LAWT-6-04-2009

Vol. XXX, No. 1130

SERVING LOS ANGELES AND SURROUNDING AREAS

FIRST COLUMN

Race Riot Survivors Speak Out in ‘Before They Die’

BY DARLENE DONLOE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

It was horrific.

It was historic.

It was yet another disgraceful chapter in American history that has largely gone unnoticed: the Tulsa Race Riots.

In 1921, the Greenwood section of Tulsa, Okla., was one of the most prosperous black communities

in America. It was so successful that it became known as the “Black Wall Street.”

But on May, 31, 1921, the allblack district was reduced to rubble and, depending on what reports you believe, up to 300 people had loss their lives, 35 city blocks and more than 1,200 homes had been destroyed, and 10,000 See SURVIVORS, page 10

Photo Courtesy of REGGIE TURNER

WITNESSES TO HISTORY — Left to right: Gail Wright-Sirman; Catherine Young; Wes Young, 92; Olivia Hooker, 93; professor Charles Ogletree, a professor of law at Harvard, sit at West Angeles Church of God in Christ May 31. Wes Young and Hooker are in the film “Before They Die!” a documentary about the Tulsa Race Riots that records the experiences of several survivors. Wes Young was only 4 when the riots occurred in Tulsa, Okla., on May 31, 1921. In the riots, “gun dealers … were just giving them (guns) out to the whites so they could ‘go out and kill you a (N-word),’ ” Young said.

Economy Challenges Popular, Historic Community Events

BY CHICO C. NORWOOD STAFF WRITER

Two of the community’s most popular summer events are being postponed this year. According to officials for The African Marketplace & Cultural Faire and Jazz at Drew, the two events are some of the latest victims of a sluggish economy that has California and the nation struggling.

A drop-off in major sponsorships, limited resources, an escalation in fees and rising costs have stymied both events, causing officials to rethink how they will be presented in the future.

Founded by James Burks in 1985 as an incubator festival to promote local artists, drive the economic foundation in South Los Angeles, and to promote the arts and the African diaspora culture, the marketplace began on the patio of the William Grant Stills Community Arts Center in L.A. and grew into a three-week festival.

Traditionally held as the summer is winding down the last two weekends in August and the Labor Day weekend, the marketplace has grown to become one of the premiere summer events, drawing all

Attorneys: Smith Shot At Least 18 Times

BY SLAV KANDYBA CONTRIBUTING WRITER

A team of attorneys and a private investigator representing the family of Marcus Smith, the 31year-old Compton resident fatally shot by Inglewood police officers May 17, said they believe Smith was unarmed when he was shot at least 18 times.

At a press conference in San Pedro last week, members of the legal team said Washington, D.C.based forensic specialist Sylvi Compirini, who conducted an independent autopsy, concluded that Smith was killed by a shot to the back of the head. Smith’s funeral took place June 1.

Soon after four Inglewood Police officers arrived at a city residence on Osage Avenue to break up a brawl at a party, they fatally wounded Smith. According to police, Smith was armed with a semiautomatic handgun when the authorities shot him.

But witnesses, including Smith’s fiancée, Kalonna LaCount, said Smith did not draw a weapon when he was shot. In fact, LaCount said she and Smith, a father of three girls, were leaving the party when the shooting began.

“It turns out from what we uncovered was that Marcus Smith was shot in the back numerous times,” attorney Dennis P. Wilson

June 4, 2009

said. “It appears Mr. Smith didn’t have a weapon.”

But Inglewood police said there was a gun — and that the .40caliber High Point black handgun is in their possession, Inglewood Police Lt. Mike McBride told the L.A. Watts Times.

“We’ve been forthright and open from the beginning” about the gun, he said, noting that Inglewood Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks spoke to media about the gun’s existence within several hours of the shooting.

McBride also countered the legal team’s assertion that detectives have not been back to the See MARCUS SMITH, page 6

Harold Hambrick

ethnic groups and crowds of up to 20,000.

However, according to Debra Winters, managing director for African Marketplace Inc., in lieu of a three-weekend event, this year the organizers will host “mini-festivals” or “snippets” of the marketplace festival throughout the year leading up to and promoting the festival’s 25th anniversary in 2010.

“We’re doing this because of the hardships of the economy and the trickle-down effect it has had with our vendors, our equipment vendors, with establishing relationships with new sponsors,” Winters said. “Everybody is kind of not in the position to contribute the way they were in the past years and that is all across the board.”

The marketplace usually has a gala African Ball and organizers do want to schedule and confirm a date for that in August, she added.

Winters said that putting off this year’s festival does not mean that the organization can’t recover in a weak economy.

“This just means we have to think differently on how we are operating in our infrastructure of the corporation itself and that’s what we’re doing,” she said. “We’re restructuring our corporation so that we can sustain for the next 25 years, and in order to do that, it takes time.”

As for Jazz at Drew, the decision not to host the event this year was made due to the lack of any confirmed major sponsors as of April 1,

James Burks

Danny Bakewell Jr.

the deadline agreed to by the board of trustees and Jazz at Drew planning committee, said Dr. Keith C. Norris, executive vice president for Research and Health Affairs, and head of Charles Drew University’s Office of External Affairs.

“Given the economy, the university would be unable to fund the event without laying off more people,” said Norris, who was traveling and responded by e-mail to the L.A. Watts Times. “It is a tough balance between community pride, legacy and jobs, each of which are important. The decision by the university is based on what is needed to maintain the quality of education for our students, which is the primary responsibility of the university.”

Norris added that if additional resources became available, the university would move forward with “an abbreviated planning and marketing” of Jazz at Drew.

See ECONOMY, page 7

NEWS IN BRIEF THE SOUTHLAND First Black Fire Chief to Retire

Photo by SLAV KANDYBA

ON THE CASE — Attorney Dennis P. Wilson, second from left, Greg Yates, behind podium, and Anthony Luti, far right, are among the team of attorneys retained by the family of Marcus Smith, killed May 17 by four Inglewood Police Department officers. The attorneys announced the verbal preliminary findings of an independent autopsy and field investigation at the shooting scene during a press conference May 29 at the Doubletree Hotel in San Pedro. Smith, 31 of Compton, was fatally shot by officers who responded to a call about a fight at a party in an apartment complex on Osage Avenue. Witnesses and relatives maintain that Smith was unarmed while the department states that Smith pointed a gun at them.

(AP) — Douglas Barry, who became the City of Los Angeles’ first black fire chief as the department wrestled with claims of discrimination, hazing and sexism, announced May 28 that he will retire at the end of August.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa chose Barry as chief in 2007 after his predecessor, William Bamattre, was forced to retire amid allegations that he had not been able to change the culture of the fire department.

“Chief Barry led the depart-

ment with intelligence and integrity,” Villaraigosa said in a statement. Barry took over the 3,570-employee department as it dealt with lawsuits Douglas Barry claiming harassment or discrimination against women and minorities that cost the city expensive settlements.

The mayor also said Barry had inspired the city’s firefighters as they battled a series of wildfires and in handling last year’s collision of a Metrolink commuter train and a freight train that killed 25 people and injured more than 130.

See BRIEFS, page 6

Page 2

L.A. WATTS TIMES

June 4, 2009

OPINION EARL OFARI HUTCHINSON

Devaluing a Black Life: The Murder of Marquis LeBlanc Pomona is a quiet bedroom city near Los Angeles. Blacks make up less than 10 percent of the city’s population. Latinos make up more than 60 percent.

There are no blacks on the City Council and all the top police officials are white. Still, city officials generally pride themselves that the city is a relative haven of racial peace. Yet on the night of April 18, the city’s quiet and its illusion of racial harmony was rudely jolted.

Neighbors watched in horror as at least a dozen young men and women chased down on foot and then beat, kicked, stabbed and shot Marquis LeBlanc, an 18-year-old African American, to death. Another dozen or so persons watched the attack and did not help LeBlanc or call police. Eyewitnesses identified the assailants as Latinos, some with suspected gang affiliations.

Though the police station was nearby, police did not arrive at the murder scene for nearly a half hour after the call went out. Police did not immediately contact LeBlanc’s parents or identify him. They misidentified LeBlanc’s mother, Jessica Corde, on the coroner’s report.

Corde claims police did not make a single call to the family to update them on the investigation, and rebuffed her many inquiries about it.

Days after the killing, police claimed they found a gun that was LeBlanc’s. There were also hints that he was a gang member. Police officials have been tight-lipped about

the case and say that releasing information will compromise the investigation. The LeBlanc murder remains unsolved.

LeBlanc’s family minces no words. To them it is a case of a police department that cares little about the murder of a young black.

The family’s charge that the Pomona police are insensitive to the murder is hardly new. Countless groups have marched, picketed and screamed loudly that police do little to catch killers in serial murder cases, the murders of homeless persons, and of young black males.

The common thread is that the victims are poor, poorly educated, young, black, often male with criminal records, and with few known family members. In times past, crimes committed by blacks against other blacks were often ignored or lightly punished.

The implicit message was that black lives were expendable. Many studies still confirm that the punishment blacks receive when the victim is white is far more severe than if the victim is black. The clearance rate for murders in some poor, black neighborhoods is far less than for murders in middle-class neighborhoods.

Police officials vehemently deny that they are any less diligent when it comes to nabbing the killers of blacks than the killers of whites.

They blame the higher rate of unsolved murders of blacks on higher case loads, tight budgets, limited

personnel, and the refusal of witnesses to provide information. But it’s the unsolved murders of blacks that fuel the perception that police take the loss of black lives less seriously than that of whites.

The blanket indictment of police for laxity in black homicides is unfair and a slap at the officers who put in long, grueling hours trying to crack murder cases in poor minority neighborhoods.

There’s also the reality that more killings do occur in big-city poor neighborhoods than in the suburbs. In 2007, the Violence Policy Center reported that black murders had hit epidemic proportions in some big cities.

The Bureau of Justice, in a 2008 report on homicides, found that the black murder rate is much higher than that of whites or even Latinos.

It’s the leading cause of death among black males ages 16 to 34.

Black-on-black murders have fueled the nation’s murder stats for a number of years. And only in the rarest of instances has it attracted more than passing mention in the national press. In Chicago, community activists, frustrated over the authorities’ inability to stem the rash of murders of primary school-age children, have appealed to President Barack Obama to step in with an emergency program to help curtail the violence.

Despite the higher number of black murders than of whites, tight See HUTCHINSON, page 3

A White Gay’s Guide for Dealing With the Black Community: Chapter Nine

BY JASMYNE CANNICK

The Problem: Strong feelings of entitlement, refusal to work with others, racism, extreme issues with class, sudden temper tantrums.

The Prescription: Take as needed one chill pill with a large glass of reality.

The gay community needs to take a chill pill … seriously.

Protesting President Barack Obama outside of the Beverly Hilton Hotel during a fundraiser may make the evening news but does very little to persuade public opinion — which is the reason for the passage of Proposition 8 in the first place.

At a time when so many Californians are unemployed and living at or below the poverty line, now would be a good time for gays to show that the fight for marriage is about making life better for all of us, rather than some of us.

California voters are waist deep in the middle of an economic nightmare, and for many blacks, well let’s just say that they’re in danger of drowning. With cuts of health insurance for the poor, less financial help for unemployed single mothers, and the elimination of a state program that provides antiviral drugs for people living with AIDS on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s $24.3 billion

budget deficit chopping block, some would say that right about now we’ve got bigger fish to fry.

Which is not to say that I’m suggesting that the gay community give up the fight for marriage altogether; after all, I am a lesbian. But what I am saying is that the fight for marriage doesn’t surpass the breadand-butter issues that are plaguing millions of Californians today.

Using the California Supreme Court’s decision to uphold Proposition 8 as an excuse to go out into the streets and throw temper tantrums isn’t going to evoke any sympathy from black voters who supported Proposition 8. And whether you like it or not, sooner or later the issue of gay marriage will come back to those same black voters and it’s what happens now that is going to make all of the difference in how voters react when they’re faced with it on their ballot again.

To that end, protesting the first black president isn’t going to get the gay community very far with African Americans, especially considering the fact that most blacks are still reveling in the fact that’s he’s in office.

Not to mention the fact that Obama’s position on gay marriage was made perfectly clear before he was ever elected into office and it

was no different than his then-rival Sen. Hillary Clinton in that he has said that he supports civil unions, but is against gay marriage.

