Floirda Courier - August 11, 2017

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Will Packer: From FAMU engineering student to top Hollywood producer See Page B1

AUGUST 11 – AUGUST 17, 2017

VOLUME 25 NO. 32

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‘THE CLOCK IS TICKING’

He talks about a city moving Three years later, forward. entrepreneurs help Ferguson slowly move Leadership changes Gone are the White police from the spotlight chief and the White city managwhile under watchful er, replaced by African-American men, moves that reflect the eye of the feds. makeup of a city where more

BY DOUG MOORE ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH / TNS

FERGUSON, Mo. – The mayor would like for the questions to go away. But three years later, they persist.

James Knowles III typically gives an answer befitting a good ambassador to a city thrust into the international spotJames light after a White Knowles III police officer fatally shot a Black teen, Michael Brown, and set off months of protests and violence.

Ferguson, Missouri entrepreneurs Lisa Davis and her husband, Joshura Davis, check out the cars on display at a car show sponsored by their local business association in an attempt to create positive community events in the area where violent protests took place.

than two-thirds of its residents are Black.

The seven-member council, including the mayor, now has three African-American members, compared to one on Aug. 9, 2014, when Brown was killed.

Many changes, focused on improving police department hiring and training and court reform, came as a result of a Justice Department investigation and led to the city signing a consent decree with the federal government to adjust or face legal action.

Still too slow

DAVID CARSON/

Joshura Davis, a Ferguson

ST. LOUIS POST-

See FERGUSON, Page A2

DISPATCH/TNS

FLORIDA COURIER / OUT AND ABOUT

A stop along the way

Trump’s grade?

Incomplete HBCU leaders still waiting

BY WILLIAM DOUGLAS AND ANITA KUMAR MCCLATCHY WASHINGTON BUREAU / TNS

WASHINGTON – With great fanfare, President Donald Trump vowed to outdo former President Barack Obama in supporting the nation’s historically Black colleges when he signed an executive order in February to place oversight of the schools directly in the White House.

Six months later, the school’s leaders are still waiting for results.

Black college and university leaders are raising serious questions about how Trump, who won 8 percent of the African-American vote last year, is dealing with their communities’ concerns.

HBCUs include more than 100 schools established before 1964 with the principal mission of educating African-Americans, who were often barred from attending majority-White schools in the precivil rights era. The HBCUs serve about 300,000 students nationwide.

The president has yet to appoint an executive director for his HBCU initiative, though an announcement is expected next month.

FLORIDA COURIER / CHARLES W. CHERRY II

After stopping in Abilene, Kansas during a cross-country trip, Chayla Cherry and Charles W. Cherry III read the inscriptions on the graves of former U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower, his wife, Mamie, and their son Doud during a tour of the Eisenhower Library and Museum.

Where’s the cash?

Several HBCU presidents, chancellors and advocates had hoped that Trump’s new-found attention to their concerns would translate to more federal funding for their camSee HBCU, Page A2

Lawmakers take aim at opioid crisis

SNAPSHOTS FLORIDA | A3

Miami-Dade complies on ‘sanctuary’ situation

BY NATHALIE SCZUBLEWSKI THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA CYBERSPACE | B3

Crime rampant on dark web NATION | A6

7 of Trump’s favorite hits

ALSO INSIDE

WORLD | A6

South Africa leader survives ouster bid

LAKE WORTH – Senate Appropriations Chairman Jack Latvala held a roundtable discussion Tuesday in Palm Beach County with lawmakers, local leaders and public-safety officials to address Florida’s opioid crisis.

Palm Beach County is one of the epicenters of the epidemic. From January through May of this year, the county had 311 opioid overdoses, compared to 258 over the same period in 2016, according to numbers from Latvala’s office.

The county totaled 592 opioid-related deaths in 2016.

Major issue “This is obviously an issue that is on all of our minds,” Latvala, RClearwater, said during the discussion at Palm Beach State College’s Lake Worth Campus. “Everybody can make proclamations and declarations, but it’s when rubber hits road, that’s when things get going. I am here to listen and learn about this crisis.”

Drug overdose is the leading cause of accidental death in the country, with 52,404 fatal overdoses reported in 2015, according to the American Society of Addiction Medicine.

Opioid addiction drove the epidemic with 20,101 overdose deaths related to prescription pain relievers and

LIZ O. BAYLEN/LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

Drugs like OxyContin, here in 80 mg pills, have contributed to an increase in deaths by overdose in Florida.

12,990 deaths related to heroin.

Palm Beach County has taken $1 million out of reserves to address the epidemic on a local level. During this See OPIOID, Page A2

COMMENTARY: CHARLES W. CHERRY II: RANDOM THOUGHTS OF A FREE BLACK MIND | A4 GUEST COMMENTARY: JAMES J. HANKINS: PARENTS HAVE ‘BACK-TO-SCHOOL’ RESPONSIBILITIES | A5

FOCUS

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AUGUST 11 – AUGUST 17, 2017

Let me tell you about modern-day media devils In the eyes of God, the very worst thing you can be is a hypocrite!

You can’t go around saying you love the Lord, you love the light, you love the life and you love the truth when you really love Satan, Lucifer and a variety of other devils!

Many of America’s Black organizations, groups, teams, fraternities, sororities, churches, mosques, masjids, temples, schools, and businesses are facing and dealing with the same kind of hypocrisy!

Today, no group is dealing with and facing more devilish and hypocritical attacks than America’s Black owners of media companies and institutions!

Why refuse good money?

As Black-owned media companies are fighting a desperate struggle to stay in business, meet employee and staff payrolls and pay their bills to stay afloat, who other than a devil would tell Black media to refuse advertising from a reputable, respected, trusted and loyal Black advertising agency?

LUCIUS GANTT THE GANTT REPORT

Who would tell Black newspapers, magazines, digital and internet firms, radio stations and TV stations to refuse advertising from a politician or political party if they are not the political party that spends less with Black businesses than any other political party?

And who would tell a hardworking, longtime, professional Black-owned media company to hate the people that work hard to help you, and to shy away from the people that can generate money for you and have never had any issues in the past about paying you?

I know the answer. The Black media devil!

Hating and lying Well, the media devil is the person that gets business by throwing shade on the media angels, pouring salt on the media

innovators and lying about the history, experience and capabilities the media businessmen and women that put Black media owners first – and sometimes put themselves last.

With so much commercial, governmental and political advertising money being spent these days, there is enough cash to go around.

When Black-owned media companies unite, Black-owned media companies have power!

When Black-owned media companies work together, they have more strength. When Black media owners join together for a common cause, they can do more for their companies, more for our community – and more for themselves!

I’m not somebody that just heard about Black-owned media.

Black media pioneers and Black media icons took me under their wings and helped my fly.

If you don’t like The Gantt Report, blame one of the godfathers of Black-owned media in America.

Support from icons Garth Reeves was the very first

AUDE GUERRUCCI/ABACA PRESS/TNS

In February, President Trump signed an executive order allegedly supporting Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

HBCU from A1

puses. But Trump’s executive order included no additional money for Black colleges.

The White House has questioned whether a program that helps HBCUs get low-cost construction loans is constitutional.

And HBCU advocates were

FERGUSON from A1

business owner, says the city is not progressing quickly enough.

His insurance office sits on West Florissant Avenue, and he and his wife, Lisa, attended the opening last month of a new job training center across the street, on the site where a QuikTrip once stood – one of at least two dozen buildings burned to the ground during the unrest following Brown’s killing.

Small business owners in that part of town formed the Ferguson-Dellwood West Florissant Business Association, which Davis heads. He has 45 businesses on his email list.

Not going anywhere Davis wanted to create a united front “to let St. Louis know we are here for the long haul and all-in to develop this side of Ferguson that was really devastated.”

Today, businesses in the corridor continue to struggle. Davis, who runs Best Insurance Agency and Always Love and Care, an in-home health care service, said business is down 50 percent since before Aug. 2014 – something he hears from others in his association.

During a panel discussion at the National Urban League conference in downtown St. Louis last month, Davis made an emotional plea to corporate and elected leaders on the stage and in the audience.

‘We broke it’ “We do not have five, 10, 15, 20 years to rebuild West Flo-

stunned that Trump called for cuts in student loan programs in his fiscal 2018 budget proposal.

About 70 percent of HBCU students rely on federal Pell Grants to help pay their tuition.

Looking for leadership?

Rep. Mark Walker, R-N.C., an HBCU caucus member and chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee, contacted the White House about

rissant Avenue. We don’t have that kind of time,” Davis told the crowd at a session titled “Ferguson: From Anger to Action.”

It was moderated by Michael Neidorff, CEO of Centene Corp., which opened a $25 million service center in Ferguson last year, and Michael McMillan, head of the local Urban League chapter.

“We have enough resources in St. Louis to fix it,” Davis said.

“We broke it. We can fix it.”

Davis knew he would have a captive audience and wanted to tell them that challenges are real and the clock is ticking. He is heartened by the new Ferguson Community Empowerment Center, a partnership of the Urban League and Salvation Army.

“It is really huge,” Davis said.

“Before the empowerment center, every day 34,000 cars would pass by and see the ground zero site and all those vacant lots.

Those were visions of the past.

The empowerment site is a solid vision of the future that lets people see that someone is interested, someone is committed and the community is coming together.”

Implementing findings As the city continues to work with the federal government, a nonprofit has taken up the task of addressing the findings of the 16-member Ferguson Commission. It was appointed in November 2014 by then-Gov. Jay Nixon to offer specific recommendations for “making the St. Louis region a stronger, fairer place for everyone to live.”

The nonprofit, Forward Through Ferguson, has before it the 189 “calls to action” recommended by the Ferguson Commission, which officially completed its work in December

two weeks ago to inquire about the pace of Trump’s initiative, according to congressional Republican sources.

Walker came away from the conversations with Ja’Ron Smith, a White House policy adviser, and Paul Teller, a special assistant to the president for legislative affairs, satisfied that Trump’s initiative is on course.

“We just want to make sure they get the right candidate (for the executive director job),” said

2015. The commission labeled 47 of its recommendations as “signature priority” items.

They include creating civilian review boards at the municipal and county levels; consolidating law enforcement agencies, municipal courts and police training centers; and eliminating incarceration for minor offenses.

Nothing new Forward Through Ferguson, in partnership with the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, created a report that was made public at the Urban League’s national conference.

It serves as a history lesson, of sorts, for what happened in Ferguson.

“While the Ferguson Commission and many of the efforts connected to it arose in response to a specific situation, what happened in Ferguson didn’t create that situation,” reads the report.

“It revealed difficult truths that had been the reality for many people for many decades.

Deep truths that were present and manifested almost 100 years ago in the East St. Louis race riots that sparked the creation of the Urban League affiliate in St. Louis. The underlying issues that led to these situations exist today, to varying degrees, in every metropolitan area in America.”

The Rev. Traci Blackmon, a member of the Ferguson Commission, was on the Urban League panel where Davis made his plea. She told the crowd that when she speaks around the country, the message is clear: “There is a Ferguson somewhere near you.”

person to endorse and support The Gantt Report when it started as a newsletter, became a newspaper and became the internationally known opinion column it is today!

Charles W. Cherry, Sr., Ike Williams, Cleve Johnson, Levi Henry, Les Humphries and other Black media icons joined to make me a president of the Southeast Black Publishers Association during a time when Black newspapers thrived and progressed.

Back then, media ownership wasn’t always a bowl of cherries.

Newspaper publishers fussed and cussed about policies and procedures, about personal relations, and many of the things that bother Black media owners today.

