Florida Courier - January 20, 2017

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JANUARY 20 – JANUARY 26, 2017

VOLUME 25 NO. 3

THE ERA ENDS A reflective and optimistic Barack Obama walks away from the White House after a flurry of last-minute activity.

COMPILED FROM WIRE REPORTS

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama offered a parting message of hope in his final White House news conference Wednesday, saying that although he recognizes there is evil in the world, “I think we’re going to be OK.” “I believe that tragic things happen,” he said. But when people work hard, “the world gets a little better each time.”

Message to Dems Many Democrats have talked in near-apocalyptic tones in recent weeks about OLIVIER DOULIERY/ABACA PRESS/TNS the impending adminisPresident Obama held his final press conference on Wednesday in the White tration of President-elect House briefing room.

Donald Trump. Obama was

‘Big Weed’ takeover?

They were “disappointed” with the outcome of the election, the president said, adding that they had heeded their mother’s concerns about some of the negative things being said on the campaign trail.

But they haven’t become cynical, the president said, and they have not assumed that because their side didn’t win that America had rejected them or their values.

“And in that sense, he said, “they are representative of this generation that makes me really optimistic.”

Here’s a partial list of acKids moved on tions Obama took during On the way out, though, he offered up his daughters the last few days of his presiMalia and Sasha as an ex- dency: See OBAMA, Page A2 ample to follow. more measured.

“I believe in this country. I believe in the American people. I believe that people are more good than bad,” he said. “The only thing that’s the end of the world is the end of the world.”

Obama said he will speak out in the future in certain cases, especially if he sees Americans’ “core values” under assault. Short of that, however, he said he needs to be quiet for a while and “not hear myself talk so darn much.”

NATIONWIDE MANHUNT ENDS

Alleged killer ‘severely arrested’

Proposed rules favor existing growers

BY DARA KAM THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

TALLAHASSEE – Authors of Florida’s voter-approved constitutional amendment that broadly legalized medical marijuana are blasting proposed rules to regulate the cannabis industry.

The proposed rules, released Tuesday by state health officials, would essentially maintain current vendors’ stranglehold on the medical marijuana industry – poised to become one of the nation’s top money-makers – by applying current Florida laws and rules to the constitutional amendment approved in November.

“The rule is basically ignoring the text of the constitutional amendment at almost every point of the way,” Ben Pollara, campaign manager of the political committee backing the amendment, said in a telephone interview Tuesday.

Broader application While medical marijuana was already a legal treatment for terminally ill patients in Florida, Amendment 2 authorized marijuana for a much broader swath of patients. More than 70 percent of voters supported the amendment, after a similar proposal narrowly failed to capture the requisite 60 percent approval two years earlier.

But applying current regulations to Amendment 2 – which includes specific requirements for how the amendment should be implemented See WEED, Page A2

SNAPSHOTS

RED HUBER/ORLANDO SENTINEL/TNS

Murder suspect Markeith Loyd was escorted out of Orlando Police headquarters on Jan. 17 after being captured in Orlando for allegedly killing Orlando Police Master Sgt. Debra Clayton outside a Walmart store on Jan. 9. Orange County Sheriff’s Deputy Norman Lewis died in a crash while he was responding to the incident just two hours after Clayton was shot. Loyd was arrested using Clayton’s handcuffs, a tradition in law enforcement in such cases.

FLORIDA | A3

Lawson heads Visit Florida after ‘Pitbull’ shakeup State Dems, GOP elect party chairs

‘Greatest Show on Earth’ ending

NATION | A6

Trump meets with MLK III

ALSO INSIDE

Women’s march isn’t just about Trump

BY JIM TURNER THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

ORLANDO – Last week, the Visit Florida board appointed state Department of Business and Professional Regulation Secretary Ken Lawson to replace the agency’s ousted CEO after a controversy that included House leaders exposing an expired $1 million contract between the tourism-marketing agency and Miami rapper Pitbull to promote the state.

The controversy led to Gov. Rick Scott requesting the exit

of longtime Visit Florida president and CEO Will Seccombe.

The Visit Florida board voted 260 to accept a settlement agreement that inKen cluded a $73,000 Lawson payment, effectively ending Seccombe’s employment with the public-private agency.

The board also, in a voice vote, appointed Lawson at a salary of $175,000 a year to lead

the agency, which must lobby state lawmakers in the coming months to maintain its public funding.

Less secrecy Lawson said his initial focus will be meeting Scott’s recommendations to make the agency more transparent.

“Since I’ve been the secretary (of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation) the last six years, I’ve had to manage a budget of $155 million and account for every dol-

lar because it comes from the public, so therefore I’m going to do the same for Visit Florida,” Lawson said after the board meeting.

“Also I’m going to make sure the Legislature understands the value of Visit Florida, and that we understand their role in overseeing us, so there are no questions in the future.”

Millions for promotions Visit Florida received $78 million from the Legislature for the See LAWSON, Page A2

COMMENTARY: CLARENCE V. MCKEE: BARACK OBAMA COULD HAVE DONE MORE FOR BLACK AMERICA | A4 COMMENTARY: JULIANNE MALVEAUX: ACTIVISTS CAN LEARN FROM MLK’S ‘CREATIVE DISRUPTION’ | A5

FOCUS

A2

JANUARY 20 – JANUARY 26, 2017

Let me tell you about ‘Trump Rules’ During the Michael Jordan championship runs with the Chicago Bulls in the National Basketball Association, many people felt that Jordan could do almost anything he wanted to do.

Of course, Jordan could score and defend with any other players of his time. His exploits on the court resulted in him being universally known as one of the best basketball players in world history.

At the same time, a significant number of basketball fans and sports reporters felt Jordan had some unique assistance when his team began to win championship after championship. They felt like Michael Jordan would get favor from the basketball officials and referees.

Got the calls Michael Jordan allegedly got calls that other players didn’t get. Those special calls became known as the “Jordan Rules”!

LUCIUS GANTT THE GANTT REPORT

Well, today, many people feel that the United States President-elect (or President) Donald Trump has “Trump Rules.”

Donald Trump loves to talk about misinformation, leaked information, unsubstantiated information and so-called “fake news!”

The same Donald Trump talked about, wrote about, and posted fake, wrongful and inappropriate information about President Barack Obama’s birth place, his religion, and his qualification to serve as president for years.

The same Donald Trump could very well be sharing fake news about his financial status, his business relations, and his

presidential and governmental conflicts of interest, because he refuses to share and release his tax returns.

Could be released Anybody can release their own tax returns at any time. But Trump won’t, saying his returns are being audited. An Internal Revenue Service audit doesn’t prevent a citizen from releasing any tax returns that belong to the citizen.

Right before the inauguration the president-elect got mad because Congressman John Lewis (D-GA) suggested Trump was not a legitimate president.

Lewis was not talking about which candidate got the most votes. Lewis was talking about which candidate used criminally acquired information to disparage his opponent and to support false and fake claims about his opponent’s “crookedness.”

After the Lewis comment, Trump attacked the civil rights and voting rights icon and wrongfully referred to Congressman Lewis’ district as “crime-infested.” The reaction from Trump was fake news!

Another Trump lie Most of the suburban Atlanta district that Lewis represents is affluent and his constituents are well-off. but Trump, the king of fake news, describes every Black neighborhood as crime-infested, bad, full of unemployed citizens!

Well, can the congressman and commander-in-chief, kiss and make up? Can they trust each other and work together?

I think not! I wouldn’t even try to work with someone that hates the people I represent and attacks the people that risked their lives to support the causes that I believe in.

OK. How can African-Americans work with the king of fake news?

The good slaves worked in the house and not in the field.

No room

‘Good’ slaves welcomed

There will be no room in the White House, on the Trump Cabinet, in the Trump administration or in the government for Black people that disagree with what Donald Trump says or writes, or likes things that Trump doesn’t like.

Black will not be the favored race or the favored color in Trump’s America. There might be inappropriate or undesired changes in the way AfricanAmericans are treated, but only the poor will feel it!

Blacks that have money will be alright because the king of fake news loves money more than he loves his new political title!

Back in the days of slavery, the “good” slaves that said what master wanted them to say, did what master wanted them to do, and acted the way master wanted them to act, got more than the other slaves.

The good slave slept on wood floors when other slaves slept on the ground. The good slaves got fewer whippings and beatings.

Buy Gantt’s latest book, “Beast Too: Dead Man Writing,” on Amazon.com and from bookstores everywhere. “Like” The Gantt Report page on Facebook. Contact Lucius at www. allworldconsultants.net. Click on this commentary at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

WEED

will hold public hearings to take input on the rule during the second week of February, with meetings in Jacksonville, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, Orlando and Tallahassee.

Department of Health spokeswoman Mara Gambineri said state officials “look forward to receiving input from all interested stakeholders” about the proposed rule.

“That’s why we’re having the five public meetings,” supplemented by the ability to provide comments online, she said.

“We look forward to everybody’s contributions,” Gambineri said.

from A1

– is wrong, Pollara insisted.

Board decision?

Of special concern to the amendment’s authors, the proposed rule would give authority to the Florida Board of Medicine – and not individual doctors – to decide which patients qualify for the marijuana treatment.

The amendment allows doctors to order medical marijuana as a treatment for patients with cancer, epilepsy, glaucoma, HIV, AIDS, post-traumatic stress disorder, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Crohn’s disease, Parkinson’s disease or multiple sclerosis.

‘Beginning point’

Physicians have authority The ballot language gives doctors the power to order marijuana for “other debilitating medical conditions of the same kind or class as or comparable to those enumerated, and for which a physician believes that the medical use of marijuana would likely outweigh the potential health risks for a patient.”

In contrast, the proposed rule would limit the unspecified conditions to those “determined by the Florida Board of Medicine,” something Pollara called the regulation’s “single most problematic” component.

“This is not one of those things that is up for inter-

OBAMA from A1

Trump warned In a farewell interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes,” Obama warned Trump about the downsides of a presidency as improvisational as his campaign.

“He clearly was able to tap into a lot of grievances. And he has a talent for making a connection with his supporters that overrode some of the traditional benchmarks of how you’d run a campaign or conduct yourself as a presidential candidate,” Obama said.

Yet while Trump’s ability to communicate with supporters “through tweets and sound bites and some headline that comes over their phone” is powerful, Obama said, it also poses a danger: “What generates a headline or stirs up a controversy and gets attention isn’t the same as the process required to actually solve the problem.”

Depends on Congress Obama suggested that the odds of Trump’s success depended on Congress, and said that he

FLORIDA COURIER FILES

Proposed state regulations for the emerging medical marijuana industry favor large politically connected cannabis firms who are already in the game. pretation by a court or anyone else,” Pollara said.

Only 7 vendors Among other issues, the proposed rule would maintain the state’s current cap on marijuana vendors, limited now to seven licensed “dispensing organizations,” to treat an estimated 500,000

continued to be surprised by how it limited his options.

“I will confess that I didn’t fully appreciate the ways in which individual senators or members of Congress now are pushed to the extremes by their voter bases,” said Obama, who during both of his presidential campaigns had suggested he would be able to bring the sides together.

