Florida Courier - June 12, 2015

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JUNE 12 – JUNE 18, 2015

VOLUME 23 NO. 24

ISLAM’S CIVIL WAR

An image grab from a Youtube video published in February shows Islamic State militants in Libya standing behind kidnapped Egyptian Coptic Christians on the Mediterranean coast in Libya. All of the Christians were killed.

A year after the so-called Islamic State captured territory in Iraq, experts say that a war is almost inevitable, with Saudi Arabia and the Sunni branch on one side and Iran and the Shia branch on the other side.

BY ROY GUTMAN MCCLATCHY FOREIGN STAFF / TNS

ISTANBUL, TURKEY – The Middle East crisis that peaked one year ago Wednesday when the Islamic State captured Mosul, Iraq may result in the breakup of Iraq and an indefinite continuation of a war in Syria that’s already out of control, analysts say.

Yet still worse things could happen.

“The conditions are very much

Out of control

like 1914 (the year World War I started),” says Michael Stephens of the Royal United Service Institute in London. “All it will take is one little spark, and Iran and Saudi Arabia will go at each other, believing they are fighting a defensive war.”

Hiwa Osman, an Iraqi Kurdish commentator, was even more blunt: “The whole region is braced for the big war, the war that has not yet happened, the Shiite-Sunni war.”

XINHUA/SIPA USA/TNS

No American strategy What worries scholars and expert observers the most is the seeming U.S. detachment from the region’s wars – in Syria and Iraq, from Yemen, where Saudi forces are bombing pro-Iranian insurgents, and from Libya, where Egypt has mounted airstrikes against Islamic Statelinked insurgents.

The U.S still has not developed a strategy for dealing with the Sunni extremists who now hold more territory Iraq and Syria than one year ago.

“We don’t have, yet, a complete strategy, because it requires commitments on the part of Iraqis as well,” President Obama said at the close of the G-7 summit in Germany. “The details are not

worked out.”

The experts say the Obama administration is banking on Iran to stabilize the region – a very dubious course.

“We really don’t have a strategy at all. We’re basically playing this day by day,” Robert Gates, a former secretary of defense, told See ISLAM, Page A2

BLACK MUSIC MONTH 2015

‘Happy Feelings’ coming to Daytona Beach

Cop, Florida principal lose their jobs See a related commentary on Page A5.

COMPILED FROM WIRE REPORTS

MCKINNEY, TEXAS – Either racist White residents of a community called Craig Ranch and McKinney police harassed neighborhood Black kids at a pool party last week – or law officers safely dispersed a loud, out-of-control mob of interloping teenagers.

Those were the competing narratives circulating about an incident that has become a national flashpoint about racism and police tactics – a flashpoint that also caused a Miami-Dade County high school principal his job.

Melee on video Cpl. David Eric Casebolt was caught on video cursing, throwing 15-year-old Dajerria Becton to the ground and pulling his gun on unarmed teenagers who had rushed toward him. That video, as well as a second video that showed a 19-year-old Black woman scrapping with two White women, has been viewed by millions of people online.

But residents of Craig Ranch on both sides of the dispute agreed that theirs was an unlikely neighborhood to set off a new national argument about racism.

Although it is mostly White, the subdivision includes hundreds of See CONTROL, Page A2

SNAPSHOTS NATION | A6

Alabamians try to preserve Africatown Renaming Selma bridge gets opposition FLORIDA | A3

Major honor for professional speaker TRAVEL A3

Exploring the ethnicity in Ann Arbor

ALSO INSIDE

DUANE C. FERNANDEZ, SR./HARDNOTTS PHOTOGRAPHY

June is Black Music Month, and Daytona Beach will celebrate with a concert on Sunday, June 14, showcasing Maze featuring Frankie Beverly at the Peabody Auditorium. Tickets are available online at http://www.peabodyauditorium.org.

Lawmakers pump up prisons budget by $43 million

BY DARA KAM THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

TALLAHASSEE – While slicing and dicing other areas of the budget, lawmakers plan to boost the state’s spending on prisons by $43 million to address needs such as replacing vehicles and fixing leaky roofs and to wipe out a years-long deficit.

House and Senate negotiators have reached agreement during a special legislative session on much of the Department of Corrections’ $2.3 billion budget, which includes a $43 million increase over the current-year spending. That amount is shy of the $53 million Corrections Secretary Julie Jones sought during the regular session, which ended this spring without lawmakers

reaching consensus on a state spending plan for the fiscal year that starts July 1.

The spending bump comes after the prisons agency has been rocked for the past year by reports of cover-ups of inmate deaths, corruption and retaliation against whistleblowers.

Setting aside $15.8 million to eliminate the agency’s deficit will bring the department into the black for the first time in three years.

Jones called the proposed spending – which includes 163 positions – “generous” and praised the results.

“The Legislature’s currently proposed funding is a fantastic first step that will allow the department to remain fiscally strong and continue to achieve

our vision to change lives to ensure a safer Florida,” she said.

The allocations also add $11 million for food services, including $5 million for religious diets.

In a long-running legal battle, a federal judge last month ordered the state to provide kosher meals to inmates, rejecting corrections officials’ argument that the religious diet is prohibitively expensive.

The proposed corrections budget includes an additional $16.4 million to cover expenses and contracted services, including toiletries, clothing and utility costs. Jones told senators this spring that her agency has been redirecting salary dollars to pay for such items, as well as maintenance needs like repairing leaky roofs.

House and Senate criminal justice negotiators also agreed to spend $10 million –including $2.7 million to refurbish the Union Correctional Institution infirmary – on capital projects, about $5 million short of what Jones had suggested.

Jones’ predecessor, Mike Crews, left the embattled agency late last year in apparent frustration over being unable to fill staffing gaps and provide salary increases. Crews scrimped by having inmates make their own soap and sew their own bed linens in an effort to bring down costs after lawmakers repeatedly slashed spending on prisons.

The proposed prisons spending plan includes $1.3 million

COMMENTARY: CHARLES CHERRY II: RANDOM THOUGHTS OF A FREE BLACK MIND | A4 COMMENTARY: MARIAN WRIGHT EDELMAN: CHARITY IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE | A5

See BUDGET, Page A2

FOCUS

A2

JUNE 12 – JUNE 18, 2015

Even the dogs get fed I believe that all judges should be women, because women are the most judgmental creatures on earth!

The greatest victims of female judgments are males. Women, more than anybody else, will judge men about how they, look, how they dress and where they live.

Women – not all but many – will even judge a man presumptuously on a man’s mode of transportation! You’ve heard them. When inquiring about a man, sisters will often ask, “What kind of car does he drive?”

One of the most damning, hurtful and terrible things you can call a person is a “dog,” and women describe men as dogs more than anyone else.

Women even call each other women dogs, female dogs or “bitches.” They will describe people as dogs even though they

LUCIUS GANTT THE GANTT REPORT

have never even seen nor met the person.

‘Womanly’ Jesus One biblical day, Jesus Christ was sort of acting like a woman when he spoke in a parable way to a lady that came to him seeking help for her wayward daughter.

Jesus was in an area that he was familiar with – an area that he grew up in – and was having a meal with his boys and other Jewish friends when the lady approached him seeking help for her child.

Jesus said, “Let the (Jewish)

children first be filled, for it is not meet to take the children’s bread and to cast it unto the dogs.”

The woman, who was a Greek and not a Jew, answered and said unto Jesus, “Yes, Lord; yet the dogs under the table eat of the children’s crumbs.”

Jesus knew the woman had a godly comeback, so he told the lady, “The devil is gone out of thy daughter.”

Do the right thing Sisters and brothers, no matter what people do to you or say to you, if you do the right things, say the right things and act the right way, God will bless you.

How many times have people told you that you can’t do this or you can’t say that?

People have told you that you will never be anything, you’ll never accomplish anything, you’ll never get married or have

a soul mate, you’ll never get that job or another job, you’ll never have a successful business, you’ll never finish school, or you’ll never move into your dream house.

But if you believe in God, believe in yourself, and treat people better than they treat you, your time is coming! You will rise up when haters are constantly going down.

If you are a righteous man or woman, be patient, be strong, be brave and be thankful – even when people criticize you and call you a dog.

Be good and one day your blessings will flow like water!

You’ll be criticized Yes, you will be called a dog or a “B.” If your haters really don’t like you, they’ll call you a “dirty dog.”

When they think you don’t have money and will never make money, you will be called a “junkyard dog!”

However, when you get your come-up, you will be called a “Big Dog.” I guess that is some-

thing a bit better and perhaps more acceptable.

So, all of the people that are called radicals, troublemakers, freedom fighters, activists, and even the people called dogs, don’t worry about it. Just keep doing good things, keep doing right things and keep believing.

Even a dog gets Thanksgiving turkey bones and other table scraps, including crumbs, from the dinner table.

Your day is coming and the people that described you as a dog can’t stop it!

Excerpts from Gantt columns are now posted every week on The Gantt Report’s Facebook page; become a fan. Buy Gantt’s latest book, “Beast Too: Dead Man Writing” on Amazon.com and from bookstores everywhere. Contact Lucius at www.allworldconsultants.net.

“Like” The Gantt Report page on Facebook. Click on this story at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

CONTROL

BUDGET

Black residents. And the community pool had never been a problem before.

Between official accounts and interviews with people who were in the neighborhood on June 5, some details seem clear.

for computer software upgrades.

Jones testified earlier this year that more than 9,000 corrections officers do not have access to email. The current plan would ensure that all corrections employees have email accounts.

The proposal also addresses an aging vehicle fleet that has created problems for probation officers and guards transporting inmates from prisons to other locales. Lawmakers have agreed on $750,000 purchase up to 40 new vehicles for probation officers.

Another vehicle-related issue was left unresolved Wednesday, as the two chambers’ budget chiefs – Rep. Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’Lakes, and his Senate counterpart, Tom Lee, R-Brandon – took over negotiations. The House wants to spend $1.7 million in recurring money, or funds that would be replenished every year, to replace decrepit prison buses, which have an average of 200,000 miles, according to corrections staff.

Also left up to the budget chairmen is a Senate proposal to spend $500,000 on a contract with an independent agency to conduct a security analysis of the prison system – something the agency is already doing as part of a separate contract currently underway.

