Florida Courier - April 22, 2016

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CELEBRATING OUR 10TH YEAR STATEWIDE!

Hope For Homes renovates houses, changes lives See Page B1 www.flcourier.com

APRIL 22 – APRIL 28, 2016

VOLUME 24 NO. 17

IT’S CALLED SURVIVAL Amid tight state budgets, historically Black public colleges and universities are seeking White, Latino, and Asian students.

BY TERESA WILTZ STATELINE.ORG / TNS

WASHINGTON – Faced with stalled state funding, Harry Williams, the president of Delaware State University, a historically Black public university, had to get creative: He slashed a quarter of the school’s academic programs and began aggressively recruiting students Dr. Harry who aren’t Black.

Williams He’s gone as far as China to strike agreements with universities there that will bring Chinese exchange students to Delaware State to study.

Harriet Tubman is the ‘change’ for $20 bill

Delaware State isn’t the only of the public historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) to reach beyond a tradition of educating primarily African-American students as a way of making ends meet in a time of tight state budgets and changing racial and ethnic demographics.

Other state-supported HBCUs,

FLORIDA | A6

Fullwood facing campaign fraud charges FAMU moves forward on Brooksville program

If Delaware legislators suddenly pulled state funding, which provides more than a quarter of the school’s budget, “we could only function for a couple of months,” he said.

Public HBCUs are perennial-

All eyes on Zimmerman FC

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Fantastic Voyage 2012, Day 4 B1 www.flcourier.com

APRIL 20 - APRIL 26, 2012

VOLUME 20 NO. 16

CALM BEFORE THE STORM

BY ASHLEY THOMAS FLORIDA COURIER

SANFORD – Several news vans and reporters were staked outside the Seminole County Criminal Justice Center Wednesday afternoon waiting for the next lead story in the State of Florida vs. George Zimmerman, Case #592012CF001083A, in Seminole County.

The group was anticipating word of the appointment of a new judge to preside over Zimmerman’s second-degree murder trial.

Here’s an update on the George Zimmerman trial as of the Florida Courier’s press time on Wednesday night. Check www.flcourier.com for the latest news about the aftermath of Trayvon Martin’s killing.

happened late Wednesday afternoon. Seminole County Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester Jr. will replace Circuit Judge Jessica Recksiedler, who recused herself from Bail hearing set the case after defense atThe new appointment torney Mark O’Mara raised

conflict of interest questions last week. Recksiedler’s husband was professionally linked to Mark NeJame, a CNN legal analyst who has publicly commented on the case and was previously approached about represent-

ASHLEY THOMAS /FLORIDA COURIER

Just a handful of local TV news trucks were onsite in Sanford at the latest hearing in George Zimmerman’s murder case. ing Zimmerman.

Lester will preside over Zimmerman’s scheduled bail hearing on Friday – after the Florida Courier’s press time. Several news agencies are also asking to be heard in court to unseal

the court record.

der case in which the day laborer Michael Reynolds got into a dispute with a couple, Lester, 58, has been a brutally killing them and judge for 15 years, presid- their 11-year-old daughter. ing over several high-pro- Lester sentenced Reynolds file murder cases.

See STORM, Page A2 He was the judge in a mur-

Experienced judge

Scott cuts hit FAMU, Orlando’s Parramore

PRESIDENT OBAMA / CAMPAIGN 2012

‘Black’ projects feel the budget pain COMPILED FROM STAFF REPORTS

MARK RANDALL/SUN SENTINEL/MCT

Two visits in three days President Obama delivered an address on the economy, jobs and taxes at Florida Atlantic University on April 10 in Boca Raton, and then stopped in Tampa on April 13 on the way to a trade conference in Columbia, South America.

The 2012 presidential campaign has unofficially begun, and Florida is a crucial battleground.

SNAPSHOTS Part of highway to be named after slain NAACP leaders

Protect your pets from fleas and ticks

FINEST | B4

Meet Anthony & Mishaun from the Joyner cruise

To help Trayvon’s family, join their movement FROM STAFF REPORTS

The family of Trayvon Martin has set up a Florida-based nonprofit organization, the Justice For Trayvon Martin Foundation, that has set a goal for itself of becoming a worldwide hub that will “remove judgment of minority youth” through awareness campaigns.

The family also intends to mobilize activists for justice by aggressively using social media.

In an exclusive interview with the Florida Courier, the foundation’s marketing director, Michael W. Hall, spoke about the reasons the foundation exists.

‘No family fund’ “This is an advocacy campaign, not a trust fund to raise money for the family to ease their grief,” Hall said. Hall, a social media marketing professional, is on the foundation’s initial board of directors with several of Trayvon’s relatives, including mother Sybrina Ful-

Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday took a scalpel to health and human services programs, vetoing more than $38 million from the 2012-13 state budget – including money for university training and research programs, a children’s hospital and a variety of local projects.

The governor signed the overall budget for the fiscal year starting July 1 and issued a total of $142.7 million in vetoes.

Of that amount, about $38.2 million were in the health and human services section of the budget, though money for healthrelated projects also was eliminated from other parts of the spending plan.

FAMU cut Scott’s vetoes hit universities, such as a proposal to send $1.5 million to Florida A&M University for a pharmacy program in the Panhandle town of Crestview. Other examples included $1.95 million to Nova Southeastern University for a program that assigns students to health facilities in rural and underserved areas, and $400,000 for brain and spinal research at the University of Miami.

Former Republican Sen. Durell Peaden said the FAMU pharmacy program in Crestview could help bring economic development and jobs to the Panhandle area.

Peaden, who helped get the program started while he was in the Senate, said he said was not sure how the $1.5 million veto would affect it. But he said the veto was a “pretty big lick for a little old country town.”

Siplin’s projects cut

“In this decade, we are still fighting some of the same issues that prompted the civil rights movement. We will use social media campaigns, marketing, public relations and organizational ties and partnerships with other online and

A trio of Orlando area redevelopment projects pushed by Sen. Gary Siplin, D-Orlando, was also crossed out

by Scott’s veto pen, including two that were vetoed by Scott last year as well. Scott used his line item veto power to reject $900,000 for the “Renaissance of the Parramore Sen. Gary neighborhood” program Siplin in downtown Orlando.

Scott vetoed the same amount for that item in last year’s budget.

Scott also on Tuesday rejected $2 mil-

See WEBSITE, Page A2

See BUDGET, Page A2

COURTESY OF JUSTICETM.ORG

You can donate online to the Justice For Trayvon Martin Foundation. ton and brother Jahvaris Martin. Hall said that other board members would be added as the foundation grows.

“The family wants to have worldwide impact. They have become part of a movement for justice. The Justice For Trayvon Martin Foundation will use resources and tools to bring social awareness to similar cases.

Still fighting

ALSO COMMENTARY: CHARLES W. CHERRY II: RANDOM THOUGHTS OF A FREE BLACK MIND | A4 INSIDE GUEST COMMENTARY: DERRYCK GREEN: TRAYVON MAY BE THIS GENERATION’S RODNEY KING | A5

HEALTH | B3

GOP candidates’ views on health care

ALSO INSIDE

ly cash-strapped and have lower graduation rates. They don’t have the luxury of large endowments enjoyed by some major state universities like the $10 billion at the See SURVIVAL , Page A2

‘Classic Man’ passes away Miller was top scholar, doctor, businessman

BY FLORIDA COURIER STAFF

www.flcourier.com

PETS | B4

HBCU celebrates anniversary In Live Oak

Some alumni worry that increased racial diversity will change the nature and tradition of the schools. But college administrators such as Williams, whose student body is 68 percent Black, said they have to do what it takes for the schools to survive.

FLORIDA COURIER / 10TH STATEWIDE ANNIVERSARY

NATION | A3

SNAPSHOTS

Doing what’s necessary

Tight state budgets and America’s evolving demographics are changing the student populations of HBCUs like Delaware State University.

EE

Harriet Tubman will replace President Andrew Jackson as the face of the $20 bill, and Jackson will be moved to the back of the bill alongside an image of the White House, Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew said Wednesday.

Alexander Hamilton, the nation’s first Treasury secretary, will remain on the front of the $10 bill, but the back of that bill, which currently bears an image of the Treasury building, will feature leaders of the suffrage movement.

The reverse of the $5 bill will be Harriet overhauled to inTubman clude opera singer Marian Anderson, first lady Eleanor Roosevelt and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Lew said the designs of all three bills are slated to be completed and unveiled by 2020, the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote.

Lew’s original plan to change the $10 suffered backlash. Many said the only woman on the nation’s paper currency should be featured alone on the bill.

Some said the $20 bill should be changed instead, as its ubiquity in ATMs gives it a much higher profile than the $10.

Hamilton played key roles in founding the nation, whereas Jackson was a slave owner whose policies led to the deaths of countless Native Americans.

Not alone

FR

BY SAMANTHA MASUNAGA LOS ANGELES TIMES / TNS

“It’s a revenue generator for us and a way of marketing the university,” Williams said of the school’s international recruiting.

“We’re definitely committed to our heritage and our history. But we had to make sure that we were relevant and have programs that would attract students.”

such as Tennessee State University and North Carolina A&T, are recruiting White, Asian and Latino students, who comprise a growing share of their student bodies.

In all, a quarter of HBCUs have at least a 20 percent non-Black student population, according to a 2015 report by the University of Pennsylvania.

“People are surprised nonBlacks are going to Black colleges,” said Marybeth Gasman, author of the study and director of the university’s Center for Minority Serving Institutions.

Four years ago, Florida Courier reporter Ashley Thomas was following the initial stage of George Zimmerman’s second-degree murder trial in Sanford for the killing of Trayvon Martin. President Obama was chasing votes in Boca Raton and Tampa for his re-election bid.

FORT LAUDERDALE – Dr. Frederick Vincent Miller, a Morehouse College graduate who became one of the few African-American presidents of a publicly traded billion-dollar company, died April 16 in Fort Lauderdale of a lung infection. He turned 60 in January.

“His family and friends are all devastated,” said Florida Courier Publisher Charles W. Cherry II. “He took excellent care of himself and was hardly sick a day in his life.”

Miller and Cherry met each other as freshmen at Morehouse in 1974, were on the same Omega Psi Phi Fraternity pledge line in the fall of 1975, and remained close friends afterward.

“His death is an incalculable loss,” Cherry lamented. “It’s like helplessly watching a world-class library of lifelong learning, knowledge and experience burn to the ground, never to be rebuilt.”

Atlanta native Miller was born in Atlanta in 1956 to the late Lydia Miller, a clerical worker for the Atlanta Housing Authority, and the late Earl Miller Sr., a staff worker at the local VA hospital. Though neither were college graduates, they both believed in the transformative power of education.

Lydia Miller was the longtime church clerk of West Hunter Street Baptist Church, where the pastor was the Rev. Dr. Ralph David Abernathy.

Earl Miller Sr. was a deacon at the church.

“Much of the civil rights movement and that Atlanta community is interwoven in the life of our family history and world view. Growing up, Frederick and I played with children named Abernathy, King, Williams and Young,” said his older brother Earl Miller Jr., now a college administrator in Orange County, New York.

“We belong to the generation of sons and daughters who first walked through the doors opened by the sacrifice of our elders. We were taught that just because a door opens doesn’t mean you are welcomed. We learned that there were two worlds and how to move between them.”

Desegregated schools Frederick Miller was in the first wave of Black students who desegregated public school systems in the South in the 1960s and ’70s, and graduated from the previously all-White Northside High School in Atlanta in 1974. Earl Miller says that by then, his younger brother was “laser-focused” on becoming a doctor.

“I remember I was 5. I was kind of See MILLER, Page A2

COMMENTARY: GLEN FORD: BILL CLINTON INSULTS BLACKS TO BUILD HILLARY’S ‘BIG TENT’ | A4 COMMENTARY: MARGARET KIMBERLEY: BARACK, HILLARY AND THE PATH THROUGH LIBYA | A5

FOCUS

A2

APRIL 22 – APRIL 28, 2016

Time to make a commitment In life, in love and in business, stop fooling around, stop messing around, stop pretending and become committed!

