Florida Courier - June 06, 2014

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

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Journey to Freedom: The Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway

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JUNE 6 – JUNE 12, 2014

VOLUME 22 NO. 23

IS THE ‘PROMISE’ EMPTY? Only one of President Obama’s five Promise Zones serves a majority-Black population, and it is not a new idea. Does the concept work?

Based Agenda,” offered recommendations on the role the federal government WASHINGTON – Despite should play in breaking barthe disproportionate impact riers to social and economic of poverty found in African- mobility. American communities, only one of President Obama’s Established strategy “Promise Zones,” is majorPolicies targeting zip ity-Black, according to a new report by the Center for codes also are known as American Progress (CAP), “place-based” policies. They a nonpartisan research and date from at least 1933 when President Franklin Roosevelt educational institute. The report, titled “A Re- created the Tennessee Valley OLIVIER DOULIERY/ABACA PRESS/MCT newed Promise – How Authority to offset the effect President Obama spoke about ways the federal government can help economiPromise Zones Can Help of the Great Depression on Reshape the Federal Place- the southern US. cally challenged communities during a White House event on January 9. COMPILED FROM WIRE AND STAFF REPORTS

Voting rights vs. politics

In 1963, President Kennedy originated what came to be known as the Appalachian Regional Commission. It was expanded by his successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, then passed by Congress in 1965. Republicans also have supported similar efforts in the past. President Reagan, while cutting safetynet programs, pushed for an enterprise zone program that would offer jobcreating incentives to businesses in blighted urban neighborhoods; Congress refused to pass it. The program was later launched by the George H.W. Bush administration.

2014 NBA FINALS

Ready for the rematch Miami Heat forward LeBron James guarded San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker when the Heat played the Spurs in Miami on Jan. 26 during the regular season. The Heat and the Spurs will battle each other for the championship for the second year in a row.

Redistricting trial ends with both sides confident BY BRANDON LARRABEE THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

TALLAHASSEE – A historic challenge to the congressional districts drawn by state lawmakers two years ago is now in the hands of a Leon County circuit judge after a trial in the case wrapped up Wednesday. The organizations challenging the congressional districts approved two years ago say the map violates the “Fair Districts” amendments that voters adopted in 2010. Those constitutional standards bar the Legislature from using the once-a-decade redistricting process to craft political boundaries that help or harm political parties or candidates.

No closing arguments Pressed by a deadline to end the case by mid-afternoon, lawyers for the Legislature and for voting-rights organizations fighting the districts did not give their expected closing arguments after questioning of a legislative aide went on longer than expected. But attorneys for both sides See TRIAL, Page A2

SNAPSHOTS FLORIDA | A3

Trayvon Martin’s friend graduates from high school NATION | A6

Churchgoer returns couple’s $50 million lottery ticket SHOPPING | B4

Great gift ideas for Father’s Day

ALSO INSIDE

See PROMISE, Page A2

HECTOR GABINO/EL NUEVO HERALD/ MCT

Virginia publisher Ray Boone dies at 76 COMPILED FROM WIRE REPORTS

RICHMOND, Va. – Raymond H. Boone, the founder, editor and publisher of the Richmond Free Press, and an uncompromising First Amendment advocate and practitioner, died Tuesday of pancreatic cancer. He was 76. A native of Suffolk, Va., Boone earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Boston University and a master’s degree in political science from Howard University. He taught jourRaymond H. nalism at HowBoone ard for nearly nine years before starting the publication of the Free Press in 1992.

Experienced journalist Prior to joining the Howard

faculty, Boone was editor and vice president of the Baltimorebased Afro-American Newspaper Group. He also was a reporter for the Norfolk Journal and Guide. He also had daily newspaper experience, having worked as a reporter for the Quincy (Mass.) Patriot-Ledger and the Suffolk (Va.) News-Herald. While serving as a Pulitzer Prize juror on two separate occasions, he spearheaded a successful effort that resulted in the placement of African-Americans and women on the Pulitzer Board at Columbia University.

Brought ‘verve’ Among hundreds of other awards Boone received, the Poynter Institute for Media Studies in St. Petersburg honored him for his “outstanding teaching in journalism.” Black Enterprise magazine once hailed his brand of journalism as a model for the

survival of Black newspapers in America. Time magazine credited him with bringing “sophistication and verve” to the Black press. As a correspondent for the National Newspaper Publishers Association, Boone wrote from Germany, Finland, the former Soviet Union, Israel and Cuba.

Richmond activist Boone actively shaped the dialogue in Richmond – the capital of the pro-slavery rebel Confederacy during the Civil War. He made headlines by saying the Free Press would no longer use the name of the Washington Redskins pro football team, instead referring to them as “Washington’s professional football team.” “The name stems from the fact that Native Americans were scalped and butchered and a profit was made from it,” Boone said.

Supported ‘Occupy’ Boone lived next door to Richmond Mayor Dwight Jones. In 2011, Jones had just overseen the eviction of the Occupy Wall Street protestors from a Richmond downtown plaza. Protesters then descended on the mayor’s home to continue their activities. When police came to arrest protestors Boone invited them to move the camp to his front yard –right next to the mayor’s home. The protests continued. “His stalwart support for the Black community, for economic justice and fairness paved the way for change in so many ways,” said Jones. “He provided visibility for people who might otherwise be invisible to some…It’s clear to me that Ray Boone was a giant of a personality that won’t soon be forgotten.” Boone was a life member of the NAACP and Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity. He is survived by his wife of 48 years, the former Jean Patterson of Columbia, S.C., and two children.

COMMENTARY: CHARLES W. CHERRY II: RANDOM THOUGHTS OF A FREE BLACK MIND | A4 COMMENTARY: ROGER CALDWELL: ARE BLACK FLORIDIANS REALLY SICK OF GOV. RICK SCOTT? | A4


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