Florida Courier - July 15, 2016

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CELEBRATING OUR 10TH YEAR STATEWIDE!

America’s consolerin-chief comforts families and officers in Dallas Page B1

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JULY 15 – JULY 21, 2016

VOLUME 24 NO. 29

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PRESORTED STANDARD MAIL

A WEEK FROM HELL Five cops die in alleged retaliation for the deaths of two young Black men at the hands of police. A Black ex-cop and one of America’s best-known young Black activists, both Floridians, opine on the aftermath.

BY PENNY DICKERSON FLORIDA COURIER

On July 5, graphic cell phone video showed Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old Black male and father of five, being overpowered, pinned down, then shot to death by two White officers from the Baton Rouge (La.) Police Department.

The next day, 32-year-old Philando Castille was shot dead by a MAX FAULKNER/FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM/TNS White Minnesota policeman durBlood stains a Dallas, Texas sidewalk as the criminal investigation ing a traffic stop for a busted tailmoves forward in the aftermath of the largest single-day loss of light. Diamond Reynolds and her life of law enforcement personnel since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist 4-year-old daughter were passengers in Castille’s car. Reynolds attacks.

broadcast the aftermath of the traffic stop live on social media.

On July 7, Army Reserve and Afghan War veteran Micah Xavier Johnson, a Black man, targeted White Dallas, Texas police and sprayed more than 75 shots, hitting 12 police officers and killing five before being killed himself, when police ignited a bomb attached to a remotely controlled robot.

The Florida Courier spoke this week to Umi Selah, co-founder of the Florida Dream Defenders, and Jeffrey Newsom, who retired after a 25-year law enforcement career.

‘Opportunity and mission’ Newsom served 25 years as a uniformed policeman with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. He’s now the author of five books, including “The Last King,” which chronicles his life with a father addicted to crack cocaine. He’s known in social media and the urban fiction community as “Jay Knew.”

“I was honorably discharged from the Air Force. Upon returning home, I learned that the corrections department was hiring,” See WEEK, Page A2

Who was Micah Johnson?

Picture of ‘normality’ emerges COMPILED FROM WIRE AND STAFF REPORTS

DALLAS – Micah Johnson’s journal opened a portal into his mind.

In handwritten scrawls and sketches, police learned about the 25-year-old’s gun lust, his fascination with “shoot-andscoot” tactics, and increasing interest in Black nationalism.

But his writing also showed something else, according to a Dallas Police Department officer with access to evidence in the investigation.

His words aren’t an intricate manifesto.

They were fleeting thoughts that bounced around inside his brain.

More details Three days after he slaughtered five Dallas police officers and wounded seven others and two civilians in a rampage fueled by racism and rage, a more nuanced portrait of the killer began to take shape.

His journal included riffs about assault rifles, but they were interspersed with rap music lyrics. A dispassionate sentence about ways to inflict maximum carnage, might be followed by one with complexity and heart, about being both African and American during a time where those identities often seem to conflict.

“This guy might have been a loner,” said the officer, who requested anonymity because he isn’t authorized to speak publicly about the case. “But he was smart.”

See JOHNSON, Page A2

SNAPSHOTS

LAWRENCE JENKINS/FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM/TNS

BLACK LIVES MATTER MOVEMENT CONTINUES

Dallas massacre doesn’t stop protests On July 10, Manual Brown led a protest in Fort Worth, Texas to stop the killing of Black men by police. Demonstrations against police brutality continued nationwide as Dallas memorialized the city’s five officers murdered last week.

See a related commentary by Glen Ford on Page A5.

Orlando victims remembered one month later

BY GAL TZIPERMAN LOTAN AND RENE STUTZMAN ORLANDO SENTINEL / TNS)

NATION | A3

Dallas chief: This will not discourage us

NATION | A6

Lynch deflects questions about Clinton’s emails

FLORIDA | B2

Company to bring 500 jobs to state

ALSO INSIDE

ORLANDO – Mayra Alvear picked up the first cross, the one bearing the name of her daughter, Amanda.

Amanda was one of 49 people killed one month ago at Pulse, the Orlando nightclub where a gunman opened fire in the middle of the dance floor.

Her cross was like the other 48: white, 3-feet high with a big red heart near its base and a photo of a victim at its base.

What made hers different was what made each unique: The messages left by well-wishers.

On Tuesday, family, volunteers and public officials helped move those 49 crosses from Orlando Regional Medical Center to the Orange County Regional History Museum. The crosses were a part of a make-shift memorial near the emergency room

where many of the survivors were treated.

Greg Zanis, 65, built the wooden crosses a few days after the June 12 massacre and drove them 1,200 miles from his home near Chicago to ORMC, which is part of Orlando Health. They stood, like sentries, on the shore of Lake Beauty.

Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs carried the last one, a cross honoring Cory James Connell, 21, an Edgewater High School graduate who wanted to be a firefighter.

“We’re deeply honored to accept these 49 crosses into the permanent collection of the Orange County History Center,” she said. “We are showing the world that this community cannot be divided.”

She then called for the small crowd of people who had gathered to observe 49 seconds of silence.

JOE BURBANK/ORLANDO SENTINEL/TNS

On the one-month anniversary of the Pulse nightclub massacre, Orlando City Commissioner Patty Sheehan, right, and a friend take a last look at crosses honoring the 49 victims.

GUEST COMMENTARY: REMBERT BROWNE: WHAT TO DO WHEN THEY DON’T WANT YOU TO EXIST | A4 COMMENTARY: JOHN SILVANUS WILSON: WHAT SHOULD WE TEACH THEM NOW | A5

FOCUS

A2

JULY 15 – JULY 21, 2016

Murder in Black and blue The Gantt Report extends both sympathy and condolences to the civilians and policemen that were recent victims of murder in Louisiana, Minnesota and Texas.

It doesn’t matter how you were killed or who killed you – murder is murder and murder is wrong!

When situations arise that involve race-related killings, do not believe what you read in some newspapers, what you hear on some radio shows, or what you see on social media sites.

No Black viewpoints The media is going to quote law enforcers, and they are going to hand-pick puppets or pundits to discuss what went down.

You will never see a major media company print or broadcast a response to community events from community groups or individuals that Black community residents believe, support or appreciate.

For instance, you will never get a major media to give you a response from the Nation of Islam, the New Black Panther Party or a similar group.

Don’t ask me I have been victimized by law enforcers multiple times. I wasn’t killed, but I was handcuffed to jail cell bars torture-style when I was falsely accused of felony assault

LUCIUS GANTT THE GANTT REPORT

on a police office. So don’t even dream about CNN or MSNBC asking me for a comment.

The media will only parade Negroes on TV shows that the media can control – and that includes Negroes with badges.

If asked, I would say that the problems with Blacks, minorities and police officers will never be resolved until all parties involved begin to tell the truth.

The 500 or so Blacks that have recently died in police shootouts or police custody is nothing new.

It has been going on for centuries.

Today, misconduct can be videoed by smart cell phones.

Local problem If you want to blame the people most responsible, blame your local elected officials!

You see, instead of looking for ways to stop the killings of innocent men and women, your city managers, city attorneys, city and county commissioners, sheriffs and police chiefs always look for ways to deny bad actions or cover up misconduct.

Your top city officials hire the police chiefs. Your city officials allow those chiefs to hire racists, separatists, skinheads, rednecks and crackers that will not hesitate to shoot unarmed woman, men and children of all races!

It’s the truth I know you don’t like for me to write like this. But if you don’t believe me, believe the FBI! An FBI report entitled, “White Supremacist Infiltration of Law Enforcement” is currently being revisited by many experts in fighting back against organized hate group terrorism.

In the 2006 report, federal courts determined that members of a Los Angeles Sheriff’s department had organized a neo-Nazi gang. The officers involved did not keep their racist ideas to themselves either, as the FBI found that these same officers “habitually terrorized” the African-American community.

The FBI also found that the Chicago Police Department fired a detective after it was discovered that he had strong ties to the Ku Klux Klan. That detective, Jon Burge, was found to have tortured over 100 African-American suspects.

Various departments The city of Cleveland, in news

lately for the killing of Tamir Rice and other extreme instances of police gunning down unarmed African-Americans, found that police locker rooms had been overrun with “White power” graffiti and vandalism.

In Texas, a sheriff department found that two of their deputies not only were in the Klan, but were actually prominent recruiters for the hate group.

Law enforcers have been involved in the killings of Black people since slavery days. Cops and deputies were even directly or indirectly involved in many past massacres of Black people like in Rosewood, Tulsa, Chicago and St. Louis.

Don’t get it twisted Most law enforcers are good people. They know how to deescalate a situation without killing unarmed people.

About videos: videos are always good when you’re trying to indict or convict someone.

But they are never revealing when a beating or a shooting takes place. Lawyers will say, “Well, the video doesn’t show all of the angles,” or “It doesn’t show the victim attacking the officer.”

If it doesn’t show the wrongful police murder, it also doesn’t show the speeder or the shoplifter or the domestic violence!

Thank God for law enforcers like Nakia Jones, a police officer working in Cleveland. She had some harsh, much-needed

JOHNSON

Killed remotely

The investigation suggests Johnson had long prepared for the attack, according to the chief, but fast-tracked his plans after the march protesting the recent fatal police shootings of two Black men in Louisiana and Minnesota was announced.

Brown said police are “convinced this sus-

Every elected official votes on municipal budgets that include millions of dollars for training.

If police officers are not trained how to resolve a situation without murder, all of the elected officials in your town should be personally liable for damages suffered by victimized families.

And if Black activists, militants, radicals and revolutionaries are not welcome to become members of law enforcement agencies, then White racists, White supremacists, neo-Nazis and Ku Klux Klansmen should not be welcome either!

Tell the truth and stop all of the cover ups! And pay victimized families more than you play lawyers to keep them from getting compensated!

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.

Don’t recognize him

Johnson does not have a criminal record, according to online records searches.

A law enforcement official told CNN that he had no known terror ties.

Making plans

Officials liable

Still, he was honorably discharged.

from A1

Dallas Police Chief David Brown on CNN’s “State of the Union” an injured Johnson wrote the initials “R.B.” on the walls of the downtown parking garage where he was barricaded last week.

During an hours-long standoff with police following the shooting, Johnson said he “wanted to kill White people, especially White officers,” according to Brown. He also expressed sympathy with Black Lives Matter, but said he “was not affiliated with any groups.”

Brown later ordered officers to use a remote-controlled robot armed with explosives to kill Johnson.

words for her colleagues following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile in police shootings. I think Officer Nakia was suspended after her comments.

But her community should demand that she be put back on the force. Her son could have been the Black male that was shot and killed for wrong reasons.

COURTESY OF FACEBOOK

Dallas cop killer Micah Johnson’s interest in the military began when he enrolled in his Texas high school’s officer training program. pect had other plans and thought that what he was doing was righteous” and was determined to “make us pay for what he sees as law enforcement’s efforts to punish people of color.”

But the police official close to the investigation who spoke to The Dallas Morning News said Johnson’s written ramblings did not contain a direct threat or outline definite plans.

Johnson “was studying all these different disciplines and you can’t make heads or tails out of it,” he said.

Brown told CNN that police are still analyzing the Army veteran’s laptop

WEEK from A1

Newsom related. “I served three years with them and then went to the police academy.”

Fired weapon only three times Newsom was assigned to patrol in almost every quadrant of Jacksonville during his tenure.

Over 25 years, he only fired his service weapon three times: twice at animals, and once at Jeffrey a suspect.

Newsom “I was working off-duty at a nightclub on Christmas Eve and a guy was having an argument with his girlfriend in the parking lot. He shot twice in the air; I pulled my gun and ordered him to drop his weapon,” said Newsom. “The suspect ran and returned shots, so I fired back. It turned out that he was a murder suspect wanted in both Jamaica and California.’

Newsom said that proper police training involves “stop the threat,” not shoot to kill.

and cell phone to figure out whether other people helped Johnson plan the ambush after a peaceful march through downtown Dallas.

Unremarkable childhood Johnson’s parents divorced in 1996, when he was 4. His mother lives in Mesquite, Texas and has worked at a nearby church, according to public records; her ex-husband lives nearby.

