I Messenger 11-11-22

I Messenger

Dominique Torres Williams

Jasmine Crockett

Alisa Simmons

Sonja A. Brown

Nicole Taylor Clay Jenkins

LaDeitra Adkins

John Creuzot

Rafael Anchia

Venton Jones

Marc Veasey

Yvonne Davis

MONEY TALK

I never had a conversation about money with my par ents. Never. Even when I applied to colleges I don’t remember talking to my mother about the costs and how I would pay. We knew she couldn’t afford to help me pay college tuition.

The online magazine “Stereogum” posted a June 2019 ar ticle about one of my favorite musicians. Reading it led to me going back to do a review of the late Billy Preston and his moving musical catalog. His 1973 #1 hit is still in my groove cycle.

QUIT PLAYIN’ PAUL QUINN COLLEGE

Don Diego Performs At Youth Arts Organization Fundraiser Ball

By Elisabeth Treadwell

Faye Bryant and Ron Tibbs hosted their first Fall Jazz For mal Fund-raiser at Endeav ors Performing Arts & Special Events Venue in Killeen, Texas benefiting Soul Arts At En deavors Summer Youth Arts Program. The October 29th formal affair, which sold out in 21 days, opened with Killeen’s songstress Michelle Marie and featured Dallas’s award-win ning Saxophonist Don Diego and band. The after sounds were provided by DJ Jr. Vibes and Ron Tibbs was the Master of Ceremony.

Ms. Bryant, a now retired MSG, served 33 years in the Army. Her distinguished fian ce Ron Tibbs is a Case Manag er at United Health Care and an independent Travel Agent. Both collaborated with owners of Endeavors Performing Arts and founders of the 501cs Soul Arts Collective, Monique Stone

and Ursula Cimone to bring this event to fruition. Endeav ors Performing Arts and Soul Arts Collective often partner in providing performing arts, mu sic and dance opportunities to local youth.

Ms. Bryant, a sophisticated socialite in her own right and passionate supporter of orga nizations inspiring and mento ring youth has longed to see el egant upscale formals and jazz music events here in the Cen tral Texas area. A New Years Eve Fundraising is next on the hori

zon and tickets are available now. A large percentage of the proceeds from both events will go to ensure a successful 2023 Soul Arts At Endeavors Sum mer Youth Arts Program.

The fund-raising goal for the non-profit is to raise $10,000 by the end of the year. The viva cious couple, Tibbs and Bryant, raised $3,500 from ticket sales

and separate donations for the youth organization by the end of the night. For more infor mation on how you can donate to Endeavors Summer Youth Arts Program or the 2022 New Years Eve fund-raiser event at The Courtyard By Marriott in Killeen, Texas call 310.341.8036 or visit www.endeavorsvenue. com to get your tickets.

Monique Stone, Ron Tibbs and Faye Bryant

Don Diego

by Cheryl Smith Publisher

A Dream Deferred

Harlem

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?

Or fester like a sore— And then run?

Does it stink like rotten meat?

Or crust and sugar over— like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

Langston Hughes

Another election has come and gone and there’s another one waiting around the cor ner!

Wednesday morning quar terbacking was in in full effect as everyone, yes, everyone I talked to; had something to say.

If only. Why?

WTH? How?

What were they thinking?

If I woulda, coulda, shoulda

Next time…

And I even got a few, I told you…

So what’s a person to do? Which brings me to my truth.

Some might say democracy is about to explode.

The Honorable Rev. Jesse Jackson, almost 40 years ago, told us to, “Keep Hope Alive.”

If you’re like me, you need a message today. You need a sign.

You need something that will help you get over the hump, because for me every day, not just Wednesday, has become “hump day” as I at

tempt to grow and bring oth ers along with me.

As we prepare for the next election there has to be some tough, hard and insightful conversations.

Some people need to be hired, fired, retrained, edu cated, while others need to have a come to their inspira tion meeting because things can’t keep going on the way they have been going if this world is going to get better.

Then too, there is a conver sation that has to be had with that person in the mirror.

Begin there and see what happens!

Some people need to be hired, fired, retrained, educated, while others need to have a come to their inspiration meeting because things can’t keep going on the way they have been going if this world is going to get better.

You need to talk to your children about money

MONEY TALK

BY RODNEY A. BROOKS

I never had a conversa tion about money with my parents. Never. Even when I applied to colleges I don’t re member talking to my moth er about the costs and how I would pay. We knew she couldn’t afford to help me pay college tuition. I figured it out – I made it through four years of college with a combination of scholarships, financial aid and income from summer jobs.

I went off to college with out ever knowing what things cost, like the mortgage or a car note. I didn’t even know how to open a checking ac count. But I had to learn - fast.

Please don’t think I’m blaming my parents or any Black parents for their lack of financial literacy or not talking to their five children about money. It was almost taboo back then to discuss such things, even with chil dren. It still feels taboo today for many Black families. But if you are not sitting down with your children and talking to them about money, finances and what things cost, you are making a big mistake.

Let’s start with a couple of startling statistics.

• The average Black family has a net worth of $17,000, one-tenth of the average White family.

• Only 34% of Black Ameri cans own stocks compared to 61 percent of White Americans, according to the Federal Reserve’s last survey. Stocks and retire ment plans are the prima ry way Americans build wealth, so that accounts for a big part of the racial wealth disparities.

cult at best. And the best way to do that is to sit down with them and talk about money.

The finan¬cial lit¬er¬a¬ cy gap begins ear¬ly in life, according to The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s report, Financial Literacy for Youth. “White and Asian 15-yearolds, on aver¬age, have sub-stan¬tial¬ly high¬er fi

A friend who is a financial planner and who teaches financial planning in an urban high school said he asked his class what things like cable television and utilities cost their parents, and they had no idea. Another friend who is an entrepreneur said not only did she know how much how mother earned, but her mom also made her write out the checks to pay the bills. That way she knew there was nothing left at the end of the month.

• Only 44 percent of Black Americans have retirement accounts with an average balance of $20,000 vs. 65 percent of White Ameri cans who have an average balance of $50,000.

There are many reasons for these wealth disparities, and financial literacy only plays one part. Racism and discrimination have played a major role. But we must do a better job of preparing our children for a financial jour ney that we know will be diffi

nan¬cial lit¬er¬a¬cy scores, while His¬pan¬ic and Black stu¬dents have sub¬stan¬ tial-ly low¬er scores when com¬pared to their gen¬er¬al pop¬u¬la¬tion peers, as re port¬ed in the 2020 U.S. Na tion¬al Strat¬e¬gy for Finan¬ cial Literacy.”

We know that some par ents need classes in financial literacy themselves. But the basics of financial literacy is understanding the basics of money. And for children that might include understanding

how much their parents earn, how much they pay for the mortgage or rent, what the gas and electric bill is or what they pay monthly for those family cell phones. The more we talk to our children about money, the better they will understand life.

A friend who is a financial planner and who teaches fi nancial planning in an urban high school said he asked his class what things like cable television and utilities cost their parents, and they had no idea. Another friend who is an entrepreneur said not only did she know how much how mother earned, but her mom also made her write out the checks to pay the bills. That way she knew there was noth ing left at the end of the month.

You may not be able to talk to your children about stocks and bonds, but you can talk to them about money. And do what you can to ensure that they take advantage of the financial literacy classes in high school or church.

If they learn about money, they will want to learn more. And the more they learn, the more they can teach their parents.

Rodney A. Brooks is a Senior Fellow at Prosperity Now and the author of Fixing the Racial Wealth Gap: Racism and discrimination put us here, but this is how we can save future generations. A former Deputy Managing Editor/Money at USA TODAY, he has written for USA TODAY, The Washington Post and National Geographic.

Sorority holds virtual Election Prep Rally

Delta Sigma Theta Sorority focused on social action on Monday night during its Election Prep Rally. Everyone from past national presidents, honorary members and a Biden cabinet member discussed the importance of voting and taking others to the polls. President Elsie Cooke Holmes and others talked about women who have focused on educating and informing communities about getting out the vote.

Oppose Kroger and Albertsons Merger

OUR VOICES

BY REV. JESSE L. JACKSON, JR.

Think the cost of food is high?

Just wait.

Last week, Kroger announced plans to acquire Albertsons in a staggering $24.6 billion deal. If the deal goes through, it will merge the number one and number two stand-alone grocery chains, which together operate nearly 5,000 stores around the country and generate more than $200 billion in revenue each year.

If you think this doesn’t affect you, think again. Kroger and Al bertsons are holding companies as well as brands. Kroger brands include Ralphs, Dillons, Fred Meyer, Harris Teeter, King Soop ers and several more. Albertsons operates under the names of Safeway, Haggen, Jewel-Osco, Shaws, Pavilions, Vons and sev eral others.

