Bay State Banner 02/07/2013

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

Still Sly After All These Years

Don’t bottle up the state’s liquor licenses ........................pg. 17

pg. 11

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Thursday • February 7, 2013 • www.baystatebanner.com

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All-Americans relay talent, passion to keep youth ‘on track’ Shanice Maxwell

United. “[This] gives kids the opporAsk a child who wants to be tunity to get off the couch, to put an athlete when they grow up down the video game controller and usually they’ll cite basketball, and do something active.” Dilday football or baseball as their sport explains. “It also gives them a of choice. Very seldom does track chance to share in the oldest and field ever make the cut.

Olympian sport known to man.”

The glitz and glamour asBoston United Track and Cross sociated with the more popular Country Club is a free and co-ed sports usually dissipates when it program open to all ages. No prior comes to track. training or skill in track and cross Said Ahmed is just one of many country are needed either. All that trying to change that. is required is a willingness to learn He’s made it his duty to share and participation in weekly practhe fulfillment track brings him tices at the Melnea A. Cass Recwith others. reational Complex in Roxbury on “Track and Saturdays from field is not the noon to 2 p.m. most popular Boston United Track In a little sport out there, and Cross Country over two years, but there’s a lot dozens of of people who Club is a free and families from have love for co-ed program open all over the the sport,” said Greater Boston Ahmed, 30, of to all ages. No prior Area have enRoxbury, who training or skill rolled their sons created The and daughters Boston United in track and cross in the club.

Tr a c k a n d country are needed.

Today, many Cross Country of the kids have Club in 2011. All that is required is come to realize “People did it a willingness to learn. they were track for us when we superstars all were younger along. But it and it’s just a responsibility we felt took involvement in the club for we needed to give back.” them to tap into their hidden poAs a former All-American tential and with the help of their track star who received a full ath- coaches, start to nurture it. letic scholarship to the University Dorchester’s Tammi King of Arkansas, Said wanted to offer has two sons, Jovan and Jhalen, local youth an opportunity to who have been running with the have similar success and present Boston United Track and Cross them with an alternative option Country Club since its inception. for fitness, fun and a future full “It’s a great program and it of promise. [would be] nice if more and more Coach Sekou Dilday, 35, of people came out and brought their Dorchester, who is also a former kids,” King said. “It helps them All-American track star, can to see what their potential is that relate, and acknowledges a press- they never knew before, because ing need for clubs like Boston before I brought [my sons] here,

The Rev. Colin Phillips (left), director and founder of the Night of Peace Family Shelter, looks on as CITGO Petroleum President Alejandro Granado and Citizens Energy Chairman Joseph P. Kennedy II (right) deliver heating oil to the Baltimore shelter. (Photo courtesy of Erint Images)

Citizens Energy delivers the heat for struggling families Sarah Talmadge BALTIMORE — Tiara Frierson and her children found refuge in a family shelter last year after an illness left her hospitalized and unpaid rent and utility bills left them homeless.

The strain of keeping the heat on during a difficult time was almost too much to bear, said Frierson, expressing hope that families facing similar crises can find help to stay warm in the dead of winter.

“The utility bills were just overwhelming,” said an emotional Frierson from the pulpit of the Salem United Methodist Church during an event last week kicking off the heating oil assistance

program run by Citizens Energy Corporation of Boston in partnership with CITGO Petroleum.

“I’m just glad that the shelter was here to take us in.”

The shelter, run out of the church’s basement, is one of over 220 nationwide to receive heating oil this year through the $60 million Citizens-CITGO initiative, which also delivers free fuel to Native American tribes, tenantowned cooperatives and individual households in over 20 states, including Massachusetts.

Former U.S. Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II, the founder and chairman of Boston-based Citizens Energy, said stories like Frierson’s illustrate the tough

Track, continued to page 16

choices faced by families all across the country.

“The federal fuel assistance program reaches only one-fifth of all the eligible households in the U.S.,” said Kennedy. “Millions of families just go cold at night in their own home. It’s not just the statistics that strike you, it’s the people behind them.”

Before Kennedy joined with CITGO President Alejandro Granado to unspool a hose from a fuel truck and fill the outdoor tank of the shelter with heating oil, U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Maryland) praised the companies for stepping up to try and fill the gap in the heating needs of low-income families in Maryland Heat, continued to page 19

A Roxbury standard: The Original H-Block Melvin Miller and Howard Manly

This map shows the area around Munroe Park that includes Harold, Harrishof and Holworthy Streets and Humboldt Avenue.

Whatʼs INSIDE

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT . . 11-13

Modern-day history has largely forgotten about men like Matthew W. Bullock.

He lived in Roxbury, near what is now known as Munroe Park. More than anyone else, he set the tone of conspicuous achievement in a neighborhood filled with high achievers.

Melnea Cass was one of them.

Valedictorian of her high school class, Cass eventually moved to the same neighborhood as Bull-

ock — and promptly became one of Boston’s most prominent community leaders.

Back in the early decades of the 20th century, back when she was in her late teens and early 20s, she couldn’t find good work downtown. It wasn’t right, but she worked anyway — as a domestic servant.

“You could always make a living,” Cass told an interviewer.

“But it wasn’t always what you wanted to do.”

She lived in Upper Roxbury.

H-Block, continued to page 7

LISTINGS

PERSPECTIVE

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BUSINESS DIRECTORY . . . . 18

EDITORIAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

HELP WANTED . . . . . . . . 22-23

CALENDAR . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

OPINION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

LEGALS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

CHURCH GUIDE. . . . . . . . . 20

ROVING CAMERA . . . . . . . . 5

REAL ESTATE . . . . . . . . . 21-22

2 • Thursday, February 7, 2013 • BAY STATE BANNER

New sheriff in town: A talk with Steven Tompkins

“As a dedicated public servant on the frontlines of crime prevention and reentry rehabilitation, Steven brings first-hand knowledge and passion to this critical position,” Gov. Patrick said in a statement announcing Tompkins’ appointment. “I am confident in his ability to serve Suffolk County in this role and I look forward to working with him to strengthen our re-entry programs and reduce youth violence.”

Sheriff Tompkins discussed his appointment with the Banner and how his career experience will aid in his leadership of the Department.

You displayed a great deal of emotion at your swearing-in ceremony. What was that all about?

Steven Tompkins was sworn in as Suffolk County Sheriff on Jan. 22 by Gov. Deval Patrick in the State House’s Governor’s Council Chambers. (Photo courtesy of Governor’s office) Howard Manly Gov. Deval Patrick recently appointed Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department of External Affairs Chief Steven Tompkins as

Suffolk County Sheriff. Tompkins will assume responsibility for all Sheriff’s Office operations at the Suffolk County House of Correction, the Nashua Street Jail and the Civil Process Division.

In addition to providing care, custody and rehabilitative support for inmates and pre-trial detainees, Tompkins will also oversee a management, security and administrative staff of over 1,000.

First of all, I didn’t realize that I had gotten that animated until I saw the pictures in the papers the next day. But, to your question, our mandate at the Department is care and custody of the inmate and pretrail detainee population.

That said, I am passionate about the work that we do for several reasons. We work collaboratively with a variety of law enforcement and social service agencies to: one, safeguard the citizens of Suffolk County; two, educate youth about the loss of liberties once sentenced to jail; and three, we attempt to redirect individuals away from a life in crime.

As someone who grew up in a challenged environment and caught a couple of fortunate breaks, I am honored and humbled by the opportunity to help others improve their station in life; that includes the employees as well as the inmates. How could I not be psyched about that.

What can the public expect from the Tompkins Administration?

The public will see a continuation of the solid care, custody and control of the inmate and pre-trial detainee population, which is our charge. Frankly, following that, I will lend my time, energy and resources to several things.

First, working with youngsters to keep them out of the system.

Second, when I was Chief of External Affairs, my division was very involved with re-entry, or how ex-offenders are reintegrated into their communities. I know that Mayor Menino and Governor Patrick are working on this issue and I look forward to discussing ways in which collaboration would be possible.

Third, I am very concerned about the scarcity of detox and mental health beds and the plight of those individuals that age out

of the foster care system. Far too often, in both incidences, the care that these folks need is unavailable, and if the Department can be of assistance on either front I’m all for it.

Your appointment has been questioned as being political in nature. How do you respond to that criticism?

Clearly, there is a political aspect to this job, given that I have to campaign and win an election in 2014 to keep the position; however, this is also a public safety and public affairs job.

As for the criticism of my appointment, I believe the Governor felt the continuity of service to the lives that we have jurisdiction over, to the employees of the Department and to the roughly 730,000 citizens in Suffolk County who we are charged with keeping safe was an important factor in his decision, and I am grateful that he feels the agency will continue to operate efficiently under my leadership. Former Sheriff, now [Public Safety and Homeland Security] Secretary [Andrea] Cabral, assembled stellar administrative teams on both the custody and management sides of the Department, and all of that talent has remained in place after her departure. We are good at what we do and I am pleased that we are able to continue our work without missing a beat.

Are you concerned that you have been described as a public relations specialist and spokesman for the Department with limited to no law enforcement experience?

Think about that for a second: This Department is a public agency and the Sheriff has to answer to the registered voters of the County who are now my bosses. As the Director of Communications for three years and Chief of External Affairs for the last seven, I have worked with every division of the Department and have had to explain on many occasions how each of those divisions operates to the public or the media.

If you look at my professional background you’ll discover that I have excelled in several industries including the media, finance, health care, emergency management and now law enforcement.

The common denominator in all of those professions is people.

I know how to serve, manage and motivate people; beyond that, I am blessed to have a consummate team of professionals by my side that knows how to do their jobs.

WARD 9 DEMOCRATIC COMMITTEE

CAUCUS MEETING Ward 9 Democratic Committee will hold a caucus meeting,

Saturday, February 9, 2013 at 10:00AM at Langham Court Community Room 26 Worcester Street, Boston, MA 02118, to elect delegates to the state convention scheduled for July 13.

All democrats registered to vote before December 31, 2012 in Ward 9 eligible to run for delegate and be seated as such at the state convention.

No rsvp is required attend the Ward 9 meeting or run for delegate.

For information contact Ward 9 Secretary, Jeff Ross at 617-504-0732.

Thursday, February 7, 2013 • BAY STATE BANNER • 3

COMMUNITYVoices

The significance of Black History Month Kevin Peterson Black History Month answers the question: Who is the African American? What is his or her place in a society so unique and so recognized as one of the greatest, most powerful in known history? How have black people — in a country where they have for several centuries been denied the status of being — forge an identity so far-reaching that they managed to inalterably shape the cultures of the North Atlantic nations, Europe and Africa itself?

Founded in 1926, Black History Month was started as Negro History Week by Carter G. Woodson, a Harvard-trained historian who, six decades after the end of American slavery, noted that no exacting historical record existed that depicted the contributions blacks had made to American culture. According to Woodson, the dearth of materials that supported the lively presence of a race of people who emerged from slavery to emancipation on the strength of its own vitality and resources was profound.

Because of this, Woodson dedicated the rest of his life to researching and promulgating the black presence in America,

becoming a secular minister of culture, of sorts — documenting black innovation in the areas of the arts and sciences, literature, politics, sport, business, humor, invention, the economy, demography, religion and the particularities of what we generally know as the American identity.

Woodson’s efforts would make clear, for the generations to follow, that it was the contribution of the American slave that provided the foundation of the world economy in the 17th and 18th centuries. The American dialect — a melange of English, African, French and Native-American — would also be profoundly influenced by the African slave and freedman, shaping the American sense of narrative, slang and the pedestrian and high cultures.

More than this: The African American’s interpretation of the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence would radically influence the country’s politics, its perceptions of the meaning of fairness and its sense of justice. And the African American would impact the country’s moral consciousness by passing critical judgement upon what the historian W.E.B. Du Bois called America’s “mad money getting plutocracy.”

And no one could deny the deep, lasting impact of black religion and the development of the sacred understandings of what it means to be an American. Leading this development were such advocates as Frederick Douglass, Henry Highland Garnett, and Ida B. Wells and Sojourner Truth. Others include Dr. Mordecai Wyatt Johnson of Howard

University, Rev. Gardner Taylor of Concord Baptist Church of Christ, and religious vocalists such as Mahalia Jackson and Ethel Waters.

