Florida Courier - November 27, 2015

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

Another Classic victory for Bethune-Cookman See Page B1

Follow us on Twitter@flcourier

VOLUME 23 NO. 48

www.flcourier.com

NOVEMBER 27 – DECEMBER 3, 2015

‘THE FRIEND OF MY ENEMY’ ‘… is my enemy.’ The shootdown of a Russian jet by Turkey complicates the fight against ISIS in Syria.

COMPILED FROM WIRE REPORTS

WASHINGTON – Under pressure from politicians at home and Russian maneuvering abroad, the Obama administration moved this week to reassert leadership of the international fight against the Islamic State, a task greatly complicated Tuesday by the shootdown of a Russian warplane.

Three Russian airmen died Tuesday and a Russian jet was shot out of the sky

by Turkish F-16 fighter jets, the first known casualties in the Kremlin’s ranks since it sent air power, naval forces and a 2,000-strong ground OLIVIER DOULIERY/ABACA PRESS/TNS contingent to Syria in SepFrench President Francois Hollande and President Obama gave a joint press tember. conference in the White House on Tuesday, their first meeting since the attacks Turkish F-16 fighter jets patrolling the volatile coastin Paris.

al border area shot down the Russian warplane after it penetrated Turkish airspace and ignored repeated warnings to leave, the Turkish Armed Forces Command said in a statement.

Both Russian pilots on board ejected but were killed by Syrian rebel fighters as they parachuted into the enemy territory they had been sent to attack, rebel sources told Turkish media.

A third Russian airman aboard a helicopter dispatched to look for the bailed pilots was killed when Syrian rebels fired on the search-and-rescue operation, forcing the chopper to land in neutral territory and evacuate the surviving crewmen.

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE 2015

Florida’s Cowboys fans finally exhale

The downing of the jet could not have come at a worse time for the complex relationship between Russia, Turkey and the U.S.-led coalition as the Syrian civil war continues to draw in a series of outside actors with differing agendas.

High-level meetings On Monday, Vice President Joe Biden presided over a closed-door gathering of ambassadors representing the 65-nation coalition against the Islamic State. Secretary of State John Kerry met with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, two major backers of the Syrian opposition.

See ENEMY, Page A2

Five shot at BLM protest Shooters thought to be White supremacists

BY KAREN ZAMORA AND LIBOR JANY STAR TRIBUNE (MINNEAPOLIS) / TNS

MINNEAPOLIS – Police have arrested one of the three White men who allegedly fired into a crowd near a Black Lives Matter encampment Monday night.

Authorities are weighing whether to treat the shooting of five people protesting near the Minneapolis Police Department’s 4th Precinct as a hate crime, sources familiar with the investigation said.

The protesters, angry over the fatal police shooting of 24-yearold Jamar Clark on Nov. 15, have maintained a presence outside the police station ever since.

Black male victims

CHARLES TRAINOR JR./MIAMI HERALD/TNS

The Miami Dolphins’ Brent Grimes gets stiff-armed by Dallas Cowboys running back Darren McFadden during last Sunday’s Cowboys victory in Miami. The win broke a seven-game losing streak and marked the return of quarterback Tony Romo.

The victims, all Black men – ages 19 through 43 – were taken to hospitals with noncritical injuries, according to police. The shootings occurred at 10:45 p.m. about a block north of the precinct station.

Minneapolis police said they arrested a 23-year-old suspect on Tuesday. They are still searching for the other two suspects.

Jie Wronski-Riley said the shooting occurred as angry protesters moved the men away from the encampment at the police station. Wronski-Riley heard See BLM, Page A2

Kentucky governor restores ex-felons’ right to vote

BY ELI YOKLEY CQ-ROLL CALL / TNS

As Kentucky Gov. Steven L. Beshear prepares to leave office, he is attempting to leave his mark on an issue that has made his astate – and Florida – an outlier.

On Tuesday, the Democratic goverSteven L. nor issued an exBeshear ecutive order that put in place an automatic process to restore voting rights to nonviolent ex-felons

ALSO INSIDE

titution, society expects them to reintegrate into their communities and become law-abiding and productive citizens. A key part of that transition is the right to vote,” he said during a news conference.

Beshear’s executive order comes after a failed effort in the Kentucky Legislature to call for a ballot measure to change the state’s constitution.

While restoration of voting rights for nonviolent ex-felons is something that has earned bipartisan support – including from Matt Bevin, the Republican who Debt paid will replace Beshear next month “Once an individual has served – the executive order has drawn his or her time and paid all res- criticism. once they have completed their sentence – a move that might allow 170,000 more Kentuckians the right to register to vote.

Kentucky is one of four states – along with Iowa, Florida and Virginia – in which people with felony convictions are permanently disenfranchised in their state constitutions, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Last year, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe took a similar action to the one taken Tuesday by Beshear.

SNAPSHOTS FLORIDA | A3

Legal move?

“My issue with today’s action is not about the restoration of those rights, but the fact once again this governor has chosen to usurp the authority of the Kentucky General Assembly through executive order,” said Jeff Hoover, the Republican leader in the Kentucky House.

A spokesman for Bevin said Tuesday that he has “said many times that the restoration of voting rights for certain offenders is the right thing to do,” but that Beshear’s “executive order will be evaluated during the transition period.”

Cleve Warren named FAMU board chair NATION | A6

How Tarboro Three escaped gas chamber

COMMENTARY: CHARLES W. CHERRY II: RANDOM THOUGHTS OF A FREE BLACK MIND | A4 COMMENTARY: AJAMU BARAKA: PARIS ATTACKS AND ‘WHITE LIVES MATTER’ MOVEMENT | A5

FOOD | B5

Recipes for those who like ‘spirited’ holiday

FOCUS

A2

NOVEMBER 27 – DECEMBER 3, 2015

Can America be blamed for terrorism?

Are America’s and other Western countries’ imperialist warmongers to blame for the current rise in terrorism? Perhaps they are!

So-called ISIS terrorists rose in stature when the leaders of Western nations began to use ”verbal terrorism” when describing the leaders of Syria and Iraq.

Any leader, foreign or domestic, that disagreed with the goals and ambitions of the puppets of the world’s military-industrial complexes was labeled as a despot or a dictator, even though many of the citizens of Syria and Iraq were safer 20 years ago than they are now.

Western propaganda After the United States and its “allies” determined that leaders like Iraq’s Saddam Hussein, Syria’s Bashar Hafez al-Assad and Libya’s Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, for instance, were part of an “axis of evil,” Western news organizations reported the determinations as the honest-to-God truth.

Kept terrorism down LUCIUS GANTT THE GANTT REPORT

Government intelligence agencies were tasked with identifying “rebels” who would fight against the above-cited leaders. News networks, major newspapers and conservative Internet bloggers were told or ordered to rubber-stamp the “evil dictator” message. The result was people living in Western nations fell for the dictator propaganda hook, line and sinker!

Are Western government and political leaders perfect, honest and without sin? No. Are Middle Eastern and Eastern political leaders great guys? Not by a long shot.

But guess what. The so-called despots and dictators did a hell of a lot better job of fighting and controlling Islamic terrorists than the United States, the United Kingdom and France are doing today!

Your president, your Congress, your country’s so-called allies and others claim that Al Qaeda and other terror groups were running rampant in Iraq, for instance, when Saddam was alive according to Fox News and all the other news networks here and abroad.

But the truth of the matter is that Saddam and Al Qaeda were mortal enemies. Saddam kept the terror group at bay and beat back any attempt of the terrorists to get a stronghold in Iraq.

Syria’s Assad, from day one, insisted that insurgents described as “rebels” by government and media were nothing but terrorists from the start. But instead of investigating Assad’s claim, the imperialists suggested any leader in Syria would be better than Assad. Not because he was a horrible dictator; but because he was friends with the Russians.

The United States had “agreements” with Gaddafi. There are photos of him with people like Condoleezza Rice showing

somewhat friendly relations. But when the Libyan president suggested that his country and other African countries should only accept payments in gold for their oil and other commodities, he quickly became a persona non grata!

dren, and murder Black teens, men, women and children in broad daylight!

If you get killed by ISIS, or some other foreign terrorists, or by a Klansman masquerading as a law enforcement officer, you are still DEAD!

Hell broke loose

Let them lead

Moving forward quickly, after Western nations started to bomb those countries and assisted in killing at least two of the country’s leaders, all terrorist hell broke loose!

If the citizens and residents of Muslim countries don’t want to rise up as a majority and fight to overthrow their leaders, there is no coalition in the world that can do it!

Instead of being the world’s policemen, America should address its own domestic terrorist problem. They should forcibly dismantle the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis, skinheads and other groups in this country that bomb churches, attack military institutions, shoot and kill schoolchil-

Buy Gantt’s latest book, “Beast Too: Dead Man Writing” on Amazon.com and from bookstores everywhere. Contact Lucius at www.allworldconsultants.net.

Let the Muslims, outside and inside of the United States, take the frontlines in the battle to subdue and defeat Muslims that are terrorists. Then, all Americans would have no problem joining the battle – as long as the battle is righteous, correct and will result in equal rights and justice for all, regardless of race, creed, color or religious preference!

Fighting for oil, defense contractors, imaginary despots and fake rebels is not my kind of conflict!

But in light of tonight’s shootings, the family feels out of imminent concern for the safety of the occupiers, we must get the occupation of the 4th Precinct ended and onto the next step.”

Wore masks Miski Noor, a media contact for Black Lives Matter, said “a group of White supremacists showed up at the protest, as they have done most nights.”

One of the men wore a mask, said Dana Jaehnert, who had been at the protest site since early evening.

When about a dozen protesters attempted to herd the group away from the area, Noor said, they “opened fire on about six protesters,” hitting five of them.

Jaehnert said she heard four gunshots.

In a video message posted on Facebook, Mayor Betsy Hodges said she “abhors” Monday night’s shooting and that “those attacks have no place in our city.”

‘Peace and rest’

JEFF WHEELER/MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE/TNS

A demonstrator describes how five protesters were shot earlier in front of a Minneapolis Police precinct headquarters early Tuesday morning in Minneapolis.

BLM

‘All terrorized’

from A1

what sounded like firecrackers and thought, “surely they’re not shooting humans.” Two young Black men on either side of him were hit, one in the back and leg, the other in the arm.

At least two of the three men who had been taunting protesters were firing guns, said Wronski-Riley, who described the incident as “really chaotic, really fast.”

ENEMY from A1

Russia’s role came up in both Monday meetings, as participants discussed how to broaden the fight against the Islamic State without sacrificing the goal of eventually toppling Syrian President Bashar Assad.

President Obama and French President Francois Hollande emerged Tuesday from meetings at the White House with a pledge to increase airstrikes against the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, bolster intelligence sharing and push commercial airlines to exchange passenger information to better block air travel by terrorists.

Pushing hard The French president’s brief visit is part of an aggressive push to get world leaders to escalate their campaign against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, ISIL and Daesh, which took responsibility for the attacks in Paris that killed 130.

Hollande had wanted

The mother of shooting victim Draper Larkins said that her 38-year-old son was shot in the arm and is still hospitalized at North Memorial.

“He is so-so,” said Jaclyn Larkins. She said she had a feeling and feared for her son when he went out to protest Monday.

Carrie Brown, cousin of shooting victim Wesley Martin, said Martin was shot in the leg and released early Tuesday morning from the hospital.

“He’s itching to get back out here,” Brown said from the scene.

“He’s really more mad that the

the United States and Russia to work more closely together. Already unlikely, that goal was made all the more challenging with Turkey’s action. Turkey is a NATO ally of both France and the U.S. Obama and Hollande said Russia would be welcome in their global antiextremist coalition – but only as long as it concentrates efforts on striking the Islamic State rather than on protecting Assad.

Russia is ‘outlier’ “France can work with Russia, if Russia concentrates its military action on Daesh, against ISIL, and if Russia fully commits to the political position in Syria,” said Hollande.

Obama touted the U.S.led 65-country coalition fighting the Islamic State, which has conducted 8,000 airstrikes. He dismissed Russia and Iran, backers of Assad, as a “coalition of two.”

“Russia is the outlier,” Obama said. “We hope that they refocus their attention on what is the most substantial threat, and that they serve as a constructive partner.”

injury is keeping him from coming back out to protest.

“We all were terrorized last night,” Brown added. “I’ve never seen racism like that.”

