Daytona Times - April 21, 2016

39 students graduate from leadership program SEE PAGE 5

EE FR

JULIANNE MALVEAUX: Black women won’t celebrate Equal Pay Day until Aug. 1 SEE PAGE 4

HEALTH FAIR, SUMMIT HELPS SENIORS SEE PAGE 2

East Central Florida’s Black Voice APRIL 21 - APRIL 27, 2016

YEAR 41 NO. 16

www.daytonatimes.com

New Smyrna tackles affordable housing issue New rental homes are the first in decades built in city’s Westside neighborhood.

BY ANDREAS BUTLER DAYTONA TIMES

New Smyrna Beach Housing Authority has made it possible for some families to move into

brand-new, affordable homes.

Six new houses are the first significant development besides Habitat for Humanity homes built in more than 40 years in the historic Westside neighborhood. The rental housing project was a collaborative effort of the New Smyrna Beach Housing Authority, the City of New Smyrna Beach and Volusia County.

“Because of this team effort, this place has been transformed into an oasis where children can

play and families can grow. We are proud to be a part of such an effort,” said Mayor James Hathaway at an April 14 ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the milestone.

The single-family homes are located on the corner of Railroad Street and Dimmick Street.

Five have an address on Railroad Street while one has a Julia Street address.

See HOUSES, Page 2

DUANE C. FERNANDEZ SR./HARDNOTTSPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

Above are a few of the new houses located on Railroad Street in New Smyrna Beach.

Education, unity focus of Muslim event

‘Radio angel’ Mattie Howard remembered as DJ and humanitarian

BY ANDREAS BUTLER DAYTONA TIMES

PHOTOS BY DUANE C. FERNANDEZ SR./HARDNOTTSPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

A large crowd is treated to free food at the program sponsored by the Muslim Women’s Association Of Daytona Beach.

Annual program allows residents to learn about religion, meet local members

Left: The program drew some of the area’s government and community leaders.

DAYTONA TIMES STAFF

As it has done for years, the Muslim Women’s Association of Daytona Beach held its community outreach program last weekend, which allows area residents to get better acquainted with the Muslim community and foster a better understanding of the Islamic religion.

The program was held on April 16 at the Islamic Center of Daytona Beach on Keech Street.

Imam Belal Shemman addressed the large crowd gathered at the mosque, which included local elected officials and community leaders.

Participants also got a chance to sample homemade dishes provided by the association. Along with free food, gifts also were presented to attendees. A family gathering, the event included outdoor activities for youth.

Bottom: Volusia County Councilwoman Joyce Cusack, DeLand Commissioner Jessica Davis and Daytona Beach Police Chief Mike Chitwood were among the guests.

State Rep. Dwayne Taylor (not pictured) also attended.

Midtown Motown offers residents evening of good music, family fun DAYTONA TIMES STAFF

DUANE C. FERNANDEZ SR./HARDNOTTSPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

The Love Band performs Saturday during Midtown Motown at Cypress Park. The next concert is May 7.

ALSO INSIDE

More than 400 people enjoyed an evening of free entertainment last weekend at Midtown Motown, a new concert series at Cypress Park at the Midtown Cultural and Educational Center (CEC).

The family event in Daytona Beach is scheduled one Saturday each month from April through September.

The April 16 concert featured

singer Bartee, who entertained the audience with smooth jazz and R&B. The Love Band also belted out some Motown hits during the show.

“The venue was chosen for its convenience, parking, proximity to the Midtown CEC and opportunity for our children to be able to use the pool and recreational facilities during the event, said Helen Riger, Daytona

Mattie Howard is being remembered this week as a legendary local gospel radio show host, gospel singer and concert promoter, as well as a woman who dedicated her life to helping others succeed.

Howard died on April 14 at age 73.

For nearly 20 years, Howard was the backbone of WPUL-AM 1590, where she hosted her popular “Friendship Gospel Hour.’’

From the station’s first day on the air in 1988, Howard played gospel music every weekday morning starting at 6 a.m. She left for health reasons in 2003. WPUL-AM was a sister media outlet of the Daytona Times.

“Ms. Howard was dedicated to God, the community, and the station,” Daytona Times Publisher Charles W. Cherry II said.

Cherry, then WPUL-AM’s general manager, explained, “She never wanted to miss a day on the air, no matter how tough it was for her to show up at the studio. She had a series of strokes that made it difficult Mattie and eventually im- Howard possible to do what she really loved.”

Touched many Howard came to Daytona from Eastman, Georgia, when she was 19 years old to be with her sister and uncle.

“She was excited to be in Daytona and always compared Daytona to Eastman. She was very excited and determined to get a job and an apartment when she first got here,” good friend Eva Murphy said, reflecting on Howard’s early years.

Murphy and Howard’s friendship dates back to when they attended Campbell High School and Daytona Beach Junior College together, which is now Daytona State College.

“She always inspired. Throughout her life, she was always a determined individual. She was a real humanitarian, public servant and woman of God,” Murphy told the Daytona Times.

“She always was outgoing and did what she could to help others, especially those who wanted to help themselves,’’ Murphy reflected.

Founded Spiritualettes In addition to her radio show, Howard sang gospel and promot-

See MIDTOWN, Page 6

See HOWARD, Page 2

EDUCATION: EDUCATION DEPARTMENT HAS LAUNCHED NEW WAY TO REPAY COLLEGE DEBT | PAGE 5 SPORTS: AN OVERDUE HONOR FOR BASKETBALL LEGEND JOHN B. MCLENDON | PAGE 7

7 FOCUS

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APRIL 21 – APRIL 27, 2016

Men’s Health Summit Saturday at B-CU A free Men’s Health Summit will take place on Saturday, April 23, from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. at Bethune-Cookman University’s Center for Civic Engagement.

