU, 60TH
Y :WALKER, 107TH
Y :WATSON, 163RD
Y :WELCH, 110TH
Y :WELDON, 3RD
N :WILKERSON, 33RD
Y :WILKINSON, 52ND
Y :WILLARD, 49TH
Y :WILLIAMS, 4TH
N :WILLIAMS, 89TH
N :WILLIAMS, 165TH
Y :WILLIAMSON, 111TH
Y :YATES, 73RD

Justice For Bobby Yates: A Wrongful Conviction In The Makings

Justice For Bobby Yates: A Wrongful Conviction In The Makings: "In the County of Lamar - Paris, Texas, The case of Bobby Yates and at least twenty others handled by Lamar County Attorney Gary Young, are..."

Black Wall Street District USA National Convention

Black WallStreet Districk USA National Convention October 21-23 2011

Black Wall Street District USA National Convention

October 21-23 2011

Gary, Indiana

Convention details listed below:

http://www.blackwallstreetdistrict.com/2011convention/2011Convention.html

Dedication of MLK Monument in Washington DC

JEFFERSON CO. AND RICHMOND CO. GA. SCLC BUS TRIP
Time Saturday, August 27 at 7:00pm - August 28 at 7:00pm

LocationWASHINGTON D.C.-THE WHITE HOUSE MALL
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC

Created ByJefferson Co. and Richmond Co. Ga. Chapters of the SCLC

More Info

THE JEFFERSON CO. AND RICHMOND CO. GA. SCLC
PRESENTS GET ON THE BUS!
ROUND TRIP TO WASHINGTON D.C.
DEPARTURE.....08/27/2011 7:00 P.M.
RETURN....08/28/2011-7:00 P.M.

THE JEFFERSON CO. AND THE RICHMOND CO. GA. CHAPTERS OF THE SCLC IS NOW SPONSORING A BUS TRIP, FROM ATLANTA GA., TO THOMSON GA., TO AUGUSTA GA. PICK UPS, TO WASHINGTON D.C. ROUND TRIP TO WITNESS THE GRAND OPENING AND DEDICATION OF THE MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. MEMORIAL.
PRESIDENT BARAK OBAMA HAS BEEN ASKED TO BE THE KEYNOTE SPEAKER.
COME AND JOIN US ON THIS HISTORY MAKING EVENT AT THE WHITE HOUSE MALL, WASHINGTON D.C.

GET ON THE BUS!
ROUND TRIP TO WASHINGTON D.C.
COST: $100.00 ROUND TRIP PER BUS SEAT, ADULTS AND CHILDREN
SPONSOR A YOUTH!

SEND CHECK/MONEY ORDER TO:
Jefferson Co. GA. SCLC
Washington D.C. Trip
P.O. Box 960 Louisville Ga. 30434
SPONSOR A YOUTH!
DEADLINE FOR TICKET PURCHASE:
August 20th, 2011
The bus will start pick ups on Saturday August 27th at 7:00 P.M. in the parking lot of the old pep boys across from the South Dekalb Mall on Candler Rd. Atlanta Ga., from Atl. the bus will travel the I-20 Corridor to the second pick up in Thomson Ga. at the Love's Truck Stop off exit 172, after pick ups at Love's truck stop, the bus will continue to Augusta Ga. to make pick ups in the front parking lot of the Wall Mart on Deansbridge Rd.

INFORMATION CONTACT:
JEFFERSON CO. GA.
MINISTER JAMES IVERY...706-394-1868
THOMSON GA.
MISS TONYA WILSON...706-284-9090
RICHMOND CO. GA.
REV. ALEXANDER SMITH....706-793-5641
Miss JO'RAE JENKINS.......706-564-0604
SAVANNAH GA.
BOBBY JOHNSON.....912-346-5693
ATLANTA GA.
BOBBY ADAMS.....404-246-9796
BOBBY COLLINS......404-512-2832
WEBSITE: jeffcogacsclc.com
EMAIL: jeffcogasclc@hotmail.com




E-NUFF! IS E-NUFF! STOP THE VIOLENCE!
JOIN THE MOVEMENT Go to: jeffcogacsclc.com
Thank you
Jefferson Co. Ga. Chapter SCLC And
The Burke Co. Circuit
Minister: James Ivery....President
Mr.Bobby Adams.....Vice President
Miss Kenya Sullivan...Vice President, Burke Co. Circuit
Website....jeffcogacsclc.com
706-394-1868
706-925-0224

