Florida Courier, April 19, 2019

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APRIL 19 – APRIL 25, 2019

VOLUME 27 NO. 16

WELLS FARGO TO THE RESCUE A 2002 study calculates the cost to the Daytona Beach area if Wells Fargo’s foreclosure lawsuit shuts Bethune-Cookman University down.

Editor’s note: Go to http://flcourier.com to download a copy of a summary of the study’s findings and the full study itself.

BY THE FLORIDA COURIER STAFF

DAYTONA BEACH – A 2002 economic study unearthed by Florida Courier researchers indicates that Bethune-Cookman College (now University) has contributed a minimum economic impact of more than $4 billion to the Daytona Beach area’s local economy over the past 16 years.

Titled “Economic Impact Study of Bethune-Cookman College on the Daytona Beach Area,” the study was written by principal investigator/project manager Dr. Mark Soskin, then an associate professor of eco-

PART 2 nomics at the Universal of Central Florida (UCF), and Dr. Bradley Braun, then associate dean of UCF’s College of Business.

Braun also developed the financial models which determined B-CC’s financial impact on Daytona Beach and its immediate surrounding areas – but excluding much of West Volusia County.

Credible and experienced Both Soskin and Braun had “a long track record in surveying, measuring, and analyzing the economic impact of widelydivergent players in the Central Florida economy,” they wrote at the time.

“Over the past two decades, we have been hired to determine the impact of the University of Central Florida; Daytona Racing, Spring Break, Bike Week, and BCR (Black College Reunion) special events; the convention industry; Port Canaveral and the cruise Industry; Florida theme parks; NASA operations; The Citrus Bowl; and the See B-CU, Page A2

FLORIDA COURIER FILES

Bethune-Cookman University’s economic impact on the Daytona Beach area lags behind only Daytona International Speedway and Bike Week activities.

DILLARD CENTER FOR THE ARTS / FORT LAUDERDALE

America’s best high school jazz band

Bethune’s ‘green’ power Impact not exaggerated, author of study says

BY THE FLORIDA COURIER STAFF

PARIS, FRANCE – In an exclusive interview with the Florida Courier from Paris, Dr. Mark Soskin defended his 2002 study highlighting BethuneCookman University’s economic impact on the Daytona Beach area.

Justifying his work isn’t new for the former associate professor of economics at the UniDr. Mark versity of Central FlorSoskin ida, who retired some two years ago after 28 years at UCF. He’s accustomed to hearing naysayers who find it impossible to believe Black economic power.

“I ran into the same community resistance to my scientific study findings about Black College Reunion,” he explained. “(Some people believe) African-American enterprises can’t possibly have major economic impact.

“Yet those same closet bigots believe the equally wrong and opposite stereotype that Blacks spend all their money and can’t save. I wish they’d get their racism straight,” he quipped.

Bogus studies

CHARLES W. CHERRY II / FLORIDA COURIER

Bandmaster Christopher Dorsey and his DCA Jazz Ensemble took a selfie during their spring concert on April 14.

The band travels to New York City’s Lincoln Center next month to defend their first-place crown at the 24th Annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival, the nation’s premier jazz education event.

They’ve won the national competition in 2011, 2012 and 2018.

“But seriously, it’s most other impact studies that are greatly exaggerated!

Olympics, pro sports teams, recruiting an auto assembly plant to town costing taxpayers big-time and (that) don’t pay off…”

“B-CU’s impact is far greater than even larger public universities (relying on tuition and taxes by locals) because private colleges are entirely funded by outside money. If the college closed, See IMPACT, Page A2

SNAPSHOTS NATION & WORLD | A6

What Harris’ tax returns show

FLORIDA | A3

Governor touts free speech on campuses

ALSO INSIDE

Nearly 5 years since Nigeria girls kidnapped

B-CU sponsors summer youth accountancy program DAYTONA BEACH – BethuneCookman University will hold an Accounting Careers and Awareness Program (ACAP) Residency Week from June 23 to June 28.

The program prepares students to pursue higher education by learning about the college application process, financial aid require-

ments, and scholarships. It will also inform students about the career opportunities available in accounting, finance, and business, and teach them interview skills, résumé building, and dining etiquette.

Students will live on campus each night of the program. They will be introduced to accounting, finance, economics and management through a customized curriculum involving guest lecturers from the business community.

No cost to students Students selected will pay no cost to participate, but there will be a $25 registration fee for stu-

dents who are accepted.

ACAP is open to non-White Florida high school students that will be juniors or seniors by fall 2019, with a minimum unweighted GPA of 3.2. Consideration will be given to those who are actively involved in campus and community service.

For an application packet, email cbe@cookman.edu or contact Johnny Johnson at 386-481-2824 or 850-556-2762.

The completed application packet is due by May 3. Selections will be made by May 10.

A mandatory orientation meeting is scheduled for May 26 for students selected.

COMMENTARY: CHARLES W. CHERRY II: RANDOM THOUGHTS OF A FREE BLACK MIND | A4 GUEST COMMENTARY: GLEN FORD: A RECKONING FOR SHARPTON AND BLACK MISLEADERSHIP CLASS | A5

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APRIL 19 – APRIL 25, 2019

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HBCUs are going where the Black Church can’t Several Historically Black Colleges and Universities have quietly changed admissions policies to better reflect diversity in gender identification and sexual classification over the last decade.

In the last two years, the sector’s single-sex delegation, Morehouse College and Spelman College, have broken free of a few of the chains of identity politics to help drag the Black America further into the 21st-century.

They’ve always been there The logic behind HBCU’s policies of admitting students who identify as, or whom have transitioned to the opposite sex, is simple.

Transgender students have been enrolling in and graduating from our schools for years without disclosing their gender or their identity. Why clarify rules to prohibit what HBCUs have largely

IMPACT from A1 Volusia would lose every penny plus the ripple effects of those salaries and spending throughout the county economy,” he explained.

Decades of experience Soskin says he was originally hired at UCF to teach students earning doctoral degrees in business. Previously, he’d spent nine years as an economics professor at the State University of New York. There, he developed financial models for regional economic impact studies.

In 1990, he moved from Orlando to help launch UCF’s business program at the Daytona campus, where he got deeply involved with all segments of Volusia’s economy. He served on advisory boards and chaired various committees.

B-CU from A1 Orlando Magic.

“We are also well-versed in all the essential research-project tools required: input-output impact modeling, scientific polling and survey design, regional economic development analysis, and project management,” they state.

The study was commissioned by former B-CC president Dr. Oswald P. Bronson some 17 years ago. As best as can be determined, it was not updated by the next three successive presidents: Dr. Trudie Kibbe Reed; Dr. Edison Jackson; or Interim President Hubert Grimes.

Key findings about B-CC • In 2002, the institution’s total annual financial impact was estimated to be approximately $251 million and more than 5,100 full-time jobs. This is the sum of the direct impact of $114 million and 2,170 jobs, plus “multiplier effects” calculated by the authors that ripple through the local economy.

• B-CC students spent $46.2 million annually in the Daytona Beach area (after medical insurance co-payments were factored in). The source of their spending money was “new money” from outside the region, mostly from financial aid, scholarships, loans and support from family members. These dollars are spread broadly across the local economy, but new car purchases, doctor/dental, and rental/leasing were the top three spending categories.

• B-CC’s impact was enormous because most of its students and funding sources are from outside the Daytona Beach area. “Economic impact can occur only if outside spending enters the local economy,” the study advises.

“Thus, large local retailers and service providers often have little economic impact…(i)f B-CC did not exist or were located in a different region, the local economy would lose this spending and the multiplier ripple effects these expenditures initiate.”

The multiplier effect, according to the study, “is set in motion every time a college employee, supplier, or hotelier receives income generated by the college’s presence in the community. Each in turn spends much of that added income for goods and services locally, creating further rounds of income gains and job creation

J. L. CARTER, SR. HBCU DIGEST

been unwilling and unable to stop for years prior to changing the bylaws to be more tolerant?

What message is sent by our schools by dragging their feet on sex and gender equity on our campuses, while working to remain as America’s conscience on racial equity? Would rejecting LGBTQ students make us stronger in our faith and traditions, or would it make us more like White people who reject us out of their interpretation of the same racial legacy?

HBCUs have the latitude and the legal obligation to constantly find ways to be a more perfect version of themselves. Now, several campuses are taking the bold step of proving themselves to be great-

er than the guidelines of their origins. HBCUs’ growing courage on this subject is a welcome lead role where the Black Church has (and almost has to) falter in its realm of being a control in the great American race experiment.

Schools are stronger HBCUs and the Black Church are the two rails upon which Black democracy has always traveled to help us find the path to health, wealth and prosperity. But only one is strong enough, liberal enough and well-funded enough to support the evolution of our thinking on identity and survive the consequences of its best efforts.

