Posted on 08/11/2006 1:18:59 PM PDT by abb
Thursday, August 10, 2006 Dear Friends and Neighbors,
The Committee to Recall Nifong - Vote Cheek was formed on August 9, 2006 as a political action committee to campaign for Lewis Cheek in the upcoming election for District Attorney. While Mr. Cheek has declined to campaign for this office, and has stated that he will not accept the position if elected, we believe that this election, and the referendum on Mr. Nifong that it has become, is not about politics but rather about Durham and what Durham stands for.
The Committee to Recall Nifong - Vote Cheek (RNVC) is not comprised of politicians in any way, shape or form. The people who have organized and will direct this campaign over the next few months have no personal political ambitions and no affiliation with any of the parties involved in the drama that has shed such a bad light on the community of Durham. RNVC is not a movement born of political ambition, nor is it only about the Duke drama. RNVC does not campaign on its own behalf, nor on behalf of any person with ambitions to be the District Attorney of Durham County. RNVC will campaign on behalf of the entire Durham community, save one.
Our movement was born in Durham homes by Durham citizens and for the Durham community. This Durham community, to which the participants in RNVC proudly belong, has become the target of nationwide ridicule and scorn. Durham County has been manipulated, deceived and divided by inflammatory, ambition-serving words uttered by the man entrusted to protect it. RNVC believes that the role of the District Attorney should be that of a protector, and not that of a divider. RNVC believes that the community deserves a District Attorney that inspires trust and not fear. It is the fear of Mr. Nifong and distrust of his words, motives and competency for office that has inspired this movement.
If one of our daughters were the victim of a violent crime, we do not want the person pursuing justice on her behalf to be one who compromises the pursuit of justice either by serving his own self interests, or by his own failure and unwillingness to follow procedure. If one of our sons were to be accused falsely, we do not want a District Attorney who would see those false accusations as an opportunity to defeat a bitter rival in a primary election. We believe that our justice system must not be compromised by misdeed or willful mistakes.
We believe that our district attorney must be one who allows a thorough investigation to precede his public proclamation of guilt or innocence. We believe that indictments should be brought based on evidence at hand, and not evidence hoped for. We believe our District Attorney must value procedure, due process, the rulings of our states Supreme Court and the constitution this nation was built on. We believe that our District Attorney must not be allowed to interject himself into a Police investigation in such away that he instructs them to disregard the recommendations of the North Carolina Actual Innocence Commission, as approved by the NC Supreme Court. We believe that our District Attorney must not be a man who manipulates our law enforcement investigators into violating the Departments own written policies simply to secure indictment before election.
We have heard Mr. Nifong ask Durham to consider the entirety of his career in the District Attorneys office. We fail to see the relevancy of his performance in lesser roles within the office as an indicator of how he will perform when holding the power of the Office of District Attorney. We ask all of Durham to instead inspect his actions, his words and his motives while he has briefly served as District Attorney. We believe it is far more relevant to this referendum to inspect his conduct, questionable ethics and lack of performance in the short time that he has held the extensive powers and responsibilities of District Attorney.
Of all that we believe in, and of all that we ask of our community, with regard to this referendum on Mr. Nifong, what we hold most dearly is the notion that we all must speak. We believe this election is what the Durham that we love is about and, as such, requires a true and full measure of consideration by each of its citizens. We ask that Durham show, not only to Mr. Nifong, but also to Governor Easley and to the nation that watches, that Durham cares, that Durham has pride and, most importantly, that Durham has a voice.
We ask that you add your voice to ours.
I want Nifong in a very small cell somewhere but mostly I want Collin, Reade and Dave out from under these indictments. They shouldn't have to suffer for one more minute.
I can just about guarantee that.
I think they have to be done with the Cabbie. I think they let him walk.
If he changes his story at this point - he's discredited. The Cab-driver got more traction in the media that just about any other single issue.
The lights and cameras are shining on them - they have to let the Cabbie walk (versus hold him over or hit him with jaywalking).