Well versed by their financial advisers, the companies’ CEOs are saying all the right things. The merger, they maintain, will allow major savings and effi ciencies, some of which they will reinvest, much of which they will return to consumers in low er prices. And if you believe that, there is a bridge in the Utah des ert that they’d like to sell you.

In reality, the merger will further consolidate the grocery store market. Right now, before the merger, according to the Na tional Grocers Association, five companies control a stunning

60% of all U.S. grocery sales. After the merger, the combined company plus Walmart, by far the largest food seller, would control nearly 50% of the mar ket.

That kind of concentration will lead to the loss of jobs for workers, rising prices for con sumers and monopoly profits for the companies. Working families are already stretching to meet

vantage of the moment to raise their own prices and profits even more.

Dayan quotes Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen, who will head the merged company, say ing that “a little bit of inflation is always good in our business” because “customers don’t overly react” — that is, blame the com panies — to increases in prices.

Happily, Joe Biden has cho

pocket record profits.

Reacting to inflation, the Fed eral Reserve is doing what it al ways does to lower prices — hike interest rates to slow the econo my, throw millions out of work, and force wages down.

But workers’ wages aren’t driving inflation. What’s need ed instead is a concerted effort to straighten out supply chains (and bring more manufactur ing home), rebates to consum ers paid for by taxes on oil and drug companies that are driving prices up, and an aggressive an ti-trust effort to challenge the excess profits exacted by CEOs in concentrated industries.

their food needs, as food prices are rising rapidly.

Eggs are up over 30% for the year; chicken over 17%, and cof fee over 15%. As the American Economic Liberties Project sum marized, this merger “would be disastrous for market competi tion, small businesses, and espe cially consumers’ pockets.”

There are a lot of factors hit ting food prices these days — the Ukraine war, drought in large portions of the U.S. and in Chi na, an avian flu epidemic, and more. But, as David Dayan of the American Prospect reports, one contributing factor is that consolidated companies take ad

sen anti-monopoly advocates to lead the agencies that police mergers, like the Federal Trade Commission that oversees gro cery chains. The FTC head Lisa Kahn will surely challenge this merger. What the companies are counting on is that conservative judges will overturn the agencies and give the merger a pass. No question with billions at stake, they will have the best lawyers in the world to wage the legal war.

This is part of a bigger story. Today, American wages aren’t keeping up with rising prices, while corporations — particular ly in industries dominated by a small number of companies —

Not surprisingly, a lot of mon ey goes into convincing politi cians to ignore large mergers. And a lot of money goes into grooming conservative judges to frustrate efforts to police merg ers. Sen. Bernie Sanders has called the proposed merger an “absolute disaster,” but few pol iticians are sufficiently indepen dent to challenge the big money behind the proposed deal.

So, it is vital that this not be left to the politicians and the judges. Leaders of communities — particularly rural and urban communities with poor and lower wage families — should demand to meet with the CEOs of Kroger and Albertsons to ex press opposition to the merger.

This merger will end with more parents unable to afford the food their children need. It must be stopped.

The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. is president and CEO of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition.

A Kroger store in Shepherdsville, Ky., is shown here.

Photo: Ambrosia LaFluer via Wikimedia Commons

Will it Go Round in Circles?

QUIT PLAYIN’

BY VINCENT L. HALL

The online magazine “Stereogum” post ed a June 2019 article about one of my favorite musicians. Reading it led to me going back to do a review of the late Billy Preston and his moving musical catalog. His 1973 #1 hit is still in my groove cycle.

“Will it Go Round in Circles” is almost 50 years old, but its pressing question for African-Americans is unanswered.

In the article, writer Tom Breihan par allels Preston and Stevie Wonder, who were contemporaries in more ways than one. Both were “child prodigies” with sol id bonafides. Before he was 26, Billy Pres ton performed with Mahalia Jackson, Nat King Cole, Little Richard, Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, the Rolling Stones, and Sly & The Family Stone.

The self-taught keyboardist idolized The Beatles and eventually co-produced with George Harrison. Preston, like Stevie, mastered the early stages of musical tech nology by playing the “clavinet.” This in strument mimicked the sound of the gui tar. Stevie made the clavinet prominent in his hits Superstition and Higher Ground.

Both musicians are considered key board pioneers of sorts. However, the reason for my fascination with “Will it Go Round in Circles” hovers around the lyrics.

“I’ve got a song, I ain’t got no melody I’ma gonna sing it to my friends I’ve got a dance, I ain’t got no steps, no I’m gonna let the music move me around I’ve got a story, ain’t got no moral Let the bad guy win every once in a while!”

Breihan gave us the backstory.

“Preston co-wrote “Will It Go Round in Circles” with his friend and regular collab orator Bruce Fisher, who got to quit his job in the NBC mailroom when the song blew up. Preston had told Fisher that he had a song but didn’t have a melody. They made a joke out of that, and the joke became a song.

The “Will It Go Round in Circles” lyrics are all silly paradoxical lines about a story with no moral (“let the bad guy win once in a while”) or a dance with no steps (“let the music move me around”).

If you wanted, you could read this as Preston making a gnomic point about the

could become a hit!”

So now you’re asking what the moral to this story is? Wanna hear it? Here it go! (In the spirit of In Living Color’s Calhoun Tubbs)

Will it Go Round in Circles was a lot of fun, but today it feels like a Black so

eternal clash between expectations and reality. But when you listen to the song, it’s pretty clear he’s just having fun. It’s the sound of a bunch of killer musicians doing whatever they want with a nasty groove and refusing to let the whole thing mean anything more than that.”

Billy Preston and his band were having fun, no doubt, but it was one of those hits you could listen to once and fall in love. Most chart-toppers became standard be cause they dominated the radio airwaves. That was the purpose and strategy of “Pay ola.”

For those in the audience who are too young to understand, payola is the prac tice of bribing someone to use their influ ence or position to promote a particular product or interest. For example, record agents bribed disc jockeys knowing that if they spent enough money, any record

cio-political prophecy. Fifty years later, in our existence as African-Americans, we still go around in circles. We merged our pre-Civil Rights wisdom with the oppres sor, so nowadays, the bad guy seems to win much more than once in a while.

This latest election cycle proves that we have forgotten the wisdom of our fore par ents. We can’t get away with what White folks get away with. We have to live law fully. We have to respect the God of our ancestors. And without fail…We have to vote!

Billy Preston asks two central questions in the chorus of this now “Golden Oldie. Will it go around in circles? Will it fly high like a bird up in the sky? Stay tuned. That’s all I can tell you!

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

NTFB Teams up TOM THUMB / ALBERTSONS and UNT-DALLAS Food Distribution

The North Texas Food Bank (NTFB), along with the Uni versity of North Texas at Dallas and Tom Thumb / Albertsons, will provide nourishing food to community members in need through a public event on Sat urday, Nov. 12, 2022. The pub lic holiday food distribution will take place at the UNT Dallas Campus located at 7300 Uni versity Hills Blvd. in Southern Dallas from 9 a.m. to noon. Each family will receive approximate ly 60 lbs. of fresh groceries at the mobile food distribution, including a Thanksgiving turkey for the first 250 families, thanks to Tom Thumb / Albertsons.

The food distribution is one of more than 50 holiday food distributions supported by the NTFB during the month of November to provide food to the nearly 700,000 people fac ing hunger across the NTFB’s 13-county service territory. This includes more than 250,000 children, or one in every five in the region, giving the NTFB ser vice area the 4th highest level of food-insecure children in the country.

“Tom Thumb / Albertsons and UNT Dallas are joining forc es with the North Texas Food Bank to mobilize real change in providing food and hope for our neighbors. Our partners in this initiative operate with the heart of those we serve in mind and I am grateful for their com mitment,” said Trisha Cunning ham, President and CEO of the North Texas Food Bank. “As we work to address the growing issues of hunger and poverty in our community, we look for partners like these who stand ready to address this complex problem. Their generosity and initiative help advance our mis

sion of bridging the hunger gap in North Texas during this criti cal time and beyond.”

A long-time partner of the NTFB, Tom Thumb / Albert sons is committed to reducing food insecurity at the local level through its Recipe for Change initiative. As part of this plat form, it has raised more than $200 million to ensure neigh bors have the nutrition needed to thrive. The company donates millions of pounds of food each year to local food banks, pan tries and other agencies on the frontlines in the fight against hunger.

“We are pleased to collaborate with the North Texas Food Bank and UNT Dallas in providing turkeys to help ease the financial

Bob Mong UNT-Dallas President

ity booklets on food nutrition will be available for children in Spanish and English.

