By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Senior Correspondent
CIA director Bill Burns and Russia’s spy agency boss Sergey Naryshkin planned to meet this week to discuss potential conse quences if nuclear weapons are used in the war against Ukraine.
But U.S. officials said Burns and Narysh kin, scheduled to meet on Monday, Nov. 14, also were expected to discuss the potential release of WNBA Star Brittney Griner and former U.S. military veteran Paul Whelan, both deemed by America as unlawfully de tained citizens.
The Biden administration has maintained its determi nation to bring home Griner and Whelan.
Russian authorities re cently transferred Griner to the country’s dreaded penal colony, where many prison ers have detailed abuse along with a multitude of other human rights vi olations.
side contact for weeks.
The colonies are notorious for corrections officers’ repeated abuse of prisoners, vio lence among inmates, lack of food, and inad equate sanitation.
Confirmed reports said the United States government had offered to swap the socalled “Merchant of Death” Viktor Bout for Griner and another imprisoned American, Paul Whelan.
Bout, who’s serving a 25-year federal pris on sentence and notorious for his desire to kill Americans, reportedly has been at the top of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s wish list.
Brittney Griner
Russian officials jailed Griner in February when authorities arrested her at a Moscow airport after finding a small amount of can nabis oil in her luggage.
A court convicted Griner in August of trying to smuggle narcotics. She received a nine-year sentence, which an appeals court upheld last month.
“We communicated a sub stantial offer that we believe could be successful based on a history of conversations with the Russians,” a senior administration official said earlier this year. “We commu nicated that many weeks ago, in June.”
The families of Whelan, who Russia has held for alleged espionage since 2018, and WNBA star Griner, jailed in Moscow for drug possession since February, have urged the White House to secure their release, includ ing via a prisoner exchange, if necessary, the report stated.
During her court testimony, Griner said she’s still unsure how cannabis oil ended up in her luggage.
She said a doctor recommended cannabis oil for her injuries on the basketball court.
White House Press Secretary Karine JeanPierre said last week that President Biden had directed all in the administration to prevail on her “Russian captors” to improve Griner’s treatment and the conditions many must endure in the country’s penal colony.
Individuals who’ve spent time at one of Russia’s infamous penal colonies re ported that prisoners aren’t allowed out
“I still don’t understand to this day how they ended up in my bags,” Griner said, add ing that she was aware of the Russian law outlawing cannabis oil and that she had not intended to break it.
“I didn’t have any intention to use or keep in my possession any substance that is pro hibited in Russia,” Griner said.
U.S. officials continue to wait for word from the Russian government on whether they will accept the swap, and now some are hoping that the planned meeting between the two Intelligence officials could yield results.
Biden administration has maintained its commitment to bringing home Griner, Whelan
I will never forget that unique voice that was so soft, but you could always hear her joy. She was consistently kind, generous, and a fighter. Our grandmothers were best friends. Our grandfathers were on the dea con board together.
For African Americans, the pending Supreme Court decision on Roe v. Wade conjures up memories of the Plessy v. Ferguson case and the fight over segregation and other previously denied equal rights. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress) p5 p13 p21
Violent crime, which fell during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, has returned to a level last seen in 2016. A majority of the perpetrators of violent crime are white. And undocumented immigrants are far less likely than na tive-born Americans to commit violent crimes.
The African American Mu seum, Dallas unveiled a new documentary – The Artful Dream Fulfilled: The African American Museum of Dallas –debuted Friday, Nov. 11.
The Artful Dream Fulfilled: The African American Muse um of Dallas highlights the remarkable history – the chal lenges, the behind-the-scenes stories and the joyful achieve ments – of bringing the dream of a new museum to life.
As a cultural-historical landmark, the documentary film highlights only a few of the key early contributors and others who tell part of the mu seum’s 47-year journey from their perspective.
In addition to the perspec tive of Dr. Harry Robinson Jr., who founded the African American Museum and con tinues to serve as president and CEO, the 37-minute doc umentary includes the views of Billy R. Allen, civic leader
and former Dallas Park Board president; Dr. Marvin Du laney, a former UT-Arlington professor, African American historian and the Museum’s deputy director and chief op erations officer; Helen Gid dings, former member of the Texas House of Representa tives; Dr. Starsky Wilson of the
Children’s Defense Fund; and Amber Barbee Pickens, ac tress and producer.
Created by Dallas-based firm CinemaStory Produc tions, the film was the brain child of Dr. Helen Benjamin and Linda Dickerson Lamar, who graduated from Bishop College together in 1972. The
women wanted to preserve the African American Muse um history for the ancestors and future generations and pay tribute to the role that Bishop College played in the creation and development of the museum.
Learn more at aamdallas. org/lectures-and-programs/.
As I rode through Dallas last week, I was disgusted.
I actually felt sick to my stomach.
On street after street, I saw people sleeping on the sidewalks of the best city to live in the state of Texas, ac cording to blogger Ryan Fitzgerald, writing for UpHomes.com.
All I knew was that it was hot and no one needed to be sleeping on the streets in a country where people pick up stray animals and take them home, without reservation.
And there I sat in the comfort of my vehicle with the air conditioning blasting.
This week, I had the same upset stomach because once again, I was riding through downtown and saw so many homeless folks making their beds on concrete.
This time, it was not hot. It was freezing and this time I had the heat blasting.
Just reliving both rides caused me pain.
No matter my situation, the thought that I would be exiting my car to go into the warmth of my home was enough to make me cringe!
People need help and not just during “Giving Day” or holiday sea sons. Everyday something needs to be done to eradicate the homelessness issue.
I just can’t see how anyone of con sciousness and conscience can not
feel something about our homeless situation.
Sure we have organizations that are helping. Sadly, we have some that say they are helping but is the help really going to those really in need?
For example, I recently heard from someone who said they sought aid from an area church because a friend had received aid. The friend who re ceived aid, lives with his spouse and two children in a home and he and his wife are working; making way above the minimum wage.
The person seeking aid was denied because the church representatives said the program was out of funds.
Here was a widow not even living from paycheck to paycheck because she was always behind, taking care of two children and working two jobs, but determined to stay off of government assistance. All she wanted was a help ing hand, and instead she saw people cheating the system to get funds.
Interesting that I should hear that story the day after watching the CBS hit series, The Equalizer. In the epi sode one young lady asked her friend to help her complete an application to get into a program.
When her friend began reviewing the application, she saw that the ap plicant used a Spanish surname so she asked her who the person was. It appears the applicant was using her grandfather’s name, which was actu
ally her middle name and she felt she stood a better chance of getting into the program if she were a minority.
“I’ve known you since seventh grade and you have always been white,” her friend challenged her, telling her fur ther that she didn’t feel comfortable with the deception.
Well, there’s a lot of deception going on and unfortunately the needy are remaining in need.
Which brings me to my truth.
We have to care about the least of us.
Dallas has a Citizen Homelessness Commission that advises the City Manager and City Council on issues affecting homelessness with focus on evaluating new and existing programs, coordinating with other local and re gional bodies addressing homeless ness, among other duties.
I applaud those agencies that are working to stem the tide.
Surely there has to be a solution.
Someone has to have an answer for solving the homelessness issue in Dal las and everywhere else!
It begins with each of us doing what we can do to help the least of us.
Are you willing to do something? We’re going to be sharing information to assist you in your efforts to help others.
Hopefully you will be interested and you will do for others what you’d hope someone would do for you or some one you love!
I will never forget that unique voice that was so soft, but you could always hear her joy. She was con sistently kind, generous, and a fighter. Our grand mothers were best friends. Our grandfathers were on the deacon board togeth er. We were both in youth ministry as kids at First Baptist Church on Hen derson Avenue in Shreve port, Louisiana. Although our lives moved in differ ent directions after high school, she went on to be come a fierce warrior in the domestic violence space advocating for women. She was well known and respected for the ways in which she served others. Despite the media atten tion she received for being a change agent, she was still down to earth and a true lover of people. It was painful to find out that she had become ill and that on Sunday, she passed away. It was a blessing to grow up with such a beautiful per son who was always a light. The legacy she has left be hind for her mother, two sons, family, friends, and those she served is monu mental.
Death is something that we will ALL face. It is inev itable. The day will come when each of us will leave
this body. We will leave be hind our possessions, our jobs, our relationships. My friend is the epitome of a life well lived. Her Face book page is filled with tributes of the kindness she displayed to others. I am sure this weekend at her services, the tributes of her character and compassion
what you said, how you treated them, your traits and the impact you had on their existence.
What will people say about you when you are no longer here?
Are you too busy build ing a life of success or one of significance?
want you to be uninformed, believers, about those who are asleep [in death], so that you will not grieve [for them] as the others do who have no hope [beyond this present life]. (1 Thessalo nians 4:13, AMP)
will continue to be shared.
