A safety milestone for Votran driver SEE PAGE 8
EE FR
GEORGE CURRY: Is President Obama trying to kill Black colleges? SEE PAGE 4
East Central Florida’s Black Voice
RETIREES ORGANIZE MLK TRIBUTE AT PALM COAST CHURCH SEE PAGE 3
JANUARY 22 - JANUARY 28, 2015
YEAR 40 NO. 4
www.daytonatimes.com
An overdue honor for ‘Buddy’ Young Daytona Beach park named after late commissioner BY ASHLEY D. THOMAS DAYTONA TIMES aysheldarcel@gmail.com
Family and friends of the late Daytona Beach Commissioner Rufus “Buddy’’ Young Jr. as well as community leaders gathered on Jan. 15 for a ribbon cutting ceremony to dedicate the city’s newest park to Young for his many contributions to the Daytona Beach community. A Zone 5 commissioner and local law enforcement officer, Young died in 2002 at age 77. His widow, Madeline Young, thanked those who gathered un-
der a tent and held umbrellas on the overcast, rainy day. “It means so much to me to have everyone to come out in the inclement Rufus weather for the ‘Buddy’ ceremony,” she Young told the Daytona Times. “He served as a commissioner for 14 years, worked for the police department and was the second Black deputy for the sheriff’s office,” she said. Officer, educator, coach Rufus “Buddy’’ Young graduated from then-Bethune-Cookman College with a bachelor’s degree in health and physical educa-
tion and served on the Daytona Beach City Commission for 14 years (1979 to 1993). Prior to becoming an elected official, he was an officer with the Daytona Beach Police Department followed by becoming the second Black deputy to work for the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office. After his law enforcement career, he shaped the lives of community youth by becoming an educator and a football coach.
About time The celebration came following a 2013 squabble about the process of naming and renaming city parks. Mrs. Young expressed concerns over the renaming of the athletic fields at Derbyshire Please see YOUNG, Page 2
DUANE C. FERNANDEZ SR./HARDNOTTS PHOTOGRAPHY
Family members of the late Rufus “Buddy” Young join city officials to officially open the park named in his honor.
‘We must celebrate and we must act’
Volusia leaders urge attendees at MLK events to keep pressing for change BY ASHLEY D. THOMAS DAYTONA TIMES aysheldarcel@gmail.com
“What a beautiful day to be in this place and at this time, to celebrate a good man,” Volusia County Council At Large Member Joyce Cusack told a nearly standing room only crowd of Blacks, Whites and Latinos who gathered Monday at Greater Friendship Missionary Baptist Church in Daytona Beach to celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The service was held at the church following a breakfast at Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church and the annual com-
Above: Eight scholarships were presented at the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Scholarship Banquet totaling $7,000 for area high school and college students.
memorative march through the predominately Black neighborhood. “We must celebrate and we must act. There are times in our lives where we must do what is not popular. That what is not always political savvy to do. That which is not always socially acceptable. But what is always right,” she said. “That is what we must speak when we identify injustice in any part of our society. We have an obligation and a responsibility to make this world a better place. To see an injustice and do nothing provides you with guilt that you too are as wrong as the person who is offending.”
Left: Young people hold signs in Monday’s march asking for no more Black-on-Black crime and more adults they can look up to. PHOTOS BY DUANE C. FERNANDEZ SR./HARDNOTTS PHOTOGRAPHY
Please see MLK, Page 2
University to kick off violence prevention series with Lucille O’Neal BY ASHLEY D. THOMAS DAYTONA TIMES aysheldarcel@gmail.com
Lucille O’Neal
ALSO INSIDE
Bethune-Cookman University graduate Lucille O’Neal will be the keynote speaker at the first of an ongoing series of campus and community events focused on domestic violence. The series entitled “Ending the Cycle of Violence on our Campus and in
our Community....The Message Continues,” will begin at 11:15 a.m. on Jan. 28 at Heyn Memorial Chapel. The series is free and open to the public. O’Neal, most notably known as the mom of former NBA powerhouse Shaquille O’Neal, also is a B-CU trustee, community activist and author of “Walk Like You Have Somewhere to Go.”
‘Finding Your Voice’ She has created a reputation as an effective, motivational speaker and is heavily involved in the community with several organizations, including the Odessa Chambliss Quality of Life Fund, United Negro College Fund, Boys and Girls Club, and the Mothers of Professional Basketball Players, Inc. “We are excited to launch this series
on such a critical issue and look forward to truly impacting this community with this information and tools,” said Dr. Alma Dixon, director of Community Engagement. O’ Neal’s topic during the first event is “Finding Your Voice.” She will share her own personal struggles and triumphs with self-reflection. Finding Please see O’NEAL, Page 2
COMMENTARY: JULIANNE MALVEAUX: WORLD IS INDIFFERENT TO MISSING NIGERIAN GIRLS | PAGE 4 SPORTS: LADY WILDCAT NAMED MEAC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK | PAGE 6
7 FOCUS
R2
JANUARY 22 – JANUARY 28, 2015
B-CU renovating building erected in 1941 BY ASHLEY D. THOMAS DAYTONA TIMES aysheldarcel@gmail.com
Bethune-Cookman University President Edison Jackson, Board of Trustees, students and other supporters gathered on Jan. 16 for a dedication ceremony of one its oldest buildings – the Harrison Rhodes Memorial Building. Originally the campus library and eventually the home to the social sciences department, the building has been on the B-CU campus since 1941 and is facing major renovations. The renovated building will boast 18 classrooms, more than 30 offices, computer labs and research areas. The Harrison Rhodes Memorial Building also will house the College of Liberal Arts. “Quality students, deserve quality resources and quality experiences,” Student Government President DaQuan Bryant said. “The renovations of the Historic Harrison Rhodes Memorial Building is just a small component of the many efforts to come. B-CU is on the rise.” At the brief ceremony, Jackson quoted from the hymnal “We are Climbing Jacob’s Ladder” saying, “Every round goes higher and higher, Bethune-Cookman is building another round and we will go higher and higher.”
JOHN REEVES/B-CU
Student Government President DaQuan Bryant (above) unveils the dedication plaque for the Harrison Rhodes Memorial Building on Jan. 16.
Palm Coast cultural arts grant application period open The City of Palm Coast offers a Cultural Arts Financial Assistance Matching Grant program to provide funding for cultural arts programs and/ or events that are conducted within the City of Palm Coast by Palm Coast-based non-profit organizations. Funding is still available for the current fiscal year – for organizations that did not receive funding in this year’s first round. The Cultural Arts Financial Assistance Grant Application submittal deadline is 4 p.m. Feb. 25. Grant applications will be available for download on the City website at www.palmcoastgov. com/government/parks-recreation or for pickup at the Palm Coast Community Center, 305 Palm Coast Parkway NE. Applications can also be emailed to interested parties; call 386-9862323. For more information, call 386-986-2323.
Above: Friends and members of the Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church of New Smyrna Beach stand outside the Regal Pavilion Stadium Theater in Port Orange after watching “Selma.”
