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VOLUME 24 NO. 27
COLD SHOULDER For decades, the Republican Party of Florida has typically refused to support its Black candidates running for various political offices. The neglect continues. BY THE FLORIDA COURIER STAFF
ST. PETERSBURG – In 1984, Florida Courier founder Charles W. Cherry, Sr. did something that was almost unthinkable at the time. Cherry, Sr. ran as a Black Republican candidate for elective political office in Florida. “He decided to run for a Florida House of Representatives seat representing Daytona Beach,” said Cherry’s son, current Charles W. Florida Courier Publisher Cherry, Sr. Charles W. Cherry II. “After a long career in Black activism, he felt he could improve the lives of Black Daytonans inside the political system. The local Democratic Party refused to support him.” According to the younger Cherry, local
Survey confirms how differently Americans see race BY JAWEED KALEEM LOS ANGELES TIMES / TNS
A report that asked thousands of people about their views of racism has found the nation to still be deeply divided, with majorities of Black and White Americans holding nearly opposite views of the impact of skin color. About 4 in 10 Black Americans doubt the country will ever reach the point where they are treated as equals to Whites, according to the Pew Research Center survey released Monday. Yet, nearly 4 in 10 White Americans think that’s already happened.
‘Huge polarization’ In almost every category measured, including police treatment of Blacks, the Black Lives Matter movement, politics and the presidency, “there’s a huge polarization between Black and White Americans,” said Pew’s Juliana Horowitz. “You hear that anecdotally, that there is a divide in the country,” and the numbers bear it out, added Horowitz, an associate research director at the Washington organization. While about 4 in 10 Whites surveyed said there was too much of a focus today on race, nearly 6 in 10 Blacks said there is too little. Forty-six percent of Whites described race relations as generally good, yet 61 percent of Blacks said they are generally bad. White and Black Americans also disagreed on the nature of racism. When asked about the biggest problem when it comes to See RACE, Page A2
SNAPSHOTS FLORIDA | A3
Abortion ruling’s impact on state law is unclear
‘Vote Cherry First’ Cherry, Sr.’s campaign strategy was to use his hard-won credibility as a longtime Black activist, business owner, and Bethune-Cookman College instructor to ask COURTESY OF BLAKPAC Black voters to cast a ballot for him on the Republican side first, before they voted A Black conservative political action committee says that this year’s Black Refor Democrats. publican candidates, including (clockwise from top left) Carla Spaulding, Darryl See GOP, Page A2
Post-Obama plans for My Brother’s Keeper POLITICS | B4
Cleveland activists brace for visits by police
Daniels, Glo Smith, and Tallie Gainer III aren’t getting GOP support.
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Black terrorism-in Liberty City? Is this the tip of a home-grown terrorist iceberg, or the gang that couldn’t shoot straight? FLORIDA COURIER/KIM GIBSON
Haiti’s President Réne Préval, second from right, and former U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young, far right, share a thought during last week’s summit.
COMPILED FROM WIRE REPORTS
Seven Black men accused of trying to blow up the Chicago’s Sears Tower with help from al Qaeda never actually made contact with the terrorist network and were instead caught in an FBI sting involving an informant who posed as an al Qaeda operative, authorities said. Federal prosecutors said the men — who operated out of a warehouse in Miami’s Liberty City section – took an oath to al Qaeda and plotted to create an ‘Islamic Army’ bent on violence against the United States. Five of those arrested are U.S. citizens. The suspects – Patrick Abraham, Burson Augustin, Haitians have sucRotschild Augustine, Narseal ceeded everywhere in Batiste, Naudimar Herrera, Lyglenson Lemorin, Stanley Grant Phanor – each were the world. Why can’t indicted on two counts of they succeed in Haiti? conspiring to support a foreign terrorist organization, That’s what this con- one count of conspiring to destroy buildings by use of explosives, and one count ference is about.” conspiring to levy war ANDREW YOUNG of against the government.
Group seeks to restore Haiti to greatness
“
BY CHARLES W. CHERRY II THE FLORIDA COURIER
“
This group was more aspirational than it was operational.”
FBI/KRT
The suspects from left to right, top to bottom:
JOHN PISTOLE Patrick Abraham, Burson Augustin, Narseal Ba-
FBI Deputy tiste, Rotschild Augustine, Stanley Grant Phanor, Director Lyglenson Lemorin and Naudimar Herrera.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales stressed that there was no immediate threat in either Chicago or Miami because the group did not have explosives or other materials it was seeking. “This group was more aspirational than operational,” FBI Deputy Director John Pistole said.
Informant blew whistle on ‘army’ Nevertheless, Gonzales said the June 22 arrests underscored the danger of “homegrown terrorists” who “view
their home country as the enemy.” Prosecutors said accused ringleader Batiste began recruiting and training the others in November. The FBI learned of the plot from someone the defendants tried to recruit, authorities said. The FBI then arranged for an informant of Arabic descent to pass himself off as an al Qaeda operative. Batiste met several times in December with the informant and asked for boots, uniforms, machine guns, radios, vehicles and $50,000 to help him build an ‘Islamic
Please see TERROR, Page A2
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New militant leader emerges in Somalia TRAVEL | B3
Airports try to take the pain out of layovers
SOTHEBY’S VIA THE NEW YORK TIMES
This photo released by Sotheby’s shows a copy of the “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” a collection of papers showing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s final revisions to his enduring essay.
Morehouse, Atlanta acquire King’s personal papers Mayor, business leaders rally to prevent writings from being auctioned off
Préval, 63, holds a degree in agronomy from the College of Gembloux, Belgium. He was forced to leave Haiti with his family in 1963 after his father was iden-
COMPILED FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
Please see HAITI, Page A2
IN THIS ISSUE A3 A4 A6 A7 A8 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6 B7 B8
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America’s Clint Dempsey battles Ghana’s Haminu Draman as Ghana beat the U.S. 2-1 in World Cup action last week, the biggest soccer win in the country’s history. Ghana was the last African team to be eliminated from World Cup competition, losing to highly favored world champion Brazil, 3-0.
ALSO INSIDE
No prescription necessary You can stop an overdose with this drug BY TONY PUGH MCCLATCHY WASHINGTON BUREAU / TNS
TALLAHASSEE – Florida’s fight to slow the death toll from heroin and prescription opioids is about to get a major boost. In March, Florida joined nearly 40 other states in making the overdosereversal drug naloxone available at pharmacies without an individual prescription. The new law takes effect July 1, and police and health experts say the expanded access will help slow the barrage of fatal overdoses stemming from Florida’s outsized appetite for heroin, Percocet, hydrocodone and other powerful prescription painkillers.
‘Fire extinguisher’ for ODs “People who are shooting heroin are playing with fire, and I often make the analogy that naloxone is the fire extinguisher,” said Mark Sylvester, an addiction psychologist in the Bradenton area. “Naloxone will save lives. It will make a difference,” Sylvester said. “And I base that not only on the scientific evidence but also on my personal experience as a clinician and having saved countless lives” with naloxone.
Thousands of overdoses
Africa wins, loses
Préval well-traveled
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Army,’ the indictment said. In February, Batiste told the informant that he and his five soldiers wanted to attend al Qaeda training and planned a “full ground war” against the United States in order to “kill all the devils we can,” according to the indictment. His mission would “be just as good or greater than 9/11,” it said. Prosecutors said the men plotted to blow up the Sears Tower, the tallest building in America, and other buildings. Miami U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta said in a statement that the investigation was an ongoing operation and that more details would be released later. Residents living near the warehouse said the men taken into custody described themselves as Muslims and had tried to recruit young people to join their apparently militaristic group. Relatives have described the suspects as deeply religious people who studied the Bible and took classes in Islam. The residents said FBI agents spent several hours in the neighborhood showing photos of the suspects and seeking information. They said the men, who appeared to be in their teens or 20s, had lived in the area about a year. The men slept in the warehouse, said Tashawn Rose, 29.
SNAPSHOTS
WORLD CUP SOCCER: GOING, GOING, GHANA
A high-powered group of Haitians, including Haitian President Réne Préval, Haitian expatriates, and a handful of Black Americans, including former U.S. United Nations Ambassador Andrew Young, converged on Miami Beach last week for the second annual Haiti Tourism and Economic Development Summit. The goal is as simple as it is ambitious. It’s to rebuild Haiti, long plagued by poverty, violence, and political and economic instability. The two-day series of meetings covered numerous topics, including an update on the current status of the country given by native police and tourism officials; financing tourist development; Haitian infrastructure and transportation; financing and community development; and destination and hotel marketing. The summit concluded with the appearance of Haitian President Réne Préval, who praised the summit leaders and told them how important they are to the future of Haiti.
WEEKLY WEATHER | B7 Partly cloudy to cloudy skies on Sunday with isolate showers
NATION A6
ALSO INSIDE
Republicans decided to support his father instead. “Dad believed he had an excellent chance to break the Democratic stranglehold on Black voters locally. But once he started campaigning, his local GOP support dried up,” Cherry remembers. “The Republican Party of Florida never contacted him. The fact that he was running against a White Democrat whose family was well-known in the Volusia County area didn’t help.”
Days of tense negotiations proved fruitful for Atlanta leaders last week who pulled off a deal that keeps an extensive collection of writings and personal papers of their beloved native son in the city where they say they belong. The coveted writings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., which include drafts of “I Have A Dream, were preserved for decades by his wife, Coretta Scott King, who died Jan. 30. Sotheby’s announced June 8 that the King family planned to auction thousands of documents from the civil rights leader’s personal collection on June 30. Citing that the papers needed to remain in Atlanta, Mayor Shirley Franklin and a host of civic, education and business leaders began meeting and negotiating to raise money to keep the papers from the auction block. By
the end of last week, $32 million had been raised, about $2 million more than Sotheby’s had projected the collection would bring. King’s alma mater, Morehouse College, will own title to the collection. Morehouse President Walter Massey said the college would work with other local institutions to house, archive and display the collection. Those institutions could include Emory University, the Atlanta History Center, the University of Georgia or the Auburn Avenue Research Library. Historians considered the King collection to be the most important American archive of the 20th century in private hands. They include 7,000 handwritten items, including drafts of King’s Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech and his “I Have a Dream” speech, which he delivered in 1963 at the March on Washington. Mrs. King for years kept the collection in the basement of her west Atlanta home after her husband’s assassination in 1968. Sotheby’s first tried to sell the papers in 2003 for the King estate — which at the time included Mrs. Please see PAPERS, Page A2
SPORTS | WADE, HEAT STILL BASKING IN GLORY OF FIRST VICTORY | B7 EDITORIAL | GEORGE CURRY TAKES A LOOK BEYOND THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT | A5
Ten years ago, the Florida Courier reported on the arrests of a “wannabe” Al Qaeda cell in Miami’s Liberty City, as well as the successful effort of the City of Atlanta and Morehouse College to purchase Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s extensive collections of writings and papers.
In 2014, Florida hospitals handled nearly 12,000 prescription opioid overdoses and 1,925 heroin overdoses, said Jim Hall, an epidemiologist at Nova Southeastern University who studies substance abuse. Heroin deaths were up 100 percent in Miami-Dade in the first half of 2015 compared with the same period from 2014, according to a recent state report. Wider availability and use of naloxone could help bring those numbers down. “Florida’s making it available to anyone is a major step forward in the opiate pandemic,” Hall said.