Too many people – and far too many so-called Black community leaders and activists – are clowning the masses of AfricanAmericans by merely acting like they care about the struggles going on in Black communities, in Black institutions, in Black churches, in Black neighborhoods, in Black households and in our Black families!

Not qualified Just because you got the appointment, just because you have the title, or just because you were told you were a leader, an activist, a progressive or a revolu-

LUCIUS GANTT THE GANTT REPORT

tionary by the imperialist press, doesn’t really qualify you to lead Black people.

Some so-called leaders are even self-proclaimed. But that doesn’t work, either!

I know people that have smoked a blunt, took a swig of Hennessey, and then went to see a Malcolm X movie – and instantly became a freedom fighter! They read two or three pages of “The Autobiography of Malcolm X,” and instantly became a dietitian that won’t even look

at a piece of bacon – but will eat as many doughnuts and sugar cookies that their stomachs will allow them to!

Those same people will listen to a few bars of the Public Enemy song “Fight the Power” and tell you how militant they are!

are not committed to that man!

If that man or woman is not comforting and nurturing to you, not special to you, not important to you and not necessary to you, you are just wasting his or her time – because you are not committed.

They live it

Real commitment

A true leader, activist, freedom fighter or revolutionary is committed! They live the life they talk about, read about, preach about or write about!

They feed people, they help people, they educate people, they care about the people in their communities, and they love the people in their communities.

Anybody can be in a relationship with a man or a woman. But the only lasting relationship is a committed relationship!

If you love your car more than you love that woman you are relating to, you are not committed to that woman. If you love your wig, your makeup and your shoes more than you love that man, you

When you commit to someone you love, you are loving to them, loyal to them, faithful to them, you put them first, you defend them, you protect them and you provide for them!

In business, if you are not committed to your business, you will soon be out of business!

If your business is basically an activity you like or enjoy and is not generating revenue or making money, you don’t have a good business. You have a hobby!

If you are true to the business game, you will never give up.

When the money is slow, you don’t give up. When the employees steal, lie, cheat or act crazy, you get rid of them – but you

MILLER sick, and my mom took me to see my pediatrician,” Frederick Miller said in a 2014 interview. “And what I remember is that the pediatrician had cartoon characters on his lab coat. In my mind, I said, ‘How cool is that to be able to go to work every day with your friends?’ So ever since an early age, I’ve been saying, ‘I think I want to be a doctor.’

“And then, when I was about 15, I volunteered for the Red Cross, and you learn CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation).

And I got to resuscitate someone…You have the ability to really impact a life.”

from A1

University of Michigan, academic analysts say. Part of their mission is to serve low-income students. And state budget crunches can imperil their future.

In jeopardy In Louisiana, where the state is facing a $747 million budget shortfall, Southern University System earlier this year warned that it could no longer operate if budget cuts were too deep. (The school later stressed that it would be able to stay open but not without severe cuts to staff and course offerings.)

In Illinois, which hasn’t had a state budget for 10 months, Chicago State University faces the prospect of closing its doors.

In Maryland, HBCU students and alumni have formed a coalition to sue the state for allegedly continuing to perpetuate “vestiges of segregation” by underfunding traditionally Black schools and saddling them with inferior facilities. (Other states, including Mississippi, Tennessee and North Carolina, have faced similar suits.)

The plaintiffs in the $2.9 billion Maryland lawsuit filed in 2006 also want the state to stop allowing traditionally White majori-

I don’t have to be a journalist, a reporter or an editorial writer. I can do other things. But I made a commitment to my media career, and my commitment made me somewhat successful. It didn’t make me rich, but it did make me kinda well known.

Find something or someone that you love and commit yourself to it or to them.

If it’s a romantic commitment, commit to the spouse or the girlfriend or boyfriend. Don’t commit to the “side piece!’’

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

‘You can be me’

‘Morehouse Man’

SURVIVAL

I committed

tween South Florida and Nashville, Tennessee, serving as the chief executive officer and president of PhyMED Management, a physician-owned company of more than 350 anesthesia doctors, which was launching an aggressive national expansion.

In 2015, he switched from corporate management to small business ownership and entrepreneurship. At the time of his death, he was developing six franchised chiropractic treatment facilities in the Fort Lauderdale area.

from A1

After high school, Frederick Miller went to historically Black, all-male Morehouse College, where he majored in biology with a minor in chemistry. He enjoyed an outstanding academic career there.

He was elected freshman class president, was a four-year honor roll student, and was selected for membership in the Phi Beta Kappa honor society. The organization, founded in 1776, is the oldest honor society for the liberal arts and sciences in the United States. (Morehouse is one of the few historically Black colleges and universities to have a Phi Beta Kappa chapter on campus.)

His social life also bloomed at Morehouse. During his sophomore year, he was inducted into the Psi Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity and eventually became responsible for selecting the fraternity’s all-female Homecoming court, which was the subject of fierce competition among various social organizations on campus.

His junior year, he was selected as one of Morehouse’s prestigious Merrill Scholars, which allowed him to travel and study for a full year in Vienna, Austria.

While there, he learned to ski and

never give up.

If you love your business and the work that you do, you will make a business commitment and stick to it!

CHARLES W. CHERRY II / FLORIDA COURIER

Dr. Frederick V. Miller was a doctor who became an entrepreneur after a successful run as a practicing physician and corporate manager. to speak German fluently, developed an interest in European wines, cuisine and culture, and became a runway fashion model.

After returning from Vienna, he won the “Mr. Blue and White” male beauty pageant sponsored by students at all-female Spelman college, located around the corner from Morehouse.

After graduating summa cum laude from Morehouse in 1979, he went on to earn another bachelor’s degree as well as his doctorate of medicine from Emory University School of Medicine, graduating in the top 25 percent of his class.

His focus was on neonatalperinatal medicine – the care of critically ill newborn and premature infants.

listed in the U.S. Army, completing his residency at Tripler Army Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, and neonatal and perinatal fellowships at the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. He became boardcertified in pediatrics and neonatal-perinatal medicine.

He wound up his military career by serving as the chief medical officer for neonatal, maternal-fetal and pediatric services at the Frankfurt Army Regional Medical Center in Frankfurt, Germany, and for Central Europe’s Medical Command. Later, he served as the medical consultant to the U.S. surgeon general for three years.

Army veteran

He joined Fort Lauderdale’s Pediatrics Medical Group in 1991 as the company’s 15th physician.

The young Dr. Miller then en-

ty schools to duplicate academic programs offered at nearby HBCUs that are in high demand.

In 2013, a U.S. district judge ruled that the state’s actions amounted to segregation and ordered the two parties to work out a remedy. The parties were not able to do so. A new court date has been set for January 2017.

Big challenges The nation’s 51 public HBCUs have seen their enrollment drop as traditionally White schools have increasingly and aggressively sought Black students.

Georgia State University, long considered Atlanta’s predominantly White commuter school, is rapidly expanding.

The school now has 33,000 students – 41 percent of whom are Black. As it expanded, Georgia State started aggressively recruiting Black students. A hundred miles away, Georgia’s nearest public HBCU, Fort Valley State, has seen a 33 percent decline in enrollment from 2011 to 2015, according to the school.

No choice Many supporters of HBCUs say this has left traditionally Black schools little choice but to aggressively pursue White and other racial or ethnic students.

“If the majority institutions are intentionally recruiting AfricanAmerican students, they are now your competition,” said Johnny

Moved to South Florida

Taylor, president and CEO of the Washington, D.C.-based Thurgood Marshall Fund, which represents publicly supported HBCUs. “Frankly, you can try to outrecruit them by recruiting African-American students. Or you can target the students they normally target: White, Hispanic and Asian.”

All HBCUs, public and private, represent just 3 percent of the nation’s universities. But they graduate nearly 20 percent of the country’s Black undergraduates, according to the UNCF (United Negro College Fund).

Always welcoming Public HBCUs got their start as land-grant institutions founded between 1890 and 1964. For years, the schools focused on extending educational opportunities to African-Americans barred from entering other state colleges and universities because of their race. From the beginning, though, they always welcomed students of other races.

Over the decades, they have educated much of the nation’s Black middle class and elite, such as Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and Langston Hughes, the playwright and poet, both of whom graduated from Lincoln University, in rural Pennsylvania.

Today, public HBCUs will take chances on students other schools won’t educate: disadvantaged students from underper-

As the company evolved from a small group of doctors to a national group to a public company called Pediatrix (now MedNax, Inc.) listed on the New York Stock Exchange, his perspective changed about medicine.

“I realized early on that health care is a business, and as physicians we need to be about the business of health care,” he told an interviewer.

Back to school He decided to burnish his credentials in business and management. He went back to school, earned masters’ degrees in health care administration and business administration, worked his way up to regional presidencies in the company, then eventually became its president.

In 2013, after leaving MedNax, he began commuting be-

forming high schools; those who are often unprepared for the rigors of higher education; and those more likely to drop out for financial reasons, said Gasman of the University of Pennsylvania.

Consequently, their graduation rates are lower than other schools’, from a high of 48 percent at Fort Valley State in 2014, just below the national average for Black students, to a low of 12 percent at Texas Southern University, according to the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education.

And states that tie funding of higher education to performance standards, such as on-time graduation rates, make it harder for HBCUs to get state dollars, Gasman said.

‘Make the case’ But Taylor of the Thurgood Marshall Fund said that doesn’t mean states are conspiring to target HBCUs. “I think there is a desire to pressure the schools to operate better,” he said. “And if you need more money, make a compelling case that it will have a better return for taxpayers.”

States should play a crucial role in securing the future of public HBCUs by helping them create popular niche programs to attract a wide variety of students, said Jon Greenbaum, chief counsel and deputy director of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights under the Law, which is representing the

“One of his favorite songs was ‘Classic Man’ by Jidenna,” Cherry recalled. “One of the lines in the song is, ‘I’m a classic man; you can be me when you look this clean, I’m a classic man.’

“He was indeed a classic Morehouse Man. In the words of former Morehouse President Dr. Robert Franklin, he was ‘wellread, well-traveled, well-spoken, well-dressed, and well-balanced.’ ”

Services set Survivors include Sharon, his wife of 31 years and a Spelman College graduate; sons Harrison and Sterling; brother Earl S. Miller, Jr. (Jonette); mother-in-law Elaine Barnwell; brother-in-law John Barnwell (Jennifer); a favorite aunt, Katherine Sweatt; a nephew, Isaiah Miller; and a host of cousins.

His remains will be cremated. A memorial service is set for Saturday, May 7, at 10 a.m. at Church By The Glades, 400 Lakeview Drive, Coral Springs, 33071. Entombment will be at the South Florida National Cemetery in Lake Worth.

In lieu of flowers, Dr. Miller’s family requests that donations be made to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of South Florida at any Wells Fargo Bank (account name: Make-A-Wish Southern Florida), or online at http://site. wish.org/goto/FrederickVMiller.

four Maryland HBCUs in the lawsuit.

Michael Lomax, president and CEO of UNCF, points to one example: The pharmacy program at Xavier University, a private, historically Black Catholic university in New Orleans. It is one of two schools in the state to offer a doctor of pharmacy program, and has attracted Vietnamese-American students.

One example Bottom line: HBCUs must pursue students who reflect the nation’s changing racial and ethnic makeup to keep their enrollments up. That’s what Bluefield State College in West Virginia is doing.

The HBCU was founded in 1895 to educate Blacks in the state, many of whom were the children of West Virginia’s coal miners. And for decades, Bluefield State had an overwhelmingly Black student body, said Marsha Krotseng, the college’s president.

But two things happened: Brown v. Board of Education, the U.S. Supreme Court decision of 1954, which desegregated schools; and the end of the Korean War, which returned White veterans armed with the G.I. Bill.

Now, Bluefield State is 84 percent White.

And the school is aggressively seeking to diversify its student body, Krotseng said. The mission: to attract more Black students.