Johnson was in JROTC, the high school-level officer training program, at John Horn High School in

The Castile shooting Newsom does not believe the live streaming video in the Castile case is the complete story. “…(W)e only get the video from where he was actually shot. From listening, it’s obvious that the officer mistook him for a robbery suspect and Castile admitted he had a concealed weapons permit,” said Newsom.

“Right now, it’s cloudy as to whether or not Castille was told to go in his pocket to get his ID, he went in his pocket to get his ID on his own, or the officer shot him after telling him to get his ID. Also, if an individual tells police they have a concealed weapons permit, it should indicate that they are not a criminal because you can’t get a concealed license with a record.”

Disciplinary issues Newsom says police are employees in an occupation just like any profession, and stressed that there are good cops and bad cops.

“The officer who shot Sterling had numerous internal complaints for excessive force,” added Newsom, who cited that police unions make enforcing disciplinary actions difficult.

“Our biggest fault is also when the courts don’t act accordingly on these cases. Because now… everybody follows the same blue-

Mesquite and enlisted in the Army Reserve at the age of 19 after he graduated. He also enrolled for four classes at local Richland College in the spring of 2011, but did not complete any of them, the school said.

He was deployed to Afghanistan as a member of the 420th Engineer Brigade in November 2013, the Army confirmed. He specialized in carpentry and masonry.

His service ended in April 2015. He received several awards for his service, but was accused of sexual harassment, according to his attorney.

print when they get in court: ‘I was in fear, I thought he had a gun.’ When you go to court, jurors get the same presentation,” he added.

How to survive “Politeness is the key to surviving in a police encounter. Actively listening to what the officer is saying and then once he says it to you, it doesn’t hurt to repeat it back to him…Then proceed with caution to do what he asked you to do,” he added.

“Even if you have done something wrong – unless you’ve decided you’re just gonna run – stay in the car and just comply,” said Newsom. “If he searches the car and finds it, then you just have to take that and go to jail, but at least you survived.”

Umi Selah speaks “I was angry, but I have been inspired by the reaction of people throughout the country,” said Umi Selah of last week’s murders.

Selah is a co-founder of the Florida Dream Defenders, a grassroots movement based in the Little Haiti section of Miami.

“People think we are a nationwide organization or associated with the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, but we are not,” offered Selah, who is a Chicago native and a 2008 graduate of Florida A&M University, where he

Those who knew Johnson in the Army say they don’t recognize the pathologically violent racist described in news accounts.

He openly spoke of his Christian faith in Afghanistan and often chose to socialize with White soldiers.

“It’s not racism guys,” Heather Brooks wrote on Facebook. “Hate what he did, but don’t hate the man … it was mental sickness unchecked and untreated.

He had good in him, we all know he did.”

Brooks, of Odessa, declined to comment when reached by phone.

“If you didn’t hang around him then you wouldn’t understand him,” said a Black soldier who served in the same unit with Johnson. “He wasn’t weird, he wasn’t off, he was goofy. He was almost like a class clown.”

But he said the military’s sexual harassment investigation curdled his friend’s good humor.

“He just wasn’t as talkative,” the soldier said of Johnson. “He lost his funny spirit.”

He said it probably never occurred to Johnson that the cops he fired on included his brothers and sisters who had served in the military.

Other friends said Johnson showed little interest in conversations about racial injustice or the shoot-

earned a degree in business administration.

“We have a different political and organizational strategy than BLM, but we are in alliance with the same aim. Our organization is committed to defending Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. ’s dreams of freedom, and bringing that idea to young people.”

Both organizations were established following the 2012 death of Trayvon Martin Umi in Sanford. At the Selah organization’s inception, Selah was known as Phillip Agnew.

The vision According to their website, the Dream Defenders “believe that our liberation necessitates the destruction of the political and economic systems of Capitalism and Imperialism as well as Patriarchy.

We believe in People over profits. We believe that nonviolent resistance is ‘the only morally and practically sound method open to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom’ and are fundamentally committed to nonviolence as our means of struggle against a violent oppressor.”

Selah believes last week’s deaths “breathed life into a move-

ing of Trayvon Martin.

Post-traumatic stress?

Soldiers wondered out loud whether the stress of serving in a combat zone got to their friend. Mortars exploded in the area four or five times a day.

Back in the states, a former co-worker said Johnson seemed “very affected” by officer-involved shootings of Black men in recent years – something he told police before negotiations failed.

Backyard training Johnson also told police he had been training for the deadly ambush. A neighboring family said he performed what looked like military training exercises in his yard.

Johnson took self-defense classes at the Academy of Combative Warrior Arts in Richardson, Texas for six months to a year. Justin Everman, who owns the business, said the classes only involved hand-to-hand defensive measures, nothing related to weapons training.

He said Johnson’s round of classes ended more than a year ago.

Jennifer Emily, Scott Farwell, Brittney Martin, and Lauren McGaughy of The Dallas Morning News /TNS all contributed to this report.

ment that has been ongoing, and we’ve seen huge waves of people becoming conscious. It takes a lot of work when you’re up against a huge monster. No one stone is going to hit Goliath in the head and then he falls.”

Meeting the POTUS The Defenders’ work that has received the most notoriety was their 2013 sit-in protest at the Tallahassee capital to convince Gov. Rick Scott to call a special session on the controversial Stand Your Ground self-defense law. Selah also attended a 2014 meeting with President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder.

“President Obama will never truly do what’s needed for Blacks,” said Selah bluntly. “He should demilitarize local police. Body cameras alone won’t do. He needs to defund some of the police departments. We don’t need police officers in schools. There are too many police everywhere and we don’t need so many.

“You can know all the rights bestowed to you and still be dead at the hands of the police,” Selah explained.

Contact the Florida Dream Defenders at ddcongress16@gmail. com. The next Dream Defenders Congress is Aug. 14-18.

JULY 15 – JULY 21, 2016

Dallas chief: ‘This shooting will not discourage us’

BY DOMINGO RAMIREZ JR. FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

MAX FAULKNER/FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM/TNS

Dallas Police Chief David Brown talks at a prayer service in Dallas on on July 8.

DALLAS – Police chief David Brown has no second thoughts about using a robot with an explosive device to kill a sniper who ambushed officers after a peaceful Black Lives Matter march the night of July 7.

Brown said Monday he

would use the $151,000 Remotec Andros Mark V-A1 robot again.

“This wasn’t an ethical dilemma at all for me,” Brown said at a Monday news conference as he updated the investigation of the ambush that killed five police officers on July 7.

“I’ll use any tool at my disposal to save an officer’s life,” said Brown.

NATION 5 killed, 9 wounded The sniper, Micah X. Johnson, was killed early July 8 after hours of negotiations failed.

Killed in the shootings were Dallas police officers Lorne Ahrens, a 14-year veteran of the department; Michael Smith, a 27-year veteran; Michael Krol and Patrick Zamarripa.

DART Police officer Brent Thompson also died in the shooting.

The police chief adjusted the figures to note that nine officers were wounded: four Dallas police officers, three DART officers and two El Centro College officers.

Brown said that 11 officers opened fire on the suspect and that two officers

A3 operated the robot with the explosive device.

Hundreds of statements Detectives on Monday were continuing to review more than 170 hours of video from body cameras worn by officers at the scene on the night of the shooting. Authorities also will review videos from police car dash cameras and business store surveillance cameras in downtown Dallas.

In addition, detectives have gone over 300 statements from witnesses and officers, and some officers have yet to give statements, Brown said Monday.

The Dallas police chief said that the FBI and other law enforcement agencies are still trying to determine the meaning of the initials “RB,” which were left in blood by Johnson at El Centro College in downtown Dallas.

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Bomb-making materials were found in Johnson’s home in Mesquite, Brown said.

“He knew what he was doing,” the police chief said. “He wasn’t some novice.”

Brown said the shooting investigation will continue.

“We’re going to turn over every rock and follow every lead until it’s exhausted,” he said.

Brown and his family received death threats almost immediately after the shooting.

“We’re all on edge and we’re being very careful,” he said.

The police chief praised his officers.

“This is the best department in this country,” Brown said. “This shooting will not discourage us.”

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Hatchett representing Castile family FROM WIRE REPORTS

Judge Glenda Hatchett, best known for her syndicated TV show, explained on Wednesday why she’s representing the family of Philando Castile.

The 32-year-old Minnesota man was shot and killed during a traffic stop on July 6 as he followed an officer’s command to take out his driver’s license.

During an appearance on TV One’s “News One Now’’ hosted by Roland Martin, Hatchett said she was honored to work on the case.

“I’m going to be very, very, diligent and do my due diligence on this case, but I’ll be very transparent with you and all of the media when this is done,” said Hatchett. “I’m determined … to do everything I can.’’

“He was loving. He was caring. He stayed home, he went to work and he took care of his business," girlfriend Diamond Reynolds has said about Castile.

Hatchett said on the TV program, “I count it a privilege to be representing this family. I talked about this being the last time.

You know this is a man – I want to remind all of use, this morning this is a man who is doing everything right. He had a job. He loved his family. He was beloved. The outpouring in the community has been amazing. This is not a man who was fleeing the scene.

He was not combative with the police. He was complying this time. Those are thing we know emphatically were happening.”

Judge Glenda Hatchett

EDITORIAL

A4

JULY 15 – JULY 21, 2016

What to do when they don’t want you to exist There is a group of people in America – it is predominantly composed of White people – that wants Latino immigrants kicked out of the country. They attempt to create fear surrounding Muslims. They don’t want women to have reproductive rights. They don’t treat transgender citizens like humans. They throw around anti-Semitism with ease. And they don’t have a problem when police kill Black people.

Although Donald Trump didn’t create this group – views like these have long existed in America – the rhetoric behind his presidential campaign has further fueled them and helped bring them back out into the open.

From a survey conducted this spring by the Pew Research Center, strong indicators of a Trump supporter were beliefs that “Islam encourages violence” and “it’s bad for the country that Blacks, Latinos and Asians will someday make up the majority of the population.” And the ferment stirred up by this ideology – White supremacy – is spreading.

Multiple killings In one week, we watched two Black men – Alton Sterling and Philando Castile – killed by White police officers, followed by a Black man in Dallas killing five police officers. All of these acts are indefensible, all products of a climate founded in fear and distrust, one that has become violent, and now, vengeful.

What is to be done?

The need for a coordinated movement to resist such hatred is clear, but it can’t simply be composed of minorities. There’s one more group that must be involved: the White people who need to help.

In “The Autobiography of Malcolm X,” Malcolm described an interaction in which a White woman came from New England to New York to ask his advice on what she should do to be an effective ally. The scene was por-

REMBERT BROWNE GUEST COLUMNIST

Minorities are fighting for their lives. This group that wants to take America back enjoys watching the rest of us crack, publicly stumble, all while using one negative example to prove a point and judge an entire group. They want us to feel pain, and they want many of us to disappear. trayed in Spike Lee’s movie, “Malcolm X.” Malcolm’s answer to her plea of “What can I do to help further your cause?” was this: “Nothing.”

In part because of the film, many people of color now think the way to deal with White allies should be the same as Malcolm’s – tell them to just get out of the way.

Making them uncomfortable One of our most time-honored ways of dealing with a lifetime of pain from White people is to publicly drag them, our own little form of daily reparations.

The false dichotomy between supporting cops or legitimate protest If Micah Xavier Johnson’s goal was to support people in Dallas who were protesting the fatal police shootings of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, La. and Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minn., he failed miserably.

Not only did he not advance the cause by killing five law enforcement officers, his deadly action was the catalyst for the public discussion to dramatically shift from videotaped police misconduct to the dangers of policing in America.

The news media, which had been giving extensive coverage to the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, quickly shifted gears and focused almost exclusively on the police attacks in Dallas, filling the airways with touching individual profiles and extolling the virtues of police officers who ran toward danger to protect the public instead of retreating to safety.

Tell both stories The stories of heroism deserved to be told. But so did the unfolding stories behind the deaths of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling. The media coverage mirrored a larger dilemma: American’s were being told in no uncertain terms that they had to pick sides – they were either on the side of police officers or the side of protesters.

It’s a false dichotomy. One can be supportive of police while also supporting protests against po-

GEORGE CURRY GEORGE CURRY MEDIA COLUMNIST

The news media, which had been giving extensive coverage to the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, quickly shifted gears and focused almost exclusively on the police attacks in Dallas, filling the airways with touching individual profiles and extolling the virtues of police officers... lice misconduct. And, as we saw in the news coverage, whenever one is pitted against the other, the police will win every time.

