Florida Courier - March 15, 2013

FC

EE FR

PRESORTED STANDARD MAIL U.S. POSTAGE PAID DAYTONA BEACH, FL PERMIT #189

www.flcourier.com

Read us online Like us on Facebookwww.facebook.com/ flcourier

Florida teens participate in Disney Dreamers Academy

Follow us on Twitter@flcourier

Page B1

VOLUME 21 NO. 11

www.flcourier.com

MARCH 15 - MARCH 21, 2013

Medicaid expansion in Florida suffers setback

jennifer carroll

no longer no. 2 Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll made history two years ago when she was sworn in as the state’s first Black secondin-command. She walked away from the position this week amid another scandal, shocking Floridians and leaving them with a lot of questions.

BY ASHLEY THOMAS FLORIDA COURIER

Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll dropped a bombshell this week, announcing that she was resigning her position as the state’s second-in-command immediately. Carroll made history two years ago when she became the state’s highest-ranking Black elected official. The first Black lieutenant governor’s resignation became public on Wednesday in the wake of a federal probe into a company she represented with ties to Internet cafes.

“Effective immediately, I hereby resign the Office of Lieutenant Governor of the State of Florida. It has been an honor to have served the State of Florida in this capacity,” Carroll wrote in a brief letter to Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday.

Carroll’s resignation followed the arrest on Tuesday on racketeering and money laundering charges of various people affiliated with Allied Veterans of the World, which runs Internet café establishments around the state. The industry says it allows people to partake in sweepstakes, but critics say the establishments are basically gaming parlors. Carroll was not among those charged.

The resignation letter to Scott, dated Tuesday, offered no details about her reason for leaving.

But Scott’s chief of staff, Adam Hollingsworth, said she was interviewed

“Lt. Gov. Carroll resigned in an effort to keep her former affiliations with the company from distracting from our important work on behalf of Florida families.”

BY JIM SAUNDERS NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

TALLAHASSEE – With some Republicans saying they didn’t want to expand a “broken” system, a Senate select committee Monday rejected adding hundreds of thousands of Floridians to the Medicaid program under the federal Affordable Care Act. Senators, however, said they want to pursue an alternative plan that would use federal money to help uninsured low-income people get coverage through private insurers. The select committee’s vote came a week after a House panel also rejected the Medicaid expansion – despite Gov. Rick Scott’s support for the idea.

“I oppose the Washington plan, and I want a Florida plan,’’ said Sen. Joe Negron, a Stuart Republican who is chairman of the select committee and presented the alternative. “I think we have an opportunity to build a better program than what Washington is trying to force on us.”

– Gov. Rick Scott

by Florida Department of Law Enforcement officers Tuesday regarding her work with Allied Veterans of the World.

A company Carroll coowned during her time in the Legislature, 3N & JC Corporation, provided consulting services for Allied Veterans of the World.

What Scott’s office had to say Hollingsworth issued this statement Wednesday morning: “Individuals were arrested (Tuesday) for racketeering and money laundering charges in connection with Allied Veterans of the World’s illegal gambling companies.

“Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll consulted for Allied Veterans while serving as a member of the Florida House of Representatives in 2009 and 2010. She was interviewed by Florida Department of Law Enforcement officers (Tuesday) regarding her work with the company. Lt. Gov. Carroll resigned in an effort to keep her former affiliation with the company from distracting from the administration’s important work on behalf of Florida families.

She made the right decision for the state and her family.”

Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Allison Tant reacted to the announcement with the following statement: “Floridians expected an adminisSee CARROLL, Page A2

Expansion rejected The committee rejected the expansion in a 7-4 vote along party lines.

Democrats said the Affordable Care Act, sometimes called Obamacare, offered a chance to help hundreds of thousands of people get health coverage.

“We have a moral and economic responsibility to seize this moment for the good of Floridians,’’ said Sen. Eleanor Sobel, a Hollywood Democrat and vice-chairwoman of the select committee.

The chances of the Republicandominated Legislature approving the Medicaid expansion dimmed last week when House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, and a House select committee publicly opposed it. But senators had not taken a formal position until Monday’s vote.

Praised by Speaker Weatherford issued a statement praising the Senate move and vowing to work on seeking other options for offering health coverage to the state’s uninsured.

The House speaker, in part, has questioned the future expense to the

After years as a state representative, Jennifer Carroll became Florida’s lieutenant governor in 2011.

See MEDICAID, Page A2

Hispanics, Catholics worldwide jubilant about Latin American pope gentina, 90 percent of all Christians are Catholic. The For Hispanics packed in- country has the 11th largest to St. Peter’s Square today, population of Catholics in there was one word to de- the world. scribe the feeling of seeing one of their own appear on Sign of change the balcony as the next leadSome said today that er of the Catholic Church.

Francis’ selection signaled “‘Orgullo’ – Proud,” San- a powerful change and the tiago Gonzalez Cutre of Ar- promise for a new future. gentina told ABC News.

“I think he has a good As Pope Francis ad- base — especially Latin dressed the faithful in his America has a large Cathonative tongue, there were lic community down there cheers and tears of disbelief. so I think he will be impresFrancis, 76, the archbish- sive,” said Tom Jackson, a op of Buenos Aires, is the San Diego resident studying first Latin American to lead abroad in Rome. the Catholic Church. He is Hispanic Catholics in the MAURIZIO BRAMBATTI/ANSA/ZUMA PRESS/MCT also the first Jesuit to be- United States reacted with come pope. jubilant optimism WednesThe newly elected Pope Francis I stands on the According to Pew, the day to news of the world’s central balcony of St Peter’s Basilica on March 13 largest share of the world’s first Latin American pope, in Vatican City, Vatican. Argentinian Cardinal Jorge Catholics — 39 percent — saying they hoped he might Mario Bergoglio was elected as the 266th Pontiff and is located in Latin America use his background to help will lead the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics and the Caribbean. In Ar- mend rifts and surmount FROM WIRE REPORTS

ALSO INSIDE

challenges that hamper their communities, the church, and the world.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina was elected Wednesday as the supreme leader of the Roman Catholic Church, the first ever pope to hail from Latin America.

The 266th pope had been named as a possible contender by Vatican experts, but not as a front-runner, during the build-up to the conclave. He is believed to have been a serious contender in the 2005 conclave, but his advanced age had been expected to play against him this time round.

SNAPSHOTS FLORIDA | A3

Jeb Bush defends flipflop on immigration

NATION | a6

Former Detroit mayor convicted of racketeering and extortion

‘Viva il papa!’

A plume of white smoke began emerging from a chimney on top of the SisSee POPE, Page A2

FINEST | B5

Meet Candi

COMMENTARY: DR. JULIANNE MALVEAUX: Latest jobless rate no reason to celebrate | A4 COMMENTARY: MARC H. MORIAL: Keep Voting Rights Act Section 5 alive | A5

FOCUS

A2

MARCH 15 – MARCH 21, 2013

Why won’t Black politicians fight for the US Postal Service?

Twenty, 40 and 60 years ago, a job at the Post Office was, for African-Americans, the ticket to something like middle class stability.

Since people with steady and well-paid work, who don’t have long commutes were more able to participate in communitybuilding and sustaining activities Black postal workers were wellrepresented in a wide range of civic, voluntary and political organizations from the 1940s clear to the end of the 20th century.

As an activist and organizer in Chicago of the 1970s and 1980s, I learned countless lessons from postal workers who took the lead in struggles against police brutality, for fair housing and opposition to Chicago’s long running municipal dictators, the Daley regime.

When I moved to Atlanta at the end of 2000, I learned about another postal worker, John Wesley Dobbs who used to be called the mayor of Auburn Avenue, and

CARROLL from A1 tration focused on solving the problems facing Florida’s families, but instead got a scandal-plagued governor and a revolving staff door.

Rick Scott and his administration have made a mockery of the Governor’s office — embarrassing Floridians while failing to accomplish his legislative priorities.”

More scandal Last year, a dispute over Carroll’s attempt to set up her own website, separate from the governor’s, spilled into the press, as a member of Carroll’s staff emailed one of the audiotaped conversations to the Florida Times-Union newspaper.

That staffer, Carletha Cole, was charged with leaking the tapes, after which she leveled scandalous charges of her own: that Carroll had engaged in a sexual affair with a female staffer, including an encounter in the office, which Cole claims she walked in on.

Carroll vigorously denied the allegations, telling the Associated Press that the claims were “totally false and absurd.” In the process, she angered lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) advocates in the state by declaring that Black women who “look like” her don’t engage in lesbian relationships.

She ultimately apologized for the comments, after first standing by her statements.

Carroll’s impact on Black Florida Carroll’s historic rise to Florida’s power began back in 2003 when she was elected as the first Black female Republican to the Florida House of Representatives.

She became the first African-American elected to the position of lieutenant governor in January 2011.

The Trinidad-born Carroll had this to say about Black Florida in a 2011 in-

BRUCE A. DIXON BLACK AGENDA REPORT

was so well known that you could mail a letter from overseas addressed to “John Wesley Dobbs, USA” and he would receive it.

Target for privatizers It was predictable that when, in the 1980s, public policy took a turn against steady jobs at good wages, to force more and more Americans, particularly AfricanAmericans into less and less secure jobs at lower and lower wages, at the same time it vastly expanded the prison state and made welfare as scarce and punitive as possible, that the Postal Service, a monopoly enshrined in the Constitution itself, became a target for privatizers.

terview with the Florida Courier: “What I want them to know is that they’ve had an advocate with me … “I go back to the (2011) budget – when we had one historically Black college that was funded (Edward Waters College) that was sent from the budget to the Legislature.

“All four (EWC, BethuneCookman University, Florida A&M University, Florida Memorial University) received funding because of my involvement in making sure that those colleges and universities were not on the (governor’s) veto list with regards to the monies – $8.77 million went to our HBCUs, and many of the programs across the state of Florida that impact our minority communities were saved from being vetoed.”

On Wednesday, Nathaniel “Nat” Glover, president of Edward Waters College and the first elected Black sheriff in Duval County, told the Florida Courier: “Generally, I was proud when she became lieutenant governor and not knowing more than what I know about the current situation, I’m still proud of her.”

He added that Carroll’s election to the No. 2 spot in Florida was “an encouragement for African-Americans no matter what the situation here is. So, I think it will be motivating for others to lead and take the step [to run] for political office.”

Florida Rep. Dwayne Taylor, a Democrat from Daytona Beach, told the Courier: “I had the opportunity to work alongside the former lieutenant governor from 2008-2010 when she was a member of the House of Representatives. In 2011, I again worked with her after she made history as the first African-American elected to statewide office.

I wish her well.”

Carroll moved to the United States in 1986 and eventually became a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy. She also has a Master of Business Administration (MBA). She spent 2003 to 2010 on Tallahas-

MEDICAID

federal funding.”

from A1

The Affordable Care Act, which President Obama and congressional Democrats approved in 2010, calls for expanding Medicaid eligibility as a key part of its goal to provide health coverage to most Americans.

The law would allow enrollment of people whose incomes are up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level and, in a major change for Florida, allow enrollment of childless adults.

While the federal government would pay 100 percent of the expansion costs during the first three years, its share would gradually drop to 90 percent in 2020, with the state picking up the rest of the tab.

Analysts last week estimated that the expansion would cost the state about $3.5 billion over a decade – with the federal govern-

state of a Medicaid expansion – though the federal government says it will pay all of the expansion costs during the first three years.

“I look forward to working with Senate President (Don) Gaetz as we investigate alternatives that will strengthen the safety net while also ensuring that we do not put future funding for our schools, public safety and protection of our beaches and springs at risk,’’ Weatherford said.

Scott, whose support of Medicaid expansion was harshly criticized by some conservative supporters, issued a brief statement saying he is “confident that the Legislature will do the right thing and find a way to protect taxpayers and the uninsured in our state while the new health-care law provides 100 percent

Florida’s tab

In the ‘80s, ‘90s and the new century, Democrats and Republicans in Congress and successive White Houses passed special legislation and rules that restricted the postal service while enabling UPS and Federal Express to take some of its most lucrative traffic.

Massachusetts liberal Democrat Ted Kennedy took the lead in passing regulation specifically crafted to make unionization impossible at FedEx. The death blow to the postal service may have been struck during the Bush administration, when Congress saddled the postal service with the absurd requirement to fully fund all pensions 70 years in advance, for workers yet unborn.