Some of us get so fixat ed on the wrong things as we strive for success. We can get so focused on the end result that we don’t think much about the pro cess or the people. People don’t remember when you are gone what you wore, how much you made, or the titles you had through out your career. People remember how you made them feel. They remember
The impact of my child hood friend’s life will rever berate for years beyond her time on earth. I am com forted in knowing that she lived a wonderful life but more so that because of her belief in God and strong faith, I know where she is. “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to pre pare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am go ing.” (John 14:1-4)
God has prepared a place for her. I am saddened by the loss of such a wonder ful human, but my grief is different. “Now we do not
Although the dates of January 14, 1972 — No vember 6, 2022 only share her birth and death, it doesn’t offer any indica tor what happened in the dash. Her dash was one that was transformative. In her dash, she made those around her better. Her dash made a difference. What is happening with your dash?
Live a life that matters.
Live a life that blesses others.
Most importantly, live a life of accepting, believing unconditionally, knowing intimately, and walking daily with God.
Rest well, my friend. Your legacy of love lives on!
Dr. Froswa’ Booker-Drew is the Founder and CEO of Soulstice Consultancy, specializing as a Partnership Broker and Leadership Expert for companies and organizations to thrive with measurable and meaningful impact. She also is the VP of Community Affairs and Strategic Alliances for the State Fair of Texas.
God has prepared a place for her. I am saddened by the loss of such a wonderful human, but my grief is different. “Now we do not want you to be uninformed, believers, about those who are asleep [in death], so that you will not grieve [for them] as the others do who have no hope [beyond this present life]. (1 Thessalonians 4:13, AMP)Petrina Gay Jenkins
Seven days after news of her move to a Russian penal colony – without knowledge from her law yers –the exact location of WNBA Star Brittney Griner is now known, her legal team announced Thurs day.
Griner, a Houston native who played college bas ketball at Baylor Univer sity, has been transported to Penal Colony IK-2 in the Russian region of Mordo via, her lawyers said in a statement on Thursday.
In a statement sent to ABC News, Griner’s law yers said they visited the
Phoenix Mercury star ear lier this week. “Brittney is doing as well as could be expected and trying to stay strong as she adapts to a new environment,” the statement read.
“On behalf of Brittney, we would like to thank ev eryone who has expressed care for her. During the last few days, we’ve received numerous messages of support. Considering that this is a very challenging period for her, there will be no further comments from us.”
Last month a Russian court rejected Griner’s ap peal of her nine-year-sen tence for drug possession.
Griner 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 playing bas ketball during the WNBA offseason.
She admitted having the canisters but that she inad vertently packed them and had no criminal intent.
The eight-time all-star center with the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and twotime Olympic gold medal ist has been detained for almost nine months.
Stay tuned to Texas Met ro News for updates on this continuing story.
Medicare plans change every year and so can your health. Now’s the time to compare your current Medicare plan to other options and choose the right plan for your health and your budget.
Use Medicare.gov to easily compare options for Medicare health and prescription drug plans.
Do a side-by-side comparison of: Plan Coverage Costs Quality Ratings
Find your plan at Medicare.gov or call 1-800-MEDICARE (TTY 1-877-486-2048)
Medicare Savings Programs, run by your state, can help lower your healthcare costs.
If you’re single with an income of $20,000 or less, or if you’re married with an income of $25,000 or less, you may be eligible to save with Medicare Savings Programs.
Call your state Medicaid office at 1-800-252-9240.
Paid for by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
You might find one that saves you money.”Brittney Griner
The following is the full text of Mayor Eric Johnson’s 2022 State of the City Address. Please note: Mayor Johnson occasionally deviated from the text as prepared.
Madam Secretary, City Manager Broadnax, City Attorney Caso, City Audi tor Swann, Judge Robinson, members of the Dallas City Council, esteemed elected of ficials, board and commission members, city staff, honored guests, and fellow residents of the great City of Dallas: thank you for joining me this morn ing.
My duty here, under the Dallas City Charter, is to once again report to you on the state of our city, its financial condition, and our plans for the future.
And today, I can proudly say that the state of our city is stronger than ever, and that Dallas is back.
We’re back because we con tinue to focus on our future while building on our past and addressing our challenges.
And that’s why I chose to again deliver this annual ad dress at Fair Park, a uniquely Dallas venue that represents both our city’s past and our future.
Fair Park both serves our residents and puts Dallas on the world stage. Every year, Fair Park hosts special events, concerts, musicals, and fes tivals. Every summer, more than 10,000 Dallas residents come here to pick up school supplies during the Mayor’s Back to School Fair. And ev ery fall, the great State Fair of Texas, which set a new atten
dance record this year, draws millions of people to Fair Park from all over our city, from across this region, and from around the world.
Fair Park has also been an invaluable asset for us during difficult times. Remember, just a year and a half ago, this park was a vaccination site for hundreds of thousands of people.
That collaborative effort helped us bring an end to those dark and desperate days when COVID-19 kept us apart, forced us into virtual meeting marathons, and took our kids out of their classrooms.
Fair Park, in other words, is a place of hope, a place of op portunity, a place for fun, and a place that serves our fami lies.
However, it is abundant ly clear that we haven’t been putting our best foot forward here at Fair Park. Unfortunate ly, like too many communities in our city, Fair Park and its surrounding neighborhoods have largely been under served and overlooked — and for far too long.
Today, I say to you: no more. Not here, and not anywhere in our city.
We’re committed to build ing a Dallas where no com munity will be underserved or overlooked. We’re working to bring an end to the era of in equities. And we’re beginning a new era of opportunity for all of our residents.
One week ago, Dallas voters took advantage of an histor ic opportunity. Through their overwhelming approval of Proposition A, we are primed
to make the single-largest in vestment in Fair Park’s 136year history. And we’ll be able to revitalize Fair Park and make it — for the first time — a genuine asset to its surround ing community and its incred ible people.
And that’s not all.
reduce violent crime, and to support our firefighters and paramedics.
We’re investing in new strategies to reduce the scourge of homelessness. We’re fully funding the Office of the Inspector General to end corruption at City Hall. We’re demanding a more accountable and responsive city government for our resi dents. And we’re adding new parks, trails, and green spac es at an unprecedented pace.
Our efforts are paying off. In the last four years, Dallas has welcomed $14 billion in new development, and we have billions more in the pipeline.
Our voters also supported funding that will help us ex pand and modernize the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center. That means we can bring new development and new life to downtown Dallas. It means creating new places that can be enjoyed by both Dallas residents and visitors alike.
It also means we can do all of this for our city without rais ing taxes on our residents.
In fact, we’re making these significant investments as we work to reduce our resi dents’ property tax burden. I’m proud to say that just two months ago, this City Council voted for our largest tax-rate cut in at least four decades.
And we did that while still increasing our commitment to our top priorities. We’re boosting spending to grow our police department, to
My friends, we’ve come a long way from the distress ing days of lockdowns, civil unrest, natural disasters, and other assorted calamities.
Even in the face of today’s national and international challenges, the City of Dallas has been undeterred.
We’ve stayed focused. We’ve solved problems. We’ve kept promises. And we’ve em powered our people.
As a result, Dallas emerged from the pandemic as a na tional leader — as America’s “Comeback City.” And we have an undeniable and irre pressible spirit — or as some call it, “Big Dallas Energy.”
Don’t get me wrong: we understand that there is still plenty of work to do. And we know that as we stand tall, the pendulum will try to swing back and knock us on our heels.
But this is a city that em braces challenges — and we
thrive because of them. This great unfinished metropolis continues to brim with po tential because we acknowl edge our imperfections and actively work to correct them. We’re ignoring the doubting Thomases, and we’re putting our faith in each other. Our hearts are full, our dreams are big, and this decade is ours for the taking.
It’s difficult for me not to be romantic about the possi bilities of our city. As many of you know, I’m one of the very few mayors in our city’s his tory who was born and raised in Dallas.
I now stand before you as the mayor of the ninth-largest city in the nation after spend ing a childhood cramped in a two-bedroom apartment with three siblings and two parents in West Dallas and Oak Cliff.
It would be easy to tell you that I came from nothing — and that I had nothing back then. However, that wouldn’t be true. Because for every thing I lacked and did with out as a kid, I had my family. I had a community that cared about me. And I had access to a quality education.
Not everyone I grew up with could say they had the same.
As we continue to build on our city’s momentum, that is where our focus must be: On making life better for our fam ilies. On strengthening our neighborhoods. And on pro viding greater opportunities for our residents to achieve their goals and aspirations.
That means we must nev er forget that the foundation of everything we do is public safety.
Since I became mayor, city leaders have committed to my goal of making Dallas the safest major city in the United States.
No matter which way the political winds blew, I’ve al ways put public safety first. I fought back against the “de fund the police” movement, and I fought for the equip ment, the compensation, and the community support that our police department need ed to reduce violent crime.
My views on public safe ty have been shaped by evi dence and data, but they’re also firmly rooted in my up bringing.
When I was in high school in the early 1990s, our nation and our city experienced the four most violent years in our history. In 1991, when I was a sophomore, Dallas hit a re cord high of 500 murders that year. And the victims were predominantly young men who looked like me, and were from neighborhoods just like mine.
The fact is, though, these were strong — and still are — neighborhoods. They weren’t the Wild West. Our neighbors were overwhelm ingly law-abiding people who looked out for each other and who worked hard to put food on the table.
But life was made all the more difficult because of a small group of people who preyed on their neighbors. They’re what we call “the criminal element.” They’re not the victims of a flawed system — they’re one of the system’s biggest flaws. They took lives, they terrified and devastated families, and they were a hindrance that pre vented many people from reaching their full potential.