Every day is an exercise in grading the next “woke” White person – which, aside from often being justified on the merits, is also a way to keep White people uncomfortable, so they’ll never know if what they are doing is right or wrong, even if they actually have good intentions.

Plus, White people should know what it’s like to feel uncomfortable, since it’s par for the course for everyone else.

But even the most off-putting Instagram photo of Mischa Barton on a fancy boat looking concerned about police brutality isn’t the enemy. And Malcolm, whose life arc was that of reinvention and self-improvement, admitted in a later chapter of his book that he regretted what he said to the White lady who wanted to help.

“I knew, better than most Negroes, how many White people truly wanted to see American racial problems solved,” Malcolm wrote. “I knew that many Whites were as frustrated as Negroes.”

Still wary But his shift was not a 180-degree flip. He was still wary of White people who wanted to ally as “an escapist way to salve their consciences.” Ultimately, he came to the conclusion that White people can advance the cause of Black people, but it has to be done in a particular way: By visibly hovering near us, they are “proving” that they are “with us.” But the hard truth is this isn’t helping to solve America’s racist problem. The Negroes aren’t the racists. Where the really sincere white people have got to do their “proving” of themselves is not among the black victims, but out on the battle lines of where America’s racism really is – and that’s in their own home communities; America’s racism is among their own fellow whites. That’s where sincere whites who really mean to accomplish something have got to work.

Malcolm said this in 1964, but And they certainly will win when the killer is Black and all of the victims are White.

The moment the news flashed across television that someone was firing on police officers in Dallas, the natural reflex in Black America was to say, “I hope that person isn’t Black.” AfricanAmericans know how differently Blacks and Whites are perceived in America.

When 12 people were killed in a movie theater in Aurora, Col., it was blamed on the shooter, James Holmes. Adam Lanza was identified as the killer of 20 firstgraders and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were fingered as the killers of 13 at Columbine High School in Colorado. Dylan Storm Roof killed nine Black church worshipers in Charleston, S.C. And Timothy McVeigh was put to death for masterminding the explosion of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City that left 168 people dead and more than 600 injured.

Collective guilt However, when a Black individual does something reprehensible, too often that guilt immediately gets assigned to all Blacks, not the individual committing the dastardly act.

President Obama addressed that point at a news conference in Warsaw, Poland.

“The demented individual who carried out those attacks in Dallas, he’s no more representative of African-Americans than the shooter in Charleston was representative of White Americans, or the shooter in Orlando or San Bernardino were representative of Muslim Americans,”

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: MODERN-DAY AMERICA

ADAM ZYGLIS, THE BUFFALO NEWS

it could have been written to describe July 2016.

The past year, and the rise of Trump, has brought bigotry out of hiding, and thank God for it – at least there’s no escaping what we’re dealing with now.

No penalties The election of Obama sparked a racist backlash that has now fully flowered into a political campaign explicitly centered around the idea of taking America back for White people. Online, on television, and in real life, we are living in their coming-out party.

And they have no reason to hide, because there seem to be no penalties or repercussions for hatred.

Highlighting the hate, and the haters, was supposed to do the trick. There was a point when applying scarlet letters would strip someone of the ability to have a platform, driving them back underground.

That’s no longer the case, and now the back-and-forth shaming makes people louder, further expanding the poles that are our two Americas.

Change tactics The rules have changed, so the tactics also have to change. It’s no longer just about speaking out. he said. “They don’t speak for us.

That’s not who we are.”

Conservatives were quick to blame the president, who was 4,480 miles away at the time, for the Dallas rampage.

Rep. Roger Williams (R-Texas) said, “The spread of misinformation and constant instigation by prominent leaders, including our president, have contributed to the modern day hostility we are witnessing between the police and those they serve. As a result, today we are seeing one of the noblest professions condemned by those who could benefit the most.”

The truth As the Washington Post observed in a headline, “Police are safer under Obama than they have been in decades.”

The story noted, “But the simplistic and inflammatory notion of a ‘war on cops’ is completely undercut by one fundamental data point: Intentional attacks on police officers are at historically low levels under President Obama.

“Data from the Officers Down Memorial Page, which tracks law enforcement officer fatalities in real time, illustrates the point.

During the Reagan years, for instance, an average of 101 police officers were intentionally killed each year. Under George H.W. Bush that number fell to 90. It fell further, to 81 deaths per year, under Bill Clinton, and to 72 deaths per year under George W. Bush.

“Under Obama, the average number of police intentionally killed each year has fallen to its lowest level yet - an average of 62 deaths annually through 2015.”

Meanwhile, the number of people killed by police is up in the first six months of this year,

Charles W. Cherry II, Esq., Publisher

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

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White people have to internally change the structures that promote bigotry, from organizations to law enforcement to political parties, while minority groups have to protect themselves and make sure that trauma doesn’t lead to irreversible acts that cause more trauma.

Minorities are fighting for their lives. This group that wants to take America back enjoys watching the rest of us crack, publicly stumble, all while using one negative example to prove a point and judge an entire group. They want us to feel pain, and they want many of us to disappear.

You hear it in Trump’s speeches, you see it at his rallies, you can’t escape it on social media, and you feel it every time an officer turns another Black man into a hashtag with the pull of a trigger. These people don’t want us to win, and some don’t want us to live.

So all we have is each other.

And as Malcolm said, “in our mutual sincerity we might be able to show a road to the salvation of America’s very soul.”

This article originally appeared in New York Magazine, where Rembert Browne is writer-at-large. from 465 in the first six months of 2015 to 481 over a similar period this year.

‘Get you killed’ It’s not just a case of driving while Black. African-Americans run the risk of being killed when simply breathing while Black, as Washington Post columnist Jonathan Capehart so vividly recounted.

He wrote, “A broken taillight can get you killed (Philando Castile). Selling CDs outside a convenience store can get you killed (Alton Sterling). Selling loose cigarettes can get you killed (Eric Garner).

“Playing in a park with a toy gun can get you killed (Tamir Rice). Shopping in a Walmart can get you killed (John Crawford III). A missing license plate can get you killed (Samuel DuBose).

Worshiping in your church can get you killed (the Mother Emanuel nine).

“A routine traffic stop can get you shot (Levar Jones) or killed (Sandra Bland, Walter Scott).

And as every African-American knows, a routine traffic stop is never routine when you’re Black.”

George E. Curry is president and CEO of George Curry Media, LLC. He is the former editor-in-chief of Emerge magazine and the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) News Service. Contact him via georgecurry.com. He is a keynote speaker, moderator, and media coach. You can also follow him at twitter.com/currygeorge, George E. Curry Fan Page on Facebook, and Periscope. See previous columns at http://www.georgecurry.com/ columns.

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JULY 15 – JULY 21, 2016

Black man plus gun equals death everywhere in America A week that began with the Black American psyche shocked and strained to its very limits by the outrageous police murders of Black men in Louisiana and Minnesota, ended with a White mayor claiming absolution for his city and, by extension, White U.S. society in general.

“We did nothing wrong. Dallas is very, very good,” Mayor Mike Rawlings told an event honoring the five cops killed by 25-year-old Black Army veteran Micah Xavier Johnson. “I am in awe of our police officers.”

President Obama nodded in agreement. He had come to preach the gospel of irresistible American progress and of moral equivalence between master and slave, and between Micah Johnson, who struck at armed members of a police department that is statistically no less lethal in its treatment of Blacks than most of its big city peers – despite all the praised heaped on its Black chief – and Dylan Roof, the White supremacist who murdered nine Black churchgoers in Charleston.

BLM ‘obituary’

jurisdiction, possession

age and control that no one should be required to possess.

Reynolds bore the common burden that is inflicted by the U.S. State on 40 million Black people.

The Minnesota cop’s lawyer maintains that “the shooting had nothing to do with race and everything to do with the presence of that gun” – the registered gun Mr. Castile told the officer he legally possessed, and which he never reached for or touched, as Ms. Reynolds explained in her emergency call to the world.

of a gun by a Black

Historical formula

GLEN FORD BLACK AGENDA REPORT

No matter what gun laws exist in a

person – or the rumor of a gun – is a capital offense everywhere in the United States.

The problem of police shootings of Black

The New York Times was eager people is not about to issue an obituary for the movement that has been percolating gun control, but who since a Florida vigilante gunned down Trayvon Martin in 2012.

“Black Lives Matter Was Gain- controls the police. ing Ground,” read the headline on Sunday, July 10, but “...Then a When President Obama Sniper Opened Fire.” According to the twisted logic of the ruling and the Congressional class “paper of record,” “Mr. Johnson’s actions could jeopardize the movement’s appeal to a broad- Black Caucus attempted er group of Americans who have gradually become more sympa- to throw gun control thetic to its cause after years of highly publicized police shoot- laws into the mix, last ings.”

Translation: The purpose of Black people’s movements is to week, they were trying garner White support. Therefore, protesters must stand down in to change the subject. deference to White sensibilities, lest they be suspected of collectively empathizing with Mr. John- friend, strapped in his seat at her son. side; alerted the community to the unprovoked nature of the atNot stopping tack by Officer Jeronimo Yanez, But Black people and their al- verbally confronting the killer cop lies refused to stand down. In At- and correcting his version of the lanta, New York, Baltimore, Phil- shooting; and managed to someadelphia, Detroit, New Orleans, how preserve her own life and Nashville, Phoenix, San Francisco that of her four-year-old daugh– and, of course, in greater Min- ter, sitting in the back seat.

The crazed and cursing cop neapolis and Baton Rouge – thousands took to the streets to ex- kept his weapon trained on Caspress their righteous, disciplined tile, Reynolds and little Dae’Anna, the whole time. rage.

Many of these protests have continued, day after day and Heroic courage night after night, inspired by the Reynolds’ steely, heroic comremarkable example of Lavish posure can only be understood “Diamond” Reynolds, the girl- in the particular context of a U.S. criminal justice system whose friend of Philando Castile.

The world witnessed the young mission is to contain, control, termother’s miraculous presence of rorize and criminalize Blacks as a mind as she streamed online to people.

She exhibited the kind of courcall for help for her dying boy-

What should we teach them now?

In 1984, my brother and I were fortunate enough to survive an encounter with the police. It occurred near the beginning of a drive from Princeton, New Jersey to Cambridge, Mass., where I was completing my doctorate at Harvard University. I was joined by my fiancé, who was completing her doctorate at MIT, my brother, who was completing his at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and his wife, who was about to enter medical school.

Complied and survived When two Princeton officers flashed us to a halt, my brother and I knew what to do, based on “the talk” our parents had given us years before. We were taught to comply with all orders issued by the police and respectfully reply to any questions they may ask.

By doing so, we were told that the encounter would probably have a safe and desirable outcome.

Accordingly, we slowly got out of the front seats with our empty hands in clear view, we placed them on the hood of the car, and we spread our legs, all as sternly instructed. As we were patted down by one officer, the other kept his hand on his gun.

After I respectfully asked the officer why he stopped us, my brother and I worked hard to remain poised once he answered, “You have out-of-state plates, you don’t look like you live here, and

JOHN SILVANUS WILSON GUEST COMMENTARY

Unless we teach in a way that remedies both Black distrust and blue fear, we have little chance of realizing the America we are otherwise destined to become. you have a car full of belongings!”

I say we survived the police encounter because “the talk” worked for us. We respectfully did as we were told, we quietly absorbed the undeserved humiliation, and we eventually drove away.

Complied and died So, the most remarkable thing about the recent fatal police shootings of Black men is that

The cop is preparing a defense based on the police formula: Black Man + Gun = Death. It is the operative equation in every jurisdiction in America.

A homeless man who had been begging Alton Sterling for money reportedly told police that Sterling had a gun on his person, thereby authorizing his execution under the formula – although Sterling never brandished a weapon at the two Baton Rouge police and was immobilized when repeatedly shot point blank, after which the weapon was removed from his pocket.

No matter what gun laws exist in a jurisdiction, possession of a gun by a Black person – or the rumor of a gun – is a capital offense everywhere in the United States.

The problem of police shootings of Black people is not about gun control, but who controls the police. When President Obama and the Congressional Black Caucus attempted to throw gun control laws into the mix, last week, they were trying to change the subject.

