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VOL. XXXIII • JULY 25, 2019

50 cents

Rep. Johnson: I’m not sorry Transition Back to School

‘Don’t Call Me Racist’

Education Pg 7

Perspectives Pg 5

Congresswoman stands by her 1994 crime bill vote

By ADAM WILLIS The Texas Tribune

WASHINGTON – On the afternoon of Aug. 18, 1994, Eddie Bernice Johnson, a barrier-breaking freshman congresswoman from Dallas, stood on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives and stumped for the most infamous legislation of that decade.

“Every day, most of the headlines have to do with crime,” she said, describing a desperate state of affairs in her home district. “School has been open less than two weeks now, and already teachers have had guns in their faces. They found a gun arsenal underside of the building. It is overwhelming, but we

U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Dallas, at her office in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C. – Photo by Lexey Swall of the GRAIN/The Texas Tribune

must do something about it.”

Johnson was slated to speak that morning about health care, but she held off for 10 minutes to weigh in on President Bill Clinton’s crime bill, which

looked to be in jeopardy despite Democratic control of both chambers of Congress.

“I cannot understand why there is so much opposition and so much rhetoric and so much

demagoguery surrounding the bill that will address these issues,” she said.

Three days after Johnson’s speech, the Violent Crime and Law Enforcement Act – better known today as the 1994 crime bill – passed the House. The next month, Clinton signed it into law.

Two and a half decades later, Clinton’s $30 billion tough-oncrime bill has become a flashpoint in heated debates about criminal and racial justice. A sweeping package, the bill included several measures that Democrats still broadly support. It included more than $1 billion to fight violence against women and remains the last

See Johnson Page 3

State Sen. Royce West enters Democratic primary

By ALEX SAMUELS The Texas Tribune

State Sen. Royce West made it official Monday: He’s running for U.S. Senate, joining a crowded and unsettled Democratic primary in the race to unseat Republican John Cornyn.

If he wins the seat, he will be the first African American to represent Texas in the U.S. Senate.

Recorded among the Associated Press’ list of “Movers and Shakers,” West has 40 years of legal and political experience.

“I’m battle tested,” West said at his campaign launch event.

“You’ve seen me in battle, and I’m ready today to announce my candidacy for the United States Senate.”

West once worked for the Harris County District Attorney’s Office and later in the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office as the chief felony prosecutor, the first African American to hold the position in Texas.

In 1993, he was elected to serve in the Texas Senate, and re-elected to another four-year term in 2018. In 1994, he became a senior partner at his law firm.

The Dallas attorney has been viewed as a potential primary contender for some time now, but he remained mum publicly on his plans. In June, West met with U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., where he reportedly had a “positive meeting” and signaled that he was likely to throw his hat in the ring. He filed the Federal Election Commission paperwork to formally launch his bid Friday.

He will not have to give up his seat to run for U.S. Senate.

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State Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, has joined a crowded Democratic primary to unseat U.S. Sen. John Cornyn. – Photo by Leslie Boorhem-Stephenson/The Texas Tribune

The Democrat formally launched his bid a block away from the Democratic Party’s headquarters in Dallas. Supporters – including colleagues, party leaders and elected officials – huddled at the Communications Workers of America Union Hall to give a nod of support to West’s U.S. Senate launch. During his kickoff speech, West said that, if elected, he would work on immigration reform, curbing the negative effects of climate change, ensuring Americans have “affordable universal health care” and promoting fair elections.

He also said that 10 of the 12 Democrats in the Texas Senate encouraged him to “move forward” and run for U.S. Senate, and that 47 out of the 67 Democrats in the Texas House did the same.

“We need an individual who is seasoned, who knows what they’re doing and who has support from the state of Texas,” said state Rep. Barbara GervinHawkins, D-San Antonio, co-finance chair for West’s campaign. “Sen. West has a big voice, a big presence, has a lot of knowledge of the state, and I just think he can represent us really well up in D.C.” A number of prominent Democrats – including U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson and former U.S.

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Trade Representative Ron Kirk – also praised West for wading into the primary field.

“We are here to present today a change agent who will bring forth justice and fairness,” said Johnson, a Dallas Democrat. “We could use a lot of that in Texas.”

West’s announcement comes days after Houston City Councilwoman Amanda Edwards, another African American Democrat, launched her bid for U.S. Senate. The two enter a crowded primary that includes MJ Hegar, a 2018 U.S. House candidate and retired Air Force helicopter pilot, and Chris Bell, a former Houston congressman and 2006 gubernatorial nominee.

A group of Democratic progressive operatives is also focused on Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez, founder and executive director of Jolt, a nonprofit she started three years ago to mobilize young Latinos in Texas politics.

“It’s going to be a long road,” West said. Still, he described the process as “healthy for the Democratic Party.”

Whoever wins the primary will square off against a well-established Republican incumbent who has already amassed

See West Page 2

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Houston City Councilwoman Amanda Edwards – Photo courtesy of Facebook

Councilwoman Amanda Edwards of Houston joins Democratic primary

By ABBY LIVINGSTON and PATRICK SVITEK The Texas Tribune

Houston City Councilwoman Amanda Edwards announced on the morning of July 18 she is running for U.S. Senate, joining an increasingly crowded primary to challenge Republican John Cornyn.

It will be a campaign against several Democratic rivals and, possibly, a threeterm incumbent whose reelection war chest tops $9 million. But should Edwards win, she would be the first African American Texan to serve in the U.S. Senate.

“As a woman, as an African American, as a millennial – and in certainly as someone who generally ... believes in solutions and not just rhetoric – I think I’m going to be the candidate that can do the job,” she said

See Edwards Page 2

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Lending discrimination: Stock photo

Why the Community Reinvestment Act needs to do more – AN ANALYSIS –

By RICKIE C. KEYS

Special to The Dallas Examiner

Ever tried to buy a home in the United States on a low or middle income?

Families in this bracket – known as LMI, who are primarily from minority communities – have long been inhibited by discrimination that makes it difficult for them to achieve their homeowning dreams. And this despite the passing of federal legislation designed to combat such discrimination over the last few decades – in particular, the Community Reinvestment Act.

The CRA then …

Let’s rewind to 1977. Jimmy Carter is in the early stages of his presidency. The CRA was passed with the chief aim of combating redlining, a disturbing practice that prevents minority LMI families predominantly from buying their own homes.

Redlining is systematically denying residents access to mortgages, loans, insurance and other financial services, based solely on the repayment default history of the area in which they live. Banks are point blank refusing to lend to people from LMI areas, deeming them high risk. No consideration was being given to an individual’s actual creditworthiness. And it’s becoming clear that the practice is disproportionately affecting minority races and ethnicities.

So the CRA was introduced to create a framework for banks that directs them to cease preventing LMI communities from receiving financing for home ownership, encouraging the banks to lend to these communities.

The CRA now …

Back in 1977, the legislation indeed represented a step in the right direction, helping more people own their own homes by improving access to credit. But now in 2019, with the legislation beginning to show its age, many experts think it’s time to take root and branch review of the situation and make changes.

That’s precisely the challenge that Congress and the private sector are facing right now, the ultimate goal being to reduce incidences of housing discrimination further. So what is it about the CRA that is falling short of expectations? Here we take a detailed look at nature to see how the situation can be improved.

Who enforces CRA legislation?

Since its inception, responsibility for the enforcement of the legislation and the overseeing of banking activity related to it has fallen upon the shoulders of a trio of federal regulatory agencies: • Federal Reserve Board • Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation – known as the FDIC • Office of the Comptroller of the Currency These bodies assess the performance of banks in terms of their response to an entire community’s credit requirements, not just LMI neighborhoods.

According to the Congressional Research

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The Dallas Examiner www.dallasexaminer.com

Most Texas Republicans vote against Around the State condemning Trump for racist tweet

Special to The Dallas Examiner

DALLAS The Third Annual Job Fair and Legal Clinic, presented by Verna’s H.E.L.P. Foundation, Mesquite Friendship Baptist Church and community partners, is designed to assist residents within Dallas, Mesquite, Garland, Rowlett and Balch Springs.

The job fair and legal clinic were created as part of our community outreach to help uplift residents by helping them get jobs and create second chances through legal assistance.

“It’s great to see so many leaders and stakeholders in the community coming together to help in this effort. We know this will be a successful event along with our Expunction Expo. These efforts will help get many individuals in our community back to work and improve their quality of life,” stated Kimberlee Leach, director of communication in the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office.

The event is free and open to everyone across Dallas County. It will have over 30 municipal and corporate human resource representatives hiring on the spot.

On Friday, the job fair will have numerous employers and resource agencies in attendance to promote full-time and part-time jobs, along with free GED prep classes in English and Spanish, the Pharmacist Tech Apprenticeship Program and more.

There will be testing and information on programs such as pharmacist tech, management careers, health care, assembly workers, clerical, law enforcement, retail, logistics, production workers, IT and data processing.

On Saturday, the legal clinic will be hosted by county judges Dominique Collins and Audrey Moorehead with special guest speaker Dallas County Clerk Felicia Pitre. Attorneys specializing in real estate, criminal, expunction, domestic violence and tax law will be available. Participants will also include the Dallas Area Agency on Aging; the Dallas County District Attorney Expunction Team; Rafael Ferreira, community relations manager at Dallas County District Attorney’s Office; Assistant District Attorney Annissa Obasi; VASH veteran housing; T.S. Recuperative Care of North Texas housing for the homeless; Veterans Affairs; ex-offenders organizations and other resource agencies.

DALLAS Gale Jones Murphy, the director of music and education for the Negro Spiritual Scholarship Foundation of Orlando, will host “Music Workshop: Why Do We Sing? The Biblical Perspective,” Thursday through Saturday.

Murphy is a former music educator who earned accolades in music education circles as a skilled teacher of piano, choral conducting and vocal pedagogy.

The music educator extraordinaire began playing music at age 3, was a designated pianist at age 5 and has written over 700 compositions.

The workshop will be held Thursday and Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 10:40 a.m., followed by a gospel concert at Mansfield Seventh-day Adventist Church, 1951 N. Main St. in Mansfield. Ticket availability and seating is limited.

For more information and tickets, contact Gina Jenkins at 682-9705340 or visit www.mansfieldadventist.com.

DALLAS New Hope Baptist Church, founded by African Americans in 1873, is “Dallas’ Oldest African American Church.” On Sunday, the church will celebrate its 146th anniversary during its 10:45 Service Celebration.

The sermon will be given by Pastor Shaun Rabb and the musical presentation by the Dallas Chancel Choir. The church is located at 5001 S. Central Expressway. The church will hold a reception following services.

