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MARCH 17 – MARCH 23, 2017

VOLUME 25 NO. 11

RETALIATORY TERMINATION? A longtime Bethune-Cookman University supporter, donor and trustee sues his alma mater and fellow trustees in a continuing controversy over leadership, transparency and finances.

In 2013, B-CU trustees (left to right) the Rev. Dr. Eugene Zimmerman and A. Ray Brinson watched as B-CU President Dr. Edison Jackson spoke about his objectives for the school. Last week, Brinson sued the school and all the current individual trustees.

BY THE FLORIDA COURIER STAFF

DAYTONA BEACH – A sworn lawsuit accuses Daytona Beach-based Bethune Cookman University (B-CU) and its board of trustees of illegally removing Trustee Board Member A. Ray Brinson as a consequence of Brinson’s questions about the school finances. According to the lawsuit filed in Daytona Beach by Jacksonville-based attorney Willie J. Walker, Brinson was terminated from the board on “on or about October 30th, 2016,” without notice or warning, and in violation of B-CU’s bylaws that provide a formal pro-

JOHN REEVES / B-CU

cess for removal of trustees. The lawsuit states that for months, Brinson tried to “resolve the matter informally” with B-CU before finally hiring Walker as his attorney to resolve the matter.

‘Non-action’ An email attached to the complaint indicates that on March 6, Walker then reached out to University Counsel Hugh Grimes and requested that Brinson be reinstated to the board. “In the absence of restoring Mr. Brinson to the board please advise as to when you or your counsel are available for a (sic) emergency hearing on this

MARCH POLAR EXPRESS

An Eastern cool snap

matter,” the email states. The lawsuit also alleges that Walker reached out multiple times to B-CU with requests that Brinson be reinstated. As a consequence of what Walker called B-CU’s “nonaction,” he filed the lawsuit on March 7, then amended it two days later to add the individual names of the entire 31-member board of trustees. Brinson, a Jacksonville resident, is a former Prudential and Aetna Insurance executive who retired in 2002 after 33 years in the industry. He is a BCU alumnus who has combined service of more than See B-CU, Page A2

Facebook suicide aftermath Child was sexually abused, beaten BY CAROL MARBIN MILLER MIAMI HERALD /TNS

MIAMI – For much of her tooshort life, Naika Venant bounced between two parents: a birth mother who reportedly beat her without pity, left her in bed with boyfriends who watched “sex movies,” and eventually abandoned her – and the state of Florida, which returned the girl to the mother. Naika chose Gina Alexis. Again and again, she sought love from the mother who reportedly dispensed it with a fist and a belt.

Death streamed live

CAROLYN COLE/LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

A late snow storm dumped half a foot of snow by 9 a.m. in New York City. Florida temperatures dropped in the 30s and 40s this week because of the same cold front.

Her quest ended in a shower stall, where Naika hanged herself with a scarf on Jan. 22 at her latest foster home. She had wanted her epilogue to be as public as possible. While hundreds looked on, Naika streamed her final act on Facebook Live. Late Monday, the Florida Department of Children & Families released a 20-page examination of its efforts leading up to the 14-yearold’s death. The report concludes that, while state child welfare authorities could have done better, Naika’s fraught relationship with her mother played a significant role in the teen’s tragic death. “Despite everything that had occurred between Naika and her mother, Naika longed to be home,” said the report, written by members of a Critical Incident Rapid Response Team, or CIRRT, deployed by See SUICIDE, Page A2

SNAPSHOTS

NATION | A6

Membership triples for Democratic Socialists of America

McGhee tapped as next House Democratic leader Florida House Democrats elected a future leader Monday night, tapping state Rep. Kionne McGhee to lead their caucus after the 2018 elections. McGhee, a 39-yearold attorney from Miami, edged out Rep. Bobby DuBose, DFort Lauderdale, in a 23-17 vote. McGhee, a former Miami-Dade County prosecutor who was first elected to the Kionne House in 2012, will McGhee

lead the House Democratic campaigns in the 2018 elections, looking to narrow the current 79-to-41 edge the Republicans hold in the chamber.

Inspiring story In appealing to the caucus, McGhee emphasized his life story, which included growing up in public housing, having his younger brother and father murdered and being labeled mentally challenged while in high school. From those humble beginnings, McGhee went on to earn a law de-

gree, practice law and become a motivational speaker. “There is no room for apathy but there is always room for more empathy for those who need our help and our love and our compassion,” he told the caucus after his election. McGhee said his election Monday night was also special because it happened to be the 13th anniversary of his marriage to his wife, Stacy. Tampa Democrat Janet Cruz currently leads the caucus but will leave the House after the 2018 elections because of term limits.

FLORIDA | A3

HEALTH | B4

$8.5 million to help Pulse victims

More women stocking up on birth control

ALSO INSIDE

COMMENTARY: CLARENCE V. MCKEE: BLACK CAUCUS ALL ABOUT DEMS, NOT BLACK CONSTITUENTS | A4 COMMENTARY: OSCAR BLAYTON: WE NEED BLACK NEWSPAPERS NOW MORE THAN EVER | A5

FOCUS

MARCH 17 – MARCH 23, 2017

Let me tell you about that church cat Felines are some of the world’s most predatory animals. But which one is at the top of the list? Well, people say the lion is the king of the jungle. But could the predatory feline king be the tiger? Perhaps the puma, jaguar, cheetah, mountain lion or even the black panther could be most predatory.

Wrong, wrong If you picked any of the felines listed above you would be as wrong as wrong could be. The most predatory cat in the world is the one sitting next to you on the queen-size bed: that domestic house cat! That cat that you know and love will attack any animal that is smaller than the cat is. Birds, mice, fish, lizards, squirrels and

LUCIUS GANTT THE GANTT REPORT

other similarly-sized animals are terrified of cats. There is one animal type that cats enjoy the most.

Fascinated by snakes Cats love to run up on a long, thick snake! Cats will stalk a snake, wrestle with a snake, fuss and fight with a snake, scratch and bite a snake. Then the cats will bring the snake home and plant the snake right at your doorway. There is something about cats and snakes that make them want

to mess around with each other as much as they can – and as often as they can. But when a cat gets older, they may not be as fast as they once were. They stray away from the yard, they avoid the alley, they stop running wild and they search for cat sanctuary!

Cats go to church When cats become middleaged they go where the mice go: they go to church! Don’t act like you’ve never heard the saying, “as quiet as a church mouse!” Every first Sunday, the pews in African-American churches are full of cats rubbing up against the deacons, purring to the sounds of old-time gospel songs and waiting on their servings of grape juice and soda crackers! Cats already have nine lives.

So if not to be born again, why do older cats frequent the church? Maybe cats think they will find a church snake. I just don’t know.

heaven. All a cat has to do is love God and love his neighbors and be the best cat she can be. You can take a cat out of the alley and put her in the church but you can’t take the alley out of the cat!

Goodness and mercy

Here’s how it’s done

However, I do know church cats love to purr about goodness and mercy. They want to be saved from that hood snake, the alley ways and the THOT (“That Ho Over There”) spots! Good for the church cats! But no matter how much they lick themselves clean, have their paws and claws done or how much they talk that soft and sweet cat talk after the benediction, the right snake will have the church cats screaming and singing like Shirley Caesar and Yolanda Adams! Just like humans, a cat doesn’t have to join a church to go to

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

If you rub a cat where it wants to be rubbed, fix her a Special Kitty dinner, put a Katt Williams DVD in the video player and a little Teddy or Luther on the CD player, you might just make that old cat feel young again! Church cats get lonely, too!

SUICIDE

ka’s relationship with her mother. In a prepared statement, Carroll, DCF’s secretary, said: “There is little we can say that adequately describes the sorrow we still feel today from the loss of Naika. It is even more exacerbated by the information that was learned during the course of the CIRRT investigation – that this is a child who endured great trauma in her life and, despite many service interventions, we were not able to put the pieces back together to prevent her from taking her own life in such a public forum.

from A1

DCF Secretary Mike Carroll to study Naika’s death. “Naika often told her therapist that she missed her mother greatly and really wanted to go back home.”

Traumatic site Home, the DCF report suggests, was largely a hellish place. When Naika had just turned 4, DCF was called to her mother’s home. Naika had been left with a male babysitter, who, in turn, left her unattended with no food or running water. Alexis enrolled Naika in day care, and moved to “a new residence with no visible hazards.” A year later, Naika showed up at the emergency room with an undisclosed chronic health condition. DCF was summoned when Alexis “called Naika a liar and a faker, and threatened to send her back to Haiti so that her own life could be better,” the report said. DCF again offered day care, but Alexis “refused to accept any counseling services for herself or Naika,” the report said.

Badly beaten In January 2009, Alexis beat Naika with a belt when the girl had been sexually aggressive with another child, according to the report. The incident left “more than 30 marks on her arms, legs and back,” the report said. DCF removed Naika from her mother’s care, and the girl began the first of three episodes in foster care, where workers sought to learn where a 6-year-old had learned about sex.

Work is undone

PATRICK FARRELL/MIAMI HERALD/TNS

In the days after her daughter, Naika Venant, hanged herself while streaming on Facebook Live, Gina Alexis was overcome by emotion. In therapy, the girl disclosed that she slept in the same room as her mother’s boyfriends, and that she had watched what she called “sex movies.” Though Naika had told authorities that her mother continued to beat her during unsupervised visits, she was returned to Alexis 17 months later.

Sexually aggressive? A month after Naika returned to her mother, in July 2010, DCF received a report that Naika also had been sexually abused while in foster care. The other child vehemently denied it,

insisting that Naika was the aggressive one, and that he repeatedly “would tell her to get out of his room.” Naika ran away in April 2014, and told investigators she “was afraid her mother was going to beat her again” because her younger brother was injured while she babysat. For her part, Alexis refused to take her daughter back, and threatened to beat the 11-year-old if she was left there. That landed Naika back in foster care, where she remained for two months. That June, a Miami judge – over the objection of caseworkers and a

court-ordered lay guardian – returned Naika to her mother. Then, in April 2016, Alexis returned her daughter to the state, saying she had “had it” with her daughter’s behavior. The next several months were a blur: Naika changed homes 14 times, “most of which resulted from behavioral disruptions,” the report said. The constant movement made it extremely difficult for mental health professionals to offer any kind of meaningful care.

No help available In November, the profes-

B-CU from A1

15 years as a trustee. He also served as president of the university’s national alumni association for four years.

Not asking for money The lawsuit requests that a judge stop B-CU from preventing Brinson continuing his service as a trustee, and alleges that vengeance was the motive for his removal. “Since Plaintiff has served as chairman of the auditing sub-committee and on the finance committee where Plaintiff has raised numerous questions concerning the Defendant’s expenditures, finances and obligations, Plaintiffs (sic) irreparable injury is demonstrable and Plaintiff is fearful that his removal from the board was retaliatory,” it alleges. Brinson also requests that the board be prevented from “conducting any business, taking any votes, making any purchases, signing any contracts, issuing any checks, or engaging in any acts wherein the trustees as the legal arm of the university would have to ratify the same.” He ar-

Dr. Nelson L. Adams

Lucille O’Neal

gues that any business conducted after he was removed from the board would be legally void, and would thus damage the university. The complaint also asks for a determination of Brinson’s rights to continue as a trustee, and payment of court costs and attorney’s fees for having to file the lawsuit. It does not request that Brinson be paid any money damages.

