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A look back at some notable Blacks who died in 2013 Page B1

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JANUARY 3 – JANUARY 9, 2014

VOLUME 22 NO. 1

OUR TOP 10 STORIES The Florida Courier staff chose the top 10 of the hundreds of stories our newspaper staff reviewed, covered or wrote during 2013. Factors considered include newsworthiness, relevance, uniqueness, familiarity of the issue, the intensity of statewide interest, emotional impact, and whether there is a uniquely ‘Black’ perspective.

Trayvon Martin’s death and aftermath: African-Americans and people of goodwill throughout the nation were stunned by the July 13 “not guilty” verdict in the trial of George Zimmerman, the man who shot and killed Trayvon Martin, an unarmed 17-year-old high school student, on Feb. 26, 2012. Since then, Zimmerman has remained in the public eye. He has been detained twice by police, on suspicion of threatening his wife and then his girlfriend with a gun. In the first instance, he was not arrested. In the second case, his girlfriend dropped the charges. Last week, he sold an oil painting he created of an American flag for more than $100,000 on eBay. The Dream Defenders, a youthful group of political activists, held a 31-day sit-in inside the Capitol from July 16 to Aug. 15 in response to Zim-

merman’s acquittal. The group continued to push the Florida Legislature to repeal the state’s “Stand Your Ground” laws, but to no avail thus far.

2013

The Dream Defenders kept pressure on law enforcement and legislators.

Florida rejects billions for Obamacare: The Affordable Care Act, “Obamacare,” called for expanding Medicaid to people in Florida whose incomes are up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level. Also it says the federal government would pay all of the expansion costs for the first three years and gradually reduce its share to 90 percent in 2020. That would have led to Washington spending more than $50 billion in Florida over 10 years. In one of Gov. Rick Scott’s most dramatic See 2013, Page A2

Judge rules against drug-test program

2014 / A NEW YEAR

Scriven scoffs at state’s evidence BY DARA KAM NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

BAI XUE/XINHUA/ZUMA PRESS/MCT

Glad to be in the land of the living In this file photo, people watched fireworks as part of New Year’s Eve celebrations at the riverside of Yarra River in Melbourne, Australia as 2013 began.

A federal judge has ruled that a 2011 law requiring welfare applicants to undergo drug tests is unconstitutional, striking a blow to Gov. Rick Scott’s administration over the controversial tests. Scott quickly said he would appeal U.S. District Judge Mary Scriven’s Tuesday ruling, the latest defeat for the governor in a drawn-out battle over drug testing some of the state’s poorest residents. Scriven ruled that the urine tests violate the Fourth Amendment’s protections against unreasonable searches and seizures by the government. In a harshly worded, 30-page opinion, Scriven concluded that “there is no set of circumstances under which the warrantless, suspicionless drug testing at issue in this case could be constitutionally applied.”

Protects poor kids? Scott, who used the man-

Florida chases New York in population count more than 230,000 from last year and 750,000 more than in the 2010 census count, according to MonFlorida will have to wait an- day’s figures. The numbers are esother year, but is narrowing in on timated as of July 1 and do not reNew York’s spot as the third most flect growth at the county or mupopulous state in the nation. nicipal level. According to estimates released by U.S. Census Bureau on Monday, Scott takes credit Florida trails New York by fewer Gov. Rick Scott credited the than 100,000 residents, cutting the population increase on his ecoEmpire State’s edge by more than half since last year. It’s a matter of nomic policies and efforts to atwhen, not if, the Sunshine State tract new businesses to the state, will slide into the top-three tier be- trailing New York by just 98,267 residents. hind California and Texas. “Florida is on a roll,” Scott said “Based on Census Bureau estiin a statement on Monday. “Cutmates, Florida will probably pass New York within the next year,” ting taxes and reducing red tape said Stan Smith, Program Direc- on businesses is a great catalyst tor of the University of Florida’s for economic opportunity and job Bureau of Economic and Business creation.” Many experts consider Florida’s Research. Florida is now home to an es- climate and the lack of a state pertimated 19,552,860 residents, up sonal income tax the peak attrac-

BY JIM TURNER NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

ALSO INSIDE

tions for migrants of all ages.

Can’t keep up With an estimated 19,651,127 residents, New York hasn’t been able to keep up with Florida’s pace of growth. New York gained about 75,000 residents in the past year, less than a third of Florida’s increase. And while New York City continues to attract newcomers, regions of upstate New York have seen stagnant and declining population numbers. Florida’s population boost brings with it the potential for a larger tax base but also comes with an increased demand for services, such as roads and schools, and resources including water and land. One benefit of Florida’s current pace of growth could be additional representation in Congress, Smith said.

“The ranking itself doesn’t mean much, other than the likely shift in congressional seats following the 2020 census,” he said. Due to population changes reflected by the 2010 census, Florida picked up two seats while New York lost two.

See JUDGE, Page A2

SNAPSHOTS FLORIDA | A3

FAMU moves ahead with presidential search NATION | A6

Growth dispersed Monday’s estimate put the U.S. population at 316.1 million as of July 1, with states in the South and West growing faster than the rest of the country. West Virginia and Maine were the only states to have projected declines in population from 2012 to 2013, while Maine and Rhode Island are the only states currently home to fewer people than when the 2010 census was taken.

COMMENTARY: ANTHONY L. HALL, ESQ.: What if we all celebrated Kwanzaa? | A4 COMMENTARY: GEORGE CURRY: SENATORS EXERT ‘SILENT VETO’ OVER POTENTIAL | A5

Civil rights nominee has ‘Sesame Street’ background HEALTH | B3 OBIT | B2

Lose weight with simple changes

Ricky Lawson dies at 59

FOCUS

JANUARY 3 – JANUARY 9, 2014

Six ways single mothers can raise a sorry Black man These words come from a man who has seen too many Black men grow up to become irresponsible, self-absorbed, excessively entitled, weak men, largely because they were coddled at home. This does not always happen at the hands of a single mother, but it almost always occurs due to parents who do not understand their role in raising intelligent and responsible human beings. Let’s be clear: If you raise your son to be a boy, he’s going to remain a boy. Typically, strong male role models make it easier to build manhood; mothers cannot usually do it alone. This is a comedic exaggeration, but perhaps we can think while we laugh. And before we get into the tired diatribe about this being some kind of assault on single Black mothers, understand that if I hate single Black mothers, that means I hate my late grandmother. My own mother was a 17-year old single mom until she married my second father three years after I was born. And it was her commitment to raising me with more discipline than my male friends that guided me away from the same gutters, prison cells, and rehab clinics that many of them occupy to this day.

OUR TOP 10 STORIES

2013 from Page 1

turnabouts, he endorsed Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion in Florida after having waged a three-year-long political and legal battle against it. The Senate produced an alternative proposal to draw down federal funds, but the House refused to consider it in favor of a state-funded plan. Political hostility toward Obamacare continues statewide. The Florida Department of Health has barred outreach workers known as “navigators” from trying to help people sign up for federally subsidized health insurance while at county health departments. Florida Republican leaders refused to run health-insurance exchanges, which are designed to act as online marketplaces. That means that the federal government will operate an exchange for the state.

Disproportionate Black pain continues: While the richest one percent of Americans have seen their incomes rise astronomically over the past 20 years, millions of middle class and low-wage workers are falling into poverty and struggling to make ends meet. This phenomenon worsened in the wake of the recession – and has only widened through the recovery. Black Americans continue to pay a “Black tax” of disproportionate pain from cradle to grave, which has gotten worse under the Obama administration.

The effect of Washington paralysis, including a government shutdown and sequestration: The acrossthe-board “sequestration” budget cuts that went into effect in 2013 slashed funding for Head Start, youth job training, long-term unemployment benefits and other critical human service and safety net programs. These cuts fell especially hard on African-Americans, who still have double-digit unemployment. The 17-day government shutdown in October also had an outsized impact on African-Americans, who make up a large share of the federal workforce. More than 1.3 million workers lost unemployment benefits effective Dec. 31, 2013 due to Congress’ refusal to extend benefits.

JUDGE from A1 datory drug tests as a campaign issue, insists that the urine tests are needed to make sure poor children don’t grow up in drug-riddled households. “Any illegal drug use in a family is harmful and even abusive to a child. We should have a zero tolerance policy for illegal drug use in families – especially those families who struggle to make ends meet and need welfare assistance to provide for their children.

Dr. Boyce Watkins GUEST COLUMNIST

So, if you want your son to grow up to be a horrible father and husband for somebody else, here are a few things you can do: 1. Never make him accountable. If he goes to jail, mortgage your house to pay for the attorney. If he gets fired from his fourth job in a row, of course it’s because he’s Black. Anything that goes wrong in his life, explain to him why none of it is ever his fault. Make a long list of excuses for everything he does. If he gets in trouble at school, it’s the teacher’s fault. If he has an angry outburst and attacks someone, it’s because he had too much sugar. Remember: Nothing that he ever does wrong, to anyone, at any time, is ever his fault. Jesus will make him better eventually. 2. Allow him to be lazy. Clean his room for him, wash his clothes, don’t make him do any chores. Don’t make him work for anything….EVER. When he’s 32-years old, let him live in your basement and spend the day in his drawz smoking weed and

playing Xbox. He’ll get that record deal eventually. 3. Don’t ever force him to manage his money. Buy him a lot of really expensive material possessions, like $250 Air Jordans and don’t make him work for any of that money. If he wrecks the new car you bought him, just buy him another one. Don’t talk to him about saving, investing or being a good provider. If he wants that 14th tattoo on his neck, go ahead and give it to him. 4. Congratulate him for being a “playa.” Let him treat his girlfriends like garbage without your saying a word. When he tells you that he got a fourth girl pregnant, just congratulate him and agree to watch the kids while his baby mama is at the club. When the third baby’s mama asks you about the other girls coming to the house, lie for him so as not to blow his cover. The world is his oyster, and he has a right to sow his oats without any semblance of responsibility. Don’t forget to save money to pay his child support for him so he can be free to make more kids without the burden of those gold-digging newborn babies. 5. Don’t make him get an education. If he brings home straight Ds on his report card, just remember that he’s the best

player on the basketball team. Go buy him something nice to make him feel better, since those bad grades are going to hurt his selfesteem. 6. Coddle him. He’s your baby after all, even if he is 6’3”, 250 pounds. Never throw him out to the wolves; he won’t make it. Never force him to stand on his own two feet; he might break a toe nail. He doesn’t have to be a man for anybody; he’ll always be your baby. If his wife comes around and complains that he’s cheating on her, beating her, or not taking care of his kids, explain to her that he was your man from the very beginning, and he always will be. They should just leave your baby alone. Overly sensitive single mothers may take this (admittedly exaggerated) article to be an attack on them. Instead, it is a clarion call for mothers to realize the importance of their role in building a nation. If we build weak men, then we have weak families. Weak families lead to weak communities and White America has its foot on our collective neck. I argue that Black men should be at the forefront of those fighting to stand strong against oppression, but too many of our men have not been raised to be leaders.

