January 7, 2024
GREATER HOUSTON EDITION
African-American News&Issues
“Addressing Current & Historical Realities Affecting Our Community”
Vol. 28, Issue 51
FREE
We the People In 2024 we need to stay focused and be proactive instead of reative. - Roy Douglas Malonson
Photo Credit: M. Scott Brauer
PROFESSOR PRATHER
INAUGURATION
By: Rachel Thompson
The swearing in of John Whitmire and Christopher Hollins, presided over by the Honorable Victor Trevino III, Harris County JP, marked the passing of the baton between the outgoing administration and this new one. John Whitmire is now the 63rd Mayor of Houston. Optimistically, Mayor Whitmire said, “I am willing to give the next eight years my best. It’s time to go to work.” Shortly after presiding over the swearing in of City Councilmembers, Mayor Whitmire gave his inaugural address. Topics covered included homelessness, criminal justice, mental health, affordable housing, and infrastructure. “I’ll ask Metro to partner with us since it is their buses that tear up the streets,” exclaimed Whitmire. He also described a ride-along with Chief Troy Finner. “We will increase the number of officers
on the streets, and open HPD’s doors to officers from other places,” declared Whitmire while referencing the Houston Police Foundation, Don Sanders, and others. “We also need firemen. We have to get out of court. You don’t sue first responders under a Whitmire administration,” referring to the ongoing stalemate between the City of Houston and the Houston Fire Department concerning contracts. Whitmire stated that he would work with Austin, Texas for the benefit of Houston. By referencing Commissioner Dawn Buckingham of the Texas General Land Office, it was implied that his relationship with her and others in Austin will help Houston after disasters, support energy efforts, ensure that children in Houston will benefit from the Permanent School Fund, and serve Veterans. Inauguration on pg. 3
By Shelley McKinley
With a humble spirit and a pattern of excelling, Kristala L. J. Prather has done it again! She is now the new head of the Department of Chemical Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This comes after having been promoted from associate professor to Arthur D. Little Professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT in 2017. According to an August, 2017, article in the Longview NewsJournal, Prather credits her 11th-grade history teacher, Dianne Mears, for making the connection between math and science to engineering, and encouraging her to apply to MIT. That application led to acceptance to the school and ultimately the career path and ground-breaking research that she conducts today. Prather was the first African American Valedictorian of Longview High School in 1990. The second would not occur until 2007. Her mother, Alvena Jones, affectionately recalled how her daughter set her goal to become the Prather on pg. 3 valedictorian of her class.
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President/Chief Editor
Contributing Writers Dr. Bobby Mills Rachel Thompson Jazz Pazz Asia Williams William Monroe Trotter Jr. Shelley McKinley Tristar Web Graphics - Layout Design/Print
January 7, 2024
EDITORIAL A Revival of God
Consciousness Bobby Mills, Phd
Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
BLACK SELF-HATRED
STORIES, PICTURES, LETTERS TO THE EDITOR, EMAIL TO
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We are looking for historical writers That can produce stories that address current and historical realities affecting our community. PLEASE SEND YOUR INQUIRIES TO PROD@AFRAMNEWS.COM
GREATER HOUSTON EDITION
There is a spiritual sickness running rampart in the Black community that is tugging at the very existence (soul) and survival of Blacks in America. As a result, far too many Blacks have developed a “crab-barrel” mentality. A devastating consequence of Black selfhatred is the inability of Blacks to discipline (police) themselves individually and collectively. Therefore, Blacks must retrain themselves to be Godly, not worldly, and learn to: “Refuse profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness.” (1 Timothy 4: 7). No doubt about it, there is too much ungodliness operating in the Black community, and not enough spiritual understanding to know that godliness is profitable unto all things, and evil is rooted in devilish ungodliness and societal confusion. Fortunately, in the Metro-Houston, Blacks have an opportunity to enjoy the good-life as it was intended by God. However, to experience the Godly good life, Blacks must remove the spiritual-mental chains from their minds and embrace collective responsibility and embrace collective interdependence. America needs a viable democracy oriented twoparty political system based upon inclusion, not exclusion. Unfortunately,