The cab-driver can offer them nothing but trouble at this point - isn't Nifong on vacation - too?
Nifong had help, wasn't Chalmers, IMO.
Questions still remain. Why Nifong? To discredit and shakedown Duke?
He was on vacation last week. He had no comment today for the WRAL PAC story.
http://www.wral.com/news/9678261/detail.html
Nifong said he didn't know enough about the effort to comment on it Monday.
Follow the money, all roads lead to black businessmen, the sex industry in Durham, and the connection between them. One guy has a common thread.
How many vacations does he get?
You know what I don't understand? The black Christian community has kept silent about the Durham sex industry, even the newspeople. That is one of the more disturbing facts in this case. In the early days, the black church congregation was out in front of the lacrosse players' house at 610 Buchanan, demanding that the Duke boys receive convictions. Now they are totally silent, hiding in the shadows of the Durham "adult entertainment" industry. Even the news reporters and columnists can't see a connection between the sex industry and the Duke case. Very strange.
Cash is a self-promoting sob.
The Amsterdam News is the racist rag that published the name of the girl who was raped in Central Park by a group of young black thugs.
You know if these guys kept their mouths shut we'd have no idea what maroons they were.
Don't forget NCCU, the not-yet-named black community benefactor was merely the pawn; the one to put the game in play.
Yep. ;-)
Now that Cash has taken it head on, I wonder what the other outlets will do (if anything?)
Thank you.
The N&O has already accepted the fact that the evidence isn't what it was claimed to be. For Cash Michaels to turn against the DA now will lead many blacks to question the entire case, with resentment toward Nifong for using them to get elected. I think Cash Michaels has done his community a great service.
I'm amazed, too. I highly recommend that people read the entire article--
http://wilmingtonjournal.blackpressusa.com/News/article/article.asp?NewsID=71765&sID=4
Shouldn't you have known if you were on vacation? LOL!
Thought the following release at the DU website was interesting. Apparently like all liberals, throwing money at the distressed makes them feel all better.
The Duke Endowment Awards $527,500 for Duke-Durham Neighborhood Programs
The grant will help underwrite several of the Partnerships priorities, including affordable housing, community leadership development and after-school tutoring for at-risk youth
Friday, July 14, 2006
Durham, N.C. -- The Duke Endowment has awarded $527,500 to Duke University to support programs of the Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership, President Richard H. Brodhead announced Friday.
The money will help underwrite several of the Neighborhood Partnerships priorities, including affordable housing initiatives, leadership development for community and university groups engaged in community activities, and extensive after-school tutoring and enrichment programs for at-risk youth.
Begun in 1996, the Neighborhood Partnership connects the university with local organizations and residents in 12 neighborhoods close to Dukes campus to improve the quality of life and to boost student achievement in seven nearby Durham Public Schools. Since its inception, the university has raised more than $12 million to support Neighborhood Partnership programs, of which more than $4 million has been provided by The Duke Endowment, a Charlotte-based charitable trust.
While Duke collaborates in many ways with the City of Durham, a principal focus of our community engagement in recent years has been through the Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership, which increasingly is recognized as a national model for university-community interaction, Brodhead said.
We have been uniquely fortunate to have the backing of The Duke Endowment, which understands the importance of these collaborations to both local residents and to members of the university community, Brodhead added. With this latest grant, The Duke Endowment will have invested more than $4 million in our nonprofit, faith-based and public school partnerships in Durham over the past eight years. They could not have achieved the success they have without this support. We are extremely grateful.
Rites of Passage, a mentoring program for 56 African-American teens at Northside Baptist Church in Walltown, is one program that will benefit from The Duke Endowments grant. Northside Baptist Churchs pastor Brian Irving, who directs the Rites of Passage program, said without support from Duke and The Duke Endoment many of the activities in support of the teens with whom were working would not have been possible.