‘Last thing’ In an exclusive interview with the Florida Courier, Walker said that filing a lawsuit is “the last thing” Brinson wanted to do. “It’s not about money. It’s about the orderly conduct of corporate business,” Walker explained. “Any removal has to be done in accordance with relevant documents. Articles of incorporation and bylaws mean something.”

Dr. Kent Sharples

Bishop Sue HaupertJohnson

Citing what he called “a whimsical application of the bylaws,” Walker said reinstatement of Brinson to the board won’t be sufficient. He’s looking forward to presenting his case in court. “We need a judicial resolution. It’s vital to BethuneCookman’s corporate operations. They must understand that rules must be followed.”

Shaq’s mother sued Among the trustees sued include Dr. Lucille O’Neal, a B-CU alumna who is the mother of NBA superstar and Basketball Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal; retired Circuit Judge Belvin Perry, Jr. of Orlando; and Dr. Kent Sharples, the former president of Daytona State College. Bishop Sue HaupertJohnson, the episcopal leader of the North Georgia Conference of the United

Johnny L. McCray, Jr.

Methodist Church; and Dr. Nelson Adams III, a prominent Miami physician who once served as the national president of the National Medical Association – the organization representing almost 30,000 Black physicians – were also sued.

Predictable response? This is the first time BCU’s board of trustees has been sued by a current or former member in the school’s recent history. But warning signs were on the horizon. In October 2015, the Florida Courier published a front-page story citing a scathing six-page letter sent to the trustee board by Johnny L. McCray, Jr., a Pompano Beach-based attorney and longtime trustee. McCray issued an ultimatum demanding that

sionals recommended that Naika live in what’s called a specialized therapeutic foster home, where she could receive the kind of intensive care she needed. But there was no bed available. In its report, the DCF team faulted the professionals who worked with Naika for treating the symptoms of her trauma and abuse “rather than addressing the trauma itself; for providing mental health care to the girl in a “fragmented” fashion where workers failed to communicate with each other; and for failing to address the toxicity of Nai-

the board bring in forensic auditors to probe the school’s finances for fraud and fiscal mismanagement – or he would file lawsuits against individual board members and request a state and federal criminal investigation. McCray’s letter was the first public glance at a boardroom dispute that began roiling years ago in the wake of the university’s decision to spend $72 million to build new on-campus housing that has now been completed. After informing board members that they could be sued personally for failure to abide by their duties, McCray gave a stern warning: “…(I)f this Board fails to conduct an appropriate investigation, I am prepared to prosecute a derivative lawsuit, on behalf of the University, against the appropriate persons for breach of fiduciary duty. At this time, I also believe it may be appropriate to involve state and federal law enforcement officials to investigate whether embezzlement or other criminal acts may have been committed against the University. “A forensic audit of the University’s books and records for the fiscal years 2011 to 2014 is necessary for the Board to have a fair

“There has been much work done in the child welfare system throughout the state, and in Miami-Dade County in recent years, but our work will never be done. The findings outlined in the CIRRT present specific opportunities to make systemic improvements that will inform us and our partner agencies on how to better reach troubled kids.” Alexis’ attorney, Howard Talenfeld, disputed the report’s findings. “The report does not contain critical facts, relies upon inaccurate information and is an apparent whitewash of the systemic failures of Our Kids and CFCE,” Talenfeld said, referring to the region’s privately-run foster care agency and the Center for Family and Child Enrichment, which provided services to Naika under contract with Our Kids. “Our Kids has known for years that it has woefully failed to recruit sufficient therapeutic placements to meet the needs of the children it is supposed to serve.”

and accurate picture of the University’s financial position, and more particularly, to ferret out potential wrongdoing, whether civil or criminal, that may impact on the University’s financial health.”

No actions taken B-CU denied McCray’s allegations. The board of trustees refused to commission a forensic audit. McCray never sued, was suspended from attending other meetings, did not call in federal prosecutors, rotated off the board after his term ended, and was not re-appointed as a trustee. He is no longer on the board and is not involved in Brinson’s lawsuit. On Tuesday, the Florida Courier reached out to B-CU officials for comment and submitted a list of questions raised by Brinson’s lawsuit. Grimes, the university’s legal counsel, issued a short statement: “The university has not been officially served with a complaint at this time. When that occurs, the university will properly respond. However, we do expect to be vindicated in court.” Go to www.flcourier.com to read a copy of the lawsuits and its attached exhibits.

MARCH 17 – MARCH 23, 2017

FLORIDA

Justice Department grant to help Pulse victims BY RENE STUTZMAN ORLANDO SENTINEL/TNS

ORLANDO – The U.S. Department of Justice on Monday announced an

$8.5 million anti-terrorism grant to help people affected by the Pulse nightclub massacre. The money will provide mental health counseling

to victims, witnesses and first responders and will help reimburse the costs of the United Assistance Center, the one-stop help center set up at Camping World

Stadium immediately after the shooting. It is still in business but has since been moved. The grant was from the DOJ’s Anti-terrorism Emer-

gency Assistance Program and crime victims office. It was awarded to the Office of Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, which had applied for it based on

requests from Central Florida agencies.

Money for city The money is intended to pay for 27 months of services, according to the grant application. A good portion of it has already been spent. The biggest single recipient — $1.5 million — appears to be the city of Orlando. Among other things, that money would reimburse the city for the cost of operating the assistance center. The second-biggest recipient appears to be Orange County, which would receive more than $1 million, much of it to provide mental health services for first responders. That would fall under a $700,000 contract with the University of Central Florida (UCF).

Plenty of counseling

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UCF psychologists and counselors are expected to treat 200 law enforcement officers, firefighters and dispatchers in 3,000 group therapy sessions. They also are expected to hold nearly 300 counseling sessions for victims, according to the grant application. Another major recipient appears to be Two Spirit Health Services, which is slated to receive more than $800,000 for psychological and other victim services. In the three weeks immediately after the massacre, Two Spirit coordinated the work of 650 volunteer mental health counselors who logged about 1,000 appointments or contacts, said its president, Dr. David Baker-Hargrove. “We are Central Florida’s GLBT health center,” he said Monday. “This is really good news. We all kind of anticipated that the federal government would at some point be able to step in and provide some long-term relief.”

Grant for charities The assistance center, formerly at the stadium, is being run by United Way of Central Florida, under contract with the city. The grant also will reimburse some local charities, including the Salvation Army and Catholic Charities, for the aid they have already rendered. Gunman Omar Mateen opened fire at Pulse, a gay nightclub south of downtown Orlando, about 2 a.m. on June 12, killing 49 people and injuring at least 68 others. The city quickly helped organized the nonprofit OneOrlando Fund to handle the millions of dollars being donated to help the victims. That fund has so far doled out $29.5 million and is on the verge of distributing another $1.3 million before shutting down at the end of the month. The Contigo Fund, another charity set up after the tragedy, recently announced the distribution of $450,000 to organizations that work for equality and racial justice in the Hispanic, Muslim and black communities.

Jeff Weiner of the Orlando Sentinel staff contributed to this report.

JOE BURBANK/ ORLANDO SENTINEL/TNS

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Daughter Tatiana Harris hugs a younger family member during the funeral for her mother and Pulse shooting victim Brenda Lee Marquez McCool at First United Methodist Church in Orlando on June 20, 2016.

EDITORIAL

MARCH 17 – MARCH 23, 2017

Black Caucus all about Democrats, not Black constituents It’s increasingly clear that the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) has become the Democrats’ racial shock troop brigade in the war of obstruction and resistance to President Trump’s domestic agenda. This is just one more example of the CBC’s pattern of putting the Democratic Party before the problems and needs of its own Black and Hispanic constituents. This was on full display during and after President Trump’s address to Congress – just as it has been ever since their beloved Hillary Clinton lost the election.

Encouraging remarks Trump’s remarks on job creation, stopping illegal drugs, neighborhood safety, and provision of meaningful healthcare reform was forward looking and encouraging – especially to residents of inner cities. On education, he introduced the nation to Denisha Merriweather, a young Black woman who was the first in her family to graduate from high school and college saying that education “is the civil rights issue of our time. He went on to say that he was “calling upon members of both parties to pass an education bill that funds school choice for disadvantaged youth, including millions of African-American and Latino children.”

Obama never delivered Since most, if not all, CBC districts need the kind of help that Trump is promising – and Obama never delivered – one would think that such a message of encouragement on so many issues impacting minority com-

CLARENCE V. MCKEE, ESQ. GUEST COLUMNIST

munities would be welcomed by politicians who represent districts where significant numbers of their constituents could benefit from such an agenda. Not so! Obviously following the orders of the Democratic leadership, most of them sat on their hands during much of Trump’s address. What did they think of his message, particularly the following? “Everything that is broken in our country can be fixed; Every problem can be solved . . . Every hurting family can find healing, and hope . . . Every American child should be able to grow up in a safe community, to attend a great school, and to have access to a high-paying job.” According to a sampling of remarks, not much. Obama wannabe Sen. Corey Booker, D-N.J., said the speech “…was more of the same fear and factual distortion that President Trump has made central to his campaign, transition, and first weeks in office.”

‘Bad start’ CBC Chair, Cedric Richmond, D-La., added “…If President Trump wants to make the country greater, then these policies and programs and others he outlined tonight are a very bad start.” Rep. Barbara Lee D-Calif., said of the address that it “…was the most pessimistic and divisive

Is the Democratic National Committee evaporating? There was a time when it seemed that the Democratic National Committee (DNC) seemed to be invincible. It was the early 1990s and this newcomer from Arkansas, William Jefferson Clinton, was the right guy at the right time. He named a guy who came out of nowhere named Ron Brown to head the DNC. That was unheard of at the time. A Black man running an entire political party. It wasn’t long before everyone knew he had a calling. He led the DNC admirably. He got Bill Clinton elected and then the spell was cast. We had a new breed of national politics.

Commitment to diversity To everyone’s surprise, diversity immediately set in. Mike Espy, a Black from Mississippi, became the secretary of agriculture. Hazel O’Leary was named secretary of energy. Ron Brown, who was responsible for this great change in a political party, became secretary of commerce. He was a natural because he could make business deals in rapid-fire fashion.

CHARLES W. CHERRY II, ESQ. PUBLISHER

Plot against Trump? It’s not beyond the pale that such a meeting might be part of a Chuck Schumer-Nancy Pelosi plot to embarrass Trump with similar negatives spewed in a post-meeting CBC press conference outside of the White House. Nearly 50 years ago, in 1971, one of the founders of the CBC, William Clay Sr., D-Mo. – who subsequently became a friend of mine – said that “Black people have no permanent friends, no permanent enemies…just permanent interests.” Most of the CBC has apparently forgotten, or never heard of those words of wisdom. They do have “permanent friends” – the Democratic Party and its leftist agenda –whose interests often do not always equate with the “permanent interests” of their constituents. Can you imagine what would happen if the CBC, or a significant number of its members, said that they were willing to work

Ron never forgot about his debt to his culture and heritage. If there was something dealing with business, we could rest assure that there would be Black representation. Ron took a trip to Brazil. While there he set up an office for the Minority Business Development Agency to support our Black businesses when we ventured to Brazil in search of doing deals. That office help the National Black Chamber of Commerce with a trade mission. We took 84 members to Rio de Janeiro and came out with $34 million in sales. The city of Rio de Janeiro gave us a certificate noting that we were the best trade mission ever for small business.

