LAWT-7-16-2009

July 16, 2009

SERVING LOS ANGELES COUNTY WITH NEWS YOU CAN USE

Vol. XXX, No. 1136 FIRST COLUMN

Obama’s Visit to Ghana Slave Fort Steeped in Symbolism

BY TODD PITMAN ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

CAPE COAST, Ghana (AP) — From the rampart of a whitewashed fort once used to ship countless slaves from Africa to the Americas, Cheryl Hardin gazed through watery eyes at the route forcibly taken across the sea by her ancestors centuries before.

“It never gets any easier,” the 48-year-old pediatrician said,

wiping away tears on her fourth trip to Ghana’s Cape Coast Castle in two decades. “It feels the same as when I first visited — painful, incomprehensible.”

On July 11, Barack Obama and his family followed in the footsteps of countless African Americans who have tried to reconnect with their past on these shores. Though Obama was not See OBAMA VISIT, page 4

Photo Courtesy of TOMORROW’S AERONAUTICAL MUSEUM

A PROUD MOMENT — Kimberly Anyadike is greeted by her father, Charles, July 11 after landing her plane at the Compton/Woodley Airport in Compton. Anyadike became the youngest African American female to fly solo cross country in a trip that lasted 13 days. She was accompanied by an 87-year-old who served with the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II, according to The Associated Press.

After More Than 40 Years, Watts Credit Union Closes

BY CHICO C. NORWOOD STAFF WRITER

AP Photo/HARAZ N. GHANBARI

A HOMECOMING — President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama, and their daughters Malia and Sasha on a tour of the Cape Coast Castle in Cape Coast, Ghana, July 11.

After 43 years of providing financial services to low- and moderate-income residents in Watts and surrounding areas, the Watts United Credit Union was closed recently by the California Department of Financial Institutions.

In a press release on the DFI

Obama Chooses Black Alabama Doctor as Next Surgeon General

BY LAURAN NEERGAARD AP MEDICAL WRITER

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama turned to the Deep South for the next surgeon general, choosing a rural Alabama family physician who made headlines with fierce determination to rebuild her nonprofit medical clinic in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Dr. Regina Benjamin is known along Alabama’s impoverished Gulf Coast as a country doctor who makes house calls and doesn’t turn away

Dr. Regina Benjamin

patients who can’t pay — even as she’s had to find money to rebuild a clinic repeatedly destroyed by hurricanes, and once, even by fire.

“For all the tremendous obstacles that she has overcome, Regina Benjamin also represents what’s best about health care in America, doctors and nurses who give and care and sacrifice for the sake of their patients,” Obama said July 13 in introducing his choice for a job known as America’s doctor.

He said Benjamin will bring important insight as his administration struggles to revamp the health care system: Saying she “has seen in a very personal way what is broken about our health care system,” Obama said Benjamin will bring important insight as his administration tries to revamp that system.

Benjamin called the job “a physician’s dream,” and pledged to be a voice for patients in need — and to fight the preventable diseases that claim too many lives (including nearly her entire family) each year.

Her father died with diabetes and high blood pressure, her only

brother of HIV-related illness, her mother of lung cancer “because as a young girl, she wanted to smoke just like her twin brother could” — an uncle now on oxygen as a result, she noted.

“I cannot change my family’s past. I can be a voice in the movement to improve our nation’s health care and our nation’s health,” Benjamin said. “I want to be sure that no one falls through the cracks as we improve our health care system.”

The surgeon general is the people’s health advocate, a bully pulpit position that can be tremendously effective with a forceful personality.

Benjamin has that reputation.

Pushed by the need in her own shrimping community of Bayou La Batre, Ala., and its diverse patient mix — white, black and, increasingly immigrants from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos — Benjamin, 51, has emerged as a national leader in the call to improve health disparities.

See SURGEON GENERAL, page 5

Web site, insolvency was cited for the closure of WUCU, which had some $800,000 in assets and about 1,000 members.

Chartered in October 1966 after the Watts Rebellion, the credit union grew to roughly $2 million in assets and more than 2,600 members in the 1980s and ’90s. The member service area was eventually expanded to cover the area bounded by the Santa Monica freeway on the north, La Brea Avenue on the west, Alameda Street on the east and Imperial Highway on the south.

But over the past four to five years, the credit union had its ups and downs, said credit union board Chairman Dale Walker. However, three events led to the credit union’s demise, he said.

The first event was when Western Corporate Federal Credit Union, known as WesCorp, was

placed into conservatorship by the National Credit Union Administration in March. The San Dimasbased credit union was one of the nation’s largest credit unions and held some of WUCU’s deposits. All of its branches will close down in 2010, according to its Web site.

“They were like the credit union to credit unions. Each one of our members who were in our account, in essence, were members of their account,” Walker said. “So, we basically lost a portion of that money. Also, that was where the bulk of our outside investments were, so we would put our money in their account in order to get revenue that, we thought, was safe and secure.”

The second event was the failure or inability of WUCU to take See WATTS CREDIT UNION, page 6

Photo by THANDISIZWE CHIMURENGA

CLOSING DOWN — A worker removes files wrapped in a garbage bag from the Watts United Credit Union in Los Angeles, located on East 103rd Street, on July 14. The credit union, one of several community institutions created in the wake of the Watts Rebellion, was closed due to insolvency, according to the California Department of Financial Institutions, which closed the credit union down.

www.LAWattsTimes.com

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L.A. WATTS TIMES

July 16, 2009

OPINION EARL OFARI HUTCHINSON

Obama’s Africa Visit Must Be About More Than Promises President Barack Obama’s twoday visit to Ghana is history-making only in the sense that he’s the first African American president to visit the continent. Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush also made extended trips to African nations during their presidency.

And both former presidents made big promises to boost trade, business ties, aid dollars and wage an aggressive battle against corruption and disease, and to promote democracy. Though Clinton and especially Bush did substantially boost cash to fight HIV/AIDS and other diseases, the score of other promises they made was just that — promises.

Now Obama has a chance to add real body to those promises. He talks of a new partnership with Africa. This implies that the United States will bump Africa higher up on the White House’s radar scope. He must be true to his word.

This means more than uttering a few platitudes about the crime of slavery, the devastation of AIDS and other diseases, making more promises of a bigger role for the United States in ending the slaughter in Darfur and the Congo and a saberrattle of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe.

United Nations’ reports continue to tell a dire story about the plight of the continent. Twenty African countries have repeatedly ranked dead last on a list of economic development rates for the world’s nations.

At their present rates of growth, it will take these nations a century to

achieve universal primary education, and 150 years to cut poverty in half and child mortality by two-thirds.

Much of the blame for the famine, disease, poverty and corruption that seem endemic to many African countries can be dumped squarely on the backs of a long parade of African dictators, despots and demagogues.

While Ghana, Obama’s host country, is a stable, functioning democracy, and has a relatively good human rights record, it’s an aberration among many African nations.

Africa’s dictators have killed, maimed and terrorized their citizens, rigged or rejected free elections, and systematically looted their countries’ treasuries while living in palatial splendor.

Their greed and dictatorial rule have locked many of the nations into destructive and near-permanent cycles of poverty, war, disease and dependency that have become Africa’s trademark.

Meanwhile, Africa’s military rulers have squandered millions of their countries’ meager funds on sophisticated weapons, mostly to keep themselves in power. They have turned the Congo, and for a time Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Liberia into killing fields.

Then there’s the AIDS epidemic. Nearly 70 percent of the millions worldwide afflicted with AIDS/HIV are in sub-Saharan Africa. In South Africa, more than 10 percent of the total population has HIV/AIDS. Only a tiny fraction of those with the

disease have any hope of getting the potential life-sustaining anti-retroviral drugs.

Bush’s pledge of $15 billion to fight AIDS and other diseases in Africa and the Caribbean during his White House tenure helped. But more money is still needed.

Also, Bush proposed $5 billion to fund a Millennium Challenge Account to spur development in poor nations. The hitch was that Congress had to approve the funds, and even if it had, the money was not exclusively earmarked for African nations.

Still, this is a proposal that’s worth revisiting. Obama should also call on Japan and the wealthier European nations to increase their aid to Africa. According to U.N. reports, these nations could and should double their foreign aid to spur African development.

The crucial need for Obama to put muscle into the pledge to provide more political and economic support to African nations is not based on charity, morality or simply being a good continental neighbor. Africa is of vital potential economic and strategic importance to the United States. It contains a vast portion of the world’s copper, bauxite, chrome, uranium, gold and petroleum supplies.

The growing list of pro-U.S. African client states provide Obama with reliable political allies in his war against terrorism and the fight against Muslim fundamentalism, as well as potential military bases.

See HUTCHINSON, page 3

The Politics of Crime Stats

BY KOKAYI KWA JITAHIDI

Since becoming the Los Angeles Police Department’s chief in 2002, William Bratton has tried to convince Angelenos that the department is significantly reformed and more humane.

While many people — especially black and Latino residents — are not yet ready to nominate the LAPD for a Nobel Peace Prize for racial justice, even some of its most ardent critics are becoming increasingly friendly with Chief Bratton and the work of his nearly 10,000 officers.

One huge reason for this shift in opinion is the reported decline in violent crimes throughout the city.

When Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa campaigned for re-election, he flooded the airwaves and television spots with claims that crime had dropped by historic amounts under his watch. Even Jack Weiss, former L.A. city councilman and candidate for city attorney, attempted to claim partial credit. As chair of the Public Safety Committee, Weiss put forth that he worked closely with law enforcement to drastically decrease the amount of shootings and robberies.

However, it was Bratton, a very skilled communicator, who took things a step further by stating that crime in Los Angeles is the lowest it’s been since the mid-1950s. For

residents in areas like South Los Angeles, which has suffered through decades of violence from gangs and the LAPD, even a modest drop in crime is greeted with guarded optimism.

Currently, the news of crime at mid-1950s levels is received with glimpses of hope and exuberance.

This has provoked a noticeable shift in attitudes towards a department once led by polarizing figures like William Parker and Darryl Gates.

Neighborhoods that have long been victimized by racial profiling, Rodney King-style beatings, and police shootings of unarmed human beings, now eagerly want to believe Bratton’s assertion that the LAPD is reformed and more humane.

Unfortunately, there is a strong possibility that the people’s increased trust in the LAPD is based upon lies and deception.

As a recent LA Weekly article reports, Bratton’s comparison of crimes from 1956 to the present day was extremely flawed. If he had done so correctly, we all would see that the current murder rate is double that of roughly 50 years ago. Using the same method, today’s robbery rate is more than double that of 1956.

This same pattern continues for rapes and other serious crimes.

However, the LAPD’s problem with accurate crime statistics isn’t

limited to Bratton. It has reached the Internet. According to a recent Los Angeles Times report, the LAPD’s public crime stat Web site undercounted its violent Kokayi Kwa Jitahidi crime by nearly 40 percent.

With so many errors, why should anyone trust what Bratton or the LAPD says?

Instead of anxiously bestowing praise on the LAPD or city politicians for their alleged work to decrease crime, we should begin recognizing and investing in the heroic work of regular people like those in areas similar to South Los Angeles.

With very little to no assistance from the LAPD, residents work together to improve the quality of life in their community through neighborhood councils, churches and nonprofit organizations. While crime rates are still much higher in South Los Angeles than other parts of the city, the efforts of its residents represent genuine attempts at taking control of their communities and day-today lives. Unlike the LAPD, community members lack the political and economic motivation to “juke the stats.”

So what is the motivation for See JITAHIDI, page 3

A Criminal System

BY JAMES M. SIMMONS

The recent dismissal of all charges against four of the last five remaining defendants in the San Francisco 8 case was the cause for celebration all around. For the four defendants, it was the sudden relief that this segment of a personal 38year nightmare was coming to a close. For their supporters, the tense vigil for these ex-Black Panthers, who were facing death in prison for the 1971 killing of a San Francisco police sergeant, was almost over.

As for the prosecution, they were apparently satisfied that two of the eight defendants pled out to lesser charges, as so-called “proof” that the entire prosecution was justified.

With everyone so happy, one might believe that everybody, especially the defendants and their supporters, believes the system worked here.

No. No. No. In addition to the fact that Francisco Torres remains a defendant with a preliminary hearing on murder and conspiracy charges set to start in August, there are numerous good reasons to point out the abject failure of what some call the “system of criminal injustice.”

These men, ranging in age from late 50s to early 70s, have spent the last two-and-a-half years fighting murder charges. Much of that time has been in jail under exorbitant bail.

They, their families, friends and associates have spent the last seven years being hounded by detectives and grand juries, some even being jailed for refusing to cooperate with this blatant political persecution.

Herman Bell and Jalil Muntaqim pled to lesser charges and received probation and time-served jail sentences, sacrificing their right to fight the charges in exchange for dismissal of all charges against Richard Brown, Hank Jones, Ray Boudreaux and Harold Taylor. An eighth defendant, Richard O’Neal, had his case dismissed last year for

lack of evidence.

Tragically, the defendants had already spent time in jail in the mid1970s for these very same alleged crimes, James M. and the case was Simmons thrown out back then. A court in 1975 ordered all charges dismissed after a factual finding that the New Orleans Police Department, with accomplices from the San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York police departments and the FBI, used electric cattle prods, plastic bags closed over the head to smother, scalding hot water poured onto towels against the skin, and straight pins pushed into the genitals of those they accused of being members of a clandestine Black Liberation Army at war with the United States.

They wanted confessions and instead got stories they wanted to hear from people who could not stand the tortuous interrogations any longer.

What is more, not one single police officer, federal agent or prosecutor has been brought to justice for their crimes against the San Francisco 8.

Truth be told, prosecuting agencies seldom go after law enforcement officers for crimes of this nature. A prime example of this is the notorious Chicago Police Department’s Area 2 torture squad led by Commander Jon Burge. False confessions resulting from the physical torture of scores of black men, women and children as young as 13 years old is cited as a reason why the governor of Illinois put a moratorium on executions in the state.

No single torturer was charged with a crime, even after a judge appointed a special prosecutor to avoid the obvious conflict of interest with local prosecutorial agencies.

See SIMMONS, page 3

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CIRCULATION AUDIT BY

July 16, 2009

L.A. WATTS TIMES

Page 3

BUSINESS BIZSHORTS Networking Event for Young Professionals Slated Los Angeles County Young Professionals will present “The Associate: We Work Hard and Play Harder” July 16, 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., at the East 3rd Steakhouse & Lounge, 734 E. 3rd St., Los Angeles.

