Florida Courier - December 25, 2015

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VOLUME 23 NO. 52

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DECEMBER 25 – DECEMBER 31, 2015

THE GIFT OF LIFE Florida Courier writer Penny Dickerson, a cancer survivor, reflects on her personal challenges and blessings during this year’s holiday season.

BY PENNY DICKERSON THE FLORIDA COURIER

Cancer and Christmas share a confounding irony for me this year.

On Dec. 1, I was admitted to Shands Hospital in Jacksonville for a CT-guided kidney biopsy. One month prior, a definitely solid renal mass was found resting leisurely on the outer pole of my right kidney.

The remainder of the month, I’ve endured holiday grandeur, including “Jingle Bells” carols; and pine and spruce trees lit with bright, multicolored bulbs and layered with elaborately wrapped presents topped by ornate bows.

It’s the season to be jolly

– if you don’t have to deal with a health woe like cancer.

Instead of cheerfully speaking catch phrases like “joy,” “peace,” and “hope,” my seasonal vocabulary sounds like it’s taken from pages of the “Physicians’ Desk Reference:” “peripherally inserted catheters,” “renal cell carcinoma,” “cryoablation,” and “cancer surveillance.”

This year, I am a bonafide Grinch. I’m sick of that fat White bearded guy of “ho, ho, ho” fame. My sole Christmas miracle is that I haven’t been arrested and jailed for tackling and beat- Before cancer and after cancer. Here’s a formal portrait (in classy black ing down a mechanical See GIFT, Page A2

and white) and a selfie from my hospital bed.

PORTRAIT BY GREGORY MCKINNON

HOLIDAY PARTY AT THE WHITE HOUSE 2015

First Lady greets young guests

Remembering Leander Shaw as justice and role model

BY MARGIE MENZEL THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

TALLAHASSEE – Former Chief Justice Leander Shaw, who died last week at age 85, lay in state Monday in the rotunda of the Florida Supreme Court as family, friends and colleagues paid their respects.

A Florida Highway Patrol honor guard carried his coffin in from rain-soaked Duval Street, with former Chief Justice Major Harding leading the way.

Shaw, the state’s first Black chief justice, served two decades on the court, figuring in high-profile cases and beating back an effort to unseat him.

He also triumphed over Florida’s Jim Crow-era legal system.

In 1960, for instance, when Shaw took the Bar exam in Miami, he wasn’t allowed to stay at the Whites-only hotel, eat at its restaurant or take the exam with the other candidates.

By 1983, he was Florida’s second Black justice. By 1990, he was its chief justice.

Hatchett remembers Longtime Supreme Court spokesman Craig Waters called Shaw “a man who had experienced doors being shut in his face, but who had lived to see them opened and who tried to open them for others. … Thirty years later, he took office as the chief justice of Florida. That tells you how many doors he opened.”

“My God, the changes were night and day,” said Joseph Hatchett, the first African-American on the state’s high court. “When we came to Florida, everything was completely segregated.”

The two met in law school in the 1950s, Hatchett said, when courts were segregated as well as hotels, with Blacks forced to use separate drinking fountains and other facilities.

“So we had the honor of going into courthouses, seeking equal justice under the law, in courthouses where the people we were representing had been declared by law to be unequal,” Hatchett said. “We still have a long way to go, but my God, we’ve come a long, long way.”

Veteran, attorney, professor

OLIVIER DOULIERY/ABACA PRESS/TNS

First Lady Michelle Obama speaks with military children as she hosts a preview of the 2015 holiday decor at the White House earlier this month. The Obamas are spending their Christmas holiday again in Hawaii.

Congresswoman to revise federal redistricting challenge NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, a Jacksonville Democrat who has been perhaps the most-outspoken opponent of a congressional redistricting plan, will file a revised federal lawsuit

by Dec. 29, according to a court filing Tuesday.

The Florida Supreme Court on Dec. 2 approved a new map that dramatically changes Brown’s district, which currently stretches from Jacksonville to Orlando. Under the new plan, the district would run from Jacksonville to Gadsden County, which is west of Tallahassee.

ALSO INSIDE

See SHAW, Page A2

SNAPSHOTS

The plan, which received a final sign-off Tuesday from Leon County Circuit Judge Terry Lewis, is aimed at complying with the anti-gerrymandering “Fair Districts” standards approved by voters in 2010. Brown filed a federal lawsuit in August, arguing that reconfiguring her district would reduce African-Americans’ chances of electing a candidate of their choice, violating the Voting Rights Act.

the new map. The document filed Tuesday in federal court in Tallahassee was a joint status report from attorneys for Brown, the state House, the state Senate, Secretary of State Ken Detzner and votingrights groups.

It said Brown plans to amend her original complaint by Dec. 29. It also said the League of Women Voters of Florida and Common Cause Florida, the voting-rights groups that led a legal fight to reJoint status report quire redrawn districts, The lawsuit was later will file an amended moplaced on hold until the tion to intervene in the Supreme Court approved federal case by Jan. 12.

Shaw was born in 1930 in rural Virginia. His father had been dean of the Florida A&M University Graduate School, his mother a high school teacher. After serving in the Korean War, Shaw earned a law degree in 1957 from Howard University in Washington, D.C and moved to Tallahassee as an assistant law professor at Florida A&M. In 1960, when he was admitted

FLORIDA | A3

Scott names 3 to FAMU board NATION | A6

Obama pardons 97 felons TRAVEL | B1

Discover the beauty of Gainesville FITNESS | B5 PETE MAROVICH/TNS

U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, during a hearing on Capitol Hill last year, isn’t pleased with the redistricting plan.

COMMENTARY: CHARLES W. CHERRY II: REMEMBERING BROTHER JAMES C. BELT JR. | A4 COMMENTARY: MARIAN WRIGHT EDELMAN: WHY ARE KIDS LESS VALUABLE THAN GUNS? | A5

Tackle healthy habits one step at a time

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FOCUS

DECEMBER 25 – DECEMBER 31, 2015

20 million and counting: Florida growing faster than California

BY JIM TURNER THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

TALLAHASSEE – Florida has surpassed the 20 million-population mark while growing faster than California.

The Sunshine State, adding more than 1,000 people a day, is nearly up a half-million people on New York, which it surpassed a year ago to become the third most-populous state, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates released Tuesday.

Florida, with an estimated 20,271,272 residents as of July 1, is also growing faster than a year earlier, when 803 people a day

SHAW from A1

to The Florida Bar, he was one of only about 25 Black attorneys practicing in the state.

“Having lived in the period when racism and prejudice was a way of life … he was motivated by his desire to make sure that everybody understood their rights and had access to the legal system,” said Senate Minority Leader Arthenia Joyner, a Tampa Democrat and lawyer who had a longtime connection to Shaw.

Role model, mentor After passing the bar, Shaw worked in private practice in Jacksonville, also serving as a public defender and prosecutor. In 1974, then-Gov. Reubin Askew appointed him to the Florida Industrial Relations Commission. In 1979, then-Gov. Bob Graham named Shaw to the 1st District Court of Appeal and, four years later, to the Supreme Court.

Joyner said Shaw was “a role

were being added to the state’s head count.

“Governor (Rick) Scott is proud that more people continue to move to Florida,” Scott spokeswoman Jackie Schutz said in a prepared statement. “Our hardworking businesses have created more than 1 million jobs in just five years, we have historic funding for education and we are in a 44-year low on our crime rate.”

Growing pains The new numbers come as lawmakers prepare to deal with a wide range of issues affected by the growing population, including water issues.

model and a mentor to many of the young Black lawyers coming up.” She called his impact on Florida’s courts “unparalleled … profound.”

In a statement last week, current Chief Justice Jorge Labarga also noted that Shaw helped restore public confidence in the high court after it was rocked by scandals in the 1970s.

“Leander Shaw was one of a handful of judges who helped restore the public’s faith in the Supreme Court and who transformed it into one of the most respected courts in the nation,’’ Labarga said.

Retired in 2003 Shaw served as chief justice from 1990 to 1992 and retired from the court in January 2003.

In 1989, he wrote a controversial decision that struck down a law requiring minors to get permission from their parents before having abortions. That decision, based on a privacy right in the Florida Constitution, led to an unsuccessful effort to unseat Shaw when he came up for merit retention in 1990.

Shaw had a remarkable tem-

Noting that Florida faces a projected 1-billion-gallons-a-day water shortfall by 2030, Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam has been pushing for proposed statewide water policy changes (SB 552 and HB 7005), which are expected to be among the first items lawmakers take up when the regular legislative session begins in January.

“Florida’s increasing population will continue to stress our critical water resources,” Putnam spokesman Aaron Keller said in an email Tuesday.

“While Florida has made great progress in restoring the health of our water supply and conserv-

Sean Shaw, one of the jurist’s five children and a former state insurance consumer advocate, agreed that his father didn’t take things personally – “unless I did something wrong. Seems like he took that mighty personal. ...

You can’t lie to a judge. My little excuses as to why I missed curfew fell on deaf ears.”

But as visitors kept coming to pay their respects, Sean Shaw was happy with his father’s legacy.

“You can only hope that when it’s your time, people think of you this way,” he said.

Cancer diagnosed in 2006

My daughter Kelsey, here with her new husband Donte’ and my granddaughter Journey Nicole, are two of the reasons I fight cancer.

GIFT from A1

Santa Clause out of frustration.

Santa’s robust, bulging belly is celebrated as he devours endless cookies and milk. Where is the dietary liability? Where is Santa’s sickness or cancer?

It appears it’s been gifted to me!

More people also means eventually Florida will have a larger congressional delegation. In 1910, New York had 43 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives to Florida’s four. Both states now have 27 seats.

Part of the state’s growth is at-

Son on legacy

Instead of holiday shopping to extend gifts to family, friends, and my precious granddaughter Journey Nicole, for three weeks preceding Dec. 25, I’ve been in and out of the hospital twice.

Mentally, I’ve had to navigate my current reality, including the exhaustion of 12 weeks of non-paid family leave from my full-time employer, Stein Mart – who matter-of-factly informed me that my first health insurance premium bill is coming as a Christmas present.

Who can indulge in “fa-lala-la-la” when you’re forced to make decisions like financially maintaining the single bill necessary to sustain your health – and mustering strength to return to work and make a living?