That’s the world I grew up in: a world where trouble was all around us, where safety — that most basic of needs — was no guarantee. It was, sad ly, a world where our dreams were too frequently interrupt ed — literally and figuratively
— by the sound of gunfire.
When it comes to public safety, we must be guided by the core belief that all of our communities deserve to be safe — and want to be safe. That they want the criminal element weeded out of their neighborhoods. And that they want to be treated fairly and to get the same level of service as other parts of town.
That’s why we need welltrained officers. That’s why we need community policing, accountable policing, and da ta-driven policing. And that starts with strong leadership.
When our city went looking for a new police chief back in late 2020, I knew that we weren’t going to find some one who had all the answers.
But I also knew we needed someone who would relent lessly seek those answers and even team up with criminol ogists to implement the best violent crime reduction strat egies available.
That’s why I’m so grateful that we found the best police chief in the nation, my part ner in reducing violent crime, Eddie Garcia.
Behind Chief Garcia’s pro active leadership, the dai ly heroism of the men and women of the Dallas Police Department, and our com munity-based violent crime reduction programs, I’m proud to say that once again, Dallas is bucking national trends when it comes to vio lent crime.
As violent crime in other cities has continued to go up, in Dallas, violent crime is still going down.
Our violent crime plan has yielded a 12-percent reduc tion in the places where it has been implemented. And I’m proud to report that Dallas is much safer today than it was two years ago, and we’re posi tioned to make it even safer in
the years ahead.
Not every city can say that. We should be proud of what we’ve accomplished. But the chief knows, like I do, that we don’t get to celebrate as long as there are still families in Dallas whose lives are forever changed by violence.
That’s why this year, the Dallas City Council agreed to fund the hiring of another 250 police officers in the year ahead — and to pay them fairly.
This will allow us to contin ue implementing the violent crime reduction plan where it is most needed.
Our commitment to public safety is also why we created the Mayor’s Summer of Safety Campaign, which helped us keep our kids safe while they were out of school by guid ing them to our city’s free and low-cost programs and activ ities.
It’s why we’re working to improve our blight remedia tion strategies. It’s why we’re improving lighting in highcrime areas. It’s why we’re partnering with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commis sion to hold bars and night clubs accountable for keep ing their patrons safe. And it’s why we’re using violence in terruption strategies to deter criminal behavior.
This is the “kitchen-sink approach” to fighting vio lent crime. And that’s what it takes: everyone working to gether, relentlessly and stra tegically, toward the same goal.
The stakes are high. Out there in Dallas right now are kids like me — kids like the ones I grew up with. And they deserve to grow up in safe communities and to dream big dreams.
Read Mayor Johnson's message in its entirety at www.myimessenger.com
You can get hooked on this stuff! While we constant ly hear “Self-care is the best care,” VitaDrip & Wellness Spa in Dallas delivers an environ ment that helps get you there.
“I just feel so free,” Adrienne Christian said. “I think I want to go home and go to bed.”
Christian and others sat calmly and relaxed on stools at the bar. The lights were low with a hint of blue. Each per son that came in was hesitant to leave.
Many giggled at one woman who proudly exclaimed she liked “Sex on the Beach” the best.
For some, it was a new ex perience, while others spoke of their encounters in Vegas and Los Angeles.
While they wore tubing in their nose and looped around their ears that stereotypically is indicative of illness, they all seemed pleased and well with the flavors at the Oxygen Bar.
Some of the scents were sweet while others were more
medicinal. With 48 flavored oxygen treatments to choose from, it’s easy to find a few fa vorites, which VitaDrip shared in a news release are designed to “boost energy levels, pro vide stress release, increase concentration and ease head aches and hangovers.”
On the other side of the glass, some patrons were
lounging in chairs and receiv ing intravenous (IV) treat ments. The IV Drip treatments range from hydration to im mune support and more.
The combination of these styles of elective care in a sin gle location is considered a rare find in Dallas. Local reg istered nurse Sylvie Enoh left her job during the pandemic
to bring this concept to life. The doors opened Nov. 10, 2022 and its jovial approach to healthcare is bound to be worth trying and returning for the unique offerings.
Check out the opportunity to just breathe or sit and relax while infusion for your health takes you on a journey. They offer other services such as botox, platelets rich plasma and aesthetics too. VitaDrip & Wellness Spa is located at 7929 Brookriver Drive, Suite 170 Dallas, TX 75247. For more information, visit vitad ripandwellnessspa.com.
Now that the election is over, this is a good time for re ality checks.
First, we must take a close look at the messages sent by all voters on election day. On the Conservative Right, we find people running for and getting elected to offices at all levels who clearly stated that they are “election deniers” in terms of the election of Presi dent Joe Biden.
Those same people have said they will not accept cur rent election results unless they win the offices for which they are running. Such peo ple are behind the voter suppression laws instituted
around the country.
Those who agree with them but not running for office have made their positions known by the re-election of such people as Governor Greg Abbot in Texas, Gov ernor DeSantis in Florida, Senator Marco Rubio in Flor ida over Congresswoman Val Demings, and a number of other such elections around the country.
The Conservative Right is now the Republican Par ty. The Democratic Party, expressing concern for de
mocracy and the rule of law, regardless of who wins, is in danger of losing our precious rights, even though they have made progress in this elec tion, in some cases beyond what was expected.
“We The People” have demonstrated our faith in the democratic process by our re cord breaking turnout at the polls, with more votes to yet be counted.
Now, “We The People” must actively get engaged at all levels of government be cause those against whom we
struggled in this election will not stop because this election is over.
The key is not to lose sight of our local issues while fight ing to protect our national interests. The issues of home lessness, inflation, unem ployment, gas and healthcare must remain priorities with all of us. The bottom line, we must stay engaged. This battle is ongoing.
Dr. John E. Warren is publisher of The San Diego Voice and Viewpoint.
DR. JOHN E. WARREN
"Now, 'We The People' must actively get engaged at all levels of government because those against whom we struggled in this election will not stop because this election is over."
- Dr. John E. Warren
For African Americans, the pending Supreme Court deci sion on Roe v. Wade conjures up memories of the Plessy v. Ferguson case and the fight over segregation and oth er previously denied equal rights. (Courtesy of the Li brary of Congress)
During this Supreme Court session, the justices will tack le affirmative action in two cases brought by Students for Fair Admissions opposing affirmative action policies at Harvard University and the University of North Caroli na. According to its website, this group represents “20,000 students, parents and others who believe that racial clas sifications and preferences to college admissions are unfair, unnecessary and unconsti tutional.” Where were these people when African Amer icans were explicitly exclud ed from college admissions? Where were they when Black folks had to sue to be admit ted?
Consider the George Mc Laurin v. Oklahoma State Re gents case, where McLaurin, an African American man, was denied admission to a graduate program at Oklaho ma University solely because of his race. In 1950, it was il legal in Oklahoma to attend,
teach at or operate an edu cational institution that ad mitted both white and Black students. Taxpayers, includ ing Black citizens, funded this university. This was affirma tive action for white folks, but no “Students for Fair Admis sions” challenged the racist policy.
Anti-blackness was accept able historically, and it is alive and well today. The bizarre concept of race neutrality in a racist society is nothing more than historical deni al. Anti-blackness is woven into the fabric of our nation, and affirmative action, mi nority set- asides, and other race-conscious remedies are merely the antidote to histor ical structural racism. These “Students for Fair Admission” have embraced the absolute unfairness of how national public policy is tilted against Black people. Enslavement was not race-neutral. Jim Crow laws were not race-neu tral. Fair Housing redlining was not race-neutral. But these Students for Fair Ad missions want race neutrali ty. They need the education in American history they missed since they did not study how so-called race neutrality has harmed Black people.
Once admitted to Oklaho ma University, George Mc Laurin was segregated in the library, classrooms, and caf eteria. The lower court ruled that his “inconvenience” was minor. The Supreme Court found for McLaurin, but
only after a multi-year battle. Meanwhile, Oklahoma Uni versity found his classroom presence so onerous that he was forced to listen to lectures in a closet that was separate from the classroom space for other students.
McLaurin was not the only student who attempted ad mission to Oklahoma State University, nor the only one who challenged them in court. Ada Lois Sopuel Fish er applied to OU’s law school but was denied entry because of her race. Thanks to the NAACP and the McLaurin ag itation, she was admitted in 1949 and graduated in 1951. She was appointed to the OU Board of Regents in 1992.
In Oklahoma and many other states, justice delayed has been justice denied. Like many other plaintiffs, Mc Laurin was over 60 when he pursued his case. He held a master’s degree and was a professor at HBCU Langston University for over 30 years. But the Supreme Court case seemed to take its toll on him. There is no record that he graduated, although his wife, Peninah, earned a master’s in Home Economics from OU in 1954. George McLaurin died in 1968.
Do these Students for Fair Admissions know this? Do they care that George Mc Laurin, and so many others, experienced no fairness? Does it matter to them that the antidote to this unfair ness is affirmative action?