‘Debate’ desired They are also cynical liars and hypocrites. North Carolina Congressman G.K. Butterfield, the current chairman of the Black Caucus, called a diversionary press conference the day after the armed assault on the Dallas police, attempting to link the gun control debate to both the police killings of Castile and Sterling and Micah Johnson’s retaliatory killing of cops: “Republicans, what on earth – why are you recoiling and not giving us a debate on gun violence?”

The legislation the CBC and Obama support is irrelevant to the question of police violence against Blacks, or the Black response to that violence. What is relevant to the discussion is Obama’s and the Black Caucus’ huge role in the militarization of local police.

With the exception of Michigan’s John Conyers, every Caucus member that attended Rep. Butterfield’s press conference voted against the Grayson Amendment that would have halted Pentagon transfers of weapons and military gear to local departments when Philando Castile, who perished in Falcon Heights, Minn., clearly heard and heeded “the talk,” too.

Although a full investigation is pending, Mr. Castile seems to have conducted himself with the same cooperation and respect my brother and I had, and that so many young Black men have been successfully disciplined to display in such situations. And yet, Mr. Castile was brutally shot and killed anyway. Why? And how?

My wife and I have a 21-year old son, and I now serve as president of Morehouse College – a campus with more than 2,000 AfricanAmerican men. What should we teach them now?

Three messages Three things come immediately to mind as a message to Black and minority boys and men.

First, stay disciplined. Our parents and teachers were not wrong when they gave us the talk. Because the talk is fundamentally about how best to negotiate the world, it is essentially consistent with the values we work to instill in all men of Morehouse – namely, we want them to demonstrate acuity, practice integrity, exhibit agency, commit to brotherhood and lead consequential lives. We are called to be our best selves even and especially when others are at their worst. Disciplined poise in the face of danger can still save lives.

Second, stay determined. President Obama correctly referred to this peculiar vulnerability of Black and other minority males as “an American issue that we should all care about.” It is. It has no place in the America that most of us envision. Even Governor Mark Dayton

EDITORIAL

A5

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: AFTER DALLAS

PATRICK CHAPPATTE, NZZ AM SONNTAG

the measure came up for a full House vote in June of 2014 – two months before Michael Brown was gunned down by a cop in Ferguson, Missouri.

Conyers was joined in his support for the amendment by only seven other CBC members.

Thirty-two members – 80 percent of the CBC – either opposed the Grayson Amendment, or abstained, which amounts to the same thing. No wonder their notions of gun control have nothing to do with controlling police gun crimes; they are complicit in those crimes.

Lethal equipment provided President Obama made a big splash when he announced, under pressures from an aroused Black populace, that he would put restraints on federal militarization of local police last year.

However, Obama had already done more than any other president, by far, to narrow the line between soldier and cop.

Pentagon transfers to local police increased every year under Obama, reaching a “crescendo” in 2014, at the very time events in Ferguson revealed to the world the militarized nature of U.S. policing. The Ferguson cops were playing with Obama’s toys.

It is as silly to praise Obama for reducing Pentagon transfers to local police (from his own high levels of arms transfers) as it is to give Obama credit for winding down the Afghanistan war, since he “surged” tens of thousands of additional troops into the country before he finally brought the numbers down. Obama merely reduced his own Afghanistan troop increases, just as he reduced his own surge of weapons to local police.

protesters, bystanders and journalists, deploying military-type vehicles, and conducting blanket area sweeps with no visible regard for law or civil liberties.

Corporate media excuse the Baton Rouge police behavior as an understandable reaction to the Dallas police deaths. The New York Times has not asked the cops to stand down.

President Obama sings his usual song about America constantly improving itself – which is simply false. “When we start suggesting that somehow there is this enormous polarization and we’re back to the situation in the 1960s — that’s just not true,” Obama said this weekend. “You’re not seeing riots, and you’re not seeing police going after people who are protesting peacefully.” (Tell that to folks in Baton Rouge.)

Act of resistance

When murderous attack by agents of the State is a reasonable expectation, then it is totally reasonable to resist the repressive powers of that State by any means necessary. The Dallas shootings “bear eerie similarities” to Mark Essex’s killing of five New Orleans police officers and four White civilians, plus the wounding of seven other cops, from his perch atop the Howard Johnson’s Hotel, in 1973.

An update from the New Orleans Times-Picayune explains that 23 year-old Essex, who had been in the Navy, was motivated by the recent police killings of two Black Southern University students.

Two generations removed from both mass movement politics and any real discussion of oppressed people’s moral and legal right to resist, most Black folks today don’t know quite what to say about Micah Johnson’s act of selfIgnoring civil liberties sacrifice and revenge.

In Baton Rouge, where hunBut many do feel a sense of dreds have been arrested in pro- grim exhilaration. tests over Alton Sterling’s murGlen Ford is executive editor der, it is as if Ferguson never happened. According to a report by of BlackAgendaReport.com. EProf. Bob Quigley, riot clad police mail him at Glen.Ford@Blackare pointing lethal weapons at AgendaReport.com. of Minnesota wondered whether this would have happened if Mr. Castile and his passengers were White, and he concluded, “I don’t think it would have.” Many Americans know that, at least where police shootings are concerned, there has been a race-based double standard.

Various scenarios

Black men is a disgusting feature of an America that we must remain determined to change.

No retaliation Finally, stay on the high road.

Our national “justice for all” agenda will not be realized by responding to violence with violence. By all means, we must shun all tendencies toward hatred and retribution.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” Similarly, Mahatma Gandhi said, “An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.” The random assassination of White police officers in Dallas or anywhere else will only exacerbate our challenges rather than help us to meet them.

I join others in calling for a high-road, national conversation about police/community relations, with a particular focus on the experiences of African American men. Because whether or not a Black man walks away from a confrontation with police cannot be determined by chance.

In the same vein, law enforcement officers should be able to support and protect peaceful protestors without randomly becoming the victims of a self-appointed assassin.

Unless we teach in a way that remedies both Black distrust and blue fear, we have little chance of realizing the America we are otherwise destined to become.

And many Americans have grasped the obscenity that being a Black male makes you more likely to be killed in a variety of settings, including: after buying skittles in Orlando; while playing in a public park at the age of 12 in Cleveland; after selling loose cigarettes in New York City, and; in countless similar situations where the imminent danger posed by the victims remains nearly impossible to identify.

It is important to stay determined and avoid being trapped and neutralized by crippling fear, apathy and cynicism. In my judgment, this is the only way we realize an America where equality under the law is the norm for all, and where the content of our character is more readily recognized and weighted than the color of our skin.

At Morehouse College, we celebrated our fourth Rhodes Scholar this past spring. But I worry that some police officers will see his tall, lean, dark body and think of him as a menace, rather than a mensch. I worry that his Rhodes Scholarship will no more work for him, than our prestigious graduate pursuits worked for us on that small, dark road in Princeton back in 1984.

John Silvanus Wilson is presiBeing in mortal danger for no other reason than because we are dent of Morehouse College.

NATION

TOJ A6

JULY 15 – JULY 21, 2016

Lynch deflects questions about Clinton’s emails Attorney General focused on killings of officers during appearance before Congress members

BY JILL ORNITZ TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

WASHINGTON – Republican lawmakers on Tuesday pushed Attorney General Loretta Lynch to defend the Justice Department’s decision not to prosecute Hillary Clinton over her use of a private email server as secretary of state.

Lynch also faced tough questions over her decision to meet with former President Bill Clinton last month, which she has previously admitted cast a shadow over the Justice Department’s probe.

But Lynch repeatedly refused to discuss the details of the email probe, saying only that she had accepted the unanimous recommendation of career agents and prosecutors, including FBI Director James Comey.

She said it would be “inappropriate to comment further” on the specific facts of the case or the decision-making process.

GOP grilling Following the uproar over the meeting with Bill Clinton, Lynch removed herself from the final decision about whether to file charges, relying on the recommendation of Comey and career prosecutors.

But GOP lawmakers accused Lynch of failing to live up her constitutional duty by not personally analyzing the case.

“The buck stops with you,” Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Ill.) said.

Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) said the decision against filing charges gave the appearance of a double standard in Clinton’s favor because of her political power.

Officer fired after threatening child’s life on Facebook BLACKAMERICAWEB.COM

A White police officer in Kansas has lost his job for randomly threatening a little Black girl’s life on social media.

According to the Daily Mail, Rodney Lee Wilson, an officer with the Overland Park Police Department in Kansas, left a death threat for LaNaydra Williams’ daughter on the mother’s Facebook page.

Apparently, Wilson, who has no connection to Williams, came across the Dallas resident’s page and a two-year-old picture of her then 3-year-old daughter, India.

OLIVIER DOULIERY/ABACA PRESS/TNS

Attorney General Loretta Lynch faces questions from the House Judiciary Committee in Washington, D.C., on July 12, in her first appearance on Capitol Hill since she announced Hillary Clinton won’t be prosecuted for sending classified information on a private, unsecured email system.

Lynch said all of those reviewing the case and making the recommendation were career agents and prosecutors, not political appointees.

The committee quickly divided along party lines in its questioning, with Republicans focusing on Clinton’s email server and Democrats instead focusing on the Orlando terror attack, the need for law enforcement reform highlighted by the recent police

shootings of Black men and strategies for repairing relationships with minority communities.

No political motivation Comey, testifying last week before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, defended the agency’s investigation into Clinton’s email server and reiterated that a criminal case against the presumptive Democratic nominee would not

While most people had commented on how adorable India looked, Williams said she was terrified when she saw what Wilson added.

“We’ll see how much her life matters soon … better be careful leaving your info in the open where she can be found. Hold her close tonight, it’ll be the last time,” he wrote.

Scared mom The Texas mom told WDAF News she couldn’t sleep all night and doesn’t understand why Wilson targeted her and her child.

“It’s not okay. Not my child, she’s all I have. India is my heart, that’s not right. We’re already on edge, so why would you do that?” the distressed mother said.

Soon after, Williams checked Wilson’s page and to her dismay discovered he was a police officer.

“I see he’s a cop. For this guy to just come out of nowhere, just being disrespectful. How can you be an officer? How, How? It’s unacceptable. For anyone — but especially for a police officer,” she told KSHB.com.

She then filed a complaint with Wilson’s supervisors, who at first

Alton Sterling’s son: Protest the right way

BY BREANNA EDWARDS THE ROOT

Cameron Sterling, the eldest son of Alton Sterling—the Baton Rouge, Louisiana man who was fatally gunned down by police officers at a convenience store, sparking protests across the nation—is now speaking out about his father’s death, saying that Alton Sterling was a “good dad.”

“I really want everyone to know, everyone nationwide, everyone in this world, to know that Alton Sterling was a good man,” the 15-year-old told Cameron CBS News this week. “No Sterling matter what anyone else has to say about him, truly in my heart, I know he was a good dad.”

‘My daddy here’ Cameron relived the moment when he broke down on live television as his mother, Quinyetta McMillon, spoke about his father during a news conference last week.

“When I put my arm around her, it’s like somebody else’s hand touched me, like I had another hand laying on top of my hand.

hold up in court.

Comey stated there was “no basis to believe” Clinton lied to the FBI during its investigation and assured committee members there was no political motivation to the timing of Comey’s announcement or the agency’s decision to recommend charges not be filed.

Focused on killings Lynch was scheduled to testify

tried to tell her his page had been hacked. But by July 8, the Overland Park Police Department issued a statement admitting Wilson had in fact left the comment and as a result had been fired.

Chief reacts quickly Police Chief Francis Donchez Jr. said in a statement: “This morning, the Overland Park Police Department received notification about a Facebook post, reportedly made by one of our officers from his personal Facebook account. During the investigation, by our Professional Standards Unit, we learned our officer did in fact make this post. It was obvious that our officer did not meet the standards of professionalism for the Overland Park Police Department. Overland Park has terminated the officer, effective immediately.

“This quick action demonstrates our commitment to our core values including integrity and respect. I want to assure our community, and those outside our community, that our highest priority is the safety and welfare of the citizens of Overland Park, and the men and women who protect everyone.”

And when I looked over, was nobody else touching me. Nobody else was touching me. And it was like at that moment I knew: My daddy here, he’s right on the side of her,” Cameron said.

“We’re standing here as a family together once again. That’s when I just started crying … I knew I can’t physically have him back, so I knew I had to cry, just to be like, ‘I want my daddy back.’”