This young professionals mixer/fundraiser is for those 21 and up.

Business attire is encouraged, and a dress code will be strictly enforced.

The event will feature music by DJ R-Tistic Admission is $15 at the door.

All proceeds will be contributed to Fisher for Community College Board 2009.

Information: Keyoshia Ray, (310) 956-0295; Daphne Brooks, (323) 472-0442; Skyy Fisher at (310) 308-7097, info@skyyfisher. com, www.skyyfisher.com.

White House: Health, Green Jobs Growing Quickly WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House’s economic advisers say jobs in providing health care and helping the environment are growing more quickly than the rest of the economy.

The Council of Economic Advisers has released a report that

JITAHIDI Continued from page 2 Bratton to manipulate crime stats?

One, it gets political allies like Villaragoisa. Two, the LAPD gets rewarded with a larger budget, more officers and greater political power.

Lastly, it encourages black and Latino voters — who make up a large portion of the electorate — to forget about the LAPD shootings of unarmed people of color like Dontaze Storey Jr. and Susie Peña, the $30 million in LAPD-related lawsuits paid out in February, or the fact that it is still practically impossible for a LAPD officer to go to jail or get fired because of a killing or misconduct.

Residents and taxpayers of Los Angeles need to look beyond the commercials and press conference sound bites. Bratton is first and foremost a politician. The LAPD is a political organization out to increase its power.

SIMMONS Continued from page 2 Even rarer is the prosecution of a prosecutor who brings a case without evidence to support it. One such example is the Duke University rape prosecution where District Attorney Mike Nifong brought rape charges against white college athletes supported primarily by statements from the black female complaining witness. Accused of filing the case without sufficient evidence and for political reasons, the full weight of the courts and the North Carolina State Bar came to bear on Nifong and he was disbarred and jailed for contempt of court.

The case against the San Francisco 8 was rejected by federal prosecutors and San Francisco’s district attorney. It defies good sense that this stale, patently defective political case would be filed and pur-

predicts changes in the U.S. labor market and details where the job market will expand. The report also outlines what training and education will help potential workers find jobs.

The White House report predicts some manufacturing jobs would return, along with construction jobs, as the $787 billion economic stimulus plan kicks in.

Women’s Independence Fair to Take Place The Wade Institute will hold the “Women’s Independence Fair,” a program in which businesswomen help other women seeking new careers and residual incomes. The event will take place July 16, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at IHOP, 24737 Pico Canyon Road, Stevenson Ranch.

Information: Connie Sparks, (661) 208-8229.

NSN Presents ‘Success’ Event The National Sales Network will present “Success Experience Part II 2009” July 16, 6 to 9 p.m., at the Los Angeles Exposition Center, 3980 S. Menlo St. The focus of the event will be how to stay positive and focused in uncertain times.

Information: (310) 281-1781, www.nsnla.org.

In light of this, we must continue to organize residents and engage them on real solutions to crime such as quality jobs, community relationships, and grassroots organizations.

We must also work on eliminating the undemocratic LAPD Board of Rights, developing a special prosecutors office that will work to bring justice to those victimized by police misconduct, brutality or worse, and creating an elected citizen control board that will provide communitybased accountability and leadership in law enforcement.

Kokayi Kwa Jitahidi is a community organizer with the Families for Community Safety Campaign, a grassroots effort to create a more just and peaceful society by holding law enforcement officers accountable for their actions. FCSC seeks to work with all sectors of the community, including political organizations, elected officials and residents in general. He can be reached daily at (714) 612-0366. sued by California Attorney General Jerry Brown with no credible evidence, but it was — and still is. He has extracted his pound of flesh from Herman Bell and Jalil Muntaqim, so there is no need to continue this tragedy by further persecuting Torres.

Brown should take the most honorable and legal course and dismiss this case, which stands for support of torture and against human rights and the rule of law.

The system has miserably failed the San Francisco 8. Only a vigorous investigation and prosecution of the torturers, their accomplices, and their enablers would even begin to address the issue of whether or not this is a system of criminal justice that works, or is a criminal system of injustice.

Attorney James M. Simmons, from Human Rights Advocacy in Los Angeles, can be contacted at humanrightsadv@gmail.com.

Saving for College and Retirement?

How to Save for Competing Priorities When it comes to saving for college and saving for retirement, many young couples with children sometimes opt to save for the former and not the latter. But that’s a big mistake, according to FPA member Susan Moore of Moore Financial Advisors, Ltd. You wouldn’t be alone if you had two major long-term goals in your life: giving your kids a good education and retiring comfortably.

And, you wouldn’t be alone if you made the mistake of focusing on achieving one goal without examining whether you were leaving a gap in funding of the other, according to Moore. But, the possibility of missing nearly 20 years of retirement savings could result in your being significantly behind the eight ball when it comes to life after work.

Yes, if you fund your children’s education to the exclusion of your retirement, it’s likely that you will underfund your retirement so significantly that you will have to “play catch up” later on.

“By funneling the majority of your savings into 529 plans, you have missed out on some important opportunities for saving for retirement,” Moore stated recently.

Over time, Moore noted, that money in a retirement plan such as a 401(k) or 403(b) accrues without

any taxes, allowing this taxdeferred pot of cash to grow faster than a taxable account.

“If you are among those parents who are funding a 529 plan but not your 401(k), it might be time to shift your priorities,” Moore said. “You need to look at your goals as part of a total picture, instead of taking them sequentially.

And, you need to recognize, as the financial planning rule of thumb says, that while there are safety

nets in the form of financial aid for college, there are no loans or financial aid for retirement.”

Moore suggests you find and work with a financial planner.

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.

HUTCHINSON Continued from page 2 African nations remain firmly locked in the grip of terrible poverty, disease, war and autocratic rule.

The United States and wealthy nations can help lift that grip by massively increasing investment in African agriculture, transportation, manufacturing and technology; restructuring Africa’s crushing debt; encouraging greater regional integration and cooperation; condemning African nations’ disastrous military arms race; and, most important, challenging African nations to establish real democratic rule.

Obama can truly make history with his Africa visit with a real start toward making this happen.

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

Facts July 16, 1962 Ida B. Wells-Barnett is born in Holly Springs, Miss. A social activist, orator, author and advocacy journalist, Wells-Barnett is credited with being the first to gather and publish statistical records on lynchings and was a founding member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Source: blackfacts.com

Please join Speaker Karen Bass for a Green Jobs Fair and Conference

Thursday, July 23rd 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM 2:15 PM – 4:15 PM

Job Fair, with dozens of employers Luncheon w/ green jobs panel Breakout Sessions re: the emerging green economy

Find a job that’s right for you! Job fair details: · Free admission to job fair from 9 am to 12 noon · Onsite green industry hiring managers · Job seekers should bring plenty of resumes and come prepared to speak with prospective employers

Learn more about the emerging field of green technology!

Collaborate to help develop innovative and effective green jobs training programs in Los Angeles County!

For more information or to RSVP for the event: http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/speaker or call 323-937-4747.

Millennium Biltmore Hotel 506 South Grand Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90017

This event is hosted and funded by the Los Angeles Community College District as part of the NexTrendin LA conference series.

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L.A. WATTS TIMES

July 16, 2009

COMMUNITY COMMUNITY MEETINGS, FORUMS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS HerShe Group Foundation Presents Cinderella Ball and Gala Each year thousands of young women are emancipated from the foster care system and left to fend for themselves. Many lack the support, training and resources to succeed on their own.

The HerShe Group Foundation aims to help these young women beat the odds and succeed in life. Each year the organization holds a two-weeklong empowerment camp called Camp Cinderella, providing arts, mentorship, new experiences and education.

The camp is taking place through July 19.

On that day, the Cinderella Ball, a gala featuring live music, an original performance by the girls, and an awards ceremony, will occur at the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center.

Facts July 16, 1998 John Henrik Clarke, Pan-Africanist, historian, professor and author, dies in New York City. The editor or author of at 34 books, Clarke was a confidant of Malcolm X and the founding chairman of the Department of Black and Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College, a part of the City University of New York.

Source: www.hunter.cuny.edu

The camp and gala are sponsored by Los Angeles County Second District Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas and the County of L.A. To become a financial donor or mentor, contact the HerShe Group Foundation at (877) 4605508 or www.HerSheGroup.org.

L.A. Mayor: City Should Cover Jackson Memorial Costs (AP) — Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has criticized his staff for setting up a Web site seeking donations to cover the city’s cost from the Michael Jackson memorial.

Villaraigosa said July 13 that the city is responsible for protecting public safety and should pick up the $1.4 million tab for police overtime and other services from the event last week at Staples Center.

The mayor, who was on vacation in South Africa during the memorial, called the city’s donation Web site “ridiculous.” He says he will not ask the public or Staples Center owner AEG Live to pay.

It was not immediately clear how much money the site raised or if the money would be returned.

Despite Villaraigosa’s comments, the city attorney’s office is investigating how the city can force third parties to help pay.

Photo by TYRONE D. WASHINGTON/LOS ANGELES MAYOR’S OFFICE

SUMMER FUN AND SAFETY — Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa speaks with youth at the Imperial Courts Housing Project on June 29. The mayor had just finished a press conference announcing the Summer Night Lights anti-gang initiative. The program keeps 16 city parks open after dark with organized activities for at-risk youth, and offers kids job opportunities as well as a safe place to spend the summer.

OBAMA VISIT Continued from page 1 descended from slaves — his father was Kenyan — he carried the legacy of the African American experience with him as America’s first black president.

For many, the trip was steeped in symbolism.

“The world’s least powerful

YOU ARE INVITED City of Los Angeles Board of Water and Power Commissioners Meeting

Board Meeting 12:30 p.m.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009 Committee meetings to be held in the morning

Port of Los Angeles Administration Building 425 S. Palos Verdes Street San Pedro, CA 90731 As a covered entity under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the City of Los Angeles does not discriminate on the basis of disability and, upon request, will provide reasonable accommodation to ensure equal access to its programs, service and activities. To ensure availability, such requests should be made 72 hours in advance by calling (213) 367-1361, TDD: 1 (800) 432-7397.

For more information, visit www.ladwpnews.com or call (213) 367-1356

people were shipped off from here as slaves,” Hardin said last week, looking past a row of cannons pointing toward the Atlantic Ocean.

“Now Obama, an African American, the most powerful person in the world, is going to be standing here. For us it will be a full-circle experience.”

Built in the 1600s, Cape Coast Castle served as Britain’s West Africa headquarters for the transAtlantic slave trade, which saw European powers and African chiefs export millions in shackles to Europe and the Americas.

The slave trade ended here in 1833, and visitors can now trek through the fort’s dungeons, dark rooms once crammed with more than 1,000 men and women at a time who slept in their own excrement.

The dank air inside still stings the eyes.

Visiting for the first time, Hardin’s 47-year-old sister Wanda Milian said the dungeons felt “like burial tombs.”

“It felt suffocating. It felt still,” said Milian, who like her sister lives in Houston. “I don’t know what I expected. I didn’t expect to experience the sense of loss, the sense of hopelessness and desolation.”

Those who rebelled were packed into similar rooms with hardly enough air to breath, left to die without food or water. Their faint scratch marks are still visible on walls.

Down by the shore is the fort’s so-called “Door of No Return,” the last glimpse of Africa the slaves would ever see before they were loaded into canoes that took them to ships that crossed the ocean.

Today, the door opens onto a different world: a gentle shore where boys freely kick a white soccer ball through the surf, where gray-bearded men sit in beached canoes fixing lime-green fishing nets, where women sell maize meal from plates on their heads.

Behind them is Africa’s poverty: Smoke from cooking fires rises from a maze of thin wooden shacks, their rusted corrugated aluminum roofs held down by rocks. Children bathe naked in a tiny dirt courtyard.

“I just can’t wrap my mind around this,” said Milian, who works at a Methodist church. “If it weren’t for all this” — for slavery — “I wouldn’t be standing here today. I wouldn’t be who I am. I wouldn’t have the opportunities I do. I wouldn’t practice the religion I do.”

Milian also grappled with the irony that the fort housed a church while the trade went on, and that African chiefs and merchants made it all possible, brutally capturing millions and marching them from the continent’s interior to be sold in exchange for guns, iron and rum.

“It’s mixed up,” Milian said.

“It’s not an easy puzzle to put together.”

Though slavery in the United States ended after the Civil War in 1865, its legacy has lived on. The U.S. Senate on June 18 unanimously passed a resolution apologizing for slavery and racial segregation.

“This is part of our history,” said Hardin, who first visited Ghana in the late 1980s and later married a Ghanaian engineer she met in the United States.

Her 15-year-old son was along for the first time.

“I want him to understand what his liberty really means, who he really is,” Hardin said.

But racism, both sisters agreed, would not end with Obama’s visit.

“Let’s not be naive. When your skin is darker, you are still going to be treated differently,” Hardin said.

But Obama’s trip was “a turning point, not just for America but for the world.”

Milian said Obama’s journey would also bear a message to those who organized the trade.

“It will say they failed, it all failed,” she said. “The human mind is capable of horrible things, but the fact that we’re standing here … proves we are also capable of great resilience.”

Facts July 19, 1941 The first U.S. Army flying school for black cadets is dedicated at Tuskegee, Ala. The class, which started with 13 students and five cadets would complete training nine months later.

Source: blackfacts.com

July 16, 2009

L.A. WATTS TIMES

Page 5

COMMUNITY

WHAT’S GOING ON? 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.

GOLF CLASSIC — The Inglewood/Airport Chamber of Commerce will hold its 15th Annual Golf Classic July 24 at the California Country Club, 1509 S. Workman Mill Road, Whittier. Registration begins at 10 a.m., and the Shotgun Start is at 1 p.m. Sponsorship opportunities are available. Information: (310) 677-1121, inglewoodchamber@sbcglobal.net.

GANG TALK — Longtime community activist Lita Herron hosts “Gang Talk with Sister Herron� on Thursdays, 6 to 6:30 p.m., on KTYM-AM 1460. The show will address the devastating impact of gangs and violence on families and communities.

SEMINAR — The Kawaida Institute of Pan-African Studies will present its 31st Annual Seminar in Social Theory and Practice July 19 to 25 at the African American Cultural Center, 3018 W. 48th St., Los Angeles. With a theme of “Kawaida and Questions of Life, Good and Struggle,� the weeklong seminar will provide critical analysis, discussion and strategies for addressing major issues confronting the black community and the world from a Kawaida perspective. Information: (323) 2996124.

