Volume 29 Issue 1

January 21, 2024

GREATER HOUSTON EDITION African-American News&Issues

“Addressing Current & Historical Realities Affecting Our Community”

Vol. 29, Issue 01

FREE

We the People Your vote and your money are the two most powerful things you have. Be careful who you give them to.

- Roy Douglas Malonson

(L-R): Fort Bend ISD’s Chief Operations Officer Damian Viltz, Small Business Enterprise Program Coordinator Jeanette Boleware and Executive Director of Design & Construction Daniel Bankhead

SMALL BUSINESS RECEIVES AWARDS The Fort Bend Independent School District’s Small Business Enterprise Program (“SBEP”) provides increased business opportunities for locally certified small businesses to participate in contracting and procurement at the District. FBISD has set an annual SBEP participation goal of twenty-five (25%) percent of the dollar amount of all SBEP-eligible contracts. FBISD recognizes that individual actual

participation may vary based on subcontracting opportunities, availability of small businesses, and price competitiveness. The participation goal may change from year to year based on all relevant factors considered by the FBISD Board of Trustees.

The SBEP is a goal-oriented program, requiring contractors to whom the District Awards on pg. 3 awards prime contracts for

SISTER CHAIRPERSON VIOLA PLUMMER The Officers and Members of the National Black United Front (NBUF) extend a clinched Black Fist of Solidarity to the biological family of Sister Chairperson Viola Plummer as well as the Sisters and Brothers of the December 12th Movement (D12) at this time of her transition to the realm of the Holy Ancestors.

The relationship between NBUF members and Sister Chairperson Viola Plummer goes back over half a century before the founding NBUF or D12 due to the commonality of New York based activists, organizers, and Viola Plummer on pg. 4 revolutionaries. Indeed,

2 AFRAMNEWS.COM

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 Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

STORIES, PICTURES, LETTERS TO THE EDITOR, EMAIL TO

news@aframnews.com

PO BOX 41820 Houston, TX 77241

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

January 21, 2024

GREATER HOUSTON EDITION

EDITORIAL

A Revival of God Consciousness Bobby Mills, Phd

BLACK SELF-HATRED Christian Right Nationalism is grounded in notions of White Supremacy, not the Godcentered theological, spiritual teachings, and ministry of Jesus Christ. “What Would Jesus Do” has always been a commonsense phraseology?

Not so with Christian Right Nationalists who believe that the earth belongs to them, not: “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.” (Psalm 24: 1).

Christian Right Nationalism has always existed, because it is racism in disguise, using the Bible as a cover for racial hatred. What a shame!

Prostituting God has never been a successful strategy because God is not mocked, individuals reap what they sow. Angelou Mayou said it best: “If an individual tells you who he is, believe him”.

America, how many times and in different ways has Donald J. Trump told the world who he is. Sadly, (73+) million American voters are in absolute agreement with Trump concerning racial superiority through Power, Privilege, and Pleasure.

Individuals should never seek to justify ungodliness (sin), because “the wages of sin are death, but the gift of God is eternal life: “Thank You Jesus”.

Christian Right Nationalists have always sought to mischaracterize the Bible and the teachings and ministry of

Jesus Christ to justify White Supremacy. Christian Right Nationalist Leaders use the Bible to mischaracterize and misinform parishioners solely to promote racial superiority.

Donald J. Trump used the Bible as a prop in front of a church in Washington, D. C., and the Bible was upsidedown, and if you spiritually understand signs, Donald J. Trump’s life is up-side-down.

America, invariably the eternal truth of God shall prevail, because: “The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.”

(Psalm 19: 8). The works and spiritual words of Jesus Christ are universal, and inclusive.

Likewise, the spiritual tenets of the Preamble and U. S. Constitution are universal. Yet, Christian Right Nationalists desire particularism and White Privilege Exclusion rather than multi-cultural democratic inclusion as the Founders envisioned. The Founders believed what they penned, but they could not live up to their own spiritual vision for America.

Despite GOP Christian Right Nationalism, America has made inclusionary progress, but spiritual challenges remain. Thus, the challenge is not the distance we have come, but the real challenge is the distance we must go to achieve universal human dignity for all Americans, because: “A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.” (Proverbs 18: 24).