The department paid $88,000 to the Association of State Correctional Administrators to conduct an audit that includes a review of prison security operations. The security audit will assess video surveillance, inmate movements, disciplinary and grievance procedures and staff and inmate supervision.The audit will also evaluate the “culture,” staffing levels and use of force at individual prisons as well as system-wide.

from A1

from A1

Party was planned The party was originally organized with several neighborhood teens who wanted to celebrate the last day of school at the admission-restricted community pool.

A mostly Black crowd showed up, and the music was loud. At one point, some people who had not been invited jumped over a fence and were confronted by a security guard. Overwhelmed, he called the police.

Beyond those details, there is plenty of dispute.

Craig Ranch resident Bryan Gestner posted on Facebook: “This was a Twitter party that turned into a mob event. Jumping pool fence. Assaulting 2 security guards, attacking a mother with three little girls. The video doesn’t show everything.” He said that the kids were drinking and “smoking weed” and would not listen to the adults around the pool.

But Jahda Bakari, 13, who lives in Craig Ranch, said there were no drugs or alcohol at the party, which had been planned for several weeks and was promoted on social media. Initially, most of the teens at the party were from Craig Ranch or nearby neighborhoods, she said.

“The party was mainly Black kids,” she said. “We all knew each other.”

Jahda said tensions escalated when uninvited teenagers began jumping the fence to get into the

ISLAM from A1

MSNBC last month.

Long conflict The one conflict where the U.S. has poured money, weapons and military advisers is Iraq, but the outlook after the Sunni city of Ramadi fell to the Sunni extremists is for a long, drawn-out conflict.

John Allen, the former retired Marine Corps general who serves as U.S. envoy to the global coalition fighting the Islamic State, told an audience in Qatar last week that it “will be a long campaign” and defeating its ideology will take “a generation or more.”

Allen laid out five areas for cooperation against the Islamic State – denying “safe haven” to its forces, disrupting the flow of foreign fighters, curbing access to foreign finances, providing humanitarian relief and responding to group’s propaganda.

But he made no mention of addressing the political causes that allowed the Islamic State to take root in Iraq – disaffection by Sunnis with their treatment by the Shiite-led central government.

COURTESY OF YOUTUBE

Fifteen-year-old Dajerria Becton was pinned down by McKinney, Texas Police Officer Eric Casebolt as an onlooker’s phone recorded the incident. party and police responded.

Instructed to run Her father, Jahi Bakari, said he understood why some of the partygoers reacted to the police with alarm. Bakari said he tells his children to run from the police if they haven’t done anything wrong, because of concerns about police brutality.

“The kids saw four police cars, and they started running,” he said. “Being a Black youth today in this climate, after Ferguson and Baltimore, I would’ve done the same – I tell them, ‘You see the cops, you go.’ There’s nothing but bad things that can possibly happen. This is a case of truth right here.”

Not enough passes Ladariene McKever, 15, said a friend had invited her to the party. A pool staff member said the group of about 30 didn’t have enough pool passes to be there.

She said a group of parents who weren’t part of the party talked about calling the police,

Solved by Sunnis “IS cannot be ended by Kurds, Shiites, Americans or Iran. It has to be done by Sunni Arabs,” said Osman.

“You need to present them with a deal for the day after IS is defeated. And no one has managed to articulate that vision for them,” he said.

Conceivably, that would be a federal system that ends Shiite domination of the security services, but most importantly secures reconciliation with Baathists, members of the party that ruled Iraq under the late dictator Saddam Hussein. Baathists are said to comprise a great many of the top positions in the Islamic State military apparatus.

“I am extremely pessimistic” about the future of Iraq, said Toby Dodge, a leading scholar on Iraq who teaches at the London School of Economics.

He said he doubted that Prime Minister Haider alAbadi, “a very decent man, a smart man,” could save Iraq. But “he’s hostage to his own constituency, radical Shiite Islamism. What he needs is to appeal to the disenfranchised Sunnis of the northwest.”

He said an Iraqi civil war “is almost unavoidable.”

U.S. ‘negligence’ Some Iraq scholars ar-

prompting some of the males at the party to hop over the fence.

About that time, a fight broke out between the 19-year-old who helped organize the party and an older White woman, Ladariene said. A video of that fight was widely distributed on conservative websites as evidence that some of the teens were violent.

The video shows that once police arrived, some of the partygoers tried to leave. Several officers moved through the crowd without incident.

But Casebolt, clearly out of control, threw Becton to the ground, then briefly drew his gun. McKinney Police Chief Greg Conley condemned Casebolt’s actions as “indefensible.”

Casebolt resigned Tuesday and, through an attorney, claimed that he was emotionally unsettled by two suicide calls he had handled shortly before responding to calls of trespassing and assault at the pool party.

Principal steps in North Miami High School

Principal Alberto Iber – in a brief public post on a story on the Miami Herald’s website before Casebolt’s resignation – defended the Texas officer’s response.

“He did nothing wrong,” Iber wrote in a comment that showed his Facebook picture, name, school and title. “He was afraid for his life. I commend him for his actions.”

His comment raised eyebrows in North Miami, where a majority of residents are Black. The student body at his school also is 99 percent non-White, according to state records.

The Miami-Dade County school district announced Wednesday that Iber had been removed as principal. The district said a replacement would be named shortly and that Iber would be reassigned to administrative duties.

Wendy Hundley, Naomi Martin and Jeffrey Weiss of The Dallas Morning News / TNS contributed to this report.

Sunnis and Shiites: Two forms of Islam Iraq’s most senior Shia cleric has issued a call to arms, as Sunni-led Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) threaten southern Iraq, dominated by the country’s Shia Muslim majority. Although Shiites make up about 60 percent of the country, they constitute only about 10 percent to 20 percent of Muslims worldwide. Neighboring Iran has the world’s largest Shiite population.

Origin of the schism

Shiite areas

After the Prophet Muhammad’s death in 632, a disagreement arose over who should succeed him as leader of Islam; two main factions emerged, creating a rift that remains almost 14 centuries later

Sunni areas

Iraq Iran

Some differences

Shiites believe that Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law, Ali, was his rightful successor, and that Ali’s descendants are the true leaders of Islam Sunnis believe that Muhammad’s most pious companions were his rightful successors, and that the leaders of Islam may be chosen by consensus

Other differences

• Shiite clerics generally have more authority among their followers than Sunni clerics do among theirs

• Most Shiites reject the idea of predestination (that God has decided who is saved and who is damned), which Sunnis accept

Source: Chicago Tribune, University of Texas Library Online

gue that the country can be saved. Decentralization of power, reconciliation with Baathists and other concessions that would motivate Sunnis to oust the Islamic State are “feasible, absolutely,” says Kenneth Pollack of the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank. But he said the administration is not making the effort.

“I believe it is negligence,” he said. “They continue to insist we can’t

raised suspicions that the U.S. won’t block the Islamic State from advancing on Aleppo.

“I just don’t think they care,” said Pollack.

want this more than the Iraqis. … This is historical nonsense. If you leave it to the Iraqis, they won’t do the right thing even if they want to.”

The other big issue left out of Allen’s presentation was a strategy for Syria, where the Islamic State has its headquarters. ProWestern rebel forces are willing to fight the Islamic State but insist on also taking on the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad,

• Shiites allow temporary marriages and use different inheritance laws © 2014 MCT

which has permitted the Islamic State to seize and hold territory, mostly without a fight.

Last week, when Islamic State forces advanced on the country’s biggest city, Aleppo, the regime bombed rebels, not Islamic State forces. In response to rebel pleas, the U.S. mounted one airstrike Sunday against the Islamic State, but it didn’t coordinate it with fighters on the ground. This has

Everyone agrees that the international system is very different from 1914, when the two competing European alliances started World War I. But there are similarities.

That was “a crisis nobody wanted to have.

When it came, it would be over in a few months’ time.

It would end all wars. Everybody knows what happened,” said Thorbjorn Jagland, a Norwegian politician and secretary general of the Council of Europe, a human rights watchdog body.

“I don’t want to call the leaders today sleepwalkers, but maybe they have entered into a situation that nobody intended or wanted,” he said.

“There are too many actors and too many unknowns. Everyone seems to be stuck in his own way,” said Altay Cengizer, director of policy planning at the Turkish Foreign Ministry. He warned of the dangers of a prolonged crisis.

“We are playing with fire,” he said. “You cannot all day long play with fire. A fire will start.”

JUNE 12 – JUNE 18, 2015

FLORIDA

A3

Penalty remains for refusing breath test

The memorandum of understanding will enhance access to quality education for the people of Siaya County. It also will provide for joint educational and research activities, exchange of students and scholars, and increased funding opportunities for the College of Agriculture and Food Sciences (CAFS) from agencies such as USAID, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and other global organizations.

Siaya County is located in the southwest part of Kenya and has a population of more than 840,000. It is one of 47 counties in the nation. Under the Constitution of Kenya, county governments oversee county health services, trade development, pre-primary education, implementation of specific national government policies, and public work and services.

THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

An appeals court last week upheld the constitutionality of a state law that allows criminal charges to be filed against suspected drunken drivers who refuse to take breath tests.

The 18-page ruling by the 5th District Court of Appeal came in a Volusia County case that stemmed from the October 2013 arrest of William Williams on a suspicion of driving under the influence.

A police officer asked Williams to take a breath test but did not have a warrant. Williams refused to take the test.

The case centered, at least in part, on a law that applies to people who refuse to submit to breath tests after also refusing to submit to tests in earlier DUI cases, according to the June 5 ruling. That law allows such people to be charged with first-degree misdemeanors.

Collaborative ventures PHOTOS COURTESY OF FAMU

Florida A&M Provost Marcella David, left, and Siaya County Governor Cornel Rasanga Amoth, right, sign a memorandum of understanding. They are joined by Amoth’s Agriculture Chief of Staff Dr. Omamo Kevin Ndai.

Partnership forming between FAMU and Kenyan county

No-contest plea Williams, who had previously refused a breath test, entered a no-contest plea in the October 2013 arrest, with the caveat that he could appeal.

The appeals-court ruling weighed whether the Florida law violates the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment, which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures.

The court focused on whether it is unconstitutional to file criminal charges when officers do not have warrants for breath tests.

“Here, balancing the state’s legitimate interest against the degree to which the breath-alcohol test would have intruded upon Williams’ privacy, we conclude that the warrantless test would have been reasonable under the Fourth Amendment,’’ said the ruling, written by Judge Jay Cohen and joined by judges Thomas Sawaya and Richard Orfinger.

