ment
NT
onal Black Caucus is the Black community on between education ve Conference (ALC). 80 Number 16 WalterVolume E. Washington
Houston’s Leading Black Information Source
FEBRUARY 17-23, 2011
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a panel on “Exploring ral Government.” Sen. e future when it comes vote time into learning w jobs in the emerging
Massive growth in Black ncial businesses
From one
MOTHER to another
★CBC Page 3
Save the TSU Murals www.tsu.edu/giving or contact Wendy Adair University Advancement Adair@tsu.edu
dicted
by AFRO Staff While the results are not yet in on how well they are doing, the creation of Blacknst his relative, who’s owned businesses surged upon the of the econ the ward age ofeve 65. nomic recession. According aces charges of False to the latest data from the to Obtain Credit, U.S. Census Bureau, from g with a 2002 to 2007, the number of these firms increased by ental Record, Theft, 60.5 percent to 1.9of million, Misapplication tripling the national growth Property. Three of rate of 18 percent. es are first degree According to the Census Bureau’sHarrison “Survey of Busihat expose Black-Owned ears orness lifeOwners: in prison. Businesses: 2007,” the h is a state jail felony receipts produced by Black businesses also increased 55.1 percent to $137.5 bil★INDICTED, Pageconducted 3 lion. The survey, by the Census every five years, provides in-depth information about Black firms’ sales, receipts, paid employees and payroll. “Black-owned businesses continued to be one of the fastest growing segments of our economy, showing rapid growth in both the number of businesses and total sales this time period,” dationduring by city staff to extend Census Bureau Deputy the contracts of Di-Star rector Thomas Mesenbourg Concessions and Hudson said in a statement. Retail Sales - two defines firms with The Census Black-owned businesses ties to prominent as firms inincluding which AfricanDemocrats, State Americans possess nearly Rep. 51Helen Giddings and percent or more of the
By ReShonda Tate Billingsley DEFENDER
TChad Holley’s mom
exas Southern University’s president has come up with a plan he hopes will put an end to a controversy surrounding the painting overPres. ofBarack some hisObama toric murals on the campus of the historically Black university. But some students and community members wonder if his contribution of $50,000 for a Preservation plan is enough to undo the damage. University officials say they know it’s not enough, but it’s a first step. “We know $50,000 isn’t enough for the whole project. It’s just enough to bring in a conservator to analyze the
Obama’s budget “painful”
talks about beating By ReShonda Tate Billingsley Defender
★ T
★MURALS, Page 7
(TriceEdneyWire.com) - President Barack Obama he mother of the teen released his proposed $3.7 beaten by Houston Police trillion budget on Monday, Department officers is with the $1.1 million in cuts out,think talking aboutthe Mural Preservation Let us knowspeaking what you adout over the next 10 years as son,@ herdefendernetwork.com. feelings about his beat- We want to hear promised in you! his State of the on her Friday from ing, and her quest for justice. Union Address. Jewell Holley said she was As the months progress shocked to learn that her son Chad and budget debates begin in Holley – then 15 years old – had earnest, it will become clearer been beaten by police after being what specific social, educasustional and economic programs pected of might be threatened. Congress breakwill debate for months – at ing and least through June. The new entering. fiscal year begins Oct. 1. It was March, 2010, when police At the outset, some prochased Holley and several other posed cuts that could drastiyoung men from a crime scene. Ofcally affect African-Americans The Houston community is remembering included significant capital ficers caught up with Holley, then an are as follows: a longtime political High School sophomore, near Proposed cuts to low investments, duringElsik a periactivist who died Sept. 11, income heating assistance a self-storage facility on Cook Road od of uncertainty following 2010. Beulah Shepard, programs. in Alief and allegedly handcuffed the 9/11 terror attacks ultimade him on the ground and 89, began hittingher mark both Proposed cuts to summately failed to carry the him. and kicking locally and nationally asmer a school funding from Pell Grants and new limits on argument. tireless fighter for civil Pell Grants during the reguIn the three years since H MOTHER, Page 4 political jusrights and lar semesters; although new U.S. Congresswoman Eddie the council first embarked increases in Pell Grants to tice. BUSINESSES, Page 3 a Helen Eddie Bernice on its Love Field modernBernice HJohnson - without Funeral services will $5,500 be a year to help 9 million students will stay in place. Giddings Johnson competitive bid. ization plan, the concesheld at 10am at Galilee A freezeBeaulah on annual doThe essence of the city sions contracts have MBC, 6616 D.S. Bailey Shepard mestic spending for the next staff recommendation that the