Florida Courier June 14, 2013

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

A Father’s Day tribute from the Courier family Page B1

EE FR

FC

PRESORTED STANDARD MAIL

www.flcourier.com

Read us online Like us on Facebookwww.facebook.com/ flcourier Follow us on Twitter@flcourier

www.flcourier.com

JUNE 14 - JUNE 20, 2013

VOLUME 21 NO. 24

FOLLOWING THE MONEY

BY DAPHNE TAYLOR SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA COURIER

Millions of taxpayer dollars

Legislative acknowledgement of racial disparare being spent with the goal ities in the health of Floridians has been around for at least 20 years. of specifically improving the In 1993, the Florida Legislature passed Florilives of Black Floridians. We da’s Minority Health Improvement Act, which authorized the Minority Health Commission start the series with the Office for a two-year periof Minority Health – which od. Then in 1998, the Florida Department clearly shows signs of neglect. of Health established the Office of Equal Opportunity and MiSERIES nority Health. which will improve the health outcomes of racial Six years later, the Legislature established the Office of Minority Health as a standalone entity and ethnic populations,” according to a section of Florida law which outlines the work of the Ofwithin the Department of Health. fice of Minority Health.

“Further, it is the intent of the Legislature that Legislative intent these programs foster the development of coorLawmakers intended “to provide funds withdinated, collaborative, and broad-based particiin Florida counties and Front Porch Florida Communities, in the form of ‘Reducing Racial pation by public and private entities, and faithGINA FERAZZI/LOS ANGELES TIMES/MCT and Ethnic Health Disparities: Closing the Gap’ based organizations.

“Finally, it is the intent of the Legislature that Charnay Winbush, 17, has diabetes like her mother and grandmother. grants, to stimulate the development of community-based and neighborhood-based projects See MONEY, Page A2 The disease disproportionately affects African-Americans.

Zimmerman jury selection starts slowly

2013 NBA FINALS / SAN ANTONIO

Can the Heat win three of four?

FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

By the time the Florida Courier went to press on Wednesday, no jurors had been selected in the murder trial of George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watchman who killed unarmed Trayvon Martin last year in Sanford.

Inside the Seminole County criminal courthouse this week, the focus was on finding jurors who could be fair and impartial in a case that sparked nationwide protests and interest around the world. Attorneys on both sides spent much of the week grilling potential jurors on what they had heard about the Feb. 26, 2012, shooting of the 17 year-old Martin.

Zimmerman, 29, is being charged with second-degree murder in the killing of Martin. He claims he acted in self-defense.

No opinion

JOE CAVARETTA/SUN SENTINEL/MCT

LeBron James of the Miami Heat launches a shot over Danny Green of the San Antonio Spurs during a Game 3 beatdown of the Heat, 113-77, on Tuesday. Miami must win three of the next four games to retain its NBA championship title.

SNAPSHOTS FLORIDA | A6

Roland Martin to be guest at B-CU event GUEST COMMENTARY | A4

FINEST | B5

Meet Sheena

ALSO INSIDE

Rev. Joseph Lowery on anatomy of modern drum major

Photos from the courthouse, Page A3 dle aged, White and works “odd hours,” said she “honestly did not” have an opinion on the case.

Before her, the attorneys questioned juror E-13, a young woman who said she doesn’t know anything about the case except that Zimmerman shot Martin.

She said she could be a fair juror “just because I don’t really know that much.”

Under questioning by the defense, she said she’d heard the shooting was a “racial thing,” but when asked whether she thought Zimmerman had done something racist, said, “I don’t really know.”

Those two seemed to be the least knowledgeable of the jurors questioned Wednesday. Several were intimately aware of key evidence in the case, but most said they could still be fair to Zimmerman.

Blacks questioned The attorneys also quesSee TRIAL, Page A2

Will Orange school superintendent replace Carroll?

FROM THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

Sen. Joyner discusses bills, Zimmerman trial

By the time court was recessed on Wednesday, lawyers had surveyed about two dozen potential panelists about their knowledge of the case.

The day’s last potential juror, identified as E-28, said she had very little prior knowledge of the case.

The woman, who is mid-

THE GEORGE ZIMMERMAN TRIAL, WEEK 1

Orange County schools Superintendent Barbara Jenkins is on Gov. Rick Scott’s short list of candidates to become lieutenant governor, the Orlando Sentinel reported late Tuesday. But Scott’s office released a statement to the newspaper Wednesday that appeared to downplay the idea.

“Speculation about a new LG is just that,’’ said the statement from Scott spokeswoman Melissa Sellers. “We are still reviewing the bills that came out of the legislative session and have not

started the LG process.”

Under consideration The Sentinel reported Tuesday night that Orange County School Board Chairman Bill Sublette said he was aware that Jenkins was being considered and that he and other board members have discussed the possibility of losing Jenkins.

If she is a candidate, Jenkins could bolster Scott’s education credentials and, as a Black woman from the Interstate 4 corridor, also could help as he tries to attract moderate voters during his 2014 re-election bid.

The Sentinel reported that Jenkins is also a registered Democrat.

Former Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll resigned in March amid a scandal about the Internet café industry, but Scott has been slow to move forward on a replacement.

Dr. Barbara

Former teacher Jenkins was selected as Orange County’s school superintendent in March 2012 after serving as a deputy superintendent, chief of staff, and as senior director for elementary education.

Jenkins

Jennifer Carroll

She earned undergraduate and doctor of education degrees from the University of Central Florida and was a classroom teacher. She also worked in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school district in Charlotte, N.C.

COMMENTARY: GLEN FORD: CLYBURN PUTS OBAMA FIRST, CIVIL LIBERTIES LAST | A4 COMMENTARY: LUCIUS GANTT: WHAT ‘DUMB’ PEOPLE CAN LEARN FROM BLACK VISIONARIES | A4

FOCUS

A2

JUNE 14 – JUNE 20, 2013

What’s really on trial in George Zimmerman’s case?

George Zimmerman went on trial this week for the murder of Trayvon Martin. But let’s be clear.

Within the defense’s opening arguments, for many who follow the trial, it will be Trayvon Martin who will be on trial.

He in fact already is. On May 23, the Orlando Sentinel offered the following news: “New evidence in Zimmerman case: Trayvon texted about fighting, smoking marijuana about a week before he was killed.

“The evidence that George Zimmerman’s attorneys have uncovered on Trayvon Martin’s cell phone paints a troubling picture of the Miami Gardens teenager: He sent text messages about being a fighter, smoking marijuana and being ordered to move out of his home by his mother.

“And photos from that phone offer more of the same: healthy green plants – what appear to be marijuana – growing in pots and a .40-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun.”

Seen this before So here we go again with a script deep in the White American psyche: the impossibility of Black innocence.

My first experience with the horror of racism was the murder of Emmett Till in 1955; he was only a year older than me when he died.

It was alleged that Till, a

ERIC MANN GUEST COMMENTARY

14-year-old Chicago Black boy visiting Mississippi for the summer, did not know his place and whistled at a White woman in a store. That evening the husband of the woman and his friend came to the house of Emmett’s grandfather, kidnapped Emmett, beat him beyond recognition, and then drowned his body.

When his mutilated body was found, Emmett’s mother, Mamie Till, insisted that his casket be left open because, in her words, “I wanted the world to see what they did to my baby.” The images shocked the Black community and attracted great anger and sympathy from anti-racist people all over the world.

And yet, for some, the debate focused on whether Emmett had or hadn’t made any flirtatious advances toward a Southern White woman with many believing that if so, he had brought his murder on himself.

The realities When I worked in the Newark Community Union Project in 1966-1968 in the city’s Black south and central wards, we worked on

many community issues including police brutality. In each case, we worked to identify the facts of the story and document the specifics of the brutality.

I still remember George Richardson, a militant Black political figure explaining to us his views on the realities of police brutality cases as if it was yesterday: “You know, Eric, in these police brutality cases, we are always looking for the perfect Black victim, the completely ‘innocent’ Black man, but he doesn’t exist.

“In our ideal case, a White cop beats or shoots a Black man and it turns out it was a Black doctor walking down the street doing absolutely nothing when a White cop comes up to him and beats him badly.

“But that is never the way it is.

The guy usually is poor or working class, has a criminal record, he was drinking, he talked back to the cop, he ran a traffic sign, he shoplifted, he ‘resisted arrest,’ he yelled at the cop, he raised his hand whether in self-defense or even to fight back. But that has nothing to do with the fact that he was beaten half to death for being Black.

“In every case, the Black man is on trial, guilty until proven innocent. And you know what?

For most of these folks, even our hypothetical Black doctor could never have been innocent enough.”

Didn’t save Trayvon Trayvon Martin, an unarmed Black manchild leaving a gated community and shot down in cold blood, was as close in reality to that hypothetical Black doctor as one can imagine, but it did not save him from an early grave.

So now, in this important test case, it’s essential that the civil rights movement and organizers in communities of color put the system on trial. This trial is not about George Zimmerman alone.

It is also about how a system that sanctioned the murder of an unarmed Black teenager until mass national and international pressure forced a trial.

We have to win the argument that there are no extenuating circumstances in the stalking and murder of unarmed Black men, and while we are there, we have to win the argument that a pen, or a knife, or a shopping cart, or a parked car or “something that looked like a gun” are not lethal weapons at 15 feet, and that lethal force is not an option.

Every time someone raises any questions about Trayvon – and we can be assured that as the trial goes on, the character assassination of Trayvon Martin will escalate – we have to counter with the most radical and structural demands on the system possible, to shift the terms of the debate and put the system on trial.

This tactic – what’s been called

“counter-hegemonic demand development” – was the great contribution of the civil rights movement and is rooted in Frederick Douglass’ advice: “Power accedes to nothing without a demand.”

Roll them back We have to roll back all the “stop and frisk” laws, all the “stand your ground” laws, all the “war on drugs” laws, the endless web of laws that have put one million Black people in prison and millions more in probation and parole.

We have to demand President Obama enforce the 1964 Civil Rights Act and use his statutory power to withhold federal funds from any agency using those funds in a racially discriminatory manner – from Los Angeles to Chicago, from New York to Houston and everywhere else in between.

We need to demand the social welfare state, not the police state – 1,000 more buses, 1,000 more teachers, 1,000 more nurses, 1,000 fewer police. When we say Trayvon Martin did not die in vain, we have to fight for the maximum program that his life and his death and his innocence deserve.