Palm Coast AACS to announce board members
ASHLEY THOMAS/DAYTONA TIMES
Right: Members of the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority are ready to serve meals at the MLK celebration breakfast at Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church in Daytona Beach.
DUANE C. FERNANDEZ SR./HARDNOTTS PHOTOGRAPHY
MLK
from Page 1 Make a difference Cusack added, “Martin Luther King took the steps necessary to address the consciousness of America, and we must continue. As long as we have injustice anywhere, it behooves us all to be about the work of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. If you want to really, really make a difference, you must address these concerns. “As long as we have cases like we’ve had in Ferguson, in Sanford, in Miami, in New York City, and yes too in Volusia County, we live here and we are responsible. We have a responsibility to bring to the consciousness to all mankind that as we celebrate Martin today we must remember that we must do what we can to make a difference in this great world for justice to prevail and ring free for all Americans. I challenge you to go forward and make a difference in this world,” Cusack concluded.
‘Ain’t tired yet’ Cynthia
Slater,
presi-
YOUNG from Page 1
Park in 2013. She felt the city had omitted her husband’s legacy when the park was named after educator and coach Harold V. Lucas in January 2013. Mrs. Young said in 2013 that she had been told before her husband’s passing that something in the
dent of the Volusia/Daytona Beach chapter of the NAACP, also spoke at the service, exclaiming that the fight is not over. “We keep fighting and marching and arguing cases before the Supreme Court,” Slater began. “And fighting and marching and standing up for Jim Crow laws from the 1950s and ’60s that have resurfaced in 2015. And fighting and marching for a piece of the economic pie. And fighting and marching for a criminal justice system and unfair prison sentencing where Black and Brown men are the majority of our prison system. And fighting and marching for a fair and just educational system. And fighting and marching to stop the school to prison pipeline for our youth. And fighting and marching to stop ‘Stand Your Ground.’ And fighting and marching to protect those who die in the custody of law enforcement because we believe ‘Black Lives Matter,” she related. “We keep fighting and marching for better jobs. We keep fighting and marching for disparities in our health care system. We keep fighting and marching in order to retain the
city would be named in his honor. In a letter she sent to the Times, she stated, “How soon we forget the pioneers who have served this city well. He (Buddy Young) was a dedicated man, high standards, complete integrity and boundless enthusiasm for whatever task he took in hand. “Many years of work that he put in the city of Daytona Beach was his pride and joy. He was the commis-
rights of voters. We keep fighting and marching for the reparations for ex-felons who have served their time under the legal system. And guess what? We ain’t tired yet!”
‘Become involved’ Pastor John Long, chairperson of MLK Celebration for Florida, the organization that pulled together the extended weekend of events, urged those in attendance to stay active in the community. “Become involved,” Long pressed. “The only way that evil continues. The only way that injustice continues. The only way that prejudice and discrimination continues is when people who know better say nothing. There is a struggle that the forefathers went through just to get to this point.”
On the south side In New Smyrna Beach, the Rev. Jeffery Dove, senior pastor of Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church, spoke at the Old Fort Park in New Smyrna Beach during an MLK memorial program. It was held after hundreds joined in a commemorative march from the Black Heritage Museum. “Be-
sioner for the surrounding area of Derbyshire Street for fourteen years, which includes the athletic fields of the park. Who can claim more merit than Buddy Young?”
About the park Commissioner Patrick Henry told the attendees about the nearly nine-acre park, which is located at 1028 Madison Ave., in Zone 5. It features a paved walk-
cause racism is still so prevalent, there are tangible and intangible walls that still exist,” he explained. Following the march, Dove says young and old alike fellowshipped together at the Regal Pavilion Stadium Theater in Port Orange as four carloads and a church van brought parishioners to the venue to see the movie “Selma.’’ The film depicts the epic march of King and other freedom fighters from Selma, Ala. to Montgomery as their efforts culminated in President Lyndon B. Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965. “To watch the movie reminds us of the struggle,” he expressed. “I wanted to ensure that all of my youth were engaged in the watching of the movie because it is very significant in Black history and in American history. To allow my kids to engage in that I think it is going to do them a world of good in their future.” “It was very touching. To see how so many people sacrificed so that we can have a better community,” Dove told the Times.
ing trail around the perimeter of two interconnected ponds and benches for relaxation and reflection. Although the ponds help to provide a tranquil setting, they were originally created to help alleviate flooding in the surrounding neighborhood. There also is a large pump that can draw down the water levels to create additional capacity prior to periods of heavy rainfall. The park is open daily from dawn to dusk.
The African American Cultural Society (AACS) will hold a general meeting at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 24 at the African American Cultural Society Center, 4422 US Highway 1 North. The Election Committee will announce results of membership voting to fill three positions on the board of directors. Free morning refreshments will be available to all who arrive early at 10:30 a.m. For information, call 386-447-7030. For membership details, call Jean Tanner at 386-445-8403.
Daytona library hosting genealogy classes Learn how to uncover your roots at the Daytona Beach Regional Library at City Island, which offers the county’s most comprehensive genealogy resource collection. Genealogy librarian Kim Dolce will share information about online and print resources during these one-hour programs in the library auditorium: • Introduction to genealogy: 10 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 4. Learn how to get started on the road to self-discovery. • Ancestry, Library Edition: 10 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 11: This class will introduce the online genealogy resource subscribed to by the Volusia County Library System. The programs are free and open to the public. Reservations are not required. For more information, call Kim Dolce at 386257-6036, ext. 16315.
O’NEAL from Page 1
self-worth, respect and value and how it affects personal behavior also will be shared.
Educate, empower Dixon says the series is part of an effort to keep the conversation of domestic violence going year-round. “We will have monthly activities to educate, inform and empower students and our community members as well as faculty and staff to address violence in the home and in the community,” she explained. The seminar series will continue over the next few months offering expert insight, dialogue
and proposed solutions to reduce violence in and around the Daytona Beach area. “Every year in October we have Domestic Violence Awareness Month,” Dixon continued. “What we wanted to do was build a program that carries the message beyond an event that only happens in October. We want it to be a sustainable message,” she added. “Ms. O’Neal will be talking about behaviors that are acceptable and which ones are not, and how we project that. We have God-given time, God-given talent and a God-given body which should be nurtured and respected.” B-CU will host a town hall meeting with President Edison Jackson in February and a judges panel in March to continue the series.
3 7
JANUARY 22 – JANUARY 28, 2015 COMMUNITY DECEMBER 14 - 20, 2006
M A YNEWS OR
MLK ecumenical celebration focuses on fulfilling the dream Marie McCray welcomed the crowd to the annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. ecumenical service, garnering Dr. King’s life as a “powerful speaker, civil rights activist and leader who changed American society for the better.” President McCray and members of Chapter 2 of the New York City Transit Retirees of Florida are the originators having brought the ecumenical celebration to the community. The service this year was held Monday at First Baptist Church of Palm Coast. It wrapped around a keynote speaker - Dr. Terence S. Culver liturgy, in addition to music from the Community Chorus of Palm Coast with uplifted voices singing “Like a Mighty Stream.” The music director is Linda Hodges with Linda Oertel as the accompanist. Musical nuance poured out, invoking powerhouse soloist Alexis Williams to sing “Still I Rise.” The talented singer is a choir member at the First Church of Palm Coast and a student at Flagler Palm Coast High School.
