Florida Courier - February 03, 2017

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FEBRUARY 3 – FEBRUARY 9, 2017

VOLUME 25 NO. 5

CRISIS AND DRAMA

Donald Trump picks a Supreme Court nominee, then picks a fight with Iran, as his new administration lurches along.

Editor’s note: Part 2 of Publisher Charles W. Cherry II’s series on ‘What’s next for Black America’ will return next week.

COMPILED FROM WIRE REPORTS

WASHINGTON – President Trump nominated federal Judge Neil M. Gorsuch on Tuesday to fill the Supreme Court seat of the late Antonin Scalia, choosing a Western appeals court judge seen as the most likely choice from Trump’s shortlist to win Senate confirmation.

Born in Denver, Gorsuch, 49, is a fourth-generation Coloradan raised in a political family. His mother, Anne Gorsuch Burford, served in the Colorado House of Representatives and had a controversial tenure as head of the Environmental Protection Agency during the Reagan administration.

Gorsuch earned his undergraduate degree from Columbia University, his law degree from Harvard and a doctorate in legal philosophy from Oxford University.

Christmas in Talladega HBCU raises $670,000 from Fox News viewers

BY BROOKIE MADISON HOWARD UNIVERSITY NEWS SERVICE VIA THE TRICE EDNEY NEWS WIRE

He worked in private practice and at the Justice Department, and he wrote a book about euthanasia and assisted suicide that was published by Princeton University Press, before President George W. Bush nominated him to the appellate court.

The Senate quickly confirmed Gorsuch by voice vote.

A married father of two daughters, Gorsuch has clerked for two Supreme Court justices, the late Justice Byron White and current Justice Anthony Ken-

OLIVIER DOULIERY/ABACA PRESS/TNS

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump announced Supreme Court nominee Judge Neil M. Gorsuch in the East Room of the White House. nedy, a Republican nominee who regularly provides the swing vote on the ninemember Supreme Court.

It’s Scalia, though, whom Gorsuch cites as a judicial influence, particularly

in the emphasis on judges relying on the black-andwhite text of a statute or the Constitution rather than on what the late justice called the “policy consequences” of a decision.

Because Scalia was a stalwart conservative, Gorsuch is not likely to change the balance of the court. But his nomination does set the stage for a bruising partiSee TRUMP, Page A2

BLACK HISTORY MONTH 2017

ZORA! Festival concludes in Eatonville

TALLADEGA, ALA. – At Talladega College, a tiny historically Black institution 55 miles east of Birmingham, Ala., the president, the administration, the band director and the school’s 230-member marching band are as giddy in anticipation as a 9-year-old a week before Christmas.

In this case, however, Santa Claus – in the guises of Donald Trump and his supporters and Fox News’s Bill O’Reilly and his millions of “O’Reilly Factor” viewers – has already come to town and left the cash-strapped school $670,000 for marching in Trump’s inauguration.

And now it’s time to go shopping.

Equipment, improvements Visions of new trumpets, clarinets, sousaphones, drums and trombones are dancing in their heads.

There’s talk of a new band room big enough for all the members of the Great Tornado Marching Band to get in without stepping over each other.

The college is even considering its own buses to get the band to performances at NFL games, the New Orleans Mardi Gras and the numerous other venues the band plays annually.

See HBCU, Page A2

SNAPSHOTS

DUANE C. FERNANDEZ SR. / HARDNOTTSPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

ZORA!Fest participants enjoyed themselves as nine days of events ended on Jan. 29, just before Black History Month kicked off. Other events are happening around the state throughout the month of February.

FLORIDA | A3

Accused airport shooter pleads not guilty NATION | A6

Obama weighs in on ban BLACK HISTORY | B4

Test your knowledge

FOOD | B3

Appetizers for Game Day

ALSO INSIDE

Court says Uber drivers are on their own

BY DARA KAM THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

TALLAHASSEE – Siding with the San Francisco-based technology giant, a Florida appeals court Wednesday upheld a decision by Gov. Rick Scott’s administration that Uber drivers are independent contractors – not employees – and therefore not eligible for unemployment benefits.

The unanimous decision by the threejudge panel of the Third District Court of Appeals stems from an unemployment claim filed in 2015 by Darrin McGillis, who spent five months as an Uber driver before the company dropped him.

Contract enforced Uber, which hooks up drivers and riders through a smartphone app, requires drivers to sign a contract outlining the terms and conditions of its software platform and informing drivers that they serve as independent contractors, not employees, Judge Thomas Logue wrote in a 14-page opinion joined by judges Barbara Lagoa and Vance Salter.

The Florida decision addressed the “changes rippling through our society” re-

sulting from the advent of new technologies.

‘Old square hole’ “In this case, we must decide whether a multi-faceted product of new technology should be fixed into either the old square hole or the old round hole of existing legal categories, when neither is a perfect fit,” Logue wrote.

Florida courts consider several factors to determine whether parties practice an independent-contractor or employee-servant relationship, the most important of which is the “extent of control…the master may exercise over the details of the work,” Logue noted.

“Due in large part to the transformative

COMMENTARY: HARRY C. ALFORD: ‘THE WALL’ WILL STOP MORE THAN ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION | A4 COMMENTARY: ANTHONY L. HALL: ALL HAIL SERENA, THE GREATEST ATHLETE EVER | A5

See UBER, Page A2

FOCUS

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FEBRUARY 3 – FEBRUARY 9, 2017

Donald Trump’s immigration ignorance The president’s recent executive order was allegedly a political policy aimed at making Americans safe by banning entry into the United States by people from seven predominately Muslim countries that seek to enter U.S. cities.

Terrorism is defined as the use of terror and violence to intimidate and subjugate, especially as a political policy.

Not just Muslims Well, terrorism comes in all races, creeds, skin colors and faiths. Why the president suggested in his order that the arbitrary selection of certain countries will make America safer, I don’t know.

Religious groups have terrorized and fought each other for thousands of years. If people who are Christians feel threatened

by Muslims who talk about “jihad” against non-believers, you

LUCIUS GANTT THE GANTT REPORT

should go and check out how Muslims felt during the Christian Crusades!

The Crusades were a series of devastating, bloody and murderous religious wars sanctioned by the Latin Church in the medieval period, especially the campaigns in the Eastern Mediterranean, with the aim of capturing Jerusalem and the Holy Land from Islamic rule, recapturing Christian territory and defending Christian pilgrims.

The executive order Trump signed last week bars all entry for the next 90 days by travelers from Syria, Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Sudan, Somalia and Libya. Excluded from the lists are several ma-

jority-Muslim nations where the Trump Organization is active and which, in some cases. have also faced troublesome issues regarding terrorism.

Conflicts of interest?

If you don’t know, perhaps the president refuses to reveal his tax returns because those returns will show he has business interests in multiple predominately Muslims countries including (but not limited to) Turkey, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, Dubai and other places.

The executive order makes no mention of Saudi Arabia, home of 15 of the 19 terrorists involved in the 9/11 attacks. The Trump Organization had formed several limited liability companies in preparation for an attempt to build a hotel in Saudi Arabia, showing an interest in expansion in the country.

The president’s company canceled those formations in De-

cember, indicating that no project is moving forward.

Homegrown terror Trump wants to “make Americans safe,” but many AfricanAmericans feel they are being terrorized constantly and almost daily by racist American terrorists that bomb Black churches, burn Black churches and shoot innocent churchgoers at Bible study sessions.

Everybody in every Black community knows a family member, friend or neighbor that has been a victim of racial terror. It took 40 years for people to tell the truth about how Black teenager Emmett Till was kidnapped, terrorized and killed.

If my geography is correct – and I think it is – of the seven countries whose Muslim residents were banned by the recent executive order, Libya, Sudan, Somalia and Yemen are African countries.

You already know I don’t have to write a word to tell you what that implies to me.

The immigration order is expected to hurt or harm many Internet and technical business-

HBCU ‘A blessing’ “This has been an absolutely amazing ride,” said Greg Wilson, a spokesman for the college who rode back to Talladega on the buses with the band. “What started out as a GoFundMe account just to get to D.C. to participate in the inauguration has morphed into something far greater.

“In terms of the financials, it’s a blessing. We’re thankful for it. The band has an immense amount of needs.”

Probably no one is happier than Talladega President Billy Hawkins.

Shirley Ferrill of Fairfield, Ala., a member of the graduating class of 1974, told the Associated

TRUMP from A1

san fight over a man who could help determine U.S. law on gun rights, immigration, police use of force and transgender rights.

Harsh words to Iran On Wednesday, the White House put Iran “on notice” over what it said were a series of provocations, giving Americans – and the world – a chance to see how Trump handles a foreign crisis. Top aides would not rule out military action.

In a toughly worded warning, national security adviser Michael Flynn lambasted “destabilizing behavior” by Iran this week, noting the testing of a medium-range ballistic missile and an attack by Iranian-backed militants in Yemen against a Saudi naval vessel.

Reading the statement to journalists at the White House, Flynn cast blame on the Obama administration, which he said had acted in concert with the United Nations, for offering Iran agreements that were “weak and ineffective.”

“Instead of being thankful to the United States for

Immigration is an issue that must be addressed by all nations.

But immigration ignorance is dangerous. Bad immigration policies should be opposed, discredited and abandoned!

Where would President Donald Trump, his ancestors, his wife, his business partners and other United States citizens of European descent be if Native Americans stood at the shores 400 years ago with bows and arrows and banned immigrants who wanted to come to America?

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

Sold their souls?

Right move?

Online petition

Where would he be?

Howard Anderson gave $2,500.

“I wish you the best as we make America great Again,” Anderson wrote. “We are with you Our FUTURE Thank You. I love you GOD BLESS.” Edward Kinsey gave $500.

“Your courage is an example of doing the right thing to support the United States of America,” Kinsey said.

from A1

“This is also a demonstration that we made the right decision to allow our students the opportunity to participate in a civic ceremony,” Hawkins said. “It provided our students this opportunity to be a part of history and something they will remember for the rest of their lives.”

A little over a month ago, the college was the target of scorn nationally from activists and alumni for having agreeing to participate in the inauguration of a president-elect largely loathed

by African-Americans.

The band had applied to march in the parade long before the election, but when Trump won on Nov. 9 instead of Hillary Clinton and invited the band to participate, an avalanche of criticism engulfed the school.

es, and hurt chances for the U.S. to host world sports competitions like the World Cup or Olympics. The order can only make life more problematic for U.S. soldiers stationed in those Muslim countries fighting beside people that are possibly banned from America.

COURTESY/ANNISTON STAR

Talladega College President Billy Hawkins is surrounded by the media and students during a sendoff to march in Donald Trump’s inaugural parade.

Press that she and other alumni were horrified to hear news of the school’s participation. Ferrill said she didn’t want her alma mater to seem as if it was supporting Trump in any way.

