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AUGUST 31 – SEPTEMBER 6, 2018

VOLUME 26 NO. 35

YOUR NEXT GOVERNOR? It all depends on who shows up at the polls in November.

COMPILED FROM WIRE REPORTS

Just weeks ago, Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, age 39, was treated by many people as little more than an afterthought in Florida’s crowded Democratic primary for governor.

But a stunning victory Tuesday instantly catapulted Gillum onto the national stage in what is certain to be one of the country’s most closely watched gubernatorial races, as he faces off against Republican Congressman Ron DeSantis, an acolyte of President Donald Trump.

Black voters were critical FLORIDA COURIER FILES

Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gilliam shocked the world by winning Florida’s Democratic gubernatorial election on Tuesday.

Gillum had plenty of support from Black activists and political leaders.

From the beginning of the campaign, he visited Black churches.

And at the end of the campaign,

KATHERINE JOHNSON / ‘HIDDEN FIGURES’

‘Girl who loved to count’ celebrates 100th

he spent much of the final weekend in South Florida campaigning in communities with many Black voters.

One photo showed Gillum as the only Democratic candidate for governor sitting at a table at a candidate forum organized by the NAACP’s Hillsborough chapter.

Susan MacManus, a retired University of South Florida political science professor, said Gillum benefited from a surge of support in the state’s urban areas, suggesting Black turnout played a role in his victory. The results also point to a changing Democratic Party that is moving toward more diverse and younger candidates, she said.

A shift “This election reflects a huge generational shift in Florida politics,” she said. “It is clear the older generation has passed the baton to the younger generation of Democrats. This is going to be See GILLUM, Page A2

National hotspot All eyes on Florida elections

BY ANTHONY MAN AND SKYLER SWISHER SUN SENTINEL / TNS

FORT LAUDERDALE – Hang on, Florida. It’s going to be a wild ride until November.

For the next 10 weeks, Democrats and Republicans will battle over two of the top election contests in the country, for Florida governor and one of the state’s seats in the U.S. Senate.

No surprise in the U.S. Senate race: Republican Gov. Rick Scott will challenge Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson.

But voters delivered an unexpected showdown in the race for governor.

President Donald Trump-endorsed U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis will square off against Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, who has campaigned with liberal icon U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Both defeated establishment favorites – former Democratic U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham and Republican Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam.

Gillum is the first Black nominee for Florida governor from either major party.

See HOTSPOT, Page A2

SNAPSHOTS FLORIDA | A3

Former NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson is seen after President Barack Obama presented her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015. Mrs. Johnson, whose story was told in the movie “Hidden Figures,” turned 100 on Aug. 26.

Trump says ‘fantastic job’ despite thousands dying Death toll soars

BY CHRIS SOMMERFELDT NEW YORK DAILY NEWS / TNS

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump on Wednesday claimed his administration did a “fantastic job” in Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria – even though the island’s governor had announced a day earlier that nearly 3,000 people died in the devastating storm.

“I think we did a fantastic job in Puerto Rico,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “We have put billions and billions of dollars into Puerto Rico. It was a very tough one.”

ALSO INSIDE

President Donald Trump The president added, “I think most of the people in Puerto Rico really appreciate what we’ve done.”

Trump’s comments came a day after Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello said his administration was updating Hurricane Maria’s official death toll from 64 to 2,975 following the release of an independent study conducted by George Washington University’s Milken Institute of Public Health.

Critics ripped Trump over his latest remarks.

“To suggest your Administration did a ‘fantastic job’ in Puerto Rico is an affront See TRUMP, Page A2

Congressional winners include Demings, Lawson Shaw wins Dem race for attorney general FLORIDA | A6

Lawmakers support review of Stand Your Ground

GUEST COMMENTARY: FELICIA M. DAVIS: EPA ROLLBACKS WILL HURT PEOPLE OF COLOR | A4 GUEST COMMENTARY: CLARENCE V. MCKEE: TRUMP WAY AHEAD OF GOP ON BLACK VOTE | A5

FOCUS

A2

AUGUST 31 – SEPTEMBER 6, 2018

In Florida and Georgia, it’s ‘Two the Hard Way’ Congratulations to the two African-American candidates for governor that won Democratic primary elections in Georgia and in Florida! I pray their efforts to become governors will result in good government and widespread satisfaction of each and every citizen they seek to represent.

I don’t know Georgia’s Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Georgia State Rep. Stacey Abrams, the first Black female major party gubernatorial nominee in the United States.

But I do know Tallahassee’s Mayor Andrew Gillum, who upset a former member of the U.S. Congress, a former South Florida big-city mayor, and a billionaire to take the Florida Democratic primary for governor.

Split vote I also know that in the nation’s 2018 political primary elections, as in every other United States election, White voters are divided.

“vote Black” in November!

Yes, the Black candidates for governor are just as qualified for public service as any other candidates.

LUCIUS GANTT

Where are the Blacks?

THE GANTT REPORT

Abrams and Gillum both cruised to victory behind the energetic and enthusiastic votes cast by Blacks, Hispanics, immigrants, students and workingclass people. In Gillum’s case, I wonder what the end would have been if Gillum only had to face one White challenger instead of three?

And they both got huge political and financial support from wealthy political action committees, rich political donors and influential politicians like U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders.

Both candidates’ primary success suggests that Blacks will turn out in even higher numbers than they did in the primaries, as Black independents with no party affiliations are expected to

However, if you look at campaign finance records, the two Blacks running for governor in Georgia and Florida seem to agree that there are no Blacks qualified to hold highly-paid or decision-making positions in either campaign.

A rudimentary glance at campaign spending reports show little or no spending with Black media, Black printers, Black pollsters, Black advertising agencies, Black professional consultants and the like.

Both Abrams and Gillum had millions to hire people and allocate dollars in their primary races. But finding Blacks with highpaying campaign jobs, to them, was like trying to find a needle in a haystack!

If you don’t know, million-dollar and other big campaign contributors expect candidates to give them prime access, at least, and control of a candidate’s government proposals, at most.

I’ll tell them I wish both candidates well in their quest to make political history in the South and in the country.

If they ask me, I will help them because they need assistance from staff and consultants that they can trust. If they don’t ask, best wishes!

Governors get to appoint a lot of people to high state government positions. Governors are over state offices of management and budgets. They can appoint state judges, they can impact jails and correctional facilities, they can fund (or not fund) affordable health care programs. They are over state lotteries and many other state agencies where they can hire, fire and dole out contracts

in state purchasing transactions.

We must make demands In November, we have to elect the right candidates. We also have to demand that they do the right things once elected in office.

Both Stacey and Andrew will be attacked viciously before November about non-payment of bills and taxes, about City Hall investigations, about activists, about socialists, about Zionists and much more.

Becoming Black governors is harder than they think. But perhaps Abrams and Gillum can make it happen via “Two the Hard Way!”

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.

HOTSPOT from A1 The marquee contests could be unusually volatile because of Trump, who already has injected himself into both contests, and the political effects of the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Trump factor Democrats are itching for chances to repudiate Trump, who strongly supports – and is supported by – DeSantis and Scott. A president’s party often doesn’t do well in the next midterm election.

Though Trump’s approval rating in Florida is underwater – more negative than positive – he’s more popular in the Sunshine State than he is nationwide.

“It used to be we’d say all politics is local,” said Kevin Wagner, a political scientist at Florida Atlantic University. “The idea was races were won based on local issues. The trend line is away from that. National issues have started to dominate even regional elections.”

Stoneman Douglas The Feb. 14 massacre has energized young voters and people who want gun control, but there’s no way to know if that will result in a surge of people who actually go to the polls to reward or punish politicians.

GILLUM from A1 the bellwether gubernatorial election for a nation whose demographics are changing.”

Gillum made no secret of his strategy of relying on Black voters – and others he claims have historically been ignored by candidates – to boost him to victory in the primary.

Gillum frequently points out that his party has lost each of the last two governor’s races in Florida by fewer than 70,000 votes, despite having what he described as “good candidates” he actively worked to help elect.

“What we have failed to do is to turn out the very base of voters that we need if we want to win. They’re largely Black voters, Brown voters, younger voters and poor voters,” he told the News Service of Florida in a recent interview.

But, the mayor conceded, those voters are also “a different and difficult constituency to motivate and organize,” especially because they tend to stay home during midterm elections.

Outside help That’s where grassroots aid comes in from groups like NextGen, the group that targets young voters; the Florida Immigrant Rights Coalition; Color of Change; New Florida Majority; and a slew of other organizations that target minority voters.

“We are ecstatic about Andrew’s victory. It shows that Democratic voters are looking for someone who shares the experiences and values that

FLORIDA COURIER FILES

In November, Florida voters will send President Donald Trump – who has inserted himself in state elections large and small – a message.

Purple state Florida isn’t Democratic blue or Republican red, and ultraclose contests are the rule in high-profile Florida races. Margins of victory in the last two governor’s races and the last two presidential contests have been about 1 percentage point.

In the U.S. Senate, 35 seats are up for election this year, and Florida is one of eight races considered to be a “toss up” by the Cook Political Report.

“This is going to be a closely watched race, and it might decide who is in charge of the Sen-

they do and are looking for people who stand up and tell the truth and run an authentic and unapologetic campaign,” Olivia Bercow, a spokeswoman for NextGen America, told the News Service.

NextGen issued more than 300,000 text messages, knocked on 80,000 doors and made “a crazy amount of calls” on Gillum’s behalf, Bercow said.

“So we will be doubling down on those efforts to make sure that Andrew is elected in November and defeats Ron DeSantis,” she said. “We’re definitely in this race for the long haul.”

Progressive support Black voters didn’t account for all of Gillum’s win. Statewide, Blacks are 28 percent of the state’s registered Democratic voters.

Gillum also drew the support of national liberal groups and donors, including progressive patriarch U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Joe Culotta, a GOP communications consultant, tracked Google data showing how many people were searching for candidates. He noticed a surge in searches after Gillum appeared with Sanders at rallies in Tampa and Orlando on Aug. 17. By election day, Gillum had built a double-digit search lead, Culotta said.

