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MAY 5 – MAY 11, 2017
VOLUME 25 NO. 18
CONTROVERSY B-CU’s administration vs. students and alums, Republicans vs. Democrats, public education vs. charter schools, academic freedom vs. free speech. It’s all at issue as Donald Trump’s point woman on American education speaks to HBCU grads.
Read related commentaries on Pages A4 and A5. BY THE FLORIDA COURIER STAFF
DAYTONA BEACH – After days of rumors circulating among Bethune-Cookman University (B-CU) alumni and students that prominent school choice advocate and current U.S. Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos would be the Class of 2017’s commencement speaker on May 10, confirmation of DeVos’s appearance quickly spiraled into a political battle that attracted national media attention.
Betsy DeVos
Edison Jackson
DeVos has been harshly criticized among advocates of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) as a consequence of a press statement she issued during this year’s Black History Month observance in February. The statement read, in
part, “…we must be willing to make the tangible, structural reforms that will allow students to reach their full potential. HBCUs…started from the fact that there were too many students in America who did not have equal access to education… “HBCUs are real pioneers when it comes to school choice. They are living proof that when more options are provided to students, they are afforded greater access and greater quality.”
No historical context Her Feb. 28 statement See DEVOS, Page A2
DUANE C. FERNANDEZ SR. / HARDNOTTSPHOTOGRAPHY.COM
In Daytona Beach, the home of Bethune-Cookman University, protesters marched down Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Boulevard, where the school is located, on Wednesday.
OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER / CHICAGO
Presidential library design unveiled
Children, families victimized Doctor’s negligence leads to $33.8 million judgment BY DANIEL CHANG MIAMI HERALD / TNS
MIAMI – Marla Dixon was in the final stage of labor and ready to deliver a baby boy when the obstetrician arrived at her bedside at North Shore Medical Center in Miami. It was not a high-risk pregnancy. But over the next 90 minutes, the doctor made missteps that led to a tragic outcome for Dixon and her baby – and a $33.8 million malpractice judgment, according to a federal lawsuit. The doctor ordered nurses to restart a drug to strengthen contractions, failed to perform a cesarean section – and walked away from Dixon’s room for long periods, once for an eight-minute phone call from his stockbroker, the verdict said.
Blue and limp
COURTESY OF THE OBAMA FOUNDATION
A model showing a view of the Obama Presidential Center shows a museum (the tallest structure), a single-story forum (with an auditorium, restaurant and public garden) and a one-floor library with planted terraces. The center is expected to cost at least $500 million.
By the time the baby was delivered on Dec. 2, 2013, he was blue in the face and his limbs were limp, according to the verdict handed down by U.S. District Judge Robert Scola. It took a medical team to revive the infant, named Earl Jr., and by then he had severe brain damage from lack of oxygen, according to the lawsuit filed by Dixon and the See DOCTOR, Page A2
SNAPSHOTS FLORIDA | A3
NATION | A6
Senate Oks payment in student’s death
Dems now know why Clinton lost
Gwen Graham running for governor
HEALTH | B3
How much vitamin D do you need?
ALSO INSIDE
FMU awards posthumous degree to Trayvon Martin FROM HBCUDIGEST.COM
MIAMI GARDENS – Five years after his death sparked international dialogue about racism, social justice and community policing, Trayvon Martin will be honored for the industrial ambitions he held as a teenager growing up in Sanford. Florida Memorial University (FMU) will posthumously award a Bachelor’s Degree in Aeronautical Science to Martin, to be received by his parents Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin during the school’s annual spring commencement ceremony on May 13.
Officials say the degree honors Martin’s lifelong dream of becoming a pilot, and continues to highlight the family’s commitment to social justice. Martin’s parents are both social justice activists and co-founders of the Trayvon Martin Foundation, which is housed on the FMU campus.
Especially significant “As we approach 50 years in Miami Gardens, this commencement holds a special place in all of our hearts. This academic year is symbolic of the transformative changes that we con-
tinue to make to our academic programs that extend to benefit the community, such as our Cybersecurity degree program and Cyber Warrior Diversity Center that offers certificates to local Trayvon residents and profesMartin sionals,” said Florida Memorial President Roslyn Clark-Artis. “Of special significance is awarding posthumously the Bachelor of Science Degree in Aviation to Trayvon Martin. Sybrina, our alum, epitomizes strength and dignity as she uplifts other victims of violence while effecting change for a more equal and just society.” Florida Memorial University is also one of four universities nationally designated as a CESSNA pilot center.
COMMENTARY: CHARLES W. CHERRY II: RANDOM THOUGHTS OF A FREE BLACK MIND | A4 COMMENTARY: JERELL BLAKELEY: NO COMPARISON BETWEEN MARY BETHUNE AND BETSY DEVOS | A5
FOCUS
A2
MAY 5 – MAY 11, 2017
We must depend on ourselves African-Americans complain a lot. So-called leaders are quick to blame the president, the Congress, the police, the bank, the judicial system or a variety of other institutions for personal or collective conditions in our communities. There is no doubt that many, or all, of the entities listed about have contributed to the current status of African-Americans living in the United States. But I think there is a culprit that we are reluctant to talk about. Black people are hurt most by the ones they love! Most of the bad things and most of the good things that happen to us are results of our interactions with our families, friends
LUCIUS GANTT THE GANTT REPORT
and neighbors.
Everyone but us Sometimes it seems like every ethnic group, every economic group, every religious group, every gender group, every cultural group, every geographic group and every other group of people in the United States and in the world has a greater sense of unity and a greater desire to work together and help each other than
African-Americans do. Black power imperatives, White tribe dreaming, gang warfare, and other catch phrases have used to describe why Black people can’t, or won’t, put Black people, Black families, Black culture, Black business, Black spirituality or Black progress first! We are stronger when we are together. We are smarter when we value our own philosophies, ideologies, educational systems and our own histories. We are employed more when we support our businesses in our own communities and become financially strong enough to hire our own children and our neighbor’s. We are safer when we look out for each other, watch our neighbors’ homes and their children, protect our women, and defend our communities from violent, racist and oppressive outside agitators and modern-day carpetbaggers, by any legal and honorable means necessary!
It’s time to stop The days and times when we feel a need to act like crabs in a barrel must be ended. When we see Black men and women rising academically, financially, professionally and in other ways, we should not hate; we should be proud. We should help our brothers and sisters rise and allow ourselves to rise up with them. Oftentimes, the stone that the builders refuse just might become the cornerstone in the rebuilding of African-American communities. Instead up putting our hopes in a government that oppresses us, in a banking and financial system that robs us and exploits us, in a court system that jails us or in false prophets and fake African-American leaders that fail us, we should support the institutions and the people that support us! We need to believe in, rally around and support people that
DOCTOR Forged records The doctor, Dixon said later, blamed her for not pushing hard enough. He also tried to cover his tracks by falsifying the 19-yearold mother’s medical record with a note that made it appear she had refused a C-section, according to the testimony of the nurse in charge of delivery. For Dixon, the court’s judgment will help pay for a lifetime of round-the-clock care for her son, but it does not go far enough. “Not one time did he apologize,” Dixon said of the doctor, whose name is Ata Atogho. “He didn’t care. He kept going on with his lies. He blamed me.” Lawyers for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which represented Atogho in the Dixon case because he worked for the federally funded Jessie Trice Community Health Center at the time, refused to comment.
dent loan borrowers. According to U.S. News & World Report, 97 percent of full-time undergraduates who attend BCU receive some sort of need-based financial aid,” Whitehead writes. “…(T)he median earning of a graduate from B-CU is approximate $22,000 per year for the first two years after graduating. This would make it virtually impossible to immediately begin to pay off an estimated $52,000 in student loan debt. “President Barack Obama’s administration offered incomebased repayment plans and student loan forgiveness programs. DeVos’ April 11th memo threatens to dismantle those very helpful programs. This means that lenders will not have any restrictions while attempting to collect the money that was borrowed by students.”
spoke exclusively to the Florida Courier. “As you can imagine, it’s been pretty chaotic for myself and other students to fully understand why Mrs. DeVos is being welcomed as the spring commencement speaker. Students even held a protest against Mrs. DeVos,” she asserted. “My mother and other family members don’t support the things Mrs. DeVos says and neither do I. HBCUs were created by force. African-Americans had no other options, or choice, I shall say. DeVos clearly forgot about slavery and Jim Crow laws, among other things. “Why does someone who speaks so unethically about HBCUs be given the opportunity to speak at one? I’ve yet to come up with an answer,” she lamented.
‘Meaningful dialogue’
Happened before
JOSE A. IGLESIAS/MIAMI HERALD/TNS
cused Atogho of ignoring signs that her baby was in distress and waiting too long to perform an emergency C-section, causing permanent brain damage to her daughter.
DEVOS
ties from views that are diametrically opposed to their own, we actually leave our students far less capable of combating those ideas. Additionally, the sheer diversity of our human family requires us to listen to and understand one another. We cannot, and we will not, ever accomplish this if we continue to exist in ideological, social, and racial silos.” Jackson went on to put the DeVos commencement speech in the context of actions taken by the school’s founder, Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, to solicit support from oil barons John D. Rockefeller and Henry Flagler and James Proctor of the Proctor and Gamble company, among others. “These individuals represented diverse political and social views, but Dr. Bethune invited them all to visit and support her institution. It is in that same vein that I have chosen to provide our students with an opportunity to hear from someone with whom they may disagree, but someone who has the ability to potentially influence their future,” Jackson explained.
tions “unusual.” “Their plan (is) to honor a person who has been on the job less than one hundred days and has no record of advancing educational equity for all students… If Secretary DeVos ultimately speaks at commencement and receives an honorary degree, this would be a slap in the face to minorities, women and all communities of color,” Nweze exclaimed.
“As a veteran educator, I am especially sensitive to balancing the notion of academic freedom with quelling potentially hateful and harmful rhetoric,” Jackson stated. “I am of the belief that it does not benefit our students to suppress voices that we disagree with, or to limit students to only those perspectives that are broadly sanctioned by a specific community. “When we seek to shelter our students and campus communi-
he arrived at her bedside while she was in labor. Despite the verdict in Dixon’s case, Atogho has not received a reprimand and no other disciplinary action has been taken against his Florida medical license for the incident. He’s not personally liable for the $33.8 million judgment, either. The U.S. government is on the hook for the money. Dixon and Reese-Thornton could sue the federal government because Atogho worked for a federally funded health clinic.
Dixon and Reese-Thornton had two more children after EJ, including Serenity, 2, and Elijah, 1. But Dixon said the stress of caring for EJ led the couple, who never married, to separate in 2016. “It was tough financially,” she said. “Every little thing became an argument.” As EJ sits on Dixon’s lap in the living room of their home, the 3-year-old boy gazes at the ceiling. When his arm begins to shake involuntarily, Dixon holds his hand. She said that sometimes happens when she drives him to doctor’s appointments or takes him outdoors. “When you take him outside, it brightens up his day,” she said. “He shakes, but he’s shaking because he’s excited. It makes me happy.”
From left, Marla Dixon, Earl Reese Thornton and their 3-year-old son EJ live in Miami Gardens. Atogho of rushing to deliver her baby and using a vacuum device that disfigured her daughter, born in September 2013 with permanent damage to nerves in her shoulder and neck. The baby’s mother, who was 17 at the time and delivering her first child, agreed to settle for $92,200 in January, according to court records. Another case, which has not yet gone to trial, involves a baby whom Atogho delivered in May of 2013, according to the legal complaint. The mother, 19, ac-
Won’t shelter students
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.
