LAWT 05-16-2013

W E E K E N D E R SEE STORY PG S . 10-11

Vol. XXX, No. 1336

www.lawattstimes.com

Thursday, May 16, 2013

L.A. Watts Times

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Thursday, May 16, 2013 this week in the L.A. Watts Times Weekender

horoscopes

17

L.A. Watts Times

LIBRA

13

VIRGO

LEO

10

CANCER

8

GEMINI

TAURUS

ARIES

contents

MAY 16 - MAY 22, 2013

WWW.LAWATTSTIMES.COM Danny J. Bakewell, Sr. ....................................Executive Publisher & Executive Editor Brenda Marsh Mitchell ........................................................Executive Vice President Tracey Mitchell ..........................................................................................Controller Brandon I. Brooks ............................................................................Managing Editor Kenneth Miller..................................................................Assistant Managing Editor Jennifer Bihm ..................................................................................................Editor Dennis Hunn ..........................................................................Director of Advertising Benjamin Samuels ..........................................................................Graphic Designer Kim McGill..................................................................................Production Designer EMAIL: wattsweekender@yahoo.com Circulation ......................................................................................................30,000

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THE link that you’ve established with your spiritual self will be strengthened by the people who come into your life this week.

This week is a week for seriousness about a relationship. Discuss your deepest thoughts with others. They’ll understand and thank you for sharing intimate parts of yourself. Soul Affirmation: Faith keeps me calm in the storms of life.

YOU’VE done some of your own love homework. Hopefully you’ve had an opportunity to learn a new way of seeing the world and in that way you’ve found a way of loving that is more natural for you. The combination of sexiness and joyful focus can create you a wonderful love experience. Soul Affirmation: I get joy from giving good things.

SHARE in the glory of your friend who has been recognized for outstanding work.

Plan a small get-together to celebrate the occasion. Your time will come, and you will be placed on the pedestal. Your intimacy radar is sensitive. Watch out for a new romance that might come along. You will be pleasantly surprised! Soul Affirmation: Love is easier than breathing.

YOU’VE done a lot of things in life that no one has agreed with at the beginning. Finding agreement this week will be difficult, but it should not deter you from moving forward. Feeling sorry for your loneliness will discolor what you are doing. Be happy that you are alone.

Soul Affirmation: I get joy from giving good things.

ETERNAL optimist, eternity is now. Get in touch with your hopefulness and be a beacon to others. Try not to be taken in by promises made by others or promises you’ve made to yourself. Concerning your own affairs, avoid contemplating lofty subjects and seeking long ranged solutions. Soul Affirmation: Time is the greatest peacemaker of them all.

SOME say optimism is fantasy. Suppose the good thing you’re optimistic about never comes. This week you’ll know that the joy of anticipating it is joy enough.

Just the certainty of coming goodness is present goodness. The joy of tomorrow is available this week. Soul Affirmation: This week is the week the Lord has made. I rejoice in it.

YOU might be looking into the buying or selling of a piece of property, and this week seems to be a favorable week for this type of negotiation.

Be careful with the intricacies of the matter. Pay attention to details or it could cost you a great deal later.

Soul Affirmation: I care deeply about the feelings of others.

WHAT a blessed week this will be. Spend it meditating on all that God has given you. This week think hard about some form of worship. Curtis Mayfield wrote a song called “Who Do You Love?” For your love lesson, the second song would be the one you should sing. Soul Affirmation: New intuitions create new plans and a new cast of characters.

YOUR self-discipline helps you to do more this week. People will be watching as you zip around with style and grace! Broaden your cultural horizons by trying new foods and meeting new people. You’ll be pleasantly surprised! Soul Affirmation: I am patient with all that comes my way this week.

THE urge to chase off on a tangent may be strong this week. Take a few minutes to study the big picture and make sure any whims serve the bigger purpose. It’s a good week to do what needs to be done. Soul Affirmation: Luck is my best friend this week.

YOU’LL be full of good ideas this week, so make sure you write down the ones you don’t have time to put into action.

You’ll want to share your thoughts on a grand scale, and your mind will seem truly universal to you. Try to be patient with those who are staggered by your brilliance. Soul Affirmation: Light from my soul shines in many directions.

THIS week let your gentle spirit shine through. Your rough and tumble side is not appropriate for the relationships that you’ll encounter. Someone will need your understanding and sympathy.

Give it with sensitivity.

Soul Affirmation: My life itself is my greatest creation.

Trouble always followed Malcolm Shabazz

Malcolm Shabazz

BY MAYA RHODAN NNPA WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT WASHINGTON (NNPA) – For Malcolm Shabazz, grandson of Malcolm X, trouble seemed to come easy.

His troubles began in 1997, when at age 12 he plead guilty to setting fire to the apartment of his grandmother, Betty Shabazz, that resulted in her death in New York. As a result, young Malcolm spent four years in juvenile detention centers.

In 2003, he was back behind bars—this time as a result of an attempted robbery. And in 2006, it was for punching a hole in a donut shop wall in Yonkers, N.Y..

His troubles ended for good in Mexico City last Wednesday, when

the 28-year-old was killed after being beaten outside of a bar, according to sources close to Shabazz.

Well-known publicist and family friend, Terrie Williams of New York, confirmed Malcolm’s death via Twitter and Facebook.

“I’m confirming, per US Embassy, on behlf of family, the tragic death of Malcolm Shabazz, grandson of Malcom X,” Williams tweeted.

Shabazz was reportedly traveling to Mexico City with RUMEC, a Mexican labor organization based in California, when he was beaten to death in an attempted robbery, according to Juan Ruiz, a member of RUMEC. Ruiz, who spoke to the political news website, Talking Points Memo, was one of the first to get in contact {See MALCOLM SHABAZZ, Pg. 19}

Mayor Villraigosa committed to funding for Leimert Park station-stop

BY KENNETH MILLER ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR Recently during a televised interview, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa made public for the first time his firm commitment to secure funding for CrenshawLAX light rail Leimert Park Village Station Stop.

Late, Tuesday evening the Sentinel obtained an exclusive statement from Mayor Villraigosa that reaffirmed his commitment.

“I am strongly committed to a station at Leimert Park, and my office has worked closely with the City Council to identify $40 million to contribute towards the building of that station. I look forward to working in partnership with the MTA Board of Directors to make the Leimert Park station a reality.”

A much anticipated vote on whether to build a train station that would stop in Leimert Park Village as part of the $1.7 billion Crenshaw-LAX light rail project is scheduled before the Metro board at a soon to be determined date, but now Mayor Villaraigosa and Supervisor Mark Ridley Thomas, a long time advocate of the station, have joined forces on the issue providing a unified front that can only result in a bright future for Leimert Park and the Crenshaw line.

“I have always been committed making sure that Leimert Park had a {See LEIMERT PARK STATION-STOP, Pg. 18}

Thursday, May 16, 2013

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NY judge tosses indictment of officer in shooting they radioed Haste in advance to warn him that they thought Graham had a pistol.

Haste testified in the grand jury that the radio transmissions convinced him Graham was armed and dangerous when he shot him in the chest. Jurors also heard evidence that Haste yelled, “Gun! Gun!” as a warning to other officers before opening fire.

“In effect, the grand jury was told communications of other officers were not relevant,” the judge said. “With no great pleasure, I’m obliged in this case to AP PHOTO/RICHARD DREW, FILE dismiss the charges.”

In this May 12, 2013 file photo, Constance Malcolm and Frank Graham, parents of 18-yearThe judge stressold Ramarley Graham, weep during the arraignment of New York City Police Dept. officer ed that he didn’t Richard Haste, in Bronx Supreme Court, in New York. believe prosecutors deliberately misled the grand jury and he wouldn’t bar them

BY TOM HAYS flawed grand jury presentation by from seeking another indictment.

ASSOCIATED PRESS prosecutors left him no choice.

Prosecutors said in a statement As Haste left the courtroom, NEW YORK (AP) — A judge protesters yelled, “Murderer!” The that they would appeal the decision or present the case again to the on Wednesday threw out man- officer did not speak to reporters. slaughter charges against a New Haste had been charged in the grand jury.

“It cannot be said more forcefulYork Police Department officer fatal shooting of 18-year-old accused of killing an unarmed man Ramarley Graham during a police ly that we disagree with the court,” at his home as his grandmother operation targeting street corner the statement said.

The Rev. Al Sharpton, who has stood nearby in a ruling that prompt- drug dealing in the Bronx. He and ed a courtroom outburst by the vic- other officers chased Graham into worked with Graham’s family, tim’s mother and a vow by prosecu- his family’s apartment, where the called the judge’s decision “an outrageous miscarriage of justice and tors to still pursue the case. teen was shot at close range.

Constance Malcolm cursed and The victim was struck in the an insult to the family and supportscreamed, “They killed my child!” upper chest and collapsed inside a ers of Ramarley Graham.” Graham’s as it became clear that the judge was bathroom as his grandmother and parents called for street protests.

But Patrick Lynch, president of about to rule in favor of Officer younger brother stood nearby. No the Patrolmen’s Benevolent AssoRichard Haste. Court officers imme- gun was recovered. diately removed her.

The judge ruled Wednesday that ciation, said the judge’s ruling was When order was restored, Judge prosecutors, in giving instructions to the right one.

“We believe the judge made a Steven Barrett told spectators, “I grand jurors, had improperly left the regret that there are people who are impression the jury shouldn’t con- difficult but correct decision,” hurt by this,” but he insisted that a sider testimony by other officers that Lynch said.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Blacks are still majority of the wrongfully convicted

BY FREDDIE ALLEN NNPA WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT WASHINGTON (NNPA) – When a Baltimore grocery store employee fingered 26-year-old Michael Austin for the murder of a security guard in the spring of 1974, Austin didn’t even match the police sketch. The wanted suspect was less 6 feet tall and Austin was the size of a small forward in the NBA. The only other evidence linking him to the crime was a business card with the name of an alleged accomplice, a man who was never found.

The store owner, who was positive Austin wasn’t the shooter, was never called to testify during the original trial and Austin’s defense attorney never called a single witness to back up Austin’s alibi that he was at work across town when the crimes were committed. A year later, Austin was convicted of first-degree murder and robbery and sentenced to life in prison on the eyewitness account of the grocery store employee, a college student, according to the prosecution, and a drug addict and high school dropout.

Austin spent half of his life behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit, only gaining freedom through a New Jersey-based lawyers’ group that works to free the wrongfully convicted. The grocery store employee died of an overdose in 1997, but not before he told family members that he lied about what he saw during the murder and sent an innocent man to prison. In December 2001, Austin was granted his freedom. Three years later, Austin won a $1.4 million settlement from the state of Maryland.

Michael Austin’s story was chronicled in The National Registry of Exonerations, a collaborative effort between the University of Michigan law school at Ann Arbor and the Center on Wrongful Convictions at the School of Law at Northwestern University in Chicago. An updated registry of features stories of the wrongfully convicted and was recently released.

According to the report, Blacks account for nearly half (47 percent) of all known exonerees in 1989, and Whites made up nearly 39 percent of all known exonerees. When the updated exoneration report was released in April, 57 percent of the known cases that occurred in 2012 involved Blacks.

Samuel Gross, a law professor at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and the editor of The National Registry of Exonerations said the 10 percent increase for Blacks was striking, but it’s too early to draw any firm conclusions. Gross said that he continues to learn about new cases that occurred in 2012. In last year’s report released in June 2012, the registry found that 50 percent of the all known exonerees were Black.

“It’s striking and if it stands up and it repeats in another year or two it will be an important trend,” said Gross.