“I’m the first to acknowledge that I did not crack the code in terms of reducing this partisan fever,” he said, citing as an example his inability to persuade the Republican Senate to hold hearings on a successor to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

Sentences reduced Obama commuted sentences for 209 people and issued 64 pardons, with more expected to come on Thursday, after the Florida Courier’s Wednesday night press time.

The 35-year prison sentence of Chelsea Manning, the Army private convicted of leaking thousands of classified reports to WikiLeaks, was reduced to the nearly seven years she has served.

The president also pardoned retired Marine Gen. James E. Cartwright,

patients who would be eligible under Amendment 2.

While the proposed language may be amenable to the handful of operators already doing business in the state, the plan is anathema to those hoping to gain entree into Florida under Amendment 2’s expansion of the industry.

who pleaded guilty in October to lying to FBI agents after he disclosed classified information to a reporter about a covert U.S. cyberattack that targeted Iran’s nuclear program.

Since taking office, Obama has commuted prison sentences for 1,385 people, more than any other president and more than the last 12 presidents combined, according to the White House. Most of the commutations and pardons were for inmates held for decades.

Among them was Oscar Lopez of Chicago, a member of a Puerto Rican proindependence group sentenced to 70 years in prison for bombings and bank robberies in the 1970s and 1980s. He has served 35 years in prison.

Obama also pardoned Ian Schrager, a New York hotel operator who founded Studio 54, the late1970s Manhattan disco club known for attracting celebrities and its lavish parties. Convicted of income tax evasion in 1980, Schrager served 20 months in prison and was released in 1981.

Obama also pardoned Willie McCovey, the Hall of Fame first baseman for the San Francisco Giants, who pleaded guilty in 1995 to tax evasion.

He was sentenced to two

‘Protecting monopolies’ “It looks like the Department of Health is protecting the existing monopolies. I hope the Legislature chooses to act in creating a free market system. The Legislature has a chance to change that,” said Ron Watson, a lobby-

years’ probation and a $5,000 fine in 1996.

Climate change cash Obama pledged another $500 million to an international fund for combating climate change.

The latest contribution, announced on Tuesday, brings the total U.S. investment to $1 billion, still far short of the total $3 billion Obama had pledged.

Cubs celebrated The celebration of Major League Baseball’s Chicago Cubs winning last year’s World Series was the last public White House event of Obama’s presidency. The audience in the East Room was filled with politicians like Sen. Dick Durbin, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, along with former Obama adviser David Axelrod and singer Jimmy Buffett, a longtime Cubs fan.

Christi Parsons, W.J. Hennigan and David S. Cloud of the Tribune Washington Bureau; Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune; and Cathleen Decker and Chris Megerian of the Los Angeles Times (TNS) all contributed to this report.

ist who represents AltMed, a Sarasota-based company founded by former pharmaceutical industry executives who have obtained a medical marijuana license in Arizona and are seeking one in Florida.

Public hearings set The health department

LAWSON from A1

current budget year that ends June 30, and Scott is expected to request $76 million from lawmakers for the upcoming fiscal year. Lawmakers will consider the request during the annual session that starts March 7.

The request is already meeting resistance from House Speaker Richard Corcoran, a Land O’ Lakes Republican who has questioned the need for the state tourism marketing agency and has argued against business-recruitment incentives at the public-private Enterprise Florida.

Resistance to funding Visit Florida has grown since details of the expired $1 million contract with a Miami hip-hop artist Armando Christian Perez, better known as Pitbull, were unveiled last month.

Questions have also been raised over ongoing sponsorship deals between Visit Florida and the Londonbased Fulham Football Club for $1.25 million and an IMSA racing team for $2.9 million.

Spending still necessary Scott defended the need

Sen. Rob Bradley, who shepherded the state’s medical-marijuana laws during the 2014 and 2016 legislative sessions, said he intends to release a new measure as early as this week.

“I interpret the actions today from the department as a beginning point, a foundation from which to build the medical cannabis system that we’re going to have in the state of Florida,” Bradley, R-Fleming Island, told The News Service of Florida. “I would caution everyone not to overreact to the actions of the department. You have to start somewhere.”

Amendment 2 may have forced health officials to move forward with a proposed rule before the Legislature weighs in. It gives health officials until July 3 to finalize regulations to implement the constitutional change.

for Visit Florida to be able to continue to market the state, while also being more open with its use of taxpayer money.

“What’s important to me is that they understand the importance of transparency and understand that state tax dollars are at work here,” Scott last week before making an appearance at the Florida Police Chiefs Association MidWinter Conference in Orlando.

“But anybody that doesn’t understand the importance of marketing doesn’t understand we have over 110 million tourists this year because we market the state, and it creates a lot of jobs.”

Lawyer from Gainesville Lawson is a fourth-generation Gainesville native.

After earning a law degree from Florida State, he signed up as a judge advocate for the U.S. Marine Corps.

A former federal prosecutor, he has also been assistant secretary of enforcement for the Department of the Treasury and assistant chief counsel for field operations at the Transportation Security Administration.

JANUARY 20 – JANUARY 26, 2017

FLORIDA

A3

‘Greatest Show on Earth’ ends in May Declining attendance and rising costs cited as reasons for closing the Ringling Bros. circus.

BY RYAN GILLESPIE ORLANDO SENTINEL/TNS

ORLANDO – Just hours after Ringling Bros. told performers it was shutting down the circus in May, parents holding hands with giddy children trickled into the Amway Center on Sunday afternoon, eager to see the spectacle and excitement that’s dazzled crowds since the 1880s.

For Brooke Johnson, 13, who comes to the show every year with her family, the news of its demise was disappointing.

“It’s been a part of my life every year since I was born,” said Brooke, who was at the Amway Center in what would turn out to be her last time seeing the Greatest Show on Earth. “It’s been something I look forward to every year.”

Officials with Feld Entertainment, the circus’ parent company based in Manatee County, cited declining attendance and exorbitant operating costs as factors in the decision.

‘No more beatings’ The show’s 100-plus performers were informed of the company’s decision following shows in Orlando and Miami Saturday night.

Not everyone is unhappy to see the circus go.

On sidewalks flanking the arena on Sunday, protesters with the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida celebrated Ringling Bros. impending closure. They toted signs reading “The Cruelest Show on Earth,” “Circuses: No fun for animals” and “No more chains, no more beatings.”

One protester, Ashley Boatright, was posted on a sidewalk just behind the line of folks streaming into the Amway Cen-

SUSAN JACOBSON/ORLANDO SENTINEL/TNS

The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Center for Elephant Conservation threw a retirement party for 11 of its performing Asian elephants on May 6, 2016, in Polk City. The animals were to be bred to preserve the endangered species. ter and shouted “Enjoy your last show!”

One man flipped his middle finger at her.

Elephants retired Bryan Wilson, a spokesman for the foundation, was driving home from the protest following the Saturday night show when news broke. It was after 2 a.m. before he finally calmed down enough to get to sleep.

“Today is a celebration,” Wilson said Sunday. “This has been over 140 years of the suffering of animals. Every animal imaginable has lost his or her life at the

hands of Ringling Bros. trainers.”

Ticket sales declined steeply following the company’s decision to remove elephants from its shows last May. The move came on the heels of some states passing legislation banning bullhooks, which were used to train the pachyderms, and others outlawing live-animal performances.

Eleven elephants were retired last year to Ringling’s Center for Elephant Conservation 45 miles south of downtown Orlando.

That ended the tradition of the circus rolling into town and elephants walking from the train to the Amway Center.

‘Nothing is forever’ Barbara Keller, who was seated outside the ticket booth on Sunday with Zechariah, 9, was excited to introduce the circus to her grandson.

Keller grew up attending the circus at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Years ago, she attended a show in Orlando at the old Amway Arena and wanted to share the experience with Zechariah. He was most excited for the clowns.

“This is his first circus he’ll see, and it will probably be his last,” Keller said. “Nothing is forever.”

Wayne and Diane Dicken

drove down from Daytona Beach to take their two young granddaughters to the circus.

The couple read from Wayne Dicken’s phone the news about the fate of the circus they’d known for years. In the future, their granddaughters “won’t be able to enjoy what we’re taking them to today,” Diane Dicken remarked.

“Everything but the animals — hopefully someone will carry that on,” Wayne Dicken said. “I’ll miss the entertainment part of it with the people more than the animals.”

Ringling Bros.’ last show will be May 7 in Providence, R.I.

Ingoglia wins a second term as GOP chair

BY BRANDON LARRABEE THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

DUANE C. FERNANDEZ SR./HARDNOTTSPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

Dwight Bullard and Stephen Bittell, right, address the Democratic Black Caucus of Florida and the Black press during a candidates forum at the Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando on Jan. 6.

Dems pick prominent fundraiser as party chief

BY LLOYD DUNKELBERGER THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

ORLANDO – Florida Democrats picked a prominent fundraiser from Miami-Dade County on Jan. 14 to lead their party for the next four years, turning aside four other challengers.

Despite more than a month of political drama leading up to the Democrats’ state executive committee meeting, Stephen Bittel easily won the election, collecting 55 percent of the votes on the first ballot.

Alan Clendenin of Hillsborough County finished a distant second, followed by former state Sen. Dwight Bullard of Miami-Dade County, Lisa King of Jacksonville and Leah Carius of Osceola County.

Supported by Nelson Bittel, a wealthy real estate developer from Coconut Grove, was the favorite of the party establishment, drawing support from U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and other influential party leaders. Bittel, 60, said the vigorous fight to succeed Allison Tant, who has led the party through the last two election cycles, was a positive sign for the party.

“Contentious elections are reflec-

tive that there are Democrats all over Florida that are passionate, committed to coming together, moving forward together and starting to win elections,” Bittel said. “Contentious is good. It means that we care.”

Ambitious plans Talking to reporters after his election, Bittel said he has ambitious plans for a party that has won two out of the last three presidential races but has lost virtually every other statewide race in recent years.

“We are going to grow this party to a size and strength that has never been seen before,” he said.

He promised an “enormous” staff expansion, more training for local Democratic organizations and the recruitment of candidates at every level, including city, school board and sheriff’s races.

“We have had an under-resourced operation in Florida for a long time,” Bittel said. “We will build a different kind of party and we will change things.”

He also said he will emphasize voter registration in a state where Democrats hold a narrow lead over Republicans and numbers of voters with no party affiliation continue to swell.

“We want a year-round voter reg-

istration drive, every day, every month and all year,” Bittel said.

‘Fractured party’ But Bittel’s first task will be mending rifts among party factions and activists who are still dealing with the aftershocks of Hillary Clinton’s loss and bitterness over the party’s role in the defeat of Bernie Sanders in the presidential primary.

“I’ll be honest. We have a fractured party,” said Bullard, who lost a Miami-Dade committeeman race to Bittel last month. After the loss, Bullard moved to Gadsden County to remain a candidate for the party chairman.

Bullard said party leaders need to make meaningful reforms to unite Democrats.

“There has be some concessions made, some recognition of not doing the same thing over and over again,” Bullard said. “It’s going to be up to leadership to prove otherwise and do the necessary outreach to the Bernie folks, to millennials, to ethnic communities to make them part of this thing.”

As a sign of that outreach, Democrats did elect Bullard as one of Florida’s national committeemen, a prominent party post.