Or do privileged whites and white-adjacent people (like the Asian Americans who embrace anti-Blackness and white privilege) simmer in their faux superiority to attack Black people?
Affirmative action opened doors that had, for so long, been shut in the face of Black students. These “Students for Fair Admissions” want to close the doors again. Asso ciate Justice Clarence Thomas has his fingerprints all over this. Two of his former law clerks are the attorneys for Students for Fair Admissions. Thomas is a study of racial contradictions, but the best analysis comes from Asso ciate Justice Thurgood Mar shall, who said that whether a snake is Black or white, it is still a snake. Thomas would describe himself as a consti tutional strict construction ist. I’d call him an example of how Black folk can embrace anti-Blackness and deny his tory in their effort to appease and embrace white predatory capitalists.
The Students for Fair Ad missions and their Thom as-connected allies deny his tory, but they are not alone in their anti-Black attacks. Let’s not fall for their rhetoric of “race neutrality.” Denying race history and racial op pression is nothing more than virulent anti-Blackness.
Dr. Julianne Malveaux is an author, economist, and social commentator.
by Jim Schutze’s
In December, Soul Rep The atre Company will kick-off its 2022-2023 season – TO DAL LAS, WITH LOVE – with Dallas native, celebrated television/film actor and playwright, William Jackson Harper’s searing drama, TRAVISVILLE, inspired by Jim Schutze’s book, “The Accommo dation.” The regional premiere production is directed by Soul Rep’s Artistic Director, Guinea Bennett-Price, and will run De cember 10 – 11 and 15 – 18 at the Margo Jones Theater located in
William Jackson Harper
the Magnolia Lounge at Fair Park, 1121 First Avenue. Tickets can be purchased at www.soulrep.org and range from $25 - $30. Group Tickets are also available.
TRAVISVILLE is a straight forward and brutally honest statement to the world by Afri can Americans of their plight in gentrification. Penned by Harp er, the play is set in 1960’s Texas, in a city (Dallas) that so far has avoided the tumult of the Civil Rights Movement. Through the efforts of an alliance of black church leaders, a wary peace has been maintained with the city’s white mayor and citizens. But when the mayor partners with a private developer to gentrify the
black neighborhood and uproot its residents, and a movement organizer from Atlanta comes to town, the Minister’s Alliance will need to choose between the non confrontational status quo and standing up for the interests of their community.
The relevance of Schutze’s book and this play in 2022 is as tounding! Soul Rep is privileged to be the first theater company in North Texas to produce TRA VISVILLE, of which the company recently held staged readings at four area libraries, in collabora tion with the Dallas Public Li brary and Big D Reads. The com pany will hold talk-backs with audience members after two of the performances.
Soul Rep’s season will con tinue in February 2023 with a two-week run of Canadian playwright, Michele Riml’s de lightful comedy, SEXY LAUN DRY, about a middle-aged cou ple’s attempt to revive their sex life. The production, directed by Co-Associate Artistic Director, Dee HunterSmith, will run Feb ruary 10 - 12 & February 15 – 18 at the Margo Jones Theater. On April 22, the company will de but THE TUCKER NEW WORKS PROJECT, an official play devel opment series, made possible by a generous TACA New Works Grant and named in memory of prolific area playwright and Soul Rep mentor, dianne tuck er. The “project” will include a staged reading of a newly com missioned comedic play about being Black and queer, by upand-coming Dallas playwright, Erin Malone. A full production of Malone’s play will be featured in Soul Rep’s 2023-2024 season.
Soul Rep’s season will con clude with its well established biennial new play festival, THE SHINE PLAY FESTIVAL, in June 2023 at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. The festival will feature performances of sev eral short comedic and satiri cal plays exploring Black lives, Black history, Black love and so much more! It will also include a staged reading of company Co-Founder/Executive Direc tor, Anyika McMillan-Herod’s newest play, ELM THICKET, a two-person comedy set in Dal las. Herod’s critically acclaimed historical drama, DO NO HARM, was featured earlier this year as
part of ATTPAC’s Elevator Series to sold out performances at the Wyly Theater.
Season Passes for Soul Rep’s TO DALLAS, WITH LOVE season can be purchased for $65 or $80 at the company’s website, www. soulrep.org. The current season is sponsored in part by gener ous support from TACA, City of Dallas Office of Art and Culture, Moody Fund for the Arts, and the Holloway Family Foundation.
Soul Rep Theatre Company exists to provide quality transfor mative Black Theater. Our vision is to shift the paradigm of how the Black experience is valued
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.
The CEO of Teal Angel’s Boutique L.L.C, is Keory Hawthorne and she started an online Women’s Boutique. She’s been in business off & on since 2019. Like a lot of businesses, she’s had ups and downs. Now she’s ready to focus 100% on being a business owner. Her goal is to get 5-10 orders daily. Check out her beautiful online boutique at: https://tealangelsboutiquellc.myshopify.com/
Winter is around the corner. Start boosting your kids immune system with Mother Earth’s Sea Moss delicious blueberry lemon sea moss gel, strawberry sea moss gel and more. This is
something for the whole family. Sea moss has so many health benefits including thyroid health, gut health, lowers blood pressure, it’s antiviral, antibacterial, antiinflammatory, and more. Shop motherearthseamoss. com. Follow Mother Earth on Facebook.
Aunt Luv’s Delights, Auntie is a 100% Retired Disabled U.S. Woman Navy Veteran, born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She’s Aunt to everybody who meets her. While serving she suffered severe lower back pain, PTSD, anxiety, and other medical issues that took toll on her body. The search was on for her to find something different. After going through several products before finding out that CBD Holistic Healing was a great route. She is now supplying CBD holistic healing through bath bombs, tinctures, essential oils, and much more. Visit the website: https://www. auntluvsdelights.net/
Jessica Lang is a DFW Realtor and owns EXP Realty. Are you looking to buy or sell a home? As an experienced Realtor and Apartment Locator, Jessica strives to use all the knowledge she’s gained to make your buying, selling, investing, or rental process as smooth as possible. Helping you achieve your goals is her mission. Connect with me today at jessica.lang@exprealty. com
and visit the EXP Realty website: https://jessicalang. exprealty.com/
Tace Buds was established in 2019. They are famous for their 1/4 pound Jerk tacos, Jerk chicken, Jerk pizza, Grecian chicken and Chicago-style food in Dallas,
TX. They talk about the catfish that’s really good. They are located at 6801 Harry Hines Blvd. Dallas. Open Mon-Sat 11 am-9 pm. Sun-noon- 6 pm. They also do carryout and delivery. Phone 214-377-9112. Visit the website: https://www.tacebuds.com/
Mr. Wash discovered a demand for quality auto detailing for hard working people that don’t have spare time to take their vehicle to a detail shop due to their busy schedules. After taking notice of this, Mr. Wash was born. Why wait days on end to drive your vehicle again? You deserve the peace-of-mind knowing your vehicle is in the right hands while being tailored to as you do what you do best. Our goal is to protect your investment by increasing your vehicle’s longevity & durability against all factors — looking as good as new for as long as possible. Book your appointment today. Visit the website for all of their services: https://mrwashdfw.com/ Call (817) 908-4748 or email: info@mrwashdfw.com
Double Trouble Apparel is owned by Dominique Sanders, a young mother of two sassy & fierce princesses Aubri and Krislyn, who are the inspiration behind Double Trouble Apparel. This children’s clothing brand for little girls was created with every mother that has a goal to keep their princesses in fashionable & affordable looks. Having her first child at the age of 21 years old and was not quite financially secure, but still desiring to dress her daughter nicely. She found items within every budget. Enjoy your royal shopping experience with Double Trouble Apparel where you can find the latest trends and fashionable accessories to match for your princess. Shop the website: https://doubletrouble-bowtique.myshopify.com/
Johnny Graham was never famous, but he was undoubtedly a great man. His service is leg endary in Sunny South Dallas.
Thanks to a new ly-minted marker plant ed at the corner of Rob ert B. Cullum and Albert Louis Lipscomb, the Graham name will be fa mous in the City of Dal las.
Johnny Crawford and his daughter, Sherri, made the November 14 dedication a raving success! And despite thunderous downpours throughout the day on Monday; alumni, cus tomers, community members and elected of ficials showed up to pay homage to the man who educated and served sev eral communities.
And rightly so.
In 1948, Mr. Gra ham moved from Flor ida to Texas and in 1951 opened his first shop at 2804 Southland. That one shop grew to two, then five, and eventually, it spawned a barber col lege.
Johnny and his wife, La France, a beautician, were on their way to suc cess.
Soon after, they pur chased a small strip
shopping center and, in their heyday, owned eight barber shops and had 140 employees on their roster. But, long before the chain barber shops, they were offer ing health insurance and
other benefits.
The Texas Legislature decided in 1909 to regu late barbershops, but an error in the bill’s content made it unenforceable until it was re-written in 1929.
H.M. Morgan of Tyler Barber College was the first to open, but Graham followed the example and opened a barber col lege in Dallas. The school also maintains a gradua tion rate above 90%.
In 1969, Preston Smith, the 40th Governor of our state and a Democrat, awarded Johnny Graham with the Texas Small Businessman Award. Just think about that.
