Vol 28 Issue 30

“Addressing Current & Historical Realities Affecting Our Community”

WhiteWaShing

eDucation anD PoliticS

By: Jazz Pazz

How would you distribute nearly thirty-three billion dollars left over after you balanced your accounts? This is the dilemma Governor Greg Abbott faces at the end of this year’s regular session of the Texas legislature.

This redundancy is greater than the entire budget of 24 other states. According to the Texas Tribune in March, If the surplus were passed out equally to each of our fellow 30 million Texans, everyone would get about $1,088. With that bonus, every single Texan could purchase more than three avocados

per day for a year. Or we could pay for every student’s school lunch (no guacamole, please!) every day from their first day of first grade until they graduated high school and have enough for 30 more days each.

Or you could improve Texas’ per-student funding for education. Currently we are close to the lowest extreme of all the other states, and our students are being denied adequate and accurate instruction.

By: Chelsea Davis-Bibb, Ed.D.

One mom, Jacilet Griffin is seeking justice for her son, Evan Griffin Lee, who was found dead in a Harris County jail on March 18, 2022. It was a phone call that no mom should ever receive. Griffin received a call from Ben Taub Hospital that her son needed emergency surgery and was not able to make a decision for himself. However, according to Jacilet, she was not able to see her son, or receive any kind of communication or updates about his condition as time progressed.

Back in December, Jacilet said her son was walking home from the store when two officers pulled up on him. She then received a call from the officers asking if her son had a probation officer. “No, he never has.” She asked other questions to get more information, and to no avail, the officers said they will call her back. The next call she received; her son was detained at Fort Bend County. According to Jacilet, she was told that her son looked like a prison escapee. He was being held in Fort Bend County until Harris County could pick him up in ten days.

Custody on pg. 4

Success is one of the greatest cause of failure

- Roy Douglas Malonson

Whitewashing on pg. 3

evan Griffin Lee

EDITORIAL

A Revival of God Consciousness

America Is Caught-Up in A Whirlwind

No doubt about it, America is caught-up in a whirlwind of its own making. Sadly, Donald J. Trump is the centrifugal force moving forward in a violent manner, and he has been indicted for three crimes against American democracy.

Donald J. Trump is neither a spiritual or Bible-based in his thinking or actions.

Donald J. Trump is truly an ungodly man riding a whirlwind of utter disaster and looking to drag American multicultural democracy into his hellish scheme of utter destruction.

It is a spiritual fact if an individual does not believe in God, he or she will fall for any and everything ungodly. More importantly, individuals who are listening to or have gotten caught-up in Trump’s ungodly antics and devilish conversations are not Bible-based individuals nor do they have a personal spiritual relationship with God through Jesus Christ. America, know this, “Be not deceived, God is not mocked: for whatsoever a

man soweth, that shall he also reap.” (Galatians 6: 7). The question must be asked: who are the (73+) million Americans who voted for Donald J. Trump knowing profoundly who he is, a man of the secular world that does not believe in multicultural democracy?

Trump is a White Privilege Autocrat, and that is putting it mildly! America, when a man tells you who he is, believe him, and Trump has said and demonstrated time after time who he is. Classic example, Donald Trump, was ordered by the court system to pay (5) million dollars for violating the human dignity of a woman. Shame, shame on any woman who voted for or who would vote again for such an ungodly creature of the world, such as Donald J. Trump. The women who voted for Donald J. Trump have sown to the wind, and “For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind” (Hosea 8: 7).

Donald J. Trump has been indicted three times for crimes against democracy and the American people, and potentially will be indicted a fourth time in the state of Georgia.

Food for Thought

Oscar Blayton

ETHNONATIONALISM – CORROSIVE AND TOXIC

You would be hard-pressed to find a nation without a creation myth. Such myths are the fountainhead of justifications for most belligerent acts by one group of people against another.

But let me back up, because words are important, and the misuse of words is often the cause of belligerence that leads to misery and death.

The Nation

In this commentary, the word “nation” refers to a large body of people who are united by common descent or a history, traditions, cultures and often language. In today’s world, nations often are understood to be nationstates – those geo-political entities displayed in multicolored patchwork fashion on global maps in elementary schools across the country. In many instances, those colorful patches are shaped by one group of people imposing their will upon another.

Despite current geopolitical realities, the word “nation” traces its roots back to the

Latin, nationem, which was used to voice the concepts of “birth, origin; breed, stock, kind, species, race of people or tribe.” And even though race is a social construct, it weighs most heavily when defining the concept of a nation.

The complex tapestry of human history has created a mishmash of concepts such as “race” and “nation.” The distinguished Irish author Seumas MacManus wrote a celebrated book titled “The Story of the Irish Race: A Popular History of Ireland.”