MEETING — The Lost-Found Nation of Islam meets every Sunday, 10 a.m. to noon, at the Afiba Center, 5730 Crenshaw Blvd., Los Angeles.

Discussion topics include reparations, history and the new government of Afrodescendants. Information: (213) 505-8484.

RODEO — The 2009 Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo takes place July 18, 7 p.m., and July 19, 3:30 p.m., at the Industry Hills Expo

Center, 16200 Temple Ave., City of Industry. This year is the 25th anniversary of the rodeo. Actors Glynn Turman and Reginald T. Dorsey will serve as official grand marshal and co-grand marshal. The rodeo provides an opportunity to learn about the Black West experience and the contributions made by African Americans. Information: (323) 287-6273.

PERSHING SQUARE — The City of Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation is sponsoring several free events through Aug. 23 at Pershing Square, 532 S. Olive St., Los Angeles. Saturday night concerts include El Chicano and Upground on July 18 and Paula Cole and James Lee Stanley on July 25. All concerts are from 8 to 10 p.m. “Spaceland Under the Stars� will offer alternative music on Wednesday nights from 8 to 10 p.m. There will be lunchtime concerts and children’s activities on Thursdays from noon to 2 p.m.

Friday nights will feature a film series including “Raiders of the Lost Ark� on July 17, “Spider-Man� on July 24, “The Incredibles� on July 31, and other films in August. All movies will be shown from 8 to 10 p.m. Sundays will feature various dance bands.

Information: (213) 847-4970, www. laparks.org/pershingsquare.

ROUNDTABLE — The Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable meets Saturdays from 10 to 11:30 a.m. in Leimert Park at the Lucy Florence Coffeehouse, 3351 W. 43rd St., Los Angeles. The roundtable features expert speakers on hot-button local and national issues, followed by an open discussion. It is free and open to the public. Information: (323) 3836145.

DAY AT THE RACES — The National Council of Negro WomenView Park Section invites you to come to Hollywood Park for a “Day At The Races� July 18, 1 p.m., at the Hollywood Park Club House, 1050 S. Prairie Ave., Inglewood. There

will be a buffet dinner, a Gorgeous Hat contest, a silent auction and a raffle. Tickets are $45 and will fund chapter activities. Information: (310) 686-4849, (323) 732-8881, clmcgruder@yahoo.com, martin4 eagle@yahoo.com.

MARCH 4 THE CONGO — Mothers for Africa, a nonprofit organization, will sponsor this “freedom march� July 18 to increase awareness of the violence and rape that is going on in the central region of Africa. The march will begin at 9 a.m. at Sunset Boulevard and La Brea Avenue, Hollywood, and travel to Sunset and Cahuenga boulevards, where it will end at noon. Information: (626) 710-6676, mothersfor africa@yahoo.com, www.mothersforafrica.org.

PICNIC — L.A. Detroiters and Michiganders will host their 32nd Annual Picnic July 18, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., at 2215 Motor Ave., Los Angeles. This event is free to the public and you don’t have to be from Detroit or Michigan to attend. Music, dominoes and bid whist will be featured and attendees should bring their own picnic gear. Volunteers are also needed. Information: (323) 2880267, detroitersla@yahoo.com.

BREATHE BELIEF YOGA — “Exhale Doubt and Inhale Belief� takes place during this yoga class on Saturdays in Leimert Park, 1 to 2 p.m., at the Academy of Martial Arts, 3403 W. 43rd St., Los Angeles.

The cost for these classes is donation-based, but participants must

PLAY I SOME MUSIC — Rocky Dawuni, known as the “Ghanaian Bob Marley,� carries the flag of Ghana during his July 11 at Grand Performances.

Dawuni and his 11-piece band performed two concerts at the outdoor venue on Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles.

Photo by INDIA ALLEN

bring their own towel, mat and water. The instructor is Melvin Boyce II. Information: (323) 5965578, “breathe belief� on Facebook.

WOMEN’S CONVENTION — The Church of God in Christ’s regional affiliate, the Southern California First Jurisdiction, will hold its 43rd State Women’s Convention at the Burbank Marriott Hotel, 2500 North Hollywood Way,

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Continued from page 1 She became the first black woman and the first doctor under age 40 elected to the American Medical Association’s board of trustees, and in 2002 became the first black woman to head a state medical society. “She’s always been very ambitious from a political standpoint. She has always, always been motivated by that ambition,� said Dr. James Holland, CEO of Mostellar Medical Center in nearby Irvington, Ala., where Benjamin spent about three years in the early 1980s as a National Health Service Corps scholar.

Holland said Benjamin’s selection as surgeon general “doesn’t surprise me at all. The only thing that surprises me is that it hasn’t happened before now.�

Medical groups welcomed her ability for straight-talk, whether to patients or politicians, about the dire health needs of much of the country. “We want to emphasize prevention, primary care and early intervention, and we have somebody now who does that for a living,� said Dr. Georges Benjamin, no relation, of the American Public Health Association.

Added AMA President Dr. James Rohack, who has known Benjamin for more than two decades, with “her recognition that if you don’t have health insurance, you live sicker and you die younger, she can bring the real-world perspective as surgeon general of the things as a nation we need to do to keep ourselves healthy.�

Benjamin made headlines in the wake of Katrina, as photographs showed her laying patient charts out to bake in the sun and lamenting the lack of pricey but more hurricaneresistant electronic records. Her nonprofit clinic was rebuilt by volunteers only to burn down just as it was about to reopen. Benjamin later told of her patients’ desperation that she rebuild again, recalling a woman who handed her an envelope with a $7 donation to help. “If she can find $7, I can figure out the rest,� Benjamin said last fall as she received a $500,000 MacArthur Foundation “genius award,� money she said she’d use to help finish that job.

Her nomination for surgeon general requires Senate confirmation.

Burbank, from July 23 to 26. This year’s theme is “Women of Faith: Strategizing to Update Ministries to Reach All People,� and the convention will begin July 23 with a 7 p.m. musical program featuring evangelist Markita Knight. Various speakers will address the conference, including presiding Bishop Charles E. Blake. Information: (323) 7793219.

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Page 6

L.A. WATTS TIMES

July 16, 2009

COMMUNITY

Hispanic Rights Group at Center of Sotomayor Fight

BY DEEPTI HAJELA AP WRITER

NEW YORK (AP) — Cesar Perales has fought his share of critics over the years, in legal battles for minorities denied jobs, bilingual classes in schools, and more Latino police officers.

But none of those crusades compares with the tempest his Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund has stirred because of the dozen years that Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor served as one of its board members.

Conservatives have called the group’s stances against capital punishment and for abortion rights, as well as its advocacy of affirmative action in worker discrimination cases, “extreme” and “shocking.”

Some have suggested Sotomayor’s longtime association with the group is an indication that she is biased and would be unable to render impartial decisions as a Supreme Court justice.

The critiques leading up this week’s Senate hearings on Sotomayor’s confirmation have stunned Perales, who calls them an attempt to derail her nomination by overpoliticizing the work of his legal defense fund.

“You have a reputable group that has stood up for the civil rights

Sonia Sotomayor

of Latinos for 37 years,” said Perales, the group’s president. “To suddenly be accused of being something bad, and that anyone associated with it should not be allowed to serve on the Supreme Court, to me is shocking.”

Perales and two other attorneys founded the fund, now known as LatinoJustice PRLDEF, in a Manhattan office building in 1972.

They modeled it after one of the most high-profile civil rights organizations in the country, the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund.

On July 11, officials of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, meeting in New York for the civil rights group’s centennial celebration, addressed Sotomayor’s link to LatinoJustice PRLDEF. “Today, the NAACP is standing with us in our efforts to ensure that Sonia Sotomayor is confirmed,” Perales told a news conference.

His group points to suits like Aspira vs. New York City Board of Education as among its biggest accomplishments, forcing city schools to implement bilingual education for non-English speaking students.

Another suit against the city’s police department brought about an increase in the number of Latino officers into the police force. The group mounted a successful legal challenge in 1981 that postponed city elections over concerns about redistricting.

Sotomayor held leadership roles on the legal defense fund’s board from 1980 to 1992, starting soon after she graduated from law school and began working, leaving it when she became a federal judge.

Perales has described her role as helping with fundraising and setting policy and said she was not directly involved with the group's

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legal arguments and activities.

In that period, the group brought several lawsuits in which

minority workers claimed discriminatory treatment that kept them from jobs or promotions.

WATTS CREDIT UNION Continued from page 1 advantage of federal bailout money for banks. WUCU could have applied to become certified as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI). CDFI certification would have enabled the credit union to apply for financial assistance through the CDFI Program, and receive priority for funding under the U.S. Treasury’s Bank Enterprise Award Program.

“We were listed as a lowincome credit union, which gave us a heads up shot at becoming a CDFI. It required that we make an application after the collapse of WesCorp,” Walker said. “If it had happened correctly we would have gotten about $100,000 that would have floated the credit union.”

In order to get the grant and go to the next stage, the credit union needed assistance from the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), Walker said.

“DFI would not allow NCUA to give us the assistance we needed to get the grant until after they had completed their audit. Of course, the audit made us insolvent so it was too late then,” he said.

But Alana Golden, a spokesperson for DFI, denied Walker’s claim that the department would not allow NCUA to help the credit union.

The final straw, Walker said, was the credit union’s inability, after a year of trying, to retrieve a BMW from a mortgage broker who had defaulted on his loan.

“We had two repossession agencies trying to find him. The regulators said the car was outstanding too long. That’s another $30,000 we had to write off,” Walker said.

“Overall, all we needed to keep the credit union afloat was $67,000. The write-offs were what made us actually go under.”

Walker said he even traveled to Sacramento, where he spoke with several politicians, including California Assembly Speaker Karen Bass. But because she and other lawmakers are currently involved in trying to alleviate California’s budget crises, they could only offer to give letters of support.

“I was grateful they took the time to listen, but what we need is capital,” he said.

The credit union almost got a last-minute reprieve from Pacific Coast Regional Development Corp., an African American-owned financial institution that assists small businesses and provides loan guarantees, bond guarantees, Disaster Bridge Loans, and Direct (Environmental) loans. The company reportedly has $8 to $10 million in assets. Walker said he had obtained a letter of intent from PCR to takeover WUCU and keep it in the community, but regulators ignored it, he alledged “A week prior to the closure, I brought it to their attention and they told me they would let me know. The next thing I heard, they (DFI) were closing” down the credit union.

But Golden said PCR’s efforts

would not have worked out because the corporation is not a credit union and only another credit union can absorb or takeover another credit union.

“They wouldn’t have been able to help the credit union unless they are another credit union because a credit union is a deposit institution, which means they take in deposits,” she said. “So, someone who has a license to lend can’t absorb a credit union. They already have to be a lending and deposit organization, so it really has to be another credit union.”

Golden added that the only way PCR could have helped WUCU would have been by giving and not loaning the credit union the money needed for it to become solvent.

“They couldn’t even lend it to them at this point because the credit union was so far in the negative.

“Watts has been struggling for some time now. We estimated that the June financials of the credit union were going to be negative over $61,000, $62,000 … which would have been at a net worth ratio of less than 8 percent,” she added.

“You really can’t get much worse than that and so we really had no choice but to close the credit union and turn it over to NCUA for insurance and deposits to make sure no one lost any money.”

NCUA has been appointed to liquidate WUCU’s assets. Accounts at WUCU are federally insured up to $250,000. NCUA plans to issue checks to Watts United Credit Union members for verified funds in their share accounts, according to a news release.

According to Cherie Umbel of the NCUA’s Office of Public and Congressional Affairs, letters were sent to all WUCU members on July 8 regarding their share payout.

“The members should have or will be getting their funds within the next few days,” Umbel said in a recent e-mail to the L.A. Watts Times.

The credit union provided a number of services to the community including free tax services, financial literacy courses, provided bank checks and had just recently established a debit card program.

“A good amount of our clientele was those who could not open bank accounts,” Walker said. “It’s never been a really strong credit union because the clientele is the low- to moderate-income people of Watts, but we provided an alternate location for people other than Nix and Ace check cashing. Now, the only thing left for the people in the community are the predatory check cashing institutions.”

Facts July 16, 1946 Assata Olugbala Shakur is born in New York. Member of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, she is accused of committing bank robberies and several other felonies as a member of the Black Liberation Army.

Source: answers.com

July 16, 2009

L.A. WATTS TIMES

Page 7

COMMUNITY NEWS IN BRIEF THE SOUTHLAND

THE STATE

Teen Pilot Makes Aviation History With Solo Flight

UC San Diego: Fix Budget by Closing Other Campuses

(AP) — A 15-year-old Los Angeles girl has become the youngest African American female pilot to fly solo cross country.

MERCED (AP) — The University of California’s Merced campus may have wooed the first lady to its commencement, but professors at its sister campus in San Diego argue the system’s newest school should shut its doors to save money.

In a terse letter to the University Office of the President released July 10, 23 UCSD department chairs suggested shutting campuses in Merced, Riverside or Santa Cruz. The professors said the campuses were a drain on what they called the 10-campus system’s flagship institutions.

UC President Mark Yudof says he opposes closing any campus, and UC Merced officials say the campus “stands behind its track record of success.”

The UC Board of Regents was scheduled to vote this week on furloughs for thousands of its employees to offset deep funding cuts.

Information from: Merced SunStar, www.mercedsun-star.com.

Kimberly Anyadike

Kimberly Anyadike landed a single-engine Cessna to cheering crowds at Compton/Woodley Airport on July 11.

She took off from Compton 13 days ago with an adult safety pilot and Levi Thornhill, an 87-year-old who served with the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II. They flew to Newport News, Va., making about a dozen stops along the way.

Anyadike learned to fly when she was 12 at Tomorrow’s Aeronautical Museum, an after-school program based in Compton that offers aviation lessons to at-risk youth.

Sheriffs Promises Probe of 2 Shooting Deaths (AP) — Deputies who shot a suspect after mistaking his cell phone for a gun acted properly, sheriff’s officials said July 14, as they pledged a full and open investigation into the killing and another fatal shooting of a 16-year-old boy by deputies.

Sheriff Lee Baca met with community activists July 14 to discuss the killings of Woodrow Player Jr. and Avery Cody Jr. Player, 22, was shot July 10 in the unincorporated Athens area.

Some relatives claim he was shot in the back.

The department, along with the district attorney’s office and the county Office of Independent Review, are currently investigating that shooting and the July 5 killing of Cody, a 16-year-old Compton boy.

Sheriff’s officials said Cody pulled a loaded, .38-caliber revolver and pointed it at deputies. The boy’s family denies he threatened them.

