Florida Courier, October 20, 2017

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

EE FR

PRESORTED STANDARD MAIL U.S. POSTAGE PAID DAYTONA BEACH, FL PERMIT #189

One Carnival 2017: Plenty of concerts, pageants, parades See Page B1

CHARLES W. CHERRY, SR. AND CHAYLA C. CHERRY! WE LOVE YOU BOTH!

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OCTOBER 20 – OCTOBER 26, 2017

VOLUME 25 NO. 42

‘HE KNEW WHAT HE SIGNED UP FOR’

La David Johnson died on October 4 of wounds suffered in a surprise attack in the southwestern part of Niger, a country in North Africa.

Donald Trump goes off the verbal rails again, this time while attempting to console a grieving South Florida family.

COMPILED FROM WIRE REPORTS

WASHINGTON – President Trump kept silent on the deaths of four American soldiers for nearly two weeks, while finding time to tweet about “fake news” and Republicans’ fundraising, attack Puerto Ricans and a Republican senator, among others, and keep up his complaints against protesting professional football players.

When he finally spoke up on Monday about the deadli-

est combat incident of his presidency – and then only in answer to a reporter’s question – Trump started a furor that engulfed his chief of staff, predecessors from both parties, a Florida congresswoman and now one of the grieving families of the soldiers he was being asked to honor.

Public battle

By Wednesday, the president was battling publicly with a Democratic congresswoman

from Florida and the mother of the deceased soldier, Army Sgt. La David T. Johnson, over the alleged insensitivity of his condolence call the day before.

The president’s actions shifted the normally private and somber functions of a commander in chief consoling grieving military families into the very public political arena.

The spat with the Johnsons and their congresswoman, Rep.

US ARMY/ ZUMA PRESS/ TNS

See TRUMP, Page A2

MILLION MAN MARCH / 22 ANNIVERSARY nd

‘Long live the spirit of the Million Man March!’

NFL players, owners meet, hoping for ‘real changes’

BY SAM FARMER LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

NEW YORK – In an effort to address the national anthem controversy and chart a path for the NFL moving forward, 13 players from eight teams huddled with commissioner Roger Goodell, union representatives including executive director DeMaurice Smith, and 11 team owners to discuss and debate options.

There were no firm decisions or commitments that came out of the discussion, only that this is the first in multiple meetings with the players in search of solutions.

“The players and the owners came to an agreement that these aren’t really player issues or owner issues, but issues that affect all of us in our communities,” Goodell said.

“Our commitment from day one is to try to address these issues.”

More talks

FLORIDA COURIER FILES

Monday marked the 17th anniversary of the Million Man March on Washington, D.C., one of the largest single public events in American history.

Goodell said he expects a date for the second meeting between the sides to be decided within the next two weeks.

“We just talked about how the owners could come alongside us and we could collectively, collaboratively work together to actually create some change and some real changes,” said Philadelphia safety Malcolm Jenkins, who acted as spokesman for the players. “So those conversations will continue.

See NFL, Page A2

SNAPSHOTS HEALTH | B3

4 in 10 adults now obese

FLORIDA | A3

50,000 line up in Miami for food aid TECHNOLOGY | B4

Black lawmakers press Facebook on Russia, diversity

ALSO INSIDE

Confederate leaders’ street names to be dumped

BY SUSANNAH BRYAN SUN SENTINEL / TNS

HOLLYWOOD, FLA. – Lee, Hood and Forrest streets – three Hollywood streets named for Confederate war leaders – may soon be christened Liberty, Hope and Freedom.

After years of debate, Hollywood plans to say farewell to the controversial street names honoring Robert E. Lee, John Bell Hood and Nathan Bedford Forrest – who was also the first grand wizard of the KKK.

A long fight “It’s been a long road. It’s taken 15 years,” said Benjamin Israel, the Hollywood resident who led the charge to change the names. “I’m elated with

what has taken place today.”

During a workshop Wednesday, commissioners tackled the issue of what to call the streets now. Mayor Josh Levy suggested Liberty, Hope and Freedom — a suggestion that resonated with commissioners. Commissioners will likely take a formal vote on the proposal in November.

The long-running controversy over the original street names sparked at least three protests – two backing the name change and one against – six arrests, one lawsuit and plenty of headlines.

Other options Not everyone was happy with the proposed names. Two See STREETS, Page A2

COMMENTARY: CLARENCE V. MCKEE: POLITICIZED LATE-NIGHT COMICS, NFL FACE SAME FATE | A4 COMMENTARY: HARRY C. ALFORD: VIETNAM WAR, THE WORST YEARS OF OUR LIVES | A5

Benjamin Israel, a longtime Hollywood (Fla.) resident, has pushed to change the name of Forrest Street, named for a Civil War general who helped found the Ku Klux Klan.

TAIMY ALVAREZ/ SUN SENTINEL/TNS

FOCUS

A2

OCTOBER 20 – OCTOBER 26, 2017

What are you afraid of on Halloween?

It’s mid-October. Before you know it, devils in the United States and in countries around the world will be celebrating their most cherished holiday: Halloween!

Halloween is the time when the wicked and deceitful dress up like witches and warlords and ghosts and goblins and fill their big bellies with pumpkin pie fillings and spicy orange lattes from Dunkin Donuts!

People get scared on Halloween. They watch scary movies.

They listen to scary music. They sneak up behind each other and say, “Boo!”

Always afraid But many African-Americans

lose their positions or possibly, they would lose their meager jobs!

Well, the Satan-worshipping Halloween lovers have their own fears.

The devil fears a Black planet!

Fear of ‘color’ LUCIUS GANTT THE GANTT REPORT

don’t get scared on Halloween, because they live in fear 24-7365!

Blacks are scared to stand up, scared to speak up, scared to protest, scared to mobilize, scared to organize and really, really scared to fight for what is right for themselves and for their communities!

Why are they so afraid?

They fear if they do what any other race would do they would lose their titles, they would lose their appointments, they would

They are afraid of what will happen if too many pale men and women continue to date and marry people of color. If Blacks and non-Blacks go half and half on baby after baby, those children will be Black!

So people that rightfully or wrongfully feel that the White race is a pure and superior race must do all they can to preach separatism, teach separatism and put their women on such a high pedestal that non-Whites could ever reach them or at least reach out and touch them, so to speak.

Since rich and wealthy people of color like athletes, entertainers and some business people interact and socialize more, it seems, with non-Blacks than with their

own kind, intermingling may just be by coincidence rather than design. Whatever the reason, anybody with eyes can see that there is far more interracial dating and marriages today than there were 20 or 30 years ago.

No one is suggesting that love at first sight doesn’t exist. It is obvious, I would think, that no one really knows in advance whom they will fall in love with. I’m just saying that color confrontation is alive and well.

Quit being scared If you and your community want to do better, improve and progress, quit being a scary cat!

In the devil’s eyes, the Black revolutionary, the Uncle Tom and the Aunt Jemima are all “niggers!” They are all “thugs,” they are all threats. It doesn’t matter if they’re male or female, how rich or poor they are, how light or dark they are, how old or young they are, or how docile or how rebellious they are. They will all get

arranged for them to come to the meeting. The decision was not up to the league.

The group met for almost four hours in advance of the regularly scheduled fall meetings of owners, which took place at a Manhattan hotel a few miles away.

There were reminders of the controversy there too, as about two dozen supporters of Black Lives Matter (BLM) New York held a rally in front of the hotel to voice support for players speaking out.

Jones confronted

DUANE C. FERNANDEZ SR./ HARDNOTTSPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

Members of the Los Angeles Rams kneel on Oct. 15 before a game in Jacksonville against the Jacksonville Jaquars.

NFL from A1 The dialogue will continue.

“As players, we’ll continue to do the work in our communities.

We feel like the most American thing to do is to use your platform and influence. And with the stage that we have as NFL players and as a league in general, we feel a real responsibility to our country, to our communities. So we’re working through ways to really have long-lasting, real changes.”

TRUMP from A1 Frederica Wilson of Florida, followed Trump’s statements on Monday and Tuesday suggesting his predecessors hadn’t often made similar calls and questioning whether Obama had called retired Marine Gen. John F. Kelly, Trump’s chief of staff, when he lost a son in Afghanistan in 2010.

‘Totally fabricated’ On Wednesday, Trump accused Wilson of lying about his response to Johnson’s widow – that “he knew what he signed up for but when it happens it hurts anyway,” – and said he had proof of the conversation.

Wilson, who represents Miami Gardens, “totally fabricated what I said to the wife of a soldier who died in action,” he wrote. “Sad!” Wilson told the Miami Herald on Tuesday that she heard a call on speakerphone from Trump to Johnson’s widow, Myeshia Johnson, who is pregnant and mother to Johnson’s two children. She took Trump’s call at 4:45 p.m., just before Johnson’s body arrived at Miami International Airport.

Wilson told CNN that other people in the car, including the driver, her press person, the master sergeant and the widow’s aunt and uncle had also heard the conversation.

Trump should be acting presidential “instead of calling me a liar and calling everyone else in the car a liar,” she said. “He doesn’t even know how to sympathize with people.”

‘Fighting the wrong one’ “I wasn’t in the car by myself. I’ll fight Mr. Trump toe-to-toe. He’s fighting the wrong one now. He doesn’t need to start up anything

No Kaepernick invite Jenkins said that Colin Kaepernick, the former San Francisco quarterback who started the trend of protesting social injustices by not standing for the national anthem, was invited to attend the meeting but opted not to.

He has filed a grievance against NFL owners for collusion.

Asked why Kaepernick was not at the meeting, Jenkins said: “I don’t know. I can’t answer that question.”

Attorney Mark Geragos, who represents Kaepernick in the collusion case, issued a statement that the league did not extend the

with me. He said what he said and he needs to call her and say he’s sorry and go on and run the country before he takes us to war. He spends too Rep. Frederica much time Wilson on stuff that doesn’t have to do with running this country,” Wilson said.

Trump told reporters that he “had a very nice conversation with the woman, with the wife, who sounded like a lovely woman.” Wilson, however, said there was no conversation.

