Tuesday, January 1, 2013

AALBC.com Newsletter

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December 31st 2012 – Issue #197

Hello Marvin,
I hope you enjoy AALBC.com's last eNewsletter for 2012. Please take a moment to complete our shortWebsite and eNewsletter Feedback Survey. Your responses are important and will help us continue to improve or services and coverage of writers, books and film.
I would also like to thank everyone who has chosen to support AALBC.com, with a paid subscription to this eNewsletter. Your support is both needed and greatly appreciated -- thank you!
Please read the rest of my note, continued at the end of this eNewsletter...
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Authors You Should Know

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Jayne Cortez (May 10, 1936 - December 28, 2012)

Jayne Cortez was a poet, and performance artist. Cortez authored eleven books of poetry and performed her poems with music on nine recordings. Her voice is celebrated for its political, surrealistic, dynamic innovations in lyricism, and visceral sound. Cortez has presented her work and ideas at universities, museums, and festivals around the world.
She is a recipient of several awards including: Arts International, the National Endowment for the Arts, the International African Festival Award. The Langston Hughes Medal, The American Book Award, and the Thelma McAndless Distinguished Professorship Award. AALBC.com mourns the passing of our “Womanist Warrior”.
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Solomon Jones

Solomon Jones is an AALBC.com bestselling author and award-winning journalist who has been featured nationally on NPR’s Morning Edition, CNN Headline News, in Essence magazine, and in a Verizon advertising campaign called Realize, which spotlighted entrepreneurs who overcame adversity to succeed.
Jones began his professional writing career in 1993, penning articles for the Philadelphia Tribune while living at the Ridge Avenue Shelter. He graduated cum laude with a journalism B.A. from Temple University in 1997, and went on to be published in Newsday, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Magazine, and the Philadelphia Weekly. Jones' latest novel The Dead Man's Wife (Minotaur Books, October 2012), is a diabolical story about marriage gone awry. This is the 3rd book in his Colletti series.
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Frank Yerby

Mr. Yerby (September 5, 1916 – November 29, 1991), historical novelist, short story writer, and poet, graduated from Augusta's Paine College, received a master's degree from Fisk University and taught at Florida A&M in Tallahassee and Southern University in Baton Rouge, La. His story, Health Card, won the O. Henry Memorial Award for the best first published short story in 1944.
Yerby is best known as the first African-American writer to become a millionaire from his pen, and to have a book purchased by a Hollywood studio for a film adaptation. Yerby has published more than 30 novels, which has sold more than 55 million copies -- perhaps the highest grossing African-American authors of all time. Several including The Foxes of Harrow (1946), The Golden Hawk (1948), The Saracen Blade (1952) were turned into successful movies.
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Tyora Moody

Moody is an author and entrepreneur. Her debut novel, When Rain Falls, (Kensington, March 2012) in which Tyora's character, Candance Johnson asks the question, "Why does God keep taking away the people I love?" when her best friend is brutally murdered. Ensnared by a deep-rooted bitterness, seeping her faith day by day, Candace is determined to seek justice.
Moody also owns and operates TywebbinCreations.com, a design and marketing company. For over twelve years, she has worked with authors, small business owners and non-profit organizations to develop their online presence. For free tips, how-to guides and ecourses, visit DIYwithTy.com.
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Nonfiction Book Reviews

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Iconic: Decoding Images of the Revolutionary Black Woman - by Lakesia D. Johnson

But she [Michelle Obama]“patiently tolerated Larry King’s persistent questioning and subverted his attempts to depict her as an angry black woman… by emphasizing her role as mother, wife, and nurturer of the nation.” Although Michelle managed to sidestep the effort to pigeonhole her as problematical, this was not the first time the media tried to marginalize an intelligent black female in this fashion.
The history of such mistreatment from Sojourner Truth in the 19th Century to Angela Davis and Kathleen Cleaver in the 20th up to the First Lady in the 21st is the subject of Iconic, a groundbreaking book which delineates precisely how African-American women have been plagued by belittling imagery in the media for ages. This insightful opus was written by Professor Lakesia Johnson who teaches courses on race, feminism and pop culture at Grinnell College in Iowa.
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Sweet Tea and Cornbread: Inspiring, Motivating and Empowering Black Women to Take Back Their Bodies & Live a Healthier Lifestyle by Karrie Marchbanks