But they stuck together. I remember when two or three publishers would bring guns to media meetings; but they never fired on each other.

They were just ready to fight anyone and everyone that wanted to divide and conquer the Black press; anyone that wanted to attack the Black press; and anyone that would lie on Black media owners and set up fake media organizations in order to

use and misuse the Black-owned media companies that we all loved so much.

Jack Minor, a Walker spokesman.

The White House has several finalists for the position, said a senior administration official with knowledge of the situation who is not allowed to speak publicly as a matter of practice.

Two other education experts outside the White House who were not authorized to speak publicly said the administration has one specific candidate in mind. A director is expected to be named before HBCU presidents meet in Washington next month.

plex Organization.” “One has to wonder ‘What does this really mean?’ I think it signals that HBCUs aren’t a high priority for this administration.”

“I’m not frustrated but I understand the frustration. I have friends – Republicans and Democrats – who are frustrated,” added Gerard Robinson, who led Trump’s education policy during the transition and is a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank.

White House office

No response

The official said the HBCU portfolio will be officially moved from the Education Department to the White House “once the director is named.”

“It has been a slow process in putting political people in this administration. It takes time,” said Leonard Haynes, a longtime educator who helped write the executive order. “I do know they have been interviewing and submitting names for vetting.”

African-American leaders and analysts nonetheless remain concerned by what they see as a disturbing trend.

Concerned and frustrated “It doesn’t bode well for the administration’s supposed commitment,” said Alvin Schexnider, a former chancellor of Winston-Salem State University and author of “Saving Black Colleges: Leading Change in a Com-

OPIOID from A1

spring’s legislative session, state lawmakers passed bills to address what are known as “sober homes” – a major issue in Palm Beach County – and to crack down on people who traffic in fentanyl, a deadly painkiller sometimes mixed with heroin.

During Tuesday’s meeting, Palm Beach County Vice Mayor Melissa McKinlay presented statistics about the opioid crisis and said the county had spent more than $200,000 on Narcan, an opiate antidote used in emergency situations.

Widespread impact “The epidemic is impacting the manufacturing industry and business communities,” McKinlay said. “People cannot pass drug tests because of this. The bigger picture is that addiction is a disease.

We want to break the stigma of addicts because nobody wakes up one day and chooses to become an addict.”

Gabrielle Finley-Hazle, CEO of St. Mary’s Medical Center, described newborns being treated in hospitals for drug withdrawal. The newborns experience the same symptoms that an addict would experience, including tremors, fever, seizures and pain.

“This is concerning for our community,” Finley-Hazle said. “What will happen when these babies are older? We

Stay alert Don’t let the modern-day media devils divide and conquer Black-owned media companies.

Young publishers and other media owners that inherited media firms from your parents and grandparents, it would behoove you to learn Black media history.

The media devil is tricky. Print and broadcast Satan is trying to make you think your media friend is your enemy and your enemy is your friend.

Ask questions and compare backgrounds of people that come to you.

Some Black media people have hopes and dreams, while media devils like plots and schemes!

Buy Gantt’s latest book, “Beast Too: Dead Man Writing,” on Amazon.com and from bookstores everywhere.

“Like” The Gantt Report page on Facebook. Contact Lucius at www.allworldconsultants. net.

Key members of Congress have questions, too.

Rep. Alma Adams, D-N.C., co-chair of the bipartisan HBCU Caucus, sent a letter to the White House signed by seven other House Democrats asking for a progress report on Trump’s effort. He posed for a photo with more than 60 Black college presidents and chancellors huddled around him as he signed the executive order.

“We are concerned by your administration’s lack of progress in appointing an executive director for the initiative,” read the letters whose signatories include Reps.

David Price of North Carolina, Frederica Wilson of Florida, and Barbara Lee of California. “Moreover, we wish to know your timeline for transitioning the initiative from the Department of Education to the White House.”

The White House has not responded to the letter.

need prevention programs to help addictive moms, treat patients for detox and for educating children.”

Children affected Emilio Benitez, president and CEO of ChildNet, a community-based care agency that contracts with the state, said the opioid crisis also is having an impact on the child-welfare system.

Benitez said 45 percent of Palm Beach County children removed from their homes since January were a result of parents abusing opioids. The number was 31 percent in Broward County.

Solutions proposed during Tuesday’s discussion included more beds and centers for treatment and recovery, funding for medical and emergency personnel, education programs and counseling programs to assist families of addicts.

Among the participants in the meeting was Senate President Joe Negron, a Stuart Republican whose district includes part of Palm Beach County. Negron and Latvala, the Senate’s chief budget writer who is widely expected to run for governor in 2018, are two of the most influential political figures in the state.

“The purpose of this discussion was for President Negron and Senator Latvala to provide resources to use,” McKinlay said. “It’s for them to hear the problem to create ideas and projects for local action plans.”

AUGUST 11 – AUGUST 17, 2017

FLORIDA

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Miami-Dade complies with Justice Department on ‘sanctuary’ status

BY DOUGLAS HANKS MIAMI HERALD/TNS

MIAMI – For the first time since it began extending the detentions of local inmates

sought for deportation, Miami-Dade County received word from Washington that it won’t be treated as a community giving “sanctuary” to immigration violators.

An Aug. 4 letter to Mayor

Carlos Gimenez from the Justice Department said “there was no evidence” Miami-Dade was out of compliance with an immigration provision of a federal police grant worth about

$480,000 this year to the county.

Detentions extended Shortly after President Donald Trump took office

promising an immigration crackdown, Gimenez reversed a 2013 county policy and ordered Miami-Dade jails to begin honoring requests by immigration officers to extend the deten-

tions of people in local custody who are also being sought for possible deportation.

Miami-Dade is the only large jurisdiction known to have made that kind of change, which the County Commission endorsed in February.

As a result, it has been assumed Miami-Dade would be shielded from any loss of federal funds the Trump administration engineered as part of a broader effort to punish communities not cooperating on immigration detentions.

Advocates outrages Gimenez’s change of police spared outrage from local immigration advocates, who accused the Cubanborn mayor of betraying Miami-Dade’s heritage of welcoming immigrants and advocating for the embrace of new arrivals to the country.

Despite the threats, the Trump administration has not yet announced an actual loss of federal dollars tied to local immigration policies.

On Monday, Chicago announced it was suing the Trump administration over an expected loss of federal funds over the city’s policies on immigration enforcement, which includes not honoring federal detention requests.

The detention requests typically last for 48 hours, plus holidays and weekends, and are designed to give immigration officers more time to apprehend a deportation suspect who has been arrested and held on unrelated local charges.

April warning

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In April, the Trump administration sent a warning letter to Miami-Dade and eight other state or local governments warning about compliance with federal rules requiring cooperation with immigration officials.

The list mirrored a roster published in 2016 by the Obama administration of possible “sanctuary” communities, and Miami-Dade was included then because of its 2013 policy to reject detention requests unless two conditions were met: Washington had to pay for the extra detention time (which it generally will not do) and immigration authorities had to be seeking someone accused of a serious crime.

Miami-Dade responded to the Trump administration’s warning letter with a rundown of its current immigration policies, including its new policy of accepting of detention requests.

Awaiting notification The Aug. 4 letter from Alan Hanson, an acting assistant attorney general, essentially cleared MiamiDade of the loss of funds held out as a possibility in the first letter.

“This is good news,” said Michael Hernandez, Gimenez’s communications director.

Even so, Hernandez said Miami-Dade still wants the Trump administration to declare that Miami-Dade no longer belongs on the “sanctuary” list published by the Obama administration.

“We’d like to have formal notification that we are no longer a sanctuary community,” he said. “That request is being made.”

CM GUERRERO/ EL NEUVO HERALD/TNS

Shown above are inmates at a MiamiDade’s jail. The county is honoring requests by immigration officers to extend detentions of inmates sought for possible deportation.

EDITORIAL

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AUGUST 11 – AUGUST 17, 2017

We demand Black community control of the police The cops at a Long Island, New York, pro-police event “laughed and cheered” when President Trump urged them to brutalize immigrant prisoners – “animals,” as he called them.

Then, caught in mid-guffaw, the supervisors and flaks for the bad boys and girls in blue struggled to straightened out their faces and disavow Trump’s remarks.

“What the president recommended...is not what policing is about today,” claimed Steve Soboroff, a civilian commissioner of the Los Angeles Police Department, which is forever situating police brutality somewhere in the past.

“The president’s comments stand in stark contrast to our department’s commitment to constitutional policies and community engagement,” said New Orleans Police Chief Michael Harrison. His city took until last December to reach a $13.3 million settlement for Katrina-related police murder and maiming of civilians.

Standard defense The International Association of Chiefs of Police hastily restated its policy “that any use of force is carefully applied and objectively reasonable considering the situation confronted by the officers” – a statement that sounds very much like the standard legal defense presented in the miniscule fraction of police brutality cases that actually go to trial.

The police department in Suffolk County, where Trump gave his speech, was compelled to allow federal oversight of its treatment of Latino immigrants in 2013, including claims that the department “discouraged Latino victims from filing complaints and cooperating with the police, and failed to investigate crimes and hate crime incidents involving Latinos.”

A former Suffolk County police chief was recently sentenced to almost four years in prison for beating up an immigrant who stole pornography and sex toys from the chief’s car. But, Trump’s spittle was barely dry on the podium before the department declared, on Twitter: “We do not and will not tolerate roughing up of prisoners...” The

GLEN FORD BLACK AGENDA REPORT

department “has strict rules & procedures relating to the handling of prisoners... Violations of those rules are treated extremely seriously.”

Perpetual ‘reform’ Democracy Now! trotted out Maya Wiley, the chairwoman of New York City’s Civilian Complaint Review Board. Wiley bragged that her panel is “one of the oldest civilian oversight bodies in the country, and certainly the largest” – which simply means it has been party to more police murders of civilians than any similar body since its beginnings in the 1950s.

The New York Times exploited Trump’s bestiality with an editorial in praise of the police. “Law enforcement’s backlash against this speech says something about how forward-looking police officials think about their responsibilities,” wrote the Commissars of Capital at the Times.

In this narrative – shared by virtually all corporate media, but rooted nowhere in reality – the police are in a perpetual process of reform. Trump is trying to drag the cops back into a savage past that they are valiantly attempting to escape. The editorial suggests “the president might bear this in mind the next time he opens his mouth on this subject.”

Trust and safety?

The problem with the criminal justice system, according to both the Times and New York police review board chairwoman Wiley, is a lack of trust between the police and the community.

“Enforcement strategies based in brutality make it difficult to solve crimes – because they alienate communities from the law, making it harder for officers to do their jobs,” according to the Times.

Wiley is most concerned about “safety.”

Black women still deal with unequal pay, bias Despite the astronomical pay of Oprah Winfrey, Serena Williams and other celebrities, African-American women are still not earning as much money as men.

July 31 was Black Women’s Equal Pay Day. It recognized, among other things, that Black women must work 19 months to earn what White men earn in 12, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Every year, we start out behind.

The gap for Latina women is even greater. Latina Women Equal Pay Day this year is not until November, symbolizing the larger discrepancy.

Pay comparison In a nation where single Black

TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

women head about two-thirds of African-American families, the impact of low wages on the stability and upward mobility of the whole racial community is staggering.

Many determined men and women find that they must work two or three jobs to support their families. The feminization of poverty is tragically real.

The Economic Policy Institute found that average pay for Black

Random thoughts of a free Black mind, v. 301 QUICK TAKES FROM #2: STRAIGHT, NO CHASER

CHARLES W. CHERRY II, ESQ. PUBLISHER

“One of the ways we create safety is that we have better relationships between police and community, the community trusts police, they’re able to come to police,” she said.