In February, the Methodist Church conference voted by a slim margin to maintain its positions against non-heterosexual leadership in clergy, and prohibitions on gay marriage. Prior to the vote, several presidents of Meth-

odist-affiliated HBCUs worked to build consensus around the church, better reflecting their campus profiles and teachings of religious tolerance.

HBCUs have become increasingly present in partnerships with LGBTQ organizations like the Human Rights Campaign and the National Black Justice Coalition.

The ways in which HBCU students, faculty, staff and alumni can be kinder, more loving people are becoming more ingrained in our public conversations about HBCU advocacy.

Black people, however slow the pace, are getting better at understanding that gender and sexuality is more than what we’ve been taught as scholars and believers.

But we still have much ground to make up for the years that brothers and sisters have suffered violence, isolation and maltreatment at our own hands for what we couldn’t understand.

We need more We need more research, more space and more public conversation on how HBCUs can better reflect the diversity of our own communities. We need to build the context of what it is like to be a member of the Black LGBTQ community, and how sections of that community can live and prosper based upon geography, resources and religion.

Ideally, this would be joint work between HBCUs and the Black Church. But at this point in history, only one of our two most important community resources is strong enough to carry the cross of unburdening us of our own confusion and self-hatred.

Our schools may stand to lose a lot as a result of their work, but they deserve our support and credit for doing the work we have waited too long to deliver for our own people.

Jarrett L. Carter, Sr. is publisher of HBCU Digest (www.hbcudigest.com).

He consulted with the Daytona Chamber of Commerce, county homebuilders, and civic groups.

In the 1990s, he developed UCF’s Economic Impact Study on Central Florida. In 2001, he was commissioned by the Daytona Chamber, the city, and Daytona International Speedway to design and conduct the largest scientific economic impact study ever on special events in Daytona Beach. The Bethune-Cookman study came a year later.

He’s been busy ever since, consulting for Volusia County schools to forecast tax revenues, and New Smyrna Utilities for a rooftop solar demand study. He’s also authored two textbooks.

‘Still fine’ The Bethune-Cookman study is now 17 years old. Is it still valid?

“Yes, my impact estimates and multipliers are still fine. The Great Recession (2007-2008) set everything back over 10 years!

Those numbers are still all good.” for the Daytona Beach area economy.”

• The study determined that B-CC’s vendor purchases put $17 million directly into the local economy in 2002, mostly in food & catering, miscellaneous retail, and medical and health services.

• In 2002, the households of full-time B-CC staff spent $10 million annually in the local area. Full-time faculty jobs were responsible for another $4.3 million in spending, and household spending by college administrators added another $2.4 million to B-CC employees’ pool of direct expenditures in the Daytona Beach area.

Visitor economics • Friends and relatives of B-CC students and employees spent more than 100,000 visitor-days in the Daytona Beach area. About three-fifths of this total (approximately 64,000 visitor-days) was by parents, relatives, and friends of students; another one-quarter (26,000 days) by visitors to staff; and about 14 percent by visitors to faculty (11,000 days) and administrators (4,000 days).

• B-CC visitors spent an average of about $140 per day while in Daytona Beach. The total local expenditures amounted to $14.9 million per year “and the 410 fulltime equivalent jobs in the Daytona Beach area owe their existence to B-CC visitors as well,” the study reports. With a visitor multiplier the authors calculated, the economic impact of B-CC visitors rises to $24.5 million per year and 940 full-time equivalent jobs.

• Visitors to B-CC do not fit the pattern of “‘feast-and-famine’ binge tourism from special events or even the seasonal volatility of vacation and daytripper visits,” according to the study. “Instead, B-CC attracts visitors throughout the academic year…visitors for events like Commencement arrive when Daytona Beach tourism businesses would otherwise confront hotel vacancies and low visitation,” helping to “smooth out” the area’s tourism demands.

Thus, “the existence of B-CC near the prime tourism areas creates significant benefits to owners and employees at hotels, eateries, and shops without placing additional cost burdens on the local government.”

Jobs and taxes • As a consequence of planned on-campus construction projects planned between the year 2001 and 2005, B-CC was estimated to have made an annual injection

DUANE C. FERNANDEZ SR. / HARDNOTTSPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

The financial impact of Bike Week on Daytona Beach was also studied by the author of the Bethune-Cookman economic impact study. of $11.6 million and 103 full-time equivalent jobs each year from 2002 through at least 2006.

• The fiscal impact of B-CC on government revenues was $38 million in tax revenues, of which $12.8 million was state and local taxes. Sales tax revenues generated by B-CC were $5.2 million, which helps the state to fund education, prisons, highways, health care, and other public services.

• B-CC’s presence in the community elevated local business and property values, thus generating $3.6 million in additional county and municipal property tax revenues each year.

• B-CC is located in a “critical but blight-threatened area, especially following the abandonment by downtown auto dealers and major retailers,” according to the study. “The college’s location adjacent to a major city-designated redevelopment zone creates a critical economic boost both indirectly – as a major, high-status, outside-funded educational institution – and directly – with grants, construction, hi-tech, outreach efforts, and community partnerships.”

Thousands of service hours • Well over a half-million hours (574,000) with a combined value of $5.7 million were volunteered annually in the community, according to the study’s direct survey evidence.

“Students donate 473,000 hours annually by tutoring and mentoring disadvantaged youth; working as unpaid interns in local business, schools, hospitality enterprises, and health care facilities; performing music, dance, and theatre before local religious and community groups; and helping the poor, disabled, sick, and elderly. Students volunteer both as individuals and as members of dozens of campus organizations, clubs, national honor societies, and fraternities and sororities,” the study disclosed.

“Faculty, administrators, and college staff contribute the other 101,000 hours to community service. Their volunteer efforts often involve service to church, civic, and charitable organizations in the area. Others perform ‘pro bono’ consulting and committee service to local governments and non-profits, making available to the community the benefits of their expertise and diverse perspectives.”

• In 2002, B-CC had a total impact several times that of the largest local manufacturers and al-

most half the impact of Daytona’s largest special event, Bike Week. B-CC’s impact exceeded the combined impact of Spring Break and now-defunct Black College Reunion, “and without the adverse effects on local residents and public services,” the study points out.

• Contrary to Daytona Beach’s special events, B-CC’s impact is year-round and high salaries keep more college-educated people in the county. “B-CC requires few government services and provides community volunteers instead of late-night neighborhood disturbances so common at party schools,” the study affirmed.

• B-CC’s substantial total impact is seldom recognized by the local community. One reason is that prior to 2002, “no contemporary study has been conducted to measure its enormous impact.”

High response rate The study cost $21,500 and took five months to complete.

Originally, the contracted study design involved only spending, visitor, and community service surveys of 1,100 students, college faculty, staff and administrative personnel. It also estimated visitor spending by their friends and relatives, the value to the community of volunteer work, and annual college construction expenditures as an estimate of economic impact.

The result was “an unusually high response rate that improves the credibility of the findings and reflects the support for the college mission among staff and faculty,” the study argues.

“Overall, nearly 40 percent of staff and administrators returned their surveys and almost threefourths of regular faculty responded! To put this in perspective, a similar survey for our impact study for UCF achieved only a 25 percent response rate from staff and less than one-third of faculty responded.”

The survey, purchases, and cost data were fed into a regional input-output financial model specific to East Volusia County to determine the total multiplier effects on the local economy.

More research necessary Given what the authors called “special Town and Gown challenges,” it became necessary to include a random telephone survey of 400 residents and an additional e-mail survey of college employees and community leaders.

“These additional surveys cap-

tured critical information about how much the local residents know about the college and what types of community outreach they would most recommend or support,” the authors reported.

Local outreach requested According to the study, a poll of local residents revealed broad support for B-CC to increase outreach efforts that: • partner in redevelopment efforts and combat blight; • offer programs and training that target local residents; • encourage student mentoring of disadvantaged youth; • offer use of B-CC facilities by community and civic groups; • recruit more students from Volusia and Flagler Counties; and • place interns locally and encourage grads to stay in area.

“A survey of area leaders confirms that B-CC can and should have a greater role in local civic and community affairs,” the study offered.

Poor local awareness The poll findings should also help B-CC correct several major misconceptions among local residents that persist, regardless of race or distance from campus.

The poll discovered that a large percentage of residents substantially underestimate B-CC’s enrollment, employment, local purchases, percentage of women and non-local students, and even the age of the campus.

“Relatively few residents realize that the college is one of the largest employers in the county. This lack of knowledge about enrollment and employment, even within the African-American community, at least partly accounts for community underappreciation of B-CC’s economic impact and its potential for effecting positive community change,” the report insisted.

“Lack of awareness of B-CC’s local economic impact is a primary reason for the college’s invisibility in city and community consciousness. Reversing that misperception is therefore of highest priority if Bethune-Cookman is to assume its rightful place as a major stakeholder and player in the city’s and region’s affairs and thereby be able to help shape its own destiny.”