Since the onset of the pan demic, UNT Dallas has served as a critical partner of the North Texas Food Bank, regularly host ing numerous mobile pantry distributions on campus along side NTFB. Each month UNT

ies or pay for other necessities such as gas, medicine or utili ties,” Cunningham said. “During the holiday season, food doesn’t just provide nourishment, it is a way for people to connect, cele brate and spend time with loved ones. So, when it is missing, it leaves a hole bigger than hun ger itself. The North Texas Food Bank and our feeding partners don’t just want to help provide necessities during the holiday season – together we’re helping people connect with the ones they love.”

burden that the holidays present for many families,” said Christy Lara, Tom Thumb / Albertsons Director of Public Relations. “We are committed to address ing hunger in the communities where we live and serve and helping feed our neighbors in need by championing innovative programs and partnerships to help break the cycle of hunger.”

Mobile distribution partici pants do not have to register to pick up food but are required to have a vehicle unless otherwise specified. The food is distributed on a first-come, first-served ba sis. Although no identification is required, the participants will be asked to share their name along with the size of their family and provide a zip code where their family resides to receive food. In addition, educational activ

Dallas hosts a free, drive-thru food distribution to provide re lief to students and the southern Dallas community members in need of support.

“UNT Dallas is proud to join the North Texas Food Bank and Tom Thumb/Albertson’s to serve our community by pro viding holiday food on our cam pus,” said UNT Dallas President Bob Mong. “We are honored to be part of this team effort to help put food on our neighbors’ tables this holiday season.”

“The holiday season can be especially difficult for those who are already struggling to make ends meet each month. With inflated food, gas and housing costs, our neighbors in every zip code are facing increasingly dif ficult choices every day - decid ing whether to purchase grocer

For more information on the 50+ holiday food distributions taking place in North Texas throughout November go to ntfb.org/holidaydistributions. Interested individuals are en couraged to check the website regularly for updates to the schedule and to choose food distributions within the county they live. The food is distributed on a first-come, first-served ba sis and some of the distributing food pantries may ask for proof of residency to ensure they are distributing the food to resi dents who live in the counties they serve.

In addition to the holiday dis tributions, neighbors seeking food assistance can get access to food in several ways. They can find mobile food distributions across North Texas at https:// ntfb.org/mobile-pantry/ or they can visit https://ntfb.org/ our-programs/get-food-assis tance/find-a-food-pantry/ to find a food pantry nearby that provides food and often oth er services. Neighbors can also contact the North Texas Food Bank to learn more about Senior Programs and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

Food distribution to provide seasonal food items to approximately 500 families

Black Press of America Plans Digital Innovation and Training Conference in St. Thomas

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire

The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) and its 235 African Ameri can newspapers and media company owners, employees, sponsors, and others plan to converge in the beautiful U.S. Virgin Islands for the NNPA’s annual midwinter training conference in February.

With the theme, “Digital Innovation, Training, and En gagement of the Black Press of America,” publishers and others will link up to further strengthen the 195-year-old Black Press.

Moreover, the always high ly anticipated training con ference takes place from Feb. 1 to Feb. 4 at the brandnew Westin Beach Resort at Frenchmen’s Reef, Estate Bakkeroe, in St. Thomas.

The NNPA’s all-Black wom an executive board will count among those greeting NNPA partners, sponsors, and guests.

All guests can take advan tage of a remarkable and re duced-priced resort stay by immediately registering at http://www.nnpa-events. com.

Chair Karen Carter Rich ards, the publisher of the

Houston Forward Times, leads the all-women execu tive board.

Janis Ware, the publisher of the Atlanta Voice, serves as vice chair. Fran Farrer, the publisher of The County News in North Carolina, is the sec ond vice chair.

Jackie Hampton, the pub lisher of The Mississippi Link, serves as national secretary, and Cheryl Smith, the pub lisher of the Texas Metro News, is the NNPA’s national treasurer.

NNPA President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. will receive the trade association’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Representatives from long time NNPA partners General Motors, Reynolds, Pfizer, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foun dation, and Google News Ini tiative also count among the invited guests.

Among NNPA’s highly-val ued sponsors invited to attend are AARP, Wells Fargo, Amer iHealth Caritas, American Petroleum Institute, Comcast NBC Universal, In Our Own Voice – National Black Wom en’s Reproductive Agenda, Compassion & Choices Action Network, and the NNPA Fund.

For more information and to register, visit http://www. nnpa-events.com.

All guests can take advantage of a remarkable and reduced-priced resort stay by immediately registering

Photo: www.nnpa-events.com.

Message from the Dallas Mayor

Soon, I will deliver the an nual State of the City Address for the fourth time since taking office.

This year’s address comes as the city’s violent crime rate continues to decline, as tax rates hit their lowest level since 2007, as major ethics reforms are being implemented, and as numerous economic devel opment and parks projects are in progress.

Dallas is the place to be right now. There is a reason the U.S. Travel Association called Dal las the “Comeback City” after the pandemic.

The State of the City address is required by the City Charter, but it’s also a great opportunity to discuss accomplishments, challenges, and how to con tinue to build on this city’s Big Dallas Energy.

Last year’s address touched on the collaborative efforts to reduce violent crime; advocat ed for historic ethics reforms; pushed for policies to help Dallas families; and called for the city to assert itself more aggressively as it competes re gionally, nationally, and inter nationally for business reloca tions, tourism, and increased economic activity.

Numerous plans and initia tives discussed in that speech became reality in the last year. Among them:

• The City Council approved the largest single-year taxrate decrease in four de cades.

• The City Council passed the historic ethics reform proposal and fully funded the new Office of Inspector General.

• The City Council continued its commitment to hiring more police officers and to implementing public safety

programs recommended by the Task Force on Safe Com munities.

• The Summer of Safety cam paign launched and pro moted successful summer programs that helped keep kids safe while they were out of school.

• The City Council approved the formation of an Eco nomic Development Cor poration and continued to implement a new economic development policy.

see new efforts to improve the city’s workforce.

• The City Council approved numerous economic devel opment projects to increase density and development in southern Dallas and down town Dallas.

• The City Council voted to ease regulations on food trucks.

• The City Council began a sunset review process of city departments, programs, and regulations.

Greenbelt, a trail system that will extend across Oak Cliff and southwest Dallas.

This is a high-priority in frastructure project that will capitalize on the momentum in this city. This planned trail can improve the environment and the health, quality of life, and mobility of residents in historically underserved and overlooked communities.

These donations from the Boone Family Foundation and Lyda Hill Philanthropies get the city closer to this major win for southern Dallas.

This is a great partnership, and the push for city funding for this project is still ongoing. Stay tuned for more updates!

Honoring a local legend

Last week, I had the chance to honor Carolyn Jordan.

If you haven’t heard of her, Carolyn is one of those every day heroes who make Dallas special. She dedicated 40 years of service to what is now called the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Dallas — the organiza tion that gave me a scholarship to attend Greenhill School as a kid growing up in West Dallas.

• The City Council approved a new convention center mas ter plan and voted to put a measure on the ballot to ex pand the Kay Bailey Hutchi son Convention Center and improve certain Fair Park facilities — the Automobile Building; Centennial Build ing; Band Shell; Music Hall; Cotton Bowl; and the Coli seum — and to increase the hotel occupancy tax by 2% to assist with financing these projects.

• I named a new Workforce Development Czar to over

• The City Council voted to re start a micro-mobility (elec tric scooter) program.

• Dallas won its bid to become a host city for the 2026 World Cup.

This year’s address will be delivered from the Briscoe-Carpenter building at Fair Park. Looking forward to it, and hopefully you are, too!

Five Mile Creek Greenbelt

The Trust for Public Land announced last week that it has secured $5.7 million in philanthropic dollars to help fund the Five Mile Creek

Hundreds of children in this city’s historically undeserved and overlooked communities were able to take advantage of opportunities and reach their full potential over the years with Carolyn’s help and guid ance. They are better people for knowing her.

It was a true honor to host a special ceremony at City Hall to recognize her work and to express gratitude for every thing she has done for me and for the children in Dallas.

Thank you again, Carolyn. And thank you to everyone who came out to recognize her outsized impact on this city.