But at the center of the American experience is how black people demanded and incessantly worked for freedom in the civic sphere, how they, in the words of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., “carved from a mountain of despair, a stone of hope.”

This demand, it must be remembered, reflected a broader, transracial need of all who yearn for freedom, reminding us that forms of slavery existed throughout history that included the subjugation of whites, Asians, Native

Americans, Indians, women, children, tribes, clans and many more. The American Negroes, as they struggled for freedom in the middle years of the last century, knew this precisely.

Who is the African-American?

He and she are representative of the resilience of human intelligence, perseverance, moral force, purposeful spirit, achievement and persistence. As such, the African American shall remain a moral and spiritual fulcrum around which democracy, American history and the future will revolve.

Kevin C. Peterson is founder and director of The New Democracy Coalition.

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4 • Thursday, February 7, 2013 • BAY STATE BANNER

Established 1965

No resting on our laurels No event in American democracy is more magisterial than the inauguration of the president. The strains of “Hail to the Chief” inspire in most citizens an assurance that the White House has the authority and power to protect their interests.

Those who supported the losing candidate for president understandably did not feel festive, especially since the Obama victory represents a tectonic shift in American politics.

The Republican base of support was primarily among older, white men. This group is naturally dwindling in accordance with actuarial attrition. On the other hand, the Democratic base is more dynamic. Blacks, Latinos and Asians voted for Obama in overwhelming percentages, and these groups are young and growing.

Political polls identified this demographic problem for Republicans even before the votes were cast. In a repudiation of the democratic principle of “one man, one vote,” several states attempted to implement restrictive photo ID laws. However, the governors of Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina and New Hampshire vetoed such laws and a three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia denied clearance of Texas’ act under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. State courts in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania also prevented the implementation of photo ID laws. Also, federal courts in Florida and South Carolina prevented practices that would restrict the turnout of elderly, low income and minority voters. These groups would more than likely vote Democratic.

Since their substantial defeat in the 2012 election, Republicans have come up with another

strategy to give them an edge. Their idea is to do away with the winner take all system of allocating a state’s electoral votes. The new system would be easy to calculate because a state’s electoral vote is determined by the number of representatives to the U.S. House plus the two senators.

Under the proposed system, the presidential candidate with the most votes in the state would get two electoral votes plus the number of congressional districts that he won. Charles Blow, a New York Times columnist, wrote an analysis of what the results of the 2012 election might have been in pivotal states including Michigan and Ohio.

Obama won Michigan by 449,313 votes with all of its 16 electoral votes. However, Obama won only five out of Michigan’s 14 congressional districts. Consequently, under the proposed system, Obama would have won only seven of Michigan’s 16 electoral votes.

Similarly, Obama’s margin of victory in Ohio was 166,241 votes. He won all 18 electoral votes.

However, since he won only four of the 16 congressional districts, his electoral vote would have been only six under the proposed system.

Obama would have lost Michigan, Ohio, Virginia and possibly other states as well as the election. Even apathetic Americans will not tolerate a system that is so egregiously undemocratic. Astute politicians are running away from the idea, but its proposal should awaken racial and ethnic minorities from the festive illusion of political victory.

A battle has been won but the war for human rights and the modification of economic disparity goes on.

So we are trying to figure out a new way to calculate electoral votes so we can win the 2016 election?

USPS 045-780

Publisher/Editor Assoc. Publisher/Treasurer Executive Editor

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G. Valentino Ball

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LETTERSto the Editor President Obama stands on the shoulders of 50 years of history When President Obama took the oath of office, he was surrounded by an extraordinary legacy of 50-year civil rights milestones that helped make possible his second inauguration. It was fitting that the inaugural invocation was delivered on the steps of the U.S. Capitol by Myrlie EversWilliams, the widow of civil rights hero Medgar Evers.

After years of risking his life to end discrimination against black Mississippians, Evers was felled by an assassin’s bullet in the driveway of his home 50 years ago on June 12, 1963. Whether serving his country as a soldier in World War II, leading the fight to desegregate the University of Mississippi or working to end Jim Crow as the state’s first NAACP field director, Evers was a fearless, peaceful warrior who paved the way for President Obama and countless others who have been inspired by his example.

An assassin cut short his life in 1963, but Myrlie Evers-Williams went on to devote her life, as an NAACP leader and civil rights activist, to the ideas he fought and died for.

President Obama took the oath of office holding a bible belonging to another champion of civil rights and American democracy — Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Fifty years ago, on Aug. 28, 1963, Dr. King inspired

Anthony W. Neal Brian Wright O’Connor

America and the entire world with his “I Have a Dream Speech” delivered at the Lincoln Memorial in front of more than 250,000 people during the historic 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

The March was organized by Dr. King with help from the National Urban League’s Whitney M. Young, along with A. Philip Randolph of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, James Farmer of the Congress of Racial Equality, John Lewis of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and Roy Wilkins of the NAACP. The March on Washington was instrumental in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Finally, President Obama was sworn in 50 years after one of the most horrific events of the civil rights era, the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., which resulted in the deaths of four little black girls — Addie Mae Collins,

Carole Robertson and Cynthia Wesley, all 14 years old, and 11-year-old Denise McNair. The Birmingham church bombing galvanized the conscience of the nation and led many whites to denounce racism and its brutal consequences. Those four young black girls did not die in vain.

As Dr. King said in his eulogy, their deaths, “…say to each of us, black and white alike, that we must substitute courage for caution. They say to us that we must be concerned not merely about who murdered them, but about the system, the way of life, the philosophy which produced the murderers. Their death says to us that we must work passionately and unrelentingly for the realization of the American dream.”

Fifty years later, America’s first black President prepares for his second inauguration.

Marc Morial President and CEO National Urban League

Staff Photographers

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Contributing Writers

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The Boston Banner is published every Thursday.

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Thursday, Thursday, February January 7, 3, 2013 2008 • BAY • BOSTON STATE BANNER • 5

ROVINGCamera

OPINION No risk for President Obama in immigration reform fight Earl Oafri Hutchinson President Obama almost certainly saw and heard the shouts of several dozen protestors who stood across from Del Sol High School in Las Vegas, where he made his speech touting immigration reform.

The protestors were relatively few in number. In times past, they would have set off warning bells that immigration reform remains one of the most touchy, volatile and polarizing issues on the nation’s political table. Only a short time ago, GOP leaders twisted it as a powerful wedge issue to tar Democrats who backed immigration reform — and especially its cornerstone, the path to citizenship — as coddling lawbreakers, driving down the wages and living standards of American workers.

Polls and surveys repeatedly showed that a majority of Americans across all lines agreed with the GOP hardliners, that immigration reform smacked of a giant reward to those who broke the law and were in the country illegally.

That feeling was so intense that many Democrats ran from immigration reform like the plague. The one Democrat, though, who Latino activists and immigration reform advocates expected action from was Obama.

For much of his first term, the word from the White House on immigration was no word. It cost Obama. His popularity among Latinos dipped for a time. That was due almost exclusively to the sense that the president had done next to nothing on immigration reform, yet he still desperately needed Latino votes to tip the White House back to him in 2012.

But Obama did not totally ignore the issue, even though his popularity numbers slightly fell among Latinos. He blasted the GOP for torpedoing comprehensive immigration reform legislation in Congress on the two occasions when it appeared that an immigration bill might be reintroduced.

Obama was not to blame for those setbacks. The crushing problems and bruising fights over deficit reduction, spending and health care reform, coupled with high soaring gas prices and the job crisis, were endless and time-consuming. The fights required every bit of his political capital and arm-twisting to make any The 2012 election headway against an obstructionist, changed one other intransigent and petty GOP determined to make him pay a steep po- thing. It gave litical price for every inch of legisla- Obama the longtive ground he sought to gain. awaited opening The 2012 election changed only one thing with the GOP. he needed to go That was its in-your-face, xeno- full throttle on phobic rants against illegals sup- immigration reform. posedly stealing jobs from Americans and breaking the law. GOP leaders had no choice but to tamp down their immigration rhetoric for the simple fact that Latino voters punished the party mightily in 2012 for that rhetoric, and sent an even stronger signal that it would continue to punish the GOP if it didn’t change at least its tone on immigration.

The 2012 election changed one other thing. It gave Obama the longawaited opening he needed to go full throttle on immigration reform.

The election result was not the only strong point for Obama on reform. In 2007, then-President George W. Bush was widely and unfairly blamed for making a mess of the immigration reform fight in Congress by not pushing hard enough for passage of the bill. Immigrant rights groups lambasted Republican senators for piling crippling demands for tight amnesty, citizenship and border security provisions in the bill. Leading Republican presidential contenders didn’t help matters by flatly opposing the bill as much too soft on amnesty and border enforcement.

This did much to kill whatever flickering hope there was for the bill’s passage, and undid the inroads that Bush made in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections, when he scored big with Latino voters — due largely in part to the perception (and reality) that Bush would push hard for immigration reform. But the GOP learned nothing from this. It was almost as if Bush’s Latino vote ramp-up was an aberration.

The GOP’s metallic ear on immigration culminated in the idiotic quip from GOP presidential loser Mitt Romney that the best way to solve the immigration crisis was for undocumented workers to “self-deport.”

Obama’s battle for the Latino vote in 2012 was never intended to head off any mass defection of Latino voters to the GOP. There was never any chance of that. The polls that showed Latinos less than enthusiastic about Obama also showed absolutely no enthusiasm for any GOP would-be presidential candidate.

Still, Obama’s frontal challenge to the GOP to do something about immigration reform is not only a long overdue move to right a long simmering policy wrong, but a move that could help to shove the issue of what to do about the nation’s millions who are here without papers off the nation’s political table.

There’s absolutely no risk, only gain, for Obama in taking the point on immigration reform to try and make that happen.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst.

The Banner welcomes your opinion. Email Op-Ed submissions to:

hmanly@bannerpub.com Letters must be signed. Names may be withheld upon request.

What was your reaction to Governor Patrick’s appointment of Mo Cowan as interim US Senator?

He seems capable and I like that he’s not doing it long-term. I’m tired of people doubting our capabilities.

African Americans in office usually have to make quality appointments because we’re scrutinized more and thus appoint people who will reflect positively on us.

I was fortunate enough to be granted the opportunity to interview Mr. Cowan, and during our interview I was inspired by his words and dedication to Governor Patrick as well as the people of the Commonwealth.

I’m confident that he will make an extraordinary senator.

I think Governor Patrick certainly made the right decision because Mo is very smart, confident and cares about the Commonwealth.

And I agree wholeheartedly because there is no better choice than Mo.

Malaika

Gabrielle Farrell

Gary Morton

Career Counselor Roslindale

Communications (PR) Associate Mattapan

Reporting & Analytics Director Boston

I’m not that familiar with him, but I think it was a bold move.

I’m proud of the governor and it’s about time.

It’s great to see a new face come in without an agenda, and it’ll possibly open the door for someone of his caliber for future appointments.

I think it was the right move and he chose a black man with strong achievements.

Sabriya Stewart

Shamika Rucker

Joel Vengo

Human Resources Quincy

Engineer East Boston

MBA Student Watertown

INthe news Tony Rose Amber Books, the award-winning imprint of Amber Communications Group, Inc. headed by Boston native Tony Rose, was among the NAACP Image Award recipients for Best Literary Work - Youth/Teens, for its title Obama Talks Back: Global Lessons - A Dialogue with America’s Young Leaders.

Written by Gregory J. Reed, Obama Talks Back: Global Lessons - A Dialogue with America’s Young Leaders is a collection of students’ letters accompanied by President Obama’s responses, speeches, public statements and quotations during his presidency.

The 44th annual NAACP Image Awards were held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles last Saturday and celebrated the accomplishments of people of color in the fields of television, music, literature and film. The awards also honor individuals or groups who promote social justice through creative endeavors.

