May 23, 2021
GREATER HOUSTON EDITION
Vol. 26, Issue 18
who police the police? “Addressing Current & Historical Realties Affecting Our Community”
rIP PAUl MooNey
By: N.L. Preston
A degree Is Not for everyoNe
By: Roy Douglas Malonson
While we definitely promote higher learning in the Black community, we need to stop telling our children that it’s the only way to go. There are other alternatives that lead to success without our children incurring a bulk load of debt before they even land their first jobs. The richest Black man in the world made one of the biggest acts of philanthropy in America by paying off the student loans of the entire Morehouse class of 2019. While Robert Smith’s generous contributions are something to be applauded, where does this leave the rest of Black students with immense amounts of student debt? Like damn-near everything in America, race plays a significant role in the amount of debt acquired after students graduate from college. Recent studies from Education Data report
that Black college graduates owe close to $25,000 more than their white counterparts. Almost 48% of Black students owe 12.5% more than they borrowed four years after graduating college, and are most likely to struggle financially due to monthly payments of $350 or more. To make matters worse, more than 50% of Black graduates report that their net worth is less than what they owe in student loan debt. Our students depend heavily on scholarships to pay for school and graduate with the least amount of debt possible. How many white students do you see earning one to two million dollars-worth of scholarship money to pay for college? Not many. Whether it’s trust funds, savings, or funding from Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs), white College cont’d page 7
Fans across the nation are mourning the loss of legendary comedian and civil rights activist, Paul Mooney, who died Wednesday at the age of 79. The comedian, who was the lead writer for the iconic Richard Pryor Show, died due to a heart attack, his family confirmed. Paul Gladney was born in 1941 in Shreveport, Louisiana, and moved to Oakland, California, seven years later. He was raised primarily by his grandmother, Aimay Ealy, known among the family as “Mama.” Gladney coined the nickname “Mooney” after the original Scarface (1932) actor Paul Muni, and continued with that stage name throughout his career. Mooney became a ringmaster with the GattiCharles Circus. During his stint as ringmaster, he always found himself writing comedy and telling jokes, which later helped him land his first professional work as a writer for Richard Pryor. Mooney wrote some of Pryor’s routines for his appearance on Saturday Night Live, co-wrote his material for the Live on the Sunset Strip, Bicentennial Nigger, and Is It Something I Said albums, and Pryor’s film Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling. As the head writer for The Richard Pryor Show, he gave many young comics, such as Robin Williams, Sandra Ber- Mooney cont’d nhard, Marsha Warfield, John page 2
“OUR VOTE AND OUR MONEY ARE THE TWO MOST POWERFUL THINGS WE HAVE. BE CAREFUL WHO YOU GIVE THEM TO.” - ROY DOUGLAS MALONSON
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President/Chief Editor
Tristar
Griselda Ramirez: Production
May 23, 2021
EDITORIAL
A Revival of God
Consciousness Bobby E. Mills, PhD
Office: (713) 692-1892 Wednesday – Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
GREATER HOUSTON EDITION
Don’t get on the devil’s side! Christian Right Evangelicals have been lured into spiritual complacency, and consequently have confused right and wrong. Christians should never replace one sin with another sin. Sin is sin, and “all individuals have sinned, and have come short of the glory of God.” Christian Right Evangelical Pastoral leaders must correct the course by preaching and teaching God’s adulterated WORD, because Christian Right Evangelical believers have allowed the evil of exclusion to go too far! This must be spiritually corrected through prayer, teaching, supplication, and the eternal word of God. Equal is eternally equal in the sight of God, because God created all nations out of one blood. The Covid-19 Pandemic should have been a spiritual wakeup call, because President Donald Trump’s management of the health crisis left a lot to be desired spiritually, politically, and
