Florida Courier - April 17, 2015 by Central Florida Communicators Group, LLC

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APRIL 17 – APRIL 23, 2015

VOLUME 23 NO. 16

‘WHAT DO YOU WANT TO KNOW?’ Bethune-Cookman University’s sixth president believes he’s moving the school in the right direction, despite questions from alumni and others. BY JENISE GRIFFIN MORGAN FLORIDA COURIER

DAYTONA BEACH – A controversial $72 million residence hall project, the creation of a community development corporation without its board of trustees’ knowledge, and recent on- and off-campus shootings with injuries to students have sparked questions about transparency and operations at Bethune-Cookman University (B-CU), the only private historically Black institution of higher learning in Florida. In an exclusive interview with the Florida Courier on Tuesday in his office, Dr. Edison Jackson, BCU’s president, addressed a myriad of questions about fiscal matters, being open to stakeholders,

Fewer gassed, less force

security, the future for HBCUs, and public access to the B-CU campus.

Hot-button issue With the guidance of its former vice president of fiscal affairs, Emmanuel Gonsalves, B-CU entered into a 40-year-leasing agreement with a real estate developer for construction of two dormitories financed by private investors. The new dorms are expected to be completed by January 2016 and would provide 1,200 additional beds on campus. After 40 years of lease payments, B-CU will own the residence halls. Jackson said projections show that B-CU will generate $250

CHARLES W. CHERRY II / FLORIDA COURIER

B-CU President Dr. Edison Jackson spent almost two hours answering questions from Florida See B-CU, Page A2 Courier Senior Editor Jenise Griffin Morgan.

PERCY TYRONE SLEDGE / 1940-2015

‘Baby, please don’t treat me bad’ In this file photo, singer Percy Sledge performed at the Rock’ N’ Roll Hall of Fame’s 20th anniversary induction gala dinner in 2005, the year he was initiated into the Hall. Sledge, whose most popular song was “When A Man Loves A Woman,” died Tuesday. Read his obituary on Page B2.

But will fewer inmates die? BY DARA KAM THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

TALLAHASSEE – Florida Department of Corrections Secretary Julie Jones plans to bar the use of chemical agents on prisoners with histories of respiratory ailments and is changing procedures to reduce the use of force on severely mentally ill inmates. The changes to the policy regarding inmates with respiratory ailments, such as asthma, come after reports of at least two prisoners dying as a result of complications from preexisting breathing-related medical conditions. Guards had gased the inmates. In one case first reported by The News Service of Florida last month, Rommell Johnson, an inmate at the Northwest Florida Reception Center, died in 2010 after being gassed with noxious chemicals less than five hours after being treated for an asthma attack. The state later paid his family $175,000 to settle a wrongfuldeath lawsuit against the prison and a nurse who worked at the prison the night Johnson died. Three months later, Randall Jordan-Aparo, who suffered from a chronic blood condition that caused respiratory problems, died after being repeatedly gassed by guards at Franklin Correctional Institution. Reports last

NICOLAS KHAYAT/ABACA PRESS

See INMATES, Page A2

SNAPSHOTS

Florida activist honored for technology and social justice work

FLORIDA | A3

Bill on guns in schools likely dead this session

COMPILED FROM WIRE REPORTS

NATION | A6

U.S. removing Cuba from list of state sponsors of terror HEALTH | B3

Faith in family, God helps columnist cope with ALS

ALSO INSIDE

WASHINGTON, D.C. – David Honig, a longtime civil rights activist and media advocate with deep ties to Florida, was honored for his dedication to ensuring that communities of color have equal opportunity to participate in and benefit from critical new media and telecom services. Honig, the coDavid founder and imHonig

mediate past president of the Multicultural Media, Telecom, and Internet Council (MMTC), received the National Urban League’s Civil Rights Partner Organization Champion Award last month. The award was for his “untiring work as a champion in fighting for justice and social change.” “Thirty-five years ago, (National Urban League President) Marc Morial and I were at Georgetown’s law school together, and we co-chaired the AntiApartheid Committee. The common wisdom is that as you get older, you get more conservative

and become less of an activist. Obviously that theory didn’t apply to Marc or me,” Honig said.

Decades of activism Honig founded MMTC nearly 30 years ago in order to provide African-Americans, Latinos, and other historically marginalized communities with a strong voice on media and telecommunications issues. MMTC achieved many victories, including FCC approval of the rule against racial discrimination in the placement of advertising. He also founded the

nation’s only media and telecom brokerage focused on increasing non-White ownership of media properties, participating in nearly $2 billion in transactions. Though Honig no longer manages the day-to-day affairs of MMTC, he remains the group’s senior legal counsel.

Florida connections Honig has expanded his focus to encompass a range of emerging civil rights issues in the energy sector. Through his longtime work with the Florida State See HONIG, Page A2

COMMENTARY: A. PETER BAILEY: CELEBRATING BLACK TROOPS’ ENTRY INTO RICHMOND | A4 COMMENTARY: GLEN FORD: KILLER COPS BOOST BODY COUNT IN WAR ON BLACK AMERICA | A5

FOCUS

APRIL 17 – APRIL 23, 2015

INMATES from A1

summer of the inmate’s death, stumbled upon by investigators probing corruption at the prison, unleashed a floodgate of news stories and inquiries into questionable inmate deaths.

Not ‘on my watch’ Jones, who took over the agency earlier this year, said she decided to change the policy after being questioned about it by The News Service of Florida. “It’s not anything that’s happened on my watch, or even recently. But looking at history can help generate policy. And if we can keep an incident like any of those we’ve talked about in the past from happening again, that’s a good thing,” Jones said during an interview Tuesday. “I’m going to be very clear in our policy that if the health care folks say that you can’t use chemical agents, you’re not going to use chemical agents. Period.”

Medical certification Current policy requires medical staff to certify that chemical agents, which cause respiratory distress and can be lethal for asthmatics, may be used on inmates who have certain medical conditions. Although Johnson was treated for a severe asthma attack around 2 p.m. on June 3, 2010, a nurse working a later shift gave guards permission to use the highly concentrated pepper spray, according to incident reports. Under the new policy Jones is in the process of implementing, chemical agents could no longer be used for inmates who have histories of breathing problems. “Certainly that is good news for people whose respiratory tract has been compromised. It’s long overdue, but it’s certainly a welcome change in policy,” said Florida Justice Institute Executive Director Randall Berg, who represented Johnson’s mother in the lawsuit against the state.

Medical vs. security Jones, who called the policy change “huge,” plans to require mental-health workers to conduct crisis interventions to determine the extent to which an

B-CU from A1

million from the project, which could eventually help fund a student center, expand its science building and improve the gymnasium.

Why this agreement? Why was the decision made instead of taking another route? Jackson explained. “Some (potential) developers wanted us to use our bonding capacity to build the finance, the development of those residence halls. If we had used that instrument, then if there were any major catastrophes, we would not have any other capacity to go out in the marketplace because the university has some debt that has occurred over the years that they’re still paying off and we certainly didn’t want to go into our endowment, which is $50 million – because that’s like an insurance policy as well.’’ In the fall 2014, B-CU enrolled 4,045 students, an increase of 258 students over the previous year. Jackson said most of the university’s dormitories are more than 50 years old and need upgrading or replacing. Last year, Meigs Hall was shut down because of mold and more than 170 students were moved to off-campus housing. Before Meigs Hall was closed, B-CU had about 1,900 beds, Jackson said. He added that the university is paying the rent of 350 students who are living off campus. “It’s like a zero return on investment. When students are living on campus, there’s a margin of profits. Living off campus, it’s a drain,” he remarked. He further noted that 200 to 300 potential new freshmen were lost last year because the university didn’t have on-campus housing for them.

CDC squashed However, board members and alumni are questioning if the project was financially the right move, especially in light of Gonsalves’ sudden departure from

FLORIDA COURIER FILES

Mentally ill inmates, who make up about 17 percent of Florida’s 100,000 prisoners, will not be handled differently when they create disturbances in Florida state prisons. inmate’s mental health diagnosis is related to his or her disruptive or maladaptive behavior, according to an internal document obtained by The News Service of Florida. “So where we have these difficult inmates, rather than automatically using use of force if they’re making a disturbance, I want to have them evaluated with mental-health care staff first. If it’s a mental-health crisis, it should be a medical response, not a security response. Right now, security is responding to everything,” she said. Guards now must undergo eight hours of “critical incident training,” one of a series of reforms implemented by Jones’ predecessor, Mike Crews, as part

of an effort to “change the culture” of the beleaguered corrections system. Jones also said Tuesday she intends to increase staffing levels at the state’s 10 mental-health units as part of her reworking of contracts with private health-care vendors. Berg called the mental-health changes “a significant shift in policy” that should eliminate excessive use of force by corrections officers on mentally ill inmates acting out on their diseases. But, he cautioned, policy changes alone won’t make prisoners any safer. “There’s a huge gap between writing policies and following policies. That’s where the proof is in the pudding,” he said.

Lawmakers respond

the school in January. According to Jackson, Gonsalves left B-CU in January to “pursue his personal and professional ambitions.’’ Jackson brought Gonsalves to the university a few years ago. Gonsalves had worked for Jackson when he (Jackson) was president of Medgar Evers College in New York. A decision by Gonsalves last year to establish a community development corporation (CDC) without the board’s knowledge raised eyebrows and led more than 250 alumni to sign a petition urging B-CU’s board of trustees to immediately conduct an independent forensics audit of the university’s finances. They were supposed to present the petition Wednesday night at a B-CU board meeting – after the Florida Courier’s press time. According to B-CU, the proposed CDC was part of an overall strategy to sustain business development and growth in Midtown, a predominantly Black community in Daytona Beach. The plan was prepared by Gonsalves and included names of people who were not formally contacted by the university but were proposed by the Office of Fiscal Affairs for consideration by the administration and the board, the university stated last month. In January, the board killed it before it got off the ground. “The board did not know about it,” Jackson acknowledged Tuesday. “It was going to be presented to the board but we got entangled in so much that the decision was made just to disband it.’’ Jackson envisions a CDC in the future, adding that it’s not usual for universities to have them so it will be independent from the parent company. But, he assured, “We’ll go about forming it differently.’’

Community Development Corporation, (2) Gonsalves left a similar position at Medgar Evers College under mysterious circumstances and (3) he abruptly left his financial officer position at Bethune-Cookman. This last point in particular makes very clear the urgent need for the transparency and accountability that can be executed solely through an independent forensic audit.” In response to the alumni’s petition, Jackson said three alums on the board represent B-CU’s National Alumni Association. “They voted for this project,” he said, referring to the $72 million residence hall project. “What do you want to know…because the board made that decision.’’ He added that there are seven B-CU graduates on the board. “And so the question is, what do you want to see... and you have elected representatives on the board and they have not raised any questions at the board meetings. “You can, I guess, throw stones at anything. This project is a good project.’’

