LAWT-3-04-2010

Vol. XXX, No. 1169

March 4, 2010

SERVING LOS ANGELES COUNTY WITH NEWS YOU CAN USE

FIRST COLUMN

Graves Hold Key to Earliest Slaves

BY LINDA CONLEY HERALD-JOURNAL OF SPARTANBURG

SPARTANBURG, S.C. (AP) — Robert, Nelly and Phillis are names etched into the history of Spartanburg County.

Details are sketchy about their lives. No stories were written about them. No landmarks are dedicated in their honor.

They could be the missing keys to local family trees, but their memories are lost with time.

Robert, Nelly and Phillis were slaves owned by Charles Moore, who built Walnut Grove Plantation in 1765. He listed them and several other slaves in his will in 1798.

Moore died in 1805.

During their lives, these slaves’ importance was limited to

working in the fields and households. But their significance goes beyond labor: They are part of the earliest documentation of black people in the area.

“It’s important to know about these early people because you are looking at the development of the society and culture in Spartanburg,” said Daniel Littlefield, a University of South Carolina professor of history and director of the Institute for African American Research. “As far as European settlements are concerned, Africans were part of the first settlements in South Carolina.”

Research shows the first black people settled in South Carolina in the 1600s. They were slaves See EARLIEST SLAVES, page 7

AP Photo by J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE

EDUCATION PLAN — President Barack Obama speaks at an education event sponsored by America’s Promise Alliance, where he discussed his efforts to improve the nation’s schools, March 1, at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington.

President Obama Seeks Money, Interventions to Stem Dropouts

BY DARLENE SUPERVILLE AP WRITER

Courtesy of the SPARTANBURG COUNTY HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION

OLD SLAVE QUARTERS — “This cabin was moved to the Price House property from Newberry County,” according to the Spartanburg County Historical Association. “The double-pen slave cabin served first for two or more slave families and continued as a dwelling for many years after emancipation.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama took aim March 1 at the nation’s school dropout epidemic, proposing $900 million to states and education districts that agree to drastically change or even shutter their worstperforming schools.

Obama’s move comes as many schools continue to struggle to get children to graduation, a profound problem in a rich, powerful nation. Only about 70 percent of entering high school freshmen go on to graduate. The problem affects

L.A. County Celebrates Family Reunification

BY CHICO C. NORWOOD STAFF WRITER

In 2007, Jamilah ShamsidDeen’s life was in chaos.

She was addicted to drugs, and her five children were taken away by the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services.

But life for her is better these days.

Shamsid-Deen was one of the department’s stories highlighted for Family Reunification Week, which is being observed in Los Angeles County from March 1 to 7.

This week marks the reunions of parents and children separated by the court system.

“We are extremely grateful to (Los Angeles Juvenile Court) Judge (Michael) Nash for this innovative recognition acknowledging the successful efforts of thousands of families that have reunited and provided for the safe-

ty of their children,” Patricia S. Ploehn, the county’s DCFS director, said in a press release, adding the department is also “indebted to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for actively supporting this week-long celebration.”

The department offers a host of programs, including helping mothers find housing and employment to providing mental health assistance for children.

Shamsid-Deen said the services are very important, especially for a mother who has gotten her kids back and is trying to do better in life.

“It’s a hard situation when you have your children removed from you and there seems to be no one out there who has your best interest,” Shamsid-Deen said. “You have a lot of moms who get there kids back, but they don’t have housing, they don’t have an

income, and they are pretty much left by themselves.”

Reco Varnado, a personal trainer, knows the difficulties parents encounter when navigating the system to reunite with their children.

When Varnado’s son was taken from his mother due to neglect, DCFS asked him to come down to their office, he said.

“That day they gave me my son … but, by the end of the day, took him back for false allegations,” Varnado said.

After several months of going through the court process and seeking his son through another means, Varnado was eventually reunited with his child.

After his experience, Varnado decided to help parents who experience similar circumstances, and is now a mentor parent with Parents In Partners (PIP), which See REUNITED, page 12

blacks and Latinos at particularly high rates.

The president described the crisis as one that hurts individual kids and the nation as a whole, shattering dreams and undermining an already-hurting economy.

“There’s got to be a sense of accountability,” Obama said in announcing his latest get-tough school proposal at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

His plan would seek to help 5,000 of the nation’s lowest-performing schools over the next five years.

“In this kind of knowledge economy, giving up on your education and dropping out of school means not only giving up on your future, but it’s also giving up on your family’s future,” Obama said.

“It’s giving up on your country.”

Obama has been pushing schools — using federal money as his leverage — to raise their standards and prod them to get more children ready for college or work.

It is a task that former President George W. Bush and Congress, along with many leaders before See DROPOUTS, page 11

NEWS IN BRIEF THE SOUTHLAND Proposed Calif. Law Aims to Reduce Smog Test Fraud (AP) — A proposed state law would make sure vehicle smog tests aren’t just smoke and mirrors.

Legislation introduced by Assemblyman Mike Eng, D-Monterey Park, would radically change the way the tests are conducted and potentially affect some 23 million California motorists.

The proposed bill would phase out the biannual tailpipe and treadmill inspections except for cars built before 1996. Newer cars have on-board diagnostic systems.

Under the proposal, the state would permit a limited number of the 7,000 stations now doing smog checks to keep performing tailpipe tests. They would be chosen for their thoroughness under a new ranking system.

Most inspection stations would

use scanners that can access the car’s computerized data on pollution control systems and record the vehicle identification number. That method would make it harder to falsify test results.

The proposal would also raise the fines for Smog Check fraud.

Officials say it will reduce fraud and prevent 70 tons of smog a year from blasting out of tailpipes.

THE STATE Calif. Lawmakers Weigh Forcing Witnesses to Report SACRAMENTO (AP) — As many as 20 people stood by and watched for nearly two hours, Richmond police say, as others gang-raped a 16-year-old girl outside a high school homecoming dance in the tough San Francisco Bay-area community last fall.

See BRIEFS, page 6

Page 2

L.A. WATTS TIMES

March 4, 2010

OPINION

The IRS — Not a Good Reason Blacks Give Faceless Bureaucracy EARL OFARI HUTCHINSON

Obama A Racial Pass

The undeniable fact is that President Obama has gotten a racial pass from blacks.

This tormenting fact ignited brief finger pointing between the Rev. Al Sharpton and talk show host Tavis Smiley. It’s hardly the first time that blacks publicly, and more often privately, have wrung their hands over Obama’s absolute unwillingness to say and do more for blacks.

This prompts even more hand wringing over why many blacks still give him an irrevocable pass. The wringing is as pointless as the demand for Obama to embrace a black agenda.

It’s not going to happen. In fact, it can’t happen.

Obama etched that in stone from the first day of his presidential campaign. In his candidate declaration speech in Springfield, Ill., in February 2007, he made only the barest mention of race.

The focus was on change, change for everyone. He had little choice. The institution of the presidency, and what it takes to get it, demands that racial typecasting be scrapped. Obama would have had no hope of winning the Democratic presidential nomination, let alone the presidency, if there had been any hint that he embraced the race-tinged politics of Sharpton or Jesse Jackson.

His campaign would have been marginalized and compartmentalized as merely the politics of racial symbolism.

Obama will cling tightly to the centrist blueprint Bill Clinton laid out

for a Democratic presidential candidate to win elections, and to govern after he won.

The blueprint requires that the Democratic presidential candidate tout a strong defense; the war against terrorism; a vague plan for winding down the Iraq War, while escalating the Afghan conflict; a cautious plan for affordable health care; pro-business solutions to joblessness; make only the most genteel reproach of Wall Street, and then stick to this script once in the Oval Office.

Race talk is nowhere to be found on a Democratic president’s “must” list. The only time that changed was midway through Clinton’s second term.

With no re-election cares, Clinton made a tepid public-relationsglossed stab at setting up a race panel to talk about the plight of black America. The panel talked, talked and talked some more, made a few halfhearted recommendations for change, and then promptly forgot about them.

But that didn’t matter. Blacks still swooned, gushed and reveled in the Clinton magic and mystique.

In polls, he ranked even higher than Jesse Jackson and Louis Farrakhan as the “black” leader African Americans most liked.

It’s no different with Obama.

He’s a Democrat.

For the past half-century, a Democratic presidential candidate has been guaranteed 85 to 90 percent of the black vote. Black Americans have been the party’s loyalist foot soldiers, even as blue-collar whites,

and a significant number of Latinos and Asians, defected to the GOP. The withering assault from assorted racists, Glenn Beck, tea baggers and GOP ultraconservatives further guarantees that blacks fear if they utter the most bland and meek criticism, it will give aid and comfort to the enemy, and earn a slap as a race traitor.

But blacks also sincerely want Obama to succeed. That’s not solely out of a mix of racial pride, the thirst for positive black male role models, and his eloquence. They’re fervently convinced that he truly has their interests at heart, and even though he can’t spout a “black agenda,” he’ll work hard, quietly behind the scenes, to improve conditions for the black poor and needy.

Then there’s the horrific alternative of a GOP takeover. Blacks are in stark terror that a resurgent GOP will mean a sink back to greater impoverishment, political disempowerment, racial polarization and even racial violence.

Obama has repeatedly protested to the black critics that he’s not the black president, but the president.

He’s tugged hard by many lobbyists, including corporate and defense and oil and nuclear power, as well as government regulators, conservative GOP senators and House members and foreign diplomats and leaders.

They all have their priorities and agendas and all vie hard to get White House support for their pet legislation, or to kill or cripple legislation See HUTCHINSON, page 8

Wrong Place, Wrong Time

BY MARIAN WRIGHT EDELMAN

When young black men are the victims of violent injuries in their urban neighborhoods, what happens next?

This question haunted Dr. John Rich, who was educated at Dartmouth College and Duke and Harvard universities, and was a primary care doctor at Boston Medical Center, and founder of the city’s Young Men’s Health Clinic.

In both settings he was in constant contact with young men who had been victims of violence, and of course he was deeply concerned about the physical scars he kept treating.

But as a black doctor dealing with the aftermath of violence towards young black men day after day, Rich felt a special connection with his patients and wanted to know about more than just the medical effects of the gunshot and knife wounds he saw. He wanted to understand their emotional and psychological impacts.

Rich and his colleagues kept asking themselves why they were seeing so many victims of violence and what they could do to try to break the cycle, and he believed listening to survivors’ stories might help him find an answer. He began interviewing young men in the hos-

pital as they were recovering from their injuries, often following up after they returned home and sometimes staying in touch for months or years. He shares some of these stories and what he learned from them in his powerful new book, “Wrong Place, Wrong Time: Trauma and Violence in the Lives of Young Black Men.” In his preface, Rich explains that even though violent murders often grab headlines, with violence, deaths are only “the tip of the iceberg.” He notes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have estimated that for every homicide, there are about 100 nonfatal violent incidents.

He says studies have found that as deadly as guns are, “for every person who gets shot and dies, another four get shot and survive.” Rich believes we don’t pay enough attention to surviving victims and have “underestimated the impact that violence has on these young men and their communities.”

When Rich started collecting his patients’ stories, he realized that although little research had been done on trauma among young black victims of violence, their stories were echoing research on responses to trauma in other groups such as rape survivors and soldiers returning

from combat.

These responses include hypervigilance and the constant feeling of being in danger; being unable to feel at all and exposing Marian Wright Edelman themselves to more danger in an attempt to feel something; returning to danger to prove to themselves they had mastered their fears; or using alcohol or drugs to try to ease pain.

It became painfully easy to connect the dots and see how these common responses to trauma play out in the lives of many survivors of inner-city violence, and why, in many cases, they lead to more violence. When many survivors are concentrated in a single area, it’s also clear how these cycles of trauma and violence repeat themselves and infect that entire community.

Rich also came to understand more about why violence made sense to some of the patients he was treating.

One epiphany occurred after 17-year-old Jimmy explained that his friends were anxious to have some sort of “rep” just “to be known. People don’t like to be See EDELMAN, page 3

BY DOUG SHULMAN

On Feb. 18, a small plane was intentionally crashed into an office building in Austin, Texas, where almost 200 Internal Revenue Service employees work.

