Daytona Times - February 18, 2016

Page 1

Rolls-Royce dealer had humble beginnings SEE PAGE 5

EE FR

MARC MORIAL: Maurice White, American music’s ‘shining star,’ is gone SEE PAGE 4 KEN GRIFFEY JR. WILL BE HONORARY STARTER AT DAYTONA 500 SEE PAGE 7

East Central Florida’s Black Voice FEBRUARY 18 - FEBRUARY 24, 2016

YEAR 41 NO. 7

www.daytonatimes.com

Another shooting, another memorial service B-CU pays tribute to student fatally shot at off-campus event BY DAYTONA TIMES STAFF

“Your life matters.’’ A simple sentence that carries a lot of weight. It was pronounced by local retired Judge Hubert Grimes Wednesday at a service at Bethune-Cookman University in memory of Don’Kevious Johnson, a student from Belle Glade who died from a gunshot wound at an off-campus party on Feb.13. Johnson, 23, a sophomore psychology major, died after he was shot in the head during a fight outside of the Indigo Lakes Golf Club in Daytona Beach. Don’Kevious Justine CunningJohnson ham, 20, of New York, also was shot in the head. Tre Jamal Williams, 21, of Palmetto, was shot in the back. Lamont Postell Jr., 23, who was not a B-CU student, has been with one count of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder. Johnson also was on the BCU Wildcats’ football team for one season in 2014. He played football at Glades Central High

School, then spent one year at Alabama State University before joining B-CU’s football team. “Every life is precious. Every life matters. Don’Kevious’ life matters. Tre’s life matters. Justine’s life matters. Your life matters,” said Grimes, who has spent decades trying to help juveniles stay out of trouble.

No codes, colors Grimes was one of the speakers at a campus memorial service Wednesday that brought together students, faculty, staff as well as community residents and leaders. “Too many of our young people today want to define themselves by things such as telephone area codes. The 305, the 561, the 863, the 904, etc. But my friends, you’re not defined by that, nor are you defined by the colors; red, blue, and all the others. You’re not defined by the places you come from such as the east coast or west coast. That’s not who you are,’’ Grimes added. Cheryl Lawson-Young, B-CU’s public safety compliance and prevention manager, echoed those words Wednesday during the service. “We are all from the same blood. And that’s not the Bloods, not the Crips, not the Latin Kings, and not all the other area codes,” she remarked. “The only blood that we let rain at Bethune-Cook-

DUANE C. FERNANDEZ SR./HARDNOTTSPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

Bethune-Cookman students provide comfort through song at Wednesday’s memorial service. Retired Judge Hubert Grimes (standing, far left) spoke at the service. man University and this community is the blood of Jesus.” She added, “If you want to recognize your area code, go back home where you came from because we’re all Wildcats here.”

2015 shooting deaths The tragedy comes five months after the deaths of two female students at the hands of a shooter.

Timesha “Lisa” Carswell, 21, and Diona McDonald, 19, both B-CU students from Michigan, died on Sept. 17, 2015 after being shot by 27-year-old York Zed Bodden, a convicted felon during a rental dispute at the Carolina Club Apartments in Daytona Beach. Student Micah Parham was critically injured and lost an eye in that shooting. Bodden, from Miami, was ar-

BLACK HISTORY MONTH 2016

Exhibits, videos highlight achievements of African-Americans in Daytona and beyond BY DAYTONA TIMES STAFF

Daytona produces Black History videos In recognition of Black History Month, the City of Daytona Beach has compiled four videos that highlight local people and places. They focus on the Midtown community, Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, Jackie Robinson Ballpark and the city’s Black History Trail. The videos can be viewed on the city’s website. The city’s presentation notes that in the late 1800s, Midway was the largest community where Blacks lived, worked, played and prayed. The boundaries of Midway were along Second Avenue, which today is Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Boulevard, the railroad tracks to the east and Nova Road on the west. Another video is about Dr. Bethune, who founded the Daytona Educational and Industrial Training School for Negro Girls in 1904. The school opened with just five little girls whose parents paid 50 cents per week tuition. Today the school is Bethune-Cookman University in the heart of Daytona Beach. Jackie Robinson Ballpark in downtown Daytona Beach also is featured. It’s the site where the baseball great integrated modern professional baseball. Originally named the Daytona City Island Ballpark, it was renamed Jackie Robinson Memorial Ballpark in 1990. On its website, the city notes that a group of historians and citizens spent countless hours a few years ago assembling the community’s Black Heritage Trail “so that future generations are reminded of the important role that African-Americans played in the history and development of our community.’’ There are 18 sites highlighted in a Black Heritage Trail booklet.

DUANE C. FERNANDEZ SR./HARDNOTTSPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

Please see EVENTS, Page 2

A student views the Emmett Till Traveling Exhibit now on display at Mount Carmel Missionary Baptist Church in Daytona Beach.

rested there on Sept. 18 and allegedly hanged himself the next day in his cell at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.

Seven more shot On Feb. 23, 2015, Ladell Pleasure was charged with discharging a firearm on school property in a shooting on campus that Please see B-CU, Page 2

NAACP to tackle crime during Feb. 25 forum BY DAYTONA TIMES STAFF

The Daytona Beach branch of the NAACP is hosting a community forum on Thursday, Feb. 25, which will include discussion on local crime prevention and public safety. The forum will begin at 6 p.m. at Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church, 580 George Engram Blvd. Cynthia Slater, president of the local NAACP, has invited Daytona Beach Police Chief Mike Chitwood to be one of the speakers at the event. She’s also hoping that Dr. Edison Jackson, president of Bethune-Cookman University, will attend.

‘In crisis’ In speaking about the Feb. 13 shooting that claimed the life of B-CU student Don’Kevious Johnson and other recent shootings in Daytona Beach, Slater said, “I believe that we are a community in crisis at this point and leaders and the community as a whole have to deal with and come to the realization that gun violence is plaguing the Black community.’’ “A violent and criminal element has taken over this community, and in all of my life as a resident of Daytona Beach, I have never seen the number of shootings and homicides that involves African-Americans like what has happened within the last few years,” she told the Daytona Times this week.

‘A matter of Black lives’ Slater continued, “We say ‘Black Lives Matter,” but I say, ‘It’s a matter of Black lives.’ It’s a matter of Black lives when there is no respect for life, so much so that young people don’t care about the consequences of their actions. “It’s a matter of Black lives when a simple argument or disagreement turns into gun violence and the murder of innocent people; it’s a matter of Black lives when guns get into the hands of unstable and/or drug induced people. We are faced with a sense of urgency, and we must end the violence that is devastating our community.’’ Please see NAACP, Page 2

ALSO INSIDE

COMMENTARY: LEE A. DANIELS: THE REPUBLICAN PRIMARY’S POISONOUS LEGACY | PAGE 4 SPORTS: WILDCATS’ TRACK AND FIELD TEAM NETS SOUTH REGIONAL RANKINGS | PAGE 7


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.