APRIL 22 – APRIL 28, 2016

FLORIDA

A3

Jacksonville legislator facing campaign fraud charges

BY JIM TURNER THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

TALLAHASSEE – State Rep. Reggie Fullwood, a

three-term Democratic lawmaker from Jacksonville, was indicted on April 15 on federal charges that allege he used campaign donations for personal use at grocery, jewelry and li-

quor stores.

United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley III announced in a news release that Fullwood was charged with 10 counts of wire fraud and four counts of failure to file

federal income-tax returns for 2010 through 2013.

To conceal the embezzlement of campaign funds, the indictment alleges that Fullwood submitted fraudulent campaign expendi-

ture reports to the state.

Facing jail time If convicted, Fullwood, 41, faces a maximum of 20 years in federal prison

Powering your on-the-go life for less.

for each wire-fraud charge and a year for each count related to his tax returns, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.

The indictment also indicated the federal government will seek a monetary Rep. Reggie judgment Fullwood of at least $65,445, “representing the amount of proceeds obtained” as a result of the alleged misuse of funds.

The Florida TimesUnion reported that Fullwood appeared at a hearing in U.S. District Court in Jacksonville, was released on his own recognizance and that defense attorney Robert Willis expects to ask the court to dismiss the wire-fraud counts.

About the indictment According to the indictment, from at least September 2010 to about December 2011, Fullwood electronically transferred money from the “Reggie Fullwood Campaign” bank account to an account of a Fullwood-owned entity called Rhino Harbor, LLC. “It was further part of the scheme and artifice to defraud that Fullwood would use funds he had unlawfully obtained from the Reggie Fullwood Campaign account by using an ATM card issued on the Rhino Harbor bank account to pay personal expenses or withdraw cash at various locations, including restaurants, grocery stores, retail stores, jewelry stores, florists, gas stations, ATMs for cash withdrawals, and liquor stores,” the indictment said.

Florida law requires state candidates’ campaign accounts to be separate from personal accounts. The campaign money also may not be used to defray normal living expenses, other than for transportation, meals, and lodging that is campaign-related.

Elected in 2010 The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

“Public officials, whether elected or appointed, hold positions of trust in the eyes of the public. That trust is broken when these officials commit crimes,” IRSTampa Field Office Special Agent in Charge Kim Lappin said in the release from the U.S. Attorney’s office.

Fullwood was first elected to the House in 2010 and was re-elected without opposition in 2012. He served as Democratic deputy whip from 2012 to 2014.

His time in the House was interrupted in 2014 when his seat became vacant after paperwork errors prevented him from qualifying for the ballot. Fullwood returned to the House in February 2015 after winning a special election.

Running again

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Fullwood filed paperwork in January to run for re-election in House District 13 and currently does not have any opponents.

Candidates are required to file monthly campaign-finance reports, but the state Division of Elections website does not show any reports this year for Fullwood.

The president of a nonprofit, Fullwood came to the House after serving from 1999 to 2007 on the Jacksonville City Council.

His House website notes that he was the “youngest elected member” in the city’s history.

Fullwood self-reported his net worth at $392,160 for 2014, the most recent year on file with the Florida Commission on Ethics.

His net worth has hovered around $400,000 in each of his preceding annual financial disclosure reports.

EDITORIAL

A4

APRIL 22 – APRIL 28, 2016

Bill Clinton insults Blacks to build Hillary’s ‘big tent’ Hillary Clinton’s more sober advisors must have been horrified at Bill Clinton’s 13-minute dressdown of Black Lives Matter earlier this month.

Ideally, the stunt should have been delayed until after Bernie Sanders had capitulated. But this was no spontaneous outburst from the former president.

His full-bore assault on the Black demonstrators was packaged for mass White consumption, and intellectually inspired by the right wing’s premier propaganda mill, the Manhattan Institute.

He launched a ferocious defense of mass Black incarceration as both a deterrent and cure for crime: “Because of that bill [his 1994 anti-crime legislation] we had a 25-year low in crime, a 33-year low in the murder rate and...because of that and the background check law, we had a 46-year low in the deaths of people by gun violence.”

Proving a point However, just as with Sister Souljah in 1992, Clinton’s main thrust was not defense, but offense. He had to show White people that he was the man to put uppity Blacks in their place: “I don’t know how you would characterize the gang leaders who got 13-year-old kids hopped on crack and sent them out onto the street to murder other AfricanAmerican children. Maybe you

GLEN FORD BLACK AGENDA REPORT

think they’re good citizens, but she didn’t. You are defending the people who kill the lives you say matter. Tell the truth.”

Bill Clinton’s behavior was calculated, predictable, and inevitable. The only question was the timing. It’s the song he loves to sing, and Hillary sings it, too, as she did two decades ago when she spoke of the “kinds of kids that are called ‘super predators” – the ones with “no conscience, no empathy, we can talk about why they ended up that way, but first we have to bring them to heel.”

‘Racist theater’ This is a lot louder than a dogwhistle. It’s White racist theater in service of the Mass Black Incarceration State. Bill Clinton reprised the performance, in Philadelphia, a generation later, with full-throated venom.

The Clintons worry that Hillary’s “chats” with Black Lives Matter delegations in 2015, and the Democratic National Committee’s endorsement of the movement that summer, has tainted her with voters that would usually go Republican, but who are

Clinton, DeBlasio get pass on racial slur NAACP slams Trump for racial joke! The Rev. Al Sharpton calls Cruz a racist for using race based humor! White House calls GOP candidates insensitive on race!

No, these are not real headlines, but they probably would have been if Donald Trump or Ted Cruz had participated in a comedy skit where the crude racial term “CP time” was used.

“CP” is a reference to the racial stereotype “colored people’s” time, that Blacks are always late.

Often used by Blacks in private, it, like the “N” word, is not acceptable for Whites – no matter how liberal!

‘Funny’ skit To put it in context, Clinton paid a visit to an annual black-tie event in New York that brings together the city’s press corps and political elite. Onstage with Mayor Bill deBlasio, she said that it was about time he endorsed her and asked why it took so long. His response: “Sorry, Hillary, I was

CLARENCE V. MCKEE, ESQ. GUEST COLUMNIST

running on CP time.”

DeBlasio probably felt that because he has a Black wife and biracial child he is an expert in racial sensitivities. Apparently his racial sensitivities regarding his son’s possible encounters with police do not extend to using racial stereotypical jokes.

But both he and Clinton should have known better. This was a skit – not an off-the cuff remark – it was planned. Hence, both were aware of the context.

That shows how insensitive Clinton and deBlasio, and their staffs, were regarding the negative racial connotations and implications of the statement. Or maybe they felt “entitled” because they were liberals.

Whites support racial bias over their own interests The illuminating front page article in The Washington Post, headlined “A New Divide In American Death,” stated the following: “White women have been dying prematurely at higher rates since the turn of the century, passing away in their 30s, 40s, and 50s in a slow-motion crisis driven by decaying health in small-town America, according to an analysis of national health and mortality statistics by The Washington Post.”

A. PETER BAILEY TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM

Advantage disappearing Furthermore, the long article noted that, “White women still outlive White men and AfricanAmericans of both sexes. But for the generation of White women who have come of age since the 1960s that health advantage can

thought to be ripe for defection in the Year of the Donald. At some point in the campaign, she was bound to stage a dramatic display of “independence” from Black Lives Matter – or have her husband do it.

Hillary’s defenders claim that she bears no responsibility for her life-partner’s harangue. But it is obvious that Bill felt no need to recant his position on mass Black incarceration.

The next morning, he issued an insulting, back-handed nonapology: “So I did something yesterday in Philadelphia. I almost want to apologize for it,” he said.

“I know those young people yesterday were just trying to get good television. And they did. But that doesn’t mean that I was most effective in answering it.”

On the contrary, he was quite effective in creating an adversarial distance between the Clintons and the emergent Black movement, in preparation of the general election. Hillary will no doubt reinforce the message many times over between now and November – with every utterance fully enabled by the overwhelmingly Democratic Black Misleadership Class.

Likely to win In the end, she is likely to get her “big tent” party, brimming with newly “moderate” Republicans (White “moderates” be-

No problem But why should we be upset?

After all, the White House has defended them. White House press secretary Josh Earnest said: “Mayor deBlasio and Secretary Clinton have, over the course of their careers, demonstrated a genuine commitment to the pursuit of equality and justice and civil rights.”

Talk about hypocrisy! Would the White House have had the same comment if Trump or Ted Cruz participated in such a skit where such a misguided racial joke was used? Calling GOP candidates insensitive on race as mentioned above would have been the mildest response.

This is a good example of the hypocrisy and double standards by political leaders that has made Americans so skeptical and distrusting of politicians.

When a Sanders surrogate used a vulgar sexist term at a rally, Clinton demanded and received an apology from Sanders who said that the comment was “inappropriate and insensitive.”

No demands There were no similar demands for an apology by Sanders, Sharpton or civil rights groups saying that Clinton and deBlasio’s racist humor was “inappropriate and insensitive.” be evaporating.”

For those White women, it is most assuredly a case of the chickens finally coming home to roost. At least since the Ronald Reagan administration, lowincome, working-class and many middle-income White people in this country have strongly supported slick politicians, television and radio bloviators and columnists who whine every day about the absolute horror of government programs around health care, housing, welfare and education.

They continue to vote politicians into office and increase the ratings of those who want such government programs eliminated or at least significantly downsized. Though most are too clever to say it straightforwardly, the whiners consistently convince low-income and working-class Whites that such programs are mainly designed to help Black folks.

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: CRUZ VS. TRUMP

RICK MCKEE, THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE

ing defined as anyone that is uncomfortable with Trumpish language.) And Blacks will count for even less in the party than before the 2016 election season began.

There are some hopeful aspects to this episode. Bill Clinton’s premeditated assault on Black Lives Matter is yet another lesson to young Black people on why the Democratic Party is part of the problem, not the solution. Bernie Sanders’ leftish legions should see the handwriting on the wall.

The Clinton campaign’s reckless fervor to lunge rightward even as the primary process is still in full swing guarantees that she will repeatedly mishandle relations with Sanders supporters, further alienating them from the Democratic Party.

She is certain to insult the Sandernistas – just as her husband

and political soul mate insulted Blacks, in order to prove her “centrist” bona fides to White Republicans, and thus to build her “big tent.”

Why not? Because it only related to Blacks and Clinton and deBlasio are White Democrat liberals who, as usual, get a pass from Democrats and much of the Black leadership when it comes to racial comments and slurs.

To add insult to injury, not only did Sharpton say nothing about the slur, he had Clinton address his National Action Network group. Did she apologize before this Black audience?

Of course not. No need to. She knows that Black voters are pretty much hers for the asking.

She went on to give a speech laced with pandering racial platitudes attacking White privilege and racial disparities in wealth and crime statistics. She also said that Whites should listen more to Blacks. The problem and shame is that apparently the Black audience lapped up every word.

by her friends in the teacher’s unions. She fed them the same old liberal “its White people’s fault” pablum they seem to accept and enjoy.

During the Hillary-Bernie debate, did we hear anything regarding the plight and problems of the Democratic Party’s most loyal constituency? No! Did Bernie ask Hillary to apologize for participating in a skit laced with a demeaning racial stereotypical joke. No! Would Bernie have given Hillary a pass if she had participated in a skit which featured anti-Semitic humor?

Probably not!

So why did Bernie, just like most Black Democrats and civil rights groups, give Hillary and deBlasio a pass? Because Blacks are in the Democrats’ pocket.

After the Democratic primaries, Blacks will be forgotten and the focus will be on White independents and Hispanics whose votes can’t be taken for granted.

How pathetic!

No comments No comments from Clinton on what she would do to stop the murder and shooting epidemic which has taken the lives of thousands of mostly Black youths in mostly Democrat-controlled cities.

No comment or proposals on improving dilapidated and inferior inner city schools controlled

Nothing for Blacks The reality is that the U.S. federal government has never launched any programs whose primary mission was to assist Black folks. Many more Whites have benefited from welfare than Black folks. White women are the chief beneficiaries of affirmative action. Huge numbers of Whites live in government-subsidized housing.