“We are proud to celebrate the artists and activists who use their

craft to share positive images of our culture,” NAACP Chairman Roslyn M. Brock stated. “The artistic community is an important ally for social

justice, and the NAACP Image Awards provides an excellent venue to recognize those who make a difference through art and activism.”

6 • Thursday, February 7, 2013 • BAY STATE BANNER

BLACK HISTORY SECTION

Thursday, February 7, 2013 • BAY STATE BANNER • 7

BLACK HISTORY SECTION H-Block continued from page 1

Matthew Bullock, Dartmouth College class of 1904. (Photo courtesy of Dartmouth College Library)

On Harold Street.

Not too far away were the Snowdens. Given the racial tenor of early 20th century America, their story is nothing short of incredible.

It starts with Frank Snowden Sr., “the Colonel,” a spit-andpolish man who served in the segregated military during the days of World War II. No telling what the Colonel would say about his old neighborhood, a place where he raised his two sons — one of whom would become a renowned scholar on Africans in ancient Greece and Rome, the other a founder of “Freedom House,” one of Boston’s foremost community organizations.

No telling how the Colonel would react to police and media reports that his neighborhood is now called “H-Block” by reputed gang members, and that the streets he once walked are now dotted with makeshift memorials to slain youth.

In the Colonel’s generation, the fight was about academic achievement — not mindless, often bloody, turf battles.

That message of intellectual strength was passed down to his grandson and granddaughter.

“I was very afraid to do anything that would reflect badly,” Frank Snowden III told the Washington Post, recounting his experience in 1964 as the first black to attend St. Albans, an esteemed prep school in Washington, D.C. “I was imbued with the fact that it

was just not my story but a collective endeavor.”

Snowden III’s racial awareness, even as a high school student, had its roots in both the Colonel’s orders and the intellect of his father, Frank Snowden Jr., a Harvard Ph.D. and the author of countless scholarly books and essays.

“His aspiration for me,” Snowden III said, “was to have demonstrated racial equality by achieving educational equality.”

The Colonel’s other son, Otto, married Muriel Sutherland, a graduate of Radcliffe College and the daughter of a prominent New Jersey dentist. Together, they started Freedom House. Their daughter, Gail, also went to Radcliffe and then attended the Simmons College School of Management. She later became executive vice president of the First National Bank of Boston.

Matthew Bullock knew a thing or two about opportunity and slavery.

In 1944, Massachusetts Gov. Leverett Saltonstall appointed Bullock to the chairmanship of the state Parole Board.

Noting the color of Bullock’s skin as “coal black,” Time magazine characterized the appointment as a shrewd political move.

“In Boston, bedeviled by uneasy racial relations,” the magazine wrote, “the appointment seemed a step toward a new atmosphere.”

And it was — at least to Bullock.

“It’s a great thing for my people,” Bullock told Time.

Bullock lived at the corner of Harold and Munroe Streets.

Community matters In 1944, Bullock was 63 years old, and at the time of his appointment, the neighborhood was filled with children.

Eleven-year-old Reginald Alleyne was one of them. He became one of the first African American professors at UCLA Law School.

His sister Delores, however, had just as notable a reputation among the youth that hung around the huge puddingstone boulders jutting from Horatio Harris Park.

He was the fastest runner in the neighborhood and the city’s 50-yard dash champ. She was the second fastest.

H. Carl McCall, another great schoolyard athlete, was 9. He went on to Dartmouth College and later became the first African American to win statewide office in New York when he was elected state comptroller in 1993. In 2002, he ran unsuccessfully for governor of New York, losing to incumbent Republican Gov. George Pataki.

McCall attributed his success to his upbringing in Roxbury.

As a black student at Roxbury Memorial High School, McCall was tracked into shop courses instead of college prep classes.

“The people from my church marched right down to my high school and told them to put me in college courses immediately,” McCall told the Boston Globe during an interview.

The Twelfth Street Baptist church wasn’t the only factor in McCall’s early life. “My mother always stressed education as the H-Block, continued to page 8

8 • Thursday, February 7, 2013 • BAY STATE BANNER

BLACK HISTORY SECTION H-Block continued from page 7

H. Carl McCall, the first black to win statewide office in New York when he became State Comptroller in 1993. (Banner Archives photo)

way to better myself, not sports, “ he told the Globe.

If education was necessary, hard work was equally important.

Malcolm X had a part-time job working behind the soda fountain at the drugstore on the corner of Townsend Street and Humboldt Avenue. Another neighborhood boy, Mel Miller, the founder of the Bay State Banner, delivered groceries on weekends as a teenager from Oscar Sach’s, a store further up on Harold Street.

Ruth Ellen Fitch was a baby back then. She lived on Harrishof Street

with her two older brothers, the McKinney boys, Billy and Tommy.

Billy went to Fisk University and became an official in the State Department’s USAID program.

Ruth Ellen took a different tack. After attending Barnard College and Harvard Law School, she became the first black woman to become a partner in one of Boston’s prestigious law firms. She is now CEO of Dimock Community Health Center in Roxbury, the place where many of the neighborhood kids were born. The It was a different time in the 1940s, and blacks in Boston were affected by international events.

The fight for freedom against Nazism in Europe dominated life

back in the states. Gas rationing was a part of life, as were recycling and civil defense drills.

More important for African Americans, as the Black Press dutifully reported, World War II was also a battle back home, particularly in the segregated military.

Unlike the First World War, “now the Negro is showing a ‘democratic upsurge rebellion,’ bordering on open hostility,” the Amsterdam-Star News reported.

In May 1941, A. Phillip Randolph called for 100,000 African Americans to march on Washington to protest racial discrimination in the armed forces and war industries.

It was part of the “Double V” campaign launched by the Pittsburgh Courier to insure victory against racism abroad and at home.

In June 1941, Roscoe Dunjee, editor of the Oklahoma Black Dispatch, challenged the American government to come up with something more original than the idea that African Americans were supposed to fight Hitler’s army with only “a mop and a broom.”

“If the March on Washington does nothing else,” the Chicago Defender asserted, “it will convince white America that the American black man has decided henceforth and forever to abandon the timid role of Uncle Tom-

It was a different time in the 1940s, and blacks in Boston were affected by international events. The fight for freedom against Nazism in Europe dominated life back in the states. ism in his struggle for social justice, no matter what the sacrifice.

On to Washington.”

In her book Eyes Off the Prize: The United Nations and the African American Struggle for Human Rights, 1944-1955, Carol Anderson described the clear picture of discrimination painted by the NAACP. “As late as the summer of 1942,” the civil rights organization reported, “only 3 percent of the people working in war industries were colored. Only when there was virtually no one else to hire and almost every other labor source was exhausted” were African Americans even considered.

As a result, of the 29,215 defense contract employees in the New York area, “only 142 were Negroes.” In St. Louis, with a population of more than 100,000 African Americans, 56 defense factories “employed an average of three Negroes” each.

But not all the news was negative.

On June 25, 1941, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed Executive Order No. 8802, forbidding racial and religious discrimination in war industries, government training programs and government industries. Six months later, black pilots were training in Tuskegee for the first Army Air Corps Pursuit Squadron — the Tuskegee Airmen.

And for the first time, the New York Times reported in May 1941, H-Block, continued to page 9

Thursday, February 7, 2013 • BAY STATE BANNER • 9

BLACK HISTORY SECTION

Valedictorian of her high school class, Melnea Cass overcame racial barriers and became one of Boston’s foremost community activists. “If we cannot do great things,” she frequently said, “we can do small things in a great way.” (Photo courtesy of ABCD)

H-Block continued from page 8

a 12-month period passed without a lynching in the Deep South. That had not happened since 1882.

Matthew Bullock knew first hand about lynchings and the Ku

Klux Klan. He was born on Sept.

11, 1881.

When he was 8 years old, his parents fled the Deep South to escape a lynching bee. Born into slavery, the Bullocks had seven children and $10 in cash when they arrived in Massachusetts.

Matthew Bullock attended Everett High School and excelled in

academics and sports. During his senior year, he was elected captain of the school’s baseball, football and track teams.

When he graduated, his father gave him $50 and told his son to find his own way.

Bullock found a way in 1900 when he enrolled at Dartmouth College. He again excelled in school and sports, playing varsity football for three years and track for four years. He was also a member of the glee club and Paleopitus, Dartmouth’s secret senior society.

After that, it was on to Harvard Law School, from which Bullock graduated in 1907. He paid his way by coaching at Massachusetts Agricultural College, now known as the University of Massachusetts.

Unable to find suitable work in Boston, Bullock took a position both teaching and serving as athletic director at Atlanta Baptist College, now known as Morehouse College. He taught courses in economics, history, Latin and sociology. He later moved to Normal, Ala., when he became dean of The State Agricultural and Mechanical College for Negroes, today called Alabama A&M University.

Bullock stayed there for two years before returning to Boston, where he was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in 1917. Community-minded, he served as executive secretary of the Boston Urban League and special assistant attorney general for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

He quickly became part of the black society whose comings and goings were reported in the white

press. The Boston Daily Globe reported on Oct. 31, 1920 that he and Mrs. Bullock were attending “the Open Door,” a Negro pageant, at Boston Symphony Hall.

The black population in Boston was quickly expanding in those days.

Between 1890 and 1920, the number of blacks grew from 8,125 to 16,350, due largely to northern migration of blacks from the Deep South.

Even though the black population doubled over that 30-year period, blacks constituted only 2.2 percent of the Boston’s population. In all, Boston was the fifthlargest city in the country. But the city had the nation’s 27th largest black population.

In 1920, roughly 45 percent of Boston’s blacks lived in the South End and Roxbury, primarily in Ward 13. Before political redistricting diluted black voting strength, Bullock, a Republican, decided to run for political office.

The 39-year-old Bullock lost a close race for state representative in 1920. He ran again two years later, but this time he won. His first legislative action reflected his racial sensibilities.

The bill was the first of the 1923 General Court legislative session, and described the Ku Klux Klan as a “menace to the public peace,” imposing a fine of $500 or two years in jail or both for anyone caught joining the group or aiding any of its members.

10 • Thursday, February 7, 2013 • BAY STATE BANNER

Thursday, February 7, 2013 • BAY STATE BANNER • 11

Still Sly after All These Years Sylvestor Stallone talks about his lengthy career and his latest action flick, “Bullet to the Head” Kam Williams Sylvester Stallone has been known worldwide as a screen legend since creating the title role in the 1976 Oscar-winning Best Picture “Rocky,” for which he also wrote the screenplay. Over the course of his lengthy career, he has been recognized for his work as an actor, writer and director.

A cultural phenomenon, “Rocky” grew into a six-film franchise, successfully spanning four decades. Stallone brought the character’s story to a close in 2006 with the critical and box office hit “Rocky Balboa,” which he also wrote and directed.

Beginning with the 1982 blockbuster “First Blood,” Stallone has also embodied another indelible character: John Rambo. Following that film, for which he also wrote the screenplay, he wrote and starred in “Rambo: First Blood Part II” and “Rambo III.” In 2008, he directed,

wrote and starred in “Rambo,” which continued the saga of the scarred Vietnam vet more than 25 years after his screen introduction.

Stallone more recently wrote and directed perhaps his most ambitious project to date, the action thriller “The Expendables,” in which he also led an all-star cast, including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Jason Statham, Mickey Rourke, Jet Li and Dolph Lundgren. The film opened at No. 1 in August 2010, making Stallone the only actor to open a film at No. 1 in five consecutive decades.

In 2012, he co-wrote and starred in “The Expendables 2,” which reunited the cast, this time under the direction of Simon West.

Born in New York City, Stallone attended school in suburban Philadelphia, where he first started acting and also became a star football player. He then spent two years instructing at the American College of Switzerland in Geneva. Return-

ing to the United States, he enrolled as a drama major at the University of Miami and also began to write.

But Stallone left college to pursue an acting career in New York City, where the jobs did not come easily. During this period, he turned more and more to writing, churning out screenplays while waiting for his acting break. The opportunity came in 1974, when he was cast as one of the leads in “The Lords of Flatbush.”

With the money earned from the film, Stallone moved to Hollywood, where he landed a few small roles in television and movies. He also continued to pursue writing.

