Florida Courier - April 18, 2014

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APRIL 18 – APRIL 24, 2014

VOLUME 22 NO. 16

SUFFERING IN SILENCE Many Black pastors and their congregations are either uninformed or in denial about the reality of mental illness, and believe it can be relieved only through prayer, fasting, and Bible study.

BY JENISE GRIFFIN MORGAN FLORIDA COURIER

FLORIDA COURIER FILES

Second to one

the same rate for African-Americans.

Despite those numbers, it’s still a taboo subject, especially in the Black church.

“What I have seen is the church has not addressed the mental health issue from a clinical aspect and has communicated that parishioners pray about it. So that is the message that is being conveyed to parishioners from the pulpit,’’ explained Haley.

PART 2

Dr. Reba Haley often stands in the pulpit of her Tampa area church and delivers a message that most Black pastors won’t touch: If you’re dealing with a mental health issue, seek professional help.

Haley is founder and CEO of The Hope Center for Living, a counseling center in Riverview. It’s next door to Covenant Family Church, the ministry she pastors with her husband.

An ordained minister and a psychologist, Haley is among a small but growing number of Black pastors who are trying to change the way mental illness is perceived by the African-American church.

Prayer alone

Last year, LifeWay Research released a survey showing that onethird of Americans and nearly half of evangelical, fundamentalist, or born-again Christians believe prayer and Bible study alone can overcome serious mental illness.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) states that nearly Lack of knowledge “Perhaps their lack of clinical 60 million Americans experience a mental health condition every year knowledge or awareness on mental and that mental illness affects one in health issues or a lack of knowledge four adults and one in 10 children in See SUFFERING, Page A2 the U.S. That one in four number is

LUNAR ECLIPSE 2014

Blood moon rising

Broward girls nationally ranked No.2 in chess SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA COURIER

LAUDERHILL – A threegirl chess team representing Castle Hill Elementary, a Title 1 school in Broward County (the Fort Lauderdale area), placed second nationally at the 11th Annual Kasparov Chess Foundation All-Girls National Championship in Chicago last week.

The Kasparov National Championship is the most prestigious chess event for female players under the age of 18.

The Lauderhill school trio of McKhaila McKenzie, Erykah Shaw, and Shyan Braswell brought home a national second-place ranking for teams under 12 after defeating fierce competitors from public and private schools, most with well-funded chess programs. Many of the girls competing there either had either master-level chess coaches for personal or frequent group lessons.

The key to the Castle Hill girls’ success? A dedicated teacher, Robert McKenzie, who taught them the game.

Thinking skills McKenzie is a veteran teacher who’s served at Castle Hill Elementary for 18 years.

He began a chess club in

BRIAN PETERSON/MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE/MCT

This week, skywatchers in Florida and around the country had view of one of nature’s most unique and colorful celestial events – a total eclipse of the moon. This multi-exposure was made in Minnesota beginning at 1 a.m. and continuing for almost two hours.

See CHESS, Page A2

Tampa loses 2 strong brothers

BY JENISE GRIFFIN MORGAN FLORIDA COURIER

One “community soldier” was in law, the other in entertainment. Both left legacies to be admired. Both of their deaths are being mourned.

Frank Sylvester Stewart was a prominent Black attorney in Tampa, who made history as one of the first Black lawyers to pass the Florida bar exam to become an attorney. He died on March 22 at age 74.

Popular DJ Ely Edward Cedrick Jennings, best known in entertainment circles as “Big Money Ced,’’ was influential for introducing a new generation to WTMP-AM, Tampa Bay’s iconic Black radio station for more than 50 years. He succumbed to a heart attack on April 14 at age 44.

ALSO INSIDE

Although they were from different generations, Stewart and Jennings were strong Black men in Tampa Bay who made an indelible impact on the community in which they grew up and beyond.

Legal pioneer One of Hillsborough County’s most revered and respected Black attorneys, Stewart believed in giving back. His law practice was a place the underprivileged could go for fair and responsible legal representation.

He also had the distinction of being a member of Hillsborough County’s first class of Black assistant state attorneys, as local prosecutors are known in Florida.

A 1957 graduate of Middleton Senior High School and 1962 al-

um of then-Bethune-Cookman College, Stewart served in the Army from 1963 to 1965.

He began practicing law in 1975 in Tampa with his brother, Delano S. Stewart, after earning a degree at North Carolina Central University’s School of Law. He then joined the office of the Hillsborough County State Attorney in 1976, where he served until 1981.

He went back into private practice until 2007. At the time of his death, he was practicing law at the office of Attorney Nathaniel Tindall.

Teacher, mentor In his obituary, Stewart was referred to as “a teacher and mentor to countless members of the community.’’

He was a longtime active member of Allen Temple A.M.E. Church, Omega Psi Fraternity, Inc., and the American Legion. A founding member of the Tampa-

based George Edgecomb Bar Association, Stewart also was a veteran of the Virgil Hawkins Florida Chapter of the National Bar Association.

“He always had a helping hand to provide for anyone,” his obituary read. “No matter the time of day, his porch light was never off and his garage door was never closed.’’

Along with his brother, he is survived by his wife, Carol; four children, eight grandchildren, and a host of other relatives.

Funeral services were held on March 29 in Tampa.

More than local DJ Cedrick Jennings was wellknown in his hometown, but his popularity stretched well beyond Tampa Bay. He had worked with big names in rap and hip-hop – Waka Flacka Flame, T.I., Gucci See DEATHS, Page A2

SNAPSHOTS FLORIDA | A3

Siplin to challenge Thompson for Senate seat NATION | A6

Black shunned by White House reporters to be honored May 3 ENTERTAINMENT | B5

Season 3 of Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta returns May 5

COMMENTARY: CHARLES W. CHERRY II: RANDOM THOUGHTS OF A FREE BLACK MIND | A4 COMMENTARY: HARRY ALFORD: NO, THIS IS NOT A BLACK THING | A5

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CHESS from A1

his third year of teaching and has taught mainly what he calls “rambunctious boys” the game in order to help them develop thinking skills, appreciate the power of the mind, and cope with anger.

McKenzie says his brother, former Penn State linebacker and NFL player Richard McKenzie, told him about chess and “made it seem macho and appealing.”

Robert McKenzie brought boys into the fold the same way. Soon he had lots of boys joining the club and would regularly have a club of 10 or more boys who would want to come every day.

“I would have to turn them away at times because I had too much teacher work to do. They would beg and beg and I would end up taking my work home,” he told the Florida Courier.

Didn’t have time Some of the boys he taught once won a trophy at a local scholastic tournament, he says as he wistfully reminisces over an old picture of his much younger self with three Black boys holding a chess trophy.

“Those boys were good,” he remembers. “I wish I could have done more for them.” His eyes moisten. “I didn’t have time.”

He says they never played again and it disturbs him because

SUFFERING from A1

of resources to address mental health issues could be their reasons for not addressing the issue, because the Bible says, ‘My people are destroyed for the lack of knowledge.’”

She continued, “If I don’t have the knowledge, I can’t convey the knowledge. If I don’t really understand mental health and depression and bipolar and schizophrenia, then I really can’t convey it. I can’t give you something I don’t have.’’

Haley, who is planning a mental health in-training session in Tampa in June for all ministers and church leaders and recently wrote a book on the subject, estimates that 90 percent of pastors at predominantly Black churches don’t broach the subject of mental health with their members.

“The churches can do more training from the pulpit, more sermons on how to handle depression, how hope to cope with stress, how to resolve conflict, how to minimize anger, how to do breathing exercises for relaxation,’’ she told the Florida Courier.

‘It’s not the devil’ Haley believes in exercising all of God’s spiritual gifts in ministry. She does “speak in tongues,’’ practices “laying on of hands’’ and administers oil on the foreheads of her parishioners. But she says when it comes to mental illness, too many pastors want to solely focus on the spiritual.

If someone is hearing voices, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a demonic spirit, she noted. “The church’s perspective is if you hear voices, that’s the devil, so we’re going to cast the devil out of you and not address the mental health issue.

“What we hear in ministry is that behavior is directly tied to a demonic force so they (ministers) move into a spiritual mode of deliverance.

“It’s not the devil. This is people’s mental health and they have a chemical imbalance in their brain,” she offered.

DEATHS from A1

Mane and many others.

“Big Money Ced’’ became ill on stage at the GulfCoast Rhythm and Ribfest Festival in Manatee County on April 14, an event he had performed deejay duties in the past.

A longtime diabetic, Jennings did not let his illness keep him from living his passion.

‘Died his own way’ “I’m happy for him that he’s no longer in pain. I’m happy that he died his own way. He died doing exactly what he loved to do,” his brother, Walter “Wally B’’ Jennings told the Florida Courier on Wednesday.

FOCUS

APRIL 18 – APRIL 24, 2014 in their eyes how much they loved the game,” McKenzie stated.

Things changed once the economy soured in 2007-2008. His math specialist position was eliminated, and he was asked to teach third grade. Due to the demands of the position, he took a break.

some of the kids they beat at that tournament are now expert chess players and he believes his boys could have been chess masters.

Low-income students Castle Hill is a predominately Black elementary school in north-central Broward County. It has approximately 600 students, 92 percent of whom are from lowincome families that quality them to receive free lunch at school.

The school is in serious need of technology resources, has cut its art program, doesn’t have a budget for chess, and just this year got its music program back in place.

McKenzie is not paid for his coaching duties. Occasionally, he gets grant money from the Broward County School Board for supplies. He has been teaching chess as a labor of love for more than15 years.

Back at it This year, his third year back in the classroom, he decided to start small.

“I started teaching my daughter’s friends and two other boys, and they couldn’t get enough,” he exclaimed. The kids started entering and winning rigorous local tournaments, and the idea was hatched to go to a national tournament.

The parents jumped on board and they worked hand-in-hand with their children. Based on their ratings coming into the tournament, the three-girl team was not expected to beat the players they did.

Master’s degree McKenzie says his chess program really took off once he earned a master’s degree in innovative mathematics education from Nova and was made the math specialist after eight years in the classroom.

“I got a bigger room with a projector and surround sound. I had big tables and I started to teach the whole school chess. I had 15 boys in the club, plus my son and daughter. I was hosting minitournaments after school and some organizations took interest and I started writing a chess-in-

Rose to the occasion A Broward County all-girls chess team placed second in the nation at one of America’s most prestigious chess tournaments.