APRIL 19 – APRIL 25, 2019

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FLORIDA

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RICARDO RAMIREZ-BUXEDA/ORLANDO SENTINEL/TNS

Protestors gather outside after White nationalist Richard Spencer delivers a speech at the University of Florida in Gainesville on Oct. 19, 2017.

Governor touts free speech on college campuses Resolution signed last week by presidents of state universities

BY ANA CEBALLOS NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

TALLAHASSEE – A campaign about free speech on Florida college campuses – a hot-button issue across the nation – is being backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and public university presidents, who signed a resolution vowing to welcome all types of debate unless they promote “true threats or defamation.”

At the request of the governor, all 12 university presidents signed the resolution late last week. It says institutions will not “stifle the dissemination of any idea,” even when individuals find that speech to be “abhorrent.”

“It permits the freest expression of views before students, trusting to their good sense in passing judgment on those views. Only in this way can we best serve American democra-

cy,” said John Thrasher, president of Florida State University, where DeSantis appeared Monday.

‘Florida welcomes debate’ The resolution is similar to a policy passed by the University of Chicago. And while DeSantis and other supporters say they want to foster free speech, the governor said he does not believe Florida campuses have a problem with speech restrictions.

“I don’t think Florida has gone down that road,” the governor told reporters Monday. “I think we are showing that Florida welcomes debate and that the cure for an idea that you disagree with is to point out why that idea is wrong.”

FSU criticized The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, a proponent of universities adopting free speech policies, has been critical of Florida State University in the past for banning Greek activities following the 2017 alcohol-relat-

Sun Sentinel wins Pulitzer for Parkland coverage

ed death of fraternity pledge Andrew Coffey.

The criticism related to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly.

“The Florida State administration is taking the easy way out of a hard situation by issuing a blanket ban on Greek life, telling Greek students they can have their freedom back when they fix their culture,” according to an article posted by FIRE.

Speakers and protesters Florida campuses have a history of allowing controversial speakers. In October 2017, for example, Richard Spencer, a White nationalist, appeared at an event at the University of Florida, attracting scores of angry protesters.

DeSantis said the best response to controversial or offensive speakers, like Spencer, is giving them an “empty auditorium” because they “feed off ticking off people.”

He added, however, that “the most offensive speakers, to me, they are the easiest ones to com-

bat because it’s very easy to point out why those views don’t really pass muster.”

Follows Scott’s ban DeSantis, as an example, cited people who are opposed to vaccinations.

“To say you don’t need vaccinations, to me that is something being refuted by the facts,” DeSantis said. “This is not even close to being something that is indisputable.”

The governor’s push to foster free speech comes a year after former Gov. Rick Scott banned “free-speech” zones on campuses and as the Legislature considers a proposal that would mandate colleges and universities survey students and faculty on their viewpoints.

Supporters say the proposal would give state lawmakers an idea of whether there is ideological indoctrination on campuses.

But it remains unclear what the Legislature would do once the data comes in.

Diversity question When asked whether he supports the “intellectual diversity” survey, DeSantis said he is not familiar with the concept proposed by lawmakers. But he added that he thinks it is important to make sure institutions have faculty with diverse viewpoints.

Students are evacuated by police out of Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland after the shooting on Feb. 14, 2018.

MIKE STOCKER/SUN SENTINEL/TNS

NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

The South Florida Sun Sentinel was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for public service Monday for its coverage of last year’s mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that killed 17 students and faculty members.

The Sun Sentinel received the honor for “exposing failings by school and law enforcement officials before and after the deadly shooting rampage at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School,” the Pulitzer website said.

The Sun Sentinel staff also was a finalist in the category of breaking news reporting for its coverage of the Parkland shooting. The staff of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette won the Pulitzer in that category for its coverage of the mass shooting at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue.

More Florida recognition In other categories, Tampa Bay Times reporters Kathleen McGrory and Neil Bedi were finalists

in investigative reporting for a series about deaths in the pediatric heart-surgery program at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital.

Also, Miami Herald reporters Kyra Gurney, Nicholas Nehamas,

Jay Weaver and Jim Wyss were finalists in the explanatory reporting category for what the Pulitzer website described as an explanation of a “far-reaching criminal operation in which South Amer-

ican gold mining fueled international money laundering, urban street crime, environmental degradation, child exploitation, drug trafficking and a thriving precious metals industry in Miami.”

“It is not about whether you are liberal or conservative, it’s about whether you are presenting education in a way that is going to challenge people to think critically about these different issues,” DeSantis said.

House Higher Education Appropriations Chairman Randy Fine, R-Palm Bay, told The News Service of Florida that while he has not talked to the governor about the bill (HB 839), he believes it is something that DeSantis would likely sign into law based on his stance on campus free speech.

Drawing the line Fine said there should not be a “bright line” drawn for what kind of speech should be barred, even when someone considers it to be hate speech.

“I hesitate to say hate speech because hate is in the eye of the beholder,” Fine said.

However, he said he would draw the line on speech that endangers others.

Under the resolution signed by the state university presidents last week, institutions “may restrict expression that is unlawful, such as true threats or defamation.” Each institution has also adopted regulations that are “narrowly drawn” and “contentneutral” to keep campus order and security.

South Florida expo to focus on fertility The South Florida Fertility Expo is a one-day event that will offer information on fertility from experts in the field. It will provide support and provide resources for women on their reproductive and fertility journey.

The South Florida Fertility Expo was launched in 2018 and brings together leading fertility specialists.

In conjunction with National Infertility Awareness Week, it also is a day for women and men to learn of new modalities in creating or expanding a family.

The expo will take place on Saturday, April 27, at Don Shula Hotel & Golf Club, 6842 Main St, Miami Lakes.

Doors will open at 10 a.m. Admission is $10.

Tickets are available online.

Visit the website at www.southfloridafertilityexpo.com.

EDITORIAL

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APRIL 19 – APRIL 25, 2019

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Why are we still questioning vaccines?

Measles cases have cropped up across 12 states over the last ten weeks – nearly two decades since the highly contagious disease was said to be eradicated in the U.S. Temple University in Philadelphia has reported over 100 cases of mumps in an outbreak, and more cases are spreading across the Philadelphia region.

Regrettably, I believe we are at the tip of the iceberg, thanks to the enormous amount of false and misleading MIS-information form the anti-vaccine movement.

Major success Vaccines are one of the most successful programs in modern health care, reducing, and in some cases even eliminating, serious infectious diseases. Public support for the vaccination program remains strong, especially in the United States where vaccination rates are currently at an all-time high of more than 95 percent of the population.

Yet, despite a long history of safety and effectiveness, vaccines have always had their critics: some parents and a tiny fringe of doctors question whether vaccinating children is worth what they perceive as the risks. In recent years, the anti-vaccination movement, largely based on poor science and fear-mongering, has become more vocal and even hostile.

In January 2019 alone, measles were confirmed in ten states: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Texas, and Washington, according to the CDC. Of course, vaccines are not without risk (no medical intervention is), although the benefits far outweigh those risks.

No connection In 1998, researcher Andrew

GLENN ELLIS TRICE EDNEY NEWS WIRE

Wakefield and some of his colleagues published a study in the prestigious English medical journal Lancet that claimed to show a connection between the Measles/Mumps/Rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism.

Subsequent to the seminal article in the Lancet, many followup studies were performed testing the autism-MMR vaccine correlation. As the follow-up studies began to be published, however, it became increasingly clear that there was no link between MMR and autism.

For example, a study in the British Medical Journal found that autism rates continued to climb in areas where MMR vaccination rates were not increasing.

Another study found no association with MMR and autism or GI (gastrointestinal) disorders.

Other studies showed no difference in the diagnosis rate of autism either before or after the MMR vaccine was administered, or between vaccinated and unvaccinated children. Most recently, a study found that there was no decrease in autism rates following removal of the MMR vaccine in Japan.

“Donald Trump is redundant evidence that if your net worth is high enough, your IQ can be very low and you can still intrude into American politics,” George Will said. This was Will, the intellectual pundit bemoaning the 2012 cycle that featured Barack Obama v. Mitt Romney.

At the time, none of us knew that God would allow Satan to plague this nation under the guise of a Trump presidency.

But quit playin’! I prophesied that Donald’s only Trump card was the Race card in 2012!

My conjecture was simple The hypothesis had been made and the conclusion was obvious.

From the antics of the Jerry Springer Show to the unvarnished and wanton callowness that shows up on reality television, ignorance would abound, and racism would thrive. When-

CHARLES W. CHERRY II, ESQ. PUBLISHER

It gets worse The attorneys representing parents in that lawsuit against measles vaccine manufacturers paid Wakefield to fabricate evidence showing that the vaccines were linked to autism. Despite the fact that the paper was quickly retracted, and Wakefield was found guilty of professional misconduct and had his medical license revoked, anti-vaccination sentiment has only become more entrenched in the years since.