economically. America, there is no doubt about it, had President Trump been re-elected, America as we know her to be would no longer exist. Thanks be to God for the faithfulness of the descendants of former slaves, other ethnic minorities, and some inclusive oriented Whites, America was saved from itself, and the eternal damnation of White Privilege. The false doctrine of White Privilege that is perpetuated by the false religious doctrine of Christian Right Evangelicals is destroying the soul and moral culture of American society. The demonic nature of White Privilege is most prevalent and systemically-institutionalized in law enforcement: policing. These racially exclusion attitudes/values are based upon White Privilege-Institutional Racism, and they are reinforced in families, churches, educational institutions as well as society in general. No doubt about it, racism is of the devil. The ultimate objective of the devil is to kill and destroy through lies and the creation of confusion. Former President Trump was the Liar in Chief, because while occupying the Office of President, he told 35,000 lies that we know of. We do not know the Godly record. God has a more
complete record, because God judged the righteous and God is angry with the wicked every day. Christian Right Evangelicals as long as there is life in you, there is time for you to repent, and turn from your ungodly wicked racist ways, because: “We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8: 28). The things that were stated previously are things that needed to be said, and being said they are behind US. We should understand our past in order that we might not repeat it. However, America’s past should not be America’s future. We must live in the NOW, and recognize that the future belongs to our children. Therefore, teach them well, about God, truth to power, and the righteousness of godly-stewardship of the planet, because nature is not and endless plentiful resource. Therefore: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways: then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7: 14). Selah. - AANI
Mooney cont’d Witherspoon and Tim Reid their first breaks into show business. Mooney also wrote for Redd Foxx’s Sanford and Son and Good Times, acted in several cult classics including Which Way Is Up?, Bustin’ Loose, Hollywood Shuffle, and portrayed singer/songwriter Sam Cooke in The Buddy Holly Story. Much of Mooney’s material was based on the subject of racism in the United States, and he was scrutinized by his constant use of the “N-word.” He was the head writer for the first year of Fox’s In Living Color, inspiring the character Homey D. Clown, played by Damon Wayans. Mooney later went on to play Wayans’ father in the Spike Lee film Bamboozled as the comedian Junebug. Mooney initially appeared in the sketches “Ask a Black Dude” and “Mooney at the Movies” on Comedy Central’s Chappelle’s Show. He later appeared as Negrodamus, an African American version of Nostradamus. As Negrodamus, Mooney ad-libbed the “answers to life’s most unsolv-
able mysteries” such as “Why do white people love Wayne Brady?” (Answer: “Because Wayne Brady makes Bryant Gumbel look like Malcolm X.”) Mooney was planning to reprise his role as Negrodamus in the third season of Chappelle’s Show before Dave Chappelle left the show due to stress. In 2006, Mooney hosted the BET tribute to Black History Month titled 25 Most @#%! Moments in Black History. In this show, he narrated some of the most shameful incidents involving African Americans since 1980. The top 25 moments included incidents involving Marion Barry, Terrell Owens, Wilson Goode, Michael Jackson, Flavor Flav, Whitney Houston and Tupac Shakur. In 2007, Mooney released his first book, a memoir called Black Is the New White. In November 2014, his brother announced that Mooney had prostate cancer. Mooney continued to tour and perform his stand-up comedy act. Controversial or not, Mooney was a true trailblazer and he, and his work, will be remembered for ages. AANI
GREATER HOUSTON EDITION
May 23, 2021
EDUCATION
AFRAMNEWS.COM 3
stUdeNts reCeIve PrestIgIoUs sCHolArsHIP By: AANI Staff
The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation awarded five Lone Star College students with its prestigious Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Transfer Scholarship. Each student will receive up to $40,000 per year for up to three years to cover a substantial share of educational expenses including tuition, living expenses, books and required fees toward completing their bachelor’s degree at a selective four-year college or university. Lone Star College had the most students of any community college in the new class of scholars in the nation. “Congratulations to these Lone Star College students on this incredible accomplishment,” said Stephen C. Head, Ph.D., LSC chancellor. “I would also like to recognize the tremendous work that our faculty puts in to help our students reach their goals.” The LSC students selected were Fizza Afreen, LSC-University Park; Rachel Aquino, LSC-Tomball; Daysi Duarte Benito, LSCNorth Harris; Brayan Gutierrez, LSC-CyFair; and Kathryn Price, LSC-Tomball. “We know how much exponentially harder this past year has been on students. It’s an honor to award this group of individuals as they have achieved so much both in the classroom and in their daily lives,” said Seppy Basili, Jack Kent Cooke Foundation executive director. “We are proud to welcome this new class of Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholars to our community and are excited to