1,200 dead A class of narcotic pain medications, opioids include prescription drugs such as morphine, fentanyl and oxycodone, which collectively killed 950 people in Florida in the first half of 2015, state figures show. Heroin, an illicit opioid, killed another 320 Floridians over the same period. Opioids reduce the perception of pain by attaching to proteins in the brain called opioid receptors. When naloxone is sprayed into the nostrils or injected, it knocks the opioid off the brain receptors and keeps it from binding with other receptors. This allows patients to regain their See NALOXONE, Page A2
COMMENTARY: JESSE WILLIAMS: ‘JUST BECAUSE WE’RE MAGIC DOESN’T MEAN WE’RE NOT REAL’ | A4 COMMENTARY: BRUCE A. DIXON: SIT-IN A HYPOCRITICAL, CYNICAL ELECTION-YEAR STUNT | A5
FOCUS
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RACE
JULY 1 – JULY 7, 2016
Blacks, Hispanics similar
from A1
discrimination against Black people, just about 1 in 5 Whites said it was that racism was built into U.S. laws and institutions. Nearly twice that share of Blacks believed the same. Meanwhile, 7 in 10 Whites said individual people discriminating against Blacks was the biggest issue in racism. “Blacks are far more likely – at 71 percent – to say they have personally experienced discrimination in their lives,” Horowitz said. “Yet 3 in 10 Whites also say they have been treated differently because of their race. On the other hand, when asked if their race has made life harder, 40 percent of Blacks said it had while only 5 percent of White people said it had for them.” Pew researchers said they were spurred to conduct the survey, which asked questions of 3,769 adults between Feb. 29 and May 8, by national controversies over race, policing and violence. Researchers also wanted to ask about President Obama’s effect on race relations before the end of his second term. The survey had a margin of error of 2.2 percentage points.
The survey also asked Latinos about their views of racism against Black Americans and found their views more likely to closely align the views of Black Americans. Support of Black Lives Matter was high among Black Americans, with 65 percent giving their support. At 4 in 10, Whites were less supportive. On Obama, the groups also stood apart. Slightly more Whites said Obama has made race relations worse (32 percent) than those who said he’s made them better (28 percent). But a little more than half of Blacks said he has improved race relations.
Age matters While the differences were stark, the report said there were some groups of Whites that were closer in their views to Blacks. “Whites who are younger than 30 are far less likely than older Whites to say there is too much focus on race,” researchers wrote, and also more likely to support Black Lives Matter. White Democrats were also generally more sympathetic than White Republicans to the views of Black Americans on race. Still, Blacks and Whites are “sharply divided,” researchers wrote, adding that “for many Blacks, racial equality remains an elusive goal.”
Racial perceptions 50% 84% 43
In the courts
75 25
Applying for a loan/mortgage
66
In the workplace
22
In stores or restaurants
21
When voting in elections
20
NALOXONE from A1
breath by reversing the deadly effects of opioid overdose: suppression of the respiratory and central nervous systems. People who take prescription opioids and who aren’t addicted – and their loved ones – should also keep naloxone around in case of accidental overdose, when time is of the essence, said Dr. Ihsan Salloum, chief of the division of substance and alcohol abuse at the University of Miami Health System. “The brain is extremely sensitive to a lack of oxygen, so a few minutes can make the difference between life or death or permanent brain damage, Salloum said. “It’s very important to reverse the overdose as fast as you can.”
Routinely carried
Percentage saying Black people are treated less fairly than White people:
In dealing with WHITE the police BLACK
AMY DAVIS/BALTIMORE SUN/TNS
In Baltimore City, Md., heroin addicts who visit a needle exchange van are given instructions on how to use naloxone (also called Narcan) to reverse heroin overdoses.
64 49 43
Naloxone and its brand-name version, Narcan, are now standard equipment for most paramedics. Many police officers carry the medication as well. Naloxone provided by community overdose-prevention programs alone stopped more than 26,000 opioid overdoses from 1996 to 2014, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported last year. As the nation’s heroin epidemic worsens, states across the country are easing restrictions on the availability of naloxone. Last year, Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed legislation allowing doctors to prescribe it to the families and friends of addicts.
Easy availability Source: Pew Research Center
Graphic: Tribune News Service
GOP from A1
“He made up campaign buttons that said, “VOTE CHERRY FIRST,” Cherry II says. “But he needed resources, including access to money and volunteers. The Republican Party provided neither.” Cherry, Sr., lost in a landslide.
Served state, city Cherry, Sr., continued his activism and entrepreneurial activity, serving as the president of the Florida State Conference of NAACP Branches and on the NAACP’s national board, running a real estate brokerage firm, and founding a radio station and a newspaper in Daytona Beach. Eventually, he was elected to the Daytona Beach City Commission, where he served three terms before dying in office in 2004. It seems that more than 30 years later after Cherry, Sr.’s unsuccessful campaign, Republicans still won’t support qualified Black candidates, according to the head of a Black Republican political action committee.
‘A record number’ In a widely distributed press release this week, BlakPAC chairman George Farrell announced that that a “record number of Black conservatives have qualified for various elected political office throughout Florida, from the Panhandle to South Florida.” While calling the candidacies “a major step forward in bringing diversity George of opinion and viewpoint Farrell to Black political discourse,” Farrell criticized the Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) and the GOP establishment for ignoring the achievements of those who qualified. Added Farrell: “Although we know that much of the major media in Florida and the Florida Republican Party establishment will ignore these historic successes, BlakPAC is proud to support this next generation of forward-looking Black conservatives who will give Florida’s Black communities ‘choices and not echoes,’ in bringing creative solutions to some of the
Florida’s new law will use a “stand-
pressing problems facing Black America and its children.”
Formed last year BlakPAC is a federally registered “Super PAC” (political action committee) that’s been in operation since January 2015. According to its website, www.blakpac. com, “BlakPAC contributes to conservative candidates who share our values and serve as positive role models. They are our best advocates for conservative ideas to be showcased in the community.” The organization also provides candidate training, exit polling, voter research, and social media campaign services, and has set up paid internships for Black youth who are interested in working on political campaigns.
Politics, real estate Ferrell, a Washington, D.C. native who attended Howard University, co-founded BlakPAC with former Florida Lieutenant Governor Jennifer Carroll. Ferrell is a Tampa Baybased real estate developer who lived in South America for a few years before relocating to Florida in the late 1990s, when he became involved with Jeb Bush’s gubernatorial campaign. In 2008, he moved Jennifer to Costa Rica to work on Carroll sustainable real estate development and returned in Florida in 2012, when he again plunged into politics.
Few victories In recent years, there have been two high-profile victories for the state’s Black Republicans. There’s gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott picking Carroll as his campaign running mate, and the election of Florida Congressman Allen West, a Black Republican conservative. After winning a close gubernatorial election for Scott by campaigning relentlessly in Black Florida, Carroll resigned from office in March 2013 under pressure from Scott’s administration in the wake of a federal probe into a company she represented with ties to Internet cafes. She was later found to have no involvement in the alleged scandal. West lost his re-election bid in 2013.
ing order” to make the medication available to the general public without individual prescriptions. A “standing order” is like a contractual agreement in which a physician sets the terms and conditions for a pharmacy to provide naloxone, said Michael Jackson, the executive vice president and CEO of the Florida Pharmacy Association. “It is sort of a prescription,” Jackson said. “There’s a prescription that’s issued. But that prescription says you can dispense this drug to patients who are meeting (certain) qualifications. So it’s not patient-specific.” It’s the same arrangement that allows pharmacies to administer vaccines and immunizations without requiring prescriptions, Jackson said. Each pharmacy chain or independent pharmacy will have to secure its own standing order for naloxone. That means different pharmacies can have different requirements for people to purchase it. Typically, those requirements are minimal.
At CVS Beginning July 1, pharmacists at Florida’s 878 CVS Pharmacy locations will simply counsel buyers on how to use naloxone, how to recognize the signs of overdose, and the importance of calling 911 after usage and staying with the patient until help arrives. CVS pharmacists must be satisfied that buyers understand those terms before they dispense the medication. “I would suspect that many of the (pharmacy) chains will do the same,” Jackson said. Independent pharmacies will establish their standing orders through local doctors, he said. The injectable naloxone kit sells for about $45 at CVS. The intranasal version costs about $90. Patients should contact their health insurance com-
Supporting Black candidates According to Ferrell, BlakPAC is supporting the following Black GOP candidates for federal, state and local offices: • Glo Smith is running for the District 5 Congressional seat, which covers Duval, Baker, Columbia, Hamilton, Madison, Jefferson, Leon and Gadsden counties. Smith is an entrepreneur who earned a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Phoenix. • Carla Spaulding is running for the District 18 Congressional seat, which covers Martin and St. Lucie and portions of Palm Beach Counties. A native of Jamaica, she is a U. S. Navy veteran and a mental health professor and holds a master’s degree in Nursing from the University of Phoenix. • Mike Hill is a Florida state representative running for the state Senate District 2 seat in the Panhandle covering Escambia County and Pensacola. He is a U.S. Air Force veteran and a graduate of the Air Force Academy. • Byron Donalds is running for a state House District 80 seat, which includes Collier County and Naples. Donalds has a work history in banking and insurance, and is a member of the board of trustees of Florida Southwestern State College and a founding board member for Mason Classical Academy, a public charter school in Naples. • Stanley Gray is running for the Hillsborough County School Board District 7 seat. He is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and a graduate of the United States Naval Academy. • Tallie Gainer III is running for the Leon County School Board District 4 seat and is a community organizer who has served as youth pastor, educator and empowerment coach. • Felicia Nelson is running for the office of superintendent of schools in Putnam County. She holds a master’s degree in education from the University of Florida. • Darryl Daniels is running for Clay County sheriff. He is a United States Navy veteran and attended the FBI Academy. “It is truly sad that the Florida GOP establishment, and most of its candidates, appear to consider Florida’s 58,000 Black Republicans, and indeed all Black voters, as not worth their time, money and effort. They and their national cohorts
panies to see whether the drug is covered.
Not a cure It’s essential that patients get medical care after receiving naloxone since the drug can wear off within 90 minutes, depending on how much heroin or prescription opioids are in their system. CVS Pharmacy already sells naloxone without a prescription in 25 states through either a standing order or a collaborative practice agreement between pharmacists and other health care providers. That number will grow to 30 states by the end of summer, once similar sales begin in Florida, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. Walgreens plans to do the same in 35 states and Washington, D.C. It’s unclear when its Florida stores will do so.
Behavioral change crucial While some might be concerned that having naloxone may cause addicts to be more reckless with their drug use, Sylvester, the addiction psychiatrist, said research hadn’t shown that. “Believe it or not, they don’t do that,” Sylvester said of opioid addicts. “That’s what you and I would do, but you and I don’t think like drug addicts.” Salloum and Hall said any overdose should be viewed as an opportunity to get the patient into counseling or treatment. “Overdose poisoning is a sign that death will very likely be occurring if this person does not change the behavior that brought them to that,” Hall said.
and candidates have obviously learned nothing from the Romney minority vote debacle in 2014,” Ferrell said in the press release.