Made it clear

Hope withers

GUEST COLUMNIST

King Don and the art of interruption – Twitter is to your new prez as “chaff” is to military aircraft: a distraction to ward off scrutiny of his administration. Here’s the definition of chaff from the website globalsecurity. org: “Chaff and flares are defensive mechanisms employed from military aircraft to avoid detec-

WOLVERTON, CAGLE CARTOONS

with Trump to improve conditions in the inner cities – which most of them represent? It would be a political tsunami sending shock waves throughout the Democratic party. It’s unfortunate that the CBC, like Black caucuses in many state legislatures, apparently has no concept of its potential political clout and power within its own party.

Support good ideas As Theodore Johnson wrote in The Atlantic, in the article last year entitled, “The Increasing Irrelevance of the Congressional Black Caucus,” “If the caucus wants the best outcomes for Black children, it should champion good ideas regardless of party.” Even more to the point was Nick James’ recent article in The Daily Caller referring to Trump’s promise to rebuild inner cities and bring greater choice to poor youth. He wrote that if the CBC “…had its constituents’ best efsecond term, the motivation and hope for Black business started to wither away. Of course, President Clinton became preoccupied with his own worries about dirt that started back in Arkansas. His doing “nasty” numerous times with an intern in the Oval Office really threw him off his game. The DNC became headless for a while and then George W. Bush came in with his own version of diversity. It was effective and the DNC strayed away. Then in 2008 the DNC was ready for a comeback. They put all they had in this young, inexperienced guy named Barack Obama. Somehow it worked, but the inexperience and lack of clarity took its toll. The DNC soon became a confused and misled entity. The loss of Ron Brown was a serious void. Black-owned business was totally ignored. This new DNC was somewhat hostile to Black business. They would avoid it by claiming ignorance about contracting trends. One would ask, “What are your Black business statistics?” They would proclaim ignorance and say, “We don’t keep those numbers.” They would lie rather than produce.

Poor choice

As Bill Clinton went on to his

Black business development has left the DNC agenda and all should be aware. Who they have at their helm today is a scary situation. Tom Perez, newly elected head

tion and/or attack by adversary air defense systems. Chaff consists of small fibers that reflect radar signals and, when dispensed in large quantities from aircraft, form a cloud that temporarily hides the aircraft from radar detection…chaff forms the electromagnetic equivalent of a visual smoke screen that temporarily hides the aircraft from radar…(and) serves to decoy radar allowing aircraft to maneuver or egress from the area.” In this analogy, “adversary air defense systems” are fact-checkers and mainstream media. Twitter is Trump’s chaff.

What happens? Trump goes to Twitter, makes up something outrageous (“Obama wiretapped me! SAD!”). The media refocuses its attention away from Trump’s hirings and firings, executive orders, legislation, and policy directives, then spends limited time and expensive effort trying to debunk what Trump already knew was a lie in the first place. I’ve written about this before. Don’t get distracted by King Don’s chaff. Stay focused… Way to go, Wig! Here’s a proud pop moment. Charles III, also known as “Wig,” traveled with

Hazel O’Leary was no shrink-

Random thoughts of a free Black mind, v. 294 QUICK TAKES FROM #2: STRAIGHT, NO CHASER

message I have ever witnessed from a sitting president.” Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, DMd., asked “Where is his plan to help Americans living in urban areas like Baltimore?” Keep in mind that these comments come from members of the same CBC that has requested a meeting with Trump. Such remarks certainly don’t reflect any desire to have a meaningful dialogue with the president on issues impacting their constituents or to bridge the country’s racial divide. That’s one reason I recently cautioned that such a meeting could be a “public and political relations disaster.”

ing violet either. She went into that Energy agency and made it clear. She put up a big banner on the second floor which said, “If you cannot accept diversity, then retirement is your option.” Blacks started dealing with Energy contracts like never before. Mike Espy represented his roots in Mississippi like every person should – make your home better by your deeds. Everyone was enthusiastic by his energy and courage in making truth come to power. While we were enjoying all this procurement inclusion, the “dark forces” were not amused. Before long, there were investigations, charges of misconduct, etc. popping up against our brave new stars. Ron Brown and Mike Espy had to hire lawyers and pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to defend their great reputations. While they went on defense to save their reputations and to keep from being indicted on various trumped up charges, Secretary O’Leary was being worn down by accusations. She eventually left from the immense pressure. Mike Espy resigned to prepare for the fight against big allegations. Ron Brown met a worse fate. His plane ran into a mountain under very strange circumstances. Suddenly, they were all gone.

HARRY C. ALFORD

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: BEN CARSON ON SLAVERY, OBAMACARE

Charles W. Cherry II, Esq., Publisher

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

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forts at heart, its members would offer to partner with the new administration to accomplish these noble goals.” His conclusion: “If the Congressional Black Caucus continues to fail its core supporters who face disproportionately high levels of crime and poverty, come 2018 Black voters should reject these failed politicians and replace them with a new generation of leaders who will do more than just play the race card as stooges for the Democratic Party.” Well said.

Clarence V. McKee is a government, political and media relations consultant and president of McKee Communications, Inc., as well as a Newsmax.com contributor. This article originally appeared on Newsmax.com. Click on this commentary at www.flcourier.com to write your own response. of the DNC, doesn’t give a damn about Black business. I found him to be tone-deaf on Black business. This guy was deputy secretary for civil rights for the Department of Justice. I filed a Title VI complaint against the state of California’s Department of Transportation regarding its Black contracts amounting to only 0.8 percent. His formal conclusion was that since they were doing some business, there is no discrimination. I was dumbfounded. A Black group in St. Paul, Minn., filed a Section 3 complaint against the city. They were assigned Mr. Perez as their federal attorney. The case was going in their favor and it appeared the judge was about to award people living in public housing $2 million dollars in damages. They were so optimistic until Perez, their federal attorney, called the judge two days before the decision and withdrew from the case. What a betrayal! With leadership like that, the DNC is headed south with a bullet.

Harry C. Alford is the cofounder and president/CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce. Contact him via www.nationalbcc.org. Click on this commentary at www.flcourier.com to write your own response. about 80 of his Seminole Middle schoolmates from Plantation (Broward County) to Washington, D.C., for a whirlwind fourday trip. An essay contest selected four students to place a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington Cemetery. Charles told the story of our family’s experience with the military and was one of four selected. We’ll publish his essay next week!

Hit me up at ccherry2@gmail. com.

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MARCH 17 – MARCH 23, 2017

Let’s hear it for the ladies! “Do you ask what we can do? Unite and build a store of your own. Do you ask where is the money? We have spent more than enough for nonsense.” – Maria Stewart “When it comes to success the choice is simple. You can either stand up and be counted or lie down and be counted out!” - Maggie Lena Walker “Let the Afro-American depend on no party, but on himself, for his salvation. Let him continue toward education, and above all, put money in his purse.” – Ida B. Wells Over the years, many Black women have stood, spoken out, and fought against mistreatment. They have also advocated for Black people to use our economic resources to empower ourselves and propel us on to self-sufficiency. Maria Stewart was an educator, abolitionist, and author. She was also an advocate for Black self-sufficiency. A contemporary and personal friend of David Walker, author of “David Walker’s Appeal”, Maria spoke passionately to our people in attempts to guide us from dependency to independency.

Not timid “Her dedication to fighting Black oppression through teaching, writing, and speaking was relentless,” according to PBS.org. It took strength to shoulder and promote the issues Maria fielded in the mid-1860s. She is one of many in the pantheon of Black women who were not timid when it came to espousing her beliefs in support of Black people. Maggie Lena Walker was the first female to charter and successfully preside over a bank, the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank, in Richmond, Va. Walker founded the St. Luke Herald newslet-

JAMES CLINGMAN TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM

Maria, Maggie Lena, and Ida B. did not settle, sell out, or give in to the social pressures they faced in the 19th century. This is the 21st century. We have tremendously more resources than they did, yet we are still allowing ourselves to go through much the same as they did. ter, and she opened a department store for Black women in 1905. She ran for superintendent of public instruction on the Republican ballot (she was defeated), and was instrumental in keeping her bank open through the Great Depression by merging it with two other banks in 1929.

A real example Cooperative economics? Stra-

Trump launches an attack on education The effort to repeal and replace health care is generating headlines, and the attempt to investigate our 45th president’s Russia connections is of high importance. The specious claim that President Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower, too, has generated interest, largely because it is unprecedented for one president to accuse another of a felony, and because 45 has absolutely no proof that President Obama has done any such thing.

Tantrums and calm While President Obama, with a multimillion-dollar book deal tucked into his pocket, is living his life like it’s golden, 45 has indulged in several public tantrums with episodic moments of calm. Too many of us have been riveted to the drama, while there is a quieter revolution happening in Congress, with the approval of the White House. There has been an attack on education, with legislation being introduced as early as January 23, 2017. That legislation, HR 610, is titled the Choices in Education Act. It would repeal the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, and limits the authority of the Department of Education

DR. JULIANNE MALVEAUX TRICE EDNEY NEWS WIRE

so that it should only award block grants to states. It also sets up a voucher system. If states do not comply with the rules of this legislation, they would be ineligible for block grants. The legislation would also repeal nutritional standards for the national school breakfast and lunch programs, which were set by the No Hungry Kids Act of 2012. Schools would no longer be required, as First Lady Michelle Obama advocated, to increase the availability of fruits, vegetables, and other healthy foods at lunch. Are we going back to the days when Ronald Reagan declared that ketchup should be considered a vegetable? Seems like it! The 1965 legislation was passed as civil rights legislation, providing more opportunities to a broader range of children, including disabled children (with requirements to make provisions for disabled children). It requires report-

We need Black newspapers now more than ever In 1960, Blacks in Virginia watched as the state changed the laws against trespass to make it a more serious crime, and the penalty was raised from a $100 fine to $1,000. This action was taken by the then all-White legislature in an attempt to combat the civil rights movement and more severely punish the activists that were engaging in the sit-ins that were taking place in Richmond – the former capital of the Confederacy – and across the nation.

Loud fear-mongers During that time, we read the unhinged rantings of segregationists such as James J. Kilpatrick who wrote lies to stoke fear and hatred in the hearts of Whites against their Black neighbors by exaggerating the civil disruption caused

tegic alliance? Working collectively for the good of the whole? Sound familiar? Walker’s spirited and determined leadership takes a back seat to no one and should be held up as an example of what we must do, even today, to help ourselves. Ida B. Wells, after enduring a horrendous childhood, losing both her parents – within 24 hours – and her youngest brother to yellow fever, went on to be one of the most feared journalists and bravest women in the history of this country. This gun-toting original “Sister Souljah” wielded a pen with the aplomb of any expert in the field of journalism. Long before Sister Rosa Parks did her thing, in 1884 this diminutive but strong Black woman refused to move from her seat in the “ladies” section of a train to one that was reserved for Negroes. Wells, who was referred to in the Memphis newspaper as the “Darky Damsel,” sued the train company and won – only to have her victory overturned by the state supreme court.