Threatening Jasmyne Cannick to boycott black churches and businesses — which is laughable because most white gays do very little business in the black community — will not help the cause of gay marriage advocates. Besides the fact that those same gays would first have to attend the churches in question or frequent those businesses for them to be blacklisted, in the end it would only enrage a constituency that you will undoubtedly need in the future.

And, using well-meaning African American politicians as surrogates into the black community to plead the case for gays isn’t going to work either.

Chances are that this fight is not going to be remedied by the courts or the Legislature but by popular opinion, which means that at some point we’ll all be headed back to the ballot to cast our vote. So, threatening to withhold political contributions and endorsements of black candidates because of their position See CANNICK, page 3

A Time to Do Good

BY ARTHUR LAWRENCE CRIBBS JR.

There is a saying, “May you live in interesting times,” which is considered to have originated in China but may have been first stated in England or the United States.

The statement is a quandary as to whether it is a proverb or a curse; its meaning is as opaque as its origin, but it serves as an excellent description of this special period in which we find our lives tossed by events and circumstances beyond our control.

This brings up another axiom, “Out of chaos comes opportunity,” which is oft quoted these days in reference to the financial crisis that grips the world’s economies.

Perhaps it is more a word of hope than an actual prescription for reality. Given the uncertainty of market forces driving significant sectors of American life, people are hoping something good will come from the bad news about job losses, foreclosures and bankruptcies. What is clear is the chaos. If opportunity follows, we wonder for whom.

Unfortunately, there are obvious signs of people taking advantage of the downturn. Some may consider such behavior as “opportunity,” but there is a better way. This special period provides a moment for all of us to take a deeper look at what is taking place so we can make real changes for the good.

For example, as we learn about the exploits that created much of the disaster we are witnessing in America’s cities, what if people of faith were to apply the principles of their traditions in response to situations that require extreme assistance?

Can we imagine other ways to address the economic crisis besides pouring more borrowed money into the drains of commerce?

What if we practiced the “forgiveness of debts” that many Christians pray about when they recite the Lord’s Prayer? What if we defined community by the

coming together of neighbors to assist families in need? What if ancient faith practices of “welcoming the stranger” became our way of life?

Can you imagine the positive difference it would make during these “interesting times”?

Last Sunday, May 24, was the Pentecost, the “birthday of the Christian church.” On Pentecost, followers of Jesus came out of a house in Jerusalem and spoke in the many languages that were present in the city.

There had been 120 devout followers praying together for several days.

Their lives were forever changed.

They lost their fear and gained a new vision of the world. They formed community by giving away their possessions and coming to the aid of the most vulnerable.

In interesting times, unusual courage is required. Binding people together is a source for recovery. This special period provides an opportunity for all of us to think differently about what is truly important. We can assess the value of life and the role we will play to change conditions that threaten creation.

Whether the mysterious saying is a curse or a proverb depends on what we do in times of crisis and challenge.

We are given the opportunity to come together with a common purpose to make society and the world a safe place where children can play and elders can walk through the streets unafraid and without fear.

In this special period, we can make the difference between people sleeping in homes and leaving families outside because their homes were foreclosed. We really do have a choice about what happens. Will we make these “interesting times” a curse or a blessing? In this time of Pentecost, let us give some thought to the power we have been given to do extraordinary good.

Arthur Lawrence Cribbs Jr. is pastor of San Marino Congregational United Church of Christ.

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CIRCULATION AUDIT BY

June 4, 2009

L.A. WATTS TIMES

Page 3

BUSINESS BIZSHORTS Entrepreneurial Institute Tour Coming to L.A. The National Black MBA Association is positioning the current economic downturn as a turning point for blacks who have considered — or who must now consider — entrepreneurial endeavors. The organization has partnered with State Farm to present its 2009 NBMBAA Entrepreneurial Institute City Tour, a series of business-building resources, advice and opportunities for enterprising individuals who are committed to creating jobs, building wealth, and participating in the economy’s recovery.

The tour arrives in Los Angeles June 6, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Westin Bonaventure, 404 S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles.

The institute will offer two tracks: start-up, for new/aspiring entrepreneurs; and growth, for existing entrepreneurs.

Sessions include the Innovation WhiteBoard Challenge Semi-Finals, where attendees present their product concept or business idea for a chance to win $1,000 and advance to the whiteboard challenge finals during the organization’s annual conference in New Orleans, which will offer a $10,000 grand prize.

Information: www.nbmbaa.org.

Business Summit Seeks to Unite Investors and Lenders with Minority Entrepreneurs The Turning Point 12th annual Urban Business Summit will take place June 17 at the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills, 465 S. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles.

The event will bring private equity, venture and angel investors and small-business lenders together with minority entrepreneurs seeking capital.

Regardless of whether your company’s growth state is in the startup, growth, going-public or exit stage, the Urban Business Summit

HUTCHINSON Continued from page 2 police resources, and the hard work that many officers put in to solve black homicides, it takes only one real or perceived case of police laxity, when the victim is black, to stir suspicion of police racial insensitivity. Pomona for now is tragically that case.

Corde continues to plead with authorities to intensify their investigation into her son’s murder. She has appealed to the press, civil rights and victims of violence groups to prod the department to do more to catch the killers of her son.

CANNICK Continued from page 2 on gay marriage isn’t going to work.

Sorry.

Unless the gay community changes its “entitlement” strategy, we can expect to go around and around on this issue as we do year in and year out. This is good for some because it keeps a lot of folks employed and a lot of money being raised and changing hands, but in the end does nothing to change the fact that gays still can’t legally marry in California.

If the gay community is really serious about marriage, then it needs

aims to provide strategies and resources for accessing capital in the current economic environment.

Information: (323) 299-6000, tpcfoundation@yahoo.com. Registration: www.urbanbusinesssummit.com.

State Wants Federal Govt. to Back Its Loans SACRAMENTO (AP) — California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic lawmakers are pressing the Obama administration and members of Congress for federal loan guarantees to help the state out of a multibillion-dollar jam.

The state with the worst credit rating in the U.S. is asking that Washington act as a sort of co-signer on the state’s borrowing, to be backed up with money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

California leaders say that would make it easier and cheaper for the state to borrow money on the bond market, reducing the interest rate by as much as half and saving taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.

“We are not asking for a bailout,” said state Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, a Los Angeles Democrat.

“We’re asking for the federal government to step in where commercial banks can’t this year because of the crisis within the financial industry.”

The Obama administration and members of Congress from other states have responded cautiously to the idea. They worry also that the U.S. government could overextend itself and risk its triple-A credit rating if California and other states or cities in distress start coming to Washington hat in hand.

So far, no other state has asked for such aid.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told a House committee recently that he did not have authority to use financial rescue money to help state governments. But he did not rule out assistance. He said California’s request would have to be decided in Congress.

What’s Your Money Personality?

When it comes to money, most, if not all people, have a personality or type. And the key to managing your money better is to know yourself and your “money” type, according to Deborah L. Price, founder and CEO of the Money Coaching Institute.

According to Price, it’s important to take into account your cash flow and your net worth when building a financial plan. Your income and asset cash flow are vehicles to help you reach your goals, be it retirement or something else. However, it’s just as important to learn why you want to reach those goals or destinations.

You want to understand and resolve any of the “potholes” — patterns of beliefs or behaviors that you have — that may prevent you from arriving at your destination, Price said in a recent issue of the Journal of Financial Planning.

What are some of the common money types and, more importantly, what is your money type and what can you do about it? The following are abridged definitions of the eight money types developed by Price: The Innocent Innocents often live in denial, burying their heads in the sand so they won’t have to see what is going on around them. They are easily overwhelmed by financial information and rely heavily on the advice and opinions of others. Innocents are

perhaps the most trusting of all the money archetypes because they do not see people or situations for what they are. We all start our journey in life as innocents.

The Victim Victims are prone to living in the past and blaming their financial woes on external factors. They are often passive-aggressive (prone to acting out their feelings passively rather than directly) and may appear powerless in order to get others to take care of their needs. More often than not, victims have been abused, betrayed or have suffered some great financial loss. Until the victim faces their pain and releases the past, she may experience life as a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The Warrior The warrior sets out to conquer the money world and is usually seen as successful in the business and financial worlds. Warriors are adept investors, focused, decisive and in control. Although warriors will listen to advisers, they make their own decisions and rely on their own instincts and resources to guide them. Warriors are great caretakers who are frequently paired with the innocent or creator-artist money types, who are perfectly happy to allow the warrior to manage the financial details.

The Martyr Financially speaking, martyrs

While her pleas have largely fallen on deaf ears, she is undeterred: “I’m not going to stop until the murderers are brought to justice.”

That’s a message that no police official should have to be told or hear from a grieving mother, no matter what the color of her murdered son.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. His weekly radio show, “The Hutchinson Report,” can be heard in Los Angeles at 9:30 a.m. on KTYM Radio 1460 AM and nationally on blogtalkradio.com. to act like it and start running the kind of campaigns that bring them closer to the constituencies that they need instead of alienating them.

And until they can figure out a way to do that, whether they like it or not, popular opinion is going to remain against them.

Jasmyne Cannick is a critic and commentator based in Los Angeles who writes about the worlds of pop culture, race, class, sexuality and politics as it relates to the African American community. She can be reached at www.jasmynecannick. com.

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usually do more for others than they do for themselves. They often rescue others (a child, spouse, friend or partner) from some circumstance or another. However, martyrs may give with attachments and can feel let down when others fail to meet their expectations. Martyrs tend to have a history of self-sacrifice and suffering and sometimes find it difficult to receive from others. They can be perfectionistic and have high expectations of themselves and of others.

This makes them quite capable of realizing their dreams, but often at a great price to themselves and others.

The Fool The fool is really a combination of the innocent and the warrior (but without the discipline.) Like the innocent, the fool is often judgmentimpaired and has difficulty seeing the truth about things. The primary difference between fools and innocents is that fools are relatively fearless in their endeavors and remain eternal optimists regardless of the circumstances. The fool lives very much in the moment and is quite unattached to the future and therefore not prone to planning. Fools are gamblers by nature, financially adventurous and impulsive.

The Creator-Artist Creator-artists are usually on a spiritual or artistic path. They often find living in the material world See MONEY, page 8

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L.A. WATTS TIMES

June 4, 2009

COMMUNITY COMMUNITY MEETINGS, FORUMS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS Workplace Hollywood to Host Career Seminar Workplace Hollywood’s “So You Wanna Be in Pictures Series 2” will take place June 17, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., at Sony Imageworks in Culver City.

The focus of the event will be career opportunities for computer, Web design, gaming and visual effects professionals in the entertainment industry. Working professionals will give advice on how to begin or transition to careers in such fields.

The seminar is free and only open to the first 100 guests. The deadline to RSVP is June 12.

Information: Larry Kaplan, (213) 250-9921, ext. 107, lkaplan@workplacehollywood.org, info@workplacehollywood.org.

plant and animal inhabitants and to participate in a beach cleanup.

The event is for all ages.

Admission is free.

The Cabrillo Marine Aquarium is at Stephen M. White Drive, San Pedro. Participants in the work day should meet by the auditorium.

Information: (310) 548-7562, www.cabrilloaq.org.

sickle cell disease. For more information about the camp, visit the Sickle Cell Disease Foundation of California at www.scdfc.org.

For more information about the Caribbean Heritage Salute, contact (818) 605-1478, (310) 6746700, www.caribbeanheritage.org, www.willard-wigan.com.

Fundraiser Cricket Match to Take Place

For Women Only Inc. to Hold Fundraiser

In honor of Caribbean American Heritage Month, which is celebrated in June, the Caribbean Cricket Club Fundraiser Match will take place June 6, 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., at Woodley Park, 6350 Woodley Ave., Van Nuys.

Admission is free. Information: Ma’as Audley, (323) 2938205, cudjoe_cudjoe@yahoo.com.

Nia Long to be Honored At Caribbean Heritage Salute

Beach Cleanup and Garden Workday to Take Place

The Caribbean Heritage Salute to Hollywood and the Arts will take place June 27, 7 p.m. to midnight.

During the event, actress Nia Long, director Frank E. Flowers and micro-sculptor Willard Wigan will be honored.