“The state clearly has a legitimate interest in decreasing and prosecuting drunk driving.”

Agreement will enhance research, funding opportunities SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA COURIER

Dr. Robert Taylor, right, FAMU’s dean of College of Agriculture and Food Sciences, and Beverly Taylor (left), met with Mama Sarah Obama (President Obama’s grandmother) in her rural home in Kenya to gain support for the FAMU and Siaya County›s partnership.

Florida A&M University (FAMU) Provost Marcella David and Siaya County, Kenya Governor Cornell Rasanga Amoth signed a memorandum of understanding last week that will open the door to enhancing educational and research opportunities between the university and the African county.

It also will provide a roadmap for further expansion by FAMU in Kenya and East Africa.

David praised CAFS Dean Dr. Robert Taylor and his staff for forging the agreement that will put FAMU at the forefront of U.S. land-grant institutions in terms of fostering collaborative ventures with African nations.

“Dean Taylor is to be commended for his steadfast efforts to bring us to the point where we can sign this MOU that will lay the groundwork for immense opportunities between FAMU and Siaya County,” said David.

“The agreement is a critical piece of President Elmira Mangum’s vision to have FAMU become a best-in-class, land-grant doctoral research university with an international presence, and to provide opportunities for our students to obtain a global education that is vital for success in the 21st century global economy.”

The agreement also supports President Barack Obama’s initiative to improve food security in Siaya County. President Obama’s grandmother, Mama Sarah Obama, is currently an ambassador of food security there.

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.’

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

ccherry2@gmail.com

Facebook ccherry2 excellencewithoutexcuse

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

Miami Dolphins rookies tackle jobs at Fort Lauderdale YMCA SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA COURIER

FORT LAUDERDALE – On June 5, the Miami Dolphins Rookie class participated in its second community service project at L.A. Lee YMCA Family Center in Fort Lauderdale.

“Being in the position that we’re in – being in the NFL with the Dolphins organi-

Tampa motivational speaker chosen for international convention

BY FLORIDA COURIER STAFF

…AND MUCH MORE!

Contact Charles at

COURTESY OF THE MIAMI DOLPHINS

Jay Ajayi, Andrew Franks, Cedric Thompson and Jamil Douglas build a picnic table.

Twitter @ccherry2

Delatorro L. McNeal II’s dream has been to become a successful motivational speaker.

McNeal, who is from Tampa, has delivered more than 3,000 paid presentations in 49 of the 50 states and abroad. He has made presentations to major corporations, colleges and universities, professional associations, conventions, churches, and leadership conferences.

On June 17, a dream Delatorro L. comes true when McNeal McNeal will be the keynote speaker at the Million Dollar Round Table (MRDT) annual convention to be held in New Orleans. About 10,000 people are expected to attend.

Founded in 1927, the Million Dollar

zation – people look up to you, children look up to you,” Dolphins fifth round draft pick Bobby McCain said. “It feels good to help people in need. Having the rookies out here, having us come together as one unit with the Dolphins partnering with Rebuilding Together; it just feels good to come out and serve the community.”

In partnership with Rebuilding Together Broward County, the rookies beautified the YMCA by painting walkways, stairwells, mulching the herb garden and play areas as well as assembling picnic tables as part of their effort to immerse themselves in service to the South Florida community.

Round Table is a global, independent association of more than 42,000 of the world’s leading life insurance and financial services professionals from countries around the world.

“This is the largest audience I have ever spoken in from front of. This is the biggest speech of my entire career so far. I am honored and humbled and excited to speak at MDRT,’’ said McNeal who earned a bachelor’s and master’s from Florida State University. He also is the author of “Caught Between A Dream and A Job: How to Leave the 9-5 Behind and Step into the Life You’ve Always Wanted.’’

Over 600 speakers from around the world were considered during a four-month vetting process by MDRT. McNeal said his speech will be simultaneously translated into 12 different languages during his presentation.

“While God has blessed me to do some international work already, this event is going to open huge international doors for my speaking career, and I can’t be more excited. God is so good and so faithful, and I give Him all the glory and praise for opening this door for me, McNeal added.

EDITORIAL

A4

JUNE 12 – JUNE 18, 2015

Gaddafi’s last speech to the people of Libya Editor’s note: Muammar Gaddafi was Libya’s revolutionary leader who governed Libya from 1969 until he was killed with the help of American military airstrikes in 2011. Gaddafi was born on June 7, 1942.

In the name of Allah, the beneficent, the merciful…

For 40 years, or was it longer, I can’t remember, I did all I could to give people houses, hospitals, schools, and when they were hungry, I gave them food. I even made Benghazi into farmland from the desert.

I stood up to attacks from that cowboy Ronald Reagan, when he killed my adopted orphaned daughter. He was trying to kill me.

Instead, he killed that poor innocent child. Then I helped my brothers and sisters from Africa with money for the African Union.

I did all I could to help people

MUAMMAR GADDAFI COMMENTARY

understand the concept of real democracy, where people’s committees ran our country.

Never satisfied But that was never enough, as some told me. Even people who had 10-room homes, new suits and furniture, were never satisfied. As selfish as they were, they wanted more.

They told Americans and other visitors that they needed “democracy” and “freedom,” never realizing it was a cutthroat system where “the biggest dog eats the rest.” They were enchanted with those words, never realizing

that in America, there was no free medicine, no free hospitals, no free housing, no free education and no free food – except when people had to beg or go to long lines to get soup.

No matter what I did, it was never enough for some. But for others, they knew I was the son of Gamal Abdel Nasser, the only true Arab and Muslim leader we’ve had since Salah-al-Deen, when he claimed the Suez Canal for his people, as I claimed Libya for my people. It was his footsteps I tried to follow, to keep my people free from colonial domination – from thieves who would steal from us.

Now I am under attack by the biggest force in military history. My little African son Obama wants to kill me – to take away the freedom of our country, to take away our free housing, our free medicine, our free education, our free food – and replace it with

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: TSA FLUNKS DETECTION TESTS

STEVE SACK, THE MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE

Random thoughts of a free Black mind, v. 259 Ferguson, Mo. – Black folks there can’t get it together. They could have started over by electing new city councilors; Black voters didn’t turn out. Recently, they attempted to dump the current mayor, James Knowles, who sat by as Black residents were traffic-ticketed and criminalized by its lily-White police force to balance the city’s budget. They needed 1,800 valid signatures from voters registered in Ferguson to put a vote to recall the mayor on the ballot.

What happened? Of 2,133 signatures turned in, only 1,008 were valid. The reasons more than half the signatures were invalidated? No address; no signature; not registered to vote; wrong signature; duplicate signature. Now Knowles is talking trash, saying that this is proof that it’s all-good in Ferguson’s neighborhoods, and he has a mandate to keep doing what he’s doing.

I’m not helping anybody who won’t help himself or herself. Y’all keep marching in Ferguson if you want to…

McKinney, Texas – Read the story on Page A1. Speaking of dumb, check this out: ‘(Jahi) Bakari said he tells his children to run from the police if they haven’t done anything wrong, because of concerns about police brutality. “The kids saw four police cars, and they started running,” he said. “Being a Black youth

QUICK TAKES FROM #2: STRAIGHT, NO CHASER

CHARLES W. CHERRY II, ESQ. PUBLISHER

today in this climate, after Ferguson and Baltimore, I would’ve done the same – I tell them, ‘You see the cops, you go.’”

What Black father anywhere in America other than this guy would tell his kids to run from the police? What’s their destination? When do they stop running?

Bruh, are you looking to get your kids killed?

The Texas version of the Department of Children & Family Services should be knocking on this dude’s door. It doesn’t sound as if he’s qualified to raise a Black child in America in the 21st century…

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American-style thievery called “capitalism.”

We know But all of us in the Third World know what that means. It means corporations run the countries, run the world, and the people suffer.

So, there is no alternative for me. I must make my stand, and if Allah wishes, I shall die by following His path, the path that has made our country rich with farmland, with food and health, and even allowed us to help our African and Arab brothers and sisters. I do not wish to die, but if it comes to that, to save this land, my people, all the thousands who are all my children, then so be it.

Let this testament be my voice to the world, that I stood up to crusader attacks of NATO, stood up to cruelty, stood up to betrayal,

stood up to the West and its colonialist ambitions, and that I stood with my African brothers, my true Arab and Muslim brothers, as a beacon of light.

Lived modestly When others were building castles, I lived in a modest house, and in a tent. I never forgot my youth in Sirte, I did not spend our national treasury foolishly, and like Salah-al-Deen, our great Muslim leader who rescued Jerusalem for Islam, I took little for myself.

In the West, some have called me “mad,” “crazy.” They know the truth yet continue to lie. They know that our land is independent and free, not in the colonial grip; that my vision, my path is – and has been – clear and for my people and that I will fight to my last breath to keep us free.

May Allah almighty help us to remain faithful and free.

Click on this story at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

Follow, advice, guidance of these wise ‘race men’ I have learned that it is not whom one talks to that is critical; it’s whom one listens to. Black America would be much better if we had listened to the following advice.

Harold Cruse: “Although the average Blacks are better off in the 1980s than their forbearers, the tasks they face from now on through the year 2000 will be difficult – calling for more organizational skill, political ingenuity and imagination, intellectual endurance, hard work and application of though than ever before.”

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: “The art of alliance politics is more complex and more intricate than if is generally pictured. It is easy to put exciting combinations on paper….A true alliance is based upon some self-interest of each component group and a common interest into which they merge. For an alliance to have permanence and loyal commitment from its various elements, each of them must have a goal from which it benefits and none must have an outlook in basic conflict with others.”

Brother Malcolm X: “Basically, there are two kinds of power that count in America: economic and political, with social power deriving from the two….

The organization of Afro-

A. PETER BAILEY TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM

American Unity will organize the Afro-American community block by block to make the community aware of its power and potential; we will start immediately a voter registration drive to make every unregistered voter in the Afro-American community an independent voter; we propose to support and/ or organize political clubs, to run independent candidates for office, and to support any Afro-American already in office who answers to and is responsible to the Afro-American community.”

Carter G. Woodson: “In the schools of business administration, Negroes are trained excessively in the psychology and economics of Wall Street and are, therefore, made to despise the opportunities to run ice wagons, push banana carts and sell peanuts among their own people. Foreigners, who have not studied economics, but have studied Negroes, take up this business and grow rich.”