On July 11, a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy shot and wounded a suspected gang member after he pulled a gun during a foot chase. Deputy Jeff Gordon says that shooting occurred in East Los Angeles after the suspect ran from deputies. Gordon says the deputy opened fire when the man pointed a .40 caliber semiautomatic pistol at them. The loaded gun was recovered at the scene.

The unidentified man was wounded in the upper torso and is hospitalized in stable condition. In Palmdale, a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy wounded during a July 12 shootout in Palmdale is expected to recover.

Sheriff’s spokesman Johnie Jones says the deputy tried to stop a man the night of July 14 but the man pulled a gun. The deputy was wounded as he took cover behind his car and returned fire.

Lawmakers: Budget Deal Elusive Despite Progress SACRAMENTO (AP) — California’s legislative leaders are reporting progress with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on a deal to close the state’s $26.3 billion budget shortfall, expressing hope for agreement by the end of the week.

Lawmakers from both parties said July 12 that they had made headway after a weekend of closeddoor meetings at the Capitol, but acknowledged a deal remained elusive. It was unclear when legislative leaders would reconvene for talks.

The possibility of a long sought-after budget deal comes after two weeks of acrimony and partisan infighting that had temporarily derailed budget negotiations.

Thousands of state contractors and suppliers have begun receiving IOUs as the state tries to preserve cash, and state workers have been told to take three days off a month without pay.

Lawmakers remained at odds over how to close the budget shortfall despite a consensus that severe spending cuts were inevitable.

Schwarzenegger also wanted to seek out waste and abuse in welfare, inhome support and health care programs. The governor’s office has said those reforms could save taxpayers roughly $1.7 billion this fiscal year.

Over the weekend, lawmakers discussed some of those reforms, as well as proposals to consolidate state agencies to save money and generate revenue by selling state property.

US Marshals: Sweep Netted 1,100 Fugitives (AP) — Federal officials in California say they’ve made more than 1,000 arrests as part of a national operation targeting fugitive violent criminals and sex offenders.

The U.S. Marshals Service announced July 9 that 1,005 people were arrested in Southern California and 106 in Northern California last month.

Authorities say the sweep targeted people who were wanted on felony charges. The arrests included more than 30 people for investigation of homicide, more than 100

wanted on sex offenses, and more than 200 reputed gang members who were sought for crimes that included parole violation and armed robbery.

The sweeps by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies were part of a nationwide effort dubbed Operation Falcon that netted about 35,000 arrests.

THE NATION Four Ill. Cemetery Workers Accused in Grisly Plot ALSIP, Ill. (AP) — Three gravediggers and a cemetery manager unearthed hundreds of corpses from a historic black cemetery south of Chicago, dumping some in a weeded area and double-stacking others in existing graves, in an elaborate scheme to resell the plots, authorities said July 9. All four were charged with felonies.

Frantic relatives of the deceased descended on Burr Oak Cemetery — the final resting place of lynching victim Emmett Till and blues singers Willie Dixon and Dinah Washington — in hopes someone could tell them their loved ones’ remains were not among the pile of bones that littered a remote area of the property in Alsip, 12 miles south of Chicago.

Some found apparently undisturbed plots, but others wandered, unable to locate loved ones.

“This is a mess. We can’t find our people,” said Ralph Gunn, 54, of Chicago, who filled out a report for authorities after a futile search for the headstones of his brother and nephew.

Others cried and clutched cemetery maps as they waited for a chance to look themselves.

Authorities in Alsip estimate that as many as 300 bodies have been disinterred.

THE DIASPORA Sudanese Women Flogged for Wearing Trousers CAIRO (AP) — Sudanese police arrested 13 women in a raid on a cafe and flogged 10 of them in public for wearing trousers in violation of the country’s strict Islamic law, one of those arrested said on July 13.

The 13 women were at a cafe in the capital, Khartoum, when they were detained July 10 by officers from the public order police, which enforces the implementation of Sharia law in public places.

The force, which is similar to the Saudi religious police, randomly enforces an alcohol ban and often scolds young men and women mingling in public.

One of those arrested, journalist Lubna Hussein, said she is challenging the charges, which can be punishable by up to 40 lashes.

Islamic Sharia law has been strictly implemented in Sudan since the ruling party came to power in a 1989 military coup.

Loyalists Halt Constitutional Meeting in Zimbabwe HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Members of the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front, Zimbabwe’s ruling party, disrupted a national conference aimed at drawing up a new constitution on July 13 in a setback for the country’s unity government.

When President Robert Mugabe did not arrive at the meeting on time, Parliament Speaker Lovemore Moyo, a member of the Movement for Democratic Change, began his opening remarks but was drowned out by militants singing revolutionary songs. That set off scuffles with supporters of former opposition leader Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, and Moyo was forced to withdraw.

Under Zimbabwe’s unity government, an agreement that brought Mugabe and Tsvangirai together in February, a new constitution must be drawn up ahead of new elections within two years.

Nigerian Rebel Leader Released From Jail ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — The lawyer for a Nigerian rebel leader says he has been freed from jail by the government.

The release meets one of the key demands of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta

Henry Okah

(MEND), which has been attacking the country’s oil installations and kidnapping oil workers for several years.

Lawyer Femi Falana also told The Associated Press on July 13 that the charges Henry Okah was facing — treason and gun running — have been dropped.

Okah was arrested in Angola in September 2006 and repatriated to Nigeria, where he faced charges.

Militants in the oil-rich delta had made Okah’s release one of their conditions for ending attacks on oil infrastructure and workers.

Earlier this year, the group said that Okah was suffering from a kidney ailment and needed urgent medical treatment abroad.

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Page 8

L.A. WATTS TIMES

July 16, 2009

ARTS & CULTURE SHORT TAKES LECTURE • Alison Rose Jefferson, a local historian, will speak about the Jim Crow-era beach site used by African Americans as a gathering place, and African American beach culture in Santa Monica from 1900-1960, as part of the Beach=Culture series sponsored by

in the “collective memory” of the heritage of the Southern California region. This event will take place July 28, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., at the Annenberg Community Beach House, 415 Pacific Coast Highway, Santa Monica. This event is free but reservations are required. Parking is available for $4 per hour or $8 per day; disabled and Santa Monica senior beach parking passes will be accepted. Information: (310) 4582257, www.eventbrite.com/org/ 199463539.

FILM FESTIVAL

the Annenberg Community Beach House. Jefferson’s research pursues the history of people and places which have been overlooked

• The 13th Annual L.A. Shorts Fest will occur July 23 to 31, at Laemmle’s Sunset 5 theater, 8000 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood.

This year’s festival offers diverse genres and subject matter contained in more than 280 short films, music videos, and commercials by

established and emerging talent from around the globe. Many Hollywood veterans will light up the screen both behind and in front of the camera, including Scarlett Johansson, Courteney Cox and Demi Moore. Information: www. lashortsfest.com.

the F-Word: Posters on International FeminismS.” The exhibitions are made possible by the support of many foundations, as the center is a nonprofit that collects, preserves and exhibits posters relating to historical and contemporary movements for social change. Information: http://politicalgraphics.org.

BOOKS • Innocent girls in rural West Africa are sent to a shrine to serve its priest under slave-like conditions. A young AIDS worker trying to put a stop to this injustice has been strangled to death. Detective Inspector Darko Dawson, an accomplished sleuth with keen intuition and a mercurial temper, tries to find out who killed her. Was it the tribal priest who felt his way of life was being threatened? The young man whose overtures were spurned? Or the local healer, trying

FESTIVALS

to prevent his herbal remedies from being copied? Moving back and forth between the capital city of Accra and a small rural village in Ghana, the 336-page “Wife of the Gods” brings the rich culture of its setting to life. Kwei Quartey, a practicing physician by day, penned this first novel inspired by his own observations growing up in the Volta Region of Ghana. Cost: $24.

Information: www.kweiquartey. com.

• “The Vixen Manual,” the third book from The New York Times bestselling author Karinne Steffans, author of “Confessions of a Video Vixen,” was published on July 13. Steffans’ “Manual” is billed as “the ultimate relationship guide, including all of her hard-earned and invaluable advice for finding, seducing and keeping the man you want.” The book’s 50 chapters, which are divided into five sections such as “How to Attract Him” and “How to Release Him,” cover every aspect of a woman’s search for the right mate.

The 320-book also includes advice about learning how to appreciate being single and the many pitfalls of casual sex. Cost: $25.99. The author will sign copies of the book July 29 at Borders bookstore, 1501 Vine St., Hollywood, at 7 p.m.

THEATER • The 24th annual Shakespeare Summer Festival is in Los Angeles with the touring production of Aquila Theatre in “As You Like It.” Shakespeare Festival/LA is a community-based and member-supported theater company that serves Los Angeles by making Shakespeare accessible to all. Performances, which will run through July 19, will take place at the outdoor plaza of The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, 555 W. Temple St., Los Angeles. The box office will open at 7 p.m. and the show begins at 8. General admission tickets are offered free of charge, but patrons are invited to participate in the Food for Thought program by bringing a nonperishable food item, which will be donated to the Food Bank of Southern California. Reserved seats are also available for $30. Information: www.FreeWillLA.org.

• Holman United Methodist Church will celebrate its 64th Homecoming Anniversary with a multicultural, multigenerational celebration July 24 through 26.

Included in the festivities will be the Holman choir, a salute to centenarians, and recognition of the historic West Adams District, home to prominent African Americans such Hattie McDaniel, Joe Louis and Ethel Waters. The reception to

Hattie McDaniel

honor local centenarians will occur July 24 at noon. Later in the afternoon, a documentary featuring former West Adams resident and Academy Award-Winner Hattie McDaniel will be shown. The film will also be shown July 25 and 26.

Festivities begin on July 25 with an 8 a.m. World House Breakfast sponsored by Councilman Herb Wesson, of the 10th District.

Following the morning services on July 26, there will be choirs from throughout the Los Angeles area performing in a multicultural choir fest. Holman United Methodist Church is at 3320 W. Adams Blvd., Los Angeles. Information: (323) 731-7285.

• The 14th Annual Central Avenue Jazz Festival will occur July 25 and 26. The two-day event again pays tribute to the rich culture and heritage of the “Avenue,” as it was known during its heyday from the 1920s to the ’40s. Clora Bryant will kick of the weekend festivities with a panel discussion, and this year’s performers include Kamasi Washington, the Gerald Wilson Orchestra, and Jazz on the Latin Side. The event will take place on Central Avenue at 42nd Street, across from the Dunbar Hotel, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day. Information: (213) 743-8738, www.centralavejazz.com.

ONLINE • The Center for the Study of Political Graphics has four new online exhibitions available for viewing by the public, including: “Real to Reel: A Political Reflection of Hollywood Film Posters”; “Prison Nation: Posters on the Prison Industrial Complex”; “Subvertisements: Using Ads and Logos for Protest”; “Reclaiming

Kamasi Washington

See SHORT TAKES, page 9

July 16, 2009

L.A. WATTS TIMES

Page 9

ARTS & CULTURE SHORT TAKES Continued from page 8 • The 2009 Aloha Falsetto Festival, which showcases the best of Hawaiian music, will be held July 18, at 2 and 7 p.m., at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center, 1935 Manhattan Beach Blvd., Redondo Beach. The event will also include hula dancing, Hawaiian food and arts/crafts vendors. Ticket prices are $25 to $75 and can be purchased online. Information: (310) 937-6607, (562) 556-4824, http://alohafalsettofest.com.

CABLE • “Martin Lawrence Presents 1st Amendment Stand-up” is returning to the Starz channel for a fourth season of raw stand-up comedy. The premiere is scheduled for July 17, 11 p.m. Eastern and Pacific times. Filmed in Washington, D.C., at the historic Lincoln Theatre, the series is hosted by Doug Williams and features

Dick Gregory

some of the nation’s edgiest upand-coming talent, as well as star comics, performing before a live audience. Executive produced by both Lawrence and Williams, this season’s line up includes comedy veterans such as Dick Gregory and Don “DC” Curry.

ART • The Angels Gate Cultural Center is presenting three new art exhibitions. “For Fame and Love” features the work of Kris Chatterson, Linda Day, Fatima Hoang and Jay Lizo. The exhibit runs from July 19 through Aug. 23 with an opening reception July 19, 2 to 4 p.m., in Gallery A. This exhibit exposes the quintessential, yet taboo components of art making: ego and love. “Luminate” by Venice-based artist Lisa Bartleson, is filled with new works that are the continuation of Bartleson’s exploration into light and color, specifically color theory. The exhibit runs from July 19 through Aug. 23 with an opening reception on July 19, 2 to 4 p.m., in the Downstairs Gallery. “Spontaneous Aura: An Afternoon of Procedural Art” brings from Los Angeles to San Pedro poetry, music and more for an afternoon of procedural art. It will take place July 19, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. in Building H of the Angels Gate Cultural Center, at 3601 S. Gaffey St., San Pedro. Information: (310) 519-0936, www.angelsgateart.org.

Photo Courtesy of AL HORNSBY

PORTRAIT OF A ‘KING’ — Local artist Al Hornsby painted this portrait of Michael Jackson 25 years ago as a way of honoring “The King of Pop.” When Jackson died at age 50 on June 25, Hornsby began exhibiting the painting again in solidarity with worldwide tributes to the entertainer. Hornsby is just one of many with Jackson memorabilia. According to The Associated Press, “Merchandise from Jackson’s ‘This Is It’ tour will be available online and at retailers across the United States. Among the items for sale: T-shirts commemorating the first and second nights of the concerts at London’s O2 arena, belt buckles, caps, sunglasses and mugs. A varsity jacket modeled after the one Jackson wore in the ‘Thriller’ video will also be available.”

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Page 10

L.A. WATTS TIMES

July 16, 2009

ARTS & CULTURE

Regina Taylor, Writer of ‘Crowns,’ Wears Many Hats

BY DARLENE DONLOE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Regina Taylor wears many hats — figuratively and now literally.

She’s a director, producer and critically-acclaimed actress who not only starred on Broadway as the first African American to play Juliet in Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” but in films (‘The Negotiator”) and on television in the 1991 drama “All Fly Home,” and most recently, “The Unit,” the now-canceled CBS drama.

Today, the Dallas native is finding satisfaction as the playwright of the successful theatrical production “Crowns,” now playing at the Pasadena Playhouse through Aug. 16.

The show, which just completed a successful run at the Ebony Repertory Theatre, gives audience members a glimpse into the lives of six Southern women whose life stories are told through the various hats they have worn in their lives.