Carolyn Jordan with Mayor Eric Johnson

Give Light and People Will Find the Way

OUR VOICES

BY MARIAN WRIGHT EDELMAN

Earlier this year, members of the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) Freedom Schools team and other colleagues had op portunity to attend a training session near the plantation on Maryland’s Eastern Shore where Harriet Tubman was enslaved and where she returned again and again after her own escape to lead others to freedom. The retreat’s theme was “Give Light and People Will Find the Way,” the title indomitable civil rights movement justice warrior Ella Baker used for one of her train ing workshops at the Highlander Folk School in Tennessee. This message is relevant to the CDF Freedom Schools program’s work today teaching young peo ple they can make a difference in themselves, their families, their communities, their country, and their world with hope, educa tion, and action, and the same message could also describe some of the inspiration the team drew from Harriet Tubman’s legacy.

During the retreat, they vis ited the Harriet Tubman Un derground Railroad National Historical Park in Church Creek, Maryland and sites important in her life, including the plantation where her family was enslaved and the dry goods store where she was assaulted and suffered a traumatic brain injury as a child. She was standing inside that store when an enslaved boy ran in being chased by an over seer who ordered Harriet to help grab the boy. When she stood between the boy and the white man and did not move, the over

seer hurled a lead weight at her head, leaving her bloody and unconscious. She suffered sei zures, sleeping spells, and debil itating headaches the rest of her life, but also began experiencing vivid dreams about God and vi sions and premonitions about escaping slavery.

Seeing these places and the land where she had to travel and hide reinforced how difficult her mission was and how much courage and determination she

retreat for a conversation.

Her books for children and young adults often revisit key moments and people in Afri can American history, and one of her most loved is the lyrical, beautiful Caldecott Honor and Coretta Scott King Award-win ning book “Moses: When Har riet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom,” illustrated by Kadir Nelson. During the meeting, she asked her listeners to consider how Black history is often taught

shared history by exposing them to books by excellent authors like Carole Boston Weatherford and others who are part of the CDF Freedom Schools curricu lum, and by taking them to visit important historical and cultur al sites like the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park, are ways of giv ing children the light they will need to be prepared to plot their own futures.

But this midterm election sea

needed to possess in order to survive.

Now, through the National Historical Park, a state park and visitor center, the Harriet Tub man Museum and Educational Center, and the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Sce nic Byway, a 125-mile trail that includes waterways and safe houses she and others used as they fled towards freedom, these sites are preserved as a piece of American history that can teach and inspire young people today.

The importance and inspira tion of teaching history was also central in the message the CDF Freedom Schools team heard when acclaimed author Carole Boston Weatherford joined the

through a lens of enslavement and oppression.

She then challenged them to consider this question: “Who taught us to be free?”

She continued, “You can’t teach what you don’t know, and you don’t know what you weren’t taught.” She said as she wrote “Moses,” she was inspired by the parallels between Harriet Tubman and the biblical Moses, who both took it upon them selves to free themselves and their people, and she challenged CDF Freedom Schools leaders with a charge to take up that call — teaching the next generation how to be free.

These are crucial lessons. Teaching all children about our

son reminds us yet again that many adults are fighting this idea today, and many are on ballots right now from school boards to statewide offices across the country.

Educate yourself about the candidates seeking to represent you and make sure you are pre pared with a plan to vote. Once again, we can never take any office or any election for grant ed. Children cannot vote, but they desperately need parents, teachers, and leaders who will be lanterns, not adults who seek to dim the light.

Edelman is founder and pre sident emerita of the Children’s Defense Fund.

Photo: Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park

Call issued to Support Black Businesses

Buy Black!

By Cheryl Smith Texas Metro News

When Dr. Fred erick D. Haynes III, of Friend ship-West Bap tist Church, an nounced 100 Days of Buying Black in acknowledging the 100th Commemoration of the Tulsa Race Massacre, we joined the move ment. December 31, 2021 marked 100 days of featuring Black Businesses. and we decided that the struggle continues and we must also. So enjoy reading about more Black-owned businesses and please support.

EVA ESTELL SKINCARE

Ava Estell Skincare, Yaw is owner and founder. AVA Estell Skincare is an all-natural wellness brand made with melanin in mind. The products work on skin conditions such as, hyperpigmentation, stretch marks, blemishes, dark spots or dark areas (underarms, knees, bikini line, inner thighs), psoriasis, eczema and anywhere there’s an imbalance in pigmentation. If you’re looking for a way to bring your skin back to balance, or you simply want to feel more confident in your complexion, you’re in the right place. Visit the website: https://avaestell.com/ Follow them on social media @avaestell.

SHAVONDA WITH A V ShaVonda with a V is a local Dallas Comedian, Radio and TV Host. She’s hilarious, captivating

and entertaining. Shavonda developed her skill at connecting with audiences and listeners as a local radio personality in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. As a Special Event Host she can deliver when it comes to your event her unique style, it’s captivating, engaging, and leaves your audience wanting more. Book ShaVonda with a V for your next event. Visit her website: http://shavondawithav.com/

KING VISION LLC

Dr. Jacqueline L. Pierre-Adams, DO

FAAO FACHE

King Vision is located in Nacogdoches, Texas, with a friendly eye doctor, Dr. Jacqueline L. Pierre-Adams. This is a veteran owned eye clinic. King Vision is a full-service eye and vision care provider. Walk-ins are always welcome. They will accommodate eye emergencies as well as scheduled appointments. Offering after-hours and weekend appointments. Patients in Nacogdoches and surrounding areas can expect to receive personal attention and professional eye care. Visit the website: https://kingvision.org/. King Vision 4810 North St, Nacogdoches, Texas 75965, phone 936-569-2015.

MAYVENN

Diishan Imira, I am the founder and CEO of Mayvenn. He grew up watching hairstylists in his family run their businesses and noticed something… all of the hair products that the Black community was buying – They weren’t selling. He created Mayvenn. Diishan said, “if people of color are spending billions of dollars on beauty products, we should also have ownership in the businesses that sell those products.” Shop with Mayvenn visit the website of a local hair dresser Kindra at https://flawlesshairbykindra.mayvenn.com/ or call her at 972-748-6085.

MENA FREEMAN

Real Estate Agent

Are you ready to buy? Don’t have an inside track? It’s time to consult a professional like Mena Freeman. Moving to Dallas or Las Vegas areas? Mena is your expert. Home ownership is not out of reach. Contact Mena at 725-755-8286. Visit her website: Menafreeman. kw.com. Follow Mena Freeman on Instagram and Twitter @menafreeman.

KWEEN BEE SUGAR SCRUB

Cultivated by the founder, Kween Bee’s Sugar Scrub originated after years of work before family and friends. After going through a battle of breast cancer with her mom, Kimberly Bizor vowed to be the best version of herself mentally, spiritually, emotionally and physically. Kimberly says the product is made with love. For your selfcare routine check out the website: https://kweenbeesugarscrub.com/

OVER-TIME BUFFALO WINGS

Over-Time Buffalo Wings is owned by Charles and LaSonde Griggs. They’re mission is they’re focus on excellent customer service, an awesome family run business and a great work environment. The wings are delicious. When you can’t get enough there’s always Over-Time. Call in your order today at 318-548-3553 for the next event or family gathering. Follow OverTime Buffalo Wings on Facebook and Instagram @ OverTimeBuffaloWings.

Dr. Frederick D.Haynes III

UPDATE: WNBA Star Brittney Griner

Moved To Russian Penal Colony

By Dorothy Gentry

In an expected but still disarming move, WNBA star Brittney Griner has been moved to a Russian penal colony her legal team announced Wednes day.

However, her lawyers do not know exactly where she is now or where she will be going.

A statement released from her legal team Wednesday read in part: “Brittney was trans ferred from the detention center in Iksha on the 4th November. She is now on her way to a penal colony. We do not have any infor mation on her exact cur rent location or her final destination.”

The move was immedi ately condemned by the WNBA as well as officials in the Biden Administra tion.

White House Press Sec retary Karine Jean-Pierre said:

“Every minute that Brit tney Griner must endure wrongful detention in Rus sia is a minute too long. As the Administration con tinues to work tirelessly to secure her release, the President has directed the Administration to prevail on her Russian captors to improve her treatment and the conditions she may be forced to endure in a penal

colony. As we have said be fore, the U.S. Government made a significant offer to the Russians to resolve the current unacceptable and wrongful detentions

of American citizens.”

A statement from the WNBA read:

We are concerned about Brittney Griner’s well- be ing given the news of her

transfer. BG is wrongfully detained, and the work continues to get her home. #WeareBG

And Secretary of State Antony Blinken said:

“We strongly protest the movement of Brittney Griner to a remote penal colony and the Russian government’s use of wrong detentions. I am com mitted to bringing home Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan as soon as possi ble.”

Last month a Russian court rejected Griner’s ap peal of her nine-year-sen tence for drug possession.

