THOUSANDS OF BLACK COLLEGE STUDENTS IN TEXAS MARCH FOR VOTING RIGHTS!

All,

I received this very important message and article from writer/activist Amiri Baraka today on the white Texas authorities trying to keep black citizens from voting in the upcoming March 4 Democratic Party primary in Texas!

This reveals for the zillionth time just how lowdown, dirty, vicious, and RACIST this country IS (like always)...Imagine: Centuries later they're STILL trying to keep African American citizens from voting....and we all thought SLAVERY WAS OVER...So what's changed, you ask?--Clearly NOT A DAMN THING. Which is precisely why MASS protest, grassroots organizing, and direct political action like that initiated and carried out by these courageous black college students in Texas is SO NECESSARY...We all seriously need to emulate their commitment and let any lingering feelings of smugness, indifference, and cynicism go...

Kofi



This is what I figured...

AmiriB


Subj: [BRC-REP] Thousands of Black Students march in Prairie View, Texas for voting rights

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/politics/5552259.html
http://www.burntorangereport.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=5040
http://media.myfoxhouston.com/news/2008-02-19/pvamuvote/index.html


Thousands march in Prairie View for voting rights

By HELEN ERIKSEN
Houston Chronicle
February 20, 2008

Prairie View Student Voting March 1


Chantea Cooper, seated, reads campaign literature as
she and other Prairie View A&M University students wait
to vote after a 2½-hour march to the Waller County
Courthouse in Hempstead on Tuesday.

Prairie View Student Voting March-2

PRAIRIE VIEW — More than 1,000 Prairie View A&M University students and
supporters marched seven miles to the polls on Tuesday to protest the
lack of an early voting place on campus for the March 4 election.

Students, local leaders, civil rights activists and elected officials
walked from the campus to the Waller County Courthouse in Hempstead
carrying "Register to Vote" signs. The majority wore black shirts with
the slogan, "It is 2008. We will vote!"

Following After the march, some students stood in a long line to cast
their ballots on the first day of early voting, while others filled out
new voter registration cards in a building across from the courthouse.
Early voting ended at about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, and some waited for five
hours to vote.

Freshman Brittney Veasey, who was voting for the first time, said she
took the 2 1/2 -hour journey because she believes her vote will make a
difference.

"I feel like we're making history today," she said. "Instead of making it
inconvenient, students should be encouraged to vote."

Last week, under pressure from federal authorities, Waller County
officials added three temporary polling places for early voting, ditching
plans to open only one voting site in advance of the March 4 primary.

The Justice Department questioned the county's original decision to cut
early-voting sites from a half dozen throughout the county to one in
Hempstead. Officials said the county could not afford equipment or staff
to operate the additional sites.

Following an emergency meeting last week, the county submitted a revamped
proposal to the Justice Department that included one more day of early
voting on Thursday at the three new polling sites. Federal officials have
60 days to review and approve the plan, but have not raised any
objections.

Debra Mergel, the county's attorney, said one of the added polling places
about a mile from the campus will have early voting from 8 a.m. to 5
p.m., Thursday through Saturday.

Mergel defended the county's decision to have the polling place at a
nearby community center rather than on campus.

"It is in a county-owned building that we have always used," she said.

Some students had not learned about the added voting site near the
campus, but Mergel said the county advertised it in the local media.

On Election Day, students can vote on campus in the University Alumni
Association.

Christina Sanders, who helped organize the march and is a member of Black
Youth Vote! Texas, said the county made concessions only after the
Justice Department intervened and students complained.

She said the march was necessary to send a message to local officials
that a lack of a voting place on campus "is unacceptable."

The school has about 8,000 students, and officials estimate there are
3,000 registered voters among them.

State Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, called it a "gross injustice"
that the county did not seek input from the minority community prior to
before establishing polling sites. He said the county has a turbulent
history of thwarting Prairie View students' attempts to vote.

The controversy over voting came to a head in 2004 when students marched
from the campus to the courthouse after former Waller County District
Attorney Oliver Kitzman declared them ineligible to vote, claiming they
did not meet state residency standards.

Meanwhile, the county is being investigated by the Texas Attorney
General's Office based on complaints by local black leaders following
after the November 2006 general election. Those allegations stem from
voting machine failures, inadequate staffing and long delays for voting
results

Dallas News on Clinton/Obama in Texas

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/politics/local/stories/DN-jeffers_13met.ART.State.Edition1.453f8ef.html




Clinton-Obama primary battle a Texas toss-up


12:00 AM CST on Wednesday, February 13, 2008


The March 4 Texas primaries will determine the course of the Democratic race for president and perhaps identify the eventual nominee.

With its 228 delegates, Texas is the biggest prize left in the presidential sweepstakes.

If Illinois Sen. Barack Obama wins the Lone Star State, the race for the nomination is probably over.

But Hillary Rodham Clinton could piece together a Texas victory with wins in Ohio and Pennsylvania to re-establish herself as the front-runner.

So who gets Texas?

I can't call it. But here are some factors that could yield clues.



Organization

Going into the presidential race, the conventional wisdom was that Mrs. Clinton had the best team and organization in the field.

But it's now clear that Mr. Obama has the superior ground game. His grass-roots effort is second to none. He melds a large staff of workers with an even larger group of volunteers.

Mr. Obama cleans up in caucuses and should do well in competing for the 42 at-large delegates chosen at the precinct conventions after the polls close.

Because Texas is not a caucus state and Mrs. Clinton has won the big states of California and New Jersey, Mr. Obama has to prove he can use his organization to win a diverse primary state like Texas.

Advantage: Obama



Money

Not much of a contest here. Mr. Obama has mastered Internet fundraising and has the money needed to saturate the state's expensive media markets.

Mrs. Clinton had to loan herself $5 million recently, though her campaign reports that her fundraising has picked up since Super Tuesday.

Advantage: Obama



Surrogates

Mrs. Clinton has varied and established support in Texas, particularly in the critical Rio Grande Valley.

Mr. Obama has his share of endorsements. But the relationships developed by Mrs. Clinton helped her in California and should do the same in Texas.

Few Texas Democrats have political machinery intact, so surrogates are not as important as they could be. Politicos in the Rio Grande Valley and Houston are the exception.

Advantage: Clinton



Demographics

The state's electoral makeup could trump all other considerations.

In 2004, almost half of Democratic primary voters were Hispanic. Nationally, Hispanic voters have leaned heavily toward Mrs. Clinton.

Want to know if the Hispanic vote is important in Democratic primary elections in Texas? Ask Victor Morales, who as a schoolteacher from Crandall beat former U.S. Rep. John Bryant, D-Dallas, in the 1996 Senate primary. In 2006, little-known Maria Luisa Alvarado won the nomination for lieutenant governor on the strength of the Latino vote.

Mr. Obama is expected to do well with young voters, blacks and men. Women are still favoring Mrs. Clinton.

Turnout could be important. An Obama tide could erase conventional wisdom.

Advantage: Clinton



Message

Mr. Obama has created and cornered the market for "change" in our national politics. Republicans and Democrats are now debating which candidate is best suited to air out the political scene in Washington.

There's no question Mr. Obama's stirring speeches about unity and hope have touched chords in voters across the country.

Mrs. Clinton, however, has argued with some success that her experience makes her the best candidate.

But to a lot of people, being a former first lady doesn't exactly translate to being a change agent. Mr. Obama's celebrity appeal sometimes overwhelms Mrs. Clinton's experience argument.

Advantage: Obama