Urban Voice January 2015

DR. UMAR JOHNSON & REV. JEREMIAH WRIGHT COMING TO CHATTANOOGA

UrbanV ice CULTURE NEWS POLITICS

Community

Business

Health Politics Lifestyle

CHATTANOOGA | KNOXVILLE

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Increasing Black Elders to See Sharp Rise in Alzheimer’s The Alzheimer’s Association has identified an emerging public health crisis among African Americans— the Silent Epidemic of Alzheimer’s Disease.

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Local and national music is inspiring young people of color to push for #BlackLivesMatter.

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Why I Chose Not To March in DC?

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Jessica Pierce is a DC-based activist, artist, and training guru. She currently serves as the National Co-chair for the Black Youth Project 100. You can follow her adventures on Twitter @JFierce.

James

MAPP

Talks Life & Legacy:

Celebrating 50 YearsADVOCATE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS with the Bar-Kays !

+ 4 Tips for Pursuing Government Contracts

URBAN VOICE | NewsMagazine |January 2015

How Music is Fueling the “The greatest glory in living #BlackLivesMatter lies not in never falling, but Movement in rising every time we fall.”

CONTENTS

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09

President Obama to Power Africa Summitt

05

How Music is Fueling the #BlackLivesMatter Movement.

Death of a King Book Review

07

Who is Dr. Umar Johnson?

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from the publisher

No Longer Waiting on Change!

A

t the end of another tough year, AfricanAmerican people again found ourselves in the relative same political and economic position as we were the year before, and the years preceding. In 2008 we were excited. We elected the nation’s first African American President. We were hyped and bought into the slogan, “Hope and Change!” Fast forward, to the end of 2014 and we ended up with more hope than real positive change.

Just llike on sunday morning, our emotional bubbles were inflated. Now the air is coming out and we realize that it’s monday. We are still unemployed and underemployed. We lack wealth.

We are in poor health. Aour children are attending failing schools. We are dealing with foreclosures. We are struggling to keep the lights on. We are not making any real money profits from our businesses.

Here’s a good question- Where is the Change?

The change is in your pockets!

In pockets across the country, some African-Americans finally understand how economic empowerment is the key to our progress in this nation. Decades of instructions from wise elders, scholars, and activists seem to be taking hold on the minds of young people, despite the tired messages coming from some of our current leaders.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s civil rights movement was not limited to “saving Black Americans,” nor was it limited to halting Black oppression of the 20th century. The civil rights movement as

seen through Dr. King’s eyes, was about “redeeming the soul of America from the triple evils of war, racism and poverty.”

In other words, he saw the success of a nation wrapped up in the same cause that engulfed Black America.

Dr. King believed, and so do I, that America could never achieve her full potential until Black America and other minority groups, as well as other lowwealth communities and left-behind populations, had an equal shot at the American dream.

It time for African-American people to acknowledge our situation, admit our mistakes, and work to improve our economic situation, from which we can then build true political power. Previous generation have suggested that political power comes first and then economic empowerment. Fortunately, we have a rising generation that understands and embraces that economic empowerment comes before politcal power.

This rising generation gets it, but there remains a voice that wants to give us new “marching” orders. Some say, let’s just pray. Now, there is always room for prayer; but, faith without works is still dead.

Ferguson has brought about an awakening of sorts. We are still hearing the solution-based message, “March” and “Vote.” This past December, the NAACP organized a 120-mile walk from Ferguson to the Missouri governor’s office in protest of the shooting death of Micheal Brown. What did we gain from the 120 mile Walk? The only thing we will got out of that is sore feet and worn leather and even emptier pockets. We walk, we spend money at places we don’t own. We travel to stay in hotels, we don’t

UrbanV ice CULTURE NEWS POLITICS

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own. We eat at resturants, we don’t own.

While many are still hoping for change, young folks have come to the conclusion that the change they can and should control is in their pockets. They are committed to implementing economic solutions to address the problems they face, not only in Ferguson, but across the nation.

The old political agenda is not the primary agenda of our young people. We fell head over heels for politics to solve our problems; they are using economics.

I believe young folks, are saying: No more symbolism; we want substance. No more speeches, we want specifics. No more hollow programs, no more blaming the victims for failed public policies that created the socio-economic conditions they live in. No more rhetoric. We want results; we will use our dollars. No more hope, we’ll use our change. Let’s stop winning battles, and losing wars.

In this issue, we examine The Life & Legacy of James Rogers Mapp and hear his thoughts about the state of the movement. To Mr Mapp I say this: You dedicated most of your youth and all of your adult life fighting on behalf of the NAACP and sacrificing fame and fortune.

On behalf of my generation and the broader community, we say thank you.

Thank you for your years of service and your commitment to making Chattanooga a better place to live, work and play!

We also introduce three new contributors—Shanelle Smith, Jessica Pierce & Brittany Thomas.

Shanelle L. Smith is the Director, Emerald Cities Cleveland, OH. Jessica Pierce is a DC-based activist, artist,

and training guru. She currently serves as the National Co-Chair for the Black Youth Project 100. You can follow her adventures on Twitter @JFierce. Brittany Thomas is an Attorney with Grant Konvalinka & Harrison’s Immigration Group. Thank you!

Thank you for taking the time to read the urban voice. We invite you to join us and let your VOICE be heard.

Remember, the change you hope for is in your pockets. Our region is changing & growing.

It’s a wonderful time to be in Chattanooga. Seize the moment!

Happy New Year! Let’s Go.

Jermaine D. Harper Chief Creative Officer

- Jermaine D. Harper

URBAN VOICE NEWSMAGAZINE No. 3 ·NOV 2014 · Year 1 · PUBLISHER Everything Urban GRAPHIC DESIGN BROOKY MEDIA GROUP SUBSCRIPTIONS $12.00/YR. Mail Subscription Cards and Payment to 5916 Brainerd Road Suite 100 Chattanooga, TN 37421 . WEBSITE www.urbanvoiceonline.com ADVERTISING Email Ads.urbanvoice@ gmail.com SUBMISSIONS Email submissions.urbanvoice@gmail.com PRESS RELEASES Email PR.urbanvoice@ gmail.com. EVENTS Email events.urbanvoice@gmail.com

NATIONAL | Whats the 411?

EPA Clean Power Plan Can Spur Equity and Cleaner Environment

by Shanelle L. Smith, Director, Emerald Cities Cleveland, OH

As director of Emerald Cities Cleveland, I testified at a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) field hearing in Pittsburgh, where I supported proposed regulations to dramatically curb polluting emissions from existing power plants.

EC Cleveland is one of 10 local offices of the Washington, D.C.-based Emerald Cities Collaborative, a national organization that is transforming the energy efficiency and environmental sectors by retrofitting public and commercial buildings. Local EC directors work with diverse local councils representing business, labor, finance, environmentalism and local government

on this important work.