Griner, a Houston na tive who played college basketball at Baylor Uni versity, was convicted Aug. 4 after police said they found vape canisters containing cannabis oil in her luggage at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport. She was overseas play ing basketball during the WNBA offseason.

She admitted having the canisters but that she in advertently packed them and had no criminal in tent.

The eight-time all-star center with the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and two-time Olympic gold medalist has been de tained for 265 days.

Stay tuned to Texas Met ro News for updates on this developing story.

“We strongly protest the movement of Brittney Griner to a remote penal colony and the Russian government’s use of wrong detentions. I am committed to bringing home Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan as soon as possible.”

Brittney Griner

Foundation announces $50,000

Gift to Paul Quinn College

The MARCH Foundation, a private non-operating foundation, has announced a gift of $50,000 to provide scholarships for deserving students at Paul Quinn College, the nation’s only Urban Work College and Texas’ first HBCU, located in Southern Dallas.

MARCH, which stands for Mutual Al liance Restoring Community Hope, was launched to support the education of Af rican American youth. Kenneth B. Jarvis, a longtime community business and civic leader, founded the group 25 years ago.

With its gift to Paul Quinn, MARCH hon ors its 25th Anniversary, and demonstrates its commitment to HBCUs and the grow ing number of students who need help with skyrocketing tuition.

“The MARCH Foundation is commit ted to investing in the education of Black youth,” Jarvis said, “and we believe that every act of philanthropy – even a small one – meets the needs of deserving stu dents, many of whom are first-generation students who otherwise cannot afford tu ition.”

Paul Quinn President Dr. Michael J. Sor rell added, “We are grateful to the MARCH Foundation for their generosity in support ing our students. This gift not only provides a monetary donation which alleviates a cost burden to our students, The MARCH Foundation has committed to fostering re lationships with our students so they can see what is possible.”

March Foundation’s investment ad dresses a major issue confronting students and their families who have seen college debt triple since 2007 and college costs at a four-year college double since 1990. The trend has only emphasized the importance of how completing a college education is more important than ever. A recent Feder al Reserve Bank of New York study showed that those with a college degree make on average $22,000 more than someone with a high school diploma.

Board Members – African American executive men, all of whom retired from United Parcel Service (UPS), initially fund ed MARCH with their personal funds. The

The MARCH Foundation gifted $50

the 150th Homecoming and the

foundation has distributed more than $2 million in grants and scholarships, im pacting more than 2,000 students to date.

The MARCH Foundation believes that higher education is a passport to unsur passed career pathways, according to MARCH Board Chairman Mel Smith. “We hope that our gift will not only encourage students to graduate, but also inspire them to give back later with their time, money and talents,” Smith said.

For more information or the opportuni ty to give to the MARCH Foundation, visit https://marchfoundation.org/donate/

For more information on Paul Quinn College and the opportunity to assist stu dents with scholarships and other oppor tunities visit http://www.pqc.edu/invest/.

About Paul Quinn College

Paul Quinn College is a private, faithbased, four-year, liberal arts-inspired col lege that was founded on April 4, 1872, by a group of African Methodist Episcopal

Church preachers in Austin, Texas. The school’s original purpose was to educate freed slaves and their offspring. Today, we proudly educate students of all races and socio-economic classes under the banner of our institutional ethos, WE over Me. Our mission is to provide a quality, faith-based education that addresses the academ ic, social, and Christian development of students. Under President Sorrell’s lead ership, Paul Quinn has become one of the most innovative and respected small colleges in the nation and now serves as a model for urban higher education. For tune magazine recognized President Sor rell’s work and the College’s transforma tion by naming him one of the World’s 50 Greatest Leaders. President Sorrell is also a three-time award winner of HBCU Male President of the Year by HBCU Digest, was selected as 2018-2019 President of the Year by Education Dive and named by Time magazine as one of the “31 People Chang ing the South.”

for student scholarships to Paul Quinn College in honor of

Foundation's 25th Anniversary. Pictured left to right: MARCH Foundation and Chairman Emeritus, Kenneth B. jarvis; Paul Quinn College President, Dr. Michael J. Sorrell; MARCH Board Member, Medford Turrentine.

Photo: Summer Island

Community Shows Support for Black Jack Pizza

Fortunately. no one was killed, however there were some serious injuries. Also, for State Fair of Texas time to be one of the busiest for Black Jack, the doors were closed and it hurt tremendously!

The community came together on Sunday to show support for the rebuilding of Black Jack. Clergy, customers, family members and the business community gathered at Salem Institutional Baptist Church and dollars were raised and commitments were made.

Dorothy Jones had to shut down business after a stolen vehicle, driven by teenagers, plowed into Black Jack Pizza on Martin Luther King Blvd in Sunny South Dallas.

Paul Quinn College at 150, celebrates Homecoming

Paul Quinn Homecoming Yasmine Preston, the 54th Miss Paul Quinn! 2022

Miss Paul Quinns from the 1950s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, the 2020s

Pres. Sorrell with alum Patrick Hilliard and junior

Political Adv. Paid by Judge Sandra Jackson Campaign.

Like Jamie Wear the masks, wash your hands and show love!

Migos Rapper Takeoff Shot Dead in Houston

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Senior Correspondent

The continued spate of violence against Hip Hop artists has claimed its latest victim and one of the genre’s big gest names.

Takeoff, one-third of the super trio Migos, died early Tuesday after being shot in Houston.

TMZ reported that the shooting oc curred shortly after 2:30 a.m. with mul tiple witnesses on scene.

“We’re told Takeoff and Quavo were there playing dice when an altercation broke out and that’s when someone opened fire, shooting Takeoff either in the head or near his head. He was pro nounced dead on the scene,” TMZ re ported.

The outlet posted footage from the scene where Quavo and others are gath ered around what appears to be a pro fusely bleeding Takeoff.

“Police tell us 2 other people were shot and were taken to the hospital in private vehicles. It’s unclear what their condi tions are. Quavo was not injured,” TMZ reported further.

Just a couple of hours before the shoot ing, Takeoff posted a selfie from the bowling alley. Quavo had posted vid eo earlier in the night, driving around Houston with Jas Prince, who was cele brating his birthday.

Takeoff, whose real name is Kirshnik Khari Ball, was the youngest member of Migos. Quavo was his uncle and Offset his cousin.

They came together as a group in 2008 in Georgia and became multi-platinum hitmakers, releasing “Versace,” in 2013, and “Bad and Boujee” in 2016.

Kirshnik Khari Ball, aka Takeoff

Kirshnik Khari Ball, aka Takeoff

Chuck D on Death of Takeoff:

"When Corporations Show Up God Leaves the Room"

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Senior Correspondent

As family, friends, and fans continue to mourn the death of Migos member Take off, the demand for hip-hop to take a stand against gun violence has grown.

While many have expressed disbelief and anger that the shooting death of the 28-yearold, whose real name is Kirshnik Khari Ball, took place allegedly because of an argument over a dice game.

Fans on social media and the mainstream press have quickly tossed blame at everyone from Takeoff’s bandmate Quavo to clothing boss J. Prince Jr. and even to the slain rap star himself.

And as always, hip-hop has come under fire.

That’s no surprise to legendary Public En emy frontman Chuck D, whom most recog nize as hip-hop’s voice of reason.

In putting in a perspective as perhaps only the “Fight the Power” artist can, Chuck not ed that any other industry that has seen as many fatalities as hip-hop would have ad dressed that issue long ago.

And Chuck doesn’t put the blame entirely on the artists.

“This curiosity of what is this hip-hop thing, what is this Black thing. The world always seems to want to know and mimic our greatness,” Chuck asserted in a 30-min ute interview with the Black Press of Amer ica’s live morning news program, “Let It Be Known.

“And if they can find a way to finance and have our people mimic us at our worst – the stereotype that generalizes us as a bunch of murderous thugs and metastasize that over a 10-15-20-year period as being normal, then we got a problem.”

He continued:

“I don’t blame the youth. You’ve got to blame some adults hiding behind the scenes, pied piping and pied papering all of this madness and making this kind of thing seem normal. Was there a shootout at a dice game? Yes. Were Black men involved in that circle? Yes. But it’s somebody pushing buttons and pulling levers and not only doing so but they

have been greatly enriched financially by these incidents.”

Takeoff’s death counts among a string of murders in the hip-hop community over the past several years.

Other high-profile murders include PnB Rock, Pop Smoke, XXXTentacion, Nipsey Hussle, King Von, and Young Dolph.

“I was in college when Biggie and ‘Pac was killed and thought there was no way we’d ever experience anything remotely close to that again,” media personality Jemele Hill tweeted following Takeoff’s death.