From left to right: McKhaila McKenzie, Shyan Braswell, United States Chess Federation President Ruth Haring, Erykah Shaw, Coach Robert McKenzie. fused math curriculum. ”

Local tourneys He said he was going to expand the program. He helped a

Environmental stressors Haley, who has a Ph.D. in Christian counseling from St. Thomas Christian College in Jacksonville, says she became interested in the mental health field because mental illness runs in her family. She offers free counseling to members of her congregation, but she refers someone to other mental health agencies or to a psychiatrist if she believes the person needs medication.

She also cites how important it is for churches to treat the entire person.

“We just say, ‘God will make a way.’ I know your lights are off, your husband’s abusive, but God will make a way. We have to address those environmental issues,’’ which she says can lead to depression.

“If you’re unemployed, if you don’t have enough food, you’re uneducated, you don’t have a job, your environmental stressors can lead to depression.”

Lost control Pastor Derrick Lamar Smith is all too familiar with depression and openly shares that he has a mental illness.

He related to the Florida Courier how he was arrested in 2009 on a child abuse charge and spent 13 days in the Leon County (Tallahassee-area) jail.

The pastor of Bright Hope Christian Church in Tallahassee admits he whipped his teenage son for stealing money from the church. The aftermath of that arrest and going through the legal system was for him “humiliating, embarrassing and shameful.’’ He calls that experience a breaking point that led him to therapy.

“My beating my son was not about my son; it was about an image I was trying to maintain and felt I was losing control.’’

Seeing a mental health counselor, he said, was “like having a conversation with a friend. It was just what I needed. Cathartic and therapeutic.’’

Sharing Hope Smith is one of the presenters for NAMI Tallahassee’s Sharing Hope initiative.

“Sharing Hope: Understanding Mental Health,” a national NA-

Jennings, 37, said his big brother already was a popular DJ before he began working at WTMP, where he started as a DJ and eventually became Cedrick the music diJennings rector.

“When you look at WTMP, in my opinion, Cedrick helped it become relevant. He got a younger generation listening to WTMP…. My parents were always proud of what it had meant to the community. Helping to make it relevant again held great pride for us.’’

Walter Jennings said his brother became “a champion for the

Dr. Reba Haley

Felicia Thomas

colleague start a chess program at Sunland Park in Sunrise and played a match against them.

“Yeah, we beat them but those kids at Sunland, you could see it congregations to “get educated so you can be more of an advocate to your loved ones and friends.”

She also stated how important it is for pastors to become engaged. The most disappointing Sharing Hope event they’ve had was at one of Tallahassee’s most prominent Black churches.

“We had a very large church and the pastor didn’t even show up. We had one person show up” from the congregation. “If he had really advertised it, that church would have been packed,” she remarked.

In denial

Doris Roberts

Rev. Susan GreggSchroeder

MI program, is a one-hour, structured presentation tailored for African-American churches. The program provides an overview of mental illness, treatment, and recovery from the perspective of people of faith who have experienced these illnesses.

Since 2012, NAMI Tallahassee has been visiting area Black churches interested in learning more about mental health.

Felicia Thomas, a Tallahasseebased attorney and a coordinator of the Sharing Hope program there, told how a young veteran dealing with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) attended one of their presentations at a Tallahassee church.

“After the presentation, he said that’s exactly what he needed, that he was going through things that day,” she said.

The Sharing Hope team was able to provide resources and support for the man. It was also helpful to a family member who attended the session with him.

‘Get educated’ Doris Strong, another Sharing Hope coordinator and the mother of a 34-year-old son diagnosed with a mental illness, says the primary message they share with church folks is that “mental illnesses are real and treatable.”

Strong says it’s important for

projects in West Tampa, for College Hill, Ponce De Leon. … The children knew who he was. That was big for him.’’

‘Work ethic’ Dr. Glenn Cherry, former president and general manager of WTMP, referred to the DJ this week as “a community soldier’’ and credits “Big Money Ced’’ for introducing a young audience to the radio station that traditionally focused on old-school rhythm and blues.

“Ced was deejaying from when he was young so people knew him. He brought an audience with him,” Cherry noted.

“WTMP didn’t make Ced, but it enlarged his presence.’’

Cherry said “Big Money Ced” started in 1998 as a volunteer DJ but in a few months he had become an integral part of the op-

Smith says many Black pastors still have not bought into the reality that it’s OK to get counseling.

“We should not make it taboo and embarrassing and shameful.

People come to see me now more than ever,” he said, since he started talking about living with depression.

Smith, who studied Christian counseling at Baptist College of Florida, said he’s not too proud to know when he needs help.

“I go get the big guns. I get the folks that have much more training. I’m not afraid to say I don’t know. … I know therapists. I recommend therapists.’’

He adds that too many pastors are “uninformed and in denial’’ about mental illness.

“Many of them are in denial because they have that old mindset. ‘The Lord will fix it. You just need to fast and pray.’ I do believe it. They go together, but I always say, ‘Fast and pray on the bus to see your counselor…. Pray and go get yourself some professional help. Pray on your way to see a therapist.’’’

Suffered in silence The Rev. Susan Gregg-Schroeder, coordinator of Mental Health Ministries based in California, told the Florida Courier that she has been especially concerned about her colleagues in ministry with ethnic congregations, where there is fear that such a disclosure may bring shame to the family, and impair a person’s future in the ministry.

“The sad truth is that hundreds of our clergy have been forced

eration. He was amazed at the DJ’s work ethic.

“He was always working. He was hustling. He was deejaying.

He worked with a bunch of folks writing music and lyrics,” Cherry remarked. He also recalled how Jennings and then-WTMP employee Eric Storm received an award from Hartline bus service for a commercial they created.

Cherry also mentioned Jennings’ humor and generosity, adding that Ced was always giving away money out of his own pocket and helping people in need.

Service on April 19 Jennings grew up in the West Spruce Street neighborhood of Tampa and was very active at Greater Bethel Baptist Church.

He attended Leto High School where he was a member of the

“This was one of the most astounding performances of rising to an occasion of intense pressure I ever witnessed,” McKenzie said.

“Their second-place finish at a national tournament is a testament to the hope that our children can accomplish anything they desire if they listen humbly, work hard, and do their best.”

Contact Robert McKenzie at chessmack2003@yahoo.com.

RESOURCES NAMI: To get more information about the National Alliance on mental Illness (NAMI) and the Sharing Hope initiative, visit www.nami.org.

Dr. Reba Haley: Contact her at rebahaley@aol.com or www. rebahaley.com.

Mental Health Ministries: www.mentalhealthministries.net Jenise Griffin Morgan: Contact her at Jmorgan@flcourier.com.

to leave the ministry because of the stigma and ignorance associated with mental illnesses,” said Gregg-Schroeder, a White minister who said her depression began in 1991 during her third year of ministry at a large urban church.

She started Mental Health Ministries in 2001, an interactive web-based ministry, to provide educational resources to help erase the stigma of mental illness in faith communities.

“Despite my experience in pastoral counseling, I did not recognize or understand what was happening to me. Few people at church knew about my depression and hospitalization. For two years I suffered in silence, hiding my condition from the church community for fear of losing my job.

“The religious community has much work to do to address the shame, guilt and stigma associated with mental illness. Unfortunately very few seminaries incorporate adequate information about mental illness into their core curriculum.

“Studies show that a majority of individuals with a mental health issue go first to a spiritual leader for help. Yet our clergy are often the least effective in providing appropriate support and referral information,’’ she added.

Jenise Griffin Morgan, senior editor of the Florida Courier, is a 2013-2014 fellow for the Rosalyn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism.

football team, participated in several bands. He served a short time in the Army and played semipro football with the Tampa Bay Bulldogs.

At the time of his death, he was a member of BRYCG Christian Center.

Visitation is from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. April 18 at Without Walls International Church, 3860 W. Columbus Drive, Tampa. The funeral service is 11 a.m. April 19 at Without Walls. The family has requested that attendees wear vibrant colors and not black.

“Big Money Ced” is survived by his parents, Edward and Frances Cheeks Jennings of Tampa; grandmother, Nancy Lindey Whiting of New Jersey; 11 children; five grandchildren; two brothers; one sister; and a host of other relatives.

APRIL 18 – APRIL 24, 2014

FLORIDA

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New online maps will show potential storm surge Hurricane center service to indicate in blunt terms where seawater could cause death and destruction

BY KEVIN SPEAR ORLANDO SENTINEL/MCT

ORLANDO — Starting this year, national hurricane forecasters will issue maps showing where there’s potential for stormdriven seawater to charge miles inland to flood streets, knock down homes and kill people.

The new online map will appear on the center’s website when a watch is announced for a hurricane and for some tropical storms.

It is being showcased this week at the National Hurricane Conference in Orlando as an overdue service only now having the technology to perform reliably despite the variable nature of hurricane season from June 1 to Nov. 30.

“It has to perform well under all conditions,” said Jamie Rhome, storm surge team leader at the National Hurricane Center. “It can’t perform well in one storm and not the next storm.”

Storm surge is the seawater pushed by a hurricane against a coastline, providing a liquid runway for battering waves to demolish beaches, bridges, buildings and, in the worst cases, nearly any recognizable part of a community.

Warnings in blunt terms As with other aspects of hurricanes, predicting a surge of seawater is complex and depends on a storm’s intensity, speed, size, angle of approach to the coast and coastal characteristics.

MCT

The tidal surge caused by Hurricane Frances in 2004 took away part of this home in Melbourne Beach.

Using a color key, red would represent areas expected to be covered with more than 9 feet of water above the ground; orange would indicate a depth of 6 feet or more; yellow would show inundation of at least 3 feet; and blue would indicate up to 3 feet.

It’s meant to be a visual showing of where to expect a hurricane’s greatest threat to people and their property. But in 2015, the center will also issue warnings, indicating in blunt terms where seawater could cause death and destruction.

“A warning is the National Weather Service’s most explicit way of communicating life-threatening flooding,” Rhome said. “We are saying if you are in this warning area, you need to take action immediately to

protect your life.”