Wakefield had also applied for patents for an MMR vaccine substitute and treatments for his alleged MMR vaccine-induced gut disorder. So, not only was he allegedly paid by lawyers to cast doubt on the MMR vaccine, but he stood to personally gain from the outcome of his research.

Easy to catch

In 2001, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) reviewed all of the MMR-autism data available to date and concluded that there was no association and essentially closed the case – a conclusion confirmed by still later studies.

If Wakefield had simply been wrong in his preliminary findings, he would be innocent of any wrongdoing – scientists are

It’s not an overstatement to say that measles is one of the most infectious diseases known to mankind. When people aren’t immunized, it’s extremely easy to catch measles. In an unvaccinated population, one person with measles can infect 12 to 18 others. That’s way higher than other viruses like Ebola, HIV, or SARS. (With Ebola, one case usu-

VINCENT L. HALL GUEST COLUMNIST

ever America is at its weakest points, hatred – usually under the auspices of racism and tribalism – gets muscular.

What I missed was the permeating power of AM talk radio.

What I did not factor was that Satan’s Jesus (Trump) had his own John the Baptist in the form of Rush Limbaugh. Rush had a prophecy, too. He fed the sheep a hearty diet of White superiority and American Exceptionalism.

All they needed was a personality to fill that empty wool suit. Donald John Trump was tailor-made for Rush Limbaugh’s countercultural couture.

Random thoughts of a free Black mind, v. 332 QUICK TAKES FROM #2: STRAIGHT, NO CHASER

not faulted if their early findings are not later vindicated. However, in May 2004, ten of Wakefield’s co-authors on his original paper withdrew their support for its conclusions.

The editors of Lancet also announced that they withdrew their endorsement of the paper (the first time in almost 200 years) and cited as part of the reason an undisclosed potential conflict of interest for Wakefield, namely that at the time of its publication he was conducting research for a group of parents of autistic children seeking to sue for damages from MMR vaccine producers.

Still more evidence

Donald Trump, racism, and low IQs

The best high school jazz band in the land – is the pride of Fort Lauderdale, the Dillard Jazz Ensemble housed at the Dillard Center for the Arts at Dillard High School. (Full disclosure: I’m the proud dad of Charles W. Cherry III, a ninth-grade trumpet player who played his first solo in Band No. 2 under the demanding

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: CLIMATE CHANGE

Let’s backtrack

LUOJIE, CHINA DAILY, CHINA

ally leads to two others. With HIV and SARS, one case usually leads to another four.)

Protects others, too Measles vaccine is 97 percent effective after two doses, which usually also protect against mumps, rubella and sometimes varicella, or chickenpox, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A well-vaccinated population takes on a “herd immunity” that hinders outbreaks. As soon as vaccination coverage drops below 95 percent, outbreaks are inevitable.

Most of the people with measles and mumps right now weren’t immunized from the viruses. They all live in places that permit a variety of nonmedical – religious or philosophical – exemptions from vaccines. In 45 states, even without an exemption, kids can be granted “conditional entrance” to school on the promise that they will be vaccinated, but schools don’t always bother to follow up.

Religious exemptions Even though all 50 states have legislation requiring vaccines for students entering school, almost every state allows exemptions for people with religious

dia and workers from any other nationality in order to get the job done. Let’s see the final report. I will probably reveal that the bust was a classic case of racial profiling. I predict most of those “busted” have paperwork pending.

It occurred to me when a ‘brother’ called last week, a gust

of glee in his voice. “Did you hear that ICE (Immigrations and Customs Enforcement) made a big bust and deported all them Mexicans in North Dallas?” My heart dropped about as precipitously as my anger rose.

Donald Trump has done a wonderful job of what I call “racism by inference and imagery.”

He painted you this picture of Muslims who want to kill us and annihilate Israel. He painted a mosaic of Mexicans who “take your jobs.” He drew you murals of Mexican gangs killing at will and becoming the single most menacing threat to young White damsels.

Our blonde-headed, blueeyed blessings wouldn’t be dying if it wasn’t for the China-toMexico pipeline. He never mentions crack cocaine. Bet you can’t guess why?

I got news for Trump. If you want to stop the flow of drugs, fix the flaws of addiction. Supply has a cousin named Demand. You never see one without the other.

The truth is that not all of those people “busted” were Mexican.

American corporations hire “illegals” from Vietnam, Africa, In-

oversight of band leader Christopher Dorsey.)

Along with a full house of jazz aficionados, I attended the band’s spring concert over the weekend. They are all tremendously talented. Their top band (they have three) will be on the way to Lincoln Center in New York City (see the page A1 center picture).

Also congrats to pianist Miles Lennox, the winner of the national Dr. J. Douglas White Student Composition and Arranging Contest. His composition will be recorded by the Jazz at Lincoln

Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis. What an achievement!

Amendment 4 – I mentioned during the November 2018 election campaign that the fight wouldn’t be over, even if the restoration of rights provision passed.

There’s a fight going on in Tallahassee as to whether fees and restitution must be paid before voting rights are restored. But here’s something else to think about.

Amendment 4 is being interpreted as a restoration of VOTING rights, not FULL rights. What

do I mean? It doesn’t let ex-felons serve on juries, run for public office, or own a gun. If that’s true, why didn’t the drafters of Amendment 4 include a restoration of ALL rights?

Now the Republicans are trying to make it even harder to pass a constitutional amendment by raising the required vote from 60 percent to 66 percent-plus. It’s a naked power grab by the Florida Legislature, maybe to prevent people from rethinking and fixing Amendment 4…

Jerry Springer was the Pandora that led to the demise of civility and the rise of hostility we are left with on TV these days. That insolence and disregard for “what other people think” has permeated every area of our lives.

Your grandparents would die knowing that you are hooked on the promiscuous, pugilistic and preposterous “Housewives” shows that you TIVO and watch with regularity. They would wince to watch “My 600-Pound Life.”

Black mothers would curse you out for appearing on “Fix My Life” with Iyanla van Zandt. The counseling is cool, but mama warns, “Chile, we don’t put our dirty laundry out for everybody to see.”

It used to piss me off to the highest level of pisstivity whenever anyone told me that they watch “The Apprentice,” especially Black people. By the end of this presidency, Trump will be “fired” and forced to leave the set.

Blacks brainwashed too

Charles W. Cherry II, Esq., Publisher

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

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beliefs against immunizations, and 17 states grant philosophical exemptions for those opposed to vaccines because of personal or moral beliefs.

Two caveats: the legacy of the syphilis study at Tuskegee lingers in the minds of many people, fueling mistrust; and the majority of people supporting the antivaxx movement are highly educated White parents!

I’m always amazed at the number of people who claim, “religious exemption”, but have never set foot in a church, mosque, or synagogue! Facts don’t lie, people do. Truth matters.

Remember, I’m not a doctor.

I just sound like one. Take good care of yourself and live the best life possible!

The information included in this column is for educational purposes only. It is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. Glenn Ellis is a Harvard Medical School Research Bioethics Fellow and a health columnist and radio commentator who lectures, nationally and internationally, on health-related topics.

He is also the author of “Which Doctor?” and “Information is the Best Medicine.”

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Nothing new ICE is overburdened and understaffed. The Trump administration took the same dumb-ass “tough on crime” mentality that caused the criminal justice debacle we have right now.

If there is such an “emergency” on the border, why is ICE still raiding 7-11’s for onesies and twosies? It’s all a farce based on race!! Trump’s card is the race card and his low IQ is making the race card America’s Trump card!!

George Will was right. There is redundant evidence that Trump’s net worth may be high, but his low IQ makes for bad politics!

Vincent L. Hall is an activist, author, and award-winning writer for the Texas Metro News.

I’m at ccherry2@gmail.com.

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APRIL 19 – APRIL 25, 2019

STOJ

A reckoning for Sharpton and the Black Misleadership Class Big Capital’s Black denizens made their voices heard at Al Sharpton’s annual National Action Network showcase last week, blasting “democratic” socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for her role in chasing Amazon away from New York City.

“The people campaigning against the Amazon campus are financially illiterate,” said Tracy Maitland, CEO of Advent Capital Management, which handles $9 billion in other people’s money.

Maitland claimed that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’s offer to set up a corporate headquarters in Queens in return for $3 billion in tax breaks and other subsidies was a good trade for 25,000 new jobs, and that activists misinformed the public.

Opportunities ‘snatched’ Joining the chorus of capitalist indignation was Bill Thompson, a perennial Black mouthpiece for Wall Street and current chairman of the City University system. “We were at the table talking to Amazon on how students could get jobs … those opportunities were snatched away,” said Thompson, who spoke on Maitland’s aptly named panel, “The Black Economic Agenda: Driving Capital into the Hands of Black Asset managers and Housing Developers.”

Harold Ford Jr., once the most rightwing member of the Congressional Black Caucus and a supporter of George W. Bush’s bid to privatize Social Security, said there was nothing wrong with paying billions to the world’s richest man for the pleasure of his presence. “Creating 25,000 jobs is always a positive thing,” said Ford.