The Irish inhabit the island of Ireland, which sits in the north Atlantic Ocean to the northwest of the landmass many refer to as “Europe.” MacManus considered the Irish to be a homogeneous and distinct race of people separate from northern Europeans or the English. But apart from their cultural characteristics, the Irish are indistinguishable from northern Europeans and the English. To complicate matters further, the Irish are divided politically into two separate nations. Those who live in the north of the island are a part of the United Kingdom and those who live in the south are citizens of the Republic of Ireland.

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Bobby Mills, Phd

Whitewashing cont.

You could increase the paychecks of Texas teachers. Their minimum annual salaries ranged from $33,660 for a beginning teacher to $54,540 for a teacher with 20 or more years of experience during the 2022-23 school year. They are the only state employees who have not received a raise this year. No wonder experienced, successful teachers are departing the classrooms, forcing the newer ones to work harder, longer and try to control larger classes.

For comparison, the governor’s salary is $153,750, which is the 21st highest among all the states, and comes with

free housing, healthcare, travel reimbursement, security, entertainment expenses, and automobile transportation ... No “wokeness” or historically accurate lesson plans required.

Of course, school safety is a priceless priority for Republicans and Democrats. After the massacre in Uvalde last year there have been frequent discussions about how to “harden” schools, with some lawmakers calling for better access to the state’s mental health system, which ranks dead last among the other states in this country.

To protect campuses the governor has recommended that school safety officials conduct “unannounced, random

intruder” appraisals of Texas public schools. Education advocates are skeptical of sending unannounced, fake intruders, anxious that the actors participating in such practices might be subject to defensive attack by any observer who misidentifies them as a legitimate threat. Clay Robison, a spokesperson for the Texas State Teachers Association sees this as “just another way to avoid addressing the issue of doing something about too many guns in the hands of the wrong people.”

But if parents can be provoked to sufficient disgust over the appalling conditions of our public schools perhaps it will sponsor tumultuous, groundswell support to

Medicare Part D

abandon them entirely. In that case the governor has an eager scheme to remedy the dissatisfaction: his private (Christian) school vouchers plan!

Florida has had such a plan for over 20 years. As a result, Black History (and Blackness) has been a casualty in that state. An Advanced Placement course in African American history was prohibited because it was determined to be without “educational value.” Instead, fanciful “whitewashing” history lessons will be in Florida’s public schools in the fall, including the preposterous suggestion that people of another continent weresiezed, tortured, and then perished as a clever way to learn a trade.

(“Slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”)

Our nation is being consumed by culture wars. Students’ understanding of our collective past and prospective future may be contingent on whether they are educated in a red or a blue state.

“Our children deserve nothing less than truth, justice, and the equity our ancestors shed blood, sweat, and tears for,” Derrick Johnson, president, and CEO of the NAACP, said in July.

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Custody cont.

The issue that Jacilet continued to face was that she was not given any information no matter how hard she pressed. She also needed to get access to her son because he was a diabetic. Sadly, Evan became ill. “He was passed out in his cell and his blood sugar was 39,” she said, on many occasions, while in custody. She went back and forth trying to get more information even though her son had a defense attorney. She was told that they would get “everything dismissed and washed out of the system.”

The court date for the case to be dismissed was March 21, and “unfortunately he did not make it.”

Seeking answers, “I have reached out in

every single local state government that I could,” Jacilet said.

On March 22, Evan was brain dead, and it was a struggle for her to see her son. The doctors were going to let them go up to see Evan, but Jacilet said “Harris County told us to step back.” The nurse then told Jacilet, “If you all don’t donate his organs, we’re going to send him to the morgue right now…I chose to donate organs so we could see him.”

Jacilet was able to see him for another 12 days before the organ donation, and her son Evan was able to save three lives.

On December 16, 2022, Jacilet said the Texas Rangers gave her a cause of death, which was ruled a homicide for blunt force trauma.

In January 2023,

she received a death certificate, but as of today, she has not received an autopsy report. “I have written to every amenity, every agency within Harris County and the Texas Jail Commission to get a copy of the medical examiner’s report. It’s been refused by the Harris County District Attorney’s Office…I did everything they asked me to do, but I still have not received an autopsy.”

After receiving national attention for fighting for her son, attorney Ben Crump reached out to her, and she hired him as counsel.

Jacilet won’t stop fighting for her son until she receives closure.

She has been through a lot since the death of her son,

including a mental breakdown, getting sick, and losing employment from her job. Despite these challenges, Jacilet started a movement called Justice4Evan Movement 2022: “Custody2Casket”. Also, she authored House Bill 3434, to be named after Evan. She has been all over the nation speaking at different events, schools, and organizations about her son’s story. “There’s still a lot of injustice and how we need change, especially with our jail reform.”

During the interview, Jacilet spoke about her son and who he was as a person. “Evan was a good-hearted gentleman and he suffered from mental challenges and had a job. He loved to work, Evan

walked to work daily, a car was donated to him, he never got to use it. He also liked to ride on his gokarts and dirt bikes. He would always fix everyone’s dirt bike in the neighborhood at no charge.” She also

discussed how smart Evan was and how he received an associate degree in mechanical engineering.