“Now,” Hill continued. “It’s happening so frequently that you barely have time to recov er before someone else is killed.”

Chuck noted that a large part of the ar gument about hip-hop deaths and violence comes from many who don’t consider all available facts.

is really no kind of educational forum that people can go to like in other aspects of life. Our arts and culture should be taught to us. If we don’t control our educational curriculum, we’re going to let corporations teach us. And, whenever corporations show up, God walks out the door.”

In a recent podcast, Takeoff spoke about receiving his flowers before he died.

“It’s time to pop it,” Takeoff said on “Drink Champs.”

“It’s time to give me my flowers. I don’t want them later when I’m not here. I want them right now.”

Chuck said the life artists today lead, com pared to earlier hip-hop stars, is different.

“At the beginning of hip-hop, especially in the real beginning, cats wanted to get away from that,” Chuck recounted.

“They didn’t want to be in the Bronx. New York City had been deemphasized and aban doned by the U.S.A. during a tough fiscal time post-Nixon. Cats saw the emergence of hard drugs coming in out of nowhere. Guns coming out of nowhere, and cats wanted to get away from that, and they didn’t want to [rhyme] about that in the 1980s.

He concluded:

“There are hundreds of thousands of artists out there,” he said when asked whether the younger artists pay attention to the old heads.

“Who do you count? Do you count the more successful ones because more people like them? When we start getting into follow ers and likes, those algorithms don’t add up to who we are as a people,” Chuck insisted.

He explained:

“I have ten stations on Rap Station (Radio). We play artists from the underground and under-found. We play artists with a 10-15year career, women worldwide and in more abundance than in the United States.”

Chuck continued:

“If you only pay attention to what’s being washed up on your shores, you’re going to get a limited view of what it really is. There

“You had MCs and rappers who adhered to those values and qualities. We could have “The Message” by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five that talked about what’s going on, but they also made party records to not talk about things people saw every day.

“There was a balance to at least try to bring good times into the picture. People often said Public Enemy bought a political message, but we came from the 1960s, so we remember a time of being broke but not broken.

“Many cats came from the 1970s doing hip hop in the 1980s and 1990s.

“We came from the Black Panther Party doing lunch programs, the Nation of Islam doing things in the neighborhood. We re member Dr. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X being assassinated when they were living people to us.

“On my birth certificate, it says ‘Negro.’ I remember being ‘Colored’ and ‘Black is Beau tiful.’ That’s a different period that has been kind of pushed under the rug in Americana.”

Chuck D

Dallas Wings Name New Head Coach

By Dorothy J. Gentry Sports Editor

The Dallas Wings are hoping the fifth time is the charm.

The WNBA team on Mon day announced the hiring of Latricia Trammell to serve as the organization’s next head coach. It will be the Wings’ fifth head coach in five seasons.

She will be formally in troduced at a press con ference on Friday, Nov. 11 at 12 p.m. CST at Troy’s at Texas Live! in Irving. The press conference will also be available for fans via live stream on the Wings’ Face book Page

Trammell joins the Wings after spending the previous four seasons with the Los Angeles Sparks. She was part of a staff that led a top-three defensive net rating for three con secutive years from 2019 to 2021. Over the past four seasons, Los Angeles also saw four players named to the WNBA All-Defensive teams, including the 2020 WNBA Defensive Play er of the Year in Candace Parker. Prior to her time in LA, Trammell spent one season as an assistant coach with the San Anto

nio Stars in 2017.

She replaces Vickie John son who was fired in Sep tember after two seasons despite the team finishing this past season with their best record since the Wings moved to Dallas in 2016 from Tulsa.

“I’m thrilled to be join ing the Dallas Wings and I am honored and excited to lead this talented roster,” Trammell said. “I’d like to thank Greg Bibb and Bill Cameron for their belief in me. The investment by this ownership group in the success of the Wings, both on and off the court,

is incredibly impressive. I believe my coaching expe riences at every level have prepared me for this op portunity and I can’t wait to get to work on behalf of this team, these loyal fans and the entire North Texas community.”

Trammell has almost 30 years of coaching ex perience. She spent three seasons at the helm of Oklahoma City University where the team won backto-back NAIA National Championships in 2014 and 2015. Trammell was named NAIA Coach of the Year both seasons. Tram

mell recorded a record of 85-10 over the course of her time at OKCU.

Prior to her time at Okla homa City, she spent five seasons at Western State (Colo.) University and ranks third all-time in wins in the history of the pro gram. Overall, she totaled a 150-86 (.664) collegiate coaching record. Prior to joining the collegiate ranks, Trammel spent six years coaching high school girls’ basketball in Texas and Oklahoma, tallying a 105-45 (.700) record.

“We are pleased to wel come Latricia Trammell as the head coach of the Dallas Wings,” President & CEO Greg Bibb stat ed. “Coach Trammell has proven to be a winner at every level of basketball she has coached, includ ing the WNBA. I have long admired the approach La tricia takes with coaching, which includes exhaustive preparation, an emphasis on communication and re lationships, and a continu al desire to learn and grow her craft. I’m excited to watch Latricia lead our tal ented roster as we contin ue our on-court growth in pursuit of a WNBA Cham pionship.”

Briefs

Actions of a write-in candidate prompt ed a judge to grant the 86-year-old Con gresswoman a restraining order against Debbie Walker

A judge has granted Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson a temporary re straining order against write-In candidate Debbie Walker for her fraudulent election signs. Walker has been using unautho rized photos of the Congresswoman in an effort to trick voters into supporting her.

Congresswoman Johnson’s chosen

successor, Dallas State Representative Jasmine Crockett, made the following comments on this situation:

“No one should have to experience this. Especially not someone who has dedicated 50 years, more than half her lifetime, to public service. I understand the harm and stress these antics cause not only to the individual but to the voters who are sick of the ugliness at the polls. While the Congresswoman should’ve been continuing to recover from her knee surgery and enjoying time with her great grandchildren, she had

to employ counsel to stop someone who couldn’t even figure out how to properly file to get on the ballot, from using her name and likeness.”

“I know following the law can be hard for some individuals, but the judge’s rul ing makes clear that this write-in candi date must take down these illegal signs,” Crockett said.

Crockett, who is an attorney, notes that if this candidate ignores the Judge’s order, she can find herself in contempt of court and face fines as well as incarcer ation.

Theme “From Prison to Promise”

Miles of Freedom celebrated 10 years of service to individuals and families who have been impacted by incarcera tion. Bridging the gap, this year’s theme is “From Prison to Promise.” The event was held at the Arts District Mansion, located at 2101 Ross Ave., Dallas. The celebration included a seated dinner, music, and reception. The guests were dressed to impress.

Richard Miles is the Founder of Miles of Freedom. He has walked the walk of the ex-offender. He has felt the burden of the label “ex-offender”, and for those reasons, creating this organization be

came his driving force. By founding Miles of Freedom, his dream became a reality to help others reach their prom ise and protect them against recidivism. The organization is now reaching out to help others come home, and in fact, tell them “welcome home.” Most important ly, it knows that housing, employment, and the opportunity to regain dignity and humanity are crucial to rebuilding lives. Miles gave his thanks saying, “The Miles of Freedom Family extends a gra cious Thank you for your unwavering support.” “And to everyone that came out, donated, and participated in the silent auction we are forever indebted to you for your support.”

Jasmine Crockett

Miles of Freedom

Photo: Richard Miles NL

Latoyia Dean-Dennis and Leah Frazier Co-Chair-Miles of Freedom

Photo: Latoyia Dean Dennis

Miles of Freedom

Photo: Akilah S. Wallace

From Staff Reports

Brief by Marva Sneed

Briefs

Celebrating 30 Years of BLACK EXCELLENCE!

Brief by Marva Sneed

J. L. Turner Legal Association celebrated their 70th Anniversary on Saturday, Novem ber 5 at Hyatt Regency-Dallas. There was a Cocktail Reception, Dinner, and Casino Night. The Attire was Formal 70’s Glam and Disco. The event was sold out. The sponsors of J.L. Turner Legal Association helps them continue their legacy of supporting minority law students and recognizing their dedicat ed sponsor and annual awards recipients.

UNT Black Alumni Network Celebrates Homecoming Weekend

by Marva Sneed

UNT Black Alumni Network (BAN) gathered in Denton at Home coming on November 5th it was the Mean Green vs. FIU Homecoming game. There were several events before the game included in UNT BAN homecoming weekend. The

alumni meet for their annual meeting with updates on the UNT Alumni Association chapter along with presentations from UNT lead ership and Black Student Union leaders. The Homecoming Tail gate kicked offed at 1:00 on Saturday. They enjoyed free food catered by Angelina’s Restaurant. The Mean

Green won 52-14 victory over FIU. After the game it was time to cele brate and party. UNT Black Alumni Network Homecoming After Party at the UNT Union Ballroom featur ing entertainment from the David Whiteman Band. There was great music, networking and reconnect ing with fellow UNT alumni.

