LAWT 1-14-2010

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. COMMEMORATIVE EDITION

Vol. XXX, No. 1162

SERVING LOS ANGELES COUNTY WITH NEWS YOU CAN USE

January 14, 2010

Kingdom Day Parade to Celebrate, Honor King

BY CHICO C. NORWOOD STAFF WRITER

Three years before President Ronald Reagan signed the bill creating a federal holiday to honor Martin Luther King Jr., Larry T. Grant came up with the idea for a parade to recognize and remember the slain civil rights leader.

“I always admired what he (King) stood for,” said Grant, founder of the Kingdom Day Parade, which has been in Los Angeles since 1986. “He is someone I adored and respected for what he did for us.”

This year’s parade takes place Jan. 18, 11 a.m., and will be headed

by KABC-TV Channel 7 News anchorman Marc Brown, who will serve as the grand marshal, and newly appointed Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck, one of this year’s celebrity grand marshals.

Photo by HARRY ADAMS

REMEMBERING KING — Jan. 18 will be the federal holiday celebrating the birth of Martin Luther King Jr., who was born Jan. 15, 1929, and assassinated April 4, 1968. As part of its annual King edition, the L.A. Watts Times has secured photos of King in Los Angeles from the Institute for Arts and Media at California State University, Northridge. Pictured above is King at Second Baptist Church in Los Angeles, circa 1964. See the special section of photos of King and others, taken by legendary black photographers in Los Angeles, on page 18.

FIRST COLUMN

SNCC Chronicle is Deft History of Era

BY KENDAL WEAVER AP WRITER

Even after nearly 50 years, the names bear repeating: Franklin McCain, David Richmond, Ezell Blair and Joseph McNeil.

They were freshmen at North Carolina A&T on Feb. 1, 1960, when they took their seats at the whites-only lunch counter at Woolworth’s in downtown Greensboro. Four young blacks tired of segregation laws, they were refused service and asked to leave.

But they remained until the counter closed, and when they walked back to their dorm exhilarated, they had set in motion an act of civil disobedience — the sit-in — that took the Civil Rights Movement by storm.

The next day, 25 sit-in protesters showed up. Then 63 filled all but two seats at Woolworth’s.

The protest spilled over to the nearby Kress department store, and as word spread across North Carolina and across the South, so did the sit-in: By mid-April, more than 50,000 protesters — ordinary Americans, most of them young — had attacked Jim Crow at the counter.

Andrew B. Lewis, a historian at Wesleyan University, recounts this pivotal moment in his book, “The Shadows of Youth: The Remarkable Journey of the Civil Rights Generation,” as he chronicles the roles of a band of young people who gave new direction and courage to the movement at a crucial time.

The book is a shorthand history of the civil rights era — from lynching victim Emmett Till and the Supreme Court’s Brown v.

Board of Education decision that outlawed school segregation, to the Montgomery, Ala., bus boycott, the rise of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the sit-in phenomenon — as it follows the lives of several key figures who forged the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, some becoming far betterknown today than those four college students at Greensboro.

From mostly different backgrounds but with a common See CHRONICLE, page 12

The parade will air on Channel 7 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Rounding out the parade hierarchy are songstress Chaka Khan; Niecy Nash, who will share celebrity grand marshal duties with Beck; Tatyana Ali, who will ride in the Founder’s Car; and several others.

Other celebrity guests include “Princess and the Frog” star Michael Colyar and humorist and motivational speaker Mother Love.

Elected officials participating include Los Angeles City Council members Bernard Parks Sr., Herb Wesson, Jan Perry and Janice Hahn; Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas; Carson Mayor Jim Dear and members of the Carson City Council; Congresswoman Maxine Waters; and State Sen. Gloria Romero.

Carrying a theme of “Yesterday’s Dream Is Today’s Reality,” the parade’s royalty includes Queen Brittni Wallace of California State University, Dominguez Hills, and princesses Carla Banks (first runner up) from the University of California, Berkeley, and Adrianne St. Clair (second runner up) of Frederick Douglass Academy.

The parade will include 15 marching bands, 20 drill teams, 10 dance groups and 16 floats.

One of the largest celebrations of the King holiday in Southern California, the procession begins at Western Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, proceeds west to Crenshaw Boulevard, and turns See KINGDOM DAY PARADE, page 19

National MLK Jr. Memorial Set to Open in 2011

BY CHARLENE MUHAMMAD CONTRIBUTING WRITER

After much delay, construction has finally begun on the Washington, D.C., Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial.

The work began in midDecember 2009 and should last about 18 months, if it stays on track, said Harry Johnson Sr., president of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation Inc. The nonprofit agency is overseeing the project.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar issued a building permit to the foundation Oct. 29, 2009, about a year after it applied.

Because the permit was not issued under the George W. Bush Administration, it paved the way for Barack Obama, the first African American president, to dedicate the first national memorial to King, who was neither a former president, nor war hero, Johnson said.

“The significance of all of this is Dr. King gave his ‘I Have a Dream Speech’ August 28 in D.C. during the March on Washington.

Barack Obama gets the nomination for the Democratic nominee August 28, 2008. This memorial will be completed July 2011 ... How significant would it be for us to have now a dedication that happens August 28 on the anniversary of the March on Washington,” Johnson said.

The point of delay was the foundation’s efforts to satisfy the National Park Service’s requirements for a specific type of security around the 4-acre memorial to help thwart domestic terrorist attacks, and then get two other federal regulatory agencies to agree, he added.

“The park service felt that while Dr. King’s memorial would not be a target for international terrorists, it could very well be a target See MLK MEMORIAL, page 20

Photo Courtesy of the MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. NATIONAL MEMORIAL PROJECT FOUNDATION

IN THE WORKS — Construction is underway on the Washington, D.C., Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial, which is expected to open in 2011. Above is the photo of a clay maquette copy of the statue that will be part of the 4-acre memorial.

PEACE RALLY — Chief Apostle Michael L. Rowles, pastor of the Wrecking Crew for Christ Church, led a “March against Gang Violence” Jan. 9 that began at the church, at 11250 Avalon Blvd. The march went through the streets of Watts into the Jordan Downs, Imperial Courts and Nickerson Gardens projects and was in protest of gang violence involving blacks and Latinos. Pictured (left): Rowles (with the bull horn) and community members march.

(Below) a crowd protesting.

Photos by MARTY COTWRIGHT

Page 2

L.A. WATTS TIMES

January 14, 2010

OPINION Martin Luther King Jr.: Reid Spoke Awful Truth About Ahead of His Time on Race EARL OFARI HUTCHINSON

Obama’s Racial Exceptionalism Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid apologized profusely for his unguarded quip that Barack Obama’s light skin and non-Negro dialect stood him well with him and, by implication, other whites.

Obama graciously accepted his apology and applauded him as a supporter and friend. But the embattled leader spoke the awful truth that millions did give Obama a racial pass.

The pass did not win the White House for him; money, timing, a skillful campaign, and most importantly, George W. Bush’s blunders and GOP disgrace ultimately tipped the White House his way. But Obama’s racial pass made a difference, maybe a crucial difference.

Two months before the presidential campaign wrapped, a survey found that one-quarter of whites held negative views of blacks that were laced with standard stereotypes.

The respondents said that blacks use race as a crutch and are not as industrious as whites. They opposed interracial marriage, and are terrified of black crime (Obama mildly chided his white grandmother in his so-called race speech in March 2008 for saying she feared black men).

Yet nearly one-quarter of them claimed they’d vote for Obama. In every poll taken from the instant he declared his candidacy, the overwhelming majority of whites were adamant that race had absolutely nothing to do with whether they’d vote for him or not. The difference was not just his lighter coloring, but his words, demeanor and political approach.

His race-neutral campaign was widely perceived as a soothing departure from the race-baiting antics of the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. But others liked him because of, and were plainly fascinated by, his racially exotic background. It supposedly didn’t fit that of the typical African American. This was Reid’s point.

Obama’s light color, the downplay of his blackness, his clipped King’s English delivery, and his tireless pitch as the blankslate, every-person’s candidate, made him personally and politically attractive.

It also made him the textbook racial exception. This is the penchant for some whites to make artificial distinctions between supposedly good and bad blacks. It’s apparent in the unthinking, infuriating, insulting, and just plain dumb crack made to some articulate, well-educated blacks in business and the professions that they are different from other blacks. Or that they are not like other blacks.

Racial exceptionalism stems from the ingrained, but terribly misplaced, belief that blacks are perennially disgruntled, hostile, and rebellious, and are always on the lookout for any real or perceived racial slight, and they itch to pick a fight over it.

African Americans who don’t fit this brash, outspoken, threatening type have been touted, praised — and even anointed over time — by some as the reasoned voice of black America. A century ago, the mantle of the reasoned, exceptional African American was bestowed on famed educator, Booker T. Washington. He was showered with

foundation and corporate money, honors and fame.

In the 1920s and ’30s, leaders from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People always found a ready welcome at the White House. They were praised in the press and bankrolled by some industrialists.

In the 1960s, Urban League President Whitney Young, NAACP executive secretary Roy Wilkins, and Martin Luther King Jr. (before he fell out of favor with Lyndon Johnson after his too-vocal opposition to the Vietnam War and turn to economic radicalism) were lionized for their reason and racial moderation.

In the ’80s, Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush Sr. actively cultivated and promoted a pack of younger GOP-friendly academics, black business leaders, and black conservatives. Reagan and Bush Sr. plainly saw them as a leadership alternative to the black Democrats and the old-guard civil rights leaders.

The black conservatives were appointed to government posts, bagged foundation grants, were feted by conservative think tanks and their columns were routinely published in major newspapers.

They were continually cited by writers and reporters as a breath of fresh air among African Americans mostly for their willingness to break ranks with and to blister Jackson, Sharpton, and the civil rights establishment.

Obama hardly fits the mold of a black conservative. And at no point during the campaign, and certainly at no point during his tenure See HUTCHINSON, page 4

Going From ‘How’ — To ‘Why?’

BY MUMIA ABU-JAMAL

For many, especially in the West, questions abound over the aborted airplane catastrophe of Christmas Day 2009.

A young jihadist comes within precious minutes of delivering a devastatingly deadly Christmas package to the United States and some of its citizens aboard a Northwest Airlines flight.

The apparent ease with which he was able to smuggle a powerful explosive onto the aircraft, and the manner of igniting the chemical, has forced questions about how this could’ve happened.

But for some, the question isn’t how — but why?

Why would 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the son of a wealthy and prestigious Nigerian family, sign up for such a mission?

When politicians and media ask how, they are addressing methodology; when others wonder why, they are examining motivation.

When a young man of means adopts such a path, it speaks to the emptiness and alienation of material life.

His online posts (if accurate) reflect a mind-numbing milieu of loneliness and isolation. And if the son of one of Nigeria’s wealthiest families can be lured to the way of destruction, this does not bode well for those bent on waging what they have called the “War on Terror.”

For there are tens of millions of youth living in direst poverty, in powerlessness, under U.S.-supported feudal, corrupt and violent governments, all over the world, who have far more acute reasons to view their present lives as an intolerable hell.

To strike out against those they perceive as the chief sponsor of their miseries, even at the cost of their lives, especially once given religious sanction, would seem a cheap price to pay.

Yet, there is another factor at play that most major media have chosen to ignore in connection with these recent events.

In March of 2009, the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) went online to file a proposal for an agency that would update their training manual for their staff.

This 93-page document, which was available online for months, gave sensitive details not only about search procedures, Mumia but revealed that Abu-Jamal only 20 percent of bags were hand searched, showed sample identification cards for elected officials and cops, and identified the kinds of wires that wouldn’t set off alarms by airport screening machines.

For any group which wanted to penetrate U.S. security to do harm, this was a virtual electronic treasure trove, a blinking welcome mat.

As long as the United States looks at how’s and not why’s, there will ever be surprises, and “gifts” from those who do not mean them well.

Mumia Abu-Jamal, an awardwinning journalist, is on death row in Pennsylvania and has been since 1982. He was involved in a controversial 1981 shooting in Philadelphia, a case still debated today.

To find out more about Abu-Jamal, visit www.freemumia.org.

BY MAYA RUPERT CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Lately I’ve been feeling pretty smug.

In the past, I’ve made it no secret that I don’t care for the idea of “post-racialism.” It seems like a way for us to shorthand difficult conversations about identity and prejudice by closing our eyes and prematurely declaring race irrelevant, all the while self-congratulating our way into our next racial quagmire.

But every time I voice my objections, post-racial America makes me feel like an expatriate.

And an expatriate from post-racial America is a racist, so it’s often been easier for me to hold my tongue.

But I’ve recently realized that I’ve had an ally all along that will lend some legitimacy to my position.

Martin Luther King Jr. was also a critic of post-racialism.

Ha. Take that, “random pundit whose name I’ve already forgotten but who was pretty snotty while extolling the virtues of Obama’s ability to transcend race unlike us lowly mortals who can’t seem to get over ourselves.”

I made the connection as I reread “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” recently. The letter, famously written after King had been arrested for his participation in the Birmingham Campaign, a nonviolent protest against segregation, was written in response to a growing number of people who began encouraging civil rights leaders to seek change through legal means instead of civil disobedience and to be patient in trying to end segregation.

In one part of the letter, King explicitly addressed and criticized the “white moderate” who claimed to agree with the goal of the Civil Rights Movement, but urged patience in actually achieving its ends.

King wrote of his frustration with such capitulation that, “shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misMaya Rupert understanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.”

He was a little ahead of his time, but this statement actually made King a critic of post-racialism.

Of course he didn’t know at the time he was talking about postracialism. But fast-forward almost 50 years, and replace the abundance of well-meaning moderates desperate to change things without disturbing the status quo with well-meaning Democrats desperate to disturb the status quo without actually See RUPERT, page 20

“Everything that we see is a shadow cast by that which we do not see.”

– Martin Luther King Jr. Source: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/ m/martin_luther_king_jr.html

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CIRCULATION AUDIT BY

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. COMMEMORATIVE EDITION

January 14, 2010

L.A. WATTS TIMES

Page 3

BUSINESS L.A. Times Adds Section, Will Close Orange Co. Press (AP) — The Los Angeles Times will close its Orange County printing operations and add a latebreaking news section to accommodate for earlier deadlines on other sections.

Publisher Eddy Hartenstein said in a letter posted Jan. 7 on the Times’ Web site that “LATExtra” will debut Feb. 2 and run Monday through Saturday. A company spokeswoman said about 80 people will be laid off when the printing press closes.

Hartenstein said the paper will save money by consolidating the printing operations but will have to move up deadlines for its sections. “LATExtra” will run news that occurs after that deadline.

Editorial and other offices will continue operating in Orange County.

Hartenstein also said in his memo that the paper would eliminate its stand-alone business section each Monday.

Foreclosure Institute to Host Workshops The California Foreclosure Institute will present a free two-hour workshop for investors and realtors on how to get started finding and buying foreclosure properties.

This workshop will be held Jan. 20, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., at the Palms-Rancho Park Library, 2920 Overland Ave., Rancho Park.

The guest speaker will be Lloyd Segal, author of “Stop Foreclosure Now” and “Foreclosure Investing.” Reservations are required.

Information: www.foreclosure workshop.net, (310) 379-0101.

Feds: NJ Police Sergeant Exams Discriminatory TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey’s widespread use of a written exam to promote police sergeants discriminates against blacks and Hispanics, according to a lawsuit filed against the state Jan. 7 by the U.S. Department of Justice.

The suit, filed in federal court in Newark, accuses New Jersey of civil rights violations for using a written exam in which black and Hispanic candidates scored significantly and consistently lower than their white counterparts.

Even when minority candidates passed the test, they were not promoted as often as white candidates because their scores were lower and promotions were granted first to those with the highest scores

“Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.”

– Martin Luther King Jr. Source: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/ m/martin_luther_king_jr.html

and most seniority, according to the lawsuit, which did not take issues with using seniority as a factor for promotions.

The lawsuit seeks to stop the state from continuing to use the exam and asks the court to order New Jersey to offer relief to officers “harmed” by the exam by extending them promotions, back pay, and retroactive seniority.

Test scores from 2000 to 2008 that were reviewed by the Justice Department showed that 89 percent of the white candidates who took the exam passed it, compared to 77 percent of Hispanics and 73 percent of black candidates.

Workshop to be Presented on ‘Bulletproofing’ Your Business The Inglewood/Airport Area Chamber of Commerce will sponsor “Secrets to Bulletproofing Your Business” Jan. 20, 6 p.m., at The Proud Bird Restaurant, 11022 Aviation Blvd., Los Angeles.

This event is open to the public and costs $45 per person.

Attorney Caprice Collins will be the featured speaker.

All attendees will receive a free, one-hour consultation. Also, dinner and materials are included.

More information: (310) 6779787, ext. 5, www.collinslawgroup. com.

President Obama Awards $2.3 Billion for New CleanTech Manufacturing Jobs (White House) — President Obama announced the award of $2.3 billion in Recovery Act Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credits for clean energy manufacturing projects across the United States.

One-hundred-eighty-three projects in 43 states are expected to create tens of thousands of highquality clean energy jobs and the domestic manufacturing of advanced clean-energy technologies including solar, wind and efficiency, and energy management technologies.

As part of the Recovery Act, these tax credits are focused on putting Americans back to work by building a robust domestic manufacturing capacity to supply clean and renewable energy projects with American-made parts and equipment.

These credits are also an important step towards meeting the president’s goal of doubling the amount of renewable energy the country uses in the next three years with wind turbines and solar panels built in the United States.

Smart Spending: Federal Appliance Rebates Launch

BY VINNEE TONG AP BUSINESS WRITER

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — This year may be to appliance buyers what 2009 was to car buyers: time for government rebates.

Modeled after the popular Cash for Clunkers program, which was intended to get cars with low gas mileage off the road, a federal appliance rebate program is launching in early 2010.

It offers a boost to people buying energy-efficient clothes washers, refrigerators and other appliances — those that qualify for the federal “Energy Star” designation — and to manufacturers, whose sales fell 10 percent in 2008 and another 12 percent through mid-December this year.

The program has only $300 million, one-tenth as much money as Cash for Clunkers, or about $1 per U.S. resident, so it could run out fast. States are receiving roughly the same amount per capita, with California getting the most at $35.2 million, but what’s eligible varies by state.

Here’s what to keep in mind as you decide whether to swap your washer for that supposedly whisperquiet model or your old white refrigerator for a shapely stainless-steel number.

What’s My State Offering?

For state-by-state information, visit the federal Web site http://energysavers.gov and click on “state appliance rebate program” on the right.

California residents, for example, can get cash back on three types of appliances: $100 for washing machines, $75 for refrigerators and $50 for room air conditioners.