‘Make things better’ His father’s death, along with the shooting death of Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minn., prompted nationwide protests.

In Dallas, a seemingly peaceful protest turned fatal when, authorities say, gunman Micah Johnson targeted and killed five police officers and wounded nine other people, including two civilians.

While Cameron is upset about the deaths in Dallas, he continues to urge people to protest, but to do so peacefully.

“What I want, what I ask, if you truly love my father, I truly just want everyone to protest the right way, protesting in peace. Not in violence,” Cameron told the network.

“Not beating the police, not police beating the people. That makes no sense. That make things worse. You have to make things better by making peace.”

According to CBS, Cameron was to head Thursday to Washington, D.C., where he was expected to meet President Barack Obama during a town hall, before laying his father to rest Friday.

before the House Judiciary Committee before Comey announced his decision. Her submitted testimony made no mention of the Clinton email controversy.

She instead focused on the killings of five Dallas police officers

by Micah Xavier Johnson, an Army veteran apparently angry over police shootings of Black men in Louisiana and Minnesota.

Former Miss Alabama calls shooter a martyr

BY YESHA CALLAHAN THE ROOT

Kalyn Chapman James, the first Black womanto win the Miss Alabama title, posted a controversial video on Facebook seemingly siding with Dallas shooter Micah Xavier Johnson.

In the video, James expressed how tired she was of seeing Black men being killed by cops and said she “didn’t want to feel this way.”

“I’m dealing with a bit of guilt because I don’t feel sad for the officers that lost their lives, and I know that that’s not really my Kalyn Chapman heart,” James said.

James

Controversial comments “I value human life, and I want to feel sad for them, but I can’t help but [feel] like the shooter [Micah Johnson] was a martyr,” she continued.

“And I know it’s not the right way to feel, because nobody deserves to lose their lives, and I know that those police officers had families and people who loved them and that they didn’t deserve to die.

“But I’m so torn up in my heart about seeing these men, these Black men, being gunned down in our community that I can’t help,” she continued. “I wasn’t surprised by what the shooter did to those cops, and I think a lot of us feel the same way.”

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JULY 15 – JULY 21, 2016

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‘I will remove from you your heart of stone’ Editor’s note: Here are edited remarks given by President Obama at an interfaith memorial service on July 12 for five Dallas Police Department officers who were shot to death in Dallas, Texas on July 7.

Scripture tells us that in our sufferings there is glory, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.

Sometimes the truths of these words are hard to see. Right now, those words test us. Because the people of Dallas, people across the country, are suffering.

We’re here to honor the memory, and mourn the loss, of five fellow Americans – to grieve with their loved ones, to support this community, to pray for the wounded, and to try and find some meaning amidst our sorrow.

An ordinary day For the men and women who protect and serve the people of Dallas, last Thursday began like any other day. Like most Americans each day, you get up, probably have too quick a breakfast, kiss your family goodbye, and you head to work.

But your work, and the work of police officers across the country, is like no other.

For the moment you put on that uniform, you have answered a call that at any moment, even in the briefest interaction, may put your life in harm’s way.

Lorne Ahrens, he answered that call. So did his wife, Katrina – not only because she was the spouse of a police officer, but because she’s a detective on the force.

They have two kids. And Lorne took them fishing, and used to proudly go to their school in uniform.

And the night before he died, he bought dinner for a homeless man. And the next night, Katrina had to tell their children that their dad was gone. “They don’t get it yet,” their grandma said. “They don’t know what to do quite yet.”

PHOTOS BY PAUL MOSELY/FORT WORTH STAR TELEGRAM/TNS

Members of the Dallas Police Department Choir walk past portraits of their fallen comrades. lines drawn, and people retreat to their respective corners, and politicians calculate how to grab attention or avoid the fallout.

We see all this, and it’s hard not to think sometimes that the center won’t hold and that things might get worse. I understand how Americans are feeling.

But, Dallas, I’m here to say we must reject such despair. I’m here to insist that we are not as divided as we seem. And I know that because I know America. I know how far we’ve come against impossible odds.

The last time Michael Krol answered that call. His mother said, “He knew the dangers of the job, but he never shied away from his duty.” He came a thousand miles from his home state of Michigan to be a cop in Dallas, telling his family, “This is something I wanted to do.” Last year, he brought his girlfriend back to Detroit for Thanksgiving, and it was the last time he’d see his family.

Michael Smith answered that call – in the Army, and over almost 30 years working for the Dallas Police Association, which gave him the appropriately named “Cops Cop” award. A man of deep faith, when he was off duty, he could be found at church or playing softball with his two girls. Today, his girls have lost their dad, for God has called Michael home.

Patrick Zamarripa, he answered that call. Just 32, a former altar boy who served in the Navy and dreamed of being a cop.

He liked to post videos of himself and his kids on social media. And on Thursday night, while Patrick went to work, his partner Kristy posted a photo of her and their daughter at a Texas Rangers game, and tagged her partner so that he could see it while on duty.

Newly married Brent Thompson answered that call.

He served his country as a Marine. And years later, as a contractor, he spent time in some of the most dangerous parts of Iraq and Afghanistan. And then a few years ago, he settled down here in Dallas for a new life of service as a transit cop.

And just about two weeks ago, he married a fellow officer, their whole life together waiting before them.

Like police officers across the country, these men and their families shared a commitment to something larger than themselves. They weren’t looking for their names to be up in lights. They’d tell you the pay was decent but wouldn’t make you rich. They could have told you about the stress and long shifts, and they’d probably agree with Chief Brown when he said that cops don’t expect to hear the words “thank you” very often, especially from those who need them the most.

No, the reward comes in knowing that our entire way of life in America depends on the rule of law; that the maintenance of that law is a hard and daily labor; that in this country, we don’t have soldiers in the streets or militias setting the rules. Instead, we have public servants – police officers – like the men who were taken away from us.

And that’s what these five were doing last Thursday when they were assigned to protect and keep orderly a peaceful pro-

Perseverance, character

President Barack Obama speaks during a memorial for the officers killed last week.

I believe our sorrow can make us a better country. I believe our righteous anger can be transformed into more justice and more peace.

“Weeping may endure for a night,” but I’m convinced joy comes in the morning. test in response to the killing of Alton Sterling of Baton Rouge and Philando Castile of Minnesota. They were upholding the constitutional rights of this country.

Peaceful protest For a while, the protest went on without incident. And despite the fact that police conduct was the subject of the protest, despite the fact that there must have been signs or slogans or chants with which they profoundly disagreed, these men and this department did their jobs like the professionals that they were.

In fact, the police had been part of the protest’s planning. Dallas PD even posted photos on their Twitter feeds of their own officers standing among the protesters.

Two officers, Black and White, smiled next to a man with a sign that read, “No Justice, No Peace.”

And then, around nine o’clock, the gunfire came. Another community torn apart.

More hearts broken. More questions about what caused, and what might prevent, another such tragedy.

We are struggling I know that Americans are struggling right now with what we’ve witnessed over the past week. First, the shootings in Minnesota and Baton Rouge, and the protests, then the targeting of police by the shooter here – an act not just of demented violence but of racial hatred. All of it has left us wounded, and angry, and hurt.

It’s as if the deepest fault lines of our democracy have suddenly been exposed, perhaps even widened. And although we know that such divisions are not new – though they have surely been worse in even the recent past – that offers us little comfort.

Faced with this violence, we wonder if the divides of race in America can ever be bridged. We wonder if an African-American community that feels unfairly targeted by police, and police departments that feel unfairly maligned for doing their jobs, can ever understand each other’s experience.

We turn on the TV or surf the Internet, and we can watch positions harden and

I know we’ll make it because of what I’ve experienced in my own life, what I’ve seen of this country and its people – their goodness and decency – as president of the United States. And I know it because of what we’ve seen here in Dallas – how all of you, out of great suffering, have shown us the meaning of perseverance and character, and hope.

When the bullets started flying, the men and women of the Dallas police, they did not flinch and they did not react recklessly. They showed incredible restraint.

Helped in some cases by protesters, they evacuated the injured, isolated the shooter, and saved more lives than we will ever know. We mourn fewer people today because of your brave actions.

“Everyone was helping each other,” one witness said. “It wasn’t about Black or White. Everyone was picking each other up and moving them away.” See, that’s the America I know.

The police helped Shetamia Taylor as she was shot trying to shield her four sons.

She said she wanted her boys to join her to protest the incidents of Black men being killed. She also said to the Dallas PD, “Thank you for being heroes.” And today, her 12-year old son wants to be a cop when he grows up. That’s the America I know.

In the aftermath of the shooting, we’ve seen Mayor Rawlings and Chief Brown, a White man and a Black man with different backgrounds, working not just to restore order and support a shaken city, a shaken department, but working together to unify a city with strength and grace and wisdom. And in the process, we’ve been reminded that the Dallas Police Department has been at the forefront of improving relations between police and the community.

The murder rate here has fallen. Complaints of excessive force have been cut by 64 percent. The Dallas Police Department has been doing it the right way. And so, Mayor Rawlings and Chief Brown, on behalf of the American people, thank you for your steady leadership, thank you for your powerful example.

Real results These men, this department – this is the America I know. And today, in this audience, I see people who have protested on behalf of criminal justice reform grieving alongside police officers. I see people who See OBAMA, Page B3

FLORIDA

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Emotional, spiritual support for Orlando officers Corp of chaplains called in to help police after Pulse nightclub shooting

BY DAVID HARRIS ORLANDO SENTINEL/TNS

Haggeo Gautier will never forget the expressions on the faces of the doctors, nurses – even the security guards – in the emergency room at Orlando Regional Medical Center as they were whisking the dozens and dozens of wounded patients from the Pulse nightclub massacre to receive medical care.

“They had this glassy look over their eyes,” said Gautier, a volunteer chaplain at the Orlando Police Department. “It was a look of shock.”

But there was also a look of determination, he said.

Gautier was one of the seven Orlando police chaplains deployed at hospitals, family assistance centers and the police dispatch center that Sunday morning.

The Orlando Police Department’s Chaplain Corps was established to provide emotional, moral, and spiritual assistance and support to the employees, victims and the families of victims. There are seven active chaplains and four honorary chaplains.

Orlando Police Chief John Mina called the chaplains an “invaluable” part of responding to the tragedy.

“They are remarkable people who volunteer their time to bring comfort and assist officers, victims, witnesses, family members, and all first responders,” he said.

“Not only did they respond to the hospital but also made themselves available to our officers every day in the days following the shooting.”

Early morning call Gautier received the call at 3:30 a.m. about the shooting. He didn’t know the severity of it, but got an

RED HUBER/ORLANDO SENTINEL/TNS

Haggeo Gautier, one of the Orlando Police Department chaplains, is shown outside of police headquarters. There are seven active chaplains and four honorary chaplains. indication as he approached the hospital.

“I just saw a sea of police lights,” he said. “That’s when I knew it was a big deal.”

For six hours, Gautier was at the hospital. He’d approach officers there.

“I’d walk up to them and say, ‘How are you doing? Can I get you some water?’ ” he said.

Gautier described the scene as organized chaos, each person knowing what to do and where to go.

Outside officer’s door Just after 5 a.m., Orlando Police Officer Michael Napolitano came into the emergency room after getting shot in the head in a gun battle with the suspect. His Kevlar helmet blocked the bullet, and he

only suffered a laceration.

Whenever an officer is in the hospital, chaplains stand outside the door so other officers who want to visit know where to go.

At the time, many officers did not know how serious Napolitano’s injuries were.

“An officer walked up to me and said, ‘I didn’t know what to think when I saw you,’ ” Gautier said.

About 10 officers came in the hour Gautier was there.

After another chaplain relieved him, he went to the part of the hospital where victims’ family members were being taken.

“They didn’t know if their loved one was OK, wounded or deceased. They held each other and wept.”

After Gautier left the hospital, he went to the city’s dispatch center where more than 600 calls from terrified patrons came in during the ordeal.

Some dispatchers felt angry, others sad or bewildered.

“Many said, ‘I wish I could have done more,’ ” he said.

By about 8:30 p.m., Gautier arrived home, exhausted emotionally and physically.

But his work wasn’t done.

Heartbreaking scene

Remembering the good

Gautier let the hospital chaplains talk with the families, just standing by.]

“It was heartbreaking,” he said.