the GOP is an exclusionary political party who simply do not desire to share anything with minorities, especially Blacks. In fact, The GOP has whole heartedly embraced and magnified to the nth degree The Trump Doctrine (TRUMPISM), based upon the philosophy of Make America White Again. Of course, America was never a White country, because Native American Indian Tribes and many Mexicans lived in America. Sadly, greed, envy, and jealousy are the cornerstones of all societal conflict in America based upon the slave system, and in (2024) to a lesser degree the slave totem-pole mentality still operates. The slave system still operates mentally, only without physical chains. Thus, too many Whites are chained mentally and physically to the past. Too many Blacks have not taken the chains off their minds spiritually in order combat White brainwashing psychology. Blacks must learn to analyze, scrutinize, and have open, honest, and truthful dialogue with each other about everything in American society, especially politics. For example, four major White Institutions of Higher Learning were recently awarded (4 billion dollars) by the Texas legislature and the voters of Texas did not utter a mumbling word nor voiced concern for the economic viability of TSU and PVAMU. What an utter shameful disgrace, and blasphemous hypocritical educational miscarriage of For more visit justice. aframnews.com
And all that Jazz Esperanza Jazz Paz
TEXAS, OUR TEXAS
Readers of a certain age may remember when being recognized as being a Texan was something to be proud of. We were known then to be friendly, honest, and welcoming. Independent, industrious workers. Highly skeptical of our government. We loved our neighbors, our neighborhood schools, our church, trail rides, and eating tamales at Christmas. Although many oldtime Texans are becoming increasingly disappointed to disgust over the political surliness towards newcomers, public displays of corruption, and radical miserliness demonstrated by the unholy trinity of Abbott, Patrick and Paxton, the rest of the world continues to be drawn here faster than double-struck lightning. With more than 30 million people, Texas has almost 8.5 million more residents than it did at the beginning of the century. The increase is substantially due to the international oil business which has always stretched from Texas to around the world. The hourly-paid oilfield roughneck who symbolized the state’s explosive wealth born of oil used to be a sunburned white man; today the typical grease-stained oilfield worker is a Hispanic who was born here. According to the U.S. Census Bureau about 95% of our population growth is
due to people of color, with Hispanics outnumbering whites making them about equal in citizenry, but unequal in representation. White voters still control elections via deliberate gerrymandering of the new political maps. Houston is one of the most immigrant-diverse cities in the nation with more than one hundred different native languages. People here celebrate Lunar New Year, Christmas, Hanukkah, Ramadan, Chavez-Huerta Day, and the Hindu festivals of Holi and Diwali. Asians account for about 5.4% of us, with that demographic growing faster than whites. In some locales new home construction is being built around the ancient design philosophy concept of Vastu Shastra. The number of Texas-born Hispanics surpasses that of Texas-born whites, but they are so much younger than the white population that their impact on Texas politics remains nascent. As those brown babies reach voting age the Texans the political environment will fluctuate, but perhaps not in expected ways. Most Asians and Indians are socially, fiscally, and religiously conservative. Latinos are also more traditionalist, family orientated (anti-LGBT), and religious (anti-choice), which may make Republicanism appealing to them. Black Texans make up about 12% of our residents. Texas leads the nation in the growth of its Black population, and those coming here are more likely to be professional and middle class than not. For more visit aframnews.com
GREATER HOUSTON EDITION In addition to Inauguration Cont. his platform, Whitmire explained that another goal of the ceremony was to show the diversity of Houston. The program featured Khambrel Marshall as the Master of Ceremonies; performances by the Houston Symphony and the Grand Opera; a joint Honor Guard comprised of first responders from HPD and HFD; soloists Mary Griffin and Shaun Smith; and Eduardo Trevino,
January 7, 2024 Mariachi Nuevo Imperio. “I was told that I can unite this city, and that’s what I intendent to do,” stated Mayor Whitmire. In attendance were Mayors Emeriti Sylvester Turner and Annise Parker, as well as former First Ladies, Elyse Lanier and Frances Brown. Councilmembers’ escorts, ranging from spouses to grandchildren, were also seated behind their For more visit elected loved one. aframnews.com
Prather Cont.
