Florida Courier - March 24, 2017

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MARCH 24 – MARCH 30, 2017

VOLUME 25 NO. 12

ANOTHER WEEK, ANOTHER LAWSUIT

Another Bethune-Cookman University alumnus sues his alma mater as the long controversy over a now-completed $72 million dorm project continues, and there may be more legal drama on the horizon. process for removal of trustees.

Delancy’s lawsuit was filed by Pompano Beach-based attorney Nathaniel E. Green. Brinson’s was filed by Jacksonville-based attorney Willie J. Walker.

BY THE FLORIDA COURIER STAFF

DAYTONA BEACH – Another sworn lawsuit – the second in two weeks – accuses Daytona Beachbased Bethune Cookman University (B-CU) and its board of trustees of violating its own rules by refusing to seat Robert Delancy, the elected representative of the B-CU National Alumni Association (NAA), as a trustee, allegedly in retaliation for Delancy’s aggressive questions about the school’s finances.

Last week, a front-page Florida Courier story gave details about a similar lawsuit filed in Daytona Beach by former B-CU Trustee

Decades of collaboration Robert Delancy

Nathaniel E. Green

A. Ray Brinson, who claimed he was terminated from the board in October 2016 without notice or warning, and in violation of BCU’s bylaws that provide a formal

“Since at least 1957, the NAA and the B-CU reached an agreement that calls for the NAA to seat three duly elected individuals on the BOT [B-CU Board of Trustees]; namely, the NAA President and two Alumni Trustee Representatives, who are vested with ‘voice and vote,’” the lawsuit states.

It alleges that the longstanding

CHARLES W. CHERRY II / FLORIDA COURIER

Former Internal Revenue Service Special Agent Robert Delancy’s lawsuit says that Bethune-Cookman University is breaking more than 50 years of its own customary procedures to keep him off its board of trustees. agreement between the school and the alumni association is “independently reflected within the by-laws of both organizations.”

“For as long as this agreement

CHARLES EDWARD ANDERSON BERRY / 1926-2017

Hail, hail rock ’n’ roll!

has been in existence, it has been the understanding, custom, pattern, and practice, that the NAA’s Alumni Trustee Representative, See B-CU, Page A2

No more death row Decision sets governor, cops off COMPILED FROM WIRE REPORTS

TALLAHASSEE – A Central Florida state attorney who created a firestorm by deciding not to seek the death penalty for alleged cop-killer Markeith Loyd – or in any other capital case – is accusing Gov. Rick Scott of abusing his authority by ousting her as prosecutor in the Loyd case.

Aramis Ayala, state attorney for the Ninth Judicial Circuit in Orange and Osceola counties, asked a judge Monday to put a hold on proceedings in Loyd’s case. He’s accused of killing his pregnant ex-girlfriend, Sade Dixon, and the execution-style killing of Orlando Police Lt. Debra Clayton.

Scott reassigns case

DAVID CARSON/ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH/MCT

In 2011, a statue of rock music legend Chuck Berry was dedicated during ceremony in University City, Mo., that Berry attended. Berry died March 18 at age 90. Read an obituary on Page B4.

The legal action from Ayala, who infuriated Scott and other Republican elected officials by announcing last week she would not seek the death penalty in Loyd’s case or any others, came after Scott reassigned the case to Brad King, an Ocala-area state attorney who is an outspoken proponent of the death penalty.

Death penalty opponents support Ayala.

“Ending use of the death penalty in Orange County is a step toward restoring a measure of trust and integrity in our criminal justice system,” said Adora Obi Nweze, president of the NAACP Florida State Conference.

Orlando pastor Gabriel Salguero said, “By naming a broken program, Ms. Ayala creates hope in the community for working together to find better alternatives.” Salguero leads the Calvario City Church and is presSee DECISION, Page A2

SNAPSHOTS NATION | A6

Jobless rate up for Blacks

BY MELISSA HEALY LOS ANGELES TIMES / TNS

Debate continues on HBCU vs. PWI

Americans paid more than $6.6 billion over eight years to care for victims of gun violence, according to a new tally of hospital bills. And U.S. taxpayers picked up at least 41 percent of that tab.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg, say the authors of a study published this week in the American Journal of Public Health.

Their sum does not include the initial – and very costly – bill for gunshot

FLORIDA | A3

HEALTH | B3

Panel starts work on amending Constitution

Parenthood could extend your life

ALSO INSIDE

Hospital bill for gun injuries is $730 million a year victims’ care in emergency rooms.

Nor does it include hospital readmissions to treat complications or provide follow-up care. The cost of rehabilitation, or of ongoing disability, is not included either.

“These are big numbers, and this is the lowest bound of these costs,” said Sarabeth A. Spitzer, a Stanford University medical student who cowrote the study.

The GOP’s health care reform measure would reduce federal contributions toward Medicaid, which foots roughly 35 percent of the hospital

bills for gunshot victims.

The GOP plan would also cut payments to the hospitals that absorb much of the cost of caring for uninsured patients, whose hospital bills accounted for about 24 percent of the $730 million-per-year tab.

Sobering statistics In 2014, 33,700 people died of gunshot wounds, but an additional 81,000 were treated for nonfatal firearms injuries. Close to two-thirds of See BILL, Page A2

COMMENTARY: CHARLES W. CHERRY III: A ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME CHANCE TO LAY WREATH AT ARLINGTON | A4 COMMENTARY: RAYNARD JACKSON: WHY ARE BLACK REPUBLICANS AFRAID TO SPEAK OUT? | A5

FOCUS

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MARCH 24 – MARCH 30, 2017

‘Black Aspirations’ are coming soon I have begun to compile the data for my next book, which will be titled, “The Light is the Truth.”

God willing, the book will be released later this year.

In addition to your favorite Gantt Report columns and opinions, the book will also include what I call Black Aspirations, short messages about Black life and experiences.

Some of the messages will be about relationships, business, religion, culture, education and other topics. Here’s a sample of messages that should number in the hundreds in the book.

• Oftentimes, many of your problems are created when you outgrow your comfort zone. A lot of times when you move out, you move up! Put that bad life in your rear-view mirror!

• Even if you dislike the messenger, you can love the message.

Respect the truth and recognize the wisdom and knowledge!

Heated and stirred up • You and your partner’s love life is like a stew. If you don’t keep your romance heated and

coffee: hot, sweet, black and strong!

• When you tell everyone everything you think you have, everything you really have will soon be gone!

LUCIUS GANTT THE GANTT REPORT

stirred up, it can get cold and become spoiled!

• In a troubled relationship, the grass always looks greener on another man’s or woman’s side.

However, don’t burn down the bridge when you decide to make your move across, because what you thought was a greener pasture may turn out to be a brokendown field of poisonous weeds!

Oftentimes, men and women that look good from afar are far from looking and being good!

• True love is like a safe that only the right man or woman can unlock. Sometimes, however, when people dwell on past hurts the combination to their love is locked inside the safe!

• Fake friends are worse than evil enemies!

• A good African-American man is like a good cup of Kenyan

Losing respect • A man who lies to himself, and believes his own lies, becomes unable to recognize truth in himself or in anyone else, and he ends up losing respect for himself and for others.

• People that say they want equal rights and justice – and yet hate agitators, activists and freedom fighters – are men and women who want wine without stomping the grapes, tea without boiling the water and crops without plowing the ground.

• It is very easy to hate, to envy or to ignore, but it is very hard to love, to cherish or to go “all in” in a marriage or a relationship.

Anybody can tear somebody down, but it takes a special man or woman to bring a person up!

• Whoever loves you behaves like they love you, talks to you like they love you, and treats you

like they love you!

‘High-walled lane’ • Too many family members, friends and coworkers go through life walking down a high-walled lane with people of our own kind, the same economic situation, and the same national background and education and religious outlook. Beyond those walls all humanity lies, unknown and unseen, untouched by our restricted and impoverished lives.

• Dear God, I pray for courage but receive danger, so that courage can grow. I pray for wisdom but receive trouble, so that wisdom might develop. I pray for love but receive torment and hatred, so that love may be exercised. I cannot only grow in good conditions, for there would be no need to call on You for help and guidance. May the blessings of my God and my ancestors direct my life and keep away from my home, my family and my business all harm and evil which cause me hardship!

• Some people only want a

partner that can give them an occasional moment of “quality time,” but it is better to get with a man or woman that can give you a quality life! Don’t settle for someone that only wants to hit and quit!

Jesus and Judas • Every Jesus has a Judas. If you live long enough, a family member, friend or coworker that you love and support will lie on you, leave you and profess their love for your haters and enemies! But never lose faith, as all things are possible for we who believe in God! • I don’t need Facebook, Twitter or Instagram to tell me who the voice of the community is. I recognize that voice when I hear it speak out against injustice and inequality. I never wonder who a freedom fighter is. I watch them when they battle against exploitation, oppression and discrimination. It is a sad sheep that needs a wolf to tell him who the shepherd is!

“Like” The Gantt Report page on Facebook. Contact Lucius at www.allworldconsultants.net.

DECISION

BILL

ident of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition.

the gun deaths were selfinflicted, and those who commit suicide with a gun rarely survive long enough to be admitted to a hospital.

To come up with their tally, Spitzer and her colleagues scoured the hospital bills of 267,265 patients across the country who were injured by guns between 2006 and 2014.

These patients were overwhelmingly male, and most of them were admitted to large, urban teaching hospitals. About 43 percent of the victims were treated in the South, where the proportion of uninsured patients was highest.

And nationally, 30 percent of gunshot victims treated in hospitals during the study period were insured

by Medicaid.

from A1

from A1

Defends himself Law enforcement officials, meanwhile, expressed their anger with the decision. Scott defended his decision to appoint a different prosecutor.

“When I first heard that the State Attorney Ayala had decided not to fully prosecute the accused murderer of his pregnant girlfriend, Sade Dixon, and officer Debra Clayton, I personally was shocked,” Scott told reporters Monday afternoon.

Scott said he attended the funeral of Clayton, whom Loyd is accused of killing execution-style, and Norm Lewis, an Orange County deputy who died in a traffic crash during a nine-day hunt for Loyd.

“So the first thing I did was I asked her to recuse herself, she said she wasn’t going to so I moved the case to Brad King. Last week, she said she was fine with that. Today she’s changed her position. So the case has been assigned to Brad King, and that was the right decision,” the governor said.

Scott said earlier in the day he is “going to continue to look at our options” regarding removing Ayala from her post.

Letter to Scott Ayala’s action came the same day more than 100 former prosecutors, judges and law professors sent a letter to Scott challenging his authority to remove the prosecutor – who, like other state attorneys, enjoys

B-CU from A1

elected in accordance with the NAA’s bylaws, would be accepted, and not subject to veto by the BOT,” the complaint alleges.

Board refuses Delancy’s lawsuit says he attempted to take his seat on the B-CU board in October 2016 after being properly elected as the alumni trustee representative.

The lawsuit alleges that the board refused to seat him – the first time that has happened in the institution’s history – without notice or explanation.

Both Brinson and Delancy – a retired Internal Revenue Service special agent – accuse the university of retaliating against them for asking questions.