The first teacher The mother is the first teacher and the most influential person in the life of nearly any child. If she becomes so fixated on the high of oxytocin that comes from the love of a child, she may fall short in her role of shaping that boy to become the leader of someone else’s household. Had my mother and grandmother failed to do their jobs and not provided a strong male role model for me (since my biological father had other things to do), I wouldn’t be the man that I am today. Instead, I would still be my mother’s baby. Most of us know men who fit into this role, and we must realize that manhood must be taught. A single mother truly believing that she can raise a boy to be a man is as misguided as my thinking that I can teach my daughters the subtleties of womanhood. It’s time to put an end to the nonsense.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is a professor of finance at Syracuse University. Read his columns and weblog at www.boycewatkins.com. Click on this story at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

Voting irregularities: Despite an outbreak of voter suppression efforts across the nation, especially in North Carolina, and the Supreme Court’s ruling in June that a critical part of the Voting Rights Act was unconstitutional, AfricanAmericans went to the polls in record numbers. In Florida, elections reform vaulted to the top of legislative priorities after the November 2012 problems, which included some Florida voters not casting ballots until after television networks had projected Obama the winner nationwide. It also took days before Obama was declared the winner in Florida. Gov. Scott quietly signed a law aimed at cleaning up the voting problems. The law allows up to 14 days for early voting, though local supervisors could remain at the current eight days, and allows for more flexibility with early voting sites. It would limit the length of some ballot summaries for constitutional amendments.

Obama’s stumbles: President Obama opened the year with an aggressive agenda: a call to overhaul the nation’s immigration laws and to tighten gun regulations, sparked by the nation’s horror after 20 children were killed at a Connecticut elementary school a month earlier. But a resounding defeat on gun control took some of the wind out of the administration’s sails. He closed out the year after a string of political calamities – including self-inflicted wounds such as the chaotic rollout of the health care law and a questionable response to Syria – sent his job approval ratings plunging and raised questions about the administration’s competency and the president’s credibility. At the Capitol, Obama was routinely thwarted during the year. He failed to get much of his agenda passed. And nothing was more damaging to Obama than his administration’s inept rollout of the health care law. There were other events. The Internal Revenue Service acknowledged it had inappropriately targeted groups that had political-sounding names. Documents obtained by former government contractor Edward Snowden revealed the National Security Agency had been collecting telephone and email records of Americans and foreigners, eavesdropping on allies like Germany and Brazil, and spying on global institutions,

We will continue to fight for Florida children who deserve to live in drug-free homes by appealing this judge’s decision,” Scott said in a statement after Tuesday’s ruling. At Scott’s urging in 2011, the Legislature passed the law requiring all applicants seeking Temporary Assistance for Needy Families to undergo the urine tests. Applicants had to pay for the tests, which cost about $35, up front and were to have been reimbursed if they did not test positive. Within months after the law was passed, the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida sued the state

Black unemployment is still in double digits.

George Zimmerman had more run-ins with cops.

Perry Thurston and and Chris Smith made political history. In an otherwise challenging year, President Obama became a ‘Morehouse Man.’

FILE PHOTOS

such as the World Bank. A rift with Russia widened when Obama canceled a meeting in Moscow with President Vladimir Putin after Russia granted Snowden temporary asylum. In the Middle East, ally Saudi Arabia became increasingly frustrated with Obama’s reluctance to get more deeply involved in Syria and is alarmed by the administration’s overtures to its archenemy, Iran.

Pro sports loses in Tally: The Florida House of Representatives closed up shop for the year, and refused to vote on requests for millions of dollars of taxpayer subsidies to be paid to pro sports entities located around the state. In a series entitled, “Welfare Queens?” the Florida Courier followed efforts to use taxpayer money to fund facilities for the NFL’s Miami Dolphins and Jacksonville Jaguars, Orlando’s Major League Soccer push and the Daytona International Speedway. “I think part of the complication was the fact that it wasn’t just

on behalf of Luis Lebron, a Navy veteran and single father.

Law on hold In October 2011, Scriven issued a preliminary order putting the law on hold. Scott appealed the decision but in February, an 11th Circuit Court of Appeals three-judge panel agreed with Scriven, ruling that the drug tests amounted to an unreasonable search by government. Scott later requested a full court review of the case but was turned down. In her Tuesday ruling, Scriven relied heavily on

the Dolphins,” House Speaker Will Weatherford said. “You had five or six different franchises that were looking for a tax rebate… You’re talking about hundreds of millions of dollars. I think the House just never got comfortable there when the session ended.”

Carroll resigns: Lieutenant Governor Jennifer Carroll, the first African-American in Florida history to hold that position, resigned March 12 amid a gambling investigation into a nonprofit for which she once did consulting work. Soon after her resignation, she was hired for a leadership position at a company that makes military ordinance and grenade launchers. Gov. Scott has yet to choose her replacement.

Black political gains in Florida: In the Florida Senate, Chris Smith is the Democratic Leader; Perry Thurston is the Democratic Leader in the Florida House. It’s the first time in the history of the Florida Legislature that Black politicians have held the top political offic-

the 11th Circuit opinion, which cited previous U.S. Supreme Court rulings that restricted urine tests by government agencies to employees working at dangerous jobs or in jobs where schoolchildren were involved. Scott’s lawyers argued that TANF recipients should be considered a “special interest” exception to the Fourth Amendment. The tests are needed to ensure TANF participants’ job readiness, help the social welfare program meets its goals and guarantee that the public money is used for its intended purpose and not spent on drugs.

es in both legislative chambers at the same time. It’s also the first time the post has been held by politicians representing the same county; both hail from Broward (the Fort Lauderdale area).

Deaths: Floridians of note making their transitions include the Rev. Dr. Mack King Carter, former State Senator Larcenia Bullard, Florida Courier “Survivor’s Stories” writer Sheila St. Etienne, retired dean of Florida A&M University School of Journalism and Graphic Communication Dr. James Hawkins, pioneer parachuter Walter Morris, first Black Police Chief of Bunnell Arthur L. Jones, and the Rev. Arthur T. Jones, Tampa pastor and co-founder of the Florida Mass Choir.

Material from the Florida Courier’s archives, Lesley Clark and Anita Kumar of the McClatchy Washington Bureau (MCT), the News Service of Florida, and the Trice Edney Newswire was used to prepare this report.

‘No competent evidence’ But Scriven criticized the expert witnesses, testimony and evidence the state used to defend the law. “In sum, there simply is no competent evidence offered on this record of the sort of pervasive drug problem the State envisioned in the promulgation of this statute,” she wrote. The state failed to show that TANF recipients used drugs with more frequency than the rest of the population, Scriven found. But even if it had, creating a special class of people who would be exempt from the

constitutional protections could be dangerous, she wrote. “Even if such suspicionless testing as proposed by the State were limited to those persons receiving state funds, would college students receiving governmental assistance to subsidize their education, for example, be subjected to random, suspicionless drug testing if it could be shown that drug use is demonstrably higher among college students? The Supreme Court’s Fourth Amendment precedent would suggest not,” Scriven wrote.

JANUARY 3 – JANUARY 9, 2014

FLORIDA

FAMU moves ahead with presidential search University plans to name permanent leader in January NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

Florida A&M University is still on track to name its next president by Jan. 9, the university’s board of trustees decided in a meeting by telephone on Dec. 21. FAMU had begun the search after James H. Ammons resigned in July 2012, stepping down in the wake of the November 2011 hazing death of Robert Marching 100 Champion drum major Robert Champion. Many alumni and other interested parties openly favor Interim President Larry Robinson, 58, who had been the university’s provost under Ammons but who is not a candidate – for now, at least. Meanwhile, dozens of candidates have applied – including former state senator Al Lawson – and more are applying as the Jan. 3 deadline approaches.

Off probation During the conference call, several trustees sug-

James Ammons

Larry Robinson

gested a somewhat longer process. “I still have some nervousness about the speed with which we are undertaking this,” said trustee Marjorie Turnbull, a former state legislator. But trustee Belinda Shannon said the board had started its search a year before and agreed to move forward after the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools decided whether to remove FAMU from its 12-month probation, as it did earlier this month. The presidential search was suspended last March while Robinson focused on steering the university back to full re-accreditation. SACS, the regional accrediting body, had placed the university on probation in December 2012, following FLORIDA COURIER FILE PHOTO Champion’s highly publiA scaled-down Florida A&M University Marching 100 band performed in November at the Florida Classic cized hazing death and a series of questionable audits. in Orlando. The band had been on suspension for two seasons following the death of Robert Champion.

Florida loses out on bid for drone testing NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

Florida wasn’t among six states selected Monday by the Federal Aviation Administration for drone development testing. A law approved in 2012 gave the FAA three years to develop a way drones can share airspace and Florida was

among those competing for the research work. Space Florida, the quasigovernment agency, made a $1.4 million proposal to use the shuttle landing facility at Kennedy Space Center for the testing, with the goal of establishing corridors for drones to safely fly between Sunshine State cities.

“In selecting the six test site operators, the FAA considered geography, climate, location of ground infrastructure, research needs, airspace use, safety, aviation experience and risk,” the FAA announced in a release. Space Florida’s bid has been in the works since

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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

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at least February but state lawmakers have been skeptical about the use of drones. In April, the Florida Legislature approved and Gov. Rick Scott quickly signed into law the “Freedom from Unwarranted Surveillance Act” restricting law enforcement’s use of drones. The law, which went into effect in July, prevents law enforcement from using drones unless a judge has issued a warrant or unless there is a “high risk of terrorist attack” or imminent danger, such as in a case involving a missing person. The operators selected for the sites are: University of Alaska; state of Nevada; New York’s Griffiss;

Residents in Julian, Calif., expressed their thoughts about the area being chosen as a drone test site. North Dakota Department of Commerce; Texas A&M University – Corpus Chris-

ti; and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Duval teachers, administrators hit by scam A Jacksonville insurance salesman pleaded guilty on Dec. 21 to four felony counts stemming from an investment scam that included a large number of victims who were current or former Duval County teachers and school administrators, according to federal prosecutors. Anderson Scott Hall, 49, pleaded guilty to two counts of mail fraud, one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering and faces a maximum of 20 years in prison on each count, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Mid-

dle District of Florida said in a news release.

Failed to invest funds Hall was accused of operating an investment scheme that defrauded more than 50 investors from about 1996 through 2011. The news release said many of the investors were active or retired Duval County school employees who invested their retirement funds – including funds from a program commonly known as DROP (Deferred Retirement Op-

‘Do Not Call’ violations top Florida consumer issues for 2013 Gripes about violations of the state’s “Do Not Call” list easily dominated the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ top complaints for 2013. The state agency reported Monday that 18,862, or nearly 40 percent, of the 47,226 complaints lodged between Jan. 1 and Dec. 20 involved telemarketers and other telephone sales

operators dialing numbers on the “Do Not Call” list. In second place were 3,626 complaints about telemarketers in general. Fuel, communications, landlord and tenant disputes, problems with real estate brokers and salespeople, cable, banking and motor vehicle sales problems were the other most common areas of complaints.

tion Program) – with Hall. The scheme involved collecting money from investors and promising interest rates sometimes above 12 percent. Hall was accused of failing to invest the funds and sometimes making partial payments to investors, as in a Ponzi scheme. Prosecutors said Hall created false documents indicating money was invested legitimately and used investors’ money to pay for personal expenses and to buy commercial property and luxury cars.’ “Do Not Call” violations have topped the complaint list for four consecutive years.

Bill includes texts The agency currently offers five-year subscriptions to the list free of charge for residential and mobile telephone numbers. Sen. Jeff Clemens, DLake Worth, has filed a measure that would update the “Do Not Call” list to include more modern methods of communications. The bill (SB 450) would expand the ban on solicitations to include text and electronic communications made through a landline, mobile or Internet telephone service. Consumers who believe fraud has taken place can contact the department’s hotline at 800-435-7352 or 800-352-9832 for Spanishspeaking callers.