Though all of Florida is vulnerable, conditions along the state’s west coast could help propel a storm surge 30 to 40 miles inland, particularly along rivers.

The primary factor that makes the Gulf of Mexico coast conducive to fearsome surges is the shallow water that extends for many miles into the gulf.

Less vulnerable is a portion of Southeast Florida, where the seafloor has a sharper drop-off that can inhibit storm surge.

Emergency responders at the conference welcomed the new online tool, though it has not yet shown what it can do in action.

Remembering 2004 Michael Whitehead, mass care coordinator with

ricane Frances, which hit Florida’s Treasure Coast in 2004 and smashed inland marinas in Fort Pierce into piles of splintered docks and wrecked boats.

Zones matter Weeks later, Hurricane Ivan flooded downtown Pensacola with storm surge that also savaged many communities on barrier islands along the western Panhandle.

A year later, Hurricane Dennis shocked coastal residents south of Tallahassee when as much as 9 feet of storm surge pushed well inland, though the storm itself struck land far to the west.

Elsewhere in the nation, storm surge from Hurricane Katrina in 2005 wiped out communities in Mis-

Siplin to challenge Thompson for District 12 Senate seat

FAMU student wins boxing title, feature in Sports Illustrated

TALLAHASSEE – Florida A&M University (FAMU) is the home of the 2014 U.S. Intercollegiate Boxing Association’s heavyweight champion.

FAMU student Willie Ferrell not only took home the championship belt earlier this month, but also defended his title as the 2013 heavyweight champion.

Ferrell’s journey to triumph in the boxing ring is depicted in the April 14 issue of Sports Illustrated.

The multi-page feature in Sports Illustrated outlines Ferrell’s relationship with his late brother Jonathan, a former Rattler football player, whose controversial 2013 death has been attributed to alleged racial profiling.

“I was proud to represent my brother.

I was proud that I was able to show the

the Florida Department of Business & Professional Regulation, said hurricanes have the multiple threats of wind, tornadoes, flooding and storm surge.

“Saying that a hurricane is going to be Category 4, for example, doesn’t tell you what the hazards will be,” Whitehead said.

Eric Flowers, spokesman for the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office, hadn’t yet heard much about the storm-surge map but predicted it would make a difference.

“If it gets more information to the public, that’s fantastic,” Flowers said.

Rhome said Florida’s west coast is little familiar with storm surge. The last bad one was nearly a century ago, he said.

Experience elsewhere in the state includes Hur-

NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

COURTESY OF SPORTS ILLUSTRATED/FAMU

Willie Ferrell is featured in the April 14 edition of Sports Illustrated. world what FAMU has to offer,” said Ferrell about what it felt like to be handed the championship belt.

Former Sen. Gary Siplin has filed paperwork to run for the Central Florida seat currently held by Sen. Geraldine Thompson, D-Orlando, setting up a primary battle between two veteran legislators.

sissippi with 25 to 28 feet of onrushing seawater.

Rhome said the surge maps will be informative, but coastal residents need to know their neighborhood’s designated stormsurge evacuation zone, which is ranked from the most vulnerable A zones through the least vulnerable E zones.

The “public” tab at floridadisaster.org is one way to learn about evacuation zones.

“I’d have to say that 10 percent of the population knows their evacuation zone, which is way too low,” Rhome said.

“How could you possibly know what action to take in a hurricane if you do not know your evacuation zone?”

“The voters of District 12 asked me to run,” Siplin said Monday.

He said voters had approached him at parades, grocery stores and churches to encourage him to make another bid for office.

When asked, Siplin didn’t specifically point out any area where he disagrees with what Thompson has done.

“You have to ask the voters that,” he said. “They’ve asked me to run.”

Siplin spent 12 years in the Legislature, winning a House seat in 2000 and moving up to the Senate in 2002. He was forced out by term limits in 2012, though his wife ran an unsuccessful campaign to keep the seat in family hands.

Thompson won the seat that year after spending six years in the House.

Feds to renew major hospital funding program NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

As Florida lawmakers get ready to negotiate a budget, the federal government gave tentative approval last week to a one-year extension of a program that funnels extra money to hospitals that serve large numbers of uninsured and low-income patients.

Lawmakers and health-care lobbyists had been waiting to see whether the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services would approve an extension of what is known as the Low Income Pool, or LIP, program.

The program had been set to expire June 30, but would be extended through June 30, 2015, according to a letter that the state Agency for Health Care Administration received from CMS Director Cindy Mann.

A ‘waiver’ The letter, posted on the website Health News Florida, also indicates that the federal government will agree to a three-year extension of what is known as a “waiver” that is critical to Florida’s move to a statewide man-

Sen. Gary Siplin

Sen. Geraldine Thompson

aged-care system in Medicaid. But the letter also appears to signal that the LIP program might not continue in the future.

“During this one year extension of the LIP, Florida will review Medicaid provider payments and funding mechanisms, with the goal of developing sustainable, transparent, equitable, appropriate, accountable, and actuarially sound Medicaid payment systems and funding mechanisms that will ensure quality health care services to Florida’s Medicaid beneficiaries throughout the state without the need for LIP funding,’’ Mann wrote.

$1 billion a year LIP in the past has funneled about $1 billion a year to health providers, primarily hospitals. The Agency for Health Care Administration said in a news release on April 11 that the total for the upcoming 2014-15 fiscal year would be slightly more than $2 billion.

The program is heavily funded by local tax dollars that the state uses to draw down federal matching money.

AHCA said the extension does not require new dollars but involves a consolidation of funding from the current LIP program and other sources.

EDITORIAL

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APRIL 18 – APRIL 24, 2014

Blackonomics: Where do we stand?

Chaka Khan sang, “Tell me somethin’ good.” The 2014 National Urban League (NUL) report, “State of Black America, One Nation Underemployed; Jobs Rebuild America,” contains a lot of great information, but it will only prove to be “good” if we use it to build a solid and long lasting economic base.

The 236-page report is full of statistics and insights Black people need to know—and act upon.

Knowledge is only power if we use it.

For the most part, Black people in this country are at the bottom of every good category and at the top of every bad one. Of course most of us don’t need the NUL or anyone else to tell us that; we see it every day all around us, but supporting statistics are a great way to drive the point home. Sad to say, our overall “state” is not

JAMES CLINGMAN NNPA COLUMNIST

good. (Sorry, Chaka)

“Say what?”

I would love to see a report on the “Fate” of Black America. Maybe that would wake us up and get us involved in changing our “state.”

Reports on our “state” are nice but they usually tell us what we already know. Acknowledging and discussing our fate might scare us into implementing long term, solution-based, and work related approaches to our challenges.

I was intrigued by some of the responses to our “state” from Black folks. For instance, an ar-

ticle titled, NUL State Of Black America 2014 Report Says Minorities Losing Economic Ground,

by Jesse Holland, states, “Despite the ‘dismal’ numbers an analysis by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found African-Americans significantly more ‘optimistic’ about their future standard of living than Whites…” Mr. Holland went on to write, “The survey found high optimism even among Blacks who say racism is a cause for economic inequality.” My reaction was, “Say what?”

ployment equality” (3.8%), compared with a 6.5 percent unemployment rate for Whites.” The unemployment rate for Blacks in Memphis is 16.6 percent. What’s wrong with that picture?

It’s been 46 years since King died in Memphis, fighting for economic rights; according to an article on nashvillescene.com, Memphis is “Among worst the U.S. cities to be Black, male, and unemployed.” The city just spent $28 million to revamp the civil rights museum; I wonder how many jobs were created for Black men on that project, and how much of the $28 million went to Black conThe irony of Memphis tractors. Did Blacks in Memphis Another irony in the NUL resettle for symbolism over subport referred to the new “Choco- stance, or did they get both? late City,” Memphis, TN., which is 63 percent Black, according the James Clingman is an author, Raise level of 2010 U.S Census (The NUL report activist, speaker and educasays 46%), yet ranks the “most entrepreneurship tor. Write your own response at It’s frustrating to see Black peo- www.flcourier.com. equal for ‘Hispanics’ in unem-

Coming together for a common cause

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE

MONTE WOLVERTON, CAGLE CARTOONS

Random thoughts of a free Black mind, v. 209 R.I.P. – Condolences to every family in bereavement. As we all age, segments of the circles of our lives (family, friends, schoolmates, relatives) slowly break, with the gaps never to be filled. Special condolences to the families of Frank Stewart, the brother of our Tampa-based family attorney Delano Stewart; “Big Money Ced” Jennings, who was a force of nature and energy who helped propel WTMP-AM forward when it was under our ownership; and Mrs. Doris Christian of Daytona Beach, one of my mom’s Campbell Elementary School co-workers and close friends who was also a writer for our sister newspaper, the Daytona Times, in its early days. Each made their own individual impact on me and I thank them for it…

More gun nuttiness – Gov. Rick Scott will probably sign a bill that prevents prosecution of someone who fires a “warning shot” or who threatens someone else with a gun in self-defense. It’s another “stand your ground” slippery slope causing cops, prosecutors and juries to read people’s minds. And am I immune from prosecution if the “warning bullet” I shoot in the air kills somebody when it returns to earth, like people die from bullets shot in the air every New Year’s Eve? American ‘civilization’ – I’m having

QUICK TAKES FROM #2: STRAIGHT, NO CHASER

CHARLES W. CHERRY II, ESQ. PUBLISHER

an intrafamily discussion about whether my kids should be allowed to walk or ride bikes about six blocks from their home in an upper middle-class neighborhood to school. The general female consensus: No, too dangerous; possible kidnappers, neighborhood sexual offenders, etc.

Me: Yes, with proper precautions, including time limits and phone calls. I’m concerned about my kids being scared of their own shadows. Growing up, we walked everywhere and cars were a bigger threat to us than people. And right now in Africa, kids in school uniforms routinely walk in safety alone or in groups to school for miles between villages. What in American culture causes us to be consumed by fear despite the fact that we collectively own 400 million guns? Or does gun ownership justify the fear?

Contact me at ccherry2@gmail.com.

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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ple settling for a nebulous request for “jobs” and an increase in the minimum wage to $10.10. We do need more jobs, but we must create some of those jobs ourselves, and be able to hire a significant percentage of our own workforce.