She created a petition asking for the withdrawal of the band from the inaugural festivities that gathered over 2,000 signatures.

Poet Nikky Finney, a Talladega graduate and professor at the University of South Carolina, said she felt the band should not celebrate Trump.

“The college had sold out the history of Talladega College for chicken change [and] maybe a tin star on a hatemonger’s parade route,” Finney told the New York Times.

President castigated Much of that criticism was di-

these agreements, Iran is now feeling emboldened,” Flynn said. “As of today, we are officially putting Iran on notice.”

Flynn did not further explain what “on notice” means, and U.S. officials, in a conference call with journalists, did not lay out a clear path forward. Experts said the U.S. administration and Iran were testing each other and that frictions might escalate further.

Sad duty Trump and his daughter Ivanka flew by helicopter to Dover Air Force Base for the arrival of the remains of a U.S. commando who had been killed early Sunday in Yemen during a raid on al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.

The Pentagon has identified the commando as William “Ryan” Owens, a 36-year-old chief special warfare operator, of Peoria, Ill. Several news outlets have said Owens was a member of SEAL Team 6, a highly specialized naval counterterrorism unit.

His death occurred during the first counterterrorism operation of the Trump presidency.

Tillerson in State In a largely partisan vote, former Exxon Mobil

rected at Hawkins.

“They’ve said that I have shamed the college by making this decision and have had folks to say I am a disgrace to my African-American race,” he said during a television interview before the inauguration. With such a furor, Hawkins considered pulling out, but decided to go after all.

“This was never about politics and those who were critical of this didn’t think about the students,” he said. “They deserve the same right to participate in this parade just like all the other parade participants.”

The band set up a GoFundMe account with the goal of $75,000.

In the beginning, there was a slight trickle, but after the college president appeared on the Bill O’Reilly show on Fox TV, the money flooded in.

chief executive Tillerson won his Senate approval Wednesday as secretary of state by a vote of 56-43.

Only three Democrats and one independent crossed party lines to join Senate Republicans, a sign of how divisive Tillerson’s nomination has been.

Tillerson’s most urgent task at the State Department will be to quell what some describe as a nearmutiny among the State Department’s vast staff and to counter a growing sense of demoralization among the nation’s diplomats.

“There’s a new level of consternation,” said Antony Blinken, who was deputy secretary of state under President Barack Obama.

He commented after the chaotic start of Trump’s travel suspension Friday, which saw hundreds of people with valid U.S. visas and green cards suddenly detained at U.S. airports or stranded around the globe.

The State Department was not consulted before the order was issued, sources said, even though it is responsible for issuing visas and vetting refugees.

Worldwide complaint The concerns boiled over Tuesday, when more than 800 U.S. diplomats, consular officers and oth-

Hundreds of thousands The college received $670,000 in the Go Fund Me account in a mere 15 days. The contributions were led by large donors.

O’Reilly chipped in $25,000.

Ophelia and Juan Roca, two Miami-based philanthropists, gave $6,000. That was followed by two anonymous donors of $5,000 each, then scores of four-figure donations. More than 50 people gave at least $1,000.

The donations were often accompanied by comments reflecting the donor’s support of Trump and O’Reilly.

‘Thank you’ “Congratulations to the band, to O’Reilly and O’Reilly Factor, to the college,” the Rocas wrote.

“I’m very proud of your students.”

er Foreign Service employees formally submitted a signed cable of dissent to Trump’s order to temporarily suspend all travel from seven Muslimmajority countries in an effort to prevent terrorism.

The dissent channel is a rarely used but timehonored system that allows State Department officials to offer opinions on foreign policy that diverge from the White House.

The dissents are usually confidential, but this one – the largest ever – was circulated to U.S. embassies and consulates around the world.

“A policy which closes our doors to over 200 million legitimate travelers in the hopes of preventing a small number of travelers who intend to harm Americans … will not achieve its aim of making our country safer,” it states.

“Such a policy runs counter to core American values of nondiscrimination, fair play and extending a warm welcome to foreign visitors and immigrants.”

Tim Johnson and Anita Kumar of the McClatchy Washington Bureau, and Tracy Wilkinson of the Tribune Washington Bureau (TNS) all contributed to this report.

Ferrill said she wished her petition had moved the school not to participate and she still feels the school made a mistake.

“For me, it transcends the money,” she said last week as she quoted a passage from the Bible, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but loses his soul?’”

Most getting aid For the band and the school, the influx of cash has been a godsend.

One-third of the school’s 800 students participates in the band, officials said. Most of those students as well as at least half of the entire student body are receiving some form of federal loans.

“Financial aid is a challenge to pay for, especially for students at historically Black colleges,” Hawkins said. “Now we will be able to provide additional scholarships.”

He said he hopes to build on the school’s success, with alumni and others.

“I would like to see a new established donor base and I would hope that those that gave would continue to support the band and Talladega College,” he said.

“It was so, so positive.”

UBER from A1

nature of the internet and smartphones, Uber drivers like McGillis decide whether, when, where, with whom, and how to provide rides using Uber’s computer programs. This level of free agency is incompatible with the control to which a traditional employee is subject,” Logue concluded.

‘Controlled by Uber’ But, in the appeal filed last summer, McGillis argued that he “was closely controlled by Uber, with every move monitored and evaluated.”

McGillis could be fired or “deactivated, as Uber calls it,” if the company was not satisfied with his performance, the former driver wrote.

“Drivers, like the appellant, perform an essential service for Uber. Without its drivers, Uber would no longer be able to generate revenue, and would cease to exist. Moreover, it is plainly apparent that Uber exerts considerable control over the means and manner that drivers carry out their work, and retains the power to terminate drivers

at its discretion,” McGillis wrote.

The Florida Department of Revenue initially decided that McGillis and another former Uber driver, Melissa Ewers, had been employees of Uber. That led the company to file a protest with the Department of Economic Opportunity, which handles appeals of such issues.

The Department of Economic Opportunity overturned the revenue agency’s finding, agreeing with Uber that McGillis and Ewers were independent contractors and were not entitled to file for unemployment insurance in Florida.

Legislators may act Wednesday’s ruling – which would affect approximately 20,000 Uber drivers in Florida – comes at a time when lawmakers are again considering proposals that would ban local governments from regulating companies like Uber and Lyft.

Similar proposals – fiercely opposed by taxi and limo companies – have failed the past two legislative sessions after Senate leaders balked at the notion of preempting local regulations and instead focused on issues such as insurance requirements.

FEBRUARY 3 – FEBRUARY 9, 2017

FLORIDA

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Perry ends ‘senior justice’ role

BRIAN CASSELLA/CHICAGO TRIBUNE/TNS

Demonstrators converge in reaction to the executive order travel ban on Jan. 29 outside Terminal 5 of O’Hare International Airport.

Speaker asks Trump for more cooperation on refugees THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

Corcoran’s concern

Saying the state House is “seriously re-evaluating Florida’s role” in refugee-resettlement programs, Speaker Richard Corcoran has asked President Donald Trump for better cooperation with Washington on the issue.

In a letter on Jan. 27, Corcoran described refugee services as a “one-sided partnership” in which Florida and contractors have to follow federal directives.

“Despite the state’s legitimate concern with security risks – a concern even more compelling in Florida given recent tragedies perpetrated by terrorists – there is no opportunity for Florida to institute more rigorous scrutiny of people coming to our state and receiving our services,” Corcoran, R-Land O’ Lakes, wrote.

“In 2016, nearly 700 persons from Syria, more than 300 persons from Iraq, and nearly 200 persons from Afghanistan were brought

to Florida as part of the refugee program. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement received no information from the Department of Homeland SecuRichard rity or other federCorcoran al agencies about these individuals and is severely hampered in any effort to differentiate between true refugees and persons who

pose a threat to Floridians.”

Before executive order The speaker’s office said the letter was sent before Trump issued a controversial executive order that, in part, temporarily halted refugees from coming to the United States. It also came a day after Democrats walked out of a House Children, Families & Seniors Subcommittee meeting to protest a speaker with a history of inflammatory statements about minorities and immigrants.

Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, had been invited to testify during a discussion of resettling refugees, particularly those from war-torn Syria.

Accused Fort Lauderdale airport shooter pleads not guilty

BY PAULA MCMAHON SUN SENTINEL/TNS

FORT LAUDERDALE – The Iraq War veteran charged with killing five people and injuring six others in a mass shooting at Fort Lauderdale’s international airport pleaded not guilty to the allegations against him on Monday.

Esteban Santiago, 26, leaned over the wooden lectern in court and appeared to read along as U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Seltzer read the entire indictment aloud to him — including the names of all five people killed in the mass shooting.

One of his lawyers then told the judge that Santiago was pleading not guilty to all of the charges.

Mental health problems If convicted of the most serious counts, he faces life in federal prison or the possibility of the death penalty.

He is charged with five counts of causing death at an international airport, six counts of causing serious bodily injury at an international airport, five counts of causing death during a flcourier.com crime of violence and six counts of using a firearm during a crime of violence.

Santiago, who has a history of mental health problems, has been locked up in the Broward County main jail in downtown Fort Lauderdale since he surrendered to law enforcement after firing all 15 bullets that he had at the airport.

flcourier.com

Retired Florida Supreme Court Justice James E.C. Perry will end his service as a “senior” justice Tuesday, a month after Justice Alan Lawson replaced him on the court.

Chief Justice Jorge Labarga issued an order Dec. 1 that would have allowed Perry to serve until Sept. 30, 2018, as a senior justice. But in an order issued Jan. 11, Labarga wrote that Perry’s senior service would end Jan. 31.

In that order, Labarga said the Supreme Court “has a long tradition of assigning recently retired justices to senior service for purposes of completing the work they already had begun on this court before the dates of their retirement.”

But he said the practice should be limited. “At the time that the December l order was entered, it was not known when a new justice would be appointed to replace him (Perry),” the Jan. 11 order said. “That issue now has been resolved.

Moreover, the Honorable James E.C. Perry has expressed his desire that his senior service not be protracted for a lengthy period of time.”

He has been in solitary confinement and on suicide watch because of the seriousness of the allegations he faces and the potential punishment.

Transferring to Miami He is expected to be transferred soon to the Federal Detention Center in downtown Miami because his case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom who usually holds court hearings in Miami. Monday’s hearing was in Fort Lauderdale.

The grand jurors who indicted Santiago found that he caused “grave risk of death to other people” and the crime involved “substantial planning and premeditation.”

The five people who died in the Jan. 6 mass shooting were Mary Louise Amzibel, 69, of Dover, Del.; Michael John Oehme, 57, of Council Bluffs, Iowa; Olga M. Woltering, 84, of Marietta, Ga.; Shirley Wells Timmons, 70, of Senecaville, Ohio; and Terry Michael Andres, 62, of Virginia Beach, Va., who are all named in the indictment.