Halifax Health, Halifax Health Hospice, The Vince Carter Embassy of Hope and BethuneCookman are sponsoring the event.

The summit will include a healthy lunch, guest speakers, door prizes and a free personal health assessment, which will check blood pressure, heart rates, blood glucose level, weight and body mass index and cholesterol.

The keynote speaker will be Joe Madison, host of “Joe Madison: The Black Eagle,” which airs live

Applications available for rental assistance program

‘Grand Prix of the Sea’ returns P1 AquaX returns to Daytona Beach April 23-24, billed as the fourth Annual Daytona Beach “Grand Prix of the Sea.’’ The event is free to the public will take place in front of the Hilton Hotel between 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. Spectators can see personal watercraft racers (amateur and pro) race at speeds averaging 60 mph and check out the various vendor displays. Suncoast Charities for Children is the official charity partner for Powerboat P1 USA. More info: P1aquax.com.

HOUSES from Page 1

‘More to come’ Brian Clark, executive director of the New Smyrna Housing Authority, told the Daytona Times that the development doesn’t have an official name yet. It’s just referred to as the Railroad Street property.

“We hope that this is just the beginning and the foundation of more to come,” said Clark.

New Smyrna’s Westside is predominantly AfricanAmerican and has a rich history dating back over 150 years.

Blacks came to the area dating back to after the American Civil War. For years, many worked on the Florida East Coast Railroad and had a thriving community.

“I don’t know why it’s been so long. Habitat for Humanity has done lowcost housing in the area, but we just haven’t had a lot of development in that part of town,” commented Clark.

Not public housing New Smyrna Beach, like most cities suffered heavily

HOWARD from Page 1

ed gospel shows.

Some of the acts she promoted or sang with during the years include Shirley Caesar, the Williams Brothers, the Mighty Clouds of Joy, the Canton Spirituals, and the Jackson Southernaires.

“She was a dynamic and powerful gospel singer. You could just feel the emotion and expression when she sang. Too bad she wasn’t really discovered,” said Leona Carruth, a member of the Spiritualettes, a gospel music group that Howard created back in 1972. The group still performs locally.

“We toured together all around Florida. We even once performed in her hometown in Georgia that was another memorable experience. We enjoyed being with her and singing with her,” Carruth reminisced.

Loved people, gospel Carruth called Howard

during the housing crisis in recent years.

Because of the housing crisis, the Westside community has experienced an exodus of many residents.

“I came here in 2011, and we’ve had many people in our Westside community leave. Many were in our Section 8 program. They couldn’t find comfortable housing in our community. We surveyed them and they all said that they would move back if they could,” Clark explained.

The new open market homes are the first of their kind. Although owned by the New Smyrna Beach Housing Authority, they do not fall under the guidelines of Section 8 or public housing. Section 8 is a rent subsidy program for eligible low-income families through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

These homes are designed for families earning 14,000 to $45,000 per year.

Help for families Families renting these homes are expected to pay $736 to $945 per month.

Each has three bedrooms and three bathrooms.

“I’m very excited about (the new houses). I can’t even explain, I’ve never

“a very energetic and outgoing person. She loved what she did. She loved people and loved doing gospel music.’’

Echoed Murphy, “She told me that she learned and got her love for singing in churches. She said that her singing experiences help her build. She often accepted invitations to sign with the professionals.’’

‘Giving person’ Her nephew, Rodney Smith, also spoke of his aunt’s kindness and generosity.

“She was a very giving person. She was a good person. She touched a lot of people,’’ Smith told the Daytona Times.

On June 7, 2014, the City of Daytona Beach proclaimed the date “Mattie Howard Day.’’ A “Legacy of Love” concert was held that day in her honor.

WPUL-AM also put together a fundraiser for her featuring the Mighty Clouds of Joy in 2003.

In addition to her music career, Howard had worked as a waitress, cook and nanny. In her later years, she lived in Ormond

had my own house,” said Joy Moore, 21, who will be moving her family into one of the properties after nearly three years in public housing.

“It’s brand-new and it’s bigger. We know we need to build more Section 8 housing and housing for working families. Moving from public housing to the housing market is pretty tough.

Many working families that do often go from paying $400 to $500 per month for rent up to $1,200 to $1,500 per month for a three-bedroom house. This program can help these families,” added Clark.

Volusia County residents who need temporary assistance to maintain affordable housing may apply for assistance through the county’s Community Assistance Division. Preliminary applications for the Tenant-Based Rental Assistance (TBRA) program will be available April 26 and 27 online only at www.volusia.org/ rentalassistance.

The federally funded program is designed to help low-income individuals and families afford housing costs such as rent and utility deposits. Persons who are already participating in the county’s TBRA or Family SelfSufficiency program may be eligible for a preference.

Applicants’ household income may not exceed $22,080

Local builders Construction was done by all local builders and contractors. The city and housing authority have agreed to keep the homes in the affordable housing arena for at least 25 years.

The New Smyrna Beach Housing Authority has 126 public housing units and

on Sirius XM satellite radio. Madison also is a renowned human rights and civil rights activist.

Other presenters scheduled are Dr. Deanna Wathington, Bethune Cookman’s executive dean of the Petrock School of Health Sciences; Thomas Bryant III with the Florida Department of Health in Volusia County; Dr. Don Stoner, Chief Medical Officer, Halifax Health; Dr. Anthony Ombogo and Dr. Lauren Powell, also with Halifax Health; and Dr. Robert Sessoms, also with Bethune-Cookman.

