“Addressing Current & Historical Realities Affecting Our Community”
LEE ALCORN: A TRUE CHAMPION OF THE PEOPLE
By: Natiece Ford
“Lee was a constant regardless. I think that will be his legacy.” at is how Commisioner of Dallas John Wiley Price described Civil Rights activist Lee Alcorn. Lee Alcorn has been a pillar in his community ghting discrimination at every turn, with many describing him as in your face about the issues. Pastor Kyev Tatum of New Mount Rose Missionary Baptist Church described Mr. Alcorn as “the greatest Civil Rights leader in Texas.” For decades Lee Alcorn was a warrior for equality, fearlessly challenging deep racism in Grand Prairie and beyond.
D. Lee Alcorn, born July 23rd 1937 in Ledbetter, Texas and served in the United States Air Force as a Cryptologist for 4 years, a erwards he would go on to graduate from the University of Texas Medical School of Radiology and Technology where he would go on to head the Radiology Department of the VA hospital encouraging Black men and women to become radiology techs ensuring that there would be people of color in positions where there otherwise would have been none. In 1995 Lee Alcorn
Alcorn 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
‘THERE IS STILL TIME TO REGISTER TO VOTE’
By:
Alice Claiborne
Important dates to remember this election season include:
Oct. 7: Last day to register to vote
Oct. 21: Early voting begins
Oct. 25: Deadline to apply for ballot by mail
Nov. 1: Early voting ends
Nov. 5: Election Day
For o cial information, including registration and vote-by-mail deadlines, please visit VoteTexas.gov or call 1-800-252-VOTE.
If you live in Texas, check your voter register immediately: teamrv-mvp.sos.texas.gov/MVP/mvp.do
Vote on pg. 4
EDITORIAL
A Revival of God Consciousness
Bobby Mills, Ph.D.
THE GOP IS DRIVEN BY FEAR AND RACISM
e GOP has declared that its political governing philosophy is based upon conservatism. Question: what is it that the GOP is seeking to conserve? Is it the Godly principles of democracy? Is it the spiritual foundational principles and oracles of God? Or is it the ungodly immoral tents of institutional racism and MAGA Trumpism? Everyone should know that the GOP is fearful of the future, and their diminishing leadership role and in uence in the political a airs of American society. Unfortunately, the GOP is driven by fear and racism that is the misguided notion of the racial superiority of Whites. America, fear comes from
Read more at aframnews.com
lack of knowledge of God. In fact, there are (61) Fear Nots in the Bible, y-seven in the Old Testament and fourteen in the New Testament. Sadly, Trump and the GOP MAGA Cult desire that Americans experience unholy fear based upon negative fear of each other rather than positive fear of God. e Bible tells us that God’s love is unchanging, and: “ e Lord is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?” (Psalm 118: 6). erefore, embracing unholy fear is sin to the nth degree, because individuals should only fear God. e American Experiment in multi-cultural democracy is driven by the spiritual-moral tenets of the Preamble to the U. S. Constitution: “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness---- at to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving
And all that Jazz
DON’T LET THEM STEAL YOUR VOTE!
Texas’s lengthy history of voter disenfranchisement is thoroughly the result of white supremacy. Voting laws here are the most deterring in the country. Voter participation is among the lowest, too. ese facts are all related.
Last month Governor Abbott bragged about masterminding the elimination of more than one million individuals from the voter rolls a er his Republican legislators passed even harsher suppression laws three years ago. “ e removal process has been, and will continue to be, ongoing,” he proudly announced.
Most of these unaware citizens’ eligibility were furtively removed for the o ense of
their county governments being unable to verify their addresses. A signi cant number were Black Democrats. When they try to cast their ballots in the upcoming presidential election, they will be informed that they are disquali ed, but it will be too late to protest. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton bragged in 2020 that he “delivered” Texas for Trump. He intends to do it again.
To con rm your current registration, visit the Texas Secretary of State site at https://teamrv-mvp.sos.texas. gov/MVP/mvp.do. Do this at least 30 days before the next election.
To register in person, print an application from the same site, or pick up one from most post o ces, libraries, or driver’s license (DPS) o ces. Complete and submit it in person to any Harris County Tax o ce Monday – Friday between 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. by October 7th. To register by mail the same application must
Read
“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
Esperanza Jazz Paz
EDITORIAL
TOLL ROADS HAVE BECOME CASH COW FOR HARRIS COUNTY
By: Bill King
e Harris County toll roads are very pro table. Over the last decade, the toll revenue has grown from $610 million annually to $896 million, a 47% increase. Because the expenses for the toll road are mostly xed, the net income from them has soared, growing by 78% ($230 million → $410 million).
e cumulative pro t over the last decade was just over $3.5 billion.
e dramatic dip in net income in2021 re ects lower tolls due to the pandemic.