Irving, who also chairs the Walltown Neighborhood Ministries, a five-church coalition devoted to improving the quality of life in Walltown, cited an example of a troubled young man who went with Irving on a camping trip to the beach and came back a more motivated person. This guy is like one of those hard street guys who hangs out with the worst thugs, Irving said. But he was so excited. That was a moment when we really connected with him. He is still in a rough environment, but his outlook and attitude has changed. He is even talking about going to college.
Durham Mayor William Bell, who in 1996 was a consultant as the Neighborhood Partnership was being launched, also expressed appreciation for the grant, which in addition to benefiting Durham neighborhoods also fosters community-based leadership, such as the Quality of Life Committee in Southwest Central Durham. The community members on the Quality of Life Committee spearheaded a 15-unit affordable housing development in the West End on Pauli Murray Place, Carol Street and Jackson Street.
Supporting the Pauli Murray Place development involved residents, the city, Self-Help, the Durham Community Land Trustees and Habitat, Bell said. It is just one example of how Duke University through the Neighborhood Partnership, with the generous support of The Duke Endowment, is helping improve the quality of life in that neighborhood and serving as catalysts for future developments of this type in Durham. Its a tremendous boost in terms of physical improvements in the communities where the money is invested and in the schools that Duke University has adopted.
Over the past year, the Neighborhood Partnership has undertaken a strategic planning process that established four thematic areas for institutional priority and investment. Rather than focus on the more than 40 individual programs that comprise the Neighborhood Partnership, the move to the four thematic areas gives the Neighborhood Partnership an ability to respond to specific needs as they arise, said Michael Palmer, Dukes assistant vice president for community affairs. This gives us more flexibility to support our community empowerment structure and will allow us to have a greater impact.
The Duke Endowment grant will support nearly a dozen distinct programs in the four thematic areas:
-- Education enrichment and youth development: $145,000. In close collaboration with Durham Public Schools, the university is working to improve the quality of education and to close the achievement gap between white, African-American and Latino students. Highlights of work in this area include in-school and after-school tutoring and mentoring programs that annually involve more than 600 school-aged children and 300 Duke tutors and mentors.
-- Neighborhood stabilization: $258,500. With help from The Duke Endowment, three nonprofits -- Self-Help Community Development Corporation, Durham Habitat for Humanity and the Durham Community Land Trustees -- are working together to increase the supply of affordable housing in neighborhoods in Southwest Central Durham and Walltown. Since 1994, more 120 houses have been purchased for rehabilitation for first-time homeowners under the citys affordable housing guidelines. More than a third of the houses already built and sold have gone to qualified Duke employees.
-- Strengthening community organizations: $66,000. Empowering community organizations and individuals is a primary goal of the Neighborhood Partnership. Local nonprofit partners receive staff support and expertise from such Duke programs as the LawSchools Community Economic Development Clinic and from Fuqua School of Business students working out of the Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship. Law clinics, for example, provide assistance to nonprofits, such as the Durham Community Land Trustees, with small staffs that dont have the time or experience needed to comply with a multitude of legal and financial requirements.
-- University engagement: $58,000. More than 35 Duke departments and programs are actively engaged in community efforts that will benefit from The Duke Endowments grant. Students, faculty and staff volunteer as tutors and mentors for at-risk students, coordinators of specific construction projects and nonprofit consultants. Student-initiated programs such as Girls Club, C.A.R.E. for Carter and Duke-Durham Arts Collaborative are examples of such programs.
The Duke Endowment is pleased to provide funding to Duke University for the Neighborhood Partnership program, said Eugene W. Cochrane, Jr., president of The Duke Endowment. The university is playing a key role in improving the quality of life for all citizens in the Durham area. We applaud your innovation and commitment.
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Shouldn't you have known if you were on vacation? LOL!
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It's a full time job framing half the people and pulling the wool over the eyes of the other half!
If I were a Duke alumnus, or supporter, I would object to this as a form of blackmail payment. Watch carefully who lines their pockets.
I'm curious who the real beneficiaries are in all this.
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