TALLAHASSEE – Following the state GOP’s strong performance in the November elections, Republican Party of Florida Chairman Blaise Ingoglia overwhelmingly won a second term Jan. 14 at the party’s annual meeting.

In a vote of the party’s execuBlaise tive comIngoglia mittee, Ingoglia defeated his only competitor by a 2-to-1 margin, taking 152 votes to 76 for Christian Ziegler, the Republican state committeeman for Sarasota County.

Following a heated race, Ingoglia urged Republicans to put any divisions behind them, as elections for governor, the state Cabinet and U.S. Senate loom in 2018.

“We need to come together as a party, starting right now,” he said. “We cannot afford to lose a millisecond fighting amongst ourselves.”

Stormy relations Ingoglia was buoyed by the GOP’s showing in November, when Presidentelect Donald Trump carried the state and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio easily won reelection. At the same time, Democrats made only minimal gains in the state

Legislature and congressional delegation, despite favorable district maps.

But the fall results did not necessarily indicate the incumbent was a shooin – Ingoglia won his first term in 2015 by ousting then-Chairwoman Leslie Dougher despite swing GOP victories the year before.

Ingoglia, who is also a state representative from Spring Hill, had also weathered a stormy beginning to his tenure. Senate Republicans moved to separate their campaign operations from the party following Ingoglia’s election.

The relationship between the party and Gov. Rick Scott, who backed Dougher in 2015, is somewhere between icy and nonexistent.

Backed by Rubio The wedge between Scott and the party was one of the top arguments for Ziegler’s supporters.

“Not only does Christian enjoy an excellent relationship with the No. 1 elected official of these great United States, he enjoys a strong relationship with the No. 1 elected official of the great state of Florida, our governor, Rick Scott,” said Joe Budd, the state committeeman from Palm Beach County.

Ingoglia’s backers continued to point to the results in November, though.

Trump became the first Republican presidential nominee to carry the state since 2004, and a potential wave against the GOP never materialized.

Rubio, who seconded Ingoglia’s nomination, said the chairman was the best choice to lead the party forward facing midterms in 2018 and as the GOP starts to lay the groundwork for Trump’s re-election bid in 2020.

“It’s hard to think about in those terms, because we just got out of an election,” Rubio said. “But (the) reelection’s already started.

And it needs to start with a strong Republican Party of Florida.”

EDITORIAL

A4

JANUARY 20 – JANUARY 26, 2017

Barack Obama’s failed Black legacy Barack Obama’s greatest legacy and accomplishment was being elected as the first Black president of the United States.

For Black Americans, it has been downhill ever since, from “Yes, we can” to “No, he didn’t.”

Yes, there was a certain pride in all Black Americans that a Black man had been elected president of the United States, where hundreds of years earlier Blacks suffered through slavery, racism, and blatant racial discrimination in virtually every segment of society and part of the country – some of which continues to this day.

A hopeful time Black Americans particularly had high hopes that many of their concerns and issues would be addressed – inferior schools, high unemployment, especially among Black youth, violent crime, and gang-terrorized inner cities, to name just a few. Black parents could tell their Black children, especially boys, “See what you can become.”

White Americans felt and hoped that his election signaled a new “post-racial” America. For many Whites, especially many in the media, his election gave them a “thrill up the leg” showing that they and the country were not racist.

He would bring America, Black and White, rich and poor, together. Both were duped.

No ‘Black’ president Four years into his presidency, he answered those who felt he could do more for Black America, saying in a Black Enterprise magazine interview, that, “I am not the President of Black America; I am the President of the Unit-

CLARENCE V. MCKEE, ESQ. GUEST COMMENTARY

As he departs, keep in mind that Obama is loved and revered

by White and Black liberals – and the mainstream media – not because he is Black, but because he is a “Black liberal.” ed States of America.”

However, he has not hesitated to be president of gay rights and same-sex marriage America; extreme environmentalists and climate-change America; open borders America; and protect the “dreamers” – children born to illegal immigrants – America.

As fellow Newsmax Insider Deroy Murdock wrote in March in National Review: “Based on the Obama administration’s own latest-available statistics by the most basic economic-performance metrics – with one key exception – Black Americans are worse off now than when Obama was sworn in on January 20, 2009.”

Murdock quoted, as have I, liberal media commentator Tavis

Barack Obama’s ‘Excellent’ Black legacy Throughout our history, the National Urban League has taken seriously our responsibility to hold the president of the United States accountable to the needs of urban America and communities of color.

During the Great Depression, Executive Secretary Eugene Kinkle Jones served on President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s “Black Cabinet.” Lester Granger, who headed the League during World War II, is among those credited with persuading President Harry Truman to desegregate the Armed Forces.

Advised presidents Whitney M. Young advised presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson and was instrumental in the passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act. Urban League Presidents Vernon Jor-

MARC H. MORIAL TRICE EDNEY NEWS WIRE

dan, John Jacob and Hugh Price continued our engagement with the presidents with whom they served to further the work of civil rights and secure support for Urban League programs.

The first African-American presidency quite naturally has held special significance for the National Urban League. In recognition of Barack Obama’s unique place in American history, we set out to create a comprehensive analysis of his two terms, which we released earlier this week to great national interest.

Any evaluation of the Obama

Glades residents won’t be convenient victims This month, the Everglades Coalition met at a fancy waterfront resort in Fort Myers. There, they all took their parts in an elaborate play orchestrated with a few millionaires and billionaires, as they continued to ignore the threats of the lives of the residents living in the communities south of Lake Okeechobee.

They’ve bought and paid for scientists with their 38-slide power point presentations who will try to legitimize the notion that all of the plumbing problems in the coastal communities and the Florida Everglades can be solved if we just flood places like Clewiston, South Bay, Paho-

JANET TAYLOR GLADES LIVES MATTER

kee and Belle Glade.

Somewhere else “SEND THE WATER SOUTH,” they will say. Send the polluted water from areas north of Lake Okeechobee into the Glades communities south of Lake Okeechobee. Anywhere that puts the problems of dealing with this excess rainfall on someone else.

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: TRUMP AND OBAMA

Smiley who has said that “Sadly – and it pains me to say this – under the last decade, Black folk, in the era of Obama, have lost ground in every major category.”

Not enough Blacks apparently share the view that Obama has not done enough for the Black community. An August Gallup poll found that a majority of Blacks, 52 percent, believed that Obama had not gone far enough to help them – up from 20 percent during the 2008 campaign and 32 percent his first year in office.

They are not alone! He also ignored the growth of ISIS, the genocide in Aleppo, Chinese expansion in the South China Sea, the Cuban people and dissidents by cozying up to the Castros, the people of Israel, and the plight of our veterans.

As he departs, keep in mind that Obama is loved and revered

by White and Black liberals – and the mainstream media – not because he is Black, but because he is a “Black liberal.”

They share no such love or affection for Black conservatives who dare to have different viewpoints on solutions to many of the problems confronting Black America. In fact, they have disdain for them – just ask South Carolina Republican Senator Tim Scott or Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

Unfinished business Obama is a great role model as a loving and caring husband and father. And his “My Brother’s Keeper” mentoring effort is commendable. However, he, the Black president, could have done so much more from his bully pulpit to bring attention to the imadministration must first recognize that he inherited the worst economy since the Great Depression, and was faced with congressional opposition unprecedented in its intensity and sinister nature. Both his accomplishments and his failures must be evaluated against those conditions.

Better off?

In creating our scorecard, the National Urban League harkened back to the famous question Ronald Reagan asked the nation during his sole debate against President Jimmy Carter: “Are you better off than you were four years ago?”

In this instance, the question is, “Is the nation better off than it was eight years ago?” And, “Is Black America better off than it was eight years ago?” The answer to both questions is, unequivocally, yes.

President Obama is leaving office with an approval rating even higher than Reagan’s, exceeded only by Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower and Bill Clinton.

Move it away from their backyards. Let the working families, the minority communities, the farmers, and the hard-working country folks here in the Glades communities deal with it. Seize their land and take their livelihoods if you must – but “SEND THE WATER SOUTH,” they will demand.

If the dike around Lake Okeechobee can’t hold all that water, too bad. If those folks in the Glades are left wading around in waist-deep polluted water like they were in New Orleans, so be it. Just “SEND THE WATER SOUTH.” If it costs farms and mills and jobs and families, oh well. Just “SEND THE WATER SOUTH.”

Mindless scheme Well, we here in the Glades

RIBER HANSSON, SYDSVENSKAN, SWEDEN

portance of family-related problems facing much of America’s Black communities.

He could and should have addressed the problem of the over 70 percent Black illegitimacy rate and the consequences of having children out of wedlock; tell youth to stay in and do well in school; respect parents, teachers and those in authority and urge young Black men to take care of and help raise their children.

But that was not his soapbox.

Remember, he said he was not “president of Black America.” As to a “post-racial” America – forget about it!

He used Attorney General Eric Holder and their race-bating allies to play the race card at every opportunity. Question his motives and you were either a racist or, if Black, an Uncle Tom. When it suited his purposes, he

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

Education improvements

Numerous shortcomings

During Obama’s presidency, the economy has added 15 million new jobs, and the jobless rate has dropped from 7.6 percent to 4.7 percent – and from 12.7 percent to 7.8 percent for African-Americans. The high school graduation rate for African Americans has increased from 66.1 percent to 75 percent.

There are 614,000 fewer longterm unemployed.

Wages are up 3.4 percent. More than 16 million Americans who were uninsured now have health care coverage, with the uninsured rate for African-Americans cut by more than half.

Barack Obama’s passion and steady hand made a huge difference in charting a progressive course and positively impacted the lives of ordinary Americans.

Black Americans felt both the pride of his accomplishments and the pain when it was clear his opponents sought to diminish a great American. I am confident the long arc of history will judge him favorably.

While we scored many of the administration’s achievements with our highest rating, “Superior,” President Obama’s tenure as a whole had shortcomings due to some notable missed opportunities and outright failures, such as the economic development of urban centers, gun violence and the foreclosure rate and bank closure rate in communities of color and low-income neighborhoods. On these and other issues, we rated the Obama administration “Fair” or “Poor.”

Our evaluation springs from a consideration of his accomplishments balanced against the conditions under which he served.

The National Urban League has given the Obama Administration an overall rating of “Excellent,” our second-highest rating.

communities ARE the “South.”

We bear the brunt of this mindless scheme. We are the victims in this sad play.

We are the inconvenient truth.

It’s our jobs that are lost. It’s our communities that are destroyed.

It’s our land that is seized.

“SEND THE WATER SOUTH” is not a solution – it’s a weapon.

A weapon designed to destroy agriculture, punish farmers and displace people south of Lake Okeechobee. It’s a plan hatched by some very wealthy outsiders who view Florida as their playground, and Floridians as their servants.

pleasure of very rich people who don’t even live here. The shameful truth of the matter is that it will not stop or even significantly reduce the discharges to the estuaries, and these folks know that.

So as the Everglades Coalition gathered to discuss the fate of the water and the plants and the wildlife here in the Everglades, remember also her people.

We too are the Glades. This is our home. We are not just going away, because Glades Lives Matter. Our Lives Matter.