Quick response In a statement, Michael Barnett, chair of Palm Beach County Republican Party’s Minority Engagement Committee said, “…I have witnessed first-hand the commitment to diversity from Republican Party of Florida. Our party, both locally and statewide, has taken great steps in engaging and creating a platform for Black conservatives both in our party and as candidates. I believe that these truths are evident in the grassroots events and efforts that the RPOF is dedicated to.” Two of the candidates BlakPAC supports, Hill and Donalds, also responded. “…I can personally vouch for the efforts of Chairman Blaise Ingoglia and the Republican Party of Florida to diversify our party and welcome all voters from all backgrounds to the conservative movement. And while I understand that the party will not intervene in an open primary, I am thankful that they continue to build an organization based upon the tenets of individual freedom and self-responsibility,” Hill replied. Said Donalds: “…I have been welcomed with open arms by the Republican Party of Florida. The Republican Party is the party of opportunity regardless of skin color, gender or demographics…I plan to win my primary and become the Republican nominee in my district and have the full support of the party.”
Not deterred “Outside of lip service, the Republican Party hasn’t helped BlakPAC or the candidates,” Ferrell told the Florida Courier. “Our goal is to elect Black conservatives. That’s not really the goal of the Republican Party. “In some places, our goals match. But if they don’t, they don’t. The Republican Party needs to understand that if you don’t have Black candidates, you don’t get Black voters. “If you look at the numbers, you need Black Republicans to vote for Republicans. If they stay home, Republicans lose. That’s why Rick Scott is the governor today.”
JULY 1 – JULY 7, 2016
FLORIDA
A3
Impact unclear of abortion ruling on Florida law BY MARGIE MENZEL THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE – Florida abortion providers are breathing sighs of relief following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Monday striking down a Texas law that would have greatly limited access to legal abortion in that state. The Texas law would have required doctors to have admitting privileges at hospitals within 30 miles of the clinics where they perform abortions and clinics to meet the same standards as walk-in surgical centers. By a 5-3 vote, the justices found that neither of the provisions “offers medical benefits sufficient to justify the burdens upon access (to abortion) that each imposes,” and that each constitutes an “undue burden” on access to the procedure, violating the U.S. Constitution. “This decision is certainly historic,” said Laura Goodhue, executive director of the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates. “This is the biggest case since Roe v. Wade in terms of its impact on access to a safe and legal procedure.”
No impact? But in Florida, supporters of recent laws requiring more stringent standards for abortion providers say the high court ruling should have no impact. Sen. Kelli Stargel and Rep. Colleen Burton, both Lakeland Republicans, sponsored House Bill 1411, which was signed into law by Gov. Rick Scott in March. On Monday, they said the new Florida law is different from the Texas
BILL CLARK/CONGRESSIONAL QUARTERLY/NEWSCOM/ZUMA PRESS/TNS
Pro-choice demonstrators at the U.S. Supreme Court cheer as they learn the court struck down the Texas abortion law on Monday in Washington, D.C statute at issue in the Supreme Court case. Scott’s office and legislative leaders are reviewing the ruling. Among its provisions, the new Florida law requires clinics that perform first-trimester abortions to have patient-transfer agreements with nearby hospitals, or for clinic doctors to have admitting privileges nearby. Stargel noted that the law does not include Texas’ requirement that a doctor have admitting privileges within 30 miles of an abortion clinic. “We have reasonable proximity, which is what we’ve had in law for a very long time with regards to all other clinics, and we’re doing abortion clinics the
same way,” she said.
Parts challenged Although the Florida law was to take effect Friday, U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle heard a challenge from Planned Parenthood aimed at blocking three parts of the law. That complaint, in part, targets a section of the law that seeks to prevent state agencies, local governments and Medicaid managed-care plans from contracting with organizations, like Planned Parenthood, that own, operate or are affiliated with clinics that perform elective abortions. The complaint also challenges a provision that would require the state
ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE FOR BLACK STUDENTS. NO EXCUSES. The classic guide from Florida Courier publisher, lawyer and broadcaster CHARLES W. CHERRY II PRAISE FOR ‘EXCELLENCE WITHOUT EXCUSE’: “This guide for African-American college-bound students is packed with practical and insightful information for achieving academic success...The primary focus here is to equip students with the savvy and networking skills to maneuver themselves through the academic maze of higher education.” – Book review, School Library Journal • How low expectations of Black students’ achievements can get them higher grades; • Want a great grade? Prepare to cheat! • How Black students can program their minds for success; • Setting goals – When to tell everybody, and when to keep your mouth shut; • Black English, and why Black students must be ‘bilingual.’ …AND MUCH MORE!
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Agency for Health Care Administration to inspect at least 50 percent of abortion-clinic patient records each year. And it challenges a change to the way the state determines trimesters of pregnancy. Burton, the House sponsor of HB 1411, said the three provisions had nothing to do with the Texas law. And while opponents contend the challenged provisions are medically unnecessary, Burton said she was only concerned with protecting women’s health and safety.
Another challenge Tallahassee attorney Rick Johnson, local cocounsel in another challenge to a recent abortion statute, agreed that Monday’s ruling was unlikely to alter Florida law for now. He’s involved with a challenge to a 2015 law, requiring a 24-hour wait before women can obtain an abortion. That case is now before the Florida Supreme Court. Johnson said the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of protecting access to legal abortion threatened by an “undue burden.” But in Florida, he said, stronger protections are in place – those of privacy. “We had the intermediate appellate court, the 1st
(District Court of Appeal), attempt to apply the federal ‘undue burden’ standard and find that under that standard, the 24-hour waiting period was good enough,” Johnson said. “So if (Monday’s ruling) has any impact, that will be the impact – that some of those courts that were incorrectly applying Florida law will now find that even if they apply federal law, some of those ridiculous restrictions won’t pass muster.”
Fight continues Monday’s ruling drew a wide range of reactions from political candidates and activists. Florida Senate President Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, was dismayed by those who celebrated the ruling. “In Florida, we have championed policies and programs that promote life and provide resources for women who choose life for their babies,” Gardiner said in a statement. “Photos of people celebrating today’s ruling should disgust anyone who values the health of women and the life of their unborn children.” Goodhue said Scott and the Legislature are unlikely to back off their efforts to limit abortion in Florida. “We’ve seen an increase every year in the number of bills filed, but also in the extremist content of their
Regulators issue alert on vacation scams State financial regulators issued a warning Monday to Floridians and tourists to be on guard for vacation and travel scams. The Office of Financial Regulation posted the “consumer alert” regarding vacation rental, sweepstakes and social-media vacation scams that seek large upfront
nature,” she said. “So we’ve seen these attacks escalate, and we fully anticipate that we’ll have to continue this fight.” Nominations deadline is July 15 for Civil Rights Hall of Fame The Florida Commission on Human Relations is accepting nominations for the Florida Civil Rights Hall of Fame. The deadline for submission of nominations is July 15. The judges will be looking for individuals who have made significant contributions and provided leadership toward Florida’s progress and achievements in civil rights. “We are once again excited to be accepting nominations for next year’s Civil Rights Hall of Fame. This program honors leaders and advocates who have tirelessly worked to protect the rights of various populations throughout Florida,” said Michelle Wilson, executive director of the commission. “We must continue our efforts to honor the civil rights pioneers who came before us and use their heroic stories as a way to educate and empower our next generation.” Contributions of nominees can include community empowerment, legislative advocacy, grassroots organizing, coalition building, authored publications, organizational leadership, private and governmental entity diversity efforts and multicultural educational initiatives in any area of human and civil rights or related areas.
About the commission The Florida Commission on Human Relations, established in 1969, is the state agency charged with administering the Florida Civil Rights Act and Florida Fair Housing Act. Fair treatment, equal access and mutual respect are the benchmarks of the commission’s commitment. Through education and partnerships, the commission works to prevent discrimination and costly litigation through teaching best business practices and fostering understanding among Floridians about their rights and responsibilities under both state and federal discrimination laws. For more information, visit http://fchr.state.fl.us.
deposits, request personal information or ask for fees to be paid by a wire transfer or prepaid debt card. The state office advises people making vacation or travel plans to be wary of the word “free,” check the company’s direct website and verify a company’s license with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation or the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. – The News Service of Florida
EDITORIAL
A4
JULY 1 – JULY 7, 2016
The growing Black trade deficit The more I see the statistics relating to the so-called Black Economy and Black Buying Power, the more desperate my message becomes and the more insulted I feel. How can we get so excited about having an annual aggregate income of more than $1 trillion while we are at the bottom of every economic category in this country? We create vast wealth for others at the expense of creating and retaining wealth for ourselves. Black America is operating at a huge trade deficit. We must change that. Just as the government is concerned about the national trade deficit, Black folks should feel the same about ours, and we should finally do something about it. Our trade deficit is horrendously out of kilter, and it’s getting worse every day. We cannot afford to neglect our trade deficit while we discuss politics as usual and prepare to cast our votes for folks who either don’t care about us or take us for granted.
Other choices We can choose to redirect more of our $1 trillion toward our own businesses. We can choose to start and grow more businesses. We can choose to create more jobs for our children. We can choose to teach our children how to be entrepreneurs. We can choose to pool our dollars and leverage them to our own benefit. We can choose to use our
An economics lesson is in order.
JAMES CLINGMAN GEORGE CURRY MEDIA
We cannot afford to neglect our trade deficit while we discuss politics as usual and prepare to cast our votes for folks who either don’t care about us or take us for granted. dollars to create more conscious Black millionaires. We can choose economic freedom over economic enslavement and modern-day sharecropping. Several years ago, I read an article by the so-called Black conservative, Larry Elder, in which he stated, “...despite slavery, Jim Crow and racism, the progress of American Blacks is simply astounding. If Black America were a country, it would be the 15th ‘wealthiest’ country in the world. He was using Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to prove his case.
Not the same First, GDP and wealth are not the same as annual income. GDP is a collective measure of income produced per capita by a nation’s citizens. Black America would be ranked No. 34 in per capita GDP at $23,000 each. (The entire U.S. per capita amount is more than $53,000.) Add to the equation the cost of living in this country, and Blacks would rank No. 44 in the world. The components of GDP are consumption, investment, net exports, government purchases, and inventories. Consumption is by far the largest component, totaling roughly two-thirds of GDP. Blacks save and invest very little. Exports? Not much going on there either, although our brothers and sisters in Africa and the Caribbean eagerly await the day when get our act together and start taking care of business. Government purchases? Well, we have a lot of government jobs, if that counts. And finally, our inventories are not much to speak of either. Consumption? Black folks really make the grade in that category. Our consumption is as high as 95 percent, and most of what we buy is from businesses other than our own!
GUEST COMMENTARY
that a system built to divide and impoverish and destroy us cannot stand if we do. It’s kind of basic mathematics – the more we learn about who we are and how we got here, the more we will mobilize.
We’ll do better Now, this is also in particular for the Black women in particular who have spent their lifetimes
‘Hexit’ is worse than ‘Brexit’ Voters in the United Kingdom chose to have a referendum. The resulting votes led to plans for England to leave, or exit from, the European Union (EU). Stories about “Brexit” – Great Britain’s exit – are all over the world’s newspapers and broadcast news networks. Britain was a member of the 28-nation group that once decided to ban together to form a more globalized Europe for trade purposes, open border traveling, to address issue like global warming, and to deal with the big elephant in the room – immigration!