EDITORIAL

JANUARY 3 – JANUARY 9, 2014

Black family drama: Eliminate it If you want to know what is killing the love in AfricanAmerican communities you only have to look as far as the Black family drama! Our community today is filled with hate, suspicion, selfishness, intolerance, lies and doubt. And, in many cases, the disfunctionality begins in the Black household! Many of us are living in homes and dealing with family members that oftentimes hold us back instead of helping us move forward. If you’re looking for reasons to hate your parents, your siblings, your children or your other relatives you won’t have very far to look because no one is perfect. All of us have made mistakes, made bad choices or slipped or slid the wrong

Lucius Gantt THE GANTT REPORT

way a time or two. This idea that one should focus on the bad that people have done and ignore the good done by the same people is ridiculous!

Get your house in order If we can’t respect our own how can we expect others to respect us? If we don’t love each other, why should others love us? And, if we don’t honor and praise our parents, grandparents and other community elders

like the Bible says we should what will become of us? Do you ever wonder why there hasn’t been a twenty first century Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey, Rosa Parks or Ida Wells rise up in the Black community and lead our people to progress and more self determination? Who is the Black statewide leader in Florida, in Georgia, in New York or in California? Hell, who is the new nationwide Black community leader that the masses of African-Americans will march with, protest with, fight with or ride and die with? Well, there is none that I know. If someone tried to ascend to that type of position that person will be hated more than followed and supported!

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: SOUTH SUDAN CRISIS

PARESH NATH, THE KHALEEJ TIMES, UAE

What if we all celebrated Kwanzaa? It’s a curious thing that so many African-Americans know so little about their American heritage, and even less about their African ancestry. But this is probably because “Black pride” is about as ethereal and subjective as religious faith. Racial pride should be based not on the assumption of things unseen, but on substance of deeds done. It is in this spirit of racial enlightenment that I celebrated Kwanzaa. I pay homage to the Afrocentric Dr. Maulana Karenga who founded this holiday in 1966 “to reaffirm what it is to be of African ancestry.” Umoja: Unity stresses the importance of togetherness for the family and the community, which is reflected in the African saying, “I am We” or “I am because We are.” Kujichagulia: Self-determination requires that we define our common interests and make decisions that are in the best interest of our family and community. Ujima: Collective Work and Responsibility remind us of our obligation to the past, present, and future, and that we have a role to play in the community, society, and world. Ujamaa: Cooperative economics emphasizes our collective economic strength

ANTHONY L. HALL, ESQ. FLORIDA COURIER COLUMNIST

and encourages us to meet common needs through mutual support. Nia: Purpose encourages us to look within ourselves and to set personal goals that are beneficial to the community. Kuumba: Creativity makes use of our creative energies to build and maintain a strong and vibrant community. Imani: Faith focuses on honoring the best of our traditions, draws upon the best in ourselves, and helps us strive for a higher level of life for humankind, by affirming our self-worth and confidence in our ability to succeed and triumph in righteous struggle. In fact, with these guiding principles, Blacks should come to celebrate Kwanzaa the way Jews celebrate Hanukkah.

Read Anthony L. Hall’s columns and daily weblog at www.theipinionsjournal.com.

THE CREDO OF THE BLACK PRESS The Black Press believes that Americans can best lead the world away from racism and national antagonism when it accords to every person, regardless of race, color or creed, full human and legal rights. Hating no person, fearing no person. The Black Press strives to help every person in the firm belief...that all are hurt as long as anyone is held back.

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How did we get like this? Historically, Black peo-

Charles W. Cherry, Sr. (1928-2004), Founder Julia T. Cherry, Senior Managing Member, Central Florida Communicators Group, LLC Dr. Glenn W. Cherry, Cassandra CherryKittles, Charles W. Cherry II, Managing Members Dr. Glenn W. Cherry, Chief Executive Officer Charles W. Cherry II, Esq., Publisher Dr. Valerie Rawls-Cherry, Human Resources Jenise Morgan, Senior Editor Linda Fructuoso, Marketing Consultant/Sales, Circulation Angela VanEmmerik, Creative Director Chicago Jones, Eugene Leach, Louis Muhammad, Lisa Rogers-Cherry, Circulation Andreas Butler, Ashley Thomas, Staff Writers Delroy Cole, Kim Gibson, Photojournalists MEMBER National Newspaper Publishers Association Society of Professional Journalists Florida Press Association Associated Press National Newspaper Association

disfunction. Four hundred years later and we still can’t come together as families, either immediate or extended families. We need to try to bring back the love, the respect, the rhythm, the harmony, the concern and the care for each other. We can start that process by eliminating the Black family hate! We don’t have to worry about the racist neighborhood watch man because there might be people in our own house that want to kill our progress, end our unity and murder our dreams before we ever leave out the door!

Buy Gantt's book "Beast Too: Dead Man Writing" for the perfect holiday gift. Contact Lucius at www. allworldconsultants.net. Write your own response at www.flcourier.com.

Is President Obama taking away our freedoms? The Conservatives, Republicans, and Tea Party have decided that liberty and freedoms in America are being usurped by the government and President Obama’s policies. With the passage of the Patriot Act and individual mandates in the Affordable Care Act, everyone feels that “Big Brother” is looking over our shoulder. There are three branches of government, the Executive, the Legislative Branch, and the Judicial. Without laws and regulations our country would turn into a state of chaos and anarchy and the system would become dysfunctional. America is a great country because the system works, and you can be born into poverty, and work hard and build a global empire.

A prime example

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.

Central Florida Communicators Group, LLC, P.O. Box 48857 Tampa, FL 33646, publishes the Florida Courier on Fridays. Phone: 877-3524455, toll-free. For all sales inquiries, call 877352-4455; e-mail sales@flcourier.com.

If we can’t get a leader in the house that everyone can love and respect, we may never find a person in the street that will get our blessings. When we greet our friends we might say hello “brother” or how are you “sister” because our ancestors from Africa believed the whole village was family. In my youth, if a neighbor saw me acting up when my parents weren’t home the neighbor would spank me and tell my parents and I’d get another whipping when Mom and Dad got home. Nowadays, you had better not touch your neighbor’s child.

ple loved Black people. Ask grandmama, we loved to feed hungry people, we invited strangers to the house party, we’d give a ride to hitch hikers. Don’t try any of that now. Many Black people only love themselves. Parents are hated, siblings are hated, uncles, aunts and other family members sometimes feel the need to be “strapped” at the family reunion because one family member might slap the other one. I’ve even seen relatives fight at funerals. How did we get like this? Well, a lot of our behavior was picked up during slavery days and was never stopped. Slave masters hated their Black children. They disrespected, mistreated and abused their Black slave women. Slave masters encouraged family mistrust, family fighting and family

President Obama is an example of the personal freedoms that we enjoy in America. President Obama was not born into a wealthy family and he was forced to take out loans to complete his education, but he had a dream. Even though he was biracial, he was determined to make a difference in the world, and eventually he became the first AfricanAmerican president. He is concerned with all Ameri-

ROGER CALDWELL GUEST COLUMNIST

cans having more access to voting, a good job, and entering the middle class. The secret to the American system is there are checks and balances, and the president is not able to operate without a constitution, rules, and regulations. There are times when the president will use an executive order to circumvent a rule, but it is basically a procedural order, and nothing fundamental to the system.

Allow the president to follow plan

manage, and there will be problems. The president has tried to be transparent with his administration, but at times, it is impossible to know everything. Nevertheless, the president has tried to be a man of his word. He has created a new healthcare system that will give million of Americans an opportunity to healthcare. He has improved an economy that was on the edge of bankruptcy, and he brought soldiers home from Iraq and in the process of bringing soldiers home from Afghanistan. I will be the first to say that there are portions of the Patriot Act that could abuse certain freedoms, but it was started by President Bush. In the digital world, politics, economics and security has changed on a national and global scale. There is no one voice making all the decisions and negotiations will be decided by inclusion and diversity. Conservatives, Republican, and folks in the Tea Party must remember to leave their racism at home, because there are more freedoms in America than any other country on the planet.

As the president, President Obama makes mistakes, and things don’t work out the way he always plans. President Obama has acknowledged many times that he was wrong, but this should not stop the president from following his plan. There is absolutely no way the president should repeal the Affordable Care Act, because there are computer and administrative glitches. There is a massive bureaucracy, two legislative Write your own response houses, and a judiciary system, that the president must at www.flcourier.com.

Cities pressured to subsidize sports stadiums Washington, D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray says Washington Nationals baseball owner Theodore Lerner has pitched him a fast ball and wants the city to build a retractable roof over Nationals Park. Gray said he “soundly rejected” Lerner’s $300 million gambit, but the fact that Lerner had the chutzpah to ask is because Major League Baseball (MLB) has snookered city officials from the beginning. The city built the $600 million ballpark that the Nationals pay $5.5 million in yearly rent as a tenant. Over recent years, D.C. government has invested in the arena that the Wizards National Basketball Association team calls “home” and is building a new 24,000-seat home for the soccer team. Call it “civic pride” or “being had.” Either way, urban governments are being fleeced by foolishly building multi-million-dollar arenas for wealthy local sports team owners. The state-ofthe-art 80,000-seat Cowboys Stadium was built partly using tax-free borrowing by the city of Arlington, Texas. The Cowboys’ Jerry Jones is at the top of the heap among 21 NFL owners whose teams play in stadiums built or renovated in the past quarter-century using tax-free public borrowing. Such municipal debt has helped build structures used by 64 major league teams, including baseball, hockey, basketball and now soccer. The

WILLIAM REED BUSINESS EXCHANGE

new generation of publiclyowned stadiums has helped double the value of privately-owned sports franchises.

Taxpayers pad pockets Evidently, urban taxpayers have bought into the ruse as governments build and pay for the structures, while Jones and other NFL fat cats’ teams benefit from millions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies, not to mention improved roads, etc. The D.C. government is at the cutting edge of sports insanity. Today, the District government has entered the soccer stadium building business and could contribute as much as $150 million of land and infrastructure, about half of the $300 million cost of the planned structure. Local papers are filled with stories of public officials arguing over tickets for box seats to certain sports and concert events. Similar squabbles are likely to continue in Washington over the soccer stadium. Comparably, many American cities have “been had” by NFL owners, publicly financing their stadiums for them. Century Link Field,

where the Seattle Seahawks play, opened in 2002, with Washington State taxpayers providing $390 million of the $560 million construction cost. The Seahawks, owned by Paul Allen, one of the richest people in the world, pay the state about $1 million annually. American taxpayers have, in stages, provided about $1 billion to build and later renovate what is now known as the New Orleans Saints’ Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Urban populations need to get past that “civic pride” foolishness and put their governments “in check.” League-wide, 70 percent of the capital cost of NFL stadiums is being provided by taxpayers. Many governments also pay stadiums’ ongoing costs, by providing power, sewer services, and other infrastructure improvements. When ongoing costs are added, teams in Buffalo, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Kansas City, New Orleans, San Diego, St. Louis, Tampa Bay and the Tennessee Titans received more money from the public than needed to build their facilities.

William Reed is head of the Business Exchange Network and available for speaking/seminar projects through the Bailey Group. org. Write your own response at www.flcourier. com.