‘Your guy’ “He did all the talking. She didn’t say nothing except when he got ready to hang up she said he was calling him, ‘Your guy.’ He didn’t even know his name. That’s what he said. ‘Your guy. Your guy.’

“I’m livid. He (Johnson) can’t even have an open-coffin funeral because his body is so messed up,” Wilson said.

Johnson, who had Myeshia’s name tattooed across his chest under his U.S. Army uniform, was saluted with a ceremonial homecoming at Miami International Airport.

His family, dignitaries and law enforcement officers all saluted Johnson as his casket, draped in the American flag, was wheeled out of a Delta Airlines plane en route to a Hollywood funeral home.

‘Cringe moment’ Former staffers to Obama, George W. Bush and Clinton were furious, and publicly attested to their former bosses’ contacts with grieving families. Trump’s staffers

player an invitation to attend.

“Colin Kaepernick was not invited to attend today’s meeting by any official from the NFL or any team executives,” Geragos wrote.

“Other players wanted him present and have asked that he attend the next meeting with the goal of forging a lasting and faithful consensus around these issues. Mr. Kaepernick is open to future participation on these important decisions.”

BLM held protest According to the NFL, the players’ leadership council and the NFLPA selected the players and

were caught off-guard. The former administration official called it a “cringe moment.”

Presidential historian Douglas Brinkley said the level of presidential attention to families of fallen soldiers depended in part on the scale of casualties and the technology of their eras.

It was impossible for presidents during major wars to personally console tens of thousands of families, he said, while modern presidents such as Clinton, Bush, Obama and Trump – none of whom served in combat – carry a greater burden to weigh in both publicly and with private condolences.

President Jimmy Carter, he said, tried to reach out to even the distant relatives of Iran hostages, and Dwight D. Eisenhower, while serving as supreme commander of allied forces in World War II, would put on classical music on Sundays while he wrote letters to relatives of the dead.

Until Trump, these contacts were usually done discreetly.

Trump “cheapened the process by staying silent and then being mealy-mouthed about it,” Brinkley said.

Trump defended Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders blamed the White House’s military protocol office for the delay in contacting the four families, the media for sensationalizing the issue and the congresswoman for politicizing it. But others in Trump’s circle and outside observers turned some blame toward Trump and his advisers.

“This is a failure of the president’s staff,” said Sam Nunberg, a former political adviser. “The president would make these calls if it got to his desk. Ironically, his new chief of staff, John Kelly, who makes a point that he controls all information flow to the president, has failed the president here.”

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, accompanied by bodyguards, was confronted in the lobby by two people shouting to him about the issue of White supremacy. Jones briefly listened but didn’t say anything, and the protestors were peacefully led away.

Jones, who recently said he would bench players who didn’t stand for the anthem, was not part of the meeting with players at league headquarters.

At the owners meeting later in the day, he told reporters he would comment on the situation later, but not at this time.

‘Productive meeting’ In a joint statement, the NFL and NFL Players Association said they had “a productive meeting” and are focused on “how we can work together to promote social change and address inequality in our communities.”

They reiterated that the protests are not intended to be a sign of disrespect to the flag or military, a perception that already has cost the league an untold number of fans and, by various indications, has sponsors nervous and

shot and killed when someone stands their ground or claims their lives were in danger!

Don’t be scared on Halloween.

Don’t be afraid on any holiday, or any day for that matter.

Our ancestors that lost their lives in the Middle Passage, during slavery days, during the Jim Crow era, in the civil rights movement and even in the Black Lives Matter movement overcame whatever fears they had to make life better for us.

Don’t be so afraid. The only thing that can stop you from a better life is fear itself!

If you die fighting for yourself, for your family or for your community, it is a worthy death!

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.

uncomfortable.

Said 49ers owner Jed York: “There’s not a silver-bullet answer to this question. There’s, how do we continue to work on things and start knocking off every little piece that we can so we can start progressing towards a better, more racially equal society in this country?”

The players who attended the morning meeting were union president Eric Winston; Darius Butler of Indianapolis; Kenny Stills, Julius Thomas and Michael Thomas of Miami; Chris Long and Jenkins of Philadelphia; Kelvin Beachum and Demario Davis of the New York Jets; Mark Herzlich of the New York Giants; Eric Reid of San Francisco; Josh Norman of Washington; Russell Okung of Los Angeles, and the retired Anquan Boldin.

Trump stirred issue The issue of players not standing for the anthem had largely subsided earlier this season, as fewer than 10 players protested in Week 2. But that was before President Donald Trump raised the topic at a political rally in Huntsville, Alabama, when he challenged NFL owners to fire any player who took a knee during the anthem.

Trump said the owners should say: “Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He’s fired.

He’s fired!”

He has doubled down on that many times in subsequent tweets.

“We need to be above petty attacks from anybody,” York said.

“Because racial and socioeconomic inequality has existed in this country for too long. We need to get the focus on that, and we need to make sure that we make progress there.”

A former administration official who demanded anonymity criticized Wilson, but also suggested this was another of Trump’s frequent self-inflicted wounds.

“There are just some obvious do’s and don’ts,” the official said.

For Kelly to be drawn into the controversy was particularly poignant, given his own loss of a son and his well-known reluctance to talk about it.

Sanders would not say whether Trump had spoken with Kelly before invoking Marine 2nd Lt. Robert Kelly’s death to imply criticism of Obama, but she did say that Kelly was “disgusted by the way this has been politicized.”

fired machine guns and rocketpropelled grenades from trucks and motorcycles.

The Pentagon initially did not release information on the ambush or the fact there was a fourth soldier missing. The surviving soldiers noticed his absence after they had pulled back from Niger’s border region near Mali, which is notorious for drug smuggling, human trafficking and myriad extremist militias, including allies of al-Qaida and Islamic State.

Johnson’s body was found two days later by locals after an all-out search had been launched.

Four killed

Since Trump took office, 19 service members have been killed in action across six countries: Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, Somalia and Niger.

In all, U.S. special operations teams are deployed in 124 countries to train, advise and assist friendly forces, although most are focused in Africa and the Middle East. Trump has embraced special operations and given military commanders greater authority to launch attacks in Yemen and Somalia.

The four soldiers were killed while on patrol with about 20 Nigerien troops. The deaths of three – Staff Sgt. Bryan C. Black, 35; Staff Sgt. Jeremiah W. Johnson, 39; and Staff Sgt. Dustin M. Wright, 29 – were announced soon after the attack.

The patrol ambushed in Niger intended to meet with local leaders to discuss security when they were attacked by about 50 militants, believed to be affiliated with Islamic State forces, who

STREET from A1 groups – Black Lives Matter Alliance Broward and Take Down Slavery Symbols of Hollywood – say they’d prefer the streets be named for Eula Johnson, who worked to desegregate beaches in Broward County, and abolitionists Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth.

All around the world

Residents who live or own businesses on Lee, Hood and Forrest will need to notify bill collectors and others once the name of their street changes.

The Florida Department of Motor Vehicles has agreed to waive the fee for residents on all three streets when they change the address on their driver’s licenses, Levy said.

And the U.S. Postal Service will continue delivering mail to both the old and new address for 13 months, he added.

OCTOBER 20 – OCTOBER 26, 2017

FLORIDA

50,000 line up in Miami for post-hurricane food aid

BY GLENN GARVIN MIAMI HERALD/TNS

MIAMI – Tens of thousands of South Floridians stood for hours in the swel-

tering, soggy heat on Sunday, Oct. 15 at Tropical Park, waiting to apply for special food stamps available only to victims Hurricane Irma, stunning state

officials who were expecting far fewer people.

“We’ve been dealing with about 10,000 people a day,” said Ofelia Martinez, the Miami site manager for the

state Department of Children and Families. “But when we opened the doors this morning, the police told us there were already 50,000 people waiting outside.”

Whether they would all get their chance to apply for the food stamps was uncertain as the relentless heat burned on Sunday afternoon.

A3 Not for current recipients The Food for Florida Disaster Food Assistance Program, as the program is known, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and operated by DCF, is designed for people in 48 counties across the state who aren’t ordinarily eligible for food stamps but suffered losses during Hurricane Irma last month.

It opened in MiamiDade and Broward counties on Oct. 11 and drew steadily bigger crowds through its Sunday finale.

The crowds were so large and rowdy on Saturday that five of the distribution points closed early in the day — in some cases, before serving even a single client.

But the turnout at Tropical Park in Miami, though huge, was orderly.

$300 to $1,300 The food stamps are distributed on a sliding scale that factors in family size, income and amount of hurricane damage, so there’s a wide variance in how much a client might get.

But DCF officials said a typical single person could qualify for about $300, and a typical family of four could get $1,300.

For those in the state who missed it, dates, times, and locations will be announced at a later date.

For more information, visit www.dcf.state.fl.us/ programs/access/fff/.

Gas prices dropping after storm spike

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THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

Gasoline prices in Florida have fallen 7 cents during the past week and 25 cents over the past month, after hurricanes Harvey and Irma drove up costs at the pump.

The downward trend is expected to continue in the coming weeks, barring more tropical weather in the Gulf of Mexico. The auto club AAA said the average price per gallon of gas in Florida is $2.47 a gallon, down from $2.72 a month ago.

AAA spokesman W.D. Williams said production and distribution are returning to normal at refineries and ports, while demand is decreasing. Williams said price volatility has been felt across the country, beyond states directly impacted by the storms.

“Florida and the Southeastern states that accepted so many of the Florida people who were fleeing from their homes, they had the impact as well,” Williams said. “So, the supply and demand impacted more than just Florida.”

The current price is still more than 20 cents a gallon higher than a year ago.

Florida’s most expensive gas is in Miami and West Palm Beach, while the cheapest fuel can be found in the Tampa Bay and Orlando areas.

EDITORIAL

A4

OCTOBER 20 – OCTOBER 26, 2017

Politicized late-night comics, NFL face same fate Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, and other late-night comics who are turning late night television into a platform for left wing political partisanship and antiTrump messaging better enjoy their short-term ratings boosts for now. It won’t last!

The Wall Street Journal’s Daniel Henninger had a good name for them: “Democrats After Dark.”

Johnny Carson and Jay Leno didn’t rule late night television for over 50 years by playing political partisanship, spewing bitter and often hateful attacks on presidents, members of particular political parties, or by supporting failed presidential candidates.