It’s the end game now, with greedy privatizers like the husband of Senator Diane Feinstein and others snatching inner-city properties the postal service is forced to sell far below their value to fulfill its legal directive to self-destruct.

Where’s the rally?

Still, I keep wondering when I’ll hear members of our current Black political class speak up for the postal service and those good jobs postal workers had that made them the bedrock of Black communities and civic activism everywhere.

I wonder why they haven’t organized forums and conferences and petitions and mass meetings to preserve the last of what used to be the good jobs that made them a potent leading force in AfricanAmerican communities across the country, and even made some of their own careers possible.

Barack Obama doesn’t have a majority in Congress. But his favorite president, Ronald Reagan, never had one either, but it rarely stopped [him] from picking the fights he wanted to win, and often winning them.

The American people as a whole DO reject privatization any time they’re polled on it.

That’s why the Obama regime

and its collaborators dare not call what they’re doing to public education or the broadcast spectrum “privatization.”

The fight to halt the privatization of the postal service is certainly one the Black political class, with or without the president could pick and possibly win, or at least slow down and delay for years. But fighting for good jobs for ordinary people just isn’t our current Black political leadership.

No doubt John Wesley Dobbs and the postal workers I used to know in the ’70s and ‘80s, are rolling over in their graves.

Bruce A. Dixon is managing editor at Black Agenda Report, and a state committee member of the Georgia Green Party. He can be reached at bruce.dixon@blackagendareport.com.

To write a response, click on this column at www.flcourier. com.

POPE from A1

CHARLES W. CHERRY II/FLORIDA COURIER

Jennifer Carroll was sworn in as Florida’s lieutenant governor on Jan. 4, 2011. see’s Capitol Hill as a Republican state legislator representing the Jacksonville area.

The mother of three grown children has been married for more than 30 years to Nolan Carroll, Sr. Their son, Nolan Jr., plays for the Miami Dolphins.

A needed voice The lieutenant governor had been a darling of social conservatives, and her selection as Scott’s running mate was a gesture from the former health-care executive who was known mostly for his economic conservatism.

Carroll was often seen as a desperately needed female, minority voice in a Republican Party whose strongest voices are largely White and frequently male.

In 2012, she was named a member of The Grio’s 100, a list of prominent political, cultural and business figures put together by a website focused on Black issues.

On Wednesday, Scott stood on a sun-drenched corner of the Capitol grounds and spoke about Carroll’s departure, which was handled quietly late Tuesday and became public the next day.

“I will not elaborate on the details of her resignation further, other than to ment paying about $51 billion.

Voucher-like program Numerous details still need to emerge about the possible alternative plan that Negron presented to the Senate select committee Monday. But broadly, it would create a voucherlike program for people to buy private health insurance.

The plan would target the same people who would be newly eligible under the Medicaid expansion and also would rely on federal money to help subsidize coverage. But instead of enrolling people in Medicaid, it would build on an already-existing program, the Florida Healthy Kids Corp., to offer coverage through private insurers.

Florida Healthy Kids provides subsidized private health-insurance to about 240,000 children of

say that she resigned and she did the right thing for the state and for her family,” Scott said.

‘Operation Reveal the Deal’ As of Wednesday, 57 people had been arrested and remained held without a bond limit set, each on: 57 charges of racketeering and influence corrupt organizations (RICO); 614 counts of possession of slot machines; and 614 counts of keeping a gambling house; and 1,265 counts of money laundering, FDLE said.

Florida Attoney General Pam Bondi said her office will file formal charges next week against those arrested as part of the probe, called “Operation Reveal the Deal.”

The investigation began in Seminole County in July 2009 and grew to include law enforcement agencies in South Carolina, Oklahoma and Texas.

Scott said he won’t pick a replacement until after the 2013 legislative session ends in early May.

Florida Courier writer Penny Dickerson, The Associated Press and News Service of Florida were used in compiling this report. low- and moderate-income families, as part of the federal Children’s Health Insurance Program. Families pay $15 or $20 a month for coverage, with the state and federal governments subsidizing the rest of the costs.

Possible alternative Rich Robleto, executive director of Florida Health Kids, said the program’s structure could be broadened to also include the type of expansion discussed by the Senate select committee.

“It’s the kind of thing that we can do,’’ Robleto said. “It’s the kind of thing we have been doing for 20-something years.”

Florida lawmakers in 2011 approved a major overhaul of the Medicaid program that eventually will lead to almost all beneficiaries enrolling in HMOs and other types of managed-care plans. But the possible Obamacare alternative would be sepa-

tine Chapel at 7:06 p.m., announcing to the world that a new pope had been chosen.

It was accompanied by the ringing of bells and shouts of “Viva il papa!” (Long live the pope) from a multitude of people who had gathered in St Peter’s Square despite the rainy weather.

The decision by the 115 cardinals came on only the second day of the conclave, likely in the fifth ballot. It followed the surprise resignation of Benedict XVI a month earlier.

The Cardinal Protodeacon, Frenchman Jean-Louis Tauran, announced the choice from the central balcony of St Peter’s Basilica, using the traditional Latin formula: “Nuntio Vobis Gaudium Magnum, Habemus Papam” (I announce to you a great joy. We have a pope), followed by the pope’s chosen name.

Shortly after, Bergoglio appeared. Looking relaxed and at ease in his white cassock, he saluted the crowd in perfect Italian: “Brothers and sisters, good evening.”

He then joked about his origins, saying his fellow cardinals had picked the new pope “from almost the end of the world.”

World leaders respond The news was greeted around the world and particularly in Latin America, home to around 40 percent of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics.

“It is our wish for you to have, as you take on the leadership and guidance of the Church, a fruitful pastoral task regarding such major responsibilities for the sake of justice, equality, fraternity and peace for humanity,” said Argentine President Fernandez de Kirchner in a rate from that effort.

Negron said he will ask Gaetz, the Senate president, to send the possible alternative to another committee to work out details.

But among the big questions are whether the federal government would go along with the concept and whether it would approve such moves as requiring enrollees to be charged copayments for medical services – something Negron said he would like to see.

Minority Leader responds Despite seeing Republicans vote down the Medicaid expansion, Senate Democrats issued a statement after Monday’s meeting that appeared to indicate support for the possible alternative. That statement noted that the alternative would also address many of the goals of the Medicaid expansion.

“Although Republicans voted against what they

brief letter.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was “especially happy for the Christians of Latin America,” while U.S. President Barack Obama said his election “speaks to the strength and vitality of a region that is increasingly shaping our world and, alongside millions of Hispanic Americans, those of us in the United States share the joy of this historic day.”

The new pope faces formidable tasks at the helm of a Church whose global image has been severely battered by the socalled VatiLeaks scandal, which has exposed disagreement and conflict within its hierarchy. Cases of child abuse by some members of the clergy have also tarnished its image worldwide.

Cardinal Ersilio Tonini, an elderly Italian who did not take part in the conclave, said the choice of Bergoglio was a surprise.

“We are confident that a new era for the Church begins,” Tonini told Italy’s Ansa news agency.

‘Very simple man’ Francesco Clementi, an expert on Vatican governance from the University of Perugia, said that while Bergoglio is “a very simple man,” he has significant government skills, having had a working experience in many of the Church’s institutions.

Bergoglio’s deputy at the archdiocese of Buenos Aires, Eduardo Garcia, described the new pope as “a very simple, very humble pastor.”

He is said to love tango, football and the music of Beethoven. The son of an Italian immigrant, he is also known to favor doing his own cooking and shunning chauffeured cars.

A report by ABC News and Nick Rigillo/MCT were used in compiling this report. called ‘traditional Medicaid expansion’ they turned around and endorsed a program that still relies on the same federal dollars and still extends affordable health care to 1 million Floridians,” Senate Minority Leader Chris Smith, DFort Lauderdale, said.

“Whatever name they opt to give the program, the bottom line is that money allocated by the federal government for Medicaid expansion will be the mechanism. In the Senate, the remaining question is no longer ‘if,’ but ‘who.’”

But Senate Republicans, who have long complained about the costs and size of Medicaid, sought during the meeting to distance themselves from a potential expansion of the program.

“I think fixing health care is not expanding a broken system,’’ said Senate Health Policy Chairman Aaron Bean, R-Fernandina Beach. “Medicaid it’s not good.”

MARCH 15 – MARCH 21, 2013

FLORIDA

A3

Jeb Bush defends flip-flop on immigration Former governor invites political scrutiny with stance outlined in book

BY MARC CAPUTO MIAM HERALD/MCT

Immigration is a minefield. Jeb Bush stepped in it.

Bush’s new book, “Immigration Wars: Forging an American Solution,” exploded on the political scene last week and left the former Florida governor uncharacteristically wobbly over how to legalize the status of the undocumented.

The controversy — and perhaps the book itself — summed up the politics of immigration: laden with political peril, nuance, seeming contradiction and complexity.

The book is also a point of departure for Bush’s political aspirations. He’s neither ruling out nor in a White House bid in 2016.

That invites more political scrutiny than Bush says he realized.

“If I made a mistake, I didn’t assume that everything would be viewed through a political lens,” Bush told The Miami Herald. “In Washington, it seems, everybody assumes there’s a political motivation to everything. And not understanding that, I accept responsibility for it.

“Is it a big deal? No,” he said. But this is a big deal.

Wall-to-wall exposure On Sunday, Bush appeared on every major news program, capping a cross-country schedule of interviews that began with an appearance on NBC’s “Today” show.

Authors of most books — especially policy topics like immigration — usually don’t get that sort of wallto-wall media exposure.

If Bush’s co-author, lawyer Clint Bolick, wrote this alone, it probably wouldn’t make the news.

Bush said they wrote “Immigration Wars” last

year to spur action.

By the time it was printed, however, the debate was well under way in Washington. There, Bush protege and neighbor, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, of West Miami, plays a leading role among a bipartisan group of eight senators hammering out an immigration bill.

Still, “Immigration Wars” is a must-read for anyone who wants to know more about the mind of one of the GOP’s top idea men. Its roughly 250 pages move at a surprisingly quick pace.

A shot at ‘nativists’ Like the immigration issue itself, the book will leave few people at either extreme — the “demagogues” — happy.

Bush tacks right in calling for a residency path — instead of a citizen path bashed as more “amnesty” by conservatives. Yet he moves left in criticizing those obsessed with border security.

The book takes shots at “nativists” in the Republican Party and Republican Mitt Romney’s tone-deaf campaign when it came to Latino outreach and immigration. The authors spare few opportunities to blast President Barack Obama and unions. They refrain from criticism of either Bush presidency.

Written by two conservatives, the book leans right.

Despite the media brouhaha over how to legalize an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants, “Immigration Wars” is about far more.

Bush said the most underreported concept the book advances: giving workers, especially highskilled workers, immigration preference. The system currently largely favors what’s called family reunification, and the definition of family isn’t limited to parents and children.

“The 800-pound gorilla in immigration policy is ‘family reunification.’ A sizable majority of visas — nearly two-thirds — are allocated every year for that purpose,” they write.

OLIVIER DOULIERY/ABACA PRESS/MCT

Jeb Bush, former governor of Florida, makes remarks accompanied by Sean Duffy of Austin, Texas, and Frantz Placide, a beneficiary of school choice, at the 2012 Republican National Convention in the Tampa Bay Times Forum, on Aug. 30, 2012.

“If I made a mistake, I didn’t assume that everything would be viewed through a political lens. In Washington, it seems, everybody assumes there’s a political motivation to everything.

And not understanding that, I accept responsibility for it.”

– Jeb Bush

Guest-worker program They also advocate for a guest-worker program, scrapping the system that ensures immigrants from no single country can account for more than 7 percent of green cards issued per year.

Immigrants from India, “who have started more U.S. companies than immigrants from the next four countries combined — are limited to the same 9,800 annual green cards as ev-

ery other country.”

By encouraging more high-skilled labor (which brings in young, productive workers) and discouraging so-called “chain migration” (which can encourage retirees and children who use social services more), the authors argue immigration reform will improve the economy and shore up programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, which will have net new revenues and slower recipient growth.

“Demography can dictate our destiny — unless we change it,” they write.

Residency path Perhaps the biggest contradiction is between the book’s call for a residency path and what Bush says is his longstanding support

for a more generous pathway to citizenship.