Wisconsin offers rebates on washers and fridges, plus $200 for boilers or furnaces, $75 for central air conditioning or geothermal heat pumps, $50 for freezers and $25 for dishwashers.

(Also in effect through Dec. 31, 2010, is a federal tax credit for 30 percent of the cost up to $1,500 on equipment for a primary residence.)

How Do I Know It’s A Deal?

Joe McGuire, president of the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, said buying Energy Star appliances can mean hearty power savings. But it’s important to make sure you save enough in water and energy bills over time to justify paying for a new unit.

“A good example is a 10-yearold clothes washer,” he said. “With Energy Star, you could reduce utility costs by $145 a year and save 5,000 gallons of water a year.”

At that rate, a typical $500 to $700 dishwasher would pay for

itself in four years. In larger households that use more power and water for laundry, the payoff can come much sooner.

It’s probably not worth replacing appliances less than five to seven years old just because rebates are available, unless you plan to upgrade to a far more efficient model. That’s because newer appliances are already more efficient. But switching from a top-loading to front-loading clothes washer could in itself cut water use enough to make a purchase worthwhile.

The older the appliance, the greater the possibility of saving money by buying a new one.

McGuire says a 20-year-old refrigerator uses three times as much power

as Energy Star-approved units made today, some of which run on less than 60 watts.

“You would save over $250 a year on an average 20-year-old refrigerator if you replaced it,” McGuire said. “That’s about $1,200 over five years. That is real savings to consumers.”

The Department of Energy estimates Americans saved more than $19 billion on utilities last year using Energy Star products.

When Will it End? Rebates will be available until February 2012 or when the money’s gone. And Jen Stutsman, a spokeswoman for the Department of Energy, expects the funds to run out fast.

metro.net

F E I L E R TRAFFIC

S K R O W E IN TH

Everyone talks about being stuck in tra;c, but LA County voters did something about it. In November 2008, Measure R was approved, committing a projected $40 billion to tra;c relief and transportation upgrades over the next 30 years. Following are updates on some of the projects supported by Measure R.

Alternatives Studied For Westside Subway Extension Public meetings were held late last year to discuss various station locations along the proposed routes of the Westside Subway Extension. Metro is currently preparing an environmental study of two project alternatives: a Metro Purple Line subway extension under Wilshire Boulevard through Santa Monica; and the Metro Purple Line extension plus a subway extension from Hollywood.

$1 Billion I-405 Sepulveda Pass Widening Project Launches Motorists face road closures and construction delays on the I-405 Freeway through the Sepulveda Pass for the next few years – but with a big pay-o= in the end. Widening the freeway between the I-10 and U.S. 101 freeways will add a northbound carpool lane to one of the busiest – and most congested – freeways in the nation. For more go to metro.net/ projects_studies/I405.

$9.5 Million Returned To Cities From Measure R The first installments in Measure R local return sales tax monies totaling $9.5 million have gone out to 38 cities in LA County for transportation improvements. First and second payments for sales taxes received from July through September ranged from $2,635 for the City of Irwindale to $6.1 million for the City of LA.

Facts Nov. 2, 1983 President Ronald Reagan signs a bill into law for federal recognition of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday as a holiday. King was born Jan. 15, 1929. Never before had a citizen not elected to public office had a holiday in his honor.

Source: racerelations.about.com

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. COMMEMORATIVE EDITION

GEN-CE-10-001 ©2010 LACMTA

BIZSHORTS

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L.A. WATTS TIMES

January 14, 2010

BUSINESS

Your Money: Understanding Balance Transfers

BY CANDICE CHOI AP PERONAL FINANCE WRITER

NEW YORK (AP) — You have $1,000 in holiday debt in one hand. In the other, an offer to move the balance to a credit card with a lower rate.

So what’s the hold up?

It’s not always a cut-and-dry decision because balance transfers can be rigged with surprising terms.

To start, the cost for switching could

“All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem brings us face to face with another problem.”

– Martin Luther King Jr. Source: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/ m/martin_luther_king_jr.html

be higher than you expected. And as attractive as an offer seems, it might not be the best deal around.

Before jumping on the first mailing you come across, here are answers to some common questions.

Q: Is there any cost I should watch for?

A: It wasn’t so long ago that banks limited balance transfer fees at about $100. Such caps are now virtually gone, said Odysseas Papadimitriou, founder of CardHub. com. So if you’re transferring a $10,000 balance, the fee could be as high as $300 to $500. You might find the price isn’t worth it.

Start by estimating how quickly you plan to pay off the balance.

Then figure out the interest charges you’ll incur to keep the balance on your existing card for that time.

It may turn out the cost is lower than what you’d pay in transfer fees.

Q: How long do introductory rates on balance transfers typically last?

A: Introductory rates — usually 0 percent for balance transfers — expire much quicker these days.

They now generally last six to nine months, about half the time period offered a year ago. The longest offer you’ll see is probably about a year, Papadimitriou said.

In some cases, banks might use

your credit score to determine how long you get the introductory rate.

Either way, be sure you know when the default rate kicks in, and what that rate will be.

You could also trigger the default rate if you’re late on a payment. So if you regularly miss due dates, it’s something to consider before transferring your balance.

Q: Will my credit score be affected?

A: Applying for a new card dings your credit score in the short term, because it suggests you’re in need of money. This category accounts for about 10 percent of your credit score. If you want to avoid taking a hit, check if there are any balance transfer deals offered by your existing cards.

Note that your score could also take a hit if you close an account after transferring its balance to another card. There are two reasons for this: The portion of your available credit you use accounts for 30 percent of your score. Closing an account will lower your total credit limit, and likely drive up the percentage of credit you use. The length of your credit history also accounts for another 15 percent of your score. So consider how long you’ve had an account before you close it.

Q: Does the introductory rate

on balance transfers apply to new purchases as well?

A: Not always, so read the terms carefully. In some cases, a rate might apply to both the transfer and new purchases, but for different amounts of time.

Be sure to shop around to see that you’ve got the best deal going.

Check with your existing credit cards first to see what they offer.

After that, try sites such as Bankrate.com, CardHub.com or CreditCards.com.

Q: Is there anything else I should consider?

A: Don’t assume your balance transfer will go through. Banks

HUTCHINSON Continued from page 2 in the White House, has he said or done anything to personally distance himself from his blackness.

He has on occasion bristled publicly at the notion that he’s in competition with, or a critic of, civil rights leaders, or that he is immune from racial jabs. He cited instances and times in his books where he felt the pang of discrimination, even racial profiling. He has repeatedly praised past civil rights leaders for their heroic battles against racial injustice.

might approve only part of your request if they don’t want to extend that much credit to you. So keep paying off your old card until you get confirmation that the transfer went through.

If you’re transferring a balance because an introductory rate is expiring, don’t procrastinate. It could take longer than you expect, and things don’t always go smoothly. For example, you might need more time to transfer the remainder of a balance if your bank only approves part of your request.

If you have a question you want answered, e-mail it to your money@ ap.org.

But Reid and millions of others didn’t give Obama a racial pass because he put race at arm’s length.

Obama got that pass because of the nagging penchant to elevate some blacks above the racial fray, and declare them the exception. Reid, apology or not, simply spoke the awful truth and confirmed that.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. His weekly radio show, “The Hutchinson Report,” can be heard in Los Angeles, Fridays on KTYM Radio 1460 AM, and streamed live nationally on ktym.com.

Empower your dreams Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream. More than that, he had an indomitable spirit, a dedication to community service and a clear vision of our nation, not as it was, but how it could be. He taught us dreams are nothing without action. That’s why Wells Fargo is committed to working with you and your community through national partnerships, grants for nonprofit organizations and financial education programs. Now is the time for all of us to recommit ourselves to our financial goals, our families and our communities. Wells Fargo honors and supports the national King Day of Service on January 18, 2010.

wellsfargo.com

© 2010 Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. All rights reserved. Member FDIC.

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. COMMEMORATIVE EDITION

January 14, 2010

L.A. WATTS TIMES

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COMMUNITY COMMUNITY MEETINGS, FORUMS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS Christian Assembly Offers Recovery Courses (CA Newsletter) — Christian Assembly Church in Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, is now offering registration for its 12 recovery courses that begin during the last week of January. The courses cover topics such as codependency, sexual abuse, divorce, substance abuse and sexual addiction.

Christian Assembly is at 2424 Colorado Blvd., Los Angeles.

For more information, visit the church’s Connection Center or contact (323) 908-6117, (323) 9086119, or visit caeaglerock.com.

City of L.A. Offers Basketball Clinic

W. El Segundo Blvd., Hawthorne.

The program will start at 11 a.m.

Newly elected representatives will attend the fair. There will be various service provider booths, emergency preparedness information and promotional giveaways, as

well as refreshments, food, entertainment and a brief program.

This event is free and open to the public.

Information: Sandra Amezquita, (310) 349-2908, samezquita@ cityofhawthorne.org.

William Grant Still Arts Center Presents Doll Exhibits (City of L.A.) — The William Grant Still Arts Center will present “I’ve got a Story to Tell,” the 28th annual Black Doll Show, through

Feb. 27. Also on Jan. 27, 6 to 8 p.m., the center will present “Dolls of Hope” for parents and children.

The exhibition is free. Workshops are $10 per doll.

Information: lacity.org.

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(City of L.A.) — The City of Los Angeles will offer a L.A. Kids Free Basketball Clinic for boys and girls ages 7 to 14 on Jan. 14, 5 to 6:30 p.m., at Hollywood Recreation Center, 1122 Cole Ave., Los Angeles.

The clinic aims to teach youths the fundamentals of basketball and how to improve their game. Participants will receive a free T-shirt.

Information: Karen King, Steve Finley, (323) 467-6847

SWE ET

Hawthorne Presents Community Swearing-in and Service Provider Fair

“History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.”

– Martin Luther King Jr. Source: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/ m/martin_luther_king_jr.html

Facts April 4, 1967 Martin Luther King Jr. delivers a speech at a meeting of Clergy and Laity Concerned at Riverside Church in New York City called “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence.” In the speech, King objected to the Vietnam War because, “We were taking the black young men who had been crippled by our society and sending them 8,000 miles away to guarantee liberties in Southeast Asia which they had not found in southwest Georgia and East Harlem.”

Prices and participation may vary. ©2009 McDonald’s.

(Hawthorne) — The City of Hawthorne will present its first Community Swearing-In and Resource Fair at Hawthorne Memorial Center Jan. 30, 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., in the Venus Room at 3901

bliss for a buck

Source: racerelations.about.com

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. COMMEMORATIVE EDITION

Page 6

L.A. WATTS TIMES

January 14, 2010

COMMUNITY

WHAT’S GOING ON?

“A lie cannot live.“ – Martin Luther King Jr. Source: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/ m/martin_luther_king_jr.html

Deadline for receipt of What’s Going On listings is Friday, 12 p.m., at least two weeks prior to activity.

Fax to: (213) 251-5720, e-mail us at lawattsnus@aol.com or mail to: L.A. Watts Times, 3540 Wilshire Blvd., PH3, Los Angeles, CA 90010.

DANCE — Afro-Caribbean dance classes with dance ethnologist Kimberly Miguel Mullen are held on Wednesdays, 7 to 8:30 p.m., at Crenshaw Yoga and Dance, 5426 S. Crenshaw Blvd., Los Angeles, and on Saturdays, 10:30 a.m. to noon, at the Electric Lodge, 1416 Electric Ave., Venice. There is live drumming, and the class is for all levels. Information: (323) 294-7148, www.kimberly miguelmullen.com.

FLAG FOOTBALL — Registration is now open for five-man, all-

passing flag football leagues in the San Fernando Valley, South Pasadena, Van Nuys/Balboa Park and Santa Fe Springs. Evening and weekend leagues begin this month and interleague playoffs with neighboring counties. Participants must be age 18 or older to play. Referees are also needed. Information: www.topgunflagfootball.com, (877) 846-3178.

MASTER MIND — “Master Your Mind for Success in 2010” is the theme of the Goal Achiever’s Workshops that will be held Wednesdays, 7 to 9 p.m., and Saturdays, 8:30 to 10 a.m., at the House of RA, 7823 S. Western Ave., Los Angeles. Information: (323) 756-7567.

UNDERWATER PARKS DAY — The Cabrillo Marine Aquarium

will participate in Underwater Parks Day on Jan. 16, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. This free informational event focuses on the continuing process of establishing Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) along the California coast that could safeguard underwater resources for future generations. Speakers, presentations, exhibits, and interactive offerings are designed to educate the public about MPAs. The aquarium is at 3720 Stephen M. White Drive, San Pedro. Information: (310) 548-7562, www.cabrillomarineaquarium.org.

TREE GIVEAWAY — Community Services Unlimited will sponsor its fourth annual fruit tree giveaway Jan. 16, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., at three locations: John Muir Middle School, 5929 S. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles; Normandie Avenue Elementary School, 4505 S. Raymond Ave., Los Angeles; and the EXPO/ Community Services Unlimited Urban Farm, 3980 S. Menlo Ave.,

Los Angeles. No pots or compost will be offered. Information: www.csuinc. org, (323) 299-7075.

PET CLINIC — The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles is sponsoring a low-cost vaccine and microchip clinic Jan. 30, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the spcaLA’s Pitchford Companion Animal Village, 7700 E. Spring St., Long Beach. Low-cost rabies and other vaccinations will also be offered. Information: (562) 5707722, www.spcala.com.

PSYCHOLOGISTS — The Association of Black Psychologists will present a discussion Jan. 14 to 16 on its new African Centered Re-Entry project at Loyola Marymount University, 1 LMU Drive, Los Angeles.

The project aims to improve the success of African American women returning home from prison and reduce recidivism in the African American community. Information: www.abpsi.org/index.php/home/132; Cheryl Grills, (310) 338-3016.

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JUSTICE FOR GRANT — Shango Abiola of the Black Panther Party’s Commemoration Committee speaks during a press conference Jan. 8 about the pretrial hearing concerning Oscar Grant’s fatal shooting. Grant, a 22-year-old from Hayward, Calif., was fatally shot Jan. 1, 2009, by Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer Johannes Mehserle. Alameda County prosecutors charged Mehserle with murder for killing the unarmed Grant. Mehserle will stand trial for murder in the Los Angeles County Superior Court in May. The trial was moved from Alameda County to ensure that Mehserle would receive a fair trial, as public sentiment against him in the San Francisco Bay Area runs strong.

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INDIGENOUS BLESSING — Danza Mexica Cuauhtemoc blessed the press conference that took place after the pretrial hearing for murder victim Oscar Grant Jan. 8 by blowing a conch shell, singing, dancing, drumming and burning sage.

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Photos Courtesy of INDYBAY.ORG

MEDIA FRENZY — A throng of media members covered the Jan. 8 press conference concerning Johannes Mehserle’s pretrial hearing. Johannes Mehserle is a former Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer who fatally shot unarmed 22-year-old Oscar Grant on Jan. 1, 2009.

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. COMMEMORATIVE EDITION

January 14, 2010

L.A. WATTS TIMES

This year let us all honor the life and legacy of Dr. King by recommitting ourselves to service in our communities, schools and places of worship.

r In his words, “everybody can be great... because anybody can serve...”

—Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

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Page 7

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L.A. WATTS TIMES

January 14, 2010

COMMUNITY NEWS IN BRIEF THE SOUTHLAND L.A. City Council Votes to Study New Film Commission (AP) — The Los Angeles City Council has made the first formal step toward forming a film commission to prevent movie and television production from leaving the city.

The council voted Jan. 5 to authorize the chief legislative office to research how such a commission would operate and be financed.

A report was scheduled to be presented to the council’s jobs and business development committee on Jan. 12.

“Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can’t ride you unless your back is bent.”

– Martin Luther King Jr. Source: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/ m/martin_luther_king_jr.html

The film commission is the latest effort to stem runaway production, which has sent TV and movie work to Canada and overseas. The production of feature films in Los Angeles last year was about half what it was at the peak in 1996.

Schwarzenegger said the state is beginning to emerge from the downturn.

Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, said cuts should not come at the expense of social welfare programs that are essential to those who are most vulnerable.

THE STATE Schwarzenegger Proposes Budget for ‘Tough Times’ SACRAMENTO (AP) — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed an austere budget plan Jan. 8 for the coming fiscal year that takes California back to its spending level of six years ago.

To make up for a drastic drop in tax revenue and plug a $20 billion deficit, Schwarzenegger proposed making cuts to health and human services, welfare, prisons, transportation and environmental programs.

The Republican governor vowed to protect spending for public schools and colleges after cutting their funding by billions of dollars in recent years. Unlike last year, Schwarzenegger said he would not agree to any tax increases.

The continued austerity measures are a fallout from the national recession, which has pummeled California’s economy and boosted the state’s unemployment rate to 12.3 percent, third highest in the nation.

Assembly Speaker Karen Bass

“I think that it is a huge conflict and contradiction to say that we care about these kids from 8 (a.m.) to 3 (p.m.), but once they get out of those schools we don’t care whether they have food or whether they have shelter, whether their parents are employed or whether they are on the street,” Bass said.

THE NATION Dignitaries Gather for Percy Sutton Funeral NEW YORK (AP) — Through his civic activism, business ventures and legal work, Percy Sutton

touched many people’s lives.

Thousands of them filled Riverside Church in Manhattan on Jan. 6 to say goodbye to Sutton, who died Dec. 26 at age 89.

Beginning early in the morning, they lined up outside the church in frigid weather to get into the sanctuary, where the former Tuskegee Airman’s legacy was recalled in a nearly four-hour-long service.

Among those who spoke were Attorney General Eric Holder, New York Gov. David Paterson, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Attalah Shabazz, one of Malcolm X’s daughters. Many recalled how Sutton had given them advice or had stood with them during struggles — or had laid the foundation for their own success.

Holder called Sutton “one of the nation’s true heroes.”

Sutton, who was born in Texas, served with the famed Tuskegee Airmen, an all-black unit, in World War II before coming to Harlem, where he launched a trailblazing career in civil rights, politics and broadcasting. He served in the New York State Assembly and was Manhattan borough president.

Through his Harlem law firm, which he founded in 1953, he represented civil rights activists including Malcolm X and the slain activist’s relatives — even in their darkest times.

Kasim Reed

Kasim Reed Takes Office as Atlanta’s 59th Mayor ATLANTA (AP) — Former Georgia state Sen. Kasim Reed was sworn in as Atlanta’s 59th mayor on Jan. 4, a month after he overcame early low poll numbers to win a runoff.

Reed replaces two-term mayor Shirley Franklin, who had to step down because of term limits.

In the runoff, Reed beat City Councilwoman Mary Norwood, who would have been the mostly black city’s first white mayor in a generation.

Reed says his first priority will be to find money to hire more police officers. He says his administration also will crack down on aggressive panhandling.