A portion of the proceeds will help support Camp Crescent Moon, a camp for children with

A native garden work day and beach cleanup will take place June 6, 8 to 10 a.m., as well as on the first Saturday of each month.

During the work days and cleanups, the education staff and volunteers will help to maintain the Cabrillo Native Garden by weeding and planting. Those who help will have the opportunity to learn more about the garden’s

For Women Only Inc. will hold Sixties Style, its first fundraiser.

Jet back to the time of flower power, beehives, bell-bottoms and Beatles suits. Win a prize for doing the twist in a theme dance contest.

The goal of the fundraiser is to enjoy peace, love and unity, while honoring the organization’s mission and vision, over socializing and light refreshments.

The fundraiser will take place July 28, 6 to 10 p.m., at the Gilmore Adobe, Third Street Farmers Market, Los Angeles.

Tickets are $75. Early RSVP is encouraged, as space is limited.

Information: Jimmy Lucas, (310) 424-8556, info@forwomen onlyincla.org, www.forwomenonlyincla.org.

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L.A. Couple Seeks to Increase African American Marriages

BY NADRA KAREEM CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The right to marry is the talk of California, if not the nation, right now.

But as the gay community fights for marriage access, African Americans have routinely been singled out for not marrying as frequently as other ethnic groups do.

About 42 percent of black men and 41 percent of black women are unmarried, compared to 27.5 percent of white men and 21 percent of white women, according to the African American Healthy Marriage Initiative, a campaign of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. To boot, African Americans divorce at higher rates, live in more single-headed family households, and have more out-ofwedlock births than their white, Hispanic and Asian counterparts, the marriage initiative found.

This is a trend that Los Angelesbased marriage advocates La Grande and Sonja Mason seek to reverse. The Masons, who married in 1972, teach marriage education courses via their nonprofit, Helping Angelinos Live Optimistic (H.A.L.O.) and have hosted the annual Black Marriage Day celebration in Los Angeles. For their work, L.A. City Councilman Bernard Parks presented them with a city award. The Masons are now involved in a campaign called “Divorce is Unacceptable,” which aims to keep black families intact.

“I really want people to understand we have to get back to those days when (divorce) wasn’t really an option,” Sonja Mason said. “People simply worked things out. The system has made divorce so easy. They even advertise quickie divorces.”

She said marriage is vital because it’s the foundation of the family. She and her husband say the benefits of marriage are numerous.

La Grande Mason, a psychoanalyst and psychotherapist, says that children raised in two-parent families are less likely to get involved with gangs or drugs and are more likely to go to college and have successful marriages themselves. His wife added that life expectancy is longer for married people and financial situations are better. A school administrator in her day job, Sonja Mason said that she’s seen firsthand how divorce damages children.

“We’ve seen some students that were really well-behaved and selfmotivated,” she said. “All of a sudden mom and dad split up, and they kind of get lost in the shuffle.”

Mason said that she’s not advocating for parents to stay together only because of their children. She believes it’s important, however, for parents to try to save their marriages by learning how to effectively communicate and remembering what attracted them to their mates in the first place.

Clearly, some in the black community are serious about trying to save their marriages, but they are going about it the wrong way, La Grande Mason said. Rather than visiting a psychotherapist, they make an appointment with their local church pastor. This may be a mistake if the minister lacks the proper expertise, he said.

Many “ministers, believe it or not, have not been trained to do clinical counseling or therapy,” he added.

Nisa Muhammad, creator of Black Marriage Day and director of

Photo Courtesy of LA GRANDE AND SONJA MASON

SEEKING TO SAVE MARRIAGE — La Grande and Sonja Mason, who married in 1972, are involved in a campaign called “Divorce is Unacceptable,” which aims to keep black families intact. The Masons teach marriage education courses via their nonprofit, Helping Angelinos Live Optimistic (H.A.L.O.) and have hosted the annual Black Marriage Day celebration in Los Angeles.

the Wedded Bliss Foundation in Washington, D.C., applauds the Masons for their efforts to educate African Americans about marriage.

She spoke at a marriage day event the couple held in March.

“I’m incredibly impressed with the work they’re doing with marriage in the black community,” Muhammad said. “They work tirelessly to make marriage the rule rather than the exception.”

For many in the black community, however, divorce isn’t the problem because cohabitation is so prevalent. La Grande Mason said that living together isn’t a suitable alternative to marriage.

“Under most circumstances, couples who cohabitate and get married don’t always have the best relationships,” he said. “There is an element of a lack of trust.”

This is because the level of commitment in a marriage is presumably missing in relationships when couples simply live together.

Of course, some people simply don’t want to marry. They appreciate the single life. Sonja Mason said that, while she and her husband aren’t imposing marriage on everyone, they believe that many singles come to regret a life alone. They ask themselves, “Is this really how I want the rest of my life to go?” she said.

Others shy away from marriage because they didn’t have proper role models and, thus, fear repeating their parents’ mistakes, the Masons say.

But Sonja Mason admitted that marriage isn’t for everyone. However, part of being a marriage advocate is to show those who would benefit from marriage that they, too, can have a thriving union.

“Marriage doesn’t (mean) you lose your individuality,” La Grande Mason said.

For the Masons, telling people that a successful marriage is attainable is easy because they have achieved it together for nearly four decades.

The key to their marriage, according to La Grande Mason: “I buy her gifts, and I take her out,” he said.

“She treats me like a king.”

H.A.L.O. presents a couples class called “Mastering the Mysteries of Love” June 6, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., at Live Oak Missionary Baptist Church, 1359 W. 84th St., Los Angeles.

For more information, visit lahalo.org.

June 4, 2009

L.A. WATTS TIMES

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Page 6

L.A. WATTS TIMES

June 4, 2009

COMMUNITY BRIEFS Continued from page 1

Study: LAPD Improved Since Corruption Scandals (AP) — A recent Harvard University study of the Los Angeles Police Department found the department greatly improved since corruption scandals forced it under a federal consent decree in 2002.

The department entered the consent decree after the Department of Justice threatened to sue the city over a pattern of police misconduct. Two high-profile cases from the 1990s included the beating of Rodney King and the scandal at its Rampart division, in which officers beat, shot and framed suspects, dealt drugs and covered up their crimes.

The Kennedy School of Government’s study, which was commissioned last year by police Chief William Bratton, found the LAPD has reduced crime since the decree was enacted but continued to alienate some minorities who claimed officers treated them unfairly.

The study included observation of officers and focus groups and surveys of officers, residents and people who had been arrested by the LAPD. A federal judge this summer will review whether the consent decree — which allowed the Justice Department to oversee LAPD’s reforms — should continue.

THE STATE Attorney General Suits Claim Deception by Charities (AP) — The California attorney general’s office has filed eight lawsuits alleging that charities in four counties squandered millions of dollars of donations intended to help police, firefighters and veterans.

The lawsuits filed May 29 in Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino and San Mateo counties name 53 individuals accused of deceiving hundreds of thousands of Californians with bogus phone solicitations.

Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. says a majority of the

✁

money collected paid for aggressive telemarketing, bloated overhead and — in one case — a 30foot sailboat.

The suits seek to stop the charities’ alleged deceptive practices and require the repayment of money raised under false pretenses.

The lawsuits were filed in conjunction with the Federal Trade Commission and other states as part of a nationwide charity fraud sweep.

No Death Penalty in Editor’s Murder OAKLAND (AP) — Prosecutors will not seek the death penalty for two men charged in several murders, including that of an Oakland journalist, Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff said May 29.

ty service, a school and other businesses. But the group became marred by connections to criminal activity.

Earlier this month, former bakery handyman Devaughndre Broussard, 21, pleaded guilty to two lesser counts of voluntary manslaughter for shooting Bailey and another man. In exchange, Broussard agreed to testify against Bey and Mackey.

THE NATION Gerard Jean-Juste, Activist/ Catholic Priest Succumbs MIAMI (AP) — The Rev. Gerard Jean-Juste, an influential Haitian Roman Catholic priest who was once jailed in Haiti for his political activities and fought for his countrymen’s rights in the U.S., has died. He was 62.

Jean-Juste died May 27 in a Miami-area hospital, said immigration attorney Ira Kurzban, who was

Yusuf Bey IV

Orloff said he’s opted to seek life sentences without the possibility of parole for Yusuf Bey IV and Antoine Mackey. He declined to elaborate on his decision. Defense attorneys were told of Orloff’s decision before the day’s scheduled arraignment, which was postponed until June 18.

Bey, the former leader of a now-defunct community group called Your Black Muslim Bakery, is accused of ordering the killings of Oakland Post editor Chauncey Bailey and two other men. Mackey, a bakery associate, is accused of being the getaway driver in the Bailey killing and being the shooter in another murder.

Bailey was investigating the group’s finances when he was gunned down on his way to work in 2007.

Your Black Muslim Bakery, founded almost 40 years ago by Bey’s father, Yusuf Bey, became an institution in Oakland’s black community, running bakeries, a securi-

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The Rev. Gerard Jean-Juste

a longtime friend. Jean-Juste’s brother, Kernst, said he died of complications from a stroke and a lung problem.

Jean-Juste, who was born in Cavaillon, Haiti, came to the U.S. as a young man and founded the Haitian Refugee Center in Miami in the late 1970s.

When the U.S. government began to systematically deport Haitian immigrants, he fought to ensure they received due process for asylum consideration, Kurzban said, adding that it was in part his activism that enabled Haitian asylum seekers to obtain work permits for the first time.

He was arrested in Haiti in 2005 on what international human rights groups called politically motivated charges. All charges against him were later dropped.

New England’s First Black Mayor Dies NEW LONDON, Conn. (AP) — Leo Jackson, a former mayor of New London who was credited with being the first black mayor in New England, has died. He was 83.

Jackson died May 24 at his home in New London, John MacDougall of Byles Memorial Home said. The cause of death was not released.

Jackson’s election by fellow city councilors in 1979 drew national media coverage. He even received a call from President Jimmy Carter, who won Jackson’s endorsement during a presidential primary election fight with Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy in 1980.

Jackson was a Democrat who served a single one-year term as mayor, but stayed on the City Council until 1993. The Springfield, Mass., native worked at a submarine factory in Groton for nearly 30 years.

Noted Guyanese Scholar Dies HIGHLAND PARK, N.J. — Ivan Van Sertima, an anthropologist, historian and linguist whose 1976 work “They Came Before Columbus” documented the African presence in the Americas before the arrival of Italian explorer Christopher Columbus, has died.

He was 74.

Van Sertima died May 25 at his home in New Jersey, according to his wife Jacqueline. The cause of death was not stated.

Born in Guyana in 1935, Van Sertima went to London and completed undergraduate studies in African languages and literature at the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London.

In 1970, Van Sertima came to

MARCUS SMITH Continued from page 1 crime scene and have not interviewed witnesses. Detectives have been to the scene, he said.

“The difficult part is we haven’t been able to talk to a lot of witnesses,” McBride said. “They haven’t come forward to the police department.”

McBride said the department was awaiting the county coroner’s autopsy results to aide in its investigation. By presstime, the corners office did not answer the L.A. Watts Times’ inquiry of when when results would be ready.

“Marcus Smith was acting as a peacemaker that night,” said attorney Greg Yates, also a member of the legal team. “The peacemaker was shot in the head.”

Kevin Hackie, a private investigator and former police officer who was retained to investigate the shooting, said a witness has given a sworn statement that police officers planted a firearm near Smith’s body following the shooting. He didn’t give any additional information about the witness, saying the person is “afraid” of Inglewood police.

“I want the community of Inglewood to remain calm,” said Hackie, standing at arm’s length from a poster showing Smith’s autopsy photos. “I have confidence in (Inglewood officials) that they’ll do the right thing.”

The officers involved in the shooting, who Hackie declined to identify, are on paid administrative leave, he said.

Hackie said the department has good officers, but the few who use deadly force excessively must be reigned in.

“There (are) still officers who have the John Wayne syndrome,” Hackie said. “If they don’t lose it within a few years, they’ll either hurt someone or get hurt themselves.”

Inglewood has about 220 officers covering the 9-square-mile city.

As result of other past shootings, the U.S. Department of Justice has monitored the department since March.

No member of Smith’s family attended the May 29 press conference.

