Florida Courier - August 18, 2017

FC

EE FR

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

www.flcourier.com

READ US ONLINE

Like us on Facebookwww.facebook.com/ flcourier

Charlottesville survivor: ‘They were trying to kill me’ See Page B1

Follow us on Twitter@flcourier

www.flcourier.com

AUGUST 18 – AUGUST 24, 2017

VOLUME 25 NO. 33

JUST THE BEGINNING

White supremacists are energized as cities and counter-protesters gear up to fight them.

COMPILED FROM WIRE REPORTS

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. – The thousands of demonstrators have left.

The bronze statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, around which the protests were focused, remained standing.

A memorial service was held Wednesday for Heather Heyer, the woman who was killed. Many of the 19 people injured remained in the hospital.

And as the city began to recover from the violence of this last weekend, both sides declared victory.

Both claim wins To the White supremacists who gathered from across the country, the havoc in the Virginia college town and the international attention it earned them marked a win.

To the counter-protesters,

widespread acknowledgment of the threat posed by racism – evident in television images of Nazi symbols and other blatant bigotry – was proof they had prevailed.

It remains unclear what will happen to the racist movement that has been energized by the election of President Donald Trump and was laid out for all to see in Charlottesville. But one thing seems certain: The fighting is not over. Both sides are gearing up for more.

Trending hate Charlottesville served as only the latest data point on a dramatically escalating trend line of hate group activity.

White supremacists picked up the pace in 2008, after Barack Obama’s election, and again this year as White-power groups saw See FIGHT, Page A2

MICHAEL NIGRO/PACIFIC PRESS/ZUMA PRESS/TNS

On Aug. 12, White supremacist groups clashed with hundreds of counter-protesters during the ‘’Unite The Right’’ rally in Charlottesville, Va. Thirty-two-year-old Heather Heyer was killed after a White nationalist plowed his sports car into a throng of protesters.

OUT AND ABOUT / FLORIDA COURIER

Grand view from the Grand Canyon

Gators say no Racist leader won’t speak on campus

BY DARA KAM THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

TALLAHASSEE – The University of Florida is refusing to allow White nationalist leader Richard Spencer to speak on campus next month, citing “serious concerns” about safety in the aftermath of a deadly weekend clash in Charlottesville, Va. In a message to staff Wednesday morning, university President Kent Fuchs said the decision to deny the National Policy Institute’s request to rent space on campus came “after assessing potential risks” with campus, state, local and federal law enforcement officials.

‘Florida battlefield’

CHARLES W. CHERRY II / FLORIDA COURIER

Charles W. Cherry III (in black) and Chayla Cherry (in blue) enjoy the view 8,700 feet above the floor of the Grand Canyon’s North Rim in Arizona. Publisher Charles W. Cherry II will write about an epic three-week, 7,700-mile round-trip journey with Chayla and Charles III from South Florida to Los Angeles in upcoming issues of the Florida Courier.

Continued calls “online and in social media for similar violence in Gainesville such as those decreeing: `The Next Battlefield is Florida’ ” also played a role in the decision, Fuchs said.

Spencer is a leader in the “altright” movement, blamed for a deadly outburst following a “Unite the Right” rally Saturday in Charlottesville. One person died when a car plowed into a group of counter-protesters, and two Virginia state troopers also died in a helicopter crash while monitoring the situation.

“I find the racist rhetoric of Richard Spencer and White nationalism repugnant and counter to everything the university and this nation stands for,” Fuchs wrote. “That said, the University of Florida reSee GATORS, Page A2

SNAPSHOTS FLORIDA | A3

Judge rejects new trial for Brown

SPECIAL TO THE TRICE EDNEY NEWS WIRE FROM TARGET MARKET NEWS

BOOKS | B2

Review of Rice’s new book NATION | A6

Black journalists turn backs on Omarosa

ALSO INSIDE

Essence magazine to be sold

HEALTH | B3

More Black brains needed

Time Inc. has announced that it plans to sell a majority of its ownership in Essence magazine, the 47-year-old lifestyle monthly for African-American women, and one of the most successful publications among all American magazines.

According to a story reported in The Wall Street Journal, Time Inc. intends to maintain a minority ownership stake in Essence after it has been sold.

“We want to unlock the value here,” said Rich Battista, Time Inc.’s chief executive, is quoted as saying.

“We think the best way to do that is

to bring in a strategic partner with investment capital. We’re keeping an interest because we see real upside.”

No buyer yet While Battista is also quoted as saying that he hopes to complete a deal by the end of the year, he did not publicly identify a potential buyer.

The announcement comes after considerations by the Time Inc. to sell the entire company were dropped by its board in April.

Interest in the company was expressed by five parties, including the Meredith Corporation, publish- For decades, Essence has been er of Better Homes and Gardens the most popular magazine See ESSENCE, Page A2

among African-American women.

COMMENTARY: GLEN FORD: THE INDECENCY OF THE ‘BLACK MISLEADERSHIP CLASS’ | A4 COMMENTARY: CHARLES W. CHERRY II: RANDOM THOUGHTS OF A FREE BLACK MIND | A5

FOCUS

A2

AUGUST 18 – AUGUST 24, 2017

Who taught haters to hate?

The last time I was in Europe I was in Den Haag, Holland, also known as “The Hague.” I was there to attend the North Sea Jazz Festival, one of the largest music festivals in the world.

More than 150 artists were scheduled to play at a variety of concert halls and other venues.

It seemed like music was being played from early mornings to around dawn of the next day.

Covering the Jazz Festival for media companies in the United States, I would pick some highprofile artists to see and interview, but it was impossible to see every act. After seeing some shows, doing some interviews and taking some photos, I would get tired and find my way back to my hotel.

Stopped by a bar One day, I finished work early and decided to return downtown to take an early evening walk. As I was strolling, I heard some incredible jazz that seemed to be coming from a sort of dive bar – a small European “hole in the wall,” so to speak.

When I walked into the place, I noticed that I was the only Black

GATORS from A1

mains unwaveringly dedicated to free speech and the spirit of public discourse. However, the First Amendment does not require a public institution to risk imminent violence to students and others. The likelihood of violence and potential injury – not the words or ideas – has caused us to take this action.”

Gov. Rick Scott said Tuesday he was coordinating with Florida National Guard about the potential event, which would have taken place on Sept. 12.

Constitutional concerns The university’s ability to restrict controversial speakers like Spencer is limited, even in the aftermath of the Charlottesville events, according to First Amendment lawyers. Officials can’t make spaces available to the public off-limits simply based on the content of a speaker’s views.

And the university’s decision to block Spencer from speaking could heighten tensions, First Amendment lawyer Tom Julin told The News Service of Florida in a telephone interview Wednesday morning.

“Certainly, the university is going to be targeted by whoever they disappointed, so it’s a trou-

FIGHT

LUCIUS GANTT THE GANTT REPORT

person in there. I looked onstage and there was a Nazi band playing songs by John Coltrane, Miles Davis and other greats.

Nobody bothered me or said anything to me. The greatest animosity I felt was not about my skin color; it was more about my American accent and nationality. Some Europeans think that all Americans are rich and privileged.

America’s No. 1 Conservative and right-wing people around the world are different. There are no racists like American racists!

Thousands of Ku Klux Klansmen, neo-Nazis, skinheads, White supremacists and armed militia groups faced off with counter-protesters during a recent violent and chaotic rally that raged for hours in Charlottesville, Virginia that resulted in the

In his message announcing the decision Wednesday, Fuchs also noted that Texas A&M University, where Spencer spoke in December, also canceled an event with the White nationalist leader that was scheduled to take place the day before the Gainesville appearance. Texas university officials also cited safety issues, Fuchs said.

An inability by the University of Florida and the community to manage a potential conflict is something officials can take into consideration when weighing the First Amendment rights of potential speakers, Julin said.

“But I would not be surprised to see that decision challenged.

There obviously was a very serious incident in Charlottesville, but then to conclude from that that the particular awful controversial view is not going to be allowed to speak in the future is a very difficult position to sustain,” he said. “But these are unusual times, and we have an unusual president (Donald Trump) and the concerns about violence are legitimate. It will be unfortunate if this does exacerbate the tensions that already exist.”

Loved by hate

Growing conflicts

More to come Already, White supremacist groups have promised more rallies in more cities and have begun raising money to pay for the legal defense costs associated with charges that might come out of the Charlottesville violence.

“I believe that today in Charlottesville, this is a first step toward

When someone rams a car into a crowd of Europeans, the act is described as an example of “radical Islamic terrorism.” In Virginia, the same act is described as merely “violence” that happens on all sides!

Instead of calling the incident an act of White supremacist terrorism, President Donald Trump

Haters aren’t born Who taught the haters to hate?

They were not born haters. They did not come out of their mother’s wombs hating Blacks, Jews, gays, Hispanics, Muslims and other targets of their hate.

Perhaps the president can’t come out strongly against White

Teach your children Let’s teach all our children the truth! Teach them to protect their loved ones at all times, and to defend their families and their communities by any legal and honorable means necessary!

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.

Similarities in Texas

Trump’s win as an opportunity to move from the fringes toward the mainstream of political discourse.

After Trump’s victory, Andrew Anglin, who runs the neo-Nazi website Daily Stormer, posted this reaction on Nov. 9, 2016: “Our Glorious Leader has ascended to God Emperor,” Anglin wrote. “Make no mistake about it: we did this. If it were not for us, it wouldn’t have been possible.”

Richard Cohen, president and CEO of the Southern Poverty Law Center, said Trump’s fiery words have endeared him to many hate groups.

“He’s run an incendiary campaign that has energized the modern White supremacist movement, sometimes called the ‘altright,’” Cohen said. “We saw it in the ugly surge in hate crimes immediately following his election, as White supremacists celebrated Mr. Trump’s victory. And we saw it this weekend in the unprecedented gathering of White supremacists in Charlottesville.”

“We’ve followed the radical right for more than 40 years and have never seen anything like it,” Cohen said of the incident.

No ‘terrorism’?

supremacy because many of his closest government staff people are racist bigots that hate a variety of races, creeds, colors and people’s choices of worship.

More than likely, the haters were taught to hate by momma and daddy and other racists in their cities or neighborhoods, or on social media sites that they frequent!

White racists don’t want to be in the minority. Their greatest fear is the fear of a “Black” nation and planet. The philosophy and teachings that hold one race superior and all others inferior must be discredited and abandoned. The color of a man’s skin has no more significance than the color of his eyes, as the late Bob Marley sung.

bling decision that they’re making, to me,” Julin said. “I think that is the sort of decision that the White supremacists will use to their advantage to try to criticize the university from stopping them from speaking.”

making a realization of something that Trump alluded to earlier in the campaign, which is, this is the first step toward taking America back,” David Duke, one of the country’s most infamous White supremacists and a former lawmaker, told a crowd of supporters in Virginia.

White nationalists and proConfederate groups quickly announced rallies and speaking events in Virginia, Texas and beyond, gaining throngs of online supporters while the people who live in those places are already taking to the streets to warn them to stay away.

from A1

deaths of at least three people.

Billed as a march and rally, the racists didn’t gather to pray for peace on earth and goodwill towards men. The devil’s disciples came there to fight. You could tell what the group was prepared to do by the helmets they wore and the weapons they carried. And at least one of them came there to kill!

James Alex Fields Jr., 20, was arrested for driving a speeding car into a crowd of counter-demonstrators and then backing the vehicle up to injure more people.

He was charged with one count of second-degree murder, three counts of malicious wounding and one count of failing to stop at an accident resulting in a death, according to police.

said, “There is no place for this kind of violence in America. Let’s come together as one.”

However, some of the racist, fascist and violent demonstrators identified themselves as Trump supporters, and among them was White supremacist David Duke, who told reporters that the rally “represents a turning point. We are determined to take our country back. We are going to fulfill the promises of Donald Trump.

That is what we believe in and that is why we voted for Donald Trump.”

I don’t know how many White supremacists there were at the hate-filled event in Virginia, but I do know there are millions of racists in your city, state, neighborhoods, on your job, at your school, in stores where you shop, on police forces and everywhere else you can imagine!

I know you don’t like for me to write like this, but what you are reading is true.

In Kentucky and Maryland, city officials promised to swiftly tear down Confederate monuments after years of debates, drawing cheers from supporters but also galvanizing the White supremacists and fanning fears of more protests and more violence.

“These conflicts are growing, not diminishing,” said Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino. “A wedge has been turned into a battering ram by emboldened White nationalists.”

Hours after the Charlottesville rally on Saturday, Texas resident Preston Wiginton announced a “White Lives Matter” rally in College Station in September. He said he wanted to carry on the campaign launched by those in Virginia.

“Today Charlottesville tomorrow Texas A&M,” said a news release issued by Wiginton, who has been identified as a White supremacist by civil rights groups.