The mayor’s office is a nonpartisan post, so neither candidate declared a party in the race.

See BRIEFS, page 10

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. COMMEMORATIVE EDITION

January 14, 2010

L.A. WATTS TIMES

Page 9

COMMUNITY MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. CELEBRATION CALENDAR MIXER — The Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Los Angeles and the SCLC Dream Foundation will present the King Week 2010 Community Reception/Mixer on Jan. 14, 5 to 8 p.m., at Crenshaw Live Bar and Grill, 3888 S. Crenshaw Blvd., Los Angeles. This event is free. Information: (909) 949-7585, events@personalservices plus.com.

PRAYER BREAKFAST — The Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Los Angeles and the SCLC Dream Foundation will present the King Week 2010 Interfaith Prayer Breakfast Jan. 15, 8 to 10 a.m., at Holman United Methodist Church, 3320 W. Adams Blvd., Los Angeles. Bishop L. Daniel Williams will be the featured speaker and the L.A. Inner City Mass Choir will perform.

Tickets for this event are $35 per person, and $50 for VIP seating. Information: (909) 949-7585, http:// sclclosangeles.org.

COMMEMORATION — Assemblyman Mike Davis is sponsoring the 2010 Martin Luther King Jr. National Holiday Commemoration Jan. 15, 6 to 9 p.m., at Exposition Park’s California African American Museum, 600 State Drive, Los Angeles. Outgoing California State Assembly Speaker Karen Bass will be among those honored at this event. Information: (213) 744-2111.

BROTHERHOOD AWARD — The Young Men’s Christian Association of Metropolitan Los Angeles is sponsoring the 39th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Brotherhood Breakfast Jan. 15, 7:40 to 9:30 a.m., at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel, 404 S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles. Greg Boyle of Homeboy Industries will be the recipient of the YMCA’s Brotherhood Award. Information: (310) 882-4015.

GOSPEL CONCERT — Christ Our Redeemer Church will host the 11th annual MLK Scholarship Gospel Concert Jan. 17, 5 p.m., at the Barclay Theatre on the campus of the University of California, Irvine, 4242 Campus Drive, Irvine. This event, which is cosponsored by The Black Chamber of Commerce of Orange County and other organizations, will feature the CORale Choir, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. and a special gospel recording artist. The event is designed to raise funds, give away scholarships to college students, and to honor two individuals who embody the character and leadership of Martin Luther King Jr. Tickets are $25. Information: (877) 426-7263, www.corchurch. org.

GALA, FUNDRAISER — The Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Los Angeles and the SCLC Dream Foundation will present the 33rd Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Awards Gala & Fundraiser Jan. 18, 6 p.m., at the Sheraton Gateway Hotel LAX, 6101 Century Blvd., Los Angeles.

The theme for this year’s event is “Justice Must Be Universal.” Marc Brown and Michelle Tuzee, ABC 7 Eyewitness News anchors, will be the master and mistress of ceremony, and entertainment will be provided by R&B recording artist Johnny Gill and the Sai Whatt Band. Tickets for this event are $250. Information: (909) 9497585, http://sclclosangeles. org.

MLK FEST — There will be a gospel festival at Leimert Park Village Jan. 18, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The festival is being presented by City Councilman Bernard Parks Sr., the city of Los Angeles departments of Cultural Affairs and Recreation and Parks. Information: (213) 4857616.

MLK CONCERT — The 25th annual Martin Luther King Jr. commemorative concert, featuring the

Alpha Kappa Alpha Chorus, led by Hansonia Caldwell; the Delta Choraliers, led by Danellen Joseph; and the 2010 Panhellenic Chorus and the United Methodist Male Chorus, will take place Jan. 17, 4 p.m., at Trinity Baptist Church, 2040 W. Jefferson Blvd., Los Angeles. The program will feature trumpeter Ryan Bancroft, winner of the 2009 National Association of Negro Musicians scholarship competition. The program will also feature several works by black composers in celebration of King.

Admission and parking are free. Information: (310) 749-3186, (323) 737-0137, www.thelkoro.com.

CELEBRATION OF LIFE — The Ebony Repertory Theatre will present “A Celebration of the Life and Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.” Jan. 16, 8 p.m., at the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center, 4718 W. Washington Blvd., Los Angeles. This event is the theater’s second annual, one-nightonly celebration that will feature noted actors, musicians and a gospel choir performing inspirational excerpts from King’s words, speeches and songs sung throughout the Civil Rights Movement.

Admission to this event is $15 and $8 for children under 12. Information: (323) 964-9768, www.itsmy seat.com/ebonyrep.html.

CELEBRATION — “Celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: One Dream, a Region of Influence, a World of People” takes place Jan. 17, 11a.m. to 5 p.m., with a program beginning at 1 p.m. View film screenings of his speeches and watch performances on the main stage featuring diverse artists.

Included in the program will be the Jung Im Lee Korean Dance Academy, singer Ileana Garcia, L.A. Inner City Mass Choir, and others. This program will be interpreted for the hearing impaired.

Information: caamuseum.org.

Source: DA to Seek Indictment of Jackson Doctor

BY LINDA DEUTSCH THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Prosecutors are prepared to seek an indictment of Michael Jackson’s doctor, Conrad Murray, on a charge of involuntary manslaughter in the pop star’s death, The Associated Press has learned.

A law enforcement source who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation remains open said recently that Murray would be prosecuted on a theory of gross negligence alleging that his treatment of Jackson was an extreme departure from the standard of care normally followed by physicians.

Miranda Sevcik, a spokeswoman in Houston for Murray, and his lawyer, Edward Chernoff, said the doctor had no comment and reiterated he neither prescribed nor administered anything that should have killed Jackson.

Jackson died at his Los Angeles home in June while under Murray’s care as the singer prepared for a concert series.

The district attorney’s office is waiting for the Los Angeles police to

turn over the case before presenting it to a grand jury.

Before an indictment can be sought, the person said the Los Angeles Police Department will follow the formality of presenting the case to the district attorney.

Both agencies have been working on the case along with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the California Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement since Jackson died in June.

A large number of witnesses have been interviewed including those who were present during Jackson’s last days and those who worked with him in preparation for his comeback concert, “This is It.” Authorities have also lined up medical expert witnesses who will testify about the normal standard of care in a situation such as Jackson’s and will give opinions on why Murray’s actions constituted gross negligence, the person said.

The investigation was substantially completed by the end of December, the person said.

Murray’s professional history is expected to be explored during a

trial with an emphasis on whether he had the required expertise in administering the drug propofol, which is believed to have killed Jackson.

The timing of an indictment will be dictated by two factors — how long it takes for the district attorney’s office to conduct an internal review of the evidence and when the grand jury will be available to hear the case.

The person said it was thought that it would be more efficient to go to a grand jury than to charge Murray and proceed by way of a preliminary hearing.

A presentation to the grand jury where witnesses testify behind closed doors could take three to five days.

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

– Martin Luther King Jr. Source: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/ authors/m/martin_luther_king_jr.html

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DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. COMMEMORATIVE EDITION

Page 10

L.A. WATTS TIMES

January 14, 2010

COMMUNITY

Groundbreaking Gay Marriage Trial Starts in Calif.

BY LISA LEFF AP WRITER

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The first federal trial to determine if the U.S. Constitution prohibits states from outlawing same-sex marriage got under way Jan. 11, and the two gay couples on whose behalf the case was brought are among the first witnesses.

The proceedings, which are expected to last two to three weeks, involve a challenge to Proposition 8, the gay marriage ban approved

by California voters in November 2008.

Regardless of the outcome, the case is likely to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, where it ultimately could become a landmark

BRIEFS Continued from page 8

Smiley Ends State of the Black Union (AP) — Activist and PBS host Tavis Smiley is ending his annual State of the Black Union conference after 10 years.

Smiley says he was inspired to start the event because black issues were rarely addressed in the presidents’ State of the Union speeches or in the national media. The conference averaged 7,000 to 10,000 participants each year, was broadcast on C-SPAN, and drew speakers ranging from President Barack Obama to basketball great Magic Johnson.

Smiley says he’s ending the event because he needs time to focus on other projects, such as his four PBS prime-time specials this year. He also says black issues now are being addressed by numerous other media outlets, commentators and bloggers.

Smiley tells The Associated Press the series “doesn’t have the premium that it used to have — and that’s a good thing.”

Tearful Baltimore Mayor Resigning Under Plea Deal BALTIMORE (AP) — Mayor Sheila Dixon resigned as part of a deal with prosecutors Jan. 6, ending a three-year tenure that began with promise but unraveled amid allegations that she stole from the poor.

Dixon, 56, was convicted last month of misappropriating about $500 in gift cards donated to the city for needy families during her time as City Council president. Had she not agreed to step down, she could have been thrown out of office.

On Jan. 6, she pleaded guilty to a perjury charge for failing to

Sheila Dixon

disclose thousands of dollars in gifts from her ex-boyfriend, a developer who received tax breaks from the city. She entered an Alford plea, meaning she admits there is enough evidence to convict her but does not acknowledge guilt.

Dixon’s voice wavered as she thanked her staff, but she did not apologize for her actions.

“I take responsibility for some of the choices that I made,” Dixon said. “I think I’ve disappointed myself to some degree, and I think I’ve disappointed citizens.”

In exchange for her plea, prosecutors and Judge Dennis M. Sweeney agreed Dixon will receive probation before judgment on both counts, meaning the convictions will be wiped off her record if she complies with several conditions, including a $45,000 charitable contribution and 500 hours of community service.

Reid to Obama: Sorry for “No Negro Dialect” Remark WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid apologized Jan. 9 for saying the race of Barack Obama — whom he described as a “light skinned” African American “with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one” — would help rather than hurt his eventual presidential bid.

Obama quickly accepted, saying “As far as I am concerned, the book is closed.” Reid, facing a

Park Water Company www.parkwater.com “We Proudly Join Hands to Honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.”

that determines if gay Americans have the right to marry.

The judge who will render a decision, Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn R. Walker, has asked lawyers arguing for and against the ban to present the facts underlying much of the political rhetoric surrounding same-sex marriage.

Among the questions Walker

plans to entertain are whether sexual orientation can be changed, how legalizing gay marriage affects traditional marriages, and the effect on children of being raised by two mothers or two fathers.

“The case is intriguing, exciting, and potentially very significant because it addresses multiple

tough re-election bid this year, recently telephoned civil rights leaders and fellow Democrats in hopes of mitigating the political damage.

The revelations about Reid’s 2008 comments were included in the book “Game Change” by Time Magazine’s Mark Halperin and New York magazine’s John Heilemann.

The behind-the-scenes look at the 2008 campaign that elevated Obama to the White House is based on the writers’ interviews with more than 200 sources, most of whom were granted anonymity and thus much of the material could not be immediately corroborated.

The State newspaper of Columbia reports that the state chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People plans to use the rally to urge an increase in South Carolina’s lowest-in-the-nation cigarette tax to help pay for health care for the poor.

NAACP state President Lonnie Randolph says organizers will also emphasize participation in the U.S. Census.

The rally’s main goal remains getting the Confederate flag off Statehouse grounds.

THE DIASPORA

Philly Inaugurates First Black District Attorney

Bermuda Seeks Help in Fight against Gang Violence

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia’s former district attorney says she will join a law firm and plans to soon announce another run for public office.

Lynne Abraham would not specify what office she would pursue after spending nearly 20 years as Philadelphia’s district attorney. Fortythree-year-old former assistant prosecutor Seth Williams was sworn-in as her replacement Jan. 4.

Williams is the city’s first black district attorney. Abraham, his former boss, decided not to run again after serving since 1991.

Williams said he hopes to make Philadelphia the safest big city in America. He has been a longtime critic of Abraham and said the city’s justice system is broken.

He campaigned on plans to create a system in which prosecutors are assigned to neighborhoods to build trust.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Bermuda is reaching out to the FBI and other overseas law enforcement agencies to help break up violent gangs that are threatening the midAtlantic island’s image as a tranquil tourist haven.

The British territory, shaken by a spate of rare, deadly shootings blamed on drug gang rivalries, said that it has invited veterans of gang wars in the United States and the United Kingdom to provide training and join island patrols.

“Our community is under siege because we didn’t want to get involved — but it is past time to get involved,” Public Safety Minister David Burch said as he announced the requests for foreign assistance and called on islanders to help police.

Four people have been killed in Bermuda in a month — more slayings than the island of 64,000 people typically sees in an entire year. Police say more than 200 people are active in the gangs.

But some warn that worse violence could lie ahead unless Bermuda addresses deep social rifts on an island where gun violence overwhelmingly involves blacks who make up about twothirds of the population.

Utah’s First Black Woman Mayor Takes Office SARATOGA SPRINGS, Utah (AP) — Utah’s first black woman mayor has taken office, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.

Mia B. Love thanked those who helped her become Saratoga Springs’ new mayor as she took the oath of office before a crowd of more than 120 people Jan. 8.

She replaced longtime Mayor Timothy Parker, who stepped down after a decade in office.

He said the city’s in good hands with Love at the helm and expects a smooth transition because Love previously served for six years on the City Council.

See BRIEFS, page 11

important questions that, surprisingly to many, remain open in federal law,” said Jennifer Pizer, marriage director for the gay law advocacy group Lambda Legal.

“Can the state reserve the esteemed language and status of marriage just for heterosexual couples, and relegate same-sex couples to a lesser status? Are there any adequate public interests to justify reimposing such a caste system for gay people, especially by a majority vote to take a cherished right from a historically mistreated minority?”

The sponsors of Proposition 8, which passed with 52 percent of the vote, won permission to defend the law in court after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Brown refused to. The attorney general and the governor are defendants in the case because of their positions in state government.

Lawyers for the measure’s backers plan to argue that because same-sex marriage still is a social experiment, it is wise for states like California to take a wait-and-see approach.

Their witnesses will testify that governments historically have sanctioned traditional marriage as a way to promote responsible childrearing and that this remains a valid justification for limiting marriage to a man and a woman.

The anticipation and tension surrounding the trial were evident over the weekend, when Proposition 8’s sponsors asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the proceedings from being recorded and broadcast on YouTube. Walker approved such a plan last week, saying the case was appropriate for wide dissemination because it dealt with an issue of wide interest and importance.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, who oversees the federal courts in western states, did not act on the emergency petition on the night of Jan. 10.

While other courts have wrestled with the constitutional issues raised by prohibiting same-sex marriages — the Supreme Court last took a look at the issue 38 years ago — Walker’s court is the first to employ live witnesses in the task.

On the Net: Watch the proceedings on YouTube: www.youtube. com/USDCCAND.

National NAACP Chief to Speak at SC King Day Event COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The national leader of the NAACP will be the featured speaker at the civil rights group’s annual King Day at the Dome rally at the South Carolina Statehouse.

Benjamin Jealous was supposed to speak at last year’s event, but bad weather kept him from Columbia. This year’s speech is scheduled for Jan. 18.

“Law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress.”

– Martin Luther King Jr. Source: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/ m/martin_luther_king_jr.html

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. COMMEMORATIVE EDITION

January 14, 2010

L.A. WATTS TIMES

Page 11

COMMUNITY Commentary

It’s Time to Get Involved in Redistricting … But Why the Auditor?

BY ELAINE M. HOWLE CALIFORNIA STATE AUDITOR

The Legislature is back in session, but big changes are ahead.

During 2010, my office will carry out the important new job of creating a commission that will have a major role in the state’s future.

Once every 10 years — after the national census — all states engage in redistricting — drawing the maps that define districts for members of the Legislature and Board of Equalization — so that each district represents an equal share of the population.

Until now, this process was overseen by the Legislature and the governor.

But voters changed that in 2008, when they approved the Voters FIRST Act, creating California’s first Citizens Redistricting Commission. This is an exciting opportunity for California voters to become involved in redistricting.

And you can apply right now at wedrawthelines.ca.gov.

The Voters FIRST Act also specifically placed the job of seeking citizen applications for this new commission in the hands of the California state auditor.

Some have asked why a fairly obscure, nonelected state official would be charged with such an important new job. While I did not

Elaine M. Howle

seek this new responsibility, I think the reasons they chose this office are clear.

First of all, because I am a nonelected state official, I have not, and in fact am prohibited from, engaging in the kinds of political activities that elected officials do every day: fundraising; meeting with lobbyists; becoming active in parties or partisan politics; or engaging in statewide or local campaigns.

Voters wanted someone without any ties to politics per se, beholden to no one, and not looking past the commission’s role to their own next election.

At the same time, I believe that they also did not want a complete outsider. They wanted someone who understood how government works, and someone they could count on to do this job right.

My office, the California State Auditor’s Office, works with local government and state agencies every day, as well as with the state Legislature. We understand how the system works, and how critical the process of drawing fair and legal districts is to the state and its future.

I believe the public also wanted to make sure that whoever took on the job would be trustworthy, independent, and objective in carrying out the duties to create the new commission.

Again, that description perfectly fits the California State Auditor’s Office. Dedicated to conducting our work in a nonpartisan manner, free from outside influence, including that of elected officials or the subjects of our audits, objectivity and fairness are the hallmarks of our office.

Our auditors base their findings, conclusions, and recommendations upon reliable evidence and never allow preconceived notions or personal opinions to influence their work. We strictly adhere to the standards of the auditing profession and exercise the highest ethical standards — and that is what we will do in establishing this new commission.

My Web site contains three key words: commitment, integrity

and leadership. That is what we stand for and that is how I will approach this new opportunity. But I need your help. Please apply at wedrawthelines.ca.gov.

The state auditor was selected by a committee and appointed by the California governor. But she does not report to, or can be removed by, the governor.

Remembering the Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

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Map of Haiti and Dominican Republic.

BRIEFS Continued from page 10

Many Casualties Expected After Big Quake in Haiti PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — The largest earthquake ever recorded in the area shook Haiti on Jan. 12, collapsing a hospital where people screamed for help. Other buildings also were damaged and scientists said they expected “substantial damage and casualties.”

With communications disrupted, there were no reports of deaths or injuries soon after the quake, as powerful aftershocks shook the country.

The earthquake had a preliminary magnitude of 7.0 and was centered about 10 miles (15 kilometers)

west of the capital of Port-auPrince, the U.S. Geological Survey said. It had a depth of 5 miles (8 kilometers). It was the largest quake recorded in the area, said USGS analyst Dale Grant, and the last major one since a magnitude-6.7 temblor in 1984.

Haiti’s ambassador to the U.S., Raymond Joseph, said from his Washington office that he spoke to President Rene Preval’s chief of staff, Fritz Longchamp, just after the quake hit. He said Longchamp told him that “buildings were crumbling right and left” near the national palace.

Editor’s note: For donation information, visit www.redcross.org; www.foodforthepoor.com; www. samaritanspurse.org.