“We want redress for the family — we’re seeking compensation,” said Yates, who handled cases for civilians harmed in the Rampart scandal and the May Day protests.

the United States and entered Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J. This began his more-than-30-year association with the university.

His funeral was May 30 at Riverside Church in New York.

Information from: Redding News Review, reddingnewsreview. com.

Dr. Ivan Van Sertima

Community groups have mobilized to put pressure on Inglewood officials. Many members from Families for Community Safety Campaign, Human Rights Advocacy and Youth Justice Coalition joined Inglewood residents at last week’s Inglewood City Council meeting.

They implored the city leaders to hire an independent agency to look into the police shootings and to provide victims’ families with financial help for burial expenses.

Marcus Smith

The activists are also seeking expanded power for the Citizen Police Oversight Commission, including the ability to determine discipline for the officers.

Community members also made the same demands at the council’s June 2 meeting.

“The fight now is to give power to this (commission),” said Kokayi Kwa Jitahidi, an organizer with Families for Community Safety Campaign. “We want to galvanize community support around that.”

Jitahidi said the community groups are working with lawyers to present a more comprehensive list of demands, including the establishment of a department within the county attorney’s office devoted to investigating cases of police killings.

The Associated Press and L.A. Watts Times contributing writer Nadra Kareem contributed to this report.

Facts June 6, 1966 James Meredith is wounded by a white sniper as he walks along U.S. Highway 51 near Hernando, Miss., on the second day of a 220-mile “March Against Fear” voter registration march from Memphis, Tenn., to Jackson, Miss. Martin Luther King Jr., Floyd McKissick, Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Ture) and other civil rights workers continue the march on June 7. The march ends June 26 with a rally of about 30,000 people at the Mississippi state capitol. It was during the three-week march that Carmichael began to use the phrase “Black Power.”

Source: blackfacts.com

June 4, 2009

L.A. WATTS TIMES

Page 7

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

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

FOOD DEMONSTRATIONS — The Network for a Healthy California-Los Angeles Region has several food demos scheduled for June. Attendees will have the opportunity to taste healthy recipes and learn new ways of preparing family favorites. The demonstrations will take place June 5, 1 to 4 p.m., at Food 4 Less, 1900 W. Rosecrans Ave., Compton; June 6, 1 to 4 p.m., at Food 4 Less, 1600 E. Willow St., Signal Hill; June 12, 1 to 4 p.m., at Food 4 Less, 2185 E. South St., Long Beach.

There will also be demonstrations in Gardena, Inglewood and South Los Angeles. Information: (213) 3517331, mwebb@ph.lacounty.gov.

ROUNDTABLE — The Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable will present award-winning photographer Howard Bingham, who will discuss and sign his new photo history book on the Black Panther Party, the “Black Panthers.” Bingham was Muhammad Ali’s long-standing photographer and his photo shoots of world-renowned celebrities has won acclaim. The roundtable will take place June 6, 10 a.m., at Leimert Park’s Lucy Florence Coffeehouse, 3351 W. 43rd St., Los Angeles. Information: (323) 383-6145.

CAPOEIRA WORKSHOPS — The Ngolo Arts Preservation Society invites the community to attend Capoeira Angola movement and music workshops taught by Mestre Jogo de Dentro, a student of Mestre João Pequeno de Pastinha.

The workshop will take place June 5, Darby Park, 3400 W. Arbor Vitae St., Inglewood. The workshops are from 6 to 8:30 p.m. and cost $30 per workshop. On June 6, there will be a workshop from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Industry Cafe and Jazz, 6039 Washington Blvd., in Culver City, C E L E B R A T E

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and at 3 p.m. there will be an open Capoeira Angola roda until 6 p.m.

Information: ngoloarts@gmail. com, (424) 200-4968.

PEOPLES POETRY AND AFTERPARTY — The Labor/Community Strategy Center will sponsor this event June 6, 6:30 p.m., at the Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance, 3465 W. 8th St., Los Angeles.

Tickets are $5 to $20 (sliding scale).

This is a fundraiser for the organization’s Taking Action after school program and its Summer Youth Organizing Academy. Information: (213) 387-2800, www.thestrategycenter. org.

BOOK SALE — The Friends of the John Muir Branch Library will host a used book sale June 6, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., in the community room of the library, 1005 W. 64th St., Los Angeles. Paperback books will be 25 cents and most hardback books will be 50 cents. Used videos and/or DVDs will be $1. Information: (323) 789-4800.

URBAN GARDENING — Eugene Cooke will lead an afternoon discussion on growing your own food and transforming your indoor/outdoor space, whether it is a windowsill, balcony or yard. Cooke is an urban farms crop manager and a former Technical Director of Food Forestry International. The event is $15 and will be held June 20, noon to 1:30 p.m., at Lotus on the Nile Wellness Center, 4307 S. Crenshaw Blvd., Los Angeles. Information: (323) 295-6887, lotusonthenile@ gmail.com.

LIVING WORD CONFERENCE — Sponsored by the Love, Peace and Happiness Family Church, this conference continues nightly until June 7. Speakers include Pastor Jean Perez of Ablaze Ministries, Bishop Alfred Smith Sr., and Bishop Truman Martin. Evening workshops will be at 6:30 p.m. with nightly services immediately following at 7:30 p.m. Special musical guests include minister Keith Pringle and others.

The conference will conclude June 7

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WOMEN OF INFLUENCE — Corporate photographer David Perry hosted the “Women of Influence” event May 30 at a Marina del Rey restaurant, honoring 20 women for their impact on his life. The evening included poetry, music and dinner by candlelight. Pictured (left to right): Sharon Williams-Tobin; Sholanda Hale; Cheryl Dawson; Loretta Williams; Norma Jean Byrd; Patricia Elzie; Michelle Ballard; Melanie Polk; Paula Rodgers; Helene Sykes; Linda Smith; Felica Kanu; Andrea Willis; and John Williams; sitting (left to right) David Perry; Wendy Lewis; Denise Roberts; Victoria Lowe; Monetta Stephens; and Carol Shaw. Not pictured: Lauren Tobin; Pamela Simmons.

with a morning, mid-morning and afternoon Sunday celebration. Information: (562) 806-9890, www. lphfamily.org.

DEMONSTRATION/GRADUATION — A Capoeira Demonstration and Children’s Capoeira Graduation Ceremony will be held June 6, 10 a.m. to noon, at The Accelerated School, 116 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, Los Angeles.

More than 20 Capoeira masters from around the world will demonstrate the art form, and more than 300 children from the Los Angeles area will

ECONOMY Continued from page 1 “Many of the traditional Jazz at Drew sponsors are struggling right now with the economic woes of the world, so while the university does not anticipate a last-minute miracle for this year,” he said, “we along with the community at large remain hopeful that a sponsor might step forward in time to resume the event.”

Like the African Marketplace, Norris noted that the realities of the economy means rethinking how Jazz at Drew is structured in the future.

Jazz at Drew was started 18 years ago by Roland Betts as a vehicle to raise funds for the medical school.

Harold Hambrick, executive director of the Black Business Expo, says the fact is that things have changed and that the downturn in the economy has affected African American event planners, festivals and the communities they serve in ways “we just don’t realize.”

“Things are not like they use to be,” said Hambrick, who cancelled last year’s Black Business Expo in order to restructure. “The resources are not there, the sponsors are not there, and the consumer doesn’t have the money.

People are holding on to their resources and they are very careful about how they spend their money.”

This year’s Black Business Expo, held last month, was downsized to include fewer exhibitors, utilize less floor space and designed for a smaller attendance.

“The attendance, by design, at the Expo was down 30 percent but we redesigned the show,” he said.

The show was designed for about 200 to 250 exhibitors, so it was less floor space, he said,

showcase their skills learned over the past year. The event is open to the public with a $10 suggested donation.

All proceeds will go directly to benefit the programs of Ginga Arts, which will sponsor the ceremony. Information: (310) 806-0820, www.gingaarts.org.

RECEPTION — The National Black Business Council Inc. will host its 2009 Break The Cycle Reception and MaryAnn Mitchell Scholarship Awards June 11, 5:30 to 8 p.m., at the Marriott Los Angeles Airport, 5855 W. Century Blvd., Los Angeles. Don

adding space was smaller due to the economy, less sponsors and also the impact it has had on the small-business men.

“So for the amount of space that we had, the attendance was right on target because we had anticipated that,” he said. “Instead of having 45,000 attendees, we had about (30,000) to 35,000 attendees.”

One festival that doesn’t seem to be feeling the economic pinch is the Watts Summer Festival, which has been called “the grandfather of all African American festivals in the United States.”

Celebrating its 43rd year, the Watts Summer Festival will be held Aug. 7, 8 and 9, noon to 8 p.m., at 103rd Street and Compton Avenue, in the heart of Watts.

The festival is free and parking is free.

“Just like every other organization, we depend on donations and financial supporters, and of course we’ve been affected (by the economy), but we still proceed,” said Brenda Giles, assistant to Executive Director Tommy Jacquette. “This festival is for the people in the community, so regardless of the economy the festival still goes on.”

The festival began in 1966 following the Watts Rebellion in 1965.

Giles believes the festival has endured despite the rise and fall of the economy because it has never outgrown itself or the community it serves. She noted that the festival has 17 components — some that can be put on and some that can’t.

“We have 10 food vendors, we have 10 non-food vendors, we have our social service booth, we have our carnival, we have our art exhibit and our concert,” she said.

She added that the price of

Kincey of Comerica Bank is the reception chair and tickets are $60.

RSVPs are requested by June 8.

Information: (626) 791-3847, events at personalservicesplus.com.

CARNEVALE! VENICE BEACH — The Seventh Annual party at the beach will be June 6, noon to 10 p.m., at the west end of Windward Avenue at the beach.

Harissa Belly Dance Troupe, Kathy Leonardo, Wadada Reggae Band and many others will perform. This event is free. Information: www.carnevale. us.

vending booths has remained the same for the past five years.

“This is for the families, everybody comes out just to have a good time and it doesn’t take a lot of money to have a good time,” she said. “It’s just about people coming together and having a good time, enjoying the African American culture.”

ATaste of Soul is another event that does not seem to be feeling the economic pinch. Danny Bakewell Jr., president and executive editor of the Los Angeles Sentinel, which holds A Taste of Soul, says plans are in the works for this year’s event to go forward on Oct. 17.

Bakewell said there have been some challenges in terms of commitments from sponsors at the same level as last year. However, despite the economy the event is picking up new sponsors to cushion any drop.

“In many cases, events that had corporate sponsors before are not happening and therefore we are picking up some of that,” he said.

Launched in October 2006 along historic Crenshaw Boulevard, the inaugural Taste of Soul drew an estimated 35,000. Since that time, attendance at the free to the public event has consistently increased, which is one of the reasons sponsors find the event so appealing, Bakewell noted.

“I think corporations are very selective in what events they sponsor,” he said. “The success of Taste of Soul and the number of people who come out each year, and the positive vibe that goes on with the event, causes us to be able to retain our sponsorships where other events may lose out.

When you have an event where over 100,000 people show up, those are the ones the corporate sponsors generally like.”

Page 8

L.A. WATTS TIMES

June 4, 2009

COMMUNITY Narbonne High Football Star Mourned

BY CHICO C. NORWOOD STAFF WRITER

For Elder Robert Thrash IV, a counselor at Harbor City’s Narbonne High School, receiving the news of the shooting death of star football player Dannie Farber Jr. was almost like déjà vu.

“We had a former Narbonne High school student who was shot and killed May 24, 2008, and I was just thinking about his death and talking to that student’s mom that afternoon,” Thrash said. “And then to hear about Dannie being killed later that night, one year to the day the other young man was killed, it was a lot. I couldn’t talk.

“One of the other coordinators at the school called me and told me what had happened and I just had to get off the telephone and calm down.”

Students and faculty at Narbonne are still reeling from the May 24 shooting of Farber, who was gunned down while eating with a girl at the Louisiana Fried Chicken restaurant at the corner of Rosecrans and Central avenues in Compton, in an apparent unprovoked incident.

Thrash said the mood at the school remains somber and solemn. Students have been receiving grief counseling — both group and individual — and assemblies have been held where students were able to speak out and pray.

“Dannie had a great rapport with the students, his classmates and with the faculty and staff. The students have been allowed to process this in their own way,” he said.

“They’ve written notes, cards and designed banners that were given to Dannie’s mom.”