GUEST COMMENTARY

by demonstrators. During the civil rights movement, Virginia was not the only state where fierce battles for equal justice were fought – battles where so many people suffered, and many lost their lives. But much of the truth of this struggle was hidden by the dominant news sources of the day. Battles had to be fought to even bring the truth to light. That was a time when the only reliable news about the civil rights movement could be found in Black newspapers. Even the

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: SPEAKER PAUL RYAN AND HEALTH CARE

DAVE GRANLUND, POLITICALCARTOONS.COM

dation, we would never have the power we need to become self-reliant. What’s it going to take to get us organized and moving in the right direction? Will we continue to languish in meaningless rhetorical gymnastics espoused by talking heads, politicians, organizational leaders, and amongst ourselves? Or will we cast off the mundane, the nonsensical, and the time-consuming back-andforth that continue to keep us at status quo? Maria, Maggie Lena, and Ida B. did not settle, sell out, or give in to the social pressures they faced in the 19th century. This is the 21st century. We have tremendously more resources than they did, yet we are still allowing ourselves to go through much the same as they did.

– despite any and all resistance – carve out a niche and control it, and not get caught in the snares of jealousy and selfishness. After 45 years of watching the selfishness of his brothers and sisters, W.E.B. DuBois said, “I assumed that with knowledge, sacrifice would automatically follow. There were especially sharp young persons [at Fisk University] with the distinct and singleminded idea of seeing what they could get...for themselves, and nobody else.”

Not to be bested by legislation that would limit the reach of the HR 610, is titled the Department of Education, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) has introduce a sentence-long piece of Choices in Education legislation. HR 899 reads, in total, “The Department of Education Act. It would repeal shall terminate on December 31, 2018.” Of course, Massie hasn’t put the Elementary and the thought into considering how things like Pell grants would be administered, or would he eliminate Secondary Education those, too? HBCUs are part of the education budget. Act of 1965, and What would that mean for us? The bill has been cosponsored by several of Massie’s colleagues. It limits the authority speaks to a national antipathy to education so that even as we hunof the Department ger for jobs, and elected 45 so that he could “create” them, we are of Education so that prepared to limit pathways to job preparation. Efforts to eliminate the Department of Education are, it should only award at best, shortsighted. Even though he nominated the block grants to states. extremely limited Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education, 45’s precampaign policy book advocated It also sets up a the elimination of the Department of Education. Is the hidden agenvoucher system. da to run the department into the ground to the point that eliminaing around issues like the achieve- tion is the only option? One-note ment gap, bullying, and underper- Betsy, with her focus on school forming schools. choice, must be gratified, especially by HR 610.

$68 billion – enough perhaps, to “build a wall.” Of course, 45 is finding lots of other fund sources for the wall, with proposed cuts from the Coast Guard and the State Department. The good news about this odious proposed legislation is that it has not passed. It has been referred to the House Education and the Workforce Committee, and after vetting by the committee, must also be approved by the Senate. But these bills need not even come out of committee if opponents are vocal. Check out www. edworkforce.house.gov to find out who is on this committee. Call and write them and tell them that you support the 1965 legislation, as most recently amended, and that the Department of Education should not be eliminated. This is an opportunity to unleash our voices and resist Trumpism. The big headlines are riveting, but we need to look at the fine print. If you spent an hour reading the Congressional Record and looking at the devilment these Republicans are up to daily, you would be repulsed. Let’s turn repulsion into resistance.

Tell our children

These are the kinds of examples we must share with our young people and hold in high esteem, especially when it comes to being conscientiously consciousness about what it means to be Black in America. Too often, as Carter G. Woodson warned, we choose “mis-leaders” instead of authentic leaders. We must do better because we have men and women of old that showed us the way. Our women worked as housekeepers, journalists, teachers, bankers, and other occupations, but they understood, advocat- Let’s take our place They already paid the bill for ed, and practiced basic economic empowerment principles. They what we should be enjoying toknew that unless Black folks es- day. All we have to do is take our tablished a solid economic foun- appropriate place in this society

All gone

All of these provisions would be Money for wall? eliminated if HR 610 were passed. The Department of Education Actually, the entire public educa- is one of the lowest-spending govtion sector could be eliminated if ernment agencies. Eliminating it could save taxpayers more than HR 610 is passed.

storied New York Times and the Washington Post wrote about the civil rights movement from the perspective of spectators a safe distance from the fray. Having nothing to lose, the journalists at these newspapers, in an attempt at “objectivity,” often gave too much credence to the misrepresentations of their Southern counterparts.

History repeated OSCAR H. BLAYTON

EDITORIAL

Today, reading the current reporting and editorials of the large, White-dominated corporate newspapers, I have a sense of déjà vu. But now it is not just the newspapers of the Southern segregationists that are spewing lies. The “alt right” haters have gained a prominent voice in the national discourse, and they are on their way toward gaining even greater influence, with Steve Bannon entrenched in the White House. So now, as much as ever, the voices of the Black newspapers are needed to combat the evil we face. We are witnessing the normalizing of the Donald Trump presidency, as the language of appeasement creeps ever so slightly

onto the front pages of the dominant newspapers. Sports writers are chiding Black athletes for refusing to go to the White House and provide Trump with a photoop so that he can pretend not to be a bigot.

Truth disappears Journalists writing for many major outlets are reporting the terrorizing of undocumented aliens as “routine” law enforcement activity. And stories about the lawsuits against Trump and the allegations of sexual assault, including rape, are evaporating from the pages of the corporate press like small puddles in a drought. Too few Americans are alarmed by these recent developments because they are not in the crosshairs of the bigotry that drives the current administration. There will be precious few allies to combat this plague of bigotry alongside people of color, progressive women, immigrants, the LGBTQ community and undocumented aliens. But the one resource we have is the battle-tested Black Press, founded March 16, 1827. Black newspapers have always been the

James E. Clingman is the nation’s most prolific writer on economic empowerment for Black people. His latest book, “Black Dollars Matter! Teach Your Dollars How To Make More Sense,” is available on his website, Blackonomics.com, and Amazon Kindle eBooks. Click on this commentary at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

Julianne Malveaux is a Washington, D.C.-based economist and writer. Her latest book, “Are We Better Off? Race, Obama and Public Policy,” is available at www.juliannemalveaux. com. Click on this commentary at www.flcourier.com to write your own response. sword and shield against injustices aimed at people of color. This tradition goes back to Fredrick Douglass and beyond, including the first Black newspaper, Freedom’s Journal, founded 190 years ago by John B. Russwurm and Samuel Cornish. The ammunition that we will need most in the struggles to come will be the accurate reporting of the truth, and it is beginning to look like the major corporate news media is prepared to compromise on that. So we must continue to battle to bring accurate facts to light. And we will be opposed by those powerful people who want to hide the truth in the shadows by controlling the outlets that feed lies to the public to keep us passive and apathetic. Maintaining Black newspapers as a loud and honest voice that will fight for the rights of people of color is our best and brightest hope in these terrible times to come.

Oscar H. Blayton is a former Marine Corps combat pilot and human rights activists who practices law in Virginia. Click on this commentary at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

TOJ A6

NATION

MARCH 17 – MARCH 23, 2017

Membership triples for Democratic Socialists of America that affect the entirety of our lives.” It’s yet to be seen what kind of impact the group might have. Socialism has never been a dominant force in American electoral politics.

Not that far left?

Members of the organization are pictured on their website, dsausa.org. BY MATT PEARCE LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

LOS ANGELES – Holding red and white signs, they protested outside Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s election party last week, demanding the city take a tougher stand against deportation. The next day, they rallied in support of the International Women’s Day strike, demanding social and economic equality for women. These weren’t liberals. They were card-carrying members of the Democratic Socialists of America, one of the fastest growing groups on the American left. The surge of activism sweeping the U.S. since Donald Trump’s election has energized the nation’s largest socialist organization, which has tripled in size over the past year to claim more than 19,000 dues-paying members. That’s a record for the DSA, which was founded in 1982.

‘Indivisible movement’ “People really felt that they

had to do something to combat the incoming Trump administration,” said David Duhalde, the deputy director of the Democratic Socialists of America’s national leadership, which helps coordinate chapters spread across 40 states. “We’re not only somebody you can resist Trump with, we’re somebody you can build a better world with.” There’s no doubt that the grassroots group forms only a small part of America’s swelling ranks of activists. The American Civil Liberties Union amassed hundreds of thousands of new members after Trump’s victory. The fast-growing and liberalcentric “Indivisible” movement claims 4,500 associated groups compared with the 121 chapters of the Democratic Socialists of America.

Leftists energized But unabashed socialism hasn’t had this big of a voice in American politics in decades, and many leftists say they feel energized. New members of the Democratic Socialists of America say they want to build a grass-

roots movement engaged at the local level — and either pull the Democratic Party leftward or shove it out of the way. That’s why, on election night, as Garcetti won one of the most commanding mayoral victories in Los Angeles history, dozens of socialists protested outside his election party. A few of the group’s provocateurs infiltrated the well-dressed crowd of Democrats inside, where they shouted against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement: “I.C.E. out of LA!” “If you’re gonna do it, have some fun,” said Josh Androsky, a 30-year-old stand-up comedian who co-chairs the Los Angeles chapter’s “agit-prop” committee and who joined after Trump’s election. “A large portion of our members were radicalized by the election and the Democrats failing over and over again.”

‘Big-tent’ organization The Democratic Socialists of America’s membership spike seems driven by three factors: younger Americans, who polls say are more open to socialism

than previous generations; the 2016 Democratic primary campaign of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., a self-described democratic socialist whose race ignited a grassroots following but also left bitter feelings about the Democratic Party; and the galvanizing effect that Trump’s election has had on left-leaning Americans, who have increasingly turned to grassroots activism. Among leftists, the DSA is considered a “big-tent” organization. Decisions are made by topicspecific committees instead of through adherence to rigid ideology, which allows for a relatively wider range of opinion than other groups. The group also takes a more incremental approach to reining in free-market capitalism. “As we are unlikely to see an immediate end to capitalism tomorrow, DSA fights for reforms today that will weaken the power of corporations and increase the power of working people,” says the group’s website. “Our vision is of a society in which people have a real voice in the choices and relationships

Previously, its most successful American leader was Eugene V. Debs, who won 6 percent of the presidential vote in 1912 running on the Socialist Party of America ticket. And although some conservatives view the Democratic Socialists of America as subversive radicals, other leftists see them as not nearly radical enough. “The farthest they can go is supporting elements such as Bernie Sanders,” Marc Wells, a Trotskyist, said disdainfully as he handed out leaflets for the World Socialist Web Site at the International Women’s Day strike in Los Angeles, where some Democratic Socialists of America members had also gathered. The site is published by the International Committee of the Fourth International, which, like other Marxist groups such as the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA, advocate harder-line approaches than the DSA.