LUCIUS GANTT THE GANTT REPORT
Close the borders
Politicians in England damaged the economy, put people in debt, divided the British masses, alienated both the young and old.
People in England decided the best way to curb the influx of refugees and other immigrants was to close their borders and fall on their own economic sword! Britain was a huge player in world finances and economics.
The UK money changers were second to none. Before Brexit, no names were bigger in money talk than institutions like Barclay’s Bank and insurance com-
James E. Clingman is the nation’s most prolific writer on economic empowerment for Black people. His book, “Black Dollars Matter! Teach Your Dollars How to Make More Sense,” is available on his website, Blackonomics. com, and Amazon Kindle eBooks.
dedicated to nurturing everyone before themselves. We can and will do better for you. Now, what we’ve been doing is looking at the data, and we now know that police somehow manage to de-escalate, disarm, and not kill White people every day. So what’s going to happen is we are going to have equal rights and justice in our own country, or we will restructure their function and ours. I got more, y’all. Yesterday would have been young Tamir Rice’s 14th birthday. So I don’t want to hear any more about how far we have come when paid public servants can pull a drive-by on a 12-yearold playing alone in park in broad daylight, killing him on television, and then going home to make a sandwich. Tell Rekia Boyd how it’s so much better to live in 2012 that is in 1612 or 1712. Tell that to Eric Gardner. Tell that to Sandra Bland. Tell that to Dorian Hunt. Now, the thing is, though, all
of us in here getting money, that alone isn’t going to stop this. Now, dedicating our lives to getting money just to give it right back for someone’s brand on our bodies, when we spent centuries praying with brands on our bodies, and now we pray to get paid for brands on our bodies?
our job. Stop with all that. If you have a critique for the resistance, for our resistance, then you better have an established record of critique of our oppression. If you have no interest in equal rights for Black people, then don’t make suggestions to those who do. Sit down.
Conditional freedom
‘Strange fruit’
There has been no war that we have not fought and died on the frontlines of. No job we haven’t done, no tax they haven’t levied against us, and we’ve paid all of them, but freedom is somehow always conditional here. “You’re free,” They keep on telling us. “But she would have been alive if she hadn’t acted so… free.” Now, freedom is always coming in the hereafter. But you know what, though? The hereafter is a hustle. We want it now. And let’s get a couple things straight, a little side note. The burden of the brutalized is not to comfort the bystander. That is not
We’ve been floating this country on credit for centuries, and we’re done watching and waiting while this invention called ‘Whiteness’ uses and abuses us, burying Black people out of sight and out of mind while extracting our culture, our dollars, our entertainment like oil…Black gold… ghettoizing and demeaning our creations and stealing them, gentrifying our genius and trying us on like costumes before discarding our bodies like rinds of strange fruit. The thing is, though, just because we’re magic doesn’t mean we’re not real. Thank you.
panies like Lloyd’s of London! After the Brexit vote, stock markets around the world plunged because of England’s newfound financial uncertainty. You see, at one time it was said that “the sun never set on the British Empire” that was created by colonization, conquest, pirating and worldwide robbery. Today, the sun can barely shine on England where isolationism and the fear of a “colored planet” scared most voters over the age of 50 into supporting the Brexit campaign.
inner cities of America. Hexit, or “(neighbor)Hood exit,” is primarily a money grab! Downtown property is more valuable, so people living near the inner city are orchestrated out of town to make way for high rises, skyscrapers, condos, malls and other developments. Brexit aims to keep people of color out of town. Hexit is a way to get people of European descent into town.
want what they want. It’s a new world order. The Internet has made a smaller world where people of all nationalities can communicate, relate and interact with each other. The days of the colonial powers are over. But some politicians, in every country, will never learn that.
Using aggregate income to say we would be the 15th “wealthiest”
JESSE WILLIAMS
STEVE SACK, THE MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE
nation in the world is absurd. Currently Blacks hold about 2 percent of this nation’s $85 trillion wealth, which is mostly tied up in home ownership – much of which was lost during the housing crisis of 2008. We must stop being mesmerized and lulled into complacency and false pride regarding our aggregate $1.2 trillion income. We have a dangerously high trade deficit, and we should be working to reduce that deficit by producing and selling more. Yes, that line about Blacks being the 15th richest “country” in the world sounds good. But what good is it doing us if we consume everything someone else makes, fail to save a minimum of ten percent of what we earn, have no import/export relationships with Africa (the richest land in the world), and fail to control the dis-
Crazy notion
‘Just because we’re magic doesn’t mean we’re not real’ Editor’s note: Jesse Williams gave this acceptance speech after winning an award for humanitarianism during the 2016 BET Awards. He stars on ABC’s dramatic series, “Grey’s Anatomy.” I brought my parents out tonight. I want to thank them for being here, for teaching me to focus on comprehension over career, make sure I learn what the schools weren’t afraid to teach us, and my amazing wife for changing my life. Now, this award, this is not for me, this is for the real organizers all over the country: the activists, the civil rights attorneys, the struggling parents, the teachers, the students, that are realizing
VISUAL VIEWPOINT: GREAT BRITAIN EXITS THE EUROPEAN UNION
‘Everybody lost’ I asked a friend on Wall Street if he lost any money when the value of the British pound dropped to record lows and world stocks dropped by hundreds of points and he told me, “Everybody lost money!” Yes, an important aspect of the ideology of who is or is not a Brit concerns people’s movement in the country. Brexit addresses Britain immigration policies and who will be allowed to move into the UK. “Hexit,” on the other hand, determines who moves out of the
All about movement Brexit and Hexit both are about people movement. Whites move in and non-Whites are kept out! At least the people had a vote on Brexit. But politicians don’t need to call for referendums in America’s inner cities. All they have to do to impact people movement is use their political tool called “eminent domain” where they can just take property from one owner and give it to another! The results are the same. People are prevented from moving in or forced to move out! Confusing? Not really. Some people and some nations just
Charles W. Cherry II, Esq., Publisher
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tribution of our products?
What good? What good does it do us to have a $1.2 trillion income if we are in a constant trade deficit with other groups in this country? The Black trade deficit is way out of balance, and we had better get busy fixing it before we become totally dependent on “foreigners” to supply our sustenance. No one can take care of us better than we can take care of ourselves. We proved it once upon a time; we can do it once again.
Nothing will change Politicians in England damaged the economy, put people in debt, divided the British masses, alienated both the young and old. What did they get for it? They got one politician to resign, and another politician seeking to take the place of the prime minister that suggested the EU exit referendum. Rich Brits will continue to be rich and poor Brits will get even poorer!
Buy Gantt’s latest book, “Beast Too: Dead Man Writing” on Amazon.com and from bookstores everywhere. Contact Lucius at www.allworldconsultants.net.
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JULY 1 – JULY 7, 2016
EDITORIAL
Sit-in reminds me of our resilience The takeover of the U.S. House floor led by civil rights icon John Lewis over the lack of House action on gun control was exciting to see. House Democrats decided to “agitate,” a primary function of direct actions done to force social change, and Republicans reacted as might be expected – tossing off the sit-in as a mere publicity stunt and shutting down the House until July 5.
SUSAN K. SMITH GEORGE CURRY MEDIA
That is an understatement. Even though Black people have perpetually fought for civil and human rights in this country, it has been with the knowledge that the forces against them have been behemoth, with the opposition Time for reflection The sit-in made me think, not seeing them as human beings though, of what has always been worthy of justice. the spiritual resilience of Black Still hopeful people. Mothers, fathers and families Lewis reminded people that he had to cross the Edmund Pettus of Black people accused of crimes Bridge three times in the quest to they did not commit have gone to get from Selma to Montgomery, court with the smallest bit of hope, Ala. In spite of violence, in spite of and have left those same courtWhite people scoffing at their ef- rooms after their loved one has forts to get the right to vote, and been convicted and thrown into in spite of them saying that all the prison or worse...with the ability, protesters were doing was try- still, to keep on keeping on. Black people have kept on going to get attention, the protesters stayed the course. They marched, ing in spite of being passed over endured beating and horrendous for jobs, denied loans and housviolence, and kept on moving and ing, believing that God has heard working until they crossed that their cries and that God will make bridge, got to Montgomery and things all right. It is a faith that is ultimately got the Voting Rights hard to define and even harder to understand. Act of 1965 passed. It seems that now, Black people What resilience! Rev. C.T. Vivian said, “Most White people are figuratively “crossing the Edcouldn’t survive as Black people.” mund Pettus Bridge” as the issue
Appreciating John Lewis and the sit-in I have always admired Congressman John Lewis, and that admiration increased exponentially when I watched him lead dozens of his Congressional colleagues to sit-in on the floor of Congress to force a vote on gun control. As the supercilious Paul Ryan called for “decorum,” determined Democrats disrupted proceedings in the House of Representatives. Right on.
‘Get in the way’ Congressman Lewis tweeted, “Sometimes you have to get in the way. You have to make some noise by speaking up and speak-
DR. JULIANNE MALVEAUX TRICE EDNEY NEWSWIRE
ing out against injustice & inaction.” He is frustrated, as are many voters, about the fact that Congress has failed to take a position on background checks and the availability of assault weapons. Republicans have attempted to deflect, suggesting that the focus should be ISIS and terrorism, not gun violence. But the Newtown, Conn. shooter was not a terrorist connected to ISIS. Indeed, trou-
Many ‘unimpressed’ Keen observers on social media pierced the hypocrisy almost immediately. “Color me unimpressed,” wrote Keeanga Yamahtta Taylor, author of “From Black Power to #BlackLivesMatter” in a Facebook post that was shared thousands of times almost immediately. “Where was the sit-in when Congress was cutting $5 billion from food stamps? Where was the sit in where is the sit-in for affordable housing as Congress continues to cut HUD to shreds? Where is the sit-in against police brutality in our cities? “Where is the sit-in against the Supreme Court ruling yesterday that guts the Fourth Amendment and revives ‘stop and frisk’ policing? Where is the sit in to demand equitable funding for
BRUCE A. DIXON BLACK AGENDA REPORT
our nation’s public schools? Where is the sit-in to end racism and the criminal justice system? This smacks of election year tomfoolery...”
No appeal Worse still, the so-called “sit-in” piggybacks on the secret and arbitrary “nofly” and “terror watch” lists, which some of those same Democrats denounced back in the Bush-Cheney era. Back then they rightly pointed out the criteria for landing on those lists is secret, and once on the list there is no appeal and no way off – though the State Department does revoke your passport, also without appeal. Government places people on those lists it cannot charge with any crimes. According to the Center for Constitutional Rights, the government has placed Muslims on the no-fly and terror watch list when they refused to infiltrate and inform on their neighbors, or when their names were similar to someone else’s. Democrats like California Rep. Barbara Lee once opposed hysterical and secret government blacklists, noting that any sort of activist out of favor with the government could land on these lists. But now it’s election year, and they have very few issues to differentiate them-
VISUAL VIEWPOINT: GUN BILL ‘SIT-IN’
of police violence against Blacks is being recorded and exposed. What is being caught on video is not a new thing, but the fact that Black people have the strength to take those videos and keep on fighting for the justice that has never been the reality points to their resilience. Black people will not give up. This society and its institutions have knocked Black people down for decades, but Black people keep on getting up and keep on fighting. John Lewis is part of the resilient core of America – that core is made up primarily of Black people but includes allies as well.