A decade ago, Economist, Thomas Boston proposed his “20 by 10” concept that called for 10 percent of Black workers being hired

by Black businesses by 2010. We missed that boat, so maybe Professor Boston should now call for a “10 by 20” effort.

We must raise our level of entrepreneurship by including it in our schools’ curricula, and by growing our businesses via mutual support and strategic alliances. The NUL report states, “We must recognize…entrepreneurship as the most important vehicle of economic development in the Black community.” Amen!

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

There was a time when people used to think consciously about their personal struggles and the struggles of their people. I can remember reading in history books the struggles that African-Americans faced for quality education, the right to vote, and the need to undo segregation and Jim Crow laws.

Without a doubt, individuals came together for a common cause – a cause that called for equality, fairness, and justice. Not only were there African-Americans who participated in this conscious call to action, but many Whites and Native Americans, joined in the fight.

Speak up While we still have individuals and civil rights groups still on the battlefield fighting for justice, it’s time for a mass of people to join hands and raise their voices throughout the land.

What I’m calling for is for people to think consciously about the disenfranchised and disinherited. We must move away from simply thinking about financial and material prosperity and become more concerned about problems such as domestic abuse and proper education for children of all races, ethnicities, and nationalities.

We can’t stop there. We must help destroy the emasculation of not only AfricanAmericans but also our im-

DR. SINCLAIR GREY III GUEST COLUMNIST

migrant brothers and sisters. We must undo the school to prison pipeline.

There’s a host of other ills we must address and fix. We must never fall into the trap of what mainstream society does in labeling, degrading, and dehumanizing people who don’t think how they think, look how they look, and live how they live.

When Mahatma Gandhi wrote a letter to Muriel Lester, he penned the words, “Speak the truth, without fear and without exception, and see everyone whose work is related to your purpose. You are in God’s work, so you need not fear man’s scorn. If they listen to your requests and grant them, you will be satisfied. If they reject them, then you must make their rejection your strength.” This letter then and still to this day calls on us to manifest our conscious thinking into a movement. It won’t be a movement that will please the status quo. Let me go a step further. It won’t be a movement that many church leaders are willing to take because it will threaten their membership, 501c3 status, and financial worth.

However, it’s a movement for those who are willing to

project a spirit of love, kindness, and unselfishness.

Forgotten words The Declaration of Independence tells us, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Beautiful words that have been forgotten, ignored, and even overlooked by many. The phrase, ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’ is for all men, not the select few. Those who have been blessed with so much should in fact reach back to make a difference, not only financially, but with their time and effort. It’s a not a color thing, it’s a human concept.

Here’s your call to action.

Find a worthy cause and get involved. Stand up for those who can’t stand up for themselves. Get involved within your local community by any means necessary.

As a people, we have a voice and it’s time to use it. Don’t wait, hesitate, or procrastinate – the time is now.

Dr. Sinclair Grey III is an inspirational speaker, motivator, author and committed advocate for communal change. Contact him at drgrey@sinclairgrey.org or on Twitter @drsinclairgrey.

Black folks’ harmful addiction to electoral politics Way too many Black people in this country are addicted to electoral politics as the chief vehicle for achieving equal rights, justice and equal opportunity.

Those so afflicted would be wise to pay close attention to an observation made by brilliant educator, Harrold Cruse, in his book, Plural But Equal wrote Cruse: In the game of electoral politics, Black leadership has had no issues of political leverage, only numerical voting strength. However, this voting strength has never been predicated on a political power base grounded in tangible economic, administrative, cultural, or social policy issues with the viability of forcefully influencing public policy. Hence, merely winning public office became the one and only tangible goal for political leaders. Beyond that, Black office holders possessed only the pretense of being backed up by substantive political power bases representing issues that would impact on public policy. Thus, the continuing emphasis on the mobilization of Black voting strength; thus, the ongoing campaign for Black voter registration; thus, the empty threat that the maximization of Black voting strength would somehow

A. PETER BAILEY TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM

alter the course of American political history in race and minority group issues.

Mobilization of Black voting strength The Civil Rights Acts of 1964-1965 promised no such grandiose affirmation of potential Black political power. While the Voting Rights Act of the 1965 did in fact speed up the mobilization of Black voting strength, and opened the doors for unprecedented growth in numbers of Black elected officials (BEOs), these BEOs were capitalized into office as symbols of Black civil rights coming of age. But, with rare exceptions, they brought nothing with them into political office that bore the least resemblance to a Black economic, political, and cultural program that meant much to anybody, friend or foe, Black or White, beyond the politically mundane business as usual stance of the liberal consensus. Following the Sixties, Black

politicians were suggestive of military leaders whose armies were forever in training (voter registration) but were never readied for the participation in the field of battle for substantive goals worth fighting for.

Anyone looking for practical solutions to achieving the results advocated

by Professor Cruse must read and absorb chapters in books written by Claud Anderson (Powernomics) and Chancellor Williams ( The Destruction of Black Civilization: Great Issues Of A Race 4506 B.C TO 2000 A.D. and the columns written by James Clingman that are published in numerous Black newspapers.

The chapters in Anderson’s book are ‘’The Key” to empowerment and “Practicing Group Economics”.

In William’s book the chapters are “Organizing A Race For Action” and “The shape of things to come: A master plan. Reading and absorbing those chapters will begin the healing from the addiction to electoral politics.

A. Peter Bailey, whose most recent book is Witnessing Brother Malcolm X, the Master Teacher, can be reached at apeter@verizon.net. Write your own response at www.flcourier.com.

APRIL 18 – APRIL 24, 2014

EDITORIAL

No, this is not a Black thing Racial discrimination does exist in this world but certainly not at the level it did prior to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It has been waning but sometimes it will lift its “ugly head.” Whenever that happens it should be snuffed out quickly and firmly. As one proud Jamaican member of the National Black Chamber of Commerce commented to me about the subject, “Show me that I am late; my price is too high, my product is unsafe. Don’t you ever say no because of the color of my skin, for I will fight you with every breath of my life.” That is wise advice and we must be certain not to shrug off pressure or rebuke by saying, “It’s because I am Black.”

So when we hear people say that our President or Attorney General is being criticized because they are Black, we should check them.

The fact is, as a whole, our nation is in a very critical state of uneasiness. It is pure chaos right now. We don’t look assuring to our allies and our enemies are smiling at our apparent weakness. Yes, right now we are in a giant cesspool of deceit, timidity, corruption and cowardice. Great nations don’t act like this and it has nothing to do with “Black.”

My people it is time to get a grip on the realities at hand. “Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” Let me note

HARRY C. ALFORD NNPA COLUMNIST

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: EQUAL PAY

find out. Four of our people were murdered by Al Qaida linked persons and we won’t even arrest them for trial. They fear what will come out in court. So they stall and stall and stall. Justice is not served.

some examples.

More problems

Issues at the State Department

The same goes with Homeland Security. The “Fast and Furious” disaster put hundreds of illegal weapons onto the streets.

We lost a border patrol officer and hundreds of Mexican citizens and they stall and stall and stall. Justice is not served.

The National Security Agency (NSA) in its sweeping/wiring of telephone and email communications is an ongoing disaster.

Recently, we find that the USAID agency ran a covert operation in Cuba. The mission of the USAID is: “Our Mission: We partner to end extreme poverty and to promote resilient, democratic societies while advancing our security and prosperity.” Not anymore!

They took 500,000 cell phone numbers of Cuban citizens (from NSA) and began spamming them on a cooked up Twitter account covertly placed in Spain. Money was funneled through the Cayman Islands. The intent was to provoke discontent among Cuban citizens against their government.

Sounds a little bit like the Arab Spring affair, which backfired tre-

We have had a non-accountable State Department. I hope Secretary John Kerry can turn it around. Can you believe that this major agency had been operating without an Inspector General for five years? What does that mean?

The IG is responsible for oversight and accountability. During the absence of an IG the State Department cannot account for over $6 billion in procurement.

Who got paid for what? Did they actually do the work? Was strict procurement law followed? They don’t know. Many of the files are lost and some have been pilfered.

Where is the investigation and who is going to jail? The five Mafia families of New York could not have been more corrupt.

Oh yes, the State department is still playing dumb about the Benghazi attack, which is now a scandal. Oh, how they lied on all of the Sunday news channels about it – like we weren’t going to

BILL DAY, CAGLE CARTOONS

mendously on us. Syria, Egypt, Libya are probably lost to democracy because of our botched “intelligence” activity. The world is seeing us as an evil entity.

Then there is the “Mother” of all scandals – the IRS corruption.

Every day the plot seems to thicken. There is more than a “smidgen of corruption.” It appears to be a few truckloads of it. In the end, when the truth will eventually come out, there will be IRS employees and people from the White House, Justice Department and recently it looks like Congress too will be indicted and carried off to jail.

The above are just a few exam-

Ethos and President Lyndon Johnson Ethos is a Greek word meaning “character.” It is commonly used to explain the value systems that distinguish the beliefs or ideals of a group, organization, community, nation or ideology.

Ethos is the root of ethikos, meaning “moral, showing moral character” and it’s the origin of the modern English word ethics. I’ve often been told that the demonstration of character is what you do when you know that the only right thing is to do what’s right -- it’s doing the right thing when no one is watching.

The practical significance of ethos, and therefore ethics, is that few individuals or entities can exist over time without disclosing – intentionally or unintentionally – the foundation of their character. Among Bid Whist aficionados, it is understood that one must eventually show his or her ‘hold card.’ Among politicians, and other public policy-makers, it’s understood that they or their

DR. E. FAYE WILLIAMS, ESQ. TRICE EDNEY WIRE

actions will eventually disclose those whose interests they elect to serve and protect.

Johnson did what was right Significant in the past few days has been the focus on President Lyndon Baines Johnson and the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 fifty years ago. All this week, dignitaries, including Presidents Obama, Clinton and Carter, have edified the character and courage that it took for President Johnson to sign that legislation, especially considering the social and political climate of the times. Although his upbringing, experience and the social mores of his area of res-

idence clearly opposed the goals of his “signature legislation,” Johnson knew that our country could not survive with the racial hostilities that were then ingrained in the personal and institutional fabric of our national ethos.

However he is considered by others, I am grateful that President Johnson chose to stand against popular political wisdom of the time and that he set the institutional wheels of racial justice and progress into motion.

