baton
THURSDAY, February 25, 2010
rouge,
louisiana
Vol. 34 • No. 44
a people’s publication
UN: Haiti Quake Problems Overwhelm World Response
State Library Announces 2010 Young Readers’ Choice Awards BATON ROUGE, LA – More than 29,000 students across the state in grades three through five and six through eight have chosen two books as winners of the 2010 Louisiana Young Readers’ Choice Award. “Marley: A Dog Like No Other” by John Grogan (HarperCollins Publishers, 2007) was the top choice of third, fourth and fifth graders. “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” by Jeff Kinney (Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2007), received the most votes from middle school students in grades six, seven and eight. The second place winners, or Honor Books for 2010, were “The Lemonade Club” by Patricia Polacco (Penguin Group, 2007) for grades three through five and “Deep and Dark and Dangerous” by Mary Downing Hahn (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2007) for grades six through eight. The Louisiana Young Readers’ Choice Award, now in its 11th year, is a reading enrichment program of the State Library of Louisiana underwritten by Capitol One with additional support by PermaBound Books. It is a model collaborative reading program involving students, teachers and public librarians in all regions of the state. Students in grades three through eight are encouraged to read the high-quality books that are on carefully selected book lists: one list for grades three through five and another list for grades six through eight. Using specially prepared study guides, teachers incorporate the books into the curriculum. The 2010 LYRCA program saw an increase in participation of more than 10,000 students over the previous year. Voting day is an exciting time in many schools and libraries throughout Louisiana as the students cast their votes, sometimes using the voting booths supplied by the Secretary of State’s Voter Outreach Division. “With Louisiana Young Readers’ Choice Award program, the State Library has accomplished something special in its effort to encourage our kids to read: it has given our youngest readers a voice,” said Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu. Landrieu oversees the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, which includes the State Library. A committee of school and public librarians chooses recent children’s titles for each age group that comprise the annual LYRCA ballots. The See awards, on page 2
New York - The giant earthquake that hit Haiti has caused “huge, difficult and complex” challenges never encountered by the United Nations before, which will affect and delay the world relief to the underdeveloped Caribbean nation, a UN official said Wednesday. Not all of the 1 million Haitians who have lost their homes to the magnitude-7 quake that struck Port-au-Prince on January 12 will be sheltered when the rainy season hits in coming weeks, said Anthony Banburry. Some 350,000 homeless have so far received shelter, living in tent cities, while a current plan calls for providing shelter to all homeless people. “It’s not going to be easy for the quake victims and we have to be realistic,” said Banburry, the acting principal deputy UN special envoy for Haiti. He was sent to Haiti five days after the earthquake and has remained there with the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti. “In Haiti, the UN response is not perfect and we still have a long way to go,” he said. Banburry said the Haitian earthquake and the massive loss of lives and buildings have created problems with a magnitude that far surpasses the humanitarian crises when the tsunami hit Indonesia in 2004 and Cyclone Nargis See haiti, on page 2
General Assembly Observes Moment of Silence for Haiti Quake Victims.
NAACP Brings Celebrities, Historians Together to Create the Nation’s First Interactive Black History Timeline
By David C. Ruffin Most Americans know about the first African American Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, who argued the seminal Brown V. Board case. Many are familiar with the decisive role that Ella Baker played as an NAACP organizer in the South. But few have heard of Rev. George W. Lee, a pastor and grocery store owner who opened the NAACP office in rural Belzoni, Mississippi. In 1955, despite death threats, he succeeded in getting all 95 black residents of the town to register to vote—10 years before passage of the Vot-
NATIONAL/state & Community watch
Lawrence Fishburne
ing Rights Act. He was assassinated by white supremacist terrorists the same year. What they all have in
State & Local News
Nia Long
common—giants like Marshall and Baker and the unsung such See naacp, on page 3
Business NEWS
Girl Scouts to Celebrate 98th Birthday at Spring Luncheon
Christel Slaughter
Myrtle Dorsey
BATON ROUGE — Girl Scout volunteers, alumna, and friends are invited to celebrate Girl Scouting’s 98th birthday at the spring fundraising luncheon for Girl Scouts Louisiana East on Thursday, March 11, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Lod Cook Alumni Center on the LSU campus in Baton Rouge. Luncheon sponsors for this year’s event are Kean Miller and Baton Rouge Printing. The luncheon is scheduled during Girl Scout Week with Mistress of Ceremonies Christel Slaughter, Ph.D., SSA Consultants, and Keynote Speaker Myrtle Dorsey, Ph.D., Chancellor, Baton Rouge Community College.
“Girl Scouting has always been about leadership,” said Cerise McClendon, Fund Development Associate who is coordinating the luncheon. “Whether they are planting wetland grasses for coastal preservation, exploring career options in the medical field, or implementing a community service project, Girl Scouts learn to be leaders for themselves and their world. Girl Scout Week is all about highlighting the great things our Girl Scouts are doing to make their world a better place. The luncheon offers the perfect venue for volunteers,
Black History
See girl scouts, on page 3
Health news
For the third year in a row, the Avon Foundation Breast Cancer Fund (AFBCF) has awarded LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans a $50,000 grant to enhance breast cancer outreach ....See Page 7
INDEX
holden meet with turkish officials McDonald’s #1 Fan, Chad Ochocinco, wraps up time in South Beach during Superbowl week by surprising 85 lucky fans with his favorite new McDonald’s menu item, the Mac Snack Wrap™, at the Super Bowl Fan Zone on South Beach on February 5, 2010...Page 5
Mayor Kip Holden has been making more friends across the globe and keeping Baton Rouge on the international scene. A delegation of Turkish officials sat down with the Mayor here on Friday...See Page 2
SafeLink Wireless Civil Rights Movement Heroes Now Available SafeLink is the leader in Wireless Lifeline service – a U.S. government supported program that ensures telephone service is available and affordable for eligible low-income households. ..See Page 5
The civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s challenged racism in America and made the country a more just and humane society for all. The Weekly Press salutes heroes of the civil rights movement...See Page 8
Local & State............................2 Commentay..............................4 Business....................................5 Religion....................................6 Health.......................................7
Classified Buying or selling a service, looking for for a good job or a good used car? Check out the classifeds .
THEWEEKLYPRESS.COM Celebrating 34 Years Of Service To The Baton Rouge Community 225.775.2002 Educate, Engage & Inspire Our Readers by Sharing Your Diversity FEBRUARY: Celebrating The Achievements of Great African-Americans or Community Initiatives The civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s challenged racism in America and made the country a more just and humane society for all. Here are a few of its many heroes.