Gillum also benefited from donations and spending on his behalf by billionaires George Soros and Tom Steyer, and from the Collective, a super political action committee supporting Gillum. The super PAC was responsible for attacks on Graham that labeled her as too much like a Republican to be acceptable

ate – Democrats or Republicans,” Wagner said.

Scott has been battering U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., with negative ads – but the race has stayed essentially the same for months, according to public opinion polls. Nelson, who is seeking a fourth term and begins television advertising Wednesday, hasn’t faced a challenger with Scott’s money and political skills before.

Millions spent Scott’s campaign has already spent nearly $28 million, compared with the $6 million expended by Nelson’s campaign,

to Democrats.

Which base will vote?

While Gillum hopes to make history as the Sunshine State’s first Black governor, DeSantis is trying to parlay his support from Trump into a gubernatorial win.

But the question remains whether either candidate can translate his primary election victory into a November triumph.

“What you’ve got is the ultimate base-turnout election on both sides. Ron DeSantis isn’t going to reach a bunch of moderates in the middle, and neither is Andrew Gillum.

These are two guys who represent the absolute edge of their parties,” GOP consultant Rick Wilson, the author of the book “Everything Trump Touches Dies,” told The News Service of Florida on Wednesday.

Gillum’s challenge in November lies in wooing independent voters and more mainstream Democrats, according to experts.

Needs a coalition “He’s going to have to put together an Obama-esque coalition. He can’t just do it with progressives. He can’t just do it with African-Americans.

The key is to look at Hispanic voters in Florida. Who’s going to be his running mate? You’re going to have to energize this growing group of moderate Hispanics,” University of Florida political-science professor Daniel Smith told the News Service.

Gillum will have to “try to define himself to a broader general electorate than Democratic primary super voters” to pull off a November win, Smith predicted.

according to the Center for Responsive Politics. With a net worth of more than $232 million, Scott can draw on his wealth to help fund his campaign. He’s poured more than $20 million of his own money into his Senate bid, the Center for Responsive Politics reports.

A former hospital executive, Scott spent about $75 million of his fortune on his successful 2010 campaign for governor and about $13 million during his 2014 re-election campaign.

Republicans have won the gubernatorial elections in 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014.

The key for Gillum, as with most Democratic candidates in midterm election years like 2018, is to “get the base out,” said Florida Democratic consultant Matthew Isbell, who supported Graham.

“At the end of the day, you don’t know what the White moderate independents are going to do. You need to get your base out because DeSantis is certainly going to galvanize his base,” Isbell said.

Nothing for them Gillum can sway White, working-class voters by emphasizing that the GOP, which has had control of the governor’s mansion and the state Legislature for nearly two decades, “hasn’t done much for them,” and that “the quality of life has eroded under their watch,” Isbell advised.

Gillum needs to generate excitement among Democrats and gin up animosity toward DeSantis, who is “a pretty strong bogeyman for progressives and moderates,” Isbell said.

“This is a test. The argument from progressives was that you needed a dynamic candidate to bring people out. Well, now is the test. This is the laboratory of that test. In the third-largest state of the nation, we have nominated a dynamic liberal who excites a lot of people.

The question now is, will they show up?” Isbell said.

Dara Kam of the News Service of Florida; Anthony Man and Skyler Swisher of Sun Sentinel / TNS all contributed to this report.

Democrats are clamoring to reverse that trend in 2018.

Election ‘is life’ The governor’s race has enormous consequences, said Marsha Ellison, president of the Fort Lauderdale-Broward County branch of the NAACP. “It’s going to determine, probably, our next three Florida Supremes (court justices), the direction of our public schools, the future of Stand Your Ground, which means this election is life,” Ellison said. “This election is the difference between life and death for our community.”

TRUMP from A1 not just to the families of the 2,975 Puerto Rican people who died after Maria, but to all residents of the Island and to all Americans!” Rep. Nydia Velazqeuz, D-N.Y., tweeted.

Carmen Yulin Cruz, the mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico’s capital, said Trump’s remarks show he’s “incapable of feeling solidarity and empathy.”

‘Left to die’ “It is your fault, Mr. President. …

You left us here to die because you were more concerned of the political spin than about the healing reality that we were dying and now that number, 2975, will follow him wherever he goes for the rest of his life,” Cruz said during an appearance on MSNBC. Trump’s Wednesday comments were a far cry from his rhetoric in the wake of Hurricane Maria.

Days after the hurricane made landfall in Puerto Rico on Sept. 20, 2017, Trump traveled to the island and criticized local leaders for throwing their “budget a little out of whack,” saying residents should be “proud” only 16 people died, as the government estimated at the time, as opposed to a “real catastrophe” like Hurricane Katrina.

Katrina, which hit the U.S. Gulf Coast in 2005, killed 1,833 people.

Different response Cruz and other local leaders have accused the Trump administration of responding slower to Maria than it did to Harvey in Texas and Irma in Florida.

“Mr. Trump do your job,” Cruz said at a news conference in November 2017. “Lives are at stake.”

At least 1,000 Puerto Ricans were still without power as of earlier this month, according to local authorities.

AUGUST 31 – SEPTEMBER 6, 2018

POLITICS

A3

Florida State Rep. Sean Shaw, above, won the Democratic nomination on Tuesday night. He will face former Hillsborough County Circuit Judge Ashley Moody in November.

Shaw closer to becoming attorney general Shaw to face Moody in attorney general race

BY JIM TURNER NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

TALLAHASSEE – Former Hillsborough County Circuit Judge Ashley Moody, who had to counter attacks by her primary opponent about being registered in the past as a Democrat, advanced Tuesday as the Republican nomAshley inee for attorney Moody general.

Meanwhile, state Rep. Sean Shaw of Tampa won the Democratic nomination as he continues his bid to become the state’s first African-American attorney general.

Moody and Shaw will face off in November with Jeff Siskind, an at-

torney from Wellington running without a party affiliation to replace term-limited Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Moody’s speech In a victory speech at the Floridan Palace Hotel in Tampa, Moody thanked supporters and pointed to issues that motivated her to run – “the opioid epidemic, abuse by scammers, trafficking, violence, and increased attacks on the men and women in law enforcement.”

“I embarked on this venture knowing that I had the right experience and passion to move the ball on these tough issues, and I carry with me the great expectations of those who have trusted me and given me the great honor of their support,” Moody said.

medical marijuana.

“This election will be a debate over whether this state continues to move backwards or chooses to progress in a more open and inclusive manner,” Shaw said. “It’s that simple, the choice could not be clearer.”

On making history Shaw also acknowledge his position as the first African-American nominee for attorney general in state history.

“That means something to me because I know that somewhere, my father, Leander J. Shaw, Jr., the first African-American chief justice of the Supreme Court of Florida, is looking down on me, proud of the progress that this state has made,” Shaw said in a prepared statement.

Shaw’s response

‘A stark contrast’

Shaw said over the next two months Floridians will have a choice on topics ranging from abortion rights and regulation of gun ownership to health care and

Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Terrie Rizzo said Shaw will advocate for Floridians with pre-existing health conditions, take on the gun lobby, and

take meaningful action in the opioid crisis by holding manufacturers and drug traffickers accountable.

Rizzo added that Shaw will counter Moody’s message of eight more years of Bondi’s policies.

“Sean offers a stark contrast to Ashley Moody who will continue Pam Bondi’s cruel legacy of fighting civil rights, medical marijuana, and leading the fight to take away health care for nearly 7 million Floridians with pre-existing conditions,” Rizzo said in a statement.

Bondi for Moody Bondi gave her endorsement early to Moody, 43, who stepped down as a judge in April 2017, after just over a decade in the position, to run for attorney general.

In a highly contentious primary for the Cabinet post, Republican voters gave the nod to Moody over state Rep. Frank White of Pensacola, who pumped $3.5 million of his own money into the race.

Moody, who has been a registered Republican since college,

used ads to tout endorsements from law-enforcement officials, including Bondi, but also to denounce White as simply a “car salesman turned politician” with no prosecutorial experience.

Contentious battles The two GOP candidates and their political committees spent more than $10 million on the contest – $5.7 million by White, $4.5

by Moody.

The Democratic primary between Shaw and Hillsborough County lawyer Ryan Torrens didn’t have nearly as much spending as the Republican race. But it had its own contentious conclusion, as Shaw filed a lawsuit to try keep Torrens off the ballot.

Leon County Circuit Judge Karen Gievers agreed on Aug. 17 with Shaw’s argument that Torrens incorrectly signed his wife’s name to a check that eventually helped him cover the qualifying fee for the contest. But Torrens appealed and received a temporary stay Monday of Gievers’ ruling.

Lawson, Shalala, Soto among congressional winners Demings and Wilson faced no opposition for their House seats

BY JIM TURNER NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

TALLAHASSEE – Donna Shalala, a former secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, will take on Cuban-American broadcast journalist Maria Elvira Salazar in the November general election after both survived crowded primary races Tuesday in a major congressional battleground.

Democrats are expected to bank heavily on Shalala picking up the Miami-Dade County seat of retiring Republican Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, as the Democratic Party seeks to retake control of the U.S. House.

Shalala, also a former University of Miami president, got 32 percent of the vote in a five-way field in Congressional District 27. In the Republican primary, Salazar picked up 41 percent of the vote in a field of nine.

Lawson keeps seat Meanwhile, Democratic incumbents were successful Tuesday, with U.S. Rep. Darren Soto crushing the hopes of former Congressman Alan Grayson, who was trying to recapture the District 9 seat in Central Florida.

Also, U.S. Rep. Al Lawson fended off a challenge from former Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown in the Democratic primary in Congressional District 5 in North Florida.

Demings, Wilson win The party also again secured three of the state’s 27 seats, with U.S. Rep. Val Demings and U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson both winning primaries and facing no general-election opposition. Congressman Alcee Hastings defeated a primary opponent and now goes up against a write-in candidate in November.

PHOTO BY DON JUAN MOORE

U.S. Rep. Al Lawson is surrounded by his family and campaign team at Tuesday night's primary watch party in Tallahassee. Lawson defeated former Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown.

Democrats Lois Frankel and Kathy Castor were the state’s only congressional incumbents who had no opposition this year.

District 6 victory On the Republican side Tuesday, retirements and political aspirations created crowded fields for open seats.