Yet a visitor from Mars reading U.S. newspapers or watching television programs or listening to the radio wouldn’t be blamed if he or she concluded that only Black folks receive assistance from government programs.

The most classic example of that today evolves around the question of universal health care, the kind currently available in every affluent country in the world.

Every middle-income, workingclass, or low-income family in this country is one catastroph-

Charles W. Cherry II, Esq., Publisher

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Pull it down The best scenario will be for Sanders to win enough delegates in the remaining contests to buoy up the morale of his youthful supporters all the way to the convention in Philadelphia, where the Clintons will make it dramatically – no, theatrically – clear that their “big tent” has no left side.

Outraged, but not crushed, Sanders’ supporters may abandon the duopoly in large and energetic enough numbers to begin to pull the tent down.

Glen Ford is executive editor of BlackAgendaReport.

Clarence V. McKee is a government, political and media relations consultant and president of McKee Communications, Inc., as well as a Newsmax.com contributor. ic illness away from bankruptcy. Yet they support politicians who oppose something even as mild as the Affordable Care Act. Those politicians and their families, by the way, all have access to full-coverage, government-sponsored health care.

Paying for biases The Washington Post article showed clearly that White women, soon to be followed by White men and White children, are beginning to pay for allowing their racial bias to overshadow their economic and health interests.

They have been doing this since the U.S. was set up.

The chickens are clucking loudly as they come home to roost.

Contact A. Peter Bailey at apeterb@verizon.net, or 202716-4560.

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APRIL 22 – APRIL 28, 2016

EDITORIAL

Barack, Hillary and the Libya crime Barack Obama’s last nine months in office will provide plenty of opportunity for him to spoon-feed his scribes in the corporate media. Under the pretense of writing history, they will serve as one collective proObama mouthpiece between now and January 20, 2017.

The process is a delicate one, however. The president will also have to explain those policies that did not produce the outcomes he wanted. Such is the case with any discussion of his role in destroying Libya.

Cover for Hillary It seems strange that he would want to remind people of the disaster of his own making, but there is a twisted logic. He is not only defending himself; he’s trying to give Hillary Clinton cover in her presidential campaign.

Hillary haters ought to be Obama haters too, but most Democrats won’t tear themselves away from their idol. The openly and gracelessly evil Hillary takes the fall for a plot hatched by both of them. It is just one of the reasons she is damaged goods to millions of Democrats who have chosen to support Bernie Sanders instead.

The United States, NATO and Gulf monarchy actions against Libya in 2011 were a war crime by any definition of the term.

An unknown number of people died. The aggression instigated a massacre against dark-skinned Libyans and immigrants from Af-

MARGARET KIMBERLEY BLACK AGENDA REPORT

rican countries.

Cities destroyed Entire cities like Tawergha were turned to rubble by America’s jihadists – allies who are otherwise known as terrorists. President Muammar Gaddafi was murdered by a mob that was only able to carry out the deed with Western financial and military support.

The attack by the United States and its allies resulted in a devastated nation that to this day is racked by political and sectarian violence. Libya has no functioning government and became a haven for ISIS. ISIS is strongest in Iraq, Libya and Syria – all of which were targets of regime change.

Thanks to Barack and Hillary, Libya is also a route for desperate people whose plight was created by U.S. interventions. Refugees from Syria, another country devastated by America, take circuitous paths to Libya in hopes of getting to Europe.

It is also a point of embarkation for Africans. Some of them falsely claim to be from Eritrea, a country under American attack by sanctions and other non-military means. America makes Er-

Bills, homelessness When Linda was 7, her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and the medical crisis led to a family financial crisis. Linda’s mother lost her job, and with a mountain of medical bills is still trying to catch up 10 years later.

They’ve been homeless for stretches of time. Food has often been beyond their means. Linda says, “If we didn’t have any food at home, I knew I could get some at school, and sometimes I could take a couple things from the breakfast line and I could just save it for later, so when I got

Direct consequences American and European terror was a gift that kept on giving. The weapons seized from the Libyan army were used by al Qaeda affiliates in Mali and in Nigeria. Boko Haram’s strength and ability to terrorize Nigerians is the direct result of the Libyan crime.

Hillary Clinton is quite rightly taking heat for being the U.S. mastermind of this atrocity. As secretary of state, she made the case for the American nightmare.

She was quite proud of Gaddafi’s murder and infamously said, “We came, we saw, he died.”

These machinations were the cause of blowback in 2012 when jihadists killed the American ambassador at Benghazi.

All of this criminality is sent straight down the memory hole with the help of the corporate media. As part of his never-ending marketing and propaganda drive, Obama graces the cover of the April 2016 issue of The Atlantic magazine with an article entitled, “The Obama Doctrine.”

Positive spin Presidents don’t give access without an expectation of looking good. The interviews with the president and current and past administration officials doesn’t

nities apply for or use them.

But more than 1 in 4 families with children are food insecure and struggling to keep food on the table. The federal Summer Nutrition Programs could help millions more children escape hunger this summer by providing meals if responsible adults act now.

MARIAN The need is urgent. Although WRIGHT 19.7 million children received EDELMAN free or reduced price lunches during the 2013-2014 school GEORGE CURRY MEDIA year, only 3.2 million children – home, if I was hungry, I could eat 16.2 percent – participated in the it.”

Summer Nutrition Programs.

Hunger doesn’t take a summer vacation and poor children like Program can continue Linda who rely on free and reIf local school boards, comduced price breakfast and lunch munity groups, faith congregaduring the school year to keep tions, mayors, and county reprethe wolves of hunger at bay face sentatives act now, they should a long summer of food depriva- be able to get 100 percent federtion. ally-funded Summer Nutrition “It was hard without school Programs in their area or add during the summer, but being more if there already are some able to qualify for something like summer food sites. The federal food stamps or having a food Summer Food Service Program pantry near us, that helped a lot,” and the “Seamless Summer” opLinda says, but at the end of the tion offered through the Nationmonth, “it was kind of like a hit- al School Lunch Program are or-miss kind of situation.” designed to replace the regular school year breakfast and lunch Hit or miss programs.

No child in rich America Meals provided through the should go hungry this or any Summer Nutrition Programs alsummer, especially when 100 so can link children without percent federally-funded sum- summer learning opportunities, mer feeding programs are avail- camps or other costly options able if local officials and commu- to educational and recreation-

Take control and enforce Affirmative Action The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) is one of the most important offices in our nation. It is the vanguard for Affirmative Action.

OFCCP was formed into its current structure in 1977 as a result Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and President Lyndon Johnson’s Executive Order 11246.

The office reports to the U.S. secretary of labor. This office assigns the proper goals for each race and gender. There is a national goal as well as six regional goals. Its regulations can be found at CFR Title 41, Chapter 60.

Recently, this office brought a lot of attention to the discriminatory practices of Silicon Valley.

Some of America’s largest corporations ignore the goals set for them and get away with it. If we had a true secretary of labor, they would be made to change their ways – or lose government business.

Instead, we as a people are dormant about this situation.

We are equally dormant about construction unions who discriminate on an ongoing basis

HARRY C. ALFORD NNPA COLUMNIST

Discrimination is alive and well in America.

So as the saying goes – “If not now, when?

If not you, who?” while the Department of Labor continues to maintain their certifications, knowing all the time that they discriminate against Blacks and women. What good is the Civil Rights Act if we do not enforce it?

A brilliant idea Why don’t we do the enforcing, since the people who we elect ignore this precious law? The

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: ‘THE SYSTEM IS RIGGED’

itrea unlivable and forces its citizens to immigrate. They and others then get a place at the head of the refugee line that wouldn’t exist if the United States would stop waging wars.

Let’s end summer hunger now!

“I qualify for free and reduced lunch. I can get a free breakfast, I can get like a muffin, juice, anything like that, in the morning, and then lunch, I don’t have to pay, so I can get whatever I wanted for lunch. So I’ve always been able to eat at school for lunch and breakfast.”

Those are the words of Linda Ransom, a Columbus, Ohio high school senior and the winner of a Children’s Defense Fund Beat the Odds scholarship whose family struggles to make ends meet.

A5

NAACP and Urban League chapters are not doing anything about it. Discrimination is alive and well in America. So as the saying goes – “If not now, when? If not you, who?”

It is very simple to do. Each year, contractors and subcontractors are required to fill out a report entitled “EEO-1.” The reports are public records, and copies can be received during a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.

Over the years of my advocacy I have received, via FOIA requests, the hiring information for various utilities and other corporations. If a company is discriminating and remains reluctant to changing its hiring and/or promotion practices, the reports can be grounds for a lawsuit.

One trick OFCCP will notify the company you are going after that they are about to fulfill your request.

They can file suit to prevent this from happening. That is what led to the struggle in Silicon Valley.

It is obvious in a state that is 54 percent minority that some companies in Silicon Valley are doing less than three percent minority, and practically no Blacks and Hispanics. If there is a struggle, please stand firm and insist until they relent – or start losing feder-

BOB ENGLEHART, CAGLECARTOONS.COM

deviate from this rule.

The article reveals that the president refers to Libya as “the shitstorm,” as if the devastation happened by some strange osmosis unconnected with his administration. He even throws allies like the UK and France under the bus saying, “When I go back and I ask myself what went wrong, there’s room for criticism, because I had more faith in the Europeans, given Libya’s proximity, being invested in the follow-up.”

Most Americans still believe in Manifest Destiny, the belief that their country has a right to do what it wants in the world. They don’t really care about invasions and interventions as long as they can be considered successful.

That means no dead Americans, and countries that are controlled by chosen puppets who seem to keep their nations under control and out of the news.

Imperialism is still acceptable al programming to keep them learning, active and safe during school vacation. Summer feeding programs also create jobs for food preparers, servers, bus drivers and others.

Schools, community recreation centers, playgrounds, parks, places of worship, day and residential summer camps, housing projects, migrant centers, and Native American reservations are among places that can serve as summer feeding program sites. Many more sites are needed to fill the summer hunger gap for millions of children.

Check in now

if it is carried out seamlessly. It is only the mess that makes Americans uncomfortable, and Democrats are no different from Republicans in this regard.

No justice If there was any justice in the world, Barack and Hillary would fear being on trial. Instead, he leaves office looking like a model on magazine covers, and they work together to make sure that she sits in the Oval Office after him.

But there isn’t enough justice in the world. They will work hand-in-hand like the political twins they have always been.

Margaret Kimberley’s column appears weekly in BlackAgendaReport.com. Contact her at Margaret.Kimberley@ BlackAgendaReport.com. liver summer meals to inaccessible rural areas?

• How many weekend and holiday meal backpacks are provided to children within the Summer Food Service Programs?

• Has your school district reached out to seek community support for these backpacks?

• In districts with large percentages of children in housing projects, have you or local officials asked housing authorities to make sure they get food to hungry children?

• Are faith communities and service organizations with kitchens in your community aware of the 100 percent federally funded resources and planning to provide summer meals this summer?

• Do they know about the Children’s Defense Fund’s Freedom Schools program that provides summer reading enrichment and food to stop summer learning loss and hunger among lowincome children?

Check the Summer Meals Toolkit on the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service’s Summer Feeding Service Program website to learn more about becoming a Summer Meal Champion in your community or call the National Hunger Hotline at 1-866-348-6479.

Far too many communities have no sites at all or have sites difficult for children without transportation to reach. Check in now with your school officials, mayors and county executives to learn what they are doing to prevent childhood hunger.

Some questions to ask include: • How many children receiving school year breakfasts and lunches will be served by Summer Food Service Programs?

• What steps have they taken or will they take immediately to get more summer feeding sites up and running?

• How are parents notified Marian Wright Edelman about free summer food options? is founder and president of • Are there district school bus- the Children’s Defense Fund es that could be outfitted to de- (www.childrensdefense.org).

I once received the final EEO1 on Midway Airport (Chicago) after their last major addition, which was construction via a project labor agreement. The report showed very little Black participation and very little local employment for the city of Chicago.

It was amazing that a large city that is majority minority had so little minority representation. There were workers from Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana. The people of Chicago were ripped off. If they only knew which one of their employees slipped a copy of their report to me!