Millions of Americans share the dilemma of health crisis. It not only alters lives; it can steal your Christmas cheer. Here’s a glimpse of my story:

COURTESY OF PENNY DICKERSON

Many from Puerto Rico

tributed to an exodus from the economically challenged U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, which the Census report said declined in population by 1.7 percent over the past year.

In overall population, Florida remains behind California, now with 39.14 million residents, and Texas, with 27.5 million people.

Only Texas had more net population growth in the past year than Florida, growing by 490,036 residents to Florida’s 365,703.

California added 352,527 people.

Georgia was fourth with 117,728 new residents.

perament, according to Harding, whose service on the high court overlapped with Shaw’s by more than a decade.

“Whether you agreed with him or not on a case or any issue, he was always the same,” Harding said. “He never allowed any difference of opinion to interfere with the significant friendship that we all were privileged to share.”

In and out

My sisters Natalie Burgess, left, and Linda Herron, right, along with Ethel Jones (not pictured) are the backbones of my personal network of support.

ing our water resources, we need to act now. We must invest more in water supply planning and alternative supply development to meet the needs of this growing population and continue to support a thriving economy while balancing the needs of our natural environment.”

I was initially diagnosed with a rare kidney cancer while living in Winston Salem, N.C. and subsequently received treatment at Duke Medical Center. The fine print in this excerpt from my Duke medical records speaks volumes: Ms. Merdis Dickerson is a 43-year-old African American female who began experiencing abdominal pain in the spring of 2006 and was noted to have gallstones...The pathology showed a clear cell renal cell carcinoma, grade II out of IV, which was confined to the left kidney and measured 0.9 cm in greatest dimension.”

My first thoughts were the monosyllabic: “What?” and “Huh?” Like most women, I am aware of breast cancer and had a right breast biopsy for a lump in 2004.

It was benign.

But women are unfairly encouraged to protect our “two brown mounds,” while more complex cancers receive less advocacy and education. As a result, my expectation was that cancer would grow bilaterally in my chest, not my kidneys.

Ignored symptoms I ignored important warning signs and recall thinking, “I am too smart to have been so dumb.”

Hematuria, or urine in the blood, is a telltale symptom of renal cell carcinoma. But what woman wants to discuss blood coming from her “lady place,” even it is in her piss?

COURTESY OF FLORIDA SUPREME COURT

Former Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Leander J. Shaw Blood below the waist is every woman’s right to remain mute, and in 2006, that’s what I did until an incidental finding on a CT scan during an emergency room visit showed a tumor filled with cancer cells.

It was just that simple. A cancer diagnosis rarely mimics what is seen on prime-time television.

Those close to me know that I stay busy and keep it moving. I never smoked, but had my share of health struggles. Over the years, illness has slowed me down, but never stopped my passionate writing pursuit.

Complex surgeries The first tumor was in my left kidney and a partial nephrectomy was performed as the curative solution. The surgery was difficult. I healed by “secondary intentions” – which means the wound from the surgery was left open to heal on its own.

A huge, gaping divide of flesh was exposed on my left side that needed to be packed daily. Three ribs were “resected” – cut out – so that the surgeon could access my kidney. That caused irreparable nerve damage and permanently affected my range of motion.

Additionally, between 2006 and 2013, I endured more than seven additional surgeries at Mayo Clinic, Baptist Medical Center, and now Shands.

Consistent with protocol, I had surveillance scans every six months to make sure the cancer hadn’t reoccured. The remaining portion of my left kidney was functioning without fail.

An arduous health journey had finally come to a halt, and I was exhausted.

But when I least expected it, a new tumor was identified on my right kidney last month. That left me stunned.

Technology advances encouraged a less-invasive procedure called “cryoablation,” that involved freezing the malignant cells (until disco comes back – yes, that’s a joke) or permanently destroying them.

Depressive setback Shouting victory was premature. The procedure left me immobilized and in pain. I’d also been ambushed by a sense of anxiety that I just couldn’t shake.

The blues of the winter solstice had unequivocally fallen upon me.

Further, this tiny tumor popped up at the end of 2015, an unprecedented year of success for me as a freelance writer after I had been on the editorial grind for nearly a decade.

In February, I traveled to New

York as a Guggenheim fellow. I followed that by attending my third Steve Harvey and Essence Magazine’s Disney Dreamers Academy in March.

In June, I spent a week on Martha’s Vineyard at a literary retreat working on my memoir. I wrote six features in Orlando Arts Magazine and secured a Marguerite Casey “Equal Voice” fellowship.

Mid-year, I signed a contract as lead reporter for the Daytona Times, broke into the Miami market, interviewed Tom Joyner and LeVar Burton, among other celebrities.

The 2015 “cherry-on-top” was celebrating the October nuptials of my only daughter Kelsey Nicole Boyer, age 25.

Cancer did not comfortably fit into this string of successes and personal milestones.

Fighting to win I posted my recent discharge chart on social media. It read like a clinical litany of despair.

Between renal masses and malignant neoplasms it appeared I had everything but shingles and a hangnail; another surgery consult is pending.

My rigorous personal drive and motivation that I call “Penny-Fly” had faltered. I felt empty, alone and was painfully aware that being sick and single wasn’t sexy. I am blessed to have a bevy of praying friends who I wanted to transparently tell, “Please get off your knees and stretch, because my faith is long gone.”

Most days, my simplest prayer is for my 2004 Toyota 4-Runner to turn over when cranked, or for my bank account to avoid breaching zero.

And then I think of all the victims this year has claimed at the hands of gunmen, police, and terrorism.

I think of their mothers, children, and spouses who will never again see the whites of their loved one’s eyes or warm smiles at the table for holiday dinners.

I think of my own mother, Ethel Jones, who has attended appointments and monitored my 24-hour care.

I think of my two sisters Linda Herron and Natalie Burgess, all my cousins, and all my faithful friends who intercede for me when I am weakened.

And then I am grateful.

Yes, tumors are terrible and cancer is a beast.

But with family and friends in my corner, I recognize the best gift for Christmas is life.

DECEMBER 25 – DECEMBER 31, 2015

FLORIDA

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Jobless rate in state now even with national number THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

Florida’s unemployment rate fell to 5 percent in No-

vember from a revised 5.2 percent in October, according to figures released Dec. 18 by the Florida Department of Economic Oppor-

tunity.

The November mark puts Florida even with the national unemployment rate for the first time since Jan-

uary. The state had been above the national rate since that time. Florida’s October’s figure was initially projected at 5.1 percent.

In a news release, Gov. Rick Scott focused on the creation of 35,600 privatesector jobs across the state during November, near-

ly reaching the 36,600 private-sector jobs reportedly created in October, which was a 10-year high. The biggest private sector gains in November were found in the fields of construction, trade, transportation and utilities, and professional and business services, according to the release from the governor’s office.

Lowest in Monroe

Food costs are up, but energy costs are down.

The preliminary figures for November show an estimated 486,000 jobless Floridians from a workforce of 9.58 million. The jobless total is down 8,000 from September. The numbers indicate that the number of Floridians working grew by 56,000 between October and November.

However, the data also show that there were only 49,000 more people working in November from the same point a year earlier, when the state’s unemployment rate was 5.7 percent. Over the past year, the state’s labor force has decreased by 20,000 people, and those qualified as unemployed decreased by 69,000.

Across the state, the lowest were found in Monroe (3.3 percent) and St. Johns (3.6 percent) counties. The highest rate is held by Hendry County (8.3 percent).

Scott appoints 3 to FAMU board In moves that could help remake the Florida A&M University Board of Trustees, Gov. Rick Scott has appointed three new board members, including former state Public Service Commission Chairman Matthew Carter and children’s advocate and former Miami Herald publisher David Lawrence Jr. Scott also appointed retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Gary McCoy of Destin.

The moves came after highly publicized clashes this year between trustees and university President Elmira Mangum. Two of Mangum’s critics, Rufus Montgomery and Spurgeon McWilliams, recently stepped down from the board, and a new chairman, Cleve Warren, was chosen.

Scott appointed Carter and Lawrence to fill vacancies on the board, while McCoy succeeds trustee Torey Alston, according to a Dec. 18 announcement from the governor’s office.

Carter, an attorney and former legislative staff director, had served on the state university system’s Board of Governors since 2012. Lawrence, who retired as publisher of the Herald in 1999, is chairman of The Children’s Movement of Florida.

McCoy served in the Air Force from 1969 to 2011 and is a former commander of the Air Force Global Logistics Support Center at Scott Air Force Base.

– The News Service of Florida

FPL bills today are 10% lower than they were 10 years ago.

While the cost of food has gone up in the last 10 years, the cost of the energy to keep it all fresh has come down. At FPL, we’re using smart technology and working more efficiently to provide you with cleaner, more reliable energy at a price that’s the lowest in the state. See how your bill has changed in a decade at FPL.com/10years.

Based on a typical 1,000 kWh residential customer bill. This advertising is paid for by our FPL shareholders, not our customers.

Riviera Beach now has Obama Highway The City of Riviera Beach has voted to dump the name of its Old Dixie Highway and rename the stretch of road after President Obama, according to the Palm Beach Post.

President Barack Obama Highway has replaced the previous name, which harkens back to the slave-holding South. The move follows a 4-1 city council vote in August to remove the word “Dixie” from all public signage.

Riviera Beach Mayor Thomas Masters, whose city is 66 percent Black, led the effort to rename the highway, which at one point intersects with a road named after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. – From Wire Services

EDITORIAL

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DECEMBER 25 – DECEMBER 31, 2015

James Belt was my ‘brother at the bar’ Note – Your humble writer delivered these remarks to the family of the late Attorney James C. Belt, Jr. during the occasion of his wake and homegoing service last week in Dallas, Texas. Belt’s wife Mollie Belt is the longtime publisher of the Dallas Examiner, a Black weekly newspaper in Dallas.

I bring you greetings from the Sunshine State. Our deepest condolences to Mollie, the entire Belt family, the Belt law firm, and to our editorial, production, and journalistic counterparts at the Dallas Examiner. We are standing with you and praying for you throughout these seasons of grief and mourning.

My short remarks are entitled, “A Brother at the Bar.” Please note that even though my remarks have a title, they will indeed be short.

My father Charles W. Cherry, Sr., who was the founder and publisher of both our family-owned newspapers as well as the key man in all of our existing family businesses, died in 2004 of colon cancer. At the time, I was assisting my brother, Dr. Glenn Cherry, in operating Tama Broadcasting, Inc. the owner of nine affiliated FM stations and two AM stations spread across Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina.