“During or around 2015, Plaintiff…expressed worries about the B-CU’s level of debt and lack of transparency regarding the BCU’s plans to enter into

JOE BURBANK/ORLANDO SENTINEL/TNS

Last week, Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala announced that her office will no longer pursue the death penalty in any case in her jurisdiction. broad discretion in seeking the death penalty – from pursuing the case as she sees fit.

In a five-page filing, Ayala argued that Scott lacks the power to strip her of her role as prosecutor. The Florida Constitution gives Ayala “complete authority over charging and prosecuting decisions,” she wrote. If a court interpreted the state law in the same manner as Scott, Ayala wrote, the governor could supersede a prosecutor in any given case.

Her objection to being taken off the Loyd case came the same day more

a $72,000,000.00 capital lease over forty (40) years to finance a 1,200-bed student housing project. As such, Plaintiff raised these questions in written correspondences directly to the BOT, its Chairperson, and B-CU’s administrators concerning the housing project,” the lawsuit alleges.

“B-CU’s refusal to accept Plaintiff as a duly elected Alumni Trustee Representative is a direct result from Plaintiff’s questioning BCU’s lack of transparency, quality of financial leadership and the institution’s long term financial health.

Such rejection is both retaliatory and punitive as a direct result of Plaintiff having raised the aforementioned concerns.”

Former fraud investigator Delancy is a 1979 graduate of Bethune-Cookman and served the alumni association in appointed and elected positions. The lawsuit claims “he has supported B-CU in fundraising and recruitment.”

than 100 legal experts also accused Scott of overstepping his authority.

‘Dangerous precedent’ Former state Supreme Court justices Gerald Kogan and Harry Lee Anstead, both outspoken critics of Florida’s death penalty system, and Talbot “Sandy” D’Alemberte, a former American Bar Association president who also served as president of Florida State University, were among those who signed the missive to Scott, warning that his involvement in the case “sets a

He lives in Port St. Lucie, and is an Air Force veteran and a former police officer with 27 years in local and federal law enforcement.

He retired from the IRS, where he served as a computer investigative specialist focusing on financial fraud.

He now works as a consultant and is qualified as an expert witness to testify in federal court cases about IRS procedures, tax investigations, and computer forensics.

Neither asking for money Both lawsuits request that a judge stop the B-CU board from moving forward until they are seated as trustees. Though both lawsuits request payment of court costs and attorney’s fees, neither man is requesting that their alma mater pay them any money damages.

Brinson sued the university and all its current board members individually. Delancy sued only the university. Both complaints also ask for a deter-

dangerous precedent.”

“The governor picking and choosing how criminal cases are prosecuted, charged or handled in local matters is troubling as a matter of policy and practice. Indeed, there seems to be no precedent in Florida for this type of use of power,” they wrote.

Harry Shorstein, a former Jacksonville-area state attorney who signed the letter, told The News Service of Florida on Monday that it was wrong for the governor to remove an elected officer “who was fulfilling her duties but not in the manner in which the

mination of Brinson’s and Delancy’s rights as trustees.

Alumni may act The Florida Courier also has learned that the NAA may consider filing a separate lawsuit of its own to make sure Delancy takes his seat as a trustee.

In a letter emailed to NAA leadership, Nominations/Elections Chairperson Gwendolyn Anderson wrote, “…I hope that you agree that we should request an emergency call (NAA Board of Trustees) meeting immediately to discuss/ determine our next steps in addressing this crucial matter. I do not think that we should, for the future and betterment of the NAA, just accept this unprecedented decision by the BOT in light of our unwavering contributions to the University’s mission.”

NAA leadership, including President Jennifer Adams, are attempting to set a meeting for early April to consider a response.

governor wanted them to be fulfilled.”

Ayala told reporters her rationale for not pursuing the death penalty was because she believed it is not a deterrent to crime, is costly and can drag on for years, adding to victims’ anguish – reasons Shorstein says have been welldocumented.

Dara Kam and Tom Urban of the News Service of Florida; Gal Tziperman Lotan, Rene Stutzman and Stephanie Allen of the Orlando Sentinel /TNS contributed to this report.

Asking hard questions For at least two years, Delancy has been sounding the alarm about B-CU’s finances to other alumni, according to emails submitted to the Florida Courier.

“If you have a business entity that is dominated by one person, when the accounting department is compromised, when internal controls are weak, when important transactions occur between the company and its officers, and when the management board is not active and involved, the danger of management fraud is greatly increased. These are the situations that are conducive to fraud and should make an independent auditor particularly alert,” he wrote on May 13, 2015.

“Again I make it very clear, I am not suggesting that management fraud exists at Bethune-Cookman University. However, enough information has been uncovered and

Taxpayers bear burden “Firearm-related injuries place a particular burden on governmental payers and the poor,” the study authors wrote. In addition to the 29 percent of patients nationwide who were insured by Medicaid, which largely serves low-income and disabled Americans, more than 4 out of 5 of the uninsured patients “fell below the 50th income percentile.”

This group is unlikely to be able to pay their medical bills, and so these costs are often written off as losses to the hospitals that provide the care. The cost of keeping those hospitals open, in turn, is typically borne by taxpayers in the form of local tax levies or block grants to the states.

enough questions surfaced that an independent forensic accounting of the schools (sic) finances is warranted. Further, nonprofit or not, we should be leery when any one person attempts to control the dissemination of all information.”

No forensic audit Delancy’s request for an independent forensic accounting mirrors that of former trustee Johnny L. McCray, Jr., a Pompano Beach-based attorney who wanted the B-CU board to bring in forensic auditors to probe the school’s finances for fraud and fiscal mismanagement. The board of trustees refused.

McCray is no longer on the board.

The university has not yet been legally served with a copy of Delancy’s lawsuit as of this writing. BCU’s response will be published whenever it is given.

Go to www.flcourier.com to read a copy of both lawsuits.

MARCH 24 – MARCH 30, 2017

FLORIDA

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Commission starts work to review changes to state’s Constitution

BY ALEX HARRIS MIAMI HERALD/TNS

BY BRANDON LARRABEE THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

TALLAHASSEE – The once-every-20-years process of updating Florida’s basic law began Monday, as the Constitution Revision Commission held its opening meeting in Tallahassee.

The 37-member panel, appointed almost entirely by Republicans for the first time in history, is expected to submit proposals for amending the state Constitution to voters for the November 2018 election.

The meeting Monday was largely ceremonial. Gov. Rick Scott, Senate President Joe Negron, House Speaker Richard Corcoran and Supreme Court Chief Justice Jorge Labarga – who combined to appoint all but one of the members – each briefly addressed the commission.

Attorney General Pam Bondi is automatically a member of the panel.

Public hearings Leaders steered clear of sweeping policy pronouncements. Carlos Beruff, a Manatee County home builder appointed

by Scott to chair the commission, promised an open process.

“Every member of the CRC will have the opportunity to be heard and have the chance to fight for the issues they believe are important to this state,” he said. “Most importantly, though, we need to listen to the citizens.”

Beruff also announced the first three public hearings the commission will hold to get input from citizens: March 29 in Orange County, April 6 in MiamiDade County and a day later in Palm Beach County.

Beruff said he wanted to hold at least two rounds of public hearings – to try to ensure that part-time residents would also have input – and the commission would begin sifting through proposals “after the fall.”

He also said the panel was un-

South Florida family of 5 die in car crash

COURTESY OF THE FLORIDA SENATE

Chairman Carlos Beruff, top center, is shown with other members of the Constitution Revision Commission. They met in the Florida Senate Chamber in Tallahassee on Monday. likely to put recommendations on the ballot unless it had a sense that they would be approved by the required 60 percent of voters.

“I think it’s a fool’s errand to propose ideas that we don’t think the public is going to support,” he said. “And we know the threshold for (amending) the Constitution is 60 percent.”

Tensions already While the first day was tranquil, the commission itself could soon be engulfed in some of the state’s fiercest political fights.

Abortion, school choice and how the state’s judiciary operates could all be impacted by the work of the commission.

Already, there were tensions about how the panel would do its work. The First Amendment Foundation voiced a concern about a draft commission rule

Legislators move to end insurance industry tax break

BY JIM TURNER THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

TALLAHASSEE – Insurance-industry officials remained adamant Tuesday that a proposal to eliminate a decades-old tax credit will cost jobs and hike premiums as the measure moved forward in the Senate with a significant change.

The Senate Finance and Tax Appropriations Subcommittee unanimously supported the proposal (SB 378), which would eliminate a premium-tax credit for insurers. Under the change made Tuesday, the bill would also offer a 1 percentage-point reduction in a commercial lease tax for businesses, a tax cut that Gov. Rick Scott has supported.

Bill sponsor Anitere Flores, R-Miami, said that if the insurance industry tax credit – created in 1987 – was introduced today, lawmakers would label the proposal “corporate welfare” and that it “wouldn’t have a snowball’s chance in Florida of passing.”

Goal of Negron Eliminating the tax credit, which is linked to employee salaries that insurers pay in the state, has long been a goal of Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart. By also reducing the commerciallease tax, the Senate would help balance a potential increase in tax revenue from eliminating the insurance credit.

But business lobbyists and insurance industry representatives indicated that the change in the bill does nothing to alleviate their contention that the proposal will drive jobs out of Florida and result in higher premiums for Floridians.

“Even the business owners that get a little break on their rent are going to pay high insurance premiums,” said Paul Sanford, a lobbyist for Jacksonville-based health insurer Florida Blue. “Old Joe Lunchbucket is going to pay more for his auto insurance, more for his health insurance, more for his

saying the panel’s record would be “accessible to the public,” rather than “open to the public,” the phrase used in 1998.

Timothy Cerio, a commission member who explained the draft to the commission, said the new version of the rule was meant to be stronger.

“That is certainly something that can be revisited,” said Cerio, a former general counsel to Scott.

Beruff said the rules would be approved at a later meeting of the commission.

Joyner weighs in There were also questions about the role of Beruff, a close political ally of Scott who has no apparent experience in constitutional law. Scott defended the choice to reporters after speaking to the commission.

“He’s a well-respected busi-

nessperson in the Sarasota area, and I know from my experience with him he’s going to work very hard and run a very good commission,” he said.

Former state Senate Minority Leader Arthenia Joyner, a Tampa Democrat who is expected to be a liberal voice on the panel, played down any worries that Beruff would have undue influence.

“I’m sure that this commission is not going to allow any one person, be it the chair or otherwise, dictate what is best for the people of the state of Florida,” she said. “Yeah, he has the bully pulpit of being the chairman, but the check and the balance is the 36 others of us.”

News Service Assignment Editor Tom Urban contributed to this report.

MIAMI — After more than 12 hours in the hospital, a 10-yearold boy succumbed to his injuries, leaving an entire family dead after a horrific car wreck in North Florida on Sunday, March 19.

The Russell family, of Hollywood was loaded into their 2016 Chrysler 200 and headed home from a trip to Georgia, according to a memorial fundraiser. They were driving south on Interstate 75 when the SUV swerved off the road and into a tractor-trailer stopped on the side of the highway.

Nathan Russell, 37; his 35-yearold wife, Lynda; his 15-year-old daughter, La’Nyah; and one of his twins, 10-year-old Natayah, were killed in the crash. The other twin, 10-year-old Nathan Russell Jr. died hours later at Shands Hospital, according to a Florida Highway Patrol report.