According to the registry report, 52 percent of the wrongful conviction cases involved perjury or false accusa-

tion, 43 percent involved official misconduct and 41 percent involved mistaken eyewitness identification.

The majority (57 percent) of all known exonerations were in homicide cases and 47 percent of those cases involved Black defendants and 37 percent involved Whites. Blacks accounted for 63 percent and Whites 18 percent of those wrongfully convicted of committed robberies.

“Homicide and robbery, sadly to say, are crimes that African Americans are heavily overrepresented in the prison population,” said Gross.

The report found that “African Americans constitute 25% of prisoners incarcerated for rape, but 62% of those exonerated for such crimes.”

Faulty eyewitness identification continues to drive the high rate of Blacks involved in adult sexual assault exoneration cases. Gross said that this is likely because of problems associated with cross-racial identification.

“White people don’t have the type of experience living with and distinguishing members of other races as minorities do,” said Gross. “There is also a long terrible history of racial discrimination in the prosecution of African Americans for rape when they are accused of raping White women and that may be a factor here, too.”

According to the National Registry of Exonerations, a majority of the cases (52 percent) involve witness making a false accusation or committing perjury. Forty-one percent of the cases involve faulty eyewitness identification.

“As a group, the defendants had spent nearly 11,000 years in prison for crimes for which they should not have been convicted – an average of more than 10 years each,” stated a report by The National Registry of Exonerations released in April.

These are often the most productive years of a person’s life and the reason why many criminal justice advocates say that seeking compensation for wrongful convictions is the only chance that exonerees have in regaining a foothold in a world that is often much different than how they left it.

“Unfortunately, many of our clients have been in jail for decades and often these were the best years of their life; the years where you can go to school and get an education, years where you can build a career and learn how to do a job,” said Paul Cates, communications director for the Innocence Project. “When they get out after 15 or 20 or 25 years, it’s very difficult to enter the job market without an education and without any marginal skills.”

Cates said that, when the government confines someone for those lengths of time, they definitely deserve to be compensated. Cates added: “It’s particularly true when you consider that they have no way of making a living once they’ve been released.”

Despite the proliferation of crime shows depicting the use of DNA in solving murders and proving inno{See WRONGLY CONVICTED, Pg. 5}

Thursday, May 16, 2013

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LA educator receives California Department of Education acceptance for B.R.A.V.E. (“Be Resilient Avoid Violence Everywhere”) Violence Prevention and School Safety Curriculum LAWT WIRE SERVICE The violence education and prevention school curriculum B.R.A.V.E. (“Be Resilient Avoid Violence Everywhere”), authored by James Shaw, Ph.D., a professor at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology at the Los Angeles Campus, has been approved and accepted by the California Department of Education for use in public middle and high schools. Dr. Shaw has been an educator for over 25 years. At TCSPP he teaches Mental Health Law, Forensic Psychology, Life Span Development and Social Bases of Behavior. Dr. Shaw is also the author of the best-selling book, Dr. James Shaw “Jack and Jill, Why They Kill: Saving Our Children, Saving Ourselves,” currently used in colleges and universities nationwide.

Based on the “psychological empowerment model,” Dr. Shaw wrote B.R.A.V.E. and piloted it with 400 students and 55 teachers at Griffiths Middle School in the Downey Unified School District (CA), after a 6th grader there brought a .38 handgun and began brandishing it. “‘Psychological empowerment’ is realized when students recognize: (1) that over 99% of school shooters are home-grown and well-known on the very school yards they turn into grave yards; and (2) that they campaign for student body offices and manage their own student elections—why shouldn’t they use their talents to manage and enhance the safety and security of their own campuses,” said Shaw.

“B.R.A.V.E. educates students about their personal and social responsibility in choosing to avoid acts of violence and, instead, pursue peaceful alternatives…” Teaching lessons focus on providing accurate information about violence through statistics on “adolescentcide” (children slain in acts of homicide committed by other children), violence at home and at school, and violence as a crime. It teaches decision-making skills and resistance/resiliency techniques against peer pressure and other provocations, including bullying. Ideas and concepts are brought forward as alternatives to violence in all its forms. Using the case method of instruction, B.R.A.V.E. uses well-known role models to reinforce leadership lessons but is flexible so that teachers can substitute other persons of distinction if they prefer.

“Relatively few ‘outsiders’ or strangers engage in acts of violence on school campuses,” Shaw said.

“B.R.A.V.E. was designed expressly for middle and high school students to arm them with leadership skills to manage and enhance the welfare and safety of their campuses.”

A Downey Unified School District teacher noted, “We have driver training to teach students the rules of the road as they navigate the highway. It only makes sense to have a violence prevention curriculum so they can navigate their own personal and social highways safely.”

Wrongly Convicted {Continued from page 4} cence or guilt of a suspect, DNA testing is becoming less of a factor in wrongful conviction cases, because it is often initiated before cases go to trial.

“DNA evidence can be very persuasive to courts and to judges and to prosecutors, because it’s a very definitive proof of innocence,” said Cates.

“But in all these other cases where this evidence is not available, it’s really hard to prove when someone has been wrongfully convicted and the court system doesn’t make that easy.”

That could be changing.

According to the registry report, for

the first time, law enforcement officials cooperated in the majority of the known cases that freed the wrongfully convicted in 2012.

Revisions to state policies involving post-conviction DNA testing, greater oversight of convictions in prosecutorial offices, and the evolution of law enforcement practices could have contributed to the increase, according to the study.

“It’s pretty clear that we make mistakes as you would expect from any human system and we should acknowledge that and that’s becoming more widely understood and accepted,” said Gross. “The more realistic we are in understanding that we do mistakes the better we’ll be at identifying them and preventing them.”

Jurors: Pa. abortion doc got greedy, lost his way

BY MARYCLAIRE DALE ASSOCIATED PRESS PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Dr. Kermit Gosnell proved a serene but solitary figure in the courtroom during his long murder trial, in contrast to the chaotic life he built as an inner-city doctor, abortion provider and father of six.

Jurors who convicted him this week of killing three babies born alive at his run-down West Philadelphia clinic thought he began his career with good intentions, but then lost his way.

“He started out as a good, practicing doctor. But eventually, it just became a money-generating machine,” juror Joseph Carroll said Wednesday, after Gosnell was sentenced to life in prison without parole. “Most of us felt it probably came down to a greed factor.”

Gosnell, 72, had been the rare black student from his workingclass neighborhood to go to medical school. He became an early proponent of therapeutic abortions in the 1960s and ’70s, and returned from a stint in New York City to open up a clinic in the impoverished Mantua neighborhood, near where he had

grown up as the only child of a gas station operator and government clerk.

His Women’s Medical Center treated the poor, immigrants and teens, offering free basic medical care to elderly people, many of whom were seen in recent years by unlicensed doctor Eileen O’Neill.

But Gosnell made millions performing abortions, charging up to $2,500 or more in cash if women were in their second or third trimester. District Attorney R. Seth Williams said Wednesday that Gosnell put women through labor, then killed their babies, “because it’s cheaper to do that.”

“We had no evidence that these patients were told that ... after the baby is born, and the baby’s alive and squirming and kicking and crying, I’m going to sever its spinal cord.”

Former staffers testified that Gosnell once performed mostly first-term procedures, perhaps 20 a night, along with a few later-term procedures. But that ratio reversed itself from 2000 to 2010, as Gosnell increasingly attracted desperate women who were further along.

According to prosecutors, he

Dr. Kermit Gosnell

AP PHOTO

routinely performed abortions after the 20-week limit in Delaware, where he also worked, and the 24week limit in Pennsylvania. And he did the late-term surgical procedures in his clinic, while they were more typically done in hospitals.

Gosnell by then was also attracting lawsuits from women who said they were injured during botched abortions at his clinic. One woman said he left fetal remains inside her, another sued over a perforated uterus, and a trial witness said she spent two weeks in a hospital with sepsis after an abortion at age 17 that allegedly took place when she was nearly 30 weeks, or more than seven months, pregnant. Stunned clinic workers took cellphone photos of that baby boy, photos that {See ABORTION DOC, Pg. 18}

Put Your Child on a Path to College Green Dot students are more likely to graduate and be ready for college. Your child could be too.

A recent study by UCLA found that students who attend Green Dot schools are more likley to graduate than similar students at neighboring schools.

Green Dot’s tuition-free public schools feature: • Small Classroom Sizes • Effective, Caring Teachers • Full Range of Support Services, Including Clinical Services and Counseling • Advanced Placement and Honors Courses • College-going Culture Green Dot schools prepare all students for college, leadership and life in a safe, high performing learning environment.

Green Dot Students Graduate at a Higher Rate than Neighboring Schools1

Enroll at the Green Dot School nearest you:

The Locke Family of Schools Now accepting applications for 9th-12th grades 325 E. 111th St., Los Angeles, CA 90061 • Call (323) 420-2101 for assistance Ánimo College Prep Academy at the Jordan Education Complex Now accepting applications for 9th-12th grades

Green Dot Students

Neighboring Schools

2265 E. 103rd St., Los Angeles, CA 90002 • Call (323) 568-4136 for assistance Ánimo Watts Charter High School Now accepting applications for 9th-12th grades 12628 Avalon Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90061 • Call (323) 357-3936 for assistance Ánimo Middle School #2 Now accepting applications for 6th grade 810-820 E. 111th St., Los Angeles, CA 90059 Call (323) 568-8613 for assistance Come to an upcoming Registration Night for incoming sixth graders at Ánimo Middle School #2 Wednesday, May 22 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

™

Green Dot Public Schools are publicly funded and free to attend.

Learn more at www.greendot.org/enroll 1. National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards and Student Testing (CRESST), Center for the Study of Evaluation (CSE), Graduate School of Education & Information Studies, UCLA, “Evaluation of Green Dot’s Locke Transformation Project: Findings for Cohorts 1 and 2 Students”, February 2012. Table 12: Estimated Effect of Green Dot Locke on A-G Completion and Graduation (Matched Sample)

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Thursday, May 16, 2013

Mayoral covenant revealed to public Nolan Rollins wants to make an impact on Los Angeles

BY BRANDON I. BROOKS MANAGING EDITOR JENNIFER BIHM EDITOR

PHOTO BY KEN MILLER FOR LAWT

Co-Chairs Malana Karenga and Larry Aubrey along with President and Chairman Reverend Eric P. Lee (center) and members of the Black Clergy Community Labor Alliance (BCCLA) unveil the Community Mayoral Covenant which is intended to hold whichever candidate is elected mayor and other elected leaders accountable to the issues which are vital to the growth and survival of the African American Community.

LAWT NEWS SERVICE Powerful cluster of Black community, clergy and labor leaders revealed a binding CommunityMayoral Covenant which has been received and verbally agreed upon by both candidate for Los Angeles Mayor Councilman Eric Garcetti and Controller Wendy Greuel, it was announced.

Authors of the Community Mayor Covenant, which included organizations and civil rights advocates, have formed under the organi-

zational name of Black Community, Clergy and Labor Alliance (BCCLA).

President Eric P. Lee leads the BCCLA along with Dr. Maulana Karenga (professor and Chair of African Studies at Cal State University Long Beach) and Larry Aubry, president of Advocates for Black Strategic Alternatives.

Other members include Seba Chimbuko Tembo, executive director of African American Cultural Center, The Rev. K.W. Tulloss, president National Action Network, The Rev. Tony Smart, The Rev. Donald Wilson,

Damien Goodmon, and Tony Wafford, president of I Choose Health and Wellness Foundation and Anton Farmby.