Lewis knows Lewis, though, has been fighting the fight for justice in a way that only Black people have had to fight it, for decades. He knows about the resistance of the powers that be. He knows how the power structure will not move unless forced to do so, and he knows the type of opposition the power structure throws out. He was not at all concerned that Speaker Paul Ryan called the sit-in a publicity stunt. It was. But from years of fighting for justice, Lewis knows that often times it is the publicity stunts that force the powers that be to listen. Those who have fought an arbled White men perpetrated many of our recent mass shootings with access to guns, not ISIS loyal terrorists. No matter. Can’t Congress walk and chew gum at the same time? Can’t they focus both on ISIS and on our out-of-control gun culture? Nobody is talking about repealing the Second Amendment. Still, the “right to bear arms” does not mean the unfettered right to bear all kinds of arms. Nobody needs an automatic weapon. And anyone deemed dangerous or mentally ill needs never be allowed a gun purchase. The National Rifle Association (NRA) is an irresponsible organization that elevates the right for any random citizen to own and bear arms over the right of other citizens to survive. Members of Congress need to cut the cord from that organization. Voters need to back them up. One might think the sit-in has
Sit-in a cynical, hypocritical election-year stunt The so-called “sit-in” on the floor of Congress launched by House and Senate Democrats is a fraudulent and transparently cynical exercise in partisan branding and election year theater. Brands neither mean what they say nor say what they mean. Brands are marketing devices, calculated to evoke a desired set of emotions, to call forth real or imagined memories in an audience, independent and apart from facts or logic. Atlanta Congressman John Lewis and his colleagues are leveraging his rep and the “sit-in” brand for their resonance with the Southern Freedom Movement of the 1950s and ‘60s.
A5
selves from the other capitalist party. So they want to use the secret government blacklist and the civil rights brand to score meaningless points against Republicans.
Dems know Congressional Democrats are not stupid. They know perfectly well they could be sitting in to end these secret lists. They could be sitting in to explain how the Second Amendment was put in the Constitution to permit armed slave patrols, and land theft and genocide against Native Americans. They could be sitting in for a living wage and universal single payer health care, or cutting the Pentagon budget by two-thirds. Instead Democrats deliberately chose to sit in for this – instead of forgiving student debt, instead of addressing climate change or Black unemployment or mass incarceration. Since John Lewis and his hypocritical crew are just as much the party of the one percent as Republicans, their disputes with Republicans are confined to carefully staged food fights between meaningless brands. This is the party that wants to control Congress instead of Republicans. This is why it’s time to chuck both the one-percenter capitalist parties, and do something completely new.
Bruce Dixon is managing editor of BlackAgendaReport.com. Contact him at bruce.dixon@ blackagendareport.com.
RJ MATSON, ROLL CALL
rogant and resistant power structure know that they will not move unless provoked...and they know that the best provocation ever is to make them look bad. Republicans look like arrogant White men with nothing on their minds but their relationship with the National Rifle Association (NRA) and “radical Islamic terrorism.” It is ridiculous that they insist that adopting common-sense gun control measures is and would be an abrasion of anyone’s Second Amendment Rights, but it is the platform from which they refuse to move.
White folks refused to move from their position that Black people had no rights as Americans. He and others fought, got knocked down, were ignored and were excoriated by the press, but they got up and kept on fighting. It is a strength that can only be called spiritual. And it is a strength that perhaps the House Republicans will see, even as Lewis and other Democrats, Black and White, continue to fight.
yielded few results. Still, responding to the fact that 90 percent of us in the United States support background checks and restrictions on access to weapons, those who sat in showed enormous courage. Taking advantage of social media, they broadcast their sit-in using Periscope, reminding Ryan that he might control CSPAN, but he doesn’t control all broadcasts.
gun control. But they were successful in shutting the House down. Speaker Ryan was forced to adjourn Congress before he planned to, and Republicans sulked off like thieves in the night. Democrats held the floor hours after the Republicans scurried away like hungry rats. No vote was forced, but a point was made. Congress goes back to work on July 5. People should urge their representatives to take an appropriate vote to reduce access to guns, especially for those on a “no fly” list. People should also give Lewis a “shout out” and appreciation for his leadership. He has taken the tactics of the 60s and taken them into the 21st century. He has reminded us that “stunts” have their purpose. His unassailable moral courage is admirable.
Rev. Susan K. Smith is an author and ordained minister who is founder of Crazy Faith Seen it before Ministries. Contact her at revLewis has seen that before, as suekim@sbcglobal.net.
He stood up
Ryan was insulting and condescending in calling the sit-in a “stunt.” Was the Atlanta Congressman’s skull fractured in a “stunt” in 1965 on Bloody Sunday, when his civil rights activity caused rabid Whites to attack him? Lewis stood for what he believed in then. He is standing firmly in his belief now, protesting to bring attention to the important cause of gun control. Julianne Malveaux is a WashLewis and his colleagues were ington, D.C.-based economist unsuccessful in forcing votes on and writer.
Voting for change begins with education The upcoming presidential election has many people choosing sides. Will they choose to vote based on their reliDR. gious beliefs/convictions? Will they vote SINCLAIR according to their political party? Will GREY III they choose to not vote at all? These are some of the questions many GUEST COLUMNIST will raise this presidential election year. However, I want to draw your attention tion: Are they really helping us or do we to something that’s not being talked dislike the Republican Party so much about: congressional elections. that we will support the lesser of two evils? Think local It’s time for us to support one anothI can’t stress the importance of what er and understand that we have what it voting for local politicians does to help takes (collectively) to be a major factor in ensure legislation is passed to help the this world. Our vote cannot and should least, left-out, and disenfranchised. Be- not be taken for granted. We cannot be cause so many people complain about bought based on empty promises. what Congress is and/or isn’t doing, this During this election time, we must is the time to make a change. Without challenge the Black church to preach understanding that your vote counts in and teach on relevant issues pertainputting the right people in Congress, we ing to the conditions happening in the will continue seeing people complain of world. Too many preachers are preachwhat’s not happening. ing messages that are either based on Haven’t you noticed how the media suffering or prosperity, so no substance has been quiet about the upcoming con- is being provided. gressional elections? Those who control the media control the images of what Church, wake up people see and hear. Sadly and shameHow many times are preachers gofully, these images will influence how ing to take Jesus to the cross on Sunday people think, act, and assume. Howev- morning, but fail to speak of the work er, the good news is that there are Black He did while here on earth? How manews outlets that keeps people informed ny times will the church give a feel-good and educated on issues that are real and message and leave people powerless? relevant. The Black church, since it claims to be The NBA basketball season is over. the central entity of the Black commuWe can leave all the talk between who nity, must wake up and be about their is the best behind. We can now focus on business of transformation. what’s really important – the direction of I can’t stress enough how important this country. Failure to get serious about this election is. This isn’t the time to sit what’s happening only enables those back and remain idle. Not only does our who don’t care about you and your fu- vote count, but our voice in speaking out ture generation to continue implement- against any injustice and not apologizing policies that are damaging and de- ing for it. Without educating ourselves structive. on the issues, voting wisely, and holding
Get educated As African-Americans, we must become educated about as many issues as possible. We cannot take things for granted. Even though African-Americans support the Democratic Party in large numbers, we must ask this ques-
people accountable, nothing good will happen.
Dr. Sinclair Grey III is a speaker, business trainer, writer, and success coach. Contact him at drgrey@sinclairgrey.org or on Twitter @drsinclairgrey.
NATION
TOJ A6
JULY 1 – JULY 7, 2016
The future of Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper gram that Cole can personally relate to. In his address to the students at the D.C. school, he talked about his tough early life on the south side of Chicago with a mother who died of a heart attack and a father who had Alzheimer’s. “I was the oldest child so I became responsible for the family,” Cole said. “Just a few weeks after my mom passed, I was robbed at gunpoint. At times, we lived on food stamps and worried when they’d next turn the lights off.” Cole credited an English teacher for inspiring him to greatness.
Career in law
PETE SOUZA/WHITE HOUSE
President Obama is shown announcing the My Brother’s Keeper initiative on Feb. 27, 2014. BY JAMES WRIGHT TRICE EDNEY NEWS WIRE
President Obama has seven months left in office. One of the leaders of one of his key initiatives is hard at work ensuring the president’s legacy will continue after he leaves the White House. Obama founded the My Brother’s Keeper Task Force in February 2014 to focus the federal government and the private and non-profit sectors on improving the lives of Black boys and young men. James Cole, the general counsel and deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, said the initiative has expanded its mandate over its two years of existence. In January, Cole began overseeing the My Brother’s Keeper program.
‘Working hard’ “We have had an exciting two years,” Cole told the Afro-Amer-
ican newspaper on June 14 during a School without Walls graduation ceremony at the Lerner Auditorium at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. “We are working hard to address opportunity gaps for young males of color and we have reached into such programs as English as a Second Language and those who have been diagnosed with disabilities.” “We are working hard to see that young men of color reach their full potential,” he continued.
Making progress My Brother’s Keeper has programs in nearly 250 communities in all of the states and the District of Columbia. The initiative has more than $600 million in private sector and philanthropic grants and in-kind resources, and $1 billion in lowinterest financing, according to the report, “My Brother’s Keeper 2016 Progress Report: Two Years of Expanding Opportunity and
Creating Pathways to Success.” The report said more than 80 percent of the initiatives the task force sent to Obama two years ago have gone into effect or are on track.
Summer opportunities One of the activities relates to opportunities in the summer. Cole said that boys of color that are eligible for free and reduced lunch can participate in a variety of programs to strengthen their academic and social skills. “These are the students that need the most help so we are setting them up with mentors,” he said. “We noticed that when young people go on summer vacation, they tend to lose some of what they learned so we have programs and mentors that can keep them academically engaged.” The District of Columbia has a program where mentors work with their protégés on improving their reading skills. That effort is
part of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Emerging Males of Color program that kicked off in January 2015.
Some gains Bowser’s EMOC is an example of what Cole is talking about when discussing state-level components of the initiative. “These problems need to be dealt with on the ground, in the communities,” he said. “We are dealing with the mayors in every state and where the programs are utilized, we have seen gains. When the president leaves office, this is how the work will continue.” Cole said that corporations and nonprofits are continuing their financial support and “that will go beyond this administration.” He could not say whether the next president will continue the program at the federal level.
Personal experience My Brother’s Keeper is a pro-
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Cole went on to graduate from the University of Illinois UrbanaChampaign and the University of Chicago School of Law. After graduating from law school, he clerked for U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Stephanie K. Seymour for the 10th Circuit. He then went to work for the New York law firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz where he became a partner in 2004. He left the firm in 2011 to become deputy general counsel to the U.S. Department of Transportation and in December 2014, he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to his present position.
Kudos for Cole Leonard Haynes is a retired senior executive with the Department of Education and thinks highly of the work Cole has done for the initiative. “James has been at the department for two years, and I know he is committed to increasing more and better educational opportunities for young people,” Haynes said. “As the general counsel, he has his eye on the disadvantaged and it is good to have a person with that type of commitment in that position.”