Earl B. Dickerson: “As more and more Blacks move into the middle class,

they owe a responsibility to the Black community.

If Blacks go into the White community to get the know-how, and then stay there, they are only pushing further away from the possibilities of Blacks ever becoming economically sufficient.

“I call upon these young men and women to get the experience, to get the foundation, and before they get too old, to move the Black community to help Blacks achieve economic equality.

“The economic insufficiency in the Black community can never be improved to any substantial extent merely by employing a few middle-class Blacks….We’ve got to improve the purchasing power of the total community…”

Benjamin E. Mays: “I hope we will make it clear to ourselves and our children that whether we believe in integration, separatism or nationalism, there is no substitute for a trained mind. For the future belongs…to the man who knows, and the man who has skills.”

Let us pay close attention to what they have said and use them as guidelines for action.

Contact A. Peter Bailey at apeterb@verizon.net.

Tyler Perry gets Atlanta land on fake job claims Nobody celebrates themselves more tirelessly and uncritically than Black America’s wealthy and empowered political class of millionaire entertainers, business types, preachers and politicians. Unfortunately, Black folks outside that charmed circle also tend to applaud the glittering wealth of Black celebrities without bothering to look at where that wealth comes from.

Millionaires and wages Last year in Black Agenda Report, we talked about near-billionaire former NBA star Junior Bridgman, who owns more than a hundred Applebee’s and Wendy’s restaurants, and spends millions each year lobbying Congress and state legislatures to keep his workers’ wages nice and low.

There’s Earvin “Magic” Johnson, who’s a major partner in Sodexo, a firm that privatizes food service in prisons, public schools and charter schools, and janitorial service in schools as well, making tens of millions a year relentlessly cutting jobs, wages and quality of service.

In Atlanta, there’s Tyler Perry. Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed is rushing through a deal with as lit-

BRUCE A. DIXON BLACK AGENDA REPORT

tle public scrutiny or input as possible to sell Perry 331 prime acres of a former military base less than four miles from downtown Atlanta – for a mere $30 million – to build new production studios and whatever else he might want to do.

Little impact If Atlanta doesn’t hurry up and give Perry this land, Reed says, Perry might take the 8,000 new jobs he claims his studio might create somewhere else. Never mind the fact that Perry’s existing Atlanta studios have been sketchily constructed and maintained, and had little or no positive economic impact on their surrounding neighborhood.

Atlanta mayors have a tradition of lying about how many jobs will be created when they give public resources and land to their friends. Previous Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin claimed her Atlanta Beltline boondoggle would create 40,000 temporary and 30,000 permanent new jobs – if only Atlanta would divert $140 million away

from the public schools every year for twenty-some years.

A studio the size of Perry’s will use a tenth or less of 331 acres. Most of the 800 or fewer jobs there will be professional and managerial folks already working for Perry.

No guarantees The fact is, Reed wants to hurry up and give Perry the land without any guarantees whatsoever of how many permanent jobs will be created, how many units of affordable housing will be constructed – and without consulting the area’s existing residents and business owners. Perry made substantial contributions to Georgia’s Republican governor. Expect him to support Reed in any other office he might seek.

There has never been any interest from Atlanta City Hall in involving the public on how the 440-acre former military base will be integrated into the city.

Instead, Atlanta’s greedy and myopic Black political class sees only a chance to make a few of its already wealthy members a lot richer – at the expense of everybody else.

Bruce Dixon is managing editor of BlackAgendaReport.com.

JUNE 12 – JUNE 18, 2015

EDITORIAL

Charity is not a substitute for justice In his speech the night before his murder, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. repeated the biblical parable of “the Good Samaritan” who stopped and helped the desperate traveler who had been beaten, robbed, and left half-dead as he journeyed along the road from Jerusalem to Jericho.

The Good Samaritan is traditionally considered a model of charity for his willingness to treat a stranger as a neighbor and friend. Dr. King agreed that we are all called to follow his example and serve those around us who need help. But he reminded us that true compassion – true justice – requires also attacking the forces that leave others in need in the first place.

Worse now Many of the cracks in America’s edifice Dr. King identified 50 years ago are deeper today. Corporate executive compensation and corporate greed and welfare have skyrocketed to morally obscene levels, while middle-class and minimum-wage workers and people seeking work have been left behind.

In 2012-2013, 4.9 million American households, including 1.3 million with children, had no cash income, relying only on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, or food stamps) to stave off the wolves of hunger – a program Republican majorities in both houses of Congress seek to shred while increasing government welfare to the wealthiest individuals and corporations.

Countless Black, Latino, and Native American youths see no hope for the future because there are no jobs for them and our schools are not preparing the majority of them for the jobs of the future.

Government safety net programs have lifted many millions

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: PRISON ESCAPEES

In 2012-2013, 4.9 MARIAN WRIGHT EDELMAN NNPA COLUMNIST

– but not all children – out of poverty. Investments in nine federal programs that help make work pay, increase employment, and meet children’s basic needs could lift 60 percent of our 14.7 million poor children out of poverty now.

Under attack

million American households, including 1.3 million with children, had no cash income, relying only on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance

Instead, these programs are under systematic attack today. We must reject proposals that treat Program (SNAP, or food our children so unfairly while others lavish tens of billions on stamps) to stave off the powerful and rich.

With true structural change, there would be far less need for the wolves of hunger – charity. Without such change, the very best charitable efforts will nev- a program Republican er be enough. How many private foundations could make up for the majorities in both denial of Medicaid or for the looming cuts in food stamps and other safety net programs? Yet, like so houses of Congress many other prophets, Dr. King’s voice was often at odds with lead- seek to shred while ers – or conveniently left unheard by citizens in his own land.

During Dr. King’s lifetime, Pres- increasing government ident Lyndon Johnson’s great War on Poverty attempted to ad- welfare to the dress some of the inequalities in the United States that needed re- wealthiest individuals dressing and restructuring. But Richard Nixon sent a very different message as he accepted the and corporations.

Republican presidential nomination in August 1968 already criti- take care of themselves – all the cizing President Johnson’s new more charged because he chose anti-poverty efforts. to deliver it at an appearance at the Neshoba County Fair in PhilSo-called ‘trap’ adelphia, Miss., the county where When Ronald Reagan ran for three young civil rights workers president in 1980, he gave a sim- – James Chaney, Andrew Goodilar message about letting people man, and Michael Schwerner –

Police brutality, or resisting arrest?

You can be forgiven for the impression that America is experiencing an epidemic of violent confrontations between Black kids and White cops. Their latest confrontation had White cops hurling profanities, and one of them even drawing his gun, just to disperse Black kids at an unruly pool party near Dallas, Texas.

That one trigger-happy cop was clearly wrong in this case. He has already been suspended and will be duly punished. But it only adds fuel to these racial flare-ups for those of us watching on TV or online to cast aspersions on the kids or blame upon the police.

A5

ANTHONY L. HALL, ESQ. FLORIDA COURIER COLUMNIST

dropped the gun he had illegally in his possession; it misfired; he fell to the ground out of fright; he was so traumatized by his own reckless attempt to resist arrest that he had to be taken to hospital.

On the other hand, I saw with my own eyes the viral video of a White cop in South Carolina shooting a Black man in the back, then planting evidence to cover Look carefully As mindful as I am about how up his egregious misconduct. racial dynamics play out in these confrontations, an incident dur- ‘Ferguson effect’ ing last month’s riots in Baltimore Unfortunately, the fallout from chastened even me. this epidemic of violent confronIt stemmed from the very emo- tations is a spike in all manner of tional eyewitness account a Black crimes, in predominantly Black girl gave of seeing a White cop cities, across the country. It’s shoot a Black man in the back in called “the Ferguson effect.” the middle of the street. I believed Now we’re being treated to this her. No less a person than a White chicken-or-the-egg spectacle: reporter for FOX News gave a sim- Black activists saying White cops ilar eyewitness account. are deliberately boycotting Black Except that the Black man they neighborhoods; White cops saysaw was fleeing from the cop; he ing they’ve had it with Black activ-

ists accusing them of racism and police brutality for trying to police Black neighborhoods. Whatever the case, Black people compose more than 90 percent of those affected by this untenable state of affairs.

Meanwhile, the legacy of racism in America is such that confrontations between Black kids and White cops are never black and white. What is so, however, is that these confrontations would not be epidemic if disregarding police commands and resisting arrest had not somehow become normalized among so many Black kids.

Rules for kids Ever since this latest epidemic of America’s original sin coming home to roost began last summer, I’ve been pleading with Black kids to follow the few simple rules listed in my August 12, 2014 column about Michael Brown’s death.

Those rules are: • Do not run.

• Follow instructions calmly (i.e., no sudden moves that might spook a nervous policeman).

• Wait for the police to explain why you’re being stopped before politely posing any objections,

Why we need a moral reformation How long will we allow people who don’t care about what happens to African-Americans vilify DR. us? How long will the media porSINCLAIR tray people of color as less than GREY III human?

I’m fed up with the notion that GUEST COLUMNIST we have to behave a certain way in order to be accepted by others adrenaline during the interview. who don’t look like us, care about After the interview, he was quickus, understand us, or even care to ly and unjustly labeled. learn anything about us.

A man who is intelligent, articulate, and educated is judged by New code word the reaction of a White woman.

Does this give one person the Because of what transpired, many right to act up and act out? No it Whites and some African-Amerdoesn’t. However, it does mean icans labeled him a thug. Why? that no one has the right to label Because many of them are on the us as inhumane or as “thugs” – payroll of companies that say it’s the new code word for “nigger.” palatable to talk about the actions When Seattle Seahawks foot- of African-Americans, but don’t ball player Richard Sherman was you dare speak out against the acinterviewed by Erin Andrews tions of Whites. (a White female reporter) after Whoever signs the paycheck the NFC Championship game has some control of what a peragainst the San Francisco 49ers son can say. No longer is one able almost two years ago, the world to voice their personal opinion was aghast because she appeared when it doesn’t go along with the frightened by his language and views of the organization.

Questions to media The protests in Baltimore led to another discussion. Protests against police brutality escalated to looting and rioting. Under no circumstances do I condone looting or rioting. However, I do have a problem with many in the media calling people “thugs.”

I would like to ask the same media the following questions: what do you call people who constantly uses their power to oppress the least and left out? What do you call people who refuse to provide adequate resources to schools and neighborhoods? What do you call people who are more inclined to lock up African-Americans rather than develop programs to help them and empower them?