For more visit aframnews.com

Op-Ed

By Berthony Napoleon and Rey Robinson

REVIEWING OUR PAST The “Teaching Our Own History (TOOH) Task Force” tasked my organization, Five and Two Solutions Group Inc. (FTSG) to write this article “Reviewing Our Past.”

I accepted the task as a privilege and honor. This came about after a briefing that encompassed pre-slavery to present day, provided to the Task Force on the “Five and Two Solutions’ New World African (NWA) Studies, A Primer to Decision Making Process.” NWA is also an Ayisyen (Haitian) word which means black.

The New World African (NWA) concept highlights the peculiarity of the Africans captured in Africa, sold, shipped in chains and scattered within the Americas and the Caribbean in slavery under the whip of the Christian Empires of Europe, sanctioned by Pope Nicolas V. The program’s critical thinking, and historical analysis within the context of: Security, economic, diplomacy, informational and immigration stimulate the imagination of the African American Youth, to dig into the functionality of history. Reviewing our past critically, helps African American Youth: - To know: Who, what, where, why, when and how of slavery (to develop a never again attitude).

- To acknowledge as Africans, we were once sovereign,

many were royalties, and to discover the scattered Africans in the New World, increasing African-American’s worldview to enable vision for critical decision making.

- To cultivate a common consciousness amongst the Nwas; an identity to advance our narrative and testimony, in order to tell our own story.

- To get wisdom and understanding to rebuild our Spiritual, Educational and Entrepreneurial systems.

- To understand the status quo, and to take appropriate actions favorable to our community.

- To develop informed visionary leaders who can in turn build their people selfsufficiently and self-reliantly.

Conclusion: African American Youth in the aggregate are not grateful to their ancestors, and are not prepared to make informed decisions that are beneficial to their self-interest. The education system is inadequate to prepare African American youth. To reverse the trend, we need to “Teach Our Own History (TOOH).”

Make “NWA” history part of the learning regiment of our community, to develop visionary leaders with authentic belief systems in their People.

We have launched a statewide task force in conjunction with the Florida General Baptist Convention, Inc., Reverend Dr. Carl Johnson, President, to demand that the governor of Florida and the State Department of Education, teach black history accurately, factually and forthrightly.

For more visit aframnews.com

GREATER HOUSTON EDITION Awards Cont. architectural design services, engineering design services or construction services valued at $50,000 or greater to use, at a minimum, “Good Faith Efforts” to utilize certified small businesses subcontractors, suppliers and consultants. The SBEP is a race and gender neutral program, open to participation without regard to race, color, sex, religion, national or ethnic origin, age or disability.

Certification Any business wishing to be identified by Fort Bend Independent School District as a small business shall be certified as such by the following certification program(s): To be eligible as a “Small Business” under the SBEP, a business must have one of the following eligible small business certifications: Port of Houston Authority SBE Certification; Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO) SBE Certification; City of Houston SBE Certification; or Small Business Administration - SBA 8A (if authorized by the District for a particular procurement) Small Business Initiatives For All Bond Architectural Design, Engineering Design or Construction Solicitations All solicitations issued For more visit by the aframnews.com

January 21, 2024

AFRAMNEWS.COM 3

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

By Jazz Paz

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 wellresourced 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 circumstances, 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 parttime job.”

Certainly, many kids must feel like a part-time 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), 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 four-year 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 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 University. The Reverend Martin Lither King, Jr, and Spike Lee are alumni of Morehouse College.

Having successful individuals who look like them, whether peers, mentors, or faculty, cause Black students to feel inspired, included, and on a mission that leads them to flourish.

Houston’s own Yolanda Adams and Megan Thee Stallion both advanced from Texas Southern University. Kirko Bangz attended Prairie View A&M. A well written essay can be the most persuasive way to catch

the admission board’s attention. Choose a topic of personal significance and express yourself authentically. Reveal your personality to make the reader want to know you better. Ask a teacher to read it and offer suggestions before turning it in, but do not allow anyone else to write it for you. You are selling your amazing self to your preferred institution; no one can do that as magnificently as you can.

Enlisting an adult (pastor, coach, or supportive nonfamily member) to write a recommendation on your behalf can also be helpful but consider who you ask. An adult who is very familiar with your challenges and triumphs, your family circumstances and your promise is in a better position to promote you than one teacher who only knows you by your grade in their class.

