Florida Courier, January 11, 2019

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JANUARY 11 – JANUARY 17, 2019

VOLUME 27 NO. 2

ANOTHER TEMPER TANTRUM Donald Trump walks out of shutdown talks when Democrats reject funds for his border wall.

BY JENNIFER HABERKORN AND ELI STOKOLS LOS ANGELES TIMES / TNS

OLIVIER DOULIERY/ABACA PRESS/TNS

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D- Calif., speaks to the media as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D- N.Y., House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer, D- Md., and Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D- Ill., look on after a meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday.

GOP still in charge

WASHINGTON ‒ A day after calling for a bipartisan compromise to resolve the partial government shutdown, President Donald Trump stormed out of a White House negotiating session Wednesday when Democratic leaders refused to agree to his demand for taxpayer funds to build a southern border wall.

“Just left a meeting with Chuck and Nancy, a total waste of time,” Trump tweeted afterward. He said he asked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., if they would agree to end the shutdown, now in its 19th day, in return for funds for a wall or steel barrier, one of his major campaign promises.

No wall “The president slammed the table, asked Speaker Pelosi if she would support his wall and when she said no, he walked out and said, ‘We have nothing to talk about,’” Schumer said. “He didn’t get his way and he just walked out of the meeting.”

Pelosi said a wall will not resolve the problems currently experienced at the border. “What Trump is claiming to be the situation at the border is not solved by a wall,” she said.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., the House minority leader, said talks had been complicated because of Democrats’ hardline stance, refusing to budge on the wall or even enter serious negotiations until the government is reopened.

“It is a real challenge when the Democrats won’t even give an offer back,” he said.

The hostile 20-minute encounter marked a shift for Trump, who previousSee TRUMP, Page A2

FLORIDA COURIER / OUT AND ABOUT

A future governor of Florida?

DeSantis stakes out conservative positions

Eleven-yearold Olivia Brown, one of the hundreds of Floridians who attended the inauguration of Gov. Ron DeSantis in Tallahassee, poses at the podium where DeSantis was sworn in.

Olivia, a beauty queen, holds the crown of Little Miss Choctawhatchee of Northwest Florida.

See more pictures from the inauguration on Page B1.

FROM THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

TALLAHASSEE ‒ Ronald Dion DeSantis became Florida’s 46th governor on Tuesday, promising to lead the state for the next four years with “a full heart, my best judgment and the courage of my convictions.”

The 40-year-old Republican from Ponte Vedra Beach did not break any new ground in his inauguration speech, but used the 16-minute address to broadly outline his agenda. He pledged to keep Florida a low-tax state, to improve water quality and to end “judicial activism.”

There was no mention of President Donald Trump, whose full-throated endorsement provided the political momentum that lifted the former congressman into the state’s highest executive post.

Thanked Scott But DeSantis, a Harvard-educated lawyer and U.S. Navy veteran, praised outgoing Gov. Rick Scott, who won a U.S. Senate seat in November, for leaving “a strong foundation,” including a growing economy.

“It now falls to me to build upon the foundation that has been laid, navigate the challenges ‒ economic, environmental, constitutional ‒ that lie ahead, and steer Florida to a stronger, cleaner and safer future,” DeSantis told a crowd of more than 2,000 supporters, lawmakers and state officials who gathered on the east side of the Old Capitol building for the ceremony.

“To my fellow Floridians, I say to you: judicial activism ends, right here and right now,” DeSantis said in his speech.

“I will only appoint judges who understand the proper role of the courts is to

CHARLES W. CHERRY II / FLORIDA COURIER

See GOP, Page A2

SNAPSHOTS

FLORIDA | A3

NATION | A6

Snipes asks federal judge for job back

Congress is diverse, except for religion

WORLD | B5

New Cuba leader, same old problems

ALSO INSIDE

IRS will pay tax refunds during shutdown

BY LAURA DAVISON BLOOMBERG NEWS/TNS

WASHINGTON – The Internal Revenue Service will issue refunds to taxpayers even if the U.S. government shutdown extends into the filing season, a decision that may reduce political pressure on

Congress and President Donald Trump to reach a deal to re-open the federal government.

“Tax refunds will go out,” the acting director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, Russell Vought, told reporters at a briefing on Monday.

In previous shutdown contingency plans, the IRS would accept tax returns during the filing season, but refunds would be delayed until the government was funded.

Vought said the administration is fixing what he called a problem faced by past administrations.

Almost $3,000 average

Limited effects

The decision will come as a relief to many taxpayers who file their taxes as soon as the filing season begins to claim their refund checks, which averaged $2,899 last year.

Within the first week of the 2018 filing season, more than 18.3 million people claimed about $12.6 billion in refunds.

The IRS hasn’t yet announced the start date to file tax returns this year, but says it’s on track to begin in late January or early February.

The policy change also removes a major political incentive for lawmakers and the White House to reach a deal in the coming weeks.

If refunds won’t be held hostage, the shutdown effects will be felt much less widely, relieving the strain on Congress and Trump to resolve the current impasse about how much money to spend on a border wall with Mexico.

If people weren’t able to get refunds there would be “excruciating pressure” on lawmakers to cut a deal, said Mark Everson, a former IRS Commissioner.

The calls congressional offices are receiving about the wall would morph into inquiries about why families haven’t received their refunds, he said.

COMMENTARY: RAYNARD JACKSON: BLACK MEDIA HAS EXPLAINING TO DO ABOUT ELECTION | A4 COMMENTARY: DR. RON DANIELS: GENTRIFICATION IS TODAY’S ‘NEGRO REMOVAL PROGRAM’ | A5

FOCUS

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JANUARY 11 – JANUARY 17, 2019

Cats can make it hard for a man Hollywood has a fascination with cats. Multiple movies, short stories, books and columns have been written about cats.

“The Lion King,” “Cat in the Hat” and “Alice in Wonderland” with its Cheshire cat are just a few stories about cats.

Everyday cats However, no feline has more mystery, more drama and more intrigue than the cats you see in your neighborhood every day!

Where do street cats come from? Were they abandoned? Are they feral cats? (A feral cat is a domestic cat that lives outdoors and has had little or no human contact. They do not allow them-

LUCIUS GANTT THE GANTT REPORT

selves to be handled or touched by humans.)

I just don’t know.

I see stray cats, street cats and “O-P-Ps” roaming around my neighborhood all the time. They gaze at my house looking like a one-eyed cat peeping in the seafood store!

If a cat sees you with another cat, the cat gets envious, jealous and even angry.

They can tell

Men give in

The first sign a cat has that tells her you have a different cat is your smell. It’s no secret. Cats can tell when you have been laying up with and snuggling with a cat or when another cat has been rubbing up against you.

If the cat wants you to “hit the cat,” so to speak, she will begin to cruise around your neighborhood and stake out your house, waiting on you to come and go.

The street cat wants some attention. The stray cat wants to be fed. If it’s cold outside, the lonely neighborhood cat might want you to drop it like it’s hot!

Sometimes men that get stalked and chased by a desperate cat let their guard down. They stop running from the cat. They stop hiding from the cat. They stop avoiding the cat.

If the cat has some pretty eyes and a nice tail, one day a man will eventually give in and agree to spend a little time with the cat that appears to want him so much.

“Here kitty, kitty,” the man will say. And before you know it, the cat has worked her way into the man’s home!

The trouble is, once you let cats into your home, it is very hard to get them out.

You can’t catch the cat. You can’t grab the cat. Once a cat gets into your house, the cat will jump on everything in the house but you! They want to purr all day long and never seem to want peace and quiet.

The cat’s bed In their minds, your bed becomes the cat’s bed and the wild, street cat will arch her back, take off her ear rings, rub on a little

Vaseline and fight every other cat that will talk to you or look at you.

If you enjoy chasing and hitting different cats, be careful not to share your home with them. Keep some kitty litter and some “blunt spray” handy so no one will smell cat scent that proves who has been in your house.

If you enjoy hitting the cat and eating a lot of cat food and if you don’t love the cat you have, don’t hit a street cat in your home. Stand up in the cat at the cathouse!

It’s hard out here for a domestic cat hitter! Many of the international cats make a living getting hit!

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.

GOP from A1

apply the law and Constitution as written, not to legislate from the bench. The Constitution, not the judiciary, is supreme.”

First appointment In one of his first acts after taking office, DeSantis on Wednesday made a historic appointment to the court, naming appellate Judge Barbara Lagoa as the high court’s first Cuban-American female justice.

He said the court in recent years has expanded its power “beyond constitutional bounds” and has substituted “legislative will for dispassionate legal judgment.”

DeSantis’ selection of Lagoa, the daughter of Cuban émigrés, was Judge the first of three Barbara Supreme Court Lagoa appointments the new governor will make, following the mandatory retirement of three justices who comprised what had been the court’s more liberal-leaning bloc.

Lagoa’s addition will cement a conservative majority that will include Chief Justice Charles Canady and justices Alan Lawson and Ricky Polston, all of whom Lagoa cited as references in her application for the post. It also will keep DeSantis’ pledge to purge the Supreme Court of “activist” jurists.

Following another campaign promise, DeSantis is also expected to quickly announce a plan to deal with water-quality problems that have included an outbreak of toxic algae in some rivers and red tide along state coastlines. He said water quality is “foundational” to the state’s prosperity.

‘Florida’s DNA’ “It doesn’t just drive tourism.

It affects property values, anchors many local economies and is central to our quality of life,” DeSantis said. “The water is part and parcel of Florida’s DNA. Protecting it is the smart thing to do.

It’s also the right thing to do.”

DeSantis also promised to maintain the state’s “favorable tax climate.”

“Let’s promote a virtuous cycle whereby low taxes, a reasonable regulatory climate, a sensible le-

TRUMP

CHARLES W. CHERRY II / FLORIDA COURIER

Gov. Ron DeSantis took the oath of office Tuesday after beating Democrat Andrew Gillum in a close gubernatorial race in last November. gal system and a healthy environment attract jobs, business and investment ‒ particularly in the areas of technology, manufacturing and finance,” he said.

On schools, DeSantis said he would support the creation of more education “opportunities,” a reference to the likely expansion of charter schools, publicly funded scholarships for private-school students and other “choice” programs.

“One size does not fit all. No family should be denied the opportunity for their child to succeed due to insufficient income or to living in the wrong ZIP code,” DeSantis said.

Immigration, elections In a more partisan vein, DeSantis said he would not allow

ly had spoken about the progress being made during talks and his optimism that a resolution would be found.

‒ after the Florida Courier’s press time Wednesday night. Lawmakers of both parties said they saw no immediate path forward.

The White House theatrics did little to mask the uphill battle facing Trump, whose demand for $5.7 billion in funds for a border wall precipitated the government shutdown last month.

Possible emergency

GOP nervous

That began to shift this week when the White House floated the idea of bypassing Congress entirely and declaring a national emergency at the border, which the administration believes will enable it to use military funds to build the wall.

The idea is controversial on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers value their constitutional authority to appropriate money.

But some Republicans view it as a political way out of the shutdown debacle.

The clash in the White House on Wednesday also suggested that the shutdown is likely to become the longest on record, a threshold it will pass on Saturday

Despite a White House offensive this week ‒ including a rare Oval Office prime-time address Tuesday, a trip to Capitol Hill on Wednesday and a visit to the southern border Thursday ‒ some Republicans are beginning to get nervous about the backlash they may face as the pain from the shutdown grows.