Winner of four Helen Hayes awards, including “best regional musical,” “Crowns” is based on a book, also called “Crowns.”

The L.A. Watts Times caught up with Taylor to talk about “Crowns,” her career and what’s next for the multitalented playwright.

LAWT: Tell us about the first time you read “Crowns.”

RT: Emily Mann from the McCarter Theatre gave me a call and asked me to look at the book and said, ‘See if you’d be interested in turning it into a theater piece.’

She sent me over ‘Crowns,’ and the moment I saw these women’s faces from the photographs, I knew them, even though I had not met them. There is this recognition of the women who raised me. The women in my church community, these hat queens I grew up around.

I said, ‘Yes, I wanted to celebrate them.’

LAWT: Did you immediately see a play?

RT: I saw the women in terms of these stories and passages of their lives. I knew there was something moving and authentic and universal in these stories. All (of) these stories kept up under the brim of a hat during the course of a life — it’s about what’s passed down.

L AW T: We r e a d w h e r e ‘Crowns’ is one of, if not the most produced, play in the country. Is that true? Is it black plays or just plays in general?

RT: I would say it has been one of the most produced musicals in the country — without a qualifier.

LAWT: How does that make you feel?

Regina Taylor

RT: I’m humbled, honored and blessed.

LAWT: Do you have any idea how many times the show has been produced?

RT: No, I haven’t done the numbers. But I do know it’s played in most of the regional theaters in this country. It’s a show that people in general come to see again and again and bring their loved ones.

I’m happy it had its premiere with the Ebony Repertory Theatre at the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center and will now be at the Pasadena Playhouse.

LAWT: Did you wear hats before writing this show?

RT: I wasn’t a hat-wearer. I had a knit hat and a baseball cap.

But I knew ‘hat queens.’ But, through the course of working on it, what I learned was that the tradi-

A FOOT-STOMPING CELEBRATION OF HATS AND THE CHURCH-GOING WOMEN WHO WEAR THEM! Original Painting “CROWNS” ©2009 Synthia SAINT JAMES

ON SALE NOW!

tion of wearing hats came from across the ocean; Africans adorning themselves for worship, hats derived from slavery.

Wearing a hat was a declaration of the individual spirit. It was symbolic of how that person wanted to be seen. A woman wearing a pill hat is presenting one thing. The woman with the big flashy hat with bells and whistles, with sequins and feathers, is presenting something else. This is very individual.

This is about individuality — supported by the community. Our culture is very much about our individual uniqueness. It’s not homogenous.

LAWT: Did that follow in your own family?

RT: In working on the piece, at some point my mother took me to the closet and showed me her hats. She had never done that before. For a whole afternoon she walked me through her hats and told me the stories for each one.

One was for someone’s christening, for my first formal outing, this person’s wedding, this person’s funeral. It gave me an insight into my mother that I didn’t have before. She has since passed on. I kept those hats. I have worn some of them. They contain her life.

LAWT: Since the show’s success, do you now wear more hats?

RT: Now I have a number of hats. I’m at that midpoint (of) at least beginning to collect hats. My first hat was at the premiere of ‘Crowns.’ I went out and purchased a real hat.

LAWT: Describe it.

RT: It was a black velvet wide-brim hat with a wonderful swirl of feathers, iridescent feathers. It’s also the hat I wore to my mother’s funeral.

LAWT: Wearing crowns is common in the African culture. Of course you don’t have to be a woman, black or a churchgoer to enjoy ‘Crowns,’ but does this show translate for other cultures?

RT: Absolutely. There are so many people who love hats, who know people who love hats. In terms of American society, certain-

ly wearing hats is across the board.

The Queen of England is still wearing her hat. It’s not a dead tradition.

LAWT: What does writing, producing and directing do for you that acting doesn’t?

RT: It all goes together. My purpose is to live a creative life, to create pieces that might move someone, something that has presence, heart, spirit.

LAWT: In the many incarnations of the show, have you ever played one of the roles?

RT: I cannot sing, I cannot dance. Well, I can, but no one would pay me to do it.

LAWT: What’s next?

RT: I am working on my next two plays. It’s a co-production next year with the Goodman Theatre in Chicago and the Dallas Theater Center. I’m working on part of a trilogy.

The plays are called the Trinity River Plays. The first piece is called ‘Rain,’ about a woman who goes home to her mother’s house after a divorce. It’s a motherdaughter relationship. It’s about a woman who finds herself as she takes care of her mother — who has ovarian cancer. It should go up next August.

LAWT: Since you are a multitalented actress, playwright and director wearing several hats, what other ways do you want to express your creativity?

RT: I think to live life is a creative adventure. It’s important to know we can grow up to be what we want to be. It’s important for the creativity to have a purpose — a God-given purpose.

“Crowns” stars Paula Kelly, Sharon Catherine Blanks, Vanessa Bell Calloway and others.

“Crowns” will be at the Pasadena Playhouse, 39 S. El Molino Ave., Pasadena; 8 p.m., Tuesdays through Fridays; 4 and 8 p.m., Saturdays; 2 and 7 p.m., Sundays.

There will be no performances on July 21 and Aug. 5 at 8 p.m.

There will be one matinee performance on Aug. 5 at 2 p.m. Information: (626) 356-7529, www.

Pasadenaplayhouse.org.

Berklee Music School Taps African Musicians

BY MELISSA TRUJILLO AP WRITER

CroVVns (626 626) 356-7529 3 5 6 7 5 29 WWW.PASADENAPLAYHOUSE.ORG

Regina Taylor directed by Israel Hicks by

Adapted from the book by Michael Cunningham and Craig Marberry A co-production with Ebony Repertory Theatre in Association with Regina Taylor MEDIA IA S SPONSORS

B O S TO N ( A P ) — Vi c t o r Dogah bobs his head and smiles, quickly getting the hang of the Puerto Rican rhythm written on the whiteboard behind his professor.

He and his classmates hit their fingers and palms on their drums in near-perfect unison.

Suddenly, their professor stops the beat and asks Dogah to become the teacher.

He discards his socks and shoes by his chair and shows his fellow percussionists a traditional dance from his home in Ghana. He rocks on his heels and toes, flaps his arms, and lifts his hands up to the ceiling.

“You see how it goes?” he asks. “Yeah, we SEE how it goes,” one of his classmates replies in

laughter, as he fumbles through the movement.

Moments like that one — during a routine Afro-Caribbean Rhythms class — are what the Berklee College of Music hoped for when it created the Africa Scholars Program, which gives scholarships to musicians from Africa to study at the prestigious school in Boston. Dogah, a traditional Ewe drummer and renowned dancer in Ghana, was the first scholar chosen after the initial round of auditions in Africa last summer.

“My main purpose here is to learn how to read and write music,” Dogah (DOH’-gah) said.

“If anybody is ready to learn from me, he or she is welcome. I’m ready any time.”

See BERKLEE, page 15

July 16, 2009

L.A. WATTS TIMES

Page 11

EDUCATION

University Chief Proposes Furloughs to Cut Costs

BY TERENCE CHEA AP WRITER

Photo Courtesy of THE HIGHEST POINT

GIVING BACK — San Francisco 49ers free safety Dashon Goldson returned to his alma mater, Narbonne High School in Harbor City, July 11 to launch his nonprofit foundation, The Highest Point. The foundation’s purpose is to encourage youth to reach their highest potential in sports, education, family and community. Pictured (top): Dashon Goldson and a youth attendee.

Bottom: youth perform training drills during the foundation’s inaugural training camp at Narbonne High.

NOTEBOOK Two L.A. Community Colleges Placed on Probation (AP) — Two Los Angeles community colleges have been warned to improve procedures or lose accreditation.

The Los Angeles Times reported July 10 that an accrediting commission has placed L.A. City College and Trade-Technical College on probation for failing to properly evaluate the effectiveness of their learning and support programs.

Gary Colombo of the Los Angeles Community College District, which operates both schools, says the problems don’t reflect the quality of instruction, and he expects the problems will be fixed and probation lifted next year.

Losing accreditation would mean other institutions wouldn’t recognize course credits earned at the two-year colleges and the schools couldn’t grant financial aid.

However, educators say few schools actually lose their accreditation.

Black Frat Inducts Bill Clinton as Honorary Member NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A historically black fraternity has voted to induct former President Bill Clinton as an honorary member.

Phi Beta Sigma President Paul Griffin Jr. said July 10 that Clinton is the first U.S. president to be inducted into a historically black fraternity.

The fraternity voted recently for Clinton’s induction at its 95th Anniversary Conclave in New Orleans.

Stevie Wonder, civil rights leader the Rev. Al Sharpton, and jazz musician Ramsey Lewis are

also honorary members of Phi Beta Sigma.

The fraternity was founded in 1914 at Howard University in Washington, D.C. It has more than 150,000 alumni and college members in about 500 chapters throughout the U.S., Caribbean, Africa and Asia.

UC Employees Protest Plan for Cuts OAKLAND (AP) — About 10 University of California employees demonstrated outside the home of UC President Mark Yudof, protesting his proposed budget cuts at the 10-campus system.

The employees on July 12 said they disagreed with the proposed furloughs that would affect roughly 80 percent of the system’s 180,000 employees.

The cuts are being proposed to deal with an anticipated 20 percent reduction in state funding as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature try to close a $26 billion budget deficit.

Hank Chapot, a gardener at UC Berkeley, says Yudof is exaggerating the financial woes, and believes the system has a substantial amount of money saved.

Chapot says managers and executives should take a pay cut.

Meanwhile, professors at UC San Diego have argued that UC Merced should shut its doors to save money.

In a terse letter to the University Office of the President, 23 UCSD department chairs suggested shutting campuses in Merced, Riverside or Santa Cruz. The professors said the campuses were a drain on what they called the 10-campus system’s flagship institutions. Yudof says he opposes closing any campus.

OAKLAND (AP) — Tens of thousands of University of California employees would be forced to take furloughs and lose pay under a plan proposed July 10 to offset deep funding cuts to the 10campus system.

UC President Mark Yudof proposed the furloughs for roughly 80 percent of the system’s 180,000 employees as part of a broader plan to deal with an anticipated 20 percent reduction in state funding.

“There is no question that the cuts to come will hurt,” Yudof said.

“But we have worked hard to bring fairness to the process.”

The UC Board of Regents was scheduled to discuss and vote on Yudof’s plan when it met in San Francisco this week. If approved, the furlough plan would go into effect Sept. 1.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature are proposing unprecedented cuts to state colleges

Mark Yudof

and universities to help close a $26 billion budget deficit.

Many state offices were closed July 10 after the governor imposed furloughs for many state employees, effectively cutting their pay by 14 percent. Some offices will close three days a month.

The governing board of the 23-campus California State University system is also considering a plan to furlough nearly all of its employees for two days a month to

offset a 20 percent cut in state funding.

Under Yudof’s plan, UC employees would see pay reductions ranging from 4 percent to 10 percent, with higher-paid workers taking bigger pay cuts and receiving more days off. Most furloughed employees would have flexibility in deciding when to take their days off.

The furlough plan would not apply to employees who receive funding from the federal government or another outside source or employees at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

UC officials would have to reach agreements on furloughs with unions that represent about 35 percent of university employees.

Furloughs were preferred over straight salary cuts because they are temporary, preserve pension benefits, and give employees extra time off, Yudof said.

On the Net: UC Budget News: www.universityofcalifornia.edu/bu dget.

Charles Drew Placed On Probation Charles Drew University has been placed on probation by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges’ Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities.

The commission rendered the decision at its meeting in June. The university received notification in a report delivered last week.

According to a press release issued on the WASC’s Web site, the action was taken after the commission’s Educational Effectiveness Review of the school in April that found Drew to have “serious issues of noncompliance” with Commission Standards. CDU fell short in all areas of the WASC’s accreditation standards, the release said.

“The Commission reviewed Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science under the WASC 2001 Handbook of Accreditation and found that the College was not in compliance with elements of all four of the WASC Standards for Accreditation: Standard 1 (Defining Institutional Purposes and Ensuring Educational Objectives), 2 (Achieving Educational Objectives through Core Functions), 3 (Developing and Applying Resources and

Facts July 18, 1918 Nelson Mandela is born in the Transkei, South Africa. An attorney by training, Mandela joins the fight to end apartheid in South Africa and becomes a leader in both the African National Congress and its military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation). Convicted of attempting to overthrow the white minority government in 1964, he is released from prison in 1990.

Mandela would go on to win the Nobel Prize for Peace and be elected president of a democratic South Africa in 1994.

Source: nobelprize.org

Organizational Structures to Ensure Sustainability), and 4 (Creating an Organization Committed to Learning and Improvement),” the statement said.

The commission has recommended that the college make improvements in a number of areas including its campus-wide communication, documentation systems, educational assessment, quality control, financial and budgetary systems and data-based systems, the statement said.

Also cited by the commission was the instability the university has experienced at the presidential level. Since 1971, the university has had a total of nine interim and or full-time presidents. The latest was Susan Kelly, who resigned in May amid allegations of mismanagement, a “no confidence vote” by the Academic Senate. Kelly denied the allegations and a report in a local newspaper that she was fired.

Interim President Keith Norris, who has was named to replace Kelly, welcomed the commission’s

findings, calling them a “road-map that will help lead the university to a brighter future,” the press statement said.

“While we address many of the technical issues (in the report), we recognize the importance of maintaining consistency in key areas of educational effectiveness and institutional performance,” he was quoted as saying.

In the statement, he noted that the university had already began to address some of the items cited in the review prior to the commission’s visit and added that he is eager to work with the commission to “strengthen the university and ensure the highest level of quality education for our students.”

The commission said it plans to schedule a “special visit” to the university in spring 2011 to evaluate the school’s progress. While on probation, CDU will be subject to special scrutiny and any new site or degree program is subject to review through WASC’s substantive change process, the WASC press release said.

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Page 12

L.A. WATTS TIMES

July 16, 2009

HEALTH largest HMOs, and as a policy development staffer at AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA).

Hunting Best Buys When Eating Healthy Costs More

Obama Says U.S. to Help Africa Fight AIDS, Malaria

BY LAURAN NEERGAARD AP MEDICAL WRITER

THE PULSE Kaiser to Celebrate Watts Healthy Farmers’ Market Anniversary The two-year anniversary of the Watts Healthy Farmers’ Market will take place July 18, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Ted Watkins Memorial Park, near 103rd Street and Central Avenue.