Breakout sessions will deal with the social determinants of health, heart disease, health inequities in Black male, spiritual and physical health, prostate health, obesity diet and diabetes.

for one person, $25,200 for two persons, $28,380 for three persons, $31,500 for four persons, $34,020 for five persons, $36,540 for six persons, $39,060 for seven persons, or $41,580 for eight persons.

Eligible families will be required to pay at least 30 percent of their household income toward their contract rent.

Completed applications with supportive documentation of preferences must be postmarked on or before May 4 and will be accepted only by U.S. mail. They should be addressed to Volusia County Community Assistance, 110 W. Rich Ave., DeLand, FL 32720.

Disabled people who require an accommodation to apply for the program may contact Paula Szabo at 386-736-5955 or pszabo@volusia.org.

has issued out over 253 Section 8 housing vouchers.

The public housing developments in the area are Donnelly Homes, Greenlawn Terrace, Live Oak Homes and Enterprise Homes.

“Our units aren’t that bad. They are old but in good shape. I’ve worked

with housing authorities just about everywhere.

In New Smyrna, we don’t have all the violent crime and people are really neighborly,” Clark added.

Meredith Knight of the New Smyrna Beach Housing Authority contributed to this report.

Years of planning Construction took just seven months but the planning of these homes dates back to 2012.

“It’s been coming for some time. Most of the years have been raising funds and planning,” stated Clark.

Funding came from the housing authority as well as a $271,979 grant from the Community Redevelopment Agency for the New Smryna Beach Housing Authority and a $340,000 grant from the Volusia County HOMES program.

Beach. Howard had spent the last 11 years residing at the Opis Coquina Center nursing home in Ormond Beach.

Howard was a member of Greater Friendship Baptist Church of Daytona Beach. A homegoing service is scheduled there at 11 a.m. on April 30. The church is located at 539 George W. Engram Blvd., Daytona Beach. The Rev. John T. Long III is slated to deliver the eulogy.

She is survived by her siblings Charlie Howard, Myrna Howard, Shirley Gibson, Ella Howard and Lougene Howard-Wilder; brother-in-law Henry Fudge; and nephew Rodney Smith, along with his wife, Antonette.

Pinello Funeral Home, 1036 Derbyshire Road in Daytona Beach, is in charge of funeral arrangements. A viewing will take place there on April 29.

Donations in Mattie Howard’s honor can be made to Halifax Hospice at 3800 Woodbriar Trail, Port Orange, FL 32129.

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APRIL 21 – APRIL 27, 2016 COMMUNITY DECEMBER 14 - 20, 2006

M A YNEWS OR

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PHOTOS BY DUANE C. FERNANDEZ SR./HARDNOTTSPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

New Smyrna Beach summit focuses on seniors The Daytona Times was present for the annual health fair and senior summit held Tuesday at the Alonzo “Babe’’ James Community Center in New Smyrna Beach, 201 N. Myrtle Ave. Attendees received information on health care, hospice care, insurance, Medicare and Medicaid, senior care, services for the blind, and Volusia County Health Department services.

Health screenings also were available.

The free event was hosted by the City of New Smyrna Beach. On this page are images from the event taken by Times photojournalist Duane C. Fernandez Sr.

Poetry Slam series concludes May 7 at Cinematique The Daytona Beach arts cinema, Cinematique, concludes its current Poetry Slam series for the season on May 7.

The event will begin at 9 p.m., a half hour earlier than previous evenings, to allow more time for the competition. First prize is $50, while second prize is a $25 Cinematique gift certificate. Admission for the evening is just $5.

Poetry slams are an opportunity for poets to show off their talent in competition.

The first 12 poets to reserve a spot will be allowed to compete, but the general pub-

Poetry Month Festival set for Sunday Creative Happiness Institute will hold its annual April National Poetry Month Festival on April 24 from 1 to 4:30 p.m.

The event, held in the Gallery of The Casements in Ormond Beach, will feature 40 poets and singers/songwriters and an open mic for audience members to read poems of their own.

The afternoon will begin with a greeting from Julia Truilo, Executive Director of Ormond Beach MainStreet. Volusia County Poet Laureate Dr. David B. Axelrod will emcee the performances. There will be a special appearance from the husbandand-wife poetry team, Tim and Regina Gort from Gwinn, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

Local co-sponsoring group Tomoka Poets representatives will include B.J. Alligood, Fred Booth, and Lenny Schneir.

Library to host workshop on researching grants Individuals can learn how to use the Foundation Center’s online database to apply for grants at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 26, at the Daytona Beach Regional Library at City Island, 105 E. Magnolia Ave., Daytona Beach.

This hands-on workshop will offer an opportunity to preview and use the database, which provides information on more than 10,000 grant makers that support individual grant projects.

Librarian Lorri Davis will explain how students, artists, researchers and other individual grant seekers can use the database to seek funds from foundations, corporations, and grant-making public charities.

lic is welcome to come and read a poem at the open mic that follows.

Volusia County Poet Laureate David B. Axelrod emcees the event, together with Kevin Campbell, director of MACDeLand Slams.

“From the dozen winners since August, 2015, we have been able assemble a team that will represent our area,” Axelrod said.

“We now have a grant from the Cultural Council of Volusia County that will help Kevin’s team travel to regional and national competitions. The series isn’t just paying a cash prize, it is helping launch poetry careers.” The bimonthly competitions will continue next fall with cosponsor, Creative Happiness Institute.

Cinematique is located at 242 South Beach St.

Other groups sending their poets will be Live Poets, Florida State Poets Association, MainStreet Art and Culture Slam, Daytona State College, and Deltona High School.

Musical entertainment will include Lana Chapel, Lady Love Rebel (Bodil Haheim), Elliot Kane, Roger Duvernoy, and a special satiric song medley by Robert Blenheim.