In the District 6 GOP primary to replace Republican gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis in Northeast Florida, Michael Waltz, a businessman and former Army Green Beret from St. Augustine, received 42 percent of the vote to hold off former state Rep. Fred Costello and Palm Coast businessman John Ward.

Waltz now will face former U.S. Ambassador Nancy Soderberg, who handily defeated two opponents in the Democratic primary.

District 15 race In Congressional District 15,

state Rep. Ross Spano, R-Dover, defeated four other Republicans seeking to replace retiring Congressman Dennis Ross.

Spano received 44 percent of the field to top a field that included former state Rep. Neil Combee of Auburndale. Spano will face Kristen Carlson, who defeated two Democratic primary opponents in the Republican-leaning district.

District 17 race Also, state Sen. Greg Steube, RSarasota, easily won the Congressional District 17 primary over state Rep. Julio Gonzalez, R-Venice, and Bill Akins of Port Charlotte. Steube will now face April Freeman, who received 77 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary in a district that leans heavily Republican.

Other key races Two other races that are expect-

ed to draw national attention in November were set up as expected Tuesday.

On the Treasure Coast, freshman Congressman Brian Mast had little problem dispatching two Republican primary challengers in District 18.

Meanwhile, Lauren Baer, a foreign policy official in the Obama administration whose family owns Baer’s Furniture, won by 20 percentage points over Pam Keith, an attorney who ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 2016.

In Central Florida, freshman Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy got 86 percent of the vote to defeat a Democratic primary challenger and will face state Rep. Mike Miller in November.

Miller, R-Winter Park, defeated two primary opponents, scoring 54 percent of the vote.

Val Demings

Donna Shalala

Darren Soto

Frederica Wilson

EDITORIAL

A4

AUGUST 31 – SEPTEMBER 6, 2018

EPA rollbacks will hurt people of color President Trump visiting West Virginia to announce a major rollback in regulations limiting coalfired power plant emissions feels like being lost in a dark coal mine, reaching a fork in the tunnel with one direction pitch black and a bright light at the end of the other. The choice seems so obvious and yet the president of the United States of America intentionally heads into the darkness.

At the turn of the millennium, we knew for a fact that the planet is warming and that greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide accelerate warming. We were aware of the human contribution and that limiting carbon emissions is the best way for humans to try to avoid catastrophic upheaval.

Doesn’t make sense It took much time and work to get the Clean Power Plan in place that eliminating it is just short of insane.

The president’s announcement sent me back to our 2002 report “Air of Injustice: African-Americans & Power Plant Pollution.”

The collaboration brought Dr. Joseph Lowery and Dr. Yvonne Scruggs-Lefwich of the Georgia Coalition for the Peoples’ Agenda and Black Leadership Forum, respectively, together with Martha Keating and Angela Ledford Anderson, formerly with the Clean Air Task Force and Clear the Air to mobilize and educate the AfricanAmerican community about the impact of power plant pollution

FELICIA M. DAVIS GUEST COMMENTARY

on air quality, climate change and public health.

We reported that coal-fired power plants are the largest industrial emitters of a list of pollutants with negative health impacts such as increased asthma, lung disease, premature deaths and even increases in infectious disease. Long before Hurricane Katrina, we tried to sound the alarm connecting poverty, race, geography and even insurance status to climate impacts. Scientists tried to explain that while we can’t point to any single weather event as evidence of climate change, by the time the pattern is proven, it will be too late. We’re like slowly boiling frogs unable to grasp the upheaval that climate change is already causing.

Didn’t explain well We did a poor job of explaining what a global degree-Celsius actually means. Our hockey stick graphs and bathtub analogies only worked for people who understand climate science.

People can’t seem to connect floods, drought, fires, hurricanes and extreme weather to climate change. We should have stressed

Black America must support the ongoing prison strike Inmates in states across the nation are on strike against the world’s largest and most racist prison system. Hopefully, they won’t be betrayed by quisling civil rights misleaders, as in 2010.

Incarcerated people and their advocates are the very definition of a resistance movement. The United States leads the world in many shameful measures, and mass incarceration is at the top of an infamous list.

We’re No. 1 No other nation has as many people behind bars nor applies such overt racism in maintaining its penal system. One out of every eight incarcerated people in the world are Black Americans. That is why the prison strike declared by the incarcerated and their supporters is so crucial. Their actions prove that this country lies when it claims to be an upholder of human rights.

The 2018 prison strike commemorates two anniversaries, the murder of George Jackson in San Quentin prison on August

Got in anyway Nonetheless, young McCain is accepted into the Naval Academy.

Stop cooking Earth Principle number one: Stop Cooking the Planet and states plainly that, “Global warming will accelerate unless we can slow the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. To protect vulnerable Americans, alternatives must be found for human activities that cause global warming.”

If we started there and elevated these principles, there would have been a focus on workers and communities. We were adamant that “no group should have to shoulder the burden alone of transition from a fossil fuel-based economy to a renewable energybased economy. We had in mind training and economic development for miners and other dis-

on being released are prevented from working as firefighters anywhere in that state, despite the valuable skills they have acquired.

MARGARET KIMBERLEY BLACK AGENDA REPORT

21, 1971 and the Attica uprising and massacre which ended on September 9, 1971.

Since that time, the prison population has grown tremendously. In the early 1970s only 300,000 people were locked away. Not only have their numbers grown, but the degree of exploitation has too.

Prisoners are forced to work in their institutions or as labor for corporations such as AT&T, McDonald’s, Pepsico and Walmart, to name a few. They can earn less than one dollar an hour and in states like Texas they are paid nothing at all.

Inmates in California worked alongside others recently in dispatching forest fires. They were paid a mere $1 per hour, and up-

KAREN HOUPPERT GUEST COMMENTARY

You need to be nominated by one of your congressional representatives or the vice-president of the United States. The Academy suggests you are in the top 20 percent of your high school class, that you take four years of mathematics, and that your high school is competitive. In 2016, just 8 percent of applicants were accepted to the school.

STEPHANE PERAY, THAILAND

placed workers.

While caring about the needs of local communities down to the individual, it is important to recognized that, “Global Problems Need Global Solutions” and as one of the largest contributors, the U.S. should be out front.

The Paris Agreement was a major accomplishment. After decades of negotiations, finally the whole world was on one accord when it came to the urgent need to collectively work to reduce emissions and adapt to changes that are inevitable. Resilience emerged as a priority given the magnitude of change underway.

Lost progress We were headed in the right direction. How could we know that the fact that progress was made under America’s first Black presi-

Labor unnecessary

The 2018 prison strike is not occurring in a vacuum. It follows similar efforts in recent years.

In 2010, Georgia inmates carried out an action which lasted for days and took place in correctional institutions across the state. It was undone by brutality carried out against the organizers and by quisling civil rights leadership. The corporate media largely ignored it but the incarcerated themselves continue to rise up and make their voices heard as best they can.

Any and all claims of American democracy or civilization are hollow upon even a cursory inspection of the injustice system in this country. Most inmates have not committed violent crimes. They sold drugs or used drugs or failed to pay child support or committed a petty offense or failed to pay for traffic violations or other government fines. A rapacious system, crooked prosecutors and racists at every point in the system can turn a minor offense into a prison sentence.

Late-stage capitalism has made millions of people economically redundant. There is less and less need for their labor.

But when they are employed, they work for low and uncertain wages without the benefits that once underpinned the system. Their labor is quite useful to states, cities and corporations who profit from their bodies like the slaveholders of old.

The fact that the massive growth in incarceration rates corresponded with the end of the liberation movement is no coincidence. The end of legal apartheid meant that some other means of oppression had to be found and the jailhouse became a convenient replacement for Jim Crow segregation.

Physical control and profit are the modern means of oppression. There is little political benefit in advocating for prisoner rights. Indeed politicians support the mass incarceration state as a means of securing votes. Black politicians are no different and can be counted on to do nothing, as Barack Obama and Eric Holder proved time and again.

The prison strike is an effort to improve living conditions and

A comparison

and piled up demerits.”

Would the Naval Academy consider Baltimore’s Frederick Douglass High School a “competitive” high school and admit one of its students, 98.9 of whom are African-American?

At Frederick Douglass, the chronic absence rate in 2017 was 85 percent; 19 percent of students dropped out; 78.8 percent of 10th grade students taking the standardized PARCC test did meet expectations in English, while 89.6 did not meet expectations in Algebra II; 0 percent of students taking Advanced Placement tests passed; and only 26 percent of graduates reported plans to enroll in college after graduation.

In McCain’s case, he was still a screw-up once accepted at the Naval Academy. Mr. McFadden writes that he “resisted the discipline” and that “his grades were poor.” Further, McCain “stood up to upperclassmen, broke the rules

‘Natural leader’

Not the first

John McCain: A study in White privilege The New York Times obit on Sen. John McCain, written by Robert D. McFadden, inadvertently serves as a template for how White privilege works.

McCain’s mom is an oil heiress (at 106, she’s outlived her son), and his father and grandfather were admirals in the Navy.

The teenaged McCain went to high school at a fancy private school in Alexandria, Va., where “his grades were abysmal,” according to Mr. McFadden, and he was “defiant and unruly” and “cocky, combative, easily provoked and ready to fight anyone.”

the fact that there are only ten global degrees of difference between today’s climate and the ice age. We need to break things down in terms everyday people can appreciate. Perhaps we should remind Americans about the days of the Dust Bowl or the water wars between ranchers and farmers featured in western movies.

Looking back, the 10 Principles of Just Climate Policy developed by the Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative (a diverse group of 28 U.S. environmental justice, religious, policy and advocacy groups) included in the Air of Injustice appendix should have been featured more prominently.

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: POPE FRANCIS AND SEXUAL ABUSE

And what does Mr. McFadden make of this behavior? He characterizes it as “the rugged independence of a natural leader.”

One would be hard-pressed to see that description ever applied to a Black student who was failing his classes, resisting authority and getting into fights. That young man would have been booted out or caught up in the courts, labelled a “juvenile delinquent.”

As a young adult, he would have been a “thug.”

If the young McCain, who was picked up by the “Shore Patrol” after having been driving with a “carload of drinking buddies,” had a been a Black 20-something in Baltimore, he would have landed in our notorious prison pipeline.