Trudie Kibbe Reed, had suggested closing off streets that provide direct access to the campus to provide a safer environment for students. Reed’s proposal was widely panned by local residents and was never approved by the Daytona Beach City Commission. Jackson said he’s now ready to investigate and discuss that possibility. During a Feb. 23 shooting that occurred on campus, three students were shot and suffered non life-threatening injuries. Ladelle Pleasure, 21, who was a B-CU student, was charged in the incident. On April 3, four students were shot and received non lifethreatening injuries at a house party held off-campus. Vincent “Wu’’ Smith, allegedly a 23-yearold former B-CU student, has been arrested. He is accused of firing several rounds inside the house. All but one of the injured students are still matriculating on campus. One mom decided to take her son home to heal, but Jackson said B-CU is working with him to make sure he can complete his schoolwork. “Thank God they are mending quite well,’’ Jackson said about the students who were shot. “It’s disturbing that some young people feel to settle a dispute is through violence, with a gun.”

Answers for alumni An online Change.org petition formed by alumni states, “We, the undersigned alumni of Bethune-Cookman, insist upon the timely and unimpeded execution of an independent forensic audit of our alma mater’s finances because (1) no one claims to know the purpose of the aforementioned Bethune-Cookman

‘Nothing sinister’ On the issue of transparency, Jackson believes Bethune-Cookman is being open enough. He mentioned that the university has an annual audit, a report on B-CU’s finances that shows “We’ve got a clean bill of health.’’ “It’s not like we aren’t open. Yes, we are. Every board member knows the fiscal health of the university.’’ Because B-CU is a private university, the board meetings are closed. “The meetings are not public. It’s not up to me; it’s not my decision,” he stated. When asked if he would favor them being open to the public or streamed online as public universities do, he replied, “It doesn’t matter to me. There’s nothing sinister about what we do there, but that’s a board decision.’’

Student shootings Another campus proposal that soon could spark more controversy involves safety. Jackson’s predecessor, Dr.

On Tuesday, the House Judiciary Committee approved a dramatically altered plan aimed at curbing corruption and purging prisons of rogue guards. House Criminal Justice Chairman Carlos Trujillo’s revamped plan (HB 7131) would require specialized training for guards to handle mentally ill inmates “in non-forceful ways,” create a pilot project that would require guards working in mental-health units at Union Correctional Institution to wear body cameras and split the state into five corrections regions – an increase of two – headed by directors who can serve a maximum of four years. The Senate approved a sepa-

Taking action Since the shootings, the university has increased its numbers of public service officers and cameras – including those that can record license numbers. Jackson said B-CU would provide more recreational activities on campus. The university will begin hosting alcohol-free parties on campus and a 24-hour eatery is opening so students won’t have to leave campus to get a late-night meal. “Students come here and parents bring their children here thinking they’re going to be safe and we have a responsibility to do that,” he added.

Part 2 of Jackson’s interview will be featured in the Florida Courier next week.

rate plan that would create an independent oversight commission to police prisons, now handled by the agency’s inspector general who works for Gov. Rick Scott’s inspector general. Both plans contain similar elements dealing with oversight of chemical agents and making it easier for inmates to file grievances. “You have organizational issues, structural issues, and personality issues,” Trujillo, R-Miami, said, adding that most of the state’s 22,000 corrections employees are hard-working and honest. “But that 2, 3, 4 percent, whatever that number is, they are so bad that they’re casting complete doubt on the integrity of the system.”

HONIG from A1

Conference of NAACP Branches, he’s has worked on a range of environmental issues, from toxic dumping in poor neighborhoods to pursuing claims of “environmentally racist” activities by utilities. His new imitative, the Energy Equity Alliance, was launched to provide a voice for low-income and non-White energy consumers on national and state issues impacting energy affordability, environmental pollution, and energy industry diversity.

Experienced lawyer, writer Honig received a B.A. degree in mathematics from Oberlin College in 1971 and an M.S. degree in Systems Analysis from the University of Rochester in 1974. He earned his law degree in 1983 from Georgetown University Law Center. Since 1983, Honig has also been engaged in the private practice of communications and civil rights law, representing national organizations, broadcasters and broadcast applicants. From 1975 to 1996, Honig taught at Howard University, Catholic University’s Columbus School of Law, and the University of Miami School of Law, respectively. He’s published numerous articles and studies on international and domestic communications issues, group defamation, minority broadcast station ownership, and municipal services discrimination.

APRIL 17 – APRIL 23, 2015

FLORIDA

Bill on guns in schools likely dead this session

Technically, the language could still end up before the Senate. House lawmakers could attach the proposal to another

bill, then send it over to the Senate. The upper chamber would then be free to vote on that legislation – but Legg said he thought that move was unlikely. “If it was (amended) onto something, it would put that bill in severe jeopardy,” he said. The House companion (HB 19) to Evers’ bill has cleared all of its committees but is also essentially dead as a stand-alone bill without its Senate counterpart. Bills that would lead to guns at schools have traditionally faced an uphill challenge in the Senate, which is more moderate on such issues than the House. With supporters saying it would improve school safety, the Evers bill called for allowing trained volunteers or employees to be able to carry guns. Those people would need to have backgrounds in the military or law enforcement. Another controversial measure that would allow people with concealed-weapons licenses to carry guns on the campuses of Florida colleges and universities (SB 176) also has been bottled up in the Senate Judiciary Committee. “I’ve polled the members of the Senate, and there doesn’t seem to be too much support for that bill,” committee Chairman Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, R-Miami, said last week.

ways thought they were close to perfect – until you started doing this bill.” Smith replied that “the elephant in the room is child-care licensing. We think under current law, some of the clubs do not fall under child-care licensing as clarified in some of the statutes.” That’s because some of the clubs serve children as young as 5 or 6, while most provide afterschool care for older children. Smith said the bill would mandate clubs perform what’s known as “level-two screening,” which is a fingerprint-based, national

criminal history search. After the meeting, committee Chairwoman Eleanor Sobel, DHollywood, said her main concern was protecting children. “Sexual predators gravitate to places where there are youngsters, especially places like the Boys and Girls Clubs,” she said. “And we have read numerous newspaper articles about Boys and Girls Clubs throughout the United States who have had employees who were sexual predators. … It’s very, very important that we have the background checks.”

BY BRANDON LARRABEE THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

TALLAHASSEE – A Senate bill that would allow school superintendents to tap employees or volunteers to carry concealed weapons on school property was effectively killed by a committee Wednesday, meaning that two high-profile proposals blending firearms and education could fail during the legislative session. The Senate Education PreK-12 Committee agreed to temporarily postpone – a procedural move similar to tabling – the “school safety” bill (SB 180). Because the committee is not scheduled to meet again, the legislation is bottled up and can’t go before the full Senate. It also can’t be added to another bill on the Senate floor. The bill was postponed as a courtesy to Sen. Greg Evers, the Baker Republican who sponsored the measure, according to Education PreK-12 Chairman John Legg, R-Lutz. It would have failed if the panel voted on it, Legg said. “It did not have the votes in this committee,” he said. J.B. FORBES/ST. LOUS POST-DISPATCH/TNT

St. Louis County Police officer Justin Sparks played the part of an intruder during a training at Parkway West High School on Aug. 7, 2014 in Ballwin, Mo. A Senate measure that would allow designated employees or volunteers to carry concealed weapons on school looking unlikely in Florida.

Senate panel backs exemption for Boys and Girls Clubs THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

A bill that would exempt national groups like the Boys and Girls Clubs from Florida licensing requirements was approved Wednesday by a legislative committee. The bill (SB 250), supported unanimously by the Senate Children, Families and Elder Affairs Committee, would change current law governing child-care facilities to specify that national or-

ganizations with their own standards for local clubs would not be subject to licensure by the state, but would conduct background screening at the level the state requires. Child-care facilities in Florida are required to have licenses that are renewed annually through the Department of Children and Families. Bill sponsor Chris Smith, D-Fort Lauderdale, has argued that the Boys and Girls Clubs already do their due dili-

gence in screening employees, but committee members voted twice earlier to table the bill. ‘Elephant in the room’ On Wednesday, Sen. Nancy Detert, R-Venice, asked Smith why he kept bringing the bill back. “There’s a whole slew of lobbyists on this issue,” she said. “What is the problem you’re trying to solve here?” Smith said he cared about the clubs, and Detert said she did, too. “My grandkids go there,” she added. “I al-

Uphill challenge

EDITORIAL

APRIL 17 – APRIL 23, 2015

Is it a pyramid scheme or a legit business opportunity? We have all experienced this before. An extended family member, an old friend or a co-worker calls you up and invites you to an opportunity meeting. At the meeting, you hear the pitch that you are getting in on the ground floor, and you are going to make more money than you could ever imagine on your job. You probably were once seduced into thinking you would get rich in the business, only to experience little to no success. So the next time someone calls you up inviting you to look at an opportunity, you label it a scam, a pyramid scheme. But let’s have some real talk. Pyramid schemes are illegal. So are Ponzi schemes, and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission prosecutes perpetrators of pyramids and Ponzi schemes, which trick people into spending lots of money and there is no actual product or service being exchanged.

TENESHIA LAFAYE MISS MONEY SENSE

Another name So now that we have gotten that out of the way, let’s address what many of these business opportunities really are. They are network marketing organizations that offer people the opportunity to be direct sellers of unique or highly demanded products, and these people earn commissions for selling products and/or services. Usually there is a multi-level marketing aspect in which the direct sellers, also known as distributors, get a percentage or override of the production of the people they recruited into their downline.

By allowing individuals to sell directly to their family, friends or whoever will listen, it cuts down costs for clients because of the elimination of storefront overhead, television advertising and junk mail. It also gives the little person an opportunity to own his or her own business with the credibility, training and inventory from a big corporation for that individual to make an attempt to achieve the American dream of wealth.

Tough sell These opportunities are nicknamed MLMs in their industries and offer something for any business interest without the hefty upstart costs and maintenance fees of a traditional business. So if you like coffee, you can pay a few hundred bucks to sell and recruit a downline to offer Organo Gold’s coffee instead of applying

HILLARY RUNS FOR 2016

for a mega bank loan or spending your life savings to open a Starbucks. If you want to help people plan for retirement, you can join a company such as World Financial Group to offer solutions from dozens of carriers, such as Prudential, Nationwide, etc. An opportunity that I am really excited about is All Communications Network (ACN). Billionaire Donald Trump endorses ACN, which offers individuals the opportunity to broker services of top carriers, such as Verizon Wireless, Direct TV, ADT, Sprint and Dish, in order to lower client’s electric, cell, cable, internet, home phone bills and more. Distributors also may build a team of people around them to offer the services. Only a small percentage of people ever succeed in network marketing or MLMs, but that’s in any field. How many little boys and girls dream of being a pro-

March down Main

Smell the political Black coffee Every election season, so-called Negro leaders race each other to see who can be first to endorse, contribute, and support every political candidate that offers them some Folgers, Maxwell House, Starbucks, or some Blue Mountain coffee from the hills of Jamaica! Black voters and Black citizens are running for their lives from modern-day overseers with badges that will hurl insults and epithets at unarmed and nonviolent Black people right before they hit, punch, choke, Taser, shoot or kill them. Meanwhile, so-called Negro leaders are running to the coffee pot!

