Garland Journal 4-20-23

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SERVING NORTH EAST TEXAS

Republicans Feeling Heat in Tennessee as Ousted Legislators return

By Cheryl Smith Publisher

Because it is what it is!

For those who subscribe to Texas Metro News, the goal of the I Messenger Media team is to provide you with up-to-themoment accurate and reliable information; while also providing news, entertainment and commentary.

We’re working tirelessly to provide you with the Black Experience, in America and around the world.

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA

Ousted Tennessee Democratic State legislators Justin Jones and Justin Pearson have gained international acclaim following their expulsion from the Tennessee House, recently.

The expulsion of the two Democrats, who vociferously called on their colleagues to act on gun control after the latest school shooting in Nashville that claimed the lives of three elementary school students and three adults.

Both Jones and Pearson were returned to the Legislature, by Nashville’s metro council plans and Shelby County commission, respectively.

The backlash has been palpable, and even some Republicans have expressed regret for the actions of party members and House Speaker Cameron Sexton, who led the vote to oust Jones and Pearson.

swing districts in the State House and Senate, and if you’ve angered tens of thousands of students and presumably their parents, you could theoretically expose yourself to a united front,” Brock demanded.

Chuck D’s New Culture Media App Brings the Noise for Users

national Republican party.”

Phyllis Qualls, who’s covering the proceedings for the Tennessee Tribune, said the G.O.P. leadership miscalculated in expelling Jones and Pearson.

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Correspondent

We actually have team members on two other continents and believe me, they’re working to ensure that we are inclusive and enlightening, as well.

And yes, we do it for the culture.

Which brings me to my truth.

We’ve heard so many discussions about Critical Race Theory. We’ve also heard about the theory of erasing. That’s right, just make things disappear like they never occurred or reframe the narrative. Actually, let’s be frank.

To LIE!

I heard Rev. Al Sharpton say the hardest eulogy to perform is the one of someone who hasn’t done anything with their lives because you have to hallucinate.

Sadly, there are too many who don’t put to use the blessings they were gifted from the moment they took their first breath; however there are so many who have made significant contributions that they weren’t aware they were making. It is imperative that historians reflect so it’ll be “the good, the bad, the beautiful and the ugly.”

That is also our job, our mission, as journalists.

Ethically speaking, it would seem that erasing, rewriting, or even hallucinating is morally wrong.

I have to believe that my ethics professor and thendean of the Florida A&M University School of Journalism would have to agree with me!

Dean Robert Ruggles, can you hear me?

I know he knows that I got the message because he taught it to me twice!

And on college campuses, it has been one of my favorite courses to teach because everyone should want to learn about doing the right thing and I sure know how to live it and teach it!

“If my job, along with other members of the R.N.C., is to protect the brand of the Republican Party, this didn’t help,” Oscar Brock, a Republican National Committeeman from Tennessee, told the New York Times. “You’ve energized young voters against us. Worse than squandering support, you’ve made enemies where we didn’t need them.”

He continued:

“Even in Tennessee, we have

Rev. Mark Thompson, the host of Make it Plain and an NNPA contributor, returned to Tennessee on Monday for the vote to reseat Jones, his longtime friend.

Thompson noted that most, if not all, flights to Nashville had been sold out, signaling the large demonstrations ahead.

“This isn’t going away,” Thompson asserted.

“This is a movement. This is going to build and grow. You can’t do this, it’s not sustainable. I’m not sure that if the two Justins are re-seated the movement will stop. This is bad for the

“Republicans had no vision as to the aftermath of what they can do,” Qualls said. “Mom has always said, ‘what’s done in the dark will come out in the light.’ The Republicans took a major issue like gun control and reduced it to decorum. It’s almost like children in the car complaining that ‘Mom, he’s looking at me.’ The crimes don’t equate, and to do this during holy week, you crucified these men, and they are rising to a level that nobody expected. They have become leaders of the gun control issue, and it was the Republicans who caused that.”

MAMA LAVERNE Serving Up a Legacy of Love with Her Chicken and Waffle Mix

By Sylvia Dunnavant

According to most soulful historians, a meal of chicken and waffles began in Harlem in the 1930s, at the famous Wells Supper Club. This classic meal, which is a cross between breakfast and dinner, became a favorite of jazz musicians after they finished their late-night sessions.

Today, this dish, which is labeled as southern cuisine, is served in restaurants from Louisiana to Los Angeles and Nebraska to New York. It is eaten for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and Sunday brunch across the country.

“For me, my mama’s famous

recipe for chicken and waffles comes from a rich family tradition that started after church at my grandmother’s house with soul food Sundays,” said Don-

na Richardson, who has been known for the last three decades as a fitness guru. “Basically, ev-

CAREER SUCCESS

Roland Parrish Career Planning & Development Center at Fisk

By Earnestine Cole

Nashville, TN— When the doors open on the Roland Parrish Career Planning & Development Center Saturday, April 22, 2023, it will be a historic moment on the Fisk University campus.

The Ribbon Cutting Ceremony and Grand Opening of the first new building built on the University’s campus since 1974 is due to the philanthropy of the building’s namesake, Roland G. Parrish, a Dallas businessman who donated a historic $3 million gift to fund the construction; making it one of the largest gifts in the university’s history.

The ceremonial groundbreaking for the Center was in 2018. Catalyst Builders Inc. in Nashville, provided the civil engineering, landscape, architectural planning and design services. Located on the historic HBCU

campus, which was recently visited this month by Vice President Kamala Harris, the two-story, 10,605-square-foot building is designed to prepare the next generation of business executives and community leaders.

Features of the Center include classrooms, conference rooms, innovation spaces and a career services center.

At Fisk, Parrish worked closely with Frank Sims, Interim President and longtime Chairman of the Board of Trustees and Dr. Jens Frederiksen, Vice President of Institutional Advancement and Strategic Development.

With beta testing completed, Bring the Noise is now in full effect.

Public Enemy, founder and legendary MC Chuck D, has fronted the release of a new culture media app called Bring the Noise.

“It’s a flow in its usage like a billion other apps,” Chuck promised in an impromptu 45-minute interview with the National Newspaper Publishers Association’s live morning show, Let It Be Known.

“This is just dedicated to culture. To the F.A.M. – Film, Art, and Music.”