The six people who were injured by gunfire, including Amzibel’s husband, Edward, Timmons’ husband, Steve, and Oehme’s wife, Kari, are identified only by their initials in the indictment. The other survivors have not been publicly identified.

A confession FBI agents testified that Santiago confessed to

planning the massacre and told investigators he traveled to South Florida to carry it out.

Prosecutors have said they have not yet ruled out terrorism as a possible motive but they filed no terrorism-related charges against Santiago.

Though, he told agents he had visited online jihadi chat rooms and thought he was in contact with Islamic State terrorists, investigators have not yet confirmed if that is true.

Santiago voluntarily entered a psychiatric hospital for treatment in November after he went to the FBI office in Anchorage, Alaska, and asked for help.

‘Terroristic thoughts’ At the time, he told agents that his mind was being controlled by the U.S. government and he was having “terroristic thoughts” and being urged to watch terrorist propaganda online.

He was hospitalized for less than a week and the gun, which he used in the Fort Lauderdale shooting, was returned to him by local police in Alaska one month before the fatal attack.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ricardo Del Toro and Lawrence LaVecchio.

Santiago is now being defended by Chief Assistant Federal Public Defender Hector Dopico and Assistant Federal Public Defender Eric Cohen.

Read All About Black Life, Statewide!

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EDITORIAL

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FEBRUARY 3 – FEBRUARY 9, 2017

It’s time for sustained persistence Listening to all the Black chatter about the post-Obama era, all the indignation, the whining, and the lamenting Trump, makes me think about the Standing Rock protest and standoff in North Dakota.

In April 2016, Standing Rock Sioux elder La Brave Bull Allard began a resistance against the Dakota Access Pipeline that soon grew to thousands of people.

The protesters refused to leave even under orders from government powers and in the face of armed national guardsmen, pepper spray, attack dogs, and police gear.

They set up a small village, lived in tents and trailers, and hunkered down for the long haul.

Then the cold weather came, and boy was it cold!

To add to the protesters’ misery, police used water cannons on them in the freezing cold.

Temperatures dropped to 20 degrees below zero, not to mention the wind chill. In November, two feet of snow fell in the area.

Still standing Yet the protesters said they will not leave until the pipeline rerouted away from their sacred land and the water sources they depend upon. You reading this, Flint residents?

Despite 141 protesters being arrested – bringing the total number of arrests since the protests began to more than 400 – Chairman Dav Archambault said, “The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is not

JAMES CLINGMAN GEORGE CURRY MEDIA

backing down from this fight...

We are guided by prayer, and we will continue for our people. We will not rest until our lands, people, waters and sacred places are permanently protected from this destructive pipeline.”

That’s what we call “sustained persistence,” which obviously is a redundant term.

It reminds me of the people who withstood the fire hoses and dogs during the civil and voting rights battles. It also brings attention to the importance of maintaining, supporting, and sustaining our protests over the long haul rather than simply a day or two.

Not since the Montgomery bus boycott, which lasted for 381 days, have Black folks demonstrated the will and commitment to sacrifice for long periods of time for our causes.

‘Fired up’ We need “sacrificial resistance.” Today we have protests that last for a few hours; we hear a couple of speeches and return home to await the next call to do the same.

Think about how many protests Black people have called

‘The Wall’ will stop more than illegal immigration “The Wall” along our southern border will indeed be built. It is at least 30 years overdue.

Mexico does a lot of serious and legal trading with the United States. In fact, we have a trade deficit with them of more than $60 billion annually. They are getting over on us and President Trump is going to deal with that. But that isn’t the problem The Wall will address.

Illegal immigration is alive and well. People living in the San Diego area are warned by traffic signs (like deer signs) to beware of people running across Interstate 5. I have experienced that.

Almost run over A couple of years ago, we were driving into the city and to my shock, there were about 30 humans running across the freeway. Most of them were children. I had to swerve and brake at the same time. It was a blessing that the lane to my right was available. The caution signs

HARRY C. ALFORD GUEST COLUMNIST

were appropriate.

I imagined most of the teenagers and adults in this group will first end up working as cheap labor in the farm areas. Many will end up in Oregon, Washington state, and California. That is an everyday thing across our border.

Traveling to the destination seems to be no problem, as illegal immigrants who work the fields are in just about every state in the union. This must be an impediment to unemployed American workers who would demand at least minimum wage.

‘Comfort ladies’ Unfortunately, there is a very sleazy side to this. The male

Random thoughts of a free Black mind, v. 292 Kenny Kinsler, 1955-2016 – As 2017 begins, I’m writing another obituary for another schoolmate. This time, it’s my high school basketball teammate Kenny Kinsler, who died last week at age 61.

He was a year ahead of me at Seabreeze Senior High School in Daytona Beach. We were some of the first Black “jocks” to earn spots on the school’s sports teams which had been all-White.

Kenny was bowlegged, goodlooking, had a great smile and a large laugh, and kept his big Afro tight back in the day. The women loved him!

When you saw Kenny, you always saw one of his best friends: either Earnest “Benny” Jones –

QUICK TAKES FROM #2: STRAIGHT, NO CHASER

CHARLES W. CHERRY II, ESQ. PUBLISHER

another one of our basketball teammates who died before his 60th birthday – or Bobby “Action” Jackson, who helped desegregate Seabreeze’s football team. Rest in peace, Kenny, and holler at Benny for all of us...

Surviving to receive Social Security benefits – Many of my former classmates and I turned 60 last year. Decision time is approaching – whether to receive

over just the last five years. Think about our tepid responses to the police in the cases of Eric Garner, John Crawford, Tamir Rice, Alton Sterling, and many others. We get “fired up,” but we are not really “ready to go.” We end up going nowhere, and we fail to resolve the problems we are protesting.

The recent march led by Al Sharpton was called, “We Shall Not Be Moved.” Well, the title was certainly correct. We have not moved since that one-day march, and I have not seen any positive results that came from that protest against Donald Trump. Have we simply become professional marchers, complainers, and paper tigers?

Short-term activity Unlike the folks at Standing Rock, our leaders do not appear willing to live in tents in the freezing cold and stay in protest mode no matter what. We call for “boycotts” of a certain mall or a certain store, and sustain it for a day (Black Friday). We say “boycott Christmas,” catch the afterChristmas sales, the MLK Day sales, the Black History sales, and the tax refund sales that come in the ensuing month.

Maybe our protest leaders have grown weary of marching and doing anything over a sustained period. Maybe they just want impress us with their bombastic, threatening, and angry rhetoric. They want to get us fired up and ready to go, but they don’t want to lead us.

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: THE MEXICAN BORDER WALL

PAUL ZANETTI / AUSTRALIA

Speaking of rhetoric, if Black folks would simply put as much energy into appropriate action as we expend on discussing issues that advance us not one iota, or complaining about Trump, or lamenting about Obama leaving, we would move far beyond our present state.

Doing just fine Trump is large and in charge.

Obama is playing golf in Palm Springs. They are doing just fine.

What about us?

We must revisit the days of Montgomery, the days of sacrifice, and the days of sustained persistence and resolute resistance.

Expend energy doing things that will result in progress, on some level, for our own people.

Find something that really matters not only to you, but your

workers who live in areas of limited population are supplied “comfort ladies.” Where do they come from? The same place as the workers. They are teenage females who are led into crossing the American border and forced into sex slavery. My son noticed this shameful business while visiting a small town in Vermont.

These girls would be sitting outside a large farm on benches waiting for the workers to get off from work. They would take their “john” into a cabin area located along the side of the farm.

It shouldn’t take authorities too long to catch onto this and bust it up. They must go along with it and that is an American tragedy. This alone should make us threaten the annual foreign aid we give to Mexico if they don’t bring this to a stop.

That is just one problem that involves our southern border.

Auto theft is another problem.

It is quite easy to steal a car, pay off a Mexican border agent, and sell it to a “chop shop.” That car will never be seen again, and the Mexican authorities have little interest in finding it. If you visit border cities such as Tijuana, Juarez, etc., never take your

car and park it across the border.

my Social Security benefits early (at age 62 years and eight months), or wait until I reach full retirement age (66 years and four months) to receive a larger monthly payment.

In less than a year, I’ve lost six of my high school or college classmates – all Black men – none of whom got to 62.

I remember being shocked at my 40th high school class reunion in 2014 at the long list of my Black classmates from elementary school through high school that had already died.

Most of them had at least 35 years of work experience, which means they paid into the Social Security system for almost four decades. But they didn’t live to receive the benefits for themselves.

I know that Social Security and life insurance rates and benefits are based on semi-scientific actuarial tables and life expectancies. But given the fragility and disproportionate

pain Black people, particularly Black men live in America, are brothers especially being shortchanged? Or am I recognizing my own mortality?

Question: Why wouldn’t any Black man, given our relative fragility and shorter life expectancy vs. other demographic groups, take Social Security benefits as soon as he could qualify?

King Don’s Black History Month “listening session” – Want to see a clown show? Send a “jackleg” Black preacher to the White House.

On Wednesday, Donald Trump had a photo op with a handful of Black political supporters, administrators and advisers. (Only one Black entrepreneur, media owner and longtime GOP pundit Armstrong Williams, was at the table.)

All went well until self-appointed Black leader Rev. Darrell Scott, an early Trump supporter who pastors a church in Cleveland, Ohio, opened his mouth

Major problem These are just two problems that are generated by our southern neighbor. However, if you take all the problems that originate in Mexico and affect the United States and add them up, the total would not begin to approach our biggest problem with the Mexican border: cocaine.

More than 90 percent of the cocaine that is smuggled into America is from Mexico. It seems to run freely, despite the efforts of our border security guards.

The cocaine industry in Mexico is run by four major cartels: the Sinaloa, Gulf, Tijuana, and Colima cartels. These are some of the most dangerous crime groups in the world.

The Mexican Army has proven to be no match against them.

The rate of corruption in politics, the military and law enforcement is out of hand. Approximately 90 percent of the murders in the nation of Mexico are directly related to the cocaine drug industry. They have a presence in more than 500 cities throughout the nation. This

Charles W. Cherry II, Esq., Publisher

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children’s future, like the Standing Rock protesters, and plan to see it through for the long term.

Temporary protests bring temporary fixes – if they bring about any change at all.

Take a lesson from this country. When another nation does something we don’t like, the first response is economic sanctions that last years if we don’t get what we want.

We should be so smart.

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, and Amazon Kindle eBooks. is our challenge – cutting down the flow of cocaine coming into our nation from Mexico.

Selling ‘legal’ weed Don’t worry about marijuana.

There is so much growing since some US areas have made it legal that the Mexican drug cartels are buying significant amounts from legal Colorado pot shops.

Then they distribute it to areas that still consider marijuana illegal. How ironic.

