The Dallas Examiner

VOL. XXXIII • AUgUST 22, 2019

50 cents

Justice for All, brunch honors local civil rights advocates Black Men Illuminated

Study: Liver-Related Deaths

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By DIANE XAVIER The Dallas Examiner

They protect our citizens, fight for justice and represent those who are weak and have no voice. As a result, the Dallas branch of the NAACP honored individuals in the law enforcement community as well as those serving in the legal and criminal justice community during its Fred Finch Justice for All Brunch, Aug. 10 at the Lofty Spaces event center on Montgomery St. Aubrey Christopher Hooper, president of the NAACP Dallas branch, explained the purpose of the brunch, themed “Balancing the Scales of Justice.”

“It was to allow the Dallas branch an opportunity to honor and

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recognize those individuals in the law, law enforcement and legal criminal justice community, community and acknowledge the work that they are doing as well as to really kind of celebrate their contributions to the community,” Hooper said. “Often times that’s a segment of the community that doesn’t always have a positive reflection in the community, and we wanted to take this opportunity to celebrate those individuals that are contributing to our fight in terms of social justice and civil rights advocacy.”

The brunch, in its second year, was named after Dallas civil rights attorney, community leader and newspaper publisher/founder of The Dallas Examiner, Fred James

Aubrey Christopher Hooper presents the Fred Finch Award to attorney DeMetris Sampson during the Fred Finch Justice for All Brunch, Aug. 10. – Photo courtesy of NAACP Dallas Branch

Finch Jr., Esq. “Last year was the first year for the Justice for All Brunch, and so it didn’t actually have a name outside of the Dallas NAACP Justice for

All Brunch,” Hooper said. “So we decided to attempt to name the brunch after someone who we thought exemplified high statutes and respect and had shown significant contributions to social justice and civil rights.

“The first name that came to mind was Mr. Finch, who was a very prominent member of the community but who was also a former legal redress chair of the Dallas NAACP. He had made so many contributions to civil rights, to the Dallas community, and we wanted to take this opportunity to honor his legacy. And so we decided to name the Fred Finch Justice for All Brunch as well as to

See Brunch Page 7

Mayor Eric Johnson announces the creation of his the Task Force on Safe Communities, whose mission will be to seek holistic and data-driven solutions for communities disproportionately affected by violent crime, Aug. 19. – The Dallas Examiner screenshot from city of Dallas video

Task force formed to help curb city’s high crime rate Special to The Dallas Examiner

Mayor Eric Johnson announced Monday his creation of a new task force aimed at curbing violent crimes at the root of the problem, rather than having to solve crimes after they bud.

The Task Force on Safe Communities – his first task force since taking office nine weeks ago – will gather community input and build consensus around data-driven solutions that can significantly reduce and prevent violent crime in Dallas. And while the Dallas Police Department will still enforce the law, the mayor said that the task force would eliminate the city’s exclusive reliance on law enforcement action.

“I want to be clear about this point. I believe in the Dallas Police Department,” Johnson said. “And I believe that the Dallas Police Department’s focus on guns, gangs and drugs is both smart and necessary to help reduce violent crime in our city. But we can’t ask or expect law enforcement to do it all. To paraphrase one of our former police chiefs, we already ask cops to do too much.

Police have to be social workers. They have to deal with mental health and drug addiction and cycles of abuse. And we’ve asked law enforcement to do all of these things in an environment where illegal guns are far too easy for criminals to obtain.”

The task force’s goal is to develop recommendations and report back to the mayor before the end of the year.

To lead the task force, the mayor selected three co-chairs: Pastor Michael Bowie, senior pastor at St. Luke Community United Methodist Church; Rene Martinez, a longtime educator and community activist; and Alan Cohen, president and CEO of the Child Poverty Action Lab. “I’m grateful to all three of these dedicated community leaders for their service,” Johnson said.

The trio seemed to feel ready and willing to lead the task force.

“Ending this scourge of violence will start with taking steps in our own communities and being willing to carry each other’s bur-

See Task Force Page 7

Read…

Vietnam veteran Marvin Wilford and his wife, Christine, relax outside their home. – Photos by Trevor Paulhus/The Texas Tribune and Texas Monthly

Part I: How judicial conflicts of interest are denying poor Texans their right to an effective lawyer

By NEENA SATIJA

Texas Tribune and Texas Monthly

It was going to be his last shift at the Velvet Lounge, and all Marvin Wilford felt was relief. It was Nov. 11, 2017 – Veterans Day – and as he got dressed for work, Marvin put on his scarlet-colored Marine Corps cap. The Velvet Lounge, a strip joint in North Austin, billed itself on Facebook as “the official afterparty for the city,” but Marvin couldn’t say he had fun: As a doorman, he collected cover charges from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. and did a lot of standing, sometimes outside.

That evening, the temperature was in the 60s. Over his T-shirt and jeans, Marvin pulled on a green hoodie.

It wasn’t that he felt ungrateful. Bald, with an athletic build, the 61-year-old was a year away from collecting Social Security, and his veteran’s pension didn’t quite cover the bills.

The club paid $100 a night – not the kind of money he’d made running his own building-and-maintenance company once upon a time, but enough to supplement what his wife, Christine Wilford, brought in as a technician at Voltabox, a company that specialized in lithium-ion batteries.

In fact, Marvin felt lucky.

After serving as a combat Marine in Vietnam, he’d gotten in serious trouble. In 1991, he’d been arrested after assaulting a police officer and was sentenced to prison for 20 years.

He’d been released early, but

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then in 2006 he’d been arrested for assaulting an ex-girlfriend and was sentenced to another 10 years. A diagnosis in 2015 of post-traumatic stress disorder and medications had given him a new start, but no one wanted to hire an aging felon. His nephew, who owned the Velvet Lounge, had thrown him a lifeline.

Still, after three months at the gig, Marvin was done. He’d had hernia surgery, and he was walking with a cane. His wife had been sick, too, wracked by a nagging cough. The club, with its drunken brawls, was too unruly a scene.

“This is not working for me,” Marvin muttered to himself, throwing his cane in the car and heading west on U.S. 290.

“There’s gonna be trouble.”

Sure enough, trouble came at around 4 a.m., when a fight broke out by the dance floor and a security guard, a 42-yearold named James Jones, escorted two women outside.

Marvin, standing by the door, watched as Jones led the disheveled pair – one with no shoes – toward the parking lot.

He and Jones had become friends, bonding over the troublesome revelers they had to deal with. Jones liked to call him “Unc” out of respect.

“F– all you security guards!” yelled one of the women. She and her friend stumbled toward a car, vowing to return. Then they sped off.

Twenty minutes later, the same car screeched back into the parking lot. By this time,

other patrons were spilling out onto the sidewalk. Though accounts of what happened next vary, multiple witnesses would later say they saw one of the women get out of the car brandishing a tire iron and lunge at the gathering crowd. Jones saw the woman strike Marvin. He recalls trying to keep her away from other patrons. Someone hit the woman over the head with an empty vodka bottle.

Someone else stomped on the hood of the car.

“She was trying to fight everybody,” Jones later recalled.

Quickly, the security guard grabbed his pistol and shoved it into her hip.

“Let go of the weapon or I will shoot you,” he warned.

Instead, the woman rushed back into the melee. Jones and Marvin heard gunshots from somewhere in the parking lot.

“Unc, go in the club,” yelled Jones.

Marvin ran inside as Jones pointed his pistol into the air, firing two warning shots. The crowd dispersed.

By the time the police arrived, just before 6 a.m., the fighting had ceased. Several officers interviewed those on the scene – Marvin, Jones, some additional security guards and the woman who had charged the crowd, whose head appeared to be bleeding. No one was arrested. When Marvin finally got in his car to drive home, it was light outside.

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Uber set to open new hub in Dallas

Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber – Photo courtesy of Uber

Special to The Dallas Examiner

Uber Technologies Inc. announced Tuesday that it would establish a new U.S. General and Administrative Hub in Dallas that will house various corporate functions.

“Dallas became the first city in Texas where the Uber app was available in 2012, and since then Texas has been a hub of innovation for our platform,” said Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber. “Uber is excited to bring this major investment to Texas and to increase our commitment to the city of Dallas. We are grateful for our partnership with Gov. Abbott, Mayor Johnson and Judge Jenkins and their leadership in making this a reality.”

Uber is a multinational company based in San Francisco that offers rideshare services, food delivery and other forms of transportation worldwide.

“Uber’s selection of Dallas County spotlights our position as a premier talent market for companies looking to expand,” said Dallas County Judge Clay Lewis Jenkins. “This move will create a $400 million annual payroll in Deep Ellum that will provide a huge boost to our urban core with a positive wave that will spread across our entire county and region.”

After months of consideration and discussions, Uber’s second largest hub outside of its headquarters will be housed on 8 acres of land along Elm Street and Good-Latimer Expressway.