For more information, email 1newhope4all@sbcglobal.net or visit http://www.newhopebaptdallas.org.

By ABBY LIVINGSTON The Texas Tribune

WASHINGTON – Congressional Texans largely voted along party lines Tuesday night as the U.S. House passed a resolution to condemn President Donald Trump for his tweets over the weekend suggesting four Democratic members of Congress – all women of color – should “go back” to “where they came from.”

All but one Texas Republican present for the vote – U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, R-Helotes – voted against the measure, while Democrats were unanimous in their support.

At issue were comments in which the president said the U.S. representatives ought to “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places where

West,

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a war chest topping $9 million. In the latest fundraising quarter, Cornyn raised more than $2.5 million,

Edwards,

they came from.” The comments were universally interpreted as referring to U.S. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.

Three of the women were born in the United States; all four are citizens.

House members passed the resolution the evening of July 16 on a 240-187 vote. The measure called the comments racist and said they “have legitimized and increased fear and hatred of new Americans and people of color by saying that our fellow Americans who are immigrants, and those who may look to the President like immigrants, should ‘go back’ to other countries, by referring to immigrants and asylum seekers as ‘invaders,’ and by say-

compared with Hegar’s $1 million haul.

Responding to West’s announcement on Twitter, Cornyn accused West of supporting “painful, lateterm abortions.”

In an emailed statement, Cornyn campaign manager

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in an interview, emphasizing the need for a nominee who can persuade voters to vote Democratic but also “galvanize our base.”

Edwards, who had been considering a run since at least March, is finishing her first term as an atlarge City Council member after being elected in 2015. She said she does not plan to run for a second term in November but will serve out her term, which ends in December.

She launched her bid with a video, set to drumline music, that reflected on her family’s middleclass struggles and highlighted a key part of her council tenure – the Hurricane Harvey recovery.

Over images of Martin Luther King Jr. and Ann Richards, Edwards appealed to “all of the people who have ever been locked out or told that they can’t wait or to wait their turn because the status quo or establishment was not ready for change.”

Edwards kicked off her campaign with a screening of the video that evening at the DeLuxe Theater in Houston, followed by a “series of listening sessions and town halls across the state of Texas throughout the summer months,” according to her campaign.

Edwards’ announcement came days before another African American Democrat, state Sen. Royce

Lending,

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Service, banks are awarded points when they lend to LMI communities, points which lead to banks being given an overall rating by these enforcement agencies. These ratings are used to assess whether any new initiatives proposed by each bank, such as a merger or the opening of a new branch, should receive approval.

CRA needs radical change CRA legislation has evolved since its inception in 1977, with subsequent administrations recognizing its shortcomings during the 1990s and 2000s. It’s true to say that the CRA remains a generally positive force for encouraging banks to support LMI communities.

However, it is becoming clear to many in government agencies and the housing sector that plenty more can be done to encourage banks to support people in these communities further. Such is the strength of the desire to see improvements made; many federal agencies are acting to ensure comprehensive reform of the CRA legislation happens sooner rather than later.

A six-month long assessment by the U.S. Department of the Treasury in 2018 resulted in a series of recommendations for the reform of the CRA being published in April. This has led to Congress and the three regulatory agencies

ing that Members of Congress who are immigrants (or those of our colleagues who are wrongly assumed to be immigrants) do not belong in Congress or in the United States of America.”

“Let me say that this is a somber moment,” said U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Houston Democrat, on the House floor ahead of the vote. “It is not a moment I cherish.”

A handful of Texas Republican members – and nearly all of the state’s Democrats – condemned the president in their social media feeds in the days since Trump tweeted the comments. But in this instance, Hurd was alone in his support of the resolution.

“There is no room in America for racism, sexism, anti-Semitism, xenophobia and hate,” Hurd said online after the vote. “I voted

John Jackson said that “whoever limps out of the runoff will face a grassroots army motivated to elect John Cornyn and stop Chuck Schumer and Elizabeth Warren’s agenda.”

Still, Democrats have remained hopeful in their

West, launched his U.S. Senate campaign Monday in Dallas.

So far, Cornyn’s most serious Democratic challenger has been MJ Hegar, the 2018 U.S. House candidate and retired Air Force helicopter pilot. She launched her bid in late April and raised over $1 million through the second quarter.

Since then, another Democrat, Chris Bell, the former Houston congressman and 2006 gubernatorial nominee, has entered the primary, and some progressive operatives have mobilized to try to draft top Latina organizer Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez into the race.

“I think what’s important in this election cycle is how people connect with you and what are you going to do to make their lives different,” Edwards said when asked how she would stand out among so many candidates. “I think if someone can hear an answer to that question ... I think that’s going to be the person [who] can carry the day.”

Cornyn’s campaign was quick to react to Edwards’ candidacy, raising the specter of a drawn-out nominating contest for Democrats.

“Councilwoman Edwards is a true progressive with a record that would make Elizabeth Warren jealous,” Cornyn campaign manager John Jackson said in a statement. “We look forward to seeing which two liberals make the inevitable runoff.”

Edwards anticipates raising $5 million for the primary, and “potentially you’re looking at several

who take responsibility for CRA to recommend change too.

Furthermore, the House Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions held a hearing (also in April) to assess the extent of the impact that the CRA had been having on the issue of redlining.

Regrettably, it concluded that redlining was still an authentic and prevalent problem in LMI neighborhoods.

Indeed, a report carried out by Reveal discovered that more than 60 metropolitan areas of the U.S. were suffering as a result of redlining. This even though a massive 98% of banks were being graded as “Satisfactory” or “Outstanding” by that trio of CRA enforcers.

Unsurprisingly, faced with such overwhelming evidence, the consensus among parties from both the public and private sectors was that immediate change to the CRA was needed.

How to modernize the CRA There are many stakeholders and parties with vested interests who have ideas and opinions on how the legislation should be reformed. Currently, three areas of focus for change are emerging: • Increasing the housing supply • Combating the practice of predatory lending • Altering the definition of assessment areas

Let’s briefly deal with each: More affordable housing House prices are being steadily

to condemn the President’s tweets today but I hope that Speaker Pelosi also considers holding members of her own party accountable to the same degree to which she holds the President.”

But other Republicans called the resolution inappropriate.

“I am tired of the constant politics of personal destruction,” U.S. Rep. Randy Weber, RFriendswood, said in a statement immediately after the vote. “Disagreeing on policy decisions does not, nor should not equate to hate speech.”

Immediately after the vote, U.S. Rep. Al Green, D-Houston, took to the floor to introduce articles of impeachment against Trump. Green has frequently pushed for impeachment since Trump came to office.

ability to flip Cornyn’s seat after Beto O’Rourke’s hard-fought, nationally watched U.S. Senate race against incumbent Ted Cruz last year. The former El Paso congressman lost by a small margin of three points – a tighter race than

Democrats have achieved in years. Several statewide Republican incumbents, meanwhile, were elected by mere single digits.

Robyn H. Jimenez/The Dallas Examiner contributed to this report.

million dollars” for the general election, she said. Over and over, she stressed that the Senate race could be nationalized.

“I think with the general, however, this will be a national phenomenon because people will recognize Texas is such a key piece” to changing the direction of the country, she said.

She told the Tribune that she has met with U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer – as did Hegar and West – and had “very, very positive discussions” with him and the Senate Democratic campaign arm. She suggested another heavyweight group, EMILY’s List, which works to elect Democratic women who support abortion rights, is “very much looking at this and looking to get involved in this race.”

“I think they’re very, very excited to see Texas flip, and they’re going to spend resources” to make it happen, Edwards said of national Democrats’ interest in the race.

Edwards made clear health care will be one of her top issues.

Drawing on her father’s experience with cancer, she said she wants to increase access to health care through a “refinement and improvement” of the Affordable Care Act, staking out a more moderate position on the issue among Democrats.

“I know, certainly, there are a number of folks that are advocating for single-payer systems and the like, but I think in terms of where we are in our system, I think

the best place that we can start is building upon our existing Affordable Care Act,” Edwards said.

Cornyn “voted against health care for millions of Texans,” she said, calling it an “egregious offense in terms of what Texans expect from their leadership.”

Lawmakers need to be “making sure we don’t place the politics over the people,” and Cornyn is an “embodiment of what’s going wrong in Washington,” she added.

Edwards is banking on record turnout in 2020, driven by President Donald Trump at the top of the ticket and Texas Democrats seeing a pivotal opportunity to make inroads in the state.

“I think people have learned their lesson about staying home in presidential election years,” she said.

Hegar welcomed Edwards to the primary later Thursday morning, saying in a statement that the “number of candidates in this race and groundswell of enthusiasm speaks to the urgency” in beating Cornyn.

“As a veteran and working mother who successfully fought to open up hundreds of thousands of jobs to women in the military, I am focused on talking with Texans about my record of taking on tough fights,” Hegar said.

Other Democrats already running include Sema Hernandez, who got a stronger-than-expected 24% against Beto O’Rourke in the 2018 Democratic primary for U.S. Senate.

driven up due to lack of available properties. A National Association of Realtors report concluded that as a result of the 2008 financial crisis, up to 4 million singlefamily homes had not been built, a fact that continues to inflate the price of housing, detrimentally affecting the chances of LMI households entering the property market. Ways that a reformed CRA can address this shortfall include recognizing efforts to expand and support the housing supply for LMI households.

banks to operate without complying with CRA regulations, thereby limiting the effectiveness of the legislation and the financial opportunities that are being afforded to LMI communities.

The conclusion drawn is that assessment areas need to move with the times and be redefined to include not only areas where a bank has a physical location, but also in LMI communities where the bank only has a digital presence, or where it accepts deposits and does substantial business. Finally, banks must offer additional resources to help communities improve their financial health. Rewards-based financial education can be a meaningful approach to improving LMI communities.

Less predatory lending Reformists want more lenders to be subject to CRA regulations, and for regulators to be more proactive in their battle against predatory lending practices. One conclusion that is drawn states that the CRA should play an active role in promoting the importance of financial literacy across LMI and other vulnerable communities. This is seen as an effective way to combat the questionable practices of payday lenders and other unscrupulous providers of financial services.

Changing assessment Currently, CRA guidelines state that geographic areas define assessment areas that the banks serve. However, the growth of financial technology has clouded the definition of these service areas. It’s now possible for banks to digitally help multiple locations without having a physical branch in that area. This lack of a physical presence is allowing

The CRA going forward Many other ways that the CRA can be reformed for the greater good have been suggested, all of which promote the need for the CRA to meet its initial goal set way back in 1977 – to help more families access to credit and enjoy home ownership.