A LIFE CUT SHORT — Dannie Farber Jr. was a star football player at Harbor City’s Narbonne High School three weeks shy of graduation. He was shot and killed May 24 while eating at the Louisiana Fried Chicken restaurant at the corner of Rosecrans and Central avenues in Compton in an apparent unprovoked incident. His funeral will be June 5 at 10 a.m. at the City of Refuge Church in Gardena.

Thrash also said that the loss of the affable athlete, who was “a very independent, determined and ambitious young man,” is being felt deeply.

“He was one of our service workers in the office and had been the entire school year,” he said. “Going in there and knowing he was never going to be their again really, it made my heart even heavier.”

Funeral services for the star football player are scheduled for June 5 at 10 a.m., at the City of Refuge Church in Gardena.

Thrash will preside.

A native of Compton, Farber attended Ardella B. Tilly Elementary School, Enter-

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WILL THE SHOT FALL? — A basketball game, sponsored by the Right To Play Foundation and the WNBA Los Angeles Sparks basketball team, was held in the school gymnasium at Morningside High School in Inglewood May 28. The event highlighted the fact that two members of the L.A. Sparks — Lisa Leslie, No. 9, and Tina Thompson, No. 32 — graduated from Morningside High and were retuning to conduct a mini basketball clinic and to talk to kids about the importance of staying in school and maintaining a good grade point average, which are vital to getting ahead in life. Pictured (left to right): DeLisha Milton-Jones; Jessica Moore; Noelle Quinn; and Tina Thompson during a shoot-around.

prise Middle School and Vanguard Learning Center. He attended Silverado High School in Victorville, where he was a football standout during the 2007-08 season.

Farber moved back to Compton and enrolled at Narbonne for the 2008-09 football season. The 5-foot, 7-inch, 175-pound Farber was an all-city standout playing on both the offense and the defense for Narbonne. As a wide receiver, he caught 19 passes for 230 yards and two touchdowns.

He also rushed for an average of 5.43 yards per carry as he helped Narbonne to a 12-1-1 season and Los Angeles City Section championship. He was set to graduate on June 18 and planned to attend Harbor College temporarily.

According to the family, some colleges and universities had expressed an interest in recruiting Farber.

Farber had played football since he was 5, said his stepfather Kenny McGee.

MONEY Continued from page 3 difficult and frequently have a conflicted lovehate relationship with money. Creator-artists most fear being not true to themselves. They are constantly struggling for financial survival. This is not because they lack talent or ambition but due to their inner conflict about money as either bad or lacking in spirituality.

The Tyrant The tyrant hoards money, using it to manipulate and control others. Although tyrants may have everything they need or desire, they never feel complete, comfortable or at peace. The tyrant’s greatest fear is loss of control. Tyrants are often overdeveloped warriors who have become driven by their internal need for safety and control.

The Magician The magician is the ideal money type.

Magicians are fully awake and aware of themselves personally and financially. Magicians are armed with the knowledge of the past, have made peace with their personal histories, and understand that their power exists within, in their ability to see and live the truth of who they are.

If you’ve determined your money type, ask yourself what you should do. “Awareness is the first step,” Price said. “You need to discover your relationship with money. If you don’t know your system, you are making decisions from an emotive and reactive place. You might be losing or wasting money because you are not fully informed about your needs. Or you might find that you don’t have any strategy around your financial decisions.”

Once you know your money type, you will then be able to develop a strategy to counter the negative aspects of your type. For instance, Price

“He was an all-around athlete but football was his passion,” McGee said. “The sky was the limit for him. They tied for the city championship and he was so enthused about getting his championship ring.

“When he showed me the ring for city championship, you should have seen the smile on his face. I can’t describe the emotion he had. He had the heart of a lion when he went out on that football field.”

At presstime, the gunman in the shooting was still at large.

McGee said the family would like the public to be aware that there are individuals making unauthorized solicitations of donations on behalf of Farber.

The family requests that individuals can make donations in the name of Dannie Farber at any Wells Fargo Bank, the only agent authorized to collect donations on behalf of the family, or call (310) 3451831. said fools and innocents typically avoid issues related to money. To counterbalance that behavior, she said those types need to become proactive about their money, setting a goal to review, for instance, their 401(k) balance, checking account, or credit card balance once a day for 10 minutes.

“They need to become proactive about their money, more like the warrior type,” she said.

And while it’s possible to do some of this yourself, Price suggests you can either work with a financial planner or money coach or both to help you address your money type.

Neal J. Solomon, managing director of WealthPro, said money personality quizzes can be useful in several ways, especially when used with clients. For instance, Solomon said money personality quizzes can: • Help a planner engage a client in figuring themselves out.

• Help clients become aware that everyone does not approach things the same way they do.

• Be helpful when working with couples.

This column is produced by the Financial Planning Association, the membership organization for the financial planning community, and is provided by Percy E. Bolton, CFP, a local member of FPA. Bolton can be reached at office@percybolton.com.

Facts June 4, 1972 Angela Yvonne Davis, University of California professor of philosophy, is acquitted by a white jury in San Jose of charges stemming from a 1970 Marin County courthouse shoot-out.

Firearms registered to Davis were carried into the courthouse where a judge, prosecutor and several jurors were taken as hostages.

Source: blackfacts.com

June 4, 2009

L.A. WATTS TIMES

Page 9

ARTS & CULTURE SHORT TAKES opens June 20 and continues through Aug. 29. “Coming Home” is Fugard’s first sequel, continuing the story he began in his acclaimed 1995 “Valley Song.” The Fountain Theatre is at 5060 Fountain Ave., Los Angeles. Performances are Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. through Aug. 29. Information: (323) 663-1525, www.FountainTheatre. com.

FESTIVAL • “Vision and Vibes” is an allday festival that will take place at the Watts Labor Community Action Committee, 10950 S. Central Ave., Los Angeles. The program is scheduled for June 6 from noon to 7 p.m., will feature internationally known artists Talaam Acey and Jimetta Rose, as well as art work by Toni

JUNETEENTH

ORAL HISTORY

Gallery hours are Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, noon to 4 p.m.

An opening reception will be held for the exhibit on June 6 beginning at noon. Information: (323) 9534000, cspg@politicalgraphics.org.

DVD Love, Shirt King Phade and others.

There will be a playground for adults and children, as well as exhibitions by the Capoeira Angola Center of Los Angeles and the African Drum and Dance Ensemble. The event is free and is cosponsored by the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs. Information: (323) 357-3534.

• “Doughboys” tells the story of four determined young men’s struggle to escape the pull of the

• “My L.A. Life: The Los Angeles Legacy Project,” one of the installation/exhibition booths at this year’s Leimert Park Book Festival on June 6, is scheduled to be an interactive experience where people can record their stories, view images of black Los Angeles, and be photographed. The project will serve as an opportunity for participants to be a part of the written and historical legacy of Los Angeles.

ProView, a photo company focusing on diversity, will have a station with-

in the “MY L.A. LIFE” booth, where participants can have photos taken behind Los Angeles landmarks. Information: wardgraphics@sbcglobal.net.

• The City of Santa Monica and the Juneteenth Celebration Committee will present the 17th Annual Juneteenth Celebration, “A New Voice of Hope.” Mistress of Ceremonies, comedienne and actress Debra Wilson-Skelton, of MADtv fame, will lead the audience through the various performance venues including a main stage, youth stage and legacy museum. The entertainment line up includes Herbie Hancock, Kenny G., Island Rhythm R e g g a e a n d t h e Wa r d A M E Church Youth Choir. This event will take place June 20, noon to 5 p.m., at Virginia Avenue Park, near the Pico and Cloverfield boulevards intersection, Santa Monica.

Visitors and neighbors are encouraged to walk, bicycle or park for free at Santa Monica College, Structure A, near the intersection of Pico Boulevard and 17th Street. Information, including disabled access: (310) 458-8696, (310) 458-8688, email betty.macias@smgov.net.

BOOK FAIR • The Leimert Park Village Book Fair will take place June 6, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., in the lot of the Leimert Park Farmer’s Market at Degnan Boulevard at 43rd Place, Los Angeles. The fair, which is free and open to the community, will have four stages featuring author panels and special guest speakers; three stages featuring live music, poetry, storytelling and other performances; writing workshops and more activities. Information: (323) 730-0628, http://leimertparkbookfair.com/.

EXHIBIT • “MasterPeaces: High Art for Higher Purpose” is a project of the Center for the Study of Political Graphics. The exhibit, which examines how “high art has been repeatedly incorporated into a visual language that ranges from the iconoclastic to overt protest,” opens June 6 and runs through June 27, at the Da Vinci Gallery on the campus of Los Angeles City College, 855 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles.

streets. Starring Wood Harris (“The Wire”), “Doughboys” is said to be a “a gripping and uncompromising portrait of the toll taken by life in the inner city.” The film from BET and Paramount Home Entertainment comes to DVD June 16. The film is the first offering from “Give Back Raise Up,” a program founded to fund independent films and give up-and-coming directors, actors and filmmakers the opportunity to utilize their creative skills.

The 93-minute, unrated DVD cost $22.99. Information: https://arc. paramount.com.

THEATER • The Fountain Theatre has announced the West Coast premiere of “Coming Home” by renowned South African author and playwright Athol Fugard. The play

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Page 10

L.A. WATTS TIMES

June 4, 2009

ARTS & CULTURE Black Music Month Feature

Celebs Recall Memorable Music Moments

BY DARLENE DONLOE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

June is Black Music Month and once again it’s an opportunity to acknowledge all those exceptional singers, songwriters, producers, musicians and technicians past and present who have brought music to our ears.

Whether your taste leans toward jazz, R&B, rap, blues, hip-hop or gospel, it has all made an indelible mark on the world’s musical perception.

So for 30 days in June, this country will celebrate the black music art form.

Most people have a song that takes them back to a moment in time that was memorable and reflective in some way. Maybe it was the song that was playing during a first date, getting dumped; falling in love; the death of a loved one; a vacation spot; making love; a first kiss; passing a test; your wedding song; a time in college; your first gig; or any number of life-evolving circumstances.

Whatever it is or was, it made you feel something, which is what music is intended to do. We recently asked some celebrities the following question: What song had a profound affect on you the very first time you heard it?

CCH POUNDER (“ER”) — “Fats Waller’s ‘Black and Blue’.”

DONALD FAISON (“Scrubs”) — “ ‘Everything’ from Lauryn Hill’s ‘The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill’.”

TERRENCE HOWARD (“Fighting”) — “ ‘Nature Boy’ by Nat King Cole. When I was 14, my uncle turned to me and he said, ‘You are a young prince and one day you shall be king. Do everything as a king.’ So the combination of that song and what my uncle said to me, they have constantly been shaping me.”

MIKE EPPS (“Next Day Air”) — “Anthony Hamilton’s

‘Comin’ from ‘Where I’m From.’ I felt it immediately.”

MARLON WAYANS (“Dance Flick”) — “ ‘I Sing The Body Electric’ from “Fame” because it was about reaching for the stars and I was just getting started in this business.”

JENIFER LEWIS (“What’s Love Got To Do With It”) — ‘Exodus’ because of the words.

Also, ‘Born Free.’ ”

- Gail Choice, Our Weekly

MESHACH TAYLOR (“Designing Women,”/“To Tell The Truth”) — “Fats Waller’s ‘Black and Blue.’ ”

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HAROLD PERRINEAU (“The Unusuals”/“Lost”) — “ ‘Black and Blue’ by Fats Waller.”

NICOLE BEHARIE (“American Violet”) — “Nina Simone, the song she sang at the end of the movie called, ‘I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free.’ ”

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TONYA PINKINS (“All My Children”) — “Wow, that’s easy. It was Nancy Wilson’s ‘Guess Who I Saw Today.’ I was 7 years old.”

Regina Taylor Israel Hicks

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people had been displaced.

Not many Americans are even aware of the massacre that came to be known as this nation’s worst act of domestic terrorism.

Nothing like it had happened before May 31, 1921, and nothing like it has happened since. Wes Young and Dr. Olivia Hooker survived it. They remember it vividly.

They were only children when it happened, but the impact and the emotional scars were still felt.

On that fateful day, Hooker, now 93, remembers being awakened by her mother and hearing tapping sounds on the roof of her house. She thought it was a hailstorm until her mother informed her it was the sound of machine gun fire.