“I am obviously appalled that White supremacists would open fire on nonviolent, peaceful protesters,” said Nekima LevyPounds, president of the Minneapolis chapter of the NAACP, who returned to the site after the shootings.

FBI to investigate “The Federal Bureau of Investigation is aware of the incident and is coordinating with the

Focused on shootdown Russian President Vladimir Putin was focused instead Tuesday on the loss of its aircraft and the fate of its crew.

He said the aircraft was downed over Syria while pilots were targeting “terrorists,” specifically militants with Russian origins, and posed no threat to Turkey. He threatened “serious consequences” over the incident.

In the remarks, carried

by Russian news agency RT, Putin denounced the downing as “a stab in the back carried out by the accomplices of terrorists.”

Both Obama and Hollande said they would work with NATO and speak to the Turks and Russians to find out what happened.

“Turkey, like every country, has a right to defend its territory and its airspace,” Obama said. He urged Russia and Turkey to “step back” from the brink of an intensifying conflict and keep in mind their common goal of containing the militants who have waged horrific acts of terror on both.

Minneapolis Police Department to assess the facts and determine if further federal action” is warranted, said FBI spokesman Kyle Loven.

Expressing concern for the safety of the protesters outside the precinct, Jamar Clark’s brother, Eddie Sutton, urged an end to the encampment.

“Thank you to the community for the incredible support you have shown for our family in this difficult time,” Sutton said in the statement issued early Tuesday.

“We appreciate Black Lives Matter for holding it down and keeping the protests peaceful.

Protecting Assad Russia says its mission is to fight Islamic State militants in Syria. But NATO member nations and allied Arab states that are also waging airstrikes against Islamic State charge that Russia’s bombings are directed at U.S.- and European-backed Syrian rebels fighting to oust Assad, the Kremlin’s most important Middle East ally.

Among the rebel forces in the Russians’ gun sights are Syrian Turkmen, ethnic kin of the Turks who are among the fiercest opponents of Assad’s government and as such de facto enemies of Russia.

Turkey had warned Moscow last week to cease attacks on the Syrian Turkmen, who hold territory near the Assad government’s shrinking stronghold on the Mediterranean Sea.

Numerous incursions Russia denied in its diplomatic protest that its planes had crossed into Turkish airspace, and Ankara conceded that the violation had lasted only 17

Council President Barb Johnson said the shooting Monday evening was a “continuation of a stressful time for the neighbors that live in the area surrounding the 4th Precinct,” adding that “they deserve some peace and some rest.”

Johnson disputed comments that police had taken too long to react to the shooting, and said officers responded in three minutes. She said she believes it’s time for the demonstrations to end, in part because they are attracting attention from outside groups.

“That’s part of the problem with these protests: the longer they go on, the more participation there is from across the country,” Johnson said. “The longer it goes on, the worse it gets.”

Star Tribune staff writers Mary Lynn Smith and Claude Peck contributed to this report.

seconds and penetrated just over a mile beyond the Syrian border. But Turkey had warned Moscow after similar buzzing incidents last month that future violations would be dealt with severely.

NATO nations once aligned with the Soviet Union – Poland and the Baltic states in particular – have complained in recent years of deliberate provocations by Russian warplanes flying through or near national airspace.

Economic links Analysts of the multifactional conflict that has ravaged Syria for nearly five years said they doubted the incident would escalate into a volley of retaliatory actions by NATO and Russia in view of the high stakes that would entail for both sides.

Putin’s anger over the shooting down of the fighter jet was predictable, analysts said, but unlikely to break up what has become an important and symbiotic trade relationship between Moscow and Ankara.

Russian-Turkish energy trade is robust, as is commerce in consumer goods

since the European Union and the United States imposed sanctions on Moscow last year for its seizure of Ukraine’s Crimea territory.

Turkey is also a popular destination for Russian travelers. More than 1.4 million Russians visited Turkey in the first seven months of this year.

Natali Tours, one of Russia’s biggest travel agencies, said it was suspending the sale of Turkish vacation packages due to “an unstable political situation” in the country.

But with the equally popular destinations of Egypt now off-limits following the Metrojet bombing last month that killed all 224 on board, popular pressure to resume visits to Turkish resorts and cultural treasures is expected to make that purported security measure short-lived.

Carol J. Williams and Jeremiah Bailey-Hoover of the Los Angeles Times; and Mitchell Prothero, Anita Kumar, and Hannah Allam of the McClatchy Washington Bureau / TNS all contributed to this report.

NOVEMBER 27 – DECEMBER 3, 2015

FLORIDA

A3 Florida Medical Cannabis Association and who also has a small ownership interest in at least one of the losing applicants.

Losers have 21 days to file challenges, but Patricia Nelson, a former director of the Department of Health's Office of Compassionate Use who served on the three-member panel that graded the applications, said earlier this year that the challenges to the licenses will not hold up the process.

The winners of the licenses have 75 days to request "cultivation authorization" and, once that authorization has been granted, must begin dispensing the low-THC products within 210 days, meaning that the low-THC products could be on the shelves by next summer. The winners also have 10 business days to post $5 million performance bonds.

Meanwhile, losing applicants are trying to make sense of more than 600 pages of scorecards used to grade the applications by the panel comprised of Nelson; her successor, Christian Bax; and accountant Ellyn Hutson.

Influential lobbyists ANTHONY SOUFFLE/CHICAGO TRIBUNE/TNS

Adam Frederick holds his daughter Michaela, 3, on Feb. 4 at Children’s Hospital Colorado in Aurora, Colo. Michaela was deprived of oxygen at birth and suffers from crippling and potentially life-threatening seizures. Her parents began treating her with medical marijuana after seeing a documentary on its benefits and once Adam was transferred from Washington, Ill., to Colorado where it is legal. They say it has drastically reduced her number of seizures.

State’s medical marijuana industry gets off the ground Five organizations finally chosen to dispense products

BY DARA KAM THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

TALLAHASSEE – Nearly a year behind schedule, Florida health officials on Monday selected five "dispensing organizations" to grow, process and distribute non-euphoric medical marijuana for a select group of sick patients.

Ally of FAMU president elected to chair board of trustees

BY MARGIE MENZEL THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

TALLAHASSEE – After a turbulent period at Florida A&M University, an ally of embattled President Elmira Mangum was elected on Nov. 20 to chair the school’s Board of Trustees – and vowed to approach the job as a “molder of consensus.”

Cleve Warren, chief financial officer at Florida State College at Jacksonville, was the board’s choice to succeed former Chairman Rufus Montgomery, who resigned from the post last month after Cleve failed efforts to Warren fire Mangum.

Montgomer y, an Atlanta-based lobbyist, has remained a board member.

A retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve, Warren accepted the chairmanship by quoting the Persian philosopher Rumi, who spoke of “a field out there that is beyond our disparate notions of wrongdoing and right-doing.”

“On that plain, we will put aside our minor differences and be strengthened by the major interest we have in the prosperity and posterity of Florida A&M University,” Warren said.

Montgomery opposed That approach could be a departure from Montgomery, who was accused of trying to micromanage Mangum and, when that went awry, of trying to bully her. Their clash burned up much of the board’s time and energy and drew unwelcome attention from Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Board of

But many in the industry believe that the biggest challenge in the drawn-out process is yet to come.

The five winners, who scored the highest of 28 applications, are Hackney Nursery in the Northwest region of the state; Chestnut Hill Tree Farm in the Northeast; Knox Nursery in the Central region; Alpha Foliage in the Southwest region; and Costa Nursery Farms in the Southeast region.

Parents of children with severe epilepsy pushed for a 2014 law to legalize the purportedly non-euphoric marijuana – low in euphoGovernors, which oversees the state university system On Oct. 22, after two votes to fire the president narrowly failed, students marched to the state Capitol to support her. The next day, Montgomery resigned as chairman, but is expected to remain on the board at least until early January, when Scott must either reappoint or replace him.

At last Friday’s meeting, which was held by conference call, Montgomery alone opposed Trustee Robert Woody’s nomination of Warren.

“Are you putting FAMU first if you select an employee of one of our competitors to lead our board?” Montgomery asked, referring to Warren’s job at Florida State College at Jacksonville. “I think that sends the wrong message.”

Montgomery kept silent He called Warren “a nice guy, but … our board should be led by someone who’s free from potential financial conflict. It’s my understanding that he’s a paid employee, $150,000 plus benefits in taxpayer dollars, as a paid employee of one of our competitors. We still recruit heavily in Jacksonville.”

No other trustees responded, and the board proceeded to vote on Warren’s nomination. When the roll call reached Montgomery, four trustees had voted for Warren, including supporters and opponents of the president.

“Trustee Montgomery?” called university attorney Linda Barge-Miles.

There was silence. After several attempts and a 35-second delay, the vote continued until it stood at 10-0 for Warren. Montgomery could not be reached for comment after the vote.

Mangum’s response Mangum issued a statement after the meeting saying she was “excited about the opportunity” to work with Warren as chairman.

“Trustee Warren has a deep passion for FAMU and higher education in general,’’ Mangum said. “I look forward to the insight and wisdom he will offer to many of our strategic areas of emphasis, including his

ria-inducing tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, and high in cannabadiol, or CBD – and contended that it can end or dramatically reduce life-threatening seizures.

Frustrating process Sen. Rob Bradley, who was instrumental in passing the law, said he congratulated state Surgeon General John Armstrong early Monday morning. Applications for the licenses were due on July 8, and Bradley and other lawmakers had become frustrated that it was taking the Depart-

expertise in economic development, urban education, financial planning, and community outreach.”

Warren ran against Montgomery for the chairmanship in April but lost in a 9-4 vote.

One of Warren’s supporters at the time, former FAMU Trustee Marjorie Turnbull, described him as “very fair. He reasons his positions. …He brings people together rather than divides them, and that’s really important at this time in the board’s life.”

Healing ‘on the horizon’ Tallahassee attorney Chuck Hobbs, a FAMU graduate and popular blogger who supports Mangum, said Warren’s background in finance and the military should lead to him working well with the president.

“Some of the more cancerous elements that have plagued this president from the beginning of her tenure are now being removed,” Hobbs said.

“And I do believe the healing that is necessary for the university is on the horizon.”

Mangum was hired as president in January 2014. She had been Cornell University’s vice president for budget and planning.

As the first permanent woman president in FAMU history – and the first not to have attended the university – she had opponents on the board even before moving to campus that April. She was widely criticized for not communicating well with the board, especially after Montgomery became chairman.

But Hobbs predicted that would change with Warren in the post.

Warren’s resume includes stints as executive director of the Florida Black Business Investment Board under former Gov. Bob Martinez and as chief of economic development under former Jacksonville Mayor Ed Austin.

According to the FAMU website, he earned his bachelor’s degree in banking and finance from the University of North Florida and his master’s degree in business administration from Jacksonville University.

ment of Health so long to pick the five dispensing organizations.

"I think now the attention should be focused on the industry to make sure that they cause no further delays and we move forward getting this product to these suffering families as quickly as possible," Bradley, R-Fleming Island, said. "The department did its job. And now it's time for the industry to step up. No further delays. Let's move forward."

Expect challenges But legal challenges over the awarding of the licenses are almost a given.

"It has always been anticipated that there will be challenges, and I've seen nothing in this process to persuade me that we will not see some of the winners challenged," said Louis Rotundo, a lobbyist who represents the

Under the law passed last year and approved by Gov. Rick Scott, only nurseries that have been in business in Florida for at least 30 years and grow a minimum of 400,000 plants at the time they applied for a license were eligible to become one of the five dispensing organizations.

The nurseries teamed up with a variety of consultants, including out-of-state marijuana growers, in the hopes of edging out the competition.

Four of the five winners of the licenses – Chestnut Hill, Costa, Hackney and Knox – were represented on the rulemaking committee.

Nearly all of the winners are represented by some of Tallahassee's most influential lobbyists.

Many of the applicants had applied for the low-THC licenses in the hope of expanding their businesses in the event that a constitutional amendment legalizing full-strength medical marijuana passed. That amendment narrowly failed last year, but a nearly identical measure is almost certain to go before voters next November.

State’s jobless rate now down to 5.1 percent Bolstered by increases in service-related jobs, Florida’s unemployment rate inched down from 5.2 percent in September to 5.1 percent in October, according to figures released Nov. 21 by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.

