Florida Courier - January 22, 2016

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CELEBRATING OUR 10TH YEAR STATEWIDE!

Courier photographers capture MLK events around state See Page B1 www.flcourier.com

JANUARY 22 – JANUARY 28, 2016

VOLUME 24 NO. 4

VICTORY LAP

In Detroit, Obama hails the auto industry’s comeback.

Meanwhile, a report indicates illegal immigration is at a 10-year low – contrary to Republican talking points – as the Supreme Court agrees to review the volatile issue.

COMPILED FROM WIRE REPORTS

DETROIT – President Barack Obama got a real taste of Detroit on Wednesday, grabbing lunch at a neighborhood brewery and making a watch purchase at a nearby Shinola store before heading downtown to spend a half-hour at the North American International Auto Show, a first for Obama as president.

As the president visited the Motor City, immigration took center stage again.

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to determine whether he has the authority to unilaterally provide temporary relief to illegal immigrants on the same day a report revealed that illegal immigration is at its lowest level in 10 years.

Celebrating resurgence

try with record sales last year, and the city with a rebuilding boom.

“The year before I took office, the auto industry laid off 400,000. We were in a free fall,” Obama said during a speech at a United Auto Workers-General Motors human resources facility. “There were no private investors who were going to step up…More than 1 million Americans would have lost their jobs. And not just in the auto industry. Their livelihoods were at stake as well.”

U.S. auto manufacturing employment has climbed 49 percent from its low point of 623,300 in June 2009 when General Motors and Chrysler were in the midst of their $182 billion taxpayer-funded bailout, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

But with 929,400 such jobs in existence as of December 2015, industry employment remains significantly below its January 2005 level of 1.1 million jobs.

The lunch and shopping stop were part of a day designed to celebrate the resurgence of the domestic automotive industry Lunch and cars Obama and Detroit Mayor Mike Dugand the city of Detroit, both of which went through bankruptcy within the last five gan made an unscheduled stop at the Jolly years before re-emerging, the auto indus- Pumpkin brewery, where they dined with

ROMAIN BLANQUART/DETROIT FREE PRESS/TNS

On Tuesday, President Obama had lunch with Teana Dowdell from UAW Local 22, left; emergency doctor Tolulope Sonuyi, center; Tom Kartsotis, right; and Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan.

Tom Kartsotis, the founder of the Shinola watch company; Tolulope Sonuyi, a physician who works with Detroit youths in violence prevention and intervention programs; and Teana Dowdell, an autoworker at a Detroit-area GM plant. After lunch and

the Shinola stop, it was off to downtown to take in the auto show.

His first stop was a ZF automated driving display. He then went and checked out the Fiat Chrysler Automobile plug-in hy-

2016 MLK BIRTHDAY COMMEMORATION

Sending a message

See OBAMA, Page A2

‘Drop the suit’ Thousands demand teachers drop voucher lawsuit

BY BRANDON LARRABEE THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

TALLAHASSEE – Calling on God and the memory of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., thousands of protesters descended Tuesday on Tallahassee to demand that opponents of the state’s de facto school-voucher program drop a lawsuit challenging the survival of the system.

Based on head counts from buses and school groups that attended the rally, organizers said that more than 10,500 people gathered on the crisp winter morning. Protesters jammed the street between the Capitol and the Florida Supreme Court and trickled over into a plaza outside the Capitol.

Keep the system

KIM GIBSON / FLORIDA COURIER

Parades honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. were held all around the state on Monday, and these young men made their presence known in Miami. See a full page of pictures on Page B1.

GED Testing Service lowers passing score

BY JANEL DAVIS THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION / TNS

GEDs need less remediation after enrolling in college, the test administrators say.

The GED Testing Service is not changing any of the material in the test itself, just lowering the score it takes to pass. Company officials say the requirements for GED test takers and high school students should be the same, but right now GED test takers are working to a higher level to earn their passing score.

ATLANTA – Thousands who failed the GED exam could retroactively receive their diplomas in a couple of months because the score required to pass the test will soon be lowered.

The drop – from 150 to 145 to pass, expected to start in March – is being made because studies showed GED students in some states were performing better in college than high school grad- ‘Same standard’ “If high school performance uates, according to the national company that administers the starts to improve, we can adjust high school equivalency test. For our cut scores as well, but we example, some students earning want to make sure we are hold-

ALSO INSIDE

ing adults to the same standards” as those required for traditional high school students, said Randy Trask, GED Testing Service’s president.

The final timetable for the scoring changes was still being worked out this week.

The scoring change comes two years after the national testing company rolled out a more rigorous exam, aligned to national standards such as Common Core, that led to fewer people taking the test and fewer passing it.

The testing company says the scoring changes are not a way to boost the numbers of those who pass.

“We want to have our test actually anchored to actual performance … The new 2014 test did reflect the higher college and career readiness standards, but it’s important that we don’t get ahead of the curve,” Trask said.

College credits available Along with the lower passing score, GED Testing Service will add to the GED credential two new performance levels above basic high school equivalency to signify college readiness; and the highest-scoring test takers will get an opportunity to earn college credits.

The national company will recommend that more than 25,000 people in the U.S. who scored between 145 and 149 on the test since 2014 be eligible to receive their state’s GED credential. Almost 100,000 would earn a passing score on at least one GED subject area.

States will have to work out the details with their leaders, as well as negotiate with their higher education systems about college credits.

Speakers who backed the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship program – mostly African-Americans and Latinos – laced into the state’s largest teachers union, the Florida Education Association, for a legal attack on the system.

The program provides tax credits to companies that donate money to nonprofit entities that help pay for low-income children See SUIT, Page A2

SNAPSHOTS NATION | A6

King’s daughter warns about distractions HEALTH | B3

How to fend off flu at work

PERSONAL FINANCE | B4

Need a personal loan?

What you should know FOOD | B6

Win back weeknight cooking

COMMENTARY: MARGARET KIMBERLEY: AMERICA IS STARVING PEOPLE IN SYRIA | A5 COMMENTARY: HARRY ALFORD: GO BACK TO THE BASICS AND VOTE INTELLIGENTLY | A5

FOCUS

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JANUARY 22 – JANUARY 28, 2016

Black people are afraid to be free One of the reasons AfricanAmericans find Black progress and true freedom difficult is because many African-Americans are scared!

They are afraid to stand up, afraid to speak out, afraid to unite, afraid to organize, afraid to defend themselves – and afraid to protect themselves, their women, their children and their communities!

Do for self In a capitalist country like the United States, economic freedom is necessary. We must control the economy of Black communities. We must find ways to generate revenue for ourselves

LUCIUS GANTT THE GANTT REPORT

to create jobs for our people and to end the dependence on others outside of our community for our maintenance and survival.

More often than not, no one is seeking to hire Blacks but Blacks.

So-called corporate diversity is merely modern-day tokenism.

The devil doesn’t like Affirmative Action, quotas and Black setasides for us, but they are quick to say, “We hire Blacks and wom-

en. Look at Jemima. She is both Black and female!”

I’m old enough to remember a time when Black families could buy everything they needed from Black businesses in the Black community. There were Black-owned grocery stores, clothing stores, restaurants, taxi companies, hotels, car dealers, dry cleaners, home builders, insurance companies, banks, media companies and more right in Black neighborhoods.

We should go back to those times, but African-Americans are afraid to do that.

It didn’t matter I remember when anybody Black could join Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association. Christians worked right alongside Muslims; the educated worked with the less educated; light-skinned Blacks got along with darker-skinned

Blacks; and so on.

Today, the Crips are afraid to trust the Bloods, the Alphas want nothing to do with the Ques, the Links can’t deal with the Eastern Stars, and graduates of HCBUs won’t even consider doing projects with Blacks that attended predominately White universities!

Peril and danger are real. But fear is voluntary!

If we are afraid to assist, help and do business with each other, we are afraid of ourselves.

All the same We are all in the same bag, in the same boat. Those of us who are scared, meek and afraid to do what’s necessary to progress will get beaten, shot, killed or jailed just as quick as the Blacks that will protest and fight for equal rights and justice!

In the ghetto, they beat you, mistreat you and disrespect you

SUIT

just like devilish people wil beat you, mistreat you and disrespect you in the suburbs!

If we were not afraid of our past and ignorant about our culture and our journey for survival in America, we would know that fear is not an option!

Where would we be if Nat Turner, Denmark Vesey, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, Medgar Evers and others were as afraid as you are?

Don’t ever be scared to do the right things! We should not fear economic, religious, judicial and other freedoms. Freedom is a good thing to have and to fight for.

Buy Gantt’s latest book, “Beast Too: Dead Man Writing” on Amazon.com and from bookstores everywhere. Contact Lucius at www.allworldconsultants.net. And, if you want to, “like” The Gantt Report page on Facebook.

to attend private schools.

“In the name of the Lord, drop the suit,” demanded the Rev. R.B. Holmes, pastor of Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Tallahassee. “In the name of the Holy Spirit, drop the suit.”

“I wonder truly how anybody could be against these scholarships,” said Julio Fuentes, head of the Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Hispanic Council for Reform and Educational Options. “These scholarships are helping low-income children. They are helping minority children. How did that become such a bad thing?”

‘Issue of justice’

Going forward

The star attraction to the rally was Martin Luther King III, son of the slain civil rights leader whose birthday was marked by the nation on Monday.

“My dad – I don’t know if I can aptly speak to what he would say today,” King said.

“But what I can say is, I know that he always stood up for justice, and this is an issue of justice.”

The union’s lawsuit, filed in 2014, argues that Martin Luther the voucher proKing III gram violates the Legislature’s responsibility to provide every student with a quality education.

Opponents say the system siphons away money that could be used for public schools, though voucher supporters note that the scholarships actually provide less per student than it costs to

In a statement issued Tuesday, Florida Education Association President Joanne McCall said the organization didn’t intend to back down.

“For more than a year, voucher groups have been demanding FEA drop a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the taxcredit vouchers. What are they so afraid of going to the courts to ensure this voucher scheme is legal?” McCall said. “Let’s let the courts decide this once and for all. We’re not dropping our legal challenge.”

McCall’s group staged its own rally last week, drawing about 2,000 teachers and other publicschool employees to the Capitol to call on lawmakers to place more emphasis on classroom learning and less focus on standardized tests.

from A1

OBAMA from A1

brid model of the Chrysler Pacifica minivan, which was unveiled at the show.

Then it was on to the 2017 Chevy Bolt, the new electric vehicle with a 200-mile range, after first admiring a bright yellow Corvette, then got into a metallic orange Bolt. Finally he swung by the Ford stand where he saw the Ford Escape Hybrid.

‘Work to do’ At the UAW-GM center along the riverfront, the president was welcomed by some of the people whose jobs and plants were in jeopardy seven years ago.

“There’s still plenty of work to do, but you can feel something special happening in Detroit,” Obama said. “When you hear people claiming America is in decline, they don’t know what they’re talking about. These are the same folks that would have let this industry go under.”

The auto renaissance has been dampened in recent weeks in a global market roiled by a slowdown in China and collapsing oil prices.

Fiat Chrysler shares fell as much as 7 percent Wednesday to a new 52-week low of $6.60 before rebounding slightly to $6.89.

GM closed Wednesday at $29.42, down from the $34.01 it traded at on Dec. 31. Ford shares are down nearly 17 percent from the first of the year.

It was GM’s growth and profits from China that carried it through the Great Recession.

Now the company’s recovery in North America is offsetting the troubles in China and other emerging markets.

Thinking about Flint While Obama wasn’t traveling to Flint to examine the city’s water crisis firsthand, he mentioned the city’s ongoing crisis in his remarks.