Wouldn’t do it You can bet that neither Carson nor Leno would have – as did Jimmy Fallon – turn the “Tonight Show” over to female staffers and singer Miley Cyrus to fawn over and grovel before Hillary Clinton – expressing regret over her loss and ridiculing the person who defeated her!

Late-night television, like NFL games, used to be a time where Americans could escape from everyday problems and politics.

Not anymore!

We have seen how NFL ratings and audience have fallen off after athletes began refusing to honor the American flag and stand for the national anthem. A Winston Group poll found that the NFL has been replaced by Major League Baseball as America’s favorite sport.

Even more shocking to NFL

CLARENCE V. MCKEE, ESQ. GUEST COMMENTARY

owners is that just 42 percent of males aged 34-54 had a favorable view of the NFL in September – a 31-point drop from the 73 percent the poll reported in August. Football now has the highest unfavorable rating of any major sport in the survey!

In the same vein, a Rasmussen poll at the end of September showed that 34 percent of people were less likely to watch NFL games because of athletes’ disrespect for the flag and national anthem.

More to come That’s probably why the owners of the Dallas Cowboys, Jerry Jones, and the Miami Dolphins, Stephen Ross, have rightfully told their players to stand for the national anthem. I predict more will follow!

If these NFL self-important male prima donnas can’t stand the heat in the NFL kitchen, then let them forgo the NFL mega million-dollar salaries and put their tattooed muscles to work on construction projects to rebuild America’s infrastructure!

Just as Americans do not want to be lectured on politics at NFL games by ungrateful millionaire athletes, they also don’t want to have politics shoved down their throats on late night television!

‘Russiagate’ brings Black Caucus to a new low The so-called Russiagate scandal is a fiction.

The hapless Democrats see it as a means of doing what they failed to do on election day in 2016: Defeat Donald Trump.

The fearmongering also makes the case for waging war by other means against Russia and supporting American imperialism.

But this worst of all fake news stories fell apart. The only way to continue the dubious cause was to ratchet it up with more lies.

Enter the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC).

Beaten down The members of the CBC were once known as “the conscience of the Congress.” But they have been beaten down by corporate interests which threaten them with political defeat should they step out of line.

Fear and cynical self-interest turned them into useless party hacks. They are only committed to keeping themselves in office and maintaining their position as arbiters of who does and doesn’t

MARGARET KIMBERLEY BLACK AGENDA REPORT

The CBC has moved from being merely ineffectual to being a great danger to the people they supposedly represent. get the crumbs dispensed to the Black Misleadership Class.

Now the CBC has moved from being pathetic users and losers to actively working against the interests of all Black people. The bizarre claims about Russian election interference are now more dangerous than ever. The Dem-

Few people could tell you the politics of Carson or Leno or where they stood on any particular issues based on their latenight comments. Not so now for Kimmel, Colbert, Fallon, Conan O’Brien, Seth Myers, or Trevor Noah.

Americans hear enough about Obamacare, gun control and other major issues during the day without it being shoved down their throats on late night television as they prepare for bed or just want to get away from the torrential downpour of often tragic news.

No ‘normal’ jokes As Jay Leno said about today’s late-night television: “…it should be called ‘What did Trump Do Now?’ That’s basically what everybody’s monologue is. You almost wish for a normal day, just to have a joke.”

Exactly right!

Okay, so they are getting ratings by trashing Trump and Republicans and taking the position of the left on gun control and healthcare. The question is, how long can they continue to appeal to the elite liberals of Hollywood and New York and forget about the vast majority of people in the states in between responsible for Trump’s upset victory?

Late night comics may have writers who give them so-called funny anti-Trump and GOP jokes and monologues, but they are also apparently tone-deaf to the values and views of most of ocratic Party is enacting censorship at a level never before seen in this country and the CBC is in full accord.

Censorship pressure It has been a long time since Black politicians accommodated the methods of state repression used against their people. Now the CBC pressures social media platforms Facebook and Twitter into embarking upon censorship of the left.

Facebook is reportedly looking to hire staff with national security clearances to ferret out spying that doesn’t exist. If the CBC were even a shadow of its former self its members would be front and center in protest. Instead they lead the charge for state surveillance of everyone in the country.

While the CBC should spend time fighting against the latest iteration of COINTELPRO – the Black Identity Extremist designation – they instead demand more jobs for their friends. That is what having Black board members at Twitter and Facebook will amount to. There will be more Black misleaders to lead us all down the path to political suicide.

The Black Identity Extremist canard should be front and center in any political discus-

Puerto Rico is Trump’s Katrina, Niger his Benghazi

the public pleas New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin made in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

From Vox.com

On Saturday Oct.7, the day the body of 25-year-old Army Sgt. La David Johnson was returned to Dover Air Force Base after he was [one of four] killed in an ISIS ambush in Niger, President Donald Trump was golfing. …

But since the ambush on Oct. 4 in Niger, he has not commented publicly on the deadliest combat incident involving US troops since he took office.

The silence of the Republicans must seem patently hypocritical to anyone who remembers their sound and fury over the four Americans who were killed in Benghazi. Their political out-

In an extraordinary public letter, San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz begged the American public to stand by Puerto Rico as President Donald Trump openly threatens to remove federal aid workers from the still-battered island.

‘I ask every American that has love, and not hate in their hearts, to stand with Puerto Rico and let this President know we WILL NOT BE LEFT TO DIE,’ Cruz wrote. ‘I ask the United Nations, UNICEF and the world to stand with the people of Puerto Rico

ANTHONY L. HALL, ESQ. FLORIDA COURIER COLUMNIST

and stop the genocide that will result from the lack of appropriate action of a President that just does not get it because he has been incapable of looking in our eyes and seeing the pride that burns fiercely in our hearts and souls.

This must seem eerily reminiscent to anyone who remembers

From CNN

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: WHITE SUPREMACIST SPEAKS AT UF

BILL DAY, CAGLE CARTOONS

America – their audience!

They can spout Democratic Party and leftist “anti-Trump” rhetoric all they want to gain a temporary rating boost over their competitors. But they had better take a look at how liberal progressivism has been doing around the country – not well!

The question for Kimmel, Fallon and the rest of the late-night crowd – including those of nonWhite complexion – is where were you on the over 500 mostly Blacks killed in Chicago this year and the 4,331 who were shot in that city just last year alone?

If you are so concerned about guns, why have you not attacked Chicago’s Democratic Mayor Rahm Emmanuel for tolerating gun violence against Blacks as you have Trump and Republicans on the issue of gun control?

They don’t care! But it could be argued that if Black and White politicians in Chicago, civil rights groups and the Congressional

Clarence V. McKee is a government, political and media relations consultant and president of McKee Communications, Inc., as well as a Newsmax.com contributor. This article originally appeared on Newsmax.com. Click on this commentary at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

sion about espionage and intelligence agencies. Instead it has been “disappeared” by people who have the power to bring it to public debate and protest.

on everyone with Internet access. Already the National Security Agency keeps records of all email, all cell phone calls, and all social media posts.

The answer is easy

Assisting the enemy It is Black protest after all, righteous protest against police murder, which created the Black Identity Extremist lie. But just as the CBC did nothing useful about fighting police murder, they now assist the same people who would deprive their constituents of their lives and their rights.

Black politics has reached a terrible low point. The trap of the duopoly becomes more and more obvious as the Democratic Party failed to ever fight against the real election hacking which stole Black votes in election after election. Having done nothing to help themselves or their most devoted members, they now blame a faraway country for American racism. The left is weak, Black politics has been officially killed off, and the CBC is aiding and abetting the attack on activists.

On November 1, 2017, Congress will hear testimony from representatives of Facebook, Twitter and Google. These ordinarily all-powerful corporations have capitulated and will no doubt grovel and pledge to spy

rage led to years of congressional investigations, costing millions of dollars, which ultimately signified nothing.

Where’s the outrage?!

For the record, I skewered President George W. Bush for his mishandling of relief efforts in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. “Condi: Bush Had a Race Problem” published in October 2011, and other commentaries attest to this.

I skewered President Barack H. Obama for his failure to properly address the debacle in Benghazi.

“Benghazi Cover Up? IRS Targeting His Enemies? Obama Looking More Like Nixon,” published in May 2013, and other commentaries attest to this.

Therefore, I have standing to

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Black Caucus don’t seem to care, why should late-night comedians?

If these comics don’t change or modify their partisan political pontificating, they will face the same result as the NFL and won’t have to worry about their late-night tenures lasting as long as Carson’s and Leno’s!

Viewers, like NFL fans, will grow tired of a steady menu of politics instead of entertainment. In fact, some of these socalled comedians may find that the Trump presidency will outlast their careers!

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Perfect crime Thanks to the eager Democratic Party, the security state will expand and decide who can post online and what they can say. The crime is a perfect one, and Black so-called leaders are marching in lockstep.

Congressional Black Caucus members are well aware that Black people suffer more than anyone else from the dangers of government surveillance.

The CBC has moved from being merely ineffectual to being a great danger to the people they supposedly represent. If Russian operatives were trying to harm America, they could not have come up with a better plot.

Margaret Kimberley’s column appears weekly in BlackAgendaReport.com. Contact her at Margaret.Kimberley@ Black AgendaReport.com .

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

skewer this fat pig, President Donald J. Trump, for his mishandling of relief efforts in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, and for his failure to properly address the debacle in Niger.

I trust this is just one of many ways my commentaries distinguish me from the my-party, country-be-damned hacks who spew talking points masquerading, in print and on TV, as informed and unbiased opinions.

Anthony L. Hall is a native of The Bahamas with an international law practice in Washington, D.C. Read his columns and daily weblog at www. theipinionsjournal.com. Click on this commentary at www. flcourier.com to write your own response.

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OCTOBER 20 – OCTOBER 26, 2017

Vietnam, the worst years of our lives – Part 1 My wife Kay and I binge-watched the PBS documentary special on the Vietnam War. It is factual, wellproduced and is necessary for all HARRY C. Americans to view and take to ALFORD heart. (Caution: If you remember GUEST COLUMNIST the Vietnam days like I do, it will be strong medicine to take.)