Stress, separation
But as Dixon would later find out, she was not the first parent to sue Atogho for seriously injuring a newborn he delivered in 2013. Atogho delivered two babies that year who were permanently brain damaged, and a third who was disabled for life, according to lawsuits filed by the injured infants’ mothers – all of whom were teen-aged moms receiving care at Jessie Trice, which serves many of Miami’s low-income and uninsured residents. In one case, a patient accused
didn’t mention that HBCUs originated as a response to a racist American system of higher education that, with few exceptions, refused to admit African-Americans to predominately White colleges and universities for almost 200 years of the nation’s history. Backlash followed soon after DeVos’s statement with many accusing her of ignoring and distorting America’s history of educational racism in a way that supports her advocacy for school voucher programs that take money away from public schools. Last week, the Florida Courier sent an email requesting that BCU confirm or deny that DeVos would speak at commencement, but got no response. Once the rumor was mentioned online at Politico.com on April 30, B-CU President Edison Jackson confirmed that DeVos would speak in a May 1 “Message from the President.” The Department of Education officially announced the speech soon thereafter.
We need to put our money, our support, our patronage and our prayers behind the Black men and women that can start at the bottom and rise to the top, go from zero to a million, and take nothing and turn it into something! Depend on your kind, believe in your kind and fight to defend and protect your kind, and you will surely do better than you’re doing right now by begging government and constantly asking for handouts!
EJ went home nearly two months after he was born, but he’s been hospitalized about 30 times since then, Sharp said. Doctors have performed a tracheotomy to help him breathe and inserted a feeding tube into his stomach. EJ cannot speak or sit up without falling over. He has scoliosis and cerebral palsy, Dixon said, and he takes dozens of medications every day. “It’s really hard to see him like that,” Reese-Thornton said. Instead of making plans to take his son fishing or bike riding, Reese-Thornton said he has now had to learn how to clean EJ’s feeding tube and make sure no bubbles get into the infant’s stomach. He also learned CPR and how to clean EJ’s tracheotomy and suction EJ’s mouth of drool. His hopes for his son have narrowed now: “One day I hope he will walk.”
boy’s father, Earl Reese-Thornton Sr.
from A1
Depend on us
Constantly sick
from A1
All teen moms
look like us, live where we live, and have a history of success.
Blistering NAACP response Citing what it called DeVos’s “horrible public education record impacting Blacks and minorities in Florida and around the country,” the Florida State Conference of NAACP Branches responded to Jackson’s confirmation by asking DeVos to decline B-CU’s invitation to speak. “We believe the leadership of Bethune-Cookman University should not bestow an honorary degree to Secretary DeVos based on her post-secondary education record,” said state president Adora Obi Nweze, calling B-CU’s ac-
At same hospital In all the cases, the mothers received their prenatal care from nurses and midwives at Jessie Trice clinics and delivered their babies at North Shore Medical Center, where Atogho was their on-call obstetrician. Dixon said she met Atogho just once before
Proxy war? The B-CU controversy laid bare the two sides battling for the direction of, and the dollars invested in, the American educational system. Republicans like DeVos – a billionaire GOP donor who has financially supported charter school and voucher advocates, including Black churches in Florida that run Christian charter schools – are generally on one side of the educational argument. The NAACP, teachers’ unions, and Democrats are on the other. Jackson is a registered Republican. DeVos is also scheduled to appear at a B-CU-hosted prayer breakfast at the Orlando’s Amway Center the day after commencement. Her father-in-law, Rich DeVos, founded the Amway Corporation and owns the Orlando Magic, the city’s National Basketball Association team.
Dueling online petitions As of late Wednesday night, the Florida Courier’s press time, more than 5,500 people had signed an online petition, written and posted April 29 by B-CU alumnus Dominick Whitehead, to stop DeVos from speaking. “Last month DeVos weakened consumer protection for stu-
Instead of having DeVos speak at graduation, “let’s welcome her to the table and have meaningful dialogue about stronger policies, the White House HBCU Initiative, and the importance and contributions of HBCUs,” Whitehead suggests. A separate Change.org petition – posted by Nzhada Harris on May 1, the same day as Jackson’s ‘Message’ was distributed – supports DeVos’s appearance. “Education is a non-partisan issue that every individual should have the right to obtain,” the petition states. As of Wednesday night, it had 69 supporters.
A student speaks Shavona Bouey, a senior mass communications major in BCU’s 2017 graduating class,
It’s not the first time the university’s leadership has been criticized for honoring a prominent Republican leader. Last fall, B-CU’s administration caught flak for weeks from supporters over the decision to give Florida Gov. Rick Scott the university’s most prestigious award, citing what they allege is Scott’s long record of anti-Black initiatives – including cuts to HBCU funding – as reasons he wasn’t qualified to receive it. Vocal opposition against Scott receiving the award named after B-CU’s founder included a statewide letter-writing campaign, an online petition that garnered about 800 signatures, and an outcry of injustice lodged by the state and Volusia County-Daytona Beach leaders of the NAACP.
MAY 5 – MAY 11, 2017
FLORIDA
A3
Graham launches campaign for governor Other candidates
The former representative joins Gillum, King and Putnum in 2018 race BY LLOYD DUNKELBERGER THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE – Former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham entered the 2018 governor’s race on Tuesday, joining a field of Democrats who hope to reclaim an office their party hasn’t held in nearly two decades. “We do not have time for typical politics because this is the time to paint Florida’s future in sharp lines and bold colors,” Graham said, making her announcement in a Miami Gardens park next to Miami Carol City Senior High School. Graham, 54, a lawyer and former Leon County school-system administrator, will make education one of her themes, promising to “end high-stakes testing” in the kindergarten through high-school system. “As governor, I won’t just criticize this culture of teaching to the test. I will end it, because high-stakes
COURTESY OF GWENGRAHAM.COM
Former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham is shown during her “workdays’’ around the state. standardized testing has led us to one-size-fits-all learning,” Graham said.
More ‘workdays’ Graham spent Monday participating in a “workday” at the nearby high school, where her father, Bob Graham, a former governor and U.S. senator, held his first “workday” in 1974, teaching a civics course at the school. Gwen Graham continued using workdays in her campaign by installing solar panels Wednesday in Orlando. She was to partic-
ipate in an “environmentfocused” workday Thursday in Tampa. She will be in her hometown of Tallahassee on Saturday, talking about public schools.
Political background A native of Miami, Graham moved to Tallahassee in 1978 to live in the Governor’s Mansion after the election of her father, who served two terms as governor and three terms in the U.S. Senate. She earned an undergraduate degree from the Universi-
ty of North Carolina and a law degree from American University. After raising three children and working as a lawyer, Graham got her start in
BY MARCO SANTANA ORLANDO SENTINEL/TNS
SpaceX is officially in the government satellite launch business. The launch company sent a spy satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office into orbit Monday, marking the first time it executed a contract with the U.S. government. At exactly 7:15 a.m., right on time, the Falcon 9 rocket took off
RED HUBER/ ORLANDO SENTINEL/TNS
FLORIDA COURIER
Adam Putnam
SpaceX launches first government satellite, lands booster
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, powered by a previously flown first-stage rocket, blasts off from launch pad 39A on March 30, carrying a SES 10 communications satellite
FC
Andrew Gillum
from the historic Launch Complex 39A, which SpaceX leases. About nine minutes later, the rocket landed gently on a landing pad on Florida’s Space Coast. Monday’s has been a highly anticipated mission because, if successful, it would mark the start of what some consider a new era in rocket launches, one characterized by competition between SpaceX and United Launch Alliance. For the last six years, at least,
FLORIDA’S ONLY BLACK STATEWIDE NEWSPAPER More than 182,000 readers weekly WWW.FLCOURIER.COM Ranked by Google as Florida’s #1 Black newspaper website
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politics in 2014, unseating U.S. Rep. Steve Southerland, R-Fla., for a congressional seat in Northwest Florida that included Tallahassee and Panama City and all or parts of 14 counties. Graham was one of two Democrats in the nation who defeated incumbent GOP congressional members in the 2014 elections. Graham opted not to run for re-election last year after a new redistricting plan tilted her congressional district heavily in favor of Republicans.
only United Launch Alliance has delivered government payloads into space.
Another provider SpaceX had mainly focused on commercial telecommunications satellites and cargo missions to the International Space Station. “From the government angle, they now have more than one launch provider,” said space historian Roger Launius, formerly of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. “That’s important because if you lose one and have to stand down for whatever period of time, especially for national security payloads, you still have options.”
Scott signs driver’s license bill for foster children THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA
Gov. Rick Scott on Monday signed a bill to make permanent a pilot program that helps foster children receive driver’s licenses. Scott’s signature came after the House and Senate unanimously approved the measure (SB 60). The pilot program, approved in 2014, helps foster children pay for insurance
and other costs related to getting driver’s licenses. Supporters of making the program permanent have said foster children often do not have family support to get licenses. “Ensuring foster children in Florida have the opportunity to take part in age-appropriate activities such as participating in extracurricular activities, going to the beach and getting a driver’s license is important for developing lifeskills and healthy emotional development,” Department of Children and Families Secretary Mike Carroll said in a prepared statement Monday. The bill was sponsored by Sen. Aaron Bean, R-Fernandina Beach, Rep. Jennifer Sullivan, R-Mount Dora, and Rep. Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula.
House Democrat to run for Artiles’ seat
Winner of numerous journalism awards from Associated Press, National Association of Black Journalists, Florida Press Association, Society of Professional Journalists Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/flcourier/ Follow us on Twitter @flcourier
She is entering a competitive Democratic primary for governor. Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum and Orlando businessman Christopher King are already running. Orlando trial lawyer John Morgan and Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine are considering the race. Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam became the first big-name Republican to enter the governor’s race when he announced his candidacy Monday. Gov. Rick Scott cannot run again next year because of a two-term limit and could challenge U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla. The last Democrat elected governor was Lawton Chiles, who won in 1990 and 1994. Neither Graham nor any of her potential primary opponents has run for a statewide office, putting them on a level playing field. Graham may get a boost by sharing her father’s name, which once was a potent brand in Democratic politics, although he hasn’t been on a ballot since 1998. Graham quickly picked up an endorsement Tuesday from Emily’s List, a national organization seeking to advance Democratic women in politics.
GOT NEWS, EVENTS, OR COMMENTARY? E-mail to news@flcourier.com
After Miami Republican Frank Artiles resigned from the Senate last month because of a vulgar and racially charged tirade, state Rep. Daisy Baez, D-Coral Gables, announced Monday that she will seek to replace him in the Miami-Dade County seat. Baez, a health-care executive who immigrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic, was elected in November in House District 114. Daisy Artiles’ resignation will lead to a Baez special election in Senate District 40, though a date has not been set. “Serving in the Florida House has been an incredibly rewarding experience, and serving in the Florida Senate will allow me to continue to work on behalf of our community in a much greater capacity,” Baez said Monday in announcing her candidacy.
EDITORIAL
A4
MAY 5 – MAY 11, 2017
Here’s the lowdown on Trump’s first 100 days Here’s what I wrote in a column entitled, “Rant About Stupid Voters” on July 19, 2016: “It is mainly the feat of an idiot, full of lies and hypocrisy, accomplishing nothing. In fact, Donald Trump became a billionaire and the most powerful man in the world by telling big lies and being brazenly hypocritical. He calls it his ‘flexible’ strategy for success. “In truth, this nouveau fascist figured out long ago that the bigger the (repeated) lie, the more likely people are to believe it; and the more brazen the hypocrisy, the more likely they are to accept it. “This is why I cannot overstate that the Trump phenomenon says far more about his supporters than the man himself. Not to mention the long-term danger inherent in so many of them aping and thereby ‘normalizing’ his self-aggrandizing, mendacious, boorish, sexist, misogynistic, xenophobic, racist (etc.) behavior.”