People who like to label people without getting to know them need moral reformation take place in their lives. “Moral reformation” is the ability to love and respect people, to undo injustice, and to uplift people. Whenever people are more concerned

ADAM ZYGLIS, THE BUFFALO NEWS

were murdered in June 1964.

Reagan said as governor of California he had learned many people were poor because the government “bureaucracy” there to help them “has them so economically trapped that there is no way they can get away.” His first budget as president sought to eradicate virtually the entire federal safety net and replace it with block grants and billions of budget cuts.

Same tune The same familiar accusations and policies are back from some leaders today who believe government’s safety net is responsible for putting poor people in a “poverty trap,” and they will only be able to escape it if we shred the safety net to pieces.

Can the most dedicated volunteer at a children’s hospital give every child in her community access to preventive health care if Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program are restructured or slashed deeply as some are proposing?

Should we be satisfied because we helped a single wounded trav-

eler if we didn’t do anything else about the rest who travel the road to Jericho at risk of attack or unjust stop-and-frisk and police brutality tactics and law enforcement policies that too often take rather than protect Black lives?

What is so scary today is that so many young children and men of color have to combat daily violence in their own neighborhoods and from law enforcement officials enjoined to protect them.

We are facing another inflection point in our nation. I hope and pray we will hear and heed and move towards and not away from becoming a more just nation.

Will we just let everybody worry about himself or herself – and rely on needed acts of charity – to get by? Or will we reform the deep unjust structural inequalities and injustices at America’s core that favor the powerful?

Marian Wright Edelman is president and founder of the Children’s Defense Fund (www. childrensdefense.org). Click on this story at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

that erupted among concertgoers even before a hip-hop and R&B concert got underway in New Jersey on Sunday. True to form, White cops became the racist villains for using universally accepted methods to maintain/restore order, after many concertgoers became unruly.

I wonder how the hip-hop artists – who make a living vilifying cops – will feel when fans stop attending their concerts? It would be reasonable for fans to fear getting caught up in such wanton violence, especially knowing that cops might be reluctant to intervene out of reasonable fear of being accused of racism and police brutality.

Increasing incidents of deadly confrontations between White kids and White cops do not mean that issues of race are not involved in increasing incidents of deadly confrontations between Black kids and White cops.

Media silent It’s complicated.

We rarely read or hear about these incidents because the meAnthony L. Hall is a Bahamidia determined long ago that they an native with an internationdo not provide the same kind of al law practice in Washington, boon for ratings that stoking racial tensions between Black kids D.C. Read his columns and daily weblog at www.theipinionsand White cops does.

Which, incidentally, is why journal.com. Click on this story there has been so much coverage at www.flcourier.com to write of the all-too-familiar violence your own response.

concerns, or questions.

• If instructed to turn around to be frisked or handcuffed, comply without uttering a word.

• Save any disagreements or arguments you may have for the courtroom or your civilian complaints review board.

I suspect it will take a Black savior like President Obama to deliver this message effectively. I urge him to do so – before more Black kids end up like Michael Brown.

The way these confrontations are trending does not bode well.

That said, nothing in this commentary is intended to convey any belief that Black kids are the only ones defying police commands and resisting arrest these days. After all, White kids are provoking similar confrontations (as their mindless rioting following last year’s NCAA hockey championship in Minnesota attests), but White cops are shooting many more of them.

about themselves and what they can get for themselves, a moral dilemma occurs. Without listening to the pain of those who have been victimized by systems, unfair judgment and categorization happens.

How can things ever get better?

How can moral reformation occur?

What happened in Baltimore should spark a discussion that seeks to expose the problem instead of trivializing the symptoms. Those in positions of leadership must get to know the people they represent. That means walking the neighborhood and talking with people, not about a vote, but about the people, their pain, their concerns, and their neighborhood.

Value self People in communities must value themselves through cleanup actions and community empowerment, to name a few activities. Races and cultures must come together. Collectively, we can make a difference.

The time to dismiss name-calling is now. The time to uplift peo-

ple through words must start today. No more giving people permission to name-call, disrespect, or even demean our brothers and sisters. No one should participate in this action and think it’s okay.

Steve Maraboli in his book “Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience,” said, “We all make mistakes, have struggles, and even regret things in our past. But you are not your mistakes, you are not your struggles, and you are here NOW with the power to shape your day and your future.”

Dr. Sinclair Grey III is an activist, speaker, writer, author, life coach, and host of The Sinclair Grey Show heard on Mondays at 2pm on WAEC Love 860am (iHeart Radio and Tune In). Contact him at drgrey@ sinclairgrey.org or on Twitter @drsinclairgrey. Click on this story at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

TOJ A6

NATION & WORLD

JUNE 12 – JUNE 18, 2015

Alabama’s Africatown trying to preseve roots America’s last slaves were taken illegally to community near Mobile

BY MATTHEW TEAGUE LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

AFRICATOWN, Ala. — For miles, north of downtown Mobile, industrial compounds march along the Mobile River. Enormous paper mills, oil companies, shipyards stand shoulder to shoulder.

But hidden within them, there’s something much smaller and older: a place called Africatown.

The community is largely forgotten now, a collection of rotting shotgun houses. When it does come up in conversation — when giving directions forces people to reference the Africatown bridge, for instance — Alabamans wince with embarrassment, as though by saying the name out loud they are participating in a ghetto experiment started by racist ancestors. Nothing could be more wrong.

“We remember,” Charles Hope said recently, standing in a small, brick building full of Africatown artifacts. Hope is 72 years old and was born in Africatown. Not at a Mobile hospital, he noted, but “at the house.”

Residents here call the brick building “the den,” and they speak of it with reverence; as the industrial world closes in on Africatown, the den houses evidence of the origins of the community. Hope picked up a photograph with the care most people might reserve for an ancient religious manuscript. “Cudjo,” he said — a silver-haired Black man. “Cudjo was one of our top slaves.”

Top slaves?

“Oh, yes. And the last.”

Illegal slave trade Southern plantation owners held and traded slaves long after the U.S. Congress made the importation of new slaves from Africa illegal in 1807. Half a century later, the story goes, a wealthy local ship builder named Tim Meaher made a bet over drinks with Northern friends: He could ship a boatload of Africans right into Mobile Bay without a problem.

So in 1859, Meaher’s two-masted schooner, the Clotilde, sailed to West Africa, where the king of Dahomey — now called Benin — sold him 130 slaves, including Cudjo. By the time the Clotilde made it back to the Gulf of Mexi-

PHOTOS BY MATTHEW TEAGUE/LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

Charles Hope, who was born in Africatown, Ala., poses in the “den,” a building that houses artifacts about the community’s past. dening here for 43 years.

He started as a teenager.

“This is my food supply,” he said. “I figure I’ve got maybe one or two more good years at it.”

Perine laughed. “You’ve got 10 more years and you know it!”

Fight against industries

Ronald Perine is one of several Africatown, Ala., residents who tend gardens on land underneath power lines operated by Alabama Power. Some gardeners have raised food there for decades. The company lets them farm for free and the Africatown residents maintain the land. co, U.S. federal authorities were on the lookout.

The ship’s captain transferred his human cargo to a riverboat in Mobile Bay and set fire to the Clotilde to destroy evidence of its purpose. From the riverboat, the slaves were distributed to masters throughout the Mobile area. They were freed six years later with the end of the Civil War. The people brought across the Atlantic on the Clotilde reunited and settled north of Mobile, and called their community Africatown. They spoke

their own language, followed their own customs and, above all, worked to stay self-sufficient. They used African gardening techniques, for instance, to feed themselves and their families without depending on anyone outside their small patch of land.

That’s still going on.

A farming deal After he locked the door to the den, Hope drove his old pickup truck to visit his friends Ronald Perine and Willie Jones. Ronnie and Junebug, people call them. He finds them where

Selma congresswoman opposes renaming ‘Bloody Sunday’ bridge

BY JASON DICK CQ-ROLL CALL/TNS

Rep. Terri A. Sewell, D-Ala., who represents Selma and grew up there, has come out strongly against renaming the Edmund Pettus Bridge, site of the 1963 Bloody Sunday clash between civil rights marchers and Alabama police.

On June 3, the Alabama Senate voted to rename the bridge, named after a Confederate general and grand Rep. Terri dragon of the Ku Klux Klan, Sewell to the Journey to Freedom Bridge. The state House and the governor would still have to approve the bill before the name could be changed.

Sewell, who is African-American, said it

President Obama, his family and invited guests walk over the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., on March 7.

BRIAN VAN DER BRUG/ LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

is important to recognize the history behind the bridge.

“I am strongly opposed to changing the name of the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

The historical irony is an integral part of the complicated history of Selma — a city known for its pivotal role in Civil War and the civil rights movement. The bridge is an iconic symbol of the struggle for voting rights in America, and its name is as significant as its imposing structure.

“Changing the name of the bridge would change the course of history and compromise the historical integrity of the voting rights movement. As inheritors of the legacy surrounding the historical events that took place in Selma, we must safeguard that history — good and bad and resist attempts to rewrite it,” a release from Sewell’s office states.’’

The city of Selma hosted thousands of people in February and March for the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday.

they spend all day, most days: on a strip of land under high electrical cables, strung tower to tower across Africatown.

Long ago — longer than anyone can remember — the men of Africatown struck a deal with Alabama Power to farm the land under the cables. It provided them food, and saved the energy company the cost of maintaining the land.

The men divided up the strip into half-acre plots, where they farmed corn, peppers, sugar cane and anything else that would grow. Jones has been gar-

The sound of a train whistle cut into their conversation, ending any illusion that they were farmers on open land. The electrical cables swayed overhead, and paper mills with their tall smokestacks and strange smells loomed beyond the end of the garden.

Perine shook his head.

“It’s been an ongoing fight to keep the big industries out,” he said. Africatown’s residents thought that fight was over in 2012, when the community was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. But last year, he said, they realized otherwise, when the Plains All American oil company arrived to reroute a pipe through Africatown.

“It happened so fast.

One day we came out to work, and they had equipment and machines lined up, digging day and night, with security,” Perine said.

Residents came out to protest with signs and slogans, but the work went ahead.

“That pipeline started way up in Canada. There was no way they were going to

let it get stopped in Africatown.”

Revitalization plan Cleon Jones grew up in Africatown and went on to play baseball for the “Miracle Mets,” who won the World Series in 1969. He said Africatown’s population was about 4,000 when he was a young man. It has since dwindled to less than half of that, strangled by the industrial complexes that rose up around it.