Eric Mann is the director of the Labor/Community Strategy Center in Los Angeles. Click on this story at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

TRIAL

want to see everybody become better.”

from A1

Some protesters

tioned juror E-22, a middle-aged African-American woman who said she followed the case in the Orlando Sentinel and on local TV. E-22 said that she felt after the shooting that Sanford police “should have been a bit more proactive” in their investigation, elaborating that “it seemed like there was a lapse” when they didn’t initially arrest Zimmerman.

She said she still feels that way, but would rely on the evidence at trial if selected as a juror.

E-22 said she’d heard the recording of a 911 call made by a Zimmerman neighbor on the night of the shooting that included the fatal gunshot, and said her immediate reaction was to feel for the caller: “She heard someone get killed.”

Followed the case The lawyers also had questioned potential juror M-75, a young Black woman who says she followed the case on local TV, Fox News and on Facebook.

“I live right down the street” from where the shooting happened, she said. M-75 says a lot of her friends have opinions on the case, but she doesn’t: “We don’t know what happened,” she said, adding she’s seen coverage of protests related to the case on the news.

Among her friends on Facebook, few are Zimmerman supporters. About 60 percent are Martin supporters, she said, and about

DUANE FERNANDEZ/SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA COURIER

Throngs of media from around the world gathered at the Seminole County courthouse on Monday while the number of protesters remained light.

40 percent don’t have an opinion on the case.

M-75 said that she’s aware the case has led some in the Black community to “feel that they’re being targeted,” but she said she doesn’t feel that way.

Defense attorney Mark O’Mara asked M-75 to list three images she associates with the case. Her answer: Zimmerman’s mugshot, a memorial for Martin in Sanford, and protesters wearing hoodies.

Hundreds summoned Zimmerman, who faces

MONEY from A1 the grant program function as a partnership between state and local governments, faith-based organizations, and private sector health care providers, including managed care, voluntary health care resources, social service providers, and nontraditional partners,” according to the statute.

Linked to distressed areas A “Front Porch community” is an economically disadvantaged neighborhood as determined by the Front Porch Florida Initiative, created in 1999 by then-Gov. Jeb Bush as a means to rebuild distressed communities.

Front Porch communities are supposed to be provided with educational and technical assistance to help residents plan and implement projects so they can make long-term changes in their own neighborhoods. So ideally, the Office of Minority Health is to work closely with stakeholders in

up to life in prison if convicted as charged, says he shot the teen from Miami Gardens in self-defense.

Circuit Judge Debra Nelson and the attorneys in the case are working to pick six jurors and four alternates, to form the jury panel for one of the mostwatched trials in county history.

Nelson had ordered the clerk of courts this week to summon a total of 500 potential jurors, many of whom won’t get far before they’re dismissed.

Of the about 100 jurors who were summoned to

distressed communities around Florida.

Front Porch Florida – the successor of the Front Porch Florida Initiative – was not funded for the 2012-2013 state fiscal year.

Lofty goals According to its website, the Office of Minority Health’s mission is “to improve health and healthcare outcomes for racial and ethnic minority communities by developing or advancing policies, programs, and practices that address health, social, economic, environmental, and other factors which impact health.”

The office seeks to eliminate health disparities impacted by just by race, but also by disability, gender, age, and sexual orientation with a focus on diseases like cardiovascular disease, cancers, stroke, diabetes, and HIV/AIDS.

Has it worked?

It’s a noble effort. But has it been effective? Has the gap been closed in the disparities that exist in minority health? Have the incidence of diseases decreased in the nearly ten years this office

court Monday and filled out a questionnaire, 40 were sent home without ever being questioned by the attorneys. Another 30 were dismissed Tuesday.

According to a courts spokeswoman, attorneys in the case plan to continue questioning jurors individually about pretrial publicity until they reach 30, then move on to more traditional jury selection topics with those jurors.

Emmett Till comparison The Rev. Glenn Dames, pastor at the St. James

has existed?

What’s its purpose? How is it structured? What programs are in place? Is it meeting its goals and objectives? How is it funded?

The Florida Courier takes an in-depth look at the health of African-Americans in the state and will examine this office’s service to the communities of the state.

However, a quick review of the content on the Office of Minority Health’s website indicates that it suffers from neglect.

Dated website, info The website points out that the office was awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 2005 to provide “Development of a statewide minority health strategic plan… Development of a web-based resource directory… (and) development of a speakers bureau.”

There’s no strategic plan on the site, or a web-based resource directory.

Events and reports have not been updated since 2011. The information brochure has not

AME Church in Titusville, sat with the family of Trayvon Martin for a while in the courtroom on Monday afternoon.

“Initially I said you know his name is Trayvon Martin, but he looks a lot like Emmett Till,” Dames said.

“You do see some similarities with the two, except for the fact that now we have justice coming, and hopefully at the end of the day everybody can move on, get the closure they need so badly and begin the healing process. Healing is going to be very, very important. At the end of the day I

been updated since 2010. The last posted annual report of the Office of Minority Health is dated 2010.

The most recent document on the website is a Minority Health newsletter dated September 2011.

Staff of 10 Office of Minority Health Director Michael Mason provided an overview of the office and how it’s structured. According to Mason, the office has a staff of ten. None are medical doctors, though Mason said the office has access to medical doctors through the Department of Health.

The office basically operates through receiving and administering grants and disseminating information online. Currently, the office has a $3.2 million Closing the Gap grant – a modest amount given the size of the state and the need.

The grant seeks to bridge the gap of the health disparities among non-Whites by allocating funds to local 501(c)(3) organizations throughout the Flor-

Outside of the courtroom was relatively quiet early in the week as a small group of protesters gathered.

News media from around the world were gathered, substantially outnumbering the protesters and onlookers.

Those onlookers included members of the Revolutionary Communist Party and the Stop Mass Incarceration Network. Some Florida A&M University law students were spotted who said they had shown up to observe the proceedings.

Noche Diaz with the Revolutionary Communist Party came all the way from Harlem, N.Y. for the first day of trial. “When Trayvon Martin was killed, they let George Zimmerman walk free until thousands of people stepped out. We need to be part of the process,’’ he said.

Another onlooker who came from a long way was Cephus Johnson from the Oscar Grant Foundation.

Johnson, who flew in from California, talked to the media about Grant, his nephew, who was killed in California by a police officer in 2009.

“We know how important it is to be embraced by families who have gone through the same things,” Johnson said.

A story by Rene Stutzman and Jeff Weiner of the Orlando Sentinel/ MCT and the Associated Press were used in compiling this report.

ida. Mason said the office plans to expand to include private entities.

For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2013, the grant was split among 29 nonprofit organizations, or an average of about $9,000 a month if services were to be provided over the course of a year. That amount would include publicity, marketing, and community outreach efforts.

According to Mason, each of these groups has the discretion of promoting their own events.

When asked whether Blackowned media outlets were used for outreach, Mason says they do utilize Black media in their specific areas to promote their events.

All in all, Mason calls the Office of Minority Health “a great place to work,” and thinks the office is “doing a great job.”

Mason says that the office’s updated website is under construction.

Next in the series: What impact has the Office of Minority Health had on the health of Black Floridians, and at what cost?

JUNE 14 – JUNE 20, 2013

FLORIDA

A3

THE GEORGE ZIMMERMAN TRIAL, WEEK 1

Ready for justice The images on this page, captured by photojournalist Duane Fernandez, were taken for the Florida Courier this week at the Seminole County Criminal Justice Center in Sanford.

1

2

3

1. Jennifer Sherman traveled from Atlanta to Sanford on Monday.

She was carrying a poster with a photograph of her nephew.

4

5

2. A small group of protesters gathered Monday outside of the Seminole County Criminal Justice Center.

3. Protesters outside of the courthouse included members of the Revolutionary Communist Party and the Stop Mass Incarceration Network.

8

4. Attorneys are shown arriving to the courthouse.

5. Floridian Betty Chart, 73, came out to support the Martin family.

7

6. Noche Diaz from New York was one of the protesters in Sanford.

7. Cephus Johnson from the Oscar Grant Foundation talked to the press about the murder of his nephew in California by a police officer.

8. The media interviews protesters from the Revolutionary Communist Party.

9. Florida A&M University students were among those gathered Monday at the courthouse.

9

6

EDITORIAL

A4

JUNE 14 – JUNE 20, 2013

‘Dumb’ people can learn something from Black visionaries If you are an AfricanAmerican, it doesn’t matter who you are or where you are, if you live long enough one day you will get a certificate, a plaque or a trophy.

There is no ethnic group in the world that hands out more trophies than Black people.

My problem with that is many African-American award recipients are so called highly educated people.

The people with doctoral degrees get more awards than the high school dropouts, the Blacks that work for Whites get more trophies than the Blacks that own their own businesses or work for other Blacks, the

Lucius Gantt THE GANTT REPORT

African-Americans that are recognized by White media networks, newspapers and White scholars get more trophies than the Black people who are loved and admired by the African-American masses.

We love dumb people!

Don’t take my word for it.

Take the word of the founder of Black History, Dr. Carter G. Woodson.

Woodson said in his classic book that every person

of African descent should read multiple times that “if you are educated by people, Black or White, that are victims of White supremacy, you will hate yourself.’’

Educated AfricanAmericans?

In his book “The Mis-Education of The Negro,” the primary question that concerns Woodson is whether “educated” African-Americans are actually equipped to face the ordeals that Black people have to deal with or are they unconsciously contributing to their own undoing and demise by perpetrating the regime of the oppressor and the exploiter.

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: SCANDALS

Before the so-called Negro scholars begin to hate and criticize me, take a look at our colleges and universities. 400 years after slavery days, race is still studied primarily as a problem or it is dismissed as of little consequence.

In 2013, just like in 1813, the inferiority of the Black man is drilled into every African-American student in almost all of his studies.

Don’t act like you haven’t heard, “Columbia University journalism students are better than Clark-Atlanta University journalism students” or “Georgia Tech engineers are more highly trained than FAMU engineers.’’

educated, I’m saying they are not educated in the best ways to generate progress and success in Black communities. I’m saying that our schools are not necessarily the institutions for the free flow of ideas, strategies and methodologies.

Our schools teach subjects and teach in ways that are acceptable to White people.