‘Tis the season to make New Year’s resolutions, and a popular one is to shed a few pounds, a proposition easier said than done. For black women, losing weight is even more of a challenge, at least that’s the thesis of Karrie Marchbanks, an African-American female speaking from experience.
She says that sisters are losing the battle of the bulge because of bad eating habits further complicated by a reluctance to exercise due to a fear of sweating out their hair. Not to worry. Ms. Marchbanks, a single-mom currently residing in North Carolina, has come up with a plan to get you the body you deserve, and in just 21 days.
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Articles

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Caribbean Books You Should Know by Joanne C. Hillhouse

With end of year upon us, I thought I might share some favourite Caribbean reads. I’m limiting my list to adult fiction that I’ve read in the last couple of years, but keep in mind that just because it’s newish to me doesn’t mean it’s new-new. And just because it’s not listed doesn’t mean I didn’t like it, but really the list has to end somewhere. So, it goes without saying that this list is both severely limited and highly subjective. All disclaimers covered? Okay, here goes.
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The top 100 Films of 2012 by Kam Williams

It’s impossible for me to limit my favorite films of 2012 to just 10 of the year’s 1,000 or so releases After all, it feels unfair even to compare most of them to each other, since they represent so many different genres, countries and cultures, and enjoyed such a range in budgets.
Therefore, as per usual, this critic’s annual list features 100 entries in order to honor as many of the best offerings as possible. Be sure to also check outKam's Blacktrospective -- the Best in Black Film for 2012
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7 Free Tools Guaranteed to Make Your Website Better by Troy Johnson

Here are a list of free tools I regularly use to manage AALBC.com. I consider them invaluable and part of the reason I’ve been able to keep the website not just viable, but growing and improving for over 15 years.
Of course I utilize countless other applications, tools, widgets, and more to make AALBC.com go. However, these are 7 tools, which are absolutely free, that I’m sure will help improve your website, and make it a cool place to visit.
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AALBC.com Set to Mark 15 Years Online - Publisher Weekly Magazine Article by Diane Patrick

Since Troy Johnson started the African American Literature Book Club (aalbc.com) in 1998, much has changed in African-American publishing and the way books are promoted and sold.
Johnson launched aalbc.com, a popular online literary portal serving black interest books and authors, as an experiment. He was looking to learn how to make money online and set the goal for aalbc.com as one that would expose readers to good books and authors. Visit PW to read the entire article.
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What Was The Last Book You Read? The Celebrity Edition

Over the years we’ve published hundreds of interviews with celebrities. Each one is usually asked, what is now known as the bookworm Troy Johnson Question, “What was the last book you’ve read?”
The question can be quite revealing about the person being interviewed and the books given are usually worth checking out. Actually two of the books mentioned, The Alchemist (read the actress Tamala Jones) and Standing at the Scratch Line (read by Tyler Perry) are my personal favorites. Learn which books gospel singer Yolanda Adams, singer/songwriter Ne-Yo, and other celebrities have read recently.
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Film Reviews

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Django Unchained

Hollywood has promoted a set of stereotypes when it comes to the depictions of black-white race relations during slavery, with classics like The Birth of the Nation (1915) and Gone with the Wind (1939) setting the tone. Consequently, most movies have by-and-large suggested that it was a benign institution under which docile African-Americans were well-treated by kindly masters, at least as long as they remained submissive and knew their place.
Leave it to Quentin Tarantino to put a fresh spin on the genre, much as he did in the World War II flick Inglourious Basterds (2009). With Django Unchained, the iconoclast writer/director again rattles the cinematic cage by virtue of an irreverent adventure that audaciously turns the conventional thinking on its head.
Also check out our interviews with Quentin Tarantino and Jamie Foxx as they talk about Django Unchained.
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The Loving Story

Soon after Mildred Jeter and Richard Loving tied the knot in Washington, DC on June 2, 1958, they decided to move back to their tiny hometown of Central Point, Virginia to settle down and start a family. The groom, a bricklayer by trade, even purchased a plot of land where he promised to build his bride a house.
However, Virginia was one of 24 states where interracial marriage was still illegal because of racist laws designed to rob minorities of their dignity and to keep them in a lower social and economic status. Since Richard was white and Mildred was a mix of black and Native-American, it was just a matter of time before the local sheriff would catch wind of their illicit liaison and crack down on the felons like a ton of bricks.
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Interviews