This wanton act of violence took the life of Vernon Hunter, 68, who served his nation as an IRS employee for almost three decades.

Others were injured, and given the enormous damage to the building, it is a miracle that more were not killed.

Vernon Hunter

Our deepest sympathies go out to all who suffered through this terrible ordeal, but especially to the Hunter family and their neighbors, friends, and colleagues who are struggling to make sense out of this senseless attack.

They are struggling to understand why Hunter was so callously slain. Why a husband won’t come home for dinner. Why a father, grandfather and loyal family man won’t be there for holidays and birthdays.

Why the church usher won’t be at Sunday services at Greater Mt. Zion Baptist Church. Why a soldier who honorably served our nation and survived two tours in Vietnam died a senseless and violent death.

Sadly, in the mind of one deeply disturbed individual, it was because Hunter worked in a building that housed the IRS. Employees were demonized — human beings no

longer to be respected, human life no longer to be valued.

In today’s world, it is difficult for some to see beyond the labels — to see the Doug person.

Shulman Hunter worked for the IRS, a difficult and demanding job. But he did his job fairly and well. He was a dedicated public servant who respected taxpayers and their rights. Hunter viewed serving the taxpaying public as a high and noble calling and went out of his way to help taxpayers whenever he could.

And there are tens of thousands of Vernon Hunters throughout the country working at the IRS helping taxpayers navigate a difficult tax code that we did not write and collecting the taxes to keep our nation vibrant and strong.

The person standing next to you at your daughter’s soccer game may be an IRS customer service representative who answers difficult tax questions over the phone. The guy down the street helping with the community food drive could be a revenue agent who investigates wealthy individuals trying to hide money in secret offshore bank accounts. And the woman behind you in the supermarket checkout line may work at the IRS processing tax refunds.

For some in America, the IRS will always be viewed as a faceless bureaucracy.

But they are wrong.

In fact, it is an organization of hard-working people whose love of country and spirit of public service were embodied in Hunter — a spirit that lives in them today. I sincerely hope that is one lesson we can learn from this terrible tragedy.

Doug Shulman is commissioner of the IRS.

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CIRCULATION AUDIT BY

March 4, 2010

L.A. WATTS TIMES

Page 3

BUSINESS Family Feuds — Don’t Let This be Your Legacy

BIZSHORTS Learn to Obtain Government Funding to Purchase a Home A workshop on government programs for first-time homebuyers will take place March 6, 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., at the Positive Energy Center, 1301 W. Manchester Ave., Los Angeles.

Information: (562) 402-4153, www.citihousing.com.

Black Chamber to Present its 17th Economic Awards Dinner The Greater Los Angeles African American Chamber of Commerce will present its 17th annual Economic Awards Dinner March 18, with a VIP and general reception at 5:30 p.m. and dinner and program at 7.

The event, which is black tie optional, will take place at the Sheraton Los Angeles Downtown Hotel, the California Ballroom, 711 S. Hope St., Los Angeles.

The event’s keynote speaker will be David Hinson, national director of the Minority Business Development Agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Information: glaaacc.org.

Brown Warns Homeowners to Avoid Forensic Loan Audits (California Department of Justice) — Attorney General Jerry Brown on Feb. 22 joined the California Department of Real Estate and the State Bar of California in warning Californians to avoid forensic loan audits, in which homeowners pay up-front fees for a forensic review of their lender’s practices, but are provided no actual foreclosure relief, according to the state of California.

EDELMAN Continued from page 2 nobodies these days …”

Rich realized, “I had gotten used to talking about senseless violence. How could violence be anything but senseless? ... But Jimmy’s argument, when I laid it out (in) front of me, told me that violence made sense to him. Violence worked in his world to accomplish something that all of us wanted — to be somebody — but that Jimmy could not find any other way to do.”

Rich believes we all need to better understand why young men like these are getting caught up in the cycle of violence — not to excuse their behavior, but to help change it. He is now the director of the Center for Nonviolence and Social Justice and professor and chair of Health Management and Policy at the Drexel University School of Public Health in Philadelphia.

The center’s goal is to change the dialogue about violence “away from terms of blame and dehumanization and toward a language of injury and healing.” The center hopes to help health, mental health, juvenile justice, and education systems understand the relationship between trauma and violence and how healing is critical to serving these young people.

One key program reaches out

Individuals and businesses who offer forensic loan audits use inflated and misleading claims to convince homeowners to pay upfront fees for services that produce no actual foreclosure relief, according to the state.

Homeowners are encouraged to pay for an audit of their mortgage loan file to determine their lender’s compliance with state and federal mortgage-lending laws. This audit is pitched to homeowners as a tool they can use to gain leverage and speed up the loan-modification process.

Brown has sought court orders to shut down more than 30 foreclosure-relief companies.

Information: (800) 952-5225, www.ag.ca.gov/consumers/general. php, www.dre.ca.gov.

Consumer Protection Week Web Site Launched (FTC) — The Federal Trade Commission has launched its Web site and blog for National Consumer Protection Week 2010, taking place March 7 to 13.

Consumer.gov/ncpw encourages people to learn about their rights as consumers and promotes free resources to help them protect their privacy, manage money and debt, avoid identity theft, understand credit and mortgages, and steer clear of frauds and scams.

For the first time, the site features a blog. At the blog, www. consumer.gov/ncpw/blog, visitors can learn about consumer resources in an informal and interactive environment and can connect directly with representatives of public and private consumer protection organizations.

Information: (877) 382-4357.

to injured youths in a Philadelphia emergency department, pairing them with professionals who can help with their trauma and a community outreach worker who helps with basic needs like enrolling in school or getting a job.

This idea is starting to be replicated in other cities.

In 2006, Rich was awarded a MacArthur Foundation “Genius Grant” fellowship for his work.

Scholar-practitioners like him are helping find the answers we urgently need to better understand the cycle of violence and save our children from being its next victims.

Marian Wright Edelman is president of the Children’s Defense Fund whose Leave No Child Behind mission is to ensure every child a healthy start, a head start, a fair start, a safe start and a moral start in life, and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities. For more information, visit www.childrensdefense.org.

Facts March 9, 1931 Walter F. White is named NAACP executive secretary.

This fair-skinned, blue-eyed man who wouldn’t pass for white worked a lifetime to defeat the nation’s barriers to integration.

Source: blackfacts.com

BY ATTORNEY WILLIAM HAYES

Few things are as heartwrenching as a dispute among family members.

We expect family to be a place of love and relative harmony in our often-tumultuous world. Even the thought of such a horrible occurrence may be unsettling.

But problems in an estate or trust can often cause deep divisions in a family, divisions that outside forces might never have been able to cause.

For example, Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King’s children ended up in litigation after Coretta King’s 2006 death. The Kings’ three surviving adult children, Dexter, Bernice and Martin Luther III, fought for control of their parents’ financial and historical legacy, including love letters and rights to the famous “I Have a Dream” speech.

The fight was exacerbated by the fact that Martin left Dexter as his executor while Coretta left Bernice as her executrix. While the King children reached an out-ofcourt settlement in 2009, only they know the depth of the remaining animosity over the long family feud.

It is certain that the Kings never had a dream that their children would end up in an estate dispute after their deaths.

Unfortunately, the Kings are not the only ones who have left a legacy that included an estate dispute. Countless estates are disputed each year, in and out of court.

These disputes do not just occur in the families of the rich and famous, though those disputes are more publicized. So, what can you do to preserve the harmony in your family in passing on your legacy?

Here are five steps to take: 1. Plan professionally.

Your legacy is important. Be sure to engage a qualified estate planning attorney who focuses their practice in estate planning.

Such a professional can design a well-coordinated plan that considers all your assets and wishes.

2. Choose wisely.

When planning your estate, you will need to choose people to make decisions for you in case you become incapacitated, and regarding your legacy after your death.

Consider the skills and relationships of the individuals involved.

For example, do not choose more than one person to manage your trust or estate unless you know they can work together.

3. Communicate with your family.

While your death may come as a surprise, your wishes should not. Surprises in your estate plan

increase the chances that your legacy might include a bitter dispute.

Open, honest communication about your wishes during your life may be the best way to achieve and maintain lasting family harmony after your death.

4. Consider a no contest clause.

A “no contest clause” disinherits anyone who challenges your wishes as set forth in your will or trust. Such a clause can be a powerful deterrent to family-destroying estate litigation and shows that you are serious about your desire to maintain family harmony.

5. Remain current.

Make sure you keep your estate plan current. Otherwise, people whom you intend to benefit might be excluded unintentionally, disrupting family harmony and prompting a family feud.

When families feud, there are no winners, only losers.

Be sure to follow the steps above if you have a dream of family harmony that continues long after your death. Your family needs your help and planning in order to achieve that dream.

This article was provided by William Hayes of the Hayes Law Firm, which provides quality estate planning resources. Web site: www. losangelestrustlaw.com. Contact: (626) 403-2292.

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L.A. WATTS TIMES

WHAT’S Deadline for receipt of What’s Going On listings is Friday, noon, 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.

BENEFIT — The 2009 documentary “Poto Mitan: Haitian Women, Pillars of the Global Economy” will screen March 10, 6:30 p.m., at Community Health Councils, 3731 Stocker St., Los Angeles. The documentary is narrated by Haitian author Edwidge Danticat and told through the lives of five Haitian women. “Poto Mitan” aims to give an inside perspective on globalization, Haiti’s current crisis, and the resilient women challenging the system.

The film is presented in honor of International Women’s Day for a suggested donation of $5. Proceeds benefit Haitian women’s organizations. Free parking is available behind the building. Information: (213) 201-7029, http://potomitan. net, www.9to5california.org.

RECEPTION — A reception and orientation for the Urban League Community Garden will take place March 6, 10 a.m. to noon, at the Los Angeles Urban League, 3450 Mount Vernon Drive, Los Angeles. Information: (323) 299-9660.

CHILD SAFETY — State Sen. Curren D. Price will present his “Child Safety Event” March 7, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event will feature California Highway Patrolsponsored car seat installation and

March 4, 2010

COMMUNITY GOING ON? UC Students Protest Budget Cuts, Fee Hikes

safety checks. There will also be child ID kits available from the organization KIDS ARE 1st. Car seat checks will be available at Figueroa Street and State Drive.

Also, later in the day, Price will present his “Women’s History Month Program” at 1 p.m. at the California African American Museum, 600 State Drive, Los Angeles. Information: (213) 7456656, rebecca.bernal@sen.ca.gov.

JAZZ — Saxophonist Azar Lawrence will perform March 6, 8 and 10 p.m., at Alva’s Showroom, 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro.

Donation is $20. Reservations: (800) 403-3447.

WILDFLOWERS — From March 5 through May — 24 hours a day — anyone can call the Theodore Payne Wildflower Hotline (818) 768-3533 or visit www. theodorepayne.org to find the best places to view wildflowers in Southern and Central California.

The hotline message is narrated by Emmy Award-winning actor Joe Spano (“Hill Street Blues,” “Apollo 13,” “NYPD Blue”) and is updated every Thursday evening with new information on more than 90 wildflower sites.

WHALE WATCHING — Spirit Cruises will present “Whale Watch Trip” with John Olguin March 13, 9:30 a.m., at Spirit Cruises Berth 77 at Ports O’Call Village in San Pedro. The boat departs at 10 a.m. sharp. The trip will last for about two hours.

Tickets are $20 and available at the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, 3720

Stephen M. White Drive, San Pedro. Make all checks payable to Friends of Cabrillo Marine Aquarium. The ticket price is tax deductible. Proceeds will go towards the purchase of costumes for the annual re-enactment of explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo’s landing on San Miguel Island in 1543. Information: (310) 548-7563, (310) 832-3104.

TREASURE HUNT — The Old Town Treasure Hunt will take place March 6, 2 to 5 p.m., in Old Town Pasadena. Information: (323) 799-1374, www.outofthe boxevents.net, info@outoftheboxevents.net.