Relatives are raising money for five funerals on GoFundMe and mourning on social media.

Nicole Narae, who said she is Nathan Russell’s cousin, wrote on Facebook that “tomorrow is not promised to anyone.”

“This one hurts. From the Bahamas to Haiti to South Florida … our hearts are broken,” she wrote. “It’s too much for anyone who know them and their household. So unreal to me right now.”

Nathan and Lynda Russell of South Florida and their three kids were killed in a crash on Interstate 75 near Gainesville on March 19.

property insurance, so that business gets a 1 percent cut in the (commercial lease) tax.”

Revenue generator Tom Koval with Sarasota-based FCCI Insurance Group suggested that moving insurance jobs out of state could be done without much difficulty.

“We are in Dallas, in Jackson, Atlanta, Indianapolis, we’re now opening an office in Richmond, Virginia,” Koval said.

“When you balance the high level of tax rate that we have, against the premium tax credit, the salaries it gives us, it really isn’t as much a subsidy as it is an incentive to bring people here.”

The state Revenue Estimating Conference has projected that eliminating the insurance industry tax credit would generate $453.3 million in general revenue next fiscal year, with the annual amount settling to $299.6 million. The amount in the upcoming 2017-2018 fiscal year would be larger because it would include estimated payments for calendar-year 2018 premiums, according to a Senate analysis.

The bill initially proposed a cut in the state’s communications-services tax to help balance the elimination of the insurance tax credit. But Finance and Tax Chairwoman Kelli Stargel, R-Lakeland, proposed the change Tuesday to include the lease-tax cut instead of the communications-services tax cut.

Flores: Arguments ‘baloney’ Scott proposed reducing the 6 percent commercial-lease tax as part of a $618 million tax-cut package he offered in January. Stargel said Tuesday’s change would benefit small insurance agents who pay for commercial space but don’t see the tax credits that insurance carriers receive.

But while business groups have lobbied for reducing the lease tax, they opposed the revamped bill. Associated Industries of Florida said in a release that even with the cut in the lease tax, the repeal of the insurance tax credit would be viewed as a “tax hike.”

Flores called the arguments from the insurance and business lobbyists “baloney.”

“Your insurance premiums are probably going to go up no matter what,” said Flores, chairwoman of the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee. “Did your insurance premiums go down when we did (personal-injury protection auto insurance) reform that some of the folks here wanted and needed, and said our rates are going to go down by 25 percent? No.”

Standing: WMU-Cooley students Danielle Mendez, Ebony Smith, Robert Johnson, Christian Mashburn, and Ashley Bruner. Seated: Former FBI agent Robert Cromwell and exonoree James Bain.

Exonoree speaks at Tampa area law school SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA COURIER

James Bain, the longest serving exoneree in U.S. history to be released using post-conviction DNA evidence spoke at the Tampa Bay campus of WMU-Cooley Law School on March 10. Former FBI agent Robert Cromwell also spoke at the event.

The program was brought to the law

Senate signs off on redistricting bill THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

With little discussion, the Senate on Tuesday passed a bill that wades back into redistricting issues.

The bill (SB 352) filed by Sen. Travis Hutson, R-Elkton, would set guidelines for what happens when redistricting legal cases are unresolved in election years. For example, it would have the effect of ensuring that legislative boundar-

school by the Innocence Project of Florida (IPF). Cromwell and Bain spoke to those in attendance about the importance of post-conviction DNA testing and how every criminal case should be examined carefully to prevent individuals from being wrongfully convicted.

As a non-profit organization, IPF helps innocent prisoners in Florida obtain their freedom and rebuild their lives.

Founded in 2003, it has secured the release and exoneration of a number of innocent individuals from Florida’s prisons, including achieving the exoneration of Bain, who endured 35 years of wrongful incarceration.

IPF is a member of the Innocence Network, an affiliation of organizations dedicated to providing pro bono legal and investigative services to individuals seeking to prove innocence of crimes for which they have been convicted and working to redress the causes of wrongful conviction. ies in place at qualifying time would be used in that year’s primary and general elections, according to a Senate staff analysis.

The bill was filed after long-running legal battles that led to Florida’s congressional and Senate districts being redrawn before the 2016 elections. Those legal battles stemmed from the Fair Districts anti-gerrymandering standards approved by voters in 2010.

The Republican-dominated Senate voted 24-14 to approve the bill along almost straight party lines.

Sen. Audrey Gibson, D-Jacksonville, was the only Democrat who supported the bill. A House version (HB 953) has not been heard in committees.

EDITORIAL

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MARCH 24 – MARCH 30, 2017

Should Congress be term-limited?

Last week, I attended and participated at the annual meeting for the conservative group known as the Club for Growth.

One thing that caught my ear was that most of the club members believe that Congress isn’t inhabited by the “pure at heart.”

There are a lot of unusual things that can go down with the ever-looming lobbyists and the allure of personal gain. Congress is broken.

Congress was thought to be the answer to the subprime mortgage scandals and the Wall Street shenanigans that almost brought on another Depression, but we were hit by a terrible recession that lasted a good nine years.

The authors of the legislation were Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Representative Barney Frank. Both legislators were scheduled to step down from any other congressional elections.

Don’t trust them A warning to us all is to not trust lame-duck congressmen writing major legislation right before they leave Congress. The temptation of doing sneaky stuff and then running off with the money, connections and fortune is too tempting.

The staffers of Rep. Frank and Sen. Dodd made the law very complicated, which demanded professional consultants charging high fees to explain it to our banking community. These two camps of staffers went into business to consult and guide people through this massive piece of legislation for a handsome fee. Both groups would start their work for a minimum retainer of $100,000.

HARRY C. ALFORD GUEST COLUMNIST

Wow! What a great hustle!

Another example of “something must be stinky in our Congress” is the H1B visa program which was exposed on “60 Minutes” recently. This allows a massive number of immigrant professional workers to enter the United States and begin their full-time employment.

They bring special talents that are in high demand amongst our industries.

How it really works Sounds great, but that isn’t how it works. They bring in talented foreign workers to replace our actively employed American workers. Our actively employed workers are working at, let’s say, the $120,000 level. They are notified that they are being severed from employment. But first, they must train the incoming H1B visa workers to take over their job description. If they don’t train this person –whose employment will be $60,000 – then there will be no severance package because the American worker is, in fact, fired. The victims were shattered and heartbroken. Evildoers in Congress victimized these loyal American workers.

There are thieves in the castle called Congress. How do we stop this? It is simple.

Congresspersons gain their in-

Want ‘Medicare for all’? Leave the Democratic Party Sixty percent of the American people – three out of every five adults – favor some form of single-payer health care. They are a clear majority, but they have no major political party to represent them.

More than 80 percent of the Democrats – four out of every five – support a Medicare-for-all, single-payer health care system, but their party refuses to represent them on this life-and-death issue.

Just get out The best thing that the national majority and the Democratic super-majority can do, for the sake of everyone’s health and the future of democracy, is to leave

GLEN FORD BLACK AGENDA REPORT

the Democratic Party.

Clearly, the people that control the Democratic Party would rather lose elections than fight for single-payer health care. So cut them loose, and let them lose.

As long as the debate over health care is monopolized by Democrats and Republicans, there will never be a decent, humane and affordable health delivery system in the United States.

Not one Democratic senator is

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: FBI DIRECTOR JAMES COMEY TESTIFIES

fluence and power through tenure – like a teacher or union member.

What we need is a system of meritocracy, not tenure. As we elect officials to represent and serve our best interests, we should not give them the luxury of playing it safe until they can take chances, and then start risking their careers by cheating and not living up to their code of ethics.

You can be ethical in the beginning. But the more you become re-elected, the more you become spoiled and the feeling of invincibility settles in. It is a blueprint for corruption.

Governors already limited A major prevention of corruption is term limits. Let’s first start with our governors.

Per Wikipedia: “The governors of the following states and territories are limited to two consecutive terms, but are re-eligible after four years out of office: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, West Virginia, American Samoa, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

“Equivalently, the governors of Indiana and Oregon are limited to serving 8 out of any 16 years.

The governors of Indiana and Oregon are limited to serving 8 out of any 12 years. The governors of Montana and Wyoming are restricted to two terms, limited to serving 8 out of any 16 years.

STEVE SACK, THE MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE

“The governors of the following states and territory are absolutely limited (for life) to two terms: Arkansas, California, Delaware, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, the Northern Mariana Islands and Oklahoma.

The current governor of California (Jerry Brown) is, however, serving a fourth term because his first two terms were before limits were passed in California, and the limits did not apply to individuals’ prior terms.”

Just six years That’s it for governors. But for federally elected senators and representatives, let’s make it six years maximum. That would be one election for senators and 3 terms for congresspersons. Six years is plenty of time to leave a

committed to single payer. That includes Bernie Sanders, who has not submitted a bill this year – and, if you don’t have a bill, then you’re not serious about single-payer health care.

to write his Affordable Care Act – which has now been largely dismantled by the Republicans, who are at least honest about opposing health care for all Americans on principle.

Loud talk

Nobody’s pushing

Sanders talked up a storm about single-payer during the primary campaign, but then essentially shut up after endorsing Hillary Clinton, the candidate who said that single-payer would “never, never” happen. That wasn’t a prediction; it was a promise by Clinton that she would do her utmost to prevent health care from becoming a right in the United States.

President Obama dealt a huge blow to single-payer health care when he pulled a bait and switch on his supporters back in 2009.

Obama had campaigned on a promise to provide, what he called, “universal” health care, which virtually everyone took to mean single payer.

Instead, Obama invited private drug and insurance corporations

The GOP’s plan, according to the Congressional Budget Office, would result in 52 million people without health insurance within the next decade, compared to the 28 million that would have remained uninsured under Obamacare. Fourteen million people would be cut from Medicaid, which would lose 25 percent of its budget.

Federal health care subsidies would be reversed, with young people getting big tax credits to encourage them to buy insurance, and older people paying far higher premiums out of their pockets.

Obamacare was bad, Trumpcare is worse, and there is nothing to prevent a national health care disaster except passage of single-payer health care. It is the

Pick me to lay the wreath Who would you entrust to lay a wreath near a tomb of four American heroes who risked their lives in World War I? If it were me choosing, I would choose myself.

It would be an honor and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me to experience this amazing event. I’m the best person because the military tradition runs in my family, I’m very interested in the military, and if I were there, it would be symbolic of the hardships my family in the military had to face.

To begin with, some of my family members were in the military. Some of my uncles were in the military as well as both of my grandfathers. My great-uncles Willie, Rob, IJ, and Tommie were in the Army as well as both of my grandfathers. My Uncle Buck was in the Marines, and my Uncle Glenn was in the Air Force. I always looked up to my veteran relatives, and I’m proud of them.

Thinking about armed forces SARAH R. RAPPAPORT / SEMINOLE MIDDLE SCHOOL

After winning an essay contest, students (left to right) Seminole Middle School students Daley Eisenmann, Grace Schwab, Preston Strickman and Charles W. Cherry III were selected by teachers to place a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery during a whirlwind four-day tour of the nation’s capital earlier this month.

Americans have come from World War I because back then, they still had segregation, even in the military. My many relatives in the military had many hardships

while fighting wars and trying to get equality.

