Page 15 - Florida Sentinel 3-29-19

Political News
Kamala Harris Spreads The Gospel Of Truth, Leadership And Optimism During Ebenezer Baptist Church, Morehouse Visits
U. S. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) speaks during a town hall meeting at Canyon Springs High School on March 1, 2019 in North Las Vegas, Ne- vada.
Stacey Abrams Launches Aimed At Getting Every Georgian Counted In 2020 Census
Former Georgia guberna- torial candidate Stacey Abrams is gearing up to en- sure that every person in the state is counted ahead of the 2020 census and launched a new non-profit organization to help lead the effort, the At- lanta Journal-Constitution reports.
“Georgians risk missing out on critical federal dollars, business opportunities and may suffer unfair or inaccu- rate redistricting if we don’t get this count done correctly,” said Georgia state Rep. Car- olyn Hugley, chair of the new board of the group, Fair Count.
The organization will hone in on hard-to-reach popula- tions and areas and help mi- norities and non-English speakers, renters and others who are more prone to being skipped during the census count. Abrams says she aims to close that gap.
“I know too many Geor- gians feel unseen and un- heard,” said Abrams in Fair Count’s debut video. “And these are the voices we need in Georgia the most...unfor- tunately, if we don’t get counted, then we simply won’t count.”
The latest census esti- mates revealed that some 20 percent of Georgians live in areas deemed difficult to count.
Those areas are important to the infrastructure of the state and help determine how taxpayer dollars are allocated and how areas are outlined on the state’s political maps, according to the AJC.
In 2019, the Census bureau
STACEY ABRAMS
said there were at least 1.5 million minorities un- counted, largely Blacks, His- panics, renters and young
men.Counting matters espe- cially because it determines the amount of representa- tives in Congress in each state. Also each state receives federal funding for health- care, education and other public services based on its population and it wants its fair share.
Abrams has tapped Re- becca DeHart, the former executive director of the Democratic Party of Georgia to lead Fair Count and Jea- nine Abrams McLean, a former CDC scientist and Abrams’ sister, will be the group’s program director, ac- cording to the outlet.
“We need organizing, in- novation and a thorough un- derstanding of data and processes to get this job done,” said Abrams McLean, adding: “We can do better. Because if you aren’t counted, you simply won’t count.”
M. I. A. Tuskegee Airman Finally Laid To Rest, 75 Years After Being Lost In Heroic Mission
A member of the Tuskegee Airmen, who flew missions in World War II but had been re- ported missing in action until his remains were accounted for last summer, was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery on Friday with the daughter who never knew him and his grandchildren at his graveside.
As four Air Force jets flew overhead, Capt. Lawrence E. Dickson was eulogized and buried as his daughter, Marla L. Andrews, 76, mourned the father she never got to know. Andrews was presented with a folded flag to honor her fa- ther and her family’s sacrifice.
It was closure for Andrews who, over the years, has won- dered what might have been.
“I don’t think I would have felt so empty and so alone,” Andrews, of East Orange, N.J., told The Washington Post. “I heard many people say that he was very friendly, he was very warm, he was ex- tremely personable. I just had the feeling that if he would have lived, it would have been so different.”
“But he didn’t,” she said.
Andrews said even in the tough times, she raised her children to be people her dad
Tuskegee Airman Capt. Lawrence E. Dickson, 100 Fighter Squadron. 332 Fighter Group. Lost Dec. 23, 1944 over Austria. (Department of De- fense POW/MIA Accounting Agency)
would have been proud of. “I just have to thank God that he got me through as far as he has,” she told The Post.
Dickson, 24, was a captain in the 100th Fighter Squadron, 332nd Fighter Group. He was flying an aerial reconnaissance mission out of Italy on Dec. 23, 1944 when on his return flight his engine failed and his air- craft crashed near the border between Italy and Austria, ac- cording to the Associated Press. Subsequent searches for his remains failed and in 1949,
the U. S. military determined they could not be recovered.
But in 2012, an Austrian re- searcher alerted an American recovery team, which discov- ered the crash site. In 2017 a four-week excavation resulted in Dickson’s remains being found. DNA samples from An- drews provided a positive identification. In July 2018, the U. S. Defense Department announced they had accounted for Dickson.
Before her father was buried, Andrews attended a church service in which Rev. Jerry Sanders of Fountain Baptist Church in Summit, N. J., compared Dickson’s jour- ney to the Old Testament story of Joseph, explaining that his bones were carried to the Promised Land by his people from the foreign land where he died.
“Joseph served his people on foreign soil,” Sanders said, according to The Post. “What we do for Captain Dickson today is what they did for Joseph in the long ago.”
Dickson is the first of 27 missing in action members of the Tuskegee Airman to be identified, according to the Pentagon.
This weekend, guess which Democratic presiden- tial candidate became one of the first to throw a major public campaign event in metro Atlanta?
when I look at the future of our country, I know our fu- ture is bright. I also know every fight in our country is born out of optimism,” Har- ris said. “When I look at the youth leaders in our country today, it is so clear that they are clear that in the face of a vacuum of leadership, they know they cannot leave their future in the hands of those less capable than themselves. Iseethatinyouanditin- spires me, it inspires me so.”
If you guessed U. S. Sen. Kamala Harris, you’d be correct—as the former attor- ney who could one day run our country brought her in- fectious energy to both Ebenezer Baptist Church and Morehouse College.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the fun began with Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s former stomping grounds, Ebenezer Baptist Church.
Harris’ candidacy “the real- ization of our ancestors’ wildest dreams.”
Upon the conclusion of her remarks, Harris re- ceived a standing ovation from those in attendance. While prior to leaving, she was swarmed by ardent sup- porters who clamored for selfies and showered her with unbridled praise.
Harris began her day sharing a pew with Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bot- toms at Ebenezer Baptist Church, where the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. once preached. Rev. Raphael G. Warnock, the church’s senior pastor, called
Harris addressed the congregation on its annual Youth Day. In her remarks, she reflected on the church’s history in the civil rights movement and continued missions of “justice.”
Her next stop was More- house, where she enjoyed an elaborate introduction that included a who’s who of local legislators.
“When I look at our young leaders on this Youth Day,
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