“The only job that’s more important to me than president is the job of father,” he said. “I

COURTESY OF WCTV-TV

A large Tallahassee crowd protests a challenge to Florida’s business-funded scholarship system for low-income students. educate a child in public schools.

The challenge also draws on a 2006 ruling from the Florida Supreme Court that struck down the state’s Opportunity Scholarship Program – a purer version of a voucher system, using public money directly to fund private education for some students.

The lawsuit targeting the Tax

Credit Scholarship Program was dismissed last year by a Leon County judge, who said the union didn’t have standing to challenge the program, but voucher opponents have appealed the case to the 1st District Court of Appeal.

would be beside myself if my kids’ health would be at risk,” he said.

“Yesterday I met with Mayor (Karen) Weaver and I told her we’re going to have her back and all the people of Flint’s back as they work their way through this terrible tragedy. It is a reminder why you can’t shortchange basic services you provide your people.”

during that time.

Lowest in years The president got good news when a new study by the Center for Migration Studies estimated that 10.9 million immigrants are living in the country without authorization. That is the lowest level since 2003 and the first time the number has dipped below 11 million since 2004.

A steady decline in illegal immigration, which has been documented by previous studies, runs counter to the widespread image on the Republican presidential campaign trail of a rise in illegal border crossers.

GOP frontrunner Donald Trump’s has said illegal immigration rates are “beyond belief” and has claimed immigrants bringing crime and disease are “just pouring across the border.”

Trump has pledged mass deportations and a giant border wall, while criticizing as weak his more moderate rivals, such as Jeb Bush, who has proposed giving immigrants already in the country a path to legal status.

Going back home According to the report, written by a prominent former government demographics expert, illegal immigration has dropped steadily since 2008, driven in part by a large number of immigrants from Mexico returning home.

Since 2010, the number of Mexicans living in the U.S. illegally declined by about 612,000, or 9 percent, the report found.

The size of California’s unauthorized Mexican immigrant population shrank by about 250,000 between 2010 and 2014, the study found. The state’s overall population of unauthorized immigrants fell by 318,000 to a total of just under 2.6 million

Expanded eligibility In the wake of the challenge,

‘Ups and downs’ The declines correspond with the onset of the Great Recession and with an increase in the number of deportations under President Obama, said Tony Payan, director of the Mexico Center at Rice University. He noted that many immigrants work in parts of the economy, notably construction and hospitality, that suffer disproportionately during economic downturns.

Immigrants “have been exposed to the ups and downs of the American economy in ways that people in other sectors have not been,” he said.

Manuel Pastor, a sociology professor at the University of Southern California, pointed to another factor: lower birth rates in Mexico. With less competition for jobs in Mexico, there may be less pressure to head north to find work.

Pastor said Trump’s heated rhetoric about the growing threat of illegal immigration is “detached from reality,” and partly the product of a presidential primary system in which Republican candidates have competed to appeal to their party’s most conservative – mostly White – voters.

Pastor noted “growing demographic anxieties” among White Americans about the country’s rapidly changing racial and ethnic makeup and said Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric plays into that. “This is a very racialized debate,” he said.

While the report found declines in the number of unauthorized immigrants from South America, the Caribbean and Europe, it reported an increase in the number of immigrants crossing illegally from Central America, an area gripped with poverty and rising violence in recent years.

Court weighs in The U. S. Supreme Court set the stage for what could be a landmark ruling on immigration law and presidential power when it agreed Tuesday to decide whether Obama has the authority to offer a “lawful presence”

groups that support the voucher system have begun emphasizing the benefits of the program to low-income students – though lawmakers approved legislation in 2014 that would allow for a family of four earning up to $63,050 to be eligible for at least a partial scholarship in the 2016-17 school year.

and a work permit to as many as 5 million immigrants living in the country illegally.

The decision is likely to come this June in the middle of the 2016 presidential campaign, in which the question of how to cope with the nation’s immigration problem has deeply divided the two political parties.

At issue for the court is whether current law gives the president power to temporarily shield millions of longtime immigrants from deportation. At the request of Texas state lawyers who are suing to block the president’s program, the justices also agreed to decide whether Obama violated his constitutional duty by failing to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed.”

If the court rules that Obama overstepped his authority, it would send the message that only Congress can change and reform the nation’s immigration laws. On the other hand, justices had given the executive branch broad discretion in setting deportation policy.

Tick tock Even if Obama wins, he may run out of time to fully implement the program before leaving office, making it easier for a future GOP president to unwind it.

Under the best-case scenario for the president, he would have only six months to implement the program – enough time to process a few hundred thousand applications, experts estimate. That could leave the next occupant of the Oval Office with a backlog of millions of applications from anxious immigrants.

Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders would almost certainly continue the program, but GOP front-runners Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas could face a dilemma.

By making good on promises to be tough on amnesty for immigrants here illegally, a future GOP president would be faced with the prospect of deporting people who voluntarily came forward to follow the rules – a dramatic and memorable moment to begin the new presidency.

Deportations suspended Obama unveiled his sweeping immigration program last year. It would temporarily suspend deportation for as many as 4 million immigrant parents of U.S. citizens.

This so-called Deferred Action for Parents of Americans, or DAPA, was patterned after a 2012 plan, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which offered similar relief to about 600,000 young people who had been brought into the country illegally as small children.

Several hundred thousand additional immigrants were to qualify for deportation deferral under a separate expansion of the DACA program that Obama announced in November 2014.

Nothing from Congress Obama said he was taking executive action as a last resort amid congressional deadlock. In 2013, the Senate passed a bipartisan immigration overhaul on a 68-32 vote, but House Republican leaders refused to bring the bill to a vote.

States had not fared well when seeking to influence immigration policy. Three years ago, the justices rejected key provisions of an Arizona law that would have empowered Arizona police to stop, question and arrest people who could not show they were citizens.

By a 5-3 vote, the justices said the president and his executive officers have “broad discretion” over immigration policy, including enforcement and deciding who should be arrested and deported.

Kathleen Gray and Greg Gardner of the Detroit Free Press; Kate Linthicum of the Los Angeles Times; David G. Savage and Christi Parsons of the Tribune Washington Bureau; and Del Quentin Wilber and Angela Greiling Keane of Bloomberg News (TNS) all contributed to this report.

JANUARY 22 – JANUARY 28, 2016

NATION & WORLD

A3 manity, and possibly genocide,” the U.N. report said.

Hundreds of children abducted

A UN report shows that Islamic State extremists are responsible for many of the killings in Iraq.

At least 18,800 civilians killed in the Iraq war since 2014 TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

GENEVA — The conflict in Iraq has claimed the

lives of at least 18,800 civilians and has left another 36,200 wounded since early 2014, according to a U.N. report that singled out Is-

lamic State extremists for many of the killings.

In addition, 3.2 million people became internally displaced between January

2014 and October 2015, the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq and the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said Tues-

day, providing the latest available figures.

Islamic State had been systematically spreading terror by killing people in public spectacles, including beheadings, bulldozing, burning victims alive and throwing people off buildings, they said.

“These acts may, in some instances, amount to war crimes, crimes against hu-

In the conflict between government forces, Kurdish units and the Islamic State, the jihadist group has been targeting perceived civilian opponents, people linked to the government and police, lawyers, doctors, journalists and local leaders, according to evidence collected

by U.N. experts.

They also reported that Islamic State had abducted between 800 and 900 children in Mosul in June for religious and military training, and that the extremists were using women and children as sexual slaves.

At the same time, Iraqi security forces and allied militias, as well as Kurdish Peshmerga fighters were also found to have killed and abducted civilians in violation of the rules of war.

“This report lays bare the enduring suffering of civilians in Iraq and starkly illustrates what Iraqi refugees are attempting to escape when they flee to Europe and other regions,” said Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights.

Besides those killed or injured in the conflict, countless others had died from lack of water, food or medical care, Zeid pointed out.

Obama administration must hand over Fast and Furious documents

BY ANDREW HARRIS BLOOMBERG NEWS (TNS)

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration must hand over documents sought by a congressional committee that has been reviewing the failed U.S. Justice Department weapons trafficking probe known as Operation Fast and Furious.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson in Washington on Tuesday rejected administration assertions of executive branch privilege as justification for withholding some information demanded by the committee, specifically those papers addressing the department’s response to congressional and media inquiries.

Fast and Furious was the name given to an attempt by the Justice Department, under then-Attorney General Eric Holder, to allow illegal gun purchases in the U.S. in the belief they could be traced to gangs in Mexico. The program lost track of about 2,000 weapons bought by straw buyers.

The failure came to light after two of the guns were found at a shootout where a U.S. Border Patrol agent was killed.

The Republican-led U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform sued the president’s administration in 2012 to compel the turnover of records relating to the failed program after an unsuccessful bid to obtain them with a subpoena. Jackson rejected a

US to stop taking orders for extra passport pages

BY ELLEN CREAGER DETROIT FREE PRESS (TNS)

Starting this month, the U.S. State Department is no longer offering the option of ordering extra pages for a passport.

Citing security concerns, the agency stopped issuing the extra pages on Dec. 31. Instead, it will let future passport applicants order a passport with either the normal 28 pag-

request to dismiss the suit in 2013.

“After allowing guns to walk, the administration’s attempt to hide behind executive privilege only adds insult to injury,” House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, said in a statement following the judge’s ruling on Tuesday. “While the decision doesn’t give us access to all the documents, it is an important step forward. We will continue investigating until we get to the truth.”

Feb. 2 deadline While Berman Jackson agreed the sought papers were protected by a principle called the “deliberative process privilege,” she ruled that privilege was outweighed by the congressional demand because the Justice Department had already made public much of the sought information.

“The department has already laid bare the records of its internal deliberations — and even published portions of interviews revealing its officials’ thoughts and impressions about those records,” the judge said.

Berman Jackson limited her order to information not covered by other protections and told the Justice Department to produce it by Feb. 2.

The Justice Department is reviewing the decision, Nicole Navas, a spokeswoman, said in an email.

She declined further comment. es or a hefty 52 pages. All applications received outside the U.S. will automatically get 52-page passports.

The pages are used for country immigration officers’ entry and exit stamps, as well as a place to insert visas for countries that require them.

While most travelers never fill up their passports, it’s an issue for frequent travelers because some countries require at least two blank pages in a passport for entry.

More information: www. travel.state.gov/passport or 877-487-2778.

KATIE FALKENBERG/LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

Rosalia Garcia de Flores, center, listens during a press conference for a new campaign to register Latino voters in mixed-status families at the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles Pacoima Office on July 1, 2015 in Pacoima, Calif. The number of Latinos eligible to vote in this year’s presidential election is 40 percent higher than it was just eight years ago.

Report: Latino vote is bigger and better educated than ever before

BY KATE LINTHICUM LOS ANGELES TIMES (TNS)

The Latino electorate is bigger and better educated than ever before, according to a new report by Pew Research Center.

It’s also young. Adults age 18-35 make up nearly half of the record 27.3 million Latinos eligible to vote in this year’s presidential election, the report found.

But although the number of Latinos eligible to vote is surging — 40 percent higher than it was just eight years ago — and education levels are rising, the percentage likely to actually cast ballots in November continues to lag behind other major racial and ethnic groups, the report found.

That’s partly because young people don’t vote as consistently as older people do, but also because Latino eligible voters are heavily concentrated in states — including California, Texas and New York — that are not prime election battlegrounds.

Voters less White The report analyzing the Latino electorate sheds new light on an increasingly important voting bloc that both Republicans and Democrats hope to capture as the overall pool of eligible voters becomes less White.