JANUARY 3 – JANUARY 9, 2014

EDITORIAL

How ‘structural unemployment’ gets constructed As this is being written, more than a million out-of-work Americans have already been pushed off the edge of their narrow financial cliff by Congressional inaction; As of December 28, they were cut off from receiving emergency federal unemployment benefits. If Congress refuses to restore the emergency benefits program for those Americans jobless for six months or longer – which has been in place since the onset of the Great Recession became evident in 2008 – another million or so of the long-term unemployed will be cut adrift by next spring. Once upon a time, it would have been unimaginable that the Congress of the United States would leave millions of Americans – well, at least, White Americans – who’d become jobless through no fault of their own and who’d shown they want to work to destitution. But that was then.

$25 billion, to add to its $225 billion cost for the last five years. But the Republicans in both the House and the Senate have signaled they’ll now oppose any further extension. “These have been extraordinary extensions, and the Republican position all along has been, ‘We need to go back to normal here at some point,’” said Rep. Tom Cole, (R-OK), clearly speaking for House Speaker John Boehner, in early December. Apparently, the irony of using the word “normal” was lost on Rep. Cole; for the crisis facing the long-term unemployed is far from normal.

Another $25 billion

It’s not normal

True, Congress in January or February may restore the program for several more months. Senator Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat who is Senate Majority Leader, has pledged to introduce a bill doing just that. That’s what happened for the 11 extensions since President Bush first proposed the emergency program. Restoring the program would cost about

It’s not normal that in modern times 4 million-plus Americans have been jobless longer than six months. That’s a greater number of long-term unemployed the country has experienced both as a hard number and as a percent of the total unemployed since World War II. It’s not normal that many of the long-term unemployed – many of

LEE A. DANIELS NNPA COLUMNIST

whom held jobs requiring whitecollar skills and paying middleincome wages – tell of fruitlessly looking for work for one to two to three years. It’s not normal, as a recent White House study indicated, that at a time when there are more than three jobless workers for each available job listed, those jobless for more than a year have only a 10 percent chance of being hired for any job at all. These aren’t “normal” times in America, either politically or economically, and what is happening to the long-term unemployed isn’t the result of the “invisible hand” dynamic of the so-called free market. While the long-term unemployed have always existed as a small group of the jobless, what is happening now is that the conservative movement is attempting to take advantage of global economic forces and advances in technology to shape – that is, construct – this segment of the jobless as a permanent significant cohort of America’s unemployed.

Some trapped in poverty But these and other efforts to shred the nation’s once-admirable safety net also stem from conservatives’ ideological hostility to people who have long been trapped in poverty or those who’ve suddenly found them-

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: WRESTLING

LUOJIE, CHINA DAILY, CHINA

selves ensnared in hard times. To conservatives, the overwhelming majority of these people are “the undeserving poor” – people whose difficulties are really their own fault. No remark better represents how this callous conservatism masquerades as respectable analysis than the recent claim of Senator Rand Paul, the Kentucky Republican, that extending unemployment benefits beyond the typical 26 weeks all but a few states offer does “a disservice to these workers …. [by] causing them to become part of this perpetual unemployed group in our economy.” In other words, despite the vo-

luminous evidence that the increase in long-term unemployment is the result of the lack of jobs, not the laziness of the jobless, Paul asserts federal unemployment aid – which averages just $300 a week – has seduced them into a getting-somethingfor-nothing laziness, and the best way to help them find work is to just cut off federal aid. It’s the same message conservatives have long sent to the needy: We don’t care.

Lee A. Daniels is a longtime journalist based in New York City. His latest book is Last Chance: The Political Threat to Black America. Write your response at www.flcourier.com.

Senators exert ‘silent veto’ over potential judges President Obama’s recent nominations of federal judges in Georgia – including one who supported regressive voters ID laws and another who favored retaining the confederate emblem as part of the state flag – highlights a failed system that effectively allows homestate U.S. senators to veto presidential judicial selections. To his credit, Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) and other civil rights leaders are pushing back on a deal struck by President Obama to get three of his judicial appointees approved in exchange for the objectionable Republicans backed by Georgia’s two GOP senators being included in the package. “The group cites serious concerns that the proposed candidates do not adequately reflect the diversity of the northern district and that the selection process lacked meaningful community input,” Lewis said in a statement. “Additionally, the coalition finds it troubling that several nominees include persons who have advocated in favor of Georgia’s voter ID laws and for including the Confed-

George E. Curry NNPA COLUMNIST

erate Battle Emblem as part of the Georgia State Flag.” Under a plan approved by President Obama, vacancies on the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers cases on appeal from Georgia, Alabama and Florida, would be filled by U.S. District Court Chief Judge Julie Carnes, who was appointed to the bench in 1991 by President George H.W. Bush, and Jill Pryor, a past president of the Georgia Association for Women Lawyers. The elevation of Carnes would create a total of four vacancies on the Northern District of Georgia bench. Selected to fill those slots are Atlanta attorney Leigh Martin May, DeKalb County State Court Judge Eleanor Ross, Georgia Court of Appeals Judge Michael Boggs and Atlanta lawyer

Mark Cohen. Obama’s willingness to horse Of the six, only Ross, an African- trade with Georgia’s two conserAmerican, is a person of color. vative senators underscores the veto power senators hold over judicial nominees from their state. ‘Judicial emergencies’ From 1956-1979, a senator’s The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts has declared the four objection to a nominee would district court vacancies, which stop all further consideration. In have been open since February recent years, the blue-slip policy 2009 and January 2010, judicial has been modified to supposed“emergencies.” The 11th Circuit ly prevent home-state senators vacancies have been in existence from having such absolute power over nominees from the state. since August 2010. The Obama administration has Still, Senators continue to excleared three of the judges – Co- ert tremendous influence in the hen, Ross and Boggs – with Geor- flawed process. Because the blue-slip policy has gian’s Republican Senators Saxby been in effect for so long, Blacks Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, according to the Atlanta Journal- are grossly underrepresented on the federal bench. Constitution. Rep. Lewis and fellow Presidential Medal of Freedom win- Gross misrepresentation The African-American popuners Joseph Lowery and C.T. Vivian have objected to Cohen be- lation in Georgia, for example, is cause he was the lead defense at- 31 percent, more than double the torney in challenges to Georgia’s national average of 13 percent. restrictive voter ID law. They op- Blacks comprise 26.5 percent of pose Boggs who, as a member of Alabama’s population and almost the state legislature, voted to keep 17 percent of Florida’s population. in place the Confederate-themed Yet, of the 12 judges representing the 11th Circuit, which covGeorgia state flag.

Let’s not forget Winnie Now that the beat of the drums and roar of ceremonial cannon have faded into memory; now that the nation of South Africa and the World have come to grips with the death of Nelson Mandela; now that Mr. Mandela has been firmly elevated to the level of civil and human rights icons like King and Gandhi, what words do we speak of the person who represented his ideals and philosophies to the outside world for the twenty-seven years he served in prison? In what status will we hold Winnie Madikizela–Mandela - now and in the future? To say that she is controversial understates how critically she is judged by many in the media, and in society at large. Without disrespect to Graca Machel, Mandela's widow, I was impressed by how inextricably linked Nelson and Winnie were. I found it interesting that, during Mandela's hospitalization last summer, Winnie was, seemingly, tasked to interface with reporters making inquiries about his health. Without elaboration, the role she played during this period was more wife-like than not.

Future life of Winnie

Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq. TRICE EDNEY WIRE

Among the ANC leadership, Winnie is considered a valuable asset in garnering support among the ANC grassroots and the non-party poor. Her supporters regard her lovingly as the "Mother" of her nation. One can only say that she remains a "Real Player" in her country's political game.

Both Mandela’s incarcerated Most will laud Nelson Mandela's grace throughout his incarceration, few will remember that Winnie Mandela was also the victim of imprisonment AND exile. As the mother of two infant children, Winnie spent eighteen months in solitary confinement in the Pretoria Central Prison. Few realize that, except when allowed to Robben Island, she was exiled and confined to the town of Brandfort in the Orange Free State. Nelson, Winnie and thousands of supporters of ANC principles were SA patriots. Like US revolutionaries in conflict with Britain, many of their acts were brutal and inhumane, but in SA they do not have the luxury of time tempered opinion. The judgment about who they were and the justness of their actions will be made through the looking glass of history. As for Winnie, whose Xhosa birth name means "she who tries," I am sure that her record will reflect more than just a try. She is a "Doer" and there is still much to be done in her country.

The more important question, postMandela, is the role Winnie will play in the political and social future of SA. Will her influence enhance or detract from Mandela's legacy of strength and development through reconciliation? Anyone familiar with SA politics cannot deny the popularity of Winnie Mandela in the political infrastructure of her country. She led the ANC Women's League. In 2007, Winnie received more votes than any other candidate in the election of the ANC National Executive Committee. In the 2009 general election, despite accusations of criminal wrong-doing, Winnie took fifth place on the ANC's electoral list behind ANC (and current SA) President Dr. E. Faye Williams is National Jacob Zuma, former SA President (20082009) Kgalema Motlanthe, Deputy Presi- Chair of the National Congress of Black dent Baleka Mbete and Finance Minister Women. Write your own response at Trevor Manuel. www.flcourier.com.

ers those states, only one, Charles Wilson, is Black. The only other person of color is a Cuban, Adalberto Jordan of Miami. Similarly, the U.S. District Court bench in Atlanta has only one African-American, Steve Jones, sitting as a full-time judge; the other 10 judges are White. The federal court in Macon has only had one African-American judge in its history and Savannah has never had a Black judge. Although Senate Democrats won a victory of sorts by changing procedures so that administration nominees can win approval on a simple majority vote, President Obama still faces hurdles appointing judges because of an arcane Senate blue-slip procedure that has been referred to as a “silent veto.”

George E. Curry, former editor-in-chief of Emerge magazine, is editor-in-chief of the National Newspaper Publishers Association News Service (NNPA.) Write your own response at www.flcourier.com.

Why Americans have grown to hate Congress Congress has itself to blame for its low ratings among the American people. Policymaking is all about choices. It is the calculus of weighing costs and benefits and the distribution of those costs and benefits. In theory, there are lots of policies that can make everyone better off, but they can only be accomplished by redistributing the gains of the policy. Congress recently passed a budget deal that ended extended unemployment benefits for those unemployed for more than six months. Congress could choose to increase government expenditures-rather than their current stance of decreasing them-as was done in all other economic recoveries.

Republicans did it before Republican members of Congress think America's working families have forgotten that Republicans expanded real government expenditures (adjusting for inflation) in the 1980s under President Ronald Reagan and 2001 under President George W. Bush by about 16 percent at this point in the business cycle. The stalemate caused by Republican refusal to increase government expenditures has resulted directly in lower public sector employment-the loss of hun-

WILLIAM SPRIGGS TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM

dreds of thousands of public school teachers across the country; and more broadly in a tepid recovery. The argument against restoring government is that it will increase the federal deficit, leaving unpaid bills for our children to pay and put pressure on interest rates that will hurt investment and homeownership by the middle class and tie the hands of future budgets with large interest costs. Well, of course, the failure to back President Barack Obama's America's Job Act back in 2011 has meant fewer teachers for our children today, rising class sizes and closed schools in many of America's cities, meaning our children will pay with higher dropout rates, lower achievement and lower future earnings. So, that is a trade-off most people think is not sensible. Currently the Federal Reserve, understanding the dire situation of the economy, has been aggressively pursuing a policy to keep long-term interest rates down. Its efforts has moderated the loss of wealth in housing that most people

experienced when the housing price collapse took away the savings America's workers stored in their homes as equity.