My father’s father was in the Army in the Korean Conflict, as they called it, and they treated

Charles W. Cherry II, Esq., Publisher

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

only solution.

Sixty-four members of the U.S. House of Representatives have signed on to Congressman John Conyers’ Medicare-for-all bill.

But none of them are actively pushing the legislation. Instead, they’re trying to resurrect the ghost of Obamacare – just like Bernie Sanders is doing.

Don’t encourage them Sticking with the Democrats only encourages them in their loyalty to their corporate masters. What’s needed is for single supporters to leave the party and let their voices be heard in the streets. Single-payer supporters already comprise huge majorities. The Democrats are nothing but the ball-and-chain that paralyzes people’s movements.

Glen Ford is executive editor of BlackAgendaReport.com. Email him at Glen.Ford@BlackAgendaReport.com.

Vietnam survivor

GUEST COMMENTARY

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.

Harry C. Alford is the cofounder and president/CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce. Contact him via www.nationalbcc.org.

him so unfairly that when my father wanted to be a Marine, my grandfather talked him out of it because of his bad experiences.

CHARLES W. CHERRY III

In addition, I’m very interested in the military. I’m always learning new things about the military and the different wars America fought in, as well as their traditions. Did you know the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier take 21 steps before waiting 21 seconds before the guard change in honor of the 21-gun salute? This salute was usually for the Navy. One day, I may consider being in the military.

Furthermore, I think if I were to lay the wreath, it would be symbolic of how far African-

legacy. Do your best and then turn it over to the next capable person.

We don’t need examples of generations being handed over to family members or officials staying around for decades before leaving it to a relative. The Dingells of Michigan are prime examples of this.

One Dingell stays for decades. Upon his death, his son takes over and stays over a half century. Upon his illness and age, he hands it over to his very young wife. It is like royalty!

Here’s to good governance and meritocracy.

Dr. Glenn W. Cherry, Sales Manager

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My mother’s father had bad experiences, too. He was the only survivor in his platoon from the Vietnam War. The thought stuck with him for the rest of his life. If I lay the wreath as an African-American child, then both of my grandfathers would see the changes in the military and America.

If you had anybody to choose to lay a wreath underneath the highly-guarded Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, who would you choose? If I could choose anybody it would be me because my family had a history with the military, I am very interested in the military, and if I put down the wreath, that would be symbolic of the hardships of war.

Charles W. Cherry III is in the seventh grade at Seminole Middle School in Broward County.

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MARCH 24 – MARCH 30, 2017

Why are Black Republicans afraid to speak out?

Sometimes I wonder if I was a Black Democrat, a retired Black athlete or a Black comedian would it be easier for me to get RAYNARD a meeting with the leadership of JACKSON the Republican Party or harder.

As a lifelong, die hard Black ReNNPA COLUMNIST publican, it seems almost impossible to get noticed in the Repubdence to the contrary. lican Party.

Black Republicans with party experience and credentials need Another disappointment not seek any substantive engageThe biggest disappointment ment with the very party they about this constant dissing of have been taking arrows in the Black Republicans by the parback for over the years. ty leadership is the loud silence of Black Republicans. Memo to I was shocked Black Republicans: “Grow a pair!”

Needless to say, my mouth This is why Republicans ignore hit the floor when I began to get you and why Blacks despise you. calls last week from the media I have been threatened many about newly-confirmed Attorney times in my life by various folks general Jeff Sessions agreeing to in the party for my outspokenness meet with radical “civil entitle- about the lack of “real” Blacks in ments” leaders like Marc Morial, this party. As I have told them in Al Sharpton, Melanie Campbell private meetings and as I have and Wade Henderson. written constantly in my columns, C’mon man! I worked for Ses- “My integrity is not for sale!” sions during his first Senate camI know what it takes to get more paign in 1996 and I know that he Blacks involved in this party, but is a good and decent person, but I refuse to engage in any halfI don’t understand how he can hearted approaches to making justify the fact that one of his first this happen. I also refuse to work meetings as attorney general is with any Blacks that are too timwith people who have called him id and too weak to confront para racist. ty leaders head-on when they paThis doesn’t sound like the Jeff tronize or insult our community.

Sessions that I know. It sounds like this meeting was forced on him by that smart Black staffer in The right message Why do I constantly speak out the White House. On this point, I will continue to give you the ben- on this issue? Why am I so blunt efit of the doubt until I have evi- in my conversations with party

When America interfered in a Russian election There is still no evidence of Russian interference in the 2016 election. What substitutes for proof is nothing but an endless loop of corporate media repetition. The Democratic Party has plenty of reason to whip up hysteria in an effort to divert attention from its endless electoral debacles.

What no one mentions is that the United States government has a very long history of interfering in elections around the world. Since World War II, American presidents have used electoral dirty tricks, fraud and violence to upend the will of people in Italy, Iran, Guatemala, Vietnam and Honduras to name but a few nations. If possible, brute force and murder are used to depose elected leaders as in Haiti and Chile.

America’s efforts Amid all the hoopla about Russia’s supposed influence in the election or with Donald Trump directly, there is little mention of a successful American effort to in-

MARGARET KIMBERLEY BLACK AGENDA REPORT

tervene in that country.

In 1996, American political consultants and the Bill Clinton administration made certain that Boris Yeltsin remained in the Russian presidency. There is no need for conjecture in this case.

The story was discussed quite openly at the time and included a Time magazine cover story with the guilty parties going on record about their role in subverting democracy.

Polls showed that Yeltsin was in danger of losing to the Communist Party candidate Gennadi Zhuganov. The collapse of the Soviet Union had created an economic and political catastrophe for the Russian people. Oligarchs

GOP forms circular firing squad over Obamacare It’s becoming increasingly clear that the exercise of political power appears to be a total stranger to congressional Republicans. As I said on Newsmax TV’s “America Talks Live,” congressional Republicans often act like they are one big “circular firing squad.”

Looking at the Ryan healthcare proposal in the House, and reactions in the Senate, as well as initial comments of Republicans on Trump’s first budget submission, the circle is already forming. It’s a death wish in the making!

I don’t get it I don’t understand why Republicans and conservatives allow themselves to become divided, forsaking power for what they regard as “principle,” while Democrats unite for power and worry about principle (and details) later.

Remember Obama’s and Democrats’ blatant lies about keeping your doctor and your healthcare plan? Remember House Minority, then Majority Leader, Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., saying, “We have to pass the bill to find out what’s in it”?

So much for honesty and transparency on the Democratic side

CLARENCE V. MCKEE, ESQ. GUEST COMMENTARY

on their Obamacare watch. At least House Republicans are being transparent!

The Democrats’ majority media has rarely compared those lies and secrecy to the transparency of the GOP on its proposal. However, they love to point out the GOP resistance. And resistance there is. In the House, because three Republicans voted against the proposal in the Budget Committee, the bill just barely passed 19 to 17.

May not pass Notwithstanding the fact that the president has agreed to changes in the proposal in order to gain the support of some conservative members, the leader of the conservative Freedom Caucus said the concession was insignificant and that he believes there are enough votes to kill the

EDITORIAL VISUAL VIEWPOINT: THE TRUMP WHITE HOUSE

leadership about their insulting approach to the Black community? The answer is quite simple.

I am quite convinced that our message is right for the Black community. I am so convinced that I am will to take my beliefs to the marketplace of ideas, i.e., the public, and know that my arguments will carry the day.

I can count on two hands the number of Black Republicans I would want in the trenches with me, and probably less than three of them actually live and work in the Washington, D.C. area.

If you are too afraid to speak to a reporter on the record about these issues, I in no way would ever want you on my side in a war; at get more Blacks involved in the the first sign of trouble, you would Republican Party with a focus sell me out or simply abandon solely on the Black entrepreneur. me.

Nowhere else will you find a collection of videos and photos No advocates of Black Republicans who cannot I constantly get calls from the be called an Uncle Tom or a sellmedia who are frustrated with the out. These are the Blacks the party dearth of Black Republicans they needs to be highlighting and procan get to go on the record for a moting, not these inexperienced story. millennials and other Blacks, who If President Trump is satisfied have absolutely no credibility with getting only eight percent within our community. of the Black vote, then he should continue to do what he is doing. Real leaders But if he wants to break into the The Black entrepreneurs are high teens by 2020, then he needs to surround himself with Blacks the real leaders in the Black community, not the media-appointed who know what they are doing.

If the president wants proof of charlatans that Sessions met with concept, he only needs to look at last week. Until the Republican my SuperPAC, Black Americans Party comes to this realization, for a Better Future. We are the first they will continue to get minisand only SuperPAC established to cule levels of Black support. openly stole public funds while government workers went without pay. Russians lost the safety net they had enjoyed, and the disaster resulted in a precipitous decline in life expectancy and birth rates.

Didn’t care The United States didn’t care about the suffering of ordinary Russians. Its only concern was making sure that the once-socialist country never turned in that direction again. When Yeltsin looked like a loser, the Clinton administration pressed the International Monetary Fund to send quick cash and bolster Yeltsin’s government with a $10 billion loan.

Clinton had an even more direct involvement. Led by a team connected to his adviser Dick Morris, a group of political consultants went to work in Moscow – but kept their existence a secret.

One of the conspirators put the case succinctly.

“Everyone realized that if the Communists knew about this before the election, they would attack Yeltsin as an American tool.”

Of course, Yeltsin was an American tool, and that was precisely the desired outcome.

History disappeared The Time magazine article

A5

wasn’t the only corporate media expose of the American power grab. The story was also made into a film called “Spinning Boris.” One would think that this well-known and documented account would be brought to attention now, but just the opposite has happened.

The tale of Clinton administration conniving has instead been disappeared down the memory hole as if it never took place.

The supposedly free media in this country march in lockstep with presidents. After Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made Russia-bashing a national pastime; the media followed suit.

The reason for the hostility is very simple. Russia is an enormous country spanning Europe and Asia, and has huge amounts of energy resources which European countries depend on. Its gas and oil reserves make it a player – and therefore a target for sanctions and war by other means.

The American impulse to control or crush the rest of the world is thwarted by an independent Russia. While Americans are fed an endless diet of xenophobia, Russia and China continue their “New Silk Road” economic partnership.

Of course, this alliance is born of the necessity to protect against American threats, but no one reading the New York Times or

BILL DAY, CAGLE CARTOONS

I’m officially coming out of the closet as a Black Democrat. I expect to be on President Trump’s schedule. RNC chair Ronna Romney McDaniel will call me and tell me how courageous I am.

I’ll use the opportunity to talk to her about getting Blacks more involved in the party – the Republican Party – because, what do they have to lose?

Raynard Jackson is founder and chairman of Black Americans for a Better Future (BAFBF), a federally registered Super PAC established to get more Blacks, especially entrepreneurs, involved in the Republican Party. For more information, visit www.bafbf. org. Click on this commentary at www.flcourier.com to write your own response. the Washington Post knows anything about it. Nor do they know that Vladimir Putin’s mentor stayed in power because of Bill Clinton’s meddling.

Assume a cover-up All the news is fake when corporate media connive with the powerful to produce their desired ends. If they want to make Yeltsin a hero, they make him a hero. If they want his successor to be cast as the villain, then he becomes the villain. If the United States wants to play the victim, it is turned into the hapless target of Russian espionage. If its history of thwarting the sovereignty of other countries becomes an inconvenient truth, then the truth is disappeared.