More than 800,000 workers have been furloughed, with many being forced to work without pay. Paychecks due Friday are not expected to arrive, forcing many families to miss mortgage payments, put off medical procedures or juggle bills.

“I think the president thinks there will be increasing pres-

from A1

any “sanctuary cities,” which do not currently exist in Florida. He also promised to improve Florida’s reputation for conducting elections, saying the state should not be “further tarnished by the repeated failure of a small number of counties” to properly conduct elections.

DeSantis said he would remove officials if they are “neglectful of required duties.” That could include suspending Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel, who has been criticized for the performance of his agency during the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School last year.

DeSantis and his lieutenant governor, former state Rep. Jeanette Nuñez, R-Miami, participated in the traditional swearing-

in ceremony shortly before noon Tuesday. But both actually took office just after midnight Monday, having filed their official oaths of office in December with the Secretary of State’s Office.

Nuñez, who succeeds Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera, became the highest-ranking Hispanic woman in state history with her new post.

On Tuesday, DeSantis and Nuñez also continued establishing a cordial relationship with the Republican-led Legislature, hosting a luncheon in the Capitol with the 40 state senators and 120 House members after the inauguration ceremony.

DeSantis repeated his philosophy about the importance of the

Legislature in the government process.

“I’m somebody who thinks our government is better when the legislative branch is exercising the authority that it was granted under the Constitution. I think that is true in the federal government and I think that is true here,” DeSantis said, drawing applause from the lawmakers.

DeSantis was accompanied by his wife, Casey Black DeSantis, at the inaugural ceremony, the legislative luncheon, and an inaugural ball Tuesday night.

State records show DeSantis is Florida’s youngest governor on Inauguration Day since Park Trammell took the oath of office on Jan. 7, 1913, as a 36-year-old former attorney general.

sure on everybody to come to the table once people start missing their paycheck. Sadly, these people are collateral damage,” said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas.

“There’s going to be significant political pressure on everybody when workers and contractors start missing their paychecks and can’t pay their rent or their mortgage or put food on the table.”

Polls have shown that Americans increasingly blame Trump for the disruption, rather than Democrats.

Trump tried to assuage GOP concerns by meeting with rankand-file Senate Republicans on Wednesday and urging them to stay united. Just an hour before he left the negotiation with congressional leaders, he asked Senate Republicans to “hang together,” according to two senators in the room.

“The president’s message to all of us was hang together,” Cornyn said. “It’s like what Benjamin Franklin said at the constitutional convention: Are we going to hang together or hang separately?”

Republican opposition

dent on this,” he said.

But some Republicans fear Trump will just leave them hanging. About half a dozen Senate Republicans have publicly urged Trump to reopen the government, even without getting the border money. They include Sens. Cory Gardner of Colorado and Susan Collins of Maine, both of whom will face voters in 2020.

The senators who have come out publicly against the shutdown “reaffirmed those” positions in the meeting, Cornyn said.

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who often votes independently from the GOP caucus and is among those urging Trump to end the shutdown without wall money, reminded Trump during the meeting that Americans were starting to feel the pain, according to NBC. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Republicans stand with the president but declined to answer any other questions about the negotiation.

“We’re sticking with the presi-

All over the map

Legislature is critical

But the White House PR campaign this week hasn’t gone as smoothly as hoped, partly because Trump has at times seemed to undercut the unity message and distanced himself from the shutdown. He reportedly complained to broadcasters Tuesday that he didn’t think the Oval Office address or border trip were smart ideas, and his aides were making him do it.

In December, Trump said he would gladly “own” the shutdown, but on Wednesday he told reporters: “This is not a fight I wanted. I didn’t want this fight.”

He also complained to Democrats during the contentious White House meeting that he “didn’t want to do this meeting.

They told me I had to,” according to Sen. Richard J. Durbin, DIll., who attended.

Los Angeles Times staff writers Noah Bierman and Sarah D. Wire in Washington contributed to this report.

JANUARY 11 – JANUARY 17, 2019

FLORIDA

A3

Elections chief ask federal judge for job back Scott accused of trying to humiliate Snipes after Broward election debacle.

BY DARA KAM NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

TALLAHASSEE – A federal judge who’s been highly critical of how the state has handled elections struggled Monday to find a fix to a lawsuit filed by ousted Broward County elections chief Brenda Snipes, who was removed from her job by outgoing Gov. Rick Scott after she submitted her resignation.

Following a series of election mishaps and demands for her resignation, Snipes – a Democrat appointed by former Gov. Jeb Bush and subsequently reelected four times – announced Nov. 18 that she would step down from her post, effective Jan. 4.

But on Nov. 30, Scott issued an executive order suspending Snipes and replacing her with his ally, Pete Antonacci, whose past roles with the governor’s administration have included serving as Scott’s general counsel.

Sued Scott, Galvano The day after the executive order, Snipes held a news conference and rescinded her resignation. Seeking to regain her job, Snipes later filed a federal lawsuit against Scott and Senate President Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton.

Snipes filed the case four days after Galvano said the Senate, which has the constitutional authority to remove from office or reinstate suspended elected officials, would not take up the matter.

The lawsuit alleges that Snipes has “suffered a significant deprivation” of her rights as a result of her suspension and the Senate’s refusal to consider her case.

Snipes is asking to be reinstated, or to have the Senate hold a hearing or appoint a special master to consider her future.

“She has been publicly humiliated by being closed out of her job and further not being paid during the suspension,” the lawsuit said. “At this point, Governor Scott’s allegations have gone unchallenged as he sits high on a ‘throne’ utilizing state resources to continually humiliate Snipes.

Due process clearly applies.”

No ruling U.S. District Judge Mark Walker, who is given to Southern colloquialisms and who frequently gives attorneys a tongue-lashing from the bench and in his orders, peppered lawyers representing all sides – the Senate, the gover-

AMY BETH BENNETT/SOUTH FLORIDA SUN SENTINEL/TNS

Broward County Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes walks the aisles as hand counting begins in the senate race at the Supervisor of Elections office in Lauderhill on Nov. 16, 2018. nor and Snipes – with questions throughout a two-hour hearing Monday.

He did not immediately issue a ruling.

Walker appeared to take umbrage at the state’s position that there was little legal recourse for Snipes after Scott ousted her.

“I don’t understand how the governor could say anything he wanted about a public official, remove them, and, because it’s done at the end of their tenure … it doesn’t matter how unfair it is,” Walker said. “You’re just out of luck. Hard to square that with due process.”

Pushing back Daniel Nordby, Scott’s general counsel, told Walker that Snipes could publicize a response to the accusations about her competence that Scott made in the executive order, which stripped her of a post she had already quit.

But, Nordby maintained, her “resignation introduces an insurmountable obstacle here” in terms of a possible court-ordered cure.

Pushing back, Walker said officials should have a chance to publicly respond, “so that you don’t just get to scum me.”

“So, my forum is the Tampa Times. You get to say you’re the worst human being in the history

of time and you’re removed, and your remedy is to go to the newspaper and say, here’s my written response?” the judge asked.

Nordby said Snipes could also write letters to Scott or to incoming Gov. Ron DeSantis, who was sworn in Tuesday.

Machine, hand recounts Scott narrowly defeated Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in the Nov. 6 election, which required machine and hand recounts because of the slim margin.

Amid the recounts, Scott and his supporters blasted Snipes over her handling of ballots from Broward, a Democratic stronghold.

Scott’s executive order outlined a series of alleged wrongdoings by Snipes.

According to the order, she “demonstrated repeatedly that she was unable to accurately respond to basic requests from candidates, news media, and the general public regarding the number of ballots that had been cast, the number of ballots that had been counted, and the number of ballots remaining to be canvassed.”

Scott’s complaints A circuit judge ruled that Snipes had failed to provide pub-

lic records requested by Scott’s campaign and others, Scott noted in the order.

Snipes also improperly permitted staff to open provisional and mail-in ballots that had not been examined by the county canvassing board and failed to keep ballots that had been accepted and rejected by the board “appropriately segregated,” Scott’s executive order said.

While the Broward canvassing board completed a machine recount before a state-ordered deadline, Snipes failed to submit the results to the state Division of Elections before the deadline passed, Scott’s order said.

Race mentioned Snipes also said more than 2,000 ballots had been “lost, misplaced, or misfiled” between Nov. 6 and Nov. 15, but that the missing ballots were “somewhere ‘in the building’” but has not provided an explanation, the governor wrote.

But Snipes’ lawyers accused Scott of trying to embarrass and humiliate the long-serving elections official.

Scott’s executive order “throws some things in that had some kernel of truth but other things that are not true at all,” Burnadette Norris-Weeks told Walker.

At the end of the hearing,

NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

12 deaths The dispute stemmed from the September 2017 hurricane, which knocked out the nursing home’s air-conditioning system for three days.

Authorities have attributed as many as 12 deaths to sweltering conditions at the facility, though Creasy wrote that “clear and convincing evidence” was presented during the case that nine of the 12 residents “suffered greatly from the exposure to un-

‘Faxed-in’ question The federal judge asked Norris-Weeks whether any supervisors were suspended for accepting “faxed-in ballots.”

At least one elections supervisor in North Florida accepted ballots by fax after early-voting sites were destroyed by Hurricane Michael.

“No, your honor,” NorrisWeeks said.

“Do you know the gender or race of any of the right-leaning supervisors of elections in the Panhandle?” Walker queried.

They were all White males, Snipes’ lawyer, who is also Black, replied.

“So whose ox is getting gored, that’s what” is at play, Walker asked.

Norris-Weeks said the suspension was “intended to embarrass and humiliate Snipes,” who sat beside her lawyers.

The ousted official deserves due process, Snipes’ lawyer Michelle Austen Pamies said.

Due process “is an opportunity to be heard,” Pamies said.

“It can’t be that she provides her own opportunity and sends a letter,” she said.

Jones to run against Braynon for Senate seat

Final order issued to revoke nursing home’s license Moving forward with an administrative law judge’s recommendation, the state Agency for Health Care Administration has issued a final order to revoke the license of a Broward County nursing home where residents died after Hurricane Irma in 2017.

The agency issued the 17-page order on Jan. 4 against the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills. Gov. Rick Scott’s administration in 2017 moved to revoke the license, but the nursing home challenged the decision in the state Division of Administrative Hearings.

Judge Mary Li Creasy on Nov 30 issued a recommended order that supported the revocation. But under administrative law, the issue had to go back to Scott’s Agency for Health Care Administration for a final order.

Walker hinted that Snipes, who is Black, might have been targeted because of her race.

NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

JOHN MCCALL/SUN-SENTINEL/TNS

Police surround the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills, which had no air conditioning after Hurricane Irma knocked out power, on Sept. 13, 2017, in Hollywood. safe heat in the facility.”

The deaths and evacuation of the Broward nursing home drew national attention in the days after Hurricane Irma, which made landfall Sept. 10, 2017 in Monroe and Collier counties and caused damage through much of the state.

The nursing home lost power to its air-conditioning system, Creasy wrote, because a fuse to a transformer on a power pole was dislodged.

High court rejects prison ‘censorship’ case The U.S. Supreme Court on

Monday refused to take up a First Amendment dispute about a magazine that has been blocked from distribution to Florida prison inmates.

The Supreme Court, as is common, did not detail its reasons for declining to take up an appeal filed by Prison Legal News.

A U.S. district judge and the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the state Department of Corrections, which has blocked distribution of Prison Legal News because prison officials say advertisements in the magazine pose security risks.