Emerald Cities is unique and transformative because it focuses on three things that don’t always get discussed together. We catalyze investments in energy efficiency that reduce municipal energy costs and pollution; we create “high-road jobs” – jobs that pay living, family-supporting wages and offer career paths; and we revitalize economies in low-income communities and communities of color.

This strategy supports what we call our “triple bottom line” of environment, economy and equity and ensures that low-income communities of color benefit from measures to stem climate change.

Also notable about Emerald Cities – unlike the majority of environmental organizations surveyed for University of Michigan Professor Dorceta Taylor’s new report, The State of Diversity in Environmental Organizations – is that it boasts a diverse staff.

In short, ECC brings a crucial equity dimension to the environmental movement, both internally and in our important, high-impact work.

As I told EPA officials in Pittsburgh, the recently proposed 111(d) regulations are precisely the catalyst many communities need to address carbon pollution and high unemployment.

The new standards are sorely needed here, where Gov. John Kasich and the Republican-led Ohio General Assembly have now frozen the state’s renewable portfolio standard. One state senator who joined that majority commented, “We all

breathe the same air.”

We do have a shared interest in clean air. But the fact is, we do not breathe the same air. A whopping 68 percent of African Americans nationwide live within 30 miles of a coal-fired power plant. And Cleveland has the unfortunate distinction of ranking among the poorest U.S. cities.

That adds up to a lack of equity and a lack of health.

Sadly, my family has first-hand experience with the dire consequences of living near an environmental hazard.

Growing up less than a mile from an oil refinery in Lima, Ohio – where cancer runs roughshod over the black and poor communities – both my sister and I developed Hodgkins lymphoma at young ages. Our doctor said the cause was environmental, not genetic.

Before age 30, I had two fights with cancer and a bone marrow transplant, all likely linked to prolonged exposure to air pollution.

So it’s critically important to me, personally and professionally, for Ohio to get serious about reducing both carbon emissions and the disproportionate impact of pollution on the health and economic well-being of communities of color.

Although highly affected, disadvantaged communities are too often left out of climate mitigation measures or forced to wait for solutions. With Ohio’s renewable portfolio standard frozen, for example, vulnerable communities continue breathing air pollutants and being excluded from the emerging clean energy

economy that’s booming in other states.

Moreover, while we wait for leadership from state officials, Cleveland’s aging housing stock is a sitting duck for severe damage from extreme weather.

EPA’s Clean Power Plan allows us to prepare for climate change, reduce our energy demand, revitalize poor communities and foster social cohesion.

The 111(d) rules mesh with Emerald Cities’ goals: increasing equity, promoting energy diversity and energy efficiency and expanding clean-energy jobs.

Energy diversity is directly connected to job creation in the burgeoning green building sector, as well as to consumer protection and economic growth. As a rule, for every $1 million invested in energy efficiency, 21 direct and indirect jobs are created for electricians, HVAC technicians, carpenters and more. These jobs pay family-sustaining wages, are not subject to outsourcing and offer career pathways through union apprenticeship programs.

If EPA’s rules are thwarted, it will be a tremendous disservice to my generation and generations to come.

Let’s not risk losing this precious opportunity for our city, state and region to reap the multiple benefits of reduced carbon emissions. #### Shanelle Smith was recently named as one of Cleveland’s “Forty Under 40” leaders by Crain’s Cleveland Business.

‘POWERING AFRICA: SUMMIT’ SET TO ADVANCE DEALS AND PARTNERSHIPS FOR AFRICA’S POWER INDUSTRIES IN WASHINGTON, D.C. JANUARY 28-30

‘Powering Africa: Summit’ To Be Held in Washington, D.C., January 28-30th 2015, With Commitments From 12 African Countries To Further Advance Private Sector Participation In Africa’s Power Sector.

“With so many credible decision makers gathered to discuss power generation in Africa specifically, we hope American investors take this opportunity to learn why Africa will be a key trading partner for American technology firms,” Simon Gosling, EnergyNet Intellectual property and the credibility of the

end user/buyer remains a concern, but with companies such as GE, Deloitte, KPMG, Citibank, PwC, Norton Rose Fulbright, IBM, JP Morgan, Chase, Blackstone, KKR, DLA Piper and Caterpillar already firm fixtures across Africa, there is no end of international experience that can be drawn on and successes to be shared. If Africa continues to grow at the current pace in terms of knowledge, population and GDP, cities the size of London and New York will be common place across the continent by 2050. In Tanzania, Dar Es Salaam is already a city of 1.5 million people, expected to grown 10 fold in 15 years. That growth, combined with massive investment

in education, will see it become a mega-city of East Africa with huge energy consumer demands.

investors and technology providers should be ahead of the curve, building the backbone of an economy the size of China.

In Nigeria - a country of nearly 200 million people - Lagos already has 26 million residents. In 30 years’ time and based on current expectations, Lagos will be one of the biggest spending economies on the planet.

From 28-30th January 2015, EnergyNet (with 20 years trade experience in Africa) will welcome a high powered delegation of Ministers and officials from utilities and regulatory bodies from Africa to meet US private and public sector investors at the ‘Powering Africa: Summit’, where they will continue the crucial conversation on how to maintain the momentum in Africa’s power sector.

Soon, Africa will be one of America’s most important trading partners with manufacturing hubs, security partnerships and enough electricity to sell up through Europe. These are the reasons American

URBAN VOICE NEWSMAGAZINE 2014 | 5

CULTURE/LIFESTYLE

DEATH OF A KING BOOK REVIEW Lorean Mayes – john.doe@tltimes.xom that focuses exclusively on the last year of his life. The reason why I chose to do that is the Martin that I love best is not the Martin of “I Have a Dream.” He’s not the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Martin.

He’s not the Martin of the Montgomery bus boycott, when he first came into the national consciousness. The Martin I love best is the Martin who, when everybody and everything turned against him — when it appeared the cosmos had turned against him — he continued to stand in his truth, trying to come to terms with what he called the triple threat of racism, poverty and militarism.

Q: Certainly that’s not what we hear most about King today.

W

e know nearly everything there is to know about the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., or so we think. But in his new book, “Death of a King: The Real Story of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Final Year,” the PBS and public radio host Tavis Smiley turns his attention — and, he hopes, ours — to a period in the civil rights leader’s life that many of those who revere him now might not remember, or might prefer to forget.

Written with David Ritz, the book focuses on perhaps the darkest period of King’s storied career: his last year, when much of liberal America, from the Johnson administration to the black middle class, turned on the man who had done the most in the fight for racial equality.

Dismayed in part by King’s opposition to the Vietnam War and the broadening of his agenda to include an anti-poverty campaign, much of the public that had once idolized King began to spurn and even demonize him.

Printers Row Journal caught up with Smiley, 49, for a phone interview from the South Central area of Los Angeles, where his TV and radio shows (which focus on issues of particular interest to African-Americans) are taped. Here’s an edited transcript of our chat.

Q: Why did you feel we needed a new LIKE book about Dr. King at this point, given that so much has already been US ONwritten about him?

SOCIAL

A: It’s a great question.