Fighter Rocky Balboa was born in a script Stallone wrote in longhand. Several producers offered to buy the screenplay, but wanted to cast a star in the title role. Despite being nearly broke, he held fast in his determination to play the part, and his perseverance was

finally rewarded. The rest, as they say, is history.

What interested you in “Bullet to the Head”?

Well, I liked the idea of a very simple story with a dark morality.

There’s humor in that later on, but you start with the basic idea that you have two total opposites having to work together for a common cause who you know are going to have to take each other out at the very end, at least that was the original premise. I also really liked the idea of doing it with Walter Hill after the first director bowed out. That made the project especially enticing.

Was that because of his track record with unlikely buddy flicks like Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte in “48 Hours”?

Yes, and also because he’s kind of gone down the same path as I

did. There was a period when I was pretty much untouchable for about 8 or 9 years until I got a big break with Joe Roth when he helped produce “Rocky Balboa.” That was a big, big, long shot. Everybody thought it was a joke, but it worked. [Chuckles] I think there’s a lot of music left to play in a lot of these old instruments.

And I felt that Walter Hill is a pro at this genre, yet he’s not getting the opportunity. So, when I saw the opportunity present itself, I decided, “If he does the movie, I’ll do it.” And it worked out that way.

Do you have any idea how many filmmakers and actors you have inspired, and does that experience with making “Rocky” still come into play for you today?

Having that sort of faith in someSly, continued to page 13

12 • Thursday, February 7, 2013 • BAY STATE BANNER

in[OLMix with Colette Greenstein

would read those scenes and would say “I would be thinking more about my daughter’s welfare.” We actually wrote that more into the part based on his experience. It’s something that is in him and I don’t think he can act his way out of it. That’s part of the advantage of working with someone that isn’t a trained actor. You’ll completely transform. They keep some essence of themselves. And we tried to cast someone whose essence related to the character.

Are script revisions normally something you allow for?

Dwight Henry played Wink in the Oscar-nominated “Beasts of the Southern Wild.”

A conversation with “Beasts of the Southern Wild” director Benh Zeitlin “Beasts of the Southern Wild” is an incredible whirlwind of a movie about loss, hope and resilience all reflected in a 6-year-old force of nature named Hushpuppy (Quvenzhané Wallis), who lives with her tough but loving father Wink (Dwight Henry) in an isolated bayou community in Louisiana. When Wink succumbs to a mysterious illness, the fierce and determined girl is forced to search for help for her ailing father outside the comfort and familiarity of the “Bathtub.” But Hushpuppy’s search is hindered by a hurricane threatening all who live in the remote isle of the “Bathtub.”

The film gained huge buzz and the 30-year-old director Benh Zeitlin has been nominated for several Oscars including “Best Picture,” “Best Director” and “Best Writing for Adapted Screenplay.” He has already won The Grand Jury Prize, the Excellence in Cinematography Award at the Sundance Film Festival and the Camera d’Or award at the Cannes Film Festival.

Here is what he had to say on casting newcomers Dwight Henry and Quvenzhané Wallis (who was also nominated this year for Best Ac-

tress in a Leading Role), and his love of Louisiana.

What was it about Dwight [Henry] that made you believe he was the one for this part?

He was the only non-professional actor we ever considered for the role.

I didn’t think it could be done by a non-professional. The key with him was that character is so violent sometimes and is so difficult to like. He goes so far in the way that he treats her that all the actors we tried out for the role just became monstrous and it was hard to relate to them. And Dwight is such a good guy. He’s such a warmhearted person and a good man. You sort of sense that in him.

I felt that even when he would go to the furthest extremes of brutality with her you would always kind of feel that there was some sort of foundation of affection. That somehow his harshness came from a place of trying to train her, of teaching her to survive. He managed to hold us even in his harshest moments and that’s definitely hard to pull off. It comes from who he is.

Did you need to have an acting coach work with him?

In a way he kind of strengthened that part of the character. The character is really a collaboration between the two of us. We had something written and he brought himself to the role. There were scenes that I had written where I would say “Wink is not thinking about Hushpuppy right now….” and Dwight

It’s definitely part of the plan. It’s probably my favorite part of making films. It is a process of you getting to know people and getting to learn about people and experience things that are far from my life and my upbringing. That process of getting to know not only him but the other actors in the community where we shot was part of the plan. It was always part of the plan that they’re going to inform what ends up on screen as much as my imagination.

There were two lines in the movie that struck me.

The first is “Everything is a buffet of the universe”; and the other line, by Hushpuppy, is “The whole universe depends on everything fittin’ together just right.” The universe is a central part of the story. Did these lines mean something to you?

There’s a real humility to living on the edge of the world. It’s not like living in a city. You forget you’re part of nature. You forget you’re not just a person but an animal on a planet.

When you’re down there, you sense that so viscerally. The water can come and take this place away. The water is something connected to icecaps in the South Pole. Your actual place is in the balance of a global environment … What’s after you is so much larger than yourself and all you can do is learn how to survive.

Hushpuppy internalizes that and is thinking about that interconnectedness. When something happens, she’s trying to piece it together with what she knows not just of her little world but with the giant span of human history and the planet itself.

When you first saw

Quvenzhané, did you think she was right for the role?

that was related to the town and not about the town specifically.

When she started to do the scene that we had done 4,000 times and completely did it differently than anyone else ever had. She brought this intensity to it that no one had ever brought to it. We never thought that we’d get someone that young to play these scenes so directly. We always thought somehow we would have to set a kid loose in this world and sort of document it. She actually had the ability to control her performance. She’s a real actress.

Were you surprised when you won at Sundance and Cannes? What was the feeling like?

Were you looking for specific ethnicities for the roles?

Hushpuppy’s role was cast raceblind. We had kids of all different kinds and the same is true for all the characters. We always wanted the Bathtub to be a diverse place. We didn’t want it to be homogenous in any way. That was always part of the idea. We were never able to cast the father until we cast her. And, we wanted her to look like the father and she was cast first and we built out from there.

Were the people in Pontchartrain receptive and open to being on camera?

It’s not a realistic film. The Bathtub is definitely a fabricated culture and a fabricated place. We had unbelievable hospitality down there. People really welcomed us. It wasn’t like we just showed up with cameras. It was a real collaboration with the town. We had tons of locals working with the film and on the film. It felt like a big family project. It’s not a piece of realism. It’s not a documentary. It’s not about the town specifically. Everyone understood it was an adventure movie

It’s so surreal. We never imagined this would happen. We weren’t savvy about distribution companies.

We finished the film two days before Sundance and I still wasn’t separated enough from the actual making of the film to have distance from it, and during Sundance it dawned on me that this film was really working.

What is about Louisiana that makes you want to tell stories about there?

I just love filming there. There’s just another culture down there. It kind of fits with how we live. We thrive down there.

“Beasts of the Southern Wild” returned to theaters on Jan. 18 and is currently playing at Landmark’s Kendall Square and Embassy in Waltham.

Coming Up… The Boston Wine Expo returns the weekend of Feb.16-17 at the Seaport World Trade Center benefitting the Tufts Medical Center and other local charities.

For more information visit www.

WineExpoBoston.com.

On Feb. 19, the Paradise Rock Club presents Solange for one show at 8 p.m.

Talib Kweli comes to The Middle East Downstairs in Cambridge on Tuesday, Feb. 26.

If you would like me to cover or write about your event, email me at inthemixwithcolette@gmail.com.

Quvenzhané Wallis as Hushpuppy in “Beasts of the Southern Wild.”

Thursday, February 7, 2013 • BAY STATE BANNER • 13

Sly continued from page 11

thing that only you truly understand and believe in is still prevalent today.

If I just know in my gut that a film is going to work, I’ll fight to the death over it, and I convince myself. When a movie is purely a money job, the film doesn’t have the same sort of intensity, and the audience almost senses it, at least that’s the way I perceive it. So, yeah, the idea is to do something that you truly, truly believe in. I understand that a lot of other actors don’t have a choice.

They have to eat so they need to work and they’ll do films that they’re not so proud of. But I’ve been fortunate enough to be given a second wind, so I try to pick projects I know will provide the audience the kind of escapism they want from me.

How did you develop your character, Jimmy Bobo?

were making relatively lighthearted movies. I’d say he was far and away the best. Everyone today is pretty … derivative of Kazan. So, to me, he was the real master.

What advice do you have for aspiring actors who want to follow in your footsteps?

In this day and age, if you’re aspiring to be an actor, and you’re putting all your eggs in one basket, you could be disappointed. I started out as an actor, but I forced myself to be a writer, even though I wasn’t very good at it and had never written.

I don’t think I ever passed an English course in my life. My first 8 to 10 scripts were pretty horrendous, but I stayed at it, stayed at it and stayed at it, until I eventually found a voice and a subject like “Rocky” that people were interested in.

So, I recommend that you go out and try to be as versatile as possible: writer, actor, producer and especially

director. Look at Ben Affleck. He’s literally had a career reversal. I tell so many young actors that if I hadn’t written, directed and acted, I’d have been long gone. I would not have made it out of the ‘90s.

Are you interested in writing a memoir which gives us more of look into your life than Sly Moves did?

[Laughs] I don’t know. It all depends on how deeply I’d have to delve into it. I’d be willing to do it, if I only had to write about what inspires and motivates me. But I couldn’t go into the personal aspects of my family, because I’m way too private.

But my career, absolutely.

Would you ever consider running for public office?

No. I talked to Arnold [Schwarzenegger] about running for office, and he said he loved it. But he is also much more of a people person.

I decided to approach it this way.

I, Sylvester Stallone, am really not much like Rocky. Rocky is a much more ethical, moral person than I am. [Chuckles] He’s really a great guy. And Rambo is a much darker person than I am, and much more reserved and withdrawn. I thought, let me try something different. What if I, Sylvester Stallone, were transported into the world of hit men? In other words, what if I were the hit man but just played myself. So, that’s the way I approached this character.

I wanted to be as casual and comfortable with the character as possible. I said, if Sylvester Stallone were a hit man, this is how he would be.

How did you go about creating the father-daughter dynamic with Lisa [played by Sarah Shahi]?

Having children, they tend to be very angry, if you’re not there growing up. Of course, he was never there for her growing up, and she has done everything that’s rebellious. So, I tried to think how I would approach that in my own life. I decided that he would be a little remorseful, but he’d have a little resentment because she’d ask for a favor every time he came to see her. When she decided to be a tattoo artist and to cover herself in tattoos that weren’t exactly the most flattering, I realized she was doing it out of spite and for attention, and as a way of getting back at me. So, there are all sorts of possible approaches to developing that kind of relationship.

Is there a message you want people to take away from the film?

That a tiger never really changes his stripes and that Jimmy Bobo is what he is, without regret. But he’s not an amoral person, since he only takes out, as he puts it, “the hard to get at stains.” That is his job. He takes out the trash. In effect, he’s doing a service. He’s a people person.

He removes the bad people.

Are you still an art collector?

Yes, an avid art collector. [Chuckles] In fact, every day, I’ll read a chapter of some art book. I don’t know why. It’s just a habit.

Who is your favorite director and how has he or she influenced your work?

Hmm… To me, the greatest director ever was Elia Kazan. He did “On the Waterfront” with [Marlon] Brando, and he did “East of Eden.”

He made some truly epic, monumental films, when no one else was really doing it. His contemporaries

You have to have an almost boundless reservoir of energy and interest to enter politics, because quite often it’s thankless and fruitless and you can’t accomplish much. But he loved it. I don’t have that. I’m much more of an introvert.

How much of an ‘offer they couldn’t refuse’ did you make to assemble the cast of matinee idols, not once, but twice, for “The Expendables”?

[Laughs] This was an idea I got thinking about how there’s strength in numbers. I would always see these Rock & Roll revivals comprised of 25 different bands that had once been very

famous, but weren’t anymore.

However, the name value was still there. I said to myself, “Why don’t I do this with actors?”

Every one of these guys had had phenomenal careers but had fallen on hard times, including myself. I thought that together this might generate the same sort of interest that fans have when they go to see a Rock & Roll revival. Instead, they’d be going to see a revival of action stars.