As noted by HipHopDx.com, Chuck D’s app should come as no surprise, considering how adamantly he has pushed for Hip Hop to have a board dedicated to sorting out the needs of the culture.

The website noted that, in July 2022, Chuck D, KRS-One, Kurtis Blow, and Doug E. Fresh teamed up to establish the Hip Hop Alliance.

In January, the alliance issued a statement in response to Bow Wow claiming Hip Hop needs a “board” to discuss cultural happenings.

“Like every other aspect of society’s workforce, the artists and creators of hip-hop need protection, support, and advocacy,” read the statement.

“From label disputes to intellectual property retrieval and the need for an overall governing body, the Hip Hop Alliance was established.

“Recent comments this weekend created a unique opportunity to bring forth a conversation that many in hip-hop & R&B have been addressing for a long time.

“The need for a governing body for hip-hop. H.H.A. aims to empower artists to make informed decisions about their career and ensure that their rights are respected and protected.”

A Long Island, New York native, Chuck D counts among hip-hop’s trailblazers. Born Carlton Douglas Ridenour, Chuck D attended Adelphi University in New York.

That’s where he met his wouldbe Public Enemy co-star, Flavor Flav. The group’s hit albums included “Yo! Bum Rush the Show,” “It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold us Back,” and “Fear of a Black Planet.”

Public Enemy also contributed to the soundtrack of Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing” and “He Got Game,” which starred Denzel Washington.

The new app dropped this month and is about “less of what they want where you can create more of what you want,” Chuck declared.

Roland Parrish

Photo: PRL

Reps. Justin Jones (f) and Justin Pearson (r)

Photo: NNPA

Newswire Correspondent

Murderers-J.W. Milam and Roy Bryant

Hines Texas Metro News Correspondent

Lexis Nutt, Mama Laverne and Donna Richardson Lexis Nutt said the partnership with the Richardsons has been mutually beneficial for Al Biernat’s restaurant.

Photo: Sylvia Dunnavant Hines

See MAMA LAVERNE, page 2

Special to I Messenger Media

Mama Laverne’s chicken and waffle mix

eryone would bring a dish to share. We would get to my grandma’s house and there would be about 60 people coming together because my mom had nine siblings.

“We would come and gather around the table spending quality time together, watching sports and playing cards.”

After Richardson’s grandmother passed, her mother Laverne Richardson, who is affectionately called ‘Mama Laverne’, took over the task of making soulful Sunday meals for their family. At the top of her menu was the family-coveted recipe of chicken and waffles. The dish became so popular that she began to get calls to go to people’s homes and make her famous dish.

“After I started cooking for the family, they began looking forward to coming to my house for chicken and waffles,” said Mama Laverne. “I did this for about 25 years. I cooked for friends, family members and even celebrities. Although they enjoyed it I just did it through love. I love people, and I love cooking.”

According to Richardson, cooking is her mother’s love language. However, in 2020 they both experienced a setback.

Mama Laverne was no longer able to go out and make her chicken and waffles.

Richardson’s thriving fitness and motivational speaking career also came to a screeching halt.

Richardson said the concept for the chicken and waffle mix started during the pandemic.

“People were calling us, but we couldn’t get to them. We started mixing up the flour and seasoning and making them for friends and family members and sending them out along with the recipe,” she recalled. “After a while the demand became so high that we could not keep up with it. Then friends would drive by and pick up chicken and waffles and we would blow them a kiss as they drove by.”

Richardson and Mama Laverne soon realized that they could not keep up with their growing customer list. At that point, they took a leap of faith and developed a business plan for their popular flour and season mix.

With the help of food scientists, packaging experts and graphic design artists

they launched Mama Laverne’s Chicken Waffle and Pancake Mix, on Mother’s Day 2021 and their product became available on Amazon and in Shoprite supermarkets.

“The one thing I wanted to do was to make a combo. I didn’t want someone to have to look for the flour in one place and then go somewhere else to look for the chicken seasoning. I wanted them to be packaged together,” said Mama Laverne.

“I also wanted to make sure the waffles tasted homemade. Most pancake box mixes only require water. I wanted mine to remain light and fluffy, so you have to add butter, buttermilk and an egg.

“The season is already premixed to add for your chicken or whatever you are serving with the waffles.”

According to Mama Laverne and Richardson the seasoning and batter have multipurpose uses. They have made everything from fried green tomatoes to fancy desserts with the mixture.

“We are enriching people’s connection through food for the soul,” said Richardson. “Food has always been the backdrop

Metro Community

APRIL 21

ROYAL COMEDY with SOMMORE, BRUCE BRUCE, LAVELL CRAWFORD and Dallas’ own D Ellis

***

EarthX Business Lunch featuring Rick Perry, Alex Epstein and Dr. John Nielsen-Gammon.

12 p.m. - The Women’s Museum at Fair Park, 3800 Parry Ave, Dallas, TX 75226.

Fireside chat luncheon featuring Alex Epstein, author of Fossil Future and The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels, and Dr. John Nielsen-Gammon, professor of meteorology at Texas A&M and the Texas State Climatologist. The chat will be moderated by Former Texas Gov. and Former Secretary of Energy Rick Perry. https://earthx2023.eventive.org/schedule/6424ea720eb441002c1f66a3

22

EarthX Business Lunch featuring Van Jones. 12 p.m., The Women’s Museum at Fair Park, 3800 Parry Ave, Dallas, TX 75226.

Description: EarthX welcomes CNN commentator and environmental leader Van Jones to North Texas. The New York Times best-selling author has a long reputation as a world-class change-maker, with a rare track record in the modern world to bring people together on ar-

eas such as clean energy solutions and others. https://earthx2023.eventive.org/ schedule/6424f161dd79cd0040991eb4

25

Fair Housing Act 55th Anniversary Webinar - Dallas Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Featuring Principal Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity at HUD, Demetria McCain, 6:30 pm

27

Dallas Black Chamber of Commerce Business Mix & Mingle 5:30-8:30pm Register at dallasblackchamber.org

29

The Nu Iota Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority at Southern Methodist University (SMU) is hosting its second annual Delta Walk: “Steps for Autism” from 10:00am to 1:00pm at SMU, 6150 Bishop Ave., Dallas. This walk is dedicated to raising awareness for people experiencing Autism in the Black community. If you are interested

of gatherings at the table, which allows us to spend quality time together.