Page 2 • The
Weekly Press • Thursday, February 25, 2010
Local&State Turkish Officials Sit Down With Mayor Kip Holden
READER INFORMATION
BATON ROUGE, - Mayor Kip Holden has been making more friends across the globe and keeping Baton Rouge on the international scene. A delegation of Turkish officials sat down with the Mayor here on Friday. Last June Holden traveled to Turkey to initiate business relations and sign a sister city agreement with the city of Malatya. Both cities are work-
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The Baton Rouge Weekly Press strives to be fair and accurate. The newspaper corrects any significant errors of fact brought to the attention of the editor. If you think an error has been made, call 225-775-2002
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in what we’re doing,” Mayor Holden said. “To see their interest and make sure we forge ahead in a new economic direction speaks highly for who they are and what they are about in regards to improving the equality of life everywhere.” Turkish officials will be back in April for the International Festival and they have invited the mayor to one of their big festivals this summer
Earl K. Long Medical Center Wins Awards at LSU Forum
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ing toward a consistent business relationship. “We want to create educational, cultural and economic and business relationships between the city of Malatya and Baton Rouge,” said Mehmet Sahin, Deputy for Malatya, Turkey. “And we want to promote more relations for both cities.” “To have my friends come here and express the confidence
BATON ROUGE – The LSU Health Care Services Division presented to staff of the Earl K. Long Medical Center (EKLMC) awards for quality healthcare at the 13th annual LSU Health Care Effectiveness Forum. EKLMC received the Clinical Excellence in Asthma Care Award by demonstrating superior outcomes on a bundle of asthma performance indicators. EKLMC also received the Tobacco Control Clinical Lead Award for exemplary leadership efforts on providing care to EKLMC patients in its tobacco control program. The annual forum is an opportunity for hospitals to present hospital improvement projects. The EKLMC Diabetes Disease Management Team and Emergency Department collaborated on “Improving Diabetes Management in the Urgent Care Setting.” Dr. Jolene Johnson, EKLMC endocrinologist and diabetes clinical lead, discussed results of the project, which straddled
disease management efforts and emergency department efforts to provide improved outcomes for the patient with diabetes in the emergency department (ED). Primary outcomes include increased emergency department adherence to diabetes treatment protocol and a decreased patient return rate to the emergency department for hyperglycemia. This wide ranging effort encompassed the roles of ED and disease management staff, led to more aggressive disease management treatment in the ED, and engaged the patient in early primary care followup and contact with the diabetes health care team. The LSU Health System Health Care Services Division is one of the largest public health care delivery systems in the country. It has over 35,000 inpatient admissions, nearly 196,000 inpatient days, 515,500 outpatient clinic visits, 894,000 outpatient encounters, and nearly 244,000 emergency department visits. Each year nearly 500 residents
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Haiti from page 1 destroyed the delta in Myanmar in 2008. “The earthquake was like a dagger in the heart of Haiti,” Banburry said. He cited the destruction of most major government buildings in Port-au-Prince, particularly the ministry of justice, the Supreme Court and police headquarters, which robbed the country of its judiciary system and crippled the government of President Rene Preval. UN and Haitian officials said Wednesday the death toll from the mammoth earthquake has climbed to 222,517 and the number of injured to 310,000. Banburry said the UNled relief campaign to assist the 3 million people affected by the quake, including the 1 million homeless people, is “not perfect” because of the overwhelming and complex problems. He cited the problem of shelter for the homeless. Finding a site to set up tents means clarifying land ownership and providing or certifying sanitation. Sanitation can be made worse during the rainy season because of the lack of facilities and the threat of diseases spreading among the population. “We have to solve all those problems simultaneously,” Banburry said. He said the Haitian crisis is totally different from previous humanitarian crises in which relief was handled in clusters that were not totally dependent on each other to make them work. In Haiti, shelter and sanitation, which is a major problem, is linked with the resolution of land ownership, he said as an example. Haiti’s judiciary and police systems are overwhelmed by criminals who escaped prisons destroyed by the earthquake. About 7,000 prisoners walked out of their collapsed prisons, including an estimated 300 hardcore criminals who have regrouped into gangs, the UN said. Banburry said the UN peacekeepers in Haiti had not been prepared to face earthquake problems and suffered the trauma of losing some of their own people to the quake.
marge's
Chit Chat
Thought for the which escorted AlWeek: Up you mighty lied bombers through race! European airspace on We cannot leave 1,578 missions during this month without sayWorld War II? ing something about our 2. Who developed history. How many can the first major African you answer? American-sponsored African American shopping center, ProgHistory Month Quiz I ress Plaza, in PhiladelMarge 1. Who told the phia, Pa. Lawrence Senate Armed Services 3. The hymn, “Lift Committee in 1948 that Ev’ry Voice and Sing,” he would urge black youths to by James Weldon Johnson, was resist the draft unless discrimina- meant to celebrate whose birthtion was banned? day? 2. What was the only South4. A pitcher in the Negro ern state to permit slave enlist- Baseball League for 25 years, ments in the military in 1780? developer of the bat-badger, 3. What was the first Black- jumpball, and drooper, he was owned company to be traded on elected to the Baseball Hall of the New York Stock Exchange? Fame in 1971--name him. 4. Who was the first African 5. Besides being a movie American car manufacturer in director, composer, author and 1916? semi-pro basketball player, he 5. What was the first all- was a photographer for Life Black religious denomination magazine from 1948 to 1972. in the United States? 6. Having worked as an el6. Which European nation evator operator for four dollars was the first to stop trading Af- weekly, he achieved fame upon rican slaves to the United States publication of Lyrics of Lowly in 1794? Life in 1896. 7. Who organized the 1941 7. In what year did amateur exhibition, “Afro-American Art night at New York’s famous on Both Continents,” which in- Apollo Theater begin? cluded the works of Romare 8. Who holds the record of Bearden and the Delaney Broth- 100 points scored in a single NBA ers? game? 8. Name the author who 9. Despite a 1792 discrimiwrote The Third Life of Grange natory law against Blacks in the Copeland, published in 1970? new U.S. military, which of the 9. Who was the three time country’s armed forces began to Super Bowl champion player enlist free blacks in the 1790’s? who returned to his Florida alma 10. What service did the first mater to receive his bachelor’s African American female mildegree in 1996? lionaire, Madame C. J. Walker 10. Who wrote the script for provide? the 1975 hit, Cooley High? 11. What tennis champion 11. Denzel Washington and golfer earned her place in the played in what 1981 Pulitzer Black Hall of Fame in 1974? Prize-winning play by Charles 12. This graduate of Yale Law Fuller? School was appointed commis12. Who was the only other sioner and chairman of the U.S. black actress to win the Academy Equal Employment Opportunity Award’s Best Supporting Actress Commission by President Ronald Oscar since Hattie McDaniel in Reagan in 1982. 1939? 13. In this tribute to1960’s 13. Who sang Martin Lu- R&B groups, Robert Townsend ther King, Jr.’s favorite gospel acted in and directed this moviesong, “Precious Lord, Take My -name it. Hand,” after his funeral proces14. Who founded the first sion in 1968? major African American national 14. When did James Del Rio union, the Brotherhood of Sleepbecome the first African American ing Car Porters? mortgage banker? 1953? 1976? 15. Who won the Ladies 1989? 1947? World Figure Skating Champi15. In 1990 the Mystery Writ- onship in 1986? ers of America nominated this 16. Name an African Amerinovel, written by Walter Mosley, can enterprise that you patronas best of the year. ize. 16. By the eighteenth century, 17. A scholar of West Indian what colony was the leader in dance and culture, she also, origithe slave trade? nated the role of Georgia Browne 17. In what year did Harriet in the 1940 Broadway musical, Tubman escape from slavery? Cabin in the Sky. 18. Name an African Ameri18. In what field was 44% of can enterprise that you patron- the doctorate degrees awarded ize. in 1995 to African Americans, ac19. During the nineteenth cording to the National Research century, how many states had Council? laws prohibiting interracial mar19. Who founded the Nariage? tional Negro Business League? 20. Which state east of the 20. At age 76, this former Mississippi was the first to give slave and eminent scientist narAfrican American women the rated a 1940 documentary dramaright to vote, in 1913? tizing his struggles and successes African American History to a young boy pondering the Month Quiz II options for the future. 1. What was the nickname for Have a blessed weekend. the all-Black 332d Fighter Group Love, of the U.S. Army Air Corps, Marge
Awards from page 1 lists offer a well-balanced array of excellent, enjoyable books in various genres, including fiction, nonfiction, folklore and poetry. “One of the critical missions of the State Library is to foster a culture of literacy. We know that if we encourage a child to read for pleasure, then that child is much more likely to excel at reading and succeed in school,” said State Librarian Rebecca Hamilton . “We’ve been very pleased with the excitement for reading that the Louisiana Young Readers’ Choice Award program has generated throughout the state. The program keeps growing each year, and that growth means more children are being exposed to a wonderful culture of literacy.” Information about the program is available on the State Library website at www.state.lib. la.us by clicking on Center for the Book, then on Louisiana Young Readers’ Choice Award. The list of nominees for 2011 is now available on the State Library’s website.