It is difficult to know what is true and what is not. But it usually a safe bet to assume that this government and its media handmaidens are covering up criminality of various kinds. The story of the 1996 manipulation of Russian voters is but one example.

Margaret Kimberley’s column appears weekly in BlackAgendaReport.com. Contact her at Margaret.Kimberley@BlackAgendaReport.com. Click on this commentary at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

bill when it comes to a final vote Healthcare reform is the lead locomotive on the in the House.

In the U.S. Senate, some Senate Republicans joined the skep- Trump train’s agenda. If GOP leaders can’t come tics’ chorus without even having the benefit of seeing a final House together and the locomotive is derailed, the version – Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., Tom Cotton, R-Ark., Dean Heller, R-Nev., and, of course, Susan Col- entire train is derailed – and that includes tax lins, R-Vt., to name a few.

As if a collapse of the healthcare reform. If that happens, Democrats win without proposal would not be enough to sink the Trump agenda, the circle firing a shot! is also taking aim at Trump’s budget. It’s common knowledge that most presidential budgets are re- Senate to kill any GOP healthcare would think they could at least vised and reworked during the proposal and gut the Trump bud- say we have “a lot to discuss,” “we will see how it all works out” and get. legislative budget process. at least keep Democrats and the media guessing.

Can’t get together Can’t wait On the budget, they couldn’t For seven years, Republicans But, right on cue, some Seneven mirror Senate Majority ate Republicans could not wait to have been rallying against Obam- Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., acare and big government by regrun to the cameras to get ahead of who set a better tone saying: “I the Democrats, firing the opening ulation. Now that they have con- look forward to reviewing this and trol of the House, Senate, and the shots. Guess who led the charge? the full budget when it is released Who else but the twin Trump an- White House, they can’t seem to later this spring.” get their act together. tagonists – Sens. John McCain, RWhether the GOP circular firing Healthcare reform is the lead Ariz., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. squad will lead to the burial of the locomotive on the Trump train’s McCain: “It is clear that this Trump agenda in the cemetery of budget proposed today cannot agenda. If GOP leaders can’t GOP massive defeats in 2018 recome together and the locomopass the Senate.” mains to be seen. We will soon Graham: “It’s dead on arrival. tive is derailed, the entire train is know whether President Trump derailed – and that includes tax It’s not going to happen. It would reform. If that happens, Demo- can herd the GOP cats – and his be a disaster . . . “ agenda – into a victory corral.

I may have missed it, but I don’t crats win without firing a shot! recall them being as dogged in Clarence V. McKee is a govcriticizing Obama initiatives as High stakes involved ernment, political and media they have been Trump’s in his Do Republicans really want relations consultant and presfirst two months.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and ident of McKee CommunicaPelosi, Senate Minority Lead- Nancy Pelosi in charge? Is GOP tions, Inc., as well as a Newser Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and pettiness and inability to compro- max.com contributor. This arthe entire Democratic Party are mise and negotiate worth losing ticle originally appeared on joined at the hip in rooting for control of the Senate and its role Newsmax.com. Click on this conservatives – and the so-called in Supreme Court appointments? commentary at www.flcourier.

With so much at stake, one com to write your own response. moderates – in the House and

TOJ A6

NATION

MARCH 24 – MARCH 30, 2017

Attending college with Nazi fliers, racist videos Incidents lead to Twitter debate on students of color choosing PWIs

BY AMIR VERA THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

NORFOLK, Va. – In the past year, students at Old Dominion University have seen fliers promoting Nazism pop up on campus and a video of a woman wearing a sweatshirt with the college’s logo encourage the mass killing of Black people.

Hours after the video went viral weeks ago, a question appeared on Twitter: Should students of color at ODU be surprised? After all, they attend a predominantly White institution.

The tweet posted by Troy Wallace, a junior at Norfolk State University, struck a nerve. It ignited a tense, hour-long online debate and tapped into a sensitive issue long faced by African-American college students: Whether to attend a historically Black school or a predominantly White one.

‘It’s expected’ “What I see is that this is a conversation that African-Americans need to have,” said Roddena Kirksey, a Tidewater Community College alumni and communications associate. Kirksey has degrees from both ODU and NSU. She said her experience at Old Dominion prepared her for Norfolk State, but at a historically Black college “you’re getting a cultural experience that you can’t get at a” predominately White institution.

Wallace said in an interview over Twitter she wasn’t saying incidents like the racist video should be accepted, but “it’s expected.” Campus police have said the video wasn’t filmed at a dorm on campus and they don’t believe a member of the campus community was involved.

Wallace added there’s “always issues between NSU and ODU” and that she thinks students at predominantly White schools feel superior to HBCU students.

“I just want them to realize that we’re equally educated,” she said.

What’s a PWI? A spokesman with the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia said a “predominately White institution” (PWI) is an informal way of referring to any college that is not a minority-serving institution.

The U.S. Department of Education gives minority-serving designation to schools that serve minority students, like HBCUs. Old Dominion is not on the list of them.

At ODU, about 45 percent of the undergraduate population is White, 28 percent Black, 8 percent Hispanic, 5 percent Asian and the rest are multiracial, foreign, unknown or unreported, according to the most recent numbers from

AMIR VERA/THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT/TNS

Old Dominion University juniors Jamal Davis and Yousef Hattar walk on campus on Feb. 27. Both said they were surprised by a racist video that went viral Feb. 21.

STEVE EARLEY/THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT/TNS

Norfolk State student Diamond Giles said the debate between HBCU students and those at mostly White schools is “just a dividing factor that I think we all have to get over to move forward.” the higher education council.

Not often Jamal Davis, a junior at ODU, said seeing racist videos or Nazi fliers shouldn’t be expected despite the makeup of the student body.

“I think everyone knows, that regardless of where they go to school, that stuff like this could happen, but no one expects it to happen,” he said. “It really makes me wonder who on campus is really thinking that way.”

Davis said he understands why people might think such a video is more likely to appear at a campus like ODU because the school is made up of so many racial and cultural backgrounds.

“This doesn’t happen often. We hear about stuff like this once ev-

ery year or semester,” he said. “It doesn’t represent the overall population at ODU and the student body.”

‘Constantly targeted’ Alexandra Boone, a Norfolk State junior, said she understands why some HBCU students joined the heated Twitter exchanges.

“It’s pride because we’re always being constantly targeted,” she said. “I could see why if a stone was thrown we’d want to react, but it’s still completely unnecessary.”

For senior Desmond Fogg, going to NSU was all about finding his identity. When he arrived on campus, he said, he struggled because of all the different directions he had been pulled when he was younger.

STEVE EARLEY/THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT/TNS

Norfolk State University student Desmond Fogg said attending the HBCU was all about finding his identify.

“I was being defined by other people,” he said. Being at an historically Black college allowed him to explore what it means to be a successful Black man, he said.

Boone said HBCUs get criticized for taking students who struggled academically in high school. But they do it because they believe those students have potential, she said.

“When I applied to the PWIs, I didn’t get that same feeling,” she said, using the acronym for a predominately White institution.

“If you’re not an honor student, there’s no point in applying.”

Spreading awareness The discussion over the racist video spilled out into other area schools.

At a Black Student Union meeting Feb. 23 at Virginia Wesleyan College, senior Amber Morris said she didn’t want to go to a college where most students were of one race.

Virginia Wesleyan’s student population is a little under 50 percent White and about 25 percent Black.

“I know my presence at a school like this is important because I’m able to spread awareness on the culture and help people understand it’s not just you in this world, there’s other people,” she said.

Diamond Giles, a senior at NSU, said the debate between HBCU students and those at mostly White schools is “just a dividing factor that I think we all have to get over to move forward.”

Jobless rate up to 8.1 percent for African-Americans TRICE EDNEY NEWS WIRE

The nation’s businesses added 235,000 jobs in February but the companies obviously didn’t hire in the Black community where the unemployment rate went up compared to other racial and ethnic groups where it went down.

The Black jobless rate in February was 8.1 percent compared to 7.7 percent in January, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported.

The nation’s overall unemployment rate was 4.7 percent in February.

The high unemployment rate among African-Americans, compared to 4.1 percent in February among Whites, was down from 4.3 percent in January. Among Hispanics, the jobless rate was 5.6 percent in February, down from 5.9 percent in January.

The jobless rate among Asians in February was 3.4 percent, down from 3.7 percent in January, BLS reported.

7.8 for young Black men JIM BARON/TNS

Blacks line up in Cleveland, Ohio in 2001 for a job fair hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus. Years later, the African-American unemployment rate is still substantially higher than other racial and ethnic groups.

Black men 20 years old and older continue to suffer the highest unemployment rate. In February, it was 7.8 percent, up from 7.3 percent in January.

This compares to a February unemployment rate for White

men of 3.8 percent, down from 4.0 percent in January. The February jobless rate among Hispanic men 20 years old and older was 4.6 percent, down from 4.8 percent in January.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not provide equivalent statistics for Asian men 20 and older.

Big drop for Hispanics Black women 20 years old and older also saw an increase in their jobless rate. In February, their unemployment rate was 7.1 percent, up from 6.7 percent in January.

In comparison, February’s unemployment rate for White women 20 years old and older was 3.7 percent, down from 3.9 percent in January.

Hispanics saw big drop in their unemployment in February.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the jobless rate for Hispanic women in February was 5.6 percent, down from 6.3 percent in January.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not provide equivalent statistics for Asian women 20 and older.

This story is special to the Trice Edney News Wire from NorthStarNewsToday.com.

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JAZZ IN THE GARDENS

NOT JUST ANOTHER MUSIC FESTIVAL

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BY LISA ROGERS CHERRY FLORIDA COURIER

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hen asked why they came to the 12th Annual Jazz in the Gardens Music Festival, attendees of the Miami Gardens event had many different responses.

As in past years, some were there for the incredible lineup of artists. Whether it was Will Downing, Robin Thicke, Common or Jilly from Philly this year, some were attracted by one particular artist.

Some came for their favorite conch salad in a pineapple bowl appetizer, some were there to reunite with family, friends, sorors or fraternity brothers. Some were drawn to the tropical, colorful, fruit-filled icy drinks and, of course, others were there just to chill.

From far away they came: To sell original art, T-shirts, handmade jewelry and fancy hats. Some were there because they wanted to see the hilarious host comedian and talk-show host Rickey Smiley in person and some just wanted to take in all of the sights.

And, boy, were there sights to see! Hairdos, outfits, stilettos, hole-filled jeans, daisy dukes, African attire, graphic baby T’s.

You name it, we saw it!

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Andra Day performs “Rise Up.”

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CHAYLA CHERRY/ FLORIDA COURIER

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Ready to party

Lisa and Chayla Cherry represent the Florida Courier.

PHOTO BY V. BOYD

The Jazz in the Gardens planners were strategic in the lineup for the two-day festival held annually at Hard Rock Stadium, the home of the Miami Dolphins.

Some folks already were lined up and waiting before 2 p.m. both days when the gates opened at the stadium so that they could get first dibs on placing their lawn chairs in the front of the general admission section and get as close as possible to their favorite acts.