The project will create 3,000 new jobs and more than $75 million in capital investment. The city of Dallas offered a competitive incentive package to help get Uber to agree to expand in Dallas.

“The numbers that make up this investment package add up to a win for Uber Technologies and for the city of Dallas. But beyond the math, Dallas and Uber are just a great match. Dallas is a vibrant, diverse, welcoming and innovative city, and I’m certain Uber and its employees will

See Uber Page 6

Inside

State/Metro . . . . 2 National . . . . . . . 3 Editorial . . . . . . . 4

Perspectives . . . 5

Health. . . . . . . . . 6 Classifieds. . . . . 9

Calendar . . . . . . 10

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Page 2 August 22, 2019

The Dallas Examiner www.dallasexaminer.com

City Council saves African American historical district

By DIANE XAVIER The Dallas Examiner

Dallas City Council members voted unanimously Aug. 14 to approve a resolution instructing the city manager not to spend any city funds or resources to demolish structures within the Tenth Street Historic District in Oak Cliff. The area is considered to be one of the oldest Freedmen’s Towns in the country and is considered one of the most historic sites for African American neighborhoods. Exceptions to the ruling included structures that were considered unsafe and hazardous by the fire marshal.

During the meeting, held at the Lake Highlands North Recreation Center, several residents spoke on behalf of preserving the historic district, which was designated by the city of Dallas in 1993.

“Over the past few years, the neighborhood has suffered numerous demolitions to its historic structures through court order, which is causing erosion to this important African American neighborhood,” said David Preziosi with Preservation Dallas. “Even though the neighborhood is a city of Dallas landmark, the landmark commission cannot supersede the court order in order to stop the demolitions. For this reason, we place Tenth Street on our 2018 list as one of the most endangered historic places in Dallas and is the reason the National Trust for Historic Preservation chose it for their 11 most endangered historic places in the nation this year. Not

So I ask all 15 of you to vote today in favor of this resolution.”

The Dallas City Council held its Aug. 14 meeting at the Lake Highlands North Recreation Center– Photo by Diane Xavier/The Dallas Examiner

only does Preservation Dallas support the resolution, but our partners, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Preservation Texas and Heritage Oak Cliff does as well.”

Jennifer Rangel, director of planning and community outreach for the Inclusive Communities Project, also supported the resolution.

“ICP is a nonprofit that fights for neighborhood equity and fair housing options,” Rangel said.

“ICP agrees that the city of Dallas should stop spending city funds and resources to demolish structures in the Tenth Street Historic District. Instead, these funds and resources should be used to help residents in the Tenth Street who live there today, such as home repair funds. Tenth Street is a historic Freedmen’s Town, a place where newly freed Africans and their descendants generally built houses under 3,000 square feet.”

Council member Lee Kleinman of District 11, despite his main concern about not being able to deem dilapidated structures as

hazardous, still supported the resolution.

“One of my concerns was whether or not we really have hazardous structures,” he said. “If there are properties there that are beyond salvaging, we are just going to have to watch until we can get the owners to improve them. Or if the city owns it, I’m not sure what we are supposed to do because we don’t have funds to improve the properties, so I am just a little bit nervous about this.”

Council member Carolyn King Arnold of District 4, who led this resolution, expressed relief in getting it passed.

“This is just the first step in fighting for a community that I know that they don’t want to be displaced or gentrified,” Arnold said. “We must work out phase II in terms of infrastructure and housing needs to this community, but I think it is just the first step in reaching out to the community, and they do pay taxes, and that is what we need to understand. These are taxpayers who are not really benefiting from their tax dollars.

In other city news: The City Council also voted in favor of authorizing a construction contract to build the Forest Green Branch Library replacement facility to be located at 9619 Greenville Ave. Karen Blumenthal, who is on the board of the friends of the Dallas Public Library, supported this measure.

“Sometimes libraries can get lost in the mix because it is just 2% of the budget, which is kind of small,” Blumenthal said. “Voters first approved of buying land for this replacement library in 2006. It was a battle to get this second library on the 2017 bond ballot, along with the Victory Meadow Branch. But Dallas voters overwhelmingly approved it, and today I hope you take a big step forward in replacing the library’s smallest branch when you approve of the construction contract. This library will have classes for GED and English Language Learner classes, an actual auditorium for preschool storytime, plentiful computers for job searches and applications, but also pothole-free parking lots.”

Council member Adam McGough of District 10 championed this cause since the library is located in his district.

“There are so many people here that have fought alongside to get to this point,” he said. “When this bond was coming through, there was maybe a library maybe not a library, maybe one maybe two –

this is huge. These libraries are such a focus for our community for so many different needs and resources and activities, and that is what we believe in this community. This is going to be a generational project.”

Council member Tennell Atkins of District 8 supported McGough on the library.

“I know that council member McGough has been waiting a long time for this library, but I also want to thank the staff and T.C. and everyone of the 2017 bond package,” Atkins said. “It’s kind of amazing that we just voted in 2017, and it generally takes five years or six years before we bring it to the group to build a library, so I just want to thank everybody for the speedy work that was done to get this going.”

City council members also voted to approve an economic incentive package for an expansion of Uber Technologies in the city of Dallas.

The company announced Tuesday its decision to open a local hub in Deep Ellum.

“I am thrilled for Dallas and for Uber Technologies.

Uber's expansion will bring thousands of high-paying jobs and a $110 million investment to our city's core, which has long driven our region’s explosive growth,” Mayor Eric Johnson later stated in a press announcement. “The City Council's vote for this competitive economic incentive package illustrates Dallas' continued commitment to innovation and strengthening its workforce. We are looking forward to hopefully welcoming Uber to Dallas very soon.”

Soul Rep Theatre kicks off 13th season with ‘Black Men Illuminated’ Special to The Dallas Examiner

Soul Rep Theatre Company will kick off its “lucky” 13th season of plays – SOUL TO KEEP – with its rebranded biennial new play festival in memory of the late and celebrated playwright and professor, Dr. Ted Shine.

The inaugural Shine Play Festival will feature 10 short plays written by local, national and international playwrights with the theme “Black Men Illuminated,” Sept. 26 to Sept. 29 and Oct. 4 to Oct. 6 at the South Dallas Cultural Center, located at 3400 S. Fitzhugh Ave. in South Dallas, adjacent to Fair Park.

Additionally, the play festival will include a performance of Shine’s one-act play, Shoes.

“At a time when the world is dimming the contributions and presence of Black men, Soul Rep Theatre is putting the spotlight on their stories,” said Guinea Bennett-Price, Soul Rep cofounder and co-artistic director. “It is our responsibility to celebrate, to honor

and explore the complexity, beauty, brilliance and struggle of Black men on our stage.”

An ensemble of over a dozen local actors will perform the 11 plays that will be directed by area directors and Soul Rep company members Guinea BennettPrice, Tonya Holloway, Anyika McMillan-Herod, Nedra James, Ashley Oliver, Dee Smith, Ed Smith and Richard Quadri.

The short plays featured will range from historic dramas to “absurd farces.”

Dear Bruh by Atlantabased writer Shemetra Carter is a seriocomedy about two sharecropping brothers.

Gab Irish-Like is a comedy by Rex McGregor, a New Zealand-based writer.

Houston writer Jared La’Pread’s heartwarming play Harlem centers around a young man coming to terms with his sexuality.

Honest Abe, a short historical drama by Dallas writers Camika Spencer and Kyndal Robertson, was inspired by Abraham Bolden, the first African American Secret Service agent as-

signed to the Presidential Protective Division, who was appointed by John F. Kennedy in 1961.

Lessons From Einstein, written by Houston-based writer Eric C. Jones, is about a fictitious and fortuitous meeting between Albert Einstein and a Black Pullman porter.

Prolific Oklahoma City playwright La’Charles Purvey’s Like Fireflies explores memory and the relationship between mothers and sons.

New York playwright Seth Freeman’s clever short play The Pivot puts a lens on racial discrimination in the workplace.

The Way It Was/The Way It Is, written by Erin Malone Turner with story by Shelly Williams, is a powerful drama about a father and son trying to reconnect after the father’s incarceration.

Tinder-Sucka by Inda Craig-Galvan, a stage and screenwriter in Los Angeles, is a hilarious anachronistic farce about relationships and technology told with a blaxploitation flair.

Dallas-based playwright Steven Young’s Under The Overpass is a riveting drama set in the shadows of the Dallas skyline between a homeless man and a driver who accidentally disrupts his life.

Ted Shine’s Shoes is set in Dallas during the 1960s and centers around three teenage boys choosing between school and style.

Promotional photo courtesy of Soul Rep Theatre

The Dallas Examiner www.dallasexaminer.com

NATIONAL

Page 3 August 22, 2019

HUD proposes new rule that would gut Fair Housing Act Special to The Dallas Examiner

WASHINGTON – The Department of Housing and Urban Development formally proposed a new rule today that would severely undercut the ability of people of color, women, people with disabilities and other groups to challenge and seek redress from discrimination in housing and lending under the Fair Housing Act, according to the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. As part of established law for nearly five decades, the “disparate impact” rule en-

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ables people to challenge facially neutral policies or practices that have a discriminatory impact in effect or implementation, or that perpetuate segregation.