“There’s a multiplier effect.”

This capitalist model of “development” has its own, peculiar arithmetic, by which the human, social and ecological costs of production are borne by every-

AOC in blackface

GLEN FORD BLACK AGENDA REPORT

one except the owners of capital, who grow richer and richer until the inevitable crash – after which they are bailed out at great additional cost to the larger society and placed back in the pinnacles of power.

Just accept it

Sharpton’s antennae are alert to the challenge presented to Big Capital’s control of the Democratic Party, the half of the governing corporate duopoly where virtually all Black electoral activity is confined.

Sharpton knows which side he’ll be on in the looming confrontation between the bosses and the party’s base, supermajorities of which support Bernie Sanders’ signature measures on health care, free public college and higher minimum wages. Sharpton is as “literate” as the task requires: he can read the numbers on a check, and knows which side has the deepest pockets.

Black America has always been socialist-friendly. However, a half-century ago, the aspiring Black bourgeoisie sought to find their niche in the power structure through a pact with the real corporate bourgeoisie and the Democratic Party.

This Black Misleadership Class has dominated Black politics since the assassination of “democratic socialist” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the U.S. government’s murderous assault on Black radicals. It is this class that oversaw the imposition of Black mass incarceration in the nation’s “chocolate cites,” and then collaborated with Big Capital in whitening these cities through gentrification.

Although this class’s venality is intimately understood by the Black masses, it has maintained a political headlock by linking its own narrow agenda with the larger aspirations of the Black community.

If these are the rules, and if there is no alternative, then “creating 25,000 jobs is,” indeed, “always a positive thing,” no matter the social consequences, or the nature of the jobs, or the damage to the planet.

Thus, capitalism is the best path for human progress – as long as all the other paths are outlawed. Those who don’t accept such logic are deemed “illiterate.”

Al Sharpton is a true believer in the rich man’s logic, and still hopes to become one himself by his untiring service to the Lords of Capital. Sharpton assured the corporate media that he supports capitalism – as long as there is a level playing field and “access to capital” for minorities.

The fact that such a “level field “has never existed – and cannot exist under capitalism – does not phase Sharpton. He and his fellow crumb-snatchers are playing the only roles that are allotted to them under the system as it actually exists, as political operatives of an oligarchy whose Blacks sold out three richest men – including Jeff Over the course of two generBezos – possess more wealth than ations, a succession of hustlers the whole bottom half of the U.S. masquerading as liberationists sold out Black America, grafting population.

CLARENCE V. MCKEE, ESQ. GUEST COMMENTARY

to a phony Black “accent”: “Ain’t nothing wrong with that…”

John Cardillo, host of Newsmax TV’s “America Talks Live,” said, “this is what blackface sounds like.”

The highlight of this cascade of condescending pandering was Sharpton asking the candidates if they would sign a bill that would create a panel to study the possibility of reparations for the descendants of slaves. They couldn’t say “yes” fast enough.

The star of the show, who the assembled Blacks treated like a rock star, was Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. While they applauded and cheered, she showed them what she thought A few questions of them: not much.

In true Hillary Clinton form, Do these candidates really and to get down to what she felt believe that Black descendants was their level, she changed her of slaves think that their fellow usual tone of voice and broke in- Americans with no historical

Reparations must be discussed first within Black America Black Americans deserve redress for 300 years of chattel slavery, Jim Crow segregation, racist terrorism, mass incarceration and a plethora of discriminatory practices which were and are sanctioned by law. The idea of reparations is not new nor is the concept unique to the history of this country.

The United Nations has established a “right to remedies and reparations for victims of gross violations of human rights law.” Morality and international law are clearly on our side.

Black Americans do not dispute the rightness of this stance, but there has been insufficient debate about what reparations ought to mean. As a result, people with dubious motives have now seized the agenda.

TOJ

A5

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: DONALD TRUMP’S IMMIGRATION POLICIES

Sharpton can read

Do Socialist Dems think Blacks are gullible?

One would think that the growing socialist wing of the Democrat Party must really assume that Blacks are gullible nonthinkers who will fall for anything or any message.

Just look at the parade of 20/20 presidential hopefuls before Al Sharpton’s National Action Network Conference. I had thought that Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus’ Clown College was extinct – until I watched these candidates bow and scrape and do everything but kiss Sharpton’s ring and anoint him in oil.

EDITORIAL

MARGARET KIMBERLEY BLACK AGENDA REPORT

of Slaves (ADOS) movement has taken control of the discussion but from a decidedly right-wing perspective. They wrap themselves in the flag that symbolizes oppression, repeat nativist talking points, and eschew connections with African people in the rest of the world. It is not a good thing for reparations to be discussed in such a non-serious way.

Black Agenda Report supports a serious examination of reparations which must have as its foundation the transformation of our system and our society. The harm ADOS isn’t serious done to Black people is not in the The American Descendants distant past, but is ever-present.

JOHN COLE, THE SCRANTON TIMES-TRIBUNE, PA

“movement” language onto capitalist projects for the benefit of themselves and their rich White sponsors. The Black business class long ago lost whatever political independence it possessed under Jim Crow.

Today, Black businesses are mainly vendors, annexes or franchises of White multinational corporations and banks. Their overarching imperative is to find a place for themselves in the corporate order. They seek to profit from every urban scheme put forward by the Lords of Capital, and value the Black community only to the extent that its political clout can be enlisted in the service of their own ambitions.

Their grasp on Black politics is finally slipping among all age cohorts, especially Black youth, who are “woke” enough to know that the Black political class has bequeathed them less upward mobility and power to shape their own destinies than was wielded by their parents and grandparents.

All about self

Glen Ford is executive editor Most Black people share the of BlackAgendaReport.com.

connection to slavery will agree to pay reparations?

• Do they really believe that Black people believe in third trimester abortions and infanticide when the baby is born alive?

• Do they really believe that the millions of Blacks working in the private sector would want to give up their private health insurance for some pie-in-the sky socialist “Medicare for all?”

• Do they really believe that Blacks are gullible enough to take them seriously for apologizing for being White and criticizing “old White men” when they likely took advantage of any privilege that “old White men” and their color gave them? Would they have preferred to have been born Black?

• Do they really believe that the majority of Blacks, especially entrepreneurs, in the United States would prefer to live in Third World socialist countries instead of capitalist America?

Another false assumption, which many Black leftists have developed into an art form, is that all a Black liberal Democrat official has to do to negate criticism or explain an election defeat is to yell racism or White nationalism, and all Blacks will yell “Amen.”

Smollett gets off

Mass incarceration and displacement by gentrification are just two issues which are causing terrible harm to Black people today.

We should advocate for nothing less than an end to the system which has created so much damage.

Now presidential candidates are being asked if they support reparations. Those questions jump the gun and turn the issue into nonsensical blather because Black people have not yet done the necessary debating and struggling within the group. Until that happens, all talk of reparations will do more harm than good.

of support for reparations, mostly in the form of supporting bill H.R. 40, which only commits to the creation of a commission that would study reparations.

Sharpton is at best irrelevant and at worst, a dangerous, double-talking double agent. In the 2004 presidential campaign, he was funded and controlled by Roger Stone, the Republican dirty trickster and Trump crony. That wasn’t the last act of Sharpton treachery.

Sharpton isn’t serious A sure sign of a failed discussion is the involvement of people like Al Sharpton with bad motives. The Democratic Party has made the two-faced traitor the go-to guy for presidential candidates. This status of faux kingmaker is proof that the Democratic Party has no respect for Black people, the group they depend upon the most to win elections.

Sharpton’s recent National Action Network convention welcomed nearly all of the declared Democratic presidential candidates. All pledged some degree

general goal of Black community empowerment, and have come to realize that the Black Misleadership Class seeks only to further embed themselves in the corporate matrix.

The youth see police and corporations as the enemy and regard Black officeholders as collaborators or minions of cops and corporations – and therefore, favor “socialism.” And that freaks out Al Sharpton and his bourgeois buddies, whose hall-passes through the corridors of power are predicated on their ability to maintain docility in Black America.

Sharpton’s failure to quickly defuse the Black Lives Matter phenomenon shriveled his stature in the corporate Democratic world. The fact that he and his cohorts could not convince Bezos that New York City was a compliant enough place for his new headquarters, threatens to make Sharpton wholly obsolete.

The pace of political change quickens. New world views are being shaped. Real socialists must make the most of it.

So it was in the case of Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, whose office dropped 16 felony counts against Black “Empire” actor hoaxer Jussie Smollett in spite of evidence that showed he staged a hate crime.

The city has now filed a lawsuit to make him reimburse the city for costs related to investigating his false claims. Supported and surrounded by a host of Black community leaders, including the Reverend Jesse Jackson, at a press conference, she said that criticism of her for dropping the charges against Smollett was based on racism.