In a news release, Gov. Rick Scott focused on the creation of 36,600 private-sector jobs across the state during the month. Scott called it the “highest month for job growth in 10 years.”

The unemployment mark is the lowest for the state since January 2008. The state rate continues to be similar to the federal trend, which went from 5.1 percent to 5 percent month to month.

Lowest in Monroe October’s preliminary figures show an estimated 492,000 jobless Floridians from a workforce of 9.58 million. The jobless total is down 6,000 from September.

The state employment figures came a day after Scott announced that Florida recorded a record 79.1

Sanford officer fired after singing about killing

BY HENRY PIERSON CURTIS ORLANDO SENTINEL (TNS)

Police Officer Andrew Ricks ended his career in Sanford by taking the stage this month and singing “Let the Killing Begin” in full uniform while backed up by Vital Remains, a death metal band.

Ricks already had notified the city of his intention to resign, but Police Chief Cecil B. Smith relieved him of his duties the morning of Nov. 18, records show.

“An incident of this nature erodes the thin fibers of trust which already exist between the community and the police and it will not be tolerated within the Sanford Police Department,” Smith said in a statement.

JOE BURBANK/ORLANDO SENTINEL/TNS

Florida Gov. Rick Scott delivers remarks on job growth during a visit to Bright Future Electric, an electrical contractor business with offices in Florida and Alabama, on June 11 in Ocoee. million tourists in the first nine months of the year, with the tourism industry now accounting for 1.195 million jobs, up 5.2 percent from a year earlier.

Across the state, the lowest unemployment marks were found in Monroe (3.4 percent) and St. Johns (3.6 percent) counties. The highest rate was in rural Hendry County on the southwest side of Lake Okeechobee, despite an improvement from 11.6 percent in September to 9.4 percent in October.

On duty Ricks was on duty when he sang Nov. 13 at the West End Trading Co., a venue on the shore of Lake Monroe in Sanford, according to police.

Someone in the audience sent a video of Ricks’ performance to the Police Department. A YouTube video shows him hanging out with the band and throwing a “rock-on” hand gesture to the audience before singing.

Vital Remains was founded in 1988 and tours the U.S. and Europe. The song Ricks introduced, “Let the Killing Begin” — a reference to the crucifixion of Christ — is the opening track on the band’s 2003 album, “Dechristianize.”

Death metal is a type of music with lyrics sometimes focusing on violence, suffering and religion.

State records show Ricks worked first for the Apopka Police Department but resigned after six months in 2009. Hired by Sanford in January 2010, he later advanced to the position of police instructor.

EDITORIAL

A4

NOVEMBER 27 – DECEMBER 3, 2015

Just how blind will Black America be?

The late musician Gil ScottHeron once asked, “Just how blind will America be? The world is on the edge of its seat; defeat on the horizon, very surprisin’, that we all can see the plot and claim that we cannot. Just how blind, America?”

Today, 40 years later, we ask, “Just how blind will Black America be?” We should be able to see the plot, but many claim they cannot. We are heading down the same political road that got us into our current condition of political impotence and irrelevance.

The next election and all of its current hoopla exposes the continuous game being played not only on Black America, but on America in general. Unfortunately, much of our discernment is invested in “ “The Housewives of …” and all the other nonsense many of our people watch religiously.

Too busy We are too busy living vicariously through the TV lives of other folks who are paid to carry on a bunch of foolishness, to curse one another out, to threaten one another, and to insult one another.

We are blind to our own demise. But when October 2016 rolls around, we will be in a frenzy of registering to vote – albeit uninformed – and ill-prepared to

JAMES CLINGMAN NNPA COLUMNIST

face the ensuing four years of the same mistreatment and neglect we have suffered under previous political administrations.

Political candidates said, “Game on!” months ago, and all we can muster are a few demonstrations, disruptions, and discussions about whether our lives matter to them.

We have asked candidates what they are going do in response to our plight, but we have not made appropriate and commensurate demands in that regard. We have a lot of rhetoric – but no substantive reciprocal relationships with any of the candidates.

One question In all the debates thus far, there was one question pertaining to Black folks; it came from a Black man, CNN’s Don Lemon, who selected the ridiculous question, “Do Black lives matter or do all lives matter?” The question was silly and meaningless; the candidates’ answer was to ignore the question.

Is Barack Obama ‘The Reluctant President’?

Whether “The Reluctant President” title will stick to the legacy of Barack Hussein Obama will be determined in decades to come.

The troubling aspect of his presidency thus far is his inability to take responsibility and seek the truth, no matter what it may be.

He never would be a subject character in President John F. Kennedy’s book “Profiles in Courage.” He doesn’t step forward and take the path of resolve.

Instead, he ignores our populace, is stubborn, and hides behind a press that miraculously protects his odd positions and decisions.

That support is seeming to wane as his term starts to end.

The scandals of the IRS, State Department, Veterans Administration and a host of others are starting to take its affect.

When this president makes a position, it is usually for the bet-

HARRY C. ALFORD NNPA COLUMNIST

terment of an opposing Muslimled government, racial strife (not reconciliation) or sharply leaning towards a cowardice profile. Crimea, Ukraine, the new Iraq, Kurds, Libya, Syria, Nigeria, Cameroon, Mali, on and on.

Not a leader The United States is no longer a leader in the world. We have become failures to our friends and weaklings to our foes. The egregious government of Iran has proven us to be pushovers, and the Assad regime of Syria is

Political candidates know that Black lives did not matter when 2,000 Nigerians were slaughtered in the Baga massacre in Nigeria, which took place the same time as the 12 Charlie Hebdo murders.

They know that the 147 students killed at Kenya’s Garissa University in April 2015 did not matter, but the 132 killed in Paris do matter.

They knew that the lives of 985,000 Tutsis in Rwanda did not matter during that massacre in 1994-1995. They know that Black lives do not matter in “Chiraq” and other cities where we are killing one another. So why ask that dumb question?

‘Pleaders,’ not leaders As we are led down the primrose path by the likes of “pleaders” rather than real leaders, as we buy in to their sellout of Black people in exchange for a few crumbs from their master’s table, the speed of our headlong plunge to the bottom increases exponentially.

It matters not who lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue; you have been and are being played.

You are being duped with your eyes wide open. Right now, many Black folks are arguing about Hillary, Carson, and Trump, as though we have some power to determine our own political desshowing us that his friends are braver (not stronger) than us.

If you don’t show up at the daily morning intelligence briefings like all other presidents would religiously do, you are going to make big public mistakes –like not knowing who ISIS is.

Obama publicly proclaimed ISIS to be a “jayvee team,” with nothing for us to worry about.

Meanwhile, they penetrated Iraq and parts of Syria like General Sherman ripping through the South during the Civil War. Obama didn’t have a clue! In our absence, Russia has stepped in as “the Avenger.” Where is the United States, Mr. President?

Here’s the big question for our first president of African lineage.

What have you done for the betterment of our Mother Africa? The Pan African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (34 national organizations) has addressed that question in their recent newsletter dated October 28, 2015.

Africa ‘disappointed’ “On both programs (Africa

Random thoughts of a free Black mind, v. 270 ISIS – I watch Al Jazeera America news for a different international viewpoint. Their analysts speak about how conditions in Europe radicalize Muslim youth: high unemployment in slum-ridden, violent neighborhoods, poor schools, cultural alienation, fear, racism.

They become easy prey for radical Islamic terrorist recruiters, despite being raised in hard-working, twoparent immigrant households.

Change “Muslim” to “Black American,” and “ISIS” to “street gangs,” and you have a similar ‘radicalization’ process in America. Except some ‘radicalized’ Black youth wage ‘jihad’ against each other, with innocent bystanders as collateral damage…

Florida Classic – FAMU Rattlers are some of the worst HBCU fans.

They won’t support Rattler football during “down” years. When the Marching ‘100’ was suspended due to Robert Champion’s hazing death, Rattlers deserted the team.

B-CU ALWAYS has as many at the Classic as FAMU, despite the fact FAMU’s alumni number in the tens of thousands just in Florida. And as usual, Rattlers leave early – usually right after halftime – while ‘Cats stay to the bitter end, win or lose.

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: U.S. PANICS OVER ISIS

QUICK TAKES FROM #2: STRAIGHT, NO CHASER

CHARLES W. CHERRY II, ESQ. PUBLISHER

This year, there was a general “chippiness,” as the football announcers say, during the game.

There were scuffles on the field, and B-CU’s team looked like it was constantly ready to run onto the field to ‘defend’ their teammates.

The halftime band announcer trash talk was a distraction. Then the ‘100’ marching band formed a military tank and fired a ‘shot’ at B-CU’s band standing in the end zone, with fire extinguisher ‘smoke’ from the tank’s ‘barrel.’ Did anyone remember that two B-CU students were killed and one seriously injured in a murder/suicide involving a real gun just months ago?

More Classic thoughts next week…

Hit me up at ccherry2@gmail. com.

STEVE SACK, THE MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE

tiny rather than one of them being in charge of it.

Even though it’s obvious that our elected officials will do whatever they want to do on our behalf or not, we turn a blind eye to it rather than changing the political game and playing it to win.

He told us If you would listen to Brother Scott-Heron’s songs like “The Watergate Blues,” “The Bicentennial Blues,” “The New Deal,” and “We Beg Your Pardon,” you will see he told us what the political deal was.

We would not listen then and we are still blind to the realities of poGrowth and Opportunity Act – AGOA – and Power Africa) the continent has been disappointed

by President Obama’s scant focus to his father’s ancestral home, especially in comparison of former President Bush, whose effort to fight HIV/AIDS has made him a hero in Africa. Or even former President Carter who pushed to tackle a horrible…guinea worm (disease), bringing down the cases from one million in 1989 to about 25,000 in recent times.”

“The AGOA program which was conceived by President Bill Clinton fourteen years ago, partly as a means to spur growth of domestic industries in Africa, particularly in the textile sector, has not happened to a significant degree. Only modest gains in textile production has been noted in the years following implementation of AGOA in a few African countries, including Kenya.

‘Nothing to show’ “As it is, textiles and clothing account for only two percent of African exports to the U.S. On

Don’t fall for holiday buying hype The term “Black Friday” does not refer to Black people, but to the Friday after Thanksgiving when retailers can forecast whether they will end the year “in the black.” Sellers have become far more aggressive in trying to separate consumers from their dollars because they depend on fourth-quarter sales to make a profit.

Don’t fall for the holiday hype.

The big box stores will advertise unbelievable bargains – a 58-inch widescreen TV for $129, for example. What they won’t tell you is that they have exactly five of them.

They are hoping that you will get to the store early, stand in line, and when you learn there are no more cheap TV bargains, you’ll buy something else.

Fools for ‘deals’ Meanwhile, you and the other fools who stood in line all day or night will perform for the cameras that record you stampeding through the store, trampling each other, in search of “deals.”

Why not consider the meaning of holidays – “holy days”? Why not use these last few weeks of

DR. JULIANNE MALVEAUX TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM

the year to do some of the good we neglected to do earlier in the year? Why not show love, regard, respect through words and deeds, and not through stuff? Why feed the great consumer machine that exploits consumers?

If there is shopping that should be done, why not spend your dollars with Black-owned businesses, and also on Small Business Saturday (the Saturday after Thanksgiving).? Why not gift your friends with great books?

As you contemplate holiday giving, consider Maggie Anderson’s “Our Black Year: One Family’s Quest to Buy Black in America’s Racially Divided Economy.”

Anderson’s book is both sobering and empowering. Sobering – it was a chore to buy Black because Black folks don’t own things like gas stations. Empowering – it was important to see how Black business could be strengthened with

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

litical chicanery.

Our political dilemma has never been the lack of a “Black” president, any more than it was in the 1960s and ‘70s when we thought it was a lack of Black politicians.

Our problem was and is our lack of political involvement beyond voting, our failure to build political power based on an economic power base, and our reliance on political symbolism over political substance.

James E. Clingman is the nation’s most prolific writer on economic empowerment for Black people.

Power Africa, of the $7 billion that Obama set aside for the initiative, $5 billion fell under the auspices of the now-defunct Export-Import Bank, which guarantees loans to foreign companies buying U.S.-made products. Just $132 million in transactions had been approved before the bank’s charter expired last month, and now it cannot approve new ones.

“The Export-Import Bank was an important part of that effort.