He vowed to fight “the liberal agenda of White guilt and White genocide.”

RALPH BARRERA/AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN/TNS

In this December 2016 file photo, Richard Spencer, a White nationalist, takes a tour of Texas A&M’s campus in College Station, Texas before a speaking event.

On Monday, the university canceled the rally, citing safety concerns. The event had been advertised as featuring Richard Spencer, a prominent White nationalist who promoted the Charlottesville rally.

Wiginton said he would sue, and White nationalists across the U.S. defended his cause.

Backlash against monuments While White nationalists fought for speaking engagements, monuments came down.

Residents of Gainesville, Fla., wiped away tears of joy on Monday as workers used jackhammers to remove a Confederate statue nicknamed “Old Joe” that stood in front of a county building.

The removal was scheduled last month, and the statue now sits in a private cemetery after the United Daughters of the Confederacy, a group made up of women who trace their ancestry to Southern Civil War figures, volunteered to take it.

The same day, demonstrators in Durham, N.C., cheered as they used a lasso to topple a 15-foot statue of a Confederate soldier and started kicking its head.

The statue had stood since 1924 with a dedication to “the boys who wore the gray.”

In Atlanta, protesters spraypainted a statue of a Confederate soldier and broke off a piece. Dozens of people gathered in Nashville, Tenn., and hundreds more in San Antonio to protest local monuments.

More coming down The gatherings followed formal announcements in at least five cities that monuments would be taken down.

On Sunday, Baltimore City

Councilman Brandon Scott took to Twitter to call for the “immediate destruction” of all four Confederate monuments in the city.

After Scott’s tweet went viral, Democratic Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh lent her support to removing the monuments, including those of Gens. Lee and Thomas. J. “Stonewall” Jackson.

In Lexington, Ky., the mayor shared a similar view.

“These moral moments require everyone to take a stand,” said Jim Gray, who tweeted Saturday that he would move to tear down two Confederate statues from the grounds of a 19th century courthouse, an idea city officials first broached two years ago.

Lawsuits coming But other groups were ready to fight.

“If the American people don’t speak up, the majority of these monuments will be gone,” said Kirk Lyons, an attorney at the Southern Legal Resource Center, a North Carolina-based pro-

ESSENCE from A1

and Family Circle. An investor group led by the Seagram heir Edgar Bronfman Jr., made an offer but later withdrew it.

“This is a great company,” Battista told the New York Times. “We think there’s tremendous untapped potential, and we’re just scratching the surface.”

There were no plans announced to sell stakes in Time,

Confederate group. Lyons said his group was ready to file lawsuits against monument removals.

“Confederate monuments are just a speed bump for these people. They will go after Confederates first … . It’s about Thomas Jefferson, George Washington next,” said Lyons, who said he was “a Christian attorney of Southern ancestry” and rejected the label “White supremacist.”

Lyons said he was considering driving to Richmond, Va., to join a rally next month in support of a Robert E. Lee statue on downtown’s Monument Avenue.

A Confederate heritage group is seeking a permit to hold the event.

A city commission is studying what to do with statues on the historic street popular with tourists – such as adding more historical context on the Civil War or placing monuments nearby paying tribute to Black figures.

Jaweed Kaleem of the Los Angeles Times and Tony Pugh of the McClatchy Washington Bureau / TNS contributed to this report.

People, Sports Illustrated or its other magazines.

Major moneymaker Time Inc. officials have said in recent years that the Essence Festival, now in its 23rd year, generated more revenue than the magazine in a single year. The annual July 4th holiday celebration attracted more than 470,000 participants to New Orleans this year.

Essence magazine, which publishes 12 issues a year, has a verified circulation of 1.1 million.

AUGUST 18 – AUGUST 24, 2017

FLORIDA

A3

Judge rejects new trial, acquittal for Brown THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

PETER MAROVICH/TNS

Then U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown (D-FL), listens to testimony during a hearing on Capitol Hill on Feb. 26, 2014 in Washington, D.C.

FHP: Ticket quotas will not be tolerated

BY JIM TURNER THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

TALLAHASSEE – A prohibition on ticket quotas will become part of training for supervisors and higher-ups in the Florida Highway Patrol, a top highway-safety official told Gov. Rick Scott and the state Cabinet on Wednesday.

Terry Rhodes, executive director of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, said the move is part a response to a report that Maj. Mark Welch of the patrol's Troop H in Tallahassee had sent an email to troopers requesting “two citations each hour."

“You have my commitment here today that no quotas will be tolerated within the Florida Highway Patrol,” said Rhodes, whose department includes the patrol.

‘Reckless statement’ Attorney General Pam Bondi said she was “troubled” by

Welch's directive, which she called “a stupid statement.”

“One misplaced, reckless statement like that can give everyone a bad name,” Bondi said.

“Thank you for clarifying something that is a given. It's illegal to have quotas, and it's wrong.”

While Welch still faces disciplinary action, Rhodes told reporters that she believes the issue has otherwise been resolved.

“We feel like there's going to be no other type of mistake that was made like that,” Rhodes said.

Under review Col. Gene Spaulding, director of the Florida Highway Patrol, told reporters that Welch's comments were “unfortunate and inappropriate” and that the need for disciplinary action for Welch is under review.

“The rank and file know that they have never been disciplined, they have never been evaluated, there has been no punitive damages, they've never been rewarded for strictly writing citations,” Spaulding said.

“They know they have a job to do, because their job is public safety.”

Welch – in his email to troopers patrolling Franklin, Gads-

den, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Taylor and Wakulla counties – stated the directive wasn't a quota, yet “when you look at citations per hour, we are at 1.3 so we have a goal to reach.”

Tickets or citations?

He also wrote that more tickets would help reduce the fatality rate within Troop H's area.

“Many times,” Welch wrote, “it is easier to issue a warning opposed to a citation for behaviors observed. But the only way to try to alter that behavior is by impacting the motorist with the sanctions surrounding a traffic citation.”

Spaulding disputed that tickets are more effective than warnings.

“Our main focus is high visibility and hot spots in areas that we've identified through crash data throughout the state,” Spaulding said. “We have approximately 240 hot spots throughout the state, three to five in each county, where there is a high volume of crashes.

Spaulding added, “Our emphasis is not about citations.

It's not even about warnings or faulty equipment notices. It's about visibility, being in those areas, being visible and taking action when you need to.”

Lack of broadband hurts higher education in rural areas

BY LLOYD DUNKELBERGER THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

PHOTO BY LARA CERRI/SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA COURIER

Sabrina, 17, is one of the many children in Florida waiting for a permanent home.

ADOPTIONS

A home for Sabrina One Church One Child of Florida is reaching out to families and individuals in communities across the state in efforts to help find permanent homes for children.

Children featured in this monthly spotlight are waiting for a permanent home and/or mentor. They have no family identified to adopt them.

Sabrina was born with a song in her heart. She’s animated, outgoing, hilarious, and almost always smiling. She loves people and gives herself wholeheartedly to being a great friend.

The teen is serious about her health, staying active, and about eating well although

she has a soft spot for lasagna.

Gymnastics and dance are her two favorite sports, and she’d really like to be either a gymnast or a dance therapist when she grows up.

She has no preference of family type, noting that if she had two dads she could be a “daddies’ girl” and the more siblings there are the more love to go around. But she is very clear about one thing: she wants more than anything in the world to mean the world to someone.

Sabrina has such a bright, amazing future ahead of her.

She needs and deserves to be part of a loving, encouraging and accepting forever family.

For more information about becoming an adoptive or foster parent, mentor, partner or volunteer, call 1-888-283-0886 or send an email to info@ococfl. org. The website for One Church One Child of Florida is www. ococfl.org.

TALLAHASSEE – The lack of high-speed internet services in many rural areas is one of the challenges hindering Florida’s efforts to increase college degrees and spur economic development, a new report shows.

Some 680,000 Floridians do not have access to a broadband internet service that would allow information to be downloaded at minimum speed of 25 megabits per second, according to the report presented Monday to the state Higher Education Coordinating Council.

Ed Moore, president of the Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida who compiled the report, said the data should prompt a “hard look at what access there is to digital learning and digital infrastructure across our state.”

“You cannot get ahead if you cannot get online,” Moore said.

Creating access Expanding broadband access and online education opportunities could help the state meet the Higher Education Coordinating Council’s goal of having 55 percent of Florida’s working-age population obtain either a college degree or professional certificate by 2025. Less than 47 percent have reached that level.

Moore said the 30 private colleges and universities in his organiza-

A federal judge Wednesday set a Nov. 16 sentencing date for former U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown after rejecting her requests for a new trial and an acquittal on corruption charges.

Brown, a Jacksonville Democrat who served 24 years in the U.S. House, was convicted in May on charges related to a scheme to use a sham education charity to finance personal expenses and events.

Brown filed motions for a new trial and a judgment of acquittal, but U.S. District Judge Timothy Corrigan flatly rejected the motions in two rulings Wednesday.

“Corrine Brown is entitled to a fair trial with an impartial jury that reaches a verdict in accordance with the law,” Corrigan wrote in a 27-page order rejecting the motion for a new trial. “That is what she received.” Brown, who was convicted on 18 of 22 counts, lost her congressional seat last year when she was defeated in a Democratic primary by U.S. Rep. Al Lawson.

Visitation canceled at all Florida prisons this weekend

BY GAL TZIPERMAN LOTAN ORLANDO SENTINEL/TNS

ORLANDO – The Florida Department of Corrections has canceled visitation at all 149 of its facilities this Saturday, Aug. 19, and Sunday, Aug. 20, citing a security threat.

The cancellation is a response to “credible intelligence indicating that small groups of inmates at several institutions may attempt to disrupt (Florida Department of Corrections) operations and impact safety and security,” a department official said in a statement. “FDC looks forward to resuming normal visitation as soon as possible.”

Department officials announced the cancellation on

Wednesday, and declined to answer questions about what the issue is or which correctional institutions it came from.

Other cancellations The department canceled visitation at the Jackson Correctional Institution in Malone — about 65 miles northeast of Panama City — for the last two weekends.

Three other institutions have had visitation canceled this year: Jefferson Correctional Institution, about 30 miles east of Tallahassee, on Aug. 5 and 6; Everglades Correctional Institution on July 29 and 30; and the Wakulla Annex, about 15 miles south-southeast of Tallahassee, on July 22 and 23.

Department officials last canceled visitation for a large group of facilities as Hurricane Matthew approached Florida last fall, department records show, though some facilities outside the storm’s path were unaffected.

A department spokeswoman said she did not immediately know when statewide visitation was last canceled Wednesday afternoon.

tion now offer 592 degrees and certificates through online courses.

“That’s a whole new world of higher education and creating access,” Moore said. “If you can’t get it in your house, if you can’t get it in your local school, your library or some other facility, it doesn’t mean anything to you.”

vocates and the rural economic development advocates united behind the effort to improve broadband services.

“This creates an equal opportunity for success for everybody,” he said.

13 counties behind

Marshall Criser, chancellor of the state university system, said education leaders should work “collaboratively” with the business community in developing policy recommendations on expanding broadband services.

Criser, a former president of AT&T in Florida, said the state has made efforts to expand internet access and that there were sound reasons for broadband development to follow population densities.

“It’s kind of the chicken or the egg, because there were a lot of people there it made sense to make those investments historically,” Criser said.

And while noting he likes to work almost exclusively on his smart phone, Criser said the development of any recommendations on expanding broadband should take into account “some of the new technology,” which could include wireless and satellite services in addition to broadband delivered over phone lines or fiber optic cable.

Moore’s report, based on Federal Communications Commission data, showed high-speed broadband service was consistently available in Florida’s urban counties, which also correlated with higher income levels, more college degrees and more job growth among the residents.

But his report also identified 13 small, rural counties that were “trailing” in broadband access, ranging from Madison County, with 41 percent of its residents not having access, to Dixie County, with 99 percent without access.

Among those counties, residents with college degrees or certificates ranged from 27 percent in Jefferson County to 12 percent in DeSoto County.

Another 16 counties were designated as “underserved,” ranging from Marion County, with 11 percent without broadband access, to Taylor County, with 37 percent without access.

Economic boost In addition to providing more educational opportunities, Mark Wilson, president of the Florida Chamber of Commerce, said expanding high-speed internet access would help economic development in rural communities.

An analysis from the chamber has shown that while 31 Florida counties have gained jobs since the Great Recession, 36 largely rural counties have lagged behind.

“It happens to overlay that map you talked about almost exactly,” Wilson told Moore.

Wilson said it could result in a “home run” if the education ad-

Some efforts

New law He noted the state just enacted a new law that is expected to expand faster wireless services by allowing telecommunications companies to install “small cell” devices on public rights-of-way.