The department has cited ads for such things as three-way phone calling services, which can be used to facilitate crimes.

But in a petition filed in September asking the Supreme Court to take up the case, attorneys for Prison Legal News argued that “censorship” by the department violates free-speech and freepress rights.

Prison Legal News received support in briefs filed by groups ranging from media and religious organizations to Americans for Prosperity and The Cato Institute.

With Sen. Oscar Braynon facing term limits in 2020, state Rep. Shevrin Jones, D-West Park, has taken an initial step toward running to replace him.

Jones, a House member since 2012, opened a Shevrin campaign account Jones last week to run in Senate District 35, which is made up of parts of Broward and Miami-Dade counties, according to the state Division of Elections website and an announcement from Oscar Jones’ campaign.

Braynon In opening the account, Jones joined former Rep. Cynthia Stafford, a Miami Gardens Democrat who opened an account for the Senate race last year.

Stafford had raised $1,500 as of Nov. 30, according to a finance report. Stafford served from 2010 until last year in the House.

Braynon, D-Miami Gardens, has served in the Senate since 2011, including a stint as minority leader.

EDITORIAL

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JANUARY 11 – JANUARY 17, 2019

Black media must do their jobs As I reflected on the year in politics from 2018, it dawned on me that the most underreported story of last year was the Black vote.

According to Pew Research, “Blacks voted [in the 2018 elections] overwhelmingly (90 percent) for the Democratic candidate, including comparable shares of Black men (88 percent) and Black women (92 percent).

It is a well-known axiom in politics that a Democrat candidate MUST get north of 90 percent of the Black vote to win an election, especially in a state-wide race.

Anything less, that Democrat candidate risks losing his race. Similarly, if a Republican gets north of 15 percent of the Black vote, he has a great chance of winning his election.

This is why I find it so bizarre that the Republican Party REFUSES to spend the time, money and effort to engage with the Black community in any meaningful, sustained way.

Deciding factor The Black vote was particularly decisive in three gubernatorial races: Florida, Georgia, and Maryland. Each of these races had three extremely credible, impressive Black Democrat candidates facing White Republicans.

In Florida’s governor’s race, former Congressman Ron DeSantis got 14 percent of the Black vote; in Georgia, former Secretary of State Brian Kemp got 16 percent of the Black vote; and in Maryland, incumbent Governor Larry Hogan got 30 percent of the Black vote. This is proof positive that the above axiom is indeed a very ac-

RAYNARD JACKSON NNPA COLUMNIST

I hope that Black media will live up to its journalistic mission and give an honest examination of why three Black candidates lost in three states that had significant numbers of Black voters. curate predictor of election outcomes more than any polling data.

In full disclosure, I served as a senior advisor to Ron DeSantis during his race for governor. I have first-hand knowledge of the impact of the Black vote in this race.

Got it done After he became our party’s

We did not die, we multiplied Blacks, as a race of people, are the most resilient human beings on God’s earth.

Starting in the 1500s, Europeans began the greatest holocaust known to history. The enslavement of Africans would last for over 350 years. Millions died within weeks during the passage across the Atlantic Ocean. Many women arrived pregnant from the rapes of their captors during the voyage. A noticeable number survived, only to be put under the harshest of conditions from the cradle to the grave.

Historical brutality There have been different forms of slavery throughout history. The form used throughout the ‘New World’ was the most vicious and heartless. Victims were denied their religion, language and every aspect of their culture.

The treatment was quite like that of the management of live-

HARRY C. ALFORD GUEST COLUMNIST

stock. Any resistance would result in certain death. Governments would encourage settlers to utilize slaves on their farms. There was a tradition to award settlers for utilizing slaves. For each new slave purchased by a farmer, there would be a 50-acre bonus of new land.

After going through this holocaust for nearly four decades, African-Americans of the Western Hemisphere developed into some of the strongest human beings known to the world. Every four years, we go on display during the Olympics. Popular sports such as football, basketball, soccer, baseball, boxing, etc. proves

Fake ‘Resistance’ won’t beat Trump in 2020 The Democrats are making news after being sworn into the 116th Congress as the majority party in the House of Representatives. The media give great attention to the increase in the numbers of women, Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) and Muslim members, and of course Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. But as a character on an old television commercial asked, “Where’s the beef?”

Nancy Pelosi is up to her old tricks, this time with the Pay Go provision which prevents Democrats from spending more money than the government takes in. Only three members voted against the rule which included the Pay Go provision. The rest went along to get along, as Dem-

MARGARET KIMBERLEY BLACK AGENDA REPORT

ocrats move ever further to the right in order to please their corporate donors and the unlikely plan of getting Republican votes.

Nothing done At the midway point of the Trump presidency, the Democrats have nothing to show in the way of meaningful resistance.

The Women’s March has been exposed as a fraudulent get-

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: RESTORATION OF VOTING RIGHTS

nominee for governor, DeSantis called me and asked me to come to Florida and help him secure the Black vote. He empowered me to accomplish the mission, gave me the resources that I needed, and then got the hell out of my way and let me do my thing!

Of the 14 percent of the Black vote we received, we received 18 percent of the Black female vote and 9 percent of the Black male vote. The issues that drove this 14 percent was entrepreneurship and school choice/vouchers. The Democrat nominee, Andrew Gillum, vowed to raise taxes on businesses and eliminate a voucher program that overwhelmingly benefited poor Blacks.

My question, especially Black media: How do you explain the fact that these three Black candidates all got well under 90 percent of the Black vote? I have not seen one media story that examined this phenomenon.

Why? Because in a liberal’s mind, they can’t believe a Black person would actually say, by their vote, that they agree with this Republican candidate’s ideological views. In a liberal’s mind, it is inconceivable that a Black person can be pro-life, support smaller government, actually wants lower taxes, supports the removal of those in the country illegally, and believes in school choice and vouchers, etc.

Black media silent I am surprised that Black media has not thoroughly examined why the three candidates got well under 90 percent of the Black vote.

Many in the Black media are

our strength, speed and courage.

Worth the visit Every person should visit the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. Blacks, descendants of slaves, come out of the museum inspired by the achievements despite the adversities we experienced. Whites, descendants of slave owners, come out educated and surprised.

We won our freedom in the United States in 1865. However, for the next 100 years, many of us endured the evil of Jim Crow segregation. We were slotted into the lowest jobs, poorest healthcare, and smallest amount of education available. When the Dutch descendants of South Africa wanted to apply apartheid, they modeled this Jim Crow example.

Blacks living in the rural South were denied proper education.

Most rural Black children went to elementary school during the winter months. The rest of the year was spent working the fields.

During the George W. Bush administration, we became cultural ambassadors. One of our

out-the-vote effort that was dispatched soon after the midterm election. Now the Democrats have been reduced to using curse words in what passes for opposition to Donald Trump.

Trump’s shutdown of the government in the dispute over the border wall is an opportunity for the Democrats to show their mettle. But they can’t fight what they never really opposed. Bill Clinton and Barack Obama requested and got funding for border walls in the past.

The Democrats are terrified of mobilizing the people they claim to represent. There are many issues they could champion that would win them votes, everything from Medicare for All to debt forgiveness of college loans.

But their donors won’t give them money if they fight for those causes so instead of policy, we get justification for cursing.

The government shutdown is an opportunity to fight for the

BILL DAY, TALLAHASSEE, FL

radical liberals: Roland Martin, Joy Reid, Tamron Hall, Jason Johnson, Lauren Burke, Joe Madison, etc. They don’t want to examine this story because it will prove that Blacks are not the liberals that they and the White media want the public to believe.

Gillum, Abrams, Jealous, all were radical liberal candidates putting illegals before American citizens, promoting a radical homosexual agenda, and wanting to raise taxes on those who are successful. That is why each of them lost.

You had three sharp candidates, all 45 or younger, great rhetorical skills, and all very likable.

Yet all three got their butts kicked because enough Blacks said, “We don’t agree with your policy positions.”

I have heard liberals attempt to dismiss these loses because of “racism” and “voter suppression.”

Nothing could be further from the truth. They lost because the

Republican candidates received more votes than them. Period!!!

journeys was to Mexico City. We were amazed when we toured La Puebla and Vera Cruz. There were Blacks there.

Some did not know how their people got there. Our research revealed that when the French and British drove the Spanish settlers out of the Gulf Coast region, many of the Spaniards fled to Mexico and brought their slaves with them.

the economic ladder. We are committed to help change that.

In March, we will visit Columbia on a follow-up trade mission. Our affiliated chapter there is quite ambitious and is headquartered in the Cali region. This country is going through a positive change in terms of civil and economic rights for the African descendants and the indigenous people. We will provide “best practices” for civil and economic parity and meet dignitaries in the capital city of Bogota. (Details on the NBCC website.)

The coastlines of South and Central America are home to the majority of African-Americans.

As slaves, they would work the harbors, ports and farmlands.

The undeniable truth is that descendants of the “Great Holocaust” have survived and will now begin to economically thrive. It is our destiny.

About Brazil We journeyed to Brazil in 1999.

Brazil has the largest population of Blacks in the Western Hemisphere; only Nigeria is larger. Many Brazilians of European lineage try to ignore that. They divide Blacks by the darkness of skin color. They try to dilute the fact that nearly most of the population are “children of Africa.” Some of the brothers and sisters wear T-shirts that say “100 percent Negro” (“Black” in Portuguese). They aren’t buying it.

Despite their majority population, Blacks in Brazil represent less than 18 percent of the wealth.

Throughout South America, Blacks are at the bottom rung of

rights of thousands of people who are going without paychecks and for everyone who needs government services. But there is still no plan for a true fight-back that would give the people what they want and bring Democrats easy victories.

Nothing new The Democrats don’t intend to offer anything new. Endless war and austerity are the only items always on their menu.

Their actions at the start of the 2020 presidential election prove the falseness of their efforts. The race has barely begun, and they are already rigging public opinion against Bernie Sanders. Their opinion polls omit his name, negative stories suddenly resurface, and Joe Biden and Beto O’Rourke are presented as party saviors. The more right-wing the policies presented, the more praise they lavish.

Charles W. Cherry II, Esq., Publisher

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

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Write the story I hope that Black media will live up to its journalistic mission and give an honest examination of why these three Black candidates lost in three states that had significant numbers of Black voters.

I hope this examination will include the fact that enough Blacks supported the Republican candidate because they agreed with their policy positions as opposed to what the Democrat alternative was offering.

Raynard Jackson is founder and chairman of Black Americans for a Better Future (BAFBF), a federally registered Super PAC established to get more Blacks, especially entrepreneurs, involved in the Republican Party. For more information, visit www.bafbf.org.

Harry C. Alford is the cofounder and president/CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce (NBCC). Kay DeBow is the NBCC co-founder. Contact them via www.nationalbcc.org.

Didn’t use it The spontaneous expression of voter dismay after the Trump election was never put to good use. While a majority of Americans want an end to Trump, the party that is supposed to fight against him depends on sleights of hand and barely concealed contempt for its voters. Democrats should have won the House and the Senate, too. Trump ought to be on the ropes because of an organization and mobilization, not because of his cringeworthy words and deeds.

A second Trump term or a win for another Republican are plausible scenarios in November 2020.

Margaret Kimberley is a cofounder of BlackAgendaReport.com, and writes a weekly column there. Contact her at Margaret.Kimberley@BlackAgendaReport.com.