When they were writing the book last year, immigration reform seemed a more-impossible lift in Washington. So he compromised with his own principles.

“We were trying to get people from ‘no’ to maybe or from no to ‘yes.’ We wanted the book to play a constructive role,” he said.

Bush said a resident path is an easier way to “delineate” those who broke immigration law from those who patiently waited their turn.

Little did he realize that, by the time the book was printed, Rubio would help lead national Republicans to embrace a path to citizenship, which Rubio once opposed. Bush’s book dropped like military ordnance, surprising Rubio and fellow Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina who told reporters that Bush was undermining their efforts.

‘On the same path’ Bush called to explain himself.

“We had a great talk.

We’re totally in sync on a path forward. We’re on the same path,” Bush said.

In interviews through-

out the week, Bush initially said he supported a citizenship path but didn’t see how it could be done. By week’s end, after talking to Graham and Rubio, he said he was confident they were “on the right track.”

When asked why immigration is such a minefield for Republicans, Rubio noted that Democrats had their struggles, pointing out unions have opposed a guest-worker program, which Bush and Rubio want.

The fact that Bush and Rubio, who might run for president in four years as well, have a slight disagreement on legalization set the Washington chattering class ablaze with speculation of fallout between the two friends. Both deny it.

“Jeb was writing a book.

He wasn’t writing a bill,” Rubio said, echoing Bush and implicitly pointing out the latter is harder.

“Marco’s stepped up incredibly well. We’re close friends. This whole People Magazine-whatever-youcall it, it’s really kind of, you know, childish. It’s juvenile, untrue,” Bush said.

“There’s a lot of hair on fire right now,” Bush said of the political tenor in Washington. “Mine isn’t.”

FLORIDA LEGISLATURE BRIEFS

hassee political consulting firm run by Meredith O’Rourke, who once raised campaign cash for former Gov. Charlie Crist.

Slow fundraising in February for Scott’s political committee

School supply bill easily passes

After posting more than $1.2 million in January, the political committee in support of Gov. Rick Scott’s re-election posted $11,500 in contributions last month, with the money all coming in before his proposal to expand Medicaid, according to the group’s website.

The “Let’s Get to Work” political committee reported nine contributions in February, all posted Feb. 19, with four coming from the Tallahassee post office box of lobbying firm Johnson and Blanton, including $500 from the Council of Florida Family Practice and Community Teaching Hospitals, Inc. The Florida Hospital Healthcare System in Orlando also put up $500.

On Feb. 20, Scott proposed expanding Medicaid eligibility for three years – a period of time in which the federal government is supposed to pay 100 percent of the expansion costs. The committee’s two-month haul keeps the fundraising far ahead of the 2012 pace.

Last year, Let’s Get to Work recorded $4.79 million, with $216,751 coming in during the first two months. The committee spent $64,915 in February 2013, of which $53,866 went to Forward Strategies, a Talla-

A proposal to overhaul a system meant to supplement teachers for the costs of school supplies, a piece of Gov. Rick Scott’s education agenda, easily passed a House subcommittee Tuesday.

The measure (HB 1033), approved by the House Choice and Innovation Subcommittee, would require districts to issue debit cards to teachers containing their share of funds for the program allocated by the state and raised from private contributors, who would be allowed to give to the program under the proposal.

The name of the initiative would also change, from the Florida Lead Program to the Florida Teachers Classroom Supply Program.

House puts squeeze on massage businesses Worried about human trafficking, a House panel Tuesday approved a bill that would try to curb shady massage establishments. HB 7005 includes steps such as barring the establishments from operating between midnight and 5 a.m., though it has exceptions for massage services provided at places such as health-care facilities and hotels.

Also, the bill would seek to prevent advertising aimed at drawing clients for sexual activity. Sponsor Dave Kerner, D-Lake Worth, said the bill would give an additional tool to law enforcement officials as they try to combat human trafficking that involves massage establishments.

Groups such as the Florida Sheriffs Association and the Florida State Massage Therapy Association supported the bill, which was approved unanimously by the House Health Quality Subcommittee.

– News Service of Florida

EDITORIAL

A4

MARCH 15 – MARCH 21, 2013

Latest jobless rate no reason to celebrate When unemployment rate data were released on Friday morning, commentators replied joyfully.

Alan Krueger, who heads the White House Council of Economic Advisors, described the creation of 247,000 jobs as a victory, since the predictions were that the economy would only generate 170,000 jobs.

Unemployment rates went down to 7.7 percent, while predictions were that they would only drop to 7.8 percent.

Some might call this good news, but many might wonder who is affected by this good news.

A deep dive into the un-

critical to celebrate a drop in White unemployment DR. rages, without noticing or JULIANNE mentioning the stagnation MALVEAUX in Black unemployment rates.

TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM

employment rate data show the disappointing reality that African-American unemployment rates remained level, at 13.8 percent.

Meanwhile, White unemployment rates fell to 6.8 percent and the rate for White men dropped to 6.3 percent. The racial disparities in unemployment rates are not new, but it is hypo-

Affirmative action More than new construction jobs were generated last month, but since Black unemployment rates remained level, that suggests that African-Americans are not being brought into that industry (if at all) at the same rates that Whites are.

Implicitly, these data make the case for continued affirmative action, especially in well-paid jobs.

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: JEB FLIP FLOP

In times of economic hardship, those hiring are inclined to look after their own instead of spreading the jobs around.

And recent data suggests that African-Americans enter the labor market with a shallower Rolodex than Whites. Fewer contacts mean fewer job opportunities. Whose employment situation has improved?

The number of long term unemployed remained level at 4.8 million people who have been unemployed for 37 weeks or more. To be sure, this is a drop from the 39 weeks of a year or so ago.

Still, the situation for some of the unemployed has simply not improved.

One of the reasons that the unemployment rate dropped is because 130,000 people dropped out of the labor force because they could not find jobs.

Workers underutilized Eight million people work part time for economic reasons. They would take full time work if only they could find it. The number of “marginally attached” workers stands at 2.4 million. If underutilized work-

ers are included, the unemployment rate is 14.3 percent for everyone. If the relationship between underutilization and reported unemployment is the same for African-Americans as for Whites, then the real unemployment rate is 25.5 percent, or almost a fourth, for African-Americans.

That’s alarming, yet as I watch televised reports on Black unemployment rates, this is unmentioned. Black unemployment rates are at more than Depression levels, which ought to be completely unacceptable. It is not.

Economic recovery?

CEA Chairman Krueger says the data from this employment report suggests that we are well on our way to economic recovery. From my perspective this recovery is neither robust nor inclusive.

In order for this recovery to be fully celebrated, every sector of Americans should see their material conditions increase. They’ve increased for some. What about the others? Where are their advocates?

Too many African-American leaders are asleep at the

wheel when it comes to the employment situation. Unemployment rates become a line in their speeches, not a lode for their leadership. High unemployment rates explain why so many African-Americans, at the economic margins, don’t support civil rights organizations. They are asking what’s in it for me.

What if huge numbers of unemployed people were mobilized? What if, in their economic misery, some rose up and demanded that Congress and others pay attention to their situation? To watch the situation of Whites improve, while Black unemployment rates remain the same, suggests that the vision of a post-racial society is extremely unrealistic.

African-American people are bearing a disproportion amount of pain in the current employment situation. Black people are starving, and it seems that no one, not even civil rights advocates, will act on their behalf.

Julianne Malveaux is a D.C.-based economist and author. Click on this story at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

Unknown thieves too big to jail

JEFF PARKER, FLORIDA TODAY AND FORT MYERS NEWS-PRESS

Make history that ensures America fulfills its promise As we look back on Black History Month, I am reminded of the unrelenting and altruistic efforts of Black pioneers who greatly contributed to the success of the world today. For centuries, the achievements, successes, and stories of people of color were muted and cast aside as insignificant to American history and progress.

Today, millions are aware of the many contributions given to our world by people of color, such as the gas mask, traffic light and blood bank technologies. This widespread awareness would not be possible without the advocacy and relentless efforts of American heroes like Carter G. Woodson.

An American visionary, Woodson saw the value in sharing the story of the Black struggle, while simultaneously highlighting black achievement and success in the face of such hardships and adversity.

U.S. REP. CORRINE BROWN GUEST COLUMNIST

that social entrepreneurs such as Frederick Douglass, Dorothy Height, and Martin Luther King Jr. devoted their lives to.

Celebrating Black achievement without also building upon the progress of American heroes that came before us is irresponsible and dishonors their many sacrifices.

We should not only celebrate Black history, but move from this moment and make history that ensures America fulfills its promise of justice and liberty for all.

So every day we wake, we should continue to bend the arc of the moral universe towards justice and ensure that tomorrow Rededicate ourselves is better because of the actions we took toWhile 2013 may be the year that we com- day. memorate the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation and the 50th U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown represents anniversary for the March on Washing- Florida’s fifth congressional district. ton, this year should also be a time that we Click on this story at www.flcourier. rededicate ourselves to the call of justice com to write your own response.

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

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

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

Subscriptions to the print version are $59 per year. Mail check to P.O. Box 48857 Tampa, FL 33646, or log on to www.flcourier.com; click on ‘Subscribe’.

SUBMISSIONS POLICY SEND ALL SUBMISSIONS TO NEWS@FLCOURIER.COM. Deadline for submitting news and pictures is 5 p.m. the Monday before the Friday publication date. You may submit articles at any time.

However, current events received prior to deadline will be considered before any information that is submitted, without the Publisher’s prior approval, after the deadline. Press releases, letters to the editor, and guest commentaries must be e-mailed to be considered for publication. The Florida Courier reserves the right to edit any submission, and crop any photograph, for style and clarity. Materials will not be returned.

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

Stop worrying about fiscal cliffs, sequestrations and government budget deficits. You should be worried about your own budget. If you believe in fake reports, you could think that the economy is rebounding, stock markets are rising and unemployment rates are declining.

The fake economic reports are very different from your personal and your family’s economic situation. You can’t find a job, you can’t keep a job, you can’t get a raise, you can’t get a loan, you can’t buy a house, you can’t finance a business and you just can’t make ends meet.

So you “float,” you “kite,” you “flip,” you post date, you hustle, you gamble and you might even “trick” and do whatever you have to do to take care of your family and to survive.

If anything goes wrong when trying to survive, you go to jail. The best way to stay out of jail is to become a beast banker.

Punish misconduct Uninformed journalists, columnists and reporters love to talk about how America’s financial institutions and banks are “too big to fail” and how any attempt to punish financial misconduct will result in a negative and

Lucius Gantt THE GANTT REPORT

harmful impact on American society.

The phrase of the day is that banks are “too big to jail”!

You can use fraud, forgery and other crimes to destroy the American housing market, you can launder money for drug cartels and rouge countries, you can change credit card and other banking agreements whenever you desire and you can arbitrarily and maliciously impose hidden, secret fees to bilk customers that never agreed to increased fees.

Now, this is why the socalled major media doesn’t want The Gantt Report near other columns and other columnists.

Yes, banks can fail but banks cannot be jailed.

Beast bankers safe So, why hasn’t President Obama, the Congress, state and federal attorney generals, and other law enforcers sought to arrest, convict and imprison individual bank officers and employees?

Not only have all of the beast bankers not been ar-

rested, they haven’t even been booked, photographed, finger printed or named, for that matter.

Jails are full of young people arrested for having a dime sack of weed but people that work at banks, not “banks”, launder billions of dollars of drug money and steal trillions of dollars from home owners and the media outlets that you love just say nothing can be done to banks.

The “unknown thieves” are the bank officers and bank employees. The only good thing about them is their diversity. Bank officers will instruct their employees to steal from everyone regardless of race, creed, color or gender.

Once you start sentencing the individual financial criminals and currently “unknown thieves” to life in prison, the American economy might see real change.

People may be able to buy homes and get business loans again.

Buy Gantt’s book “Beast Too: Dead Man Writing” on Amazon.com, like The Gantt Report page on Facebook and contact Lucius at www.allworldconsultants.net. Click on this story at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

Scalia a right-wing activist with agenda In oral arguments before the Supreme Court on the Voting Rights Act, Justice Antonin Scalia slandered the act as a “racial entitlement,” arguing, “whenever a society adopts racial entitlements, it is very difficult to get out of them through the normal political processes.”