“We believe that we have created a product that can help you do that. We have a pre-mixed seasoning and waffle mix, which can be used to cook tofu, seafood and vegetables. Because I have a background in health and fitness, we looked at all options. We have it where you can fry it, air fry it or bake it.”

While promoting their famous chicken and waffle mix, this mother and daughter team has made the television circuit. They have been on Good Morning America, the Drew Barrymore and the Sherri Shepherd Shows; and many of the local television programs in the Dallas, Fort Worth viewing area.

“I was so excited when Donna said that we were in Target locations in Texas. Since there was a Target down the street, we stopped in to see if we could find our product,” said Mama Laverne, who recently turned 83 years old. “We were walking down the aisle where the flour mixes were, then we spotted Mama Laverne’s Chicken Seasoning Waffle & Pancake Mix on the

in participating in the walk, please register at https://secure.qgiv.com/ event/2023stepsforautismwalk/ Team: Nu Iota.

30

Denton County Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority’s 24th Annual Women’s Symposium, “I’m Not your SUPERWOMAN… Taking off the Cape.” Embassy Suites, 3100 Town Center Trail, Denton. Starts at 2 p.m.

MAY

7

Miss Jabberwock Scholarship Pageant DoubleTree Campbell Centre, 8250 N Central Expy, Dallas, TX 75206 Dallas Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc at 5 pm

13

shelf and I just shouted, Hallelujah,”

Mama Laverne’s Chicken Seasoning Waffle & Pancake Mix can be found at Target, several food markets and Amazon. Their signature item was also added to the menu at upscale north Dallas restaurant Al Biernat’s; making Mama Laverne the first African American and the first female on their menu.

“I feel our partnership has been amazing,” said Lexis Nutt, general manager of Al Biernat’s location on Oak Lawn, adding that the partnership has been mutually beneficial. “It has brought a lot of new relationships that we really cherish.”

Richardson and Mama Laverne are taking all limits off their growing business. They are looking at other retail options, Ecommerce, more restaurants and possibly food trucks.

“This is about love and legacy,” explained Richardson. “We are spreading love through food for the soul. We give back, we are growing and scaling our business to do great things. We have gone from serving God to serving up food for people. We are grateful to God for giving us this platform to make all this happen.“

Lenell Wyatt, who had been one of the original food testers during the process of developing the chicken and waffle mixture said that she could not believe how close the box mix was to the actual product that Mama Laverne serves up in her kitchen.

Family friend Jacqueline Jakes says the waffles are amazing. “It has been such a pleasure watching the journey of my good friend Donna Richardson and her mother, Mama Laverne, to produce a product that has gone over the top. It is such a blessing to witness so many people see this going in this direction.

When Mama Laverne is not cooking, she is mixing it up on the dance floor. She has even been caught on some talk shows shaking it down to the ground, after she finished serving up chicken and waffles.

This journey that mother and daughter are on is one they are grateful for. “We stepped out on faith. We keep growing and thanking the lord for where we came from and where we are today. We are taking baby steps, so that we can get to the giant steps.”

14 Mother’s Day 20

11th annual Tux and Chucks Gala, a charity fundraiser event in support of Fit and Faithful Living’s mission of inspiring hope, vision, and possibilities for youth and families. This year’s event promises to be a one-of-a-kind experience for the whole family, featuring guest speakers Olympians Michael Carter and Michelle Carter, who will share their personal journey and insights on the importance of mental health in families and achieving goals.

Mama Laverne said one of the highlights for her and daughter, Donna, was finding their product on the shelves of Target in Texas.

Tennessee Three-proof there is work to do

must mobilize around the following:

• Communications (social media infrastructure in place)

• Civil Rights Organizations

• Divine Nine

• Black Colleges and Institutions

By Arthur Fleming

“We can't normalize the ending of American Democracy," those are the words of Justin Jones, one of the "Tennessee Three," that includes Representatives Gloria Johnson and Justin Pearson. I believe in order to fight a “fascist thing," you must name it, and define it. Expelling State Representatives Jones and Pearson, was the first political move from the fascist, extreme Republican Party, aimed directly at Black political power.

What is fascism?

Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultranationalists political ideology and movement; characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy, subordination of individual interests for the perceived good of the nation and race, and strong regimentation of society and economy.

This system was made famous by Adolf Hitler's Third Riech.

First, let’s acknowledge the fact that our beloved America was created using what we now call fascism. The definition defines the American fascist dynamics from her beginning.

The white Republicans' supermajority Tennessee State House of Representatives demonstrated affinities for the fascist bug hiding in our quilt of diversity.

White Rep. Andrew Farmer

spoke in the Tennessee house in the tradition of George Wallace and Bull Connor, dismissing gun violence concerns as "temper tantrums."

I believe this is the moment or tipping point when the African American community's leadership is being called upon once again to help our nation get to a better place through our never ending fight for our American freedoms.

How should our community

respond to this very real threat to our political freedoms and security as presented by the Tennessee Three event?

Political freedoms thought won and secure are no longer won, nor secured therefore we must mobilize our African American communities in seven areas in an emergency manner to facilitate a mobilized response to voter suppression with voter education and registration.

As a first phase of response we

Get Some Blessed Oil

By Eva D. Coleman Lifestyle & Culture Editor

Fresh Prince meets Pitch Perfect in Praise This movie that cleverly blends gospel and hip hop. As The Oil Factory choir flows throughout singing competitions, circumstances of a host of characters show the residual effects of theft, yet proves "Thou shall not steal" one's joy in the gift of serving others.

Sam, played by Grammy nominee

Chloe Bailey of music duo Chlöe x Halle, is uprooted from Los Angeles by her father and dropped into a new, southern environment with her aunt and uncle, and doting cousin Jess. The move to Atlanta eventually shows promise to Sam’s aspiring music career through connecting with an artist she admires, and by adding some flavor to Jess’ struggling, competitive gospel choir group.

While the movie has some fun, yet predictable moments of love, jealousy and deceit, the juxtaposition of old time gospel hymns set to tracks that make you move something is reminiscent of when grumblings in “the church” occurred due to the infiltration of rap music. This dis-

course is reintroduced with Praise This, however the acceptance of the combo is still up in the air.