Through the lens of recent history, we have seen and can evaluate the good works and character of this man. He serves as an exemplar of fair play and justice.

As I see it, most of the current crop of politicians who huddle under the banner of the Republican Party stand in stark contrast to the ethos and character of Lyndon Johnson. While Johnson realized that a democracy could truly flourish only when the opportunity for participation and growth

Over 500,000 Floridians enroll in the Affordable Care Act The story and lies that have been perpetrated by our governor and our legislative leaders about the Affordable Care Act borders on criminal behavior and pervasive mental sickness.

To tell residents that the ACA is too expensive and does not improve health outcomes is not the truth, and entirely wrong. For the first three years of the ACA, the federal government would pick up the cost of the expansion of Medicaid by 100%.

Failure was the plan There are 3.9 million uninsured Floridians that can benefit from the ACA and our leaders did everything in their power to help the program fail.

Our state led the fight to repeal the law, and banned healthcare navigators from county health departments to help get residents signed up. Nothing that our leaders did made any sense with the ACA, and the billions that we will lose from the federal government if we don’t expand Medicaid are hurting the most vulnerable residents in the state.

“You can’t make an economic case against expansion,” said John Holahan, a fellow at the Urban Institute. If Florida does not expand Medicaid, it will lose $5 billion dollars by 2020 from the federal government, and the state would have only paid 7% of the cost for expansion. The 500,000 Floridians that enrolled in the ACA is not an accurate number, because there were 440,000, who had signed up by the end of February. Based on the fact that over 1 million Americans signed up in March, I am estimating that 60,000 Floridians enrolled in March.

The accurate numbers will probably be put together in early May, because the president expanded the deadline. This is a tremendous achievement for the federal government, because in order for our president to hit his projected number, he

A5

ROGER CALDWELL GUEST COLUMNIST

needed Florida to do well. Florida’s success was due to a strong infrastructure created by the presidential election. Many groups that worked on the election also helped to enroll Floridians into the ACA.

Children’s Health Insurance Program As parents began applying for their own health coverage, they discovered that their children were eligible for Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). There were more than 51,000 children by the end of February who signed up for CHIP, and many parents had no idea there was a program available for their children. Hiding programs that can benefit the poor in the state is morally wrong, and our Florida legislators are not doing their job.

Our legislative leaders cannot be trusted, because they continue to give Floridians the wrong information.

When half of a million residents enroll in the ACA, the new program is fulfilling a critical and desperate need.

Residents are ecstatic that they have healthcare, and their stories bring compassionate Floridians to tears.

When a state has leaders who are blind and can’t see or understand the benefits of the ACA, they must be replaced. Governor Scott is hurting the state and its residents, and he must be voted out of office.

Roger Caldwell is the CEO and owner of On Point Media Group.

Write your own response at www. flcourier.com.

was expanded for all, contemporary Republican philosophy centers around the principle of limiting participation in the social structure of the nation, especially in the arena of voting. Since Republicans, seemingly, cannot create a political message that captures the hearts and minds of a majority of American voters, they have dedicated themselves to restructuring the composition of the majority by denying voting opportunities to undesirables.

And just who are these undesirables? They are those of us who are not numbered among the wealthy.

Helping those needing the least While pushing the verbal pabulum of populism, Republican legislative efforts support uplifting those least in need of assistance. They are zealots in the fight against removing subsidies provided to the wealthiest of

ples. Items like socializing our insurance industry along with mortgages, education; ignoring our debt; cutting our military; evading Congress and the Supreme Court are other items we can discuss later. It isn’t a Black thing. It is government overreach and a lack of respect for our Constitution.

Harry Alford is the CoFounder, President/CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce®. Write your own response at www.flcourier.com. commercial industries. At every turn, they oppose tax reform that would result in the wealthy contributing a fairer share of revenue to the “general welfare.” They refuse to pass legislation designed to create jobs or increase wages, yet their policies cut assistance to the unemployed and underemployed.

We often hear the negatives, but examining the ethos of President Johnson sheds the light of comparison, contrast and clarity on the ethos of the Republican Tea Party. The challenge isn’t deciding whether they serve the interests of our community. Our greatest challenge is to actually commit ourselves to timely action. Like President Johnson, we must commit to and sustain the fight however unpopular or uncomfortable it becomes to us. After all, November cometh.

Dr. E. Faye Williams is National Chair of the National Congress of Black Women.

Write your own response at www.flcourier.com.

Don’t let the bullies in your life tell you what to do Editor’s note: Last week was to be the last edition of The Gantt Report, which has been published in media outLUCIUS lets for over 40 years. HowevGANTT er supporters of The Gantt ReTHE GANTT REPORT port overwhelming asked for its continuance to which Lucius Gantt says he will oblige. think I should or shouldn’t write. Devilish, modern day Whew, that was a close one! bullies are always telling me No matter where you live in I don’t write about what they the world or where you are, tell me to. If I don’t, they say someone is attempting to or- they will ruin my career, they der you around! You can live say they will damage my repin a big city, a small town or a utation or they say they cause little village, if you were born, me severe economic hardyou’ve experienced a bul- ship.

I tell my bullies the same ly that only wants you to do thing the brave child tells the what the bully says do.

When you were a child ma- play ground bully. When the ma and daddy told you what bully says “Step across that to do, in grade school perhaps line I drew in the sand” or a classmate desired to order ”Knock this chip off that I put you around and as an adult on my shoulder.” rogue cops are often bullies The kid that’s not afraid of saying, “give me your license, the bully says, “You make me hands behind your head or cross or you make me knock get on the ground!” the chip off”!

Stand up for your beliefs But bullies aren’t so big and bad. Most “bullies” can talk a good fight but when you put up your dukes, the average bully will turn into the coward he is.

Starting today, don’t let the bullies in your life tell you what to do, what to say or what to write.

Do what you want to as long as your action is legal, honorable, equitable, moral and otherwise righteous. Say what you want to as long as your words are honest, truthful, sensitive, compassionate, caring and so forth.

I’m a writer and people oftentimes tell me what they

'Call me out' I tell folk if you don’t like me to write about politics or religion or romance or whatever, do something to stop me. If you think I’m writing lies, sue me for slander. If you think my words are arbitrary or malicious, write a letter to the newspaper editors and call me out.

I ask all of the literary bullies that want to control reporters and columnists where would we be if our forefathers and ancestors were afraid to do the right thing because a bully asked them to. Where would we be if Nat Turner, Denmark Vesey, Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass didn’t stand up and speak out

about the overseers and other slavery day bullies. Where would we be if Marcus Garvey didn’t say Race First, if Malcolm X didn’t say By Any Means Necessary, if Rosa Parks didn’t say I’m not moving to the back of the bus or if Martin Luther King Jr. didn’t preach about ending civil rights abuses and unjust wars like the Vietnam conflict?

We have to teach our children to be men and women and not puppets and boot licking lackeys!

Don’t ever be scared to do the right thing, say the right thing or write the right words because God is on your side.

Your bully can be apparently powerful and as big as a tree but when your bully is a big tree, so to speak, the truth can be a small axe!

Goliath was a Biblical bully but Goliath was slain by little old David who discarded all of the armor and weapons of war given to him but his supporters and only used a small sling shot!

The truth and the right will bring any bully to their knees.

Don’t let the modern day devil bully you around.

Buy Gantt’s latest book, “Beast Too: Dead Man Writing” on Amazon.com and from bookstores everywhere. Contact Lucius at www.allworldconsultants.net. Write your own response at www.flcourier. com.

TOJ A6

NATION

APRIL 18 – APRIL 24, 2014

‘A hard road’ Discrimination was a persistent factor for McAlpin, his son said. The elder McAlpin wanted to be a journalist and study at the University of Missouri, but he was barred because of his race.

He ended up at the University of Wisconsin.

Similarly, it was a “hard road to try to get a Black person into the White House correspondents’ circle,” Sherman McAlpin said. His father told him he was warned that at the White House news conference “someone might step on your foot” and a row would ensue.

Not missing a beat, McAlpin said, his father had replied: “I always thought the White House press would be the cream of the crop. I can’t imagine that would happen. But if it did, it would be the story of the year and I wouldn’t want to miss it.’ ”

Pressure from Black press

PHOTOS BY J.M. EDDINS JR./MCT

Sherman McAlpin is shown at his home in Bowie, Md., on April 9 with a photograph of his father, Harry McAlpin.

Black shunned by White House reporters to be honored May 3 Harry McApin was first AfricanAmerican to cover presidential news conference

Covered Roosevelt’s funeral

BY LESLEY CLARK MCCLATCHY WASHINGTON BUREAU

WASHINGTON — Harry S. McAlpin made history in February 1944 when he became the first Black reporter to cover a presidential news conference at the White House.

Time magazine and The New York Times noted the milestone.

And Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who had opened the White House doors after entreaties from African-American publishers, greeted the reporter as he made his way over to the president’s desk, telling him, “Glad to see you, McAlpin.”

It was not a sentiment shared

by McAlpin’s fellow scribes, members of the White House Correspondents’ Association who for a decade had denied Black reporters the opportunity to attend the twice-weekly news conferences in the Oval Office.

Roosevelt’s invite did nothing to deter them. A member of the association told McAlpin he’d share notes from the news conference with him if he didn’t attend, suggesting that in the crush of reporters moving into the room someone could get hurt.

May 3 tribute McAlpin “ever so politely declined the offer,” and stepping into the White House broke the color barrier, said George Condon, a White House correspondent for the National Journal and a former White House Corre-

A group photo features U.S. Army Gen. Omar Bradley, center, and Harry McAlpin, third from left.

The photo is one of the keepsakes of McAlpin’s son, Sherman McAlpin, a retired U.S. Air Force veteran who currently works for the Department of the Navy at the Pentagon, and lives in Bowie, Md. spondents’ Association president who’s researching the group’s sometimes-checkered history in celebration of its centennial this year.

Now, some 70 years after doing all it could to block Black reporters, the White House Correspondents’ Association is looking to make amends, dedicating a scholarship for journalism students in McAlpin’s name. McAlpin, who died in 1985, will be honored at the association’s annual scholarship dinner on May 3.