The Mayor’s Office of Education (https:// houstontx.gov/ education/college_ planning_help.html) sponsors free college planning student and family workshops including Houston FAFSA which aids students and parents with filling out the application for financial aid, and Café College, a one-stop

For more visit aframnews.com

4 AFRAMNEWS.COM

January 21, 2024

POLITICAL

GREATER HOUSTON EDITION

JOINT PRIMARY ELECTION By: Harris County Clerk’s Office Election’s Departmen

Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth announced today that the Republican and Democratic Parties in Texas’ largest county have agreed to conduct a joint election during the March 5, 2024 Primary election cycle.

This means that the two political parties will jointly hold the election in common precincts, and voters from both parties will be able to cast ballots using the same voting equipment on Election Day. In previous years, the parties have held separate primary elections.

“Conducting a Joint Primary will be a first in the history of Harris County,” said Clerk Hudspeth, the County’s Chief Election Official.

“I commend the Chairs of each party and their executive committees for their due diligence in arriving at an accord that addresses the challenges presented by new legislation and best serves Republican and Democratic Primary voters.”

Senate Bill 924, passed during the 2023 Legislative session, provides that voting precincts cannot be combined in the conduct of a primary election. As a result, the political parties must open significantly more polling locations for

their primaries, making it more challenging to conduct separate elections due to a lack of resources.

“For Democratic and Republican primary voters, this year’s joint aspect of the Election Day voting process will be familiar. It is the same voting process used for years in the conduct of early voting during Primary Elections, and it is the same Election Day voting process used when voting in a November election,” added Clerk Hudspeth.

In Texas, primary elections take place on the first Tuesday in March in evennumbered years. The primary elections determine a political party’s nominees for the November general election.

Aside from the approval of the county chairs of participating parties and the county elections officer, the governing authority of the County must approve the joint election agreement via resolution.

For more election information, visit www.

HarrisVotes.com or call 713-755-6965. For news and updates, follow the County Clerk’s Office on social media at @ HarrisVotes and @ HarrisCoTxClerk.

Viola Plummer Cont. we have shared many battles. In the last thirty years under the servantship of ancestor NBUF Chairman Emeritus Dr. Conrad Worrill we have worked together on or participated in a number of efforts including: • We Charge Genocide Campaign • Million Youth March • Durban 400 United Nations World Conference Against Racism • The Black Power Conference • Millions for Reparations • The Fight for the life of Shaka Sankofa (Gary Graham) • Harlem Shutdown on Malcolm X Birthday • Stop the Bombing of Libya, End Sanctions on Zimbabwe During all of these efforts and more Sister Chairperson Viola Plummer exhibited strength, servantship, valuable wisdom and a steadfast commitment to the liberation of African people. NBUF has leaned heavily on the expertise of D12, particularly in the international arena.

This organizational relationship should serve as a model of how different formations can work together on common goals.

Finally, we must do as Vi exalted us during her 86th birthday celebration “FINISH THE GIG”!

GREATER HOUSTON EDITION

January 21, 2024

AFRAMNEWS.COM 5

EDUCATION

HCC BOARD OF TRUSTEES SWORN INTO OFFICE By: Dwight Daniels

Three Houston Community College (HCC) board members were sworn in yesterday in a ceremony at the college district headquarters.

New to the board are Laolu Davies-Yemitan, who will represent District IV, and Sean Cheben, who will represent District V. Current board member, Dr. Pretta VanDible Stallworth, District IX, was re-elected to serve another term.

Davies-Yemitan is a commercial real estate broker and developer

who serves as principal at Five Woods Realty.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in biotechnology with a minor in chemistry from the University of Houston-Downtown.

He also earned an MBA in finance from the University of HoustonDowntown.

Cheben has held multiple roles in the energy business with Chevron.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He attended Clear Creek Independent School District

schools through elementary, middle, and high school.

Dr. VanDible StallSean Laolu worth Cheben Davies-Yemitan was elected in Decemfrom Rice University, as The trustees serve as ber 2017 to represent well as a bachelor’s dethe governing body of District IX and earlier gree in chemistry from the college system. It served as a board memTexas Southern Univerhas nine members who ber from 1989-1993. sity.

She also holds an are elected from singleShe holds bachelor’s MBA and a doctorate in member districts.