I didn’t know if it was going to work, but I thought of it as an experiment. And since I had known them for years, I could call on favors, and all of them could trust me that I wasn’t going to embarrass them. And that’s how I was able to make it happen.

The Roxbury HomeComing Committee, Inc.

16 Annual th

Fundraiser Sylvester Stallone and co-star Christian Slater in the action film “Bullet to the Head.”

Thursday February 7th, 7pm Art is Life itself!

With Nubian Queens of Rhythm, a 10 Woman Drumming Group with the Rhythms of Africa + The Fulani Haynes Jazz Collaborative + Open Mic. Donations accepted — come early for dinner!

Prince Hall Grand Lodge

18-24 Washington St., Dorchester

Sunday February 10th, 4–7pm Souper Bowl 5 A heartwarming fundraiser for our Soup Kitchen. Upon entry, you select a bowl made by a member of the Mass Art Community and sample a dozen soups made by area chefs with locally sourced ingredients. Tickets are $30 and are available at A Nubian Notion, HHBC, or online at Brownpapertickets.com.

★ Cash

Bar - Food Allowed ★

Wednesday February 13th, 7–9pm Roxbury History Speaker Series: Dancing in Dudley Dudley Square was once home to five bustling dance halls, where Irish and Irish-Americans gathered to dance and socialize. Susan Gedutis Lindsay, author of See You at the Hall, will explore when Dudley was the Irish cultural center of Boston. Dillon Bustin, Artistic Director of Hibernian Hall, will share current programming at the Hall. This event is free. Come early for dinner — seating is limited.

JOIN US FOR SUNDAY BRUNCH every Sunday 10am–4pm

12 Dade Street, Roxbury, MA 02119 617-445-0900 www.haleyhouse.org/cafe

For info, call:

617-416-8382 508-790-2345 617-445-3999 A Nubian Notion 617-442-2622

14 • Thursday, February 7, 2013 • BOSTON BANNER

COMMUNITY Calendar Thursday February 7 Simmons College presents Body Coverings An exhibition of design, costume and sculpture by Ruby Chishti, Sally Eyring and Mariann S. Verheyen through March 7 at the Trustman Art Gallery, located on the fourth floor, Main College Building, 300 the Fenway in Boston. A reception from 5-7pm will be held on Thursday, February 7 (snow date 2/12). Closed: February 18.

The exhibit and reception are free and open to the public. Body Coverings is a show that intersects at the corners of social commentary, sculptural invention and theatrical fantasy. The three artists are beyond fashion — energetically investigating the ways wearables or objects that reference body decoration have subtext and fire our imaginations. The human desire to adorn, escape ourselves or intimidate others has been with us for all of our history. These artists offer us the opportunity to look at that process more clearly as their objects and designs are not made to be worn in any commonplace way.

Friday February 8 Windows to West Africa — An art exhibit celebrating Black History Month At 6:30pm, the West African Research Association (WARA) and the City of Brookline will open Windows to West Africa, a Black History Month celebration at the Brookline Senior Center located at 93 Winchester St., Brookline.

Includes works from Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, Niger, & Senegal. Brookline Senior Center located at 93 Winchester St., Brookline. Contact: Stephanie Guirand west.african. research.association@gmail.com or 617-353-8902 for more information. FREE.

Saturday February 9 Price of Access — Financial Aid and Scholarship fair The Zeta Nu Sigma Chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho will host their annual Financial Aid and Scholarship fair. The event will feature workshops, scholarship opportunities, and college access programs so that young people are aware of resources in and around the city of Boston. BYCF Tobin Community Center, 1481 Tremont St.,Roxbury, from 10am - 3pm.

Contact: zetanusigma@gmail. com for more information. Free.

Valerie Link-Foxx In celebration of Black History Month, the Dudley Branch Library presents Valerie Link-Foxx “The Foxxy Lady” An Afternoon of Entertainment — poetry, drama, music and more… featuring: Geoffrey Dana Hicks, musician.

The year 2013 marks two important anniversaries in the history of

African Americans and the United States. On January 1, 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation set the United States on the path of ending slavery. In 1963, a century later, America once again stood at the crossroads. On August 28, 1963, hundreds of thousands of Americans, blacks and whites, Jews and gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, marched to the memorial of Abraham Lincoln, the author of the Emancipation Proclamation, in the continuing pursuit of equality of citizenship and self-determination. It was on this occasion that Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his celebrated “I Have a Dream” speech. Valerie Link-Foxx will perform a rendition of Miss Jane Pittman. 2:30-4pm, Auditorium. For more information, call 617-678-2655. This is a family-oriented program. Admission is free. Dudley Branch of the Boston Public Library, 65 Warren St., Roxbury. www.bpl.org.

Sunday February 10 Free Winter Photography Workshops Mayor Thomas M. Menino and the Boston Parks and Recreation Department invite Boston residents to participate in The Pics in the Parks free winter photography sessions taking place every Sunday in February from 11am - 12noon. Individuals of all ages and skill levels are welcome to participate in these informal sessions. Participants will learn techniques for taking impressive photographs of Boston’s scenic parks as well as be given a theme to focus on each Sunday. The winter photography sessions will be held in various Boston parks with dates and locations as follows: Sunday, February 10 - Christopher Columbus Statue, Christopher Columbus Park, North End; Sunday, February 17 - Jamaica Pond Boathouse, Jamaica Plain; Sunday, February 24 - Kelleher Rose Garden, Back Bay Fens.

For more information please visit the Boston Parks and Recreation Department at www.facebook. com/bostonparksdepartment or www.cityofboston.gov/parks.

Participants can register via email by contacting Lauren.patrick@ cityofboston.gov.

Tuesday February 12 ESTHER Starting at 7:30pm, at Temple Ohabei Shalom, 1187 Beacon St., Brookline, ROQOQOA presents the premiere performance in Boston of ESTHER, an oratorio

by George Frideric Handel (16851759), with libretto translated into Hebrew by Rabbi Jacob Saraval (1707-1782). Singers include Alyssa Mae Doggett and Von Bringhurst, sopranos; Yakov Zamir, alto; Elijah Hopkin, tenor; James Dargan, bass; and members of Koleinu, Boston’s largest Jewish chorus, directed by Carol Marton.

Orchestral accompaniment provided by Dr. Jonathan Wessler, at the keyboard. Tickets are $10 at

the door. For updates, please see Roqoqoa on facebook or email roqoqoa.com@gmail.com.

Cambridge Commemorates 150th Anniversary of Emancipation Proclamation The City of Cambridge will host a program to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation from 6-8pm, at Cambridge City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Ave. The program will feature music from the New England Spiritual Ensemble, a community reading of the Emancipation Proclamation and a keynote address from Beverly MorganWelch, Executive Director of the Museum of African American History. The program, entitled “The Journey Toward Freedom,” will also include refreshments, displays that are evocative of the Civil War era and the unveiling of the U.S. Postal Service’s Emancipation Proclamation commemorative stamp.

Wednesday February 13 Hip-Hop: The Lingua Franca of the World’s Youth At 6pm, Cambridge Public Library Lecture Hall, 449 Broadway. Marcyliena Morgan, Professor of African and African American Studies and Executive Director of the Hiphop Archive at Harvard University, discusses hip-hop’s importance to the world’s youth.

This program is co-sponsored by Harvard’s Committee on African Studies. For more information, visit www.hiphoparchive.org to learn more about the Hiphop Archive.

Black History Film Series Every Wednesday in February, we’ll be showing a film centered around this year’s Black History Month theme, “At the Crossroads of Freedom and Equality.” Appropriate for adults and families.

Dudley Branch Library, 65 Warren St., Roxbury, 617-442-6186.

FREE.

Upcoming The Politics Of America’s Fight Against Global Warming What lessons can be learned from recent successes and failures — including the “cap and trade” effort to win legislated limits for carbon emissions in 2009 and 2010? What are the next steps in the fight for public policies to limit emissions and encourage climate-friendly U.S. economic growth? 4:15-6:15pm, Thursday, February 14, Tsai Auditorium, Harvard University, CGIS South Building, 1730 Cambridge St., Cambridge.

Sponsored by the Columbia School of Journalism and the Scholars Strategy Network. Moderator: Nicholas Lemann, Dean of the Columbia School of Journalism; Panelists: Theda Skocpol - Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and Sociology, Harvard University; Director of the Scholars Strategy Network, Larry Schweiger - President and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, Gene Karpinski - President of the League of Conservation Voters, Mary Anne Hitt - Director of the Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign, Lee Wasserman - Director of the Rockefeller

Family Fund. Background readings at http://www.scholarsstrategynet work.org/content/politics-ameri cas-fight-against-global-warm ing. Open to the public. RSVP not required. Wheelchair accessible. This event will be videotaped.

Questions: Abby Peck peck@wjh. harvard.edu.

Voices of Sisterhood February 16. A creative writing visual art & workshop. Voices of Sisterhood is a project of Humanistic Communications, Inc. created to allow women/girls of color an opportunity to use writing and art as a means of expression. Women/ Girls ages 13 and up. Experience in either art form is not needed. Space is limited. Save your seat. Dudley Square Library, 65 Warren St., Roxbury. Contact: Elaine Hall-Corbin at 857-492-2150, Email: voicesofsisterhood@yahoo.com. Free.

Creative Flow: Poetry Open Mic Night for All Ages Tuesday, February 19. Do you feel the power of poetry? Bring your original short poetry to life at our Open Mic Night. We encourage poems in English, Spanish, Cape Verdean, and Vietnamese. All styles of poetry are welcome. All ages are welcome. Clean language only.

Each poet gets 3 minutes maximum for his/her poem(s). A local poet will be the facilitator. There will be a maximum of 25 performers.

You may pre-register by calling 617265-0139 or sign up at the Uphams Corner Branch. This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Uphams Corner Branch. www.bpl. org. 4pm, Uphams Corner Branch of the Boston Public Library, 500 Columbia Rd., 617-265-0139.

Parkscience Free Children’s Festival Coming To Franklin Park Mayor Thomas M. Menino and the Boston Parks and Recreation Department invite families to the Franklin Park Golf Course Clubhouse for the ParkSCIENCE Children’s Festival on Wednesday, February 20, from 10am - 12noon. The free Festival will provide fun during February school vacation week with indoor and outdoor activities. The lineup includes the Boston Park Rangers “Horse of Course” program and Critter Exhibit, the New England Aquarium Tidal Pool where participants can handle and observe a wide range of live tidal pool animals from local waters, MIT’s “Science From Scientists” activities and demonstrations, an exhibit hosted by City Archeologist Joe Bagley featuring artifacts found during various City digs, the Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s Plantmobile horticultural lab table and outdoor

plant parts scavenger hunt, and demonstrations hosted by iRobot.

Free parking is available at the clubhouse parking lot located at One Circuit Drive in Franklin Park.

For more information, please call the Boston Parks and Recreation Department at 617-635-4505, visit www.cityofboston.gov/parks or go to www.facebook.com/ bostonparksdepartment.

Flying Ship Productions — Rosa’s Ride Wednesday, February 20.

Take a ride through history with Flying Ship Productions as they present a musical play about Rosa Parks, an ordinary woman who became a civil rights heroine. Learn the real story behind Ms. Parks’ historic moment, and enjoy the musical tunes of Rosa’s Ride! All performances are free and begin at 10:30am in the Stephen E. Smith Center at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Columbia Point, Boston. To make a reservation, call 617-514-1644 or register at http://www.jfklibrary. org/Events-and-Awards/Celebrate. aspx. Space is available on a first come, first serve basis, and children must be accompanied by an adult.

The Revere Family at Work Wednesday, February 20 and Friday, February 22, 10:30-12:00 — Both Paul Revere his wife Rachel worked hard to keep their large family fed, clothed, and healthy. During this program discover what kinds of chores the Reveres (adults and children) completed in each room in their house. Then try your hand at engraving metal as Revere did in his silversmith shop and make an herbal remedy Rachel may have used to treat her children’s headaches. Participants will take home both an engraved piece of copper and a small cloth bag of dried herbs. Each presentation is limited to 20 people.

