Friday, August 31, 2007

City Credit Union,DART Federal Credit Union Merging

Two credit unions, City Credit Union and DART Federal Credit Union, are merging, effective September 1, 2007.

City Credit Union was founded in 1942 by city of Dallas employees to serve a three-county community charter of Dallas,Ellis and Cooke counties.

DART Federal Credit Union was founded in 1939 and serves Dallas Area Rapid Transit employees and several small companies, The credit union will become the DART branch of City Credit Union.

City Credit Union is a nonprofit financial institution with branches in Dallas, Cooke and Ellis counties. It is the 12th largest credit Union in Dallas-Fort Worth with 32,000 members and $152.9 million in deposits in 2006.

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Kenneth Foster

Hello Freedom Fighters,

Young Brother Kenneth Foster is scheduled to die this evening. Please call the Governor Rick Perry immediately (Board members telephone numbers listed also).

We have waited all night for a decision. As Mr. Axel points out: If this death penalty is carried out, there is no such thing as clemency in the state of Texas.

It is my understanding that Governor Rick Perry is scheduled to attend and speak at the Texas NAACP Convention this year.
ALERT! Call Governor Perry Immediately
Telephone: 512-463-2000 Fax: (512) 463-1849

Here is an editorial from the Fort Worth Star Telegram supporting our efforts. Every phone call is important.

Thanks and be blessed,
Rev. Kyev Tatum
817-829-5455


Editorial - No needle
Fort Worth Star-Telegram – August 30, 2007
Although his statement could have been phrased a tad more gently, Gov. Rick Perry was on target when he informed the European Union that Texans aren't too concerned about what Europeans think when it comes to his state's use of the death penalty.
Calls from South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former President Jimmy Carter to spare the life of Death Row inmate Kenneth Foster Jr. are likely to receive similar dismissals.
But Perry and the state Board of Pardons and Paroles should be listening to what Texans say when it comes to today's scheduled execution by lethal injection of Foster, who did not fire the gun that ended Michael LaHood's life that Aug. 15, 1996, night in San Antonio.
Thirteen members of the Texas House petitioned Perry and the board to commute Foster's sentence to life without parole.
Those voices -- those of legislators who, in the words of their Aug. 23 letter, "are responsible for making the laws of the State of Texas" and "also assume responsibility for protecting our system of justice from mistakes" -- argued that the execution of Foster "is just wrong."
No one who has read the case file can argue that Foster is a complete innocent. He was driving the car that carried the triggerman, Mauriceo Brown, who was executed in 2006 for killing LaHood. Foster was present earlier in the evening when Brown and two other men committed two robberies.
Prosecutors in this case used the state's "law of parties" statutes to hold Foster criminally responsible for the actions of another. Under Section 7.02(b) of the state penal code, if two or more "conspirators" agree to commit a crime and in the process commit another, each conspirator is guilty of the crime committed if the crime was "one that should have been anticipated."
Foster deserves to spend a long, long time -- if not the rest of his life -- behind bars for what he did do that night. But he does not deserve to die -- not today.

Betty Culbreath

I have heard and read negative comments by Betty Culbreath about the way I lobbied to be returned to the DART board. First and foremost, I never spoke with her at anytime about my return to the DART board because I am well aware that she is a friend of Dwaine(Dewayne,Dwayne) Caraway who lead the charge to get me removed because I supported Dr. Maxine Thornton Reese who defeated him for the city council seat that he now holds.

Tennell Adkins,Jerry Allen and Willis Johnson worked behind the scenes with Dwaine (Dewayne,Dwayne) Caraway to make sure that I did not return to the DART board. Betty Culbreath has publicly said that she supports Lynn Flint Shaw being the chairman.

I know that Betty Culbreath has tried several times to be elected to office and I have not supported her at anytime. I would not ever support her. She is an individual who I believe attempts to get close to people in power, particularly mayors, and bash African Americans who do not agree with them. Remember all of her rants about why the black community should not have problems with Laura Miller?

I live in Council District 5 and I supported Vonciel Jones Hill over Betty Culbreath because Vonciel Jones Hill is a better representative of the people who live in District 5. Councilwoman Hill is a strong willed woman who is listening to all of the people in her District, and she will not be detracted by people who want to keep a conflict going.

Betty Culbreath take care of your health and stop being so negative. We do not have to worry about other races of people harming us, we do it to ourselves!!!!!!

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

War on Crime

Rev. Ronald Wright a member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference(S.C.L.C.) continues the fight against crime on the 44th anniversary of the historic "I Have Dream speech" by Rev. Martin Luther King. " We are here today to declare war on crime" says Rev. Wright.


Rev. Wright, not like some who came to the march to be photographed, has been working with community people like, Johnnie Simon, Rev. Charles Stovall, Peter Johnson, Debra Forge and Lee Alcorn to fight crime that is in the community for years. "This community belongs to the people, not the criminals," Rev. Wright said. As children of God, we must take a stand."


This is a national issue and there were 22 events that were organized jointly by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Rainbow/Push Coalition.


We must continue to raise the issue of gun control and violence in our community.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Councilwoman Vonciel Jones Hill Shows Courage

Councilwoman Vonciel Jones Hill has shown her courage and independence on the Dallas City Council by renominating me to the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) Board of Directors. While the vote was 8 to 7 with me loosing to Rev. Jerry Christian, I think that she and Councilwoman Carolyn Davis understood the attack that I was under by Dwaine/Dwayne/Dewayne Caraway ,Tennell Adkins, Jerry Allen and Mayor Tom Leppert.

They enlisted Betty Culbreath and Rufus Shaw to attack me for wanting to be renominated and for me actively seeking 8 votes to be returned to the Board as the Chairman. They made it clear that they were supporting Lynn Flint Shaw to be the Chairman. Lynn is Rufus Shaw's wife and we have served on the DART board for 4 years together. Lynn and I worked close on many issues, but it is clear that many of the community issues ended up on my desk. I believe that this happened because I grew up in Dallas and many of the community organizers know and respect the work that I have done in this community for over 3 decades.

Dwaine /Dwayne/Dewayne Caraway, Tennell Adkins, Jerry Allen and Mayor Tom Leppert have been on the council since June and made the decision that I should not return to the DART board because they supported Lynn Shaw. Not one time did they say that I was not doing what the City of Dallas had asked, but they said my style was wrong. How could they know? Being in office for two months will not give you a frame of reference.

Thank you to Pauline Medrano, Steve Salazar, Vonciel Jones Hill, Angela Hunt, Carolyn Davis,Linda Koop and Mitchell Rasansky.

Joyce Foreman