Although many of the attendees cut their after-church naps short on Sunday to see longtime favorites Will Downing and Chante Moore, jazz musician Marion Meadows was also a treat.

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LISA ROGERS CHERRY/ FLORIDA COURIER

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Please see JAZZ, Page B2

Robin Thicke croons his hits.

LISA ROGERS CHERRY/ FLORIDA COURIER

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Talent, and eye candy Tina Witherspoon from Palatka, who attends every year, exclaimed, “Will Downing could have sang to me all night!”

Chante Moore was more than just eye candy to many of the guys at the festival.

Antwon Blackmon from Mobile, Alabama stated, “Chante looks and sounds exactly like she did 20 years ago. That woman is so hot.’’

Turkey legs and corn? Why not?

Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter leads The Roots on Sunday.

CHAYLA CHERRY/ FLORIDA COURIER

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A man gets his dreadlocks retwisted at the Taliah Waajid booth.

CHAYLA CHERRY/ FLORIDA COURIER

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CALENDAR

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MARCH 24 – MARCH 30, 2017

STOJ

FLORIDA COMMUNITY CALENDAR

DIONNE WARWICK

The legendary singer is scheduled April 8 at the Seminole Casino Coconut Creek for an 8 p.m. show.

Jacksonville: Tickets are on sale for a June 28 show featuring Diana Ross at Daily’s Place.

Hollywood: Catch Chris Rock on March 30 at Hard Rock Live. The show is at 8 p.m. He’ll also be at the Straz on April 14 in Tampa and the Dr. Phillips Center on April 16 in Orlando.

Tampa: The Tampa Spring Jam is April 21 at the USF Sun Dome featuring Guy, Teddy Riley, Dru Hill, Silk and Doug E. Fresh.

Miami: A Jazz Roots concert is scheduled April 7 at the Arsht Center. The show is at 8 p.m.

Pompano Beach: Catch Buddy Guy on April 6 at the Pompano Beach Amphitheater and April 9 at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre.

STEPHANIE MCNEALBROWN

Estero: Vanilla Ice, Mark McGrath and Rob Base perform in the I Love the 90’s Tour on March 25 at the Germain Arena.

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

Grow Women Corporation, founded by Stephanie McNealBrown, will present a Tampa Bay Black Marriage Day event on March 25. A poetry slam is March 24 at 7:30 p.m. at The Inkwell Centre, 2905 North 50th St., Tampa. The March 25 Community Conversation starts at 10 a.m.

It’s open to married and single men and women. More info: stephanie@growwomen.com

JAZZ

tional 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.

Orlando: Leela James and Daley will perform April 9 at the House of Blues Orlando.

The show starts at 7 p.m.

LIL WAYNE

The rapper is scheduled April 4 at the Exactech Arena in Gainesville.

Miami Gardens: Genera-

Aventura: Billy Porter: Broadway & Soul will be at the Aventura Arts & Cultural Center on April 2.

Miami: Katt Williams’ Great American Tour stops at the James L. Knight Center on March 31 and April 1.

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from Page 1 ‘Good for the soul’ To Maliaka Bell from Detroit, Michigan, a third time JITG attendee, the atmosphere was worth more than the acts. Bell and her friends were up and doing “The Bird” with Morris Day and the Time.

She shared, “There are so many handsome and friendly guys. Me, my cousin, and two girlfriends enjoy taking this trip and party all weekend. We plan ahead and get good cheap flights and a hotel on the beach. The weather was perfect on both days. JITG is good for the soul. Yes, we’ll be back again.”

‘Mini-family reunion’ The crowd swayed to Herbie Hancock’s performance of “Watermelon Man.’’ “It’s always exciting to see major talent live and in person. I’ve followed Herbie Hancock’s career for years,” remarked Michelle Parker of Delray Beach.

I ventured over into the VIP section where everybody was moving and grooving and found Ms. Tamara G of the syndicated “Michael Baisden Show.’’ Tamara G likes the family feel of Jazz in the Gardens.

“It always feels like a mini-family reunion. My favorite performance this year was a toss-up between our own local celeb Betty Wright and Andra Day. Robin Thicke was one of the best this year. I’ll definitely be back next year. I’d love to be one of the onstage hosts,’’ she added.

Gospel artist Smokie Norful was a big hit and a terrific uplifting way to start off the concert on day two with the Sunday crowd.

Grammy Award-winning jazz bassist and singer Esperanza Spalding and eclectic hiphop house band The Roots were both wellreceived. But when Andra Day sang, “Rise Up,’’ her Grammy-nominated Black Lives Matter-inspired anthem, the audience went crazy.

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There for the conch For Alva Bell Bullard, seeing old friends from back in the day and partying in the city’s largest outdoor club is a major reason the she attends each year.

“I love good music, but another reason that I attend this festival is because they always have the most tender fried conch that I’ve ever tasted. I don’t have to chew my brains out,’’ she said with a chuckle. Bullard attended JITG with her her Delta Sigma Theta Sorority sister, Veronica Boyd of Lauderhill.

“I enjoyed everything! My favorite on Saturday was the phenomenal Jill Scott who never disappoints,” Boyd related. “Unfortunately, Jill’s show was abruptly cut short because of the late hour and the city’s noise ordinance. Robin Thicke was a close second.

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CHAYLA CHERRY/ FLORIDA COURIER

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Herbie Hancock wowed with “Watermelon Man.” LISA ROGERS CHERRY/ FLORIDA COURIER

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Common a favorite “My favorite on Sunday was Common, who is as fine as wine,” she continued. “His smooth melodies and freestyles, narrowly edged out LL Cool J, who only lost points because of the inner ear-jarring volume of the blasting bass of his booming system.”

Many had to cover their ears during portions of his show. But there is no doubt that LL brought the house all the way down.

While over in the food court, we bumped into Cheresa Jackson from Chicago, who had purchased a large shrimp and tilapia combo.

She pleaded, “Please don’t take my picture, because I’m not supposed to be eating fried food, but I can’t resist all of this goodness.”

No matter their reasons for coming, the Jazz in the Gardens 2017 attendees reported that they had a magnificent time. With minimal complaints, the majority walked away extremely pleased with plans to attend again next year.

Host Rickey Smiley helps attendees “have church.’’

Smiley clowns around during a break.

LISA ROGERS CHERRY/ FLORIDA COURIER

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Always a favorite: The conch booth.

LISA ROGERS CHERRY/ FLORIDA COURIER

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The seafood booth stayed busy.

LISA ROGERS CHERRY/ FLORIDA COURIER

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Tamara G gave JITG rave reviews.

CHAYLA CHERRY/ FLORIDA COURIER

STOJ

MARCH 24 – MARCH 30, 2017

HEALTH

B3

Study: Parenthood can boost your longevity Having children more beneficial as you age and greater for men than women

BY ANA VECIANA-SUAREZ MIAMI HERALD/TNS

Want to live longer? Have children. If you don’t die early from child-rearing stress, parenthood will boost your longevity chances, according to a new study out of Sweden.

Researchers at the Karolinska Institute used national registry data to track 1.5 million Swedes born between 1911 and 1925 as they lived through their last years. While the risk of death naturally increased with age for all adults, the team found that those with children had greater longevity.

“Support from adult children to aging parents may be of importance for parental health and longevity,” researchers write.

“At old age, the stress of parenthood is likely to be lower and instead, parents can benefit from social support from their children. In addition, parents have on average more healthful behaviors than childless individuals.”

Life expectancy The study, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, also revealed that having children is actually more beneficial as you age, and it is particularly greater for men than women. Men who were not married but had children were also living longer than those with a spouse.

For example, 60-year-old men who had children had about two years more of life than those

Florida lawmakers target sexually transmitted diseases THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

A House panel Monday approved expanding the legal definition of sexual intercourse as part of an effort to prevent the intentional transmission of HIV and other diseases.

A bill (HB 165) sponsored

by Rep. Kionne McGhee, D-Miami, would change a state law that prohibits people infected with HIV or other sexually transmitted diseases from knowingly exposing partners to the diseases.

It would update the existing term “sexual intercourse” with the broader “sexual conduct,” as well as add hepatitis and human papillomavirus to the list of diseases covered in the law. The term “sexual intercourse” is not statutorily defined, and criminal defendants have challenged the term’s meaning, according to a House staff analysis.

Similar Senate bill Last week, the Florida Supreme Court ruled the definition is “not limited to only penile-vaginal intercourse,” after a Monroe County circuit judge ruled a man convicted under the current law was wrongfully charged since the law does not explicitly cover oral or anal sex between men.

McGhee’s bill would define sexual conduct to mean conduct between people capable of transmitting a sexually transmitted disease, regardless of gender. The House Justice Appropriations Subcommittee unanimously approved McGhee’s bill Monday.

A bill carrying related language (SB 628) sponsored by Sen. Rene Garcia, R-Hialeah, was considered Tuesday in the Senate Criminal Justice Committee.

DREAMSTIME/TNS

A study out of Sweden suggest that the support adult children provide aging parents may contribute to seniors living longer in comparison to those without children. without, with a life expectancy of 20.2 and 18.4 years respectively.

Comparing the ages For women at 60, those with children had life expectancies of 24.6 years while those without children had 23.1.

The life expectancy difference continued as the study group grew older.

By 80, parents had a life expectancy of 7.7 years for men and 9.5 years for women. In comparison, the 80-year-olds without children had a life expectancy of seven years for men without children and 8.9 years for women without children.

Other factors The sex of the child had no in-

fluence on their parent’s longevity, according to researchers, but it should be noted that this finding was based only on families with one child.

“Perhaps being the only child is related to a greater responsibility of parents, reducing the difference in the amount of help given by sons and daughters,” they study authors write.

Of course parenthood isn’t the only thing boosting longevity.

“In terms of all other causes that would affect your death risk in these old ages, having a child is not among the greatest ones,” study co-author Karin Modig told The Guardian. “But it is still a 1.5 percent difference [for 90-yearold men] which is still substantial.”

Trump travel ban could worsen doctor shortage age Area, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit that focuses in national health care issues.

“It is very important that we can continue to have an inflow of physicians. There is a need there,” said Dr. Manoj Shah, an Indian native and former president of the Medical Association of Georgia who now works as an obstetrician-gynecologist in the Warner Robins area.

BY JEREMY REDMON ATLANTA JOURNALCONSTITUTION/TNS

ATLANTA – Dr. Heval Kelli has treated all sorts of patients while studying in Atlanta to become a physician: Young and old. Rich and poor. Black and white. Civilians and U.S. military veterans.

Unlike most of his patients, the Morehouse School of Medicine graduate was not born in the United States. He and his Kurdish family came to the U.S. as refugees in 2001, fleeing persecution in Syria and settling first in Clarkston and then in Gwinnett County.

Kelli started out washing dishes at a local Mediterranean restaurant to support his family. Now he is working just a short distance away as a cardiology fellow at Emory University School of Medicine.

Serving millions Kelli is among an estimated 7,000 doctors in the U.S. — more than 200 of them in Georgia — who came from the six Muslimmajority countries targeted by President Donald Trump’s travel ban. That ban is now on hold in federal courts.