‘What we gon’ do?’

After Dad’s homegoing – after

QUICK TAKES FROM #2: STRAIGHT, NO CHASER

and anywhere NNPA meetings were located and where adult beverages were served. We talked about EVERYTHING, with full confidence that mutual confidentiality and secrecy would always be preserved.

CHARLES W. CHERRY II, ESQ.

Tough advocate

PUBLISHER

his burial – after everyone went home – we had the proverbial living room conversation that every family business has at this tragic juncture: “What we gon’ do now?”

Well, my family’s answer to that question put events into motion that made Brother James C. Belt, Jr. and I “brothers at the bar.”

My family and me decided that I would leave our radio group and step into Dad’s shoes as publisher of both newspapers. Part of my duties and responsibilities would be to reactivate our membership in the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), the trade group of approximately 180 Black-owned newspapers in the United States.

That was a major business decision because NNPA, like many Black non-profit organizations, has an organizational culture like a small Black Baptist church in which everybody in leadership thinks they know the Lord better than the person sitting next to

James C. Belt, Jr. them – if you get my drift.

Two terms I was to serve two 2-year terms on the national board of directors. During that time, Brother Belt and I were ‘brothers at the bar,’ in two ways: first, from the perspective of our decades as lawyers, respectively. He was an experienced criminal defense attorney and a member of the State Bar of Texas, the organization that regulates lawyers. I am a former South Florida prosecutor, sole practitioner, and a member of the Florida Bar. And since my first board meeting in 2008, we became brothers at hotel or casino bars in Minneapolis, Chicago, Nashville, Phoenix, Atlanta, Fort Lauderdale, the Virgin Islands, Washington, D.C.,

When it was time to take care of business, especially in the rough and tumble of NNPA politics, Brother Belt was somebody you wanted on your side of the argument. If he was against you, he’d try to rip you a new one. Fortunately for me, we generally saw eye-to-eye on most issues facing our national board during our respective tenures.

Many times, when Brother Belt got going, I would just “rare back in my chair,” as the country folks say, watch the fireworks, and be ready to jump between he and his adversary – or immediately call 9-1-1.

One thing I loved about Brother Belt – as I always called him, and he always called me Brother Cherry – was that he just didn’t give a damn. I advise young lawyers to do what Brother Belt did effectively: to embrace the innate fear and occasional hatred that some people have of vocal, uncompromising, zealous lawyer/ advocates like Brother Belt, and use it to move things forward.

Steve Harvey’s gaffe was Miss Universe’s blessing From the Associated Press: “The Miss Universe contestant from the Philippines is this year’s winner, but for one brief moment Sunday evening, it appeared as if it might be a repeat win for Colombia.

“Colombia contestant Ariadna Gutierrez Arevalo was already wearing the crown as this year’s Miss Universe when host Steve Harvey returned to apologize.

“Harvey said it was his mistake and that he would take responsibility for not correctly reading the card, which said that contestant Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach of the Philippines was this year’s winner and Colombia was actually the first runner-up.”

Laughingstock online Unsurprisingly, mainstream and social media are now replete with mocking, even racist comments on Harvey’s universal gaffe.

Granted, the world has not seen such a brain-dead spectacle since, well, the Miss Teen USA 2007. That’s when a judge asked Miss South Carolina why so many Americans can’t even locate the USA on a map. The Southern beauty proceeded to demon-

ANTHONY L. HALL, ESQ. FLORIDA COURIER COLUMNIST

strate why by wandering all over the map, ending up somewhere in Iraq with her incomprehensible response.

What nobody seems to appreciate, however, is that, but for Harvey’s gaffe, 90 percent of the people commenting would not have even known this pageant happened. I am Exhibit A. In fact, most pageants make news these days not for the beauties they showcase, but for the scandals they cause; hence my commentary, “Want to ‘Win’ Miss USA? Make a Fool of Yourself,” on June 20, 2013.

But, no, Harvey did not allow pageant organizers to use him as a dupe just to generate this postpageant media sensation. He’s too proud for that. He just really screwed up!

Sharing is wrong My heart goes out to Miss Colombia. But it’s absurd to think

GLEN FORD BLACK AGENDA REPORT

ed by both Boko Haram and the Nigerian military, which has long been suspected of manipulating Boko Haram to its own ends.

The Nigerian army killed three of the Sheikh’s sons in 2009 during a march against the Israeli occupation of Jerusalem.

Murdered this week By this weekend, Hammad was also dead, killed by the Nigerian military shortly after he arrived back in the country in a

she deserves to share the crown just because she was a victim of Harvey’s gaffe.

After all, Miss Philippines was a victim too, having the crowning moment of her life botched in this embarrassing fashion. Never mind that the media attention she’s getting today is easily the most she’ll get during her entire reign.

As for Miss Colombia, she should just wipe away her tears and move on to a career peddling her beauty. At the very least, this could include a stint as a lookalike or double for Sofía Vergara.

The resemblance, in looks and background, is simply uncanny!

Feminists gripe Frankly, the real story is the number of feminists who chimed in as much to condemn all beauty pageants as to pile on poor Steve Harvey. To them, I repeat this from a column I wrote in September 2011: “I’ve been trying for years, to no avail, to get my feminist friends to see the contradiction inherent in their opposition to beauty pageants. They continually insist that, like prostitution, these pageants degrade women

massacre of unarmed Shia Muslims that left his father with bullet wounds in both hands. The military claims the Sheikh’s followers were plotting to kill the army chief of staff when his motorcade was blocked by demonstrators. But, it was pure murder on a massive scale, with as many as 1,000 dead and two hundred bodies piled up at a morgue on the outskirts of town.

The military then bulldozed a Shia shrine and Sheikh Zakzaky’s home. One of the Sheikh’s followers, Bukhari Muhammed Bello Jega, wrote on his Facebook page that “the REAL BOKO HARAM is now on the loose” in form of the Nigerian army, “bombing buildings and killing innocent civilians.” Soon after posting that

and only reinforce traditional notions of male chauvinism.

“My more evolved and consistent view is that, like prostitution, beauty pageants reflect the choices feminists fought so hard for women to be free to make. This is why I see nothing wrong with fully liberated and intelligent women choosing to be prostitutes (whose profession should be decriminalized) or beauty queens. It is also why I accuse my feminist friends of enmessage, Mr. Bello Jega was also killed by soldiers, along with his wife and infant child.

It is not strange at all that the Nigerian military, which for years did little to halt the rise of Boko Haram terror, has unleashed a hell on earth for peaceful Shia Muslims. Saudi Arabia, the fountainhead of funding for jihadists all over the world, has just formed its own bizarre coalition against terror, made up of 34 nations from Pakistan to sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria and its West African neighbors Chad, Togo, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Gabon, Guinea, and the Ivory Coast.

Saudi terror, chaos For the Saudis to be leading a war against terror is like the pope leading a war against Catholicism. Everything the Saudis touch turns into terror and chaos. The Saudi brand of Wahhabist Islam calls for the eradication of Shia Muslims and secular governments worldwide – a cru-

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

Get at me at ccherry2@gmail. com, on Facebook, or on Twitter @ccherry2. Click on this story at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

RICK MCKEE, THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE

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.

As I rush on to my conclusion, I close with a quote from Vice President Joe Biden, one of my favorite people. He’s intimately familiar with grief and mourning, having buried his first wife and 13-month-old daughter decades ago in a tragic car accident, and earlier this year having to bury his well-accomplished and beloved son after a battle against brain cancer.

“There will come a day,” Vice President Biden often says, “when the thought of your son or daughter or your husband or wife brings a smile to your lips before it brings a tear to your eye. It will happen. My prayer for you,” he tells listeners, “is that for you, that day will come sooner or later….But I’m telling you it will come.”

My prayer, Mollie and family, is that sooner rather than later, thinking of “my brother at the bar” will bring a smile to your lips – as it always does for me – before it brings a tear to your eye.

May God bless you all.

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: THE GOP RACE

The Nigerian military and the real Boko Haram Hammad Ibrahim, a soft-spoken, intelligent young man, accompanied his father, Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky, the leader of Nigeria’s Shia Muslims, to a conference on Solidarity with Palestine in Beirut last week. I was there, along with other reporters and activists.

Young Hammad told our group that Boko Haram, the Nigerian jihadists, are terrorist thugs who get their weapons and money from both Nigerian and foreign donors just like the Islamic State, with which Boko Haram is aligned. Hammad’s father, Sheikh Zakzaky, is recognized as a force for reconciliation among the various religious and ethnic groups in Nigeria. But Zakzaky’s Shia followers have been target-

Smiles before tears

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

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gaging in an ironic form of paternalism by hurling indignation at women who make these choices.”

Congratulations, Miss Philippines!

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. Click on this story at www.flcourier.com to write your own response. sade that the United States finds convenient to its own imperial purposes.

When both Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton say that Arabs and Muslims must fight their own war against terror, they are actually endorsing Saudi Arabia’s leadership of the Muslim world and the spread of proxy jihadist armies throughout Africa and Asia.

West Africa is the next front in these jihadist wars, which have already claimed so many of Sheikh Zakzaky’s sons. The resulting chaos will be used to justify further U.S military penetration of the African continent, under the pretext of putting out the fires that they themselves have set.

Glen Ford is executive editor of BlackAgendaReport.com. Email him at Glen.Ford@BlackAgendaReport.com. Click on this story at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

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DECEMBER 25 – DECEMBER 31, 2015

Why are children less valuable than guns?

Three years after the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Newtown, Conn., where a lone 20-year-old gunman wielding an assault weapon snuffed out 26 child and teacher lives, our nation has done shamefully little to protect children instead of guns.

This week, more than 10,000 people attended more than 100 Orange Walks in 43 states to stand up and deliver a rallying cry that we must and can end gun violence in America, according to Moms Demand Action – a cry that must continue and get louder and louder until our tone-deaf political leaders hear or are retired from office.

A gun in the home

Thousands dead

and accidental death

New data this month from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show 2,525 children and teens died by gunfire in our nation in 2014; one child or teen death every 3 hours and 28 minutes, nearly 7 a day, 48 a week.

In the three years since Sandy Hook’s nightmare, we have not passed even one common-sense federal gun law to reduce gun violence and deaths and protect children from our out-of-control scourge of violence.

Universal background checks work. The evidence is clear. The overwhelming majority of gun owners and non-gun owners support stricter background checks, yet the Congress has done nothing.

How do we change this?