King, as MEDIA you know, has had three principal biographers: the Pulitzer Prize winner Taylor Branch, David Garrow and Clayborne Carson. They’ve done the heavy lifting when it comes to giving us the historical facts about his work. What has not happened until this text is a book

A: That’s right. It’s easy to deify dead martyrs. But if Martin is deified today, he was demonized near the end of his life. People think Martin only gave one speech in his life, “I Have a Dream.”

But that was in 1963 at the March on Washington; he wasn’t assassinated until 1968. In the intervening years, the Civil Rights Act passed, the Voting Rights Act passed.

But when King comes out against the Vietnam War, and starts to talk about that triple threat of racism, poverty and militarism, everybody turns on him.

The White House turns on him. The media turns on him — the liberal media, the New York Times, the Washington Post. White America turns on him. And worse still, black America turns on him, including the black media.

Chief Creative Officer

written by. Kevin Nance organizing. King was going to be the original Occupy movement, except that he wasn’t going to New York to do it. He was going to the nation’s capital to set up a tent city, called Resurrection City, right on the National Mall.

Q: That was during the time of the rise of the Black Panthers, who had a different idea about how to proceed.

A: Yes, and Martin, even though he was only 39 when he died, was passé to many of the young people, who were more invested in this black-power sloganeering and strategy, which was a bit more radical and, quite frankly, a bit more violent. Martin was all for nonviolence, and so he was being eclipsed in some ways by Stokely Carmichael, by Huey Newton, by H. Rap Brown.He was a public servant, not a perfect servant.

Q: Some years ago I wrote a feature for the Washington Post — the liberal media, as you would say — on the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. The tour guide there told me that many people are more interested in the part of the museum that deals with the King assassination and James Earl Ray than in the civil rights movement per se. That speaks to your point that we’re maybe focusing on the wrong things in relation to Dr. King.

A: That’s right. I argue in the book that his martyrdom has muffled his message.

As a matter of fact, this may be the only So this is a story about King standing in book ever written about King that doesn’t his truth against all of those odds. If you even mention James Earl Ray. You recall think you respect Dr. King, wait until you that the book ends on April 4, 1968, and understand what happened to him in the it’s being told from the viewpoint of Doc, last year of his life, from April 4, 1967, to as Dr. King was called by his inner circle April 4, 1968, and see if you don’t come — what he’s feeling, what he’s going away with a renewed respect for him. through. So when that bullet hits him in Because he continues to march forward the head on that balcony at the Lorraine with those unsettling truths that even 50 Motel, that’s it for him. And so the name years later, we still don’t want to come to of James Earl Ray never comes up, terms with. because it’s not germane to the story I’m telling. It’s not about who shot Dr. Q: Many people, in particular many King, whether he did it alone, whether blacks at the time, felt that Dr. King was the government was complicit and so spreading himself too thin, that he was on. There are plenty of books about all taking on too many different issues at of that. But if you want to read a story once. from King’s perspective, about how he saw the world in the last year of his life Facebook: facebook.com/urbanvoicemag A: Yes, there were those who thought when everybody turned on him, this is that his civil rights work was unfinished. that book.

Twitter: Indeed, there were those in @urbanvoicenews his own camp, the SCLC — the Southern Kevin Nance is a Chicago-based Christian Leadership Conference, the freelance writer and photographer. only organization he ever founded Twitter: @KevinNance1 — who felt that way. One of the most painful parts of the book is the difficulty that King had in getting his own troops, his inner circle, to work with him and agree with him, with regard to the poor people’s campaign that he was

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Brian Archie Lynn Cole George Curry Sharetta T. Smith Jermaine D. Harper Kevin Nance Andrea Perry Jessica Pierce Clint Powell Shanelle Smith Brtittany Thomas ADVERTISING Email: ads.urbanvoice@gmail.com

PHOTOGRAPHY BA Photography, Brian Archie Look Within Photography, Shakeesha Semone Jequise Beverly (Cover Photo) WEBSITE: www.urbanvoiceonline.com COPYRIGHT All material appearing in Urban Voice NewsMagazine is copyright unless otherwise stated or it may rest with the provider of the supplied material. Urban Voice Newsmagazine takes all care to ensure information is correct at time of printing, but the publisher accepts no responsibility or liability for the accuracy of any information contained in the text or advertisements. Views expressed are not necessarily endorsed by the publisher or editor.

CULTURE/LIFESTYLE

How Music is Fueling the #BlackLivesMatter Movement

Increasing Black Elders to See Sharp Rise in Alzheimer’s

By Deonna Andreson

written by. Frederick Lowe

ll LONG BEACH -- I still remember the first time I heard Lupe Fiasco’s “All Black Everything.” I was in my apartment in Davis, California where I attended college.

When I heard the words, I was reminded of the history of Black people in America. It made me want to learn even more about my history. Everyone has a sphere of influence, and the music made me ask myself: “How am I using mine?”

ll WASHINGTON, D.C. — The number of African American elders will double in only 16 years to 6.9 million people--and the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia will also jump. But experts say people can fight the deadly disease through a number of activities, such as engaging in regular physical exercise and intellectually stimulating pursuits.

Since August, when unarmed teenager Michael Brown was killed by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Mo., young people have rallied in the streets of Ferguson, New York, Oakland, Los Angeles and other towns across the nation and the world. In Long Beach, young people recently began organizing around the slogan #BlackLivesMatter, a campaign born in 2012 after Trayvon Martin’s killer, George Zimmerman, was acquitted for his crime.

Throughout, music has been an undeniable part of the protests, the latest reminder that when used the right way, music can inspire social change.

“Music can be considered the heartbeat of social movements,” says Eric Tandoc, a DJ and a community organizer at the Filipino Migrant Center in Long Beach. Tandoc regularly uses art to inspire youth to take action on social and political issues.

“Not everyone is going to listen to a speech or read a book, but people will listen to a 3-minute song,” he says.

Nationally, respected musicians such as Questlove of the hiphop group The Roots have urged musicians to create more protest songs, and artists are responding.

The truth of the matter is, musicians have more influence than I do, and even more influence than they had in the 1980s or 1960s. In the age of social media, the possibility of communication between musicians and their fans has been brought to an all time high.

If young people see their favorite musician talking about social change, they might pay more attention to what is happening and be inclined to get involved in making a positive impact.

Currently, 5.1 million Americans, including 1 million African Americans, suffer from Alzheimer’s, the most-widely known form of dementia. But from 2010 to 2030, the number of blacks entering the age of risk for dementia will more than double to 6.9 million, according to the Alzheimer’s Association’s report “African Americans and Alzheimer’s Disease: The Silent Epidemic.”

In his song “Hands Up,” north Long Beach native Vince Staples raps, “Raidin’ homes without a warrant/Shoot him first without a warning/And they expect respect and nonviolence/I refuse the right to be silent.”