So-called Negro leaders will sell us out for coffee beans! I don’t blame the Negro leaders. I blame you, Black people, for letting Buckwheat and Kingfish continue to say they represent you.

‘A good man’

Hillary is a Democrat

Just get the coffee pot boiling and invite the modern day Fiddlers, Chicken Georges and Jemimas to the White House, Parliament, to the governor’s mansion, to city hall and to the county commission. After some sips of java, old Tom and Jezebel will go straight to the Black church or the Black press to tell you the political devil is a “good man!” Women won’t do anything for any candidate unless women are hired on the campaign staff. Hispanics won’t lift a finger until Hispanic businesses and professionals get contracting opportunities. Jews won’t look a candidate’s way unless some Jewish person is put in a decision making position on the campaign staff.

LUCIUS GANTT THE GANTT REPORT

I know how Black voters are told they should love Democrats. Hillary Clinton is no Barack Obama or Bill Clinton! But the so-called leaders that you love could care less. All they want is an invitation to the coffee reception and a front seat at the photo opportunity. Stop putting politicians first that put you last! Save your support, contributions and votes for the political candidates that address your issues and concerns, hire and contract your people, and speak out strongly about equal rights and justice in America!

Contact Lucius at www.allworldconsultants.net.

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

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

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Teneshia LaFaye is a former award-winning newspaper journalist and a nationally certified financial education instructor. Click on this article at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

Celebrating Black troops' triumphant entry into Richmond On Sunday, April 3, 1865, according to Thomas Morris Chester, the only Black Civil War correspondent, “Brevet Brigadier General Draper’s brigade of colored troops, and Brevet Major General August Kautz’s division were the first infantry to enter Richmond. The gallant 36th U.S. Colored Troops, under Lieutenant Colonel B.F. Pratt, has the honor of being the first regiment…” That memorable, important, and neglected historic event was commemorated and celebrated in Richmond on April 3 and 4, 2015. For me personally, highlights of the two day were as follows:

PARESH NATH, THE KHALEEJ TIMES, UAE

fessional athlete, but only a few actually do. How many people want to retire rich, but only 1% actually do. Truth be told, most people will never retire rich. But MLMs give you a legitimate opportunity to try. I have been involved in MLMs for more than 15 years. I have never gotten rich, but I have created a good life for myself and my family. Right now, I am part of three MLMs that are quite successful, and one could lead to riches. But if not, at least I took my shot at the American dream and have landed in the six-figure range.

The re-enactment of the entry of Black Union Troops: As the re-enactors marched down Main Street, which was the center of Richmond’s highly profitable trading and selling of African people, tears flowed as I visualized what must have been an incredibly emotional event for those ancestors. A significant number of them had probably been sold in Richmond. I remember reading once that a Virginia legislator in pre – Civil War times described his state as a “slave raising state.” A joyous ceremony on the site of the African Burial Grounds where thousands of our enslaved ancestors are buried: For years the site was a concrete-covered parking lot. Only tenacious determination from concerned Black Richmonders (and some Whites) compelled public officials to remove the concrete so the site could live again. This movement was mainly led by former Richmond City Councilman Sa’ad El-Amin. With a mind and soul stirring combination of African-inspired drumming, music, dance, poetry, chants and shouts, the military victory over the enslavers in the former capital of the Confederacy was celebrated. It was educational and exciting.

Shokoe Bottom A walking tour of the area in Richmond called Shockoe Bottom: This was Richmond’s business district in pre-Civil War days and the main business was the trading and selling of many thousands of Af-

A. PETER BAILEY TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM

rican men, women and children. In the book, “The Beleaguered City-Richmond, 1861-1865,” there is a passage describing how the vicious system worked. Potential purchasers would be urged to “Walk up, gentlemen. The sale of a fine likely lot of young niggers is now about to begin. All sorts of niggers sold for no fault but to settle the estate. Old ones, young ones, men and women, gals and boys…” According to the book, “Stripped to the waist, the young bucks would mount the block, show off their points and be knowingly pinched and prodded. With the display of young women went sales talk that did not spare their sensibilities. A girl, 17, who had borne a couple of children might hear herself described as ‘a rattlin’ good breeder…’ And when a sale separated ‘a likely chile-bearin’ woman from her husband and children, the skinflint purchaser might console her with the assurance that he would get her a new husband…” Survivors Only a phenomenally strong group of people could have survived such White supremacist brutality and depravity. We are blessed to have had such ancestors. Journalist and historian Lerone Bennett, Jr. once wrote that the past is a bet that our ancestors placed that we must now cover. Unfortunately, too many Black folks today are not covering that bet. Thankfully the folks who pulled together the commemoration and celebration in Richmond contributed mightily to covering the bet placed by the Black troops and those buried in the African Burial Grounds.

A. Peter Bailey, whose latest book is Witnessing Brother Malcolm X, the Master Teacher, can be reached at apeterb@verizon.net. Click on this article at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

Alice Flowers’ parent abuse bill Alice Slaughter-Flowers and her daughter, Tiffany Kelly, returned home from Tallahassee this week, extremely delighted with the support they received from many of the legislators. After talking to legislators for the second year in a row, and working to get their Parent Abuse bill recognized as a category of Domestic Violence, there is a positive response at the legislative session in 2015. As they work to get the bill passed in the Florida Legislature, they need to raise awareness and ask for your financial support. Parent Abuse refers to abusive tactics (verbal, physical, psychological and economical) from minor children towards parent(s) to gain control, and reverse the parent-to-child role. In 2013, Alice’s sister, Rosemary Slaughter-Pate, a 28-year Lockheed Martin Sr. Contracts Manager, was violently murdered by her then 19-year old son after dealing with these issues for years.

Study underway There is a study underway at the University of Central Florida with families who are experiencing this type of abuse. The purpose of the study is to establish evidence that this behavior is prevalent throughout the state, and put forth effective measures to promote supportive services. Alice and her daughter have formed a non-profit, and 501©3 pending organization called The Morning After Center for Hope and Healing (TMAC). The goal of TMAC is to provide support to parents that are being abused. The organization holds monthly Parent Abuse Awareness and Support Meetups in order to educate, provide a confidential, shame, judgement

ROGER CALDWELL GUEST COLUMNIST

and stigma-free zone to share stories, and recommendations on how to remain safe. The focus is on creating innovative solutions, programs and techniques. Ms. Flowers and her daughter are initiating a state dialogue to create a national and state network while working to have a seat at the table where policies and funding are negotiated and discussed. We desperately need legislation because within the current judicial system, minors are treated differently than adults. Parents are responsible for the care of minor children even when the child displays abusive/violent behavior towards the parent(s); parents could face criminal charges if the child is abandoned. Please join Ms. Flowers and her daughter in their quest by making a donation. The donations will be used for travel, outreach, mailings, workshops and business fees. We welcome the opportunity to further discuss parent abuse. Ms. Flowers can be reached at 321-229-7688 (aliceflowers2@yahoo.com), and Tiffany Kelly at 772-708-4759. Email: themorningaftercenter@gmail.com.

Roger Caldwell is the president/CEO of On Point Media Group. Click on this article at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

APRIL 17 – APRIL 23, 2015

Killer cops boost body count in war on Black America “Go where you may, search where you will, roam through all the monarchies and despotisms of the Old World, travel through South America, search out every abuse, and when you have found the last, lay your facts by the side of the everyday practices of this nation, and you will say with me, that, for revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy, America reigns without a rival....” – Frederick Douglass, July 5, 1852 The United States produced a bumper crop of what Billie Holiday would call “Strange Fruit,” in March: at least 111 bodies, the majority of them unarmed men of color, shot down by police in the blood-fertilized streets of American cities. If one just counts the unarmed victims, that’s a rate of about two extrajudicial executions per day, roughly twice the “one every 28 hours” cited by the Malcolm X Grassroots Network’s 2012 report, Operation Ghetto Storm. Yet, in the same month, President Obama declared Venezuela a threat to the national security of the United States, based largely on the death of 14 “dissidents” during a period of anti-government disturbances back in 2014. Many of the dead were pro-government activists killed by “dissidents.” By contrast, Philadelphia police have been shooting an average of one person a week for the last eight years, the overwhelming majority of them Black and brown, according to a new U.S. Justice Department report. As Frederick Douglass said, “for revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy, America reigns without a rival.”

‘Best practices’ All across the country, the granting of impunity for the perpetrators of summary execution of Black men, women and children is “everyday practice” – now certified as “best practice” by Attorney General Eric Holder, who claims court precedents preclude prosecution of killer cops except under the most extreme conditions. (See “It’s Not the Law – but Prosecutors – That Give Immunity to Killer Cops,” December 10, 2014.) Given the odds against prose-

GLEN FORD BLACK AGENDA REPORT

cution, Officer Michael T. Slager probably counts himself the unluckiest White man in South Carolina. A neighborhood resident’s phone camera captured Slager firing repeatedly into the back of 50 year-old Walter L. Scott, a Black North Charleston father of four with no criminal record who had been stopped for a minor traffic violation, tussled with the officer, and tried to run away. Despite his claims to have been in fear for his life, Slager was charged with murder – a fate he would surely have avoided had he been under the jurisdiction of St. Louis prosecutor Bob McCulloch. Last year, McCulloch’s team led grand jurors to believe that “the law” allowed police to use deadly force against unarmed persons fleeing a felony, as Ferguson officer Darren Wilson claimed was the case with Michael Brown.

Another shooting

distinguished himself as the most murderous member of a mob of 104 cops on a chase-and-shoot spree in Cleveland, Ohio, back in November, 2012. Mistaking a car engine backfire for a gunshot, the crazy cop caravan careened through Cleveland at speeds reaching 100 miles an hour, cornering Timothy Russell, 43, and Malissa Williams, 30, in a school parking lot. Russell and Williams, unarmed, died in a hail of 137 bullets – 49 of them fired by Officer Brelo, now on trial for voluntary manslaughter. Brelo and his partner fired 15 bullets through their own windshield at the Black victims’ car. Then, at a point when, according to the prosecutor, no cop’s life was in danger (except from other officers), Brelo jumped on the hood of the victims’ car and fired 15 more shots at the mortally wounded man and woman. Today, the cop says he has no recollection of the entire episode. In December, the U.S. Justice Department concluded that Cleveland cops routinely use excessive force and are unaccountable to the public. The month before, in November, a city cop killed 12 year-old Tamir Rice as he played with a toy gun at a park. The officer shot the child twice after observing him for a total of two seconds. Officer Brelo’s blank memory on the shootings of Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams, and officer Timothy Loehmann’s blinkof-an-eye deliberations on terminating Tamir Rice, point up the utter lack of value U.S. society places on Black lives. The highprofile killings this week, the obscene death toll last month, the unreported and delayed deaths, are a constant in the bloody history of America. When President Obama insists that racism is not, and has never been, “endemic” to this country, he is simply identifying himself as an active participant in the ongoing slaughter.

However, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled such shootings unconstitutional in 1985, as every public defender knows – and McCulloch surely knew, as well. The South Carolina cop also had the bad judgment to commit murder in clear view of a private citizen’s well-held camera. Last weekend in the town of Zion, Illinois, about 30 miles north of Chicago, cops killed 17-yearold Justus Howell with two shots to the back while he was running away, according to the coroner’s office. Initially, the police reported no weapon on his body, but later the cops claimed the teenager had stolen a gun from another man minutes earlier, leading them to give chase. In time, the cops produced a gun, which they will connect to the other Black man, who was held on $15,000 Another day at work bail, and thereby seek to justify The police, as guardians of the the killing of the unarmed, fleeing State, believe they are simply teenager Justus Howell. doing their jobs. They must be right, since they continue to reBad memory ceive praise, protection and overCleveland cop Michael Brelo whelming White support for car-

Facing ‘officer friendly’ while Black Without the video, North Charleston, S.C. police officer Michael T. Slager would likely have gotten away with murder. Without the video, we wouldn’t see Officer Michael T. Slager have the, shall we say, presence of mind, to quickly retrieve what appears to be his Taser and plant it beside the lifeless body of Walter Lamar Scott. Without the video, Officer Michael T. Slager would no doubt have quickly been coached on the techniques of making himself appear in news media interviews the victim of the lethal encounter with the Black man he killed, 50-year-old Walter Lamar Scott.

We have it Without the video, the conservative punditocracy and talkshow jockeys would be raging that the dead man’s action again proved that Black and Brown civilians are “waging war” on police. But we have the video – one of the technological innovations that increasingly have helped suggest what people of color face from an alarming number of White cops – and the first-degree murder indictment of Officer Michael T. Slager. And so we are faced with a long list of powerful questions: Why did Slager pull over Walter Lamar Scott’s vehicle? Was it really for a broken taillight? Or, was it because Slager, feeding off the power of his badge, wanted to show some Black person – any Black person – who’s boss? What, then, was going through Slager’s mind that led him to not give chase to the unarmed, slowfooted Scott when he ran, but quickly and calmly pull his gun and fire eight times at the fleeing man?

LEE A. DANIELS NNPA COLUMNIST

can be found in a recent instance of a police encounter with Black teenagers that did not escalate to violence but was nonetheless revealing. That incident – captured on a police car camera – occurred in Minneapolis March 18. Four Black teens of Somali descent, having just finished playing basketball at the YMCA, were driving home when they were pulled over by the police for making a U-turn. The police ordered the youths out of the car at gunpoint and handcuffed them, while they searched the car and ran background checks on the car to see if it was stolen and on the youths to see if any had criminal records. They found nothing. None of the youths had a criminal record, and they were subsequently not charged.

‘Officer friendly’

But at the beginning of this hour-long ordeal, a police camera captured this exchange between one of the police officers and one of the youths he was handcuffing: “Plain and simple,” the officer says, “If you [profanity] with me, I’m going to break your leg before you get the chance to run.” The youth responds, “I never said I was going to run.” The officer answers back, “I’m just giving you a heads up. Just trying to be officer friendly right now.” “Can you tell me,” the youth persists, “Why I’m being arrested? The officer responds, “BeAnother incident cause I feel like arresting you.” Is that it: that some White I think some part of the answer to these questions and the cops’ need to show these “colmany others that must be asked ored people” a White man can

control their freedom whenever he “feels like” it? Is that the attitude that explains why Officer Michael T. Slager pulled over the vehicle driven by Walter Lamar Scott? In the aftermath of Scott’s murder, some Black North Charleston residents have said that police constantly racially profile Black drivers there. Comedian Chris Rock’s recent social-media posting of his being repeatedly stopped by police while driving near his suburban New Jersey home suggests that, for Black and Brown drivers that otherwise legitimate police duty remains laced with racist intent.

Servant or criminal? Further, we can go down the long, long list of just recent, controversial White cop-Black or brown civilian encounters and ask is that why so many of them have a palpable undertone of menace: Is it because the White cops are acting on their “feelings?” A final question: How often does a Black or brown person’s chance of surviving an encounter with a White cops come down to whether that officer or those officers have decided to be or not be “Officer Friendly” at that moment? To put that another way: How often does it come down to whether the police officer or officers have decided at that moment to be a public servant of integrity, or a criminal?

Lee A. Daniels is a longtime journalist based in New York City. His essay, “Martin Luther King, Jr.: The Great Provocateur,” appears in Africa’s Peacemakers: Nobel Peace Laureates of African Descent (2014), published by Zed Books. Click on this article at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

EDITORIAL

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: GUNS IN CLASSROOM

MIKE KEEFE, CAGLE CARTOONS

rying out their mission as an army of occupation in Black America. The advent of the Internet and a heightened Black community awareness of police depredations, especially since the murder of Trayvon Martin, in February of 2012, has created the perception among many African Americans that police violence has dramatically increased in recent years. However, history and irrefutable statistics tell us that the “militarization” of the police and the criminalization of Black people as a group are fundamental aspects of a national mission begun in earnest in the late sixties. Michelle Alexander calls it the “New Jim Crow.” Some of us at BAR prefer the term Mass Black Incarceration State, to describe the superstructure of Black control that has been erected over the past 45 years, a machinery that has so relentlessly criminalized the Black community that one out of every eight prison inmates on Earth is an African American. Any genuine movement for criminal justice “reform” must, therefore, aim to abolish the Mass Black Incarceration State, root and branch, by removing the “occupation” army from Black areas and replacing it with a force of Black people’s own choosing. The U.S government set in motion the mass Black incarceration regime in the late sixties for the purpose of counter-insurgency. The structures of Black containment, control and incarceration are now central to the workings of criminal justice in the United States – to the misfortune of lots of White youth who get sucked in-

to the system as unintended “collateral damage.” The logic of the project dictates that those who attempt to dismantle the Black counter-insurgency regime will be treated as insurgents, themselves – a central fact for the Black Lives Matter movement to grapple with.

Black is back The wave of state violence that smashed the Black Panther Party when it challenged the police “army of occupation” in the late sixties, never subsided, but was instead hard-wired into the criminal justice system, nationwide. That’s why the system’s operatives are still trying to kill Mumia Abu Jamal, a former Black Panther and probably the world’s best known political prisoner. That’s why so many other Party comrades are still behind bars – because they are symbols and icons of insurgency, and U.S. police and prison structures have been on a counter-insurgency mission for nearly half a century. And, that’s why the Black Is Back Coalition will hold a national conference on Black Community Control of Police, in St. Louis, April 18 and 19 – because there will be no justice and no peace until the occupying army is gone from our streets. Black people must decide how that can be accomplished – by any means necessary.

BAR Executive Editor Glen Ford can be contacted at Glen. Ford@Black AgendaReport . com. Click on this article at www.flcourier.com.

Valuing AfricanAmericans as human beings How many times are we going to hear of another police shooting regarding a White police officer and an unarmed Black man? What happened in North Charleston, South Carolina with the shooting and killing of Walter Scott, an unarmed Black man at the hands of Officer Michael Slager, a White police officer continues to point to the reality that racism is still prevalent. While too many people want to sound politically correct and avoid using the word ‘racist’ in this context, it’s time that we pull back the covers of ignorance and call it what is. Without the video being made by a conscious observer who witnessed what happened between Officer Slager and Walter Scott, who knows what stories would be given to the media, family, as well as members of the community. To say that the actions of Officer Slager didn’t involve some racial undertones is simply nonsense. Let me illustrate my point in this manner. Commit a crime such as this against someone within the LGBTQ community and it’s called a hate crime. Why within the African-American community do we have to give it another name and not call it what it is? Because no one has the audacity to make a bold statement.

DR. SINCLAIR GREY III GUEST COLUMNIST

admit that, then true conversation and dialoguing can begin. Let’s not hide behind the notion of being a color-blind society because we’re not. The words of Rodney King, ‘can we all just get along’ can become a reality if people regard each other as human beings. However, when someone devalues another human being based on the color of their skin, justice and equality can’t become real. As long as we have those in power who feel as though they are better than others just because... the poor, the disenfranchised, and the marginalized are left to defend for themselves in a system that is already against them. If people want to make a difference, two things must happen: 1. Continuously teach that the color of one’s skin isn’t superior or inferior to another, and 2. Constantly educate the public that the actions of a few isn’t a reflection on the actions of the whole. We have to be committed to such a task and not be afraid of those who refuse to grow up. In addition to this, we must not be afraid ‘More dangerous to call a racist action a racist acthan ever’ tion. Until we begin speaking the Let’s be very clear – racism truth, we will always use banexists within schools, organi- daids to cover up what really is. zations, and institutions. Even Dr. Sinclair Grey III is an acthough it may not be as blatant today as it was 60 to 70 years ago, tivist, speaker, writer, author, the reality is that racism is alive life coach, and host of The Sinand more dangerous than ever. clair Grey Show heard on MonAm I saying that everyone is a days at 2 p.m. on WAEC Love racist? Of course not. What I am 860am (iHeart Radio and Tune saying is that most people have In). Contact him at drgrey@ some preconceived prejudic- sinclairgrey.org or on Twitter es and stereotypes about people @drsinclairgrey. Click on this because of what they read, see, article at www.flcourier.com and witness. When people can to write your own response.

NATION

TOJ A6

APRIL 17 – APRIL 23, 2015 doesn’t allow any money that goes to a Florida state university, including grants from private foundations, to be used to organize, direct or coordinate travel to any country designated a state sponsor of terrorism. Scholars have complained that the restriction has complicated their research efforts.

Banking issues

CAROLYN COLE/LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

Cubans line up at the United States Interests Section in Havana, Cuba to apply for visas to go the the United States on Jan. 30.