Also known as the “discriminatory effects standard,” it was recognized in the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project.

This proposed rule would seriously undermine the ability of people to bring disparate impact claims, in addition to creating nearly overwhelming burdens for

“I’m through,” he told Jones before leaving. “Too much madness over here.”

The security guard nodded.

“I don’t blame you,” he replied.

Five weeks later, Christine was going through the mail when she opened an unsolicited form letter from a lawyer – she does not recall who – offering his legal services.

Her breath caught when she saw why. There was a warrant for her husband’s arrest, read the letter.

The charge: aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a seconddegree felony.

The charge didn’t make sense.

As a felon, Marvin wasn’t allowed to own a gun, and didn’t. Neither he nor his wife had heard from the police. As Marvin skimmed the letter, his head began to throb.

With his criminal record, a new conviction could earn him a life sentence. He felt his lungs constrict. He couldn’t breathe.

Alarmed, Christine called the Veterans Crisis Line. Her husband was having an anxiety attack, she blurted into the phone.

Nine days later, on Dec. 29, the couple drove to the Austin Police Department headquarters downtown to turn himself in. Marvin had spent several days at a Veterans Affairs hospital because of his

plaintiffs to overcome.

Under the proposed rule, victims of discrimination would be required to anticipate and preemptively counter every potential defense of the defendant before being able to pursue a claim and seek redress for discrimination.

“This proposed rule would eviscerate the key protections of the Fair Housing Act and make it virtually impossible for communities of color to prevail in lawsuits challenging housing discrimination,” said Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the

panic attack. Now, sitting with a detective in an interrogation room, he learned that the officers who interviewed him at the Velvet Lounge had not found him credible. The woman in the fight claimed that she’d been threatened with a gun by a man wearing jeans and a green hoodie; she later picked Marvin out of a photo lineup. According to a police affidavit, Jones told the officers that Marvin kept a gun in his car.

Jones denied this, and when the officers checked the car that night, they found only Marvin’s cane.

There was video evidence from a witness, the detective told Marvin, as he turned on a laptop.

Watching the chaotic cellphone footage, Marvin tried to protest.

Yes, there he was, in his green hoodie. But, he pointed out, he was clearly holding a cane, not a gun. And Jones, he added, had recently learned of his warrant and willingly signed a notarized statement to support him, affirming that Jones, not Marvin, had pulled the gun and fired it. Surely the police were interested in that?

The detective wasn’t persuaded.

As Marvin was placed in handcuffs, his heart raced. He could not afford a lawyer. His wife’s job barely paid the bills, and their impending property tax payment that year – $4,500 for the home they’d inherited from his mother, in East Austin – loomed large.

“I was really angry to be ac-

Lawyers’ Committee. “At a time when the Black homeownership rate has barely increased in the past 50 years, and we face ongoing housing segregation and a national affordability crisis, we need the full protections of the Fair Housing Act more than ever. We will vigorously challenge this proposed rule and continue to fight housing discrimination nationally.”

The Lawyers’ Committee is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that was formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to involve the pri-

cused of something I didn’t do,” he said later. “Especially with the record I have.”

In 1963, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Gideon v. Wainwright that a person accused of a felony is guaranteed counsel even if the person can’t afford a lawyer.

How exactly that counsel is provided, however, was left to states to decide, and in Texas, this “how” gets further relegated to the state’s 254 counties – meaning that each county decides how to appoint, and pay, lawyers for the poor. Last fiscal year, there were roughly 474,000 indigent cases in Texas. There are 19 public defender’s offices, which 39 counties rely on in some capacity, but the majority of counties contract with private lawyers, who are generally paid a modest flat fee per case. This is the most common way that states fulfill their Gideon v. Wainwright obligations. More than 150 counties also participate in a public defender program for death penalty cases.

Travis County, where Marvin was booked, has a limited public defender program – it serves juveniles and some mentally ill defendants – but relies primarily on a system of managed assigned counsel, in which an independent office assigns cases to a rotating cast of more than 200 private lawyers.

After being transferred to the county jail in Del Valle, on the outskirts of Austin, Marvin waited.

vate bar in providing legal services to address racial discrimination.

“Disparate impact claims are firmly established in the law and critically necessary to protecting communities of color and other groups against discrimination,” said Thomas Silverstein, counsel for the Fair Housing and Community Development Project at the Lawyers’ Committee. “While some discrimination is immediately evident on its face, much of modern-day discrimination in housing and lending is obscured and only redressable on a large scale.

He’d taken a few college classes on law after Vietnam, and he knew enough to feel hopeful. Surely his lawyer would look into his story.

One evening in early January, he went to bed early – he was sleepy from the jail-issued anxiety meds – only to be shaken awake by a guard at 9 p.m. His lawyer, Ray Espersen, was there to see him.

A 58-year-old with strawberryblond hair and thin glasses, Espersen was one of Austin’s most prolific lawyers: The previous year, he’d been paid for work on 331 felonies and 275 misdemeanors in Travis County, as well as 46 felonies in neighboring Williamson County – more cases than nearly any other Austin-area attorney.

Such was Espersen’s workload, in fact, that in 2015 it had caught the attention of the public, when local TV station KXAN reported on the high number of cases appointed to him – the equivalent workload, by later estimates, of that of at least three and a half lawyers. After the report, the district attorney’s office had opened an investigation into apparent discrepancies between the number of jail visits that Espersen had billed to the county and those recorded at the Travis County Sheriff’s Office.

Marvin did not know this. What he did know was that as he tried to explain – about the video, about the gun, about Jones – Espersen didn’t seem to be listening. The

For example, predatory lending in communities of color is typically redressed through disparate impact, which enables victims of discrimination to obtain relief as a group and incentivizes banks and housing providers to proactively change business practices that result in discrimination.

We are working with the National Fair Housing Alliance and a coalition of partners on the Defend Civil Rights campaign to organize communities to oppose this latest attack on civil rights protections.”

visitation room was tiny, and the two sat practically knee to knee, but “he was looking at the floor, scratching his head, looking everywhere but at me,” Marvin recalled.

According to Marvin, Espersen’s laptop remained closed, and he took no notes.

“Well, have your wife send me that video,” Espersen said at last, according to Marvin.

“Hey,” said Marvin sharply, “I was just woken up to come talk to you, and I’m trying to tell you what happened because you asked.

Now you’re not listening.”

According to Marvin, Espersen asked him to press the button that opened the room’s door. Unsure of what else to do, Marvin complied.

He would not see his lawyer again for six months.

Espersen declined to comment for this story.

Part II of The Indigent Project will continue next week.

Disclosure: The University of Texas, the University of Houston and Texas Tech University have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism.

Page 4 August 22, 2019

A prayer to the God of all children:

Please stop child terror By MARIAN WRIgHT EDELMAN Children’s Defense Fund

O God of the children of Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, Of Syria, Nigeria, Liberia, Sudan and South Africa

Of Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Myanmar, Israel, Iran and Iraq,

Of Libya, Yemen and Ukraine, Nepal and Kashmir,

Of the Congo, Charleston and Cleveland, of Darfur and Detroit,

Of all refugee children without a country to welcome them, at sea in flimsy boats, struggling across steaming deserts to find safety, or caged in holding pens as they seek asylum,

Help us to love and respect and protect and welcome them all.

O God of Black and Brown and White children and those all mixed together,

Of children who are rich and poor and in between,

Of children who speak Spanish and English and Russian and Swahili and Mandarin and Arabic and languages and dialects our ears cannot discern,

Help us to love and respect and protect and welcome them all.

O God of the child prodigy and child prostitute, of the child of rapture and the child of rape,

Of runaway and thrown away and sexually trafficked children who struggle every day without a parent or place or friend or future,

O God of children who can walk and talk and hear and see and sing and dance and jump and play and of children who wish they could but can’t,

Of children who are loved and unloved, wanted and unwanted,

Help us to love and respect and protect and welcome them all.

O God of incarcerated, beggar, beaten, abused, neglected and homeless children,

Of AIDS, drug, violence and hunger ravaged children,

Of children who are emotionally and physically and mentally fragile, and of children who rebel and ridicule, torment and taunt,

Help us to love and respect and protect and welcome them all.

O God of children of destiny and of despair without hope for the future, ravaged by wars of adults, Of disfigured, diseased, and dying children,

Of children without hope and of children with hope to spare and to share,

Help us to love and respect and protect and welcome them all as we affirm the sacredness of every child in our own country and all across our shared world.

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.

Of LGBT children struggling to be who they are and children roaming across nations in search of a place called home,

Help us to love and respect and protect and welcome them all.