Kaiser Permanente’s Watts Counseling and Learning Center will join the farmers’ market in the celebration. The celebration, free to the public, will feature a chef demonstration by Kaiser Permanente’s Dr. Preston Maring, who will give away and sign copies of his “Eating Well in Season” cookbook.

There will also be a petting zoo for kids; live music, including Mariachi and Yo Voice; face painting by Auntie Joyce and other kids activities; free carrot cake; health and nutrition information with free blood pressure and cholesterol testing; and fresh market produce from local farmers.

Transportation will be provided to residences within a 1-mile radius of the market.

Information: Ruth Conley, (323) 564-7911.

Women Alive Director Named to Health Panel Carrie Broadus, executive director of Women Alive, joined President Barack Obama and other dignitaries as a participant in the NAACP’s Centennial Celebration, which ends July 16.

Broadus served as a panelist for the NAACP’s health workshop titled “The Great Silence: The Impact of HIV/AIDS on African American Women.”

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 64 percent of African American women nationwide are living with HIV. AIDS is the leading cause of death among African American women ages 25 to 34 years living in the United States.

In Los Angeles County, African Americans make up 9 percent of population but account for 20 percent of all AIDS cases.

For more than 25 years, Broadus has dedicated her life to health care advocacy, community affairs and health planning. Broadus has worked as the consumer advocate representative at LA Care Health Plan, one of California’s

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.”

Celebrate the 2nd Anniversary of the Watts Healthy Farmers’ Market!

Free cookbooks and cooking demonstration, petting zoo and face painting for kids, raffle, health information, live music, and fresh seasonal produce!

Saturday, July 18th 10 am-2 pm Ted Watkins Memorial Park 103rd and Central Ave. Operated by Sustainable Economic Enterprises of Los Angeles (SEE-LA) For more information please call 323-463-3171 or visit www.farmernet.com

ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — President Barack Obama says the United States will help African allies combat HIV and AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.

Obama on July 11 told Ghana’s Parliament that the United States would continue the work started under his predecessor, President George W. Bush. Obama says he has committed $63 billion to fight public health challenges in Africa, including polio and tropical disease.

Obama says he has seen progress in parts of Africa, although too many people die needlessly. He says that as long as children can die from a mosquito bite, more needs to be done.

Obama says the United States needs to be guided by conscience and common interest because global disease can spread across oceans and continents.

Dozens Indicted in L.A. for Medi-Cal Fraud Scheme (AP) — Forty-two people have been indicted in Los Angeles in what prosecutors say was a ring that defrauded Medi-Cal out of nearly $4.6 million by using unlicensed nurses to provide care to disabled patients.

The indictment unsealed July 9 accuses 42 people of conspiring to bill the state agency for in-home licensed nursing services.

The U.S. attorney’s office says the owner of a Santa Fe Springsbased company, Priscilla Villabroza, has already pleaded guilty to five counts involving health care fraud.

Twenty people have been arrested. The others are not considered flight risks.

Charges in the indictment include conspiracy to commit health care fraud, fraud, and aiding-andabetting.

Appeals Court Upholds Bar on Medi-Cal Cuts SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal appeals court has upheld an order barring California from cutting Medi-Cal payments by 10 percent to doctors, pharmacies, and many other health care providers.

The Legislature ordered the cuts to go into effect on July 1 as a way to close the state’s budget deficit.

Officials estimated the cuts would save about $500 million.

But a federal judge in Los Angeles stopped the cuts while considering the lawsuit filed by health care providers.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that ruling July 9, saying it appears the state violated federal laws guaranteeing equal access to health care. Medi-Cal serves the poor and elderly in California.

The appeals court also has ordered the state to reimburse providers for the six weeks the cuts were in effect.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Obesity experts say the lousy economy threatens to worsen Americans’ already bulging waistlines because bad-for-you food happens to be the cheapest. But there are healthy cheap eats, and new research aims to show how to eke the most nutrition out of every buck.

“We wanted to make sure every calorie counted,” says Dr. Adam Drewnowski, who directs the University of Washington Center for Public Health Nutrition and is pushing for the federal government to put more affordability into the calculation when it issues new dietary guidelines next year.

No, his plan is not a plea to live on salads. After all, salad greens can cost four times as much as green beans and not last nearly as long.

Drewnowski is out to rehabilitate the potato, just not the french-fry version. He says it is time to welcome protein-rich eggs back to the table.

Spinach? Excellent if you can afford it. If not, iceberg lettuce has merit, he insists.

No time to cook from scratch, or live in a low-income neighborhood where good fresh produce is scarce?

Frozen veggies can be better buys anyway, he says, and even canned if you watch the sodium.

“The message is now shifting from the most nutrient-rich foods to the most affordable nutrient-rich foods,” Drewnowski says.

Two-thirds of U.S. adults are either overweight or obese, and childhood obesity is so epidemic that some doctors predict we soon will see a generation with lower life expectancy than their parents. The recession won’t help.

“Higher food prices are straining household budgets, especially for low-income families,” says Dr. James Marks of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, who fears rising grocery bills will outstrip what little progress is being made in encouraging better eating and more exercise.

It is a hard fact: Eating healthier can cost more. When you are hungry, you go for what is most filling, meaning calorie-dense foods with lots of added fat and sugar.

“You tend to go for the value meal at a fast-food restaurant,” says Jeff Levi of Trust for America’s Health, a nonprofit health advocacy group.

It is not just the price-tag difference. Drewnowski’s research shows education and other demographic factors play a role, too, in whether people have the information to choose more nutritious options — and the extra time it takes to shop and cook for them.

In a recent study of the eating habits of 164 Seattle-area adults, he found women with the highest incomes and most education ate the most nutritious fare, with steadily improving dietary quality for every dollar spent.

Yet when Drewnowski examined what the U.S. Department of Agriculture calls a “thrifty food plan” for healthy eating, he found it takes between nine and 16 hours a week to purchase, prepare and cook while the average U.S. working woman — still the chief family cook — spends about five hours a week doing that.

So Drewnowski started slicing and dicing federal statistics to compare average national prices per portion with the nutritional value of different foods, per 100 calories.

Comparing the two rankings let him find best buys, the middle ground between most nutritious yet expensive and the not-so-healthy in each food group.

“Milk is off the charts,” Drewnowski says, especially if people choose low-fat versions over sugar-packed, no-nutrient colas. “It won’t be spinach and arugula and poached salmon. It’ll be potatoes and beans and (lean) ground beef and milk and yogurt.”

On his list, carrots trump peppers, and apples trump strawberries, as cheaper and longer-lasting.

Canned tomatoes pack even more of the nutrient lycopene than pricier fresh ones.

Canned or frozen corn kernels mean no paying for the cob.

Somewhere between expensive salmon and cheap bacon comes lean hamburger — just drain it well — and chicken that can be quick-cooked many ways besides artery-clogging deep-fried.

Then there is the potato, maligned by the anti-carb movement. It actually has more potassium than a banana, fiber and even vitamin C. Just no fatty fries: Boil or mash or bake, and go easy on the butter. “It got nations through famines,” Drewnowski notes.

Some Best Buys in Nutrition Per Dollar

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Experts fear the recession will worsen Americans’ already bulging waistlines, as healthy food often costs more than high-calorie fare.

University of Washington researchers are analyzing which give the most nutrition for the price per portion. Some foods on the list: • Lower-fat milk; low-fat yogurt; cheddar, American or moz-

zarella cheese • Lean ground beef; chicken (not deep-fried); canned fish • Whole eggs • Beans, dry or canned • Peanut butter; sunflower seeds; almonds • Bread, enriched or made with whole wheat; tortillas, corn or wheat; rice • Bananas; apples; frozen orange juice concentrate; 100 percent fruit juice or fruit-vegetable blends • Potatoes, with or without skins; iceberg lettuce; canned, not creamed, corn; canned tomatoes

July 16, 2009

L.A. WATTS TIMES

Page 13

TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE vs.

THURSDAY, JULY 16TH, 7:10PM Dodgers Collector Poster

FRIDAY, JULY 17TH, 7:10PM Friday Night Fireworks

SATURDAY, JULY 18TH, 7:10PM SUNDAY, JULY 19TH, 1:10PM Kids Appreciation Sunday Webkinz Giveaway

vs.

MONDAY, JULY 20TH, 7:10PM Esaver Discount $9 Tickets - dodgers.com/esavers

TUESDAY, JULY 21ST, 7:10PM Esaver Discount $9 Tickets - dodgers.com/esavers

WEDNESDAY, JULY 22ND, 7:10PM Manny Bobblehead Giveaway

DODGERS.COM | 866-DODGERS

Page 14

L.A. WATTS TIMES

July 16, 2009

SPORTS of nine. USC’s DeMar DeRozan (9) and Taji Gibson (26), and University of California at Los Angeles’ Jrue Holiday (17) and Darren Collision (21) were all first-round picks.

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.

The Los Angeles Dodgers take the local sports spotlight starting July 16 as Manny Ramirez makes his first home appearance since his 50game suspension for violating MLB’s drug policy. The Dodgers take on the Houston Astros in Los Angeles.

Since Ramirez’s July 3 return, the Dodgers have been on the road.

How good is the Dodgers’ Manny Ramirez? He smacked the 536th homer of his career against the Milwaukee Brewers July 10, to tie Mickey Mantle for 15th place on the all-time major league list.

Now that the 2009 All-Star Classic in St. Louis (in which President Barack Obama threw out

the first pitch) is history, regular season play resumes on virtually all fronts in baseball. Both the Dodgers

ON ATIVE EDITI MMEMOR KING JR. CO

2009 January 15,

LOS SERVING

, No. 1110 Vol. XXX

nfidante, ayton, a Co Xernona Cl ng’s Legacy Ki Reflects on

AND ANGELES

S DING AREA SURROUN

She System Inc. Broadcasting tor of the oneE is also the originants in History” NE DONLO R

BY DARLE minute “Mome G WRITE d annually CONTRIBUTIN is a ball of broadcasts televise Month.

Xernona Clayton Black History schedule is the during fire.

Although her mile a minute, recently found Moving a former full, Clayton veteran and King, a man civil rights King Jr. confidante is time to talk about for severMartin Luther Atlanta fielding calls, she respected, knew with durin in her office ws, and putting the al years, and worked , of the Civil doing intervie the Trumpet Awards ing the height With a venon final touches the accom- Rights Movement. dge, highlights utions of erable wealth of knowle at an affair that and contrib dly “never plishments Clayton, admitte ans. a million African Americ the founder and CEO a loss for words,” has tion Clayton is stories to tell. Watts Times t Awards Founda of the Trumpe and executive proThe L.A. get her Clayton to , which Inc., and creator spoke with Trumpet Awards s upcoming ducer of the year and will air on take on the nation’ TV One. is in its 17th Xernona Clayton tribute to King.

Atlanta on is the best ted him as April 12 from ments are vast, but LAWT: What s that pinpoin I go into King’s the activitie activist, time.

Her achieve her horn. acknowledge savior of our r, community one to toot in the way to 22 and ’t the great TON, page ?

Clayton isn’t Baptist preache brother, husband, See CLAY KING — black woman televi- birthday He definitely wouldn , son, King Jr., who all The first Prize winner XC: HONORING a prime-time didn’t like e Martin Luther for an author, Nobel South to host Clayton was a vice want the hoopla. He more, describ Jan. 15, were it not intellectual, words, and is, Tenn., at Turner sion talk show, old today, father. These in Memph of urban affairs been 80 years April 4, 1968, sanitation workers president would have was killed black bullet. He of the count of the city’s rest assassin’s the suppor in . gone Times joins Special Edition L.A. Watts where he had man with our on strike. The who were honoring this in — world try — and violence from threats of opposed taunts and s and adults MN white student of Central High.

BRISCOE ion R lecFIRST COLU

BY ANDRE the integrat G WRITE Roberts has CONTRIBUTIN Obama is sworn Over the years,and college stuWhen Barack nt of the United school tured high preside and has been in as the 44th 20, Americans may dents at seminars, what vely about Jan. has finally interviewed extensi States on the nation turbulent year during the conclude that like e Roberts past. was He uses his Dr. Terrenc its racist pro- it high school. overcome teach psychology he spent in platform to in as many But for retired Roberts, 67, one and nces as a participate on e experie educati at events, and as possible, Roberts who inte- the importance of fessor Dr. Terrenc to teenagers e relationships inaugural balls to speak Tomorrow.” of nine black Little Rock Central how to best improv Today and He also plans as’ Sidwell -old great grand-s, to said. s and faculty at the grated Arkans 1957, the ceremony among people of color.

OOD “My 11-year William C. NORW in leading up page 7 student Anthony

BY CHICO hurdle in High School E ROCK 9, In the days the “Little Rock R son, Neeko the theme for this See LITTL another cleared rights. just Day, STAFF WRITE Assembly Speakbe with E. will ation equal ns, speak came up er Larry ing battle for valida tes Inaugur California attend luncheo serve as the year,” said organiz the continu Nine” will behind the Bass will electio n er Karen Norris J. Obama ’s Angeles tried to driving force Los the and Nine” l Grant, Rock and the grand marsha celebrity grand Association Commerce. In his BRIEF what the “Little Roberts, a former the Bishton parade. of said NEWS IN Bass and Bishton Jr. role as Chamber 25th annual ’s in Psyaccomplish, ValJoining service the P. Master for the UniGen. David marshal on Jan. 19 LAND previous publicr for Real Estate co-chair of offiat Antioch will be Lt. Day Parade THE SOUTH reviewing Kingdom deputy directo for the state of chology program s who has been this year’s Day s.

Angele of court, Kingdom to Serve as in Los Angele al cereDevelopment is credited celebration versity in Los and 2009 Rosenfeld the inaugur Rosenfeld The largest King Jr. holi- cer, Wyvetta Taylor.offiabout y California, invited to attend black president in to create Luther Parade Queen first Planning Deput ties and jobs, nia, the t Supervisor with helping the Martin mony for the Other celebri rn Califor include private-sector urban Second Distric s has chosen we to attend day in Southe will begin at 11 72,000 new U.S. history.

Thoma ce to what struggling cials slated Nadette Stanis of Mark Ridleyto serve as which revitalized 2.5-mile parade n Avenue and “It adds substan said. “When Bern Rosenfeld legend Roberts Danie l A. ard. It actress Times” fame; jazz a.m. at Wester areas. tried to do,” State Deputy King Boulev country’s history, “Good of L.A. a Senior k; California Martin Luther west to Crenshaw look at this ion to ands Hancoc Disyou opposit Thous Instruc Herby at the District: for the Second at of Public will proceed south on and you look Lose Jobs you look Rosenand turn Superintendent nell; members of and then trict team.