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California honors the leadership and legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.

“An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.”

– Martin Luther King Jr. Source: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/martin_luther_king_jr.html

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. COMMEMORATIVE EDITION

Page 12

L.A. WATTS TIMES

January 14, 2010

COMMUNITY CHRONICLE Continued from page 1 cause, these activists who were around the age of 20 — John Lewis, Julian Bond, Marion Barry, Stokely Carmichael, Diane Nash, Bob Moses and Bob Zellner among them — saw the sit-in as a tool to spread the movement for social justice to the grass-roots South. There would be others: Freedom Rides, Freedom Summer in Mississippi, the Children’s Crusade in Birmingham, Ala., and voting rights marches.

Lewis is covering territory that has been well-traveled by others, such as Taylor Branch with his three-part history of the King years and David Halberstam with “The Children,” and it is light on fresh analysis. But he distills the vast

“Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”

– Martin Luther King Jr. Source: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/ m/martin_luther_king_jr.html

trove of material on SNCC and the movement with a sure, skillful hand.

The book would be an excellent starting point for anyone, particularly young people, wanting to learn about key points in the modern civil rights era and the rise — and fall — of SNCC. His portrait of Bob Moses, the philosopher-activist in a white Tshirt and bib overalls whose journey took him from Harvard University to Mississippi to Africa and back, would make anyone unfamiliar with him want to learn more. This is true of others in Lewis’ account, such as Zellner, a white Alabama student who remained committed and courageous even when SNCC turned against him.

The second half of the book chronicles SNCC’s downward spiral, the success and prominence of some, and the disillusionment and personal travails of others in its aging cadre.

But Lewis makes clear how much their fearlessness in youth mattered: “How this ragtag band with little money, no obvious power, painfully little help from the federal government, and the entire white South out to get them, played a starring role in the demise of legal segregation is one of the great adventure stories of American history.”

ALUMNI DAY — South Los Angeles’ View Park Preparatory High School had its alumni day Jan. 5. At the event, students were encouraged to pursue higher education, earn college degrees and give back to their communities. View Park is part of ICEF Public Schools, which operates 15 charter schools in South L.A. Pictured: (above) A graduate of View Park speaks with students. (Right): ICEF Public Schools’ CEO Mike Piscal speaks to alumni during a reception at View Park.

Photos by TOM MENDOZA

Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, “What are you doing for others?” ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

Watts Healthcare Corporation continues to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by providing quality health care to the diverse families of the communities we serve regardless of their ability to pay.

WATTS HEALTHCARE CORPORATION Watts Health Center 10300 Compton Avenue, Los Angeles, 323.568.3059 Crenshaw Community Health Center 3756 Santa Rosalia Drive, Los Angeles, 323.568.5460 House of Uhuru Substance Abuse Treatment Center 8005 S. Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, 323.778.5290 Magic Johnson School-Based Health Clinic 2265 E. 103rd St., Los Angeles, 323.569.7183

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. COMMEMORATIVE EDITION

January 14, 2010

L.A. WATTS TIMES

Page 13

COMMUNITY

Lawmaker May Seek Fed Oversight of California Cops

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

(AP) — A California congresswoman said she’s alarmed by the number of people killed by Inglewood police and will look into getting a federal court to oversee the department.

Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Los Angeles, said she will inquire into a possible federal consent decree in the wake of U.S. Justice Department findings that the Inglewood department’s use-of-force policies are vague, outdated and possibly unconstitutional.

“These deaths are the result of the failed policy,” Waters told the Los

Angeles Times for a story published Jan. 11.

A call by The Associated Press to Inglewood Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks seeking comment was not immediately returned Jan. 11.

Seabrooks told the Times on Jan. 8 that she was still reviewing the Justice Department findings and declined to discuss them.

“We’re doing everything that we need to make sure the community can maintain its trust,” she said.

A Times investigation last year found that five of the 11 people shot and killed by Inglewood police

Rep. Maxine Waters

between 2003 and 2008 were unarmed. They included a man stopped for public drinking who was shot in the back when an officer

Black Resort From Segregation Era Seeks Comeback

BY MARK HORNBECK THE DETROIT NEWS

IDLEWILD, Mich. (AP) — Tiny Idlewild wants to be Michigan’s comeback story.

And state and federal governments seem intent on making that happen in the historic community tucked away in the Manistee Forest.

The Lake County town of 700 was once known as “Black Eden” because it was a popular resort town for African Americans for more than 50 years. Top black entertainers, including B.B. King, Cab Calloway, Sammy Davis Jr., Della Reese and Aretha Franklin, played to packed houses there through the mid-1960s, when the Civil Rights Act opened other options elsewhere, and segregated resorts fell into decline.

Surrounding Yates Township recently received $624,000 in federal community block grants to expand a senior center and to study the feasibility of fixing up the Flamingo Club, an erstwhile entertainment hot spot.

The padlocked hilltop cinderblock building needs a roof, major plumbing and electrical work and restoration of a colorful mural that served as a backdrop to the stage.

The state, meanwhile, is putting the finishing touches on a $325,000 park and boat launch on Idlewild Lake. That project follows the investment of hundreds of thousands of dollars in blight removal, arts grants for summer concerts and a children’s camp, historical markers and preservation.

“We’re on track for reviving the place,” said John Meeks, a local businessman and Idlewild historian. “Things are really starting to shape up.”

Idlewild, about 35 miles east of Ludington, is trying to get gussied up before its centennial celebration in 2012 when the town hopes to lure the Four Tops and other acts that once played the clubs there for a summer bash reminiscent of its high-steppin’ heyday.

Philip Clay, a Yates Township trustee, said the plan is to finish much of the work by the end of next year, when Gov. Jennifer Granholm leaves office. Granholm, who has called Idlewild “a cultural gem” and created the centennial commission, is seen by local leaders as a friend and benefactor.

“Who knows what the next governor will do?” asked Clay, a former Detroiter. “We’re trying to get all these things in place and the buildings torn down so it’ll look nice” for the 100th anniversary.

AP Photo/THE DETROIT NEWS, DALE G. YOUNG

IDLEWILD — In this June 10, 2008, photo, a statue is displayed at the Idlewild cultural center in Idlewild, Mich. The Lake County town of 700 was once known as the “Black Eden” because it was a popular resort town for African Americans for more than 50 years.

About 130 dilapidated properties were scheduled to be razed; a couple of dozen have been demolished. Also, the homes of Idlewild pioneers need renovating.

Work on the Henrietta Summers Senior Center — including a new kitchen, handicapped-accessible restrooms, meeting room and other improvements — will start soon, said Betty Boone, director of cultural economic development at the Michigan State Housing Development Authority.

“These grants are absolutely critical,” Boone said. “Idlewild is going through a transformation process and really is plotting a course where it can be self-sustaining.”

Part of that transformation is rehabilitating the Flamingo Club, said George Walker, Yates Township supervisor. It’s uncertain whether the township-owned building has a future as an activity center for residents and tourists or a full-fledged nightclub that will hire local people to be waitresses, bartenders and other staff.

“Will it be like it was in the old heyday? Who can tell,” Walker said.

“It depends on what the consultants tell us.”

He said there also may be government aid to renovate the building.

Meeks said a key reason Idlewild is seeing progress has to do with community attitudes. He said there is fading opposition from those who like the sleepy nature of the town and want things to be left as they are.

“The community is pretty well behind this now,” Meeks said.

“There are still a few old people around who say they want Idlewild to stay a retirement community.

“What they don’t know is that even retirement communities die if there’s nothing else going on.”

thought he was reaching for a gun, and a homeless man killed after reaching for a toy gun in his waistband.

A court consent decree could require the department to show a federal judge and an independent monitor that it had made progress in making reform.

The Los Angeles Police Department operated under such a decree for eight years after Justice Department findings of corruption and racial discrimination. The decree was lifted in 2009.

Los Angeles County’s Office of Independent Review spent a year reviewing the Inglewood police, but the City Council has refused to make the findings public despite protests.

The 220-member force operates in a small city south of Los Angeles that is notorious for gang violence.

In a letter to the city’s mayor last month, the Justice Department called for changes in officer training and oversight and said some reforms being proposed were inadequate.

The 33-page letter said department policies on use of force were vague, outdated and might be inconsistent with U.S. Supreme Court guidelines.

The department created an apparent conflict of interest by routinely assigning certain excessive force investigations to the same supervisors who wrote or approved

the initial police report, the Justice Department concluded.

Officers also need more training on how to deal with people who appear to be mentally ill or under the influence of drugs or alcohol, the letter said.

The department has been cooperating in the investigation, Justice Department spokesman Alejandro Miyar told the Times.

“An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law.”

– Martin Luther King Jr. Source: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/ m/martin_luther_king_jr.html

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DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. COMMEMORATIVE EDITION

Page 14

L.A. WATTS TIMES

Now at the Skirball

January 14, 2010

ARTS & CULTURE

road to freedom

PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT 1956–1968

Photo by BILL JONES

IMAGE MAKERS — Nominees for the 41st NAACP Image Awards were announced at a Jan. 6 press conference at the SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills. The awards will air Feb. 26, 8 to 10 p.m., on FOX. Pictured (left to right): Michael Strahan of “Brothers;” Tatyana Ali of “The Young and the Restless;” Wanda Sykes of “The Wanda Sykes Show;” Taye Diggs of “Private Practice;” Kyle Massey of “That’s So Raven;” Clayola Brown, NAACP Image Awards Committee chair; Vicangelo Bulluck, executive producer of the telecast; and Chris Massey of “Zoey 101.”

‘Precious’ Leads Nominees for NAACP Image Awards

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

James Karales Marchers, Selma to Montgomery, Alabama (detail), 1965 Courtesy of the estate of James Karales

EXHIBITIONS:

ROAD TO FREEDOM: PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT, 1956–1968 On view now through March 7, 2010 AN IDEA CALLED TOMORROW–2 On view now through March 7, 2010 BREACH OF PEACE: PHOTOGRAPHS OF FREEDOM RIDERS

BY ERIC ETHERIDGE On view now through April 11, 2010 R E L AT E D P R O G R A M S :

LECTURE JOURNEY TO JUSTICE: A CONVERSATION WITH REV. JAMES M. LAWSON, JR., AND DR. TERRENCE ROBERTS Sunday, January 24, 2:00–4:00 p.m.

Hear insights into the Civil Rights movement from two of its key figures.

The heart-wrenching story of an illiterate and abused Harlem teen who finds hope in a classroom of misfits led the nominations announced Jan. 6 for the 41st annual NAACP Image Awards.

“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” added to its awards-season momentum with a leading eight nominations, earning nods for director Lee Daniels, star Gabourey Sidibe, and supporting actors Mariah Carey, Mo’Nique, Paula Patton and Lenny Kravitz.

“Precious” was also nominated for outstanding motion picture and outstanding independent film.

Other movies nominated Jan. 6 include “Invictus,” “Michael Jackson’s This Is It,” “The Blind Side” and “The Princess and the Frog.”

“Blind Side” stars Sandra Bullock and Quinton Aaron, “Princess” star Anika Noni Rose, and “Invictus” star Morgan Freeman also were nominated for their performances.

Sophie Okonedo (“Skin”) and Taraji P. Henson (“Tyler Perry’s I Can Do Bad All By Myself”) round out the best actress category, while Denzel Washington (“The Taking of

Pelham 123”), Idris Elba (“Obsessed”), and Jamie Foxx (“Law Abiding Citizen”) are up for best actor.

Jay-Z tops the nominees in the music category with five nods, including outstanding male artist and album for “The Blueprint 3.”

His collaborations with Alicia Keys, Rihanna and Kanye West were also recognized.

Rihanna and Keys were also nominated for outstanding female artist, along with India.Arie, Mary J. Blige and Whitney Houston. Competing with Jay-Z in the male artist category are Anthony Hamilton, Charlie Wilson, Maxwell and Ne-Yo. In TV categories, nominated dramas include “Cold Case,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “HawthoRNe,” “Lincoln Heights” and “The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency.”

“Glee,” “30 Rock,” “Ugly Betty,” “Everybody Hates Chris” and “Tyler Perry’s House of Payne” were nominated for outstanding comedy series.

The Image Awards, which honors diversity in the arts, will be presented Feb. 26 and broadcast live on Fox. On the Net: www.naacpimageawards.net.

FILM DARE NOT WALK ALONE Featuring Q&A with Director Jeremy Dean Tuesday, February 2, 8:00 p.m.

Watch this compelling documentary about the acts of civil disobedience that aimed to integrate a hotel swimming pool in St. Augustine, Florida—and how it helped pave the way for the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

SPECIAL OFFER FOR L.A. WATTS TIMES READERS:

Bring this ad to the admissions desk at the Skirball and receive 50% off museum admission for up to two people. Promo code 99628. Offer expires March 7, 2010.

TRUE GEMS — “Precious” and “Mary” (newcomer Gabourey Sidibe, left, and actress/comedienne Mo’Nique, right) portray a daughter and mother caught in a cycle of poverty and abuse in the Lionsgate film “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire.”

Facts 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90049 www.skirball.org • (310) 440-4500 Exit 405 Freeway at Skirball Ctr Dr Free on-site parking; street parking strictly prohibited Or take Metro Rapid Bus 761

Jan. 13, 1987 Arizona Gov. Evan Mecham rescinds the gubernatorial decree by former Gov. Bruce Babbitt establishing the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. as a state holiday. In light of Mecham’s controversial move, the National Football League decided to relocate Super Bowl XXVII from Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Ariz., to the Pasadena Rose Bowl.

Source: blackfacts.com and racerelations.about.com

January 14, 2010

L.A. WATTS TIMES

ARTS & CULTURE

R&B crooner Mary J. Blige

Mariah Carey, People’s Choice Award for best R&B singer

The People’s Choice Awards, hosted by Queen Latifah, took place Jan. 6 at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles.

Paula Patton of “Precious” fame “Reno 911” actress Niecy Nash

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” actress Taraji P. Henson

Singer Nicole Scherzinger of the “Pussycat Dolls”

Page 15

Page 16

L.A. WATTS TIMES

January 14, 2010

ARTS & CULTURE Some See Racist Theme in Alien Adventure ‘Avatar’

SHORT TAKES ART

BENEFITS

• “Vessels” is a selection of works from a dozen artists approaching the idea of the vessel in individual ways. The exhibit features the work of artists from Southern California and Ohio and is produced in partnership with Owens Community College in Toledo, Ohio. This exhibit will take place Jan. 17 through March 7, at the Angels Gate Cultural Center, 3601 S. Gaffey St., San Pedro. The opening reception will be held Jan. 17, 2 to 4 p.m., in the center’s main gallery. Information: (310) 5190936, www.angelsgateart.org.

• January is L.A. Arts Month and the Santa Monica Museum of Art is a partner in this annual initiative. Several new exhibits are currently housed at the museum, at 2525 Michigan Ave., Bergamot Station G1, Santa Monica. Information: (310) 586-6488, www.smmoa.org. L.A. Arts Month events: www.Los AngelesArtsMonth.com.

• “An Evening Celebrating Bo” will honor the late Darren “Bo” Taylor, the former gang member who became an effective mediator and peace worker, and support the Taylor family as it launches The Bo Taylor Foundation. This event will take place Jan. 16, 6 to 10 p.m., at the Celebrity

Facts Jan. 15, 1970 At Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, the nearby crypt containing the remains of Martin Luther King Jr. and his boyhood home are dedicated as part of a memorial to be known as the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Change.

Source: blackfacts.com

BY JESSE WASHINGTON AP NATIONAL WRITER

N’dambi

Darren “Bo” Taylor

Centre International, 5930 Franklin Ave., Hollywood. Special guest speakers include: the new Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck, violence intervention specialist Aquil Basheer, and Blinky Rodriguez, executive director of Communities in Schools.

This event will be hosted by the M o o n e y Tw i n s , D w a y n e a n d Darryl Mooney. Information: (888) 279-7377, ext. 505, celebratingbo@dream-event-productions. com.

• R&B singer N’dambi, along with comedienne Luenell, will headline “L.A. Nights in Beverly Hills” Jan. 22, starting at 9 p.m., at Camden House, 430 N. Camden Drive, Beverly Hills. The cover charge for this event is $15 until 10 p.m. and $20 afterward. Parking is available for $3. Limited VIP reserved seating is also available. A portion of the proceeds of this event will go to Brother II Brother, a citywide mentoring program for atrisk, inner-city kids. Information: www.brotherIIbrother.org, kevin arouse@msn.com, nellsomerset@ earthlink.net, lennell600@yahoo. com.

America’s Jazz and Blues Station www.jazzandblues.org

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Near the end of the hit film “Avatar,” the villain snarls at the hero, “How does it feel to betray your own race?”

Both men are white — although the hero is inhabiting a blue-skinned, 9-foot-tall (2.74-meter-tall), longtailed alien.

Strange as it may seem for a film that pits greedy, immoral humans against noble denizens of a faraway moon, “Avatar” is being criticized by a small but vocal group of people who allege it contains racist themes — the white hero once again saving the primitive natives.

Since the film opened to widespread critical acclaim three weeks ago, hundreds of blog posts, newspaper articles, tweets and YouTube videos have said things such as the film is “a fantasy about race told from the point of view of white people” and that it reinforces “the white Messiah fable.”

The film’s writer and director, James Cameron, says the real theme is about respecting others’ differences.

In the film (read no further if you don’t want the plot spoiled for you) a white, paralyzed Marine, Jake Sully, is mentally linked to an alien’s body and set loose on the planet Pandora.

His mission: persuade the mystic, nature-loving Na’vi to make way for humans to mine their land for unobtanium, worth $20 million per kilo back home.

Like Kevin Costner in “Dances with Wolves” and Tom Cruise in “The Last Samurai” or as far back as Jimmy Stewart in the 1950 Western “Broken Arrow,” Sully soon switches sides. He falls in love with the Na’vi princess and leads the bird-riding, bow-and-arrowshooting aliens to victory over the white men’s spaceships and mega-robots.

Adding to the racial dynamic is that the main Na’vi characters are played by actors of color, led by a Dominican, Zoe Saldana, as the princess. The film also is an obvious metaphor for how European settlers in America wiped out the Indians.

Robinne Lee, an actress in such recent films as “Seven Pounds” and “Hotel for Dogs,” said that “Avatar” was “beautiful” and that she understood the economic logic of casting a white lead if most of the audience is white.

But she said the film, which so far has the second-highest worldwide box-office gross ever, still reminded her of Hollywood’s “Pocahontas” story — “the Indian woman leads the white man into the wilderness, and he learns the way of the people and becomes the savior.”

“It’s really upsetting in many ways,” said Lee, who is black with Jamaican and Chinese ancestry. “It would be nice if we could save ourselves.”