Cocaine is a scourge that comes into our nation to infect our population and wreak chaos throughout our land. We do need that Wall President Trump is talking about to cut down on the availability of illegal drugs that harm to our quality of life.

An impenetrable wall would cut down on the traffic significantly. Then we can find a way to detect tunnels that are also used by the cartels.

BUILD THAT WALL!

Harry C. Alford is the cofounder and president/CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce. Contact him via www.nationalbcc.org. to say that “some of the top gang thugs in Chicago” reached out to him for “a sit-down” so that they could “lower the body count” here.

Scott referred to “lowering the body count” FOUR TIMES in about 60 seconds. His plan is to convince the gangs to “lower the body count” – NOT TO STOP KILLING BLACK PEOPLE IN THEIR OWN NEIGHBORHOODS – in exchange for some “social programs.”

INSANITY. I don’t mean to shout in capital letters. What the hell is this guy thinking? And he tells the whole planet before the “sit-down”? Go to YouTube link https://youtu.be/62mXds50yns to see this foolishness for yourself.

Sit down, bruh…

Contact me at ccherry2@ gmail.com.

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FEBRUARY 3 – FEBRUARY 9, 2017

EDITORIAL

All hail Serena, the greatest athlete ever!

Serena Williams had tennis fans in suspended animation until last month’s “Saturday Down Under.”

She won her seventh Australian Open singles title and reclaimed the No. 1 world ranking with a 6-4, 6-4 victory last over her older sister Venus Williams. That’s when we could finally hail Serena as the winner of the most Grand Slam singles titles in the Open era, and arguably as the “greatest athlete ever” – as Nike proclaims.

That Serena blew so many opportunities to reach this milestone over the past two years only heightened the suspense, albeit tinged with increasing frustration. Most notable was her shocking loss to a relatively unknown player in the semifinals of last year’s US Open.

A long time coming Therefore, I hope I can be forgiven for exclaiming, “It’s about time, Serena!”

According to the New York Times, “Serena’s latest triumph in tennis’s great sibling rivalry also gave her a 23rd Grand Slam singles title, breaking her tie with Steffi Graf for the most in the Open era. …

“The victory was Williams’s 10th major singles title since turning 30, and she has broken her own record, set at Wimbledon last year, by becoming the oldest woman to win a Grand Slam singles title in the Open era.”

It’s been quite a wait for No. 23, but better late than never.

Which, incidentally, is far more than I can say for Tiger Woods – whose march towards rewriting the record books in golf I once despaired the Williams sisters would never mirror in tennis.

ANTHONY L. HALL, ESQ. FLORIDA COURIER COLUMNIST

No doubt Serena’s acutely aware that, but for Sjögren’s, Venus would probably have hoisted the trophy for her 23rd Grand Slam long ago. All the same, not bad for two little Black girls straight outta Compton, eh?

the irony is not lost on me that Tiger suffered yet another professional humiliation just hours before Serena reached this professional milestone.

No doubt you’re aware of his beleaguered quest to regain the form that saw him win 14 major championships. I chronicled it in such numerous commentaries between 2011 and 2015.

Sure enough, Tiger (age 41) failed to make the cut in his first PGA tournament last month.

He was back after taking off 17 months to recover from (yet another) back surgery. This latest setback came after he missed the cut in three of the four majors before his surgery.

Hence, as I wrote in 2011, “It’s plainly disingenuous for Tiger to suggest that chronic injuries have prevented him from winning. For this is belied by the fact that he not only seemed just fine throughout his winless 2010, but actually won his ‘last’ major, the 2008 US Open, while in obvious pain caused by a knee injury…

“Frankly, one does not have to be a trained psychologist to diagnose that Tiger’s problems are more mental than physical. Because it is self-evident that the public humiliation he endured following that domestic incident in November 2009 – which exposed his Charlie-Sheen like penchant for prostitutes – sapped him of the self-esteem and confidence that not only fueled his game, but instilled self-defeating fear in other players.”

ena to do to the records in tennis what Tiger Woods has done (and is doing) to the records in golf. Alas, they have not. In fact, of the 43 Grand Slam titles that have been up for grabs since they turned pro in 1998, Venus has won only 7 and Serena 11. By comparison, in less than half that time – from 2004 to 2008 – Justine Henin won 7 titles.

“And at 29 and 27, respectively, Mixed feelings it seems a pipe dream that either As it happens, I had mixed feelVenus or Serena will ever surpass ings watching Serena seal her Steffi Graf’s feat of winning 22 ti- legacy at the expense my favortles.” ite Williams sister. Especially given that Venus seemed destined I was wrong ‘Pipe dream’ to win even more Grand Slams, I have never been happier to and I was duly cheering her along Here’s what I wrote in 2009: “I fully expected Venus and Ser- eat my words. More to the point, in commentaries like “Hail to

Corporate ‘hooker’ Booker is Establishment’s opposition to Trump After eight years of the centerright Obama administration, the Democratic Party lost the White House to Donald Trump. Democrats are, as Doug Henwood points out, just as much a ruling class party as Republicans, though they must pretend otherwise for electoral purposes.

Job description The Democrats leading the charge against Trump must meet exacting qualifications.

They must be loyal servants of the one-percenters, of banksters, hedge funds, charter school sugar daddies and privatizers of all kinds.

They must be dependable supporters of apartheid Israel, of military contractors, drone warfare and US military interventions of all kinds around the world.

To boost their party’s fortunes in this new era, Democratic Party spokespeople need to be gifted hypocrites willing to pose as advocates of immigrants and cham-

BRUCE A. DIXON BLACK AGENDA REPORT

pions of civil liberties going forward, even though they unflinchingly supported the biggest deportation and mass surveillance regimes in history implemented by the Democrat who just left the White House.

They must focus narrowly on the handful of issues on which Corporate Dems actually disagree with Republicans (like abortion rights), and not stray to areas which might indict their own party along with Republicans.

And they must absolve their party of responsibility for running an incompetent campaign by blaming the Russians. Hillary is history, but her big stinking tent is still there, and Democrats are crying for a “united front” against

Flint’s 1,000-plus days without safe drinking water Flint, Mich., a city that used to be famous for producing cars but gained notoriety almost three years ago for its poisoned water supply, last week marked its 1,000th day without clean drinking water.

Nevertheless, the 100,000 mostly poor, predominantly Black residents of Flint have been informed that the current levels of lead in their water no longer exceed federal limits. That would be good news – if you could believe it, and if lead were the only problem with Flint’s water.

Doesn’t believe it Mona Hanna-Attisha doesn’t believe the water is safe for drinking. She’s the pediatrician who helped blow the whistle on skyrocketing rates of lead in the blood of Flint’s children, after state emergency financial managers forced the city to draw its water from the heavily pollut-

GLEN FORD BLACK AGENDA REPORT

ed Flint River. Dr. Hanna-Attisha says the federal regulations are too weak to protect young brains and bodies from stunted development.

Gina Luster, a community organizer in Flint, warns that even if lead levels are down, the there’s plenty of other harmful stuff in the water. Her advice is, “Don’t drink the Kool-Aid.” Luster says she and other residents have been fooled “too many times and will never trust the water again.”

Nine people have so far been criminally charged in the poisoning of Flint’s water, eight of them state employees. But no one at the federal Environmen-

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: LEAD IN AMERICA’S WATER

STEVE SACK, THE MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE

match, saying, “I really would like to take this moment to congratulate Venus, she’s an amazing person – she’s my inspiration.

“There’s no way I would be at 23 without her – there’s no way I would be at [No.] 1 without her.

Thank you, Venus, for inspiring me to be the best player I can be and inspiring me to work hard.”

No doubt Serena’s acutely aware that, but for Sjögren’s, Venus would probably have hoisted the trophy for her 23rd Grand Slam long ago.

All the same, not bad for two little Black girls straight outta Compton, eh?

By the way, congrats to Serena on her recent wedding engagement. But I must say, she seems an awful lot for her nerdy, RedditPublic show founding fiancé to…handle.

This might explain why VeCongratulations, Serena! nus (age 36) was so happy just to make it to another Grand Slam Anthony L. Hall is a Bahamifinal, her first since 2009. And I an native with an internationsuppose there’s also some consolation in being the oldest woman al law practice in Washington, D.C. Read his columns and daito do so.

It also might also explain why ly weblog at www.theipinionsSerena (age 35) made such a pub- journal.com. Click on this comlic show of paying tribute to Ve- mentary at www.flcourier.com nus on center court after their to write your own response.

4-Time Wimbledon Champion Venus Williams” (published July 9, 2007) and “Venus Routs Little Sister Serena in Wimbledon Final” (published July 6, 2008).

In a column entitled, “Hail, Serena! US Open Champion …

Again” published on September 8, 2014, I wrote this: “Then (Venus) became stricken with a debilitating disease.

I feel compelled to at least acknowledge the painful, pitiful way Sjögren’s syndrome, the incurable autoimmune condition she contracted a few years ago, is ravaging her skills. She not only lumbered out in the third round in singles; she proved too much weight even for Serena to carry them beyond the quarterfinals in doubles.”

Trump, led by spokespeople who police against citizens. The Brick City team went on to make a CNN can stick to the corporate script. series for Rahm Emanuel, too.

In 2010 on the Oprah show, Booker a great fit As Glen Ford, who has followed Booker announced a $100 million Corey Booker’s career in Black “gift” from Facebook owner Mark Agenda Report and Black Com- Zuckerberg to Newark’s public mentator since 2002 notes, char- schools – whose budget was still ter school sugar daddies from the controlled by statehouse RepubOlin, Bradley and Walton Family licans – to implement the latest Foundations and the Manhattan “run the school like a business” nostrums of Cory’s old friends.

Institute funded his early career.

Cory’s wealthy friends bank- Three years later, when Bookrolled and promoted a slick Hol- er left Newark for the US Senate, lywood documentary, “Street there was little to show for the Fight,” to ensure his 2006 election money. to Newark City Hall.

Booker hired Garry McCarthy, Defends Wall Street an New York Police Department The one-percenters take good expert at fixing statistics, to head care of their guy Cory, giving him that city’s cop shop. There, Book- three times the cash raised for er and McCarthy oversaw a pa- all his opponents together in the per decline in violent crime, with 2013 Democratic primary, and he no decline in police brutality and takes good care of them. disrespect toward Newark’s citiWhen the anti-Romney rhetzens. oric in 2012 strayed to touch on Cory’s millionaire friends cre- how the hedge fund Republican ated a Sundance TV series, “Brick actually made those millions, it City,” to promote his reelection was Obama surrogate Cory Bookand further his political career, er who stepped up on “Meet The depicting him and his police chief Press” to defend the predatory as a new kind of urban superhe- economics of hedge funds, callro team. ing outrage against disaster capRahm Emanuel afterward italism “useless rhetoric.” After brought Booker’s top cop to Chi- all, Goldman Sachs was and still cago where he also cooked the is one of Booker’s major contribbooks to make murders and seri- utors. Cory hit the Senate just in ous crimes go away, and presided time to vote for a major school over a crime wave on the part of voucher bill in 2014. tal Protection Agency, which has broad powers over the whole country’s water supply, has been charged with a crime.

