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JULY 7 – JULY 13, 2017
VOLUME 25 NO. 27
www.flcourier.com
LIFE-AND-DEATH DISPARITY
A new study concludes that in the US, an infant mortality gap costs the lives of about 4,000 Black babies each year.
Gap remains
BY KAREN KAPLAN LOS ANGELES TIMES / TNS
If Black infants born in the United States had all of the health and medical benefits enjoyed by White infants, nearly 4,000 fewer of them would die each year, new research suggests. That would amount to a nearly 60 percent decrease in the number of Black infants that die each year. Instead, Black babies are nearly 2.5 times more likely than White babies to die during their first year of life.
Mortality falling Infant mortality in the U.S. has been on the decline overall, falling 15 percent in the last decade,
Hollywood changes streets named after Confederate generals
according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Researchers from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, wondered whether that improvement was shared equally by Black and White infants. Their conclusion: Not quite.
Both Black and White infants (defined as babies up to the age of 1 year) did see improvements over the 10-year span between 2005 and 2015. In fact, infant mortality – the number of infant deaths divided by the number of births – decreased more dramatically for Blacks than Whites. But it didn’t fall nearly enough to erase the substantial gap at the start of the study period. In 2005, 5.7 out of every 1,000 White infants died before their first birthday. A decade later, that figure had dropped 16 percent, to 4.8 deaths per 1,000 White infants. Meanwhile, the 2005 infant See BABIES, Page A2
HEIDI DE MARCO/KAISER HEALTH NEWS/TNS
The tiny hand of a premature baby at the neonatal intensive-care unit at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital in Palo Alto, Calif., is depicted in this 2015 file photo.
BOSH, HEAT PART WAYS
Gone but not forgotten
Time to pay attention What does North Korea’s missile launch mean?
BY ALEXANDRIA BORDAS MIAMI HERALD / TNS
BY MATT STILES AND JONATHAN KAIMAN LOS ANGELES TIMES / TNS
HOLLYWOOD – In a contentious meeting spanning three hours, the Hollywood (Florida) City Commission voted Monday night to begin the process of changing the streets named after three Confederate generals that lie in the heart of the city’s African-American neighborhood.
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – Six months ago, North Korea’s dynastic leader, Kim Jong Un, announced in clear terms his nation’s resolve to develop a ballistic missile capable of reaching the continental United States. Such an accomplishment would surely shift the power dynamic in Northeast Asia – and help cement the government’s long-sought status as a nuclear state. It appears Kim may have gotten his wish.
Two-part process The commission voted on two key measures to begin the street-renaming process. In the first measure, proposed by Commissioner Richard Blattner, the city agreed to waive its policy of conducting a poll of residents affected by the name change. Blattner said if the commission takes the poll and the majority of people don’t want the street names changed, but the commission does it anyway, it would look like the commissioners could care less about what their community has to say. Blattner’s measure passed 5-2 with Vice Mayor Traci Callari and Commissioner Peter Hernandez dissenting.
Successful launch North Korea announced Tuesday that it had, at long last, test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile – a “glistening miracle,” as state news described it. The news means an already intractable problem posed by Pyongyang’s advancing nuclear and missile programs just got more difficult for the United States and its regional allies. “It’s really, really significant from a technological and political standpoint,” said Melissa Hanham, a senior research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in California who studies North Korea’s missile program. American and South Korean officials, while confirming the event and expressing concern, said in their initial assessments that the missile appeared to be somewhat less capable than North Korea announced.
Dual names The second measure, proposed by Callari, called for dual-naming the streets for two years so people could get adjusted to Lee, Forrest and Hood streets eventually disappearing from Hollywood. After two years, the street names would be officially changed. The three streets are named after Confederate generals. Forrest was considered the father of the Ku Klux Klan. There were 11 who spoke in support of the change, with only one person opposing the move. The commission will vote on the matter Aug. 30.
ALSO INSIDE
‘New escalation’
HECTOR GABINO/EL NUEVO HERALD/TNS
The Miami Heat’s Chris Bosh gets a rebound during a home game on Jan. 31, 2016. After a seven-year relationship, the team announced on Tuesday that it is releasing Bosh and planning to retire his jersey number.
But late Tuesday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson condemned what he acknowledged was an intercontinental ballistic missile test, saying the launch represents “a new escalation of the threat to the United States, our allies and partners, the region and the world.” U.S. Ambassador to the UnitSee TIME, Page A2
SNAPSHOTS FLORIDA | A3
Cabinet members’ worth
NATION | A6
RELIGION | B4
SAFETY | B3
EVENTS | B2
Trump’s job numbers aren’t so great
Mosque helping Muslim women find mates
Special nails can save roofs during storm
Disney Dreamers Academy taking applications
COMMENTARY: CLARENCE V. MCKEE: LEFT’S ‘DEATH PARTY’ RHETORIC COULD GET SOMEONE KILLED | A4 GUEST COMMENTARY: KEITH BROOKS: WOULD SLAVERY HAVE ENDED SOONER IF BRITISH HAD WON? | A5
FOCUS
A2
JULY 7 – JULY 13, 2017
Maybe it’s time for ‘The Gantt Report Live’ “The Gantt Report Live” is not a television show. But it should be and it will be – if I feel like putting the show together. It’s necessary for me to write a column about a Gantt Report TV show after reading news and Internet accounts about a proposed Black Television News Channel (BTNC). Well, BTNC is nothing new. Former Congressman (and great college quarterback) J.C. Watts has been trying to start a Black news network for 10, 20, maybe 30 years. Watt’s media dream will come true because he is dedicated and committed to making his news network dream a reality, and I admire him for that. Also, there are so many more broadcast and Internet streaming opportunities and all those media companies need more media content. Watts is a great businessman, not a great journalist. He is a member of the political party of the day and he has gotten a media man, Robert Brillante, who has money and about 30 years of cable TV management experience on his team. Former Tallahassee Mayor John Marks has also been identified as a partner in the proposed network venture.
Know them all Years ago, I was introduced to Watts by former Florida Public Service Commissioner Julia Johnson in Washington, D.C., who I was doing media work for at the time. John Marks is a longtime friend, and Brillante is a political and media colleague since my lobbying days and stint as a producer/host on The Sunshine Network, now The Florida News Channel. The recent news coverage of a proposed Black news network
LUCIUS GANTT THE GANTT REPORT
has centered around the fact that the network could be headquartered in Tallahassee, and how some kind of partnership could be made with Florida A&M University and its journalism students.
What the hell? When I read the coverage I started doing the April Ryan – shaking my head! Why? Because John Marks knows me well. Brillante knows who I am. Watts has met me and has close friends and associates that have known me for decades. The fact that I was not contacted by the Black Television News Channel is a very clear indication of what these guys know about “news,” newsgatherers, news producers or news icons! Here’s where I jump in the discussion! I write columns, appear on television, radio and Internet talk shows all the time, but I don’t rush to publicize myself or my exploits. The nation’s and the world’s top White journalists know Lucius Gantt, because they have had to deal with him when they covered Rev. Henry Lyons and Florida’s huge voting scandals in past presidential elections.
Wake up! If proposed network owners, Black journalism schools, Black media owners and uninformed media supporters think Lucius Gantt is merely a crazed or radical Black newspaper columnist,
they had better ask somebody! If they go to sleep and dream about putting together a Blackowned news network that ALL people, not just African-Americans, will watch and appreciate and not contact Lucius Gantt, they better wake up and slap themselves as hard as they can!
Long career Lucius Gantt has been in the television and professional media business since 1968 when I was hired by WSB-TV to work in the TV production department at the age of 17 years old. By the time I turned 19, I produced and hosted the first Black talk show broadcast in Atlanta called “Sound of Youth.” I was promoted to a position in the station’s Promotions Department, where I wrote promos for television shows. Afterwards, I was hired by Cox Broadcasting to do television research. Upon graduation from Georgia State University with a major in Journalism and a minor in Philosophy, I was awarded a graduate fellowship at the prestigious Washington Journalism Center, in Washington, D.C.
I’m a pioneer I was hired as a reporter-producer at National Public Radio (long before Tavis Smiley), where I worked on the award-winning show “All Things Considered,” covered news at the U.S. Capitol, and produced radio documentaries. In 1972, I produced the highest-distributed and perhaps the most listened-to NPR documentary that year called “The Soul of Black Music,” about the influence of gospel music on other Black music genres like jazz, blues, R&B and rock ’n’ roll. It aired on more than 80 stations nationwide.
When I left NPR, I took a job at The Associated Press in New York City. In 1973, I wrote three of the top AP stories of that year, including a story about the three Alou brothers – Felipe, Matty and Jesus – playing on the same field at Yankee Stadium at the same time. That story has been copied and imitated, but never duplicated, every year since 1973. I wrote about baseball’s unbreakable records like .400 batting average, back-to-back nohitters, and 51-game hitting streaks in advance of Henry Aaron’s record-breaking home run the next year in Atlanta. (By the way, I had an exclusive interview with Aaron right before he broke Babe Ruth’s home run record when he only did press conferences and had interview excerpts aired on CBS-TV network.)
There’s more! I could go on and on, but I won’t. I just want to say something about Lucius Gantt in Florida. I produced “For the People,” a statewide radio show that featured former Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives Don Tucker and newsman Jack Sinks and other guest political reporters. I started the Public Affairs and News Department at WFSU-FM, which evolved into a total news radio channel later. At FSU, I was the executive producer of a radio documentary entitled, “The Old Folks Ain’t Home” – about the institutionalization of the elderly – that won a national award against competition from major TV and radio networks like NBC. I was the creator and executive producer of the “Vibrations” television program that ran on WFSU-TV for 15 consecutive
years in prime time – not on Saturday or Sunday morning before daybreak, or when many viewers were at church. Vibrations consistently beat “Tony Brown’s Journal,” “Black Enterprise,” and similar shows in the ratings. I produced the “View From The Top” television show and many statewide shows about The Florida Conference of Black State Legislators that ran statewide on the Sunshine Network.
Dropping my knowledge Some of the people trained by me, worked for me or with me that went on to some media fame and recognition include New York news anchor Reggie Harris, NPR reporter Jo Miglino, Mark Bass, Wayne Sallade, Art Myers, April Crowley, Sharon Gilmore, Sharon Morris, Ken Darby, Robert Perkins, Mike Chandler, Keith Miles, Beryl Roberts, Chris Stewart, Keith Allen and many, many others. So you tell me. Who is the consummate professional, and who are the news charlatans? The Gantt Report is internationally known as one of the most widely-read opinion columns in the world written by a Black author that has a wealth of television talent and success. If BTNC is or will be a real news network, they need a real network talk show. “The Gantt Report Live” should be that show! Watts, Marks and Brillante, holler at me!
Buy Gantt’s latest book, “Beast Too: Dead Man Writing,” on Amazon.com and from bookstores everywhere. “Like” The Gantt Report page on Facebook. Contact Lucius at www.allworldconsultants. net.
TIME from A1
ed Nations Nikki Haley and her counterparts from Japan and South Korea requested an emergency Security Council meeting Wednesday in response to the missile launch. “As we, along with others, have made clear: We will never accept a nuclear-armed North Korea,” Tillerson said.
Military response The U.S. Army and South Korea military conducted a combined missile exercise Tuesday as a show of force in response to North Korea’s test. Multiple Hyunmoo-2 missiles, capable of striking any target in North Korea, were blasted from launchers along South Korea’s eastern coastline into the South’s territorial waters. The exercise took place within 10 miles of the demilitarized zone separating North and South. “The deep strike precision capability enables the (South Korean)-U.S. alliance to engage the full array of time critical targets under all weather conditions,” the U.S. Army said in a statement. The initial questions about North Korea’s claim appeared to be about the performance and range of the missile – not the fact that Pyongyang had significantly improved its capability. By any measure, the missile appeared to be the longest-range military device North Korea has tested.
ZHU LONGCHUAN/XINHUA/ZUMA PRESS/TNS
North Korea displayed a submarine-launched ballistic missile during a military parade in Pyongyang on April 15, 2017. tests this year haven’t provoked. “Politically, it’s a game changer,” said Go Myong-hyun, a research fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul.