Brief

UNT BAN AfterParty with David Whiteman Band

UNT BAN Chapter Annual Meeting

UNT BAN Homecoming Brunch and Tailgate

70th Anniversary of the J.L. Turner Legal Association

70th Anniversary of the J.L. Turner Legal Association Judges from Judge Martin Hoffman's Facebook page

J L Turner’s 70’s Gala by Aiesha Redmond Facebook page

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! November 2022

Shawn and Dominique Torres Williams

Mr. Reginald and Emelda Martin 55 years

Mr and Mrs. McGuire

Adrian and Dana Davis 30 years

Mr. and Mrs. Eddie and Ashlei Franklin 16 years in September

Mr. and Mrs. Jeffries 7 years

Ray and Raquel Jarrett 52 years

Mr. Rodney and Dr. Sheila Brooks 34 years

Mr. Jonathan and Denisia Wagner-Simpkins 8 years

Mr. and Mrs. Addo 1 year

Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Brown Sr.

Metro Community Calendar powered by

NOVEMBER

11

2022 Dallas HBCU Invi tational  5:00 PM –  Sat, Nov 12, 2022, 7:00 PM CST

Paul Quinn College  3837 Simpson Stuart Rd  Dallas, TX 75241

Tickets: https://www. eventbrite.com/e/2022-dallas-hbcu-invitation al-tickets-381336366337?aff=erellivmlt. This invitational highlights HBCU Women’s Bas ketball programs over two days! Look forward to action-packed college basketball supporting the women’s sport and culture! Four dynam ic HBCU women’s basketball teams will go head to head during at Paul Quinn College in historic gymnasium.

12

16th annual TASTE OF BLUE Wine & Spirit Tasting, 8pm-11pm at Vouv, 4445 Sigma Road, Dallas. www.sncfd.org/tasteofblue

Bands of Hope 9th Annual Char ity benefitting Bryan’s House, at the DoubleTree - Hilton Hotel Dallas-Campbell Centre, 8250 N. Central Expy at 6:30pm www.bandsofhope.org

Honoring

19

THE FLORIDA CLASSIC

Orlando is the place to be for one of the largest HBCU Classics between two giants: Bethune Cookman University and Florida A&M University

The Legacy of Service Foundation in collab oration with Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc, Omicron Mu Omega Chapter presents the 2022 Image Award to Jill Louis and Randy Bowman, 12-2pm at the Dallas Arboretum

20

Dallas Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority presents a Private Red Carpet Viewing of WAKANDA FOREVER AT STUDIO MOVIE GRILL - ARLINGTONHIGH LANDS, 225 MERCHANTS ROW IN ARLINGTON. $33.15 FOR ADULTS AND $22.50 - CHILDREN UNDER 12 *** DECEMBER 1

WORLD AIDS DAY!

3

The Viola’s House presents “Pathways to Redemption” Inaugural Black Tie Gala featuring Adrienne Ban field-Norris “Gammy” at 7:00pm in the Statler Hotel Grand Ballroom, Dallas. 8 NOIR

Dallas Black Chamber of Commerce Awards Event

Welcome to The Doc Shep Speaks Show!!!. Tuesdays at 11 am. CST Live on Facebook/@TexasMet roNews, @fnsconsulting, and You Tube Live @docshepspeaks.

Send your calendar items to editor@texasmetronews.com or call 214-941-0110

The World According to Andrew on BlogTalkRadio.com 8 am.-10 am. CST. Sundays Tune in for thought-provoking, enlightening, informative, and entertaining news and commentary. Join the call 646200-0459 on Andrew’s World.

WWW.TEXAS METRONEWS.

I Was Just Thinking with Nor ma Adams-Wade “History Class is in Session” Join in on Facebook/@TexasMetroNews and BlogTalkRadio.com at 11 am -1 pm. CST. Wednesdays. Join the conversation call 646-200-0459.

Elsie CookeHolmes and featuring special performer, R&B singing sensation, Eric Benet, at SMU.

Doc Shep Speaks Show! A fresh perspective, but still entertaining!

Lifestyle Metro Calendar powered by

NOVEMBER

National Hip Hop History Month

12

Unity Family Relationships and Building a Family Owned Business 12-week Workshop Series. Speakers Needed to Apply @ https:www.zwhjcoc. org/projects. Stage 1 Planning Meeting via Zoom 10 to 11 am.

***

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXASDALLAS/ NORTH TEXAS

Thanksgiving Mobile Food Pantry Distribution 9am

as an All-American family’s life is turned upside down and inside out. All proceeds from this event will be used to continue to bring awareness to mental health.

Red Carpet 6 PM Video & Live Panel Discussion 6:45PM Film Screening 7:30PM Website & Movement Launch 8:30PM

18

St. Philip’s School & Community Center presents the 7th Annual Daddy Daughter Dance “A Night Under the Sea” at St. Philip’s - Snyder Activity Center, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Dallas 7-9p.m. This event is open to the community. $35 for Daddy & Daughter and $7 for additional daughters

19

16th Annual TASTE OF BLUE Wine & Spirit Tasting

8pm-11pm at Vouv, 4445 Sigma Road in Dallas. The Elevated Tasting Experience is 6:30-7:30 pm

13

Hairstylists in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex will receive the red carpet treatment at the Best of Salons Gala, creat ed by the legend, Kaye Flewel len. The inaugural black-tie event is at 7pm in The National Ballroom in The Thompson Hotel, 1401 Elm St., Tashara Parker of WFAA is the evening’s host.

17

MyDearTheMovie.com.

A sneak peek of a new movie entitled “My Dear” written and produced by former Dallas Cowboy, Greg Ellis. This film tells the story through the eyes of a married professional football player and his daugh ter, Lilly. In “My Dear” the negative outcomes of untreated mental health issues are revealed

Dinner and Jazz Take a dash of Jazz, a Pre-Fixed menu, Wine pairings, a limited number of guests, and a featured musical artist... Hosted by Dinner four8.... Located at 1259 HARLANDALE AVE. Starts at 7:30

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Dallas Comedy Club Presents: FONZO CROW- See Fonzo Crow LIVE at Dallas Comedy Club, Saturday Nov. 26th! Dallas native Fonzo Crow is on FIRE!.. Located at- 3036 Elm Street, Dallas,75226,US.. Tickets · $20 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM CST

DECEMBER 14

Washington-Lincoln Alumni Association JINGLE AND MINGLE Christmas Luncheon 11:30 am - 1:30 pm at the Hilton Garden Inn, 800 North Main Street, Duncanville at $35 Contact Veronica Mosley (214)415-7503

JANUARY 13

The MLK Comedy Kick-Off Corey Holcomb & Friends hosted by Tony Roberts at the Majestic Theatre 14

The Legacy of Service Foundation in collab oration with Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc, Omicron Mu Ome ga Chapter presents the 2022 Image Award to Jill Louis and Randy Bowman, 12-2pm at the Dallas Arboretum

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105.7 Smooth Winter VII featuring Fantasia and Joe, with Special Guest RC Gritz at Texas Trust Theater at Grand Prairie

The R&B Kick Back featuring TYRESE, Anthony Hamilton and Donell Jones at Texas Trust Theater at Grand Prairie

Dallas Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority presents a Private Red Carpet Viewing of WAKANDA FOREVER AT STUDIO MOVIE GRILL - ARLINGTONHIGHLANDS, 225 MERCHANTS ROW IN ARLINGTON. TICKETS $33.15 FOR ADULTS AND $22.50 - CHILDREN UNDER 12

Chavis Declares ‘A Luta Continua’

As Black Press Set to Honor Icon with Lifetime Achievement Award

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Senior Correspondent

When the National News paper Publishers Association (NNPA) removed the interim president and CEO tag from Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. in 2014, then NNPA Board Chair Cloves Campbell conveyed to the membership that the civil rights icon possessed the tal ent and contacts to make an immediate impact.

Campbell, the publisher of the Arizona Informant, also highlighted another of Cha vis’ intangibles from which Black-owned media compa nies would benefit: energy.

Eight years later, and a de cade after running the NNPA on an interim basis, Chavis has continued to display the kind of energy seen primarily in individuals less than half his age.

He’s also led the NNPA, representing the 195-yearold Black Press of America, to financial prosperity when newspapers and media com panies universally struggle to keep the doors open.

Among the most recent ac complishments under Cha vis, the Black Press finally re ceived all-access to the White House.

