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PRESORTED STANDARD MAIL U.S. POSTAGE PAID DAYTONA BEACH, FL PERMIT #189
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CELEBRATING OUR 10TH YEAR STATEWIDE!
Onyx Awards to honor Tom Joyner Page B2 www.flcourier.com
JUNE 24 – JUNE 30, 2016
VOLUME 24 NO. 26
KEEPING HOPE ALIVE As Rep. John Lewis leads House Democrats in a civil rights-style ‘sit-in,’ a bipartisan Senate group tries to find common ground on ‘no-fly list’ gun restrictions. COMPILED FROM WIRE REPORTS
WASHINGTON – Fed up with Republican inaction on gun control, House Democrats shut down business as usual Wednesday with an old-fashioned, if highly unusual, sit-in that forced live television coverage of the chamber off the air and sent GOP leaders scrambling for cover. The scene, including chants of “No bill, no break!”
was like nothing that has occurred in Congress in recent years, more reminiscent of the civil rights battles of the 1960s than today’s often predictably scripted debates.
Reached their limit But after the Orlando mass shooting – and others in San Bernardino, Calif., and Newtown, Conn. – along with the Senate’s fail-
Shut out yet again Dems still won’t utilize Black businesses
‘Wasting millions’ “Democrats are wasting millions of dollars chasing after White swing voters instead of investing the money in engaging communities of color,” said Steve Phillips, founder and chairman of PowerPAC+. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee already has made reforms based on the study. America’s population is 13.2 percent Black, according to 2014 Census Bureau estimates, but African-American voters are expected to play an outsized role in November’s elections. Eighty percent of Black voters are Democrats. Only 11 percent are Republicans.
Same firm gets paid Some consulting firms repeatedly prosper. Event Transportation Associates, the go-to transit service for the past two Democratic conventions, seems poised to thrive again this year. The company, which did not reply to repeated requests for comment, last month announced its preparations for the 2016 Democratic National Convention in See DEMS, Page A2
Voter purge prevented; Rodney King dies
FC
HEALTH B3
NATION B4
Study focuses on high school brains
Voter suppression threatens elections
FOOD | B6
Healthy recipes for breakfast
ALSO INSIDE
PRESORTED STANDARD MAIL U.S. POSTAGE PAID DAYTONA BEACH, FL PERMIT #189
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JUNE 22 - JUNE 28, 2012
VOLUME 20 NO. 25
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A RACIAL DIVIDE ON VOTER PURGE Scott and other supporters say they are trying to make sure only eligible voters cast ballots, but critics – including the U.S. Department of Justice – argue that Florida is violating federal election laws.
White and Hispanic voters support the governor’s efforts while Blacks oppose it, according to a new poll. Meanwhile, groups filed a lawsuit this week to stop the removal of non-citizens from election rolls.
Suit filed in Miami
FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
A new poll released Wednesday shows that Florida voters support Gov. Rick Scott’s effort to remove non-citizens from voter rolls by a 60 percent to 35 percent margin. The Quinnipiac University poll also shows a racial divide – White voters back the purge 67 percent to 29 percent, while Black voters oppose it 56 percent to 38 percent and Hispanic voters support it 49 percent to 42 percent.
On Tuesday, two Miami-Dade County women and a coalition of five groups filed a federal lawsuit to try to block Florida’s effort to remove ineligible voters from the election rolls. The lawsuit, filed in Miami, argues in part that the purge discriminates against minority voters. “The alleged non-citizen voter purge program is not uniform, has been discriminatory against minority voters, namely Hispanics and Blacks, and has disproportionately impacted lawful, eligible minority voters,’’ the lawsuit says. One of the plaintiffs, Karla Vanessa Arcia, is a Nicaraguan-American who is a U.S. citizen. The lawsuit says Arcia’s name apCARL JUSTE/MIAMI HERALD/MCT peared on a purge list, and she faces the Voters wait outside a polling place at the New Birth Baptist Church in Miami on possibility of being removed from the vot- Nov. 4, 2008. Opponents of Gov. Rick Scott’s voter removal efforts say they un-
BOG grills Ammons on grad rate, debt load
See VOTERS, Page A2
fairly target minorities and could impact this November’s election.
A DREAM REALIZED
Obama’s immigration decision praised, criticized
BY BRANDON LARRABEE THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE – A clearly skeptical Board of Governors committee approved Florida A&M University’s plan for the coming year, but only after sharply questioning President James Ammons over the institution’s low graduation rate and heavy debt load on students. At the same time, James board members Ammons said they would be hard-pressed to approve a 15 percent tuition hike that Florida A&M (FAMU), like many other universities, has requested. It was the second time this month that Ammons has faced strong pushback on his leadership at FAMU from a panel overseeing the school. Two-thirds of the university’s board of trustees voted for a motion of no confidence in the president June 7. During a break in that meeting, Ammons briefly considered resigning, but has since said he will remain. See AMMONS, Page A2
AL SEIB/LOS ANGELES TIMES/MCT
Baola Martinez, 24, right, from the Dominican Republic, joined more than 150 students and Dream Act supporters that rallied in front of the Federal Office Building in downtown Los Angeles on June 15 to voice their support for President Obama’s decision to halt the deportation of young illegal immigrants. See related story on A6.
SNAPSHOTS
Underground Railroad Conference under way in St. Augustine
NATION | A3
What the polls say about Obama, Romney
National event to highlight contributions of Blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans BY JAMES HARPER FLORIDA COURIER
Citations for juveniles working in state FINEST | B3
FLORIDA | A3
Orlando candidates put campaigns on hold
Bethune statue may grace the US Capitol
FLORIDA COURIER / 10TH STATEWIDE ANNIVERSARY
NATION | A6
SNAPSHOTS
optical sighting system and a 30-round capacity magazine. It costs about $2,300.