Seventy-eight children under 5 died by guns last year – 30 more than the 48 law enforcement officers killed by guns in the line of duty. Is there no shame in the shooters or in the lawmakers who protect the shooters or in the industry that makes profits off the blood of children?

Shouldn’t Republicans, Democrats, and Independents of every race, income, color and faith be able to agree that child gun deaths are a moral blight on our nation which we have the means but not the will to prevent and change course?

CDF began our antiviolence campaign in 1994 after Peter Hart Research Associates conducted intergenerational focus groups of Black youths and adults. We were shocked to learn their No.1 concern was gun violence: Black male youths didn’t believe they’d live to adulthood and Black parents saw gun violence as the n No.1 threat to their children.

MARIAN WRIGHT EDELMAN NNPA COLUMNIST

makes the likelihood of homicide three times higher, suicide three to five times higher, four times higher. For each time a gun in the home injures or kills in self-defense, there are 11 completed and attempted gun suicides, seven gun criminal assaults and homicides, and four unintentional shooting deaths or injuries.

Black, American Indian, and Alaska Native children and teens are disproportionately likely to die from a gun.

Then came Columbine. Two White teen boys wearing trench coats shot and killed 13 people and injured 21 others in a rampage at their school that shocked the nation. Shouldn’t it be illegal to sell and buy these weapons of war in America that turn our streets, schools, and workplaces into killing fields? Surely we are better than this.

Since 1963, over three times more children and teens have

Widespread fear The consequences of Islamophobia and anti-Arab sentiments have been dramatic, infecting the whole culture and all sectors of the population. Even in the African-American community’s antiMuslim sentiments are increasingly voiced. That’s particularly interesting, because until recently, African-Americans made up the largest and oldest Muslim population in the country.

There are comments about the “A-rabs” and Muslims exploit-

BLACK AGENDA REPORT

ing Black people. Some have even gone so far as to give support to the social discrimination and governmental monitoring of Muslims by state authorities.

Impacts Black Americans Individuals who hold those views don’t quite understand that calls for more monitoring, control and curtailment of the rights of Muslims are no more than the “niggerization” of these communities. What this means is that, if accepted and normalized, it only increases the certainty that repression in Black communities will continue to intensify as we are also increasingly identified as a “radicalized” internal enemy.

When Muslims and Arabs are dehumanized and reduced to a distorted figment of the national imagery, Guantanamo gulags, drone strikes, torture, mass surveillance, social exclusion and national destruction by the military apparatus and national security state are the appropriate and even expected responses demanded by the public to the Muslim ‘threat.’

That is why the hypocrisy of political leaders in the U.S. is so galling. The de-valuation of Arab and Muslim lives has been an operative principle of U.S. policies in the Middle East since it became the hegemonic power in the region.

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: FEDERAL RESERVE RAISES INTEREST RATE

Saturated with guns Children are certainly not the only ones in danger in our gunsaturated nation, which accounts for less than 5 percent of the global population, but owns between 35 to 50 percent of all civilian-owned guns in the world.

Recent estimates of U.S. civilian gun ownership are as high as 310 million – about one gun for each person. U.S. military and law enforcement agencies possess approximately 4 million guns. Isn’t there something horribly wrong with this picture?

A gun in the home makes the likelihood of homicide three times higher, suicide three to five times higher, and accidental death four times higher. For each time a gun in the home injures or kills in self-defense, there are 11 completed and attempted gun suicides, seven gun criminal assaults and homicides, and four unintentional shooting deaths or injuries. Black, American Indian, and Alaska Native children and teens are disproportionately likely to die from a gun.

These horrendous facts are not acts of God. They are our indefensible choices as Americans. We must urgently push policymakers to confront and end our national gun violence epidemic as the huge public health crisis it is.

Here are some steps we can all take now: • End the federal ban on gun research and fund research on effective gun violence prevention strategies. Why is the National Rifle Association (NRA) so afraid of the truth and why do our lawmakers and voters capitulate to NRA bullying?

Almost 20 years ago, Congress blocked the CDC’s gun research funding by 95 percent. The agency’s budget that year was cut by the exact amount provided the previous year to study prevention of gun injuries and fatalities.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) put similar restrictions on research in 2011.

Public health professionals continue to believe studying our epidemic gun violence crisis will lead to new understandings of its root causes and possible breakthroughs in new approaches to reduce the daily death toll caused by guns. This is the same process that occurred after focused re-

All the same AJAMU BARAKA

A5

died from guns in America than U.S. soldiers killed in action in wars abroad. Why is a child’s right to live less important than a gunman’s right to kill and the gun manufacturers’ profits?

Why Black America should stand with Muslims, Arabs It’s been a sad and pathetic spectacle: Muslim and Arab spokespersons summoned to examination by a new Christian inquisition. This time, however, the grand inquisitors are the members of the corporate media who force the beleaguered spokespersons to defend their communities, while simultaneously proclaiming their loyalty to the idea of “America.”

The inquisitors questioned them on their effort to stem the radicalization of members of their communities, and lecture them on the need for their communities to be even more submissive – even as their communities face escalating violence and police state intimidation.

The obvious contradiction between the supposed American values of tolerance, freedom of religion, individual rights and nondiscrimination and the demand that the spokespersons surrender those rights in order to prove loyalty is lost on the inquisitors and the audience who have come to expect members of minority communities to perform humiliating rituals for the psychological comfort of the majority.

EDITORIAL

There is not much space between Hillary Clinton’s joke about the murder of Muammar Gadhafi – “We came, we saw, he died” – which took place during a murderous NATO assault on Libya that killed tens of thousands; the positions of various governors on the issue of Syrian refugees; and even with Donald Trump’s latest proposal to temporarily ban Muslim immigration. Yet we are supposed to believe that these leaders are now outraged about Trump’s comments.

What African-Americans must remember is that before the post-9/11 criminalization of Arab and Muslim communities, the playbook for how to police and repress a captured community was written in our communities.

Before the registration of young Arab and Muslim students after 9/11, local police forces compiled massive biographical databases of young African-Americans as a means of monitoring so-called gangs and controlling crime. ‘Stop and Frisk,” mass incarceration, police executions, torture, governmental infiltration of our organizations, raids, house-to-house searches, were perfected and normalized in our communities.

We are next The systematic state terrorism being carried out in Muslim communities in France today under their state of emergency and the criminalization, social ostracism, violence and official discrimination directed at Muslims in the U.S. today will be most certainly directed at Black activists and our communities tomorrow when the state and public opinion turns against the latest expressions of

NATE BEELER, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

search on automobile deaths in the 20th century.

In 2013, President Obama signed an executive order clarifying that the CDC and NIH are not prohibited from studying gun violence and included $10 million in funding to study prevention of gun injuries and fatalities. Congress never approved that funding.

Over the years, some academic institutions and organizations have stepped in to fund some excellent research, but a much more coordinated and concentrated research effort is crucial to make gun violence reduction one of the first major public health goals of the 21st century. It is time to fire the NRA as our head of national security and of our national public health research agenda. Even former Representative Jay Dickey (R-Ark), author of the current language banning gun violence research, recently noted that “doing nothing is no longer an acceptable solution.”

• Continue to broaden the range of supporters for effective gun prevention action at the federal, state, and local levels. Transforming change is slow, hard, and requires dogged, sustained effort from a critical mass of determined citizens. We cannot stay numb, cowed or intimidated by bullies who value profits over human life.

Do not let your passion for stopping relentless gun violence wane, however long it takes.

Insist political leaders support common-sense universal background checks including checks on private and Internet sales. Restore the assault weapon ban and limit the size of ammunition clips.

Require that gun owners carry liability insurance. Promote the development of smart guns. Require guns be stored unloaded and locked in the home. Change the

fact that guns are only unregulated consumer product in America that kills tens of thousands of children and adults every year.

• Pledge to ASK about guns in the home where your children visit. Make clear that you will not let your child play in a house with unlocked guns just as you would not let your child ride in a car without a seatbelt. One in three homes with children in the United States has a gun. If you don’t own a gun, one of your child’s friends’ families likely does. It may be awkward to ask about guns in the home, but it may help save a child’s life.

More than 19 million parents and grandparents have taken the Asking Saves Kids (ASK) pledge promoted by the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence and the American Academy of Pediatrics to ask about guns in the homes where their children play.

Join them today http://askingsaveskids.org/content/pledge and promote this important message in your community and on social media.

• Divest in gun companies.

Let’s ask and check now to see whether our 401K retirement funds are invested in gun and ammunition companies and make a change if they are. Let’s ask if our religious, philanthropic, nonprofit organizations and universities with endowments are supporting gun violence through investments. Learn more. http://www. campaign2unload.org/.

In this season when Christians profess to believe God entered history as a poor child seeking peace in our world, let us protect children, not guns.

Black opposition popularly characterized as the Black Lives Matter movement.

That is the terrible reality that we know is coming our way. And those of us who will maintain an unrelenting critique of this sick society and the oppressive apparatus will be labeled as the “radicalizers” of this Black opposition.

What was once labeled as racist demagoguery in the short liberal post-war period has now been rehabilitated and given a new respectability in relationship to Muslims and Arabs. Since the attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, individual Muslims have been assaulted, mosques firebombed and threats sent to Muslim community and civic organizations with almost no coverage from the corporate press.

This lack of concern for the human rights of Arabs and Muslims reflects the fact that their lives, like the lives of Black people, don’t really matter. Is there any other way to explain the stilloverwhelming support for Israel, and the dismissal of Bernie Sanders’ commitment to continue Obama’s drone terror program, even though it is clear that thousands of non-White innocents have lost their lives as a result?

cific peoples can exist side-byside with the current practices of liberal democracy especially when the majority is unaware, silent or both. Like the Palestinians who reached out to the resisters in Ferguson to counsel them on how to deal with the Israeli-trained police forces, we can and should reach out to Arabs and Muslims in the U.S. to share with them our experiences surviving racial totalitarianism, so that we both can learn and survive together.

But collective self-interest is not the main motivation for why African-Americans should oppose the growing neo-fascist sentiments and legislative policies directed at Arabs and Muslims.

Face the facts

Marian Wright Edelman is founder and president of the Children’s Defense Fund (www. childrensdefense.org).

Our tradition Opposing efforts that expand the repressive power of the state and undermine the fundamental human rights of individuals and groups is consistent with our history and principles. This stance represents the foundational principles of the Black radical tradition. Opposition to all forms of individual and collective oppression is the mandatory call to action for this tradition and serves as the basis for attempting to establish relations of solidarity – even if that solidarity is not returned.