I will match my “education,” my experience and my love for making Black people more aware with any journalism professor at any school, Black or White, in the world but you will never get a Black school to allow me to teach a class or address a group of students because of fear that I may teach something the faculty We love dumbpeople doesn’t want me to teach.

When I say we love dumb Oftentimes I write in people, I don’t mean our phrases that are ignored educational leaders are not until you read or hear them

months later in White media. For example, I was attacked for saying President Obama, in some respects, was like President Bush but since more people are being tapped and more freedoms are being denied in the name of “security”, the New York Times and others are saying the same things.

Even “dumb” people can learn something from Black visionaries considered by and labeled by our enemies as ignorant rabble rousers.

Buy Gantt’s book “Beast Too: Dead Man Writing” and contact Lucius at www.allworldconsultants.net. Click on this story at www.flcourier. com to write your own response.

Understanding the need for full employment

Eric Allie, Caglecartoons.com

Clyburn puts Obama first, civil liberties last Editor’s note: Charles W. Cherry II’s “No Chaser” column will return next week.

If one good thing has come out of Barack Obama’s ascension to the White House, it is that his rise has exposed the appalling backwardness of the Black Misleadership Class. Their worldview is so narrow, it can accommodate only one issue: the political fortunes of the First Black President.

Nothing else matters to them – not issues of war and peace, not even the economic well-being of the masses of Black Americans.

Only Obama.

Congressman James Clyburn is supposed to represent the interests of more than half a million South Carolinians, the majority of them Black. The revelation that Uncle Sam is building up a dossier on everyone with a telephone and a computer connection should be at least mildly upsetting to

GLEN FORD BLACK AGENDA REPORT

cism with a Black face?”

Snowden learned computers at a community college and got his security clearance while training to be a Green Beret. He left the military after breaking both legs, but kept his clearance – and the rest is history, right up there with Wikileaks and the Pentagon Papers.

No doubt, White privilege did play a role in Snowden’s gaining access to Big Brother’s secrets.

There have also been lots of times when White privilege was put to good use for the Black Liberation Movement, and in the cause of peace.

What makes certain Black folks mad at Edward Snowden is that he embarrassed their president – which, for the Black Misleadership Class, is the greatest crime imaginable.

anyone that calls himself a Black leader.

But Clyburn has but one priority: to protect the image and legacy of Barack Obama.

Rather than thank whistleblower Edward Snowden for revealing the massive scope of government spying under Obama, Congressman Clyburn sees a conspiracy against the president.

“I haven’t gotten to where I am in politics without relying on my gut,” said Clyburn. “And my gut tells me this is an effort to embarrass the president. Where did he get the intellectual capacity to be allowed access to all this data?”

The better question is, Glen Ford is executive “Where did Snowden get the moral courage to go up editor of BlackAgendaReagainst rapidly growing fas- port.com.

Opinions expressed on this editorial page are those of the writers, and do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance of the newspaper or the publisher.

THE CREDO OF THE BLACK PRESS The Black Press believes that Americans can best lead the world away from racism and national antagonism when it accords to every person, regardless of race, color or creed, full human and legal rights. Hating no person, fearing no person. The Black Press strives to help every person in the firm belief...that all are hurt as long as anyone is held back.

The Social Security Trust Fund report has been released. One of its more telling charts was of the trend in Social Security revenue. Social Security revenue comes from a tax on the wages of earners, paid by both employees and employers. So, essentially it tracks the level of employment.

Based on the simple trend of revenues from 1990 to 2007, just before the Great Recession started, 2012 revenue would have been $899.4 billion; instead, it was $840 billion. That gap means less money to build up the Social Security Trust Fund than expected. The trustees do not break down the revenue by the age of workers, but based on the dramatically lower employment experience of young workers, the bulk of that gap reflects the lost wages of young people.

Crisis for all That gap also represents another side to the young worker crisis. Of course, a smaller Social Security Trust Fund is a crisis for all of us. But, the gap in earnings of young people also reflects they are not building up the wage record on which their Social Security benefits will be based.

If America would return to getting to full employment faster, young workers would benefit greatly. And, Social Security would benefit. This is the true inter-generational struggle. The current generation of politicians is ignoring the immediate and longterm needs of young workers.

The Social Security Trust Fund report says that Social Security is currently taking in more money than it is paying out-revenue from current taxes and interest on the Trust Fund are more than current outlays to pay benefits.

So, the Trust fund is continuing to grow.

The Trust Fund is large enough to pay all promised benefits until 2033. That means well past when the first wave of the Baby Boomers-those born before 1949-will be finished receiving benefits-more crudely, when they are dead.

Central Florida Communicators Group, LLC, P.O. Box 48857 Tampa, FL 33646, publishes the Florida Courier on Fridays. Phone: 877-3524455, toll-free. For all sales inquiries, call 877352-4455; e-mail sales@flcourier.com.

Subscriptions to the print version are $59 per year. Mail check to P.O. Box 48857 Tampa, FL 33646, or log on to www.flcourier.com; click on ‘Subscribe’.

SUBMISSIONS POLICY SEND ALL SUBMISSIONS TO NEWS@FLCOURIER.COM. Deadline for submitting news and pictures is 5 p.m. the Monday before the Friday publication date. You may submit articles at any time.

However, current events received prior to deadline will be considered before any information that is submitted, without the Publisher’s prior approval, after the deadline. Press releases, letters to the editor, and guest commentaries must be e-mailed to be considered for publication. The Florida Courier reserves the right to edit any submission, and crop any photograph, for style and clarity. Materials will not be returned.

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

TRICE EDNEY WIRE

False debate This means the current jargon on intergenerational transfer is a false debate; making it appear the AARP is trying to squeeze money out of young workers. Instead, those who are fighting to protect Social Security-like the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicareare really fighting for today’s young workers.

Protecting Social Security is making sure that young workers do not have to pay for the nearsightedness of austerity budgets that cheat the young out of policy debates on generating jobs, and then make young workers pay in retirement because of that same worldview.

Safety nets needed What the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development clearly showed last week in its economic report is that the social safety nets of the modern states are working to save the day. Why would we deny young workers a fully functioning set of proven safety nets when they get to be old?

In the meantime, let’s move on to debating getting Americans to work. Politicians need to show how their plan creates jobs now, not in some distant future. Young people need the jobs, and all of us need Social Security.

William Spriggs serves as Chief Economist to the AFL-CIO and is a professor and former chair of the Department of Economics at Howard University. Click on this story at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

Strolling down the beauty aisles When it comes to looking good, staying on top of your game, and making sure your pursuit of beauty is on point, you know the AfricanAmerican community has that covered.

Nielsen’s latest insights highlight hair and skin beauty purchases and behavior, by the numbers among African-Americans and other ethnic groups in the U.S. and Canada in a recent Nielsen Wire Post titled “Looking Good: Appealing to Ethnic Consumers in the Beauty Aisle.’’

Hair care W W W.FLCOURIER.COM

Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq.

Ladies, I’m talking to all of us here. Whether we wear our lovely tresses straight, in locks, curled or rock a natural, cute afro-puff – God-given or store-bought – we all want to make sure we look presentable and feel good about ourselves, and will spend our last dime to do so.

As African-American consumers, we are 43 million strong, representing just under 14 percent of the population, and we spend over 900 percent more on ethnic hair and beauty products than any other ethnic group in the U.S. More and more companies are beginning to pay attention. Have you noticed the increase of nonethnic brands that now offer

Black skin burns I have girlfriends who CHERYL PEARSON- slather themselves with baby oil before baking in the MCNEIL NNPA COLUMNIST

a “natural” hair care line?

Skin bleaching We also pay close attention to our skin, according to the post. African-American consumers purchase skin bleaching products at a rate of a whopping 434 percent more than the general population. And before you jump to conclusions, this isn’t necessarily about reinventing ourselves. This is primarily about erasing blemishes, lightening age spots or even out skin tones.

We purchase more hand lotion, body lotion and allpurpose skin creams than the general population: 54 percent and 40 percent respectively. We are 58 percent less likely to purchase suntan preparations or sunscreens and sunblock products.

Here’s an instance where there are opportunities for marketers in some of these categories because there is opportunity for market growth, particularly in the suntan preparations category.

sun – unprotected. Most of us now know (but still may ignore) that Blacks are not immune to sun damage – and that all skin can burn – this could be an opportunity for a wide-reaching education campaign for the companies that manufacture sunscreens and sunblocks.

So, you see, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. It is imperative that you choose companies who have your best interests, needs front and center. You’ve got to make sure you have nothing but the best with you on your pursuit of beauty.

Please take this into consideration the next time you stroll down those beauty aisles. This time, you’ll just be better equipped with additional knowledge in tow.

Cheryl Pearson-McNeil is senior vice president of Public Affairs and Government Relations for Nielsen. For more information and studies go to www. nielsenwire.com. Click on this story at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

JUNE 14 – JUNE 20, 2013

EDITORIAL

The anatomy of the modern-day drum major “The State of Equality and Justice in America” is a 20-part series of columns written by an allstar list of contributors to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Here’s the 17th op-ed of the series.

REV. JOSEPH LOWERY TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM

and as much progress as has been made, there is much work needed as racial disparities in this nation are still horrendous. In a nutshell: African-Americans are incarcerated at nearly six times the rate of Whites, according to the NAACP. Yet, the NAACP also reports that five times as many Whites are using drugs as African-Americans, but African-Americans are sent to prison for drug offenses at 10 times the rate of Whites.

Economically, according to the U. S. Census Bureau, approximately 30 percent of Blacks are living in poverty. And the racial breakdown of that statistic is riveting.

The National Urban League reports that the total 2013 Equality Index of Black America stands at 71.7 percent. This means that on average, African-Americans enjoy less than three-fourths of the benefits and privileges offered to White Americans.

Educationally, the NUL reports that African-Americans have closed the college enrollment gap at five times the rate of closing the unemployment rate gap.

Still the racial disparities are deep.

The National Center for Education Statistics reports that though college attendance is steadily rising for people of color, it is only around 14 percent for Blacks, 13 percent for Latinos and 61 percent for Whites.

On April 9, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. preached a message that was strikingly applicable to the lives of modern day civil rights leaders and leaders of America’s future.

In the pulpit of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta only five days before he was assassinated, Dr. King meticulously outlined the anatomy of what he called, the “drum major instinct”.