EDITORIAL

The Dallas Examiner www.dallasexaminer.com

Black History Fact

Why I’m visiting the border By DERRICK JOHNSON NAACP

As I ventured to the southern border near Laredo, I could not help but think about the tragic shootings in El Paso and Dayton, which are stark reminders of the dangers that plague our communities under the resurgence of white nationalism, domestic terrorism, intolerance and racial hatred germinating from the White House.

People of color are feeling less safe today and any day when we see the realities of domestic terrorism and racially motivated acts of violence.

However, we’ve yet to see any tangible measures and policy initiatives from President Trump, only the repeated dehumanization of people who are the opposite image of what this administration believes Americans should look like.

This is why it was imperative that the NAACP traveled to Texas, not only to raise awareness and visibility of the ongoing humanitarian crisis at the border, but also to examine the current plight of immigrants that have been demonized and made actual targets of Trump’s hate-filled rhetoric.

As I walked through the doors of the Holding Institute – a nonprofit community center located in Laredo that is committed to alleviat-

‘‘

ing the cruel and inhumane conditions faced by immigrants – I was told that the facility can service as many as 25-100 people a day. Prior to coming to the facility, all processing documentation is given to people in English, which makes it more likely to be processed inaccurately and not properly vetted.

I heard stories of immigrants from Ghana, Congo and Angola who traveled to Brazil to assist with the construction for the 2016 Olympics, who were kicked out of their home countries and remain at the border seeking asylum. This was a much-needed reminder that the immigration crisis doesn’t just reside within the Hispanic and Latin American community, but touches Black people and people of color from all over the world.

I met a woman named Maricella who had to leave her teenage daughter in Honduras. She traveled 22 days from her country to the border where she was separated from her 27-year-old son and has not seen him since. She now fears bringing her daughter to the border as most young girls have a high likelihood of being sold into sex trafficking.

I was also told a story of a young mother and daughter being held at a nearby detention center, who had not had a warm bath in months and were only allowed one cold burrito to eat a day to share between the two of them.

I shook hands with a 13year-old boy whose mother

’’

Black History Fact

The streets of New York have witnessed many strange sites, but I judge, never one stranger than this: among the watchers were those with tears in their eyes.

– James Weldon Johnson

The Dallas Examiner

One hundred years ago, the NAACP organized the first Negro Silent Protest Parade, also known as the Silent March, as response to a series of race-related riots and deaths from angry White mobs in Illinois and in the South.

Approximately, 10,000 African Americans marched down Fifth Avenue in New York, July 28, 1917, carrying signs condemning Jim Crow laws with only the sounds of muffled drums.

During their campaign, President Woodrow Wilson promised to implement anti-lynching laws but, ultimately, failed to live up to his promise.

Sources: NAACP.org; Blackpast.org; Wikipedia.com and BlackAmericaWeb.com

told him to make eye contact and shake hands firmly.

Even in the midst of horrific living conditions and imprisonment, children at the facility are still being taught to treat people with respect, while being treated less than human.

As a community of people who were ripped away from our homeland 400 years ago, Black America understands the detrimental effects of family separation.

The century that followed our emancipation saw the creation of policies that discriminate against Black people and largely excluded them from wealth building, creating an inherited disadvantage for future generations.

Trump’s handling of the immigration system is racist, petty and inhumane. He is doing all he can to punish immigrants that he believes are undeserving this country and uses this as a rallying cry for his base.

The crisis at the border will now create a new generation of people of color that will be reeling from the discriminatory policies of the Trump administration.

My heart may have been troubled when I left the facility, but our work at the border doesn’t stop here. In the face of this cruelty, the NAACP – as always – is refusing to agonize, and instead, will continue to organize.

We will demand that the Trump administration and Congress: • Immediately remove the

“zero tolerance” and “family separation” policies.

• Limit the time to detain children to 20 days and require immigration officials to give detained minors a certain quality of life, including food, drinking water, medical assistance in emergencies, toilets, sinks and temperature control.

• Demand appropriate adequate funding to correct the cruel and inhumane conditions of detention centers and alleviate the current hearings backlog, shortage of judges and administrators to discharge asylum petitions.

• Call for a moratorium on deportation raids.

• Continue to file lawsuits in defense of Dreamers and on behalf of thousands of hardworking individuals negatively impacted by xenophobia and racist immigration policies.

This country was built on the backs of slaves and immigrants. Now is not the time to turn away from the crisis at hand, but work to create realistic, sustainable and effective pathways to citizenship for immigrants in America.

Derrick Johnson is the president and CEO of the NAACP, the nation’s oldest and largest nonpartisan civil rights organization. Johnson formerly served as vice chairman of the NAACP National Board of Directors as well as president for the NAACP Mississippi State Conference.

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PERSPECTIVES

Page 5 August 22, 2019

Rejecting hate in the ‘United’ States

By EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON

U.S. House of Representatives

Toward the bottom of the Statue of Liberty, one of the world’s most enduring symbols of freedom and renewal, is a poem written by the 19th century author and activist, Emma Lazarus.

The writing has brought tears to the eyes of millions of people who have come to the United States from Europe,

Asia, Africa, Central and South America and other places throughout the globe, yearning for freedom, fleeing tyranny, starvation, war and death.

Lazarus wrote the poem guided by a warm heart, a compassionate conscience and a vision of a better life for all of those who were fortunate enough to find their way to the shores of our country.

Now, some in the current administration, without warm hearts, guided only by cruelty and political calculus, are attempting to reverse a policy

that has helped to make our democracy and our nation stronger, and culturally and economically sound.

These men and women are concerned that the demographics of America are changing too rapidly, and from their perspectives a nation that is less White is a problem.

It will not be as good as one whose majority population consists of people with European roots, they believe.

Some in the White House have issued new guidelines that would limit the number of

legal residences from Africa, Asia, South America and the Caribbean who are able to become American citizens.

Starting in the early fall, most immigrants that cannot show that they can exist in America without assistance from the government will be denied green cards, and will be placed on paths leading toward deportation.

The rule also reflects President Trump’s stated preference for immigrants from Nordic countries. No doubt his preference is flavored by his characterization of certain

African countries as places where no decent person would live.

This new unsavory rule will establish an unfortunate precedent in American immigration policy. We have never denied citizenship to people who had little or nothing in their personal bank accounts.

If the proposed standard had been in place, relatives of some of our greatest scientists, artists, physicians, educators, elected officials and entertainers would not have qualified to become American citizens.

If we head in this direction,

the flame proudly held high

by Lady Liberty in the New York Harbor will be distinguished, the victim of small minds with bigoted hearts, armed with a malicious agenda.

Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson represents the 30th Congressional District of Texas in the United States House of Representatives. She also chairs the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology.

When white nationalists call others anti-Semitic

By SUSAN K. SMITH Crazy Faith Ministries

It has long been confusing to me how white nationalists can and do accuse others of being anti-Semitic, when they themselves clearly land in the anti-Semitic camp, as revealed in an Anti-Defamation League article, Alt Right: A Primer about the New White Supremacy.

At the same time, many say they love Jesus. How can this be?

Members of Congress and others have declared the four freshmen congresswomen, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, as anti-Semitic.

It appears that the basis of the charge is their opposition to the way Zionists in Israel are treating Palestinians there.

To be against the policies and practices of Zionists is not the same as being anti-Semitic. Zionism is a political movement, put into place decades ago in order to take over Israel. Judaism is defined as “the ethnic religion of Jewish people.” It is also defined as being “ancient,

monotheistic,” and as an Abrahamic religion with the Torah as its foundational text.

While the move to occupy Israel is political, the Jews as a people have been hated and have been under attack for thousands of years. It is no secret that the Nazis hated “the Jews,” but different countries and political systems over the years have also blamed the Jews for killing the Christ and hated them for it.

The Nazis were, according to Rabbi Richard Rubenstein, “satanic, anti-Christians … who said no to much that Christianity affirmed and yes to much that was absolutely forbidden in Christianity.” The Nazis, says Rubenstein, “transformed a theological conflict … into a biological struggle in which only one conclusion was thinkable – the total extermination of every living Jew.” There has always been an uncomfortable relationship between Christianity and Judaism. The Apostle Paul decided that only Christians – i.e., those who believed in and adhered to the teachings of Jesus – were true Israelites. The Church became the “new Israel,” and those who were the religion of Jesus (Jesus was Jewish) were relegated as members of the “old” Israel.

Jesus ushered in and supported

the “new” Israel, and Paul and others decided that any Jewish person who did not believe in Jesus were people that Jesus himself wanted brought into the fold. The Jews were supposed to accept the Christ.

Paul believed that those who believed in Jesus were “dead to Jewish law.”

The new Christians were offended that Jewish people rejected Jesus as the Messiah. When the Romans defeated the Jews in the Second Jewish-Roman War, Christians decided that the outcome of the war was proof of God’s rejection of Israel. It was a Palestinian Christian, Justin Martyr, who reminded people that the God of the Hebrew Scriptures punished Israel when it was unfaithful to God, and he pushed the idea that it was the Jews who murdered the Christ.