Tell the truth It behooves those of us who know better to resist the cognitive dissonance afoot. This is especially incumbent upon those in the mainstream media – who are now blithely reporting and commenting on his big lies without even bothering to mention the most salient point: that they are big lies. This was thrown into stark and infuriating relief this week. I could barely contain myself as I watched anchors on every network read the following Trump tweet not only as factual but also as breaking news: “North Korea disrespected the wishes of China & its highly respected President when it launched, though unsuccessfully, a missile today. Bad!”
Finger to Trump None of the anchors bothered to point out that, foremost, North Korea disrespected the wishes of the United States and its blow-
ANTHONY L. HALL, ESQ. FLORIDA COURIER COLUMNIST
hard president. In other words, this launch was that country’s fat gnome of a president, Kim Jongun, giving the defiant middle finger not to the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, but to the American president, Donald J. Trump. It was Trump who made a public show of warning the menacing Jong-un to “behave.” And it was Trump who dispatched an “armada” to the Sea of Japan, off the Korean Peninsula, to prevent North Korea from launching more missiles. Having done so, he should have reacted to Jong-un’s defiance with deadly and direct reprisals for, in effect, crossing his red line – especially given how he ridiculed Obama mercilessly for failing to mete out reprisals after Syria’s Assad crossed a similar red line so infamously. Instead, Trump reacted with nothing more than that weak and feckless tweet, compounding his big lie about who was being disrespected with brazen hypocrisy.
Leads from behind Trump often led Republican carnival barkers in ridiculing Obama for “leading from behind.” But there’s probably no clearer example than the childish and sycophantic way Trump is trying to goad Xi to protect the United States from a menacing North Korea. Lies and hypocrisy are Trump’s modus operandi. There’s no denying his success making a virtue of his congenital incompetence. They have become pathological traits. For example, by all objective criteria (from polling data to legis-
Hopefully DeVos will have positive impact Dear Editor, It’s been proven you can take on a powerful position with little to no experience. Donald Trump has become president of the United States and he had no political background or experience. He was a wealthy businessman. Does that alone qualify him to become the POTUS? Betsy DeVos is an affluent woman as well, but yet she was
LETTER TO THE EDITOR confirmed to be the nation’s education secretary. She has close to no experience in public education, but she has just taken on a
Random thoughts of a free Black mind, v. 297 Bethune-Cookman University – America has President Donald Trump; B-CU has President Edison Jackson. Lemme ‘splain. You already know how Trump uses Twitter to distract. With Jackson, it’s the use of political personalities and the name of Jesus. Jackson came to B-CU as an interim president, “a man of God” with previous institutional experience. He used “Jesus Jesus Jesus” to sway Jesus-loving trustees of this United Methodist Churchaffiliated private HBCU to void his short-term agreement and install him as the permanent prez – breaking his personal commitment to be simply a transitional leader. Jackson brought in questionable top financial management, then dominated and eventually took over the board, stocking it with local GOP-affiliated power brokers, suck-ups and incompetents who don’t know what “fi-
QUICK TAKES FROM #2: STRAIGHT, NO CHASER
CHARLES W. CHERRY II, ESQ. PUBLISHER
duciary duty” actually means and who help maintain paranoiac organizational secrecy. Jackson has used Trump-like distractions – such as the controversy surrounding the honors bestowed on Republican bigwigs Gov. Rick Scott and Education Secretary Betsy DeVoe – to keep alumni attention away from questioning the school’s finances. B-CU alumni will draw up online petitions that attract thousands of signatures. They’ll march to keep Scott from getting the
VISUAL VIEWPOINT: KIM JONG-UN VS. DONALD TRUMP
lative record), Trump’s “First 100 Days” have been the least successful in US history. Yet this shyster is peddling the big lie that “the first 100 days of my administration has been just about the most successful in our country’s history.”
Few accomplishments One need only refer to his preelection “Contract with the American Voter,” in which he delineated his “100-day action plan to Make America Great Again.” He got a right-wing justice onto the Supreme Court. But this is the only part of that 28-point contract he can fairly boast about honoring. “Trump has kept only six of the 103 promises he made during the campaign,” according to PolitiFact. “All were unilateral actions (executive orders) that didn’t require approval by Congress,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle. PolitiFact won the Pulitzer Prize for its political fact-checking. Therefore, its finding that only four percent of Trump’s public statements are true is noteworthy. This means that he tells an average of four whoppers a day, which must make him the biggest liar of any politician in US history. Incidentally, no politician cites polling data that favor him or news stories that flatter him more than Trump. And no politician dismisses polling data that do not favor him or news stories that do not flatter him as rigged and fake, respectively, more than him. The latter explains why Trump began dismissing this long-recognized presidential marker. It became clear to him that, despite practically begging his team for legislative wins, his first 100 days would end today with no significant legislative achievement: building that wall, repealing and replacing Obamacare, reforming the tax code, or implementing immigration reform.
MARTIN SUTOVEC, SLOVAKIA
If he had real accomplishments to tout, he would have done so at last week’s annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner. But he’s too thin-skinned to face the facts about his lack of success or to take a joke at his expense. Which brings me to his open and notorious flip-flops on everything from naming China a currency manipulator, withdrawing from NAFTA, and ripping up the Iran nuclear deal. Remember when he used to deride the Electoral College as a “disaster” that makes a “laughing stock of our nation”? He insisted that presidents should be elected based solely on the popular vote. Then, after losing the popular vote to Hillary by millions, he began shamelessly extolling the Electoral College as a “genius” invention of the founding fathers.
‘It’s difficult’
CREDO OF THE BLACK PRESS The Black Press believes that Americans can best lead the world away from racism and national antagonism when it accords to every person, regardless of race, color or creed, full human and legal rights. Hating no person, fearing no person. The Black Press strives to help every person in the firm belief...that all are hurt as long as anyone is held back.
Had enough? For the sake of America and the world, I urge reporters and commentators to call out Trump on his lies and hypocrisy at every turn. He’s banking on them getting tired of doing so. I also urge you, my loyal readers, to never miss an opportunity to call out his diehard supporters on them, too.
Trust me
But nothing is more egregious than his whining now about how difficult everything is. He spent his campaign selling gullible voters snake-oil promises about how easy it will be for him (and him alone) to fix everything. This flip-flop makes about as much sense as a 90-pound weakling boasting that it would be easy for him to lift 500 pounds and then, after failing to even budge
Anthony L. Hall is a Bahamian native with an international law practice in Washington, D.C. Read his columns and daily weblog at www.theipinionsjournal.com.
powerful role. Although it was a close call, DeVos barely was confirmed by one vote. Question: Is it possible to manage and take control of a high position without little experience? DeVos is an activist from Michigan and she takes pride in having leadership and management of a federal administration. DeVos has managed over 4,000 employees and a $68 billion yearly budget. Can she do the same in the position as education secretary? There are 50 million public school students in this nation along with 20 million college students. What type of change can
DeVos provide? Positive change? The Higher Education Act is expected to be reauthorized. Within DeVos’s Education Department, some issues need to be discussed – college tuition for example. During the presidential campaign, there were plenty of discussion about reducing the rate of tuition, specifically making college education free. However, DeVos has stated that, “There’s nothing in life that’s truly free.” Many for-profit colleges should be investigated as well. ITT Technical Institute was shut down after allegations of fraud. Students
that attended the Institute may not be prepared to secure a job within today’s economy. As a current college student, I hope for Betsy DeVos to make a positive impact within today’s education system. I hope she is aware of the issues and discrepancies that come with this position. I hope for improvement and more security for education. Not just higher education, but kindergarten -12th grade students as well. Signed, A college student standing in hopes of change
school’s highest award, and to prevent DeVoe from speaking at next week’s commencement. They’ll descend on Orlando to watch their beloved Wildcats take on the FAMU Rattlers on the gridiron and at halftime. But they won’t descend on Daytona Beach during trustee board meetings to demand complete transparency and financial accountability. And their Alumni Association won’t even back their own designated representative on the B-CU trustee board in his legal fight to be properly appointed to his position. SAD! The Jackson mafia has done what they came to Daytona Beach to do. If alumni eventually resort to selling sweet potato pies just like Mrs. Bethune did more than a century ago to keep the school open during a previous crisis, they’ll only have themselves to blame. Actually, selling B-CU-branded pies ain’t a bad idea… The former Bro. Prez – He obviously read my column from last week, in which I advised him to “…make them dollars to pay for Malia and Sasha to go to college
and grad school.” Word is that he’ll get paid $800,000 for two ‘speeches’: one to a Wall Street financial firm, the other for a 90-minute interview in front of TV advertisers. This on top of a $65 million book deal for Michelle and him. Stack those bills, bruh! But once again, he looks out for himself above the Democratic Party he allegedly loves so much. Hillary Clinton took a beatdown for making a similar $400,000 speech to Wall Street, which continued to be part of the “drip, drip, drip” of entitlement, corruption, bad judgment, greed, pay-forplay influence, and mistrust that lost her the presidency and foisted Donald Trump on the world. So the former Bro. Prez, who says he wants to help the Democratic Party regain its footing, takes the same dirty, politically tainted big money after years of complaining about “Wall Street fat cats” and the pernicious influence of money in politics? Oh, I forgot. Wall Street Ivy Leaguers and their companies wrote bigmoney checks to both Obama presidential campaigns, even
as he was cussing them out for wrecking the economy – while at the same time allowing their companies to become “too big to jail.” Mama says, “All money ain’t good money.” And Democrats who want the former Bro. Prez to come back into the political fray should understand that his continued political presence – just like that of Bill and Hillary Clinton – is like waving a red flag in front of GOP and independent-voting “bulls.” Obama and the Clintons will bring implacable political opposition, including outright hatred, out of the woodwork. Time for them both to exit public electoral politics, stage left… ‘Never let a good crisis go to waste’ – Black and Hispanic legislators are partying together a week after a Hispanic politician went on a racial tirade against two of his Black colleagues, then quit the Senate. Will Black politicians, mostly Democrats, use this crisis to work with the largely Republican Hispanic Caucus for our good? We’ll see…
Charles W. Cherry II, Esq., Publisher
Opinions expressed on this editorial page are those of the writers, and do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance of the newspaper or the publisher.
it, saying he didn’t realize it would be so heavy. Then there’s his unprecedented use of “executive orders,” which constitutes just another example of his brazen hypocrisy. Trump spent much of Obama’s presidency accusing him of acting like an “imperial president” for using executive orders for “power grabs of authority.” Now Trump is on pace to sign more executive orders than any president in US history. Never mind that his successor could spend her first 100 days signing executive orders to nullify his, just as he did to nullify so many of Obama’s.
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MAY 5 – MAY 11, 2017
No comparison between Mary Bethune and Betsy DeVos I recently watched a History Makers interview of Florida’s first Black congresswoman, Carrie Meek. Before her pioneering work as an elected representative in the halls of Tallahassee and Washington D.C., Congresswoman Meek worked as an educator and administrator at Bethune-Cookman College (now University) under the tutelage of famed Black leader and educator Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune. Recounting Dr. Bethune, Congresswoman Meek said “I learned how to make do and how to make something out of very little. And that’s something Mrs. Bethune taught. I said she was a conservationist because she taught us to do something with what we had and to try to work hard to make the school better…. And Mrs. Bethune taught that routine over and over again… She taught sacrifice over and over again.”
Her work overshadowed We often hear of the legacy of Johnson at Howard, Patterson at Tuskegee, and Mays at Morehouse in the public’s consciousness regarding Black colleges. Dr. Bethune’s work as a presidential advisor and active club woman often overshadows her work as an institution-builder. While her presidential contemporaries often played exclusively in either academia, civic life, or public policy, Dr. Bethune was influential in the halls of Washington, the skyscrapers of New York, and the backwoods of the South. B-CU owes its name and very existence to this resourceful woman. While most private Black colleges are named after White male financiers and Black male bishops, B-CU is the only private HBCU named after a Black woman. We don’t hear enough about Dr. Bethune and her legacy as a Black college presidential icon. Until today. Confronted with a rousing chorus of condemnation, B-CU President Dr. Edison Jackson recently defended his choice of US Secretary of Education Betsey DeVos as his university’s ‘Commencement Orator’ by bringing his university’s namesake into the morass.