1,2 Texas law provides that excess income from tolls must be used for “the study, design, construction, maintenance, repair, or operation of roads, streets, highways, or other related facilities.” Using this authority Harris County annually transfers funds to its treasury. e transfers are included in the County’s general fund but are shown as “restricted” since they are supposed to only be used for transportation projects. In the County’s audits these restricted funds are referred to as the Mobility Fund. Over the last decade the County has transferred under $2.2 billion from HCTRA.
As you can see, the transfers have been dramatically ramped up since the Democrats gained control of Com-
missioner’s Court. From 2014-2018, the Court transferred 44% of HCTRA’s net income. Since 2019 it has transferred 75%. I do not o er that observation as a criticism because I generally do not favor governmental entities hoarding funds, especially when we have pressing infrastructure needs. However, it does raise the question of why, in the face of this surge in toll revenues, the County needs to raise property taxes by the 8% currently being discussed. I also worry whether transferring such a large portion of the toll roads’ income is prudent in the long term.
e other question the transfers raise in my mind is exactly how the mobility funds are actually being spent. e state law provides that the County may transfer excess funds “without state approval, supervision, or regulation.” So, there is virtually no state oversight.
I have not been able to nd much public information on how the funds are being spent. Harris County’s monthly nancial reports provide some general information about the transfers and expenditures. For example, as of last month, the County had spent about$174 million from the mobility fund this year and had $385
would retire as the Radiology Manager from the U.S. Department of Veteran A airs.
million on hand. But the expenses are shown in general categories such as “salaries” and “services and other” which are not particularly helpful in knowing how the money is being spent.
Mr. Alcorn would go on to found the Grand Prairie NAACP chapter in 1984 where he took up the charge of ensuring that the Confederate Flag did not y in Grand Prairie. Despite threats of backlash Alcorn stood rm, he also fought to have Grand Prairie become a single member district which would make it easier for Black people to hold o ce in Grand Prairie.
Mr. Alcorn was clear about what he wanted his legacy to be, “ I wanted everyone to be treated right and I don’t want anyone to be discriminated against because of their skin color.”
When asked what advice he could give to young activists Mr. Alcorn expressed for young people to “ stand up for what you know is right because a lot of black people will not ght for their own rights.”
local activists’ ability to spark lasting change.
A er resigning from the NAACP in 2000 (which many like Pastor Tatum did not attribute to White supremacists but to members within his own community), Mr. Alcorn founded the coalition for the Advancement of Civil Rights and on his 84th birthday Mayor Ron Jensen of Grand Prairie proclaimed July 23, 2021, as D. Lee Alcorn Day.
In 2021 community leaders of Grand Prairie petitioned the school board to rename South Grand Prairie High School a er Mr. Alcorn which has yet to happen.
Lee Alcorn still lives in Grand Prairie with his wife
I was able to dig up a Harris County Auditor report from December 2022. I found some documentation issues but concluded that “expenditures paid from the Harris County Mobility Fund generally complied with the Texas Transportation Code.” (emphasis added.) e combination of the ambiguous de nition of how the transfers can be spent, the lack of state oversight, the relatively little transparency on how the funds are currently being spent and the County Auditor’s qualication that the County’s expenditures “generally” complied with state law, gives me some concern about how these funds are actually being spent.
In many ways, Alcorn’d battles in Grand Prairie laid the groundwork for today’s social justice movements. As the nation continues to wrestle with the legacy of Confederate symbols and ghts for more inclusive representation, his e orts to bring about single member districts stand as a testament to the power of
Rhonda Alcorn.
Alcorn Cont. AA
THE DEMOCRATS’ PLATFORM ON RACIAL JUSTICE & CIVIL RIGHTS
citizens before just laws of their own enactment, . . . [as well as] in the faithful education of the rising generation †
The existing administration is the representative of conspiracy only, † † and
† Democratic support for the “faithful education of the rising generation” did not include education for African Americans. In fact, 87 percent of the Democrats in Congress voted against the 1872 education bill to help African Americans. Segregated, inferior, and dilapidated schools for blacks became the norm in the southern states under Democratic control.