That same year, I grad uated from an Ivy League cut (short and faded) to having my newly-grown afro shaped and scissor cut. Graham Barber Shop was an institution then, and most of my political curiosity blossomed as I sat in his chair.
You ain’t heard a heat ed political or social dis course until you watch the crossfire of ideolo gies in a barbershop full of opinionated Black men. Damn! There is an old Jewish Proverb that comes to mind. You put three Jews in a room; you get four opinions.”
Black men are no dif ferent.
The celebration for this marker started with an
Not everybody can be famous, but everybody can be great because greatness is determined by service."
- Martin Luther King Jr.
exciting announcement. Carol and Carl Frasure, the new owners of the College, received full ac creditation for the school in July of this year.
That means future students can use Pell Grants, Student Loans, and Scholarships toward tuition. That is more im portant than most would understand.
Back in the day, that was all Black youth had. If you were “Wildin’out” your parents offered two choices: a trade school or the armed services. Those two institutions have grown more poor Black people than any other.
One of the testimonies shared by Dennis Griffin will help you compre hend. At 26, when he was
plained how a poor col lege student at the Uni versity of Texas at Austin became a business own er. Word got out that she could cut hair, and all the athletes made a beeline to her door. So much so that she was forced to open a shop off campus.
“Wildin’ out,” his mom, a barber, drove him to the school parking lot and announced that it was his last chance. He took her seriously and, as a re sult, made a good life for
himself and his family. Ray Schufford Jr. and his sister Natarsha also sang their praises. Their father had been a barber, and both were enrolled by age 13. Nartasha ex
Ray Jr., her brother, now a retired firefighter with the Dallas Fire Depart ment, never stopped cut ting hair. He is well known in Dallas for his “Mobile Barber Services,” where he visits clients. The les sons they learned about business, customer ser vice, and professionalism at a young age have paid unimaginable benefits.
They are, like Johnny Graham, living examples of Dr. King’s message to the Black community of his day. You don’t have to be famous to be great. The avenue to greatness open to all is in service to others. Service is a staple and symbol we have for feited, and we must learn how to retrieve it.
All Johnny Graham ever did was serve, and as a result, he will be re membered by one and all as a great man. No one can tell how many others achieved “greatness” be cause of his work.
Without detailed explana tion and days before one of the most consequential midterm elections in recent memory, MSNBC decided to end its contract with MSNBC host Tif fany Cross. The staff who work on her show was informed of the change on Oct. 4.
Cross was host of The Cross Connection, which aired on Saturday mornings at 10 a.m. The show was the highest rat ed weekend show on MSNBC, whose slogan is “this is who we are.”
The sudden end to Cross’ time at MSNBC is another mo ment in a string of examples of MSNBC parting ways with Black women who were either hosts or commentators at the network. The list of Black wom en who have departed over the last several years includes Tamron Hall, April Ryan, Me lissa Harris Perry, Karen Fin ney and Zerlina Maxwell.
In a statement posted on so cial media on the evening of Nov. 4, Cross reacted saying, “I am disheartened to learn of MSNBC’s decision to cancel The Cross Connection, at such a crucial time — four days be fore the midterm elections.”
“Fresh off the heels of ‘a ra cial reckoning,’ as so many have called it, we see that with progress there is always back lash. Now is not the time to retreat to politics or journalism as usual,” Cross observed.
There has been a rise in po litical violence and white su premacy in the wake of former President Donald Trump’s rise to political prominence. Trump’s announcement he’d run for the presidency includ ed a racist attack on Mexican
immigrants, blaming them for crime in the U.S.
“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not send ing you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those prob lems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people,” Trump said during the June 16, 2015 campaign kickoff an
used by racists: Steve Bannon and Stephen Miller.
The FBI has reported a no table uptick in political threats and violence and named the number one threat in the U.S: as politically driven domestic terrorism.
On Aug. 4, FBI Director Christopher Wray told Con gress that, “the greatest terror ism threat to our homeland is posed by lone actors or small cells who typically radicalize to violence online and look to attack soft targets with eas ily accessible weapons. We see these threats manifested within both domestic violent extremists and homegrown vi olent extremists… Individuals who commit violent criminal acts in furtherance of social or political goals stemming from domestic influences—some of which include racial or ethnic bias, or anti-government or anti-authority sentiments.”
ficked in false online conspir acy theories around election fraud and QAnon driven para noia.
At a time of rising political division and deliberate misin formation and disinformation, MSNBC is removing an on-air presence pushing back against growing racist and fascist trends in politics. Cross was re cently a target of Fox News host Tucker Carlson. The silence of MSNBC on Carlson’s attack was noted by many on social media.
“So just right before a cru cial election cycle the plug is pulled on @tiffanydcross? What’s going on @msnbc?! First @mharrisperry & now this….I know the numbers were right….what’s goin on?” Wrote music artist and pro ducer Questlove on twitter on Nov. 4.
nouncement in New York.
Prior to that statement, Trump had spent years at tempting to falsely claim that President Barack Obama was born in Kenya and somehow elected illegitimately though President Obama was born in the U.S.
On June 17, 2015 a white supremacist, Dylann Roof, murdered nine Black people by shooting them to death at point blank range during a bi ble study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Caroli na. Those murdered by Roof including the church’s senior pastor: State Senator Clementa Pinckney.
During his time in office, Trump hired two white su premacist who often plat formed and pushed policies and messaging that has been
In 2017, a hate filled white supremacists riot broke out in Charlottesville, Va. and a counter-protester was mur dered after a white supremacist deliberately drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters. President Trump did little to push back against the racist Charlottesville rioters and in stead said “there are very good people on both sides.”
In Jan. 2021, the U.S. Capi tol was violently attacked by Trump supporters shortly af ter he incited them in a speech to go to the Capitol on the day President Biden’s 8 million vote victory over Trump was to be certified.
Last week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul Pelosi, 82, was violently at tacked in his home by an in truder who struck him with a hammer. The individual traf
“WTH?! First @ZerlinaMax well now suddenly @Tiffany DCross is out @msnbc? Pro Tip: Reversing 2020’s equality by ruthlessly purging people of color or taking hints on how to treat your hosts from Tuck er & Fox News won’t appease Trump & the armed insurrec tionists. They hate you,” wrote Malcolm Nance, a MSNBC contributor.
MSNBC announced Cross Connection’s debut in De cember 2020 along with a Sun day show hosted by Jonathan Capehart. Moving forward, MSNBC will have different hosts in the Saturday 10 a.m. slot to replace Cross.
Lauren Victoria Burke is an independent journalist and the host of the podcast BURKEFILE. She is a political analyst who appears regularly on #RolandMartinUnfiltered. She may be contacted at LBurke007@gmail. com and on twitter at @LVBurke
Violent crime, which fell during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, has re turned to a level last seen in 2016. A majority of the per petrators of violent crime are white. And undocumented immigrants are far less likely than native-born Americans to commit violent crimes.
Political ads flooding the airwaves, however, paint a starkly different and wildly misleading picture, “portray ing chaos by depicting Black rioters and Hispanic immi grants illegally racing across the border,” the New York Times reports.
These ads aren’t really about crime or immigration, however. They’re about race.
The effort was especially pronounced in the effort to defeat candidates of color. In Wisconsin, opponents of Mandela Barnes, the lieu tenant governor of Wiscon sin, distributed a mailer in which the color of Barnes’ skin was darkened. Another ad brands Barnes as “differ ent” and “dangerous” while flashing the images of three Congress members of col or, none of whom has cam paigned with him.
In Georgia, images of gu bernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams have been darkened by her opponent’s campaign.
It’s not just the candidates whose images are being
darkened: An ad distributed in several House districts in New Mexico shows a barber with darkened hands and suggests that he is a sex of fender.
Research shows that peo ple subconsciously associ ate darker skin with negative personality traits and crime. This bias is linked to dead ly consequences like police
Bush campaign manager Lee Atwater said: “By the time we’re finished, they’re going to wonder whether Willie Horton is Dukakis’s running mate.”
Photos of Dukakis paired with Horton’s mugshot flooded airwaves and mail boxes. Yet few in the Dukakis camp or the media called out the obvious appeal to racism
implicit nature of these ap peals allows them to prime racial stereotypes, fears, and resentments while appear ing not to do so. When an implicit appeal is rendered explicit — when other elites bring the racial meaning of the appeal to voters’ atten tion — it appears to violate the norm of racial equality. It then loses its ability to prime
shootings and substandard medical care. Responsible public servants should work to counteract it. Instead, far too many are all too happy to exploit it for political gain.
Racism has always been present in American politi cal campaigns, but the Wil lie Horton ads of the 1988 presidential campaign have gone down in history as a low point. Horton, who was serving a life sentence in Massachusetts for murder, committed a vicious sexual assault in Maryland after he absconded from a weekend furlough. Candidate George H.W. Bush missed no op portunity to link Horton to his opponent, Massachu setts Gov. Michael Dukakis.
at the time. And that, in large part, was why it was so suc cessful.