Moore said advancements in technology will be considered as the higher-education council develops its recommendations.

Alan Levine, chairman of the higher-education council, said the council may invite the companies that provide broadband access and infrastructure to talk about the issue.

EDITORIAL

A4

AUGUST 18 – AUGUST 24, 2017

The indecency of the ‘Black Misleadership Class’ When Rep. Barbara Lee made the House vote for sanctions against Russia, Iran and North Korea unanimous, she snuffed out the last flicker of any independent worldview among the Black political (misleadership) class.

“Russiaphobia” reigns supreme in the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), where “Auntie” Maxine Waters, who once blamed the CIA for the crack cocaine epidemic, now fills her rhetorical pipe with warinducing hallucinogens straight from spook headquarters in Langley.

Three summers ago, the CBC joined in a unanimous House resolution in support of Israel, effectively cheering the apartheid state at the very moment it was slaughtering 2,500 Palestinians in Gaza.

Standing with Israel A month before the resolution on Israel, 80 percent of the CBC voted to continue the Pentagon’s massive transfers of weapons and military gear to local police departments, thus endorsing the militarized police occupation of Black communities.

The “War” (Democratic) Party began its absorption of the CBC in 2002, when corporate and pro-Israel moneybags funded the primary election defeats of Representatives Cynthia McKinney of Georgia and Earl Hilliard of Alabama, two of the Caucus’ most prominent critics of US foreign policy. It was a pivotal year in the devolution of Black electoral politics, as corporate money made its first serious entrance into local Black Democratic races.

By 2005 there existed, for the first time ever, a recognizable right wing in the CBC. Once a small faction, these corporatists now dominate the Caucus, where only 8 to 10 members can be considered reliably “progressive” by any rational measure – and only if foreign policy is omitted from the criteria.

No difference

GLEN FORD BLACK AGENDA REPORT

When it comes to US behavior overseas, the Black Misleadership Class is indistinguishable from the leadership of the Democratic Party. Their core ideology is “representationalism,” which holds that the best measure of Black progress is the number of “Black faces in high places” in all sectors of US society.

This narrow worldview meshes quite well with corporate notions of “diversity,” with its emphasis on managerial and highprofile public positions. For Black corporate- and media-oriented climbers, social transformation need go no deeper than skin color.

Radical change in fundamental relations of power is viewed, at best, as problematical, since serious socio-economic shakeups might upset the fragile status of those Blacks newly entered the fringes of ruling circles (or who imagine themselves to have “arrived.”) The Black representationalist worldview is, therefore, inherently conservative at its core.

On domestic issues, Black elected officials and other “leaders” must at least give the appearance of responding to mass Black demands for some form of wealth redistribution. This is generally accomplished by paying lip service to the mildest economic reforms offered by the Democratic wing of the corporate duopoly.

‘The best deal’ The Black political class, however, assigns its highest priority to its own relationship to Power, which it conflates with the interests of Black people as a group.

They are instantly prepared to accept the harshest reversals in social policy – and then package it as “the best deal we could

What must we do to help HBCUs? Will another Historically Black College or University (HBCU) bite the dust? That depends on us.

Pennsylvania’s Cheyney University, the oldest HBCU in the nation (founded in 1837) has been on probation since November 2015. If the Middle States Commission on Higher Education does not accept a sustainability report due on September 1, the school may lose its accreditation.

Without accreditation, Cheyney students cannot receive federal financial aid. Many would leave school because they can’t afford to attend school without assistance.

Starved of resources Cheyney is part of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE), an organization that took nearly 20 years to settle a lawsuit with the college because PASSHE funded Predominately White Institutions (PWIs) in Pennsylvania more favorably than Cheyney.

While PASSHE provided Cheyney with some money to address the issues of inequality, most say the amount they provided was just a fraction of that due.

At the same time, Cheyney has borrowed millions of dollars from PASSHE. Because of the borrowing, PASSHE has assembled a task force that would sell Cheyney’s land, slash its academic programs, reduce enrollment (which is already extremely low), elimi-

DR. JULIANNE MALVEAUX TRICE EDNEY NEWS WIRE

As students head back to school this August, we must ask if those headed to HBCUs will be able to enjoy their 10th, 25th, or 50th college reunion. They won’t unless we all step up. nate NCAA sports and cut staff.

They would essentially kill the college.

Losing another?

Cheyney’s detractors say that the college is not necessary, and that PASSHE should merge it with another nearby college – either sister HBCU Lincoln University, or another PASSHE school, West Chester University. Some say it isn’t race, but mismanagement, that has plagued Cheyney.

get.” Welfare “as we knew it” was abolished and mass Black incarceration more deeply entrenched, with hardly a “God Damn!” from the Black Misleadership Class.

At this stage of capitalist decay, the rulers are not prepared to offer anything to the masses – and especially not in any form that could be directly beneficial to Black people. White backlash must be avoided at all costs. Accordingly, the Black Misleadership Class asks only for a gentler austerity.

Gone are the days of ritual, election-season proposals for a “Marshal Plan for Black America.” Such a program is more desperately needed than ever, but Black politicos will make no demands that corporate Democrats would reject, for fear of harming their standing in “the party” and with the billionaires that control it.

In foreign relations, including Africa, the Black Misleadership Class identifies fully with the US imperial project, and seeks to embed itself as deeply (and profitably) as possible in the infrastructure of empire. As per their imperative that Black people be “represented” in all US endeavors, African-American politicos applaud the posting of Black generals to AFRICOM, but are unconcerned that the US Military Command virtually occupies the continent.

Doesn’t care This class cares nothing for the sovereignty – or even survival – of African peoples and nations, but seeks only to ensure that the hyper-aggressive superpower presents a “rainbow” face as it attempts to dominate the world: diversity in predation – and in genocide.

No one has been more intimately involved in the ongoing slaughter of Congolese over the past 21 years than Susan Rice, who was serving as special assistant to President Bill Clinton and senior director for African affairs in 1996, when the U.S.backed militaries from Rwanda But too many HBCU leaders have been accused of mismanagement, when the real issue – especially for state-supported institutions – is a lack of resources and a history of underfunding Black colleges. Most face the challenge of underfunding with some innovation.

For example, Cheyney has developed a new business model that includes creating an Institute for the Contemporary AfricanAmerican Experience. They envision this institute as a potential magnet for student enrollment, which will bring more revenue to the college.

But with a September 1 deadline nipping at their heels, the survival of Cheyney is in the hands of the accrediting organization.

Getting support An organization called Heeding Cheyney’s Call has held events and urged people to support Cheyney. They say that Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf can intervene before Middle States makes an accreditation decision, and that he can also instruct PASSHE to back off from their plan to sell Cheyney’s land.

An August 1 event attracted the support of both local and national leaders, including city council members, state legislators, members of Congress, clergy, and others. US Senator Bob Casey (DPA) is among those supporting Cheyney.

That commendable support isn’t enough to save Cheyney.

The college, like so many HBCUs, needs resources, and the state can’t be counted on to provide them.

So will Cheyney be the next HBCU to bite the dust? Or are the Af-

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: DAVID DUKE AND DONALD TRUMP

BOB ENGLEHART, CAGLECARTOONS.COM

and Uganda invaded the Democratic Republic of Congo. To date, the invaders have caused the deaths of at least 6 million people, the largest genocide since World War II. Much of Congo’s mineral wealth has wound up in Rwanda, on its way to multinational corporations. Under President Obama, Rice became US ambassador to the United Nations where she did everything possible to shield Rwanda and Uganda (and, ultimately, US imperialism) from censure and punishment for the crime of genocide.

These were precisely the credentials that put Rice at the top of the list to succeed Hillary Clinton as secretary of state.

Predictably, Republicans zeroed in on Rice – not, of course, for her crimes against Congolese humanity, but to make her a foil for the jihadist attack on the US consulate (a CIA arms distribution depot) in Benghazi, Libya.

Defending genocide?

The CBC rallied to Rice’s defense, embracing her as a sister in distress. Thanks to Friends of Congo and other activists, all these Black lawmakers had been made aware of the abominations committed by US allies in Congo, and of the US role in rican-American community and other concerned folks prepared to step in the gap for the college?

Alumni absent Cheyney has an abysmal alumni giving rate, at less than 10 percent (one report pegged it as low as 6 percent). It is unconscionable that alums would flock back to campus for social events or graduations, but not write checks to support their college.

To be sure, some alums get tired appeals that highlight dire emergency situations. But HBCUs are in a state of emergency, when people constantly question their reason for being, and when federal and state dollars are scarcer than ever. Too many believed President 45’s prevarication about supporting HBCUs. Too many presidents got a photo op – but no more money –when they met with 45.

Those of us who wring our hands and decry the state of HBCUs can do more than we are doing now. Whether we attended HBCUs or not, we can support them. We can adopt one and become regular contributors to that university. We can encourage students to attend HBCUs. We can do fundraisers for HBCUs, even in places that don’t have HBCUs. In Las Vegas, Nev., a city councilman stages a football game where an HBCU plays the University of Nevada Las Vegas’ football team. The event raises tens of thousands of dollars for the HBCU team that plays UNLV.

Imaginative thinking In addition to fundraising, though, we must also think creatively about HBCU sustainabil-

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.

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

Dr. Glenn W. Cherry, Sales Manager

W W W.FLCOURIER.COM

Dr. Valerie Rawls-Cherry, Human Resources

Charles W. Cherry, Sr. (1928-2004), Founder Julia T. Cherry, Senior Managing Member, Central Florida Communicators Group, LLC Dr. Glenn W. Cherry, Cassandra CherryKittles, Charles W. Cherry II, Managing Members

Jenise Morgan, Senior Editor Angela van Emmerik, Creative Director Chicago Jones, Eugene Leach, Louis Muhammad, Lisa Rogers-Cherry, Circulation Penny Dickerson, Staff Writer Duane Fernandez Sr., Kim Gibson, Photojournalists

MEMBER

Florida Press Association

National Newspaper Publishers Association

Society of Professional Journalists

National Newspaper Association

Associated Press

covering up their crimes during Rice’s tour at the UN. A handful had served on congressional subcommittees on Africa. But 6 million dead Congolese were of no consequence when weighed against the representational value of yet another Black US secretary of state.

Barbara Lee was conspicuous by her presence among Susan Rice’s fawning CBC boosters.

No decent person could support Rice, an unrepentant top operative in a decades-long genocide, for anything except life in prison or an appointment with the gallows.

But the ideology of the Black Misleadership Class – awesomely self-serving and pitifully servile, at the same time – does not allow for decency, and is wholly unfit to guide politics of 40 million people.

The Black political class has given electoral politics a bad name. But that doesn’t mean the vote is useless in the struggle for justice and self-determination.

Glen Ford is executive editor of BlackAgendaReport.com.

E-mail him at Glen.Ford@ BlackAgendaReport.com. ity. If buildings are not fully utilized, why not create summer, evening, and weekend programs for the public? Is there revenuegenerating distance learning?

Have stakeholders taken time to generate new ideas for sustainability?

With the 45 attack on affirmative action, HBCUs may be more important than ever for AfricanAmerican college attendance.

When doors close at other institutions, HBCUs will be there if we support them.

I’ve heard the argument that some HBCUs have challenges and may not provide a Harvardquality education (few schools do). The quality of an HBCU education is at least partly a function of the resources available to that college. You can’t have stateof-the-art labs or media centers without money. Where are the resources?

We must support them If we want strong, solid HBCUs, we need to support them. We can only blame ourselves if Cheyney or other colleges close for lack of support. Federal and state funds can make a difference. But individual and foundation contributions are equally, if not more, important.

As students head back to school this August, we must ask if those headed to HBCUs will be able to enjoy their 10th, 25th, or 50th college reunion. They won’t unless we all step up.

Julianne Malveaux is a Washington, D.C.-based economist and writer. Her latest book, “Are We Better Off? Race, Obama and Public Policy,” is available at www.juliannemalveaux.com.

Central Florida Communicators Group, LLC, P.O. Box 48857 Tampa, FL 33646, publishes the Florida Courier on Fridays. Phone: 877-352-4455, toll-free. For all sales inquiries, call 877-352-4455; e-mail sales@flcourier.com.

Subscriptions to the print version are $69 per year. Mail check to P.O. Box 48857 Tampa, FL 33646, or log on to www.flcourier.com; click on ‘Subscribe’.

SUBMISSIONS POLICY SEND ALL SUBMISSIONS TO NEWS@FLCOURIER.COM. Deadline for submitting news and pictures is 5 p.m. the Monday before the Friday publication date. You may submit articles at any time. However, current events received prior to deadline will be considered before any information that is submitted, without the Publisher’s prior approval, after the deadline. Press releases, letters to the editor, and guest commentaries must be e-mailed to be considered for publication.

The Florida Courier reserves the right to edit any submission, and crop any photograph, for style and clarity. Materials will not be returned.