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Valjeanne Jeffers interview with Derrick Ferguson

Science fiction author, Valjeanne Jeffers, is a graduate of Spelman College, North Carolina Central University and is a member of the Carolina African American Writer's Collective.
Derrick Ferguson: Tell us about the Immortal series.
Valjeanne Jeffers: Each novel has time-travel, sorcery and shape shifting woven into the plot. The books are set on the alternate planet Tundra, a world without racism, sexism, poverty or crime. This is the setting of Immortal in the year 3075.
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Authors N Focus

The Authors N Focus, is "A Site for New and Established Writers to Shine!" Charles and Chandra are the hosts and co-producers of the show which spotlights emerging or established authors, publishers, poets on their recent books or projects.
You may watch videos of the interviews on their TV Show PagePictured (l to r) are hosts Chandra Adams, Charles Chatmon & Cherie Johnson, during their interview with Cherie (their 1st guest).
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Book Related News

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Cash 4 Books: Sell Your Used Books Online

Cash 4 Books makes selling your used books very easy. A free iPhone ap scans your book's barcode and tell you exactly how much they are willing to pay you. Shipping is free you print the mailing label and apply it to the box.
Use bonus code "BLOGGER3" Sell a minimum of 3 books for an extra $5 bucks on your order good of all of 2012 (I know it is the last day for the coupon, sorry).
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Discussion Board Conversations

Does Race Exist?

Pioneer: I figured I'd start this thread to continue our discussion on race and whether or not it's a social construct.
Troy: Pioneer, once the human genome was sequenced it became plain to everyone that there is only one race of people on planet earth. Race is indeed, an arbitrary social construct. In fact I wish our government would get out of the business of using it.
Pioneer: I believe that humans are all of the same SPECIES, but definitely of different races/breeds.Read the rest of the conversation.
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More on the Subject of Race

Are interracial relationships over represented in film?

This is something that has been in the back of my mind for quite some time, the issue really jumped out at me while I was updating a page which includes the most recently reviewed movies I've posted on the website.
It seems to me that there are far more interracial couples in film than there are Black couples. When a brother is in a relationship with a sister in film, the Brother is dysfunctional. (read what others think)
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AALBC.com Housekeeping

Get Your Photo on AALBC.com's Homepage

You can have your photo added to the AALBC.com homepage and several other very popular AALBC.com webpages including our Authors Profile page and Blog. This service is free with a purchase of an AALBC.com Authors Profile Page or may be purchased separately.
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Get Your "Mug" on AALBC.com for Free

Author Bernice McFadden loves her AALBC.com mug. McFadden is the authors of several award winning novels. Her latest novel, Gathering of Waters (Akashic Books) was selected as one of the 100 Notable Books of 2012 by the New York Times, and The Washington Post named it one of the 50 Best Books of 2012!
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aalbc-faq

"How do I get my book on AALBC.com?

This is perhaps the most frequently asked question I get. Learn 8 ways to get you book on AALBC.com (5 of them are free!)
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...Marvin, if you have not yet purchased your subscription, please consider purchasing an annual subscription, to this eNewsletter today, for only $7.99 per year. Your financial support will help us provide you with information about authors and books that get too little coverage anywhere else. Join the list of subscribers who have shown their support.
Read what some of our paid subscribers have written;
  • "I want AALBC.com to do well and $7.99 is not a lot to ask."
  • "Congratulations Troy!!! An awesome feat and invaluable service."
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  • "He is the real deal and committed to literacy. Feel free to circulate to others."
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If you decide not to, or are unable to, pay for your subscription today, I hope you will continue doing so in the near future. In the meantime, you will continue to receive the newsletter at no cost to you.
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Our next eNewsletter will be published in late January 2013. Look out for our popular annual bestsellers lists and more.
Until then, happy New Year from AALBC.com!
Peace & Love,
Troy Johnson
President, AALBC.com, LLC
15thanniversary
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Afghanistan and Echoes of 1989