“This is a critical moment in our history, Black community, clergy and labor leaders have come together under the banner of the Black Community, Clergy and Labor Alliance (“BCCLA”) to propose a covenant-based politics that is ethical in foundation, inclusive in form and people-focused, beneficial and practical in content. The character of the {See MAYORAL COVENANT, Pg. 8}

“It’s been really wonderful to come into a city where everyone’s arms are wide open,” said newly appointed Los Angeles Urban League president, Nolan V. Rollins who sat down with the Sentinel recently to discuss his mission with the Urban League and his goals for L.A. in particular.

“I will tell you that this community wants to see the Urban League win. Everyone understands how critical it is to have a strong Urban League and they really want to know what can they do to help.

But they’re also challenging us.

“They’re saying, ‘you’re the Urban League, you were created to help people transition from where they are to where they’re supposed to be. Do what you do.’”

Rollins said he is excited about the challenge and promised that the League’s impact would be felt throughout the city and beyond.

“We are going to drive policy that has impact in Sacramento. We are going to drive policy that has impact in California and we’re going to drive policy that has impact around the nation,” he said.

In February, Rollins became the seventh president and CEO of the League’s Los Angeles affiliate, but the Baltimore native has been involved with the organization since 2000.

“I finished law school in Florida and met Jay Howard Henderson, who was the CEO of the Urban League in Baltimore,” Rollins recalled.

“He said to me, ‘when you get your first real job, I want you to do something for me.’ And when I got my first real job in the state’s attorney office, he asked me to start the Urban League Young Professionals in Baltimore.

“So, that’s literally where I started. I started as a volunteer, established a chapter, became its first president and then just really worked my way through the ranks.

So, it’s been thirteen years for me…”

Rollins stayed in his hometown for about seven years before he was called to serve in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina destroyed parts of the city. It was there that the young attorney began to strengthen his altruistic tendencies.

“It was a great experience [because] we were rebuilding communities,” said Rollins.

“Some of the work that I’m most proud of is early on in the first hundred days we secured 4 million dollars to give back to the communities. We bought appliances and paid rent for people… I mean, just the basic life necessities that you wouldn’t even think about. But people needed to get their electricity turned on and had no money.

Nolan V. Rollins They needed appliances and had no money. They needed everything that you could possibly imagine and we secured the dollars to do that. We wound up serving over 4000 people in New Orleans.

“I think that really began to solidify us as kind of a beacon of hope going forward because what really happened after Katrina was there were a lot of people who came into town making extreme promises about how they would do this and they would do that. And what they did was they took the money and left…”

Leaving the rough and tumble of New Orleans for the breezy west coast hasn’t diminished Rollins’ passion. He’s carried his determination almost 2000 miles with plans for a better Los Angeles already in hand. L.A., he explained, is a keystone to not just the western part of the movement but to the entire Urban League.

“As goes the Los Angeles Urban League, so goes the rest of the movement,” he said, crediting his mentor former LAUL leader, John Mack for inspiring him to come here.

“He represents a selfless leader that has given in a way that people don’t generally give. That’s why he’s so revered in the community, not because he’s flashy [but because he’s of substance… without John’s blessing I wouldn’t have come to Los Angeles.”

But now that he has…

“I think, what you’re going to see is a very focused organization,” said Rollins.

“You’ll see us have very clear centers of excellence. Workforce will be in one of the centers where we will have a community and economic development center. We’ll [also] have a policy and social justice center and we’ll have a youth and education center. What I’m going to be focusing on is making sure that the community understands who we are, what we do and how we do it. I think that’s critical.”

Thursday, May 16, 2013

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As City Controller, I found $160 million dollars in waste and fraud. I’ll invest in job creation, better schools, and faster emergency response in every part of our city. We need a mayor for all of LA, so no one is left behind, and no one is forgotten.

– WENDY GREUEL

ENDORSED BY President Bill Clinton, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Supervisor Mark RidleyThomas, Magic Johnson, Bishop Noel Jones, Bishop Charles Blake, Bishop Kenneth Ulmer, Bishop James Walker, Rev. Chip Murray, Lorraine Bradley, Connie Rice, Danny Bakewell, Los Angeles Sentinel

FOR MAYOR OF LOS ANGELES

Paid for by Wendy Greuel for Mayor 2013 - General. 7120 Hayvenhurst Ave, Suite 315, Los Angeles, CA 91406. Additional information is available at ethics.lacity.org. FPPC #1356050 / \ n£n ÇÎÓ ££ÓÇ U 8\ Σä nÈ£ äÈ{Ó

www.wendygreuel.org

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Thursday, May 16, 2013

South Africa withdraws Man accused of Las Vegas shooting and crash arraigned award to Ex-Prez

BY MICHELLE RINDELS ASSOCIATED PRESS LAS VEGAS (AP) — A selfdescribed pimp accused of killing three people in a shooting and fiery crash on the Las Vegas Strip pleaded not guilty to 11 counts against him Monday, after initially telling the judge he wanted to plead guilty.

Ammar Asim Faruq Harris, 27, was arraigned in Clark County District Court on murder, attempted murder and shooting charges filed after the Feb. 21 crash.

After Harris indicated he wanted to plead guilty and dismiss his lawyer, the attorney said that would be a mistake and suggested Harris didn't understand the gravity of that decision. After a break, Harris returned to court and entered not guilty pleas.

Harris’ lawyer, Special Public Defender David Schieck, wouldn't elaborate on what might have changed Harris’ mind but said there were defenses for some of the allegations.

Harris is accused of shooting from a black Range Rover into a

Ammar Asim Faruq Harris Maserati sports car that then slammed into a taxi that burst into flames.

Taxi driver Michael Boldon, 62, of Las Vegas, and passenger Sandra Sutton-Wasmund, 48, of Maple Valley, Wash., were killed. The

Maserati driver, Kenneth Cherry Jr., 27, died at a hospital.

Another man in the Maserati suffered gunshot wounds and survived. Five other people in several other vehicles suffered less serious injuries.

Police said Harris and Cherry had exchanged angry words at a casino valet stand before speeding up the Strip. Investigators found no gun in the Maserati and no evidence that Cherry returned fire before crashing.

Harris was arrested a week later in Los Angeles.

A trial is set to begin Sept. 9.

Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty — something that Boldon's brother supports.

“My brother is dead, and I don’t think this man deserves to breathe,” Tehran Boldon said after Harris appeared.

Harris also pleaded not guilty Monday to felony robbery and sex assault charges in a 2010 rape case that had been dismissed. A July court date is set in that case, which could increase the severity of his sentence in the murder case.

BY BERT WILKINSON SPECIAL TO THE NNPA FROM THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS

This week, Guyana’s main opposition party blasted the South African government for withdrawing a post-Apartheid award to a former Guyana president, saying the Caribbean nation did more than any in the hemisphere to fight white racism, including allowing Cuban planes with heavily armed troops to refuel there in the dead of night on their way to southern Africa.

Former Vice President Robert Corbin, an executive member of the People’s National Congress (PNC), which governed the country for 28 years until losing in 1992, called last week’s decision by the government in Pretoria to “indefinitely postpone” awarding the Order of the Companion of O.R Tambo to late Guyana President Forbes Burnham an insult, saying it should have been given to him decades ago.

“We did not beg for it. The fact that he is only now being recognized for all that he did for the liberation struggle in Southern Africa is in itself an insult, [and it’s insulting to] say it is being withdrawn,” said Corbin, who is the immediate past leader of the PNC. Corbin said that Burnham’s Canada-based daughter and son-inlaw were preparing to travel to Pretoria later this month to receive the award after being invited by authorities when they were told about its postponement because of his alleged involvement with the death of Guyanese academic Walter Rodney in 1980.

Rodney, who had taught in Africa and had authored the respected “How Europe Underdeveloped Africa,” was killed in a bomb blast in Guyana. Government critics back then had blamed the PNC—charges it has persistently denied.

Mayoral covenant {Continued from page 6} times and the urgency of the situation demand that we do things differently, definitely better and with greater concern for Black community interests and the common good,” said president Lee. The announcement was made at the African American Cultural Center on Monday May 13.

BCCLA holds the position that support of any political candidate must be based on mutual respect, mutual benefit and the common good expressed in mutual commitments. Thus, political candidates who seek the support of the Black community must recognize and respect our interests and endorse our list of vital interests and agenda.

The Covenant currently consists

Robert Corbin A clearly angry attorney at law, Corbin argued that “no other leader in the Caribbean or hemisphere would have risked allowing Cuban planes with troops to fight Apartheid to land and refuel in Guyana during the Cold War era.

Such was his commitment to the liberation struggle, but he did it and we can release that fact to the world now.”

He said that Burnham had also given Guyana passports and local addresses to hundreds of liberation fighters to allow them to travel undetected internationally and pointed out how the country donated $50,000 a year to the struggle to liberate Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe and South Africa). Regardless, the award has been withdrawn.

“His contribution was outstanding and beyond match in the region and hemisphere, but frankly, it is an insult to even offer him the award after all these years,” said Corbin. “I would not have accepted it personally.” of eight (8) core areas of concern that directly impact the quality of life in the Black community: Economic Development, Education, Employment, Health, Housing, Legal Justice, Preservation of Cultural and Arts and Transportation.

This covenant will serve several essential functions that aims to not only achieve concrete policy and political goals of the black community and Mayoral candidate, but also to create a new way of political thinking and political practice.

First, the covenant will serve as a rating system for candidates and thus a basis for community support or non-support of a given candidate.

Also, it will serve as the central point of reference for community conversations and media initiatives BCCLA will launch to cultivate community commitment to this covenant process.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

9

Holder: Potential civil rights violations at IRS

BY STEPHEN OHLEMACHER ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI is investigating potential civil rights violations at the Internal Revenue Service after the agency acknowledged the agency had singled out conservative groups for extra scrutiny, Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday.

Other potential crimes include making false statements to authorities and violating the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from engaging in some partisan political activities, Holder said.

“I can assure you and the American people that we will take a dispassionate view of this,” Holder told the House Judiciary Committee at a hearing Wednesday. “This will not be about parties, this will not be about ideological persuasions.

Anybody who has broken the law will be held accountable.”

But, Holder said, it will take time to determine if there was criminal wrongdoing.

Holder announced a day earlier that the Justice department had opened a criminal investigation, joining three committees in Congress that are looking into the matter. As the investigation widened,

House Speaker John Boehner told reporters he had this question: “Who’s going to jail over this scandal?”

“There are laws in place to prevent this type of abuse. Someone made a conscious decision to harass and to hold up these requests for tax exempt status,” Boehner said. “I think we need to know who they are and whether they violated the law.

Clearly someone violated the law.”

Legal experts, however, said it could be difficult to prove that IRS officials or employees knowingly violated the civil rights of conservative groups. If there is a violation, the experts said, investigators can sometimes prove more easily that officials made false statements or obstructed justice in some other way.

“I think it’s doubtful that any of these knuckleheads who engaged in the conduct that gave rise to this controversy knowingly believed that they were violating the law,” said David H. Laufman, a former Justice Department lawyer. “But that remains to be seen. That’s what investigations are for.”

“It’s more likely than not that,” he said, “the conduct at issue here may constitute violations of IRS rules or standards or protocols or procedures but may fall short of

what is necessary to constitute a criminal offense.”

Even if IRS agents broke criminal laws in targeting conservative groups, investigators may have to prove they knowingly did it, a high standard, said Brian Galle, a former Justice Department lawyer who teaches law at Boston College.

“If the reason they were pursuing them was in order to punish them for their political activity, there might be a First Amendment concern there,” Galle said. “On the other hand, if the reason that they were looking for tea party groups is because there had been press reports about this new group, the tea party, who was aimed primarily at getting more conservative people elected to office, then they were just responding to the evidence. It really depends on what their motives were.”