JERELL BLAKELEY GUEST COMMENTARY
Dr. Bethune finally left us with a responsibility to our young people. ... What does Secretary DeVos bring us? A laissez-faire charter school policy agenda for Michigan’s public schools, particularly in Detroit, that has resulted in utter failure.
stated, “Much like Dr. Bethune, Founder of Bethune-Cookman University, Secretary DeVos deems the importance of opportunity and hope for students to receive an exceptional education experience. Her mission to empower parents and students resonates with the history and legacy of Dr. Bethune.” I can understand Dr. Jackson meeting with President Trump. I defended it. I can understand Dr. Jackson trying to do everything possible to keep Bethune-Cookman’s doors open in the face of recent credit downgrades and two former B-CU trustees suing the university for supposed financial malfeasance. I get it. What I can’t understand is the need to prostitute the legacy of Dr. Bethune by connecting her to Secretary DeVos, someone whose short tenure in public life is antithetical to everything that Dr. Bethune stood for. It’s one thing to hold your nose and meet President Trump in the Oval Office. It’s another thing all together to politicize your student’s gradua‘Opportunity and hope’ tion ceremony with a commenceIn a statement, Dr. Jackson ment orator like Secretary Betsey
DeVos’ B-CU appearance should be leveraged Federal officials are no strangers to HBCU commencements, and when they travel to our schools, it is usually a willful message from an administration to make a specific statement about an issue or outreach to Black America. Among the earliest and most important was Lyndon B. Johnson’s 1965 commencement address at Howard University. George Bush served as the keynote speaker at Hampton’s commencement exercises in 1991. In 1997, Bill Clinton served as commencement speaker at Morgan State University.
JARRETT L. CARTER, SR. GUEST COLUMNIST
ton, Morehouse and Howard. Members of his cabinet addressed several graduating classes over his eight years in office. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos will serve as the keynote speaker for Bethune-Cookman University’s spring commencement ceremonies. Officials will No strangers to HBCUs have a lot of work to do in figuring Barack Obama served as the out how to answer all of the quesspeaker at three HBCUs – Hamp- tions and feedback that will ac-
What Trump’s next 100 days should look like When the Trump administration passed the 100-day milestone, I thought, “So what?” There are many symbolic interpretations to be taken from this time-honored tradition. But does it really matter? Our founders never envisioned this. Their expectations for government more broadly were never so ambitious. They were going for progression, not perfection. That’s why I’m hopeful for our nation. The better question: What does Day 101 look like?
Many challenges The president must continue to show the country that he is a leader who came to Washington to govern and be president for all. That means taking care of the business of the nation passing laws, paying bills, and diplomacy abroad. Day 101 and the weeks beyond
ARMSTRONG WILLIAMS NNPA NEWS WIRE
should be spent on three critical areas. When it comes to economic growth, there are so many directions to take, but it begins with shoring up our ability as a nation to meet and pay our debts, restrain spending, and keep our debt-to-growth ratio in check. Items such as a continuing resolution, raising the debt ceiling, etc., may not be attractive in the eyes of the masses, but they are necessary for a nation where one federal department’s budget is greater than the GDP of 100 foreign countries. Here the president can certainly lead.
EDITORIAL
A5
VISUAL VIEWPOINT: WALL STREET PAYS OBAMA
DeVos. Extending the honor of a commencement address invitation to Secretary DeVos is tantamount to selling what Dr. Bethune’s left us for a proverbial mess of pottage.
Let me explain Shortly before her death, Dr. Bethune left us with her Last Will & Testament. In the summation of her life’s work, Dr. Bethune said “Sometimes I ask myself if I have any other legacy to leave. Truly, my worldly possessions are few. Yet, my experiences have been rich. From them, I have distilled principles and policies in which I believe firmly, for they represent the meaning of my life’s work. They are the products of much sweat and sorrow.” And what exactly did Dr. Bethune leave us? Dr. Bethune left us hope. According to Dr. Bethune, “The Negro’s growth will be great in the years to come. Yesterday, our ancestors endured the degradation of slavery, yet they retained their dignity. Today, we direct our economic and political strength toward winning a more abundant and secure life.” What does Secretary DeVos bring us? She brings us the removal of Obama era student loan protections to graduates of Bethune-Cookman University, who on average hold more than $36,000 in student debt. In the face of only 21 percent of B-CU students paying down their student loan debt, Secretary DeVos is making it tougher for recent B-CU graduates to win a “more abundant and secure life” that Dr. Bethune wrote about.
‘The prime need’ Dr. Bethune left us a thirst for education. According to Dr. Bethune, “Knowledge is the prime need of the hour…. We are making greater use of the privileges inherent in living in a democracy. If we continue in this trend, we will be able to rear increasing numbers of strong, purposeful men and women, equipped with vision, mental clarity, health and education. What does Secretary DeVos bring us? The destruction of one of the privileges inherent in a democracy, a public education. Described as the “four-star gener-
DAVE GRANLUND, POLITICALCARTOONS.COM
al of the school voucher movement,” Secretary DeVos is a strong proponent of the dubious school choice movement, supporting “vouchers and tax credits, certainly, but also virtual schools, magnet schools, homeschooling, and charter schools.” Dr. Bethune left us racial dignity. According to Dr. Bethune, “I want Negroes to maintain their human dignity at all costs. We, as Negroes, must recognize that we are the custodians as well as the heirs of a great civilization. We have given something to the world as a race and for this we are proud and fully conscious of our place in the total picture of mankind’s development.” Secretary DeVos brought us the dubious notion that HBCUs were “pioneers of school choice’ instead of a result of racists who cried out in the hall of Congress and southern legislatures that Black folk could not and would not enter traditionally all White universities.
Respect power Dr. Bethune left us a respect for the use of power. According to Dr. Bethune, “We live in a world which respects power above all things. Power, intelligently directed, can lead to more freedom. Unwisely directed, it can be a dreadful, destructive force.” What does Secretary DeVos bring us? Oligarchy. When confronted with accusations regarding her influence peddling, Secretary DeVos said, “I have decided to stop taking offense at the suggestion that we are buying influ-
ence. Now I simply concede the point. They are right.” Dr. Bethune finally left us with a responsibility to our young people. According to Dr. Bethune, “The world around us really belongs to youth for youth will take over its future management. Our children must never lose their zeal for building a better world… We have a powerful potential in our youth, and we must have the courage to change old ideas and practices so that we may direct their power toward good ends.” What does Secretary DeVos bring us? A laissez-faire charter school policy agenda for Michigan’s public schools, particularly in Detroit, that has resulted in utter failure. “The bottom line should be, ‘Are kids achieving better or worse because of this expansion of choice?’” said Michigan State Board of Education President John Austin, “It’s destroying learning outcomes … and the DeVoses were a principal agent of that.” What Dr. Bethune left us, Secretary DeVos is committed to taking. B-CU President Edison Jackson, give Secretary DeVos a call and tell her thanks, but no thanks. For Dr. Bethune’s sake.
Jerell Blakeley is a Howard University graduate, a high school teacher, and a PhD. student in Urban Systems/Urban Education at Rutgers University-Newark. The original commentary was posted at WWW. HBCUDigest.com.
Needs to happen
be able to say is what really happens when federal officials come to campus. Rarely do they receive an invite and just accept the opportunity to speak. Frequently, the White House calls the president’s office and says, “This is who we want to send for your commencement.” Then the HBCU president has to clear it with the board, which will inevitably say yes, but will have much of the internal debate about how to handle it with the public. Then the school has to wait for the White House to clear all press releases, to greenlight all handling of media inquiries, and to advise on the talking points about the appearance. In all likelihood, nothing could be more uncomfortable for DeVos or B-CU about this speech. Everybody is worried about what will be or should be said, and about how everybody will react to it.
Jarrett L. Carter, Sr. is publisher of HBCU Digest (www. hbcudigest.com).
Tax reform is key
Good move
A small start
More importantly, the summation of these successes leads to a major goal for Trump – fundamental tax reform. He should use the bully pulpit to make that a hallmark of his first four years. Think long game. Don’t pledge another bumbled blitzkrieg to jam through a measure of that magnitude. Take your time. Involve bipartisan partners. Negotiate a deal and then write a book about it. Every major tax bill has needed support from broad constituencies. This will be no different. Trump has the mind for this sort of maneuver. The Trump administration must show wisdom abroad. The next few months are critical for the United States on the world stage. A North Korean threat should be taken seriously. Desperate men do desperate things. Additionally, the Middle East is never stable, Syria needs more than rhetoric, and the Taliban seem anxious to make a comeback as the world’s leader in terrorism, given the mass soldier shooting in Iraq days ago.
The president was smart to dispatch military assets off Japan. These times call for the proper mix of diplomacy and show of force. I also believe Trump would be wise to employ his secretaries of state and defense. Use them – especially Secretary Tillerson and Nikki Haley – to be the interlocutors on behalf of the White House. They can serve as the channels to convey Trump’s doctrine without involving the president himself. That only makes sense, given so much uncertainty and fluidity around the globe. President Trump also needs to build out his team. This task seems insignificant for a new president, but the effect of its failure has reverberations felt throughout government. In his best-selling book “Good to Great,” business guru Jim Collins writes that a hallmark of successful organizations and leaders starts by getting “the right people on the bus.” The federal government is very large, with many executive slots that remain empty.
I believe to my core that small, easy accomplishments can start occurring just by having likeminded personnel at the helm channeling Trump’s agenda day in, day out. That’s a task that Kushner and Priebus can take on collectively and show others in the White House complex that they can work together for a common good. It all about governing. The American electorate is ready for this change. Because the government permeates every facet of our lives, they will start to see the change even in their daily activities. “Make America Great Again” is more than a slogan. It’s a pursuit that can and must encompass even the smallest functions of government to live up to the weightiness of its words. That pursuit will continue well beyond any imaginary marker.
company this invitation.
Will go viral Given who she is, who she works for and where she’ll be speaking, it is more than a notion to believe that the opportunities for regrettable remarks or regrettable response will go viral. There will be a need for campus officials to listen to students and faculty, and to hear their displeasure with the decision to welcome DeVos to campus. And they’ll have to say all of the politically correct things which will make no one happy; the need for respect of different voices and opinions, the value in welcoming the highest-ranking educator in the country, and how partnership with the Trump administration is not just a good idea, but that it may be necessary for the next four years.
Here’s the truth But what BCU officials will not
But the speech needs to happen because the White House should continue its promised outreach to HBCUs, and HBCUs must keep up the effort to engage the federal government for their own survival. It is a chance for HBCUs, the Trump administration, and the Democratic Party to further realize the power of HBCU communities, and to examine the ways it can be leveraged to strengthen our schools and to build political capital beyond the limits of one political party. There will be controversy. There will be booing. And there will be a speech. It may be uncomfortable for everyone, but it is the best way to build partnership over the long term for HBCU interests.
Armstrong Williams is author of the book “Reawakening Virtues.” Contact him via www.rightsidewire.com.
NATION
TOJ A6
MAY 5 – MAY 11, 2017 York Times, in its own analysis, reached a similar conclusion.) Each group made its assessment by analyzing voter files –– reports that show who voted in every state, and matching them to existing data about the voters, including demographic information and voting history. The groups determined how people voted — in what amounts to the most comprehensive way to analyze the electorate short of a full census.