Played race card

Remember the people The plan will not make our water cleaner or more abundant. It only serves to turn Floridians against each other for the

Charles W. Cherry II, Esq., Publisher

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

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used race to show Blacks that he “felt their pain.” Comments such as Trayvon Martin could have been his son – or, he knows what it is like to be followed in stores or have women grab their purses when he got on the elevator – showed that he empathized with Blacks and solidified any wavering support due to his failure to do little else for that community.

So, looking back on Obama’s eight years, Black and White voters have one thing in common – they were both bamboozled!

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Marc Morial is president and CEO of the National Urban League. Click on this commentary at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

Janet Taylor is a former Hendry County commissioner who lives in Clewiston. Click on this commentary at www.flcourier.com to write your own response. Follow Glades Lives Matter on Facebook.

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JANUARY 20 – JANUARY 26, 2017

Mocking, marching, dumping Trump are not enough #StopTheHate. #DumpTrump. #BeUngovernable. #StopTrump #NotMyPresident – as if any of them ever was.

Show up and show out in D.C. this week, or in your own home town. If there’s no march or demonstration near you, get on social media (and the phone) and organize one.

But dumping Trump and stopping the hate are far from sufficient. Why?

Focus on system Our brother and friend Cornel West published a piece last week that spelled out the popular fallacy. He was talking about Obama, but he could have meant the next president too. Cornel said that “character is destiny,” as if we were ruled by replaceable characters rather than a replaceable system.

The truth is that if Hillary was being sworn in instead of “Big Cheeto,” we’d still be spending half the nation’s wealth yearly on a murderous global military empire with over a thousand overseas bases. We’d still be bombing seven countries and operating networks of global torture, kidnapping and secret prisons.

If Hillary was president, American would still have the two biggest air forces on the planet: the US Air Force and the US Navy.

If a Democrat were installed in the White House till 2020, the Black unemployment rate would be about the same as it’s been the last half-century – about double the White rate.

If a Democrat were in the White House, hundreds of thousands with full-time jobs would still be homeless, and millions more an arbitrary paycheck from it.

BRUCE A. DIXON BLACK AGENDA REPORT

mostly Black and brown, and gentrification of inner cities and privatization of public education and public resources would continue apace. Big Pharma and Big Insurance, military contractors and corporate media monopolies and parasitic hedge funders would get still fatter off privatized nature, racketeering and theft of the commons.

The hashtags don’t scare the Democrat billionaires who backed Clinton or the Republican ones behind Trump. None of them offer ordinary people a handle to recognize the capitalist system as the problem, rather than the despicable character of Donald Trump.

If somebody other than Trump were being sworn in, the banksters who targeted millions of low-income families with predatory loans and were rewarded with bailouts – while the homeowners got millions of evictions – would still be too big to fail or jail.

Still poorer

Median Black family wealth, because of the housing meltdown, fell from one-tenth to onetwentieth of the median for White families. Thousands of water shutoffs per week would continue in Detroit, Baltimore, and other places. #StopTrump and marches with big puppets don’t encourage us to remember any of that.

Nearly 95 percent of all the jobs created in the Obama era were part-time and/or without benStill incarcerated efits. Employers steal more of If a Democrat were in the White workers’ wages than the total of House we’d still have 2 million- all armed robberies, and annualplus people in prisons and jails, ly force millions of workers to de-

Activists can learn from MLK’s ‘creative disruption’ When Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. envisioned the Poor People’s Campaign in 1968, he envisioned all kinds of people descending on our nation’s capital, bringing demands to federal agencies.

He envisioned people pushing for affordable housing, for quality education, for better health care, for minority business development programs, and more.

He envisioned them demanding these things, and occupying government offices until these things were produced.

Brilliant concept

DR. JULIANNE MALVEAUX NNPA COLUMNIST

was a paradigm shift in our manner of protest. It wasn’t just marching, and it wasn’t just protest. It also involved the creative disruption that would come if thousands of people sat in federal offices and demanded change.

Can this kind of creative disruption be useful in the age of Trump? After all, Mr. Trump has already told us what he thinks of most of the American people.

Unfortunately, Dr. King’s death and the curse of disorganization prevented the Poor People’s Campaign from being exactly what Dr. King imagined. But it still made a difference, and people still refer A ‘middle finger’ His nomination of Senator Jeff to its conception as brilliant.

The Poor People’s Campaign Sessions (R-Ala.) as attorney gen-

How would ‘Obamacare’ repeal affect Blacks Racism has historically had a significant negative impact on the health care of Blacks and other people of color in the United States. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is truly the first time that African-Americans have collectively had significant access to health care. America’s first African-American president is chiefly responsible for this access.

Improved access to care, Medicaid expansion, preventative medicine, and lifting barriers for pre-existing conditions are all aspects of the ACA that have been of great benefit to Blacks.

Major uncertainty But there is a thick air of uncertainty on the horizon when Donald John Trump becomes the 45th president of the United States. It is unclear how quickly, or when, Trump’s vow to repeal and replace the ACA will play out.

GLENN ELLIS TRICE EDNEY NEWS WIRE

But just like the adage, “When White folks catch a cold, Black folks get pneumonia,” a repeal of the ACA would disproportionately hurt Blacks.

Republicans in Congress have put out their plans: to repeal most of the ACA without replacing it – doubling the number of uninsured people from roughly 29 million to 59 million – and leaving the nation with an even higher uninsured rate than before the ACA.

clare themselves “independent contractors” ineligible for unemployment and other benefits, and not counted among the unemployed when their jobs end or they are fired.

That’s one of the reasons the White House can claim a phony 4.5 percent unemployment rate when only 66 percent of the eligible workforce is employed and the real rate may be in the 20-25 percent range.

The hashtags don’t invite us to dive into any of the crimes committed by Democrats, only into the character of Trump. Even #SaveOurHealthCare allows Democrats to pretend that the Affordable Care Act was NOT a blanket full of holes that offered skimpy expensive insurance, NOT health care to only half the uninsured, and fat subsidies to Big Insurance and Big Pharma. It doesn’t lead us to fight for #SinglePayer, which Obamacare was engineered to prevent.

Ridicule is not enough If we aim to build a movement that cannot be co-opted by Democrats, our hashtags must educate our people, not just eviscerate Trump. As good as they make us feel, storms of ridicule failed to drive Ronald Reagan or George W. Bush from office, and our scorn of Reagan didn’t prevent Presidents Bush or Clinton. Our mocking of Dubya didn’t hold Obama accountable, either.

Big protests – especially the permitted kind that take place on weekends, marching through canyons of empty office buildings, sometime with hilarious puppets, some of us being chased by police – are routine, almost traditional pageantry by now.

Mass protests don’t have magical powers. Ten million people hit the streets the weeks before Bush unleashed bombs over Baghdad, and those bombs still fell. Even

EDITORIAL VISUAL VIEWPOINT: DONALD TRUMP, ‘ILLEGITIMATE’ PRESIDENT

NATE BEELER, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

street actions without permits are not going to trigger anything like general strikes and uprisings. We just are not there yet.

Dem ‘stooges’

underprivileged. I choose to give my life for the hungry. I choose to give my life for those who have been left out of the sunlight of opportunity… this is the way I’m going. If it means suffering, I’m going that way. If it means dying for them, I’m going that way, because I heard a voice saying, ‘DO SOMETHING FOR OTHERS.’”

have specifically benefitted from the ACA, also known as “Obamacare.”

Nearly all (94 percent) uninsured Blacks are in the income range to qualify for the Medicaid expansion or premium tax credits. Nearly two-thirds (62 percent) of uninsured Blacks have incomes at or below the Medicaid expansion limit. An additional 31 percent are income-eligible for tax subsidies to help cover the cost of buying health insurance through the exchange marketplaces.

Insurance companies are now banned from denying coverage because of a pre-existing condition, such as cancer and having been pregnant. For people living with HIV, there also new protections in the law that make access to health coverage more equitable, including a prohibition on rate-setting tied to health status, and an end to lifetime and annual caps.

ed Medicaid under the law have made up that revenue in part through the Medicaid expansion.

These places are critical to the health of Black communities, and in the poorest neighborhoods.

They have been among the loudest voices against repeal of the health law, as they could lose billions if the 20 million people lose the insurance they gained under the law. This could bring about widespread layoffs, cuts in outpatient care and services for the mentally ill, and even hospital closings.

Under the ACA, these hospitals have received subsidies (or credits) to provide care based on a patients’ income levels. Should this change, community hospitals may have more difficulty weathering the storm of an increase in the number of uninsured.

Safety net hospitals play a critical role in the nation’s health care system by serving low-income, uninsured and medically and socially vulnerable patients regardless of their ability to pay. In How we benefited agreeing to lower payments, hosHere a few ways that Blacks pitals in the 31 states that expand-

alized rocks at Big Cheeto. When Democrats focus on impeachable offenses, they trot out his conflicts of interest – but not the mass surveillance state, the drone wars and the many other offenses he will share with Democratic occupants of the White House.

So while mocking Donald Trump is big fun, just like it was with Reagan and Dubya Bush, we gotta go deeper. If we aim to change the system and not just the personalities, our hashtags, memes, activism and messaging must do more than just mock the persons and selected stands Trump and his minions.

We have to attack the positions he shares with Democrats. Ridicule is indispensable, but targeting persons doesn’t change systems.

We need to educate while we eviscerate. If we can’t do that, we’re just warming up crowds for Corey Booker or the next Democrat. It’s just #NotEnuff2DumpTrump.

These are the limitations of #StopHateDumpTrump, and a hundred other hashtags, petitions and meme stashes. Donald Trump is already the most unpopular president in US history, and he hasn’t even been sworn in.

Fixating on Trump’s despicable statements and personal history doesn’t help us target the system that produced him and the next ones after him.

Worst of all are Democrat stooges, especially Black ones like John Lewis and Donna Brazile, who claim (without need of any proof ) that the Russians hacked the presidential election to install the Donald. These folks are clearly fronting for another, equally reprehensible faction of the US ruling elite, one that knows it can make a lot more money off a cold or hot war with Russia than they do off the shadBruce Dixon is managing ediowy “war against terror.”

It’s crystal-clear that Demo- tor of BlackAgendaReport.com. crats need us to limit ourselves to Contact him at bruce.dixon@ throwing figurative and person- blackagendareport.com.

eral is a flash of the middle finger to men of color, especially Black men who have been tossed around as cavalierly as the term “law and order.” It is a slap in the face to the immigrants and women who have already seen what Sessions stands for.

And it is not as if other Trump appointments are better. Indeed, not a single Trump appointment passes the centrist “smell test” or suggests a willingness to reach across the aisle.

Trump seems to do little more than create a cabinet of billionaires who are as far removed from the way ordinary people live that the public policy they attempt to create will be little more than selfserving. None of them seems to understand the concept of public service. They don’t think they should have to release their financial information, and they shrug off the notion of conflict of interest.

Contrast them with Dr. King who only got a $54,000 paycheck when he won the Nobel Peace Prize, and he gave every penny of it to the civil rights movement.

Dr. King was extremely clear about those he identified with. He once said: “I choose to identify with the

Hospitals could lose

A5

Trump’s voice

the time for a paradigm shift in the way we respond to institutional stupidity. This is the time for us to consider creative disruption whenever, wherever, and however.

What does that mean?

Let’s channel the energy of the Poor People’s Campaign. Let’s show up in those federal offices.