support them as they transition to four-year institutions.” “Everyone from the chancellor and campus presidents to our innovative faculty and staff mentors are committed to continuing the high-quality experiences that make a difference for students’ transfer and career goals,” said Katharine Caruso, Ph.D., LSC associate vice chancellor Honors and International Education. “Undergraduate research, international exchanges, scholarships, internships, leadership programs, and involvement in campus life and the Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society set the stage for students to succeed.” In all, 26 LSC students have been awarded the Cooke Undergraduate
Transfer Scholarship since 2012. “The Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship is a highly competitive award with more than 1,300 students from over 370 colleges applying this year, so this is quite an achievement,” said Laura Tagget, LSC English professor and International Faculty Fellow who teaches first-year Honors College students. The LSC students are enrolled in the LSC Honors College which offers a wide range of opportunities for honors students including incoming freshman wanting to graduate with an Honors AA or Honors AS degree, high-achieving students seeking to graduate with Honors distinction and students
interested in earning individual Honors course credit. “The Honors College has people who are willing to help other people,” said Benito. “During my first semester professors were willing to help you with anything. The Honors College is like a community.” In addition to receiving up to $40,000 per year for tuition and expenses, these students will also receive all-inclusive educational advising from foundation staff to guide them through the processes of transitioning to a four-year school and preparing them for their career. - AANI
4 AFRAMNEWS.COM
May 23, 2021
TRAILBLAZER
Howard University’s Dean of College of Fine Arts
By: N.L. Preston
Phylicia Rashad, the Houston native who became everyone’s favorite TV mom, is the new dean of the College of Fine Arts at Howard University. Before the Jack Yates High School alumna stole the show as “Claire Huxtable” on The Cosby Show, she graduated magna cum laude from Howard University in 1970, in which she is returning to help the next generation. “I would like to see the work that was established during my time blossom again with a new thrust,” Rashad said in an interview after the announcement was made. “I would like to see a program contemporized without losing knowledge. I would like to see a faculty empowered to create and produce and design robust systems and a robust program … And I would love to see us be a premiere program at the university. I would like to see the College of Fine Arts not only re-established, but see it exalted.” The 72-year-old legend earned her two Emmy Award nominations playing Bill Cosby’s wife on the groundbreaking television sitcom. She was dubbed “The Mother” of the black community at the 2010 NAACP Image Awards. She is also the sister of famed
entertainer and choreographer, Debbie Allen. While growing up, the sisters and their family moved from Houston to Mexico, and as a result, Rashad speaks Spanish fluently. In 2004, Rashad became the first black actress to win the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play, which she won for her role in the revival of A Raisin in the Sun. Her other Broadway credits include Into the Woods (1988), Jelly’s Last Jam (1993), Gem of the Ocean (2004) and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (2008). She won a NAACP Image Award when she reprised her A Raisin in the Sun role in the 2008 television adaptation. In 2007, Rashad made her directorial debut with the Seattle Repertory Theatre’s production of August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean. In early 2014 Rashad directed a revival of Fences, also by Wilson, at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey. Her career continues on the silver screen in box office smashes. She has appeared in the films For Colored Girls (2010), Good Deeds (2012), Creed (2015) and Creed II (2018). She most recently starred in Tyler Perry’s Netflix movie, A Fall from Grace, horror movie Black Box,
Pixar and Walt Disney animation Soul, and last year’s holiday movie, Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey. With an impressive career like this, we know the students at Howard University are benefit greatly for Rashad’s expertise and shared knowledge. -- AANI