“Harry McAlpin was a remark-

Charges dismissed against New York man who spent 25 years in prison Jonathan Fleming had proof he was in Florida at time of the crime TRICE EDNEY NEWS WIRE

District Attorney Kenneth P. Thompson of Brooklyn, N.Y., last week dismissed murder charges against Jonathan Fleming,

Admittance to the White House came only after a decade of pressure from Black newspaper publishers and editors, who began making a case for attendance in 1933, Condon said.

The White House Correspondents’ Association, which served as the gatekeeper to the events, denied entreaties from Black publications, often responding with nothing but silence.

There was some justification for restricting access. More than 200 reporters jostled to attend and the room could get crowded, Condon said. Admission was restricted to reporters for daily newspapers, and most of the Black publications, including McAlpin’s Chicago Defender, were weeklies.

Infighting among the editors and publishers of the Blackowned newspapers had made it difficult for McAlpin to report — as he eventually did — for a coalition of newspapers, including the Atlanta Daily World, the only Black daily.

Exceptions to the daily-only rule had been made, but not for Black reporters, Condon said.

who spent 25 years in prison, serving time for a crime that occurred in New York although he had solid alibi that he was in Florida at the time.

“Today’s actions follow

able man. We honor his role as the first Black reporter to cover a presidential press conference.

And we acknowledge that he did that in spite of opposition from the White House Correspondents’ Association of the time,” said Steven Thomma, the current association president and McClatchy’s government and politics editor.

“Thanks to the work of Harry McAlpin, and men and women in the decades that followed, the White House press corps and the White House Correspondents’

a careful and thorough review of this case and based on key alibi facts that place Fleming in Florida at the time of the murder, I have decided to dismiss all charges against him,” Thompson said in a statement on April 8.

Fleming was convicted of the Aug. 15, 1989, murder of Darryl Rush in Brooklyn, although Fleming was vacationing with his children in Florida, where they were visiting Disney World in Lake Buena Vista.

Had Florida hotel receipt Police arrested Fleming on Aug. 17, 1989, and in his possession, they found a Florida hotel receipt that was time stamped for Aug.

Kenneth Thompson

Association is a diverse chorus of faces and voices. The country is better for it.”

McAlpin’s son, Sherman, calls his father’s history-making stint at the White House just one facet of a life well-lived, including serving as the president of the NAACP chapter in Louisville, Ky. “He has been and continues to be my hero,” Sherman McAlpin, who works for the Department of the Navy, said of his father.

“If I accomplished one-tenth of what he accomplished in his life, I would be a total success.”

Jonathan Fleming

14, 1989, at 9:27 p.m., four hours before Rush was slain at 2:18 am.

During his trial, Fleming said he was innocent of the murder and the hotel receipt corroborated his defense.

The Brooklyn D.A.’s Conviction Review Unit, which is now headed by Harvard Law Professor Ronald S. Sullivan Jr., was investigating Fleming’s conviction

Once over the threshold, McAlpin attended the briefings, asking Roosevelt about an issue close to Black readers: the Fair Employment Practices Committee, which Roosevelt had established to ban racial discrimination in defense contractors receiving federal contracts.

He lodged another first when he was part of the press train traveling to the 1944 Democratic National Convention and was one of the few reporters allowed to cover White House funeral services for Roosevelt.

And he made his mark with President Harry S. Truman, asking the new president at his first news conference whether he could assure African-Americans that he’d consider their views as Roosevelt had.

“He was a good writer, a good reporter who paid attention to what his community cared about,” Condon said.

But he was never a member of the association. “They blackballed him from ever joining the correspondents’ association or attending the group’s annual dinner,” said Condon, who recommended creating the scholarship. “The president could break the color line for his press conferences, but he could not rewrite the WHCA’s membership policies.”

McAlpin left the White House beat in 1945 and would later serve as a Navy war correspondent before moving to Louisville, where he practiced law and was NAACP president.

when they found the hotel receipt in his files.

The unit also interviewed Fleming’s former girlfriend, who said she called Fleming on the night of Aug. 15, 1989, and he was still at the Florida hotel.

“This witness was found to be credible and phone records support her story,” Thompson said. “Other witnesses who claimed to have seen Fleming shoot Rush have either since recanted their testimony, or were found to be not credible.”

Finally free at 51 The Innocence Project, which is based in New York, praised Thompson’s decision.

“The Innocence Project is very pleased that the

Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office has agreed to dismiss the murder indictment against Darryl Rush after a review by its Conviction Review Unit found that Rush was wrongfully convicted,” said Paul Cates, a spokesperson for the Innocence Project.

“District Attorney Thompson is to be commended for including defense attorney’s in the process, as their presence helps to ensure that the unit conducts a meaningful review of cases under consideration,” Cates said.

The 51 year-old Fleming said he has dreamed about this day for 24 years. “I am finally a free man,” he said.

“I am going to eat dinner with my mother and my family.”

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

IFE/FAITH MISSISSIPPI’S Crafts for Earth Day See page B4

SOUTH FLORIDA / TREASURE COAST AREA

APRIL 18 – APRIL 24, 2014

SHARING BLACK LIFE, STATEWIDE

Houston one of R&B Hall of Fame Inductees See page B5

WWW.FLCOURIER.COM

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SECTION

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MUSIC TRAIL

Looking for good blues and blues history? Here’s where to find it.

1. Clarksdale, Mississippi has long been described as “Ground Zero” for blues aficionados from around the globe. The Ground Zero Blues Club was created to provide a forum in which it can continue.

BY ELEANOR HENDRICKS MCDANIEL SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA COURIER

“Love Music, Will Travel,” says the real music fan.

Just to visit a home or museum dedicated to a music superstar, walk in his shoes through his hometown or enjoy a live performance that features his best loved songs is a dream fulfilled.

The lovers of the different kinds of true American music head to Mississippi – the state that has more Grammy winners per capita than any other.

You can take the Mississippi Music Trail that will lead you through towns where the superstars lived, performed or are immortalized.

2. The Delta Blues Museum is the world’s first museum devoted to blues-related memorabilia and art.

3. The “must-see” of your musical journey is the B.B. King Museum, located in Indianola.

Delta Blues Museum

4. Riley B. King, known by the stage name B.B. King, is an American blues musician, singer, songwriter, and guitarist.

Muddy Waters, Charlie Patton, John Lee Hooker, Robert Johnson, Howlin’ Wolf and W.C. Handy all hail from the Mississippi Delta, the birthplace of the Blues. The town of Clarksdale is the place to start your Blues pilgrimage. For a quick background of the soul of this music genre, stop by the Delta Blues Museum.

The rustic building that was once a freight depot memorializes Blues greats with temporary and permanent exhibits. It’s a time machine that transports you back to study the artists who were significant in early Blues history. On display are John Lee Hooker’s guitar, Little Walter’s harmonica, a postcard and wooden shoes from Holland sent by a member of the Jelly Roll Kings, along with other iconic items.

But the crown jewel of the museum is the room devoted to Muddy Waters.

You can imagine Muddy’s early home life as you enter the actual shack where he lived, and see him (in the form of a lifesized statue) playing his guitar. Also in the gallery are his 1939 Ford automobile and posters of his past concerts.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF ELEANOR HENDRICKS MCDANIEL

1. recording of “How Great Thou Art.”

Tupelo Hardware Company

2.

Ground Zero Blues Club Experience a real juke joint (juke is an African word meaning “shake”) at the renovated Ground Zero Blues Club. Designed to replicate the depressed environment typical of early African-American Mississippi clubs, the former cotton warehouse serves up “down-home” meals and weekend Blues performances. Mississippians Bill Luckett and Morgan Freeman (yes, that Morgan Freeman,) have partnered to create an authentic juke joint with unique, comfortable and affordable rental suites upstairs.

Travel south to Cleveland where in 1895 Will Dockery established a huge plantation in the heart of the fertile Delta.

He employed 3,000 Black people, and paid them fair wages. The workers’ disposable income attracted bluesmen who arrived by

3. train on Saturday nights to entertain them. Thus, the farm became the cradle of the Blues’ birthplace.

Tour the property and take a photo-op in front of the historic barn with the name and dates of Dockery Farms.

B.B. King Museum The “must-see” of your musical journey is the B.B. King Museum, located in Indianola. The state-ofthe-art museum grew from the oldest brick cotton gin

in the state. Begin your visit in the theater to watch a 12-minute movie that will get you in the mood for an up-close encounter with the King of the Blues.

As you walk around the building, be sure to view the videos that target the important aspects of his life. You’ll learn how Riley B. King became known as “B.B.,” and how his guitar got the name “Lucille.”

Consider timing your trip to coincide with the B.B. King Homecoming Festi-

4. val, held each summer.

Birthplace of Elvis Tupelo, the tiny town of 34,000 citizens, admits that Elvis Presley put it on the map. Head straight for the 15-acre complex dedicated to Elvis. Visit the humble two-room shotgun cottage where he was delivered by a midwife. In the garden, a life-size bronze statue depicts Elvis at age 13, right before the family moved to Memphis. Commemorative stones in the walkway

tick off the years of his life: the large ones represent Tupelo; the smaller ones, Memphis.

Also on the grounds are a museum filled with personal articles and the relocated Assembly of God Church that the Presley family attended. Experience a wrap-around media show inside the church that features the boy Elvis singing, “Jesus Loves Me.” As an adult, he loved traditional hymns, and won his first Grammy for his

Don’t miss Tupelo Hardware Company. It’s where fate took a hand in Elvis’ destiny. His mother, Gladys, took him to the store to reward him with a bicycle. Once there, the child wanted a shotgun instead.

Gladys refused to buy the gun, and convinced him that a guitar would be a better purchase. Elvis played around with the instrument and agreed.

Howard Hite, the store’s manager, jokingly says that Elvis replied, “That’s all right, Mama, that’s all right with me.” Hite says in truth that 2,000 national and international fans visit the shop each year, including celebrities, like Arrowsmith’s Joe Perry and Prince Albert of Monaco.

Join Tupelo’s celebrations each June for the week of the Elvis Presley Festival or in August for the Annual Fan Appreciation Day.

Eleanor Hendricks McDaniel is a freelance travel journalist who lives in Ormond Beach and Philadelphia. Her travel articles appear in national, international magazines, as well as online.