Sister Cities of Volusia County will provide free light refreshments, and snacks and beverages will also be for sale. The event is made possible by funding in part from a grant by the Cultural Council of Volusia County, and is open to the public free of charge. There will be a door prize, raffles for literary prizes, and CDs and books for sale by featured performers.

For more information, call 386-3374567 or email axelrod@creativehappiness. org.

Reserve a space by calling Davis at 386-257-6036, ext. 16154.

Judge to speak at Mother’s Day Luncheon Mt. Zion A.M.E. Church’s Lay Organization will host its 11th annual Mother’s Day Luncheon at noon on April 30.

Judge Dawn P. Fields of the Seventh Judicial Circuit Court will be the speaker. The theme is “The Recognition, the Resourcefulness and the Responsibility of a Mother.’’

Tickets are $20. The church is at 449 S. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

RSVP by calling 386-299-0110, 386295-7247 or e-mail eburneyjr@cfl. rr.com by 5 p.m. on April 25.

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7 EDITORIAL

APRIL 21 – APRIL 27, 2016

Black Women won’t celebrate Equal Pay Day until Aug. 1 According to the American Association of University Women, a group that promotes equity and education for women and girls, “Equal Pay Day (April 12) is the symbolic day when women’s earnings ‘catch up’ to men’s earnings from the previous year.”

But African-American women earn a scant 63 cents to the average dollar a White man earns.

A Black woman would have to work until around August 1 to earn as much as a man did in the previous year!

As alarming as that fact is, it is equally alarming that few mention Equal Pay Day in a racial context. Ain’t I a woman?

Black women ignored President Obama has done a good job in addressing the issue of equal pay and fair treatment of women in the workplace. His first piece of legislation, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, gave women a longer time to sue for workplace discrimination.

He has also created a National Equal Pay Task Force and, through executive order, prohibited federal contractors from dis-

DR. JULIANNE MALVEAUX TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM

criminating against workers who discuss their pay. In the non-federal workplace, employees can be disciplined, or even fired, if they discuss their pay. Indeed, the reason there are such gaping pay gaps is because there is so little transparency about pay.

No priority From legislation he has supported, and discretionary acts he has taken, President Obama would likely do more to close the gender pay gap were there a more cooperative Congress.

Clearly, pay equity is not a priority for this Congress.

From his support of an increased minimum wage, to his advocacy for paid sick leave (including an executive order for federal contractors), to his support for better overtime regulations, the president has strongly

Revive the US Commission on Civil Rights This country has made remarkable progress on civil rights over our history. We’ve moved from slavery to segregation to equal rights under the law.

African-Americans have gained the right to vote, the right to equal employment opportunity. Open racism has become increasingly unacceptable. Gays and lesbians have progressed toward equal rights. Same-sex marriage is increasingly accepted in law and in practice.

Bias remains Yet, we’ve been presented with inescapable evidence of continuing systemic discrimination. Ferguson and many other abuses sparked the Black Lives Matter movement that exposed the systemic and too often deadly bias of our criminal justice system.

Liberals and conservatives alike have criticized mass incar-

REV. JESSE L. JACKSON, SR. TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM

ceration of nonviolent offenders, disproportionately people of color. The wealth gap between the races has increased dramatically, as African-Americans and Latinos were disproportionately targeted and victimized by the systemic fraud that led to the financial collapse. Muslim communities have come under brutal assault from political candidates looking to scare up votes.

Voting rights have come under the worst attack since the days of Jim Crow. Governors across the country have refused to expand Medicaid, passing up on billions in federal money, with people of color disproportionately the victims.

Blacks voices missing from Western Sahara discussion I was thrilled to hear that there would be a hearing on Capitol Hill regarding the human rights situation in the Western Sahara.

The “Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission,” co-chaired by Congressman Joseph Pitts and Congressman James McGovern, along with Commission member Congressman John Conyers, hosted the discussion March 23.

This was quite important in light of the pathetic media coverage of the ongoing and illegal Moroccan occupation of the Western Sahara and the human rights abuses carried out by the occupying forces. Morocco has occupied most of the Western Sahara since it invaded the territory shortly after the Spanish withdrew in 1975.

Noticed two things There were two things quite noticeable about the hearing, despite its many strengths.

There were four presenters, each of who gave compelling testimony emphasizing the illegality of the occupation and the abuse of the indigenous Sahrawi population by the Moroccans.

Yet presenters Kerry Kenne-

BILL FLETCHER, JR. NNPA COLUMNIST

dy, the president of the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights group; Francesco Bastagli, the former special representative of the secretary-general for Western Sahara of the United Nations; Eric Goldstein, the deputy director of Human Rights Watch; and Erik Hagen, the chair of the Western Sahara Resource Watch were all White.

The presentations were all compelling and warranted. Yet, I found myself wondering why there were no Africans or African-Americans making the case.

Few Blacks The second noticeable feature was that the meeting itself was very White. There were very few African-Americans present in the room. I kept looking for other members of the Congressional Black Caucus to stick their heads into the room as an

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: BOKO HARAM’S GIRL BOMBERS

supported workplace fairness.

It takes nothing from his strong commitment to women, though, to acknowledge that African-American women earn less, and that Equal Pay Day comes much later for them (and for Latina women, who would have to work until November 1 to earn the same amount a man earned last year) than it does for other women.

Surrounded by three intelligent and beautiful AfricanAmerican women – Michelle, Sasha and Malia – it would be impossible for our president to be unaware of the challenges that African-American women face.

Nothing to lose While I am aware that this president prefers not to deal with race matters in this last year of his presidency, he ought to consider doing so. There are few consequences for this action.