Power and democracy If only more “trust” could be created between “the community” and the armed, coercive forces of the state, everything would be lovely. Questions of power and democracy do not enter the corporate equation – including corporate “reformers.”

Maya Wiley speaks of the inability of police to “do their jobs” when communities feel alienated, assuming that their “job” is to provide “safety” to the community. But that is like saying the job of prison guards is to keep inmates safe, rather than keeping them in captivity.

The real issues are power and democracy; the democratic exercise of power by the people of the community.

Democracy demands that a self-determining people define “the job” that the police are hired to perform, and that the community have the power to hire and fire security personnel. When security regimes are imposed on a people by outside forces, it is repression, an injustice that must be resisted. No justice, no peace.

When Trump blows his whistle to incite the police to further crimes of repression, the more calculating corporate forces seize the opportunity to set the bar of “reform” even lower.

Conditioned response The people are conditioned to equate justice with a lessening of instances of police brutality and blatant disrespect – but not with community power over the police.

They are discouraged from demanding that the police be directly accountable to the communities they patrol.

Instead, the people are told to concentrate on the methods used by police to impose “order” in the community. Instead of “Power to the People,” the demand becomes, “Please don’t hurt us too badly.”

So-called “community policwomen with bachelor’s degrees is $24.13 per hour, as compared to $38.63 per hour on average for White men with bachelor’s degrees.

Less money and respect STARITA SMITH

On the road – As of this writing Wednesday night Aug. 9, your humble writer is reporting from just outside St. Louis, Missouri, where my two “road dogs,” 16-year-old Chayla and 13-yearold Charles III, and I are on the return leg of a round trip driving our 2015 Dodge Grand Car-

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: NORTH KOREA

I have worked in places where I knew I was being paid less than my male counterparts.

Along with less money also came less respect. I once held a job at a corporation that marked workers’ prestige with furniture.

As the newest hire, I was not told this until a young White male was hired for the same job as mine and they needed to give me the same furniture as him in order to not discriminate. I had been slighted for a year without even knowing it.

NATE BEELER, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

ing” is a gimmick and diversion.

As Mumia Abu Jamal, the nation’s best known political prisoner, puts it: “Body cameras?

Training? BS. Nonsense. Done.

It is a bourgeois mirage.”

Expanding ‘sanctuaries’ A coalition of New York-area organizations is pushing an expansion of the immigrant-based “sanctuary cities” concept to include the historical victims of economic and police repression in the United States.

“Where,” they ask, “is the sanctuary for folks impacted by the War on Drugs, racial profiling, or police violence? Where is the sanctuary for people with convictions?”

Among the demands of the “Freedom Cities” campaign are “Community Control,” to “gain real control of the institutions that people interact with daily, including police and other public agencies;” and “Community Defense,” to “establish systems of self-defense in neighborhoods to protect rights and dignity.” Elements of Black Lives Matter have taken similar positions.

The Black Is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations, which is holding a national conference in Chicago this weekend, last year ratified a 19-point National Black Political Agenda for Self- Determination that calls for Black Community

Starita Smith is a writer, editor and sociologist based in Texas. She wrote this for Progressive Media Project, www. progressive.org. Contact her at pmproj@progressive.org. Click on this commentary at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

avan minivan from South Florida to Los Angeles and back. I’ll be writing day-by-day reports about the things we saw and did in future issues of the Florida Courier, much like I did years ago describing various Tom Joyner Morning Show “Fantastic Voyage” cruises (which some folks are still laughing about years later.)

Just yesterday, we were journeying from WaKeeney, Kansas, where we spent the night, on the way to our next stop in Law-

rence, Kansas to see some cousins on Dad’s side. About 45 minutes into the drive, I saw signs advertising the Dwight D. Eisenhower Library and Museum. We decided to stop.

After watching video, visiting Ike’s family home and touring the museum, one fact was clear to all three of us. Donald Trump couldn’t hold Dwight Eisenhower’s jock regarding presidential leadership, despite Eisenhower’s well-known hesitancy about civil rights and racial equality.

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.

Dr. Glenn W. Cherry, Sales Manager Dr. Valerie Rawls-Cherry, Human Resources

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

Glen Ford is executive editor of BlackAgendaReport.com.

E-mail him at Glen.Ford@ Black AgendaReport.com .

Click on this commentary at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

‘A voice’

Why is there such a disparity?

There are many reasons.

Some Black women still gravi-

W W W.FLCOURIER.COM

“We demand the immediate withdrawal of all domestic military occupation forces from Black communities. This democratic demand assumes the ability of Black people to mobilize for our own security and to redefine the role of the police so that it no longer functions as an agency imposed on us from the outside.”

True community control of the police means the abolition of the outside-imposed force and termination of its mission of mass Black incarceration and the containment and terrorization of the Black community.

However, the domestic “army of occupation” cannot be expelled through simple protest actions, or by episodic rebellions. It must be displaced and replaced by people’s security organizations that are deployed and strengthened over time.

Self-determination is hard work. Body cameras and “community policing” schemes don’t get us there. Neither does cursing Trump.

American star, said Williams, who has won 23 grand slam championships, would “be like 700” in the world rankings if she played on the men’s circuit.

When asked by The Guardian what she wants for her unborn daughter, Williams said, “If my daughter were to play in a sport, and she was able to have equal prize money, or equal pay, or equal rights, I feel like that would be a success. And if not, I would really want her to speak up for it.

Any daughter of mine will have a voice.”

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.

Establish self-defense

tate toward traditionally femaledominated professions such as teaching elementary school, where salaries have been lower than those commanded by men.

Some higher-paying jobs in science and engineering fields require specific training, but even within those industries, women make less than men.

Black women also face harassment and ostracism on the job.

Even Serena Williams, one of the highest paid and most accomplished athletes, has endured slurs and taunts in center courts throughout the world.

Recently, according to The Guardian, Ilie Nastase, a retired Romanian tennis player, allegedly made a racist comment about Williams’ unborn child and was heard calling her and another woman tennis player “bitches.”

And John McEnroe, a White

Reasons for disparity

Control of the Police:

Jenise Morgan, Senior Editor Angela van Emmerik, Creative Director Chicago Jones, Eugene Leach, Louis Muhammad, Lisa Rogers-Cherry, Circulation Penny Dickerson, Staff Writer Duane Fernandez Sr., Kim Gibson, Photojournalists

MEMBER

Florida Press Association

National Newspaper Publishers Association

Society of Professional Journalists

National Newspaper Association

Associated Press

An Eisenhower quote: “Humility must always be the portion of any man who receives acclaim earned in blood of his followers and sacrifices of his friends.” Trump should think about that as he continues to trash-talk North Korea and considers shedding more American blood in Afghanistan and the Middle East.

Contact me at ccherry2@ gmail.com.

Central Florida Communicators Group, LLC, P.O. Box 48857 Tampa, FL 33646, publishes the Florida Courier on Fridays. Phone: 877-352-4455, toll-free. For all sales inquiries, call 877-352-4455; e-mail sales@flcourier.com.

Subscriptions to the print version are $69 per year. Mail check to P.O. Box 48857 Tampa, FL 33646, or log on to www.flcourier.com; click on ‘Subscribe’.

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AUGUST 11 – AUGUST 17, 2017

Parents have ‘back to school’ responsibilities Some parents never meet their children’s teachers, attend PTA meetings, monitor homework assignments, discuss report cards, or monitor what their children wear to school.

They don’t know how many credits are needed to graduate or how many their children have.

They also leave too many important future planning decisions up to the school system and their children.

Confucius said, “If your plan is for one year, plant rice. If it’s for three years, plant trees. If it’s for 100 years, educate your children.”

Some solutions • Buy only the clothes you can afford for your children. Remind them that they will be briskly walking down the hall in a school, not sashaying down a fashion runway. Save some money for college or trade school.

• Take your children to open house and meet all their teachers.

• Your children’s school day should be the main topic of conversation at the dinner table every school night. Go through their daily schedule. Ask them two questions: “What did you learn today? Do you have any homework?” If their answers are repeatedly, “Nothing” and “No homework,” it is time for you to contact their teachers.

JAMES J. HANKINS GUEST COMMENTARY

• Put the dates of the interim reports and reports cards on your refrigerator calendar. Have a oneon-one detailed discussion with your children about both. It is very important that you let them talk and defend their position.

• Plan to have two hours each school night where you and your household have a lockdown. Cut off all electrical or battery-operated TVs, gaming devices and phones. Use that enrichment time for homework, reading, writing and family discussions. Teach them how to take notes and study.

• Never give up on your children. Keep encouraging them to respect themselves and others.

• After you have constructively criticized them, help them find a solution to that problem. Remember, if you watch your children for a long period of time, they will do something wrong and something right. Catch them doing something right each day and give them a big hug as you praise them for doing well. Age and size does not matter; they are still your “baby!”

Under the Trump ‘Big Top’ The latest political circus is indeed the “Greatest Show on Earth.” Come one, come all! See the trained elephants dancing, marching in perfect order, and balancing on relatively tiny stools, staying there until the ringmaster directs them to step down.

There are monkeys doing all sorts of tricks, and raging tigers that are made docile the moment the ringmaster puts his hand up.

The fiercest among all the animals is one by the name of “Scary Moochie,” a roaring lion, always ready to tear someone’s head off.

But even he has been tamed to slither off into a corner when ordered. What a circus!

The magician is amazing! Her name is Sarah “Huckster” Sanders; she makes facts disappear quicker than the eye can discern.

Her talents are unlimited as she takes what the ringmaster says and turns it into something completely different, all the while saying she is “always honest” – which, if that is true, means the ringmaster is lying.

Says anything She performs exclusively in a small standing-room-only tent filled with reporters whom she treats like third-graders. She can tell them anything in answer to their questions, ignore them as she pleases, threaten them, and disappear in a heartbeat by abruptly walking out of the room, always leaving them wanting more.

JAMES CLINGMAN TRICE EDNEY NEWS WIRE

They never applaud for her performance, though.

Then there are the Cabinet clowns; they are so funny. They convened under the Big Top and made the entire world laugh by taking their individual turns to praise, laud, glorify, and thank the ringmaster for “blessing” them with the privilege and honor of being in his circus. Now that was really funny. Strange, but funny.

Barking on command The trained dogs are especially hilarious. They jump through flaming hoops, run around in circles, jump on the back of the dog in front, and bark on command.

They can push large heavy balls uphill on a narrow plank, and stand on their hind legs to beg the ringmaster for a treat.

There is Spicer the toy poodle lap dog, Priebus the “blessed” chihuahua, Conway the “alternative fact” pit bull, and Pence the Christian bulldog, who refuses to allow his professed morality to stop him from salivating in response to his real “master,” Trump – otherwise known as Pavlov.

The dancing bears, Don Jr., Eric,

Faith in justice remains only if Mueller probe is genuine It looks like the Robert Mueller fix is in.

With a recent survey showing that Democrats hold a staggering 61 percent disapproval rating among working-class White voters in key districts, Democrats are targeting in the midterms, you can bet that Democrats, their allies in the mainstream media, the Deep State, and a few Pontius Pilate Republicans, are hoping that Special Prosecutor Mueller – and his team of Clinton loyalist prosecutors – will be able to go around the ballot box and destroy the Trump presidency.

CLARENCE V. MCKEE, ESQ. GUEST COMMENTARY

As liberal legal scholar Alan Dershowitz recently said, the District of Columbia” … has an ethnic and racial composition that might be very unfavorable to the Trump administration.”