Fellow Long Beach rapper Crooked I, recently going by Kxing Crooked, released “I Can’t Breathe” in which he raps, “So, no, I can’t buy that pellet gun/They might try to Tamir Rice you.” Tamir Rice was a 12-year old Black boy who was killed by a police officer last month in Cleveland, OH. But lyrics about the current events aren’t just happening locally in Long Beach.

Let’s go down the list: Six days after Brown’s death, hip-hop artist J. Cole recorded and released “Be Free.”

• Lauryn Hill belted out the lyrics, “Black rage is founded on two-thirds a person/ Rapings and beatings and suffering that worsens,” on “Black Rage,” which she released a couple weeks after Brown’s death.

• The Game brought together over ten hiphop and R&B artists including Rick Ross, 2 Chainz, Wale, Swizz Beatz, Curren$y, and TGT to produce “Don’t Shoot.”

• Tink sang and rapped on “Tell the Children” a few days after the grand jury decided not to indict Wilson for the murder.

• Rapper Dizzy Wright also released a song called “I Need Answers.”

These songs are the 21st century protest songs. While each of these songs were created as a response to the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, they speak to an issue Black communities around the country have been dealing with for centuries. They are reminiscent of Nina Simone’s “Mississippi Goddam,” Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On?” and Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power.” The themes don’t seem to have changed much since the 1960s or 1980s.

When famous musicians don’t speak out, some are critical.

#

A few years ago, singer, actor and civil rights activist “Music can be Harry considered the Belafonte heartbeat of social called movements,” out two of today’s biggest musicians, Jay-Z and Beyoncé, saying that they “turned their back on social responsibility.” To Belafonte, those two megastars and other popular artists are at fault for not using their influence to have a positive impact on their fans.

As a young person, I agree with Belafonte: it’s a waste of influence when famous musicians don’t speak up. While it doesn’t necessarily affect whether or not I will continue listening to their music, I personally wish that they would speak at times when there needs to be some action.

What can African American men and women do to fight Alzheimer’s? The Alzheimer’s Association encourages individuals to increase their physical activity, eat a healthy diet, engage in intellectually stimulating pursuits and participate in Alzheimer’s clinical trials so a cure is developed to address the unique needs of blacks.

The National Association Of African American Owned Media Plans To Hold Sony Fully Accountable For Their Racist Emails ll The National Association of African American Owned Media (NAAAOM) recently sued AT&T and DirecTV for $10 billion for racial discrimination in contracting with 100% African American owned media.

NAAAOM stated in their lawsuit against AT&T and DirecTV that they spend approximately $22 billion per year licensing channels and advertising with less than $3 million per year going to 100% African American owned media.

Hip-hop artist Yasiin Bey, formerly known as Mos Def, put it best in his monologue addressing the happenings in Ferguson: “I think many of us are becoming even more aware of where we are, and [there is] urgency to change this miserable condition on this Earth, [as] Malcolm X said.”

If all artists spoke up, I truly believe that it could wake up many more young people to demand change and join causes.

The co-Chair of Sony Pictures Entertainment, Amy Pascal, and movie producer, Scott Rudin, exchanged racist emails about “a stupid Jeffery Katzenberg breakfast” with the first African American President of the United States, Barack Obama.

The racist emails revealed their belief the President would only want to talk about African American movies such as “Django Unchained,” “The Butler,” and “12 Years A Slave.”

“I think music can play an important role in sparking the motivation in wanting to do something,” Tandoc said, while adding, “The long term organizing is where the true power is.”

Deonna N. Anderson writes for VoiceWaves, a youth-led community news website and trilingual print publication serving Long Beach, Calif., and founded by New America Media.

“Let’s be 100% clear, the Sony emails are horrendous, very racist and completely unacceptable” said Mark DeVitre, President of NAAAOM, “And we plan to hold Sony fully accountable.”

URBAN VOICE NEWSMAGAZINE 2014 | 7

ENTERTAINMENT/MUSIC/CULTURE

MLK HOLIDAY JANUARY

Each Year, groups around the country coordinate a series of events on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. We’ve compiled a list to make you aware of how you might be able to celebrate the Life & Legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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ATLANTA MLK Civil and Human Rights Conference The 2015 Martin Luther King Jr. Civil and Human Rights Conference will be held Jan. 15–19 in Atlanta at the Westin Peachtree Plaza.

Established to commemorate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the accomplishments of the civil rights movement, this multi-ethnic, multi-gender and intergenerational conference reinforces the historic bond between the labor and civil rights movements and honors Dr. King’s vision that collective action—whether at the voting booth or in the workplace—will mobilize participants to continue their work in order to make his dream a reality.

DJ LV’S TOP 10

Every month Levar Wilson AKA DJ LV will post his Top 10 major label and independent hip hop & R&B music hits Check out DJ LV at Mary’s Lounge in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

R&B AND HIP-HOP TOP TEN ALBUMS

SOUTHERN SOUL TOP TEN ALBUMS

1. 2014 Forest Hills Drive-J.Cole 2. Anybody Wanna Buy A Heart-K. Michelle 3. The London Sessions-Mary J. Blige 4. Shady XV-Various Artists 5. X-Chris Brown 6. Game Changer-Johnny Gill 7. PRhyme-PRhyme 8. Sharp On All 4 Corners:Corner-E-40 9. Beyonce-Beyonce 10. 36 Seasons-Ghostface Killah

1. I Am Calvin-Calvin Richardson 2. Tighten Up-Wilson Meadows 3. Untamable-Willie Clayton 4. I Came To Get Down-Sheba Potts-Wright 5. I Lost My Baby On Facebook-Jesse James 6 . Still Here-Nathaniel Kimble 7 . Greatest Hits-Tucka 8 . Portrait Of A Balladeer-Sir Charles Jones 9. Blues Mix 14: Total Soul Blues-Various Artists 10. I’m Bout It Bout It: All Of Me Deluxe-Floyd Taylor

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CHATTANOOGA Saturday, January 17, 2015 9 am Annual Prayer Breakfast Donation $25.00 Greater Tucker Missionary Baptist Church 1061 North Moore Road Speaker: Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Pastor Emeritus, Trinity United Church of God Chicago, IL Sunday, January 18, 2015 4 pm Dr. King’s Birthday Party The Kingdom Center 730 E M. L. King Blvd.

Speaker: Rev. Jahmaul Williams, Atlanta, GA Monday, January 19, 2015

Memorial Parade & March 3pm From Miller Park to Olivet Baptist Church 740 East M. L. King Boulevard Main Program 5pm Olivet Baptist Church 740 East M. L. King Boulevard Keynote: Dr. Umar Abdullah-Johnson Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

ENTERTAINMENT/MUSIC/CULTURE UPGRADE YOUR SOCIAL CALENDAR. Tis the season for…laughs, music and everything in between. Keeping

you in-the-know about the essentials for the good life.

ll Umar AbdullahJohnson is a Nationally Certified School Psychologist who practices privately throughout Pennsylvania and lectures throughout the country.

Umar is a blood relative of Frederick Douglass, the great Black abolitionist and orator.