In 1986, 82 percent of Americans eligible to vote were White. The percentage has declined steadily and hit 70 percent by 2014.

Over the same period, the share of eligible voters who are Latino has risen from 5 percent to 11.4 percent, the report noted.

The share of Blacks among eligible voters increased from 11 percent to 12.1 percent during that time. The Asian share increased from 1.4 percent in 1990 to 4.2 percent in 2014.

The explosive growth of the Latino electorate is largely driven by young people born in the U.S. Between 2012 and November of this year, about 3.2 million U.S.-citizen Latinos will have turned 18 and become eligible to vote, according to the report’s projections.

Impact of millennials Millennials — adults born in 1981 or later — will account for 44 percent of the Latino electorate by November, according to the report. By comparison, millennials will make up only 27 percent of the White electorate, the report found.

The number of Latino potential voters is also being driven by immigrants who are in the U.S. legally and decide to become U.S. citizens. Between 2012 and 2016, some 1.2 million will have done so, according to the report.

Although most new voters are not immigrants, a majority of Latino voters have a direct connection to the immigrant experience, the report noted. That’s an important fact in an election cycle that has been dominated by debates over what do with the estimated 11 million immigrants who entered the U.S. without authorization.

Many immigrants

By November, 56 percent of the Latino electorate will be made up of immigrants or the U.S.-born children of immigrants, here with authorization or without.

That’s up from 51 percent in 2000, according to the report.

As native-born young people make up a greater share of the Latino population, those eligible to vote in November will have higher levels of education

than in any recent presidential election year, the report found. Compared to 2000, eligible Latinos will be nearly twice as likely to have at least some college education.

Rising education levels typically would lead to greater turnout, but other factors of youth and geography have held turnout down, the report found.

Fifty-two percent of the nation’s voting-eligible Latinos live in California, Texas or New York, states that don’t have early primary elections and have not been up for grabs in presidential elections for many years.\\ “Many Hispanics live in states that haven’t necessarily been battlegrounds,” said Mark Lopez, the director of Hispanic research at Pew. “That means these Hispanics, whether they’re older or younger, just aren’t going to be targeted by voter outreach efforts in the ways they would if they lived in more competitive places.”

Latinos make up fewer than 5 percent of eligible voters in just about every state with close elections.

The exceptions are Florida, Nevada and Colorado, the report found. In each of those states, Latinos make up more than 14 percent of eligible voters. That’s why presidential campaigns on both sides of the political spectrum have been targeting their Latino outreach efforts there.

EDITORIAL

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JANUARY 22 – JANUARY 28, 2016

Unrepresented by our representatives Does it really matter who wins the presidency? How can it matter to Black folks, considering the way we “play” politics?

We have no power, no leverage, and little or no influence in the political arena. Even worse, it seems we are reluctant to do what it takes to gain any political clout. So why do we care so much about the upcoming election?

Far behind Having “played” this political game for more than fifty years now, getting thousands of Black folks elected to public office – and even a Black president – we are still far behind and are nonexistent in serious public policy discourse and legislative initiatives.

As we face yet another “most important election” of our lifetime, what are you willing to do to improve our political situation in this country? Hint: Handwringing won’t help.

Is our political strategy, “I got plenty of nothing, and nothing is plenty for me?” Or, “You got to give the people, give the people what they want?” Do we have a strategy other than listening to flowery words from politicians and watching them give speeches and participate in debates?

Faulty belief We, the bipolar electorate, have empowered an aristocratic class of pompous, self-righteous,

JAMES CLINGMAN TRICE EDNEY NEWSWIRE

lying, condescending, affluent, aloof, money-grubbing, narcissistic, insincere, unconcerned, yet powerful individuals that many of us hold in high esteem – for reasons unbeknownst to me.

They play with our emotions and draw on our sympathies, the result of which is a never-ending roller coaster ride. Even sadder is the fact that many of us believe they will save us.

All the incumbents and candidates need are a few nice-sounding phrases to make us think we are in high cotton. To make matters worse, Black “leaders” once again are telling us to vote; but they are not in specific discussions about who to vote for and why. The NAACP is “nonpartisan” (yeah, right) and cannot endorse or support any candidate.

How convenient. What a joke!

The vast majority of Black folks are already in the tank for Hillary.

Anyone can see that. Black organizations will feature her at their conventions, and preachers will invite her to their pulpits. On the other hand, Bernie is courting Blacks via his Black Lives Matter rhetoric, and Trump is saying how much Black people love him, while the other Republican candidates are reluctant to seri-

The Oregon occupation, LeBron James and White supremacy College-educated individuals have led much of the current movement against police brutality. These leaders have been heavily exposed to the watereddown politics of the paid and funded nonprofit consultants that presently dominate college campuses.

Corporate consultants have institutionalized “diversity” and “privilege” programs dedicated to an apolitical understanding of racism. Pontifications about “White privilege” and “microaggression” have relegated the struggle against racism to a practice in racial sensitivity.

Confront the structure So while White supremacy has been understood correctly by the leadership of the new movement as an unjust system responsible for the murders of Black Americans such as 12-year old Tamir Rice, the movement has yet to confront White supremacy as a power structure dictated by the interests and contradictions of U.S. capitalist development itself.

Luckily, NBA celebrity LeBron

DANNY HAIPHONG GUEST COLUMNIST

James and a mob of White terrorists have emerged onto the political scene to provide useful instruction on the class character of White supremacy in America.

The non-indictment of the police officer who murdered Tamir Rice prompted activists to demand LeBron James conduct a one-person strike of the Cleveland Cavaliers. James answered the call with a plea of ignorance.

He chose to protect both his privileges and those of his bosses by refraining to comment on the blatant injustice of the Tamir Rice case. For LeBron, class loyalty trumped Black loyalty.

Less than a week later, an angry mob of armed White ranchers occupied a federal wildlife reservation in Oregon. The corporate media labeled the ranchers “armed activists” and not domestic terrorists. The FBI has flirt-

My observations of MLK Day If Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. were alive today, he would be as thrilled as anybody that Barack Obama is doing so well as the first Black president of the United States. Yet he would be the first to remind us that we are still far from reaching the Promised Land that inspired his prophetic dream.

No doubt Obama himself is all too mindful of this. His election was only one small step on the march towards equal rights and opportunities for all Americans.

Indeed, nothing betrays the fatuous notion that his election ush-

ANTHONY L. HALL, ESQ. FLORIDA COURIER COLUMNIST

ered in a post-racial era quite like Selma-like marches against police brutality that were held over the country last year.

Only private citizen But Monday was MLK’s day.

It speaks volumes that he is the

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: VISUAL VIEWPOINT: FLINT WATER CRISIS

ously lobby the Black vote – including Uncle Ben. We are merely props for a circus act.

No Black designers?

The day after the State of the Union (SOTU) speech, many of our people were more interested in what Michelle Obama wore than what her husband said (or did not say). She wore a dress originally priced at $2,095, made

by Narciso Rodriguez, a nonBlack gay designer – and we went bonkers.

Her previous dresses were made by Michael Kors, Azzedine Alaïa, Jason Wu, Barbara Tfank, Rachel Roy, and Isaac Mizrahi.

Aren’t there any Black designers’ dresses good enough for the SOTU soiree?

Where does all of this political high drama leave us? Our unemployment rate is still double that of Whites, and we are not creating jobs. Our health is the poorest in the nation – especially with illnesses like diabetes – and we don’t own a dialysis center. Our education is substandard, and we are not establishing our own schools. We are disproportionately incarcerated, but we are not selling anything to the prisons. Many economic solutions are in our hands.

And here’s a political solution from a politician, Rep. William “Bill” Clay, of Missouri: “If you want equity, justice, and equality, you must…become irritants, become abrasive. Your political philosophy must be selfish and ed with the possibility of “peaceful” negotiations between the feds and the occupiers.

Different treatment These so-called government adversaries have been treated with all the rights and class privileges afforded to the majority of White Americans. Rather than being gunned down as Mariam Carey was when she crossed federal property, the gun-toting White mob has seen their actions protected by the very government it claims to protest. (Editor’s note: Carey, a 34-year-old Black woman who was allegedly mentally ill, was shot dead on the U.S. Capitol grounds in 2013 after a short car chase.)

The Oregon occupiers and the LeBron debacle highlight the class contradictions of White supremacy in the U.S. White supremacy was established just over three centuries ago to crush class rebellion in the English colonies of North America. “White” identity provided European settlers with privileges and rights that were stripped from Africans or indigenous peoples. This included a modicum of economic relief, although most Whites owned little to no property decades into the formation of the United States.

Today, White economic relief has been eroded by the world capitalist crisis. White workonly private citizen (Black or White) to have a federal holiday declared in his honor. Hell, even Washington and Lincoln have to share one holiday on Presidents Day. And with the August 2013 dedication of his memorial, MLK is now perched on the Mall alongside them in perpetuity.

All of which might explain why Washington’s monument is glaring down on MLK’s. Seriously, though, am I the only one who thinks Washington’s looks eerily like a stonemason’s monument to the KKK? As I wrote in October 2011, “There was considerable media coverage…of workers repelling down the Washington Monument to inspect damage caused by the recent earthquake. However, while most people seemed

ADAM ZYGLIS, THE BUFFALO NEWS

pragmatic. You must start with the premise that you have no permanent friends, no permanent enemies, just permanent interests.”

Paying a price We have set politicians up as kings and queens, the price for which can be found in 1st Samuel, Chapter 8 (The Message Bible): “This is the way the kind of king [you want] operates. He’ll take your sons and make soldiers of them… regimented in battalions and squadrons. He’ll put some to forced labor on his farms, plowing and harvesting, and others to making either weapons of war or chariots in which he can ride in luxury. He’ll put your daughters to work as beauticians and waitresses and cooks. ers, especially White men, have been thrown out of the capitalist labor force in startling numbers. The Oregon occupation is an expression of class grievances.

White Americans have taken up arms to demand the U.S. government bring back the racist, imperial privileges that have been the foundation of its existence.

Sophisticated strategy LeBron James, on the other hand, represents a more sophisticated and nuanced development within the skeleton of White supremacy.

The system of White rule concocted a Black misleadership class in the 1960s and 70s to stifle and ultimately destroy mass support for revolutionary change. In response to national liberation struggles throughout Africa during the same period, the colonial powers propped up and supported a class of native Africans willing to do the bidding of the former occupier.

Athletes such as LeBron have been methodically woven into the Black misleadership class milieu. His plea of ignorance was an expression of loyalty to White supremacy and a betrayal of the masses of Black people.

There has been no obstacle greater to social transformation in the U.S. than White supremacy and the collaborationist Black leaders that help manage it. The mesmerized by the acrobatic feat this entailed, I could not help noticing how much upclose images of the cone of the Monument resemble the hood of a Klansman.

“I’ve read accounts of Freemasons, who were instrumental in building D.C., inserting Masonic symbols all over the city. Therefore, is it so farfetched to think that this monument, which was built between 1848-84 as a memorial to George Washington, also paid homage to the prevailing symbol of White supremacy?”

A down payment Whatever the case, Monday’s holiday is not just a testament to MLK’s greatness. It’s a symbolic down payment on the prom-

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“He’ll conscript your best fields, vineyards, and orchards and hand them over to his special friends. He’ll tax your harvests and vintage to support his extensive bureaucracy. Your prize workers and best animals he’ll take for his own use. He’ll lay a tax on your flocks and you’ll end up no better than slaves. The day will come when you will cry in desperation because of this king you so much want for yourselves. But don’t expect God to answer.”