On Trump’s list The EPA, however, is on President Donald Trump’s hit list – not for failing the people of Flint, but for sometimes getting on the wrong side of Trump’s friends in polluting industries.

The Trump administration has frozen all EPA grants and contracts, which put in question $100 million that Congress allocated to help Flint replace and repair its water infrastructure.

Michigan’s two senators, both Democrats, got worried when they heard about the freeze from news reports. Neither the White House nor the EPA could say for sure whether Flint’s money had been tied up by the freeze.

Plus, the money doesn’t exactly have Flint’s name on it. The $100 million is supposed to be awarded to “a municipality that is, or has been, the subject of an emergency declaration due to lead contamination. The bill doesn’t mention Flint by name. Howev-

A5

Booker cut a fine figure for a few minutes of TV time next to civil rights legend John Lewis, denouncing Jeff Sessions, Trump’s reprehensible nominee for US attorney general.

In keeping with the hollow symbolism of the Congressional Black Caucus – of which they are both members – the caucus chairman wasted his few minutes of air time objecting to Booker and Lewis being last on the schedule, claiming it was like being “sent to the back of the bus.”

Your Dem leader Cory’s a whore, but a loyal one.

If he did for passing motorists what he does for charter school sugar daddies, hedge funds, Israeli apartheid and Big Pharma, he could be arrested for prostitution. But Cory’s in the big time, and he’s a leading Democratic “spokeshead” against Trump.

If you’re a Democrat, he’s one of your leaders. He’s Cory Booker, corporate hooker.

Bruce Dixon is managing editor of BlackAgendaReport.com.

Contact him at bruce.dixon@ blackagendareport.com. Click on this commentary at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

The Trump

dren in nearly 3,000 communities across the country show lead levels in their blood at least twice administration has as high as kids in Flint. In more than 1,100 neighborhoods, kids tested four times higher than frozen all EPA grants children in Flint.

At the peak of the contaminaand contracts, which put tion of Flint’s water, five percent of children tested had high levels in question $100 million of lead. However, in some neighborhoods in South Bend, Ind., one-third of the kids had that Congress allocated almost high lead levels. Pennsylvania is the state with the most cento help Flint replace sus tracts with lead-contaminated water. Thirty-six percent of the kids in Warren, Penn., tested and repair its water high for lead.

So if Flint needs $100 million infrastructure. to tackle a lead problem that is supposedly close to under coner, the funds should eventually trol, how much money is needed find their way to Flint, since it’s to make the water safe in 3,000 the only city in the country that other communities across the fits that description. country?

Not alone But, when it comes to lead poisoning, Flint is anything but alone. A December 2016 investigative report by the Reuters news agency showed that chil-

Glen Ford is executive editor of BlackAgendaReport.com. Email him at Glen.Ford@BlackAgendaReport.com. Click on this commentary at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

TOJ A6

NATION

FEBRUARY 3 – FEBRUARY 9, 2017

Obama carefully weighs in on refugees ban

BY MICHAEL A. MEMOLI TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

WASHINGTON – Former President Barack Obama has offered his first public comment on the conduct of his successor, saying through a spokesman that he is “heartened” by public demonstrations against the Trump administration’s controversial move to temporarily ban refugees and block all admissions from seven countries.

“President Obama is heartened by the level of engagement taking place in communities around the country,” Kevin Lewis, a spokesman for the former president, said in a statement emailed to reporters Monday.

“In his final official speech as president, he spoke about the important role of citizen and how all Americans have a responsibility to be the guardians of our democracy — not just during an election but every day.

Citizens exercising their constitutional right to assemble, organize and have their voices heard by their elected officials is exactly what we expect to see when American values are at stake.”

7 nations targeted Lewis also said in the statement that Obama “fundamentally disagrees with the notion of discriminating against individuals because of their faith or religion.”

Trump aides deny that his executive order, released on Jan. 27, involves religious discrimination.

The order temporarily blocked travel to the U.S. by residents of seven predominantly Muslim nations, but left many of the Islamic world’s largest population centers unaffected, they note.

The order also included an exception for believers of “minority religions” in those countries, a provision Trump explicitly said

J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE/SIPA USA/TNS

Donald Trump and Barack Obama arrive for Trump’s inauguration ceremony at the Capitol on Jan. 20 in Washington, D.C. would help Christians.

Obama’s statement is notable less for its content than for the fact that it was issued at all.

It reflected the delicate balance he feels he must strike between showing a degree of deference to the new president and speaking out on issues he sees as critically

important.

The statement tiptoed around the content of the order, focusing more on the former president’s interest in citizen engagement.

‘Shameful’ test Obama said before leaving office that he expected to choose

carefully when to comment on the actions of his successor and would focus less on “normal functioning of politics” and more on “certain issues or certain moments where I think our core values may be at stake,” as he put it in his final news conference.

Monday’s statement did point,

though, to comments Obama made at a news conference in November 2015, when he called the idea of a religious test for immigration policy “shameful” and “not American.”

“We don’t have religious tests to our compassion,” he said at the time. mitted to reporters he was barely able to keep up with the string of policy initiatives coming from the White House, and cautioned that Trump’s approach might alienate Congress and others.

“You’re taking your eye off the message and harming your ability to unify Republicans in the country,” Kinzinger said.

Asked about Trump being a different kind of president, Sen. Jim Risch, R- Idaho, a former governor, quipped, “You think?”

“Both the president and Congress are adjusting,” he added.

Wall concerns

OLIVIER DOULERY/ABACA PRESS/TNS

Guests and members of Congress watch the 58th presidential inauguration on Jan. 20, 2017 in Washington, D.C.

Congress starting to worry about its role in Trump era

BY LISA MASCARO TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

WASHINGTON – It’s what congressional Republicans had long dreamed about: a majority in both chambers to advance conservative policies and a president from the same party to sign them into law.

But the Trump White House isn’t turning out exactly the way they envisioned.

The GOP establishment is experiencing whiplash after a week of President Donald Trump bulldozing through the norms of policy and protocol — dashing off executive orders without warning, escalating a diplomatic crisis with the country’s closest southern neighbor, triggering global confusion with a new refugee policy and generally hijacking party leaders’ agenda and replacing it with his own.

Not taking advice Rather than the hoped-for collaborative new relationship between the White House and Congress, GOP officials complain that

Trump is brushing aside their advice, failing to fully engage on drafting tough legislative packages on tax reform and Obamacare, and bypassing Congress by relying on executive actions, something they frequently complained about under President Barack Obama.

At the same time, Trump’s unilateral moves continue to blindside Republicans and direct the national focus toward topics many in the party would rather avoid, whether that’s how to pay for building the border wall with Mexico, warming ties with Russia, investigating false claims about voter fraud or, most recently, implementing sweeping new policies on refugees and visas.

In the name of party unity, many Republicans so far have refrained from publicly attacking the new president. But for some, the new refugee policy crossed the line, signaling the first major rift in their already fraught partnership.

“It’s unacceptable,” said Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona, one of the few GOP lawmakers critical of Trump’s actions.

“We need to be careful as we do this,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said. “We don’t have religious tests in this country.”

Lambasts senators Trump responded testily last Sunday with two tweets aimed at Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who had issued a statement that day criticizing the “hasty” implementation of the policy.

“The joint statement of former presidential candidates John McCain & Lindsey Graham is wrong — they are sadly weak on immigration. The two … Senators should focus their energies on ISIS, illegal immigration and border security instead of always looking to start World War III.” For a party that lambasted Obama’s reliance on his “pen and phone” to bypass congressional roadblocks, Trump’s willingness to go it alone is testing the legislative branch’s resolve to protect its power and maintain influence in the Trump era.

Little forewarning Republican lawmakers appear to have little forewarning of what Trump is doing from one day to the next — or even hour to hour — learning about their party leader’s latest moves the way

everyone else does — from his tweets.

“This is obviously a transition that’s underway here,” said Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the No. 3 Republican in the Senate.

“There are issues where there are going to be differences of opinion between the White House and the Congress … . What we have to try and do is focus on the things that unite us.”

Perhaps nowhere was the political adjustment more on public display than at the congressional Republican retreat in Philadelphia last week as Trump’s controversial pronouncements ricocheted up the Acela corridor from the White House.

Off message Republicans who had hoped to huddle privately to craft a policy agenda were forced to veer repeatedly off message as they fumbled to respond to Trump’s string of actions and statements.

Many were dismissive about some of Trump’s moves, particularly his push for an investigation into unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud in the 2016 election.

“Have at it,” said Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, the House Oversight Committee chairman who said his committee had no plans to look into the matter.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., ad-

Much time has been spent behind the scenes trying to bring the president up to speed on how to transform his popular campaign slogans — build the wall, bring back American jobs, destroy Islamic State — into actionable policy. But it remains a work in progress.

Some signs of morphing — and splintering — have emerged.

When Trump suggested Congress should pony up money for his promised border wall to deter illegal immigration — on his word that Mexico would ultimately repay the cost — Republicans signaled support, even if it means they initially add to the deficit.

It was a stunning reversal for a party generally loath to pile on debt, having refused funds in the past for hurricane victims.

At the same time, Trump appeared to inch closer to Republicans by suggesting funding for the wall could come through a so-called border-adjustment tax, something GOP leaders have been pushing as part of corporate tax reform.

Next on Obamacare But the administration’s position is unclear. Trump initially criticized the idea as too complicated, then the administration seemed to endorse it and then backed away, saying it was only one idea under consideration.

At the same time, as lawmakers struggle to figure out a replacement plan for Obamacare, they have received little help from the White House in shaping the details of such a plan.

Many Republicans appeared both enthralled with the prospect of swift, bold action after so many years of gridlock, and wary of an untested executive asserting power over the legislative branch.

“The strength of our government is three branches,” Risch said. “All three of those are important, and if everybody stays in their own lane, it works better.”

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Augusta There are plenty of shops on Broad Street.

BLACK HISTORY YEAR-ROUND IN The Georgia city was the home of James Brown, Jessye Norman, ‘Butterfly’ McQueen and Laurence Fishburne.

BY ELEANOR HENDRICKS MCDANIEL SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA COURIER

Augusta, Georgia idolizes its most famous native son, James Brown. You’ll find reminders of “The Hardest Working Man in Show Business” throughout the city.

The Augusta Museum of History (augustamuseum.org) has dedicated one wing of its building to an extensive exhibition that showcases Brown’s life and career. On display are professional and personal artifacts, and many items are on loan from his family. Videos, clothing, posters, interactive displays, photographs and more explore the rags-to-riches life of this music legend.