Do a FOIA on the major construction projects in your community. How about all of the major banks and utility companies?

What about the diversity of major school boards? How about the local governments: city, county, etc.? How about other major employers like supermarket chains, department stores?

Take control of your local Affirmative Action. We need many more activists who are pure at heart and not looking for a paySerious business off. The world will become betYou can see samples of the ter if you do.

Standard Form 100 from our website, www.nationalbcc.org.

Harry C. Alford is the coYou can also notice the contract founder and president/CEO of information for the six region- the National Black Chamber al offices. (This is to whom you of Commerce. Contact him via make the FOIA request). www.nationalbcc.org.

al contracts.

The required annual report is known as Standard Form 100.

This is what the employers send to OFCCP, and it becomes the EEO-1.

As the instruction booklet states: “In the interests of consistency, uniformity and economy, Standard Form 100 has been jointly developed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs of the U.S. Department of Labor, as a single form which meets the statistical needs of both programs. In addition, this form should be a valuable tool for companies to use in evaluating their own internal programs for insuring equal employment opportunity.”

“Under Section 209(a) of Executive Order 11246, the penalties for failure by a federal contractor or subcontractor to comply may include termination of the federal government contract and debarment from future federal contracts.”

TOJ A6

FLORIDA

APRIL 22 – APRIL 28, 2016

Former FAMU dean leads research program in Brooksville SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA COURIER

TALLAHASSEE – Former interim dean of the Florida A&M University (FAMU) College of Education Patricia Green-Powell, Ph.D., has been tapped to lead the Brooksville Agricultural Environmental Research Station (BAERS) located in Brooksville.

Green-Powell will serve as the interim vice president of the research and training campus,

which reflects the largest transfer of land to a land-grant HBCU in USDA history.

Powell is already on the move, holding the first onsite advisory planning committee in Brooksville in late March. The group, appointed by President Elmira Mangum in February, met with Green-Powell to begin planning the execution of programs and uses of the land.

“This station will create op-

portunities to not only preserve our 1890 land-grant identity, but it will maximize the use of existing resources, protect the natural resource base, minimize environmental impact, and maintain sustainability through mentoring in authentic agricultural settings,’’ Green-Powell said.

Research, jobs Brooksville is a subtropical region and home to a myriad of subtropical fruits and animals typically found in Central America, South America, and the Caribbean.

Farming and researching on the land will enable FAMU to boost educational training and development, strengthen its rich tradition of agricultural innovation, and generate opportunities for veterans and jobs for the citizens of the Hernando County area.

The land will be used for agricultural and natural resource research for a period of not less

than 25 years, to support and enhance agriculture research and technology transfer to farmers and local communities, including small farmers, Patricia farmGreen-Powell minority ers, Native Americans, and beginning ranchers.

Endless possibilities Mangum said the research possibilities at the new research station in Brooksville are endless.

“This property provides the university with a unique opportunity to develop not only innovative solutions to the world’s food production, food safety, and food security problems but also serves as a vehicle to promote sustainable farming and economic development,” Mangum said.

The advisory planning committee is comprised of estab-

lished researchers, community leaders, state and local officials, higher education trailblazers, and distinguished alumni.

Committee members include Monica Rainge, state coordinator, Federation of Southern Cooperatives – Land Assistance Fund (committee chair); Ray Mobley, Ph.D., former associate professor and coordinator of Animal Science and Research Programs at FAMU; Ulysses Glee, Ph.D., FAMU alumnus and managing member of the Fenton Group; Timothy Beard, Ph.D., FAMU alumnus and president of PascoHernando State College; Leonard Sossamon, Hernando County administrator; T. Jennene Norman-Vacha, city manager of Brooksville; V. Eugene Rooks, former coordinator of research at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Science; and Robert Taylor, Ph.D., dean of the FAMU College of Agriculture and Food Sciences, ex-officio member.

Edward Waters College celebrates anniversary in Live Oak The HBCU’s first building was erected there in 1872.

Edward Waters College President Nathaniel Glover received a proclamation and key to the city of Live Oak during a sesquicentennial tree planting on April 16 in John H. Hale Community Park.

The tree planting was organized by the Edwards Water College (EWC) National Alumni Association to commemorate the location of EWC’s first campus when it was established in 1866.

Formerly named Brown’s Theological Institute, EWC was founded by the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church to educate newly emancipated slaves. The school met the needs of its community by offering courses at the elementary, high school, college and seminary levels.

Construction on the first building began in 1872 on 10 acres of land in Live Oak.

Relocated to Jacksonville In 1892 the school’s name was changed to Edward Waters College in honor of the third Bishop of the A.M.E. Church. The school moved to Jacksonville in 1893 where the campus was destroyed by the Great Fire of 1901. In 1904, the board of trustees purchased the present site of the school on Kings Road where it was rebuilt.

Decades later, Edward Waters College continues to educate students of all races and religions.

The college continues its mission of advancing students in a global society through excellence of scholarship, research and service for the betterment of humanity.

The EWCNAA planted an oak tree to commemorate the College’s 150th anniversary. The ceremony began with a motorcade into the park by the Buffalo Soldiers. City of Live Oak Mayor, Garth Nobles, Jr. later proclaimed today a monumental day in the city in honor of the “birth of Edward Waters College 150 years ago” and gave the key to the city to Glover.

PHOTO COURTESY OF EDWARD WATERS COLLEGE

Members of the Edward Waters College National Alumni Association and Live Oak representatives were present for a tree planting commemorating the school’s 150th year.

State required to pay legal fees in gay-marriage fight

BY DARA KAM THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

TALLAHASSEE – Lawyers representing plaintiffs who successfully challenged Florida’s ban on same-sex marriage are entitled to collect legal fees from the state, a federal judge has ruled.

U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle’s order on April 15 came several months after Attorney General Pam Bondi first balked at having the state pay more than $500,000 in fees for lawyers representing same-sex couples.

Late last month – more than a year after same-sex marriages began in Florida – Hinkle issued a final judgment declaring that the state’s voter-approved prohibition against gay marriage is unconstitutional.

ACLU challenge too Jim Brenner and his partner Chuck Jones, a Tallahassee couple who have been together for nearly three decades and were married in Canada, filed the initial lawsuit against the state challenging the gay marriage prohibition.

Brenner and Jones later asked Stephen Schlairat and Ozzie Russ, a gay Washington County couple, to join the lawsuit. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) also filed a challenge on behalf of eight couples and other plaintiffs, and the cases were consolidated.

In August 2014, Hinkle ruled that the state’s prohibition against gay marriage was unconstitutional, but he put a stay on his decision until January 2015, when same-sex marriages became legal in Florida.

In the April 15 order, Hinkle wrote that both the ACLU of Florida and Jacksonville attorneys William Sheppard, Betsy White and Samuel Jacobson, who represented the Brenner plaintiffs, were entitled to legal fees.

“The plaintiffs prevailed in each of these consolidated actions,” Hinkle wrote, and are therefore entitled to fees.

‘History of resistance’ Hinkle also praised the state for agreeing that the plaintiffs’ lawyers are entitled to fees, a departure from the harsh words Hinkle had for state officials in his March 31 final judgment.

In that ruling, Hinkle chastised state officials for their reluctance in acknowledging that the Florida ban had been overturned and “for a history of resistance” in a variety of areas linked to gay marriage – in-

cluding in the state’s handling of birth certificates for children of same-sex couples.

“We respect the judge’s order,” Bondi spokesman Whitney Ray said in an email when asked if the state intended to appeal Hinkle’s final judgment or Friday’s ruling regarding the fees.

But the legal wrangling may not be over.

While the state has acknowledged that the lawyers are entitled to the fees, it is unknown if the state will argue over the amount.

Seeking fees, ‘multiplier’ Sheppard and his legal team are seeking at least $455,000 in fees, including a “multiplier” allowed in civil rights cases, according to documents filed last year.

“This is a victory for the American courts and democracy, in my opinion.

That sounds hokey, but that’s how I count it in my belief system,” Sheppard, a longtime civil rights lawyer, said in a telephone interview Monday.

The ACLU has not disclosed its legal tab, but praised Hinkle’s decision.

“We are grateful for Judge Hinkle’s order recognizing the work our legal team did in arguing that Floridians have a right to marry the person they love and that denying them that right was unconstitutional,” ACLU of Florida spokesman Baylor Johnson said in an email.

Not permanent The battle over the legal fees started last summer, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that same-sex couples have a fundamental right to marry. The Supreme Court ruling came in a case involving other states, but it cemented Hinkle’s ruling that Florida’s ban was unconstitutional.

In August, Bondi asked the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta and Hinkle to dismiss the case as moot. A dismissal would have absolved the state from an obligation to pay the plaintiffs’ lawyers, Sheppard and his team wrote in a court filing last year.

Despite Hinkle’s final judgment in the Florida cases and the U.S. Supreme Court decision, same-sex couples’ right to wed may not be settled permanently, Sheppard said.

“I don’t think for a second that we won’t be encountering other issues in the good old state of Florida related to this issue, whether it be legislative or whether it be just conduct of individual government officials,” he said. “It’s not an accepted thing, just because the Supreme Court says it is, any more than integrated schools is accepted.”

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Hope FOR HOMES

APRIL 22 – APRIL 28, 2016

SHARING BLACK LIFE, STATEWIDE

Faithful flocking to productions with Christian themes See page B5

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SECTION

B

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Trinity, Noah and Sherrie Knight anxiously await to enter the home as Current President/ CEO Jason Sowell looks on.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF HOPE FOR HOMES/CURRENT INITIATIVES

About 40 volunteers helped to renovate the Knights’ home in Sulphur Springs, which is a community in Tampa. A number of companies donated supplies and their services to the project.

Tampa family gets much needed renovations on their house for free due to the generosity of individuals and businesses.

COMPILED BY FLORIDA COURIER STAFF

A

thrilled Tampa area family walked into their newly renovated home on April 3, thanks to Hope For Homes Projects, a program of the Florida nonprofit Current Initiatives.

The program, which primarily serves Tampa Bay, provides needed remodeling and improvement work on homes owned by low- and middle-income families at no cost to homeowners.

The home, located in Tampa’s Sulphur Springs area, is the sixth home Current has renovated since 2010 and the second in Sulphur Springs.

This renovation was completed in two phases, a first in the history of Hope For Homes. The first stage took place in December, as part of the roof needed immediate attention to ensure the safety and well-being of the family. Other repairs included roof and ceiling work, lawn maintenance, air duct and plumbing as well as a kitchen makeover.

‘Resilient and hopeful’ The family consists of sisters Sherrie and Veronica Knight, their 9-year-old twin niece and nephew, as well as a newly adopted, 13-year-old nephew. The sisters are active members of their church, Tabernacle of Hope in Tampa, and regularly participate in events throughout the year that serve the community.

Although both women are employed full time, they could not afford the much-needed home renovations.

“This family has faced a number of obstacles, but has remained resilient and hopeful.

Their story is one of perseverance

and we are thrilled about the opportunity to assist them,” said Jason Sowell, founder of Current Initiatives.

“We are also thankful for the amount of community support received for this renovation.

These projects are not possible without the generosity of individuals and businesses who want to offer not just a hand out, but a hand up.”

Vacation for family Tampa area contractors donated $12,000 worth of repair and renovation services. Approximately 50 volunteers lent their time over more than 100 hours.

During the renovations, the Knight family relocated to a local hotel where they were treated to Tampa attractions.

For many families in the Tampa Bay area, home improvements and repairs can present a financial challenge. Working with community volunteers and small businesses, Hope For Homes Projects relieve this burden and help provide a better quality of life for families in need, Sowell noted.

Sponsors for the project include: GRW Construction Corporation, Morgan Air Conditioning, Sherwin-Williams, Campus Landscape, Amoroso Cabinets, Collective Genius, Crowell Aluminum, Inc., Dunrite In Home Services, Elite Roofing Services, We Haul It, Edmonson Electric, Rockstar Rehabs, Inc., Florida Blue, Stylecraft Window Treatments, The Fechtel Company, Buy Here Pay Here Homes, Equistream, Tabernacle of Hope, Integrated Security Consultants, Inc., Lowry Park Zoo, Accurate Signs On Time, Ybor Villas and Vistra Communications.