WOMEN’S HISTORY — 48th District Assemblyman Mike Davis will present a Women’s History Month ceremony March 11, 6 to 8 p.m., in the City Hall rotunda, 200 N. Spring St., Los Angeles.

Honorees will include: Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn, KHEIR CEO Erin Pak, Salvadoran community activist Isabel Cardenas and others. RSVP by March 4.

Information: (213) 744-2111.

HAITI RISE — In light of Haiti’s recent 7.0 earthquake and other problems, a benefit concert titled “Rise from the Rubble” will take place March 6, 6 to 9 p.m., at Waddingham Hall, 100 N. Hillcrest Blvd., Inglewood. There will be a silent auction at 5 p.m. A $10 donation, which can be made online, is being requested. Information: (310) 674-0080, sdawson@missblack california.com, www.center4lupus care.org.

BY ROBIN HINDERY AP WRITER

SACRAMENTO (AP) — University of California students from around the state traveled to Sacramento on March 1 to protest steep fee hikes and cuts to higher education funding.

Three days before a planned nationwide demonstration, more than 150 students gathered outside the Capitol, waving signs that read “Freeze the fees,” and chanting “Shame!” as they urged lawmakers to take action against rising tuition.

Later in the afternoon, five protesters were arrested after refusing to leave Assemblyman Jim Nielsen’s office, according to California Highway Patrol Sgt. Steven Stone. The individuals were removed without incident, Stone said.

Fellow demonstrators said the group was seeking an audience

with Nielsen, R-Yuba City, a member of the Legislative Budget Committee, and with Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg.

The March 1 protest focused mainly on the 32 percent student fee increase approved by the UC Board of Regents in November to help offset a 20 percent drop in state funding.

That hike raises in-state undergraduate fees to about $10,302 and comes on the heels of a 9.3 percent fee boost approved in May. Students at the 23 California State University campuses are under similar financial strain: in July, the CSU Board of Trustees approved a 20 percent tuition increase, bringing student fees this year to about $4,800.

One speaker at the rally, Christine Petit, a graduate student See STUDENTS PROTEST, page 15

Facts March 5, 1770 Crispus Attucks, a mulatto sailor, ropemaker and runaway, is shot and killed in what would become the Boston Massacre.

March 7, 1985 The “We Are the World” single is released to benefit Ethiopians suffering during famine.

March 6, 1857 On March 6, 1857, the Dred Scott decision of the U.S. Supreme Court denies blacks U.S. citizenship and denies the power of Congress to restrict slavery in any federal territory.

Source: blackfacts.com

March 4, 2010

L.A. WATTS TIMES

Page 5

Our Pledge To Toyota Drivers When Kiichiro Toyoda brought Toyota into the auto business in 1937, he created a set of principles that has always guided how we operate. The pillars of the “Toyota Way” are “respect for people” and “continuous improvement.” These remain core values – and we’ll adhere closely to them as we make vehicle safety our top priority.

We have already taken decisive steps to make things right for our drivers.

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All 172,000 team members and dealers across North America are working day and night to fix our recalled vehicles – and one million have already been repaired.

Our solutions are effective and durable – and we are confident that no problems exist with our electronic throttle control system.

We’ve asked a world-class engineering firm to conduct a comprehensive independent analysis of this system. Their interim report confirms that its multiple fail-safes work – and we will make their final report public.

But we are not stopping there.

Toyota will set a new standard for speed of response on safety issues. For example, we are expanding our field monitoring team with the goal of conducting on-site inspections of unwanted acceleration reports as soon as possible.

©2010 Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.

And we’ll be a leader in introducing advanced safety technologies to provide you with added confidence – including an advanced brake override system that automatically cuts engine power when the accelerator and brake pedals are both engaged.

We’ll ask distinguished independent safety experts to ensure that the enhanced quality controls we’re putting in place conform to best industry practices.

We continue to produce many of the best vehicles on the road. Many of you who are bringing your vehicles to our dealers for repair continue to tell us that, and we deeply appreciate your loyalty.

More than anything, we want you to feel safe, knowing the vehicles you are driving are among the safest, most reliable in the world.

Sincerely,

Jim Lentz President and Chief Operating Officer Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.

To learn more about what we’re doing for customers, please visit:

toyota.com

Toyota Customer Experience Center: 1-800-331-4331

Page 6

L.A. WATTS TIMES

March 4, 2010

COMMUNITY BRIEFS Continued from page 1 Now, state legislators are seeking to change the law so witnesses in similar situations could be charged with a crime for failing to call police.

The move concerns both prosecutors and civil rights attorneys, however. They say the pending bills in the state Assembly and Senate might make it harder — not easier — to convict rapists.

The bystanders in the Richmond case could not be charged with a crime because current law only requires witnesses to report murder or rape when the victim is younger than 14. Failing to do so is a misdemeanor, punishable by six months in jail and a $1,500 fine.

A bill that was to be taken up by the Assembly Public Safety Committee on Feb. 26 would remove the age limitation, but give witnesses up to 96 hours — four days — to report a rape.

The bill by Assemblyman Isadore Hall, D-Compton, is competing with two similar measures this year.

The Assembly approved a bill

by Assemblyman Pedro Nava, DSanta Barbara, in January that also would remove the age limitation, without giving witnesses a reporting window. A bill by Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, would raise the reporting age from 14 to 18.

Calif. Governor Troubled

by Racism on Campuses SACRAMENTO (AP) — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Feb. 27 he is deeply troubled by recent acts of racism at three University of California campuses.

Schwarzenegger’s statement comes after a string of incidents this month on the campuses in Davis, Irvine and San Diego.

Students at the San Diego campus took over the chancellor’s office Feb. 26 to protest the hanging of a noose in the library. The noose was discovered less than two weeks after an off-campus party mocking Black History Month, where students urged people to dress as ghetto stereotypes and promised there would be chicken, watermelon and malt liquor.

A Jewish student recently found

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a swastika carved into her dorm room door at the Davis campus.

Also recently, 11 students were arrested for interrupting a talk by Israel’s ambassador Michael Oren at the Irvine campus. The New Yorkbased Zionist Organization of America has accused UCI’s chancellor of failing to condemn anti-Semitic speech and has asked potential students and donors to boycott the campus. “I am deeply troubled by the horrific incidents that recently took place on various campuses of the University of California system,�

Schwarzenegger said in a statement. “There is no excuse for this kind of behavior in our system of higher education or anywhere else and it will not be tolerated.�

California Puts 11 Office Buildings Up For Sale SACRAMENTO (AP) — California has put the “for sale� sign on 11 state office buildings, including the San Francisco Civic Center and the Ronald Reagan State Building in Los Angeles, as a way to raise cash to shrink the budget deficit.

Los Angeles-based real estate firm CB Richard Ellis released a sales brochure Feb. 26 titled the “Golden State Portfolio� as part of its marketing strategy to lure potential buyers. Combined, the buildings have more than 7 million square feet of office space.

State officials are hoping to draw offers worth more than $2 billion.

California and other state and local governments have been eyeing their high-rises, prisons and even capitol buildings to generate fast cash for fiscal relief.

Potential buyers have until April 14 to make offers.

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MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama State University has reinstated nine students who were expelled 50 years ago for participating at a sit-in at a segregated lunchroom in Montgomery.

The university held a reinstatement ceremony Feb. 25 on the 50th anniversary of the sit-in at the Montgomery County Courthouse lunchroom, which was for whites only. After the sit-in, the historically black university expelled the students under pressure from then-Gov. John Patterson and the Alabama Board of Education.

Three of the nine students attended the ceremony: James McFadden of Prichard; Joseph Peterson of New Castle; and St. John Dixon of National City, Calif.

Alabama State President William Harris told The Montgomery Advertiser that he will ask Alabama State’s board to award degrees to the nine at the May commencement. “What they did was an important moment in civil rights history in our country,� he said.

Rangel Steps Down as Ways and Means Chairman

Life’s a little easier with I irs.gov/eitc

WASHINGTON (AP) — New York Rep. Charles Rangel temporarily stepped aside as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee March 3 as he struggled with mount-

Rep. Charles Rangel

ing ethics woes.

Rangel’s decision did little to satisfy Republicans who had been seeking a formal vote bringing about his temporary removal from the chairmanship.

Veteran Rep. Fortney Stark of California seemed likely to succeed the 20-term congressman.

First elected in 1970, Rangel is among the longest-serving African American members of Congress and was a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Ethics investigators are looking into 79-year-old Rangel’s use of his official position to raise money for a New York college center to be named after him and his belated disclosure of at least hundreds of thousands of dollars in assets and his use of rentcontrolled apartments in New York.

The panel said that he had violated standards of conduct by accepting 2007 and 2008 trips to Caribbean conferences that were financed by corporations. It said it could not prove whether Rangel knew of the corporate payments but concluded that members of his staff knew about them — and the congressman was responsible for their actions.

Portland Anchor and Politician Richard Bogle Dies PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Richard Bogle, a pioneering African American journalist and Portland city commissioner, died Feb. 25 in a Vancouver, Wash., hospital. His wife, Nola Bogle, says he died of congestive heart failure. He was 79.

Richard Bogle

Bogle was a Portland police officer before he became the Northwest’s first African American television journalist when he joined Portland station KATU-TV in 1968.

After 15 years at the station as a reporter and anchor, he was elected to Portland’s City Council, serving as a commissioner for eight years.

Bogle was a jazz historian, writing for Down Beat magazine, volunteering at Portland radio station KMHD, and, until recently, maintaining a blog on jazz.

Step Show Prize to be Shared After Internet Stir ATLANTA (AP) — After days of controversy over a white group’s win in a step competition, sponsor Coca-Cola said Feb. 25 the secondplace team will share top honors.

Coca-Cola said in a statement that a review of the scoring from the Feb. 27 national contest revealed a “scoring discrepancy� that it declined to explain. This is the first year of the Sprite Step Off, but step

contests are typically dominated by black sororities and fraternities.

Step is a historically black art form of rhythmic stepping and clapping. AYouTube video of the winning performance by a group of Zeta Tau Alphas from the University of Arkansas generated hundreds of comments, some of them inflammatory.

Coca-Cola said Feb. 25 the Alpha Kappa Alpha team from Indiana University, whose members are black, would share first place and would also receive the same $100,000 in scholarships that the Zeta Tau Alphas won.

Markell Backs Push for Slavery Apology DOVER, Del. (AP) — Gov. Jack Markell is supporting a push for the state’s General Assembly to apologize for Delaware’s role in slavery.

Markell spokesman Brian Selander said Feb. 23 that the governor would “be inclined to sign it� if a measure ever made it to his desk. On Feb. 22, Dover’s City Council passed a resolution that called on Delaware state lawmakers to apologize.

In addition to being a slave state until the Civil War, Delaware had racially segregated schools until 1954 and discriminatory Jim Crow laws for much of the 20th century.

Senate Majority Leader Patricia Blevins told the Wilmington News Journal that she would entertain debate on the Senate floor, but doesn’t know if lawmakers would want to spend time on that debate.

THE DIASPORA Al-Qaida Growing in Strength and Numbers in Africa WASHINGTON (AP) — AlQaida’s terror network in North Africa is growing more active and attracting new recruits, threatening to further destabilize the continent’s already vulnerable Sahara region, according to U.S. defense and counterterrorism officials.

The North African faction, which calls itself al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), is still small and largely isolated, numbering a couple hundred militants based mostly in the vast desert of northern Mali. But signs of stepped-up activity and the group’s advancing potential for growth worry analysts familiar with the region.

The rapid recent rise of the alQaida group in Yemen — which spawned the Christmas airliner attack — is seen by U.S. officials and counterterrorism analysts as evidence that the North African militants could just as quickly take on a broader jihadi mission and become a serious threat to the United States and European allies.

The Mali-based militants have yet to show a capability to launch such foreign attacks, but are widening their involvement in kidnapping and the narcotics trade, reaping profits that could be used to expand terror operations, officials and analysts said.

Those advances have set off alarms within the counterterrorism community, which watched as alQaida in the Arabian Peninsula quickly transformed over the past year from militants preoccupied with internal Yemeni strife to a potent group recruiting and training insurgents for terror missions inside the United States.