Pastors participate Dr. Culver was glad to be there not only because he’s a believer in the dream and a recipient of the progress and achievements of the Civil Rights Movement or that Dr. King was his Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity brother “but because as I look around this room,” he said, “I see those who will one day fulfill the dream...I know that today is a new day, a new day dawned, and the forecast is sunny and bright.” Moreover, prior to his speech, Dr. James Wade made his way to deliver the invocation. He is the transitional pastor of First Baptist Church. The Old Testament reading was rendered from the Rev. Charlene E. Cothran, pastor of Zion Baptist Church of Palm Coast. Mike Legaspi provided the New Testament reading in his role as congregational-care pastor at Palm Coast United Methodist Church. Dr. Janice Jacob entreated a freewill offering for the Precious Hearts Foundation, a faith-driven organization, aiding and sheltering men, women, children and the elderly, all victims of domestic violence, domestic abuse, and/or homelessness in the county. Dr. Jacob is a member of Mt. Calvary Baptist Church of Palm Coast. And finally, it was Hermione McLemore, New York City Transit Retirees of Florida planning member, who introduced the speaker. Planning member Thea Smith scouted to find Dr. Culver for the central role of keynote speaker.
PALM COAST COMMUNITY NEWS JEROLINE D. MCCARTHY
said Dr. Culver, who is the principal of Belle Terre Elementary School in Palm Coast. Dr. Culver checked in and kept Dr. King’s dream alive – the dream to which Dr. King devoted his life – and with the dignity upon which every person is respected. Dr. Culver, a graduate of Bethune-Cookman College (University), received a Bachelor of Arts in Music Education, a master’s in Educational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University, along with a doctorate in Higher Educational Leadership. He is married to Tracia Culver. The husband and wife duo has four daughters – Tori, Teah, Teren and Taylor. Dr. Culver serves as Minister of Music at Mt. Carmel Baptist Church in Daytona Beach. He’s on fire about public education and helping students recognize their potential and how they can contribute to society in a positive way. He instills in his staff the mantra, “Excellence is the Norm, Not the Exception!”
‘Don’t forget’ Dr. Culver addressed the topic, “Fulfilling the Dream.” He assessed “to fulfill this dream, we must remember these four things: Commemorate, courage, the call, and the anchor.” Marking Dr. King’s legacy with ceremonies and observation, Dr. Culver asserts that “Kool & the Gang had ...the right idea when they sang, ‘there’s a party goin’ on right here, a celebration to last throughout.’ I know you know it,” Dr. Culver shouted, “‘to last throughout the years.’ Don’t act like you are so churchy...” he quipped. “Even with the vicissitudes of life, we cannot afford to forget the dreamer and the dream, who paved the way for our benefit with progress and achievements. Yet, remember the bombing of the 16th Street Church, the cross burnings, lynchings, the dogs, and the threats. “We must remember the marches and the sit-ins,” affirmed Dr. Culver. “Don’t forget the boycotts, the fire hoses, the arrests, speeches and the rallies. Let us not forget those who worked tirelessly to bring about a change in America. We must fulfill the dream.
Accomplished speaker
Racial divide still exists
“It was Dr. King’s tireless activism that fostered our modern way of relating to one another,”
Moreover, he admonished the attendees to muster the same kind of courage and outrage that
PHOTOS BY JEROLINE D. MCCARTHY/DAYTONA TIMES
Top left: Marie McCray, president of the New York City Transit Retirees of Florida. Top right: Dr. Terence S. Culver, the keynote speaker. Performing above is singer Alexis Williams.
it took during the 1960s and to remember that the Civil Rights Movement was not just about Black people. “There were Caucasians who worked, volunteered and marched – and many White people who put themselves in harm’s way,’’ he recalled. “Dr. King said, ‘We’ve got some difficult days ahead.’ “The problem that existed in terms of the racial divide during the time of the movement still plagues us today... Now is the time for men and women of morale courage and conviction to stand up and be counted. We must fulfill the dream,” Dr. Culver persisted.
‘What is your dream?’ To the young people, he cautioned them to know their history in order to recognize their greatness. He cited as a fault by parents that young people are enjoying the best – smartphones, iPads, iPods, laptops, Facedown, Facebook, Beatrix, Twitter, cars, and even watches they don’t have to look at to know what time it is. And yet, they do not know what it is to struggle. However, they should live life as though it is golden.
DUANE FERNANDEZ, SR./HARDNOTTS PHOTOGRAPHY
Bishop Derek Triplett, right, is shown at a 2013 workshop geared toward Black boys and men.
Hope Fellowship announces Black History schedule In recognition of Black History Month, Bishop Derek T. Triplett and Hope Fellowship Church will host a number of events to honor Florida’s black heritage and history. During the month of February, the community is invited to a series of educational and entertaining events — from music and the arts to speakers and exhibits — in honor of Black History Month. Events are every Wednesday of the month at 7 p.m.
• Feb. 4: Historic Black Civic Organizations Presentation • Feb. 11: Music & Arts Black History Presentation • Feb. 18: Black Economics In Daytona Beach • Feb. 25: Black Youth Speak Town Meeting With Daytona Beach Youth & Young Adults “We are excited to present a series of events in recognition of Black History Month. All events are free and open to the public,” Triplett said. The church is located at 869 Derbyshire Road, Daytona Beach.
“There’s always someone to tell you that you are selling out if you speak proper English,” he asserted. “I know there are other catalysts, but I want to convince you that when you work to fulfill the dream, you won’t have to use the negative – or the expletives – that are planted in music today. If you don’t change, nothing will change. … And, it is not a calamity to die with dreams unfulfilled, but it is a calamity not to dream. ...Young people, what is your dream?” he asked. To the adults, he appealed for change to this “rotten, anti-education - co-violence culture - that our kids have adopted.’’ He appealed to adults as a way to fulfill the dream.
Skills, but no power He maintains that we have everything we need to unite our communities. “We have more intellect than we’ve ever had. We have better social standings and statuses than we’ve ever had. We have skills, talents and success. We have everything we need to make it work, except, we have no power. I don’t mean to offend any-
one,” he said, “but what would happen to our communities if the power of God were released? What would happen to our children if the power of God were released? “Well, if I were to ask Miss Willie Mae over there – my momma, my shero – she would look at me and say, ‘T.C., let me tell you like this. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name’ ’’ She would look at me and say, ‘On Christ, the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand.’ ••• As always, remember our prayers for the sick, afflicted and bereaved.