Crashed planes Though

McCain

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dent, Barack Obama, would usher in a period that is best described as retrograde?

Truth and science are under attack. Our most effective weapon is education. There is little that we can do to move those that know better but still make poor choices and head into the darkness. It is up to us to educate and embrace those that do not know better. We know better and it is up to us to do better. (To read the full Air of Injustice report visit http://www. dogonvillage.com/?p=8388)

Felicia M. Davis is director of the HBCU Green Fund and on the boards of Green 2.0 and The National Coalition on Black Civic Participation. Click on this commentary at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

the rights of incarcerated workers. But it should be far more than that. The prison strike is a means of bringing attention to a system that is rotten and must be abolished. That will mean fighting for Black community control of the police, for an end to corporate profit making on the backs of imprisoned people and for organizing against the corrupt political structure which makes so much evil doing possible.

We must stand If people behind bars can dare to rise up, the least we can do is stand with them and give them a voice on the outside. Mass incarceration is proof of an undemocratic and uncivilized society.

Telling the truth in this country is a rebellious act in and of itself. If we support the prison strike and support the rights of incarcerated people we are genuinely in resistance to a terrible system.

Margaret Kimberley is a cofounder of BlackAgendaReport.com, and writes a weekly column there. Contact her at Margaret.Kimberley@BlackAgendaReport.com. Click on this commentary at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

“894th in his class, fifth from the bottom,” he inexplicably landed a plum assignment as a fighter pilot in the Navy. His performance, Mr. McFadden writes, “was subpar, sometimes careless or even reckless.” In fact, he was involved in multiple “mishaps” – plane crashes. He was promoted up the ranks.

None of this is surprising, given his background, nor is it intended to denigrate his service. But it pains me – anew, again, afresh – the vivid and plain discrepancies in our alleged meritocracy where a White man’s troubled youth is cast as the “rugged independence of a natural leader” and gets him a second, third, fourth chance to get his stuff together, while a Black man gets no such pass.

Karen Houppert is a freelance journalist and associate director of the Master of Arts in Writing Program at Johns Hopkins University.

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AUGUST 31 – SEPTEMBER 6, 2018

Trump way ahead of GOP on Black vote I have often said that Black voters are the most disrespected of all voter groups – taken for granted by Democrats and ignored by Republicans. Of course, no one is forcing Blacks to put all of their political eggs into one Democrat basket.

Remember the highly touted 2013 “Growth and Opportunity Project Report” of the Republican National Committee (RNC), which did an “autopsy” of the Romney debacle with minorities in 2012?

Long-term plan Discussing the report, then RNC Chairman Reince Priebus, who became Trump’s first chief of staff, told the media that the party did a “lousy job” of marketing itself and boldly stated, “…. I know everything isn’t going to change in one year. If we don’t start now we’re not going to have any more success in four years, eight years, or twelve years.”

Well, in the three years leading up to 2016, and today, the GOP establishment and most of its candidates are still doing a “lousy job” of marketing to Black voters with meaningful messages – except for Trump.

Unlike the GOP “Establishment,” its donors, and most GOP candidates for national and statewide office, Trump actually touched on issues of deep concern to Blacks, including the scourge of urban violence in Chicago and other cities; how illegal immigration negatively impacts Black employment; and the need for school choice for parents of children trapped in poor inner-city schools.

CLARENCE V. MCKEE, ESQ. GUEST COLUMNIST

Unlike the GOP “Establishment,” its donors, and most GOP candidates for national and statewide office, Trump actually touched on issues of deep concern to Blacks...

their votes. Remember when he asked, “What do you have to lose?”

It turned out that Blacks had much to gain with Trump’s election. As my colleague Deroy Murdock recently wrote, Blacks are “increasingly profiting” from Trump’s economic boom – an Aug. 7 NAACP poll found that 21 percent of Black registered voters approve of Trump’s job performance; and, a Rasmussen tracking survey found that 36 percent of Black voters “gave the president thumbs up, compared to 19 percent a year ago.”

Murdock went on to point out that: “July’s seasonally adjusted unTrump asked employment rate for Black AmeriUnlike most Republican candi- cans was 6.6 percent, the lowest on dates, in primary and general elec- record, and significantly below the tions, Trump actually asked for July 2016 Obama rate of 8.4 per-

‘In the Year of the Pig’ show the real war heroes John McCain’s death made me look back and try once more to understand the U.S. war with the Vietnamese People’s Army whose anti-aircraft gunners shot him out of the sky during his 23 bombing raids over North Vietnam.

On the KPFA Radio Sunday Show, Kevin Alexander Gray said, “The national mourning for John McCain is almost a referendum or a recasting of the Vietnam War, where every soldier is a hero even though they were fighting in wars they had no business fighting in.

Everybody’s a hero.”

Admiration for opposition I don’t think “everybody’s a hero.” But I hugely admire the soldiers who ended the Vietnam War by refusing to fight and even “fragging” – shooting or throwing grenades at the commanders urging them on.

I felt for the wounded foot soldiers writhing in agony in the final moments of Emile de Antonio’s brilliant Vietnam War documentary, “In the Year of the Pig,”

ANN GARRISON BLACK AGENDA REPORT

and I felt angry at the politicians and anti-communist ruling class who sent them off to suffer and die.

It’s one of the most profound films I’ve seen about the Vietnam War. I recommend it to anyone reading this. Emile de Antonio doesn’t narrate the film; it’s simply his composition of documentary footage. It’s also one of the few documentaries made while the war was still going on.

Most of the footage exposes the presidents, military officers and congressmen – all men – who championed the war until the foot soldiers refused to fight. Its other subjects are the Vietnamese they knew next to nothing about.

Challengers speak Articulate opponents of the

Is the Democratic Party drifting away from capitalism?

The rhetoric coming out of the mouths of various Democratic leaders is becoming more and more disturbing. They are beginning to propose a platform that has no resemblance to American principles.

Our founding fathers would be shocked to hear terms like “Medicare for everyone” or “free college tuition for all students.” There seems to be a reasoning that follows no real world logic. It is frightening and dangerous to our future.

Three systems Let’s look at the three main economic systems that exist in our world today.

According to Wikipedia, “Capitalism is an economic system based on private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Characteristics central to capitalism include private property, capital accumulation, wage labor, voluntary ex-

EDITORIAL

A5

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANS AND DONALD TRUMP

cent. Trump’s current Black-teen jobless rate is 19.9 percent. Two Julys ago, Obama’s analogous figure was 25.7 percent.”

He quoted White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders saying that since Trump took office, he “has created 700,000 new jobs for African-Americans” concluding that President Trump, in his first year and a half, has already tripled the 195,000 that President Obama did in eight years.

That’s quite a story! But you don’t see many, if any, GOP candidates citing such statistics when seeking Black support by saying they will support similar programs and policies. But then again, how many GOP candidates for federal and state offices even bother to reach out to Black Republican voters, especially in Republican primaries?

Few, if any. They ignore Black Republicans in primaries and forget that in the general election, there are thousands who are registered as NPA-No Party Affiliation – who might respond to the right message. Apparently, to them, a Black is a Black.

in another upset, defeated Democrat opponent Alex Sink 48.9 percent to 47.7 percent – by over 62,000 votes.

In both cases, every vote counted. Scott and Carroll’s estimated 6 percent of the Black vote played a role in that victory, whether Republicans admitted it or not. Scott went on to double that margin in 2014, winning 12 percent of the Black vote mainly because of his advocacy of choice in schools and advocacy of jobs. Every vote counted.

to be worth any such effort.

The same applies to the two Republican candidates for Florida’s Attorney General – Ashley Moody and Frank White – and the four candidates for Florida Secretary of Agriculture – Matt Caldwell, Denise Grimsley, Mike McAlister, and Baxter Troutman.

Like the GOP gubernatorial candidates listed above, to the best of my knowledge, not one of these GOP candidates felt outreach to Black Republicans was worth the financial commitment.

A good example

No outreach

We’ll see

In Florida, there are over 60,000 registered Black Republicans and nearly 285,000 Black NPA’s. One would think that in a state which historically has close elections, any statewide Republican candidate would go for every single vote.

For example, in the 2010 GOP primary, outsider and now-Governor Rick Scott, in a major upset, defeated GOP establishment candidate and then-Attorney General Bill McCollum by 38,000 votes.

In the general election, Scott, who ran with former State Representative Jennifer Carroll, who is Black,

Today, when polls showed that the Republican governor’s race was a virtual tie between Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam – who had been the presumed winner – and Trump-supported Congressman Ron DeSantis, one would have assumed that an “every vote counts” philosophy would dictate outreach to every single Republican voter, including Black Republicans.

Not quite. Neither chose to invest in reaching out to Black Republican voters. Obviously, 60,000 plus Black votes were not deemed

Let’s see how many of the losing candidates will have second thoughts especially if they lose by small margins. As to the winners, we will see what they do in the general.

They would do well to follow the president’s lead!

war also appear – an Oregon senator, Father Daniel Berrigan, a University of Missouri college professor of southeast Asian studies, and more. The most remarkable is Senator Thruston Ballard Morton, a Republican from Kentucky whom I’d never heard of before. His first words in the film, spoken with a Southern drawl, are: “Now, the thing that I think we fail to recognize is that Ho Chi Minh, communist or what not, is considered by the people of Vietnam, and I’m speaking now of millions in South Vietnam, as the George Washington of his country. He’s the man that they think threw off the French, the colonialists. Just as we had our 1776, they had theirs in the 1940s. He also led an underground movement against the Japanese who had occupied Vietnam and the whole Indochina Peninsula during World War II. “And whether we like him or not, whether we like the particular economic system or social system that he might develop or not, we must remember that he is indeed considered by many – the peasants, the small people, the little people in South Vietnam and North Vietnam – as the George Washington of his country.”

What’s different?

some more people by puttin’ ‘em in these camps.”

ty such as Bernie Sanders, Keith Ellison and others are starting to tout this form of economy, even though there is not one good example to compare it to.