The Democrats were outspoken in their attempts to segregate African Americans from public schools For example, in 1872 Democratic U. S. Representative James Harper of North Carolina widely distributed a piece called: “Separate Schools for Whites and Colored with Equal Advantages; Mixed Schools Never!” And in 1875, the Democratic Executive Committee of Ohio issued a piece on public education to “expose” what they called the dirty “tricks” of the Republicans, complaining: “The Only Positive Action of the Republican Party on the School Question in Ohio, is to Destroy the System by Requiring that Whites and Blacks be Educated Together.”
The Democratic opposition to open education for black youth sometimes went beyond words to acts of violence – as when Democrats burned eight schools in Memphis in which black youth were being taught. Additionally, since churches in the South frequently provided education for youth, such churches were also regularly burned . Therefore – contrary to the Democrats’ claim in this platform – the evidences of the widespread Democratic opposition to equal education for black youth in those years are numerous and abundant, their support for “the furhtered education of the rising generations” meant only for white students.
† †The Democrats are here complaining about the manner in which Republican Rutherford B. Hayes (the President at that time) had 8 of
Vote Cont.
THE REPUBLICANS’ PLATFORM
1880
It [the Republican Party] suppressed a rebellion which had armed nearly a million men to subvert the national authority. It reconstructed the Union of the States, with freedom instead of slavery as its cornerstone. † It transformed 4,000,000 human beings from the likeness of things to the rank of citizens. It relieved Congress from the infamous work of hunting fugitive slaves, †† and charged it to see that slavery does not exist.
In honor of National Voter Registration Day on Sept. 17, Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson reminds Texans there is still time to register to vote ahead of the November General Election.
“Texans have just a few short weeks left to register to vote, and I want to ensure all eligible Texans who want to make their voices heard are registered and prepared to do so,”
Secretary Jane Nelson said.
Gov. Texas voters must be registered to vote at least 30 days before an upcoming election date, and voters do not have to declare a party affiliation when registering. Registered voters can check their status on the Secretary of State’s My Voter Portal website.
To be eligible to vote, you must be a United States citizen, a resident of the county where you register, and at least 18 years old on Election Day.
† This reference to a nation with “slavery as its cornerstone” refers to a famous speech by the same title given by Democrat Rep. Alexander Stephens of Georgia, who left Congress to become the Vice President of the Confederacy. In his speech (“African Slavery: The Corner-Stone of the Southern Confederacy”), Stephens first correctly acknowledged that the Founding Fathers had never intended for slavery to remain in America because their ideas “rested upon the assumption of the equality of races.” But Stephens then declared: “This was an error. . . . Our new government [the Confederate States of America] is founded upon exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid – its cornerstone rests – upon the great truth that the Negro is not equal to the white man. That slavery – subordination to the superior race – is [the] natural and moral condition [of the Negro]. This – our new government – is the first in the history of the world based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth.” Thus, by defeating the Confederacy, Republicans had defeated the nation with “slavery as its cornerstone.”
†† See the notes about the Fugitive Slave Law and its repeal on pp. 4-5.
Eligible Texans are encouraged to make a plan for voting. Directions on how to register to vote and how to update existing voter registrations can be found at VoteTexas.
your rst line of defense.
Don’t wait until it’s too late. Schedule your vaccination today. Scan this code for more information: It’s time to protect yourself and loved ones from respiratory illnesses like the Flu, RSV, and COVID-19.
By: SH-FBISD News
Fort
Bend ISD (Sept. 13, 2024) – A Fort Bend ISD alum recently won nearly $300,000 on the ABC game show Press Your Luck. Former Ridge Point High School student, Gabby Metoyer, might have gone on to win the $1 million grand prize or she might have lost everything, but she received some timely advice on stage.
Gabby was allowed to bring one advisor with her, and she chose her mom who told her, “It’s time to go,” at a crucial moment when Gabby
moment when Gabby had to decide whether to press her luck or stop
Her mother Ermita Metoyer is a FBISD math and science educator who has taught at Sienna Crossing Elementary School for nearly 15 years.
“I just wanted to reassure her that whatever she decided to do, I was with her but the whole time I was hoping she would certainly walk away,” Ermita said laughing, “because I felt she had gone there and achieved what she wanted to do.”
LOCAL
included $199,000 in cash and $100,000 in prizes that show producers personalized especially for her – like an ultimate birthday bash to include 100 guests and a year of tness sessions with an elite personal trainer who works with the Houston Texans.
By: Alvin Plexico, Navy Office of Community Outreach
Chief Petty O cer
Lonnie Paul, a native of Houston, Texas, serves aboard the aircra carrier, USS Ronald Reagan. Equipped with a full ight deck and more than 60 aircra including attack ghter jets and helicopters, aircra carriers are one of the largest warships in the world.
bolstered deterrence, provided humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, and maintained enduring commitments worldwide.
