Entrepreneur shares secret that nearly destroyed his life in new book See Page B1
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CELEBRATING OUR 10TH YEAR STATEWIDE!
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OCTOBER 7 – OCTOBER 13, 2016
VOLUME 24 NO. 41
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AFTER THE STORM Here’s an initial report on Haiti as well as what Floridians need to know as recovery gets underway in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew.
hamas on its way to the United States as of the Florida Courier’s press time Wednesday afternoon (which was moved up to allow storm preparations). The storm tore into Haiti’s southern coast early Tuesday, ripping off corrugated rooftops, toppling trees and flooding streets and agricultural fields in a country still struggling after a devastating earthquake six years ago. The dangerous Category 4 COMPILED FROM STAFF CARLINE JEAN/SUN SENTINEL/TNS storm, one of the strongest CaAND WIRE REPORTS Worshipers at St. Clement Catholic Church in Wilton Manors prayed ribbean hurricanes in years, for the people of Haiti during a special Mass and prayer vigil as HurHurricane Matthew pum- was carrying winds of 145 mph meled Haiti, Cuba and the Ba- when it made landfall at 6 a.m. ricane Matthew hit the island nation.
Report gives solutions for I-75 traffic woes
FLORIDA COURIER / 10TH STATEWIDE ANNIVERSARY
Hurricane season and Black male ‘miseducation’
BY LLOYD DUNKELBERGER THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA
“The task force’s primary focus was on developing strategies to provide relief to I-75, which serves as a critical gateway to Florida for both people and freight,” Tom Byron, a Department of Transportation assistant secretary who chaired the panel, said in the newly released report. “I-75 faces significant safety, efficiency and reliability issues today – all of which are anticipated to become more significant as our population, visitors, economy and trade flows continue to grow.”
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TALLAHASSEE – A state task force has recommended a series of changes to improve safety and relieve congestion on Interstate 75 between Tampa Bay and North Florida, but it stopped short of calling for a new toll road in the region. The I-75 Relief Task Force, appointed last year by Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Jim Boxold, looked at traffic improvements in Alachua, Citrus, Hernando, Levy, Marion and Sumter counties.
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Quick tips for an effortless get-together
Black voices from the bench: A look at 3 judges B1
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AUGUST 20 - AUGUST 26, 2010
VOLUME 18 NO. 34
EDUCATIONAL DISASTER COMPILED BY THE FLORIDA COURIER STAFF
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damning report entitled “Yes We Can: The 2010 Schott 50 State Report on Black Males in Public Education” reveals America’s public schools fail over half the nation’s Black male students – with most of Florida’s largest school systems scraping the bottom of the barrel. “The American educational system is systemically failing Black males. Out of the 48 states reporting, Black males are the least likely to graduate from high schools in 33 states (including Florida)…Black and Latino males are tied for the least likely in four states, with Latino males being the least likely in an additional four states,” the report enumerated.
‘Set up to fail’ The overall 2007-2008 graduation rate for Black males in the U.S. was only 47 percent. The report shows that out of 50 states, half have grad-
A national study shows that Florida’s urban school systems, including Miami-Dade, St. Petersburg, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville and Tampa are among the worst in America in educating Black boys. Florida ranks 49th of the 50 states. uation rates for Black male students below the national average. New York’s graduation rate of only 25 percent for Black male students is the lowest of any state. New York City, the district with the nation’s highest enrollment of Black students, and which has received many accolades for reform, only graduates 28 percent of its Black male students on time. The fourth biennial report released by the Schott Foundation for Public Education provides state-by state data that illustrate which U.S. school districts and states are failing
to provide the resources Black male students, and all students, need for the opportunity to learn. Without targeted investments to provide the core, research-proven resources to help Black male students succeed in public education, the report concludes, they are being set up to fail.
Next to last New York’s 25 percent is the only state trailing Florida (37 percent) in the national rankings. The Black male graduation rate of most of FlorSee STUDY, Page A2
ELECTION 2010
BP OIL SPILL / RECOVERY
Who deserves to win? Our recommendation – vote for Black judges
Congestion, crashes Among other findings, the report showed that the stretch of I-75 between Hernando and Alachua counties has a higher crash rate than other similar roadways in the state. Incidents increased between 2010 and 2015, closing, on average, at least one lane or interstate ramp every 16 hours and all lanes in one direction every nine days. See REPORT, Page A2
SNAPSHOTS FLORIDA | A3
BY THE FLORIDA COURIER STAFF
PETE SOUZA/WHITE HOUSE
Come on down, the water’s fine President Obama and daughter Sasha swam at Alligator Point in Panama City Beach on Aug.14. He encouraged Americans to travel to the Gulf Coast beaches though studies say the BP oil disaster still poses health risks. See story on page A3.