When asked by an interviewer if he thinks this move stacks the deck against the president, Dershowitz said, “Yes, I do…the prosGOP still leads Initially reported by Politico. ecutor…will have a real advantage com and McClatchy, the survey with the jury pool…” was commissioned by the Democrats’ own party-backed House Efforts backfiring Whether they know it or not, Majority PAC. It showed that Republicans still had a 10-point lead, coastal liberal Democrat elites 43 to 33 percent, on the gener- and their snooty leftist allies in the ic ballot among these blue-collar major media – who are doing evvoters. Furthermore, it noted that erything they can to destroy the Trump had a very respectable 52 Trump presidency – are turning off percent job approval rating with working-class White voters whose the demographic in these districts. values they scorn and whose votes That’s not good news for Dem- they will need! That’s why they will ocrats and their media elite allies need all the help they can get from who are itching to get some help Mueller to get rid of Trump outfrom Mueller and an anti-Trump side of the ballot box.

Regardless of any reasons that District of Columbia prospective may have been given for the rejecjury pool.

• Take the time and have your children teach you how to use the Internet. You must monitor what they are reading, watching, writing, sending, and receiving pictures online. No secret password for children in your home.

• Buy a one-year subscription to your local Black newspaper.

Some cost less than $40 a year (about the price of four large pizzas that will last about 15 minutes). This should be among the first reading materials you put in your home library.

To help your high school child follow the right educational track, you must know the answers to these questions. (If you don’t know, have your child and the school counselor guide you.)

• How many credits does your child need in each of the following subjects to graduate? English, math, science, social studies, health and physical education, a second language, computer skills, electives.

• How many credits does he or she have? What is his or her grade point average? What is his or her best subject? What is his or her ranking in the class? What is the grade point average required for the state university system? Community college? Trade school?

• Bullying is a serious problem in every school and grade level. It can be face-to-face, by text or on and the Kushner’s are so cute and lovable, but upon closer observation the audience can see their ferocity, avarice, and their treacherous willingness to attack anyone on behalf of their “Trump-pet master.” Nothing is out of bounds for them; nothing is off the table. If they see something they want they take it, either by portraying their cuddly side or by activating their ferocious side.

Lying, cheating

EDITORIAL

A5

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: BACK TO SCHOOL

DAVE GRANLUND, POLITICALCARTOONS.COM

the Internet. You need to have a discussion with your children on a plan of action telling them what to do and who to tell when it happens.

• Being able to quickly tell the names of the starting five on the NBA champion Golden State Warriors or the main characters in the many dramas on the Oprah Winfrey Network is good for sports entertainment conversation only. Meeting, learning the names and communicating with the five or more teachers that will teach your children this first semester is priceless. These are the

people you must know.

All these are parents’ responsibilities! “I have no greater joy than to hear my children walk in truth.”

3 John 1:4.

James J. Hankins is a graduate of an all-Black high school, a North Carolina A&T State University alumnus, a US Army veteran, and author of the book “What We Blacks Need to Do.” Contact him at jhan606@ gmail.com.

The ringmaster, Donald Trump, is the Jim Henson of politics. Henson had his Muppets; Trump has his ‘Trump-pets.’ He orchestrates his political circus with the aplomb of a master showman, reaching even into the hinterlands to entertain his Trump-pets in the remote corners

The tightrope walkers and trapeze acts, comprising of sycophants who just want to be in a camera shot, even if it means falling – perform without safety nets.

The trained seals do their balancing acts as well. They will lie, cheat, and distort reality right before our eyes. The main culprit in that group is Corey “...I have no clients whatsoever [in Ohio]” Lewandowski.

It is a full-blown three-ring circus, folks, whose purpose is to keep us amused and diverted from the important issues of our time.

The Trump circus characters have mad skills. Instead of a fire-eater there is a fire-breather named Stephen Miller. There are two court jesters to defend the ringmaster on CNN: Jeffery Lord, who has a Ronald Reagan séance each time he is on TV; and “Smiling Jack” Kingston, the former congressman who cracks himself up trying to defend the indefensible.

of this nation. There are shows on a daily basis,

tion of Democrats, I believe that, other than continual obstruction and resistance to Trump’s agenda, an unstated reason is the message and image Democrats and their leftist allies are sending to White middle- and working-class America.

And what are those images, voices and messages beaming into West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and other Trump state homes?

and even said she supported the il- stroy Trump. But he could be their legal leaks of presidential conver- worst nightmare. sations with foreign heads of state.

If he and his pro-Clinton prosecutors go rogue and attempt to inHarboring a criminal dict Trump, members of his family Next, we have former Demo- and destroy his presidency, voters cratic National Committee depu- like those at his West Virginia and ty press secretary Jose Aristimuno, Ohio rallies won’t sit idly by and who defended sanctuary cities on watch what some have already deFox News Channel’s “Tucker Carl- scribed as a Democratic and meson Tonight” after an illegal alien, dia-inspired political “crucifixion” who had been deported 20 times, in the works.

If that happens, the counallegedly assaulted a 65-year-old woman in Portland, Ore. Officials try could descend into unprechad refused to turn him over to edented turmoil, with demonthe immigration authorities due to strations and requiring The New York Times, The Washington Post, their sanctuary city policies.

Like other apologists for sanc- CNN, and other media institutions tuary cities, Aristimuno refused to of the left to be surrounded by secondemn the failure to obey feder- curity. al immigration laws. And let’s not If you think Venezuela is unignore the potty-mouthed oratory stable, just watch what will hapof Democratic National Commit- pen if a substantial proportion of tee Chairman Tom Perez – who the country comes to believe that dresses up his speeches with pro- Mueller’s so-called investigation fanity on a regular basis – and oth- is a sham and nothing more than er Democrats such as New York an attempted coup by Democrats, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., their allies in the mainstream mewho treated an audience to an F- dia, the Deep State, and a few Ponbomb laced anti-Trump speech at tius Pilate Republicans described New York University in June. above.

Such comments may play well The credibility of American infor the Trump resistance in the lib- stitutions of justice will be all but eral strongholds of California, New destroyed.

York and Massachusetts, but they are not reflected in the values of Clarence V. McKee is a governthe vast majority of working-class ment, political and media relavoters who elected Trump. tions consultant and president of McKee Communications, Inc., Not so fast as well as a Newsmax.com conDemocrats might think that tributor. This article originally Mueller is their best hope to de- appeared on Newsmax.com.

and there is no admission fee. the ringmaster calls “my generals;” an organ grinder and a dancing monkey named Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson; a Trumphater turned Trump-lover named Nimrata “Nikki” Haley, who performs before the entire world; and there’s chief of security Wayne LaPierre, just in case anyone in the audience gets too close to the performers.

The ringmaster, Donald Trump, is the Jim Henson of politics. Henson had his Muppets; Trump has his “Trump-pets.” He orchestrates his political circus with the aplomb of a master showman, reaching even into the hinterlands to entertain his Trump-pets in the remote corners of this nation. There are shows on a daily basis, and there is no admission fee.

I don’t have love for either political party, so please don’t think this is a “dump on Trump” article. I’d write the same thing if Obama had carried on this way. Besides, I love a good circus every now and then.

But I say Black people should follow the example of the UniverSoul Circus and establish our own political party, and thus our own circus featuring our own performers. What say you?

Meanwhile, watch my seat; I’m going to get some more cotton candy.

James E. Clingman is the nation’s most prolific writer on economic empowerment for Black people. His latest book, “Black Dollars Matter! Teach Your Dollars How to Make More Sense,” is available on his website, BlackLet’s establish our own Dancing monkeys onomics.com, and Amazon KinThere are several strong men Now let me give my disclaimer. dle eBooks.

Leftist name-calling There was Rep. Barbara Lee, DCalif., calling the new White House Chief of Staff and decorated former four-star Marine Corps Gen. John Kelly an “extremist” saying he would “militarize” the White House.

Lee was the only “no” vote on the invasion of Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks; a great fan of Fidel Castro who visited Cuba more than 20 times; and, who after his death called him a global leader who should be mourned.

And then there is Lee’s fellow left coast liberal Congressional Black Caucus colleague, Representative Maxine Waters, D-Calif.

– the new face of the Democratic Party. Waters is also a Castro lover, demanding the impeachment of the president, calling Trump’s distinguished cabinet a bunch of “scumbags.”

Waters recently implied that liberal Democrat Alan Dershowitz was a racist for acknowledging the racial and ethnic demographics of the Washington, D.C. jury pool

TOJ A6

NATION & WORLD

AUGUST 11 – AUGUST 17, 2017 rounding his campaign’s possible collusion with Russians during last year’s election are “fake news.”

Some of his favorite targets when assailing so-called “fake news” media have been The New York Times, The Washington Post and CNN. Check Trump’s Twitter feed every couple of days, and you’ll likely see the phrase.

In his words: “Only the Fake News Media and Trump enemies want me to stop using Social Media (110 million people). Only way for me to get the truth out!” the president tweeted last week.

Hillary Clinton

MIKE CARDEW/AKRON BEACON JOURNAL/TNS

President Donald Trump enjoys the crowd’s reaction as he arrives at a Make America Great Again rally at the Covelli Centre in Youngstown, Ohio, on July 25.

A look at 7 of Trump’s favorite hits The president still seems obsessed with Obama, Clinton crowd size, Russia and fake news.

BY KURTIS LEE LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

He’s been in office for more than six months, but it often seems he’s still campaigning.

For President Donald Trump, who in recent weeks has used speeches before the Boy Scouts of America and police officers to deliver overtly political remarks at nonpolitical events, continues to be consumed by the same issues.

On social media, during interviews, while speaking before Cabinet members, Trump homes in — obsessively — on a handful of topics and people.

Will that change? It seems unlikely.

Here are seven topics and his remarks in recent months.

President Obama Even before Trump entered the presidential race, he regularly castigated Obama’s leadership

and floated falsehoods about Obama’s background.

In 2011, Trump was a vocal spokesman for the fringe conservative “birther” movement, raising questions in television interviews and on social media about whether the nation’s first Black president was born in Kenya.

Many viewed Trump’s rhetoric as racially charged.

Now, in office, Trump has jabbed the former president for, among other things, health care and trade. He’s also alleged that Obama tapped his Trump Tower phones last year.

In his words: “How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones during the very sacred election process,” Trump tweeted in March. “This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!”

Loyalty It’s what Trump commanded as a businessman and a reality television star, and has now transferred to his administration.

When he views people as disloyal, it’s simple: They’re fired.

In May, Trump fired FBI Director James B. Comey because, he said, Comey was not doing a good job.

But weeks later, Comey offered written testimony to a Senate

panel, which noted that Trump had asked him for loyalty — something Comey, as head of the law enforcement agency, said he could not give the president.

“I need loyalty, I expect loyalty,” Trump told Comey, according to written testimony penned by the former FBI director. Trump has denied he asked Comey for loyalty.

In his words: “As scout law says, a scout is trustworthy, loyal,” Trump said in a speech before the Boy Scouts of America last month. “We could use some more loyalty, I will tell you that.”

Election win Indeed, as many political observers have said, Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton was remarkable. He appealed widely to working-class white voters with a populist message focused on trade, jobs and immigration.

States such as Wisconsin and Ohio — which Obama won in 2008 and 2012 — flipped for Trump. (Even though Trump won the Electoral College, he lost the popular vote to Clinton by about 3 million votes.)

In recent months, while talking to lawmakers and during interviews, he’s brought up his Electoral College victory.

In his words: “We won and won. … They said, there is no way to victory; there is no way to 270,” Trump said before the Boy Scouts. “But then Wisconsin came in. … Michigan came in.”