“I never thought someone would actually want to shoot me,” said Hooker, who became the first African American woman in history to become a SPAR in the women’s reserve of the Coast Guard. (SPAR is an acronym for the Coast Guard motto, “Semper Paratus, Always Ready”).

Young, 92, was only 4 when it happened. However, he can remember running. The rest of his account of that day comes from horrific stories told to him by his mother and older sister.

“They have no reason to lie,” he said. “No reason to lie.”

One story Young tells is about “gun dealers who were just giving them (guns) out to the whites so they could ‘go out and kill you a (Nword),’ ” Young said. “And that is literally what happened.”

There are various accounts of what ultimately set off the riot. But, as the story goes, it apparently started in an elevator at the Drexel building in downtown Tulsa involving a 17-year-old white female elevator operator named Sarah Page and Dick Rowland, a 19-year-old black man. Allegedly, Rowland accidentally stepped on Page’s foot in the elevator, throwing her off balance.

When Rowland reached out to keep her from falling, she screamed.

Many Tulsans came to believe through media reports that Rowland attacked Page although there was never any evidence to validate the claim.

The strained relationship be-

BENNY BOOM (“Next Day Air,” director) — “ ‘Rapper’s Delight.’”

DAWNN LEWIS (“A Different World”) — “ ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow.’ ”

MICHAEL BEACH (“Relative Stranger”) — “It’s probably ‘Superstar/Until You Come Back To Me’ by Luther Vandross. In college I had broken up with my girlfriend and that song had a powerful affect on me. Also, ‘In The Air Tonight’ by Phil Collins. I was directing a play and I used that piece because it excited me.” tween the white and black communities, the heightened jealousy of the highly successful Black Wall Street area, and the elevator encounter are believed to be what led to the riots.

Reggie Turner, producer and director of “Before They Die!”

Armed white men looted, burned and destroyed the black community.

Both Hooker and Young were in Los Angeles recently to participate in a reception sponsored by Sandra Evers-Manly and the Northrop Grumman Foundation and for the screening of, “Before They Die!” a documentary (narrated by Franklin Ajaye) chronicling the Tulsa Race Riot and the survivors of that carnage.

Held at the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center on the 88th anniversary of the occurrence, the event was a fundraiser for The Tulsa Project Inc., helmed by executive director Reggie Turner, who is the film’s producer and director.

He is also the CEO of Mportant Films, which produced the documentary.

Those in attendance included several other survivors, Harvard Law Professor Charles J. Ogletree Jr., Congresswoman Maxine Waters, actor Courtney Vance and Dale Cochran (widow of Johnnie Cochran).

“I had no idea what I was doing when I started this project,” Turner said. “It took seven years of my life. But, the secrets had to be told and everyone needed to learn about these people’s stories.”

When he began production on “Before They Die!” Turner’s initial mission was to remind America about an incident that had been swept under the rug and to press the government to pay reparations to the survivors and to descendants of survivors who have since passed on.

Eventually, a dream team of lawyers and activists were assembled See SURVIVORS, page 11

June 4, 2009

L.A. WATTS TIMES

Page 11

EDUCATION NOTEBOOK Summer Session Canceled for Some L.A. Schools (AP) — There will be no summer school this year for elementary and middle school students in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Officials said May 28 that the summer session has been canceled due to declining revenues and the state budget deficit.

Superintendent Ramon Cortines calls it a sad day for students, parents, families and the school district.

The district says the move is expected to affect more than 225,000 students and save about $34 million.

Some summer school classes will be offered at the high school level.

Professor Who Taught UCLA’s First Black Studies Class Dies BERKELEY (AP) — Ronald Takaki, a pioneer in the field of ethnic studies who taught the University of California system’s first black history Ronald course, has died. He Takaki was 70.

Takaki killed himself May 26 in his Berkeley home after suffering for two decades from multiple sclerosis, a debilitating neurological disease, according to his son, Troy Takaki.

After joining UC Berkeley’s faculty in 1971, Takaki established the Ethnic Studies department’s Ph.D. program, the first of its kind in the U.S., and worked to draw talented scholars to teach there. He was the author or editor of nearly 20 books, most of them dealing with marginalized Americans.

Takaki began his teaching career in 1966 at UCLA, where he taught the UC system’s first black history class in the wake of the city’s deadly 1965 Watts rebellion.

Takaki also advised President Bill Clinton on his major speech on race in 1997.

Black Harvard Student: Racism Part of Campus Ban BOSTON (AP) — A black Harvard University senior who lives in the dorm where a campus visitor was fatally shot says school officials ordered her out of the building and

told her she could not graduate, singling her out because of her race.

Chanequa Campbell is a friend of the shooting suspect’s girlfriend, another Harvard student, but has no connection to the suspect or the victim, her attorney, Jeffrey Karp, told The Associated Press.

She was ordered off campus May 22 without being told why, Karp said.

Campbell lived in the dorm where 21-year-old Justin Cosby, a former Salem State College student, was killed May 18 in what authorities say was a drug-related robbery attempt. Jabrai Jordan Copney, 20, has been charged with murder.

Copney gained access to the Kirkland House dorm with an electronic card key given to him by a student, prosecutors said. That key did not come from Campbell, Karp said. Campbell was at an exam and at work the day of the shooting and lives in a part of the dorm far from the scene.

In a report last month, a panel convened to look into whether campus police unfairly stopped black people because of their race said more work needed to be done to create a welcoming environment at the school.

Condoleezza Rice Urges Grads to Pursue Learning TALLADEGA, Alabama (AP) — Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has urged graduates of Talladega High School in Alabama to find their passions in life and follow them.

Rice is a native of Birmingham and was the school’s graduation speaker May 28.

She told the 150 graduates and their families that she first studied music in college but later pursued international studies, although she said she “didn’t have a Russian bone in my body,” The Birmingham News reported.

She said that many years later, when she was leaving the White House with then-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and his wife, she thought she had made a good decision in changing her major.

Talladega Mayor Brian York gave Rice a key to the city and declared it “Condoleezza Rice Day.” Rice was Secretary of State under the Bush administration from 2005 to 2009.

A NEW LOOK — Students from Tom Bradley Magnet School gathered June 2 at 2nd Avenue and Rodeo Road for the dedication of a mural painted by artist Nic. Pictured: Students, along with Principal Genevieve Sheppard (in hat).

SURVIVORS Continued from page 10 to take on the case, including Johnnie Cochran (deceased), Ogletree and distinguished historian John Hope Franklin, who passed away last March. According to the documentary, the team took it as far as the Supreme Court, but failed to get a hearing.

Despite four years of legal efforts by some of America’s best lawyers, survivors still have not had their day in court. No inroads have been made to pay restitution to the victims and the case has been dismissed without ever hearing a word from the victims.

The survivors were denied their day in court, reportedly because the justice system said they were “sleeping on their rights” and therefore the statute of limitations had run out.

Ogletree said he was committed and undeterred.

“This is about justice,” he said.

“We started interviewing people in 2004 or 2003 and we have dozens of survivors interviewed. Eighty percent of the people who were interviewed to tell their story are dead. We are just seeking justice for these people before they (all) die.”

Both Ogletree and Turner plan to continue their work. And, if the government continues to turn them away and refuse reparations, it’s Turner’s hope to collect enough money, through fundraising efforts, to be distributed to the survivors.

At a hearing in 2007, before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights, Hooker said, “As a child, I had believed every word of the Constitution, but after the riots happened, I realized that the Constitution did not include me.”

Photo Courtesy of MIYA WALKER

LINKED UP — Students and faculty at Los Angeles Southwest College linked arms to form a “human chain,” during the opening ceremony for its new $16 million Student Services Building, symbolizing their daily connection to impact student success.

Although they are a bit older and move a little slower, none of the survivors present at the recent screening has any intention of slowing down or discontinuing their fight for justice.

“You have to still have some hope for America,” Young said.

“There have been some mistakes. She (America) just has to step up to the plate and hit a home run.”

When asked whether he was mad at America, Young said, “When in was 25, 26 I got over being mad about what happened. I got a load on my shoulders that’s going to make me one-sided. But that’s in the past. It’s past history.

“I can tell about the past history but I can’t do anything about it. You can see that no one else repeats it.

Being angry about something, I done got pass that. I’m not mad at anybody.”

“This is going to wake up the conscience of America,” Hooker said

about the documentary. “That’s why I try to hang in here. Let’s have justice some day and not too far away.”

For more information, visit www.BeforeTheyDieMovie.com.

• Strong Arts, P.E. and Technology Programs • Emphasis on Self-Reliance and Mutual Respect • Pre-K through 6th Grade • Challenging and Individualized Curriculum 3430 McManus Ave., Culver City, CA 90232 (310) 838-2442 • echohorizon.org

Page 12

L.A. WATTS TIMES

June 4, 2009

HEALTH THE PULSE Kitchen Divas Series Focuses on Tasty, Healthy Meals A HEALTHY, GOOD TIME — Organizers held the Watts Women’s Healthy Heart Festival May 30 at the Watts Healthcare Clinic. Pictured (top left): Karen Photos by MARTY COTWRIGHT Briggs, violinist, performs. Pictured (right): The group “BABII SQUAD” competing in the Watts Teen Talent Showcase contest. Left to right: Trayneisna Hudson; Tajenna Walker; Shanci Steen; Elexus Mingo; and Jasnay Blair.

Quick Reality Check On Herbal, Other Supplements

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Here are a few basics about herbal and other supplements and their safety and effectiveness.

Q: Since vitamins and herbal pills are sold at the drugstore, doesn’t that mean they’re safe and government approved?

A: Not necessarily. These are “dietary supplements” and the law doesn’t require them to go through rigorous testing to prove they are

safe or even that they work. The government has rules saying ingredients must match what’s on the label, but it doesn’t vouch for their accuracy.

The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, adopted in 1994, says the Food and Drug Administration can go after a product when a problem comes to light — rather than having the manufacturer prove it is safe and effective beforehand, as is required of pharmaceuticals.

Testosterone Dose Response in Surgically Menopausal Women Principal Investigator: Matthew H. Ho, Ph.D., M.D. “Thank you for your interest in our research program. The purpose of this particular study is to find out the effects of testosterone, in women. Women who are post-menopause often have low testosterone levels in their blood. Some doctors recommend giving testosterone to women after menopause, but it is not clear whether this helps women health. This study may find out whether it is beneficial to replace testosterone in women who are post-menopause and therefore have low testosterone in their blood. This research study may also find out the most appropriate dose of testosterone that shows beneficial effects on women’s sex life, muscle and fat mass, physical function, and ability to solve some types of problems with the least amount of side effects.

“We will measure the effects of testosterone on fat and muscle size, muscle strength, sexual desire and activity, and higher functions of the brain. Approximately 140 women will take part in this study that is approved and funded by the National Institutes of Health. The protocol of this study has also been reviewed and approved by our Institutional Review Board.

“For this study, we are looking for women between the ages of 21 to 60, who are post-menopausal (either menopause occurred naturally with their ovaries intact or occurred surgically with their ovaries removed) and have had their uterus removed by surgery, and who do not have breast or uterine cancer. Do you meet these criteria?”

For information call (323) 357-3697 “If you are interested in obtaining more information about this study or taking part in this study, I can set up an appointment for you to come to our Clinical Study Center at Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science. During this visit, I will explain all the procedures in great detail, describe the risks and benefits involved, and answer any questions that you might have about this research study.”

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BIPOLAR DEPRESSION Are you 18-65 years of age?

Have you been struggling with DEPRESSION, including: * Loss of interest or low energy * Sleeping problems or change in appetite * Feelings of worthlessness IN THE PAST, have you experienced periods where you had increased energy or irritability, needed less sleep, had too many ideas to keep track of, or your thoughts jumped from topic to topic?

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Q: Haven’t many of these remedies been taken for years the world over, especially in China?

Aren’t these natural products better for you than chemicals made in a big pharmaceutical company lab?

A: Roughly a quarter of FDAapproved drugs are made from plants. These have been tested for safety and effectiveness, and are sold in standard doses.

But herbal supplements contain varying amounts depending on the brand, and some natural ingredients can be harmful. Some interfere with other medicines and even things like birth control pills. Many natural remedies have had little rigorous testing to determine whether they work.