AUGUST 18 – AUGUST 24, 2017

White supremacy: The tragedy and folly of Charlottesville Unsurprisingly, the media are still covering that mayhem in Charlottesville as if it were a latterday version of the Battle of Gettysburg. Yet, if North Korea were to merely test-fire another missile today, they would move on as if it were ancient news.

For the record, I am convinced that confronting neo-Nazis, the Ku Klux Klan, and other racist groups in the streets is tantamount to adding fuel to the pyre of White supremacy. Confrontation only begets the kind of tragedy and folly that is playing out in this case.

For what purpose?

The tragedy of course is the loss of life. But even that is being sidelined by the folly of everyone waiting with bated breath for President Trump to denounce these groups by name. Except that, when he does – with begrudging, teleprompter sincerity – then what?!

Surely you remember the way he played the media and political establishment with his Birther nonsense. Given that, you’d think everyone would know that Trump thrives on people begging him to do the right thing. Yet here we are.

Meanwhile, the media are only compounding this folly by making heroes of Republican politicians tweeting outrage. These politicians would have you believe they are shocked and appalled that Trump is failing to do what he spent the 2016 presidential campaign criticizing Barack Obama for refusing to do, namely calling out the terrorism afoot by its name.

Never mind that such instances of brazen hypocrisy characterized Trump’s entire campaign, and are doing the same with his presidency.

Real courage This is why real profiles in courage would be for these politicians to emulate SpaceX and Tesla’s Elon Musk and Merck’s Kenneth Frazier. These famous CEOs truly deserve praise for publicly disassociating themselves from the Trump administration’s racist, xenophobic, homophobic, and

ANTHONY L. HALL, ESQ. FLORIDA COURIER COLUMNIST

other Neanderthal policies. The wonder is that other notable figures, especially serially outraged Republicans, have yet to do the same.

That said, the best way to deal with these racists groups is to do everything possible to marginalize them to the point of complete irrelevance. Foremost in doing so is to prevail upon Whites – who (claim to) oppose them – to use every political, educational, corporate, and media resource at their disposal to empower Blacks and the other groups these racists despise.

Media titans have a special duty in this respect. For, as I lamented above, only a perverse interest in profiting off the propagation of hate explains the coverage their network of TV channels give these racist groups.

Vote, don’t protest In a similar vein, Black Lives Matter, Antifa, and other grassroots movements would do far more to advance their cause (to the extent they can identify it) by galvanizing young people to vote.

Am I the only one who wonders why they are protesting (and often rabble-rousing) in the streets nowadays for rights and freedoms their grandparents and forebears won long ago, respectively?

It has been self-evident for over 50 years that protesting in the streets is not going to end racism, stop police brutality, redress the growing gap between rich and poor, or empower Blacks and other traditionally disadvantaged groups.

Only the systematic acquisition of education and wealth, and a wielding of the economic, social and political influence that acquisition enables, will have any meaningful impact in these respects.

How ‘Black’ will the Obama Presidential Center be?

So far, the “Obama Legacy” is surprisingly lacking in Black participation.

During his two presidential administrations, Black business participation was on a continuous downward slide. At the end of the George W. Bush’s two administrations, Small Business Administration (SBA) lending to Blacks was approaching eight percent, and Black business participation was similar.

When Obama succeeded Bush, the numbers in both categories started to fall from the beginning. Both categories were cruising at the two percent level. It was so bad that the SBA and Minority Business Development Agency would lie to the press by claiming they didn’t keep numbers on Black lending and procurement.

Numbers are tracked The truth is that for at least the last 40 years the Federal Procurement Data Systems office tracks all numbers in terms of procurement with detailed demographics. The SBA itself reports its own lending by race.

I will never figure out why they were so disingenuous and insincere about improving Black business development. Maybe there

HARRY C. ALFORD GUEST COLUMNIST

were not enough “real Blacks” working in the right places. The Trump administration has reversed that farce, and we are back to improving the numbers.

Why is it called a “presidential center” rather than a “library”?

That is because this is going to be more than a library – it will also be a museum. The overall costs will exceed over $1.3 billion dollars. The initial phase will reach over $500 million. The management company will be the Barack Obama Foundation.

‘Fronting’ in Chicago Maybe the big red flag about Black participation in the building of this center is the fact that it will be a Chicago thing.

The Chicago market is notorious when it comes to Black business participation in the construction industry. Despite a consistency of lofty goals, the numbers are fraught with “front-

Random thoughts of a free Black mind, v. 302 White racists – Mom, who will be 90 years old this year, often tells me stories about how Ku Klux Klan nightriders would occasionally terrorize the small Black community in her Leslie, Georgia hometown. Black people would close and lock the doors and cover their windows with sheets. Kids would hide under the bed and adults would take cover.

Well, those days are gone. And if any of these young, testosterone-driven, attention-starved, historically illiterate, pseudotough, Nazi flag-waving White

QUICK TAKES FROM #2: STRAIGHT, NO CHASER

CHARLES W. CHERRY II, ESQ. PUBLISHER

supremacists think that they’re gonna strike fear in people’s hearts by marching down Main Street in Anytown, USA spoiling for a fight, they’ll get what they

EDITORIAL

A5

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: WHITE SUPREMACY

Still, if these grassroots activists had focused on galvanizing young people to vote last year, America would not be stuck with a president who has emboldened White supremacists to act out their racist fantasies.

Here’s my take My initial thought was to forego commenting. After fielding many requests for my take, however, it occurred to me that there might be some worth in publishing what I shared with one of my nieces via e-mail: [H]ysterical reporters, pundits, and politicians are reacting as if we’re experiencing the “The (Re) Birth of a Nation” – complete with hooded clansmen lynching Blacks the way they did in the early 1900s.

Never mind that the images they’re blabbering over plainly show that these events amounted to little more than mostly White knuckleheads having a street fight over a Confederate statue, about which most Blacks couldn’t care less.

Granted, there’s no denying the perverse fascination of watching one of those knuckleheads ape ISIS terrorists by mowing down people.

And such mindless acts are always a ratings boon for mainstream media and clickbait for social media.

But I’m all too mindful that greater violence, causing more casualties, has become so commonplace in cities like Chicago and Baltimore, they no longer warrant media coverage. Not to mention that, because of racial cannibalism among Blacks and racist indifference among Whites, Blackon Black violence has become the elephant in the room of American politics.

You are so right about that clarion call [which the election of Trump represented]. I would only note that Trump gave America nearly two years of dog-whistling notice that this would be the case – complete with rallies erupting in violence the way this neo-Nazi march did yesterday. So yeah, no surprise.

I would be remiss not to add my two cents on the original controversy that triggered this tragedy and folly. It stemmed from Charlottesville’s decision to remove ing” and fraud. Midwestern cities like Indianapolis and Columbus, Ohio are doing more with Black construction companies than the mighty population of Chicago.

That is because they are accountable to the public.

The $600 million National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., was completed with Black representation we can all be proud of.

I will forever applaud Congressman John Lewis for holding the operation accountable from the beginning to the end.

One day, Chicago may emulate such an accomplishment. But right now, and until things drastically change, it will never happen in Chicago. Therefore, there is hopelessness within its Black communities. There is no increase in Black employment in the construction industry, unlike that of the “murder industry” in that town.

DAVE GRANLUND, POLITICALCARTOONS.COM

a statue of Confederate military leader Robert E. Lee from a public park.

As it happens, Southern states are littered with similar monuments to Confederate leaders, which raises two inevitable but troubling questions: • What should become of all the other statues?

• Why is there so much fixation on monuments to leaders like Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee, who fought to preserve slavery, and none on monuments to leaders like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, who owned slaves?

Who won the war?

Truth be told, Confederate statues would not make the list of 1,000 things that bother me about race and politics in America today.

But, if challenged to resolve this dilemma, I would think the only politically tenable – even if morally specious – way to do so would be to focus on the Civil War, bearing in mind the following maxims: • To the victor go the spoils; and • The victors write history.

It would be for each state legislature to decide whether it wants to continue honoring men who tried to divide the union to preserve slavery and its insidious notions of White supremacy. And it would be for the rest of us to decide whether we want to live, work, and/or revel in states that choose to do so (think “BDS” – Boycott and Divestment, as Sancout on a continual basis. If they were to stay there and try to grow, they would meet disaster.

Chicago is a big, corrupt construction union town. You must be “union” and that is a big problem. The Chicago construction unions are very racist. They rival New York in this area.

There is no way the Obama project will have Black employment participation during the construction phase. The authorities will demand “union-only” work, and the unions are very Jim Crow.

They might let us pour cement and do general labor, but they will never let us work the higher-paying trades. Pipefitters, electrical workers, iron workers, steel erection, etc. might as well be run by the Ku Klux Klan.

Look for yourself

When the NBCC started working the Chicago market, it became clear that many of the so-called Black construction businesses were “shells.” They had no significant equipment or consistent labor force. Their bonding ability never grew.

The only Black construction companies doing work in Chicago were not from Chicago. They would do their projects and get

The court records of Cook County, Ill., will attest to the claim. The unions get sued and are found guilty of discrimination, but keep on doing it. Don’t believe me? Google “discrimination in Chicago construction unions.” It lives!

When the great Harold Washington became the first Black mayor of Chicago, he made a pathway for talented Black construction and architectural firms.

It wasn’t long before he died a premature death that the up-andcoming contractors and archi-

are asking for. No one’s running or hiding anymore. Retaliation will be certain, and in my mind it will be deserved.

It’s not just Black or Brown folks standing against these punks. Many of the Charlottesville counter-demonstrators were White. The most recent person killed in the latest flareup of the continual, centurieslong war against American racism was 32-year-old Heather Heyer, whose name should be added with Rev. James Reeb, Viola Luizzo, Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner, and other White Americans to the list of known civil rights martyrs who stood up to racism and were killed for it.

These active White racists are a miniscule slice of America. If

they think they’re going to drag the nation back to the bad old days when overt White supremacy was acceptable and people on both sides of the railroad tracks were afraid of the Klan and their ilk, they better think again…

King Don – As I was listening to satellite radio on Tuesday, I heard one of the best descriptions of the impact of Donald Trump. CBS News’s Washington correspondent Major Garrett said that America is “wrapped around the axle of Trump,” who only sees the world through how it reacts to him. We told you when he was first elected not to follow this guy in real time. Take yourself off the axle, if necessary…

I got something to say – If

Business ‘shells’

tions are not practicable).

Racist ideology still alive The Civil War was supposed to marginalize the racist ideology that rationalized Black slavery and White supremacy. It failed.

Nothing demonstrated this quite like the hundreds of monuments vanquished Southerners erected to honor those who fought and died to preserve this racist ideology. It’s particularly noteworthy that they did this in reaction to and defiance of racial advancement during the period from Reconstruction in the 1860s to the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s.

No doubt you’ve heard their descendants defending these statues and the Confederate flag as proud symbols of their heritage. Beware that they are only referring to this racist ideology, no matter what politically correct spin they put on it.

(Incidentally, I have written about the myth surrounding the Rebel flag, as well as the opportunistic outrage it occasionally incites, in many commentaries.)

So, until the next racial flare-up on America’s long and tragic road towards racial truth and reconciliation…

Anthony L. Hall is a native of The Bahamas with an international law practice in Washington, D.C. Read his columns and daily weblog at www.theipinionsjournal.com. tects also abruptly died, literally.

No doubt the “Mob” had an effect.

It is going to be very difficult to break the grip racist construction unions have on “The Windy City.”

Yes, “Tony Soprano” is alive and well there.

Will it change?

I doubt that very much. The first executive order President Obama signed was to make all federal projects over one million dollars union-only jobs, known as “Project Labor Agreements.” He loves them!

Keep in mind that he reversed an order by George W. Bush to declare all federal construction projects “right to work” sites with no union requirement. Construction unions have given his campaigns so much money that he cannot approach them to change their evil ways. Thus, the evil ways will persist.

The Black children living in Jackson Park (Woodlawn) where the structure will be erected will see very few if any Blacks working on the project, as contrasted to the new museum in D.C. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Arthur Fletcher, and Parren J. Mitchell will be shaking their heads from above.

Harry C. Alford is the cofounder and president/CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce. Contact him via www.nationalbcc.org. you’re in the Daytona Beach area on Sunday, Aug. 27 and you’re looking for a church service, stop by New Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church for their “Back to School Sunday” service, where your humble writer will speak. Service starts at 10:45 a.m. I’ll also be opining for an hour on a call-in talk show, “Sweet Tea With A Chaser.” Call 646-478-3527 on Aug. 21 between 9:15 p.m. to 10:15 p.m., and you can listen as well as participate. I’ll be talking about White nationalism and the next steps for Black America, King Don, the drama at BethuneCookman University, and whatever else is happening…

Contact me at ccherry2@ gmail.com.