Let’s carry demands. Let’s ball up our fists. Let’s get it on!

The last two times Dr. King’s birthday was celebrated was days before Barack Obama, our first publicly identified Black president (there were others, but it wasn’t so public), took office.

I loved the way he took his oath holding Dr. King’s Bible. I’m not sure which Bible Mr. Trump is going to hold, but it is probably a Bible that is missing the book of Matthew and the exhortation about “the least of these.”

This is why the president-elect will need creative disruption to remind him that his job is to share the American dream, not the American nightmare.

Our president-elect has also heard a voice. The voice he heard said, “Do something for me, myself, and I.” Mr. Trump seems to believe that his own personal richness makes America great again (hate again, sick again).

His swaggering dismissal of anyone who dares ask a challenging question suggests that he thinks he is ascending a monarchy, not leading a democracy.

And the tone-deaf lemmings that surround him must be whispering sweet nothings, because the behavior modification so many expected has not yet happened.

Still, we who are progressive play ourselves cheap when we respond to his smug tweets and Julianne Malveaux is a Washwhen we moan and whine. The ington, D.C.-based economist time for whining is over. This is and writer.

Some problems Admittedly, there are some real problems with the ACA, including steady increases in premiums (midrange plans increased 22 percent nationally in 2016, with the average premium set to rise 25 percent in 2017). Nearly 70 percent of all ACA plan provider networks are narrower than promised.

There are high deductibles and

co-pays. Perhaps the most universal complaint is the “individual mandate” that requires all Americans to have insurance, or face a financial penalty.

Repeal underway Republicans are dead-set on repealing Obamacare. Congress has passed significant modifications this month, which will be signed by incoming President Trump.

The plans they have proposed so far would leave millions of people without insurance and make it harder for sicker, older Americans to access coverage. No version of a Republican plan would keep the Medicaid expansion as Obamacare envisions it.

Donald Trump’s presidency absolutely puts the ACA’s future in jeopardy. Changes are needed, but the idea of dismantling it remains a troubling prospect for Blacks.

Glenn Ellis is a regular media contributor on health equity and medical ethics. For more information, visit www.glennellis.com.

TOJ A6

NATION

JANUARY 20 – JANUARY 26, 2017 rights. Its website lists 177 partners including Planned Parenthood, the Human Rights Campaign, the NAACP and Voto Latino.

Racial justice

ELLEN M. BANNER/SEATTLE TIMES/TNS

Jennifer Miller, left, a yarn wrangler, and Jessica Owens, manager of Weaving Works in Seattle, Wash. work on knitting pink “pussyhats’’ for women to wear at the Women’s March on Washington. Knitters around the U.S. are making the items as a visual statement to show that women stand united when it comes to protecting their rights.

Women’s march isn’t just about Trump Organizers are calling it a movement to bring awareness to a variety of concerns.

BY VERA BERGENGRUEN TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

WASHINGTON – The day after Donald Trump is inaugurated as president, an estimated 200,000 people from across the country will flood Washington for a demonstration billed as the Women’s March on Washington.

Some will stand up for what are traditionally labeled women’s issues, such as equal pay and paid family leave. Many say they will be marching just to feel heard,

and to express their fear that a range of liberal causes could be endangered under the Trump administration.

But many organizers say the march is not just an anti-Trump protest. It’s as much a rallying cry for all those people and issues on the other side as it against him, they say.

“We don’t consider this a protest. It’s a positive movement,” said Elizabeth O’Gorek, who cochairs the local logistics committee in Washington. “All of these causes — environmental concerns, immigration, Black Lives Matter — those are all women’s issues.”

About the policies Margie Storch said she was

alarmed at the rhetoric Trump used on the campaign trail and some of the policies he proposed.

But the longtime civil rights activist said she wasn’t making the seven-hour bus ride from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Washington to protest him.

“Donald Trump is our president,” she said. “I feel like we need to continue to communicate with him and our representatives in Congress and just let them know what we want. I want to show up and speak out for women’s rights, human rights, civil rights, health care rights — all the things that I believe in.”

‘Moving forward’ To organizers, it’s a lot about believing.

“I haven’t felt hope since the election, and I’m feeling like I have my voice back now,” said Emma Collum, a lawyer from Fort Lauderdale who said she woke up Nov. 9 “feeling a sense of loss.”

“I needed to take some kind

of movement forward instead of wallowing in depression,” she said.

When she came across a small group of women who planned to march in Washington as she scrolled through Facebook, she contacted them offering her legal services.

Florida strong Two months later, she is the lead organizer for 20,000 people from Florida who are going to Washington “on planes, trains and automobiles.” She knows of at least 50 chartered buses that are making the 12- to 16-hour trip from her state.

“It’s not a pleasure cruise, but these women are so activated and so excited,” Collum said. “Even my stepfather is coming with us, because he says he regrets that he didn’t march against Vietnam.”

The event’s policy platform covers a broad range of issues, including racial profiling, the environment, abortion and LGBT

It’s called the women’s march because it is being led by women, not because it’s limited to certain issues. said Hayne BeattieGray, of Charleston, S.C. After the election, she said, her 12-yearold daughter asked her tearfully, “Does Donald Trump believe in climate change yet?”

As soon as Beattie-Gray heard about the demonstration she booked tickets for them both, and became the lead organizer for her state. More than 3,000 South Carolinians are headed to Washington, many on 23 chartered buses from different cities.

While her daughter will march for climate issues, Beattie-Gray said she had focused on racial justice.

It was a shock to realize that “Caucasian women had voted Trump into office,” she said.

When she started organizing the South Carolina group, she decided they had to break out of the “conversation bubbles.”

“I went out and reached out to women of color who were badasses,” she said, talking about bringing together women who were leaders in their communities. “I intentionally built the South Carolina team diverse, because I did not want to give up one mission for another. All these issues are women’s issues.”

Wake-up call Trump’s election was a wakeup call for many women like herself, Beattie-Gray said.

“We thought, ‘OK, we have our first Black president,’ and maybe we were lulled into a bit of a complacency,” she said. “Maybe we were feeling that we had evolved beyond a post-racial world, a world of gender equality.”

Organizers hope the momentum will keep going after Jan. 21.

Democratic groups hope to harness that energy. EMILY’s List, the largest women’s organization in Democratic politics, plans the day after the march to train 500 women interested in running for office.

“I’m excited for the energy of the 21st, but I’m really excited about what’s happening in South Carolina when this wraps up,” Beattie-Gray said. “This election has woken up a lot of women.

It’s like a re-emergence of feminism, getting people engaged in their communities, getting women running for office.”

After feud with Lewis, Trump meets with MLK III tion, we’ve got to move forward.”

BY CATHLEEN DECKER LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump met with Martin Luther King III on Monday, a holiday commemorating the life of King’s father, which this year was marked by Trump’s quarrel with Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., a hero of the civil rights struggle.

King, the oldest surviving child of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., described the meeting at Trump Tower as constructive and said it had centered on efforts to improve the voting system.

Asked by reporters about Trump’s characterization of Lewis as “all talk … no action,” King said he “absolutely” disagreed.

“I would say John Lewis has demonstrated that he is action,” said King.

But, he added, “Things get said on both sides in the heat of emotion. And at some point in this na-

Sparked by video The conflict between the president-elect and Lewis began on Jan. 6 when NBC’s “Meet the Press” released video of Lewis saying he did not consider Trump a legitimate president.

On Saturday, Trump responded via Twitter, criticizing Lewis and referring to his Atlanta-area congressional district as downtrodden and crime-ridden. Actually, it includes many of the city’s high-end areas.

King said Trump told him that he intended to represent all Americans.

“I believe that’s his intent,” King said. “I believe we have to consistently engage with pressure, public pressure.”

In his reference to voting, King appeared to be referring to difficulties faced by African-American voters, many of them due to restrictive laws put into effect by

ANTHONY BEHAR/SIPA USA/TNS

Donald Trump shakes hands with Martin Luther King III as they exit the elevators in the lobby of the Trump Tower in New York on Monday.

Republican legislators.

Trump, during his campaign, suggested that voters in overwhelmingly African-American

cities like Philadelphia could be planning to steal the election via voter fraud.

After the meeting, Trump ac-

companied King down the elevator and shook his hand before returning upstairs. He did not speak to reporters.

Country club member resigns over debate about denying Obama membership EURWEB

An exclusive country club in Maryland is debating whether to allow President Obama membership in his retirement should he ever apply. The controversy has caused one lifelong member to sever ties with the club with a Jeffrey farewell e-mail in Slavin which he signs off, “Stay woke.”

No one knows if Obama even wants to join Woodmont Country Club, which costs $80,000 to apply and $9,600 in yearly fees. But

Politico reported that the spot could be a possible golf destination for the president during his two years in town after leaving the White House.

He has played there four times during his presidency, and apparently the members are trying to get ahead of his possible application with their debate on his admittance.

Israel position cited It’s Obama’s position on Israel/Palestine that has some of the members vexed.

Woodmont was founded in 1913 when Jews were often not accepted in other clubs. To this day, the club remains predominantly Jewish.

According to The Washington Post, some members have a problem with Obama’s recent decision not to veto a U.N. Security Council resolution criticizing Israeli settlements.

The Post obtained an email from lifelong member Faith Goldstein, who reportedly wrote of Obama: “He is not welcome at Woodmont. His admittance would create a storm that could destroy our club.”

Another member, attorney Marc B. Abrams, called Obama’s possible membership “inconceivable” because of his position on Israel.

‘Stay Woke’ signoff Some club members, how-

ever, join Somerset mayor and Democratic activist Jeffrey Slavin in wanting to welcome Obama, should he apply. He says a sermon he heard from civil rights leader Rev. William J. Barber II encouraged him to end his lifelong membership.

Slavin sent an email to the club stating: “I can no longer belong to a community: Where Intolerance is accepted, Where History is forgotten, Where Freedom of Speech is denied, And where the nation’s first black president is disrespected.”

Slavin signed his email “Thanks for many great memories,” followed by a quote from

the black national anthem “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” and then the words “Stay Woke.”

“I decided that unless someone did something bold, the club would do nothing. There would be no reason they wouldn’t want someone like that, a prominent figure they could rub elbows with,” he told the Post. Slavin says other Woodmont members also want Obama to feel welcome, but are trying to change the club from within.

Slavin, whose father was also a member of Woodmont, said he would lead a mass membership resignation if Obama were not invited to join.

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2008

Senator Barack Obama (DIL) greets the crowd, along with his wife, Michelle and children Malia, 10, and Sasha 7, at his Election Night Rally in Grant Park, Chicago, on Nov. 4, 2008.

OLIVIER DOULERY/ABACA PRESS/TNS

2009

President Barack Obama, Michelle and the girls approach the podium for the swearing-in ceremony of the 44th U.S. president at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009.

CHUCK KENNEDY/TNS

2010

2008

THROUGH 2009 THE YEARS

Michelle Obama speaks from the Truman Balcony as President Barack Obama, daughters Malia and Sasha look on during the annual White House Easter Egg Roll at the White House in Washington on April 5, 2010.

OLIVIER DOULERY/ABACA PRESS/TNS

2011

The Obamas arrive on the South Lawn of the White House on Jan. 4, 2011. They were returning from Hawaii where they had spent their Christmas vacation.