In that message, he drew from the book of Mark, Chapter 10, starting with Verse 13 where Jesus’ disciples, James and John, asked to be placed on the Lord’s right side and on his left side in glory.

Jesus gave them an answer that resonates today as I contemplate the current state of equality and justice in America and the necessary anatomy of today’s drum major.

be the chiefest, shall be servant of all.”

Dr. King then described how some in leadership positions mistakenly think that they should be sat on high, receive expensive houses, cars, and receive exclusive access simply because of their positions. But, now, just as Dr. King pointed out then, the anatomy of the drum major - the leader that sets the tempo for justice and equality in America - must be the soul that is willing to humbly serve.

As then, the drum major instinct has been perverted and must now be corrected in order for us to reach our righteous goals.

In other words, as we look at the current state of equality and justice in America, we must refresh our hearts and minds, as Dr. King said, with “a new definition of greatness.’’

Placement in glory

Definition of greatness

The Lord told them that their placement in glory was not his to give. Rather their placement in glory - and anyone else’s - would be contingent upon how they served here on earth. Specifically, Dr. King quoted the passage as saying, “But whosoever of you will

What he was saying is that it is not wrong to desire to be important, to want quality things and access. But those things are not equivalent to greatness. Greatness must be earned, he said. And that Recognition not required These statistics denote that peonew definition is simple - service.

As much work as has been done ple from the grassroots to Con-

A5

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: GOVERNMENT IS WATCHING

NATE BEELER/COLUMBUS DISPATCH

gress to the White House; people from the churches to the streets to the prisons; people from the educational institutions to the businesses to the civil rights organizations; people in every corner of our society much rise up and take leadership by placing their hands to the plows where they are.

Without looking around to see who is looking, without seeking name recognition and reward at every age and in every season we must not shrink from the courage to say and to do that which is right.

Living in fear But, in modern-day America, we too often find ourselves - not cautious, but afraid. Instead of challenging the systems that oppress; instead of crying out in non-violent protest where it is warranted; instead of acting upon the courage of our convictions, we far too often live in fear of what we might

lose or what we personally might not attain. But, the drum major instinct is one that is impeded by fear because it requires both vision and mobility.

As we move this great nation forward, let us take a moment to recognize the drum major instinct within each of us. Let us take personal leadership of ourselves and yield to our individual responsibilities to make a difference. Then and only then, will we perfect the noble art of leadership. Only then will we - through our service - become “the chiefest among us.”

The Rev. Joseph Lowery was a co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Click on this story at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

Obama must see Africa in new light When President Obama and the first lady travel to Africa at the end of this month, they will receive a rapturous greeting. The president’s deep roots in Kenya, the land of his father, resonate throughout the continent.

His success in the United States evokes pride and joy in Africa.

I write this from Nigeria, a country that has just celebrated its 14th year of democracy. President Obama’s election enabled Africans to see America in a new light.

I hope his visit will enable Americans to see Africa with new eyes.

Possibilities in Africa We know the problems of Africa: its poverty, corruption and conflict. After 246 years of the slave trade, 100 years of colonialism, African suffering and struggle are known. But perhaps the

Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM

president’s visit will enable us to see the possibilities.

Africa is the second-largest continent in the world, larger than China, the United States and Europe combined in land area.

Its peoples number about oneeighth of the world’s population.

It is a richly endowed continent, providing some 22 percent of the world’s gold, 55 percent of its diamonds, and 12.5 percent of its oil. Seven of the 10 fastest-growing economies in the world are in sub-Saharan Africa. It is still marked by poverty, but extreme

poverty has been declining at corruption remains a curse, and about 1 percent a year.

60 percent of the population remains below the poverty line.

Like many African countries, it Democracy in Nigeria Nigeria has twice the popula- struggles with an exodus of protion of any other African country. fessionals.

The president will visit SenIt is growing at 7 percent a year, egal, Tanzania and South Africa and will be Africa’s largest economy within the decade. It is a ma- with a large delegation of busijor supplier of oil to the U.S., and ness leaders and investors. Tanpotentially a major trading part- zania and Senegal are among the ner. Nigeria’s GDP is three times fastest-growing economies on the that of any other West African continent. The U.S. is not the oncountry. It is the largest destina- ly country interested in these new tion for foreign direct investment possibilities. on the continent. It sends 7,100 students to the U.S. for university Invest in Africa Independent Africa is still programs. Its democracy is taking root. The sun is rising in this land young. It was only 57 years ago when Kwame Nkrumah founded of potential.

Nigeria still has deep challeng- Ghana, its first independent naes to overcome. Its infrastructure tion. Now there are young, growis outmoded; its health care and ing democracies, moving from education systems inadequate; the struggle for independence to

Virginia’s restoration of voting rights: An American issue If we want to understand the importance of Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell’s recent voting rights reform, we need to look back all the way to the 1901-1902 Virginia Constitutional Convention.

The setting was Richmond, Virginia, June 1901. The Virginia Democratic Party had decided that African-Americans were gaining too much political clout after the Civil War. They forced a constitutional convention to reset the balance of power.

Virginia Delegate Carter Glass, a newspaper magnate and future United States senator, took to the podium to promote his plan for the new constitution. It was a classic example of the Jim Crow Black codes, and it included a “felony disenfranchisement” law that barred people convicted of a felony from voting in the state.

Eliminating Blacks Delegate Glass’s words that day still echo 100 years later: “This plan will eliminate the darkey as a political factor in this State in less than 5 years, so that in no single county...will there be the least concern felt for the complete supremacy of the White race in the affairs of government.”

That plan eventually became part of Virginia’s Constitution and systematically disenfranchised voters of color for over a century. Until last week, the law still impacted more than 350,000 Virginians who were no longer incarcerated, including 190,000 Black would-be voters.

But Gov. Bob McDonnell has bravely announced an executive action to grant automatic restoration of rights to people with non-violent felony convictions who have finished the terms of their sentence.

With the stroke of a pen, he restored the right to vote to at least 100,000 Virginians, with many more to come.

BEN JEALOUS TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM

All but two states still practice some form of felony disenfranchisement, such as long waiting periods for those who have finished the terms of their sentence but still cannot vote. Florida, Kentucky, and Iowa all practice some form of permanent disenfranchisement. More than 4.4 million Americans who are no longer in jail or prison cannot vote due to felony disenfranchisement practices, and nearly half are black.

States like Virginia and Delaware are leading the way, but states like Florida are lagging behind; the Sunshine State still disenfranchises more than one million citizens each voting period. Moreover, Virginia could take the final step and introduce a constitutional amendment to remove felony disenfranchisement once and for all.

Discrimination was the purpose of felony disenfranchisement in Virginia, and discrimination was the result. Other states may not have the same historic evidence of racist intent, but the effect - the systematic exclusion of people of color - is the same. McDonnell’s voting rights reform was a victory for democracy and a victory for racial justice. But America still has a long way to go.

Ben Jealous is president/CEO of the NAACP. Click on this story at www.flPermanent courier.com to write your own response. disenfranchisement Click on this story at www.flcourier.

Now other states need to follow his lead. com to write your own response.

the struggle for legitimate governance and economic development. Think of the United States 50 years after its historic revolution. Our institutions were still being formed; we were still trading in slaves, denying women equal rights, headed toward a violent civil war.

Democracy and development are roads with twists and turns. In Africa, as the president’s visit will expose, the turns are now positive. We would be well advised to contribute to the progress, to invest in the promise, and to bolster the push for human rights, development and democracy.

Keep up with Rev. Jackson and the work of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition at www.rainbowpush.org. Click on this story at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

Supreme Court must keep affirmative action alive “The enduring hope is that race should not matter; the reality is that too often it does.”

– Anthony Kennedy, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court

Race neutral bogus claim MARC H. MORIAL TRICE EDNEY WIRE

mission to the University of Texas in 2008, has resurrected a specious claim of “reverse discrimination.” This argument has been discredited in similar cases, most recently in the landmark 2003 University of Michigan Gutter v. Bollinger case. There the Supreme Court ruled “student body diversity is a compelling state interest that can justify using race in university admissions.”

It is fairness, not preference, that demands the continued use of affirmative action to level an educational playing field that for centuries excluded Blacks and other minorities from the nation’s mainstream and elite universities. It is equal opportunity, not reverse discrimination, that seeks to offer a way up and out for millions of students relegated to segregated and substandard high schools.

It is inclusion, not entitlement, that calls us to recognize that a diverse college experience is good for stuReverse dents of all races, ethnicities discrimination? and genders, and that diverIn Fisher v. University sity is essential to America’s of Texas, Abigail Fisher, a ability to compete and win White student denied ad- in the global economy.

As early as next week, in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, the United States Supreme Court may issue a ruling that could seriously limit or altogether eliminate the use of affirmative action in university admissions.

While much of the current debate about the continued need for affirmative action has been distorted by the use of coded buzzwords like “preferences,” “entitlements,” and “quotas,” we should remember that the original intent of the policy when it was first introduced in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy, was to foster non-discrimination and fairness.

That remains its central goal today. We hope a majority of the Justices uphold those core American values in deciding whether – like legacy, athletic ability and veteran status – race can be used to ensure that all students receive the educational benefits of diversity.

Despite claims to the contrary, race-neutral solutions are not an adequate answer. In its Fisher v. University of Texas Amicus Brief, the LDF states, “From 1997 through 2004, UT did not consider race in admissions. The impact was devastating.” Despite the fact that 13% of Texas high school graduates were African-American, “at no point between 1997 and 2004 did African-American students comprise more than 4.5% of the entering year class, Nearly four out of every five UT undergraduate classes had zero or one African American students.”

A similar “race-neutral” admissions policy at the University of California has also resulted in reducing the number of incoming minority freshmen.

Clearly, affirmative action based on the principle of fairness and the undeniable benefits of diversity must be kept alive

Marc Morial is president/CEO of the National Urban League. Click on this story at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

TOj A6

FLORIDA

JUNE 14 – JUNE 20, 2013

Iconic senator weighs in on bills, Zimmerman trial Arthenia Joyner will be first Black woman to serve as Florida Senate Democratic Leader

BY MARGIE MENZEL THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

TALLAHASSEE – The first time Sen. Arthenia Joyner demonstrated for civil rights, in 1960, she was in the 11th grade at Tampa’s Middleton High School. She went on to study law to follow in the footsteps of Thurgood Marshall, lead attorney in the U.S. Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education ruling, which paved the way for school integration.