The program showed that our leadership (elected officials) is not ment, headed by local hero Ho Chi Minh, rebelled. They pushed perfect. In fact, leadership is as out the Japanese and now felt faulty as humanity can be. strong enough to take on France and anyone else who wanted ‘Misplaced power’ claim to them.

I recall the wisdom of General The following struggle was inand President Dwight D. Eisen- tense. It caught the interest of hower: “In the councils of govern- American politicians. One such ment, we must guard against the up-and-comer was Senator John acquisition of unwarranted influ- F. Kennedy. He visited Vietnam ence, whether sought or unsought, and interviewed the French press by the military-industrial com- covering the war. plex. The potential for the disasThey convinced him that trous rise of misplaced power ex- France was going to lose the war, ists and will persist. We must never that the rebelling Vietnamese let the weight of this combination leadership would eventually drive endanger our liberties or demo- out the colonialists and side with cratic processes.” the growing communistic philosObviously, his warning at the ophy coming out of China and the end of his presidency virtually fell Soviet Union. Vietnam was deson deaf ears. We ignored his wis- tined for communism. dom and waltzed into a colonial Despite the prudent advice givquagmire that was developing in en to him during his trips to IndoIndochina. china, the young JFK kept strong France had lost its colonial grip interest in finding a way to exert on the nations of Vietnam, Laos, political leadership into the VietCambodia, and Thailand during nam situation. the Imperial Japanese invasion of the land in the early stages of World Lost the war War II. As the war ended and The French would eventually these former colonies were start- lose to the Vietnamese leadership ing to stand for independence, the under Ho Chi Minh. As a condiFrench military returned and re- tion of surrender, they agreed to claimed their former colonies. divide Vietnam into two nations.

The North would be headed by Ho National movement Chi Minh and the communist orWithin Vietnam, a strong move- der; the South would be headed

by a more moderate (and corrupt) group.

That’s the how France got out of the situation. Ambitious American politicians who couldn’t wait to exert influence got into it.

During the 1960 election, it became an item of interest. “How do we stop the communist influence in Indo-China?” Presidential candidates Senator John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon danced around the topic. Unbeknownst to American voters, it was about to become the biggest issue of our lives for decades.

Capitol Hill seemed to have forgotten the warning given to them

by President Eisenhower.

The FBI targets Black ‘ideology’

tional security state has legalized the world’s most intrusive surveillance apparatus and detention without trial or charge, a system designed specifically to crush targeted ideologies – meaning, modes of thought and political identification.

It is in this context that the FBI’s umbrella designation “Black Identity Extremists” is so insidious and dangerous, in that it targets people based on their (stated, imagined or inferred) beliefs and ethnic loyalties, rather than specific criminal acts or even organizational affiliation. It is a catch-all for blanket repression of Black activism of any kind.

The FBI mindset has clearly been shaped by its frustration with so-called “lone wolf” Islamic jihadists – individual actors not directly affiliated with al Qaida or its offshoots. U.S. police and intelligence operatives speak constantly of the need to identify and neutralize Muslims in our midst that have been “radicalized” or “self-radicalized” and thus are fair game to be subjected to every tactic of entrapment and dirty tricks. The FBI views Black activists in the same light – as potentially dangerous, “self-radicalized” threats.

The FBI has apparently chosen a new heading under which to lump Black Americans targeted for political persecution: “Black Identity Extremists.”

There’s a simple explanation for the new categorization. The FBI is a bureaucracy whose dayto-day work involves drawing up lists of people and organizations to be surveilled, disrupted and prosecuted.

The dramatic increase in Black “movement” activity since the 2014 police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., has presented the FBI with a much larger field of targets, including youthful elements loosely grouped under the Black Lives Matter banner. When bureaucracies compile new lists, they typically file them under new names.

Movement exists In a sense, the change in nomenclature is an acknowledgement by the FBI that, after nearly two generations of Black political stagnation and capitulation, there is finally a Black “movement” with the potential to upset the status quo.

The leaked FBI counterterrorism division report, scooped

by Foreign Policy magazine, al-

GLEN FORD BLACK AGENDA REPORT

so signifies that Black grassroots political activity is under the purview of the national security state’s War on Terror and, therefore, subject to the awesome array of repressive measures authorized to law enforcement and intelligence agencies since 9/11.

The Counter-Intelligence Program known as COINTELPRO – the FBI’s program to “expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, or otherwise neutralize” those designated as enemies of the state – was itself exposed as an illegal police state mechanism in the mid1970s.

Strengthened by Bush, Obama Since 2001, the government’s COINTELPRO-like programs have been superseded by a far more repressive regime, inaugurated by President George W. Bush and strengthened under Barack Obama. The post-9/11 na-

What is a ‘Black Identity Extremist’?

While White men are beating Black men on the streets of Charlottesville, Va., while a lone White wolf is shooting people from the Mandalay Bay Hotel, while the word “terrorist” is hardly used to describe these men, the FBI, under the leadership of the racist Attorney General Jeff Beauregard Sessions, is thinking up a new way to oppress Black people.

Even though there is no evidence of a “movement,” the FBI has described a group of Black people as “Black identity extremists” who pose a domestic terrorist threat to police officers.

Hold up!

We have seen domestic terror threats, though there are those of limited intelligence who cannot fathom them.

The man who shot up an Orlando nightclub was a domestic terrorist. Dylan Roof, who worshipped with the parishioners at Mother Emanuel AME Church was a domestic terrorist so highly regarded by law enforcement that they bought him a meal be-

JULIANNE MALVEAUX TRICE EDNEY NEWS WIRE

fore taking him to jail. The man I will not mention in Las Vegas was a domestic terrorist. But the FBI is manufacturing evidence to focus on us African-Americans who embrace our Black identity.

Foreign Policy, the magazine and website that broke the story of this new classification of “woke” Black people, leaked the FBI document that links Black identity with extremism and threats to police officers. The document mentions Black Lives Matter, although the connection between Black Lives Matter and anti-police violence has not been established. For the FBI to identify “Black Identity Extremists” as domestic terrorists is to declare war on Black people.

Pressure for war Kennedy won the election.

That seemed to delay any direct involvement by our military, but CIA activity and other tactics of engagement started to increase. That “military-industrial complex” Eisenhower warned about was becoming a lobbying cesspool. The pressure to engage against the North component of Vietnam increased.

In November 1963, President Kennedy was assassinated and the “hawkish” environment stirring on both sides of the political table was reaching a frenzy. The 1964 presidential campaign involving Lyndon B. Johnson and Barry Goldwater was about one certain thing: Who was going to be the toughest concerning the Vietnam issue?

The civil rights movement, under the superb leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was becoming a more pressing issue.

Goldwater, in his bombast, op-

EDITORIAL

A5

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: THE VIETNAM WAR

DAVE GRANLUND, POLITICALCARTOONS.COM

posed the Civil Rights Act while Johnson indicated he would embrace it.

At the same time the militaryindustrial complex went on the “down low.” They were safe – it didn’t matter who was going to win. Both political camps were going to do something about the “communist threat.”

Personal impact begins Johnson played on the sadness about JFK’s murder and played the race sympathy card to the maximum. He won in a landslide. But he would have to appease “the complex.” This is where it all started to affect me in a personal sense – along with all the souls of my generation.

One Sunday morning, I walked into Bethel AME Church in my beloved hometown of Oxnard, Calif.

I went to the restroom and ran into my first cousin, Fred Brown Jr.

Fred was one of the first of my relatives who would play college athletics. He played guard for the Pepperdine College basketball team. He had been away for a few years and I asked him, “Where have you been?”

He looked stern and replied, “I just got back from Vietnam.”

“What’s a Vietnam?” I asked. He looked sternly at me in my eyes and said, “Stay away from there!

They got us killing people. We are blowing civilians away!”

Fred never seemed the same to me. It took a while, but I would find out why.

Harry C. Alford is the cofounder and president/CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce. Contact him via www.nationalbcc.org. Click on this commentary at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

tification for its ideology-based categorization of the Black menace. Micah Johnson, who shot 11 cops in Dallas, “appeared to have been influenced by BIE ideology” based on his “journal writings and statements to police,” said the Bureau.

“BIE ideology” is whatever the FBI thinks it is. In the tortured logic of White supremacist law and order, Black identification with other Blacks is inherently subversive and a prima facie justification for surveillance. The Bureau’s BIE list could eventually accommodate every conceivable political tendency of Black thought – including the “ideologies” resident in the venerable old NAACP, which issued a statement on the leaked FBI document.

“In a time when White supremacists are marching down city streets with loaded weapons and tiki torches – organizing rallies of terror around the country – it comes as a great shock that the FBI would decide to target Black identity groups protesting police brutality and their right to exist free of harm, as a threat,” said NAACP president and CEO Derrick Johnson.

Johnson then attempts to lay the blame for this state of affairs on President Trump, who has “emboldened... right-wing exAttacks cited The counterterrorism division tremists, White nationalists and report cites six armed attacks on White supremacists.”

U.S. cops in the post-Ferguson period, including Dallas, Baton Tracked under Obama Rouge and New York City, as jusBut the FBI has been surveilling

Black Lives Matter activists ever since the explosion of resistance in Ferguson. As early as December 2014, the FBI was discovered to have tracked Black Lives Matter activists at the huge Mall of the Americas in Bloomington, Minn., in conjunction with state and local officers of the Joint Terrorism Task Force.

In July 2015, The Intercept reported that “Feds Regularly Monitored Black Lives Matter Since Ferguson,” exposing extensive surveillance of the rejuvenated Black movement by the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force.

The FBI has been spying on Black activists since its founding in the early 20th century.

COINTELPRO was created during the Eisenhower administration, and never died. Under President Obama, Black activists became targets of the War on Terror, and now the FBI has conjured up a rationale to criminalize African American political thought as “Black Identities Ideology.”

The Bureau will ultimately decide what this ideology actually is, and whose head it is lurking in.

What’s its meaning?

rested them! Instead, the FBI has figured out another way to demonize Black people.

Meanwhile, 173 Black people were killed by police officers so far this year. Six instances of BIE folks allegedly killing police officers is a pattern, but 173 Black folks being shot by police officers is what? Business as usual?

tacking police officers.