March 4, 2010

L.A. WATTS TIMES

Page 7

COMMUNITY COMMUNITY MEETINGS, FORUMS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

Family Source Center Grand Opening Slated

Facts

(WLCAC) — The grand opening for the New Family Source Center will take place March 12, noon to 5 p.m., at the Family Source Center (Watts Labor Community Action Committee) at 10950 Central Ave., Los Angeles.

The Family Source Center is a nonprofit that provides free services to low-income families in the Los Angeles area. The center services include assistance with utility bill payments or school enrollment,

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March 4, 1968 Martin Luther King Jr. announces plans for the Poor People’s Campaign in Washington, D.C. He says he’ll lead a massive civil disobedience campaign in the capital to pressure the government to provide jobs and income for all Americans. He tells a press conference that an army of poor whites, poor blacks and Hispanics would converge on Washington on April 20 and would demonstrate until their demands were met.

Source: blackfacts.com

Rosecrans

Western

The HIV/AIDS ministry of Grace United Methodist Church will present a panel discussion with African American ministers on the topic of “HIV/AIDS and the African American Church.”

The event, which is part of the Los Angeles-based church’s Quarterly Speaker Series, will take place March 6, noon to 3 p.m.

In addition to the discussion, the conference will also feature a free catered luncheon, an educational presentation, and free HIV Rapid Testing.

Grace UMC is at 4112 W.

(LAUPR) — On March 20, African American leaders will convene a Black Agenda summit in Chicago. They will urge President Barack Obama to say and do more for blacks. Should he? And what is the Black Agenda?

A discussion on the issue will take place at the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable March 4, 7 p.m., at Lucy Florence Cultural Center, 3351 W. 43rd St., Leimert Park.

Information: (323) 383-6145

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they would have the labor of those people for their entire lives.”

Wills filed by prominent property owners showed they usually divided up their slaves among family members. Some also requested the slave families remain together.

Life for slaves in the backcountry involved working on rustic farms, hunting and raising crops to provide for their owner’s family. Corn was the biggest crop, and the larger farms sometimes sold some of their produce to neighbors.

“During the early days of South Carolina, people were trying to get the region settled,” Littlefield said.

“Slaves were growing food, hunting and building houses for settlement.

The first order of business when English settlers arrived was to support themselves by growing food.

After that was established, they tried to develop something to export for money.”

No one knows what these slaves’ lives were like, but it is doubtful they would have seen any free black people. The only free black people recorded in Spartanburg at the time were soldiers fighting at the Battle of Cowpens in 1781.

“We know some officers brought their slaves with them to the battle, but there were some free black men fighting with the militia,” said Michael C. Scoggins, historian at the Culture & Heritage Museums of York County. “The free men left Cowpens and continued fighting in other battles.”

Robert, Nelly and Phillis could have known about the battle and wondered whether the independence they heard about would have any effect on their lives. They would have learned eventually that they weren’t included in the new Constitution granting people life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

It would take another 65 years before the Emancipation Proclamation was issued, freeing slaves in states including South Carolina.

It’s unknown what happened to them, but their graves are believed among those of slaves buried in front of the Moore Family Cemetery at Walnut Grove. They are in an area marked by field stones along with other early settlers.

Not far from Walnut Grove Plantation is a chimney from the last standing slave cabin. It was built years after Robert, Nelly, Phillis and their children lived there, but it could be evidence of later descendants whose children and grandchildren went on to help form today’s black community in Spartanburg.

Ave.

brought with white settlers.

When the first black people came to what would become Spartanburg, the county was still part of the old Ninety-Six District. Native Americans had been forced farther back to the mountains, and there were a few white settlements. The Moore family was among those pioneers arriving in the 1760s.

“The family slowly acquired slaves once they got here,” said Tom Moore Craig, a Moore descendant. “A misconception is people believe they brought the slaves with them. Charles and Mary came from Pennsylvania, where Quakers opposed slavery.”

Census information shows about 10 percent of Spartanburg’s population was made up of slaves in 1790. The census also lists 27 free people. Some historians think the free people were former slaves freed by their owners.

“J.B.O. Landrum writes in one of his books that Thomas Williamson had a plantation in the area of Morgan Square,” said Nannie Jefferies, administrator at the Regional History Museum. “Landrum said Williamson freed his slaves. His family went to Philadelphia and freed the slaves there. Once they were freed, they moved on because they would have become slaves again if they returned to South Carolina.”

The number of free people matches the number of slaves owned by a landowner on the 1790 census, but information shows Williamson was a slave owner several years later.

In his will filed in 1813, he divided his slaves among family members.

Across the state in 1790, the census indicates almost half of the population was made up of slaves.

Of the local families owning slaves, most had five to 12, while some had only one.

“Few people in Spartanburg owned slaves because the Lowcountry had the big plantations,” said Philip N. Racine, Wofford College professor emeritus of history. “This area had mostly small farms, but white people here still believed the way to climb up in society was to own slaves, so they would try to buy one slave.”

Racine said families with one slave usually bought a man to be used as an extra farmhand. He said some landowners eventually bought a woman slave, hoping the two would have children. It was a way to increase the number of slaves they owned without having to buy more.

“The farmers were building a fortune for their children and their children’s children,” he said. “They were trying to create a legacy, and

Prairie

Continued from page 1

(Lamarathon.com) — Organizers of the 2010 Honda LA Marathon are seeking about 5,000 volunteers to help support the March 21 race.

Volunteers will receive a Honda LA Marathon T-shirt for their service.

Volunteer sign-up is available for 35 positions related to the administration and execution of the race, from March 14 through race day.

Information: www.lamarathon. com/event/volunteer.

Blvd.

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and help with parenting and anger management, among several other services.

At the opening, there will be free food and music. Massages and health screenings will also be available.

Information: (323) 249-7552

Volunteers Sought for 2010 Honda LA Marathon

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Courtesy of the SPARTANBURG COUNTY HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION

Walnut Grove Plantation Manor House

FamilySource - Southeast II, a community resource offering free services and programs for Los Angeles residents to help improve family and individual income and youth academic success, will have an Open House to introduce residents to its programs March 11, 2 to 4 p.m.

The event will take place at the FamilySource — Southeast II home office at 9212 S. Broadway, Los Angeles. Free refreshments and entertainment will be available.

Information: (323) 777-3120.

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Page 8

L.A. WATTS TIMES

March 4, 2010

ARTS & CULTURE

The Girls Who Dreamed of Being, Well, ‘Dreamgirls’

BY DARLENE DONLOE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Syesha Mercado and Adrienne Warren are not big names in the theater world, but they are playing big roles in a big show and it’s a big deal.

They are “Dreamgirls.�

The legendary 1981 musical, which originally starred Jennifer Holliday, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Loretta Devine, is currently playing at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles through April 4.

Mercado was standing outside of Radio City Music Hall when she got the call that she had scored the role of Deena. She had been waiting all night to hear the news. She couldn’t sleep.

When she finally got the call, she jumped up and down with excitement. After all, this was her first big show. The woman who had wanted to be a performer ever since she was a child could hardly contain herself. “It was like a dream come true,� said Mercado, who admitted she had never seen any of the touring productions of the show before landing the role. “This was all very new to me.�

It was also, admittedly, a long, stressful process, but worth every drop of sweat, according to Mercado. “I had undergone a six-month-

long audition process that had me flying back and forth from coast to coast to sing different songs and read different scenes,� said Mercado, the second runner up on the seventh season of “American Idol.� “There was even an agonizing twomonth period when I didn’t hear anything.�

Warren wasn’t standing outside Radio City Music Hall when she received word she would be playing Lorrell in the show. But she was also enthusiastic. She too considered it a “dream come true� — even though she had already appeared in the ensemble of the 25th anniversary of “Dreamgirls,� starring Jennifer Holliday, in 2007. “I think what makes this show great is you can identify with just about any of these characters,�

Warren said. “I identify with her (Lorrell) because of her passion for music.� “Dreamgirls� is the story of a 1960s female singing group out of Chicago, who go from wannabes to superstars in meteoric fashion, learning life’s lessons along the way.

Fame, success, betrayal, abandonment, greed, love, hate, disappointment and even death become part of their rites of passage.

Mercado, 23, who studied theater at Florida International University,

Photo by JOAN MARCUS

(Left to right) Adrienne Warren (Lorrell), Syesha Mercado (Deena) and Moya Angela (Effie) in “Dreamgirls.�

and Warren, 22, a recent graduate of Marymount Manhattan College who minored in musical theater before going on to rack up theater credits such as “The Wiz,� “Cats� and “Big River,� belie their young years. They talk like seasoned pros when it comes to their expectations of the show, this business and their futures in it. “I love theater because it’s not predictable,� said Warren, who is

THE MUSICAL SENSATION LIVE ON STAGE!

originally from Virginia. “Things can happen on stage and off stage. It’s a challenge. But, that’s what makes it fun.

Doing eight shows a week isn’t easy. But, it allows you to grow as a performer and a person. Your show off stage is just as important as the one on stage. The show must go on!�

Photo by JOAN MARCUS The fact that Chaz Lamar Shepherd (Curtis) and Moya Angela (Effie) many will compare in “Dreamgirls.� this current show to the original and other subsequent to be me. Every time we walk on touring companies, as well as the the stage there are people who are movie, hasn’t escaped Mercado or supporting us and there are people waiting for us to mess this up.

Warren. “If I touch one person in the “I kind of told myself certain things come with the territory audience — that’s enough for me. I regarding the comparison,� said can’t impress everyone.� “Dreamgirls,� directed and Mercado, who is currently working on her first CD, collaborating with choreographed by Robert LongGrammy-winner Diane Warren and bottom, stars Mercado (Deena Evan Bogart. “I was intimidated at Jones), Warren (Lorrell Robinson), first. There was pressure from those Margaret Hoffman (Michelle Morwho hired me, my cast mates and ris), Moya Angela (Effie White) and my family. They all wanted me to several others.

Showtime information: do well. Once we got to the Apollo “Dreamgirls,� the Ahmanson and started doing tech rehearsals, it all went away and I started enjoying Theatre, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los it. I always try to think positive. I Angeles; 8 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; 2 and 8 p.m. Friday through learned to come into my own.�

Saturday; 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday; Warren agrees. “We’re going to be compared no performances on Mondays.

Running time: two hours, 30 regardless,� Warren said. “I faced up to that. I think all of us have minutes. Ticket prices: $20 to $95. faced up to that. I can only be me. I Information: (213) 972-4400, www. can’t be Anika (Noni Rose). I have centertheatregroup.org.

HUTCHINSON Continued from page 2

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that threatens their interests.

If he waters down health care reform and further bloats a bloated military, that’s the price anyone who sits behind the desk in the Oval Office must pay to govern. The rules of presidential governance demand no less.

Sharpton, the NAACP, Urban League and the Congressional Black Caucus have at times lightly chided Obama to do and say more for blacks, but they’re also realists.

They’ll push him to work through the back door to increase spending and

expand education, health care and job creation programs for blacks.

That’s more than enough reason they and most other blacks are willing to give him a racial pass.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. His nationally heard talk show is on KTYM-AM 1460 AM Los Angeles, Fridays, 9:30 a.m., and KPFK Pacifica Radio 90.7 Los Angeles, Saturdays at noon, PST. He also hosts the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable Community forum Thursdays, 7 p.m., at Lucy Florence Cultural Center, 3351 W. 43rd St., Los Angeles, (323) 383-6145.

March 4, 2010

L.A. WATTS TIMES

Page 9

ARTS & CULTURE The 41st annual NAACP Image Awards took place Feb. 26 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.

Lee Daniels, director of “Precious,” poses with the film’s actresses (from left to right) Mo’Nique, Gabourey Sidibe and Paula Patton. “Precious” won Image Awards for best motion picture, best actress (Sidibe), best supporting actress (Mo’Nique), best independent motion picture, best writing in a motion picture (Geoffrey Fletcher) and best directing in a motion picture (Daniels). Mo’Nique also picked up an Image Award for talk series for “The Mo’Nique Show.”