When Joyner graduated from law school in 1968 and couldn’t get hired as an attorney, she went into practice for herself. Now she’s the state’s longest-practicing Black woman lawyer.

Elected to the House in 2000 and the Senate in 2006, Joyner also will be the first Black woman to serve as Senate Democratic leader. She is expected to start that role in November 2014.

On governor’s actions The News Service of Florida asked the following questions for the senator: Question: What do you think of the governor’s bill actions so far?

Joyner: He did the right thing when he vetoed the alimony bill.

I voted against it in committee and on the floor. I thought it was awful that it would end permanent alimony. There were a lot of factors in that bill that just didn’t (jibe) with what really happens in the real world.

Alimony can be paid be either party. Folks tend to think that, ‘Oh, it’s always the man that’s got to pay.’ Well, there are more women in colleges and universities now, and in business and law and in medicine – the numbers are about equal.

So women will be paying alimony as well as men. I’m looking at the fact that alimony is an institution that serves a purpose for which Florida did change a few years ago. So I was pleased that that was vetoed.

But the immigrant driver’s license act? Oh, that was awful.

These children who would have benefited deserve to have the opportunity to at least be able to get back and forth to work and to school. They’re here because their parents brought them here. They’ve done nothing. And

shame on the governor for not realizing – even people in his own party are saying, “Why? What was the real rationale?”

And as far as we can see, it was because he was catering to the Tea Party, to a minority of vocal folks who want the status quo, who don’t respect the fact that America is a country of immigrants. Always has been, always will be.

Embers of racism stirred Question: Do you think the trial of George Zimmerman in Sanford will stir the embers of racism there?

Joyner: Well, it’s already been stirred, just by the mere facts of what happened: a young Black male being shot and killed by a volunteer in the community who utilized his discretion to end a life without any real basis of doing it, after having been told (by a police dispatcher), “Do not follow the young man. We’re on the way.”

It’s tragic that we lost that young man. And now that the trial is here, we’ll have to wait and see what the jury decides, and hopefully at the end, that justice will be done. And that the people will accept the ruling of the jury, the jury’s decision and the court’s subsequent sentencing if it comes to that. But we don’t know.

We have a great system here in America, and hopefully at the end of the day, when that trial is concluded, the people will respect the verdict, whatever it is.

Civil rights arrest Question: You were arrested for civil disobedience several times, including here in Tallahassee as a student at Florida A&M University.

Joyner: Patricia Stephens Due, who led the civil rights marches here, organized the students, and I participated. A couple of blocks from here, at the Florida Theater, we attempted to integrate it in May of 1963. And I was arrested and we were released on recognizance to the dean of women at Florida A&M. The charges were dismissed. And later, when we came back for the fall (semester) in September of 1963, we picked up and started where we left off because we felt that every person in this state and in this country had a right to be able to eat at any restaurant, attend any movie, go to any church.

So we walked and marched the streets of Tallahassee. And we went again to the Florida Theater, and the federal judge had said that we could demonstrate, so

Journalist to headline B-CU’s national convention in Tampa FROM STAFF REPORTS

The Bethune-Cookman University National Alumni Association will host its 45th annual meeting June 19 -23 at the Sheraton Suites Tampa Airport Westshore Hotel.

The highlight of the convention will be a forum and interactive session conducted by Roland Martin, senior analyst, syndicated columnist, host and managing editor for TV One and a former CNN contributor.

The convention is being hosted by the Hillsborough Alumni Chapter. The agenda will include a presidential luncheon, the Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Recognition Luncheon, the Miss B-CU Alumni Coronation, and a Wildcat BarB-Que and outing.

There will be seminars, workshops, receptions and a showing of alumni pride, success and accomplishments. Alumni Roland giving, networking and student recruitMartin ment strategies will be included.

A time to reconnect During the forum, Martin will address the relevance of HBCUs and the roles B-CU alumni must play to ensure the continued viability of the university.

Participants will have the opportunity to share and exchange ideas to facilitate the achievement of the ambitious goals set for B-CU. “The Hillsborough Chapter is rolling out the red carpet and promises to be an excellent host,” said Andra Diggs, chapter president. Attendees will have many opportunities to reconnect with friends, classmates and BCU staff members while enjoying the many fun activities in the Bay area.

Visit the association’s website to register for the convention and to buy tickets for the individual events at www. bcu-naa.com. For additional information, contact Andra Diggs, Chapter President at 813-973-0946 or A. Ray Brinson, National Alumni President at 904-996-7122.

MARK FOLEY/FLORIDA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Then Florida Rep. Arthenia Joyner, shown above, makes a plea for support from her colleagues of an amendment offered on the House floor during the 2003 Legislature. many feet apart, and we wouldn’t be arrested. And five minutes after we started picketing, we were arrested. So that was my second offense, and we were taken to the Leon County Jail on Gaines Street. I pass it often and reflect on those days. We were given 90 days or pay a $500 fine. I spent about 21 days in the Leon County Jail because everybody couldn’t get out, so it was all or none. And ultimately attorney William Kunstler from New York and Francisco Rodriguez, the Afro-Cuban lawyer from Tampa, both came up, and they got bond set. And we got out.

FLORIDA SENATE

On speaking out Question: So you’ve always been outspoken?

Joyner: I did what I had to do.

I remember once when I was in school here, and my father took me to the airport to fly up. One of the police officers came over and told him, “Boy, move out of the way.” Well, I stood up and said, “How dare you. My father is in his 60s. He’s old enough to be your father. And he is not a boy and that is not the way that you’re going to talk to him!”

And so of course my father was old and said, “Oh, it’s all right.” I said, “No, it is not all right. This gentleman is wrong. And if he doesn’t like what I’m doing, then he can put me in jail, but he’s not going to talk to you like that.”

You know, there were instances when you just could not take it. And you could step back and accept it, or you could speak out. And I have never been one

Sen Arthenia Joyner from Tampa is shown on the Florida Senate floor on April 26. to stand by and let somebody willingly, verbally or otherwise, abuse me merely because I was Black. And that is what was happening to my father.

And all of that compelled me to just continue to fight for equality and right because this is America. This is where the huddled masses come and yearn to be free. Well, I’m here. And my father and his parents and their parents all fought and worked to make this a great country. There was no way that I could stand by and allow someone to speak to him like that.

‘Like coming full circle’ Question: What does it feel like to come to the Capitol now as a senator, past where you were arrested?

Joyner: It has a special significance to me because in 1969, I was the aide to Joe Lang Kershaw, the first Black representative since Reconstruction. And during that time, he and I were the only two Blacks in the Capitol who weren’t maids or janitors. And to come back in 2000 as a member of the House of Representatives was like coming full circle.

I really hadn’t envisioned coming, because I was one of those players on the outside who worked hard to send people to represent me. The opportunity arose, and I was convinced, and I came. And I look back and think about those days and how different it is now – and how some things now still remain the same.

(So you’re still working on those?)

Absolutely.

Massage hours, wine sales bills sent to Scott

tion of massage establishments between midnight and 5 a.m., although it has exceptions for businesses such as health facilities and hotels that might offer massage services.

HB 623, meanwhile, would allow the sale of wine in 5.16 gallon canisters, which can be tapped like a keg, allowing easier sales of wine by the glass in restaurants and bars.

Currently, wine can’t be sold in containers over a gallon, which means wine bars can only pour it into glasses out of traditional wine bottles.

NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

New utilities benchmarks

Dozens of bills, from proposed changes to a controversial nuclear-power law to a new limit on the hours of massage establishments, have reached the desk of Gov. Rick Scott.

The Legislature sent 51 bills to the governor on Monday. He has until June 25 to act on each measure.

Among the bills is HB 7005, which is intended to crack down on shady massage Gov. Rick establishments that are fronts for sex traf- Scott ficking. The bill would prevent the opera-

Another measure, HB 1083, would set up a permitting process for natural gas to be injected underground and stored until it is needed. Storage projects could be located in areas of southwest Florida and northwest Florida that have produced oil in the past.

SB 1472 establishes new benchmarks for electric utilities that want to collect controversial fees while planning nuclear-power plants.

The measure is aimed at altering a 2006 law intended to encourage more nuclear power. Florida Power & Light and the former Progress Energy Florida – now Duke Energy – have used the law to collect hundreds of millions of dollars in pre-construction nuclear fees.

State objects to Muslim prisoners joining kosher food case State attorneys Tuesday objected to an attempt by Muslim prisoners to intervene in a federal lawsuit that seeks to ensure the Florida Department of Corrections will offer

kosher meals to religiously observant Jewish prisoners.

Muslim prisoners filed a motion May 30 to intervene in the case, which was filed last year in federal court in Miami by the U.S. Department of Justice. The Muslim prisoners seek a halal diet, complying with Islamic dietary laws, but would accept a kosher diet.

In seeking to intervene, attorneys for the Muslim prisoners said the federal government should be “commended” for filing the lawsuit but that it does not address the Muslim dietary issue.

No halal meal “Nowhere in the complaint is

there any mention of Muslim inmates not being provided a halal meal, or in the alternative a kosher meal,’’ the motion said.

But in a document filed Tuesday, the state’s attorneys raised a series of legal objections to allowing the Muslim prisoners to join the case.

“The movants are Muslim inmates who seek a halal diet,’’ the document said. This case is not about halal diets, but kosher ones.”

U.S. District Judge Patricia Seitz held a hearing last week on the federal government’s request for a preliminary injunction on the kosherfood issue, but she had not ruled as of Tuesday.

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

IFE/FAITH

Dads discuss importance of fatherhood See page B3

June 14 - June 20, 2013

SHARING BLACK LIFE, STATEWIDE

Cicely Tyson wins Tony Award See page B5

SOUTH FLORIDA / TREASURE COAST AREA

|

www.flcourier.com

SECTION

B

S

HAPPY Father’s DAY The Florida Courier staff pays tribute to their dads with personal photos and narratives

Challenging police power, 1970

Last family picture, 2002

Glenn, Charles Sr., Charles II, 2003

To Charles W. Cherry, Sr., 1928-2004: We fight daily to keep the charge assigned to us. Asking, “What would Daddy do?” allows your wisdom to defy time and eternity, as you continue to guide us. We love you, and think about you every day.

