Page 6 - Florida Sentinel 11-27-15 Edition

Editorials/Columns
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Women Discuss Their Plans For ‘Black Friday’
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
Traditionally, the Friday after Thanksgiving has been known as the biggest shopping day of the year. In the past, people have actually camped out overnight to be the first in line.
However, the introduction of the Internet and Internet shopping has changed that for many people. Some still battle the crowds, others stay at home, and still others come up with inventive ideas of their own.
Ms. Bridgette Mc- Cormick uses the day to ac- complish other tasks. “My family is small and we have al- ways celebrated with monetary gifts, so I won’t be out there in the crowds.”
Ms. Ann Thompson
said, “I am so going to avoid the madness this year. When Friday comes, I will be in the security of my home and I’m not planning to come out until Monday.
“I am seizing this time to just be quiet for a while, re- flect, and just to be thankful. There is just so much I have to be thankful for.”
Ms. Ida Walker said, “I usually don’t participate in Black Friday, because some-
thing about its commercializa- tion of Christmas doesn’t feel right.
“The same sales are basi- cally offered throughout the year. Now, if you use it as a special outing to spend time with family or your favorite girlfriends - that would be awesome!”
Ms. Janelle McGregor
said, “Since Thanksgiving has become the new “Black Fri- day,” I’ll most likely take ad- vantage of all the Thursday evening sales and bargains. This is great for me because I don’t have to worry about being out late dealing with the midnight madness, or up at the crack of dawn searching for good deals. Instead, I’ll be at home enjoying “Family Friday” with my loved ones.”
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Don’t Think About Not Voting In 2016
e encourage readers to read and watch news ac-
counts of the 2015-2016 political campaign rallies of all political candidates. Quite often, voters seem to care only about their own political party. But today’s po- litical atmosphere doesn’t allow us the luxury of caring only about the party we support.
Voting in 2016 is just as important (if not more so) as it was in 2008 and 2012 when President Barack Obama was campaigning for office. The political campaign cli- mate was not as racially charged then as it is now.
Most certainly, xenophobia (fear and hatred of strangers, foreigners, or anyone who is strange or differ- ent) runs rampant in America and many presidential candidates are feeding into and fueling the irrational fears. In actuality, America is beginning to sound like pre-Nazi Germany – Anti GLBT, anti-Muslim, anti-poor, anti-Latino immigrant, anti-unemployed, anti-Black Lives Matter, anti-uninsured , anti-Jewish . . .practically everything that is not blue-eyed, blonde, rich and white.
America cannot afford to have a presidential candi- date who supports a mentality that marginalizes and con- dones violence against nearly 200 million Americans, that includes 42.2 million Blacks.
Indeed, every able-bodied, eligible voter needs to make sure they vote, especially if they are Native Ameri- can, Black, poor, uninsured, Muslim, Mexican, gay, les- bian, bisexual, transgender or Jewish. The possibility of a Nazi-type looms among some of the 2016 political can- didates. Beware and register to vote and vote in 2016.
Legislator File Bills To Restore Voting Rights Of Disenfranchised Floridians
ALLAHASSEE --- State
Senator Jeff Clemens
(D-Lake Worth) and State
Representative Edwin Narain (D-Tampa) believe that Florida’s lifetime ban on voting due to felony conviction is unfair and outdated. They have filed legislation that seeks to restore justice by re- vising the law to give many Floridians a second chance.
SJR 192 and HJR 729 amends the Constitution to automatically restore the right to vote to nonviolent felons who have served their time and completed parole and pro- bation.
Currently, the 1.6 million Floridians affected by this vot- ing ban have to apply, through a long and cumbersome process that has only become more difficult over the years, to have their rights restored. This process unnecessarily disenfranchises a significant portion of the population. Once a person has paid their debt to society, they have earned, and should have, their right to vote automatically re- stored.
SENATOR JEFF CLEMENS
Senator Clemens said, “We want people who have paid their debt to society to be- come contributing members of society, pay taxes, and partici- pate in their community. We have to break down barriers that prevent that.”
Rep. Narain said, “For- giveness is the bed rock of our nation’s values. Individuals who have repaid their debt to society should be given full en- trance back into it with all the rights and privileges of any other citizen. Denying an ex- offender the right to fully par- ticipate in our society is a drain on the economy, encour-
REP. ED NARAIN
ages recidivism and, most im- portantly, hurts families. We have a moral obligation to do better. This bill addresses this injustice.”
Florida is one of only three states that have such restric- tive policies on rights restora- tion. If passed, the legislation will place an amendment on the 2016 ballot and give voters a chance to modernize the Constitution and bring Florida’s laws in line with the rest of the nation by providing an opportunity to facilitate the rehabilitation and reintegra- tion of over a million Floridi- ans.
Donald Trump In Birmingham
t could have happened in any city of America. But it
happened in Birmingham. And at the center of what happened was a man, a voice, a persona who seems un- ruffled by any degree of the mischief he may cause.
Are we talking about Adolf Hitler, who was known to laugh and do a skip-dance whenever he was told protes- tors had been dragged off and beaten up by his beloved Brown Shirts?
Was it the late former Alabama governor George Wal- lace who showed up at a college campus with an axe han- dle?
No, this time it was a Republican candidate not only for American presidency, but seemingly for American demagoguery. Multi-billionaire Donald Trump who is campaigning for a position he may never get is not simply dangerous because he continues to lead in the Republi- can polls, but is terrifying because of the emotions his bellicose behavior has unleashed wherever he appears.
He recently appeared in Birmingham, Alabama where a hapless Black “Black-Life-Matters” protestor, who chose to loudly protest a Trump rally, was pushed and kicked by Trump supporters; and when the melee had subsided, Trump was heard to say, “Well, maybe, he should have been roughed up.”
Hitler would have said the same. So would George
Wallace. Certainly, Black life matters as also the right to protest matters. Though we would not have advised the young Black man to enter Hell’s Gate to make his protest, the replayed horror of history was what a potential president of America condoned clear- eyed . . . fear and ferocity from American Brown Shirts who believe their hero’s words give them the right toward brutality in, of all places, a city historically drenched with the blood of protest and savagery.
And what did Trump do when the young man was beaten? He laughed.
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