President Obama does not mind using Black women as a throwaway line in a speech. At his University of Chicago Law School conversation, he defended his nomination of Merrick

Watchdog needed We need to revive a powerful, independent Civil Rights Commission to act as an independent nonpartisan watchdog to report on these and other fundamental civil rights concerns and make recommendations to the Congress and the president.

The U.S. Civil Rights Commission was created in 1957 under Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower to provide a powerful, independent monitor of civil rights. Ike’s committee that recommended its formation concluded: “In a democratic society, the systematic, critical review of social needs and public policy is a fundamental necessity. This is especially true of a field like civil rights, where the problems are enduring and range widely (and where) ... a temporary, sporadic approach can never finally solve these problems.”

The Civil Rights Commission’s early reports on voting rights and school integration had powerful effect. It played a major role in helping to define what became the Americans with Disabilities

expression of solidarity, but that did not happen. The lack of an African-American presence was noticeable.

In North America, there has always been a constituency that has concerned itself with developments in Africa. Sometimes such individuals (and groups) have been inspired by religion, at other times by politics and economics.

TransAfrica emerged in the late 1970s as an institution launched through the work of the Congressional Black Caucus as a means of bringing national attention to matters facing Africa and the African Diaspora. Similar organizations, such as those that would in the early 2000s constitute Africa Action, followed a similar path.

Today, the weakness and/or non-existence of such organizations is evident in the void found in the Western Sahara hearings.

This void needs to be filled by progressive Black organizations and individuals, lest it is filled by those who – even wearing Black skin – have nefarious objectives on the continent.

Bill Fletcher, Jr. is the host of “The Global African” on Telesur-English. He is a racial justice, labor and global justice activist and writer.

PARESH NATH, THE KHALEEJ TIMES, UAE

Garland to the Supreme Court.

He rather vapidly said that some people expected him to pick a “Black lesbian from Skokie,” a comment I found offensive and condescending.

If Black women can be fodder for a silly off-the-cuff remark, surely we ought to get enough serious policy consideration for our pay equity issues to be addressed.

Aug. 1 is Equal Pay Day for

African-American women. We work harder, longer, and for less remuneration than other women do. What are we going to do about it?

Act in 1990. In 2000, it released a powerful report on police practices and civil rights in America.

significant contribution in helping the country’s leaders and its people understand the challenges we faced and recommend reforms to address them.

Downhill slide The commission still exists, but it has been weakened dramatically. Under Ronald Reagan, its budget was cut. Under George W. Bush it became a partisan battleground, with conservatives seeking to turn it into a vehicle against affirmative action.

It was stunningly absent from the debate on reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act in 2006.

Now it is a shell of its former self. Its recent reports – on police relations, school bullying and immigration detention – have received little attention. Its staff has been cut by more than half from its 1996 level. Its authorization has expired; it exists on annual appropriations that have slowly starved it of funds.

Progress on civil rights has always been contested. But leaders of both parties even in the 1950s and 1960s realized that a powerful, respected, objective monitor on civil rights could make a

In 2013, the Supreme Court stripped the Voting Rights Act of its power to stop states from creating and enforcing laws that would prevent eligible voters from exercising their constitutional right to vote. Under the dark shadow of the newly crippled law, our nation celebrated the 50th year anniversary of the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 2015.

New obstacles In 2016, our nation will observe its first presidential election since the court effectively paved the way for states to usher in new, legal obstacles to the polls that would largely affect low-income people, the elderly, people with disabilities, students and communities of color.

Preclearance – which laid at the very heart of the VRA – required states with a history of discriminatory, race-based voter suppression to have any amendments in their voting laws “precleared” by the Justice Department.

The Supreme Court, in all its wisdom, decided the preclearance provision was the stuff of a bygone era of racial injustice in American history. The court could not have been more flawed in its thinking. Since then, states have been hard at work introducing and passing countless laws

CREDO OF THE BLACK PRESS The Black Press believes that Americans can best lead the world away from racism and national antagonism when it accords to every person, regardless of race, color or creed, full human and legal rights. Hating no person, fearing no person. The Black Press strives to help every person in the firm belief...that all are hurt as long as anyone is held back.

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Charles W. Cherry, Sr. (1928-2004), Founder Julia T. Cherry, Senior Managing Member, Central Florida Communicators Group, LLC Dr. Glenn W. Cherry, Cassandra CherryKittles, Charles W. Cherry II, Managing Members

No voice Now we are deprived of that powerful voice.

Everything seems reduced to partisan argument. Even where there is consensus, there is no authoritative, independent voice able to challenge both Congress and the president when needed.

America is a remarkably diverse nation. Diversity can be our strength. Handled badly, it can rip nations apart, as we’ve seen in the impoverished, isolated and resentful immigrant communities in France and Belgium.

It is time to revive an authoritative Civil Rights Commission.

The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. is president and CEO of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition.

Fight against voter suppression

Charles W. Cherry II, Esq., Publisher

Opinions expressed on this editorial page are those of the writers, and do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance of the newspaper or the publisher.

Julianne Malveaux is a Washington, D.C.-based economist and writer. Her latest book, “Are We Better Off? Race, Obama and Public Policy,” is available at www.juliannemalveaux.com.

Jenise Morgan, Senior Editor Angela van Emmerik, Creative Director Cassandra Cherry Kittles, Willie R. Kittles, Circulation Andreas Butler, Staff Writer Duane Fernandez Sr., Kim Gibson, Photojournalists

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MARC H. MORIAL TRICE EDNEY WIRE

that do what the VRA was created to stop: the calculated denial of the vote to targeted classes of Americans.