TOJ A6

NATION

AUGUST 18 – AUGUST 24, 2017

Bill Cosby heads to court on Dec. 13, 2016 in Norristown, Pa., for the hearing in the accused comedian’s attempt to get sexual assault charges against him dismissed.

NOAA: 2016 was hottest year on record TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

DAVID MAIALETTI/ PHILADELPHIA/ TNS

Second Cosby lawyer quits as November retrial looms TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

PHILADELPHIA – A second member of Bill Cosby’s defense team bailed on his sexual assault case Tuesday, prompting the 80-year-old entertainer to ask a Montgomery County judge for more time to find new attorneys.

In court papers, Angela Agrusa — a Los Angeles-based entertainment lawyer who sat by Cosby’s side during his trial earlier this summer — asked Judge Steven T. O’Neill for permission to

withdraw from the case before the retrial Nov. 6.

Cosby “continues to take necessary steps to secure new counsel,” she wrote. “However, given factors outside of (his) control … (he) requires brief additional time to finally secure his representation.”

Second in weeks Her bid to leave the case before its second go-round in court comes two weeks after Cosby’s lead defense attorney, Brian J.

McMonagle of Philadelphia, also asked to bow out.

O’Neill had previously set a Tuesday hearing to discuss who would represent Cosby after his first trial ended in a deadlocked jury and mistrial in June.

Agrusa sought Tuesday to push that hearing back to Sept. 11 — a request Montgomery County Angela District Attorney Agrusa

Kevin R. Steele opposed, saying in a filing of his own, that it would “delay the timely administration of justice” in the case.

Criminal case Should O’Neill accept Agrusa’s request to withdraw, it would leave less than two months for new lawyers to prepare for Cosby’s retrial under the schedule the court has currently put in place.

Her court filings made no mention of seeking to postpone Cosby’s retrial date.

In the criminal case, Cosby is accused of drugging and molesting Andrea Constand, the former operations manager of Temple University’s women’s basketball team, as she visited his Cheltenham mansion in 2004.

LOS ANGELES – Last year was the hottest year on record for the planet, according to a report published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration last week.

NOAA’s 27th annual State of Climate report, a collection of monthly summaries recapping climate-related data, found that 2016 was the warmest year in 137 years of record keeping.

“Most indicators of climate change continued to follow trends of a warming world, and several, including land and ocean temperatures, sea level and greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere broke records set just one year prior,” NOAA said.

The combination of long-term global warming and a strong El Nino, a phenomenon which leads to a natural warming of Pacific Ocean water, led to the record heat, the organization said.

Arctic sea ice coverage was at or near a record low, the report said.

The report was the work of 450 scientists from nearly 60 countries.

Solar eclipse could create once-in-a-lifetime road hazards

BY JENNI BERGAL STATELINE.ORG/TNS

WASHINGTON – The moon will block out the sun, and day will plunge into night. Birds will stop singing, crickets will start chirping, and many people will gasp, weep, or even howl when they see the sun’s corona shimmering in the darkened sky.

And some drivers, inevitably, will stop in the middle of the road to take a selfie.

The Aug. 21 total eclipse will cut directly across 14 states, from Oregon to South Carolina. About 200 million people live within a day’s drive of the “path of totality,” and millions are expected to flock there for the event. Every other state, including Alaska and Hawaii, will see a partial eclipse.

No selfies urged

CHERISS MAY/NURPHOTO/SIPA USA/TNS

Omarosa Manigault-Newman, White House director of communications for the Office of Public Liaison, is shown at the White House on June 23.

Omarosa walks out on Black journalists after tough questions

BY WILLIAM DOUGLAS TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

NEW ORLEANS – Omarosa Manigault-Newman became a hostile witness for President Donald Trump’s approach to the Black community on Aug. 11 during questioning at raucous session at the National Association of Black Journalists convention.

Manigault-Newman, director of communications for the Office of Public Liaison and one of the few high-profile Blacks in the White House, joined a panel that included mothers who lost their sons to police violence.

Manigault-Newman began talking about losing her father and her brother to violence, but things quickly went south when moderator Ed Gordon, host of a news magazine on Bounce TV, started asking her about what she’s doing to advocate on behalf of a Blacks, many of whom are angered about Trump’s recent comments on policing and view the White House as hostile toward them.

Got tense Gordon stepped toward Man-

igault-Newman as he questioned her. She accused Gordon of being “aggressive.”

“When you have someone in the room, you don’t beat the hell out of them,” she told a packed ballroom. “You inform them of what’s going on in the community so they can be an advocate.

You don’t walk away from the table because if you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.”

Both sides Manigault-Newman interrupted Gordon as he tried to ask her how she could sit in “a White House with a man who clearly is sending a signal to this country that” police don’t have to treat suspects gently.

“I did my best to keep this civil as possible,” Gordon said after Manigualt-Newman said she didn’t want to hear the question. “I’ll ask the question my way.”

“If you want to ask about the loss of my father and my brother and the issues I do, ask about my story,” she said. “I’m not going to stand here and defend every single word and statement.

Ask questions about me or my father and brother.”

Screams, jeers The packed ballroom began to scream and jeer. About a dozen attendees turned their backs on the stage where ManigaultNewman were rhetorically sparring. Some people in the audience walked out of the session.

She said it was wrong for Trump to suggest in a speech he gave in New York that police officers should be “rough” with people they arrest. But when asked what she told Trump after the speech, Manigault-Newman said, “I don’t disclose confident conversations with the president.”

“If you want to get to know Omarosa, feel free to,” she said.

“I came in here wide open to give people the opportunity to get to know me. And then you ask about my family, then you immediately go to Donald Trump. Get to know me. I’m sure we’ll have plenty of time about Donald Trump.”

When asked about what work she was doing with the Justice Department, Manigualt-Newman tersely replied “Google me.”

Transportation officials are worried not only about massive traffic jams but potential crashes that could result from drivers focusing on the skies, not the road.

Officials across the country say they’re doing all they can to put out the word to eclipse-watchers, using press releases, videos, public appearances and social media. But in the end, they caution, it’s up to locals and visitors to follow common sense rules to stay safe.

“Don’t stand on the interstate.

Don’t pull your car over. Don’t take a selfie from a bridge,” said Doug Hecox, a Federal Highway Administration spokesman. “The risk of driver distraction from this once-in-a lifetime event has never been greater. We don’t want anyone to have an ‘eclipse in judgment.’”

Officials are urging motorists to plan ahead and find a safe spot to view the eclipse.

They say pulling onto the shoulder of a highway is a bad idea because it could block emergency vehicles from getting through and put drivers who get out to watch the event at risk of being struck by a car.

Expect long backups State transportation officials recommend that people find an event or designated location to safely watch the eclipse. Many state parks, for example, are hosting events or reserving areas to accommodate campers and day visitors.

But drivers, whether they follow that advice or not, could find themselves stuck in place for many hours, well after the eclipse has ended.

“People are thinking they’re just going to pop in, see it, and

then turn around and head back home. They’re not,” said Dave Thompson, a spokesman for the Oregon Department of Transportation.

“They need to be prepared for long backups and have a full tank of gas and stuff in their car like water and food and medications they might need.”

Three-hour event State transportation agencies are working with police and emergency management officials to plan for the major traffic jams many areas are expecting.

A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon completely blocks the sun. In the 14 states, there will be darkness for a few minutes in most areas of the eclipse’s direct path.

In other parts of the country, the sun will be partially eclipsed by the moon. All phases of the eclipse from beginning to end will last up to three hours, depending on the area.

Next one: 2045 For many, the coast-to-coast total eclipse will be a once-ina-lifetime event. The next one won’t occur until 2045.

The last time a total eclipse was visible across North America was 1918. That year, there were only 6 million cars in the U.S. In 2015, the latest year data are available, there were nearly 264 million.

Twenty-one interstates are going to be in the total eclipse’s band, the so-called path of totality.

Like a blindfold Another concern is that people may want to take photos of the eclipse while they’re driving, which officials warn would be extremely dangerous.

For anyone viewing the eclipse, the only safe way to observe it directly is by using special-purpose solar filters, such as “eclipse glasses” or hand-held solar viewers. Officials worry some people may wear the glasses while driving — another no-no.

“These glasses are designed to look at an intensely bright light, and you can’t wear them and drive,” Matt Hiebert, a Missouri Department of Transportation spokesman who is heading up an eclipse task force for the state transportation officials’ association.

“It’s almost like wearing a blindfold. You won’t be able to see out of them,’’ he added.

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

IFE/FAITH

‘Black-ish’ show to focus on Juneteenth See page B5

SOUTH FLORIDA / TREASURE COAST AREA

AUGUST 18 – AUGUST 24, 2017

SHARING BLACK LIFE, STATEWIDE

Back-toschool breakfast ideas See page B6

WWW.FLCOURIER.COM

|

SECTION

B

S

GO NAKAMURA/ZUMA PRESS/TNS

Alt-right rally members are shown on Aug. 12 in Lee Park in Charlottesville, Va. The result of the rally: Three deaths and dozens of injuries.

SURVIVOR’S STORY:

THEY WERE TRYING TO KILL ME

Hip-hop artist describes beating in Charlottesville that left him with head wound, other injuries

Zach D. Roberts, a freelance photographer, posted this image on Twitter of De’Andre Harris being beaten.

BY DAVID S. CLOUD TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

C

HARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — As a gang of White supremacists was beating him bloody, De’Andre Harris thought he might not survive and wondered why police were not rushing to defend him. The result of the rally: Three deaths and dozens of injuries.

A few moments before, the 20-year-old Charlottesville resident and four friends, all of them African-Americans, were screaming curses at White nationalists marching along Market Street in downtown Charlottesville on Aug. 12 and carrying neo-Nazi flags and yelling racial slurs.

The verbal confrontation soon turned ugly.

GO NAKAMURA/ZUMA PRESS/TNS

A group of anti-White supremacist protesters were injured after a car slammed into them during a march on the streets on Aug. 12 in Charlottesville, Va.

Hit with fists, poles As Harris recounted in an interview Sunday, he suddenly found himself fighting as many as five of the marchers.

Harris, a hip-hop artist and assistant special education teacher at a high school, said he did not know why the marchers singled him out, though he had tied a white towel around his neck on which he had scrawled epithets directed at the Ku Klux Klan and police.

As he fled into a nearby parking garage, the men caught up with him, hitting with their fists and wooden poles.

‘Police didn’t budge’ But a group of police officers who were only a few yards away when the fight broke out did not attempt to break it up, according to Harris and another eyewitness.

“They were trying to kill me out there,” Harris recalled. “The police didn’t budge, and I was getting beat to a pulp.”

In the garage, Harris fell against the

COURTESY OF DE’ANDRE HARRIS

De’Andre Harris said nearby officers did not immediately come to his aid. garage entrance gate, snapping off the wooden arm, and dropped to the ground.

One of the marchers picked up the board and started hitting Harris with it, while others surrounded him and continued to pummel him with blows, video of the attack shows.

With blood pouring from his head, Harris tried to get back up but kept falling down under the continuous blows.

Aware of claims Vonzz Long, 23, who saw the attack on Harris, said that he implored police to come to his friend’s help, but that they ignored him.

“They looked at me and didn’t say nothing,” Long said.

Miriam Dickler, a spokeswoman for

the city of Charlottesville, said she was aware of Harris’ claims that the police did not come to his aid, but could not comment further.

“Our police officers, the Virginia State Police and other law enforcement agencies were around the area the entire day, responding to more than 250 incidents and assisting people,” she said.

Harris somehow made his way to a stairwell. Roberts said an officer with the Charlottesville Police Department arrived and blocked anyone from entering the stairwell, where Harris had taken refuge.

“After five or six minutes, one officer showed up,” Roberts said. “The rest of them probably just went off with the march. They kind of just let it go.”

Eventually got help

Treated at hospital

Zach D. Roberts, a freelance photographer who photographed the beating, said police were nearby when it started and did not come to Harris’ aid. But he added that they may not have been able to see inside the darkened garage.

At least one of the marchers was also bloodied in the melee, photographs show. The identity of Harris’ attackers could not be determined.

Eventually, one officer did come to Harris’ aid.

Harris received medical treatment from two volunteer medics and was later transported to Martha Jefferson Hospital, where he was treated for his injuries.

Harris said that in addition to the head wound, which required eight staples, he suffered a broken wrist, a chipped tooth and a cut lip.

On Sunday, Harris returned to the scene of the attack, carrying the white towel he wore the day before, now stained with his dried blood.

CALENDAR & BOOKS

B2

AUGUST 18 – AUGUST 24, 2017

STOJ

FLORIDA COMMUNITY CALENDAR

fundraiser on Aug. 26 at Ocean Links Golf Course. More info: Rhynett Chatman, 904660-2157

Jacksonville: Damian Marley’s Stony Hill Fall Tour stops at Mavericks Rock N’Honky Tonk on Sept. 10, Sept.