Long and high
The regime has accelerated the pace of its missile testing program in recent years under Kim Jong Un, a grandson of Kim Il Sung, the nation’s communist patriarch. But the new capability – a clear violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions – seems to have crossed a psychological threshold. It already has led to widespread alarm that other, shorter-range ballistic missile
The device, which North Korea called the Hwasong 14, flew on a lofted trajectory more than 1,700 miles into the atmosphere – farther than the International Space Station – for around 40 minutes. It landed more than 500 miles east, in the Sea of Japan, which Koreans call the East Sea. In theory, the missile’s range could have allowed it to reach Alaska on a flatter trajectory, though such a flight path would have introduced other technical complexities and physical hurdles for the regime’s scientists. Still, it’s a significant accomplishment for the regime. “When I heard it was a 40-minute flight,” Hanham said, “my stomach just dropped.” Newly elected South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who re-
BABIES
fered by Black infants dropped from 8.6 to 6.9 per 1,000 infants, the researchers wrote.
Line crossed?
from A1
Weight is key factor
mortality rate for Blacks was 14.3 per 1,000 births. By 2012, that rate fell to 11.6 per 1,000 – a 19 percent decrease. The rate then remained essentially flat, hitting 11.7 per 1,000 in 2015. Over the 10-year period, the number of “excess” deaths suf-
They also examined the infant mortality rates for the four leading causes of death to babies in their first year of life – preterm birth and low birth weight, birth defects, sudden infant death syndrome, and “maternal complications.” All other causes of infant mortality were grouped into a
cently discussed North Korea at a summit meeting with President Donald Trump in Washington, convened an emergency security meeting. He also called on the international community to “take action.”
Options – all bad But for South Korea and the United States, which has 28,000 troops on the Korean peninsula, a list of bad options for slowing or stopping North Korea now appear even more limited. The regime’s nuclear and missile programs have perplexed the last three American presidents. They have tried negotiation, economic aid, international sanctions, diplomatic pressure and even covert action. The strategies have failed. Experts now believe North Korea is an established nuclear state with more than a dozen devices. A key question had been whether the regime could deliver its weapons globally. Experts believe North Korea
fifth category. The single biggest contributor to the infant mortality gap was the preterm birth and low birth weight category. In 2005, these factors caused 78.2 deaths per 100,000 births for Whites and 309.2 deaths per 100,000 births for Blacks. The gap narrowed over the following decade, to 69.7 and 256.9 deaths per 100,000 births for Whites and Blacks, respectively. Even so, Black infants were al-
needs more time to miniaturize its warheads so they can be launched on missiles. And scientists there still would need to figure out how to get the warheads to safely and accurately re-enter the atmosphere en route to a target. Still, the aim of long-range delivery now appears within sight, despite Trump’s pre-inauguration tweet, in January, vowing, “It won’t happen!”
Catastrophic possibility The Trump administration has announced a new policy of imposing “maximum pressure” on North Korea, calling for sanctions but also dialogue if the regime ends its program. The administration has left open the possibility of a military strike, but that could prove catastrophic. North Korea, for example, could retaliate with its masses of conventional weapons, such as artillery, along the border that is roughly 40 miles from Seoul, a metropolitan area of more than
most 4 times more likely to die of these causes.
Increased risks Preterm births, which occur before a pregnancy reaches the 37-week mark, puts babies at increased risk of complications like asthma, cerebral palsy, infections and developmental disabilities, according to the March of Dimes. Low birth weight, which describes newborns who weigh less
20 million residents. Some believe the United States and other countries that have concerns about North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs should negotiate a freeze on testing, and perhaps a return of international inspectors to North Korean laboratories. With all the focus on missiles lately, it’s easy to forget that the North could perform its sixth underground nuclear detonation test any day – another provocation that would further increase the sense of crisis in the region, said John Delury, a North Korea expert at Yonsei University in Seoul. “There are some diplomatic options – they’re not great – but they’re probably what we should do,” he said. “At this point, it’s no longer about denuclearizing the Korean peninsula,” Hanham said. “Now it’s just about containing North Korea as best we can.”
than 5 pounds, 8 ounces, increases the risk of heart, lung and intestinal conditions, among other problems. “Interventions to further reduce the rate of preterm birth among Black infants appear the most promising option for reducing Black infant mortality and the absolute inequality between Black and White infants,” the researchers wrote. The study was published July 3 in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.
JULY 7 – JULY 13, 2017
FLORIDA
A3
What Florida’s Cabinet members are worth Commission on Ethics gives financial picture of governor, other Florida officials BY JIM TURNER THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE – Gov. Rick Scott’s net worth rebounded in 2016, a reversal of fortune after his investments plunged a year earlier, according to annual financial disclosure documents. Meanwhile, the collective net worth of the state Cabinet has also climbed, with all three elected members reporting upticks in the annual reports, which were due July 3. The Cabinet’s overall personal finances should be even higher after Panama City restaurateur Jimmy Patronis, appointed by Scott to replace Jeff Atwater as the state’s chief financial officer, joined the panel. Scott saw a $30 million jump in his net worth last year, which he reported at $149.3 million as of Dec. 31, 2016.
Scott’s property The four-page document filed June 30 with the state Commission on Ethics provides a glimpse at the financial holdings of the governor, an attorney and former health care executive who listed no liabilities topping $1,000. The appraised value of the governor’s waterfront mansion in Naples dipped, from $15.44 million in 2015 to $15.03 million, according to the report. A separate property in the Naples Boat Club development climbed in value from $123,375 to $144,334 during the same time period. Meanwhile, the value of a 60-acre ranch Scott owns in Montana held steady at about $1.5 million, the report showed. The governor also reported that the value of the “Governor Richard L. Scott 2014 Qualified Blind Trust” jumped from $100.4 million at the end of 2015 to $130.5 million just before the start of the current year. In 2014, Scott reported the value of the trust as topping $127.8 million.
Blind trust issues Scott, who voluntarily receives an annual salary of 12 cents for his state executive pay, reported
COURTESY OF OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
Gov. Rick Scott signs the higher education bill SB 396 into law on June 28 at Miami Dade College's Wolfson campus. It requires colleges and universities to keep students up to date on their federal student loan debt. an income of $4.35 million from the blind trust last year. In 2014, when the Florida Supreme Court refused to consider a challenge to a 2013 law that allows elected officials to use blind trusts to shield their financial assets, Scott’s blind trusts generated $9.8 million in investment income. In the run-up to his re-election in 2014, Scott disclosed the contents of his original blind trust, which he has since shut down. But in the most recent report, as in the prior two years’, Scott did not disclose the assets in the blind trust
Campaign money Scott, who reportedly spent who spent more than $70 million of his own money to finance his first gubernatorial campaign in 2010 and another $13 million on his re-election bid four years later, has seen his net worth fluctuate over the years. When he first ran for office, Scott reported a net worth of $218 million. In his 2012 finan-
cial disclosure, Scott put his net worth at $83.7 million. A year later it grew to $132.7 million.
Cabinet’s worth Meanwhile, the Cabinet started 2017 with a collective net worth of $12.98 million, topped by Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam’s $8.7 million. The former Congressman, a Republican seeking to replace Scott as governor next year, reported that the 2016 book value of his 20-percent share of Putnam Groves is $2.95 million, down from $3.2 million the prior year. Putnam, who received $123,576 in salary as agriculture commission last year, also owns a home in Bartow valued at $174,000 and a Tallahassee residence appraised at $260,000, both unchanged since 2014, according to the reports. He also has shares in ownership of four properties – located in Babson Park, Little Gasparilla Island, Hesperides and Lake Wales – that he estimates
are collectively worth just over $225,000.
Other income Putnam’s investments brought him just over $63,000 and a 25-percent stake in a beach house earned $2,184 in income last year, the reports show. Putnam listed a $105,596 mortgage as his only liability. Attorney General Pam Bondi’s net worth climbed from $1.44 million at the end of 2015 to $1.7 million in the latest report. And Jeff Atwater, who exited last week from the chief financial officer job for a position at Florida Atlantic University, reported his net worth had increased slightly, from $2.53 million in 2015 to $2.56 million last year. When Bondi, Atwater and Putnam were first elected to their statewide positions in 2010, they collectively reported a net worth at $8.8 million. The most recent reports show about a 47 percent gain in the Cabinet members’ cumulative net worth.
Patronis’ net worth Patronis, a former state legislator, left his post as a member of the Florida Public Service Commission to take over as Atwater’s replacement. As a member of the state utility regulatory board since 2015, Patronis wasn’t required to list his personal net worth or the estimated values of his personal holdings in his disclosures. But in his final year as a member of the Florida House, Patronis reported a net worth of nearly $5.8 million as of Dec. 31, 2013. At that time, interests tied to the family partnership that owns the landmark Capt. Anderson’s Restaurant in Panama City were collectively worth about $4.5 million. In 2013, Patronis also reported a collective value of just over $1.1 million for property he personally owns in Panama City, Lynn Haven, Washington County, Panama City Beach and Tallahassee.
YouthBuild helps to change the lives of young adults Students in Tampa program get skills,support and jobs SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA COURIER
Anna Edwards has come a long way. The 25-year-old, who grew up in West Tampa, got pregnant at 16 years old. She dropped out of high school because of it, following the footsteps of her mother and grandmother, also teen mothers. “They paused their education. They paused everything they were doing when they started having kids. But I’m like, you know what, I’m going to go for it. I’m not going to stop, I can’t stop,” said Edwards. That desire led her to Tampa Housing Authority’s YouthBuild program. After seeing her brother’s success with the program, she decided to give it a shot. Four years later, the 25-year-old has a steady full-time job, multiple construction certifications, and is a homeowner.
$1 million grant Edwards says she owes it all to the YouthBuild program. “It gave me motivation. It gave me ambition, hope,” said Edwards, who now works as an administrative clerk for the housing authority. Funded through a competitive grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, the Tampa Housing Authority started implementing YouthBuild back in 2009. The agency recently received a 2017 grant of approximately $1 million during the next three years. The program is based on a national model that aims to help young adults change their lives while changing their communities.
‘We don’t judge’ It focuses on youth 16-24,
primary those who may have dropped out of high school, have had trouble with the law, and/or need guidance and direction. John Arroyo, Tampa Housing Authority’s YouthBuild Program manager, describes the curriculum as one of second chances. “We’re unique in the sense of, we meet our students where they’re at. We try not to sugarcoat anything. No matter what they’ve done in the past, no matter what type of environment they live in. We don’t judge.’’
260 in 46 states According to Arroyo, the program is among the top programs around the country. In fact, Arroyo was chosen to participate in YouthBuild’s Director’s Fellowship Program. Only 10 directors are selected nationally for the two-year program. YouthBuild USA has 260 sites in 46 states across the country. Tampa Housing Authority’s YouthBuild runs every six to nine months with about 20 students. Each semester is referred to as a cohort. If they have not graduated from high school, students can work toward their GED. At the program’s core, is construction skills, which everyone learns – whether male or female. Students can then choose the Construction Plus track, which allows them to move in another direction such as becoming a certified medical assistant (CMA) or cosmetologist. They can even build up volunteer hours through AmeriCorps and earn money for secondary education.
Good success rate Life and leadership skills are also key components to the program. Every week, students participate in workshops where they learn about topics, including finance and health. Along with some tough love at times, Arroyo
and his team puts it all together to create a recipe for success, if followed correctly. The Tampa Housing Authority’s YouthBuild program has an 82 percent student success rate for placement in education or employment and a 81 percent rate for students attaining a degree or certificate. “When I see one of my students come in the first day – sagging his pants, talking crazy, having a bad attitude, can’t control his anger, a year later, he’s coming back smiling, laughing and just saying, ‘Hey, I got this job, the guy says I’m doing a great job, I got my GED – there’s no better feeling. It’s like your child has graduated,” said Arroyo.
Another success story One such student is Allen Thurman, who graduated from the program five years ago. He joined after spending 15 months in prison for selling drugs. “What really got me into it was that I had really wanted to continue my education, finish school and find work so I can support my daughter,” said Thurman. Through YouthBuild, he earned his GED and landed a full-time construction job, just three months into the program. That job ended up paying for Thurman’s college tuition. The 28-year-old recently graduated with his fire engineering degree. He can install and soon design fire sprinkler systems. Thurman calls the program a life changer. He often goes back to the community and speaks to current students – sharing knowledge and advice. His advice to students, “Take all the help you can receive. Listen and have an open mind because you’re looking at it, and somebody else, they might see something different that you don’t see. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.’’