Preparing working class In Wells’ view, Sanders and “pseudo-left reformism” only perpetuates capitalism rather than leading to a necessary revolution, and the result is that “the working class is led back into the Democratic Party.” By contrast, Wells said, “We seek to prepare the working class to seize political power.” Duhalde, the DSA’s deputy national director, said the group is “flexible and willing to change” compared to other leftist approaches. “There’s been a huge generational shift of millennials who are going to reinvent the socialist project,” Duhalde said, adding that more than half of new members who joined since Trump’s victory are younger than 30.

Hate groups increase as Trump electrifies radical right Muslims hit hardest with hate attacks as fear heightened among AfricanAmericans, others.

Hate Map showing the names, types and locations of hate groups across the country. The SPLC found that the number of hate groups operating in 2016 rose to 917 – up from 892 in 2015. The number is 101 shy of the all-time record set in 2011, but high by historic standards. “2016 was an unprecedented year for hate,” said Mark Potok, senior fellow and editor of the Intelligence Report.

TRICE EDNEY NEWS WIRE

The number of hate groups in the United States rose for a second year in a row in 2016 as the radical right was energized by the candidacy of Donald Trump, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center’s (SPLC) annual census of hate groups and other extremist organizations. The most dramatic growth was the near-tripling of anti-Muslim hate groups – from 34 in 2015 to 101 last year. However, fear has grown among many racial and ethnic minority groups. In a post-election SPLC survey of 10,000 educators, 90 percent said the climate at their schools had been negatively affected by the campaign. Eighty percent described heightened anxiety and fear among students, particularly immigrants, Muslims and AfricanAmericans. Numerous teachers reported the use of slurs, derogatory language and extremist symbols in their classrooms.

917 hate groups The growth has been accompanied by a rash of crimes targeting Muslims, including an arson that destroyed a mosque in Victoria, Texas, just hours after

Fueled by rhetoric

The Spring 2017 issue of the Intelligence Report includes a Hate Map showing the names, types and locations of hate groups across the country. the Trump administration announced an executive order suspending travel from some predominantly Muslim countries. The latest FBI statistics show that hate crimes against Muslims

grew by 67 percent in 2015, the year in which Trump launched his campaign. The report, contained in the Spring 2017 issue of the SPLC’s Intelligence Report, includes the

Jury in Cosby trial to come from Pittsburgh area BY LAURA MCCRYSTAL PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

PHILADELPHIA – A jury from the Pittsburgh area will determine Bill Cosby’s fate at his sexual-assault trial, scheduled to begin in June, the state Supreme Court ruled Monday. In an order issued weeks after a Montgomery County judge granted a request that jurors be

selected from a different county, Chief Justice Thomas G. Saylor said jurors would be chosen in Allegheny County. The jurors will travel to Montgomery County, where Judge Steven T. O’Neill has said they will be sequestered for the duration of the trial. No date for jury selection in Pittsburgh has been scheduled. Cosby’s lawyers successfully sought an out-of-town jury pool, citing media coverage of the case and noting that the in-

vestigation into Cosby became an issue in the 2015 race for Montgomery County district attorney.

More diversity sought They said a jury should be pulled from an urban center with “more diverse and opposing viewpoints.” A spokesman for the Supreme Court said at the time that the court does not typically take requests from lawyers into consid-

“The country saw a resurgence of White nationalism that imperils the racial progress we’ve made, along with the rise of a president whose policies reflect the values of white nationalists. In Steve Bannon, these extremists think they finally have an ally who has the president’s ear.” The increase in anti-Muslim hate was fueled by Trump’s incendiary rhetoric, including his campaign pledge to bar Muslims from entering the United States, as well as anger over terrorist attacks such as the June massacre of 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando. The overall number of hate groups likely understates the real level of organized hatred in America as a growing number of extremists operate mainly online and are not formally affiliated with hate groups.

‘Patriot’ groups decline

ways. In the first 10 days after his election, the SPLC documented 867 bias-related incidents, including more than 300 that targeted immigrants or Muslims. In contrast to the growth of hate groups, antigovernment “Patriot” groups saw a 38 percent decline – plummeting from 998 groups in 2015 to 623 last year. Composed of armed militiamen and others who see the federal government as their enemy, the “Patriot” movement over the past few decades has flourished under Democratic administrations but declined dramatically when President George W. Bush occupied the White House.

LGBT demonized The SPLC also released an indepth profile of the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), an antiLGBT hate group. Leaders of the legal advocacy organization and its affiliated lawyers have regularly demonized LGBT people, falsely linking them to pedophilia, calling them “evil” and a threat to children and society, and blaming them for the “persecution of devout Christians.” The group also has supported the criminalization of homosexuality in several countries.

Aside from its annual census of extremist groups, the SPLC found that Trump’s rhetoric reverberated across the nation in other

This information is special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the Southern Poverty Law Center.

eration or select counties that border the county hosting the trial. Allegheny, with a population of 1.2 million, is the second-largest county in the state. Pittsburgh is its county seat. Allegheny County’s population is 82 percent White, slightly higher than the 80 percent of Montgomery, the third mostpopulous in the state at 800,000, according to the Census Bureau. African-Americans constitute 14.9 percent of Allegheny County’s population, compared with 8.9 percent in Montgomery County.

June 5 trial Cosby is charged with aggravated indecent assault, accused of drugging and molesting Temple University employee Andrea Constand at his home in Cheltenham in 2004. His trial is scheduled to begin June 5 in Norristown. A spokesman for Cosby declined to comment Monday. A spokeswoman for Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele, who did not oppose the defense request to have outside jurors hear the case, did not respond to a message seeking comment.

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The swaying power of the teen shopper See page B3

SOUTH FLORIDA / TREASURE COAST AREA

MARCH 17 – MARCH 23, 2017

SHARING BLACK LIFE, STATEWIDE

Banks replaces Cannon as ‘Talent’ host See page B5

WWW.FLCOURIER.COM

SECTION

CUBA

GETS A LITTLE CHEAPER

HOTEL COSTS ARE SCHEDULED TO DROP FOR THE SPRING AND SUMMER SEASONS BY MIMI WHITEFIELD MIAMI HERALD/TNS

merican travelers checking into Cuban hotels and dining at Havana’s more upscale private restaurants since the U.S. rapprochement with Cuba have experienced more than a bit of sticker shock. Since the Obama administration’s opening to Cuba allowed more Americans to travel to the island most travel-related costs have jumped 100 percent to 400 percent, said Tom Popper, president of insightCuba, which organizes tours to Cuba. But what goes up usually comes down. Mandated prices for state agencies and hotels are scheduled to drop for the spring and summer seasons, said Popper.

New rates Different tour operators receive their rates from the Cuban government at different times, but Popper said the new prices quoted to insightCuba will result on average in a $250 savings per traveler on a six- or seven-day trip this spring and summer. “The question was for how long were prices going to increase or stay at artificially inflated levels,” he said. “This is the first time we’ve seen costs come down, instead of up, in three years.” The trend had been up, up, up. Rates for standard rooms, which averaged around $150 a night at some popular Havana hotels before the Obama opening, climbed to more than $600 last year. A junior suite at the Hotel Saratoga is listed at $605 a night during the first week of March. And the new Kempinski luxury hotel, which is slated to open in Havana later this year, recently announced that rates at the Gran Hotel Manzana would start at $600 during the November to March high season and at $400 from April to October.

However, they have come down about 25 percent for March/ April/May compared to November/December of last year,” said Collin Laverty, president of Cuban Educational Travel, which organizes group travel to Cuba. At Road Scholar, a nonprofit that offers educational travel programs, demand has slowed a bit this year because of the high hotel prices, said JoAnn Bell, senior vice president of program development. But she said, “Americans continue to be fascinated by the prospect of traveling to Cuba.” A Road Scholar representative is currently in Cuba, she said, renegotiating rates. “If successful, we will pass along any savings to Road Scholar participants,” Bell said.

Down 25 percent

Lots of groups

Though bargains exist for the traveler willing to seek them out, many visitors are surprised to find South Beach prices when they dine at some of Havana’s better paladares, or private restaurants. “Prices are still incredibly high, given the quality of the offerings.

There’s a lot of talk about pricing among foreign hoteliers in Cuba, said Bob Guild, vice president of Marazul, which offers tours and travel arrange ments to Cuba. “We see prices likely coming down

See CUBA, Page B2

Fishermen stand on a seawall along the Malecon in Havana, Cuba, in April 2015. 1

BRIAN VAN DER BRUG/ LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

The Hotel Inglaterra is located in Havana, Cuba.

AL DIAZ/ MIAMI HERALD/TNS

Cubans relax on Santa Maria del Mar beach near Havana, Cuba, on April 18, 2015. 3

BRIAN VAN DER BRUG/ LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

Cubans dance in the Plaza de Armas, Havana Vieja, Cuba, on April 24, 2015. 4

BRIAN VAN DER BRUG/ LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

CALENDAR

MARCH 17 – MARCH 23, 2017

STOJ

FLORIDA COMMUNITY CALENDAR

BILLY OCEAN

Miami: Chris Brown’s Party Tour stops at the American Airlines Arena on April 12, Tampa’s Amalie Arena on April 16 and Jacksonville’s Veterans Memorial Arena on April 18.

The singer is scheduled March 17 at the Pompano Beach Amphitheater for an 8 p.m. show.

Orlando: Leela James and Daley will perform April 9 at the House of Blues Orlando. The show starts at 7 p.m. Hollywood: Catch Chris Rock on March 30 at Hard Rock Live. The show is at 8 p.m.

BETTY WRIGHT & SMOKIE NORFUL

Estero: Vanilla Ice, Mark McGrath and Rob Base perform in the I Love the 90’s Tour on March 25 at the Germain Arena. Orlando: Katt Williams’ Great American Tour stops at the CFE Arena on March 18 and the James L. Knight Center in Miami on March 31.

Jazz in the Gardens is March 18 and 19 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens. Performers will include Betty Wright on March 18 and Smokie Norful on March 19. Complete lineup: jazzinthegardens. com.

Cocoa: Flo Rida and DJ Nasty make a stop at the Cocoa Expo Sports Center on March 18. Miami Gardens: Generational Cure will present its second Black Tie Event honoring area youth at 7 p.m. March 25 at the Betty T. Ferguson Center. Tickets are $25. More information: Call 305-879-2369. Tampa: Catch Charlie Wilson’s “In It to Win it Tour’ with Fantasia and Solero on March 23 at the USF Sun Dome. Orlando: The Autism Society of Greater Orlando will host its 12th annual 12th Annual Autism Space Walk and Family Fun Night on March 18 at the Orlando Science Center from 6 to 9 p.m. Register at www.asgo.org.