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Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, Jacilet Griffin, and State Representative Ron Reynolds

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PuBlic nOTice

NOTICE TO PROPOSERS

The Houston Independent School District Purchasing Services Department located at 4400 West 18th Street, Houston, TX 77092 is soliciting Request for Proposals (RFP) via the District’s electronic bidding portal. Proposers may login to view specifications and submit their responses at the following link https:// houstonisd.ionwave.net/Login.aspx

until 11:00 a.m. (CST) Tuesday, September 12, 2023, for the following solicitation:

RFP 23-06-03 Mobile Equipment Insurance

Pre-proposal conferences via Microsoft Teams will be held in conjunction with this RFP. Information regarding dates, times, and instructions to receive a link to join the meeting can be located within the electronic bidding portal under the “Event Details” tab specific to this solicitation.

PuBlic nOTice NOTICE TO PROPOSERS

The Houston Independent School District Purchasing Services Department located at 4400 West 18th Street, Houston, TX 77092 is soliciting Request for Proposals (RFP) via the District’s electronic bidding portal. Proposers may login to view specifications and submit their responses at the following link https:// houstonisd.ionwave.net/Login.aspx until 10:00 a.m. (CST) Tuesday, September 5, 2023, for the following solicitation:

RFP 24-07-08 Houston ISD Procurement Card Program

Pre-proposal conferences via Microsoft Teams will be held in conjunction with this RFP. Information regarding dates, times, and instructions to receive a link to join the meeting can be located within the electronic bidding portal under the “Event Details” tab specific to this solicitation.

Notice to Proposers

Lone Star College Request for Proposal:

CSP #890 Expansion of Montgomery West Campus Driveway bids are due on Thursday, 08/31/23 by 2 PM. All bid event documents can be found in the iStar Vendor Portal: https://fsm.lonestar.edu/psp/fsmprd/ SUPPLIER/ERP/h/?tab=DEFAULT

For details on how to register and bid, attend the Pre-proposal WebEx tutorial on Wednesday, 08/23/23 at 10 AM

Meeting #2623 398 5836 Password: dhVT3T5YaV7

https://lonestar.webex.com/ lonestar/j.php?MTID=m0d2132e86 2ecfe5310c0b655f95e5a6d

ShOe rePair

For more information, please visit https://www.lonestar.edu/vendors Contact MC-vendors@lonestar.edu or Lydia.Sterling@LoneStar.edu

TrOPhy hunTing

the raCiaL Generation Gap

By: Stacy Brown

It’s been a poorly kept secret that the underlying reason for much of America’s hate seen in recent years revolves around the fear that white people are fast losing their grip on the nation’s majority.

That fear has resonated and is ever-present politically and socially.

The Jan. 6 insurrection, former President Donald Trump and his MAGA supporters, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ assault on Black history, the uptick in hate crimes, including police brutality against African Americans, and

the continued wave of “Karens” and “Kens.”

Indeed, white supremacists and white nationalists and the politicians who fuel them see a new majority, people of color, and that has served to spark what’s more and more beginning to look like an all-out civil war – or more pointedly, a race war.

In April 2021, the Census Bureau released the first set of results from the 2020 decennial census, providing a snapshot of the U.S. population for use in congressional reapportionment and redistricting.

But recently, the agency released more detailed census information that shows a fuller picture of the population as it stood during the once-a-decade headcount.

“These new statistics make plain that substantial old-young racial gaps exist in much of the country, and are likely to persist in the near term,” William H. Frey, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, wrote.

Pastor T. Leon Preston, Pastor Tim Dixon, Pastor M. D. Morrison, Pastor Walter August Dr. Joe Ratliff, Dr.

Remus Wright, Dr. Mia Wright, Pastor Suzette Caldwell, Pastor Rudy Rasmus Interim-Pastor Gusta Booker III Pastor Harvey

Clemons, Bishop Donald Thompson, Pastor Terrance Johnson, Dr. F. N. Williams II, Pastor Greg Patrick, Bishop Destry Bell, Bishop Kenneth Murray, Pastor Alton Mitchell, Pastor E A Deckard, Pastor Carl Colston, Pastor Gerald Shanks, Pastor Jabez

Abraham, Dr. Ross Collins, Pastor Byron Stevenson, Pastor Wendi I. Turner, Pastor Roderick Dawson, Pastor Cassandra Scott, Pastor Billy Williams, Pastor Trevy Washington, Bishop Johnny Tates, Bishop Kurt Thompson Pastor Ja’Mail Johnson, Dr. Andre

Lewis, Pastor Maurice McGartha, Pastor Murray Martin, Bishop Bill Hines, Dr. Craig Hayes, Pastor Carl Davis, Dr. Rhonda Dickey, Pastor Charlene Glover Pastor D. E Broadnax, Pastor William Hennesy, Bishop Maceo Delagraentiss, Pastor Anthony Wilcots, Bishop Dewayne Sheriden, Dr. Kenneth Campbell, Bishop Prince Bryant, Pastor

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