Reservations are required and may be made by calling the Revere House at 617-523-2338. Fee: $4.50 for children ages 7-11, and accompanying adults. Price includes admission to the Revere House.

Screening Slavery: Reconciling History and Hollywood for Public Consumption Tu e s d a y, F e b r u a r y 2 6 , 6:30pm, Cambridge Public Library, Lecture Hall, 449 Broadway. In response to current films such as Lincoln and Django Unchained, Dr. Kellie Carter Jackson tackles the controversies between representations of slavery in history and entertainment.

Dr. Jackson has a Ph.D in History from Columbia University and is a Harvard College Fellow.

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Thursday, February 7, 2013 • BAY STATE BANNER • 15

Claim your eligible credits and deductions this tax season Charlene Crowell When W-2 forms begin arriving in the mail, it’s a sure sign that tax season has returned. This year however, there will be a slight delay for tax filers. Due to the lateness of tax law changes made by Congress, IRS will begin processing returns on Jan. 30. This date will apply regardless of whether tax returns are e-filed or on paper.

The consumer benefit from this brief delay means tax filers have more time to identify and include every available credit. Depending upon family income, size and filing status, several tax credits can boost refunds — especially among low and moderate income households. Applying every eligible tax credit will maximize refunds.

For example, although four out of five workers are eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), the IRS advises that one out of four fails to claim the credit

of post-secondary education.

For consumers of any age pursuing post-secondary education, a Lifetime Learning Credit can help for that cost. Up to $2,000 in qualified, paid educational expenses can be claimed when enrolled in an eligible educational institution. There is an important caveat to claiming this credit: Filers can claim either the Lifetime Learning Credit or the American Opportunity Credit — but never both. Additionally, the Lifetime Learning Credit has no limit on the number of years it can be claimed for each student.

With so many consumers struggling with student loan debt, tax season also offers a tax deduction on paid student loan interest.

If a filer’s modified adjusted gross income is less than $75,000 or less than $150,000 for joint returns, a special deduction is allowed for voluntary and required interest payments. The IRS advises that

Here’s one last cost-saving tip for tax season: Utilize the free tax assistance services in your area. In many instances, there is no reason for consumers to pay the high-cost fees charged by tax services. for one of two reasons. Either they failed to file a tax return at all, or filed one, but failed to claim what they were due.

In 2011, 27 million eligible workers received a total of $62 billion in EITC’s, making it the largest tax program for working families, according to the Office of the Controller of the Currency (OCC).

This year, workers earning $50,270 or less can apply for EITC. The exact amount of EITC eligibility will vary by income, family size and filing status. Even so, last year the average EITC credit was $2,200, according to IRS. This year, IRS expects that workers, the self-employed and farmers that qualify for this credit could receive even higher refunds.

Another key tax credit is the American Opportunity Credit, designed to financially assist parents and students to pay for college expenses. Either individual filers with modified adjusted gross income of $80,000 or less, or married filers with a joint return earning $160,000 or less are eligible to apply. The maximum amount of the annual credit is $2,500 per student — not per family. Eligibility for this tax credit can cover up to four years

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this tax deduction can reduce the amount of income subject to taxation by as much as $2,500.

Here’s one last cost-saving tip for tax season: Utilize the free tax assistance services in your area. In many instances, there is no reason for consumers to pay the highcost fees charged by tax services.

IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) is available to any worker making $51,000 or less.

These IRS-certified volunteers can help filers to determine all eligible credits and/or deductions. Interested consumers are asked to phone 1-800-906-9887 to determine the closest local assistance center.

AARP Foundation Tax Aid offers free assistance through more than 6,000 locations nationwide to consumers aged 60 or over.

Charlene Crowell is a communications manager with the Center for Responsible Lending. She can be reached at: charlene.crowell@respon siblelending.org.

16 • Thursday, February 7, 2013 • BAY STATE BANNER

Patrick to laud service at Black History Month reception Banner Staff Gov. Deval Patrick will be hosting a reception at the African Meeting House to recognize the historic contributions of African Americans in public and community service.

Gov. Patrick will be joined by Berklee College of Music Professor Rev. Dr. Emmett G. Price, and Rahsaan D. Hall of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice. The event is on Monday, Feb. 11 from 6 to 7:30pm.

This year’s event will pay special attention to the 50th Anniversary of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s famed “I Have a Dream” speech with the goal of highlighting milestones in the black community, most recently Gov. Patrick’s recent appointment of William “Mo” Cowan as interim U.S. Senator.

“2013 has already turned out to be one filled with milestones in the black community, in Massachusetts and across the country,” said Anny Jean-Jacques Domercant, Director of Community Affairs for Gov. Patrick. “But we must also pause and reflect on the historic milestones that brought us to this point, such as the assassinations of President Kennedy and Medgar Evers and the major strides that events like the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation made for people of color to open the doors of access

Track continued from page 1

I never knew my oldest son Jovan could run. Then I saw him on the track and he’s blowing it away.”

The expressions on the kids’ faces during practice on Feb. 2 were nothing but jovial.

“My name’s Jhalen and I can run!” said Jhalen King, 7, of Dorchester.

“When I get to run and then when I’m jogging I get excited.”

“It’s fun to come to this because it’s all for a purpose. It’s to do the track meets and I enjoy the friends I’ve made,” said Declin Kirwin, 11, of Jamaica Plain.

Being at the Melnea Cass Center is fulfilling for the youth in more ways than one. While making friends, they’re also growing stronger and faster all while learning more about what they can accomplish when they give something their all.

Boston United Track and Cross Country Club provides them tangible results and shows them the power they possess when they push themselves mentally and physically.

For parents like Monique Sampson, 29, of Dorchester, it’s also meaningful for boys in the club, including her 6 year-old son Jamai, to have coaches who look like them.

“I love that most of the coaches are all guys, and I think that’s very important for the young men and the young women to see men in our community, you know, black men, doing something positive,” Sampson said.

The club has its rewards not only for the youngsters but for the coaches as well.

For Dilday, it’s seeing the kids’ times improve from week to week and watching them enjoy the drills that have been designed to foster

and opportunity.”

Access and opportunity for people of color have been a part of the Patrick Administration more than any other governor in the state’s history. Patrick’s administration has been staffed to reflect the state’s diversity, and today minorities represent 26.2 percent of the Governor’s staff — a 627.8 percent increase from previous administrations. Additionally, 16.2 percent of Executive Branch managers are minorities — a 46 percent increase from previous administrations.

“This is an opportunity to join together to celebrate the rich and diverse history that African Americans have helped shape here in Massachusetts and around the world,” said Patrick. “As we reflect on so many milestones in American history, we also take this opportunity to move forward on the work we have left to do to grow jobs and opportunity to create a stronger Commonwealth in the near-term and for the next generation.”

Monday’s event is also an opportunity for individuals to have access to administration officials and Gov. Patrick.

“We want people to walk away with a real sense of camaraderie,” said Jean-Jacques Domercent. “The more people feel like they are a stakeholder in the history and sacrifices that have been made, the better we can progress forward together.” fun and time for socializing with newfound friends.

“I see the satisfaction when they finish a tough workout,” Dilday said. “They’re high-fiving and they’re happy. They understand the sense of accomplishment.”

“We saw a need for it and we said ‘let’s just do it,’” said supporter and board member Barbara Hamilton of Boston’s Centers for Youth and Families.

Slowly but surely, Ahmed, Dilday, and the other muscles and

“I see the satisfaction when they finish a tough workout. They’re high-fiving and they’re happy. They understand the sense of accomplishment.”

— Sekou Dilday minds behind the Boston United Track and Cross Country Club can see track becoming more and more cherished.

Finally.

“Personally I feel really good when I see these kids have a passion for this sport,” Ahmed said.

“I‘ve had much success in this sport, so even if we get one kid to have that much success in this thing, it’s a big achievement.”

Boston United Track and Cross Country Club welcomes new members each Saturday from 12-2 p.m. at the Melnea A. Cass Recreational Complex.

Thursday, February 7, 2013 • BAY STATE BANNER • 17

COMMUNITYVoices

Don’t bottle up the state’s liquor licenses Ayanna Pressley There is a renaissance happening in Boston.

Take a look at the activity in the Seaport District — restaurants, cultural events, start-ups and new visitors. Roslindale Square has become a bustling village with new restaurants and shops opening seemingly every day.

In my own neighborhood of Dorchester, Tavolo Restaurant and Ashmont Grill have become community anchors for residents and travelers arriving by train, bus and car. But what about Roxbury or Mattapan?

While burgeoning restaurant scenes lead to jobs and economic growth in some neighborhoods, others are left behind. There are

ness owner from establishing businesses in communities starving for new restaurants and cultural opportunities. The owner of the Dot to Dot Café, a rare local dining option for residents living along Dorchester Avenue between Fields Corner and Ashmont, is struggling to keep her business afloat because customers want wine with dinner and there are no licenses available.

There also seems to be an overconcentration of liquor licenses in certain Boston neighborhoods and a scarcity in others. The North End and Allston-Brighton have a plethora of restaurants and entertainment venues, and many residents in those neighborhoods have told me they don’t want any more liquor licenses.

What is really stifling renaissances in places like Roxbury and Mattapan is the state cap on liquor licenses. Cities and towns, not the state, should have the authority to grant licenses according to their own economic goals. no doubt a number of reasons for this, but a big one — and one that we in government can do something about — is the way we control and distribute liquor licenses in Boston.

In 2011, Gov. Deval Patrick took a step in the right direction by proposing legislation that would take away his authority over appointments to the Boston Liquor Licensing Board and give the authority back to the city’s mayor.

And we should renew a push for this legislation this session.

But what is really stifling renaissances in places like Roxbury and Mattapan is the state cap on liquor licenses. Cities and towns, not the state, should have the authority to grant licenses according to their own economic goals. And in Boston, each of our neighborhoods should have equitable opportunity to spur economic revitalization like the one happening along the South Boston waterfront.

That’s why I will be holding a hearing this year on this matter and filing a home-rule petition that would eliminate the cap on liquor licenses.

Over the last several months, I’ve been meeting with local entrepreneurs, Main Streets organizations and neighborhood and civic associations. There is a common theme that emerges from these conversations: The current liquor license process is confusing, and the cap limits access and creates often prohibitive costs for small businesses trying to get started.

The scarcity of liquor licenses drives up their price, from $50,000 for a beer and wine license to upwards of $450,000 for a full liquor license.

The current cost of procuring a liquor license prevents a budding entrepreneur or small busi-

In contrast, neighborhoods like Roxbury and Mattapan and certain parts of Dorchester lack places for people to sit down and have a meal together. As Boston competes to attract and retain young talent and new families, the absence of cultural and dining options outside of the downtown core gives prospective new residents or businesses little incentive to consider settling in other parts of the city.

This isn’t about turning Main Street into Bourbon Street — it’s about economic development, supporting small businesses and creating job opportunities for local residents, particularly those who face barriers to full employment.

It’s about developing culturally vibrant neighborhood centers where families gather, young professionals meet after work, artists and musicians are inspired and the curious feel compelled to visit.

Entrepreneurs in Roxbury and Mattapan are eager to join this renaissance. But without changes to the state’s archaic liquor license law, these neighborhoods, and others like them, stand little chance of becoming vibrant business and cultural centers that benefit local residents and boost Boston’s bottom line.

Ayanna Pressley is an at-large member of the Boston City Council.

Just as the meaning of a word is concealed within it, the secret of the awareness of Brahman lies in the absence of company. If you don’t remember the goal steadfastly, if you fail to abandon company, how can you reach your destination?

— Swami Muktananda

18 • Thursday, February 7, 2013 • BAY STATE BANNER

Local NAACP holds Image Awards event Bridgit Brown As the star-studded NAACP’s 44th Annual Image Awards was about to air across the nation on NBC last Friday, the Boston NAACP gathered beforehand to recognize the work and commitments of local individuals worthy of an Image Award — and then they watched the event via a large-screen TV. “While the local Image Award recipients are not involved in the work that they do for the recognition alone, we realized that the recogni-

tion and affirmation inspires those who are already doing great work to do more,” said Michael Curry, president of the Boston NAACP. This was the second year of the Boston NAACP Image Awards.