Wednesday’s hearing was the first of several in Congress that will focus on the issue.

The House Oversight Committee announced Wednesday that it would hold a hearing May 22, featuring Lois Lerner, the head of the IRS division that oversees tax exempt organizations, and former IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman, whose five-year term ended in November.

AP PHOTO/CAROLYN KASTER

Attorney General Eric Holder testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 15, 2013, before the House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on the Justice Department.

The Senate Finance Committee announced a hearing for next Tuesday.

The House Ways and Means Committee will hold a hearing Friday, featuring the acting IRS commissioner, Steven Miller, and the Treasury inspector general for tax administration, J. Russell George.

At Wednesday’s hearing, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said Lerner misled him and his staff when they asked her about complaints from conservative groups that they were being harassed by the IRS. “I know for a fact, Lois Lerner lied to me, she lied to our personal staff, she lied to committee staff, she {See HOLDER/IRS, Pg. 18}

IN THE PAST 150 YEARS

THE CALIFORNIA TEACHERS ASSOCIATION

ESTABLISHED FREE PUBLIC SCHOOL AND SECURED FUNDING TO TEACH NONWHITE STUDENTS (1866) PASSED THE FIRST LAW TO REDUCE CLASS SIZES (1895) ESTABLISHED COMMUNITY COLLEGES (1911)

1863 – 2013 Advoc cating for equal educa tio on fo or all students

150 YEARS ADVOCATING FOR STUDENTS, EDUCATORS & OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS

OUR SCHOOLS MAY HAVE CHANGED,

BUT OUR COMMITMENT TO

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cta.org

Paid for by California Teachers Association

10

Thursday, May 16, 2013

feature

L.A. Watts Times WEEKENDER

Wendy Greuel poised to be first woman mayor

Blacks to decide fate of Greuel, Curren Price and Dennis Zine

By Kenneth D. Miller | Assistant Managing Editor

egardless of whether the majority of Los Angeles 3.8 million residents turn out in numbers big or small, experts have forecasted that Blacks will be the determining vote in the election of the next mayor of Los Angeles.

Although African Americans make up just 9.3 percent of the population, it is their vote that is the most coveted among candidates Wendy Greuel and Eric Garcetti, and could swing the tide in favor of Curren Price for Ninth District City Council and Dennis Zine for Controller.

With City Councilwoman Jan Perry out of the mayor’s race, the 56 percent of the Black vote that she garnered in the primary is now up for grabs.

If voters turn out in low numbers as anticipated, then Blacks will become even more convincing in the outcome.

That element alone will make for a nail biting, gut twisting experience for the final candidates who enter into the final days in a virtual dead heat, but Greuel has maintained a substantial lead among polls in the Black community.

Several African American leaders including Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Supervisor Mark Ridley Thomas, sports icon Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson, Charles E. Blake, Church of God in Christ, Sweet Alice Harris, Founder, Parents of Watts, Bishop Noel Jones, City of Refuge, John W. Mack, Former President Los Angeles Urban League ,Rev. Dr. Cecil "Chip" Murray, First African Methodist Episcopal Church (FAME), Los South Los Angeles Bishop Kenneth C. Ulmer, Faithful Central Bible Church, the Sentinel newspaper, an abundance of other community leaders, civil

rights organizations, women groups and unions.

For Blacks this election undoubtedly be the most significant elections since the 2008 when Barrack Obama became the first African American to win the White House.

We only need to look back as far as 2005 when incumbent Mayor Jim Hahn lost Black voters clout by dismissing then LAPD Chief Bernard Parks who is Black, Hahn never recovered as Antonio Villaraigosa defeated him and was subsequently reelected again.

The power of the Black vote will again play a key role in determining who runs the city and in other races such as the Ninth District City Council and the City Controller race.

WENDY GREUEL Greuel can become the first woman mayor in the history of Los Angeles. She has earned the powerful endorsements of former President Bill Clinton respected Congresswoman Maxine Waters and basketball icon Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson.

Office of Mayor Tom Bradley Upon graduation, Greuel worked in Mayor Bradley’s office for ten years, serving as Bradley's liaison to the City Council, City Departments and the Community on public policy issues ranging from child care to homelessness to senior care and health issues.

Bradley Family Supports Wendy Greuel for Mayor “When I see Wendy, I see a strong person,” said Lorraine Bradley, retired school teacher and daughter of the late Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley.

Lorraine Bradley recently announced her endorsement of Controller Wendy Greuel as the city’s next mayor, pointing to her “great leadership qualities” as one of the reasons.

“She learned from the best how to be a leader and what that entails,” she said.

As a young woman, Greuel had been a beneficiary to Tom Bradley’s brand of humanitarianism and basically grew up, said Lorraine, in her dad’s office.

She served on Los Angeles’ City Council from 2003 to 2009, taking the job of controller in July that same year.

Maxine Waters Adds Woman Power for Greuel Days from the most significant election for Los Angeles since the past two presidential elections, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-43) is supporting Greuel in the race for the next mayor of Los Angeles.

Waters stood side by side with Greuel at City Hall, both wearing matching bright red jackets as the 12-term congresswoman made her endorsement of Greuel official.

“Wendy Greuel is a woman of honesty and integrity, someone with the leadership, experience and toughness to get Los Angeles back on track,” Waters said. “I have fought my whole career to empower Angelinos, and that’s exactly what Wendy will do as mayor. She’ll fight to grow our middle class and bring good jobs and opportunity to every part of the city, with special attention to the areas with the greatest needs. And she could make history by becoming Los Angeles’ first woman mayor. I’m proud to be a co-chair on her campaign, and I am excited to join Wendy’s efforts to reach out to voters across the city.”

CURREN PRICE After six years in the Legislature, Senator Price has earned a reputation as a thoughtful, principled, and effective leader.

Wendy Greuel is a woman of honesty and integrity, someone with the leadership, experience and toughness to get Los Angeles back on track. ~Congresswoman Maxine Waters

RIGHT: (from left) John Mack, Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, Magic Johnson, mayoral candidate Wendy Greuel, Congresswoman Diane Watson and L.A. Sentinel publisher Danny J. Bakewell, Sr. RIGHT (mid): Wendy Greuel with Congresswoman Maxine Waters (right) FAR RIGHT: Wendy Greuel with Lorraine Bradley (right), daughter of former mayor Tom Bradley

www.lawattstimes.com

Thursday, May 16, 2013

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RIGHT: Magic Johnson (right) lends his support for Curren Price (left) in the upcoming election for City Council.

FAR RIGHT: Jan Perry’s (right) endorsement gives added momentum to Curren Price (left) for City Council.

He pledges to bring that reputation to the City of Los Angeles as a candidate for City Council representing the 9th District. He is a strong advocate for investing in our public schools, empowering parents and challenging all students to meet higher academic standards. He seeks to give all Californians, regardless of income or socioeconomic status, the chance to go to college or develop the skills needed to succeed in today’s highly competitive workplace.

As a leading champion for working families, Senator Price has fought to protect the rights of California workers. He has led efforts to support homecare workers, hotel workers, security guards, probation officers and other workers vital to California’s economy, in order to organize for better wages and benefits.

Senator Price has worked to expand the quality and affordability of health care for all Californians and has authored legislation that would allow parents to add dependent children up to age 26 to their employer-based health plans. He has also authored legislation that was signed into law requiring hospitals to provide public notification prior to closing its doors or eliminating vital health services.

A state leader who works across party lines to find common ground, Senator Price speaks his conscience, and gets things done for his constituents. His passion to serve his community led him to work towards expanding nities, and improving job training opportunities, g in particularly for our youth, and investing our families and their futures.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Senator Price attended

Morningside High School in Inglewood and earned a scholarship to Stanford University where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science. He studied law at Santa Clara University and graduated in 1976 with a Juris Doctor degree.

Senator Price resides in the 9th District with wife Delbra.

DENNIS ZINE A registered independent, Zine was reelected in 2009 with over 70% of the vote and was selected to serve as the Assistant President Pro Tempore of the Council. During the past 11 years of service on the Los Angeles City Council, he has also served as an LAPD reserve officer in the Fugitive Warrant Detail where he continues to assist in the apprehension of felony suspects.

Zine currently serves as Chairman of the Los Angeles City Council’s Audits & Governmental Efficiency Committee where he is committed to eliminating fraud, waste and abuse in City government.

His public service career began over 43 years ago with the Los Angeles Police Department. Within the LAPD, he rose to the rank of Sergeant aand worked a variety of assignments incl including Patrol, M Motorcycle Detail, Detectives, Intelligence,

Administrative, and Vice. He was also elected three times to the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles Police Protective League.

Committee of the US Army Community Advisory Board and the Southern California Association of Governments.

Since taking office, Councilman Zine has contributed over $300,000 to non-profit and Los Angeles City based organizations. In 2011 and 2012 Councilman Dennis Zine was selected as the readers’ choice “Best Elected Official.”

Charisse Bremond-Weaver, president and CEO of the Brotherhood Crusade, and the Rev. Reginald Pope of the Bethel Missionary Baptist Church are the latest major African-American leaders to endorse Dennis Zine’s election for City Controller.

“Dennis Zine has been a great friend of this community and I am extremely proud to endorse his election,” said Ms. Bremond-Weaver, who has been a leading advocate for community empowerment, job training and youth development programs in South L.A. for a quarter century.

“Dennis Zine is my choice for City Controller,” said The Rev. Pope. “We can trust Dennis to make sure our community gets its fair share of services.” Pope is the iconic pastor of the Bethel Missionary congregation for 37 years.

The church opened in Watts in 1965, and it has been a pillar of that community ever since.

The pair joins a long and distinguished list of African-American leaders who endorse Zine, now a city councilman.

See our ELECTION SLATE Page 15

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Thursday, May 16, 2013

Dr. Dre, Iovine donate $70M for new USC center

AP PHOTO/DAMIAN DOVARGANES

Jimmy Iovine, the co-founder of Interscope Records, left, stands with partner hip-hop mogul Dr. Dre, as they announce a $70 million dollar donation to create the new “Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy for Arts and Technology and Business Innovation,” Wednesday, May 15, 2013, at the University of Southern California, during a news conference at in Santa Monica, Calif.

BY SANDY COHEN ASSOCIATED PRESS LOS ANGELES (AP) — The new Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy at the University of Southern California will offer a curriculum aimed to help young innovators create the next iPod or

Facebook.

The hip-hop mogul best known as Dr. Dre and the co-founder of Interscope Records appeared at a news conference Wednesday alongside USC President C. L. Max Nikias to announce the new program funded by a $70 million donation by the two music superstars.

The university president characterized the donation as the largest gift from the entertainment industry to American higher education.

The Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy for Arts, Technology and the Business of Innovation will provide a special four-year program for undergraduates whose interests span fields from marketing to computer science to visual design and other arts. It will include one-on-one faculty mentoring with professors from programs around the university and interaction with entertainment industry luminaries.

The academy “will be a new standard in higher education,” said its dean and executive director Erica Muhl.

“Somebody is going to design the next iPod, the next Facebook, the next breakthrough in how we live,” she said. “We want that to happen at the Iovine-Young Academy.”

It will accept its first class of 25 students in the fall of 2014. Full scholarships will be offered.

Iovine and Young have been friends, collaborators and business partners for 20 years. Young is best known as a producer, rapper and co-

Compton’s Kendrick Lamar launches BET Awards weekend

BY KENNETH MILLER ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR Black Entertainment Television (BET) rolled out its heavy hitters for the launching of BET Awards|13 and BET Experience weekend at L.A. Live from June 28-30, at an all star presser on Tuesday May 14 at L.A.’s Icon Ultra Lounge in downtown Los Angeles.