All of the participants receive construction skills.
John Arroyo, program manager, is shown with graduate Allen Thurman.
EDITORIAL
A4
JULY 7 – JULY 13, 2017
When Obama’s White House attacked the NBCC, Part 2 It was quite a victory for business organizations. We stopped the “cap and trade” bill dead in it tracks. This would be the start of a pro-business movement knocking down the majority of President Obama’s environmental and regulatory platforms. His view of an economic agenda for the Black middle class was expanding welfare and Medicaid – even free phones. Ours was to solidify our economic infrastructure and create growth in business development and attractive jobs.
Growing influence Our brand was growing extensively. We were hitting the cable talk shows. Major newspapers loved our quotes. Our growth and popularity was becoming a pain to the very progressive Obama doctrine. After doing something major and successful against the Democratic Party, “How are they going to come after us?” was the question. I never dreamed that something elaborate requiring huge resources from them would be created targeting the National Black Chamber of Commerce, which was conceived in my wife’s kitchen back in the early 1990s. The Obama administration was more than progressive. It was radical. They decided to take on the US Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber sent the new administration an invitation to discuss and work together on issues whenever possible. In re-
HARRY C. ALFORD GUEST COLUMNIST
sponse, the Obama “disciples” formed the 1 Percent Movement.
Protests, threats They held anti-Wall Street demonstrations which would tie up some of our major cities. They sent letters to the Chamber’s board of directors demanding that they resign their positions. They threatened some members, who had to hire bod guards to protect their homes, businesses, and family members. It was anarchy by any other name. They tried to start a rival organization called the US Green Chamber of Commerce. It flopped. Then they tried another idea. How about creating a Black organization to rival the National Black Chamber of Commerce? Even at our conception there were carloads of people trying to rival our mission statement and leadership direction. A few tried to steal our name. We would peel them off one by one from one city to the other.
‘Enablers’ act On this attempt, we had no idea about what was going to happen. A group of enablers formed – Wells Fargo, AT&T, Phoenix University, about 10 nonaffiliated chambers, a Black-
Nancy Pelosi sends Democrats over a cliff Nancy Pelosi, leader of Congressional Democrats, should be ought of a job. Pelosi has few political victories to speak of but she does raise money, lots of money. That is the only reason she is still the House leader. She is a wealthy woman with access to other rich people who in turn keep party coffers full. When asked about her defeats she counters with one theme: her fundraising prowess. She has raised $568 million since becoming leader in 2002. That seems impressive until it is pointed out that Democrats controlled the House of Representatives for only four years, from 2006 through 2010.
Another loss She and the rest of the Democratic Party leadership made a huge effort in Georgia’s 6th district recently, but still came up empty-handed after raising more
MARGARET KIMBERLEY BLACK AGENDA REPORT
than $15 million in two months. Democrats steadfastly refuse to engage voters with the issues that concern them and for a very important reason. Doing so would jeopardize their ability to court favor with the one percent of rich individuals, banks, and corporations. Democratic voters want Medicare For All and living wage jobs but those policy decisions conflict with the wishes of the party’s rich sugar daddies. So the voters be damned. The result is defeat after ignominious defeat.
No self-evaluation After watching Donald Trump
Left’s ‘death party’ rhetoric may get someone killed Notwithstanding the recent assassination attempt against Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., and other Republican members of Congress, the vile, hateful, and violence-inciting rhetoric of Democrats and their friends on the left continues. Some examples: • House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., “hundreds of thousands of people will die” if the Republican health bill passes. • Entertainer Johnny Depp: “Maybe it’s time” for the president to be assassinated. • Hillary Clinton: The Republican Party is the “death party.” • Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-
CLARENCE V. MCKEE, ESQ. GUEST COMMENTARY
Mass.: The Republican health care bill is “blood money” and “people will die.” • Nebraska Democratic official Phil Montag: He was glad Rep. Scalise was shot and wished he “was (expletive) dead.” • Rolling Stone writer Jesse Berny: President Trump and the GOP want to pass a health
owned newspaper in Arizona, Obama’s Small Business Administration, Minority Business Development Agency, and whoever else we didn’t detect. There was John Podesta through his issues firm, Dewey Square, Valerie Jarrett, her chief of staff Michael Strautmanis, and a group of federally-paid White House staffers and deputies. From the above group of enemies, there must have been millions of dollars vested in this vile attempt to destroy our federation. Propaganda, smears, and attempted poaching of our affiliated chapters became commonplace. They would write articles for Black newspapers like I do and would quote me like I approved them. They had me on their website, like we were the same. Many were confused and a few desertions from our federation would popped up. They called themselves the “Obama Chamber of Commerce.” It was an oxymoron. How can a business association support a nonbusiness agenda? They became so relentless that I concluded that we must sue them. They had a treasury that was a bottomless pit. In retrospect, it was probably Podesta. He has the bucks and knows where there are more. A lawsuit would lead to depositions, and then we could find out who was really in charge. I asked my board of directors for approval. It was unanimous.
VISUAL VIEWPOINT: TRUMP'S SUPPORTERS
BILL SCHORR, CAGLE CARTOONS
Who’s behind this? Before we filed a lawsuit, I had a Capitol Hill investigative reporter do some snooping. The assigned leader of this rival group had formally visited the White House more than 23 times within six months. When asked about this under deposition, he said “We were organizing our new chamber…The White House was so helpful.” Money was no problem for the White House. Where did they find this guy? Flew him out from Phoenix; put him in a multimillion-dollar home in North Bethesda, Md.; got his children into Georgetown Prep – one of the most expensive and prestigious boys’ school in the United States. Where is his office located? – in some White organization’s office. One last thing before we go to court.
win an Electoral College victory there was no soul searching. Pelosi has said publicly, “We don’t need to change.” The decision to spend millions in the Georgia race should have been the end of Pelosi’s career. But reason be damned, too. The Democrats have lost all legitimacy. The Obama marketing juggernaut combined with Black voter turnout staved off the inevitable, but now they are back to square one. They refuse to offer even minimal reforms, yet hope that the same failed strategies will somehow work again. Democrats’ allegiance to global elites prevents them from making even small changes. The party is in a bind, flailing about with no purpose other than proving to its rich contributors that they are still on board with capitalism. That is why they chose to spend political capital and real capital on the Georgia race. They can’t even go through the motions of progressive pretense. After the Trump victory debacle, Pelosi was asked several times about the need for the party to change. “We don’t need to change,” she
said. “We’re capitalist. That’s just the way it is.”
care bill that would “kill far more Americans than ISIS and al Qaeda could ever dream about.”
fringe who could take their inciteful messages seriously and strike out against those whom they are told would cause the death of Americans.
Coming violence Such unabated, unchallenged, and dangerous toxic rhetoric will not stop until it leads to a political execution! The victim may be a Republican, Democrat, anti-Trump entertainer or a cable news host. What brings me to this gloomy conclusion? Just as the shooter in Virginia reacted to the spiteful, noxious, and poisonous anti-GOP tirades of the left and many Democratic leaders, who knows how many anti-Trump/Republican disturbed haters like him are ready to pick up his torch to finish the job as they feed upon the violence-inspiring speech of recent days? Those uttering the detestable language should realize that their friends and allies on the left don’t have a monopoly on those on the
That’s it! That is the answer in a nutshell. The Democratic Party is tied to capitalism as it has never been before and at a moment when that system is under great stress. They cannot reform. They cannot change. They cannot reach out to their base, which mostly means Black people. Doing so would put them in conflict with their patrons and with their long-held dream of winning without having to campaign for Black votes. We can expect more of the same attempts to squeak through to victory while promoting rejected policies and treachery to their most loyal voters. The crisis of legitimacy against the global elites has been evident in the Brexit vote in the U.K. and in Donald Trump’s victory here. Endorsements, corporate media buy-in and even fundraising no longer determine electoral success. The elites have been rejected. That means Pelosi’s money juggernaut won’t bring victory to a party that has been thoroughly
Angry counterparts Somewhere in the audience consuming this vile oratory against Republicans and the president are the Virginia shooter’s counterparts on the political right extreme who will say, “It’s our turn.” They will go after Democrats and anti-Trump entertainers just as the Virginia shooter went after Republicans. Their disturbed rationale: revenge! Those cited above and others flooding the political landscape with the caustic and toxic gasoline of hate speech are just inviting someone to light the match that will ignite a bonfire of political assassinations. Has the mainstream media asked any Democrat leader or Socialist Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, on talk shows and in-
Charles W. Cherry II, Esq., Publisher
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Michael Strautmanis called a “come to Jesus” meeting with our board and some of their players across from the White House. It got heated after about two hours when finally, Michael blurted out, “You guys don’t even know that it was Aubrey Stone who came here and gave us this idea.” There it was, thanks to Michael. It fits the history of Aubry. I smiled and remembered a scene from “The Godfather” – “It was Barzini all along.” So now it was time to sue. We budgeted $300,000 to get to a reasonable settlement.
Harry C. Alford is the cofounder and president/CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce. Contact him via www.nationalbcc.org. discredited. The Democrats can still get votes by pointing to Trump as the bogeyman, but that isn’t enough to get Flint residents to the polls when a Democratic administration didn’t get them clean water. The people laboring under a multitude of debt peonage aren’t buying it either, and neither are low wage workers and the jobless.
Complete rejection Pelosi may brag that she is “worth the trouble,” but she and her cohorts are indeed the problem. That is why the Democratic Party must be rejected out of hand. Being loyal to them is doing nothing more than staying on the road to defeat. The future of the 99 percent depends upon ending any connection with the Democratic Party and their discredited leadership. Nancy Pelosi and her friends are not worth the trouble at all.
Margaret Kimberley’s column appears weekly in BlackAgendaReport.com. terviews, to disavow such statements? Not that I know of!
No denunciations Have any Democratic leaders, or any Democrat, condemned such inflammatory remarks? Have their allies on MSNBC or CNN, or their friends at The Washington Post or The New York Times, said that such comments were out of bounds? Not that I know of! If the unthinkable happens, the blood will be on the hands of those Democrats and their leftist allies who have planted the seeds of resistance, hate, intolerance, and violence – and their comrades who have and continue to remain silent!
Clarence V. McKee is a government, political and media relations consultant and president of McKee Communications, Inc., as well as a Newsmax.com contributor. This article originally appeared on Newsmax.com.
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JULY 7 – JULY 13, 2017
Would slavery have ended sooner if the British had won? “I would never have drawn my sword in the cause of America, if I could have conceived that thereby I was founding a land of slavery.” – Marquis de Lafayette, French military leader who was instrumental in enlisting French support for the colonists in the American War of Independence. Historians have long grappled with the contradiction of a revolution under the banner of “all men are created equal” being largely led by slave owners. Once free of England, the U.S. grew over the next 89 years to be the largest slave-owning republic in history.
Truly revolutionary But the July 4, 1776 Declaration of Independence (DI) was in itself a revolutionary document. Never before in history had people asserted the right of revolution – not just to overthrow a specific government that no longer met the needs of the people, but as a general principle for the relationship between the rulers and the ruled: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government...” And yes, “all men are created equal” excluded women, Black people and the indigenous populations of the continent, and was written by slave-owner Thomas Jefferson with all his personal hypocrisies.
Used worldwide But the words themselves have been used many times since to challenge racism and other forms of domination and inequality. Both the 1789 French Revolution and the 1804 Haitian revolution – the only successful slave revolt in human history – drew inspiration from this clarion call. In 1829 Black abolitionist David Walker threw the words of the DI back in the face of the slave republic: “See your declarations Americans!!! Do you understand your own language?” The 1848 Seneca Falls women’s rights convention issued a Declaration of Sentiments proclaiming that “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men and women are created equal.” Vietnam used these very words in declaring independence from France in 1946. And as ML King stated in his 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech, it was “A promise that all men, yes, Black men as well as White men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
American exceptionalism Americans are taught to see the birth of our country as a gift to the world, even when its original defects are acknowledged. The DI along with the Constitution are pillars of American exceptionalism – the belief that the U.S. is superior and unique from all others, holding the promise of an “Asylum for the persecuted lovers of civil and religious liberty” in the words of Thomas Paine in “Common Sense.” Historian Gary Nash has made a case that upon winning independence, the conditions for at
KEITH BROOKS GUEST COMMENTARY
least the gradual abolition of slavery throughout the 13 colonies were present but lacked political leadership. According to “The Forgotten Fifth” by Gary Nash, “One of the lessons of history is that in cases where a fundamental change has been accomplished against heavy odds, inspired leadership has been critically important,” and “Washington, Jefferson, and Madison were strategically positioned to take the lead on the slavery issue. All three professed a hatred of slavery and a fervent desire to see it ended in their own time.” For all their lofty rhetoric none of them lifted a finger to bring that about.