Christians latched onto these ideas and came to believe that God personally had an issue with Israel. It was OK, then, to hate the Jews, because God was displeased with them, as they had murdered his only child.

In other words, many Christians see their hatred of and discrimination against Jews as being the will of God, just as they have used the Bible to justify their hatred, discrimination against and murder of Black

people as the will of God. Many Christians, says Rubenstein, believe that it was God’s will that Hitler destroy the Jews.

So, if it is the case that many Christians – worldwide, but specifically for this piece, in America – carry this narrative about Jewish people, how can they be pro-Israel?

According to what I have read, many Christians believe that God wants America to stand with Israel, and if Christians do that, God will bless America.

American Christians support Israel “for their own political gain.”

Israel is necessary, say believers in this theory, in order for biblical prophecy to be fulfilled, and many believe that the creation of Israel as a separate state in 1948 was a sign that the Second Coming of the Christ was and is imminent, according to The Washington Post.

In other words, in order for the “end times” to appear as prophesied, there must be an Israel. In order for the Second Coming to occur, the Jews, the chosen people of God, must live in Israel; therefore, Israel must exist, as stated in the City Journal, a quarterly magazine of urban affairs published by the Manhattan Institute. This is a belief held by Christian Zionists, expressed in The Canadian Jewish

News. In the end times, they believe, nonbelievers in Israel will convert to Christianity.

It is all difficult to understand, but what stands out is that this hatred of Jews in the name of Jesus seems to be a direct violation of the Great Commandment and all that Jesus taught. And what is equally as troubling is the verbiage that says that hating Jewish people is the will of God, the same God who many Christians say sanctioned the murder of Jewish people by Hitler. That would be the same God who is sanctioning the horrid treatment of Palestinians in Israel by Zionists, and who sanctioned slavery in this country and the discrimination against Black people.

The God of love could not be this God, or so one would hope.

Rev. Dr. Susan K. Smith is the founder and director of Crazy Faith Ministries and is available for speaking.

Contact her at revsuekim@sbcglobal.net. Her latest book, Rest for the Justice-Seeking Soul, is available for preorder through Barnes and Noble at http://bit.ly/RESTBN or Amazon at http://bit.ly/RESTAmazon.

Time for CFPB to ‘do the right thing’– enact payday loan rules By CHARLENE CROWELL Center for Responsible Lending

For most people, life feels better when there is something to look forward to.

Whether looking forward to graduation, the arrival of a new baby or retirement that affords a few years to just enjoy life – these kinds of things make going through challenging times somehow more manageable.

For payday loan borrowers and consumer and civil rights activists, this Aug. 19 was supposed to be the end of payday lending’s nearly inevitable debt trap. No longer would consumers incur seemingly endless strings of loans that lenders knew they could not afford.

Nor would lenders have unlimited and automatic direct access to borrower checking accounts; only two debits could be drawn on an account with insufficient funds. The

days of unrestrained businesses recklessly selling payday and car title loans as short-term financial fixes that grew to become long-term debt was set for a shutdown.

Let’s say these borrowers were looking forward to financial freedom from the endless cycle of loan renewals and costly fees generated by triple-digit interest rates. In practical terms, the typical, two-week $350 payday loan winds up costing $458 in fees.

But just as seasons and circumstances can and do change, under a different administration, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has functioned more recently to help predatory lenders than to fulfill its statutory mission of consumer protection.

Last summer, then-CFPB head Mick Mulvaney joined the payday loan industry to challenge and win a delay in the implementation of the long-awaited payday rule.

Mulvaney also withdrew a lawsuit filed by the CFPB against a payday lender ahead of his arrival.

Months later in a West Texas federal court, U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel granted a “stay,” the legal term for a court-ordered delay, to allow the current CFPB director the chance to rewrite the rule adopted under the bureau’s first director. Even earlier and under acting CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney, a lawsuit filed by CFPB against a payday lender was withdrawn.

In response to these and other anti-consumer developments, consumer advocates chose to observe the Aug. 19 date in a different way, reminding CFPB what it was supposed to do on behalf of consumers. “[S]ince its 2017 leadership change, the CFPB has repeatedly failed to support the August 19, 2019 compliance date the agency established for these important provisions,” wrote Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund, National Consumer Law Center, Public Citizen and the Center for Responsible Lending. The Aug. 12 joint letter to Director Kraninger called for “timely

implementation” of the rule’s payment protections. While the CFPB continues to push for a stay of the rule’s abilityto-repay requirements, it has failed to offer any basis for its anti-consumer effort.

It took years of multiple public hearings, research, public comments and a careful rulemaking process before Director Cordray delivered a rule that would provide financial relief from one of the nation’s most heinous predatory loans.

Similar sentiments were expressed to the CFPB by 25 state attorneys general whose jurisdictions included California, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Virginia and the District of Columbia.

In written comments on CFPB’s plan to rewrite the payday rule, these state officials also expressed serious issues with the bureau’s anti-consumer shift. “[T]he Bureau’s proposed repeal of the 2017 rule would eliminate an important federal floor that would protect con-

sumers across the country, including from interstate lending activity that is challenging for any individual State to police,” wrote the AGs. “Extending credit without reasonably assessing borrowers’ ability to repay their loans resembles the poor underwriting practices that fueled the subprime mortgage crisis, which eventually led to an economic tailspin and enactment of the Dodd-Frank Act.” A 2019 CRL research report found that every year, payday and car title loans drain nearly $8 billion in fees from consumer pockets. Although 16 states and the District of Columbia have enacted rate caps that limit interest to no more than 36%, 34 states still allow triple-digit interest rate payday loans that together generate more than $4 billion in costly fees. Similarly, car title loans drain more than $3.8 billion in fees annually from consumers in the 22 states where this type of loan is legal.

Texas leads the nation in costly payday loan fees at

$1.2 billion per year. Overall, consumers stuck in more than 10 payday loans a year represent 75% of all fees charged.

Car title loan fees take $356 million out of the pockets of Alabama residents and $297 million from Mississippi consumers. And among all borrowers of these loans, 1 out of every 5 loses their vehicle to repossession.

This spring before a Capitol Hill hearing, Diane Standaert, a CRL EVP and director of state policy, summarized the choices now before the nation: “Policymakers have a choice: siding with the vast majority of voters who oppose the payday loan debt trap or siding with predatory lenders charging 300% interest rates.”

As Spike Lee advised years ago, “Do the right thing.”

Charlene Crowell is the communications deputy director with the Center for Responsible Lending. She can be reached at charlene.crowell@responsiblelending.org.

Pediatricians say racism devastates Black children – let’s get to the root cause

By ENOLA AIRD

Trice Edney Communications

It’s amazing how often the news media gives big play to an academic report that tells us something Black mothers already knew. Another example of the old wisdom nothing is real until White people discover or acknowledge it.

Does that seem harsh? Consider the splashy coverage given to a recent policy statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics entitled The Impact of Racism on Child and Adolescent Health.

The AAP’s statement warned that the health dangers posed to children by racism “have become acute” and that racism, including racism experienced by the mother, “can have devastating long-term effects on children’s health.” It’s received plenty of favorable news coverage.

But with all due respect, every Black mother in America has known this for as long as there have been

Black mothers in America. And we didn’t need an academic statement to tell us. Every precious baby to whom we have given birth over the course of the last 600 years has come into a world that profoundly devalues Black life.

What may be new to us is this devastating detail contained in the report: “The stress generated by experiences of racism may start through maternal exposures while in utero and continue after birth with the potential to create toxic stress.

This transforms how the brain and body respond to stress, resulting in short- and long-term health impacts on achievement and mental and physical health. We see the manifestations of this stress as preterm births and low birth weights in newborns to subsequent development of heart disease, diabetes and depression as children become adults.”

This should set off alarm bells throughout the Black community, particularly for Black mothers. We urgently need to find a way to protect the health and well-being of our beloved children in light of this deepening health crisis, the recent mass

shootings in which children were among the victims and the resurgence of white supremacy.

Let’s begin with the AAP’s entirely accurate description of racism as “a socially transmitted disease passed down through generations leading to the inequities observed in our population today.”

Exactly right. Here in the United States and around the world, Black children are seen as “less than” – less beautiful, less lovable, less capable, less intelligent, less worthy and less valuable.

The AAP has made a range of reasonable recommendations using the usual language from our culture’s standard dictionary on racism, including “racial equality,” “racial equity,” “institutional structures,” and “implicit and explicit biases.” They point to the need for strategies to “optimize clinical care, workforce development, professional education, systems engagement and research in a manner designed to reduce the health effects of structural, personally mediated, and internalized racism, and improve the health and well-being of all children.”

These are all good ideas, but we’ve heard some version of them before.

What’s missing is a diagnosis and a cure that get to the root of the problem.