GREATER HOUSTON EDITION
GREATER GREATERHOUSTON HOUSTONEDITION EDITION
POLITICS
Justice cont’d
May 2021 May23, 2, 2021 reckoning. On Wednesday, the three men who were previously charged in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery were indicted by a federal grand jury and charged with hate crimes and attempted kidnapping. On Feb. 23, 2020, Arbery was “jogging while Black” in Brunswick, Georgia, when Travis McMichael, 35, and his father, Gregory McMichael, 65, chased him down in their truck and shot him dead. The father and son used the bogus excuse that they thought the Black jogger was breaking into homes in their neighborhood. William “Roddie” Bryan, 51, was driving behind the father-son duo in a separate truck and filmed the shooting. The father, a retired police officer, leaked the video because he wanted “the public to know the truth,” his attorney said. That video is what sealed their fate and brought about the initial murder charges against the McMichaels. Now, the Department of Justice said it is clear that the men confronted Arbery “because of his race.” Arbery, who was described by all as loving and compassionate, was killed at the young age of 25. He went out for a simple jog, and never returned. He wasn’t a burglar, he wasn’t a criminal, his only “crime” in the eyes of a racist White America was being born Black. Keep your eyes open and your heads up, people. In the meanwhile, will there be justice for Ahmaud and Andrew? -- AANI
AFRAMNEWS.COM AFRAMNEWS.COM 53
CrIMINAl INvestIgAtIoN lAUNCHed
CONGRATULATIONS 2021 Graduates
Lone Star College is celebrating your accomplishments with a virtual commencement ceremony.
03.11.21.06
Tristar
LoneStar.edu/CongratsGrad LSC-CyFair • LSC-Houston North • LSC-Kingwood • LSC-Montgomery LSC-North Harris • LSC-Tomball • LSC-University Park
03.31.21.09
ings to be released. Bakari Sellers, one of the Griselda Ramirez: Production Brown family attorneys, says that even though the body camera footage is not a public document, the Sheriff has the authority to release the footage to the family in private. Office: (713) 692-1892 Shortly after the news conference, the Federal Wednesday – Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Bureau of Investigations (FBI) opened a Civil Rights investigation sepaBy: Nevaeh Richardson rate from the state’s examiJust when you thought nation of the shooting. you heard the last of Why do we have to Donald Trump, he jump through hoops to finds his way under get the full footage of the shooting released? The the spotlight again, video showing the deadly but this time, not in shooting of 16-year-old a way that he would Ma’Khia Bryant in Coprefer. The former lumbus, Ohio was represident could face leased several hours after two criminal cases the incident, so what’s from both the Man- different about this case? Democratic state lawhattan DA’s office and the New York state at- makers are advocating torney general’s office. for legislation to require Investigators first be- that all body-cam and gan probing the Trumpdashboard-cam footage be released to the public within Organization as a civil 48 hours, unless a court ormatter. The focus was deder restricts access. termining if the organiza- Civil Rights Attorney tion valued its assets disBenjamin Crump is coming right out with it, “What is the PasCriminal cont’d pageasking, 6 quotank County Sheriff ’s Office hiding?” We have to ask the same thing, but we should already know. White folks trying to protect other White folks while Black folks getting ready to bury another one of their own. Ahmaud Arbery And with the continuous spree of murdering Blacks, another former law enforcement officer – and his son – may finally have their own day of President/Chief Editor
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honestly for tax and loan purposes, but the more they uncovered caused things to escalate. “We have informed the Trump Organization that our investigation into the organization is no longer purely civil in nature,” spokesman Fabien Levy stated to NPR News. “We are now actively investigating the Trump
Organization
in
a criminal capacity, along with the Manhattan DA.” The former president claims the probe is politically motivated and addressed the state and local prosecutors in a lengthy statement on Wednesday. “I have built a great company, employed thousands of people, and all I do is get unfairly attacked and abused by a corrupt political system. It would be so wonderful if the effort used against President Donald J. Trump, who lowered taxes and regulations, rebuilt our military, took care of our Veterans, created the Space Force, fixed our border, produced our vaccine in record-setting time (years ahead of what was anticipated), and made our Country great and respected again, and so much more, would be focused on the ever more dangerous sidewalks and streets of New York,” he said. It seems that’s his story, and he’s sticking to it. -- AANI