With U.S. Set to Leave Afghanistan, Echoes of 1989


WASHINGTON — The young president who ascended to office as a change agent decides to end the costly and unpopular war in Afghanistan. He seeks an exit with honor by pledging long-term financial support to allies in Kabul, while urging reconciliation with the insurgency. But some senior advisers lobby for a deliberately slow withdrawal, and propose leaving thousands of troops behind to train and support Afghan security forces.
Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters
Soviet officers and soldiers near Kabul, Afghanistan, in 1988. Troops would leave the next year.
This is a nearly exact description of the endgame conundrum facing President Obama as he prepares for a critical visit by Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, planned for early January.
But the account is actually drawn from declassified Soviet archives describing Mikhail S. Gorbachev’s closed-door struggles with his Politburo and army chiefs to end the Kremlin’s intervention in Afghanistan — one that began with a commando raid, coup and modest goals during Christmas week of 1979 but became, after a decade, what Mr. Gorbachev derided as “a bleeding wound.”
What mostly is remembered about the withdrawal is the Soviet Union’s humiliation, and the ensuing factional bloodletting across Afghanistan that threw the country into a vicious civil war. It ended with Taliban control and the establishment of a safe haven for Al Qaeda before the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
But scholars who have studied the Soviet archives point out another lesson for the Obama administration as it manages the pullout of American and allied combat forces from Afghanistan by the end of 2014.
“The main thing the Soviets did right was that they continued large-scale military assistance to the regime they left behind after the final withdrawal in ’89,” said Mark N. Katz, a professor at George Mason University and author of “Leaving Without Losing: The War on Terror After Iraq and Afghanistan” (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2012).
“As long as the Afghan regime received the money and the weapons, they did pretty well — and held on to power for three years,” Mr. Katz said. The combat effectiveness of Kabul’s security forces increased after the Soviet withdrawal, when the fight for survival become wholly their own.
But then the Soviet Union dissolved in December 1991, and the new Russian leader, Boris N. Yeltsin, heeded urgings of the United States and other Western powers to halt aid to the Communist leadership in Afghanistan, not just arms and money, but also food and fuel. The Kremlin-backed government in Kabul fell three months later.
To be sure, there are significant contrasts between the two interventions in Afghanistan. The Soviet invasion and occupation were condemned as illegal aggression, while the American one was embraced by the international community, including Russia, as a “just war,” one with limited goals of routing the Taliban and eliminating Al Qaeda. That war of necessity has since evolved into a war of choice, one the Obama administration is working to end as quickly as is feasible.
Despite the differences going in, both the Soviet Union and the United States soon learned that Afghanistan is a land where foreigners aspiring to create nations in their image must combat not just the Taliban but tribalism, orthodoxy, corruption and a medieval view of women. As well, Pakistan has had interests at odds with those of the neighboring government in Afghanistan, whether Kabul was an ally of Moscow or of Washington.
“The Soviet Union did not understand religious and ethnic factors sufficiently, and overestimated the capacity of Afghan society to move very fast toward a modern era, in this case socialism,” said Svetlana Savranskaya, director of Russian programs at the National Security Archive, an independent research center at George Washington University.
“Here I see similarities with the approach of the United States, especially with all the discussion about trying to leave behind an Afghanistan that is democratic and respects the rights of women, ideas that simply are not accepted across the broad society there,” said Ms. Savranskaya, who has written extensively on the Soviet archives.
If the Soviet experience offers any guidance to the current American withdrawal, she said, it would be to accelerate the departure of foreign combat forces — but to leave in their place a “sustained, multiyear international involvement in military training, education and civilian infrastructure projects, and maybe not focusing on building democracy as much as improving the lives of the common people.”
And she noted that the United States should already be seeking partnership with Afghan leaders beyond Mr. Karzai, who is viewed across large parts of the population as tainted by his association with the Americans.