Russia Trump has denied his campaign colluded with Russians during the 2016 election. In May, the Department of Justice appointed Robert S. Mueller to head an independent investigation into Trump’s campaign and Russia.

Even with the investigation underway, Trump regularly talks about Russia, sometimes unprompted by questions.

In his words: “Again, the story that there was collusion between the Russians & Trump campaign was fabricated by Dems as an excuse for losing the election,” Trump tweeted in May.

Fake news If Trump does not like a story, he’ll usually label it “fake news.”

Trump’s Cabinet members and allies outside the White House have regularly called critical stories “fake news,” taking a page from the president’s playbook.

For Trump, questions sur-

Throughout the campaign Trump and Clinton traded vitriolic barbs that, at times, became extremely personal. But for Trump, the emails Clinton deleted from a personal server while secretary of State has been his main focus.

He would talk about them at great length, eliciting booming shouts of “lock her up” from supporters at his rallies. After the election, Trump said he did not want his administration to investigate Clinton.

However, in recent weeks, Trump has changed his rhetoric as questions about his campaign’s potential ties with Russia continue to cloud his administration.

In his words: “My son Donald openly gave his e-mails to the media & authorities whereas Crooked Hillary Clinton deleted (& acid washed) her 33,000 e-mails!” Trump tweeted last month.

Crowd size On the campaign trail, Trump often boasted about the size of his crowds. He’d also assail the “fake news” media for not panning cameras to show the full size of the crowds.

Days after Trump’s inauguration, his then-press secretary, Sean Spicer, said it “was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration — period.” (PolitiFact gave the comment a “pants on fire,” and labeled it as false.)

Although Trump has been in the Oval Office about six months, he’s already preparing for the 2020 election. He’s held several rallies — funded by his campaign — in recent months, most of the time reminiscing about his 2016 election win.

In those speeches, similar to the campaign, he’s also castigated the media for not showing his crowds.

In his words: “I’m waving to people back there so small I can’t even see them. Man, this is a lot of people. Turn those cameras back there, please. That is so incredible,” he said while speaking to the Boy Scouts at their annual jamboree, which often draws thousands.

“By the way, what do you think the chances are that this incredible massive crowd, record setting, is going to be shown on television tonight? One percent or zero?”

South Africa’s Zuma survives ouster bid

BY MIKE COHEN AND AMOGELANG MBATHA BLOOMBERG NEWS/TNS

CAPE TOWN, South Africa – South African President Jacob Zuma survived a no-confidence motion in parliament Tuesday, ensuring that he’ll maintain his grip on power until at least the end of the year.

The motion was defeated by 198 votes to 177, Baleka Mbete, the speaker of the National Assembly, announced at a sitting in Cape Town. Nine of the 384 lawmakers present in the assembly, where the ANC (African National Congress) has a 62 percent majority, abstained.

The move could backfire on the ANC as it prepares to contest elections in 2019 with Zuma’s public approval rating running at an all-time low.

‘Lose-lose situation’ Opposition parties could point to the fact that the ANC had an ideal opportunity to remove Zuma and take a stand against corruption but didn’t use it, according to Dirk Kotze, a politics professor at the University of South Africa.

“The failed motion of no confidence reinforces the status quo,” Kotze said by phone from Pretoria, the capital. “The current po-

litical crisis in the ANC will just deepen. It’s a lose-lose situation for them at this point.”

The outcome of the vote weighed on the markets, with the rand slumping as much as 1 percent against the dollar after the vote outcome was announced.

Nation downgraded Zuma’s tenure has been marred by a succession of scandals and policy missteps that have weighed on investor confidence and sent the economy into recession.

He has clung to power thanks to the support of most of the ANC’s top leaders, many of whom rely on him for their cabinet posts and government jobs.

He’s due to step down as ANC leader in December and as president in 2019.

The opposition filed its latest motion of no-confidence in April after Zuma fired Pravin Gordhan as finance minister, a move that prompted two ratings companies to downgrade the nation’s debt to junk and sparked massive public protests.

Removal demanded Thousands of protesters marched through the streets of Cape Town before the debate to demand Zuma’s removal, and security personnel sealed off streets and erected barricades

SEAN GALLUP/GETTY IMAGES/DDP IMAGES/SIPA USA

African President Jacob Zuma is shown at the G20 economic summit on July 8 in Hamburg, Germany. around the parliamentary complex. Anti-Zuma demonstrations also took place in Johannesburg and Pretoria.

South Africa’s top court ruled last year that Zuma broke his oath of office when he refused to repay taxpayer funds spent on his private home.

A report by the Public Protector in November said that Zuma and some ministers may have breached the government’s code of ethics in their relationship with the Gupta family, who are

in business with Zuma’s son. Zuma and the Guptas deny wrongdoing.

‘Serious embarrassment’ The ANC led the fight against apartheid rule and has governed Africa’s most-industrialized economy since it took power in the nation’s first multi-racial elections in 1994.

Disgruntlement with Zuma’s leadership contributed to the party’s worst-ever electoral performance in a municipal vote in

August last year and several of its senior leaders have warned that it’s in danger of losing its overall majority in 2019 elections.

“This win will be the continuation of a weakened and precarious form of power for him, because overall it remains a serious embarrassment,” said Susan Booysen, a politics professor at the University of the Witwatersrand’s School of Governance.

“It is a situation that has put a massive amount of stress on the ANC itself.”

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WILL PACKER’S

‘BLACK AMERICA’ The FAMU graduate and Hollywood producer has found success with mostly Black casts.

One of his new projects is an Amazon alternate history drama.

WILL PACKER PRODUCTIONS

Producer Will Packer is one of Hollywood’s blockbuster filmmakers. His top-grossing films include “Girls Trip,’’ “No Good Deed’’ “Think Like A Man,” “Straight Outta Compton,” “Ride Along’’ and “Stomp the Yard.”

CAPITAL OUTLOOK

Will Packer receives the President’s Award during FAMU’s commencement from then-President Elmira Mangum on May 2, 2015. He received a degree in electrical engineering from the university in 1996.

BY RYAN FAUGHNDER LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

I

n the run-up to his latest movie “Girls Trip,” producer Will Packer didn’t rely on massive billboard campaigns in Los Angeles and New York.

Instead, he took the star-studded cast to Atlanta, Miami and New Orleans for advanced screenings with fans and online tastemakers, including Black millennial website Hello Beautiful, to generate excitement among African-American women.

At an event at New Orleans’ luxurious Theatres at Canal Place, Packer told moviegoers of his wish to make a film that encapsulated the experiences of Black women.

“It makes (moviegoers) feel like they’re part of a movement,” Packer said in an interview.

Box-office successes The strategy of marketing movies directly to their target audiences has served Packer well.

“Girls Trip,” a $19-million movie about four women who reconnect at the Essence Festival in New Orleans, has grossed $85 million so far domestically.

The Universal Pictures-released film is the latest success for Packer, 43, a prolific producer whose 26 movies, which include “Think Like a Man” and “Ride Along,” have grossed more than $1 billion combined at the box office.

Packer’s remarkable run of hits comes at a time when mid-budget movies — especially live-action comedies and rom-coms — are supposed to be fool’s gambles as studios focus on blockbuster franchises based on big brands like Marvel and DC.

Key Black roles His success as one of the most prominent African-American filmmakers also stands out in an industry that is frequently criticized for not giving enough opportunities to nonWhite filmmakers and actors.

Though his movies rarely get critical acclaim (“Girls Trip” and “Straight

Outta Compton,” which he executiveproduced, were exceptions), Packer has consistently achieved mainstream success by making movies with mostly Black casts, targeting a specific audience that has historically been neglected by the studio system.

“Will makes films that completely satisfy a core audience but at the same time tackle the most universal stories and are of such high quality they end up reaching an even wider audience,” said Donna Langley, chairman of Universal Pictures, which released Packer-produced movies including “Ride Along” and “Almost Christmas.”

“Will understands that a great movie for a specific audience has the power to be a great movie for all audiences,’’ she added.

Plenty of projects There’s rarely a pause for the expanding Will Packer universe.

On a recent trip to Los Angeles, he met with Universal executives about a new Kerry Washington project called “City of Saints and Thieves,” visited the Malibu set of the Gabrielle Union thriller “Breaking In,” and attended the launch party for Kevin Hart’s new comedy app at a sprawling private estate in Beverly Hills.

Back in Atlanta, he’s in pre-production on the Kevin Hart film “Night School” and re-shoots on a remake of “Jacob’s Ladder.”

New company His new production company Will Packer Media, backed by Universal Pictures and Discovery Communications, is developing television shows, digital series and advertising campaigns for Packer’s audience.

He’s working on a provocative series for Amazon Studios called “Black America,” which takes place in an alternative post-Civil War timeline, and developing material for Discovery’s OWN. Will Packer Media also recently paid an undisclosed amount for Narrative, a digital branding firm founded by marketing expert Tricia Clarke-Stone and Def Jam Recordings co-founder

Will Packer was the producer for “Think Like A Man,’’ which debuted in 2012, and “Think Like A Man Too,” released in 2014.

Russell Simmons.

“We have an opportunity to take advantage of the fact that niches are becoming less and less defined by the day,” said Packer, who splits his time between Los Angeles and Atlanta, where his family lives (he’s married with four children).

“You have everybody watching everything now. Now, more than ever, we have an opportunity for that same content to appeal to a wider audience.”

Start at FAMU It’s a startling rise to power for a filmmaker who got his start as a college sophomore in Tallahassee by helping a fraternity brother make a $20,000 indie film.

At Florida A&M University (FAMU), where he studied electrical engineering, he made a movie called “Chocolate City,” a coming-of-age tale set at a historically Black college, with his friend Rob Hardy.

They sent the movie to every studio and agency, with no luck. So they went local, premiering the film in the school’s main auditorium and booking it in a second-run theater. It got a huge response.

“Nobody cared in Hollywood, but you know where they did care? Tallahassee, Florida and FAMU, and they cared a whole lot,” Packer said.

“I realized that if you make something for an audience, and it’s received well by that audience, it doesn’t really matter what other people feel about it … . I certainly want to make content for a broader audience, but I never lost an eye for making sure I hit the bull’seye with a niche.”

See PACKER, Page B2

FAST FACTS ABOUT PACKER Birthdate: April 11, 1974 Born and raised: St. Petersburg Education: St. Petersburg High School, 1991.

Florida A&M University (FAMU), Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering, 1996.

Recipient of Meritorious Achievement Award, FAMU’s highest honor.

Film companies: Will Packer Productions based in Los Angeles. Co-founded Rainforest Films with director Rob Hardy in 1994 while students at FAMU. TV: Executive producer of “Roots”, the Emmynominated remake that aired on The History Channel, A&E and Lifetime networks on Memorial Day 2016. Executive producer of “Being Mary Jane (BET), “Truth Be Told” (NBC, 2015) and “Uncle Buck” (ABC, 2016). Launched Bounce TV with Martin Luther King III and others.

Movies: Inducted as a member of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences in 2012. Debut film: “Chocolate City’’ in 1994. Films include “Girls Trip,’’ “About Last Night,’’ “No Good Deed,’’ “The Wedding Ringer,’’ “Stomp the Yard, “Straight Outta Compton,’’ “Takers,’’ “Think Like A Man,’’ “Obsessed,’’ “This Christmas,’’ “Trois’’ and “The Gospel.’’

Fraternity: Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Family: Married Heather Hayslett in 2015, whom he met in 2009 at an Essence Festival.

Resides in Atlanta with wife and their kids.