James E. Clingman is the nation’s most prolific writer on economic empowerment for Black people. His latest book, “Black Dollars Matter! Teach Your Dollars How To Make More Sense,” is available on his website, Blackonomics.com. structure of White rule has driven an irreconcilable wedge between the oppressed and social transformation.

Protecting privilege In this time of peak capitalist crisis, White Americans have organized themselves to protect the spoils of domestic and global plunder. Black misleaders have used all of their energies and acquired resources to direct genuine struggle into the racist, capitalist state. The Oregon occupation and the ignorance of LeBron James are manifestations of these co-occurring realities.

History will not be made by White mobsters or Black professional athletes. The class contradictions of capitalism and White supremacy simply won’t allow it.

History will be made by the actions and ideas of the masses. The organization and development of a mass movement for social transformation is the only action that can force poor Whites and rich Black celebrities and misleaders to consider and act in the interests of the oppressed. Until then, expect the LeBrons and Bundys of the world to side with the powerful.

Danny Haiphong is raising funds for a film project on the Black Panther Party. To contribute, go to Indiegogo.com.

Contact Haiphong at wakeupriseup1990@gmail.com. issory note that represents the unpaid – if not unpayable – debt America owes descendants of the Blacks it enslaved.

I can think of no better way to mark this MLK holiday than by pledging henceforth to tune out all politicians and pundits who traffic in incendiary rhetoric. Such rhetoric only divides Americans and could even inspire political assassinations.

Anthony L. Hall is a Bahamian native with an international law practice in Washington, D.C. Read his columns and daily weblog at www. theipinionsjournal.com.

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JANUARY 22 – JANUARY 28, 2016

EDITORIAL

America is starving Syria The degree to which the American corporate media will cover up for American foreign policy atrocities knows no bounds.

The country’s leading newspapers and broadcasters have supported every official lie – from Lyndon Johnson’s Gulf of Tonkin resolution in Vietnam, to George W. Bush’s claim of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

News reports concerning areas suffering from American interventions should be taken with a great deal of skepticism. In light of the past history of propaganda, the context of recent stories about the people of Madaya, Syria should be closely scrutinized.

Dead, displaced The American plan for regime change in Syria has killed 250,000 people and displaced 9 million more. There would be no bullets, bombs or sieges absent the United States and the rest of NATO, Saudi Arabia and Turkey attempting to overthrow the Bashar al-Assad government.

All of the people who drowned in the Mediterranean as they tried to flee bloodshed were killed by the United States. The towns and cities that have been destroyed by warring armies were in fact destroyed by the United States. Absent American action, none of the other parties would have taken on this project.

It is important to keep these facts in mind when seeing footage of starving people in Madaya. The corporate media lay all of the blame at Assad’s feet and claim that the Syrian army is holding people hostage. There are in fact many Madayas in Syria with starving populations. But if the narrative doesn’t make the

MARGARET KIMBERLEY BLACK AGENDA REPORT

case for Western aggression, the story disappears.

Hunger all over It is true that people are starving in Madaya. They are hungry all over Syria and that is why they risk their lives in unseaworthy boats to get to Europe.

According to the United Nations some 400,000 Syrians are trapped by combatants in hardto-reach areas and are in desperate need of humanitarian aid.

The cities of Fou’aa and Karaya were also cut off from aid, but the people there were victims of the U.S. backed “moderate rebels.”

The inhabitants of these cities were also reduced to eating leaves. They too fainted from hunger. But their suffering didn’t make Assad look bad or America look good, so the story went straight down the memory hole.

The timing of news about Madaya is especially convenient.

United Nations talks in Geneva will begin at the end of this month; anything that promotes the administration theme of Assad being evil and having to leave is helpful.

Madaya is surrounded by the Syrian army and also by Ahrar Al-Sham, an al Qaeda-linked group and among those socalled “moderates” supported by the United States in its regime change effort. If the corporate media in the United States are truly interested in the plight

Go back to basics and vote intelligently We have been going through my archives. Some of my writings from the past still apply today. Some are more relevant today than they were back then (in the 1980s). Here’s one of those articles I’m compelled to republish.

“The emergence of Ronald Reagan and the Republican Party in the 1980s put the majority of Black advocates in a precarious position. So strong and lopsided was Black support for the Democratic Party that the arrogant Reagan regime figured they owed us nothing.

No leverage “Almost immediately, affirmative action and the Small Business Administration’s minority business programs came under attack. Many of the gains made in the ‘60s and ‘70s were diluted, as we had no “markers” to pull.

“We have learned a very strong lesson. Never put all of your eggs in one political basket. Advocacy groups should remain nonpartisan. Effective groups will be undamaged by any election outcome.

NNPA COLUMNIST

“Regardless of who is mayor, senator, governor or anything else, the group should be prepared to deal with the elected official. The agenda should be for the good of the Black economy – our people. An effective group should keep its “eyes on the prize” and not be left out of the sphere of influence.

“An elected official has only one thing in mind, and that is to get re-elected. Don’t be naïve to think that elected officials do things because they think it is right. They do it because they believe it will be the winning edge at the voting polls.

“It would be silly for us to think that all Democrats have the same fine views of the late John F. Kennedy or that all Republicans are as reticent to our needs as Ronald Reagan. There are good and

Clinton email shows oil, gold caused Gaddafi’s murder On New Year’s Eve, 3,000 emails from Hillary Clinton’s private email server were released. One of them to Clinton dated April 2, 2011 from her close confidante, Sidney Blumenthal, is instructive as to why Libya is now a failed state.

“Qaddafi’s government holds 143 tons of gold, and a similar amount in silver. During late March, 2011 these stocks were moved to SABHA (south west in the direction of the Libyan border with Niger and Chad); taken from the vaults of the Libyan Central Bank in Tripoli.

“This gold was accumulated prior to the current rebellion and was intended to be used to establish a pan-African currency based on the Libyan golden Dinar. This plan was designed to provide the Francophone African Countries with an alternative to the French franc (CFA).

According to knowledgeable individuals this quantity of gold and silver is valued at more than $7 billion. French intelligence of-

WASHINGTON’S BLOG GUEST COMMENTARY

ficers discovered this plan shortly after the current rebellion began, and this was one of the factors that influenced President Nicolas Sarkozy’s decision to commit France to the attack on Libya.

According to these individuals Sarkozy’s plans are driven by the following issues: (a) A desire to gain a greater share of Libya oil production; (b) Increase French influence in North Africa; (c) Improve his internal political situation in France; (d) Provide the French military with an opportunity to reassert its position in the world; (e) Address the concern of his advisors over Qaddafi’s long term plans to supplant France as the dominant power in Francophone Africa.”

This may confirm what some of us have been saying for years.

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: IRAN SANCTIONS LIFTED

of Syrians, perhaps they ought to do the real work of journalism instead of acting as courtiers for the Obama administration.

Date of departure While images of hungry children are the story du jour from Syria, the White House continues in its relentless effort to get an elected president out of power no matter what the consequences. A State Department memo leaked to the Associated Press proves that the Obama administration continues pressing for Assad’s ouster and has even come up with a date – March 2017 – when they plan for him to be gone.

This optimistic scenario assumes that the Syrian army will collapse, a prediction that has been wrong ever since 2011. It also assumes that Russia and Iran will do an about-face and leave Assad at America’s mercy. Both predictions are dubious. When the memo became public the State Department was caught red-faced and red- handed. They called it a “staff level think piece,” an unofficial document and an exercise of no consequence.

The folly of trying to overthrow Assad is so obvious that the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff shared intelligence with his government through intermediaries in Russia, Israel and Germany. This information comes from Seymour Hersh, who has proven once again that true journalism still lives.

Few of his colleagues dare to ask what will become of Syria if Assad should fall. Apparently one Libya isn’t enough for the Obama administration. Chaos is the order of the day for the Unit-

bad in both parties. They all can be converted into different directions based on the makeup of the sphere of influence. The fact of the matter is that there is very little difference in either party.

On both sides HARRY C. ALFORD

A5

“Blacks have got to recognize the need for us to have influence in both parties. We need highranking key decision-makers in every administration.

“I predict a more sensitive approach to minority participation with the Department of Defense with General Colin Powell as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. I predict little progress with the Indiana Department of Commerce until we have a talented, policymaking Black assigned to a top-level position. There simply will not be enough sensitivity coming down from the boardroom.

“I predict a whole new and better approach to minority participation at Indianapolis Public Schools now that Dr. Shirl Gilbert is the superintendent. We have four Black board members to thank and they are composed of both Republicans and Democrats.

“No political party has an exclusive on economic parity. Let’s be nonpartisan in the pursuit of that. Let’s have both sides ap-

Why war now?

While the Sunnis and Shias have been competing for more than a thousand years, they have largely co-existed peacefully until recently. Why are they involved in an open war across multiple countries now?

Much of modern geopolitics is driven by hydrocarbons, i.e., oil and gas. Is this true of the SunnisShia war? Yes. The U.S. and its allies are backing the Sunnis against the Shias in order to wage war for oil. And it turns out that the lion’s share of oil in the Middle East happens to be located in Shia countries, and in the Shia-minority sections of Sunni-majority countries.

Specifically, as Jon Schwartz reports at the Intercept: “Much of the conflict can be explained by a fascinating map created by M.R. Izady, a cartographer and adjunct master professor at the U.S. Air Force Special Operations School/ Joint Special Operations University in Florida.

“What the map shows is that, due to a peculiar correlation of religious history and anaerobic decomposition of plankton, almost all the Persian Gulf’s fossil fuels are located underneath Shiites.

This is true even in Sunni Saudi Arabia, where the major oil fields are in the Eastern Province, which has a majority Shiite population.

“As a result, one of the Saudi

PATRICK CHAPPATTE, THE INTERNATIONAL NEW YORK TIMES

ed States.

War is all hell and before Americans go along when Obama or his successor call for bloodshed, they need to keep these images in mind. Every time a president says that “Saddam must go,” or “Gaddafi must go,” or “Assad must go,” a new terror is created for unfortunate people in a faraway place.

Bloody hands It is important to keep in mind that the United States does not have clean hands as a humanitarian nation. The Obama administration deliberately kept food aid from reaching Somalians in an effort to break the alShabaab resistance. That is a war crime by any definition. Yet we never saw footage of starving Somalians on television or in the newspapers.

Anyone with even a small de-

pealing for our support, proving their commitment and providing opportunity.

“By all means, vote but never vote blindly. Vote for the person who exemplifies what we need.

Never let them assume our vote.

Keep them working for it.”

Came to pass My column was prophetic.

Within a year, Indianapolis Public Schools had 14 schools rebuilt by three Black construction firms and four Black architects/engineering firms. The pension fund was turned over to a Black financial manager. Black graduates of the school system received numerous jobs from these contractors. Mayor Stephen Goldsmith, a Republican, proudly displayed his joy about this.

Gaining a big piece of the Black vote encouraged him to perform a disparity study that would guide the city procurement office to significant diversity. For the first time in history, a Democratic governor felt the pressure and started to break ground via a statewide disparity study. The Legislative Black Caucus started pushing for more Black involvement via contracting and leadership roles within the state government. This is a “best practices” model for all major cities within our great nation.

royal family’s deepest fears is that one day Saudi Shiites will secede, with their oil, and ally with Shiite Iran.

“This fear has only grown since the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq overturned Saddam Hussein’s minority Sunni regime, and empowered the pro-Iranian Shiite majority. Nimr himself said in 2009 that Saudi Shiites would call for secession if the Saudi government didn’t improve its treatment of them.”

(Editor’s note: Sheik Nimr Baquir al-Nimr, a Shia political and religious leader in predominately Sunni Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, was executed by the Saudi government after calling for free elections there.)