So, the right-wing justice intimated, the conservative “Gang of Five” on the Supreme Court had every right to step in and overrule the 98 senators who voted unanimously to reauthorize the act (including the senators of every state and jurisdiction required to seek preclearance of any changes in their voting laws).

The justice proved once more that he is not a neutral arbiter of the Constitution but a right-wing activist with an agenda to enforce.

Racial entitlement

more income than Blacks,

Rev. even for comparable work.

Jesse L. Third, Blacks are twice as Jackson, likely to be unemployed as Whites.

Sr. TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM

should negate their act, since he somehow considers protection of the right to vote a “racial entitlement.”

Scalia’s racial taunt has received the scorn it deserves.

It makes more sense to apply his reasoning to the real “racial entitlements” that still scar our nation.

For example, a recent study by Brandeis University revealed a stunning increase in the wealth gap between Whites and Blacks in America. The gap tripled between 1984 and 2009. In 2009, the median wealth (the difference between what you own and what you owe) of a White household was $113,149. The median wealth of a Black household was $5,677.

Why the difference? The study found five contributing factors.

Deference to the popularly elected Congress and president is, apparently, only when they do what Scalia considers to be proper.

When they choose to reauthorize a Voting Rights Act that has protected the rights Contributing factors First, Whites were more of millions and transformed America’s democracy since likely to be homeowners its passage in 1965, Jus- than Blacks. tice Scalia thinks the court Second, Whites made

Fourth, Whites are five times more likely to inherit money.

Finally, Whites are more likely to have a college education than Blacks. Blacks are more likely to find advanced training difficult to finance. They are more likely to graduate with debt, and their average debt on graduation is greater.

The wealth gap is, in Scalia’s words, a “racial entitlement.” Only this entitlement favors Whites, not Blacks.

On economic inequality, the promise of 40 acres and a mule for freed slaves was broken. Dr. King marched on Washington to redeem a “canceled check” marked “insufficient funds.”

If Scalia is right, “the normal political processes” won’t solve this racial entitlement. Nor, for that matter, will the right-wing Gang of Five on the Supreme Court.

Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. is president and CEO of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition.

Click on this story at www. flcourier.com to write your own response.

MARCH 15 – MARCH 21, 2013

Bipartisan agreement in Tallahassee will benefit all Last Tuesday, the Legislature kicked off the 2013 Legislative Session. While our state appears to be turning the corner economically, we still have a ways to go and this presents both opportunities and challenges. The governor opened the session by delivering his State of the State address, in which he touched on job creation, education and ending taxes on the purchase of manufacturing equipment.

Over the past four years, I have advocated for the need to place more money into our public schools and increasing teachers’ salaries. I’m glad the governor is finally listening, but this can not be a game of politics.

Several important pieces of legislation were voted out of committees and the House floor that are worth mentioning:

EDITORIAL

A5

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: PRESIDENTIAL CHARM OFFENSIVE

Health care MIA JONES GUEST COLUMNIST

bill that corrects many of the problems that caused thousands of voters to stand in long lines for hours.

This legislation allows the supervisor of elections in each county to choose between eight and 14 days of early voting for eight to 12 hours per day. It also expands early voting sites to include stadiums, civic centers and county courthouses.

Additionally, it allows absentee ballots of voters who accidentally forgot to sign their name to be cured and counted. I was pleased to support this measure, because Election reform as a state we need to make it easOn the first day of session, the ier for Floridians to vote on ElecHouse passed an election reform tion Day.

The House Select Committee on Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) voted along party lines to oppose expanding Medicaid under the federal Affordable Care Act. The plan would require the federal government to cover the entire cost for three years and then revisit the issue.

As a member of this committee, I was very disappointed that millions of Floridians would be denied access to health care, however I recognize it is very early in the session and I am hopeful that House and Senate Leadership will wake up and do what is in the best (FRS) current Defined Benefits interest of all Floridians.

Plan, beginning in January, 2014.

Additionally, the bill would bar Pension reform new employees from being eligiLast Friday, the House Appro- ble for disability benefits. I votpriations Committee passed, ed against this legislation during along party lines, a bill that would committee. This bill has one more force all new state employees into committee stop before heading to a Defined Contribution or 401(k) the House floor. style retirement plan instead of In closing, I look forward to the Florida Retirement System working with my colleagues across

DARYL CAGLE, CAGLECARTOONS.COM

the aisle to reach bipartisan agreement and legislation that benefits our entire state.

Florida State Rep. Mia Jones represents House District 14.

She can be reached at mia. jones@myf loridahouse.gov.

Click on this story at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

Racially offensive mischaracterization of the housing bubble Last week, Bloomberg Businessweek magazine released its latest issue to much-deserved uproar and outrage. On its cover, the magazine featured Jim Crowesque caricatures that portrayed people of color as money hungry and implicitly suggested that they will cause a future housing bubble. Unfortunately, this offensive image is only the second worst thing about this cover.

Myth perpetuated Since the housing bubble burst in 2008, a myth has been perpetuated that minorities, not predatory lenders, are responsible for and profiteers of housing bubbles. The implications of this false narrative are particularly problematic as they can inform the very economic and housing policies that will determine the availability of homeownership for most Americans today.

Discriminatory lending has existed in the housing market since

DEDRICK MUHAMMAD GUEST COLUMIST

the Great Depression, when government incentivized homeownership chiefly for White Americans.

Homeownership - the primary source of wealth - catapulted many White Americans to the middle class, leaving AfricanAmericans behind. The result - an economic chasm between Whites and Blacks now commonly referred to as the racial wealth divide.

During the 1960s and 1970s, the civil rights community helped convince the government to enact policies to break down many barriers for African-American homeownership. But, many of these gains were eroded with the onset of deregulation. During the

Keep Voting Rights Act Section 5 alive In commemoration of the 48th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday,” John Lewis, Vice President Joe Biden and a coalition of citizens and civil rights advocates, including representatives of the National Urban League, re-enacted the March 7, 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights march that was halted on the Edmund Pettus bridge by Alabama state troopers wielding billy clubs and tear gas.

Bloody Sunday Bloody Sunday led to the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, outlawing discriminatory voting tactics that had routinely denied the right to vote to millions of African-Americans, especially in the South.

Although an overwhelmingly bipartisan majority of Congress reauthorized the Voting Rights Act in 2006 for 25 more years, Shelby County v. Holder, which was argued before the Supreme Court last week, threatens the very heart of the law and challenges the constitutionality of the critical pre-clearance provision — known as Section 5.

Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act requires jurisdictions with a history of voting discrimination to receive preapproval from the Justice Department or a federal district court in D.C. for any change to their voting rules to ensure such changes do not discriminate against voters who are racial, ethnic or language minorities.

Measure still needed The flagrant and aggressive voter suppression efforts that occurred in many of the very states subject to Section 5 preclearance during the past election underscores that this critical measure is still necessary to protect the fundamental right to vote.

The Urban League has joined other civil rights organizations in signing on to an amicus brief in support of Section 5, and is

MARC H. MORIAL TRICE EDNEY WIRE

speaking out in favor of keeping it alive. In fact, on February 27, the day the law was debated in the Supreme Court, we rallied with thousands of other supporters outside the Court in a mass show of support.

Congressman John Lewis, who was one of hundreds beaten during Bloody Sunday, gave several examples in a recent Washington Post op-ed that demonstrate how much Section 5 is still needed. He reminds us that in 2008, the city legislature in Calera, a city in Shelby County, Alabama, in disregard of Section 5, redrew the boundaries to dilute the voting power of Black citizens, resulting in the defeat of Ernest Montgomery, the city’s only Black Councilman.

During last year’s presidential campaign, the Justice Department blocked discriminatory voting changes in South Carolina and Texas that would have disenfranchised hundreds of thousands of minority voters.

In ruling against South Carolina’s onerous new voter ID law, U.S. District Judge, John D. Bates wrote, “One cannot doubt the vital function that Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act has played here.”

A decision by the Justices is expected in June. Too many Americans have fought and died for the precious right to vote.

The Supreme Court must not turn back the clock. Keep Section 5 Alive!

Marc H. Morial, former mayor of New Orleans, is president and CEO of the National Urban League. Click on this story at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

2000s housing bubble, minority borrowers were near 30 percent more likely to be sold a subprime high-cost loan than a homeowner in a White suburb.

Minorities exploited And African-Americans with similar credit profiles and downpayment ratios to White borrowers were more likely to be given subprime loans as well. Mortgage lenders and brokers were even incentivized to exploit minority borrowers as lenders were paid more to push them towards riskier products and not underwrite their loans.

By 2008, the housing bubble burst due to reckless banking and the mortgage market was in freefall. While foreclosure rates skyrocketed all over the country, communities of color experienced disproportionate rate of foreclosures and lost a disproportionate amount of wealth. White families in America lost 16 per-

cent of their net worth on average No apology issued while Black, and Hispanic famiFaced with a vocal response, lies lost 53% and 66% respectiveBusinessWeek issued a classic ly. “non-apology” expressing reErosion of wealth gret for the strong reactions their In fact, the erosion of wealth in cover may have generated. They minority communities was so se- then, ironically, attempted to vere that a recent study finds the scapegoat their Latino illustrator ratio of wealth between Black and for the offensive and misleading White families has tripled over cover art. We cannot let Businessthe past 25 years. week off the hook for this grave Though Bloomberg Business- offense. week’s actual article, “The Great We are asking Businessweek American Housing Rebound”, to take full responsibility and apnotes how homeowners have propriate action for their outrayet to recover from the financial geous cover and to print a story crisis, the corresponding cov- on the importance of homeowner only included Blacks and La- ership particularly for communitinos in a home surrounded by ties of color. mounds of dollars. Apparently, and to our profound disappointDedrick Muhammad is diment, the editorial team decid- rector of the Economic Departed it was an “easier sell” to have a ment of the NAACP. He can be cover scapegoating minorities for reached at 410-580-5777. Click a possible second housing bub- on this story at www.flcourible than a cover that honored the er.com to write your own response. facts in their very own article.

SBA wants to give small businesses the world In today’s global economy, selling goods around the world can bring large rewards. It just makes good business sense to expand your prospective customer base to the more than 95 percent of the world’s population outside our country whose demand for American goods is growing every day.

Small businesses now constitute 34 percent of total export dollars, and comprise approximately 97.8 percent of all exporters.

At the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), we provide counseling, training and financing to ensure that small businesses have the tools they need to tap into the global market — and we’re seeing results.

Since FY 2009, SBA has guaranteed 6,400 loans to small business exporters for over $3.3 billion and supported more than $6.3 billion in exports.

Double exports The SBA and other federal partners are all working toward the goal, set by President Obama through the National Export Initiative, to double our exports by 2014. To help us reach that goal, the President recently signed trade agreements with Colombia, South Korea, and Panama to expand export markets for American companies.

Additionally, in his State of the Union, the president announced that we will do more by launching talks on a comprehensive Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership with the European Union. This National Export Initiative is a win-win, because access to more markets means more customers, more sales of U.S. goods and more jobs here at home.

Consider exporting According to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration, here in Florida, export-supported jobs linked to manufacturing

CASSIUS BUTTS GUEST COLUMNIST

are approximately 1.8 percent of all Florida private-sector jobs and 14.2 percent of manufacturing workers depend on exports for their jobs. Exports sustain thousands of Florida businesses – 96 percent of which were small or medium-sized businesses with fewer than 500 employees.

If you are a small business looking to export, U.S. Export Assistance Centers are a great resource. The mission of the Export Assistance Centers, which are staffed by professionals from SBA, Department of Commerce, the U.S. Export-Import Bank and other public and private organizations, is to provide the help that small businesses need to compete in today’s global marketplace.

The nearest U.S. Export Assistance Center in Florida is located in the Office of International Trade, 5835 Blue Lagoon Drive, Suite 203, Miami, FL. SBA has made it a priority to help small business exporters by providing a number of loan programs specifically designed to help develop or expand export activities. If you own or wish to start a small export business, the following SBA loans may be available to you: •The Export Express Loan Program offers streamlined financing up to $500,000. It is the simplest export loan product offered by the SBA. Any business in operation at least one year that can demonstrate that the loan proceeds will support its export activity is eligible.

•The Export Working Capital Program offers financing up to $5 million as a credit enhancement. This program is delivered through SBA Senior International Credit Officers located in U.S. Export Assistance Centers.