A strong belief that is shared by everyone who wishes to see reform is that any changes need to happen urgently to address a situation that continues to discriminate against LMI communities in the U.S. Even though online banking and other forms of technology have made increasing access to banking services easier, many banks still fail to provide services to LMI communities adequately.

The Dallas Examiner www.dallasexaminer.com

Johnson,

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time Congress passed significant gun control legislation. But the bill also expanded the death penalty, introduced controversial three-strikes and “truth-insentencing” laws, and poured billions in funding toward the construction of federal prisons.

Today, the legacy of the bill haunts many of its original champions. For a new generation of liberal voters, complicity with the crime bill’s passage is a sort of political mortal sin. Many Democratic voters remember the bill as an engine of mass incarceration fueled by cruel and racist policing laws. Most notably, Joe Biden, one of its lead authors, has faced a constant barrage of attacks on his racial justice record as he tries to maintain his lead in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary.

Johnson, the first Black representative elected from Dallas, is the only current Texas representative who was in office to vote on the crime bill in 1994. She campaigned for it at the time and voted for it when it finally passed the House that August.

In an interview this month in her Washington office, Johnson was unbending in her defense of her record, waving off the criticisms that have assailed Biden and other backers of the crime bill. A quarter-century later, she expressed no regrets.

“I’m not sorry,” Johnson told The Texas Tribune, recalling her feeling of urgency at the time to eradicate the violence and drug trafficking that plagued her district. “If the circumstances were the same today as they were back then, I would do the same thing.”

More than 500 murders In the decade leading up to Clinton’s inauguration, many American cities were reeling

from crime. Year after year, cities across the country broke their own murder records. For Black males between 14 and 18 years old in the 1980s, the leading cause of death was homicide. On TV, crime was inescapable.

It even invaded children’s programing, where figures as unlikely as Pee-wee Herman fronted alarmist public service announcements about the lethal dangers of crack cocaine.

Dallas was no exception.

A 1989 PBS Frontline investigation into the city’s drug trade opened with a jarring declaration: “Behind the gleaming face of Dallas lies a war zone.” In 1991, local homicides surpassed 500, giving Dallas one of the highest murder rates of any city in the country.

“The thing that stood out nationally was the murder rate,” said former DPD Chief Ben Click, who took over the city’s police department not long after homicides peaked. “For a city that size to have 500 murders was amazing. ... And those were just the murders.

How many people were shot and all but didn’t die?”

By the early 1990s, there was general consensus that something needed to be done about crime, but chasmic disagreement over how to address it. Democrats – under the leadership of familiar names like Clinton and Biden – championed sprawling prison expansion, harsher sentencing and reloaded police forces. Republicans pushed back, wary of the unbridled federal spending needed for crime control.

But among liberals, one faction was deeply ambivalent about Clinton’s toughon-crime platform: Black Democrats.

“Crime bills are tough votes for Black lawmakers,” The New York Times observed days before the crime bill’s passage. “Blacks are far more likely than Whites to be victims of violent crime, and some polls have found that they are more afraid than Whites of being

murdered or mugged.”

At the same time, harsh policing and drastic prison expansion seemed sure to disproportionately affect Black communities.

The NAACP campaigned hard against the bill, denouncing it as “draconian” and “a crime against the American people,” and members of the Congressional Black Caucus, fearful of how Clinton’s legislation could harm Black communities, introduced a competing bill with a heavier emphasis on alternatives to incarceration and billions of dollars towards drug rehabilitation and early intervention programs.

This uneasiness extended to Dallas’ Black community leaders. Diane Ragsdale, an activist who served as a member of the Dallas City Council during the 1980s and 1990s, said she distrusted the bill’s focus on police enforcement and drastic sentencing laws.

“Even with the crack epidemic, many of us as activists, we didn’t support that at all,” she said.

Johnson recalled that her choice to support the bill was not easy. She was an old friend of Clinton’s, dating to the 1970s. Years later, he wrote in his memoir that Johnson was “one of [his] strongest allies in Congress.”

(Johnson told the Tribune that she spoke with Clinton often during his presidency but said she could not recall any specific conversations about the crime bill.) But at the time, Johnson cited grievances with the bill’s expansion of the death penalty, as well as the omission of a racial justice component written by the Congressional Black Caucus.

She said she made her decision after being moved to action by people in her district.

“I had just decided that I was going to take the safe way and vote against it,” she told the Tribune. “But when I got home and talked with constituents and looked at the situation being described to me in that

community, I came back and said to the caucus members that my vote [was] going to be for the bill.”

The crime bill eventually passed with the votes of 26 of 38 Congressional Black Caucus members.

‘I don’t apologize’ For two decades after the crime bill’s passage, debates over its legacy were mostly dormant. But as the bill’s architects attempt to woo a new generation of voters who have rigid – sometimes uncompromising – political standards, power brokers like Clinton and Biden have had to reckon with the consequences of decades-old decisions. Clinton apologized in 2016 for his bill’s contribution to incarceration levels. Biden, however, has been less repentant.

“This idea that the crime bill generated mass incarceration – it did not generate mass incarceration,” he said at a campaign event in May. Johnson, too, pushed back on claims that the bill had damaging effects on Black Americans. She noted that she has received “not a single complaint” about her vote in the decades since the bill passed and added that she sees little value in the tendency of younger liberal voters to resurrect bygone decisions in attacks on Biden and other Democrats of their generation.

“I don’t know that you can go back and change history,” Johnson said. “No matter how much noise you keep up, it’s not going to change.”

And while Johnson conceded that the bill may have been overly aggressive in its enforcement prescriptions, she maintained that a softer bill would never have passed. “You can always look at something in retrospect and say what you could have done and should have done, but you’ve got to have the votes to get something done,” she said.

Defenders of the crime

bill often point to the precipitous decline of crime rates across the board in the 1990s and early 2000s.

They argue that the bill was the saving grace of formerly crime-ridden American cities.

But crime rates were already trending down across the country by the time of Clinton’s inauguration.

“The bill itself, at least in the academic world, was not seen as any significant contributor to any kind of reductions in crime in the United States – and in the city of Dallas – because those crime rates were already decreasing,” said Alex Piquero, a professor of criminology at the University of Texas at Dallas. He noted that Dallas’ crime rates began to slide after their peak in 1990 and 1991, and had a significantly steeper drop in the four years leading up to the crime bill than in the four years after it.

Piquero said that a convergence of many factors – a booming economy, “an aging of the crime-prone population,” the stabilization of the crack market and the emergence of new law enforcement technologies like CompStat policing – led to the sudden reversal of national crime trends in the mid-1990s far more than anything in Clinton’s crime bill.

The bill’s contribution to mass incarceration, however, may also be overblown. Piquero and other experts point out that although the bill did contribute to an increase in prison population, incarceration levels were climbing at a steeper rate in the years before the bill’s passage.

For some Black criminal justice reformers in Dallas, Johnson’s support for the crime bill came as little surprise. John Wiley Price, a longtime county commissioner with significant sway on Dallas’ south side, had sharp words for her record on criminal justice.

“It’s kind of typical Con-

Page 3 July 25, 2019

gresswoman Johnson,” Price told the Tribune, adding that he is “unaware of any reform advocacy that she has championed.”

Two and a half decades later, bipartisan consensus over the methods of criminal justice reform has shifted. Texas, long the epitome of mass incarceration and death row sentencing, has become a leader in certain areas of criminal justice reform. Last year, President Donald Trump signed the First Step Act, a sweeping prison reform bill that was shepherded through Congress by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and supported by many Texans on both sides of the aisle.

Still, homicide rates are surging in Dallas again, and Price expressed frustration at the perennial damage levied on Black Dallas residents, both by crime itself and by misguided attempts to reform it.

“We’ve seen these cycles,” he said. “Whether it’s a Joe Biden or an Eddie Bernice, until we have somebody standing and really putting their finger to the dam, we’re going to see this.”

Stern in her defense of her record, Johnson argued that Price’s voice is not representative of her district.

“I’ve stayed in touch with law enforcement, with the police department, with the D.A.’s office, with mayors,” she said. “You’re always going to have some antagonists, but they can’t boss you. I cannot be bossed.”

For Johnson, the Black incarceration boom of the last few decades is not the result of the 1994 crime bill, but rather the product of the broken criminal justice system tasked with putting its laws into effect.

“I don’t apologize for voting for the bill,” she said, “What I don’t have control over is how the bill was implemented. I don’t have control over eradicating racism.

If I could, you know I would do something about that.”

Page 4 July 25, 2019

Dr. Donald Stewart

By MARIAN WRIGHT EDELMAN Children’s Defense Fund

I was devastated by the loss earlier this year of Dr. Donald Stewart. He and his wife Isabel Carter Stewart have been among my dearest, dearest friends.

Donald served as president of my alma mater Spelman College from 1976 to 1986, overlapping with my own tenure on Spelman’s board of trustees and then as board chair, where he took Spelman to new heights and set it on the path to its standing today as a leading liberal arts and historically Black college ranked #51 on U.S. News and World Report’s list of National Liberal Arts Colleges.

I was so proud when Spelman’s robotics team made history in 2005 as the first all-female, all-Black undergraduate team to qualify and compete in the International RoboCup four-legged robot soccer competition and several years later tied for first place in a championship in Japan! Spelman is the nation’s oldest HBCU for women and a shining example of why Historically Black Colleges and Universities continue to play a critical role in American education.

Donald, who graduated from Grinnell College, also earned graduate degrees from Yale and Harvard and served as an administrator at the University of Pennsylvania. He understood the importance of solidifying Spelman’s strong academic reputation and nurturing the potential every Spelman student had to offer. When he was chosen as Spelman’s second Black male president following Dr. Albert Manley after a succession of White women leaders, students who had hoped Spelman would choose a Black woman protested by locking in members of the board of trustees, tying the door to our boardroom shut for 26 hours. But in his first address, Donald promised he would never let “male ego” get in the way of being the leader Spelman’s students needed.

Under his leadership, the college’s commitment to STEM skyrocketed, including establishment of the chemistry and computer science departments and a computer literacy requirement, setting the stage for Spelman students’ excellence today. He also established the school’s honors program and the Women’s Research and Resource Center – the first of its kind for a Black college – and greatly expanded Spelman’s fundraising and endowment to help ensure its success for the future. And he responded to our board decision, and student and alumnae insistence, that Spelman fully divest from apartheid South Africa.

Throughout Donald’s tenure at Spelman, his beautiful and accomplished wife was an invaluable co-partner. I am always so happy to say I played matchmaker between them – I have never had a divorce in all of my matchmaking history, and they were one of my most successful pairs! I was a bridesmaid at their beautiful wedding and was thrilled to see them create such a strong legacy together at Spelman.