Boulevard Avenue in of Los Teachers Could O’Con Obama’s l; integration, ands Jack Vernon responwith be Counci tion ed onto Thous will happen s City feld em(AP) — Crenshaw g, t that the what has where a festival the Los Angele s and other is quite apparen sible for planninenLeimert Park, Angeles teacher be laid off this election, it 14 more. is crumbling. did fits in will include Tele- and transportation, and will follow. ployees could the nation’s secold system The parade on KABC ct, what we as 20 drill teams Daniel A. Set to air vironm ent a.m. to “In retrospe to chip school year ng bands, 4 district grapl 7 from 11 developRosenfeld We were able weakeconomic gest school theme marchi MLK PARADE, page vision-Channe deficit, — that pattern.

See year’s parade of ond-lar a $250 million the old system For ment. with 1 p.m., this than 35 years said. away a bit at Lives On the point now and ples officials recently He has more will — to is “The Dream ever.” assessment school en it if you Ramon Corng faster than private sector and is the con Superintendent Legislature where it’s crumbli the electio the state s LLC, develo pment Roberts said tines blamed al cutbacks, saying g, because Urban Partner l of r anythin founde g entrepreneuria for the potenti doesn’t change ic elements that to solve the “system an award-winninfocusing on devel- that lawmakers need if the Los of this there are firm into the fabric opportu- state’s budget crisis District is real estate are woven investment opment and n United Angeles Unified Schoolintact. society.” ands the harm the wester work force nities in If anyone underst to keep its Roberts. In S, page 6 causes, it is States.

See BRIEF as a board and the segregation at age 15, he who He has servedCentra l City rs the fall of 1957, of the black teenage as the memb er eight other to be known insults, would come braved Nine” “Little Rock

Lives on in The Dream Year of This Historic Parade y Kingdom Da

Assembly Speaker

Karen Bass

Parade founder

hts 9’ Civil Rig ‘Little Rock ration end Inaugu Icon to Att

Larry Grant

PRESID ENT OBA MA INA UGURAT ION ED ITION

Vol. XXX , No. 1111

Giant St eps:

SERVIN G LOS

ANGELE S AND

Barack Obama America’ s 44th Pr esident SURROU NDING AREAS

January 22,

2009

BY TERE AP WRIT NCE HUNT ER

‘HOPE OVER John Robert FEAR s to becom ’ — Barack Obama e the 44th , joined preside by his nt of the United wife Michelle States at and daught the U.S. Capitol ers Malia, third in Washi from left, ngton Jan. and Sasha, 20. takes

FIRST COLUMN

Not Just a Dream: Sparks Black Me Obama n to Actio n

BY LUCA AP WRIT S L. JOHNSON ER

II

The Son of Our Soil

the oath

AP

of office Photo/RON EDMON from Chief DS Justice

WASH into history INGTON — Stepping grasped , Barack Husse in Obam the reins America’s of power a as Jan. 20, first black presid declaring ent on choose “hope overthe nation must purpose over conflic fear, unity of to overco me the t and discord” crisis since worst econo the Great Depression.mic In frigid temperature exuberant crowd of s, an million more packe and parad d the Nation than a al e Mall route Obama’s inaugurationto celebrate noon cerem in a highony.

With out of work11 million Amer icans lost in the and trillions stock marke of dollars Obama emphasized t’s tumble, biggest that his challenge tattered economy is to repair the outgoing left President behind by Bush.

George W. “Our protecting time of standing pat, narrow interests of and See OBAM A, page 6

they say NASHVILL they might — An

BY REMA actor turnsE, Tenn. (AP) taken witho not have ut his inner-city a dilapi SPECIAL REYNOLDS Van Jones example. dated, mosqu TO L.A. in just Green , WATT a few days.e into a theate NAIR For All, 40, found ed S r buckles last e-mail OBI, Kenya — TIMES down on A 20-year-old gram that seeks a national to my Kenya I sent one prohistorically his studie energy ing her what I should n friend askjobs. His to create clean s at a black colleg mother Oakland-ba e after his program, which expec dies I would sed nity organ of cancer. A employs ple and during the be teaching t. comm izer decide in has 25 peocreate thousa Obama’s time of Presid Nairobi s his plan u- of $4.5 millioan operating inauguration ent Barac budge nds to too mode n, was of green k Kenyans instrumenta t st and enlarg jobs is in passing a were excite . I wondered ty-fold. if excited es it twen- energy bill portion of a nation l d as as the al majority I was, as Act. It will called the Green cans, as Barack of excite use up to Jobs the White Obama’s electio to train cans particu d as Africa Ameri$125 millio House is n Amer 30,000 n to larly. ization n such as the very ipeople of what My realin jobs instal fathers so reply just BlackBerry flashe have told many black and retrofitting ling solar panel as I boarde d her aspire buildi s their sons them “Kenya HOME to d the plane: is to friend more envir ngs to make often was for years, even don’t be full of Obama a large PRIDE — Kenya onme ntally ly. screen, if it mania so just ns react booster as thousa guration another surprised if Jan as U.S. With Obam not meant a confidencends ceremo national erally. ny — from of people gather President BarackAP Photo/SAYYID D.C., Jan. are extrem holiday. 20th is And longto be taken lit- decided to shop a’s election, Jones AZIM to watch Nairobi, Kenyans Obama ely proud year ago 20. Across the wrapped a posal our appears $33 the U.S. Kenya befor soil!” of this came togeth countr before Congr billion proup the on — that preside son of contest, e he hire didacy took place ntial inauer to celebray, neighbors about 600,0 ess that would Anoth had his te the inaugudivided by politic in Washi black men driven these can- the another. er national holida ngton, 00 peopl next two al ration of three and others y? Yes, NEWS its favorit violence only years for e over work. to action When Obam e son, Obama a IN BRIE similar s ident of a was electe F .

See BLAC the THE SOUT were grante United States d presK MEN HLAND , Kenya , page 3 ns commemorad a day off, a Top police Los Ange holiday officials edged to turned off te the occasi les Polic that minor acknowlon. As my Study e freque phone Rejec ities the flight I on Racia ntly in obedie t are more l Bias but they subjected to me, in my attendant hoveri nce to (AP) search told the oversees — A commission statistics commission es, why didn’t jealousy I though ng over the do not prove that filing t, “Now the we get a Department Los Angel day off?” racial proWhile told police es Police ment. is rampant to invest in the board the waiting in igate wheth on Jan. 13 departLondon a recen to Kenyans last plane of er data t from TimesInformation from: spoke with the trip, identify study can be asm and , http://www.l Los Angel great officers used to who against atimes.com. es Americans animated gesturenthusiminorities. discriminat as they es e L.A. Gang symbol The pontificated to of Tab to Pay has $5 Million came aftercommission’s the with proud hope Obama decision embodies mony abouthearing hours couldn’t , booming voices (AP) of have cared . They conducted the study, which testi- they secure— City officia flight was less ls said d a $5 professor, by a Yale Unive was judgm more time delayed five that our million and publis hours — rsity street ent against HE’S to civil brag ober GOT MOV relative. about Obam hed by the gang whosea Los Angel the many ES — a their ties Union American Civilin Oct- contro A parade 11 memb es l the When 19. Go performances of South Liberparticipant ers to page that downtown heroin trade ern Califo Jomo Kenya we finally The 17 to view took place nearly doesPhoto by HGSTA arrived in the area. rnia. tta Intern R1/UNW Angeles study found more parade at the 2009 at in Kenya City Kingdom the splits as part ationa that Los police photos. , officers Day Parade likely to of dillo and Attorney Rocky ly Kenya everyone — even l Airport are stop and on Jan. n passen the liveLatino search blackmore officials other law enforcDelgasubdued, gers — residents announced ement exhausted seemed whites, than they and against the judgm even the 5th See KENY from the journe ent more often though white are week. and Hill y.

AN SON, Officials gang last and contra found carryi s are obtain page 6 said it ed is the first ng guns band. fornia. against a gang in CaliSee BRIE FS, page 7

L.A. Watts Times “News You Can Use” S

U B S C R I P T I O N

Steve McNair

McNair was the first African American QB to win an AFC championship, the first to win co-MVP honors as a QB, and the second to take a team to the Super Bowl.

And the beat continues Tiger Woods will shoot for his 15th Grand Slam and 69th career win July 19 in the British Open in Turnberry in Scotland. Woods could eclipse Jack Nicklaus’ career record of 18 Grand Slam victories in the 2010 British Open. Woods didn’t play in the British Open last year because of an injury. This year, he will be shooting for his fourth British Open championship.

L.A. Sparks veteran superstar Lisa Leslie isn’t expected to return to

Manny Ramirez

We are committed to preparing a publication that you will eagerly anticipate each week. The L.A. Watts Times is scanning and probing news and information resources to deliver the best of the African American community to you. To receive the L.A. Watts Times via U.S. Postal Service each week, fill out this subscription form and send with check or money order payable to: L.A. Watts Times for the yearly rate of $65.

LUTHER DR. MARTIN

and the L.A. Angels of Anaheim went into the All-Star break leading their respective NL and AL West divisions.

A bummer for the Angels, though, is that the team had to place two of its stars — Vladimir Guerrero and Torii Hunter — on the 15-day disabled list.

O

R D E R

F

O R M

Name: ____________________________________ Address: __________________________________ City, State, Zip Code: ________________________ Telephone Number: (_______) ________________ If mailing subscription, do not send cash. Mail to: L.A. Watts Times, 3540 Wilshire Blvd., PH3, Los Angeles, CA 90010. For more information call (213) 251-5700.

Vladimir Guerrero

Cincinnati Reds Manager Dusty Baker, a former L.A. Dodgers star, isn’t celebrating his latest entry in the MLB record books. Reason: Baker’s Reds suffered their worst loss in history, 22-1, by the Philadelphia Phillies. As of presstime, the Reds are in fourth place in the NL Central, just 31/2 games behind Cecil Cooper’s Milwaukee Brewers.

And the beat continues It’s a little known fact that exTennessee Titans and Baltimore Ravens quarterback Steve McNair was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in 1991 as an 18-year-old. But he chose to play football, and was drafted third overall in the NFL’s 1995 draft. On July 4, the married McNair was reportedly murdered by his mistress, who, afterwards, reportedly killed herself.

Lisa Leslie

the team’s line-up until July 22, just three days before the All-Star Game. As of presstime, she has missed four games with a sprained knee. Leslie will probably make a cameo appearance in the All-Star game, because she will retire after the season.

Don’t say Pac-10 basketball is inferior to that of the other major conferences. Six Pac-10 players, headed by ASU’s James Harden (third pick), were selected in the first round. There were an all-around total

LeBron James

Xavier University’s Jordan Crawford is the first college player to dunk on the Cavs’ celebrated LeBron James. Crawford, 6 feet 4, put on a two-handed dunk on the 6 feet 8 James at a LeBron James skill camp in Akron, Ohio. You probably won’t see it on the Internet because, word has it, Nike, which sponsors the event, got tapes from both reporters, and they are not to be shown.

And the beat ends Brad Pye Jr. can be reached at switchreel@aol.com.

July 16, 2009

L.A. WATTS TIMES

Page 15

PUBLIC NOTICE FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT File No. 20090764357 The following person is doing business as: Lady “J’s” Little Angels 11111 S. Western Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90047 Janice Antoine 11111 S. Western Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90047 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 Janice Antoine.

This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles County on May 22, 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: 6/25/09, 7/2/09, 7/9/09, 7/16/09 LAWT375

BERKLEE Continued from page 10 Berklee, with 4,000 students, focuses on the study of contemporary music and has been a launching pad for dozens of influential artists, from producer Quincy Jones to jazz saxophonist Branford Marsalis to pop star John Mayer.

But African nations have largely remained underrepresented at Berklee, despite the college’s long tradition of recruiting international students. Twenty percent of its student body comes from outside the United States, which is among the largest percentages of any U.S. university.

Many of the continent’s most talented musicians don’t have the means to afford the school without scholarships.

Berklee President Roger Brown, who made a $500,000 donation with his wife to help fund the program, said so much of the music taught and played at Berklee can be traced to Africa. For example, slaves brought to the Caribbean heavily influenced the Puerto Rican music being learned by Dogah and his classmates.

“It seems like if there’s one place on the planet where we should be trying to go to tap into talent, it would be Africa,” Brown said.

“This allowed us to do something that we wouldn't have been able to justify otherwise.”

The Africa program offers one full-ride scholarship and other scholarships each year. And the response has been tremendous.

After the first auditions last year in Accra, Ghana, and Durban, South Africa, Berklee had to add a third day of auditions because of high demand this year in Nairobi, Kenya.

Many of those who auditioned are masters of their traditional music, but can’t support themselves through music or pursue more education, said Joe Galeota, an associate professor and director of Berklee’s West African Drum and Dance Ensemble.

“I know some of the applicants who auditioned last year learned how to play on YouTube,” said Galeota, who heard Dogah audition.

“They’re great with their own cultural ideas and traditions and music, but they don’t have the mainstream and the materials to learn.”

Angelina Mbulo, a 31-year-old vocalist from Mozambique, said she nearly gave up her dream of pursuing music. She had worked for nine years with children and families

LOS ANGELES COUNTY METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY (Metro)

Requesting Subcontractor for the City of Los Angeles Project 10026070 (Contract ID 7675) Financial Consulting Services

INVITATION FOR BIDS Metro will receive bids for CO943 , Orange Line Extension 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 3:00 p.m. (Pacific Time), August 13, 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.C0943. A Pre-Bid conference will be held on July 1, 2009 at 10:00 a.m. (Pacific Time), in the Metro Board Room located at the address above.

You may obtain bid specifications, or further information, by contacting Valerie Dean at (213) 922-1032.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT File No. 20090950091 The following person is doing business as: Louche Living 660 S. Figueroa St. 24th Fl. Los Angeles, CA 90017 Louche Designs 660 S. Figueroa St. 24th Fl. Los Angeles, CA 90017 Solomon Mansoor 660 S. Figueroa St. 24th Fl. Los Angeles, CA 90017 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 Solomon Mansoor.

This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles County on June 24, 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: 7/2/09, 7/9/09, 7/16/09, 7/23/09 LAWT376 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME Case No. MS006808 Superior Court of the State of California, for the County of Los Angeles.

In the Matter of the Application of Karymah Elizabeth Shaw-Howell, Zoyah Leanni ShawWhittaker, Jeovan Andrew Shaw-Young and Jeovanie Roy Shaw-Young for changes of names.