So what can we, Black people, do to open the door to fresh recommendations that will yield something new and much better for our children? We can pinpoint the root cause of all the harms the AAP describes.

It is the myth of Black inferiority.

That myth – or as I prefer to call it, the lie – of Black inferiority was devised centuries ago to justify the enslavement of African people. It dehumanized Black people, and placed us and our children at the bottom rung of humanity.

Do you wonder why, with all the constitutional amendments and legislation and court decisions aimed at promoting racial equality, the same problems persist and seem to be getting worse? It’s because the lie continues to negatively affect the world’s perceptions of Black children and Black children’s perceptions of themselves.

The lie is at the root of the glaring disparities between Black and White

children in health, safety, education, employment, wealth, mass incarceration and nearly every other area of life. It is the reason why our children’s lives are devalued. It is the reason why doing anything while Black can be dangerous, and even deadly.

The lie of Black inferiority is at the root of countless lost dreams, lost hopes and lost lives. As a Black mother, I say that unless we, Black people, insist that pediatricians and anyone else concerned about the well-being of Black children have the insight and courage to name and aggressively address that root cause, our children will continue to be devastated.

Enola Aird, Esq. is the founder and president of the Community Healing Network. Its primary mission has been to actively address the psychological damage that people of African ancestry have suffered after centuries of being made to feel inferior. She can be reached through https://www.communityhealingnet.org.

HEALTH

Page 6 August 22, 2019

The Dallas Examiner www.dallasexaminer.com

Counseling Study proves hepatitis C drugs reduce liver-related deaths by nearly half Corner

Do you really listen to what others say?

American Counseling Association

Most of us like to hear ourselves talk. We enjoy sharing information about ourselves, our jobs and our recent activities. And there’s nothing wrong with that, unless we spend so much time talking that we forget to actually listen to what others are sharing.

Being a good listener is an essential skill in maintaining strong personal relationships, whether with relatives or with our friends. Yet, too often we tend to believe that solid relationships just seem to happen. Having good friends takes some work and effort on our part, and a major element in building those relationships is learning how to listen.

Most of us have probably had the experience of having a friend clearly demonstrate he or she really wasn’t listening when we had shared something important with them. Their words or actions indicate that what we had to share simply wasn’t heard or understood.

Sadly, many of us do the same thing without realizing that we’ve put listening to what a friend is communicating on automatic, mainly hearing the words but not registering the meaning. That can be a real problem when what is being shared is truly important to the person talking to you.

So how do you become a better listener? A good starting point is to pay attention to how others listen when you have something significant to share. Try to note what a good listener, someone you appreciate, says or does to indicate that they’re paying attention to you and what you’re saying.

Next, do the same type of observing with someone who doesn’t really seem to hear you when you share something important. How do they show they’re not really paying attention?

Are they distracted? Evaluate if your own actions favor those of the good or poor listener.

If your listening needs improvement, it isn’t difficult to become a good listener. Start by simply listening more than you speak when someone is communicating something important. Don’t interrupt with your own stories and ideas, even if you think your experience is similar.

Instead, take time to seek clarification if things were said you didn’t understand, and show you’re paying attention by feeding back key parts of the conversation. At the end, try to summarize what was shared to demonstrate you heard and understood the key points.

Being a good listener is an important skill and an essential element in building and maintaining strong friendships.

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.

Special to The Dallas Examiner

A new study from the UT Southwestern Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center demonstrates that antiviral drugs for hepatitis C reduce liver-related deaths by nearly 50% in patients with a history of liver cancer.

The finding builds on a December 2018 study by the same researchers who found that antiviral drugs do not increase the risk of liver cancer recurrence, as was previously feared.

Dr. Amit Singal’s study was published in the journal Gastroenterology July 30. Singal, an associate professor of internal medicine, medical director of the UT Southwestern Liver Tumor Program and Clinical Chief of Hepatology, collaborated on these studies with Dr. Caitlin Murphy, assistant professor of population and data sciences and internal medicine. They are both members of the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center at UT Southwestern.

Their studies overturn prior misconceptions that made doctors reluctant to prescribe direct-acting antivirals to treat hepatitis C in patients with a history of liver cancer. Many doctors previously believed that hepatitis C, for all its harmfulness, activates the immune system when it infects the liver, and the immune system kept liver cancer recurrence at bay.

But this notion appears to be false. Singal and Murphy studied nearly 800 patients from 31 medical centers across the country and found that the

Uber,

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Stock photo

drugs are not only safe, they decrease death from cirrhosis and liver cancer by 46%.

“Not only are these drugs safe in this patient population, but we have now demonstrated that they are helpful,” Singal said. “Our study changes the paradigm from you could treat a patient’s hepatitis C to you should treat it.”

Dr. Carlos L. Arteaga, director of the Simmons Cancer Center, said the study’s scope and impact are something that can only be produced by a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center.

“Dr. Singal had more patients involved in the study than any other participating site. As an epidemiologist, Dr. Murphy brought rigor to the data that removes prior doubt on this issue,” Arteaga said.

Murphy said previous studies compounded the misunderstandings of direct-acting antiviral therapy because they, among other things, failed to account for the timing of therapy relative to liver cancer diagnosis, did not include a comparison group or did not properly consider clinical differences among patients.

flourish here,” said Mayor Eric Johnson.

City Manager T.C. Broadnax was sure that the city’s infrastructure, diverse workforce and global access could ensure Uber’s success at its new location.

“I am confident that Uber will be an asset to our city and elated that Uber has decided to expand their operations in Dallas. We are continuing to invest in economic development to attract and retain companies like Uber so that Dallas remains an ideal location for businesses and working professionals,” Broadnax said.

The new study is a significant contribution because it clears the path to beneficial drug treatment.

“Hepatitis C therapy is so important because it provides a cure,” Singal said. “You take oral medications for two or three months, with minimal to no side effects, and you’re done. You’re cured of hepatitis C. There’s less than a 1% chance of relapse if you’re cured of hepatitis C.” Defeating hepatitis C is an important step because infection can otherwise lead to cirrhosis – scarring of the liver – which can be deadly. Cirrhosis can increase the risk for liver cancer, which also may be fatal. Curing hepatitis C with antivirals breaks the first link in a deadly chain of events and can lead to improvement in liver function among those who have previously developed cirrhosis.

Hepatitis C rapidly made its way into the American blood stream in the 1970s and 1980s when intravenous drug use spiked and blood products were not screened for the hepatitis C virus. Hepatitis C infected 2% to 3% of the baby boomer population, the

On a broader scale, Gov. Greg Abbott was also pleased about the move to Dallas and what it meant for the state.

“I am proud to welcome Uber’s investment in the great state of Texas, along with the 3,000 jobs the company will bring to its new Dallas office,” Abbott expressed. “This investment will bolster Texas’ continued economic success and reputation as the best state for business.

Our unrivaled workforce and businessfriendly environment makes Texas the perfect home for innovative companies like Uber.”

Dallas’ recent effort to bring more high-tech corporations to the city has led to an increase in high-tech jobs and more millennials seeking employment. Local

largest generation in U.S. history. Millions were affected.

The disease can lie dormant for 25 to 30 years and resurface as a life-threatening specter years after someone has stopped using drugs and turned to a healthy lifestyle.

Hepatologists saw an alarming spike in cirrhosis as baby boomers aged. By 2017, the New York Times called hepatitis C “an enormous public health problem.” In 2018, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced there were nearly 2.4 million people living with hepatitis C in the U.S. “Dr. Singal’s and Dr. Murphy’s study reports a welcome, fact-based way to oppose the adverse effects of hepatitis C infection in various demographic groups,” Arteaga said. “Their findings will have a global, lifesaving impact on how hepatitis C is treated. It is particularly important to Texas because the liver cancer incidence rate in Texas is the highest in the nation.”

Arteaga said the study is also important because liver cancer is highest among the Hispanic population in Texas, and research-based advances in reducing cancer in underserved groups are a Simmons Cancer Center priority.

The Simmons Cancer Center stands among only 32 U.S. cancer research centers named by the National Cancer Institute as a National Clinical Trials Network Lead Academic Participating Site. The authors declared financial interests with the manuscript.

leaders expressed that Uber would fit into the city’s growth plan to become a leading tech market across the country.

“This decision speaks to the depth of innovation and technology talent that is moving to the Dallas region,” said Dale Petroskey, president and CEO of Dallas Regional Chamber. “We’ve seen the fourth-highest high-tech job growth of any U.S. metro area over the past four years. Uber recognizes that we are committed to recruiting elite tech talent from around the globe, and also preparing our homegrown workforce through expanded focus on rigorous STEM instruction in our high schools and colleges.”

Page 7 August 22, 2019

The Dallas Examiner www.dallasexaminer.com

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give out the Fred Finch Award to DeMetris Sampson because of all her great contributions over the years in social justice as well as community engagement.”