Pentagon officials have signaled that they are hoping for an enduring military presence of 10,000 or more troops, but may have to accept fewer, to cement the progress of the years of fighting. Those troops would focus on training and supporting Afghan forces along with a counterterrorism contingent to hunt Qaeda and insurgent leaders.
In a parallel, one of Mr. Gorbachev’s closest early confidants, Eduard A. Shevardnadze, the foreign minister, advocated a slow withdrawal pace — and pressed for 10,000 to 15,000 Soviet troops to remain to support the Communist government. The Soviets left only 300 advisers.
But after losing more than 15,000 Soviet troops and billions of rubles, the Kremlin knew it had to somehow justify the invasion and occupation upon withdrawal.
Mr. Gorbachev had “to face up to a difficult problem of domestic politics which has puzzled other nations finding themselves in similar circumstances,” Rodric Braithwaite, a former British ambassador to Moscow, wrote in “Afgantsy” (Oxford University Press, 2011), his book on the Soviet intervention based on Communist Party documents.
“How could the Russians withdraw their army safely, with honor, without looking as if they were simply cutting and running, and without appearing to betray their Afghan allies or their own soldiers who had died?” Mr. Braithwaite wrote of the internal Kremlin debate, in terms resonant of the Americans’ conundrum today.
Around the time of the Soviet withdrawal, an article by Pravda, the Communist Party mouthpiece, clutched for a positive view as the Soviet Army pulled out. Read today, it bears a resemblance to the news releases churned out by the Pentagon detailing statistics on reconstruction assistance.
“Soviet soldiers in Afghanistan repaired, rebuilt and constructed hundreds of schools, technical colleges, over 30 hospitals and a similar number of nursery schools, some 400 apartment buildings and 35 mosques,” the article said. “They sank dozens of wells and dug nearly 150 kilometers of irrigation ditches and canals. They were also engaged in guarding military and civilian installations in trouble.”
The Kremlin had learned that its armies could not capture political success, but Soviet commanders made the same claims upon withdrawal that are heard from NATO officers today: not a single battlefield engagement was lost to guerrillas, and no outpost ever fell to insurgents.
That understanding seemed to animate Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta as he toured Afghanistan recently in a traditional holiday visit with the troops.
At each stop, Mr. Panetta acknowledged that significant challenges remain to an orderly withdrawal and a stable postwar Afghanistan, and not just the resilient insurgency.
He cited unreliable Afghan governance, continuing corruption and the existence of insurgent safe havens in Pakistan. None of those are likely to be fixed with American firepower
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New Year's Day in the American Slave System

But to the slave mother New Year's day comes laden with peculiar sorrows. She sits on her cold cabin floor, watching the children who may all be torn from her the next morning; and often does she wish that she and they might die before the day dawns.

III. 
THE SLAVES’ NEW YEAR'S DAY.
DR. Flint owned a fine residence in town, several farms, and about fifty slaves, besides hiring a number by the year. Hiring-day at the south takes place on the 1st of January. 

On the 2d, the slaves are expected to go to their new masters. On a farm, they work until the corn and cotton are laid. They then have two holidays. Some masters give them a good dinner under the trees. This over, they work until Christmas eve. If no heavy charges are meantime brought against them, they are given four or five holidays, whichever the master or overseer may think proper. 

Then comes New Year's eve; and they gather together their little alls, or more properly speaking, their little nothings, and wait anxiously for the dawning of day. At the appointed hour the grounds are thronged with men, women, and children, waiting, like criminals, to hear their doom pronounced. 

The slave is sure to know who is the most humane, or cruel master, within forty miles of him. It is easy to find out, on that day, who clothes and feeds his slaves well; for he is surrounded by a crowd, begging, "Please, massa, hire me this year. I will work very hard, massa." 

If a slave is unwilling to go with his new master, he is whipped, or locked up in jail, until he consents to go, and promises not to run away during the year. Should he chance to change his mind, thinking it justifiable to violate an extortedpromise, woe unto him if he is caught! The whip is used till the blood flows at his feet; and his stiffened limbs are put in chains, to be dragged in the field for days and days! If he lives until the next year, perhaps the same man will hire him again, without even giving him an opportunity of going to the hiring-ground. 

After those for hire are disposed of, those for sale are called up. O, you happy free women, contrast your New Year's day with that of the poor bond-woman! With you it is a pleasant season, and the light of the day is blessed. Friendly wishes meet you every where, and gifts are showered upon you. Even hearts that have been estranged from you soften at this season, and lips that have been silent echo back, "I wish you a happy New Year." Children bring their little offerings, and raise their rosy lips for a caress. They are your own, and no hand but that of death can take them from you. 

But to the slave mother New Year's day comes laden with peculiar sorrows. She sits on her cold cabin floor, watching the children who may all be torn from her the next morning; and often does she wish that she and they might die before the day dawns. 