“The most important and underplayed lesson of the Horton message is that, in a racially divided society that aspires to equality, the injec tion of race into campaigns poses a great danger to dem ocratic politics — so long as the injection of race takes place under cover,” political scientist Tali Mendelberg wrote in “The Race Card: Campaign Strategy, Implicit Messages, and the Norm of Equality.” “When a society has repudiated racism, yet racial conflict persists, can didates can win by playing the race card only through implicit racial appeals. The
white voters’ racial predispo sitions.”
There is no question that many of the ads being used to stoke racial animosity “vio late the norm of racial equal ity.” Politicians like Tommy Tuberville, who explicitly tarred all Black Americans as “criminals,” and Marjorie Taylor Greene, who invokes “Replacement Theory” con spiracy theory long promot ed by white nationalists, seem to have dispensed with the “implicit” aspect of the strategy. By calling out rac ism, in all its forms, we can deflate the power of these re pugnant appeals.
Morial is president/CEOof the National Urban League.
“It is not new to see antisemitism or overt racism in politics. What is new is after years … in which it was clear that to be credible in public life politicians had to reject prejudice, it’s now been normalized in ways that are really quite breathtaking.”
— ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt
ATLANTA, Ga. — Over the past three weeks, the Black Census Project has recruited Campus Ambassadors at His torically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Campus Ambassadors are ramping up to ensure classmates, faculty, administration, and alumni are aware, excited, and engaged in the Black Census Project.
The 2022 Black Census is poised to be the largest na tional survey of Black people across class, disability, gender, geography, immigration sta tus, and sexuality.
The collected information will clarify the diversity of wants and needs that Black people imagine for our com munities.
Leaders of the project see it as an opportunity for Black peo ple to engage in a conversation together about the things that must materialize for all Black people across experiences to have safe, thriving lives. “Too often Black people are spoken about or spoken for, but are not actually listened to,” said Alicia Garza, Founder of Black Futures Lab. “The Black Cen sus Project is an offering that we hope will aid the work of building power for Black peo
ple in sustainable ways, and connecting with Black college students and those working inside of historically Black in stitutions is an essential part of that work.”
The HBCU Campus Ambas sadors will begin engaging their schools to encourage their classmates in person and via social media to complete the Black Census.
The Black Census Project is dedicated to ensuring the voic es of Black students and the broader HBCU community are included. The school with the most surveys completed will be awarded a $5,000 scholar ship for the student ambassa dor at the end of the competi tion. The institution will also receive a $5,000 matching do nation.
Black Futures Lab works with Black people to transform our communities, building Black political power, and changing
the way that power operates— locally, statewide, and nation ally.
We work to understand the dynamics impacting our com munities, we build the capacity of our communities to govern, and we engage and include Black people in the decisions that impact our lives.
Our mission is to engage Black communities year round, using our political strength to stop corporate in fluences from creeping into public policies, and combin ing technology and traditional organizing methods to reach Black people anywhere and everywhere we are blackfu tureslab.org
For more information about the Black Census Project or to connect with Alicia Garza and leaders of the partner organi zations, please contact Chelsea Fuller, chelsea@blackalderllc. com.
For far too long, Black communities have been left out of the conversation – often spoken about, and rarely listened to. But, that ends now with the launch of Black Futures Lab’s Black Census Project.
P A follow-up to the inaugural Black Census Project conducted in 2018, the Black Census Project 2022 is the largest survey of Black people in America in 157 years
P Through a combination of digital outreach and onthe-ground organizing in states across the U.S., we will speak with 200,000 Black people across the country
P For our communities to be powerful in politics, we need to make sure all of our voices are heard – the Black Census Project helps to shine a light on what our communities experience every day and what we want to see done about it
P The Black Census Project collects recent and relevant data about who we are, what we go through, and what we want to see done about it. Right now, there’s not enough information about our communities and our needs – the Black Census Project aims to change that
P 200,000 responses to the Black Census Project by July 31, 2022
P 200 organizers focused in CA, WI, NC, GA, LA, and online responses from all 50 states
about their experiences, opinions, and dreams for the future
P The information gathered from the Black Census Project is anonymous and will be used to identify priority issues for our communities, inform public policy, motivate and activate people to vote, and shape an agenda created for us, by us
P Because we’re not all the same, there are a lot of voices that are getting left out – and that means we’re getting left behind in politics and policy too. The Black Census Project aims to reach people in all of our communities – rural and urban, immigrant and US-born, LGBTQ and straight, incarcerated and formerly incarcerated, and more
P Responses that reflect the breadth and depth of our communities and will be used to build Black political power, transform our communities, and make sure that Black people in this country have everything they need to thrive
The Black Futures Lab (501c3) transforms Black communities into constituencies that change the way power operates - locally, statewide, and nationally. The problems facing our communities are complex - the solutions require experimentation innovation and political power. We work to make Black people powerful in politics so that we can be powerful in every aspect of our lives.
Take the Black Census today at www.blackcensus.org
DALLAS — Ron Kirk, the former Mayor of Dallas and United States Trade Rep resentative, has endorsed Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson for re-election.
“Eric Johnson has done a great job leading our city. His consensus-building approach has brought the city council together to achieve real results for ev ery neighborhood in Dallas. Everything he set out to do when he was elected — including reducing crime, reforming our city’s ethics code, and lowering the tax rate — he has done,” said Ambassador Ron Kirk, who served as Mayor of Dallas from 1995 to 2002.
“He did all of these things while we were in the midst of a global pandem ic,” Ambassador Kirk added. “Eric John son has earned a second term as mayor, and I am honored to support him for re-election.”
“I am deeply honored to have earned Ambassador Kirk’s endorsement,” said Mayor Johnson. “As a former Mayor of Dallas, he knows what it takes to lead our diverse and vibrant city. During his tenure in office, he made a major
impact on Dallas and helped move our city forward in significant ways. And during my time leading this great city, I have been grateful for his example, his friendship, his support, and his ongoing commitment to Dallas.”
Mayor Johnson and Ambassador Kirk recently helped lead a public campaign for the passage of Proposition A, which created a new revenue stream for the revitalization of Fair Park, downtown Dallas, and the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center. The proposition won
Dallas voters’ support by an overwhelm ing margin.
Mayor Johnson, who took office in 2019, announced in September that he intended to seek re-election next spring. Since that announcement, May or Johnson now has already received endorsements from four former may ors of Dallas — Ambassador Kirk, Tom Leppert, Mary Poss, and Steve Bartlett; the city’s largest police and fire associ ations; and four members of the Texas House of Representatives who served
as Chairmen of the Texas House Public Education Committee.
Prior to his election as Mayor of Dallas, Johnson represented Dallas in the Texas House of Representatives for nearly a decade. In Johnson’s three-plus years as Mayor, Dallas has seen a dou ble-digit drop in violent crime, reduced the property tax rate to the lowest level in 15 years, and added more than $14 billion in new development.
The son of a former Dallas police officer, Mayor Johnson grew up in West Dallas and Oak Cliff. He received his bachelor’s degree with honors from Harvard University in 1998, as well as a law degree from the University of Penn sylvania Law School and a master’s de gree from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs, both in 2003.
Johnson and his wife, Nakita, are raising their three children in Dallas.
For more information or to schedule an interview with Mayor Johnson, please contact Mari Woodlief at (214) 621-4575 or mwoodlief@allynmedia.com.
Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) has launched a new pilot program that will substantially increase the agency’s com mitment to riders to provide a safe and clean transit experience.
The DART Clean Team Initiative will utilize on-board contract cleaning personnel from United Community of Faith to remove trash and debris aboard DART light rail vehicles as they operate throughout the DART network, supple menting the extensive cleaning proto cols already in place.
Each weekday night, DART light rail vehicles currently receive a complete cleaning between the hours of 7:00 p.m. and 3:00 a.m., while the vehicles are at
the rail yards. This includes sweeping, mopping and a complete wipe-down with an EPA approved cleaning agent.
DART light rail vehicles also receive a
thorough cleaning at the eight terminus stations throughout the day with a focus on high touch areas. High touch surface areas are cleaned including handrails,
door buttons, grab rails and hanging straps. Red and Blue Line trains are cleaned every 60 minutes. Orange and Green Line trains are cleaned every 90 minutes.
Through the new Clean Team Ini tiative pilot program, 24 additional contract cleaners will board light rail vehicles across the DART network on all four light rail lines throughout the day. Two shifts will operate Monday-Friday, between 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m.
If you see a cleanliness concern with any DART vehicle or facility, please contact the DART Customer Information Center at 214-979-1111, or through the DART GoPass App.
As Election Night turned slowly into Wednesday morning, the U.S. House and Senate balance of power remained a tossup after tens of millions of votes were counted nationwide.
And while crucial races like the Geor gia Senate race between Republican Her schel Walker and Democratic Incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock remained too close to call, the red wave many political watchers and several mainstream media outlets predicted hadn’t developed.
In the House, where power is likely to change hands, one Democrat, Virginia Rep. Elaine Luria, lost her seat. Howev er, Ohio GOP Rep. Steve Chabot also lost his House seat.
Some House seats that most predicted as easy Republican prey like Democratic Reps. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia, and Chris Pappas in New Hampshire, were retained.
On Wednesday morning, Republicans were assured of 207 House seats to 188 for Democrats. A party needs 218 seats to control the chamber.
With Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetter man defeating Republican Mehmet Oz for the Pennsylvania Senate seat, Demo crats currently hold a 48-47 seat advan tage in their efforts to retain control.
As it’s been the past two years, Dem ocrats need 50 seats to control that chamber because Vice President Kamala Harris acts as the tiebreaker.
However, the race to represent Geor gia in the Senate remains surprisingly close. Warnock awakened on Wednes day in a statistical dead heat with Walk er, each at 49% of the vote with 96% of precincts counted.
Approximately 18,000 votes separate the candidates. If neither candidate wins 50% of the vote, they will square off on Dec. 6 in a runoff.
The Wisconsin Senate race between Republican Incumbent Ron Johnson and Democrat Mandela Barnes, a Black man, was too close to call. Johnson held a slight advantage Wednesday morning with about 32,000 more votes or 50.6% to 49.4%.
However, most of the remaining bal lots are GOP strongholds.
Meanwhile, Senate races in Arizona and Nevada will determine the Senate majority, and both outcomes aren’t ex pected for several days.
Senator Mark Kelly, a Democrat, held a 52% to 45.8% lead over Blake Mas
my campaign for governor,” Abrams said following her loss. “I may no lon ger be seeking the office of governor, but I will never stop doing everything in my power to make sure the people in Georgia have a voice.
“While I may not have crossed the finish line, that doesn’t mean I won’t stop running for a better Georgia,” she added. “Even though my fight – our fight – for the governor’s mansion came up short, I’m pretty tall.”
Two of the nation’s most controver sial governors, Greg Abbot (R-Texas), and Ron DeSantis (R-Florida), easily
In Pennsylvania, Austin Davis, a 32-year-old state lawyer, became the first African American elected to lieu tenant governor in the Keystone State. It’s the highest position any African American has held in Pennsylvania.
“I am deeply mindful that this is my opportunity, but it’s not an opportunity I paid for,” Davis said. “It was paid by the sweat equity and work of people who came before me. It is my responsibility to view it as while I may be the first, I’m not the last and that I blaze a trail for other minority candidates to follow in my footsteps.”
As it’s been the past two years, Democrats need 50 seats to control that chamber because Vice President Kamala Harris acts as the tiebreaker.
ters, a Republican, Wednesday morning with 66% of the votes counted.
Republican Adam Laxalt holds a 49.9% to 47.2% lead over Democratic Incumbent Catherine Cortez Masto in the Nevada Senate race.
Wes Moore counted among the 21 Democrats to win gubernatorial elec tions, making history as the first African American to win election to governor in Maryland.
Stacey Abrams conceded the Georgia governor’s race to incumbent Repub lican Brian Kemp in a rematch of their controversial and bitter 2018 contest.
“Tonight, I am doing clearly what is the responsible thing. I am suspending
won re-election. Abbot defeated Beto O’Rourke, while DeSantis beat Charlie Crist.
Democratic Rep. Val Demings lost her bid for the U.S. Senate against GOP In cumbent Marco Rubio.
However, Florida voters made history by electing Maxwell Frost in the race to represent Florida’s 10th Congressional District.
The 25-year-old Afro-Cuban becomes the first member of Generation Z elected to serve in the U.S. House.
“History was made tonight,” Frost tweeted. “We made history for Floridi ans, Gen Z, and everyone who believes we deserve a better future.”
Also, Summer Lee won the race in the 12th Congressional district, becoming the first African American woman elect ed to Congress from Pennsylvania.
In Los Angeles, former Congressional Black Caucus Chair Karen Bass remains hopeful in her quest for mayor.
At press time, Bass trailed billionaire developer Rick Caruso by less than 1,500 votes – a 50.19% to 49.81% margin.
Bass hopes to become the first Black woman to hold that job.
Voters in California, Michigan, and Vermont codified abortion rights in those states. A ballot measure to do the same in Kentucky proved too close to call as of Wednesday morning.
their oppression.
BY TERRY ALLENBig Mama never fails! Her wisdom transcends time. Lucille “Big Mama” Allen’s birth in 1906 sparked a faith driven wisdom trail within the family. She created a process of self-awareness, self-examination and spiri tual alignment for all of her children.
She also once stated to me after I bought some thing via the mail from a magazine ad that did not look like its picture.
She quoted Maya An gelou, “Be careful when a naked person offers you a shirt.” I learned that I had to examine the credibility of the source, the reputa tion of the product and the entire relevance of the of fering.
Let’s examine this African proverb in terms of the new DEI movement across the country and in other global spaces and platform. The proverb says, “Be careful when a naked person offers you a shirt.”
I flip that to expand to this statement. It’s easy to talk the talk and give ad vice on how things should be done. But if the person giving the advice does not act in a way that agrees with the advice they are giving, the proverb implies that a person should back up
their talking with action.
In the DEI movement sparked by the global im pact of the death of George Floyd, where we are giving ourselves a self-examina tion of “equity” and “be longing” in our organiza tions.
Yet here is the issue. A lot of the green lighted pro grams are led by individ uals that do not have the appropriate competency to execute and establish a presence of equity and be longing.
In other words, the pur veyors of DEI do not have any ‘skin-the-game” and
the DEI process is mired in House Negro and Field Negro situations. The Mal colm X definition of the “field vs house’ process is hard to identify, measure and diffuse.
It is dipped in an ineffec tive process fails to ensure that a person of color is competent to achieve DEI goals. The iconic Dr. Claud Anderson called it merito rious manumission – a pro cess where enslaved people of color received favor when they reported other enslaved people who they felt were a threat to the process and/or they were not aligned with
I have received numer ous emails and calls daily, where employees have been blocked and dismissed by appointed DEI team lead ers as they are being mini mized for no reasons other than at the discretion of the DEI appointed leadership.
I have gotten examples where the DEI group lead ers and allys began a se ries of actions like visibly not speaking, blocking any participation, creating new rules that were spearhead ed to minimize targeted employees and scrutiniz ing their every action with a parent-like scorn.
All of this undermines the DEI movement. So, we now are seeing a failure of authenticity. There are three key reasons why DEI initiatives fail: failure to ex plicitly connect DEI objec tives to the organization’s merit system, branding and values; lack of sustainable power from C-suite leader ship; and absence of a co hesive competency in the staff charged with integrat ing DEI into all aspects of the business.
Self-hatred is real as peo ple are being minimized by their own. Big Mama also said “ sometimes you have to D.U.C.K” Dodge Un healed Coworkers Kindly. Thanks Big Mama!
a multi-media
Our Landscape Has Been Inundated with Ineffective DEI Checklisters
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WorkSpace for Black Girls host Love Your Tribe. A space for Black women to discuss and heal workplace trauma, and advocate for change. From 6-8 pm CST Online. Reg: https://bit.ly/3gUJouO
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“Why Women Trip” Movie Premiere by Snoop Robinson. Red Carpet starts: 6:45p Premiere Starts at 7:30p Texas Theatre 231 W Jefferson Blvd. Dallas. Tickets: https://bit.ly/3DUOgHV
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Dallas Comedy Club Presents: TRIXX host Dallas Comedy Club at Dallas Comedy Club, 3036 Elm St. Dallas, at 7:30 pm. Tickets: https://bit.ly/3DKY MTq
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7 Steps for CEOs to Reset their Corpo rate Culture by Shan Foster. Explore 7 steps to reset corporate culture with an emphasis on commitment, evaluation, and execution. Online event from 10 to 11:30 am CST. Reg: https://www.vistage. com/event/ceo-reset/ 19
largest HBCU Classics between two giants: Bethune Cookman University and Florida A&M University
WOW Women of Wisdom presented by Elite News DeSoto Civic Center Theater Room at noon
2022 Empower Series - Putting It All Together with War ren Broadnax, CEO of She’s Happy Hair Putting it all togeth er is the culmination of EMPOWER Series principles of success - the progressive re alization of a worthy ideal. Guest speak er, Broadnax will share his perceptions. He and his business partner, Marcus Bowers, began selling quality virgin hair out of the trunk of their cars. The Network Bar and EMPOWER Series YouTube Channel 331 Singleton Blvd Dallas, TX 75212
Saxophonist Vandell Andrew Live at Fortunata Winery, 2297 FM2931, Au brey, (940) 440-9463. From 6 to 9 pm. Info: www.vandellmusic.com
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Village Lights Hillside Village kicks off the holiday season in Cedar Hill 305 W. FM 1382 Suite 590 from 5:30 to 8:30 pm.
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
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The Rose Community Center, 1949 N. Washington Ave 3-5pm
Come out for a delicious feast, crafts, family pho tos, raffles and more! To donate or serve, cocntact Tonia Dunlap at 214-823-7308 ext 310 or tdunlap@pilgrimrestdallas.org
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of America’s history with Indigenous People on Turtle Island. 3pm CST.