Standing in the middle of Broad Street is a bronze statue of the superstar (wearing his signature cape). It depicts him at the height of his career, and it invites his fans to pose next to it for a memorable photo-op. The Soul Bar (soulbar.com), located on the same street, celebrates most Black music genres.

Arena, amphitheater View the wall that’s covered with photos and memorabilia dedicated to Brown. Several places have no physical reminder of him, but a brochure from VisitAugusta.com will direct you to streets, restaurants, schools and other sites that played an important part in his past.

There’s even the James Brown Arena (augustaentertainmentcomplex.com), where you can catch the likes of Dave Chappelle, the Harlem Globetrotters, Augusta Blues Festival, Soul Unlimited, Philadanco, Augusta R&B Soul Jam, to name just a few.

For more music, attend the concerts and festivals at the Jessye Norman Amphitheater, located on the bank of the beautiful Savannah River.

The open-air venue is utilized year-round. This hometown lady is giving back to Augusta with the Jessye Norman School of Arts, which is a free after-school program for underprivileged students. Norman still oversees the program, and is instrumental in its fund-raising.

Impact of Blacks Augusta is Georgia’s second oldest city and has deep African-American roots. Experience its significant Black legacy dur-

ing February and beyond.

Historian Corey D. Rogers says, “We’re proud of our history that dates back to the colonial period. It had an influence that went beyond Augusta, and had a real impact on American history.”

At the Augusta Museum of History, you’ll see many examples of the impact of Blacks on Augusta.

You’ll learn about the former movers and shakers and you’ll see artifacts from small clay containers formed by Dave (only name), a slave potter, all the way up to a big, black, elegant horse-drawn hearse that was owned by Julia Dent, proprietor of the town’s most prominent African-American mortuary.

Some pieces pertain to the tobacco and cotton industries of the anti-bellum period, and some belong to the Jim Crow era, like the water fountain for “Colored” and the neon sign from Green’s, a segregated drugstore. In the gallery for famous Augustans, look for photos of local Black luminaries from the worlds of entertainment, sports, politics, law, literature and more.

The Augusta Museum of History has a wing that showcases James Brown’s life and legacy.

Laney museum The Lucy Craft Laney Museum of Black History (LucyCraftLaneyMuseum.com) is the definitive establishment to learn about the Black experience in Augusta. Housed in the former home of Lucy Craft Laney, the collections present a summary of the achievements of Black Augusta, past and present. The renovations, maintenance and ownership of the building are under Delta House, Inc., a division of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.

Upon entering, be sure to watch the video that reveals the story of Miss Laney, who was a preeminent African-American teacher in the latter part of the 19th century. In spite of the cultural and political obstacles, she was able to create educational opportunities for her community.

She established the first kindergarten classes for Black children and founded the Haines Normal and Industrial Institute (for teacher training) and the Lamar School of Nursing (the first nursing school for AfricanAmericans).

Her influence went beyond the city borders, often inspiring others, like Mary McLeod Bethune.

Jessye Norman

‘Butterfly’ McQueen

Laurence Fishburne

More notable Blacks On your guided tour, you’ll find a room dedicated to wellknown Augustans, such as actors Laurence Fishburne and Thelma “Butterfly” McQueen, operatic soprano Jessye Norman, superstar James Brown, novelist Frank Yerby, dancer Karen Brown and jazz trombonist Wycliffe Gordon.

In addition to the permanent collections, the museum displays temporary exhibitions. It also serves the community as a center for events, programs, classes and health fairs.

For a more in-depth discovery of Augusta’s Black history, the museum offers a one-hour trolley tour that travels to notable sites, including Laney-Walker Boulevard where the pre-integration Black business district, called the Golden Block, was located. Reservations must be made at least 24 hours in advance.

See AUGUSTA, Page B2

PHOTOS BY ELEANOR HENDRICKS MCDANIEL

Springfield Baptist Church is the oldest African-American church in the nation.

CALENDAR

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FEBRUARY 3 – FEBRUARY 9, 2017

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FLORIDA COMMUNITY CALENDAR

BOBBY BROWN

Tickets are on sale for a Valentine’s Music Festival on Feb. 10 at the James. L. Knight Center in Miami and Feb. 12 at the CFE Arena, Orlando: Performers: Avant, Bobby Brown, El Debarge and Keith Sweat.

Orlando: The Festival of Laughs is Feb. 3 at CFE Arena in Orlando. Performers are Arsenio Hall, Bruce Bruce, Mike Epps, Tony Rock and Felipe Esperaza.

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

COMMON

You can catch Common at Jazz in the Gardens next month.

It’s March 18 and 19 at Hard Rock Stadium.

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

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

FANTASIA

Charlie Wilson’s “In It to Win It Tour’’ will include Fantasia and Solero on March 23 at the USF Sun Dome in Tampa.

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

Miami Gardens: A Black Heritage Festival is Feb. 4 at the Betty T. Ferguson Recreational Complex. It will include, music,

events for kids, food trucks and vendors. More information: 305-474-3011.

Sarasota: Comedian and actor Dave Chappelle has a show scheduled on Feb. 11 at the Van Wezel.

Fort Lauderdale: Judah Worship Word Ministries International will present a “Spiritual Renewal and Refreshing Revival Feb. 12-15. International Evangelist Mark Dunfee will be the speaker: Call 954-7912999 for details.

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

Tampa: The Gibbs Junior College Alumni Association will meet at 11 a.m. Feb. 4 at the Dr. Walter Smith Library, 909 North Albany Ave. Purpose: Planning of 60th anniversary of college. More information: Call 727-866-6067, 727-3279717 or 813-293-9785.

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

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

Jacksonville: Curls & Convo, a conversation about having self-confidence regardless of hair texture or skin complexion, is 11 a.m. Feb. 18 at No Lye Style and Beauty Boutique, 3308 Beach Blvd. Cost: $12.

Tickets: https:curlsandconvo. eventbrite.com.

Miami: A Black History Month Celebration 4-6 p.m. Feb. 16 at the Ward Rooming House Gallery, 249 NW Ninth St. It’s sponsored by Urgent, Inc., a youth and community development organization.

Retirement celebration to honor Liberty City’s iconic pastor COMPILED BY FLORIDA COURIER STAFF

bama; and Minister Al Jackson of Jacksonville.

Dr. Freeman T. Wyche Sr., a Miami-based spiritual icon, is retiring after 72 years in ministry and more than 38 years at the Liberty City Church of Christ in Miami.

A program in celebration of the renowned pastor and evangelist will be held at 5 p.m. Feb. 11 at the Miami Police B.A. Banquet Hall, 2300 NW St., Miami.

At 10 a.m. Feb. 12, there will be a worship service for the installation of Evangelist Eric Doss.

A luncheon will be held at noon and the installation of Doss takes place at the church (1261 NW 67th St.) at 2 p.m.

Speakers for the services will include Minister Royce Lemon of Houston, Texas; Evangelist Wesley T. Leonard of Orlando; Attorney Fred Gray of Tuskegee, Ala-

Minister and veteran Born in 1930 in Valdosta, Georgia, Wyche’s family moved to Miami when he was an infant. Wyche attended public schools in MiamiDade County and began preaching in 1945 while a student at Nashville Christian Institute in TennesDr. Freeman see. He graduated T. Wyche Sr. as valedictorian of his class.

Wyche earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from the University of Houston and his master’s from New York Theological Seminary, New York. Doctorate degrees were conferred by

Faith College, Birmingham, Alabama.

He also is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force, Air Traffic Control School, serving 12 years as an air traffic controller. Wyche was trained and served 18 years in hospital administration. After 30 years of honorable service, Master Sergeant Wyche formally retired from the United States Air Force at Homestead Air Force Base in 1990.

Worldwide outreach Prior to his work at the Liberty City Church of Christ, Wyche served as minister for the Third Ward Church of Christ in Houston, Bueltone Church of Christ in Lompoc, California, and has preached to thousands all over the world, including in Germany, France, North Africa, England, the Caribbeans, Korea and Israel.

Wyche has chaired or served on the boards of many civic and educational organizations. They include the Alliance for Aging, Inc., Miami-Dade and Monroe counties; John H. Peavey Adolescent Health Center, Miami Northwestern Senior High School; Grandparents Raising Grandchildren; State of Florida Department of Elder Affairs Advisory Council; Miami-Dade Independent Review Panel; Urban League of Greater Miami; Dade County Council PTA/PTSA; Florida State PTA/PTSA; Carver YMCA, Family Christian Association of America; Pastoral Services, Jackson Memorial Hospital; and Take Stock in Children.

He has been married to wife Anna McCleskey Wyche for more than 61 years. They have three children, Freeman II, Zoe Terriann and Kermit as well as six

grandchildren and seven greatgrandchildren.

Still plans to serve In a Miami Herald interview last month, he spoke of his retirement plans. Wyche enjoys fishing, reading, bowling, golf, and solving word puzzles, and games.

“I also want to spend some time to visit the churches that I never had the opportunity to visit while I was the minister here. I’m talking about the churches that don’t get any headlines — the small churches, mostly in Florida,” Wyche said.

“I plan to assist them in any way I can. I also would like to visit with as many of my old preaching buddies as I can. Most are not in as good health as I am and can’t travel as I can. I’m thankful that I don’t have any real health issues,’’ he added.

PHOTOS BY ELEANOR HENDRICKS MCDANIEL

This fancy hearse used to carry black Augustans to their final resting place.

AUGUSTA from Page 1

Art in the park Art lovers should head to Morris Museum of Art (themorris.org) to view paintings by Jonathan Green and other AfricanAmerican artists in their permanent collection. Public art can be seen in the Springfield Village Park.

Two works by renowned African-American sculptor Richard Hunt are featured in the two and one-half acre square. Prominently displayed are a 45-foot stainless steel sculpture called “The Tower of Aspiration” and a bronze statue named “And They Went Down into the Water.’’

Historic churches The park is across from Springfield Baptist Church which was founded in 1787, and is the oldest Black church in the country.

Another important house of worship is Tabernacle Baptist Church (tbcaugusta.org), which was founded in 1885 as Beulah Baptist Church by the acclaimed pastor and Civil Rights orator, the Rev.

The Lucy Craft Laney Museum is housed in her former home.

Charles T. Walker.

During his tenure, President William Taft, Booker T. Washington and John D. Rockefeller visited and/or spoke at the church.

The city welcomes family reunions and extends free help with the planning.

For this service, contact Michelle Bovian (michelle@visitaugusta.com) or MeetinAugusta.com.

For general information, log on to VisitAugusta.com.