“As far as I’m concerned they never did anything but dump on us,” he said, listing specific toxic spills that were never cleaned up. The cleanup would have cost the companies too much, he said, so they just closed up and moved on — only to be replaced by new mills and manufacturers.

“There is some good on the horizon, though,” Jones said. This month, the Mobile City Council voted to spend $100,000 on a plan to revitalize three neglected areas, including Africatown.

“Ultimately, we want to bring in some tourism,” he said. “We have some real history.”

Travelers, Jones hopes, might visit the burial marker of Cudjo, America’s final African slave when he died in 1935.

The stone bearing his name reads “Last survivor.”

Kenya to restore gravesite of Obama’s dad TRICE EDNEY NEWS WIRE

Preparing for the July visit of President Barack Obama, officials of Siaya County in Kenya are proposing to spend 1 million shillings or just over $10,000 on the restoration, maintenance and care of the grave.

Governor Cornel Rasanga gave the Department of Tourism the go-ahead to implement the project before Air Force One arrives in Nairobi.

The restoration funds also will cover the grave of Obama’s grandfather who lies next to his father. Other plans for the site include a visitor’s park in Kogelo, where Mama Sarah (Obama’s stepmother) “will receive her visitors,” Siaya tourism chief Charles Akello said by phone.

“Remember these plans were planned long ago, before we even had information that the U.S. president would be visiting the country,’’ he said.

Summit next month President Obama’s travel plans became widely known after a phone call to President Uhuru Kenyatta following the devastating terror attack on Kenya’s Garissa University that claimed over 140 lives.

Obama expressed his condolences and those of American citizens for the

The grave of President Obama’s father is cleaned of leaves by first cousin, Moses Obama. students and security personnel killed during the attack. He assured Kenyatta he had not changed his plans to co-host the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) in Kenya as part of his of his fourth presidential trip to Africa.

The summit brings together business owners, educators, policymakers and investors to support the growth of new enterprises in developing regions. It will be taking place in Africa for the first time.

This will be the fifth African country Obama would be visiting since he became president and his first presidential trip to Kenya where his father was born.

A previous visit took place in 2006 when Obama was still a senator.

This story is special to the Trice Edney News Wire from Global Information Network.

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

IFE/FAITH

JUNE 12 – JUNE 18, 2015

Sage advice for 2015 graduates See page B3

SHARING BLACK LIFE, STATEWIDE

SOUTH FLORIDA / TREASURE COAST AREA

Oyelowo won’t play Black best friend See page B5

WWW.FLCOURIER.COM

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The multicultural side of

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ANN ARBOR

Exploring the cuisine and culture of Michigan city

BY ELEANOR HENDRICKS MCDANIEL SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA COURIER

L

ocated just 42 miles from Detroit, upscale Ann Arbor, Mich. refutes the small-town stereotype.

With a population of about 114,000, its sophistication comes as a surprise, and may be explained by being the home of the University of Michigan.

It overflows with fine art museums and galleries, unique shopping and an outstanding culinary scene. For example, there are almost 300 restaurants, many headed by award-winning chefs, and the number of excellent ethnic restaurants boggles the mind.

Four ethnic eateries When I entered the Blue Nile Restaurant (bluenilemi.com) and saw soft lighting glowing in a broad room filled with low straw mat-covered tables, surrounded by even lower chairs, I knew I was in for an exotic experience.

The owner, Seifu Lessanwork, who hails from Addis Ababa, established his restaurant 20 years ago with the intent of preparing traditional foods from all regions of Ethiopia. As I spoke with him, he led me on a private tour of the premises. One private room was set up with equipment for power-lunch business meetings.

When I returned to the main dining room, I joined my friends just as the food arrived. After cleansing hands with a warm cloth, guests are invited to remove the conical straw lid off the platter and dive in. Meals are served gursha-style where companions all eat from the same plate, scooping up rich morsels of food with pieces of injera (a soft bread).

In Ethiopia, this method is said to bind friendship. Savor chicken dishes, like Doro Wat and Doro Alecha (both simmered in herb butter with onions), Yeberg Alecha (a spicy lamb stew) and Zilzil

Wat (a tender beef stew). Tasty vegetables are seasoned with herbs and spices.

Many budget-minded diners choose the all-you-can-eat Ethiopian Feast for $18.90 per person, which includes all the meat dishes and veggies. The perfect ending to this gastronomic treat is to enjoy a homemade dessert and a cup of freshly roasted Ethiopian coffee.

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Turkish café When you walk into Ayse’s Turkish Café (aysesturkishcafe. com), you’re walking into Ayse (pronounced EYE-shuh) Uras’ kitchen, figuratively speaking.

That’s because the owner and chef delights in cooking as in her home. There’s no menu other than a menu board that changes each day, depending on what Ayse feels like cooking that day – just like at your home.

She specializes in a selection of popular Turkish dishes: pilav, borek, chicken eggplant kebap, white bean stew with lamb, moussaka, lentil soup, yogurt appetizers, meat pies and the list goes on. Don’t overlook the imported Turkish beverages of coffee, tea and red and white wines.

Ayse’s daughter was our waitress and made suggestions and explained the dishes. All the servers follow suit so choosing what you like is a “no-brainer.”

“Sleek” best describes the décor of Slurping Turtle (slurpingturtle.com/annarbor), which gives no hint of what it’s about.

No cheesy touches that scream “Asian.” But the cuisine is Japanese-inspired. Chef and owner Takashi Yagihashi told me that his goal is to introduce Americans to Japanese food beyond sushi.

His Chicago restaurant, Takashi, concentrates on fine dining, and has earned a Michelin star. But in Ann Arbor, Yagihashi wants Slurping Turtle to celebrate Japanese home-cooking.

5

1. Popular finger foods are prepared at the African American Downtown Festival.

2. You can count on great food and great music at the festival.

3. This plaque denotes Ann Arbor’s anti-slavery past.

4. Zingerman’s Deli offers more than Jewish favorites.

Soups and shellfish I slurped one of the popular homemade ramen noodle soups. Tonkotsu with pork chasu. Bok choy, phili oil and woodear mushrooms is another favorite. A shashimi bar offers a variety of fish, shell fish and vegetarian dishes for one to six persons.

Yagihashi is the recipient of a James Beard Award and was

5. Seifu Lessanwork crowned best new chef by Food has owned Blue Nile Restaurant for 20 and Wine Magazine.

No town can be a foodie town years.. without a good Jewish delicatessen and, in Ann Arbor, Zingerman’s Deli (zingermansdeli.com) has been filling the bill since 1982 when Paul Saginaw and Ari Weinzweig joined up.

See ANN ARBOR, Page B2

PHOTOS COURTESY OF ELEANOR HENDRICKS MCDANIEL

CALENDAR

B2

JUNE 12 – JUNE 18, 2015

STOJ

ANN ARBOR from Page 1

They focused on stacking piles of corned beef or pastrami on Jewish rye bread or grilling the popular Reuben. I’ve always been partial to whitefish salad sandwiches and chicken liver with sliced onion on rye.

Taste of Italy

CHAKA KHAN

Tickets are on sale for a show with the legendary performer at 8 p.m. Nov. 13 at the Mahaffey Theater.

SMOKEY ROBINSON

Smokey Robinson takes the stage July 25 at Hard Rock Live Hollywood for an 8 p.m. show.

SINBAD

The comedian performs Aug. 7 at the Florida Theatre Jacksonville.

FLORIDA COMMUNITY CALENDAR

Indies: Caribbean Jazz Matazz is June 14 starting at 7 p.m. at the Amaturo Theater at Broward Center for the Performing Arts.

Daytona Beach: Maze featuring Frankie Beverly will perform June 14 at The Peabody.

Tampa: Catch “ Soul Crooners,’’ a June 18-21 show at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts.

Miami: The Forever Charlie Tour takes place on June 19 at the AmericanAirlines Arena and June 20 at Amalie Arena in Tampa. The show features Charlie Wilson, Joe and Kem. St. Petersburg: Talk-show host Wendy Williams takes her humor to the Mahaffey Theatre on July 18 for an 8 p.m. show.

Tampa: Comedian and actor Chris Tucker will perform June 12 at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts.

St. Petersburg: Catch Jill Scott on Aug. 8 at Hard Rock Live Hollywood or Aug. 9 at the Mahaffey Theatre in St. Petersburg.

Fort Lauderdale: The American Foundation for University West

St. Petersburg: Tickets are on sale for a July 25 show with Kenny “Babyface’’ Edmonds at the Mahaffey Theatre.

Pompano Beach: Mt. Calvary Baptist Church will celebrate the 11th anniversary of the Rev. Anthony Burrell. Fellowship begins July 8 at 7:30 p.m. and ends on July 12 at 11 a.m. The church is at 800 NW 8th Ave. Clearwater: Christian Men United 2015 STAND! Conference is June 27 at Ruth Eckerd Hall. Speakers include Dr. Steve Farrar and Rick Rigsby. Concert

by Big Daddy Weave.

Tampa: The Tampa Bay Theatre Festival will host Jazz in July at 8 p.m. on July 3 at the Crowne Plaza Tampa Westshore Hotel,

5303 W. Kennedy Blvd. More information: tampabaytheatrefestival.com.

Orlando: Catch Berres Hammond and Tarrus Riley on Aug. 22 at Hard Rock Live Orlando.

Opa-locka: The City of Opalocka Police Department will host its bi-annual Gun Buy Back Initiative from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 27 at New Mt. Pleasant Missionary Baptist Church, 15000 Northwest 27th Ave. More information: www. opalockafl.gov.

Miami: Sam Smith performs July 20 at the AmericanAirlines Arena and July 21 at the Amalie Arena in Tampa.

Tampa: Candy Lowe hosts Tea & Conversation every Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m. at 3911 N. 34th St., Suite B. More information: 813-394-6363.

Miami: Nicki Minaj: The Pinkprint Tour stops at Bayfront Park Amphitheatre on July 20.

The 7 p.m. show will feature Tinashe, Dej Loaf and Meek Mill.

Those treats are on the menu, also but Zingerman’s offerings have expanded to include specialty foods, an unending selection of cheeses, artesian olive oils and vinegars, baked goods, teas and coffees from around the world, and much more. Seating is available at Zingerman’s Next Door, where you can dine upstairs with large windows on the eclectic neighborhood.