Hosted by the BET President of Music Programming and Specials Stephen G. Hill, a galaxy

VALERIE GOODLOE PHOTO

I’M KENDRICK LAMAR: Compton hip-hop sensation Kendrick Lamar garnered eight BET Awards nominations and is shown here on the red carpet at L.A.’s Icon Ultra Lounge on May 14 in downtown Los Angeles.

{See $70M DONATION, Pg. 13}

VALERIE GOODLOE PHOTO

ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN: BET: Awards|13 host Chris Tucker is shown here at the all star presser held this week downtown to announce the nominations. Tucker playing to the themes of ‘Anything Can Happen’ quipped that he might not even show up.

of entertainment media reps showed up in force to catch the rising hip hop star Lamar, super-star Chris Brown and actor/comedian and award show host Christ Tucker, and singer and television personality Tamar Braxton.

Hip–hop slugger Drake led all artist with 12 nominations, including Best Male Hip Hop Artist and Video of the Year, but Compton sensation Lamar was right behind with eight nominations.

Brown who has won more BET Awards than any other performer made the announcement of the {See BET AWARDS, Pg. 19}

VALERIE GOODLOE PHOTO

OWNING MORTHERHOOD: Tamar Braxton, sister of more famous Toni, was among the host launching the BET Awards|13 and BET Experience this week. Tamar is obviously pregnant carrying the child of husband Vince Herbert.

VALERIE GOODLOE PHOTO

CHARLIE: BET Awards|13 Life Time Achievement recipient Charlie Wilson.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

13

Photo Of The Week

ABC-TV’s Robin Roberts ranked most trusted TV host in poll

BY ZENITHA PRINCE SPECIAL TO THE NNPA FROM THE AFRO-AMERICAN NEWSPAPER “Good Morning America” host Robin Roberts has been named the most trusted woman in television, according to a new Reader’s Digest survey released this week.

Reader’s Digest teamed up with The Wagner Group, a research firm, and polled more than 1,000 Americans to discover which 200 public figures inspire the most confidence. Roberts came in at No. 12 on the list, making her the most trusted television host on the list.

The publication defined a trustworthy person as “somebody possessing integrity and character, exceptional talent and a drive for personal excellence, a strong internal moral compass, a consistent message, honesty, and leadership.” And 56 percent of Americans believed that Roberts exemplified those qualities.

“I wish my mom and dad were here to see this,” Roberts said in an interview with Liz Vaccariello, editor-in-chief of Reader’s Digest. “It would mean so much to them because all they wanted was for us to

Robin Roberts grow up to be good people.

“They didn’t care that sister is a social worker and brother is a teacher and that two of us are on TV,” she added. “All they wanted was for us to be trustworthy citizens. And there’s a responsibility that goes with that, and it’s not something I take lightly.”

Roberts started gaining national attention as an on-air personality on ESPN’s “SportsCenter” in 1990, winning over fans and also critics with her signature catch phrase, “Go on with your bad self!”, and captur-

ing three Emmy Awards.

In May 2005, the journalist joined Diane Sawyer as co-anchor of ABC’s “Good Moring America.”

Later that year, her professional and personal worlds collided when Hurricane Katrina tore through the Mississippi Gulf Coast, her home, and Roberts traveled to the devastated area and did a series of emotional reports. In 2009 she teamed up with George Stephanopoulos, and the pair catapulted GMA to the No. 1 morning show in April 2012 for the first time in almost two decades.

But it is, perhaps, the resilience, strength and grace Roberts displayed during her public battle with cancer that has endeared so many Americans to the television host.

On the same day in April 2012 when Roberts received the news of her professional accomplishment as part of GMA’s number one ranking, she learned that although she had prevailed against her breast cancer, after being diagnosed in June 2007, the treatment had caused another serious medical problem, myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS).

“I’ve always been a fighter, and with all of your prayers and support, {See ROBIN ROBERTS, Pg. 19}

PINPOINTING HIS STAR: Star comedian and talk show host Steve Harvey points to his newly minted star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Hollywood recently. Harvey was joined by a bevy of star friends and family.

$70M donation {Continued from page 12} owner of Death Row records. He later started his own record label, Aftermath Entertainment. Iovine is the co-founder of Interscope Records, chairman of Interscope Geffen A&M and a mentor on “American Idol.” Together, the two men started Beats Electronics LLC, the parent company of the Beats by Dr. Dre line of popular high-end headphones and other music devices.

HTC Corp. bought a majority share in Beats in 2010, but later sold half of the shares back to the founders. Iovine and Young are now majority owners.

“We’ve been given a lot, and we thought this was a great way to give back by doing this academy,” Young said. “I guess I’m an official Trojan now.”

Iovine, whose daughter Jessica recently graduated from USC, said that among today’s high-school graduates is “a new kid with different skills” that reflect the high-tech

and digitally connected world they’ve grown up in.

“This is about treating what a kid is today,” he said. “This place is a dream factory. This place is where you don’t have to get stuck in calculus to succeed at this school. It has other ways through, other paths.”

Young said he would have loved to attend a program like the one he's establishing at USC rather than developing his business and creative skills on the job. Neither he nor Iovine are college graduates.

“This is an incredible thing for all the youngsters who are trying to do some of the things I’ve done in my career,” Young said.

The two men also offered advice to USC students and graduates, as well as those who’d like to attend their namesake academy.

“You don’t have to be smarter than the next guy; you’ve got to work harder than the next guy,” Iovine said.

Added Young: “Just believe and bet on yourself at all times.

And stay determined.”

UNIVERSAL PICTURES PRESENTS IN ASSOCIATION WITH RELATIVITY MEDIA AN ORIGINALFILM/ONE RACE FILMS PRODUCTION A JUSTIN LIN FILM VIN DIESEL PAUL WALKER DWAYNE JOHNSON “FAST&FURIOUS 6” MICHELLE RODRIGUEZ JORDANA BREWSTER

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS

TYRESE GIBSON CHRIS‘ LUDACRIS’BRIDGES SUNG KANG PRODUCED LUKE EVANS GINA CARANO JOHN ORTIZ MUSICBYLUCASVIDAL BASED ON CHARACTERS JUSTIN LIN AMANDA LEWIS SAMANTHA VINCENT CHRIS MORGAN CREATED BY GARY SCOTTTHOMPSON BY NEALH.MORITZ p.g.a. VIN DIESEL CLAYTONTOWNSEND p.g.a.

WRITTEN DIRECTED

BY CHRIS MORGAN AUNIVERSALPICTURE

BY JUSTIN LIN SOUNDTRACK ON DEF JAM RECORDINGS

© 2013 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS

STARTS ST TA ART TS FRIDAY FRID DAY, MAY A 24

CHECK LOCAL LISTINGS LIS STINGS FOR THEATERS AND SHOWTIMES S SHOW WT TIMES THEATERS

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Thursday, May 16, 2013

e v e n t CALENDAR L.A. Watts Times Calendar This Week 5/17 “HOW TO SPOT A LOSER”: When Great Beginnings for Black Babies hosts its bimonthly Sister to Sister session tackling the topic, “How To Spot A Loser,” the agency is bringing in someone who knows. A professional psychologist, Donald E. Grant Jr., PsyD, holds a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology and has spent many years in the County of Los Angeles’ Department of Mental Health. Dr. Grant will cover the topic based upon his years of experiDR. DONALD ence and observations.

“Many women don’t see GRANT the warning signs, but they are usually there,” Dr. Grant explained.

“Sometimes women don’t see the signs because they don’t want to, but there usually are repercussions.” WHEN: The free session will be held Friday, May 17, at 10 a.m.

WHERE: The L.A. Care Family Resource Center, 3111 W. Century Blvd., Inglewood.

Held on the first and third Fridays of each month, Sister to Sister sessions actively

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5/2013

Compiled by Brandon I. Brooks, Managing Editor

engage group discussion. To participate or to obtain additional information contact Cecie Trujillo at (310) 677-7995.

5/18 MENTORING PROGRAM FOR AFRICANAMERICAN YOUTH: The Concerned Black Men of Los Angeles, a non-profit mentoring organization, offers a powerful series of youth mentoring workshops through its signature Welcome-to-Manhood Program, promoting education, career and life skills guidance, and instructions in the importance of self-mastery and personal achievement.

Workshops and youth activities are free.

Workshops are designed for youth 11 to 19 years of age. The next workshop is titled “College isn’t for Everyone.” WHEN: Saturday, May 18, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

WHERE: The Angeles Mesa Branch Library 2700 W 52nd St, Los Angeles, CA 90043, at the corner of 52nd Street and 5th Avenue.

Please call (213) 359-3378 to preregister for yourself and friends.

QUILT EXHIBIT PRESENTED BY AFRICAN AMERICAN QUILTERS OF LOS ANGELES: The mission of the AAQLA is to increase personal and public awareness and knowledge to support the expression of

AfricanAmerican quilting and to bring awareness of the historical value of AfricanAmerican quilts. The Black Resource Center and AC Bilbrew Library are the proud sponsors of this event.

WHEN: Saturday, May 18, from 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. For ADA accommodation, such as a sign language interpreter or materials in an alternate format, call (562) 940-8462 (voice) or (562) 940-8477 (TTY), M-F, 8-5, at least six days prior to event. WHERE: AC Bilbrew Library 150 E. El Segundo Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90061. For more information call (310) 538-3350 colapublib.org.

5/18 – 5/19 FREE COMMUNITY HEALTH & WELLNESS FAIR: As part of an ongoing effort to support healthy lifestyles in the local community, Baldwin Hills Crenshaw is hosting its first annual “Bfit Wellness Fair.” WHEN: Saturday, May 18 and Sunday, May 19 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. WHERE: 3650 West Martin

Luther King Jr. Blvd., Los Angeles, California 90008. The weekend of events kicks off with a 5K walk on Saturday morning, followed by an official opening ceremony in Center Court featuring a demonstration by the Palpitating Panthers, presented by the American Heart Association’s Jump Rope for Heart Program. A health care reform town hall meeting will serve as a centerpiece of the wellness fair, with local and statewide experts presenting the latest information on the Affordable Health Care Act and answering questions from community members about how the legislation affects their own lives. A variety of fitness and safety classes will be offered throughout the two-day event, including yoga, self-defense classes and CPR training. Fresh and healthy food will be the fare for the weekend, with a Farmers’ Market outside of Sears on Saturday and free cooking demonstrations by the Network for a Healthy California. Participants will also have access to bilingual nutritionists and free healthcare services, including blood pressure screenings and mammograms on the outdoor promenade. All events are free and open to the public and parking will be available on the mall property. For more information contact (310) 968-0760. {See CALENDAR, Pg. 15}

Thursday, May 16, 2013

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5/2013

e v e n t CALENDAR L.A. Watts Times Calendar 5/19 INGLEWOOD CULTURAL ARTS, INC. HUB EVENT: Inglewood Cultural Arts, Inc. (ICA), a nonprofit organization dedicated to expanding the arts in all disciplines in Inglewood and surrounding communities, is presenting its fourth hub. WHEN: Sunday, May 19, at 2:00 p.m. WHERE: Inglewood Center for Spiritual Living 525 N. Market St., Inglewood. The subject at that time will be a presentation by Teka-Lark regarding her grass roots organization to revitalize a 5 block section of Manchester Blvd. in Inglewood to make it a beautiful, more culturally viable, and pedestrian friendly area.

ICA started the quarterly hub series to inform the general public of the creative and dynamic activities that are taking place in the community. All hubs are free and open to the public. Everyone is encouraged to attend and also to become involved in directing the artistic course of development in Inglewood. See Inglewood Cultural Arts, Inc. at www.inglewoodculturalarts.org and on facebook and twitter.