New documentary explores history of Black hockey players BY SAMUEL JOHNSON SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA COURIER

A new Canadian documentary looks at the history of Black athletes in ice hockey. The film, “Soul on Ice: Past, Present and Future,’’ by Kwame Mason, made its Tampa premiere last week at the Gasparilla International Film Festival. Mason explores a unique, almost hidden, history that Black North American athletes created by joining a league together. Mason said it was the first of its kind. “Hockey is the very first sport that we organized to play together,’’ he said. This was known as the Colored Hockey League of Nova Scotia (Canada). To put that into context, the league was founded in 1895, lasted until 1930, had up to 12 different teams and encompassed around 400

African-Canadian players. Lindo’s path highlighted But it’s not just a history of bygone players. As the title implies, it weaves the past and the present into a fabric that will cloak the future of ice hockey. Jaden Lindo is at the center of the film’s narrative. The viewer is afforded an intimate look into how Lindo pursues his dream of being drafted by, and ultimately playing in the National Hockey League (NHL). Interspersed between segments of his quest, Mason’s film delves into the history of trailblazing icons and current Black hockey players. Names might be familiar to some ice hockey fans but probably not to a casual ice hockey fan. Nonetheless, Lindo’s journey is not unlike numerous other Black athletes who struggled with making it all the way to the NHL.

Difficult journey A full capacity theater of nearly 200 in Tampa heard Mason explain the difficult three years it took to make the film – his first. In the process of researching, filming and editing, Mason had to sell his apartment in order to continue financing the project. At one point during a question-and-answer session after the screening, he became tearful. He was recalling a conversation he had with his mother shortly before she died of cancer. Mason said his mother encouraged him to complete the film. His fascination with the Colored Hockey League of Nova Scotia initially motivated his research for the film.

Aspiring other players Mason said a take away

from the film is the function of role models for aspiring hockey players of color. “(They) also have that responsibility. Because there’s that kid in some small town, that’s the only one. And he wants to make it to the NHL or go as far as he possibly can,’’ Mason explained. “Sometimes the road’s a little difficult. For guys like J.T. Brown, it’s great for them to be able to show these kids that, you know what, just dig deep and you’re not alone. You may be going through things, but we went through things as well. Here’s how we got through them.”

All-Black roster? The film makes a bold prediction – a predication echoed by many of the people interviewed in the documentary. The ex-

additional 15 percent to 20 percent price hikes.

Record numbers

COURTESY OF KEMPINSKI/TNS

The Geneva-based Kempinski Hotels will open the five-star Gran Hotel Kempinski Manzana La Habana this spring.

CUBA

from Page 1

BRIAN VAN DER BRUG/LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

A vintage car is a familiar sight on the streets of Havana, Cuba, on May 5, 2015.

in October (when the next high season begins), and we are advising our clients of that,” he said. Guild said that a number of groups have canceled because of the high prices, but others have come in and made up for it. Overall, he said, Marazul hasn’t experienced a drop in demand. “During the (winter) season we’ve been running 100 groups a month,” Guild said. The price run-up began in 2015, said Popper, when the tourism minister announced that hotel costs would go up 100 percent in the face of overheating demand. “The intent of the price increases was not only to get more revenue but also to tamp down demand. They couldn’t keep up with it,” he said. Throughout 2015 and 2016, there were

Visitors are still coming to Cuba in record numbers, but tour operators said a market correction was needed. Cuban tourism officials are predicting that the number of international visitors in 2017 will increase to 4.2 million, about 100,000 more than last year. This January, the number of international visitors was up 15 percent, and the Ministry of Tourism is forecasting Cuba will finish the high season with a 17 percent jump in international visitors. Popper said he expects demand from the United States to cool off a bit from the Obama heat wave when Americans rushed to take advantage of new regulations that made it easier to travel to Cuba. They are permitted to visit if they fall into 12 specific categories such as educational travel, but aren’t supposed to take trips to simply soak up the sun on the beach.

Trump review ordered Last year, 284,937 Americans visited Cuba, a 74 percent increase from the previous year. Cuban Americans are counted in a separate category for the Cuban diaspora, and they added nearly 330,000 to the total number of visitors coming from the United States. But it’s possible that President Donald Trump, who has ordered a review of all executive orders related to Cuba, could take action that would affect U.S. travel to the island. Last year, U.S. commer-

hockey players and the sports pundits nearly all suggested that within 10 years there could be an allBlack starting roster for an NHL team. J.T. Brown, an AfricanAmerican hockey player with the Tampa Bay Lightning, and his wife were both in attendance. Brown grew up in the hockey state of Minnesota. Brown said he lives and breathes hockey but this film opened his eyes “to see through another person’s perspective through his movie, to be able to see the stories that haven’t been told.’’ “I’ve been playing this game for quite a long time, but there are stories that Kwame told that I had never heard of,’’ he remarked. For more information on the documentary, visit www.soulonicemovie.com.

cial airlines competed for the first regularly scheduled routes to Cuba in more than five decades. Some airlines received flight frequencies from the Department of Transportation that would make sense only if travel to Cuba from the United States were totally opened up and regular tourism permitted.

Flights reduced JetBlue recently decided to put smaller planes on its routes to Cuba, and American Airlines cut its daily flights to Cuba from 13 to 10 in mid-February. Silver Airways, which flies out of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, also has reduced frequencies on some of its Cuba routes. “The airlines had no historical data whatsoever (on the Cuba market). They made a huge guess,” Popper said. “But all of them tried to gobble up as much capacity as they could and now they are making adjustments.” Although passenger tallies out of some new gateways offering flights to Cuba, such as Charlotte, N.C., are lagging, traffic to Cuba through Miami International Airport is up since the first regularly scheduled flight from MIA to Cuba took off on Sept. 7, 2016. From Sept. 1, 2016, to Feb. 21 this year, total passengers coming or going to Cuba through MIA increased from 466,213 during the previous year to 620,592. The totals also include charter passengers.

Tour price drops The hotel price reductions are welcome. On eight people-to-people tours planned by insightCuba for May through

SAMUEL JOHNSON/SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA COURIER

Kwame Mason, left, and Tampa Bay Lightning player J.T. Brown are shown at this month’s premiere of “Soul on Ice: Past, Present and Future.’’ October, prices will drop by $500 per couple, Popper said. Other tour operators also have cut prices for trips during the latter part of the year. The League of Women Voters of Florida, which is organizing its 28th people-to-people visit to Cuba since 2011, also recently reduced the price of its May 22-28 trip by $400. Former state Rep. Annie Betancourt, who will lead the trip, said the price reduction came from the tour operator and she was unsure if it was related to lower hotel prices. But she said travelers can still find accommodations in the $150 price range at hotels such as the Sevilla, Presidente, Vedado and Florida. “We usually plan these trips six to eight months ahead of time,” Betancourt said. But demand is still such, she said, “that the hardest thing is getting bookings for hotels.”

Considering casas Betancourt said she plans to recommend that the League consider putting its travelers in casas particulares, private homes that offer rooms for rent, on future trips. The casas generally cost from 20 CUC to 40 CUC per night. For those exchanging U.S. dollars, that’s about from $23 to $46. Hotel accommodations outside the capital also are generally far more economical than in Havana. “Demand is still high,” Laverty said. “However, travelers have started to discover private homes, hostels, travel outside of Havana and other ways to save money by not staying in overpriced hotels.”

STOJ

MARCH 17 – MARCH 23, 2017

BUSINESS

B3 ing shows, concerts, sporting events that they can post to social media than they are about their wardrobes.” Teens are very fashion fickle, and no overarching fashion trends are driving sales. “Denim is a constant but what else?” said Perkins. The transition to mobile spending and rapid delivery “is happening so rapidly that most retailers cannot keep pace with it,” he said. “Amazon is eating everyone’s lunch.”

Fast fashion in Miami

SUZETTE PARMLEY/PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER/TNS

Mipri Haye, 17, of Sewell, N.J., posts her latest outfits on Instagram and Snapshot. Experts say teens like Haye make vast use of social media on what they like and don’t like and can be very influential.

How teens and smartphones are killing fashion retailers Brick-and-mortar stores suffering as more young people prefer to shop online.

others is driving the rapid success of some teen retailers, and causing the quick demise of others. Teen brands have also been among the slowest to close their brick-and-mortar stores and grow their websites.

BY SUZETTE PARMLEY PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER/ TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

Store closings

Mipri Haye, a high school junior, is on Instagram and Snapshot daily, showing off her latest outfits to her girlfriends. She also shares where she got those clothes: Forever 21, H&M, and Charlotte Russe often top her list. “I take pictures of myself trying on new things, post them, and see what my friends think,” said Haye on a recent Friday as she shopped with her mother, Capri Haye, inside Francesca’s at Cherry Hill Mall in the New Jersey portion of suburban Philadelphia. Retail experts say such prolific use of social media by Haye and

In the last 18 months, Aeropostale, with 800 stores, Pacific Sunwear, with nearly 600 stores, and American Apparel, with 273 stores, have all filed for bankruptcy. (An ownership group stepped up in September 2016 to buy Aeropostale for $243 million at auction; the new owners plan to reopen its 500 stores across the country this year.) Wet Seal, a California teen-oriented brand with 171 stores, filed for Chapter 11 last month. It specialized in selling clothing and accessories to young women. Others, such as Abercrombie & Fitch and American Eagle Outfitters, are struggling. On a recent Friday at Cherry Hill Mall, nei-

ther store attracted much foot traffic from 7 to the 9:30 p.m. closing.

Generation Z impact E-commerce sales continue to grow at about 15 percent a year, noted Garrick Brown, vice president, retail research of the Americas for Cushman & Wakefield. And online retailers keep gaining market share. But while most have been focused on millennial shopping habits, “what has been missed … is the impact of the next generation: Generation Z,” Brown said. “This generation (the first to have grown up completely on smartphones) are poised to put that growth to shame.” In 2015, Forrester Research reported that, despite low incomes due to their youth, Generation Z consumers spent 8.75 percent of their total income online. This compared with 5.33 percent for millennials and 3.85 percent for Generation X.

“The entire apparel marketplace has been sharply impacted by the encroachment of Amazon into the fashion arena and by the general rise of e-commerce,” Brown said. “But that impact has been sharpest on teen apparel because their core consumer, Generation Z, have been even stronger users.” Combined with retailers being slow to develop an in-store/ online sales strategy, “this is why there has been a wave of teen apparel retail failures that is nowhere near finished,” he said.

Four factors Ken Perkins, president of Retail Metrics Inc., which provides investors with research on retail, cited four factors in teen fashion’s fall: Teen apparel retailers are almost exclusively located in malls (Aero, Wet Seal, PacSun, American Eagle, Abercrombie, Tilly’s, Zumiez). “Consumers are venturing to (mediocre, under-performing) malls at a rapidly declining rate. Teen chains are not alone in their inability to make up for lost foot traffic with rapid e-commerce growth.” Social media have changed what teen consumers focus on. “Teens are more interested in dining out with friends, attend-

Compared with all of retail, the teen category has underperformed every quarter since 2008, according to Retail Metrics. A similar pattern holds with earnings growth. Teen earnings are far more volatile than the industry’s and have under-performed in 13 of the last 16 quarters. Corali Lopez-Castro, a Miamibased lawyer, has handled retail bankruptcies and regularly represents landlords. She said “fast fashion” retailers, such as Zara out of Spain, which sell a lot of volume and change offerings daily, were altering the rules of the game. Zara will debut a store at Cherry Hill Mall in fall 2017. “Zara changes the trends all the time,” Lopez-Castro said. “Teens will go to the store here (in Miami) just to see what’s new. There’s often a group waiting outside for the store to open. It has great price points and a very hip web presence.”