Yet on June 30, the bank lapsed for the first time in its 81-year history. So now, Power Africa depends on Congress reauthorizing the Ex-Im Bank. President Obama faces the challenge of matching the Africa legacy of his White House predecessors. As of today his administration has nothing to show to Africa.”

Isn’t that so disappointing? All we wanted was change.

Harry C. Alford is the cofounder and president/CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce. Contact him via www.nationalbcc.org. more patronage.

Make the effort Unfortunately, African-Americans spend less than ten percent of our income with Black businesses. While there are “reasons,” there are also reasons we should go out of our way to support Black business. Supporting Black business generates jobs in our communities, which means providing opportunities for some of the young people who desperately need employment.

According to a Gallup consumer survey, Americans plan to spend $830 on gifts this year – 15 percent more than we spent in 2014, and more than any year since 2007. Think before you spend, and let your spending reflect your values.

You appreciate small businesses? Shop with them. You care about Black entrepreneurship? Look for Black businesses. If you can’t find a bricks and mortar store, shop online.

And don’t go galloping down the aisles of a big box store and get featured on the news chasing that elusive bargain. Holidays, our holy days, ought to be our season to be grateful, not our season to spend mindlessly.

Julianne Malveaux is a Washington, D.C.-based economist and writer.

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.

NOVEMBER 27 – DECEMBER 3, 2015

EDITORIAL

The Paris attacks and the ‘White Lives Matter’ movement I received a message from one of my friends in Lebanon who asked with feigned curiosity why the U.S. media only gave a passing referAJAMU ence to the bombing in Beirut beBARAKA fore turning to nonstop coverage of the attacks in Paris.

BLACK AGENDA REPORT Of course, like many of us she already knew the answer – that in the consciousness of the West there is a premium on the value of CNN and others will White life.

We saw it in the response to the give nonstop coverage Charlie Hebdo attacks where the world engaged in a gratuitous expression of moral outrage against to the attacks in Paris terrorism.

But that outrage against ter- because in the end, we rorism didn’t extend to the 2,000 Nigerians who were murdered all really know that the

by Boko Haram the same weekend that a massive rally in Paris took place to condemn the Char- lives that really matter lie Hebdo attack. At that rally, not one word of solidarity or condem- are White. nation of terrorism in Nigeria was expressed by the speakers or the The Enlightenment is supposed thousands gathered that day. to represent the progressive advancement of all of humanity by Not equal What my friend and all of us the thinkers of Europe who, of who have been the victims of the course, represented the leading selected morality and oppressive edge of collective humanity.

But what is not sufficiently interviolence of Western civilization rogated is that while these grand over the last 500 years have come theories of “mankind’s inherent to understand is that non-Europeequality” were being discussed, an life simply does not have equal those theorists had already arrived value. at a consensus. This consensus How else can one explain the was on the criteria for determincomplete lack of attention to the ing which individuals and groups humanity of the victims of ISIS would be recognized as having attacks in Beirut and in Bagdad equal membership in the human the day before or the lack of confamily. According to the criteria, cern for the lives of the over 7,000 women and the non-European people in Yemen murdered by the world were excluded or assigned Saudi Arabia dictatorship, with to a lower order of humanity.

U.S. and NATO support?

Eurocentric academicians don’t historicize the “great” humanitarFalse ‘Enlightenment’ ian theories of Europe and criticalIn the classrooms of Western ly juxtapose the rise of those theouniversities and occasionally in ries with the concrete practices of high schools, students are intro- European powers. Those practices duced to the ideas of liberal hu- involved the systematic slaughter manitarianism that are supposed of millions of indigenous people to characterize the core values of throughout the Americas, and the the European “Enlightenment.” African slave trade that made Eu-

MARIAN WRIGHT EDELMAN NNPA COLUMNIST

For years, the college featured a stained glass window depicting Calhoun with a chained Black slave kneeling in front of him. After complaints, the slave’s image was removed, but Calhoun’s image remains – as does his shameful legacy that haunts our nation still.

Growing number Georgetown and Yale are among the growing number of colleges and universities struggling to come to terms with their historical connections to slave owners, slave labor, and slave profits and the scars they leave on campuses and our nation today. What values do we want to hold up for our young as worthy of honor and emulation?

Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island was the first Ivy League university to move forward with a large-scale investigation of its history under the leadership of former president Ruth Simmons. In 2003, she appointed a

Life, culture devalued Eurocentric liberalism was never just confined to the academy.

It became the hegemonic ideological force that embedded itself in the culture and collective consciousness of the Western project and with it the devaluation of nonEuropean life and culture.

The White supremacist ideology and world-view, normalized and thus unrecognized by most, has become a form of psychopathology. It is the cognitive dissonance that Franz Fanon talks about regarding White supremacy as part of the colonial mindset. It’s what James Baldwin refers to as the “lie of White supremacy” that has distorted the personalities, lives and the very ability of many White people to grasp reality.

However, the contradictions in the spheres of ideas and culture are not the real threat. The construction of a Western collective consciousness that is unable to cognitively process information and consider knowledge beyond the assumptions of its own worldviews and values is dangerous enough.

The ease with which humanity is stratified with Europeans and their societies representing the apex of human development is the real threat because that belief has resulted in the rationalization for the crimes of colonialism, slavery and genocide, and the politics of permanent war.

‘White Lives Matter’ My critique of the moral hypocrisy of the West should not be read as a rationalization for the horrific crimes committed in Paris. The intentional murder of noncombatants is a recognizable war

Committee on Slavery and Justice to learn more about Brown’s past ties to slavery and wealthy benefactors involved in the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

The Brown family included slave owners and slave traders as well as at least two members who became active abolitionists. The committee learned 30 members of Brown’s governing board owned or captained slave ships and slave labor was used for some of the school’s construction.

Brown not alone In his groundbreaking 2013 book “Ebony & Ivy: Race, Slavery, and the Troubled History of America’s Universities,” Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) scholar Craig Steven Wilder documented many of these connections.

In the book’s prologue, he writes: “In short, American colleges were not innocent or passive beneficiaries of conquest and colonial slavery…The academy never stood apart from American slavery – in fact, it stood beside church and state as the third pillar of a civilization built on bondage.”

The nation’s oldest colleges depended on direct and indirect wealth from slavery and the slave trade. Slaves helped build ma-

Bombing ISIS is violent self-gratification As written online in the Daily Beast on Nov. 17: “No doubt Russia needed to retaliate after ISIS blew up a Russian plane, killing 224. No doubt France needed to do the same after ISIS terrorized Paris, killing 129.

“The problem is that both Russia and France have retaliated in a manner that will do nothing to stop ISIS followers from launching similar attacks … or war-stricken Syrians from seeking refuge in Europe. Russia pounds ISIS with biggest bomber raid in decades…Putin’s air force just used its nuclear bombers to lay waste to the capital of the ‘Islamic State.’ The Tuesday mission, which launched under the cover of darkness from a base in Ossetia in southern Russia, signaled a significant escalation of Moscow’s air war in Syria…”

ANTHONY L. HALL, ESQ. FLORIDA COURIER COLUMNIST

cynical, callous, and cowardly for narrative commentary. So here are just a few points to bear in mind, all of which I’ve been proselytizing, like John the Baptist, for years in various commentaries.

Hailing Russia’s retaliation as “shock and awe – on steroids” ignores that it took hundreds of thousands of troops invading, not hundreds of jets bombing, for the United States to win its pyrrhic victory in Iraq.

Criticizing the United States for having little to show after bombing ISIS for over a year ignores Cynical retaliation that the United States deems it Frankly, this retaliation is too as unconscionable as it is coun-

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: ‘FEAR ITSELF’

rope fat and rich.

Slavery allowed the creation of a class of intellectuals freed up from the struggle to earn a living and able to engage in the higher contemplations of life.

The ugly truths America must face On November 14, Georgetown University President John J. DeGioia announced the university will rename two buildings on campus named for two 19th century Georgetown University presidents: Thomas F. Mulledy, who in 1838 arranged the sale of 272 slaves from Jesuit-owned Maryland plantations and used the profit to pay Georgetown’s construction debts, and William McSherry, who also sold other Jesuit-owned slaves and was Mulledy’s adviser. The sale ignored the objections of some Jesuit leaders who believed using the money to pay off debt was immoral and their demands that families be kept together.

Georgetown’s action followed a student sit-in outside President DeGioia’s office but it was part of a longer ongoing process examining the university’s historical connections to slavery. The renaming was one step recommended by the Working Group on Slavery, Memory and Reconciliation established by the president this school year.

Recently, student protesters at Yale University repeated calls to rename its Calhoun College, honoring slave-owning U.S. vice president and South Carolina Senator John C. Calhoun, already a subject of campus-wide discussion.

A5

JOHN COLE, THE SCRANTON TIMES-TRIBUNE

crime that can rise to the level of a crime against humanity and should always be condemned, with the perpetrators brought to justice. All states and groups should be subjected to the same legal and ethical standards and all held accountable.

But crimes committed by Western states and those states aligned with the West, as well as their paramilitary institutions, escape accountability for crimes committed in the non-European world. Some nations – like the United States, proudly claim their “exceptionality” – meaning impunity from international norms – as a self-evident natural right.

While the victims of the violence in Paris may have been innocent, France was not. French crimes against Arabs, Muslims and Africans are ever-present in the historical memory and discourse of many members of those populations living in France.

Those memories; the systemic discrimination experienced by many Muslims; and the collaboration of French authorities with the U.S. and others that gave aid and logistical support to extremist el-

ements in Syria, and turned their backs while their citizens traveled to Syria to topple President Assad; became the toxic mix that resulted in the blowback on November 13.

ny university buildings including some at Thomas Jefferson’s University of Virginia.

Students sometimes brought slaves to college to serve them, as George Washington’s stepson did when he attended King’s College in New York City, now Columbia University. Many university founders and early presidents owned personal slaves including Dartmouth, Harvard, the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) and more, and some colleges owned slaves.

for a slave’s skeleton to be wired up for study and his skin tanned at the college shop and made into a cover for his instrument case. Ongoing university “research” throughout the 19th century bolstered many of the race-based claims used to support slavery.

Murdered a boy

Lives that matter Although a number of the dead in Paris are young Arabs, Muslims and Africans, in the global popular imagination, France, like the U.S. (even under a Black president), is still White.

So in Iraq, the Shia will continue to die in the thousands from ISIS bombs; the Saudis will continue to slaughter Houthis with U.S. and NATO assistance; and Palestinian mothers will continue to bury their children, murdered by Zionist thugs in and out of uniform, without any outcry from the West.

CNN and others will give nonstop coverage to the attacks in Paris because in the end, we all really know that the lives that really matter are White.

Ajamu Baraka is a human rights activist, organizer and geo-political analyst. Contact him at www.AjamuBaraka. com.

Into the light Across our country this ugly and profoundly morally defective past is finally being brought into the light. Brown University’s Committee on Slavery and Justice said, “We cannot change the past. But an institution can hold itself accountable for the past, accepting its burdens and responsibilities along with its benefits and privileges.”

More universities and institutions must follow Brown’s example and engage in a thoughtful process of truth telling of their own and America’s history in order to lift the indefensible blot of slavery on America’s dream which plagues us still.

College students, faculty, and administrators seeking an honest historical accounting on their campuses are to be applauded.

Only the truth will make us free and move us forward together.

William and Mary, one of the slave-owning colleges, produced one of the most awful stories, Wilder shares – that of founding trustee Rev. Samuel Gray, who “murdered an enslaved child for running away”: “Rev. Gray struck the boy on the head, drawing blood, and then put a hot iron to the child’s flesh. The minister had the boy tied to a tree, and then ordered another slave to whip him. The boy later died. Gray argued that ‘such accidents’ were inevitable, a position that seems to have succeeded, as a court declined to convict him.”

Slave corpses were used in a number of the colleges’ medical Marian Wright Edelman is and scientific experiments. In one of Wilder’s examples, Dartmouth founder and president of the College founder Eleazar Whee- Children’s Defense Fund (www. lock’s personal doctor arranged childrensdefense.org). ing and galvanizing role they play in getting others to execute the kinds of attacks we saw in Paris and Beirut last week.

terproductive to get off on killing thousands of women and chil- Aids ISIS, profiteers dren in a vain attempt to kill a few Retaliating in this indiscrimiISIS combatants. nate fashion actually serves the interests of ISIS leaders – whose Cowardly bombing diabolical mission is to provoke Presuming to take the fight to a holy war between their followMuslim jihadists by dropping ers and, well, everyone else in the bombs from 50,000 feet is every world. But it also serves the interbit as cowardly as presuming to ests of arms merchants – whose take the fight to Western infidels diabolical mission is to profit off by attacking concert halls, sports the continual waging of war.