So in the face of the growing repression of this community, we must stand with our Arab and Muslim brothers and sisters. We know from our painful history that within the dark corners of the imagination of the racist settlercolonialist, Muslims are today’s Native “savages” and “rebellious niggers” that are both feared and hated as an existential threat.

We must have no illusions. The Arab that occupies the consciousness of Westerners as bloodthirsty, violent, irrational, with a strange sexist religion, is just the flip side of the racist colonialist coin in which global anti-Blackness is on the other. Both constructions make the Arab-Muslim and the Black “killable.” And when you are both Black and Muslim, it is a deadly combination that can end up in a situation that Iman Luqman Abdullah faced in Detroit when FBI agents Ajamu Baraka is a human murdered him. rights activist, organizer and geo-political analyst. Contact Work together him at www.AjamuBaraka.

Totalitarianism applied to spe- com.

NATION

TOJ A6

DECEMBER 25 – DECEMBER 31, 2015

Report: U.S. Senate’s top staff not very diverse Whites possess 276 of 297 positions that help shape issues

BY FREDERICK H. LOWE TRICE EDNEY NEWS WIRE

The U.S. Senate has been called the world’s greatest deliberative body, but it’s not very diverse and neither is its top senate staff when it comes to AfricanAmericans, according to a report published by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank for Black elected officials.

The 30-page study titled “Racial Diversity among Top Senate Staff,” reports that of the 336 top senate staffers — chiefs of staff, legislative directors and communications directors in the Washington, D.C., personnel office of U.S. Senators and staff directors assigned to committees — only three African-Americans hold any one of these

PETE MAROVICH/TNS

U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) hosts Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and former U.S. Senators Carol Moseley Braun (D-IL), Roland Burris (D-IL), and William “Mo” Cowan (D-MA) at an event discussing their personal journeys and the nation’s progress with America’s Black senators at the Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress in D.C. on Feb. 25, 2014.

336 top positions, only 0.8 percent, although Blacks comprise 13 percent of the U.S. population, according to the report.

Obama pardons 97 felons; most related to drug offenses TRICE EDNEY NEWS WIRE

caine, nine involved only methamphetamine, five involved only marijuana, and five others involved unspecified drugs.

Another two of the commutations were for nondrug-associated crimes: one involving armed bank robbery and another involving possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

The president also used his constitutional pow-

Christmas came early to 97 felons granted commutations and pardons by President Barack Obama on Dec. 18.

Most of the prisoners were behind bars for nonviolent drug-related offenses: at least 74 of the 95 commutations involved possession or distribution of either crack or co-

No legislative directors Spencer Overton, president of the Joint Center er to grant pardons to an Ohio physician convicted of counterfeiting in 2002 and a New Kent, Va., woman convicted of aiding and abetting bank fraud.

Third in a year The commutations were the third set Obama has given this year and the most awarded at one time.

In all, this administration has granted 184 commutations, which exceeds the total grants by the previous six presidents combined.

The commutations are part of the White House’s

for Political and Economic Studies, said U.S. Senate staff positions are key because they have role in shaping issues like federal clemency initiative – launched in 2014 – which reflects Obama’s commitment to criminal justice reform, including parity in sentencing.

Civil and human rights groups hailed the move.

“American presidents have had the power to show mercy since the founding of our Republic. President Obama is the first president in decades to use it as the founders intended,” said Julie Stewart, president and founder of Families Against Mandatory Minimums, in a state-

budgets, education, workforce, immigration, sentencing, federal confirmations and countless other matters.

The study reported there is one Black chief of staff, no legislative directors, one communications director out of 297 positions in the 114th Congress.

Whites control 276 of the 297 positions.

The study notes that African-Americans represent from 17 percent to almost 28 percent of the populations of Alabama, Delaware, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia yet Blacks hold only 1.7 percent of the top total staff positions in these states’ U.S. Senate offices.

Three Black senators Blacks hold one position in South Carolina, which has two Republican U.S. senators — Tim Scott and Lindsey Graham – the report said.

Incidentally, members of the U. S. Senate alment. “For that reason, we commend him for showing more mercy than his predecessors. But his work is not done…. Far too many others are still serving excessively long sentences that should be commuted as well.”

Sentencing reform sought Under the clemency initiative, qualified federal prisoners were encouraged to apply to have their sentences commuted. But of the 36,000 offenders that

so lack diversity. Currently the Senate has three Blacks out of 100 senators – more than ever before in history at any one time. Previously, there were six Black U. S. senators to have served; totaling only nine throughout history.

The report only focused on top Senate staff in Washington, D.C., although some senators employ Blacks as home-state directors.

A decade ago, Diversity Inc. declared the Senate the worst employer for diversity hiring, even worse than the nation’s 50 largest corporations.

The report’s author conducted a census of top staffers using a variety of methods, including LegiStorm, The Leadership Library, Twitter, Linkedin, YouTube, Wikipedia, Roll Call, The Hill, National Journal, wedding announcements and press interviews.

This story is special to the Trice Edney News Wire from NorthStarNewsToday.com. have applied, fewer than 200 have received clemency in the past two years, according to the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, which helped coordinate the efforts of attorneys who have been working pro bono to assist those prisoners.

The group is calling on the administration to intensify its efforts and is also charging Congress to play its part in reforming the nation’s racially unjust criminal justice system, including its archaic, counterproductive sentencing laws.

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Also excludes: athletic apparel, shoes & accessories; Dallas Cowboys merchandise, gift cards, Jack Spade, jewelry trunk shows, Kate Spade, Macy’s Backstage merchandise/ locations, New Era, Nike on Field, The North Face, previous purchases, Samsung watches, selected licensed depts., services, special orders, special purchases, Tumi. 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 & 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 & delivery fees.

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Museum to salute Black soldiers in Civil War See page B4

DECEMBER 25 – DECEMBER 31, 2015

SHARING BLACK LIFE, STATEWIDE

|

SECTION

B EXPLORE GAINESVILLE

SOUTH FLORIDA / TREASURE COAST AREA

Major honor for N.W.A. See page B3

WWW.FLCOURIER.COM

S

1

BEYOND THE CAMPUS LIFE The home of the Gators also is an idyllic place to commune with nature, soak up some culture.

F

Parks: • Canterbury Equestrian Showplace, 23100 W. Newberry Road, Newberry: This high-end equine training facility boasts a 2,000-seat arena and hosts frequent dressage shows throughout the year. Hours and admission vary.

Visit canterburyshowplace.com.

2

• Historic Haile Homestead, 8500 S.W. Archer Road, near Gainesville: Just a short drive southwest of Kanapaha Botanical Gardens, this stately but strange estate is a living chronicle of mid-1800s plantation life. For reasons unknown, the family of Thomas and Serena Haile kept a diary of sorts by writing on the walls of the house, leaving more than 12,000 words for modern visitors to explore. Tour hours: 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Saturday, noon-4 p.m. Sunday. Cost: $5 per person (cash or check only), ages 12 and younger free. Visit hailehomestead.org.

3

Path to beauty, butterflies Panoramic proof can be found just outside the city limits at Kanapaha Botanical Gardens (kanapaha.org), a 62-acre Eden on the shores of Lake Kanapaha. Admission ($8 adult or $4 ages 5-13) opens the gates to two distinct paths filled with Zen-inducing sights that include a butterfly garden and a scintillating yet serene walk through several towering species of bamboo — the largest such garden in Florida.

Sinkholes are a common Florida nuisance, but rarely do you find one as impressive as the main attraction at Devil’s Millhopper Geological State Park (devilsmillhopper.com) in northwest Gainesville. A wooden boardwalk winds its way to the bottom of a limestone sinkhole 120 feet deep, 500 feet wide and thousands of years old. Through the years, conditions in this national landmark have made it a picturesque home for a diverse network of plant life.

Admission is $4 per vehicle or $2 for pedestrians, and the park is open Wednesday-Sunday.

Those who like to commune with na-

1. A butterfly lands on a blossom as visitors observe the Butterfly Rainforest at the Florida Museum of Natural History on Nov. 9.

Population: According to 2014 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the population of Gainesville is 128,460.

Accommodations: Gainesville features a variety of hotels, from locally owned bed-and-breakfasts (mostly on the outskirts) to national chain hotels. The area is known for its robust campus life, music and visual arts scene and parks.

BY TOD CAVINESS ORLANDO SENTINEL (TNS)

rom the highway or the window seat of an airplane, it can be easy to dismiss Gainesville as a small but sprawling town with a very big college. On your way through the Alachua County seat, you’re likely to see more green than gray and not much skyline to speak of in the downtown area near the massive University of Florida.

So much the better. If you think a community is best enjoyed from a comfortable balcony, look elsewhere. With its breathtaking parks and a vibrant metropolitan scene, this North Florida jewel begs to be explored at ground level.

Situated just over 100 miles and less than two hours north of Orlando, the wider Alachua County area enjoys a prolonged, balmy springtime that fosters a wide array of deciduous trees. It’s easy to see why early American settlers touted the region as a health resort in the mid-1800s.

IF YOU GO

4 ture more actively are also in luck. Hikers or bikers can take their pick from one of many woodland trails, including three short but scenic lakeside paths at Newnan’s Lake Conservation Area or the Gainesville-Hawthorne State Trail, which starts a short drive east of the University of Florida (UF) campus and winds 16 miles through hills and around lakes to nearby Hawthorne.

Life near ‘The Swamp’ When you’ve had your fill of sweat, Gainesville’s already hip downtown district has become even cooler in recent years. It’s impossible to overstate how

2. The scene is quiet a few hours before kick off for the University of Florida vs. Florids State University game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville on Nov. 28.

large the University of Florida looms over the social scene here, both literally and figuratively.

In the shadow of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium (“The Swamp,” to loyal Gators football fans), a row of fraternity houses sets the tone along West University Avenue on the north end of the UF campus.