No America, no slavery? Perhaps though a different question might be asked: What if the British had won, had defeated the colonists’ bid to break from the mother country? Is it possible that the cause of freedom and the ideals of the DI would have been paradoxically better served by that outcome? It was, ironically, England’s victory over France for control of the North American continent in the seven years’ war (1756-1763) that laid the basis for their North American colonies to revolt just 13 years later. As the war with France ended, the British 1763 Proclamation prohibited White settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains in an attempt at detente with Native Americans – bringing England into conflict with colonists wanting to expand westward. More serious still were the series of taxes England imposed on the colonies to pay off its large war debt: the 1765 Stamp Act, the 1767-1770 Townshend Acts, and the 1773 Tea Acts, among others. As colonial leaders mounted increasingly militant resistance to these measures, so too did British repression ramp up. And while “No taxation without representation” and opposition to British tyranny are the two most commonly cited causes propelling the colonists’ drive for independence, recent scholarship (“Slave Nation” by Ruth and Alfred Blumrosen, Gerald Horne’s “The Counter-Revolution of 1776,” and Alan Gilbert’s “Black Patriots and Loyalists” in particular) has revealed a heretofore unacknowledged third major motivating force – the preservation and protection of slavery itself. In 1772, the highest British court ruled in the Somerset decision that slave owners had no legal claims to ownership of other humans in England itself, declaring slavery to be “odious.” Somerset eliminated any possibility of a de jure defense of slavery in England, further reinforced at the time by Parliament refusing a request by British slave owners to pass such a law.
Threat to slavery While Somerset did not apply to England’s colonies, it was taken by Southern colonists as a potential threat to their slave power. Their fear was further reinforced by the 1766 Declaratory Act, which made explicit England’s final say over any laws made in the colonies, and the “Repugnancy” clause in each colony’s charter. Somerset added fuel to the growing fires uniting the colonies
The tide is turning on ‘Medicare for All’ A recent Wall Street Journal oped by Elizabeth Warren, in which the Massachusetts senator urged Democrats to campaign on Medicare For All, is a sign the tide is turning. Liz Warren is no dummy. She’s up for re-election in 2018. She knows what sells, and she knows that unlike most Republicans, Donald Trump is entirely capable of running simultaneously to the left AND to the right of Democrats.
BRUCE A. DIXON BLACK AGENDA REPORT
ed by the right-wing Heritage Foundation and called “Romneycare” when it was enacted into law in Massachusetts in the 1990s. When Obama stole the Republican plan to bail out insurance companies, it deprived RepubGOP plan licans of contributions from the The Affordable Care Act was a insurance industry and Big PharRepublican plan, originally float- ma, and left Republicans with no-
EDITORIAL
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VISUAL VIEWPOINT: PASSING ‘TRUMPCARE’
against England in a fight for independence. Among the list of grievances in the DI is the rarely scrutinized “He [referring to the king] has excited domestic insurrections amongst us.” This grievance was motivated by Virginia Royal Governor Lord Dunmore’s November 1775 proclamation stating that any person held as a slave by a colonist in rebellion against England would become free by joining the British forces in subduing the revolt.
Fought with the British While 5,000 mainly free Black people from Northern colonies joined with the colonists’ fight for independence, few of our school books teach that tens of thousands more enslaved Black people joined with the British, with an even greater number taking advantage of the war to escape the colonies altogether by running to Canada or Florida. They saw they had a better shot at “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” with the British – than with their colonial slave masters. To further put these numbers in perspective, the total population of the 13 colonies at the time was 2.5 million, of whom 500,000 were slaves and indentured servants. While there is some debate about the exact numbers, Peter Kolchin in “American Slavery” points to the “sharp decline between 1770 and 1790 in the proportion of the population made up of Blacks (almost all of whom were slaves) from 60.5 percent to 43.8 percent in South Carolina and from 45.2 percent to 36.1 percent in Georgia.” Other commonly cited figures from historians estimate 25,000 slaves escaped from South Carolina, 30,000 from Virginia, and 5,000 from Georgia. Gilbert in Black Patriots and Loyalists says, “Estimates range between 20,000 and 100,000... if one adds in the thousands of not yet organized Blacks who trailed... the major British forces... the number takes on dimensions accurately called ‘gigantic.’” Among them were 30 of Thomas Jefferson’s slaves, 20 of George Washington’s, and good ole “Give me liberty or give me death” Patrick Henry also lost his slave Ralph Henry to the Brits. It was the first mass emancipation in American history. Evidently “domestic insurrection” was legitimate when led by slave owners against England but not when enslaved people rose up for their freedom – against the rebelling slave owners!
RJ MATSON, ROLL CALL
Crispus Attucks is often hailed as the first martyr of the American revolution, a free Black man killed defying British authority in the 1770 Boston Massacre. But few have heard of Titus, who just 5 years later was among those thousands of slaves who escaped to the British lines. He became known as Colonel Tye for his military prowess in leading Black and White guerrilla fighters in numerous raids throughout Monmouth County, New Jersey, taking reprisals against slave owners, freeing their slaves, destroying their weaponry and creating an atmosphere of fear among the rebel colonists – and hope among their slaves. Other Black regiments under the British fought with ribbons emblazoned across their chests saying, “Liberty to Slaves.” One might compare Col. Tye to Attucks but if Attucks is a hero, what does that make Tye, who freed hundreds of slaves? Perhaps a more apt comparison is with
Harriet Tubman, who escaped Food weaponized slavery in 1849 and returned to As England did away with chatthe South numerous times to also tel slavery, it replaced it with the free hundreds of her brothers and capitalist wage slavery of the insisters held in bondage. dustrial revolution. It used food as a weapon to starve the Irish, conWhat if they won? quered and colonized large swaths At no point though did the Brit- of Asia, Africa and the Pacific. ish declare the end of slavery to We often see the outcomes of be a war goal; it was always just a history as predetermined, as inmilitary tactic. But if the Brits had evitabilities, and think there were won, as they came close to do- no other outcomes possible. We ing, it might have set off a series look back 240 years later and for of events that went well beyond most it seems unquestionable their control. that the American revolution was Would England have been able good for the world, a step, perto restore slavery in the 13 colo- haps somewhat tortured, towards nies in the face of certain anti- progress and freedom. slavery resistance by the tens of But for historian Gerald Horne, thousands of now free ex-slaves, “Simply because Euro-American joined by growing anti-slavery colonists prevailed in their esforces in the Northern colonies? tablishing of the U.S., it should As Gilbert puts it, “Class and not be assumed that this result race forged ties of solidarity in op- was inevitable. History points to position to both the slave holders other possibilities... I do not view and the colonial elites.” Another the creation of the republic as a sure ally would have been the ab- great leap forward for humanity” olitionist movement in England, (Counter-Revolution of 1776, ix). which had been further emboldened by the 1772 Somerset deci- Class battle sion. And if England had to abolThe American revolution was ish slavery in the 13 colonies, would that not have led to a wave not just a war for independence of emancipations throughout the from England. It was also a battle for freedom against the very Caribbean and Latin America? And just what was the cost of leaders of that rebellion by hunthe victorious independence dreds of thousands of enslaved struggle to the Black population? Black people, a class struggle of To the indigenous populations poor White tenant farmers in mawho were described in that same ny cases also against that same DI grievance as “The merciless White colonial elite, and a fight for survival of the indigenous Indian Savages”? Might it have been better for populations. But the colonists’ unlikely victhe cause of freedom if the colonists lost? And if the colonists had tory was to lead to the creation lost, wouldn’t the ideals of the DI of the largest slave nation in hishave carried just as much if not tory, the near genocide of the indigenous populations and a conmore weight? tinent-wide expansion gained by invading and taking over half of Southern slavery Mexico. The U.S. went on to beexploded come an empire unparalleled in We do know, however, the cost history, its wealth origins rooted of the colonists’ victory: Once in- largely in slave labor. dependence was won, while the The struggles for equality and Northern states gradually abol- justice for all that the DI promised ished slavery, slavery boomed in continues of course, a task that rethe South. The first federal census mains undone, M.L. King’s promin 1790 counted 700,000 slaves. issory note unfulfilled to this day. By 1810, 2 years after the end of The late Chinese Premier Chou the slave trade, there were 1.2 mil- en Lai was once asked his assesslion slaves, a 70 percent increase. ment as to whether the French England ended slavery in all revolution was a step forward in its colonies in 1833, when there history. His response was, “It’s too were 2 million enslaved people soon to tell.” in the U.S. Slavery in the U.S. conWas the founding of the United tinued for another 33 years, dur- States a step forward in history? ing which time the slave popula- Or is it still too soon to tell? tion doubled to 4 million human Keith Brooks is a long-time beings. The U.S abolished slavery in 1865; only Cuba and Brazil political activist and organizer ended slavery at a later date. And and recently retired New York the colonists’ victory also further City high school educator. He opened the gates to the attempted also taught at Richmond Colgenocide of the indigenous peo- lege and at Alternate U. This essay is from a chapter, “the Hidples over the next 125 years. The foregoing is not meant to den History of the American romanticize and project England Revolution,” in MythAmerica, a as some kind of abolitionist sav- book he is writing. He has been ior had they kept control of the published in the Nation, Balticolonies. Dunmore himself was more Sun, Amsterdam News, a slave owner. England was the and other progressive and center of the international slave mainstream venues. This artitrade. Despite losing the 13 colo- cle previously appeared in Opnies, England maintained its po- Ed News and Portside. Click on sition as the most powerful and this commentary at www.flcourapacious empire in the world till rier.com to write your own response. the mid-20th century.
where to go politically. So the plans pushed by the House and Senate Republican leadership are standard things which pursue old Republican goals like turning Medicaid from a program supposedly based upon need into one funded up to a set amount and no more, instituting health savings accounts and using that Medicaid money for more tax breaks for the wealthy. Republicans might not like Obamacare, but they are for the moment unable to whip their own Senate majority behind the plan of their leaders. What no corporate media outlet will tell you is that a majority of House Democrats have now signed on to John Conyers’ current Medicare For All bill. Socalled progressive Democrats are known for striking courageous poses when they don’t have ma-
jorities to pass them, but this is a killed their own single payer bill very different political moment two weeks ago. than nine years ago. Whatever the reason, there exists NO Medicare For All Senate bill to which Greens, Democrats Where’s Bernie? So where is the nation’s fore- and others might demand senamost proponent of Medicare tors affix their name to. Nobody’s For All, Vermont Senator Bernie holding that up but Senator BerSanders? Nowhere. Early in the nie Sanders. The US Senate is a year Bernie’s office was telling good old boys club, and Liz Warpeople to expect a Senate version ren despite her gender is very of Medicare For All that might much a good old boy. Warren will drop in March, or April or May. never put Bernie on the spot by introducing her own single payIt’s July now. Maybe Bernie has postponed er bill, and neither will any other the push for single payer because Senate Democrat. So the tide is finally turning on Democratic Party unity is more important. Maybe Bernie doesn’t Medicare For All. But at this mowant to shame his fellow Dems – ment Bernie Sanders is blocking he is the party’s outreach chair- that tide. man now – by getting too far out Bruce Dixon is managing ediin front of them on this. The potential embarrassment is real. tor of BlackAgendaReport.com. California Democrats, firmly in Contact him at bruce.dixon@ control of their state government, blackagendareport.com.
About Colonel Tye
TOJ A6
NATION
JULY 7 – JULY 13, 2017 of labor market growth since the late 1990s. It generally takes businesses several months to turn a decision to hire into new jobs, so Trump’s influence might not be reflected in the first few jobs reports of his presidency.