Wikipedia defines socialism as “a range of economic and social systems characterized by social ownership and workers’ selfmanagement of the means of production as well as the political HARRY C. theories and movements associALFORD ated with them. Social ownership may refer to forms of public, colGUEST COLUMNIST lective or cooperative ownership, change, a price system, and com- or to citizen ownership of equity.” petitive markets. In a capitalist market economy, decision-mak- One example ing and investment are deterWhenever a nation switches to mined by every owner of wealth, socialism, the economic status property or production ability of that nation heads south with a in financial and capital markets, bullet! Look at Venezuela. This whereas prices and the distri- nation has as much oil reserves as bution of goods and services are Saudi Arabia. However, since its mainly determined by competi- switch to socialism it has lost its tion in goods and services mar- ability to produce or manufacturkets.” er anything with a basic success.

The above is what our nation Inflation is out of control; their is based on. It works! We are the banks are bankrupt; their hospimost economically successful na- tals are inoperable, and chaos is tion on earth. It comes through everywhere with a large portion our Constitution, love of democ- of the population fleeing the naracy and our capitalistic econo- tion as refugees. Socialism leads my. to failure. There is no decent But for some reason a growing model for socialism anywhere. number of the Democratic ParVan Jones, a principal in Dem-

DAVID FITZSIMMONS, THE ARIZONA STAR, TUCSON, AZ

More footage is full of the bloodlust, racism, jingoism, ignorance, and imperial arrogance behind the Vietnam War. It had me asking myself what has changed, and I had to conclude not much, not the imperial essentials. The weaponry is more deadly, the racism less overt, and the press far more obedient.

Most significantly, those who run the war machine know that they can’t reinstitute the draft or put American troops on the ground without backlash at home, so they fight drone wars and proxy wars – including jihadist wars – with the help of U.S. equipment, financing, and Special Forces.

The U.S. elites who were so intent on destroying the will of the Vietnamese seemed to have no idea who they were. Again, Senator Thruston Bundy was a rare exception: “We’ve put about three million of ‘em into what I would call a concentration camp. They call it a refugee center. It’s got barbed wire around it. You can’t get out of it. We’ve taken these people from the graves of their ancestors, from their rice paddies. And we say, ‘Oh well, we’ve pacified X million people.’ Yeah, we pacified

ocratic causes, admits being a communist. Communism is like socialism on steroids. Here is Wikipedia’s definition: “communism is the philosophical, social, political, and economic ideology and movement whose goal is the establishment of the communist society, which is a socioeconomic order structured upon the common ownership of the means of production and the absence of social classes, money and the state.”

Look at Russia Communism drove this oncepowerful nation into bankruptcy.

It had one of the strongest nuclear arsenals and largest navies and armies in the world. But economically it became a basket case. It has no manufacturing prowess and relies pretty much on its array of natural resources.

The general population is depressed by the low quality of life.

As a result, Russia has a very low fertility rate. Plus, its healthcare delivery system is inferior, and its lifespan is shrinking. As a result, the population of this nation is shrinking by 600,000 persons per year. It has a large percentage of alcoholism. Its gross domestic product is less than that of the

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.

The greatest heroes The greatest Vietnam War heroes were of course the Vietnamese people and their leader Ho Chi Minh – “Uncle Ho”– the lifelong nationalist, anti-colonialist, and communist who wore cheap cotton clothing and lived in humble circumstances as they did.

The North Vietnamese told Western visitors that the revolution meant they finally had enough to eat despite the empire’s best efforts to destroy them.

They were armed, men and women, in cities and in the countryside. Many of those handling the anti-aircraft weapons used to shoot down John McCain’s plane were women. The revolutionary government had consciously armed them so well that they could have taken it down in a day.

That, they said, was the greatest testament to their belief that the government spoke for them.

Ann Garrison is an independent journalist based in the San Francisco Bay area. Contact her at ann@anngarrison.com.

Emile de Antonio’s “In the Year of the Pig” is available at archive.org.

state of Florida.

Another example is the Korean Peninsula. North Korea chooses communism; South Korea embraces capitalism. South Korea is an economic giant with a booming economic highlighted by its prowess in technology and electronics. North Korea is in abject poverty existing on the aid of China and Russia. As British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher once said, “Socialism only works until you run out of other people’s money.”

The best Capitalism is the best form of government. Experiments with collectivism and various forms of socialism and communism will lead to failure every time.

Our Democratic Party had best beware. Playing around with these dangerous systems will lead to failure and an election landslide by the Republican Party. Nobody wants to be poor and helpless. Why anyone would campaign for it is beyond me.

Harry C. Alford is the cofounder and president/CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce. Contact him via www.nationalbcc.org.

TOJ A6

FLORIDA

AUGUST 31 – SEPTEMBER 6, 2018 says, according to the Times.

“McGlockton immediately backs up when confronted with the firearm. As he backs up to his vehicle he begins to turn towards the front of the store away from the shooter.”

Law called ‘fraud’

LUIS SANTANA/TAMPA BAY TIMES/TNS

Family and friends of Markeis McGlockton, the 28-year-old man who was shot and killed during a parking lot altercation in front of his children, gather on July 22 in front of the location where he was shot in Clearwater on July 19.

State leaders show support for review of law The majority of 50 Florida influencers polled say the Legislature should hold a special session on Stand Your Ground.

BY MARTIN VASSOLO MIAMI HERALD/TNS

MIAMI – The debate over Florida’s controversial Stand Your Ground law was reignited last month after a heated argument outside a Clearwater convenience store left a Black man mortally wounded, his White killer free to go home and civilrights activists up in arms.

The law, which permits the use of deadly force under life-threatening circumstances, states that individuals are not required to retreat and can stand their ground by using non-lethal or le-

Markeis McGlockton

Michael Drejka

thal force.

And although the shooter in the July 19 case, Michael Drejka, was charged by the local state attorney with manslaughter last week, critics of the law — and of the delay in charging the gunman — have called for the Florida Legislature to review the measure and potentially change it.

Many argue that Black victims are disproportionately affected by the law.

Some ‘not sure’ Last year, legislators changed

the law to place the burden on prosecutors to disprove defendants’ Stand Your Ground claims instead of on defense lawyers to prove it.

As part of the Miami Herald’s and Bradenton Herald’s Influencers series, we asked 50 of the state’s leaders whether Florida lawmakers should hold a special session to address critics’ concerns.

A majority of the group — who hail from political, education and legal fields, among others — said the Legislature should hold such a session. Thirty-six percent said no, and 11 percent were “not sure.”

‘Too vague’ There was a clear split along racial and ethnic lines. Black influencers, who make up a quarter of the group, unanimously agreed that the law should be revisited. And some influencers who voted no said they thought the law needed to be scrutinized but not necessarily during a spe-

cial session.

“The law is too vague and give(s) too much latitude to kill at will even in situation(s) where a safe retreat is possible and it is the right thing to do,” said Marleine Bastien, executive director of the Family Action Network Movement.

“It should be strengthened to include clear guidelines when Stand Your Ground can apply.

The law is so vague now that anyone with a bad temper, bullying and racist tendencies, and even a killer can use it to take life.”

Drejka’s defense On July 19, Michael Drejka, 48, claimed the protection of Stand Your Ground after fatally shooting Markeis McGlockton, 28.

Drejka had been arguing with McGlockton’s girlfriend, Brittany Jacobs, over her use of a handicap parking spot.

Surveillance footage shows McGlockton approach Drejka and push him to the ground, at which point Drejka — who has a concealed carry permit — pulled out his handgun and fired.

The Tampa Bay Times reported last week that Drejka’s arrest warrant notes that Drejka’s fear was not reasonable. After McGlockton pushed him down, McGlockton stepped away.

“Drejka steadies the firearm with both hands,” the warrant

In the aftermath of the shooting, at least one state lawmaker has called for a repeal of the law.

State Sen. Darryl Rouson, a Democrat, is in favor of rolling back the law to apply only to an individual’s right to defend themselves at their home, according to WFLA-TV in the Tampa Bay area.

His call for a special session to address the law failed earlier this month, the Times reported.

Mary Anne Franks, a professor of law at the University of Miami, wants to take it a step further.

“Stand Your Ground should be repealed in its entirety,” she told the Miami Herald. “(It) not only encourages people to use deadly force in situations that do not call for it, but promises these people immunity from prosecution and the expungement of their records. … The Stand Your Ground movement was a fraud from the beginning, based on the false claim that law-abiding citizens were not permitted to defend themselves under existing law.”

Candidates’ stance All Democratic candidates running for governor in Florida called for the repeal of the law, drafted in 2005 by the National Rifle Association, Politico Florida reports.

U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, a Republican candidate for governor, said he believes the Stand Your Ground defense should not have applied to the Clearwater case and that Pinellas County’s Republican Sheriff Bob Gualtieri did not analyze the law correctly when he decided not to arrest Drejka.

Defending it Defenders of the law, such as David Mica, the executive director of the Florida Petroleum Council, said that some “seem to be confused by the true extent of the actual law” and that “the existing law can work.”

Rhea Law, an attorney and Republican fundraiser, said any changes should be made with a clear mind, and not in haste.

“I do not believe that we should try to tweak the law until we know exactly how to apply it,” Law said. “These quick fixes only lead to more confusion and misinterpretation.”

Last month, Sen. Bill Nelson asked the U.S. Justice Department to investigate the Clearwater shooting.

Financial trail of Scotts leads to Cayman Islands tax haven

BY STEVE BOUSQUET TAMPA BAY TIMES/TNS

TALLAHASSEE – The portfolio of Florida Gov. Rick Scott and his wife, Ann Scott, includes earnings last year of at least $2.9 million in two dozen hedge funds registered in the Cayman Islands, a well-known tax haven for U.S. and foreign investors.

The investments had a minimum total value of $25 million and a potential value of $62 million, according to the financial disclosure statement Scott filed last month as a U.S. Senate candidate.

The 125-page statement included details of Scott’s blind trust, managed by a New York trustee who is a former business associate of the governor’s.

“The governor had no role in selecting that investment,” said a spokesman for Scott’s campaign, Lauren Schenone. “The blind trust is managed by an independent financial professional who decides what assets are bought, sold or changed.”

Their assets Scott’s assets totaled at least $255 million. The governor has not said whether he will continue to have a blind trust if he’s elected to the U.S. Senate.

Of the 23 individual investments the Scotts listed, six are in the governor’s name and 17 are in his wife’s name.