The Cherry Family

Jerry Thomas Sr., a fisherman, car enthusiast, military vet and believer in the power of God. Thanks for showing your love through the years in all you do.

Remember when we’d go fishing and I wouldn’t put the worm on the hook because it was icky and gross? Well, Dad, it still is. Love ya, Ashley Thomas

He was a man of integrity, a mentor to many. There always seemed to be a twinkle in his eye, a kind word on his lips, and laughter came often and easily. The Rev. M.H. Griffin was a visionary who founded a ministry that continues to help numerous families of all races in Naples. Dad’s earthly life ended 20 years ago, but his messages of faith, hope, joy and love still live on in the many lives he touched.

Jenise Griffin Morgan

Arthur Harper, you, along with mom Annie, who have been married for 55 years, have been by my side ever since I was born 51 years ago this month.

Both of you still have my back.

Thank you for everything.

I love you.

James Dear Grandpa Fred, (Wardell Lee) Thanks for everything you do for us. We really appreciate you!

Love ya!

Chayla and Wiggles

Meeting Charles III (“Wig”) for the first time, 2004

To our Dad, Gaddy M. Rawls (9-151933 to 3-17-2011) On this Father’s Day, we want to remember you.

Simply, thank you for loving us in your way! We miss you!

Love, Valerie and Gerod

To my Dad, Dr. Glenn W. Cherry, What a Dad gives a family can’t be measured…except by the HEART. Thank you Dad for all the little things and big stuff you’ve handled with strength and dignity, BUT most of all for planting footsteps for me to follow as a young man!

Happy Father’s Day! Love You! Jamal

My dad is the best dad in the whole wide world, and we are blessed to be celebrating his 93rd birthday on June 15.

All to Jesus that Dad is of sound mind, body and spirit.

Jeroline McCarthy

On Dec. 12, 1995, a man, Louis M. Holman Sr., passed away from this realm into eternity with little fanfare. It’s what he would have wanted. He sacrificed time and money to take care of his family members and to take on a system of segregation when it could have cost him his life. He was determined to make the powers that be focus on the plight of Black teachers in Charleston, S.C., and used his position as president of the Teachers’ Association to win a measure of justice. You never truly know how much a father means until he is physically no longer a part of your life.

God bless the spirit of my father, Lou Muhammad Dad, Thank you for being such an amazing father and a wonderful influence on my life. You’re always quick with a laugh and a helping hand and I love that about you!

Happy Father’s Day, Angela Parker van Emmerik

James Harper at his high school graduation with dad Arthur

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY! WE LOVE YOU, Chayla and Wig Chayla, Wig and Grandpa Fred

Harold, Angela, vacation 2008

B2

HEALTH

JUNE 14 – JUNE 20, 2013

STOj

Vanessa West, general manager of the Metropolitan Wellness Center, poses in the first medical marijuana dispensary in Washington, D.C., on May 29.

OLIVIER DOULIERY/ ABACA PRESS/ MCT

Medical marijuana shop opening near Capitol Hill Pot comes to Washington as US pot movement begins to bloom

BY ROB HOTAKAINEN MCCLATCHY WASHINGTON BUREAU/MCT

WASHINGTON — As she prepares to open the Metropolitan Wellness Center above a Popeyes chicken restaurant a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol, general manager Vanessa West isn’t worried that her medical marijuana shop will get raided.

West knows she’ll be selling a drug that’s illegal under federal law, even though the District of Columbia City Council has approved sales for medical use, but she expects the city to have a tightly run system.

“I was explaining it to a toddler a few weeks ago.

It’s like if you’re in grade school and they say it’s OK to chew gum inside the classroom but it’s not in the hallway,” West said. “It just makes no sense.”

Operating in the shadow of Congress, the center — expected to open later this month — will mark one of the boldest moves yet for the nation’s marijuana movement, which is in full bloom this spring. It will be one of three that are

Medical marijuana states

Eighteen states and the District of Columbia have enacted laws to legalize medical marijuana; two more states* have laws pending.

Medical marijuana laws (19)

Marijuana legal for adults; states will tax and regulate sales in 2014 (2)

R.I. Conn.

Del. D.C. *Laws are pending in Ill. and N.H.

expected to be operating soon in the district.

Dangerous message?

‘Slippery slope’

Kennedy said he regretted ever supporting medical marijuana and that he feared it would lead to more drug abuse among children.

“More kids smoke marijuana than smoke tobacco,” he said. “And the perception is, ‘Well, it’s medical, it must be fine.’ … What you end up doing is sending a very dangerous message.”

Opponents of medical marijuana hope to ramp up the anti-legalization message, saying they need to do a better job of reaching state legislators.

“It’s a reflection of the one-sidedness that they’re hearing on this,” said Kevin Sabet, an assistant professor and the director of the Drug Policy Institute at the University of Florida, who teamed up with Kennedy to create Project SAM. Sabet said the dispensary on Capitol Hill was making itself a target for legal action. But he predicted that the Obama administration will take a wait-and-see attitude to assess whether the dispensary fizzles out or begins growing.

“If they get more brazen, I can’t imagine there won’t be any action against them,” Sabet said.

state and federal marijuana laws as a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, a Democratic-leaning research center in Washington, said allowing the dispensary would be “totally inconsistent with federal law.”

“It seems as though the administration wants to pretend nothing’s happening, and one way to pretend nothing’s happening is to have marijuana being sold right under their noses in the middle of D.C. and not do anything about it,” he said.

Allen St. Pierre, the executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, a pro-legalization group in Washington, said allowing the center to operate so close to the Capitol “is with some irony.” But he said the dispensary probably would be fine as long as it complied with conditions set by the District of Columbia’s Health Department.

The Justice Department declined to comment.

Consistent with law

15-year delay

Stuart Taylor, who studied the conflict between

West, who once worked at a San Diego dispensary,

In Illinois, legislators just passed a law legalizing medical marijuana, though it has yet to be signed by the governor. In New Hampshire, the House of Representatives and the Senate have approved medical marijuana bills, sending the issue to a conference committee.

In Vermont, lawmakers voted to decriminalize pot, and the governor signed the measure on June 6. In Colorado, the governor made history last week by signing bills to make his state the first to create a system to tax and regulate marijuana for recreational use.

Medical marijuana is now legal in 18 states, along with the District of Columbia. Two — Colorado and Washington state — have signed off on plans to allow recreational sales. Critics fear that more will follow.

“Medical marijuana has been a Trojan horse, really, for decriminalization and legalization. It’s the slippery slope toward legalization,” said Patrick Kennedy, a former congressman who’s the chairman of Project SAM (Smart Approaches to Marijuana), a national group that opposes legalization.

NOTE: Alaska and Hawaii are not to scale © 2013 MCT Source: Marijuana Policy Project Graphic: Judy Treible

said she didn’t understand the fuss.

“It’s just odd to me, you know. I feel like it’s not an issue,” she said. She said that anyone who’d lived in California or Colorado knew that marijuana was “just not a big deal.”

“So we’re a little bit behind the times, which is ironic, because D.C. passed this law back in 1998,” she said.

While D.C. residents did pass a medical marijuana initiative nearly 15 years ago, Congress intervened, delaying its start date until 2010.

With only three dispensaries set to open in the District of Columbia, West said the city would run a tightly controlled system, unlike California, where looser rules have resulted in hundreds of raids.

Other dispensaries She said there was another important distinction: Only D.C. residents who have recommendations from currently licensed doctors may buy marijuana, while California allows doctors who no longer are practicing to make recommendations, which

she said made the system much harder to control.

The district’s other two dispensaries will be in the Takoma neighborhood adjacent to Takoma Park, Md., and on North Capitol Street, another location not far from the U.S. Capitol.

Noting his administration’s aggressive stance against medical marijuana in California, West called President Barack Obama “the worst marijuana president in the history of this country.” But she said Obama now had more important things to do than deal with marijuana issues.

“In every state where it’s legal medically and the program is done right, the feds don’t intervene,” she said.

Different strains West said she wouldn’t know exactly when the center would open until she got the green light from the city, once all her paperwork was in order.

The walls have fresh gray paint on them. The display jars are lined up in a glass case, but they’re still empty as she awaits the first delivery of cannabis from the city’s licensed cultivators.

She’s eager for her first customers.

“We need to teach them how to pick the best strain and how to pick the best way to ingest it,” she said.

“Do you want to smoke it?

Do you want to eat it? Are you going to roll a joint?

Are you going to vaporize it? Are you going to put it on your skin?”

The center will sell many different strains of marijuana, along with edibles, concentrates, dried cannabis and pot-laced drinks.

Customers will be able to find paraphernalia, too.

“Anything that you see at a head shop, we can sell,” West said.

Wide-ranging health bill gets OK from Scott NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

On June 7, Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed a highprofile bill that will clear the way for Miami Children’s Hospital to add a controversial labor-anddelivery unit and also will make oral medications more affordable to cancer patients.

The bill (HB 1159) also could help lead to a trauma center at Fort Walton Beach Medical Center and new nursing homes at The Villages and some other large retirement communities.

The measure became controversial in the final days of the legislative session, in part because of a debate about whether Miami Children’s Hospital should be able to have an obstetrics unit that would serve women with highrisk pregnancies.

Prompted heavy debate Some other South Florida hospitals fought the idea. Debate also was heavy about part of the bill aimed at preventing health insurers from requiring cancer patients to pay higher costs for oral medications than they do for intravenous medications.

A coalition of groups, the Alliance for Access to Cancer Care, sent out a statement on June 7 that thanked Scott and lawmakers for passing the measure.

“Thanks to this new law, Florida’s cancer patients will see improved access to the medications and treatments they need to battle their disease, as this law addresses the unfairly high out-of-pocket costs too often associated with orallyadministered cancer treatments,’’ the alliance said.

A bill relating to a controversial labor-and-delivery unit at Miami Children’s Hospital was signed off last week by Florida Gov. Rick Scott.

S

JUNE 14 – JUNE 20, 2013

RELATIONSHIPS

B3

The importance of fatherhood These men talk about the privilege and the honor of being a dad

BY HAZEL TRICE EDNEY TRICE EDNEY NEWS WIRE

We hear the statistics all too often. Currently, “only 28 percent of Black youth have their fathers in the home. In 1920, it was 90 percent and in 1960 it was 80 percent.”