Give the sports bars a pass and keep walking east to Main Street to find a downtown filled with eclectic surprises, starting with The Top at 30 N. Main St. With ceramic oddities and old-school wrestling trading cards packed into every nook, the decor at this eatery is

3. A panoramic view of the University Avenue plaza in front of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium

See GAINESVILLE, Page B2

4. The Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art in Gainesville PHOTOS BY JOE BURBANK/ ORLANDO SENTINEL/TNS

• Morningside Nature Center and Living History Farm, 3540 E. University Ave., Gainesville: Just east of downtown, this park offers handson animal experiences, a wildflower walk and a taste of pioneer life at the re-created 1870 cabin of an Irish immigrant family. Hours: 8 a.m.-6 p.m. daily (November-April) or 8 a.m.-8 p.m. daily (MayOctober); Living History Farm open 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday year-round. Cost: Free. Visit cityofgainesvilleparks.org.

• Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park, 100 Savannah Blvd., near Micanopy: Just north of the charming town of Micanopy, this National Natural Landmark is a habitat to bison, wild horses and more than 250 species of birds. Take in the view from the visitor center’s 50-foot-high observation tower or explore the northern part of the park on the western half of the Gainesville-Hawthorne State Trail. Hours: 8 a.m.-sundown daily. Cost: $6 per vehicle (limit 2-8 people), $4 singleoccupant vehicle, $2 pedestrians or cyclists. Visit floridastateparks.org/ paynesprairie.

Call: 866-778-5002 (Alachua County Visitors & Convention Bureau) Online: visitgainesville.com

CALENDAR

B2

FLORIDA COMMUNITY CALENDAR Clearwater: Catch the Four Tops and the Temptations on Jan. 20 at Ruth Eckerd Hall.

The show starts at 7:30 p.m.

Hollywood: Kevin Hart’s What Now Tour makes a Dec. 26 stop at Hard Rock Live Hollywood. The show begins at 8 p.m.

Ponte Verde: Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue will be at the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall on Jan. 15 Shows also are Jan. 16 at The Vinoy in St. Petersburg and Jan. 17 at the Mizner Park Amphitheater in Boca Raton.

Jacksonville: Tickets are on sale to see Patti LaBelle on Jan. 28 at the Times Union Center for the Performing

DECEMBER 25 – DECEMBER 31, 2015

STOJ

Arts, Feb. 5 in Miami, Feb. 6 in Fort Pierce, Feb. 20 in Orlando, Feb. 21 in Tampa and Feb. 23 in Sarasota.

Tampa: Tickets are on sale for a concert by the Black Violin on Feb. 3 at the Straz Center.

Miami: Tickets are on sale for Katt Williams’ “Conspiracy Theory’’ show at the James L. Knight Center on Jan. 17, the USF Sun Dole in Tampa on Feb. 6 and the CFE Arena in Orlando on Feb. 19.

Jacksonville: Tickets are on sale now for Rihanna: Anti World Tour 2016. The singer also will make stops in March Miami and Tampa.

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.

AVERAGE WHITE BAND

JONATHAN BUTLER & ANGIE STONE

Jazz in the Gardens tickets are on sale.

The lineup for the March 18-20 event include Usher, Kool and the Gang along with the Average White Band.

You can catch the performers Jan. 16 (Butler) and Jan. 17 (Stone) at the Tampa Bay Black Heritage Festival & Music Fest at Curtis Hixon Park in downtown Tampa. More info: www.tampablackheritage.org.

FAMU grad first in family to graduate from high school, earn degrees SPECIAL TO THE COURIER

When Florida A&M University (FAMU) graduate student Riccardo Jean crossed the stage to receive his diploma earlier this month, it will add to a long list of firsts in his family.

Born to Haitian immigrants as the sixth of seven children, Jean was not only a first generation college student but also the first person in his family to receive a high school diploma.

Growing up, Jean’s family relocated several times before settling in Jacksonville, where his mother worked Riccardo as a nanny and his father Jean as a grocer. Though his parents had a limited education, Jean said they worked tirelessly to ensure that he was able to attain the academic success they had only dreamed of for themselves.

“It really is like the American dream story for immigrant families,” Jean said. “Now that I’m older, I truly understand the value of everything they did for me, so getting these degrees is just a return on the investment they made in my future. ”

Next: An MD After earning his bachelor’s degree in 2011 from FAMU, Jean enlisted in the U.S. Army, where he said he gained the focus and maturity that led him to pursue his master’s degree. Upon completion of basic training, he returned to FAMU to obtain his graduate degree in molecular cell biology.

“When they brought me here to the Unit-

GAINESVILLE from Page 1

pushing the saturation point for maximum kitsch. Luckily, the menu of jazzedup American favorites and craft cocktails is much more carefully calibrated.

For somewhat more traditional fare in the downtown area, loosen your belt for a wood-grilled, 20-ounce rib-eye at Ember’s (embersofflorida.com). And the housemade, organic pastries make Vine Bread & Pasta (vinegainesville.com) a scrumptious spot to linger for breakfast or lunch.

From soul to goth There are just as many flavors — if not more — in the downtown Gainesville nightlife. Lest we forget, this was the town that gave us bands such as Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, ska stalwarts Less Than Jake and most recently, the ethereal indie foursome Hundred Waters.

Catch the next wave of musical exports at High Dive (highdivegainesville.com, formerly Common Grounds) or the Atlantic (theatlanticgainesville.com), which also hosts dance parties in every genre from soul to goth just across the street from The Top. There’s also a willing collegiate audience for craft beer. You can find brews from Swamp Head Brewery (swamphead. com) on tap at nearly every bar in town, but don’t let that stop you from visiting the welcoming brewery and taproom in southwest Gainesville. A bit closer to downtown is First Magnitude Brewing Co. (fmbrewing.com), a promising newcomer whose taproom is a frequent stop for several area food trucks.

Cocktails? The hard stuff goes down smooth at the small but funky Dime on University Avenue or the dark and velvety 2nd Street Speakeasy (2ndstreetspeakeasy.com), two notable cocktail bars. And the name says it all at Whiskey House (whiskeyhouse.com), a knowledgeable but unpretentious joint that caters to whiskey snobs and weekend warriors alike.

Culture awaits Gainesville’s culture is no less alive dur-

ed States, there was only one thing I had to do, and that was focus on school and further my education,” Jean said. “I’m really trying to make them proud and get another degree after this one.”

Jean said this was just another stepping stone to help him reach his ultimate goal of becoming a medical doctor.

Helping others With two and a half years of ROTC and basic training under his belt, Jean is preparing to commission into the U.S. Army as an officer. He will then go to branch school, and from there he plans to attend medical school.

Reflecting on his time as an undergraduate student, Jean said he faced most challenges because he did not have someone in his family who could relate to what he was going through as a student. He now dedicates much of his free time to mentoring young people who may find themselves in the same predicament.

New family standard As a member of the Upsilon Psi Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, he has mentored high school students who have gone on to enroll in college. When speaking with future first-generation college students, Jean said he encourages them to leave a new legacy of education in their families.

“It’s about being better, making a difference, and making an impact on the people around you,” Jean said. “When I get older and have children, they now have that standard, and I know that’s all my parents have ever wanted. They needed me to set that new standard in our family, and I believe I have.” ing the daylight hours. Art mavens won’t even need to leave their car to sample one of the city’s most well-known guerrilla galleries: the 34th Street Wall. This stretch of concrete just south of Southwest Second Avenue serves as a colorful public diary, chronicling tributes to fallen students, marriage proposals and art from the political to the whimsical in a patchwork of constantly changing graffiti.

For a double dose of more official (and air-conditioned) culture, spend an afternoon at UF’s Cultural Plaza. There you’ll find works by painter Claude Monet and photographer Jerry Uelsmann in the permanent collection at the Harn Museum of Art, or massive megalodon shark fossils and a walk-through limestone cave at the Florida Museum of Natural History. Admission is free at both, though special exhibits are extra at the Florida Museum of Natural History.

Toward sunset, the Hippodrome Theatre (thehipp.org) has the rest of the arts agenda covered. From the outside, the former post office and courthouse is a stately example of early-20th century architecture.

Inside, critically acclaimed films are on show when the house theater company isn’t mounting professional productions on the main stage. Surrounded by several of the aforementioned eateries and bars, a show at The Hipp (as it is locally known) is a great way to start the night.

Rural treasures Downtown Gainesville may be the undisputed cultural hub in the city proper, but the larger Alachua County area holds many rural treasures worth the drive. The pioneer-era Dudley Farm Historic State Park in nearby Newberry is the perfect tonic for the rat-race blues just a few miles west of the city.

To the southeast, Cross Creek is the former home of “The Yearling” author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, whose longtime estate is preserved at the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park.

Take a weekend to explore Gainesville, but don’t be surprised if you find yourself lingering. Whether you’re getting lost among the trees or the townies, this is one college town with an ample supply of extracurricular activities.

The Gamma Eta Sigma Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity collected toys for local children.

Sigmas in Tampa celebrate Christmas, prepare for Blue Tie Affair in March Members of the Gamma Eta Sigma Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity and their guests enjoyed a night of good food, dancing and impromptu strolling at their annual Christmas gathering in Tampa on Dec. 12.

As part of the celebration, brothers brought new, unwrapped toys to donate to the Marine Corps Toys for Tots program.

As part of its 70th year celebration, the

chapter will host its Annual Blue Tie Affair on Saturday, March 19. International President Jonathon A. Mason will be the keynote speaker. The Tampa chapter was founded in November 1946.

For more information, visit www.tampasigmas.com or send email to info@tampasigmas.com.

ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE FOR BLACK STUDENTS. NO EXCUSES. The classic guide from Florida Courier publisher, lawyer and broadcaster CHARLES W. CHERRY II 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!

• 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

DECEMBER 25 – DECEMBER 31, 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 recently.

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

PHOTOS BY CHARLES W. CHERRY II / FLORIDA COURIER

N.W.A. finally makes it into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

BY RANDY LEWIS LOS ANGELES TIMES (TNS)

N.W.A (Niggaz Wit Attitudes) has followed the success of “Straight Outta Compton” straight into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

After being passed over three times, the influential Compton rap group rode a wave of critical and popular acclaim generated by its hit biopic this year to finally win over Rock Hall voters, who also included Cheap Trick, Chicago, Deep Purple and Steve Miller in its 2016 class.

The induction of the latter four bands is a victory for classic rock fans, who have generated the most complaints about the Rock Hall’s exclusion of popular but not always critically acclaimed performers.

Not coincidentally, three of the inductees — Chicago, Deep Purple and Miller — finished in the top five in fan voting. Although that amounted to contributing only a single vote for each of the five most popular acts, it indicates to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame voters which acts are favored by fans.

