National Black Farmers Association

National Black Farmers Association

Washington (CNN) -- The U.S. Senate failed Thursday to approve nearly $5 billion for a settlement between the Agriculture Department and minority farmers reached more than a decade ago, prompting finger pointing by members of both parties and outrage among many black farmers.
It is one thing to win a lawsuit for damages. It is another thing to collect what you are owed. If you happen to be a black farmer who was part of a $1.25 billion settlement from lawsuits against the U.S. Department of Agriculture, you are still waiting after more than 10 years. This week, the U.S. Senate kicked more dirt in your face as it again stripped the lawsuit settlement funding from legislation. It is time for the White House to intervene in this travesty of justice. http://www.blackfarmers.org/html/080610.html

Read each class carefully:
http://www.blackfarmers.org/html/litigation.html
1. Class for Pigford Claims Remedy Act of 2006, H.R. 5575

An African American person who farmed or attempted to farm between January 1, 1981 and December 31, 1996, applied to USDA during that period for participation in a federal farm credit or farm program and who believed that they were discriminated against on the basis of race in USDA's response to that application; and filed a discrimination complaint on or before July 1, 1997, regarding USDA's treatment of such farm credit or benefit application and who previously filed a discrimination complaint that was determined to be late in Pigford v. Glickman.

2. Farm Subsidy Class
An African American person who farmed or attempted to farm between 1994 and present who applied to participate in a federal farm subsidy program and who believed that they were discriminated against based on race by being denied participation or equal benefits of that farm program.

3. New Class
An African American person who farmed or attempted to farm after December 31, 1996 and was discriminated against on the basis of race by USDA when USDA denied the African American farmer participation in a federal farm credit program or denied equal participation in a federal farm credit or farm program in retaliation based on race for participation in the Pigford v. Johannes class action or filed a complaint of discrimination since 1999 and USDA dismissed the accepted complaint without investigation or failed to process the case.

Senate Fails To OK Funds For Years-Old Settlement With Black Farmers | Roland S. Martin Blog

Senate Fails To OK Funds For Years-Old Settlement With Black Farmers | Roland S. Martin Blog

Can someone explain to me why this type of thing happens? All kinds of attention was drawn to it. Maybe the affected parties should have organized a letter writing campaign to contact their US Senators to voice their opinion instead of letting this crucial issue fall by the wayside. Is this too late to fix?

FBI issues warning of Terrorist Activities Related to Hobby Shops

The FBI Campaign Communities Against Terrorism is aimed at educating hobby shop owners and the industry on the Potential Indicators of Terrorist Activities Related to Hobby Shops.

What Should I Consider Suspicious?


Potential Indicators of Terrorist Activities Related to Hobby Shops

Be part of the solution.

Require valid ID from all new

customers.

Keep records of purchases.

Talk to customers, ask questions, and

listen to and observe their responses.

Watch for people and actions that are out

of place.

Make note of suspicious statements,

people, and/or vehicles.

If something seems wrong, notify law

enforcement authorities.

Do not jeopardize your safety or the safety

of others.

Preventing terrorism is a community effort.

By learning what to look for, you can make a

positive contribution in the fight against

terrorism. The partnership between the

community and law enforcement is

essential to the success of anti-terrorism

efforts.

Some of the activities, taken individually,

could be innocent and must be examined by

law enforcement professionals in a larger

context to determine whether there is a basis

to investigate. The activities outlined on this

handout are by no means all-inclusive but

have been compiled from a review of terrorist

events over several years.

• Demonstrating unusual interest in remote-controlled aircraft.

• Demonstrating interest that does not seem genuine.

• Inquiring about remote controls and model aircraft payload

capacity and maximum range.

• Inquiring about learning to fly expensive giant-scale aircraft

without first learning to fly small-scale aircraft.

• Possessing little knowledge of activity for which the purchase

is intended.

• Exhibiting unusual interest or specific interest in rocket motors

or igniters.

• Demonstrating no interest or enthusiasm for the hobby or

sport.

• Shoplifting or purchasing

Large quantity of model aircraft fuel.

Several large aircraft, engines, or transmitters.

Model rocket motor igniters without adequate knowledge.

Large quantity of paintball equipment and supplies with

very little information about local paintball activities.

• Using cash for large transactions or a credit card in someone

else’s name.

It is important to remember that just because someone’s speech,

actions, beliefs, appearance, or way of life is different, it does not

mean that he or she is suspicious.

Communiittiies Agaiinstt Terroriism

What Should I Do?

CONTACT YOUR LOCAL FEDERAL BUREAU

OF INVESTIGATION OFFICE

This project was supported by Grant Number 2007-MU-BX-K002, awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Each indictor listed above, is by

itself, lawful conduct or behavior and may also constitute the exercise of rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. In addition, there may be a wholly innocent explanation for conduct or behavior that

appears suspicious in nature. For this reason, no single indicator should be the sole basis for law enforcement action. The totality of behavioral indicators and other relevant circumstances should be

evaluated when considering any law enforcement response or action.

 

Wyclef Jean steps toward Haitian presidential race

Wyclef Jean may run for president of Hati, Reuters reports. I hope he does. I believe it would be good for Haiti.

Eric Deggans: What I learned from meeting Shirley Sherrod: It's time for media to help us find a new way to talk about race

Found on the Feed:

What I learned from meeting Shirley Sherrod: It's time for media to help us find a new way to talk about race

Maybe we can use our existing communication vehicles to begin a conversation about race. We can use Facebook and Twitter and blog post distribution to have a conversation that spans the nation and the globe.
We can use the editorial pages of African-American newspapers–as we have always done–but we have to pay attention and participate. We have to do it when we do not feel like it. We have to do it when we get laughed at, mocked and talked about.