Online shopping only With teens, “status is less important,” Lopez-Castro said. “Today it’s more about what’s unique.” Yung Girbaud, 22, who stopped going to malls when he was 19, represents the malls’ greatest fear. He was at another Philly-area mall on a recent weekend to hang out with his buddies and “pick up girls,” he said sheepishly. His posse was sitting on sample massage chairs in front of Aeropostale, and never ventured into the store. Girbaud, of Hamilton, N.J., said he does virtually all of his shopping online from such websites as Neiman Marcus, Barney’s, and Saks Fifth Avenue.

Ebay shopper Mall offerings are “so vanilla,” he said. “When I see people walking around the mall, they are all wearing the same clothes. “I like finding stuff on eBay — clothes and accessories that no one else is wearing,” he said, citing a Christian Dior wallet from eBay. Girbaud then pulled out his iPhone to show off what he wore while recently visiting a friend in New York: a headband with a matching blue shirt/pants outfit. “Everything you can’t find in a mall,” he said.

Minneapolis man rose from fastfood worker to restaurant owner BY NEAL ST. ANTHONY STAR TRIBUNE/TNS

MINNEAPOLIS — Starting out with a $3.35 per-hour job at Taco Bell is long odds for success. After all, the restaurant industry is known for high turnover, part-time starter jobs and it’s the largest minimum-wage employer in the country. However, Ron Harris, a Chicago native, took that job at Taco Bell after high school in 1985 and made something out of it. “I tried college and that wasn’t for me, but I love to work,” said Harris, 50. “I started when I was 18 in Lombard, Ill. And I worked a lot of hours. “Then I went to Brown’s Chicken in suburban Chicago. And then Red Lobster, where I was promoted to general manager in charge of a $5 million-revenue store just outside of Chicago. He continued, “I went to Macaroni Grill for 16 years and rose to be area director in Dallas. I moved (to the Twin Cities) with Macaroni Grill 13 years ago. And the company was bought by a private-equity firm and the economy fell apart. They let me go in 2008 with a bunch of other people.”

Represents state Harris liked the Twin Cities. It was time to become an entrepreneur, an owner. He investigated franchise opportunities and settled on Fire-

house Subs, a Florida-based sandwich-and-salad shop started by a couple working class guys who once were firefighters. Harris liked them. Harris became the first Twin Cities-area franchisee with a store in the suburb of Maplewood in 2011. And the company also hired him to be the area representative for the state. It costs up to $350,000 to become a franchisee, including an outfitted store, inventory, equipment and the rest. “I own the state so if anyone is interested in opening a Firehouse, they come to me and if it works out, we sell them the rights. So, I own a restaurant and I also have the business or running the franchisees.

Worth the risk There’s still some work (building) the Twin Cities area. We’re probably only 25 percent of the way.” Harris expects to soon announce the opening of an eighth Twin Cities restaurant. “What separates us from the average place is we use a highquality meat, steam it and use a premium cheese,” he said. “I was sold on the New York Steamer, which reminds me of a Chicagoor New York-style pastrami sandwich that a mom-and-pop would sell you with the corned beef piled high.” Harris is still working long weeks, albeit he lives a more comfortable life than he did

when he was taking orders 30 years ago. Harris took a risk to invest and open his own business and buy the Minnesota territory. So far it has been worth it. “I had to put up money, it takes about $100,000 cash, to open a restaurant; absolutely there was risk,” he said. “It’s been six years and it has been a good ride. I’m still excited. The business is building in the Twin Cities area. “There are seven restaurants in the Twin Cities metro area and one in St. Cloud. And we’re looking at more franchisees.”

‘Have a plan’ Harris who lives with his family in north Minneapolis, particularly enjoys the community relations part of his job. He volunteers to speak several times a year at North St. Paul High School, near his Maplewood restaurant, and other schools about the importance of good attitude, a willingness to learn and work, and how it can be a steppingstone to bigger things in or out of the restaurant industry. “You have to be high energy in this business,” Harris said. “One of the things I like is to meet with young people who are just like me. I try to mentor them. I encourage them to go to college, but there are other opportunities. Heck, I have a cousin who’s a neurosurgeon who must have been in school for 15 years. And he’s a millionaire. But if you

Ron Harris is the Minnesota director of Firehouse Subs, a Florida-based sandwich-and-salad company. aren’t in school after high school, you need a plan or you’ll end up, well, where you end up. “If kids have a job when they get out of high school, their

chances are greater that they will become productive members of society. If they have a plan, they start there and work on that and move ahead.”

HEALTH

MARCH 17 – MARCH 23, 2017

STOJ

More women stocking up on birth control Consumers worried Trump administration policies could impact funding for family planning services BY CHRISTINE VESTAL STATELINE.ORG/TNS

WASHINGTON — Mary Bonheimer wants to wait a few years before having another child. Uninsured and working part time as a waitress so she and her fiance can split time caring for their 18-month-old daughter, she plans to stay on birth control pills for now. But Bonheimer, 22, and her friends in Warsaw, Ind., are worried that the local family planning clinic might shut down under new policies put forward by President Donald Trump’s administration. Her sister had a hormonal implant inserted into her arm that will provide birth control for three years, Bonheimer said. Other women she knows are switching to intrauterine devices (IUDs) and other long-acting contraceptives to ensure they are protected against an unwanted pregnancy for as long as possible.

Increased demand Nationwide, family planning clinics are seeing a surge in demand for contraceptive services, particularly long-acting IUDs and implants. In Indiana, appointments for long-acting birth control methods have jumped by more than 50 percent compared with last year, said Kristin Adams, CEO of the Indiana Family Health Council, which oversees federal and state funding for family planning clinics in the state, including at the Warsaw center. “We’re hearing some patients who have a longacting device that’s good for only three years tell us to rip it out and put in the 10-year plan,” Adams said. “It’s a sad state of affairs that women have to put off childbearing for 10 years because they’re afraid of losing their insurance.”

Stockpiling pills In state capitols, law-

control is unnecessary and that providing it violates religious freedoms, could delete it from the ACA’s preventive care list.

makers are responding. As a hedge against the Trump administration’s promise to rewrite the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and a House resolution that would allow federal funds to be withheld from family planning groups that provide abortions, legislators in several states are proposing laws that would require all insurers, including Medicaid, to pay for contraceptive services without copays and without delays. Other proposals, although not a direct response to Trump administration policies, would give women greater access to contraception. New bills in more than a dozen states would allow women to stockpile a year’s worth of birth control pills with one visit to a pharmacy, making it less likely that their supply will run out and they stop taking them because they can’t pay for them. Other bills in a handful of states would allow pharmacists to prescribe pills and other forms of hormonal birth control without requiring the delay and cost of a doctor’s visit.

Pills most popular In addition, proposed GOP changes to Medicaid that would limit the amount of federal money sent to each state could mean states would lower reimbursement rates for contraception and many women would lose Medicaid coverage altogether. Republicans in Congress also have repeatedly called for elimination of the roughly $300 million grant program known as Title X that funds Planned Parenthood and other local family planning clinics like the one in Warsaw. Birth control pills, developed in the early 1960s, remain the predominant form of contraception in the U.S., particularly for young women. The daily pills are also the cheapest method, other than condoms. But more expensive longer-lasting methods, including IUDs, hormonal implants, injections, patches and vaginal rings are growing in popularity.

Decline in abortions Advocates for greater access to contraception attribute the nation’s 26 percent drop in the rate of abortions between 2008 and 2014 to greater use of highly effective contraception methods. The rate of unplanned pregnancies declined during the same period, as well. Abortion opponents, however, argue that reduced abortion rates are due to stricter state abortion laws. Like roughly 8 million women nationwide, Bonheimer receives publicly funded birth control services. But the local clinic that provides her the services, the Warsaw Family Health Center, and nearly 7,700 others across the nation may soon start to disappear, cautioned Bill Albert, chief program officer for the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, which advocates for greater access to contraception.

Raising awareness If federal funding for family planning services is cut, and if Medicaid reim-

KIRK MCKOY/LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

Some women are stocking up on birth control or switching to IUDs amid fears of birth control becoming more difficult to get. bursements decline under an ACA replacement law, Albert and other advocates for women’s health say many thinly financed clinics may have to close their doors. That’s already happening in Indiana, Adams said. The Jan. 21 Women’s March on Washington and other grassroots women’s movements that have sprung up since the November election have raised awareness of the potential for funding cuts to Planned Parenthood and other family planning centers under the new administration and Republicanled Congress. “We’ve been hearing from doctors and other providers over the past several months that many women are concerned that the contraceptive coverage now available to them will vanish,” Albert said.

Funding drying up Low-income women who rely on Medicaid or federally subsidized family planning services are most concerned, he said. Like everyone else, they’re hearing that funding for reproductive health centers could dry up. “But the monster in the room is repeal of the ACA.” Albert said increased demand for contraception is usually welcomed because it can lead to a reduction in unplanned pregnancies. But family planning clinics have been underfunded for so long that they aren’t able to take advantage of the recent surge, he said. Federal funding for contraceptive services have remained flat or declined since 2005, despite increases in drug and device costs.

No charge Currently, contraception

degree relative, such as a parent or sibling.

DonnaMarie Woodson, 61, looks over her medical bills on Feb. 17. Woodson of North Carolina, now an Affordable Care Act advocate, said she wouldn’t have discovered she had colon cancer and breast cancer if she hadn’t had insurance through the act that covered health screenings. Before the ACA, she and her husband had gone without insurance because he lost his job during the recession and hadn’t been able to find a comparable position.

Risk factors In almost all cases, polyps — also known as colorectal adenomas — are a precursor to colorectal cancer. “While not everyone has polyps, your risk of colon cancer is increased if you have polyps,” says Dr. Victoria Gomez, a Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist. African-Americans are also at greater risk of developing colorectal cancer at a younger age, and certain lifestyle factors can increase a person’s risk of developing the disease. “Studies have shown that, for example, diabetes, obesity, smoking and alcohol abuse have all been shown to potentially increase the risk of colon cancer,” adds Gomez. In the earliest stages, people with colorectal cancer may not have any signs or symptoms. However, early signs and symptoms can include blood in the stool, unexplained weight loss and abdominal pain.

DIEDRA LAIRD/CHARLOTTE OBSERVER/TNS

Technology advances help to prevent and lessen impact of colon cancer MAYO CLINIC NEWS NETWORK/TNS

Approximately 140,000 people are diagnosed with colorectal cancer in the U.S. each year. March is

is considered preventive care under the ACA, which means Medicaid and commercial insurers must pay for it at no charge to the patient. The federal health law calls for coverage of all forms of contraception approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, including female sterilization, without requiring women to try the cheapest birth control method first, as is often required by insurers for other medical services. But the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has the discretion to remove contraception from the list of preventive services covered by the ACA. The National Campaign and other advocates for women’s health worry that Trump’s HHS secretary, Tom Price, who has said federal funding for birth

Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. Affecting the colon — also known as the large intestine — or rectum, colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-

related deaths in men and the third leading cause in women in the U.S. According to the American Cancer Society, about 50,000 people die every day from colon cancer.