The company has ballooned from one small sandwich shop to Zingerman’s Community of Businesses, which includes The Creamery and Zingerman’s Roadhouse.

In Italy, an “osteria� is a small restaurant where meats and other foods are roasted in an open wood-burning brick oven. Mani Osteria and Bar (maniosteria.com) specializes in a wide selection of hand-tossed piazzas that savor an authentic Italian taste. Although the restaurant isn’t small and has outdoor seating, the waft of wood and Italian spices lends an air of authenticity.

As a frequent traveler to Italy, I recognized many ingredients that are commonly found on menus in Italy and seldom found in the USA. Look for boar, fennel, hazelnut, black truffles, goat, Calabrian chile, grana padano and others. The meats are fused with the grilled flavor taken from the wood.

These places are only the tip of Ann Arbor’s ethnic restaurant iceberg. While there, take a culinary trip around the globe.

African-American culture Come spring, winter-weary Michigan residents are ready for outdoor fun. In June, fun can be found in the historically Black business district. For 19 years, the community has come together to celebrate Ann Arbor’s African-American history and culture.

The event was started by Lucille Porter in 1996 as a way to commemorate Ann Arbor’s African- American heritage. Vendors and merchants sell food, clothing, crafts, live music encourages dancing and presentations

honor local luminaries.

Children’s activities include a kids’ parade, face painting, bounce houses, arts and crafts, and more. Concerts are given by local gospel choirs and nationally known performers, such as Martha Reeves and Carl Carlton (who recorded “She’s a Bad Mama Jama’’).

When I spoke with event coordinator Teesha Montague, she proudly talked about the success of the festival and of the diversity of the crowd. “People are drawn from as far away as Detroit,� she says, “because we keep it ‘old school.’ � Learn more at visitannarbor.org/events.

Journey to freedom Ann Arbor laid on the route to freedom. Runaway slaves came through the city on their way to Detroit where Underground Railroad engineers would smuggle them into nearby Canada.

I was fortunate to be escorted by docent Deborah Meadows, who represented the African American Cultural and Historical Museum of Washtenaw County. She led me to places that were included on the Underground Railroad, such as a home that had a secret basement, which was entered through an undetectable panel in the kitchen floor. Another site of interest was the Highland Cemetery where Black Civil War soldiers are interred.

Three bus tours called the “Journey to Freedom� are offered to the public during 2015 on June 14, Aug. 10 and Oct. 19. Contact Deborah Meadows at 734-819-8182 or online at deborahmeadows2@msn.com for reservations. Tickets cost $20. For more information, go to aachmuseum.org or visitannarbor.org.

If you enjoy food, fun, AfricanAmerican history, Main Street shopping, a lively entertainment scene and impressive fine arts, add Ann Arbor, Michigan to your bucket list.

Eleanor Hendricks McDaniel is an experienced travel journalist who writes for print magazines, newspapers and online magazines.

She travels domestically and internationally, and loves to share her experiences and travel knowledge with readers. She has lived in Paris, Florence (Italy) and Philadelphia. She currently resides in Ormond Beach. Check out her blog: flybynighttraveler.com and follow her on Twitter: ellethewriter.

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JUNE 12 – JUNE 18, 2015

GRADUATION 2015

B3

‘The world is indeed yours for the taking’ Some words of wisdom from 2015 graduation speakers

BY CAROLYN BIGDA CHICAGO TRIBUNE/TNS

This year’s college graduates may not need as much of a pep talk during graduation ceremonies as in recent years. The national unemployment rate is down to 5.4 percent, the lowest level since 2008. And employers plan to hire more graduates this year than last.

But regardless of what’s going on in the economy, it always helps to get advice when you’re just starting out. Here are snippets of wisdom from some of this year’s commencement speakers.

Embrace failure “I started in a tiny basement, working by myself. Then we had a tiny office that was also a lab and could fit no more than six people in the room. And then it became a bigger office. We all kept working together. And over the entry to one of the buildings was a sign that read, ‘Success is not a result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire.’ We code-named our product the Edison because we assumed we would have to fail 10,000 times to get it to work the 10,001st. And we did. We set ourselves on fire.”

— Elizabeth Holmes, founder of Theranos, a blood diagnostics company, at Pepperdine University

Spending not the ultimate goal “Many of my students will say that their goal is to have a nice car and house and job. That’s fine for a start, though a terrible finish.

In the meanwhile, it’s harmless, even beneficial for others. Notice again that when you achieve such goals you are achieving benefit for others — as the blessed Adam Smith said, it is not part of your intention, but by getting a good

RAWPIXEL/FOTOLIA/TNS

It always helps to get advice when you’re just starting out. Graduates nationwide have received plenty of advice this month during spring commencement. salary you must be doing something that other people value.

The money you make by peaceable exchange does good.”

— Deirdre McCloskey, professor of economics, history, English and communication at University of Illinois at Chicago, at Denison University

Be resourceful “The best solution is rarely the most expensive; it’s almost always the most creative.”

— Kenneth Cole, fashion designer, at Emory University

Stay open to learning “To you graduates in particular today, I know how gifted you

are, how well prepared you are, how high achieving and soughtafter you are. I know how confident you are in your talents and opinions. And I know the world needs much of what you have to offer. The world is indeed yours for the taking.

“Even so, I want to urge you to be a little uneasy. I’m not talking about the unease all new graduates feel about careers or money or romance. I’m not inviting you to feel envious of your classmates’ accomplishments or unworthy of your own. I’m talking about the kind of unease that comes from being a little unsure that you already know all you need to know. The kind of restlessness that compels you to look

beyond yourself for answers and meaning. You graduates came to Harvard with big ideas, and you leave with big capacities. But still, as my grandmother would say, what you don’t know could fill a book.”

— Deval Patrick, former governor of Massachusetts, at Harvard University

Be nimble “What characterizes the career trajectories you, today, are embarking on? For my parents, the typical career trajectory was like a steamship. They set the course, fired up the engines and powered ahead.

“For your parents, sitting here today — and for me — our ca-

reer trajectories have been navigated more like a sailboat. We set course and, through skillful tacking and maneuvering, we’ve played the winds and currents to get where we thought we wanted to go. Blown off course sometimes, it is still a well-crafted trajectory.

“But for you all, today the environment is radically different.

The way I see your world is this: You are living in a white-water world. You must be more like a white-water kayaker who skillfully reads the currents and disruptions of the context around you.”

— John Seely Brown, independent co-chairman, Deloitte’s Center for the Edge, at Arizona State University

B4

HEALTH

JUNE 12 – JUNE 18, 2015

STOJ

AGING AMERICANS NEED EYE CARE MOST

FROM FAMILY FEATURES

Julie Beall might be a cancer patient, but she’s truly defined by any number of other titles. She’s a wife and mother, a registered nurse, a real estate professional, an MBA graduate, a small business owner and a public speaker. She owns a glass art studio. She regularly volun­teers at a medical clinic in Africa.

The 50-something is nowhere near retired, although she is nearing retirement age. And she has a message for people of her generation and older.

Get annual eye exams. Your life might depend on it.

John Lahr, OD, EyeMed Medical Director and a fellow baby boomer concurs.

“The single most important thing anyone 50 years or older can do for their vision and eye health is to book an annual eye exam,” he said. “Once you pass the 50-year mark, your risk for several serious eye diseases increases and the odds of you requiring vision correction also climbs. What’s more, your optometrist may see signs of a serious physical health condi­tion you never associated with an eye exam.”

Nobody knows better than Beall. Two years ago she went for a routine eye exam near her home outside Dayton, Ohio, not knowing that her life was about to change forever.

“I didn’t really suspect anything was wrong,” Beall said. “Maybe I was getting a little older. I thought I might need reading glasses; maybe my eyes were getting a little tired.”

Beall’s optometrist noticed an area off the side of the retina that looked unusual. After dilating her eyes, he noted what he thought was a detaching retina. Considering it an ocular emergency, her optometrist referred her to an oph­thalmologist who specialized in retinal diseases. She saw that doctor later the same day and was told she had choroidal melanoma, a potentially fatal form of cancer. Doctors treated Julie with radioactive plaque therapy.

According to Dr. Lahr, Beall’s story of uncovering a serious health concern at the optometrist is not unusual.

In addition to preserving eyesight, annual exams can be a window to serious medical conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease and high cholesterol.

“The average optometrist sees 2,500 to 3,000 patients annually. And it’s not uncommon for there to be hundreds of times each year you have someone in the optometrist’s chair who hasn’t had a physical in a while.

You take a look at the back of their eye and you see early signs of something potentially serious,” said Dr. Lahr. “More often, eye doctors recognize symptoms of serious eye disease when it’s early enough to correct the condition or manage long-term vision issues.”

Ironically, for many aging Americans, an annual eye exam becomes harder to access at a time in life when they most need to see an eye doctor regularly. According to The Vision Council, less than half of Americans age 65 or older have vision benefits. Studies show that this aging population will double to 71.5 million by 2030. Regular adult eye health and vision care is not pro­vided through original Medicare or the Affordable Care Act. Plus, an increasing number of Americans in their 50s and early 60s are without access to employersponsored health benefits due to self-employment or circumstances.

This gap sparked an idea from EyeMed, and it began working on an insurance product for AARP members.

“There is a certain segment of the target population that might just say, ‘Why should I get an eye exam every year if I don’t have a vision benefit to help with the costs?’” said Dr. Lahr. “I even talk to people who have the means to cover vision care costs out-ofpocket and are interested in an individual vision benefit.”

AARP MyVision Care from EyeMed, the first vision plan with features to meet the specific vision needs of senior consumers, launched in February in California, Illinois, Ohio and New Jersey. For more information go to https:// aarpmyvisioncare.net/.

Today, Julie Beall has added a new role to her ever-expanding list of titles: eye exam advocate.

“If I could just get everybody in the country to get an eye exam,” she said recently. “Do it.”

“It may save your life.”

ISN’T VISION LOSS JUST PART OF GETTING OLDER? Worsening vision is an inevitable part of aging, but according to AllAboutVision.com, lifestyle and vision care impact the rate and degree of deterioration.

• If your diet includes zinc, lutein and zeaxanthin, vitamin C, vitamin E and Omega-3 fatty acids you may delay cataracts and control the progress of age-related macular degeneration.

• If you smoke, stop. The odds of developing cataracts and macular degeneration increase 400% if you’re a smoker.