•International Trade Loan Program offers loan financing for fixed assets and working capital to businesses that plan to start or continue exporting, or that have been adversely affected by competition from imports.

If you already export your goods or services around the world and have used a federal government program or assistance to get there, the SBA also has something for you. SBA and Visa have launched the “2013 Export Video Contest” that will offer current small business exporters the opportunity to educate other small businesses about the benefits of exporting and the government programs that can help.

Winners can receive up to $10,000 in prize money from Visa. We’re accepting entries through April 5, 2013. Visit www. challenge.gov for more information on eligibility and contest rules.

Ready to help If you’re ready to explore the possibilities and challenges of exporting, SBA and the federal government’s trade promotion and export finance agencies are ready to help U.S. businesses meet the challenge. Whether your firm is new to exporting or in need of a refresher on the latest ideas and techniques, www. export.gov provides need-toknow information for small businesses on how to meet the challenges of the world economy.

Cassius Butts is a regional administrator for the U.S. Small Business Administration. For more information on exporting or SBA guaranteed exporting loans, contact the North Florida District Office at 904-443-1900. Click on this story at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

TOj A6

NATION

MARCH 15 – MARCH 21, 2013 Enterprise” engaged in a pattern of criminal activity — one of the requirements of RICO — that included at least two criminal acts.

Asked to comment after the hearing, Kwame Kilpatrick said, “Not at this time.” Coming out of the courthouse, Ferguson said, “God is good.”

Mountain of evidence

REGINA H. BOONE/DETROIT FREE PRESS/MCT

Former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick makes his way into federal court in Detroit on Monday.

Former Detroit mayor convicted of racketeering and extortion Kwame Kilpatrick accused of using influence to get lucrative contracts for his father, friend DETROIT FREE PRESS/MCT

Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his longtime contractor friend Bobby Ferguson were convicted of racketeering and

extortion Monday, marking an end to a more than decade-long public corruption investigation.

Kilpatrick was convicted on 24 of 30 counts, including five counts of extortion, racketeering, bribery and several mail, wire and tax fraud charges. On three counts, he was found not guilty, and on three no verdict was reached.

Ferguson was found guilty on nine of 11 counts, including racketeering and several counts of extortion.

Former Essence editor says she was fired over clashes about portrayal of Black women FROM WIRE REPORTS

Many were shocked when news hit that Essence editor-in-chief Constance White was leaving her post at the helm of the magazine after less than two years in the position. It was widely reported that White’s departure was of her own volition, but a new interview with Richard Prince’s Journal-isms reveals that she was fired.

In her own words, White explains that her termination was the [result] of several disagreements with Time Inc. Editor-in-Chief Martha Nelson about how Black women should be represented by the monthly.

She told Journal-isms: “Essence, the nation’s leading magazine for Black women, was originally Black-owned Constance but has not fared well under Time Inc. White ownership, White maintained. “Nelson vetoed such pieces as a look at AfricanAmerican art and culture, and ‘I was not able to make the creative hires that needed to be made.’’

‘Disposable’ editors?

She elaborated by email, “When was the last time you saw Essence in the community advocating for or talking with Black women? [...] No more T-shirts with a male employee’s face on it being distributed at the [Essence] Festival.” [...] “I had a certain point of view about Black women being central to this magazine. The boss didn’t agree with me and the president didn’t agree with me,” she said, referring to Michelle Ebanks, president of Essence Communications. “It became an untenable situation.”

“This is a magazine where the central DNA was laid down by Gordon Parks,” she said, referring to the famed African-American photographer who helped found Essence and was its editorial director from 1970 to 1973. White intimated that her efforts to maintain Parks’ standards had been rebuffed.

“How is it that from 2000, when Susan [L. Taylor, longtime editor] left — she was pushed out — we have had about five editors, including two acting editors, yet Essence continues to decline? So where’s the problem?

And the editors are the Black women. ‘They are disposable. Let’s keep changing them.’

A report from Clutch Magazine was used in compiling this report.

He was found not guilty on one count. No verdict was reached on another.

Bernard Kilpatrick, the former mayor’s father, was convicted on one of four counts — a tax charge.

There was no verdict for him on the racketeering charge, and he was found not guilty on two other charges: attempted extortion and a tax charge.

‘Kilpatrick Enterprise’ Coming out of the court-

house, Bernard Kilpatrick was asked whether he believes the jury got it wrong.

“Absolutely,” he said, before being whisked away in a red Ford Mustang.

The most serious charges, including racketeering and mail fraud, carry maximum 20-year prison sentences.

Other crimes in the indictment, such as bribery and extortion, each carry a maximum 10-year prison sentence. The Kilpat-

ricks also faced tax charges, which carry three-year maximum prison sentences.

The most weighty of the charges was the one levied under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act, or RICO, a 1970 law that initially was designed to combat organized crime but has since been used in several public corruption trials.

In the Detroit case, prosecutors charged the group they called the “Kilpatrick

The defendants were accused of, among other things, shaking down contractors and rigging bids to help steer lucrative contracts to Ferguson. Prosecutors said the philosophy of the enterprise was simple: If you wanted work in the City of Detroit, you either had to hire Ferguson or, in some cases, hire the mayor’s father as a consultant.

That was one of the main themes in the government’s nearly five-month trial, which featured a mountain of evidence that included 80 government witnesses, scores of bank records, contract agreements, text messages and secret video and audio recordings.

The jury also heard about Kilpatrick’s lavish lifestyle and his nonprofit Kilpatrick Civic Fund, which the government said the ex-mayor used as a personal piggybank.

Prosecutors said the fund was meant for voter education and youth, but Kilpatrick used it for everything from yoga lessons and vacation getaways to college tuition for his relatives and spy equipment.

Several businessmen also testified that they lavished Kilpatrick with vacations, custom-made suits and jewelry because they wanted to keep him happy, and they needed help with city deals.

All three men vigorously denied the charges, saying they never demanded anything of anyone and were committed to helping minority businesses grow.

When the trial started last fall, it included a fourth defendant — ex-city water director Victor Mercado.

But he pleaded guilty during trial to conspiracy and awaits sentencing.

Appeals court: Mississippi TV anchor can keep MLK papers

BY HOLBROOK MOHR ASSOCIATED PRESS

JACKSON, Miss. – A Mississippi television anchorman can keep documents and other materials tied to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., that the civil rights leader’s estate sued to obtain, a federal appeals court panel ruled on March 8.

King’s estate sued WLBT-TV’s Howard Ballou in September 2011 in U.S. District Court in Jackson. The estate wanted possession of documents, photographs and other items that Ballou’s mother got while working for King.

Maude Ballou worked as King’s secretary from 1955 to 1960 and kept documents during the time King led the Montgomery Improvement Association and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the lawsuit said.

Maude Ballou said King gave her the material.

‘Justice prevailed’ U.S. District Judge Tom Lee dismissed the estate’s lawsuit on March 23, saying there was nothing to contradict Maude Ballou’s testimony that King gave her the material and that the statute of limitations had passed.

A three-judge panel from the 5th

U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans upheld the decision based on the statute of limitations ruling.

The panel said the clock started when Maude Ballou left Howard King’s employment Ballou in 1960, not when the estate asked Howard Ballou for the material in 2010. The estate said it didn’t know about the material until a newspaper wrote about that year.

"Thank God justice prevailed,’’ Howard Ballou said Friday in a telephone interview. "I’m just happy for my mother.’’

King sermon included King’s estate, a Georgia corporation operated as a private company by his children, is known to fight for control of the King brand and has sued media companies that used his "I Have a Dream’’ speech.

One of the estate’s attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It wasn’t immediately clear if the estate planned to ask for a rehearing or appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The documents described in court records include a sermon; a statement King made the day after a landmark Supreme Court ruling on seg-

regation; and a handwritten letter to Ballou’s mother from civil rights icon Rosa Parks.

After working for King, Ballou’s parents went to work at what is now Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina, where Leonard Ballou was as an archivist. Leonard Ballou apparently stored the material in the university’s basement, unbeknownst to anyone, until it was discovered by the university in 2007 and returned to the Ballou family.

Prepared to fight The court record says the university contacted Howard Ballou about taking possession of the material because his father was deceased. His mother is alive.

Ballou’s lawyer, Robert Gibbs, said Ballou’s parents were personal friends of King and the letters, photographs and other items were gifts that rightfully belong to Ballou’s family.

Gibbs said last week that the 5th Circuit ruling clears up any issue of ownership, but he’s prepared to fight if the King estate appeals the ruling.

The 5th Circuit panel "decided the statute of limitations issue, which does clear up the ownership issue, because the ownership claims they were making should have been made a long time ago,’’ Gibbs said.

Wells Fargo commits to lending $55 million to women by 2020 FROM WIRE REPORTS

SAN FRANCISCO – Wells Fargo & Company has announced a commitment to lend a total of $55 billion to women-owned businesses in the U.S. by the year 2020.

“Women-owned businesses are among America’s fastest growing seg-

ments, and we are honored to support their role in shaping the future of small business,” said Lisa Stevens, Wells Fargo’s lead executive for Small Business and West Coast Regional Banking president.

Wells Fargo’s first lending commitment in 1995 established a goal to lend $1 billion to women business owners over three years. Since intro-

ducing the women’s lending commitment, Wells Fargo has provided more than $38 billion in capital to women business owners. Today, approximately 30 percent of businesses in the U.S. are owned by women, according to the National Women’s Business Council.

For more information visit wellsfargo.com/biz.

HEALTH FOOD || HEALTH TRAVEL | |MONEY SCIENCE | BOOKS | MOVIES | TV | AUTOS LIFE | FAITH | EVENTS | CLASSIFIEDS | ENTERTAINMENT | SPORTS | FOOD COURIER

IFE/FAITH

March 15 - March 21, 2013

China prepares to become largest economy See page B3

SHARING BLACK LIFE, STATEWIDE

SCLC exhibit opens in Atlanta See page B4

SUN COAST / TAMPA BAY www.flcourier.com

|

SECTION

B

PHOTO COURTESY OF GREGG NEWTON

Entertainer Steve Harvey (center), Tracey D. Powell, executive champion of Disney Dreamers Academy (left of MIckey Mouse), Michelle Ebanks, president of Essence Communications (right of Harvey), and Mikki Taylor, editor-at-large for Essence Magazine (front of Harvey), pose with Mickey Mouse and Disney Dreamers on March 10 during the commencement ceremony at Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista. The sixth annual Disney Dreamers Academy is a career-inspiration program for 100 high school students from across the U.S.

WHERE

DREAMS COME TRUE

PHOTOS BY PENNY DICKERSON/SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA COURIER

Dwight James of Jacksonville (left), Erica Thomas of Land O’ Lakes (center), and Demetre Williams of Pace were three of the 11 Dreamers from Florida.

Florida teens participate in Disney Dreamers Academy hosted

by Steve Harvey, Essence Magazine

BY PENNY DICKERSON SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA COURIER

High school students converged upon the state last week for the sixth annual Disney Dreamers Academy sponsored by Walt Disney World Resorts with Steve Harvey and Essence Magazine.

The 100 students arrived

from as far as California and Vermont with a cluster of Midwestern states represented. Bodacious dreams were packed along with stories as warm as the sunshine during a fourday, three-night weekend held March 6-10.

Each student was challenged to boldly reach for the stars like the foremost signature dreamer: Walt Disney.

Among them were 11 Florida “Dreamers” selected from 5,000 submissions.

For more information For more information on the Disney Dreamers Academy, visit www. disneydreamersacademy. com.

Winning essays articulated everything from cancer adversity to presidential award achievements, and collectively they are the next generation of physicians, journalists, James Beard award culinary chefs, Academy Award-winning actors and Disney Imagineers.

‘How bad do you want it?’

Student Dwight James of Jacksonville was in awe of motivational speaker Jonathan Sprinkles who made a splash so big, he was awarded a Golden Mickie. “He gave one quote I’ll never forget,” said James. “Fear is nothing but false evidence that appears real.”

Keeping it real was thematic for the notable men who inspired.

Florida A&M University graduate and film producer Will Packer encouraged teens to, “Stay focused, be consistent, and be known as someone who always

Dwight James of Douglas Anderson School of the Arts in Jacksonville delivers his poem titled “Uptown Dreamin’.” delivers with excellence.”