No journalists or academics have discovered and chronicled such a movement or its leaders.

No such leaders have come forward to say they are part of such a movement. No one has killed a cop in the name of such a movement. The only citations to the movement, the Foreign Policy piece tells us, come from “internal law enforcement writings made over the past two months.”

Journalist Sam Fulwood III, writing for the Center for American Progress blog Think Progress, describes the FBI report as an “ominous siren call coinciding with President Donald Trump’s penchant for stoking racial divisions in the country.”

After all, what does it mean to be a “Black Identity Extremist”?

Does it mean we love our Blackness and refuse to back down when we are attacked? Does it mean that we revel in our identity and use every available platform (thank you, Colin Kaepernick) to lift our voices up against injustice?

Why is this embrace of Blackness so frightening to melanindeficient people? They prefer us silent, docile, grateful, acquiescent. They demand no such acquiescence from their melaninimpaired friends who gleefully walk through civilized streets of places like Charlottesville and parry racist chants like “You will not replace us, Jews will not replace us!” That’s domestic ter- After Ferguson rorism, Beauregard! Call it like The FBI report says the Black it is instead of inventing a Black Identity Extremist movement bemovement that does not exist. gan after a Ferguson, Mo., police officer unnecessarily killed What Trump believes Michael Brown. Andrew Cohen Andrew Cohen wrote about the notes that the FBI report lists six FBI report for the Brennan Cen- cases where so-called BIE perpeter for Justice at New York Univer- trators killed police officers.

These cases are so isolated that sity and reports that “there is no BIE movement,” but in the fertile if these men were White, they mind of those within the Trump would have been classified – as administration that want you Dylan Roof was – as mentally ill or to believe there is some sinister troubled. They would have gone Black force out there bent on at- to McDonalds with those who ar-

Glen Ford is executive editor of BlackAgendaReport.com. Email him at Glen.Ford@BlackAgendaReport.com. Click on this commentary at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

Racist and creative This so-called BIE nonsense is diabolically racist and pathologically creative. It suggests that any Black person who has issues with so-called law enforcement is suspect.

I stand with my people who choose to protest ignorance, ugliness and nonsense. Those who embrace their Black identity are not terrorists. We are healthily self-confident. We are at risk, as we have always been, when injustice prevails.

Julianne Malveaux is a Washington, D.C.-based economist and writer. Her latest book, “Are We Better Off? Race, Obama and Public Policy,” is available at www.juliannemalveaux. com. Click on this commentary at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

NATION & WORLD

TOJ A6

OCTOBER 20 – OCTOBER 26, 2017

Police: Mom put sons in oven, turned it on

BY ELLEN ELDRIDGE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION/ TNS

ATLANTA – A 24-year-old mother of four is accused of killing her two youngest sons “by placing them in an oven and turning it on,” according to an arrest warrant obtained Monday

by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

An official autopsy was pending.

The arrest warrant alleges Lamora Williams put her sons in the oven sometime between midnight Oct. 12 and 11 p.m. Oct. 13.

Atlanta police had said earlier that the two boys had “received burn marks on their bodies at some point, possibly from the stove.”

1-year-old Ja’Karter Williams, were dead.

“I ain’t got no soul no more,” Penn said Saturday night during a vigil as he held his other son, 3-year-old Jameel, in his arms.

The 3-year-old was in the apartment unharmed when police arrived Friday. Williams’ eldest child, a 6-year-old girl, was safe with family and not home Friday night, police said.

Police removed the stove from the home for further investigation.

Father’s response Williams waived her first appearance in court Monday on felony murder charges, Fulton County jail officials said.

Williams called her sons’ father Friday night and showed him by video chat that something was wrong in her southwest Atlanta apartment home, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported.

Jameel Penn said he immediately called police after Williams panned around the room and he could see his sons on the floor.

“After I seen what I seen, you know I called the police,” he said.

Mental health cited

Lamora Johnson, 24, is charged with killing her two toddlers.

Vigil held When officials arrived at the Oakland City West End apartment on Howell Place, the boys, 2-year-old Ke’Younte Penn and

Friends and family members of Williams told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution she suffered from undiagnosed mental health problems that were exacerbated by her father’s death when she was 19 and by having four children under the age of 7.

They said she was also a single mother who had some help from Penn, but not enough considering her mental health.

Williams’ longtime friend, Neesa Smith, said Williams quit a job about a month ago because she couldn’t find a baby sitter for the kids.

“Nobody could tell what she was going through,” Smith said.

Reached out Smith said Williams called her first Friday night and said she “couldn’t do it anymore.”

When her longtime friend pressed for more details, Williams allegedly said the boys were dead. Smith told her to call the police, but she called Penn via video instead.

Police said Williams told them that she left the children with a caregiver at noon Friday and returned home late in the evening, finding the children dead and the caregiver gone.

But police said they did not believe Williams left her children with a caregiver.

Williams’ sister, Tabitha Hollingsworth, said Williams is at risk and should be put on suicide watch in the Fulton County jail, where she remains without bond. A jail spokesman could not confirm Williams’ status, citing medical information privacy laws.

At least 276 killed in Mogadishu truck bombing

The explosion site was near a Safari hotel in Mogadishu, capital of Somalia on Oct. 14.

logistical support, Qasim said in a statement.

TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

MOGADISHU, Somalia — The death toll in a weekend truck bombing in Mogadishu has risen to 276, the Somali government said Monday, with 300 others injured and dozens of people missing.

“These numbers are expected to rise as more victims continue to be rescued from the rubble,” said humanitarian affairs and disaster management minister Maryan Qasim, calling the attack a “national crisis.”

The Somali government launched an emergency operations management center on Monday to assist with victim identification, coordinate the medical response and provide

Deadliest attack At least 111 of the bodies already had been buried as they were burned beyond recognition, the government statement said.

A suicide attacker detonated a truck filled with explosives at a busy intersection in the capital Mogadishu on Oct. 14. It was the deadliest single attack in the volatile East African nation’s history.

The explosion occurred at a major intersection normally packed with cars, buses and taxis, where hotels, stores, restaurants and government buildings cater to locals.

FAISAL ISSE/ XINHUA/SIPA USA/TS

Rolled over vehicles The nearby Safari hotel is thought to have been a possible target in the attack for offering accommodation to Somalis returned from abroad, government

workers and journalists.

Before detonating the truck he was driving, the suicide bomber had raced along a Mogadishu street at high speed on Oct. 14, rolling over motorcycles and

cars and shunting some vehicles stuck in traffic.

Security forces opened fire on the truck but were unsuccessful in their attempt to shoot the driver.

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COURIER

The Weeknd among artists coming to Florida See page B2

SOUTH FLORIDA / TREASURE COAST AREA WWW.FLCOURIER.COM

OCT. 20 – OCT. 26, 2017 Morehouse to host HBCU tech summit See page B4

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SECTION

B

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Left: More than 10,000 revelers participated in this year’s parade.

LEAVING THE STORMS BEHIND

CHARLES W. CHERRY II / FLORIDA COURIER

Below: “DJ Nic,” Nicholas Shand, won the Junior Carnival Male Individual of the Year competition.

UK SOCA SCENE

Thousands of Caribbean culture lovers converged on South Florida over a two-week timeframe for the concerts, pageants, parades, and competitions that are features of the annual Miami Broward One Carnival.

BY THE FLORIDA COURIER STAFF

SOUTH FLORIDA – Though Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Jose, Maria and Nate may have affected many of the Miami Broward One Carnival participants traveling from the United Kingdom, Canada, and the Caribbean to South Florida, the festivities happening over the course of two weekends never stopped.

On Sept. 29, Carnival activities in Broward and Miami-Dade Counties, now in their 33rd year, started with a “Warm-Up Fete” featuring soca music and masqueraders on the plaza of the South MiamiDade Cultural Arts Center.

On Sept. 30, the action moved to Lauderhill, just west of Fort Lauderdale. Central Broward Regional Park was the scene of the Junior Carnival, featuring kids’ masquerade (“mas”) bands.

On Oct. 6, “Fantastic Friday,” Carnival went into overdrive featuring a “Skip Work Bacchanal” that started at noon, then a costume competition followed by Panorama, the annual steel drum orchestra competition.

(The steel drums are known as “pans,” and are tuned percussion instruments made from 55-gallon steel drums. The pan is the national instrument of Trinidad and Tobago, where it was developed.)

J’ouvert, a pre-Carnival outdoor party featuring music, mud, paint, powder and water, followed on Saturday, Oct. 7.

Moving south On Sunday, Oct. 8, the action moved south to the Miami-Dade County Fairgrounds, where there were arts and craft vendors, a corporate village with exhibitor booths, and an outdoor food court.

Twelve “mas” (masquerade) bands of more than 10,000 revelers danced and marched behind 18-wheel tractor-trailer trucks with booming sound systems from about 1:30 p.m. until nightfall before competing for honors.

The 2017 Miami Broward One Carnival ended with a concert at the Fairgrounds featuring some of the top soca artists in the music industry, including MX Prime and Ultimate Rejects, Karma, Ravi B & Neisha B, Shurwayne Winchester, Terri Lyons, Lead Pipe & Saddis, Edwin Yearwood, Yankey Boy, Marz Ville, Julien Believe, Scrappy, Asten Isaac, Rudy Live, Burning Flames, Tian Winters, Menace, Rupee, and TNT Prison Band. The DJ and MC lineup included Redman, DJ Spice, DJ Storm, DJ Spice Mature Vibe, Chosen Plus, and MC Wassy.

Actor Robert Christopher Riley, Gramps Morgan of the reggae band Morgan Heritage, Miss Jamaica World contestant Kimberley McDowell and reggae artist Pressure Busspipe were this year’s celebrity Grand Marshals.

The Miami Broward One Carnival organization committed to donate $5,000 to the

Miami Foundation’s US Caribbean Strong Relief Fund and will be encouraged all attendees to donate $1 towards the fund.

It’s estimated that Carnival revelers and attendees infuse well over $12 million of direct purchasing power into the South Florida economy.

