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Lawson comes out on top as newest 7-Eleven franchisee
True she will become a 7-Eleven franchisee, but she was a winner a long time before she entered the competition and bested hundreds of other female applicants to emerge at the top of the pile, taking over social media to capture the 1st place slot in 7-Eleven’s first ever franchise give-away contest targeted exclusively to women. I’ve known Alyson’s and her mother, Terry, for over 15 years. Actually Terry is my realtor and many of her dynamic traits are visible in Alyson. There’s a spirit of service, support and activism that is clearly embedded into Alyson’s psyche. She currently works as a Business Analysis Manager for Gulf States Financial Services (GFSF) and she is the founder and CEO of Lance A. Lemons Memorial Foundation. She also donates her time
AUGUST 16, 2017
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Alyson “Rae� Lawson is a winner.
Garland
By Cheryl Smith
GARLAND JOURNAL
as a mentor at the Boys and Girls Club of Dallas, a basketball coach at YMCA, and she has also been a soccer coach with the Norfolk United Soccer League. A member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Alyson is a born leader. She is spiritually and socially grounded with a very pleasant personality. The Hampton University graduate is a go-getter. She’s respectful, conscientious and super smart. Not only does the St. Luke “Community� United Methodist Church member have book sense with a bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Hampton and Masters degrees in business and accounting from Texas A&M-Commerce and the University of Miami; she’s beautiful, talented, athletic and well-rounded. I wasn’t surprised when I heard that she was in competition to win a franchise. The contest got down to the wire when seven contestants took to the internet See FRANCHISEE, page 5
August 16, 2017
White Supremacist jailed after attack By Freddie Allen (Managing Editor, NNPA Newswire)
James Alex Fields Jr., a 20 year-old from Ohio, who drove his dark gray Dodge Challenger into a crowd of people protesting a White nationalist march in Charlottesville, Va., on Saturday, August 12 showed a deep interest in Nazism and Adolph Hitler in high school. Fields is being held on suspicion of second-degree murder, among other charges. ABC News reported that Derek Weimer, Fields’ former world history teacher at Randall K. Cooper High School in Union, Kentucky, said that Fields was “fairly quiet,� “smart,� and also an open admirer of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. According to ABC News, “Some of Fields’ classmates at the school recalled a trip to Europe a group of students took after graduation in 2015, when they visited the Dachau concentration camp. Two of the students on the trip said when they arrived at the concentration camp, Fields said, ‘This is where the magic happened.’� Last weekend, White nationalists descended on the college town to protest the removal of a statute of Robert E. Lee, the infamous general of the Confederacy. Fields’ mother, Samantha Bloom, told the Associated Press, that she thought her son was attending a political rally, “that had something to do with Trump� and that she tried to stay out of her son’s political views. Media reports have described Heather Heyer, the lone fatality in Saturday’s tragedy, as a 32 year-old paralegal from Greene County, Va., and a supporter of Senator Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.). Heyer was in Charlottesville to protest against the White nationalist rally in Charlottesville. Charlottesville Mayor Mike Signer called Heyer’s killing and the injury of others a “terrorist attack with a car used as a weapon.�
In a statement about the violence and the White nationalist march in Charlottesville, Neera Tanden, the president and CEO of the Center for American Progress, said that events over the weekend are another stark and disturbing reminder that violent extremism continues to exist in our neighborhoods and communities. In a statement from his New Jersey golf club, President James Alex Fields Jr. Donald Trump said that he condemned the “egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides.� Former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke said that the White nationalists’ protest represented a turning point for this country. �We are determined to take this country back. We’re gonna fulfill the promises of Donald Trump. That’s what we believed in,� Duke said in a video posted to Twitter. Facing sharp criticism for the president’s initial response to the tragedy, the White House issued a follow-up statement that included a stronger rebuke of “White supremacists, the Ku Klux Klan, Neo-Nazis and all extremist groups.� Tanden said that throughout the campaign and in his brief presidency, Trump has had many opportunities to not just fully distance his administration from those allied with Nazi sympathizers and the KKK but also to denounce them. Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., the president and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) tweeted that the Black Press condemned the racial hatred and violence in Charlottesville. “Love presupposes justice, equality, free-
dom, and empowerment. Hate renders only more hatred,� Chavis tweeted. Echoing Tanden’s concerns about the president’s dithering remarks about the White nationalist movement, Congressman Cedric Richmond, (D-La.) said that since the campaign, President Trump has encouraged and emboldened the type of racism and violence that occurred in Charlottesville. “This is a president after all who has two White supremacists working for him in the White House—Steve Bannon and Stephen Miller,� said Richmond. “For these reasons, we weren’t surprised President Trump couldn’t bring himself to say the words ‘White supremacy,’ ‘White supremacists,’ and ‘domestic terrorism’ when he addressed the nation’ on Saturday. He instead chose to use racially coded dog whistles like ‘law and order’ and false equivalencies like ‘many sides.’ Richmond continued: “Where is Attorney General Sessions? Instead of suppressing votes and dismantling affirmative action, he should be working with the Department of Homeland Security to investigate today’s crimes.� Richmond noted that the CBC urged Congressman Michael McCaul (R-Texas), the chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security to investigate this sort of domestic terrorism, months ago. “As 49 members who represent and are part of a community who has for centuries been victimized by White supremacists, we strongly condemn what happened in Charlottesville,� said Richmond in the statement. “We also condemn the Administration’s poor response to it.�
A Kloset Full of Hope
Radio personality KJ Midday pushes fashion forward some of my stuff in consignment, and I know Sheila had this beauShe’s heard weektiful boutique and she days on Smooth and I thought of the R&B 105.7 FM. idea of opening up KJ’s While the smoothKloset,� KJ said.Nestled ness of her voice in a corner room of the soothes and enterboutique, located in unit tains listeners all 220 of 1140 Empire Cenover, there’s a wrintral Drive, is where you’ll kle in time KJ “Midfind KJ’s Kloset, featuring day� Bland wants to clothing that has made KJ Midday get rid of. appearances throughout “I wanted to clean Dallas-Fort Worth and my closet out because most of around the country, up close and the time when I host events, you personal with notables in enterknow you can’t take a picture in tainment. it again and post it again,� KJ said. “It’s just a way for people to “You know, people be like, ‘Oh you come and shop quality for less, dress cute for less,� KJ said. had that on three months ago!’� KJ’s Kloset also hopes to give The pressure is on to keep the outfits and photos fresh. Transfer- women in need, who are seeking ring the build up of abundance employment, the star power and brought KJ and Sheila Sedlak, confidence to land a job. “Another arm of KJ’s Kloset is owner of Sophisticated Seconds KJ’s Rack where we give ladies in Dallas, together. “I wanted to just kind of get that are re-entering the workforce Story and Photos By Eva D. Coleman
a chance to come in and pick out interview outfits so they can have one less thing to worry about,� KJ said. “Sometimes, us as ladies, we go in our closet and we take for granted we have things to choose from, but some ladies don’t have that option.� KJ stressed the importance of having the community component and shared that KJ’s Kloset accepts donations to benefit this cause as well. “When ladies come in here and pick something out from KJ’s Rack, they get to keep it and hopefully that outfit will help them change the course of their lives with that interview.� KJ Midday is not only a voice on the airwaves, she’s making waves to empower women with her not often -- sometimes once-worn fashion-- that makes sense.
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