Page 20 - Florida Sentinel 7-27-18

National
Former National Teacher Of The Year Running For U. S. Senate
In some cases, courage is contagious. That was the case for Jahana Hayes, a long- time teacher who decided to make her first foray into pro- fessional politics.
Hayes, who gained coun- try-wide attention in 2016 when she was named National Teacher of the Year and awarded the associated crystal apple statuette by then-Presi- dent Barack Obama, said that the flood of people run- ning for office this year, in spite of a lack of political expe- rience, helped motivate her to run.
She said that she had been approached “by folks in my community” to run for other positions in the past, including state senator and various exec- utive offices in the state. But this time, when Rep. Elizabeth Etsy announced that she wouldn’t be seeking re-elec- tion, “it was just different.”
One of the people who gave her encouragement to
JAHANA HAYES AND BARACK OBAMA
throw her hat in the ring was Sen. Chris Murphy, who Hayes called “a tremendous advocate.”
Hayes, 45, is one of a growing number of teachers now running for office, includ- ing some in states where drops in teacher funding prompted frustrated teachers into politi- cal action.
The mother-of-four, who is married to a detective, said
that she is “concerned” by the current administration, point- ing to the country’s immigra- tion policy (which she said “is really one that tears me apart”), healthcare, and for- eign relations as areas of change that have been particu- larly troubling.
Hayes’ work as a high school social studies teacher first brought her to the White House for the National Teach- ing Award presentation in 2016, but then brought her across the country.
After finishing her year- long stint as a national teach- ers ambassador of sorts, Hayes returned to her school district, working on teacher re- cruitment instead of in the classroom, and it’s a position she still holds.
She now has until the state’s Democratic primary is held on Aug. 14 to get enough support to beat out her oppo- nent for a spot in the general election.
First Black Female Owner Of A Male Professional Basketball League
Indianapolis, IN — The Bas- ketball League (TBL), a new professional basketball league, will make its debut for the 2019 season. As part of the launch the TBL has recently acquired the North American Premier Basketball league.
The NAPB (entering its 2nd season), brings 12 markets with it. The original 8; Yakima SunKings, Albany Patroons, Kansas City Tornados, Ohio Bootleggers, Rochester Razor- Sharks, Kentucky Thorough- breds, Nevada Desert Dogs, Vancouver Knights and 4 ex- pansion markets: Raleigh
EVELYN MAGLEY
Firebirds, Tampa Bay Titans, San Diego Waves and a yet to be named team in Bellevue, WA.
7-Year-Old CEO-In-Training Helps Run Mom’s Multi-Million Dollar Hair Care Empire
Report: Millions Of Black Voters Being Purged From Rolls
As the end of Barack Obama’s presidency grew closer, election officials began preparing for the next election. Instead of strengthening the se- curity of voting machines and making voting more accessible to citizens, states did the exact op- posite. But they didn’t just make it harder to vote. For hundreds of thousands of registered, eligible voters across the nation, they made it impossible.
Voter Purges: a new report by the Brennan Center, highlights the systematic purging of voters from rolls by state and local offi- cials around the country. These are not random, isolated cases. It is a methodical effort that dis- proportionately affects minority voters. Even worse, no one seems to care.
In 1993, Congress passed the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) which was an attempt to make registering to vote easier by offering driver license appli- cants the opportunity to register to vote. The law also prevented states from purging voters unless they met certain requirements.
But the Brennan report highlights how states have skirted the law and purged vot- ers without punishment. And after the Supreme Court dis- mantled the requirements for voter pre-clearance with the Shelby v. Holder ruling, states with histories of voter dis- crimination no longer required federal pre-clearance before purging rolls.
Between 2014 and 2016, 16 million registered voters were removed from state rolls, 33 per- cent more than were moved be- tween 2006 and 2008. For the
election of 2012 and 2016, the Brennan Center estimates that two million fewer voters would have been purged if those states had to apply by the provi- sions of the Voting Rights Act.
Some of the egregious high- lights of the report include:
In June 2016, the Arkansas secretary of state gave a list of 7,700 names to county clerks to be removed from the rolls be- cause of supposed felony convic- tions. That list included people who had never been convicted of a felony and formerly convicted persons whose voting rights had been restored.
In 2013, Virginia deleted 39,000 names from its voting roster. In some counties, the mistakes on the list were as high as 17 percent.
A federal court halted a purge after Hurricane Katrina after justices found that one- third of the purged names came from a majority black parish in of New Orleans.
After the Shelby v. Holder decision, Texas purged 363,000 more voters than it did the elec- tion cycle before the case. Geor- gia purged 1.5 million more voters.
Alabama, Indiana and Maine have illegally instituted the widely ridiculed Crosscheck sys- tem (on which Charles D. Elli- son previously reported on for The Root) that purges voters without federally-mandated no- tification.
Almost every type of voter purge disproportionately affects Black voters and voters of color. Some states purge rolls based solely on names but non-whites are more likely to have the same
names. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, 16.3 percent of Hispanic people and 13 percent of Black people have one of the 10 most common surnames, compared to 4.5 percent of white people.
Black and Hispanic voters are more likely to move, often in the same jurisdiction, but voter purges based on address elimi- nate them from voting. Officials also use “voter caging” which in- tentionally sends mail to verify addresses in a format that can- not be forwarded, leading to the disenfranchisement of hundreds of thousands of eligible voters.
African Americans are also more likely to have felony con- victions, and elderly and minor- ity voters are more likely to be incapacitated, all reasons for which someone can be purged from a voter roll.
Almost every study ever done on this issue shows that in- person voter fraud is almost nonexistent. Instead, these purges are intentional efforts to restrict voting rights.
Some of the easily-imple- mentable recommendations to rectify this travesty include:
Public notifications of im- pending voter purges.
Making purge lists available to the public, including at polling places.
Accepting provisional bal- lots from purged voters.
Universal voter registration forms and rules.
Stop using failure to vote as a reason to purge voters.
All of these policies seem like they would be universally-ac- cepted fixes for a flaw in our democracy.
CAIDEN JIMMERE
Detroit, MI – Gwen Jimmere, CEO, is not the only one driving the success of Naturalicious, one of the nation’s fastest growing hair care, beauty, and lifestyle companies. Caiden, her 7- year-old son, has been in- volved in the company since it was founded in 2013, as the CCC, Chief Candy Cu- rator.
Jimmere started Nat- u ralicious after finding her- self on the brink of becoming an unemployed single mom. After an unexpected layoff from her full time job and a sudden divorce, Jimmere decided to start selling her homemade, hair care prod- ucts to generate an income for herself and her son. Caiden, then age 2, was there by her side every day as she built Naturalicious, now headquartered in Detroit.
Caiden is responsible for offering each customer an exciting experience. He handpicks a piece of candy to add inside every single on- line order that Naturalicious ships.
Serious about keeping his customers happy, Caiden has expanded his sweet treat shopping experience through live streaming on the Naturalicious Facebook page to crowdsource cus- tomer input for monthly batches of delectable sur- prises.
While his mom special- izes in creating beauty solu- tions for busy women with products found in more than 2,500 stores worldwide, in- cluding Sally Beauty and Whole Foods, Caiden has a job that is truly the envy of every kid practically every- where.
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