The July 27 filing is the first time in his nearly eight years as governor that Scott was required to disclose his wife’s financial holdings.

Foreign investors park money in the Cayman Islands to avoid U.S. taxes. The British territory al-

so is favored by corporations and partnerships that want to avoid the long reach of the IRS in taxing unrelated business income.

Not Hong Kong Scott’s campaign said the principal place of business for one fund, Overlook 3G Investments, is Hong Kong.

But the company’s website describes that fund as a Cayman Islands exempted limited partnership that was formed two years ago to invest in a Chinese utility company.

Another investment listed by the Scotts, Canyon Balanced Fund LP, was held solely by the governor and had a value of between $5 million and $25 million, and produced income last year of between $100,001 and $1 million.

Romney criticized Under Senate rules, candidates and officeholders list assets in broad ranges.

In the 2012 presidential race, Republican Mitt Romney’s investments in the Cayman Islands became a source of controversy.

Politifact gave a True to a TV ad from President Barack Obama that criticized Romney on the issue.

There is no indication that their offshore investments allowed the Scotts themselves to avoid paying their share of U.S. taxes.

“Gov. Scott has always followed all state and federal tax laws,” his campaign said.

Rail line too Scott’s finances will remain an issue in the general election phase of his battle with Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, which will

RED HUBER/ORLANDO SENTINEL/TNS

Gov. Rick Scott, center, stands next to his wife Ann, left, confirming on April 9 his run for U.S. Senate. He made the announcement at ODC Construction in Orlando. began Wednesday, the day after Tuesday’s primary.

As the Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times has reported, the Scotts last year invested $3 million in a credit fund of the parent company of All Aboard Florida.

The state-regulated firm operates a commercial rail line on Florida’s east coast and has expressed a desire to run a highspeed rail line from Tampa to Orlando that Scott now supports, even though he rejected $2.4 bil-

lion for a similar project in 2011.

Scott’s Senate campaign noted that neither he nor Ann Scott has a direct investment in All Aboard Florida.

More investments In addition, Scott’s statement shows that he had investments last year in companies that did business with the Nicolas Maduro regime in Venezuela, after Scott called on state investment fund managers to sever ties

with businesses that do business there.

The Scotts also held stock — since sold — in a worldwide shipping firm whose clients included a firm with links to the Vladimir Putin regime in Russia.

The governor said in July that Putin “could not be trusted.” In those cases, Scott’s campaign said that because his assets are held in a blind trust, he had no role in selecting any of the investments.

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Morehouse President David Thomas shares a laugh with Wendell Shelby-Wallace (left), vice president of the Student Government Association and resident advisors Marcus Washington, MarKuan Tigney Jr., David Jeffries and Kayden Molock after he moved into his room at Graves Hall in Morehouse College.

THE FRESHMAN EXPERIENCE

Morehouse College president stays in a dorm room for two days to get a glimpse of the life of incoming students.

BY GRACIE BONDS STAPLES ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION/TNS

Two nights in a dorm room is by no means a long stay, but Morehouse President David A. Thomas is hoping it is enough to begin to understand his newest customers – freshmen – and what they need, expect from their experience.

And so there he was last week in Room 116 of Graves Hall, a five-story brick building that once housed all that was and is Morehouse College, getting a glimpse of a day in the life of a Morehouse freshman, surrounded, of course, by Morehouse men.

He’d barely crossed the threshold and dropped his black duffel bag on the twin bed when Marcus Washington, residential adviser, launched into his spiel, a laundry list of do’s and don’t.

Do fill out the three forms left on his desk. Do make note of the condition of the room. And do sign the key agreement. And don’t even think about having a visitor before the college’s October homecoming.

Childhood dream Thomas, who assumed office as president in January, won’t be here until homecoming but nods in agreement as a half-dozen reporters and photographers laugh.

For him, this move is both serious and symbolic. It is also very personal.

From the time he was a little kid, Thomas wanted just two things: to become president of the United States and to go to Morehouse.

He was a poor kid from a workingclass family in Kansas City, Missouri.

No one in his family had ever gone to college, but he’d read somewhere that

Morehouse President David Thomas places his items on his twin bed at Graves Hall. slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was a Morehouse grad.

Yale scholarship He knew, too, that he did not want to be a janitor like his father. He’d done that. Swept floors. Cleaned toilets.

“You hate this?” his father would say to him, studying his face as he pushed a mop. “If you go to college, you won’t have to.”

Thomas began to take note of other men in the community, at his church who’d gone to Morehouse, his dream school.

He was a standout at his high school, a star student with a bright future.

When it came time to apply for college, Morehouse was his first choice.

Yale was second but only because his counselor insisted he had a backup plan. He and his parents hadn’t even heard of the school before then.

It was a good thing he had a backup

plan. Yale offered young Thomas a full ride. Morehouse did not offer him a scholarship.

Advanced degrees He was disappointed, but when he graduated from Paseo High School in 1974, family finances dictated his college choice. Yale it was.

Even after he’d moved on, Thomas never forgot the dream, keeping up with Morehouse in newspapers, magazines, word-of-mouth.

Four years later, he graduated, earning a bachelor’s degree in administrative sciences, and then three master’s degrees: one at Columbia University and two at Yale.

He’d eventually earn a Ph.D., too, at his alma mater and then work as an assistant professor at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania before heading to Harvard and then Georgetown University.

12th president Harvard lured him back once more last year for a dream job as the H. Naylor Fitzhugh Professor of Business Administration, and that’s when Morehouse came calling. The HBCU wanted a new president.

Was he interested?

Decades had passed since he’d fancied himself a president, but this was his chance.

In October, Thomas said yes, becoming the 12th president of the all-male college.

With both Yale and Columbia degrees, and tenure as a Harvard University professor with more than 20 years in the classroom, you’d think Thomas would’ve made peace with why his route to Morehouse was a circuitous one.

See EXPERIENCE, Page B2

“In today’s environment, you can’t do what colleges did decades ago and keep raising tuition. The public is not accepting of it nor are the parents who are making decisions about where to send their children.”

Morehouse President David A. Thomas

EVENTS & OBITUARY

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AUGUST 31 – SEPTEMBER 6, 2018

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FLORIDA COMMUNITY CALENDAR

Regional Park Amphitheatre.

Kissimmee: The Allstate Tom Joyner Family Reunion is Aug. 30-Sept. 3 at the Gaylord Palms Resort.

Performers include Maze featuring Frankie Beverly, Erica Campbell, Bell Biv Devoe and Rickey Smiley. Details on BlackAmericaWeb.com

TRICK DADDY

Tickets are on sale for a concert featuring Trick Daddy and Trina on Oct. 5 at Jannus Live in St. Petersburg.

TOMMY DAVIDSON

The Off Color Comedy Tour stops at Hollywood’s Hard Rock Live on Oct. 6. Performers include Keenen Ivory Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Tommy Davidson and David Alan Grier.

Jacksonville: A Masquerade Extravaganza with actor Tony Grant as a special guest is set for Sept. 15 at the Ramada Inn Mandarin. It’s fundraiser for the October Soul Food Festival. More info: 904-576-2592 Orlando: The Red Tie Celebrity Golf Extravaganza hosted

by Commissioner Samuel B. Ings starts at 7 a.m. Sept. 7 at the Rosen Shingle Creek Golf Course. Register at orlandotrust.org.

Tampa: A free community forum on issues facing LGBTQ youth is Sept. 12, 6 to 8 p.m. at Barksdale Adult Activity Center in Macfarlane Park.

Sponsored by the Mayor’s Youth Leadership Council.

RSVP at 813-274-5909 or via email at molly.biebel@ tampagov.net.

TAMIA

The singer’s Passion Like Fire Tour stops at the House of Blues Orlando on Oct. 11.

Miramar: The White Party featuring Frankie Beverly and the Isley Brothers is set for Sept. 29 at the Miramar

Jacksonville: Sting & Shaggy’s 44/876 tour stops at Daily’s Place on Sept. 14 and the Jackson Gleason Theater on Sept. 15.

Orlando: The 15th Annual Caribbean Health Summit is Sept. 18 at the Central Florida Fair & Exposition Park hosted by the Center for Multicultural Wellness and Prevention Inc. Website: www.cmwp.org.

Miami: Nick Cannon will present “Wild ‘N Out Live’’ at AmericanAirlines Arena on Sept. 14 and Tampa’s Amalie Arena on Sept. 16.

Miami: Beyonce and Jay-Z’s tour stops at Hard Rock Stadium on Aug. 31.

Tampa: The 15th Anniversary Freestyle Explosion is Sept.

15 at the Amalie Arena. Performers: Stevie B, Lisa Lisa, Exposé, Taylor Dayne, TKA and George Lamond Miramar: The Stars of Trinidad and Tobago concert is Oct. 6 at the Miramar Regional Park Amphitheater. Performers include Blaxx, Anslem Douglas and the Trinidad All Stars Steel Orchestra.

Miami: Tickets are on sale for Nicki Minaj’s concert featuring Future on Oct. 19 at AmericanAirlinesArena and Oct. 20 at Orlando’s Amway Center.

Aretha Franklin dressed like a queen, even in death

BY PHOEBE WALL HOWARD DETROIT FREE PRESS/TNS

DETROIT - Aretha Franklin, known for floor-length mink and jewels, is glamorous in life and death.

On Tuesday, the first day of a two-day public viewing at Detroit’s Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, the Queen of Soul was wearing Christian Louboutin 5-inch patent leather pumps that match a tea-length ruby red dress made of lace — with a full tulle skirt and chiffon overlay, said Linda Swanson, executive vice president of Swanson Funeral Home.

The dress has beading on the bodice and shoulders, and a boat neck collar with a chiffon bell sleeve altered by Swanson, who is also a seamstress.

‘Resplendent in repose’ The music legend is wearing custom designed beaded earrings.

Franklin’s family selected the ensemble.

“She is presented in a way that reflects her life and her legacy,” Swanson said. “She is, indeed, resplendent in repose, as a queen should be.”

Franklin is resting in a solid bronze Promethean casket plated in 14-karat gold. It is the same type of coffin in which singers James Brown and Michael Jackson were buried, according to The Telegraph of Britain.