Here are the results of various competitions in the order of finish, starting with first place:

Junior Carnival • Female Individual of the Year: Kyalah Buddington of Natural Disasters, Aamyiah Mohammed of Euphoria Minis, Victoria Shand of Generation-X Kids.

• Male Individual of the Year: Nicholas Shand of Generation-X Kids, Brendon Simmons of Heritage TNT, D’yonn Pauly of Heritage TNT. • Queen of Junior Carnival: Jazmeen De Gannes of Heritage TNT, Janae Thomas of Fun Generation Too, Tai Johnson of Wassi Babes.

• King of Junior Carnival: Jaden Chan Tack of Heritage TNT, Kaden Alfonso of Wassi Babes, Alexander Moore of Community Vibes.

• Band of the Year: Heritage TNT, Natural Disaster, Generation-X Kids.

Carnival • Female Individual of the Year: Janice Stone of Party Room Squad, Fayola Perry of Euphoria Production, Stacie Anderson of Ramajay International Mas. • Male Individual of the Year: Bob Kunst of Major Players, Jason Edwards of Generation X, Raphael Dalrymple of Mascots International.

• Queen of Carnival: Nicole Curry-Coffee of D-Junction Mas, Monica Cataluna-Shand of Mascots International, Erica Hosein of Party Room Squad.

• King of Carnival: Earl Beckles of Generation-X, Carlos Donato of Fun Generation.

• Big & Strong Inc./One Island Band, Revel Nation Carnival, Bajan Fuh Evah, DJunction Mas, Ramajay International Mas, Generation-X, Mascots International, Party Room Squad, Wassi Ones, Dingolay Mas, Natural Freaks/Freaks Mas, Euphoria Production.

Log on to www.flcourier.com. to see hundreds of pictures from this year’s parade.

CHARLES W. CHERRY II / FLORIDA COURIER

These chiefs braved the 90-degree heat at the Miami-Dade County Fairgrounds.

CHARLES W. CHERRY II / FLORIDA COURIER

Posing for a smartphone picture.

KIM GIBSON / FLORIDA COURIER

The masquerade competition is always a highlight of Carnival.

CALENDAR & BOOKS

B2

FLORIDA COMMUNITY CALENDAR Miramar: The Florida Jam Fest is Oct. 28 at the Miramar Regional Park Amphitheater with Maze featuring Frankie Beverly, Lenny Williams and Third World.

Jacksonville: Edward Waters’ football team takes on Warner University on Oct. 21 at 4:30 p.m.

Orlando: So You Think You Can Dance’s tour stops at Hard Rock Live Orlando on Oct. 28.

St. Petersburg: Bones Thugs-N-Harmony will perform Oct. 28 at Jannus Live.

Miami: Kool and the Gang performs Oct. 28 at the James L. Knight Center.

The show starts at 8 p.m.

Tampa: The Hillsborough County affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness will host its second Making Strides for Mental Health 3K Walk/Run on Nov. 4 at YMCA Camp Cristina in Riverview. Details: NAMIHillsborough.org.

Daytona Beach: Bethune-Cookman’s football team faces Hampton on Oct. 28 at 4 p.m.

Miami Gardens: Free one-one business consulting sessions are available through December for Miami Gardens residents. Call M.D. Stewart & Associates for an appointment at 305-890-4984.

OCTOBER 20 – OCTOBER 26, 2017

STOJ

Tampa: A Dashiki in The City celebration is Oct. 29 from 3 to 8 p.m. at the Tampa Heights Junior Civic Association 2005 N Lamar Ave. Free entry.

St. Petersburg: Actor and comedian Tracy Morgan will be on stage at the Mahaffey Theater on Nov. 5.

Tampa: Catalina Charitable Foundation will present a Trick or Trot 5K benefiting the 1Voice Foundation and the Lawrence A. Martucci Benefit Corp on Oct. 28 from 10 a.m. to noon at the University of South Florida MLK West Lawn. Details: lawrenceamartucci.com/ event/182/ Fort Lauderdale: Broward Citizens for Seniors will present its annual Seniors Prom on Nov. 18 at the Bahia Mar Hotel from 5 to 10 p.m. Tickets and sponsorship: Call 954-303-4900.

SANTANA

The legendary Latin band makes stops at Daily’s Place in Jacksonville on Oct. 24, Orlando’s Amway Center on Oct. 26, Tampa’s Amalie Arena on Oct. 27 and Hard Rock Live in Hollywood.

THE WEEKND

The Weeknd’s Starboy: Legend of the Fall Tour stops at Miami’s AmericanAirlinesArena on Oct. 24. Other performers: Gucci Mane and Nav.

Tampa: The Tampa Bay Black Heritage Festival and the Entrepreneur’s Collaborative Center will hold a free workshop for property investors and aspiring investors on Oct. 28 from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. 2101 East Palm Ave. (Ybor City). Register at www.TampaBlackHeritage.org/seminars or call 813-813-250-3131.

Tampa: The Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists’ annual Griot Drum Awards & Scholarship Banquet is Nov. 9 at the Florida Aquarium. Details: tbabj.com

ASHANTI

95.7’s Beats By the Bay starts at 2 p.m. Nov. 4 at Vinoy Park in St. Petersburg. Performers: Ashanti, Ja Rule, Brandy, T-Pain, Mase and Mario.

Food, wine, music galore at Epcot festival

BY FLORIDA COURIER STAFF

Boyz II Men will perform next month at the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival.

For Floridians seeking a little culinary adventure – and a little culture – close to home, this could be an ideal time to venture into Disney World.

The 22nd Epcot International Food & Wine Festival is still going on, with a taste of international cuisine available daily at the park’s World Showcase and Future World areas.

This year, the festival was expanded to 75 days. It started on Aug. 31 and ends Nov. 13. Park guests can get a taste of international food and drinks in the park’s World Showcase and Future World areas.

Culinary workshops and demonstrations are plentiful during the festival. There also are opportunities to meet celebrity chefs

and see them in action.

Celebrity chefs scheduled next month at the festival are: • Carla Hall, co-host of the “The Chew” on ABC and a “Top Chef’’ contestant, Nov. 3 • Kenny Gilbert, “Top Chef’’ Season 7 contestant and owner of Gilbert’s Underground Kitchen in Fernandina Beach and Gilbert’s Social in Jacksonville There also have been a diverse lineup of artists performing as part of the “Eat to the Beat Concert Series.’’ And some of the country’s top artists are still scheduled to take the stage.

R&B legend Billy Ocean will perform Oct. 25 and 26. Popular band Living Colour is scheduled Nov. 4-5. And annual festival favorite Boyz II Men performs Nov. 6-8.

For more information visit www.EpcotFoodFestival.com.

‘Black Mirror’ examines how Americans see themselves fied toll of black death and damage, much of it at the hands of the state.”

Aimed primarily at academics, “Black Mirror’’ is not free from jargon. That said, Lott is an immensely knowledgeable, insightful – and inciteful – critic of novels, movies, and popular music.

His assessment of “fantasies of blackness” in American culture is nothing if not timely.

Lott’s eye is always on “the sparks that fly and sores that open” during cultural mirroring and interracial negotiation.

BY DR. GLENN C. ALTSCHULER SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA COURIER

Eric Lott, a professor of English and American Studies at the Graduate Center, City University of New York, is a perceptive and provocative interpreter of the dynamics at play in the uses and abuses of racial symbolic capital.

In “Love and Theft: Blackface Minstrelsy and the American Working Class’’ (1993), Lott demonstrated how Whites “appropriated” Black culture in the 19th century in ways that embodied and intensified racial and class conflicts.

In “Black Mirror,’’ Lott extends his analysis to 20th and 21st- century popular culture.

Noting the obvious, that the election of Barack Obama did not usher in a post-racial society, Lott argues that the dominant makers of culture in the United States have “taken up African America in various forms of interracial embrace with variable and uncertain results, often as a way to reproduce themselves and their own [white] hegemony, occasionally with liberating consequences, all of it in a blue tangle of self-regard: a kind of black mirror.”

On passing

BOOK REVEW Review of Black Mirror: The Cultural Contradictions of American Racism by Eric Lott. Harvard University Press. 262 pages. $29.95.

‘Fantasies of blackness’ By producing “new centers of attention,” moreover, these racial fantasies, Lott claims, divert attention from “the intensi-

Wesley Brown’s novel, “Darktown Strutters,’’ Lott writes, the “regulatory force of the mask for black people as they live up to white scripts even as they work them to other purposes.”

Lott has some something for Rachel Dolezal, the Washington State NAACP director who was revealed to be a White woman passing for Black. Apparently earnest in her support for African-American civil rights and “in demarcating her universe,” Dolezal disavowed “with fervor her appropriation even while en-

acting it.”

And Lott draws on interviews with Elvis Presley impersonators to conclude to identify a “second order blackface that lives in disguised vestigial life” that animates their performances. And he points out that the only “legitimate crossing over” is from White to Black (based in part on envy of Black maleness). In contrast, for a Black man to become Elvis is a humiliation, and a sacrilege.

The mistakes Lott acknowledges the potential pitfalls “of an unapologetically academic undertaking” like “Black Mirror.’’

After all, self-identified “heroic cultural inquirers” sometimes believe that until they come along culture and performance “are mystified and inarticulate.”

Caught up in the political economy of prestige and inequality, left intellectuals, Lott adds, can also make mistakes when they investigate working-class life.

At times, it seems to me, Lott falls prey to these pitfalls, stretching his evidence to fit his (thematic) Procrustean bed.

Lott’s lesson His claim, for example, that the preoccupation of 1940s film noir with “the self and society’s darkness” has a clear racial dimension, which includes “hysterical (if unconscious) attempts” to use and exile “Others” in “portraits of white corruption,” is not all that persuasive. Neither is his discussion of “the cross-racial play” in White-ethnic pop singers Frank Sinatra, Bruce Springsteen, and Barbra Streisand.

We cannot know for certain, of course, how people have “read” – or now “read” – texts and performances.

All the more reason, then, to allow Professor Lott to inform, instruct and challenge us with his analysis of a popular culture that is “fraught with contradictions that define state and state fantasy” and that “partly recognize histories and transgenerational hauntings struggling against psychic odds to be heard.”