Previous winners of the award are “The Diary of a Killer Cat” by Anne Fine (2009 grades 3-5) and “Secrets of my Hollywood Life” by Jen Calonita (2009 Grades 6-8); “Once Upon a Cool Motorcycle Dude” by Kevin O’Malley (2008 grades 3-5) and “The Lightning Thief” by Rick Riordan (grades 6-8). “Gator Gumbo” by Candace Fleming (2007 grades 3-5); “So B. It: A Novel” by Sarah Weeks (2007 grades 6-8); “Alligator Sue” by Sharon Arms Doucet (2006 grades 3-5); “Skeleton Key” by Anthony Horowitz (2006 grades 6-8); “Dear Mrs. LaRue: Letters from Obedience School ” by Mark Teague (2005. grades 3-5); “Coraline” by Neil Gaiman (2005 grades 6-8); “Petite Rouge: A Cajun Red Riding Hood” by Mike Artell (2004); “My Dog, My Hero” by Betsy Byars, Laurie Myers and Betsy Duffey (2003); “Weslandia” by Paul Fleischman (2002); “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” by J.K. Rowling (2001); and “Verdi” by Janell Cannon (2000).
Thursday, February 25, 2010 • The Weekly Press • Page 3
Road Home Answers Questions About the Money BATON ROUGE, - This coming fall will mark five years since hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated parts of Louisiana. Following the storms, the state set up a program called Road Home. It was funded by taxpayers and was supposed to put people back in their homes. It happened for many, but not everyone. “Our first priority is to make sure first that the families that can rebuild, have the tools in hand to rebuild,” said Robin Keegan, executive director of the Louisiana Recovery Authority or LRA. The LRA oversees Road Home, which was established in 2006. Road Home is funded entirely by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). To be specific, $8.2 billion in taxpayer dollars went directly to the homeowners. Road Home grants covered what FEMA and the insurance companies didn’t. Almost 230,000 homeowners applied for the Road Home help. About 126,000 actually received it. “We really see there are homeowners in great need and we have the real responsibility to develop the tools in our toolkit,” Keegan said. Homeowners had three choices of what to do with the money. They could rebuild their home in the same location, they could relocate elsewhere in Louisiana or they could sell
their property to the state and move. Thousands of homes that were supposed to have been rebuilt on the same site were looked into for this report. “It was very clearly stated up front. The program was built so that people had three years from the date of receiving their grant to rebuild their home. If they are in violation of their covenant and they haven’t asked for an extension and they haven’t come to us and explained their case, they are in violation and we can take the grant back,” Keegan explained. Keegan said it is still too early to tell how many of the cases may be in breach of contract and how much taxpayer money may be tied up. Beacon of Hope is a nonprofit organization based in Lakewood aimed at helping in the rebuilding process. The organization provided several homes that have not been rebuilt as examples. According to Road Home records, by the end of this month, almost 3,000 Road Home contracts will have expired. By the end of the year, that number jumps to more than nearly 65,000. “If people had challenges, we understand those challenges, but we need to be in contact with these families and they have to show us they are in the process of rebuilding,” Keegan said.
Girl Scouts from page 1 alumni, and friends to learn what Girl Scouts are doing in the greater Baton Rouge community and support the mission of Girl Scouts to build girls of courage, confidence and character.” According to McClendon, table captains who host a table of their friends are needed for the luncheon as well as ad-
ditional sponsors. The actual luncheon is free to attend, with a suggested minimum donation would be appreciated. For more information about becoming a table captain or a luncheon sponsor, or to receive an invitation to the luncheon, contact McClendon at (225) 927-8946 or cmcclendon@ gsle.org.
East Baton Rouge Parish Ready4life Work Program Begins New Program The Ready4Life Youth Work Program is specifically designed to provide intervention and introduce outof-school youth ages 17-21 to the world of work; provide post employment strategies to continue skills growth; provide support services and training to advance in the labor force; address public safety concerns; and engage youth program participants in a common citizenry activity to help improve their neighborhood and community. Referrals for Out-of-School Youth ages 17-21 are provided by the Workforce Investment Area 21 Office. T h e P ro g r a m O p e r a tion Site is the Greater First Church-Baptist (Activity and Fellowship Center) located at 4647 to 4669 Groom Road, in Baker, Louisiana. The program
operation hours are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 4:00 pm to 9:00 pm. Starting March 15, 2010, G.E.D Classes, Employment Readiness, Occupational Skills Training, and Job Placement Services will begin. Also beginning on March 13, 2010 monthly Group Mentoring Training Sessions will be held each Saturday before the 2nd Sunday at 10:00 am to engage program youth in literacy, education, skills-based and relationship building opportunities; leadership development; community service; and recreation and cultural enrichment activities. The Ready4Life Youth Work Program General Orientation Session, Program Participant Interview Period, and Dinner Fellowship will be conducted on Monday Febru-
ary 22, 2010 at 6:00 pm. Parents of Program Youth/Young Adult program participants are encouraged to attend. In addition, a Volunteer Mentor Orientation, Screening, Lunch and Training Session will take place on Saturday February 20, 2010 from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. Both events will be conducted at the program site above. For more information on how you might get involved, become a VOLUNTEER MENTOR or to register to attend either the PROGRAM GENERAL ORIENTATION or VOLUNTEER MENTOR ORIENTATION or both, please call Brenda Johnson, Ready4Life Youth Work Program Administrative Assistant at (225) 330-4892 between the hours of 3:00 pm and 7:00 pm Monday through Friday.
PORT ALLEN, LA - Join us at the West Baton Rouge Museum on Sunday, February 28, 2010 from 2:30 to 4:00 p.m. for the showing of the black history film, Ruby Bridges. Ruby Bridges is a HYPERLINK “http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_movie” \o “Television movie” movie based on the true story of the first black student to attend integrated schools in New Orleans in 1960. As a sixyear old, HYPERLINK “http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby_ Bridges” \o “Ruby Bridges” Ruby Bridges was chosen to be one of the first black students to integrate an all-white public school in New Orleans after scoring one of the highest grades on her school board exam. As racial tension escalates, Ruby must be escorted to school by federal marshals. She faces a crowd of angry white citizens every day, yet emerges unscathed, physically or emotionally. With her own quiet strength, she eventually broke down a century-old barrier forever, a pivotal moment in the civil-rights movement. Written by Tommy Peter in 1998, this film is an amazing journey through the eyes of a young black girl during a time of civil unrest. The West Baton Rouge Museum is located at 845 North Jefferson Ave in Port Allen, just minutes from downtown Baton Rouge. Admission is for this event is FREE.
NAACP from page 1 as Rev. Lee—is that they are among the long parade of courageous heroes and sheroes of all colors who fought for civil and human rights over the 101 year history of the NAACP. Now, with the launch of the NAACP’s Interactive Historical Timeline in the midst of Black History Month, anyone can learn about the people and events that shaped the rich legacy of America’s oldest civil rights organization. “The Timeline is a unique multimedia learning tool that uses the Internet to bring the NAACP’s historic struggle to secure equality for all into homes, classrooms and workplaces around the globe,” said NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous. The interactive history website allows people to stroll through history and document history as it is unfolding. Local NAACP branches and others
can submit new events as they happen and new figures as they emerge. “It allows us to capture the full richness of our history then and now,” said Jealous. Through a quick click of “Milestones,” one can go back to 1919 when the NAACP demanded a halt to lynching. By going to “People,” you learn about the brave men and women behind the struggle like Ida B. Wells, the crusading journalist who exposed lynching as a widespread terror weapon used against black people throughout the South and other parts of the country. History comes alive through the stories of the Scottsboro Boys, initially sentenced to death in Alabama during the 1930s, and the recent effort to free the Jena Six, teenagers unjustly incarcerated by a vindictive prosecutor in a small Louisiana town.