US removing Cuba from list of state sponsors of terror President required to inform Congress 45 days before directive takes effect BY MIMI WHITEFIELD MIAMI HERALD/TNS

After 33 years of designating Cuba a state sponsor of terrorism, the United States is removing its Caribbean neighbor from a list of terrorist nations in another sign of warming relations between the two countries. President Barack Obama sent a message to Congress on Tuesday saying Cuba would be removed from the list because it had not provided any support for international terrorism during the preceding six months and that

Cuba had provided assurances that it would not support acts of international terrorism in the future. The State Department began a review of whether Cuba should still have a place on the list of state sponsors of terrorism on Dec. 17, the day Cuba and the United States announced they planned to put more than a half century of hostility behind them and work toward normalizing relations. It forwarded its recommendation to the president last week. In accordance with U.S. law, Obama is required to inform Congress 45 days before the directive takes effect. Congress doesn’t have to validate his decision but it could decide to take action to override his recommendation.

‘Important step forward’ Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, RFla., promptly condemned the action, calling it “a miscarriage of justice borne out of political motivations not rooted in reality.” But Maryland Sen. Benjamin Cardin, who became the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee after New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez — an outspoken critic of White House Cuba policy — stepped aside, called the State Department’s recommendation “an important step forward in our efforts to forge a more fruitful relationship with Cuba.” Pedro Freyre, a Miami lawyer, said removing Cuba from the list “means the removal of a whole range of legislative and legal restrictions.” A 2006 state law, for example,

Cuba’s presence on the list made banks reluctant to handle the accounts of its diplomatic missions in Washington, D.C. and at the United Nations. The two missions have been working on a cash basis for more than year after their former banker, M&T Bank, told them it was getting out of the business of handling the accounts of foreign missions. No other bank has come forward because of fears of regulatory retaliation and they have had good reason to be cautious. The French bank BNP Paribas, for example, was fined $8.9 billion for concealing U.S. dollar transactions with Sudan, Iran and Cuba, and other banks have received heavy fines for transactions involving countries on the list. Cuba’s removal from the terror list should make it easier for its missions to find a bank.

Number of hurdles Removal from the list is also a first step toward Cuba’s gaining “much-needed access” to financial markets and having representation in multilateral financial institutions, said Jason Marczak, deputy director of the Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center. “Eventual membership in the International Monetary Fund and access to development assistance through the World Bank will be instrumental in facilitating Cuba’s full integration into the international financial system and supporting a stronger economy in which Cubans can thrive and U.S. businesses can invest,” he said. But there are a number of hurdles along that path, including U.S. sanctions that “prevent the U.S. from voting for Cuba’s ascension into international financial institutions,” Marczak said. Congress would have to vote to lift them.

Canadian comeback? Craig Alexander, senior vice president and chief economist of Canada’s TD Bank Group, said the new relationship with Cuba could also increase some Canadian companies’ interest in doing business with the United States. Canadian businesses active in Cuba have limited their U.S. business activities, he said. “Now they can engage more with U.S. companies without running into regulatory problems. This actually makes doing business easier.” Cuba was added to the list of state sponsors of terrorism on March 1, 1982, because of its training and arming of communist rebels in Africa and Latin America. In its most recent report on worldwide terrorism in 2013, the State Department said: “There was no indication that the Cuban government provided weapons or paramilitary training to terrorist groups.” Opponents of removing Cuba from the terrorism list, however, have made much of two clandestine weapons shipments.

Sanctioning of company In 2013, a North Korean freighter coming from Cuba and about to transit the Panama Canal was found to be transporting two MIG-21 jets and other undeclared war materiel under sacks of brown sugar. The North Korean shipping company that carried the cargo was sanctioned by the United Nations for violating restrictions on trafficking of weapons systems but Cuba was not. Last month a Hong Kong-registered vessel headed to Cuba carrying an unregistered cargo of ammunition and gunpowder was impounded in the Colombian port of Cartagena and the captain ordered arrested. China has insisted it was part of normal trade. Ben Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser and one of the architects of the new Cuba policy, said removal from the list doesn’t mean the United States is in agreement with a country’s political system or foreign policy or what it does. “It’s a very practical review of whether or not a government is sponsoring terrorism,” he said.

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IFE/FAITH A faith walk for columnist with ALS See page B3

SOUTH FLORIDA / TREASURE COAST AREA

APRIL 17 – APRIL 23, 2015

SHARING BLACK LIFE, STATEWIDE

Spike Lee’s ‘Chiraq’ sparks controversy See page B5

SECTION

WWW.FLCOURIER.COM

PHOTOS BY PATRICK TEHAN/BAY AREA NEWS GROUP

Derek Fisher checks out his haircut as barber Alphonso Jordan looks on during one of the open-to-all and raw conversations had by young and old Black men at The Barbers Inc. on April 2in downtown San Jose, Calif.

FADES AND FELLOWSHIP

Gatherings of Black men, fused by ‘The Barbershop Diaries’ documentary, leads to open and raw conversations.

BY DAVID E. EARLY SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS/TNS

A N JOSE, Calif. — In AfricanAmerican culture, the barbershop has long been called “the Black man’s country club.” Intimacy results because cutting hair is personal and tactile — artistic, yet precise. The shops are popping with community news and Black networking. And they offer full-voiced conversations on subjects ranging from sports to the controversial shooting of yet another young, unarmed Black man by a police officer — this time in South Carolina. “Our barbershops are safe havens,” said Karisman Roberts-Douglass, an Oakland native and a licensed clinical psychologist. As a student at Santa Clara University, he loved driving up to the famed “One 4 All” barbershop in North Oakland, “a couple of times a month to connect with barbers, who talked with me, gave me good advice and knowledge about home.” Now, Roberts-Douglass, along with Jahmal Williams, both counselors at San Jose State University, are conducting a series of six spirited confabs dubbed “Fades and Fellowship” as part of a Barbershop Talk Series that will offer a deep well of connection and conversation.

Varied topics Aimed at urging Black males to openly explore myriad issues — such as family, racism, police, politics, gangs, violence, relationships, education or personal growth — participants hopefully will delve into topics that directly affect their lives. Two of six sessions remain, and the university hoped to schedule more in hopes that valuable insights will ripple through the community. At the most recent gathering inside a downtown shop, Barbers Inc., young and older men from all over the Bay Area were jammed in tightly. While the generational mingling was notable, there was a surprising second dimension: The biggest, most confident looking man in the room was also on a silent flat-screen TV in a documentary that showed him crying and furiously wiping tears. “By the time I was 10 years old, I was a little dirty-face half-breed kid

The Rev. Steve Pinkston, left, of the Maranatha Christian Center, speaks as, from left, Wil Cason, Jahmal Williams and Alphonso James listen during one of the conversations at The Barbers Inc. running the streets,” is what Mark Maxx, 49, is saying on the muted documentary — “The Barbershop Diaries” — produced at San Jose State University. He was a New York City wild child who grew up to spend nearly half his life in prison. Often he ran away to California to hook up with his two older brothers. “One was shooting heroin and the other was … in and out of prison. And I looked up to those guys.”

Heart-rending stories The flat-screen sound was turned down because the live conversation — alternately angry, funny and passionate — never stopped. “We had already been looking to sponsor talks among Black men even before we knew about the documentary,” said Williams, who like Roberts-Douglass, is battling a San Jose State Black male dropout rate that is among the highest in California. “We wanted a place to voice our feelings, our commonalities — a place to support one another.” The soul of the documentary features heart-rending stories of the cutters at Barbers Inc. — but it See FELLOWSHIP, Page B2

San Jose State University professor Duane Michael Cheers takes photos during one of the open-toall and raw conversations had by young and old Black men at The Barbers Inc.

CALENDAR

APRIL 17 – APRIL 23, 2015

FLORIDA COMMUNITY CALENDAR Orlando: Wanda Sykes will take the stage on April 25 at Hard Rock Live Orlando. Tampa: The rapper NAS performs April 23 at Club Skye in Tampa’s Ybor City. The show starts at 10 p.m. Orlando: The third annual International Christian Film Festival takes place April 23-25 at the Crowne Plaza Downtown Orlando: More information: www.internationalcff.com. Fort Lauderdale: See the legendary Roberta Flack on April 24 at the Au-Rene Theater at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts. Miami Gardens: An International Festival of Praise takes place April 18 from 4 to 11 p.m. at the Betty T. Ferguson Recreation Complex, 3000 NW 199th St., Miami Gardens. Free admission and parking. More information, call the Word of Life Bible Ministry at 954-604-5724. Fort Lauderdale: A free breast cancer screening is April 27 from 10 a.m. to noon for women 50 through 65 at the African-American Research Library and Cultural Center, 2650 Sistrunk Blvd. Register at 954-558-9180. Orlando: Actor and comedian Kevin Hart’s tour makes stops

SALT N PEPA

The Legends of the Old School tour takes place at 7 p.m. May 29 at Mizner Park Amphitheater in Boca Raton. The show will feature Salt N Pepa, Vanilla Ice, Stevie B, Color Me Badd and 2 Live Crew.

DR. RICKY DILLARD

The Dr. Ricky Dillard Gospel Music Workshop at Miracle Deliverance Healing Revival Center is scheduled for April 25 at Upper Room Ministries, 3800 Northwest 199th St., Miami Gardens. A workshop is at 11 a.m. with a concert at 6 p.m. More information: 561-853-8300 . on April 25 at Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena, Amalie Arena in Tampa on May 8 and AmericanAirlines Arena on May 9. Tampa: Candy Lowe hosts Tea & Conversation every Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m. at 3911 N. 34th St., Suite B. More information: 813-3946363. Tampa: Tickets are on sale for the Nephew Tommy Comedy Tour featuring Thomas Miles at the University of South Florida’s Sun Dome on April 18. Gulfport: The A.C.T. Arts Con-

BY RANDY LEWIS LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

The way soul singer Percy Sledge often told the story, his unexpected entry into pop music immortality came out of a Christmas party performance gone south. Sledge, who had been working as a hospital orderly and was often asked by patients to sing for them, was invited to entertain at a holiday gathering not long after his girlfriend had dumped him and headed to Los Angeles to pursue a modeling career, taking one of his best friends along as her new beau. He told the band working with him to hit a chord, and began pouring his heart out about the pain he was going through. “I had a couple of Jack Daniel’s, and my eyes were as big as hen eggs,” he told Rolling Stone in 1988. “I was feeling light as a feather, and I just wanted to speak my mind.”

No. 1 in 1966 He called the song that bubbled up “Why Did You Leave Me.” Quin Ivy, a record producer who hap-

pened to be at the party, suggested that Sledge come up with another set of lyrics for the memorable tune he just concocted so they might record it. A few weeks later, Sledge came back to Ivy, apologetic for not having anything to show for his efforts, explaining, “When a man loves a woman, he can’t think about anything else.” Ivy persuaded Sledge to use it in revamping “Why Did You Leave Me” with help from organist Andrew Wright and bassist Cameron Lewis, members of the Esquires Combo cover band that Sledge often sang with on weekends. Ivy borrowed a few session musicians from the Fame Studio in Muscle Shoals, Ala., with keyboard player Spooner Oldham providing the long, ethereal organ chords that sucked listeners into the ballad “When a Man Loves a Woman,” Sledge’s first recording. It quickly rose to No. 1 not only on the R&B sales charts, but on the overall Billboard Hot 100 singles ranking in early 1966.