12 at House of Blues Orlando and Sept. 13 at St. Petersburg’s Jannus Landing.

Miami: Tickets are on sale for Kendrick Lamar’s Damn Tour on Sept. 2 at the AmericanAirlines Arena and Sept. 10 at Tampa’s Amalie Arena.

Orlando: Catch Lil Jon and Throttle on Aug. 22 at the CFE Arena for an 8 p.m. show.

St. Petersburg: Lil Wayne is scheduled Sept. 1 at Jannus Live.

The show is at 7:30 p.m.

DERAY DAVIS

The comedian and actor will be at CFE Arena in Orlando on Aug. 23.

Tampa: Maze featuring Frankie Beverly, Nephew Tommy of the “Steve Harvey Morning Show,’’ Tank and Kelly Price are scheduled Sept. 2 at the USF Sun Dome.

Tallahassee: The Florida A&M Rattler Football Kickoff Luncheon is Aug. 20 at 2 p.m., Al Lawson Jr. Multipurpose Center. $25.

WILLIE MOORE JR.

The Tom Joyner Family Reunion is Aug. 31-Sept. 4 at the Gaylord Palms Resort, Kissimmee. Performers will include Maxwell, Morris Day & the Time, Cameo and a Gospel Explosure with Fred Hammond, Willie Moore Jr. and The Williams Brothers. Schedule: BlackAmericaWeb.com

SYLVIA TRENT-ADAMS

Jacksonville: Lauryn Hill and Nas will perform Sept. 23 at Daily’s Place.

The Women of Color Empowerment Conference is Sept. 8-10 at the Westin Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort. Speakers will include Congresswoman Maxine Waters and Surgeon General Sylvia Trent-Adams. Details: www.southfloridawomenofcolor.com

Amelia Island: The Northside Community Involvement, Inc. of Jacksonville is hosting its 12th Annual Golf Tournament of Unity

St. Petersburg: Catch Marlon Wayans on Sept.

19 at The Mahaffey Theater for an 8 p.m. show.

Miami: Tickets are on sale for the Mann’s World Concert and Comedy Show with David and Tamela Mann at the James L. Knight Center on Sept. 1.

Zephyrhills: The East Pasco Democratic Club will meet at 7 p.m. Aug. 21 at the American House, 38130 Pretty Pond Road. Guest speaker: Kelly Smith.

Refreshments at 6:45 a.m. Details: 813-3838315.

St. Petersburg: Maxwell is scheduled Sept. 1 at The Mahaffey Theater.

Miami Beach: Mary J. Blige’s Strength of a Woman Tour stops is at the Jackie Gleason Theater on Aug. 22 and Aug. 23 at Daily’s Place in Jacksonville.

Rice reflects on the state of democracy

BY DR. GLENN C. ALTSCHULER SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA COURIER

Global survey Success, she maintains, depends on accepting the paradox of democracy: its genius rests on its openness to change, but its stability comes from institutions that exercise restraint.

Rice’s lessons also include working with existing institutions; recognizing that “first presidents matter”; the essential task of connecting with “the people”; and patience and persistence.

“Democracy’’ is a useful survey of “the state of play” in countries around the globe.

Tunisia, Rice reveals, relied on an independent labor movement, which was part of a coalition of civil society groups, and a new political party backed by allies of the old regime, to help prevent its Islamic group, the Ennahada, from dominating (as the Muslim Brotherhood did in Egypt).

In Kenya, Rice indicates, the constitution of 2010 may help the fragile democracy stay on course.

Unwieldy, uneven Informative though it is, however, “Democracy’’ is unwieldy and uneven.

BOOK REVIEW Review of Democracy: Stories from the Long Road to Freedom by Condoleezza Rice.

Twelve. 482 pages, $35.

Rice’s first chapter “on the long transition” to democracy of the United States is at times simplistic and not all that relevant to 21st-century champions of democracy.

Rice’s discussion of Iraq is, by turns, a defense of the policies of the Bush Administration and an attack on Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld for failing to supply sufficient U.S. forces to occupy the country and for disbanding the Iraqi Army instead of using it for reconstruction and security.

When Peter Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, indicated that (without getting Rumsfeld’s permission) he had asked a group to take a fresh look at Iraqi strategy, Rice tells us, she “wanted to jump up and hug him.”

Guidance lacking Unfortunately, Rice does not offer all that much practical guidance to reformers who want to bolster civil institutions – or to policymakers in the United States.

Her conviction that circumstances in the transition to democracy differ dramatically from country to country, it seems, has deterred her from offering up best practices.

Nonetheless, Rice might have explained why the arrests and repression of protestors in Kenya did not keep them from returning to the streets. Or given examples of American foreign aid that was not siphoned off to corrupt officials. Or specified how a free trade agreement with

COURTESY OF TIMOTHY SMITH/US NAVY NEWS/TNS

Then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, center right, stands with female members of the Afghanistan military during a visit to the Pakistan Air Force base in Chaklala, Pakistan, on Oct. 12, 2005. the United States advanced Columbia’s “journey from civil war to democratic security.” Or indicated why she’s convinced that President Obama’s withdrawal of American troops from Iraq derailed a country that “was on its way to a better future.”

Batten & Shaw, Inc. is currently seeking bids from qualified Subcontractors and Suppliers for the Citrus Memorial Hospital Renovation Project.

Inverness, Florida and surrounding area businesses are invited to attend a Preconstruction Meet & Greet to learn more about opportunities associated with the upcoming project.

‘Good for the world’

Rice’s irrepressible optimism is admirable.

Citing a Freedom House The project consists of interior renovations to study that deemed 145 out 13,263 SF of the existing emergency department of 195 countries as either at Citrus Memorial Hospital. “free” or “partly free,” she concludes that the spread Bid Packages associated of democracy “through with the project include the following: Metal Fabrications • Rough Carpentry • Plastic most” of Latin America, Laminate Faced Architectural Cabinets •EquipAfrica, and Asia, and the ment Screen System •Patching Existing Roofing emergence of free coun- flcourier.com •Fire Stopping & Joint Sealants • Expansion tries in Eastern Europe has Joint Cover Assemblies • Hollow Metal Doors & “been good for the world...a Frames • Laminated Plastic Faced Wood Doors reason for celebration even • Access Doors and Panels • Overhead Coiling if there have been setbacks Doors • Intensive Care Unit/ (ICU/CCU) Entrances and reversals along the • Aluminum-framed Storefronts •Door Hardware way.”

• Glazing • Non-Structural Metal Framing • GypReaders may suspect, as sum Board • Tiling • Acoustical Panel Ceilings • I do, however, that the phiResilient Base and Accessories • Resilient Sheet Flooring • Resilient Tile Flooring • Painting • losophy of this consumVisual Display Boards • Signage • Solid Surface mate diplomat could actuShower Receptors • Curtain Track and Curtains ally be “pessimism of the intellect; optimism of the will.”

Dr. Glenn C. Altschuler is the Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Professor of American Studies at Cornell University. He wrote this review for the Florida Courier.

flcourier.com

A staunch supporter of Poland’s Solidarity Movement, Lane Kirkland, the head of the AFL-CIO, proclaimed in the 1980s that the transition to democracy “is not decided in the palaces of power but on the streets and in the workplaces.”

If civil society – labor unions, courts, health care services, a free press – is “already well developed,” adds Condoleezza Rice, the scaffolding of democracy will be stronger.

In “Democracy,’’ Rice, who is now a professor at Stanford University, draws on her scholarly expertise and her experiences as George W. Bush’s national security adviser and secretary of state to examine the challenges faced by dozens of countries which are trying to build the infrastructure of democracy.

• Wall and Door Protection • Toilet and Custodial Accessories • Fire Protection Specialties • Metal Lockers • Manufactured Plastic Laminate Faced Casework • Plastic Laminate Clad Countertops • Simulated Stone Countertops • Quartz Movement Clocks • Fire Suppression Systems • Testing, Adjusting, Balancing • Access Control Systems What: Preconstruction Meet & Greet When: Wednesday, August 30, 2017, 12 noon Where: Citrus Memorial Hospital, The Gulf Room, 502 W Highland Blvd., Inverness, FL 34452 Batten & Shaw, Inc. and HCA/Citrus Memorial Hospital are strongly committed to the development and implementation of initiatives which promote the inclusion of all local construction related businesses with an emphasis on minority and women-owned enterprise firms. Please join us at the preconstruction Meet & Greet to explore more opportunities.

For information regarding the bid packages for this project, contact: Mike Ford, Project Estimator at (615) 292-2400 or via email at mford@battenshaw.com To RSVP for the upcoming Meet & Greet, contact: Rhea Kinnard at (615) 941-8396 or via email kinn0167@aol.com Light lunch will be provided

Read All About Black Life, Statewide!

Visit us online at www.flcourier.com

STOJ

AUGUST 18 – AUGUST 24, 2017

HEALTH

B3

Lack of donors hampers dementia research Bad experiences with doctors and studies slows understanding of Alzheimer’s affect on African-Americans

BY ANNA GORMAN KAISER HEALTH NEWS/TNS

OAKLAND, Calif. – The question came as a shock to Dorothy Reeves: Would she be willing to donate her husband’s brain for research?

She knew dementia would steadily take Levi Reeves’ memories of their 57-year marriage, his remaining lucidity and, eventually, his life. But to let scientists take his brain after he died? That seemed too much to ask.

“I didn’t want to deal with the idea of his death,” said Reeves, 79. “I certainly didn’t want to deal with brain donation.”

History of distrust As an African-American and a former schoolteacher, Reeves is keenly aware of the history of racism in health care, including callous and sometimes deadly experimentation.

Reeves said she never personally has had a bad experience with doctors or the medical system. But she’s old enough to remember the infamous Tuskegee Institute syphilis study, during which hundreds of mostly illiterate Black sharecroppers were assured they were being treated for “bad blood” even as doctors withheld effective treatment over decades.

Top researchers say such wariness, while understandable, is thwarting efforts to understand and treat Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia in Black patients today.

Vexing challenge African-Americans suffer from these cognitive impairments at two to three times the rate of nonHispanic Whites, yet they are less likely to take part in research.

That has created a vexing challenge for scientists, who are trying to persuade more Blacks to participate in studies — both while they are alive and after they die. A critical part of their efforts is asking for brain donations.

“There is a lot of terrible history that we have to acknowledge and move past,” said Lisa L. Barnes, a neuropsychologist at the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center in Chicago. “A lot of minority communities still feel that research involves being a guinea pig. Nobody wants to be used. Nobody wants to be a guinea pig.”

No control Shirley Fitch, who lives south of Chicago, said no thank you to Rush researchers on behalf of her husband, Clarence. The former university professor died last summer at age 86, seven years after being diagnosed with dementia.

“I’m hesitant because of distrust,” said Fitch. “Once my brain is donated for one purpose, who is to say it won’t be used for another

ANNA GORMAN/KAISER HEALTH NEWS/TNS

Dorothy and Levi Reeves stand in their Oakland, Calif., home, holding their wedding photo from 57 years ago. Dorothy Reeves agreed to donate both of their brains after death to the University of California-Davis for research. purpose? It is out of your control.”

Although Shirley Fitch is participating in non-Alzheimer’s research at Rush, she said the historical abuses of Black people have been “awful and hard to get over.”

‘Knowledge gap’ Even today, Blacks tend to get worse treatment from hospitals, she said. “It all gets stirred in the pot as to feelings about bias.”

The precise explanations for the disparities among Blacks and Whites are unknown. Until recently, most of our understanding of the pathology of dementia was largely based on studies of White patients.

“We have a real knowledge gap in accurately knowing if dementia is different in minorities as compared to Whites,” said John Olichney, a neurologist and clinical director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Center at the University of California, Davis.

Crucial studies Scientists say Blacks’ disproportionate rates of dementia may be related in part to the prevalence of disorders that raise the risk of vascular disease: diabetes and hypertension, for instance.

Socioeconomic factors such as higher rates of poverty and lower levels of education also seem to play a significant role, according to research led by the University of California-San Francisco.

Despite advances in imaging technology that allows researchers to peer into the brains of live

patients, studying the organ after death is crucial to a deeper understanding of the causes and progression of disease and to developing drug treatments, Olichney said.

Cultural challenge The challenge is getting enough brains from different populations to study. It’s not just a matter of assuring potential donors that Tuskegee and other ethical debacles are in the past.

To gain trust, Alzheimer’s research facilities such as UC Davis and Rush University are also trying to diversify their staffs, collaborate with community leaders and study religious and cultural beliefs on brain donation.