Follow her on Twitter: @ ellethewriter and on her website: flybynighttravel.com. She provided this Travel article to the Florida Courier.

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EVENTS

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APRIL 18 – APRIL 24, 2014

S

Winner of Joyner Full Ride Scholarship will study biology at FAMU SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA COURIER

Titus Zeigler is shown with radio personality and philanthropist Tom Joyner, left, and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed.

TALLAHASSEE – Titus Zeigler, a senior at Atlanta’s Henry W. Grady High School, could have chosen to attend any historically black college or university (HBCU) in the nation – but he chose Florida A&M University (FAMU).

Zeigler is the recipient of the Tom Joyner Foundation’s Full Ride Scholarship, which provides the nation’s top graduating high school seniors with funding to pay for full tuition, on-campus living and books for up to 10 semesters at any HBCU of their choice.

To qualify for the Full Ride Scholarship, students must have a minimum 3.5 GPA, a minimum combined SAT

score of 2100 or ACT score of 30, and demonstrate leadership through community service and extracurricular activities. Zeigler was selected out of more than 100 applicants and is required to maintain a minimum 3.0 GPA while attending FAMU.

Commander, mentor, tutor Zeigler, a high scorer on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery Test, plans to study biological engineering upon his arrival at FAMU this fall and aspires to become a trauma surgeon.

He is a battalion commander in Grady’s Junior ROTC program and a member of the Na-

tional Guard. He volunteers frequently at the local food bank and serves as mentor and tutor for local middle school students.

“I’ve always been interested in FAMU just because so many people in my family had gone,” said Zeigler. “But, when I looked into it, I saw that [FAMU] actually had really good biology and biological engineering programs. I spoke with some students and some professors and I liked what I heard – that’s when I made my decision.”

Dr. Elmira Mangum, FAMU’s new president, welcomed and congratulated Zeigler this week during the airing of the “Tom Joyner Morning Show.’’

“We look forward to seeing you on the ‘Hill,’” Mangum said.

FLORIDA COMMUNITY CALENDAR

JAGGED EDGE

Deniece Williams, Monica, Jagged Edge and Rico Love are scheduled May 11 for a Mother’s Day Experience at the BankUnited Center in Coral Gables.

Miami Beach: Tamar Braxton will perform May 16 at the Fillmore Miami Beach at the Jackie Gleason Theater.

West Palm Beach: The Kinfolks Soul Food Festival will be in West Palm Beach on May 23 and Lauderhill on May 24. Performers will include Bootsy Collins, Cameo, Morris Day & the Time, Confunkshun and Lakeside. More information: www.ilovesoulfood.com.

Miami Gardens: The Haitian Compas Festival is May 17 featuring Taboo Combo, Carimi, T-Vic & Harmonik and others. The 3:30 p.m. show will be at Sun Life Stadium.

Sunrise: Tickets are on sale for Cirque du Soleil’s Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour, which takes place May 23 and May 24 at the BB&T Center.

Miami: An Old School Throw Back Hip-Hop event is May 17

EVELYN KING

Grammy Award-winning R&B singer Evelyn King will be on of the performers at the Jammin’ in the Park and Art Fest on April 26 at Ilene Lieberman Botanical Gardens, 3801 Inverrary Blvd., Lauderhill. The festival is from 2 to 10 p.m. More information: Visit http://lauderhill-fl. gov/ or call 954-730-3000.

THE JACKSONS

The Jacksons are scheduled to perform at the Tom Joyner Family Reunion, which will be held Aug. 28-Sept. 1 in Orlando.

at the James L. Knight Center featuring Slick Rick and Rob Base. The show starts at 7 p.m.

Naples: The national NAACP Leadership 500 Summit will convene at the Waldorf Asto-

Vibe hiring college students to work on website Vibe.com, the website for one of Black America’s long-existing magazines, is hiring college students who have an interest in the music industry.

The website, like the magazine, covers all aspects of entertainment (hip-hop, R&B, pop, movies, sports), as well as some fashion and lifestyle.

Ideal candidates include people who

High school students can apply to be journalists this summer Thirty-five students will be selected for the prestigious summer program at The Poynter Institute, a school for journalists in St. Petersburg. Students will learn about reporting, writing and editing in print, on air and online, and discover the craft and values that shape the media.

Who is eligible? The best candidates are freshmen, sophomores or juniors. Poynter will accept a limited number of eighth graders and seniors. Participants will need reliable transportation to Poynter, which is across the street from the University of South Florida St. Petersburg.

Poynter urges young people of all back-

For Brown Girls creator reportedly committed suicide FROM WIRE REPORTS

Karyn Washington, who created For Brown Girls, a movement to uplift and empower brown-hued Black women, has died from an apparent suicide.

The 22-year-old founder of the For Brown Girls website, died on April 8.

A story on The Root calls her passing “a devastating loss for legions of Black women who went online to seek refuge

ria Hotel May 22-25. Details: www.1500.org.

Orlando: The BethuneCookman University Concert Chorale will lead all three traditional worship services at St. Luke’s United Methodist

have a strong interest and knowledge of hip-hop, R&B and dance music.

Because the internship is primarily digital-based, daily tasks include writing news briefs and sending pitches for vibe.com. Other duties: Researching stories and transcribing interviews with celebrities.

On occasion, interns may be asked to attend events and do red carpet reporting on behalf of VIBE. Interns with an active interest in print will have occasional opportunities to assist with the magazine.

For more details, visit www.findinternships.com/2014/04/vibecom-internships.html.

grounds to apply. A diverse group of participants enriches the discussion, providing fresh perspectives and new friendships. Scholarships are available for students with financial need.

May 5 deadline Applicants do not need to have worked on school media, though it helps. Successful participants will be those who are curious about the world and enjoy writing or photography, or have an interest in page design, broadcast journalism or online and interactive storytelling.

The information was provided through the Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists. Mention the organization and applicants get $100 off the registration.

To apply, fill out an online application at www.poynter.org/highschool. A letter of recommendation from a teacher also is required. The application deadline is May 5.

For more information, contact Wendy Wallace, director of the High School Journalism Program, at wwallace@poynter.org or call 727-553-4704.

in any one of Washington’s many initiatives, including the #DarkSkinRedLip project, which knocked down beauty standards and encouraged Black women to find and rock whatever shade of red lipstick that best Karyn Washington suited them. ‘’ Reports have suggested that Washington suffered from depression as she coped with the loss of her mother.

Her death has sparked more conversation on social media about the importance of addressing the issue of mental health in the Black community.

Church (4851 S. ApopkaVineland Road, Orlando) on Sunday, April 27. More information: 407-876-4991 ext. 302 or visit www.st.lukes. org.

Tampa: A Mothers Day Gos-

pel Celebration is scheduled at 7 p.m. on May 10 at the Straz Center in Tampa. Artists will include Tamela Mann, Deitrick Haddon and Deleon.

Apopka: Spann Development, Inc. will host “The Money T: 11.5 in

Masters” financial seminar on May 3 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., 8053 Gilliam Road. It will include Dr. Dennis Kimbro, Richmond McCoy, and Lynn Richardson. Register at www. themoneymasters.info.

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APRIL 18 – APRIL 24, 2014

FROM FAMILY FEATURES

This year, make your Easter ham effortless by ditching the oven and using your slow cooker instead. While most people think about slow cooking for staples like chili and stew, it’s also perfect for center-of-the-plate feasts — like an Easter ham.

Using the slow cooker, you can minimize both prep time and cleanup time, leaving plenty of room in the day for church, hunt­ing eggs and enjoying time with your loved ones.

Ham is a tradition for many families this time of year, and because it pairs well with a multitude of ingredients, you can create a unique dish every time.

For a fresh spin on the classic ham, HAM, APPLE AND CHEDDAR CREPES Yield: 6 servings Prep time: 20 minutes Cook time: 30 minutes 3 cups ham, shredded and warmed 1 3/4 cups 2% milk 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted 4 large eggs 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 Granny Smith apple, halved, cored and thinly sliced Cheese Sauce 1 tablespoon unsalted butter 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour 1 cup 2% milk 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper 1 cup white cheddar cheese, shredded 2 tablespoons fresh chives, finely chopped Pour milk, butter, eggs and salt in blender. Mix until well combined. Add flour.

Mix for 15 to 20 seconds or until smooth. Let stand for 10 minutes.

Heat an 8-inch crepe pan or non­stick skillet over medium heat. Coat well with nonstick cooking spray. Pour 1/4 cup batter into pan, swirl to fully

try this Sweet Southern Slow-Cooker Ham recipe from the National Pork Board. Apple cider and bourbon (or vanilla extract, if you prefer) combine to create a rich flavor complemented by the sweetness of brown sugar.

Round out your Easter menu by pairing your ham with classic sides such as oven-roasted carrots, asparagus wrapped in bacon and mashed sweet potatoes.

You can also use leftover ham for flavor-packed recipes like Ham, Apple and Cheddar Crepes, which are ideal for a family-style brunch.

To get inspired by more ham and Easter meal ideas, visit PorkBeinspired. com or Facebook.com/PorkBeinspired.

cover bottom of pan. Cook for 1 minute or until crepe begins to curl around edges. Carefully flip and cook for an addi­ tional 30 seconds or until set.

Trans­fer to plate. Repeat with additional cooking spray and remaining batter. Layer cooked crepes between pieces of wax paper to prevent sticking.

Lay a crepe on clean work sur­face. Arrange few slices of apple on quarter of crepe; top with shredded ham. Fold crepe in half to cover filling and fold in half again to create triangular shape. Repeat with remaining crepes, apple and ham. Place on parchmentlined baking sheet and hold in warm oven until ready to serve, or up to 30 minutes.

For cheese sauce, melt butter in saucepan set over medium heat. Stir in flour until well coated. Cook, stir­ring constantly, for 2 min­utes or until pale and smooth. Whisk in milk, a splash at a time, until smooth; stir in mustard, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes or until thick enough to coat back of spoon. Remove from heat. Whisk in cheese, a small handful at a time, until melted and smooth.

Place filled crepes on each plate. Spoon cheese sauce over each crepe and sprinkle with chives.

Serving Suggestion: All the elements of the recipe can be prepared a day in advance and gently warmed before assembling.