Unlike the national NAACP Image Awards, the Boston branch conducts a nomination at its meetings for individuals working across a broad spectrum including education, civil rights, entertainment, social justice and the arts. In a final meeting, the nominees are voted on and the awards are presented to the recipi-

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The recipients of the 2012 Boston NAACP Image Awards included New England Cable News reporter Latoyia Edwards, photographer and archivist Eric “Pops” Esteves, retired educator and activist Barbara Fields,

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Thursday, February 7, 2013 • BAY STATE BANNER • 19

Heat

continued from page 1

U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Maryland) speaks from the pulpit of the Salem United Methodist Church at the kick-off event last week for the CITGO-Citizens Energy heating oil program. (Photo courtesy of Erint Images)

and other states.

“The demand is greater and the resources are shorter,” said the veteran Baltimore congressman as a murmur of “amens” arose from the packed stone sanctuary. “We must not turn our heads away from the working poor — remember, we could be in the same position. The help you provide to families is bigger than just the oil.

It’s about helping children lead stable lives.”

The CITGO president noted that 2013 marks the eighth year that the Houston-based oil firm, which is owned by Venezuela’s national oil company, has partnered with Citizens Energy to provide heating oil to needy families. He noted that the warmth comes as a

gift from the people of Venezuela and President Hugo Chavez, who has supported the initiative since its creation in the wake of high heating prices following Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

“The CITGO-Venezuela Heating Oil Program has been one of the most important energy assistance efforts in the United States,” said Granado, who joined with the congregation in praying for the recovery of Chavez.

The Venezuelan president has been in Havana since December recuperating from his fourth cancer surgery.

“This year, as families across the Eastern Seaboard struggle to recover from the losses caused by Hurricane Sandy, this donation becomes even more significant,” Granado said.

Granado noted that the program has helped over 1.7 million

stay warm over the last eight years through the donation of more than 200 million gallons of heating oil worth more than $400 million.

Kennedy praised Chavez, CITGO and Venezuela as the only company and the only country that responded to his appeals for help to assist low-income households with their rising heating costs.

“I don’t see Exxon responding.

I don’t see other major oil companies heating the homes of the poor,” said Kennedy.

Cherish good conduct.

Become established on the path of morality.

Earn virtue; shun defects.

One who is anchored in the Self attains bravery and courage.

If you meditate daily on That, you will never depart from it.

— Swami Muktananda

20 • Thursday, February 7, 2013 • BAY STATE BANNER

Father of autistic son takes advantage of health care law Viji Sundaram FREMONT, Calif. — Dr. Albert Wang thanks his lucky stars every day that he is able to provide his 23-year-old autistic son with health insurance and not run into medical debt.

As a longtime physician, he has seen the hardship faced by people who have no health insurance coverage, who put off seeing a doctor until their health gets really bad.

But his son, Lawrence, diagnosed at age 3 with moderate to severe autism, has never been without access to health care because he has been on Wang’s employer-sponsored health insurance plan since he was an infant. And but for the sweeping

Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010, Lawrence would have been kicked off his father’s health plan when he graduated from school last year.

A provision in the ACA that rolled out in September 2010 allows children to remain on their parents’ health insurance plan through their 26th birthday. That provision alone has allowed more than 3 million young adults like Lawrence to have health insurance nationwide, according to the Commonwealth Fund, a leading source of healthcare research.

At the time the ACA was signed into law, some 15 million young adults were uninsured, according to the Department of U.S. Health and Human Services.

Millions of young adults now covered A survey by the Commonwealth Fund showed last June that 13.7 million young adults between 19 and 25 stayed on or joined their parents’ health plans in the 12 months ending November 2011. This included 6.6 million who likely would not have been able to do so prior to the passage of the ACA. The survey also showed that young adults in low- and moderate-income households were most likely not to have health insurance. The lack of insurance had significant health and financial implications for them: 60 percent said they did not get needed health care because of

cost and half reported problems paying medical bills or said they were paying off medical debt over time.

Prior to the ACA, Lawrence would have aged out of his father’s health insurance plan when he graduated from school last June.

Parents could only cover their children until they turned 19, unless they were disabled, or up to their 24th birthday if they were enrolled in college full time.

Under the ACA, young adults can remain on their parents’ plan up to age 26, even if they are out of school, married or living on their own, if they cannot get health insurance through an employer.

This of course means that young adults “will be free to make choices based on what they want to do, not on where they can get health insurance,” U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is quoted as saying.

Wang’s eldest daughter, now 27, stayed on his group plan for almost a year after she married.

Insuring young man’s

Religious Worship Guide

The First Church of Christ, Scientist Sunday Church Services & Sunday School

10 am and 5 pm (no evening service July & Aug.)

Wednesday Testimony Meetings 12 noon and 7:30 pm (2 pm online)

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Near the corner of Huntington & Mass. Ave. Free Parking at all services.

T Hynes, Prudential, Symphony, or Mass. Ave.

LEGALS

LEGALS

Commonwealth of Massachusetts The Trial Court Probate and Family Court Department SUFFOLK Division

Docket No. SU12P1057GD

Citation Giving Notice of Petition to Expand the Powers of a Guardian In the Interests of Andrew Sherman Of Dorchester, MA RESPONDENT Incapacitated Person/Protected Person To the named Respondent and all other interested persons, a petition has been filed by Jewish Family & Children's Service of Waltham, MA in the above captioned matter requesting that the court: Expand the powers of a Guardian of the Respondent. The petition asks the court to make a determination that the powers of the Guardian and/or Conservator should be expanded, modified, or limited since the time of the appointment. The original petition is on file with the court.

You have the right to object to this proceeding. If you wish to do so, you or your attorney must file a written appearance and objection at this Court on or before 10:00 A.M. on the return date of 03/21/2013. This day is NOT a hearing date, but a deadline date by which you have to file the written appearance if you object to the petition. If you fail to file the written appearance by the return date, action may be taken in this matter without further notice to you. In addition to filing the written appearance, you or your attorney must file a written affidavit stating the specific facts and grounds of your objection within 30 days after the return date.

The outcome of this proceeding may limit or completely take away the above-named person's right to make decisions about personal affairs or financial affairs or both. The above-named person has the right to ask for a lawyer. Anyone may make this request on behalf of the above-named person cannot afford a lawyer, one may be appointed at State expense.

WITNESS, HON. Joan P. Armstrong, First Justice of this Court.

Date: January 09, 2013 Patricia M. Campatelli Register of Probate

The Complaint is on file at the Court.

The Complaint is on file at the Court.

An Automatic Restraining Order has been entered in this matter preventing you from taking any action which would negatively impact the current financial status of either party. SEE Supplemental Probate Court Rule 411.

An Automatic Restraining Order has been entered in this matter preventing you from taking any action which would negatively impact the current financial status of either party. SEE Supplemental Probate Court Rule 411.

You are hereby summoned and required to serve upon: Marjorie Neptune, 12 Westminster St, Apt 3, Roxbury Crossing, MA 02120 your answer, if any, on or before 03/21/2013. If you fail to do so, the court will proceed to the hearing and adjudication of this action. You are also required to file a copy of your answer, if any, in the office of the Register of this Court.

You are hereby summoned and required to serve upon: Raquel M Garcia Sanabria, 19 Hillis Road, Hyde Park, MA 02136 your answer, if any, on or before 03/28/2013. If you fail to do so, the court will proceed to the hearing and adjudication of this action. You are also required to file a copy of your answer, if any, in the office of the Register of this Court.

Witness, Hon. Joan P. Armstrong, First Justice of this Court.

Date: January 8, 2013 Patricia M. Campatelli Register of Probate

Witness, Hon. Joan P. Armstrong, First Justice of this Court.

Date: January 15, 2013 Patricia M. Campatelli Register of Probate

Commonwealth of Massachusetts The Trial Court Probate and Family Court Department

INVITATION TO BID

Docket No. SU13D0027DR

Divorce Summons by Publication and Mailing Marjorie Neptune

vs.

The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority is seeking bids for the following: BID NO.

DESCRIPTION

DATE

TIME

OP-208

Phase 4 Sewer Manhole Rehabilitation

02/12/13

2:00 p.m.

*WRA-3564

Purchase of Hot and Cold Water Pumps, Mfg: Taco (or Equal)

02/15/13

11:00 a.m.

*FRR27

RFQ/P Adams Street Grade Crossing and Bridge Removal Design and Construction Administration Services

02/22/13

11:00 a.m.

Kinaesiaa Emoni Carrington

OP-210

Western Operations Facilities Groundskeeping Services

02/19/13

2:00 p.m.

IF YOU DESIRE TO OBJECT THERETO, YOU OR YOUR ATTORNEY MUST FILE A WRITTEN APPEARANCE IN SAID COURT AT BOSTON ON OR BEFORE TEN O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING (10:00 AM) ON 02/14/2013.

*WRA-3586

02/20/13

11:00 a.m.

WITNESS, HON. Joan P. Armstrong, First Justice of this Court.

Date: January 11, 2013 Patricia M. Campatelli Register of Probate

Supply and Delivery of Soda Ash to the Clinton Wastewater Treatment Plant

*WRA-3585

Supply and Delivery of Carbon Dioxide to the John J. Carroll Water Treatment Plant

02/20/13

11:30 a.m.

*WRA-3587

Supply and Delivery of Sodium Hydroxide to Various Wastewater Locations

02/20/13

3:00 p.m.

OP-203

Weston Reservoir Disinfection 02/28/13 Facility Aboveground Fuel Storage Tank System

2:00 p.m.

SUFFOLK Division

Docket No. SU13C0019CA

In the matter of Kinaesiaa Emoni Bennett of Mattapan, MA NOTICE OF PETITION FOR CHANGE OF NAME To all persons interested in a petition described:

Commonwealth of Massachusetts The Trial Court Probate and Family Court Department SUFFOLK Division

LEGALS

A petition has been presented by Kinaesiaa E Bennett requesting that Kinaesiaa Emoni Bennett be allowed to change her name as follows:

IMPORTANT NOTICE

Wayne F Neptune

When Lawrence graduated from school last year, he could have qualified for Medi-Cal, the federal-state funded safety net for lowincome people. But Wang said he chose not to enroll him in the program because of the limited number of providers in the network.

“Medi-Cal patients sometimes have to wait for months to see a specialist, and I didn’t want to take that risk,” he said.

Lawrence would not have been able to buy insurance from a private insurer because of his pre-existing health condition. Insurers currently can deny coverage to people with pre-existing health conditions. Starting Jan. 1, 2014, when the health care reform law is fully implemented, insurers will be banned from doing that.

Wang realizes that Lawrence’s autism, which has given him a good ear for music, could keep him from landing a full-time job that provides health benefits.

The young man currently works three jobs, each for a few hours a week, and on hourly wages between $10 and $13.

A study in the journal Pediatrics suggests that one in three young adults with autism have no paid job experience years after they graduate from school.

Next year, Wang plans to purchase insurance coverage for his son on Covered California, the online, federally subsidized health care exchange California will launch next January. He wants to insure — literally — the young man’s health and future.

“I will make sure he is covered,” Wang said, adding: “Even when you are young and healthy, it’s best to have insurance. If you get sick or have an accident, the medical bills could be many thousands of dollars.”

This report was made possible by a grant from The California Endowment and is part of New America Media’s series on the Affordable Care Act.

Local arts enthusiasts (L to R) Dwayne Thompson, Chip Greenidge, DJ Master Millions, DJ Savuth, Bob Diesel and Liza Zayas turned out for a night of culture at the Celebration of the Arts III on Feb. 3 at the Revere Hotel. (John Brewer photo)

For further information, call 617.450.3790 or visit www.ChristianScience.com

health and future

Commonwealth of Massachusetts The Trial Court Probate and Family Court Department SUFFOLK Division

Docket No. SU13D0059DR

Divorce Summons by Publication and Mailing Raquel M Garcia Sanabria

vs.