More restrictions In our first election since Barack Obama became the first African-American to be elected this nation’s president, 17 new states – from Texas to Rhode Island – will have new voting restrictions in place. While it is true that the days of poll taxes, literacy tests and grandfather clauses exist in the pages of our history books.

The old strategy of voter suppression is not sitting somewhere collecting dust on a shelf. Voter suppression is alive and well and dressed in a new suit of modern tactics, with states passing laws strict voter ID laws, cutting back on early voting, denying ex-felons the right to vote and even closing polling places in communities of color.

Marc Morial is president and CEO of the National Urban League.

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APRIL 21DECEMBER – APRIL 27,142016 - 20, 2006 EDUCATION

MAYOR

Partners, sponsors Tour sites and partners included Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Stewart Marchman Act’s Residential Adolescent Program, Raydon Corporation, Atlantic Center for the Arts, Houligan’s Family Sports Grille in Port Orange, Halifax Health Medical Center, Halifax Urban Ministries Family Shelter & HUM Center, the Historic Volusia County Courthouse, Volusia County Council, Volusia County Supervisor of Elections offices, Circuit Judges Joseph Will and Terence Perkins’ courtrooms, Volusia County Branch Jail and Volusia County Schools DeLand Administrative Complex.

Through the seminars, panel discussions and study groups, these high school juniors were challenged to expand their awareness of the inter-relationships and complexities of our community.

Seminar sponsors included Duke Energy, Halifax Health, Houligan’s Family Sports Grille, James Moore & Co., CPAs, Melvin D. Stack, P.A., Upchurch Counseling & Therapy, and USTA/FL. Graduates from this year’s program were:

Mainland High School’s students include William Taylor, Justine Bahoyan, Teren Culver and Miraj Patel. With them is Dr. Cheryl Salerno.

39 local juniors graduate from Tomorrow’s Leaders Program SPECIAL TO THE DAYTONA TIMES

Natanya Powell is a student at Atlantic High School.

The FUTURES Foundation for Volusia County Schools graduated 39 high school juniors on April 14 from its 28th annual Tomorrow’s Leaders Program, which develops young leaders.

The students, representing all 10 area public high schools, participated in five day-long seminars coordinated by community leaders. Each seminar is designed to familiarize the students

with different aspects and services in Volusia County and to develop leadership skills.

Included in the program were lectures, discussions and tours of various businesses and governmental facilities. Seminar subjects include criminal justice and the court system; economic development and manufacturing; the arts; education and governmental systems; leadership, diversity and ethics; and health care and social services.

Atlantic High School Abby Bowles Natanya Powell DeLand High School Quanasia Adams Patricia Bishop Collin Forbes Lauren LaRue Kimberly Sapp Deltona High School Gillian Di Gioia Esmeralda Irizarry Josephine Mannino Isabella Santiago

Mainland High School Justine Bahoyan Teren Culver Samantha Guardino Miraj Patel William Taylor New Smyrna Beach High School Zackery Bailey-Penning Shannon Greenwald Megan Lawson Breonna Perrotta

Pine Ridge High School Catherine Monroe Porfirio Orellana Seabreeze High School Jade Faber Laken Giles Hannah Klippel Shannon Stack Spruce Creek High School Erica Brok Cody Carrier Adam Grusauskas Abigayle Hall Hiba Nadeem Austin Nisbett Taylor Middle-High School Alex Fuentes Jennifer Juarez Raquel Ortiz Ivan Santana University High School Emily Gambill Gloriann Soto-Detres Alinah Torres During the graduation ceremony on April 14, six seniors from last year’s Tomorrow’s Leaders Class of 2015 were awarded $1,000 scholarships by the FUTURES Foundation.

These students included Heather Malchiodi, Brianna Gates, Haley Tabor, Hannah Tabor, Caitlyn Robison and Olivia Squires-Propper. The Volusia Young Professionals Group (VYPG) provided the funding for Miss Squires-Propper’s scholarship through FUTURES and VYPG President Priscilla Chanfrau and Community Service Committee Member Ashley Inman presented this scholarship to her at the event.

The Tomorrow’s Leaders Program is coordinated and presented by the FUTURES Foundation for Volusia County Schools.

For more information about FUTURES Foundation and the programs it provides, visit www.

FUTURESVolusia.org or contact Executive Director Cynthia Ramirez at 386-255-6475, ext.

50730.

A new way to handle college debt Education department launched another loan repayment program in 2015

BY ERIN E. ARVEDLUND PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

There’s yet another way to pay back student loans without going broke. It’s called REPAYE. In December, the Department of Education launched its eighth college-loan repayment program, dubbed the Revised Pay As You Earn Plan.

“Helping student borrowers manage repayments so that loan debt is not a deterrent for pursuing higher education has been a central theme for President Obama’s higher-education agenda since the beginning of this administration,” Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said when the program began.

About PAYE An older program, Pay

Why so many?

As You Earn, caps payments at 10 percent of a borrower’s monthly income and forgives any remaining balance on student loans after 20 years of qualifying repayment.

But PAYE was only for borrowers as of October 2007. REPAYE expands the option to anyone with federal student-loan debt.

(Private student-loan debt is a whole other nightmare.)

REPAYE also limits monthly loan payments to 10 percent of discretionary income — the difference between your adjusted gross income and 150 percent of the poverty level for your state and family size.

To enroll in the program, visit www.StudentAid.gov/ IDR

Other plans Now, let’s go into the weeds of the seven other repayment plans. They have different eligibility requirements, but here are the bare bones of each: —Standard Repayment Plan. Payments are fixed (the same amount due each month). Time frame:

FOTOLIA/TNS

In December, the Department of Education launch the Revised Pay As You Earn Plan (REPAYE). up to 10 years.

—Graduated Repayment Plan. Payments are not fixed, start off low, then increase every two years.