‘Math doesn’t work’
OLIVIER DOULIERY/ABACA PRESS/TNS
Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton delivers her concession speech on Nov. 9, 2016, in New York.
Dems say they now know exactly why Clinton lost had supported President Barack Obama in 2012 but backed Trump four years later.
BY ALEX ROARTY TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE
WASHINGTON – A group of top Democratic Party strategists have used new data about last year’s presidential election to reach a startling conclusion about why Hillary Clinton lost. Now they just need to persuade the rest of the party they’re right. Many Democrats have a shorthand explanation for Clinton’s defeat: Her base didn’t turn out, Donald Trump’s did and the difference was too much to overcome. But new information shows that Clinton had a much bigger problem with voters who
The Obama factor Those Obama-Trump voters effectively accounted for more than two-thirds of the reason Clinton lost, according to Matt Canter, a senior vice president of the Democratic political firm Global Strategy Group. In his group’s analysis, about 70 percent of Clinton’s failure to reach Obama’s vote total in 2012 was because she lost these voters. Canter and other members of Global Strategy Group have delivered a detailed report of their findings to senators, congress-
men, fellow operatives and think tank wonks — all part of an effort to educate party leaders about what the data say really happened in last year’s election. “We have to make sure we learn the right lesson from 2016, that we don’t just draw the lesson that makes us feel good at night, make us sleep well at night,” Canter said.
Voter files analyzed His firm’s conclusion is shared broadly by other Democrats who have examined the data, including senior members of Clinton’s campaign and officials at the Democratic data and analytics firm Catalist. (The New
The findings are significant for a Democratic Party, at a historic low point, that’s trying to figure out how it can win back power. Much of the debate over how to proceed has centered on whether the party should try to win back working-class White voters — who make up most of the Obama-Trump voters — or focus instead on mobilizing its base. Turning out the base is not good enough, the data suggest. “This idea that Democrats can somehow ignore this constituency and just turn out more of our voters, the math doesn’t work,” Canter said. “We have to do both.”
Blacks stayed home Democrats are quick to acknowledge that even if voters switching allegiance had been Clinton’s biggest problem, in such a close election she still could have defeated Trump with better turnout. For example, she could have won if African-American turnout in Michigan and Florida matched 2012’s. They also emphasize the need for the party to continue finding ways to stoke its base. Democrats can do both, said Guy Cecil, chairman of Priorities USA, a super PAC that backed Clinton last year and now is trying to help Democrats return to power. “I really do believe that we should reject this idea that if we just focus on turnout and the Democratic base that that will be enough,” he said. “If that really is our approach, we’re going to lose six or seven
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Senate seats in this election. But, I also believe that just talking about persuasion means we are not capitalizing on an enormous opportunity.”
Ready for midterms Priorities USA released a poll last week, conducted in part by Cantor’s firm, that found the Democratic base — including voters who usually sit out midterm elections — unusually motivated to participate in the next election. The group have said in recent months that Democrats can both reach out to White workingclass voters and their base with a strong message rooted in economic populism. Still, the data say turnout was less of a problem for Clinton than defections were. Even the oft-predicted surge of new voters backing Trump was more myth than reality. Global Strategy Group’s review of Ohio, with Catalist, found that Clinton won a majority of new voters in the state. (Global Strategy Group examined North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Nevada as part of its analysis).
Persuasion or turnout? Belief that turnout was the main reason Clinton lost, however, remains a prominent theory among Democrats. “There’s an active conversation within the party about whether persuasion was the problem or turnout,” said Lanae Erickson Hatalsky, vice president for social policy and politics at Third Way, a center-left Democratic think tank. That debate is complicated because some Democrats think winning over voters is already a lost cause, Hatalsky said. “There’s still a real concern that persuasion is harder and costs more than mobilization, so let’s just triple down on getting out the people who already agree with us,” she said. “And I think there’s a lot of worry that we don’t actually know how to persuade anymore, and so maybe we should just go talk to the people we agree with.”
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Trump Do?’ A Congressional Black Caucus report gives 100 actions the president has done in his first 100 days of office
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White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer looks on as US Attorney General Jeff Sessions speaks during the Daily Briefing at the White House on March 27. crimes that are worse than those committed by Nazi Germany leader Adolf Hitler during the Holocaust. “Spicer said that Hitler did not use chemical weapons like al-Assad even though gas chambers were regularly used to kill Jews and others at concentration camps during the Holocaust.”
BY HAZEL TRICE EDNEY TRICE EDNEY NEWS WIRE
The Congressional Black Caucus has released a list of 100 actions taken by President Donald Trump during his first 100 days that the CBC says have been detrimental to the country – especially the Black community. “People of all ages and races, including many young people of color, are standing up and speaking out about this Administration’s actions and how they will hurt our communities and the country,” says CBC Chairman Cedric Richmond in a statement. “President Trump says he wants to make America great again but in our view the programs and policies he’s implementing will do the opposite. We hope this list will help those who are engaged and those who aren’t stay woke because our democracy is at stake.”
Ms. Jackson promoted “President Trump appointed Candice E. Jackson as acting assistant secretary for civil rights at the Department of Education. Ms. Jackson once said affirmative action ‘promotes racial discrimination,’ and claimed she was discriminated against for being white.”
DeVos on HBCUS
#StayWoke reminder “The list, titled ‘What Did Trump Do?: The First-100-Days, #StayWoke List,’ is a special edition of CBC’s ‘What Did Trump Do?’ rapid response documents and includes actions across issues areas such as education, healthcare, and justice,” says a statement. “The list is part of the CBC’s effort to listen, involve, and mobilize young leaders during the 115th Congress, an effort that began a few weeks ago with the launch of CBC’s tour of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, #CBCOnTheYard.” The phrase #StayWoke or “stay awake” is often used by African-Americans in the social media arena to “remind themselves and those around them to stay focused on what’s really being said and done to their community. As a result of the election of President Trump, the phrase has taken on new meaning; people of all ages and races are using it to remind themselves and those around them to stay focused on the programs and policies being implemented by this Administration.” The following are among the items on the list:
White House visit “After meeting with 70 HBCU presidents at the White House stating the he wanted to give HBCUs “the proper re-
Steve Bannon
Candice Jackson
spect,” President Trump has proposed in his budget to give these institutions the same amount of money they received last year even though their operational costs are increasing. “President Trump has also proposed to cut programs that support students served by HBCUs including federal work study, Pell, and campus-based aid.”
and related legal settlements came to light about former veteran Fox News anchor Bill O’Reilly, President Trump defended the journalist. “I think he’s a person I know well — he is a good person,” said President Trump on April 5 during an interview with the New York Times in the Oval Office. “I think he shouldn’t have settled; personally I think he shouldn’t have settled. Because you should have taken it all the way. I don’t think Bill did anything wrong.” Days later Fox News canceled O’Reilly’s show and announced that he would not be returning to the network.”
Accusing Obama “President Trump has said many hurtful things about President Obama, including accusing the first Black president of a felony. On March 4, President Trump tweeted that President Obama wiretapped Trump Tower during the 2016 election. President Trump has provided no evidence that President Obama wiretapped Trump Tower even though he could easily provide it. “In addition, on March 20, FBI Director James Comey told the House Intelligence Committee during a public hearing that the agency has ‘no information’ about the alleged wiretaps.”
Supporting O’Reilly “After several sexual assault allegations
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Deleting agency “President Trump’s proposed budget would eliminate the Minority Business Development Agency, “which funds a nationwide network of business centers to help minority-owned business stay competitive and create jobs.”
Hitler comment “During a White House press conference on April 11, Press Secretary Sean Spicer suggested that the President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, is guilty of war
“On February 27, after meeting with more than 70 HBCU presidents, Secretary DeVos called Historically Black Colleges and Universities “pioneers” for school choice even though these institutions were founded because white colleges and university refused to admit Black students.”
Education budget “President Trump’s proposed budget for the Department of Education hurts low-income students from pre-k through college by undermining public education through the elimination of after school and teacher support programs and diverting federal funds to private school vouchers, eliminating supports for college students, gutting federal-work study, and slashing critical funding for Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants and Pell Grants. All of these cuts would have severe consequences for our nation’s AfricanAmerican students.”
What about Flint? “President Trump’s proposed budget would cut Environmental Protection Agency grant programs that help states monitor public water systems, even though Flint, Michigan. is still dealing with a water crisis.”
Lead paint too “President Trump’s proposed budget would eliminate programs that help limit See 100 DAYS, Page B2
Pictured above: U.S. President Donald Trump meets with leaders of Historically Black Colleges and Universities on Feb. 28 in the Oval Office of the White House. He shows off an executive order promising to support them. AUDE GUERRUCCI/ABACA PRESS/TNS
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CALENDAR
MAY 5 – MAY 11, 2017
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FLORIDA COMMUNITY CALENDAR
BILL BELLAMY The Memorial Weekend Comedy Festival is May 28 at the James L. Knight Center in Miami. Performers include Bruce Bruce, Bill Bellamy and Luenell.
Tampa: The Tampa Black Heritage Festival will present a free Mother’s Day festival on May 14 at Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park from 1 to 7 p.m. in partnership with Jazz Tyme Productions featuring David Sanborn. Purchase preferred and VIP seating at tampablackheritage.org.
K. MICHELLE
The fourth annual Mother’s Day Experience is May 14 at the James L. Knight Center in Miami. Performers: K. Michelle and Tank.
Daytona Beach: A “Momma So’’ comedy show featuring Benji Brown is May 13 at Bethune-Cookman’s Mary McLeod Bethune Performing Arts Center. Fort Lauderdale: Victor Wooten will be at the Culture Room on May 11 and the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall on May 12. Hollywood: Charlie Wilson and Fantasia will perform on May 11 at Hard Rock Live. Sunrise: The Weeknd’s Legend of the Fall tour stops at the BB&T Center on May 11 and Tampa’s Amalie Arena on May 12.
BOYZ II MEN
Tickets are on sale for the Total Package Tour with Paula Abdul, New Kids on the Block and Boyz II Men at the Amalie Arena on July 15.
Black journalists to honor Ryan SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA COURIER
April Ryan has been selected as the 2017 Journalist of the Year by the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ). The annual award recognizes a Black journalist who has a distinguished body of work that has extraordinary depth, scope and significance to people of the African Diaspora. A 30-year journalism veteran, Ryan is the only Black female reporter covering urban issues from the White House – a position she has held for American Urban Radio Networks (AURN) since January 1997. “April Ryan is a true trailblazer and truth seeker. She’s dogged and unapologetic about her pursuit of the story,” said NABJ President Sarah Glover. “In the White House press corps circle, where too few Black women have been given an opportunity to report, April has excelled
100 DAYS from Page 1
children’s exposure to lead paint. According to the CDC, African-American children are three times more likely to have elevated blood-lead levels.”
Russia and the campaign “The FBI is investigating whether President Trump and his campaign colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 election.”
Bannon to NSC “One of President Trump’s first actions was to appoint White House Adviser Steve Bannon to the National Security Council (NSC). Many politicians and pundits, including the CBC, called for Bannon to be removed not only from the NSC but from the White House entirely because of his white nationalist views. Bannon is the former chairman of the white nationalist news organization Breitbart News.”
Threats ignored “President Trump has said little on the threat of domestic terrorism even though religious institutions and people of color have been targeted here at home in the wake of the
and some of the stories we are doing wouldn’t be told if it weren’t for us,” Ryan elaborated. “We all need to keep pressing because the First Amendment is under attack.”
Award-winning author
and persevered in spite of the many obstacles she has confronted. Her work has risen to the top.”