As a school psychologist Umar evaluates children ages 3-21 in an effort to determine if they have educational disabilities and a need for special education services.

Umar is considered a national expert on learning disabilities and their effect on Black children, as well an expert on helping schools and parents modify challenging behaviors that can ultimately lead to disruptive behavior disorder diagnoses in Black boys.

He specializes in working with at-risk, violent, suicidal and depressed African-American boys and girls. Umar has received commendations for his volunteer work throughout the Pan-African community,

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James R. Mapp. A Tireless Advocate for Civil Rights

by Statt Reporter

T

he National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded on February 12, 1909, by a group of white liberals in an effort to address widespread lynchings throughout the United States. At its inception, NAACP’s stated goal was to secure the rights of all citizens under the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the United States Constitution. These amendments, historically known as the “Reconstruction Amendments”, abolished slavery (13th), afforded former slaves equal protection under the laws of the United States (14th), and gave African American males the right to vote(15th).

By 1910, the NAACP had established its national office in New York. Moorfield Storey, a white constitutional lawyer, served as the organization’s first president.

By the 1940’s, the NAACP had grown to roughly 600,000 members. Among those was a young man named James Mapp.

James Mapp is a Chattanooga civil rights icon. He has a reputation throughout the community for being a calculated, meticulous advocate for the roughly 70,000 African Americans that call Chattanooga home. Mapp has spent over seventy years of his life among the leadership ranks of the Chattanooga chapter of the NAACP. This month, as Mapp steps down from the office of President, he shares that although he may be leaving office, James Mapp will always be a tireless advocate for issues affecting people of color.

Born James Rogers Mapp on August 16, 1927, in Mayfield, Georgia, Mapp moved to Chattanooga when he was ten years old. His grandfather, Henry, was a farmer that owned his own land, which was unusual for African Americans during that time period. Mapp candidly tells the story of witnessing an incident involving his

10 | URBAN VOICE NEWSMAGAZINE

grandfather’s land and how, at the tender age of ten years old, that moment became a defining point in his life.

“Grandpa, in 1937, was getting ready to move to Chattanooga to be with his children and the fella that he bought the farm from came around and said, ‘Well Henry I hear you going to live with your children.’ Grandpa said, ‘Yes’, and the man continued, ‘Well Henry we will just take the farm and call it even’. Grandpa said, ‘Well I don’t owe you anything’. Then the man looked over and saw Loudella, Grandpa’s sixteen year old horse, and said ‘We’ll just take Loudella too, Henry’.”

“At the time a Black man could not hire a lawyer, and no jury would hear his case.” said Mapp. “Grandpa had to leave his property, and that happened to many of our people.”

Witnessing that experience left a ten-year

old James Mapp disturbed. However, it was not until he was a junior high school student at Howard and ran across a woman named Mrs. Rose McGhee that he would learn exactly what caused his disturbance – racism and the failure of the law to protect all of its citizens.

“Mrs. Rose McGhee taught civics,” said Mapp. “As she was telling us about government and how government works and how government should work for us, she was really teaching us about racism and what we could do to combat it”, he concluded.

In 1942, while still a junior high student, Mapp joined the NAACP. By the time he was in high school, Mapp had become President of the NAACP Youth Council.

Howard High School, Mapp’s Alma Matter, was segregated. Despite this, Mapp

FEATURE STORY believes he received a quality education.

“The class of 1947 started out with 138 students”, said Mapp. “118 of these students graduated; and out of those we had two M.Ds, three Ph.Ds, a number of school teachers, some McDonald’s franchisees, and many others that went into public health.”

During this time Chattanooga was very much a daughter of the South operating under deeply entrenched racist ideologies, and Mapp learned early on that having a good education isn’t always a shield.

While working at a local foundry during the summers of his high school years, Mapp experienced racism first hand. ” A fella from the union came by”, recalled Mapp. “The fella said, ‘Well boys we gonna give you $3.00 on the hour and white men $10.00 on the hour’.”

It was right after that experience that Mapp took to the pen and expressed his opinions about the unfair treatment that he and other African Americans were experiencing living in Chattanooga.

“I wrote my first letter to the editor decrying racism in 1946”said Mapp. “I was still a student at Howard, and

I was encouraged by Mrs. Rose McGhee and others, namely C.B. Robinson and James and John Jenkins, to continue to think about the treatment of African Americans in this community and society as a whole.”

Mapp took that encouragement to heart and continued his work with the NAACP into his adulthood. At the age of 32, he became President of the Chattanooga Branch of the NAACP.

“I was 32 years old when I became President”, said Mapp. “Believe or not. I didn’t seek any of this. It was thrust upon me”.

Mapp recalled that Rev. Williams of Bethlehem Wiley Church had been elected, but Williams had refused to serve.

“He refused to serve because it was hot”, said Mapp.

The year was 1959. There were many that understood that the implementation of civil rights would be slow. Many more were

unwilling to go through the painful, and sometimes violent process. The country was in a state of unrest and the nation was polarized by race.

lawyer that they were going to take their kids over to Glenwood and force the school to allow them to register, but their lawyer talked them out of it that day.

begin with Dr. King so it did not die with Dr. King. He was an eloquent spokesman.

SCLC was going to jail but the NAACP had to get them out of jail.”

For example, during 1959, in the state of Tennessee alone, Highlander Folk School, a leadership training site located in Grundy County, and one of the few places in the South where African Americans and whites could meet openly in public, was raided by prosecutors and closed for violating Tennessee segregation laws and the alleged unlawful sale of alcohol.

In Fayette County, officials were sued by the federal government for refusing to allow African Americans to vote in the Democratic primary. In Davidson County, African Americans had begun to challenge segregation in downtown stores.

Mapp said that it was providential that they were talked out of attempting to register their kids at Glenwood on that particular day.

He has witnessed Chattanooga’s attempt at desegregation: “Although the school board was ordered to desegregate, that was never really accomplished in Chattanooga.

I had been the NAACP Secretary for 6 years, at that time and nobody else would step up to be president”, said Mapp. “I was young enough to not care that much about it being hot and I had a wife that would stand by me.”

Once the school board denied registration, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund picked up the case and assigned filed the suite in 1960 with the support of local Chattanooga attorneys. Mapp prevailed, but his victory would not come without costs.

Mapp recalls having to fight with the NAACP Executive Board early on to get things accomplished. “There were a lot of older people on the board when I became president and I had to fight,” said Mapp.

“Every little thing that the white person would do, they would want to put them in honor and I said ‘No. We don’t do that’”.

Mapp also would not have the support of the NAACP Executive Board when, just one year after taking on the role of branch president, he became a lead plaintiff in a lawsuit to force desegregation in Chattanooga’s public schools.

“You see in 1959, I had went to the state meeting in Nashville at Pleasant Green Baptist Church on Jefferson”, said Mapp.

“I didn’t have $2 to stay at Brown’s Inn, so I slept in my car that night, an old station wagon. I got cold, but I learned how a school suit could be filed.”