Together, according to researchers at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, those physicians provide an estimated 14 million appointments each year for patients. And many of those patients live in medically underserved rural areas that voted overwhelmingly for Trump.

The Trump administration is appealing one of the federal courts’ decisions to temporarily halt the travel ban. Critics, meanwhile, worry that if the stay is lifted, the executive order could stem the flow of foreign medical students and doctors to the United States.

“There is already a shortage of doctors in America,” said Kelli, who has treated patients at Emory’s hospitals, the Atlanta VA Medical Center, Grady Memorial Hospital and the Clarkston Community Health Center.

“If you are preventing them from coming here to become doctors, you are hurting the health care system.”

Fighting it The ban seeks to bar visitors from some six predominantly Muslim countries for 90 days while the government bolsters its security screening process: Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

Impact on students

CURTIS COMPTON/ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION/TNS

Dr. Heval Mohamed Kelli sees his patient Taha, a Syrian refugee, to check his health on March 16 at the Clarkston Community Health Center in Clarkston, Ga. Trump administration officials pointed to exemptions in the directive for people with green cards and visas. They also highlighted their power to grant caseby-case waivers to certain travelers, though the executive order does not specifically mention doctors.

Saying the nation’s security is at stake, Trump reacted furiously to the decision by a federal judge in Hawaii to freeze his travel ban.

“We are going to fight this terrible ruling,” he said at a rally in Nashville, Tenn., last week, a day before a different federal judge in Maryland put a key part of his order on hold.

Website created Trump also called his directive a “watered-down version” of the first one he signed in January.

That directive sowed widespread confusion among travelers, triggered lawsuits and prompted large demonstrations.

As they watched those demonstrations play out across the nation, a group of graduate economics students at MIT and Harvard — some of whom are immigrants or have parents from abroad — wondered what they could do.

Together, they created a website showing where the 7,000 foreign doctors are seeing patients across the United Streets. Their data comes from Doximity, an online networking site for doctors that pulls information from a variety of sources, including state licensing boards, medical schools and hospitals.

Key findings They classified doctors as immigrants from one of the six nations covered by the travel ban based on where they went to medical school.

One of their key findings: One out of every 100 physicians in America comes from the six nations in the travel ban.

“Our project is about looking at the clear costs imposed by the ban,” said Otis Reid, an MIT graduate economics student who participated in the study. “One doctor in a small town can be the difference between life and death for people in that area.”

Between 50 and 70 of these foreign doctors are working in the Atlanta area, providing an estimated 100,000 to 150,000 appointments for patients each year, according to the research by Reid and his colleagues.

Major need Higher concentrations of them are caring for people in more rural regions of the state, including in the Blue Ridge and Rome areas.

Both cities are in counties Trump won by huge margins. In all, there are 216 doctors from the six countries working in Georgia, according to the Medicus Firm, national physician search firm.

Many foreign doctors are serving in areas of the country afflicted with doctor shortages.

Georgia, for example, would need 370 more primary care physicians to shed its federal designation as a Health Professional Short-

Shah is also worried the travel ban could prevent foreign students from obtaining visas to come to the U.S. There are 1,375 foreign students enrolled in U.S. medical schools now, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.

Dr. Atul Grover, the association’s executive vice president, is particularly concerned whether potential medical students are hearing news about the travel ban and considering going elsewhere.

“We have the privilege of being able to choose the very best talent in science and medicine and other fields of academics that the rest of the world can’t choose from,” he said. “I don’t know if that changes — that would really hurt us.”

One doctor’s journey If allowed to go into effect, the travel ban would also suspend all refugee resettlements in the U.S. for 120 days. Kelli and his family fled to the U.S. as refugees after the Syrian authorities beat him and his parents and jailed his father, an attorney who refused to work for the Syrian government.

They hired a smuggler to get them out of the country and eventually landed in a refugee camp in Germany. That is where Kelli said he got interested in medicine while observing a doctor take care of a cancer-stricken friend, a Kurdish refugee who eventually died from leukemia.

“He was this German doctor,” said Kelli, a Clarkston High School graduate whose first name Heval means friend in Kurdish. “He didn’t look like them. But when he walked in the room, he made this Kurdish family so comfortable.

And I realized there is so much power in medicine — that even if you do not look like someone, you can come in a room and make them feel better.”

Kelli is not alone in his family. His younger brother, Dr. Mohamed Kelli, is working as a surgical resident at East Tennessee State University. A Pace Academy graduate, Mohamed is seeing patients at hospitals in Johnson City and Kingsport, Tenn.

B4

OBITUARIES

MARCH 24 – MARCH 30, 2017

STOJ

Remembering Chuck Berry, ‘Father of Rock ‘n’ Roll’

BY FREDERICK H. LOWE TRICE EDNEY NEWS WIRE

Chuck Berry, who died on March 18, was held in such high esteem as the “Father of Rock ‘n’ Roll” that rock royalty often played backup in his bands.

At Berry’s 60th birthday celebration in St. Louis, Missouri, Eric Clapton, and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, huge stars in their own right, backed Berry as he sang and duck walked across the stage while the audience danced in the aisles or in their seats.

The late John Lennon, co-founder of the Beatles, who sang from time to time with Berry, paid him the ultimate tribute when he said, “If you tried to give rock ’n’ roll another name, you might call it Chuck Berry.”

Album planned The 90 year-old Berry died on March 18 at his home in St. Charles, Missouri.

“We are deeply saddened to announce that Chuck Berry, beloved father, grandfather and greatgrandfather, passed away at his home today (Saturday) at the age of 90. Though his health had deteriorated recently, he spent his last days at home surrounded by the love of his family and friends,” according to his website.

His 90th birthday was supposed to be a celebration. Last year, he said he would release in 2017 his first album in 38 years.

The album consists of new songs he had written and produced. He planned to dedicate the album to Thelmetta, his wife of 68 years. The release date for the new album, simply titled “Chuck,” has not been announced.

Gifted musician

FRANCINE ORR/LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

Chuck Berry’s first hit was “Maybellene.” More hits followed, including “Roll Over Beethoven,” “Sweet Little Sixteen,” and “Johnny B. Goode.” Above, he’s shown on stage at Hidden Valley Ranch, in Irvine, Calif., in July 2001.

Auntie Fee, food video star, dies at 59

BY ESMERELDA BERMUDEZ LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

Auntie Fee, a South Los Angeles homemaker who became an Internet sensation for her foul mouth and fried food recipes, has died.

Felicia O’Dell, 59, who won viral fame in 2014 after her son posted a fourminute clip of her cooking some dough-covered “sweet treats for the kids,” died March 17 at HarborUCLA Medical Center, said her brother June O’Dell.

O’Dell, who had been in critical condition after suffering a heart attack, had landed in magazines, newspapers and on television shows, including “Jimmy Kimmel Live’’ after her kitchen antics attracted attention. She was even cast for a reported role in an upcoming film.

Kept it ‘100’ Auntie Fee’s fame came with no small amount of criticism. Some have called her illiterate, unsanitary and unscripted — a bad example for other Blacks.

They have said her dishes — loaded with butter, sugar and grease — will send people to an early grave.

Despite the criticism, she stayed true to her style.

“I’m gonna keep it 100 and be me,” she said in a 2015 Los Angeles Times profile. “Ain’t nobody gonna tell me I gotta do this, I gotta do that.”

Loved the lard Her brother said she refused to change her eating habits. She liked to say

FC

FLORIDA COURIER

A signature guitarist and a prolific songwriter, Berry wrote songs about fast cars, women and the gifted, like the subject of one of his greatest hits, “Johnnie B. Goode.”

The song’s lyrics said Johnnie B. Goode never learned to read or write so well, but he played the guitar like “ringing a bell.”

In the song “Nadine,” she

His 90th birthday was supposed to be a celebration.

Last year, he said he would release in 2017 his first album in 38 years. drove a coffee-colored Cadillac.

During Berry’s long career, he was imprisoned twice for income tax evasion and a conviction for violating the Mann Act, which involved taking a 14-year-old girl across state lines for illicit purposes.

The Mann Act also was used against heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson in 1912 and architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1926. The charges were dropped against Wright but Johnson was convicted.

St. Louis native Charles Edward Anderson “Chuck” Berry was born on Oct. 18, 1926, in St. Louis. His parents were grandchildren of slaves.

Martha Berry, his mother, was one of the few Black women of her generation to gain a college education.

His mother was a school principal, and his father, Henry Berry, was a contractor as well as a deacon at the Antioch Baptist Church. Chuck Berry was the fourth of six children born to the couple.

He attended Sumner High School, a private institution that was the first all-Black high school west of the Mississippi. For the school’s annual talent show, Berry sang Jay McShann’s “Confessin’ the Blues” while accompanied by a friend on the guitar.

Although the school administration bristled at what they viewed as the song’s vulgar content, the performance was an enormous hit with the student body and sparked Berry’s interest in learning the guitar himself, according to his biography.

Berry is survived by his wife, Thelma Suggs, and his children, Ingrid Berry Clay, Chuck Berry Jr., Aloha Isa Lei Berry and Melody Exes Berry.

FLORIDA’S ONLY BLACK STATEWIDE NEWSPAPER More than 182,000 readers weekly WWW.FLCOURIER.COM

MEL MELCON/ LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

Ranked by Google as Florida’s #1 Black newspaper website

YouTube cooking sensation Felicia O’Dell - aka Auntie Fee - protects herself from a grease splatter while cooking pork cracklings on Feb. 12, 2015 at her South Los Angeles, Calif. home. she took after her father, who ate everything he ever wanted and lived to be 99.

“It turns out she took after our mother, who struggled with high blood pressure and diabetes,” June O’Dell said.

Almost every day, Fee’s kitchen had been a revolving door of hungry friends and family. They all loved to watch her cook and looked forward to the hilarious things she’d say.

Her love for one ingredient in particular was always apparent.

“I’ll marry lard,” she told The Times. “Lard is the Lord.”

Times staff writer Christine Mai-Duc contributed to this report.

1 of only 5 ethnic papers worldwide selected by the Poynter Institute for Obama election front-page coverage and design TO ADVERTISE STATEWIDE OR IN A SINGLE ZONE call 877-352-4455 or email Sales@flcourier.com

Winner of numerous journalism awards from Associated Press, National Association of Black Journalists, Florida Press Association, Society of Professional Journalists Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/flcourier/ Follow us on Twitter @flcourier

GOT NEWS, EVENTS, OR COMMENTARY? E-mail to news@flcourier.com

STOJ

MARCH 24 – MARCH 30, 2017

Meet some of

FLORIDA’S

finest

FINEST & ENTERTAINMENT

B5

Think you’re one of Florida’s Finest?

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

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.

Go to www.miamibrowardcarnival.com for information on this year’s Carnival.

CHARLES W. CHERRY II / FLORIDA COURIER

‘Love Jones’ showcased different side of Black life

BY TRE’VELL ANDERSON LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

Before “Love Jones,” Black romance on the big screen was hard to come by. Sure, “Mahogany,” starring Diana Ross and Billy Dee Williams, paved the way in 1975. Since then, most of the movies featuring Black people were about ‘hood life: poverty, gangs, drugs and guns. Someone was always dying by the time the credits rolled.