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

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JANUARY 11 – JANUARY 17, 2019

Gentrification is today’s ‘Negro Removal Program’ Gentrification has emerged as a major threat to Black communities that have been centers for Black business/economic development, cultural and civic life for generations.

Gentrification has become the watch-word for the displacement of Black people and culture. It is the “Negro Removal Program” of the 21st Century. There is an urgent need for people of African descent to mount a serious offensive to defend Black communities from this insidious onslaught.

Disrupted Black communities During the civil rights / Black Power era, the term “Negro Removal” was virtually synonymous with “Urban Renewal” ‒ local, state and federal highway and development projects that often disconnected and destroyed stable Black communities.

It was not unusual for a local highway project designed to benefit residents from the suburbs or a component of an Interstate Highway System to be routed through the center of a Black community, uprooting and displacing Black people or permanently weakening businesses, institutions, networks and relationships that bound folks together.

As advocates for Black entrepreneurship correctly urge Black people to create and support Black business districts in our communities, it is useful to remember that Urban Renewal destroyed thriving business districts in Black communities across the country in the latter part of the 20th Century. In fact, there is a historical pattern of marginalizing, subverting or outright destroying Black communities to thwart our ability to achieve full political and economic empowerment and equity in this nation.

Gentrification is the latest manifestation of this pattern.

In the news There is a multiplicity of testimonies about this destructive phenomena. The caption of a feature article in the May 2, 2018 edition of the New York Times captured the essence of the crisis confronting Black communities across the country: “When Home No Longer Looks the Same: Rapid Change in Durham Has Left Many Black Residents Feeling Unwelcome.”

The article details how the revitalization of Durham, N.C., has increasingly meant development and progress for middle- and upper-income Whites, but displacement for large numbers of Black working-class and middleclass people who can no longer afford to live in certain sections of the city.

An article in the October 21, 2018 Edition of the Houston Chronicle is also illustrative of the growing concern about

DR. RON DANIELS GUEST COLUMNIST

Gentrification has become the watch-word for the displacement of Black people and culture. It is the “Negro Removal Program” of the 21st Century.

There is an urgent need for people of African descent to mount a serious offensive to defend Black communities from this insidious onslaught. gentrification in Black America: “Historic Black neighborhoods disappear all the time. But they don’t have to.”

No longer around In Atlanta, the “Black Mecca” of the South, Vine City ‒ the neighborhood where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and civil rights and political leader Julian Bond lived ‒ no longer exists. It was wiped out by sports stadium projects. Public housing development after public housing development has been felled by an advancing wave of “progress.” The “Sweet Auburn” District, which was once the home of major Black businesses, is now stagnant.

In the face of this onslaught, a youthful group of community advocates called the Community Movement Builders have recently launched an Anti-Gentrification Campaign to mobilize community residents and their allies to address the massive displacement of Black working class and poor people from their neighborhoods. One of their slogans is: “Stop Gentrification: Keep Residents in Place.”

Thousands displaced ‘Development’ in Washington, D.C., the original “Chocolate City,” has displaced thousands of Black people, forcing them to move to surrounding suburban areas. The prosperous central city neighborhood and Black business district in Seattle, WA.,

Clemson rolls Alabama in epic football upset Nothing explains the magnitude of this upset quite like this pre-game headline in the New York Times: “Alabama’s ANTHONY L. Toughest Competition Might Be HALL, ESQ. Its Second String. Or Its Third.”

Well, a funny thing hapFLORIDA COURIER pened on the way to Alabama’s tiCOLUMNIST tle. The Crimson Tide looked like it was playing its third string the entire game. But I shall leave all balls with three other segments, the post-game analyses to com- which were filled with meaningless game stats, player stats, and mentators who care. random sports news or tweets, respectively.

A new rivalry What’s the point of having a It is noteworthy, though, that 40-inch TV if you can watch what the Clemson Tigers vs. the Alayou’re interested in only on one bama Crimson Tide is beginning segment of the friggin’ screen?! to create the lore of storied riBut I digress … valries like the NFL’s Packers vs.

Bears, the NBA’s Lakers vs. Celtics, and Major League Baseball’s I’m no fan I am not a fan of college footYankees vs. Red Sox. Indeed, it’s a measure of the ball. Perhaps this is because I did national interest this game gen- not attend one of far-too-many erated that ESPN carried it on all colleges in America whose repfour of its cable channels. Never utation is based more on athletmind that watching it on three of ics than academics. Whatever them was like watching a busi- the case, I’ve never had any bragging interest in the outcome of ness channel.

For some stupefying reason, any NCAA championship (in any those three channels limited cov- sport).

The only reason I watch this erage of play on the field to just one segment of the screen. And annual spectacle is to establish that play had to compete for eye- standing to vent my abiding la-

has vanished as Blacks have been forced to flee to Tacoma and other outlying cities where housing is more affordable.

In Los Angeles, the Crenshaw Subway Coalition is vigorously resisting a subway extension that would spur gentrification in one of the most storied communities in Black America. In neighborhood after neighborhood in New York City ‒ from Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx to Harlem ‒ gentrification is rapidly displacing hundreds of thousands of Black people. In a few years, Harlem, the cultural-political capital of Black America, will hardly be recognizable. A Whole Foods store now stands were Malcolm X once held his legendary rallies!

Chocolate cities, once the domain of Black political and economic power, are vanishing as increasing numbers of Whites who in previous generations abandoned urban centers for the suburbs are now returning to establish more comfortable and convenient spaces in closer proximity to their workplaces.

Impact on Blacks ‘Development’ to accommodate the newcomers is driving up the cost of housing, especially rental properties, in a manner that is unaffordable for large numbers of Black residents.

Property taxes are also skyrocketing, putting enormous pressure on Black homeowners as well. As Blacks are displaced and replaced by newcomers, this is inevitably leading to dramatic shifts in political power from neighborhood advisory boards, to city councils and the office of Mayors. Black power is diminishing.

What is equally egregious are the attitudes of some of the newcomers whom residents of Black communities sometimes characterize as “invaders” or “neo-colonialists.” This is because some newcomers are not content to become a part of the community; they arrogantly attempt to change the rhythms, culture and character of the community.

For decades it has been a wellestablished and accepted custom that scores of drummers gather on a designated date at a regular time in Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem to play African music. But once a large number of “invaders” became occupants of a nearby apartment building, they began to complain to the police and petitioned local elected officials, seeking to ban this longstanding weekly ritual.

‘Gardening while Black’ In Detroit, three White women, newcomers to a predominately Black neighborhood, falsely accused a Black man of being a pedophile and demanded that the police file charges against him.

The brother in question was starting a community garden on a vacant lot in the neighborhood; the women protested this activ-

ment about college football masquerading as an amateur sport.

This excerpt from “Reggie Bush Forfeits Heisman Trophy” published September 16, 2010, crystallizes my concerns: There’s nothing amateur about college Football. It’s a multibillion-dollar business for Christ’s sake!

More to the point, the people generating its revenues are not the university presidents, athletics directors, or coaches who, incidentally, make millions of dollars in salary and endorsement deals. Instead, they are the poor, mostly Black athletes whose raw talent colleges exploit to pack 100,000 fans into their stadiums on game day.

I have always felt that it’s tantamount to modern-day slavery for universities to recruit poor and, all too often, uneducated athletes just to play Football and not compensate them for their services, especially considering they rarely get an education. …

But this indentured servitude is made much worse by branding these poor players – who generate tens of millions for their respective universities – as cheaters for accepting a little cash on the side.

Mind you, those offering the cash are often boosters just trying to make life easier for players to enable them to perform better. Not to mention that, if the NCAA were to penalize all college players who accept such gifts, there would be no college Football (or Basketball) worth watching.

EDITORIAL

A5

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: COLLEGE FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

RICK MCKEE, THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE, GA

ity taking place in “their neighborhood.” Fortunately, the judge dismissed the charges in a case of “gardening while Black!” Reports of these kinds of attitudes and behavior across the country is breeding resentment and hostility towards the “invaders.”

Let me be clear. As a civil right, any person in the United States has the freedom to live wherever they choose. People of African descent have waged a relentless struggle to achieve this precious right.

People also have the right to live amongst their own nationality, ethnicity or ethnic group if they choose. Hence there are Irish, Italian, Polish, German and Jewish communities in this country. And occasionally, these communities change in composition.

“Little Italy” in lower Manhattan in New York is now mostly shops and stores as people of Italian descent have largely chosen to migrant to other neighborhoods.

Forced to leave Voluntary migration is one thing; forced displacement is another matter. Time and time again, Black people have faced schemes, targeted policies and outright violence ‒ Tulsa, Rosewood, and other places ‒ to force their removal from neighborhoods and communities they worked and invested in to ‘develop’ as their home.

Black people believe in ‘development,’ and no reasonable person would be opposed to improvements or progress that would better their community.

The crucial issue for people of African descent is not development, it is ‘development’ that is displacing Black people and culture. Therefore, the order and challenge of the day is to achieve “development without displacement.”

The question: Can development strategies be devised that prioritize improving the lives of the current residents and preserving the culture and character of their communities? The answer to that question is yes. The collective brainpower, skill, experience and will exists within Black America to mount an offensive to defend Black communities against gentrification, the “Negro Removal Program” of the 21st Century.

The only reason I watch this annual spectacle is to establish standing to vent my abiding lament about college football masquerading as an amateur sport.

The hypocrisy inherent in this is beyond shameful. Universities should be required to compensate student athletes in direct proportion to the way owners of professional Football teams compensate their players.

That said, the only redeeming feature in this respect is that most major NCAA teams are now featuring Blacks as quarterbacks. They were the exception not so long ago. They are fast becoming the rule. For example, two of the four starting quarterbacks for this year’s CFP were Black; three of the four were last year.

More importantly, this and other high-profile positions greatly increase the likelihood of players making the first round of the NFL draft. This in turn guarantees multimillion-dollar contracts, which provide belated compensation for their inden-

We must strategize Therefore, we must gather our brightest and best, the conscious and committed in our brain trust to devise plans and a policy agenda to rescue and preserve Black communities. We possess the collective genius to develop just, safe, viable, vibrant and sustainable Black communities.

To that end, the Institute of the Black World 21st Century (IBW) is issuing an urgent call for a National Emergency Summit on Gentrification to be convened in Newark, N.J., April 4-6, 2019 in conjunction with the annual commemoration of the martyrdom of our beloved Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Newark has been selected because the City’s ambitious development plans incorporate community-based strategies designed to mitigate gentrification.

IBW has requested that Ras J. Baraka, the mayor of Newark, host the Emergency Summit. This gathering is viewed as an extension of the milestone Urban Marshall Plan and Black Economic Development Symposium convened by IBW in Newark in April 2018.

We envision anti-gentrification advocates, community economic development practitioners, mayors, urban planners, faith, civil rights, labor, business and professional leaders attending the Emergency Summit on Gentrification. The Urban Strategies Program of Faith In Action, National Urban League, Democracy Collaborative and Freedom Caucus of the Center for Community Change have already signaled a willingness to partner with IBW on this crucial undertaking.

Now is the time to act boldly and courageously to defend Black communities from the destructive forces of gentrification.

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” We must muster the collective resolve to stop gentrification from devastating Black communities, from displacing Black people and culture…and we will!

Dr. Ron Daniels is President/CEO of the Institute of the Black World 21st Century. Click on this commentary at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

tured servitude.

