By Tracie Rice Bailey
It is a busy time in Sacramento California—Safe Ground Advocates are gathering weekly to plan the upcoming 2nd annual SafeGroundSac Jubilee.
This year’s slogan is: “Still Searching For Safe Ground”. Last year’s slogan was “It’s Been a Year and We’re Still Here”. It has been two years and we are still hoping and praying for a safe place to be. Our elected officials should be doing everything in their power to move things along for our poor. A safe place for our homeless to be could create by default a nicer environment for our housed population as well. A win-win all the way around wouldn’t you think.
Homeless people are being made to move often, yet they still have no place to go. They are still here, they still live, breathe and have their being just like you and I, they just have no safe place to stay at night like you and I have.
The planning breakfasts are fun and inviting many great ideas float around the table. Our breakfast planners range from attorneys to formerly homeless and some homeless.
The purpose of the Jubilee is to organize homeless folks and to create awareness of homelessness and the issues faced by the poorest of our poor. We are also trying to link our housed and homeless folks since housed folks are usually one paycheck away from becoming a homeless criminal in a very broken economy full of budget cuts.
As I told the City Council on July 12, “I haven’t been here in a while—I simply wanted to step back and see what happens—the answer I got was BUDGET CUTS—huge budget cuts that are hurting everyone—there are still hundreds of people living outside with no place to go. “
How does constantly moving people do anything to find a lasting solution? Homeless people are not just here, they are everywhere. Empty buildings are not just here, they are everywhere. Can we not, in all our vast wisdom, find a way to create a lasting solution here? Something we can all live with?
The actual date of the Jubilee is Tuesday September 14, 2011 and will be held in Ceasar Chavez Park which is right across from City Hall. The time is from 3:30 to 7:30 pm. There will be music, fun, food.We will have speakers from the housed and homeless community alike.
Everyone is invited to join us for this day of awareness and fun.
A safe place for our homeless is needed
Safe Ground Jubilee September 14
Safe Ground Jubilee September 14
Last year’s Jubilee celebration of the
struggle for the rights of the homeless.
Organizers are trying to link the housed
and homeless since housed families are
usually one paycheck away from becoming
homeless.
Photo/Sandy Perry
School Board Dissolved in McAlmont, Arkansas
By Simuel Ramey
The firing of the District Superintendent, and the dissolution of the School Board of the Pulaski County Special School District is causing quite a stir in the small township of McAlmont, Arkansas.
McAlmont is a small predominantly Black, low-income township that is trapped between the cities of Sherwood and North Little Rock, just south of Jacksonville, Arkansas.
The number of school board dissolutions in recent months across the state is causing grave concern among the citizens of the township of McAlmont, Arkansas.
The Arkansas Department of Education has got a critical eye on school boards in central Arkansas, specifically school boards that are in school districts that are predominantly Black, alluding to the recent dissolutions of the Helena-West-Helena School District Board, and the Pulaski County Special School District Board (PCSSD), along with the firing of the newly-hired Superintendent, Dr. Hopson.
I recently caught up with one of the PCSSD school board member’s, Gwen Williams, who is a victim of this demise, who felt she needed to get this off her chest. She really seemed quite perturbed by the whole ill-conceived mess. She feels compelled to give us the real facts about the recent hostile take-over of the PCSSD Board. Here’s what she had to say: “First, the District is not broke. The Chief Financial officer (CFO) informed the Board four months ago that the District had $7.9 million dollars in “reserves”. So, the District was not in fiscal distress because of money issues. Rather, they were placed in fiscal distress because of “policies and procedures.” The District submitted a plan to the State Department of Education. In the plan, the District met a lot of the concerns voiced by the State. The District wasn’t even given the opportunity to put the plan into effect.” “Secondly, the attack of Dr. Hopson, and the recommendation of the dissolution of the Board came from the Legislative Audit Committee, of which State Senator Linda Poindexter-Chesterfield is the Co-chair. Let’s wake up people! Dr. Hopson was escorted from the District Office by State Police, like a criminal, followed home, where his vehicle was taken from him. Dr. Hopson was not given the opportunity to clean up Twenty (20) years of “MESS”!!! There’s grave concern coming from the residents of McAlmont. A lot of people have taken this downright “personal.” Our African-American children, and communities will dearly suffer behind this take-over. Lastly, Dr. Kimbrel, the State Education Commissioner, now wants to put all renovations and construction of new schools on hold, for the next two years in hopes that the communities will forget about it, and not speak out about it. The time has come for all of us to say “enough is enough.” We want our schools renovated. We want our communities, parents, and students to be treated equal and fair, as they are in Sherwood and/or Maumelle. “IT IS TIME TO SPEAK OUT” about the “injustice” that has been done here.”