CALENDAR

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FLORIDA COMMUNITY CALENDAR Pompano Beach: Senator Perry E. Thurston Jr. will host a Florida Medical Marijuana Law Update & Community Forum on Aug. 14 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the E. Pat Larkins Center, 520 MLK Blvd.

Hollywood: Catch actor and comedian Chris Tucker on Sept. 2 at Hard Rock Live.

AUGUST 11 – AUGUST 17, 2017

STOJ

TAMRON HALL

The Women of Color Empowerment Conference is Sept. 8-10 at the Westin Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort. Speakers will include Congresswoman Maxine Waters, journalist Tamron Hall and Surgeon General Sylvia Trent-Adams. Details: www. southfloridawomenofcolor.com

Jacksonville: The Morocco Shrine Grounds will be site of the Aug. 12 Throwback Concert featuring Morris Day and The Time, Adina Howard, Lakeside, Ready for the World, Troop, and Rude Boys.

Miami Gardens: The city and Heath Foundation of South Florida is presenting Live Healthy Miami Gardens through Aug. 12 to improve health outcomes of residents. Activities: livehealthymiamigardens.com Tampa: Lionel Richie, Mariah Carey and Tauren Wells will be in concert Aug. 11 at Amalie Arena.

Jacksonville: Lauryn Hill and Nas will perform Sept. 23 at Daily’s Place.

West Palm Beach: Catch the rapper Future on Aug. 13 at the Perfect Vodka Amphitheatre, Tampa’s MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre on Aug. 14 and Aug. 16 at Jacksonville’s Daily’s Place.

Amelia Island: The Northside Community Involvement, Inc. of Jacksonville is hosting its 12th Annual Golf Tournament of Unity fundraiser on Aug. 26 at Ocean Links Golf Course.

More info: Rhynett Chatman, 904660-2157 Miami: Tickets are on sale for the Mann’s World Concert and Comedy

CAMEO

The Tom Joyner Family Reunion is Aug. 31-Sept. 4 at the Gaylord Palms Resort, Kissimmee. Performers will include Maxwell, Morris Day & the Time and Cameo featuring Larry Blackmon. More info: BlackAmericaWeb.com

Show with David and Tamela Mann at the James L. Knight Center on Sept. 1.

Zephyrhills: The East Pasco Democratic Club will meet at 7 p.m. Aug. 21 at the American House, 38130 Pretty Pond Road. Guest speaker: Kelly Smith. Refreshments at 6:45

Paying it forward Keymáh, who has returned to the university on several occasions and is also the namesake of an endowed scholarship, views the position as an opportunity to pay it forward.

“I can’t miss this opportunity,” she said. “I can’t forget what it’s like being on the other side. I can’t forget being that student wishing that somebody I knew from television or film would come and visit me. I come back and perform because I loved when people came to my school and performed,” Keymáh said.

PACKER from Page 1

Breakout movie Early efforts, such as the “Trois” erotic thriller series, found their market. Yet Packer’s breakout success as an onset studio producer came with “Stomp the Yard” in 2007, which was released by Sony Pictures’ Screen Gems label.

The dance competition drama, for which he drew on his fraternity experience, opened No. 1 at the box office in the U.S. and Canada and grossed $61 million. Screen Gems would go on to work with Packer on movies including “Obsessed” and “No Good Deed.”

Packer often draws on his personal experiences for inspiration.

He first approached Steve Harvey about buying the rights to his advice book, “Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man,” after seeing women exchange the title at hair and nail salons.

Though the source material contained no story, the 2012 ensemble comedy grossed $91 million in the United States and Canada, driven by a breakout performance from Hart.

‘Girls Trip’ origin Packer decided three years ago to build a movie around Black women at Essence Festival in New Orleans, where he’d met his now-wife and proposed on stage at the Super Dome.

Maze featuring Frankie Beverly, Nephew Tommy of the “Steve Harvey Morning Show,’’ Tank and Kelly Price are scheduled Sept. 2 at the USF Sun Dome.

a.m. Details: 813-383-8315.

Miami Beach: Mary J. Blige’s Strength of a Woman Tour stops is at the Jackie Gleason Theater on Aug. 22.

at the Parker Playhouse.

Fort Lauderdale: Comedian and actor Sinbad takes the stage Aug. 11

Orlando: The 18th Annual Darrell Armstrong Classic Weekend is Aug.

Actress to serve as artist-in-residence at FAMU This fall, Florida A&M University (FAMU) theater students will have the opportunity to train with one of the institution’s most accomplished alumni in Hollywood.

T’Keyah Crystal Keymáh, internationally acclaimed and award-winning performer, director, writer and producer, will become FAMU’s first T’Keyah W.K. Kellogg Foundation artist-inCrystal residence in the College of Social SciKeymáh ences, Arts and Humanities (CSSAH) theater program.

KELLY PRICE

Acting roles After first gaining national fame as a regular cast member on the comedy show “In Living Color,” Keymáh gained notoriety for her role as Erica Lucas on the CBS sitcom “Cosby” and as Tanya Baxter on the Disney Channel sitcom “That’s So Raven.”

She recently completed the first season of her newest series, “There’s Johnny,” a comedy produced for NBC’s digital platform, Seeso, in which she plays Johnny Carson’s secretary Roz.

1984 graduate Keymáh earned a bachelor’s degree in theater from FAMU in 1984 and received an honorary doctorate from FAMU in 2011. She wants to share the wisdom she has gained over the years with her students.

“I intend to bring my experience as a series regular on six on-camera series to the classroom, in addition to what I learned on and off the set,” Keymáh said.

In addition to teaching an acting for the camera class, Keymáh will conduct three workshops and will direct “The Nacirema Society” by Pearl Cleage, which will be the first play in the Essential Theatre’s 2017-2018 season.

For more information on Keymáh, visit www. tkeyah.com.

Miami: J. Cole’s Your Eyez Only Tour stops at the AmericanAirlines Arena on Aug. 14 and Orlando’s Amway Center on Aug. 16.

Free services available Aug. 19 at 7 Tampa Bay laundromats Current Initiatives is hosting its third annual Tampa Bay Laundry Day on Saturday, Aug. 19 to ease the financial burden laundry services can place on lower-income families.

The multi-location event is part of the Laundry Project, which provides the funds, detergent and other items needed to wash and dry the clothes and linens of families in need. Laundry fees are paid for while volunteers assist with laundry services, entertain children, and create a caring space at the laundromat.

11-13. The foundation helps premature babies. More info: 407-252-333 or jbm395@gmail.com.

Miami: Tickets are on sale for Kendrick Lamar’s Damn Tour on Sept. 2 at the AmericanAirlines Arena and Sept. 10 at Tampa’s Amalie Arena.

During the 2016 Laundry Day, more than 2,000 loads of laundry were washed for 185 families.

Between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., the following laundromats will participate: Best Laundromats Coin Laundry, 40976 U.S. Hwy. 19 N., Tarpon Springs Big Wash West Tampa, 1724 W Main St., Tampa Coin Laundry USA, 606 Union St., Dunedin Coin Laundry, 3780 Tampa Road C1, Oldsmar Fresh Start Express Laundry, 4720 Central Ave., St. Petersburg Seminole Heights Laundromat, 103 W. Osborne Ave., Tampa Tampa Laundry, 2501 N. Tampa St., Tampa For more information, call 727-537.9082 or visit www.

LaundryByCurrent.org.

The idea of the film was to turn the “Hangover” and “Bridesmaids” films on their heads by showing Black women behaving the way White people do in R-rated comedies.

“Girls Trip” opened with $31 million from an audience that was 59 percent Black and 79 percent female.

“He has his finger on the pulse when it comes to understanding the marketplace,” said Glenn Gainor, head of physical production at Screen Gems. “Will understands what it takes to make great movies within the studio system that reach the right audience.”

Nurtures stars Packer also is known for spotting and nurturing rising stars, including Hart and Idris Elba (“No Good Deed,” “Obsessed”).

The list now includes Tiffany Haddish, a comedian previously best known for her role in “The Carmichael Show,” who is now the breakout star of “Girls Trip,” delivering some of the raunchiest lines in the movie.

Packer also peppers his movies with cameos by famous NBA players and professional boxers.

For example, he got boxing champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. to make a surprise appearance on the Las Vegas set of the “Think Like a Man” sequel for a memorable exchange with Hart.

‘Black America’ concept One of Will Packer Media’s first projects is “Black America,” from

Will Packer was a producer for “Ride Along’’ (2014) and “Ride Along 2” (2016), starring Kevin Hart and Ice Cube. Ice Cube also was a producer of the films. writer Aaron McGruder, who created the satirical cartoon “The Boondocks.”

“Black America” takes place in an alternative timeline in which African-Americans have taken over three Southern states in reparations for slavery. Though the idea was more politically searing than most of Packer’s work, he was attracted to the provocative concept.

“I could not get the idea out of my head,” Packer said. “I sat and thought about how you’d do that and get it right, because it’s such provocative subject matter. But that doesn’t scare me at all. You

can do provocative as long as you can do it right.”

The “Black America” creators had been trying to keep the premise under wraps. However, they decided to go public with their show after HBO announced its own show called “Confederate,” which posits what would happen if the South won the Civil War and slavery became a modern institution.

Industry ‘far behind’ Amid the social media furor over the HBO series, Packer said he wanted people to know there was an alternative show in

the works.

Packer said there has been some progress in Hollywood to make the media industry more inclusive, and there are now more diverse voices creating content than ever before. Still, he said, the industry has a long way to go.

“As an industry, we were already so far behind that by no means are there enough,” he said. “But I’m happy for the progress we do have and I certainly try, with my projects, to get in as many women and people of color, because I think it just makes my content better.”

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AUGUST 11 – AUGUST 17, 2017

CYBERSPACE

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The dark web is a criminal cesspool Secretive corner of internet a hub for child videos, weapons, drugs, stolen identities

The dark web, sometimes also called the dark net, is a hive for cybercriminals involved in buying and selling personal information.

DREAMSTIME/TNS

BY TIM JOHNSON TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

LAS VEGAS — An internet realm known as the dark web was once promoted as a safe haven for political dissidents and libertarians worldwide, and financed partly by the State Department.

But it has turned into a criminal cesspool.

Rogue hackers sell stolen credit card information there, and gun runners peddle every variety of weapon. Pedophiles and malware merchants lurk in its confines alongside opioid dealers and human traffickers.

What happens on the dark web is so ugly that cybersecurity firms that comb its data routinely share the information with the FBI and other law enforcement agencies.

“All [of] us work in partnership with law enforcement, when possible and necessary, to combat this,” said Danny Rogers, chief executive of Terbium Labs, a Baltimore company that specializes in automated combing of the dark web.

Special software A handful of U.S. cybersecurity companies focus on the dark web, primarily working for retailers, banks and other firms concerned that cybercriminal gangs are trafficking there in consumer data that they’ve obtained through breaches.

A small and secretive corner of the internet, the dark web cannot be accessed by traditional search engines, such as Google, Bing or Yahoo.

Those visiting the dark web must employ special web software, like The Onion Router (Tor) or I2P, both of which encrypt and give anonymity to the user and hide the location of everything visited.

Live streaming It is a challenge to configure the software and find where one wants to browse. That difficulty is what makes the dark web a hub for the most foul types of crime.

“When I was CEO of Tor … law enforcement came to me my first year and said, ‘Look, there’s child abuse on your sites. Your technol-

ogy is enabling child abusers to be far more bold,’” said Andrew Lewman, now vice president of Owl Cybersecurity, a Denver company.