Q: If millions of people take them and say they improve their health, isn’t that an indication they work?

A: Some might do some good.

But the mind-body connection is so powerful that a strong belief that you feel better actually can help counter pain and other physical problems. This “placebo effect” can make people think a pill is helping when their mind is really doing the work.

Q: I don’t always eat right.

Aren’t vitamin pills a good idea?

A: Doctors say Americans generally get all the nutrients they need from their diet. Vitamins from a pill are not the same as those from food and may not provide the same health benefits. Too much of some vitamins can be harmful.

Q: What happens if a supplement makes someone sick?

A: The FDA can ask the manufacturer to recall the product if there are enough reports of illness or serious side effects. Since last year, supplement makers have been required to tell the FDA of serious problems reported by consumers and doctors. Before that, potential dangers surfaced mostly through complaints to doctors or emergency room visits. That’s how the dangers of the herbal stimulant ephedra, used as a diet pill, became known.

It was blamed for dozens of heart attacks, strokes and deaths, and the FDA banned its use in 2004.

Consumers can report an illness they think may be linked to a supplement by calling (800) FDA1088 or by visiting www.fda.gov/ medwatch/how.htm.

The government says you should report any serious problem even if you are not sure the product was the cause or you did not see a doctor.

The Kitchen Divas cooking series will take place every Thursday from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at 476 S. La Brea Ave., Inglewood.

The series will focus on creating healthful meals that are filling and appetizing. The menu includes a raw energy bar and green lemonade, collard wraps, mac ‘n’ cheese with mixed green salad, raw fruit and a cream pie.

Information: kitchendivas@ bwwla.com.

Forum to be Held On Women’s Reproductive Issues The Reproductive Justice Coalition of Los Angeles will present a town hall forum called “Raising Women’s Voices” June 13, 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the headquarters of Planned Parenthood Los Angeles, 400 W. 30th St., Los Angeles.

At the event, attendees can come and share their health care reform needs, be part of the national Speak Out events, and listen to a panel of experts discuss what local organizations are doing for health care reform.

During the program, conversations will be compiled into a summary of key points and used to inform health policy that will impact families and communities.

A continental breakfast and lunch will be served. RSVP if child care or translation is needed.

Information: (323) 290-5955, bwwlosangeles@yahoo.com.

BWW to Hosts Program On Sexuality in Black Community The Bring a Brother to Breakfast series will feature a program called “Sexuality and Politics in the African American Community: Myth vs. Reality of Sex and Sexuality” June 12, 9 to 11:30 a.m., at Lucy Florence Cultural Center, 3550 W. 43rd St., Los Angeles.

The goal of the program is to have an open dialogue with black men on the impact and influence of sexuality on the black community’s health as well as communication between black men and women.

Topics to be discussed include whether sexual performance enhancement drugs have made sexually transmitted diseases more of a problem among elderly African Americans and how to best offset harmful messages in popular culture about sexuality related to the younger generation.

Admission is free for Black Women for Wellness members and their guests and $15 for others.

Information: (323) 290-5955, bwwlosangeles@yahoo.com.

L.A. Company Recalls Shelled Pistachio Products (AP) — A food company is recalling pistachios sold in Los

Angeles under the label Wild Rose because they could be contaminated with salmonella.

Season Produce Co. of Los Angeles says the packages of roasted and salted shelled pistachios were sold between Jan. 28 and March 28.

No illnesses have been reported to date for the product.

Salmonella can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections, especially in young children, the elderly, and those with weakened immune systems.

Deal Proposed for California Inmate Care SACRAMENTO (AP) — California would build two prison hospitals under a proposed settlement to a long-running dispute between Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s administration and the federal courts over inmate medical care.

The agreement would call for a sharply scaled-down and far less expensive plan to improve prison medical care than the one previously presented by J. Clark Kelso, a court-appointed receiver who oversees prison medical care.

Kelso and California Corrections Secretary Matthew Cate said their plan includes building two prison hospitals to house 3,400 inmates, at a cost of $1.9 billion.

Kelso’s original plan called for building seven medical centers to house 10,000 inmates, with construction costs of about $6 billion.

The settlement they outlined to The Associated Press was a concession to fiscal reality as California faces a $24.3 billion budget deficit. Both said final details would be worked out in the next few days, and the settlement still needs approval from the federal courts and state lawmakers.

Insurer Settles With Hospitals for at Least $1.95 Million (AP) — In a lawsuit settlement, Health Net of California Inc. has agreed to create a $1.95 million fund to repay hospitals for costs associated with patients whose coverage was dropped after receiving medical care, a practice known as rescission.

The suit was organized by the California Hospital Association, a trade group representing more than 400 hospitals. The group’s lawyer, Glenn Solomon, said the suit has been in negotiation since August 2008. “(The settlement) not only helped hospitals but this provides relief for patients because the hospitals will now stop pursuing bills” that may be outstanding, Solomon said.

The settlement covers Health Net rescissions of nearly 1,000 patients between February 2004 and October 2007, Solomon said.

The insurer admits no fault in the cases.

Additionally, Health Net will pay $15,000 to the California Hospital Association.

June 4, 2009

L.A. WATTS TIMES

Page 13

Page 14

L.A. WATTS TIMES

June 4, 2009

SPORTS BRAD PYE JR.

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

Lamar Odom earned 19 points and 14 rebounds in the Lakers’ 10394 victory in game five over Denver.

If Odom can duplicate this play

for the rest of the playoffs, perhaps he can earn a new contract. At the end of the season, he becomes a free agent.

rero from the 15-day disabled list May 25. With Guerrero’s return, Gary Matthews Jr.’s playing time will undoubtedly be reduced. This could make Matthews an unhappy camper.

By prestime, manager Cito Gaston had his Toronto Blue Jays crowding the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. The third-place Blue Jays played after presstime on June 3.

This is Gaston’s second tour of duty with Toronto. In his first time around, he piloted the Blue Jays to back-toback World Series crowns.

And the beat continues.

Who says black folks can’t win the long races? That was the myth going around when I was at L.A.’s Jefferson High from 1946 to 1949.

Well, on May 25, Wesley Korir became the 11th consecutive Kenyan to

Lamar Odom

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The Lakers will face the Orlando Magic in game one of the NBA finals today.

Referee Violet Palmer, a Compton High graduate with 12 years of experience in the National Basketball Association, has been named coordinator of women’s basketball officials for the West Coast Conference. Palmer is the first woman to referee an NBA game.

Dodger Manny Ramirez’s 50-game suspension for violating Major League Baseball’s drug policy ends July 3. That’s days before the All-Star Game. If Ramirez is voted into the game, should he be permitted to play? The Dodgers already plan to send him to the minors as part of a rehabilitation program. Hopefully, the team will still have the best record in MLB when Ramirez returns.

Peter O’Malley is thoughtful.

He served as president of the Dodgers from 1970 to 1998. He is constantly sending his friends, like me, copies of books about the Dodgers, such as Michael D’Antonio’s “Forever Blue” and Jon Weisman’s “100 Things...Dodger Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die.” The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim removed Vladimir Guer-

Photo by DAVID PERRY/PHOTOVISIONS

HANDLING BUSINESS — Trevor Ariza goes to the hole during game five between the Lakers and Denver Nuggets. Ariza helped the Lakers eliminate the Nuggets last week, 119-92, in game six, closing out the series 4-2 in Denver. The Lakers play game one of the NBA Finals today against the Orlando Magic.

Wesley Korir

win the L.A. Marathon. Korir collected $160,000 and a Honda Accord.

There are several black French men, including Gael Monfils, competing in the French Open in Paris.

Monfils beat American Bobby Reynolds in a match on May 26.

Monfils ended the 2008 season ranked No. 14, and he is now No. 10.

No black French man has won the French Open since Yannick Noah in 1983.

American James Blake lost his

first round match at the French Open to 93rd-ranked Leonardo Mayer of Argentina, 7-6 (8-6), 7-5, 6-2.

And the beat continues.

Walbrook High’s midfielder lacrosse star Jamar Peete was the only black player named to The Baltimore Sun’s all-city first team last year. This year Peete led Walbrook High with 36 goals and 25 assists.

Narbonne High’s all-city wide receiver Dannie Farber Jr. was shot and killed by an alleged gang member May 24 in a Compton restaurant. The 18-yearold Farber was three weeks from graduation and was L.A. Harbor College-bound.

TV commentator Marques Johnson — former Crenshaw High all-city player of the year, UCLA all-American and all-pro NBA star — wrote in to say: “I am honorary chairman of the 42nd Watts Summer Games. I played in the games for the first time in ’70 as a 14-year-old for Dorsey High School. We got pounded by Ed Goorjian’s Crescenta Valley team led by future Trojan Bill Boyd and Bob Trowbridge. Going into my senior year at Crenshaw, we lost by one point in the championship game to Jim Harrick’s Morningside team led by Jackie Robinson and See SPORTS BEAT, page 15

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L.A. WATTS TIMES

Page 15

PUBLIC NOTICE Requesting bids from all qualified Subcontractors

PUBLIC NOTICE Notice of Availability of Environmental Document, Notice of Intent to Adopt a Mitigated Negative Declaration, and Announcement of Community Meetings for State Route 2 Freeway Terminus Improvement Project

“LACCD West LA Technology Training Center and Watson Center” Culver City, CA

CONSTRUCTION LEADERS

Bid Date: June 9, 2009 at 2:00 PM. General Contractor: PCL CONSTRUCTION SERVICES, INC. 700 N. Central, #700 – Glendale, CA 91203 Phone: (818) 246-3481 / Fax: (818) 553-1379 Contact: Gwen Brown PROJECT DESCRIPTION: PCL is soliciting pricing for the above project. This is a design-build project.

Subcontractor’s pricing will be based on preliminary drawings created by PCL’s design team.

The general scope of the Project consists of an approximately 74,000sf Technology and Training Center building and an approximately 64,000sf theater, sound stage and studio building.

If you are interested in pricing the project you will need to fill out a Confidentiality Agreement and fax it back to Gwen Brown at 818-553-1379.

There is a Project Labor Agreement for this project. There is an OCIP, including GL and Worker’s Comp.

PCL intends to outreach and accept bids in Good Faith with Local, Small, Emerging and Disadvantaged-Veterans’ Businesses.

Plans are available for viewing in the PCL Plan Room located at 700 No. Central Ave., #700 – Glendale, CA 91203.

WHAT IS BEING PLANNED

WHY THIS AD

WHAT IS AVAILABLE

WHERE YOU COME IN CONTACT SPECIAL ACCOMODATIONS

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro), in cooperation with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and City of Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT), propose to modify the southern Terminus of State Route 2 (SR-2) from Branden Street (PM 13.5) to Oak Glen Place (PM 15.0) in the City and County of Los Angeles. The purpose of the project is to better manage traffic flow at the terminus, enhance vehicular and pedestrian mobility and safety in the vicinity of the SR-2 terminus, and develop a freeway terminus design that is compatible with existing residential and commercial uses in the immediate vicinity.

Metro and Caltrans have studied the effects this project may have on the environment. The results of the studies are detailed in an Initial Study/Environmental Assessment (IS/EA). This notice is to advise of the availability of this document for review and comment and to announce the dates and locations of the public hearing and public information meetings that will be held on the document and project. The public hearing will be held on Tuesday, June 16, 2009 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Mayberry Elementary School (2414 Mayberry Street, Los Angeles, 90026). The two public information meetings on the proposed project will be held on Tuesday, June 9, 2009 at Mayberry Elementary School (2414 Mayberry Street, Los Angeles, 90026) and on Thursday, June 11, 2009 at Barlow Hospital (2000 Stadium Way, Los Angeles, 90026) from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. This notice also serves as notification that the project-level conformity analysis shows that the project will conform with the State Implementation Plan, including localized impact analysis for carbon monoxide (CO) and particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) required by 40 CFR 93.116 and 93.123.

This project is not considered a Project of Air Quality Concern regarding particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) as defined in 40 CFR 93.123(b)(1). A detailed PM10 and PM2.5 hot-spot analysis was not completed because Clean Air Act and 40 CFR 93.116 requirements are met without an explicit hot-spot analysis. Comment is requested regarding the project-level conformity analysis.