Then, in 1997, came a simple movie about the love lives of Black artists in Chicago. Starring Larenz Tate and Nia Long, writerdirector Ted Witcher’s debut film followed the rise and fall, and rise again, of a relationship between a young poet named Darius Lovehall and Nina Mosley, a photographer.

Set in the city’s spoken-word scene, “Love Jones” showcased a different aspect of Black life, one where struggle and strife did not dictate one’s circumstances, where one’s group of friends, played by Isaiah Washington, Lisa Nicole Carson, Bill Bellamy and Leonard Roberts, were more like family.

Impact of Black love It was the kind of film White communities had known well.

In the 20 years since “Love Jones” was released on March 14, 1997, Black love has found its way into films and television shows.

Think “The Best Man” franchise, “Queen Sugar,” “Southside With You” and “Insecure.” But where “Love Jones” should have been a catalyst, a more robust canon of romantic films featuring Black couples hasn’t materialized.

On the film’s 20th anniversary, which saw the film honored at last month’s American Black Film Festival Awards, The Los Angeles Times shaped this oral history from conversations with the “Love Jones” cast and crew about how the film came to be, the impact of Black love on screen in the 1990s and why the film is considered a classic.

A niche story “Love Jones” is about possibilities, opportunities people of color know exist for them — in love,

“Love Jones’’ turned 20 this year. The romantic drama was written and directed by Theodore Witcher. The movie, now considered a classic, stars Nia Young as Nina Mosley and Larenz Tate as Darius Lovehall. life, career. But it was difficult for Witcher as a first-time director to show that when most Black films at the time were more like “Menace II Society” and “Boyz N the Hood.”

Witcher, writer-director: “There was this (poetry) club in Chicago that we all used to go to, called Spices. I thought that was an interesting backdrop onto which I could layer this story of a twentysomething’s relationship.

It had never occurred to me that the movie would get made, quite frankly, because it just seemed so small and niche, even for Black people. It seemed so outside of what Hollywood was making at the time. “(Then) I came upon an executive who was at New Line, Helena Echegoyen. With her encouragement, I sat down in my little apartment in Koreatown for about nine months and wrote this script. When I gave it to her, she saw the potential of it and was, like, “We’re getting this made.”

What producers aw Echegoyen, executive produc-

er, said: “He wanted to make a romantic comedy, and I had been looking for a filmmaker to work with who could make a movie that was more about my experience. Because at the time we had a lot of movies about West Coast gangs and violence. That wasn’t my experience. I was more like the Winona Ryder character in “Reality Bites” than the Regina King character in “Boyz N the Hood.”

Nick Weschler, producer: “It just felt like I hadn’t seen these characters in this kind of a love story. (Witcher’s) approach for Black characters and a Black audience … it just felt real, like its own thing.’’

Julia Chasman, executive producer: “It was the first script that I had seen that was attempting to show the lifestyles of a whole sector of young African-American artists — the sort of striving artist that we were so used to seeing in White movies.’’

Young ‘Mahogany’ Larenz Tate (Darius Lovehall): “They were intellectuals. They were not afraid to be vulnerable

and to be in love and to face their feelings in a way that we probably hadn’t seen people of color do in a long time. That was really nice.’’

Lisa Nicole Carson (Josie Nichols): “It seemed like a young ‘Mahogany. ‘It was very adult but still capturing the experiences of Black young people.’’

Leonard Roberts (Eddie Coles): ‘If you are 22 and you’re Black and it’s 1996, you’ve never seen a movie with more than four people of color where somebody doesn’t die or somebody isn’t in prison or somebody isn’t struggling. I told (my agent) that that alone was getting me through the door. I still have the script. It sits on my bookshelf.’’

The chemistry Though most would say “Love Jones” would not be “Love Jones” without Long and Tate, neither actor was Witcher’s first choice.

Witcher: “Believe it or not, I had Jada Pinkett (Smith) in mind. … I had seen her on “A Different World” and thought she had a very different sensibility from other Black actresses of her gen-

eration. I tried to get her and she passed.’’

“Then the studio came in — and this is how Hollywood works — and had had a lot of success with Larenz (Tate). They had made “Menace II Society” and, from a marketing (and) numbers standpoint, said, “Look, if you can get Larenz, we’ll make the movie.” His participation became integral to getting a green light.’’

Tate: “We had our meeting of the minds, and there were some things that I saw differently than he, as far as the character. But what I gathered from him was that we would have a work relationship that was open and that we would be able to do it in a collective way.’’

Nia Long (Nina Mosley): “I honestly felt like our chemistry was the best. It felt amazing and it felt right, and we looked good together and it looked believable. Ted just really wanted two Black people that were identified as being Black and beautiful in this movie. It wasn’t meant to be any more than a story about two Black people falling in love.’’

Witcher’s only feature “Love Jones,” which wasn’t considered a hit, was Witcher’s first movie and still is his only feature film. Though many, including Spike Lee, projected a promising future for the writerdirector, he hasn’t made a movie since.

“It is very difficult to sustain any kind of career in show business and much less a career in which you’re trying to make choices based on your own creative impulses and pursue your own individual vision. It is very difficult because it’s a highly, highly commercial business.,” Witcher said.

“There’s a little bit of room for creative expression. They’ll let a few of those guys loose, off the reservation, but not many. Then, you add the Black thing in … it’s challenging.

He added, “If the movie had been a hit, I might have been able to force some hands, but not having the platform of commercial success really limits your ability to throw your weight around.

They’ll just pull up the numbers and be, like, “Why are you in my office at all with this gross?”

FOOD

B6

MARCH 24 – MARCH 30, 2017

FIX UP A FLAVORFUL

Spring table

Hearty and flavorful Make your meal a hearty, tasty one by starting it off with this recipe for Herbed Veggie Focaccia Bread, a pizza-esque flatbread that’s a delicious alternative to alltoo-common unhealthy appetizers.

Topped with mushrooms, tomatoes, peppers, olives and onion, this delightful small plate packs a nutritious load of veggies. Find more nutritious recipes at AICR.org.

HERBED VEGGIE FOCACCIA BREAD Reprinted with permission from the American Institute for Cancer Research Servings: 12 Dough: 1 cup whole-wheat flour

1 cup all-purpose flour, divided 1 package (1/4 ounce) quickrise yeast 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup warm water, 125-130 F 1 tablespoon canola oil Topping: 7 medium fresh mushrooms, sliced 3 plum tomatoes, chopped 1 small green bell pepper, slivered 1/2 cup sliced black olives 1/4 cup chopped red onion 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano 1/4 teaspoon thyme 1/4 teaspoon basil 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

nonstick cooking spray 2 teaspoons cornmeal Heat oven to 475 F. To make dough: In mixing bowl, combine whole-wheat flour, 1/2 cup allpurpose flour, yeast and salt. Add water and oil. Beat until smooth. Stir in remaining allpurpose flour to form soft dough.

Place onto floured surface and knead by hand until consistent and elastic, about 4 minutes.

Cover and let stand 15 minutes.

To make topping: In bowl, combine mushrooms, tomatoes, green bell pepper, olives, onion, oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, oregano, thyme, basil and garlic powder.

Coat 15-by-10-by-1-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Sprinkle with cornmeal.

Gently press dough into pan. With fork, generously prick dough.

Bake 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cover dough with topping mixture. Bake additional 10 minutes, or until edges are golden brown.

S

Fast, flavorful fish dinner If warm spring weather has you in the mood for a simple fish dinner, look to your humble sheet pan. Follow these simple tips from Dr. Wendy Bazilian, McCormick Health Advisor and Registered Dietitian, to enjoy tasty seafood recipes you’ll want to make all year long.

• Sheet pans are perfect for simple fish dinners because they require minimal cleanup and everything is baked on one pan.

• While lemon is a great complement to seafood, think about pairing with other citrus flavors like orange and lime. Try marinating shrimp in a mixture of lite coconut milk, lime extract, ginger and red pepper.

• Add colorful vegetables like zoodles or asparagus to your sheet pan to boost both seafood and vegetable servings.

Dessert makeover Strawberries are a seasonal favorite. Indulge by skipping the shortcake and whipping up this lower-calorie dessert for more flavor and less guilt. A whole-wheat crust layered with simple, low-fat ingredients and topped with fresh strawberries provides a tasty springtime treat.

Find more good-for-you recipes at AICR.org.

STRAWBERRY AND CHEESE REFRIGERATOR PIE Reprinted with permission from the American Institute for Cancer Research Servings: 8 1 prepared whole-wheat graham cracker pie crust (9 inches) 4 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese

This is Sunday Dinner. It’s when we all come together to enjoy really good food. And each other.

Get recipes at publix.com/sunday-dinners.

COCONUT LIME SHRIMP WITH ZOODLES Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 15 minutes Servings: 4 1/4 cup Thai Kitchen Coconut Milk (regular or lite) 1 teaspoon McCormick Ground Ginger 1/2 teaspoon McCormick Garlic Powder 1/4 teaspoon McCormick Crushed Red Pepper 1/4 teaspoon McCormick Pure Lime Extract 1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined 1 small zucchini, cut into thin noodles with spiralizer 1 medium yellow squash, cut into thin noodles with spiralizer

1 medium carrot, cut into thin noodles with spiralizer 2 tablespoons oil 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon McCormick Ground Black Pepper Heat oven to 375 F. In large, re-sealable plastic bag, mix together coconut milk, ginger, garlic powder, crushed red pepper and lime extract. Add shrimp; turn to coat well.

Refrigerate 15-30 minutes. Remove shrimp from marinade. Discard any remaining marinade. In center of large, shallow, foil-lined baking pan, arrange shrimp in single layer.

In large bowl, toss vegetable noodles and oil.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper; toss to coat well. Spread noodles around shrimp in pan.

Bake 10-15 minutes, or until shrimp turn pink and are cooked through and noodles are tender. Serve shrimp over vegetable noodles.

Test kitchen tip: For faster prep, use 4 cups store-bought spiralized vegetable noodles instead of spiralizing them yourself.

1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream 2 tablespoons extra-fine sugar 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 pound strawberries 1/2 cup strawberry fruit spread 1 teaspoon lemon juice (optional) Heat oven to 350 F. Place crust on baking sheet and bake 8 minutes, or until golden and fragrant.

Transfer to wire rack and cool completely.

Place cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, lemon zest and vanilla in small bowl. Using hand mixer on medium speed or wooden spoon, blend until com bined and smooth.

Spread cheese mixture evenly over bottom of pie crust.

Refrigerate until set, 1-2 hours.

Before serving, cut off tops of strawberries. Halve largest ones and place in bowl. Cut remaining berries lengthwise in quarters and place in another bowl.

Melt fruit spread in bowl in microwave or in small saucepan over medium heat, stirring often. Mix in lemon juice, if using, and divide hot fruit spread between two bowls of berries. Using fork, toss until fruit is coated.

Spoon quartered fruit into center of pie, turning most pieces cut-side down.

Arrange larger halves in circle around edge of pie with flat side facing rim of crust and pointing toward center of pie.

Fill open spaces with any remaining fruit spread.

Serve pie within 1 hour.

You don’t need a spiralizer to make zoodles because many grocery stores offer pre-made zoodles in the produce section.

Explore more recipes to enjoy during spri ng and beyond at McCormick.com, or look for McCormick Spice on Facebook and Pinterest.