Over the next few days, he sat in with officers at debrief sessions.

Officers could share their feelings about how they were coping

Global aerospace company to bring 500 jobs to state

with the tragedy.

Gautier wouldn’t get into specifics.

“What happens in the debrief sessions stays there,” he said.

Most of what he does is listen – and the words he gives are messages of support and don’t have to be religious.

Gautier has been a chaplain for the Orlando police for 14 years, and has seen parents who have lost children and officers who lost fellow officers.

But nothing ever like Pulse, he said.

While Gautier will always remember “the evil of what happened,” he will also remember the community coming together.

“People were helping – getting water, bringing food, giving blood,” he said. “I will always remember that.”

BY JIM TURNER THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

borough International Air Show.

vard County agenda does not spell out the total funding. The company also would spend $31.2 million for the construction of a 100,000- to 120,000-square-foot facility.

Thales currently employs about 250 in Melbourne.

TALLAHASSEE – A global aerospace company will spread its wings for the next several years in Florida, Gov. Rick Scott announced Monday while attending an air show outside London.

Expansion plans by Thales USA will bring 500 jobs to Orlando and Brevard County, along with more than $20 million in new construction to those communities, an announcement from the governor’s office said.

The decision by Thales also comes with up to $2.5 million in state and local incentives.

“We met with Thales at the Paris Air Show last year, and it’s great to make this exciting announcement today in London,” Scott said in a prepared statement.

Scott is heading an Enterprise Florida trade mission to the Farn-

Incentive fund

$865,000 from state

Thales USA is part of the French-multinational Thales Group, which also has officials attending Farnborough.

Scott was using this week’s air show to highlight Florida’s aerospace industry.

Gov. Rick Still, the deciScott sion by Thales, which provides in-flight entertainment systems and other services, was made outside air-show appearances.

Florida’s incentive funding, contingent upon meeting job benchmarks, is slated to come from the Qualified Target Industry Tax Refund program, which requires a 20 percent local match.

The Orlando City Council approved its portion of the package – $1,000 per new job, potentially $173,000 over seven years – at a June 20 meeting.

The meeting agenda noted that the state is providing $865,000 to Thales USA, including the local support.

The agenda for the meeting also noted that Thales – the company name was listed in the Orlando agenda – was considering California for its expansion plans.

Orlando expects Thales’ total capital investment to be $6.43 million in a 30,000-square-foot expansion of existing facilities and equipment.

The 173 new jobs to accompany the expansion, paying an average annual wage of $53,255, are also expected to be in place by the end of 2020.

Moffitt Cancer Center seeking smokers for e-cigarette study SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA COURIER

The use of electronic cigarettes (“ecigarettes”) has increased dramatically in recent years. The majority of new “vapers” were already cigarette smokers.

To date, little is known about how e-cigarette use changes over time or how it affects the use of traditional cigarettes. Such information would be valuable for understanding the longterm impact of e-cigarettes and for determining whether e-cigarettes help or hinder smoking cessation.

The National Institutes of Health has awarded Moffitt Cancer Center a research grant to study changes in traditional cigarette and e-cigarette use over time among individuals who are currently using both products.

THALES USA

Thales USA is part of the French-multinational Thales Group.

The company provides in-flight entertainment systems and other services.

Brevard vote The Brevard County Commission voted 4-1 to support funding on May 17 after being advised that an unnamed company – listed on an agenda as Project Marathon – would move existing operations from next to the Orlando Melbourne International Airport to California if the government failed to provide tax credits for

Two-year study Project EASE (E-cigarette and Smoking Evaluation) is a nationwide study that will follow 2,500 participants for two years to measure their behaviors and attitudes regarding cigarettes and e-cigarettes. Participants will complete brief surveys at three-month intervals.

“Electronic cigarettes have already changed the world of nicotine and tobacco use, and the research is still catching up,” said Thomas H. Brandon, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Health Outcomes and Behavior and director of the Tobacco Research and Intervention Program at Moffitt. “ Consequently, much of the advice offered on the topic of vaping is based on opinion and conjecture rather than evidence. This study is designed to provide the public health and medical communities with the data they need in order to give the best advice to smokers and vapers.”

People who smoke and vape who are interested in learning more about participating in the nationwide study can visit ProjectEASE.Moffitt.org or call 1-877-954-2548.

the new jobs.

The commission approved up to $327,000 in exchange for an anticipated 327 “high-tech engineering and design” jobs that would pay an average $64,356 and be created by the end of 2020. The $327,000 would represent a 20 percent local portion of an overall $1.6 million state and local package, though the Bre-

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JULY 15 – JULY 21, 2016

that the latest employment survey was taken before the June 23 referendum.

In short, the latest snapshot from the Bureau of Labor Statistics essentially sets things back to where they were before the lull in May. And that means the same slow and steady – some would say fragile – growth that has marked much of the recovery.

No repeat?

ANTONIO PEREZ/CHICAGO TRIBUNE/TNS

Hundreds of protesters converge at the McDonald’s campus along Jorie Boulevard on May 26 to rally for a $15 hourly wage during the annual shareholders meeting in Oak Brook, Ill. The latest jobs report shows that the June hourly-pay figure is up 2.6 percent from a year ago, ahead of inflation. However, it’s nonetheless modest, especially given the long stagnation in real incomes for many households.

Economy rebounds with hiring surge 287,000 jobs added in June but July repeat not expected

BY DON LEE LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

WASHINGTON – The strong rebound in hiring last month, after almost zero new jobs were added in May, allayed worries that the long recovery in the labor market and the economy was coming to

OBAMA from Page B1

mourn for the five officers we lost but also weep for the families of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile.

In this audience, I see what’s possible when we recognize that we are one American family, all deserving of equal treatment, all deserving of equal respect, all children of God. That’s the America that I know.

Now, I’m not naïve. I have spoken at too many memorials during the course of this presidency.

I’ve hugged too many families who have lost a loved one to senseless violence.

And I’ve seen how a spirit of unity, born of tragedy, can gradually dissipate, overtaken by the return to business as usual, by inertia and old habits and expediency.

I see how easily we slip back into our old notions, because they’re comfortable, we’re used to them.

I’ve seen how inadequate words can be in bringing about lasting change. I’ve seen how inadequate my own words have been. And so I’m reminded of a passage in 1st John: “Let us love not with words or speech, but with actions and in truth.”

What we know If we’re to sustain the unity we need to get through these difficult times, if we are to honor these five outstanding officers who we’ve lost, then we will need to act on the truths that we know.

And that’s not easy. It makes us uncomfortable.

But we’re going to have to be honest with each other and ourselves.

We know that the overwhelming majority of police officers do an incredibly hard and dangerous job fairly and professionally.

They are deserving of our respect and not our scorn.

And when anyone, no matter how good their intentions may be, paints all police as biased or bigoted, we undermine those officers we depend on for our safety.

And as for those who use rhetoric suggesting harm to police, even if they don’t act on it themselves – well, they not only make the jobs of police officers even more

an abrupt end.

“We can all breathe a big sigh of relief,” said Harry Holzer, a Georgetown University professor and former chief economist at the Labor Department.

The July 8 government report showing growth of 287,000 jobs last month – following revised gains of just 11,000 in May and 144,000 in April – will bolster confidence among employers and policymakers at the Federal Reserve that the expansion in the labor market and the broader economy remain on track.

dangerous, but they do a disservice to the very cause of justice that they claim to promote.

We also know that centuries of racial discrimination – of slavery, and subjugation, and Jim Crow – they didn’t simply vanish with the end of lawful segregation. They didn’t just stop when Dr. King made a speech, or the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act were signed.

Improvements made Race relations have improved dramatically in my lifetime. Those who deny it are dishonoring the struggles that helped us achieve that progress.

But America, we know that bias remains. Whether you are Black or White or Hispanic or Asian or Native American or of Middle Eastern descent, we have all seen this bigotry in our own lives at some point. We’ve heard it at times in our own homes. If we’re honest, perhaps we’ve heard prejudice in our own heads and felt it in our own hearts.

And while some suffer far more under racism’s burden, some feel to a far greater extent discrimination’s sting.

Although most of us do our best to guard against it and teach our children better, none of us is entirely innocent. No institution is entirely immune. And that includes our police departments. We know this.

And so when AfricanAmericans from all walks of life, from different communities across the country, voice a growing despair over what they perceive to be unequal treatment; when study after study shows that Whites and people of color experience the criminal justice system differently, so that if you’re Black you’re more likely to be pulled over or searched or arrested, more likely to get longer sentences, more likely to get the death penalty for the same crime; when mothers and fathers raise their kids right and have “the talk” about how to respond if stopped by a police officer – “yes, sir,” “no, sir” – but still fear that something terrible may happen when their child walks out the door, still fear that kids being stupid and not quite doing things right might end in tragedy – when all this takes place

The figures fueled a big rally on Wall Street on July 8, with the broad-market S&P 500 closing near a record high and other major stock indexes also surging.

Brexit impact But analysts said it would not be enough to push the Fed to raise interest rates later this month or possibly even in September, given the increased risks created by Britain’s surprising vote to leave the European Union. Analysts expect at most one rate hike this year.

The Fed will “still be watching and waiting with concerns about the Brexit vote,” said Alan Levenson, chief economist at Baltimore-based T. Rowe Price Group.

“These data don’t show you anything about that,” he said, noting

more than 50 years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act, we cannot simply turn away and dismiss those in peaceful protest as troublemakers or paranoid.

We can’t simply dismiss it as a symptom of political correctness or reverse racism. To have your experience denied like that, dismissed by those in authority, dismissed perhaps even by your White friends and coworkers and fellow church members again and again and again – it hurts.

Surely we can see that, all of us.

Asking too much We also know what Chief Brown has said is true: That so much of the tensions between police departments and minority communities that they serve is because we ask the police to do too much and we ask too little of ourselves.

As a society, we choose to underinvest in decent schools. We allow poverty to fester so that entire neighborhoods offer no prospect for gainful employment.

We refuse to fund drug treatment and mental health programs.

We flood communities with so many guns that it is easier for a teenager to buy a Glock than get his hands on a computer or even a book – and then we tell the police “you’re a social worker, you’re the parent, you’re the teacher, you’re the drug counselor.”

We tell them to keep those neighborhoods in check at all costs, and do so without causing any political blowback or inconvenience. Don’t make a mistake that might disturb our own peace of mind.

And then we feign surprise when, periodically, the tensions boil over.

We all know it We know these things to be true. They’ve been true for a long time. Police, you know it. Protestors, you know it. You know how dangerous some of the communities where these police officers serve are, and you pretend as if there’s no context.

And if we cannot even talk about these things – if we cannot talk honestly and openly not just in the comfort of our own circles, but with those who look different than us or bring a different perspective, then we

Economists don’t expect a repeat of June’s robust hiring anytime soon, but instead something closer to an average of 150,000 in coming months, which would still mark a slowdown from the monthly pace of nearly 200,000 in the first quarter and a 229,000 average last year.

Still, the latest jobs report was welcome news for Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.

Another month of weak hiring would have dealt a blow to her political fortunes as they are inextricably linked to the performance of President Barack Obama and the economy.

Jason Furman, Obama’s chief economic advisor, hailed the bounce-back in hiring, saying it is “a clear indication that the economy continues to make solid progress.” The nation has added 14.8 million private-sector jobs since early 2010, he noted in a statement.

Workers return The report stated that the unemployment rate edged back up to 4.9 percent, from 4.7 percent, as large numbers of people who had dropped out of the labor force in May returned, either finding jobs or adding their names to the unemployment rolls.

Average pay of workers, meanwhile, went up a mere 2 cents an hour last month, to $25.61, after three prior months of rising at a faster clip. The June hourly-pay figure is up 2.6 percent from a year ago, ahead of inflation but none-

will never break this dangerous cycle.

In the end, it’s not about finding policies that work; it’s about forging consensus, and fighting cynicism, and finding the will to make change.

Can we do this? Can we find the character, as Americans, to open our hearts to each other? Can we see in each other a common humanity and a shared dignity, and recognize how our different experiences have shaped us? And it doesn’t make anybody perfectly good or perfectly bad, it just makes us human.

I don’t know. I confess that sometimes I, too, experience doubt. I’ve been to too many of these things.

I’ve seen too many families go through this.