They and their young sons Jay and Carter brought new youthful energy to Spelman’s campus after Manley’s 23 years as president, and their family’s involvement in Atlanta life brought great visibility to the college throughout the city.

Carter and my oldest son Joshua have been close friends since childhood, and I am so grateful they are now carrying on family friendships and traditions with their children.

Spelman’s Donald and Isabel Stewart Living-Learning Center was dedicated during Donald’s last year as Spelman’s president, and after Spelman the Stewarts continued careers of service. Donald served as president of the college board, senior program officer at the Carnegie Corporation and CEO of the Chicago Community Trust. He was also a director of the New York Times Company and served on a number of boards. Isabel served as director of the Global Fund for Children, national executive director of Girls Inc., and executive director of the Chicago Foundation for Women. She has also served and worked on many boards, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, public/private ventures and the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund.

Donald said once about their shared commitment to philanthropic and nonprofit organizations, “Isabel and I have – throughout our professional lives – been in nonprofit service, and we believe in giving. We believe that we lift as we climb and that without philanthropy, without the help of the nonprofit world, many organizations and people will not have their needs met.”

The Stewarts led and lifted many others along the way. I am profoundly grateful for our many years of friendship and the lasting legacy he left at Spelman.

He is deeply missed.

Marian Wright Edelman is founder and president emerita of the Children’s Defense Fund whose mission is Leave No Child Behind. For more information, visit http://www.childrensdefense.org.

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Mary Factory helped put Apollo 11 on moon

By HELEN GIDDINGS Women’s Leadership Summit

The second annual UNTD Women’s Leadership Summit recently brought together outstanding African American history makers, established leaders and aspiring leaders.

It was an incredible collection of women representing every segment of society, including West Point cadets and drummer Queen Cora, the international drummer who worked extensively with Prince and Beyoncé.

As Apollo 11’s landing on the moon marks its 50th anniversary in 2019, a session was devoted to recognizing African American women and space.

Three African American female astronauts have flown in space: Mae Jemison, Stephanie Wilson and Joan Higginbotham. Two of them, Wilson and Higginbotham, shared the stage with Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, a historymaker who is the first African American and the first woman to chair the Congressional House Committee on Science, Space, Technology and Transporta-

‘‘

tion. The final person on the stage was far less known.

She was Mary Matilda Factory, a former electronic assembler with Boeing, whose skilled soldering was essential to the success of our space program. On that stage of outstanding achievers, 100-year-old Factory was no less amazing.

Years ago, Factory received NASA’s Apollo Achievement Award for “dedicated service to the nation as a member of the team which has advanced the nation’s capabilities in aeronautics and space and demonstrated them in many outstanding accomplishments culminating in Apollo 11’s successful landing on the moon, July 20, 1969.”

Many of us today are aware of the mathematical genius of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughn and Mary Jackson. The popular movie Hidden Figures revealed the important role they have played in our successful space travel.

While not a mathematician, the dexterity of her hands was recognized and applauded in her soldering of the intricate and detailed circuit boards used in spaceships.

The world class speakers of Women’s Leadership Summit, along with the

’’

Black History Fact

Would we rather have had a yellow-brick road? ... It would have been nice not to struggle so hard.

But we probably appreciate it more than if we had come up without obstacles. You can't lean toward the negative. We don't overlook it, but we just like to draw from the positive.

– Wendell Scott

Wendell Scott, the first Black full-time NASCAR driver, is a pioneer in auto racing. Since he began his career in 1947, he has won over 100 local races and claimed the 1959 NASCAR Virginia Sportsman championship.

In the South, during the Jim Crow era, Scott endured brutal hardships in order to compete in the NASCAR races. It took him almost 20 years to raise enough money to enter the top level Grand National Circuit – now known as the Winston Cup series. Despite the persistent discrimination, he raced in nearly 500 races and finished in the top 10 147 times.

In 1963, he became the first African American to win a NASCAR premier series event, a 100-mile race on a half-mile track in Jacksonville, Florida, but was denied the opportunity to celebrate in Victory Circle.

Sources: greatblackheroes.com; aaregistry.org; nascar.com

250-plus women, had gathered to applaud one another’s victories, to learn from one another’s overcoming of challenges and to marshal personal influence, ability and determination to impact the lives of women and create a better world.

They delighted in Factory’s compelling story.

“They kept asking me why they should hire me! I could not accept no. I told them, ‘It’s not that you are giving me a handout; I’m bringing you my skills, hard work and dedication. This is good for both of us!’” Factory vividly recalled. “My husband was in the military and I had six children I wanted to send to college, so that they would have a better life than I had. I was determined to get that job and against all odds I did.”

The women were elated when they heard Factory’s firsthand account of the excitement of being in the room and seeing shuttles launched.

“There was a lot of pride knowing you were a part of making it happen,” she said.

We celebrate Factory, African American women and, for that matter, all women who have fought their way into the room.

The number of women in STEM, in C-Suites, on boards of directors and de-

cision-making bodies are still small. Women must continue to make their voices heard as the struggle for equality is far from over.

Women make up half the world’s population. They are the centers of their communities. Their impact should be commensurate.

Frankly, we will always fall short of the universal goal of creating a better, more humane world until we are intentional about maximizing the potential of all people. This requires the recognition that human rights, civil rights and women’s rights are inextricably connected.

The summit was very fortunate to hear Factory’s inspiring story and to share it with others, as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11.

Mary Matilda Factory is a hidden figure whose contributions deserve to be recognized and acknowledged.

Helen Giddings is the chairperson for the Women’s Leadership Summit. She is also a community leader, entrepreneur and a former Democratic member of the Texas House of Representatives.

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PERSPECTIVES

Page 5 July 25, 2019

‘Don’t call me racist!’ Dodging the R-word

By SUSAN K. SMITH Crazy Faith Ministries

It has been troubling and fascinating to watch people deny that they are racist and that this president is racist. It is as though the R-word is as offensive to some as is the N-word.

While people – media included – are fighting the trending verbiage that states unequivocally that the president is racist, they are also denying that they are racist.

What is up with that?

America was born in white supremacist ideology; the Puritans were convinced that they had been anointed by God to make a new nation that would be morally superior to all other nations. They also believed that this new land was to be a place for White people.

Americans were obsessed with creating a master race during its eugenics movement. Edwin Black writes in War Against the Weak: Eugenics and America’s Campaign to Create a Master Race that “during the first six decades of the twentieth century, hundreds of thousands of Americans and untold numbers of others were not permitted to con-

tinue their families by reproducing.” Those sterilized were chosen because of “their ancestry, national origin, race and religion.”

The practices were supported by the elite of American society: professors, Ivy League universities and wealthy industrialists.

America’s race laws were so sophisticated that the Germans referred to and used them in the development of their quest for creating a master race – what they called a “superior Nordic race” and a “master Aryan race.”

Black writes that “it was only after the truth about Nazi extermination became known did the American eugenics movement fade.

American eugenic institutions rushed to change their names from eugenics to genetics.”

Racism is a part of America’s story.

They, therefore, notwithstanding their religion, felt no internal or spiritual angst when they systematically, methodically and intentionally killed and/or forced the relocations of Native Americans. They believed it was God’s will.

White supremacist ideology was already a known entity by the time the Puritans arrived here in the 1600s. Racist ideas and beliefs were known and prac-

ticed by Europeans for nearly two centuries by the time the Puritans landed at Massachusetts Bay, according to Rewriting the History of Racist Ideas on PublicBooks.org.

Those ideas were used to “codify New England slavery,” Ibram X. Kendi notes in Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas. The idea that Black people were inferior in all ways, made that way

by God, was “baked into the founding documents.”

The Founding Fathers wrestled with the contradiction of making a new, independent nation while forcing others into total dependence on White people. It was through and by the labor of Black people that the economy was built, but as the nation grew older, Whites decided that there was no place for Black people in what had become their country. Black people had outlived their usefulness. They wanted to get rid of Black people but wrestled with how to do it.

A major push was made to colonize people of African descent; ship them back to Africa, the proponents said, where they can teach the “savages” the principles of Christianity – the same Christianity that was used to justify their being slaves – and thus make the world a

better place.

Major historical figures supported the colonization of Black people. The American Colonization Society has a prominent voice in American history.

Even the White president who has been deified because of the Emancipation Proclamation, Abraham Lincoln, fully supported the colonization of people of African descent. He did not believe that Black people were on an equal plane with Whites or that they would ever be. He issued the Emancipation Proclamation for a number of reasons, none of which was his belief in the full humanity of Black people.

We all know that many of the Founding Fathers owned slaves. We know that even though Black people fought in every American war, once the wars were over, Whites made sure they understood that, their military service notwithstanding, they were still “niggers,” still unqualified to have full rights of American citizenship, and were still inferior to White people.

The belief in Black inferiority – which is the key component of white supremacist thought – is a part of America’s ethos. It has accounted for the substandard housing, education and economic opportunities for Black people; it accounts for the lack of at-

tention and care given to the conditions that have since the beginning of this nation’s birth been the bane of this country’s existence.

Because of the widespread belief in the inferiority of Black people, and the subsequent dehumanization of Black people (perhaps subliminally) carried in the very souls of White people, there is little care or attention given to the substandard treatment of Black people, allowing too many people to turn a blind eye to situations, such as tainted water in Flint, Michigan, or rundown schools with lead paint, which Black children in so many cities still attend.

In this political season, the statement keeps coming up: “We are better than this.”

But in truth, we are not.

America is doing as America has always done.

So, denying the charge of being racist is fascinating to watch, and it begs the question of how White Americans define racism. Just because one does not use the N-word and has a couple of friends does not make one a nonracist. At the end of the day, it is the acceptance of racist policies and practices that defines racism, and a willingness to be silent as Black people are subjected to these policies and practices on a daily basis.

The racism is not just di-

rected at Black people, either. As Brown people have grown in number in this country, the racism has extended to them as well. Incorporated in the white supremacist standard of white supremacy is xenophobia and Islamophobia – and sexism. White supremacy is not only racist but also sexist.

And it is who we are.

If White people would just own their racism, this nation might be able to move forward, but they refuse to. If one says the Rword, too many Whites get immediately defensive, more worried about protecting and defending their honor than addressing and owning the problem that is killing America.

White supremacy is an illness, like drug and/or alcohol addiction. In order to not be a racist, a person has to say, “I am a racist,” and then the process of healing can begin.

Without the admission of the malady, there can be no healing and no reconciliation.

And, unfortunately, too many Whites seem to be all right with that reality.

Rev. Dr. Susan K. Smith is the founder and director of Crazy Faith Ministries. She is available for speaking. Contact her at revsuekim@sbcglobal.net.