It was Chavis leading a large contingent of Black Press publishers to Charles ton, South Carolina, during the 2020 primary season where they met with candi date Joe Biden.

At the time, Biden trailed

mightily in the polls and needed a victory in Dixie to survive. Chavis’ interview with Biden went viral, the for

mer vice president then re ceived a crucial endorsement from Rep. James Clyburn (DSC), won the primary, and his campaign rode the wave all the way to the White House.

He’s also brokered deals with or strengthened part nerships with the Bill & Me linda Gates Foundation, GM, Reynolds, AARP, API, and many others.

As he traversed the globe – in protective gear – during the pandemic, Chavis, by his actions and deft deal making, often reminded publishers, partners, sponsors, employ ees, and others of the catchy slogan he’s lived by since he was a wide-eyed 14-yearold serving in the Southern

Christian Leadership Confer ence under Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

“A luta continua” – or “the struggle continues.”

Because of his dedication and steadying hand, the his toric all-Black woman board of the NNPA unanimously has chosen Chavis as the re cipient of the NNPA Lifetime Achievement Award.

They will present the honor at a special gala during the NNPA’s annual midwinter training conference.

With the theme, “Digital Innovation, Training, and Engagement of the Black Press of America,” the con ference convenes on Feb. 1 at the brand-new Westin Beach Resort at Frenchmen’s Reef, Estate Bakkeroe, in St. Thom as, U.S. Virgin Islands.

“I’ve very honored to be considered by the NNPA for this esteemed award,” Chavis remarked.

“I do believe that, if any thing, my life represents a life of a freedom fighter. Howev er, I want to emphasize that accepting this ward in no way should be interpreted as say ing that the struggle for free dom has been completely won.”

Chavis continued:

“We’ve made tremendous progress in the last 100 years, but we still have a lot of prog ress and freedom to fight for.

“If I’ve learned anything over my last 75 years, it’s that when you win freedom to any extent, you must fight to pre

Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis

Dr. Benjamin Chavis

serve that freedom. You must fight to protect that freedom, endow that freedom, and sustain that freedom.

“Thus, I’m not willing to retire from being a freedom fighter. So, I accept this award as an incentive to keep fight ing for freedom for people of African descent, Americans, and those worldwide.”

Chavis has a well-docu mented history.

The leader of the Wilm ington 10 political prisoners, Chavis is also renowned for his early fight for environ mental justice.

In the 1980s, he coined the term “environmental racism.”

Chavis has advised many prominent politicians and entertainers – many like Hip Hop and Business Mogul Russell Simmons, refer to Chavis as a mentor.

A former NAACP president, Chavis organized the Million Man March and co-founded the Hip Hop Summit with Simmons.

A younger generation of admirers still approaches Chavis in awe of his appear ance in the hip hop classic movie drama, “Belly.”

Many of all ages contin ue to revere Chavis as a civil rights leader and a reverend.

“Dr. Chavis has given meaning to the words of Mi cah 6:8 in the Bible,” said San Diego Voice & Viewpoint Publisher Dr. John Warren.

Quoting the King James Bible, Warren said of Chavis, “And what does the Lord thy God require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.”

Chavis has served the NNPA and “the people of this country with honesty, integ rity, and selflessness, with out looking for awards, rec ognition, or accolades,” said NNPA Vice Chair and Atlanta

Voice Publisher Janis Ware.

“Today, we celebrate a man who leads with heart, love for his God, and all people from all walks of life. He is truly a rare human being. One to go down in the annals of human history as special and one for the ages.”

NNPA Treasurer and Texas Metro News Publisher Cheryl Smith also praised Chavis for having “led a life of service.”

“He is a true servant lead er who has his finger on the pulse of our people, our com munities, and the world,”

Marshall continued:

“From his longtime com mitment to civil rights to his ardent passion for equity and justice, Ben has consistently proven himself to be the con summate public servant.

“He is more than deserving of this lifetime achievement award, and I am pleased to endorse his selection to this prestigious honor.”

Chavis noted that those sentiments mean a great deal.

“This award is particularly significant because it comes from my colleagues, fellow

people after enduring suffer ing because of the fight.

“I am one to say, because of the strength, courage, and fortitude of the Rev. Dr. Ben jamin F. Chavis Jr., the Black Press of America, the NNPA, and the world are better be cause of him,” Henry assert ed.

“Congratulations, Dr. Cha vis. A luta continua.”

While preparing for the conference, Chavis said he was far from finished.

“When I came to this job ten years ago, I came with a sense of optimism,” Chavis recalled.

“Now, 10 years later, my optimism has increased ex ponentially because I see the potential of the Black Press. I’m very pleased to see so many young Generation Z journalists, writers, photogra phers, and content creators.”

Smith asserted.

“I am so appreciative of his leadership, wisdom, and sup port,” she added.

NNPA Fund Chairman and Los Angeles Wave Publica tions CEO Pluria Marshall Jr. called Chavis a potent and stabilizing force.

“For more than ten years, Ben has been a potent and stabilizing force for NNPA and its nonprofit NNPA Fund,” Marshall insisted.

“He is a visionary consen sus builder and community advocate whose calm and deft communication skills have helped make the Black Press an even stronger media force in America.”

publishers, journalists, edi tors, and writers,” Chavis said.

“It reminds me of what James Baldwin reminded me of when he said the pen is mightier than the sword.”

“I’m thankful I’ve been able to use my pen as an in strument for freedom. I ac cept this award on behalf of the Chavis family, a free dom-fighting family fighting for freedom worldwide for over 250 years.”

Westside Gazette Publisher Bobby Henry said it’d been some time since someone has stood on the shoulders of history makers to demand freedom, justice, and equality for all, particularly for Black

“I think the future in this digital space … it’s not just that we should be in this space but leading the space forward. So, my optimism is still intact and has increased because I’ve seen not only the expansion and success of the Black Press over the last de cade, but I’ve seen glimpses of the brighter future ahead.

“The biggest challenge is the economic and equity question. We must work on that to sustain Black-owned businesses, particularly Black-owned media, eco nomically and equitably. That’s the next hurdle, and I will live out my years making sure that we don’t miss a beat in improving the economic equity of Black-owned busi nesses and Black-owned me dia companies.”

For discounted resort rates for the NNPA Midwin ter Training Conference in St. Thomas, and for more information, visit www.nn pa-events.com.

Atty. Ben Crump and Dr. Benjamin Chavis

VICTORIOUS!

Dominique Torres Williams

Nicole Taylor

Rafael Anchia

Jasmine Crockett

Clay Jenkins

Venton Jones

Alisa Simmons

LaDeitra Adkins

Marc Veasey

Dallas County Democratic Party Chair Kristy Noble and Vice Chair Kardal Coleman released the following statement on Dallas County election results:

“It’s a good day to be a Democrat in Dallas County!

Last night voters flipped three county seats red to blue, resulting in a Dallas County government that’s nearly all Democratic (one seat remaining out of more than 40) and more reflective of our county. Congratulations to all our Democratic incumbents from federal, to Texas Legislature, to the county level who held their seats, the next generation of Democratic leaders including Jasmine Crockett and Venton Jones headed to the U.S. House and State House, and Andy Sommerman, Henry Curry, and Adam Swartz who won their races for county commissioner, constable, and justice of the peace.

When elected in 2021, we

promised to grow our majority in Dallas County, and today’s new reality will mean real improvements in the daily lives of Dallas County residents— greater access to healthcare, affordable housing, safer communities, and broadband access required in 2022 and beyond for successful education, employment, and business.

These election wins are thanks to our coordinated campaign centering strong Democrats, infrequent and young voters in multiple languages, working with allied organizations, strategists, Democratic clubs, precinct chairs, grassroots volunteers and donors, and our dedicated staff and interns. While we are still crunching numbers, we are heartened by news from the Dallas County Elections Department on 25-34 and 35-44 age groups turning out on Election Day. We thank all our candidates and their families for their

commitment to improve our collective well-being and to uphold democracy. Much gratitude also to the hundreds of election judges, clerks, and voter protection workers, and our staff who recruited them, for providing a safe, secure, and friendly voting experience.

Although the statewide results are not what we hoped for, we ask Dallas County voters to not be discouraged, and to stay in the fight towards progress with us. Our fundamental rights are under attack from Republican extremists, but we won’t back down. We will continue to rise together.

As we look ahead to the next elections, gains made in Dallas County cement the importance of local control, growing our majorities, and collective power. We must work to strengthen our democracy from the school board to city halls across our diverse county, because all politics are local."

Yvonne Davis

John Creuzot

Sonja A. Brown