Alas, there’s this: “For the NFL, players must be three years removed from high school. To play in the NBA, they are required to wait a year after high school. In Major League Baseball, players can be drafted out of high school, but if they go on to attend a fouryear college, they must be there for at least three years.” (Tulsa World Sports Extra, April 20, 2013.)

Remarkably, all legal challenges to this obvious case of collusion between college Football and the NFL have failed. And inherent in this is sanctioned discrimination against college Football players.

Which means that, despite being able to make millions in the NFL, Clemson’s freshman sensation will have to play for free for two more years before he can enter the draft.

In any event, I shall end with this bit of advice for all eligible players (in every sport): Strike while the iron is hot. Declare emancipation and enter the draft!

Congratulations, Tigers!

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

TOJ A6

NATION

JANUARY 11 – JANUARY 17, 2019

Congress is diverse, except for religion New research shows that about 88 percent call themselves Christians.

BY JAWEED KALEEM LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

When the new Congress convened, it included several firsts with its youngest elected member, its first two Muslim women and its first two Native American women among them.

Women now make up about a quarter of Congress, while the Senate and House of Representatives together include more Blacks, Latinos and Asian Americans than ever before.

But even as Congress takes steps toward reflecting the gender and racial makeup of the country, it lags behind significantly when it comes to religion, according to an analysis.

Mostly Christian Using self-reported information about the religious affiliations of the 534 members of Congress, the Pew Research Center found that about 88 percent call themselves Christians.

The number is a slight dip from the 115th Congress, in which 91 percent of members were Christians.

The race in North Carolina’s 9th District has not been certified amid allegations of electoral fraud, which is why Pew counted one less person than the typical 535 that make up Congress.

“While the number of selfidentified Christians in Congress has ticked down, Christians as a whole — and especially Protestants and Catholics — are still overrepresented in proportion to their share in the general public,” Pew’s report said. “Indeed, the religious makeup of the new, 116th Congress is very different from that of the United States population.”

U.S. makeup Overall, the U.S. population is about 70 percent Christian. People who are atheist, agnostic or identify with no religion now make up close to 23 percent of the population, while Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and other religions together constitute about 6 percent of the U.S., according to Pew. The nonpartisan research group’s report used data from Roll Call, which asked members of Congress which religious group, if any, they identified with as part of a larger questionnaire.

Pew did not attempt to measure how religious members of Congress are or how religion influences their politics.

Here’s how the religious makeup of Congress breaks down:

GLEN STUBBE/MINNEAPOLIS STAR/TRIBUNE/TNS

Rep. Ilhan Omar stands with her three children as she is sworn in on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives on Jan. 3.

Overall, the U.S. population is about 70 percent Christian. People who are atheist, agnostic or identify with no religion now make up close to 23 percent of the population, while Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and other religions together constitute about 6 percent of the U.S., according to Pew Research Center.

More Protestants Data show that Congress has become slightly less Christian over the years. The new Congress has 14 fewer Christians than the previous one, and 20 fewer than the Congress that was in session in 2015 and 2016.

Still, Christians dominate Congress.

About 55 percent are Protestants, while 30 percent are Catholics and 15 percent align themselves with “unspecified or other” movements of Christianity. The latter group includes those who said they were Christian, evangelical Christian, evangelical Protestant or Protestant but did not indicate a denomination.

By themselves, Protestants make up a majority in the House

and Senate.

Among Protestants, Pew counted 72 Baptists and 42 Methodists.

Among Presbyterians, Lutherans and Anglicans/Episcopalians, there were 26 members from each group. Ten members said they were Mormons. Pew counted five politicians who are Orthodox Christian.

And while Christians are the majority in the Republican and Democratic memberships of Congress, they overwhelmingly make up the Republican side. Out of 253 Republicans, only two are not Christians. Reps. Lee Zeldin of New York and David Kustoff of Tennessee are Jewish.

Jews, Muslims The growth of non-Christian

members of Congress is nearly completely among Democrats or independents.

Jewish members make up the second-largest religious group at 6 percent. In the 116th Congress, there are 34 Jewish members, an increase of four. The number is far from the highest. That came in 1993, when there were 51 Jews in Congress.

Muslims and Hindus were the next biggest groups of non-Christians, with three members from each.

Democratic Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan are the first Muslim women in Congress. They join Democratic Rep. Andre Carson of Indiana.

The total number of Muslims is an increase of one over the previous Congress, when former Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison served.

Hindus, Buddhists Among Hindus, each is a returning member. They are Rep. Ro Khanna of California, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii. All three are Democrats.

There are two Buddhists, one less than before. That’s because former Democratic Rep. Colleen Hanabusa of Hawaii did not seek re-election and instead ran unsuccessfully for governor.

The Buddhists currently serv-

ing are Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia and Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii. Both are Democrats.

Two Universalists Among Unitarian Universalists, there is one more in the new Congress for a total of two.

Although the faith has roots in Christianity and some Unitarian Universalists identify as Christians, Pew does not categorize the tradition under Christianity. Its members in Congress, both Democrats from California, are Reps.

Ami Bera and Judy Chu. In a previous CQ Roll Call survey, Chu did not answer the religion question.

No response There is only one person in Congress that Pew counted as having no religious affiliation.

That is Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona.

Sinema previously served three terms in the House. Democratic Rep. Jared Huffman of California said in 2017 that he was a humanist and unsure of whether God exists but Pew did not count him as an religiously unaffiliated member because he did declined to state his religious identity in the CQ Roll Call survey.

In addition to Huffman, 17 other members of Congress did not identify their religion in the questionnaire.

Race no longer factor in Houston girl’s death

BY MOLLY HENNESSY-FISKE LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

HOUSTON – Rewriting the narrative of the fatal shooting of a 7-year-old girl, authorities in Houston said on Jan. 6 that they had arrested an African-American man and that their original description of the suspect as White with blue eyes had been wrong.

That description had led activists to conclude that racial hatred was the motive in the Dec. 30 killing of Jazmine Barnes, who was riding in her family’s car Eric near a Walmart Black Jr. when somebody opened fire on it.

Jazmine’s mother, LaPorsha Washington, 30, was shot in the shoulder.

On Jan. 6, the sheriff said the original suspect turned out to be an innocent driver fleeing the gunfire.

Black arrested Prosecutors have turned their attention to 20-year-old Eric Black Jr., who was arrested and brought in for questioning on Jan. 5 after sheriff’s deputies found him in possession of marijuana during a routine traffic stop.

Black, who was charged with capital murder and jailed without bond, confessed to being the driver of a rented Kia sedan when his passenger opened fire on Jazmine’s family’s car, prosecutors said Jan. 6 at his first court appearance.

Investigators said they found a 9mm pistol at Black’s home and that it matched shell casings at the scene of the shooting and that Black also identified the alleged shooter from a booking photo.

Another suspect Prosecutors and a lawyer for Jazmine’s family, S. Lee Merritt, named the second suspect as Larry Woodruffe, 24, who is also Black and was at the Harris County jail on Jan. 6 on a drug possession charge.

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez declined to identify the second suspect during a briefing, saying that person had not been charged.

After the briefing, Jazmine’s father, Chris Cevilla, thanked investigators “for finding my daughter’s killer” and said he was “pretty confident” they had the right suspects.

Jazmine’s great aunt, Elizabeth Perez, said she too was reassured, despite initial doubts that the description of the shooter could have been so wrong.

“At least we got closer to jus-

YOUTUBE

Jazmine Barnes’ death has attracted national attention. tice,” she said, noting that she was awaiting news about the second suspect.

National attention The killing quickly drew national attention as activist Shaun King and the family’s attorney offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the suspect.

Nearly a thousand people gathered on Jan. 5 for a rally at the scene of the shooting, where Jazmine’s parents and other relatives pleaded for leads.

The sheriff — who never called the shooting race-related — said the traumatized family’s description of the suspect had been “sincere.”

“At this point, it does not appear to be related to race,” Gonzalez said.

One of the first suggestions that race was not the motive came last week, when King and Merritt received tips about the AfricanAmerican suspects and forwarded them to investigators.

“Our biggest problem with this lead was it was so inconsistent with witness statements,” Merritt said.

‘No hysteria’ Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, DTexas, who attended the Saturday rally, said those gathered had reason to fear the shooting was racially motivated based on

available evidence, but credited them with not allowing that fear to incite racial tensions.

“There was no hysteria,” she said, “There was nothing but the orderly following of the law.”

The shooting occurred in the northeast Houston neighborhood of Woodforest, which is middle-class and racially diverse.

“It wasn’t about race for me,” said one resident, Tammetta Mares, a 41-year-old teacher’s aide who is Black and has three children, including a 7-year-old girl. “We just wanted to get somebody caught. That’s all that matters to me: They’re off the street.”

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As a new group of Florida’s political leadership takes the reins of the state, Black Floridians ‒ including supporters of President Donald Trump ‒ were notable by their presence.

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BY THE FLORIDA COURIER STAFF

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ALLAHASSEE ‒ On a sunny day with 70-degree weather in the state capital, Gov. Ron DeSantis and members of the state Cabinet ‒ returning Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried and Attorney General Ashley Moody ‒ were formally sworn into their jobs during a ceremony at 11 a.m. Tuesday on the steps of the Old Capitol.

The day also saw Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez become the highest-ranking Hispanic woman elected in Florida history.

Day of activities

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Events Tuesday began with an 8 a.m. prayer breakfast at Florida A&M University, and climaxed with Florida’s 46th Governor’s Inaugural Ball at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center.

African-Americans made their presence felt at both the formal inauguration ceremony as well as at the Inaugural Ball.

Rev. Gary Johnson of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which was founded in Atlanta by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., gave the invocation.

“God, You chose a servant to represent the state of Florida in the personality of Ron DeSantis,” Johnson prayed. As he thanked God for Florida’s recent gubernatorial leadership by name, he only mentioned Republican governors: Mel Martinez, Jeb Bush and Rick Scott, ignoring Democratic governors Bob Graham ‒ who was sitting on the platform ‒ and the late Lawton Chiles.

Former Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll, the highest-ranking Black female elected official in Florida history thus far, was also seated at the platform just a few feet away from outgoing Gov. Scott.

Scott demanded and got Carroll’s resignation in 2013; she was subsequently cleared by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement of any criminal or civil wrongdoing.

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Standing ovation The inauguration ceremony was highlighted by a stirring version of “God Bless America” by song stylist Lady Blue, which brought the crowd to its feet.

Rev. R.B. Holmes, a Tallahasseebased minister and Black media owner, closed with a benediction.

The mild temperatures held through Tuesday evening, as Republicans, lobbyists, DeSantis and Donald Trump supporters, and others celebrated in formal off-the-shoulder gowns and mostly black-and-white tuxedos at the Inaugural Ball.

Only a handful of members of the Florida Black Legislative Caucus ‒ which consists almost solely of Democrats ‒ attended.

As a long line of people waited patiently for their “grip and grin” pictures with the new governor, a shorter line formed for a picture with a Virginia visitor, Aisha Owmby, and her fashion designer, Andre Soriano. The six-foot-tall Owmby was a commanding figure in her Donald Trump dress, one of a number of Soriano creations that women wore at the event.

6 1. A silent protest literally popped up as soon as Gov. Ron DeSantis started speaking.

PHOTOS BY CHARLES W. CHERRY II / FLORIDA COURIER

2. Rev. R.B. Holmes gives the benediction.

3. Debra Duster Owens, Mario Bailey, and Katia Saint Fleur enjoyed themselves.

7 4. ‘Blacks for Trump’ made an appearance at the inauguration ceremony and later at the Inaugural Ball.