Author Noni Carter

If you missed the show last night, Take a listen to the podcast.  I spoke to Author Noni Carter, 19 year old Author and College Student.  Check out her website: http://www.nonicarter.com/

Bloody Sunday 2011 March with Elizabeth Omilami

Unemployment at 10.4% in Georgia

January's unemployment rate in Georgia remained at 10.4 percent, an all-time high. The December jobless rate, originally reported at 10.2 percent, was adjusted to 10.4, which is the same rate as January 2010. It was the 40th consecutive month that Georgia's unemployment rate has exceeded the national average, which is now 8.9 percent. Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said, "Other troubling signs are that in the same 12-month period, the number of jobs has shown a miniscule increase, while the number of long-term unemployed has increased significantly."

Arizona Style Immigration Law passes the GA House of Representatives

After a lengthy debate Thursday, a majority of the House of Representatives voted to approve legislation intended to crack down on illegal immigration in Georgia by giving law enforcement more authority to investigate people's citizenship status and by penalizing businesses who hire undocumented workers.

Using a law enacted last year in Arizona, which borders Mexico, as a model, members of a special legislative committee that held several hearings last fall on the immigration issue drafted HB 87. The bill would authorize law enforcement officers to determine the immigration status of someone they have stopped or detained for a possible violation if they suspect the person is an illegal immigrant. The person could then be held by police for verification of their immigration status even after the basis for the original probable cause for the stop has expired.

Under the proposal, most business owners would have to provide evidence they have used the federal E-verify system to check the citizenship status of new employees. Using fake identification in order to gain employment would become a felony offense punishable by up to 15 years in prison. HB 87 would also provide Georgia residents an ability to sue a police force or other government agency in Superior Court if they believe the agency is not enforcing the immigration law. 

I believe this measure will result in increased ethnic profiling of law-abiding citizens and adversely affect Georgia businesses, especially the agriculture and tourism industries.

After a vote of 113-56 in favor of passage, HB 87 now goes to the Senate for its consideration.

IFCO News Free Medical School

Go to website:www.ifconews.org/medicalschool

REENACTMENT OF BLOODY SUNDAY

THIS IS A GREAT HANDS ON BLACK HISTORY TRIP! Emotional And Spiritually Fulfilling THE 2011 ANNUAL ALABAMA BRIDGE CROSSING CELEBRATION The Annual Bridge Crossing Jubilee is held the first full weekend of every March to commemorate “Bloody Sunday", the March from Selma-to-Montgomery, and the passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. ... THE JEFFERSON CO. GA. SCLC PRESENTS: GET ON THE BUS! REENACTMENT OF 'BLOODY SUNDAY' SUNDAY MARCH 6TH 2011!!!!! From Augusta Ga. Selma to Montgomery! The Jefferson Co. Ga. Chapter of the SCLC is now sponsoring a great history trip to Selma Alabama to take part in the reenactment of 'BLOODY SUNDAY', the march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. The bridge crossing ceremony is an event that commemorates and honor the brave freedom fighters who fought, and was killed while paving the way to the passage of the civil rights act of 1965 so that black people in this country will be guaranteed the right to vote. The ceremony takes place every year on the first Sunday in March, in Selma Alabama. THE BUS WILL PICK UP IN THE FRONT PARKING LOT OF THE WALMART IN AUGUSTA GA. MARCH 6TH AT 3: 00 A.M. SHARP, THEN TRAVEL ALONG THE I-20 CORRIDOR TO EXIT 172 TO PICK UP IN THOMSON AT LOVES TRUCK STOP, PICK UP IN ATLANTA ACROSS FROM SOUTH DEKALB MALL OFF I-20 AND CANDLER ROAD-THE PARKING LOT OF THE OLD PEPBOYS, AND ARRIVE IN SELMA ALABAMA APPROXIMATLY 9:00 A.M. SUNDAY MORNING.THE BUS WILL DEPART FROM SELMA AT 6:00 P.M. AND ARRIVE BACK IN AUGUSTA AT APPROX. 12:00 A.M. Cost per seat is $35.00 round trip (children & Adults) ALSO: $2.00 Raffle, 3 drawings to win a M.L.K. day celebration T-Shirt (hold on to your tickets) FOR TICKETS: Send Check/Money Order to: Jefferson co. Ga. SCLC P.O. Box 960 Louisville Ga. 30434 Deadline For Tickets: Feb. 28th, 2011 Refunds only if this trip does not take place CALL 706-394-1868 'SPONSOR A YOUTH' FOR TICKETS: Reserve your seat! Jefferson Co.Ga Mrs. Vickie Greene 706-547-6382 Miss Cynthia Cuyler 706-871-7265 Mr. Alex Nelson 706-872-1502 Richmond Co. Ga. Rev. Alexander Smith 706-793-5641 Minister James Ivery 706-394-1868 Mr. G.W. Boatwright 706-793-6149 Thomson Ga. Miss Tonya Wilson 706-284-9090 Atlanta Ga. Mr. Bobby Adams 404-246-9796 Mr. Bobby Collins 404-512-2832 .......................................................... Savannah Ga. Mr. Bobby Johnson 912-346-5693 Bus rates are different in Savannah Ga., ask Mr. Johnson About The Savannah Rates March 6th 2011-Sunday Morning Service Selma Alabama Various Movement Speakers 10:00 am – 1:00 pm Location: Various Churches Pre-March Rally 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm Guest Speakers: TBA Location: Brown Chapel A. M. E. Church 410 Martin Luther King Street Bridge Crossing Re-Enactment 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm Location: Edmund Pettus Bridge Hall of Fame Inductions 3:30 pm – 4:00 pm Foot of Edmund Pettus Bridge INFORMATION: Minister James Ivery……706-394-1868 Jefferson Co. Ga. SCLC Office.....706-925-0224 Miss Cynthia Cuyler, Executive Secretary....706-871-7265 Mr. Bobby Adams, Vice President....404-246-9796 Rev. Charles Washington, Chairman.....706-547-7076 E-MAIL: jeffcogasclc@hotmail.com Website: jeffcogacsclc.comSee More