Dr. Glenn C. Altschuler is the Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Professor of American Studies at Cornell University. He wrote this review for the Florida Courier.

S

OCTOBER 20 – OCTOBER 26, 2017

HEALTH

B3

CDC: Nearly 4 in 10 adults in US now obese Shawniece Simpson, left, does calisthenics with others during a group treatment session for obesity inside the Hudson auditorium at the MLK Multi-Service Ambulatory Care Center in Los Angeles a few years ago.

Physicians were looking for more efficient and effective ways to treat increasing numbers of patients with chronic diseases.

BY MELISSA HEALY LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

Americans’ obesity rates have reached a new high-water mark.

Again.

In 2015 and 2016, just short of four in 10 American adults had a body mass index that put them in obese territory.

In addition, just under two in 10 American children — those between 2 and 19 years of age — are now considered obese as well.

The new measure of the nation’s weight problem, released this month by statisticians from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, chronicles dramatic increases from the nation’s obesity levels since the turn of the 21st century.

30 percent hike Adult obesity rates have climbed steadily from a rate of 30.5 percent in 1999-2000 to 39.8 percent in 2015-2016, the most recent period for which data were available. That represents a 30 percent increase.

Children’s rates of obesity have risen roughly 34 percent in the same period, from 13.9 percent in 1999-2000 to 18 percent in 2015-2016.

Seen against a more distant backdrop, the new figures show an even starker pattern of national weight-gain over a generation.

BMI measure In the period between 1976 and 1980, the same national survey found that roughly 15 percent of adults and just 5.5 percent of children qualified as obese.

In the time that’s elapsed since “Saturday Night Fever” was playing in movie theaters and Ronald Reagan won the presidency, rates of obesity in the United States have nearly tripled.

The new report, from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, measures obesity according to body mass index. This is a rough measure of fatness that takes a person’s weight (measured in kilograms) and divides it

MEL MELCON/ LOS ANGELES TIMES/ TNS

by their height (measured in meters) squared.

For adults, those with a BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 are considered to have a “normal” weight. A BMI between 25 and 29.9 is considered overweight, and anything above 30 is deemed obese.

Higher for Blacks Obesity rates for children and teens are based on CDC growth charts that use a baseline period between 1963 and 1994. Those with a BMI above the 85th percentile are considered overweight, and those above the 95th percentile are considered obese.

The report underscores a continuing pattern of racial and ethnic disparities when it comes to weight. Obesity rates among African-Americans and Latinos

have been consistently higher than those seen in Whites, and the new survey shows no change in that pattern.

In adult Latinos and non-Hispanic Blacks, obesity rates for 2015-2016 were 47 percent and 46.8 percent, respectively. Some 37.9 percent of non-Hispanic White American adults were obese in the latest tally.

Among non-Hispanic Asian adults, obesity rates were at 12.9 percent.

The racial and ethnic disparities were heavily driven by women: while White men and women were equally likely to be obese, rates of obesity in Black women (54.8 percent) and Latinas (50.6 percent) were strikingly higher than among their male counterparts (36.9 percent and 43.1 percent, respectively).

Weight challenges

Modest progress

Patrick T. Bradshaw, who studies population health at the University of California, Berkeley, says the new statistics underscore that turning the tide on obesity will require more aggressive and targeted efforts.

The rising obesity levels “suggest that we haven’t been successful in efforts to reduce or prevent obesity in the population,” Bradshaw said.

He echoed a growing consensus among public health experts that if progress is to be made in driving down obesity rates in the population at large, campaigns may need to focus on the specific challenges faced by Latinos and African-Americans — especially women — in weight management.

The report does suggest a very modest measure of progress in the fight to reduce obesity rates.

Compared to obesity prevalence data from 2013 and 2014, the newly reported rates do not represent a statistically significant change.

BMI is widely criticized as an imperfect way to gauge an individual’s health prospects. Aerobic fitness levels and waist-to-hip ratio are sometimes viewed as better measures. But the BMI’s nearubiquitous use in research on weight and disease risk has yielded unmistakable evidence of obesity’s dangers.

In large populations, research has shown, higher rates of obesity shorten lives and drive up the incidence of cancer, cardiovascular disease and conditions such as diabetes and arthritis.

Family first.

This is a chance to celebrate the gift of togetherness—with the people who remind you what life is all about. Your family.

Learn how Publix can help make it a family reunion to remember at publix.com/familyreunion.

B4

TECHNOLOGY

OCTOBER 20 – OCTOBER 26, 2017

STOJ

Members of the 49-member Black Congressional Caucus, shown above, met with Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg this month.

Black lawmakers press Facebook on Russia, diversity

BY WILLIAM DOUGLAS AND GREG GORDON MCCLATCHY WASHINGTON BUREAU/TNS

WASHINGTON – Facebook will boost its diversity efforts after hearing concerns from Black lawmakers that Russian operatives used its social media platform to spread racially divisive messages during the 2016 elections, a top Facebook officer vowed on Oct. 14.

Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg told members of the Congressional Black Caucus in a closed-door meeting that the company will appoint an African-American to its eight-member board, according to lawmakers who attended the meeting.

“What we tried to let her know is that she needs African-Americans up there who, when they see some of this stuff, will immediately say, ‘Oh, no, wait a minute, this is the message they’re trying to deliver and this is who it’s going to impact,’” said Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., a CBC member who attended the meeting.

“An African-American would detect it quickly, and she eventually said ‘You’re right,’” he said.

The spokesman also attached a copy of a full-page newspaper ad Facebook took out last week to publicly detail the nine steps.

Diversity concerns

Probe continues Facebook announced last month that it had discovered that Russians had bought 5,200 ads on its platform between June 2015 and May 2017, and that 3,000 of the ads were purchased by a company linked to a Russian “troll farm” known for spreading propaganda for the Kremlin.

Facebook turned the ads over to the House and Senate intelligence committees and to a Justice Department special counsel.

Each is investigating Russia’s broad cyber offensive aimed at damaging 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and boosting Donald Trump’s chances of winning last year’s presidential election.

Most of the ads targeted social issues such as immigration, gun rights and gay rights, Facebook’s chief information security officer has said.

String of meetings After meeting with Sandberg on Oct. 13, leaders of the House Intelligence Committee announced plans to make all the ads public.

In a livestream interview on Oct. 14 with Axios co-founder Mike Allen, Sandberg said Face-

FRANK RUMPENHORST/DBA/ZUMA PRESS/TNS

Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, gives a talk at the opening of the International Automobile Exhibition (IAA) in Frankfurt, Germany, on Sept. 14. book plans to help Congress understand how the Russians used the platform to target certain groups and geographic areas.

Sandberg met Oct. 14 with the 49-member Black caucus in a Capitol Hill conference room.

Caucus members expressed alarm over ads that appeared to try to stoke racial passions over the Black Lives Matter movement and other civil rights issues.

“There’s a real concern that people are using the platform of Facebook … to divide this country,” said Rep. Cedric Richmond, R-La. “And when it’s a foreign country dividing our country and sowing seeds of division … that is a real concern. And that was universally agreed to in that room, everyone felt the same way — Facebook and the CBC.”

Richmond and other Black caucus members described the meeting as positive. However, some of the lawmakers expressed frustration when the conversation turned to the issue of diversity of Facebook’s workforce.

A study released by Facebook in August showed the company making small gains in diversifying its workforce.

The number of African-American Facebook employees in the United States grew to 3 percent, up from 2 percent last year.

The number of Hispanic workers increased to 5 percent from 4 percent. The number of women in the company increased to 35 percent from 33 percent in 2016.

Nine steps

‘Lot of lip service’

Sandberg told caucus members that she “prays every day that Facebook did not contribute to the outcome of the 2016 election,” according to Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C., a former CBC chairman.

Sandberg didn’t speak to reporters after the meeting. A Facebook spokesman, in an email, said the company didn’t “have anything further to share regarding what took place in the meeting.”

The spokesman, however, pointed to a post by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg last month that outlined nine steps his company is taking to help prevent the platform from being used to influence elections.

“We’ve been talking about diversity and inclusion for a long time,” Butterfield said. “We get a lot of lip service from technology companies.

“Some have responded. Apple has put an African-American on its board, Uber has done the same, but Facebook has not. But we got a commitment today from Ms. Sandberg that an AfricanAmerican will be committed to the board in the very near future.”

Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla., called the meeting a good first step.

“She’s committed to doing more,” Hastings said. “As a matter of fact, I don’t think she has a choice but to be committed to doing more.”

Morehouse to host HBCU Technology Summit this month BLACKNEWS.COM

The HBCU Technology Summit (#HBCUTECHSUMMIT) will be held on Oct. 27 and 28 at Morehouse College in Atlanta. The event is led by the National Black Information Technology Leadership Organization (NBITLO).

The event theme is “Inspiring Innovation, Encouraging Collaboration, and Igniting Entrepreneurship...”

Hundreds of tech entrepreneurs, thought leaders and HBCU leaders from around the country will gather at Morehouse’s Walter E. Massey Leadership center for the HBCU Tech Summit.

The summit will feature uniquely designed panel discussions such as The Innovation & Entrepreneurship Focused Campus, HBCU Sustainability modeling, and the signature High Tech Expo and Innovation Showcase.

Free for students This two-day event is geared towards the success of all college students. Registration for college students is free.

“There is so much being said about our nation’s HBCUs and the students they produce. HB-

Andrew West is founder of the National Black Information Technology Leadership Organization.

CUs are tasked with educating, and equipping a new generation known as the African-American millennial,’’ said NBITLO founder Andrew West.

“Research is being conducted, and experts have marked this generation as entitled, lazy, the texting and selfie generation, and possessing a sense that the world should be handed to them. Rather than focus on the negative stereotypes, our goal is to highlight the positives of this generation and help steer them into tech careers, startups, inspire them to innovate and to become Ameri-

Students can attend the HBCU Technology Summit for free. Tech and HBCU leaders from around the country will participate. ca’s top STEM leaders.

He continued, “I believe that our millennial generation can be uniquely positioned to create new economies, and stimulate growth in America’s Black Tech ecosystem. They are passionate, they seek true meaning and purpose, and are bursting with ideas - let’s come together and enable them, rather than compact them into a box.