CFPB abandons fair lending enforcement, reporting

By CHARLENE CROWELL

Center for Responsible Lending

More than 50 years ago, this nation enacted legal guarantees that fair housing would be available to all Americans. Despite this federal assurance, however, a disturbing and ongoing stream of reports and lawsuits remind us that we are still on an aspirational journey. Aggressive enforcement of fair housing and other anti-discriminatory laws are supposed to bring punishments for violators, and restitution for those harmed.

But as with so many justice issues, either financial or criminal, what really happens in life seems a world away from the African American experience.

Since its inception, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s mandate was to protect consumers from discriminatory lending as well as to ensure fair access to credit. In addition to violations of the Fair Housing Act, CFPB also has the authority to refer potential violations of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act to the Justice Department.

Despite these and other enforcement options, CFPB’s most recent fair lending report to Congress ac-

knowledged a full year without any fair lending enforcement actions.

“The Bureau must refer to the Justice Department a matter when it has reason to believe that a creditor has engaged in a pattern or practice of lending discrimination in violation of ECOA,” acknowledged the report. “In 2018, the Bureau did not refer any ECOA violations to the Justice Department. … In 2018, the Bureau opened and continued a number of fair lending-related investigations, however, it did not bring fair lending-related enforcement actions,” the June 2019 report continued.

While CFPB turned away from fair lending, several 2018 lawsuits were filed, mostly by private and nonprofit advocates. Their collective actions realized large settlements, fair lending reports and continued documentation of illegal breaches.

For example, nearly a year ago, New York’s Suffolk County Federal Credit Union signed a $1 billion settlement rather than go to trial on discriminatory charges.

The settlement resolved a case filed two years earlier, in 2016, that alleged Black and Latino consumers were denied mortgage approvals at a higher rate than that of the credit union’s White customers.

Later that same year, in a regu-

latory examination of Citigroup, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency found that consumers of color were not receiving the same mortgage rate discounts reserved for its large deposit customers. That case was referred to the Justice Department.

Another 2018 discriminatory case involved lawsuits with several major banks on behalf of consumers in two Maryland counties, Montgomery and Prince George.

The case alleged that as early as the mid-2000s, consumers of color were steered into highercost, nonprime mortgages – a violation of the Fair Housing Act. Some might contend that this sample summary might not be fair to CFPB and its mission.

To such questioning minds, I would add that this June a coalition of 158 state and national advocates filed written comments against another recent deregulatory move planned by the CFPB. This effort would exempt hundreds of lenders from providing vital data that tracks the market and consumer access to credit.

Every year, the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act report makes public details of the past year’s mortgage market. It is the only national report that includes the race and ethnicity of mortgage applicants, types of loan approvals as well as denials. Most importantly, the ac-

tual behavior of lenders – both banks and nonbanks record the total number of loans involved.

By exempting so many lenders, the highly anticipated report would lose valuable clarity and irrefutable data.

Among the organizations signing these comments were: NAACP, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the National Fair Housing Alliance and the Center for Responsible Lending.

“A large loss of HMDA reporting will create a distorted view of lending trends in these underserved areas and will make it more difficult for stakeholders to determine if revitalization efforts are succeeding,” wrote the housing advocates. “The overall impact of raising the threshold will be to frustrate HMDA’s purposes of determining whether credit needs are being met and whether public investment has succeeded in rejuvenating the housing and lending markets in struggling neighborhoods.”

The coalition comments also include a litany of CFPB actions that have occurred since 2017, all with anti-consumer effects: • Failure to issue any violations of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. • Declared its intent to ignore the disparate impact standard, a

long-standing legal test that holds the effects of discrimination, not the intent, are legal violations • Publicly praised the repeal of anti-discrimination auto lending guidance.

• Sided with payday lenders in their challenge of the bureau’s payday rule promulgated under the previous director.

• Stripped the bureau’s fair lending office of its supervisory and enforcement powers.

• Relegated the development of regulation on fair lending for minority- and women-owned businesses to a low-level concern.

In many ways, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has failed to live up to its name and reneged on its mission.

“This lack of enforcement demonstrates our journey towards fair lending still has miles to travel,” said Melissa Stegman, a CRL senior policy counsel.

“CFPB was created to protect consumers without exception.”

Charlene Crowell is the communications deputy director with the Center for Responsible Lending.

She can be reached at charlene.crowell@responsiblelending.org.

Let’s not just focus on elections, but on how we elect

By LEE H. HAMILTON

Center on Representative Government

A few years ago, I was at a polling place here in Indiana, where a long line of people stood waiting to vote. A woman recognized me and called me over.

“Why is it,” she asked, “that you politicians make it so hard and inconvenient to vote?”

I thought of this the other day when I read the news reports about presidents Trump and Putin meeting and jestingly accusing one another of election meddling. The background, of course, is the pressing issue of Russian interference in U.S. elections.

American voters take elections seriously enough to stand in line – for hours, sometimes – to cast a ballot.

And here were the two presidents making light of at-

tempts to subvert the voices of ordinary people. I’d expect nothing less from Putin, but from an American president?

The sad truth is, Russian meddling isn’t our only election problem. We’ve got an archaic registration process, restrictive voting practices, voting systems bedeviled by outdated technology, inadequate budgets for the voting infrastructure, and an entire nation’s worth of overloaded local elections staff. There are robust efforts afoot, by many people and groups, to suppress – not encourage – votes; much effort in this country goes into keeping some groups of people from having a say in the conduct of their government.

It’s also distressingly common to find officials who are uninterested in promoting a fair and convenient vote, but instead are looking for ways to manipulate the system so that their preferences emerge from

the voting. Too few of them believe in Abraham Lincoln’s formulation at Gettysburg: “government of the people, by the people, for the people.” They define “people” so as to exclude voters they don’t like.

So let’s remember: The ballot is the foundation of our democracy. It’s our best way to gauge the public’s will. If we fail to get the ballot box right, then our democracy fails.

Elections are not the sum total of “democracy.” An independent judiciary, an informed public, institutions such as schools, labor unions, business groups and the news media all are necessary as well. Democracy is a hugely complex phenomenon. But at its heart is one thing: the vote.

We’ve come a long way on this front. The founders thought that rule by the people was tantamount to anarchy. So they restricted the vote early on to White males who owned property. In a

sense, our history as a nation has been written in terms of extending the franchise to more and more people.

But that’s not the only requirement. Over time, I’ve come to look at a good election not so much in terms of who wins or loses – liberal or conservative, Republican or Democrat – but in terms of the process, and whether it was fair and democratic.

Sure, I’m sometimes disappointed in the results of voters’ decisions at the ballot box. But I’m always reminded that our system is designed with the capacity to correct errors. In a lot of ways, we’ll be strongest as a country not by means of a strong military or a strong economy, but when our battle cry is, “Let the people vote!”

If you look across the state and local landscape, you’ll find efforts to make voting more accessible and more verifiable that offer hope in the midst of voter suppression and election

meddling. But these need to be a national aspiration that’s pursued at every level: to protect voting infrastructure, provide a paper trail for every vote, ensure adequate resources for the conduct of elections, and vow to ensure that state and local elections systems are run fairly, on behalf of everyone who’s entitled to vote.

Our governments have to work constantly at what that woman in line wanted to see: making voting accessible and convenient. Yes, we need to protect the integrity of the vote. But we also need to make it a positive civic experience, not a burden.

Elections have consequences. The winners get political power that enables them to change the course of history. Our chief way to have a say in this is to vote in every election, every time, for every office. Let’s make sure we can, and that when we do, our vote matters.

Lee Hamilton is a senior advisor for the Indiana University Center on Representative Government, a distinguished scholar at the IU Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies and a professor of practice at the IU O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. He was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for 34 years.

For information about our educational resources and programs, visit our website at https://corg.indiana.edu.

Like us on Facebook at Indiana University Center on Representative Government, and share our posts with your friends.

Lee Herbert Hamilton is a former member of the United States House of Representatives and a member of the U.S. Homeland Security Advisory Council.

Page 6 July 25, 2019

Counseling Corner

American Counseling Association

You do deserve the success you’ve earned

It’s a feeling that affects both men and women. You’ve achieved success at work, with a community organization, or just within your family, and yet you don’t feel you’ve really earned that achievement.

You may think that your accomplishments come from luck or good timing rather than any real talent and hard work on your part. You may feel like a fraud, not really capable of the tasks facing you.

Having these thoughts is fairly common. They’re manifestations of self-doubt and a lack of self-confidence, and there’s even a psychological term to describe them – “imposter syndrome.”

It’s not a psychological disorder but rather a descriptive name developed in the late 1970s. Researchers and clinicians found that they were seeing people who had strong accomplishments yet were often convinced they didn’t deserve the success they had won.

It happens to many of us. We may have trouble believing we are as intelligent and talented as we really are. The result can be our crediting outside reasons or forces as to why a good thing is occurring, rather than accepting that we actually made it happen ourselves.

Such feelings can become a problem when feeling like an impostor gets in the way of our daily lives. We might be afraid or even frozen when facing a work presentation or speech at a big meeting. We may question or avoid the decisions we need to make regarding our children and family. Professional counselors report that they have seen this self-questioning and lack of confidence in everyone from managers of large businesses to stay-athome moms.

However, there are ways to overcome impostor syndrome.

A starting point is to step back and look objectively at your accomplishments. Make a list of positive things, big and small, you’ve accomplished in the past year. Then own those accomplishments. Give yourself credit for the work and talent that achieved those successes.

Research has shown that simply talking to yourself can change how you see yourself.

Tell yourself that you are worthy in all aspects of your life.

Tell yourself that you are better and smarter than you think you are, and that you know more than you usually give yourself credit for. And be sure to remind yourself of these positive thoughts as often as possible.

If a form of impostor syndrome is negatively affecting your life, a professional counselor can offer assistance in overcoming the problem.

Recovering from a mistake

It happens to all of us.

We’re in a situation where we have to perform, make a decision or accomplish something important, and instead, we fail. We freeze up, or make a poor decision or simply don’t deliver the results that were expected. The outcome isn’t pleasant and we are embarrassed.

The reality, of course, is that no one can be right all the time. We may fail at something but, hopefully, it usually isn’t the end of the world. The problem happens when we find it hard to get past that mistake or failure. Instead of simply going, “Oops!” and telling ourselves we’ll do better next time, we dwell on our mistake and find it makes us timid and afraid to take on new things if there appears to be any type of risk involved.

This can seem difficult to overcome, especially if the previous mistake has had serious ramifications, but in most cases you can move on successfully. A starting point is to see a failure not simply as an ending point, but rather as a mistake from which you can learn and improve. It’s important to realize that you are much more than that mistake or failure.