Staking out safe zones in Syrstadiums, and restaurants. ia and Iraq will not only stem the Bombing ISIS back to the mediflow of refugees into Europe. It eval times its cult leaders seem to would also provide a base from prefer will not stop followers from which Western ground forcblowing up planes and/or open- es could launch strategic incuring fire in crowded venues. (If you sions to kill ISIS leaders and enesee something, say something! Of my combatants instead of hapless course, you’d have to stop look- Syrians unable to flee. Russia and ing at your dumbphone for a sec- France should join forces with ond….) the United States and its coalition The best we can do is to contin- partners to implement this strateually kill those who assume lead- gy. All else is feckless folly, with all ership of the so-called caliph- due respect to the heroic Kurds. ate, thereby limiting the organizDefending safe zones for these

limited purposes should have nothing to do with never-ending sectarian wars for control of Afghanistan, Iraq, or Syria, or with training and equipping any one sect to fight the others. We should leave warring Muslim sects, as well as their affiliated terrorist groups (from al-Qaeda to ISIS and all variations in between), to their own devices – intervening only when necessary to contain their menace – just as we generally leave warring African tribes to theirs (whether they’re engaged in tribal/religious conflicts or terrorist insurgencies).

Beyond these points, it behooves France to consider what portends for its national character if it becomes to Russia in Syria the poodle Britain became to America in Iraq.

Anthony L. Hall is a Bahamian native with an international law practice in Washington, D.C. Read his columns and daily weblog at www.theipinionsjournal.com.

NATION

TOJ A6

NOVEMBER 27 – DECEMBER 3, 2015 winning a new trial. Rather than retry the men, prosecutors agreed to release them from prison if they pleaded “no contest” to reduced charges. They accepted the offer, even though they had earlier refused to plead guilty to rape charges in exchange for a lighter sentence, saying they could not admit to a crime they didn’t commit.

“When Morris stepped in, we felt a little more relaxed and we knew it was just a matter of time that the truth was going to come out because he let us know that he was going to get to the bottom of it,” said Walston, who still remains in contact with Dees today.

After the headlines

COURTESY OF SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER

Jesse Walston, Vernon Brown and Bobby Hines were wrongly accused of raping a White woman.

Giving thanks for life after death row How Southern Poverty Law Center helped ‘Tarboro Three’ escape gas chamber TRICE EDNEY NEWS WIRE

They were sentenced to die in 1973 for a rape they didn’t commit but found freedom after the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and its co-founder, Morris Dees, took on the racially charged North Carolina case.

Jesse Walston sounds like many men in their 60s when he speaks.

He talks about life in semi-retirement. He talks about spending time with family and friends.

When he speaks about his grandchildren, his voice swells with pride. And when he reflects on life, he speaks with the authority that comes only from life experience.

But what sets him apart from many men his age is what he has experienced.

Four decades ago, Walston and two other men were sentenced to die in North Carolina’s gas chamber. The Black men were wrongly convicted of raping a White woman in Tarboro, N.C.

‘No ill feelings’ Walston and the others – who became known as the “Tarboro Three” – might have remained in prison awaiting their execution had it not been for the Southern Poverty Law Center, which appealed the case and freed them in 1975.

“There’s no point in feeling bitter about it,” said Walston, 65.

“You just have to be happy that things turned out the way they did. I don’t hold no grudges or no ill feelings for anybody. I’m just glad that the truth came out.”

But it took time for the truth to come out.

Walston and his two friends – Vernon Brown and Bobby Hines – spent two years in prison before they were freed. Convicted of rape in 1973, they remained steadfast in declaring that they had not raped the woman they had given a ride to a popular late-night hangout after spotting her walking alone at night. They even rejected a plea deal that would have spared them the death penalty.

No contest plea After the story of the Tarboro Three reached SPLC founder Morris Dees, he took the case.

“When I met these men, they were locked up only 30 feet from the gas chamber,” Dees said. “I am so proud that the Southern Poverty Law Center was able to free them and give them a second chance at life. I only wish that the racial injustice at the heart of this case was no longer an issue today.

Unfortunately, our nation is still grappling with many of the same issues that almost cost the Tarboro Three their lives.”

Dees found evidence that wasn’t introduced at the trial,

Once the case ended and the headlines faded, the Tarboro Three had to resume their lives.

Walston was reunited with his wife, daughter and 2-year-old son, who was born just before he went to prison. He was even rehired to the job he held before the ordeal.

Today, he’s a part-time truck driver and lives in Camp Springs, Md., with his wife. A proud father of six adult children and grandfather of 10, Walston exudes a content and grateful demeanor. He speaks about summer vacations in Myrtle Beach, S.C., and Virginia Beach, Va., as well as visits with family – time that he clearly savors.

“The whole life after that [case] has been happy,” he said.

On Labor Day, Walston visited Brown in Tarboro. The two men’s friendship, which began in high school, has endured over time.

“I guess we’ll be friends for life,” Walston said. The third member of the group, Hines, died in a work-related accident years after the case.

‘Looking forward’ As for Brown, he found work shortly after being released from prison. He took a job at a factory that created pressboard for use in furniture and worked there for 31 years. At age 64, this father of three adult children and grandfather of seven now works part-time at a rental car company.

“I’m so grateful for Mr. Morris Dees,” he said. “I’m indebted to him for the rest of my life. I’m just glad everything is behind me. I’m just looking forward.”

But Brown also admits life is never the same after such an experience.

“I’m never going to forget it,” he said. “But I’m doing OK.” Brown still lives in Tarboro, which keeps him near family and friends. He describes himself as a “homebody” – echoing a comment his mother made in a story published by the SPLC four decades ago where she questioned how her son, who “stuck by the house,” could have ended up in prison.

There are still people who recognize Brown as a member of the Tarboro Three today, something that’s to be expected in a small town of about 11,000 residents. The younger generation, however, seems unaware, he said.

Brown just pushes on with life, possibly finding strength and resolve from the memory of the day he was released.

“It looked like a whole new world,” he said of that day. “The air was sweet – everything!”

More work ahead Despite the decades that have passed, both men recognize that the issues at the center of their case are still relevant today, issues such as the mass incarceration, racial injustice and the death penalty.

Walston believes there have been some improvements to the justice system since the case but that there is still more work ahead. Brown is more apt to point out that the justice system doesn’t always work equally for everyone.

“I hate that it happens to people … but I know it can happen,” he said of people wrongfully convicted.

Walston offered one piece of advice for someone in a similar situation as the Tarboro Three.

“Never plead guilty to something you’re not,” he said. “Never.”

This story is special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Join Plenti for free and start earning points today!

Plenti is a great way to get rewards at Macy’s and lots of other places! Join for free to earn points at one place and use them at another, all with a single rewards card. See a Sales Associate or visit macys.com/plenti to sign up and get more details. Plenti points cannot be earned or used on fees and services or on some

purchases, such as at certain food establishments and leased departments within Macy’s stores. To be eligible to join Plenti, you must be at least 13 years of age and have a residence in the United States or its territories, or Canada. Plenti is only available in the United States and its territories. For complete terms and conditions, including a complete list of exclusions, see Sales Associate or visit macys.com/plentiinfo

OUR STOREWIDE

THANKSGIVING

BLACK FRIDAY continues!

HURRY IN WHILE SUPPLIES LAST!

SHOP ‘TIL 1PM FRI, NOV. 27 & 8AM-1PM SAT, NOV. 28 HOURS MAY VARY BY STORE. VISIT MACYS.COM & CLICK ON

OR, TAKE AN EX TR A

% O

FF WITH O% O YO 1 UR OR WOW! PASS EXTRA SAVINGS ON SELECT SALE & CLEARANCE APPAREL! (EXCEPT SPECIALS & SUPER BUYS)

M

RD OR PASS CA Y’S AC

2

STORES FOR LOCAL INFORMATION & FURNITURE GALLERY OPENINGS.

EXTRA 2O% OFF

SELECT SALE & CLEARANCE APPAREL FOR HIM, HER & KIDS EXTRA 10% OFF SELECT SALE & CLEARANCE FINE & FASHION JEWELRY, SHOES, COATS, SUITS, DRESSES, INTIMATES, SWIM FOR HER; SUIT SEPARATES & SPORTCOATS FOR HIM, HOME ITEMS & ELECTRICS/ELECTRONICS MACYS.COM PROMO CODE: THANKS EXCLUSIONS MAY DIFFER ON MACYS.COM Also excludes: Deals of the Day, Doorbusters, Everyday Values (EDV), specials, super buys, cosmetics/fragrances,men’s store electronics, floor coverings, furniture, mattresses, rugs, watches. Also excludes: athletic apparel, shoes & accessories; Dallas Cowboys merchandise, gift cards, jewelry trunk shows, Macy’s Backstage merchandise/locations, New Era, Nike on Field, previous purchases, selected licensed depts., services, special orders, special purchases. Cannot be combined with any savings pass/coupon, extra discount or credit offer except opening a new Macy’s account. EXTRA SAVINGS % APPLIED TO REDUCED PRICES. TEXT “CPN” TO 62297 TO GET COUPONS, SALES ALERTS & MORE!

Max 3 msgs/wk. Msg & data rates may apply. By texting CPN from my mobile number, I agree to receive autodialed marketing SMS/MMS messages from Macy’s to this number. Consent is not required to make a purchase. Text STOP to 62297 to cancel. Text HELP to 62297 for help.

Terms & conditions at macys.com/mobilehelp Privacy practices at macys.com/privacy

VALID 11/27-12/1/2015

FREEVALID SHIPPING ONLINE AT $5O 11/25-11/28. PLUS, FREE RETURNS. U.S. ONLY.

OR, USE THIS SAVINGS PASS FRI ‘TIL 1PM & SAT ‘TIL 1PM EXTRA DOLLARS OFF SELECT SALE & CLEARANCE APPAREL & HOME ITEMS

$

EXTRA DOLLARS OFF SELECT SALE & CLEARANCE APPAREL & HOME ITEMS

1O OFF 2O OFF

YOUR PURCHASE OF $25 OR MORE.

VALID 11/27 ‘TIL 1PM OR 11/28/15 ‘TIL 1PM. LIMIT ONE PER CUSTOMER.

OR

$

YOUR PURCHASE OF $50 OR MORE.

VALID 11/27 ‘TIL 1PM OR 11/28/15 ‘TIL 1PM. LIMIT ONE PER CUSTOMER.

EXCLUSIONS APPLY; SEE MACYS.COM/FREERETURNS

BUY ONLINE, PICK UP IN STORE

NEED IT IN A HURRY? NOW YOU CAN SHOP AHEAD ON MACYS.COM AND PICK IT UP THE SAME DAY AT YOUR NEAREST MACY’S STORE. IT’S FAST, FREE AND EASY! DETAILS AT MACYS.COM/STOREPICKUP

CANNOT BE USED ON DOORBUSTERS OR DEALS OF THE DAY Excludes: Deals of the Day, Doorbusters, Everyday Values (EDV), specials, super buys, cosmetics/fragrances, electrics/ electronics, floor coverings, furniture, mattresses, rugs, watches. Also excludes: athletic apparel, shoes & accessories; Dallas Cowboys merchandise, gift cards, jewelry trunk shows, Macy’s Backstage merchandise/locations, New Era, Nike on Field, previous purchases, selected licensed depts., services, special orders, special purchases. Cannot be combined with any savings pass/coupon, extra discount or credit offer, except opening a new Macy’s account. Dollar savings are allocated as discounts off each eligible item, as shown on receipt. When you return an item, you forfeit the savings allocated to that item. This coupon has no cash value and may not be redeemed for cash, used to purchase gift cards or applied as payment or credit to your account. Purchase must be $25 or $50 or more, exclusive of tax and delivery fees.

THANKSGIVING SALE PRICES IN EFFECT NOW-12/1/15. MERCHANDISE WILL BE ON SALE AT THESE AND OTHER SALE PRICES NOW THROUGH 1/2/16, EXCEPT AS NOTED.