Time frame: up to 10 years.

—Extended Repayment Plan. Payments can be ei-

ther fixed or graduated.

Time frame: up to 25 years.

—Income-Based Repayment Plan. Payments are not fixed, but capped at 15 percent of your discretionary income. Payments fluctuate as your income rises

or falls. Time frame: up to 25 years.

—Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Plan: Very similar to the Income-Based Repayment Plan, except monthly maximum payments are capped at 10 percent instead of 15 percent of discretionary income. PAYE was created as part of the Obama administration’s Student Loan Forgiveness Program. Payments fluctuate as your income rises or falls. Time frame: up to 20 years.

—Income-Contingent Repayment Plan: Payments are recalculated annually, based on your adjusted gross income, family size and total loan debt.

Payments fluctuate as your income and debt load changes. Time frame: up to 25 years. Debt balance forgiven after that.

Income-Sensitive Repayment Plan: Monthly payments fluctuate based on annual income. Time frame: up to 15 years. Very similar to Income-Contingent, but much shorter.

Why isn’t there just one way to pay back loans?

Craig Lemoine, associate professor of financial planning at the American College of Financial Services, agrees the system is way too complicated.

However, “as college got more expensive, the government expanded these repayment programs to make them more sensitive to income.”

REPAYE is “the most flexible,” he says. “It’s the newest, and almost everyone is one eligible,” including recent borrowers and past borrowers.

“It takes into account singles who can’t find a job right away or work at Starbucks and those with families,” he adds.

Still no luck? If you’ve contacted your loan servicer and still don’t have a way to pay your student loans, the Department of Education has a Federal Student Aid Ombudsman Group you can contact.

The Ombudsman Group is a neutral and confidential resource to help resolve disputes about federal student loans.

By mail, write to: U.S. Department of Education, FSA Ombudsman Group, Box 1843, Monticello, Ky. 42633. By phone: 1-877557-2575.

Free service Seeking financial aid?

Whatever you do, don’t pay to find financial aid.

We’ve seen TV-advertised services and websites offering paid help filing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for a fee. These sites are not affiliated with or endorsed by the Department of Education.

The official form is available at fafsa.gov, and you can get free help from the financial-aid office at your college or the college you’re thinking about attending.

If you are asked for your credit-card information while filling out the FAFSA online, you are not at the official government site. Remember, the official website has the .gov suffix.

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7 CLASSIFIEDS

APRIL 21 – APRIL 27, 2016

MIDTOWN from Page 1

Beach’s Cultural Services and Community Events director.

“Cypress Park has worked well for the annual Juneteenth Festival, which I was co-chair in starting over 15 years ago, and our sponsors were very happy with the attendance for the first Midtown Motown event. By exposing more of our Daytona Beach residents to the Midtown CEC and pool, it is my hope that more people will visit the center throughout the year,’’ Riger added.

May 7 event The next event is scheduled for May 7 with music

by Linda Cole starting at 6:30 p.m. and The Motowners Four Tops and Temptations Tribute Band Concert performing at 7 pm. The pool will be open and there will be other children’s activities, food and drink vendors and community booth displays.

The event is sponsored

by Southern Stone Events Group, the City of Daytona Beach Cultural Services and Community Events Department and Pepsi.

The Midtown center is located at 981 Gerge W. Engram Blvd., Daytona Beach.

For more information, visit www.midtownmotown. com or call 386-671-8253.

Above: Hundreds enjoy the free concert in the park.

Far left: Bartee performs jazz and R&B. Left: The concerts in the park will continue through September.

PHOTOS BY DUANE C. FERNANDEZ SR./ HARDNOTTSPHOTOGRAPHY. COM

Don’t Wait.

Communicate.

Make your emergency plan today.

Visit Ready.gov/communicate

M ASPORTS YOR

APRIL 21 –14APRIL 27, 2016 DECEMBER - 20, 2006

7

An overdue honor for basketball legend John B. McLendon finally will be inducted into Hall of Fame as a coach

BY BARRY JACOBS NEWS & OBSERVER TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

The timing was unfortunate. This year’s inductees into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame were announced the same day as the NCAA national championship game.

Still, even had the list been trumpeted in banner headlines, or flashed on electronic message boards, it’s doubtful the man whose link to North Carolina was strongest would have commanded the attention he merits.

Included in the 10-member Hall of Fame class are deserving modern stars, familiar names such as guard Allen Iverson and big men Yao Ming and Shaquille O’Neal, women’s player Sheryl Swoopes, and Michigan State coach Tom Izzo.

But the honoree whose impact on basketball was greatest, who quietly and relentlessly hastened racial integration and changed the way the game is played, was former North Carolina Central head coach John B. McLendon, who died in 1999 at age 84.

Second honor This spring, McLendon was chosen for Hall of Fame induction for the second time, making him the only person represented among the game’s greats both as a contributor and a coach.

The list of McLendon’s accomplishments is testament in itself. So is the respect with which “Coach Mac,” a trailblazer with a pencil-thin mustache and a genial manner, was regarded by contemporaries in the CIAA. Those included fellow Hall of Famer Clarence “Big House” Gaines, with whom he traveled on recruiting trips to save money and share coaching ideas, and grateful opponents whose teams he critiqued upon request.

“Johnny Mac was the man. He’s, like, the father, he was father to all of us,” said Cal Irvin, the 18-year coach at North Carolina A&T State.

“Coach McLendon was the best, the best.

He was something else. Not only for the basketball, just for the man as an individual. I never met a man who had the greatness with the humility at the same time.”

John B. McLendon Jr. gets a lift from his players after a victory.