The gospel music competitions, complete with theatrics, are entertaining. The Oil Factory group grows as the weight of jealousy falls off. In the end they become victorious.

It’s a tale of family, finding oneself and connectedness coming back

Texas is stressed – here’s the problem and some solutions

By Ayesha Hana Shaji Texas Metro News Team

Before the May flowers bloom, it's important to tend to the roots of your well-being by managing stress effectively in April.

April is Stress Awareness Month, and with inflation stressing out 83% of adults, WalletHub, a personal finance website, has released a report on the most and least stressed states in the US. Texas earned a spot in the top 10 most stressed in the list, coming in 9th.

The report is based on 41 key metrics, including average hours worked per week, personal bankruptcy rates, and the share of adults getting adequate sleep.

In Texas, money-related stress was ranked the most stressful. Texas also ranked No.1 for the highest average number of hours worked per week.

Stress is a psychological and biological response to feeling overwhelmed or out of control or threatened, or when life feels unpredictable, said Leah Hibel, professor at the University of California. “Stress in large doses, or over long periods can erode your mental and physical health.”

To combat stress, Hibel said, establishing routines and seeking social support from loved ones who can

empathize is helpful. Regular exercise and calming activities like yoga and meditation can also help reduce the negative effects of stress.

One effective way to reduce financial stress is to make a plan, said Joanne Gavin, professor at Marist College, who added that even small steps go a long way.

Gavin said if the debt burden is beyond a simple budget, contacting creditors and negotiating a different repayment schedule is something to consider.

“The bottom line is to do something to work toward correcting your financial problems,” she said. “It will reduce your distress. Doing nothing will only increase the stress you are feeling.”

Kelly Campbell, interim vice provost for academic affairs and co-chief diversity officer at California State University said living within your means is also important.

Everyone’s budget looks different and adjusting the ‘ideal’ or ‘dream’ materials to settle to be within the budget will help tremendously to manage financial stress, she explained.

around as Sam navigates her gift of singing while processing tremendous loss.

Praise This, produced by Will Packer, premiered on Peacock April 7, 2023.

• Churches

• Voter registration and education

• Freedom Bus Rides Summers

2.0 (information tool)

With the knowledge, and talent we possess as a community, I have no doubt we can meet this moment just as our ancestors and elders before us.

African Americans hold a special place in this America, “we are the keepers of American moral authority,“ so let’s lean into this moral authority, and claim our rightful place in this country built on the free Labor of our ancestors, so our children can be unburdened by America’s burdensome past.

I believe expelling these freedom fighters will create more freedom fighters among our youth.

The Tennessee Three are right when they say, ”We can't normalize the end of Democracy."

Peaceful protest is our right, not privilege.

Chuck D’s New Culture Media App

“History will be made for culture media being greater than social media,” he asserted.

While all ages are welcome and encouraged, the targeted demographic remains those 35 and older.

“With ‘Bring the Noise,’ we’re not telling anyone to leave social media,” Chuck exclaimed. “This is culture media. You might not know me, but you definitely don’t know those people you checked ‘I accept’ to.”

The hip-hop legend added that social media has “everybody in a sandbox.”

“Not saying people can’t

say or do whatever,” Chuck explained.

“One thing that culture media does is the music, the craft, and the art, and it’s not uninviting to 35 and under if you want to give it a name, figure, or number. It engages a conversation in a room that just keeps it to the art and culture, and that’s what it is.”

Chuck concluded:

“I just think social media’s all over the place. Everybody feels like they have a mic and a camera and are a superstar, so I’m just like, ‘Cool, stay there if you want to,’ but you could go to BringTheNoiseApp.com.”

Stephney appointed Acting CEO of Abounding Prosperity

With the passing of Mr. Kirk D. Myers-Hill, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Abounding Prosperity, Inc., the Board of Directors announces the appointment of Tamara Stephney as Acting Chief Executive Officer of Abounding Prosperity, Inc.

The Board of Directors of Abounding Prosperity, Inc., met for an emergency meeting on the evening of April 4 and unanimously voted to appoint Ms. Stephney to the role. The appointment went into immediate effect as part of the agency’s succession plan.

“Ms. Stephney has played a vital role in helping Mr. Myers-Hill grow the agency to what it is today. We, the Board of Directors, have no doubt that she is well suited to further advance the mission of Abounding Prosperity, Inc., and the legacy of Mr. Myers-Hill,” said Michelle Myers, board chair.

Stephney is a long-standing, committed and visible part of Abounding Prosperity. She has served Abounding Prosperity for the past 12 years, working sideby-side with Kirk Myers-Hill. She started as a Manager, then she was promoted to Associate Di-

rector, and for the past six years she has served as Chief Operating Officer. She has over 20 years of public health experience working in medically underserved areas, including developing and implementing high-impact prevention efforts for Black and Latinx populations in the Southern United States, including Texas. She has more than 10 years of experience in fiscal management and programmatic infrastructure and management. Stephney is an active advocate in the community, contributing as part of many relevant organizations. She is a member of the State HIV Planning Group, Dallas local HIV Task

Force, and Hepatitis C Task Force.

“I am truly honored and privileged to have worked alongside Mr. Kirk Myers-Hill for the past 12 years. The best way to honor his memory is to continue the work and carry his legacy forward,” said Stephney. “I will continue that work, the work to fulfill the mission of Abounding Prosperity, Inc. and the vision of Mr. Kirk Myers Hill.”

Kirk Myers-Hill founded Abounding Prosperity, Inc. in 2005 and was a tireless advocate for the health and wellness of the Black family, particularly Black LGBTQ+ community members in Dallas.

Kirk Myers-Hill

Tamara Stephney

Tennessee State Representatives Justin Jones, Justin Pearson and Gloria Johnson call for gun reform in wake of Nashville school shooting. Photo: Atlanta Tribune - NNPA

Arthur Fleming is an activist and past president of the Dallas NAACP.

The Oil Factory performs in Gospel music competition in Praise This

Photo: Eva D. Coleman Eva D. Coleman is the Lifestyle and Culture Editor at Texas Metro News.

cont. from page 1

Quit Playin’

By Vincent L. Hall

Trump is in trouble, and the “Keebler Krowd” is feelin’ the funk. His minions trotted out one at a time to kiss his derriere for good measure and to gain political points.