Annalee Newitz, editor-in-chief of the sci-fi Web site io9.com, likened “Avatar” to the recent film “District 9,” in which a white man accidentally becomes an alien and then helps save them, and 1984’s “Dune,” in which a white man becomes an alien Messiah.

“Main white characters realize that they are complicit in a system which is destroying aliens, AKA people of color ... (then) go beyond assimilation and become leaders of the people they once oppressed,” she wrote.

Photo from 20TH CENTURY FOX

AVATAR — Actress Zoe Saldana plays Neytiri of the extraterrestrial Na’vi people in the sci-fi smash “Avatar,” directed by James Cameron.

“When will whites stop making these movies and start thinking about race in a new way?” wrote Newitz, who is white.

Black film professor and author Donald Bogle said he can understand why people would be troubled by “Avatar,” although he praised it as a “stunning” work.

“A segment of the audience is carrying in the back of its head some sense of movie history,” said Bogle, author of “Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies & Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films.”

Bogle stopped short, however, of calling the movie racist.

“It’s a film with still a certain kind of distortion,” he said. “It’s a movie that hasn’t yet freed itself of old Hollywood traditions, old formulas.”

Writer/director Cameron, who is white, said in an e-mail to The Associated Press that his film “asks us to open our eyes and truly see others, respecting them even though they are different, in the hope that we may find a way to prevent conflict and live more harmoniously on this world. I hardly think that is a racist message.”

There are many ways to interpret the art that is “Avatar.”

What does it mean that in the final, sequel-begging scene, Sully abandons his human body and transforms into one of the Na’vi for good? Is Saldana’s Na’vi character the real heroine because she, not Sully, kills the arch-villain?

Does it matter that many conservatives are riled by what they call liberal environmental and anti-military messages?

Is Cameron actually exposing the historical evils of white colonizers? Does the existence of an alien species expose the reality that all humans are actually one race?

“Can’t people just enjoy movies any more?” a person named Michelle posted on the Web site for Essence, the magazine for black women, which had 371 comments on a story debating the issue.

Although the “Avatar” debate springs from Hollywood’s historical difficulties with race, Will Smith recently saved the planet in “I Am Legend,” and Denzel Washington appears ready to do the same in the forthcoming “Book of Eli.” Bogle, the film historian, said that he was glad Cameron made the film and that it made people think about race.

“Maybe there is something he does want to say and put across” about race, Bogle said. “Maybe if he had a black hero in there, that point would have been even stronger.”

Jesse Washington covers race and ethnicity for The Associated Press.

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. COMMEMORATIVE EDITION

January 14, 2010

L.A. WATTS TIMES

ARTS & CULTURE

The One Question Celebs Would Ask King

BY DARLENE DONLOE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

It’s been nearly 42 years since Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s untimely death April 4, 1968.

The civil rights leader was assassinated

by James Earl Ray as he stood on the secondfloor balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn. To this day, King’s influence continues to make an impact. In light of his upcoming holiday, the L.A. Watts Times asked celebrities the following question: If you had the chance to ask King one question, what would it be?

Cornel West — (intellectual, professor and author) “I don’t think I’d ask him a question. I’d just thank him. Given the time, I’d thank him, hug him, and then ask him a question. But, if it’s between the two, asking a question or a hug, I’d hug that Negro so hard he Cornel West couldn’t even breathe. I would say, ‘How are we going to keep your legacy alive for the younger generation?’ ” Chris Rock — (“Good Hair”) “Was it worth it?”

Chris Rock

Melvin Van Peebles — (“Sweet Melvin Van Peebles Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song”) “How is it over there?”

Arsenio Hall — (“The Arsenio Hall Show”) “In your lifetime, did you ever imagine there would be a Barack Obama?”

Morgan Freeman — (“Invictus”) “I wouldn’t ask him anything. He’s pretty much given us the answers.”

Jonathan Butler — (R&B/gospel singer) “How do you Morgan Freeman keep your faith?”

Fred “The Hammer” Williamson — (actor and former football player) “Is the black progress going in the direction you thought it might go at this time?”

Brian White — Fred Williamson (“Men of a Certain Age”) “I’d ask his opinion on whether he thinks we fulfilled his dream, or do we still have a lot of work to do? I’d like his opinion on it. He wanted to reach a day when we were all judged by the content of our character. I think when people got behind those curtains in that voting booth, they voted that way.”

Tavis Smiley — (“Tavis Smiley Show”) “Dr. King, how am I doing? I’m trying to honor your legacy of loving and serving people. Whatever the answer is, I’d take it in stride. He’d either say, ‘You’re doing good or you need Tavis Smiley work in some areas.’ ” Tanika Ray — (“Extra”) “We have the basics, Martin. Where do we go from here?”

Anthony Hamilton — (R&B singer) “How are you?”

Tarsha’ Hamilton — (singer) “What do you think about today?”

Ruben Santiago-Hudson — (“Castle”) “I don’t think it’s even fathomable for me to ask Dr. King one question. I might not ask anything. I might just sit there and glow in his presence and just bask in his brilliance and beauty.”

Lucius Baston — (“The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call — New Orleans”) “ ‘How close are we to the dream?’ I’d also ask, ‘What would be his vision today?’ ” Tracie Thoms — (“Cold Case”) “What was the source of his conviction? Did he ever doubt himself?

What kept him up at night? What were his fears?

Margaret Avery — (“The Color Purple”) “He influTracie Thoms enced me with his ‘I Have a Dream.’ That’s what got me into acting. I’d just say, ‘Thank you.’ I’m grateful for his encouraging words. He changed my life.”

Hattie Winston — (“Becker”) “Martin, what have we done wrong since you’ve been gone?”

Thom Barry — (“Cold Case”) “If he got to the mountaintop. If so, send me a picture.”

Hattie Winston

Kristoff St. John — (“Young and the Restless”) “What does it look like on the mountaintop?”

Faizon Love — (“Couples Retreat”) Kristoff St. John “I wouldn’t ask anything. I would listen to that man. I don’t want to interrupt that. I would just witness greatness.”

Jackee — (“227,” “Sister, Sister”) “Was he ever scared to be the first one to guide our people?

Jackee

T.C. Carson

T.C. Carson — (“Living Single”) “What can I do?”

“At the center of nonviolence stands the principle of love.”

– Martin Luther King Jr. Source: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/ m/martin_luther_king_jr.html

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L.A. WATTS TIMES

January 14, 2010

TRIBUTE TO DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

Historic Memories of King in L.A. These photos were provided courtesy of Kent Kirkton, curator and director of the Institute for Arts and Media at California State University, Northridge. The institute has more than 1.5 million images, including many photos of black Los Angeles decades ago.

Pictured (clockwise): The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in August 1956, believed to be with some members of the department of civil liberties of the Improved Benevolent Protective Order of Elks of the World (photo by Harry Adams); King rides in the car with some members during the time of an Elks’ convention, believed to be on Aug. 23, 1956 (photo by Adams); King waves on the steps of a United Airlines airplane. This was believed to have taken place on Feb. 23, 1958 (photo by Adams); (left to right) King, an unidentified woman, Coretta Scott King, and Maurice Dawkins, on what is believed to have been on Feb. 23, 1958 (photo

by Adams); King and A.S. “Doc” Young (behind King) picketing Woolworth’s Department Store on July 9, 1960, during a Christian ministers conference (photo

by Charles Williams); (left to right) former Ninth District Councilman Gilbert Lindsay, Maurice Dawkins, King, and an unidentified man, during a Christian leadership conference believed to be on June 17, 1962 (photo by Williams); King, believed to be in a church (photo

by Adams); King in a photo believed to have been taken also on Feb. 23, 1958 (photo by Adams); Christopher Wright, far left, and King (photo by Williams).

The L.A. Watts Times thanks Brad Pye Jr. for his help with photo identifications.

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. COMMEMORATIVE EDITION

January 14, 2010

L.A. WATTS TIMES

Page 19

TRIBUTE TO DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. KINGDOM DAY PARADE Continued from page 1 south on Crenshaw to Vernon Avenue in Leimert Park.

There will be a gospel festival at Leimert Park, presented by the City of Los Angeles departments of Cultural Affairs and Recreation and Parks.

A former banker, Grant initially began the Kingdom Parade in San Diego when he was president and chief operating officer for Pacific Coast Bank.

“I had a meeting with members of the ministerial alliance in San Diego. I told them I never had the opportunity to meet Dr. King but I always admired him and what he stood for,” Grant said. “While

he was doing all of this (fighting for civil rights), I was offering my life for the country (in war), which didn’t treat me like a number-one citizen. I told them I had this goal that I wanted to do a parade in his honor.”

With donations from thenPacific Southwest Airlines, a San Diego credit union and others, Grant, in 1980, launched the first parade, which was televised by the local ABC affiliate.

In order to gain more prominence for the parade, Grant moved it to Los Angeles, in 1986.

Due to budget constraints, the city of Los Angeles has scaled back

Larry Grant, parade founder

its funding for the event.

“Because of the (city) budget, we have a new special event policy where the city cannot any longer pay for the entire event,” said Bernard Parks Jr., chief deputy for Eight District Councilman Bernard Parks Sr. “They are asking for 50 percent from organizers.”

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ROYALTY — Pictured (left to right, top row): Adrian Dove, chairman of the California Congress of Racial Equality; Larry E. Grant, chairman and Kingdom Day Parade founder; Tong Suk Chun of the World Cultural Sports Foundation; (bottom row): Adrianne St. Clair, second runner-up princess of the parade; Brittni Wallace, 2010 Parade Queen; Carla Banks, first runner-up princess.

According to Parks, parade organizers were notified about the reduced funding last summer.

Parks added that, despite the reduction in funding, the councilman thinks the parade is important and is continuing to provide staff to support the event.

“We dedicate a huge number of staff hours, man and woman hours, to make sure the parade, as well as the gospel fest, go off without a hitch,” Parks Jr. said. “There is a huge commitment from him (Parks Sr.), as well as everyone in the office, to ensure it goes off swimmingly. That shows more than anything else how he feels about it.”

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

– Martin Luther King Jr. Source:http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/ m/martin_luther_king_jr.html

“Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.”

- Martin Luther King Jr.

Unified Grocers is pleased to participate in honoring the life and legacy of

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. His emotional, spiritual and social empowerment transformed a nation.

www.unifiedgrocers.com

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. COMMEMORATIVE EDITION

Page 20

L.A. WATTS TIMES

January 14, 2010

TRIBUTE TO DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. MLK MEMORIAL Continued from page 1 for domestic terrorists, so they wanted to make sure that the people of United States and visitors to the memorial were protected; so we came up with a different design to stop truck bombs and things like that from damaging the memorial,” he said.

So far, the nonprofit has raised about $106 million of the project’s total cost of $120 million, and it does not foresee any difficulties raising the remainder for the memorial, which will be on the National Mall and include a 28foot statue of King, who was assassinated in 1968.

Million-dollar donations have poured in from corporations, individuals with high-dollar net worth, and foundations, as well as the grandmothers, grandfathers, and people who went through the Civil Rights Movement. Also, children sent in $5 and $10, Johnson said.

Further, he said, despite the recession, fundraising efforts have been fruitful, and during January and Black History Month, dona-

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tions usually increase because people look for causes to give to during that time.

“The torch bearer after Dr. King’s death was his wife, Coretta Scott King, and certainly his family.

This tribute to Dr. King is as much a tribute and a statement of admiration for Coretta Scott King and now her living children and those who have passed on,” said Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX).

RUPERT Continued from page 2

F

Lei Yixin, designer of memorial statue

having to change things, and King’s words become relevant in a whole new way.

King was warning against avoidance of the difficult issues involving race.

The idea that racism should be tolerated because maintaining order is preferable to pursuing justice offended him. The path toward justice is typically disorderly and unpaved — if it weren’t we would have simply followed it the first time. But King’s position is that ending racial division, really ending it, was worth it.

Post-racialism isn’t an end to racial division; it is an end to conversations about race. It’s just our newest and most recent form of avoidance. It’s a way to take a complicated issue and declare victory by refusing to engage any longer.

The white moderates King implored tried to leave all the work of the Civil Rights Movement in the future; post-racialism is aimed at convincing us it’s all in the past.

The positions are inverses of each other in a way that makes them sort of brothers: Even though one is all about tomorrow and the other is all about yesterday, they’re both single-minded theories of racial progress doomed to fail because they’re ill-equipped to deal with

anything happening today.

And honestly, they might have even had it better in King’s day.

At least urging patience for equal rights acknowledged that the work was not done. The whole point of post-racialism is to show us that the work is already done, even in the face of mounting evidence that it’s not true. Such a shallow understanding of the issue makes King’s moderates look positively revolutionary.

While some of his rhetoric evokes a call for colorblindness, King knew the issue was much too complicated for that.

Race is hard.

It’s a simple lesson that King taught us, but one we need to remember as we reach for solutions that try to tell us it’s easier than we know it is.

King lamented a shallow understanding from people of good will.

That is precisely what post-racialism offers us. People of good will should aim at deep understandings of race.

And post-racialism cannot get us there.

Maya Rupert is an attorney in downtown Los Angeles. She has previously contributed to the San Francisco Chronicle, as well as other publications. Her column explores issues of race, gender, and politics and appears in the L.A. Watts Times regularly. She can be reached at maya.rupert@gmail.com.

“If physical death is the price that I must pay to free my white brothers and sisters from a permanent death of the spirit, then nothing can be more redemptive.”

– Martin Luther King Jr. Source: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/martin_luther_king_jr.html

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. COMMEMORATIVE EDITION

January 14, 2010

L.A. WATTS TIMES

Page 21

EDUCATION NOTEBOOK Conel West, Quincy Jones to Headline King Holiday ATLANTA (AP) — Princeton University scholar Cornel West will deliver the keynote address marking the 81st birthday of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. at the Atlanta church where the slain civil rights leader preached.

West, who teaches in Princeton’s Center for African American Studies, is a theologian, intellectual and author of “Race Matters” and 19 other books.

The Jan. 18 ceremony at Ebenezer Baptist Church — where King preached from 1960 until his death in 1968 — is the 25th federal observance of King’s birthday.

The civil rights icon and 1964 Nobel Peace Prize winner is the only black American whose birthday is a national holiday.

The King Center is also honoring producer Quincy Jones at its annual “Salute to Greatness” dinner in downtown Atlanta on Jan. 16.

Minorities See Punishment Gap in Colo. Schools DENVER (AP) — Black and Latino children in Colorado schools are more likely than whites to face harsh punishments such as suspension or expulsion, The Denver Post reports.

The newspaper published an analysis Jan. 5 of state disciplinary records for the 2008-09 school year. The paper found that black students made up just 5.9 percent of all pupils, but 12.7 percent of the cases of suspension, expulsion or discipline for being disruptive.

Latino students were 28.4 percent of the students but 37 percent of the discipline cases.

There were bright spots in the data. From the 2000 school year to the 2008 school year, the percent of students disciplined in Colorado fell from 11.1 percent to 8.5 percent.

Art Center Offering Classes Art Center at Night, part of the Art Center College of Design, is offering nearly 200 courses in art and design.

Registration by Jan. 15 for Spring term classes, which begins Jan. 19, will incur no late fees.

Classes will take place on the Art Center College of Design South Campus, 950 S. Raymond Ave., Pasadena.

Information: www.artcenter. edu/atnight, (626) 396-2319.

L.A. to Train Anti-Gang Workers in New Academy (AP) — The nation’s gang capital launched its official training academy for anti-gang workers Jan. 7 with a $200,000 contract and high hopes.

By developing standards, curriculum, and oversight for former gang members attending the Los Angeles Gang Intervention Training Academy, city officials hope interventionists’ work will become more professional and well-publicized cases of anti-gang workers falling back into their former life of crime can be avoided.

“Although overall crime continues to drop in Los Angeles, we

continue to see gang violence as one of the serious threats facing our city,” Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said at a news conference.

Los Angeles spends $26 million a year on gang intervention agencies, which help negotiate cease-fires between rival gangs and work to steer youth away from gang life.

But interventionists are usually former gang members who have little formal training in crisis-management and legal boundaries.

City officials also say there is little oversight and accountability for interventionists.

Officials hope that will change with the new academy, which is set to roll out in March with a first class of 100 interventionists currently under contract to the city’s Office of Gang Reduction and Youth Development.

Former Howard U. President James Cheek Dies at 77 WASHINGTON (AP) — James E. Cheek, who served as Howard University’s president for 20 years, has died. He was 77.

University spokesman Ron Harris said Cheek died Jan. 8 at a hospital in Greensboro, N.C. Cheek died after a long illness, said Tanya Wiley, spokeswoman for Shaw University where Cheek earlier served as president.

Cheek presided over the historically black Howard University from 1968 to 1989. During that time, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, in 1983.

During Cheek’s tenure, the university’s enrollment increased by 6,000 students, and its budget soared from $43 million to $417 million. The school founded the nation’s first black-owned public television station, created WHUR radio, established a School of Business and built Howard University Hospital. Cheek also expanded Howard’s divinity and law schools.

Cheek was born Dec. 4, 1932, in Roanoke Rapids, N.C. He served in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War and went on to earn degrees in sociology, history, and divinity from Shaw University in Raleigh, N.C., Colgate Rochester University in New York, and a Ph.D. from Drew University in New Jersey.

Cheek is survived by his wife, Celestine, two children and four grandchildren.

Norfolk State President to Step Down in June NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Norfolk State University President Carolyn W. Meyers is resigning June 30.

The university announced her resignation Jan. 4.

Rector Edward L. Hamm Jr. said the board of visitors has known about Meyers’ planned departure since Nov. 9, but agreed to her request to delay the public announcement.

The 63-year-old Meyers has been president of the historically black university with nearly 7,000 students since 2006. She is in the

fourth year of a five-year contract.

She told the board she planned to pursue other interests before learning that she did not get the top post at Morgan State University in Baltimore. She had been named a finalist in November.

Hamm said the search for her replacement will begin by the board’s next meeting in March.

Busy Univ. President — NC College President Wants to Change Charlotte Too CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The president at Johnson C. Smith University has picked up a new nickname: “Microwave.”

Ron Carter’s assistant came up with the new moniker for his boss, because the man who has been at the helm of the university for a year is intense and wants to accomplish things quickly.

Carter, 61, wants to transform the 142-year-old historically black college by raising academic standards. But he also wants the school to become a vibrant urban university that reaches out to the surrounding Charlotte neighborhoods.

“Every city, I would hope, has a soul,” Carter told The Charlotte Observer. “That’s the mission of every urban university — every urban college — to help a city see, feel and articulate that soul.”

Carter has already started a leadership program and is developing a performing arts curriculum with local arts leaders.

One of Carter’s first moves when he took the job about a year ago was to push for stricter admission standards at Johnson C. Smith. The new standards may initially cut into the school’s enrollment of about 1,400 students, but Carter said more “highly motivated, highly talented” students are better equipped to become leaders.