She may be an ignorant creature, degraded by the system that has brutalized her from childhood; but she has a mother's instincts, and is capable of feeling a mother's agonies. On one of these sale days, I saw a mother lead seven children to the auction-block. She knew that some of them would be taken from her; but they took all. The children were sold to a slave-trader, and their mother was bought by a man in her own town. Before night her children were all far away. She begged the trader to tell her where he intended to take them; this he refused to do. 

How could he, when he knew he would sell them, one by one, wherever he could command the highest price? I met that mother in the street, and her wild, haggard face lives to-day in my mind. She wrung her hands in anguish, and exclaimed, "Gone! all gone! Why don't God kill me?" 

I had no words wherewith to comfort her. Instances of this kind are of daily, yea, of hourly occurrence. Slaveholders have a method, peculiar to their institution, of getting rid of old slaves, whose lives have been worn out in their service. I knew an old woman, who for seventy years faithfully served her master. She had become almost helpless, from hard labor and disease. Her owners moved to Alabama, and the old black woman was left to be sold to any body who would give twenty dollars for her. 

Governor Pardons Wilmington 10, Free at Last!


North Carolina governor pardons Wilmington 10

Jamil Smith@JamilSmith
12/31/2012
The Rev. Benjamin  Chavis gives a clenched fist salute on December 14, 1979, after being paroled by then-North Carolina governor Jim Hunt. Chavis, one of the Wilmington 10 defendants, was pardoned on Monday by North Carolina's current governor, Bev Perdue, in connection with the 1972 firebombing of a Wilmington, N.C. grocery. (AP Photo/Charles Tasnadi)
The Rev. Benjamin Chavis gives a clenched fist salute on December
14, 1979, after being paroled by then-North Carolina governor Jim
Hunt. Chavis, one of the Wilmington 10 defendants, was pardoned
on Monday by North Carolina’s current governor, Bev Perdue, in
connection with the 1972 firebombing of a Wilmington, N.C.
grocery. 
(AP Photo/Charles Tasnadi)

 
The Wilmington Ten are truly free, at last.
 
Outgoing North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue issued and signed a “pardon of innocence” for the group Monday. There are currently six surviving members.
 
The nine African-American men and one white woman had been convicted in the 1972 firebombing of a Wilmington, NC grocery store during civil-rights protests that arose after police shot an African-American teenager.  Between the ten, they received combined sentences totaling 282 years in prison.
 
In the statement released from her office this afternoon, Governor Perdue, a Democrat, said that she “decided to grant these pardons because the more facts I have learned about the Wilmington Ten, the more appalled I have become about the manner in which their convictions were obtained.” That manner wasoutlined on our show Saturday by host Melissa Harris-Perry, who added her voice to the more than 130,000 who signed their names to petitions delivered to the governor’s office:
“…it was so overt that by 1977, at least three witnesses had recanted their testimony. And in 1980, the U.S. Court of Appeals overturned the convictions of the Wilmington Ten—noting that the chief witness lied on the stand and that prosecutors concealed evidence.
And now, according to the NAACP, newly discovered notes from the prosecutor suggest he racially-profiled prospective jurors—writing ‘KKK —good’ next to some names and referring to at least one black candidate as an ‘Uncle Tom.’”
Governor Perdue used similarly strong language in her statement about the injustices done in the trial:
This conduct is disgraceful. It is utterly incompatible with basic notions of fairness and with every ideal that North Carolina holds dear. The legitimacy of our criminal justice system hinges on it operating in a fair and equitable manner with justice being dispensed based on innocence or guilt – not based on race or other forms of prejudice. That did not happen here. Instead, these convictions were tainted by naked racism and represent an ugly stain on North Carolina’s criminal justice system that cannot be allowed to stand any longer.
Wilmington Ten member Wayne Moore, who was 19 at the time of the firebombing and received a nearly 30-year prison sentence, shouted his joy at the governor’s decision via Twitter:
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NC governor signs pardons for Wilmington 10


The Wilimington 10 back in 1972.

WBOY-TV
updated 12/31/2012

By MARTHA WAGGONER
--Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Outgoing North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue issued pardons Monday to the Wilmington 10, a group wrongly convicted 40 years ago in a notorious Civil Rights-era prosecution that led to accusations that the state was holding political prisoners.