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Commentary Thursday, February 25, 2010 • The Weekly Press • Page 4
The Way I See It
The Passing of the Honorable Willis Reed, Sr. too many awards and honors that he received He may not have for his many years of been a Great Orator, faithful community you did not hear him service to put i the shouting from the hillspace that I have been top, you may not have allocated in this paper heard the echo resoundto write about. I really ing from the valley, but, learned the true inter the words that he spoke working of Mr. Reed were words of solid during his visits to my William wisdom. I am writing store down through the Jones about the living life of years. Though like me Mr. Willis V. Reed, Sr., he did not win a pubic a trail blazer for Baton Rouge, a office (too bad); however, he pathfinder for Baton Rouge and provided me with valuable ina dedicated servant for the city formation that will last me for of Baton Rouge. the rest of my life , even though As a solider in the United I did not win a public office race. States Army, he served as an he- Yes, Baton Rouge we have lost roic mission for the principles of another cornerstone and for one this country. As a pioneer news- I refuse to just let it fade away. paper man, he wrote, talked and May “God” have a special blesswalked in a manner that the truth ing for his soul. will set you free. There are simply That Is The Way I See It. By William Jones
Rosenwald Schools: Reclaiming a Legacy By Marian Wright Edelman (NNPA) - Across the country, schoolchildren have been studying Black History Month. But many Americans know very little about a group of schools that educated hundreds of thousands of Black children and are their own key piece of Black history. From 1913 to 1932, nearly 5,000 “Rosenwald schools” were built in 15 states, mostly in rural Southern communities. These schools were built specifically to educate Black children and by 1928 one in three rural Black schoolchildren in the South attended a Rosenwald school. Their history, and the remaining school buildings themselves, are now being reclaimed and preserved. The schools were named for their primary donor, Chicago businessman Julius Rosenwald. The son of German Jewish immigrants, Rosenwald was a clothier who became the president of Sears, Roebuck, and Company. As a progressive philanthropist, Rosenwald believed one of the country’s most pressing social problems was the “Negro question,” and he supported the ideas and selfhelp doctrine of Tuskegee Institute president Booker T. Washington. In 1912, Rosenwald was a member of Tuskegee’s Board of Trustees when Washington came to him to suggest donating funds specifically for building Black schools. Most Southern states provided little public funding to adequately educate Black children, and many rural communities had no schools for Black children at all. Washington believed building schools that could provide traditional and vocational education for Black children would be a key method of “race uplift.” After a successful test group of six Alabama schools, in 1917 Rosenwald established the Julius Rosenwald Foundation, and the School Building Program remained one of the foundation’s primary missions until Rosenwald’s death in 1932. The Rosenwald Foundation provided seed grants for school construction and required communities to supplement the grants with public funds and support from local citizens. Black residents were usually the driving force behind bringing a Rosenwald school to a community with fundraising a community-wide undertaking. Black families gathered for fried chicken dinners, picnics, and penny drives or put aside portions of their wages or cotton crops to support school building efforts. Counties then had to commit to maintaining the completed schools as part of the public school system. Though most communities continued the practice of supplying Black schools with worn-out books and second-hand materials, the schools themselves set a new standard in the rural South.
Rosenwald schools were built to uniform design plans that mandated simple, clean-lined buildings with large windows and plenty of natural light. Many counties copied some elements of their designs for new White schools. Once built, the schools often became central hubs and gathering places for the Black community. In the second half of the twentieth century, as schools consolidated into larger districts or students began integrating into previously White schools after the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision, many Rosenwald schools were abandoned or demolished. In some communities the buildings were kept up and found new life as Head Start classrooms, senior citizen centers, or in other community uses. As recognition of their historic importance began to grow, the National Trust for Historic Preservation named the schools to its list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places in 2002. Today its Rosenwald Schools Initiative works to preserve remaining Rosenwald buildings across the South. Some people have criticized the School Building Program, along with many of Booker T. Washington’s ideas, for accommodating the segregated status quo. But in providing school buildings and an opportunity for education for children in places where little or none existed at all for many years, Rosenwald schools played a key role in educating generations of Black children. In that sense, their legacy of opportunity is echoed in contemporary supplemental education initiatives like the Children’s Defense Fund’s Freedom Schools® Program, which provides summer and after-school enrichment for children in communities where the need for these kinds of quality programs is often greatest and public schools are failing to teach basic literacy and numeracy. Just as Rosenwald schools played a key role in serving as safe community havens and bringing adults together to nurture and support children’s education and positive development, CDF Freedom Schools programs seek to reengage communities in the lives of their children. For the community members who worked together to fund and build Rosenwald schools, the Black teachers who found employment in them, and the children they served, their promise and impact was unmistakable. As a former slave who donated his life savings, $38, towards building his community’s Rosenwald school said, he wanted “to see the children of my grandchildren have a chance.” Every adult needs to step up to the plate today to see that all of our children and grandchildren have a better chance in our rich nation.
Stimulus Plan Averted a Second Great Depression By George E. Curry NNPA Columnist Although President Obama’s $787 billion economic stimulus plan created or saved enough jobs over the past year to prevent the United States from plunging into the second Great Depression, most Americans grossly underestimate what the package has accomplished. “One year later, it is largely thanks to the Recovery Act that a second depression is no longer a possibility,” Obama said at an event marking the bill’s anniversary. He said the stimulus package has saved or helped create 2 million jobs. Not surprisingly, Republicans disagree. “In the year since the Democrats’ stimulus program was enacted, over 3 million jobs have been lost, billions of dollars have been wasted and an unprecedented debt has been passed on to our children…” said House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) So, who’s telling the truth? An analysis by nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office supports the president, saying the stimulus package helped to end the recession and created or saved at least 2 million jobs. That would put Obama on track to reach his goal of 3.5 million jobs over two years. But try explaining that to
By Ron Walters NNPA Columnist (NNPA) - My friend George Curry reminded me of something in his article on “Being True to Black Historymakers” when he said that in this year when we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Greensboro Sit-in that we must remember “they were not alone.” It is true that these students were not alone, because in August of 1958, those of us in the NAACP Youth Council of Wichita, Kansas targeted the lunch counter at the Dockum Drug store in the heart of town for a Sit-in demonstration because they, like so many other establishments, did not let blacks eat there. After about six weeks of Sit-ins that drew 20-40 young participants, we successfully desegregated, not just Dockum Drugs, but the Rexall chain of drug stores in that state. A few weeks later, the NAACP Youth Council in Oklahoma City began its own Sit-ins, headed by Barbara Posey (today, Dr. Barbara Jones, wife of Professor Mack Jones). Through