Mapp returned back to Chattanooga enthused by the possibly of filing a school desegregation lawsuit against Chattanooga City Schools. Mapp said he thought that the Executive Committee was going to support him, but they did not.

“They said ‘Well in the first place we are going to raise $2000 to take a survey’,” joked Mapp. “I knew that they were just stalling because at the time the NAACP was only raising $300.00 per year.

In response Mapp, and two other parents, Josephine Maxey-Derricks and Reverend H.H. Kirnon (who were also NAACP members), formed a committee and decided to follow through with the suit on their own. “We were doing this for our children”, explained Mapp. “We were members of the PTA. Our kids were being bused from Orchard Knob to Park Place to 5th Street and to Clara Carpenter for a ½ day of education while Glenwood, which was over where Memorial Hospital is now, sat over there empty. We had went to the school board to get some relief but we couldn’t get any relief. Something had to be done.”

According to Mapp, the group told their

“Two weeks later, we did the same thing, but this time we did not go to our attorney first, said Mapp. “At about 1:30 p.m. when we were over at Glenwood School, on that same day, at around 4:00 p.m. a group of students from Howard High School were downtown conducting a “sit –in” at a local lunch counter. The Howard students didn’t know what we were doing and we didn’t know what they were doing.

“When I filed the suit, I was an assistant manager at North Carolina Mutual,” said Mapp. “They said I was spending too much time on the suit, so they demoted me.”

Fortunately, Mapp was able to secure a general manager position at Union Protective, another African American owned insurance company that was next door. However, he had to part ways with that company after he refused to compromise the settlement of a claim.

“After I got over there a young man was killed on the railroad tracks on Holtzclaw and he had a $500 policy”, explained Mapp. “They told me take $300 over there in small bills and settle the claim. I said ‘No, I wasn’t trained that way’.”

Again fortune prevailed because during that time, many African Americans owned their own businesses and commercial real estate. Because of this, Mapp was able to rent an office from the C.B Robinson and open his own insurance firm. It was the father of one of his classmates that gave him his first premium when Mapp first started.

Mapp said that before integration, Chattanooga had a very prosperous African American business community.

“Between the railroad tracks and the post office (referring to what is now MLK Blvd.), there were over 600 of us that worked for black owned businesses,” said Mapp. “We had four insurance companies. We had doctors’ offices, barber shops, dentists’ offices, clubs, grocery stores, and gas stations.”

In his seventy years with the NAACP, James Rogers Mapp has seen a lot.

He has lived through the movement: “We were always scarred. But we were not too scared to do something.”

There is still segregation today.

Jim Crow is dead but gentrification is alive and well, growing increasingly each day, resulting in the same outcomes”.

As he exits the stage during this moment in history, James Rogers Mapp, leaves us with these reflections.

The church is no longer the center of civic and community engagement, and it should be.

The good news is we have made educational gains. We were able to achieve some inroads in upper level management. We have purchased very nice homes in the suburbs. The bad news is that we have lost ground in each of those areas. For example, the Chattanooga Police Department has less than 20% African Americans sworn police officers. The Hamilton County school system has less than 10% African American teachers. African American homeownership is on the decline.

There is still much to be done in regards to civil rights: #1 - get out and vote. #2 - learn to vote your interest and that of your peers, not because you like somebody. #3 - start following the money by paying attention to government spending.

We should become entrepreneurs. We should do like the Chinese and Jewish communities and allow our money to turn over more in our communities.

According to Mapp, the mission of the NAACP has not changed. Despite others trying to make this a “catchall” organization we are still the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

He met Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: “Many people had thought the movement had died with King. But the movement didn’t

URBAN VOICE NEWSMAGAZINE 2014 | 11

VOICES/COLUMNIST

WHY I CHOSE NOT TO MARCH IN DC

Editor’s note: Blue Telusma is a Washington-based writer for theGrio.com, an online venue devoted to perspectives that affect and reflect the African-American community. Follow @theGrio on Twitter or like it on Facebook. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author. Follow her on Twitter.

by Jessica Pierce

While I applaud everyone who marched in Washington, DC, I chose to sit this one out — for several reasons.

As an organizer who has previously been involved in the planning and execution of national marches, I see how they are attractive on a symbolic level.

Given the moment we are in right now, I even see the desire to feel connected to a community outside of ourselves, which is a feeling marches give people quite effectively. The issue I take is not with marches themselves but more specifically with the march in DC this past Saturday.

To be precise, I have four fundamental issues: 1) Timing & Local Connection.

Marches can have the potential to build capacity for movements. However, the DC march was put together with very little time, and even in the time they did have, there wasn’t an engagement of local organizers. All of the individuals and organizers leading protests, Black Friday blackouts, and die-ins in DC were not a part of organizing this march. They easily could have been engaged and were not. In NYC, the Millions March on NYC and the National Day of Resistance, which were both occurring at the same time, were being led by the movement. The DC march, whether intentionally or not, appeared to be led by figureheads and DC VIP’s.

It also fell at a time where elected officials had already given their farewell messages for the year and were preparing for holiday parties and headed in-district and in-state. Whatever interaction happened with elected officials on Saturday was likely with elected officials who were already in support of an end to police brutality.

2) Resources.

It is a gross mis-management of resources to encourage people at this point in time to come to a national march in DC without a direct interface with decision-makers and concrete demands to push. Organizations are closing doors, donors are “shifting” their portfolios, organizers are finding themselves unemployed or underemployed after the election. The hundreds of thousands of dollars spent (if not millions, especially if we include travel and lodging costs) would have better been spent funding local organizations and national grassroots organizations who are in these communities being directly impacted by the issues of police brutality. These organizations and individuals are still in need now. As thousands of dollars is being recycled in the form of discarded signs, those thousands could have been used to sustain the livelihood of people who are organizing in their communities right now without a paycheck.

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3) Power & Policy.

The decisions we have been protesting are not national decisions — they have been state and local decisions, and to resolve these issues, we must focus on decentralized organizing that focuses on local and state targets. Why not have a march that focuses on marching on state capitols, marching to the homes of elected officials on a local level, or taking over offices simultaneously in several cities if we really feel the need to march? Millions March on NYC did just that at the exact same time as Al’s march.

They made concrete demands of the Governor of the state of NY and the mayor of New York City. Were there demands of the newly elected Mayor of DC, Muriel Bowser, at the DC march? I highly doubt it. Did we march on the Department of Justice or the White House? No. Even the national institutions that could actually do something on the issues of police brutality were not targeted.

4) Symbolism.

Symbolism hasn’t done anything for me, and I mean that. Remember when Janet Jackson asked, “What have you done for me lately?” Well, I’m still asking that of our symbolic speakers and figureheads like Al Sharpton. Many of us have “worn out our shoes” marching in marches in DC. There has been no follow-up. There have been no lists. There is no policy agenda that institutions, organizations, decision-makers, and individuals have collectively agreed on. To that end, what is left is the symbolic “power” of this march. You can miss me with that. Will there be local follow-up on this march in DC? Will we see Al on the ground organizing within communities and doing more than giving eulogies and speeches? I hope so, but I’m not going to hold my breath.