The casket is lined with champagne velvet; her name “Aretha Franklin” is embroidered in gold metallic thread with “Queen of Soul” beneath.

Days of respect Funeral arrangements were not directed by Aretha Franklin, Swanson said. “She never talked about death. She was very much all about life.”

EXPERIENCE from B1 Capital campaign In some ways, he has. He’s grateful for having gotten through undergrad without a mountain of loan debt.

But all these years later, he can’t help thinking what his life might have been had he made this stop at Morehouse first, and more recently, of the thousands of students who like him have to make the hard decision not to attend their preferred college because they, too, can’t afford tuition.

KIMBERLY P. MITCHELL/DETROIT FREE PRESS/TNS

Aretha Franklin’s casket arrives at the Charles H. Wright museum in Detroit on Tuesday.

Hundreds of fans lined up to pay their respects from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday, a schedule that continued Wednesday at the museum. The funeral will be Friday.

O’Neil D. Swanson began Monday at 6 a.m. making preparations to get the 18-time Grammy winner from the funeral home to Midtown Detroit in his vintage 1940 Cadillac LaSalle hearse. He also handled services for his good friend, the Rev. C. L. Franklin.

“I go way back with her father,” said Swanson, president of Swanson Funeral Home. “He was a close friend of mine. He meant so much to this community.”

Different outfits

“I want there to be no more David Thomases,” he said.

That right there is the fuel feeding a historic capital campaign the president plans to launch soon to raise money for student scholarships and hopefully make the school less dependent on tuition for its fiscal health.

“In today’s environment, you can’t do what colleges did decades ago and keep raising tuition,” he said. “The public is not accepting of it nor are the parents who are making decisions about where to send their children.”

to not just offer scholarships, but to maintain a high-quality faculty and physical plant and secure the college’s future.

“That really requires us to build an endowment for our scholarships that will get to at least $200 million,” he said.

Plus, that will increase the college’s credit score and increase student access to Morehouse across the economic spectrum.

Ninety-five percent of Morehouse 2,175 students receive some type of financial aid.

Tuition at the private college is $24,565 ($47,952 including all costs), putting it far beyond many students’ reach.

Endowment plan With tuition the only source of revenue, Thomas said, it becomes more and more difficult

The Queen of Soul performs at the Chicago Theatre on State Street in Chicago in 2011.

The Swansons talked of feeling honored to know the Franklin family over the years, and earn their trust to coordinate arrangements during this time of grief.

Linda Swanson authorized information provided to the Free Press with the Franklin family.

Trust is essential during times like these, Swanson said.

She disclosed a big secret: Aretha Franklin was to wear different clothing in coming days.

“It’s a surprise,” Linda Swanson said. “Just natural changes in wardrobe that a queen would make.”

SCOTT STRAZZANTE/CHICAGO TRIBUNE/TNS

Care and respect But why a sleepover in the freshman dorm?

Since his term began on Jan. 1, 2018, Thomas had been asking his staff to put the experience of students first when making decisions and make the effort to provide consistent, reliable customer care. That includes quality food in the dining hall, responding quickly to concerns, and thinking of each other as customers.

“I wouldn’t call it service so much as care and providing it in a way that lets them know we care about them and respect them,” Thomas said.

Two nights at Graves Hall won’t likely cover the extraor-

dinary scope of student life, but you have to appreciate Thomas’ efforts.

Excited, reflective As president of this iconic place, the esteemed school he once dreamed of attending, he’s excited to be here.

But he feels a certain heaviness, when he steps from his home, walks down the hill toward campus and sees students crisscrossing the school yard.

He knows that one of them could be his MLK, the man in the black-and-white photo above his bed.

That means he has to get this right. If it means two nights in a freshman dorm, then so be it.

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FOOD

B4 FROM FAMILY FEATURES

Hectic daytime schedules can often lead to even busier evenings, which makes putting dinner on the table in less than an hour a valuable time-saver for home chefs.

Balancing a busy lifestyle with healthy food choices can certainly become a tall task, but making filling, nutritious meals a priority starts with planning and preparation.

One way to set the course toward more quality weeknight meals at home is planning in advance rather than making day-of decisions. Ensuring you have the correct ingredients on-hand can make meal prep a simpler process once it’s time to get started in the kitchen.

By focusing meals on recipes that incorporate easy-touse, versatile ingredients like Filippo Berio vinegars, you can have flavorful main courses, sides and appetizers ready in under an hour. The vinegars are allergen free, cholesterol free, trans fat free and GMO free, making them an ideal addition to healthy menus.

For example, while waiting for a meal to bake, Green Bean, Asparagus and Goat Cheese Salad with Honey Dijon Vinaigrette can keep appetites at bay and help incorporate nutritious vegetables.

Follow your salad with a main dish like this Honey-Balsamic Glazed Salmon, which involves just a handful of ingredients and seasonings, leading to just 5 minutes of prep time and 20 minutes in the oven. Greek-Style Roasted Sweet Potato Salad makes for an ideal complementary side dish, enhanced with a red wine dressing made with Filippo Berio Red Wine Vinegar for a pleasantly sharp taste that’s a welcome addition to an array of recipes.

When a light yet filling meal is attainable in less time, you can focus on nutritious choices even on the busiest of evenings. Find more quick, simple recipe ideas at FilippoBerio.com.

AUGUST 31 – SEPTEMBER 6, 2018

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SIMPLE, SATISFYING weeknight solutions

GREEN BEAN, ASPARAGUS AND GOAT CHEESE SALAD WITH HONEY DIJON VINAIGRETTE Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 3 minutes Total time: 13 minutes Servings: 4 Honey Dijon Vinaigrette: 2 tablespoons Filippo Berio White Wine Vinegar 1 shallot, minced 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh tarragon 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard 2 teaspoons honey 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper 1/4 cup Filippo Berio Extra-Virgin Olive Oil Green Bean, Asparagus and Goat Cheese Salad: 1/2 pound green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces 1/2 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces

6 cups baby arugula 1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4teaspoon pepper 1/4 cup diced sundried tomatoes in oil 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives To make Honey Dijon Vinaigrette: Whisk together white wine vinegar, shallot, tarragon, mustard, honey, salt and pepper; whisk in olive oil.

To assemble Green Bean, Asparagus and Goat Cheese Salad: In steamer basket, steam green beans and asparagus 3-5 minutes, or until tender-crisp. Rinse under cold water and drain well. Transfer to large bowl; add arugula and goat cheese. Season with salt and pepper.

Toss salad with vinaigrette.

Garnish with sundried tomatoes and chives.

Tip: If desired, omit green beans and double asparagus.

GREEK-STYLE ROASTED SWEET POTATO SALAD Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 30 minutes Total time: 45 minutes Servings: 8 Red Wine Dressing: 1/4 cup Filippo Berio Extra-Virgin Olive Oil 2 tablespoons Filippo Berio Red Wine Vinegar 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley 1 teaspoon honey 1 clove garlic, minced 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4teaspoon pepper Roasted Sweet Potato Salad: 3 tablespoons Filippo Berio ExtraVirgin Olive Oil 1 tablespoon Filippo Berio Red Wine Vinegar 1 teaspoon dried oregano 1/2 teaspoon dried mint 2 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 teaspoon salt

HONEY-BALSAMIC GLAZED SALMON Prep time: 5 minutes Cook time: 20 minutes Total time: 25 minutes Servings: 6 1 salmon filet (about 2 pounds) 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper 3 tablespoons Filippo Berio Balsamic Vinegar 2 tablespoons honey 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard 1 clove garlic, minced pinch of chili pepper flakes 1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon (optional) Heat oven to 400 F. Season salmon with salt and pepper; place on parchment paperlined baking sheet. Whisk together vinegar, honey, mustard, garlic and chili pepper flakes; brush over salmon.

Bake 18-20 minutes, or until fish just starts to flake easily with fork. Sprinkle with chopped tarragon, if desired.

Tips: Substitute maple syrup for honey, if desired. Omit chili flakes and season with freshly ground pepper.

1/4 teaspoon pepper 2 pounds sweet potatoes, sliced into 1/2-inch rounds 1 cup shredded romaine lettuce 1 tomato, chopped 1/3 cup sliced pitted Kalamata olives Heat oven to 400 F. To make Red Wine Dressing: Whisk together olive oil, vinegar, parsley, honey, garlic, salt and pepper.

To assemble Roasted Sweet Potato Salad: Whisk together olive oil, vinegar, oregano, mint, garlic, salt and pepper; toss with potatoes until well-coated.

Arrange in single layer on parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Roast about 30 minutes, or until golden brown and tender.

Arrange sweet potatoes on serving platter. Top with lettuce, tomato and olives; drizzle with dressing.

Tips: For traditional Greek flavor, sprinkle with crumbled feta cheese before serving. Alternatively, cut sweet potatoes into wedges.

Boring Doesn’t Belong on a

Pimento Cheese Burger GreenWise Sicilian Sun Turkey Burger

BUN Try our three new ready-to-cook burgers.

GreenWise Orchard Chicken Burger

STOJ

AUGUST 31 – SEPTEMBER 6, 2018

FINEST & ENTERTAINMENT

B5

Bryson, 67, expresses gratitude about son, new CD importance,” Bryson said of the producers who have worked with Prince, Michael Jackson, and many others.

Together, Jam and Lewis made Janet Jackson an international icon.

“My challenge to them was, ‘Can you make me current without destroying what has taken me a lifetime to accomplish?’”

Bryson said.

“I asked them if they could put me in today’s conversation about music, to make me valid to be in a conversation. I couldn’t think of anyone else.”

BY STACY M. BROWN NNPA NEWSWIRE

Peabo Bryson grew up in South Carolina reading Black-owned newspapers like the Palmetto Leader and the Lighthouse and Informer.

And, the legendary crooner who’s new album, “Stand for Love,” dropped on Aug. 3, said he felt comfortable opening up to the Black Press about his award-winning career, latest CD, and his 7-monthold son whom he spent the better part of an hourlong interview cooing over. “[Mainstream] news is hard to trust. I want to be the king of real news, not fake news,” Bryson, 67, said with a hearty laugh.

“Growing up in the Black culture meant reading Black newspapers and it also meant that you were a cat in a room full of rocking chairs and if you emerged from that room, you really were something,” he said.