Attracting top companies West said the summit will equip students with resources and strategies while also working with HBCUs “to empower presidents and transform curriculum and inspire global competitiveness.’’

West further believes that while the White House Initiative

on Historically Black Colleges and Universities does their part, there is much work to be done.

Companies attending the HBCU Tech Summit at Morehouse will include representatives from Microsoft, Handshake, Uber, Amazon, Google, Yelp, Cox Communications, AT&T, Cisco and NASA. More information and registration: nbitlo.org/atlanta

STOJ

OCTOBER 20 – OCTOBER 26, 2017

Meet some of

FLORIDA’S

finest

FINEST & ENTERTAINMENT

B5

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 before and during 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.

Click on www.flcourier to see hundreds of pictures from previous Carnivals.

Go to www. miamibrowardcarnival. com for more information on Carnival events in South Florida.

CHARLES W. CHERRY II / FLORIDA COURIER

Jill Scott recalls incident that led her to sing

BY LUAINE LEE TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE/TNS

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – Singer-actress Jill Scott didn’t start out to be a singer or an actress.

She was a poet. She actually earned some acclaim as a poet and even traveled with her verses tucked neatly under her arm.

But a gunman changed all that.

“I was across the street from my house. My friend and I were sitting in the car and a guy came up to the window and he asked for Vincent. My friend said, ‘I’m not Vincent and I know she’s not.’

And he kept talking. I think he was high on something,” she remembers.

Gunshot story “This was a community where I went to the store for the elders in my community. Everybody looked out for me as I was growing up. I knew all of my neighbors. We planted flowers and swept up in our little community, so something was happening.

This was not a norm for me,” says Scott, seated in a meeting room, packed with scattered tables and clusters of chatting people.

“Now gunshots — that was a norm — I heard those, but nothing had ever come my way. And this guy pulls out a gun, and my friend drove off, and we shook for a day. It was very frightening to have that happen. We do believe he shot that gun,” she nods.

Decided to sing The next day she attended another poetry reading. But instead of reciting a poem she sang a song.

“And that had a whole other release, a whole other applause.

It was silent at first, and then it erupted. And I thought that felt amazing. Maybe I should try to do that more. I don’t force anything, I just let my life happen.”

Kept it real Though her mother had stuffed her childhood with art and culture in her native Philadelphia, Jill didn’t try singing until high school. She became the flavor of the month.

“People who didn’t really like me pretended to like me and I didn’t like that. So I didn’t sing anymore,” she says.

TNS

Jill Scott (left, center) and Betsy Brandt (right, center) play two of the women protesting the toxic water in Flint, Michigan, in Lifetime’s drama, “Flint,” which premieres Oct. 28.

“If I did, well I sang with a group, so we sang background vocals and harmonies, so I wasn’t standing out. I don’t like false friends, people who claim they like me if they don’t. If you don’t like me it’s all right, but do your job and call it a day. I’m really good with that.”

“I said, ‘Sure, I’ll do it.’ I’d quit my job and quit school that day.

And by the time I got home, the doorbell was ringing. It was (director) Ozzie Jones and here was the opportunity. They paid me $150 a week and gave me health insurance.’’ She taps the table top.

Foray into acting

‘Be that guy’

It turned out she was good with acting too.

Costarring in shows like “The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency,” “The Nanny Diaries” and “Down to Earth,” Scott’s latest is Lifetime’s gritty retelling of the Flint, Mich., toxic water scandal, “Flint,” premiering Oct. 28.

“A director said, ‘I think you’re an actor.’ I said, ‘OoooooK.’ He kept calling and saying that. He said, ‘There’s an apprenticeship, and it’s $150 a week. It’s 16 hours a day, and they’re going to give you free acting classes for your work.’

Scott, 45, did labor 16 hours a day. She built sets, ironed costumes, managed the house, mopped floors, sold tickets — anything to do with the theater.

“I was so tired by the time I got to acting classes, I fell asleep. But I had one acting coach named Aaron Posner and he said the best thing I’ve ever heard which was: ‘Be that guy.’ I was like, ‘I got it! ‘Be that guy.’”

She followed that with a fellowship at the Walnut Street Theatre.

“In the middle of that, I got a call from friends who said, ‘Rent’

is in town, you should audition.’

And I did, and I got ‘Rent.’ One thing begat another,” she shrugs.

Married with kids Married for a little over a year she and her husband rear seven children together. An 8-year-old is her birth son, the rest are his bio-children and one stepchild.

Coping with such a brood is no big deal, she insists.

“They’re here with me now.

They’re bright lights, and they’re smart and fun and loving. I bite them and kiss them and we laugh. I get a chance to teach them and share things with them.

They’ve become another level of fuel,” she smiles.

“I do my job, love to work, love to sing for a great audience, love to act, to write. But they fuel me in a different way. They’re a lot of inspiration and gentleness where the industry is not gentle and is not loving and not kind.”

Her inspiration She remembers vividly, when she was 4, her mother escaping an abusive relationship and moving in with Scott’s grandmother. It was there, she thinks, she learned to sing. She would linger outside the bathroom door while her grandmother bathed.

“I would sit on the floor … and she would sing how grateful she was for her body, and it was a beautiful song and different every time. She would talk about her hands. And I could tell that she had the water moving.

“She’d talk about her neck while she’s in there singing, and it was like glory. And I think she taught me how to sing. It was deeper than a tone of a voice. It was her spirit. It has shaped how I sing songs, how I act, and how I live.”

Luaine Lee is a Californiabased correspondent who covers entertainment for Tribune News Service.

B6

OCTOBER 20 – OCTOBER 26, 2017

FOR PEOPLE WITH

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MEDICARE AND MEDICAID

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FOOD

B6

OCTOBER 20 – OCTOBER 26, 2017

TOJ

FROM FAMILY FEATURES

Autumn is the perfect time to fall in love with maple syrup. The caramelized flavor of syrup pairs well with other fall flavors, like apples, cinnamon and pumpkin.

From spiced syrups to game-day dips, McCormick Executive Chef Kevan Vetter has tasty ideas for incorporating this fall flavor in dishes throughout the day: • Maple syrup is a perfect complement to sweet banana pancakes. Mix mashed bananas into the pancake batter. Once cooked, top with sliced bananas, chopped walnuts and maple syrup.

• Add maple syrup to a melty grilled cheese sandwich. Layer cheddar cheese, bacon, sliced apples and maple syrup mixed with apple pie spice between two slices of buttered bread.

• For a twist on a traditional game-day appetizer, drizzle maple syrup over a cheddar bacon dip.

• For a sweet treat, mix vanilla extract and pumpkin pie spice into maple syrup then drizzle over a coconut pumpkin bread pudding.

Find more recipes featuring fall flavors at mccormick.com.

MAPLE BANANA BREAD PANCAKES Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 12 minutes Servings: 3 2 large ripe bananas 2 eggs 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar 2 tablespoons melted butter 1 tablespoon McCormick Maple Extract 2 teaspoons McCormick Pure Vanilla Extract 1 teaspoon McCormick Ground Cinnamon 3/4 cup flour 2 teaspoons baking powder Heat lightly greased griddle or skillet to medium heat.

In large bowl, use potato masher to mash bananas. Add eggs, brown sugar, butter, maple extract, vanilla and cinnamon; mix well. Add flour and baking powder; mix until well blended.

Pour 1/4 cup of batter per pancake onto griddle or skillet. Cook 1-2 minutes per side, or until golden brown, turning when pancakes begin to bubble.

COCONUT PUMPKIN BREAD PUDDING WITH SPICED MAPLE SYRUP Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 40 minutes Servings: 16 Bread Pudding: 2 cans (13 2/3 ounces each) Thai Kitchen coconut milk 4 eggs, lightly beaten 1 cup sugar 1 cup canned pumpkin 1 tablespoon McCormick Pumpkin Pie Spice 1 tablespoon McCormick Pure Vanilla Extract 8 cups cubed challah bread (or cubed French or Italian bread) 1 cup flaked coconut 1 cup chopped pecans Spiced Maple Syrup: 1 cup maple syrup

1 teaspoon McCormick Pure Vanilla Extract 1/4 teaspoon McCormick Pumpkin Pie Spice Heat oven to 350 F. To make Bread Pudding: Pour coconut milk into large bowl. Stir with wire whisk until smooth.

Add eggs, sugar, pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice and vanilla; mix until well blended. Add bread cubes; toss to coat well.

Pour into greased 13-by-9inch baking dish. Let stand 10 minutes. Sprinkle evenly with coconut and pecans. Bake 35-40 minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool slightly on wire rack.

To make Spiced Maple Syrup: Mix syrup, vanilla extract and pumpkin pie spice in microwavable bowl or measuring cup. Microwave on high 1 minute, or until warm, stirring once. Serve with bread pudding.

MAPLE BACON DIP Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 25 minutes Servings: 16 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened 1/2 cup mayonnaise 1/2 cup milk 8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled 1 package McCormick Original Country Gravy Mix 1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided MAPLE APPLE GRILLED CHEESE Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 8 minutes Servings: 4 1/4 cup maple syrup 1/4 teaspoon McCormick Apple Pie Spice 3 tablespoons butter 8 slices whole-wheat bread 8 slices sharp cheddar cheese (1-ounce slices) 1 medium Golden Delicious apple, cored and cut into 16 thin slices 4 slices cooked bacon, coarsely chopped Mix maple syrup and apple pie spice. Set aside.

Butter one side of each bread slice. Layer two slices of cheese and four slices of apple on each bread slice with buttered side down. Sprinkle with chopped bacon then drizzle with maple syrup mixture. Top with remaining bread slices with buttered side up.

Place sandwiches in large skillet or griddle on medium-low heat. Cook 3-4 minutes per side, or until bread is browned and cheese is melted. Cook in batches, if necessary.

1/3 cup chopped red apple 2 tablespoons maple syrup Heat oven to 350 F. In large bowl, mix cream cheese, mayonnaise, milk, bacon, gravy mix and 1 cup cheese until well blended.

Spray 9-inch glass pie plate with nonstick cooking spray. Spread mixture in plate and top with apple and remaining cheese.

Bake 25 minutes, or until heated through and cheese is melted. Drizzle with syrup.