Taxes paid by those that benefit Ultimately federal debt does have to be paid. Since 2009 and the current recovery, 95 percent of income gains have gone to the top 1 percent of American incomes. In the fairness category, most people would agree that if the net result of policies has benefited the top 1 percent only, then they should be the ones paying taxes. It follows directly from a belief that everyone can be made better off, but only if the people benefiting from the economic policy share the gains with others. So, if the point of all this fiscal austerity is to protect us from federal debt in a time of low interest rates, we see who is benefiting. If we favor austerity over creating jobs, then we should at least compensate the people we are asking to suffer-those who are unemployed. By ignoring them, Congress wishes they would go away. By ignoring the imbalances in their choices, the American people are wishing Congress would go away.

Write your own response at www.flcourier.com.

TOj A6

NATION & WORLD

JANUARY 3 – JANUARY 9, 2014

Royal family opposes eviction of Mandela’s widow Still in mourning

South Africa’s media reported family fued about Graca Machel TRICE EDNEY NEWS WIRE

Graca Machel, third wife of the late Nelson Mandela, will handle her husband’s affairs, said a spokesman for the AbaThembu royal family, putting to rest for the moment various claims on the Mandela estate by other family members. “The passing of Mandela does not terminate his commitment to Machel,” said family spokesman Chief Daludumo Mtirara. No member of the Mandela family may intimidate former president Nelson Mandela’s widow Graca Machel, the royal family warned, adding that she should not face abusive language or threats to leave the Mandela homes in Houghton or Qunu. Reports that Mandela’s children were moving to evict Machel from the house she and her husband shared were picked up widely by local media.

‘Apartheid-style’ tactics The spokesman for the

Graca Machele, 68, is the widow of former South African president Nelson Mandela. She also is the widow of Mozambican president Samora Machel. Mandela died on Dec. 5. royals said emphatically: “Nkosikazi Nosizwe Graca Machel remains under the umbrella of the Mandela family and members of the family who do not respect her must refrain from that trend because it is a dis-

grace that undermines our custom.” Shortly after Mandela’s death, ex-wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela called reports of a renewed family feud as “mischievous innuendos” and “apartheid-

style” tactics. But she also issued a statement last week declaring Makaziwe Mandela as the head of the family, seconded by Madiba’s daughters, Zindziswa Mandela and Zenani Dlamini Mandela.

Makaziwe, the eldest daughter, reportedly ordered that locks be changed at the family homestead in Qunu, in the Eastern Cape, and that his eldest grandson Mandla Mandela be locked out.

The Mozambican-born Machel has not announced her future plans as she is still mourning. At the Mandela memorial on Dec. 15, the two wives, Graca and Winnie, were praised in a speech by Malawi President Joyce Banda. .“As an African woman and leader,” said Banda, “I wish to acknowledge Mama Winnie Madikizela Mandela for her efforts and steadfastness for standing with Tata Mandela before and during Tata’s imprisonment and for being in the forefront of ANC’s struggle for liberation. “And to you, Mama Graca Machel, I wish to thank you for your visible love and care especially during Tata’s last days...To both of you, the love and tolerance you have demonstrated before the whole world during the funeral has shown us that you are prepared to continue with Tata’s ideals.”

This story is special to the Trice Edney News Wire from Global Information Network. stances and the absence of her son’s Nigerian father, Adegbile’s mother fought to get her son into top private schools in Manhattan, usually receiving scholarships because of his good grades, Haygood said.

Notable disappointments

Debo Adegbile once ran the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund.

Civil rights nominee is known for ‘Sesame Street,’ liberal legal causes BY TIMOTHY M. PHELPS TRIBUNE WASHINGTON BUREAU/MCT

WASHINGTON — Debo Adegbile, President Barack Obama’s nominee to lead the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, attributes much of his success as an attorney to a nineyear stint as a child actor on “Sesame Street” in the 1970s. The unusual resume item brought him a kind of mini-celebrity and was a surprisingly frequent focus of job interviews, Adegbile has said, even as he climbed the legal ranks to join a big New York corporate law firm. But as he faces Senate confirmation hearings next month, Adegbile is drawing a different kind of attention

from conservative activists. They are less interested in stories about the time he explained the letter “S” to the muppet Grover and more curious about his record as an unapologetically liberal voting rights lawyer, his representation of a convicted cop killer and his leadership tenure at the Legal Defense Fund of the NAACP. “When he ran the unit at the Legal Defense Fund, they took positions far outside of the mainstream of the law, far outside existing jurisprudence as it relates to race, and really advanced a fringe agenda,” said J. Christian Adams, a former Justice Department civil rights lawyer who has written a book attacking the Justice Department under Obama. “If he attempts

to do the same at the Justice Department it will be a catastrophe.”

Reinvigorating division Adegbile’s nomination, along with the recent news that prominent Stanford University law professor Pamela Karlan will be appointed his voting rights deputy, has been seen by many as a sign that the Obama administration is moving to reinvigorate the Justice Department’s voting rights division, particularly after a Supreme Court ruling this year voided some important parts of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Adegbile defended the act’s constitutionality on behalf of the Legal Defense Fund during the Supreme Court argument. But the

Nativity features Trayvon Martin instead of Jesus ASSOCIATED PRESS

A Southern California church nativity scene features a bloody Trayvon Martin in place of the infant Jesus in an effort to stir a community conversation about gun violence. The nativity scene on the lawn of the Claremont United Methodist Church — which shows Martin in a hoodie, slumped over and bleeding — was created by 57-year-old congregant and artist John Zachary. Zachary, who in the past has

created installations addressing homelessness and poverty, said he wanted to make the Nativity relevant to modern times and generate a community conversation, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday. Zachary said he chose to focus on the Florida teenager whose shooting death captured the nation to draw a parallel to the dark times in which Jesus was born. But some faithful have shuddered at the depiction and called it sacrilege. Retiree Viola Saunders, who stopped and took some pictures of the scene with her phone, said

justices ruled that a federal requirement forcing some states to seek Justice Department “pre-clearance” before changing their election laws violated the states’ sovereignty. Turning to Adegbile to be the top civil rights official, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. signaled that he intended to fight back hard to safeguard what remains of the landmark Voting Rights Act and to prevent Southern states from imposing new restrictions or identification requirements at polling stations that Holder argues could effectively disenfranchise minorities.

Irish mom, Nigerian dad Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Commit-

tee, where Adegbile has worked for several months as senior counsel to Chairman Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., have not yet taken a stand on him. But given the Senate battle over nominations and criticism by Republicans of the Civil Rights Division under Adegbile’s predecessor, fireworks are expected. “He is just so incredibly suited for this position,” said Leslie Proll, director of the Washington office of the Legal Defense Fund, which was founded in 1940 by former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. Among civil rights lawyers, “Debo stands alone in terms of his depth and the breadth of issues (he has worked on) across the board.” Ryan Haygood, a defense fund colleague from the New York office, said Adegbile was raised by a single Irish mother who struggled with poverty and even occasional homelessness when he was a child. Despite her circum-

When he was 4 or 5, a friend noticed an ad seeking children to audition for “Sesame Street.” Adegbile landed the job and played the part of Debo, a child of the “Sesame Street” neighborhood, until high school. Haygood said his friend had “fond memories of Grover and Cookie Monster” and of meeting Ray Charles during a guest appearance by the singer. After high school, Adegbile attended Connecticut College and the New York University School of Law. “His life’s trajectory went from humble circumstances in New York City to standing at the podium at the Supreme Court,” said Nina Perales, director of litigation at the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund. “It was a special moment to watch him argue and argue well.” But Adegbile’s career has suffered some notable disappointments. In 2012, he was passed over for the top job at the Legal Defense Fund after serving as its acting president for eight months. He was asked to stay on as special counsel. In fall 2011, Obama asked the American Bar Association to evaluate Adegbile for possible appointment to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, normally a precursor to nomination. But later the White House withdrew his name.

she thought the Nativity was too sacred to modify. “It’s pretty bad,” she told the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. “It takes away from the original.” Lead pastor Rev. Sharon Rhodes-Wickett said the church 35 miles east of Los Angeles is a progressive community where many congregants seek to challenge their minds, and hearts, but she can understand if some find the depiction “too edgy.” “It’s hard to look at a young man who’s shot and bleeding to death. But even though I’m uncomfortable with it, that’s the point,” she told the Daily Bulletin. “We have to take a look at the violence.” The scene will remain in place PHOTO BY BILL NORRIS at the church through Jan. 5. A representation of a dying Trayvon Martin is front and cenGeorge Zimmerman was acquitter of a Nativity scene in front of Claremont United Methodist ted in the death of the unarmed teen in February. Church.

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IFE/FAITH

JANUARY 3 – JANUARY 9, 2014

Law phased out those familiar light bulbs See page B4

SHARING BLACK LIFE, STATEWIDE

Jamaicans show mass support for ‘Voice’ winner See page B5

SHARING BLACK LIFE, STATEWIDE www.flcourier.com

SECTION

TOJ

Gone

but never forgotten

Here’s a list of some of the notable Blacks who died in 2013 COMPILED BY FLORIDA COURIER STAFF

JANUARY James Hood, 70. One of the first Black students who enrolled at the University of Alabama a half century ago in defiance of racial segregation. Jan. 17. Leroy “Sugarfoot” Bonner, 69. Frontman for the hit-making funk music band the Ohio Players. Jan. 26.

FEBRUARY Essie Mae Washington-Williams, 87. Mixed-race daughter of one-time segregationist Sen. Strom Thurmond who kept her parentage secret for more than 70 years. Feb. 3. Donald Byrd, 80. Hard-bop trumpeter of the 1950s who collaborated on dozens of albums with top artists of his time and later enjoyed commercial success with hit jazz-funk fusion records such as “Black Byrd.” Feb. 4. Magic Slim, 75. Younger contemporary of blues greats Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf who helped shape the sound of Chicago’s electric blues. Feb. 21. Cleotha Staples, 78. Eldest sibling in the influential gospel group The Staple Singers. Feb. 21.

MARCH Ray Williams, 58. Former New York Knicks guard was drafted 10th overall by the Knicks in 1977. He also played for New Jersey, Kansas City, Boston, Atlanta and San Antonio. March 22. Battled colon cancer.

APRIL Don Blackman, 59. Jazz-funk pianist, singer and songwriter, contributed to acts like Parliament/Funkadelic, Roy Ayers, Sting and Earth, Wind and Fire. April 11. Cancer.

MAY Chris Kelly, 34. Half of the 1990s kid rap duo Kris Kross who

Jim Kelly

William Gray III

made one of the decade’s most memorable songs with “Jump.” May 1. Drug overdose. Malcolm Shabazz, 28. Grandson of Malcolm X who at age 12, set a fire that killed the political activist’s widow. May 9. Injuries from being beaten.

JUNE David “Deacon” Jones, 74. Hall of Fame defensive end credited with coining the word sack for how he knocked down quarterbacks. June 3. Bobby “Blue” Bland, 83. Singer who blended Southern blues and soul in songs such as “Turn on Your Love Light” and “Further On Up the Road.” June 23. Jim Kelly, 67. Actor who played a glib American martial artist in “Enter the Dragon” with Bruce Lee. June 29. Cancer.

FLORIDA COURIER FILE PHOTO

Mack King Carter, a renowned preacher-teacher who was the former senior pastor of New Mount Olive Baptist Church in Fort Lauderdale, died in October.

OCTOBER Dr. Mack King Carter, 66. Former pastor of 10,000-member New Mount Olive Baptist Church in Fort Lauderdale and renowned minister who taught throughout U.S. and abroad. Oct. 2. Major Owens, 77. New York City Democrat who served 12 terms in the U.S. House and helped pass the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Oct. 21. Renal failure and heart failure.