No to Yes Chicago was the top choice among the fans, collecting more

than 37 million votes and registering more than 23 percent of ballots cast by the general public. However, fan voting was not enough to sway voters toward the prog-rock band Yes, which was second with 26.1 million votes (16.2 percent), followed by the Cars, who were also shut out despite collecting 26 million votes (16.1 percent).

They were followed by inductees Deep Purple with 25.54 million votes (15.9 percent) and Miller, who collected 25.51 million votes (15.9 percent).

N.W.A, by comparison, collected about 674,000 votes, or just 0.42 percent.

The fan vote is added to the deciding votes by those cast by 800-plus Rock Hall voters, some of whom have complained privately in recent years that the hall’s leadership is catering increasingly to popular sentiment because the physical museum needs a steady stream of visitors to remain financially healthy.

Celebs passed over Besides Yes and the Cars, the acts that made the final ballot but did not make the cut included Janet Jackson, the Spinners, Chaka Khan, the J.B.’s (James Brown’s backing band), Nine Inch Nails, the Smiths and Los Lobos. The

Above are members of N.W.A. – Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, DJ Yella and MC Ren. Eazy-E died in 1995. influential disco band Chic, fronted by Nile Rodgers, also failed to earn enough votes despite its 10th nomination.

Although the official criteria for induction is an artist’s influence upon the art and craft of popular music — not sales — the Hall in recent years has increasingly found room for fan favor-

ites that had been passed over by Hall voters.

Chicago, for instance, became eligible for induction in 1994 — under the Hall’s requirement that 25 years have elapsed since the release of an act’s first recording — but made the nomination list for the first time this year.

Inductees will be recognized at

Odom is Google’s top name search of 2015

Filming underway for Tupac biopic

BLACKAMERICAWEB.COM

THE ROOT

As Lamar Odom continues his road to recovery, the public has remained intensely curious about his well-being.

More than two months after he collapsed at a Nevada brothel, Odom’s name has been announced as the top Google search of 2015.

This comes as E! reports that the NBA champion is still “struggling” and unable to walk on his own.

The annual list, which gives us an idea of which topics users were most interested in during the year, rounds out the top five with “Jurassic World,’’ “American Sniper,’’ Caitlyn Jenner, and Ronda Rousey.

KRISTA KENNELL/ABACA PRESS/TNS Other popular search terms of 2015 are: Lamar Odom and Khloe Kardashian are “Jurassic World,’’ “American Sniper,’’ Caitlyn shown at the 19th Annual Race to Erase MS Jenner, Ronda Rousey, Paris, Agario, Chris Kyle, Fallout 4, and “Straight Outta Compton.’’ in 2012.

It’s been a long time in the making, but the Tupac Shakur biopic has started filming in Atlanta. “All Eyez on Me,’’ directed by Benny Boom, stars newcomer Demetrius Shipp Jr. as Tupac.

Morgan Creek Productions helped open auditions for the role, and producer L.T. Hutton asked Shipp to take on the lead part because of his uncanny resemblance to the rapper. According to TMZ, Shipp started taking acting classes four days a week to prepare for the role.

Joining Shipp in the biopic is an actor who’s quite familiar with playing a rapper. Jamal Woodard played Biggie Smalls in the biopic “Notori-

the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s annual induction ceremony, which is scheduled for April 8 at the Barclays Center in New York.

The ceremony rotates on a threeyear cycle between the Hall of Fame’s physical home in Cleveland and venues in New York and Los Angeles.

Demetrius Shipp, seated, is shown on the set of “All Eyez on Me.’’ ous’’ and will reprise his role in “All Eyez on Me.’’ The cast also includes Kat Graham as Jada Pinkett Smith, as well as Hill Harper.

The movie is scheduled to be released sometime in 2016.

B4

HISTORY

DECEMBER 25 – DECEMBER 31, 2015

STOJ

Civil War museum to tell story of Black soldiers Stone Mountain project focuses on role of AfricanAmericans in Confederate and Union armies

was too late.

After Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863, some 200,000 Blacks — 90 percent of them former slaves from Confederate states — had already turned the tide of the war by taking up arms for the Union.

The Confederates “did set up recruiting stations in Columbus and Macon and some Blacks were mustered in, but they never served,” Thurmond said. “The war ended before they could be deployed. It was over and there is no record of this.

No official records show Black soldiers in the Confederacy.”

BY ERNIE SUGGS ATLANTA JOURNAL – CONSTITUTION (TNS)

ATLANTA — In the months following the end of the Civil War, two units of Black Union soldiers were assigned to the burned-out husk of Atlanta to keep the strained peace.

Former slaves who had toiled in nearby fields, and who were perhaps bought and sold on the slave market at what is currently the site of a commuter train station, now carried guns and wore the blue suits with shiny brass buttons of the victorious United States Army.

Several miles away, “Ten Cent” Bill Yopp was trying to find his footing. Born a slave, he spent the war as a Confederate drummer, shining boots for a dime and tending to the wounds of his master, Capt. Thomas McCall Yopp.

After the war, “Ten Cent” raised money for Confederate veterans and stayed by his former master’s side as he lived out his final years in the Confederate Soldiers’ Home in Atlanta. When he died in 1933, “Ten Cent” became the first and only African-American to lie in the Confederate Cemetery in Marietta.

These are stories that will be sifted through as officials at Stone Mountain begin work on one of their most ambitious projects ever — creating a permanent museum exhibit about the role of Blacks in the Civil War.

Fort Wagner battle

PHOTOS COURTESY OF LIBRARY OF CONGRESS/TNS

Sergeant A.M. Chandler of the 44th Mississippi Infantry Regiment, Co. F., and Silas Chandler, are shown with family slave, with Bowie knives, revolvers, pepper-box, shotgun and canteen. war started, both sides prohibited Blacks from serving, which prompted President Abraham Lincoln to call it “a White man’s war.”

Gen. Robert E. Lee, whose image is carved on Stone Mountain, was actually in support of arming slaves in exchange for their freedom after the war. But the Confederate government, at the urging of its president, Jefferson Davis, who is also carved on Stone Mountain, voted it down.

“By November of 1864, the Confederacy was faced with the decision. ‘Do we want to win the war or protect slavery,’” Thurmond said. “They picked slavery.”

It wasn’t until April 1865 that the Confederate Congress voted to arm Blacks. It

A local priority Last month, the board of the Stone Mountain Memorial Association voted unanimously to move forward on the planning of the project.

“I think it is a great idea,” said board chairwoman Carolyn Meadows. “We thought that it was appropriate to honor AfricanAmericans who fought, regardless of which side they were on.”

Stone Mountain is one of Georgia’s leading tourist attractions, getting about 4 million visitors a year.

Moving forward on a proposed museum meant slowing down a bigger plan to diversify the Stone Mountain story by building a memorial to Martin Luther King Jr. on top of the mountain, mere feet away from where the Ku Klux Klan re-established itself a century ago on Nov. 25, 1915.

Stone Mountain Memorial Association CEO Bill Stephens said the museum is now the priority. If it is indeed built, it would be only the second museum of its kind in the United States.

Never enough In 2000, Frank Smith, a Newnan native and a longtime Washington, D.C., city councilman, opened the African American Civil War Memorial and Museum near Howard University, attracting about 150,000 people annually.

“I challenge my museum friends in Atlanta to get the story straight,” Smith said.

“But I welcome them. We are underrepresented in the museum arena. You can never have enough museums telling our stories.”

Which stories to tell will be the challenge for the museum’s curators. As convoluted as Civil War history can be, the story of the Black soldier is even more complicated.

Take this argument from several weeks ago: A group of Confederate flag supporters marched on Stone Mountain to protest plans for the King memorial, arguing that because the civil rights leader had no involvement in the Civil War, he had no place on Stone

This “Make way for liberty!” card shows an AfricanAmerican Union soldier bayonetting a Confederate soldier.

Mountain, which is a Confederate memorial.

Instead, they said, they would support a monument for a Black Confederate soldier.

But they couldn’t name one. And for good reason.

There were none.

counter that by looking for their own Confederate soldiers,” Levin said. “If you can find Black men, you can defuse the talk of emancipation. … It is a myth that lives on the Internet, but there is no reputable scholar who supports this myth.”

No documentation

Servants, not soldiers

According to service records kept by the National Park Service, of the 209,145 Black soldiers listed as having served in the Civil War, 209,145 fought for the Union.

Despite arguments to the contrary, there is no documented evidence that Blacks — former slaves — fought on the side of the Confederacy.

Boston-based historian Kevin Levin said he has been working on his upcoming book, “Searching for Black Confederate Soldiers,” for eight years and has yet to find one.

After the Civil War “it would have been hard for any Confederate to acknowledge knowing or seeing any Black soldiers,” Levin said. “The myth of the Black Confederate soldier is a recent myth that started in the late 1970s.”

Fueled by ‘Glory’ At that time, as America was coming out of Vietnam and the end of the Civil War was more than a century removed, memories of it began to shift toward an increased interest in emancipation and the service of Blacks in the Union.

That interest intensified in 1989 when the movie “Glory,” based on the book “One Gallant Rush: Robert Gould Shaw and His Brave Black Regiment,” was released, telling the story of the first all-Black regiment in the Union Army, the 54th Massachusetts Regiment.

“So there was a push to

Several Confederacythemed websites report that there were indeed Blacks who voluntarily fought for the South, including “Ten Cent” Bill Yopp.

But the true story of “Ten Cent” — who Levin said is on a short list of former servants who have been transformed into loyal Confederates — is more in line with what the Black role was for the Confederacy.

“The Confederate government used slaves to free up as many White men to fight on the lines,” Levin said. “Many of these (Black) men were in uniform, so when you see photos many confuse them as evidence that they were soldiers. But they were not.”

Historian Michael Thurmond said as many as 1 million slaves worked in some way for the Confederacy, “working in the back as cooks, digging trenches, making uniforms and supporting troops.”

“But that didn’t make them Confederate soldiers.

It made them slaves serving their masters,” said Thurmond, Georgia’s former labor secretary and DeKalb County’s former interim schools superintendent.

“A soldier is someone who volunteers. A slave cannot volunteer. … The Confederacy did not want to arm slaves,” Thurmond said.

‘White man’s war’ Neither did the Union, at least early on. When the

The record is clearer on the North. With the Emancipation Proclamation, former and runaway slaves flooded the North.

By March of 1863, the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment had been established.

Their most famous battle occurred on July 18, 1863, when the regiment led the assault on Fort Wagner near Charleston, S.C. Of the 600 men who charged the fort, 272 were killed, wounded or captured, the highest number of casualties the 54th took in a single engagement.