The same group of racist white folks who want to “get tough on crime” wants the New York City district attorney to ignore the past six years of Donald Trump’s lawless actions.

For my millennials, “get tough on crime” was the hue and cry that created mass incarceration through mandatory sentencing laws and three-strike rules. That was the crux of Trump’s public statement refuting the indictment and the grand jury that issued it.

“Never before in our Nation’s history has this been done. The Democrats have cheated countless times over the decades, including spying on my campaign, but weaponizing our justice system to punish a political opponent, who just so happens to be

Legal Voodoo?

a President of the United States and by far the leading Republican candidate for President, has never happened before. Ever.

“Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, who was hand-picked and funded by George Soros, is a disgrace.

Rather than stopping the unprecedented crime wave taking over New York City, he’s doing Joe Biden’s dirty work, ignoring the murders and burglaries, and assaults he should be focused on. This is how Bragg spends his time!

In other words, DA Bragg should send a posse to corral the lawless non-whites in New York and leave him alone. We know what Trump thinks. Urban crime waves in his lexicon translate to young Black and Hispanic men. So rather than harassing rich tax-avoiding White men, Trump implies that Bragg should be looking for the next Central Park Five.

In the recently published book, “The People vs. Trump,” former assistant DA Mark Pomerantz likened Trump to a “mafia crime boss.” Pomerantz resigned in defiance because Bragg would not sign off on the indictment last year.

But at least Trump attempted to veil his racism. Lindsay Graham,

“the grand Senator and “spinster-in-waiting,” was bare-knuckled and brazen with his racist attack. The Yahoo News statement was brief in characters but heavy in meaning.

“Voodoo is a religion involving ancestor worship, animal sacrifice, and belief in communication with deities by trance. Voodoo originated in Haiti by combining Catholicism with the belief in

and defiance. Graham’s twoword description was a blatant dog whistle and ‘sleight of hand.”

Meanwhile, the matching eunuch and second senator from South Carolina, Tim Scott, followed the Trump line. MSNBC dropped this blurb.

“Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., taking steps toward a presidential campaign, criticized Bragg as a “pro-criminal New York DA” who has “weaponized the law against political enemies.”

“Lindsey Graham made the bizarre claim that the indictment of Donald Trump is ‘Legal Voodoo.’ ‘They’re trying to take cases that nobody else would take and resurrect them,’ he said.” Did you get that? Did you see him gaslight us again? Now if you know, you know. But if you don’t know, let me tell you what he meant by “Legal Voodoo.” Here is a generally accepted definition of the term that should clue you in.

African gods. The term may also refer to a charm, fetish, spell, or curse holding magic power for adherents of Voodoo.” Graham has always been hard to nail down. He switched his allegiance from a man of character to a man of corruption overnight. America is still perplexed. How do you go from being John McCain’s pal and messenger boy to Donald John Trump’s pawn and mistress? Legal Voodoo was an explicit and colorized message of racism

Nothing surprising in Scott’s statement. He is and will always be the bootlicking, weak-backed, fail-safe, self-loathing handkerchief-head Uncle Tom that Graham loves to claim as his one Black comrade. Wake up! I have said for two years that White folks are in the opening stages of their civil war. The racism and rhetoric are boiling up. The cultural caution and racial restraint that once governed the Republican Party is gone.

The Keebler Krowd has been emboldened and encouraged. No one knows what type of Voodoo Trump has over his imps, but it can’t be legal.

$322B Bank Failures Become a Different ‘March Madness’

Financial Literacy

By Charlene Crowell

In 2023, “March Madness” took on a new meaning. Traditionally known as the nation’s premier college basketball competition, this year that moniker could also describe the madness that sprang from the closure of two banks with combined assets of $322 billion that affected consumers and small businesses in over 15 states.

Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), established in 1983, grew its operations to 15 states by 1996 — from California to New York, north to Washington state to as far south as Texas and Florida. In December 2022, its assets totaled $212 billion and the bank employed over 8,500 people.

But on March 8 in an attempt to improve its own liquidity, SVB instead incurred a $1.8 billion loss.

The next business day, a run of bank withdrawals totaled $40 billion. And on March 10, SVB was forced to close and became the second-largest bank failure since Washington Mutual in 2008.

Similarly, Signature Bank, founded in 2001 as a commercial bank headquartered in New York City, grappled with its own problems that also led to a March closure. Signature Bank had 40 branches and 1,800 employees throughout the New York metropolitan area, Connecticut, North Carolina, California and Nevada, in addition to its online banking services.

In December 2022, the bank had assets of $110.4 billion and total deposits of $88.6 billion.

Only days after SVB’s closure, Signature, with heavy concentrations of investments in private equity ($28 billion in loans) and commercial businesses like cryptocurrency, experienced its own $10 billion run on deposits.

With an estimated 90 percent

of its deposits uninsured, according to Barron’s, Signature’s stock dropped 50 percent. On March 12, it was forced to close, and became the third-largest bank failure in the nation since 2008.

Many might wonder how costly

safety and soundness of our banks.

Small business owners should not be expected to serve as a financial regulator when paying their employees, and community banks and minority depository institutions should not have to pay for the

Lawmakers Seek Answers and Solutions to Losses

bank failures could occur when 2008’s Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was created to prevent such financial calamities.

Congressional leaders want answers to that question.

“[T]hese events are a wakeup call,” said Maxine Waters, a California Congresswoman and Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee. “We must uncover how management, regulatory, and supervisory failures contributed to these events and explore solutions to strengthen the

failures of bank mismanagement at SVB or Signature Bank.”

Rep. Waters also decried efforts to shift blame for the collapse from bank management and panicked investors onto so-called “woke” capitalism, as signified by the presence of one person of color on the board of directors of Silicon Valley Bank. “Silicon Valley Bank collapsed because of management failures and possible regulatory weaknesses – not because there was one Black man on the board,” said Rep. Waters. “We saw this same racist playbook during the

2008 financial crisis when some Republicans blamed the Community Reinvestment Act and loans made to people of color.”

Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, chair of his chamber’s Banking Committee, shared similar concerns.

“In less than a day, Silicon Valley Bank customers pulled $42 billion out of the bank – fueled by venture capitalists and their social media accounts,” said Sen. Brown. “They created the largest and fastest bank run in history. In the following days, Signature Bank lost $17.8 billion.”