This just adds to the pattern of “Human Rights Violations” that I have witnessed and experienced, and spoken about in recent issues of the “People’s Tribune”, in my crusade back to my home state of Arkansas. We’re hoping that the citizens of McAlmont, and other communities will rally behind Dr. Hopson, in his quest for vindication, through his lawsuit against the State Department of Education to re-coup the remainder of his three-year contract since there was never a “breach of contract” on his part!!!
The firing of the District Superintendent, and the dissolution of the School Board of the Pulaski County Special School District is causing quite a stir in the small township of McAlmont, Arkansas.
McAlmont is a small predominantly Black, low-income township that is trapped between the cities of Sherwood and North Little Rock, just south of Jacksonville, Arkansas.
The number of school board dissolutions in recent months across the state is causing grave concern among the citizens of the township of McAlmont, Arkansas.
The Arkansas Department of Education has got a critical eye on school boards in central Arkansas, specifically school boards that are in school districts that are predominantly Black, alluding to the recent dissolutions of the Helena-West-Helena School District Board, and the Pulaski County Special School District Board (PCSSD), along with the firing of the newly-hired Superintendent, Dr. Hopson.
I recently caught up with one of the PCSSD school board member’s, Gwen Williams, who is a victim of this demise, who felt she needed to get this off her chest. She really seemed quite perturbed by the whole ill-conceived mess. She feels compelled to give us the real facts about the recent hostile take-over of the PCSSD Board. Here’s what she had to say: “First, the District is not broke. The Chief Financial officer (CFO) informed the Board four months ago that the District had $7.9 million dollars in “reserves”. So, the District was not in fiscal distress because of money issues. Rather, they were placed in fiscal distress because of “policies and procedures.” The District submitted a plan to the State Department of Education. In the plan, the District met a lot of the concerns voiced by the State. The District wasn’t even given the opportunity to put the plan into effect.” “Secondly, the attack of Dr. Hopson, and the recommendation of the dissolution of the Board came from the Legislative Audit Committee, of which State Senator Linda Poindexter-Chesterfield is the Co-chair. Let’s wake up people! Dr. Hopson was escorted from the District Office by State Police, like a criminal, followed home, where his vehicle was taken from him. Dr. Hopson was not given the opportunity to clean up Twenty (20) years of “MESS”!!! There’s grave concern coming from the residents of McAlmont. A lot of people have taken this downright “personal.” Our African-American children, and communities will dearly suffer behind this take-over. Lastly, Dr. Kimbrel, the State Education Commissioner, now wants to put all renovations and construction of new schools on hold, for the next two years in hopes that the communities will forget about it, and not speak out about it. The time has come for all of us to say “enough is enough.” We want our schools renovated. We want our communities, parents, and students to be treated equal and fair, as they are in Sherwood and/or Maumelle. “IT IS TIME TO SPEAK OUT” about the “injustice” that has been done here.”
This just adds to the pattern of “Human Rights Violations” that I have witnessed and experienced, and spoken about in recent issues of the “People’s Tribune”, in my crusade back to my home state of Arkansas. We’re hoping that the citizens of McAlmont, and other communities will rally behind Dr. Hopson, in his quest for vindication, through his lawsuit against the State Department of Education to re-coup the remainder of his three-year contract since there was never a “breach of contract” on his part!!!
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