We have to conduct a little independent research and read existing research about us and our community. We have to be interested in ourselves. We are a wealth of knowledge, however it does little good when we do not have the infrastructure to carry out our continuous discussion on race. The ingredients are there, we only have to put it together and use it.

We have to encourage those who can, to do. We should create a black news wire service just for the chronicling of news that affects us in the black community. We have to encourage students to major in print Journalism (some of you get what I mean). Then, have those newspapers up and running and available to hire new grads to report on and in their community.

How do we do that? We create business infrastructure in our communities like in the olden days when we had to shop black and we cared about quality and good customer service because we loved ourselves. We knew the list of lovers of blacks was short but if we were on it, it would be alright.

With business infrastructure in place, advertising dollars should flow to those newspapers and back into the community. Those dollars pay salaries of news personnel. We will live with ourselves. Our community would become the community. We will witness a return to a more moral black, a discreet black and an educated black as the standard. Our families would heal and increase in size, thus increasing the economy.
Even though this is an oversimplified idea, many of you get the picture. I wish I knew how to make it a reality.


Editor's Note: Quite frankly, I am tired of begging a group of people, who obviously do not care for me or my type, to accept me. Anyone can tell when they are being excluded on purpose or when they are outright hated. I'm tired of it but I don't say anything about it. I go where I am accepted. This attitude crosses race for me. I don't fit in everywhere I go with blacks either and I conduct myself accordingly.  What is the problem with this attitude? It's restrictive and I will not learn anything about anyone any different than I am. I'll be come stupid. I'll be no better than those dumb ass racists.

Making Home Affordable Program Ramps Up Efforts

Volunteer Agency: Kaplan Thaler Group
The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced the Making Home Affordable Program in February 2009 as part of the plan to stabilize the housing market and help struggling homeowners get relief and avoid foreclosure.

Making Home Affordable is an initiative that includes a mortgage modification program to provide eligible homeowners with more affordable monthly mortgage payments. The Federal Government provides free resources to struggling homeowners to help them learn about options under the program, and to work with a HUD-approved housing counselor. Since the program launch, over one million homeowners have received help.

The PSAs feature real homeowners who have benefitted from the program.

Created pro bono by The Kaplan Thaler Group, a New York-based advertising agency, the new campaign is available in English and Spanish and features real homeowners from across the country who have benefited from the program.

“Even though the economy is getting stronger, many Americans are still facing the fear and uncertainty of losing their home to foreclosure,” Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, said.

“The Administration’s loan modification programs have given more than a million responsible homeowners a chance to stay in their homes, and we want to do all we can to help make sure that struggling homeowners know about these free resources for help,” he said.

“Many responsible borrowers continue to face challenges due to unemployment, negative equity or because of soaring utility payments,” HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, said.

"These public service announcements will help us to reach at-risk borrowers now, while they are still current on their payments and eligible to receive help through the Making Home Affordable Program or our expanded options for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) refinancing.”

“We are proud to partner with the Treasury and HUD on this critical campaign to educate Americans about free resources available to help them prevent foreclosures,” said Peggy Conlon, President and CEO, the Ad Council. “We hope Americans who are struggling will be empowered by these compelling PSAs and take simple actions to help them stay in their homes.”

The Ad Council will distribute the new PSAs to more than 33,000 media outlets nationwide. The campaign includes television, radio, print, out of home and web advertising. The PSAs will air in advertising space donated by the media.

The Making Home Affordable Program was launched in February 2009 to help homeowners who are at risk of foreclosure through no fault of their own make their monthly mortgage payments more affordable. Since then, more than 1.5 million homeowners have been offered help under the program, and almost 1.3 million homeowners have started a trial plan. Homeowners in permanent modifications under the program have a median monthly savings of over $500 each month or about one-third of their previous payment.

Homeowners that are struggling with their mortgage payments to visit www.MakingHomeAffordable.gov or call 1-888-995-HOPE (4673) to learn about their options.

Sponsor Organization: The U.S. Department of the Treasury, The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Campaign Website: www.MakingHomeAffordable.gov

Census 2010 News | Just 3 Days Left to Ensure You Are Included in 2010 Census

Census 2010 News | Just 3 Days Left to Ensure You Are Included in 2010 Census


Telephone Assistance Line Closes July 30

The U.S. Census Bureau reminded the nation today that on Friday, July 30, it will shut down its toll-free telephone assistance line. More than 130,000 interviews have been completed via the toll free line. Friday is the last day for callers who feel they may have been overlooked in the census to complete their 2010 questionnaire quickly over the phone.

“I urge residents that believe they did not receive a form, who did not mail it back or have not been contacted by a census enumerator to call 1-866-872-6868 to ensure they are included in the 2010 Census, making this the best count of the American population to date,” said U.S. Census Bureau Director Robert M. Groves.

For more than three months, individuals who believed they weren't included in the census were invited to call the toll-free assistance lines (open 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Russian) to provide their information.

July 30 is the last day to take an interview over the toll free line to leave enough time for Census Bureau professionals to process the data and ensure that residents are counted in the right place and prepare the state population counts by the statutory deadline of Dec. 31, 2010.
ABOUT THE 2010 CENSUS

The 2010 Census is a count of everyone living in the United States and is mandated by the U.S. Constitution. Census data are used to apportion congressional seats to states, to distribute more than $400 billion in federal funds to tribal, state and local governments each year and to make decisions about what community services to provide. The 2010 Census form is one of the shortest in U.S. history, consisting of 10 questions, taking about 10 minutes to complete. Strict confidentiality laws protect the respondents and the information they provide.