In subsequent years, the complaints from the Feds grew more vigorous, saying child sex rings had been set up and were offering live streaming.

‘Horrible stuff’ Lewman, a longtime advocate and volunteer for the Tor Project who was hired full time as executive director in 2009, demurred over details but said one of the worst was “a sexual child abuse snuff film.”

Now, Lewman serves on the Interpol Crimes Against Children Committee, and openly helps the FBI, Homeland Security and other agencies battle crimes on the dark net.

“When we crawl, we see all the amount of horrible stuff on the dark nets and the fact is that it’s the majority usage. It’s criminal,” he said.

Thousands of sites Not all on the dark web is sinister. Advocates say it was designed as a refuge for dissidents and outcasts who reside in oppressive countries, like Syria and China.

Over the years, the State Department offered more than $3

million in funding, largely from its Democracy and Human Rights branch but sometimes through third parties.

The Tor Project was seen as a vehicle to promote freedom of speech, allow access to blocked news and research sensitive topics.

More than a million people access Facebook through the dark web, where the social media site has a presence, among the 5,000 to 7,000 sites that are available through Tor. “Over half of those sites themselves are benign, people’s personal blogs, conspiracy websites, pictures of cats,” Rogers said.

Global takedown The other half is where nasty stuff happens.

Two weeks ago, the FBI and law enforcement agents from six other countries took down the dark web’s biggest criminal marketplace, AlphaBay, which it called “the largest criminal marketplace on the internet.”

Joining the FBI in the global takedown were law enforcement authorities in Thailand, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Canada, Britain and France.

Prior to the action, Thai authorities arrested a Canadian, Alexandre Cazes, 26, on a U.S. petition.

On July 12, Cazes, the founder

of AlphaBay, was found dead in his cell, and news reports said he used a piece of cloth to hang himself.

‘Cockroaches’ return Other criminal platforms are ready to take AlphaBay’s place.

“As soon as you turn off the light, those cockroaches come back, don’t they?” said Christian Lees, chief information security officer at InfoArmor Inc., a Scottsdale, Ariz., cybersecurity firm that analyzes the dark web.

Drugs, weapons Those who scour the dark web often come away stunned.

“The shear amount of drugs is astounding,” said Dan Palumbo, research director of the Digital Citizens Alliance, a Washingtonbased coalition of consumers, internet businesses and experts seeking to make the internet safer.

Palumbo said he has seen sites offering black tar heroin, cocaine and synthetic drugs like fentanyl, a powerful addictive opioid driving a sweeping U.S. drug epidemic.

Vendors sell varieties of ransomware and malicious hacking tools on dark web storefronts, as well as military-grade weapons, and what Rogers called “recipes for making WMD” — weapons of mass destruction.

Nearly a third of US teens use electronics to cheat

Online June survey It’s easy, students say, to take a cellphone photo of notes or test answers, and then peek at it surreptitiously while taking a test. At the same time, they note, vigilant teachers notice those wayward glances.

McAfee conducted the online survey in June of about 3,902 high school students ages 14 to 18 years old — 1,201 of them in the United States, the rest in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom.

In general, the percentages of reported cheating and accessing banned sites were higher in the United States.

So was the percentage of teenagers who reported being cyber-

The dark web, sometimes also called the dark net, is a hive for cybercriminals involved in buying and selling stolen personal information.

“Your identity, Social Security number, Visa numbers, phone, address, email, passwords, all that, is already on the dark net,” said Lewman of Owl Cybersecurity.

“The market for stolen data is very robust,” said Rogers, of Terbium Labs. “If the data is monetizable, this is where it will end up.”

Cooperating with FBI Former federal agents say it is a huge task to suppress dark web criminal activity.

“Thanks to the Russian-speaking underground, they’ve created this crime-as-a-service model that is very robust,” said Eduardo E. Cabrera, chief cybersecurity officer at Trend Micro, and a former cyber official at the U.S. Secret Service.

Increasingly, though, the private cybersecurity firms that sift through the dark web — either with automated “crawl” systems or using human analysts — collaborate with the FBI. “We simply cooperate with them,” Lees said.

Safety talks Fewer than half of the teenagers surveyed — 44 percent — said they receive regular online guidance from school, and 46 percent said their parents talk to them about staying safe, although the percentage diminishes to 33 percent with 16-to-18 year olds.

Of the older group, 14 percent said they’ve never had an online safety discussion with their parents.

“The best thing we can do is to really double down on security education,” Davis said. “Starting at as early a stage as possible, when a child goes into kindergarten, we should be teaching fundamentals” to help protect children from bullying.

Of parents, he said, “If you know your kids are on Facebook or Snapchat, you should get on that platform as well. At least then you can have some type of discussion.”

BY SHARON NOGUCHI MERCURY NEWS/TNS

U.S. teenagers think they are savvy about cybersecurity — so much that nearly one-third skirt school safeguards to access banned content and 29 percent admit to using tech devices to cheat in school — but more than twice that many say they know of classmates who have cheated with devices, a survey found.

The findings of the survey by the computer security firm McAfee are in proportion with a 2009 survey by Common Sense Media — although the exact extent of cheating, and whether it’s changed over the years, is unknown.

Data already there

‘Unknown territory’

DREAMSTIME/TNS

Teenagers say it’s easy to take a cellphone photo of notes or test answers, and then peek at it surreptitiously while taking a test. bullied: 30 percent in the United States, compared with 22 percent in the survey overall.

Fake accounts Of the U.S. students who said they’d been victimized, half of those reported incidents before starting high school.

Those figures are disheartening, considering the effort put into raising awareness of cyberbullying and combating it, said Gary Davis of McAfee. He suggested educating children starting at an early age to help them stay safe online. “They need to understand what they should do to not be a victim.”

Some teenager said the survey may understate the prevalence of cyberbullying.

“It does surprise me, I’d expect it to be higher,” said Julia Kolman, 16, a rising senior at Branham High School in San Jose, Calif.

“A lot of people take to Twitter to create fake accounts or use personal accounts to harass other students.” Kolman herself doesn’t use social media much, but like many of her peers, hears about the repercussions and drama from it.

Facebook first Among the platforms that the survey indicated are most used

for cyberbullying among U.S. teenagers, Facebook appeared at the top with 71 percent, followed

by Instagram with 62 percent and Snapchat with 49 percent.

The ease of creating multiple accounts with pseudonyms and the ability to post anonymously create an inviting and unmoderated forum, some teenagers say.

More than 70 percent of U.S. teenagers surveyed said they would feel comfortable talking with an adult at school if they were cyberbullied, the survey reported, and 55 percent said that school officials discuss the problem and are trying to prevent it.

But for many parents, it is not easy to have those conversations.

Many don’t even know where to start, nor do they have any idea what their kids are doing in cyberspace.

“When it comes to online things, I think most kids are detached from their parents,” said Michaela Edlin, 16, a junior at Branham High School in San Jose. “For lot of kids, sometimes online is the space they can do whatever and be themselves.”

The survey also found that 31 percent of students surveyed in the United States said they’ve gotten around school restrictions and accessed banned online content, and 45 percent said they could reach social media sites on school-owned devices.

About teenagers’ online cyber lives, “there’s not very much guidance” in schools, Edlin said.

She doesn’t remember ever having a lesson on online security at Branham — though it really isn’t a problem there — for now, she said. “It’s like unknown territory.”

CULTURE

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AUGUST 11 – AUGUST 17, 2017

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PHOTO COURTESY OF GETTY IMAGES

Active community assistance 5 helpful ways to lend a hand FROM FAMILY FEATURES

Social responsibility comes in all shapes and sizes, but ultimately it comes down to one common purpose: making the world a better place. From volunteering at local shelters and community centers to feeding those in need at your local food bank, there are countless ways to give back within your community.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 25 percent of people in the U.S. volunteered in 2015. However, studies on health and volunteering show that people who volunteer report feeling emotionally, mentally and physically better.

Multiple studies show that volunteering has been linked to lower stress levels, lower levels of depression and longevity.

If that’s not incentive enough, lending support to organizations in your community can often bring immediate and tangible results that give you a connection and sense of community. There are some programs that even enable people to make a difference by matching them with volunteer or funding opportunities. One example is the America’s Farmers Grow Communities program, sponsored by the Monsanto Fund.

“It’s exciting to see communities strengthened by their residents,” said Angela Allen, program manager for the America’s Farmers Grow Communities program, which focuses on supporting local nonprofits in rural communities with the help of local farmers. “The good news is there are several simple and easy ways people can get involved in their communities and make a difference.”

Here are five ways that you can lend a hand: Volunteering. Nonprofit organizations rely on the support

of loyal donors and volunteers to deliver on their missions to improve the communities they serve. Time and talent are among the most valuable gifts you can give a deserving cause.

One of the greatest benefits of volunteering is the chance to put your energy and abilities to use for a cause you care about, whether it’s feeding the hungry, rescuing animals or some other cause that is close to your heart.

Volunteering provides a feelgood way to pursue your personal interests.

Giving blood. According to the American Red Cross, every 2 seconds someone in the U.S. needs blood. There is an ongoing need to replenish a communities’ blood supplies, whether for medical uses or in the aftermath of a tragedy. Giving blood is fast, relatively painless and can save lives.

Donating. Money doesn’t make the world go ’round, or so the saying goes. However, it can make a difference when it comes to bettering the community. Nonprofit and community organizations rely on monetary contributions not only to fulfill their existing program needs, but also to expand those services to impact more people.

Rather than a single, one-time gift, consider setting up an ongoing donation so your impact continues over time. For small or rural nonprofits in particular, a little bit goes a long way.

Another touching way to donate funds: give in honor of a loved one, either as a gift for a special occasion or in memoriam. Rather than giving your parents a gift for Mother’s Day or Father’s Day, think about a small donation to their favorite charity.

Applying for funding opportunities. Another way to help your community thrive is by exploring avenues to create

new funding opportunities for nonprofits. For example, the America’s Farmers Grow Communities program provides farmers an opportunity to help a nonprofit of their choice. Eligible farmers can enroll in the program until Nov. 1 at GrowCommunities.com for a chance to direct a $2,500 donation to a local eligible nonprofit organization. Since 2010, the program has given more than $26 million to nonprofits, including food banks, emergency response organizations, youth agriculture programs and more.

Paying it forward. Not every step you take in support of your community has to be a large one. In fact, the ripple effect of a series of smaller deeds can have a truly momentous impact. You can set the feel-good

wheels in motion in your own community by simply thinking about a time when someone generously gave their own resources to benefit you and paying forward that kindness with a matching endeavor. You might let a frenzied mom go ahead of you in line at the grocery store or pay for a meal for the elderly couple behind you at the drive-thru. Small gestures spread a feel-good spirit that can encourage others to do their part to make the community a better place, as well.

These are just a few ways that you can give back. Get out and meet with your friends and neighbors in your community to discover how you can best use your time and talents to help the greater good.

HOW MUCH SHOULD I GIVE? Many community organizations find that donors struggle with the question of how much they should contribute.

Donors want to give enough to make an impact, but may fear what they can afford is too small an amount to be meaningful. Small nonprofits will tell you that no donation is too small. If you’re uncertain, though, don’t hesitate to ask. Most organizations can offer guidance at every giving level so you can feel confident your gift will truly make a difference.

BE A STAR VOLUNTEER Volunteers are the driving force for many community causes.

Get your start as a volunteer with these tips:

1. Identify a cause or organization that strikes a personal chord. Investing personally helps ensure you genuinely enjoy the time and means you’re more likely to give your best effort.