your fellow citizens. what is formally known According to a New as the American RecovYork Times/CBS ery and Reinvestment News poll conducted Act. As the 1-year anearlier this month, niversary approached, only 6 percent of however, various fedthose questioned eral departments and believe the stimulus agencies were rushing package has created to paint a different picGeorge any jobs. ture. E. Curry Why such a large Obama has not disconnect? been helped by high Only about 30 percent of unemployment rates. When the funds have been spent so the bill was signed into law, the far, with that figure expected unemployment rate stood at 7.7 to rise to 70 percent before the percent. Since then, it jumped end of the year. Another factor to 10 percent before falling last is that much of the money has month to 9.7 percent. gone directly to the states to Republicans gleefully cirpreserve jobs that would have culated earlier administration otherwise been eliminated or projections that the unemployused to extend unemployment ment rate was expected to rise and insurance coverage. no higher than 8 percent as a According to the White result of the stimulus plan. House, 95 percent of AmeriIn an effort to be more can families received a tax cut transparent, the administration of approximately $800 for both posted stimulus-created jobs on 2009 and 2010 as a result of the a special Web site. However, stimulus package. However, some of the jobs were posted in because the money was left in Congressional districts and zip the employee’s paycheck in the codes that do not exist. form of reduced taxes rather Administration officials than mailed as a separate check, weren’t the only ones embarmost Americans did not notice rassed. the cut. In fact, only 12 percent The Wall Street Journal reof those polled by the New York ported that more than a dozen Times/CBS said they had re- Republicans in Congress voted ceived a tax cut. against President Obama’s stimUntil recent weeks, the ulus plan yet wrote to federal White House did a poor job of agencies on behalf of businesses touting the success of the pro- in their districts seeking stimugram, failing to put a face on lus funds. those directly benefiting from Senator Richard Shelby
(R-Ala.) called the stimulus plan “the socialist way.” Yet, he was part of an Alabama delegation contacting the U.S. Forest Service with a $15 million request for a state program that ended up receiving a $6.3 million grant. Another Republican, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, said the stimulus program amounted to “a wasteful spending spree.” Later, he worked to be part of that spending spree, supporting a grant application to the Department of Labor. There is no doubt that stimulus package improved the American economy. The American Chronicle rounded up and posted the following quotes on its Web site: “Cut through all the numbers, though, and this is what you find: The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act saved us from plunging into a second Great Depression.” Stephen Herzenberg, Economist and Executive Director of the Keystone Research Center “We were looking over the precipice, possibly into a Great Depression…I think it was appropriate to enact a very aggressive stimulus bill. I think it is fair to say that, without the stimulus bill, state and local government budgets would be in even worse shape than See plan, on page 7
The 1958 Wichita Sit-in the entire year of 1959 a lunch counter there, they sat-in and eventunot five-hundred yards ally desegregated the from the original DocKatz Drug store chain kum Drug store. in that state. At the Youth also made 1960s Convention of Black history this the NAACP they honmonth, as a new Chair ored those of us who of the NAACP Board, had begun this moveRoslyn Brock, was anment and two of the nounced in the press as Ron original Greensboro taking over today. Walters students attended the The new team of conference as members 37 year-old CEO Ben of the NAACP Youth Council. Jealous and 44 year-old Roslyn Moreover, Joseph McNeil, a key Brock represents the passage of organizer of the Greensboro Sit- the baton to a new generation in said in an interview years later of leadership and they have althat they had heard of the Sit- ready begun to use the tools of ins in the Midwest in planning modern communication to orgatheir own. nize new members and to extend In 2008, Kevin Myles, local the brand of the organization to head of the Wichita NAACP or- new arenas of young professionganized the 50th Anniversary als. Jealous, for example, set up celebration and the National Of- a “war room” in Washington, fice of the NAACP recognized DC to help mobilize the black the Wichita Youth Council as a community to participate in the spearhead of the movement. The action of contributing to a health Mayor of Wichita also christened care bill and countering the fora small park on the main street midable power of paid lobbyists of town for Chester Lewis, a who are against it. \ fighting attorney and head of In one press report about the NAACP in the 1950s and 60s. Brock, it was striking to read a And today there is a replica of Black professor suggesting that
the NAACP was “searching for relevance.” I began this discussion by not only making a bow to Black History month with a little known factoid, but by doing suggesting that youth today have a mandate from their history to engage in social struggle today. Too often, however, I hear young people refer to the tactics and strategies of organizations like the NAACP and the other Civil Rights organizations in the past. But today, the Tea Party radical conservatives are mobilizing while we are quiet. Guess which group has created the perception that they represent a powerful national movement? There should be no confusion about what constitutes the black agenda today, nor the tactics necessary to confront it. The Tea Party folks represent a distorted White Agenda, seeking to utilize power to maintain the status quo. As such, they would maintain the gaps in civil rights that still exist – citizen voting rights, felony voting rights, police brutality, racial profiling, See sit-in, on page 7
The views expressed in the editiorial columns are not necessarily the veiws of The Weekly Press or its staff. Address all opinions and comments to: Letters to the Editior, P.O. Box 74485 Baton Rouge, La. 70874 or E-mail them to: theweeklypress@yahoo.com
Thursday, February 25, 2010 • The Weekly Press • Page 5
business
SafeLink Wireless Now Available to Over 572,292 Low-Income Citizens of Louisiana
LOUISIANA - TracFone Wireless, Inc., America’s largest prepaid cell phone provider, announced its Louisiana launch of SafeLink Wireless®. Introduced in August 2008, SafeLink is the leader in Wireless Lifeline service – a U.S. government supported program that ensures telephone service is available and affordable for eligible low-income
households. SafeLink is the only offering of its kind available in Louisiana with over 572,000 residents who qualify for Lifeline services in the Bayou State. Asserting that free does mean free, SafeLink provides the cell phone at its own expense and service comes without contracts, monthly bills, security deposits or credit checks.
“TracFone has a long record of serving the communications needs of the people of the great state of Louisiana,” said Jose Fuentes, Director of Government Relations for TracFone. “We are proud to be able to now bring SafeLink Wireless to those most in need, offering them the same access and privileges many individuals take for granted when it
comes to using cell phones, including contact with current or potential employers, children away from the home, or relatives in other parts of the country, not to mention vital emergency responders,” added Fuentes. SafeLink Wireless offers low-income families accessibility, freedom and the security of knowing that should an emergency occur – wherever they are – they will stay safe and stay connected. SafeLink provides eligible low-income households 68 free monthly airtime minutes for one year, unlimited access to 911 and the free cell phone. Any unused minutes do not expire and automatically roll over. The cell phone offers in-demand features: voicemail, text, call waiting, international calling to over 60 destinations, and caller ID. The federal “Lifeline” program was created during the Reagan Administration. Lifeline is a federal program created by the Reagan-era Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 1984. The program was enhanced under the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which was supported on a broadly bipartisan basis in Congress. The FCC’s Low Income Program of the Universal Service Fund (USF), which is administered by the Universal Service Administrative Company
(USAC), is designed to ensure that quality telecommunications services are available to low-income customers at just, reasonable and affordable rates. Lifeline support reduces eligible low-income consumers’ monthly charges for basic telephone service. With SafeLink, TracFone was the first to modernize Lifeline for how people communicate today. The prepaid feature gives customers the freedom to control the cost of their monthly telephone expense without any surprises. SafeLink customers wishing to use additional minutes beyond their free allotment can add minutes by purchasing TracFone airtime cards at local retailers. As an exclusive benefit for SafeLink customers, SafeLink phones will automatically add bonus minutes on TracFone’s 60, 90 and 120 min-
ute airtime cards. To qualify for Lifeline in the state of Louisiana, a household must participate in one of the following: Medicaid; Food Stamps (SNAP); Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF); Federal Public Housing Assistance/ Section 8; Supplemental Security Income (SSI); Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP); National School Lunch (free program only); or participants may qualify if the total household income is at or under 135% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines. To learn more about the SafeLink Wireless service, including eligibility requirements and additional features and benefits, please call 1-800-SAFELINK (1-800-723-3546), or visit www. safelink.com.