Life is a learning experience. Yes, there will be things that make you nervous, perhaps really scare you, but when you have the courage to face such events, even if you may eventually fail at them, you’re taking action to learn and to build a better you. And the result will be, after time, that things that once made you nervous or scared are now clearly in the domain of things you can handle.

The key is to not dwell on the past but rather to keep moving forward. When faced with something that may contain some risk, it’s important to ask yourself, “What’s the worst that can happen?” Try to evaluate how you would deal with that negative outcome. Is it possible that not succeeding might even have positive benefits in the long run?

Too often we focus on the immediate present, seeing what has happened as a major disaster. But when we take the time to step back and evaluate the disaster, it usually turns out that while it was an outcome you may wish hadn’t happened, it’s almost always one you can move past.

Learn from a setback and you’ll be less anxious about trying once again.

Counseling Corner is provided by the American Counseling Association. Comments and questions can be sent to acacorner@counseling.org or visit http://www.counseling.org.

HEALTH

The Dallas Examiner www.dallasexaminer.com

Keep cool on the grill with refreshing, healthy dishes Family Features

Keep your kitchen cool and comfortable with grilled meals that banish the heat to the outdoors. Crisp, fresh greens and a perfect blend of spices and savory ingredients make each of these refreshing dishes perfect solutions for toasty days.

Featuring ingredients across the food groups, these dairy-fueled recipes from Milk Means More are ideal for well-rounded meals filled with nutritious flavor. Zesty mustard, spicy Sriracha and rich buttermilk lend a marinated flavor upgrade to traditional grilled chicken, while homemade pesto, fresh corn and ham create a perfect harmony for a cheesy

grilled pizza. Or make a salad the star of your dinner table with a simply seasoned sirloin steak, plenty of veggies and a tart twist on a creamy

dressing made with yogurt and milk.

Find more refreshing meal solutions at http://www.milkmeansmore.org.

Grilled Buttermilk Chicken

Recipe courtesy of Lori Yates of Foxes Love Lemons on behalf of Milk Means More

Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 16 minutes Servings: 4

1 1/2 cups buttermilk 1 tablespoon mustard powder 1 tablespoon Sriracha 2 teaspoons minced garlic 2 teaspoons paprika 4 chicken drumsticks, bone in, skin on 4 chicken thighs, bone in, skin on

Vegetable oil, for grill 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley Lemon, cut into wedges (optional)

In medium bowl, whisk buttermilk, mustard powder, Sriracha, garlic and paprika.

Place chicken in large zip-top bag; pour buttermilk mixture over chicken. Seal bag and refrigerate 2 hours or overnight.

Heat outdoor grill for direct grilling over medium heat. Remove chicken from marinade, shaking off excess; discard marinade. Lightly oil grill grates. Transfer chicken to grill and cook, turning occasionally, 16-18 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 165 F. Transfer chicken to serving platter.

Sprinkle with parsley and serve with lemon wedges, if desired.

Grilled Steak Salad with Chive Yogurt Dressing

Recipe courtesy of Kirsten Kubert of Comfortably Domestic on behalf of Milk Means More

Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 10 minutes Servings: 6

Dressing: 1 cup plain yogurt 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice (3 small limes) 2 tablespoons milk 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 1/8 teaspoon black pepper Steak: 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic 20 ounces boneless petite sirloin steak Salad: 3 cups baby spinach

3 cups chopped romaine lettuce hearts 1/2 cup sweet red pepper rings 1/2 cup sweet yellow pepper rings 1 cup avocado chunks 1/4 cup thinly shaved red onion

To make dressing: In blender, combine yogurt, lime juice, milk, chives, garlic, salt and pepper. Blend on low until smooth consistency forms and chives are completely incorporated.

Transfer dressing to jar with tight-fitting lid and refrigerate until serving.

Heat grill to medium.

To prepare steak: Combine kosher salt, black pepper and granulated garlic to create rub. Sprinkle half of seasoning mix over one side of steak, pressing it into meat. Repeat with remaining seasoning on opposite side of steak.

Grill steak over direct medium heat to desired level of doneness, approximately 4-5 minutes per side for medium pink center. Remove steak from grill and let rest 7-10 minutes on cutting board.

To make salad: Toss spinach and romaine on large platter. Scatter red and yellow peppers, avocado and onion over greens. Slice grilled sirloin thinly against grain. Arrange meat slices along center of salad.

Drizzle dressing over salad just prior to serving.

Grilled Pizza with Arugula Pesto, Corn and Ham

Prep time: 20 minutes Cook time: 10 minutes Servings: 6

Recipe courtesy of Rachel Gurk of Rachel Cooks on behalf of Milk Means More

Arugula Pesto: 2 cups fresh arugula, tightly packed 1 clove garlic 1 tablespoon lemon juice Pinch red pepper flakes, (optional) 1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil Salt, to taste Pepper, to taste

Grilled Pizza: 2 tablespoons flour, divided 1 pound pizza crust dough (at room temperature if using refrigerated dough) Vegetable oil, for grill 1/2 cup Arugula Pesto 1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese 1/2 cup diced deli ham

1/2-3/4 cup fresh corn kernels (about 1 cob) 1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Heat grill to medium heat (350400 F).

To make Arugula Pesto: In food processor, combine arugula, garlic, lemon juice, red pepper flakes and Parmesan. Pulse until combined then, with food processor on, drizzle in olive oil until pesto forms, scraping down sides as needed.

Taste and season with salt and pepper, to taste.

To make Grilled Pizza: Flour pizza dough lightly and stretch or roll to about 1/2-inch thickness (1416-inch diameter).

Sprinkle remaining flour on large rimless baking sheet, pizza peel or pizza stone. Transfer dough to baking surface.

Clean grill grate and grease with oil-soaked paper towel and tongs.

Slide dough off baking surface onto grill. Cover and cook until dough is bubbling on top and golden brown on bottom, 2-3 minutes.

Carefully flip dough over using peel or tongs. Remove crust from grill to add toppings. Spread Arugula Pesto over dough. Top with ricotta, ham, corn kernels, onion and Parmesan. Return pizza to grill, cover and cook until toppings are heated through and bottom of crust is crispy, 5-7 minutes.

Remove from grill, slice and serve.

The Dallas Examiner www.dallasexaminer.com

EDUCATION

Page 7 July 25, 2019

AFT updates landmark education funding report Special to The Dallas Examiner

WASHINGTON — The American Federation of Teachers issued an update to its education funding report card July 12 detailing some progress that states have made in public school finance. Funding Our Future: A Progress Report on State PreK-12 Education Finance updated portions of the union’s 2018 report, A Decade of Neglect: Public Education Funding in the Aftermath of the Great Recession, and showed incremental improvements in state education spending. It also shined a light on the consequences for states that continue to decline adequate funding for public education.

The report provided further evidence that chronic disinvestment – which has led to reduced student math and English achievement, lack of teacher retention and reduced graduation rates, as cited in Do School Spending Cuts Matter? Evidence from the Great Recession by C. Kirabo Jackson, Cora Wigger and Heyu Xiong of the National Bureau of Economic

Research – was largely the result of governors and state legislators that pursued strict agendas that favored tax cuts for the rich at the expense of schools across the nation, and has begun to outline some data to suggest that the rallying cry over the past year from communities, parents and educators to fund the future for students has begun to pay off.

The 2019 edition used updated census data from 2016 and 2017 to look at how education funding has changed across the states.

While the initial report indicated that 25 states spent less on public education than they did before the recession, 2017 data shows that number has been reduced to 21. Kentucky, Oregon, South Dakota and Tennessee are now spending more than they did before the recession, after adjusting for inflation.

The report also provided a snapshot of what’s continuing to happen, and indicated that the wave of educator activism and the 2018 midterm elections are signs of a larger shift toward increased support of the public schools,

which 90% of American children attend. It highlights several states where the teacher walkouts, political activism and teacher-led Fund Our Future campaigns have resulted in new investments.

The efforts of teachers, parents and communities in New Mexico helped elect Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. That in turn led to a legislative session that made substantial new investments in K-12 education, including funding for at-risk students and teacher salaries.

In Texas, again in part a result of AFT member activism, many anti-public education incumbents were defeated during the 2018 elections leading in 2019 to a budget with millions of dollars in new funding for schools.

In Florida, voters in 20 school districts voted to increase property taxes to provide resources for safer schools, improvements in teacher pay and other education investments.

In Illinois, the election of Gov. J.B. Pritzker has provided an opportunity for Illinois voters to increase taxes

on the richest in order to support education and other services via an initiative that will be on the ballot in 2020.

Last year, in states that had experienced some of the deepest spending cuts since the recession – Arizona, Kentucky, Oklahoma and West Virginia – teachers went on strike to protest disinvestment. Although we don’t yet have complete data on how state spending has improved in these states since those strikes, in all but Kentucky, legislators have responded by increasing state funding for schools, according to K-12 School Funding Up in Most 2018 Teacher-Protest States, But Still Well Below Decade Ago by Michael Leachman and Eric Figueroa.

This year, teachers in Los Angeles took to the streets to demand more for their students and won class-size reduction; limits on testing; and access to nurses, counselors and librarians.

AFT President Randi Weingarten, who noted some of the data in her keynote address at the union’s biennial TEACH conference, hoped the data

would continue to improve.

“The progress here may be incremental, but we’ve reached an inflection point.

We are seeing tangible, measurable impacts: more nurses and counselors in schools; increased special education resources; access to language, art and STEM classes with grade- and subject-appropriate material; and higher wages for teachers,” Weingarten said.

“But it didn’t happen in a vacuum. It happened because educators spoke out and galvanized communities to support public schools – in the streets and at the ballot box. Slowly but surely, state legislatures are realizing that underfunding public schools is far too risky a bet. But we still have a long way to go before we ensure every kid in this country gets an education regardless of geography, demography or ability.

That’s what the AFT Fund Our Future initiative is all about: building a movement for sustainable investment in the public schools parents want, and kids need.”

The research also showed how the states with the worst

disinvestment have generally prioritized lower taxes for the richest over adequate funding for schools, and it suggests several tax proposals focused on asking the top earners to pay their fair share to start to undo the damage of the recession and build the schools and communities we need. It recommended that state lawmakers pursue progressive revenue reform to adequately invest in our nation’s schools and tackle growing inequality so states could at least close the $14.4 billion funding gap needed to bring their education spending up to prerecession levels. Several of the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates have proposals that would similarly raise revenue at the federal level.

The report concluded that while the initial improvements are encouraging, even the states doing “better” are still failing to spend what is needed for all of their students to achieve academic success, with nearly every state still spending inadequately to meet the education needs of children in the highest poverty districts.