Map reveals truth

gree of empathy wants to help people in Syria. The best way to do that is to demand that the United States leave that country alone. Syrians can return home and rebuild their lives if there are no foreign powers interfering with their country.

The United Nations and the Syrian government have pledged aid to Madaya and other communities. In the meantime concerned Americans can demand that their country stay out. Nonintervention is exactly what all Syrians need.

Margaret Kimberley’s column appears weekly in BlackAgendaReport.com. Contact her at Margaret.Kimberley@ BlackAgendaReport.com.

Before we got our city together, Indianapolis Black entrepreneurs were doing about $30 million in business per year. Today, they approach $1 billion annually. It doesn’t matter which political party is in control any more.

Black jobs and businesses are going to prosper because our vote is precious and unpredictable.

It would behoove Black cities like Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Baltimore and the rest of those housing enormous ghettos and lack any real Black power to pay attention to what happened in Indianapolis.

Black economic development is not guaranteed by any political party. It happens when it is necessary to continue political success, because the Black vote becomes a wise vote demanding positive results and progress.

Those who have wasted their vote simply because a candidate was Black or belonged to a particular party may continue to suffer.

The last seven years attest to that.

Harry C. Alford is the cofounder and president/CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce. Contact him via www.nationalbcc.org. of independent thinking among the country’s Shiites. The same tension explains why Saudi Arabia helped Bahrain, an oil-rich, majority-Shiite country ruled by a Sunni monarchy, crush its version of the Arab Spring in 2011.

Similar calculations were behind George H.W. Bush’s decision to stand by while Saddam Hussein used chemical weapons in 1991 to put down an insurrection by Iraqi Shiites at the end of the Gulf War. As New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman explained at the time, Saddam had “held Iraq together, much to the satisfaction of the American allies Turkey and Saudi Arabia.”

So the Sunni Gulf monarchies in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait are single-mindedly going after Iran and the Shia world because the Shias are sitting on the oil and gas resources.

The Sunni monarchies are doing everything they can to start a Sunni-Shia war across the Middle East and North Africa in order to “justify” a resource grab.

The map shows religious populations in the Middle East and proven developed oil and gas reserves. As Izady’s map so strikingly demonstrates, essentially all of the Saudi oil wealth is located in a small sliver of its territory whose occupants are predominantly Shiite. If this section of eastern Saudi Arabia were to break away, the Saudi royals would just be some broke 80-year-olds with nothing left but a lot of beard dye and Viagra prescriptions.

Nimr’s execution can be partGo to www.washingtonsblog. ly explained by the Saudis’ desperation to stamp out any sign com to read more.

TOJ A6

NATION

JANUARY 22 – JANUARY 28, 2016

Bernice King warns of distractions from dad’s message Civil rights leader’s daughter tells of complacency, cites pressing issues

BY KATIE LESLIE ATLANTA JOURNALCONSTITUTION (TNS)

ATLANTA –– On the 30th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. national holiday Monday, his daughter, the Rev. Bernice King, spoke of distractions.

Popular television shows like “Real Housewives of Atlanta” and “Empire” have “distracted” people into complacency over pressing sociopolitical Rev. Bernice issues, she told the King hundreds gathered Monday at Ebenezer Baptist Church.

“While we’ve been distracted, new voting rights restrictions have been created” and the educational system has become “the worst in the world,” she said, also listing global warming and environmental justice as growing problems.

The church’s annual commemorative service typically draws elected officials, faith leaders and activists, and is often dominated by political calls to action.

Candidates criticized Although it’s an election year, there was little to no mention of Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders, despite a few intermittent words of support for President Barack Obama.

But some of the speakers criticized Republican candidates.

Bernice King and Hispanic Federation President Jose Calderon took aim at GOP front-runner Donald Trump, with King noting that a “reality show host” is trying to “bully” his way into becoming president.

The Rev. William Barber II, the keynote speaker and president of the North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, spoke harshly about all candidates who, in his view, tout King’s words but defy his legacy.

“The further we get away from Dr. King’s life, we must be careful, we cannot allow the same economic political establishment he opposed in life to reframe his message and make it more palatable for materialistic schemes,” he said.

Meaning of evangelical Barber, a self-described conservative Christian, called on the media to broaden its definition of evangelism, noting that “in a sense, Dr. King was an evangelical” and that “to be a true evangelical, you’ve got to preach the

CURTIS COMPTON/ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION/TNS

The Atlanta Hawks hold a tribute to Martin Luther King Jr., projecting his image on the hardwood before tipoff against the Orlando Magic on Monday, at Philips Arena in Atlanta. good news to the poor.”

Barber went further, saying the term has been misappropriated “for a world view that is utterly devoid of prophetic critique.”

“Please stop saying these ‘evangelicals’ support a certain party,” he said. “God is not a Republican or a Democrat.”

Back in Atlanta, much of the nearly five-hour service focused on King’s commitment to fighting poor housing conditions and discrimination in Chicago 50 years ago.

U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro said King “knew that housing was about more than bricks Pulling from King’s “I See the Promised Land” speech, delivered in Memphis on April 3, 1968, the day before he was assassinated, Lynch – America’s chief law enforcement officer - told an audience at the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) salute to King what the DOJ is doing to bring racial progress. She called for everyone to “recommit ourselves” to do their part.

“This is all vital work and the scope and the pace of our efforts on behalf of justice and civil rights demonstrate how far we’ve come in the last half-century. But it is clear, even now, that we still have a long way to go to reach the promised land that Dr. King described,” Lynch said. “And that every one of us must be committed to do our part. After all, as Dr. King knew well – and as all of you here in this room understand – there is nothing inevitable about progress. There is nothing foreordained about our advancement.”

King’s pronouncement TRICE EDNEY NEWS WIRE

During a speech on Monday, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch cites the actions of the Department of Justice since President Obama took office.

Lynch: Still a long way to go before America reaches the ‘Promised Land’

BY HAZEL TRICE EDNEY TRICE EDNEY NEWS WIRE

U.S. Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch, giving one among thou-

sands of speeches commemorating the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. this year, says, when it comes to racial justice, America has a long way to go to reach the “Promised Land.’’

In that speech, King reflected on the nonviolent struggle to win the Civil and Voting Rights Acts and he marveled at the people around the world who were continuing to demand freedom.

In the famous ending to the speech, he said, “I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain.

And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people will get to the Promised Land.”

Lynch, America’s first Black woman attorney general, succeed the first Black Attorney General Eric Holder on June 17, 2015 – only seven months ago.

She took office during a tumultuous period marked by protests against police for shootings of unarmed Blacks, a struggle to maintain voting rights and continuing economic inequalities.

and mortar. He knew that if you tell me where a family lives, I’ll tell you what jobs are available to them; where their children go to school; the quality of the air they breathe.”

Castro has made several visits to Atlanta in recent months after awarding a $30 million federal housing grant to the city in September.

On King and Cuba Mary Lou Finley, who worked with King and former United Nations Ambassador Andrew Young in Chicago in 1965, praised King’s “open and loving response” to

DOJ actions Honoring King, she listed actions by the Department of Justice, dating back to the beginning of the Obama administration, that have been aimed to further the slain civil rights leader’s vision for justice. She said: We are vigorously defending every citizen’s right to vote, using every legal tool available to us to enforce the Voting Rights Act in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in Shelby County.

As well – since 2009, our Civil Rights Division has filed more criminal civil rights cases and prosecuted and convicted more defendants on hate crimes charges, than at any other point in the department’s history.

We’re working to ensure civil rights in criminal justice, in part by promoting trust and strengthening relationships between law enforcement and the communities we serve.

And we’re playing a leading role in this administration’s drive to reform our criminal justice system, especially through our ongoing work to reduce recidivism and improve reentry outcomes.

We’ve also joined with the Departments of Education, Labor and Housing and Urban Development to launch innovative programs in a number of areas, from making Pell grants available to some incarcerated individuals to helping local jurisdictions with record-cleaning and expungement so that every American returning home has the chance to contribute to their communities and make a new life for themselves.

Tribute to Ladner But the DOJ is only building on the successes of others, Lynch pointed out. A guest of the attorney general, civil rights pillar Dorie Ann Ladner, a stalwart in the Freedom Riders and SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating

everyday people, especially the youth.

“In this he gave us a glimpse of the beloved community,” she said. “So now it’s up to us to commit to the unfinished work.”

Jeffrey DeLaurentis, charge d’affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Cuba, drew parallels between King’s work in promoting human rights and individual freedoms and the normalizing of relations between the United States and Cuba.

“Dr. King may have never traveled to Cuba in his life, but his legacy … penetrates the hearts of minds of many there and here,” he said.

Committee) - who helped to organize the March on Washington and marched from Selma to Montgomery - looked on as she spoke.

“The progress that we celebrate today was made possible because of brave Americans like her. I am able to stand before you here because she marched there,” Lynch said. “Because the heroes of the Civil Rights Movement were willing to raise their voices, to risk their safety and even to lose their lives, we live in a nation where segregation no longer receives the sanction of law and where no person can lawfully be denied the right to vote simply because of their race,” she reflected.

“The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 continue to stand as landmarks in our nation’s history – monuments to our values and to the extraordinary progress that we have made together.”

Price of freedom She concluded that in order to truly honor the legacy of King all year long, their example must be followed by never giving up until the “Promised Land” is realized.

“We must recognize that their words and their deeds are not relics of history, but living challenges – calls to action that still echo in our hearts, urging us to continue their journey, to extend their cause and to realize their vision of a more just society – and a more beloved community,” Lynch said. “His challenge – a challenge to a nation to live up to its defining principles – still echoes today. Indeed, it is the challenge of every generation to realize that the price of freedom is constant vigilance; to understand that while we cannot erase every dark prejudice from the heart of man, we can work to ensure that the angels of our better selves win the day.”

Politics, education drive MLK Day rally in South Carolina

BY JAMIE SELF AND CASSIE COPE THE STATE (TNS)

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Democratic presidential candidates and a focus on education drew about 2,000 people to a Martin Luther King Jr. Day rally Monday in Columbia, the first since the Confederate flag was removed from the State House grounds.

Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton said, “That flag always belonged in a museum, not at the State House.” The flag flew nearby until last summer.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley joined marchers who walked from a prayer service at

the A.M.E. Zion Church to the State House rally.

“King Day at the Dome” was a chance for the Democratic candidates to appeal to AfricanAmerican South Carolina voters, who make up more than half of the state’s Democratic primary voters.

The candidates also touched on the theme of Monday’s King Day: Education.

Nine remembered Clinton tied education to gun violence, including the killing of nine African-Americans in a Charleston, S.C., church last summer – an issue she is making central to her campaign.

“This day is devoted to pro-

moting education. And I hope for the sake of the children of South Carolina, progress is possible because the spirit of those who came before should live within everyone who strives to uproot the systemic inequities that remain,” Clinton said.

“It lives on in the mothers who are fighting for an end to gun violence nationwide. Because at a time when guns kill more young Black men than the next nine leading causes of death combined – and when Black people are killed worshiping at Mother Emanuel with a gun bought through a legal loophole – this isn’t just a public safety issue.

It’s a civil rights issue.”

Sanders, O’Malley speak Sanders focused his comments on income inequality, and inadequate access to health care and education, noting King was engaged in a “poor people’s campaign” when he was killed.

“Let us remember where Dr. King was when he was assassinated,” Sanders said. King “was standing with sanitation workers — oppressed workers, lowpaid workers — and he was saying the lowest workers in America, the lowest paid people in America deserve dignity. I will stand with them.”

O’Malley, a former mayor of Baltimore, took a swipe at the

Republican presidential candidates.