Perdue issued pardons of innocence Monday for the nine black men and one white woman who received prison sentences totaling nearly 300 years for the 1971 firebombing of a Wilmington grocery store during three days of violence that included the shooting of a black teenager by police.

The pardon means the state no longer thinks the 10 - four of whom have since died - committed a crime.

"I have decided to grant these pardons because the more facts I have learned about the Wilmington Ten, the more appalled I have become about the manner in which their convictions were obtained," Perdue said in a news release Monday.

The three key witnesses in the case later recanted their testimony. Amnesty International and other groups took up the issue, portraying the Wilmington 10 as political prisoners.

In 1978, then-Gov. Jim Hunt commuted their sentences but withheld a pardon. Two years later, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., threw out the convictions, saying perjury and prosecutorial misconduct were factors in the verdicts. Advertise AdChoices

"We are tremendously grateful to Gov. Perdue for her courage," said Benjamin Chavis, the former national NAACP executive director who was in jail and prison for about five years before his release. "This is a historic day for North Carolina and the United States. People should be innocent until proven guilty, not persecuted for standing up for equal rights and justice."

In addition to Chavis, the surviving members of the Wilmington 10 are Reginald Epps, James McKoy, Wayne Moore, Marvin Patrick and Willie Earl Vereen. Those who have died are Jerry Jacobs, Ann Shepard, Connie Tindall and Joe Wright.

The bombing of the white-owned Mike's Grocery occurred less than three years after the 1968 assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Schools in Wilmington and New Hanover County hadn't desegregated, and black students began a boycott.

The United Church of Christ Commission for Racial Justice, for whom Chavis worked, sent him to Wilmington to advise the students. On Feb. 6, 1971, the white-owned Mike's Grocery was firebombed, and police killed a black teenager that night. A day later, a white man was shot and killed.

The National Guard then moved in to end the violence.

Wilmington 10 survivors and family today.

The Wilmington 10 were convicted in October 1972 on charges of conspiracy to firebomb Mike's Grocery and conspiracy to assault emergency personnel who responded to the fire.

The trial was held in Burgaw in Pender County after a judge declared a mistrial the first time. A jury of 10 blacks and two whites had been seated in the first trial when prosecutor Jay Stroud said he was sick, and the judge declared the mistrial. At the second trial, a jury of 10 whites and two blacks was seated.

The three key witnesses who took the stand for the prosecution recanted their testimony in 1976. And the prosecutor, Stroud, became a flashpoint for the Wilmington 10 supporters.

In November, NAACP state leaders said they believe newly uncovered notes show Stroud tried to keep blacks off the first jury and seat whites he thought were sympathetic to the Ku Klux Klan.

They showed the notes on a poster board, saying the handwriting on the legal paper appeared to match notes from other prosecution records in the case.

At the top of the list of 100 jurors, the notes said, "stay away from black men." A capital "B'' was beside the names of black jurors. The notes identify one potential black juror as an "Uncle Tom type," and beside the names of several white people, notations include "KKK?" and "good!!"

"This conduct is disgraceful," Perdue said. "It is utterly incompatible with basic notions of fairness and with every ideal that North Carolina holds dear. The legitimacy of our criminal justice system hinges on it operating in a fair and equitable manner with justice being dispensed based on innocence or guilt - not based on race or other forms of prejudice." Advertise AdChoices

Stroud told the StarNews of Wilmington that he wrote some of the notes but declined to confirm that to the AP in November. On Monday, he told the AP that he wouldn't have written "stay away from black men," and said someone could have forged the notes.

The N.C. State Bar lists Stroud as a former defense attorney whose status is inactive at his request. Stroud has been arrested more than a dozen times in the past six years, and his son told The Gaston Gazette in 2011 that his father suffers with bipolar disease and that he was diagnosed about the same time he graduated from law school.

"I think she has made a mistake," Stroud said of Perdue on Monday. "The case was prosecuted fairly, and the jury reached a unanimous verdict fairly quickly after a six-week trial. And they found all 10 defendants unanimously guilty of all charges. And I think her decision is flying in the face of the jury's verdict."
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Associated Press writer Michael Biesecker in Raleigh contributed to this story.
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Martha Waggoner can be reached at http://twitter.com/mjwaggonernc