‘Humbled and honored’ Ryan will be recognized on Aug. 12 at the NABJ Salute to Excellence Awards during the organization’s Convention and Career Fair in New Orleans. “It is wonderful to be honored by such an esteemed organization,” said Ryan. “I am humbled and honored. So many of these [NABJ] journalists do important work and I am so thankful they would think of me for this honor. It has been an amazing couple of months and you guys give me some wind to say ‘keep going.’” Ryan has made headlines while working her beat at the White House. She had public exchanges with President Donald J. Trump over the Congressional Black Caucus and with Press Secretary Sean
2016 election. For example, in Wellsville, N.Y., someone painted “Make America White Again” on a dugout wall, a statement based on President Trump’s campaign slogan “Make America Great Again.’’ In addition, Jewish community centers and cemeteries have received threats or been vandalized. In short, the threat of domestic terrorism is real but it is not prioritized by this Administration.”
What about Africa? “President Trump has proposed to eliminate funding for the African Development Foundation, which funds grassroots development projects in 30 African countries.” “More than 20 million people are facing famine in Somalia, South Sudan, Nigeria, and Yemen and President Trump’s budget proposal would make the situation worse by cutting funding for humanitarian food aid and United Nations peacekeeping.”
Voter fraud probe “On January 25, the White House announced that it would launch a major investigation into voter fraud event though it is essentially a non-issue. The White House decided to launch the investigation in response to President Trump’s false claims that
Miami: John Legend’s Darkness & Light Tour stops at Bayfront Park Amphitheater
OLIVIER DOULIERY/ ABACA PRESS/TNS
April Ryan, the White House reporter for the American Urban Radio Networks, speaks at a forum at George Washington University on diversity in the White House Press Corps on April 28, 2014. Spicer. Her tense exchange with Spicer helped fuel the #BlackWomenAtWork hashtag.
‘Keep pressing’ While thankful for the honor, Ryan also took a minute to reflect on the industry and encourage Black journalists to remain vigilant because “we add to the stories.” “We all have a job to do
3 to 5 million illegal voters cost him the popular vote.” “On February 27, the Department of Justice, under the leadership of Attorney General Sessions, withdrew its longstanding claim that Texas enacted its 2011 voter ID law with the intent to discriminate. A few months later a federal judge ruled that the law was enacted with the intent to discriminate against Black and Latino voters.” According to a CBC release, the following committee and congressional offices led by CBC members contributed to the CBC list: House Committee on the Judiciary (Office of Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr.), House Committee on Financial Services (Office of Ranking Member Maxine Waters), House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology (Office of Ranking Member Eddie Bernice Johnson), House Committee on Education and the Workforce (Office of Ranking Member Bobby Scott), House Committee on Homeland Security (Office of Ranking Member Bennie G. Thompson), House Committee on Oversight (Ranking Member Elijah Cummings), and Office of Congresswoman Robin Kelly (D-Ill.). The full list of actions can be found at https://cbc. house.gov/uploadedfiles/ stay_woke_list.pdf.
Ryan also is the author of “The Presidency in Black and White,” which garnered her an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work - Debut Author. Her latest book, “At Mama’s Knee: Mothers and Race in Black and White,”
published in December 2016, looks at race relations through the lessons and wisdom that mothers have given their children. A paperback version of “The Presidency in Black and White,” with updates about President Trump, will be published later this year.
HBCU grad, mom In 2016, Ryan received the Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Trailblazer Award from the National Council of Negro Women. She has served on the board of the prestigious
on May 12 and St. Augustine Amphitheater on May 14. Jacksonville: Diana Ross is scheduled at 8 p.m. June 28 at Daily’s Place. Clearwater: Idina Menzel performs May 25 at Ruth Eckerd Hall. Miami: The Urban Collective, producers of the Art Africa Miami Arts Fair will host a free IAMART Miami for youth in Historic Overtown May 18-20. More information: 786-8978854 or email info@harrispublicrelations.com. Daytona Beach: A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie concert featuring artist J. Dubose is May 12 at the Peabody Auditorium. Hollywood: Catch KC & the Sunshine Band on May 12 at Hard Rock Live. Clearwater: Tickets are on sale for a John Legend show May 13 at Coachman Park. Orlando: Plans are underway the 18th Annual Darrell Armstrong Classic Weekend Aug. 11-13 for his foundation that helps premature babies. Sponsorship info: Call 407-252-333 or email jbm395@gmail.com.
White House Correspondent’s Association. She is one of only three African Americans in the association’s more than 100-year history to serve on its board. She also is a member of the National Press Club. A Baltimore native and Morgan State University graduate, Ryan recently joined CNN as a political analyst. She is especially proud of what she calls her greatest life’s work – her two daughters, Ryan and Grace.
ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE FOR BLACK STUDENTS. NO EXCUSES. The classic guide from Florida Courier publisher, lawyer and broadcaster CHARLES W. CHERRY II PRAISE FOR ‘EXCELLENCE WITHOUT EXCUSE’: “This guide for African-American college-bound students is packed with practical and insightful information for achieving academic success...The primary focus here is to equip students with the savvy and networking skills to maneuver themselves through the academic maze of higher education.” – Book review, School Library Journal • How low expectations of Black students’ achievements can get them higher grades; • Want a great grade? Prepare to cheat! • How Black students can program their minds for success; • Setting goals – When to tell everybody, and when to keep your mouth shut; • Black English, and why Black students must be ‘bilingual.’ …AND MUCH MORE!
www.excellencewithoutexcuse.com Download immediately as an eBook or a pdf Order softcover online, from Amazon, or your local bookstore ISBN#978-1-56385-500-9 Published by International Scholastic Press, LLC Contact Charles at ccherry2@gmail.com
Facebook ccherry2 excellencewithoutexcuse
for info on speeches, workshops, seminars, book signings, panel discussions.
Twitter @ccherry2
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MAY 5 – MAY 11, 2017
HEALTH
B3 program was whether or not the kids were eating,” said Kansas Republican Sen. Pat Roberts after joining Perdue and a group of fifth-graders Monday for lunch at the school in Virginia.
‘More palatable’ Providing more flexibility to school districts to serve food that children will eat has been a top priority for Roberts, who oversees the lunch program as chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee. Over the past few years, the senator has toured schools in Kansas to sample meals and talk to students and administrators. “We had kids sneaking into the school cafeterias with salt shakers and ketchup,” Roberts said. The senator said his staff had worked with Perdue and the congressional committees in charge of agriculture appropriations to ensure that the language loosening school lunch rules made it into the 2017 spending bill. This is just the beginning, Roberts said. “Personally, I think we can do a lot more to make school lunches more palatable,” he said.
Standards defended
OLIVIER DOULIERY/ABACA PRESS/TNS
Michelle Obama is joined by Holton Arms Elementary School students to harvest the White House garden on Oct. 30, 2013. The former first lady promoted healthier standards for school lunches as part of her “Let’s Move” campaign against childhood obesity.
Chocolate milk, saltier food heading back to schools Donald Trump administration changing standards set by Obama on low-fat foods and lower sodium levels BY LINDSDAY WISE TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE
WASHINGTON – Chocolate milk is coming back on the school lunch menu. So are white bread and saltier food. Several paragraphs tucked into a massive 1,665-page government spending bill released
Monday would relax Obama-era nutrition standards for school lunches. On page 101 of the bill, due for congressional votes later this week, the secretary of agriculture is directed to allow states to grant schools exemptions so they can serve flavored low-fat milk and bread products that are not rich in whole grains. The bill, which keeps the federal government funded through Sept. 30, officials to implement the nutrition standards.
Cost hike cited The language would apply only to the 2017-18 school year. But it mirrors changes to school
lunch standards the Trump administration announced Monday as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue signaled his intent to kick off a more extensive re-evaluation of the rules put in place under former President Barack Obama. He said the change was based on “years of feedback from students, schools and food service experts about the challenges they are facing” from the rules. He signed a proclamation that his department would move to ease standards for whole grains, sodium and milk during a visit to Catoctin Elementary School in Leesburg, Va. He said school food rules had
cost districts and states an extra $1.22 billion in fiscal year 2015.
More healthier items Finalized in 2012, healthier standards for school lunches were a signature Obama administration achievement. Then-first lady Michelle Obama promoted them as part of her “Let’s Move” campaign against childhood obesity. The rules restricted schools from serving salty, sugary and higher-fat products and required them to serve more fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains and healthier items. Fat-free milk could be flavored, but not low-fat milk. Some school districts and cafeteria workers complained the rules are too costly and restrictive. Without more flexibility, they warned, they’d keep throwing away whole grains, fruits and vegetables that kids refuse to eat. “All the way through this, the yardstick on the school lunch these conditions, or that taking a vitamin D supplement will adequately prevent or treat them. Vitamin D is found in some foods, such as egg yolks, cheese, cod liver oil, beef liver and fatty fish like tuna, salmon, sardines, herring and mackerel. But the amount of vitamin D in these foods is quite small.
Foods, sunlight
DREAMSTIME
The Mayo Clinic recommends that adults get at least the recommended daily allowance of 600 international units per day.
How much vitamin D do you need? MAYO CLINIC NEWS NETWORK TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE
Understanding how much vitamin D you need can be confusing because there are different recommendations about how much vitamin D adults should get. Using the recommendations that fall on the low end, many adults don’t get the amount of vitamin D they should. Because few foods contain vitamin D nat-
urally, eating foods fortified with vitamin D and taking a supplement may be beneficial. Vitamin D is important because it helps your body sustain normal levels of calcium and phosphorus. Because it works as a key that allows your body to absorb calcium, vitamin D plays a critical role in forming and maintaining healthy bones. It also helps keep your muscles, nerves and immune system healthy.
Tips to ease the pain of childhood immunizations MAYO CLINIC NEWS NETWORK TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE
“Immunizations” is a word most parents or children don’t want to hear. Yet, immunizations play an important role in keeping ma-
ny spreadable, harmful diseases away from children and infants. “In the U.S., vaccine-preventable diseases, such as measles, mumps and whooping cough, can happen and will happen,” says Dr. Jill Boulden, a family medicine physician for Mayo Clinic Health System. “If we stopped immuniz-
What it helps Research suggests that consistently getting enough vitamin D can significantly lower the risk for the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis. Low vitamin D also is associated with falls, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic pain, diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and some cancers. However, an association does not mean low vitamin D causes ing, even the minimal cases we have in this country could rapidly turn into tens or hundreds of thousands of cases.” Immunizations help to decrease the chance of infection by aligning with the body’s natural defenses to help it safely grow immunity to disease.
Doctor’s suggestions Although many children fear immunizations, Boulden offers these suggestions for parents to help make immunization visits
In the U.S., many people get the bulk of their dietary vitamin D from foods that are fortified with it, including milk, cereals and some brands of yogurt and orange juice. In general, even with fortified foods, diet usually doesn’t provide enough vitamin D. And certain health conditions that affect the gastrointestinal tract may decrease the absorption of vitamin D and predispose to low vitamin D blood levels. You also can get vitamin D through direct exposure to sunlight, although the amount of sun you need to get enough vitamin D can vary greatly. For people in northern climates or those who spend most of their time indoors, adequate exposure to sunlight can be hard to get. Also, if you regularly wear sunscreen with a sun protection factor higher than eight — a wise move to protect your skin from cancer — or if you have a darker skin tone, you may not be absorbing vitamin D, even when you are out in the sunshine.