Trumpeting the jobs Still, that didn’t prevent Trump administration officials from touting February’s strong job growth. White House press secretary Sean Spicer was so eager to trumpet the 235,000 net new jobs created (since revised down slightly to 232,000) that he broke an obscure federal rule by commenting on the data within an hour of its official release. Trump has tried to start the clock on his economic influence with his election in November, which led to a jump in consumer and business confidence readings. On June 1, Trump said that since Election Day the economy “is starting to come back, and very, very rapidly.” “We’ve added $3.3 trillion in stock market value to our economy, and more than a million private sector jobs,” he said during a White House speech announcing the U.S. was withdrawing from the Paris climate change accord.
Rate decline LORA OLIVE/ZUMA PRESS/TNS
President-elect Donald Trump holds a press conference as he toured the Indiana Carrier factory. Trump announced a deal struck with Carrier executives to keep nearly 1,000 jobs in the U.S. in his first public appearance since his election on Dec. 1, 2016 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Trump touts ‘great jobs numbers’ that aren’t so great
Numbers fall short
2017 is on track to produce the fewest net new jobs in seven years.
Respectable thus far
BY JIM PUZZANGHERA LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Monday touted the “great jobs numbers” since he took office — numbers that his own administration’s statistics show aren’t all that great.
Trump said in a tweet that “at some point the Fake News will be forced to discuss our great jobs numbers, strong economy” and other successes of his administration. From February through May — the latest data available — the U.S. economy has created 594,000 net new jobs, according to the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s fewer than the 659,000 created during the final four months of the Obama administration, which Trump criticized for its job growth.
So far, 2017 is on track to produce the fewest net new jobs in seven years. Although the Bureau of Labor Statistics adjusted its figures for seasonal disparities, such as the effects of holidays, weather and school schedules, some would argue that a better comparison would be February through May of 2016. But the numbers under Trump fall short there too, as the economy added 658,000 jobs during that period. So if there have been “great jobs numbers” under Trump, then they were even greater under President Barack Obama.
Economists have described job growth this year as solid. “I don’t know that they’re great in the context of the recovery, but they’re certainly more than adequate. Respectable, perhaps,” Gary Schlossberg, senior economist at Wells Capital Management in San Francisco, said of the recent jobs numbers. The recovery from the Great Recession is now more than 8 years old — unusually long for an economic expansion — and job growth is naturally slowing,
U.S. job growth Average monthly net (In thousands)
300
200
100
0 ’10
’12
’14
’16
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics Graphic: Los Angeles Times/TNS
he said. The average of 162,000 net new jobs a month so far this year is off last year’s figure of 187,000.
1.9 mil projected At the current pace, the U.S. would add about 1.9 million jobs in 2017. It would be the first time since 2010 the figure was below 2 million. That would continue a downward trend since the economy added nearly 3 million net new jobs — an average of 250,000 a month — in 2014 in the best year
He was correct. From November through April, the figures available at the time, U.S. businesses added 986,000 net new jobs. The figure was higher when he spoke, before the Bureau of Labor Statistics revised down job growth for March and April the next day. But that private-sector job growth was less than the 1.16 million the sector added from November 2015 through April 2016. The unemployment rate has declined under Trump to 4.3 percent in May from 4.8 percent when he took office. The latest figure is the lowest since 2001 and Trump noted that in a tweet on Sunday. “Stock Market at all time high, unemployment at lowest level in years (wages will start going up) and our base has never been stronger!” he wrote.
Rate criticized But the decline in May was largely for the wrong reason — about 429,000 people dropped out of the labor force. During the presidential campaign, Trump criticized the declining unemployment rate (it had been 10 percent in October 2009) as not reflecting the true state of the economy. In a speech in August, Trump called the then 4.9 percent unemployment rate at the time “one of the biggest hoaxes in modern politics” because it didn’t take into account the number of people who had dropped out of the labor force.
Immigration hard-liners try to force president’s hand on DACA program BY JAMES BARRAGAN DALLAS MORNING NEWS/TNS
AUSTIN, Texas — As a presidential candidate, Donald Trump promised to “immediately terminate” two Obama-era immigration programs that granted temporary deportation relief to immigrants who were in the country illegally, saying they “defied federal law and the Constitution.” Last month, Trump did away with one of those programs: Deferred Action for Parents of Americans, or DAPA, which granted a two-year protection from deportation to unauthorized immigrants who were parents of U.S. citizens or lawful residents. But former President Barack Obama’s original 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, also known as DACA, which shields unauthorized immigrants who came to the country as children and gives them work permits, remains intact. That’s to the chagrin of many of Trump’s most fervent supporters, who have criticized the president for waffling on the issue.
Threat to sue “We are upset that it has remained. This was very clearly a pledge,” said Dave Ray, communications director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which advocates for a reduction in immigration. “This was the crown jewel of illegal executive orders — amnesty for illegal aliens. It doesn’t get any more blatant than that.” Last week, a 10-state coalition led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions
threatening to sue the federal government over DACA if Trump does not rescind it by September. That increased the pressure on a president who campaigned on a tough-on-immigration platform to shutter what strict-enforcement advocates see as the most blatant flaunting of immigration law by the Obama administration.
pressure,” said Victoria DeFrancesco Soto, a political science professor at the University of Texas. “Trump and DACA, it was always a gray area. One day he’d say he wouldn’t touch (them); the next, everyone is gone. The pressure from the base will be felt.”
What’s the plan?
And there are politics involved. Some Beltway insiders conjectured that Trump was holding on to the program as a bargaining chip to offer Democrats on other legislative actions important to him. Paxton’s threat has now thrown a wrench in those possibilities. “It definitely complicates any plans he had to keep it in place or to try to use it as leverage against Democrats to get concessions he is looking for on immigration,” said David Bier, an immigration analyst for the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank in Washington. “Congress isn’t going to be in session all throughout August, so there’s not much time to consider this and incorporate it into a strategy.”
Now, Trump, who backpedaled on his promise to nix the program immediately and told potential recipients to “rest easy,” has little more than two months to fulfill one of his fundamental campaign promises or continue the program and face a legal battle over a program he has called unconstitutional, which would lead to almost certain backlash from his base. “This is a question that everyone is asking,” said Jessica Vaughan, policy director for the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates for strict immigration enforcement. “What is the president’s plan on DACA?” Trump supporters, many of whom backed him because of his promises to crack down on illegal immigration, are baffled by his inaction on the immigration program. “This was a promise made by President Trump in a clear and unambiguous way,” Ray said. “It’s the one real soft spot that still remains in his immigration enforcement portfolio, which has been exemplary.”
Processing applications On other immigration issues like a border wall or a halt
Not much time
RAY CHAVEZ/OAKLAND TRIBUNE/TNS
Young immigrants and families listen to attorney Mark Silverman as he guides them to fill in their Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals forms at Cesar Chavez Learning Center in Oakland, California, Aug. 23, 2012. on travel and immigration from countries with ties to terrorism, Trump has shown strong initiative, if only relative success. But on DACA, immigration enforcement advocates say, Trump has been inexplicably reserved. “It’s sticking out like a sore thumb,” said Ray, whose organization gave Trump the highest rating it’s ever given a president on immigration. Even more frustrating for immigration hard-liners, Trump’s administration has not only continued renewing applications for people already participating, it’s also continued processing new applications.
Put on notice In the first three months of this
year, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services renewed 107,524 applications for the program. It also granted protection to 17,275 new applicants for the first time. Trump took office in late January, but the processing of applications has continued into his administration. “There’s no need to continue a program that was improper,” Vaughan said. “The president could get rid of it with the stroke of a pen.” For whatever reason, Trump has let the program remain. But Paxton’s letter has put the president on notice, forcing him to make a decision on an issue that’s important to his immigration hard-line base. “They’re absolutely exerting
Risky move Even if there were time, it would be a politically risky move. “I think the president’s failure to take action on DACA could become a serious problem for the White House,” Vaughan said. “Trump supporters were willing to give him time to take action, but that time seems to have expired.” Since the program’s implementation in 2012, about 800,000 unauthorized immigrants have received deportation relief.
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SHARING BLACK LIFE, STATEWIDE
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‘DEATH CERTIFICATE’ STILL HITS HOME ICE CUBE’S ALBUM IS AS RELEVANT NOW AS IT WAS IN 1991 BY GERRICK D. KENNEDY LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS
“Death Certificate’’ was released in 1991 by Priority Records and re-released last month for its 25th anniversary by Interscope Records.
JAY L. CLENDENIN/LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS
Ice Cube performs during the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif., on April 23, 2016. Ice Cube’s BIG3 basketball league is preparing for its debut in Brooklyn.
LOS ANGELES – When George Holliday was awakened by commotion outside his home shortly after midnight on March 2, 1991, he jumped from his bed, grabbed his Sony camcorder and pointed it toward the chaos happening 90 feet away from his living room window. The scene was shocking: A man being viciously beaten by police officers. Holliday took the tape to KTLA and soon it was airing on national networks. The brutal beating of Rodney King inflamed Blacks in South Central Los Angeles and throughout America, broadcasting to the nation the sort of police brutality the community had long believed went unchecked. For Ice Cube, the footage exposed the behavior he had already been rapping about. “‘We finally got y’all … on tape.’ That was the feeling,” Cube thought when he saw the video.
A transformation At the time, Cube was a 21-year-old rap star hot from “Amerikkka’s Most Wanted” and “Kill at Will,” his first two solo projects after an acrimonious exit from N.W.A, the group that launched him — along with Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, MC Ren and DJ Yella — to rap infamy after law enforcement and conservative watchdogs attempted to have the act’s acidic rhymes censored. Cube was at work on material that ultimately would become his second full-length album, “Death Certificate.” King’s beating stirred him, with the incident coming at a moment when the young rapper was seeing the world differently after being exposed to the teachings of the Nation of Islam. “I was making a transformation, mentally, from knowing street knowledge to knowing world knowledge — history, seeing things from a different perspective,” Cube said.
Songs reissued He wanted to channel that into the music, and he did with his sophomore effort, “Death Certificate.” Controversial on its release, the album gave voice
Ice Cube, left, is shown with fellow N.W.A. members Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, DJ Yella and MC Ren. to the perils facing young Black men — be it systemic or self-inflected. For Cube, there is no greater challenge than the relationship between Black Americans and law enforcement, and it’s reflected in his latest single, “Good Cop Bad Cop,” one of three new songs on the reissue of “Death Certificate.” The first project under a recently inked deal with Interscope is the 25thanniversary edition of “Death Certificate.” Released last month, it launches what Cube hopes is the first in a series of anniversary releases for some of his most pivotal albums, with “The Predator” and “Lethal Injection” to follow.
of the reissue. Built around a sample of N.W.A’s most incendiary cut, “ … tha Police,” “Good Cop Bad Cop” is another polemic against police brutality. That the reissue arrives during a time when the treatment of minorities by law enforcement has been a flashpoint of civil unrest across the country by a new generation of activists isn’t lost on Cube. “It’s the power of music. I was a baby when (Marvin Gaye’s) ‘What’s Going On’ came out, I grew up loving it and … it’s still relevant. As artists to have some music like that, it’s what we live for — making a statement and saying something that changes the world,” he said.
Still relevant
A rap classic
Cube mined through the dozens of unreleased songs he had completed in some form and settled on a trio of tracks to polish for the project. “Good Cop Bad Cop” serves as the centerpiece
The record was split into two themes — the death side, a mirror image of where he believed we were at the time, and the life side, a vision of where we needed to go, the “we” being Black
America or, as he says, “the life that I was coming out of into the life I was trying to envision.” “(He) really came out to stand up as an artist,” Cube’s longtime collaborator and friend, Sir Jinx, said of “Dearth Certificate.” Released in October 1991, “Death Certificate” debuted at No. 2 on the U.S. pop chart before going platinum. The album is regarded as a rap classic and, arguably, Cube’s finest work. But it was also met with widespread backlash.
‘Nobody is safe’ Everyone was subjected to Cube’s venom on the album: Whites, Korean grocers, police officers, gays, President George H.W. Bush, Jesse Jackson and Blacks. “Do I have to sell me a whole lot of crack, for decent shelter and clothes on my back? Or should I just wait for help See ICE CUBE, Page B2
BIG3 is a professional basketball league set up in a 3-on-3 concept featuring former NBA greats and players. The league was created by Ice Cube with entertainment executive Jeff Kwatinetz.
CALENDAR
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JULY 7 – JULY 13, 2017
STOJ
FLORIDA COMMUNITY CALENDAR
sale for the Total Package Tour with Paula Abdul, New Kids on the Block and Boyz II Men at the Amalie Arena on July 15.