At the press conference, U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, a co-founder of the Illinois Black Panther Party, said the Chicago police union was the “sworn enemy of Black people.” Even worse, so-called community activist Ja’Mal Green referred to police as the “Blue Klux Klan.” They assumed that Blacks in Chicago consider all cops, Black and White, including Black Superintendent Eddie Johnson, to be their enemy and would take their message as gospel.

in the city wonder where Foxx, Jackson, Rush, and Green have been in the last several years when Black-on-Black violence turned Chicago streets into urban killing fields?

And what was the state attorney’s reaction to her police being called the enemy of Black people and the “Blue Klux Klan”? Silence! The same for Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Mayor-Elect Lori Lightfoot, who will become Chicago’s first Black female mayor.

To the best of my knowledge, neither condemned these deplorable characterizations of their police.

Given the lack of support from elected officials, some would argue that since Chicago police can’t strike, perhaps on a given day a significant number should come down with a case of the “Blue Flu.” It’s time for Black Americans to let Black and White leftists know that disrespecting them by political and racial pandering won’t work. They are not that gullible!

Clarence V. McKee is a government, political and media relations consultant and president of McKee Communications, Inc., as well as a Newsmax.com conTo the contrary tributor. This article originally I would think that many Blacks appeared on Newsmax.com.

On various payrolls

moment is right, he’ll go through the motions of promoting reparations, too.

Reparations should not be a topic for national discussion until there is something akin to a consensus among Black people about what to demand and how to do it. The justness of the cause isn’t complicated, but the how and the why certainly are.

We have already seen politicians like former congressman John Conyers propose legislation to study reparations until he was a committee chairman in the majority and had the power to move it. As often happens with Democrats, he did nothing when he had the chance to back up what he claimed to want.

Now is the time for serious study among serious people. The wheel does not have to be reinvented. N’COBRA has already delved into the matter and declared that “reparations means full repair.” Sharpton and his ilk must stay out unless or until they are invited to have a seat at the table.

He was also on Michael Bloomberg’s payroll when the billionaire served as mayor of New York City.

In exchange for a $110,000 donation from a Bloomberg controlled non-profit, Sharpton refrained from opposing the mayor’s effort to gain an additional four years in office by ending term limits.

Sharpton also muted himself regarding Bloomberg’s notorious stop-and-frisk policy which resulted in one million police interactions for Black and Brown New Yorkers.

Al Sharpton knows a good Margaret Kimberley is a cothing when he sees one. He may take money from Roger Stone, or founder of BlackAgendaReport. promote charter schools with the com, and writes a weekly collikes of Newt Gingrich. When the umn there.

TOJ

A6

NATION & WORLD

APRIL 19 – APRIL 25, 2019

STOJ

rate at the time was around 20 percent.

Her income dipped to about $160,000 when she took office as state attorney general in 2011, and fell further the next two years. Harris made no charitable contributions her first three years in that job.

Charitable contributions After her marriage to Emhoff in 2014, Harris’ fortunes grew substantially. That year, the couple reported more than $1.3 million in income and paid more than $410,000 in taxes. They reported giving more than $60,000 to charity, including $15,000 to the American Cancer Society.

Those donations dropped in subsequent years, ranging from around $18,000 to $37,000.

The bulk of the giving was through Emhoff’s law firms; other favorite causes include UNICEF and Harris and Emhoff’s respective alma maters, Howard University and the University of Southern California.

Husband’s earnings

JACK KURTZ/ZUMA PRESS/TNS

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) waits to speak at a house party meet and greet for her presidential campaign in Des Moines, Iowa, on April 11.

What 15 years of tax returns show about Harris Documents show her earnings from prosecutor to senator

BY MELANIE MASON AND MATT PEARCE LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris released 15 years of tax returns on April 14, offering a glimpse into how the California public servant ascended the financial ranks to become a multimillionaire.

The documents span the entirety of Harris’ career in elected

office, from her $142,000 salary as San Francisco district attorney in 2004 to her current post as U.S. senator.

Harris and her husband, Los Angeles-based attorney Douglas Emhoff, jointly reported more than $2 million in income last year, for which they paid nearly $700,000 in taxes.

The tax returns mark the most sweeping look yet at a presidential contender’s personal finances, edging out Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar and Kirsten Gillibrand, who each have released more than a decade’s worth of tax documents.

Demanding Trump’s Sen. Bernie Sanders, an early front-runner for the 2020 Democratic nomination released 10 years of returns this week.

Meanwhile, Democrats ratcheted up pressure on President Donald Trump to hand over copies of his tax returns. Trump famously bucked decades of tradition by declining to divulge his returns during his 2016 campaign or since he entered office.

On April 13, Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Mass., who chairs the House Ways and Means Committee, sent a letter to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig demanding six years of the presi-

dent’s personal and business returns within 10 days.

“This request is about policy, not politics,” Neal wrote in the two-page letter. He cited a 1924 law that says the Treasury Department, which includes the IRS, “shall furnish” tax returns to Congress when requested.

Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney said last weekend that lawmakers would “never” see Trump’s returns.

Harris’ income Harris’ full disclosure is a “stark contrast” to Trump, her campaign said. The California senator also supports a proposed federal law that would require a president’s tax returns be made public.

Harris’ taxes were relatively straightforward in her early years of elected office. Her income as district attorney climbed from around $142,000 to just over $260,000 during her two terms in office; her average effective tax

Emhoff, a litigator specializing in intellectual property, was a partner at the firm Venable before he joined DLA Piper last year. The returns show Emhoff earning at least $1 million each year for his work.

In the five years the couple have filed joint returns, they have paid more than $2 million in taxes, with an average effective tax rate of more than 30%.

Also boosting the family coffers was Harris’ most recent book, “The Truths We Hold.”

Harris was paid more than $730,000 for the memoir and a companion children’s book, which were released in January.

She reported more than $400,000 in expenses relating to the project.

Three mortgages The tax returns are just the latest insight into Harris’ finances, supplementing the disclosures that she and other members of Congress must file annually.

Harris’ most recent U.S. Senate filing for 2017 said that the couple held somewhere between $2.2 million and $5.4 million in assets, split among bank accounts, mutual funds, retirement plans and Emhoff’s partnership stake in Venable.

The U.S. Senate disclosure did not include real estate, but listed more than $2.1 million in three mortgages taken out by the couple.

CDC study: Herbal supplement linked to 100 overdose deaths PHILADELPHIA TRIBUNE/TNS

Kratom, the popular but unregulated herbal supplement derived from a Southeast Asian tree, has been linked to 91 overdose deaths in the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported last week.

In the study, the CDC looked at data on 27,338 overdose deaths reported from 11 states from July 2016 to June 2017 and in 27 states from July 2017 to December 2017.

Kratom was detected in postmortem toxicology testing for 152 deaths.

In 91 of those cases, medical examiners or coroners concluded that kratom was the cause of death, including seven where the herbal product was the only substance found on postmortem testing. Of those cases, 69 were men and 22 were women.

Opioid withdrawal use In about 80 percent of the deaths where kratom was found, the subject had a history of substance misuse, and approximately 90 percent had no evidence they were being medically treated for pain.

Advocates say Kratom can relieve pain and help with opioid withdrawal and promote a sense of well-being.

The report also stated that the number of kratom-positive deaths may be an underestimate.

The data was pulled from the State Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System. Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware are among the states that reported their findings between July 2017 and December 2017.

Where it’s banned Other drugs found in the post-mortem testing included fentanyl, heroin, prescription opioids and alcohol, according to the report.

The report also stated there were 1,807 calls to the national poison center concerning reported exposure to kratom from 2011 to 2017.

Kratom is sold online, in gas stations and smoke shops, and is typically brewed as a tea, chewed, smoked or ingested in capsules.

It is banned in several countries, including Australia, Denmark, Germany, Malaysia and Thailand, as well as several U.S. states and municipalities.

OLATUNJI OBASA/XIHUA/SIPA USA/TNS

In a May 19, 2016 photo, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, front right, talks to a rescued Chibok schoolgirl at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Nigeria.

Nearly five years since girls kidnapped in Nigeria GLOBAL INFORMATION NETWORK

The 112 girls kidnapped from a boarding school in Nigeria and still being held by Boko Haram will have spent five years in captivity if they are not released by next Sunday.

That was the sad message released by members of the Bring Back Our Girls movement who have been urging more action by the Ni-

gerian government to locate and free the girls.

Over 200 students of the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State were abducted by the terrorists on the night of April 14, 2014.

Over a hundred of them were released following pressure from the federal government, the intervention of activist Nigerians and the International Red Cross.

Subject of drama The girls have already spent 1,819 days in Boko Haram captivity. “This is not a date we ever imagined we would come to,” they wrote on a social media platform.

Four of the young women who managed to escape from the kidnappers now study at Dickenson College in Pennsylvania. The students are all on full scholarship funded by the Nigerian government’s Victim Support Fund and the Murtala Mohammed Foundation.

Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., a drama titled “The Chibok Girls: Our Story” will be presented at the CrossCurrents festival on selected dates in April and May. Nigerian poet-dramatist Soyinka, now 84, will appear alongside Nigeria’s Renegade Theatre for the performance.

“Chibok Girls” was written and directed by Wole Oguntokun, artistic director of Renegade Theatre and Founder of Theatre Republic.

In a related development, the Nigeria Security Tracker, a project of the Council on Foreign Relations’ Africa program, documents and maps violence in Nigeria that is motivated by political, economic, or social grievances. The tracker can be viewed at the website: https://www. cfr.org/nigeria/nigeria-securitytracker/p29483 Global Information Network creates and distributes news and feature articles on current affairs in Africa to media outlets, scholars, students and activists in the U.S. and Canada.

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An art gallery is one of the places you can check out on Royal Street.

‘Where the trad jazz happens’ On New Orleans’ Royal Street, the music is sweet, history is deep

WHERE TO LISTEN AND LEARN

BY CHRISTOPHER REYNOLDS LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

W

hen I set out last year to write about great American music venues, the idea was to pick buildings whose histories are steeped in music, including familiar names such as Carnegie Hall in New York and half-hidden treasures such as Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa, Oklahoma. New Orleans reshaped my thinking.

This city’s musical roots are found largely outdoors, including the slave gatherings that brought West African rhythms to Congo Square in the 18th century; the brass bands that have been marching since the 19th century; the jazz and heritage festival that has been filling the city fairgrounds every spring since 1969; and the street performers who depend on the French Quarter’s foot traffic the way Spanish moss depends on the branches of Louisiana’s stately oaks.

For four days in early March (including Mardi Gras), I haunted a mile of Royal Street.

That included 13 blocks through the French Quarter and three blocks leading to Frenchmen Street, where about a dozen music clubs are concentrated.

WIKIPEDIA

Doreen Ketchens performs at the French Quarter Jazz Festival in New Orleans. quires no permits and sets few time limits.

On my third day, wandering near Royal and Frenchmen, I got caught in a sonic riot called Mission Delirium — a San Francisco brass band on a working holiday in New Orleans.

Eighteen musicians playing to win.

By the time I arrived, they were well into their set. Widespread dancing. One horn player was rolling around on the pavement while another crawled through shrubs. The four percussionists, as lively as Energizer Bunnies, cavorted and collided.

I didn’t recognize the tunes, but their chops and showmanship won me over. Who knew you could play a reed instrument while doing the limbo? Who knew a triangle player could swing?

“There’s something different about the way music is received” in New Orleans, said baritone sax player Nick Rous of San Francisco.

Why Royal?

It’s one of the city’s oldest streets, dating to the early 18th century. Several of its blocks are closed to cars from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. most weekdays and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. most weekends.

Bourbon Street’s loud bars and drunken crowds make busking or street performances all but impossible, but this stretch of Royal invites it with art galleries, antique and jewelry shops and restaurants. The proprietors aren’t wild about having buskers in front of their carefully curated windows, but that’s the way it’s been for decades.

“Royal Street is where the trad jazz happens,” sax player Aeryk Parker told me. “If you need money, you walk down the street and hope somebody needs a reed player.”

Sometimes, “you end up playing with musicians you don’t know. It’s great,” said Stefano Barigazzi, a 22-year-old singer and blues guitarist who came from Italy to work these streets.

Living a dream You get all kinds, especially since YouTube has encouraged more musicians from elsewhere to try their luck here. You might see the dreamy young singer whose every song is marred by her hyperactive drummer.

The Christian puppet show with live accordion music. The bearded quartet whose careful grooming, vintage attire, Gypsy jazz repertoire and Gallic nonchalance all whispered

French Quarter set CHRISTOPHER REYNOLDS/LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

Listen and learn at the Spotted Cat Music Club on Frenchmen Street in New Orleans.

Montmartre, 1925.

But finding Ketchens was harder. She and her band typically play on weekend afternoons and evenings, but Mardi Gras week does strange things to everyone’s schedule.

First day, no Ketchens. Second day, no Ketchens.

Fortunately, there was still plenty to hear.

I mostly gravitated toward traditional jazz players. Whenever I stayed for longer than one song, I tipped at least $1, sometimes $5, a couple of times $10.

Few time limits These musicians follow rules that are largely unwritten. After decades of skirmishing over who can do what in the street and when, the city has imposed limits on volume but re-

Their set would have been enough to make my day. But minutes later, in the French Quarter, a gaggle of jazz players launched into “Sweet Georgia Brown.”

By the time they moved on to “Darktown Strutters’ Ball,” they had gathered a crowd of 30 or more, including a bicyclist who paused to hand them bananas.

“We’re the St. Peter’s Orchestra,” one horn player announced. I guessed that they were seasoned band mates, judging by how the five members traded solos and moved from tune to tune. But, no, this lineup had been assembled on the fly, and none of them was raised in Louisiana.

Paid money, weed Aeryk Parker, the front man on vocals and sax, had been splitting time between New Orleans and Denver. Former Angeleno Smitti Supab, on stand-up bass, had been in town for six years. Lamar Anderson Clark, another former Angeleno who arrived four years ago, was playing rhythm guitar.

See JAZZ, Page B3

• Preservation Hall, 726 St. Peter St., New Orleans; (504) 5222841, preservationhall. com/hall. Five 45-minute traditional jazz shows nightly between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. All ages. Tickets $20-$50. Most tickets are general admission at the door (cash only), requiring a wait of 30 minutes or more before the show. No alcohol sold inside.

• Spotted Cat, 623 Frenchmen St., New Orleans; spottedcatmusicclub. com. Jazz nightly, different acts at 2, 6 and 10 p.m. Cash only; 21 and older.

• Louisiana Music Factory, 421 Frenchmen St., New Orleans; (504) 586-1094, louisianamusicfactory. com. CDs, vinyl, sheet music and other merch.

• New Orleans Jazz Museum, 400 Esplanade Ave., New Orleans; (504) 5686993, nolajazzmuseum. org. Admission $6 for adults.

• New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, 916 N. Peters St., New Orleans, (504) 589-4841, nps.gov/jazz/ index.htm

TO LEARN MORE

French Quarter, bit.ly/ royalstreetguide

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FOOD

APRIL 19 – APRIL 25, 2019

Crowd-pleasing Easter brunch

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FROM FAMILY FEATURES

Easter is a time to celebrate with friends and family. You can create a crowd-pleasing brunch with affordable, high-qualityingredients, wine and tablescape decor. Elevate your holiday brunch beyond an egg casserole with a Spiral Ham with Red Wine and Citrus Glaze as the centerpiece for your table.

Finish the meal with a Mini Blueberry Chocolate Tart for a dessert that’s perfect for spring. Combining sweet and fruity notes, this treat can leave your guests craving more.

Find ingredients for these recipes at ALDI, which offers high-quality fresh and affordable foods to help yo put together a vibrant spread.

From brunch essentials and beverages to fruits, veggies, snacks and more, you can make Easter pop. Plus, there are chocolates, candy and flowers to ad a splash of color to your table or any Easter basket.

Find additional recipes at ALDI.us.

MINI BLUEBERRY CHOCOLATE TART Recipe courtesy of Chef Michelle, ALDI Test Kitchen Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 17 minutes Servings: 12 1 Bake House Creations Pie Crust 1 1/2 tablespoons Sweet Additions Stevia No Calorie Sweetener 1 cup fresh blueberries 1 Choceur Dark Chocolate Bar (2.64 ounces), chopped

SPIRAL HAM WITH RED WINE AND CITRUS GLAZE Recipe courtesy of Rebecca Gallop (@ adailysomething) on behalf of ALDI Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 10-12 minutes per pound of ham Ham: 1 Appleton Farms Spiral Cut Double Glazed Brown Sugar Ham (about 4 pounds), reserving liquid Glaze: 1/2 cup Intermingle Red Blend wine 1/4 cup Nature’s Nectar orange juice 1/4 cup Specially Selected 100% Pure Maple Syrup 1/2 cup Simply Nature Organic Light Brown Sugar 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary 1 dash salt

Sunday Dinner It’s so much more than a meal. It’s love.

Find new dishes to gather around at publix.com/sundaydinner.

2 tablespoons Burman’s Dijon Mustard To make ham: Heat oven to 325 F. Place ham in roasting pan on rack. Pour reserved liquid over ham and cover tightly with foil. Bake 10-12 minutes per pound.

To make glaze: In small pan, combine wine, orange juice, syrup, brown sugar, rosemary and salt.

Heat to boil then lower to rapid simmer until mixture begins to thicken and reduce, about 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and whisk in mustard.

When ham is 10 minutes from being done, remove from oven and increase temperature to 400 F. Remove foil and brush ham thoroughly with glaze.