Eleanor Hendricks McDaniel is an experienced

travel journalist who writes for print magazines, newspapers and online magazines. She travels domestically and internationally, and loves to share her experiences and travel knowledge with readers. She has lived in Paris, Florence (Italy) and Philadelphia. She currently resides in Ormond Beach. Check out her blog: f lybynighttraveler.com and follow her on Twitter: ellethewriter.

UNIVERSAL PICTURES PRESENTS IN ASSOCIATION WITH PERFECT WORLD PICTURES A MICHAEL DE LUCA PRODUCTION A JAMES FOLEY FILM “FIFTY SHADES DARKER” DAKOTA JOHNSON JAMIE DORNAN ERIC JOHNSON RITA ORA LUKE GRIMES VICTOR RASUK WITH KIM BASINGER AND MARCIA GAY HARDEN MUSICBY DANNY ELFMAN PRODUCED BASED ON

BY MICHAEL DE LUCA p.g.a. E L JAMES p.g.a. DANA BRUNETTI p.g.a. MARCUS VISCIDI p.g.a. THE NOVEL BY E L JAMES SCREENPLAY DIRECTED A UNIVERSAL PICTURE

BY NIALL LEONARD

BY JAMES FOLEY SOUNDTRACK ON REPUBLIC RECORDS

© 2016 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS

LOCAL LISTINGS FOR THEATERS AND SHOWTIMES STARTS FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10 CHECK

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FAMILY FEATURES

Rules may vary from one event to the next, but whether your favorite team kicks it, runs it or dunks it, sports fans and food always provide a winning combo.

Gather your friends for the next big game with a menu that gets everyone revved up for a win.

A lineup filled with starters is just the ticket for a game day watch party or tailgate. Offering a series of finger foods and lighter fare lets your fellow fans grab a quick bite before the game or during a commercial break and continue snacking through the game.

Make no mistake, serving up a lighter menu doesn’t mean you need to skimp on quality – just the opposite, in fact. Make every bite count by using exceptional ingredients and introducing unexpected flavors such as the distinctive taste of Jarlsberg Brand Cheese, which has a rich, 60-year Norwegian heritage. Best known as a classic wedge, this mild, mellow and nutty cheese can also be served sliced, shredded and cubed.

Quesadillas are always a hit, and this version combines the best of gooey, melted cheese with bacon and a deliciously tangy salsa for a lively burst of fresh flavor. Then keep the mouthwatering cheese and bacon combos coming with a whole new take on grilled kebabs.

No game day is complete without pizza, and this one scores big with its unexpected blend of flavors for a pie that is smoky and tangy, sweet and savory, and briny and creamy all at once.

Then round out your menu with these easy sliders that are big on flavor and small on prep time.

Find more ideas to liven up your game day menu at jarlsberg. com.

GRILLED PIZZA WITH CHEESE, PROSCIUTTO AND FIGS Servings: 4 2 cups pizza or tomato sauce 4 1/2 cups pizza dough flour, for rolling 3 1/2 cups Jarlsberg cheese, coarsely grated 2 1/2 cups thinly sliced prosciutto 8 dried figs, each cut into six wedges dried red pepper flakes black pepper Heat grill and warm pizza sauce.

Divide dough into desired number of pizzas. On floured surface, roll dough into long, thin ovals and spread with sauce. Sprinkle light layer of cheese over sauce. Add layer of prosciutto and a second layer of cheese. Dot with fig pieces then season with red pepper flakes and pepper.

Reduce grill heat, slide pizzas onto grill and close lid. Cook 3-5 minutes, or until crust is lightly charred and cheese is melted.

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CHEESE QUESADILLAS Servings: 4 4 slices thick slab bacon 1 small chili pepper 4 medium tomatoes 1 small shallot 1 clove garlic 1 tablespoon coriander or cumin salt, to taste pepper, to taste 1 small lime (juice and zest) 6 slices Jarlsberg Original or Hickory Smoked cheese 2 large tortillas

Fry bacon, drain and chop.

To make salsa, remove seeds from chili pepper and finely dice. Chop tomatoes then dice shallot and garlic clove. Combine pepper, tomatoes, shallot and garlic with lime juice, coriander, salt and pepper, to taste.

Divide cheese slices and bacon on one half of each tortilla, top with 1/4 cup salsa and fold tortilla over, pressing down to close. In medium-hot, lightly oiled pan, toast tortillas about 1 minute on each side.

Cut each tortilla in half and serve with remaining salsa on the side, or combine salsa with black beans and fresh chopped cilantro to make a side salad.

FEBRUARY 3 – FEBRUARY 9, 2017

HAWAIIAN SLIDERS WITH CHEESE, HAM AND PORK Servings: 3 3 Hawaiian bread slider buns 1 cup pulled pork 3 slices ham 3 slices Jarlsberg cheese sliced pickles Dijon mustard, to taste Heat oven to 350 F. Separate buns and layer pulled pork, sliced ham and cheese. Place sliders on oven-safe tray and bake about 10 minutes, or until cheese melts. Remove from oven and gently remove top bun. Add pickles and mustard before serving.

CHEESE AND BACON KEBABS Servings: 4 18 slices bacon 2 1/2 cups Jarlsberg cheese, cubed 18 pearl onions 12 long skewers Relish: 1/4 cup roasted bell peppers 1 1/3 tablespoons capers 2 2/3 tablespoons olives 1/4 cup cucumber 3 1/3 ounces olive oil 2 tablespoons lemon juice and grated zest salt pepper Cut bacon slices in half and wrap around cheese cubes. Place cheese cubes and pearl onions on each skewer, alternating ingredients. Roast in pan or on grill 2-3 minutes on each side.

To make relish, chop peppers, capers, olives and cucumber, and mix with olive oil, lemon juice and zest. Season with salt and pepper.

BLACK HISTORY MONTH

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FEBRUARY 3 – FEBRUARY 9, 2017

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TEST YOUR

Black history KNOWLEDGE

1 Name the first Black head coaches to lead their teams to the Super Bowl.

2 Name the first Black actress to win an Academy Award for Best Actress.

3 What religious denomination was founded by Blacks who objected to sitting in a separate gallery during church services?

7 In 1924, Gwendolyn Brooks was the first Black person to win the Pulitzer Prize, winning for poetry. True or False?

8 The movie “Something The Lord Made” is based on the true life of:

6 Where was the first sit-in at a segregated lunch counter, staged by four Black students in 1960?

J E R RY W E S T / C H I C A G O T R I B U N E

CHUCK KENNEDY/MCT

O L I V I E R D O U L I E RYA B A C A P R E S S / M C T

12 Name the Edward P. Jones book that won the 2004 Pulitzer Prize.

11 What Supreme Court case established the “separate but equal” doctrine in 1896, laying the groundwork for Jim Crow laws all over the South?

13 Name the first Black male and female winners of the Grammy awards.

C O R E Y L O W E N S T E I N / M C C L AT C H Y N E W S PA P E R S

t’s Black History Month and time to focus on the outstanding achievements of African-Americans. Think you’re a Black history buff? Let’s see. Test your knowledge by tackling this Black History Month quiz. The quiz includes questions on entertainment, politics, religion, sports and more. No multiple choice guesses here. You’re on your own. You’ll find the answers at the bottom of the page.

4 President Barack Obama talks a lot about his mixed heritage. Identify where his mother and father were born.

5 What constitutional amendment, ratified in 1868, guaranteed equal protection under the law for all people?

9 Name the Black filmmaker who made a documentary about Hurricane Katrina.

10 Charles Waddell Chesnutt, an honoree in the popular Black Heritage commemorative stamp series issued by the U.S. Postal Service, is considered the first Black writer to receive major acclaim. True or False?

14 What events prompted the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (popularly, the Kerner Commission) to warn in 1968, “Our nation is moving toward two societies, one Black, one White — separate and unequal”?

15 Who is Joseph Lowery?

J O H N N Y C R AW F O R D / AT L A N TA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION

ANSWERS: 1. Both the Chicago Bear’s Lovie Smith and the Indianapolis Colts’ Tony Dungy became the first Black head coaches to take their teams to the Super Bowl, when the two met in the 2007 game. The Colts won the game 29-17. 2. Halle Berry won the Best Actress Oscar in 2002 for her roll in “Monster’s Ball.” 3. African Methodist Episcopal. 4. Barack Obama, Sr., was born in Kenya. Obama’s mother, Ann Dunham, grew up in Kansas. 5.

The Fourteenth Amendment. 6. At a Woolworths department store in Greensboro, N.C. 7. False. Brooks became the first Black Pulitzer winner in 1950. 8. Vivien T. Thomas, a Black surgical technician. 9. Spike Lee made the documentary, “When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts.” 10.

True. 11. Plessy v. Ferguson. 12. “The Known World.” 13. In 1958, both Count Basie and Ella Fitzgerald won at the first Grammy Awards. 14. More than 100 inner city riots in the summer of 1967. 15. Rev. Joseph Lowery in a United Methodist minister and a leader in the Civil Rights movement.

He delivered the benediction at the 2009 inauguration of President Barack Obama.

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FEBRUARY 3 – FEBRUARY 9, 2017

FINEST & ENTERTAINMENT

Meet some of

FLORIDA’S

finest

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.

MARK BOSTER/LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

Denzel Washington won the best male actor in a leading role award at the Screen Actors Guild Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on Jan. 29. In his acceptance speech, the “Fences’’ star thanked “the guys who don’t get recognized” and his co-star (and fellow SAG award winner) Viola Davis.

In the movie, Washington portrays Troy Maxson, a onetime Negro Leagues baseball star, who ends up as a city of Pittsburgh garbage collector.

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MARK BOSTER/LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

Janelle Monae expresses joy over the big win by “Hidden Figures’’ at the Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles on Jan. 29. The Best Cast in a Motion Picture category went to the uplifting drama about AfricanAmerican mathematicians who aided NASA’s 1960s space race. Monae portrays NASA’s first Black female engineer Mary Jackson.

From FAMU to fictional GAMU Anika Noni Rose talks about career, role as college president in new BET series

Q: What else would you like to take on if given the opportunity?

A: Oh, my God, I’d love to do a romantic comedy. I’d love to do just a plain old comedy that isn’t centered around who I am or what the world thinks my skin means. I’d love to be in an action film, like a superhero fantasy-type thing. That’s the type of stuff I love.

It’s just very rare that I get the opportunity to be in that conversation — absolutely, that’s would I would love to do. Foreign film is on my mind. If I could have to learn a language to do something, that would just thrill me to no end.

BY MAKEDA EASTER LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

Anika Noni Rose is ready for more. Her career began in theater, and in 2004 she received a Tony Award for her performance in “Caroline, or Change.”

From there, she seamlessly transitioned to film and TV, where she performed in “Dreamgirls,” voiced Disney’s first African-American princess in the animated film “The Princess and the Frog” and starred in a revival of “Roots,” among numerous other roles.