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Page 6 • The
Weekly Press • Thursday, February 25, 2010
Single and Staying Saved! stay saved, you must be in Christ and He in Satan has inyou, because the world filtrated the mind has so many ridiculous of many, causing saying that would them to believe that cause Christians to turn single people can’t back into the world, if go through life being their mind is not strong single and staying enough to withstand saved. what’s being thrown It can be done at them. if one has a true deYou find some Ida sire to please Jesus. who say, “We are Knowing that he’s human and we have London the One who takes certain needs.” Yes, care of them, supply their every we are human, but whatever need, and know that He’s the need we may have, Christ can cause of their existence, they supply it. The need the world can stay saved if they have a talks about is a “sexual need.” desire too. Surely, everyone who has had Of course it’s not an easy that experience, will crave it thing to do, but with a true com- from time to time, but with mitment and much prayer, stay- Christ, He can cause that feeling out of filthy conversations, ing to subside and give you the being cautious, of what one strength to go on farther. watches on television, meanAnother ridiculous saying staying away from anything ing is that someone will tell a with strong sexual content. And woman, she’s in such a bad most of all, keeping the things mood because she needs a man. of God on your mind. This statement is far from being It can be done, even in the true. A woman can be in a bad days of which we live, there’s mood because of the things she nothing too hard for God to has to deal within her everyday do. With Him all things are life. She must learn to handle possible. those things first. And when Ah, Lord, God! Behold, God sees that she’s ready to you have made the heavens and accept someone in her life, he the earth by Your great power will place that man there, if she and out stretched arms. There doesn’t lean on her own feelings is nothing too hard for You. or understanding. Only God (Jeremiah 32:17 NKJV). knows what’s best for her. But He said, “The things Companionship is fine in which are impossible with men it’s place. Natural human emoare possible with God.” (Luke tions will rise, but with God’s 18:27 NKJV). divine help, One can stay saved Always pray and ask God and be kept if they desire to be for the strength to stay away kept. from things that would not Just like a baby learns to please Him, and He will give walk, the baby learns to take the strength you need. little steps, but fall from time I can do all things through to time until he or she learns Christ who strengthens me. to balance himself or herself, (Philippians 4:13 NKJV. so while walking in the way I am the vine, you are the of God, we many fall, but the branches. He who abides in Me, main thing is not to stay down. and I in him, bears much fruit: Call out to God for help and He for without Me you can do noth- will pick you up, and continue ing.” (John 15:5 NKJV). walking in His way and hold So here, you must know to onto Him. By Ida London
Religion
Love vs. Lust: Part I in a Series on Marriage and Relationships
Jakes, senior pastor at The Potter ’s House in Dallas , said something The Lord has so profound that it begs placed it in my heart for the attention of every to begin a series of married individual as columns centering well as singles who ason marriage and pire to be married (or relationships. married again). With national “Love seeks not statistics showing its own, it’s not puffed that roughly 50 perDonald up, it’s not about you, cent of marriages it’s not about what you Lee end in divorce, it is need, it’s not about how my prayer that this series — with today’s message you’re being neglected, it’s not being the first installment — about the attention you’re not serves as a tool through which getting,” Bishop Jakes said. “Love seeks to serve God brings restoration into marriages that are on the brink of somebody else, (it says) ‘How can I make things better for separation or divorce. Also, I pray that this series you?’ ‘How can I do things for serves to be further confirma- you?’ ‘How can I use what I tion to married couples who are have to make your life better?’” already working the Word and Bishop Jakes said. “Love is not about you,” enjoying the fruits of their labor, living a life of bliss together, a he said. “Lust is about you. Love result of making Jesus Christ is about somebody else. Lust is the foundation on which their about ‘What can you give me? Give it to me now.’ Love is about marriage was built. Moreover, I pray that ‘What can I give you? How can this series serves as a blessing I serve you?’ “And when somebody to those who are single (or diloves you, it’s a ministry,” vorced) but need guidance on how to discern when they’re in Bishop Jakes said. “They don’t a God-ordained relationship or even have to say anything … one that the Lord has absolutely if you get in the presence of somebody who loves you, it is a nothing to do with. And to those persons who ministry. Love is a ministry. “It’s not the chicken soup have no intentions on getting married or remarried, the prin- that made you well,” Bishop ciples shared in this series — if Jakes said. “It was the loving adhered to — should help en- hands that prepared it.” Pastor Bre Eaton, my 4 hance your ability to communicate in other relationships, a.m. prayer partner who also such as those with your family is an associate pastor at God’s members, colleagues, neighbors Guiding Light Christian Cenand anyone else you come in ter in southeast Houston, said Bishop Jakes’ comments are on contact with. Now, ladies and gentle- point, adding that if people are going to be in meaningful, lovmen, a Word from God: In a message he preached ing marriages or relationships, on Dec. 13, 2009, “The Sleep- there needs to be a clear uning Giant Awakes,” Bishop T.D. derstanding of the difference By Donald Lee
Church Directory
Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. - Hebrews 10:25 St. Mary Baptist Church “The Church that Love Built” 1252 N. Acadian Thruway East • Baton Rouge, LA. 70802 Telephone (225) 387-2926 Rev. Conway L Knighton, Pastor Sunday School 9:30 a.m. Worship Service - 11:00 a.m. Lord’s Supper - 1st Sunday 11:00 a.m. Prayer Meeting - Wednesday 6:00 p.m. Bible Study - Wednesday 7:00 p.m. Thursday 10:00 a.m.
Good Shepherd Full Gospel B.C. The People’s Church 2865 Mission Drive • Baton Rouge, 70805 • Telephone (225)356-5873 Bishop H. Hayes, Pastor Hour of Power 12 Noon Each Wednesday Sunday School 8:00 AM Church Service 9:00 AM Lord’s Supper 2nd Sunday 6:00 PM Bible Study Wednesday 7:00 PM Sister/ Brotherhood 6:00 PM You Will Be Blessed Under The Anointed Man Of God
Pastor Bre Eaton
between love and lust — selflessness and selfishness. “A lot of times, when we look at love we only see the surface, like characteristics and traits, instead of actually loving the person,” Pastor Bre said. “For example, you can have a person who is a takecharge type of person. And you could look at that (characteristic or trait) and be attracted to that, but the inside (that person’s inner spirit), upon getting to know them better, could actually reveal self-centeredness, selfishness, that person’s true character. “Love goes deep. If you look at it, it actually goes from dethroning yourself and it actually elevates the person that you say you love,” Pastor Bre said. “You’re putting yourself to the side and your attention is focused on the needs of that other person. For example, it says, ‘How can I put myself in position to be a blessing to you?’ Also, too, when you think
of love, it’s the largest investment you’ll ever make in your life next to stocks and bonds on Wall Street. “When you compare it to 1st Corinthians 13, the biggest investment God ever made in us was love, according to 1st Corinthians 13 and John 3:16,” Pastor Bre said, referring to scriptures dealing with the depths of God’s love. “God not only invested His time, but He invested His Spirit, a part of Him. When you think about that, He poured everything into us through love. God’s trusted love is the only thing that’s fully reliable and dependable. In other words, we have the guarantee that His love never fails.” Don’t be deceived, people. Any marriage in which one person is making far more (emotional or love) withdrawals than deposits is a marriage that is in desperate need of counseling. And if you’re in a courting kind of relationship and one person is in constant “gimme” mode, that’s a clear indication that that relationship needs to be dissolved. Tune in next week as Pastor Bre and I discuss “The Five Deadly Traps of Lust,” the second installment in this series on Marriage and Relationships. The Rev. Donald Lee, a pastor and free-lance journalist, can be reached for prayer or comment at (225) 773-2248 or pastordonjlee@yahoo.com. Pastor Bre Eaton can be reached for prayer or comment at kingdomprayers4am@yahoo.com or (832) 228-5790. To join the pastors for 4 a.m. prayer, which is daily, call Pastor Bre, who will connect you into the conference call.