‘Heart of flesh’ But then I am reminded of what the Lord tells Ezekiel: “I will give you a new heart, the Lord says, and put a new spirit in you. I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”

That’s what we must pray for, each of us: a new heart.

Not a heart of stone, but a heart open to the fears and hopes and challenges of our fellow citizens. That’s what we’ve seen in Dallas these past few days. That’s what we must sustain.

Because with an open heart, we can learn to stand in each other’s shoes and look at the world through each other’s eyes, so that maybe the police officer sees his own son in that teenager with a hoodie who’s kind of goofing off but not dangerous – and… maybe the teenager will see in the police officer the same words and values and authority of his parents.

With an open heart, we can abandon the overheated rhetoric and the oversimplification that reduces whole categories of our fellow Americans not just to opponents, but to enemies.

With an open heart, those protesting for change will guard against reckless language going forward, look at the model set by the five officers we mourn today, acknowledge the progress brought about by the sincere efforts of police departments like this one in Dallas, and embark on the hard but necessary work of negotiation, the pursuit of reconciliation.

B3 theless modest, especially given the long stagnation in real incomes for many households.

More openings With the economy getting very close to full employment, experts expect businesses to step up wage increases in coming months. The number of involuntary part-time workers dropped significantly in June.

And separate Labor Department data and surveys by the National Federation of Independent Business suggest job openings are ample but that employers are having increasing troubles finding qualified workers.

Job growth last month came mostly from retailers, health care and social-assistance providers and the large restaurant and recreation industry. While health care offers a mix of high- and lowpaying jobs, the other sectors generally provide low wages.

The June job numbers were also inflated by the return of approximately 35,000 Verizon workers who were on strike the previous month.

Still tough Bill Spriggs, chief economist at the AFL-CIO, said things remain tough for working-class Americans. He noted the flat hiring last month in construction and durable manufacturing such as machinery-making, two relatively well-paying areas that in decades past had provided more opportunities for lesser-educated workers.

Construction continues to be held back by weakness in young people going out on their own, he said, while manufacturing faces headwinds from a slowing global economy, with new threats now coming after Britain’s vote to quit the EU. The jobs report is “reassuring, but it’s not like we’re going gangbusters,” Spriggs said. “It puts us back on a path of moderate growth.”

With an open heart, police departments will acknowledge that, just like the rest of us, they are not perfect; that insisting we do better to root out racial bias is not an attack on cops, but an effort to live up to our highest ideals.

And I understand these protests – I see them; they can be messy. Sometimes they can be hijacked by an irresponsible few. Police can get hurt. Protestors can get hurt. They can be frustrating.

Hear the pain But even those who dislike the phrase “Black Lives Matter,” surely we should be able to hear the pain of Alton Sterling’s family. When we hear a friend describe him by saying that “Whatever he cooked, he cooked enough for everybody,” that should sound familiar to us, that maybe he wasn’t so different than us, so that we can, yes, insist that his life matters.

Just as we should hear the students and coworkers describe their affection for Philando Castile as a gentle soul – “Mr. Rogers with dreadlocks,” they called him – and know that his life mattered to a whole lot of people of all races, of all ages, and that we have to do what we can, without putting officers’ lives at risk, but do better to prevent another life like his from being lost.

With an open heart, we can worry less about which side has been wronged, and worry more about joining sides to do right. Because the vicious killer of these police officers, they won’t be the last person who tries to make us turn on one other. The killer in Orlando wasn’t, nor was the killer in Charleston.

We know there is evil in this world. That’s why we need police departments.

But as Americans, we can decide that people like this killer will ultimately fail.

They will not drive us apart.

We can decide to come together and make our country reflect the good inside us, the hopes and simple dreams we share.

“We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”

Challenged by life For all of us, life presents

challenges and suffering – accidents, illnesses, the loss of loved ones. There are times when we are overwhelmed by sudden calamity, natural or manmade.

All of us, we make mistakes.

And at times we are lost.

And as we get older, we learn we don’t always have control of things – not even a president does.

But we do have control over how we respond to the world. We do have control over how we treat one another.

America does not ask us to be perfect. Precisely because of our individual imperfections, our founders gave us institutions to guard against tyranny and ensure no one is above the law; a democracy that gives us the space to work through our differences and debate them peacefully, to make things better, even if it doesn’t always happen as fast as we’d like.

America gives us the capacity to change.

But as the men we mourn today – these five heroes – knew better than most, we cannot take the blessings of this nation for granted. Only by working together can we preserve those institutions of family and community, rights and responsibilities, law and self-government that is the hallmark of this nation. For, it turns out, we do not persevere alone.

Our character is not found in isolation. Hope does not arise by putting our fellow man down; it is found by lifting others up.

Not in vain And that’s what I take away from the lives of these outstanding men. The pain we feel may not soon pass, but my faith tells me that they did not die in vain.

I believe our sorrow can make us a better country.

I believe our righteous anger can be transformed into more justice and more peace. “Weeping may endure for a night,” but I’m convinced joy comes in the morning.

We cannot match the sacrifices made by Officers Zamarripa and Ahrens, Krol, Smith, and Thompson, but surely we can try to match their sense of service. We cannot match their courage, but we can strive to match their devotion.

May God bless their memory. May God bless this country that we love.

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MARK CORNELISON/LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER/TNS

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at the NRA Leadership Forum on May 20 in Louisville, Ky.

BB guns, no.

Real guns, yes.

What will be allowed in GOP convention’s ‘event zone’

BY WILLIAM DOUGLAS TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

WASHINGTON – Tennis balls are out. So are explosives, large knives, gas masks, umbrellas with metal tips and water guns.

But real guns are OK. There’s a lengthy list of what

to avoid taking into downtown Cleveland’s 1.7-mile “event zone” during the Republican National Convention in Cleveland on July 18-21.

Firearms are allowed because Ohio is an open-carry state, meaning it’s legal for adults to freely carry guns in public without licenses. People interested in carrying concealed firearms can obtain licenses to do so if they are older than 21 and legal U.S. residents without criminal histories.

Not in ‘secure zone’ While it’s allowed to have a loaded firearm within the “event zone,” it’s forbidden within the “secure zone.” That includes the Quicken Loans Arena, the convention’s main site, and several blocks around it regulated by the U.S. Secret Service. Several roads near the arena will be closed during the event.

The restrictions aren’t limited to the ground, either. City officials and federal agencies said Cleveland and surrounding communities would be “no drone zones” under Federal Aviation Administration flight restrictions during the convention.

In March, the Secret Service announced that convention attendees can’t bring firearms into the arena after a petition on Change.org that sought the right

to bring guns into the arena got nearly 46,000 signatures.

Partial list Here’s a partial list of items banned from downtown Cleveland during the convention: Weapons. That includes air rifles, air pistols, paintball guns, BB guns, pellet guns, blasting caps, switchblades, knives with blades 2 1/2 inches or longer, blackjacks, swords, sabers, hatchets, axes, slingshots, metal knuckles, nunchucks, mace.

Projectile launchers. That includes water guns and water cannons.

Household items. Among them are ladders, glass bottles, ornaments, light bulbs, aerosol cans, ceramic vessels — and any other fragile container, regardless of whether it holds any substance — non-plastic containers,

thusiasm,” said Joel Goldstein, a professor of law and vice presidential expert at Saint Louis University.

If that’s not obvious to America and the convention-goers, it means trouble. The furor over 1988 Republican pick Dan Quayle’s boyish, nonpresidential demeanor consumed a day’s worth of convention news.

Prospects for a repeat: Depends on whether Trump’s choice is a well-known figure.

Scandal The revelation that Dick Morris, President Bill Clinton’s top campaign adviser, had enjoyed the company of a prostitute shook the 1996 Democratic convention. Morris resigned on the day of Clinton’s acceptance speech.

Prospects for a repeat: Characters and temptations abound.

HARRY E. WALKER/TNS

Actor Clint Eastwood speaks an empty chair, representing President Barack Obama, at the Republican National Convention at the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa on Aug. 30, 2012.

10 things that could go awry in Cleveland

BY DAVID LIGHTMAN TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

WASHINGTON – The real action at the Republican National Convention will be the action no one sees coming.

“It’s not the ‘Real Housewives’ series, but it could be the Real Convention Delegates of Cleveland,” said Timothy Walch, an Iowa-based political author who’s studied conventions.

Convention organizers plot tightly scripted, carefully choreographed exercises in promoting their candidates. They want party insiders to depart as enthusiastic workers for the would-be

president, and they hope to enlist millions of television viewers in the cause.

But something always goes wrong and the infomercial turns into an unscripted reality show.

No one can control the weather, a scandal, windier-than-usual politicians. Riots. Strange optics.

Awkward vice presidential picks.

Not always bad The potential for surprises seems even greater this year, given presumptive nominee Donald Trump’s disdain for scripts, and his reality TV inclinations.

Remember, though, distractions are not always bad for the

candidate. A fast rebound makes a good story. Here, then, in no particular order, are 10 things that could go awry during the GOP convention in Cleveland from next Monday through July 21:

Party platform “Normally people are not talking about the platform. This year could change that,” said Nathan Gonzales, a Washington-based analyst. Trump wants a U.S.Mexico wall, a temporary ban on Muslims entering the U.S. and trade policies that mainstream Republicans don’t like.

Prospects for chaos: Moderate. Lots of staunch conservatives take the platform seriously and want those tough immigration stands.

Vice president The goal is to “have someone who will give the convention en-

Riots The protesters now are kept so far away from the convention hall that they may as well be in the next state. There’s concern about another 1968-style convention riot in Cleveland, the sort that saw an estimated 10,000 protesters disrupt the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Prospects for a repeat: Possible. Talk of an uprising is stirring.

But there is a plan to keep everyone far away.

Speeches, long ones See Clinton, 1988, and his 34-minute speech for Michael Dukakis, a speech that drew cheers when he said “in closing.”

Prospects for a repeat: Pretty good. Even practiced political speakers can be tone-deaf, and this convention likely will have a few neophytes onstage.

Speeches, off message Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey, spent 24 minutes in 2012 talking mostly about himself and barely about GOP nom-

bottles, cans, thermoses, umbrellas with metal tips and tennis balls.

Camping equipment. Prohibited are tents, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, mattresses, cots, hammocks, stoves, coolers or ice chests, backpacks and bags exceeding 18 inches by 13 inches by 7 inches. Backpacks also will likely be searched, according to Dan Williams, Cleveland’s media relations director.

And these other items: drones, lasers, containers of bodily fluids, sound amplification equipment, gas masks other than those used for medical oxygen, grappling hooks, hammers, sledgehammers, crowbars, ropes, chains, wire, string or tape longer than 6 inches.

inee Mitt Romney. “For a moment, I forgot who was the nominee of the party,” Fox News anchor Chris Wallace said after the speech.

Prospects this year: See number 5.

Speeches, just odd.

Clint Eastwood talking to a chair and an “invisible Obama”?

In prime time during the 2012 Republican convention? Does anyone remember that Romney then gave his acceptance speech?

Prospects for a repeat: Good.

Trump is suggesting more celebrities and entertainment. “He views the convention as another pageant,” Darrell West, vice president and director of governance studies at Washington’s Brookings Institution, said of Trump’s Miss Universe experience.

Optics The most memorable image from the 1980 Democratic convention was President Jimmy Carter circling the stage, trying to shake the hand of Sen. Edward Kennedy, his bitter rival.

Prospects for a repeat: Dim. Trump knows optics.

Weather Not only does a hurricane dominate the news, but it means changing everything.

President George W. Bush’s Monday speech was canceled in 2008 as Hurricane Gustav threw plans into turmoil. Four years later, the first day of the GOP convention in Tampa was postponed, this time because of Tropical Storm Isaac.

Prospects for a repeat: Well … the Weather Channel predicts highs in the low 80s but no severe storms.

Boredom “Remember,” said Tobe Berkovitz, former Boston-based media consultant, “people really don’t care about talking heads.”

Prospects this year: With Trump, you just never know.

STOJ

JULY 15 – JULY 21, 2016

FINEST & ENTERTAINMENT

Meet some of

FLORIDA’S

finest

submitted for your approval

The U.S. women’s gymnastics team at the Olympics in Rio will be made up of Gabrielle Douglas, Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, Laurie Hernandez and Madison Kocian. On top of that, Douglas now has her own Barbie doll as part of Mattel’s “Shero” line. “I love to push limits and I love that my very own Barbie celebrates me for being a role model to girls,” said Douglas. “Being honored as a Barbie Shero further motivates me to inspire girls by being the best I can be.”