Los Angeles philanthropist and entrepreneur Bernard Kinsey gave a presentation on Black history from The Kinsey Collection, which debuted at Epcot’s American Heritage Gallery.

“Henry Assian Flipper was the first West Point graduate in 1877,” stated Kinsey. “He wasn’t spoken to for four years due to his color and what did he still do? Graduate. How bad do you want it?”

Terlisa Sheppard (left) and Alyah Sheppard are from Orlando. The proud mom shows off her daughter’s Disney Dreamers Academy class ring.

‘Fly Girl 101’ “American Idol’’ runnerup Kimberly Locke left an indelible impression on Reaghan Wooster, a Harvard University bound 14 year-old from Yalaha, which is located in Lake County.

“I was inspired when she shared relationships were not supposed to be abusive,” said Wooster. “I have a stable family environment, but appreciated hearing abuse is not ac-

ceptable.”

A “Fly Girl 101” session was facilitated by twin sisters Brandi and Karli Harvey, daughters of Steve Harvey. Celebrity guests included Chaundra Wilson of “Grey’s Anatomy’’; celebrity chef Carla Hall, a co-host of “The Chew’’; and “Sunday Best’’ runner-up Jessica Reedy. Female Dreamers were given tips on everything from skirt length to confidence.

See DREAMS, Page B2

T

CALENDAR

B2

MARCH 15 – MARCH 21, 2013

‘Architect of flavor’ whips up Harvey’s healthy dishes

NE-YO AND NAJEE

Ne-Yo and Najee will be in Miami Gardens at the eighth annual two-day Jazz in the Gardens music festival this weekend. Other acts, including Babyface, Monica, Fantasia and Earth, Wind & Fire, are part of the lineup at Sun Life Stadium.

Photo credits: JAY L. CLENDENIN/ LOS ANGELES TIMES/ MCT and MATTHEW MITCHELL

FLORIDA COMMUNITY CALENDAR Tampa: The Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists will host a hands-on multimedia seminar on Saturday, March 23, at the University of South Florida’s Patel Center for Global Solutions. The free seminar is open to the public.

More information: www.tbabj.com or call 813-716-6288.

Tampa: Hillsborough Community College’s Dale Mabry Campus will host an annual job fair April 16 from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., 4001 W. Tampa Bay Blvd. in the student services building.

Jacksonville: Jillian Michaels’ “Maximize Your Life” tour comes to the Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts April 17. Jillian shares her keys to health, success and happiness.

Jacksonville: The stage play and musical “Dreamgirls” will be at the Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts May 21 at 7:30 p.m.

Tampa: The Tampa Bay Black Professionals Networking Social will be held March 15 from 5:30 p.m. - 9 p.m. at the Brio Tuscan Grille, 2223 N. West Shore Blvd.

Tampa: The Plant City Chapter of the Florida A&M University National Alumni Association expects more than 100 golfers at its 10th annual Orange & Green Golf Tournament on March 16 at Rogers Park Golf Course, 7910 N 30th St. Visit www. plantcityrattlers.com or call 813903-9247 for more information.

Tallahassee: The Women of Color 2013 Legislative Days will be held

DREAMS from B1 Erica Thomas, 16, from Land O’Lakes, kept it girl-power real.

“I’m a Girl Scout,” she remarked.

“When is it cool to not help someone? You’re never too old.”

Hands-on workshops In “Deep Dives,” Dreamers delved into careers guided by industry professionals. Aisha Louis of Hollywood, Fla., was not accepted last year, but dreamed her way into the 2013 class where she wrote a front-page article for a newsletter produced by students during the academy.

“Since last year’s application, my writing skills grew,” Louis explained. “What I thought was my story wasn’t. I learned how to express.”

“They’ve been committed from the start,” said Tanisha Sykes, senior managing editor of Essence Magazine. “I’ve seen them focus, adhere to deadlines, and just have fun. It’s been phenomenal,” she added. Her leadership, along with Demorris Lee of the National Association of Black Journalists, saw the project through.

Marcus Burns, Jr. dreams of becoming an artist. The Jacksonville teen rendered art so impressive during his “dive’’ that Dwayne Edwards, former designer for Jordan Brand Shoes, recommended him for a potential internship.

Actor Lamman Rucker worked with creative dreamers while celebrity chef Jeff Henderson helped hone culinary skills.

Parental pow-wow “Take care of yourself first.

Healthy people raise healthy children,” advised Dr. Steve Per-

toj

BY PENNY DICKERSON SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA COURIER

BOYS II MEN

1990s R&B group Boys II Men is scheduled at Orlando’s Amway Center on June 21 as special guests to the New Kids on the Block during The Package Tour.

April 3-5 at multiple locations at the state Capitol. Committee meetings, a Women of Color luncheon and banquet, the State of Black Florida workshops, updates from elected officials and the Florida Black Caucus Gala Celebration are among featured events. More information: www.woclc.com or call 407-9535599.

Winter Park: The Central Florida Association of Black Journalists will host its annual Anchors Away Clothing Sale at the Winter Park Community Center (721 W. New England Ave.) on March 16 from 8 a.m. – 1 p.m. The annual fundraiser, which helps fund programming and student scholarships, is supported by the donation of a variety of women’s and men’s designer clothing and accessories from news teams from Central Florida.

More information: 813-766-3444.

Winter Park: As a tribute to the 125th anniversary of the City of Winter Park and incorporation of the City of Eatonville, Crealdé’s Hannibal Square Heritage Center will feature an original exhibition through April 13 among the three African-American communities – Eatonville, Maitland and Winter Park. Venue: 642 W. New England Ave. Free. More information: 407539-2680 or www.hannibalsquareheritagecenter.org.

Orlando: A Heart & Soul gallery exhibit will be held at the Grand Bohemian Gallery, 325 S. Orange Ave. Free.

Tampa: The 76th Annual District Meeting of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity’s Seventh District will be held April 4-7 featuring a golf tournament, picnic, job fair, step show and worship service. More information: PiIota.org.

Orlando: Bel Biv Devoe, Dru Hill, El Debarge and other artists will be at Funk Fest 2013 at Tinker Field on April 6 beginning at 5 p.m.

Concerts also are scheduled in Jacksonville and Tampa. Complete lineup: http://funkfestconcerts.com.

St. Petersburg: Youths ages 7 to 11 can enjoy a night of football, kickball, ping-pong, foosball, video games and dance parties during “Freestyle Fridays” at the Fossil Park & Willis S. Johns Center, 6635 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. N. First visit free; $6 each following visit.

More information: 727-893-7756.

St. Petersburg: First Fridays are held in downtown St. Petersburg at 250 Central Ave. between Second and Third Avenues from 5:30 p.m.-10:30 p.m. More information: 727-393-3597.

Tampa: Songstress Alicia Keys brings her World On Fire tour to Florida with performances at the Tampa Bay Times Forum March 24 and Miami’s American Airlines Arena March 23.

Orlando: Funny man Mike Epps will be at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre on May 24 for an 8 p.m. show.

Jacksonville: Rap artist Bubba Sparxx will be at Brewster’s Roc Bar in March 30 for a 7 p.m. show.

Fort Lauderdale: The Florida Minority Community Reinvestment along with a coalition of Florida minority non-profits and neighborhood associations are hosting the 2013 Let’s Do Business Florida & Summit June 28-June 29 at the Westin Beach Resort & Spa. No cost to womenminority-veteran businesses and nonprofits. More information: www. letsdobusinessflorida.com.

Judson Todd Allen is a winner who loves to lose.

He has won a battle with weight, losing more than 135 pounds. He auditioned for the “Next Food Network Star’’ four times before joining the 2012 cast. He again, lost but recalibrated.

Now he’s the personal chef to comedian/entertainer/radio/ television personality/author Steve Harvey. How Allen landed the gig is the kind of stuff dreams are made of.

“I heard on the radio Steve Harvey was looking for a chef in Chicago,” said Allen. “I was in Tennessee when my business manager called and told me to fly home. I prepared my classic pecan encrusted Chilean sea bass served atop roasted garlic, sautéed spinach infused with lemon and herbs.” Harvey finished the meal and told Allen, “I’ll see you on Monday!”

Launched hot sauce A background in food science helps the Chicago native mirror Harvey’s varied weight loss and muscle mass goals and says his boss is very well rounded in both diet and nutrition.

During a weight-loss detox, Allen’s European influenced culinary skills were essential in creating Harvey’s rich and creamy soups prepared without butter or

Judson Todd Allen was a contestant on the 2012 “Next Food Network Star.’’ He now is Steve Harvey’s personal chef. dairy.

“I roasted cauliflower and parsnips blended with garlic and herbs,” said Allen, who promotes healthy eating and healthy foods.

Harvey loves hot sauce and was instrumental in the launch of Allen’s signature product called Chef Judson’s All-purpose Habanero Hot Sauce. Promoted as less hot and more flavor, it’s an all natural, low sodium combination. Allen refers to himself as the “Architect of Flavor’’ – an original brand built for a winner.

For more information on the chef, visit www.judsontoddallen. com.

Former FAMU student launches gospel music career Atlanta native and former Florida A&M University student Renee Strong is getting rave reviews in the gospel music world for her voice and sacred lyrics.

Recently in North Florida to shoot her first gospel music video, the inspirational songs writRenee ten and sung by Strong Strong have been acclaimed by gospel singers and musicians worldwide.

As a songwriter and co-founder of Take Note Entertainment, Strong and producer Wirlie Morris successfully built a catalog of hit songs of various genres in the U.S. Europe and Japan.

Her writing ability also has extended to movies and plays. Examples are “Step Aside” a song co-written by Strong for Tyler

Perry’s “Daddy’s Little Girls” and the stage play “What’s Done in the Dark,” sung by both Tamela Mann and Yolanda Adams.

Video on YouTube Although she has been writing gospel for years, the theatrical work was Strong’s first national exposure as a writer in the gospel arena.

Her first solo recording is “Reborn.’’

“I pray this project reaches into the soul of the listener,” said Strong, “and deposits the anointing and peace of God that was present during the creation of each song.”

To see Strong’s newest video, search for Renee Strong on YouTube.com.

For more information, send an email to reneestrongsmusic@yahoo.com.

ry. The CNN education contributor motivated parents during a personal session. “Beyond liking your kids, you have to lead them.

You lead people you love.’’

Perry’s words resonated with parent Terlisa Sheppard, who is fighting stage four breast cancer.

She receives chemotherapy but accompanied 14-year-old Alyah Sheppard, whom she calls her “miracle child.”

The Orlando family further beat odds in 2011 when daughter Alexis Sheppard was also was accepted into the academy.

A parent or guardian was invited to accompany each Dreamer to the academy. The parents and students had a complimentary stay at the Disney Port Orleans Resort. Most mornings for the students began at 6:30 a.m.

Harvey’s advice Dreamers were armed with portfolio notebooks and 100 personalized business cards. They were encouraged to network.

Steve Harvey joked with parents, “This weekend was created for the young people with the red shirts on. We just have programs for ya’ll so you can stay out the way.”

Punch lines were frequent but Harvey equally kept it above board.

“Whatever you do, whatever path you choose to take, please, please listen to me, put God right in the middle of your base,” pleaded Harvey. “That’s the best way. It will ensure your success; it will guarantee you get there.”

Essence Magazine Editor-AtLarge Mikki Taylor echoed with purpose. “As you pour into your dreams, please don’t focus on money. It’s just paper…you were created to do more than make paper,” stated Taylor. “Pursue your dream in the full recognition that your gift is not just about you.”

PHOTOS BY PENNY DICKERSON/SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA COURIER

Posing with Mickey Mouse and Steve Harvey on March 7 are Disney Dreamers Academy participants Alyah Sheppard of Orlando, left; Reaghan Wooster of Yalaha (left of Harvey); Erica Thomas of Land O Lakes (right of Harvey); and Caroline Simmons of Tampa, right. Also in the photo are Tracey D. Powell, executive champion for Disney Dreamers Academy (second from left), and Mikki Taylor of Essence Magazine.

‘All have a dream’ The World Showplace hosted a celebratory commencement featuring gospel legend Yolanda Adams. Parents presented Dreamers with class rings by the company Josten, and tearful hugs.

Tracey Powell, Executive Champion of the Disney Dreamers Academy, leads the team responsible for program success.

“This year has been fabulous,” stated Powell. “Every group of 100 is different and special, but the commonality is they all have a dream.”