JULY William H. Gray III, 71. He rose to influential positions in Congress and was the first Black majority whip. July 1. Willie Louis, 76. Witness who went into hiding after testifying at the Emmett Till trial about hearing the lynching victim’s screams. July 18. Emile Griffith, 75. Elegant world boxing champion whose career was overshadowed by the fatal beating he gave Bennie Paret in a 1962 title bout that darkened all of boxing. July 23.

AUGUST George Duke, 67. Grammywinning keyboardist and producer whose sound infused acoustic jazz, electronic jazz, funk, R&B and soul in a 40-yearplus career. Aug. 5. Albert Murray, 97. Influential novelist and critic who celebrated Black culture, scorned Black separatism and was once praised by Duke Ellington as the “unsquarest man I know.’’ Aug. 18. Lee Thompson Young, 29. Actor who as a teen starred in “The Famous Jett Jackson’’ and was featured in the film “Friday Night Lights’’ and the TV series

Bobby “Blue” Bland

NOVEMBER Walt Bellamy, 74, Hall of Fame basketball player who placed 14 seasons in the NBA and former Indiana University star who won an Olympic gold medal in 1960. LOS ANGELES TIMES/MCT T.J. Jemison, 95, a founding In a file image from Jan. 22, 1980, Ken Norton works the phones member of the Southern Chrisin his business office. Norton, the former heavyweight champ, tian Leadership Conference and president of the National Bapdied Sept. 18, 2013 at age 70. tist Convention, USA, Inc., from 1982 to 1994. Nov. 15. “Rizzoli & Isles.’’ Aug. 19. Appar- hammad Ali and then lost a ent suicide. controversial decision to him in DECEMBER Yankee Stadium. Sept. 18. Nelson Mandela, 95. IconSEPTEMBER Michael Moses Ward, 41. One ic leader who emerged from 27 of two survivors of the 1985 Demetrius Newton, 85. Attorney who represented Rosa Parks bombing of the militant group years in prison to negotiate an and the Rev. Martin Luther King MOVE in a Philadelphia neigh- end to White minority rule in Jr. and became the first Black borhood. Sept. 20. Apparent South Africa and became that nation’s first Black president. person to serve as speaker pro drowning aboard a cruise ship. Evelyn Lowery, 88. Pioneer Dec. 5. tem of the Alabama House. Sept. in civil rights and women’s em11. The Associated Press was Ken Norton, 70. Former heavy- powerment and the wife of the weight champion who beat Mu- Rev. Joseph Lowery. Sept. 26. used in compiling this report.

George Duke

Lee Thompson Young

David “Deacon” Jones

Evelyn Lowery

Essie Mae WashingtonWilliams

CALENDAR

JANUARY 3 – JANUARY 9, 2014

Former Yankees player Paul Blair dies at 69 ASSOCIATED PRESS

BALTIMORE — Paul Blair, the eight-time Gold Glove center fielder who helped the Baltimore Orioles win World Series titles in 1966 and 1970, has died. He was 69. Blair died Dec. 26 at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, according to a hospital spokeswoman. Blair was with the OriPaul oles from 1964-76. He then Blair played for the New York Yankees — winning World Series in 1977

Drummer Ricky Lawson dies after aneurism at 59 ASSOCIATED PRESS

CHARLIE WILSON

Charlie Wilson is scheduled Feb. 21 at the University of Sun Dome in Tampa and the James L. Knight Center on Feb. 22 in Miami.

LONG BEACH, Calif. – Studio drummer Ricky Lawson, a collaborator with musicians including Michael Jackson, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins and Whitney Houston, has died at a suburban Los Angeles hospital following a brain aneurism. He was 59. Lawson’s uncle, Paul Riser of Detroit, said Dec. 24 that Lawson was removed Ricky from life support 10 days Lawson after the aneurism diagnosis and died around 7 p.m. on Dec. 23. Lawson was being treated at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center in Long Beach, California, about 25 miles south of Los Angeles. The Detroit native learned to play

TOJ

and 1978 — and the Cincinnati Reds. In 17 seasons in the majors, he hit .250 with 134 home runs, 620 RBIs and 171 stolen bases. Blair appeared in six World Series, two All-Star games and won Gold Gloves in 1967 and 1969-75.

In Orioles Hall of Fame In the 1966 World Series, Blair homered for the only run in Baltimore’s Game 3 victory over Los Angeles. The Orioles swept the Dodgers for their first championship. Blair led the Orioles in the 1970 World Series with a .474 average in Baltimore’s five-game victory over Cincinnati. That season, he hit three home runs and had six RBIs in a game against the Chicago White Sox. Inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame in 1984, Blair coached Fordham in 1983 and at Coppin State from 1998-2002. He had a heart attack in December 2010. Blair played baseball and basketball and ran track at Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles. drums at age 16 and jumped into the music business even before graduating from Cooley High School, developing into one of the nation’s top studio musicians in the 1980s.

Performed with Jarreau, Midler His work appears on Houston’s version of “I Will Always Love You.’’ He also performed with Al Jarreau, George Benson, Bette Midler, Quincy Jones and many others. A founding member of the Yellowjackets, Lawson won a Grammy Award in 1986 for R&B instrumental performance for the jazz-fusion group’s hit “And You Know That.’’ He became disoriented during a performance on Dec. 13 and was diagnosed with an aneurism. Drummer Questlove Jenkins of The Roots called Lawson “the master’’ on Twitter Dec. 18 in a message saying, “praying for his recovery.’’ Drummer Sheila E. tweeted Tuesday: “We lost a great man, drummer, father, brother and son. mr Ricky Lawson. He passed away yesterday. Please pray for his family. we will miss u.’’

LL COOL J

The ninth annual Jazz in the Gardens is March 15-16. LL Cool J is scheduled to perform on March 16. More information and lineup of artists: www.jazzinthegardens.com. MCT

FLORIDA COMMUNITY CALENDAR

See schedule at www. tampablackheritage.org.

Eatonville: Zora! Festival 2014 will feature Maze Featuring Frankie Beverly. The festival in Eatonville is Jan. 25- Feb. 2. More information: www.zorafestival.org. Tampa: The Ohio Players and Pieces of a Dream will give free performances during the Tampa Black Heritage Festival. The event is Jan. 16-25.

Satellite Beach: The rapper Afroman is scheduled Jan. 16 at Sports Page Live for a 9 p.m. show. Daytona Beach: Wayne Brady takes the stage at the Peabody Auditorium on Feb. 19 for a 7:30 p.m. show. Fort Lauderdale: The Fifth Annual King of Ribs Festival, an event featuring, barbecue, entertainment and jazz takes place Jan. 11 from 2 to 6

p.m. at Eucalyptus Gardens, 2430 NE 13th Ave. Tickets can be purchased in advance for $3 at Kingoffoods.com or purchased onsite for $5. All children under 10 are free when accompanied by an adult. Miami: Comedian Katt Williams: Growth Spurt show is scheduled 8 p.m. on Jan. 8 at the James L. Knight Center. Hollywood: KC & the Sunshine Band perform Jan. 24 at Hard Rock Live Hollywood.

International footballer Akeem Adams dies at 22 BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) – Akeem Adams, a Trinidad and Tobago defender who played for Hungary’s Ferencvaros until suffering a heart attack in September, has died. He was 22 years old. Ferencvaros said Adams Akeem died Monday after sufferAdams ing a brain hemorrhage on Saturday. He had been hospitalized since the heart attack and his left leg had been

amputated to alleviate circulatory problems. Adams, who joined Ferencvaros in August, played just a handful of games for Hungary’s most popular team. His last game was Sept. 22, a 3-1 victory over Ujpest, Ferencvaros’ traditional rivals. Adams also played nine times on Trinidad’s national team and started three matches for the Caribbean country at the Under-20 World Cup played in Egypt in 2009.

The LATCH system makes it easier to be sure your child’s car seat is installed correctly every time. Just clip it to the lower anchors, attach the top tether, and pull the straps tight. To find out more, visit safercar.gov.

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YOU

CAN PREVENT FOREST www.smokeybear.com

F I R E S.

STOJ

JANUARY 3 – JANUARY 9, 2014

TECHNOLOGY

Light bulb law brings changes, options Jan. 1 phaseout of old-style 40and 60-watt bulbs is the next step toward more efficient forms of lighting BY MARY BETH BRECKENRIDGE AKRON BEACON JOURNAL/MCT

Say goodbye to the oldstyle light bulb. Starting Jan. 1, the last of the federal government’s new lighting standards take effect. That means the sort of general-service light bulb we’ve used for more than a century can no longer be made in or imported into the United States. What does that mean for you? On the plus side, it means more choices and smaller electric bills. On the minus side, it means an end to dirt-cheap light bulbs and grab-and-go bulb shopping. Now you need to read labels. The new lighting standards, part of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, were intended to make light bulbs more efficient and reduce the amount of energy needed to power them. They’ve done that, but they’ve also left some consumers confused in the face of all the choices in the lighting aisle. “You’re used to buying that 60-watt bulb and knowing what it looks like and everything else,” said Cordell Blackmon, manager of the Batteries + Bulbs store in the Montrose area of Copley Township, Ohio. Now, he said, customers who buy bulbs in haste often bring them back when they find the bulbs don’t meet their expectations.

Many bulbs exempt Buying the right bulb requires more attention than it used to, Blackmon said. But with a little education and guidance, he said, his customers end up with what they need. The Jan. 1 phaseout of old-style 40- and 60-watt bulbs is the third step in the change to more efficient forms of lighting. The first step, in 2012, targeted 100-watt bulbs and was followed last year by the elimination of traditional 75-watt bulbs.

The commonly used incandescent bulbs are being phased out. Consumers have essentially three choices – compact fluorescent light bulbs, LED bulbs and halogen bulbs. Although the lighting law has commonly been called a ban on incandescent light bulbs, lighting experts say that’s inaccurate. The law doesn’t ban incandescent bulbs, but only requires them to be more energy-efficient. What’s more, the law doesn’t affect all incandescent light bulbs, just general-service bulbs — pearshaped bulbs with a medium base, the kind that for years were used most commonly in the home. A whole lot of bulbs are exempt, including three-way bulbs, 150-watt bulbs and bulbs with narrower candelabra bases that are often used in chandeliers.

Three choices The law may be frustrating some consumers, but many lighting specialists and sustainability advocates cheer the innovations it has spurred. The lighting standards “have led to more lighting innovation over the past five years than we saw during the 100-plus years since Edison invented the light bulb,” Noah Horowitz,

director of the National Resources Defense Council’s Center for Energy Efficiency, wrote in his blog. Now consumers have essentially three choices: compact fluorescent light bulbs, LED bulbs and halogen bulbs. Compact fluorescent light bulbs, or CFLs, are long-lasting and stingy on energy use and relatively inexpensive. But they have features some people don’t like, including the inclusion of a tiny amount of mercury. LED bulbs are illuminated by light-emitting diodes. They last for decades and use even less energy than CFLs, but they’re still fairly expensive. Halogen bulbs are the most like the old familiar incandescent bulbs. They don’t save nearly as much electricity or last as long as the others, but they’re probably the best choice for people who really don’t want to change, said Terry McGowan, director of engineering for the American Lighting Association.

