MetroNews

By Cheryl Smith

I always vote and I always use my platforms to encourage others to do the same.

Usually I sing the same tune every year; sometimes two and three times as I encourage people to exercise this oh so important right, instead of seeing it as an exercise in futility.

And, yes, it does get to be somewhat cumbersome when you have to engage in the run-off and recall elections.

I can see how some people get confused and overwhelmed.

Already candidates are beginning their campaigns for the midterm elections and so I can see how it can be confusing for voters as they go to the polls for municipal elections.

As much as I try to be on top of the election cycles, I have been caught off guard at times because every time I turn around there’s another election.

So, as some have suggested, maybe we do need election reform.

Which brings me to my truth.

We must do a better job of speaking to the heart of the people.

We have a definite PR problem when you consider the number of eligible people in America who do not vote.

Many don’t know the who, what, where and why; so expecting that potential voters will know the when and the where is a problematic assumption.

We need the political parties to do a better job of educating voters even though some prefer lower turnouts and work to further disenfranchise a portion of the population.

There’s a lot of work to be done and it a non-stop assignment; no matter how tedious and overwhelming it may seem.

Voting is serious business and we need to get serious about our messaging so we can achieve a better outcome.

Our Superb Women!

April 2023

By Cheryl Smith Texas Metro News

2021 was the "Year of the Woman," especially the Black Woman! For 10 months, we dedicated this space to uplifting Black women and spreading a message that we need to show love and empower people with love instead of destroying them with hate and disrespect. We celebrate Black Women and call them SUPERB! AND WE ARE KEEPING THE CELEBRATION GOING FOREVER! We love you Black Queens!

MICHELLE LONDON-BELL

By Dianne Solis The Dallas Morning News

The phone won’t stop ringing at Gloria Johnson’s home. This is the third call she’s received in the last hour. All three callers want to buy her home, and her answer is always the same.

“No, ma’am. The property is not for sale.”

Johnson’s house sits in one of the hottest real estate plays in Dallas — the West Dallas neighborhood of Gilbert-Emory. It’s named for Nathan and Margaret Gilbert, and Cecil and Helen Emory, the two Black families who owned grocery stores that helped keep community residents fed at a time when segregation didn’t allow them to shop in white neighborhoods.

Jihra Grace Hill just became the first African American gymnast, at least in recent Texas history, (officials are trying to verify) to win the Girls All-Around state championship. Texas High School Gymnastics state competition.

Today, the rapid sweep of gentrification — one of the fastest in Dallas — has already wiped away many of the old homes in the once redlined area. Johnson feels like developers have stolen the identity of the historically Black neighborhood.

“We actually feel like the place that time has forgotten,”

Michelle LondonBell, an entrepreneur, adjunct professor at Houston Community College and published writer, is a content, marketing and visual communications expert. She received her MBA from University of St. Thomas and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing from the University of Houston. A member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority and the National Black MBA Association, she is the owner/ founder & creative director at Urban Media Group of Texas. A consummate professional who is highly respected, Michelle has enjoyed stints as a content strategist and marketing manager for Aquent; reporter for the Dallas Examiner and Dallas South News; campaign associate for United Way of Metropolitan Dallas; medical representative for Merck; marketing associate for Houston Symphony and Analyst at AIG.

DR. JACQUELINE

MCDOWELL-WALTON

Jihra also was just named the Debbie Eisenberg Johansen Scholar, which goes to the top scholar-gymnast in Texas!

Jihra is graduating from Trinity High School and will be attending Rice University in the fall.

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Correspondent

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz was adamant that neither the people nor the House of Representatives should have the final say in who would be president in 2020.

After losing to Trump in the GOP primaries during the 2016 campaign, the Texas senator wildly expressed his reluctance to leave the decision of the 2020 contest between Trump and Joe Biden to the Electoral College.

Cruz, who once labeled Trump a “liar who

Dr. Jacqueline McDowell-Walton has had an impressive career as a Principal/ Assistant Principal/ Director of Curriculum/ Special Education Coordinator/Academic & Testing Coordinator/ Teacher. She has enjoyed stints as special education coordinator at Harmony School of Innovation, principal at Focus Academy. Dr. McDowell-Walton received a BA in Multi-Interdisciplinary Studies from Texas Woman’s University, a Master of Education from Texas Christian University and Doctor of Education from