Celebrations Birthday wishes to Raven Sword, Jan. 23; Sheldon Shamarr Henderson, Jan. 24; Shaaf McGlown, Jan. 26; Master Roman Sword, Jan. 27. Happy anniversary to B.J. and Marva Jones, Jan. 25.
Cultural Council schedules workshops for grant applicants
Volusia County Council. For more information, contact Cultural Coordinator Mike Fincher at mfincher@volusia.org or 386-736-5953, ext. 15872.
The Cultural Council of Volusia County will conduct two workshops in January for organizations wishing to apply for a Volusia County Community Cultural Grant. The workshops will be at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 27, in the second-floor training room of the Volusia County Historic Courthouse, 125 W. Indiana Ave., DeLand; and 2:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 30, in the third-floor conference room of the Volusia County Lifeguard Headquarters and Administration Center, 515 S. Atlantic Ave., Daytona Beach. The Community Cultural Grant provides general operating support to nonprofit organizations in Volusia County that have as their primary mission the delivery of cultural or heritage-based programs to the public. In 2014, more than $611,000 was awarded to 33 organizations. Applications must submitted online by 5 p.m. Friday, April 10. On May 27, the Cultural Council will review and score the grant applications to provide recommendations to the
Trauma care manager to address Port Orange Rotary Club Kevin Captain, Trauma Program Manager and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Liaison for Halifax Health, will address The Rotary Club of Port Orange-South Daytona’s meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 27. His presentation will include Florida’s current trauma system model and future outlook. Captain is responsible for the orchestration and delivery of trauma care across the continuum of care. He ensures the regulatory compliance for the Halifax Health Level II Trauma Center and oversees the administrative, clinical, and outreach activities necessary for the program’s day-to-day operations. He is heavily engaged in leading both internal and external educational programs related to emergency medical care. He also is the current president for
the Florida Trauma Coordinators. The Rotary Club of Port Orange-South Daytona meets every Tuesday at 12:15 p.m. at the Riverside Pavilion, 3431 S. Ridgewood Ave., Port Orange. The public is invited. Call Joyce Borda at 386852-4155 for more information and to RSVP.
Section 8 housing waiting list set to open The Housing Authority of the City of Daytona Beach has announced that pre-applications for the Housing Choice Voucher Program will be available for pickup from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 2-6 at 211 N. Ridgewood Ave. Suite 300. Pre-applications will be accepted Feb. 17 and Feb. 18 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. only. The housing authority will not accept faxed or emailed pre-applications. The pre-application is available online for printing only and not submission at www.dbhalf. org. Applications postmarked after Feb. 18 will be deemed ineligible and returned to sender by U. S. mail.
R4
7 EDITORIAL
JANUARY 22 – JANUARY 28, 2015
NAFEO supports ‘America’s College Promise’ initiative The National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO), applauds President Obama’s proposal to make community college tuition free, and views it as the commencement of an important dialogue with the states, college and university stakeholders that could help move as many as 9 million “would be” students from the margins to the mainstream of American education and commerce. The proposal would provide additional federal dollars to states that make key reforms that include strengthening the community college experience to move more students to completion, continuing to invest in community colleges, and making tuition at community colleges free. The federal dollars to the states would cover three quarters of the tuition, and the states would pay one quarter. Students who attend at least halftime, maintain a 2.5 GPA while in college, and demonstrate steady progress toward completing on time, would have the cost of their tuition covered.
More Americans with degrees If enacted, the plan would move the nation closer to realizing its 2020 goal of 60 percent of Americans having a 2- or 4-year certificate or degree. This initiative would benefit our nation’s 14 HBCU two-year institutions, many of which are exem-
LEZLI BASKERVILLE NNPA GUEST COLUMNIST
plars of retaining and moving students, members of the workforce, entrepreneurs, servicemen and women, including our veterans, to completion of certificate and degree programs in growth, critical-and high-need disciplines. The initiative also will be a boon to our nation’s nearly 80 Predominantly Black Institutions (PBIs) and their service communities. Roughly 75 percent of PBIs are two-year institutions. PBI student bodies are 40 percent or more African-American and 50 percent or more Pell Grant eligible.
HBCUs stand to win The four-year, richly diverse Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) could benefit by America’s College Promise as well. HBCUs are great at expanding student access and increasing success in innovative ways, including offering an increasing variety of degree and certificate programs, transfer, online, GED, high school partnership, 2+2, and continuing education options. They are exploring competency-based education options as well. For the last decade, many HBCUs have been developing and piloting models of 2-4-year col-
laborations that can be replicated or taken to scale. NAFEO has worked with various partners to position its members as leaders in the new higher education landscape. In recent years, working with the Links Incorporated, 4 HBCUs and 4 community colleges, NAFEO and its partners have developed promising practices of 2-4-year linkages that should prove useful as the debate advances about how best to shape America’s College Promise. The students who attend 21st Century HBCUs do so for many reasons, including their excellent education and disproportionate affirmative results in graduating diverse students in growth and high need disciplines, in mostly smaller environments. Most students who attend an HBCU go also for what has become known as the “HBCU experience” in which the campus culture is grounded in the best of African-American traditions of family, fortitude and faith, independence and interdependence. They want to attend a college in which the values and mores of their parents or guardians are undergirded and where, as in Cheers, “everybody knows your name, and they’re always glad you came.”
Lezli Baskerville is President and CEO of the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO). Write your own response at www.daytonatimes.com.
Is Obama trying to kill Black colleges? (Part II) Few things irk me more than hearing someone say or imply that now that we have a Black president, perhaps the time has come to abolish Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). I have zero tolerance for such ignorance. HBCUs are being held to a different standard than other universities that target certain communities. Because Jews and Catholics were refused admission or subjected to quotas at major universities, they established their own institutions. That’s why we have the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., the College of the Holly Cross in Worcester, Mass. and the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. for Catholics.
Preposterous thoughts
GEORGE E. CURRY NNPA COLUMNIST
Mississippi, HBCUs handed out 37 percent of the degrees awarded to African-Americans in the state, followed by Louisiana (36 percent), North Carolina (34 percent), Arkansas (31 percent), Maryland (25 percent) Alabama and South Carolina (23 percent each), Tennessee (19 percent), Georgia (18 percent), Texas (13 percent) and Florida (9 percent). At a time, when it’s projected that we won’t have enough college graduates to meet our future needs, it would be foolhardy to diminish a pool of institutions that have proven their value over the years.
The belief that we should pay our respect, have a proper funeral and send our Black colleges off to a graveyard for relics simply because Barack Obama is president Hurting HBCUs is preposterous. There are 106 accredited HBWhile the Obama administraCUs, 47 of them public. According tion is saying the right things, HBthe White House Initiative on HB- CUs are approaching death by a CUs, Black colleges award more thousand cuts. Pell grants were reduced by than 35,000 degrees each year. In
Congress in 2011, making students eligible for 12 semesters instead of 18. That will hurt Black students who, on average, take longer to complete their undergraduate education. Without consulting HBCUs, the Obama administration made changes in the Parent PLUS loans three years ago that made it more difficult for parents with less than stellar credit to obtain a loan. By some estimates, that change, which has since been modified, caused up to 20 percent drop in enrollment at HBCUs. And now the proposal for the federal government to pay for the first two years of community college, a move that is certain to harm HBCUs. It would have been better to offer to pick up the tab for the first two years at any public university. As one educator told me privately, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. must be rolling over in his grave.