CIAA tournament Few strategic innovations can be ascribed entirely to a single person. But McLendon embraced speed in an era of plodding, often-patterned play and is considered the progenitor of fast-break basketball.

He also developed what he called a “two-in-the-corners” freeze offense made famous decades later as the “Four Corners” delay under North Carolina coach Dean Smith.

“I can tell you right now, we could run the Four Corners as well as anybody in the United States,” says Laurinburg native Sam Jones. The Naismith Hall of Fame guard played at Durham’s North Carolina College for Negroes under McLendon and subsequently won 10 NBA titles with the uptempo Boston Celtics from the 1958 through 1969 seasons.

“When I went to Boston and they talked about the fast break, I thought nothing of

it because I learned it from Coach McLendon.”

McLendon presided at Central from 1941 through 1952 and was among the founders of the CIAA tournament in 1946.

Only the Southern Conference’s postseason event is older — history that continues to elude ESPN, which televises the 1954-vintage ACC tournament and touts it as the nation’s oldest.

‘Secret game’ McLendon’s Central teams won eight CIAA titles, an AAU championship and an industrial league championship. Competing in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) playoffs while the NCAA Tournament was off-limits to “colored colleges,” McLendon, then at Tennessee State, became the first coach to win three straight national championships (1957-59).

His Tigers also were the first AfricanAmerican college teams to secure national titles in integrated competition, a dozen years before every ACC school even added Black players to their varsity rosters.

Quietly defiant, McLendon facilitated a so-called “secret game” in 1944 between his N.C. Central players and an intramural squad of Duke medical school students at a time when integrated competition was generally taboo throughout the South. McLendon also dared break what he called “the chains of negative interracial practice” in 1950, taking the Eagles to Camp Lejeune to face a squad of presumably well-conditioned Marines.

Olympics involvement Central players ran five miles each morning before breakfast, with the coach waiting by the railroad tracks at the turnaround point near N.C. 55 to ensure that individuals participated.

“We had the type of players that could run and play defense,” Jones recalls. “This is what he wanted us to do. We could run them out of the gym, and the more that we ran the tireder they’d get.” Sure enough, by the end of the third quarter, the Marines were so winded they quit playing, according to Jones. “Then they tried to recruit us to the Marines,” he says.

Reflecting the professional respect McLendon commanded, he was chosen as an assistant coach on three different U.S. Olympic basketball squads (1960, 1964, 1968). In 1961 he broke the color barrier as the first African-American to direct a professional team in any sport — the Cleveland Pipers of the American Basketball League. (Owner George Steinbrenner once helped broker a deal at halftime for a Piper player to join the opposing team.)

Later, McLendon was head coach of the Denver Rockets, now the Nuggets, in the American Basketball Association. At Cleveland State in 1966, his pioneering

continued as he became the first Black coach at a predominantly White school.

“His story’s never been told to a mass audience,” says George Raveling, the former coach who serves on the Hall’s board of directors. “In the absence of that, he stays in the shadow of greatness.”

McLendon’s connection to the game traces to its roots. After a year in junior college, where he played basketball, the Kansas native transferred to the University of Kansas. The school’s first Black physical education student chose as his adviser a professor in his 70s, one James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, who helped guide McLendon through a number of encounters with racial prejudice at KU.

Overdue honor McLendon, an adept boxer and swimmer, attempted to try out for the Jayhawks basketball team directed by Hall of Famer Forrest “Phog” Allen, for whom Dean Smith later played. But Allen, considered the father of basketball coaching, wouldn’t let McLendon play because of his race. The undergrad observed instead, learning from Allen and Naismith.

Ultimately McLendon’s accomplishments and influence earned him induction as a Hall of Fame “contributor” in 1979. Contributor is an amorphous term defined by the Hall as making “significant contributions to the game of basketball.”

The broad designation apparently satisfied McLendon, who wrote a letter to that effect, according to Matt Zeysing, the Naismith Hall of Fame’s resident historian.

But others were offended, knowing McLendon had first failed to gain selection as a coach.

“I feel that he was more than a contributor in basketball,” objects Jones, saying he speaks for other former McLendon players as well. “In fact I sort of thought of him as a Naismith.”

That McLendon will be inducted as a coach on Sept. 9 is “long overdue,” says LeVelle Moton, NCCU’s head coach and a proud steward of the school’s basketball tradition.

“I think it’s kind of a backhanded compliment, if you want me to be completely honest.”

Perhaps this fresh chance to celebrate McLendon’s legacy can reduce a yawning gap in popular awareness that’s a vestige of less-inclusive times.

“Those who know appreciate him,” says Moton, a star player at Central during the mid-’90s. “Those that don’t appreciate him don’t … because they’re not educated to who he is. That’s a tragedy, an absolute tragedy.”

The News & Observer is based in Raleigh, North Carolina.

MEAC honors for two B-CU softball standouts SPECIAL TO THE DAYTONA TIMES

After a weekend road sweep, Bethune-Cookman softball picked up a pair of weekly honors as Bailey Conner was named Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Player of the Week and teammate Annie Bakenhus collected her second Rookie of the Week honors the league announced Monday.

Conner (Encinitas, Calif.), registered a .545 batting average in three wins over South Carolina State. She finished with seven hits, including one home run, one double and one triple, with four runs scored and six RBIs. Defensively, she pitched 4.1 scoreless innings in an 8-6 vic-

Bailey Conner and Annie Bakenhus tory over South Carolina State and recorded four strikeouts.

Bakenhus (Yucaipa, Calif.), went 6-for11 in a three-game sweep over South Carolina State. She recorded seven runs, three RBIs, two walks and six stolen bases in the series.

This story is courtesy of B-CU Athletics.

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7APRIL 21 – APRIL 27, 2016