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

IFE/FAITH

NOVEMBER 27 – DECEMBER 3, 2015

Sister Souljah releases third ‘Midnight’ book See page B3

SHARING BLACK LIFE, STATEWIDE

‘Jemima Code’ shares history of Black cookbooks See page B4

SOUTH FLORIDA / TREASURE COAST AREA

WWW.FLCOURIER.COM

|

SECTION

B

S

PHOTOS BY DUANE C. FERNANDEZ SR./HARDNOTTSPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

A Florida A&M Rattler tries to take down Bethune-Cookman’s Anthony Jordan (1). Jordan had 108 yards rushing in the game and scored a touchdown in the third quarter.

THE FLORIDA CLASSIC

BRAGGING RIGHTS AGAIN FOR B-CU Wildcats trounce Rattlers in game that brings together rivals, friends, families

BY FLORIDA COURIER STAFF

N

either threat of rain nor traffic jams could keep Florida Classic fans away from this year’s showdown between the Bethune-Cookman University Wildcats and Florida A&M University. After all, this is more than a football game, more than an annual clash of in-state rivals on a neutral gridiron.

Despite the intermittent rain and snarls on Orlando’s Interstate 4, 45,728 made their way to the Florida Citrus Bowl and witnessed B-CU make history.

The Daytona Beach-based team won 34-14, its fifth Florida Classic in a row.

The Nov. 21 game had the largest Classic crowd since 2011, when there were 60,218 spectators. The preThanksgiving weekend extravaganza is a time for classmates from both schools to reunite and families to connect.

Rattler with Wildcat roots For Priscilla Johnson, a 1980 FAMU grad who grew up in Daytona Beach, it was a chance to catch up with loved ones from both schools. Johnson and her husband, Dave, traveled from Atlanta, where she resides. It had been more than 10 years since she had attended the game.

“Despite the rain, we had a great time. It was nice to reconnect with friends I had not seen in years, watching the band and cheering alongside the crowd of Rattler fans who came out to support FAMU,” she told the Florida Courier.

The Daytona Beach native said with a laugh that the game was fun despite the big loss to the Wildcats. Her brother, however, and other B-CU fans teased

Freshman Devin Bowers was named FAMU’s MVP. He led his team with 117 yards rushing and a touchdown. her afterward about the big loss.

“I enjoyed my HBCU family and laughed with the B-CU fans too because I grew up a Wildcat before becoming a Rattler. I’m already looking forward to next year.’’

36th Florida Classic Billed as the nation’s largest HBCU sports event, it was the 36th Florida Classic, now sponsored by Florida Blue.

It also marked the 70th football game between B-CU and FAMU. With the Nov. 21 win, the Wildcats went on to share the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference title with North Carolina Central and North Carolina A&T. However, there will no playoffs for the

Bethune-Cookman quarterback Quentin Williams shows off his MVP trophy. Williams scored four touchdowns in the game against FAMU. team that ended the regular season 9-2 and 7-1 in conference play. FAMU ended the season 1-10.

One of the thrills at any HBCU game is the halftime Battle of the Bands. This year’s halftime show was no exception.

The B-CU Marching Wildcats got props for its rendition of Tyrese’s stirring ballad “Shame.’’ The band’s rendition even got a tweet of approval from celebrity Steve Harvey.

And many Rattler fans cheered as the Marching 100 turned itself into a cannon and fired off smoke in the sidelines at B-CU’s band.

‘An institution’ Andrew “J.R.’’ Tarver, a 1982 Bethune-

Cookman graduate and former Marching Wildcat, describes the Florida Classic as “an institution.’’

“The Classic ceased to be a game decades ago. It has become a bit more than an event. An institution best describes it,” noted Tarver, who grew up in Tampa but lives in the Orlando area with his family.

“There have been more than a halfdozen generations witness this happening. It’s history being made before your very eyes,” he added, noting that the B-CU-FAMU annual game has allowed fans to see Hall of Famers play as well as having exposure to some great coaches.

He concluded, “It’s a fellowship, it’s a reunion for us in its purest form.’’

The stands are filled with spectators while the bands perform during halftime and show off their precision skills and arrangements. At left is the Bethune-Cookman’s Marching Wildcats. The Marching 100 is at right.

CALENDAR

B2

NOVEMBER 27 – DECEMBER 3, 2015

STOJ

OLIVIER DOULIERY/ABACA PRESS/TNS

PATTI LABELLE

Tickets are on sale to see the legendary performer on Jan. 28 in Jacksonville, Feb. 5 in Miami, Feb. 6 in Fort Pierce, Feb. 20 in Orlando, Feb. 21 in Tampa and Feb. 23 in Sarasota.

KENNY G

The renowned saxophonist performs Dec. 1 at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater.

‘THE FAMILY BLESSING’

A play featuring local performer will be at the Mahaffey Theater in St. Petersburg on Dec. 19 at 7:30 p.m. and Dec. 20 at 2 p.m.

FLORIDA COMMUNITY CALENDAR

and Digital Underground with Shock G are scheduled to perform Nov. 27 at the Concert Courtyard @ Ferg’s, 1320 Central Ave.

Fort Lauderdale: Dr. Shelly Cameron will discuss her new book, “Success Strategies of Caribbean American Leaders in the United States’’ at 2 p.m. Dec. 5 at the African-American Research Library and Cultural Center, 2650 Sistrunk Blvd.

Miami: Christian Family Coalition celebrates its anniversary gala dinner on Dec. 11 at the Sheraton Miami Airport Hotel. Florida’s U.S. Senate candidates will attend. RSVP

by Dec. 1 at 786-447-6431.

Fort Lauderdale: “The Christmas Chocolate Nutcracker” is Dec. 5 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. at the African-American Research Library and Cultural Center, 2650 Sistrunk Blvd. Tickets will be available at the door or through Eventbrite. More information: www.AshantiCulturalArts.com.

Jacksonville: The “Hip Hop Nutcracker’’ featuring Kurtis Blow will be at the Ritz Theatre and Museum on Nov. 29 at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

St. Petersburg: Tone Loc

Miami: The Comedy Get Down tour stops at the AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami on Dec. 11. The tour features D.L. Hughley, George Lopez, Cedric the Entertainer, Eddie Griffin and Charlie Murphy.

Palm Coast: The Community Chorus of Palm Coast will perform a holiday concert on Dec. 11 at 7 p.m. and Dec. 12 at 4 p.m. The concerts will be held at Trinity Presbyterian Church, 156 N. Florida Park Drive. Donations welcome. More information: 386-986-8899 or www.communitychorusofpalmcoast. com.

Tampa: Betty Wright, Clarence Carter, Shirley Murdock and Bishop Bullwinkle will perform at the 1828 Southern Soul Music Festival at 2 p.m. on Nov. 28 at Water Works Park, 1710 N. Highland Ave. More information: 813-444-2986.

Jacksonville: The Nicholas Payton Trio performs Dec. 5 at the Ritz Theatre and Museum. The show is at 8 p.m.

Tampa: The Weeknd’s Mad-

ness Fall Tour stops at the Amalie Arena on Dec. 17 and AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami on Dec. 19.

Miami: Christmas in Jazz: A Holiday Show takes place Dec. 11 at the Miami Dade County Auditorium.

Estero: The Legends of the Old School tour stops Dec. 5 at the Germain Arena.

Performers include Vanilla Ice, Salt N Pepa, Coolio, Rob Base and 2 Live Crew.

St. Petersburg: Bone Thugsn-Harmony and Mike Jones are scheduled to perform Dec. 11 at the Concert Courtyard @ Ferg’s, 1320 Central Ave. Miami Gardens: The City of Miami Gardens will host its fifth annual Science and Engineering Fair Dec. 7 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at St. Thomas University, 16401 NW 37th Ave. It ends Dec. 8 with an awards presentation from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Betty T. Ferguson Recreational Complex, 3000 NW 199th St. More details: Call Hilary Marshall at 305-622-8062.

Tampa: Candy Lowe hosts Tea & Conversation every Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m. at 3911 N. 34th St., Suite B. More information: 813-3946363.

LEGENDARY PICTURES AND UNIVERSAL PICTURES PRESENT A LEGENDARY PICTURES/ZAM PICTURES PRODUCTION ‘ KRAMPUS’’ A FILM BY MICHAEL DOUGHERTY ADAM SCOTT TONI COLLETTE DAVID KOECHNER ALLISON TOLMAN CONCHATA FERRELL EMJAY ANTHONY STEFANIA LAVIE OWEN WIWRITH TKRITEN STA STADLER EXECUTIPRODUCERVE DANIEL M. STILLMAN PRODUCEDBY THOMASDIRECTEDTULLp.g.a. JON JASHNIp.g.a.

ALEX GARCIAp.g.a. MICHAEL DOUGHERTYp.g.a. BY TODD CASEY & MICHAEL DOUGHERTY & ZACH SHIELDS BY MICHAEL DOUGHERTY A UNIVERSAL RELEASE VISUAL EFFECTS BY WETA DIGITAL LTD.

© 2015 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS

STARTS FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4 CHECK LOCAL LISTINGS FOR THEATERS AND SHOWTIMES

ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE FOR BLACK STUDENTS. NO EXCUSES. Florida Courier The classic guide from Florida Courier publisher, FRI 11/27 lawyer and broadcaster CHARLES W. CHERRY II 4.93" X 10" JL/AK ALL.KPS.1127.FCEMAIL

#6

PRAISE FOR ‘EXCELLENCE WITHOUT EXCUSE’: “This guide for African-American college-bound students is packed with practical and insightful information for achieving academic success...The primary focus here is to equip students with the savvy and networking skills to maneuver themselves through the academic maze of higher education.”

– Book review, School Library Journal • How low expectations of Black students’ achievements can get them higher grades; • Want a great grade? Prepare to cheat!

Robins & Morton is currently seeking bids from qualified Subcontractors and Suppliers.

Tampa, Florida and surrounding area businesses are invited to attend a preconstruction Meet & Greet to learn more about opportunities associated with the Memorial Hospital of Tampa and Palms of Pasadena Hospital construction projects.

What: Preconstruction Meet & Greet When: Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2015 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Where: Memorial Hospital of Tampa Auditorium 109-A 2901 W. Swann Ave. Tampa, Florida 33609

Memorial Hospital of Tampa Project Project will consist of a 2-story surgical suite expansion and renovations, two new OR’s and two future OR’s, and renovation and expansion of the surgery prep and post-op recovery area.

Palms of Pasadena New Dietary and ED Access Project Project will consist of a Dietary/Kitchen addition and ED Access consisting of demolition of existing wood frame construction building and existing kitchen, addition of a new kitchen/servery/dining and covered walkway from ED Waiting to Hospital.

Bid Packages associated with the projects include the following: Demolition • Site Work • Landscaping & Irrigation • Concrete • Masonry • Structural Steel • General Trades • EIFS • Roofing • Waterproofing & Caulking • Doors, frames & hardware • Glass & Glazing • Drywall & ACT • Flooring • Fluid Applied Flooring • Painting • Casework • Window Treatments • Prefabricated Canopy • Fire Protection • Low Voltage Systems ****Bids are Due Thursday, December 17th @ 2:00 p.m. (EST)**** For information regarding bid plans, and other documents for the two aforementioned projects, please contact: Drew Duffy, Senior Estimator at (615) 377-3666 or Email: DDuffy@robinsmorton.com To RSVP for the upcoming Meet & Greet contact: Rhea Kinnard, DBE Consultant at (615) 941-8396 or via Email: kinn0167@aol.com

• How Black students can program their minds for success; • Setting goals – When to tell everybody, and when to keep your mouth shut; • Black English, and why Black students must be ‘bilingual.’ …AND MUCH MORE!

www.excellencewithoutexcuse.com Download immediately as an eBook or a pdf Order softcover online, from Amazon, or your local bookstore ISBN#978-1-56385-500-9 Published by International Scholastic Press, LLC Contact Charles at ccherry2@gmail.com

Facebook ccherry2 excellencewithoutexcuse

for info on speeches, workshops, seminars, book signings, panel discussions.

Twitter @ccherry2

STOJ

NOVEMBER 27 – DECEMBER 3, 2015

FINEST & ENTERTAINMENT

Meet some of

FLORIDA’S

finest

submitted for your approval

B3

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.