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PUBLIC NOTICE NOTICE TO PROPOSERS: Request for sub-contractor proposals for LSC – Victory Center Expansion Durotech, Inc., as Construction Manager at Risk on behalf of Lone Star College System will receive sub-contractor/vendor proposals for the LSC – Victory Center Expansion project as designed by PBK Architects, Inc. Proposals and qualification statements will be received by Durotech, Inc., from interested proposers, sub-proposers, and suppliers until 2:00 PM on Wednesday, February 7, 2024, in the presence of the Owner and Architect at the offices of Durotech, Inc. at 11931 Wickchester Lane, #205, Houston, Texas 77043-4501, Phone: 281558-6892 and Fax: 281-4965637. Construction Manager Contact: Marcela Rodriguez.

A pre-proposal meeting will be held on Wednesday, January 24, 2024, at 2.00 PM (Location: Lone Star College-Houston North Victory - 4141 Victory Dr, Houston, TX 77088).

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AFRAMNEWS.COM African-American News&Issues

GREATER HOUSTON EDITION

January 21, 2024

AFRAMNEWS.COM 7

NATIONAL

BIDEN, THE BLACK CHURCH AND MOTHER EMANUEL

AMERICA’S BEST GROCERY CHAIN

By: John Thomas III

By: Olivia Salamone

One could be forgiven for wondering exactly what happened at Mother Emanuel on Monday when US President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. visited in his first campaign swing of the 2024 Presidential cycle. As an affiliate member of Mother Emanuel, a journalist, and a collegiate Political Science professor, I confess that I needed a few days to sit with the variety of emotions and perspectives that I felt after Monday’s program.

We know that the Black Church as an institution is more to the African American community than a religious place. It is a vital institutional pillar that has undergirded our existence.

From providing physical places to gather and shelter to opportunities for leadership and training to incubators for economic development, the Black Church is a singular institution whose influence

sets African Americans apart from different parts of the Diaspora in the Western Hemisphere.

We AMEs take pride in navigating the world of United States politics, including Presidents in our midst. William McKinley visited Quinn Chapel AME Church in Chicago in one of his last speeches before his assassination in 1901.

John F. Kennedy invited the entire Council of Bishops to the White House to recognize Daniel Payne’s role in signing the Emancipation Proclamation. And, of course, Presidential candidates routinely attend our General Conferences.

So, when people question the appropriateness of the sitting United States President to show up to an AME Church, our history shows that For more visit aframnews.com

H-E-B grocery store was named the top U.S. Grocery Retailer surpassing stores such as Amazon, Trader Joe’s, and ALDI. The global leader in customer data science, dunnhumby, announced the top retailer in its seventh annual dunnhumby Retailer Preference Index (RPI), according to Business Wire.

The RPI is a nationwide study that examines the approximately $1 trillion U.S. grocery market.

H-E-B was at the top of the ranking for the third time because the store has “the strongest customer value proposition for the longterm,” dunnhumby said in a press release.

“This is due to their superior ability to deliver a combination of better savings and better experience/assortment,

supported by time savings through superior digital capabilities,” they added.

For the second year in a row, Amazon took second place and Costco took third.

The rest of the top ten shops included Market Basket (4), Sam’s Club (5), Wegmans (6), ALDI (7), ShopRite (8), Walmart Neighborhood Market (9), and Walmart (10).

“In this year’s RPI, we illuminate how the consumer views the grocery market, and how different retailers are meeting the general population’s needs as well as the needs of different consumer segments,” said dunnhumby’s President of the Americas, Matt O’Grady.

The RPI rating process combined financial results with customer perception.

The report included the largest 65 retailers in the industry that sell food and non-household items.

Their data came

from two different places; Edge Accentual provides dunnhumby with financial statistics, while the consumer data was collected through an annual dunnhumby survey of more than 10,000 American grocery shoppers.

WHAT DOES H-E-B DO BETTER? Customers of the top ranked grocery store enjoy this store for multiple reasons.

The Texas-based chain is known for its wide aisles, with an 8 to 10 foot clearance being the standard width in hightraffic locations, reported Eat This, Not That.

The aisle space allows shoppers to browse the shelves without congestion.

The store is also known for its Texas pride including Tex-Mex staples and Texas-shaped products.

For more visit aframnews.com

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January 21, 2024

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