More than $20,000 in repairs were done to their home, thanks to the generosity of the sponsors and volunteers.

The Knights are excited about the upgrades to their home.

“All of this has truly been a blessing. This has been a long time coming and we will continue to give God the praises for this opportunity,” said Sherrie Knight.

“We are grateful for the volunteers and companies who helped make this possible for our family.’’

Sherrie Knight leads the ways as the family enters the home for the first time since renovations were done to their Sulphur Springs home.

The Hope For Homes Project provides remodeling and improvement work on homes owned by working-class families. For more information, visit www. homesbycurrent. org.

CALENDAR

B2

APRIL 22 – APRIL 28, 2016

DORINDA CLARK-COLE

The Women of Praise Mother’s Day Concert is May 8 at the BankUnited Center in Coral Gables.

Performers will include Shirley Caesar, Vickie Winans, Regina Bell and Dorinda Clark-Cole.

EARTHQUAKE

The Ninth Annual Memorial Weekend Comedy Festival is May 29 at the James L. Knight Center in Miami featuring John Witherspoon, Earthquake and Kim Whitley.

BRIAN MCKNIGHT Catch him at the Florida Theatre Jacksonville on May 24.

FLORIDA COMMUNITY CALENDAR Boca Raton: The Legends of the Old School concert takes place May 20 at the Mizner Park Amphitheater. Performers include Bel Biv Devoe, Rob Base, Lisa Lisa, Tone Loc and Kid N Play.

Hollywood: Actor and comedian Tracy Morgan is scheduled May 21 at Hard Rock Live St. Augustine: Salt N Pepa performs May 21 at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre. The show is at 7 p.m.

Tampa: Catch Rick Ross on May 7 at Whiskey North. The show starts at 9 p.m.

Pompano Beach: Keith Sweat and Silk are scheduled April 30 at the Pompano Beach Amphitheater for a 7:30 p.m. show.

Fort Lauderdale: The African-American Research Library and Cultural Center is hosting a poetry slam at 2 p.m. April 23 in three age categories. To participate, contact Desmond Hannibal

at 954-357-6224 or email dhannibal@broward.org. The center is at 2650 Sistrunk Blvd.

Safety Harbor: Reach Up’s annual Affirming Fatherhood Conference is April 27-29 at 105 N. Bayshore Drive. More information: www.reachupincorporated.org.

Hollywood: A May 10 concert will feature George Benson and Boney James at Hard Rock Live.

Celebration: The Muscular Dystrophy Association will host an MDA Muscle Walk of Orlando at 2 p.m. on April 23 at Lakeside Park. Details: www.musclewalkmda.org. orlando2016 West Palm Beach: The Blind Boys of Alabama and Mavis Staples will be in concert May 4 at the Au-Rene Theater at the Broward Center in Fort Lauderdale and the Kravis Center.

Miami: Beyonce’s Formation World Tour stops at Marlins Park on April 27 and Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on April 29.

Tampa: The Legends of

Southern Hip Hop show is April 23 at the USF Sundome.

Performers include Juvenile, Too Short, Trick Daddy along with 8 Ball & MJG. Orlando: Catch Floetry at the House of Blues Orlando on May 8.

Orlando: A Ladies’ Tea Party takes place April 23 at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, 4851 S. ApopkaVineland Road. The event begins at 1 p.m. RSVP: www. st.lukes.org/tea or call 407876-4991.

Pompano Beach: The Eta Nu Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity will present its annual Talent Hunt Competition from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. May 1 at E. Pat Larkins Community Center, 520 NW Third St. Details: 954-520-8691 or JWque6@aol.com.

Longwood: The Central Florida Community Arts’ Community Choir and Symphony Orchestra will perform “A Night On the Red Carpet’’ May 12 and 13 at Northland Church, 530 Dog Track Road.

Tickets: http://cfcarts.com/ events or call 407-937-1800 ext. 710.

UNIVERSAL PICTURES PRESENTS IN ASSOCIATION WITH PERFECT WORLD PICTURES A ROTH FILMS PRODUCTION “THE HUNTSMAN: WINTER’S WAR” CHRIS HEMSWORTH CHARLIMUSIC ZE THERON EMILY BLUNT NICK FROST SAM CLAFLIN ROB BRYDON AND JESSIPRODUCED CA CHASTAIN BYBASEDJAMES NEWTON HOWARD EXECUTIVE ON CHARACTERS PRODUCERS SARAH BRADSHAW PALAK PATEL CREATED BY EVAN DAUGHERTY

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STOJ

‘Glory Over Everything: A melodrama that deals with brutality of slavery

BY DR. GLENN ALTSCHULER SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA COURIER

“Let me explain,” Jamie Butler, the protagonist of “Glory Over Everything,’’ says to the father of the young woman he has seduced. After hurling a glass paperweight at Jamie and then striking him across the face, Mr. Cardon yells, “You nigras are all the same!

You will not leave the white women alone!” “It is claimed that my mother is part Negro,” Jamie stammers. To which Cardon replies, “Part! Part!

There is no such thing as part! Nigra is nigra!”

Kathleen Set in Philadelphia, Grissom Virginia and North Carolina in the 1820s, this new novel by Kathleen Grissom (the author of “The Kitchen House’’) follows young Mr. Butler (the son and slave of a plantation owner), who has been passing as a White silversmith and painter, as he comes to terms with his racial identity.

“Glory Over Everything’’ is an oldfashioned melodrama. Delivered in the voices of the main characters, the narrative is filled with romance, villains, violence, courage, compassion, secrets and suspense.

Penchant for exclamations The plot turns on coincidences, some of which strain credulity. Grissom often tells readers what they already know, or should know, in exclamation-pointed purple prose.

“I was trembling,” Caroline Cardon exclaims. “He was my whole life! What would I do if he turned from me! I could not live without him! ‘I am going to have a child,’ I whispered.”

A bit later, Jamie rushes to his lover’s side. “She grasped hold of me as she might a savior. ‘Oh, James! You’ve come!’

I held her to me and forced soothing words past the pain in my throat. How could I have failed her so? What a coward I had been!”

That said, “Glory Over Everything does capture,’’ at times movingly, the brutality of slavery and its impact on the dayto-day thoughts, feelings, and experiences of Blacks and Whites in antebellum America.

Explores ‘passing’ Kidnapped on the docks of Philadelphia and sold into slavery, Pan is be-

BOOK REVIEW Review of “Glory Over Everything: Beyond the Kitchen House’’ by Kathleen Grissom. Simon & Schuster. 370 pages. $25.99 friended by Sukey, an agent of the Underground Railroad whose tongue had been cut out by her masters following an escape attempt. Sukey looks away when the young boy talks, “because he got those big eyes and sometimes they still got a smile left in them.” When Pan asks her why she does not want to have a baby, Sukey writes on his hand, “they sell them.”

“Glory Over Everything’’ also sends a powerful message about the emotional price paid by individuals who try to “pass.” Halfway through the novel Jamie learns that Robert, his manservant, is half White. “You speak as though you carry no shame,” he says. And Robert replies, “There is no shame in who I am.

There is only shame in how I came to be, and that is not my burden to carry.”

Exhibiting a compassion that Jamie had previously declined to attribute to African-Americans, Robert absolves his employer of blame for trying to pass.

“Your road is the one I might easily have taken, given your coloring. Your choices are not for me to judge.”

Upbeat ending As is fitting for a novel about slavery, plenty of good people, most of them African-Americans, die in “Glory Over Everything.’’ But like most authors of melodramas, Grissom provides her readers with an upbeat, happy ending.

Prompted by Pan, his conscience, to help those in need as well as those he loves, Jamie Burton is ready, at long last, to blast through obstacles as well as step around them, even if it involves risking his life and his fortune by helping agents on the Underground Railroad rescue “any others who get took” by slavecatchers.

What’s more, suppressing his “usual inhibitions” felt really good.

Dr. Glenn C. Altschuler is the Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Professor of American Studies at Cornell University. He wrote this review for the Florida Courier.

STOJ

APRIL 22 – APRIL 28, 2016

HEALTH

B3 rivals such as retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson for proposing broad changes. He has also criticized Medicare remedies proposed by House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis. But Trump has yet to offer specifics on how he’d preserve Medicare.

On Medicaid, Trump’s health care proposal says, “We must review basic options for Medicaid and work with states to ensure that those who want health care coverage can have it,” but provides no specifics.

“If I’m elected in November 2016, I hope to lead the effort to … preserve and strengthen Social Security and Medicare for decades going forward,” Cruz told Fox News.

Among the changes he advocates are increasing the retirement age and making sure costof-living increases do not exceed the rate of inflation. Both of those changes should apply to “younger workers — people my age,” he said, not to already-retired beneficiaries.

Cruz in 2013 opposed expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. “Our friends who are saying they want health care do not realize that expanding Medicaid will worsen health care options for the most vulnerable among us in Texas,” he said.

MICHAEL AINSWORTH/DALLAS MORNING NEWS/TNS

Sen. Ted Cruz (R- Texas) speaks with the Heritage Foundation at the Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas on Aug. 20, 2013. Cruz discussed the push to remove funding for federal health care law.

How the GOP candidates compare on health care A glance at what Cruz, Kasich and Trump would do as president

BY WILLIAM DOUGLAS AND MARIA RECIO TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

WASHINGTON — Six years after the passage of the Affordable Care Act, the nation’s health care remains at the center of political debate.

Here’s a look at how the three Republican presidential candidates view the health care law, the cost of prescription drugs, the role of Medicare and Medicaid in confronting the nation’s provision of medical services, and abortion.

Affordable Care Act Ohio Gov. John Kasich says he supports repealing the law. He

has, however, called the Republican Party’s 2014 pledge to repeal it “stupid.”

“It got all these conservatives all stirred up and angry because they didn’t keep their word,” Kasich said last month on “The Jay Weber Show,” a radio program. “I mean, what a stupid promise.”

Kasich has been criticized by some conservatives for his decision to expand Medicaid in Ohio under the Affordable Care Act. “Expanding Medicaid at this point, bringing our dollars back, is working. It’s saving money and it’s saving lives. And that’s what really matters at the end of the day.”

Donald Trump also supports repealing the health care law.

He has a seven-point health care plan on his campaign website that includes modifying laws that prevent the sale of health insurance across state lines; allowing

individuals to hold health savings accounts and treating those accounts as part of people’s estates so that they could be inherited without tax penalties; and letting individuals fully deduct health insurance premiums on their tax returns.

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who spoke for 21 hours on the Senate floor in 2013 in an effort to deny funding for the health care law, famously says that “on day one” of a Cruz presidency he will repeal it. (Repeal would require congressional approval.)

Cruz has posted on his website some specifics that sound similar to Trump’s: opening insurance markets across state lines, expanding HSAs and delinking health insurance from employment. He opposed expanding Medicaid in Texas, saying the poor would not be served.

“Medicaid is a system that is already overburdened, and more and more people are just getting waiting lists and not actually getting health care,” he told CBS in 2015.

Prescription drug prices Kasich told Fox Business in February that “the whole” drug industry should undergo a review. “We probably are paying for things in research and development that the taxpayers already funded, that perhaps companies are marking up,” he said.

He also advocates competitive pricing. “I don’t understand why people in Europe can pay much lower prices for the same drugs we pay higher for, because we paid for the R&D,” he said. “To me, that’s a total rip-off on us.”

Trump has talked about giving

Medicare the power to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies to drive prices down. He has claimed that he could save $300 billion a year by negotiating drug prices, an assertion that Washington Post fact-checkers called “nonsense.”

Cruz said in Des Moines last November: “Part of the reason prescription prices are so expensive is it can cost over a billion dollars to take a drug to the marketplace because of the federal regulatory barriers. We need to reduce those barriers and have a lot more competition.”