Prepare your children to transition back to school

Family Features

Whether your child’s stance on heading back to school is eager and enthusiastic or falls a bit short of that level of excitement, by working together your family can gear up for a successful school year.

Transitioning back into school mode can feel overwhelming for many families. From building relationships to ensuring all the right equipment and supplies are onhand, you can help your child feel well-prepared for school.

Talk with teachers Many schools host open house nights, which serve as opportunities for parents to meet new teachers and discuss any concerns. They provide a chance for parents to begin building a relationship with teachers. If your district doesn’t host this

type of event, reach out to the teachers to request time to meet one-onone. Talk about your child’s strengths and weaknesses, and to learn what to expect from the year ahead, including communication styles and frequency.

Gather school supplies Sales start early on all the back-toschool necessities, so you can start bargain shopping early. As youth approach upper grade levels, start exploring long-term supplies they can use year after year, such as a graphing calculator. For example, Texas Instruments’ TI-84 Plus CE can take students through all of the math and science courses they need to take in middle school, high school, college and into their careers. The calculator is 30% thinner and 30% lighter than previous models with six times the memory for

Photo courtesy of Family Features

storing vivid, full-color graphs, images and data. The lightweight, durable design comes in fun colors like rose curve gold so students can crunch numbers in style.

Learn more at http://education. ti.com/84ce.

Extracurricular activities Extracurricular activities allow youth to practice what they’re learn-

ing in the classroom in practical ways while teaching valuable lessons about social interaction, teamwork and more. Often, these activities require special equipment such as uniforms or sporting equipment, so be sure to check into the requirements, including signups and tryout dates. Also keep in mind that some extracurriculars begin before school formally resumes.

College prep information For students in upper grade levels, it’s never too early to begin planning toward college – whether it’s time to register for entrance exam testing or simply begin taking practice tests or attending coaching sessions. As your child completes registration and considers which classes to enroll in, encourage him or her to consider dual credit classes to get a head start on

college curriculum. Also keep in mind that electives are a convenient way for students to explore topics and interests that may translate into future careers.

Take time to talk Especially if your child is a worrier, he or she may benefit from having you open the door to a conversation to air any trepidation.

A new school building, new teachers, new friends and new coursework can all be overwhelming.

Even if your child seems to take it all in stride, encouraging him or her to share any thoughts or concerns sends an important message that you’re interested in helping work through any issues.

Tackling the preparation for the school season as a family can help equip your child to start the year on a path toward success.

Page 8 July 25, 2019

The Dallas Examiner www.dallasexaminer.com

The Dallas Examiner www.dallasexaminer.com

MISSING Tory Brooks

DOB: Jan. 6, 2004 Missing Since: June 13, 2019 Age Now: 15 Sex: Female Race: Black Height: 5’3” Weight: 136 lbs Hair Color: Black Eye Color: Brown Missing City: Lancaster NCMEC Number: 1360710

Additional informaton: Tory was last seen on June 13.

Anyone having information regarding this missing youth should call the Lancaster Police Department at 972-218-2711.

Every 40 seconds, a child is reported as "missing," according to several government and missing children's reports. And the number of missing African American children has increased from 25 percent to 33 percent. This is not only a crisis for the families of the missing children, but for our community and our country.

The Dallas Examiner has made it its mission to post missing children in our community, as reported by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, each week.

Anyone having information regarding this child, should contact National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST. For more information or to view more missing children in your area, visit www.missingkids.com.

CLASSIFIEDS Bids

Page 9 July 25, 2019

Scholarships

INVITATION FOR BIDS IFB-2019-14

DHA, Housing Solutions for North Texas will receive sealed bids for the Replacement of Roofs at Lakeview Townhomes, 3020 Bickers, Dallas, Texas 75212 (Project # IFB-2019-14).

Bid documents including Plans and Specifications may be obtained from the Procurement Department at DHA’s HQ which is located on the 2nd floor at 3939 N. Hampton Road, Dallas, Texas 75212, or by calling 214/951-8429, beginning Monday, July 22, 2019. Office hours are from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on Friday.

A non-mandatory Pre-Bid Conference will be held on Thursday, August 08, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. at Lakeview Townhomes Community Building, 3020 Bickers, Dallas, Texas 75212.

Sealed Bids will be accepted until 3:00 P.M., on Thursday, August, 29, 2019 in the Procurement Department, on the 2nd floor at 3939 N. Hampton Road, Dallas, Texas 75212, at which time and place all sealed bids will be publicly opened and read aloud. All sealed bids must be received in the Procurement Department by the specified time. Any Sealed Bids received after 3:00 P.M., on Thursday, August 29, 2019 will be rejected.

DHA RESERVES THE RIGHT TO REJECT ANY AND ALL BIDS OR TO WAIVE ANY INFORMALITIES IN THE BIDDING. DHA WILL NOT DISCRIMINATE ON THE BASIS OF RACE, COLOR, NATIONAL ORIGIN, RELIGION, SEX, DISABILITY, FAMILIAL STATUS, OR AGE. EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY.

Employment

OPEN POSITIONS:

Sales Representative Call Mollie Belt at 214-941-3100 or email mbelt@dallasexaminer.com for details..

Internships

Internship at The Dallas Examiner Internships are available throughout the year for students enrolled in journalism, writing or design classes.

Applicants must be reliable. Hours are flexible. These are not paid positions but will allow students to gain practical, on-the-job experience. Students interested must e-mail their resume and three writing or design samples.

Contact: rjimenez@dallasexaminer.com Subject Line: Internship

Institute for Diversity There will be a limited opportunity to attend healthcare management meetings and conferences. The intern will participate in the Institute for Diversity in Health Management's Summer Enrichment Program which will provide added exposure to the healthcare management field. A final project will be required as part of this program.

Contact: www.diversityconnection.org

IRS – Institute for Diversity in Health Management The IRS offers career experience through participation in its Lagre Business and International Division Summer Intern program. Interns can help examine the taxes of corporations with assets totaling more than $10 million. It’s an excellent way to view the corporate world from a new perspective. Open to all college students enrolled in a master’s program, with a concentration in accounting, who maintain a minimum 3.0 GPA and meet other employment requirements. One of the best benefits is that it could lead to a full-time IRS career.

Deadline: varies Contact: http://jobs.irs.gov/student/student-positions.html

Yes, we can

help with your advertising needs.

Call today!

214-941-3100

AWG Science Scholarship For Minority Women This program encourages young minority women to pursue an education and later a career in the geosciences. The scholarships are offered to African American, Hispanic or Native American. It provides financial aid and matches the student with a mentor in the same field who will offer guidance and support.

Amount varies up to $6,000.

Deadline: June 30 Contact: http://www.awg.org/eas/minority.htm.

Elihu Nation Scholarship Elihu Nation Scholarships are open to college juniors, seniors, and grad students nationwide.

Launched by Grammy-nominated artist Jonathan McReynolds, three scholarships available at $3,000 each. The scholarship celebrates “Elihus” in school – defined as a young carrier and seeker of godly wisdom based on the character in Job 32.

Deadline: July 31 Contact: http://www.elihunation.org

Cheryl D. Conkling Memorial Scholarship Despite Cheryl’s physical hardships of gamma globulin anemia and hearing loss, she loved and excelled in education and music. Cheryl was a brilliant student and graduated Summa Cum Laude from college. This scholarship is named in her honor. This scholarship supports students with hearing or other physical hardships who have demonstrated a love for education. This scholarship is only open to students who live and/or attend school in Windsor, Colorado; Conroe, Texas; Wilkinson County, Mississippi; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; or West Feliciana Parish in Louisiana. Students must be a high school senior enrolling in an accredited college or university in the fall when the scholarship is awarded. Preference may be given to students with hearing or other physical impairments, students not receiving other substantial aid, and/or students in Louisiana.

Deadline: Varies Contact: Scholarship Committee 100 North Street Suite 900 Baton Rouge, LA scholarships@braf.org tel: 225-387-6126 www.scholarships.com

Children of Disabled or Deceased Public Servants Scholarship The Children of Disabled or Deceased Firemen, Peace Officers, Game Wardens, and Employees of Correctional Institutions Scholarship provide a benefit to the children of eligible persons who have been killed in the line of duty prior to September 1, 2000, or who have been disabled in the line of duty. Applicants must apply before their 21st birthday (age 22 if a participant in a special education program under section 29.003); must have had a parent who was a paid or volunteer fireman, paid municipal, county, or state peace officer, or a custodial employee of the Texas Department of Corrections, or a game warden and be the child of a parent who suffered an injury, resulting in disability or death, sustained in the line of duty. Applicants must also enroll in classes for which the college receives tax support (i.e. a course that does not depend solely on student tuition and fees to cover its costs). A person may receive an exemption from the payment of tuition and fees only for the first 120 undergraduate semester credit hours for which he or she registers or age 26, whichever comes first.

Must attend a public Texas college/university.

Deadline: Varies Contact: Scholarship Committee Student Financial Aid Programs P.O. Box 12788 Austin, TX 78711-2788 888-311-8881 Texas Educational Opportunity Grant Program The purpose of the Texas Educational Opportunity Grant Program is to provide grant aid to financially needy students enrolled in Texas public two-year colleges. To receive an initial award through the TEOG Program, a student must be registered with selective service, or be exempt; be classified by the institution as a Texas resident and be enrolled at least half-time.

Deadline: Varies Contact: Scholarship Committee Student Financial Aid Programs P.O. Box 12788 Austin, TX 78711-2788 888-311-8881

Texas Grant Program The Texas Legislature established the TEXAS – Towards EXcellence, Access and Success – Grant to make sure that well-prepared high school graduates with financial need could go to college. To receive a basic initial award through the TEXAS Grant Program, a student must be registered with Selective Service, or be exempt, demonstrate financial need, be classified by the institution as a Texas resident, have not been convicted of a felony or crime involving a controlled substance and be enrolled at least threequarter time as a Baccalaureate student who graduated from an accredited public or private high school in Texas, completed the Foundation, Recommended, or Distinguished Achievement high school program (or the equivalent) and, enrolled in an undergraduate degree or certificate program at an approved institution within 16 months from high school graduation.

Deadline: Varies Contact: Scholarship Committee Student Financial Aid Programs P.O. Box 12788 Austin, TX 78711-2788 888-311-8881

Advertise your Classified Ads today! Call 214-941-3100

CALENDAR COMMUNITY

Page 10 July 25, 2019 Now-August Women’s Suffrage in Texas, an exhibit focusing on the long campaign for woman suffrage in Texas from the movement’s early roots to the new struggles after the ratification of the 19th Amendment, will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m at the Dallas Historical Society, 3939 Grand Ave. For more information, visit http://www.dallashistory.org/exhibitions.