2. Explore what you can give. It may be ba-

sic labor like sorting donated items, making calls or stuffing envelopes, but there could also be room to lend your own special skills or talents, such as bookkeeping or artistry.

3. Approach your volunteer role as you would a paying job. Meet with leaders be-

forehand to gain a clear understanding of mutual objectives, organize a work schedule and deliver on your commitments.

4. Invite friends or family to join you to make giving back to your community an experience you can share together.

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FINEST & ENTERTAINMENT

AUGUST 11 – AUGUST 17, 2017

Meet some of

FLORIDA’S

finest

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Think you’re one of Florida’s Finest?

E-mail your high-resolution (200 dpi) digital photo in casual wear or bathing suit taken in front of a plain background with few distractions, to news@flcourier. com with a short biography of yourself and your contact information. (No nude/ glamour/ fashion photography, please!) In order to be considered, you must be at least 18 years of age. Acceptance of the photographs submitted is in the sole and absolute discretion of Florida Courier editors. We reserve the right to retain your photograph even if it is not published. If you are selected, you will be contacted by e-mail and further instructions will be given.

Thousands of Caribbean culture lovers converge on South Florida every year on the Columbus Day weekend to attend the annual Miami Broward Carnival, a series of concerts, pageants, parades, and competitions.

On Carnival Day, “mas” (masquerade) bands of thousands of revelers dance and march behind 18-wheel tractor-trailer trucks with booming sound systems from morning until nightfall while competing for honors.

Here are some of the “Finest” we’ve seen over the years.

Go to www. miamibrowardcarnival. com for information on this year’s Carnival.

CHARLES W. CHERRY II / FLORIDA COURIER

Night of terror A security guard, Melvin Dismukes (John Boyega, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”), witnesses the event.

Sometimes he’s a part of the problem, and sometimes he helps the victims with supportive words: “Don’t antagonize the guys. I need you to survive the night.”

An Air Force veteran named Greene (Anthony Mackie, “The Hurt Locker”) is one of the hostages and Army Warrant Officer Roberts (Austin Hébert) is part of the posse. When the sun comes up and the bloodshed is over, the cops are arrested, a lame trial is held, and no one serves any jail time for the misconduct or homicides.

Disappointing reaction

FRANCOIS DUHAMEL/ANNAPURNA PICTURES

John Boyega plays a security guard who witnesses the mayhem in “Detroit.’’ The film is now in theaters.

No Black hope in ‘Detroit’

BY DWIGHT BROWN NNPA NEWSWIRE FILM CRITIC

“Detroit” tells a story of racial injustice and police brutality, based on fact, which is easy enough to believe and has parallels with today’s problems with police criminality and impunity.

But since this important subject is not new, what is the point of the film?

What are we learning that is unique? What actionable knowledge are we getting from a tragic, racist event that happened 50 years ago? Unfortunately, “Detroit” fails to deliver on any of these points.

1967 Detroit. The raid of a Black after-hours club, the arrest of its patrons by police and general frustration with discrimination sets off days of riots and looting.

One night, Larry Reed (Algee Smith, “The New Edition Sto-

MOVIE REVIEWS ry”) lead singer of the teen soul group The Dramatics is slated to do a debut performance in a Motown review at a theater that attracts Blacks and Whites. Cops close the venue down, due to the imminent danger on the streets outside.

Algiers under siege Larry and his buddy Fred Simple (Jacob Latimore, “The Maze Runner”) seek refuge at an $11-anight motel called the Algiers.

There they meet two White girls (Hannah Murray, Kaitlyn Dever) and wind up talking to them in Larry’s room.

Shots ring out from an Algiers’ motel window, which is near a National Guard prep area.

The Detroit Police Department, Michigan State Police and Michigan Army National Guard

swarm the hotel, which is now under siege. They are led by local White patrolman Phillip Krauss (Will Poulter, “The Revenant”), who has just been reamed out by his commanding officer for shooting an unarmed looter in the back.

‘Death game’ Krauss instigates an intimidation process, lines up some of the Black male hotel guests and the two White females against a wall in a hall and harass them. Verbal and physical abuse ensues.

Krauss institutes a “death game”: The cops take a victim into a room, close the door, fire a shot and pretend to kill him. This ruse is designed to instill fear into the others and scare them into ratting on the guy who fired the shot from the window.

Before the night is out, the police murder three Black males.

In this thinly conceived film, written by Mark Boal (“The Hurt Locker,” “Zero Dark Thirty”), Blacks are not bright enough to fight the law or status quo (minus fleeting appearances by Congressman John Conyers, played

by Laz Alonso), and Whites are generally one-dimensionally evil or complacent.

Any viewer looking for more than a retread of anguishing racial injustice will be sorely disappointed. There is nothing of value here except an epoch of history and a little-known tragedy that corroborates that Black people have been the victims of violence and police brutality for decades, and specifically in the explosive 1960s.

Highs, lows Director Kathryn Bigelow is an expert with action scenes and quick edits. That was her strong suit with “The Hurt Locker” and “Zero Dark Thirty.”

She choreographs crowd scenes and deployments quite well. She builds tension, dread and suspense. With this film, her glaring flaw is the interrogation scenes, which seem brutally sadistic, way too long and almost ghoulish, versus authentic.

Technical focus The ensemble acting is universally tepid; that might be because so much attention was paid to the technical aspects and not the creating or recreating of characters that are three-dimensional.

When the dust settles, the only performance that resonates is

that of Will Poulter as the despicable killer Krauss. He is a nightmare. If that is the persona that overrides everything, the writer and director have not served this event, cast or the viewer well.

In comparison What moviegoers reaffirmed from Lee Daniel’s historical African-American drama “The Butler” is that the Black community has survived and thrived against great odds.

From Stanley Nelson’s documentary “The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution” audiences found people who stood up against the machinations of local police and the vicious FBI. From Ava Du Vernay’s “Selma,” which chronicled Martin Luther King’s crusade for equal voting rights and the historic march from Selma to Montgomery, viewers discovered that King’s message and life achievements trumped the most distressing parts of his short life.

In Steve McQueen’s “12 Years a Slave,” he picked a project that showed a free man who endured after being kidnapped into slavery.

No ray of light After sitting through Detroit’s two hours and 23 minutes of incessant tragedy, it is hard to come up with any salvation. It’s a well-intentioned, fact-based story based on police records, news reports and the recollections of some of the participants.

What the writers could not verify they embellished. (For example, the Krauss character is a composite and not based on a specific person, though Reed and Dismukes are.)

If the filmmakers could create new characters and storylines, because the records were skimpy, they could have created one about a lone soul who became a community activist based on his/her experience from this tragedy. They could have given their audience one ray of light.

One great, Black hope. But there is none.

The overwhelming feeling you’ll likely have after sitting through this urban hell is despair, anger and hopelessness.

The makers of “12 Years a Slave” and the other aforementioned films had far more vision than the creators of “Detroit.” And, an ordeal without purpose is just an ordeal.

FOOD

B6

AUGUST 11 – AUGUST 17, 2017

S

SPICED UP school days

FROM FAMILY FEATURES

Busy school days demand meals that can match the pace of life. A Mexican-themed meal is a sure way to keep things festive and lively around the family dinner table.

Not only does a meal centered on Mexican-style foods let you spice up your menu, it also allows for plenty of personalization so even the pickiest of palates can be satisfied. That means less time for preparation and more time spent together.

Put a fresh twist on your next school-night fiesta with these ideas: • An ethnically-inspired meal is a great opportunity to encourage kids to try out new flavors and experiment with foods they wouldn’t normally eat.

Sample variations of classic salsas, incorporate seasonal ingrediBAJA CHICKEN PIZZA Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 15 minutes Servings: 5 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, about 1 pound 1 bottle (8 ounces) Ortega Green Taco Sauce 1 can Ortega Vegetarian Refried Beans 3/4 cup Ortega Homestyle Salsa (any variety) 1 Mama Mary’s prepared pizza crust 1 red bell pepper, diced 1 can (4 ounces) Ortega Diced Green Chiles 1 bag (8 ounces) Mexicanstyle shredded cheese 1 bottle (8 ounces) Ortega Original Taco Sauce (any variety)

ents like jicama and diced sweet peppers to freshen up your dishes or put a spicy spin on a classic Italian favorite by creating Mexican-inspired stuffed shells. • Get creative with proteins.

Chicken and beef are common options, but heart-healthy fish and shrimp are also great candidates for a Mexican-style meal.

Pork is another good choice for many Mexican dishes, and beans provide an excellent source of added protein, along with some flavor variety. • Mex-up your taco night. Try an alternative to the traditional corn shell with an option like Ortega Good Grains Taco Shells, crafted with artisanal blends of real corn, unique grains and ingredients baked into each shell.

They’re made with whole kernel corn, giving them an authentic taste and a distinctive flavor, aroma and texture.

• Keep things kid-friendly and fun by focusing on finger foods.

A large taco can be difficult for little hands to handle, but a street taco portion, a chimichanga or even nachos are more hands-on. • Look for fun toppings that add an extra crunch. For example, new Ortega Crispy Taco Toppers, lightly breaded slices of real jalapeno or onion, provide a bold kick and are the perfect finishing touch for tacos, salads and even Mexican-style burgers. • Don’t forget dessert. No meal is complete without a sweet treat, such as a churro, flan, empanada or sopapilla. Many of these favorites can be prepared ahead of time so you can simply cook and serve for a perfect ending to your family fiesta.

Find more mealtime inspiration like these recipes at ortega.com.

SLOW COOKED “PULLED�

CHICKEN TACOS Prep time: 5 minutes Cook time: 2 hours Servings: 5 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs 1 bottle (8 ounces) Ortega Chipotle Taco Sauce 1/2 cup chicken stock 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper 1 package (10 shells) Ortega Good Grains White Corn with Chia Taco Shells, warmed taco toppings In medium pan, combine chicken, taco sauce, chicken stock, salt and pepper, and cook on low, covered, approximately 2 hours, or until internal temperature of chicken

1 bag Ortega Crispy Onion Taco Toppers In large bowl or re-sealable plastic bag, combine chicken breasts with green taco sauce. Stir or shake to coat. Marinate at least 30 minutes or up to 2 hours.

Heat oven to 350 F. Bake chicken 15-20 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 165 F. Let chicken cool 10 minutes then cut into small cubes.

In medium bowl, combine refried beans and salsa.

Transfer prepared pizza crust to baking sheet.

Spread bean mixture over dough, leaving 1/4 inch at edges for crust.

Top with peppers, green chiles, chicken and cheese. Bake 10-15 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted.

Top with taco sauce and crispy onion toppers then serve.

MEXICAN STYLE “TOTCHOS�

Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 25 minutes Servings: 5 1 package (32 ounces) tater tots 1 1/2 pounds ground beef 1 packet Ortega Taco Seasoning 1cup water 16 ounces shredded cheddar cheese 2 medium tomatoes, diced 1 container (16 ounces) sour cream 1 bag Ortega Crispy Jalapeno Taco Toppers

reaches 165 F. Remove chicken from pan and shred using two forks.

Turn heat to mediumhigh and reduce cooking liquid into thick sauce, cooking 3-5 minutes and stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat and combine sauce with shredded chicken.

Serve in taco shells with desired taco toppings.

Prepare tater tots according to package directions.

Heat medium skillet over medium heat. Cook ground beef 4-5 minutes until browned, using wooden spoon to break into small pieces. Add taco seasoning and water.

Cook until water evaporates and sauce is thickened.

Top hot tater tots with cooked ground beef and cheese, and broil in oven 5 minutes.

Top with tomatoes, sour cream and crispy jalapeno toppers, and serve immediately.

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