SNAPSHOTS FINEST | B5
Meet Vickie from Charlotte FLORIDA | A3
Study: Gulf spill still poses health threats NATION | A6
Dr. Laura giving up show after ‘n-word’ rant
Orlando shooting spurs LGBT voting push
OBITUARIES | B2
Jazz legend, activist Abbey Lincoln dies
FLORIDA | A5
Fullwood quits House after guilty plea CULTURE | B2
OBIT | B6
Why young Blacks are writing their obituaries
Author Gloria Naylor dies
ALSO INSIDE
COURTESY OF THE SCHOTT FOUNDATION
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Vote for Blacks running for circuit and county judges. Most Florida courthouses are the last bastions of White power – in black and blue robes. In places like Broward County, in which only four of 90 full-time judges are Black, in a county that is 26 percent Black – Black and Hispanic judges currently on the bench have been targeted for defeat by White attorneys looking for steady income in a down economy, which is causing even large law firms to lay attorneys off. Blacks are judicial “consumers” – especially as criminal defendants – in disproportionate numbers. Judges literally hold the power of life and death in the socalled criminal justice system. Too many times, Florida judges – many of whom are appointed by the governor, then run perpetually for reelection – bring no real-life experience (other that what they learned in their own closed circles) or cultural diversity to the Florida judiciary. It’s the same story in civil court, including child support and custody matSee VOTE, Page A2
Meanest stretch of hurricane season begins BY KEN KAYE SUN SENTINEL/MCT
Hurricane season might seem pretty tame so far, particularly in light of the predictions for a highly active year. Through the first seven weeks, a hurricane and two tropical storms have emerged, about average activity. But the meanest stretch – the seven weeks from mid-August through early October – is here, and “now the game starts,” said Stanley Goldenberg, a research meteorologist
with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Waters in the tropical Atlantic are heating up. The atmosphere in the deep tropics is becoming moister. The upperlevel winds are easing. And more robust tropical waves are rolling off the coast of Africa. Possibly adding fuel, “La Nina,” the large scale atmospheric force that promotes storm formation, is kicking in, experts say. See SEASON, Page A2
AL DIAZ/MIAMI HERALD/KRT
An urban search and rescue team searched for bodies in Pass Christian, Miss. in September 2005 after Hurricane Katrina.
ALSO GUEST EDITORIAL | CHUCK HOBBS: NY MOSQUE – WHAT IS LEGAL IS NOT ALWAYS RIGHT | A4 INSIDE COMMENTARY | BOYCE WATKINS: WHY EVERY BLACK CHILD SHOULD HAVE A PASSPORT | A5
Six years ago, the Florida Courier reported on “the meanest stretch of the hurricane season” between mid-August and early October, and published a story about how Florida’s urban schools were failing Black boys.
near the town of Les Anglais, on the southwestern tip of Haiti, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said. At one point, Matthew was a Category 5 storm, making it the most powerful hurricane in the region in nearly a decade.
Death toll mounting At least three deaths were blamed on the storm in Haiti and four more in neighboring Dominican Republic, bringing the death toll on the island of Hispaniola to seven as of See STORM, Page A2
Transparency demands continue LAPD shooting death leads to more protests, questions about releasing videos BY KATE MATHER, JAMES QUALL AND JOSEPH SERNA LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS
LOS ANGELES – In recent months, law enforcement leaders around the country have found themselves backed into the same corner following controversial police shootings captured on video. Chiefs in Fresno, Charlotte, North Carolina, and other cities initially refused to make the recordings public. But after days of protests and continuing demands for transparency, police leaders relented and released the video in the hope of reducing tensions and validating their accounts of what happened. Faced with criticism over the fatal police shooting of a Black 18-yearold last weekend, Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck found himself in a similar position and opted on Tuesday to release surveillance footage that showed Carnell Snell Jr. holding a gun moments before he was shot. Beck, generally a staunch advocate of keeping such videos confidential, said he acted out of concern for public safety as well as to correct claims by some who knew Snell who said that the teen didn’t have a gun. “My huge concern is that the dueling narratives further divide the community,” he said.
Agencies’ challenge The move underscored the challenge law enforcement agencies confront in trying to keep video of police shootings confidential during a time of heightened public scrutiny of how officers use force, particularly against African-Americans. By releasing videos in these high profile cases, police departments have raised expectations that they will make recordings public in the future. Police leaders nationwide have long argued that the release of such videos can imperil investigations and violate the privacy of people captured on body or dashboard camera recordings. But proponents of making the videos public say recent events show that the recordings can be made public without endangering investigations and that departments should not be cherry picking which videos to release if they want to regain trust in minority communities.
Matter of public trust “It’s clear that keeping video confidential isn’t going to work. It undermines public trust more than it advances it,” said Peter Bibring, director of police practices for the ACLU of Southern California. “Body camera footage or other video doesn’t provide See SHOOTINGS, Page A2
COMMENTARY: MARGARET KIMBERLEY: HERE’S WHY BLACK PEOPLE SHOULD VOTE GREEN | A4 COMMENTARY: CLARENCE V. MCKEE, JR.: CLINTON, SURROGATES ARE WORST KIND OF HYPOCRITES | A4