EASTER HAM PIN-SPIRATION SWEEPSTAKES Enter the National Pork Board’s Easter Ham Pin-spiration Sweepstakes at PorkBeinspired.com/EasterHam for the chance to win an Easter gift basket with everything you need for this year’s celebration.

FOOD

SWEET SOUTHERN SLOW-COOKER HAM

B3

Slowly pour over ham. Scatter thyme sprigs into slow cooker.

Cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 8 hours, or until very tender.

Yield: 12 servings Remove ham to rest on cutting Prep time: 10 minutes board. Pass remaining cooking Cook time: 4 to 8 hours liquid through fine mesh sieve into 1 bone-in fully cooked ham, sauce­pan. Simmer for 10 minutes about 5 1/2 pounds or until slightly reduced. Carve ham 1 cup apple cider into serving pieces. Brush ham pieces with cooking liquid before 1/2 cup dark brown sugar arrang­ing on platter. Serve warm or 1/3 cup Kentucky bourbon at room temperature.

1/4 cup honey Note: For a non-alcoholic alterna­tive, replace the bourbon 1/4 cup Dijon mustard with 1/4 cup water and 1 4 fresh thyme sprigs tablespoon vanilla extract.

Place ham in large slow cooker.

Cooking Tip: Use leftover ham Whisk cider with brown sugar, to make Ham, Apple and Cheddar bourbon, honey and mustard.

Crepes.

B4

ENVIRONMENT

APRIL 18 – APRIL 24, 2014

Be sure everyone knows whose towel is whose so that they stay on the hook and out of the laundry hamper longer.

YOU WILL NEED: n Bath towel and wash cloth n Permanent, waterproof ink pad n Letter stamps n Cotton twill tape n Pinking shears n Iron n Needle and thread Using the stamps and ink pad, spell out a family member’s name onto the cotton tape. Trim the tape with pinking shears (to prevent fraying), so that there’s about 41/2 inches extra after the name and a few inches before the name.

When the ink is dry, set it by covering the tape with a cloth and pressing it with a hot, dry iron. Fold both edges of the tape under about 1/4 inch and crease the folds with the iron. Sew the folded edges to the towel edge.

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This cheerful whale can help reduce the length of your family’s showers by giving a friendly “ding!” when it’s time to finish up.

YOU WILL NEED: n Whale template (down- load the template at family funmag.com/ printables) n Timer n Blue felt n Red felt n Cereal-box cardboard n Black felt or googly eye

Cut one whale shape from felt and a second backing shape from cardboard. Glue the shapes together. Attach an eye and adhere the whale to the timer with glue dots.

On the timer dial, adhere a red felt arrow at your target shower length (time your shower, then try reducing it by a minute or two). Glue a matching arrow on the whale, pointing to zero.

Cloth napkins aren’t just for special occasions.

Personalize a set or two with each family member’s initial and use them for several meals, then pop them all in the wash.

YOU WILL NEED: n Cloth napkins n Con-Tact paper n Foam or stencil brush n Fabric paint For each, cut a 5-inch square of Con-Tact paper.

Trace and cut a 21/2-inch

circle from the center.

Trace a printed letter on the circle, and cut that out. Peel the backing from the square and the letter, and adhere both to a prewashed napkin. Dip the brush into a shallow dish of fabric paint, then dab (don’t brush) the paint onto the napkin. After the paint dries, peel off the paper. Set the paint according to the manufacturer’s directions.

Repurpose a milk or juice carton into a reusable snack container. For an eco-friendly trifecta, fill it with treats from your supermarket’s bulk bin!

YOU WILL NEED: n Half-gallon milk/ juice carton (clean, dry) n Colored/patterned duct tape n Adhesive-backed Velcro square Measure, mark and cut

the carton so three sides are 4 inches tall and one side is 7 inches tall. Trim the tall side into a curve.

Pinch the front and back panels together while tucking in the sides of the carton, as shown. Fold the curved flap over the front of the carton. Cover the outside with duct tape.

Add the Velcro square to the inside of the flap and the front of the carton.

Make it easy to reuse single-sided school flyers and office memos by stacking them, blank side up, in accessible bins.

YOU WILL NEED: n Sturdy cardboar shipping box n Double-sided tape n Patterned paper n 1 sheet of card stock For each bin, assemble a shipping box. Cut off a

portion of it at an angle, as shown. (Our shorter top panel is 71/2 inches, the bottom panel, 9 inches.) Using the tape, cover the boxes with patterned paper. Use letter stamps (or a marker) to print “scrap paper” onto the top half of a piece of card stock, fold the bottom half back, and tape the label in place, as shown.

n Tacky glue n Glue dots

By Deborah Way FamilyFun magazine

Turn two grocery bags into a friendly monster that wants nothing more than to be fed paper scraps. Once it’s full, pack up the whole shebang and send it to the recycling center.

YOU WILL NEED: n 2 large brown paper bags (for a sturdier creature, use paper lawn bags) n White and black paper n Glue stick

PRITCHARD/MCT

n Masking tape

Cut a large oval hole in one of the bags. Use a glue stick to attach a row of pointy, white paper teeth inside. Add eyes using black paper and the leftover white scraps. Open the second bag and slip the first bag over it, overlapping the edges an inch or two. Seal the seam with masking tape.

PHOTOS BY LAURA MOSS COURTESY OF FAMILYFUN MAGAZINE

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APRIL 18 – APRIL 24, 2014

FINEST & ENTERTAINMENT

Meet some of

FLORIDA’S

finest

submitted for your approval

B5

Think you’re one of Florida’s Finest?

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

ron

Ron Rizzay is a model who has years of experience with various print, runway and promotional events. In his free time, he enjoys playing basketball and working out. He also is working on a real estate career.

Contact him at ronray20@gmail.com or on Instagram @Ron_Rizzay.

kelley

Kelley Nicole Harris is a model, wardrobe stylist and personal assistant. This Miami native has been modeling for the past few years but says it’s her passion for fashion that led her to study fashion design and merchandising at Florida State University.

Contact Kelley at kelleynicole.style@gmail.com or on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ MsKelleyNicole. Credits: Mikel M. Louder, www.mmlphoto.com

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 • How low expectations of Black students’ achievements can get them higher grades; • Want a great grade? Prepare to cheat!

• How Black students can program their minds for success; • Setting goals – When to tell everybody, and when to keep your mouth shut; • Black English, and why Black students must be ‘bilingual.’ …AND MUCH MORE!

www.excellencewithoutexcuse.com Download immediately as an eBook or a pdf Order softcover online, from Amazon, or your local bookstore ISBN#978-1-56385-500-9 Published by International Scholastic Press, LLC Contact Charles at ccherry2@gmail.com

Facebook ccherry2 excellencewithoutexcuse

for info on speeches, workshops, seminars, book signings, panel discussions.

Twitter @ccherry2

Artists from various eras chosen for R&B Hall of Fame

BY MALCOLM X ABRAM AKRON BEACON JOURNAL/MCT

AKRON, Ohio — The 2014 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction is over and the busts of the most recent class are on their way to the museum.

With that done, it’s time for music lovers to turn their attention to another Northeast Ohio-based hall of fame dedicated to a genre of music.

The R&B Hall of Fame, tentatively planned to be built in Cleveland, has announced its class of 2014.

Several artists from a variety of eras will join the hall. This year’s inductees are the Whispers, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Marvin Gaye, the Delfonics, Chubby Checker, the Sweet Impression, the Dells, the Funk Brothers, radio personality Norm N. Nite, the Spinners, the Impressions, and Russell Thompkins of the Stylistics.

The Living Legend award will be given to Joe Jackson, father of the Jacksons.

Aug. 24 ceremony The second annual R&B Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place at 6 p.m. Aug. 24 at the Canton Palace Theatre.

There will be a concert featuring the Kinsman Dazz Band, Enchantment, the Dynamic Superiors, the Delfonics and the Dramatics starring Willie Ford, the Hesitations and the Sweet Inspirations, and an after party. Last year’s event sold out quickly; go to www.rbhalloffame.com for more information and tickets.

Nominees are chosen on the following criteria: They must have rhythm and blues as the primary format or music style, have at least a 20-year history of R&B participa-

Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta returns May 5 EURWEB.COM

VH1’s “Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta” season 3 premieres May 5 at 8 p.m. with rappers Yung Joc, Waka Flocka Flame and Diddy-Dirty Money’s Kalenna Harper joining the cast.

Veterans Joseline, Stevie J., Mimi, Lil Scrappy, Erica, Karlie, Benzino, Rasheeda

Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston are among this year’s inductees to the R&B Hall of Fame. tion, made a historical contribution and had an impact and overall influence on R&B around the world.

This year’s class will join the inaugural class of 21 artists that included legends such as the Temptations and Sam Cooke alongside more contemporary artists such as Gerald Levert and lesser-known groups including the Dynamic Superiors and Sly, Slick and Wicked.

Host to legends The man behind the museum, Lamont Robinson, is a lifelong R&B fan and collector with hundreds of artifacts. He grew up watching many of the enshrined artists perform at the fabled Leo’s Casino, the Cleveland R&B live music venue that played host to many R&B and jazz legends during its run from 1963 to 1972.

Leo’s has been designated a rock ‘n’ roll landmark, but Robinson, who currently has a mobile version of the museum and is still looking for a permanent home, plans to use Leo’s interior design as a model for the museum.

and Kirk are all returning.

Per VH1, here’s what’s going down in the ATL: Stevie J. and Joseline Hernandez are living in wedded bliss – a pill that many in Atlanta find hard to swallow. Though Joseline couldn’t care less about the opinions of her ‘haters,’ will this feisty starlet be able prove naysayers wrong with an extravagant (and public) ceremony worthy of her title as the “Puerto Rican Princess?”

Mimi Faust is dealing with a scandal of her own when a sex tape “mysteriously” leaks starring her

and boyfriend Nikko – a man her closest confidants don’t trust. Although she stands to gain notoriety and fortune, the mother of one must determine if the reward outweighs the repercussions that could potentially destroy her friendships and family.

Over in the “palace,” Lil Scrappy is dealing with life after rehab. Post-Erica, Scrappy has gotten close with rapper Bambi, but true to form, he’s still out playing the field and Momma Dee has no issues playing referee.

B6

APRIL 18 – APRIL 24, 2014

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