Age is the biggest risk factor for colon cancer. Most patients are diagnosed over age 50 — followed by a family history of colon polyps or colon cancer, particularly in a first-

Screenings critical Early detection through screening is critical to remove pre-cancerous lesions and to increase survival odds, says Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist Dr. Michael Wallace. “Thanks to universal screening recommendations and the availability of more screening options, colorectal cancer is more often being caught earlier,” Wallace says.

13 to 44 Research shows that longer-lasting methods, which can provide protection for three to 12 years, are the most effective form of birth control, resulting in less than one pregnancy per 100 women in a year compared to nine pregnancies per 100 women who take the pill. At least 38 million women of reproductive age (13 to 44) need contraceptive services because they are sexually active and do not want to become pregnant, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which collects and analyzes data on women’s reproductive health. In 2014, more than half of them, an estimated 20 million, needed subsidized services because they were unable to purchase contraception on their own. Thirty-nine percent of those received care at federally funded clinics or from private practice doctors serving Medicaid enrollees.

Colonoscopy is the most common screening procedure available and recommended at least once every eight to 10 years for adults over 50.

Cologuard test Though biopsies are often taken during the procedure, Wallace says advances in technology now mean doctors can more easily identify and remove precancerous lesions, so patients can avoid unnecessary surgery. “In the past 10 years, advances in technology have given us the ability to perform endoscopic mucosal resection, where we remove suspicious polyps or precancerous lesions without additional surgery, at the time of colonoscopy. “This is particularly relevant for patients found to have large polyps, who were previously recommended to have portions of their bowel removed,” Wallace explains. In addition to colonoscopy, patients can take advantage of a virtual colonoscopy using a CT scan or a stool DNA test called Cologuard, which was co-invented by Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist Dr. David Ahlquist. Regardless of which test is selected, “at the end of the day, the most important thing is for you to have a good conversation with your health care provider and be screened,” says Gomez.

STOJ

FINEST & ENTERTAINMENT

MARCH 17 – MARCH 23, 2017

Meet some of

FLORIDA’S

finest

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

Thousands of Caribbean culture lovers converge on South Florida every year on the Columbus Day weekend to attend the annual Miami Broward Carnival, a series of concerts, pageants, parades, and competitions. On Carnival Day, “mas” (masquerade) bands of thousands of revelers dance and march behind 18-wheel tractortrailer trucks with booming sound systems from morning until nightfall while competing for honors. Here are some of the “Finest” we’ve seen over the years. CHARLES W. CHERRY II / FLORIDA COURIER

Banks to host ‘America’s Got Talent’ BY LIBBY HILL LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

NBC announced on March 12 that Tyra Banks, creator and executive producer of “America’s Next Top Model,” will be replacing Nick Cannon as host when ‘America’s Got Talent’ returns for Season 12. “Tyra is the complete package: Out-of-thisworld talented, funny, brilliant and all heart. In whatever she has done, she has always connected with audiences around the world,” said Paul Telegdy, president Tyra of NBC Entertainment’s Banks alternative and reality group. “Her vivacious spirit will infuse ‘AGT’ in a big way.”

Cannon quit Yari Shahidi and Michelle Obama participated in “International Day of the Girl’’ event last year.

Former first lady writes college letters of recommendation for ‘Black-ish star’ EURWEB.COM

Iranian background

When “Black-ish” star Yari Shahidi says she counts Michelle Obama among her supporters, the girl has receipts. The 17-year-old is currently applying for colleges and has revealed to W Magazine that the former first lady has written her a recommendation letter. The two first met when they shared the stage at Glamour’s “International Day of the Girl” event. The young actress, social activist and founder of a mentoring group for young women has since met with Obama several other times, and even received a “go get ’em, tiger” back rub from her before Shahidi took her AP exams.

“She is very amazing and such a supporter, which is something very surreal to say,” Shahidi told W, adding that wherever she ends up, she plans to double major in sociology and African-American studies. “I’ve gotten a lot of questions about if it’s scary to be on a public platform given the current administration and given that I’m a Black Iranian,” Shahidi said, referencing the recent travel ban. Her father is Iranian, and she still has family that lives there. “I say that to say, companies that are still supporting individuality — that are still supporting self-empowerment — are so crucial. “If you look at the history

of art and fashion, it’s always been political,” Shahidi continued. “It’s always been pushing boundaries. Midterms will come up and there will be so many of us that can vote. It’s more important, too, to not just vote during midterms, but if you’re of voting age — or even if you’re not of voting age, like I am — there are ways to make changes and be involved, versus this feeling of helplessness because we don’t have any political sway.”

Letter to Howard Michelle Obama showed her support for Shahidi by writing four recommendations — one of them being to the first lady’s alma mater Harvard, where Obama attended law school. Oldest daughter Malia Obama

will attend the prestigious university following a gap year. Shahidi also plans on taking a year off before starting her first semester. “I know when Malia Obama announced [she was deferring], she got a lot of slack, but I feel like what’s interesting is I know so many people that are deferring. It’s more than to just roam around or just sit down and stare at a wall, but it will also give me an opportunity to work,” said Shahidi. “I’ve been working more than half of my life and that’s always been balanced with school and all of the other responsibilities, so to have a year to focus on work and to focus on specified interests will be nice before I pick a career and choose what I want to study and my life path.”

The move fills the vacancy after Cannon’s sudden departure from the series last month. In a lengthy February Facebook post, Cannon announced that he would be leaving “America’s Got Talent” after a dispute with network executives over a joke in his recent Showtime comedy special. “I now have to set out on a journey of freedom as an artist,” wrote Cannon. “So I wish ‘AGT’ and NBC the best in its upcoming season but I can not see myself returning.”

Summer return Banks returns to the realm of reality television after hosting “America’s Next Top Model” from 2003 to 2015, when it was canceled by the CW. When the series was revived a year later on VH1, Banks returned only as executive producer, with Rita Ora replacing her. “Since I was a little girl, I’ve been obsessed with grandiose acts and performers who make the seemingly impossible possible,” Banks said in a statement released March 12. “I love how ‘AGT’ brings that feeling into everyone’s home, capturing the best of people who come out and give it their all to make those big, fierce and outrageous dreams come true.” Now in production, the next season of “America’s Got Talent’’ will return this summer.

MARCH 17 – MARCH 23, 2017

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FROM FAMILY FEATURES

Creating one-of-a-kind desserts doesn’t have to take hours in the kitchen or even exceptional baking skills. With a little imagination and the right tools, you can whip up surprisingly delicious sweets that will surprise and delight your friends and family.

Focus on flavor If your baking repertoire typically consists of white cake and chocolate frosting, spice things up a bit by experimenting with new fillings and flavor combinations. Opt for complementary or contrasting tastes for a truly delectable dessert. For example, pair fudgy chocolate cake with tangy berries, or see how a bold flavor like lemon adds a new dimension to a mild vanilla.

Add a special touch Infusing new flavors into your favorite cake or brownie recipe is surprisingly easy when you use bakeware made for the

FOOD

purpose. Baker’s Advantage Fillables Bakeware helps home bakers easily create “treat-filled” desserts. Each bakeware set comes with two pans: One pan creates the bottom half of the cake and forms indentations in the cake you can fill with fruit, puddings, candy and more, while the second pan creates the top half of the cake, which hides the surprise fillings.

Shape it up Artfully applied frosting and other decorations can instantly dress up a basic cake, but another option is upgrading the shape of the cake itself. In addition to traditional square, round and sheet cake pans, the Baker’s Advantage Fillables Bakeware collection includes mini heart cakes, fluted cakes, mini loaf cakes and a cake cones pan. These special shapes make it easy to create enviable desserts out of classic recipes. Find more surprisingly easy dessert ideas at FillablesbyBakersAdvantage. com.

MARCH 17 – MARCH 23, 2017

BERRIES AND CREAM FLUTED POUND CAKE Recipe courtesy of Baker’s Advantage/Alissa Wallers 4 sticks butter, room temperature 3 cups sugar 6 eggs 4 teaspoons vanilla extract 3 1/2 cups flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup milk, at room temperature nonstick cooking spray Heat oven to 350 F. With stand or handheld mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, scraping between each egg. Add vanilla extract. Sift flour, baking powder and salt together. Add flour mixture to mixing bowl and slowly add milk while mixing. Mix until just combined. Spray Fillables Fluted Cake Pan with nonstick cooking spray. Fill bottom of both pans with batter to three-quarters full. Bake on middle rack in oven 20-25 minutes. Allow to cool before removing from pan. Filling suggestions: Blueberries, plus additional for topping Raspberries, plus additional for topping Strawberries, stem removed and cut into small pieces, plus additional for topping Vanilla Frosting (recipe at right) Fill pockets in bottom layer of pound cake with different berries. Carefully spread Vanilla Frosting over top of berries and cake. Place top layer of cake on top of frosting. Drizzle warmed up Vanilla Frosting over top of cake. Decorate top with berries.

TOJ

BROWNIE CAKE CONES Recipe courtesy of Baker’s Advantage/Alissa Wallers 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate 2 sticks butter 1/2 cup cocoa powder 2 1/2 cups sugar 3 eggs 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 1 1/2 cups flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons baking powder nonstick cooking spray

Vanilla Frosting (recipe below or ice cream Heat oven to 350 F. In double boiler, melt chocolate and butter. When melted, place in large bowl and whisk in cocoa powder until smooth. Add sugar and mix. Combine eggs and vanilla; gently mix with fork or whisk to break up eggs. Add eggs and vanilla to batter. Sift together flour, salt and baking powder. Fold in flour until just combined. Spray Fillables 8 Cup Cake Cone Pan with

nonstick cooking spray. Fill bottom pan with batter to line in middle of pan then place insert on top and snap together. Place on middle of rack in oven and bake 15-18 minutes. Allow to cool before removing from pan. Filling suggestions: Graham crackers, chocolate chips and marshmallows Whipped cream and berries Ice cream or pudding Add fillings inside cone, top with Vanilla Frosting or ice cream, and serve.

VANILLA FROSTING Recipe courtesy of Baker’s Advantage/Alissa Wallers 3 sticks butter, unsalted and at room temperature 6 cups powdered sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup heavy cream Using handheld or stand mixer, cream butter on high, about 3 minutes. Add powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time, mixing on medium between each addition. Scrape bowl well. Add remaining ingredients;

mix on low until incorporated. Turn mixer to high and beat frosting until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Use immediately or store in airtight container in refrigerator. Note: Frosting must be at room temperature prior to using.

Bake in the fun Making a cake with a treat hidden inside is as easy as 1-2-3 with Fillables Bakeware from Baker’s Advantage. Because the bakeware does all of the work for you, there are no special baking skills required; just pour in the batter and bake. Then, fill the pockets in the cake with any treat you like and spread icing to cover the surprise. Add the top cake layer, ice the whole cake, slice and serve.