FELLOWSHIP from B1

servatory will present a Soul Train ’70s Throwback Party Inaugural Gala at 7:30 p.m. May 8 at the Gulfport Casino Ballroom. More information: 727-346.8223 or act1midtown@gmail.com.

also pays homage to several dozen Black shops and salons all over the South Bay area. “And don’t forget,” said Barber Inc. owner, David Diggs, about the power of shops and salons, “you come out looking, smelling and feeling better, which means better about yourself, than you did going in.”

Tampa: BlackintheBay.com and Pickett PR will present the third annual Derby Delight on May 2 from 3 to 7 p.m. at Waterfront Garden at Ulele, 1810 N. Highland Ave. More details: www.blackinthebay.com.

Hart vs. Tyson

West Palm Beach: Darius Rucker’s Southern Style Tour takes place on May 23 at the Coral Sky Amphitheatre at the South Florida Fairgrounds.

“I live off that song,” Percy Sledge told the Chicago Sun-Times in 1995, about “When A Man Loves A Woman.’’ “All of my other songs, they are my children, but ‘When a Man Loves a Woman’ is the granddaddy.”

Soul legend Percy Sledge succumbs to cancer

PHOTOS BY PATRICK TEHAN/BAY AREA NEWS GROUP

The Rev. Steve Pinkston, center, of the Maranatha Christian Center, makes a point during one of the open-to-all and raw conversations had by young and old Black men at The Barbers Inc. on April 2, 2015 in downtown San Jose, Calif.

‘Holy love hymn’ It became a career-defining and -sustaining song for Sledge, who died at the age of 74 on Tuesday in Baton Rouge, La., after a long fight with cancer. “If Percy Sledge had only recorded ‘When a Man Loves a Woman,’ one of the greatest of all soul songs, he would have earned his place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,” states the Hall of Fame’s entry on Sledge, who was inducted in 2005. “No less an authority than (esteemed R&B producer and former Atlantic Records President) Jerry Wexler has called it ‘a transcendent moment … a holy love hymn.’ ” Sledge did have other powerfully moving hits: “Warm and Tender Love,” “Take Time to Know Her” and “It Tears Me Up,” but none came close to the iconic status “When a Man Loves a Woman” achieved. Percy Sledge was born Nov. 25, 1940, in Leighton, Ala., growing up in a rural farming community where he helped his parents doing farm chores, his labors motivating him early on to find a less strenuous way to make a living. Married twice with 12 children, he is survived by his wife, Rosa, his children and grandchildren.

As he clipped a customer’s flat-top Afro in the shop a few blocks from campus, Alphonso Jordan’s heartfelt comment to the clutch of listeners was typical. “I’m embarrassed by media portrayals of Black men. I hate how I feel when I see that stuff.” An annoyed Steve Pinkston, an official at San Jose’s Bellarmine College Preparatory and the associate pastor of Maranatha Christian Center, piped up about the “buffoon comedian” Kevin Hart getting so much adulation for his racially suspect portrayals while Black astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson gets so little for his sparkling observations around scientific exploration. “I refuse to see that movie,” groused Pinkston, referring to Hart’s newest film — “Get Hard” — about a convicted white man asking a Black man to teach him how to survive the violent rigors of prison. Hart’s character, Pinkston notes, has never been to prison. “But I am drawn to a posi-

tive Black male (Tyson) who is on television each week blowing away White folks and Black folks, by just sharing his knowledge.’’

Positive change Meanwhile, the meetings, fused with the documentary, are growing into a unifying force. Created by San Jose State Professor Duane Michael Cheers and his photojournalism students, the film is also a raw look at how the very craft of barbering altered the troubled lives of hair cutters. Of all the stories in the film, the one showing Maxx weeping while talking about his former life is perhaps the most emotionally devastating. The self-described “thug” was a drug dealer, a pimp, a burglar and — for 22 of his first 42 years — a prison inmate. “I was always looking for the right way to do a wrong thing.” Today, Maxx is a successful barber, husband, father, grandfather and churchgoing Christian. He has not been incarcerated for seven years, his longest stretch ever. His barber’s chair, near the entrance to the busy Barbers Inc., infects visitors with his “happy to be alive” vibe. And how does he repay barbering for his new life? Free haircuts to the poor. “I cut a homeless guy’s hair just yesterday,” said Maxx recently, “and as soon as I was done he said, ‘Now I’ve got to find myself a job.’ A haircut changes the way you think. The way you feel about yourself. Just hearing that man say that the way he did was my payment.”

APRIL 17 – APRIL 23, 2015

HEALTH

B3 Columnist and author Jim Clingman and his wife, Sylvia, have been married for more than two decades.

LegaL Notice

Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Economic and Property Damages Settlement The Deadline to file a Claim is June 8, 2015 June 8, 2015 has been established as the deadline to submit a claim in the Economic and Property Damages (“E&PD”) Settlement with BP Exploration & Production Inc. and BP America Production Company (“BP”) related to the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. So if you are eligible to file a claim, you must act soon.

Who

is included ?

The E&PD Settlement Class includes people, businesses, other entities, and properties in the states of Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi, and certain counties in Texas and Florida, that were harmed by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill that occurred on April 20, 2010. The website DeepwaterHorizonSettlements.com has detailed descriptions and maps of the included geographic locations to help you determine whether you are a part of the E&PD Settlement Class. Additionally, you can call 1-866-992-6174 or e-mail questions@DeepwaterHorizonEconomicSettlement.com to find out if a geographic location is included.

What

are the payment

categories ?

The settlement provides payments if you had economic loss or property damage because of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. By submitting a claim, you can request a payment in one or more of the following seven categories:  Economic

Damage  Loss of Subsistence  Vessel Physical Damage Real Property Sales Damage Vessels of Opportunity Charter Payment  Coastal Real Property Damage  Wetlands Real Property Damage

Economic Damage payments are available for Individuals and Entities that lost profits or earnings as a result of the Deepwater Horizon Incident. Coastal Real Property payments are available for property that was physically damaged in connection with the Deepwater Horizon Incident. Detailed descriptions of all seven categories are available at the website. There is no limit on the total dollar amount of the E&PD Settlement. All qualified and timely claims will be paid in full once they are approved. The Settlement also allowed for Seafood Compensation claims, but the deadline for those claims has passed.

hoW

PHOTO COURTESY OF TRICE EDNEY NEWS WIRE

do i request a payment ?

You must submit a Claim Form to request a payment. You can get a copy of the various Claim Forms by visiting the website or by calling 1-866-992-6174. Claims can be submitted online or by mail. If you have questions about how to file your claim, you should call the toll-free number for assistance. The claims process can be complex, so if you are eligible to file a claim, you should act now so you may complete your claim before the June 8, 2015 deadline.

DeepwaterHorizonSettlements.com 1-866-992-6174

Faith in family, God helps columnist cope with ALS Editor’s note: This is the second part of a two-part series on columnist Jim Clingman’s bout with ALS. HAZEL TRICE EDNEY TRICE EDNEY NEWS WIRE

It was the perfect plan. After living in his native Cincinnati, Ohio for all of their 22 years of marriage, Sylvia and Jim Clingman were preparing to move to another state and start a new life. Mrs. Clingman, a neonatal intensive care nurse manager, had accepted a new job at the Greenville Memorial Hospital in Greenville, S.C., one of the nation’s best cities for retirees, according to AARP. In the comfort of their new home in a beautiful quiet subdivision, Jim would continue writing his national “Blackonomics” column for weekly Black newspapers and serve as a consultant to his clients while also enjoying bicycling, one of his favorite pass times, along the rolling hills of Greenville. Kiah, their only child, was independent and away at college most of the time. The popular student leader and graduating senior at Howard University was focused on her career in advertising and marketing. “My goal was that we would enjoy a place where I’d anticipated, number one, starting a new life,” recalls Mrs. Clingman. “A warmer place, where I would take up some cycling with him, where we would start our cycling together. Where we would grow old and start our downhill retirement at least enjoy being here together.”

Married for decades Having met Jim, who is 19 years older, more than two decades ago at a reception in her native city of Chicago, Sylvia was smitten by this distinguished gentleman. Even now, she seems to blush when she speaks of how debonair he is in a suit. “Jim is the only man to me who looks just fabulous and handsome in a suit. No one can wear a suit like Jim.” Though they only spoke a few minutes at that event where they met, he was obviously equally impressed. A few weeks later, he called her at the hospital where she worked and the rest is history. They married on Dec. 15, 1991, and were now preparing to start a new season in their lives. But, that dream took a sudden and traumatic turn 18 months ago when Jim Clingman was diagnosed with ALS, so-called “Lou Gehrig’s disease.” It is the neurological illness in which the normal prognosis is that the patient gradually becomes paralyzed and then dies within two to five years, although some have lived much longer and some patients have even seen their symptoms stop, according to the ALS Association.

Accepting it While Mrs. Clingman had moved ahead to start the new job as her husband prepared to join her, his weakened left foot and calf continued to grow worse despite surgery and batteries of tests. Finally, there came the devastating diagnosis Aug. 23, 2013. “We put her on speaker phone,” he recalls. “She just lost it. I immediately got in the car and drove down there and just spent a couple of days so we could both be together and just accept it.” “Accept it?” How does one “accept” a prognosis like that of ALS? According to Jim Clingman, “First you cry.” But, then what? Contemplating the question, he speaks slowly, thoughtfully, a man who has never even spent a night in a hospital, now trying to wrap his mind around what has become the spiritual test of his lifetime. Miraculously, he has found blessings, even in the midst of this tragedy. “It’s a day-to-day thing. I have to put it like that,” he explains. “I try to look at the positives like the fact that it started in my foot instead of in my face. It can start in arms, hands, etc. The doctor told me that, ‘If there’s anything good about this it’s where it started in you because it started in your foot and has to work its way up.’” Jim’s faith in God’s will for his life has been his rock. “If I didn’t have that Hazel, I’d be a wreck. I know it...If it weren’t for that, I’d be a basket case.”

Lots of support It also helps that he is not physically alone in this journey. In addition to Sylvia, Kiah and extended family members, the popular columnist, speaker and author of four books has scores of friends and thousands of fans. They include His lifelong pastor and his new pastor in Greenville. Both marvel at how Jim Clingman is handling this. “I remember when Jim decided to give his life to God. It was on a Mother’s Day,” recalls Richard A. Rose, Sr., then pastor of Gray Road Church of Christ in Cincinnati. “He came down that aisle at church and never looked back,” Rose recalls that moment 17 years ago. “He became a teacher, he even delivered sermons in my absence. Wherever he was needed, he was ready. There was no job too big or too small. So, he’s the leader in that family when it comes down to the faith. His faith will help Sylvia and help Kiah.”