no-bid contracts emerged as by far the most contentious issue, five years, including commuLane. Pastor Edwin would be appropriate given the incumbents’ and have led to accusations of political nity service blockHouston grants and Davis, officiating. Interment: community action programs experience, the desirability of minimizing dis- favoritism on both sides. (CAPS), in order Page to reduce4the ★SHEPARD, ruptions during the renovation and the hard busiliquor to be sold on Sundays. convenient for people to buy a legal Defender News Services deficit by more than $400 bilness risks taken by the incumbents, which ★AIRPORT CONTRACTS, Page 4 Texas is one of 14 states that prohibit substance. lon on the next decade. the sale of liquor on Sundays. Under the It’s estimated that the additional AUSTIN – In an effort to put a dent “This freeze will require painful cuts,” Obama said in proposed bill, it would be sold from 10 sales would bring in $7 million in new in the state’s multi-billion-dollar budthe State of the Union. “I’ve a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week. Ellis sales tax over a two-year period. Texas get shortfall, State Sen. Rodney Ellis proposed cuts to things I care currently faces a $15 billion dollar bud(D-Houston) has filed Senate Bill 595. If said that every little bit helps the shortdeeply about, like community
@
defendernetwork.com
ontracts divide DallasEXCLUSIVE! REMEMBERING uncil in Race debate Beulah Shepard Photo by: Bob Levey
Bill proposes sale of liquor on Sundays INTERVIEW
Kickin’ back with K’Naan
passed, the bill would pave the way for
fall, and that the bill would make it more
get gap.
State Sen. Rodney Ellis
Michael Oher flips “The Blind Side”
butions by the likes of Damian Marley, Mos Def, Chali 2na, Kirk Hammett of Metallica and Adam Levine of CONTRIBUTING WRITER00 Maroon 5. During his early childhood, the Western music, which Somalia. The name alone conjures up images of By Kam Williams in an Oscar-winningreached performance. Here, Michael talkslimited about histo new K’naan’s ears was pretty much “Bob unbridled destruction, merciless warlords and ruthless Michael Oher was born on May 28, Oher currently lives in Maryland autobiography, I Beat the he Odds. Marley and Tracy Chapman,” until at 10, became terror. A1986 place where nobody safe from the atrocities in Memphis, where heis negotiated where he is an offensive linemanby for the the hip-hop KW: You and the Ravens had an excellent fascinated being emitting from a tiny car of war, aand where year AK-47s likeRavens of the National Football season. How’d you feel when your season perilous patheight through the olds foster handle care Baltimore speaker. “I had heardended a rapinverse, but I had no idea what system, experiencing periods of homelessLeague. After playing college football at Pittsburgh with that loss to the toys. When Forbes magazine recently unveiled their it was back then,” he recalls. ness. He eventually attended Briarcrest the University Steelers on a last-minute Roethlisberger TD “Most Dangerous Destinations,” Somalia, above Iraq of Mississippi for the Ole At 14,byK’naan and pass? his three best friends were attacked Christian School and met Sean and LeighMiss Rebels, he was drafted the Ravens and Afghanistan, topped the list. But it’s also “The Anne Tuohy, who became his adoptive in the first round ofby thewarlords, 2009 NFL Draft. It wasn’tindelible a good feeling losingfor to just one of MO: countless images Nation of Poets,” where a poem can both inspire peace parents. Following his first in the league, teenager. those guys. It reallychased stung. them theyear impressionable Having and end wars. His inspirational story is the he was named to both the Pro Football KW: What’d you think of the cornering Super Bowl? through the streets of Mogadishu, eventually Growing up, itsubject was both of these SomaliasWeekly that All-Rookie team and the USA of Michael Lewis’ MO: I just couldn’t bear to look at it. I the boys in an alley, the men began shooting. K’naan book, The K’naan Blind Side: Evolu- Today Team. He also earned NFL watched a total of about four minutes. informed musician/emcee Warsame, who All-Joe is avoided injury, but his three friends brutally tion of apath Game, was blend Rookieofofregthe Month honors for December KW: Let me startwere by asking how you forging his own musical viawhich a unique gunned down. adapted to the screen in and recently completed a second successmanaged to make it all the way to the NFL, gae, funk, pop, soul and, above all, hip-hop.ful Recorded 2009 as The Blind Side, season with the Ravens, making neighborhood you before came from and Certain thatthe it was given only the a matter of time her primarily in Kingston,starring Jamaica at Bob Marley’s home Sandra Bullock playoffs. studio, his second album, “Troubadour,” includes contriH OHER,Page Page 3 2 ★K’NAAN, By Kam Williams
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al
ng in ctions?
H BUDGET, Page 11
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Living
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