COURTESY OF MATTEL

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.

Carmelo Anthony is calling on athletes to help bring about change in America in light of recent shootings. The New York Knicks forward wrote on his website on July 8: “Go to your local officials, leaders, congressman, assemblymen/ (assemblywomen) and demand change. There’s NO more sitting back and being afraid of tackling and addressing political issues anymore. Those days are long gone. We have to step up and take charge. We can’t worry about what endorsements we gonna lose or whose going to look at us crazy. I need your voices to be heard. We can demand change. We just have to be willing to. THE TIME IS NOW. IM all in. Take Charge. Take Action. DEMAND CHANGE.’’ HECTOR AMEZCUA/SACRAMENTO BEE/TNS

Pokemon Go: Craze sweeping nation despite hazards

BY ERICA EVANS LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

Days after its release, Pokemon Go has become a fast-moving phenomenon, drawing flash mob-type crowds searching neighborhoods, parks and urban streets for imaginary characters on their smartphones.

The game, which trades on the nostalgia of the popular 1990s franchise and the thrill of exploring an augmented reality, is poised to surpass Twitter in daily active users on Android, according to data published by SimilarWeb, an information technology firm. And on the Google Play store, it’s ranked No. 1 above Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram.

Users play the game by wandering neighborhoods and other public places, trying to discover geo-located Pokemon characters, which show up as if in the real world on their smartphone cameras. Players sometimes congregate at local landmarks to join teams and compete with one another.

‘Use common sense’ But already the game has posed risks and warnings that users may be drawn into danger.

Armed robbers in Missouri used the app to lure victims to isolated locations where they could be robbed, said police. Others have been injured chasing the imaginary characters on their smartphones, without paying attention to their real-life surroundings.

In Washington state, Duvall police posted a warning on Facebook after players had been found “creeping around the Duvall PD … in the dark, popping out of bushes.”

“Just use common sense,” the post said, suggesting users “make sure your presence is well known. … And remember to be polite.”

Australia too The Darwin Police Station in

Australia also discovered people trying to find Pokemon characters at their building and warned players to be safe.

“It’s also a good idea to look up, away from your phone and both ways before crossing the street.

That Sandshrew isn’t going anywhere fast,” police said, referring to the rabbitlike Pokemon character.

Washington’s Department of Transportation warned against “Pokemoning” while driving. “No Pokemoning from behind the wheel,” the agency tweeted.

CATHY HUGHES

The founder and chairperson of Radio One, Inc., the largest African-American owned and operated broadcasting company in the nation, will be the luncheon keynote speaker for the Sixth Annual Women of Color Empowerment Conference. She speaks Sept. 10 at the Westin Fort Lauderdale Beach. More information: www.NationalWomenOfColor. com or call 954-768-9770.

Grim discovery The game has led to some grisly discoveries as well. A quest to locate water-category Pokemon led a teen to discover a dead body in a river in Wyoming.

“I was walking towards the bridge along the shore when I saw something in the water,” 19-yearold Shayla Wiggins told KTVQ news. “I had to take a second look and I realized it was a body.”

She also admitted she probably never would have gone to that place if it weren’t for the game.

Beats Snapchat The Pokemon Go app is now installed on more Android phones than Tinder is and average users spend more than 43 minutes a day engaged with the app – that’s twice the amount of time users spend on Snapchat, SimilarWeb reported.

So far, Pokemon Go is available only in the U.S., New Zealand and Australia, mostly because Niantic Labs had to pause the rollout after an overwhelming demand on their servers.

On Monday, photos and video from Central Park in New York City showed a hoard of people with their eyes glued to their phone screens.

“Pokemon GO is just insane right now. This is in Central Park.

It’s basically been HQ for Pokemon GO,” tweeted Jonathan Perez.

TERRI LYNE CARRINGTON

See the Grammy Award-winning drummer, composer and bandleader at 8 p.m. July 21 at Coral Gables Congregational United Church of Christ, 3010 De Soto Blvd.

Details: CommunityArtsProgram.org.

FLORIDA COMMUNITY CALENDAR Miami: Drake’s Summer Sixteen Tour, which features Future, makes an Aug. 30 stop at the AmericanAirlines Arena.

Plantation: Judah Worship Word Ministries, International will celebrate the pastor’s anniversary of Apostle Willett L. Mitchell on July 15 at 7:30 p.m. with Pastor/Prophet Anthony Lott of Venus, Texas and July 17 at 8:15 a.m. with Pastor/Prophetess Erika Toney of Jacksonville. More information: 954-791-2999.

Pompano Beach: The annual Black On Black Crime Solutions

TONY TONE

Dreamers of Tomorrow will present a Christian comedy showdown and praise performance “Laughter without Profanity’’ starring Shirley Murdock. Others include Darrien “Hair-larious” Perkins, Leatric Lamar, and Tony Tone. The event is July 31 at The Palladium in St. Petersburg.

Panel is July 16 at Worldwide Christian Center Church. It’s presented by Courage to Believe International, a nonprofit mentoring organization. More information: www.TheCourageToBelieve.com.

St. Petersburg: Beres Hammond will perform at the Mahaffey Theater on July 21, Hard Rock Live Orlando on July 22 and the Broward Center for the Performing Arts on July 23 in Fort Lauderdale.

Clearwater: Catch R&B crooner Maxwell Aug. 4 at Ruth Eckerd Hall.

Miami Beach: Jill Scott takes the stage on Aug. 30 at the Fillmore Miami Beach at the Jackie Gleason Theater.

Tampa: G-Eazy & Logic: The Endless Summer Tour stops at the

MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre on July 17. Other performers will include Yo Gotti and YG. Jacksonville: Aaron Bing performs Aug. 14 at the Times Union Center for the Performing Arts.

Jacksonville: Shirley Murdock is scheduled at the Salem Centre in on July 30 and the Palladium Theatre on July 31 in St. Petersburg.

Hollywood: Catch Hannibal Burress on July 22 at Hard Rock Live.

Hollywood: Seal performs Aug. 18 at Hard Rock Live. The show starts at 8 p.m.

Jacksonville: Miles Jaye performs July 16 at the Times Union Center for the Performing Arts.

FOOD

B6

JULY 15 – JULY 21, 2016

TOJ

A grape idea Flavorful fruit serves as heart-healthy snack, inventive ingredient FROM FAMILY FEATURES

Grapes make the perfect snack: they are delicious, with a juicy burst of flavor, and are hydrating, easy to eat and portable. Additionally, grapes are good for you, offering a variety of nutritional benefits.

Grapes are a natural source of beneficial plant com­pounds, including antioxidants and other polyphenols. At just 90 calories per serving, they also contain no fat, no cholesterol and virtually no sodium.

This healthy, handy fruit is also a versatile ingredient, making grapes a perfect way to enhance your favorite foods and recipes. With their delicately sweet flavor and vibrant hues of red, green and black, grapes lend a deli­cious and attractive addition to dishes from breakfast to dinner. The recipes that follow highlight the art of the possible with fresh grapes from California.

Find more recipes for every meal of the day at grapesfromcalifornia.com.

HEARTY QUINOA SALAD WITH GRAPES AND WHITE BEANS Servings: 12 Quinoa 2 cups (12 ounces) quinoa 2 cups vegetable stock 2 cups water Lemon Pepper Dressing 1/2 cup white wine vinegar 1/2 cup lemon juice 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 clove garlic 1 1/2 tablespoons honey 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon peel, grated 1teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper Salad 4 cups California grapes 2 cups Chinese pea pods, cut in 1-inch pieces 2 cups canned small white beans, drained

1 cup diced celery 1/4 cup minced cilantro 1/4 cup Anaheim peppers, chopped 12 lettuce leaves Rinse and drain quinoa. In large saucepan, combine with broth and water. Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer 10-15 minutes. Drain any remaining liquid.

To prepare dressing, combine vinegar, lemon juice, oil, garlic, honey, lemon peel, salt and pepper; mix well. Add 1/2 cup of dressing to quinoa; mix well and cool.

Add grapes, pea pods, white beans, celery, cilantro and peppers to quinoa and mix well.

Refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve on lettuce leaves.

Nutritional information per serving: 219 calories; 8 g protein; 40 g carbohydrates; 4 g fat (18% calories from fat); 0 mg cholesterol; 363 mg sodium; 5 g fiber.

GRILLED GINGER SALMON AND GRAPE RICE BOWL Servings: 4 4 boneless salmon fillets (3 ounces each), skin on kosher salt freshly ground black pepper 2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger 1 tablespoon honey 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil 2 cups mixed green and red California grapes, halved 2 scallions, thinly sliced diagonally 4 cups hot cooked brown rice 2 cups finely shredded green cabbage 1 teaspoon sesame seeds

THE EYES HAVE IT Recent research from the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute at the University of Miami, funded by the California Table Grape Commission, suggests that eating grapes may help contribute to eye health. The laboratory study showed that a grapeenriched diet preserved the retina’s structure and function against damaging oxidative stress.

Findings from two earlier laboratory studies at different universities also showed that grape consumption helped protect the retina from deterioration.

reduced sodium soy sauce (optional) Heat grill to high and oil grates.

Sprinkle salmon with salt and pepper; set aside.

In small saucepan, combine rice vinegar, ginger, honey and olive oil, and bring to simmer over high heat. Stir in grapes and scallions, and season with salt and pepper. Set aside off heat.

Grill salmon, skin side up, 5-6 minutes.

Turn and grill another 2-3 minutes, or until salmon reaches desired doneness.

Divide rice among four bowls and top with cabbage and salmon. Spoon grape mixture over top and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve with soy sauce, if desired.

Nutritional information per serving: 487 calories; 23 g protein; 69 g carbohydrates; 13 g fat (24% calories from fat); 3 g saturated fat (6% calories from saturated fat); 43 mg cholesterol; 301 mg sodium; 6 g fiber.

FRUIT BREAKFAST CREPES Servings: 6 Crepes 1/2 cup low-fat milk 1 egg pinch of salt 3/8 cup (1.5 ounces) flour 1 tablespoon butter, melted Filling 1 1/2 cups California grapes, halved 1 1/2 cups oranges, peeled, sliced and quartered 1 tablespoon sugar 1/8 cup orange juice or orange flavor liqueur 1 teaspoon grated orange peel 6 tablespoons nonfat sour cream Cinnamon sugar 1 tablespoon granulated sugar 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon In blender, combine milk, egg and salt; add flour and butter. Blend at high speed 1 minute.

To make filling, combine grapes, oranges, sugar, liqueur or juice, and orange peel; set aside.

Heat lightly-buttered 7-inch skillet or crepe pan over medium-high heat. Pour 3-4 tablespoons batter into pan; tilt to spread batter to cover bottom of pan. Cook over mediumhigh heat about 1 minute, or until batter is set.

Turn crepe and cook about 30 seconds, or until lightly browned.

Fill each crepe with 1/2 cup of filling; fold in half or roll up. Top with 1 tablespoon sour cream and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture.

Nutritional information per serving: 145 calories; 4 g protein; 26 g carbohydrates; 3 g fat (20% calories from fat); 1.7 g saturated fat (11% calories from saturated fat); 39 mg cholesterol; 80 mg sodium; 1.7 g fiber.

ROASTED SQUASH AND GRAPE SALAD WITH PESTO Servings: 4 24 ounces cubed butternut squash (1 1/2-inch pieces) 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary kosher salt freshly ground black pepper 2 tablespoons reduced-fat prepared pesto 1 1/2 cups halved red or green California grapes 4 ounces bocconcini, drained and quartered 4 cups arugula Heat oven to 425 F. Place squash on sheet pan with sides and drizzle with oil, rosemary, salt and pepper. Mix well and roast until squash is browned and soft, about 25-30 minutes, turning after 15 minutes.

In large bowl, combine warm squash with pesto; add grapes and cheese and gently toss.

Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Divide arugula among four serving plates, top with squash mixture and serve.

Nutritional information per serving: 264 calories; 8 g protein; 33 g carbohydrates; 13 g fat (44% calories from fat); 5 g saturated fat (17% calories from saturated fat); 25 mg cholesterol; 223 mg sodium; 5 g fiber.