“We’re a little worried about his workload,” said trustee Tom Baldwin. But “we’re very pleased.”

Carter said he is driven by knowing he has a chance to take some chances and transform his school and city.

Schwarzenegger Signs Major School Reform Legislation

BY DON THOMPSON AP WRITER

SACRAMENTO (AP) — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed sweeping education reform bills Jan. 7 designed to empower parents and let California compete for up to $700 million in federal money.

Among other changes, the reforms will link teacher evaluations to student performance and allow parents with children in the worst-performing schools to send them elsewhere.

In addition, local school governing boards will be allowed to close failing schools, convert them to charter schools or fire the principal and half the staff.

Many of the steps were opposed by teachers unions and other education groups.

Schwarzenegger praised the two bills as landmark reforms that

once seemed politically impossible.

“We overcame divisions and put children first,” Schwarzenegger said before he signed the bills into law at Mary McLeod Bethune Middle School in Los Angeles. “Before, there were these exit door chains where children couldn’t get out. ... Now the chain is broken and the children are free.”

The 6 million students in California represent the nation’s largest public school system.

The new laws will let the state compete for a share of $4.3 billion in federal education grants. The state must move quickly to submit its application because the first federal deadline is less than a week away.

This legislation is “going to See SCHOOL REFORM, page 27

“Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.”

– Martin Luther King Jr. Source: http://www.brainyquote.com/ quotes/authors/m/ martin_luther_king_jr.html

Supreme Court Rejects School Dress Code Challenge WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is declining to review a Texas school district dress code that prohibited student clothing that featured political commentary.

Without comment Jan. 11, the justices rejected an appeal from a high school senior in suburban Dallas who sued the Waxahachie Independent School District for political censorship.

Paul “Pete” Palmer, now a senior, first sought to wear a Tshirt supporting John Edwards’ presidential campaign in 2007.

He later asked permission to wear other shirts with political messages, including one that had “Freedom of Speech” on the front and the First Amendment printed on the back.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the code, saying its intent was to eliminate distractions.

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Honoring the life and enduring legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter.”

— Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. COMMEMORATIVE EDITION

Page 22

L.A. WATTS TIMES

January 14, 2010

EDUCATION

Skirball’s ‘Road to Freedom’ Photos ‘Tug’ at Heart

BY DARLENE DONLOE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The climax of the Civil Rights Movement took place in the 1950s and ’60s.

It was a pivotal, volatile, lifechanging and culturally transforming time in America that put racism and inequality right at the government’s doorstep.

In an exhibit chronicling the era, the mood of the country, the anguish of blacks, the violence that erupted, the unjust reality of segregation of the South, and the determination that prevailed is all captured in 170 black-and-white photos taken by 35 photographers.

“Road to Freedom: Photographs of the Civil Rights Movement, 1956-1968,” currently at the

Photo Courtesy of the HIGH MUSEUM ART IN ATLANTA

MANHOOD — Black men declared their humanity in the “I Am a Man/Union Justice Now” protest in Memphis, Tenn., 1968.

Skirball Cultural Center through March 7, is not only an affecting and emotive display, but it’s being touted

Photo Courtesy of the ARCHIVE OF THE MISSISSIPPI STATE SOVEREIGNTY COMMISSION

MUG SHOT — A July 30, 1961, mug shot of Helen Singleton, a Freedom Rider, after her arrest. Singleton protested segregation during the Civil Rights Movement.

as the largest exhibition of civil rights photographs in more than 20 years.

Organized by the High Museum of Art in Atlanta and conceived by Julian Cox, its curator of photography, the exhibit was as a way to pay homage to the 40th anniversary of the death of Martin Luther King Jr. The show includes pictures of iconic leaders and activists like Rosa Parks being fingerprinted, the Little Rock Nine trying to attend the allwhite Central High School, Fannie Lou Hamer at home, and King being manhandled as he was arrested.

It’s essentially a large photo album that gives a historic account of the civil rights struggle.

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MANHANDLED — A civil rights protester is detained at the Los Angeles Federal Building Protest in 1965. Used with permission by the J. Paul Getty Trust.

While all of the photographs touch some part of the heart, others, like those of the family of James Chaney departing for his funeral, tug firmly. Chaney was one of three civil rights workers (along with Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner) found murdered and buried 15 feet in an earthen dam in Mississippi.

Other events chronicled in the exhibit include the Freedom Rides, King and Coretta Scott King leading marchers, the Poor People’s Campaign, the March on Washington and more. “ ‘Road to Freedom’ depicts the African American struggle for civil rights in unforgettable photographs of black and white,” Robert Kirscher, Skirball Museum director, said in an e-mail. “By exposing the tragedies of segregated life in the Deep South in the 1950s and 1960s, and the courage of ordinary people who stood tall for change, these images transformed our nation and the world.”

Some never-before-seen images are included in the exhibit. In addition to the photos, historical

objects, like the document featuring Parks’ fingerprints, are also featured.

Photo by ERIC ETHERIDGE

PROGRESS — Helen Singleton in Los Angeles 44 years after a mug shot of her was taken following her arrest for protesting Jim Crow.

A highlight of the traveling exhibit making its debut in Southern California is photographs that chronicle the Civil Rights Movement in Los Angeles.

See SKIRBALL, page 24

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“I submit to you that if a man hasn’t discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.”

– Martin Luther King Jr. Source: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/ m/martin_luther_king_jr.html

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. COMMEMORATIVE EDITION

January 14, 2010

L.A. WATTS TIMES

Page 23

HEALTH THE PULSE Activist Groups Raise Concerns on Health Bill WASHINGTON (AP) — Advocacy groups lobbied President Barack Obama and Congress Jan. 7, trying to eliminate what they called a “loophole” in Senate health care legislation they said could allow insurers to raise rates on customers based on their weight or blood sugar levels.

The groups said that would contradict one of the main goals of the congressional health care overhaul, which is to eliminate insurance company practices such as charging more or denying coverage based on health status.

The push came amid intense behind-the-scenes negotiations on Capitol Hill and at the White House to reconcile sweeping health care legislation passed by the House and Senate into a final bill Obama could sign before his State of the Union address in early February.

The so-called loophole is a provision that allows employers to establish “workplace wellness” programs giving financial incentives to workers who meet certain health or fitness criteria such as maintaining body mass or blood sugar levels.

Current law allows employers to vary costs for workers based on whether they can hit those targets by as much as 20 percent. The Senate bill would raise that to 30 percent, with the possibility of a further increase to 50 percent at the discretion of government officials.

NCAA Might Have Concussion Rule Change in Football DETROIT (AP) — The NCAA’s director of health and safety says the governing body is considering a rule change that would allow football officials to remove players from games if they show signs of a concussion.

Dr. David Klossner divulged the proposal Jan. 4 in response to a question from Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., during the House Judiciary Committee hearing on the legal issues related to football head injuries.

Klossner was asked if the NCAA would react to what happened with fired Texas Tech coach Mike Leach and player Adam James. Cohen said James should’ve been sent to get medical help and not to a shed when he had a concussion.

Leach has denied he mistreated James, son of former NFL player and ESPN analyst Craig James.

State Inspectors Find New Faults at Southern California Hospital IRVINE, Calif. (AP) — The state has found three new problem areas at the University of California, Irvine Medical Center during an inspection to determine whether the hospital had fixed prior deficiencies.

A letter received recently by the university from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said inspectors found deficiencies in pharmacy, oversight and quality assessment and performance during their surveys in October.

The hospital has until Jan. 18 to submit a remedial plan.

UC officials received a warning from state officials last July following an investigation of drug pumps that led to the accidental overdose of five patients. No patients died or suffered serious injuries from the overdoses.

Computer Glitch Puts Birth Control Rx on Hold (AP) — Officials blamed a computer glitch for recent problems filling birth control prescriptions for uninsured and low-income California residents.

Officials at the California Department of Public Health said they had received complaints from pharmacies, clinics, and other providers unable to fill birth control prescriptions paid for by the state’s Family Planning Access Care Treatment program.

Pharmacists were only able to dispense a one-month supply of contraceptives instead of the usual three-month supply covered by the program.

Some Los Angeles-area pharmacies said they couldn’t even fill partial prescriptions.

Officials say the computer bug was caused by an update scheduled for Jan. 1. A contractor made repairs and fixed the problem by Jan. 5.

EPA Replacing Bush Smog Limit With Stricter Rule WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency is setting stricter health standards for smog.

Hundreds of more counties nationwide will likely be in violation. The EPA said it will cost tens of billions dollars annually to reduce pollution to meet the limits.

Smog irritates the lungs and can lead to asthma attacks and other respiratory illnesses. It’s long been a problem in parts of Texas, California, and along the northeastern coast. However, the new standards could also affect counties in Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, the Dakotas, Kansas, Minnesota and Iowa for the first time based on EPA data.

The stricter standards are expected to reduce emergency room visits, premature deaths and missed work and school days. The EPA said children particularly will enjoy better health.

The proposed range was what scientists had recommended during the Bush administration.

However, former President George W. Bush personally intervened and set the standard above what was advised after protests from electric utilities and other industries.

Local Fight Against Fat Goes High-Tech With New Devices

BY ALICIA CHANG AP SCIENCE WRITER

ALHAMBRA (AP) — The fight against fat is going high-tech.

To get an inside look at eating and exercise habits, scientists are developing wearable wireless sensors to monitor overweight and obese people as they go about their daily lives.

The experimental devices are designed to keep track of how many minutes they work out, how much food they consume, and even whether they are at a fast-food joint when they should be in the park.

The goal is to cut down on selfreported answers that often cover up what’s really happening.

In a lab in this Los Angeles suburb, two overweight teenagers help test the devices by taking turns sitting, standing, lying down, running on a treadmill and playing Wii. As music thumps in the background, wireless sensors on their chests record their heart rates, stress levels and amount of physical activity. The information is sent to a cell phone.

“I can’t feel my legs,” 15year-old Amorette Castillo groans after her second treadmill run.

Traditional weight-loss interventions rely mainly on people’s memory of what they ate for dinner and how many minutes they worked out. But researchers have long known that method can be unreliable since people often forget details or lie.

The new devices are being designed in labs or created with off-the-shelf parts. Some similar instruments are already on the market, including a model that tracks calories burned by measuring motion, sweat and heat with armbands.

But the devices in development aim to be more sophisticated by featuring more precise electronics and sometimes even video cameras. Many emerging systems also strive to provide instant feedback and personalized treatment for wearers.

At the University of Southern California lab, the teens alternated between being sedentary and active as researchers resolved the technical bugs. Later this year, some will wear the body sensors at home on weekends. If they get too lazy, they will get pinged with a text message.

“We’ll be able to know real-

“Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted.”

– Martin Luther King Jr. Source: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/ authors/m/martin_luther_king_jr.html

time if they’re inactive, if they’re active,” said Donna Spruijt-Metz, a USC child obesity expert in charge of the project.

The devices are made possible by advances in technology such as accelerometers that can measure the duration and intensity of a workout. They also use Bluetoothenabled cell phones that can take pictures of meals and send information back.

Will all this wizardry lead to a slimmer society? Scientists say there’s reason to hope. Getting an accurate picture of what people eat and how often they move around will help researchers develop personalized weight-loss advice.

Obesity is an epidemic in the United States, with two-thirds of adults either overweight or obese.

It’s a major health concern for children and adolescents, who are at higher risk for high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes as they grow older.

A federally funded pilot project by the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Louisiana is exploring whether people can lose more weight when tracked by technology.

Participants carry around Blackberry Curves to snap pictures of their meals and leftovers. They also wear a quarter-sized device on their shoe that counts the number of steps they take.

Counselors pore over the incoming data and give individual-

ly tailored health advice through email or telephone. Every month, the participants get their weight checked, and their progress is compared against a separate group that receives only generic health tips.

The study involves just seven people, but researchers eventually hope to have 40.

“It’s highly personalized. You get feedback very quickly,” said Corby Martin, who heads Pennington’s Ingestive Behavior Laboratory.

By using technology to capture eating and exercise details, researchers hope to bypass selfreporting that can sometimes give an incomplete picture.

But some medical experts are concerned about ethical questions.

Even if people agree to be tracked, researchers worry about intruding into the rest of their lives and the lives of those around them.

“As a researcher, I’m a professional voyeur, and I like to find out whatever I can about human subjects,” said William McCarthy, a professor of public health and psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles. “But if I were a subject, I’d be concerned about the level of detail that’s being captured about my behavior from moment to moment.”

University of Pittsburgh engineer Mingui Sun has developed a necklace equipped with a video camera that records where a person See NEW DEVICES page 26

Update on H1N1 Virus

“Don’t Let Your Guard Down” Experts Warn

By Ngoc Nguyen H1N1 virus has no cure, but there is a way to prevent it … get vaccinated! That’s the message health experts around the state are telling the public, even though H1N1 flu cases have peaked.

“It’s much too early to let our guard down,” says Ken August, spokesperson for the California Department of Public Health. “H1N1 flu cases may be decreasing, but [the virus] is not going away.”

The first two confirmed H1N1 cases in the country were found in California, and now a majority of counties in the state have reported at least one case of H1N1. The virus has hospitalized more than 7,546 Californians and caused nearly 397 deaths, according to the latest state data (http://www.cdph.ca.gov/HealthInfo/discond/Pages/H1N1Home.aspx).

The state estimates that more than 3 million Californians have become ill from the H1N1 flu.

“The vast majority of flu illnesses are of the H1N1 strain. We’re seeing almost none of the seasonal flu strain right now,” said August, who emphasized the importance of getting vaccinated against the strain that is out there the most.

As of early December, California has ordered 7 million doses of H1N1 vaccine. The number of doses ordered so far is enough to vaccinate about 18 percent of the state’s population against H1N1.

Early supply problems hampered mass vaccination efforts, said Jonathan Fielding, M.D., public health officer for Los Angeles County.

“That’s really caused a lot of problems, because expectations were heightened, and we didn’t have enough vaccine to fulfill them and that caused anxiety,” he said. Los Angeles County has received 1.4 million doses, whereas the high-risk group is 5.5 million people, Fielding said.

Pregnant women, children, young adults under age 24 and people of all ages with chronic conditions are at increased risk of infection and complications from the flu.

Health officials emphasized the importance of getting vaccinated against H1N1 flu, especially those in high-risk groups, and they said it is not too late to do so. As it takes up to two weeks after a vaccination for the body to develop immunity, those who want to protect themselves during the holiday season should get immunized in the next two weeks.

The experts say the epidemic has crested for now, but we’re likely to see additional waves. “We’ve already had a second, we could see a third wave,” said Fielding.

The first wave of H1N1 infections occurred in the spring (April-June), with cases dropping off, but never disappearing, during the summer. Infections spiked again in October, after students went back to school.

Takashi Wada, M.D., public health officer for the City of Pasadena, said H1N1 cases could rebound again after the New Year, as people tend to congregate indoors more during the winter and travel over the holidays.

In Santa Clara County, H1N1 hospitalizations and school absenteeism have leveled off, according to Joy Alexiou, spokesperson for the county public health department. But, getting vaccinated is still a good idea, she says, because flu activity is still high.

“Flus are notorious for changing and getting unpredictable,” Alexiou said. “Will there be another wave after the first of this year? We don’t know.” The message: Better to be safe than sorry. Get vaccinated.

Gift of Health is supported by grants from The California Endowment and California Community Foundation.

ADVERTORIAL

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. COMMEMORATIVE EDITION

Page 24

L.A. WATTS TIMES

January 14, 2010

SPORTS SKIRBALL

BRAD PYE JR.

Continued from page 22

SPORTS BEAT Notes, quotes and things picked up on the run from coast-to-coast and all the stops in between and beyond.

Pete Carroll has exited the University of Southern California as head coach of its football team and will be â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sleepless in Seattleâ&#x20AC;? with a $35 million contract with the Seahawks. The contract is for five years.

All those Reggie Bush problems are now in Carrollâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rear-view mirror. USCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s athletic director, Mike Garrett, will have to move fast to name Carrollâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s replacement to keep some top recruits from jumping ship.

For the record, UCLA and USC will not be headed for the NCAA playoffs. In USCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s case, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s because of the O.J. Mayo sanctions.

The University of California at Los Angeles just doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have the talent this season.

And the beat continuesâ&#x20AC;Ś After the NFL Wild Card weekend, only one black head coach remains. Jim Caldwellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Indianapolis Colts made the cut, but Marvin Lewisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Cincinnati Bengals lost its wild-card match Jan. 9 to the New York Jets 24-14.

Carson Palmer and his Bengals were no match for the Jets, who will be in San Diego to face the AFC West Division champion Chargers on Jan. 17.

Caldwellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Colts hosts the Baltimore Ravens in their playoff test Jan. 16.

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Some of the highlights in Wild Card weekend included the following: Ray Priceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 83-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage got the Ravens off to their win against the New England Patriots.

The Ravens beat the Patriots 33-14.

Long Beach Polytechnic High School star DeSean Jackson, now

DeSean Jackson

with the Philadelphia Eagles, will be featured in the Pro Bowl in Miami on Jan. 31 as a receiver and punt returner, a week before the Super Bowl in the same stadium.

And the beat continuesâ&#x20AC;Ś The Portland Trail Blazers made the high-flying world champion Lakers look like just another patsy as they cut Kobe Bryant & Co. down 107-98 on Jan. 8.

Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t look now, but the L.A. Clippers recently won four games straight. Included among the four victims were the Lakers, Portland and Miami Heat. The Clippers did this without the help of their No. 1 pick, Blake Griffin. The Clippers have won six straight at Staples Center.

How long will the Washington Wizardsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; All-Star Gilbert Arenas be â&#x20AC;&#x153;unfitâ&#x20AC;? to resume play in the NBA? Commissioner David Stern suspended Arenas indefinitely for bringing guns into the stadium.

And the beat continuesâ&#x20AC;Ś Sports Illustrated says the best collegiate basketball player in America is Kentucky freshman point guard John Wall. Wall wants to return Kentucky greatness before he moves on to the NBA. And the beat continuesâ&#x20AC;Ś Former Dorsey High star Charles Garcia Jr. is the talk of Seattle University. Garcia, at 6 feet, 10 inches and 230 pounds, was recruited out of Riverside Community College by ex-University of Washington assistant coach Cameron Dollar. And itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s being reported he could be drafted into the NBA in June.

And the beat continuesâ&#x20AC;Ś Four-time heavyweight champion Evander â&#x20AC;&#x153;Real Dealâ&#x20AC;? Holyfield, 47, plans to fight Francois Botha Feb. 20 in Kampala, Uganda.

The last time Holyfield fought was in December 2008.