Orlando: Reggae star Beres Hammond performs Aug. 5 at Hard Rock Live Orlando and Aug. 6 at the Au-Rene Theater at the Broward Center.
Jacksonville: Catch Betty Wright on July 22 at the Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts.
Sunrise: Lionel Richie, Mariah Carey and Tauren Wells will be in concert on Aug. 10 at the BB&T Center and Aug. 11 at Tampa’s Amalie Arena.
STEVE ARRINGTON
Catch Brick and ConFunkShun along with Steve Arrington and Cherelle at the Funk Legends of R&B concert on July 8 at the James L. Knight Center in Miami.
The National Miss Black US Ambassador and Miss Black Teen US Ambassador Scholarship Pageant will be held in Orlando July 16-23, the first time a national pageant for Black women will be held at Disney World. More information on the pageant and tickets: www.thembusam.com
READY FOR THE WORLD
Jacksonville’s Morocco Shrine Grounds will be site of the Aug. 12 Throwback Concert featuring Morris Day and The Time, Adina Howard, Lakeside, Ready for the World, Troop, and Rude Boys.
Fort Lauderdale: Comedian and actor Sinbad takes the stage Aug. 11 at the Parker Playhouse. Jacksonville: Rick Ross and K. Michelle will perform on July 8 at the Times Union Center for the Performing Arts. Orlando: An All White Affair starring Ginuwine and DJ Envy is July 21 at Hard Rock Live Orlando. Tampa: Tickets are on
Miami: J. Cole’s Your Eyez Only Tour stops at the AmericanAirlines Arena on Aug. 14 and Orlando’s Amway Center on Aug. 16. St. Petersburg: Tickets are on sale for a show with the Isley Brothers on Aug. 6 at the Mahaffey Theater. Orlando: The 18th Annual Darrell Armstrong Classic Weekend is Aug. 11-13. The foundation helps premature babies. More info: 407-252-333 or jbm395@ gmail.com. Miami: Tickets are on sale for Kendrick Lamar’s Damn Tour on Sept. 2 at the AmericanAirlines Arena and Sept. 10 at Tampa’s Amalie Arena.
Disney Dreamers Academy Class accepting applications cess stories, inspiring students to become authors, nurses, pilots, doctors, journalists and engineers following the three-day allexpenses-paid experience at Walt Disney World Resort. “After 10 years and over 1,000 Disney Dreamer alumni, we’re excited to begin the next decade of Disney Dreamers Academy,” said Tracey D. Powell, Walt Disney World vice president of commercial management resorts and Disney Dreamers Academy executive champion. “We are excited about the many success stories, as this program continues to cultivate and inspire the minds of young high school students from across the nation to follow their dreams and accomplish their goals. By applying for Disney Dreamers Academy, future leaders of this country are taking a step toward an experience
DUANE C. FERNANDEZ SR./HARDNOTTSPHOTOGRAPHY.COM
Dreamer Chris Young from Jacksonville holds the Florida sign and leads his state dreamers in March in a special parade at the Magic Kingdom. High school students nationwide can now apply to be among 100 selected to participate in the 2018 Disney Dreamers Academy with Steve Harvey and Essence, the mentoring program that takes place in March at Disney World. Each year, students participate in hands-on, immersive career workshops, ranging from animation to zoology. Each participant learns important skills,
ICE CUBE from Page 1
from Bush,” he asks on “A Bird in the Hand,” which tackles the limited options for many men in the inner city. He railed against White supremacy on “I Wanna Kill Sam,” sneers at Black “sellouts” on “Be True to the Game,” tackles gang warfare on “Color Blind,” stresses safe sex on “Look Who’s Burnin.’” Then, on “Black Korea” he blasts Korean shop owners for perceived prejudices toward the Blacks who frequent their establishments and promises violent retribution. “Nobody is safe when you listen to ‘Death Certificate.’ Any of us that has any kind of flaws in our character, (the album) was probably going to find it,” Cube said.
Lots of criticism Empowering and socially conscious messaging commingled with misogynistic, homophobic and bigoted posturing. It made Cube a confluence of contradictions. Journalists repeatedly confronted him about the album’s content and questioned him on claims that he was anti-Semitic because of some of the lyrics on the scathing N.W.A. diss track “No Vaseline.” One reporter went so
that can change their lives.”
October deadline Program applicants must answer essay questions about their personal journeys and dreams for the future. Students are selected based on a combination of attributes, including strong character, positive attitude and determination to achieve their dreams. Selected applicants, along with a parent or guardian, will receive an all-expensepaid trip to Walt Disney World Resort. Applications are open to U.S. high school students, ages 13 to 19, through Oct. 31. Selected participants will be announced in early 2018. For more information, visit DisneyDreamersAcademy.com.
ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE FOR BLACK STUDENTS. NO EXCUSES.
such as communication techniques, leadership qualities and networking strategies, and are inspired by celebrity speakers and special guests who share their stories and provide insight on how to achieve success and dream big.
The classic guide from Florida Courier publisher, lawyer and broadcaster CHARLES W. CHERRY II
Many success stories
PRAISE FOR ‘EXCELLENCE WITHOUT EXCUSE’:
The program has produced many suc-
far as to ask Cube how he would feel if someone shot a Jewish person after listening to the record. A Village Voice review called Cube “a straight-up racist, simple and plain, and of course a sex bigot, too,” and Billboard penned an editorial condemning the rapper for “the rankest sort of racism and hatemongering.”
Calls for boycott There were calls for a boycott against Cube, particularly over “No Vaseline” and “Black Korea.” The Simon Wiesenthal Center, an L.A.-based Jewish human rights organization, implored national record chains to stop selling the album, and the National Korean American Grocers Association pressured the owners of St. Ides malt liquor to drop the rapper as their spokesman. “It was much ado about nothing,” Cube said, downplaying the backlash. “At the end of the day it’s still music.” A quarter of a century after “Death Certificate’s” release, Cube is still a razor sharp emcee, even though his work is met with far less scrutiny — an image no doubt tamed in part because of his prolific film career.
Another label After enjoying a career as an independent artist, this spring he signed with Interscope Records. A logi-
cal move, he said, because the label oversees the catalog of music he distributed through Priority. For its original production, Cube eschewed the melange of textures that was the signature of the Bomb Squad — the team responsible for his debut, “Amerikkka’s Most Wanted” — for a heavy assortment of 1970s P-Funk and soul samples with production handled by the rapper, Sir Jinx, and the Boogie Men, the production team of Bobcat, Rashad and DJ Pooh (who would become one of Cube’s closest collaborators).
Plenty of projects The reissue of “Death Certificate” is Cube’s first release since 2010’s “I Am the West.” He’s been teasing an album since 2013, but it’s often been pushed aside for film projects, including installments in his “Ride Along” and “Barbershop” franchises and last year’s blockbuster N.W.A biopic, “Straight Outta Compton.” Outside of Hollywood and music, Cube’s Big3 basketball league just kicked off its inaugural season. Asked if he’s going to finish his long-gestating album, he answers in typical Cube fashion. “I’m going to finish the record and put it out when I feel like it’s ready. It’s really about putting out something that’s great and not just because people want a record,” he said.
“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!
www.excellencewithoutexcuse.com Download immediately as an eBook or a pdf Order softcover online, from Amazon, or your local bookstore ISBN#978-1-56385-500-9 Published by International Scholastic Press, LLC Contact Charles at ccherry2@gmail.com
Facebook ccherry2 excellencewithoutexcuse
for info on speeches, workshops, seminars, book signings, panel discussions.
Twitter @ccherry2
STOJ
JULY 7 – JULY 13, 2017
RELIGION
B3 my boys and convince them,” Muhammad said, “that says a lot.” The wedding is July 9.
Imam’s priority The match-up event was born of the Healthy Marriage Committee’s marriage retreat — created by Khabir and Smith in 2011. Attracting 23 couples to two days of speaker events and activities in the Poconos, the idea was for people to learn tools rooted in the principles of Islam to manage challenges within a committed relationship. United Muslim Masjid’s thennew imam, Shadeed Muhammad, has made strengthening marriages a priority, so he sees the committee’s goals as twofold: to fortify the connection of married couples to the mosque, and to make marriage seem “cool” to single members. Both initiatives help an institution, a bedrock of the community, that’s seen as under threat.
Marriage rates YONG KIM/PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER/TNS
erone, go-between, and private investigator — for all interactions between two potential spouses. So what’s a modern Muslim woman to do? Khabir, along with Kashief Smith, a fellow member of the United Muslim Masjid in West Philadelphia, created a “marriage fair” under the mosque’s Healthy Marriage Committee. First taking place with a speeddating format in 2012, this year it was revamped and rebranded as a match-up event.
Just 49 percent of college-educated Black women marry welleducated men (i.e., with at least some post-secondary education), compared to 84 percent of college-educated White women, according to an analysis by Yale sociologist Vida Maralani. According to the 2015 Brookings Institution report, Black women have the lowest rates of “marrying out” across race lines. “The women themselves, they would maybe be interested in someone from another cultural group,” said Nadir. “But those other cultural groups are looking at their own group, and not so much at African- American women, as prospective mates.”
Supervised dates
Rise of polygyny
When Aminah Muhammad, divorced 16 years with six adult children, attended the April match-up, she already had tried — unsuccessfully — one other match-up event and the services of a matchmaker. This time, she met Muhammad Abdul-Warith, a man she thought was nice, funny, and, most important, comfortable around her 23-year-old son, also her wali. The two then met at a Starbucks. Three visits later — always communicating through her son — the two eventually met on her porch and talked for several hours. “If he can handle himself with
In the meantime, there has been a rise in the practice of polygyny, marriages in which the husband has more than one wife, particularly in cities like Philadelphia, New York and Chicago, Nadir said. (By contrast, polygamy, illegal in the United States, refers generally to the practice of marrying multiple spouses.) Khabir said she felt the pressure. “Sometimes, when you express that you want to be in monogamy, people look at you like that’s an unrealistic expectation,” she said. “They’re like, ‘Do you see all these women, and there are very few men?’ ”
Aminah Muhammad, right, and her fiance Muhammad Abdul-Warith share a laugh on Muhammad’s Overbrook neighborhood home porch on Friday, June 23, 2017. One of their early dates involved talking for hours on her porch. They are getting married in July.
Mosque takes on matchmaking of African-American Muslim women Researchers says there’s an epidemic of educated, professional women over 30 struggling to find suitable matches among men of their own faith. BY GENEVIEVE GLATSKY PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER/TNS
PHILADELPHIA – Naeemah Khabir, a 35-year-old devout Muslim who works for the Department of Veteran Affairs in Philadelphia, has attended
matchmaking events from New Brunswick, N.J., to Queens, N.Y. She has used several matchmaking services. Khabir, of Elkins Park, who has a master’s degree from Syracuse University, even hired a private matchmaker for nine months until the counselor assigned to her conceded that race was part of her problem. “When you look at all Muslims, of all races and ethnicities, who has it the hardest? Black women unequivocally have it the worst. Black men have it bad, too, but Black women have it the worst,” Khabir said. “Everyone knows it, but it goes unspoken.”
A double whammy Muslims say there’s an epidemic of educated, professional women older than 30 struggling to find suitable matches among Muslim men, who are often less bound by a biological clock and societal expectations, and more likely than Muslim women to marry younger and outside their culture or religion. Women in the Philadelphia Muslim community, which is primarily African-American, may also face a double whammy: a dearth of educated men in communities ravaged by unemployment and incarceration, said Aneesah Nadir, whose observation is echoed in research by the Brookings Institution and Yale University. Nadir is a social worker specializing in premarital education and project director of the Muslim Alliance in North America’s Healthy Marriage Initiative.
Religion limitations An obstacle to finding a good Muslim man through dating can be Islam itself: The religion limits intermingling with the opposite sex, prohibits physical intimacy before marriage, and requires the presence of a wali — a male family member who serves as a chap-
Price steps down from dad’s church over ‘personal misjudgments’ NY MAGEE EURWEB.COM
As previously reported, Fred K. Price Jr. recently left his 28,000-member Crenshaw Christian Center church in shock when he announced that he was stepping down from the pulpit due to “personal misjudgments.” Although members say they still have no idea about the nature of his sin, they remain on the defensive about their former pastor. Well, we know what you know. That’s what he said to us. As long as he told us it was personal misjudgment we really shouldn’t speculate,” the church’s official Tamara Taylor told The Christian Post about Fred Price Jr.’s stepping down.