George E. Curry, former editor-in-chief of Emerge magazine, is editor-in-chief of the National Newspaper Publishers Association News Service (NNPA.) Write your own response www.daytonatimes.com.
World is indifferent to missing Nigerian girls One could not help but be impressed by the millions that turned out in Paris to stand against the Islamist terrorists who killed workers at the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and four others at a kosher grocery store. Two law enforcement officers were also killed, bringing the total to 17. About 40 heads of state and more than a million others crowded into Republique Square; even more rallied around France. In total, it is estimated that 3.7 rallied for freedom. They wore shirts and carried signs that said, “I am Charlie.” Some said, “I am Muslim and Charlie” or “I am Jewish and Charlie.” Those crowds transcended race, religious and political lines. President Obama got mixed reaction to his not attending the solidarity rally. Ambassador to France Jane Hartley, someone with much less status, represented the United States. Critics said the president could at least have sent Vice President Joe Biden; Attorney General Eric H. Holder was in Paris and could have attended. The president may be doing something much more substantive by convening a summit on world terrorism at the White House in February.
DR. JULIANNE MALVEAUX TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM
Will girls be addressed? I wonder if these gatherings will address terror in Nigeria, where the Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram abducted 276 girls, and still holds 219. A hashtag campaign, #BringBackOurGirls was joined by First Lady Michelle Obama, former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, British Prime Minister David Cameron and others. Few of the 40 who rallied in Paris have ever mentioned the abducted girls and those terrorists who took them. Indeed, the abducted girls have all but disappeared from the headlines and from the public consciousness. The girls were abducted on April 14, 2014. Since then, our attention has been riveted by other news from the African continent, as the Ebola virus killed thousands (we in the U.S. were mostly focused on our handful of casualties), and as ISIS has escalated its activity around the globe. While some have forgotten about the Nigerian girls, many have not. Obiageli Eze-
kwesili, a former Nigerian government official who is now vice president of the World Bank’s Africa Division, has been among those continuing to focus attention on the girls.
Unknown whereabouts People fear that Boko Haram may have sold the schoolgirls into slavery, forced some into marriage, or killed others. Given the fact that Amnesty International, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the UN Security Council have decried the Islamist militant terrorist group, it is alarming that the world community has been so indifferent to the plight of the abducted young girls. Some of the indifference does not start with the world, but in Nigeria. Will Goodluck Jonathan, the Nigerian president who is running for reelection, mention the girls at all before February, when voting takes place? Or, has the fate of 219 kidnapped girls been forgotten? Nine months after they have been snatched from their school, who remembers? Who cares?
Julianne Malveaux is an author and economist in Washington, DC
VISUAL VIEWPOINT: MLK DAY
BOB ENGLEHART, THE HARTFORT COURANT
Selma and the folks at the ‘back of the line’ I wasn’t surprised that Ava DuVernay’s “Selma” was nearly completely snubbed for the Oscar nominations last week, as were several “White” films and White actors and directors. I never thought that, after last year’s breakthrough for “12 Years a Slave,” the Oscar voting academy was going to make another powerful drama that put Black Americans at the center of American history the focus of this year’s Oscar ceremonies. Yes, some of the Oscar voters may have used the controversy over DuVernay’s portrait of President Lyndon B. Johnson as figleaf protection to vote against it. That’s more despicable than the snub itself in my book. Although DuVernay’s depiction of Johnson is wrong, I never expect any film about a historical moment or person to be completely accurate – precisely because every film, no matter how deeply factbased, is a fictional interpretation of the real story.
Back of the line “Selma” still stands out as superior story-telling. It poignantly recounts one of the great moments – a triumph, laced through and through with tragedy – of 20th century American history. The film especially recalled for me one of the questions I obsessed over growing up in Boston in the 1960s. That was: who were the folks at the back of the line? I was fortunate in growing up in Boston, where the Black and the liberal White communities had very active ties to the Southern Movement. In the early 1960s, my brother and I joined an Episcopal churchbased “freedom choir.” Later, we attended the Baptist church where Martin Luther King, Jr. had been a co-junior pastor while at theology school at Boston University. I was “wired” into the movement in a way few Northern teenagers were. But I didn’t kid myself. I knew I was many steps removed from the danger faced daily by the real civil rights activists and the Black Southern teens who involved themselves in the movement there. That was why, as much as I was inspired by the movement’s local and national leaders, whose names appeared in the news
LEE A. DANIELS NNPA COLUMNIST
dispatches from the civil rights’ fronts, I always wondered about those who were there but out of the media spotlight.
Protecting me Nothing dramatized my obsession with that question more than the movement’s stand at the Edmund Pettus Bridge. In the film, and in the real-life television films of that moment, we see the marchers as they stand, facing the storm troopers of the state. We know they know they were facing men who had no compunction about killing Black people and their White allies, be they men, women or children. When I saw the television news reports of “Bloody Sunday,” that long-ago night in March, 1965, it made everything plain: Not just the movement’s commitment to nonviolence even in the face of imminent danger. It also made plain what those in “the line” at Selma and elsewhere on the civil rights trail had done and were doing. They were protecting me – transforming the blows meant for me into a force that would expand the boundaries of opportunity for me all my life. Embedded in that understanding is another powerful lesson that’s always worth re-affirming. It’s not only the leaders; it’s those at the back of the line, too, who make movements for social justice work.
Lee A. Daniels is a longtime journalist based in New York City. His essay, “Martin Luther King, Jr.: The Great Provocateur,” appears in Africa’s Peacemakers: Nobel Peace Laureates of African Descent (2014), published by Zed Books. His new collection of columns, Race Forward: Facing America’s Racial Divide in 2014, is available at www.amazon.com. Write your own response at www.daytonatimes. com.
W W W.DAY TONATIMES.COM Central Florida Communicators Group, LLC, P.O. Box 48857 Tampa, Fl 33646, publishes the Florida Daytona Times on Thursdays. Phone: 877-352-4455, toll-free. For all sales inquiries, call 877-352-4455; e-mail sales@ flcourier.com.
Charles W. Cherry, Sr. (1928-2004), Founder Julia T. Cherry, Senior Managing Member, Central Florida Communicators Group, LLC
Subscriptions to the print version are $69 per year. Mail check to P.O. Box 48857 Tampa, Fl 33646, or log on to www.daytona.com; click on ‘Subscribe’.