The NAACP is in its 110th year of service, while the Dallas branch celebrated its 100th year September 2018.

Mollie Belt, publisher of The Dallas Examiner, is the daughter of Finch and said that he contributed many things to the Dallas community in regard to civil rights.

“He dedicated his life to fighting for justice in Dallas,” Belt said.

“He was a civil rights attorney and worked with the NAACP. I applaud the Dallas chapter of the NAACP for keeping our Dallas Black history alive. So many do not know the achievements made by those before us. My father, as chairman of the NAACP Redress Committee, eliminated Negro Achievement Day at the Fair Park.

Now, Blacks can go to the state fair on any day. Additionally, he was instrumental in getting Blacks admitted to the University of Texas at Arlington.”

The brunch also acknowledged people still living who have contributed significantly to the removal of barriers that Blacks face and work continuously for justice for all.

The President’s Award for Legal Advocacy went to three individuals, attorney Domingo Garcia, Justice Erin Nowell and professor Cheryl Wattley.

He presented Garcia’s award first.

“When we talk about the civil rights struggle, we talk about the social justice aspect,” Hooper said. “We have to work together.

We have to work for advocacy collaboratively to make sure that we are able to achieve the freedom and rights we so graciously value and that we expect. And when I thought about individuals, I wanted to recognize this next individual who I had the privilege to work with, and he really exemplifies leadership and bold leadership in

terms of social justice and advocacy, and that is Domingo Garcia.”

Garcia was unable to attend the brunch; however, civil rights activist Peter Johnson accepted the award on his behalf.

Hooper went on to emphasize working together as a team to move forward.

“Our struggles continue, and we have to work together,” he said. “If we continue to pit our communities against each other, we will never achieve the civil liberties we deserve.”

The next award was presented to Nowell.

“Justice Erin Nowell is one of the youngest and brightest legal minds right now, and she continues to have social justice to help drive her work,” Hooper said. “You’re not too big to care about the lives that are often overlooked.”

Nowell thanked the NAACP for the award.

“I really want to say thanks to the NAACP because they took me into their arms. And I want to thank you all for what you all do to make lives better,” Nowell said.

Wattley, of the University of North Texas Dallas College of Law, was presented with the third award.

“She is dynamic in everything she does in terms of fighting on behalf of civil rights laws and advocating for those wrongly convicted,” Hooper said.

Wattley said the NAACP is amazing, especially with their legal crusade against segregation.

“It is hard to describe because the NAACP, both nationally and in Dallas, is such an important institution for the African American population, and to receive the President’s Award is acknowledging that some or any level of contribution that I may have been able to make during my career is humbling and very significant,” she said.

“The summers between my first and second years of law school, I had the privilege of working with the NAACP headquarters in New York. I worked in the office of the general counsel. The NAACP is amazing, and their legal crusade against segregation is amazing,

Task Force,

continued from Front Page

From left: state Rep. Toni Rose of District 110; Aubrey Christopher Hooper, president of the NAACP Dallas branch; Caroline Wright, retired judge; Mollie F. Belt, publisher of The Dallas Examiner; and attorney Nigel H. Redmond. – Photo courtesy of NAACP Dallas Branch

and it is important to build on that legacy. I think in the current climate that exists, it is more important than ever for us to not grow weary. Because with the current presidential administration, every advancement and every accomplishment that has been made with respect to civil rights is very much threatened, and so we gotta make sure that we use all of the tools, the determination and focus that we saw throughout our history, and especially most recently in civil rights movement, to move forward.”

Other presentations went to several individuals and were presented by Hooper, Belt and honorary co-chair, state Rep. Toni Rose of District 110.

The L.A. Bedford Award was given to Chief Justice Carolyn Wright. The H. Ron White Award went to Daryl Washington, Esq. “This is the Heisman Trophy of civil rights and I would like to thank the NAACP for this award,” Washington said. “It means a lot to me. We complain a lot about the system, but we have so much control of what happens, and the challenge is to go out and tell all your friends, ‘We have to go serve.’ They are eliminating Blacks on juries, so you have to know when you have the opportunity to serve, it is your obligation to serve.”

Judge Lela Mays received the Larry Baraka Award.

“It means a lot to me because that particular judge was a mentor to me,” Mays said.

“Judge Baraka was a mentor when I first got on the bench, and he taught me a lot, and I am still continuing a lot of his work.”

Major Malik Aziz received the

Joe Bagby Award. Judge Elizabeth Frizell got the Cleophas Steele Award. The Charles Rose Award went to Andre Turner.

“As we approach these election years, we have work that needs to be done,” Turner said.

“Definitely, as we move forward in 2020, I want to see more people active in the NAACP because this has been the fight for us that makes a difference in our lives.”

During the final presentation, the first recipient of the Fred Finch Award went to Sampson.

“I want to thank the NAACP for this recognition and Mollie Belt for the work that you do for this city,” Sampson said. “It is a great opportunity and privilege to have the city and this recognition because of the work that has been done in this city by the NAACP – some of which you didn’t know about. They just do the work, and that’s what it takes. In this election, when we have to deal with the stupid things that are having to be said from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., and in this season when we have the largest representation of African Americans in the U.S. Congress ever, in this season when we still don’t know what is going to come out of Capitol Hill, it is not only important to support the NAACP, but if not us, then who?

If not now, then when?”

The included awards of $15,000 in scholarships to local students before recognizing its past presidents. It also made Legacy Leadership Awards presentations to Lee Alcorn, Bob Lydia, Casey Thomas and Arthur Fleming.

dens,” Bowie stated. “The work ahead will be challenging, but I am confident the collective wisdom and spirit of this task force will serve this city well.”

During the conference, Johnson addressed the various issues enveloping Dallas’ underserved neighborhoods – such as with mental health, drug addiction and cycles of abuse – that add to the high crime rate, but could not be resolved by the police department. The task force was asked to collect and analyze data concerning the issues as well as hold discussions with other community members and leaders.

“I am honored that Mayor Johnson has asked me to co-chair this task force,” Cohen conveyed. “To achieve lasting impact on issues as complex as crime and public safety, I believe strongly in taking an inclusive approach that combines the use of datadriven insights with the lived experience of community members.

So I look forward to hearing from citizens and stakeholders seeking actionable solutions to improve safety for all Dallas residents.”

The leaders stated, as advocates and activists, being part of the task force would be a continuation of what they are already doing in the community.

“I have seen over many years, the ups and downs of crime in Dallas over many decades,” Martinez expressed.

“I have always tried to be part of the solution. In my lifetime of community public service and leadership, I have learned how much we can accomplish when we unite around a cause. So I’m honored that the mayor has asked me to once again serve my community by helping make Dallas a safer place to live in.”

After the data and conversations have been analyzed, the mayor hopes to use the information to help solve the problems of crime and violence that plagues the city’s high-crime areas, for the sake of the city’s residents.

He is expected to soon announce the other members.

“We owe it to Brandoniya’s family.

We owe it to our police officers. And, of course, we owe it to ourselves.

After all, this is Dallas,” Johnson concluded. “When we’re faced with a problem, we come together as a city and we solve it.”

Page 8 August 22, 2019

The Dallas Examiner www.dallasexaminer.com

The Dallas Examiner www.dallasexaminer.com

MISSING Shakari Badon

DOB: Aug. 21, 2001 Missing Since: June 24, 2019 Age Now: 18 Sex: Female Race: Black Height: 5’3” Weight: 110 lbs Hair Color: Black Eye Color: Brown Missing City: Houston NCMEC Number: 1361824

Additional informaton: Both photos shown are of Shakari.

She may be in the company of an adult male. She has a tattoo of a snake on her right forearm.

Anyone having information regarding this missing youth should call the Houston Police Department at 713-884-3131.

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 1800-THE-LOST. For more information or to view more missing children in your area, visit www.missingkids.com.

Employment

CLASSIFIEDS

Page 9 August 22, 2019

Bids

Bids

INVITATION FOR BIDS

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

DHA will receive sealed bids for the Replacement of Fascia, Soffit. Wood Trim and Exterior Painting at Roseland Estates located at 3335 Munger, Dallas, Texas 75204 (Project # IFB-2019-18).

DHA, Housing Solutions for North Texas, is requesting competitive sealed Proposals from qualified Companies to provide Retirement Plan Legal Advisement Services (DHA Project # RFP-2019-19).

IFB-2019-18

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, August 19, 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, September 5, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. at Roseland Community Building, 3535 Munger Ave., Dallas, Texas 75204.

Sealed Bids will be accepted until 4:00 P.M., on Thursday, September 19, 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 4:00 P.M., on Thursday, September 19, 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.

RFP-2019-19

Proposal submission documents 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 visiting the website at www.dhantx.com or by calling 214/951-8429, beginning Wednesday, August 21, 2019. Office hours are from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Monday through Thursday and 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on Fridays.