Adriane Speaks with Mukasa Dada "Original Black Panther Party"

Tune in Monday Night at 9PM Est, as I talk with Willie Ricks aka Mukasa Dada.

Who Is Mukasa Dada?

1. Civil Rights Leader, Elder, Father, Organizer, Orator
2. Field Secretary of Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
3. "The fiery orator of SNCC" - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in his 1967 book, Where Do We Go From Here
4. "Willie Ricks must rank as one of those unknown heroes who captured the mood of history. In calling for Black Power, he caught the essence of the spirit, moving Black people in the United States and around the world who were poor, Black, and without power" - James Forman of SNCC
5. Popularized of the chant, "Black Power"

As the Field Secretary for the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Ricks organized countless sit-ins, marches, demonstrations, and boycotts—all of which ere instrumental in destroying the overt forms of Jim Crow and racial oppression that were so prevalent in the United States less than thirty years ago.

Mukasa Ricks was introduced to the Civil Rights Movement in 1960 in Chattanooga, Tennessee, at the age of 17. For two years he was active in Chattanooga while working with the local NAACP chapter in the sit-in movement. Quickly he became a hero in the African American community and as a result, persons in the white community made attempts on his life and the lives of his family members. Cars were burned in their yard and their neighbors were harassed.

In 1961, Ricks was contacted by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) to help voter registration in Chattanooga. Speaking the language of the rural African American community, he became on e of the South’s most powerful organizer’s. Ricks continued organizing in Chattanooga until he was asked to come to Georgia by the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in 1962. As a result he became a part of SNCC’s first Direct Action Program in Albany, Georgia where he first began to build a long-term working relationship with Martin Luther King, Jr.

Ricks continued organizing for SNCC in Georgia, and then in Alabama, Mississippi and throughout the South. While organizing in Mississippi in 1964, he helped to build the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) along with Fannie Lou Hamer and others. Subsequently, Ricks returned to Alabama and helped to organize the Lowndes County Freedom Organization. This organization became known as the Black Panther Party and was the first group inside the movement to defend themselves with guns.

By this time, Ricks, who was speaking on the same platforms with Dr. King and other important figures, had become one of the leading organizers and speakers for SNCC in particular and the movement in general. Having participated in hundreds of sit-ins, stand-ins, demonstrations, pickets and marches, Ricks paid the price by being jailed, beaten, bitten by dogs and shot. While organizing once in Americus, Georgia, he was shot at by the police which resulted in him being gazed and left with a scare he still has today.