The application of Karymah Elizabeth ShawHowell, Zoyah Leanni Shaw-Whittaker, Jeovan Andrew Shaw-Young and Jeovanie Roy ShawYoung for changes of names having been filed in Court and it appearing from said application that has Karymah Elizabeth Shaw-Howell, Zoyah Leanni Shaw-Whittaker, Jeovan Andrew ShawYoung and Jeovanie Roy Shaw-Young filed an application proposing that their names be changed to Karymah Elizabeth Howell, Zoyah Leanni Howell, Jeovan Andrew Howell and Jeovanie Roy Howell. Now, therefore, it is hereby ordered and directed, that all persons interested in said matter did appear before this court located at 42011 4th Street West, Lancaster, CA 93534, on the 20th day of May, 2009, of said day to show cause why such application for changes of names should not be granted.

It is further ordered that a copy of this Order to Show Cause be published in a newspaper of general circulation, printed in said county, at least once each week for four successive weeks prior to the day of said hearing at 8:30 am, Dept A10 on July 22, 2009.

Thomas R. White Judge of the Superior Court.

Published Runs 7/16/09, 7/23/09, 7/30/09, 8/7/09 NC-LAWT-10R

infected with HIV or AIDS and received a promotion the same month she was given a partial scholarship to Berklee through the Africa Scholars program. She turned down the promotion and came to Boston.

“Without it, I basically wouldn’t be here,” she said.

Dogah — who goes by “Blue” — also was pursuing a different career: clothing design.

Brown bristles at the idea that some of the world's next generation of great, innovative musicians are being lost because they don't have the means or opportunities to use and refine their talent.

“In a way, to take one person a year from the continent of Africa is an insult, because we could take a thousand and the 999th would be as talented as the first,” he said.

On the Net: Berklee Africa Scholars: www.berklee.edu/scholarships/africa.

Unison Consulting, Inc. (Unison) is seeking an M/W/OBE firm(s) experienced in airport finance for a potential bid opportunity with the Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA). The firm(s) would be subcontracted by Unison to provide utilities rate-setting, capital improvement program analysis, and general financial services.

All interested firms should contact Latoya Brown at (312) 988-3360 or by e-mail latoyabrown@unison-ucg.com to obtain a copy of the bid opportunity (10026070/Contract ID 7675 - RFP Financial Consulting Services)

by July 20, 2009.

Please note that all M/W/OBE firm(s) must meet certain certification, bonding, credit and insurance requirements. Interested firm(s) can contact LAWA, Purchasing Office by telephone (310) 646-7390 or online www.labavn.org for detailed requirements. For assistance with obtaining bonds, lines of credit and/or insurance, M/W/OBE firm(s) can contact Unison for a list of resource agencies.

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME Case No. BS121188 Superior Court of the State of California, for the County of Los Angeles.

In the Matter of the Application of Christopher Dana Majors for change of name.

The application of Christopher Dana Majors for change of name having been filed in Court and it appearing from said application that has Christopher Dana Majors filed an application proposing that his name be changed to Lauren Nixon Majors. Now, therefore, it is hereby ordered and directed, that all persons interested in said matter did appear before this court located at 111 North Hill Street, Los Angeles, CA, on the 18th day of June, 2009 at 9:00 AM of said day to show cause why such application for change of names should not be granted.

It is further ordered that a copy of this Order to Show Cause be published in a newspaper of general circulation, printed in said county, at least once each week for four successive weeks prior to the day of said hearing at 9:00 am, Dept 1A, Rm 548 on August 7, 2009.

Murray Gross Judge/Commissioner of the Superior Court.

Published Runs 7/2/09, 7/9/09, 7/16/09, 7/23/09 NC-LAWT12 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME Case No. BS121188-AMENDED Superior Court of the State of California, for the County of Los Angeles.

In the Matter of the Application of Steven Chan for change of name.

The application of Steven Chan for change of names having been filed in Court and it appearing from said application that has Steven Chan filed an application proposing that his name be changed to Lauren Nixon Majors. Now, therefore, it is hereby ordered and directed, that all persons interested in said matter did appear before this court located at 111 North Hill Street, Los Angeles, CA, on the 18th day of June, 2009 at 9:00 AM of said day to show cause why such application for change of names should not be granted.

It is further ordered that a copy of this Order to Show Cause be published in a newspaper of general circulation, printed in said county, at least once each week for four successive weeks prior to the day of said hearing at 9:00 am, Dept 1A, Rm 548 on August 7, 2009.

Murray Gross Judge/Commissioner of the Superior Court.

Published Runs 7/2/09, 7/9/09, 7/16/09, 7/23/09 NC-LAWT13

REQUEST FOR BIDS & NOTICE OF INTEREST HNTB is bidding on the following project as a Prime Subcontractor: Financial Consulting Services for Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) Bid Date: July 30, 2009 @ 3:00 pm HNTB is seeking interest, qualifications, bids, and quotes from DBE subcontractors in the following areas of work: Airline Rates and Charges Analysis; Utilities Rate-Setting; Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) Application Preparation; Capital Improvement Program (CIP) Analysis; Airport Improvement Program and Other Grant Applications; Benefit-Cost Analysis; and General Financial Services All interested subcontractors must be certified as a minority business by the California Unified Certification Program (CUCP). Responsive subcontractors will also be required to provide acceptable insurance and appropriate bonding, or immediately inform HNTB if assistance is needed.

HNTB intends to conduct itself in good faith in regards to all DBE and OBE firms participating in this project.

All interested firms should email CUCP documentation to Debra Rahal at drahal@hntb.com and await further instructions. All additional materials will be solicited via phone and/or fax.

CLASSIFIEDS STATEWIDE “Be wary of out of area companies. Check with the local Better Business Bureau before you send any money for fees or services. Read and understand any contracts before you sign. Shop around for rates.”

weekly and college newspaper contacts in California.

FREE email brochure. Call (916) 288-6010. www.CaliforniaPressReleaseService.com (CalSCAN)

AUTOS WANTED

EQUIPMENT FOR SALE

DONATE YOUR VEHICLE! Receive Free Vacation Voucher. United Breast Cancer Foundation. Free Mammograms, Breast Cancer Info www.ubcf.info Free Towing, Tax Deductible, Non-Runners Accepted, 1-888-468-5964. (Cal-SCAN)

SAWMILLS FROM ONLY $2,990 - Convert your Logs To Valuable Lumber with your own Norwood portable band sawmill. Log skidders also available. www.NorwoodSawmills.com/300n -FREE Information: 1-800-578-1363 x300-N. (Cal-SCAN)

DONATE YOUR CAR: Children’s Cancer Fund! Help Save A Child’s Life Through Research & Support!

Free Vacation Package. Fast, Easy & Tax Deductible.

Call 1-800-252-0615. (Cal-SCAN)

FINANCIAL SERVICES

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY ALL CASH VENDING! Be Your Own Boss! Your Own Local Vending Route. Includes 25 Machines and Candy for $9,995. MultiVend LLC, 1-888-625-2405.

(Cal-SCAN) AT LEAST $2-5,000 A MONTH! Copy this proven 3step system just once a month and make at least $2-5k! (imagine copying it once a week!) See what other people are making now! www.WinWithRuss.com/cmr 858-472-5714. (Cal-SCAN) VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS. Be Your Own Boss.

Looking for motivated PT/FT Marketing/Sales Representatives. Bilingual a Plus.

For details Contact: (650) 452-6850 or VisualCommunicationsIntl@gmail.com. (Cal-SCAN)

BUSINESS SERVICES CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING in 240 Cal-SCAN newspapers for the best reach, coverage, and price. 25words $450. Reach 6 million Californians!. FREE email brochure. Call (916) 288-6019. www.CalSCAN.com (Cal-SCAN) DISPLAY ADVERTISING in 140 Cal-SDAN newspapers statewide for $1,550! Reach over 3 million Californians! FREE email brochure. Call (916) 2886019. www.Cal-SDAN.com (Cal-SCAN) NEWS RELEASE? Cost-efficient service. The California Press Release Service has 500 current daily,

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Confidential! Call American Tax Relief 1-800-4969891 * Free Consultation * (Cal-SCAN) CREDIT CARD RELIEF. * Free Consultation * Save Thousands of Dollars. Out of Debt in Months! Avoid Bankruptcy! Credit Card Relief. NOT A High Priced Consolidation Company or A Consumer Credit Counseling Program. Call Credit Card Relief 1-866479-5353. * Free Consultation * (Cal-SCAN)

HELP WANTED ATTENTION: COMPUTER WORK! Work from anywhere 24/7 processing nutritional supplement orders.

Great pay. Will train. Bilingual a plus. Request info online: www.KTPGlobal.com or 1-800-330-8446.

(Cal-SCAN) MECHANICS: Up to $20,000 bonus. Keep the Army National Guard Rolling. Fix Humvees, Strykers, etc.

Expand your skills through career training. Be a soldier. 1-800-GO-GUARD.com/mechanic (Cal-SCAN)

5838, 1-866-806-5119 x1402. (Cal-SCAN)

HOMES FOR SALE FORECLOSED HOME AUCTION. Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside & more. 500+ Homes Must Be Sold! REDC | Free Brochure. www.Auction.com (Cal-SCAN) FORECLOSED HOME AUCTION! 300+ Homes Must Be Sold! Open House: 7/25, 8/1 & 8/2. Online Auction: 8/3. View Full Listings & Details www.Auction.com REDC | RE Brkr 01093886 (CalSCAN)

LAND FOR SALE/OUT OF STATE BANK FORECLOSURE COLORADO RANCH 40 acres $29,900 Clean Title, Warranty Deed. Enjoy 300 days of sunshine. Rocky Mtn. views, utilities.

Excellent Financing! Call Today! 1-866-696-5263 x4938. www.ColoradoLandBargains.com (CalSCAN) BUYER’S MARKET. New Mexico. Ranch Dispersal.

140 acres - $89,900. River Access. Northern New Mexico. Cool 6,000’ elevation with stunning views.

Great tree cover including Ponderosa, rolling grassland and rock outcroppings. Abundant wildlife, great hunting. EZ terms. Call NML&R, Inc. 1-866-360-5263.

(Cal-SCAN) LAND FORECLOSURES IN NEW MEXICO! From as low as $19,995 for 10+/- acre, phone, electric close, views. Guaranteed financing, low down! Going Fast!

888-812-5830. www.SWProperties.com (Cal-SCAN)

MISCELLANEOUS FOR SALE BEAUTIFUL BASKETS, Themed Baskets, Variety Baskets, Holiday Baskets, all kinds of baskets for all occasions! For the best price call 213-440-6288; email: fourangelsdesigns@hotmail.com; www.myspace.com/ FourAngelsDesigns3 (Cal-SCAN)

HELP WANTED/DRIVERS

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS/ANNOUNCEMENTS

ANDRUS TRANSPORTATION Seeking Team Drivers! Dedicated Team Freight. Also Hiring OTR drivers - west states exp/hazmat end, great miles/hometime. STABLE Family owned 35 yrs+ 1-800-888-

WORLD GUITAR SHOW, Buy, Sell, Trade. Marin Civic/San Rafael, July 25-26, Santa Monica Civic, August 1-2. Saturdays 10-5, Sundays 10-4. www.TXShows.com Clip this ad! (Cal-SCAN)

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L.A. WATTS TIMES

July 16, 2009

BUSINESS CARD BULLETIN BOARD ❖ Dependable Movers ❖ (323) 630-9971 (323) 997-1193

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

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

MEN

• • • • • •

You may receive up to $100 for your participation in this study. For more information, please call Jennifer Payne, LCSW, at (323) 357-3629.

New Patients Only.

Francine Bickham,

DDS UCLA Graduate

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

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.

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

Includes:

Digital X-Rays and Exam.

Free Toothbrush & Floss

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

DID YOU EXPERIENCE UNWANTED OR FORCED SEXUAL CONTACT BEFORE YOU WERE 18 YEARS OLD?

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

3995

$

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

(562) 591-4028

QUALITY & FASHION

EXAM, FRAME & LENS 20%-50% OFF (exp. 7/31/09) eYe cLinic OPTOMETRY 8301 S. Vermont Ave., Suite A Los Angeles, CA 90044-3470 Telephone: (323) 778-7798 Fax: (323) 778-7190

www.eyeclinicoptometry.com

(323) 756-3755 RELIABLE AND EFFICIENT LEGAL DOCUMENT PREPARERS

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

Call Lola Bateman

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R&E’s Assisted & Affordable Services Include: • Divorce, Separation, Response • Expungements • Evictions • Tenant Screening • Bonded Process Servers • Civil Suits; Small Claims, Answers

400 Corporate Pointe, Suite 300 Culver City, CA 90230 Tele: (310) 590-4526 • Fax: (310) 590-4527 Email: Reliable.Efficient4U@gmail.com WE ARE NOT ATTORNEYS

LET US MAKE YOUR AMERICAN DREAM COME TRUE NOW IS THE TIME TO PURCHASE YOUR FIRST HOME WITH ONLY 3.5% DOWN PAYMENTS. WE CAN QUALIFY YOU IN 24 HOURS FOR YOUR HOME LOAN. We also do LOAN MODIFICATIONS and we GUARANTEE BEST RESULTS from your lenders.

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Please Call for More Information at:

(562) 708-7287

AMERICAN HOME LOANS & REALTY

QUALITY WORK AT COMPETITIVE RATES!!

We Specialize in: • Home Improvement • Room Additions • Remodeling • Sandblast • Stucco • Ceramic Tile • Interior/Exterior Painting • Retrofitting • Roofing • Plumbing • Concrete Work • Electrical • Etc.

NOW OPEN Mel’s Fish Shack 4525 West Jefferson Blvd.

ARCABE CONSTRUCTION, INC.

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

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

MAALES Project (310) 825-5474

Call

310-259-0351

Carry Out Only!

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.

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

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

General Building Contractors Residential & Commercial

™

FREE ESTIMATES No obligation

State License 569000

LICENSED • INSURED • BONDED

www.arcabeconstruction.com

DO YOU NEED A HOUSE? • No Down Payment • No Closing Cost • Move In 45 Days • 3-Bd., 2-Ba. — Payment $1,500 mo.

Call Joe (310) 674-8822

Gourmet Coffee for the jazz art form since 1998 Howling Monk www.howlingmonk.com (310) 671-8551 P.O. Box 1217, Inglewood, CA 90308

THIS IS YOUR COFFEE