And the beat continuesâ&#x20AC;Ś Former Chicago Cubs great Andre Dawson was the only player selected to the Baseball Hall of

Andre Dawson

Fame this time around. About 78 percent of votes from members of the Baseball Writers Association of America were for Dawson.

And the beat ends.

Brad Pye Jr. can be reached at switchreel@aol.com

Images include the picketing of Kress Store in Pasadena in 1960, the march on Pershing Square on March 14, 1965, and the Watts Rebellion of 1965.

Whether one is familiar with the period by having lived through it, reading about it, or hearing stories passed down through generations, looking at the collection of black and white photographs is like taking a step back in time.

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mesmerizing. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gutwrenching. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s real.

The in-your-face images of those who were unafraid to take a stand are compelling. The exhibit is unglamorous, raw, gritty and sometimes painful to view.

With hymnals playing in the background and recordings of Kingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s speeches available through headsets, the tone is set and the mood is melancholy as you wind through the massive display.

There are pictures of nonviolent protestors being attacked by dogs, while others are hosed and beaten by police. There are pictures of marchers whose faces look weary, but whose unwavering spirit and determination kept them moving forward. And then there is a photo of a marcherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bandaged foot, which speaks volumes.

Clancey, who worked on the exhibit for more than a year, said she was determined to â&#x20AC;&#x153;get it right.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;For me, the most important thing was telling the complete story,â&#x20AC;? the admitted perfectionist said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This exhibition (is) â&#x20AC;Ś comprehensive. The movement is covered from its first victory to the Poor Peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s campaign. The photographs are powerful. Julian (Cox) and I were both involved in the installation of the photos. Placement was vitally important.â&#x20AC;?

Clancey pointed out that it was important to place a photograph of someone like King, who is well known, alongside Fannie Lou Hamer, who a lot of young people donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know, because it â&#x20AC;&#x153;speaks to

the level of leadershipâ&#x20AC;? that was present during the movement. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The photos speak to each other,â&#x20AC;? Clancey said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We tried to achieve balance.â&#x20AC;?

The Civil Rights Movement was an uneasy time in America and the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Road to Freedomâ&#x20AC;? is an uneasy journey.

But, it should be.

The pictures of the men, women and children who look out from the photos bear witness to the enormous struggles and sacrifices previous generations shouldered so that others could have basic equal rights.

There is something about black-and-white photos that captures an atmosphere, a time and sentiment unlike anything else.

The companion piece, also housed at the Skirball Cultural Center, is a separate exhibit called â&#x20AC;&#x153;Breach of Peace: Photographs of Freedom Riders,â&#x20AC;? by Eric Etheridge.

The display, which originated as part of the High Museumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;Road to Freedomâ&#x20AC;? exhibit, but has been expanded for the Skirball staging, showcases the individuals who challenged state segregation laws and were arrested and convicted of the charge â&#x20AC;&#x153;breach of the peace.â&#x20AC;?

What makes this exhibit special is Etheridgeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s inclusion of both the participantsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; mug shots alongside their present-day photos.

Staring out from a photo is current Georgia Rep. John Lewis, one of the original 14 Freedom Riders, who was arrested at age 21.

And then there is Hank Thomas, also an original Freedom Rider, who was 19 at the time of his arrest. Chela Lightchild was 23 when she was arrested. Because her skin was so tan, she was mistaken for black. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Breach of Peaceâ&#x20AC;? continues at the Skirball through April 11.

Museum Information: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Road to Freedomâ&#x20AC;? will be at the Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles, through March 7, free parking.

Open: Tuesday through Friday, 12 to 5 p.m.; Saturday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; closed Mondays.

Admission: $10 general; $7 seniors, full-time students, and children over 12; $5 children 2 to 12.

Museum admission is free to all visitors on Thursdays. For more information, (310) 440-4500 or www.skirball.org.

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;Discrimination is a hellhound that gnaws at Negroes in every waking moment of their lives to remind them that the lie of their inferiority is accepted as truth in the society dominating them.â&#x20AC;&#x153; â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Martin Luther King Jr. Source: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/ m/martin_luther_king_jr.html

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. COMMEMORATIVE EDITION

January 14, 2010

L.A. WATTS TIMES

THE DODGERS CELEBRATE MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY!

CALL 866-DODGERS OR VISIT DODGERS.COM

Page 25

Page 26

L.A. WATTS TIMES

January 14, 2010

PUBLIC NOTICE DBA’s and Legal Notices, Call (213) 251-5700

NEW DEVICES Continued from page 23 goes and what he or she eats.

Before a researcher sees the data, it’s filtered by a computer that blurs out other people’s faces.

The device is not smart enough to know whether the wearer ate a Big Mac or tofu. So a researcher inputs the food, and the computer calculates the portion size, calories and nutrients.

Sun’s lab workers are wearing the prototype, and he hopes to test it on real people by the middle of the year.

Another concern is whether people, particularly youngsters, will stick with it.

Fellow Pittsburgh researcher Dana Rofey recently completed a study of 20 overweight female preteens and teens who wore armbands tracking the number of steps taken and calories burned daily.

“He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.”

– Martin Luther King Jr. Source: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/ m/martin_luther_king_jr.html

Request for Qualifications Jensen Partners is submitting a proposal to LA County for MLK Med Cntr Executive Campus Planner services.

Firm seeks qualified businesses and individuals to join project team. For immediate consideration call Ms. Stones at 213-748-3431, ext. 101 or fax quals to 213-748-3491. Email: bstones@jensenpartners.com

Researchers found the armbands were worn 75 percent of the time. Though the study did not include a comparison group, researchers were pleased with the high compliance rate.

On a recent weekday, Castillo and another study volunteer, 13year-old Eric Carles, headed straight from school to the USC lab, where they strapped the sensors on and went through a sort of circuit training. The project manager timed them as a postdoctoral student recorded the session through a one-way mirror.

Through periods of sitting, standing and exercising, they chatted about scary movies and upcoming exams. Wearing the devices felt “weird” to Castillo initially, but she has since grown used to it.

Castillo admits she doesn’t exercise as often as she would like and has a sweet tooth for chocolate. Carles, who plays after-school sports, confesses he eats a lot. The teens were willing to try anything to help them lose weight.

After enduring more than two hours of required physical activity, the two were allowed to do whatever they want. Researchers called it “free living,” and it offered a glimpse into the activities teens would choose when they test the sensors at home.

The two chose to play a music video game. With Castillo on drums and Carles on the guitar, they rocked out to Duran Duran and Bon Jovi as researchers looked on.

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Port of Long Beach Request For Pre-Qualification of Subcontractor Bidders Port of Long Beach, Long Beach, CA (the “Port”) has determined that the Subcontractors (“Contractors”) who will be performing the following work on the construction of the New Administration Building and Maintenance Facility Project HDS2206 to be undertaken by the Port must be pre-qualified prior to submitting a bid on that project: 1. Exterior Enclosure Systems 2. Architectural and Structural Concrete 3. Structural Steel Fabrication 4. Mechanical Systems 5. Plumbing Systems 6. Fire Sprinkler Systems 7. Electrical Systems 8. Drywall and Stud Framing Systems 9. Ornamental Metals 10. Architectural Site Concrete 11. Façade Access Systems 12. Stone Paving and Stone Facing 13. Interior Architectural Woodwork 14. Interior Glazed Systems The total estimated project construction costs are anticipated to exceed $180,000,000. It is mandatory that all Subcontractors who specialize in the aforementioned work who intend to submit a bid to the pre-qualified General Contractors fully complete the pre-qualification questionnaire, provide all materials requested herein, and be approved by the Port to be on the final qualified Bidders list. No bid will be accepted from a subcontractor that has failed to comply with these requirements. If two or more business entities intend to submit a bid as part of a Joint Venture each entity within the Joint Venture must be separately qualified to bid. The last date to submit a fully completed questionnaire is February 11, 2010 at 4:00 PM PST. Contractors are encouraged to submit pre-qualification packages as soon as possible. For further information regarding the Pre-Qualification Package for this project and for information on other future Port projects, you may view the Port website at: http://www.polb. com/economics/contractors/future_work/default.asp Copies of the Subcontractor PreQualification Application in CD format may be obtained, at no cost, in the Plans and Specifications office, 4th floor, Harbor Department Administration Building beginning Thursday, January 14, 2010, during the hours of 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., PST, Monday through Friday. To arrange to receive a CD by overnight courier, at the expense of the Contractor, call the office at (562) 590-4146. The printing of hard copies from the CD will be the responsibility of the Contractor.

PLEASE NOTE: Prior to requesting a CD, Contractors are required to visit the aforementioned website to ensure that they meet the initial project specific screening requirements.

Contractors may submit pre-qualification packages during the hours of 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., PST, Monday through Friday. Contractors who submit a complete pre-qualification package will be notified of their qualification status by March 18, 2010. The construction bid period for the project is anticipated to start in mid April 2010.

The list of the Pre-Qualified General Contractors and Subcontractors will be published as part of the bid documents.

Only the bids of Pre-qualified General Contractors using Pre-Qualified Subcontractors in the categories listed in the bid documents will be considered for contract award. General Contractor pre-qualification is being done in a separate pre-qualification package.

The deadline for submission of this package has already passed. The prequalified General Contractors shall be selected in March 2010.

Facts April 8, 1968 U.S. Rep. John Conyers Jr., DMich., introduces a bill for a federal holiday commemorating Martin Luther King Jr.’s birth.

More than a decade would pass before Congress decided to push the bill forward for a vote.

Source: racerelations.about.com

NOTICE INVITING BIDS FOR FURNISHING HIGH DEFINITION SCANNER SURVEYING INSTRUMENT AT 925 HARBOR PLAZA LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA AS DESCRIBED IN SPECIFICATION NO. HD-S2362 All bids must be submitted before 10:00 a.m., Tuesday, February 9, 2010. Any Bids received at or after 10:00 a.m., Tuesday, February 9, 2010 will be deemed non-responsive and will not be opened. Bids will be publicly opened in the 6th Floor Board Room of the Harbor Department Administration Building, 925 Harbor Plaza, Long Beach, California, 90802 at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, February 9, 2010. Bids shall be sealed in an envelope and the outside of the envelope should clearly state the specification number, title of the project and the bid opening date. Bids received before Tuesday, February 9, 2010 shall be sent to the 4th Floor, Plans and Specifications office, where the bid envelope will be date stamped. If bids are hand-carried or received the day of bid opening, prior to 10:00 a.m., the bids will be clocked in at the Lobby desk of the Harbor Department Administration Building and taken to the 6th Floor Board Room by the Port Contract Administrator. It is anticipated that the Board of Harbor Commissioners will consider a conditional award on February 22, 2010 with Staff given the authority to execute a Contract provided the lowest responsive bidder submits the required completed insurance forms, bonds and signed Contract within thirty (30) days after conditional award by the Board.

Copies of said specifications may be obtained, at no cost, in the Plans and Specifications office, 4th floor, Harbor Department Administration Building beginning January 14, 2010 during the hours of 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. To arrange to receive a bid package by courier at the expense of the Bidder call the office at (562) 590-4146.

For information on this project and other upcoming Port projects, you may view the Port website at http://www.polb.com/economics/contractors/out_for_bid.asp.

Copies of all Port insurance forms are available at: http://www.polb.com/economics/contractors/forms_permits/insurance.asp.

The Port has established a Small Business Enterprises (SBE)/Very Small Business Enterprises (VSBE) Program to encourage small business participation on construction contracts. Although SBE/VSBE participation goals were not assigned to this contract, the Port strongly encourages all bidders to include such participation wherever possible, by utilizing small business subcontractors, vendors, and suppliers. The Port also strongly encourages SBE/VSBE firms to respond to this solicitation as prime contractors.

Questions concerning the Port’s SBE/VSBE Program should be directed to the SBE/VSBE Program Office at SBEprogram@polb.com or 562-5904146, ext. 3212.

This project consists of furnishing all labor, materials, power, equipment, tools, transportation and supervision necessary to provide one high definition scanner (HDS) surveying system.

This project is funded by a FY07 California Port and Maritime Security Grant Program. Therefore, the selected contractor shall familiarize themselves with the appropriate grant guidelines and federal regulations in order to ensure compliance with such. Grant program guidelines can be found at the following website: http://www.homeland.ca.gov/grants_prop1B_CPMS.html Whenever any material, product, thing, or service identified in the specifications is described by one or more brand or trade names and is followed by the words “or equal”, the apparent low bidder shall submit data substantiating a request for the substitution of equivalent item(s) within forty-eight (48) hours following bid opening.

All bids shall be submitted upon forms provided by the City accompanied by a satisfactory "Bidder’s Bond" or other acceptable security deposit in an amount not less than ten percent (10%) of such bid as a guarantee that the Bidder will, if conditionally awarded a Contract by the Board, within thirty (30) days thereafter, execute and deliver such Contract to the office of the Chief Harbor Engineer along with all required insurance forms and a “Payment Bond” for not less than one hundred percent (100%) of the Contract price, and a “Performance Bond” for not less than one hundred percent (100%) of the Contract price. The “Bidder’s Bond” shall be submitted on forms provided by the City, signed by the bidder and the surety and both signatures shall be notarized.

The Board of Harbor Commissioners, acting through the Executive Director, reserves the right at any time prior to the execution of the Contract by the City, to reject all bids and to return all deposits accompanying said bids. If the lowest responsive bidder fails to submit the required insurance forms, bonds and signed Contract within thirty (30) days after conditional award, the Board reserves the right to rescind the conditional award and conditionally award the Contract to the next lowest responsive bidder. All bids and bid bonds shall be guaranteed for a period of ninety (90) days following the bid opening or until the Executive Director executes a Contract, whichever occurs first. The Board also reserves the right at any time to terminate the Contract for its convenience.

Dated at Long Beach, California, this 11th day of January, 2010.

Richard D. Steinke Executive Director of the Harbor Department, City of Long Beach, California Note: The Long Beach Harbor Department intends to provide reasonable accommodations in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. This specification is available in an alternative format by request. If a special accommodation is desired, please call (562) 590-4146, 48 hours prior to the bid opening or any pre-bid meetings.

Office hours are Monday-Friday, 7:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

D B A’ s a n d L e g a l N o t i c e s Call (213) 251-5700

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. COMMEMORATIVE EDITION

January 14, 2010

L.A. WATTS TIMES

Page 27

PUBLIC NOTICE LOS ANGELES COUNTY METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY (Metro) INVITATION FOR BIDS Metro will receive bids for IFB No. OP33442483, Tree Trimming Services for Metro Transit Facilities per specifications on file at the Office of Procurement & Material Mgmt, One Gateway Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90012 (12th Floor).

All Bids must be submitted on forms furnished by Metro, and must be filed at the reception desk of the Office of Proc. & Mat. Mgmt. on or before 2:00 p.m. (Pacific Time), February 8, 2010, at which time bids will be opened and publicly read. Bids received later than the above date and time will be rejected and returned to the bidder unopened. Each bid must be sealed and marked Bid No. OP33442483. A Pre-Bid conference will be held on January 21, 2010 at 9:00 a.m. (Pacific Time), Board Overflow Conference Room, 3rd floor, located at the address above.

You may obtain bid specifications, or further information, by faxing Samira Baghdikian at (213) 922-1005.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT File No. 20091859197 The following person is doing business as: Rhythm Records 2217 W. 25th St. Los Angeles, CA 90018 Mad Gear Clothing Co. P.O. Box 191087 Los Angeles, CA 90019 Angela E. Woods 2217 W. 25th St. Los Angeles, CA 90018 This business is conducted by an Individual. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct (The registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.) is Angela E. Woods. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles County on December 8, 2009.

The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on N/A. NOTICE: This Fictitious Name Statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the Los Angeles County Clerk. A New Fictitious Business Name Statement must be filed before that time.

The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a Fictitious Business Name in violation of the rights of another under Federal, State, or common law (See Section 14411 et seq., Business and Professions Code).

First Filing: 12/24/09,12/31/09, 1/7/10, 1/14/10 LAWT 397 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT File No. 20091811295 The following person is doing business as: DeJa’s Praise 925 W. 156th Street Compton, CA 90220 Retha Meredith 925 W. 156th Street Compton, CA 90220 This business is conducted by an Individual. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct (The registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.) is Retha Meredith. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles County on December 4, 2009.

The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on N/A. NOTICE: This Fictitious Name Statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the Los Angeles County Clerk. A New Fictitious Business Name Statement must be filed before that time.

The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a Fictitious Business Name in violation of the rights of another under Federal, State, or common law (See Section 14411 et seq., Business and Professions Code).

First Filing: 12/31/09, 1/7/10, 1/14/10, 1/21/09 LAWT 399

REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS RFQ NO. LS2010-05 "The Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority (“Authority”), owner and operator of the Bob Hope Airport (“Airport”) invites Parking Service Providers (“Operators”) to submit a Statement of Qualifications for the operation and management of the Airport self-park, valet parking, and passenger/employee busing services. Operator responses to the Request for Qualifications (“RFQ”) are due by 5:00 p.m. on January 22, 2010. For complete details and RFQ response format, please access the “Business Opportunities” link at www.bobhopeairport.com, or contact the Landside Operations Department Manager at (818) 840-8840."

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT File No. 20091878498 The following person is doing business as: Primeview Properties 24126 Silver Spray Dr. Diamond Bar, CA 91765 Primeview Group P.O. Box 151945 Los Angeles, CA 90015 Kevin Webb 24126 Silver Spray Dr. Diamond Bar, CA 91765 This business is conducted by an Individual. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct (The registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.) is Kevin Webb. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles County on December 10, 2009.

The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on N/A. NOTICE: This Fictitious Name Statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the Los Angeles County Clerk. A New Fictitious Business Name Statement must be filed before that time.

The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a Fictitious Business Name in violation of the rights of another under Federal, State, or common law (See Section 14411 et seq., Business and Professions Code).

First Filing: 12/24/09,12/31/09, 1/7/10, 1/14/10 LAWT 398

NOTICE OF AGREEMENT TO PURCHASE TAX- DEFAULTED PROPERTY FOR DELINQUENT TAXES

ANNOUNCEMENT OF PUBLIC HEARING for the Interstate 405/Arbor Vitae Street New Southbound Half Interchange Project

AGREEMENT NO. 2321 NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, in accordance with the provisions of Division 1, Part 6, Chapter 8 of the California Revenue and Taxation Code (and the written authorization of the State Controller) that an agreement, a copy of which is on file in the office of the Board of Supervisors of Los Angeles County, has been made between said Board of Supervisors and the Working in Neighborhood (WIN) Project approved by the State Controller, whereby Los Angeles County will sell to the Working in Neighborhood (WIN) Project under the terms set forth in said agreement, all of the real property hereinafter described which is Subject to the Power of Sale by the Tax Collector.