After noting that Silicon Valley Bank’s executive pay was tied to profits and the bank operated without a risk officer for more than a year, Chairman Brown pointed the proverbial financial finger at the bank executives who took on high risk that fed their collective greed.

If not us then who will teach our History?

Our Voices

By Bobby R. Henry, Sr.

On this day in history and not just Black History but the history of the truth, a great man was shot down for standing up for the rights of “the other American.” Fighting for our rights is nothing new to those who believe that our seats at the table of equal rights have been a long arduous fight that has required blood shedding and in a lot of situations, even death.

Our blood has been sealed in the soil of the tortured history of this country and no matter the efforts of DeSantis and his trolls, and the warped souls of evil people, we can prevail.

The Broward School Board spent a great deal of time at Tuesday’s workshop discussing the process to review books that have been called into question as being inappropriate. The Board members vacillated with whether they wanted a districtwide process in place for books or curriculum that have been challenged, as opposed to an individual school process.

Schools are different based on elementary, middle, and high school, and they are also different based on who attends the schools in the communities they live in. The individual school process would allow for books to remain on shelves in one community but will have them stricken from the shelves in another community.

One of the examples that was shared is one community may be opposed to the autobiography of

Publisher: Cheryl Smith Address: 320 South R.L. Thornton Freeway Suite 100 Dallas, TX 75203

Phone:214-941-0110

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Malcolm X while another school in another community may find value in the book being used in their school. Broward is a very large and diverse district with different cultural dynamics from one corner to the next.

As the discussion went on, more questions came about, and no clear school based, or district process was on the horizon at the workshop’s conclusion.

This sort of uncertainty around the education of children, and particular Black children, brings me great concerns. I must go back to everything that was lost when we embarked upon the desegregation of schools in this country which integrated Black children into predominantly White schools. Black students lost so much from what has been coined as “unintended consequences” of integration. To be honest, I often

consider whether these consequences were “unintended.”

What I do know is we can no longer allow people who do not appreciate our children, do not have the best interest of our children and who present a false narrative to confuse our children at the forefront of educating our children. Nor do we need to tolerate their misunderstanding the consequences of stripping our history from our children to represent them without challenge.

I am calling all Black churches and Black Greek Lettered Organization (BGLOs) and grassroots organizations to gear up to teach Black History. If the schools are too afraid to do it, then we must.

When I look at the history of churches and BGLOs and what the founders of each intended, I believe this is our collective work. The Black church and the Black

Press also have a responsibility to our children.

We can no longer say the church is the hub of the community if we fail to do the work of the community and how can the Black Press say that we are the voice of our community if we are not speaking collectively with other Black organizations. There is a gap that is calling for us to fill.

We have too many retired teachers in the Black church, BGLOs and the community to not heed the calling.

If not, we are simply a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

Vincent L. Hall is an author, activist, and award-winning columnist.

Crabs do not belong in buckets

By Dr. Froswa Booker-Drew

It’s interesting that so many of us have bought into this idea of feeling as if we are an imposter. No matter how much we’ve accomplished, we find opportunities to dismiss or discredit ourselves. I realize that there have been so many times that others made me feel that if I worked harder, if I was smarter, or more of something, it would be enough. At what point does it become enough? For people of color, we are constantly reminded that we are different. We are othered if we don’t believe the same way, don’t look the same, speak the same, or have the same experiences. It is the onslaught of blatant reminders that you are not enough, that you do not fit.

We’ve witnessed this week the Tennessee’s Republican-led House voted Thursday to expel two of three Democratic lawmakers who called for gun law reforms. The two expelled were black. The third who was not,

was white. Reps. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, and Justin Pearson, D-Memphis, were both removed with votes falling along party lines, in a disciplinary measure that’s only been used twice since the 1800s. Situations like this serve as a reminder and attempt to reaffirm that your difference is a problem. It’s designed to make us feel as if we are imposters.

Imposter Syndrome is defined as the “persistent inability to believe that one’s success is deserved or has been legitimately achieved as a result of one’s own efforts or skills.” What causes a person that has worked hard and has experienced success doubt their abilities and doubt themselves? In the Harvard Business Review article, Stop Telling Women They Have Imposter Syndrome by Ruchika Tulshyan and Jodi-Ann Burey, the authors note that “Who is deemed ‘professional’ is an assessment process that’s culturally biased and skewed” and “In truth, we don’t belong because we were never supposed to belong. Our presence in most of these spaces is a result of decades of grassroots activism and begrudgingly developed legislation.” Ultimately, it’s not the individual(s) that should be questioned but environments that produce these

feelings that need to be examined and exposed.

Growing up, I would often hear phrases about behavior of people of color compared to “crabs in a bucket.” Crabs in unison often pull down a crab trying to escape. It was viewed as a problem that the crabs were not cooperative or remaining confined in a bucket

contained in an environment that was not designed with them in mind? It is stark reminder of the power of those who tell the story and the benefit of those who have the power to share and be heard. I bet the crabs would have a vastly different view of the experience. It can become exhausting, even overwhelming to be in spaces that

self of who you are and whose you are. Tap into the power of our faith as we persevere and speak truth to power.

• “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13 ESV).

• “I am God’s workmanship, created in Christ to do good works that He has prepared for me to do. “(Ephesians 2:10)

• “I am more than a conqueror through Him who loves me.” (Romans 8:37)

• “I am the head and not the tail, and I only go up and not down in life as I trust and obey God.” (Deuteronomy 28:13)

• “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born, I consecrated you.” (Jeremiah 1:5 ESV) Despite a world that continues to create doubt, anxiety, and fear because of our difference, we have to remain clear in God’s view of who we are. YOU ARE MORE THAN ENOUGH! If those rooms and spaces you enter do not welcome your presence, create a building that does.

that was not their natural habitat. Instead, we should ask why the crabs are even in a bucket. Could it be that their behavior was in response to the trauma of being

push conformity. God does not call us to conform to the world. Our uniqueness and difference are strengths when we are told that they are not. Remind your-

Dr. Froswa’ Booker-Drew is an author of three books and the host of The Tapestry podcast. To listen to episodes of the podcast, visit https:// www.spreaker.com/show/the-tapestry_1 and to learn more about her work, go to https://drfroswa.com/

Why are we ignoring our children?

weapons get caught in the political crossfire. Anyone can offer thoughts and prayers. Who is willing to change policy to protect our students?