“You look at the Republican candidates for president. They seem to all want to make it easy to get a gun and hard to vote,” O’Malley said. “I say we should make it hard for criminals to get guns and easy for all Americans to vote.”

The King Day rally started in 2000 to protest the Confederate flag flying on the S.C. State House dome. A compromise that year lowered the flag from the dome to the grounds. However, in July, state lawmakers agreed to remove the flag and display it in a museum.

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IFE/FAITH

Black Tech Week planned in Miami See page B2

SOUTH FLORIDA / TREASURE COAST AREA

JANUARY 22 – JANUARY 28, 2016

SHARING BLACK LIFE, STATEWIDE

NAACP, celebs boycotting Oscars See page B5

WWW.FLCOURIER.COM

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SECTION

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REMEMBERING AN ICON

KIM GIBSON/FLORIDA COURIER

Miami students had some serious statements to share through their signage during the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. parade on Monday in Liberty City.

A glance at images around the state on the federal holiday The nation honored Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with plenty of parades, marches and other gatherings. Florida Courier staffers were out and about around the state. On this page are some of the images captured in remembrance of MLK on Monday, Jan. 18, the federal holiday of the civil rights icon.

CHAYLA CHERRY/FLORIDA COURIER

Young honor guards march in the MLK parade on Sistrunk Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale.

KIM GIBSON/FLORIDA COURIER

JENISE GRIFFIN/FLORIDA COURIER

There were plenty of queens in the parades, including these in Liberty City.

A.M.E. Bishop A.J. Richardson addressed about 1,000 people at the Tampa Organization of Black Affairs’ MLK Leadership Breakfast Monday in downtown Tampa.

CHAYLA CHERRY/FLORIDA COURIER

These Fort Lauderdale students represent various countries with their flags.

South Florida veterans participate in a parade on Sistrunk Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale.

CHAYLA CHERRY/ FLORIDA COURIER

Florida International University (FIU) was well represented at the Liberty City parade.

KIM GIBSON/FLORIDA COURIER

Legendary singer Betty Wright waves to the crowd in Liberty City.

KIM GIBSON/ FLORIDA COURIER

CALENDAR

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JANUARY 22 – JANUARY 28, 2016

TOJ

FLORIDA COMMUNITY CALENDAR

will include Najee, Regina Belle. Complete lineup: www. jazzinthegardens.com.

Fort Lauderdale: ASCENT: Black Women’s Expressions Art Exhibition is Feb. 4-March 4 at Cotilla Gallery, Nova University, 3100 Ray Ferrero Jr. Blvd. Free.

Tampa: The Tampa Bay Black Heritage Festival continues on Jan. 23 with “Fearless & Flawless,’’ an empowerment workshop for youth 13–18 at the George M. Steinbrenner Boys & Girls Club, 1301 N. Boulevard. More information: www.voicethemovement. org. Festival schedule: www. tampablackheritage.org.

Miami Gardens: Florida Memorial University will celebrate its Homecoming Feb. 9-13. Events will include the annual parade and basketball games on Feb. 13. The Lions will face Voorhees College.

Details: www.fmuniv.edu.

Riverview: The Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA) will present a free homebuying workshop on Feb. 6 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Covenant Family Church, 6321 US Highway 301 S.

Miami: The “Walk Together Children” walking tour of Historic Overtown is Feb. 20 from 10 a.m. to noon. RSVP at 305-633-3583 or e-mail missgail52@gmail.com.

Tampa: The 10th annual Hillsborough Community College Black, Brown & College Bound’s Dr. Sylvia M. Carley Luncheon will feature former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell as the keynote speaker on Feb. 19 at the Tampa Convention Center at 12:30 p.m. Tickets are $125 each. More information: www. hccfl.edu/bbcb.aspx.

Orlando: Central Florida Community Arts will present “The Crucible’’ through Feb. 7 at Central Christian Church, 250 SW Ivanhoe Blvd. Tickets: Call 407-937-1800 ext. 710 or visit cfcarts.com/events.

‘THE LION KING’

“The Lion King’’ musical by Disney is being presented at the Straz Performing Arts Center in Tampa through Feb. 14.

HEZEKIAH WALKER

The 27th Annual Zora Neale Hurston Festival of the Arts and Humanities is Jan. 23-31 in Eatonville. Performers will include the Isley Brothers, Hezekiah Walker, Martha Munizzi and Kem. Full schedule: www.zorafestival.org

Sarasota: The Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe is presenting “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’’ by August Wilson through Feb. 20.

Jacksonville: The UniverSoul Circus will be at the Prime Osborn Convention Center Jan. 26-31. The circus also has February dates in Tampa and Miami.

Miami Gardens: The Sixth Annual Dan Marino Foundation WalkAbout Autism & Expo is Jan. 23, 8 a.m. to noon, Sun Life Stadium.

Hollywood: The legendary Diana Ross is scheduled Feb. 9 at Hard Rock Live.

Fort Lauderdale: The Love, Soul and Jazz Tour stops at the Nova Southeastern

JOHNNY MARTHIS

The legendary singer performs Jan. 31 at Florida Theatre Jacksonville.

University Arena on Feb. 12: Performers: Will Downing, Chrisette Michelle and Lyfe Jennings.

St. Petersburg: The Pinellas County Urban League’s 3rd Annual Whitney M. Young Jr. Leadership Awards Luncheon is 11:30 a.m. Feb. 6 at the Hilton St. Petersburg Carillon

Black Tech Week conference coming next month to Miami The nonprofit organization Code Fever has created a launch pad to help bring the technology gap within communities of color in South Florida.

With African-Americans making up just 2 percent of tech workforce, the second annual Black Tech Week delivers solutions for stronger partnerships for startups, training and information for students of color, as well as a Eunice strong platform to expand Cofie the technology blueprint in the Black community.

The weeklong series of events will be held Feb. 15-20 at Florida International University, 3000 NE 151 St., North Miami. Black Tech Week includes interactive workshops for idea exchange, startup boot

Park. More information: 727327-2081, ext. 128 Aventura: “Steppin’ Out Live with Ben Vereen’’ is scheduled Feb. 14 at the Aventura Arts & Cultural Center.

Fort Lauderdale: “Black Lives Matter, Moral Mondays, Mainstream Politics: 2016

African American Activism in the Context of African American History” will be the subject of a talk on Jan. 24 at 12:45 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 3970 NW 21st Ave. Speaker: Dr. Mark Solomon, Professor Emeritus of History, Simmons College.

New Smyrna Beach: The

25th Annual Black Heritage Festival is Feb. 5-7, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Pettis Park, 314 N. Duss St. Free. More information: 386-416-9699.

Miami Gardens: The Jazz in the Gardens music festival is March 18-20. Along with Usher, Kool and the Gang and Brian Culbertson, artists S:11.5 in

Jacksonville: Catch Patti LaBelle on Jan. 28 at the Times Union Center for the Performing Arts, Feb. 5 in Miami, Feb. 6 in Fort Pierce, Feb. 20 in Orlando, Feb. 21 in Tampa and Feb. 23 in Sarasota.

Tampa: Tickets are on sale for a concert by the Black Violin on Feb. 3 at the Straz Center and the Parker Playhouse in Fort Lauderdale on Feb.5.

Jacksonville: Rihanna: Anti World Tour 2016 makes stops on March 12 at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena, Amalie Arena in Tampa on March 13 and AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami on March 15.

camps, a women’s innovation brunch, pitch competitions and mentoring sessions.

Diverse speakers Black Tech Week is the premier pipeline in South Florida for people of color, to have access to key global players of color in the tech industry.

The visionaries behind the conference are Derick Pearson and Felecia Hatcher who are also the founders of the Miamibased Code Fever. They are committed to training African-American and Caribbean youth and young adults in the areas of technology and entrepreneurship.

Speakers for the conference will include Jeff Hoffman, co-founder of Priceline.com; Kathryn Finney, founder of Digital Undivided; Justin Washington, QA Engineer at SnapChat; Frederick Hutson, founder/CEO of Pigeonly; Chris Powell, CEO of BlackbookHR; Eunice Cofie, founder, CEO and chief chemist of Nuekie; and George E. Curry, founder of George Curry Media.

For more information, visit blacktechweek.com.

HOW TO LIVE UNITED:

JOIN HANDS. OPEN YOUR HEART. LEND YOUR MUSCLE. FIND YOUR VOICE.

GIVE 10%. GIVE 100%. GIVE 110%.

GIVE AN HOUR. GIVE A SATURDAY. Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law students, faculty and staff are shown at Everyday Blessings foster care.

Tampa law school students volunteer at foster-care facility on MLK Day Students, faculty and staff from Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School’s Tampa Bay campus honored the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., on Monday by volunteering at Everyday Blessings, a foster care organization located in Thonotosassa.

Volunteers provided lunch for foster children, ages one to 17, living at the facility. The foster children and WMU-Cooley volunteers played games and participated in various activities relating to who

Dr. King was and the importance of commemorating his civil rights efforts. Additionally, Mark Patterson of the law school’s Student Bar Association gave a presentation on Dr. King.

Following the presentation, each child was paired with a law student to discuss their dreams.

“It was truly amazing to see just how touched and fulfilled the Cooley students were while discussing each child’s inner desires, said Tony Alvarado, student services coordinator for the law school. “Lifetime bonds were made that day which will facilitate an ongoing and growing relationship between WMU-Cooley Law School and Everyday Blessings of Tampa.”

THINK OF WE BEFORE ME.

REACH OUT A HAND TO ONE AND INFLUENCE THE CONDITION OF ALL.

GIVE. ADVOCATE. VOLUNTEER.

LIVE UNITED

™

Want to make a difference? Help create opportunities for everyone in your community. United Way is creating real, lasting change where you live, by focusing on the building blocks of a better life– education, income and health. That’s what it means to Live United. For more, visit LIVEUNITED.ORG.

STOJ

JANUARY 22 – JANUARY 28, 2016

HEALTH

B3

How to fend off the flu in the workplace Have fewer meetings, let employees work from home are just a couple of options

BY ADAM SMELTZ PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE (TNS)

No matter what grandma might have warned, simple exposure to frosty winter air won’t lead to getting the flu. But going to the office might. Doctors suspect the workplace ranks among the biggest culprits in spreading the virus.

Nausea and other symptoms force Americans to take nearly 111 million sick days a year, contributing to about $7 billion in productivity lost to the annual flu season, federal data show.

Businesses and workers can

tackle the spread of the flu before anyone so much as coughs, said John Challenger, CEO at the Chicago outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

He suggested implementing telecommuting policies that let mildly ill employees work from home, along with more traditional provisions allowing sick time.

“Many people aren’t so sick that they can’t or don’t want to do any work. They often can do some of the most important work while they’re home and ill – and they don’t really mind,” Challenger said.

Avoid shaking hands For the workplace itself, he recommended routine disinfection of keyboards, doorknobs and other surfaces. Fewer meetings, more shifts and more use of

videoconferencing also can cut down in-person contacts, reducing flu-infection risks, Challenger said.

“Any time you have people working in close proximity of each other, it increases your chances” of picking up the disease, said Heather Rosen, medical director at a Pittsburgh-area University of Pittsburgh Medical Center urgent care clinic.

She said those with flu symptoms might want to avoid shaking hands with anyone.

The respiratory droplets can be passed. If you cough and you have them on your hands, you can pass them on to the other person,” Rosen said.

Cough into elbows At Greentree Medical Associates, lead physician Jennifer Pre-

iss said those infected are especially contagious in the first three days of flu symptoms, which include fever, coughs and muscle aches. She encourages people to cough into their elbows.

“I think if someone said they didn’t want to shake hands, I wouldn’t push it,” Preiss said.