Those are the stats recently quoted by Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu, a foremost expert on the rearing of African-American children; especially boys. He boldly asserts: “I believe one of the greatest problems facing the Black community is fatherlessness.”

Plenty of other national experts back him up, pointing to multiple social ills as evidence of the dire need for fathers in the home.

Even President Obama has focused on this issue when speaking to Black audiences.

But, that’s not what this story is about.

On Father’s Day, millions of Black fathers, stepfathers, uncles, mentors, big brothers, relatives and father figures will be celebrated and appreciated because of their powerful and positive influence on their children every day. Some will even be given, well, super dad status.

Big families Meet Martin Smith, a wealth planner and investment advisor who resides in Bowie, Md. He gives his view on the most important aspect of fatherhood: “I think legacy and having the privilege and the honor to raise children and to have them develop into who God has called them uniquely to be,” he says. “All of them are totally different from one another.

And so it T:7”

really stretches you to see how you have to nurture them.”

Smith should know. He and his wife, Walida, have seven children - six girls ages 18, 16, 11, 9, 8, and 5 and one boy, 13.

“In my case – seven different personalities,” he chuckles, speaking from a cell phone as the entire family enjoys a road trip from Bowie to the San Diego, California area to visit family and tour colleges.

“We’re trying to get them exposed now, start them thinking about it early.”

Along the way, they had stopped in to visit longtime friends, Marlon and Rosalind Brooks of Houston, Texas. The Brooks also have a large family – five children - including four boys ages 14, 10, 8, and 4, and one girl, 12.

Marlon and Rosalind Brooks of Houston say team work is the key to juggling their work schedules and family time.

T:4.875”

equal attention, but you have to give them attention as if you were wanting attention yourself,” he says.

“You’ve got to manage the kids, you’ve got to manage time with your wife; you’ve got to manage taking care of the house, you’ve got to manage making sure that you’re going to provide for them and sometimes in the midst of all of that you just It takes teamwork don’t want to be bothered,” Marlon Brooks tells his he said with a laugh.

“But, even then, I’ve got strategy for fatherhood.

“It’s hard to give them to make sure that I’m a good steward over the emotions of all of the kids.”

The owners of a 4-yearold food service operation, Brooks Family Barbecue, the Brooks are about to take on yet another venture in Houston. They are opening a full service restaurant in July. That’s coupled with Mrs. Brooks’ full time job as an ROTC instructor.

They say balancing their careers and caring for the children can only be done as a team.

“Even on a daily basis we pretty much divide everything up,” she said, with a special emphasis on their education. “He and I spend equal time at the school.

T:11.5” They know him just like they know me as far as the

CLIENT JOB NUMBER JOB DESCRIPTION FILE NAME DATE REVISION PAGE GRAPHIC ARTIST PUB BLEED TRIM LIVE SCALE PRINTOUT

AD COUNCIL ADCCO11001R9 LET’S MOVE MAGAZINE ADS ADCCO11001R9_m09v00.indd 2-25-2011 11:08 AM 0 1 Sean Devlin VARIOUS MAGAZINES None 7” x 4.875” None 100% 100%

FONTS None IMAGES 140788_Tuesday_flat.tif (CMYK; 621 ppi; 48.29%), Letsmove.gov.eps, adCouncil_ rev.eps, hhs_logo_rev.eps, usda.rev.eps COLORS CMYK NOTES 4/C

Martin Smith, a Bowie, Md. father of seven, says he loves road trips and Bible study with his wife, Walida, and their children.

teachers and the administrators.”

dent and chief executive officer.

A good balance

‘You make time’

When it comes to discipline, the retired U.S. Navy commander says she is the strict one. “I’m kind of hard-nosed when it comes to certain things.”

She recalls how the children think, “‘Mom says we can’t do this, but Dad might find a way for us to be able to work it out.’ I think when God called us together, he just knew these different temperaments we had. And we’re just a good balance.”

Walida Smith, a working mother of seven children, says she admires her husbands’ “commitment to their spiritual growth above anything else. That’s like the first and foremost concern,” she said.

In that regard, Martin Smith says one of his favorite family group activities is Bible study. He has temporarily set aside his pursuit of a master of divinity degree while completing a master of real estate Finance at Georgetown University, which he says will enhance his services at Wealth Care Financial Group Inc. of which he is owner, presi-

Despite their jam-packed schedules, both couples say finding time for each other and nurturing their own relationships are keys to good parenting.

“You make time,” says Mrs. Smith, who works as director of Publications and Resources for the Skinner Leadership Institute based in Tracy’s Landing, Md. “We have teenagers. The older ones are taught how to take care of the younger ones so that [we] are able to do that.

And then we live near family and have family available so that makes a difference.”

The main ingredient is sacrificing for each other even if it’s a constant struggle, says Marlon Brooks.

“We date. That’s very important. We spend time as husband and wife, but sometimes we need to spend time together as friends. And when we spend time together as friends we kind of talk about the needs of the kids and each other’s needs,” he says. “Every time we do that for each other I feel like the Lord meets our needs.”

APPROVAL PROOFREADER STUDIO MANAGER PRODUCTION TRAFFIC ART DIRECTOR COPYWRITER CREATIVE DIRECTOR ACCOUNT MANAGER MANAGING DIR. CLIENT

A

HEARTBEAT PORTRAIT Chisomo Boxer

Actual heartbeats from the children Chisomo saved in Malawi created this portrait of him. Help frontline health workers like Chisomo bring hope to millions of children at EveryBeatMatters.org

EVERY BEAT MATTERS

TOJ

JUNE 14 – JUNE 20, 2013

RELATIONSHIPS

B3

The importance of fatherhood These men talk about the privilege and the honor of being a dad

BY HAZEL TRICE EDNEY TRICE EDNEY NEWS WIRE

We hear the statistics all too often. Currently, “only 28 percent of Black youth have their fathers in the home. In 1920, it was 90 percent and in 1960 it was 80 percent.”

Those are the stats recently quoted by Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu, a foremost expert on the rearing of African-American children; especially boys. He boldly asserts: “I believe one of the greatest problems facing the Black community is fatherlessness.”

Plenty of other national experts back him up, pointing to multiple social ills as evidence of the dire need for fathers in the home.

Even President Obama has focused on this issue when speaking to Black audiences.

But, that’s not what this story is about.

On Father’s Day, millions of Black fathers, stepfathers, uncles, mentors, big brothers, relatives and father figures will be celebrated and appreciated because of their powerful and positive influence on their children every day. Some will even be given, well, super dad status.

Big families Meet Martin Smith, a wealth planner and investment advisor who resides in Bowie, Md. He gives his view on the most important aspect of fatherhood: “I think legacy and having the privilege and the honor to raise children and to have them develop into who God has called them uniquely to be,” he says. “All of them are totally different from one another.

And so it T:7”

really stretches you to see how you have to nurture them.”

Smith should know. He and his wife, Walida, have seven children - six girls ages 18, 16, 11, 9, 8, and 5 and one boy, 13.

“In my case – seven different personalities,” he chuckles, speaking from a cell phone as the entire family enjoys a road trip from Bowie to the San Diego, California area to visit family and tour colleges.

“We’re trying to get them exposed now, start them thinking about it early.”

Along the way, they had stopped in to visit longtime friends, Marlon and Rosalind Brooks of Houston, Texas. The Brooks also have a large family – five children - including four boys ages 14, 10, 8, and 4, and one girl, 12.

It takes teamwork Marlon Brooks tells his strategy for fatherhood.

“It’s hard to give them

Marlon and Rosalind Brooks of Houston say team work is the key to juggling their work schedules and family time.

T:4.875”

equal attention, but you have to give them attention as if you were wanting attention yourself,” he says.

“You’ve got to manage the kids, you’ve got to manage time with your wife; you’ve got to manage taking care of the house, you’ve got to manage making sure that you’re going to provide for them and sometimes in the midst of all of that you just don’t want to be bothered,” he said with a laugh.

“But, even then, I’ve got to make sure that I’m a good steward over the emotions of all of the kids.”

The owners of a 4-yearold food service operation, Brooks Family Barbecue, the Brooks are about to take on yet another venture in Houston. They are opening a full service restaurant in July. That’s coupled with Mrs. Brooks’ full time job as an ROTC instructor.

They say balancing their careers and caring for the children can only be done as a team.

“Even on a daily basis we pretty much divide everything up,” she said, with a special emphasis on their education. “He and I spend equal time at the school.

They know him just like they know me as far as the

CLIENT JOB NUMBER JOB DESCRIPTION FILE NAME DATE REVISION PAGE GRAPHIC ARTIST PUB BLEED TRIM LIVE SCALE PRINTOUT

AD COUNCIL ADCCO11001R9 LET’S MOVE MAGAZINE ADS ADCCO11001R9_m09v00.indd 2-25-2011 11:08 AM 0 1 Sean Devlin VARIOUS MAGAZINES None 7” x 4.875” None 100% 100%

FONTS None IMAGES 140788_Tuesday_flat.tif (CMYK; 621 ppi; 48.29%), Letsmove.gov.eps, adCouncil_ rev.eps, hhs_logo_rev.eps, usda.rev.eps COLORS CMYK NOTES 4/C

APPROVAL PROOFREADER STUDIO MANAGER PRODUCTION TRAFFIC ART DIRECTOR COPYWRITER CREATIVE DIRECTOR ACCOUNT MANAGER MANAGING DIR. CLIENT

Martin Smith, a Bowie, Md. father of seven, says he loves road trips and Bible study with his wife, Walida, and their children.

teachers and the administrators.”

dent and chief executive officer.

A good balance

‘You make time’

When it comes to discipline, the retired U.S. Navy commander says she is the strict one. “I’m kind of hard-nosed when it comes to certain things.”

She recalls how the children think, “‘Mom says we can’t do this, but Dad might find a way for us to be able to work it out.’ I think when God called us together, he just knew these different temperaments we had. And we’re just a good balance.”

Walida Smith, a working mother of seven children, says she admires her husbands’ “commitment to their spiritual growth above anything else. That’s like the first and foremost concern,” she said.

In that regard, Martin Smith says one of his favorite family group activities is Bible study. He has temporarily set aside his pursuit of a master of divinity degree while completing a master of real estate Finance at Georgetown University, which he says will enhance his services at Wealth Care Financial Group Inc. of which he is owner, presi-

Despite their jam-packed schedules, both couples say finding time for each other and nurturing their own relationships are keys to good parenting.