GREATER HOUSTON EDITION College cont’d students do not depend solely on scholarships, grants and loans, as many of our Black students do. “You have to go to college to be successful,” is a widespread belief within the Black community. But the reality is, the debt that comes with this education leaves graduates in financial shackles for the majority, if not the rest, of their lives. This college education that supposedly gives Black students a better chance in life has proven to keep generational wealth and home ownership far from the grasps of the Black community. We can’t keep portraying college education as the epitome of success. Our graduates end up with a rude awakening and find themselves in the same positions as people without college degrees. Not only do we push the narrative that college is the end-all, be-all, we also unintentionally put down our youth who are not ready for college. The reality is, college is not for everyone, and that’s okay. It is not that the youth who choose not to attend college are lacking in intelligence and ability, some people find it better to start their careers straight out of the gate. Our immediate
focus should be providing and promoting alternatives to college, while helping our college students graduate without suffocating debt amounts. We have lost focus of teaching our youth the value of trades! Within the past three
decades, we’ve witnessed a shift in the American school curriculum. Vocational classes like cosmetology, wood shop, auto mechanics, home economics, etc. have all been replaced with college prep and the ridiculous method of shoving information down the throats of our students just for them to regurgitate it during unrelentless testing. Our youth are so talented and learn in many different ways, but the American education system constantly reinforces the notion that if you do not conform to this method, you are a failure. There’s something sinister about the claim that a degreeless high school graduate has nothing more than a minimum wage job at a
May 23, 2021 fast food restaurant in their future. The Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce states that there are over 30 million recession and pandemic resistant jobs that pay over $55,000 annually and do not require a bachelor’s degree.
businessman and philanthropist Al Kashani, to build entrepreneurship programs at Wheatley, Worthing and Kashmere high schools. The program, named the G-Unity Business Lab, was funded by a $300,000 donation from 50 Cent and a matching $300,000 from HISD. The business lab aims to prepare students to learn about the life cycle of a product - from concept to branding through MBA-level courses. The program is set to That is compared to start in fall 2021, and the average salary of will end the year with college graduates that a Shark Tank inspired sits around $50,000 competition judged a year and $30,000 worth of debt. It is also imperative that we instill the spirit of entrepreneurship in our communities, and it begins with our youth. That is why rapper, actor, and philanthropist Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson’s contribution to underserved Black schools in the Houston Independent School District is a huge step in the right direction for our students. The new Houston resident has already set his sights on turning young Houstonians into the new business leaders of tomorrow. 50 Cent is teaming up with HISD and the Horizon United Group, led by prominent
AFRAMNEWS.COM 7 by 50 Cent, Kashani, and other community leaders. Winners will receive money to start their businesses within their communities. “It’s great to be giving back to this community that’s already given me so much,” Jackson said at the City Hall press conference alongside Mayor Sylvester Turner, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee and HISD interim superintendent Dr. Grenita Lathan. “These young kids can do great things if they just have the right skills and tools. This program is going to help get them there.”
Perhaps we can take a page out of 50 Cent’s book and equip our youth with ‘the right skills and tools’ to help them succeed. With the racist practices embedded in our current school systems, we have no choice but to teach our students how to survive without college. We must constantly remind our youth that it is possible to be successful without a college education. Our college graduates, trade school graduates, and entrepreneurs are the key to breaking financial generational barriers in the Black community. --AANI
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