5. Superie Palmer and Jesse Romimora looking good.

6. State Rep. Kimberly Daniels and Pastor Greg James.

8 7. Designer Andre Soriano and his muse Aisha Owmby made a splash at the Inaugural Ball.

8. Lady Blue’s big voice excited the crowd.

EVENTS & ENTERTAINMENT

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JANUARY 11 – JANUARY 17, 2019

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FLORIDA COMMUNITY CALENDAR

SWV

Toni Braxton and SWV make a stop at Hard Rock Live on Jan. 29.

Tampa: Tarana Burke of the “Me Too” Movement will speak at 8 p.m. Jan. 22 at the University of South Florida as part of its MLK Commemorative Week.

Miramar: Brian Knight performs Feb. 1 at the Miramar Cultural Center.

Hollywood: Smokey Robinson performs Jan. 25 at Hard Rock Live.

Orlando: Alice Walker will speak on Feb. 2 at the Zora Neale Hurston Festival of the Arts and Humanities program at UCF. Festival details: Zorafestival.org Miramar: Marvin Sapp performs Jan. 25 at the Miramar Cultural Center.

Fort Lauderdale: Catch Gladys Knight in concert Jan. 24 at the Broward Center.

Miramar: Tony! Toni! Tone! will be at the Miramar Cultural Center on Jan. 18.

Orlando: Lyfe Jennings will take the House of Blues Orlando stage on Feb. 1.

West Palm Beach: Patti LaBelle is scheduled Feb. 6 at the Kravis Center and Feb. 9 at the Times-Union Center in Jacksonville.

Daytona Beach: The legendary Johnny Mathis performs Jan. 31 at The Peabody.

Jacksonville: “We Shall Overcome,’’ a celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., is Feb. 5 at the Ritz Theatre & Museum.

Fort Lauderdale: The Temptations and The Four Tops perform Jan. 31 at the Au-Rene Theater at the Broward Center.

Miami Gardens: A voter registration drive and Family Fun Day is set for noon to 4 p.m. Jan. 12 at Miami Carol City Park. Hosted by Mayor Oliver Gilbert.

Jacksonville: The music of Sam Cooke will be presented at the Ritz Theatre & Museum on Jan. 17: Showtime: 8 p.m.

LINSEY DAVIS

The ABC News correspondent will speak at the Tampa Bay Black Heritage Festival luncheon at 11:30 a.m. Jan. 16.

Lunch and festival details: TampaBlackHeritage.org

Tampa: Andrew Gillum will speak at the Hillsborough NAACP’s Freedom Fund Dinner on Feb. 1 at the Hilton Tampa Downtown. Details: NAACPHillsborough.org

MEEK MILL

Meek Mill: The Motivation Tour stops at the Fillmore Miami Beach at the Jackie Gleason Theater on Feb. 19.

Miami Gardens: Tickets are on sale now for the March 9-10 Jazz in the Gardens. The lineup includes Lionel Ritchie, Bobby Brown, Stephanie Mills and the O’Jays. Details: Jazzinthegardens.com

ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE FOR BLACK STUDENTS. NO EXCUSES. The classic guide from Florida Courier publisher, lawyer and broadcaster CHARLES W. CHERRY II The six-hour documentary, “Surviving R. Kelly,” began airing last week on the Lifetime channel and alleges that he has manipulated young women into joining a sex cult.

Illinois prosecutor calls on Kelly accusers to come forward

BY MEGAN CREPEAU CHICAGO TRIBUNE/TNS

CHICAGO – Citing “deeply, deeply disturbing” allegations in a documentary series detailing long-standing accusations of sexual misconduct against R&B superstar R. Kelly, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx on Tuesday called on any accusers to come forward.

At a news conference, Foxx said her office cannot launch an effective prosecution without the cooperation of victims and witnesses.

Foxx revealed that the relatives of two missing women have contacted her office with concerns about possible contact with Kelly. A spokeswoman later said both women have been missing for three to four years.

“We’re in the process of trying to get information and conversations going with those who have information,” said Foxx, urging anyone with information about Kelly to contact police or the prosecutors’ office.

Kelly’s response Kelly’s local attorney, Steve Greenberg, blasted the top prosecutor’s public call for victims, saying none have come forward because Kelly has not done anything wrong.

“The idea that a prosecutor would solicit potential victims like a late-night personal injury attorney is offensive,” Greenberg told the Chicago Tribune.

“People know if they are a victim of a crime to contact the police. … Nobody has come forward and said they were the victim of any misconduct by Mr. Kelly because nobody has been.”

Appeal to victims Foxx said authorities need to hear from

the victims themselves in order to properly investigate any sexual misconduct claims, acknowledging “the notion of having to come and publicly make allegations is incredibly daunting.”

“This isn’t one of those situations where it’s just forensics,” she said. “We need actual witnesses and victims to have the courage to tell their stories.”

The six-hour documentary, “Surviving R. Kelly,” began airing last week on the Lifetime channel and alleges that he has manipulated young women into joining a sex cult.

Georgia too The prosecutor made the public plea amid reports that the controversial star is under criminal investigation in Georgia in the documentary’s aftermath.

The latest revelations come after Cook County prosecutors indicted R. Kelly on child pornography charges in 2002. That legal saga played out over six years before a jury acquitted him of all charges.

A video at the heart of the case purported to show Kelly having sex with a girl estimated to be as young as 13.

Support waning The Grammy winner, who was born Robert Kelly and raised on Chicago’s South Side, has denied abusing women or running a cult.

While the allegations against Kelly have long been known, the singer has largely enjoyed widespread support, but that support seems to be eroding.

A scheduled performance at the UIC Pavilion last year was canceled after public outcry, and the recent Lifetime series has helped bring the troubling allegations into the social media spotlight.

PRAISE FOR ‘EXCELLENCE WITHOUT EXCUSE’: “This guide for African-American college-bound students is packed with practical and insightful information for achieving academic success...The primary focus here is to equip students with the savvy and networking skills to maneuver themselves through the academic maze of higher education.”

– Book review, School Library Journal • How low expectations of Black students’ achievements can get them higher grades; • Want a great grade? Prepare to cheat!

• How Black students can program their minds for success; • Setting goals – When to tell everybody, and when to keep your mouth shut; • Black English, and why Black students must be ‘bilingual.’ …AND MUCH MORE!

www.excellencewithoutexcuse.com Download immediately as an eBook or a pdf Order softcover online, from Amazon, or your local bookstore ISBN#978-1-56385-500-9 Published by International Scholastic Press, LLC Contact Charles at ccherry2@gmail.com

Facebook ccherry2 excellencewithoutexcuse

for info on speeches, workshops, seminars, book signings, panel discussions.

Twitter @ccherry2

STOJ

JANUARY 11 – JANUARY 17, 2019

FINEST & ENTERTAINMENT

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Race and gender equality win at Golden Globes time Achievement Award.

The show of genuine respect in the room, from everyone from millennial actor Darren Criss (who won actor in a limited series for his performance in “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story”) to legend Dick Van Dyke, was moving.

Her speech was gracious, but it was her breakthroughs in comedy and series TV, and her influence on the lives of so many women and men in the room, that drove the point home. This was a night for powerful women and pathfinders such as Burnett and Close.

BY LORRAINE ALI LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

LOS ANGELES – It was a mix of business as usual and overwhelming sea change at the 76th Golden Globe Awards on Sunday, Jan. 6, where the film and television industry gathered to celebrate themselves — and be seen by one another at the crowded Beverly Hilton bar during commercial breaks — on live television.

The red carpet, which was more like a women’s march last year thanks to the #TimesUp movement and conversations about representation, sexism and sexual harassment, had reverted back to a non-politicized space, where Ryan Seacrest was safe once again to ask: “Gaga, who are you wearing?” “Diamonds by Tiffany!”

But once inside, it was clear why Hollywood appeared to have taken a step back from the fervent social activism of the past few years: the race and gender equality they’d fought for was evident everywhere.

Wins for Oh, King Sandra Oh was the event’s first Asian host, and also the first to win lead actress in a TV drama (“Killing Eve.”) The first Black Spider-man won for best animated film.

Glenn Close gave a stirring speech about women finding fulfillment in roles beyond mother and wife after her surprise win for lead actress in a drama, and for a film called “The Wife,” no less.

Regina King won supporting actress for her performance in “If Beale Street Could Talk,” a drama about Black life in the 1960s by groundbreaking African-American author James Baldwin.

And Ben Wishaw dedicated his award for supporting actor in “A Very English Scandal” — a drama about the painfully closeted lives of homosexuals in 1960s England — to “queer hero” Norman Scott (the real-life figure he played in the show).

‘I see you’ Oh, who co-hosted the event with Andy Samberg, summed it up best when she spoke about her decision to take the hosting gig: “I said yes to the fear of being on this stage tonight because I wanted to be here to look out into this audience and witness this moment of change,” she said during their opening monologue.

“This moment is real. Trust me.

It is real. Because I see you (pointing to women and minorities in the audience), and I see you, all these faces of change. And now, so will everyone else.”

And that’s exactly what happened during the three-hour plus ceremony, where the audience was a reflection of the shifting tectonics in both television and film.

Diverse crowd The camera panned across the banquet room’s dining tables, showing the cast and/or creators of “Black Panther,” “Crazy Rich Asians,” “Roma,” “Killing Eve,” “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “Pose” — all productions focused on groups previously sidelined, or entirely overlooked, by mainstream Hollywood and TV. It appeared those who’d been locked out for so long were, for the first time, the majority in the room.

But because this is Hollywood and nothing is entirely pure, there may have been other motives for toning down from politics. This year the Golden Globes arrived in time to influence Oscar voters.

Promoting one’s show, or performance, is another form of political theater but it requires less fist pounding and more smiling.

The changes taking place across both media, however, did lay the foundation for some sharp, self-aware humor.

Serious themes When Patricia Clarkson won for her performance in the limited series “Sharp Objects,” she addressed and thanked the show’s director while accepting the award. “You demanded everything of me except sex, which is exactly how it should be in our industry.”

Samberg tackled similar themes when he addressed one of the bigger questions of the night: “Some of you may be wondering why the two of us are hosting …,” he said during their monologue.

“The reason is we’re the only two people left in Hollywood who haven’t gotten in trouble for saying something offensive,” said Oh. But both promised an evening filled with lots of fun and sur-

More relevant?

ALLEN J. SCHABEL/LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

Mahershala Ali and his wife, Amatus SamiKarim, are shown after he won the best supporting actor award for his role as Don “Doc’’ Shirley in “Green Book.’’

REVIEW prises, “And one lucky audience member will (be chosen to) host the Oscars!”

Emotional Close They were referring of course to the recent fallout over the Oscars choice of Kevin Hart as its host, and then his announcement that he was stepping down after old homophobic tweets and jokes of his surfaced.

JAY L. CLENDENIN/LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

Regina King arrives at the 76th Annual Golden Globes at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 6. She later won the best supporting actress in a motion picture award for her portrayal of Sharon Rivers in “If Beale Street Could Talk.’’

Emotional moments abounded as well. Close, a surprise winner in her category over Lady Gaga for “A Star Is Born,” pointed out she’s been a working actor for 45 years before recalling how her mother spent her life “sublimated” to her father.