Reverend H Martin PRAYER SERVICE
WEDNESDAY 12:00 5013 WINDFALL COURT BATON ROUGE, LA. 70812 FOR DIRECTION CALL 225-358-8100 We are seeking Prayer Warriors and Singers Remember Acts: 16,25-26
Antioch
A Full Gospel Baptist Church Sundays Worship Experience..................................... 7:00 A.M. & 9:00 A.M. Intercessory Prayer/Life Study........................................Tuesdays 7:00 P.M. Intercessory Prayer......................................................... Saturdays 9:00 A.M. Bishop Gregory Cooper, Sr. Pastor 5247 Ford Street, Baton Rouge, La 70811 (225) 355-7741 Office (225) 356-3854 Fax
www.antiochla.org
Jesus Name Apostolic Temple, Inc. 2548 Weller Avenue • Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70805 Telephone: (225) 356-2260 Bishop Jimmie & PASTOR Mother R. L. WADE
Lord’s Supper 1st Sunday............................. 1:00 p.m. Sunday School............................................... 9:30 a.m. Tuesday Prayer......................................6:00-6:30 p.m. Tuesday Bible Class...............................6:30-8:30 p.m. Thursday Ministries Night . ............................ 7:30 p.m. Deliverance Night Friday ............................... 7:30 p.m. Church Mission” “The Lighthouse for the Wondering Soul”
Greater Central People Baptist Church 9012 Scenic Highway • Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70807 (225) 241-9946
Sunday School............................................................... 7:30 a.m.- 9:00 a.m. Church Service................................................................................ 9:00 a.m. Lord’s Supper............................................................. 4th Sunday, 9:00 a.m. Prayer Meeting.......................................................... 6:00 p.m. Wednesday Bible Study.............................................. 6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. Wednesday Pastor, Bishop John Thomas Co-Pastor Evangelist Barbara Thomas
thewpres@bellsouth.net
New Birth
Full Gospel Ministries 1283 Rosenwald Road • Baton Rouge, La. 70807 Phone: (225) 775-6713 • Fax: (225) 775-4216
Ivory J. Payne, Pastor
Order Of Service
Sunday Worship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11:00 A.M. Holy Communion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3rd Sunday1:00 P.M. Sunday School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:00 A.M. Bible Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Thursday 7:00 P.M.
“The New Life”Therefore if any man be in christ he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all thing are become new. —I Corinthians 5:17
Radio Broadcast 1st & 3rd Sunday WXOK at 8:00 am
NEW HOPE BAPTIST CHURCH 5856 Greenwell Springs Road • Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70806
Telephone: (225) 926-0246 • Facsimile: (225) 927-8500 • Toll Free # 1-888-700-6174 E- Mail Address # nhbc@nhbc.brcoxmail.com Sunday Morning Worship - 10:45 AM Leo D. Cyrus Lord’s SupperPastor -3rd Sundays
Sunday School - 9:30 AM
Sr., Prayer Pastor Service - Wed. @ 6:00 PM
Bible StudySchedule - Wed- @ 7:00 PM Church
Sunday Morning Worship.................................................................10:45 AM Mission Statement: New Hope Baptist Church is a family of baptized believers Lord’ s Supper. ...............................................................................3rd Sundays who worship the Lord our God in spirit and in truth, teach the saved to reach the Sunday . .................................................................................9:30 lost andSchool minister to the needs of others, while encouraging one anotherAMthrough acts of love and living in obedience to Gods Word Prayer Service....................................................................... Wed. @ 6:00 PM Bible Study............................................................................Wed- @ 7:00 PM
Mission Statement: New Hope Baptist Church is a family of baptized believers who worship the Lord our God in spirit and in truth, teach the saved to reach the lost and minister to the needs of others, while encouraging one another through acts of love and living in obedience to Gods Word
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cans. Nooses not only robbed some of their lives but many of their peace of mind. ‘’As a civil society, we must understand that noose displays and lynching jokes are deeply offensive. they are wrong. And they have no place in America today,’’ he said. Neither o’reilly nor ingraham has been reprimanded by their respective employers even though the Fox News personality did offer a half-hearted apology. At least ingraham didn’t drop the l-word but her suggestion that Sharpton, a former presidential candidate and respected member of the African-American community and beyond, is a petty thief reeks of race-baiting and negative stereotyping of African-Americans are to expand early deandneeded black men in particular. tection programs, ensure timely But it’s hardly the first time eiand treatment, and therappropriate has ventured into questionable improve survival. and offensive territory. how can The mission of the River Region Cancer Screening and Early Detection Center is to yStem from page 4 detect and help patients find treatment for cancers before callybecome pointed life out that changes they threatening. which occuroffers in a human being is The clinic underserved redirected to cancer pull from the core women free screening, of his ownmammograms, humanity to reaffirm including cliniselfbreast worthexams, and purpose. he will cal and personalthen instruction by nature acquire the will to ized on self breast do for himself and others. exams. The AFBCF funding Space isoutreach not available to coverat supports activities concerns ofschools, so many people health fairs, churches, and other civic groups, as well as in the workplace. In addition, it supports an educational
Health
‘M-Fer, i want more iced tea,’’’ he said. As the Washington Post’s robinson sadly observed on MSNBC in February, ‘’All you can go by is his words and his actions. And he keeps saying these things that sound pretty darn racist to me.’’ has talk radio learned anything from imus’ decline and fall? of course not, because it didn’t take imus too terribly long to get a new gig. our nation’s media outlets should not provide a platform for racialhostility and hateful speech now or in the future. What kind of messageare we sending to our children, our nation and our world? in such an historic election year, we cannot stand aside and allow individuals to use the airwaves community asprogram an outlet for for insensitive andlay educators, women from misguidedcommentary. if youthe clinic’s targetthat population who hear something offends you, will serve speak up. as health advocates their friends, family, and other members of their community. The course provides the lay educators with culturally sensitive information on nutrition, cliniconcerned with the conditions cal trials, cancer prevention and atscreening, Jetson. it is happening there. and other activities What i do know isfor thatimproving most of recommended these youth can be changed, from breast health, including self contrition in a prepatory school is breast exams. This training for Angola to to rehabilitation for available anyone interested ain positive life that lead to a impacting themay communities life of meritorious glory. That preis in which they live. Cancer the Way I See It! detection, and vention, early screening programs have been shown to increase breast cancer survival rates dramatically.
LSUHSC Stanley S. Scott Cancer Awarded Grant by Avon Foundation for Rural Breast Cancer Outreach NEW ORLEANS, – For the third year in a row, the Avon Foundation Breast Cancer Fund (AFBCF) has awarded LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans a $50,000 grant to enhance breast cancer outreach at the River Region Cancer Screening and Early Detection Center in Sorrento , a freestanding cancer screening clinic serving the rural communities between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. “The funded activities will provide information about breast cancer screening and breast health issues to underserved women throughout the river parishes, emphasizing minorities and women who are
forty years and over,” notes Leigh Anne Burns, RD, LDN, LSUHSC Instructor and Clinical Specialist who is the principal investigator on the grant. According to the Louisiana Tumor Registry at LSU Health Sciences Center , breast cancer mortality rates are declining among white and AfricanAmerican women, both in the U.S. and in Louisiana , but the rate for African-American women in Louisiana remains significantly higher than for their counterparts nationwide. African-American women in Louisiana are more likely to be diagnosed with advanced disease than those in the U.S. (41% vs. 37%), so continued efforts
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For Drugs, Alcohol, Anger Management
2873 Mission Drive Rev. Donald Britton, MA, LAC Baton Rouge, LA 70805 Clinical Director Thursday, February Bishop 25, 2010 Harris • The Weekly Press • Page 7 (225) 315-0740 Hayes, Overseer
Breast
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Until recently it was a common misconception that only white women suffered from eating disorders. In 2005, The New York Times published an article debunking that myth, stating that Blacks now join the eating disorder mainstream. In the article, psychologist Dr. Gayle Brooks states, “We’re noticing a trend of more severe eating disorders among AfricanAmerican girls.” As the first African-American woman to write a book detailing the struggle with an eating disorder, I am acutely aware of the social stigmas attached to these issues. Growing up among “strong Black women” I witnessed family members battling depression and other emotional issues, despite attempts to keep problems hidden for fear of failing to live up to the black female archetype. For me, the eating disorder was one thing but the stigma and shame of revealing this to my commu-
Plan from page 4 they are now.” • Robert Dye, senior economist for PNC Financial Services Group A year after it began flowing, the stimulus money still has not reached many small Black businesses. Still, it is far from being the failure that Republicans claim. Given the relative success of the program, perhaps the Obama administration will be stimulated to do more for African-American businesses.
and misdiagnosing on the part of the treatment provider, and cultural bias of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-IV criteria for eating disorders. In a 2003 study, published in The American Journal of Psychiatry, Dr. Ruth Striegel-Moore, professor and chairwoman of psychology at Wesleyan University, found that young black women were as likely as white women to report binge eating. Three years earlier, in a study published in Archives of Family Medicine, she found that black women were as likely as white women to report binge eating or vomiting and were more likely to report fasting and abusing laxatives or diuretics than their white peers. Dr. Striegel-Moore noted that minority women are less likely to seek treatment than their white counterparts, contributing to the perception of minority women as immune from eating disorders. Therapy is still not widely accepted in many minority communities and financial limitations only
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housing discrimination, less access to loans. They would also maintain the gaps in human rights -- such as health insurance and the illnesses associated with the lack of care, educational access and excellence, employment rate equality, home ownership security and the like. It is the task of modern civil rights organizations to make the demand that equality be achieved, that fairness be the rule in the conduct of all American institutions. It is their role to demand the closure of the gaps in civil and human rights, even though much of the technical and political work is carried out by our elected officials. It is their job to mobilize black people and our allies, to influence institutions to behave in ways that honor our citizenship and humanity – in the 21st century. This is not an old agenda, 50 years is actually a very short time.