A pictorial glance at the Obama family – from the first Black president’s Election Night rally 2008 to his farewell speech this month in Chicago.

OLIVIER DOULERY/ABACA PRESS/TNS

2012

2010

2011

Michelle, Malia and Sasha join President Obama onstage at the end of the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Sept. 6, 2012.

HARRY E. WALKER/TNS

2013

U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts administers the oath of office to President Obama as his family looks on during ceremonies in front of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 21, 2013.

BRIAN CASSELLA/CHICAGO TRIBUNE/TNS

2014

2012 2015

2014

2017

2013

The first lady, her daughters Sasha and her mother, Marian Robinson, disembark from their plane upon arriving in Beijing for a seven-day visit to China, at the invitation of Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

WANG YE/XINHUA/ZUMA PRESS/TNS

2015

The Obamas at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2015, to meet Pope Francis. The pope was making his first trip to the United States on a threecity, five-day tour.

OLIVIER DOULERY/ABACA PRESS/TNS

2016

The Obamas’ 2016 Christmas card is from a photo taken in the spring during a Canada State Dinner at the White House.

PETE SOUZA/WHITE HOUSE

2017

2016

President Obama is joined

by Michelle and Malia after his farewell address at McCormick Place in Chicago on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2017.

Sasha was missing because of a school test the next day.

ZBIGNIEW BZDAK/CHICAGO TRIBUNE/TNS

CALENDAR & OBITUARY

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JANUARY 20 – JANUARY 26, 2017

Bishop Eddie Long succumbs to cancer at 63

JONATHAN BUTLER

The Zora Neale Hurston Festival is Jan. 20-29 in Central Florida. Highlights are a Communities Conference at Rollins College and outdoor concerts featuring The Whispers and Jonathan Butler.

Schedule: zorafestival.org.

BY SHELIA M. POOLE ATLANTA JOURNALCONSTITUTION/TNS

DAVE CHAPPELLE

The comedian and actor has a show scheduled on Feb. 11 at the Van Wezel in Sarasota.

DAZZ BAND

The Tampa Black Heritage Festival & Music Fest is scheduled through Jan. 22. Performers include Anthony David and the Dazz Band on Jan. 21 and David Sanborn on Jan. 22. Tampablackheritage.org.

FLORIDA COMMUNITY CALENDAR

Center in Miami and Feb. 12 at the CFE Arena, Orlando: Performers: Avant, Bobby Brown, El Debarge and Keith Sweat.

Miami: The African Heritage Cultural Arts Center, 6161 NW 22nd Ave., is presenting “Venus,’’ a play about Saartjie Baartman through Feb. 5.

Pembroke Pines: Kool and the Gang will perform March 10 at the Pembroke Pines City Center.

St. Petersburg: Smokey Robinson performs Feb. 9 at The Mahaffey Theater in St. Petersburg.

St. Augustine: Tickets are on sale for a March 9 concert featuring Earth, Wind & Fire at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre.

Miami: Tickets are on sale for a Valentine’s Music Festival on Feb. 10 at the James. L. Knight

Clearwater: Catch Gladys Knight on Jan. 20 at Ruth Eckerd Hall and Jan. 27 at

Miami Gardens: Jazz in the Gardens takes place March 18 and 19 at Hard Rock Stadium.

Performers will include Jill Scott, Robin Thicke, LL Cool J and Common. Full lineup: jazzinthegardens.com.

Miami Gardens: Obamacare Awareness workshops and enrollment will be held every Wednesday from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Betty T. Ferguson Center, 3000 NW 199th St. Licensed agents will be on site.

Tampa: Tickets are on sale for Charlie Wilson’s “In It to Win it Tour’ with Fantasia and Solero on March 23.

Aggressive cancer The Lithonia church issued a statement Sunday that Long, who became the pastor of the church in 1987, “is now spiritually healed and home with the Lord.”

“Bishop Long, senior pastor of New Birth, transitioned from this life early Sunday morning after a gallant private fight with an aggressive form of cancer,” the statement said.

There had been much speculation about Long’s health after he posted a video last year of him looking extremely thin. He never publicly disclosed the nature of his illness.

Bishop Dale Bronner, senior pastor of Word of Faith Family Worship Cathe-

dral, said he knew Long was very ill but continued to hope for a better outcome.

“I knew he was dealing with pancreatic cancer, which is an aggressive form of cancer,” he said. “We were praying for a miracle.”

29 years as pastor He was a business major who graduated from North Carolina Central University in 1976 and maintained his close ties to that state. He was sometimes called “Daddy” by the congregation, had several spiritual sons who now pastor other churches and inspired fierce loyalty.

His voice, a rumbling, sometimes warbly and baritone, was unmistakable, and he often punctuated his sermons with “watch this … watch this” — a habit sometimes picked up by other pastors.

Long recently celebrated his 29th pastor’s anniversary with a grand fete at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta, followed closely by a three-day summit at the church that brought pastors from both New Zealand and the Bahamas, and was topped off with a performance by gospel giant Israel Houghton.

Weight-loss claim Questions about Long’s health were raised in August after he posted a startling video that showed a dramatic weight loss. In it, he said he was eating raw vegan, which had contributed to the weight loss.

It was still enough to raise concern.

Just months before a much bigger, healthier-looking Long appeared on the “Steve Harvey” show to promote his book, “The Untold Story: A Story of Adversity, Pain and Resilience.” Long finally conceded that he was suffering an unspecified “health challenge.”

As his illness progressed, Long was sometimes absent from the pulpit as rumors circulated about his condition.

Most recently, during Christmas and New Year’s Eve, Long, looking even more gaunt and fragile, returned to the pulpit.

Lawsuits settled At its height, New Birth had more than 25,000 members, but it declined after the lawsuits filed by Jamal Parris, Maurice Robinson, Anthony Flagg and Spencer LeGrande. All four alleged that Long gave them gifts and took them on trips and when they reached the age of consent, developed sexual relationships.

Settlements were reached in the lawsuits that included a fifth person.

Long repeatedly denied all allegations.

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Tampa: Katt Williams takes the stage at the USF Sun Dome on Feb. 4 for an 8 p.m. show.

Jacksonville: See the Xtreme Motorcycles and other acts in the UniverSoul Circus Jan. 26 through Feb. 2 at the Prime Osborn Convention Center Arena.

the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale.

Bishop Eddie L. Long, a former corporate salesman who went on to build Georgia’s New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, one of the most prominent ministries in the nation, if not the world, died Jan. 15 after a battle with cancer.

He was 63.

(Long’s funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Jan. 25 at the church.)

He was a presence in DeKalb County, where he lived and often hobBishop Eddie nobbed with celebrities, Long leaders in business and government, and other prominent religious leaders. He visited with President Bill Clinton at the White House and authored numerous books.

Long was loved by many, yet also reviled. He was involved in one of the biggest church scandals in the nation in 2010, when four young men accused him of sexual coercion in separate lawsuits.

Before that infamous scandal, he had also faced criticism by the LGBTQ community for his views against homosexuality. In 2004, he led a march in Atlanta against same-sex marriage and other issues.

STOJ

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STOJ

JANUARY 20 – JANUARY 26, 2017

THE OBAMA LEGACY

B3

Christina Cue, former director of scheduling at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, is from Aiken, S.C. She knew she wanted to work for Barack Obama from the moment she saw him electrify a crowd at a 2007 campaign rally.

Nate Jenkins, of Orlando, was chief of staff and senior adviser for the Office of Management and Budget. He is a former Atlanta schoolteacher who got into politics through a leadership training program.

Shelley Marc, staff assistant and policy adviser for the Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs is from Kissimmee. She said her job at the White House fulfilled the dreams of her Haitian immigrant parents.

Stephanie Young, from Atlanta, senior public engagement adviser for the Office of Public Engagement, said first lady Michelle Obama empowered generations of African-American women by shattering stereotypes.

PHOTOS BY CHERYL DIAZ MEYER/TNS

BLACKS IN OBAMA ADMINISTRATION SHARE MEMORIES a group that now represents hunBeyond service dreds of African-Americans who to country, they have served at the highest levels federal government: the Black embraced a personal of Presidential Appointees Associamission – ensuring the tion. success of the nation’s Celebrations, sacrifices first African-American Days away from the swearpresident. ing-in of President-elect Donald

kept a stack of resumes with him wherever he went. That paid off when he was stranded on the side of the road.

“I had no idea what I was going to do. I was stressed out and frustrated,” Wallace said. “And the person who pulled over to help turned out to be the personal aide to the first lady, Michelle Obama.”

BY HANNAH ALLAN TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

Insider’s view

WASHINGTON – Christina Cue’s supporting role in history began at a South Carolina rally where she was electrified by an upstart candidate named Barack Obama.

Jason R.L. Wallace’s opportunity came from a chance encounter after his car broke down. Christopher Epps thought he was applying for an ordinary government job, only to learn in an interview that he’d be a White House appointee.

Their paths were varied, but they all ended up in the Obama administration, among more than 400 African-Americans selected as presidential appointees over the past eight years: campaign volunteers, loyalists from Chicago, private-sector standouts, prominent scholars, publicschool teachers and military veterans.

Personal mission They brought expertise and ideas, but also a deep sense of the historical weight of the moment.

Beyond service to country, they embraced a personal mission: ensuring the success of the nation’s first Black president.

“Probably after being on the job a couple of months, it started to sink in: ‘Wow, I’m working in the administration of the first AfricanAmerican president,’” said Epps, who worked in the Commerce Department. “And then you talk to former colleagues — and your family, who’s so proud — and you really start to get the breadth and depth of the position.”

The pressure was so intense and the executive branch so isolating that Black staff members sought each other, first for hugs and pep talks, and then a brunch, and then the inaugural meeting of

Trump and what they jokingly refer to as their “expiration date,” nearly 20 African-American appointees told of their memories of the thrills and challenges of being Black in the Obama White House.

They listed policy breakthroughs and favorite moments, but also their sacrifices: eight years of missed birthdays and canceled dinner dates, accepted by their families because, like the rest of Black America, they knew that this president’s performance would reflect on them all.

They spoke not only of Obama’s legacy, but also of their own, wondering what would become of the vibrant Black political class that sprang from this administration.

“It’s incredibly exciting to think about in the next 5, 10, 15, 20 years, where will we all end up,” said Nate Jenkins, a former Atlanta schoolteacher who has worked in the White House since 2008.

“There’s a lot of talent that’s been developed in this administration that was untapped before.

And because we’ve had Barack Obama running the country, a lot more people have raised their hands to say, ‘I want to be a part of that.’ And they’ve been given opportunities they wouldn’t have been given in administrations before.”

Stranded but prepared Jason R.L. Wallace’s introduction to the Obama team was serendipitous, when his car broke down in Washington on Thanksgiving Day 2008.

At the time, Obama was president-elect and Wallace was an ambitious young Howard University student who had interned at the White House under President George W. Bush. He’d discovered a knack for “advance” work, handling the logistics of presidential travel.

Always on the lookout for networking opportunities, Wallace

Wallace and the Obama aide chatted. He told her about his work for Bush and handed her a resume before they parted ways.

Not long after that, Wallace received a phone call: Michelle Obama was doing an event on the Howard campus — could he help?