Charles W. Cherry II, Esq., Publisher
SUBMISSIONS POLICY SEND ALL SUBMISSIONS TO NEWS@DAYTONATIMES.COM. Deadline for submitting news and pictures is 5 p.m. the Monday before the Thursday publication date. You may submit articles at any time. However, current events received prior to deadline will be considered before any information that is submitted, without the Publisher’s prior approval, after the deadline. Press releases, letters to the editor, and guest commentaries must be e-mailed to be considered for publication. The Daytona Times reserves the right to edit any submission, and crop any photograph, for style and clarity. Materials will not be returned.
Dr. Glenn W. Cherry, Cassandra CherryKittles, Charles W. Cherry II, Managing Members
Dr. Glenn W. Cherry, Sales Manager Dr. Valerie Rawls-Cherry, Human Resources Cassandra Cherry Kittles, Willie R. Kittles, Circulation Jenise Morgan, Senior Editor Angela van Emmerik, Creative Director Ashley Thomas, Staff Writer Delroy Cole, Kim Gibson, Photojournalists MEMBER National Newspaper Publishers Association Society of Professional Journalists Florida Press Association Associated Press National Newspaper Association
5 7
JANUARY 22 – JANUARY 28,DECEMBER 2015 ENTERTAINMENT 14 - 20, 2006
MAYOR
Average cost of a movie ticket rose to $8.17 last year BY SABA HAMEDY LOS ANGELES TIMES (TNS)
The average price of a movie ticket rose to $8.17 in 2014, the highest yearly average on record, according to The National Association of Theatre Owners. The price was up less than half a percent from the $8.13 average in 2013, NATO reported on Tuesday. However, the fourth quarter of 2014 saw a jump in price to $8.30. The third quarter was also higher than usual, reflecting the box office success of surprise hit “Guardians of the Galaxy.” The average reflects a national average of theaters in big cities and small towns, and includes lower-priced matinees and children’s prices. For example, the cost of an adult movie ticket for an evening showing at AMC Century City is $14.49. By comparison, at AMC Oakview Plaza in Omaha, the cost of an adult movie ticket for an evening showing is $6.73.
Competition from Netflix, others The increase comes on the heels off a box office slump. After a shaky summer and a fickle fall, the box office reached an estimated $10.3 billion in 2014, down about 5.2 percent from 2013’s record of $10.9 billion. The exhibition industry has struggled to lure in moviegoers with growing competition from home entertainment op-
Magic and Cookie Johnson discuss what almost ended their marriage and the secret behind their long-lasting union.
tions such as Netflix, video-ondemand and video games. To counter the stagnation in attendance, theaters have added premium services such as extralarge screens, improved sound systems and in-theater dining. But many analysts and others in the industry predict that 2015 could be a record year at the box office with a robust film slate.
Coming soon Some highly anticipated films include Universal Pictures’ “Fifty Shades of Grey,” an adaptation of the popular romance novel by E.L. James that will debut in February; Marvel’s superhero film “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” which comes out in May; and “Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens,” due out in December. Already, Warner Bros.’ “American Sniper” shattered box office records for January. The Oscarnominated Clint Eastwood film has pulled in more than $108 million since its limited Christmas Day release. Chris Aronson, head of domestic distribution for 20th Century Fox, told The Times before the new year that he was “looking forward to having the industry reverse the declining attendance curve and have attendance actually go up in the domestic market.”
Zoe Saldana is the fictional character Gamora in “Guardians of the Galaxy, a surprise box-office hit.
Magic and Cookie say their marriage is stronger than ever EURWEB.COM
Magic Johnson’s work schedule may be jam packed with balancing various task, but the former NBA all-star admits that his marriage is stronger than ever with no sign of the professional interfering with the personal. In a recent issue of Ebony, Johnson and his wife, Cookie, ad-
dressed topics ranging from Donald Sterling to wealth building. Regarding her marriage, Cookie is quick to admit that her and Magic have had “our ups and downs.” “We had a period where we were about to separate,” Cookie revealed. “There was a point where I was home all the time; he was working. Sometimes you
start growing apart a little because he’s seeing new adventurous stuff. He’s out in the world. He’s growing. [But] I’m stagnant.” “If I had kept going [that way] and the kids left, we would probably be divorced,” Magic added. “Now we’re so connected to each other, but it took that situation to bring us back. I’ve always told Cookie, ‘The only thing I wanted was to grow old with you.’ [Now] we just look at each other and say how blessed we are.” In 1991, Johnson married his longtime girlfriend Earlitha “Cookie” Kelly in Lansing, Mich.
7 SPORTS & CLASSIFIEDS
R6
JANUARY 22 – JANUARY 28, 2015
B-CU center named MEAC Defensive Player of the Week
B:7.25” T:7” S:6.5”
SPECIAL TO THE TIMES
The Bethune-Cookman Lady Wildcats notched their fourth weekly conference honors of the 2014-15 season as officials from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) announced the honorees on Monday afternoon, tabbing Kailyn Williams as MEAC Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this season. A redshirt sophomore center, Williams (6-5, New Orleans), logged a double-double average of 10.5 PPG and16.0 RPG last week in games against Norfolk State and Coppin State. She made a huge statement on the defensive end, with a 6.5 BPG average, also tying the 2014-15 NCAA singlegame best with 10 blocks against Norfolk.
Maryland, Howard next Williams took over both games on the glass, averaging 16.0 RPG and collecting 19 of her 32 boards on the defensive boards. Against Norfolk, she fell just a single point shy of earning a triple-double. Offensive-
Dear Sam, The pressure you’re putting me under is too much.
Kailyn Williams earns top MEAC honor again. ly, she hit 38.5 percent from the field and scored games of nine and 12. This is the fourth set of MEAC honors for Bethune-Cookman and the sixth of Williams’ career. The B-CU center was named Preseason Second Team All-MEAC and also earned the same weekly honor on Nov. 24. Coming off Monday’s 55-48 win at Morgan State, the Lady Wildcats return to Richard V. Moore Gymnasium on a win streak, taking on a home set with Maryland Eastern Shore and Howard next week.
I QUIT! Sincerely, Your Heart
Don’t let your heart quit on you. If you are living with high blood pressure, just knowing and doing the minimum isn’t enough. Uncontrolled high blood pressure could lead to stroke, heart attack or death. Get yours to a healthy range before it’s too late. Find out how at heart.org/BloodPressure
This story was courtesy of B-CU Athletics. Visit BCUAthletics.com for full details of upcoming games.
GE
HE
TTIN
Check. Change. Control.™
G HEL
ALTH
H T I PW
E C AN
CA UP NB G EAS IN AVING GRACE. LIKE SNUGGL
INSUR
. WITH T HIS ADORABLE FACE
This Ad Prepared By UniWorld Group, Inc.