In January of 1966, Mukasa was a key organizer in Tuskegee, Alabama where Sammy Young Jr. was shot in the head with a shotgun for using a “White Only” toilet. During this same year, SNCC put Ricks in charge of organizing students under what was called Campus Traveler’s Program.

Ricks also traveled extensively with Kwame Ture (formerly Stokely Carmichael) and spoke in the same platforms with him wherever he spoke. In fact, when Ture stepped down as the Chairman of SNCC, Ricks was the leading candidate to replace him but chose to work more quietly in the background. Consequently, when H. Rap Brown was selected as the Chairman of SNCC, Ricks was appointed to travel with Brown in order to show him the ropes.

In February of 1968, when over sixty-nine students were shot in the Orangeburg massacre at South Carolina State College, Ricks was one of the key organizers.

Rick’s organizing activities were so effective that the state of Georgia declared him to be one of the ten most dangerous persons in the state in 1973. As a result the police were requested not to approach his house by themselves but, instead, to signal “39” which meant “Police in Stress, Need Help.” It has been documented that they were given orders to shoot to kill!

Ricks has remained active ever since he first stated out in Chattanooga in 1960. He is one of the most committed activists and charismatic speakers around. The experiences he shares and the message he gives is powerful and needs to be heard by all.

Adriane Talks with Former Leader of KKK

broadcast listed on this page  or listen at http://www.fftradionetwork.com/

all broadcasts available on Itunes

New Changes to Hope Scholarship from Attorney Janice Mathis

LOTTERY FUNDS HELP ELITE AT EXPENSE OF WORKING FAMILIES, MINORITIES AND THE POOR
Janice L. Mathis, Esq. Rainbow PUSH Coalition – 02/22/2011
I live in Athens, Georgia, where Kiddie Condos and SUV’s abound.  They are the unintended consequences of lottery-funded scholarships.  Wealthy parents who don’t have to pay tuition, send their kids to luxuriate in Athens while they attend the state’s flagship university.  Today, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal aided by capitulation of some Democrats in the General Assembly, have decided to make the Georgia Lottery-funded Hope Scholarship even more unfair and elitist.  In order to win lottery scholarships Georgia students must take more challenging high school courses, achieve at least 1200 on the SAT and maintain a 3.7 grade point average.
It is difficult to evaluate this proposal without considering the purpose of the Hope Scholarship.  Is it to make sure that the highest-achieving students remain in the state for college? Is it to help promising but needy student afford college?  Is it to mask the effect of a declining commitment to education?  Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  Where you stand on lottery funded college scholarships depends on your perspective.
According to one study, “because of HOPE, enrollment for youth from families with incomes above $50,000 rose 11.4 percent, but the program has had no effect on enrollment of youth from poorer families.”  Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke recently indicated that “the best solution to income inequality is providing a high-quality education for everybody.”  The same study concludes that “HOPE appears to have benefited White students more than Black. Compared with nearby states, college attendance among White students in Georgia rose 12.4 percent faster from 1993 to 1997, but remained virtually unchanged for Black students.” 
Especially when one considers the percentage of one’s annual income spent on state lotteries, the inescapable conclusion is that lotteries function as a highly regressive tax, impacting the disadvantaged far more than the privileged.  I saw the effects in my own family.  A dear relative  spent a healthy chunk of her meager monthly income on the lottery.  Of her 30-odd grandchildren, only one received the HOPE scholarship.
On average, lottery states spend about 50% of their total state budgets on education, while non-lottery states spend an average of 60%. This seems to clearly demonstrate that once lotteries start to fund schools, states spend less of their budgets on education and instead spend money on other programs. The actual revenue produced by the lottery, then, is not actually increasing education funding at all, but serving whatever programs the legislature is most eager to fund.

In the fall of 2000, two public policy researchers at the University of Georgia, McCrary and Pavlak, undertook an extensive telephone survey to more exactly determine the economic impacts of the Georgia State Lottery. Their findings seem to clearly demonstrate that the Georgia lottery has the impact of helping the privileged with the money of the poor.

The bulk of the Georgia lottery’s educational expenditures are through the HOPE Scholarship Program. The McCrary and Pavlak study clearly indicates that recipients of HOPE scholarships are primarily white.  More importantly, they are also most likely to be children of casual players or people who do not play the lottery at all, and their parents most likely have a college degree or some college education. 