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‘RELIVING MY LIFE’ Congressman John Lewis reflects on his experience at Capitol sit-in, civil rights past BY TAMAR HALLERMAN AND GREG BLUESTEIN ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE
WASHINGTON — The fullfledged revolt on the floor of the U.S. House began in the same way many of the protests engineered by U.S. Rep. John Lewis were launched: quietly, resolutely and in the face of long odds. The chamber was partway through a comatose daily ritual of mundane speechifying known as “morning hour” on Wednesday when a gaggle of House Democrats gathered at the podium in the well of the chamber and refused to move. At their center was Lewis, whose savvy in orchestrating sit-ins made him one of the most effective foot soldiers of the civil rights movement.
Return to his roots Here he was again, leading an outnumbered group bristling at the restrictions of a body dominated by majority rule, at the helm of a different sort of fight. A tussle about gun restrictions in the aftermath of the Orlando massacre does not hold a candle to the centurieslong struggle over civil rights equality in America. And Lewis’ critics maligned his movement, which ultimately failed to force a vote, as a cheap publicity stunt that traded on his history. But, for the 76-year-old Lewis, it was a return to his roots. “Sitting there on the floor, I felt like I was reliving my life all over again,” said the Atlanta Democrat, beaming to reporters late June 22. “During the ’60s the sit-ins started with three or four people, and they spread like wildfire. This will spread.”
Planned for days The protest was fluid, but it was not impromptu. It was planned over the course of several days by Lewis and more than a dozen of his political allies, and it soon ballooned to incorporate virtually
NORTHSTAR NEWS TODAY/TRICE EDNEY NEWS WIRE
U.S. Rep John Lewis, left, and U.S. Rep. David Meeks, a Democrat from New York, are shown at the sit-it on June 22.
“Sitting there on the floor, I felt like I was reliving my life all over again. During the ’60s the sit-ins started with three or four people, and they spread like wildfire. This will spread.” – U.S. Rep. John Lewis every member of the Democratic caucus. The main goal was to force the chamber’s GOP leaders to agree to hold votes before the July Fourth recess on two bills the Senate had already rejected earlier that week: one that would expand background checks for gun purchases and another that would bar people on the government’s terror watch list from buying firearms. Amid vocal opposition from gun rights groups such as the National Rifle Association, Republicans held their ground. They dismissed the sit-in as a “publicity stunt,” in the words of Speaker Paul Ryan, and a breakdown in House decorum, a hissy fit by cranky
Democrats who lacked the votes to win outright. “The reason I call this a stunt is because they know this isn’t going anywhere,” Ryan said on June 23. “It already failed in the Senate.”
GOP criticism It rubbed some of his Georgia colleagues the wrong way, too. U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland prefaced his criticism of Lewis like many did — by calling him a “great guy,” a “very good friend” and a champion for civil rights. “But we’ve got differences of opinions on how to try and get our message across,” said Westmoreland, a Coweta Republican who participated in a 2008 House floor protest
over offshore drilling when his party was in the minority. “To do it on the House floor, to me, was I think just taking it a little bit too far,” he added. Republicans ultimately denied the Democrats’ request. Ryan in the wee hours of the morning of June 23 adjourned the chamber for its July Fourth recess.
Vowed to fight on But Democrats did secure a consolation prize: increased public interest and attention thanks to their runaway social media campaign. Party members vowed to fight on in their districts and in Washington but were vague about what exactly would come next. What’s clear is the
pressure won’t die down. “We will continue to meet and talk during the next few days,” Lewis said in an interview with The Atlanta JournalConstitution on June 25. “I think there will be some direct action moving forward.” “We cannot stop until we get a bill, until a law is passed,” said Nancy Pelosi of California, the House’s top Democrat. The party’s extraordinary 26-hour takeover of the House floor had little modern precedent and shocked even the most seasoned and jaded of Washington hands.
Been here before It spanned from the solemn See LEWIS, Page B2
PETE SOUZA/WHTE HOUSE
U.S. Rep. John Lewis walks between Michelle Obama and President Obama during the 50th anniversary “Bloody Sunday’’ march held on March 7, 2015 in Selma, Ala.
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FLORIDA COMMUNITY CALENDAR
KANYE WEST
The artist’s Saint Pablo Tour stops in Tampa on Sept. 14 and Miami’s AmericanAirlines Arena on Sept. 16 and 17.
HANNIBAL BURESS Catch the comedian on July 22 at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood.
Plantation: Judah Worship Word Ministries, International will celebrate the pastor’s anniversary of Apostle Willett L. Mitchell on July 15 at 7:30 p.m. with Pastor/Prophet Anthony Lott of Venus, Texas and July 17 at 8:15 a.m. with Pastor/Prophetess Erika Toney of Jacksonville. More information: Call 954-791-2999. Jacksonville: Catch Jeezy and friends July 9 at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena.
SASSY SINGZ
Miami Gardens will present its first International Music Festival on July 23 at 8 p.m. It will feature Flavour, Nigel Luis, Sassy Singz and Dilly Chris.
LEWIS from Page 1
– speeches that simply listed the names and ages of the recent Orlando victims – to the surreal, punctuated when dozens of Democrats stormed the well of the House during a late-night vote, chanting “no bill, no break” at their Republican colleagues, drowning out Ryan as he sought to reassert control of the chamber. In other words, the events were not unlike the protests of Lewis’ youth. But instead of sit-ins protesting segregation and racial inequality, the civil disobedience this time was sparked by the lack of congressional debate and votes on stricter gun measures in the wake of one of the largest mass shootings in modern U.S. history. “I’ve been here for almost 30 years,” Lewis told C-SPAN on June 22. “To see members occupy the well of the House — by sitting down, they’re really standing up for the very best in the American tradition.”
Veteran of sit-ins Lewis first made his name in the civil rights movement in 1963 as chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, but it was three years earlier where, as a college student in Nashville, Tenn., he began organizing sit-ins and protests. Each was timed for lunchtime for maximum effect. “We wanted White people, everyday citizens, everyday customers to be exposed to us, to see us as we were, not as something in their minds, their imaginations,” he wrote in his book “Walking With the Wind.” “We wanted them to watch how we responded to the people who refused to serve us. And we wanted them to watch those people as well.”
A list of dos and don’ts he worked up was distributed to activists. Don’t curse. Do act friendly and courteous. Don’t laugh. Do sit straight. Don’t block outside entrances to stores. Do remember that “love and nonviolence is the way.” “By sitting in, by sitting down,” he said in a Washington University commencement address, “we were standing up for the very best in American tradition.”
Beaten but not broken In 1965 came his most famous protest, the march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala. He was beaten, gassed and left to die by state troopers. He woke up in a hospital with a fractured skull, not remembering how he got there. That violent fallout helped President Lyndon Johnson persuade Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act. He’s been in Congress since 1986, a daily reminder of the toll of divisive politics and hate. He’s not known for his success in passing legislation but as a standard-bearer for equality whom President Barack Obama calls the “Conscience of the Congress.” This November, he faces token Republican opposition in his deep-blue district, but he’s mum on whether he plans to stand for another term in 2018.
No time for stunts Lewis, when discussing the House sit-in and GOP criticism that it was a “publicity stunt,” drew parallels to his experience in the 1960s. “It reminds me of another period. During the sitins and during the Freedom Rides, there were Southern governors like Lester Maddox in Georgia, George Wallace of Alabama, that said civil action was a publicity stunt,” Lewis said. “When you see something that is not right, not
Pompano Beach: The annual Black On Black Crime Solutions Panel is July 16 at Worldwide Christian Center Church. It’s presented by Courage To Believe International, a nonprofit mentoring organization. More information:
fair, not just, you have to do something about it in a nonviolent fashion, and that’s what we did.” U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., one of Lewis’ closest friends in Congress and who also cut his political teeth during the 1960s civil rights movement, was more blunt. “Anybody who knows the history of John Lewis, anyone who has followed his life, there’s nobody in the world who has internalized nonviolence and love the way John Lewis has,” he said. “John does not have any time for stunts. And neither do you.”
Frustrated by gridlock Symbolism in the face of impossible odds isn’t new in Congress. The Republican House has voted to repeal Obamacare more than 60 times since winning control of the chamber in 2011, even though its leaders know the president would never sign such legislation. It was precisely Lewis’ legacy of civil disobedience that helped inspire House Democrats frustrated by the gridlock after a gunman in Orlando shot dead 49 club-goers on June 12. Democratic aides and lawmakers interviewed by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution said rank-and-file members of the party were searching for a powerful way to take a stand in the days after the attack. Their counterparts in the U.S. Senate were successful in forcing votes on new gun restrictions after a 15-hour filibuster — both attempts were ultimately rejected — but House Democrats were immediately stymied on the other side of the Capitol.
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www.TheCourageToBelieve.com. Tampa: Winners’ Worship Center, 11605 N. Nebraska Ave., is presenting a summer camp for adults through Aug. 3. The free sessions will focus on finances, legal questions, self-defense, smoking cessation, relationships, concealed weapons, health and other issues. More information: www.imawinner.org. St. Petersburg: Beres Hammond will perform at the Mahaffey Theater on July 21, Hard Rock Live Orlando on July 22 and the Broward Center for the Performing Arts on July 23 in Fort Lauderdale. Jacksonville: Shirley Murdock is scheduled at the Salem Centre in on July 30 and the Palladium Theatre on July 31 in St. Petersburg. Miami: Joe and Avant will perform July 1 at the James L. Knight Center.
sachusetts, who quickly pulled Lewis into the mix. The 15-term Democrat, never the most high-profile leader of the gun control movement but the recipient of an “F” rating from the NRA, came on board immediately. “Any organic movement does not happen unless you have a leader who implicitly everybody trusts,” Larson said of Lewis. “He was the vital cog in making this happen.” Plans for a sit-in were finalized the night of June 21. Party leaders were informed during a caucus meeting the next morning, and they quickly blessed the idea. The rest played out on the House floor, resulting in what Larson described as “an old-fashioned ’60s sit-in combined with modern-day technology.”
Reminiscent of the past Democrats sang “We Shall Overcome,” replac-
Pont Vedra Beach: The Robert Cray Band performs July 8 at the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall. Jacksonville: Miles Jaye performs July 16 at the Times Union Center for the Performing Arts. West Palm Beach: Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa are scheduled July 20 at the Perfect Vodka Amphitheatre and July 21 at Tampa’s MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre. Fort Lauderdale: Revolution Live will welcome K. Michelle on Aug. 2 for a 7 p.m. show.
Clearwater: Catch R&B crooner Maxwell Aug. 4 at Ruth Eckerd Hall. Hollywood: Seal performs at Hard Rock Live on Aug. 18. Miami Beach: Jill Scott takes the stage at the Fillmore Miami Beach at the Jackie Gleason Theater on Aug 30.
ing some lyrics with “we shall pass a bill someday.” And, after House leaders cut the C-SPAN camera feed, they broadcast images live to the world from their cellphones. The debate echoed in social media, with dueling hashtags (#holdthefloor for Lewis and Co. and #stopthestunt for their critics), images and celebrity endorsements. Lewis’ Twitter feed, usually replete with historic images of his work in the 1960s, echoed with a new resonance. “Keep the faith and keep your eyes on the prize,” he wrote in one, signing off with “#goodtrouble” — his twist on the advice he once mistakenly took from his grandparents, who told him to avoid getting into trouble over civil rights fights. “It was surreal on the one hand,” Lewis said on June 25. “On the other, it reminded me of another period in my life when I was 20 years old sitting in
Nashville at lunch counters and bus stations.”
