“Addressing Current & Historical Realities Affecting Our Community”
FROM SLAVERY TO FREEDOM MURAL
By: Shelley McKinley
e latest public art installment entitled, ‘From Slavery to Freedom,’ was co-created by Bimbo Adenugba and Victor Ash, and is featured on the side of the building at 1310 Preston St., which was formerly the Cotton Exchange of Houston. Cotton is symbolic of slavery in the United States for most descendants of the enslaved, so when looking at the mural from le to right it is the representation of the African continent with the map and elephants, where enslaved people came from, to the larger depiction of Harriet Tubman, who led many of the enslaved people to freedom
in the northern states of the USA. As Adenugba explained, “ e two murals are actually uni ed, and features an arrow of freedom.”
“First you formulate the idea and look at the space available. You design based upon the space,” explained Adenugba. ‘From Slavery to Freedom’ is on a brown building with lots of windows.
e design incorporated the windows, and used the color of the building to accentuate Harriet Tubman’s skin tone. e wall, therefore, is a part of the design.
Mural on pg. 3
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
By: Brian Lewis
is is pretty much all anyone needs to know about defending champion Coco Gau ’s 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 loss to Emma Navarro in the US Open’s fourth round Sunday: Gau wound up with more double-faults, 19, than winners, 14.
It was the latest in a series of early-for-her exits in recent weeks, including bowing out in the third round at the Paris Olympics, then going 1-2 at hardcourt tuneup events before arriving in New York.
“I feel like there’s 70 other players in the draw that would love to have the summer that I had, even though it’s [the] least, probably, [I’ve] done well during this time of the year,” said the No. 3-seeded Gau , who went 18-1 during the North American swing on hard courts 12 months ago, including the run to her rst
Coco on pg. 4
HARRIET TUBMAN MURAL BY BIMBO ADENUGBA AND VICTOR ASH
A Revival of God Consciousness
Bobby Mills, Ph.D.
IGNORANCE
TX 77241
America, ignorance has absolutely no respect for gender, race, or creed. Individuals are not born ignorant. Simply put, individuals acquire ignorance, because they refuse to study to acquire knowledge spiritually through developmental reading, listening to knowledgeable individuals, and logically analyzing information. Avoiding ignorance is a valuable life lesson, because everyone has an opinion (s). VP Harris in her Presidential acceptance address shared a powerful life lesson that her mother spiritually and philosophically taught her against becoming ignorant and your own enemy: “never allow anyone to de ne you by telling you who you are. You show them who you are by your actions”. America,
EDITORIAL
there is an ole time honored saying: “actions speak louder than words”. ank God for spiritual wisdom. A lot of Black people need to learn how to not allow ungodly individuals, such as MAGA Trumpers to de ne them by their skin-color, so-called racial identity when God created all individuals out of one blood. Black people we are children of God, Lord of Lords, and King of Kings, and our skin-color does not de ne neither our intellectual capacity nor moral character. Moral character matters in nitely more than skin-color, because skin color does not exempt an individual from the nal eternal character judgment of death. Sadly, being White in America and having historic institutionalized privileges and advantages, and still not able to become occupationally and materially successful in American society is an abomination to White Privilege. Blacks in America, because of their historic slave position in society, historically have had a xed-socio-economic status position on the social mobil-
put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:” (1 Peter 2: 15). America, on November 5th, 2024, let’s silence forever the ignorance of Trump and his MAGA cult followers in America’s political discourse, because of their lack of God conscience: “and the times of this ignorance of God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent: because he hath appointed a day, in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained:” (Acts 17: 30-31). America let’s spiritually and politically understand, Black men who are spiritually ignorant are placing blame on the wrong individual (s). Presidents do not create laws in a vacuum. Laws are created and enacted by the legislative branches of government (House and Senate). Presidents only sign legislative bills into laws; even though Presidents have in uence over the process of enacting laws.
ity Totem Pole de ned solely by skin tone, not intellectual capacity and productivity. Lest we forget, Black slave labor built the infrastructure of American society. Going along with the intellectual ignorance of Donald J. Trump, only helps Donald J. Trump, and nothing that Trump has done in the past or desires to do in the future will help any Black person or permanent-tan minority. erefore, any Black individual or minority that is willing to cast a free will vote for Trump needs to sleep with a psychiatrist. Any Black or minority that repeats anything Trump says is ignorant. For example, Trump said that VP Harris just decided to become Black, and never knew that she was Black. America, VP Harris was Black when she came out of her mother’s womb as de ned by American society based upon an erroneous idea that one drop of Black blood makes you Black. Of course, scienti cally and empirically blood is blood. Hence, “for so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may Read more at
“We Africans in America have been socially engineered to reject our past, and far too many of us live in a state of suspended animation. We deny the historical realities confronting us daily. Too many of us mistakenly believe that the past has no bearing on the present and is unrelated to the future. Thus, we have been conditioned to live our lives disconnected from cultural values, principles, and ideals - essential for peaceful living.”