These masqueraders participated in the Seventh Annual Miami Broward One Carnival’s Parade of the Bands at the Dade County Fairgrounds on Oct. 11.

The Florida Courier staff selected them as this week’s Florida’s Finest – for obvious reasons.

PHOTOS BY CHARLES W. CHERRY II / FLORIDA COURIER

‘A Moment of Silence’ for Sister Souljah Author, activist, rapper releases third novel in ‘Midnight’ series

BY AMY REYES MIAMI HERALD (TNS)

As national outrage about police brutality and bias in the criminal justice system against African-Americans has reached a crescendo, Sister Souljah’s latest novel, “A Moment of Silence” (Atria/Emily Bestler Books, $27.99), drops her character Midnight right in the middle of such a storm. He encounters crooked cops, lying detectives, dismissive judges and a population of incarcerated Black men with no hope for the future.

The novel, set in the mid1980s, is the third in her series about the Sudanese immigrant, a young, devout Muslim with two wives who also happens to be a dangerous ninja warrior fighting for his freedom in Rikers Island using the few resources at his disposal: his incredible discipline, his faith and his major butt-kicking skills. Oh, and a good lawyer.

‘Sister Souljah moment’ Sister Souljah has had plenty to say about the criminal justice system and race relations since her days as a rapper and activist in the early ’90s. Her controversial commentary on American racism put her at odds with many, including President Bill Clinton, who condemned her as divisive (the “Sister Souljah moment” of legend).

She used rap tracks to galvanize the Black community, most notably in Terminator X’s 1991 song “Buck Whylin’ ”, where she issued a call to arms: “We are at war!”

Decades later, as the country has begun to keep tabs on the rising body count of Black citizens at the hands of law enforcement, Sister Souljah’s frustration and outrage from the post-Rodney King era does not seem misplaced.

Independent film coming Along with her activism, Sister Souljah has been prodigiously writing for the past two decades. She penned a best seller, “The Coldest Winter Ever,” which recently was optioned for film. “It’s going to be an independent film but well done, with the right people,” she says. That book spawned the “Midnight” series, in which Sister Souljah uses her signature style, which blends street slang with straightforward prose, to create a story that blurs the lines between fiction, selfhelp and social commentary.

Q: You started writing as a platform for your activism with “No Disrespect,” which was autobiographical. What made you decide to write fiction?

A: I actually started writing when I was young living in the projects in the Bronx, with a series of letters to my mother, about things I had questions about, things I disagreed with. The reason I wrote the letters was because I would always get in trouble for my tone of voice. If I wrote down my concerns, I couldn’t get slapped for them. So I actually have been writing for a full lifetime.

Q: Your fiction blends a lot of topics about which you are passionate — self-respect, financial independence, reverence for women — into Midnight’s story. Have you found fiction to be a more effective vehicle for these sorts of lessons?

A: Different people receive their life lessons in different formats. With fiction, you reach the kind of people who need it to not be a rigid lecture formula.

Midnight and money Q: You spend a lot of time explaining in detail the ways Midnight makes his money. Why was that important to the story?

A: I come from a background of financial poverty. I come from the projects and welfare cheese and free peanut butter and Medicaid, and there is a total loss of control over our finances, our

COURTESY OF EURWEB.COM

New York Times best-selling author Sister Souljah celebrated the release of her fifth novel, “A Moment of Silence: Midnight III on Nov. 12 at a book launch event in Newark, N.J. She speaks as Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka looks on. lives. So as a child I spent a lot of time really confused about how this money situation works and about why my family doesn’t have any money. Why we are searching through pockets and clothes looking for coins? For the population of the poor in this country, trying to figure out how to become someone who earns money and what the rules are for it to become a legal thing, you spend a lot of time thinking about that.

Blacks and the courts Q: Did you decide to place Midnight in a situation where he must deal with law enforcement because it gave you an opportunity to comment on the issues of the criminal justice system that have become part of the public debate in the last few years?

A: No, I don’t write in reaction.

I am not a reactionary writer. I come from a population of people where at least 25 percent of

the African males are either incarcerated or under some kind of court supervision. I come from a background where many families are managed by the justice system. This is an ongoing thing, and it has been going on forever.

It’s just a reality.

Q: Why do you think these issues are suddenly reemerging in the public discourse?

A: For many years the authority had the benefit of the false assumption of racial superiority, and that meant that when the police said something happened in a particular way, everyone, including the court, took the word of the police over the citizen.

But in the digital society, everyone of every race and class has a cell phone and is recording; now it’s difficult to get away with your crimes being unknown. I think also some of the White population is now shocked because some of the things they believed in are being shown to be false.

Dialogue on race Q: How do you think the dialogue about race has shifted since you were a young activist?

A: I think meaningful dialogue can only be had if it includes people who have studied the issues, and I think that’s how the dialogue has changed. When I was younger we had so many different leaders who were qualified, who were lawyers, Congress people, people who studied or who were even affected by the system and because we were affected we studied it. I think the dialogue is more likely to lead to change if people are included in the conversation that understand how to talk about the issues. Certain people who should be navigating the conversation are locked out of the conversation.

Q: Considering your exchange with Bill Clinton all those years ago, could you ever vote for Hillary Clinton?

A: I don’t have a preferred candidate, and that’s the most I want to say about that right now.

B4

FOOD

NOVEMBER 27 – DECEMBER 3, 2015

10 African-American

COOKBOOKS

STOJ

Food writer Toni Tipton-Martin has brought together 200 years of African-American culinary history in “The Jemima Code.”

NAOMI LOGAN RICHARD/ WHITE GLOVE PHOTOS/TNS

you need to know

BY BILL DALEY CHICAGO TRIBUNE (TNS)

Toni Tipton-Martin was a food writer at the Los Angeles Times when she gazed at the cookbooks in the newspaper’s test kitchen and wondered: “Where are all the Black cooks?” She decided to find out. Now, after years of research and amassing an impressive collection of more than 300 cookbooks, she shares both that memory and the answer in a handsome 264-page work titled “The Jemima Code: Two Centuries of African American Cookbooks” (University of Texas Press, $45).

This lavishly illustrated book moves from “The House Servant’s Directory,” an 1827 guide to household management by Robert Roberts, to 1990’s “Jerk: Barbecue From Jamaica” by Helen Willinsky. “The Jemima Code” includes books by some food figures well known today, people like Edna Lewis, Leah Chase, Jessica B. Harris and Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor, and authors whose fame may have faded with time, like Freda DeKnight, Rufus Estes, Abby Fisher and Lena Richard.

“They are real people with real voices and important things to say,” the Austin, Texas-based author and community activist said in a telephone interview.

Works from 1991 through 2011 Tipton-Martin spoke of the language many of these authors used, even through translators, and how there were times when “White people allowed themselves to be in the background” and let “the person, the personality” of the authors “shine without degrading them or mocking them.”

“That was a beautiful synergy to experience. But, also, it was very sweet for me to hear the hope that many of these authors expressed for the greater society through the uplift of Black cooks.

They understood it then in the same way I do now. That when we uplift these people, it doesn’t just uplift them; it uplifts us all.

That’s why the book is dedicated ‘For us all.’”

The book includes an abbreviated list of works published from 1991 through 2011 as well. “We don’t live in a post-racial culinary society, not yet,” Tipton-Martin said. But she thinks AfricanAmerican cookbook authors over the past two decades have been freer to write what they want.

“The Jemima Code” is more

than a book about books.

Through chapters with titles like “Surviving Mammyism,” “Lifting as We Climb,” “Soul Food” and “Sweet to the Soul,” TiptonMartin uses the cookbooks to tell a story of race and identity in the U.S.

More than greens and fried chicken “The Jemima code” of the title — the name refers, of course, to the Aunt Jemima character created to sell food products — was “an arrangement of words and images synchronized to classify the character and life’s work of our nation’s Black cooks as insignificant,” Tipton-Martin writes in her introduction.

“The encoded message assumes that Black chefs, cooks and cookbook authors — by virtue of their race and gender — are simply born with good kitchen instincts; diminishes knowledge, skills and abilities involved in their work, and portrays them as passive and ignorant laborers incapable of creative culinary artistry.”

Her blunt assessment? “It’s a sham,” she writes.

Tipton-Martin is not alone, of course, in voicing this complaint. DeKnight wrote in her 1948 cookbook, “A Date With a Dish,” that “it is a fallacy, long disproved, that Negro cooks, chefs, caterers and homemakers can adapt themselves only to the standard Southern dishes such as fried chicken, greens, corn pone and hot breads.” And Harris, in her 2011 book, “High on the Hog: A Culinary Journey From Africa to America,” wrote: “The disrespect for our food and for the people who cook it has been a battle that has raged for decades.”

‘Jubilee’ cookbook in the works What does Tipton-Martin hope her book will accomplish?

“I really hope that a true appreciation for the two sides of every story will help us to appreciate our differences and that we can use these people and their stories as a way to build bridges between ourselves — culturally, across class differences,” she says.

“And here’s what I mean by that. For years, for generations, African-Americans have known about police aggression in the community against Black males, but nobody really believed in that story, nobody heard the outcry from the community until we

knew the individual young men by name, and that has personalized each of their stories. We now know Trayvon (Martin). We know Eric Garner. We know Mike Brown. They’re humanized. We can’t any longer paint them with broad brushstrokes into categories that are unfavorable.”

Tipton-Martin plans to return to the kitchen with these authors, whom she refers to affectionately as “the ladies and a few gentlemen.”

Her next book has the working title of “Jubilee: 500 Recipes That Celebrate This Heritage.” She’s working with friends on testing and adapting the recipes for modern cooks.

“Now that the cooks are free, we’re going to go back and begin to cook with them,” she said.

THE COOKBOOKS

showed that there was another side to Black female cooks – a sophisticated side.”

“Recipes and Domestic School of Cookery” by Helen T. Mahammitt (1939) “The author does not seem to be motivated to improve the reputations of domestic servants. The objective is simple: She wants to fill the world with wonderful cooks and successful entrepreneurs,” writes TiptonMartin. “I want to know all about the social life, the race relations, the experience of a Black women being able to operate a cooking school in Omaha in the 1930s.”

More than 150 books are included in “The Jemima Code.”

The 10 books listed here (organized in chronological order) resonate most with Tipton-Martin.

“At a time when publishing was so rare they wanted a particular kind of message to be conveyed, she said of these works. “And since they couldn’t be published in the trade, they were free to publish whatever their truth was.”

“The House Servant’s Directory” by Robert Roberts (1827) This book on household management, “along with 105 recipes for household remedies, cleaning products and some dishes” is, Tipton-Martin writes, “the first book of any kind by an AfricanAmerican, that we know of, to be trade published.” She choose this work because it clearly expresses his values, work ethic, personal character and management style.

“A Domestic Cook Book: Containing a Careful Selection of Useful Receipts for the Kitchen” by Malinda Russell (1866) The author, a “free woman of color” who identifies herself as “an experienced cook,” wrote the book to raise money so she could return to her home in Tennessee, Tipton-Martin writes. “She shows us how to use a culinary career to liberate herself and her children from poverty.”

“Good Things to Eat, as Suggested by Rufus” by Rufus Estes (1911)

PHOTOS COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS PRESS/TNS

“A Date with a Dish” was written by Freda DeKnight in 1948, Ebony’s first food editor. “The Historical Cookbook of the American Negro,” compiled and edited by Sue Bailey Thurman in 1958.

This is the first cookbook by an African-American referred to as a chef. “That’s not a term we often associate with African-American cooks,” Tipton-Martin said.

“Rufus speaks to the beauty of the craft.”

“Aunt Julia’s Cook Book”

by Aunt Julia and Aunt Leola (1934) A pamphlet of Southern recipes published by the Standard Oil Co. of Pennsylvania. It is, writes Tipton-Martin, “a bizarre combination of recipes tucked alongside advertisements for car batteries, petroleum products, pesticides, motor oil, tires and car engine accessories.” There’s a photo of the two authors in the kitchen holding a cookbook, an “awe-

some” visual that runs counter to the many misconceptions of African-American women held by some White authors at the time, Tipton-Martin said.