“Kris was always very focused and knew what she wanted to achieve. While at a school event during her freshman year, she was congratulated for having the highest g.p.a in her class. This was news to both of us. At that moment she decided that she would not make less than a 95 in any class. She set her mind to it and achieved it,” shared Jones. “In spite of all her accomplishments, she is very humble and reaches out to students from Texas that she encounters at MIT,” added Jones. Additionally, Prather uses her personal time to empower students beyond MIT and connect with the next generation. While on sabbatical, she connected with future
AFRAMNEWS.COM 3 Black women scientists and engineers at Spelman College. She also has the Prather Research Group website which features her three main categories of research, training videos, resources, publications and more. Anyone interested in science or engineering can simply go to the site and start learning. According to the August 24, 2021, MIT Technology Review, Professor Prather made it practical to turn microbes into efficient producers of desired chemicals. She is also working to reduce dependence on petroleum. To date she has 72 publications, and has been cited by other researchers nearly 3000 times. The article, “Dynamic regulation of metabolic flux in engineered bacteria using a
pathway-independent quorum-sensing circuit,” (August, 2017) is an MIT Open Access article and considered a flagship paper. “Until you start talking about E.coli, you wouldn’t know how smart she is,” lovingly stated Jones, underscoring her daughter’s humbleness. Prather received her bachelor’s degree from MIT in 1994 and her PhD from the University of California at Berkeley in 1999. She joined the faculty at MIT in 2004. Prior to joining MIT, Prather spent four years working in bioprocess research and development at the pharmaceutical company Merck & Co. She starts her new positon effective Jan. 1, 2024.
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January 7, 2024
LOCAL
COMMISSIONER RODNEY GRIFFIN RECEIVES PRESIDENT’ S LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD Former Commissioner Rodney Griffin of Missouri City was presented the 4th Annual President’s Lifetime Achievement Award, December 3, 2023 at City Centre in west Houston. Dr. Sonia White founder and CEO of SMILE Inc. presented on
behalf of President Joe Biden. Griffin is a trailblazer and in the announcement of the award, Griffin was cited for being a White House guest at the Fiftieth Civil Rights Summit; an alumnus of the Fort Bend Chamber Leadership Forum; being named a Jesse H.
Jones Scholar by the Houston Endowment; his service on the appraisal review board; and for being the first party officer of Texas to endorse Barack Obama, then the junior senator from Illinois, for the U. S. presidency.
(L.) Dr. Sonia White, Commissioner Rodney Griffin (Honoree), Jalene Mack, Miss Texas, and Rep. Ron Reynolds
GREATER HOUSTON EDITION
EDUCATION KNOWLEDGE IS POWER Every senior at H.I.S.D.’s Carnegie Vanguard is admitted to college with 95% matriculating to four-year institutions. Every single senior. First generation college bound students from very low-income families. Students with less than exemplary grades. Even uncertain students who are not convinced of the value of higher education are expected to try, and each of them have been accepted at a college or university before they graduate. Some are awarded full scholarships to prestigious institutions; some accept work-study packages and borrow to cover their expenses locally.