Insurance will be billed for mammograms. For those with no insurance, there will be no charge. Screenings made possible by donor gifts.
Skin and Colorectal Cancer Screening Saturday, February 27 7:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. Pennington Biomedical Woman’s Wellness Day 6400 Perkins Road Baton Rouge
FUTUREBR begins with you! You’re invited to attend one of the three hands-on parishwide workshops. Working together in small groups of friends and neighbors, you will be able to share your ideas on how East Baton Rouge should grow.
Join us and help to build our future.
Tuesday, March 2 6:00-8:30PM River Center Ballroom Downtown Baton Rouge s
2 location
Thursday, March 4 6:00-8:30PM
Redemptorist High School Cafeteria 3800 St. Katherine Street …and…
Woodlawn High School Cafeteria 15755 Jefferson Hwy In Partnership With: YWCA Encore Plus Woman’s Hospital LSU Hospitals Health Care Services Division
www.marybird.org
Breast
Tuesday 5pm – 7
Woman 9050 Ai Baton R
office hours: 9:00 a.m. — 12:00 noon 2:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Monday – Friday
Have You Been Screened?
Sit-in from page 4
Dr. Ron Walters is a Political Analyst, Author and Professor Emeritus of the University of Maryland College Park. One of his latest books is: Freedom Is Not Enough (Rowman and Littlefield Publishers)
exacerbate the problem. Minority women face other barriers to getting care, as well, Dr. StriegelMoore said, including “lack of resources and insurance and not knowing who to contact.” We need to educate ourselves to the dangers of these diseases and their long term affects on our bodies. Early on I believed that needing help was a sign of weakness. Eventually I came to understand that asking for help and support requires strength. In time I was able to heal, emotionally, mentally and physically and to have a healthy, full and productive life. I look back at the years I spent fighting my eating disorder and I’m grateful that the only thing I lost was time.
Leo S. B Center 950 E. W Baton R
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HOME Not All Black Girls Know How to Eat HEALTH nity prolonged my problem. In order for me to heal I had to step outside of my comfort zone and admit that I had a problem despite my fear of being ridiculed. I took that first step towards healing and was able to get to the other side. Over the past few years, there has been increasing evidence of disordered eating occurring among racial and ethnic minorities in the United States. Exact statistics on the prevalence of eating disorders among women of color are unavailable. Due to our historically biased view that eating disorders only affect white women, relatively little research has been conducted utilizing participants from racial and ethnic minority groups. Reports of eating disorders among women of color being on the rise may simply reflect an increase in the reporting of these problems rather than actual increases. Three factors affect the rate of reporting among minority women: underreporting of problems by the individual, under
Friday, M 10am –
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Eating Disorders Affect Us All
By Stephanie Covington Armstrong
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Page 8 • The
Weekly Press • Thursday, February 25, 2010
Heroes
Of The Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s challenged racism in America and made the country a more just and humane society for all. Here are a few of its many heroes.
Rosa Parks
O
n December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks, an African-American seamstress, left work and boarded a bus for home. As the bus became crowded, the bus driver ordered Parks to give up her seat to a white passenger. Montgomery’s buses were segregated, with the seats in the front reserved for “whites only.” Blacks had to sit at the back of the bus. But if the bus was crowded and all the “whites only” seats were filled, black people were expected to give up their seats—a black person sitting while a white person stood would never be tolerated in the racist South. Rosa had had enough of such humiliation, and refused to give up her seat. “I felt I had a right to stay where I was,” she said. “I wanted this particular driver to know that we were being treated unfairly as individuals and as a people.” The bus driver had her arrested.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Rosa Parks
Martin Luther King, Jr.
M
artin Luther King, Jr., heard about Parks’s brave defiance and launched a boycott of Montgomery buses. The 17,000 black residents of Montgomery pulled together and kept the boycott going for more than a year. Finally, the Supreme Court intervened and declared segregation on buses unconstitutional. Rosa Parks and the boycotters defeated the racist system, and she became known as “the mother of the civil rights movement.” It wasn’t just that Martin Luther King became the leader of the civil rights movement that made him so extraordinary—it was the way in which he led the movement. King advocated civil disobedience, the non-violent resistance against unjust laws: “Non-violence is a powerful and just weapon which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it.” Civil rights activists organized demonstrations, marches, boycotts, strikes, and voter-registration drives, and refused to obey laws that they knew were wrong and unjust. These peaceful forms of protest were often met with vicious threats, arrests, beatings, and worse. King emphasized how important it was that the civil rights movement did not sink to the level of the racists and hate mongers they fought against: “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred,” he urged. “We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline.” King’s philosophy of “tough-mindedness and tenderheartedness” was not only highly effective, but it gave the civil rights movement an inspiring moral authority and grace.
Thurgood Marshall
T
hurgood Marshall was a courageous civil rights lawyer during a period when racial segregation was the law of the land. At a time when a large portion of American society refused to extend equality to black people, Marshall astutely realized that one of the best ways to bring about change was through the legal system. Between 1938 and 1961, he presented more than 30 civil rights cases before the Supreme Court. He won 29 of them. His most important case was Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954), which ended segregation in public schools. By law, black and white students had to attend separate public schools. As long as schools were “separate but equal”—providing equal education for all races—segregation was considered fair. In reality, segregated schools were shamefully unequal: white schools were far more privileged than black schools, which were largely poor and overcrowded. Marshall challenged the doctrine, pointing out that “separate but equal” was just a myth disguising racism. He argued that if all students were indeed equal, then why was it necessary to separate them? The Supreme Court agreed, ruling that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.” Marshall went on to become the first African-American Supreme Court Justice in American history.
thurgood marshall
the little rock nine
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The Little Rock Nine
he Little Rock Nine, as they later came to be called, were the first black teenagers to attend all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957. These remarkable young African-American students challenged segregation in the deep South and won. Although Brown v. Board of Education outlawed segregation in schools, many racist school systems defied the law by intimidating and threatening black students— Central High School was a notorious example. But the Little Rock Nine were determined to attend the school and receive the same education offered to white students, no matter what. Things grew ugly and frightening right away. On the first day of school, the governor of Arkansas ordered the state’s National Guard to block the black students from entering the school. Imagine what it must have been like to be a student confronted by armed soldiers! President Eisenhower had to send in federal troops to protect the students. But that was only the beginning of their ordeal. Every morning on their way to school angry crowds of whites taunted and insulted the Little Rock Nine—they even received death threats. One of the students, fifteen-year-old Elizabeth Eckford, said “I tried to see a friendly face somewhere in the mob. . . . I looked into the face of an old woman, and it seemed a kind face, but when I looked at her again, she spat at me.” As scared as they were, the students wouldn’t give up, and several went on to graduate from Central High. Nine black teenagers challenged a racist system and defeated it.