For example, some AfricanAmericans don’t want their brain separated from their body when they are buried, said Stephanie Monroe, director of African Americans Against Alzheimer’s, which is engaged in various efforts to educate people about the disease and its effects.

“Many people believe in ashes to ashes and dust to dust,” she said.

Reaching out Alzheimer’s researchers at UC Davis recognized about 15 years ago that they needed a more representative slice of the population, especially in diverse Northern California.

At the time, centers around the country were mostly studying well-educated, White people who volunteered, Olichney said.

So they started reaching out to both the African-American and Latino communities. “That was a real change in our mindset,” he said.

More donors Today, nearly 400 patients, including about 70 African-Americans, are enrolled in its longitudinal study of the progression of dementia, and they come in yearly for memory evaluations and other tests.

Of the study participants, about 270 have agreed to donate their brains after death, more than 40 of them African-American.

At the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center, doctors started following a cohort of African-Americans in 2004 and, some seven years later, began to seek brain donation for the study. Close to 500 African-Americans have signed up to donate after death, and 72 brains already have been donated, Barnes said.

Though she is pleased with the high rate of commitment, she noted that more works needs to be done. In another study, about 3,100 White participants agreed to brain donation, with 1,400 already donated.

‘Lot of effort’ Recruiting African-Americans “takes a lot of effort and a lot of work,” she said. “Every year, we bring it up again and revisit it with those who are reluctant. But if someone is really firm, we don’t push the subject.”

Research on the donated brains

has led to intriguing findings. One Rush study, published in 2015, found that Blacks with Alzheimer’s disease were more likely than Whites to have other disorders, such as Lewy body dementia.

Twice as many Blacks with Alzheimer’s as Whites with the disease also had Lewy body dementia, in which protein deposits build up in nerve cells, according to the study. Blacks with dementia also had more severe disease of the arteries, the study found.

Signed up The number of Blacks studied was relatively small — 41 compared with 81 Whites — yet its findings were potentially important. That’s because the presence of other diseases in the brain means Blacks may not respond as white patients do to drugs aimed specifically at Alzheimer’s.

Dorothy Reeves declined brain donation initially but agreed to sign up herself and Levi, 81, for observational studies. Then she saw what the disease could do.

Her husband, who has Lewy body dementia, went under a table one day to get a magazine and couldn’t find his way out. He forgot her name and those of his children.

She thought about all the other people like Levi.

“It affects people in ways you can’t imagine — regardless of your race,” she said. “It’s almost unbearable.”

Soon the researchers had their answer. Yes, she would agree to donation — for both of them.

Why drinking hydrogen peroxide can be deadly

BY ALLIE SHAH STAR TRIBUNE

It’s meant to boost your health but Minnesota doctors caution that this alternative health remedy can send you or a loved one to the emergency room.

Six people have been treated at Hennepin County Medical Center this year for injuries sustained after accidentally drinking highly concentrated hydrogen peroxide.

‘No benefit’

DREAMSTIME/TNS

Consuming hydrogen peroxide can burn holes in the esophagus and stomach, and can create oxygen bubbles that can be released in the blood stream.

Although these were accidental cases in which the patients thought the odorless, colorless liquid was water, there are people intentionally drinking diluted hydrogen peroxide as a natural treatment for sinus infections, inflammation and other ailments.

“The way people describe it is that they take 3 drops of concentrated peroxide and dissolve it in about eight ounces of water and take it three times a day,” explained Dr. Ann Arens, a medical toxicologist at the Minnesota Poison Control System.

“There are a bunch of websites

and YouTube videos. There’s no science behind any of it helping.

There’s no benefit of doing it and it really opens you up to a lot of potential harm.”

More cases Doctors have seen more cases of hydrogen peroxide poisoning in the last two months, she said.

The hydrogen peroxide in these cases is stronger than the 3 to 5 percent concentration usually found in the drug store. In these cases, the bottle is labeled “food grade quality” and contains 35 percent hydrogen peroxide.

“It burns as soon as you drink it,” Arens said.

Consuming the liquid can burn holes in the esophagus and stomach, and can create oxygen bubbles that can be released in the blood stream.

When that happens, explained Dr. Stephen Hendriksen, an emergency medicine doctor at HCMC, the bubbles can travel to the brain and cause seizures and stroke-like symptoms.

The Star Tribune is based in Minneapolis.

B4

BUSINESS

AUGUST 18 – AUGUST 24, 2017

STOJ

Digital tracking: Why you should care I want. I want nutrition facts on every piece of software I install so that I can click on it and it says all the information they’re taking.”

Individual profiles Gary Reback, a Palo Alto, Calif., antitrust lawyer who has tangled in legal battles with Google and Microsoft over data privacy issues, said data harvested from consumers has led companies to create individual profiles, often at a level of detail that even family members may not know.

“When an online profile is created of you, which you never really get to see, it’s not just kind of what you buy, it’s who you might vote for,” Reback said in a recent telephone interview.

An old saying goes that when a consumer gets a service or product for free, the consumer becomes the product. His or her profile becomes an item to be marketed.

“You may think your identity is, you look in the mirror and that’s what you see, but it’s really not. Your identity is what they’ve compiled,” Reback said. “That is kind of scary when you think about it. I just don’t think people think about it enough.”

‘Internet of Things’

AMAZON/TNS

Above is the Amazon Echo hands-free voice-activated speaker. Even as privacy erodes in the digital era, little outcry arises over the digital tracking and profiling of consumers.

Some companies, empowered by the click-through habits of consumers, exploit the information by selling it to data brokers.

BY TIM JOHNSON TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

WASHINGTON – It’s an experience every computer or smart phone user has had. After downloading new software or an app, a window pops up with a legal agreement. At the bottom is an “I agree” button. One click, and it’s gone.

Most users have no clue what they’ve agreed to.

That single action can empow-

er software developers to extract reams of personal information — such as contacts, location and other private data — from the devices. They can then market the information.

Even as privacy erodes in the digital era, little outcry arises over the digital tracking and profiling of consumers. Only slight murmurs are heard on Capitol Hill.

But a handful of security researchers, lawyers and privacy watchdogs voice increasing concern that consumers might one day wake up in anger at the collection of data by software companies winning rights to do so through “end user license agreements,” also known as EULAs.

Collecting data One researcher says the data collection potentially poses a na-

tional security threat.

For now, news about how companies collect data emerges in bite-sized stories. In late July, articles brought to light that certain models of the Roomba robotic vacuum not only collect dust as they whir across the floor, they also map the homes of users and send the data back to headquarters.

The Massachusetts manufacturer, iRobot Corp., may share the data to enable the smart home and the devices within it to work better. It says it will do so only with customer consent. iRobot chief executive Colin Angle said, “iRobot will never sell your data.” He added that such information “needs to be controlled by the customer and not as a data asset of a corporation to exploit.”

Data sold Other companies, empowered by the click-through habits of consumers that allow them to gather and sort through data, exploit the information by selling it to data brokers.

“We need legislation that basically forces these companies to be very, very clear on what information they are taking from us when we install these apps,” said Michael Patterson, chief executive of Plixer International, a Kennebunk, Maine, cybersecurity firm.

“If they change the EULAs, they have to tell us, and they also have to make what they’ve taken from us available at any time,” Patterson said.

“When you buy a box of cereal or crackers, on the side of it it gives you nutrition facts,” Patterson continued. “That’s what

Internet-connected devices proliferate in homes.

An estimated 8.4 billion such devices exist in the world today, the Gartner research firm says, and that number is projected to climb to 20.4 billion by 2020. Those devices are often lumped together as the “Internet of Things.”

“It’s getting worse because the Internet of Things is like where your location is, how much your heart rate is going, (and) what you’re saying with these new voice-controlled devices,” said Chris Wysopal, cofounder of Veracode, a Burlington, Mass., app security company.

Wysopal is concerned enough about privacy that he avoids all voice-activated devices in his own home out of concern they may be feeding his private activities back to manufacturers. But he said young people may feel that “we enjoy all this technology so much that we’re willing to give it up.”

Direction unclear As time passes, added Reback, the growth of big players in technology may leave consumers with the sense they have little choice but to accept conditions imposed on them.

“You’ve got no alternative.

Back when there was competition, if some people did a better job at protecting privacy, that might have influenced your choice,” Reback said.

The direction of where the issue may head is unclear.

“I don’t have a good answer for where it’s going to go. But I think that things might just change that people really start to think it’s fine to have all this data in the hands of third parties,” Wysopal said.

Big employers embracing health plan status quo

BY JAY HANCOCK KAISER HEALTH NEWS/TNS

The shrinking unemployment rate has been a healthy turn for people with job-based benefits.

Eager to attract help in a tight labor market and unsure of Obamacare’s future, large employers are newly committed to maintaining coverage for workers and often their families, according to new research and interviews with analysts.

Two surveys of large employers released this month — one by consultancy Willis Towers Watson and the other from the National Business Group on Health — show companies continue to try to control costs while backing away from shrinking or dropping health benefits. NBGH is a coalition of large employers.

Attitude change “The extent of uncertainty in Washington has made people reluctant to make changes to their benefit programs without knowing what’s happening,” said Julie Stone, a senior benefits consultant with Willis Towers Watson. “They’re taking a wait-and-see attitude.”

That’s a marked change from

three years ago, when many big employers — those with 1,000 employees or more — contemplated ending medical benefits and shifting workers to the Affordable Care Act’s marketplaces.

In 2014, only 25 percent of big companies were “very confident” they would have a jobbased health plan for employees in 10 years, according to the Willis Towers Watson survey.

Marketplace problems This year, 65 percent expected to offer health benefits in a decade. And 92 percent said they were very confident a companybased health plan would exist in five years.

Many managers once eyed Obamacare marketplaces as workable coverage alternatives despite the law’s requirement that employers offer health insurance, analysts said.

But problems with marketplace plans, including fewer offerings, rising premiums and shrinking medical networks, have made employers think twice, they said.

Another big reason to maintain rich coverage is “the strength of the economy,” said

KAISER HEALTH NEWS/TNS

Sixty-five percent of companies say they expect to offer health benefits in a decade. Ninety-two percent say they are very confident a company-based health plan would exist in five years.

Paul Fronstin, director of health research at the Employee Benefit Research Institute, an industry group. “Employers are doing what they have to do to get the

right workers.”

Unemployment has fallen from 9.9 percent when Obamacare became law in 2010 to 4.3 percent last month, which equaled a

16-year low reached in May. With such a steep decline, he added, “employers are thinking, ‘We need to offer this benefit for recruitment and retention.’”

STOJ

AUGUST 18 – AUGUST 24, 2017

Meet some of

FLORIDA’S

finest

FINEST & ENTERTAINMENT

B5

Think you’re one of Florida’s Finest?

E-mail your high-resolution (200 dpi) digital photo in casual wear or bathing suit taken in front of a plain background with few distractions, to news@flcourier. com with a short biography of yourself and your contact information. (No nude/ glamour/ fashion photography, please!) In order to be considered, you must be at least 18 years of age. Acceptance of the photographs submitted is in the sole and absolute discretion of Florida Courier editors. We reserve the right to retain your photograph even if it is not published. If you are selected, you will be contacted by e-mail and further instructions will be given.

Thousands of Caribbean culture lovers converge on South Florida every year on the Columbus Day weekend to attend the annual Miami Broward Carnival, a series of concerts, pageants, parades, and competitions.

On Carnival Day, “mas” (masquerade) bands of thousands of revelers dance and march behind 18-wheel tractor-trailer trucks with booming sound systems from morning until nightfall while competing for honors.

Here are some of the “Finest” we’ve seen over the years.

Go to www. miamibrowardcarnival. com for information on this year’s Carnival.

CHARLES W. CHERRY II / FLORIDA COURIER

Pantone releases purple hue in honor of Prince EURWEB

The cast of ‘black-ish’ will focus on Juneteenth during the ABC show’s Oct. 3 season premiere.

‘Black-ish’ to celebrate Juneteenth

BY GREG BRAXTON LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

rary piece that speaks to the texture of what America is.”

ABC’s “black-ish,” the acclaimed family comedy about an upper-middle class African-American family living in a predominantly White neighborhood, has taken on more than its share of provocative topics, including a debate over the “N-word,” police brutality and President Donald Trump.

The fourth season premiere, which will air Tuesday, Oct. 3, at 9 p.m. — a new day and time for the series — continues in that edgy direction, using music to take a shot at the holiday celebrating Christopher Columbus while also saluting Juneteenth, the June 19 celebration commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.

Historical concept

‘Hamilton’ influence Kenya Barris, the creator of “black-ish,” said the episode was largely influenced by his affection for the blockbuster hip-hop musical “Hamilton.”

