Subj: Arkansas Press ReleaseBlack Farmers & USDA Whistleblowers
Descend on Arkansas
(Pine Bluff, AR) Independent Black Framers and the USDA Coalition of Minority Employees are continuing their national action with a Rally and Press Conference in Downtown Pine Bluff, Arkansas. They are gathering to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Assassination of Medger Evers a famed civil rights leader and to bring attention to the struggle for civil rights which continues today.
President Bill Clinton laid a reef on the grave of the slain civil rights hero last week. This week hundreds of NAACP chapters across the country are hosting events to commemorate his life and the struggle for civil rights. Medger Evers gave his life pursuing freedom and justice.
The civil rights icon was murdered on June 12, 1963 in the driveway outside his home in Jackson, Mississippi for organizing voter registration drives. 50 years after his death, the struggle for civil rights continues. Black farmers face the loss of their heritage and land at the hands of USDA.
Invited Speakers:
§ Secretary Tom Vilsack, U.S. Department of Agriculture (requested)
§ Mayor Debbie Hollingsworth (requested)
§ County Judge Dutch King (requested)
§ Ex-Mayor Carl Redus (requested)
§ Dale Charles, State Chair Arkansas NAACP
§ Benard Simelton, State Chair of the Alabama NAACP
§ Lawrence Lucas, President of the USDA Coalition of Minority Employees
§ Michael Stoval, Independent Black Farmer
§ Olly Neal, Judge (retired)
§ Jimmy Wilson, Attorney
§ Timothy Pigford, Black Farmers Lead Plaintiff
§ Ermer Preston, ADAECI
Women and Black people face racism and discrimination that still permeates this federal agency despite numerous efforts to eliminate it. We will gather at the George Howard Jr., Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Pine Bluff because this will soon be the scene for another historic case of discrimination and retaliation in the matter of Beverly Burkett vs USDA.
NAACP members and Independent Black Farmers from Arkansas, Alabama, Louisianan, Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, Texas and New Mexico, and USDA Minority Employees will gather to support Ms. Burkett, a Female Black farmer and USDA Employee.
Who: Independent Black Farmers &
USDA Coalition of Minority Employees
What: Medgar Evers Memorial
Rally & Press Conference
When: 12:00—1:00 PM
June 12, 2013
Where: Pine Bluff City Hall next door to the
George Howard Jr., Federal Building
and U.S. Courthouse
100 East Eighth Street
Pine Bluff, AR 71601
We are inviting the general public and entire Arkansas Delegation to commemorate the memory of Medgar Evers and to support Independent Black Farmers and USDA Minority Employees in their struggle for freedom and justice.
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
FW: Arkansas Press Release