Rose, 44, was recently at the Sundance Film Festival, promoting a new BET series, “The Quad,” which premiered on Feb. 1. Rose plays Eva Fletcher, president of a fictitious historically Black university, who is tasked with saving the school from bankruptcy in between navigating personal struggles.

The show explores the rich history of Black colleges in the U.S. and the battles that many are facing now. While en route to the airport, Rose talked about the role and her desire for more opportunities as a Black actress in Hollywood.

Q: How did you get involved in “The Quad?”

A: I got a call from (director) Rob Hardy asking me to read the script and telling me that they really wanted me to be part of this. I read it, and I was pleased with what they had put on the page. I thought it was something interesting and different. We just went from there.

Q: You attended Florida A&M, a historically Black university. Are there any

who are expanded enough to look past what they think your skin is and what that means about who you are.

“The Quad’’ on BET follows ambitious yet troubled Dr. Eva Fletcher (Anika Noni Rose), the newly-elected president of the fictional Georgia A&M University (GAMU). Upon arriving, she is charged with saving the prestigious HBCU from bankruptcy and her 20-year marriage from crumbling while managing a tumultuous relationship with her rebellious only daughter. Rose is a graduate of Florida A&M University (FAMU). similarities between your college experience and the issues your character must address in the series?

A: I would guess that as a student, I wasn’t so concerned with those issues, but certainly they were around. Our school was never in peril while I was there, so that’s a great thing. But we know that the government has been trying to defund HBCUs since (President) Reagan was in office, so it was always something that we were aware of every year.

If your school is a state school, you don’t know what programs are going to stay, what programs are going to be cut, and whether or not it will be dealt with as respectably as your counterpart schools.

Q: For those who did not attend a historically Black college, how do you think they can relate to the show?

A: I think anybody who went to college at all can relate to the show. There are things that are specific to that experience, but I think even within that specificity is something that people who went to college can deal with.

Anybody who was a scholarship child knows what it is like to possibly lose that scholarship and be worried about how are they going to continue paying for school. That situation is not relegated to HBCUs. People being away from home and dealing with grownup issues for the first time.

Anybody who’s ever been a fish out of water, I think can

connect to that watching this show.

will be an interesting adventure.

Q: With theater, film and now TV under your belt, do you prefer one outlet over the other?

A: That’s interesting. I like all three. I don’t like to get stuck in one or the other. I really like to, and I’m thankful to be able to bounce back and forth. I love film because it allows me to travel and take in new cultures, and that’s thrilling and exciting to me and fun.

It’s finite, which is great.

Theater is the thing that I’m always going to go back to. I feel like it’s the thing that makes you sharper and stronger and better, and so I’ll always do that. And I’m doing TV now, so we’ll see.

This is only the second time I’ve done series work, so it

Q: Many of the roles you have taken on are centered on the Black experience. That must be what speaks most to you.

A: No, it’s not my intention, it’s Hollywood. I think that with some things, of course, I chose because they spoke to me and I do happen to be a black woman. But in Hollywood, people aren’t running up to black women about scripts that aren’t talking about blackness.

I think that whenever I have the opportunity to be doing something that isn’t centered around my ethnicity, it would be very, very exciting to do. Unfortunately, I work in a field where it’s rare that you find people

Q: Do you think Hollywood is making steps in the right direction to provide more opportunities to performers of color?

A: I couldn’t say that. I think sometimes we have a couple steps forward and we have five steps backward. Sometimes we have a couple steps forward, and everyone’s like “all right, great, we’ve done that this year.” And then people aren’t thinking about it.

I think it would be lovely if it wasn’t something that we had to actively make a choice to do. That if they just cast somebody because of their work and because they’re really good at what they do. I would love to be able to step into that state.

I hope so, but time will tell.

Q: Where do you find inspiration for your work?

A: I think I draw inspiration from people. When I’m in New York and I’m walking down the street, everybody I see is some sort of inspiration for what I do.

And they fill me. They allow me to create. I’m very thankful for each person that I run into, whether we have a one-on-one connection or they never even notice me looking at them, I’m thankful for all that humanity gives me daily.

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Making history, one meal at a time.

Sometimes it’s the small things that matter the most.

A dad and daughter spending time together in the kitchen.

A family achievement celebrated around the dinner table.

These simple moments are what move your family forward generation after generation — creating history, every day.

Join Publix Super Markets in the celebration of Black History Month. Explore African American contributions to food history at publix.com/BlackHistoryMonth.

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BLACK HISTORY MONTH

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“We March”

FEBRUARY 3 – FEBRUARY 9, 2017

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Reading Black History

Written and illustrated

by Shane W. Evans, Roaring Brook Press, $16.99, ages 3 and up Author and illustrator Shane W. Evans doesn’t use a lot of words — a little over 60 — in his book “We March.”

He doesn’t have to. His textured, full-color drawings do the work of telling the story of a young African-American family preparing for the August 1963 March on Washington.

Exploring the historical event through the family’s eyes illustrates how much the civil rights struggle was about regular people uniting to peacefully demand change. Dr. King plays an important supporting role in the story. However, it’s the family — standing together, comforting each other — who is the star.

— Eric Goodwin

“Chocolate Me!”

By Taye Diggs, illustrated

by Shane W. Evans, from Macmillan books, $16.99, ages 4 and up “Chocolate Me” opens with an unhappy little boy, being taunted by neighborhood boys for his differences in appearance — everything from his curly hair to his wide nose to his seemingly extra-white teeth against his dark skin. But his mother tells him why those things all make him special. By changing his attitude, which gives him a confidence boost, the boy returns to the other boys and teaches them about acceptance and appreciation of peoples’ differences. The book is also wonderfully illustrated with full-page spreads depicting the boy’s story, sometimes with just a few words per page, which help enrich the story for those too young to read on their own.

— Kim Ossi

“When Grandmama Sings”

By Margaree King Mitchell, illustrated by James E. Ransome, from HarperCollins books, $16.99, ages 5-9 Eight-year-old Belle narrates “When Grand-mama Sings” and tells the story of the summer she and Grandmama, who has an amazing singing voice

These books for kids and teens perfect for Black History Month In February, we celebrate the history of Black people in America — a history that we can sometimes find ourselves shying away from because of the shame of slavery and persecution. Luckily there are talented authors and illustrators to educate our children about the true-life tortures and triumphs of Black people who were brought to this country in chains but have risen to a point where one of their own - President Barack Obama - has represented Americans as the president of the United States. Here are several recently released children’s and young adult books that are perfect for Black History Month reading lists. — McClatchy-Tribune but can’t read, went on a tour with a band. It’s the first time Belle has traveled outside of Pecan Flats, Miss., and she helps her grandmother read while they travel throughout the South. The story talks about the segregation they experience in their travels.

But the overarching message of the story, besides giving young readers a brief history lesson, is the power of music to bring people together. Grandmama also proves to be an excellent role model for Belle – and the reader – about not giving up on your dreams and achieving happiness, no matter your age or how unreachable they may seem when you start your journey.

— Kim Ossi

“My Uncle Martin’s Words for America”

By Angela Farris Watkins, PhD., illustrated by Eric Velasquez, Abram Books for Young Readers, $19.95, ages 5 and up Describing the importance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement to a young child is a challenge. The average 6-yearold doesn’t comprehend “Jim Crow” or “prejudice” right away. Parents may stumble to find analogies that frame the terms in the proper context. But where parents falter, “My Uncle Martin’s Words for America” succeeds, explaining Dr. King’s life and work in a way kids can readily grasp.

Written by his niece, Angela Farris Watkins, the book describes how Dr. King’s philosophy of love and nonviolence chipped away at U.S. segregation laws.

The key pillars underlying Dr. King’s beliefs — justice, freedom, brotherhood

and equality — are highlighted in the text. Watkins then picks events from the civil rights movement that demonstrates how these pillars were made manifest.

— Eric Goodwin

“Freedom’s a-Callin Me”

By Ntozake Shange, paintings by Rod Brown, HarperCollins, $16.99, ages 8-12 “Freedom’s a-Callin Me” tells the tale of a slave, following him from working in the cotton fields and getting beaten by his master to his harrowing escape to Michigan. The story is told through a series of poems and is written in Southern dialect, both of which may be obstacles for younger readers trying to digest the story. But the tale is accompanied by full-page paintings that de-

pict the narrator’s experiences on his journey, and may help struggling readers comprehend the text better. That said, the story introduces readers to a new story form and simultaneously teaches them about the history of slaves in our country, and the brave souls — both Black and White — who brought danger on themselves to help men and women escape to freedom.

— Kim Ossi

“The Mighty Miss Malone”

By Christopher Paul Curtis, Random House Children’s Books, $15.99, ages 9-12 The author of “Bud, Not Buddy,” finally brings us a full-length story about Deza Malone, who fans will certainly remember from “Bud.” The story follows 12-year-old Deza and her family’s struggles during the Great Depression in Gary, Ind. Deza is an incredibly smart and capable young lady, but her parents have difficulties just putting food on the table when work becomes difficult to find. After a serious mishap that leaves Deza’s gregarious and loving father depressed, the Malones become home-

less, riding the rails and living in a Hooverville outside Flint, Mich., fighting not to be crushed against the heel of poverty. “The Mighty Miss Malone” shows how this family supports each other and presents a united front against the everyday injustices and huge setbacks that so many families faced in the 1930s.

— Merrie Leininger

“The Silence of our Friends: The Civil Rights Struggle Was Never Black and White”

By Mark Long, Jim Demonakos, illustrated by Nate Powell, First Second books, 208 pages, $16.99, ages 12 and up This graphic novel tells a story set in 1968 in Houston. Mark Long’s father, Jack Long, is a TV station race reporter, an eye witness to the violence and anger coming from Whites and Blacks. Jack is attempting to cover the events occurring in town and do justice to the people that he’s covering.

Larry Thompson, an advocate for poor African Americans, saves him from an angry mob at an event. The two become friends and their lives intertwine. But when Long witnesses a shooting at a violent protest that leaves a police officer dead, what will he do?

The story is a bit longer than it needs to be — it is based on events in Long’s real-life childhood — but it is quietly powerful.

— Merrie Leininger

“Black Boy White School”

By Brian F. Walker, from HarperCollins, $17.99, ages 14 and up In “Black Boy White School,” readers follow the presentday story of Ant, from eighth grade through his freshman year of high school.

Ant grew up in a violent neighborhood in East Cleveland, Ohio. With his mother’s urging, Ant applies and is accepted to Belton, a boarding school in Maine.

The world at the boarding school there is so different from his home. Most of the children attending the school are rich and White. There are few other students of color.

Despite the story taking place in present-day, with Obama as president and when equality is all but expected, all is not well for many of the people both on campus and in the nearby town. And Ant finds he’s struggling with identity.

The book forces readers to open their eyes to both subtle and blatant racism, still experienced today by many.

— Kim Ossi

DING H REA

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