Chris Rock nabbed an Image Award for his documentary “Good Hair.”

Actress Kimberly Elise won an Image Award for performance in a television movie, miniseries or dramatic special for “Gifted Hands.”

Chandra Wilson stands with her Image Award for best directing in a drama series for “Grey’s Anatomy.”

Actress Garcelle Beauvais with actor-musician Lenny Kravitz.

SHORT TAKES MUSIC • Pepperdine University Center for the Arts will present the Grammy Award-winning Soweto Gospel Choir March 23, 7:30 p.m., at Smothers Theatre, Pepperdine University, 24255 Pacific

Coast Highway, Malibu. The choir will celebrate African gospel music in six of South Africa’s 11 recognized languages during its performance. The choir’s concerts have several features, including traditional and contemporary rep-

ertoire, dancing and colorful costumes. Formed in 2002, the choir has sung for Oprah Winfrey, former U.S. president Bill Clinton, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, and former South African See SHORT TAKES, page 11

STARTS FRIDAY, MARCH 5TH Soweto Gospel Choir

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Page 10

L.A. WATTS TIMES

March 4, 2010

ARTS & CULTURE

Fuqua’s ‘Brooklyn’s Finest’ A Dark, Gritty Cop Drama

BY DARLENE DONLOE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Antoine Fuqua has an eye for developing dark, brooding characters and marrying them to an equally shadowy story.

One of his best films is the intense cop-gone-bad drama, “Training Day,” which helped its star, Denzel Washington, win an Academy Award.

This week, Fuqua’s latest cop installation “Brooklyn’s Finest,” hits theaters with an all-star cast that includes Don Cheadle, Wesley Snipes, Ethan Hawke, Richard Gere and Ellen Barkin.

The film intertwines three storylines — each focusing on the fractured life of a Brooklyn cop. It unveils what actually goes on behind the badge and inside the life of, in this case, the man wearing it.

These cops, played by Cheadle, Hawke and Gere, are confronted with situations that test their mettle, values and moral codes daily. And, as in life, they don’t always make the right decisions, which can result in catastrophic consequences. A bad cop with a gun and on a power trip is as dangerous as they come.

This isn’t a nice film. In fact, it’s disturbing in its violent authenticity. One of the best things about the drama is how Fuqua not only shows cops’ strengths, but also reveals their vulnerabilities and flaws.

There are good cops, bad cops and even worse cops. There are drugs, women and bad streets with bad people. And, in this movie, even if you come out on top, you don’t win.

Cheadle, once again, turns in a sterling performance as Tango, an undercover cop out to bust street hustler Caz, played with flair by Wesley Snipes.

The dial on his acting meter must have broken off on “powerful and bona fide” because Cheadle has yet to falter in his many portrayals. That’s not to say that all of

✁

Don Cheadle

Wesley Snipes

his movies have been great.

However, with Cheadle at the helm, a worthy performance in never far behind. Cheadle is one of those exceptional actors who faithfully delivers memorable and believable characters.

In “Brooklyn’s Finest,” Cheadle must brush past his conscience in order to take down an old friend, played by Snipes. While he wants to do the right thing, his assignment leaves him with an ethical and personal dilemma.

Snipes and Cheadle work well together on camera. It’s like watching two gladiators going toe-to-toe.

Although Snipes’ drug kingpin performance is a throwback to “New Jack City,” the role works for him.

It doesn’t get any better than Hawke. What a performance. He’s like a walking time bomb playing Sal in this volatile action film. Sal is a risk-taking, fearless cop with a huge financial problem. He’ll literally do anything to get money to move his family into a new home.

The wear and tear Hawke displays on his face, coupled with his deflated gait, presents a character that is at his wits’ end.

Unfortunately, Gere is woefully miscast as Eddie, a uniformed

officer with only a week left until retirement. He has a bad attitude, a kind of death wish and no desire to

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show a new recruit the ropes. He just wants out — and now.

However, Gere doesn’t deliver.

There is no believability and scarce authenticity to his portrayal of this seasoned street-wise cop. His onenote facial expression fails to communicate his angst.

“Brooklyn’s Finest” is not the first of it kind. In fact, it follows in a long line of films that have successfully shown the good-cop, badcop, bad-people scenario.

But, to his credit, Fuqua (“The Shooter,” “Tears of the Sun”) knows what he’s doing. He injects his own urban spin. He includes the mean streets of the city as yet another character in the film. The streets are gray and smoky and, no doubt, truly have “an expiration date.”

“Brooklyn’s Finest” is set up to have all three cops, who have

nothing to do with each other throughout the film, converge at one brutal crime scene for an incredible climax.

The ending of this film is brilliant.

“Brooklyn’s Finest” (Overture Films and Millennium Films), directed by Fuqua and written by Michael C. Martin, stars Cheadle, Snipes, Hawke, Gere, Vincent D’Onofrio, Will Patton and Ellen Barkin.

“Brooklyn’s Finest” opens nationwide March 5. It’s Rated R for bloody violence throughout, strong sexuality, nudity, drug content and pervasive language.

Running time: 125 minutes.

On the Donloe Scale, D (don’t bother), O (oh, no), N (needs work), L (likable), O (Outstanding) and E (exquisite), “Brooklyn’s Finest” gets an L (Likable).

Mo’Nique Prepares for Comedy Tour

BY MESFIN FEKADU AP WRITER

NEWYORK (AP) — Mo’Nique won the Golden Globe. She also picked up a SAG Award. And don’t forgot about her most recent honor this week at the BAFTAs. So easy money says the actress will be victorious at the Academy Awards next month. Right?

“No. No,” says Mo’Nique.

“See, with any of the awards, I don’t never feel like I got this, ‘cause I think the universe would say, ‘Really? So you that special that you already know?’

“So I’m appreciative of when they do call my name, and I’m appreciative if they don’t call my name,” said Mo’Nique in an interview from Atlanta, where she was working on a comedy tour, “Spread the Love,” that kicks off March 19 in New Orleans.

The 42-year-old actress-comedian has had a breakthrough year because of her riveting portrayal as the abusive Mary Jones in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire.”

She talks to The Associated Press about her honors and the comedy tour.

AP: In the middle of this busy awards season, you're planning a comedy tour?

Mo’Nique: Standup is my first baby. Like, I’ll be doing stand up, sugar, when I’m like 97 years old. I hope to God I can still make it happen.

AP: You’ve won so many awards. Will you take them on the road with you?

Mo’Nique: (Laughs) Hell no!

No, baby, that’s too much.

AP: There’s been a lot of talk about you not showing up early on to promote “Precious” because you were worried about money.

Mo’Nique: Well, when they say Mo’Nique was worried about money, I wasn’t worried about money. Mo’Nique has a talk show that comes on five nights a week and she tapes six times a week for that talk show. And yes, when I leave my home, I leave my home and get paid to leave my home, so I wasn’t worried about money.

They simply said, ‘You know, well

Mo’Nique

Mo’Nique we can’t pay you to do that.’ ... We said, ‘OK, baby. Well, then, that’s not something we can do.’ Because, when I leave out, why ever would I go do something for free when I can go and do something and bring money back home to my family?

AP: Has anyone, after watching the movie, come up to you and

opened up about the past?

Mo’Nique: It’s been quite a few. But one, it was this Asian brother at the DGA (Directors Guild of America) screening, and he came up to me and he had been crying, and he said, ‘Mo’Nique, what I’m getting ready to say to you is gonna sound weird. But I am Mary Jones, and I was Mary Jones to my brother and my sister.’ And we hugged and we were crying, and I said, ‘Congratulations for saying it out loud, and go get you some help.’

AP: How does that make you feel?

Mo’Nique: When you hear that you say, ‘We’ve already won.’

So when people say, ‘Mo’Nique, are you excited about the Oscars and are you excited about the (NAACP) Image awards, are you excited?’ I’m excited anytime somebody wants to say, ‘You know what, we appreciate what you did.’

But when you get that, that’s priceless.

On the Net: www.weareallpre cious.com; www.bet.com/OnTV/ BETShows/monique/default.htm.

Photo by PAT HENDRICKS MUNSON

LIVING LEGENDS AWARDS — Nancy Wilson and Assemblyman Mike Davis at his annual Black History Month event at the African American Museum Feb. 28. Davis, along with a host of singers, celebrities and politicians, paid tribute to “Living Legends” Wilson and Stevie Wonder, both of whom have numerous albums, hit songs, awards and honors after more than 50 years in the music business.

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L.A. WATTS TIMES

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ARTS & CULTURE SHORT TAKES Continued from page 9 president Nelson Mandela. The choir also has a foundation called Nkosi’s Haven Vukani, which supports South African AIDS orphans, impoverished families, and organizations that receive little or no government support.

General admission is $40. Admission for youth 17 and under is $25. Tickets: (310) 506-4522, (800) 982-2787, http://arts.pepperdine. edu, www.sowetogospelchoir. com.

• Eleanor “C-Pass” Jones will perform in “Doing it My Way!” — a concert of jazz standards and original compositions — March 20, 8 p.m., at The World Stage, 4344 Degnan Blvd., Los Angeles.

Musicians Karen Hernandez & Co. will accompany Jones.

Admission is $15. Send check or money order payable to C-Pass Enterprises Inc. with a selfaddressed envelope to P.O. Box 2418, Inglewood, CA 90305. Information: (213) 312-4334, www. c-pass.com.

FILM • The 2010 International Family Festival will take place March 10 to 14 at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood. The event will feature 67 premieres, 19 international films, 20 student films from professional film schools and more than 16 finalist screenplays from the United States, Canada, Turkey and China presented in the screenwriter’s showcase.

The opening night film will be screened March 11, 7:30 p.m. A Hallmark Channel production, “Meet My Mom” stars Lori Loughlin and Stephanie Powers and chronicles a newly single woman who moves cross-country to find herself falling for the soldier who has become her son’s mentor.

The film is scheduled for broadcast in May. Films premiering at the festival will include a roster of bigname stars, including Ellen Burstyn and Carla Gugino, featured in “The Mighty Macs,” screening March 12, 7 p.m.; Dean Cain, featured in “The Way

Home,” screening March 13, 4:30 p.m.; and Dennis Hopper and Debbie Reynolds, featured in “The Brothers Warner,” March 13, 6:15 p.m.

The awards ceremony, hosted by Nancy Cartwright of “The Simpsons,” takes place March 14.

Information: www.iffilmfest.org, info@iffilmfest.org.

• The International Black Women’s Film Festival (IBWFF) is accepting film, video and animation submissions for its 2010 season. Applicants have until May 17 to submit their work to the festival without a film submission fee.

The festival accepts all categories, including, shorts, features, documentaries, experimental, music video, digital media, online films and animation. All genres are accepted, except for explicit adult film and video.

Registration is available online or offline, but online submissions are encouraged.

To date, the festival has received more than 400 entries and has garnered international attention.

Information: www.ibwff2010.com.

DANCE • blue13 dance co. and others will present the world premiere of “Mischief,” with special guests Molodi, a Las Vegas step troupe, March 12 and 13, 8:30 p.m., and March 14, 7 p.m. In “Mischief,” blue13 attempts to satirize Bollywood with moves from contempo-

“RFK: The Journey to Justice”

rary Indian dance, jazz, hip-hop, tap and others. The show will feature blue13’s new contemporary Bollywood works, restaged audience favorites and new collaborations with Molodi. The event takes place at the 18th Street Arts Center, 1651 18th St., Santa Monica.

General admission is $20. Admission is $15 for students, children and Dance Resource Center members. Information: (310) 315-1459, www.highwaysperformance.org.

THEATER • L.A. Theatre Works will present “RFK: The Journey to Justice,” which is about Robert

Kennedy’s personal and political journey during the Civil Rights Movement, March 17 to 19, 8 p.m.; March 20, 2:30 p.m.; and March 21, 4 p.m., at L.A. Theatre Works at the Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles.

The production ponders questions, such as, how did RFK ultimately grow into his role as a leader within the Civil Rights Movement?