Cecilia Munoz, director of the White House domestic policy council under Obama, said the standards had been starting to have a positive impact as trend lines in obesity among young children began to level out. Munoz said the Obama administration had built a lot of flexibility into the rules to ensure school districts would be able to comply, and that 99 percent of them had done so. “By and large, these are regulations that are being implemented successfully,” she said. The language in the omnibus, she said, is a legislative attempt to dismantle rules that can be hard to undo once they’re in place. “This looks like something that’s being done for the sake of industry at the expense of kids,” Munoz said. “It’s much harder to revoke a rule, and it’s especially hard to revoke a rule when you’re fighting the science here,” she added. “It just opens your rule-making up to litigation, because you have to prove there’s a rational basis. … It’s going to be interesting what the rationale is going to be for adding more salt to foods or moving away from whole grains to more refined grains.” how much daily vitamin D adults need through diet have changed over the years. Currently, different recommendations exist. The Institute of Medicine has placed the recommended dietary allowance, or RDA, for vitamin D at 600 international units (IU) per day for young adults and 800 IU per day for adults older than 70. Other experts suggest that adults’ vitamin D needs are much higher. For example, the Endocrine Society recommends up to 1,500 to 2,000 IU of vitamin D daily for adults. Mayo Clinic recommends that adults get at least the RDA of 600 IU. However, 1,000 to 2,000 IU per day of vitamin D from a supplement is generally safe, should help people achieve an adequate blood level of vitamin D, and may have additional health benefits.
Consult doctor
for
While there are no guidelines for checking your vitamin D blood level, it may be prudent in people with osteoporosis or certain other health conditions. Discuss with your health care provider if it may be beneficial to check your vitamin D level. If you have ongoing health concerns or a chronic health condition, talk to your health care provider before you begin taking any dietary supplement, including vitamin D. He or she can help you decide if supplements are appropriate for your situation.
easier for everyone: • Console your child by bringing a favorite toy, book or blanket. • Distract and comfort your child by singing, cuddling or telling him or her a story. • Whenever possible, hold your child on your lap, and point out interesting things around the room as a diversion. • If your child is older, be truthful about what will happen during the visit. • Encourage other family members to express their support for
the child, particularly older siblings. • Avoid frightening stories and threatening remarks concerning shots. • Remind children that vaccines help keep them healthy. “Be especially supportive when your child has received all of their shots,” adds Boulden. “Offering them a beverage, such as juice or their favorite snack, is a good way to reinforce positive thoughts around vaccinations.”
Recommendations The
recommendations
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SPORTS
MAY 5 – MAY 11, 2017
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the consequences of his action — five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Stands his ground
KEN LUBAS/LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS
Muhammad Ali throws a playful punch toward a photographer while visiting Locke High School in Los Angeles on Dec. 4, 1996. He died on June 3, 2016, at age 74.
The Champ and the draft Remembering Muhammad Ali’s bold stance 50 years after he refused to go to war
Ali’s response was widely reported: “Man, I ain’t got no quarrel with them Vietcong.” A month later, Ali asked for an exemption from his Louisville draft board on religious grounds, but the authorities denied the request and Ali’s subsequent appeal.
BY MICHAEL K. BOHN TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE
Bouts in Europe
“I’m the greatest! I’m the greatest!” Cassius Clay shouted from the center of the ring. The 22-year-old boxer danced about the canvas as the defeated heavyweight champion of the world, Sonny Liston, slumped on his corner stool. Liston had just refused to answer the bell at the start of Round 7 of their February 1964 title bout in Miami. The referee raised Clay’s right fist, and the winner by a TKO continued shouting, “I’m the king of the world!” The boxing press and many knowledgeable fans were familiar with Clay’s bombast and hyperbole, but the new champion introduced another facet of his life to the news media the following day.
A June 21, 1967 issue in the Houston Post shows the verdict. He was convicted by an all-White jury of refusing induction into the military and was immediately sentenced by a judge to five years.
Kept fighting
proached, the Massachusetts Boxing Commission pulled its sanction of the fight, citing possible links between Liston’s management group and the mob. Authorities in Lewiston, Maine, offered to host the bout in a youth hockey center, St. Dominic’s Arena.
However, the U.S. Department of Justice overruled Grauman, based on the FBI assessment that Ali’s objection to war arose from political and racial grounds. But Ali kept fighting through the rest on 1966 and early 1967. Yet the draft issue loomed in the background. Eight days before the Folley fight, Ali had received the traditional draft induction letter from the U.S. president that began with “Greetings,” and directed him to report for induction on April 28 in Houston. Ali’s stance regarding the Vietnam War was neither isolated nor without context. Martin Luther King, Jr. denounced the war on April 4 in a speech at New York’s Riverside Baptist Church and called upon Negros and “all White people of goodwill” to boycott the war and become conscientious objectors to military service. Ten days later, 100,000 people gathered in New York’s Central Park to protest the war.
‘Fix! Fix!’
Reported to Houston
A new name In Miami’s Convention Hall, Clay began to speak of religion and social values. Moreover, he talked of the media’s expectations of a heavyweight champion, and, to make his point, he cited practices followed by Black Muslims, formally the Nation of Islam, which gave him direction. “I know where I’m going … I’m free to be what I want.” “Are you a card-carrying member of the Black Muslims?” a reporter asked. “Card-carrying, what does that mean?” Clay asked. “I believe in Allah and in peace. … I’m not a Christian anymore.” Nine days after the Liston fight, Clay told reporters in New York he was changing his name to Cassius X Clay, with the “X” representing his missing African identity. That same day, the head of the Nation of Islam, Elijah Muhammad, bestowed a wholly new name on Clay — Muhammad Ali.
April 28, 1967 The public and the national news media seemed OK with Clay’s public brashness, but his name change and association with the Black Muslims didn’t sit well. Author and journalist George Plimpton commented on the public reaction years later, according to Howard Bingham and Max Wallace in their 2000 book, “Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight.” “People seemed to believe this man was a threat to America’s values because of his affiliation with the Muslims,” Plimpton said, “which was seen as a racist organization.” However, many years before Ali’s 2016 death, American had grown to view him as one the country’s greatest sports heroes. Yet his name change in 1964 paled in comparison to his actions three years later — his refus-
Struggling to find fight venues in the United States, Ali’s team scheduled three bouts in Europe, May through September 1966. Ali beat in quick succession Henry Cooper, Brian London, and Karl Mildenberger. Ali had returned to the States before the Mildenberger fight to appear at a special hearing to consider his continuing legal fight against his draft induction. In late August, retired judge Lawrence Grauman surprisingly ruled in favor of Ali. Grauman, according to Tom Hauser, said Ali was “of good character, morals and integrity, and sincere in his objection on religious grounds to participation in war in any form.”
UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL/DPA/ZUMA PRESS/TNS
Muhammad Ali hits Ken Norton in the head during a match in Inglewood, Calif., in 1973. al to enter the U.S. armed forces’ draft on April 28, 1967, 50 years ago this week.
His draft score In 1962, the Louisville, Kentucky draft board classified him 1-A — available for the draft. Clay took the draft’s pre-induction exam on Jan. 24, 1964, a month before the Liston fight. He easily passed the physical exam, but his score on the mental aptitude test put him in the 16th percentile of all test-takers; the military required a score of 30 for induction. The Selective Service retested him in mid-March to ensure he had not deliberately failed the first time, but he scored the same. That led to his reclassification as 1-Y — unfit for military duty.
Liston No. 2 In September 1964, Liston and Ali agreed to a rematch on Nov. 16, 1964. Three days before the bout, Ali was staggered by an incarcerated inguinal hernia. Surgeons quickly repaired it, and Sports Illustrated later quoted one of the doctors: “It was such a marvelously developed stomach, I hated to slice it up.” The promoter rescheduled the fight for May 25, 1965 in Boston. As the rematch date ap-
Midway through the first round, Liston lunged forward with a left, but Ali snapped his head back, and, in a blur, threw a short right to Liston’s temple. The force of the blow lifted Liston off his lead foot and he collapsed to the canvas on his back, rolled over to his stomach, tried to get up on one knee and then fell onto his back again. Liston got up and started fighting again, but referee Jersey Joe Walcott got in between them and raised Ali’s left glove. Spectators booed and shouted, “Fix! Fix!” Ali’s right to Liston’s head became known as the “phantom punch.”
Exemption granted In the same month as the second Ali-Liston fight, the U.S. Selective Service lowered the minimum score on the draft entrance exam from the 30th percentile to the 15th. Ali had scored 16, so his draft board immediately reclassified him 1-A, eligible for service, on Feb. 17, 1966.
Ali reported to the U.S. Armed Forces Examining and Entrance Station in Houston at 8 a.m.; 45 other young men joined him. The news media created a small circus outside the building and peppered Ali with questions as he walked inside. Physical exams, interviews and briefings took all morning, and the staff gave the inductees box lunches at noon. The group assembled an hour later in a large room accompanied by a contingent of FBI agents, and LT Steven Dunkley read a prepared statement. He then instructed each man to step forward when he called his name and his service assignment. “Jason Adams, Army.” Adams duly stepped forward. This went on until Dunkley reached Ali. “Cassius Clay, Army.” Ali did not move. Dunkley repeated the order. Nothing. Another officer took Ali into a separate room to counsel him on
Back in the assembly room, Ali refused again. Finally, Dunkley asked him to provide a written statement of his decision. According to Bingham and Wallace, Ali wrote that he refused induction “because I claim to be exempt as a minister of the religion of Islam.” Ali left the assembly room and approached the news media. He handed out a prepared, four-page statement that included his prediction of his ultimate fate: “In the end, I am confident that justice will come my way, for the truth must eventually prevail.” Reaction to Ali’s action throughout the nation was swift. A New York Times editorial the next day captured the predominate reaction by the news media: “Citizens cannot pick and choose which wars they wish to fight any more than they can pick and choose which laws they wish to obey.” On the other hand, several widely respected Black athletes met with Ali in Cleveland on June 4 and voiced their support of him to the press. The group included NFL great Jim Brown, Celtics center Bill Russell, and UCLA basketball player Lew Alcindor, later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Suspended, indicted The New York State Athletic Commission immediately suspended Ali’s boxing license, and other American jurisdictions followed suit. He was no longer the heavyweight champion. Ten days after Ali refused to step forward, a federal grand jury in Houston indicted him for breaking the draft laws. His trial began on June 19, 1967, in federal district court, and a jury convicted him the following day. Judge Joe Ingraham sentenced Ali to five years in prison and fined him $10,000. While his conviction appeal wound through the federal court system, Ali attempted to pay his lawyer fees by giving lectures at colleges and entering into business deals, including a restaurant chain called “Champburger.” As his exile stretched into 1970, increasing sentiment in America against the Vietnam War began to recast Ali as an underdog fighting the system rather than a lawbreaker.
Two big fights Muhammad Ali reached two major milestones in his life during the spring of 1971 — a heavyweight championship fight with the reigning champ, Joe Frazier, and a U.S. Supreme Court hearing of his draft-refusal case. During Ali’s period of suspension, Frazier had ascended to the heavyweight titles sanctioned by the World Boxing Council (WBC) and World Boxing Association (WBA). Usually, he was as soft spoken as Ali was loud, a slugger to Ali’s boxer and a plodder to Ali’s dancer. They met on March 8, 1971 in Madison Square Garden, and each would earn a record $2.5 million in what the press called the “Fight of the Century.”
Frazier’s victory In front of a packed house, the two men fought evenly through the first six rounds, but Ali’s legs began to tire and, he cut back on the taunting. In the 11th, Frazier hit the side of Ali’s head with a hard left hook that nearly decked the challenger. Frazier landed that same punch in the 15th round, and Ali went down this time. He did regain his feet within seconds, but the final bell signaled Frazier’s victory by unanimous decision.
Conviction overturned A few weeks later, on April 19, eight Supreme Court justices heard Ali’s case — Justice Thurgood Marshall had recused himself because he had been the U.S. Solicitor General when Ali was convicted. Afterward, the justices privately voted five-to-three to affirm the conviction. But Justice John Harlan soon changed his mind, and his clerks found a technicality from a previous Supreme Court case that had ruled in favor of a draft-refuser. With the help of Justice Potter Stewart, Harlan successfully made the case for overturning Ali’s conviction. The court announced the eight-zero decision in Ali’s favor on June 28, 1971.