By Dr. Julianne Malveaux

The recent massacre of three students and three adults in Nashville is alarming. How and why did a former student invade the school locked and loaded with an automatic weapon and ruthlessly kill innocent students and their caretakers? While it is useless to speculate on the thought process that led someone to kill people, perhaps to make a statement, it is clear that the multiple school shootings that have taken place in the last several months have encouraged many to continue the trend by executing shootings of their own. In the wake of the March 27 Nashville shooting, we were treated to the usual rhetoric of “thoughts and prayers” and even calls for stronger gun legislation. But the gun lobby is so strong and gun-toting zealots so politically powerful that attempts to limit the availability of automatic

While I am wondering how students are reacting to the ever-present school shootings, the American Association of Pediatrics (AAP), the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), and the Children’s Hospital Association declared a national emergency in children’s mental health two years ago (https://www.aap. org/en/advocacy/child-and-adolescent-healthy-mental-development/aap-aacapcha-declaration-of-a-national-emergency-in-child-and-adolescent-mental-health/), citing the severe toll of the COVID-19 pandemic on top of existing challenges.

While their report does not explicitly reference school shootings as part of the problem, Lee Savio Beers, AAP President, said, “Young people have endured so much throughout this pandemic, and while much of the attention is often placed on its physical health consequences, we cannot

overlook the escalating mental health crisis facing our patients.”

The mental health crisis shows up through increasing incidences of child suicide, the second leading cause of death for young people 10-24 in 2018.

The number has likely increased since we have experienced much disruption since the COVID epidemic that shifted life paradigms between 2019 and 2021. If adults have problems handling this disruption, how do we think our children and young adults are faring?

“We are caring for young people with soaring rates of depression, anxiety, trauma, loneliness, and suicidality that will have lasting impacts on them, their families, their communities, and all of our futures,” said AACAP President Gabrielle A. Carlson, M.D. “This is a national emergency, and the time for swift and deliberate action is now.”

The 2021 report noted that young people in communities of color had been impacted by the pandemic more than others and how the ongoing struggle for racial justice is inextricably tied to the worsening mental health cri-

sis. When young people witness the heinous killings of Black motorists or people simply “walking while Black,” how does it affect their mental health?

While our attention is focused on young people who are students, we have often ignored the children who, as young as twelve or thirteen, are working in unsafe environments. There are federal child labor laws that restrict the hours that those under 16 can work, especially during school hours.

Too many employers ignore the rules and are rarely held accountable. The National Child Labor Coalition (https://stopchildlabor.org/)ß has documented the reckless use of children in manufacturing plants, especially automobile manufacturing plants in Alabama (Kia and Hyundai are especially egregious violators).

Nearly half of all employed children work in agriculture, where they are exposed to, among other things, life-threatening pesticides. While laws prevent child labor, enforcement is lax when regulatory agencies are understaffed.

Louis Hine photographed jarring images of children working in agriculture, mines, and other dangerous places. His work, much of which was documented at the turn of the twentieth century, was responsible for the child labor legislation from 1912, and was part of the Fair Labor Standards Act in 1938.

Our nation is moving backward in protecting children, but that is no surprise since we are going backward using legislation to prevent exploitation.

Still, too many of us mouth the platitude that we believe that children are the future while ignoring our children’s mental health in the classroom, the workplace, and the world. Our indifference to our young people will likely result in their indifference to us a decade or two from now.

Can we expect the young people we have ignored to protect our Medicare or Social Security? Why should they care for us when we have not cared for them?

Praise for Wonderful Dr. Fauci

When a guest at the white-tie Gridiron Club Dinner earlier this month in Washington, D.C., collapsed, hit her head on a table and fell motionless to the ground, many of the people around her were not sure what to do next. But then a familiar fellow guest quickly came through the crowd to help: Dr. Anthony Fauci.

In retrospect, it feels like little surprise that Dr. Fauci, who is also the subject of a just-released PBS documentary, was in the right place at the right time to provide aid when it was needed. As a physician and immunologist who has been an adviser to every president since Ronald Reagan and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom — the nation’s highest civilian honor — by President George W. Bush, Dr. Fauci has spent his entire professional life serving and helping others.

Dr. Fauci’s distinguished service to our nation’s public health began decades ago when he joined the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 1968, just a few years after graduating first in his class from Cornell University Medical College (now Weill Cornell Medicine). He became director of NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in 1984, and served in that position until December. As director of NIAID, Dr. Fauci guided our nation’s research and work on HIV/AIDS, SARS, swine flu, MERS and Ebola.

During President George W. Bush’s administration, Fauci oversaw the development of the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, a global response to the HIV/AIDS crisis that has saved millions of lives. When President Bush awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2008, the citation read: “As a physician, medical researcher, author, and public servant, Dr. Anthony Fauci has dedicated his life to expanding the horizons of human knowledge and making progress toward groundbreaking cures for diseases. His efforts to advance

our understanding and treatment of HIV/AIDS have brought hope and healing to tens of millions in both developed and developing nations. The United States honors Anthony Fauci for his commitment to enabling men, women, and children to live longer, healthier lives.”

That lifelong commitment faced an enormous test against the fear and deadly unknowns

of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Dr. Fauci was up for the fight. Dr. Fauci became a nationally familiar face and voice while leading NIAID’s response to the pandemic. He also became the focus of suspicion and hatred for every critic of public health measures to address COVID-19 and every denier arguing that the pandemic was a political ploy and not a genuine threat at all.

Dr. Fauci remained determined to follow the research: “Attacks on me, quite frankly, are attacks on science.” But defending research and science against opponents seemingly uninterested in either one meant those attacks quickly turned into vicious calls for his imprisonment and death threats against him and his family. Even as these violent threats on his own life continue, Dr. Fauci has kept his commitment to saving others.

How dangerous it is that many of the same elected officials who are loudly defending former President Trump’s alleged criminal behavior are amplifying calls today to criminalize and investigate Dr. Fauci for his role in the government during the pandemic. We are living in a moment when many of our leaders seem unable to show they know right from wrong. What a horrifying example some politicians are setting for our children. What a contrast to the example of a serious and dedicated lifelong public servant like Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Dr. Julianne Malveaux is an economist, author and dean of the College of Ethnic Studies at California State University, Los Angeles.