June 25 confession The emotional preacher told his congregation on Sunday, June 25, that he had to step down because he betrayed God, his family, and his church but he provided no additional/specific details. “I have struggled with and am correcting and making amends
for serious personal misjudgments which have affected my life and my family and which I deeply regret. I have betrayed the trust of God, my family and you my church and for that I am so sorry. Therefore, I’m gonna step down as pastor at this time,” Price told his congregation.
‘In the dark’ Church officials at both the California and New York locations insist everyone — “except for relevant church administrators” — was in the dark about the reason why Price Jr. delivered the statement. “It’s news that no one predicted and it’s up to each individual as to how they receive it,” Crenshaw Christian Center New York hostess Karen Taylor said. “We have no idea what it is (the betrayal). What you heard him announce on Sunday is what we heard so we have no speculation and we don’t speculate. We deal with truth.” A source familiar with the operation of church and the Price family told The Christian Post that “The Price family, the source
said, is very good at keeping controversies under wraps under the guidance of the church’s now 85-year-old founder.” “This is the first time I’ve seen it play out in public,” the source noted.
Followed iconic preacher Dr. Frederick K.C. Price founded the church in 1973 and his son’s exit from the pulpit comes eight years after his father anointed him as the new leader. “We are one church in two locations. If they change leadership or if someone steps down on the west coast, it does not mean we stop going. We have people who have stepped down on the East coast ministry who are no longer pastoring the church,” Taylor said. “The west coast church did not stop moving forward. It’s the same thing here. So there is no disruption of any ministry or anything like that. We move forward.”
No questions asked She also noted that church members respect the ministry
Minister who supported Trump now faces deportation BY KATE MORRISSEY SAN DIEGO UNIONTRIBUNE/TNS
SAN DIEGO – Jorge Ramirez, a California minister and unauthorized immigrant, didn’t think he would end up in line for deportation when he encouraged his U.S. citizen daughter to vote for Donald Trump. In line with his conservative religious beliefs, Ramirez considers himself a Republican, he said in an interview at the Otay Mesa Detention Center, where he is awaiting deportation proceedings. Border Patrol picked
him up after staking out his house early one May morning, and he’s been in the detention facility since. Ramirez said he does not know why he is being targeted for removal from the U.S. The Trump administration has said that it is targeting criminals and those who have already been ordered deported. Ramirez said he falls into neither category.
Still supports Trump He said he supports the Republican agenda on both fiscal and social issues and that he still supports Trump. “Trump said, ‘Let’s keep all
the good people here and all the bad people out,’” Ramirez said. “That’s great, but I’m here,” Ramirez said of his detention situation. “If I’m here, anybody can be here. I’m not saying I’m the best person in the world, but I’ve tried to live a good life.” Ramirez came to the U.S. with his family when he was 11 and was raised in North County. In high school, Ramirez joined the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps for the Marines, and when the Gulf War began, he tried to enlist. The military would not let him fight because of his immigration status. Inside the detention facility,
Fred K. Price Jr. is shown with his wife, Angel, in a photo posted on Facebook. enough to know not to question the decisions of church leadership. “We don’t [ask questions]. We go along with whatever they say until they tell us different, until we hear different. And if we don’t
hear different we don’t speculate. We just go on and continue. Nothing that occurred with him stepping down affects this ministry,” she said, noting that the New York church has its own assigned pastor.
he’s been counseling and supporting other detainees with a message of hope and love, he said. Since he began attending a daily Bible study group in the facility, its numbers have grown to around 25 from about 10, he said. Ramirez has spent his life as part of the Apostolic Church, where he is a music minister. His father served as a pastor, a post that led to the family coming to the U.S. Ramirez said he met his wife, Silvia, through church. They married 22 years ago.
gration court hearing. His three children, all U.S. citizens, came with Juan Hernandez, the pastor for their church, to watch. They prayed in the waiting room as they waited their father’s turn. Judge David Anderson said he would need more time to read through the 210-page packet that shows Ramirez’s ties to his community. It included several letters of support, records of Ramirez’s tax filings, his school achievements and the awards that his children have won. Anderson rescheduled the hearing for August, so Ramirez will have to wait in detention for at least six more weeks.
New court date He hoped to get released on bond last Thursday at an immi-
SAFETY
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STOJ
Special nails can save roofs during storms Grant program helping to secure homes in Alabama’s Africantown BY SARAH BREITENBACH STATELINE.ORG/TNS
MOBILE, Ala. — New roofs are coming to Africatown, a hamlet of crumbling shotgun houses amid ancient pecan trees northwest of Mobile Bay. The replacements, many of which will go to the neighborhood’s poor and aging homeowners, are being paid for by a first-of-its-kind state grant program that aims to lower homeowners’ insurance rates and reinforce Alabama homes against future windstorms. Alabama officials, like state and local leaders around the country, expect disaster recovery costs to continue to grow as people live in vulnerable areas and climate change increases the frequency and intensity of natural disasters. At the same time, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is considering a plan that would shift more recovery costs to the states. In response, some states are taking steps to ensure that communities can better survive disasters, efforts they hope will lower recovery costs down the line.
PHOTOS BY SARAH BREITENBACH/PEW CHARITABLE TRUSTS/TNS
The lab at the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety can simulate storms including hurricanes, wildfires, hail and wind-driven rain. wall coverings that resist wind and added protection for windows, doors and vents. But many Americans live in areas with codes that do much less to address high winds. “We keep rebuilding in the same vulnerable places, in the same brittle ways, over and over again,” Rochman said. “It’s not good for us from a national security perspective. It’s not good for us from an economic perspective. It’s not good from a community perspective.”
Tornado Alley test
More prevention steps Charleston, S.C., is spending millions to send flood water back to the ocean through underground tunnels and pumping stations. Miami has been working on flood prevention as the ocean inundates the city with greater frequency. And in the wake of Superstorm Sandy in 2012, New Jersey began taking over vulnerable properties and rebuilding coastline to better protect communities just beyond the dunes. But homeowners, too, have to be ready for storms. A quick return of residents after a disaster can deter blight and boost local businesses.
‘Fortified Standard’ Brian Powell, director of the Alabama grant program, hopes the improvements homeowners are making will encourage insurance companies to reduce rates and be more willing to cover coastal properties — and make rebuilding fast and economical the next time a hurricane sweeps up the Gulf of Mexico or a tornado rips through the state’s rural, northern counties. “We figured the only way to reduce (insurance) rates was to reduce risk,” he said. The new roofs are built using a method developed by the industry-funded Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS). The “Fortified” standard — which can be used for a roof or an entire house — requires special nails, a specific system for layering roofing material, and more secure connections between the roof, walls, and foundation of a house. It is higher than most local building codes,
A state grant program in Alabama is helping the residents of Africatown get new roofs. even in hurricane zones.
‘Never again’ Alabama’s embrace of Fortified has made it an unlikely leader in building and retrofitting houses to survive big storms. It not only boasts the grant program, which helps pay for new roofs in the state’s two coastal counties and eventually will reach the rest of the state, but also requires insurance companies to offer premium discounts to homeowners who have built or upgraded their homes and been certified as Fortified. A number of jurisdictions in Alabama have adopted Fortified as their minimum standard. “A lot of people say, ‘Never again,’ but they have actually taken steps to mean ‘Never again,’” said Julie Rochman, president of IBHS.
New program The program is new, but it is catching on, Rochman said. She points to at least 80 chapters of Habitat for Humanity that are building Fortified roofs and homes. Louisiana, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island and South Carolina are also encouraging the construction of Fortified homes. Some Alabama homeowners are upgrading their homes without state help. But many people in poor communities like Africatown, which
is home to descendants of slaves who were illegally brought to the United States in 1860, cannot afford to replace their roofs without the grant. The homes here, built mostly before 1965, with some dating back to the early 20th century, are not designed to withstand the storms that can roll in from the Atlantic Ocean, through the Gulf of Mexico, and up Mobile Bay, like Hurricane Ivan did in 2004.
Potential lifesaver In communities like Africatown, taking steps now to strengthen homes could mean the difference between being able to recover and getting wiped off the map. “We are proud and tickled to death about how far we’ve come,” said Cleon Jones, a former New York Mets outfielder who returned home to Africatown after his baseball career. He’s working to help his neighbors, some of whom are skeptical of government assistance, to get new roofs through the grant program. “People are waking up and looking at sheetrock in their house instead of the sky,” Jones said.
History of rebuilding Homes in parts of the U.S. that are most susceptible to hurricanes are covered by stringent building codes that require things like special roof and
For example, most homes in the infamous Tornado Alley, a strip that stretches from Texas to the Dakotas, are not built to withstand high winds, said Anne Cope, the vice president of research at IBHS, which has a research lab in rural South Carolina. “We tested a (regular) home out here,” Cope said, pointing to the IBHS test chamber, which uses 105 fans, each nearly 6 feet in diameter, to simulate hurricanes, wildfires, hail and winddriven rain. “And we trashed it. Popped it open like a sardine can.”
Fortified homes If more homes were built to the highest standards, which are only required in high-risk hurricane areas like the Florida Keys and the Outer Banks, along the North Carolina coast, there would be less destruction, Cope said. Because Fortified exceeds even those standards, it makes sense for homeowners in highwind areas to adopt it, regardless of their local building codes, she said. Fortified roofs are secured with grooved ring shank nails that lock into place and cannot easily be pulled out, making them more resistant to wind. They also have twice as many nails as traditional roofs. For homeowners who want to go further, there are also Fortified techniques for strengthening windows and doors and tying a house to its foundation.
Thousands so far Maintaining the roof is important because as soon as a door
How to weather through unexpected events
In preparation Create an emergency plan. Talk through possi-
2009 law Under a 2009 insurance law, homeowners can save as much as 50 percent on the wind portion of their policy if their construction is officially certified. States like Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina and Oklahoma have followed suit and enacted similar laws. The Alabama mandate not only encourages residents to build more resilient homes, but also reduces the risk that insurance companies face. It enabled insurers to decrease coastal insurance rates that skyrocketed after Hurricanes Ivan and Katrina wrecked the Gulf Coast in 2004 and 2005, Powell said.
Coverage cost Along the coast, wind coverage is the biggest portion of homeowners’ insurance. After the hurricanes, residents were paying several thousand dollars a year for it. “It caused a lot of people to just go uninsured, especially people without a mortgage,” he said. Depending on the size of a home, it costs about $10,000 to meet the minimum Fortified standard. But in addition to the insurance discount, Fortified homeowners may see as much as a 7 percent increase in their home value, according to the Alabama Center for Insurance Information and Research at the University of Alabama.
Less to repair “When you’re getting that large of a reduction in your insurance costs at the coast, it lets you afford a little more for the house or it makes the expense of living in the house less,” said Lawrence Powell, director of the center. The cost of repairs also decreases with a Fortified home. After testing a Fortified and a traditional home against a 100 mph simulated windstorm, IBHS collected repair estimates for the traditional home that were as much as eight times that of the Fortified structure.
cy alerts, and adding these to your smartphone takes just a few minutes. Consider special needs. If you have circumstances that would create an extreme hardship in a power outage or other storm-related incident, gather materials to minimize the impact. For example, a cooler may be necessary to keep medications chilled. Also remember to keep a supply of non-perishable food items available, and consider other necessities like access to toilets during an extended sheltering period.
FAMILY FEATURES
As temperatures heat up across the country, it’s a reminder that severe weather – thunderstorms, tornadoes and hurricanes – can strike at any time. When these unexpected situations occur, there are time-sensitive needs before and after them. A few simple steps and tips, such as tapping into local resources and businesses efficiently in an effort to regroup, can go a long way toward ensuring you and your family navigate these situations quickly, safely and deftly.
or window pops open during a windstorm, a house becomes a balloon, filling with air and sometimes forcing the roof to disconnect. Once that happens, a home is typically not salvageable. There are only 4,326 Fortified houses in the country so far, but the ones that have been tested have proven their worth, Rochman said. Following a strike from Hurricane Ike on the Bolivar Peninsula near Galveston, Texas, in 2008, only the Fortified homes were left standing. “The fact that our houses survived and nothing else for miles around did was an impressive validation of Fortified,” she said. “But nobody wants to come back to a community where there’s nothing but 13 houses.” Alabama is encouraging more homeowners to build to the Fortified standard by mandating that insurance companies offer premium discounts to those who do.