Now–August The Summer Food Service Program will offer students free breakfast and lunch over the summer. Any child that arrives for breakfast and/or lunch will receive a healthy meal. No registration is needed. To find the nearest participating location as well as a list of dates and times the meals are offered, visit https://www.dallasisd.org/fcns.

July

National Eye Injury Prevention Month www.preventblindness.org

Fireworks Safety Month www.aao.org Therapeutic Recreation Week www.nrpa.org

25

A 23rd annual Mayor’s Back To School Fair preregistration event will be held from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Harmony Science Academy of Dallas High, 12005 Forestgate Drive, and from 2 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Baylor Scott & White Health and Wellness – Center at Juanita J. Craft Recreation Center, 4500 Spring Ave. For more information, visit http://www.mayorsbacktoschoolfair.com.

25 Poetry Battle, based on

the topic of the week, will be held at 7 p.m. at Murphy’s Mansion, 10051 Whitehurst. And there is a twist, each contestant that loses the week before will have the chance to win the winners set in a one-minute spit fire battle round. For more information, call 214404-2330.

25 Meditation for Every-

one, with a breathing meditation, instructions on how to gain control of the mind and choose how we respond to life’s difficulties, and a meditation related to the topics discussed, will be held from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at The Women’s Club of Fort Worth, 1316 Pennsylvania Ave., Fort Worth. For more information, call 214-238-3331 or visit www.meditationintexas.org/weekly-classes.

ONGOING EVENTS

Now-Aug. 10 Summer Saturdays at Central will be held at various times at J. Erik Jonsson Central Library, 1515 Young St. For more information, visit www.dallaslibrary2.org.

Now-November A Shared Border, an exhibit on the diverse cultural landscape of the Texas and Mexico borderland has caused different cultures to blend and innovate, will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m at the Dallas Historical Society, 3939 Grand Ave. For more information, visit http://www.dallashistory.org/exhibitions.

Aug. 2-24 Dorothy Marcic’s Sistas The Musical, directed by Jubilee’s newest artistic director, D. Wambui Richardson, will be held at 7:30 p.m. at Jubilee Theatre,

25

Making an Impact: How to Build a Powerful Personal Brand, a book launch and networking event, will be held from 6 p.m to 8 p.m. at the Addison Treehouse, 14681 Midway Road, Addison. For more information and registration, visit www.buildpowerfulpersonalbrand.com.

25-27 Music Workshop:

Why Do We Sing? The Biblical Perspective, presented by Gale Jones Murphy, will be held Thursday and Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 10:40 a.m. followed by a gospel concert at Mansfield Seventh-Day Adventist Church, 1951 N. Main St., Mansfield.

Ticket availability and seating is limited. For more information and tickets, contact Gina Jenkins at 682-970-5340 or visit www.mansfieldadventist.com.

25 & 27

Jubilee Park Job Fair, with resume writing and interview workshops, will be held Thursday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon at Jubilee Center, 917 Bank St. Bring resumes and dress for success. For more information, call 214-887-1364.

26 Exhibition of Let Me

Be Myself: The Life Story of Anne Frank, will be held at 7 a.m. at the Dallas Holocaust Museum/Center for Education and Tolerance, 211 N. Record St. For more information, call 214-7417500 or visit www.dallasholocaustmuseum.org.

26-27

Dallas Hip-Hop Dance Fest, the largest national dance celebration in North Texas bringing hiphop performers and dancers together, will be

506 Main St., Fort Worth. For more information, call 817-3384204 ext. 2 or visit www.jubileetheatre.org.

Mondays Man Talk, hosted by Brian Ganges of The Construction Initiative, will be aired at 9:15 a.m. on 970 AM or www.khvnam.com.

Mondays Common Ground Radio Live will be held from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at The Dock Bookshop, 6637 Meadowbrook Dr, Fort Worth. For more information, visit www.thedockbookshop.com.

Mondays-Wednesdays Sexually Transmitted Infection Testing/Treatment, testing and treatment for STIs, HIV, Hep C and other sexual infections, will

held throughout the day at the Eisemann Center, 2351 Performance Drive, Richardson. For more information and tickets, call 972-744-5195 or visit www.dallashiphopfest.com.

26-Aug. 1

Dorothy Marcic’s Sistas The Musical, directed by Jubilee’s newest artistic director, D. Wambui Richardson, will be held at 7:30 p.m. at Jubilee Theatre, 506 Main St., Fort Worth. For more information, call 817-3384204 ext. 2 or visit www.jubileetheatre.org.

27 Ladies ONLY License

to Carry Course will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Lethal Encounter, 200 N. Carrier Parkway – Ste. 200, Grand Prairie. For more information and registration, call 214-9009039 or email cleo@lethalencounter.com.

27

Coffee and Politics 101: Homeless and City of Dallas Plan, Assistant City Manager Nadia ChandlerHardy and Chief Resilience Officer Theresa O’Donnell will discuss the city’s plan with current outreach programs to address the homeless issue and what new steps will be taken, will be held from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the African American Museum, 3636 Grand Ave. For more information, visit www.fairpark.org.

27

Magical Saturdays with Mermaid Ashton, a focus on the importance of keeping our ocean clean, happy and healthy, will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Children’s Aquarium at Fair Park, 1462 First Ave. For more information, visit www.fairpark.org.

The Dallas Examiner www.dallasexaminer.com

be held from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Prism Health Clinic; 4922 Spring. For more information, call 214-421-7848.

Tuesdays Fort Worth Poetry & Open Mic will be held from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. at The Dock Bookshop, 6637 Meadowbrook Drive, Fort Worth. For more information, visit www.thedockbookshop.com.

Second Tuesday The Lancaster New Centennial Lions Club will meet at 6 p.m. at the Lions Club, 107 Texas St., Lancaster. For more information, email marketing.lancasterlions@gmail.com.

First, Second & Fourth Tuesdays Free legal services will be available at 5 p.m. at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Cen-

27 New Morning Star Health and Wellness Fair, with Rapid HIV screenings, medical care for people living with HIV/AIDS in Dallas County, medication assistance, case management, mental health services, prevention services and referral provided by the Parkland HIV Department, will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Morning Star Baptist Church, 1932 Dennison St. For more information, call KaTrina Clark at 469245-4057 or email katrina.clark1975@yahoo.com.

27 Mercado369 Mammo-

gram Screenings, with Parkland’s mobile mammography unit mammograms, breast cancer education and case management services at no cost, as well as information on the Victim Intervention Program and the North Texas Poison Center, will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at North Oak Cliff Library, 302 W. 10th St. For more information, call Doris Benavides at 931-805-1091 or email doris@latinocld.com.

27 A 23rd annual Mayor’s Back To School Fair preregistration event will be held from 10 a.m. to noon at Prairie Creek Branch Library, 9606 Lake June Road and from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Martin Weiss Recreation Center, 1111 Martindell Ave. For more information, visit http://www.mayorsbacktoschoolfair.com.

27 Fourth Avenue COC Health and Resource Fair, with information, advocacy, case management and counseling services regarding abuse and violence from family violence, intimate partner violence, human traffick-

ter, 2922 MLK Blvd. For more information, call 214-748-1234.

Fourth Tuesday Starting a Business, a free workshop, will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Fort Worth Business Assistance Center, 1150 S. Freeway, Fort Worth. For information, call 817-871-6025.

Tuesdays & Thursdays A Zumba class will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the FriendshipWest Baptist Church, 2020 W. Wheatland Road. For more information, call 972-228-5200.

Tuesdays & Thursdays Showers of Blessings Food Pantry will be available from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the MLK Jr. Community Center, 2922 MLK Blvd. For more information, call 214-6708442 or 214-670-8418.

ing or sexual assault provided by the Victim Intervention Program/Rape Crisis Center for anyone in Dallas County, will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Fourth Avenue Church of Christ, 3220 Park Row. For more information, call LaQuitha Hasley at 214641-2686 or email rlaquitha@yahoo.com.

27

Trinity Basin Prep Health Fair, family planning education provided

by Parkland’s Women and Infant’s Specialty Health, will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Trinity Basin Preparatory School, 2524 W. Ledbetter Drive. For more information, call 214-942-8846.

27 Mercado369 Mammo-

gram Screenings will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at North Oak Cliff Library, 302 W 10th St. Participants must have proof of Dallas County residence.

For more information, call 931-805-1091.

27 Trinity Basin Prepara-

tory Health Fair, with Family Planning education presented by Parkland’s Women and Infant’s Specialty Health Division, will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Trinity Basin Preparatory School, 2524 W. Ledbetter Drive. For more information, visit www.parklandhospital.com.

27 Community Emergency

Response Team program, designed to educate volunteers about disaster preparedness, will be held from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Glenn Heights Council Chambers, 1938 S. Hampton Road, Glenn Heights. For more information and registration, call Terri Miller at 972223-1690 x 230, email terri.miller@glennheightstx.gov or visit www.ready. gov/community-emergency-response-team.

27

Acts of Faith Remix Tour: An evening with Iyanla Vanzant, presented live by the AT&T Performing Arts Center, will be held from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Winspear Opera House, 2403 Flora St. For more information and tickets, visit www.attpac.org.

27 The P.O.N.D. – Pod-

cast on Natural Dallas will be held from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at J. Erik Jonsson Central Library, 1515 Young St. For more information, visit www.dallaslibrary2.org/pond/

27

Groove Line Dance Class, fun dance lessons for all skill levels and dances, will be held from 11 a.m. to noon at the Polk-Wisdom Branch Library, 7151 Library Lane.

For more information, call 214-670-1947 or visit www.dallaslibrary.org.

28 The Third Annual Ex-

punction Expo application deadline, for certain criminal offenses to be cleared from your record. Attendees must attend the Pre-Qualification Clinic Sept. 14. For more information, visit Community Court offices at 2922 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, 2111 S. Corinth St. Road or 2828 Fishtrap Road. For more information and registration, call 214-653-2905 or visit www.dallascounty.org.

29-Aug. 2 Wild Adventures Summer Camp Camp H2O, an exploration of the underwater world for Pre-K with education tours, games, arts and crafts, up-close animal encounters and more, will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Children’s Aquarium at Fair Park, 1462 First Ave. For more information and registration, visit www.fairpark.org.

Disclaimer: The Dallas Examiner makes every effort to accurately list all calendar events. However, The Dallas Examiner bears no responsibility for schedule changes and/or cancellations. Contact information on each event listing is provided for the public for confirmation and additional information.

Send your calendar events and a photo no less than two weeks before your event:

Email: calendar@dallasexaminer.com