Still, she said it might be extreme for a healthy person to halt all hand-shaking for the sake of flu season. It also could strain social ties.

“I find that to be a bit offensive and overstepping, if you will,” said Jacquelyn Flesner, a certified business etiquette trainer who started The Etiquette Network. “It falls into that category that, ‘I’m so concerned about my health and well-being that I won’t even extend you the classic courtesy of shaking your hand.’”

Get flu shots Clinicians agreed that annual flu shots are the best method to prevent an office epidemic.

Nearly 44 percent of adults nationwide were inoculated for the last season.

Employers can buoy that rate by offering in-house vaccination clinics or giving workers time to be inoculated elsewhere, said Joseph Bresee, an epidemiology chief at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

Early projections indicate the shot should be about 60 percent effective this season in preventing the flu nationwide.

“What we’ve found is that people are more likely to be vaccinated if it’s easy for them to be vaccinated,” Bresee said.

Should you use sanitizer or just plain soap and water?

MAYO CLINIC NEWS NETWORK (TNS)

According to the Centers for Disease Control and prevention, frequent hand washing is the No. 1 way to prevent the spread of infections. But what kind of soap is appropriate? And what about using hand sanitizers?

Why not antibacterial soap?

“The simple answer is that plain soap and running water coupled with good technique are just as good against common childhood respiratory and stomach viruses and bacteria as antibacterial soap. Plain soap doesn’t induce the risk of creating resistant organisms, according to a recent review article published

by Infectious Diseases Society of America,” said Dr. Peggy Decker, a Mayo Clinic Health System pediatrician.

Health care settings, such as hospitals and clinics, may have different recommendations.

Comprehensive information is available from the Centers for Disease Control.

Safety of sanitizers Because of the high alcohol content, there are several safety concerns with hand sanitizer. Kids shouldn’t use it unsupervised. Some experts recommend limiting how often young children use hand sanitizer, and it should not be used on children under 2 years of age. Alcohol is flammable so sanitizer needs to be stored safely away from flames and heat sources. There are strict guidelines for placement in schools and daycare centers to reduce the risk of fire.

“Due to high alcohol content in hand sanitizer, alcohol poisoning and intoxication is possible if a large amount is absorbed by drinking, using on damaged skin or using on babies who don’t have a fully developed skin barrier. Because the alcohol concentration is high — more than hard liquor — and young kids have a low body weight, prevention of accidental or purposeful ingestion is important,” Decker explained.

Supervision of hand sanitizer use (dime-size amount is all that’s needed) and safe storage

CHUCK BERMAN/CHICAGO TRIBUNE/TNS

Kindergarten teacher Courtney Dohman dishes out a squirt of hand sanitizer to students at Holmes elementary School in Oak Park, Illinois, in September 2009. Schools across the U.S. used sanitizers to help fight the swine flu. are important. If accidental ingestion of more than one squirt of hand sanitizer occurs, call the poison control center at 1-800222-1222.

Wash hands often Despite the risks of alcohol-

based hand sanitizers, children should avoid alcohol-free hand sanitizer due to concerns about resistant organisms with the antibacterial agents benzalkonium chloride and the possible toxic degradation products of triclosan.

“Remember, frequent hand

washing keeps germs at bay and can go a long way in protecting your child from viruses and bacteria,” added Decker. “By teaching your child the importance of hand hygiene and how to properly clean their hands, you can help them establish healthy habits that will last a lifetime.”

What you need to know about lead poisoning

sure?

Check your house. Homes built before 1978 are most likely to contain lead. Professional cleaning, proper paint stabilization techniques and repairs done by a certified contractor can reduce lead exposure.

Keep children out of potentially contaminated areas. Don’t allow your child near old windows, old porches, dirt next to an old home or areas with chipping or peeling paint, as well as old window putty that is flaking or chipping.

Filter water. Ion exchange filters, reverse osmosis filters and distillation can effectively remove lead from water. If you don’t use a filter and live in an older home, run cold tap water for 15 to 30 seconds before using it.

Keep your home clean. Regularly wipe floors and other surfaces with a damp mop or sponge.

Encourage good hygiene.

Make sure your child washes his or her hands and face after playing outside or with pets and before eating and sleeping. Also, regularly wash children’s toys, which may become contaminated from soil or household dust.

Promote a balanced diet. Eating a diet high in iron and calcium may decrease a child’s absorption of lead.

MAYO CLINIC NEWS NETWORK (TNS)

ing for lunch every day, I really don’t,” Christie said. “If I’m president, back to whatever you want to eat, OK?”

The recent news about high lead levels in the Flint, Mich., water supply has raised concerns about lead poisoning in general.

Mayo Clinic experts say young children are at the greatest risk of health problems related to lead exposure, including serious brain and kidney damage. Lead poisoning happens when the metal builds up in the body, often over time.

Even small amounts of lead can cause serious issues. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says about 4 million households have high levels of lead.

“Lead is a toxin to the human body and especially harmful to children due to their developing brain and nervous system,” says Mayo Clinic Children’s Center pediatrician Marcie Billings.

“Lead can affect almost any system in the body but in children can have the most serious effects on the neurological system including poor concentration, behavioral issues, effect on IQ, effect on academic achievement, developmental delay, and in most severe cases, encephalopathy. The effects of lead are also not reversible.”

Knocks president

Safety tips

Also during the meeting, Christie accused President Barack Obama of not enforcing federal law in states that have legalized marijuana because the president “got high when he was a kid.”

“So, since he got high when he was a kid, and he’s got the guilt over that, he now thinks, why should I impose the law on people across the country if they choose something different?”

Christie said. The president has acknowledged using marijuana when he was young; Christie says he never has.

Billings says awareness about lead poisoning is key to prevention.

Lead-based paint and leadcontaminated dust in older buildings are the most common sources of lead poisoning in children.

Other sources include water pipes; imported canned goods; contaminated air, water and soil and some imported toys. Adults who work with batteries, do home renovations or work in auto repair shops also may be exposed to lead.

How can you protect your children and yourself from lead expo-

OLIVIER DOULIERY/ABACA PRESS/TNS

First Lady Michelle Obama participates in a community service project at Leckie Elementary School in celebration of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service and in honor of King’s life and legacy on Monday in Washington, D.C.

Christie slams the first lady’s involvement in school lunch program

BY MADDIE HANNA PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER (TNS)

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa — Siding with a boy who bemoaned the absence of “square pizza” and other favorite lunch foods since Michelle Obama became first lady, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said at an Iowa pancake house MonChris day that if he beChristie comes president, students will eat “whatever you want.”

“The first lady has no business being involved in this,” Christie said during a town-hall

meeting at the Village Inn in Council Bluffs. “This intervention into our school system is just another example of how the Obamas believe they have a better answer for everything than you do.”

Parents should decide what their children eat, Christie said.

“I want people to eat more healthy — I’ve been trying to eat more healthy — but in the end it’s your choice,” he said.

Christie was responding to a boy who asked what he was “going to do about the lunches,” declaring that “now that Mrs. Obama’s the first lady, they’ve gone down.” Michelle Obama had backed new nutrition standards for the federal school lunch program.

“I don’t care what you’re eat-

Possible symptoms How do you know if your child has been exposed to lead? The following are possible symptoms of lead poisoning for children: Developmental delay; learning difficulties; irritability; loss of appetite; weight loss; sluggishness and fatigue; abdominal pain; vomiting; constipation; hearing loss.

Symptom for adults High blood pressure; abdominal pain; constipation; joint pains; muscle pain; declines in mental functioning; pain, numbness or tingling of the extremities; headache; memory loss; mood disorders; reduced sperm count, abnormal sperm; miscarriage or premature birth in pregnant women.

B4

PERSONAL FINANCE

JANUARY 22 – JANUARY 28, 2016

STOJ

PHOTO COURTESY OF GETTY IMAGES

IS AN INSTALLMENT LOAN RIGHT FOR YOU?

When deciding whether to obtain a loan, consider the benefits and responsibilities. According to the American Financial Services Association Education Foundation, an installment loan: •Obligates future income. You’ll be required to set aside a certain amount of future income for loan payments.

•Requires discipline. Borrowing wisely means not borrowing more than you can handle. Don’t let the thrill of buying obligate you to more than you can afford.

•Makes it possible to meet unexpected expenses. The ability to borrow and make affordable payments can be helpful if an emergency arises that requires extra money.

•Allows you to obtain products and services now and pay for them later. A loan can provide an opportunity to purchase bigger-ticket items and use them right away.

FROM FAMILY FEATURES

If you happen to find yourself in a tight spot, borrowing money can help set you back on the right path. However, doing so without a full understanding of the facts can hinder your finances in the future.

“When faced with a financial emergency, most people don’t think through how borrowing money might affect them down the line,” said Susie Irvine, president and CEO, American Financial Services Asso­ciation Education Foundation. “With so many options available, it’s relatively easy to get a loan, but the impact on your credit and what it actually costs you over time can vary a great deal.”

The two most common types of small-dollar borrowing are tradi­tional installment loans and payday loans.

Knowing the ins and outs of each type of loan and how they work can help you make the best decision for your financial situation.

Traditional installment loans are one of the oldest forms of finance transactions and provide credit to individuals and families who need access to credit to meet an immediate need, such as vehicle repairs, household appliances or medical expenses. Averaging around $1,500, traditional installment loans are “plain vanilla” loans with transparent, easy-to-understand re-

payment terms, due dates and payment amounts – which usually average $120 per month over a term of about 15 months. With regular, manageable payments of principal and interest, the borrower has a clear roadmap out of debt.

Best of all, traditional installment lenders report payment activity to credit bureaus, improv­ing a borrower’s credit score when payments are made on time.

Payday loans are repaid in a single balloon payment at the end of the loan period. This payment is usually due in less than 30 days and frequently the term is as short as 14 days.

Payday lenders do not assess ability to repay, relying instead on a post­dated check or similar access to a borrower’s bank account as assurance the loan will be repaid. If a borrower cannot afford to repay a payday loan in full when it comes due, they are left with no option but to refinance the entire balance of the initial loan. Although payday loans may appear to provide a quick and easy solution, this single, lump-sum payment can lead to significant problems for the borrower. Payday lenders have also been sanctioned in many states, and at the federal level, for abusive practices.

To learn more about affordable credit options that are available to help you better manage your money, visit installmentloanswork.com.

LOAN LANGUAGE

KEYS TO CREDIT SUCCESS The American Financial Services Association Education Foundation offers this advice to help ensure that your interests are protected when you borrow money: Budget your money. Provide your monthly spending plan when you meet with creditors.

It will help them make a responsible decision about the amount of credit you can afford.

Don’t overextend. Be sure you can pay back the loan. Don’t bite off more than you can chew.

Get personal. If possible, borrow from some­one you actually can see and talk to in

person. Get comfortable with the lender, and let the lender get comfortable with you.

Shop. Compare costs. Shop for credit like you would shop for anything else.

Beware of “now or never” offers. If it’s a good deal, it will probably still be there after you’ve had time to think about it. Don’t be pressured into making a quick decision.

Ask questions. Don’t sign on the line until all your questions have been answered.

Read the contract. Don’t sign a contract that you don’t understand or has any blanks.

A signed contract with blanks can be completed as anyone wishes and it will be legally binding.

Keep your contract in a safe place. It’s impor­tant to keep all paperwork relating to your credit obligations. If questions come up later, you’ll have your agreement in writing.

Make your payments on time and in full.

This is one of the best ways to build a good credit history.

Additional products are not required to get a consumer loan. Optional products that may be offered for pur­chase with your loan include motor club membership, term insurance or warranties.