Powell welcomes applications in June from all who dare to dream in 2014.

Left to right: Thomas Darby of Apopka, Marcus Burns, Jr. of Jacksonville and Cesar Castillo, Miami.

Stoj

MARCH 15 – MARCH 21, 2013

China prepares to become world’s largest economy As the U.S. struggles to create more trade balance between the two superpowers, China has its sights set on Africa as the next major economic frontier

BY GEORGE E. CURRY NNPA NEWS SERVICE

SHANGHAI – In less than 15 years, according to projections by investment banking firm Goldman Sachs and the United States National Intelligence Council, China will overtake the United States as the world’s largest economy. And that dramatic shift has touched off a guessing game about what the dramatic shift will mean for the U.S. and the rest of the world.

“The U.S. most likely will remain ‘first among equals’ among the other great powers in 2030 because of its preeminence across a range of power dimensions and legacies of its leadership role,” the National Intelligence Council report, titled, “Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds,” stated. “More important than just economic weight, the United States’ dominant role in international politics has derived from its preponderance across the board in both hard and soft power.

“Nevertheless, with the rapid rise of other countries, the ‘unipolar moment’ is over and Pax Americana – the era of American ascendance in international politics that began in 1945 – is fast winding down.”

In an interview with McKinsey Quarterly, Kevin Wale, managing director of GM China, said: “What China does better than any place else in the world is to innovate by commercialization, as opposed to constant research and perfecting the theory, like the West. When the Chinese get an idea, they test it in the marketplace. They’re happy to do three to four rounds of commercialization to get an idea right, whereas in the West companies spend the same amount of time on research, testing, and validation before trying to take products to market.”

Chevolets and Cadillacs Foreigners are trying to capture a larger share of the Chinese market. A look at the auto industry illustrates why. In 2012, China sold 19.1 million vehicles, passing Europe after having already leaped

SPECIAL REPORT Editor’s note: This article is part of a series from a weeklong trip of the African American Media Leaders Mission to China sponsored by the ChinaUnited States Exchange Foundation, a non-profit organization whose goal is to foster a better understanding between the people of China and the United States. Neither the foundation nor government officials in China had any input in these stories or saw them prior to publication. The seven-member U.S. media delegation was led by Cloves Campbell, Jr., publisher of the Arizona Informant and chairman of the National Newspaper Publishers Association. The trip included visits to Beijing, Xi’an and Shanghai.

George E. Curry is NNPA’s Editor-in-Chief. ahead of the U.S. in 2009. Projections are that residents of China will soon purchase more automobiles than the U.S. and Europe combined.

GM and its Chinese joint partner, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp., is No. 1 in the industry, capturing 14.3 percent of the market the last quarter. After selling Chevrolets and Buicks, GM is taking aim at the luxury market by introducing its Cadillac XTS cruiser.

Just as many U.S. companies are looking to expand in China, the reverse is also true.

The United States is expected to be the top destination for Chinese business investors in 2013, according to KPMG. Last year, there were 40 mergers and acquisitions deals valued at $11.1 billion in the U.S. involving Chinese companies, according to the international accounting firm.

Eyes on Africa According to the Office of the

WORLD

B3

Above: Shanghai will grow in influence as China rises.

Alex Tzang (left), who says China and the U.S. have their own unique problems, shares a laugh with NNPA Chairman Cloves Campbell, Jr. PHOTOS BY ANN RAGLAND/NNPA

United States Trade Representative, U.S. goods and services trade with China totaled $539 billion in 2011. Exports totaled $129 billion and imports totaled $411 billion, a trade deficit of $282 billion.

The top U.S. exports to China, in order, were: machinery ($12.2 billion); grain, seed, fruit, and soybeans ($10.7 billion); electrical machinery ($10.1 billion); vehicles ($6.8 billion); and aircraft ($6.4 billion).

The largest U.S. import categories were: electrical machinery ($98.7 billion), machinery ($94.9 billion), toys and sports equipment ($22.6 billion), furniture and bedding ($20.5 billion) and footwear ($16.8 billion).

As the U.S. struggles to create more trade balance between the two superpowers, China has its sights set on Africa as the next major economic frontier.

While the U.S. clings to the stereotype of Africa as little more than a continent ravished by war, disease and famine, China has taken a progressive view of the continent. And it appears that its enlightenment will pay off for both China and Africa.

‘Pure’ motives Of the 10-fastest growing regions in the world between 20012010, The Economist listed six in Africa: Angola, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Chad, Mozambique and Rwanda. Of the 10 regions projected to grow the fastest between 20112015, seven are in Africa: Ethiopia, Mozambique, Tanzania, Congo, Ghana, Zambia and Nigeria.

Many state-owned Chinese companies are heavily invested in Africa, building airports, hotels, highways, bridges and other infrastructure. Last July, thenPresident Hu Jintao announced that China would lend $20 billion to African governments for infrastructure and agricultural projects.

“Despite all the scare mongering, China’s motives for investing in Africa are actually quite pure,” Dambisa Moyo, an economist, wrote last year in the New York Times. “To satisfy China’s population and prevent a crisis of legitimacy for their rule, leaders in Beijing need to keep economic growth rates high and continue to bring hundreds of millions of people out of poverty.

“And to do so, China needs arable land, oil and minerals. Pursuing imperial or colonial ambitions with masses of impoverished people at home would be wholly irrational and out of sync with China’s current strategic thinking.”

Family and finances Closer to home, there are a number of serious domestic issues that Chinese officials must

address.

China’s one-child policy, for example, is producing an older population and an aging workforce. China’s National Bureau of Statistics reported that in 2012, the number of working-age residents (15 to 59) decreased over the previous year by 3.45 percent to 937.27 million.

The family-planning policy, which some skirt by going to Hong Kong where the one-child policy is not in effect, has also created a gender imbalance.

When the policy was first adopted in 1980, there was a birth-ratio of 103 to 107 Chinese boys for every 100 girls. Now, it’s 119 boys for every 100 girls.

Compounding the labor problem, much of the low-cost manufacturing is now shifting to Vietnam, Thailand and other countries in Asia, where prices are even cheaper.

Rather than fighting to keep those low-cost jobs – many of which are expected to be replaced by robots – China’s 12th 5-year plan (2011-2015) seeks to rebalance the economy by increasing domestic consumption. According to an analysis of the plan by KPMG, domestic consumption as a percentage of GDP fell to 36 percent in 2009, a decline from approximately 46 percent a decade earlier.

To increase consumer spending and lower citizens’ out-ofpocket expenses in China, the government plans to increase state-supported education, social security, public housing and health care while raising the minimum wage by 13 percent each year, changes that will also help narrow the wealth gap.

Human rights As China grapples with its internal challenges, it is coming under increasing pressure to become a more open society.

“Against a backdrop of rapid socio-economic change and modernization, China continues to be an authoritarian one-party state that imposes sharp curbs on freedom of expression, association, and religion; openly rejects judicial independence and press freedom and arbitrarily restricts and suppresses human rights defenders and organizations, often through extra-judicial measures,” according to a 2012 report by Human Rights Watch.

The beating and killing of unarmed protesters in 1989 in Tiananmen Square and the subsequent suppression of student protesters and their supporters is still fresh in the minds of many westerners.

More recently, widespread concerns have been voiced about the alleged computer hacking of U.S. companies, including the New

York Times, by Chinese military units – charges that Chinese officials strongly deny – have raised concerns about what kind of partner China will be to the U.S. Yan Jian, assistant director of the China Center for Comparative Politics and Economics, said critics should take into account the brief period that China has moved toward a more open society.

“One lingering problem for me is how will you judge the Chinese government,” he said. “It can be done from a historical or international perspective. Historically, China has made great improvements in terms of the economy, politics and solidarity. If you compare China with the western, developed countries, we are still facing a lot of problems and challenges.”

One Chinese official said the outside criticism of China’s human rights violations has been helpful to insiders who want change.

“But don’t quote me on that,” he said quickly. “And if you quote me – don’t use my name,” he added, laughing.

Relations with U.S. Alexander Tzang, former deputy president of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, is optimistic about China’s ability to grow and future relations between the U.S. and China.

“I think the more important thing is No.1, how to understand and accept that each party has got its own unique problems, which we may not see,” he said.

“The second is to have more empathy, to give people more time to solve their problems. And the third, I think is more important, particularly in today’s Sino-U.S. relationship is trying to deal with less suspicion. The politicians are horrible – they create suspicion.”

Everyone is studying Xi Jinping, China’s new political leader, for signs of how he might try to eliminate that suspicion. Xi has alternated between advocating for a return to Leninist discipline as a way of avoiding the mistakes of the former Soviet Union and the need for a more open society through enforcement of the constitution.

Jiang Haishan, vice president of the China Executive Leadership Academy Pudong in Shanghai, said: “In the United States, international relations is always a zero sum game – I win, you lose.

But in China, we both can win by cooperating and by working together. We have to communicate that. China has to communicate its message that China will be a friendly but responsible, accountable country even when China has as much as the United States.”

TOj B4

TRAVEL

STOJ

MARCH 15 – MARCH 21, 2013

PHOTOS BY KENT D. JOHNSON/ATLANTA JOUNAL-CONSTITUTION/MCT

Co-curators Sarah Quighley, left, and Michael Ra-Shon Hall discuss an exhibit at the Robert W. Woodruff Library.

The ‘Struggle’ now on display in Atlanta About 200 items part of SCLC exhibit at Emory University

BY SHELIA M. POOLE ATLANTA JOURNALCONSTITUTION/MCT

ATLANTA — Amid the scores of photographs in an exhibit chronicling the history of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference are two that — at first glance — don’t seem to fit.

The black-and-white photographs are of small children in Vietnam.

That’s the beauty of the exhibit, “And the Struggle Continues: The Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s Fight for Social Change,” at Emory University’s Robert W. Woodruff Library, said Sarah Quigley, co-curator and a former SCLC project archivist.

The photos are displayed with a copy of a draft agreement between the SCLC and the government of Vietnam to establish an orphanage to help the children fathered by American troops.

“These are records that had never before been examined by scholars and tell a story about the SCLC that many people don’t know,” Quigley said.

Beyond voting rights It’s unfortunate, Quiqley said, that people know more about the SCLC’s work before the assassination of its co-founder, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., in April 1968, than after.

“The overreaching message of the exhibition is what did the civil rights movement focus on once voting rights were legally recognized and once the

An anti-violence campaign included photos of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Dr. Joseph Lowery.

Nydia Huggins looks over an exhibit at the Robert W. Woodruff Library in

IF YOU GO “And the Struggle Continues: The Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s Fight for Social Change.” Runs through Dec. 1. Cost: Free. Emory University’s Robert W. Woodruff Library, Level 3. 540 Asbury Circle, Atlanta. visible enemy was gone,” she said.

“How did the movement reorient itself when the work wasn’t done yet?”

Elisabeth Omilami, daughter of civil rights veterans Hosea and Juanita Williams, said her parents tried to adopt one of the children from Vietnam.

“The government took so long to get the paperwork together that the child died,” she said. “We lived with a picture of the baby on our living room wall.”

200 items displayed The exhibit, which runs through Dec. 1, includes information about the SCLC’s fight against the oppressive system of apartheid in South Africa, its work for equal access to health care and jobs, and Ralph David Abernathy’s April 1969 letter from a

Charleston jail after he was Atlanta of items from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference spanning arrested during a hospital nearly four decades. workers strike.

There’s a copy of King’s funeral program and information for a “Rappin’ For Our Future” amateur night that the SCLC organized in an effort to reach a younger generation.

About 200 items are on display. They were culled from a larger SCLC archive held by Emory’s Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library. The collection was acquired in 2007 from the SCLC for an undisclosed price.

The exhibit covers the period from 1968 through 2007.

Charles Steele Jr., the CEO of the SCLC, said in a statement that the exhibit is a “resplendent reflection of our rich and robust history.” “It salutes our storied and stellar past,” Steele said, “while providing information for today and tomorrow.” Among the early viewers of the exhibit was Angela Hopewell of Union City, who was taking a campus tour with her children and father-in-law.

Said Hopewell, “This is part of our history and a great opportunity to expose them to something they otherwise might not see in the history books at John Klingler installs an exhibit that includes civil rights leaders. school.”