Right thing, right reason For much of the House sit-in, Lewis flitted between the podium, the floor and the nearby Statuary Hall, where he spoke to reporters and television cameras about the unfolding events. No longer the nimble man he was in his youth, he sat gingerly on the carpeted House floor and sometimes needed help from his colleagues to stand. In the chamber, Democratic lawmakers crowded around Lewis, who held court at the center of the room, his back up against the desk typically used by the House clerk, his feet out in front of him. “Sitting with John Lewis on the floor of the House is a feeling that you’re doing the right thing and you’re doing it for the right reason,” said U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga.
The plan A caucus-wide conference call June 2 set the wheels turning for many members, including John Larson of Connecticut and Katherine Clark of Mas-
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B3 virus itself is totally unpredictable from one year to the next,” he said. Among the questions researchers are considering is why the strain of pandemic H1N1 used in the 2013-2014 flu season didn’t perform well. The manufacturer’s attempt to fix it in following seasons also did not work.
From mist to shots
ELLEN M. BANNER/SEATTLE TIMES/TNS
Brayden Yee of Shoreline, Washington receives a dose of FluMist from a pharmacist in 2014.
Clues on why FluMist now considered ineffective A CDC advisory panel Working on answers What changed to make the says the spray version spray so much less effective than should not be used studies had shown it to be in the by anyone during the past? The bottom line is that right 2016-2017 flu season. now “we don’t understand what BY JULIE APPLEBY KAISER HEALTH NEWS TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE
What led to the abrupt fall of FluMist – the nasal spray version of influenza vaccine – which until recently was considered the preferred alternative to the injectable vaccine for younger children? No one is quite sure, but there were hints of trouble for the past three flu seasons. Last week, an advisory panel to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted that – though it continues to be important to be vaccinated against the flu – the spray version was so ineffective that it should not be used by anyone during the 20162017 flu season. Just two years ago, that same Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended FluMist as the preferred alternative for most kids ages 2-8, after reviewing several studies from 2006-2007 that suggested the spray was more effective in kids than the injectable forms of the vaccine.
it is,” said David Kimberlin, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, who said academic researchers and those at MedImmune, a subsidiary of Astra Zeneca that makes the vaccine, are working to get answers. FluMist is a live attenuated vaccine, meaning it contains a weakened version of the virus itself but does not give the recipient the flu. Instead, it – like other forms of the vaccine – sparks the body’s immune system to create antibodies to the virus. The injectable forms of the vaccine contain killed versions of the virus.
Troubling data Among several studies the panel considered when it made its July 2014 preferential recommendation for FluMist was a 2004 randomized controlled trial – considered the best type of study – that found a 55 percent reduction in the number of flu cases among children who received the nasal spray compared with those who got the shot. Results were reported in the
New England Journal of Medicine in 2007. Three months after it made the recommendation, however, the CDC received some troubling data: During the 2013-2014 flu season, the nasal spray showed no measurable effectiveness against the pandemic H1N1 virus in kids aged 2 to 8. That was the predominant type of influenza virus circulating that year. As a result, the panel in February 2015 did not renew its preference for FluMist for the next flu season, although it was still considered a viable option.
No protective benefit At that meeting, the panel also heard that the spray had performed poorly in the 2014-2015 season. Because vaccine makers have to guess months ahead of time what the predominant strains of the virus will be, designing the correct combination is always a gamble. That time, they guessed wrong. More than two-thirds of the H3N2 versions of the virus circulating in the U.S. during the 20142015 season were different from the H3N2 versions in both the nasal spray and the injectable vaccines. So all versions of the vaccine – shots and spray – performed poorly. Now, looking at this winter’s
flu season, the CDC says data shows FluMist’s efficacy among children 2-17 was only 3 percent, essentially providing no protective benefit.
U.S. sales For its part, AstraZeneca said the CDC’s data for 2015-2016 are in sharp contrast with its own studies as well as preliminary findings by public health officials abroad. “These findings demonstrate that FluMist … was 46-58 percent effective overall against the circulating influenza strains during the 2015-2016 season,” the firm said in a release on June 23. U.S. sales of Flu Mist in 2015 totaled $206 million, about 1 percent of the AstraZeneca’s revenue. In any given flu season, vaccine effectiveness varies. One factor is how well the vaccines match the virus that is actually prevalent. Other factors influencing effectiveness include the age and general health of the recipient. In the overall population, the CDC says studies show vaccines can reduce the risk of flu by about 50 to 60 percent when the vaccines are well matched.
Virus unpredictable Now, researchers are trying to see what – if any – is the common factor behind FluMist’s recent poor performance. There’s not a clear answer, said Henry Bernstein, a professor of pediatrics at Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine in New York and an ex-officio member of the committee on infectious diseases for the American Academy of Pediatrics. “We know that the influenza
Diet soda unlikely cause of high blood pressure MAYO CLINIC NEWS NETWORK TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE
Dear Mayo Clinic: I typically drink three or four cans of diet soda each day, and my doctor told me it may be the cause of my high blood pressure. But I’ve been drinking this much soda for years and have never had any issues. Why would it suddenly affect my blood pressure? A: It’s unlikely that the diet soda you drink is causing your high blood pressure. A number of studies have examined this topic, and there is no evidence to suggest a link between regularly drinking diet soda and an increase in blood pressure. In fact, some research findings seem to suggest the opposite. Diet soda actually may contribute to lowering blood pressure. A variety of artificial sweeteners are available on the market. All of them are judged to be safe for general use. The three artificial sweeteners primarily used in soft drinks and diet sodas are stevia, sucralose and aspartame. Stevia, a natural product, has
‘One less tool’ The public should be reassured that recommendation not to offer FluMist shows that public health agencies are watching carefully, said Bernstein. “People need to recognize and applaud the idea that this type of monitoring and evaluation happens continuously,” he said. “The CDC does evaluate the effectiveness of these public health initiatives, including vaccine effectiveness and safety.” While people who don’t like needles will be disappointed, FluMist’s absence is not likely to lead to an overall shortage, experts say. The spray made up about 8 percent, according to the CDC, of the total projected supply of 176 million doses of flu vaccine being prepared for the upcoming flu season. And despite the loss of this form of vaccine, the CDC and other experts continue to strongly recommend that just about everyone 6 months and older get vaccinated because influenza can cause serious illness and is blamed for thousands of deaths each year. “The importance of preventing flu hasn’t changed,” Kimberlin said. “What has changed is we have one less tool.”
Kaiser Health News (KHN) is a national health policy news service. It is an editorially independent program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.
research does not pinpoint the cause of the disorders. It only identifies factors that may be related to them.
Make lifestyle changes
been shown to possibly lower blood pressure in people who have high blood pressure. Sucralose, which has almost the same molecular structure as table sugar, does not have much, if any, effect on blood pressure.
Rats, humans tested The bulk of diet sodas are made with aspartame. Aspartame does not appear to cause high blood pressure either. For example, in one study looking at a possible connection between the two, rats were fed either sugary foods or large doses of aspartame. The results showed that blood pressure went down in the group that consumed the artificial sweetener. The most telling study, though, was done in humans. It tested blood pressure in four groups of overweight participants. Each group drank one liter of either regular soda with sugar, diet soda, milk or water every day for six months. Blood pressure in those who consumed the diet soda and the milk came down by 10 to 15 percent, compared to those who
Several years ago, the vaccine also went from incorporating three flu virus strains to four. Did that somehow reduce its effectiveness? The earlier studies demonstrating that the spray was more effective than the shots were based on the three-virus vaccine, not the four-virus version. Researchers will investigate whether the vaccine loses effectiveness for some reason when given to children who have had many previous flu vaccinations. Uncertainty comes along with the territory for researchers. But it’s harder for the general public. Kids are bound to be especially disappointed. “Once they found out about the nasal vaccine instead of the shot, they strongly, strongly preferred the nasal one,” said Elizabeth Howton of Falls Church, Va., who has an 8-year-old and a 10-year-old. Howton said she fears the uncertainty now surrounding the nasal spray will add to the skepticism some parents have about vaccines in general. For her kids, there will be no skipping the vaccine. Even though it means a shot. Howton said she expects to offer “copious bribes,” to sweeten the deal. “I know they will be very disappointed, but I will still get them vaccinated,” said Howton.
FOTOLIA/TNS
There’s no evidence to suggest a link between regularly drinking diet soda and an increase in blood pressure. drank sugared soda.
Obesity issues As you are considering the amount of diet soda you drink each day, it is worthwhile to note that some population studies, called epidemiologic research, show a relationship between the regular use of diet soda and obesity.
These studies also show a relationship between diet soda consumption and metabolic syndrome, and an increase in cardiovascular disorders. However, these are associations only. Some nonmedical literature you see may interpret those findings to mean that diet soda somehow causes these medical conditions. But, this type of
Although changing your diet soda habit may not have an effect on your blood pressure, other lifestyle changes can make a difference. For example, eat a healthy diet that is low in salt and has plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, poultry, fish and low-fat dairy foods. Exercise regularly, and get to, and stay at, a healthy weight. If you drink alcohol, do so in moderation. For women of all ages and men older than 65, that means no more than one alcoholic drink a day. Men 65 and younger should have no more than two drinks a day. Manage stress in healthy ways. Don’t smoke. All of those steps can help control blood pressure. But sometimes lifestyle changes alone aren’t enough and medication is necessary to keep blood pressure at a healthy level. Talk with your doctor about the blood pressure treatment options that are right for you.
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room we’re in, we assume there’s an informant.” She said activists tell one another, “‘You don’t have to answer the door when the FBI knocks – don’t do it.’ … I think this week everybody’s been reminding each other.”
Cavs parade issue
HAYNE PALMOUR IV/SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE/TNS
San Diego police officers stand ready in between anti-Donald Trump protesters outside the San Diego Convention Center as Trump supporters, background, enter the rally for the Republican presidential candidate on May 27. Law enforcement already has begun knocking on activists’ doors in Cleveland, the site of July’s RNC.
Cleveland activists brace for heightened scrutiny Groups fielding law enforcement visits as Republican National Convention draws near. BY MATT PEARCE LOS ANGELES TIMES TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE
CLEVELAND — About two dozen activists filled a small usedbook shop on Cleveland’s west side for an unusual meeting: a training session on what to do when police knock on your door. The meeting started with a warning: assume that informants may be in the room. Jacqueline Greene and Jocelyn Rosnick of the National Lawyers Guild play-acted scenarios of the FBI standing on doorsteps, asking politely but persistently for names, for scraps of information, for full interviews. “Some of them have been very nice like this,” Greene warned her listeners, citing reports from local activists about law enforce-
ment visits ramping up before next month’s Republican National Convention (RNC). “Other times it has been not so friendly.”
Major challenge In less than four weeks, Donald Trump will come to the shores of Lake Erie to wrest the presidential nomination from the nation’s Republican delegates and to complete his conquest of the GOP. Given how turbulent some protests outside Trump rallies have been – and that the convention comes just weeks after the worst mass shooting in recent U.S. history – finding the right balance between security and First Amendment rights will be a challenge. Shivers have gone through the Cleveland activist community since law enforcement officials began knocking on their doors as tens of thousands of visitors prepare to come to town. The Cleveland FBI’s office said in a statement that the visits were part of their plans with state and local law enforcement to prepare for the convention by “working
collaboratively with members of the community.” “Law enforcement is reaching out to individuals known in the community who may have information that could help to ensure a safe and secure environment during the RNC,” the statement said. A spokeswoman declined to comment further.