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Open Mic Monday at Chocolate Secrets. Tell a friend to tell a friend that Open Mic Mondays are back at Chocolate Secrets!! From 7:30 pm. To closing at Chocolate Secrets, 3926 Oak Lawn Ave. Tickets: https://bit.ly/3QL59cT
Verb Kulture Poetry Night. Poetry Night at Chocolate Secrets with the fabulous Verb Kulture 7:30 pm. at Chocolate Secrets, 3926 Oak Lawn Ave. Dallas
THE FLORIDA CLASSIC Orlando is the place to be for one of the
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
Dallas Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority presents a Private Red Carpet Viewing of WAKANDA FOREVER AT STUDIO MOVIE GRILLARLINGTON HIGHLANDS, 225 MERCHANTS ROW IN ARLINGTON. $33.15 FOR ADULTS AND $22.50 - CHILDREN UNDER 12 ***
The Black Wall Street Black Business EXPO by Hype Girl at Illusion Event Center 1201 West Camp Wisdom Road #Suite 340C From 1 to 5 pm. Reg. for the webinar here: bit.ly/rethinkingthanksgiving2022https://bit.ly/3zZ5Fya
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Rethinking Thanksgiving: From Land Acknowl edgement to LANDBACK
This webinar is an invitation to interrogate socalled Thanksgiving and move beyond the myths
House presents
Doc Shep Speaks Show! A fresh perspective, but still entertaining! 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.
Gala featur
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.
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MyDearTheMovie.com.
A sneak peek of a new movie entitled “My Dear” written and produced by former Dal las Cowboy, Greg Ellis. This film tells the story through the eyes of a married professional football player and his daughter, Lilly. In “My Dear” the negative outcomes of untreated mental health issues are revealed as an All-American fami ly’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
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St. Philip’s School & Community Center presents the 7th Annual Daddy Daughter Dance “A Night Un der 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 addi tional daughters
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International sellout sensation Lightscape is coming to Fort Worth for the 2022 holiday season running through January 8 at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden. Ticketsfwbg.org/calendar-events/signa ture-events/lightscape
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The Honorable Mayor Pro Tem Car olyn King Arnold, and Councilmem ber Casey Thomas invite you to the ceremony dedication of the Public Art piece, thehumanization by Jennifer Money Cowley, commem orating Arthello Beck, Jr. at 10am, Twin Falls Park, 6300 S. Polk Street in Dallas.
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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 Dinnerfour8.... Located at 1259 HARLANDALE AVE. Starts at 7:30
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Dallas Comedy Club Presents: FON ZO 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 ***
9th Annual Coats & Cocktails 2022 at Virgin Hotels, 1445 Turtle Creek Blvd. Coats & Cocktails is a coat drive to collect outerwear for women, men & especially children during the holiday season. We invite you to bring new or gently used coats & outerwear for donation to Dallas Life Foundation, Dallas Independent School District & Austin Street Shel ter through Soup for the Soul Event. 29
SO YOU HAVE A NEW JOB
Let’s talk about communication skills, leadership, and conflict resolution.
Dallas Holiday Parade in the Down town Historic District at Main Street Gardens for the 6th Annual Family First Dallas Holiday Festival! 7:00am-3:00pm 4
Family and Friends Day at New Birth Baptist Church, 444 W. Ledbetter 6
WOMEN MOVING THE WORLD
Listen to the knowledge and experi ences of the women who found suc cess in this field.
South Dallas Training Center, 4915 Brashear Avenue
ZOOM: Meeting ID: 857 3474 8062 Passcode: 658479 5-7pm 8
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
The Legacy of Service Foundation in collaboration with Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc, Omicron Mu Omega Chapter presents the 2022 Image Award to Jill Louis and Ran dy Bowman, 12-2pm at the Dallas Arboretum
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South Dallas Training Center, 4915 Brashear Avenue
ZOOM: Meeting ID: 857 3474 8062 Passcode: 658479 5-7pm
Learn the dos and don’ts of starting a business, banking, credit and much more
South Dallas Training Center, 4915 Brashear Avenue
ZOOM: Meeting ID: 857 3474 8062 Passcode: 658479 5-7pm
Dallas Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority presents a Pri vate Red Carpet Viewing of WAKAN DA FOREVER AT STUDIO MOVIE GRILL
- ARLINGTON HIGHLANDS, 225 MER CHANTS ROW IN ARLINGTON. TICK ETS $33.15 FOR ADULTS AND $22.50
- CHILDREN UNDER 12
High school students and their families are invited to receive free assistance with completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. Com pleting FAFSA is a requirement for receiving federal financial assistance to attend college.
Assistance will be offered during FAFSA Night from 5 - 7 p.m. Dec 1 on the UTA campus.
TECH MOVING THE WORLD Technology makes the logistics indus try more efficient. In this session, find out what that entails.
South Dallas Training Center, 4915 Brashear Avenue ZOOM: Meeting ID: 857 3474 8062 Passcode: 658479 5-7pm
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Washington-Lincoln Alumni Asso
ciation, JINGLE AND MINGLE Christ mas Luncheon, 11:30 am - 1:30 pm at the Hilton Garden Inn, 800 North Main Street, Duncanville at $35 Contact Veronica Mosley (214)4157503
Dallas-Fort Worth Association of Black Journalists presents
A Journalist’s Holiday Ella B’s , 1004 N. Collins, Arling ton. 6-9 pm Partner: NBC5’s Black Employee Network and Just CHILL Sports Admission - Bring a book suitable for 2-18 years old, to benefit homeless youth at The Promise House
He’s the most beloved Dal las Mavericks player in the franchise’s 42-year-history.
He led the team to its only NBA championship and his loyalty to the franchise re mains unparalleled – almost four years after retiring in 2019
He and wife Jessica still live in Dallas with their children and can be seen throughout the city at charity events, like his annual Tennis Classic which raises funds for area or ganizations.
Stars like Ben Stiller and Boris Kodjoe, and Mavericks players like star Luka Doncic, Dwight Powell and Maxi Kle ber all came out last month to support and raise funds for those less fortunate.
He is a special adviser to the Mavericks and can be seen at team practices giving advice and at games cheering them on.
His #41 jersey was lifted into the rafters of American Airlines Center earlier this year with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver in attendance.
He’s a beloved athlete, fam ily and community man and person.
And the wait is finally over. To celebrate the legacy of Dirk Nowitzki, the Mavericks will unveil Nowitzki’s statue on Christmas Day, Dec. 25 at 11 a.m. The unveiling ceremo ny will take place at American Airlines Center South Plaza for invited guests.
Nowitzki Way will be closed to traffic, where the general public will have the oppor tunity to celebrate this land mark Maverick milestone. Fans in attendance for the
Christmas Day game against the Los Angeles Lakers are encouraged to come early and watch the ceremony live from the jumbotron inside the are na when doors open at 10 a.m. A livestream of the ceremony will also be available on mavs. com.
“Dirk has done so much for the game and for our city,” said Mark Cuban. “And to show our appreciation, we want to ensure his legacy and his jump shot will forever be remembered in Dallas.”
Nowitzki is the only player in NBA history to play 21 sea sons with the same franchise. In 1,522 total games, Nowitzki is the Mavericks’ all-time lead
er in points (31,560), games played (1,522), starts (1,460), minutes (51,368), rebounds (11,489), defensive rebounds (10,021), field goals made (11,169), 3-pointers made (1,982), free throws made
(7,240) and blocks (1,281). As a 14-time All-Star and the first European-born player to be named MVP (2006 – 07), Nowitzki led the Dallas Mav ericks to its first NBA Champi onship in 2011.
Latricia Trammell, the new head coach of the WNBA Dallas Wings, made her first public appearance at Saturday’s Dallas Mavericks vs Portland Trailblazers Game at American Airlines Center. Trammell, a former assistant coach for the Los Angeles Sparks, was named Wings coach a week ago. She was also the special guest for the Mavs’ pre-game show on Bally Sports Southwest.
Rev. Calvin Butts, III, the church’s eminent pastor, did not shirk from the charges, but he cited several problems for the delinquency.
Rev. Dr. Calvin O. Butts III, pastor of New York’s Abyssinian Baptist Church, and former president of the State University of New York College at Old Westbury, died Friday (Oct. 28). He was 73. The cause of death was not immediately known.
“It is with profound sadness, we announce the passing of our be loved pastor, Reverend Dr. Calvin O. Butts, lll, who peacefully transi tioned in the early morning of Oc tober 28, 2022,” the Harlem church announced in a Twitter post. “The
Butts Family & entire Abyssinian Baptist Church membership solicit your prayers.”
Butts was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 1949, and moved to Queens, New York, with his family. He later earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Morehouse Col lege in Atlanta, a Master of Divin ity degree from New York’s Union Theological Seminary in 1975, and a Doctorate of Ministry in church and public policy from Drew University. Butts joined Abyssinian during his seminary years, eventually becom ing a youth minister and, in 1989, assistant pastor.
That year, he founded the non-profit Abyssinian Development Corporation, which grew to become
a multimillion-dollar economic ad vocacy organization for the Harlem community, with more than $37 million in total revenue.
Butts also taught urban affairs and African studies as an adjunct pro fessor at City College of New York, as well as Black Church history at Fordham University in the Bronx.
Butts was among the most outspo ken critics of police tactics in Black communities in the 1990s, blasting Mayor Rudy Guiliani over the kill ing of Amadou Diallo at the hands of New York Police Department of ficers in 1999. Those officers were acquitted the following year.
Butts is survived by Patricia, his wife, three children, and six grand children.