FINDING THE RIGHT BULB How do you choose one that’s right for you? Here’s some guidance: Read the Lighting Facts label. It appears on every package of light bulbs and looks much like the Nutrition Facts label on food. It provides basic information, including how bright the bulb is, how much power it uses, how much you can expect to pay for that electricity and how warm or cool the light appears. That information makes it easier to compare bulbs. Know the lingo. Understanding the label is easier if you know a couple of terms, noted Celia Lehrman, deputy content editor for home and appliances with Consumer Reports, which recently released its latest light bulb ratings. One of those terms is lumens, which measure a bulb’s brightness. You should buy a bulb of about 450 lumens to replace an old-style 40-watt bulb, 800 lumens to replace a 60-watt bulb, 1,100 lumens to replace a 75-watt bulb and 1,600 lumens to replace a 100-watt bulb. The other is Kelvin, the scale used to measure color temperature — in other words, how warm or cool the light appears. If you like the warm light from an old-style incandescent bulb, look for a color temperature of 2,700 Kelvin, Lehrman said. The higher the Kelvin number,

the cooler and whiter the light. Look for the Energy Star logo. If you’re shopping for a CFL or LED bulb, both Lehrman and McGowan recommended choosing one with an Energy Star label. For those types of bulbs, the label indicates more than just energy savings. It also indicates the bulb meets certain quality standards, such as coming on instantly or nearly so, staying bright over its lifetime and producing an excellent color of light. What’s more, all Energy Star bulbs must be backed by warranties. Look elsewhere on the package. Light bulb packages can tell you a lot about how a bulb is best used. While halogen bulbs can be used in the same ways as old-style incandescent bulbs, LEDs and CFLs behave differently in some applications. The package will tell you such information as whether the bulb is dimmable, whether it’s made for outdoor use and whether it can be used in an enclosed fixture. Check rebates. Sometimes governments or utilities offer rebates on energy-efficient lighting. You can check for rebates at www.dsireusa.org or www. energystar.gov (type “rebates” into the search box to find the page labeled “Special Offers and Rebates From Energy Star Partners”).

Business owner cites list of best apps for small companies BY CELESTE SMITH CHARLOTTE OBSERVER/MCT

Tony Rodono’s City Prints map decor business took center stage — literally — at the Charlotte Chamber’s year-end celebration. Rodono received applause along with fellow winners of the chamber’s 2013 Power Up Chapter Challenge, a competition involving small businesses and promising startups. The family-run company, which includes Rodono’s wife, Katie, and brother Tim, takes on all kinds of requests — from developing map art reflecting a married couple’s travels over the years, to creating prints of university campuses and sports venues. Since he depends on technology to run his company, the Charlotte Observer asked Rodono for his best tech tips to fellow small business owners. He wrote this list of favorite applications and online services, and explains what makes them useful.

Wunderlist This is a to-do list task management tool. It’s the first thing I check in the morning and the first tab open in my browser at all times. It allows me to create a to-do list, and more importantly, assign a due date, notes and reminder alerts to each item. The app is available on all devices and platforms and syncs across them. Best of all, it’s free. I probably rely on this too heavily — I forgot to back up my list when they had scheduled maintenance, and I had no idea what I needed to do that day.

Trello This is a project management app for online team collaboration. Team members can view and comment on project boards and it syncs to all team members on all devices in realtime. I’ve used Basecamp and the Action Method in the past, but Trello takes the cake. We use it to track progress of all our custom maps we’re developing

and to stage future product series. It’s also free.

Zendesk Customer service is a priority for us, and Zendesk makes support easy. All customer requests come into a portal categorized by the type of support request and its priority. My team can log in and respond to assigned support tickets and pass them to others to escalate a request. Zendesk also has a live-chat plug-in you can add to your site. I watch the average time it takes for us to respond and close tickets to make sure we’re giving the best possible service.

Dropbox All our 700-plus map prints are housed on our Dropbox account, which gives all my team members access to the latest files on any device. Sharing is easy, and the syncing is reliable. I’ve tried a bunch of other options for cloud storage, and while Dropbox isn’t the cheapest, I’ve found it to be the best.

Remote bank deposits

Subscribe now at: www.flcourier.com

If you’re still going to the bank to deposit checks, you’re wasting a ton of time. If your bank doesn’t allow you to deposit checks from your phone, it’s time for a new bank.

Maria Gregg of Georgia and her 12-year-old son had been sleeping on a floor.

Facebook strangers answer single mom’s Christmas wish FROM WIRE REPORTS

Maria Gregg, a single mom from Gwinnett County, Ga., had fallen on some hard times. So a week before Christmas, Gregg made her way to the North Gwinnett CoOperative Ministries, a local charity that gives food, clothing and medicine to those in need. The volunteers at the collective put Gregg at ease about her visit, gave her box of food and then

drove her home, Fox 5 Atlanta reported Tuesday. But when the group saw that Gregg and her 12-year-old son had been sleeping on the floor, they knew they had to do something about it. They put a call-out on Facebook, asking the local community to help the single mom by donating anything they could spare. Within 48 hours, people had donated furniture, including beds and a couch, as well as a television and

game system for Gregg’s son. “People started donating. Strangers who knew nothing about me, my name, my past, my face – it didn’t matter,” Gregg said. The local community’s generosity didn’t end there; people made donations to pay Gregg’s rent through February and chipped in nearly $4,000 to put toward the purchase of a car, Fox 5 reported.

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HEALTH

StOJ

JANUARY 3 – JANUARY 9, 2014

Small changes in diet can lead to weight loss By Amy Bertrand St. Louis Post-Dispatch

ometimes simple changes can bring about big results. When it comes to losing weight, more often than not, it’s all about numbers. “Simply think of your body like a machine,” says Beth Mueth, a dietitian at Belleville (Ill.) Memorial Hospital. “Calories in have to equal calories out in order to maintain your weight. The majority of us have calories in more than out. But all it takes is a little change to turn that the other way around.” It takes 3,500 calories to build a pound. If you have a deficit of 100 calories every day for a year — either by eating less or exercising more — you can lose 10 pounds in a year. But going on a diet where you give up everything you love is not going to work forever. Katie Duggan, a dietitian at St. Louis University School of Public Health, says that teaching people to make small changes is often the only way to bring about results. “A lot of people want weight loss to be their New Year’s resolution,” she says. “It’s a constant struggle for most Americans. At any given time millions of people are trying different diets to lose weight, but most of the weight is regained as people return to their old eating habits. “The key is to make small changes that are reasonable, achievable and realistic to maintain.” Duggan says she often tells her clients to write down everything they eat and drink; then they start looking at small changes they can make in that pattern. “Over the course of a year, a small change can easily add up to 5, 10, even 15 pounds,” she says. “You don’t have to give up everything. I believe people get stuck because all of these things. If you have a favorite food, you don’t have to give it up.” So, with the help of health experts and our own experiences, we’ve come up with a list of 25 ways you can lose 10 pounds this year. 1. Switch from whole-milk products to skim-milk products. If you consume three servings a day, you can save up to 200 calories a day. That’s 20 pounds you can lose next year. 2. When you go to a restaurant, ask for half of your portion to be put in a doggie bag right away. Even if you only go out twice a week, you’ll easily save enough calories to lose 10 pounds a year. 3. Reduce the use of butter and margarine. Use applesauce in recipes instead of oil. Try fatfree, butter-flavored spreads or sprinkles (unless you’re watching your salt). Just eliminating a pat of butter on your morning toast will let you drop 10 pounds. 4. Chill soups, gravies and stews, then skim off the fat that floats. Doing this can save you up to 100 calories a serving. 5. Use extra-lean ground beef, ground chicken or ground turkey. Instead of bacon, use Canadian bacon or prosciutto, a lean Italian ham. Buy beef labeled “select,” instead of “choice” or “prime” (select meats have less fat, Duggan says). Trim all fat from meat cuts. 6. Is a tall glass of juice your morning ritual? Swap that 20-ounce OJ for a real orange and you not only save more than 100 calories, you also get some fiber while you’re at it. 7. Meatless products, such as imitation hot dogs, bacon, burgers and sausage, are easily available at the market. They often have half the calories of their meat counterparts. 8. Eliminate that daily coffeehouse run. Switching from a 16-ounce cappuccino to regular coffee with artificial sweetener can save you well over 10 pounds a year. 9. Switch from fried potato chips to the baked ones. Doing so saves 90 calories. If you do this every day, that’s your 10 pounds. 10. Learn how to add 10 minutes of exercise a day. The goal is 30 minutes a day. If you walk for just 30 minutes — even just three 10-minute walks a day — you will lose 13 pounds this year. 11. Switch from 100-plus-calorie sandwich bread to the light whole-wheat bread. You save 100 calories per sandwich, and you get the benefit of good-for-you whole grains. 12. Swap out your cheese. Replace the 11/2 ounces of cheddar or American cheese on your sandwich with 1 ounce of nonfat mozzarella and lose 11 pounds next year. 13. Switch from two tablespoons of reg-

Forget all the latest fads, gimmicks and “miracle” diets. The only way to lose weight — and keep it off — is to eat less and exercise more. It sounds simple, but requires discipline.

Getting started l Ask yourself why you want to lose weight. Successful dieters shed pounds for themselves, not for a significant other (such as a wife or boyfriend) or a special event (such as a reunion). l Before you begin, keep a diary for a few days of what you eat and drink and how much you exercise; this will help you learn what your fattening habits are.

ular mayonnaise to two tablespoons of low-fat mayonnaise on that sandwich. 14. Cut back on egg yolks. It’s the yolk that contains virtually all of the fat and cholesterol. Try using egg substitutes. Or, in most recipes, you can use two egg whites instead of one whole egg. 15. If you love microwave popcorn, you don’t have to give it up. Just switch to the light kind and save tons of fat and calories, enough to lose 10 pounds if you eat it every night. 16. Use sugar substitute instead of sugar in all your baking. If you use a couple of teaspoons in your iced tea and a couple on your morning cereal, you could easily lose 10 pounds by switching to a substitute. 17. Switch your afternoon soda to a diet soda to save 150 calories (per 12-ounce can) a day. 18. If you can’t take diet soda, just downsize your soda portions. If you usually pick up a 44-ounce soda in the morning, switch to a 24-ounce size and save about 200 calories a day. That’s about 20 pounds this year. 19. Portion control is essential when it comes to eating meat. A portion of meat is 3 ounces — about the size of a deck of cards. Most people eat two to three times this. Try putting just a portion on your plate at meals. 20. Replace your regular beer with light beer and save about 50 calories per bottle. 21. Take the stairs every day at work. If you go up and down often enough (say up and down five flights three or four times a day) you’ve got your 100 calories. 22. Forgo regular bottled salad dressing (2 tablespoons, about 150 calories) for an equal portion of fatfree dressing (about 40 calories) for a net savings of at least 100 calories. 23. Don’t supersize anything. Switching from the 6-ounce fries at McDonald’s to the 2-ounce size saves you about 300 calories. So doing that just twice a week can lead to a big weight loss. 24. Remove the skin from a chicken breast after cooking and save 100 calories each time. 25. Instead of topping ice cream with crumbled cookies, crushed chocolate candy or hot fudge, top it with 2 tablespoons of fresh berries and save about 100 calories. illustration by Bradenton Herald

Getting active l Start moving: Walk more, take the stairs, park farther away in the parking lot — do whatever it takes to get more exercise. l Begin an exercise program: Walking, swimming, whatever you like; aim for 30 minutes a day.

PHIL SKINNER/ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION/MCT

Nick Bowers, left, and Carolyn Banks work out with an exercise group at the Beulah Baptist Church Family Life Center in Decatur, Ga. on Feb. 22, 2013.