- Anthony T. Browder
Mural Cont.
is is not Adenugba’s rst mural. He collaborated with Reginald Adams and other creative artists on public art around Houston. He also worked on the ‘Absolute EqualityJuneteenth Mural’ project in Galveston TX. “I have always been an artist, but I got into public art when I got to the United States and met Reginald Adams. e Juneteenth mural was signi cant because it was dedicated as a federal holiday and was signed into law in 2021. e Juneteenth mural was a springboard to a larger mural in Detroit.”
‘ e Legacy’, located on the corner of San Jacinto at Preston in Houston, TX, is also by Bimbo Adenugba. It pays tribute to Native Americans, and features the daughter of a local indigenous tribe. e re ies and roses symbolize hope and nature, the scale symbolizes justice, and the apple and glass symbolize access to food and clean water for all.
“Public art is impactful because it can educate, inspire, and a ect the mental attitude of both the artist and the viewer. e platform allows
us to pass on lots of messages,” shared Bimbo.
In addition to murals, Bimbo Adenugba also creates oil paintings. He has a show scheduled at the Anderson Art Center in South Carolina in the near future. Bimbo focuses on contemporary life situations and sociopolitical re ections. His unique style brings together colors, light and lines, with which he composes highly poetic imageries and powerful visual statements.
Bimbo Adenugba is a Nigerian artist, now based in Houston Texas. He is a recipient of several awards and laurels both academic and corporate, which includes, a rst prize National Academy Prize Award in Nigeria, fourth prize International Award from Windsor and Newton millennia art competition. He has participated in several exhibitions all across the globe, in Europe and the USA. “I feel privileged to be a Creative,” exclaimed Adenugba.
AA
ARTIST BIMBO ADENUGBA
PLATFORM ON RACIAL JUSTICE & CIVIL RIGHTS
THE DEMOCRATS’
1872
We pledge ourselves to maintain the union of these states, emancipation, and enfranchisement, and to oppose any reopening of the questions settled by the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments of the Constitution. † We demand the immediate and absolute removal of all disabilities imposed on account of the rebellion [Civil War] †† which was nally subdued seven years ago, believing that universal amnesty will result in complete paci cation in all sections of the country.
THE REPUBLICANS’ PLATFORM
1872
During eleven years of [congressional] supremacy, it [the Republican Party] has. . . . suppressed a gigantic rebellion, emancipated four millions of slaves, decreed the equal citizenship of all, and established universal su rage [voting]. Complete liberty and exact equality in the enjoyment of all civil, political, and public rights should be established and e ectually maintained throughout the Union by e cient and appropriate state and federal legislation. † Neither the law nor its administration should admit any discrimination in respect of citizens by reason of African Americans, creed, color, or previous condition of servitude.
Coco Cont.
Grand Slam title. “So many people want to be in the fourth round. So many people want to make the Olympics. So many people want to be ag bearer. It’s perspective.”
e 20-year-old from Florida did ght her way back into the match with a four-game run in which she claimed 14 of 17 points and grabbed the second set.
“Had a little bit of a lull there,” said the 13thseeded Navarro, an American who was 0-2 at the US Open until this year, “but I was able to regroup.”
Gau said. “I think it’s also just kind of a mental hurdle that I have to get over when it comes. ... But I de nitely want to look at other things, because I don’t want to lose matches like this anymore.” She nished with a total of 60 unforced errors -- a whopping 29 on her forehand side.
† is is a false and misleading promise, for Democrats had relentlessly opposed those Amendments – and the civil rights laws based on them. Not only had Democrats stridently opposed the 13th Amendment (see note on p. 7 about this Amendment), but not a single Democrat in Congress voted either for the 14th Amendment (declaring that former slaves were full citizens and therefore entitled to all the rights and privileges of any other citizen in the state in which they lived) or the 15th Amendment (granting explicit voting rights to black Americans). In fact, in the civil rights bill of 1871 to punish Klan violence, not one Democrat in Congress voted for that bill. e same was true with other major civil rights laws. erefore, voting records prove this platform declaration by Democrats to be patently false. †† e “disabilities” about which Democrats here complain were restrictions that Congress had placed upon the most strident racist individuals and states a er the War. For example, Congress required that before the former Confederate States could be readmitted, they must rst ratify both the 13th and 14th Amendments (and the 14th Amendment forbid former Rebels from holding o ce), and then create new state constitutions that guaranteed equal civil rights for black Americans. ese “disabilities” –necessary to ensure that progress was made in civil rights – had a direct negative impact upon Democrats since virtually every Confederate was also a Democrat.
Not one Democrat in Congress voted for the 1871 bill to punish Klan violence
† Republicans were rst elected as the majority party in 1861. Over the next eleven years, they passed almost two dozen civil right laws – and three constitutional amendments – to reverse the barriers of discrimination, segregation, and institutional racism.
A er each of her previous two contests in New York, Gau headed back onto the practice courts to work on her serve.
at didn’t help much Sunday, when she tied her career high for double-faults; she also had 19 in a loss at the 2020 French Open. Against Navarro, Gau delivered a trio of double-faults in four di erent games. Eleven of the doublefaults came in the nal set alone.