‘Tickets, please’ Now attending Grace View Church of Christ in Anderson, S.C., Clingman has remained steadfast in service. “He’s not wavered in his faith at all,” says Grace View pastor, Bryan Jones.

Clingman even preached at his church earlier this year. Seated in the pulpit, he encouraged the congregation with the message titled, “Tickets Please.’’ From Hebrews 9:10, it was about “how Christ died once for all. Everybody has a free ticket,” Clingman recounts. “There’s been some challenging times in which I would see him high and see him low,” says Jones. He calls Clingman his “hero” because of his thoughts of others in the midst of his own trials. “Every time I saw him have a weak moment, it was never because of his own personal illness or health. Any time he’s ever been down, it’s always because of the pain he has because of his family having to deal with it. Not himself.”

A father’s wish Like her father, Kiah is also a fighter. When the Veteran’s Administration turned him down for assistance, she persisted, searching the Internet and making phone calls until she found someone who would listen. Finally, Clingman, a veteran of the U.S. Navy, was informed that he would receive full benefits. That moment was part of an answer to his prayers that his wife would never be saddled with debt because of his illness. His other greatest concern is still in the works. Now, his heart’s desire is to “Get Kiah off into her adult life and to be there when she graduates” Saturday, May 9, 2015. “I’m praying that my strength lasts at least until then because I don’t want to be there so debilitated that the focus is on me rather than her and her achievements. Then, I want to see her on firm footing as she moves into adulthood.”

Fifth book completed Meanwhile, America is to hear much more from Jim Clingman. He has just completed his fifth book, “Black Dollars Matter! - Teach Your Dollars How to Make More Sense.” And he continues to write his Black press column, “Blackonomics,’’ which he also posts on his website, Blackonomics.com. No matter what the doctors say, this family still has hope. “The doctor gave me a death sentence, but God has already given me a ‘Life Sentence,’ and eternal life sentence,” Clingman said. “I never refer to it as false hope because God can do anything,” says Rose. “There is hope, the hope in God. Any hope that you have is not in science, but in God.”

Jim Clingman can be reached at JClingman@ Blackonomics.com.

PERSONAL FINANCE

APRIL 17 – APRIL 23, 2015

STOJ

BUILDING SECURE FUTURES one family at a time

FROM FAMILY FEATURES

ccording to a study done by LIMRA, a non-profit life insurance industry research organization, as many as 40 percent of U.S. households would have immediate trouble meeting household expenses if a primary wage earner were to pass away today. The study also showed that a majority of Gen X and Y consumers believe they need more life insurance than they currently have. Yet according to LIMRA, 30 percent of Americans have no life insurance at all and more than half of those who do are inadequately covered. At every stage of life, life insurance is an important consideration for protecting your family and your assets. As much as you may not want to think about it, you cannot afford to avoid making these important preparations. Life insurance can be vital to helping your loved ones maintain their standard of living after your death. If you have dependents — a spouse, domestic partner, children and/or an aging parent — you should ensure that your retirement pension and savings are sufficient to secure their future. Many Americans think that they can’t afford life insurance, especially when some are struggling to balance the daily and monthly expenses that most house-

holds face. But life insurance is often more affordable than you might think. In fact, more than 80 percent of Americans overestimate the cost of life insurance. Most people who are uninsured believe that a 20-year, $250,000 term life policy for a healthy 30-year-old would cost $400 per year. But the real cost would actually be only a quarter of that, or about the same cost as your Netflix subscription each month.

Types of life insurance If you’re unsure about life insurance, you’re not alone. Many individuals are confused about how life insurance works. According to LIMRA, 70 percent of Americans failed a 10 question basic life insurance IQ test. The truth is not all life insurance plans are created equally. In fact, there is a whole host of different types of life insurance to fit your budget, lifestyle and needs. One of the most common types is term life insurance, which offers affordable coverage for a specific number of years and is great if you want to provide coverage while you pay off certain debts or until you’ve fulfilled some anticipated responsibilities, such as until your children are out of college. Howev-

PHOTO COURTESY OF GETTY IMAGES

er, while term life insurance is an affordable way to get maximum coverage, it also increases in cost after the specified period, so it may not be cost effective in the long run. On the other hand, permanent life insurance policies are ones that do not expire. They protect your loved ones permanently. These plans typically offer more long-term security and may even accumulate cash value over time. While permanent life insurance may initially cost more than term life insurance, they can also be more costeffective in the long term.

ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE FOR BLACK STUDENTS. NO EXCUSES. The classic guide from Florida Courier publisher, lawyer and broadcaster CHARLES W. CHERRY II PRAISE FOR ‘EXCELLENCE WITHOUT EXCUSE’: “This guide for African-American college-bound students is packed with practical and insightful information for achieving academic success...The primary focus here is to equip students with the savvy and networking skills to maneuver themselves through the academic maze of higher education.” – Book review, School Library Journal

Depending on your responsibilities and financial situation, the best life insurance plan for you may be term insurance, permanent or one of the many other options offered by insurance companies.

Helping you find insurance Many leading insurance companies are making it easier than ever to put life insurance within reach. And some companies have new products for Americans who otherwise might not have easy access to life insurance plans.

Life insurance can also provide an array of benefits to dependents such as: 1. Assistance in paying off debts such as a mortgage, auto loan or credit card 2. Coverage of daily living expenses 3. Help with saving for expenses such as college tuition, weddings or starting a business 4. Paying for funeral expenses In addition to expanding their coverage to include families who may traditionally be underinsured, major life insurance companies have also worked to

develop tools, such as insurance premium calculators, that help you select the type of life insurance that is right for your needs and concerns. Many companies have commissioned studies that explore the chang ing demographics, retirement ages, lifestyle habits and compositions of American households and have developed adaptable insurance policies in response. Other insurers have taken steps to diversify their offerings to better fit the needs of customers in developing nations. MetLife, for example, has developed insurance plans to target tradi tionally uninsured customers in the United States and abroad. The New York-based insurer now offers prepaid insurance policies at Walmart stores in Georgia and South Carolina, with a first month’s premium of just $5. The company has also developed initiatives to increase access to insurance in the Bogotá region of Colombia by selling policies through supermarkets, door-to-door and allowing customers to pay their insurance premiums through their natural gas utility bill. It may seem complicated and you may not want to think about it while you’re in the prime of your life, but life insurance is easier to obtain and less expensive than you might think. There are several helpful tools and information available to help you find sufficient means to provide security for your families and loved ones. Picking life insurance shouldn’t be a burden but an easy process. You should be able to enjoy the aging process and eliminate the unknown when it comes to life insurance.

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STOJ

APRIL 17 – APRIL 23, 2015

FINEST & ENTERTAINMENT

Meet some of

FLORIDA’S

finest

submitted for your approval

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

More than 4,000 cruisers joined nationally syndicated radio talk show host Tom Joyner on the 13th annual Tom Joyner Foundation Fantastic Voyage 2012 aboard Royal Caribbean’s “Navigator of the Seas,” one of the world’s largest cruise ships. Featured in April 2012, the Florida Courier spotlights some of the bestlooking people on board. Will, who lives in Chicago, was on his first Tom Joyner cruise. Cybil, a Houston resident, was on her sixth Tom Joyner cruise.

will

cybil

Spike Lee’s ‘Chiraq’ sparks debate about the term Research in January

BY LOLLY BOWEAN CHICAGO TRIBUNE/TNS

Reports that filmmaker Spike Lee is planning to shoot a feature movie in Chicago called “Chiraq” ruined Aaron Pierce’s mood last week. “I’m just really concerned about using that name,” said Pierce, a Chicago rapper who started an “Anti-Chiraq” social media campaign and also runs a mentoring program for public school students. “That name does not really give us a positive look. That name belittles our city and I feel like it dehumanizes us. “We are from Chicago. It is not like Iraq.” As word spread last week that Lee is courting Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Piven, Common and Kanye West for the cast of “Chiraq,” it gave rise to more talk about the city’s gritty moniker and reputation for violence. Some residents worried that a film carrying the nickname could glorify Chicago’s violence. Others wondered whether spotlighting the label could affect tourism, business development and even the confidence of young people who are growing up here. “This (film) is not good news,” said Chekitan Dev, a travel and hospitality marketing expert and professor at Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration. “Anytime a brand is associated with anything negative, that affects the perception of the brand. And this raises an issue important to travelers — that is safety.”

Around for years If Chicago’s reputation for violence endures, it can only hurt tourism, Dev said. “It’s been known for a while that Chicago has been struggling with a violence problem,” he said. “This adds fuel to that fire that makes it a wider perception among people.” Chicago has been tagged with negative nicknames before, from “Beirut on the Lake” in the 1980s to “Chiberia” during the winter of 2013-14. But Chiraq particularly stings, reflecting the mindset of people who feel they live in a war zone because of rampant violence. The term has been around for years but became especially popular in 2012 when Chicago experienced a spike in homicides, recording 504, far more than either

SCOTT STRAZZANTE/CHICAGO TRIBUNE/TNS

Spike Lee, center, and former Chicago Bulls star Scottie Pippen, right, chat before the Bulls play host to the New York Knicks at the United Center in Chicago on Oct. 31, 2013. New York or Los Angeles. Yet violence has been declining in Chicago since the 1990s, when homicides peaked at more than 900 for two years in a row. There were 407 homicides last year. In the first three months of a cold and snowy 2015, shootings jumped 40 percent and homicides rose about 26 percent compared with the year-earlier period, Police Department statistics show.

‘Left as traffic’ Chiraq has been referenced in rap songs and mentioned in films and on television shows. It also has been printed on apparel, and there is a Twitter handle that uses the name and tweets information on local homicides.

In one rap reference, Lil Reese, a protege of Chief Keef, used the word in his song “Traffic.” “Where I’m from, this Chiraq, you get left as tragic,” he rapped. As first reported by The Wrap, Lee’s project is called “Chiraq” and he is making it for Amazon Studios. Lee, who will be part of the Chicago International Movies & Music Festival, plans to shoot the feature film there as well. Three of the actors Lee is courting are Chicago-area natives — Piven, Common and West. The city has been busy juggling a number of TV shows, but 2014 was a considerably slower year for films. “Chiraq” would be the first high-profile movie to film in Chicago this year.