When you take out a loan, it’s important to understand the cost of repaying the amount you’ve borrowed. Understanding these terms will help you calculate the real cost of borrowing to get the best deal.

Here is a list of common loan terms from the American Financial Services Association Education Foundation: Amount Financed: The total dollar amount of the credit that is provided to you.

Annual Percentage Rate or “APR”: A measure of the cost of credit expressed as a yearly rate.

Credit Insurance: Optional insurance that is designed to repay the debt if the borrower dies or becomes disabled.

Finance Charge: The dollar amount you pay to use credit.

Fixed Rate Financing: The interest rate and the payment remains the same over the life of the loan. Equal monthly payments of principal and interest are made until the debt is paid in full.

Length of Payment: The total number of months you have to pay the credit obligation.

Late Payment Fee: A fee charged when payment is made after its due date.

Monthly Payment Amount: The dollar amount due each month to repay the credit agreement

STOJ

JANUARY 22 – JANUARY 28, 2016

FINEST & ENTERTAINMENT

Meet some of

FLORIDA’S

finest

submitted for your approval

B5

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.

WALLY SKALIJ/LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

Jada Pinkett Smith arrives at the Golden Globe Awards show on Jan. 10. She has announced that she will skip the Academy Awards because of its lack of diversity this year. The 44-year-old actress and wife of Will Smith said in a video, “Begging for acknowledgement or even asking [to be nominated] diminishes dignity. “It diminishes power and we are a dignified people and we are apowerful. And let’s not forget it. So let’s let the Academy do them with all grace and love and let’s do us differently.”

The #OscarsSoWhite campaign on Twitter and critics have blasted the Academy Awards for overlooking actors of color this year. Many are surprised that Michael B. Jordan, star of “Creed,’’ wasn’t nominated for his leading role as Adonis Creed. Jordan, 28, also received acclaim for his portrayal of Oscar Grant in the 2013 film “Fruitvale Station.’’

NAACP on Oscars: Change the channel Organization blasts Academy Awards for lack of racial diversity again

BY HAZEL TRICE EDNEY TRICE EDNEY NEWS WIRE

The NAACP has suggested that television viewers “switch the channel – effectively boycotting the Oscars this year – after the Academy once again “severely overlooked’’ diversity in its top nominations.

The live airing of the premiere celebrity event on ABC Feb. 28 will unveil a vastly White slate of performers. This same issue drew blistering criticism from the NAACP and other organizations last year.

“With the announcement of the nominees for the 88th Academy Awards, the contributions of people of color to the movie industry — both in front of and behind the cameras — have once again been severely overlooked,’’ said a Jan. 14 statement issued by the civil rights organization.

“Of the 20 acting nominations, including Best Actor and Actress and Best Supporting Actor and Actress, the Academy failed for a second year in a row to consider a single actor of color for this distinguished award. Diversity is not just good business, it’s the only business, and the 2014 ratings numbers show that.

“It’s time the Academy recognizes the value and the voice of people of color and until they do, we should switch the channel until that old guard can reflect and respect what people of color bring to the table.”

Just 15 Blacks The 2014 Oscars, which had the most diverse slate of movies by filmmakers and actors of color, is what caused the ratings increase, the NAACP points out.

That year the broadcast “boasted the most-watched telecast in 10 years with 43 million viewers.”

But then last year, not one African-American was nominated

for acting or directing. The highest awards to African-Americans last year were to John Legend and Common as they received Oscars for the Best Original Song, “Glory” from the movie, “Selma.’’

In its 87-year-history of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, only 15 Oscars have gone to Black actors.

They are Lupita Nyong’o, 2014, “12 Years a Slave’’; Octavia Spencer, 2012, “The Help’’; Mo’Nique, 2009, “Precious’’; Forest Whitaker, 2006, “The Last King of Scotland’’; Jennifer Hudson, 2006, “Dreamgirls’’; Morgan Freeman, 2004, “Million Dollar Baby’’; Jamie Foxx, 2004, “Ray’’; Halle Berry, 2001, “Monster’s Ball’’; Cuba Gooding Jr., 1996, “Jerry Maguire’’; Whoopi Goldberg, 1991, “Ghost’’; Denzel Washington, 1989, “Glory,’’ and 2001, “Training Day’’; Louis Gossett Jr., 1982, “An Officer and a Gentleman’’; Sidney Poitier, 1963, “Lillies of the Field’’; and Hattie McDaniel, 1940, “Gone with the Wind.’’

ROBERT GAUTHIER/LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

Sidney Poitier is shown on stage with Angelina Jolie at the 2014 Academy Awards in Los Angeles.

‘Speed it up’ This year, “The Revenant’’ leads with 12 nominations, including Leonardo DiCaprio for best actor.

The acting categories are filled with all White performers.

Because of a lack of racial diversity in the Academy Awards, the NAACP, 47 years ago, created the NAACP Image Awards, to be aired Feb. 5 on TV One. Ironically, Academy president Cheryl Boone, an African-American woman, is a 2014 recipient of the Image Awards. In response to the vastly White nominees this year, she too has been critical.

“Of course I am disappointed,” Isaacs told the Huffington Post. “You are never going to know what is going to appear on the sheet of paper until you see it…We have got to speed it up.” She added, “But this is not to take away the greatness [of the films nominated]. This has been a great year in film, it really has across the board.”

Though Isaacs is credited for inviting Chris Rock to host the ceremony this year and for seeking to diversify the members of

ROBERT GAUTHIER/LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

Lupita Nyong’o gets emotional on stage after winning an Oscar on March 2, 2014. the Academy, the NAACP blames the continuing lack of diversity on a membership that it describes as “a private, invitational club of artists that lacks diversity by race and gender. While a sprinkling of filmmakers from varied populations have been invited to join the Academy ranks, this organization neither reflects the global diversity of the world, or the many moviegoers who support the industry.”

‘Unbalanced relationship’ The NAACP cited stats from the 2013 Motion Picture Association of America’s Theatrical Mar-

DANIEL A. ANDERSON/ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER/TNS

Denzel Washington and Halle Berry won Oscars on March 24, 2002.

ket Statistics Report, saying that “people of color represented 51 percent of the frequent moviegoing audience - 32 percent of that audience was Latino, while African Americans represented 12 percent.”

The civil rights organization concludes, “These numbers alone reflect the unbalanced relationship people of color have with Hollywood. Our brothers, sisters and friends love and support film and art, yet the Academy Awards seldom recognize the numerous and notable contributions by people of color making and appearing in entertainment today.”

The statement indicates the NAACP will continue to fight by

pressing the Academy membership to revisit “how it can play catch up to reflect a 21st century world.’’ The organization also indicates it may apply economic pressure by questioning “advertisers who support the Awards show.”

In 2014, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences received $97.3 million dollars in revenue “in large part to the domestic rights of its broadcast partner, ABC television, which has broadcast rights through 2020,” the NAACP states. “With the 2016 nomination results, our mission and efforts are as relevant today as they have been in the past.”

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FOOD

JANUARY 22 – JANUARY 28, 2016

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CHICKEN BURRITO SALAD Prep time: 15 minutes; Serves: 6 Salad: 1 small head romaine lettuce, torn into small pieces 1 cup cooked brown rice 1 can (15 ounces) black beans, drained and rinsed 1 can (14 ounces) diced tomatoes 1 can (10 ounces) chicken breast chunks, drained and flaked 1 can (10 ounces) corn kernels, drained 1 can (4.25 ounces) diced green chilies, drained 1 can (2.2 ounces) sliced ripe black olives, drained Dressing: 2 tablespoons fresh-squeezed lime juice 1 tablespoon fresh chopped cilantro 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil salt and ground black pepper, to taste Salad: In large platter or individual bowls, place lettuce leaves. Top with brown rice, black beans, diced tomatoes, chicken, corn, green chilies and black olives.

Dressing: In small bowl, combine lime juice and cilantro; whisk in olive oil. Add salt and pepper, to taste. Drizzle dressing over salad.

FROM FAMILY FEATURES

Moms pride themselves on serving their families wholesome, homemade meals. But here’s the reality: 60 percent of moms think that coming up with dinner ideas is more difficult than getting their children to go to bed on time. Moreover, 61 percent of moms frequently order takeout or go out to eat because they don’t have the ingredients on-hand to make dinner.

It’s time for a new strategy.

When it comes to mealtime, a well-stocked pantry can be the

difference between culinary success and a dinner failure. With a pantry full of canned foods, a delicious and nutritious homemade meal is just minutes away.

It’s no secret that canned foods are convenient, but did you know that cans are also one of the best ways to get food from the farm to your family’s table?

Canned fruits and vegetables are picked and packed when they’re at their peak of ripeness and nutrition, sealing in their freshness and flavor. Just like home canning, the canning process locks in foods’ natural goodness so it’s at arm’s reach whenever you’re

ready to get cooking.

A pantry stocked with canned ingredients is also a source of recipe inspiration. Staples such as canned chicken, corn, green chilies, olives, beans and tomatoes atop lettuce combine to create a wholesome Chicken Burrito Salad the whole family will enjoy. And in less than 30 minutes, a box of fettuccine and a can of spinach transform into a hearty Pasta with Spinach Pesto.

For more information, recipe inspiration and the benefits of canned foods, visit CansGetYouCooking.com.

PASTA WITH SPINACH PESTO Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 15 minutes; Serves: 4 1 can (13.5 ounces) spinach, well drained 1 cup fresh parsley leaves 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese 1/2 cup walnuts or almonds 1 large garlic clove 1 teaspoon dried basil 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil 1 box (16 ounces) fettuccine noodles In food processor, combine spinach, parsley, cheese, nuts, garlic, basil, salt and pepper; blend well. In slow, steady stream, add olive oil until mixture is blended and smooth.

Cook fettuccine as package directs.

Drain. Toss spinach pesto with fettuccine.

SOUTHERN STYLE SUCCOTASH WITH SWEET CORN SAUCE Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 20 minutes; Serves: 4 4 ounces olive oil 1 can (14.5 ounces) sweet corn kernels, drained

1 can (15.5 ounces) butter beans 1 can (15 ounces) sweet peas 1/2 cup sliced canned carrots, drained and diced 1/4 cup canned diced tomatoes 8 sprigs fresh thyme 1 fresh bay leaf salt and pepper, to taste Add olive oil to large skillet and quickly saute all ingredients with salt and pepper until heated through, about 5 minutes.

Serve on top of Sweet Corn Sauce.

SWEET CORN SAUCE 6 ounces canned corn, excess liquid strained off 3 ounces champagne or dry white wine 4 tablespoons butter salt pepper thyme sprigs In blender, puree corn and champagne until very smooth. Strain through fine strainer and place strained corn juice in small saucepan. Heat until simmering and slowly add cold butter, salt, pepper and fresh thyme.

CURRIED PUMPKIN SOUP Prep time: 5 minutes Cook time: 25 minutes; Serves: 4 2 tablespoons butter 1 medium onion, chopped 1 large carrot, peeled and chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 2 teaspoons fresh ginger, minced 1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder 1 can (14 ounces) chicken or vegetable broth 2 cans (15 ounces) 100% pumpkin 1 can (14 ounces) coconut milk 1 teaspoon salt pumpkin seeds In large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion, carrot, garlic, ginger and curry powder. Cook until carrots are almost soft, 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add broth and bring to boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and simmer until carrots are very soft, 10 minutes.

Transfer to blender or food processor and puree until very smooth. Return to pan and stir in pumpkin, coconut milk and salt. Cook over medium-low heat until heated through, 2-3 minutes.

Garnish with pumpkin seeds, if desired, and serve.