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Compiled by Brandon I. Brooks, Managing Editor

Up & Coming 5/24 – 5/27 JEWEL’S CATCH ONE CELEBRATED FORTY YEARS IN FOUR-DAY EXTRAVAGANZA: Not many African American owned venues have lasted 40 years in Los JEWEL THAISAngeles. So, commemoWILLIAMS rating a business and its owner, Jewel Thais-Williams, over a four-day long series of celebrations to honor its 40th year of offering groundbreaking events and activities to the community seems fitting.

Under the theme, “Past, Present and Beyond,” Jewel and Catch One will be honored beginning with a free reception. WHEN: 6 p.m., Friday, May 24.

WHERE: Hilton LAX, 5711 W. Century Blvd. A 9 p.m.

Talent Night Reunion and All Star Diva’s Concert YOYO will follow. Festivities

continue at 9 p.m., Saturday, May 25th in the iconic Jewel’s Catch One, 4067 W. Pico Blvd., featuring famed rapper Yoyo (Yolanda Whittaker) and a 70s retro disco ball and costume of the decade competiJENIFER LEWIS tion. The Sunday, May 26th celebration begins with a 5 p.m. VIP Award Reception at the Hilton LAX. A 6 p.m. anniversary “main event” will offer a Concert Banquet featuring legendary actress Jenifer Lewis (Poetic Justice, The Brothers, The Temptations, Think Like a Man) with T.C. Carson, best known for his role as Living Singles’ Kyle Barker, serving as Master of Ceremonies. Dancing will follow. The Catch One 40th anniversary celebration concludes with a T.C. CARSON 4 p.m., Monday, May 27th

TO MAKE A CALENDAR SUBMISSION: Include event name, date(s), time, location, contact/RSVP information and admission price, if any. Use BRIEF paragraph format (no lists, line breaks, or all caps). All calendar submissions are space-permitting and may be edited for brevity. Send submissions, along with any images, to brandon@lasentinel.net with the subject heading “LAWT Community Events.” Please include text in the body of your email, not in an attachment.

Happy Hour and Closing Reception at Catch One. All are welcome. For additional details or to purchase tickets call 424.242.2824 also (424) 24-Catch or view the website at www.catchone.org.

5/27 65TH ANNUAL MEMORIAL DAY SERVICE: The City of Inglewood invites the public to attend the City’s 65th Annual Memorial Day Service where the city will honor fallen war heroes on Memorial Day. WHEN: Monday, May 27, at 11:00 a.m. WHERE: Inglewood City Hall, located at 1 Manchester Boulevard, on the South Mall courtyard in front of the Memorial Obelisk Monument. This year’s event is dedicated to recognizing past and present heroes while honoring men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice of giving their lives while serving the United States Armed Forces. This year’s ceremonies will include the playing of Taps, Presentation of Colors, remarks by special military guest and a memorial wreath laying service.

Local and community based organizations will also take part in the ceremonies. Information about this upcoming event can be found on the City’s website at www.cityofinglewood.org (search keyword: Memorial Day) and by contacting the Parks, Recreation and Library Services Department at (310) 412-8750.

16

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Trial date set for Kobe Bryant family Griner learns skyhook auction from Abdul-Jabbar

AP PHOTO/GOLDIN AUCTIONS

This image provided by Goldin Auctions on Friday, May 3, 2013, shows an advertisement for an auction of items from Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant. Goldin Auctions is suing for the right to sell the stuff after the NBA star’s lawyers wrote the firm to say it could not. Bryant contends that his mother, Pamela Bryant, doesn’t have the right to sell the collectibles including his high school letters, a 2000 NBA championship ring and hundreds of other items.

CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) — Kobe Bryant and an auction house that wants to sell memorabilia from his high school days and early pro career are heading for a trial next month, unless they can work out a deal before then.

U.S. District Judge Renee Bumb on Monday set June 17 as a trial date, but also set a court-guided mediation session for Friday in a

case that’s the manifestation of an ugly family dispute that all sides seem to want to resolve quickly.

“Maybe I should have had you bring your witnesses today and we would have tried the case,” Bumb said at a hearing. “You’re all so ready to go.”

The main reason she didn’t schedule the trial for an earlier date was that Bryant’s father, Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, said he could not get to a trial sooner because he’s coaching a Thai team in the Asian Basketball League playoffs.

The animosity became public earlier this month, shortly after Berlin, N.J.-based Goldin Auctions announced its plan to auction off Bryant's mementos, which date to his days at Lower Merion High School outside Philadelphia.

Goldin’s April 30 announcement promised a June sale of 100 items provided by Bryant’s mother, Pamela Bryant.

The collection includes high school uniforms, signed basketballs,

business card bulletin board

LAWT NEWS SERVICES

trophies and other items, to be auctioned off along with 900 other items. It gave Pamela Bryant a $450,000 advance, which she used to buy a home earlier this year in Las Vegas.

The same day the firm announced the auction, the NBA star’s lawyers sent Goldin a letter asking it not to hold the sale, arguing that the collection belonged to Kobe Bryant, not to his mother.

Since then, the auction house filed a lawsuit in New Jersey seeking the right to sell the materials.

Kobe Bryant has sued in California, saying that some of the items — a surfboard from the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards and a trophy — were last seen in his home there.

Several family members have submitted statements taking sides.

Joe Bryant, a former NBA player himself, and Kobe Bryant’s grandmother are siding with Pamela Bryant, saying that Kobe told his mother she could have the items.

Bryant’s sister, Sharia Washington, gave lawyers a statement supporting her brother.

The court filings also dredge up old troubles, including Pamela and Joe Bryant saying Kobe made them move out of his California home after he met the woman who would become his wife. Washington brought up other times when she said her mother wanted to make money off Kobe Bryant's name.

Though a trial date was set, there are several legal questions.

Bryant’s lawyer, Christian Carbone, said he may continue to argue that the case should be dealt with in California, though Judge Bumb said there is no reason not to handle it in New Jersey.

Also, Bumb said the case could be decided by a jury if either side {See KOBE BRYANT, Pg. 17}

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AP PHOTO/ROSS D. FRANKLIN

Phoenix Mercury rookie center Brittney Griner, right, compares hand sizes with NBA Hall of Fame player and all-time leading scorer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at the Mercury basketball practice court on Wednesday, May 15, 2013, in Phoenix.

BY JOHN MARSHALL AP SPORTS WRITER PHOENIX (AP) — Looking up to someone for one of the few times in her basketball life, Brittney Griner leaned into the 7foot man in front of her, watching and listening as he flipped in one hook shot after another.

Once he was done, Griner took a turn, spinning and flipping up a few hooks of her own over outstretched arms that reached farther than her own lengthy ones.

After getting a crash course in professional basketball from some of the WNBA’s best players over the past week, Griner was given the lesson of a lifetime on Wednesday with a one-on-one session on the skyhook with Kareem AbdulJabbar.

One of the NBA’s greatest players teaching the nuances of perhaps the most unstoppable move in any sport? Yeah, that’s pretty cool.

“I went to legend school today and it was awesome,” Griner said at the Phoenix Mercury’s practice court inside the US Airways Center.

Griner had gone through a rapid learning curve during her first week of training camp, getting a firsthand look at how physical the WNBA really is while being taught things like the pick-and-roll and how to avoid being called for illegal defense.

The intensity ratcheted up when Diana Taurasi, Penny Taylor, DeWanna Bonner and Candice Dupree, some of the best players in the WNBA, joined the team after playing overseas.

Wednesday’s session was something different entirely.

Griner has earned her own level

of fame as the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft and one of the most heralded players in college basketball history.

But Abdul-Jabbar is on a different level: A Hall of Famer, six-time NBA champion, six-time MVP, one of the greatest athletes of a century and one of the most recognizable people in the world.

Even though she was too young to have seen him play in person — she was born a year after AbdulJabbar retired — Griner had seen footage of him and certainly knows who he is and his stature.

“I was star struck right there,” Griner said. “You know it when I don’t talk; I like to talk and you know I’m star struck when I’m just listening. I hit you with the yes sir, yes ma’am, I’m definitely star struck.”

The tutorial was put together by Mercury Vice President Ann Meyers Drysdale, who asked the NBA office to see if Abdul-Jabbar would be available to address the team and work with Griner.

He accepted and spent Wednesday’s practice watching from a perch above the court with his oversized feet — though a size smaller than Griner’s men’s 17 — poking through the rail.

Once practice ended, AbdulJabbar walked down to the floor and addressed the team before taking questions from the players and coaches.

After a group photo, he peeled off his sweat jacket, took off his blue UCLA hat and met Griner under one of the baskets.

Following a short discussion, Abdul-Jabbar had Griner play behind him in the post on the right block and gave her a few pointers {See GRINER, Pg. 17}

Thursday, May 16, 2013

17

‘Money’ on top of the money train again!

Floyd Mayther Jr.

LAWT NEWS SERVICES NEW YORK — Floyd Mayweather Jr. is the highest-earning athlete in American sports for the second straight year.

The boxer is projected to make $90 million in 2013, according to Sports Illustrated’s annual list released Wednesday. Miami Heat star LeBron James is a distant second at $56.5 million.

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees vaults into the rankings at No. 3 at $47.8 million thanks to a new contract signed before last season. Kobe Bryant of

Kobe Bryant {Continued from page 16} demanded it. So far, though, neither side has done so.

A California judge last week ordered that Goldin not sell any of the items yet. Goldin’s lawyer,

Griner {Continued from page 16} about using leverage against the defender. He then started flicking up skyhooks, right-handed and left, then gave her a turn, providing running commentary the entire time.

They switched to the left block for a few more skyhooks and chatted some more.

Griner didn’t look particularly comfortable with the shot at first, but seemed to be getting it down by the end of the 20-minute session, particularly after Abdul-Jabbar adjusted the way she was holding the ball.

“She did start to get it, how I used it,” he said. “Not everybody uses the same tool in the same way, so you’ve got to make adjustments to that. But I think with her potential and willingness to learn, she’ll do well.”

Griner seems intent on turning the lesson into something more.

Already tough to stop inside because of her size and athletic abil-

the Los Angeles Lakers is fourth at just under $47 million.

Tiger Woods is fifth with $40.8 million, his lowest spot since SI started the list in 2004. He was No. 1 through 2011.

Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose checked in at No. 7, although he hasn’t played a game since tearing his left ACL on April 28, 2012.

The top 50 include 25 baseball players, 13 basketball players and eight football players, with no female athletes for the fifth consecutive year.

The estimates combine salary, winnings and endorsements.

Jeffrey Cohen, said in court Tuesday that the auction house would voluntarily extend that ban on sales until after the matter is resolved.

Two items — 2000 NBA championship rings made for Pamela and Joe Bryant — are exempt from that order.

ity, the 6-foot-8 center would like to add the skyhook to her arsenal — eventually.

“You’ll see some hooks, but to do a true skyhook, that’s going to take a while to get it down perfect,” she said. “But you’ll definitely see once I get a feel. I definitely want to get that in there.”

If she does, Griner could become one of the most unstoppable players in the WNBA. Abdul-Jabbar certainly did well with the skyhook, ending his career as the NBA’s all-time leading scorer and a shot that has not been close to being matched for productivity and indefensibility.

Perfect what she learned from Abdul-Jabbar and Griner has the potential to be a game-changer the way he was.

“She’s a very talented athlete,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “She’s not just tall, she has some skills. She runs the court very well, she’s active. I think she’s going to have a great career.”