Gau attributed her problems to a mix of issues with her mechanics
-- “I go down on my le side a lot on my serve, and it’s something I’m aware of, but it’s tough in the moment to, I guess, try not to do it,” she explained -- and in her mind.
“It’s sometimes more of an emotional, mental thing, because if I go out on the practice court right now, I would make, like, 30 serves in a row. I’ve done it before,”
e 23-year-old Navarro, who also eliminated Gau in the fourth round at Wimbledon in July, was far steadier Sunday, although she did have 35 unforced errors. “It was a little bit of a battle of will there for a bit. But proud of just my e ort today,” said Navarro, a U.S. teammate of Gau ’s at the Paris Games. “I was able to stick in there through some tough moments.” is result follows a third-round loss by defending men’s champion Novak Djokovic on Friday, meaning the lengthy droughts without anyone winning consecutive titles in New York will continue. e last woman to win at least two in a row was Serena Williams with three from 2012 to ‘14; the last man to do so was Roger Federer with ve from 2004 to ‘08.
e Wimbledon win over Gau earned Navarro, the 2021 NCAA singles champion for the University of Virginia, her rst appearance in a major quarter nal. Her second will come Tuesday in New York against No. 26 Paula Badosa, a 6-1, 6-2 winner against
EDUCATION
U.S. PUBLIC SCHOOL ENROLLMENT HAS PEAKED
By: Bill King
In the second half of the twentieth century, enrollment in U.S. public schools nearly doubled. ere was some slowdown during desegregation, as enrollment in private schools surged. However, growth resumed by the early 1980s at a little less than 2% each year. But by the late 1990s, the growth rate began to noticeably slow, eventually falling to under .5% annually. Public school enrollment peaked in 2019 at 50.8 million. During the pandemic, parents pulled about 1.5 million children out of public schools. For the most part, those children do not appear to have returned. e National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) now estimates that public school enrollment will fall by the end of this decade to just under 47 million.
It is important to note that the o cial public school enrollment numbers include charter schools, which have grown over the last
twenty years from one million to nearly ve million. If you subtract the charter school students, enrollment in traditional public schools peaked in 2012 and has since declined by 5%. ere are several factors a ecting public school enrollment. First, as I have previously noted, women everywhere in the world, but particularly in the U.S., are having fewer children. e Census Bureau recently reported that the current fertility rate (children per woman in her lifetime) has dropped to 1.76. A rate of about 2.1 is necessary to maintain a stable population. As a result, the 63.7 million school-age children today is only slightly higher than it was in 2010. e U.S. Census Bureau currently projects that the number of school-age children will decline by 6% to 59.9 million by 2050. e reality is that, absent allowing a large increase in immigration, the U.S. will never have more school-age children than
it does today. e second factor is the rapid growth in homeschooling. Over the last two decades, the number of children being homeschooled has tripled from one million to three million. at has moved the percentage of children being homeschooled from 2% to 5%.
One of the barriers to homeschooling was the lack of extracurricular activities, especially athletics. However, there has been a large-scale movement to organize such activities within the homeschooling communities, which appears to be quite successful. Charter schools and homeschooling have combined to drop the percentage of children enrolled in traditional public schools from 84% twenty years ago to 78% today. e drop would have been more precipitous had it not been for the fact that private and parochial schools have both been losing enrollment even faster than public schools. Parochial
enrollment has fallen by 40% and private schools by 25%. It appears that charter schools and homeschooling may hurt parochial and private school enrollment as much, if not more, than public school enrollment. ere are several important takeaways from this data.
WITH EVERY TROPHY HUNT, YOU GET TWO EXTRA DOES
e
First, we should use it to inform our investments in education facilities. e truth is we do not need any more schools, at least in the aggregate, than we have today. In fact, we should probably already be closing some schools. Certainly, there will be localities where there is
still growth, and which will need to build some new schools. e exodus out of cities to the suburbs and exurbs is an example. But even in those areas, this demographic reality is going to quickly eliminate the need for any
Tuesday, September 3, 2024, 10:00AM; call-in number 1-408-7926300, Meeting #2633 367 9161
• Contact: janet.bradley@lonestar. edu or (832)813-6299.
• Must Register to Bid: http://wwwappsdstc.lonestar.edu/istar/supplier.htm . If registered, please ensure your registration is up to date. For assistance with the on-line registration process, contact MC-vendors@ lonestar.edu.
LEGAL NOTICE e 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 speci cations and submit their responses at the following link https://houstonisd.ionwave.net/Login.aspx until 10:00 a.m. (CST) Wednesday, October 2, 2024, for the following solicitation:
RFP 24-05-08 Solid Waste Disposal, Sustainability, and Organic Waste Land ll Diversion
Pre-proposal conference via Microso 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 speci c to this solicitation.
DIFFERENCE
As a born-and-bred Texas company, H-E-B is committed to fostering a culture of diversity & inclusion in Texas, both in our workplaces and the communities we serve. Celebrating the differences and similarities of all Texans is integral to everything H-E-B does, every day, from employee recruitment to supplier registration, store locations to in-store product selection.