I say all of this to not discredit the people who worked to make this march happen — the ones whose names most don’t know and won’t know — because they are organizers who don’t do this for recognition but instead for their community and for the movement. I say this to ask us to look critically at how we’re building this movement.

A black person is killed by police force every 28 hours in this country, and that resonates with me every 24 hours. Our lives quite literally depend on this movement right now, so we have to build strategically, quickly, and with the intent to sustain.

I do believe that progress is possible — I just don’t think a national march with a VIP section is going to make black lives matter or change the policies around police brutality in this country, and that’s my bottom-line.

Jessica Pierce is a DC-based activist, artist, and training guru. She currently serves as the National Co-Chair for the Black Youth Project 100. You can follow her adventures on Twitter @JFierce.

ADVERTISING AND MARKETING BASICS - THE TALE OF TWO CONVERSATIONS by. Clint Powell

Today we do things a little differently. I have two rants (not angry rants – just observationalrants) that come directly from recent conversations. They both have to do with business growth and marketing, but even to a bigger picture: our mindset when it comes to our overall plan in life (business or personal).

We might as well jump right in to conversation #1. I was talking with several clients lately and their remarks went something like this - ‘we have never really advertised before…mostly word of mouth’. Great! That is the best advertising! But then the conversation would get to something like ‘We aren’t getting the new customers like we did in the past’ or ‘I wish we could grow like we use to’. Hhmm!

You know what my thought was? Success is a dangerous thing! That’s right…success left unchecked can play a major role in a company’s failure! You get complacent! You don’t engage in legitimate conversations about opportunities. Today’s world is competitive. Just like you…your competitor has more access to your customers and prospects than ever before. The market place moves faster. Customers are more educated about the buying process and about the products/services they are buying. The days of just opening the door, flipping on the light and calling that a ‘growth plan’ is over.

Today you have to expect more from your two most important assets: time and money.

Success can numb us to needs.

Success can mask lurking issues…it blinds us to things that need to be evaluated – that need to be improved – that need to be changed - it can kill the drive to lead or to be innovative.

I understand you’re successful, but over time your inability to deal with success will slowly eat at market share. Keep success in check. Maybe you do need to advertise or try marketing strategies you have never done before. A store remodel may be in order. Revisit your service model. It could be that you’re in great shape…but don’t assume that. Fight the urge to say ‘we have never done it that way before’. Save yourself from your own success!

The second conversation was a little depressing - but let’s turn that frown upside down. I was talking with some business owners about the advantages and disadvantages of owning/ building your own business. We are each in different stages of business growth, but can relate to one another on some level. It became apparent that my role in the conversation was to be the ‘yin’ to their ‘yang’…the ‘sun will come out tomorrow’ guy! Say it with me…this too shall pass.

That was my role. As a business owner you have a lot on your plate. The challenge is to keep the dream-reality hologram firmly implanted in your brain.

You know what a hologram is?

Well, let me explain it in MY simple-minded terms. Remember when you would get those cool prizes in your cereal. And one of the coolest was the baseball card sized hologram…hold in one way and its David Banner – slight turn and it’s the HULK! Your job is to keep the dream vs. reality hologram in view and let it drive you. Yes…you have to drudge through the day-today mire and muck of payables, receivables, inventory, payroll, etc… YET – at the same time you have to turn that hologram card and remember why you do what you do. The challenge is to let the dream drive your attitude and guide your decisions. Why is this so important, and how does it relate to your marketing?

Well, your customers are not just a ‘demo’ or a ‘target’ – they are humans. Your employees, your vendors, your prospects all human beings! They spend money and they have emotions, feelings, friends, contacts, Facebook and mouths (to better tell their stories with). When they aren’t at work or doing business with you…they have the potential to bury you or build you. Your attitude and motivation can directly affect their word of mouth. If you are a business owner or decision maker then you are always marketing. In a lot of cases – you are the brand!

Your challenges: do not let success lead to your failures and keep that dream-reality hologram in sight. See you next time.

Clint Powell is owner of Connect Marketing, a full service advertising agency.

VOICES/COLUMNIST

DIABETES & VISION LOSS: WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW by. Andrea Perry

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 29.1 million adults in the U. S. are living with diabetes (types I & II). There are a number complications associated with this disease of which many people are unaware.

One of these is a condition known as diabetic macular edema, or DME, which impacts vision and can come on without warning.

In diabetic eye disease, blood vessels in the retina are damaged by chronic high blood sugar levels.

“This chronic damage can lead to DME, which is involves swelling in the part of the eye responsible for central or fine vision,” says Dr. David Brown of Retina Consultants of Houston. “The longer a person has diabetes, the greater the chance of developing diabetic eye disease, the leading cause of blindness in working-age adults in developed countries.”

The CDC reports that approximately 2.3 million people have DME, with about onethird of them undiagnosed. The increasing number of individuals with diabetes worldwide suggests that diabetic eye diseases, including DME, will continue to be a major contributor to vision impairment.

“There are multiple ways DME can be detected,” says Dr. Brown.

“A color photo test offered by a reading center is one way. Also, a device called an OCT that nearly every eye doctor in the country uses which can detect DME in a thirty second scan.”

The American Diabetes Association recommends that, in general, people with diabetes have a yearly comprehensive dilated eye exam, as early detection and timely treatment can help reduce vision impairment.

• Signs or symptoms of DME include: • Noticeable trouble seeing in one eye and then the other.

• Not being able to refocus or correct vision • Distortion; straight lines appearing crooked

The good news is there are promising new treatments that have been developed which can enhance the patient’s quality of life. “We’ve seen amazing breakthroughs in the last three to four years with new approved drugs that include a simple injection into the eye, but this can totally reverse the effects of DME and make it go away,” says Dr. Brown. “A patient will still have the damage to the blood vessels in the eye so the earlier it’s diagnosed, the better it is for the patient. We’ve had patients that would have previously been disabled a few years ago, but who now still have their driver’s licenses and they are able to keep functioning in their everyday lives.”

Melissa Dobbins, a Certified Diabetes Educator with Sound Bites, Inc., offers the following advice to patients living with diabetes: See your primary care physician regularly to determine if you have diabetes and catch complications early.

• Take medications as prescribed.

• Follow a lifestyle of healthy eating and exercise on a consistent basis.

• Get the help of a Diabetes Educator to develop a system of support for managing diabetes.

The website watchyourvision. com offers specific information about DME and tips to help you better manage your diabetes.

Dobbins also offers the following advice: “While education is key, empowerment is the big secret.

That’s what I always hope for my patients, so they realize that they can take steps to make a positive difference in their lives.

For additional information or references, visit cdc.gov/ diabetes or diabetes.org/livingwith-diabetes/complications/eyecomplications/eye-care.html Andrea Perry is a radio and television personality.