Paul graduated from Elsik High School in 1995.
Gabby’s haul from the show
“ e whole experience was amazing and even if I had lost everything it still would have been an insanely incredible experience,” Gabby said, still bubbling with enthusiasm about her show appear-
show appearance months
Paul joined the Navy 20 years ago. Today, Paul serves as a personnel specialist.
“I have family who served in the Navy and their service inspired me to serve,” said Paul. e skills and values needed to succeed in the Navy are similar to those found in Houston.
“I learned the importance of resiliency,” said Paul. “People back home never give up!’
According to Navy o cials, aircra carriers are versatile and have unique mission capabilities that make them a more strategic asset for the Navy than xedsite bases. ey are o en the rst response in a global crisis because of their ability to operate freely in international waters anywhere on the world’s oceans.
Aircra carriers are the centerpiece of America’s Naval forces. For more than 100 years, they have projected power, sustained sea control,
In addition, no other weapon system can deploy and operate forward with a full-sized aircra carrier’s speed, endurance, agility and combat capability of its air wing.
With 90% of global commerce traveling by
WHITETAILBUCK (Gross
WITH EVERY TROPHY HUNT, YOU GET TWO EXTRA DOES
e guides will be with you all the way and show you around property, a er the hunt you can spend time shing, target shooting, horse shoeing or just relax.
sea and access to the internet relying on the security of undersea ber optic cables, Navy o cials continue to emphasize that the prosperity of the United States is directly linked to recruiting and retaining talented people from across the rich fabric of playing.
NOTICE OF DESTRUCTION OF SPECIAL EDUCATION RECORDS
agement Department of the Houston Independent School District is preparing to destroy personally iden-
Please proofread carefully, approval i responsibility for layout and copy/text.
tained to provide educational services
mation includes referral data, notice/ consent documents, assessment reports with supporting data, ARD committee deliberations and IEP documents Records are destroyed
Lexia, a Cambium company is bidding on Houston Independent School District Project # Houston ISD_RFP#21-06-04-C Leadership, Teacher, and Sta Development. We are looking for possible M/WBE subcontractors to provide printing services as needed. If you are interested in this opportunity, please contact Diane Dunbar at 936-676-2100 by September 23, 2024.
Cessation of services results when a student graduates, is dismissed from Special Education Services, moves out of district, or drops out of school Records currently being destroyed are for Special Education students whose services ceased in the 20182019 school year Parents/Guardians of these students or the adult student (aged 18 or over), may contact the Records and Information Management Department at 713-556-6055 before December 6, 2024 should they wish to obtain the record being destroyed
other purposes
“Durotech, Inc., as Construction Manager at Risk, on behalf of Fort Bend I.S.D, will receive sub-contractor/vendor proposals for the Clements High School Rebuild project, as designed by DLR Group. Proposals and quali cation statements will be received by Durotech, Inc., from interested proposers, sub-proposers and suppliers until 2:00 PM on Wednesday, October 16, 2024 in the presence of the Owner and Architect at the o ces of Durotech, Inc. at 11931 Wickchester Lane, #205, Houston, TX 77043-4501, Phone: 281-558-6892 and Fax: 281-496-5637. Construction Manager Contact: Sidhesh Kakodkar/Julian Ciarella.
Drawings and Speci cations will be available for review at the o ces of Durotech, Inc., and at the plan rooms of AGC, Dodge Data & Analytics, Virtual Builders Exchange, Brazos Valley Contractors Association, Construction Data and CMD Group. Prevailing wage rates in conformance with State of Texas law will be paid on this project. All proposals shall remain valid for sixty (60) days. e Owner, Architect/Engineer and Construction Manager reserves the right to reject any and all proposals, to waive any informalities and irregularities in the proposal process, and to make the awards in the best interest of the owner. By submitting a proposal, each proposer agrees to waive any claim it has or may have against the Owner, the Architect/Engineer, Construction Manager and their respective employees arising out of or in connection with the administration, evaluation, or recommendation of any proposal; waiver of any requirements under the Proposal Documents, or the Contract Documents; acceptance or rejection of any proposals; and award of a Contract.”
DIVERSITY
H-E-B’s Supplier Diversity Program works hard to ensure we’re selling goods and utilizing services from a wide variety of Texan businesses. We’re proud that our suppliers are as diverse as the Lone Star State itself.
As a former small business ourselves, we believe in and celebrate the value & strength that working with small businesses, local businesses, and businesses owned by minorities, women, LGBTQ+, Veterans, and disabled Texans brings to both our business and the communities we serve.