“I’ve seen ‘Hamilton’ a ton of times,” Barris said in an interview. “The thing that got me about it is the idea of a historically contextual piece that speaks to what an American story is. That’s what ‘black-ish’ is. It’s a contempo-

In the episode, the Johnson family attend a school play featuring their young twins Jack and Diane (Miles Brown and Marsai Martin) that celebrates Columbus Day. Dre (Anthony Anderson) is dismayed over the inaccuracies regarding the historical context of the holiday.

Feeling there are not enough Black holidays, Dre enlists singer Aloe Blacc (guest starring as himself ) at his job as an ad executive to help him create a catchy song to raise awareness for a holiday worth celebrating: Juneteenth.

Columbus fact Barris said the episode was inspired by a conversation he had with his teenage son over the summer.

“He was talking to me about Columbus and said, ‘Dad, you know Columbus never actually set foot in North America?’” said Barris. “I looked at him and said, ‘I think you’re mistaken, son.’ I thought he had just read the books wrong. But I started researching it, and I was blown away.

“Not only did Columbus not step foot in North America, he wasn’t the person who discovered the world wasn’t flat. His name wasn’t even really Christopher Columbus.”

No slavery prosecution

The Pantone Color Institute, a firm that helps companies make the most informed decisions about color for their brands or products, has announced the creation of a specific hue of purple in honor of Prince.

The custom color, represented by Prince’s “Love Symbol #2”, was inspired by his custom-made Yamaha purple piano, which was originally set to tour with Prince before his death, according to a press release.

Prince died on April 21, 2016 at age 57.

“We are honored to have worked on the development of Love Symbol #2, a distinctive new purple shade created in memory of Prince, ‘the purple one,’” Laurie Pressman, vice president of the Pantone Color Institute said in a statement.

“A musical icon known for his artistic brilliance, Love Symbol #2 is emblematic of Prince’s distinctive style,” she added. “Long associated with the purple family, Love Symbol #2 enables Prince’s unique purple shade to be consistently replicated and maintain the same iconic status as the man himself.”

He added, “All these things we had been told in a false way. Why is it that we have a holiday for this guy? I started thinking about Juneteenth, being an American and acknowledging that slavery happened. There’s never been one person prosecuted for slavery in the history of the country.

“So we never got a reset button. It was like, ‘OK, it’s over.’ So morally, we understand that slavery was wrong as a country, but there was no criminality put to it.”

Another controversy Putting a musical spin on the Juneteenth celebration is in keeping with the “black-ish” tradition of making a controversial issue accessible to a mainstream audience. Barris has always been focused on having the show be a bridge to understanding.

“The idea of honoring the end of slavery gives us something that brings us together as a country,” he said.

The Pantone Color Institute, has announced the creation of a specific hue of purple in honor of Prince.

FOOD

B6

AUGUST 18 – AUGUST 24, 2017

S

Make-ahead breakfasts for busy school days BLACKBERRY AVOCADO SMOOTHIE BOWL Prep time: 10 minutes Servings: 1 3/4 cup blackberries 1/4 cup blueberries 1/4 cup Friendly Farms Plain Nonfat Greek Yogurt 3/4 cup Friendly Farms Unsweetened Original Almond Milk 1/2 avocado 1/2 frozen banana 1 teaspoon Stonemill Pure Vanilla 1 teaspoon SimplyNature Organic Wildflower Honey 2 teaspoons lime juice Optional garnishes: SimplyNature Flax Seed Southern Grove Chia Seeds Southern Grove Sliced Almonds, toasted Blackberries Blueberries Lime zest Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. Transfer to serving bowl and add garnishes as desired.

Recipe courtesy of Chef Audrey, ALDI Test Kitchen.

MORNING OASIS OVERNIGHT OATS Prep time: 10 minutes (plus overnight to set) Cook time: 10 minutes Servings: 3 1 1/2 cups Millville Quick Oats 1 teaspoon Southern Grove Chia Seeds 2 cups Friendly Farms Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk

1/8 teaspoon Stonemill Iodized Salt 3 tablespoons SimplyNature Organic Wildflower Honey, divided 1/4 cup Simply Nature Organic Quinoa, toasted 1/4 cup Southern Grove Whole Almonds, toasted 1 mango, sliced 1/4 cup chopped coconut

.45 ounces Moser Roth Premium Dark Chocolate 70 percent Cocoa, shaved .45 ounces Moser Roth Premium Dark Chocolate 70 percent Cocoa, melted Heat oven to 400 F. In a large mason jar, combine oats, chia seeds, almond milk, salt and 2 tablespoons honey. Refrigerate overnight.

In medium bowl, combine quinoa, almonds and remaining honey. Spread

onto parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake 10 minutes. Remove, cooling completely and crumbling. Store in re-sealable bag overnight.

The next day, stir oats and pour desired amount into serving bowl. Top with mango, coconut, shaved chocolate and candied quinoa. Drizzle with melted chocolate.

Recipe courtesy of Chef Michelle, ALDI Test Kitchen.

FROM FAMILY FEATURES

When the school year rolls around, switching from pool to school means finding simpler ways to kick off the day with healthy and nutritious options.

Preparing feel-good breakfasts can be as easy as picking and putting together the right ingredients, if you know where to buy them.

At grocery stores like ALDI, parents can conveniently find choices they can feel good about feeding their families, including fresh produce and organic, non-GMO and gluten-free options.

After the shopping trip, try these make-ahead breakfast ideas to give the busy mornings a boost: Homemade energy bars are an easy breakfast option that can keep you fueled until lunch. For simple bars, heat coconut oil and vanilla in a saucepan until combined then transfer to a large bowl and mix with cashew butter, oats, dried fruits and granola. Press the mixture between two cookie sheets to flatten, refrigerate 2 hours and slice into bars.

Portion out produce for daily breakfast smoothies. Seal each weekday’s smoothie ingredients in separate plastic bags and simply toss the ingredients in a blender each morning.

Enjoy your smoothie in a tumbler or try something new, such as this Blackberry Avocado Smoothie Bowl.

Use your slow cooker to make oatmeal. Before heading to bed, simply add milk, vanilla and your favorite sweetener to rolled oats and cook on low 7-8 hours. Include dried fruit to soak up moisture and provide a sweet, juicy addition. Or try these Morning Oasis Overnight Oats for a no-cook variation on traditional oatmeal for a quick, crunchy start to the day.

Helping you is what we love to do.

Don’t see the fish you want? We’d love to help you get it. Our Reel Variety program gives us quick access to up to 80 varieties of fish you can special order—always fresh, never frozen. And if you want your selection steamed, we can do that, too!

See how we serve you at publix.com/service.

FOOD

B6

AUGUST 18 – AUGUST 24, 2017

TOJ

Make-ahead breakfasts for busy school days BLACKBERRY AVOCADO SMOOTHIE BOWL Prep time: 10 minutes Servings: 1 3/4 cup blackberries 1/4 cup blueberries 1/4 cup Friendly Farms Plain Nonfat Greek Yogurt 3/4 cup Friendly Farms Unsweetened Original Almond Milk 1/2 avocado 1/2 frozen banana 1 teaspoon Stonemill Pure Vanilla 1 teaspoon SimplyNature Organic Wildflower Honey 2 teaspoons lime juice Optional garnishes: SimplyNature Flax Seed Southern Grove Chia Seeds Southern Grove Sliced Almonds, toasted Blackberries Blueberries Lime zest Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. Transfer to serving bowl and add garnishes as desired.

Recipe courtesy of Chef Audrey, ALDI Test Kitchen.

MORNING OASIS OVERNIGHT OATS Prep time: 10 minutes (plus overnight to set) Cook time: 10 minutes Servings: 3 1 1/2 cups Millville Quick Oats 1 teaspoon Southern Grove Chia Seeds 2 cups Friendly Farms Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk

1/8 teaspoon Stonemill Iodized Salt 3 tablespoons SimplyNature Organic Wildflower Honey, divided 1/4 cup Simply Nature Organic Quinoa, toasted 1/4 cup Southern Grove Whole Almonds, toasted 1 mango, sliced 1/4 cup chopped coconut

.45 ounces Moser Roth Premium Dark Chocolate 70 percent Cocoa, shaved .45 ounces Moser Roth Premium Dark Chocolate 70 percent Cocoa, melted Heat oven to 400 F. In a large mason jar, combine oats, chia seeds, almond milk, salt and 2 tablespoons honey. Refrigerate overnight.

In medium bowl, combine quinoa, almonds and remaining honey. Spread

onto parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake 10 minutes. Remove, cooling completely and crumbling. Store in re-sealable bag overnight.

The next day, stir oats and pour desired amount into serving bowl. Top with mango, coconut, shaved chocolate and candied quinoa. Drizzle with melted chocolate.

Recipe courtesy of Chef Michelle, ALDI Test Kitchen.

FROM FAMILY FEATURES

When the school year rolls around, switching from pool to school means finding simpler ways to kick off the day with healthy and nutritious options.

Preparing feel-good breakfasts can be as easy as picking and putting together the right ingredients, if you know where to buy them.

At grocery stores like ALDI, parents can conveniently find choices they can feel good about feeding their families, including fresh produce and organic, non-GMO and gluten-free options.

After the shopping trip, try these make-ahead breakfast ideas to give the busy mornings a boost: Homemade energy bars are an easy breakfast option that can keep you fueled until lunch. For simple bars, heat coconut oil and vanilla in a saucepan until combined then transfer to a large bowl and mix with cashew butter, oats, dried fruits and granola. Press the mixture between two cookie sheets to flatten, refrigerate 2 hours and slice into bars.

Portion out produce for daily breakfast smoothies. Seal each weekday’s smoothie ingredients in separate plastic bags and simply toss the ingredients in a blender each morning.

Enjoy your smoothie in a tumbler or try something new, such as this Blackberry Avocado Smoothie Bowl.

Use your slow cooker to make oatmeal. Before heading to bed, simply add milk, vanilla and your favorite sweetener to rolled oats and cook on low 7-8 hours. Include dried fruit to soak up moisture and provide a sweet, juicy addition. Or try these Morning Oasis Overnight Oats for a no-cook variation on traditional oatmeal for a quick, crunchy start to the day.

Snack smarter with dairy and fruit combos FAMILY FEATURES

Americans are snacking more and more these days, with the average person consuming 25 percent of daily calories in the form of snacks. This school year, aim for an A-plus in nutrition by snacking smarter on nutrientrich dairy products.

Snacking goes hand-in-hand with dairy products since they are a tasty, convenient and costeffective way to fuel up throughout the day. There are a variety of grab-and-go milk, cheese and yogurt products that provide portable nutrition.

What’s more, dairy packs a nutritious punch. Together, milk, cheese and yogurt provide nine essential nutrients, including high-quality protein, an important nutrient to include in snacks since it helps you feel fuller longer.

Snacking tips Boost your snacking IQ with

RAINBOW FRUIT AND CHEESE KABOBS Prep time: 15 minutes Servings: 6 8 wooden skewers 6 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, cut into 18 cubes 1/2 cup strawberries, halved 1/2 cup cantaloupe, cut into 3/4-inch cubes 1/2 cup pineapple, cut into 3/4-inch cubes 1 kiwi, peeled and cut into 6 pieces 1/4 cup blueberries 6 purple grapes Thread each skewer with one piece of cheese, one strawberry half, one cantaloupe cube, one pineapple cube, another piece of cheese, one piece of kiwi, two blueberries, one grape and another piece of cheese. Repeat pattern with remaining skewers.

Recipe courtesy of the Midwest Dairy Council.

PEANUT BUTTER BANANA CRUNCH YOGURT PARFAIT Prep time: 10 minutes Servings: 1 1 cup nonfat, light vanilla yogurt 1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter 1 tablespoon chopped walnuts 4 pretzel twists, crumbled (about 1 tablespoon) 1 banana, sliced In small bowl, mix yogurt and peanut butter together. In separate bowl, toss walnuts and pretzels together.

In a tall glass, build parfait. Layer 1/2 cup yogurt, half of banana slices and 1 tablespoon of walnut/ pretzel mixture. Repeat layers. Serve immediately.

Recipe courtesy of the Midwest Dairy Council.

these smart tips: Add dairy to your favorite treats for a well-rounded snack.

Pair cheese sticks with fresh fruit, such as an apple, pear or grapes. Reach for cheese cubes and whole-grain crackers when you want something savory. Or dip strawberries in yogurt for a tasty, sweet treat. For a kidfriendly snack, make it hands-on fun by creating colorful fruit and cheese kabobs.

Flavored milk provides the same nine essential nutrients as unflavored milk. The only difference is the addition of flavorings and minimal amounts of sugar, which can lead to improved consumption, especially among children.

Whip up a dairy-based smoothie made for an on-the-go snack or create your own yogurt parfait, such as this flavorful recipe that combines favorites like peanut butter and bananas in a deliciously refreshing treat.

For more tips visit MidwestDairy.com.