CRIMINAL CONVICTIONS MAY AFFECT ELIGIBILITY FOR NEW IMMIGRATION PROGRAM by. Brittany Thomas

On November 20, 2014, the President announced a series of executive actions regarding immigration. The initiative that affects the largest number of people allows parents of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents who have been in the country since January 1, 2010, to request deferred action and employment authorization in a new Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA) program. Individuals who can prove through documentation that they meet the following criteria are eligible to stay in the U.S. and receive a three year work permit. Individuals qualify if: 1. They have a U.S. Citizen or Legal Permanent Resident child of any age as of November 20, 2014; 2. They have been continuously present in the U.S. since January 1, 2010; 3. They were physically present in the U.S. on November 20, 2014; and 4. They are not an enforcement priority for deportation in accordance with the November 20, 2014 policies of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Enforcement Memorandum.

With all of the excitement over the millions of people that potentially qualify, the news and many individuals that assist immigrant populations are overlooking the last element of eligibility, specifically with regard to criminal convictions. Certain criminal convictions can bar aliens from this immigration relief.

The DHS Enforcement Memo mentioned above sets out criminal issues that make certain undocumented immigrants a priority target for arrest and removal. These issues also act as bars to eligibility for DAPA. The bars include being a national security threat, certain convictions or conduct relating to gangs, conviction of an “aggravated felony” (a term of art that includes a wide range of offenses, including some misdemeanors), conviction of any felony, convictions of three or more misdemeanors that arise from three separate incidents, or conviction of one “significant misdemeanor.” There are exceptions for minor traffic convictions.

The criminal bars are very similar to the standards for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which was the program that President Obama announced for children brought to the U.S. in the summer of 2012. Both DAPA and DACA are barred by conviction of any felony, a “significant” misdemeanor, or three misdemeanors “other than minor traffic offenses or state or local offenses for which an essential element is the alien’s immigration status, provided the offenses arise out of three separate incidents.” However, there are some differences, for example, in the definition of what constitutes a felony and misdemeanor.

For purposes of DAPA, a felony is “an offense classified as a felony in the convicting jurisdiction, other than a state or local offense for which an essential element was the alien’s immigration status.”

DHS considers the following to be “significant misdemeanors” regardless of the sentence imposed: domestic violence; sexual abuse or exploitation; burglary; unlawful possession or use of a firearm; drug distribution or trafficking; driving under the influence. For offenses not listed, a “significant misdemeanor” is a conviction where the defendant was sentenced to more than 90 days in custody. This does not include a suspended sentence.

Some offenses, often called “infractions” or “offenses,” are considered to be less than misdemeanors. It is not clear whether or not these will constitute one of the three misdemeanors for DAPA. It is important to obtain expert assistance to evaluate whether a conviction will be treated as less than a misdemeanor for DAPA purposes. Also, it is clear that an expungement removes a conviction as an absolute bar to DACA, but this has not yet been clarified for DAPA. DHS will look at all the circumstances in a case to decide whether a person who has committed a criminal offense will be given deferred action.

DHS also reserves the right to place any immigrant whose DAPA application is denied in removal (deportation) proceedings, which creates further apprehension against filing for DAPA at all. As potentially life-changing choices must be made, immigrants with potential issues should consult with a qualified immigration attorney prior to filing a provisional waiver application due to the severe consequences.

GKH strives to keep you informed of the developments regarding immigration issues.

Please call the GKH Immigration Group toll free at 888-463-8117, or send an e-mail to bthomas@gkhpc.com for more information or representation in your immigration process. We help clients through the internet from around the U.S. and the world. Let us help you no matter where you are, near or far!

GKH attorneys pride themselves on being on the forefront of new immigration developments to best serve clients located around the world.

Brittany Thomas joined GKH in 2012 as a member of GKH’s Immigration Group and focuses her practice on immigration including Deferred Action for DREAMers, family based immigration petitions, and employment based petitions. She received her B.A. from Pennsylvania State University in 2009, and her J.D. from the University of Tennessee in 2012 where she was Director of the College of Law’s Pro Bono Program.

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BUSINESS

4 Tips for Pursuing Government Contracts ll Federal government contracts worth $500 billion are awarded each year, with the law requiring that 23 percent go to small businesses.

But every year officials struggle to meet that goal and having difficulty in meeting the goals of awarding 5 percent of contracts to women-owned businesses and 3 percent to businesses in lowincome areas.

Last year large firms nabbed $83 billion in government contracts tailored to small businesses, according to a recent story in Government Executive.

If small business owners learn as much as possible about this bidding process and start applying, they may be able to land a lucrative contract. Here are a few tips for finding and winning federal or local government contracts.

1. Register a business.

The Small Business Administration has a guide for those wishing to register their small business and bid on federal government contracts. First the businessperson needs to get a Data

Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number from Dun & Bradstreet, which can be obtained at no cost through the D&B website. This number is required before someone can begin bidding on government contracts.

Once a company has a DUNS number, the owner can begin bidding on government contracts. Register on the federal online System for Award Management, as well as appropriate state central procurement contracts site.

In both instances, search through bid opportunities to locate any contracts that might be ideal for the small business.

2. Serve as a subcontractor.

One way a business can land government work without competing for jobs is to serve as a subcontractor. The Supplier Connection site is a great way to find those opportunities: Small businesses can locate contracting opportunities available from larger businesses. By subcontracting with a large business, an owner can learn more about the process while obtaining the income that comes from government contracting.

The SBA also maintains an online

SOURCE: Drew Hendricks, Freelance Writer

directory of contractors that are interested in working with small businesses.

While there is no guarantee that these businesses will work with a small firm, contact an SBA commercial market representative to learn how to market products and services to contractors listed in the directory. The SBA’s website offers advice about contracting.

3. Use a competitive edge.

Small businesses should take advantage of their uniqueness to win contracts.

Many government agencies are now encouraged to do business with minorityor female-owned business, so owners of companies that meet the criteria should emphasize that in their paperwork. The National Minority Supplier Development Council can help minority-owned small businesses locate opportunities and the SBA can connect small businesses with opportunities geared specifically toward women-owned small businesses and economically disadvantaged womenowned small businesses.

On a local level, the state government and local chamber of commerce may have programs in place that strengthen

minority-owned and women-owned small businesses. Through these programs, entrepreneurs may be eligible for networking opportunities, business counseling and even database registration that will help them locate contracting opportunities only available to a small subset of local businesses.

4. Network.

Both federal and local government agencies that are actively seeking small business contractors regularly host government procurement conferences.

These events are a great opportunity to network with government officials and attend workshops geared specifically toward helping small businesses understand the procurement process.

The National Association of State Procurement Officials site serves as a portal to various state procurement agencies and provides up-to-date news of interest to small businesses. Use its map to find the procurement website for a particular state, which is useful for local bidding opportunities, registering to be a vendor or learning about upcoming networking opportunities.

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URBAN VOICE NEWSMAGAZINE 2014 | 15