He could indeed.

“I ended up traveling with the first lady for four years,” Wallace recalled with a laugh.

Wallace’s job gave him an insider’s view of what the Obamas were like away from the cameras. He was used to staying in the background, a behind-the-scenes guy whose job was to make travel seamless. But Michelle Obama noticed him, like the time she surprised him with a hug after a long day’s work in Los Angeles.

“The first lady is one of the only people I’ve worked for who’s been the same on camera as they are off camera,” Wallace said. “The genuineness, the love and the compassion, the love for people that she has is the same behind the curtain.”

A dispiriting moment

that grant White House representatives access to restricted areas. They assured him he’d get in without one and gave him a Secret Service official’s business card to show guards once he got to the funeral site.

Detained by police Wallace arrived and was denied entry. White colleagues, who also didn’t have pins, were allowed in, he said. Local authorities detained him and stuck him in a police car on a blazing July day.

“The first lady lands at the airport and I’m in the back seat of a police car and I’m getting all these calls saying, ‘Jason, where are you?’” Wallace said.

White House officials eventually got him released, the officer who’d detained him was disciplined and the Secret Service apologized. Still, five years later, the sting remains.

“Even while you’re working for the White House, you’re still Black,” Wallace said. “You’re still Black and this stuff still happens.”

That awareness hit home for many when, in the second half of Obama’s second term, a string of police shootings of unarmed Black people catalyzed a new civil rights movement. Several Black appointees spoke of the anguish of that time, and also a shared frustration because they couldn’t express themselves freely in their sensitive government posts.

Plenty of tears As it turned out, they could do a lot. In a series of interviews, Black appointees described their quiet work that culminated in some of the administration’s seminal moments of African-American uplift.

Sent to funerals on behalf of the White House, they fought back tears as they comforted the families of Black men killed by police officers.

They set up Obama’s meeting of 1960s-era civil rights leaders and today’s Black Lives Matter activists; those who were in the room described getting chills when they heard civil rights legend C.T. Vivian tell the president, “I would take a bullet for you.”

The appointees beamed as they watched the official events they’d planned come to life, with African dancers in the East Wing and rappers snapping selfies at receptions. They welcomed as many African-Americans as they could to the White House, moved by the men and women who came to see for themselves that a Black family lived in a mansion built in part by slave labor.

But there were also dispiriting moments that punctured the myth that Obama’s election had moved the country beyond centuries of entrenched racism.

When former first lady Betty Ford died in 2011, Wallace happened to be in California, his home state. As the only advance staffer on the ground, it fell to him not only to arrange Michelle Obama’s logistics, but also to help former first families who were traveling to Palm Springs for the service: the Nixons, the Reagans, Not enough the Clintons.

The funeral was put together There were disappointments, so quickly that the Secret Service too. Many African-Americans are agents in Palm Springs hadn’t re- proud of the symbolism of the ceived any “S-pins,” the staff pins first Black president but don’t

think Obama did enough to improve the lives of ordinary Black families, through changes on schools, affordable housing and law enforcement, for example.

This is a sensitive spot for the appointees — they know the difficult, unseen work that went into addressing those issues, and they know the obstruction they met from a Republican-led Congress.

Some appointees explain the hurdles. Others flip the question on the critics: What have you done?

“To tackle the issues we’re dealing with requires all of us to do our part. I think a lot of us have done what we could where we were, but there still needed to be so much more,” said Stephanie Gidigbi, who had worked in politics for years but started with the Obama administration only in the second term. “The reality is at the local level: Are you serving on a board? Do you know who your police chief is? Have you spoken up?”

Moving on Many Black staffers had assumed Hillary Clinton would win the election, leaving open the possibility that they’d continue to serve the executive branch.

Donald Trump’s victory has introduced uncertainty: Would he appoint more than a few token African-Americans? Would Black professionals even agree to serve Trump after his disparaging comments on racial minorities, immigrants and Muslims?

For some, the answer is an emphatic “no.” They’re moving on to the private sector, starting nonprofits and applying for jobs on Capitol Hill. For others, it’s a dutiful “yes,” with the reasoning that people of color must be present in the Trump administration to represent the interests of minorities.

Feeling triumphant Gidigbi had just wrapped up her last day of work with the Obama administration. She worked in Transportation Department, a job she loved because of her interest in how transit issues intersect with race and housing concerns.

She is heading to the nonprofit world to work on race, health and climate issues in American cities, a natural extension of her government work. This may be a bittersweet moment for many, but she’s entering post-Obama life feeling triumphant.

“You knew the long nights, you knew the events that got missed, you knew the meetings that took all night, and you stayed because you cared, because you were committed,” Gidigbi said. “You stayed because you wanted to make sure we truly did our best. That’s why I can leave today filled with joy, because I know that we did.”

THE OBAMA LEGACY

B4

JANUARY 20 – JANUARY 26, 2017

STOJ

Andrew Jackson, left, Brenda Jackson, center, attended President Barack Obama’s first inauguration.

CAROLYN COLE/LOS ANGELES TIMES/ TNS

BLACKS REFLECT ON OBAMA’S EIGHT YEARS He reformed unfair sentencing procedures, brought health insurance to millions and held violent police departments accountable. But some African-Americans question if that was enough.

BY JAWEED KALEEM KURTIS LEE AND JENNY JARVIE LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

JEANERETTE, La. – Eight years ago, Andrew Jackson II saw himself on the cusp of possibility in a world of firsts.

He boarded a bus that January with dozens of family members and friends, headed to the National Mall to watch the nation’s first Black president — the first person he had ever voted for — make history.

As he watched the jumbo screens show Barack Obama sworn in on that sub-freezing day, his body was swept with warmth.

“I can take a chance to breathe,” he remembers thinking. “Obama will put us on the right course.”

He was 27 and living on his own after graduating from Louisiana State University. By day, he worked at a flooring warehouse, but his spare time was spent auditioning for musicals in Houston’s burgeoning arts scene. He saw a future breaking his own barriers as a singer in Atlanta or an actor in Hollywood.

Dreams dashed Today, Jackson is back living in a four-room trailer next to his parents’ house in rural Louisiana, where he works three jobs and makes $22,000 a year. He has a 17-month-old son with an ex, and owes more than $20,000 in school loans. He’s stopped acting, though he still spends weekends singing at sports bars and lounges in Baton Rouge.

“We thought our dreams would be more visible under Obama,” he said recently from his home, which sits off a gravel road across from a barren sugar cane field.

“They’re not.”

As Obama leaves office, his approval ratings remain among the highest of exiting presidents.

They’re even better among African-Americans.

But polls have shown Black people to be more satisfied with Obama the man and less with their progress under Obama the president.

“Things have improved from the dark days of the recession,”

Fabian Williams, an Atlanta artist, discussed Obama’s legacy: “Right now I believe we’re in this position that we are because people haven’t been thinking critically and analyzing history and acknowledging it’s repeating itself.

We’ve been here before.’’ CAROLYN COLE/LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

away, and the middle school closed a few years ago — Jackson’s parents attend church in the abandoned school building now.

Jackson spends his days at a desk job at a nonprofit where he helps secure community grants.

At night, he manages a bingo hall.

“There’s still hope,” he says. But he’s lowered his ambitions.

was hopeful, you know? I thought we’d transcended race.”

He was 33, and now sees his younger self as naive. Now, he said, he has “both feet in reality.”

He understands better the challenges Obama faced that kept him from getting more done.

A role model

He remembers the time a White congressman shouted, “You lie!” during a presidential address. The time a Fox News anchor saw fit to ask whether a jubilant fist bump exchanged by the first couple was a “terrorist fist jab.” He wonders why people are still asking where Obama was born.

“I’m disappointed in humans,” Williams said, sitting in his cluttered basement studio. “You know how difficult it is given who he is. … You can’t deduct race from anything here. We’re not post-racial.”

As for what the president was able to accomplish, Williams credits him with halting the financial crisis and projecting American credibility to the rest of the world. But when it came to addressing police shootings of Blacks at home, he said, America’s first Black president seemed aloof.

“He was too eloquent, too cool, too passive,” Williams said. “I just can’t give him a good grade in terms of civil rights for Black people. We didn’t get anything, really.”

Nearly 1,800 miles away in Compton, Calif., Sharoni Little has considered Obama a father figure to the two boys she’s raised on her own in a city plagued by gang violence and failing schools.

“It’s going to be tough. Really, really tough,” Little, 51, said as she sat in the living room of her family’s modest single-level house in a neighborhood of neatly tended lawns not far from the roar of the 91 Freeway.

Obama mementos are scattered everywhere. A knit blanket depicting the first couple is draped across the sofa, and a sticker fixed on a door quotes Michelle Obama’s famous line, “When they go low, we go high.” A book on U.S. presidents sits on an end table, featuring George Washington and Obama on the cover.

Little, a business professor at the University of Southern California, campaigned for Obama in 2008, going door to door with her two sons. Jared and Jaren were 10 at the time, the same age as Obama’s older daughter.

“The boys saw, every day, a man who looked like them, a man who understood them, who understood what it’s like to be a Black man in this country,” she said. “He has made it clear that they have every right to sit at any table.”

Positive programs

Jared Savage, from left, Sharoni Little and Jaren Savage, say a prayer before breakfast on Jan. 9 in Compton, Calif.

MARCUS YAM/LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

said Marc Morial, chief executive of the National Urban League, which this month released a largely positive scorecard on the president’s record on jobs, education, civil rights and health for Black America. “But the recovery for African-Americans has not been as fast or as deep as it’s been for Whites.”

Was it enough?

Black employment grew in 2015, hitting its highest numbers since before the recession. Poverty is decreasing; life expectancy is going up.

Gaps between Blacks and other racial groups in education are gradually closing. But unemployment among African-Americans is still nearly twice that of Whites, and Blacks continue to make up a disproportionate number of prisoners. More than a quarter of the country’s 37 million AfricanAmericans still live in poverty.

In interviews across the country at the twilight of Obama’s presidency, many African-Americans credited the “hope and change” president with reforming unfair

sentencing procedures, bringing health insurance to millions and holding violent police departments accountable. But when there was so much to do, many wondered, was that enough?

“I’m tired of hearing about the dream,” said Fabian Williams, a 41-year-old artist from Atlanta. “I’m over poetic sentiment. It sounds good, but the country has been stuck in the same position for 40 years.”

Black town struggles In Jeanerette, a primarily African-American town of 5,533 two hours west of New Orleans, the Obama years haven’t changed much.

The Fruit of the Loom distribution center shut down in 2010, taking nearly 200 jobs with it. The vast sugar cane fields thrive, but they’re largely owned by outside companies and tilled by migrant workers, often Mexicans. A desolate downtown strip with shuttered storefronts recently celebrated the opening of a Subway sandwich shop.

Young people have flocked

Little lauded Obama’s legacy on education, health care and criminal justice reform, and she bristles when she hears AfricanAmericans say Obama did not do enough to improve Black lives.

She credits an effort the president spearheaded to empower young Black and Latino men, My Brother’s Keeper, with helping her raise her sons.

The mentoring program has paired the boys over the last three years with Black male role models, including local politicians and professionals.