She certainly had a good teacher, at least for one afternoon.

NBA owners reject Sacramento Kings move to Seattle

BY SCHUYLER DIXON ASSOCIATED PRESS DALLAS — NBA owners voted Wednesday to reject the Sacramento Kings’ proposed move to Seattle, the latest in a long line of cities that have tried to land the franchise.

The vote followed a recommendation made last month by the NBA's relocation committee and may have finally brought an end to an emotional saga that has dragged on for nearly three years.

A group led by investor Chris Hansen has a deal to buy the team.

Hansen hoped to move the franchise to Seattle and rename it the SuperSonics. The original Sonics were moved to Oklahoma City in 2008 and were renamed the Thunder.

Commissioner David Stern said the league will spend the next 24 to 48 hours talking to the Maloofs, the team’s owners, about working out a deal with a competing ownership group in Sacramento.

The Maloofs reached an agreement in January to sell a 65 percent controlling interest in the team to Hansen's group at a total franchise valuation of $525 million, topping the NBA-record $450 million for Joe Lacob and Peter Guber to buy the Warriors in 2010. Then Hansen increased his offer to $550 million, which implies buying the 65 percent

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson stake for about $357 million.

Following the relocation committee's unanimous recommendation on April 29 to deny the move to Seattle, Hansen and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer dug deeper into their pockets in a final attempt to sway the NBA Board of Governors. They raised the valuation of the Kings to $625 million, or $406 million for the Maloofs' interest in the franchise, and offered a $115 million relocation fee, nearly four times what Clay Bennett paid to move the Sonics.

Hansen’s group also guaranteed owners that the franchise would pay into the league’s revenue-sharing

system in Seattle and not collect money as it has in Sacramento.

They were aggressive and bold public statements that had been lacking from the Seattle group through much of the process while Sacramento openly made its case in the public eye.

As a backup, the Seattle group negotiated a plan to buy a minority stake in the Kings with the Maloofs retaining majority ownership and keeping the team in Sacramento.

It's the second time since 2011 that the Maloof brothers have made plans that would have ended in relocation for the Kings. The first target was Anaheim, Calif., but Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, a former All-Star guard, convinced the NBA to give the city another chance to finance a new arena.

Johnson delivered on a promise for a plan for a new downtown arena with help from Stern, but the Maloofs backed out, saying it didn't make financial sense.

The Maloofs had another surprise when they announced a deal with Hansen’s group, which includes Ballmer and members of the Nordstrom department store family.

Johnson fought back again, this time lining up an ownership group led by TIBCO software chairman Vivek Ranadive and getting the {See SACRAMENTO KINGS, Pg. 19}

18

Thursday, May 16, 2013

No second class families

BY BENJAMIN TODD JEALOUS African Americans have spent much of our history fighting for equal treatment. Just two generations ago, our parents and our grandparents were banned from eating at certain restaurants, attending certain schools, and working in certain professions.

So it is not difficult to empathize with the struggle of immigrants in our country. Like our ancestors who migrated from the former slave states of the Deep South, millions of undocumented immigrants move to the United States each year to find work and a decent education for their children. But when they arrive, they are confronted with blatant discrimination and racial profiling - with hardly any legal recourse and little public outrage.

As people of color, we have a responsibility to stand up for social justice whenever it is violated. That is why the NAACP has joined other civil rights and human rights organizations, including the Rights Working Group and the Leadership Conference of Civil and Human Rights, to support comprehensive immigration reform.

Across the country, an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants live in a permanent second-class status. Many immigrants come to the U.S. to find a better life, but find themselves living in the shadows, in constant fear of arrest and deportation. This segregation has a cost.

Undocumented workers are exploited on a regular basis. Many business owners pay low wages and provide dangerous working conditions for their undocumented workers, with little fear of retaliation. They

Abortion doc {Continued from page 5} provided key evidence in the murder charge over “Baby A.” Workers testified that the West Philadelphia clinic deteriorated over the decade they worked there, as Gosnell cut costs by reusing disposable medical equipment that spread venereal disease, and relied on unlicensed doctors and untrained staff to perform skilled medical care. The jury found that contributed to the overdose death of a 41-year-old patient who was sedated repeatedly by medical assistants.

“This is Philadelphia in the year 2013. This isn’t some third-world country,” Assistant District Attorney Joanne Pescatore said in opening statements in March.

But defense lawyer Jack McMahon countered: “Every time a doctor loses a patient, it isn’t murder.”

Meanwhile, lines of unsavory patients were lining up to get prescriptions from Gosnell for OxyContin and other frequently abused painkillers. That side of Gosnell’s practice led to the 2010 clinic raid, when the FBI stumbled

Undocumented immigrants are also targeted by police. Racial profiling has been legalized in states like Alabama and Arizona under the guise of immigration enforcement.

Our national immigration laws, in conjunction with these state laws, encourage local police to stop people of color, whether they are undocumented or not.

Right now Congress is debating a comprehensive immigration bill that will offer a roadmap to citizenship and also deal directly with workplace discrimination and racial profiling. One proposed provision allows undocumented immigrants to have the full protection of American

labor laws. Another one explicitly prohibits racial profiling by Homeland Security agents - which would make it the first federal law to do so.

The bill in its draft form is not perfect. The racial profiling provision needs adjustments that are being debated at the time of this writing. The draft bill also contains provisions that would eliminate the diversity visa program - which helps many African and Caribbean immigrants come to America and dramatically expand the guest worker program. The NAACP and our allies will continue to make our voice heard as Congress debates the bill.

In August 1963 a sea of diverse activists stormed the National Mall to demand social justice and an end to segregation. In April 2013 a similarly diverse wave of legal immigrants, undocumented immigrants, and activists of all backgrounds gathered at the United States Capitol to call an end to second-class citizenship. The March on Washington pressured Congress to pass the Civil Rights Acts. This year, we need to show Congress again that American of all stripes care about progressive reform.

As Dr. King said, injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. African Americans have spent much of our history fighting for fair treatment and equal opportunity. We must also offer support to our immigrant brothers and sisters.

If we want to escape the sins of our past, we must ensure there are no second class families today.

Ben Jealous is president/CEO of the NAACP.

on abortion practices that would come to be termed “a house of horrors” in a 2011 grand jury report.

McMahon blanched at that description, saying prosecutors and the press have “lynched” his client by exaggerating the facts.

“To call him a monster, maybe it’s convenient for the press, but that is not accurate,” McMahon said Wednesday. “He never intended to kill a live baby.”

Gosnell has been married three times, the third time to a cosmetician who grew up in foster care and came to work at the clinic. Pearl Gosnell has pleaded guilty to helping perform third-term abortions but is living at their home near the clinic, with the couple’s teenage daughter, Gosnell’s youngest child, while awaiting sentencing.

Gosnell’s adult children include an actor and college professor. No relatives or friends have come to court for him.

“That was intentional,” said McMahon, who said Gosnell wanted to spare his children the notoriety of the case. “He talked to them numerous times on the telephone and had their support all the way, but just (not) ... in the courtroom because of the obvious.”

The FBI found $250,000 cash stashed in the teenager’s bedroom at Gosnell's home, one of several properties he acquired during his 40-year career. He also owned rental properties and a beach house in Brigantine, N.J., the latter of which was sold to pay his legal bills.

“He always led me to believe he was a poor, struggling urban physician and surgeon. I thought he was hurting financially,” testified former clinic worker Stephen Massof, an unlicensed doctor who pleaded guilty to two counts of third-degree murder for cutting babies after they were born alive.

With his fate sealed, Gosnell plans to plead guilty to federal drug charges related to his high-volume pain medicine practice, McMahon said. And his client hopes people will someday understand his motives. McMahon has noted that his client didn't pluck women off the street and force them to have abortions.

“He knew that he wanted to air out certain things, and he had a shot at it and he got a good shot at it,” McMahon said. “Five of the verdicts were not guilty. That's a victory that is kind of hollow, but nonetheless that’s a victory in his mind.”

know that their employees have too much at stake to risk contacting the proper authorities.

Benjamin Todd Jealous

Holder/IRS {Continued from page 9} lied in correspondence,” Jordan said.

Lerner learned about the targeting on June 29, 2011, according to a report Tuesday by the inspector general.

The report said ineffective management at the IRS allowed agents to improperly target tea party and other conservative groups for more than 18 months.

The report said that while their applications for tax exempt status languished, tea party groups were asked a host of inappropriate questions, including: Who are your donors? What are the political affiliations of officers? What issues are important to the organization, and what are your positions on those issues? Will any officers in the group run for public office? Where do you work?

The IRS started targeting groups with “Tea Party,” “Patriots” or “9/12 Project” in their applications for tax exempt status in March 2010, the inspector general’s report said. By August 2010, it was part of the written criteria used to flag groups for additional scrutiny.

Colleen M. Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, said Wednesday that no union employees had been disciplined, as far as she knew. She noted that the IG's report said agents were not motivated by political bias.

Kelley told The Associated Press that low-level workers could not have specifically targeted con-

servative groups for long without the approval of supervisors.

However, she noted, there are many levels of supervisors at the IRS. “No processes or procedures or anything like that would ever be done just by front-line employees without any management involvement,” Kelley said. “That’s just not how it operates.”

Also Wednesday, the IRS released a list of 179 advocacy groups that had been approved for tax-exempt status as of May 9. The list includes both seemingly conservative and progressive groups, including the Nevada County Tea Party Patriots and Progress Texas. A total of 34 included the words “tea party” in their names.

“Progress Texas and the tea party strongly disagree on the role of government,” said a statement from Ed Espinoza, executive director of Progress Texas. “Yet, when we applied for tax-exempt status, Progress Texas received the same type of additional scrutiny that tea party groups are complaining about.”

The IRS also pushed back against one aspect of the inspector general’s report. The report said the chief counsel was briefed about conservative groups being targeted on Aug. 4, 2011.

The IRS, however, said in a statement that the meeting involved staff attorneys “several layers below” chief counsel William Wilkins.

“Wilkins did not learn about specific groups being singled out by name until earlier this year,” the IRS statement said.

Leimert Park station-stop {Continued from page 2} station and stop, but now I am proud to admit publicly and remove all doubt about my goals all along,” said Villaraigosa.

The Mayor’s public comments came on of heels of years of doubt and prodding from local, state and federal officials who fought to secure a Leimert Park Station.

The Leimert Park Station will be an economic boon for businesses in Baldwin Hills, Baldwin Vista, View Park and other African American communities.

The region consists of 11,782 residents and 79.6 percent of them are Black, making the region the heart and soul of African American culture and caretaker of its heritage.

Privately, Villaraigosa has been steadfastly committed to the project but as the final days of his two-term tenure melts away, he felt it was necessary to inform the public and quiet his critics on the subject.

Two years ago, despite overwhelming support for a station from a broad coalition of business owners, neighborhood groups, the church community and residents, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board voted to build one only if it could fit within the existing $1.7 billion-budget allocated for the project, leaving the station’s future in question.

The bids for the Crenshaw-toLAX line are in and have been reviewed and the Metro staff has

already made a recommendation to the MTA board on which bid to accept – a non-binding, but early “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” for the station.

The recommendation, which will be carefully watched by residents, transportation advocates and elected officials throughout the county, will precede a vote by the full Metro board May 23.

Any decision not to include a station in Leimert Park will be widely criticized by many, including every elected official representing the Crenshaw community – City Council members and members of the state legislature and of the U.S. Congress – who all joined in an unprecedented show of unity to call for the stop in Leimert Park Village.

It will also deeply disappoint hundreds of residents who packed the Metro Board hearing room calling for a stop in what is the heart of the African-American community and increasingly, an important residential and business center for Latinos.