The IS/EA is available for review at Metro’s Headquarters (One Gateway Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90012) and Caltrans District 7 Offices (100 S. Main Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012) on weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. To view an electronic copy of the document, go to http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist07/. In addition, the IS/EA is available at the following repositories: Edendale Branch Library (2011 W. Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, 90026), Atwater Village Branch Library (3379 Glendale Boulevard, Los Angeles, 90039), and Echo Park Branch Library (1410 W. Temple Street, Los Angeles, 90026) You can review the IS/EA and attend the public meetings. If you have any comments about the project, please submit them to Irv Taylor, One Gateway Plaza, Mail Stop 99-22-2, Los Angeles, CA 90012-2952 or e-mail them to taylori@metro.net. Your comments should be received no later than July 2, 2009.

For information about this project call Irv Taylor at Metro at (213) 922-2954.

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Caltrans and Metro will provide reasonable accommodations such as an American Sign Interpreter, accessible seating, and documentation in alternate formats to individuals with disabilities.

To obtain such services, please contact Yesenia Arias at (909) 627-2974 at least 10 days before the meeting date. TDD users may contact the California Relay Service TDD line at 1-800-735-2929 or the Caltrans District 7 TTY at (213) 8974937.

FOR SALE Standard Hospital Beds – Buy 1 Bed and get 2 Beds Free, $700 or Best Offer Call (213) 703-5720

The Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles invites proposals from qualified Third Party Administrators to administer the Authority’s selfinsured workers’ compensation program. Copy of the RFP may be obtained beginning May 26, 2009 via www.hacla.org/ps website or call (213) 252-5405 or 252-1832.

Proposals will be accepted until 2:00 P.M., June 30, 2009.

5/28, 6/4/09 CNS-1599668# WATTS TIMES

SPORTS BEAT Continued from page 14 Michael Ingram. UCLA coaches were at the game, and it solidified my status as a desirable recruit for the Bruins.

“My son Moriah won the city championship in the high jump …

Moriah is likely headed to Tuskegee University to play basketball in the fall.”

For the record, Michael Vick’s prison sentence for promoting dogfighting ends July 20. He’s now on house arrest in Virginia.

An Equal Opportunity Employer

LOS ANGELES COUNTY METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY (Metro) INVITATION FOR BIDS Metro will receive bids for IFB #OP39602371, WHEEL LOADER per specifications on file at the Office of Procurement & Material Mgmt, One Gateway Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90012 (12th Floor).

All Bids must be submitted on forms furnished by Metro, and must be filed at the reception desk of the Office of Proc. & Mat. Mgmt. on or before 2:00 p.m.( Pacific Time), June 30, 2009, at which time bids will be opened and publicly read. Bids received later than the above date and time will be rejected and returned to the bidder unopened. Each bid must be sealed and marked Bid No. OP39602371.

You may obtain bid specifications, or further information, by faxing AMY WANG at (213) 922-3883.

Advertisement for Minority Sub Bidders Pouk & Steinle Inc Request for qualified WBE/MBE/OBE firms interested in providing bids to Pouk & Steinle Inc for various segments of the; Community Development Department for the City of Anaheim Colony Park Phase II 12KV Distribution Undergrounding Anaheim Redevelopment Agency and Electrical Engineering

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP #7515) WORKERS' COMPENSATION THIRD PARTY CLAIMS ADMINISTRATION

TRADES:: Surveying, Earthwork, Excavation, Site Utilities, Asphalt, Form/Site Concrete, Landscaping, Rebar, Structural Steel, Metal Decking, Misc Metals, Finish Carpentry, Waterproofing, Building Insulation, Roofing, Sheet Metal, Doors, Glass, Drywall, Tile, Acoustical Ceilings, Flooring, Painting, Display Boards, Signage, Toilets & Baths, Theater, Projection Screens, Stadium Seating, Elevators and Fire Protection.

(An Equal Opportunity Employer) is seeking bids from all qualified Consultants and other Service Providers and strongly encourages MBE, WBE and OBE participation for PRECONSTRUCTION SERVICES including, but not limited to, Estimating, Design Review, Document Control, Scheduling and Quality Control for:

BRADLEY WEST CORE IMPROVEMENTS (PK-TB05) At the Los Angeles International Airport Los Angeles, California In order to allow for full evaluation Proposals are Due no later than: June 10, 2009 at 5:00 PM The Request for Proposal, Plans and Specifications are available for review in our offices at 7600 World Way West, LA; the Clark office at, 575 Anton Blvd.; Suite 100, Costa Mesa and the McCarthy office at, 20401 S.W. Birch Street, Suite 300, Newport Beach, 7:30 am – 4:30 pm Mon thru Fri; and on-line at the Los Angeles Business Assistance Virtual Network (www.LABAVN.org). Interested firms must submit their Statement of Qualifications indicating the specific work area of interest, along with unit rates for services. Firms performing work for the Owner’s design, engineer or management teams on this project are excluded.

Clark/McCarthy, intends to seriously negotiate with all qualified consultants and service providers, and requires each selected to execute the Clark/McCarthy, A Joint Venture Master Agreement. Copy of the Master Agreement is available for review at our office. M/W/OBE firms must provide proof of certification acceptable to the City of Los Angeles as identified in the Request for Proposal.

Clark/McCarthy, A Joint Venture 20401 S.W. Birch Street, Suite 300 • Newport Beach, CA 92660 License No. 873455 Contact: Jim Metoyer Phone: 949-851-8383 Fax: 949-851-8398 • Cell: 949-500-1885 Email: jxmetoyer@mccarthy.com Or Molly Huddleston - Phone: 714-429-9779 Fax: 714-429-9778

That’s all of my time. Thanks for your time. This is BPJ reporting. Have a ball.

And the beat ends.

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

Areas: Saw cutting of asphalt/concrete, Asphalt street repair, Concrete repair, Operated backhoe rentals, Operated dump truck rental Request for specifications and plan information should be directed to Gary Britain, Division Manager Underground Substructure Division, at, 2520 Rubidoux Blvd., Riverside CA, 92509, Tel: 951-682-2982, Fax: 951-788-0686 Bids accepted at 2520 Rubidoux Blvd., Riverside CA until June 11th, 2009 at 2:00PM, MBE/WBE/OBE firms must provide proof of certification acceptable to the City of Anaheim.

Successful bidders may be required to furnish performance, labor and material payment bond, each equal to 100 percent of the estimate amount of the bid. They shall also provide proof of insurance. Assistance obtaining Bonds and Insurance.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT File No. 20090825963 The following person is doing business as: Solar 360 871 Glenway Dr. Inglewood, CA 90302 Rembert James 871 Glenway Dr. Inglewood, CA 90302 Rembert James P.O. Box 83847 Los Angeles, CA 90083 This business is conducted by an Individual.

I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct (The registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.) is Rembert James.

This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles County on June 3, 2009. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on N/A. NOTICE: This Fictitious Name Statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the Los Angeles County Clerk. A New Fictitious Business Name Statement must be filed before that time.

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

Published: 6/4/09, 6/11/09, 6/18/09, 6/25/09 LAWT372

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT File No. 20090745196 The following person is doing business as: Intergrated Control 7015 Charmant Drive #187 San Diego, CA 92122 Tuan Tony Tu 7015 Charmant Drive #187 San Diego, CA 92122 Intergrated Control 953 Laurel Drive Los Angeles, CA 90046 Bill Wilson 953 Laurel Drive Los Angeles, CA 90046 This business is conducted by an Individual.

I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct (The registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.) is Bill Wilson.

This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles County on May 20, 2009. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on N/A. NOTICE: This Fictitious Name Statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the Los Angeles County Clerk. A New Fictitious Business Name Statement must be filed before that time.

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

Published: 5/28/09, 6/4/09, 6/11/09, 6/18/09 LAWT373

Page 16

L.A. WATTS TIMES

June 4, 2009

BUSINESS CARD BULLETIN BOARD • • • • • •

Teeth Whitening in One Hour Cosmetic Bonding Complete & Partial Dentures Gum Treatment White Fillings Crowns, Bridges & Veneers

39

$

❖ Dependable Movers ❖

95 New Patients Only.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m.

Francine Bickham,

(323) 630-9971 (323) 997-1193

Includes:

Digital X-Rays and Exam.

Free Toothbrush & Floss

DDS UCLA Graduate

1075 E. PCH. Ste. D., Long Beach 90806

(562) 591-4028

MEN DID YOU EXPERIENCE UNWANTED OR FORCED SEXUAL CONTACT BEFORE YOU WERE 18 YEARS OLD? You may be eligible to participate in a research study that examines the psychological and physical stress of men who experienced forced sexual contact as a child or adolescent.

This study is conducted by Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science and UCLA. We are interested in interviewing: • African American, Latino and White men • Over 18 years of age and under 40 years

DRAINS R US A Friendly And Reliable Plumbing Company That You Can Depend On! • Drain Cleaning • Sewer/Drain Repair Free Estimates • Copper Repipe • Water Leak Repairs Available • Water Heaters • Major/Minor Repairs 24/7 Trenchless Technology

If you agree to participate, you will be asked to: • Participate in an interview that lasts 2 to 3 hours • Give 3 saliva samples • Provide a urine sample You may receive up to $100 for your participation in this study. For more information, please call Jennifer Payne, LCSW, at (323) 357-3629.

Real Professionals Who LOVE their work No Job too small!!! We make it look E-Z. SENIOR CITIZEN DISCOUNT NOW HIRING EXPERIENCED MOVERS/DRIVERS CAL-T 154009

JOB OPENINGS Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Seeking Licensed Insurance Agents Salary, Benefits, & Training Management Opportunity

Contact James Jackson

(323) 373-0223

Call For An Appointment Lace Westbrook III (323) 710-8158

The Banks Loss is Your Gain L & L Document Preparation

Take advantage of the stimulus package to modify your loan at the current interest rate.

I CAN STOP ANY TRUST DEED SALE OF YOUR PROPERTY. Why not short sale your property and save your credit for your new loan.

INTEREST RATES AND PROPERTY ARE DOWN, SO WHY NOT TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE MARKET. “STATED” 5.5% 30 YEAR FIXED (5.62) APR

Janice Harrison

Call me for a free (562) 708-7287 Consultation with no Obligation (562) 861-4100 AMERICAN HOME LOANS & REALTY

LEGAL DOCUMENTS TYPED • Real Estate Sales/Loans • Refinancing • Divorce and Family Law • Living Trust/Wills • Notary • Small Claims • Evictions

Call Lola Bateman

(310) 674-6413 Fax: (310) 674-0026

171 N. LaBrea Ave., #103, Inglewood

Steal a property from the bank. Buy a So Cal home for under 100k! Interest rates are under 5%. Act now.

Register on the web at: www.firstteam.com/steveweatherall or call/text me at 310.989.3034

Steve Weatherall

Law Offices of

Michael Hailu &

Associates Bankruptcy Employment Law Immigration 3540 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 626 L.A., CA 90010

INJURED? Car Accidents Slip & Fall Medical Malpractice Wrongful Death

FREE Consultation Ph: (213) 385-0193 Ask for Attorney Mike Hailu

A VOLUNTARY RESEARCH STUDY Join hundreds of other Black men in Los Angeles who are part of a program to promote self acceptance, healthy lifestyle choices, and reduce HIV infection in the Black community. To get more details about the program and find out if you are eligible call 310-825-5474.

Both HIV- and HIV+ men may participate. Cash compensation and refreshments provided. All calls are confidential.

MAALES Project (310) 825-5474

™

HAVE YOU BEEN DENIED YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY BENEFITS? Let me assist you.

There is NO Fee if we don’t win.

Jacquelyn Brown, Disability Representative

Sessions held at a discreet location near you. www.cdrewu.edu/MAALES/

(323) 756-3755 Gourmet Coffee for the jazz art form since 1998 Howling Monk

NOW OPEN Mel’s Fish Shack

www.howlingmonk.com

4525 West Jefferson Blvd.

(310) 671-8551

Jefferson Blvd. & Farmdale Ave. 5 blocks West of Mel’s Fish Market

P.O. Box 1217, Inglewood, CA 90308

THIS IS YOUR COFFEE

Carry Out Only!

323-732-MELS (6357) or visit www.melsfishshack.com

Hours: Tues. - Thurs. 11-9 Fri. & Sat. 11-10 Sunday 11-8