Javier A Sanabria

To the Defendant:

To the Defendant:

The Plaintiff has filed a Complaint for Divorce requesting that the Court grant a divorce for irretrievable breakdown of the marriage pursuant to G.L. c 208 Section 1 B.

The Plaintiff has filed a Complaint for Divorce requesting that the Court grant a divorce for Irretrievable Breakdown of the marriage Pursuant to G.L Section 1 B.

Sealed bids will be received at the offices of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, Charlestown Navy Yard, Document Distribution Office, 100 First Avenue, First Floor, Boston, Massachusetts 02129, up to the time and date listed above at which time they will be publicly opened and read. *(indicates) Bid Documents available on the Comm-PASS Website (www. comm-pass.com).

Thursday, February 7, 2013 • BAY STATE BANNER • 21

Office Space Available

AFFORDABLE RENTAL HOUSING

SENIORS LIVE ROYALLY AT CASTLE COVE

Mattapan Heights 5-A 249 River Street, Mattapan, MA 02126

Castle Cove Cooperative Apartments D & West Second Streets

Use and Occupancy Restrictions Apply

Applications may be picked up at Trinity Management, LLC Reasonable accommodations made Mattapan Heights Management Office 249 River Street, Mattapan, MA 02126

A unique community of seniors managed by CSI Support & Development Services of Malden.

Office Space available for rent to a Non-Profit 501c3 Organization.

Voucher Holders Welcome For more information or an application to be sent by mail or alternate means, call Trinity Management, LLC Phone # 617-298-5800 Type

Rent

1BR

$1,022

2BR

$1,222

A cooperative apartment is a building controlled by the members. All major operating decisions are voted on by the members. Coop apartments help to keep quality housing affordable.

Located in Jamaica Plain just a short distance from the Orange Line (Jackson Square) and Green Line (Heath St.).

We Have: • Our own separate apartment • A non-profit organization; any profits are put back into coop services to benefit its members • Open voluntary membership without social, political, racial or religious discrimination • A building democratically controlled by the residents.

Suite available for rent for a total of about 985 square feet; the Suite has two offices, a closet space and an open area. $21 per square foot utilities included. On street parking If interested in more information and would like a walk through please email ddiaz@fsgb.org to set up appointment.

Each building has their own activities run by a committee of residents such as entertainment, bingo, gift case We have: A library, game room, community room, lounges on each floor, our own laundry room

Maximum Income Limits by Household Size HH Size

60%

1

39,660

2

45,360

3

51,000

4

56,640

5

61,200

6

65,760

Minimum Annual Income Gross Income Requirements Type

Rent

1BR

$30,660

2BR

$36,660

Equal Housing Opportunity

The success of a Cooperative depends on the active participation of its members

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER

@baystatebanner

If you would like more information or to apply please call

1-800-225-3151 Wilson Gardens Apartments in Lynn, Massachusetts is actively seeking applications for our three bedroom Project Based Section 8 wait list.

In order to qualify applicants must not exceed the HUD approved income guidelines listed below.

FY 2013 Income Limit Category

1 Person

2 Person

3 Person

4 Person

5 Person

6 Person

7 Person

8 Person

Very Low (50%) Income Limits

$33050

$37800

$42500

$47200

$51000

$54800

$58550

$62350

Extremely Low (30%) Income Limits

$19850

$22650

$25500

$28300

$30600

$32850

$35100

$37400

Low (80%) Income Limits

$47150

$53900

$60650

$67350

$72750

$78150

$83550

$88950

Financed by the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency.

Please call 781-598-5564 • TDD 800-439-2370

ADVERTISE

YOUR CLASSIFIEDS (617) 261-4600 x 119 ads@bannerpub.com

WOLLASTON MANOR 91 Clay Street Quincy, MA 02170

Senior Living At It’s Best

A senior/disabled/ handicapped community 0 BR units = $1,027/mo 1 BR units = $1,101/mo All utilities included.

Call Sandy Miller, Property Manager

#888-691-4301 Program Restrictions Apply.

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Heat and Hot Water Always Included Modern Laundry Facilities Private Balconies / Some with City Views Plush wall to wall carpet Adjacent to New England Baptist Hospital Secured Entry, Elevator Convenience Private Parking Near Public Transportation and much more ...

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22 • Thursday, February 7, 2013 • BAY STATE BANNER

Flanders Hill at Westborough Affordable Apartments

Wilson Gardens Apartments Ly n n , M a s s a c h u s e t t s

Flanders Hill at Westborough is in Metro West Boston, surrounded by shopping, dining and minutes from Routes 495, 90 and 9.

One & Two Bedroom Apartments now available Apartment Rates One beds - $1099 Two beds - $1299 Includes water, sewer, and trash Maximum Income Guidelines 1 person $45,500 2 persons $52,000 3 persons $58,000 4 persons $65,000 www.flandershillatwestborough.com Call for more information 508-366-8001

Wilson Gardens Apartments in Lynn, Massachusetts is actively seeking applications for our wait list.

Applicants must be at least 62 years of age or older, or persons with disabilities, with annual income not to exceed: One Person = $47,150 Two Persons = $53,900 and must meet HUD eligibility criteria.

Financed by the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency.

Please call 781-598-5564 TDD 800-439-2370

Senior Expansion Manager Interise, an innovative and entrepreneurial nonprofit focused on economic community revitalization, seeks a new Senior Expansion Manager. Interise helps existing small employers plan, achieve, and manage the long-term growth of their business.

The Manager will cultivate and manage a network of partners who utilize Interise small business development resources and programs. Requires track record of successful sales management, partnership creation, sales and business development and marketing experience at regional or national level.

www.interise.org Send cover, resume and salary requirement to Susan Egmont at Egmont Associates, segmont@egmontassociates.com.

Are you interested in a CAREER? Project Hope, in partnership with Partners HealthCare and Brigham & Women’s Hospital, is currently accepting applications for FREE entry level health care employment training programs.

Program eligibility includes: • Have a high school diploma or equivalent • Have a verifiable reference of 1 year from a former employer • Pass assessments in reading, language, and computer skills • Attend an Open House to begin the eligibility & application process • Be legally authorized to work in the United States

For more information and to register for the next Open House held the 1st and 3rd Friday of the month please visit our website at www.prohope.org/openhouse.htm

Hildebrand Family Self-Help Center Inc. The mission of Hildebrand Family Self-help Center is to help homeless families break the cycle of homelessness and attain self sufficiency and long-term independence. Hildebrand has the following job opportunities.

DIRECTOR OF FINANCE AND OPERATIONS The Director of Finance and Operations is responsible for managing activities related to accounting and financial reporting, IT/telecommunication vendors, and operations. This position will support the Executive Director in managing resources in the most efficient and cost effective manner. Functions include: preparation of budgets and forecasts, accurate production of monthly, quarterly and annual financial report, oversight of outsourced accounting firm and the processing of payroll. The DFO manages all aspects of the external audit functions and is responsible for compliance with finance and accounting policies and procedures. The DFO is responsible for overseeing the activities of the finance department including, but not limited to, the annual audit, budget process, cash flow projections, financial reporting, financial grant reporting, payroll, 401K reporting, IT, telecommunications, inter-company transactions and office operations. The DFO evaluates plans and prepares for technological improvements, including all infrastructure, software and hardware requirements; works in close collaboration with technology partners in all planning and execution. S/he prepares technology plans and budgets. As a member of the Senior Management Team, the DFO will work in collaboration with the Directors of HR, Facilities and Programs. BA/BS in accounting, finance or related field. Three (3) years of progressively responsible experience in supervisory duties, with four (4) years of progressively responsible experience in a managerial or accounting position performing fiscal or budgetary analysis Experience in accounting, creating and managing a budget, forecasting, variance analysis, accounts payables and payroll. Three years experience in operations management, with some exposure to IT/telecommunications support. Salary range of mid to high $70 and competitive benefits are offered.

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT This is a key position reporting to the Executive Director. The Executive Assistant supports the Executive Directors time and energy to maximize efficiency and effectiveness. The Executive Assistant role focuses on the following: doing rapid triage on incoming information; serving as a helpful point person for board members, key supporters and staff members; and securing and organizing meetings and trips. Major assignments will vary, balancing complex and multi-dimensional projects that require an eye for detail, as well as smaller tasks that require the ability and persistence to follow through. The Executive Assistant acts as a liaison and representative for the Executive Director in various settings. The Executive Assistant must have strong written and phone communication skills, must be able to work independently, and solve problems creatively.

BA or equivalent work experienced preferred with four to six years professional experience with related administrative work. Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work with diverse groups of people, excellent attention to detail and follow-through. Salary range of mid to high $40 and competitive benefits are offered. As with all Hildebrand staff positions, a CORI check is required.

Please send your resume to: Clara Rosado, Director of Human Resources, Hildebrand Family Self-Help Center, 614 Massachusetts Ave, 3rd Floor, Cambridge, MA. 02319 Email crosado@hild-selfhelp.org. AA/EOE

SUBSCRIBE TO THE BANNER call (617) 261-4600

baystatebanner.com

Thursday, February 7, 2013 • BAY STATE BANNER • 23

SUBSCRIBE

JOB ANNOUNCEMENT

TO THE BANNER

GRANTS ASSISTANT The Proteus Fund is seeking a part-time Grants Assistant. The Grants Assistant will form a critical component of the organization’s structure. S/he will be required to work in Proteus Fund’s main office located in Amherst, Massachusetts.

The Grants Assistant works in cooperation with Proteus Fund staff, interns and consultants to facilitate the process of awarding approximately 200 grants annually. S/he will report to the Grants Manager and assist with managing all grant-related activities from initial inquiry from grantseekers to grant closure. The Grants Assistant will work with a variety of Proteus Fund programs and private family foundations. Additional qualifications and a detailed description can be found on our website: http://www. proteusfund.org/grants-assistant-job-description The Proteus Fund is a grant-making foundation committed to advancing justice through democracy, human rights, and peace. We partner with individual donors and foundations to achieve their goals, through strategy development, research and fund management. Proteus is known for tailored grantmaking initiatives that are responsive, have high impact and integrate support for lobbying activity. Our work advances issues at the leading edge of democracy and social change.

Interested candidates should submit a letter of interest with Subject Line: Grants Assistant Application, a resume and contact information for three references via email to hr@proteusfund.org. Applications received by February 20, 2013 will be given priority consideration.

call (617) 261-4600

baystatebanner.com

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PROTEUS FUND 15 Research Drive, Suite B, Amherst, MA 01002 Telephone: 413 256-0349 www.proteusfund.org | hr@proteusfund.org

METCO, Inc. needs a full-time

STUDENT SERVICES MANAGER for our Student Services Department

FOLLOW US ON

TWITTER @baystatebanner

Requirements:

Preferred:

• • • •

• Certified teacher/administrator • Knowledge of MA public education and special education laws • Knowledge of Boston educational, social, mental health and family services • Bi-Lingual in Spanish and other languages a plus • Grant writing experience a plus • Superb oral and written communication skills • Data collection and research skills • Culturally competent

•

AND

• • •

•

M Ed., MA., MSW, Supervisory experience Valid MA driver’s license Reliable and insured personal vehicle Ability to work and lead in a racially diverse fast paced environment Computer/Technology proficient Experience in K-12 education and special education Highly organized. Ability to prioritize and handle multiple tasks High energy problem solver

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Send a Cover Letter, Resume and three current references to: John M. Shandorf, Associate Director METCO, Inc., 40 Dimock Street, MA 02119 Or email to: Jshandorf@metcoinc.org Deadline Date: February 22, 2013

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• Introductory and advance levels of computer skills training using Microsoft Office 2010 (MS Word, Excel, Outlook) • Bookkeeping essentials and procedures for office professionals • Opportunities to create professional business documents using digital, social media and internet technologies • Computerized bookkeeping using QuickBooks • Procedures for recording, managing and securing client/ customer financial and non-financial data

Training Grants available to qualifying applicants.

Contact: Mr. Royal Bolling, Computer Learning Resources Phone: 617-506-1505 Email: clr2paths@gmail.com

Licensed by the Massachusetts Division Professional Licensure Office of Private Occupational School Education