Place ham back in oven, uncovered, about 10 minutes, or until ham reaches internal temperature of 140 F. Remove ham from oven and let sit 10 minutes.

Slice and serve.

Heat oven to 400 F. Cut 1-2 sheets of parchment paper into 5-by-5-inch squares.

Line each cup of 12-cup muffin pan with one square parchment paper.

Roll out pie crust and cut 12 circles, 2 inches each, with cookie cutter. Press each circle into lined muffin cup In medium bowl, combine sweetener, blueberries and chocolate. Divide mixture among pie crusts.Bake 17 minutes until chocolate melts.

Allow to cool and serve.

APRIL 19 – APRIL 25, 2019

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EVENTS & FINEST

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FLORIDA COMMUNITY CALENDAR Clearwater: Patti LaBelle is scheduled at Ruth Eckerd Hall on April 25 for an 8 p.m. show Miami: The Kaya Fest is April 20 at the Bayfront Park Amphitheater featuring the Marley Brothers, Busta Rhymes and Sean Paul.

Orlando: Maze featuring Frankie Beverly will be at Hard Rock Live Orlando on April 20.

NADIA BATSON LIL NATTY & THUNDA

Clearwater: Catch the Temptations and the Four Tops on April 27 at Ruth Eckerd Hall or April 28 at the Florida Theatre Jacksonville.

Boca Raton: Saxophonist Eric Darius performs April 20 at The Funky Biscuit.

The Tampa Bay Caribbean Carnival Festival is 1 p.m. April 20 at the Florida State Fairgrounds.

Performers include Nadia Batson, Lil Natty & Thunda, J’Nelle, and the Island Rebel Band.

‘WOBBLE’ CONTEST

Orlando: On Wednesdays in April, the Florida Department of Health or Orange County will conduct free STD testing from 7:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. The clinic is at 832 W. Central Blvd. More info: 407-858-1445

Orlando’s Tinker Field will be the site of the “Wobble’’ dance Guinness World Record attempt on April 27. Registration, 8 a.m.; dance event, 10 a.m. More info: 407-8721333 or info@hebninutrition.org.

GUINNESS WORLD RECORD

JAZZ from B1 Nathaniel Ruiz, on tenor sax, came from Illinois. Blanche Methe, who sat in on trumpet, had arrived three weeks before from Montreal.

As the crowd dispersed, the players huddled to count the take — more than $200 and a bag of weed.

“There’s no club owner telling me what to play. I’m getting

paid to have fun and learn,” Supab said.

History lesson The downsides, Methe said, are that you never know if a spot will be open, tips will be rotten if it rains, “and sometimes you have all brass players and no rhythm section.”

That same day, I stopped by the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park’s office on North Peters Street, where interpretive ranger Jon Beebe was giving a talk on the roots of jazz and local traditions of competition and

mentorship.

You probably know about Louis Armstrong, Beebe told a group of mostly foreign tourists, but Armstrong built on the innovations of King Oliver. And Oliver built on the innovations of Buddy Bolden.

Bolden, a cornet player, pioneered improvisation while marching and playing French Quarter clubs in the first years of the 20th century. He died penniless in an asylum, and there are no known recordings of him, leaving jazz hounds to wander the neighborhood and imagine his echoes.

finest

FLORIDA’S 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

Clearwater: The free Ginormous Easter Egg Hunt in Coachman Park is April 21. The park opens at 11; the hunt is at 12:30 p.m.

Tampa: Bishop T.D. Jakes’ International Pastors and Leadership Conference is April 25-27 at the Tampa Convention Center.

Details: Pastorsandleaders.org Jacksonville: Catch India.Arie on April 30 at the Florida Theatre Jacksonville.

Miami Gardens: The Ninth Annual Easter Family Fun Day and Sky Egg Drop is April 20 at Rolling Oaks Park.

Orlando: The Temptations will perform April 30 at the Dr. Phillips Center.

Jacksonville: Catch Kem on May 4 at the Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts.

Fort Lauderdale: Macy Gray performs May 5 at the Parker Playhouse.

CHRISTOPHER REYNOLDS/LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

Musician Jason Jurzak poses on Royal Street in New Orleans.

In Bolden’s time, Beebe said, “there used to be bands almost on every street corner.” It was “the proving ground before you could be able to play on the riverboats.”

Popular acts In recent years, Beebe said, one of the most popular acts on the street was a duo, Tanya Huang, a violinist born in Taiwan, and Dorise Blackmon, a guitarist from New Orleans. They split in 2017, but Huang is still a regular at the corner of Royal and St. Louis streets.

Then there’s Tuba Skinny, an eight-member group that focuses on traditional jazz, ragtime and Depression-era blues. (The name is a nod to local musician Tuba Fats, who died in 2004.) They’ve been playing Royal Street and local clubs since 2009.

But at the top of list, Beebe said, is Ketchens. “She’s technically amazing. And she has more songs memorized than I’ll ever learn.”

I sighed and bought one of her CDs at the Louisiana Music Factory on Frenchmen Street.

More jazz, gumbo By my last day in town, I’d inspected Armstrong’s first cornet at the New Orleans Jazz Museum, sampled gumbo at half a dozen restaurants and watched the fast fingers of “Plink” Floyd, Wednesday night banjo player at Cafe Beignet.

I’d heard the Royal Street Winding Boys at the Spotted Cat. I’d caught the traditional jazz show in Preservation Hall.

There was time for just one more walk on Royal. I’d barely begun when an arresting sound cut through the street noise.

A clarinet playing “Summertime” in front of Rouses Market.

I edged through the knot of people so I could see a tiny, smiling African American woman seated in a lawn chair. Fur hat, box of CDs at her side.

Catching Ketchens She was Doreen Ketchens, joined by her husband, Lawrence, on tuba, a trombone player, guitarist, drummer and a semicircle of six buckets, all rapidly filling with bills.

Ketchens, raised in the city’s Treme neighborhood and classically trained, has toured the

world, played for four U.S. presidents and released about two dozen CDs. Last year she played “Just a Closer Walk With Thee” with the Louisiana Philharmonic.

She’s also admired as an educator.

Until I saw her on the street, I didn’t realize she also sings, and she does it well. But the clarinet solos — they’re in another category.

When the moment arrived, she grabbed her clarinet, furrowed her brow and leaned back and blew. If her eyes had been open, she’d have seen the thirdfloor wrought-iron railings of the 1830s LaBranche House across the street.

Respect on the street At first I was surprised by how many notes Ketchens could fit into a measure — loud, clean, fleeting notes that knew exactly where they were going. Then she hit a high note and held it, measure after measure, until I couldn’t hold my breath anymore.

Later, when I asked her how she ended up playing Royal Street, she said, “I fell in love with a tuba player. … I can only say so much. But I never was a club person. I never was a night person.”

Playing on the street, she said, “we had our bouts with the police where we lost at first. And then we won.” Now, she said, “there’s a level of respect that’s working.”

As for her fellow performers, “there’s a lot of people coming here from other places … and they play good music too.”

About halfway through her set, Ketchens noticed a horn player perched on his instrument case.

“What you sittin’ on?” she called out to him. “Want to join us?”

Applause for Parker He was Aeryk Parker, the sax player I’d met the day before.

He’d never been invited to play with Ketchens. He pulled out his horn, told her his name was Parker and joined her on “Royal Garden Blues.”

They raced through it, traded solos and joined for a snappy finish.

“A hand for Parker, y’all!” hollered Ketchens.

The applause rang up and down the block.

“Incredible,” said Parker later, looking at the queen of Royal Street. “Something to aspire to.”

SOURCES: CANDY FAVORITES.COM, BLUEPLANETBIOMES.ORG

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DECORATE AN EGG

While you wait for that juicy ham to pop out of the oven, move your plate to the side and enjoy the puzzle challenges on this Easter placemat. If you don’t finish before dinner is served, never fear: There’s bound to be plenty of time after you finish your meal. Happy Easter!

7. Hawaii and Florida are the only places in the U.S. that can grow this popular filling.

Unscramble each word, then combine the circled letters and unscramble them for the final message.

EASTER WORD SCRAMBLE

COT TONTAIL E GGS JE L LY BE AN DE CORAT E GRAS S JE S US DY E HOL IDAY L AM B APRIL CANDY CHICK E AS TER HOP L ILY CHOCOLATE COTTONTAIL DECORATE

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Down 1. Favorite candy of President Ronald Reagan 2. A favorite nutty treat often paired with chocolate 4. Egg-shaped malted candy 5. An essential ingredient in s’mores 7. Hawaii and Florida are the only two states that can grow this

HOLIDAY WORD SEEK

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APRIL 19 – APRIL 25, 2019

PUZZLES BY JENNIFER PRITCHARD/MCT

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ILLUSTRATIONS BY LAURIE MCADAM/THE MODESTO BEE/MCT

EGG HUNT MAZE

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CANDY CROSSWORD

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