Sealed Proposals will be accepted until 4:00 p.m. C. D.T. on Wednesday, September 18, 2019 in the Procurement Department, on the 2nd floor at 3939 North Hampton Road, Dallas, Texas 75212. All sealed proposals must be received in the Procurement Department by the specified time. Any Sealed Proposals received after 4:00 p.m., on Wednesday, September 18, 2019 will be rejected.

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

For Sale

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

Real Estate

Scholarships

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

CALENDAR COMMUNITy

Page 10 August 22, 2019 Aug. 8-24 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, 506 Main St., Fort Worth. For more information, call 817-3384204 ext. 2 or visit www.jubileetheatre.org.

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.

August National Black Business Month www.nationalbcc.org National Immunization Awareness Month www.partnersforimmunization.org Cataract Awareness Month www.aao.org National Eye Exam Month www.nei.nih.gov

22

Free Legal Clinics, legal advice and consultation on civil matters presented by the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program for Dallas County residents who meet financial guidelines, will begin at 5 p.m. at 2828 Fish Trap Road. For more information and scheduling, visit www.dallasvolunteerattorneyprogram.org.

ONgOINg EVENTS

Now-November A Shared Border, an exhibit on how 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.

Mondays-Wednesdays Sexually Transmitted Infection Testing/ Treatment, testing and treatment for STIs, HIV, Hep C and other sexual infections, will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Prism Health Clinic, 4922 Spring Ave. For more information, call 214-421-7848.

Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays Sittercise, a low-impact class that can be done from

held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Martin Luther King Branch Library, 2922 MLK Blvd. For more information, call Brandon Harris at 469-291-2895 or email brandon.harris@utsouthwestern.edu.

23

Amazing Scavenger Hunt Adventure-Fort Worth Stockyards Mini Quest, a citywide team quest to solve clues while learning local history, will be held from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Exchange and Packers, 130 E. Exchange Ave, Fort Worth. For more information, visit www.urbanadventurequest.com.

23-25

The Pre-Fair Horse Show – Arabian Show, a showcase of the oldest ‘purebred’ of any horse in the world, will be held free at 9 a.m. p.m. at the Fair Park Coliseum, 1438 Coliseum Drive. For more information, visit www.bigtex.com/livestock-shows.

24 22 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 Woman’s Club of Fort Worth, 1316 Pennsylvania Ave., Fort Worth. For more information, call 214-238-3331 or visit www.meditationintexas.org/weekly-classes.

22 UT Southwestern Proj-

ect Impact Health & Wellness Fair, with education and information provided

by Parkland’s North Texas Poison Control, Family Planning, HIV/AIDS and Victim Intervention Program/Rape Crisis, will be

The 16th Tulisoma South Dallas Book Fair, featuring award-winning authors ReShonda Tate Billingsley and Carole Boston Weatherford, will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the African American Museum, 3536 Grand Ave. For more information, call 214-565-9026 ext. 304 or visit www.tulisomabookfair.org.

24

Bridging the Gap: Tech Fest, a free career fair showcasing innovations and careers in coding, gaming, film, digital art, digital media, entertainment, artificial intelligence, fashion, health care, real estate and more, will be held from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. along the Ronald Kirk Pedestrian Bridge, 109 Continental Ave. The highlight of the festival will be the Technology

your chair, is offered from 7:30 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. at Methodist Charlton Medical Center, 3500 W. Wheatland Road. For more information, call 214-947-7777.

First, Second & Fourth Tuesdays Free legal services will be available at 5 p.m. at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, 2922 MLK Blvd. For more information, call 214-748-1234.

Tuesdays & Thursdays Free SkillQuest Career Readiness Classes will be held from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, 2922 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. For more information, call 214-879-9950 or email sgronstal@skillquestcareers.org.

Wednesdays State Fair Job As-

Fashion Show with VIP seating available. For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.

26

The Dallas Examiner www.dallasexaminer.com

sistance will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center Library, 2922 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. - Bldg. C. For more information, call 214-708-2739 or visit www.dallasmlkcenter.com.

Wednesdays The MLK Fresh Produce Distribution Center will be open from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, 2922 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. - Bldg. A. For more information, call 214708-2739 or visit www.dallasmlkcenter.com.

Wednesdays State Fair Job Assistance will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center Library, 2922 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. - Bldg. C. For more

information, call 214-708-2739 or visit www.dallasmlkcenter.com.

Wednesdays The MLK Fresh Produce Distribution Center will be open from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, 2922 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. - Bldg. A. For more information, call 214708-2739 or visit www.dallasmlkcenter.com.

Saturdays The MLK Fresh Produce Distribution Center will be open from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, 2922 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd - Bldg. A. For more information, call 214708-2739 or visit www.dallasmlkcenter.com.

Dallas City Council Agenda Meeting will be held at 9 a.m. in Room 6ES at Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St. For more information, call 214-6703111 or visit www.dallascityhall.org.

p.m. at Fair Park’s Briscoe Carpenter Building, 1403 Washington St. For more information, email dcccdoutreach@dcccd.edu or visit dcccd.edu/educareerexpo.

26

27

28

24

The annual Back to School Field Day, hosted

by DevelopU, will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Park South YMCA, 2500 Romine Ave. For more information, visit www.developuniversity.org.

24 Yoga Classes, yoga in

a Christian environment, will be held from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. at FriendshipWest Baptist Church, 2020 W. Wheatland Road. For more information, visit www.friendshipwest.org.

24 SOC Community Park

Input Meeting, open to South Oak Cliff residents and community stakeholders who care about the beautification of the SOC community, will take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at For Oak Cliff, located at 4478 S. Marsalis Ave. For more information, visit foroakcliff.org.

25

Free Health Screenings, screening and information with a follow-up appointment, will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Friendship-West Baptist Church, 2020 W. Wheatland Road. For more information, visit www.friendshipwest.org.

25

African American Breastfeeding Day Party, a free event to kickoff National Black Breastfeeding Week, designed to bring communities together to celebrate all pregnant and breastfeeding women, will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Cedar Crest Golf Course, 1800 Southerland Ave. For more information, call 214-670-7222.

Senior Adult Workout/Fitness Sessions, hosted by Annette ReidJordan Senior Adult Community, will be held from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. at Friendship-West Baptist Church, 2020 W. Wheatland Road.

For more information, call 972-228-5200 or visit www.friendshipwest.org.

26

Strong by Zumba, a high-intensity fitness class that combines interval training with the science of synced Music Motivation, is offered from 10:45 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. at Methodist Charlton Medical Center, 3500 Wheatland Road. For more information, call 214-947-7777.

26 Flex & Flow, a fitness

class offering various stretches and flowing, toning and flexibility exercises, is held from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at Methodist Charlton Medical Center, 3500 Wheatland Road. For more information, call 214947-7777.

Dallas ISD Community Meeting for District 6, hosted by Trustee Joyce Foreman, an event to inform the community about new innovation schools planned and the new career development center at Village Fair, will be held at Kimball High School at 6 p.m. For more information, email joyce.foreman@prodigy.net.

27

Medicare 101 Basics will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center Library, 2922 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Bldg. C. For more information, call 214-708-2739 or visit www.dallasmlkcenter.com.

27

Free Legal Clinics, legal advice and consultation on civil matters presented by the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program for Dallas County residents who meet certain financial guidelines, will begin at 5 p.m. at Martin Luther King Jr. Center, 2922 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. For more information, visit www.dallasvolunteerattorneyprogr am.org.

26-30 Senior Source Ca-

reer Quest will be held at Zan Wesley Holmes Outreach Center, 4600 Spring Ave. Call 214-823-5700 to register.

27 EduCareer Expo, a col-

lege information and resource fair hosted by the Dallas County Community College District for recent high school graduates and rising seniors to help them transition into college, will be held from 9 a.m. to 1

scheduling, visit www.dallasvolunteerattorneyprogram.org.

27

Free Legal Clinics, legal advice and consultation on civil matters presented by the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program for Dallas County residents who meet financial guidelines, will begin at 5 p.m. at West Dallas Multi-purpose Center 2828 Fish Trap Road. For more information and

Dallas City Council Agenda Meeting will be held at 9 a.m. in Room 6ES at Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St. For more information, call 214-6703111 or visit www.dallascityhall.org.

28

Senior Adult Workout/Fitness Sessions, hosted by Annette ReidJordan Senior Adult Community, will be held from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. at Friendship-West Baptist Church, 2020 W. Wheatland Road.

For more information, call 972-228-5200 or visit www.friendshipwest.org.

29 National Day of Prayer and Remembrance of Hurricane Katrina 29 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 Woman’s Club of Fort Worth, 1316 Pennsylvania Ave., Fort Worth. For more information, call 214-238-3331 or visit www.meditationintexas.org/weekly-classes.

29 Lunch & Learn with Attorney Stanley Mays, “Wills, Powers of Attorney and Non-Probate Assets” will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Zan Wesley Holmes Outreach Center, 4600 Spring Ave. For more information, call 214-324-4443.

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