The Oscar-nominated filmmaker was in town in January, apparently conducting research with the help of the Rev. Michael Pfleger, the pastor of St. Sabina Catholic Church. Pfleger said he could not talk about Lee’s project or reveal details about the movie. At the time of Lee’s January visit, Pfleger wrote on his Facebook page: “Thanks to Director/Actor Spike Lee, who spent the day at St. Sabina yesterday talking and interviewing....People who cover the violence, Principals who deal with violence in and around their schools, Brothers from the Blocks who live in it everyday and Parents who have lost their children to Violence.....He spent the day from early morning till late in the night....listening and asking questions to try and get a deeper understanding of the plague of violence. Thanks Spike for caring and wanting to understand.” For Charlene Carruthers, a community organizer and the national director for the Black Youth Project’s BYP100, the term Chiraq is troubling. It’s a loaded word that focuses on the violence without examining the root causes for it, she said. “The word implies we are at war — but who the opponents are is misplaced,” she said. “There are Black people in communities in Chicago that are exposed to a reality where they don’t have enough resources to live with full dignity. Then there are people who wonder why there is violence in communities that have suffered with years of divestment.”

‘Life imitates art’ Plus, fixating on street violence alone is a distraction, Carruthers said. There is poverty, joblessness and lack of access to opportunities, which lead to tension and sometimes killings. “Is there a film about the 50-plus schools that have been closed?” she asked. “Is there a film about the legacy of redlining in the city and its lasting effects? A film about police violence in this important moment in time?” The Rev. Corey Brooks, of New Beginnings Church of Chicago, said that while he doesn’t like the word, he knows the problems it represents. Brooks camped out on the rooftop of a local motel to raise enough money to build

a community center to combat, among other things, violence and the rise of street gangs. He approved of the name as a film title. “I do know that art imitates life, but life imitates art,” he said. “We do have a severe problem with gun violence and we have murders every single day. I’m grateful for anyone who wants to bring light to the situation. I don’t think Spike Lee is a director who will be insensitive, and knowing him, he will be very accurate.” There is power in the word, Brooks said. It forces people to take notice and give attention to a community that has been troubled and too often overlooked. “No one wants Chicago called Chiraq,” he said. “But I understand the rationale behind it. The violence that young AfricanAmericans face can seem parallel to the violence young people in Iraq face. It’s unfortunate that we live in a day and time where we have to make that comparison.”

Mixed reaction Even as he has worked to increase police presence in the 20th Ward and assure residents that things are getting better, Ald. Willie Cochran said the term Chiraq never seems to go away. Cochran said he bristles when he hears it. “I’m on the ground with it, and I understand why the term was coined,” he said. “I don’t like the term, and I don’t like the circumstances that made the term evolve. And I don’t like the word being glorified the way it is in the music industry and videos. It’s one of those things that keeps communities, cities and the images of people oppressed. That’s a term we should be running from and putting to rest.” While he dislikes the nickname, Cochran said some good could come from using it as a storytelling device. “Spike is a philosophical person,” Cochran said. “He could tell a story that leaves the audience and the world in a state of mind where they could be remorseful for creating a situation that gave life to a name like that.”

Chicago Tribune’s Nina Metz and Jeremy Gorner contributed to this report.

FOOD

APRIL 17 – APRIL 23, 2015

ROAST CHICKEN WITH CUMIN, PAPRIKA AND ALLSPICE Yield: 4 to 6 servings 1 (6 to 6 1/2-pound) chicken 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1 teaspoon onion powder 1 teaspoon ground allspice 1 teaspoon paprika 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 1 large lemon, halved Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Rinse chicken; pat dry. Place chicken on rack in large roasting pan. In a small bowl, stir together the oil, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, allspice, paprika, salt and pepper to form a paste. Rub spice paste all over chicken. Roast chicken 1 hour. Squeeze juice from lemon halves over chicken; place lemon halves inside main cavity. Continue to roast until chicken is cooked through and thermometer inserted into thickest part of thigh registers 180 degrees, from 30 to 60 more minutes. Transfer to platter; let stand 15 minutes. Per serving (based on 6): 609 calories; 37 g fat; 10 g saturated fat; 206 mg cholesterol; 64 g protein; 2 g carbohydrate; no sugar; 1 g fiber; 387 mg sodium; 44 mg calcium. – Recipe from Bon Appetit SWEET-POTATO MUFFINS Yield: 15 servings 2 eggs 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar 1/2 cup canola oil 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice 1/2 teaspoon salt 4 cups peeled, shredded sweet potatoes (about 2 large) 1/2 cup raisins 1 cup chopped walnuts Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease muffin tins to hold about 15 muffins. Crack eggs into a small bowl and beat well. Add brown sugar, oil and vanilla, and whisk together until smooth. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, salt and grated sweet potato. Make a well in the center and pour in the egg mixture. Stir the egg mixture, gradually incorporating it into the sweet potato mixture. Stir in the raisins and walnuts. Spoon the batter into the muffin tins; filling them to the rim will result in large caps. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Use a paring knife around the edges of each muffin, if needed, to help pop them out of the tin. Best when served immediately. Per serving: 284 calories; 14 g fat; 1 g saturated fat; 25 mg cholesterol; 4 g protein; 39 g carbohydrate; 21 g sugar; 2 g fiber; 163 mg sodium; 74 mg calcium. – Recipe from allrecipes.com ARAWAK MARINADE Yield: About 2 1/2 cups 6 green onions, chopped 3 tablespoons minced shallots 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 teaspoon ground ginger 1 tablespoon ground allspice 1 teaspoon ground black pepper 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon brown sugar 1/2 cup fresh orange juice 1/2 cup cider vinegar 1/4 cup red wine 1/2 cup soy sauce 1/2 cup vegetable oil 1 tablespoon molasses 2 scotch bonnet chile peppers, see note Note: Scotch bonnet peppers are closely related to habaneros, which you can substitute if you cannot find the scotch bonnet. Both are among the hottest peppers in the world, so be very careful. In a medium bowl, combine the green onions, shallots, garlic, ginger, allspice, ground black pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, brown sugar, orange juice, vinegar, wine, soy sauce, oil and molasses. Chop the peppers and add to the mixture. If you want it a little less hot, remove the seeds before chopping. Wash your hands thoroughly, then wash the knife and the cutting board. Mix well, cover, and allow to sit for 1 hour. Stir again before using to marinate fish or meat. Marinate fish at least 30 minutes, chicken or pork at least 1 to 2 hours, or beef (such as for London broil) at least 4 to 6 hours or overnight. Discard marinade after use. Per (2-tablespoon) serving: 70 calories; 6 g fat; 1 g saturated fat; 0 mg cholesterol; 1 g protein; 4 g carbohydrate; 3 g sugar; no fiber; 583 mg sodium; 12 mg calcium. – Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com

TOJ

Whatever tastes good with cinnamon, cloves or nutmeg tastes even better (or at least just as good) with allspice.

Add extra kick to everything with

allspice Spice up chicken with cumin, paprika and allspice.

This sweet potato muffin is made with allspice.

BY DANIEL NEMAN ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH/TNS

Allspice is a victim of its own name. You can’t blame someone for seeing the word “allspice” and thinking that it is a blend of many spices — or even all spices. It’s a natural assumption. But allspice is just one spice, a dried berry from a broadleaf evergreen tree that grows primarily on the islands of the Caribbean Sea and Central America. It got its English name, according to a book published in 1736, because it tastes like “all the other spices.” Usually when people today try to describe the taste, they limit the mixture of spices it resembles to cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Sometimes they also add juniper, ginger and black pepper. What this means to the home cook is that allspice can be counted on to add an extra kick to practically everything. Whatever tastes good with cinnamon, cloves or nutmeg tastes even better (or at least just as good) with allspice. And it is great in the sort of things you don’t necessarily associate with cloves or cinnamon too, such as soups and stews and vegetables. The next time you make a chicken soup — or beef soup, or tomato — add a little allspice. Four or five berries will do for a gallon of soup, or one berry for every quart of liquid. Or if you are making a pot roast, stew or other braised dish, try three to five allspice berries for a lovely hint of the flavor of the islands. And don’t forget to use it in desserts, too. Allspice is like cardamom; it is just as happy in sweet dishes as it is in savory. Cookies, cakes, oatmeal and even applesauce all perk up a bit when sprinkled with ground allspice. I decided to use it in three distinctly different ways: as part of a flavorful rub on roast chicken, in a spicy marinade inspired (and perhaps used) by the indigenous people of the Caribbean islands and in muffins made, surprisingly, with sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes? Yes, allspice also pairs well with all of your most popular orange vegetables — carrots, squash and sweet potatoes.

Sublime addition

PHOTOS BY LAURIE SKRIVAN/ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH/TNS

Use this Arawak Marmalade for London broil.

I made the chicken first, and I’m glad I did because as it was baking a marvelous aroma of allspice permeated the kitchen. Cumin and paprika are also major parts of this dish, but the spice that you smell is allspice. And it is sublime. The dish is wonderfully easy to make, too. You simply combine the spices (including garlic and onion powders and salt and pepper) with just enough olive oil to make a wet paste. This you rub all over the chicken — it’s fun to play with your food — and then roast it

in the oven. You don’t even have to wait. With most rubs, you want to let the spices sit on the meat for a while to let the flavors permeate the food. But this dish cooks so slowly that the meat has the chance to absorb the flavor from the spices while it cooks. It only roasts at 375 degrees, rather than the 425 degrees or so usually used to cook chicken, and the chicken winds up being surprisingly tender and moist, redolent of all the good things smeared on it. The marinade I made is more old school, meaning that the meat has to soak up the flavor before it is cooked. This is especially true because I used it to make London broil and, as with other tough cuts of meat, London broil needs a good, long marination to make it tender. The great thing about this marinade is that it could be used for any kind of meat or fish. But try it with a London broil and let the meat marinate overnight. It is astonishingly good. Your family or guests will go crazy for it — as long as they like their food spicy.

From the Arawaks A version of the recipe apparently originally comes from the Arawaks, an indigenous people of the Caribbean islands and South America. The recipe has it all: It is a little sweet (brown sugar, molasses), a little salty (soy sauce), a little spicy (cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger along with the allspice), a little aromatic (onions, shallots, garlic), a little fruity (orange juice, red wine) and perhaps more than a little hot (scotch bonnet chile peppers). I couldn’t find scotch bonnets locally, so I used habaneros instead. They are closely related and pack the same amount of fierce heat, but scotch bonnets are said to taste a bit fruitier. Because of the wallop of fire that these peppers contain, I removed the seeds before chopping them. But the meat did not turn out to be as spicy as I feared because the heat was limited by the marinade. If you like it extra hot, try keeping the seeds in the sauce. Ready for dessert, I also made sweet-potato muffins. I was a little uncertain about these as I was making them because the shredded sweet potato clumped together, making the batter a bit weird. I needn’t have worried. It eventually unclumped (a fair amount of stirring was involved) and became a recognizable muffin batter. They baked with no problem. And the taste? Superb. It tasted just like carrot cake, only one in which the carrots had been removed and replaced with sweet potatoes. You know that carrot cake flavor. It tastes like cinnamon. And cloves. And maybe just a hint of nutmeg.