Michael K. Bohn is the author, among other books, of “Heroes & Ballyhoo: How the Golden Age of the 1920s Transformed American Sports.’’
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MAY 5 – MAY 11, 2017
Meet some of
FLORIDA’S
finest
FINEST & ENTERTAINMENT
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Think you’re one of Florida’s Finest? E-mail your high-resolution (200 dpi) digital photo in casual wear or bathing suit taken in front of a plain background with few distractions, to news@flcourier. com with a short biography of yourself and your contact information. (No nude/ glamour/ fashion photography, please!) In order to be considered, you must be at least 18 years of age. Acceptance of the photographs submitted is in the sole and absolute discretion of Florida Courier editors. We reserve the right to retain your photograph even if it is not published. If you are selected, you will be contacted by e-mail and further instructions will be given.
Thousands of Caribbean culture lovers converge on South Florida every year on the Columbus Day weekend to attend the annual Miami Broward Carnival, a series of concerts, pageants, parades, and competitions. On Carnival Day, “mas” (masquerade) bands of thousands of revelers dance and march behind 18-wheel tractortrailer trucks with booming sound systems from morning until nightfall while competing for honors. Here are some of the “Finest” we’ve seen over the years. Go to www.miamibrowardcarnival.com for information on this year’s Carnival. CHARLES W. CHERRY II / FLORIDA COURIER
Actor takes one-man study of King to Netflix audience BY STEVEN ZEITCHIK LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS
Roger Guenveur Smith recalled that he had a deeply emotion reaction when he heard Rodney King had died in 2012. And he couldn’t understand why. “Here is someone I didn’t even know, had never met,” the actor and monologuist said. “I kept asking, ‘Why did his death affect me so much?’” The answer isn’t simple. But Smith has long been trying to figure out just what has been so compelling about King. He began seven years ago, when the victim of police brutality was alive, and explores the question from complex facets in his one-man show “Rodney King.”
Spike Lee directs Smith was speaking by phone from Portland, Ore. After nearly five years of serious road time, he was just a few minutes away from taking the stage for the last-ever performance of his searing piece. (He gave it one final go-round at Los Angeles’ Bootleg Theater, where he’d workshopped it years ago, in March.) Thanks to NetfRodney lix, though, “RodKing ney King” will live on — and be available to a much wider audience than the people that since 2012 have packed small theaters around the country to see it. Spike Lee shot a performance in New York one recent summer, applying Spike-ian directorial touches, and Netflix began streaming it last Friday to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the L.A. Riots.
Portrayed as ‘human’ As television marks those dark days with sweeping historical pieces, “Rodney King” goes the other way: It asks, in ways journalistic and imagined, who the man at the center of it all really was. King does serve here as a kind of blank slate for our notions of victimhood, resistance and harmony. But he also transcends all
NETFLIX
Roger Guenveur Smith retraces the events between the police beating of Rodney King and the deadly Los Angeles riots in the oneman show, “Rodney King.” of those things. “We don’t want to make Rodney King a symbol of the oppressed black man,” Smith said. “We want to portray him as a human being — a man who loved to fish, a man who was listening to De La Soul when he was pulled over, a man who was a secondgeneration alcoholic drowning victim.”
Rich in detail Smith’s piece is a grounded depiction, rich in unexpected detail: the Bob Marley wig he donned to observe the riots incognito; the father who alternately bonded with and beat him; that he actually knew Reginald Denny, the White truck driver nearly killed in the riots, from a moment they shared at a construction site. Smith delivers the material sweatily, breathily, pulsatingly, with a musicality to his voice and a meter to his patter. (“You wanna reminisce/ it goes something like this/ 91, 92/ Come on, Rodney King, you know what to do/ It was a Satur-
day night/ Right?/ And you were chilling at your boy’s crib watching the fight.”)
Words that resonate The tone can go from confrontational to plaintive and back again. Smith starts with an invocation of the Geto Boys’ accusation of the subject as an Uncle Tom (“ … Rodney King”) — unattributed to throw us off balance — and ends by recounting, in its entirety, the beautiful tentativeness of King’s landmark speech (“People, I just, I just want to say, you know, can we, can we all get along?”). In between, in segments he’s improvised and honed over the years — years in which King’s legacy loomed over high-profile incidents of police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement — Smith explores the man himself.
No spokesperson The performer is often filling in the details of King’s life, challeng-
ing and provoking him, but really, challenging and provoking the many assumptions we’ve made about him, his reduction into a symbol. “Rodney King was not somebody who tried to be somebody he was not,” Smith said. “They tried to give him courses in Black history; they wanted him to be a spokesperson. But he was a spokesperson for nothing but his own agenda.”
Lee’s take The filmmaker and performer had teamed on nine projects, including “Do the Right Thing” and “Malcolm X.” In the mid-1990s they also worked on Smith’s oneman show “Huey P. Newton.” “What Roger is doing, like Mark Twain and many of our best storytellers, is humanizing someone who’s been made into a demon, an animal, into less of a human being,” Lee explained. The director shot the piece with more than a dozen cameras, often going close-in on the performer, sometimes trailing
down his body to match a point Smith was making. At the end the lens pulls back on Smith, giving a sense of both loneliness and cosmic-ness.
Without pretense Because of its tone, “Rodney King” can have an odd effect. One can feel provoked and placated, unsettled and in harmony — often at the same time. This, Smith said, is by design. “The audience is alternatively seduced and indicted. Is it an angry piece or a conciliatory piece? Those are cliches.” Right before March’s Bootleg performance, Smith heard from Juan King, asking if he could get a ticket to see the show. Rodney King’s brother had a dramatic back story in his own right, and the request reminded Smith of all the tales that have gone untold. “Rodney King was without artifice, without pretense,” Smith said. “In him I have — the audience has — recognized someone we know.”
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MAY 5 – MAY 11, 2017
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Bring it to the table.
The food, the stories, the same old jokes and games. All the year’s happenings. Everyone and everything. Bring it all, because that’s what family is about. And this wouldn’t be a reunion without it.
Learn how Publix can help make it a family reunion to remember at publix.com/familyreunion.
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FOOD
MAY 5 – MAY 11, 2017
TOJ
FROM FAMILY FEATURES
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here’s no denying that brunch is a popular favorite, but you don’t have to leave the comfort of your own home to enjoy a delicious spread with family and friends. Enjoy this weekend luxury every day and bring brunch home with premium ingredients like Smithfield’s Hometown Original Bacon, Anytime Favorites Diced Ham and Fresh Breakfast Sausage. Delight friends and family with a full spread of mouthwatering recipes like Sausage and Egg Tarts dressed with Asparagus and Tomatoes, Cheesy Bacon Jalapeno Corn Muffins, Cinnamon French Toast Sausage Roll-Ups and Scrambled Eggs and Ham in a Waffle Cup. Then enhance your menu with options for customization like jams, butters and toppings to make brunch at home unique and unforgettable. For more brunch and entertaining recipe inspiration, visit Smithfield.com. CHEESY BACON JALAPENO CORN MUFFINS Nonstick cooking spray 1 package (16 ounces) Smithfield Hometown Original Bacon 3/4 cup all-purpose flour 3/4 cup yellow cornmeal 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese 2 eggs 6 tablespoons butter, melted 1/3 cup honey 3/4 cup milk or buttermilk 1 can corn kernels, drained 2 medium jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced 1 medium jalapeno pepper, thinly sliced Heat oven to 375 F.
Line rimmed baking pan with foil and set lightly sprayed baking rack in pan. Cut bacon crosswise into thirds and lay out bacon strips on rack, being careful not to overlap slices. Bake 10-12 minutes, or until bacon has just begun to crisp. Remove from oven and drain on paper towels. Increase oven temperature to 400 F. In large bowl, stir together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt and cheese until well mixed. In small bowl, whisk eggs until frothy and stir in melted butter, honey and milk. Add milk mixture to dry ingredients and stir until combined. Fold in corn and diced jalapeno and reserve. Lightly spray or butter 12-cup muffin tin and line each cup with two slices of bacon. Evenly divide muffin batter into cups, filling about three-fourths full and top with remaining bacon and sliced jalapeno. Bake muffins 20 minutes, or until golden brown, using toothpick to test doneness. Let cool briefly, remove muffins from tin and serve while still warm.
CINNAMON FRENCH TOAST SAUSAGE ROLL-UPS 12 Smithfield Fresh Sausage Links 2 eggs 2/3 cup milk 3 tablespoons almond liquor (optional) 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 6 slices whole-wheat bread, crust removed and cut in half 3 tablespoons butter
Cook sausage according to package directions; keep warm. Beat together eggs, milk, almond liquor and cinnamon. Dip one bread slice half in egg mixture and wrap around one sausage link. Press bread edges together where they overlap to keep from unrolling. Repeat with remaining bread and sausage links. Heat large skillet over medium heat; add butter and let melt. Place French toast-wrapped sausages in skillet, seam-side down. Cook until browned on all sides, about 10 minutes total. SCRAMBLED EGGS AND HAM IN A WAFFLE CUP 6 eggs 1/2 cup milk 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon pepper 2 cups Smithfield Honey Cured Boneless Ham Steak, diced 1 tablespoon butter 8 waffle cups (4 ounces each) 4 teaspoons maple syrup, warm, divided 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped In bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, cheese, salt and pepper; stir in ham. In 10-inch, nonstick skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add egg mixture; reduce heat to medium-low. Using wooden spoon, scrape eggs from edges of pan to center. Continue stirring eggs 3-5 minutes, or until fluffy. Scoop 1/2 cup warm scrambled eggs into waffle cup and drizzle with 1/2 teaspoon maple syrup. Garnish with fresh thyme leaves. Repeat for each waffle cup.
SAUSAGE AND EGG TARTS WITH ASPARAGUS AND TOMATOES Flour, for dusting 1 package (about 1 pound) frozen prepared puff pastry, thawed 9 eggs, brought to room temperature for 30 minutes, divided 1 teaspoon water 1 Smithfield Hometown Original Fresh Sausage Roll, sliced into 8 patties, cooked and halved 1 pound fresh asparagus spears, cut into pieces 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved lengthwise salt, to taste freshly ground black pepper, to taste 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (optional) Heat oven to 400 F. On lightly floured surface, roll out pastry and cut into eight 4-5-inch squares and transfer to greased or parchment-lined baking sheets spaced about 1 inch apart. Using small knife, lightly score line 1/2-inch inside edges of squares to create framed border. With fork, prick several holes in center of pastry squares. Bake squares 7-8 minutes, or until pastry has puffed substantially yet not begun to brown. Remove from oven and immediately tamp down centers inside of scored line carefully with back of fork. Lightly beat 1 egg with water and brush outside frames of pastry with egg wash. Slightly overlapping framed pastry borders, equally divide and arrange sausage, asparagus and tomatoes in pastry squares, leaving centers open for eggs. Top each with cracked egg, seasoning with salt and pepper and sprinkling with cheese, if desired. Return to oven and bake 8-10 minutes, or until puff pastry is golden brown and eggs have just set. Let cool slightly and transfer tarts with spatula to serving plate and serve warm.
BOOST BRUNCH WITH A BLOODY MARY BAR
Premium ingredients and worthwhile recipes are a great way to make brunch at home, and adding a Bloody Mary bar to the mix is one way to give your spread extra flair. Provide your guests multiple options for toppings so they can perfectly customize their adult beverages with garnishes like these: • Salt (plain or flavored) • Pepper • Horseradish • Smithfield Hometown Original Bacon • Celery stalks • Worcestershire sauce • Lemons • Limes • Hot sauces • Stuffed olives • Pickled green beans • Pickle spears • Onions • Cheese cubes • Cherry tomatoes