Community outreach? Maggie Rice, 28, an organizer with Food Not Bombs, a volunteer group that provides food at demonstrations and to the homeless, said an FBI agent and a Cleveland police officer in plainclothes had contacted two of the group’s members last week. “The FBI is calling it community outreach — nobody’s buying that,” said Rice, adding that her group provides food to whoever wants it at demonstrations, including police, and that she explicitly avoids trying to know anyone’s protest plans. She added that it felt as though “they’re trying to make us nervous.”
Chilling tactic It’s typical for law enforcement to monitor activist groups before such large events, and it’s common for them to knock on activists’ doors, said activist and author Kris Hermes, who has studied political conventions and similar high-security events that often draw protesters. Hermes sees the tactic as something other than simple intelligence-gathering. “It’s about putting the activist community on guard. The FBI knows who you are and where you are, and that has a chilling effect on the activist community for sure,” Hermes said. “Do you feel safe protesting in the streets when you know you’re being targeted by law enforcement?”
Already on edge Even before the door knocks, activists say, Cleveland’s radical community had already been on edge – for years. Five Occupy Cleveland activists were arrested in 2012 after an FBI informant infiltrated the group and provided fake explosives to blow up a bridge. Prosecutors called it terrorism; activists called it manipulation and entrapment. Four of the men pleaded guilty and a fifth was convicted. Since then, Rice said, “every
The National Lawyers Guild monitors arrests at protests and provides legal defense for activists. At the meeting, which took place on a recent Friday night, the attorneys’ biggest worries were that activists visited by law enforcement might nervously lie to federal agents — which is a crime — even about simple information. The best course of action: “Just shut the eff up,” as one audience member put it. “That’s the moral of the story,” said Greene, one of the guild attorneys. Unexpectedly, LeBron James and the NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers helped score a point for protesters last week. The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio had sued Cleveland over proposed restrictions on parades and demonstrations for the Republican National Convention. As a city attorney argued at a June 23 hearing that the restrictions are necessary to protect the tens of thousands of visitors expected in town, U.S. District Judge James S. Gwin piped up. Didn’t Cleveland just hold a much larger parade on June 22 to celebrate the Cavaliers’ championship – without restrictions and without problems? “What’s the difference?” he asked.
Challenge for permits The city argued that the political convention posed a greater target for troublemakers, but Gwin ruled that the city’s restrictions on the 3.3-square-mile zone around downtown were unconstitutional, and he immediately sent the city into mediation with the ACLU to create less restrictive rules. After the ACLU’s legal victory, activists Tom Burke, Larry Bresler, Mick Kelly and Bryan Hambley met with public safety officials at City Hall to discuss plans and proposals for marches outside the convention. The city has issued permits for the single parade route it planned to allow, but activists say it has been a challenge to get permits beyond that. Almost an hour later, the group emerged from the office emptyhanded. “There’s a lot of reluctance — I don’t know why,” said Burke, of Grand Rapids, Mich., who added that officials told him to reapply in a week. “It’s really incumbent on the city at this point to make this work,” Kelly added.
Kerry tries to soothe ‘Brexit’ fears in Europe BY TRACY WILKINSON TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE
WASHINGTON – America’s top diplomat sought to soothe fears Monday on both sides of the Atlantic as aftershocks of Great Britain’s vote to withdraw from the European Union, the world’s largest trading bloc, continued to rattle markets and governments. “The interests and the values which have united us for such a long period of time did not change on the day of that vote,” Secretary of State John John Kerry said Kerry in Brussels, headquarters of the EU bureaucracy that British voters jilted. Kerry seemed to be trying to convince himself as much as the anxious European officials with whom he was meeting. He was scheduled to pay a call on British Prime Minister David Cameron, who announced plans on June 24 to resign after the “Brexit” vote.
Relationship change? While the Obama administration attempts to put on a brave face while confronting the future of its most important transAtlantic relationship, the loss of a strong British voice in broader European security, economic and other matters will hurt, analysts agree. The “special relationship” between Washington and London, an unbreakable bond since the
dark days of World War II, is likely to be strained, if not diminished. The White House was caught off guard by the “Leave” vote, as was the British government. During his most recent visit to London, President Barack Obama had publicly appealed to the British public to stay in the EU.
‘Stay focused’ Speaking in Brussels, Kerry said the immediate U.S. priority was to keep channels of communication and cooperation open with a “strong” EU on terrorism, immigration and trade. He insisted that the “special relationship” remains, as he put it, “as strong and as crucial as ever.” “I think it is absolutely essential that we stay focused on how, in this transitional period, nobody loses their head, nobody goes off half-cocked, people don’t start ginning up scatterbrained or revengeful premises,” he said.
NATO summit coming Kerry also sought to ease concerns that the Brexit vote could undermine confidence in other regional or trans-Atlantic alliances, including the NATO military alliance. Appearing with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, Kerry said this month’s NATO summit in Warsaw will be “as important as ever” and “will not change one iota” because of the British vote. Speaking later in London, Kerry praised U.S.-British cooperation “on virtually every major political and security issue,” includ-
STEPHEN CHUNG/LONDON NEWS PICTURES/STEPHEN CHUNG/TNS
A man carries a European Union flag in front of the Houses of Parliament on June 24 in London, the day after Britain voted to leave the European Union. ing the Iran nuclear-containment deal, the civil war in Syria, the fight against the Islamic State terror group and climate change. “At this moment of challenge, the United States knows it could not ask for a better friend and ally than the United Kingdom,” Kerry said.
Looking to Germany The economic and political shock waves continued to ripple around the world, however. Financial markets plunged again, and the vote appears to have stoked separatist movements in Scotland and Northern Ireland, as well as in Spain’s Cat-
alonia region and elsewhere. Experts say the United States could play a moderating role in easing the divorce between Great Britain and the other nations in the European Union, where there is deep anger at London. As London gives up its role as a financial and political powerhouse in Europe, Washington is likely to look increasingly to Germany for economic matters and to France for security issues, said Philippe Le Corre, a fellow at the nonpartisan Brookings Institution in Washington.
More consequences The Brexit vote “will have mas-
sive consequences on the U.K. role in the world, and that includes ties with the United States, with China, Japan, you name it,” he said. The United States “will have no alternative but to increasingly turn to and rely on other countries,” Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonpartisan think tank, said in a conference call with reporters. “The U.K. has been one of this country’s most important partners. … It will be less willing and able to play that role. And the net result will be the special relationship will be that much less special.”
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JULY 1 – JULY 7, 2016
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Shelia E. (front and center) shows what an incredible performer she still is during the BET Awards, which aired the night of June 26. As a tribute to her longtime friend, the renowned singer, drummer and percussionist performed a medley of Prince songs.
Samuel L. Jackson was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the BET Awards on June 26. In his acceptance speech, he talked about how important the women in his life have been to his accomplishments. Those included an aunt, daughter Zoe and wife LaTanya.
BET AWARDS WINNERS
Best Male R&B/Pop Artist Bryson Tiller
Here’s a list of the winners of the 2016 BET Awards.
Best Group Drake and Future
Best Actress Taraji P. Henson
Best Collaboration Rihanna featuring Drake – “Work”
Best Actor Michael B. Jordan Youngstars Award Amandla Stenberg Best Movie “Straight Outta Compton” Sportswoman of the Year Serena Williams Sportsman of the Year Stephen Curry Centric Award Beyoncé, “Formation” Best International Act: UK Skepta PHOTOS COURTESY OF BET.COM
Actor Jesse Williams accepts the Humanitarian Award at the 2016 BET Awards at the Microsoft Theater on June 26 in Los Angeles.
Actor Jesse Williams fires up BET Awards, Twitter with powerful speech EURWEB.COM
The multiple Prince tributes and Beyonce’s aquatic surprise were among the many buzzworthy moments from Sunday’s BET Awards, but who knew an acceptance speech from “Grey’s Anatomy” star and Humanitarian Award recipient Jesse Williams would not only win the night, but possibly spark a new round of Black activism. Not long after his six-minute speech had the audience at Los Angele’s Microsoft Theater on their feet cheering, the hashtags #activistbae and #wokebae began trending on Twitter. “We’re done watching and waiting while this invention called whiteness uses and abuses us, burying Black people out of sight and out of mind while extracting our culture, our dollars, our entertainment like oil, black gold; ghet-
toizing and demeaning our creations then stealing them; gentrifying our genius and trying us on like costumes before discarding our bodies,” he said onstage.
From police brutality to wearing ‘brands’ In addition to cultural appropriation, Williams’ speech also touched on police brutality (“police somehow manage to de-escalate, disarm and not kill White people everyday”), and targeted those who complain about the disruptive tactics of Black Lives Matter. “The burden of the brutalized is not to comfort the bystander. That’s not our job, alright? Stop with all that,” he said. “If you have a critique for the resistance, then you better have an established record of critique of our oppression.”
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He gave a massive shoutout to Black women, “who have spent their lifetimes dedicated to nurturing everyone before themselves. We can and will do better for you.” Williams also spoke out about the culture’s emphasis on materialism, eloquently using the term “brands on our bodies” to reference both slavery and designer clothing. Williams has been “woke” for many years. Aside from sharing his vision of Black America via Twitter, he has written articles about race for CNN and The Huffington Post; he’s the youngest member of the board of directors at The Advancement Project, a civil rights think tank and advocacy group; and he executive produced and starred in the documentary “Stay Woke: Black Lives Matter,” which aired on BET in May.
Best Male Hip Hop Artist Drake Best Female Hip Hop Artist Nicki Minaj Video of the Year Beyoncé, “Formation’’ Video Director of the Year Director X Best New Artist Bryson Tiller Best Gospel Award Kirk Franklin
Best International Act: Africa Black Coffee (South Africa)
Humanitarian Award Jesse Williams
Best Female R&B/Pop Artist Beyoncé
Lifetime Achievement Award Samuel L. Jackson
Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar made a splash at the BET Awards show with their performance of “Freedom.’’
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FOOD
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 Safe minimum internal of their favorite temperatures grilling recipes, as 145°F Beef, pork, veal well as an appre and lamb (roasts, ciation for how steaks and chops) food gets from the 160°F Ground meat farm to the table. 165°F Poultry (whole, Farmers like parts or ground) Amanda Folkens, from Iowa, Danell Kalcevic, from Colorado, and Nicole Small, from Kansas, have joined with more than 70 other farmer volunteers across the country in the CommonGround program as a way to talk with home cooks about how food is grown and raised. “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.
JULY 1 – JULY 7, 2016
TOJ
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 1/2 tablespoon seasoning pepper 1 to 21/4-inch thick ham slices (about the same thickness as the bread) Cooking spray Pineapple slices (can be fresh or canned) 2 slices sourdough bread 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.
BEEF RACK OF RIBS By Danell Kalcevic Serves: 4 to 6 Salt (to taste) 1tablespoon black pepper (to taste) 1 tablespoon seasoned garlic salt (to taste) Cayenne pepper (optional) 1 to 2 racks of beef ribs (number of racks based on number of people) 1 tablespoon yellow mustard 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.