“Eliza’s Cook Book: Favorite Recipes Compiled by Negro Culinary Art Club of Los Angeles”

by Beatrice Hightower Cates 1936) “This is a sophisticated gem — a miraculous and lovely example of African American flair in the ever-present asymmetry of the Jemima cliche,” TiptonMartin writes. “During the years when Hollywood confined Black actresses to roles spoken in broken Black dialect or to portraying sassy maids, these upscale recipes of the Black middle class

“Lena Richard’s Cook Book”

by Lena Richard (1939) This New Orleans chef and restaurateur self-published her book first, then Boston’s Houghton Mifflin republished it in 1940 as the “New Orleans Cook Book” (but, as Tipton-Martin writes, without the elegant portrait of Richard found on the front-piece of the original edition). TiptonMartin loves the fact Richard became a friend of James Beard, arguably the best known food authority of the day, and had her own cooking show on New Orleans television. But what really struck her was Richard’s “choice of words, her language and her desire to teach which she articulates in her book.”

“The Chef” compiled and edited by Frances W. Roston (1944) This cookbook was sponsored by the City Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs in Tulsa, Okla., to

pay off the mortgage on the Colored Girl’s Receiving Home, “a clubhouse for underprivileged girls,’” writes Tipton-Martin. The cookbook, she noted, was written in the wake of the 1921 Tulsa race riot. “What this says to modern readers is,” she said, “that no matter how difficult and impossible your circumstances … you can find a way. And they paid off that mortgage.”

“A Date With A Dish: A Cookbook of American Negro Recipes” by Freda DeKnight (1948) First food editor for Ebony Magazine, DeKnight gathered recipes and stories and profiles from across the country for this book, which was later revised and republished as “The Ebony Cookbook.” “Her hope is to broaden the perception of her people by focusing on the foods of the middle class. She pulls together a diverse group of people from all across the country.”

“The Historical Cookbook of the American Negro” compiled and edited by Sue Bailey Thurman (1958) This book was sponsored by the National Council of Negro Women “to promote ‘diversity and democracy,’ celebrate Black achievement, entertain and educate,” Tipton-Martin writes.

“It foreshadowed the notion of ‘Black pride’ for up-and-coming authors, but surprisingly, amid all the historic intelligence conveyed, the book was not constructed to give a full history of African and African-American culinary traditions.”

STOJ

NOVEMBER 27 – DECEMBER 3, 2015

FROM FAMILY FEATURES

Food is a gift from the heart. It’s one-size-fits-all, and you don’t need to fight the crowds at the mall or worry about blowing your budget.

Whether for holiday presents or hostess gifts, receiving something homemade is truly what the season is about: sharing comfort and good cheer.

For a festive twist to your delec­ table goodies, look no further than your freezer. Aside from their bright, joyful color, frozen red raspberries’ sweet and tart flavors make them versatile from a culinary standpoint, complementing and enhancing a wide range of ingredients. These jubilant rubies are also nutritional power­houses, boasting the most fiber and the lowest natural sugar content compared to other berries.

These recipes are sure to warm your friends’ and family members’ hearts with the taste of the holidays.

Find more recipes worth sharing this holiday season at redrazz.org.

FOOD

RASPBERRY GREEK YOGURT BARK Recipe courtesy of NourishRDs.com 2 cups plain, reduced-fat (2%) Greek yogurt 1 lemon, zest only 2 tablespoons honey 1 cup frozen raspberries 1/2 cup shelled pistachios 1/4 cup slivered almonds Line small baking pan with aluminum foil.

In medium bowl, combine first 3 ingredients. Stir until well incorporated.

Add berries, pistachios and almonds to mixture. Fold in until well incorporated.

Spread mixture in baking pan and place in freezer for about 2-3 hours, or until hardened.

Once hardened, remove bark from pan and either cut or break up into pieces. Allow to thaw about 5 minutes before eating.

Notes: Store remaining bark in freezer.

You can experiment with any ingredients you have on hand, such as frozen cherries with dark chocolate chunks, frozen blueberries with unsweetened flaked coconut or dried cranberries with pecans.

RED RASPBERRY FRUIT LEATHER 1 package (12 ounces) frozen red raspberries, thawed 1/3 cup sugar or honey 1 teaspoon lemon juice Heat oven to 170 F. Line two baking pans with parch­ment paper or silicone mats.

Combine all ingredients in blender and puree until smooth.

Pour rasp­berry mixture on both pans and smooth into thin layer, less than 1/8-inch thick.

Bake 3 hours or until mixture is no longer wet, but still slightly tacky, rotating every hour and alter­nating levels.

Cool pans on wire rack to room temperature. Remove parchment paper (if using), place on cutting board and cut (or tear) into chip-size pieces. Store with fresh pieces of parchment paper between fruit leather layers in airtight container.

RASPBERRY SALSA 1 Pink Lady or other tart-sweet apple, cored and diced 2 cups peeled jicama, diced 1/3 cup raspberry vinegar 1 medium jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped ANYTIME PUMPKINRASPBERRY MUFFINS 1 cup frozen unsweetened red raspberries 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour 1/3 cup packed brown sugar 1/4 cup granulated sugar 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup canned pumpkin 3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk 3 tablespoons canola oil 3 egg whites 1 tablespoon grated orange rind 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 ounces chopped pecans, toasted Muffin Topping: 1 tablespoon granulated sugar 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon Heat oven to 350 F. Coat 12 nonstick muffin tins with cooking spray and set aside.

Place frozen raspberries on counter to thaw slightly while preparing muffins.

In medium bowl, stir together flour, brown sugar, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.

In another medium bowl, stir together remain­ing muffin ingredients, except raspberries.

Stir pumpkin mixture into flour mix­ture until blended.

Do not over mix. Spoon equal

amounts of batter in each muf­ fin tin. Place equal amounts of raspberries on top of each muffin.

Bake 20-22 minutes or until wooden tooth­pick inserted comes out almost clean.

Meanwhile in small bowl, combine topping ingredients and set aside.

Remove muffins from oven, place on wire rack and immediately sprinkle with topping. Let stand 15 minutes to continue to cook and absorb flavors. Remove muffins from pan and cool completely on wire rack before storing.

Store cooled leftovers in airtight container in refrig­ erator up to 48 hours or freeze up to 1 month.

Note: May make as mini muffins: bake 15 minutes in 12 muffin tins.

B5

3 green onions, sliced 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger 1 bag (12 ounces) frozen raspberries In large bowl, toss apple and jicama with vinegar. Add all remaining ingredients and toss to blend. Serve at once or cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

FUN, FESTIVE, FROZEN RASPBERRIES Not only do raspberries lend the perfect sea­sonal hue to homemade gifts from the kitchen, these bright red berries offer numerous nutri­tional and other benefits, according to Lisa Samuel, RDN, MBA of NourishRDs.com.

Frozen rasp­berries, which are available year-round, offer:

natural sugar content compared to other berries • More fiber than any other berry at 9 grams per cup • High in vitamin C, providing 60 percent of the Recom­mended Daily Value per cup

• 80 calories per cup, with no added sugar or preservatives

• Convenience and consistent quality right out of the freezer, with no waste or spoilage

• One of the lowest in

• Frozen at peak ripeness

B6

FOOD

NOVEMBER 27 – DECEMBER 3, 2015

TOJ

FROM FAMILY FEATURES

As family gathers around the table, a fragrant, beautifully plated main dish is the focal point of any holiday meal.

A richly flavored pork or beef dish that looks as good as it tastes will have guests passing their plates for more.

Whether your tastes lean toward a succulent pork crown roast seasoned to perfection, a prime rib so tender it melts in your mouth or a juicy ham drizzled with a sweet glaze, you can find premium meats to get you started at Omaha Steaks, a leading provider of premium beef and gourmet foods.

Flash-frozen to capture freshness and flavor at their peak, you can select the right cut of meat from the comfort of your home and have it delivered directly to your door. All that’s left is finding the right recipe to complement your main dish.

If preparing an elegant meal from scratch isn’t your idea of a happy holiday, look to Omaha Steaks for gourmet side dishes, appetizers and desserts, as well as complete holiday meal pack­ ages to fit any size gathering.

Get inspired to create a special centerpiece for your holiday table at omahasteaks.com.

PORK CROWN ROAST WITH GARLIC HERB RUB Prep time: 30 minutes Cook time: 2 hours, 30 minutes Total time: 3 hours Serves: 12-16 1/4 cup kosher salt 2 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper 1/3 cup fresh garlic, peeled and finely diced 1/4 cup thyme, leaves removed from stem and coarsely chopped 1/4 cup rosemary, leaves removed from stem and coarsely chopped 2 tablespoons sage, leaves removed from stem and coarsely chopped 1/2 cup, plus 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 pounds baby red potatoes, halved 1 pound fresh pearl onions, peeled and halved

1 Omaha Steaks Pork Crown Roast Thaw roast completely and remove plastic packaging.

Heat oven to 350 F. Prepare rub by combining salt, pepper, garlic, herbs and 1/2 cup of olive oil.

Mix 2 tablespoons of rub with remain­ing 2 tablespoons of olive oil and toss with potatoes and onions.

Liberally rub all sides of roast with remaining rub, including in between bones. Put any excess rub on top.

Place roast on foil lined sheet pan and spread potatoes and onions around sides of roast. Cook on center rack of oven for approximately 2 hours and 20 minutes to 2 hours and 35 minutes for a 9-pound roast, or until internal temperature reaches 145 F in the middle.

Let rest for 10-15 minutes before cutting away string and slicing between bones for 16 even portions. Serve with roasted red potatoes and pearl onions in natural au jus.

APRICOT HAM GLAZE Prep time: 5 minutes Cook time: 10 minutes Total time: 15 Serves: 6-8 1/2 cup brown sugar 1 teaspoon corn starch 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 1 cup canned apricot nectar In small saucepan, combine brown sugar, corn starch and ginger. Stir in apricot nectar.

Cook over medium heat, stirring con­stantly, until mixture thickens and boils.

Serving suggestion: Brush glaze over whole ham before roasting or over ham steaks while grilling.

CRANBERRY ORANGE HAM GLAZE Prep time: 5 minutes Cook time: 10 minutes Total time: 15 minutes Serves: 10-12 1 can (16 ounces) cranberry sauce 1 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup orange juice 1/2 teaspoon cloves, ground 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, ground 1/4 teaspoon all spice Place all ingredients in small sauce pan over low heat. Simmer for 5 minutes, then serve.

SALT ENCRUSTED PRIME RIB ROAST Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 2 hours Total time: 2 hours, 15 minutes Serves: 8 Salt Crust: 1 box (3 pounds) coarse kosher salt 1 1/4 cups water 1 Omaha Steaks Bone-In Prime Rib Roast (6 pounds) 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 2-3 teaspoons cracked black pepper Heat oven to 425 F. Line shallow roasting pan with heavy-duty aluminum foil.

Combine salt crust ingredients; mix well. (Mixture may appear dry; do not add additional water.)

In roasting pan, pat 1 1/2 cups salt mixture into rectangular shape about 1/2 to 1 inch larger than roast.

Brush roast with oil; press pepper evenly into surface. Insert ovenproof meat thermometer into thickest part of roast, not resting in fat; center roast on salt layer. Starting at base of roast, pack remaining salt mixture onto sides and top to encase in salt.

(Some salt mixture may fall off, exposing small areas of the roast. This will not affect cooking.)

Roast in oven approximately 1 3/4 to 2 hours for medium rare or 2 1/4 to 2 1/2 hours for medium doneness. Use thermometer to verify doneness.

Transfer pan with roast to cooling rack; let stand uncovered 15 minutes. Remove and discard salt crust from roast, brushing off any remaining salt. Carve and serve.

HOW TO HANDLE FROZEN MEAT Working with frozen meat from a quality supplier not only ensures top-notch quality for your holiday dinner, it adds convenience during a busy time of year. Follow this advice from the experts at Omaha Steaks to handle your frozen meats with care.

• For meats that have been vacuum sealed in plastic wrap, store in a freezer for up to three months.

• For best results, thaw in the refrigerator to allow for juicier, more flavorful steaks. Always leave the wrapper on while thawing. Use these approxi­mate guidelines for thawing in a refrigerator set to 36-40 F: Large roast Small roast Steak (1-inch) Whole turkey Poultry parts

4 to 7 hours per pound 3 to 5 hours per pound 12 to 14 hours 1 day per 4 to 5 pounds 1 day per 1 to 2 pounds

• For quick, safe thawing place meat in cold water while still in its wrapper.