EE
WASHINGTON – While Democrats scramble to secure the African-American community’s support post-Barack Obama, Black contractors complain that they are not getting their fair share of the party’s campaign spending. Among $514 million that Democrats spent on consultants during the 2010 and 2012 election cycles, only $8.7 million (just 1.7 percent) went to minorities, according to a June 2014 study by Democratic minority advocacy firm PowerPAC+. Seventeen companies, among 287 approved consulting firms, were minorityowned – or just 5.9 percent.
See GUNS, Page A2
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BY JOSH PETERSON URBAN NEWS SERVICE
ure to advance gun ownership restrictions earlier in the week, Democrats said they’d had enough. In the wake of the deadly rampage, Democrats have stepped up their calls for laws that would prevent terror suspects from buying guns. But those efforts failed. CHUCK LIDDY/RALEIGH NEWS & OBSERVER/MCT Despite increasing pressure on lawmakers to pass some This AR-15 style rifle manufactured by Core15 Rifle Systems in Ocala features an
Meet Toni FOOD | B5
A new take on picnic favorites
When thinking of the Underground Railroad, historian Derek Hankerson says most people think about Blacks escaping slavery by leaving the South and heading to the North. Hankerson, one of the organizers of the 2012 National Underground Railroad Conference being held in St. Augustine through June 24, said what most people don’t know is that the Underground Railroad first went from Georgia and South Carolina to Florida, to the Caribbean Islands, and into the western borderlands
of Indian territory, Texas, and Mexico. This Underground Railroad began in the 1600s before the founding of the original 13 colonies of the United States of America. It refers to the effort of enslaved African-Americans to gain their freedom by escaping bondage, according to the National Park Service website.
First time in Florida “Wherever slavery existed, there were efforts to escape, at first to maroon communities in remote or rugged terrain on the edge of settled areas,” the website states.
The Network to Freedom joined with partners to present the annual conference, which began in 2007. The conference brings together a mix of grassroots researchers, community advocates, site stewards, government officials and scholars to explore the history of the Underground Railroad. Rotated to different parts of the country, the conferences highlight the history of various regions and present new research. This is the first time the conference is being held in Florida.
can contributions that have been overlooked in the formation of the United States and, to a certain extent, in St. Augustine. “The goal of our work is to correct and garner recognition for this largely overlooked but fundamental and important part of our Ameri- Derek can history,” said Hankerson Hankerson.
Highlights Black progress
Cultural identity a focus
Hankerson is the cofounder of the Freedom Road Trail. The goal of the organization is to highlight Native and African-Ameri-
The theme for this year’s conference is “Escaping to Destinations South: The Underground See UNDERGROUND, Page A2
ALSO COMMENTARY: STACY SWIMP: IS THE NAACP NOW A PARTISAL TOOL? | A4 INSIDE COMMENTARY: BARBARA REYNOLDS: SMACKDOWN NOW COULD PREVENT BEATDOWN LATER | A5
Four years ago, the Florida Courier reported on Gov. Rick Scott’s efforts to purge Florida’s voting rolls of allegedly ineligible voters – many of whom where non-White – prior to the 2012 presidential election. The newspaper also reported on the death of Rodney King, whose videotaped beating by police eventually lead to riots in Los Angeles.
BY BRANDON LARRABEE THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE – Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, an educator and civil rights activist who founded what is now known as BethuneCookman University, has emerged as the favorite to replace a Confederate general as one of Florida’s representatives in a set of statues at the U.S. Capitol. Bethune was the only one of three fi- Dr. Mary nal nominees to get McLeod the votes of all of the Bethune members of the Great Floridians Committee during a meeting Wednesday to select a new representative for the National Statuary Hall in Washington, D.C. The committee is charged with helping pick Florida’s new figure.
Replacing Rebel general The state is looking to replace Confederate Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith, who has long represented Florida along with John Gorrie, widely considered the father of air conditioning. The Legislature voted earlier this year to replace Smith amid a backlash against Confederate symbols following the 2015 shooting deaths of nine AfricanAmerican worshippers at a historic Black church in Charleston, S.C. Ultimately, lawmakers will choose Smith’s replacement from among three names approved Wednesday by the Great Floridians Committee. The other two finalists are George Washington Jenkins Jr., founder of the iconic Publix grocery stores that dot Florida’s cities, and Marjory Stoneman Douglas, who wrote “The Everglades: River of Grass” and campaigned tirelessly for environmental protection. In addition to being the only nominee to get the votes of all four members of the committee, Bethune was also the runaway leader among members of the public who submitted names to a website; she received 1,237 recommendations, more than a third of the total. Jenkins was third with 418 recommendations and Douglas was fourth with 270.
Speaking in support Bethune also received the support of several audience members who spoke at Wednesday’s meeting. Ashley Robertson, curator of the Mary McLeod Bethune Foundation-National Historic Landmark, spoke of the civil rights leader’s willingness to stand up to obstacles like the Ku Klux Klan. “Her courage was infectious, and even today we still feel her presence,” Robertson said. Bethune was born in 1875 in South Carolina and was the child of former slaves, according to the website of Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach. She died in 1955. If selected, Bethune would be the hall’s first African-American woman See BETHUNE, Page A2
COMMENTARY: CHARLES W. CHERRY II: RANDOM THOUGHTS OF A FREE BLACK MIND | A4 COMMENTARY: SUSAN K. SMITH: ‘TERRORISM’ MOVES CONGRESS MORE THAN DEAD CHILDREN | A5