STOJ

MARCH 15 – MARCH 21, 2013

FINEST & ENTERTAINMENT

Meet some of

FLORIDA'S

finest

D. Andre of St. Augustine and Jacksonville, back in the Florida Courier Finest by popular demand, loves fitness and bodybuilding.

He says he’s a God-inspired athlete who is highly motivated to succeed. The current club promoter and bouncer enjoys spending time with family, friends, and, most of all, passionately pursuing bodybuilding competitions.

He wants to someday become a champion in the sport. Contact Andre at trueimagephil@ aol.com.

T I Photography

by Phil

submitted for your approval

Think you’re one of Florida’s Finest?

E-mail your high-resolution (200 dpi) digital photo in casual wear or bathing suit taken in front of a plain background with few distractions, to news@flcourier. com with a short biography of yourself and your contact information. (No nude/ glamour/ fashion photography, please!) In order to be considered, you must be at least 18 years of age. Acceptance of the photographs submitted is in the sole and absolute discretion of Florida Courier editors. We reserve the right to retain your photograph even if it is not published. If you are selected, you will be contacted by e-mail and further instructions will be given.

d. andre

candi

Writer Thomas Dorsey and song celebrated this month during program in Michigan

When Thomas M. Dorsey was growing up, he didn’t realize that his father was a pioneer in gospel music.

But from the time he was a little boy, tagging along on the church circuit, until he became a man, who escorted his dad to major concert halls, there was one song people always wanted to hear — “Precious Lord.”

“That was the primary song people always sang in tribute to him,” said Dorsey, 71, of Oak Park, Ill., whose father, Thomas A. Dorsey, is widely regarded as the father of gospel music.

The elder Dorsey wrote the lyrics of “Precious Lord” in 1932 to a melody from an 1844 hymn titled “Maitland” by American composer George N. Allen.

This month Thomas A. marks the 80th Dorsey anniversary of the soul-stirring song.

The song and the man who wrote its lyrics were celebrated recently at a program presented by the University of Michigan Dearborn.

Across racial lines “‘Precious Lord’ is probably second only to ‘Amazing Grace’ when we look at a spiritual/religious text that has international popularity and reaches across racial and cultural borders,” said Deborah Smith Pollard, a gospel music scholar and professor of literature and humanities at U-M Dearborn.

“Precious Lord” has been published in more than 40 languages.

It has been sung by singers as diverse as Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone, Little Richard, Merle Haggard, Engelbert Humperdinck and Elvis Presley. Mahalia Jackson sang it at the funeral of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Opera soprano Leontyne Price sang “Precious Lord” at the funeral of President Lyndon B. Johnson.

While many know the song,

Candi Ni’Chelle has done fashion shows, print work, independent films, commercials, and has hosted and been featured in music videos.

The model, of Black/PuertoRican/Asian, descent, can be reached at nichmine@ gmail.com or Facebook.com/ JusLikeCandi.

Credit: LEE MCDOWELL www. leemcdowell. com

Gospel favorite ‘Precious Lord’ turns 80

BY CASSANDRA SPRATLING DETROIT FREE PRESS/MCT

B5

Thomas M. Dorsey, 71, son of gospel pioneer Thomas A Dorsey, who wrote the classic “Precious Lord” holds a CD compilation of his father’s early blues recordings.

He was photographed on Feb. 27 at his home in Oak Park, Mich..

“I didn’t even know this existed,” he said of the disc found in a local record shop about 10 years ago.

few know that its author, who died in 1993, had strong ties to Michigan.

Thomas A. Dorsey was friends with another great gospel singer, the late Rev. C.L. Franklin, Aretha’s Franklin’s father.

Detroit was a frequent stop as Dorsey traveled the country, seeking to build respect and a solid foundation for gospel music, a genre of religious music that was not readily accepted in many church circles. He planted seeds that helped make Detroit a gospel powerhouse.

‘Really a prayer’ “The song speaks to people in their moment of need,” said the Rev. Marvin Winans, a gospel singer and preacher. “I grew up in church where people would just stand up and start singing it.”

“It symbolizes the real frustrations, the challenges of trying to traverse life’s experiences and all that that encompasses,” said Tammy Kernodle, a minister and professor of musicology at Miami University in Ohio who spoke at the celebration on March 6. “The song embodies that primal, organic scream that says simply, “I need help! I can’t carry on by myself.’ “ “Precious Lord” was born of a real and personal tragedy, which makes it all the more powerful.

While Dorsey was out of town, his wife died in childbirth. Their son died hours later.

Wracked with grief, Dorsey sat at a piano and wrote the song.

“The song is really a prayer,” said Barbara Baker, a Silver Spring, Md.-based minister and gospel music historian, who interviewed Dorsey before his death. “Thomas Dorsey had reached rock bottom and in order to get back up, he had to reach up.

“Everybody at some point in your life comes to a time when you’re just tired; you feel like throwing in the towel and there’s no place else to turn, except up to God.”

Son’s precious memories Thomas A. Dorsey eventually remarried. In addition to his son he had a daughter, Doris Ander-

KATHLEEN GALLIGAN/DETROIT FREE PRESS/MCT

son of South Holland, Ill. Thomas M., who graduated from Western Michigan University, keeps many mementos of his father in his home, including a framed display that includes photos, awards and sheet music of “Precious Lord.”

Although his father tried to spark his interest in music, Dorsey never shared his dad’s passion for it. He worked most of his life as an industrial engineer, retiring in 1998 from Michigan Consolidated Gas. “He made me take piano lessons, but I always wanted to play ball instead,” Dorsey said. “He used to say, ‘You have a piano and you won’t practice. I used to practice on the handlebars of my bike.’”

But the most treasured time for the dad and son was fishing on the St. Joseph River, near their Three Rivers cottage.

“Outside of church, that’s

where I got to spend the most time with him,” Dorsey said.

“That was his pride and joy,” Dorsey said of the summer cottage his dad purchased in the late 1940s. “He’d invite his church buddies up on weekends and they’d sit around talking, eating fish and waxing their cars.”

Persistence paid off One of the most important lessons his father taught him was to serve others without always expecting pay.

“He used to make me cut the neighbors’ lawns on both sides of us in Chicago, and the lawn next door in Three Rivers (city in Michigan). And in Three Rivers that was a lot of lawn,” Dorsey said. “But he’d tell me, ‘You’ll do a lot in life and you won’t be paid for it. Don’t look for compensation every time you do something. You’ll get your blessing eventually.’”

‘PRECIOUS LORD’

BY THOMAS A. DORSEY Precious Lord, take my hand Lead me on, let me stand I am tired, I am weak, I am worn Through the storm, through the night Lead me on to the light Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home When my way grows drear, precious Lord, linger near When my light is almost gone Hear my cry, hear my call Hold my hand lest I fall Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home When the darkness appears and the night draws near And the day is past and gone At the river I stand, guide my feet, hold my hand Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home Precious Lord, take my hand Lead me on, let me stand I’m tired, I am weak, I am worn Through the storm, through the night Lead me on to the light Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home That advice motivates him still.

The retiree volunteers at the Don Boscoe Hall and the Detroit Optimist Foundation.

That same advice must have kept Thomas A. Dorsey singing and promoting gospel music. In its formative years, many people called it the devil’s music, shunning Dorsey for bringing blues and jazz chords with him into the church.

But his persistence paid off, as gospel music and musicians are widely respected today.

He penned hundreds of songs, including “Peace in the Valley.”

But the son’s favorites are “One More River to Cross” and “When I’ve Done the Best I Can.” “To me, those songs epitomized his life in terms of his struggle to get gospel music accepted,” Dorsey said.

FOOD

TOj B6

S

MARCH 15 – MARCH 21, 2013

Berry-licious snacks KIDS CAN MAKE

From family Features

O

ne of the best ways to get kids to eat healthier food is to let them make it themselves. And these snack recipes using Florida blueberries and strawberries are so good — and so easy — you may have a hard time getting the kids out of the kitchen.

“You can get really creative with strawberries and blueberries,” said Justin Timineri, Executive Chef and Culinary Ambassador, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. “They can be tossed into salads or yogurt, marinated in teriyaki sauce and served with grilled meats, or turned into delicious snacks like these.”

Not only do they taste good, they’re good for you. Blueberries are good for your eyes and memory, and they have antioxidants, which may prevent some types of cancer. Strawberries have itamin C and fiber, which is good for your digestive system and helps you feel full. To get more berry-licious recipes like these, visit http://bit.ly/floridaberries.

Blueberry Biscuit Cookies Yield: 14 servings Grown-Up Alert: Supervise younger children when using the oven.

2 cups biscuit mix 1 cup Florida blueberries 1 cup pecans, chopped 2 tablespoons low-fat milk 1/2 cup honey, divided Preheat oven to 350°F. In large mixing bowl, combine biscuit mix, blueberries, pecans and milk.

Mix well and add enough honey to make mixture stiff like cookie dough.

Place dough by tablespoonful onto a greased baking sheet about 2 inches apart.

Bake until edges begin to brown, about 15 minutes.

Remove from oven and drizzle remaining honey on each cookie. Bake an additional 5 minutes and serve immediately.

Strawberry-Yogurt Freezer Pops Yield: 10 servings 1 pound Florida strawberries, hulled and chopped 1/4 cup sugar 1 lemon, juiced 2 cups low-fat vanilla yogurt 10 freezer pop molds and sticks In blender or food processor add half of the strawberries, sugar and lemon juice. Purée ingredients until sugar is dissolved. Pour mixture into a small pitcher or container and add the rest of the chopped strawberries.

Fill each freezer pop mold by alternating layers of strawberry mixture and yogurt. Insert handle or stick into each freezer pop and freeze at least 5 hours. To serve, run warm water over outside of molds until pops come out easily.

If you don’t have freezer pop molds, use small paper cups.

Cover tops of cups with plastic wrap and poke the sticks through the plastic to keep them standing upright while in the freezer.

Strawberry Mascarpone Panini Yield: 4 servings Grown-Up Alert: Supervise younger children when using the panini maker or griddle.

Berry Snack Bars Yield: 20 bars Grown-Up Alert: Supervise younger children when chopping nuts and using the oven.

8 slices fresh bread (1/2 inch thick) 1/2 cup mascarpone cheese 1/2 pound Florida strawberries, hulled and sliced thin Confectioners’ sugar for dusting 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted Heat a panini press or griddle over medium heat.

Spread a thin layer of mascarpone on top of each bread slice.

Add an even layer of strawberries to 4 bread slices.

Use the other 4 slices of bread to top the sandwiches.

Brush sandwiches with butter and grill or press until golden, about 5 minutes.

Transfer panini to cutting board and dust with confectioners’ sugar. Serve warm.

Crust: 1 cup pecans, chopped, divided 3/4 cup whole-wheat flour 3/4 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces 1 large egg 2 tablespoons canola oil 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/4 teaspoon almond extract Pan release cooking spray Fruit Filling: 3 cups Florida strawberries, hulled and diced; divided

2 1/2 cups Florida blueberries, divided 1/4 cup orange juice 1/2 cup sugar 1/4 cup cornstarch 1 teaspoon vanilla extract For crust: Combine 3/4 cup chopped pecans, both flours, sugar and salt in food processor. Pulse together until nuts are finely ground. Add cold butter to mixture and pulse until well incorporated.

In small mixing bowl, whisk egg, oil, vanilla and almond extracts together.

With motor running on food proces­sor, add egg mixture to pecan mixture. Continue to pulse until it begins to clump, 30 to 45 seconds.

Measure out 1/2 cup of mixture and combine in bowl with remaining 1/4 cup chopped pecans; set aside for topping.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat 9-by-13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.

Combine 2 cups strawberries, 2 cups blueberries, orange juice, sugar and cornstarch in large saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture has thickened (about 4 to 5 minutes). Stir in remaining fresh fruit and add vanilla.

Transfer crust mixture to sprayed baking dish. Spread evenly and press firmly into bottom to form crust. Evenly spread fruit filling over crust. Sprinkle top of fruit filling with reserved topping mixture.

Bake bars for 15 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 350°F and bake until crust and topping are lightly brown, 25 to 30 minutes more.

Let bars cool completely before cut­ting. Serve with fresh fruit.

Fresh

whipped topping, toasted almonds, and a fresh lime slice.

Finished in store one at a time.

Finished at home in no time at all.

Publix Bakery Key Lime Pie