One helped Jared earn his private pilot’s license, and he has been accepted at the Florida Institute of Technology, where he’ll study aerospace engineering. Jaren has picked up photography, snapping pictures of high-end sports cars at trade shows.

‘Cinderella’ for Blacks When she starts to feel it’s too hard to raise two sons on her own, Little remembers that Obama’s mother also did it alone. “The president has not only shown it’s OK to come from single-parent homes, but that … it’s not a barrier,” she said.

In Atlanta, Williams, the artist, remembers driving more than 600 miles to Washington for Obama’s inauguration in 2009.

“It was sort of ‘Cinderella’ for Black people,” he said. All around him, strangers hugged and passed plates of pizza and chicken wings.

“Just like at church, but in politics.

I’d never seen anything like it. It

Obama ‘too passive’

Focusing on good For an older generation of African-Americans, back in Louisiana, it has been easier to count accomplishments than regret missed opportunities — there have always been plenty of those.

“I never imagined I’d see a Black president in my lifetime,” said Brenda Jackson, Andrew’s 65-year-old mother, who in 2008 had organized the family’s trip to the inauguration even while Hillary Clinton and Obama were still competing in the Democratic primaries.

“I grew up with my family working on a sugar cane plantation before the Civil Rights Act. So to see him up there, oh my, it was something,” she said.

‘A man of grace’ She followed his every move on TV when he was first elected, praying he wouldn’t be assassinated. As she watched a CNN special last month on Obama’s legacy, she broke down in tears when she thought about “all the hate” that had been directed his way.

Jackson has had her doubts. A Christian who is more conservative than her son when it comes to religion, she didn’t like it when he supported same-sex marriage.

Her son says many of his friends have been unable to leave “sugar country” or find good jobs over the last eight years. Some are in jail, he said. “Some of them are dead.”

Still, Brenda Jackson credits the president for doing what he could do.

“He was able to accomplish all that he could accomplish,” she said. “He was a man of grace.”

Kaleem reported from Jeanerette, La., Lee from Compton and Los Angeles Times special correspondent Jarvie from Atlanta.

STOJ

JANUARY 20 – JANUARY 26, 2017

Meet some of

FLORIDA’S

finest

FINEST & ENTERTAINMENT

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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.

Janelle Monáe, Taraji P. Henson and Octavia Spencer all shine in “Hidden Figures,’’ a movie about brilliant Black women’s contributions to NASA. The movie has been the top box-office film for two weekends in a row.

Idris Elba is offering his fans a chance to win a date with him on Valentine’s Day. “That’s right, love,” Elba states. “Just you and me. No one else around. Just us.” The money raised will help schoolgirls in Sierra Leone. All fans have to do is visit Omaze. com and donate for a chance to win a date with the popular London-born actor.

DOUG PETERS/PA WIRE/ZUMA PRESS/TNS

transformed the White House into a sitcom set. Viewers got 20 minutes of a what-me-worry president, wistfully reflecting on the cars of his youth and the joys of an anonymous walk through the park.

“I always wanted to be on a show about nothing, and here I am,” he said. The only thing missing: Joe Biden barging into the Oval Office to raid the refrigerator.

Karaoke with Corden “Carpool Karaoke”: Like her husband’s visit with Seinfeld, Michelle Obama’s joy ride last summer on “The Late, Late Show with James Corden” was limited to the White House driveway, but she took full advantage of the opportunity. Turns out duties of state hadn’t prevented her from learning Snapchat lingo or honing Beyoncé hand gestures.

“We’re making honey to put in our lemonade!” she said after singing along to “Single Ladies.”

Makes you happy Barack put a ring on it.

A White House Correspondents Dinner skit in 2016 featured President Obama and former Speaker John Boehner.

The Obamas’ best pop-culture hits From ‘Mom Dancing’ to cameo with Boehner, the first couple gave America some funny TV moments.

BY NEAL JUSTIN STAR TRIBUNE/TNS

Donald Trump hosted “Saturday Night Live” early in his campaign, but no sitting or former commander-in-chief has ever taken that gig.

Maybe Barack Obama should put it on his to-do list. He’d kill.

The 41st president exits the main stage Friday, but not before leaving behind a legacy of laughs that evoke Abraham Lincoln’s quick wit, Ronald Reagan’s comic timing and Jack Kennedy’s stage presence.

He was also gifted with a deft partner in Michelle Obama.

Honest Abe would have ruled the talk-show circuit, but Mary Todd

Michelle Obama was a hit during “The Evolution of Mom Dancing’’ skits with Jimmy Fallon on the “Tonight Show’’ in 2013 and in 2015.

would have had a stroke if Jimmy Kimmel had asked her to read Mean Tweets.

Here are the first family’s greatest bits from the past eight years:

Dancing with Fallon “The Evolution of Mom Dancing”: On the road to the White House, Michelle Obama was a reluctant campaigner, but she got into the spirit of things, especially when busting a move with a cross-dressing Jimmy Fallon for two “Tonight Show” segments in 2013 and 2015.

The first lady’s Batdance wouldn’t make the cut on “American Bandstand,” yet her version of the Dougie was so spirited that her dance partner surrendered the floor. Her most memorable step came when Fallon slipped into an impression of her husband. She stopped in her tracks and gave a look that could launch a thousand ships. Assault ships.

Galifianakis”: It’s one thing when celebrities show off good sportsmanship by subjecting themselves to this purposely low-rent “talk show.” It’s quite another when it’s the leader of the free world. Obama gave as good as he got in this 2014 deadpan duel between two masters of mock exasperation.

Obama got the winning stab when he poked fun at his disrespectful host. “If I ran a third time, it’d be a little like doing a third ‘Hangover’ movie,” he jabbed. “Didn’t turn out very well, did it?”

‘Hangover’ stab

‘Mean Tweets’

“Between Two Ferns with Zach

Obama took on his most ar-

dent critics — ones with such handles as Duckpunks and RWSurfergirl — while reading tweets on two episodes of “Jimmy Kimmel Live” in 2015-16. Nothing was off limits, including big ears, mom jeans and the president’s responsibility for the high price of Coors Light.

The only slip-up came when Obama dismissed a social media diss from someone named @realdonaldtrump.

Ride with Seinfeld “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee”: Either Obama was a huge fan of “Seinfeld,” or he had an unusually light schedule one day in 2015 when Jerry Seinfeld

Video with Boehner White House Correspondents’ Dinner 2016: Politicians usually make fun of themselves at this annual event, but Obama went the extra mile in a video that featured a cameo from rival John Boehner tempting him with cigarettes and CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer reporting on the “couch commander’s” 347th round of golf.

The video didn’t quite top Bill Clinton’s 2000 submission, which co-starred Kevin Spacey, but Boehner isn’t an Oscar-winning actor. Yet.

First lady on ‘Ellen’ Amiable talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres risked getting tasered by the Secret Service during a trip to a CVS store last fall when she used a backscratcher on the first lady and chided her on needing ointment for a rash. Obama played the patsy to the hilt, even letting her shopping partner call her “Shelley.”

DeGeneres may pay a price for her chutzpah; Obama has the charm, gravitas — and soon, the time — to take her place as the queen of daytime. Plus, “The Shelley Show” has a nice ring to it.

The Star Tribune is based in Minneapolis.

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FAMILY FEATURES

Even if you’ve mastered the art of a smart workday lunch and can pick the most nutritious items on a restaurant menu like a pro, eating healthy at home is an unexpected downfall many people face.

When you find the chance to take a break from the busy pace of life and spend some time at home, it can be easy to slip into an all-indulgence mindset. Just remember that doesn’t have to mean going all-out on junk food.

Enjoy the comforts of home and keep your eating on track with these helpful tips.

When you’re spending time with family It’s easy to catch a carefree spirit while you’re running the bases in an impromptu game of back­yard baseball or being tempted by yet another imaginary dessert from the kiddie kitchen. When playtime winds down for dinner, there’s no reason for the fun to stop. Have kids get hands-on to help assemble a healthy meal everyone can enjoy.

Skip the cutting, peeling and mess by using Dole Jarred Fruit to prepare salads, desserts and

FOOD

JANUARY 20 – JANUARY 26, 2017

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even main dishes that satisfy the whole family’s sweet tooth.

When you’re tackling chores From seasonal landscaping to the myriad projects you’ve been putting off, the list of chores around the house may seem neverending. Remember to stay hydrated, especially if you’re working out­ doors, and be sure you make time to eat, even if it’s just a quick bite to keep you fueled. Airpopped crackers and hummus is a smart alter­native to chips and dip, or get your pickme-up from a handful of nuts and a serving of sweet, juicy fruit.

When you want to be a couch potato When a new TV season begins, keep your guilty pleasure in check with quick, healthy dishes to enjoy as you binge watch your favorite shows. Keep your kitchen stocked with ingredi­ents such as high quality, readyto-eat Dole Jarred Fruit so you can create quick and easy snacks with a serving of fruit in between episodes or during a commercial break.

For more recipes you can enjoy at home, visit dolesunshine.com.

PINEAPPLE PARFAIT Total time: 10 minutes Servings: 1 1 jar (23.5 ounces) Dole Pineapple Chunks 2 tablespoons Greek yogurt 2 vanilla wafers, crushed Measure 1/2 cup drained fruit.

Spoon pineapple chunks into dessert glass. Spoon yogurt over pineapple.

Sprinkle crushed wafers on top.

ASIAN CHICKEN LETTUCE WRAPS Total time: 15 minutes Servings: 1 1/2 cup refrigerated cooked chicken breast strips 2 Bibb or Boston lettuce leaves 1/2 cup Dole Mandarin Oranges, drained 2 teaspoons slivered almonds 1 tablespoon light Asian salad dressing Divide chicken equally inside two lettuce leaves, making two wraps.

Add 1/4 cup of Dole Mandarin Oranges and 1 teaspoon slivered almonds into each wrap.

Serve lettuce wraps with light Asian salad dressing for dipping.

ORANGE CHIPOTLE AVOCADO TOAST Total time: 10 minutes Servings: 1 1 slice whole wheat bread 1/2 avocado, diced or smashed salt pepper

1/3 cup Dole Mandarin Oranges, drained 1/2 teaspoon chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, finely chopped 1/4 lime Lightly toast whole-wheat bread and top with diced avocado. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

In medium bowl, toss oranges with chipotle peppers.

Spoon oranges over avocado toast and finish with a squeeze of lime.

Tip: For spicier toast, include pepper seeds. For more mild heat, remove seeds. A sprinkle of chili pepper can also be used to add spice.

TROPICAL RUM RAISIN DESSERT Total time: 30 minutes Servings: 4 1 jar (23.5 ounces) Dole Tropical Fruit, drained, juice reserved 1/2 cup Dole Seedless Raisins 1/4 cup spiced or coconut rum 2 cups vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt, divided 4 teaspoons toasted shredded coconut, divided Place fruit in medium bowl and set aside. In small bowl, combine raisins, rum and 1/4 cup reserved juice. Allow raisins to soak at least 20 minutes until plump. Drain off liquid.

Combine fruit and rum raisins; spoon into serving bowls. Top each bowl with 1/2 cup scoop of ice cream and top each with 1 teaspoon toasted coconut.

Tip: 1/2 teaspoon rum extract and 1/2 cup reserved juice may be used instead of rum.

It’s a

to be on your list today.