Cruz and Sen. Mike Lee, RUtah, introduced a bill to overhaul the Food and Drug Administration, with the objective of expediting approval of lifesaving drugs, letting Congress intervene in FDA decisions that lawmakers don’t like and expanding the availability of drugs and devices in the U.S. by allowing products approved in other countries into the U.S. market.

Medicare and Medicaid Kasich calls for increasing care coordination through Medicare Advantage and revamping payment practices, which his campaign claims would “increase value and quality” of care while saving money.

On Medicaid, Kasich says he wants to give states more flexibility. He proposes allocating funds to states on a per-member, per-month basis. That would help “hold Medicaid’s spending growth to 3 percent annually,” his campaign says.

Trump has called for preserving Medicare and has attacked former Republican presidential

Abortion Kasich opposes abortion and signed a bill into law in July 2011 banning most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, allowing an exception only if the woman’s life is in danger. In February, he signed a bill to prohibit Ohio from contracting for health services with any organizations that perform or promote abortion — a measure aimed at Planned Parenthood.

Trump has described himself as an abortion opponent. In a 1999 “Meet the Press” interview, he said, “I am strongly for choice and yet I hate the concept of abortion.”

He stumbled on the abortion issue earlier this month, when he told MSNBC that women who have abortions should be punished. Trump backtracked from that remark and said on CBS’s “Face the Nation”: “The laws are set. And I think we have to leave it that way.”

Though he has said Planned Parenthood has done “very good work for millions of women,” he supports cutting federal funding to the organization if it continues to provide abortion services.

Cruz is adamantly anti-abortion, even in cases of rape or incest. He told Fox News this month that rape “is a horrific crime against the humanity of a person and needs to be punished and punished severely. But at the same time, as horrible as that crime is, I don’t believe it’s the child’s fault.”

Cruz said it should be up to the states to decide under what conditions to ban abortion. He has advocated eliminating taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood, which, apart from abortion services — not funded by the federal government — also provides health care to women.

CDC: HIV infections not decreasing significantly MAYO CLINIC NEWS NETWORK TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 1.2 million people in the U.S. States are living with HIV infection, and one in eight doesn’t know they have it.

“Despite years of education and increased understanding, the number of HIV infections is not decreasing significantly, as 500,000 news cases are diagnosed in the U.S. each year,” says Mayo Clinic infectious diseases specialist Dr. Stacey Rizza. Globally, 50 million people are estimated to be infected.

AIDS is a chronic, potentially life-threatening condition caused by HIV. By damaging your immune system, HIV interferes with the body’s ability to fight the organisms that cause disease. Without treatment, it may take years before HIV weakens your immune system to the point where you have AIDS.

Importance of screening HIV does not discriminate, as the virus is transmitted through sexual activity, sharing needles and childbirth.

“It is vitally important that we screen for HIV to identify peo-

ple who are infected,” Rizza says.

“Once they are identified, they can then begin treatment with daily medicine to help them keep the virus suppressed, which improves their health and protects others by preventing transmission of the virus.”

Despite the presence of HIV, Rizza says there is encouraging news.

While there’s no vaccine for HIV or a cure for AIDS, the disease can be prevented and treated. Rizza says three main ideas are key to stopping transmission and slowing the virus: prevention, treatment and research of new therapies.

Prevention • Screening: blood or saliva test to check for antibodies • Safe sex practices including condom use, which is up to 99 percent effective at preventing HIV transmission • Oral medication such as Truvada to reduce the risk of contracting HIV • Use clean needles • Male circumcision • Vaginal ring: A vaginal ring, inserted monthly, delivers medication directly to the vagina.

It is up to 35 percent effective at preventing transmission of the HIV virus. While not yet ap-

FOTOLIA/TNS

A health specialist cites the three main ideas that are key to stopping transmission and slowing the virus: Prevention, treatment and research of new therapies. proved by the Food and Drug Administration, Rizza says the ring is the first preventive medication controlled by women, and even though it is not as effective as preventing HIV transmission as hoped, it is important for two reasons: Some women in the U.S. and many around the world are not able to say no to their partners for cultural and other reasons HIV can be transmitted from

mother to child during pregnancy and birth

Treatment • Combination of oral medications • Non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) • Nucleoside or nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) • Protease inhibitors (PIs)

• Entry or fusion inhibitors • Integrase inhibitors • Research Experts conduct research to learn more about HIV and AIDS and how to prevent and stop it.

Preventive measure and medications have reduced AIDS cases and deaths in many developed nations. But HIV continues to decimate populations in Africa, Haiti and parts of Asia.

FOOD

B4

APRIL 22 – APRIL 28, 2016

STOJ

FAST

breakfasts can still have

STYLE

Lassi and Oatmeal Smoothie

LEMON CHILI AVOCADO TOAST From “The Quick Six Fix,”

by Stuart O’Keefe (William Morrow, 2016). Avocado toast is the darling good-fat breakfast of the moment.

But adding a couple more ingredients jazzes it up considerably.

2 ripe avocadoes Juice of 1 lemon 1/2 teaspoon each sea salt and freshly ground pepper 4 slices whole grain bread 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes Cut the avocados in half, remove the pits and peel.

Place the flesh in a small bowl. Add the lemon juice, salt and pepper. Mash well with a fork and set aside.

Toast the bread. Spread each slice with avocado mixture. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes and serve.

Yield: 4 servings.

Ham and Egg Cup on English Muffin

BY KATHLEEN PURVIS CHARLOTTE OBSERVER TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

Of all the meals that are easy to put on autopilot, it would be breakfast.

After all, there’s a whole aisle of the supermarket loaded with boxes of cereal, just waiting for you to pour them into a bowl, add some milk and get on with your day.

Shouldn’t breakfast deserve better than that, though? As the first meal we usually eat, a good breakfast can set the tone for the rest of your day.

It still doesn’t have to take much time. We dug around through international flavors, simple but good ingredients and a few very easy techniques to come up with seven things that will launch your day with a little style.

A couple, like 5-minute Skillet Granola and a homemade version of toaster pastries, can be made in advance. Yogurt-based lassi and avena, an oatmeal version of the Mexican drink horchata, are so fast, they’re practically instant. Others, like eggs baked in ham cups and a breakfast pizza using the Indian flatbread naan, would be perfect when you’re facing a busy weekend day. Even avocado toast can be tweaked for big flavor.

You’ve heard it before: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It deserves to dress up a little, even on a busy day.

5-MINUTE SKILLET GRANOLA From “The Clever Cookbook: Get-Ahead Strategies and Timesaving Tips for Stress-Free Home Cooking,” by Emilie Raffa (Page Street, 2016). You’ll have extra Cinnamon Sugar Butter to keep in the refrigerator for another use.

Cinnamon Sugar Butter: 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened 2 tablespoons sugar 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt Granola: 3 tablespoons Cinnamon Sugar Butter 1 tablespoon honey 1 cup quick oats (not instant or old-fashioned rolled oats) 1/4 cup chopped walnuts Cinnamon Sugar Butter: Place all the ingredients in a food processor and process until blended. Set aside what you need for the granola, then shape the remainder into a log, wrap in parchment paper, roll and refrigerate or freeze.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Melt 3 tablespoons Cinnamon Sugar Butter in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the honey and swirl to coat the pan. Pour in the oats, stirring constantly.

Cook 3 to 4 minutes, until they just start to change from beige to golden brown. Add the walnuts and cook about 1 minute longer.

Spread on the lined pan. It will crisp a little as it cools.

Refrigerate in an airtight container about a week, or freeze up to 3 months.

Yield: About 1 1/4 cups.

Lemon Chili Avocado Toast

PBJ Pop Tarts

PHOTOS BY T. ORTEGA GAINES/CHARLOTTE OBSERVER/TNS

AVENA OATMEAL SMOOTHIES Adapted from “America’s Best Breakfasts: Favorite Local Recipes from Coast to Coast,” by Lee Brian Schrager and Adeena Sussman (Clarkson Potter, 2016). If you’ve ever had horchata, the cinnamonflavored Mexican drink, this is very similar, but oatmeal makes it more filling.

1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats 6 cups milk (we tested it with cashew milk), divided 2 tablespoons sugar, or to taste About 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon vanilla extract Place the oatmeal in a bowl and add enough milk to completely cover it, about 3-4 cups. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Place the soaked oatmeal in a blender and add the remaining milk, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla. Blend until smooth. Serve cold.

Yield: 2 servings.

BAKED HAM CUPS Nonstick cooking spray 4 thin slices ham 4 eggs 2 English muffins Salt and pepper to taste Hot sauce (optional) Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray 4 cups of a muffin pan with nonstick spray.

Press a slice of ham into each muffin cup, overlapping the edges of the slices. Crack an egg into each lined cup.

Place muffin tin in the oven and bake 11 to 12 minutes, until the egg whites are set and the yolk is just filmed over.

Toast the English muffin halves while the eggs are cooking.

Run a knife around each muffin cup to loosen the egg, then use a serving spoon to lift it out. Place each egg cup on an English muffin half.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper and a few drops of hot sauce if you like. Serve warm.

Yield: 4 servings.

PBJ POP TARTS Using prepared pie dough to make toaster pastries (aka Pop Tarts) is easy. Adding a little peanut butter gives them oomph, and we use fruit preserves because they’re thicker than jam or jelly. Skipping the icing makes them easy to reheat in a toaster oven.

1 (2-crust) package pie dough 4 tablespoons peanut butter 6 tablespoons fruit preserves Unroll one pie crust on a work surface. Cut in half lengthwise, then cut each half in half crosswise. Stack two quarters and trim off the curved side. Repeat with the other crust. You should have 5 1/2-by-4-inch rectangles.

Place 1 tablespoon peanut butter on one piece and spread out a little, leaving a full 1-inch border around each side. Top with about 1 1/2 tablespoon preserves.

Top with a second piece of dough, matching up the edges. Use a fork to crimp around the sides and prick the center several times.

Place on a baking sheet.

Continue with the remaining pieces of dough to make 4 pastries.

Bake at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes, until lightly browned around the edges.

Cool. Reheat or serve cold.

Yield: 4 servings.

NAAN PUMPKIN BREAKFAST PIZZAS If you can’t find naan, the Indian flatbread, use another version of flatbread. Adapted from abcdsofcooking.com and the Huffington Post.

2 whole-wheat naans or small flatbreads 2 teaspoons vegetable or olive oil 2 tablespoons minced onion 2 teaspoons dried sage 2 cups canned pumpkin puree (not pie filling) 2 cups shredded cheese (mozzarella, gruyere, white cheddar or a mix) 2 eggs Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat.

Place a naan in the dry skillet and warm through, then turn to crisp the other side. Place on a baking sheet.

In the hot skillet, warm the oil and add the onion.

Cook about 5 minutes, until softened. Stir the onions and sage into the pumpkin puree.

Spread half of the puree on each naan, then top with the cheese. Use the back of a spoon to make an indentation in the center of each topped naan, then crack an egg into each one.

Place in the oven and bake about 4 minutes. Turn the baking sheet and continue baking 4 to 5 minutes, until the egg white is set and the yolk is as done as you like.

Serve warm.

Yield: 2 servings.

MANGO PEACH LASSI If you’re a fan of breakfast smoothies but you’re getting bored, a lassi made with yogurt is a good way to mix things up.

1 cup frozen mango chunks 1 cup frozen peach slices 1 cup plain unsweetened yogurt 1 1/2 cups nonfat milk 1 tablespoon honey 1 teaspoon ground cardamom (optional) Place all the ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth. Serve cold.

Yield: 1 serving.

STOJ

APRIL 22 – APRIL 28, 2016

FINEST & ENTERTAINMENT

Meet some of

FLORIDA’S

finest

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ALLEN J. SCHABEN/LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

Michael Strahan is leaving his “Live with Kelly and Michael’’ daytime show with Kelly Ripa to work full time on “Good Morning America.” A search for his replacement will begin in the fall. The retired New York Giants linebacker was chosen in 2012 as Ripa’s co-host. ABC News President James Goldston called Strahan “a stellar addition’’ to “Good Morning America.’’ Above, he’s shown at the Academy Awards on March 2, 2014.