It also explores the sequence of events that transformed Kennedy from a political player to a believer in a higher cause. Tickets are $20 to $48. Information: (310) 827-0889, www.latw.org.

America’s Jazz and Blues Station www.jazzandblues.org Photo by PAT HENDRICKS MUNSON

BOOK SIGNING — Emmy Award-winning actor and author GregAlan Williams with Bobbi Owens, executive director of Mini Twelve Step House in South Los Angeles. Williams read from and signed copies of his first novel, “Heart of a Woman,” at Eso Won Books in Leimert Park Feb. 24. Williams has starred in “Remember the Titans,” “The Game,” and is currently starring as Bishop King in the new movie, “Preacher’s Kid.” Williams donated a portion of the night’s book sales to Mini Twelve Step House Inc., which helps women who struggle with alcoholism and drug addiction.

DROPOUTS Continued from page 1 them, have long taken on, but the challenge is steep.

Obama’s 2011 budget proposal includes $900 million for School Turnaround Grants. That money is in addition to $3.5 billion to help low-performing schools that was in last year’s economic stimulus bill.

To get a share of the new money, states and school districts must adopt one of four approaches to fix their struggling schools: • Turnaround Model: The school district must replace the principal and at least half of the school staff, adopt a new governance structure for the school, and implement a new or revised instructional program.

• Restart Model: The school district must close and reopen the school under the management of a charter school operator, a charter management organization or an educational management organization. A restarted school would be required to enroll, within the grades it serves, former students who wish to attend.

• School Closure: The school

district must close the failing school and enroll the students in other, higher-achieving schools in the district.

• Transformational Model: The school must address four areas, including teacher effectiveness, instruction, learning and teacher planning time, and operational flexibility.

The administration also is putting $50 million into dropout prevention strategies, including personalized and individual instruction and support to keep students engaged in learning, and better use of data to identify students at risk of failure and to help them with the transition to high school and college.

Obama announced his plan March 1 at an education event sponsored by the America’s Promise Alliance, the youth-oriented organization founded by former Secretary of State Colin Powell and his wife, Alma. Obama also planned to discuss ways to better prepare students for college and careers.

On the Net: America’s Promise Alliance: www.americaspro mise.org.

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March 4, 2010

EDUCATION NOTEBOOK Up to 5,200 L.A. Schools Workers Could Face Layoffs (AP) — The board of the Los Angeles Unified School District has voted to send notices of possible layoffs to up to 5,200 teachers and other workers because of a huge budget gap.

The Board of Education was unanimous March 2 in deciding to take the action as the nation’s second-largest school district deals with a $640 million shortfall.

At the same time, the board has urged union leaders to enter negotiations that could make some layoffs unnecessary.

The vote does not constitute a decision to actually begin layoffs.

The district sometimes rescinds such notices if more money becomes available.

L.A. School Board Snubs Charter School Operators (AP) — The Los Angeles Board of Education on Feb. 23 voted to reject a number of applications from charter school operators, choosing instead to hand control of nearly 30 schools to nonprofit educational groups formed by teachers and administrators already employed by the district.

The vote, which came after a four-and-a-half-hour meeting that featured nearly 50 speakers, awarded 12 chronically underperforming campuses and 18 new campuses to nonprofit educational groups, most of which are led by teachers and administrators already in place. Their alternative education proposals were largely backed by the United Teachers Los Angeles teachers union.

The board’s action is part of a larger plan to turn over about a third of the campuses in the nation's second-largest school district to nontraditional operators.

The plan has widely been seen as an acknowledgment that traditional educational policy hasn’t worked in a district where almost half the students drop out before graduation.

Some 85 organizations applied to run the campuses awarded on Feb. 23, including established charter school nonprofits, as well as teacher-parent-administrator coalitions.

Students Offered Affordable Transit Passes (Metro) — The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Pasadena City College have partnered to offer low-cost public transportation passes to 8,800 community college students.

The agency’s Institution Pass (I-Pass) program enables colleges to subsidize transit passes for their student body with the goal of providing affordable commuting solutions while encouraging public

REUNITED Continued from page 1 helps parents reunify with their children.

“I wish I had known about Parents In Partners (when I was getting my son back). It would have been less stressful,” Varnado said. “I

transit use. I-Pass stamps will be distributed for the Spring 2010 semester for $30 to PCC full-time students enrolled in at least 12 units.

The regular fare for non-participating college/vocational fulltime students is $36 per month.

The program will save students $114 over non-participating school pass prices.

Students can visit Student Business Services on their campus to purchase the passes.

The city college provides shuttle service to the Metro Gold Line in Pasadena. The I-Pass is valid on Metro buses and Metro Rail lines seven days a week.

Students can also use the transit access passes for all other transportation needs.

Many other campuses offer similar subsidized pass programs, including: Los Angeles City College, Los Angeles Trade Technical, Los Angeles Southwest College and Los Angeles Harbor College.

Information: (213) 922-2811, www.metro.net.

Measure Introduced on Teen Dating Violence Prevention Education SACRAMENTO (Lou Correa’s Office) — State Sen. Lou Correa (Orange County) has introduced Senate Bill 1300 (SB 1300), which would require the State Department of Education to include teen dating violence education into the current health curriculum framework, and would allow schools to provide teen dating violence prevention education.

Studies indicate that as many as one in three teens will experience abuse in a dating relationship.

Young women between the ages of 16 to 24 are the most vulnerable to domestic violence.

Research shows that the severity of domestic violence increases if the pattern has been established in adolescence.

Screening Slated for ‘Tapologo’ A screening of “Tapologo” will be presented March 8, 6:30 to 8 p.m., in James Bridges Theater, Melnitz Hall, on the UCLA campus.

The film is about care workers in South Africa who used to be sex workers. The women, who have AIDS, help others in the community with the disease.

The free event will also include a reception and, after the screening, a Q-and-A and film discussion.

Parking is $10 and available in lot three.

Information: (310) 825-3686, www.international.ucla.edu/africa, africa@international.ucla.edu.

had to navigate myself and basically learn the system myself. I went on the Internet, did some reading.”

For more information about DCFS’ programs and services, call (323) 965-6177.

For more information on PIP, call (213) 351-5507.

L.A. School District Sued Over Teacher Layoffs

BY ROBERT JABLON AP WRITER

(AP) — Civil rights groups sued the Los Angeles Unified School District and the state on Feb. 24, claiming thousands of teacher layoffs will deprive innercity children of their right to an education.

The budget-cutting dismissal of 2,100 permanent teachers last year disproportionately affected three schools in low-income and minority areas, violating the state constitutional right of students to an equal and proper education, according to the lawsuit.

The district could eliminate another 5,000 jobs during the 2010-11 school year.

The 650,000-student district, the nation’s second largest, has seen its funding slashed as the state struggles to close a massive budget deficit.

Some inner-city middle and high schools in Los Angeles could lose up to 40 percent of their teachers in the upcoming cuts, according to an analysis by the Institute for Democracy, Education and Access at the University of California, Los Angeles.

District officials on Feb. 24

did not immediately comment on the lawsuit because its attorneys were reviewing it.

The lawsuit, which seeks class-action status, was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court and asks a judge to block any more budget-related layoffs at the three schools for the 2010-11 school year. It also wants to bar future layoffs that affect a higher percentage of teachers at those schools than at other district campuses.

Effectively, that could require the state to rescind its funding cutbacks.

“If the government can bail out bankers on Wall Street, they can bail out students in Watts and Pico Union,” said Mark Rosenbaum, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, one plaintiff in the case.

While the layoffs are meant to be districtwide, state seniority rules mean the newest teachers go first.

Many of them are in schools in tough, poverty-stricken neighborhoods that see a higher teacher turnover.

School districts around the nation are suffering financial crunches. The National Education

Association estimates that some 34,000 teaching jobs will be eliminated this year.

Rosenbaum said he did not know whether other ACLU chapters planned to file similar lawsuits, but he called the layoffs “the civil rights issue of our day.”

“I don’t think we should have to run into a courtroom so that students can learn from teachers that they love,” he said.

The lawsuit argues that more than half the permanent teaching positions in the Los Angeles district were lost at Gompers, Liechty and Markham middle schools.

Transferred senior teachers and substitutes took over to fill some of the vacancies. But the civil rights groups claim that created a revolving-door situation that harms the learning process.

Some classes have seen as many as 10 teachers in the first four months of the current school year, Rosenbaum said.

“In my history class this year I had so many different teachers that it was a blur,” said Sharail Teed, an eight-grader at Markham Middle School in Watts who is listed as a plaintiff in the lawsuit.

L.A. School Board Snubs Charter School Operators

BY CHRISTINA HOAG AP WRITER

The Los Angeles Board of Education on Feb. 23 voted to reject a number of applications from charter school operators, choosing instead to hand control of nearly 30 schools to nonprofit educational groups formed by teachers and administrators already employed by the district.

The vote, which came after a four-and-a-half-hour meeting that featured nearly 50 speakers, awarded 12 chronically underperforming campuses and 18 new campuses to nonprofit educational groups, most of which are led by teachers and administrators already in place. Their alternative education proposals were largely backed by the United Teachers Los Angeles teachers union.

“If we’re asking our own folks to create innovative plans, we’ve got to give them a fair shot,” board member Nury Martinez said.

The board’s action is part of a larger plan to turn over about a third of the campuses in the nation’s second-largest school district to nontraditional operators.

The plan has widely been seen as an acknowledgment that traditional educational policy hasn’t worked in a district where almost half the students drop out before graduation.

The district already boasts the

highest number of charter schools of any school district in the country. More than 160 of its 800 schools are run by nonprofit educational groups.

Some 85 organizations applied to run the campuses awarded on Feb. 23, including established charter school nonprofits, as well as teacher-parent-administrator coalitions.

The board on Feb. 23 chose three charter school groups to operate schools, and rejected three charter school operators recommended by schools Superintendent Ramon Cortines. At one elementary school campus, the board let stand Cortines’ recommendation of charter operator Para los Ninos, but added a teacher-led pilot school at the same location.

Cortines had also recommended that charter school operator ICEF Public Schools run a small school, but that was voted down by the board.

Charter schools are mostly non-unionized, and ICEF founder and chief executive Mike Piscal said excessive union influence was behind the board’s vote.

“Big labor has such control over these school board members,” he said. “I’m appalled at the lack of leadership.”

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said he was deeply disappointed in the board’s vote, which he called a

“terrible blow to reform.”

The vote gives credence to those who say the city’s education system is “trying to protect a failed status quo,” he said in a statement.

UTLA President A.J. Duffy said proposals from teachers and administrators weren’t submitted to defend the status quo. Instead, their plans contained innovative ideas that teachers had wanted to implement for years but couldn’t because of district bureaucracy, Duffy said.

During the meeting, many parents touted the benefits of charter schools.

Erica Camarena, a single mother of four wearing a “we want change” button, said her 5-year-old daughter is already talking about college because she's learning about it at charter school, in contrast to her 18-year-old son who dropped out of a traditional public school.

“He asked me why he was never talked to about university,” she said. “I wish there were more charter schools around me.”

Teachers, however, didn’t see charters as a solution.

“Change does not mean outside operators,” said Tomas Chavez, a teacher at Garfield High School in East Los Angeles.

“Change does not mean handing over our schools.”

March 4, 2010

L.A. WATTS TIMES

Page 13

HEALTH Striking Number of Obesity Risks Hit Minority Kids CHICAGO (AP) — The odds of obesity appear stacked against black and Hispanic children starting even before birth, new research suggests.

The findings help explain disproportionately high obesity rates in minority children. Family income is often a factor, but so are cultural customs and beliefs, the study authors said.

They examined more than a dozen circumstances that can increase chances of obesity, and almost every one was more common in black and Hispanic children than in whites. Factors included eating and sleeping habits in infancy and early childhood and mothers smoking during pregnancy.

In a separate study, researchers found signs of inflammation in obese children as young as 3 years old. High levels were more common in blacks and Hispanics.

These inflammatory markers have been linked with obesity in adults and are thought to increase chances for developing heart disease. Their significance in early childhood is uncertain, but the study’s lead author says she never thought they’d be found in children so young.