“It is generally thought that Lincoln gave them freedom, but they earned it,” Thurmond said of former slaves.

After the war on July 15, 1865, two units of the United States Colored Infantry were formed in Atlanta: the 136th Regiment and the 138th Regiment.

“When (Gen. William T.) Sherman is going through the South, as he took these territories, he had to leave some soldiers on the ground to occupy, patrol and do law and order,” said

Smith, who opened the African American Civil War Museum in Washington.

“So they recruited these two regiments down in Atlanta.”

Smith said 3,486 men, most of whom were Georgians, were recruited into the two regiments.

Both units were mustered out of Atlanta in early 1866.

Locals, still loyal to the Confederacy, were not pleased by the sight of Blacks in blue uniforms.

2016 completion goal Thurmond, in his book “Freedom: Georgia’s Antislavery Heritage 17331865,” wrote about that tension, based on accounts and diaries: “Garrisons where colored troops were established were centers for disturbance. Hotheaded young Southern men would not brook for the lording insolence of blacks in brass buttons. And Negro soldiers everywhere had a bad influence on the freedmen of the neighborhood, encouraging them to idleness and arousing in them a feeling of distrust or hostility to their white employers.”

It’s all rich material to sort through for the Stone Mountain museum project.

Stephens, the Stone Mountain Memorial Association CEO, said he will spend the next few months talking to opinion leaders and getting legal and financial evaluations on how to make the museum a reality.

The goal is to have something in place by 2016.

“I hope it tells the story of how the Civil War impacted everybody, Black and White, North and South,” Stephens said. “And hopefully, people can learn something new.”

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STOJ

DECEMBER 25 – DECEMBER 31, 2015

FITNESS

B5

FROM FAMILY FEATURES

If getting a fresh start on a new year seems daunting, try tackling your get-healthy goals one step at a time. There is no easy path to transforming your lifestyle, but this is one time you should be able to see the results of your hard work.

To avoid feeling overwhelmed, tackle your new lifestyle a little at a time. Gradually incorporate smarter eating hab­its, such as switching out high-calorie beverages with lower-calorie, nutrient-rich replacements. Then, as you ease into a new exercise regimen, look for ways to get an extra boost with workout equipment that isn’t overly taxing on your joints and muscles, and get a leg up on the competition with proper footwear and workout supplements.

Slow and steady wins this race, so set yourself up for success in the new year with these ideas to put you one step closer to the healthy lifestyle you envision.

Supplement your goals When diet and exercise alone aren’t enough, supplements such as protein and fish oil, can be effective in helping you achieve your New Year’s res­olution. Whether you want to lose weight or gain muscle mass, there is a supplement out there to aid you in your pursuit of a toned body.

These supplements, which should be approved by your health care provider before use, are available at local retailers such as grocery stores, phar­macies and specialty health and wellness stores.

All you have to do is walk Step into a healthy New Year with the Bowflex TreadClimber TC200. Combining the motions of a treadmill, stepper and elliptical, this premier walking machine is easy on the joints and burns up to 2.5 times the calories of a treadmill. Ideal for home use, the TC200 features an interactive LCD display that ani­mates your progress. Bluetooth connectivity allows users to share data with the free TreadClimber app, which automatically syncs with MyFitnessPal, Apple Health Kit, Google Fit, Under Armour Record and Bowflex Connect.

A delicious, convenient non-dairy alternative Leading a healthy lifestyle doesn’t mean sacrificing taste for convenience. Shelf-Stable Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze Almondmilk is smooth, creamy and made with California Blue Diamond almonds. It’s ideal for smaller households because it’s easily stored in your pantry until you’re ready to use it. Available in a 4-cup container, it’s also perfect for cooking.

You can pour it over cereal, create refresh­ing smoothies or drink it as a standalone beverage.

Learn more at almondbreeze.com.

TIPS FOR A HEALTHIER LIFESTYLE Getting in shape and leading a healthy lifestyle doesn’t happen overnight, it takes time, but these simple tips can help put you on the right path: • Be patient. Starting a new fitness regime can be a chal­lenge. There will be ups and downs, but remaining committed is key.

• Exercise on a regular basis. Regular physical activity not only helps you look and feel better, it can improve mood, increase quality of sleep and help you manage weight.

• Undergo an annual physical. To be sure your body is running smoothly, have your numbers, including blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol and weight, checked regularly.

• Drink lots of water. Experts recommend 64 ounces of water a day to help replenish what you’ve lost throughout the day.

• Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables. Both fruits and veggies are loaded with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, which help protect against chronic diseases.

• Go through your cabinets. Get rid of foods that are high in sodium, fat or sugar and look for low sodium, fat or sugar items instead.

The right shoes can make all the difference If your workout routine involves running, walking, sports or other gym equipment, the right footwear is a must.

Injury caused by wearing inap­propriate shoes can derail your fitness or weight loss goals, but investing in a proper shoe can help prevent foot and ankle damage while also allowing for a more comfortable workout. No matter your pursuit, there is a shoe that fits the need, including running shoes with built-in shock absorbers, lightweight walking shoes, thick-soled high top basket­ball shoes or cross-training shoes, which can be utilized during a variety of workouts.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF GETTY IMAGES

B6

FOOD

DECEMBER 25 – DECEMBER 31, 2015

TOJ

FROM FAMILY FEATURES

With so many social events that revolve around food, it’s not easy to get a fresh start on making healthy food choices. However, with a little thought and plan­ning, you can prevent taking your body on a roller coaster ride – without having to choose between food deprivation and satisfaction.

“Whether you are hosting an event or attending someone else’s celebration, planning ahead can help you stay on track,” said Mitzi Dulan, a registered diet­itian and nationally recognized nutrition and wellness expert. “Having quick and simple strategies and rec­ipes on hand makes it easy to eat well and keep you feeling great.”

Put a winning plan in place to take a new look at your approach to eating smart with these tips from Dulan, who is the team nutritionist for the World Series champion Kansas City Royals.

Don’t skip meals.

Although skipping breakfast may seem like a good way to cut calories, it’s a plan that can actually backfire, making you hun­grier as the day wears on, and more likely to overeat or sneak unhealthy snacks. Start each day with a well-rounded breakfast to fuel your body. Apply a similar approach to events later in the day, as well. You may be tempted to skip a meal so you can enjoy the treats at a party, but chances are you’ll end up overdoing it with highcalorie indulgences, so make sure you fuel up ahead of time.

Love what you eat.

Be mindful of the food you eat and make every bite count. Enjoying each delicious taste will make it easier to stick to a sensible eating plan.

For the foods you do love, look for ways to make them better – better for you, that is. For example, if pizza is your weak spot, substitute a lowercalorie crust, such as Flatout Flatbread. Then choose toppings wisely to amp up the flavor while managing added fat and calories.

Eat smaller portions.

When you simply must indulge, you may be surprised to hear “go ahead,” but to do so in moderation. One clever way to keep your portions small: use a tablespoon, not a serving spoon to dish out portions. Then eat slowly so your body has time to tell your brain you’re full.

THIN CRUST PEPPERONI PIZZA 1 Flatout Flatbread Artisan Thin Pizza Crust 1/4 cup chunky red sauce 3 slices provolone cheese 1/4 cup mozzarella, shredded 30 pepperoni mini slices Heat oven or grill to 375 F. Place flatbread on cookie sheet. Bake 2 minutes. Remove from oven.

Spread sauce on flatbread. Lay provolone on top of sauce. Top with mozzarella and pepperoni. Return to oven and bake 4 more minutes, or until cheese melts.

Grilling method: Heat grill to 375 F. Pre-bake flatbread on grill for 2 minutes. Remove from grill. Spread sauce on flat­bread. Lay provolone on top of sauce. Top with mozzarella and pepperoni. Return flatbread to grill. Close lid. Grill for 4 minutes, or until cheese melts.

Get your fill in healthy ways.

Overeating often comes down to a very basic cause: hunger. Becoming more conscious of how you answer your hunger will help you stay on track. Drinking water before and during events will help to fill you up so you are less likely to con­sume excess calories. Snacking throughout the day can also help keep hunger at bay; several small, healthy snacks, such as a handful of nuts or trail mix, can help keep you feeling full. Also, remember to stop eating when you feel satisfied, but before you feel full.

THIN CRUST EGG, SAUSAGE AND PEPPER BREAKFAST PIZZA 1 Flatout Flatbread Artisan Thin Pizza Crust 1/2 cup cheddar cheese 2 eggs, lightly scrambled 3 ounces sausage, cooked and crumbled 2 ounces yellow peppers, diced 2ounces red peppers, diced Heat oven to 375 F. Place flatbread on cookie sheet. Bake for 2 minutes. Remove from oven. Top flatbread with cheese, scrambled egg, sausage and peppers. Return to oven and bake 4 more minutes, or until cheese melts.

Grilling method: Heat grill to 375 F. Prebake flatbread on grill for 1-2 minutes.

Remove from grill. Top flatbread with cheese, scrambled egg, sausage and peppers. Return to grill. Close lid. Grill 4 more minutes, or until cheese melts.

ARUGULA MUSHROOM FLATBREAD PIZZA 1 Flatout Flatbread 1/2 cup mushrooms, cooked 1/2 cup arugula 6 grape tomatoes 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese, grated 1 1/2 teaspoons fat-free balsamic vinegar Heat grill or oven to 375 F. Pre-bake flatbread for 2 minutes. Remove.

Warm mushrooms in microwave or pan. Top flatbread with arugula, tomatoes and mushrooms. Sprinkle with cheese and drizzle with balsamic vinegar. Cut into slices.

BARBECUE CHICKEN FLATBREAD PIZZA Recipe created by Mitzi Dulan, RD non-stick baking spray 2 Flatout Flatbreads 1/2 cup barbecue sauce 1/3 cup cheddar cheese, shredded 1/3 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded 6 ounces grilled chicken breast, torn into pieces 1 tablespoon red onion, diced 1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped Heat oven to 400 F. Spray large baking sheet with non-stick baking spray. Place flatbreads on baking sheet. On each flatbread, evenly spread 2 tablespoons barbecue sauce.

Sprinkle both cheeses over flatbreads. Mix remaining barbe­cue sauce with grilled chicken and place on pizzas. Top with diced onion. Bake 5 minutes. Sprinkle cilantro on top and serve.