SETUP
Ad/Project Name To Appear In Bleed Trim Safety Scale
Filename
HeartUnderPressure7.25x5.125.indd
Ad Council
Size Fold Color Print
Last Modified
Issue
June 2014
Magazine Half-Page
Scale
None
7.25” x 5.125” 7” x 4.875” 6.5” x 4.375” None
Art Director
C. Lema
Copy Writer
T. Triplett
6-3-2014 11:35 AM
sophia jongsurasithiwat / hm
Placed Graphics AC_Logo_CMYK.eps, CCC_CMYK_V.ai, EKG_grid_HPage.psd (111 ppi; CMYK)
Production Mgr. H. Musson Traffic
Studio Artist
Fonts Helvetica Neue (65 Medium, 95 Black, 76 Bold Italic, 75 Bold; Type 1)
1/2 Page 4/CB
Heart Under Pressure PERSONNEL
Client
CONTENT
Job # AHA_1418641_1/2 Page
H. Musson
You take care of us pets. Now it’s our turn to take care of you. Visit GETCOVEREDAMERICA.ORG to learn about your health insurance options today.
7
JANUARY 22 – JANUARY 28,142015 DECEMBER - 20, 2006EDUCATION
MAYOR
Will free community college plan hurt HBCUs? Educators and supporters divided over proposal by White House BY FREDDIE ALLEN NNPA NEWS SERVICE
WASHINGTON – Black college educators and supporters are sharply split over whether President Obama’s proposal to offer a free two-year community college education to students making progress toward earning an associate or bachelor’s degree would hurt are harm historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Lezli Baskerville, president and CEO of the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO), a nonprofit network of HBCUs and predominantly Black institutions (PBIs), including community colleges, said that for students who have a gap in funding or choose to go to a two-year institution and don’t have adequate funding, America’s College Promise would create another opportunity for them. “We are trying to make sure that students that want to go and get a technical certification or some training to get their foot in the door, can do that,” said Baskerville. “We also want to incentivize and facilitate students who want to get a four-year degree doing that, especially low-income students for whom options are very, very limited.”
Divided views Baskerville said that the jury is still out on whether a student would opt to go to a two-year college for free instead of going to an HBCU. “If they’re going to a twoyear institution, they’re going to get a certificate or a two-year degree, something to get them marketready or entrepreneurshipready,” explained Baskerville. “If they’re going to a four-year HBCU they’re going because they appreciate the ethos of historic Black colleges that are built on the traditions of the African American community of family, faith, fellowship, service and social justice.” However, Lester C. Newman, president of Jarvis Christian College in Hawkins, Texas, believes HBCUs will pay a price. “They are going to suffer,” he said. “Not too many schools can operate with just the third and fourth level, especially four-year institutions that don’t have graduate programs. You don’t get the research dollars that can help sustain you. You rely on students being there from their freshman to their senior year. But if you are going to lose a great portion of
SHAWN ROCCO/RALEIGH NEWS & OBSERVER/TNT
President Barack Obama peers through a microscope while touring classrooms at Forsyth County Technical Community College in Winston-Salem, N.C., on Dec. 6, 2010. those students for the first two years, you really will have to change your model, your business plan.”
Impact on HBCUs Johnny Taylor, president and CEO of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, an education advocacy group that represents about 300,000 students and 47 member colleges and universities, agrees. “My fear is a real one and that this is going to significantly, negatively impact private HBCUs and I think it’s going to have some negative impact on public HBCUs,” he said. “Mama and Daddy are going to say, ‘If you can go to community college for free, that’s where you are going the first two years.’ So, what you have essentially done is cut in half the revenue for private HBCUs. Private HBCUs are going to feel this in a way you can’t even imagine.” Taylor said he supports President Obama’s overall goal of providing free college assistance, but thinks it should be done in a manner that would be less harmful to HBCUs. The United Negro College Fund (UNCF), which represents private HBCUs, has not issued a statement on the community college proposal.
Decrease at Southern As educators and HBCU advocates debate whether the program will have a disparate impact on Black schools, Toldson argued that enrollment at HBCUs has already taken a hit because of state-level policy choices. Toldson used Southern University in Baton Rouge,
La., as an example. Toldson said that when he taught at the school in 2005, there were 10,000 students enrolled and over the last decade that number has dwindled to 6,000. Over the same period, Toldson said that community college attendance increased to about 9,000 students. But Toldson said that the fall in enrollment at Southern University had more to do with changes in admission requirements that affected all state universities in Louisiana than direct competition from community colleges in the region. Toldson said that new guidelines barred Southern University from admitting students that scored less than 20 on their ACT exams. “The average ACT score is 16 in Louisiana, so you could imagine how many Black students could not go to Southern because of that change,” said Toldson. “So, they had to go to a community college or whatever college would accept them.”
The proposal According to data collected by the ACT program, Black graduating high school seniors scored an average of 17 on the exam in 2014, compared to White students who scored 22.3 on average. “By 2020, an estimated 35 percent of job openings will require at least a bachelor’s degree and 30 percent will require some college or an associate’s degree,” White House officials said. “Forty percent of college students are enrolled at one of America’s more than 1,100 community colleges, which offer students
affordable tuition, open admission policies, and convenient locations.” Seventy-five percent of the funding for the proposal called “America’s College Promise” will come from the federal government with participating states contributing the rest of the money needed to cover tuition costs. White House officials estimate that the program will cost the federal government $60 billion over 10 years, if all states participate.
An uphill battle Nearly all of the HBCUs are in states where Republicans control the legislature and the governor’s mansion. Getting them – or the Republican majority in the House and Senate – to buy into President Obama’s vision will likely be an uphill battle. As Newman noted, spending on higher education is already being cut by most states. “Of course, you support any opportunity where people can go to school for free,” he said. “The details are what I am concerned about. I don’t see them adding any money to higher education, just redirecting funds. This program will take away funds from private schools. Any proposal that does that is going to hurt us tremendously.” Baskerville also noted that going to a two-year institution is not the most direct route for anyone who wants to get a four-year bachelor’s degree.
Graduation statistics According to federal statistics, only 7.5 percent of Black students who pur-
Today’s activists the heirs of Civil Rights Movement BY BARRINGTON M. SALMON NNPA NEWS SERVICE
In the months following Trayvon Martin’s shooting death at the hands of vigilante George Zimmerman in February 2012, a common question demonstrators asked was if the nationwide marches and fiery protests would be a moment or a movement. The 17-year-old’s death in Sanford crystallized in a lot of young people’s minds that Black and Brown people were not living in a post-racial paradise and that, while more hidden, institutional racism, structural inequity and discrimination hadn’t disappeared but merely assumed a different, less overt role. Shortly after Martin’s death, Los Angeles-based
artist, organizer and activist Patrisse Cullors joined with fellow activists Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi to create Black Lives Matter, which moved from a hashtag to a concept embraced by activists in the U.S. and around the world.
Call to action As Garza explained in a recent article, Black Lives Matter was “a call to action for Black people after Trayvon was posthumously placed on trial for his own murder and the killer, George Zimmerman, was not held accountable for the crime he committed. It was a response to the anti-Black racism that permeates our society and also, unfortunately, our movements.” “Black Lives Matter,” she continued, “is an ideologi-
SHEVRY LASSITER/THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
Young activists have accepted the baton from more seasoned members of the movement. Thousands recently are shown marching in D.C., frustrated over the shootings of Black men by police. cal and political intervention in a world where Black lives are systematically and intentionally targeted for demise. It is an affirmation of Black folks’ contributions to this society, our humanity, and our resilience in the face of deadly oppression.”
