Florida Courier - April 04, 2014

Page 1

FC

EE FR

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

www.flcourier.com

READ US ONLINE

What you should know about Final Four

Like us on Facebookwww.facebook.com/ flcourier Follow us on Twitter@flcourier

Page B1

www.flcourier.com

APRIL 4 – APRIL 10, 2014

VOLUME 22 NO. 14

GOAL!

President Obama says ‘Obamacare’ enrolled 7.1 million people – well above the original goal of six million enrollees. But don’t expect opposition to the Affordable Care Act to quit fighting for repeal anytime soon. BY CHRISTI PARSONS TRIBUNE WASHINGTON BUREAU / MCT

WASHINGTON – In a buoyant Rose Garden event Tuesday to announce that 7.1 million people signed up by the deadline for the first round of Obamacare, President Obama gleefully

declared his health care law “good for the country” and pledged he would work to perfect it in the months to come. But as his audience whistled and cheered at the number of enrollments – a target the White House previously said it couldn’t hit – the president quickly

Black churches are ‘too quiet’ Holmes kicks off Baptist candidacy

COURTESY OF WHITEHOUSE.GOV

President Obama and his administration take credit for signing of millions of Americans for health care as Vice President Joe Biden grins in the background. sharpened his message in- More than expected to a critique of those he said From the start of the day, have “based their entire po- the White House was giddy litical agenda on repealing” over passing the 7 million mark. After the disastrous the Affordable Care Act.

launch of HealthCare.gov, the administration revised that target downward by 1 million. The website was eventually fixed, though it

faltered Monday under the high volume. Democrats in Congress said that when everyone who started the process completes their enrollments later this month, the total could reach 8 million. Already, the enrollment has hit the mark predicted by the Congressional Budget Office when the law passed in 2010. At the most basic level, that means it is mostly working as advertised. “This law is doing what it’s supposed to do,” Obama said. “It’s helping people from coast to coast, all of which makes the lengths to which critics have gone to scare people or undermine the law or try to repeal the law without offering any plausible alternative so hard to understand.” “I’ve got to admit,” he went on, “I don’t get it. Why See GOAL, Page A2

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. / 1929-1968

‘Let us slay the dreamer’

TRICE EDNEY NEWS WIRE

WASHINGTON – Tallahassee-based pastor Dr. R. B. Holmes announced his candidacy for the presidency of the National Baptist Convention USA, Inc. (NBC) during a press conference at the National Press Club announcement on March 25. Holmes called on the Black church to rise and take back its historic role in fighting for social justice issues. “The Black church has become too quiet, too passive, too disconnected when it comes to challenging policies, programs and persons that degrade and devastate our people,” said Holmes, flanked by dozens of church and community leaders. He also announced the formation of a 40-member National Pastors’ Task Force to repeal and repair “stand your ground” laws.

‘Step forward’ “We have come here today to say to Black America and to the country that we as a people of color and faith are now ready to step forward to address some of the most urgent and critical needs impacting the Black community,” Holmes exclaimed. “We can and must lead the way to resolve and solve the present problems in our communities. We have come here also to launch my candidacy for the National Baptist Convention, which is one of the nation’s oldest and largest religious organizations.” Pastor of the Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Tallahassee, Holmes is not new to the national stage. He is former president of

AP PHOTO

On April 4, 1968 – 46 years ago today – the Revs. Hosea Williams, Jesse Jackson, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Ralph Abernathy were together at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn. Moments after this picture was taken, Dr. King was shot on the hotel balcony and died almost instantly.

See HOLMES, Page A2

Broward County political activist Carlton B. Moore dies FROM STAFF REPORTS

From NAACP

Carlton B. Moore, a former Fort Lauderdale city commissioner and longtime political activist in Broward County, died April 2 as a result of complications of a stroke he suffered on Christmas Day 2013. He was 60. Carlton B. A Tampa naMoore tive, Moore led the NAACP’s Fort Lauderdale branch in the 1980s, fighting against discriminatory activity by local banks and advocating for better public housing and single-member districts.

He launched his political career by jumping from the NAACP to the Fort Lauderdale City Commission in 1988, when he beat Fort Lauderdale’s first Black city commissioner, Andrew DeGraffenreidt, to win the office. Moore went on to serve as a city commissioner for almost 20 years, with short interruptions caused by resignations in 2000 and 2008 to run for the Broward County commission. He lost the 2000 race, then won the special election that was necessary after his resignation, allowing him to return to the city commission. Moore lost the 2008 county commission race by less than 200 votes before leaving the city com-

ALSO INSIDE

mission for good. He again ran unsuccessfully for the Broward County Commission in 2010, his last political campaign.

Great legacy Many improvements in Fort Lauderdale’s predominately Black Northwest area were as a consequence of Moore’s unceasing advocacy. He was instrumental in bringing a multimillion-dollar family health center and a new post office to the area, streetscape improvements, a $550 million sewer project, and passage of a $40 million fire safety bond to build new fire stations throughout the city. He was also a staunch supporter of the Fort Lauderdale Housing Authority, especially when the agency began a campaign to evict drug dealers and establish a construction jobs apprenticeship program in the 1990s.

Environmental justice Moore fought to get funding to remove poisonous ash and soil from the site of the city’s abandoned Wingate incinerator site, a 61-acre property located in the Black community. From 1954 to 1978, 480 tons of garbage burned a day at the site. Black residents blamed the incinerator for causing cancers, birth defects and other health problems for decades as they breathed the fumes before the site was shut down. The facility was designated a ‘Superfund’ site by the U.S. Department of Environmental Protection in 1989; $61 million was spent to prevent the toxins from spreading.

Post-election activity Moore, a life member of the NAACP, participated in various

SNAPSHOTS FLORIDA | A3

Former ‘100’ member gets year in jail

NATION | A6

Exonerations in 2014 expected to outpace last year OBITUARY | B2

It’s been 30 years since death of Marvin Gaye

See MOORE, Page A2

COMMENTARY: CHARLES W. CHERRY II: RANDOM THOUGHTS OF A FREE BLACK MIND | A4 COMMENTARY: GEORGE E. CURRY: BUY BLACK – AN ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT STRATEGY | A5


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
Florida Courier - April 04, 2014 by Central Florida Communicators Group, LLC - Issuu