The actress teared up when she said her mother, when in her 80s, told Close she felt she’d wasted her life.

“And it was so not right,” she told the crowd. “I feel like what I’ve learned from this whole expe-

Meet some of

FLORIDA’S

finest

rience is, women, we’re nurturers, that’s what’s expected of us. We have our children, we have our husbands if we’re lucky enough, and our partners. But we have to find personal fulfillment. We have to follow our dreams. We have to say, ‘I can do that, and I should be allowed to do that.’ ”

Legends honored And it was, of all people, Carol Burnett who perhaps best exemplified that reality when she accepted the first Carol Burnett Life-

The Golden Globes used to be considered the Oscars’ less serious half-sibling, but its looser format and inclusion of two media now makes it the more relevant awards show.

It’s also more dynamic to watch given TV’s ascendance, and that half the actors up for awards move between the big and small screens — among them Julia Roberts, Nicole Kidman, Jim Carrey and Hugh Grant.

At one point Samberg and Oh asked Carrey to move back to the TV section of the room since he was up for an award for his performance in Showtime’s “Kidding.”

‘Moment is real’ He skulked over to the back of the room with his plate in a skit designed to highlight the absurdities of such a hierarchy today.

That isn’t to say those in the industry who’ve campaigned for changes in the old, stratified system think the work is over.

“I’m not fooling myself,” said Oh to the audience. “Next year it could be different. It probably will be. But right now, this moment is real.”

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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JANUARY 11 – JANUARY 17, 2019

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What’s new in Florida cruises for 2019 Cruise lines sink millions into private islands, innovative upgrades

BY RICHARD TRIBOU ORLANDO SENTINEL/TNS

Florida will once again be the beneficiary of the cruise industry’s biggest and best offerings, but it’s not just ships that will be of interest to Sunshine State cruisers in 2019.

The big news is private islands. Both Royal Caribbean and MSC have sunk millions into developing private islands in the Bahamas for those sailing out of Florida.

Royal Caribbean’s offering is at its existing destination CocoCay, but now renamed Perfect Day at CocoCay, with all the trappings of a theme park.

That includes a 13-slide water park, one of which will be the tallest in North America at 135 feet. In comparison, Disney’s Summit Plummet at Blizzard Beach is 120 feet tall and Volcano Bay’s tallest slide, Ko’okiri Body Plunge, is 125 feet tall.

Water park, pools

ROYAL CARIBBEAN

Royal Caribbean announced a $200 million upgrade to CocoCay as part of its Perfect Day Island Collection. The private island will get a 13-slide water park including the tallest slide in North America and wave pool.

CocoCay will also feature a helium balloon that rises to 450 feet, a 1,600-foot-long zip line featuring a splash landing in the harbor, a new set of overwater cabanas and the largest freshwater pool in the Caribbean.

“By adding a water park, pools, cabanas and other fun family activities, the appeal of a visit to Perfect Day at CocoCay will now be in the same conversation as Central Florida attractions,” said Matt Hochberg, who runs the website RoyalCaribbeanBlog.com.

“I think when new cruisers see everything Royal Caribbean is adding, it is going to get a lot of attention because there really is nothing else like it that is so easily accessible in the cruise market.”

er Harmony of the Seas in May, and also send Allure of the Seas back to Port Everglades.

For Port Canaveral, Harmony is an upgrade. The ship that debuted in 2016 has many innovative touches that Oasis of the Seas does not. Top of that list is the exhilarating 10-story twisting dry slide The Ultimate Abyss as well as a water park with three water slides called The Perfect Storm.

Plank challenge

Start dates The majority of CocoCay’s offerings will be available in May with the entire refurbishment slated to be up and running by November.

MSC Cruises, meanwhile, is aiming for November to get its own private island online while also bringing the most ships ever to Florida.

Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve will be a 95-acre resort with 11,400 feet of beach and its own pier. The destination will have bars, restaurants and a new lighthouse that the line said will be a focal point of evening entertainment.

It will support four MSC ships sailing the Caribbean including the arrival of the largest MSC ship to sail North America, the 171,598-gross-ton MSC Meraviglia, which is joining MSC Seaside, MSC Divina and MSC Armonia out of Miami.

More offerings Meraviglia, which means “wonder” in Italian, is the largest class of ship for the cruise line, and can support 4,500 passengers based on double occupancy. One of its unique offerings is the 450-person venue for original Cirque du Soleil shows.

The ship, which debuted in 2017, is the sixth largest in the world behind the four Oasisclass vessels of Royal Caribbean and the German cruise ship AIDANova.

While 2018 saw five brandnew ships make their way to Florida, including Royal Caribbean Symphony of the Seas, Celebrity Edge, Carnival Horizon, Holland America Nieuw Statendam and Norwegian Bliss, all now sailing the Caribbean from PortMiami or Port Everglades, 2019 will still welcome a couple more.

Joy and Bliss Norwegian Encore is the last of four Breakaway-Plus class ships from Norwegian Cruise Line. The ship under construction at Meyer Werft shipyard is set to be delivered in October 2019 and begin sailing from Miami in November 2019.

The fourth Breakaway-Plus class ship from Norwegian Cruise Line, Norwegian Encore, is set to debut in November and sail out of Miami.

A sister ship to Norwegian Escape, Joy and Bliss, the 169,000 gross ton ship will have the larg-

MSC CRUISES

Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve will be a 95-acre resort with 11,400 feet of beach and its own pier. est go-kart track in the fleet with 1,150 feet of track across a 10-turn course that has four sections that extend up to 13 feet beyond the side of the ship.

New terminal Encore will also have an open-air laser tag course, aqua park with two water slides and the 10,000-square-foot interactive entertainment center Galaxy Pavilion. For marquee entertainment, the ship will stage Tony-award winning show “Kinky Boots.”

With Norwegian’s new ship will also be a new place to park, the new Terminal B at PortMiami, which will be adjacent to Royal Caribbean’s new terminal that just opened.

The 166,000 square foot facility that will have its own parking garage will feature three giant arcing see-through domes that allow visitors to get great views of downtown.

“At night when this terminal is lit up, it is going to be something that you will probably see in every postcard for Miami from here into the future,” said Miami-based design firm Bermello Ajamil & Partners CEO Luis Ajamil.

California too

NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINE

Norwegian Encore is the last of four Breakaway-Plus class ships from Norwegian Cruise Line. The ship under construction at Meyer Werft shipyard is set to be delivered in October 2019 and begin sailing from Miami in November 2019.

Sky Princess The other brand-new ship coming to Florida year is Princess Cruises’ latest Royal Class ship, Sky Princess, which will make its way to Port Everglades in December.

The sister ship to the Royal and Regal Princess, Sky Princess features the line’s new Sky Suite, which offers 270-degree views from atop the ship as well as its own vantage point for the line’s Movies Under the Stars screen.

The suite is designed for up to five guests and is touted as having the largest balcony at sea.

Not new, but reworked and renamed will be Carnival Cruise Line’s existing ship Carnival Triumph, which will go under the knife in the spring for a $200 million overhaul, and re-emerge as Carnival Sunrise.

Carnival Radiance This is a similar approach to what the cruise line did when Carnival Destiny became Carnival Sunshine in 2013, and what’s

Port Canaveral will also welcome a newer ship from Norwegian Cruise Line, when Norwegian Breakaway takes over for Norwegian Epic’s Caribbean duties in November.

The ship that debuted in 2013 features 27 dining options, a fiveslide water park and challenging ropes course that features The Plank, an exhilarating challenge for those brave enough to walk a tiny walkway eight feet out over the ship’s edge looking more than 100 feet below to the water.

Norwegian is also returning for summer sailings to Cuba on Norwegian Sun.

While Disney Cruise Line won’t be adding to its fleet until 2021, its existing four-ship fleet will continue to bank on specialty cruises including Star Wars and Marvel-themed sailings out of Port Canaveral this spring and Halloween and Christmasthemed sailings in the fall and winter.

Not everything is happening in Florida in 2019, though. Carnival Cruise Line will debut Carnival Panorama and base it in California while the latest Quantum-class ship from Royal Caribbean, Spectrum of the Seas, will head to the Asian market.

Sister ship Ovation of the Seas, though, which debuted in 2016 and had been sailing in Asia, will come to North America for the first time when it sails Alaskan cruises from May-September.

Joy to Miami

CARNIVAL CRUISE LINE

Carnival Triumph, built in 1999, will undergo a $200 million renovation in spring 2019 and become Carnival Sunrise. on tap for Carnival Victory in 2020 when it becomes Carnival Radiance.

The new ship will eventually make its way to Fort Lauderdale.

It will feature dozens of updated venues including the cruise line’s newest restaurant and bar concept, Guy’s Pig & Anchor Bar-B-Que, which debuted on 2018’s Carnival Horizon.

More upgrades Other ships getting refurbishments in 2019 include Celebrity Millennium, Summit and Equinox, Oceania Sirena and Regatta as well as Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas, which will be migrating from Port Canaveral to PortMiami by November.

Royal Caribbean will replace Oasis of the Seas with the new-

Another ship that has spent most of its life in the Asian market, Norwegian Joy, will also make its way to North America for the first time for Alaska cruises as well.

In fact, Norwegian Joy will make its way to Miami by October on a series of Panama Canal cruises.

Demand for cruising out of Florida is keeping pace, with more than 14 million passengers among PortMiami, Port Everglades and Port Canaveral in fiscal 2018. That’s more than half a million more people than the previous year.

So while 2019 won’t be as busy as 2018 in terms of new hardware, there will be some new ships on the block along with ships that have never come to the Sunshine State shuffling their way here.

STOJ

JANUARY 11 – JANUARY 17, 2019

WORLD

B5 Positive tweets Diaz-Canel has been trying hard to change that perception by making his administration more transparent — a move unheard of under the Castros.

The president, who is active on Twitter and regularly tweets positive messages about the state’s goals and accomplishments, pushed all party ministers to open their own accounts so they can better communicate with the people even if that leaves them open to criticism by those on the island and anti-Castro Cubans abroad.

Diaz-Canel took to Twitter two weeks ago to announce the creation of a YouTube channel that will feature videos and news focused on the workings of his presidency.

And in early December, the state began rolling out 3G internet access for all cellphone users.

Out of reach

PHOTOS BY ROBERT DOMINGUEZ/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

A classic American car taxi takes tourists through a crumbling section of Havana.

Cubans with ration books shop for what’s available that day – potatoes, tomatoes and a few cans of sauce.

New Cuba leader, same old problems Making changes Castro stronghold a daunting task for progressive president.

BY ROBERT DOMINGUEZ NEW YORK DAILY NEWS/TNS

HAVANA – He’s old enough to remember the heady first years of the Cuban Revolution when all seemed possible, is proud of the way Fidel Castro thumbed his nose at 11 U.S. presidents, and is grateful that as an Afro-Cuban he was able to flourish as a journalist in what was traditionally a racist society.

Yet Luis, a 68-year-old native of Havana, says dreams of thriving in a socialist utopia were dashed a long time ago once the reality sunk in that Castro’s Communist vision was just an illusion.

Now, even with Cuba on the cusp of sweeping changes that could transform the island in ways not seen in decades, Luis is like most citizens who recently spoke to the New York Daily News — wary of what he expects will be more broken government promises, weary of living under an inept system that has long made putting food on his family’s table a daily struggle.

“I love Cuba and I would never leave it, not even to go live in the United States,” said Luis in Spanish, sitting in the living room of his modest home in the city’s bustling Vedado district.