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HEIDI GUTMAN/MSNBC

Former MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry has joined Elle.com, where she will be the editor at large. She will focus on race, gender, politics, and the “oftenoverlooked stories of women and girls of color.’’ She left MSNBC in February after accusing the company’s brass of suspending her weekend morning show.

“I will not be used as a tool for their purposes,” she wrote in a memo.

“I am not a token, mammy, or little brown bobble head.”

“Saints & Sinners,’’ which has broken audience records.

“They’re not the stereotypical church [fare],” Murray says. “Christians live real lives, so they’re real-life stories. They’re stories of relationships and infidelity. They’re stories of addiction and abuse. They’re stories of struggle and triumph. Whatever anybody is dealing with on a day-today basis, Christians and people of faith deal with that, too.”

Gospel plays credited

COURTESY OF BOUNCE TV

A Southern Baptist church and its surrounding community are entrenched in a world of crime, lust, deceit and greed in “Saints & Sinners.’’ Cast members include Vanessa Bell Calloway and Clifton Powell.

Faith-based productions are a popular gateway for Black actors

BY RONDA RACHA PENRICE URBAN NEWS SERVICE

Black Christians shocked Hollywood last September.

“War Room,’’ the mainstream, prayer-themed film starring unknown Black actors, dethroned the hit N.W.A. biopic, “Straight Outta Compton,’’ at the box office over Labor Day weekend in 2015.

But this was no fluke. Black Christian entertainment has been broadening its appeal for years.

Veteran entertainment journalist Jawn Murray, who powers his own popular lifestyle website, AlwaysAList.com, credits Oprah Winfrey’s talk show for this new gateway of opportunity for Black entertainers.

“I think Oprah Winfrey

kind of got the ball rolling when she would give platforms to artists like BeBe and CeCe (Winans) and Donnie McClurkin and other prominent faithbased artists,” says Murray.

“And then we saw people like Bishop T.D. Jakes and Tyler Perry launch faithbased film projects that were very lucrative.”

Box-office hits Tyler Perry’s first film, “Diary of a Mad Black Woman,’’ released in 2005, starring Kimberly Elise, Shemar Moore and Perry as the grandma-esque Madea, topped the box office with nearly $22 million in its first weekend on just a $5.5-million budget, on its way to over $50 million.

Perry’s 2009 film, “I Can

Do Bad All By Myself,’’ starring Taraji P. Henson, topped its box office opening weekend with $23 million and also passed the $50-million mark. Video sales added another $20 million on a production budget estimated at between $13 million and $19 million.

T.D. Jakes’ 2004 film, “Woman Thou Art Loosed’’ - starring Kimberly Elise and Jakes, himself, as a pastor exploring the devastating effects of sexual molestation – generated $2.5 million in a limited release on its opening weekend, on its way to nearly $7 million overall.

“How did it wind up in the top 10 on a weekend where we had “Shark Tale’’ opening?” box office expert

Paul Dergarabedian asked about this unexpected success.

From film to TV “Not Easily Broken,’’ about a disintegrating marriage with God as a subtle, but important, influence, starring Taraji P. Henson and Morris Chestnut, grossed more than $10 million and added $15 million via home entertainment — five times its initial budget.

“We are seeing it also transfer over to the television realm.” Murray says.

“You have networks like UP and TV One doing lots of original, faith-based content with movies and sitcoms.”

UP produced several TV films through its one-time

Faith and Family Screenplay Competition at the American Black Film Festival, including “Comeback Dad’’ (2014) with Charles Dutton and Tatyana Ali and “Somebody’s Child’’ (2012) starring Lynn Whitfield and Michael Jai White.

More drama Now, at TV One, former UP head Brad Siegel has greenlit films retelling biblical stories such as that of Job with the recent “To Hell and Back’’ with Vanessa Bell Calloway and Ernie Hudson, and last year’s “For the Love of Ruth,’’ starring Tyler Perry alum Denise Boutte, Gary Dourdan and Loretta Devine.

And Winfrey will unveil “Greenleaf,’’ a megachurch TV drama starring Lynn Whitfield and herself, on her OWN network this summer. Bounce TV has found success with gospel stars David and Tamela Mann’s sitcom “Mann & Wife’’ and the dark drama

Brett Dismuke, president and COO of the Atlantabased production company The Swirl Group, which has created many Black Christian TV projects, cites the popularity of gospel stage plays in the early 2000s as a major catalyst.

“When any play had any hint of the Word in it, the playwright was allowed to come to churches and promote,” says Dismuke, a former stage-play producer whose company created “Saints & Sinners.’’ “So when you looked out at the audience of these plays that were touring the country, it was largely church congregations coming out en masse.”

Both “Woman Thou Art Loosed’’ and “Diary of a Mad Black Woman’’ began on stage.

Academy Award-winner Louis Gossett, Jr., who plays a blind pastor in the recently wrapped independent, mainstream Christian film “The Reason,’’ says Christian entertainment is becoming more popular because “we have gotten our fill of dropping bombs and shooting people.”

The veteran actor — who also appeared as a bishop in Russ Parr’s 2012 Black church drama “The Undershepherd’’ — believes the rise of Black Christian entertainment is a good thing.

“We need to lead the way now,” Gossett says.

“We have to be children of God.”

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APRIL 22 – APRIL 28, 2016

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TECHNOLOGY

APRIL 22 – APRIL 28, 2016

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tations of the exact same emoji rendering.”

In other words: people see things differently.

Shift in language Here’s the kicker: Whether people use the same platform and see the same emoji or whether they see different emojis, the variance in emotional interpretation is almost identical.

On the -5 to +5 scale, researchers found that the sender and receiver will differ an average of 2.04 points in terms of reaction to the emoji — when the image is translated across platforms.

However, even within the same platform, say comparing Apple to Apple reactions, the average difference is 1.88 points.

In her comments, Miller pointed out that some scholars argue that emoji use represents a seismic shift in language, so understanding its role in human communication is important in developing the next generation of technology.

A fun study

Samsung, LG or Nexus, is sent as “mildly negative emoji” but will be received as a “relatively positive one,” the study found.

The idea for the study started germinating when Miller noticed that an emoji she saw on Facebook wasn’t identical to what she saw on her phone.

“That’s kind of an important thing,” she said in an interview.

“I think people aren’t aware of it and now they can realize someone on the other side isn’t seeing what they’re seeing.”

Co-author Isaac Johnson said the students had fun with the study. “It really caught our imagination,” he said.

The study involved 304 people in various pairings to replicate how reactions would differ in two-way conversations.

Miller posted on the blog April 5 and saw interest slowly expand.

“I honestly I had no clue it was gonna catch fire like this,” she said.

“People are really reacting and some people are taking it very seriously. We do think that it could cause miscommunication but we don’t think (emoji interpretations) will cause World War III.”

Different responses

Research paper

Researchers had recipients rank the emojis on a scale of negative 5 to positive 5 in terms of emotional response.

For nine of the 22 emojis tested, the average difference in emotional rating between two platforms was greater than two points.

People also described emojis differently.

When seeing an Apple emoji of a person raising both hands in celebration, people described it as “stop” and “clap.” When describing Google’s version of the same character, people used “praise” and “hand,” Miller wrote.

Miller said the finding that “really surprised” researchers was that a “good deal of the potential for miscommunication may come from different interpre-

The Star Tribune is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

TNS

Researchers have found that anthropomorphic emojis, like language, can get lost in translation, causing significant misunderstandings.

Use of emojis: Is it another way to miscommunicate?

BY ROCHELLE OLSON STAR TRIBUNE TRIBUNE NEW SERVICE

Smiling eyes might by lying eyes.

University of Minnesota researchers have found that anthropomorphic emojis, like language, can get lost in translation, causing significant misunderstandings.

This happens two ways.

There’s the technical translation glitch. What’s sent as a smiling face from a Google Nexus would appear as a frown on the recipient’s Apple iPhone and vice versa.

Then there’s the human component: People interpret identi-

cal emojis differently.

Hannah Miller, a third-year Ph.D. student is part of the university’s GroupLens research lab and posted the findings on the GroupLens blog.

Miller said she researches human-computer interaction, studying how to design technology to improve quality of life and social interaction.

Smile or frown?

To demonstrate the study’s findings, Miller’s blog post showed how the “grinning face with smiling eyes” appears across 10 platforms. The emoji is varied.

Some show teeth. Some mouths are open while others are just a

straight line. Some have open eyes while others are closed. The corners of the lips are turned up on some while others are turned downward.

To study how emoji diversity can cause miscommunication, Miller and the researchers used five of the 22 most popular human-appearing emojis. They asked participants to describe the emoji in words and assess their personal emotional reaction as well.

“We found that in many cases, there is quite a bit of potential for miscommunication,” Miller wrote.

For example, the grinning face with smiling eyes from Apple’s iPhone to a Windows phone,

She and her colleagues already are preparing follow-up studies.

Areas of interest include crosscultural interpretations of emoji as well as how emojis are interpreted in the context of language and messages.

“That might disambiguate and obviate the problem,” she said about context.

The ultimate goal is to make life better for humans, Miller said.

The paper on the research will be published as part of the 2016 AAAI International Conference on Weblogs and Social Media in Cologne, Germany, next month.

The GroupLens lab is part of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering.

How to manage to-do lists and be more productive FAMILY FEATURES

When your to-do list is miles long and deadlines are looming, it can be hard to tap into a creative, problem-solving mindset.

Creating a more intentional approach to productivity will let you shift gears to not only cross items of your list, but to deliver higher quality, more effective work.

Keep a notebook and pen on hand When inspiration strikes is the best time to capture your ideas so you can include the context, references and other details that allow you to develop the concept more completely later on.

Keeping all your thoughts and ideas locked up in your head can cloud your ability to dedicate your attention where it’s needed most. Transfer all that brain power to paper or a smart folio like Bamboo Spark, which allows you to export content to an app on your iOS or Android device with the touch of a button, freeing up brain power for more powerful inspirations.

Create to-do lists and prioritize tasks Start each morning by reviewing what’s on deck for the day.

Putting your list to paper frees your mind from trying to keep an ever-changing list of tasks straight.

Categorize your to-dos and assign priorities to help you man-

Start each morning by reviewing what’s on deck for the day. Putting your list to paper frees your mind from trying to keep an everchanging list of tasks straight. age your time, and at the end of each day, take stock to cross off completed items, reprioritize those that remain and add new projects that will require your attention soon.

notifications during meetings, shutting down your email for an hour each day to tackle a task uninterrupted or forwarding calls when you need to cut back on distractions.

Set boundaries on Multitasking

Slow down and think

Today’s corporate culture rewards the greatest jugglers, but dividing your attention in too many directions can actually be counterproductive.

Learn to designate times when you’ll simply eliminate interruptions to keep your focus sharp.

This may mean turning off your

Technology has assuredly enabled greater efficiency at the office, but it brings some limitations as well. Sometimes, simply allowing yourself the time to sit with a pen and paper is the best way to let new ideas flow, free from the distractions of incoming mail and the confines of thoughts conveyed through keystrokes.

Sketching, drawing, even creating diagrams and outlines are visual outlets that can help you explore new concepts and solve nagging problems.

“I think that there’s always a benefit to taking a step back and trying to be mindful,” said entrepreneur John Gannon, CEO and co-founder of Bemaven. “Every morning I write a journal. I write about the things I’m thankful for, the things I have on my mind then I also generate 10 ideas a day. I decided to try the Bamboo Spark to have a more organic experience of actually putting pen to paper.”

Take regular breaks It may seem unrealistic when the clock is ticking its way toward a deadline, but stepping away can actually help you regain focus and allow you to complete a difficult task more efficiently.

Instead of staring at a blank screen in frustration, grant yourself a 10-minute break to get up, move around and grab a fresh cup of coffee or some water. A brief recharge can be just the cure to get you back on track when you hit a bump or start to feel overwhelmed.

For more tips, visit Wacom.com or the Bamboo News blog.