‘Took it to the street’ Cullors, 31, executive director of Dignity and Power Now, a group that fight for the rights of people in prison, said Michael Brown’s death at the hands of former Ferguson, Missouri, Police Officer Darren Wilson in August pushed her
sue a two-year associate degree full time finish within three years and about 40 percent of Black students who earn bachelor’s degrees finish in six years. Those rates plummet when a student is only able to attend part time, often burdened by work or family obligations. Ivory Toldson, the deputy director of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, said that community colleges currently educate more Black students than any other single sector, partly because of limited financial resources. “Having a program that allows them to cut that financial barrier altogether to go into an institution that can help prepare them for an associate’s degree or to transfer to a four-year college, I think is a worthwhile program,” said Toldson.
A new reality The Journal for Blacks in Higher Education reported that, “Only 34 percent of Black students who took the ACT test were deemed ready for collegelevel English courses. This is less than half the rate for White students who took the ACT. Only 14 percent of Black ACT test takers were deemed college ready in mathematics compared to 52 percent of White ACT test takers.” Whether community college students will be less likely to enroll in an HBCU after the first two years in another setting is being hotly debated. Regardless of the outcome, Black colleges are looking at a new reality. Newman said that even before Obama’s announce-
and other activists from around the nation to answer with direct action. “We pretty much took it to the street,” she said during a recent interview. We took it to Hollywood, shut down the I-10 freeway, and marched to Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive last year. We’ve used it ever since.” In Ferguson, protesters held vigils and marches and engaged in other forms of civil disobedience to express their outrage that eyewitnesses said Brown, 18, and, like Martin, unarmed, had his hands up when he was shot seven times by Wilson, that his body lay in the street for 4.5 hours and that a Ferguson grand jury eventually cleared Wilson of any wrongdoing.
104 days of protests Cullors said she traveled to Ferguson, and over the course of 104 days of daily protests, she marched with
ment, Jarvis was studying whether to award students associate degrees upon satisfactory completion of the first two years. Now that examination will be accelerated. “We’re going to have to change our model,” he explained. “I don’t know if we have to play the associate degree game. We will have a need for greater articulation agreements with those community colleges that get those students.”
Ripple effect? Other approaches will also be needed. Baskerville said NAFEO is already working with The Links Inc., an international professional women’s group, to pair HBCUs with two-year community colleges in their service area in an effort to provide students with the experience of attending a fouryear institution as they earn college credits at the local community college. White House officials hope that taking the costs of tuition off the table for two-years will help to ease some of those burdens, possibly improving graduation rates in the process. If the president’s plan results in fewer students attending HBCUs, that could have a ripple effect. For example, physicians, dentists and other professionals who attend HBCUs are much more likely to return to Black communities to practice than graduates of non-Black colleges. Referring to the Obama community college proposal, Newman said, “It’s going to change how we operate in higher education. Whether that’s good or bad, we don’t know yet.”
residents, worked with leaders, organizers and residents of Ferguson and St. Louis and helped leaders develop tactics for their movement. “We are a call to action to end state-sanctioned violence against blacks. It’s significant because it’s a new Black power call, saying, stating and declaring that we no longer accept the status quo and that this is a broader fight for Black lives. “Everyone is focused, angry and clear about the justice that they seek. There will be victory. Even if Wilson (had been) indicted, it’s a larger problem, a problem of St. Louis and the American government. This story is special to the NNPA from The Washington Informer.
R8
7COMMUNITY NEWS
JANUARY 22 – JANUARY 28, 2015
Bus system’s fare increase takes effect Feb. 2
Beginning Feb. 2, Votran riders will face a modest fare increase, the second of a twopart phased fare hike. The first phase of the rate increase became effective in February 2014. Votran is increasing fares to help offset substantially higher operating costs. Even with the increase, Votran fares remain below the average of other Florida transit systems, according to Steve Sherrer, Votran general manager.
$1.75 for one way With the new fare schedule, a one-way fare will cost $1.75, an increase of 25 cents; the reduced fare for senior citizens, disabled and youths will be 85 cents, an increase of 10 cents; and a daily pass will be $3.75, an increase of 25 cents. The Votran Gold fare for paratransit users remains $3. Passes purchased prior to the fare increase will be accepted on Votran buses with no additional purchase required. Riders have the option to purchase passes at the 2014 fare prices any time prior to Feb. 2 for use after the fare increase takes effect. For more information, visit www.votran. org.
COURTESY OF VOTRAN
Bernard Huggins has been driving for Votran nearly 40 years.
A major feat for longtime Votran driver Bernard Huggins becomes second operator with 3 million-mile safety record SPECIAL TO THE DAYTONA TIMES
It took him about 40 years to do it, but Votran operator Bernard Huggins now can claim he HAS driven three million miles without a preventable accident. In
achieving the rare safe driver achievement, Huggins becomes only the second Votran bus operator to reach the 3 milliin-mile safe-driving record. Among Huggins’ other honors is being named the Florida Bus Operator of the Year in 2010 by the Florida Public Transit Association. He also has been named Votran employee of the year. It takes approximately 12 years for a public bus driver to travel a million miles. Evett “Doc” Wilson was the first
Votran driver to reach this public transportation service benchmark in March 2014. Both three million milers said it’s all about great training.
Rewarding experience “Safety always has been my primary concern above all others,” said Huggins. “I always follow safety regulations and guidelines while using common sense. I always try to maintain a high level of security. The passengers of Votran need to know they can
feel safe on my bus. So I do my best to assure them of that. Driving for Votran has been a rewarding experience, and I thank Votran and each and every rider for this recognition.” In honor of Huggins’ most recent accomplishment, Votran will display a 3-million million miler vehicle wrap on a fixed route bus in West Volusia. Huggins has been driving for Votran for 40 years and has no plans to retire. For more information about Votran, visit votran.org.
Alpha Kappa Alpha seeking participants for Men of Tomorrow program The Gamma Mu Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority is seeking young men currently enrolled as juniors and seniors at Volusia and Flagler county high schools to participate in its 17th Biennial Men of Tomorrow program. During the six-month-long program, Men of Tomorrow participants will take part in activities contributing to their cultural, educational and social enrichment. Participation in the program develops leadership skills and provides career guidance. Interested young men must have a minimum 2.5 cumulative grade point average to participate. In addition, boys between ages 5 and 8 years of age are sought to participate in the Little Men of Tomorrow program. Age appropriate activities will be scheduled for children participating in this program. To request an application for participation in the program, call 386-679-3934 or 386295-7314.
Medicare Part D Members Save even more on your prescription co-pays at the Publix Pharmacy, a preferred pharmacy in select Medicare Part D plans.* Switching is easy. Just bring us your prescription bottles.
*See pharmacy for details, or visit publix.com/medicare.