Family first Bryson sat on the front porch of his Buckhead, Georgia home, watching a family of deer roam by as the southern sky above turned dark because of an impending storm.

Having recently completed his 21st studio album with the legendary production duo of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Bryson said he was as excited as ever for his new music and accompanying tour that will have him travel all over the United States and to Japan.

First, however, he wanted to talk about his son.

Key to success

“Stand For Love’ is the new release from Peabo Bryson, available from Capitol Records.

“I have such a beautiful family and my little man …

I can tell you it’s like watching a mini version of myself. Almost every single aspect of him reminds me of me,” the proud father said.

Grammys and Oscars One of the premiere vocalists in music over the past 40 years, Bryson has earned two Grammy Awards and two Academy

Sheila E., Osborne, Boyz II Men to perform at Epcot festival The 23rd Epcot International Food & Wine Festival started Aug. 30 and continues through Nov. 12.

Guests will have a chance to meet their favorite celebrity chefs and enjoy nightly Eat to the Beat Concert Series shows.

Celebrity chefs Some of the celebrity chefs participating include: Huda Mu’min (Sept. 20 and Sept. 22) – Founder and CEO of Chef Huda’s Kitchen, a culinary company specializing in healthy comfort food; winner of Food Network’s “Cutthroat Kitchen” and fan favorite on ABC’s “The Taste” Dana Herbert (Oct. 4 and Oct. 6) – Winner of TLC’s “Cake Boss: The Next Great Baker’’ Carla Hall (Oct. 28) – Former co-host of the popular ABC TV show “The Chew” and competitor on “Top Chef” and “Top Chef: All Stars’’

Eat to the Beat Concert series These performers represent a diverse collection of hit makers from pop to country to R&B and more. The lineup includes: Baha Men (Sept. 14-16) – The band revived the deep musical legacy of the Bahamas and achieved world fame with the hit song “Who Let the Dogs Out.” Sheila E. (Sept. 22-23) – She began her career as a percussionist and soon thereafter launched a successful solo singing career with hits such as “The Glamorous Life.”

Living Colour (Sept. 20-21) – The New York City rock group known for “Cult of Personality” released a new album, “Shade,” just last year.

Jeffrey Osborne (Sept. 2930) – The legendary R&B singer known for “On the Wings of Love,” among many other hits.

Kenny G (Oct. 22-23) – This master of the soprano sax is one of the biggest-selling musicians of all time.

Billy Ocean (Oct. 24-25) – An international pop and R&B star of the ’70s and ’80s, who rose to fame with hits such as “Caribbean Queen” and “Get Outta My Dreams, Get into My Car.” Boyz II Men (Nov. 5-7) – Recognized as one of the most successful musical groups of the ’90s

by Billboard magazine, with hits such as “End of the Road” and “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday.”

For complete details, visit TasteEpcot.com.

Awards.

He’s also responsible for a memorable 1992 Oscar night performance with Angela Lansbury and Celine Dion as they earned rave reviews for their performance of the title track from the movie, “Beauty and the Best,” which won Best Original Song.

With hits that included duets with Natalie Cole, Roberta Flack and Regina Belle, Bryson has the distinction of being the first

artist in music history to have separate records topping four different charts.

Expects more hits He believes his new album, “Stand for Love,” has even more hits, particularly because of the added touch of Jam and Lewis.

“Excited doesn’t begin to describe what it’s like working with them. The first thing you notice is the absence of ego and self-

FLORIDA’S

finest

Even prior to its release, the new album caught on.

The lead single, “Love Like Yours and Mine,” rocketed to No. 3 on Billboard’s Adult R&B list and the second single, “All She Wants to Do is Me,” has already been featured on the Showtime hit series, “The Chi.” Part of Bryson’s success can be credited to his being able to say no in a world where everybody is accustomed to hearing the opposite, he said.

“I was saying no to drugs long ago. Some might have called me a ‘goody-twoshoes’ and a bunch of other things, but I tend to look at it as being young and pragmatic as opposed to young and restless,” Bryson said.

Reality of fame The singer, who’s career has yielded such hits as “Feel the Fire,” “Tonight I Celebrate My Love,” and “Can You Stop the Rain,” also has kept the proper per-

spective on celebrity and real life.

“There are two things you have to understand about celebrity and success,” Bryson said.

“One is, fame is not real. You have to accept that.

Fame really for an artist is everybody else’s perception of you, but you. Everybody else’s perception is valid except for yours if you adapt that. In terms of success, everything that you have can be taken a way from you in the next five seconds.”

Bryson continued, “[Celebrities] become invulnerable and that’s what they think success is but the hardest thing to navigate for a human being is not adversity, it’s success itself. Every single virtue you’ve ever had or everything you’ve ever hoped to achieve. Look, I treat every human being that I come in contact with the way I want to be treated and look, I buy my own toilet paper.”

A grateful man For Bryson, the new album is just one more thing he’s grateful for.

“At this stage of my life, I appreciate things more completely and it’s not just regular gratitude,” he said.

“I’m starting to appreciate the concept of secondhand grace and I’m not sitting around waiting for that big grace. To have this kind of success and a 7-monthold to carry my name and to marry my best friend … yes, I’m grateful,” he said.

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

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AUGUST 31 – SEPTEMBER 6, 2018

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TRINBAGONIAN PROUD TO CELEBRATE TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO’S INDEPENDENCE DAY.

BUSINESS

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AUGUST 31 – SEPTEMBER 6, 2018

BE YOUR OWN BOSS 7 tips to help you launch a successful business FROM FAMILY FEATURES

E

ntrepreneurship is alive and well, even if the face of small business is evolving with the times. Autonomy in management and making dreams a reality are the reasons most cited by entrepreneurs looking to open a small business.

Nearly half of all respondents in the annual The UPS Store “Inside Small Business Survey” said they’d be optimistic about opening a small business this year. Of respondents who hope to open a small business, top motivators include being their own bosses (38 percent), followed by believing in the power of their own ideas (17 percent) and creating their next career paths (15 percent).

“The American Dream of owning your own business is still very much real, especially when compared to the rest of the developed world,” said Dr. Luke Pittaway, Ohio University College of Business Copeland Professor of Entrepreneurship.

However, how Americans are choosing to open small businesses is where there may be a shift.

“Consumer habits are changing,” Pittaway said. “That’s forcing Americans to consider how they open small businesses, whether it's focusing more on e-commerce than actual store fronts or focusing on selling to a local community or region instead of a broader national audience.”

Starting your own start-up The process of launching a start-up can throw various unexpected obstacles your way, but there are numerous resources available to support a budding business.

“We understand the challenges of small business owners and offer products and services designed specifically

to help and support small businesses,” said Tim Davis, president of The UPS Store, Inc. “Small business owners are unparalleled in their passion for their businesses, and understanding that aspiration is critical to running a successful small business.”

This action plan from the experts at The UPS Store can help you get you on your way to launching a successful start-up:

1. Analyze your target audience Start by performing extensive market research to understand your customers' core necessities. Assessing your target demographic gives you a clear perspective on how to serve the people in it.

2. Determine a legal structure Selecting the right legal structure ultimately determines how you handle income taxes and all government reporting requirements. Many small businesses fall under a sole proprietorship or limited liability company (LLC) while bigger entities may identify as corporations.

3. Establish your premises Choosing the right business setting could be the difference between a cost-effective start-up and a moderately expensive one. Your work space should fall within your monthly budget while still satisfying the needs of your customers.

4. Determine your budget and expenses Assessing your available funds enables you to prioritize and assign an appropriate amount to your business

assets. This should include necessities for daily operations, as well as secondary expenses, such as traveling and meetings.

5. Develop a business plan Think of a business plan as a road map that indicates where your startup stands and where it is headed. If you need funding, it’s also a great tool to articulate your ideas, philosophies and goals.

6. Set up a marketing plan Conduct an analysis of your business’s strengths and weaknesses to devise strategies and tactics that account for challenges and opportunities your business is likely to face.

The scale of your marketing plan will likely depend on resources you have available and your target audience, but should feature a variety of tactics.

Your plan should include printed materials like direct mailers, business cards, newsletters, flyers, banners and posters, as well as digital to cover things like search and social media.

7. Be competitive Examine your competitors to determine the areas in which they thrive and see what makes them successful.

Learn from the landscape to improve upon their strengths and gain an upper hand on their weaknesses. For example, implement various pricing models, such as special offers, coupons and rewards, rather than sticking with your initial, low price to remain competitive and profitable.

With a carefully structured action plan, you can turn your start-up idea into a successful business. Find more tips for your small business at TheUPSStore.com.

TOJ

PITCH YOUR SMALL BUSINESS LIKE A PRO When you’re launching a small business, there could be any number of reasons you may need to pitch your idea. You may be courting an investor, recruiting talent or even starting to market your product or service. Brevity is often essential, so learn how to concisely pitch your business like a pro with these tips: • Draw out the essentials.

Reduce your pitch to a few digestible bites. Make sure you have an intro that is brief enough to get someone’s undivided attention then elaborate on your points, such as your top competitive advantages, and provide more detail about your business as a whole.

• Come to entertain. Add an entertainment factor to make your pitch engaging and memorable. Of course, you need substance to go along with style, but keeping your audience focused and doing something to stand out is essential.

• Anticipate questions.

Prepare yourself to reassure concerned investors and flesh out subjects you may have kept brief for your presentation. Make sure to practice your answers so you sound confident. Grabbing attention is important, but you need to be able to back up your spiel.

• Know your audience.

This is the cardinal rule of communication. Make sure you do your homework and know who you are addressing. This shows you value your listener’s time and feedback. Furthermore, insight about his or her philosophy in doing business can be extremely valuable during a pitch.

• Practice until it hurts.

Take the time to practice your entire pitch, including answers to likely questions, until you know it inside and out.

The more comfortable you are, the more likely you are to win someone over in a meeting.

• Have the materials to back it up. A written document is your chance to leave a lasting impression and elaborate on your major selling points. It’s also a chance to show your professionalism, so be sure to proofread carefully and package the information for a polished presentation.

Find more resources to help get your small business off the ground at theupsstore.com/ smallbiz.