“You make time,” says Mrs. Smith, who works as director of Publications and Resources for the Skinner Leadership Institute based in Tracy’s Landing, Md. “We have teenagers. The older ones are taught how to take care of the younger ones so that [we] are able to do that.

And then we live near family and have family available so that makes a difference.”

The main ingredient is sacrificing for each other even if it’s a constant struggle, says Marlon Brooks.

“We date. That’s very important. We spend time as husband and wife, but sometimes we need to spend time together as friends. And when we spend time together as friends we kind of talk about the needs of the kids and each other’s needs,” he says. “Every time we do that for each other I feel like the Lord meets our needs.”

TOj B4

FOOD

TOJ

JUNE 14 – JUNE 20, 2013

From family Features

Firing up the grill is an American tradition. The farm families who produce the food so many people enjoy at backyard cookouts want to share some of their favorite grilling recipes, as well as an appre­ciation for how food gets Safe Minimum from the farm to the table.

Internal Farmers like Amanda Folkens, Temperatures from Iowa, Danell Kalcevic, from Colorado, and Nicole Small, from Kansas, have 145°F Beef, pork, joined with more than 70 othveal and lamb er farmer volunteers across the (roasts, steaks country in the CommonGround and chops) pro­gram as a way to talk with 160°F Ground meat home cooks about how food is 165°F Poultry (whole, grown and raised. parts or ground) “On our farm, animal care is top priority, as it is for thousands of other family farms in the U.S.” said Amanda. “By keeping our animals indoors, we make sure they are protected from predators, disease and bad weather.”

To learn more about family farms and facts about your food, visit www.FindOurCommonGround.com.

Here are some of Amanda, Danell and Nicole’s favorite grilling recipes.

Things to Know Before You Shop the Meat Case There’s no need to pay extra for poultry or pork that’s labeled hormone-free. USDA prohibits farmers from using hormones to raise chicken and pigs.

Nearly all beef cattle, whether raised organically or conventionally, spend the majority of their lives on pastures eating grass.

Purchasing organic, grass-fed and free-range meats does not make them safer to consume. These labels refer to how the animals are raised, but all meat and poultry can contain bacteria that could cause illness.

Most cases of foodborne illness can be prevented with proper processing, hand­ling and cooking of food to destroy bacteria.

Grilled Hawaiian Ham Sandwich

By Amanda Folkens Serves: 1 1 tablespoon brown sugar

Beef Rack of Ribs

By Danell Kalcevic Serves: 4 to 6 Salt (to taste)

1/2 tablespoon seasoning pepper

1tablespoon black pepper (to taste)

1 to 21/4-inch thick ham slices (about the same thickness as the bread)

1 tablespoon seasoned garlic salt (to taste)

Cooking spray

Cayenne pepper (optional)

Pineapple slices (can be fresh or canned)

1 to 2 racks of beef ribs (number of racks based on number of people)

2 slices sourdough bread

1 tablespoon yellow mustard

Preheat grill for high heat.

Mix brown sugar with pepper to create a rub mixture.

Using your hands, massage the rub onto both sides of the slices of ham.

Ham slices should be completely covered (front and back) with brown sugar mix.

Place ham slices on sheet of lightly greased foil, then place onto grill.

On separate sheet of greased foil, lay pine­apple slices out, uncovered.

Cook for 6 to 8 minutes or until brown caramelization appears around edges of ham and pineapple.

Remove ham and pineapple from heat and assemble onto toasted sourdough bread.

1/3 cup brown sugar One bottle of favorite barbeque sauce The night before serving, prepare rub for beef ribs (salt, pepper, seasoned garlic salt and op­tional cayenne pepper). Sprinkle both sides of ribs and then rub vigorously. Wrap in plas­tic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

In the morning, place on medium tempera­ture grill and spread yellow mustard and brown sugar on each side of the ribs. Grill for 5 to 8 minutes until each side is slightly browned and caramelized.

Remove ribs from grill and slice with sharp knife. Place individual ribs in a crock pot on low. Add one bottle of your favorite barbeque sauce. Let simmer 6 to 8 hours.

Country Barbecue Potatoes

By Nicole Small Serves: 4 to 6 2 pounds small red potatoes 2 tablespoons butter, melted 1 teaspoon honey 3 teaspoons seasoned salt 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4teaspoon garlic powder 1/4 teaspoon pepper Preheat oven to 450°F. Coat 9 x 13 baking pan with nonstick spray.

Cut potatoes into small to medium–sized pieces and put in pan.

Melt butter and honey, and then drizzle over potatoes. Sprinkle with seasoned salt, salt, garlic powder and pepper. Toss well to coat.

Bake, uncovered, for 25 to 30 minutes, or until potatoes are tender and golden brown. Stir potatoes at least once.

S

JUNE 14 – JUNE 20, 2013

FINEST & ENTERTAINMENT

Meet some of

FLORIDA'S

finest

submitted for your approval

Andre Smith is a Miami Beach resident and a retired computer specialist technician.

He models swimsuits from time to time and loves nature, gadgets and tech.

Andre may be contacted at nut4692000@yahoo.com.

Fort Lauderdale: A free Business Roundtable Breakfast with Rep. Hazelle Rogers will be held July 1 from 7 to 9 a.m. at Broward College, Willis Holcombe Center. RSVP at 954-6342472 or send email to caribchamber@ gcacc.com.

Miami: 2013 “American Idol’’ winner Candace Glover and finalists on the Fox show will be on tour at the Amway Center in Orlando on Aug. 1 and AmericanAirlines Arena on Aug. 2.

Miami: R&B trio TGT (Tyrese, Ginuwine and Tank) will be at James L. Knight Center in Miami on July 4.

Miami-Dade: “The Amazing Adventures of Dr. Wonderful’’ will premiere at the Carnival Studio Theater June 15 at 1 p.m. $20.

Miami Shores: A workshop titled “Savvy Social Security Planning: What Baby

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.

sheena

andre FLORIDA COMMUNITY CALENDAR

B5

information: 954-924-2980.

Boomers Need to Know to Maximize Retirement Income” will be presented by the Treece Financial Group Inc. at the Miami Shores Brockway Memorial Library June 18 from 6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. Free. Registration suggested.

More information: 305-751-8855.

Fort Lauderdale: The Florida Minority Community Reinvestment group along with a coalition of Florida minority nonprofits and neighborhood associations are hosting the 2013 Let’s Do Business Florida & Summit June 28-June 29 at the Westin Beach Resort & Spa. More information: www.letsdobusinessflorida.com.

Miami: Enjoy a free session of yoga in the park every Monday and Wednesday from 6 p.m. - 7:15 p.m. and Saturdays 9 a.m. - 10:15 p.m. all participants must be at least 18 years old and sign a waiver. Bring your own yoga mat, water and towel. More information: 305-358-7550.

Fort Lauderdale: Live jazz, blues, pop and everything in between along Hollywood’s signature 2.5 mile Boardwalk is every Friday of every month. More

Sheena “Skye” Hall was born in Rochester, Mich., and is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in social work at the University of Central Florida. Her acting certificate from the Lisa Maile School of acting and modeling has afforded her the opportunity to cameo in various videos and short films. See more of Skye at www.facebook.com/Skyehall25 or contact her at Skyehall25@gmail.com.

Boca Raton: An open mic night for 18 and up featuring comedy, poetry and music is held every Monday at the Funky Biscuit in the back of Royal Palm Plaza, 303 SE Mizner Blvd. Sign up is at 8 p.m. The show begins at 8:30 p.m.

More information: Richy Lala 561-5128472.

Miami: Miami-Dade County hosts a Downtown Harvest Market every Friday from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Residents and visitors have the opportunity to purchase seasonal produce directly from Miami-Dade growers at the Stephen P. Clark Center’s Courtyard, 111 NW 1st St. More information: www. earth-learning.org.

Fort Lauderdale: The Florida Minority Community Reinvestment along with a coalition of Florida minority non-profits and neighborhood associations are hosting the 2013 Let’s Do Business Florida & Summit June 28-June 29 at the Westin Beach Resort & Spa. No cost to women-minority-veteran businesses and nonprofits. More information: www.letsdobusinessflorida.com.

CHAKA KHAN

The legendary singer is scheduled to perform July 20 at the James L. Knight Center in Miami.

Cicely Tyson wins Tony at 88 ‘Trip to Bountiful’ star was one of four Black actors to receive awards FROM WIRE REPORTS

Cicely Tyson is shown on the red carpet at the Tony Awards.

The Tony Awards were held Sunday night in New York City and one of the biggest winners was 88-yearold Cicely Tyson.

Tyson, who returned to the stage after 30 years, picked up the award for Best Actress in a Play from her performance in “The Trip to Bountiful.”

“A Trip to Bountiful’’ was originally a televised play that was turned into a successful, Academy Awardwinning film. In it, Tyson plays an elderly woman living with her son and his over-the-top wife, wishing that she could return to her childhood home before

she dies. So she does everything in her power to make that trek.

And the star had one of the evening’s most emotional win - and not one but two standing ovations for best actress in a play, in “The Trip to Bountiful.” She told the audience that at her age, she had “this burning desire to do just one more - one more great role.

I didn’t want to be greedy. I just wanted one more.”

Other Blacks win Courtney B. Vance won best featured actor in “Lucky Guy,” his first win in three nominations.

“It’s a richer experience now,” he said after the show. “Being nominated is a whirlwind. Now I know how to pace myself.”

He was taking photos of his wife, actress Angela Bassett, as fellow guests at the Tony after-party at the Pla-

za Hotel crowded around them. “Besides,” he said, “we’re the toast of Broadway now! That doesn’t happen very often.”

At Sunday night’s Tony Awards, Black stars took home four major awards (and one other production award). According to Shadow and Act, this is just the second time that four Blacks have won in the same year, with the last time being in 1982 with “Dreamgirls.’’

Actor Billy Porter also won for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for his work in Kinky Boots. Patina Miller won for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical for “Pippin.’’

Producer Ron Simons also received a Tony for “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, ‘’ which won for Best Play.

Courtney Vance, pictured with wife Angela Bassett, won a Tony for his role in “Lucky Guy.’’

TOj B6

JUNE 14 – JUNE 20, 2013

STOJ