“We think that fat cells in the body cause inflammation and that inflammation causes vessel damage,” said University of North Carolina researcher Asheley Cockrell Skinner, the lead author.

The results suggest that 3year-olds with inflammation might already have artery changes that could make them prone to later heart problems, although that needs to be examined in future research, she said.

Both studies were released recently in the journal Pediatrics.

On the Net: American Academy of Pediatrics: http://aap.org.

California’s Teen Birth Rate Reaches Record Low SACRAMENTO (CDPH) — Births to teenage mothers have dropped to a record low in California, according to Dr. Mark Horton, director of the California Department of Public Health (CDPH).

In 2008, the rate of births among mothers ages 15 to 19 was 35.2 for every 1,000 females, a decline from the rate of 37.1 births in the previous year and lower than ever before. In California, 51,704 babies were born to teen mothers in 2008.

Since 1991, California has experienced a decline in teen births. The teen birth rate in 1991 was 70.9, more than twice as high as the most recent rate.

Information: www.cdph.ca.gov.

Beverly Hills Cancer Center Offers Free Health Screenings The Beverly Hills Cancer Center is offering free screening tests for prostate and colon cancer on Wednesdays from March to June, 2 to 4 p.m. On April 3 and June 5, screenings will be offered from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Screenings are by appointment only.

The center is at 8900 Wilshire Blvd., second floor, Beverly Hills.

Information: (310) 432-8902.

Schwarzenegger, Clinton Discuss Obesity at Summit (AP) — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Feb. 24 weighed in on California’s pricey battle with obesity.

Alongside former President Bill Clinton, who underwent heart surgery to open a clogged artery in February, Schwarzenegger discussed solutions to the obesity crisis at a summit of leaders in the public and private sectors of health care in Los Angeles.

“I’m very proud that the state of California is the first state that has banned soda from vending machines in public schools,” said Schwarzenegger, a former champion bodybuilder. “Now we’re going to get rid of these sports drinks that are full of sugar and make our kids overweight.”

In a spate of bills announced Feb. 24 and sponsored by the Republican governor, California will target child obesity by reducing access to sugar while increasing physical activity.

One bill would increase moderate to vigorous activity in physical education classes.

Another bill calls for improved access to fresh drinking water while banning sugary “sports drinks” from California public schools.

In California, about one in nine children, one in three teens, and three in five adults are overweight or obese.

Swine Flu Vaccine Clinic to Provide ‘Shots on the Spot’ A free onsite clinic providing swine flu vaccines will take place March 10, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Los Angeles Southwest College, 1600 W. Imperial Highway, Los Angeles.

Information: (213) 240-7941.

Study Says High-Fat Diets Raise Stroke Risk in Women

BY MARILYNN MARCHIONE AP MEDICAL WRITER

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Eating a lot of fat, especially the kind that’s in cookies and pastries, can significantly raise the risk of stroke for women over 50, a large new study finds.

The new study is the largest to look at stroke risk in women and across all types of fat. It showed a clear trend: Those who ate the most fat had a 44 percent higher risk of the most common type of stroke compared to those who ate the least.

“It’s a tremendous increase that is potentially avoidable,” said Dr. Emil Matarese, stroke chief at St. Mary Medical Center in Langhorne, Pa. “What’s bad for the heart is bad for the brain.”

He reviewed but did not help conduct the research, which was presented Feb. 24 at an American Stroke Association conference. It involved 87,230 participants in the Women’s Health Initiative, a federally funded study best known for revealing health risks from taking hormone pills for menopause symptoms.

Before menopause, women traditionally have had less risk of stroke than similarly aged men, although this is changing as women increasingly battle obesity and other health problems.

After menopause, the risk rises and the gender advantage disappears, said Dr. Ka He, a nutrition specialist and senior author of the study from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

He and another researcher, Sirin Yaemsiri, wanted to see whether dietary fat affected the odds.

Participants in the study had filled out detailed surveys on their diets when they enrolled, at ages 50 to 79. Researchers put them into

four groups based on how much fat they ate, and looked about seven years later to see how many had suffered a stroke caused by clogged blood vessels supplying the brain — the most common kind.

There were 288 strokes in the group of women who consumed the most fat each day (95 grams) versus 249 strokes in the group eating the least fat (25 grams), Yaemsiri told the conference.

After taking into account other factors that affect stroke risks — weight, race, smoking, exercise and use of alcohol, aspirin or hormone pills — researchers concluded that women who ate the most fat had a 44 percent greater risk of stroke.

They also found a 30 percent greater risk of stroke among women eating the most trans fat, which is common in stick margarine, fried foods, crackers and cookies.

“We need to look at the labels on the foods we buy,” because many of these fats are hidden in baked

goods and people are not aware of how much they’re consuming, Matarese said. “This is a simple way that any woman, especially postmenopausal women, can improve their health. Simply avoiding fried foods is a big one.”

The American Heart Association recommends limiting fat to less than 25 to 35 percent of total calories, and trans fat to less than 1 percent. The healthiest fats come from nuts, seeds, fish and vegetable oils.

“We don’t do a good enough job of emphasizing the importance of a good diet,” said Dr. Lee Schwamm, a stroke specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Pediatricians in particular need to address the risk for chubby kids.

“If you don’t change their patterns and problems in childhood, you’re really looking at a lifetime of obesity,” he said.

On the Net: Stroke information: www.strokeassociation.org.

This is personal.

She was the cornerstone of our family. But my mother died of colon cancer when she was only 56. Let my heartbreak be your wake-up call.

Colorectal cancer is the 2nd leading cancer killer in the U.S., but screening helps prevent this disease.

Terrence Howard, actor/musician

If you’re 50 or older, please get screened. Screening saves lives.

1-800-CDC-INFO (1-800-232-4636) s www.cdc.gov/screenforlife

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Photo: Andrew Macpherson

THE PULSE

Page 14

L.A. WATTS TIMES

March 4, 2010

PUBLIC NOTICE

SPORTS BRAD PYE JR.

SPORTS BEAT

Notice of Availability/Announcement of a Public Hearing Gerald Desmond Bridge Replacement Project

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

Several men and women of color from the Diaspora participated in the Winter Olympics, including Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong. He is Ghana’s first Winter Olympics entry.

And the beat continues‌ Can LeBron James and the remaining Cleveland Cavaliers win it all without Shaquille O’Neal?

Shaq went out recently to have his injured right thumb surgically re-

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paired. He’s expected to be out for six weeks.

Kobe Bryant had a not-sogreat scoring night Feb. 28 as he hit for only 14 points, Bryant did dish out 12 assists, though. Lamar Odom stepped up on offense, becoming lead scorer with 20 points. and Ron Artest hit for 17 points.

March will not be easy for the Lakers, who will play Miami, Charlotte, Orlando, San Antonio, Oklahoma City and Atlanta.

And the beat continues‌ Wesley Korir, a native of Kenya, will be back in March to defend his L.A. Marathon title.

I predicted midseason that LaDainian Tomlinson would not be back with the San Diego Chargers in 2010. Reason: He was unhappy, and his team was unpleased, too.

Plus, he was being out-played by Darren Sproles.

Venus Williams defended her Dubai Championship for her 42nd singles title. She beat Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 2-6, 6-3, 7-5.

A leg injury forced Serena Williams out of her Feb. 25 match against Kim Clijsters in the Billie Jean King Cup exhibition in New York.

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.EW ,OCATION ,OS !NGELES

Bill Cosby will host the Jackie Robinson Awards Dinner at New York’s Waldorf-Astoria hotel on March 8. Baseball Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig will receive the All-time Achievement Award.

Fredia Gibbs, three-time world champion kick boxer, has come out of retirement, according to her publicist.

CORRECTION

Photo from LIBRARY OF CONGRESS PRINTS AND PHOTOGRAPHS DIVISION, VAN VECHTEN COLLECTION

Joe Louis

Joe Louis’ hometown of LaFayette, Ala., unveiled an 8-foot bronze statue of the great heavyweight champion recently. Louis lived in LaFayette until he was 10.

His family later moved to Detroit.

And the beat continues‌ Milton Bradley, a one-time L.A. Dodger, is now with the Seattle Mariners, his eighth team in 12 years.

Ken Griffey Jr. welcomed him.

Bradley has been a Milton Bradley “troubled� player wherever he’s been.

The Dodgers’ Matt Kemp, during the off-season, signed a twoyear, $10.95 million contract.

And the beat continues‌ James Washington, former University of California, Los Angeles, All-American and a Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl star, will reportedly be the replacement for Bruin defensive assistant Carnell Lake.

The three top players picked in the April 22 to 24 NFL draft could be defensive men of color — Nebraska’s defensive tackle, Ndamukong Suh; Oklahoma’s defensive tackle, Gerald McCoy; and Tennessee defensive back, Eric Berry.

And the beat ends.

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

CORRECTION An error and subsequent misprint were made regarding the public review period for the Gerald Desmond Bridge Revised Draft Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Assessment (EIR/EA). The original notice published on February 4, 2010, and February 11, 2010, stated that the review period ends on March 18, 2010. However, the notice should have stated that the review period ends on March 22, 2010. The Port and Caltrans will accept comments until 4:00 p.m. on March 22, 2010.

WHAT IS BEING PLANNED? The Port of Long Beach (Port), in cooperation with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), proposes the replacement of the existing Gerald Desmond Bridge connecting Route 710 to Terminal Island in order to: (1) provide a structurally sound seismically resistant bridge, (2) reduce approach grades, (3) provide sufficient roadway capacity to handle current and forecasted car and truck volumes, and (4) increase the vertical clearance to afford safe passage for current and new generation container ships. A bridge rehabilitation alternative and two alternative alignments are being considered, which also include integrating the new bridge with the Terminal Island East interchange and the Route 710 interchange.

WHY THIS AD? The Port and Caltrans have studied the effects this project may have on the environment. The studies show that significant impacts pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act could occur as a result of the proposed project. A Revised Draft EIR/EA has been prepared to describe these and all other potential impacts of the project. This notice is to inform you of the preparation of the Revised Draft EIR/EA, and of its availability for you to read and comment on.

WHAT IS AVAILABLE? The Revised Draft EIR/EA and other project information are available at the Port of Long Beach located at 925 Harbor Plaza, Long Beach, CA 90802 or online at http://www.polb.com/environment/docs.asp; call or e-mail Stacey Crouch at (562) 590-4160/crouch@polb.com. The document is also available for review at the Caltrans District 7 office located at 100 S. Main Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012 or online at http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist07/resources/envdocs/; call or e-mail Karl Price at (213) 897-1839/Karl.Price@dot.ca.gov. The document is also available at the City of Long Beach City Hall at 333 W. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach, CA 90802; the City of Long Beach Main Library located at 101 Pacific Ave, Long Beach, CA 90802; San Pedro Regional Branch Library, 931 S. Gaffey Street, San Pedro, CA 90731 and Wilmington Branch Library, 1300 N. Avalon Boulevard, Wilmington, CA 90744.

HOW LONG IS THE REVIEW PERIOD? An error was made regarding the public review period in the original notice.

The original notice stated that the review period ends on March 18, 2010; however, the Port and Caltrans will accept comments until 4:00 p.m. on March 22, 2010.

CONTACT Please send your comments in writing no later than March 22, 2010 to: Richard D. Cameron Director of Environmental Planning Port of Long Beach 925 Harbor Plaza Long Beach, CA 90802

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March 4, 2010

L.A. WATTS TIMES

Page 15

PUBLIC NOTICE FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT File No. 20100104195 The following person is doing business as: RJ. Feagins Art Designs 2609 W. Vernon Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90008 The Vintage Retro Shop 2609 W. Vernon Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90008 Rhonda Feagins 2609 W. Vernon Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90008 Steven Feagins 2609 W. Vernon Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90008 This business is conducted by a General Partnership. 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 This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles County on January 25, 2010.