Before the state of Georgia stiffens HOPE eligibility requirements, Governor Deal and the legislature should explain to the people of Georgia what policy goals they are attempting to achieve.

Genealogy with Antoinette Harrell

Tonight on Fight for Truth

How to trace your Ancestry.  My special Guest is Antoinette Harrell, talkshow host, videographer, Genealogist will guide us through the steps of tracing our heritage. Tune in to the show at 9PM Est.  Show call in number 347-994-3501 or listen via internet at:http://www.fftradionetwork.com/.

Roadside Memorials to go Uniform

Every time State Rep. Earnest “Coach” Williams passes a roadside memorial, he thinks about his aunt, Beatrice Williams, who died on a Georgia highway driving from Macon to Albany in 1983. Like many others, Williams wanted to mark the spot where his relative died as a memorial to her. But he felt it was important to put safety first. And as a lawmaker, he wanted to make sure that others did the same thing.  This month, state legislators passed HB 1294, calling for uniform memorial signs, rather than makeshift ones, along highways and road right-of-ways. Rep. Williams sponsored the legislation, which he had worked on last year. The new law will go into effect July 1.

State Rep. Earnest

“My aunt Beatrice was like a sister to me. I authored this bill as a way to bring closure to families like mine who have experienced a loss that happened on state

highways,” Williams said. “The bill will also bring some uniform to our freeways, some of which are beginning to look like grave yards.”

In place of the candles, roses, crosses and sometimes stuffed bears to mark where a loved one lost their life, state lawmakers approved the bill to install a modest white sign that will list the name of the person who died under the words “Drive Safely, In Memory.”

The 15-inch oval signs with black lettering will be the only roadside memorials allowed on state and federal roads, according to the Georgia Department of Transportation. All others will be removed for safety reasons, DOT officials say.

The person who requests the sign from the DOT pays $100. The sign will stand for a year, and then be given to the person who paid for it.

Williams, who represents DeKalb’s District 89, says there is no easy way to deliver this message and understands families that might be upset with it.

“This is a very sensitive matter. However, this bill was created in respect to families that have lost love ones and as another way to keep our roads safe. Many roadside memorials are elaborate displays that draw the eyes of drivers away from the road, which can have fatal consequences,” Williams said.

The new bill only affects state and federal highways. Cities and counties regulate their own roadways.

DOT spokesman David Spear noted that 1,400 people die every year on Georgia roads. He says the department will work with sensitivity in regards to removing existing memorials. They are prohibited under state law, and many are removed as workers cut the grass and pick up litter along the roadways.

“We will be sensitive to the losses people have experienced,” Spear said. “But now under state regulation, we will be more diligent about removing the memorials already made.”

The new signage program is open to family or friends (with approval of immediate family), of individuals killed in accidents on federal and state routes on or after July 1, 2010.

The sign can be requested by submitting a written application, the accident report and the $100 fee to the DOT’s maintenance engineer.

More information and the application forms are available at www.dot.ga.gov/doingbusiness/PoliciesManuals/pap/Documents/Policies/6160-9.pdf. 404-363-7625.

The State of Black Dekalb

Watson to host ‘State of Black DeKalb’

Written by Site Editor

DECATUR—In celebration of Black History Month, DeKalb County Commissioner Stan Watson will present the “State of Black DeKalb: How Far Have We Come?” to the citizens of DeKalb. The event will be held Feb. 21, 4 to 7 p.m., at the Porter Sanford III Performing Arts and Community Center, 3181 Rainbow Drive. Watson said a panel of community leaders will share their thoughts on political issues that are impacting DeKalb. “We want to have a candid conversation about the progress we’ve made and the challenges and concerns that we as African Americans have regarding life in DeKalb County,” said Watson. On Common Ground News’ editor Valerie Morgan, who plans to participate on the panel, applauds Watson for hosting the Town Hall style meeting. “An honest assessment of ourselves is only going to make DeKalb that much stronger,” Morgan said. A reception will follow the panel discussion. Stan Watson

THE STATE OF BLACK DEKALB

On Feb 21, 2011 at Porter Sanford III Performing Arts Center 3181 Rainbow Drive Decatur GA .  Discussions include:  Economic Development, Education, Faith Based Community, Healthcare, Future of Dekalb, and Community Partnership and Resources.  For more information contact Commissioner Stan Watson's Office at 404-371-3681