Pre-construction work began last year for the Crenshaw Line light rail that will connect the Green Line to the Expo Line in 2018 (and maybe LAX at some point).

However, without a stop in historic Leimert Park, it may be a project not worth having, but the mayor whom Blacks elected to city hall twice has made it a final priority.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

19

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Malcolm Shabazz {Continued from page 2} with RUMEC leader Miguel Suarez, who was with Shabazz at the time of his death. Suarez had been deported to Mexico from the U.S. last month and Shabazz reportedly traveling to Mexico to support the labor rights activist.

Reporters from the Associated Press spoke to Suarez who said, Shabazz was beaten outside of a bar in downtown Mexico City, after the owner asked to two to pay a $1,200 bar tab for drinks, music, and dances with women inside the establishment.

The owners of the club hassled the two, demanding the cash, according to Suarezm and the two were separated—a man with a gun took Suarez into a room, Shabazz was left in the hall. Suarez reportedly managed to get away, and left the bar in a cab. When he came back, he told reporters, he found Shabazz outside of the bar.

“He was in shock. His face was messed up,” Suarez told the AP. “He was alive.”

Suarez later called the police and took Shabazz to the hospital, but Shabazz died soon after as a result of blunt-force trauma.

In a statement, the family of Shabazz expressed grief, but added that the slain 28-year-old can now rest “in peace in the arms of his grandparents and the safety of God.” The stated released through Terrie Williams said, “We are deeply saddened by the passing of our beloved El Hajj Malcolm El Shabazz. To all who knew him, he offered kindness, encouragement and hope for a better tomorrow.”

In February, as he traveled to Iran, it was widely reported that Shabazz had been arrested by the FBI. Though the Shabazz family later deemed the news report untruthful, it didn’t come as a surprise given the record of Malcolm X’s namesake.

Obayashi | Shimmick |Webcor, a Joint Venture, is Requesting Professional Services Proposals from CERTIFIED DBEs AND OTHER SMALL BUSINESS FIRMS for CONSTRUCTION MANAGER / GENERAL CONTRACTOR (CMGC) SIXTH STREET VIADUCT REPLACEMENT PROJECT CITY OF LOS ANGELES DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS BUREAU OF ENGINEERING BID DEADLINE: MAY 23, 2013 Opportunities include Professional Services, including but not limited to: Construction Management, Scheduling, Cost Estimating, M.E.P. Coordination Services, Project Controls, Safety, Quality Assurance/Quality Control, Engineering Services and Constructability Services A copy of the proposal is available for download at LA Business Assistance Virtual Network website (http://labavn.org). You can also request a copy by sending an email to julia@webcor.com.

We reserve the right to require all subcontractors/consultants to provide financial information and/or furnish 100% performance and payment bonds from a U.S. Treasury listed surety. Any premium costs to be included as a separate item. At our discretion, a bid bond and/or letter of bondability from a U.S. Treasury listed surety may be required. Obayashi |Shimmick | Webcor, a JV is an equal opportunity employer requesting proposals from all interested MBE/WBE/SBE/EBE/DBE/DVBE/OBE firms. Please note that certain trades may require Prequalification. Proposers are required to execute the joint venture’s standard agreement, including all standard provisions without modification. Willing to assist all MBE/WBE/OBE firms in obtaining bonds, lines of credit and/or insurance. If interested in participating in this project, contact Julia Gray at 213.239.2848.

Proposals with updated minority certification are due Thursday, May 23, 2013. Obayashi |Shimmick | Webcor, a JV will accept proposals faxed to 213.402.2244 with a hardcopy to follow by mail.

Obayashi |Shimmick | Webcor, a JV 550 South Hope Street, Suite 2100 Los Angeles, CA 90071 213-239-2800 | Fax 213-402-2244 Julia Gray | labids@webcor.com An Equal Opportunity Employer

Like his grandfather Malcolm X, whose own young life was littered with troubles, Malcolm Shabazz was no stranger to the legal system.

When Malcolm was young his mother Qubilah, the second of Malcolm X’s six daughters, was charged with planning to murder Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan with her boyfriend. She believed Farrakhan played a role in the assassination of her father, a charge the Nation of Islam leader has consistently denied.

Though her charges were dropped and she was sent to a rehabilitation center in Texas instead of prison, Malcolm was sent to live with his grandmother in Yonkers, N.Y. at age 10.

Two years later, after an attempt at living with his mother in San Antonio failed, young Malcolm set fire to the

apartment he and his grandmother shared. The fire that killed of Betty Shabazz, 61, the widow of Malcolm X. Her grandson was considered schizophrenic and paranoid. He said he heard voices telling him to set things on fire. He was sentenced to 18 months in a juvenile detention center.

The initial sentence led to Malcolm spending the next four years of his youth in and out of detention centers.

According to a 2003 New York Times profile, he joined a gang, sold drugs, and built a rapport among the street thugs of Manhattan. In 2002, he skipped bail after an arrest for an attempted robbery in Middletown, N.Y. and spent another three and a half years in the penal system, this time in Great Meadow Correctional Facility, a prison in Washington County New York, Malcolm was 18.

Malcolm told the Times of his plans for the future, as he studied Islam behind bars, again, like his grandfather before him. He is quoted as saying, “My name will bring attention. People know Malcolm Shabazz, whether you like me or not.”

He found inspiration in his grandfather’s life, as the two both got off to similarly rocky starts. “He didn’t know he was going to be Malcolm X. He didn’t know that,” Shabazz said in the 2003 New York Times interview.

“But with me, I know what I want to do. I know what I want to be.”

According to the New York Amsterdam News, Shabazz was in the process of writing two books and was attending Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. He is survived by two daughters, his mother, and several aunts.

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority will hold a public hearing on June 27, 2013 to receive community input on a proposed fare change. Approved changes will become effective July 1, 2013 or later.

The public hearing will be held on June 27, 2013 at 9:00 am in the MTA Board Room on the 3rd floor of the Gateway Plaza Building, One Gateway Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90012.

The upcoming public hearing is being held in conformance with federal public hearing requirements outlined in Section 5307 (d) 1 of Title 49 U.S.C., and public hearing guidelines adopted by Metro’s Board of Directors in 1993, as amended.

Listed below is the fare change proposal to be considered at the hearing.

Youth on the Move offers free Metro or EZ passes to foster youths participating in the LA County Youth Self-Sufficiency Program that helps them transition from foster care to independent living. The approximately 1,100 – 1,300 potential beneficiaries of the program are significantly more minority and lower income than comparable, fare paying Metro riders. Therefore, there is no disparate adverse impact on minorities, nor a disproportionate burden on low income Metro passengers attributable to this program. In general, the proposed fare change will help a vulnerable group of youth by giving them free access to transit so they can attend school or go to work or recreation. The public can attend this hearing and comment on proposals of interest to them.

Note this proposal may be approved in whole or in part at a date following the public hearings. Approved changes may also include other alternatives derived from public comment. Interested members of the public are encouraged to attend the upcoming hearing and provide testimony on any fare change proposal under consideration. All public comment received will be forwarded to the Board, and considered prior to taking action on the fare change proposal. Persons unable to attend the hearing may submit written testimony postmarked through mid-night, June 20, 2013, the close of the public record.

Comments sent via U.S Mail should be addressed to: Metro Customer Relations Attn: Youth on the Move Fare Changes One Gateway Plaza, 99-PL-4 Los Angeles, CA 90012-2932 Comments via e-mail should be addressed to: customerrelations@metro.net Attn: “Youth on the Move Fare Changes” Facsimiles should be addressed as above and sent to: 213-922-6988. Upon request, foreign language translation, sign language interpretation, materials in alternative formats and other accommodations are available to the public for MTA-sponsored meetings and events. All requests for reasonable accommodations must be made at least three working days (72 hours) in advance of the scheduled meeting date. Please telephone (213) 922-4600 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

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BET awards {Continued from page 12} nominations which also included eight for 2Chainz, A$AP Rocky with five; while Jay Z was among the other leaders with four nominations.

Drake is nominated three times for the top prize, video of the year.

His hit, “Started from the Bottom,” will compete with his collaborations with 2 Chainz (“No Lie”) and A$AP Rocky (“Problems”). The top award has 10 nominees, including Justin Timberlake’s “Suit & Tie,” Kanye West’s “Mercy,” “Adorn” by Miguel and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ “Thrift Shop.”

Charlie Wilson was announced as this year’s Cadillac Lifetime Achievement Award honoree. He was on hand for the press conference as was Chris Brown.

Brown was announced as the first confirmed performer. He told

those gathered that he “just wants to have fun” that night. “I always strive to give fans what they want. I always want to bring something new and original.” Brown also noted during the q and a portion that he has finished the video for the song “They Don’t Know” and that song features vocals from the late Aaliyah “that haven’t been heard before.”

R. Kelly will also perform at the awards show, to air live June 30 from the Nokia Theater L.A. Live.

This year’s BET Awards will be the culmination of the cable net’s first ever BET Experience, a three-day music and lifestyle fest done in partnership with AEG Live that will also feature ‘A Taste of Taste of Soul.’

Chris Tucker will bring his own special brand of levity as BET Awards host. Riffing on the BET theme “Anything can happen,” Tucker joked, “I don’t know what I’m going to do... I might not show up. So anything can happen.”

Check out the full list of nomi-

Sacramento Kings {Continued from page 17} Sacramento City Council to approve a non-binding financing plan for a $447 million arena with a $258 million public subsidy.

The potential Sacramento ownership group also includes 24 Hour Fitness founder Mark Mastrov, former Facebook senior executive Chris Kelly and the Jacobs family that owns communications giant Qualcomm.

Seattle has been without an NBA franchise since the SuperSonics moved. Led by star Kevin Durant, the Thunder have made the playoffs four straight seasons, reached the Western Conference finals in 2011 and lost to Miami in last year’s NBA finals.

The NBA’s relocation committee, coincidentally headed by Bennett, voted unanimously last month to reject the bid to move the Kings.

In a letter sent to the relocation and finance committees during its April 17 meeting, the Maloofs said they preferred to sell to the Seattle group and expressed discontent with Sacramento’s latest bid, saying it falls “significantly short.”

Stern has said the offers are in “the same ballpark,” and has reiterated his long-held stance that expansion is unlikely right now.

Hansen spent nearly two years working to get an arena plan approved by the city and county governments and spent more than $65 million buying land in Seattle’s SoDo neighborhood where the arena would be built. Hansen has a fiveyear memorandum of understanding with the city and county on the arena plan.

Robin Roberts {Continued from page 13} a winner,” Roberts told her viewers at the time, and her determination inspired many others to join the fight against MDS, a disease of the blood and bone marrow.

On the day she went public with the announcement, Be the Match Registry, the national marrow donor program, experienced an 1,800 percent spike in bone marrow donors.

In her interview with Reader’s

Digest, Roberts talked about this influence she has on the public—the inner light that shines out on the world.

“Every day before I leave my apartment—after I say my prayer of protection—I ask God, ‘Please let your light shine through me.,’” she said. “And I am lucky to have the resources to shine it—be it love, unity, or resilience—onto others.”

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Thursday, May 16, 2013

At Coca-Cola, we believe active lifestyles lead to happier lives. That’s why we are committed to creating awareness around choice and movement, to help people make the most informed decisions for themselves and their families. Coca-Cola commits to: 2 Provide transparent

1

beverage options in every market.

3 Help get people moving by

supporting physical activity programs in every country where we do business.

nutrition information, featuring calories on the front of all of our packages.

4 Market responsibly,

including no advertising to children under 12 anywhere in the world.

Find out more about our commitments at comingtogether.com