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: 2/11/10, 2/18/10, 2/25/10, 3/4/2010 LAWT 405

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT File No. 20100156703 The following person is doing business as: Frankies Hamburgers 1600 E. Chevy Chase Drive Glendale, CA 91206 Bouchaib Aouly 1600 E. Chevy Chase Drive Glendale, CA 91206 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 This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles County on February 3, 2010.

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: 2/18/10, 2/25/10, 3/4/2010, 3/11/2010 LAWT 406

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT File No. 20100080256 The following person is doing business as: The Ticket Magician 5460 8th Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90043 The Ticket Magician 4431 Don Ricardo Drive, Unit 3 Los Angeles, CA 90043 George Parker Jr. 5460 8th Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90043 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 This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles County on January 20, 2010.

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: 2/25/10, 3/4/2010, 3/11/2010, 3/18/2010 LAWT 408

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT File No. 20100106236 The following person is doing business as: GOODIYZ.COM 5003 Doman Ave. Tarzana, CA 91356 TODAYS1.COM 5003 Doman Ave. Tarzana, CA 91356 DEALSWITCH.COM 5003 Doman Ave. Tarzana, CA 91356 Pouyan Barzlvand 5003 Doman Ave. Tarzana, CA 91356 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 This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles County on January 25, 2010.

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: 2/25/10, 3/4/2010, 3/11/2010, 3/18/2010 LAWT 411

STUDENTS PROTEST Continued from page 4 at UC Riverside, said the combination of higher fees and reduced course offerings and enrollment means students are “paying more and receiving less.”

“These legislators are balancing the budget on our backs,” she said.

The protesters’ voices could be heard inside the Assembly, where new speaker John Perez, D-Los Angeles, was being sworn in.

In his speech, Perez, a UC Berkeley graduate, promised to make higher education a top priority.

“I ask each of you to join me in working to turn around an upsidedown system where we demand students pay more every semester for classes that they can’t get, to fulfill ever-changing requirements for their

education,” he said.

Though spirited, the gathering was a stark contrast to a demonstration last week by UC Berkeley students in which protesters broke into and vandalized a campus building and threw rocks and bottles at police.

Perez praised the Capitol crowd for making themselves heard “the right way.”

On March 4, students from the UC, California State University and community college systems were expected to hold rallies, marches, teach-ins and class walkouts throughout the state.

Similar protests are planned around the country as part of a “National Day of Action for Public Education.”

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Notice of Availability of Draft Environmental Document and Announcement of Public Comment Period for the Interstate 110 (Harbor Freeway / Transitway) High Occupancy Toll Lanes Project

RELEASE OF A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP) On approximately March 8, 2010, The County of Los Angeles, Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health Programs (MCAH) will release a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the purpose of soliciting proposals from interested and qualified organizations for the provision of maternal and child health services to pregnant and parenting African American Women in Los Angeles County for the Black Infant Health (BIH) Program.

This RFP, entitled “Black Infant Health Program Services in Los Angeles County # 2010-001,” solicits proposals for the delivery of group interventions and case management services identified by California State Department of Public Health (SDPH) and MCAH. The RFP establishes guidelines, criteria, and procedures for submitting proposals.

Electronic copies of the RFP and corresponding documents will be available for downloading on the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health Programs web site at: http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/mch This website contains all documents associated with the RFP. A Proposer's Conference will be conducted at 9:00 a.m. on Friday, March 19, 2010 at 600 S. Commonwealth, 8th Floor, Conference Room B, Los Angeles CA 90005.

Please call (213) 637-8465 to confirm the date and location of the Proposer’s Conference.

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) in cooperation with Los Angeles County Metropolitan What’s Being Transportation Agency (Metro) proposes to convert the Planned? existing High Occupancy Vehicle Lane into a High Occupancy Toll Lane on Interstate 110.

Caltrans has studied the effects that the proposed project may have on the environment and community.

The results of these studies are contained in an Why environmental document known as an Environmental This Impact Report/ Environmental Assessment (EIR/EA).

Ad? The purpose of this notice is to inform the public of its completion and availability to any interested individuals.

What’s Available?

Do you have any comments regarding the EIR/EA? Do you disagree with the findings of the studies? Would you care to make any other comments about the project? Please submit any written comments no later than March 29, 2010 to:

Where Do You Come In?

3/4/10 CNS-1805438# WATTS TIMES

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT File No. 20100155259 The following person is doing business as: JK Law Group 3600 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1216 Los Angeles, CA 90010 James G. Kim 15105 Victory Blvd., Suite 201 Van Nuys, CA 91411 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 This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles County on February 3, 2010.

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: 2/18/10, 2/25/10, 3/4/2010, 3/11/2010 LAWT 407

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME Case No. BS124706 Superior Court of the State of California, for the County of Los Angeles.

In the Matter of the Application of Damon Marcus Vinson for change of name.The application of Damon Marcus Vinson for change of name having been filed in Court and it is appearing from said application that Damon Marcus Vinson filed an application proposing that the name be changed to De Rasooli. Now, therefore, it is hereby ordered and directed, that all persons interested in said matter did appear before this court located at 111 North Hill Street, on the 28th of January, 2010 of said day to show cause why such application for change of name should not be granted.

It is further ordered that a copy of this Order to Show Cause be published in a newspaper of general circulation, printed in said county, at least once each week for four successive weeks prior to the day of said hearing.

Murray Gross Judge/Commissioner of the Superior Court Published Runs 2/11/10, 2/18/10, 2/25/10, 3/4/10 NC-LAWT-14-2010

The EIR/EA 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.

When and Where?

Contact

Mr. Ron Kosinski Deputy District Director California Department of Transportation Division of Environmental Planning 100 South Main Street MS 16A Los Angeles, CA 90012 A public hearing will be held to allow any interested individuals an opportunity to discuss certain design features of the project with Caltrans staff before the final design and alternative is selected. The public hearing will be held on Tuesday, March 9, 2010 at the Andrew Norman Hall, Los Angeles Orthopaedic Hospital Foundation, 2400 South Flower Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007, from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm.

For additional information, please contact Ron Kosinski at (213) 897-0703.

Thank you for your interest in this transportation project.

Caltrans improves mobility across California!

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT File No. 20100203350 The following person is doing business as: Noir Lovely 2930 S. Redondo Blvd. #3 Los Angeles, CA 90016 Crystal Harrison 2930 S. Redondo Blvd. #3 Los Angeles, CA 90016 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 This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles County on February 12, 2010.

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: 2/25/10, 3/4/2010, 3/11/2010, 3/18/2010 LAWT 409

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT File No. 20100137849 The following person is doing business as: ICEF Public Schools 5150 W. Goldleaf Circle, Suite 401 Los Angeles, CA 90056 Inner City Education Foundation 5150 W. Goldleaf Circle, Suite 401 Los Angeles, CA 90056 This business is conducted by a Corporation. 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 This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles County on January 29, 2010.

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: 2/25/10, 3/4/2010, 3/11/2010, 3/18/2010 LAWT 410

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SURROUNDIN

System Inc. She Broadcasting of the oneis also the originatorin History” s minute “Moment is a ball of broadcasts televised annually Xernona Clayton History Month. during Black schedule is a minute, the Although her Moving a mile and former recently found veteran full, Clayton is civil rights King, a man to talk about King Jr. confidante Martin Luther calls, time , knew for severAtlanta fielding she respected durin her office in putting the al years, and worked with and s, doing interview Trumpet Awards, of the Civil the ing the height With a venfinal touches on the accomMovement. highlights Rights that e, of an affair of knowledg contributions erable wealth at plishments and admittedly “never s.

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BY DARLEN WRITER CONTRIBUTING

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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 ly about what States on Jan. finally dents the nation has year interviewed extensive conclude that the turbulent racist past. it was like during He uses his Roberts overcome its Dr. Terrence psychology pro- he spent in high school. retired for to teach But Roberts, 67, one experiences as a platform e in as many and fessor Dr. Terrence e of education ips at events, and participat who inte.” the importanc black teenagers as possible, Roberts nine Today and Tomorrow of grandCentral improve relationsh inaugural balls ld great D Little Rock to speak to how to best “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 Rock students ROCK 9, page California Assembly as the came up with will be just another for equal rights.

Larry E. Day, the “Little See LITTLE battle will serve Inauguration said organizer , speak the continuing er Karen Bass validates Norris J. year,” the driving force behind the will attend luncheons election and Nine” Obama’s to grand marshal grand Grant, Rock Nine” tried the celebrity parade. the Los Angeles what the “Little Bishton Jr. a former IN BRIEF Bass and Bishton Association and the 25th annual h, said Roberts, e. In his Joining for NEWS PsyValaccomplis Commerc P. in 19 marshal as Chamber of Gen. David the Master’s Parade on Jan. 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 has been in Los Angeles. celebration of court, this director who Kingdom of deputy Angeles cer, and 2009 The largest versity in Los cerefor the state Serve as 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 Disat the opposition at turn south nds of L.A. ndent of Public for the Second and you look in Superinte Boulevard and District: Thousa ll; members of then you look Jobs Vernon Avenue trict team. Rosention Jack O’Conne integration, and Crenshaw onto Council; s Could Lose with Obama’s Teacher responLos where a festival the Los Angeles City be happened of will ds has Park, feld what that the Leimert (AP) — Thousan other emquite apparent 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 school sector crumbling it’s Ramon Corprivate cowhere the election and is the Superintendent 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 for the to solve the an award-winning there are “systemic fabric of this focusing on devel- that lawmakers need if the Los the real estate firm are woven into nt opportu- state’s budget crisis investme 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 as to be known would come insults, Nine” braved “Little Rock Grant

s on in The Dream Live of Year This Historic Parade Kingdom Day

Assembly Speaker

State, Zip Code: ______________________________________

2009

G AREAS

te, n, a Confidan Xernona Clayto Legacy g’s Reflects on Kin

ANGELES AND

MN FIRST COLU

Name: ______________________________________________

IVE EDITION COMMEMORAT

BRISCOE

BY ANDRE WRITER CONTRIBUTING Obama is sworn

‘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 challeng e 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 in Nairobi d-based historically black his studies at a program during the time , which employ college after his of Preside nt Barack s 25 peomother dies of Obama’s inaugur ple and has an cancer. A commu ation. I wonder nity organizer - of $4.5 million operating budget ed if Kenyans were decides his plan excited , was instrumental as I was, as create thousan to in passing excited as the ds of green jobs a portion of a majority of Amerinational too modest and is energy bill cans, as excited enlarges it twencalled the Green as ty-fold.

Jobs cans particularly. African AmeriAct. 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 20th aspire to for to friendly. 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 s year ago came together to celebrat neighbors divided by political in Washington, extreme With Obama’s election ly proud of this e the inaugura violence only booster not meant a confidence- decided , Jones son of our soil!” tion of its favorite a to shop a $33 to be taken litson, Obama. billion proerally. And posal Another nationa before Congre 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 next two When Obama driven these THE SOUTHLAND years for similar three Top police official black men and ident of the United was elected presothers to actions work. s acknow States, edged that minorit lKenyan were granted 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 on Racial but they told As I turned off my the commission s, Bias phone the 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 discrim L.A. with Gang has $5 Millio inate against minorit asm and animate great enthusiies. n d gestures Tab to Pay The commission’s Americans as to they decision came after hearing (AP) — City symbol of hope pontificated 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 an Civil trade about Obama Liber- downtown in the ties Union of their relative. area.

Southern The study found California.

City Attorney When we finally Rocky Delgathat Los dillo Angeles police HE’S GOT arrived at and other law Jomo Kenyatt MOVES — officers are more enforcement a International A parade participa the many perform Photo by HGSTAR1 likely to stop officials announ Airport in Kenya, everyon nt nearly does /UNW ances that took and search black ced the judgme 19. Go to page the splits as part e and against the Latino residen nt 17 to view more place at the 2009 Kingdom of ly Kenyan passeng— even the live5th and Hill ts than they Day Parade on parade photos. gang ers are whites, last week.

— seemed Jan. Officials said even though subdued, exhaust it is whites are obtaine ed from the journey more often found d against a gang the first . carrying guns See KENYAN in Caliand contraband. fornia.

SON, page 6 See BRIEFS, page 7