“But life here is very difficult.

Whatever hope we had only a few years ago that things would get better is gone. We are constantly in a crisis.”

Life after Castros Sixty years after Castro and his ragtag band of bearded guerrillas seized control of the island on New Year’s Day 1959 and estab-

Cubans with money can now shop at upscale stores like in this indoor mall at the Havana Libre hotel. lished a repressive Communist regime, Cuba stands at another crossroad in its long, volatile history.

With Fidel Castro dead, his brother Raul semi-retired, and the island trying to cash in on a growing tourism industry, a relatively young, seemingly progressive new leader is looking to modernize a stagnant economy, tweak archaic laws and shake up a stifling bureaucracy — without totally compromising the state’s longheld “Socialism or Death” doctrine.

Miguel It promises to Diaz-Canel be a daunting task for Miguel DiazCanel, an unassuming, 58-yearold career politician who in April was hand-picked by Raul Castro to succeed him as president.

Poor quality of life Cubans hoping for a new beginning still face the same old issues: ridiculously low wages, chronic shortages of food and other basic goods, an inefficient transportation system, and a lack of adequate housing exacerbated by crumbling, Colonial-era homes literally falling down on its inhabitants after years of neglect.

At the same time, a generation of angry, restless and internet-informed younger Cubans is refusing to buy into the Revolution’s empty rhetoric and beginning to push back against the fledgling administration with rare demonstrations of civil disobedience.

Defiant ones In early December, members of Havana’s artists and musicians community tried to organize a public protest against a proposed law deemed to be censorship —

though it was quickly quashed when organizers were rounded up and detained the day before it was set to take place, according to 14ymedio, an independent news website out of Havana that’s often critical of the government.

Days later, Havana’s private taxi drivers fed up with government controls staged a subtle strike by refusing to pick up passengers for several days, forcing desperate commuters to turn to the city’s overcrowded and undependable buses.

“There’s been quite a fascinating shift over the past six months, especially in the past six weeks as Cuban people of all walks of life, not just political dissidents, are testing the boundaries with a new president,” said Ted Henken, a Baruch College sociology professor and co-author of “Entrepreneurial Cuba: The Changing Policy Landscape.”

“Many see Diaz-Canel as not having legitimate historical credentials because he’s young and didn’t fight in the revolution,” Henken added. “He’s running things in a more open way … but they’re waiting to see if there’s anything real that will come about from the changes.”

Changes proposed Reforms — some subtle, many of them major — have come steadily over the last decade or so after an ailing Fidel, who died in 2016 at age 90, transferred power to his younger brother Raul after a half-century of iron-fisted rule.

But the political, social and economic changes proposed in just the past few months under Diaz-Canel would’ve made the staunchly Communist comandante choke on his Cohiba.

The Cuban National Assembly recently approved a draft of a new constitution that legitimizes the ownership of private property, as well as businesses such as the restaurants and small hotels that have sprung up across the country in recent years.

It also encourages badly needed foreign investment, sets two five-year term limits on the presidency — a huge deal considering the Castro brothers’ six-decade stranglehold on the nation — and even suggests the eventual legalization of same-sex marriage.

February referendum In what could be taken as a positive sign, the constitution’s first major overhaul since the 1970s was the result of direct suggestions by the Cuban people, according to the government.

Citizens will decide on whether to accept the final document in a nationwide referendum in February — though several opposition groups are pushing the people to vote no.

Diaz-Canel called the process a “genuine and exceptional demonstration of the practice of power by the people” that exhibited the “participative and democratic nature of our political system.”

Not up for negotiation, however, was the fact that Cuba will remain a socialist state run by the Communist Party — headed by the 87-year-old Raul Castro until at least 2021 — even as capitalist ideals continue to creep into its Cold War-era Castroism.

Most Cubans currently can only access Wi-Fi in public hot spots around the country — a common sight in Havana is clusters of young people clutching their phones in parks or outside tourist hotels trying to get a signal.

But in a country where the average salary is $25 to $30 a month, the new data plans are out of reach for most citizens with prices that range from about $7 to $30.

“How are we supposed to afford that when first we need to buy food and medicine?” said Luis, who lives on a monthly pension and his wife’s salary as an office worker.

Can’t afford luxuries It was the same story 10 years ago, when Raul Castro surprisingly introduced new freedoms and reforms immediately after becoming president.

For the first time, Cubans were allowed to own mobile phones and could purchase computers, DVD players and home appliances. They were also finally allowed to frequent tourist-only restaurants and hotels, which had been off-limits for years.

The cruel irony then, like now, was that the vast majority of the population couldn’t afford such luxuries.

Those who did were either subsidized by family overseas or lucky to have hard-to-get jobs in the blossoming tourist trade, where they could augment their meager pay with tips paid in CUCs, the alternate currency used by foreigners worth 25 times the Cuban peso used by citizens.

More paladares And once Castro allowed the rise of paladares, or privately owned restaurants in homes, and casas particulares — houses and apartments that owners turned into small hotels — there also arose a two-tier class system of haves and have-nots, with the lucky few with access to CUCs at the top of the heap.

“We would have starved to death otherwise,” said Rosa, 82, whose family turned their sprawling three-bedroom apartment with spectacular views of the Havana skyline into a successful casa that charges $50 CUCs a night per room and gets excellent reviews on TripAdvisor.

Slight move up Even a bartender, chambermaid or hardworking taxi driver can, at the very least, triple a doctor’s typical $50 monthly salary through tips.

“I used to make $40 a month driving a truck across the country, and I was considered lower class,” said David, 38, who drives a state-run yellow taxi and ferries foreigners to and from Havana’s main airport. ‘“Now I have a house with two bedrooms and I’m in the lower-middle class,” he said proudly.

Seniors still struggling But not everyone has been able to get in on the action, even with tourism having created more than a half-million jobs in the past few years. Many retired seniors are struggling despite Cuba’s vaunted free health care for all — citizens still have to pay for their medications.

Standing in a long line at a staterun pharmacy, Mercedes, 67, said she lives on a “decent” monthly pension of $12 but complained of having to pay $5 for eye drops.

“I had bladder cancer and need medicine and it all adds up,” she said. “But I have a daughter in Spain who thank God sends me money. Without her I couldn’t survive.”

B6

FOOD

JANUARY 11 – JANUARY 17, 2019

S

FAMILY-FAVORITE COMFORT FOODS 3 dairy-inspired dishes for weeknight dinners FAMILY FEATURES

Warm meals that come together quickly are a necessity for busy families, especially on weeknights filled with homework, practices, meetings and more. Serving up comfort foods that require less time in the kitchen make for more moments spent together at the table.

Hearty and satisfying, this Chicken and Wild Rice Soup can bring everyone together for a warm, soothing meal, while Cheesy Turkey Chili Mac makes PASTA AND CHICKEN IN GARLIC CREAM SAUCE Recipe courtesy of Milk Means More Prep time: 30 minutes Cook time: 10 minutes Servings: 8 4 slices bacon, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-wide pieces 3/4 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 3/4-inch pieces 10 ounces (about 4 cups) farfalle (bow tie) pasta 2 1/2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth 4 cloves garlic, minced 1 1/2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper 1 cup heavy cream 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese 3 cups baby spinach leaves 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes, for garnish Place removable pan inside programmable pressure cooker. Using saute function, cook bacon, uncovered, until crisp. Use slotted spoon to remove bacon from pan. Drain bacon on paper towels. Leave 1 tablespoon drippings in pan; discard remaining.

Add chicken to bacon drippings in pan in two batches. Using saute function, stir-fry chicken 2-3 minutes,

for familiar fare enjoyed by adults and kids alike. For a rich, creamy, one-dish dinner solution, Pasta and Chicken in Garlic Cream Sauce requires less than 45 minutes of kitchen duty, making it an ideal weeknight familyfavorite.

These dairy-fueled recipes from Milk Means More of Michigan can be part of a healthy diet that includes fruits, vegetables, grains, fat-free or low-fat dairy and a variety of protein foods.

Find more weeknight meal solutions at milkmeansmore.org. or until cooked through. Use slotted spoon to remove chicken from pan.

Repeat until all chicken is cooked.

Press cancel.

Stir pasta, broth, garlic, Italian seasoning and pepper into drippings in pan. Secure lid and set pressure release to sealing function. Select high pressure setting and cook 5 minutes. Press cancel.

Allow pressure to release naturally 5 minutes. Move pressure release to venting function to release any remaining steam. Remove lid.

Stir cream into pasta mixture.

Using saute function, cook and stir, uncovered, until boiling. Boil, uncovered, about 4 minutes, or until sauce generously coats pasta, stirring frequently. Press cancel. Stir in chicken and Parmesan cheese.

Place spinach and bacon in large bowl. Pour pasta mixture over top.

Toss until combined. Ladle into serving bowls. Top each serving with tomatoes.

CHICKEN AND WILD RICE SOUP Recipe courtesy of Milk Means More Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 1 hour 1 cup shredded carrots 1/2 cup finely chopped onion 1/2 cup sliced celery 2 cloves garlic, minced 2 tablespoons butter or clarified butter

4 cups chicken broth 4 ounces (about 2/3 cup) wild rice, rinsed and drained 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper 12 ounces skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into 3/4-inch pieces 1 cup plain low-fat Greek yogurt 2tablespoons flour 1/2 cup whipping cream In Dutch oven, cook carrots, onion, celery and garlic in hot butter about 2 minutes, or until tender, stirring occasionally.

Stir broth, wild rice, thyme, salt and pepper into vegetable mixture. Bring to boil. Reduce heat. Simmer, covered, 40 minutes. Stir in chicken pieces. Return to simmer, covered, 10-15 minutes, or until rice is tender and chicken is done.

In small bowl, whisk together yogurt and flour. Gradually whisk in cream.

Stir into chicken mixture. Cook and stir over medium heat until boiling. Boil 1 minute. Ladle into bowls.

CHEESY TURKEY CHILI MAC Recipe courtesy of Milk Means More Prep time: 20 minutes Cook time: 10 minutes Servings: 8 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 1 pound lean ground turkey 1 cup chopped onion 1 can (15 1/2 ounces) kidney beans, rinsed and drained 1 can (15 ounces) no-saltadded tomato sauce 1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes with green chili peppers 1 2/3 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth 1 tablespoon chili powder 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt 1/4teaspoon pepper 8 ounces (about 1 3/4 cups) elbow macaroni 1/2 cup 2 percent or whole milk 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Mexican blend cheese

3/4 cup plain fat-free Greek yogurt or sour cream Place oil in removable pan of programmable pressure cooker. Place pan in pressure cooker. Using saute function, heat oil until hot. Add turkey and onion. Cook, uncovered, about 5 minutes, or until turkey is no longer pink, stirring to break up.

Press cancel.

Stir in beans, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, broth, chili powder, garlic salt and pepper. Stir in macaroni.

Secure lid and set pressure release to sealing function. Select high pressure setting and cook 5 minutes.

Allow pressure to release naturally 2 minutes. Move pressure release to venting function to release any remaining steam. Remove lid.

Stir macaroni mixture. Whisk together milk and flour. Stir into mac­ aroni mixture. Using saute function, cook and stir, uncovered, 1-2 minutes, or until boiling. Press cancel.

Stir cheese into macaroni mixture until melted. Ladle into serving bowls.

Spoon dollops of yogurt or sour cream on top.