Their school counselors and interns faithfully channel these students through the process of determining their destiny. For schools without such devoted on-site advisors private college admissions consultants are happy to help. Count on spending between $850 - $10,000 with an average hourly rate of $200 for their advice which comes with no guarantee of admittance to your desired institution. For students in-between these circumstances, free help (and sometimes funding) is available to direct your endeavor. Libraries are a good source of information. College admissions offices
are full of helpful details. Teachers are often helpful. Dan Lee is an admissions consultant who believes that some colleges covet first-generation college students (those from homes where neither parent holds a bachelor’s degree) so much that they are preferred over more highly prepared students. To demonstrate their preferences these schools, offer scholarships to some capable, less well-resourced students whose parents lack a bachelors degree,. He says colleges and universities realize that GPAs and standardized test scores are frequently the result of socioeconomic cir-
Knowledge on pg. 5
GREATER HOUSTON EDITION Knowledge Cont. cumstances, so many institutions review low-income students’ performance through the lens of their individual high schools, not in comparison to the entire applicant pool. Mr. Lee co-founded the Solomon Admissions Consulting Group, and he understands how challenging it is for a student to make themselves outshine their peers in the effort to be chosen by the school of their choice. “Especially for kids who are applying to a lot of the top schools, it’s almost like
a part-time job.” Certainly, many kids must feel like a parttime job is necessary just to participate in the college application process, even before paying for the tuition, fees, books, and board needed to continue their education. Registration to sit for the SAT costs $55 (but can be waived for eligible candidates). Application fees to individual colleges can run up to $100 but most Historically Black Colleges and Universities offer a Common Black College Application (CBCA),
January 7, 2024 allowing students to apply for up to fifty HBCUs with just a single application and $35. As you consider your academics beyond high school, there are numerous reasons to remember Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) represent only about 3% of the nation’s fouryear nonprofit colleges and universities, but they enroll about 10% of all Black college students. HBCUs award 17% of all bachelor’s degrees earned by black students in the United States. Almost a quarter
of all Black graduates with a bachelor’s degree in a STEM field are products of HBCUs, according to the United Negro College Fund, and are a major driver of their socioeconomic mobility. An HBCU graduate will likely earn an additional $927,000 over their professional lifetime, 56% more than without their degree or certificate. There are nine HBCUs in Texas and dozens nationally. Generally, they welcome a greater number of applicants to their schools and are more affordable (by
AFRAMNEWS.COM 5 about 28% on average) than non-HBCUs. Still, you will want to maximize your prospects and minimize your financial obligations by submitting the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) as soon as the 2024 – 2025 is available, likely by the end of December 2023. The sooner your completed online application is turned in the better your chances are of a higher financial award. Also, write directly to the institutions you are most interested in attending and explain your need. Some,
particularly HBCUs, will negotiate expenses with serious students. According to a new Lumina FoundationGallup 2023 State of Higher Education study, too many Black students attending mostly white schools felt discriminated against, physically and emotionally, some to the degree that they abandoned their college goals. That’s why Kamala Harris attended Howard UniverFor more visit sity. aframnews.com
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GREATER HOUSTON EDITION
January 7, 2024
AFRAMNEWS.COM 7
LOCAL
AMERICA’S UNSPOKEN SUICIDE PANDEMIC IS THE SHARP EDGE OF SOCIAL ISOLATION By Ben Jealous
The news stays filled with endless examples of hyper-partisanship out of Washington. It is no surprise most people think that’s the only thing happening in Washington. It’s not. People still reach out across party lines to try to get great things done. A few weeks ago, I was at a bipartisan press conference reintroducing the Outdoors For All Act. Members of Congress from both parties spoke. One, a Latina Democrat from the West. The other, a
white Republican from the East. Unfortunately - and surprisingly - most of the press missed the chance to cover the rare and encouraging example of bipartisanship. More striking, though, was the reason both lawmakers had such a passion for the bill. In addition to the benefits for the planet and equity, each was urgently concerned about the need for parks to help their communities combat growing social isolation.
Social isolation drives many social epidemics in America, including our country’s mental health crisis and the silent pandemic of suicide. Community parks can ensure access to natural spaces, which is a human right. The health benefits of getting out in nature are physical and mental, but they also can be social. Especially in more densely populated areas. For more visit aframnews.com
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GREATER HOUSTON EDITION
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