• Presbyopia, a natural part of the aging process, makes it difficult for you to focus on close objects. Optometrists can prescribe contact lenses, reading glasses, bifocals or even progressive lenses (no-line multifocals). Lens tech­nology allows you to wear multifocal glasses without the traditional look of multifocals.

• Advancements in lens technology can correct and enhance your vision in ways unimaginable a decade ago. Cataracts can be removed efficiently with accurate focus outcomes. Glaucoma, in its early stages, can be treated with eyedrops and lasers. Lasik treatment continues to evolve.

ASK THE DOCTOR EyeMed Medical Director John Lahr, OD, answers some questions about eye exams for aging patients: Q: When optometrists look into the eye, what are they looking for?

A: We see important eye structures and signs of glaucoma or cataracts or other diseases. But what’s most important is the ability to see blood vessels. The blood vessels tell us important earlyidentification signs for diabetes, hyper­tension and high cholesterol — three of the most costly diseases we face today.

Q: Aren’t those things that should be picked up by primary care physicians?

A: Unfortunately, some people don’t engage in general healthcare. They might only go to a doctor for specific issues. So they kind of get lost in the system. Is their medication up to date? Are they doing what they’re supposed to do to be health­ier? Are they monitored? Because many of these people come in annually to get their eyeglass or contact lens pre­scription updated, we have opportunities to diagnose them when they might not be otherwise.

Q: What advances in tech­nology have changed vision care for older patients?

A: Just look at cataracts.

Cataract surgery has gotten very sophisticated.

And the outcomes have been fan­tastic. You’re taking out a cloudy lens and putting in an artificial lens.

And with that lens, you can literally pick your prescription. It’s amazing what can be done with that procedure.

STOJ

JUNE 12 – JUNE 18, 2015

FINEST & ENTERTAINMENT

Meet some of

FLORIDA’S

finest

submitted for your approval

kimberly

B5

Think you’re one of Florida’s Finest?

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

nathan

FLORIDA COURIER FILES

Kimberly Nicole originally appeared as one of Florida’s Finest in May 2006.

Nathan Williams originally appeared as one of Florida’s Finest in January 2011.

Obama not on Denzel’s list of people to play EURWEB.COM

WALLY SKALIJ/LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

David Oyelowo and his wife, Jessica, arrive at the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Jan. 11.

‘Selma’ star says he won’t take ‘Black best friend’ role EURWEB.COM

After starring as Martin Luther King Jr. in Ava DuVernay’s critically acclaimed movie “Selma,” David Oyelowo said in a recent interview with NPR, “I won’t do roles that I deem to be stereotypical.”

The 39-year-old British actor also shared his thoughts on acting and passing on roles that are racial stereotypes.

“Don’t send me your script if you want me to play the Black best friend; I just won’t do that.”

Oyelowo stated that he’d much rather “work in a supermarket” than take a role he didn’t believe in. He also explained the responsibility he feels as an actor to help shape culture.

“I’m either part of the solution or I’m part of the problem. So I

won’t do that; I won’t do roles that I deem to be stereotypical or caricatures of what it is to be Back or even just to be a human being,” he said.

“I won’t do that… I know that films affect and shape culture, and I want to put stuff in the world that I feel is edifying as opposed to stuff that is detrimental.”

MLK again?

In related news, Oyelowo says Steven Spielberg wants him to reprise the role of Martin Luther King Jr. for his upcoming biopic.

In an interview with Esquire, Oyelowo said: “I was at an event for AFI during award season and Steven Spielberg — who has famously been interested in making his own Martin Luther King film — came

up to me and said, ‘My goodness, David, that’s one of the best things I have ever seen. You really inspired me to take another look at my Dr. King film.’ And then he goes, ‘You would reprise the role, right? You would do it again?’

“My stomach all but fell out of my body,” Oyelowo said. “I was just like, ‘Oh, my Lord.’ That was quite a mountain to climb. Not only did the idea of being asked to do it again give me pause, but here he is, Steven Spielberg of all people, [asking] if I would entertain doing it again.”

Oyelowo also stated that others have approached him about reprising the role.

“To be honest, right now, today, I couldn’t think of anything worse. Just the weight gain alone is a reason for me to stay away from it,” he said.

He may have played Malcolm X and Stephen Biko, but don’t expect Denzel Washington to play President Barack Obama anytime soon. Better yet, it may be good to just take Obama off the list.

“Barack Obama is a story that hasn’t finished yet. It’s not something I’m thinking about, and he’s busy,” Washington responded when asked about portraying the commander-inchief.

And while playing Obama isn’t at the top of Washington’s to do list, it’s a safe bet to say that the Oscar winner has his mind on pursuing a variety of different projects. Among them is a remake of “The Magnificent Seven” with film director Antoine Fuqua. The pair aren’t strangers to each other, considering Fuqua directed Washington in “Training Day” and “The Equalizer.”

Speaking on a sequel to that film, Washington downplayed any talk of a sequel by noting that such talk is too early. Nevertheless, that hasn’t stopped Sony Pictures, Escape Artists, and Richard Wenk, who wrote the first Fuqua/Washington “The Equalizer,” from reportedly working on it.

“People will decide if I do ‘The Equalizer’ sequel, not me,” WashingDenzel ton told VariWashington ety on June 5 during the San Sebastian press conference at Spain’s 62nd San Sebastian Festival. “If it’s a good script, it’s something I’ll consider, but I’m not considering it right now.

Back to theater In the meantime, Washington has more than enough to keep him busy. Case in point: His return to doing theater.

“My children are older now so now I’ve gone back to doing theater, which was my first love.,” the entertainer confessed. “It’s where I was trained and where I started my career

… So I’m moving around more, directing, acting, producing deals, etc. So I’m trying to do a variety of things.”

In addition to the big screen, Washington also has his eyes on television. According to the entertainer, he is focusing and “working to produce but not looking to act in television,” Translation: He’s not providing any more details, but did admit that he’s currently developing a play-based TV series.

Reid calls ‘X Factor’ ‘the worst thing I’ve ever done’ EURWEB.COM

Two years after the cancellation of Fox’s “The X Factor,” Epic Records CEO L.A. Reid is telling us how he really felt about his time on the show as a judge.

Though initially like a “vacation,” as he told The Hollywood Re- L.A. porter, his run Reid on the reality competition series ended up being “the worst thing I’ve ever done.”

Reid, 59, told The Hollywood Reporter that at the time of the second season, he was “fully engaged trying to run a label, and it wasn’t fun anymore.”

“And more importantly, it really affected my taste – it almost destroyed it,” the producer added, going on to say that “what works for television isn’t necessarily the thing that works in the traditional journey of music, so I adjusted my taste for television. But the truth is, I lowered my bar.”

Reid began emulating the music tastes of Simon Cowell, “and I’m an amateur at having his taste – I’m good at my kind of taste.”

The producer says he will reveal even more about his time on “The X Factor” in an upcoming book.

Finally, Reid said the writing was on the wall for “The X Factor’s true downfall after just three seasons when another show came along on NBC: “The truth is: ‘The Voice’ cleaned our clock.”

FOOD

B6

JUNE 12 – JUNE 18, 2015

Blended

bliss FROM FAMILY FEATURES

Looking for a healthy, convenient and deli­ cious breakfast boost, afternoon refuel or sweet treat? If so, break out the blender and whip up a delicious and nutritious smoothie.

Made with fruits and vegetables, smoothies pro­vide important nutrients that our bodies need. When prepared with chocolate milk, they can also be an excellent source of pro­ tein — and a tasty treat for kids and adults alike.

“Chocolate milk is a delicious and nutri­ tious base for smoothies because it not only contains protein and minerals, it also pro­ vides calcium and vitamin D, which are es­ sential for bone health,” said registered dieti­ tian Rebecca Scritchfield. “Plus, combining a nutrient-rich option such as TruMoo Choco­ late milk with fruits and vegetables like ba­ nanas, berries and kale is a great way to get kids to consume the nourishment they need, all in an enjoyable treat.”

Made with fresh white milk — sourced from your local dairy — pure cocoa and just enough natural sugar to make it taste great, TruMoo Chocolate milk is delicious whether it’s a smoothie base or enjoyed on its own.

And with no high fructose corn syrup and no artificial growth hormones, you can feel great about serving it to your family.

If you’re not sure what to put in your smoothie, you can get creative with the in­ gredients you already have on hand. If you’re a fan of PB&J sandwiches, simply combine chocolate milk with bananas, peanut but­ ter and jelly for a delicious take on the classic lunch staple.

Trying to get your kids to eat their veggies, such as kale, is easier when they’re disguised in choc­olate-y goodness. And if you’re look­ ing to satisfy your sweet tooth, combine lowfat brownies, ice and chocolate milk.

Each of the following single-serving recipes shows you how deliciously easy it is to cre­ ate a unique and flavorful smoothie to fit any craving. For each recipe, combine ingredients in a blender, mix until smooth and frothy, and serve.

For more delicious recipes, visit www.Tru­ Moo.com, or look for TruMooMilk on Face­ book, Twitter and Pinterest.

CHOCOLATE-BERRY BLAST 1 cup TruMoo Chocolate milk 1 cup frozen mixed berries 1 tablespoon golden flaxseed meal COOKIES ’N CREAM SMOOTHIE 1/2 cup low-fat fudge brownies or low-fat chocolate cookies, coarsely broken 1 cup TruMoo Chocolate milk 1 cup ice cubes FUEL UP SMOOTHIE 1 1/2 cups TruMoo Chocolate milk 1/2 cup baby kale 1 cup ice cubes 1 tablespoon almond butter BANANA PB&J SMOOTHIE 1 cup TruMoo Chocolate milk 1 ripe banana, peeled and cut into chunks 2 tablespoons low-fat peanut butter 2 tablespoons strawberry or grape jelly Tips: For a colder smoothie, freeze banana chunks one day ahead. If you have a nut allergy, omit peanut butter.

INCREDIBLE INGREDIENTS MAKE THE SMOOTHIE Besides its creamy goodness, the best thing about a smoothie is the ability to create your own culinary masterpiece. Grab the kids and combine some of these tasty ingredients with chocolate milk for a flavor that’s 100 percent unique and completely satisfying. n Apricots n Baby

spinach

n Blueberries n Cherry

tomatoes

n Pineapple n Oats n Tart

cherries

n Raspberries

STOJ