Choosing foods l Cut back on fats AND calories; don’t think you can eat more of a food just because it’s fat-free. l Choose plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy products, lean meat, poultry and fish, few sweets. l Drink six to eight glasses of water a day. l Don’t dismiss your favorite high-calories foods; simply plan for them. Allow yourself to have a treat once in a while. Remember, you’re in the driver’s seat; you control what you eat. l Read food labels carefully.

Portion control

MCT photos

Controlling portion size is one of the most effective ways for shedding excess weight and keeping it off. l Small plates: Use a salad plate instead of a dinner plate; a fuller plate makes it seem that you are eating a lot. l Do a monthly portion check-up: Use a scale to make sure your portion size has not increased. l Eat fiber-rich, high-water, low-calorie foods: Feel full without consuming too many calories. l Eat slowly: Prevent overeating. Sources: American Medical Association, Ladies’ Journal online, MCT

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JANUARY 3 – JANUARY 9, 2014

FINEST & ENTERTAINMENT

Meet some of

FLORIDA'S

finest

submitted for your approval

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.

lunie elie

tevon

Model Lunié Elie, 21, started doing test shots two years ago and currently works with magazine executives across the globe to build her brand. She recently launched a YouTube channel called “My Journey To Becoming A Model” while balancing medical school and work. She says she is “determined to become the entrepreneur she has always dreamed of.” Contact Lunié at facebook.com/ TheLunieElie.

Graduating from Tennessee State University with a degree in speech communication and theater, Tevon is very versatile in arts having the opportunity to be involved with film work coming out in 2013 to include: “The Game’’ (football player) and “Hunger Games 2’’ (peacekeeper), among others. He also has worked on the Disney movie “Let It Shine,’’ “Ricky Smiley Morning Show,’’ “Necessary Roughness’’ and “Single Ladies.’’ He also is in the 2013 Spirits of Black Men’s Calendar. Contact Tevon via e-mail at Tevplunkett@yahoo.com or facebook.com/TevonPlunkett.

Jamaicans, social media rallied singer to victory on ‘The Voice’ Jamaicans, social media rallied singer to victory on ‘The Voice’ BY JACQUELINE CHARLES MIAMI HERALD/MCT

MIAMI — David Muir isn’t a big television watcher. Nor does the Sunrise resident have a lot of tolerance for reality TV shows. But when Muir, a photographer, learned that fellow Jamaican Tessanne Chin had made it into the top eight on NBC’s reality talent competition, “The Voice,” he swung into action. “I started dialing from my wife’s phone, my children’s phone,” said Muir, who also used all 10 phone lines inside his South Florida photography business and various email addresses, while rallying his employees to do the same in favor of the 28-year-old songstress. “I started getting everybody on board.” “The key was rallying not just the phone calls from your numbers, but getting others to dial,” he said. Last week, Muir’s efforts and that of countless other Jamaicans,

at home and abroad, paid off: Chin became the newest voice of the reality TV singing competition, winning a recording contract and returning to Jamaica on Dec. 20 to the kind of reception that’s usually reserved for the country’s Olympic gold athletes. “It’s an out-of-body experience,” Chin said after she was crowned the winner, and crowds at a four-way intersection in Jamaica’s Half Way Tree neighborhood erupted into frenzied screams and uproar similar to when sprinter Usain Bolt captured gold at the 2008 Olympics.

Power of social media Chin’s victory, which was propelled by an entire island that couldn’t even legitimately vote during the public voting, has become a case study in people power, and the power of social media in a region where Internet connectivity is bridging the divide. “It was a tremendous outpouring of love,” said Marcia Forbes, a Jamaica-based social media expert, “with so many others who responded to the calls by way of #TeamTessanne Parties, tweet ups and more.

Jamaican Tessanne is the Season 5 winner of “The Voice.’’ “Tess on ‘The Voice’ provided a wonderful opportunity for Jamaicans to rally around, even when she sang international songs,” Forbes added. What ultimately became akin to a grassroots political campaign that unfolded in the blogosphere began organically on Twitter and Facebook as word quickly spread there was a Jamaican singer on an American prime-time singing competition. “I had never heard of the show, never watched it,” said Deika Morrison, a media consultant and former Jamaican senator, who had guests walk out of an event she was hosting to see Chin’s powerhouse performance during the televised blind audition, and celebrity judges later battle to mentor her after quickly spinning their chairs around after her performance.

Guerrilla marketing techniques Soon, Morrison and other Jamaicans met up for Twitter parties during “The Voice’s” live playoffs. #TeamTessanne, which was started by a handful of Chin’s friends, soon had global following as Morrison and others em-

ployed the kind of guerrilla marketing techniques usually reserved for political campaigns. On the island, clubs and pubs held watch parties. Reggae Sumfest, the popular festival, used its network to help garner votes. The Jamaica Gleaner, one of the largest dailies, devoted headlines and updates on Tessanne fever with even publisher Christopher Barnes getting in on the tweeting act. “We told people, ‘She can’t win unless you vote,” said Morrison. “Call your family and friends, email them.” “Apparently there is like a massive drop in international calls since she won,” Morrison said, laughing. “The good thing is all of a sudden, everybody had a reason to connect.”

Floridians rally too In the U.S., Jamaicans in Florida, New York, Los Angeles and Texas were equally tasked, like Morrison, to get out the vote. This included downloading on Itunes for $1.29 Chin’s renditions of songs like Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge over Troubled Water,” which topped the chart. “Whenever there is something positive or of some urgency that

a majority of people believe in and feel that there will be a positive result, they are very focused on making a contribution in their own way to the effort,” said Miami attorney Marlon Hill, who was in charge of Florida’s crowds. Hill, a former Jamaica Diaspora Advisory Board Member for the Southeast United States, said Chin’s win shows Jamaicans’ ability to rally on behalf of something they are passionate about. “This same passion can be used for other important issues like immigration in the U.S. or toward improving education or social conditions in Jamaica,” he said.

‘Ambassador for Jamaica’ Observers say Chin, who belted out flawless performances week after week that left coach Maroon 5 lead singer Adam Levine speechless, managed to do something that was unprecedented. “She was like an ambassador for Jamaica,” said Muir. “It wasn’t that she was singing reggae or because she was genuinely from Jamaica ... She didn’t try to change or be different. She was herself and that came through with every song and that was powerful.”

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FOOD

Eating right in

2014 How to eat nutritiously from your freezer

From fAMILY FEATURES

Few would argue about the importance of eating a nutritious, balanced diet. Unfortunately, not everyone knows how to do it. In fact, more than half of Americans surveyed by Nestlé and Harris Interactive said they are unaware of MyPlate, the dietary guidelines from the USDA that make up a

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JANUARY 3 – JANUARY 9, 2014

nutritious diet. What’s more, consumers only come close to meeting dietary guidelines a mere seven days out of 365 in a year, according to the NPD Group’s National Eating Trends® database. This confusion, along with the idea that a balanced diet shouldn’t feel like a chore, led Nestlé to create the Balance Your Plate program. It offers easy solutions to help you create deliciously balanced, perfectly portioned meals that include the foods

you love while meeting MyPlate guidelines.

Math already done Building balanced, nutritious meals has never been simpler with the help of MyPlate (choosemyplate.gov), and the Balance Your Plate program (meals.com/balance), which helps you quickly assemble high-quality balanced meals using frozen prepared entrees as the center of the plate. Frozen prepared entrées are a great way to get a jump start on creating a balanced meal and allow you to still enjoy many of the foods you already love like pizza and lasagna. With the Balance Your Plate program, all of the math has been done so you can follow the simple menus to enjoy a tasty meal that fits easily into the MyPlate guidelines. At meals.com/balance, you’ll find two weeks of nutritious, balanced menus that meet MyPlate recommendations. Each day includes one to two frozen prepared meals and provides around 2,000 calories. It also suggests menu modifications for a 1,500 or 1,800 daily calorie diet – all while meeting the dietary guideline recommendations:

Breakfast Breakfast burrito made with: 1,6-inch corn tortilla, 1 egg, scrambled 2 tablespoons shredded cheddar cheese, 1/4 cup no salt added canned black beans, 2 tablespoons chopped tomatoes 1 cup cantaloupe cubes 1 cup coffee

Lunch 1 Lean Cuisine Asian Style Chicken Salad Additions with 3 cups romaine lettuce, 1/2 ounce slivered almonds (1,800 calorie diet: replace 1/2 ounce slivered almonds with 1/4 ounce almonds; 1,500 calorie diet: replace 1/2 ounce slivered almonds with 1/4 ounce almonds) 2 ounces whole grain roll with 2 teaspoons soft margarine 1 cup pineapple orange juice* (1,500 calorie diet: replace juice with water)

Dinner 1/6 Digiorno Rising Crust Pizza – Pepperoni 1/2 cup baby carrots with 2 tablespoons hummus 1 cup canned peaches, in juice (1,500 calorie diet: replace 1 cup peaches with 1/2 cup peaches) 1 cup low-fat milk

Snack 1 cup low-fat chocolate milk (1,500 calorie diet: replace 1 cup low-fat chocolate milk with 1 cup fat-free chocolate milk) 4 graham cracker squares (1,800 calorie diet: replace 4 graham cracker squares with 2 squares; 1,500 calorie diet: replace 4 graham cracker squares with 2 squares)

For more daily meal plan suggestions and nutrition information, check out meals.com/balance.

Some easy tips for balanced eating routine From fAMILY FEATURES

Sometimes even the smallest changes can offer big results to your overall wellbeing. When maintaining or pursuing a healthful eating routine, adopting a balanced approach is essential for success. Rather than restricting yourself, strive instead to make small steps toward a healthier lifestyle. A few simple changes to your daily routine can eventually turn into lasting habits that are far more enjoyable and easier to maintain. As an expert on the positive impact of small changes, registered dietitian and nutritionist Keri Gans offers these helpful tips:

Create a healthy eating schedule Food is fuel. In order to keep energized throughout the day it is important not to skip meals. Grab a midday snack, like The Laughing Cow Light White Cheddar flavor with whole grain crackers, to help you overcome that all too familiar late afternoon slump. These cheeses are a musthave for your January shopping lists.

Eat the right kinds of fats A little healthy yet tasty fat, such as 1/4 of an avocado or a handful of almonds, can go a long way. It can provide flavor, satiety and be good for your body, especially your heart.

Advance planning To help ensure healthier choices are made when dining out, be sure to grab a

quick, tasty snack to tide you over before your meal. Some great snacking options include a wedge of the Laughing Cow Light Creamy Swiss flavor with pear slices, a low-sugar granola bar or 1/4 cup of roasted edamame. The less hungry you are, the easier it is to stay on track.

Enjoy the foods you are craving Want that slice of pizza or piece of chocolate? Go for it. To maintain a healthy and enjoyable lifestyle, try and eat well the majority of time, but make sure you leave room for some of your favorite indulgences. If you don’t allow yourself to enjoy these foods on occasion, you might always be craving them, which can lead to overeating.

Make savory swaps for old standbys It is never necessary to eliminate the flavors you love, instead learn to enjoy them in a healthier way. Are you in the mood for nachos but trying to eat a little better? Swap the high-fat cheese and greasy fried chips for a wedge of The Laughing Cow Light Queso Fresco & Chipotle with a serving of baked tortilla chips. With eight varieties to choose from, this cheese is the perfect snack to satisfy your cravings in the New Year. So, enjoy all the flavors and fun of life by adopting a small-step approach toward eating well. Each tiny change is a step in the right direction to a happier, more satisfied you. For more snacking tips, visit www.thelaughingcow.com.