Anderson@Large

Voting Rights and Wrongs

I am on my way to DC for the 2012 Winter Conference of the National Association of Secretaries of State. I hope the chief election officers can shed light on why more and more states, including Maine, Virginia and Iowa, are pushing voter ID laws.

Although the photo ID requirement is a solution in search of a problem, voter ID has become a “cause” for Republicans. Mark Tompkins, a political science professor at the University of South Carolina, told the Post and Courier:

Republicans have turned it into a cause, although there isn’t much evidence out there that voter fraud is a problem. But they feel they’re neglecting their base to not pay attention to it.

But as NPR reported, “to get an ID, you need an ID”:

In most states with voter ID laws, citizens must present birth certificates to obtain new photo IDs. Seniors and those born in rural areas, in particular, face a difficult time meeting the requirement because birth certificates weren’t regularly generated in the 1930s and earlier. And many of these people were delivered by midwives, who often improperly spelled babies’ and parents’ names on birth documents.

If a state does have a person’s birth certificate, they often must present a photo ID to obtain a copy. That can put an individual back at square one.

Elizabeth McNamara, president and chair of the League of Women Voters, observed:

People are caught in a catch-22: You need a birth certificate to get this ID, but to get a birth certificate you have to have an ID.

With the clock ticking, we must move beyond identifying the problem.

I am chief evangelist for a citizen-led initiative that offers solutions. Our cause is to empower voters to exercise the right to vote. The Cost of Freedom Project is developing location-based apps that will help voters quickly access the information they need to get a voter ID.

Voters who visit our website will be frustrated and angry that they have to bear this unreasonable burden. We will design a site that encourages users to keep going: Your vote is your voice. Do what you have to do to make your voice heard.

Given the digital divide, voters will also be able to access information via text message.

To get involved in this citizen-powered voter education initiative, visit us at Facebook.com/CostofFreedom. You can also join the conversation on Twitter by using the hashtag #CostofFreedom.

Cost of Freedom Project Starting Some Good

It is said that nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come. A day after submitting the Cost of Freedom Project to Start Some Good, I received a message the project was approved.

Start Some Good is a crowdfunding site that connects social entrepreneurs with resources to help us, well, do good:

Start Some Good empowers people from around the world to become social innovators. By connecting social entrepreneurs with the financial and intellectual capital they need to transform an idea for improving the world into a reality, together we can turn ideas into action and impact.

The Cost of Freedom App will empower voters to remove barriers to the ballot box.

We will launch our Voter ID App campaign on Feb. 21. With your support, the Cost of Freedom Project will be starting something good.

Everything Must Change

Seven years ago, I launched my blog. Today, marks a new beginning as I focus on the development of the Cost of Freedom App, a location-based web app that will provide voters with concise information on how to apply for a voter ID.

Marketing guru Seth Goldin recently observed that if you don't adapt to the post-industrial economy, “never mind the race to the top, you'll be racing to the bottom.” Goldin added:

Instead of waiting around for someone to tell you that you matter, take your career into your own hands. In other words, don't wait for someone else to pick you and pick yourself! If you have a book, you don't need a publisher to approve you, you can publish it yourself. It's no longer about waiting for some big corporation to choose you. We've arrived at an age where you choose yourself.

Sadly, today also marks the death of the “Matriarch of the Blues,” Etta James, whose truth-telling helped me get through many nights.

I will miss Ms. Etta's motherly advice. May she, at last, rest in peace.

File This Under: Not Surprised

Ward Connerly, the race hustler who is paid to oppose affirmative action, is under investigation for allegedly using his nonprofit to line his own pockets to the tune of between $1.2 million and $1.5 million each year.

The New York Times reports:

Ward Connerly, the black businessman who has been the face of the movement to end affirmative action for nearly two decades, is facing accusations from a prominent former ally that he has mismanaged — and exploited for his own benefit — donations to that cause made by fellow conservatives.

Moreover, a group Mr. Connerly founded to advance government policies that are race and gender neutral, the Sacramento-based American Civil Rights Institute, is under investigation by the Internal Revenue Service and by the attorney general of California, according to documents and interviews.

Mr. Connerly has faced accusations of profiteering before, as supporters of affirmative action highlighted his salary in an effort to discredit his cause. But this time, the allegations are more detailed and come from another significant movement figure: Jennifer Gratz, the named plaintiff in a landmark 2003 Supreme Court case that struck down a race-based admissions policy at the University of Michigan.

After she won that case, Mr. Connerly hired Ms. Gratz to conduct research and run campaigns supporting anti-affirmative action ballot initiatives. She resigned last September and, through her lawyer, sent the group’s board a five-page letter, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Time.

Gratz probably knows nothing about “race music,” but she is affirming a truism: Don't start me to talking.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2012

This is the first Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend since the dedication of the National Memorial.

On Monday, I will be in DC but I will stay clear of the crowds on the National Mall. Instead, I will attend the National Action Network MLK Day Prayer Breakfast and check out the “Black List” at the National Portrait Gallery.

Web 2.0 and Black Joblessness

I LOL when I read that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's “New Year's resolution is to learn to code.”

The same day Bloomberg tweeted his plan, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the latest jobs report. And it was no laughing matter. While the overall unemployment rate fell to its lowest level in nearly three years, black joblessness rose from 15.5 percent to 15.8 percent.

Private employers added 1.9 million jobs in 2011. Black workers are disproportionately employed in the public sector which lost 244,000 jobs last year. The writing is on the wall: A secure “good government job” is going the way of six-day mail delivery.

Innovation will accelerate public sector downsizing. The San Francisco Chronicle reported:

The nonprofit Code for America plans to open a first-of-its-kind “civic accelerator” in San Francisco, a program designed to house, mentor and fund startups focused on using technology to improve government efficiency.

[…]

The details are still being worked out, but Code for America will work with the city to identify departments in particular need of new online tools. Code for America will sponsor so-called hackathons this spring and summer to find and fund entrepreneurs building the most promising solutions.

As cities and states rethink how they deliver public services, workers will feel the impact. So if Bloomberg has resolved to learn code in 2012, why not you?

Numbers Behind the 'Good News'

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the national unemployment rate fell to 8.5 percent last month, a three-year low. Employers added 200,000 jobs in December, including transportation and warehousing, health care and social assistance, retail trade, manufacturing, leisure and hospitality, and construction.

Black women and black teens didn't get the memo that employers were hiring.

The black unemployment rate rose from 15.5 percent to 15.8 percent. Black male joblessness fell from 16.4 percent to 15.7 percent.

Black female unemployment is 13.9 percent, up from 13.0 percent. Black teen joblessness also rose from 39.6 percent to 42.1 percent.

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Black folks are still the last hired.