That unless sooner redeemed, the undersigned Treasurer and Tax Collector pursuant to said agreement will not less than 21 days after the date of the first publication of this notice as required by law, sell said property to the Working in Neighborhood (WIN) Project. If the property is sold, parties of interest, as defined in Section 4675 of the California Revenue and Taxation Code, have a right to file a claim with the county for any proceeds from the sale, which are in excess of the liens and costs required to be paid from the proceeds. If excess proceeds result from the sale, notice will be given to parties of interest, pursuant to law.

If redemption of the property is not made according to law before the property is sold, the right of redemption will cease. For information as to the amount necessary to redeem, apply to Mark J. Saladino, Los Angeles County Treasurer and Tax Collector, 225 North Hill Street, Los Angeles, California 90012. The real property covered by said Agreement is located in the County of Los Angeles, State of California, and is described as follows, to wit: 6020-013-006 ASSESSED TO: SMITH, D. AND MARTIN, D. H. THE MCCARTHY COS FLORENCE AVE HEIGHTS LOT 8 BLK 7 DATED THIS 7th DAY OF JANUARY 2010 MARK J. SALADINO, TREASURER AND TAX COLLECTOR FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT File No. 20091811295 The following person is doing business as: Mus1c Notes, LLC 505 West 5th Street #216 Long Beach, CA 90802 Mus1c Notes 505 West 5th Street #216 Long Beach, CA 90802 James Pascascio 505 West 5th Street Long Beach, CA 90802 This business is conducted by a Limited Liability Company. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct (The registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.) is James Pascascio.

This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles County on December 1, 2009.

The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on N/A. NOTICE: This Fictitious Name Statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the Los Angeles County Clerk. A New Fictitious Business Name Statement must be filed before that time.

The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a Fictitious Business Name in violation of the rights of another under Federal, State, or common law (See Section 14411 et seq., Business and Professions Code).

First Filing: 12/31/09, 1/7/10, 1/14/10, 1/21/09 LAWT 400

The California Department of Transportation What’s Being (“Caltrans”) proposes to construct a new south-half Planned? interchange on the I-405, at Arbor Vitae Street, in the City of Inglewood. The new half interchange would provide a new southbound on-ramp to the I-405 from Arbor Vitae Street, as well as, a new northbound offramp from the I-405 to Arbor Vitae Street. This would create, from the I-405, a new direct vehicle access to and from the Hollywood Park Casino, the University of West Los Angeles, the Forum, and Centinela Hospital.

The project’s purpose is to reduce congestion at the Century Boulevard and Manchester Boulevard interchanges through the creation of this new direct vehicle access.

A public hearing will be held to allow any interested Why individuals an opportunity to discuss certain design This features of the project with Caltrans staff, view the Ad? proposed plan, and make comments before the final design and alternative is selected.

The project Environmental Assessment/Initial Study What’s (EA/IS) is available for viewing and download at Available? http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist07/resources/envdocs/, and is available for review and copying at the Caltrans District 7 Division of Environmental Planning (100 S. Main Street, Los Angeles) on weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The EA/IS is available at the Inglewood Main Library located at 101 W. Manchester Blvd., Inglewood, CA 90301 and also at the Los Angeles Public Library – Westchester-Loyola branch, located at 7114 W. Manchester Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90045.

The public hearing will be held: Where Tuesday, January 19, 2010 6pm to 8pm Do Crozier Middle School, Auditorium You 120 West Regent Street Come Inglewood, CA 90301 In? If you cannot attend, but have comments, please submit your written comments no later than Wednesday, February 3, 2010 to: Mr. Ronald Kosinski Deputy District Director Division of Environmental Planning (Arbor Vitae) California Department of Transportation 100 South Main Street MS 16A Los Angeles, CA 90012

CAREERS

Individuals who require special accommodation (American Sign Language interpreter, accessible seating, documentation in alternative formats, etc.) are requested to contact the Department’s Public Affairs Office at 213-897-3656 at least 21 days prior (Tuesday, December 29, 2009) to the scheduled hearing date.

TDD users may contact the California Relay Service TDD line at 1-800-735-2929 or Voice Line at 1-800735-2922.

For additional information, please contact Mr. Eduardo Contact Aguilar at (213) 897-8492.

Thank you for your interest in this transportation project Caltrans improves mobility across California!

PRINT ADVERTISING SALES ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE The L.A. Watts Times, the most widely distributed African American newspaper in Los Angeles has an immediate full-time opening for a Print Advertising Sales Account Executives. The right candidate will sell advertising solutions to corporations and industries locally and nationwide over the telephone and by mail.

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We offer a positive work environment and excellent compensation and benefits package.

If you possess the above qualifications, we’re looking for you. Please e-mail your resume to willa@lawattstimes.com.

L.A. WATTS TIMES “News You CanUse” 3540 Wilshire Blvd., PH3, Los Angeles, CA 90010 Phone: (213) 251-5700 Fax: (213) 251-5720 Website: www.lawattstimes.com

“A man who won’t die for something is not fit to live.”

– Martin Luther King Jr. Source: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/ authors/m/martin_luther_king_jr.html

SCHOOL REFORM Continued from page 21 help to make sure our parents can participate,” Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said at the signing ceremony. “It’s going to hold the whole school community accountable.”

The Legislature sent the bills to Schwarzenegger on Jan. 6 over the objections of opponents who said California is haphazardly

altering its education system with no guarantee it will get any federal money.

The governor signed the bills before two assembled history classes at the middle school.

The school was chosen because it provides a quality education and can be a model for others, he said.

Facts Jan. 31, 2006 Coretta Scott King, civil rights activist and widow of Martin Luther King Jr., dies at age 78 from complications of a stroke.

After her husband’s assassination, Scott King worked to keep his legacy alive by serving as CEO of the King Center, an institution she founded to keep his principles of nonviolent activism alive.

Source: usliberals.about.com

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. COMMEMORATIVE EDITION

Page 28

L.A. WATTS TIMES

January 14, 2010

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L.A. Watts Times S

U B S C R I P T I O N

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SERVING LOS

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Address: ____________________________________________ City ________________________________________________

Telephone Number: (_______) __________________________ If mailing subscription, do not send cash. Mail to: L.A.Watts Times, 3540 Wilshire Blvd., PH3, Los Angeles, CA 90010. For more information call (213) 251-5700.

SURROUNDIN

System Inc. She Broadcasting of the oneis also the originatorin History” s minute “Moment annually broadcasts televised Month.

Xernona Clayton History during Black schedule is a minute, the Although her Moving a mile and former recently found veteran full, Clayton man civil rights confidante is time to talk about King, a Jr. King for severMartin Luther calls, respected, knew Atlanta fielding the she with durin her office in , and putting years, and worked the Civil al interviews doing the Trumpet Awards, ing the height of a venfinal touches on accomMovement. With highlights the e, of Rights an affair that knowledg ions of contribut erable wealth at plishments and admittedly “never s.

African American founder and CEO Clayton, words,” has a million for the is loss a Clayton n to tell.

Awards Foundatio Times pro- stories of the Trumpet and executive The L.A. Watts get her to Inc., and creator Awards, which with Clayton ducer of the Trumpetand will air on spoke the nation’s upcoming year take on is in its 17th One. TV on King. to Atlanta but tribute is the best April 12 from ents are vast, LAWT: What Her achievem community activist, dge King’s her horn. toot acknowle preacher, to to and one Baptist way husband, the Clayton isn’t KING — son, brother, woman in who HONORING birthday? wouldn’t Nobel Prize winner, The first black Luther King Jr., televiXC: He definitely like all a prime-time intellectual, author, and more, describe Martin were it not for an South to host a vice He didn’t 15, words, Clayton was Tenn., father. These old today, Jan. want the hoopla. in Memphis, sion talk show, been 80 years at Turner April 4, 1968, would have urban affairs sanitation workers He was killed president of assassin’s bullet. in support of the city’s black rest of the counthe gone where he had Watts Times joins our Special Edition. strike. The L.A. this man with who were on — in honoring try — and world

PRESIDENT OB AMA INAUGU RATION EDIT ION Vol. XXX, No.

fire.

Karen Bass

Parade founder

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SERVING LOS

Giant Steps: Ba rack

ANGELES AND SURR

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Obama America ’s 44th Presid ent January 22,

Xernona Clayton

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BRISCOE

BY ANDRE WRITER CONTRIBUTING Obama is sworn

Larry Grant

2009

BY TERENCE HUNT AP WRITER

Civil Rights ‘Little Rock 9’ Inauguration Icon to Attend

of violence from taunts and threats adults opposed and white students of Central High. the integration Roberts has lecOver the years, When Barack college stuUnited high school and president of the in as the 44th s may tured at seminars, and has been 20, American about what States on Jan. finally dents ed extensively the nation has year interview that conclude the turbulent racist past. it was like during He uses his Roberts overcome its Dr. Terrence psychology pro- he spent in high school. to teach But for retired Roberts, 67, one experiences as a platform e in as many and intefessor Dr. Terrence e of education ips at events, and participat .” teenagers who the importanc as possible, Roberts Today and Tomorrow of nine black grandCentral improve relationsh great Rock inaugural balls ld best D Little to to speak to how “My 11-year-o C. NORWOO grated Arkansas’ He also plans Williams,

BY CHICO people of color. the Sidwell to said. in 1957, the ceremony Neeko Anthony in among this and faculty at leading up High School STAFF WRITER Speak- son, 7 cleared hurdle the theme for In the days Assembly another with Rock students a up just ROCK 9, page be E. Californi will rights. the came Day, the “Little See LITTLE organizer Larry battle for equal will serve as Inauguration the continuing luncheons, speak J. year,” said er Karen Bass validates force behind the and Norris Nine” will attend Obama’s election to Grant, the driving tried grand marshal grand Rock Nine” the celebrity parade. the Los Angeles what the “Little Bishton Jr. and Bishton Roberts, a former Association and the 25th annual e. In his Joining Bass NEWS IN BRIEF accomplish, said P. Valin Psy19 marshal for of Commerc Jan. David on Master’s as Chamber Gen. the Parade service role will be Lt. co-chair of offiKingdom Day at Antioch Uniprevious public year’s reviewing Day THE SOUTHLAND for Real Estate chology program in Los Angeles. celebration of court, this who has been Kingdom of deputy director Angeles 2009 Los state in and as largest the cer, The versity cerefor Serve Taylor. the inaugural King Jr. holiDevelopment Rosenfeld to Queen Wyvetta is credited in invited to attend the Martin Luther California, the Parade a, Rosenfeld s and offifirst black president Other celebritie Planning Deputy Supervisor Californi to create about mony for the 11 day in Southern to attend include with helping will begin at ctor jobs, Second District cials slated U.S. history.

2.5-mile parade Stanis of to what we homas has chosen 72,000 new private-se Avenue and urban Bern Nadette “It adds substance Mark Ridley-T “When a.m. at Western Boulevard. It actress to serve as which revitalized struggling fame; jazz legend Roberts said.

King Daniel A. Rosenfeld “Good Times” tried to do,” history, a State Martin Luther areas. this country’s west to Crenshaw Herby Hancock; Californi to a Senior Deputy you look at Instrucon will proceed of L.A. Disat the opposition at ds turn south ndent of Public look Second and d the you Thousan : for of Superinte and in Boulevar District ll; members then you look Vernon Avenue Lose Jobs trict team. Rosention Jack O’Conne integration, and Crenshaw onto Council; with Obama’s Teachers Could where a festival the Los Angeles City ds of Los feld will be responwhat has happenedapparent that the Leimert Park, (AP) — Thousan other emquite sible for planning, and more. and election, it is will follow. include 14 enKABC Telecrumbling.

Angeles teachers laid off this The parade will in transportation, Set to air on old system is be to 20 drill teams what we did fits and ployees could sec7 from 11 a.m.

“In retrospect, vironmen t marching bands, to chip Daniel A. vision-Channel as the nation’s , page 4 parade theme school year We were able grapSee MLK PARADE economic developRosenfeld that pattern. weak1 p.m., this year’sLives On For st school district old system — of ond-large a $250 million deficit, ment. now away a bit at the is “The Dream than 35 years with — to the point He has more and ples officials recently said. en it if you will faster than ever.” assessment Ramon Corprivate sector co- school where it’s crumbling the election the ndent is and Superinte Legislature Roberts said developm ent Partners LLC, blamed the state anything, because founder of Urban entrepreneurial tines potential cutbacks, saying doesn’t change elements that the nning for “systemic to solve the an award-wi this there are focusing on devel- that lawmakers need if the Los the fabric of real estate firm are woven into crisis investment opportu- state’s budget District is opment and society.” ds the harm western United Angeles Unified School If anyone understan Roberts. In nities in the force intact. it is to keep its work , page 6 States. segregation causes,age 15, he and the as a board See BRIEFS at He has served City who the fall of 1957, the Central black teenagers the member of eight other known as be to would come insults, Nine” braved “Little Rock

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Assembly Speaker

State, Zip Code: ______________________________________

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ANGELES AND

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BY DARLEN WRITER CONTRIBUTING is a ball of

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Name: ______________________________________________

IVE EDITION COMMEMORAT

January 15,

Vol. XXX, No.

“News You Can Use”

We are committed to preparing a publication that you will eagerly anticipate each week.

The L.A. Watts Times is scanning and probing news and information resources to deliver the best of the African American community to you.

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JR. LUT HER KING DR. MARTIN

‘HOPE OVER FEAR’ — Barack John Roberts Obama, joined to become the by his wife Michell 44th presiden e and t of the United States at the U.S. daughters Malia, third from Capitol in Washing left, and Sasha, takes the oath ton Jan. 20. of

FIRST COLU MN

Not Just a Dre am: Obama Sparks Black Men to Action

BY LUCAS L. JOHNSON II AP WRITER

The Son of Our Soil

AP Photo/RON

EDMONDS

office from Chief

Justice

WASHINGTO into history, Barack N — Stepping Hussein Obama grasped the reins of power as America’s first black presiden t on Jan. 20, declarin g the nation must choose “hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord” to overcome the worst econom crisis since the ic Great Depress ion.

In frigid temper atures, an exuberant crowd of more than million packed a the National Mall and parade route Obama’s inaugur to celebrate ation in a highnoon ceremony.

With 11 million Americans out of work and trillions of dollars lost in the stock market’s tumble, Obama emphas ized that his biggest challen ge is to repair the tattered econom y outgoing Preside left behind by nt George W. Bush.

“Our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and See OBAMA, page 6

they say they

BY REMA REYNO might not have LDS SPECIAL TO NASHVILLE taken without L.A. WATTS , Tenn. (AP) his example.

TIMES — An actor NAIROBI, Kenya Van Jones, turns 40, founde d — I sent one inner-city mosque a dilapidated, Green For last e-mail to my All, a into a theater Kenyan friend in just a few asking her what I gram that seeks national prodays. A 20-year should expect. to create -old energy buckles down I would be teaching jobs. His Oaklan clean on his studies in Nairobi at a d-based historically black during the time college after his program, which employs of President Barack 25 mother dies of peoObama ple and has an ’s inauguration. cancer. A commu I wondered nity organizer - of $4.5 million operating budget Kenyans were decides his plan excited as I was, if , was instrum create thousan to in passing ental excited as the as ds of green jobs a portion of a majority of Amerinational too modest and is cans, as excited enlarges it twen- energy bill called the Green as African ty-fold.

AmeriJobs cans particularly.

Act. It will use up Barack Obama to train 30,000 to $125 million My BlackBerry people in jobs flashed her the White House ’s election to such as reply just as HOME PRIDE installing solar is I boarded the — Kenyans react ization of what the very real- and retrofit panels plane: a large screen, “Kenya is full AP Photo/SAY as U.S. Presiden ting buildings so many black as thousands of Obama mania t Barack Obama YID AZIM to make of people fathers have don’t be surprise them more so guration ceremony appears on told their sons — from Nairobi, gather to watch the U.S. presiden enviro nment d if Jan aspire to for to friendly.

20th ally another nationa Kenya — that is D.C., Jan. 20. Across the tial inauyears, even l holiday. Kenyan took place country, if it often was just are extremely s year ago came together to celebrat neighbors divided by political in Washington, With Obama’s proud of this election, Jones e the inaugura violence only booster not meant a confidence- decided son of our soil!” tion of its favorite a to shop a $33 to be taken litson, Obama. erally. And posal before Congre billion proAnother nationa long before NEWS IN BRIE l holiday? Yes, ss that would he wrapped up the another.

F contest, his can- hire about 600,000 people didacy had over the When next driven these Obama two years for THE SOUTHLAND three Top police official black men and similar ident of the United was elected presothers to actions work. s acknowlStates, edged Kenyan that were granted minorit See BLACK Los Angeles Police a day off, a holiday s frequently subject ies are more MEN, page 3 commemorate to Reject ed to searche the occasion.

Study but s, they told the on Racial Bias As I turned off my commission the phone statistics do not (AP) — A commi the flight attendan in obedience to prove racial prossion that filing oversees the is rampant in me, in my jealousy t hovering over Los the departI thought, “Now Department told Angeles Police ment. why didn’t we police on Jan. get a day off?” to investigate 13 Information whether data While waiting from Times, http://w from: Los Angeles in London to a recent study board the last ww.latimes.com. can be used plane of the identify officers to trip, Kenyans spoke who discriminate L.A. Gang with great enthusi against has minorities. $5 Million asm and animate d gestures Tab to Pay The commission’s Americans as they pontificated to decisio came after hearing n (AP) — City symbol of hope the hours of testiofficials said Obama embodi mony about the they secured with proud, boomin es a $5 million study, which was judgment g voices. They conducted by civil couldn’t have against a Los a Yale Univer cared Angele sity street gang professor, and flight was delayed less that our whose 11 membe s published in Oct- control the five hours — ober by the Americ rs more time to brag heroin trade an Civil Liberabout Obama in the ties Union of downtown area. their relative.

Southern The study found California.

City Attorney When we finally Rocky that DelgaLos dillo and Angeles police HE’S GOT arrived at Jomo Kenyatt other law enforce MOVES — officers are more a International A parade participa the many perform Photo by HGSTAR1 ment likely to stop officials announ Airport in Kenya, everyon nt nearly does /UNW ances that took and search ced the judgment black and against 19. Go to page the splits as part e Latino residen 17 to view more place at the 2009 Kingdom the 5th and Hill of ly Kenyan passeng— even the livets than they Day Parade on parade photos. gang last are week. Officia whites, even Jan. subdued, exhaust ers — seemed though whites ls ed from the journey are obtained againstsaid it is the first more often found . a gang in Calicarrying guns See KENYAN and contraband. fornia.

SON, page 6 See BRIEFS, page 7

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. COMMEMORATIVE EDITION