Post-event checklist JOE CAVARETTA/SUN SENTINEL/TNS
Shoppers load up on supplies on Oct. 5, 2016, at the Publix Supermarket in Pompano Beach. Water and other supplies were flying off the shelves in the tricounty area in anticipation of Hurricane Matthew. ble scenarios and how to respond with your entire family. For example, if a severe thunderstorm occurs, who is responsible for securing outdoor items like lawn chairs and who will grab flashlights in case the
power fails? Or if there’s a tornado, where’s the safest place in the house to hunker down? Once you answer these important questions, practice and fine tune your plan. Keep close tabs on
emerging weather situations. This improves the likelihood that you are aware and able to take steps to protect your loved ones and possessions before a storm. There are numerous apps that provide emergen-
Check for damage. Once the threat has passed, assessing the damage is a crucial next step. It’s important to know whether your home, vehicles or other property and belongings have been damaged or destroyed. Take photos and write down as much detail as possible, including when and how the damage occurred. It’s also a good idea to gather documentation related to damaged items, such as appraisals and in-
surance policies. Contact friends and family. Don’t forget to let friends and family know you’re OK. If they’re local and may have also been impacted, it’s important to verify their safety once yours is ensured and work with them to clean up as best as you can. Take advantage of local resources. Assessing the damage early allows you to quickly contact professionals who can help, whether it’s a roof repair company, water damage experts or anything in between. Knowing whom to trust and use as a service provider can be challenging, but to help consumers find businesses that meet their needs, YP, The Real Yellow Pages, works closely with local businesses to ensure their information is correct, complete and consistent online and in print. In addition, the information found in search results on yellowpages.com and via the YP app is tailored to help consumers find local businesses, saving precious time, which is critical following a storm.
STOJ
JULY 7 – JULY 13, 2017
Meet some of
FLORIDA’S
finest
FINEST & ENTERTAINMENT
B5
Think you’re one of Florida’s Finest? E-mail your high-resolution (200 dpi) digital photo in casual wear or bathing suit taken in front of a plain background with few distractions, to news@flcourier. com with a short biography of yourself and your contact information. (No nude/ glamour/ fashion photography, please!) In order to be considered, you must be at least 18 years of age. Acceptance of the photographs submitted is in the sole and absolute discretion of Florida Courier editors. We reserve the right to retain your photograph even if it is not published. If you are selected, you will be contacted by e-mail and further instructions will be given.
Thousands of Caribbean culture lovers converge on South Florida every year on the Columbus Day weekend to attend the annual Miami Broward Carnival, a series of concerts, pageants, parades, and competitions. On Carnival Day, “mas” (masquerade) bands of thousands of revelers dance and march behind 18-wheel tractor-trailer trucks with booming sound systems from morning until nightfall while competing for honors. Here are some of the “Finest” we’ve seen over the years. Go to www. miamibrowardcarnival. com for information on this year’s Carnival. CHARLES W. CHERRY II / FLORIDA COURIER
in love / Don’t matter to me if it’s a him or her,” he raps over a warm Stevie Wonder sample. Then, in a sign of true awakening, he hands the microphone to Gloria Carter herself for a stirring spoken-word piece about living in the shadows.
Takes a stand Other songs take up the importance of Black entrepreneurship, a theme near and dear to Jay-Z, whose arrangement with Sprint to help release “4:44” follows earlier deals with Samsung and Budweiser. But if the MC has long rapped about his taste for business, he’s rarely put it in a context of collective self-determination as clearly as he does in “The Story of O.J.” and “Family Feud.” In “Caught Their Eyes” he recounts an “eye-to-eye” meeting with another artist famous for handling his affairs — Prince — then blasts the late singer’s estate for selling “tickets to walk through his house / I’m surprised you ain’t auction off the casket.”
Cameos from stars DOUG PETERS/PA PHOTOS/ABACA PRESS/TNS
Jay-Z and Beyonce Knowles arrive at the Costume Institute Benefit Met Gala on May 4, 2014 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Jay-Z’s new album was released on June 30, exclusively on Tidal, his streaming service.
Jay-Z confesses, educates on ‘4:44’ BY MIKAEL WOOD LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS
He didn’t tweet. He didn’t post on Instagram. And he certainly didn’t spill his guts to a dude with a camera from TMZ. So where did Jay-Z turn when the fiercely private but closely watched rapper was finally ready to make some announcements? Get this: This music. On “4:44,” the stunning new album he released last week exclusively through his streaming service Tidal, Jay-Z breaks several pieces of celebrity news, the kind we’re accustomed to getting from more fleeting sources these days.
He cheated Chief among revelations is his
ALBUM REVIEW confession that he cheated on his wife, Beyonce, just as she described on her blockbuster 2016 record, “Lemonade.” Jay-Z also confirms that the superstar couple have become parents to a set of twins, which neither of them has spoken publicly about since the babies were born this month. And he reveals that his own mother is gay. In one song, he even comments on a much-discussed selfie posted less than two weeks ago by the Rev. Al Sharpton — a vivid indication of this album’s timeliness. (You half-expect him to mention Russia or “Morning Joe.”)
Hyphen’s back
More regrets
As remarkably immediate as it is, though, “4:44” feels durable in a manner that few tweets do; it’s a collection of songs — sly but moving, both intricate and lucid — that we’ll be coming back to for years. And in that way the album puts across two larger ideas: that Jay-Z himself is still useful at the age of 47, and that hip-hop can be a form for middle-aged concerns. Back to using the hyphen he dropped from his name in 2013, Jay-Z doesn’t waste any time in addressing the recent marital troubles so widely speculated about after “Lemonade.” The rapper opens “4:44” with “Kill Jay Z” — note the spelling — in which he lectures the younger version of himself who fooled around on Beyonce. “You almost went Eric Benet / Let the baddest girl in the world get away,” he raps, referring to the soul singer once married to Halle Berry.
Jay-Z offers more detail — and more lacerating introspection — in the album’s title track, as when he recalls that he told Beyonce not to embarrass him on her 21st birthday. “That was my proposal for us to go steady,” he says, his voice wobbly with regret. Indeed, what’s so affecting about the Beyonce-related stuff here is how openly Jay-Z talks about the work he and his wife have applied — are still applying — to their marriage. “Not meant to cry and die alone in these mansions,” he raps in “4:44,” even as he’s accompanied by the gospel singer Kim Burrell insisting, “I’m never gonna treat you like I should.”
Mom’s turn But Jay-Z, born Shawn Carter, has more on his mind than his faults as a husband. In “Smile” he describes the decades his mother spent in the closet before she came out. “Cried tears of joy when you fell
Atypically for a modern hip-hop star, Jay-Z hired a single producer to oversee “4:44,” and throughout the album No I.D. backs the rapper with inventive but classically minded beats that deepen the music’s proudly grown-up vibe. “The Story of O.J.” and “Caught Their Eyes” feature recognizable samples of Nina Simone songs; “Family Feud” has Beyonce embellishing a snippet of a gospel tune by the Clark Sisters. Elsewhere, Frank Ocean, TheDream and reggae’s Damian Marley — each a walking encyclopedia of his respective genre — show up for expert vocal cameos.
Hard, beautiful truths One more guest appears near the end of “4:44,” and that’s JayZ and Beyonce’s older daughter, Blue Ivy, who introduces “Legacy” by asking in a 5-year-old’s singsong, “Daddy, what’s a will?” The song, built on a loop of Donny Hathaway’s “Someday We’ll All Be Free,” is about JayZ’s desire to position his children for success and the forces arrayed against them. It’s an idea he might’ve been able to imagine as a younger man, a gifted storyteller painfully alive to the real world. But he’s not dreaming here. He’s passing along some hard — and some beautiful — truths.
FOOD
B6
JULY 7 – JULY 13, 2017
S
ZAHTAR SHRIMP AND GRAPE KABOBS Servings: 6 2 tablespoons zahtar 1 clove garlic, minced 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme 2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar 1 teaspoon honey 1/8 teaspoon sea salt 1/8 teaspoon pepper 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 36-40 large shrimp (about 2 pounds), shelled and deveined 1 cup whole green California grapes 1 cup whole red California grapes In medium bowl, combine zahtar, garlic, thyme, vinegar, honey, salt, pepper and olive oil. Whisk to combine. Add shrimp and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes or up to 4 hours. Thread shrimp and grapes onto skewers. Heat grill or grill pan to medium-high. Grill skewers, turning once, until shrimp are lightly charred and cooked through and grapes are caramelized but firm, about 2-3 minutes per side. Nutritional information per serving: 190 calories; 20 g protein; 12 g carbohydrate; 6 g fat (28% calories from fat); 1 g saturated fat (5% calories from saturated fat); 180 mg cholesterol; 870 mg sodium; 1 g fiber.
Good eats with
grapes
Make a heart-healthy menu with flavorful fruit FAMILY FEATURES
Heart-healthy foods can play a role in healthy aging. Whether you enjoy them by the handful as a refreshing snack or use them to add color, crunch and a touch of sweetness to a meal, grapes are a heart-healthy option that make eating better easy. Grapes of all colors – red, green and black – are a natural source of beneficial antioxidants and other polyphenols. At just 90 calories per serving, they also contain no fat, no cholesterol and virtually no sodium. With a juicy burst of flavor, grapes show how simple it can be to make good-for-you-dishes that also taste great. Even though California grapes are a snacking staple in most kitchens, you may not realize how versatile they can be for cooking. For example, grapes add a sweet touch to a crunchy yogurt salad and complement the bold spice on a skewer of grilled shrimp. Fresh, flavorful grapes even put a tangy, fresh twist on a soothing glass of iced tea. Find more delicious recipes to make healthy eating easy at GrapesfromCalifornia.com.
SAVORY YOGURT WITH GRAPE AND CUCUMBER SALAD Servings: 4 Dukkah: 1/3 cup raw cashews 1/3 cup hazelnuts 1/4 cup sesame seeds 2 tablespoons cumin seeds 2 tablespoons coriander seeds 2 tablespoons dried thyme 1/2 teaspoon salt Yogurt: 3 cups plain, nonfat Greek yogurt 1/2 cup green California grapes, halved 1/2 cup red California grapes, halved 1 cup English cucumber, diced 1 tablespoon minced shallot
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar salt, to taste pepper, to taste 4 tablespoons dukkah 1 teaspoon lemon zest To make dukkah: Heat oven to 350 F. Spread cashews and hazelnuts on baking sheet and toast 6-8 minutes. Transfer to food processor and set aside. In skillet over medium heat, toast sesame seeds, cumin seeds and coriander seeds until fragrant, 1-2 minutes, then transfer to food processor. Add dried thyme and salt. Pulse mixture until coarsely ground. Makes about 1 cup that can be stored in an airtight container. Divide yogurt into four 3/4-cup portions. In small bowl, combine grapes, cucumber, shallots, olive
oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Toss to combine. Top each bowl of yogurt with 1/2 cup grape mixture, 1 tablespoon dukkah and sprinkle of lemon zest. Nutritional information per serving: 220 calories; 19 g protein; 18 g carbohydrate; 8 g fat (33% calories from fat); 1.5 g saturated fat (6% calories from saturated fat); 10 mg cholesterol; 140 mg sodium; 2 g fiber. SPARKLING HIBISCUS TEA WITH GRAPES AND MINT Servings: 8 6 cups water, divided 1 tablespoon honey 6 hibiscus tea bags 2 cups green California grapes, divided 10 mint leaves 1 navel orange, sliced
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ice 16 ounces sparkling water Using tea kettle or saucepan, bring 3 cups water and honey to boil. Add tea bags, turn off heat and steep 6-8 minutes. Remove tea bags and allow remaining liquid to cool 15 minutes. In martini shaker or bowl, muddle 1 cup grapes with mint leaves. Add muddled grape and mint mixture to 48-60 ounce pitcher along with remaining water and orange slices. Stir in hibiscus tea mixture. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes. Strain before serving. To serve, add ice to 8-ounce glass. Top with 3-4 grapes, 2 ounces sparkling water and hibiscus tea mixture. Nutritional information per serving: 70 calories; 1 g protein; 16 g carbohydrate; 10 mg sodium; 1 g fiber.