Marian Wright Edelman is founder and president emerita of the Children’s Defense Fund.

Dr. Anthony Fauci

Photo: Official White House Photo by Tia Dufour

By Marian Wright Edelman

Whether it was the back porch or front porch, my grand mother, Lucille “Big Mama” Allen filled her three sons and three daughters, 16 grandchil dren, 50 great grandchildren, 38 great-great grandchildren, sev en great great-great grandchil dren and a host of nieces, neph ews and bonus family members with strong Bible-based logic that uniquely resonated inside today’s current events and oc currences. She was our Ida B. Wells Barnett.

In that famous hands on hips stance, “Never grow a wishbone

where your backbone ought to be.” “For the ground beneath will hold you and you will know that you are free. In research, we find that Journalist Clemen tine Paddleford uttered these magical words in the 1920’s.

Today, what does it mean to not let a wishbone grow where a backbone should be? If you want more to come into your life, you must let more life come out of you. If you want some thing different to come into your life, you must let some thing different come out of you.

The reality is clear. We all know it is extremely easy to fall into the trap of wishful think ing, whether you are on a spir itual path or not. A person may think life operates based on his or her feelings or the goodness of mankind but that is not true!

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Roland Parrish Career Planning & Development Center at Fisk

The new Center is part of Mr. Sims’ strategic initiative to prepare the next generation of business executives and community leaders. Parrish is highly committed to giving back to the community, especially causes that support the education and welfare of youth and young adults.

The strategic focus of the Center is to deliver greater opportunities for students to achieve their future goals. The Center provides customized career information, resources and practical professional development services. The overall result is training students to possess skills that will increase their marketability and competitiveness in the marketplace.

Former U.S. Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson will be Parrish’s special guest at the festivities.

“She has lived an extraordinary life and has an incredible story to tell,” said Parrish. “I want to show appreciation to this great lady and celebrate her 45 years of dedicated public service to help make our lives better.”

My Truth

cont. from page 1

So, as I hear the continuous debates around the wild hallucinations; I can’t help but think that future generations will think that our elected officials and the people who voted for them are on some serious drugs!

The thought that people are actually rewriting history to make it more palatable and to ease the consciences of those related to those despicable acts of the past is unconscionable and downright pathetic.

Therefore, I Messenger Media is taking a proactive approach to the asinine antics of the revisionist historians.

Every week, in print and through our digital platforms, we are going to tell it like it was; and therefore it is and will always be!

When someone is reading through our pages long after I have said my last goodbye, they will read the truth!

After all, how many of you know what the officers who beat Rodney King look like? But you remember his face, bloody and puffy.

How many of you know the men and the woman behind the savage murder of Emmett Till?

But thanks to that heroic mother, Mamie Till Mobley, the world got to see the results of the torture her son mercilessly suffered. I know revisionists probably curse Jet Magazine for running the pictures, but I praise them.

Born and raised in Waco, Texas, Johnson’s political career spans 45 years. She served as a Member of the Texas State House of Representative from 1972-1977; Administrator, United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare from 1977-1981; Member of the Texas State Senate from 1986-1992; and then elected to represent Texas’ 30th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1993 to 2023.

Congresswoman Johnson was the first Black woman to serve the city of Dallas in the Texas State Senate since Reconstruction. She was also the first Black woman to chair the Congressional House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.

During the luncheon for the grand opening Johnson and another special guest, former Dallas Cowboy Drew Pearson, will engage in a friendly conversation before the audience, discussing some of her experiences and numerous contributions during her 40+ years in public service.

Parrish received his Bachelor of Science in Industrial Management (BSIM) and MBA from Purdue University’s Krannert School of Business, in West Lafayette, IN.

At his alma mater, Parrish’s $2 million Leadership Gift supported the renovation of the former Management School Library, which was opened and renamed the Roland G. Parrish Library of Management and Economics in 2012; making it the first facility at Purdue to be named after an African American.

Parrish’s spirit of philanthropy led to the building of the Rev. John and Marie Parrish Medical Clinic in Fort Portal, Uganda. Opened in May 2016, the clinic, named in memory of his parents, annually services over 6,000 children.

Parrish currently serves on the Advisory Board for the NBA Dallas Mavericks in Dallas, TX; Board of Trustees of Fisk University, in Nashville, Tennessee; and on the Dean’s Advisory Council for the Krannert Business School and the Department of the Libraries. He also collaborates with

the MLB Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation.

A member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Parrish is the CEO and Owner of Parrish Restaurants Ltd., which owns and operates 25 McDonald’s restaurants in Dallas and surrounding cities. The Dallas Business Journal ranked Parrish Restaurants, Ltd, the second Largest Black Owned Firm in North Texas, in 2021 and 2022.

In 2017, Parrish received the Dallas Business Journal’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Parrish Restaurants, Ltd consistently makes the Black Enterprise BE

cont. from page 1

100 as one of the Top 100 Black Owned Businesses in the United States.

Parrish is the second largest investor for the restructuring of the Re-Imagining Red Bird Project which will bring a Marriott Hotel and hundreds of jobs to the Red Bird community. The Project, dubbed Dallas Business Journal’s 2020 Best Real Estate Deal of the Year, includes 200,000 square feet of medical/clinical services to the southern sector, through Parkland Hospital and UT Southwestern Medical Center.

I am grateful that in 1995 Mrs. Mobley Bradley and her husband (who was Emmett’s barber and helped to identify his ravaged body) came to Dallas and spent time with me discussing her son’s murder.

And if you didn’t see the pictures of what was done to her son, we’re bringing them and others to you; along with the truth, unfiltered, like award-winning journalist Roland Martin!

Now, truth be told, I understand why folks want to rewrite history. I wouldn’t want people to know that I was a descendant of a person who chained another person to the back of a truck and pulled his body until he was nothing but Exhibit number this and Exhibit number that; because he was in bits and pieces. I would hate to think that

someone I love or whose memory I cherish could be so savage.

But we’re talking about the truth.

So hopefully you will take this journey with us. Sign up for the newsletter, at www.texasmetronews.com. or you can send me an email to editor@texasmetronews.com.

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