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VOL. 5

ISSUE 38

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Representative Yvonne Davis Announces over $500,000 for the 2016-2017 Urban Scholarship Fund State Representative Yvonne Davis (D-Dallas) announced that over $500,000 in scholarships are available for high school graduates from Dallas and twenty eight other urban areas throughout Texas. Administrated by the Texas Association of Developing Colleges (TADC), the Urban Scholarship Program was created during the 74th Legislative session as part of House Bill 2128 with the cooperation of the three largest local telephone companies in the state of Texas at that time. This year’s Scholarship Fund contributors are AT&T and Verizon Wireless.

Since the establishment of the Urban Scholarship Fund, over 14,000 students throughout the state of Texas have been able to begin or continue their college education due to over $7.5 million awarded to them through the Urban Scholarship Fund.

“This fund was created to provide access to higher education opportunities for Texans who, without this assistance, might not be able to strive for a college education,” said Rep. Davis. “Basically, all the problems facing our communities, including economic parity, high crime, building cohesive families, and other quality of life issues are related to the lack of education. By providing increased avenues of educational opportunity, we multiply our chances of improving the conditions of our State. The goal of this fund is to boost chances of reaching this target” Rep. Davis continued.

The 2016-2017 Urban Scholarship Fund is for Texas residents who are also U. S. citizens and full-time undergraduates in good academic standing at any accredited public or private non-profit college, university or technical college. Additionally, applicants must demonstrate financial need and have graduated from a high school in the follow-

ing metropolitan cities: Abilene, Amarillo, Arlington, Austin, Beaumont, Brownsville, Carrollton, Corpus Christi, Dallas, Denton, El Paso, Fort Worth, Frisco, Garland, Grand Prairie, Houston, Irving, Killeen, Laredo, Lubbock, McAllen, McKinney, Mesquite, Midland, Pasadena, Plano, San Antonio, Waco, and Wichita Falls. Students interested in applying for scholarships should contact their high school guidance counselor; college financial aid officer, or call the Texas Association of Developing Colleges at (214) 630-2511.

Applicants may also complete the scholarship application online at www.txadc.org then print, sign and mail it with the required documents. The deadline for applying for the 2016-2017 Urban Scholarship Fund is Monday, July 11,2016 (postmarked).

Students attending technical, junior or community colleges will receive $700, public four-year college and university students will receive $1000, and private four-year college and university students will receive $2000. The number of awards is uncertain because of the varying funding levels to different types of institutions.

The Urban Scholarship fund

was created in 1995 when Rep. Davis attached an amendment to the omnibus telecom bill creating a pool of funds derived from unclaimed telephone service deposits. Previously unclaimed funds went into the unclaimed funds pool in the State Treasury. Although these funds will be shifted into the scholarship account, local telephone companies will still reimburse consumers for any funds properly claimed in the future.

“We ask our students to study hard, make the grade and prepare themselves for the next level necessary to reach their goal. However, the continued rising cost of

a college education presents an obstacle to some students. The Urban Scholarship Fund provides these students additional funding to help pay for their college education and ultimately realizing their goal,” stated Rep. Davis.

Students from non-metropolitan areas of the State may be covered by the Rural Scholarship fund, which was also created by House Bill2128.

Rep. Davis is currently serving her twelfth term, representing District 111 in the Texas House of Representatives.

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Welcome Samuel Boyd to the team Samuel Boyd has joined the staff of I Messenger Enterprises as a summer intern.

In addition to contributing to the editorial content for Texas Metro News, Garland Journal and I Messenger; the enterprising Boyd will be covering various County’s Commissioners Courts, City Council and School Boards, as well as entertainment, features and Person on the Street profiles.

A blogger and social media whiz, Boyd will be providing live real time coverage on the various websites and social media pages under the I Messenger umbrella.

Boyd was born and raised in Carrollton, Texas before moving to Denton. He has

Sam Boyd

been writing since his freshman year of high school, where he made the move from

playing sports to writing about sports and other areas, as a journalist Although not many were on board with the decision at first, they all came to see Boyd’s knack for writing and editing. Boyd started as a sports writer on the staff and then became a sports editor and website designer.

After winning several awards (and going on several trips and competitions) as an individual and as part of the staff for his high school newspaper, The Hawk

Eye; Boyd decided to continue his journalism career at UNT, where he manages to maintain a 4.0 GPA. A writer and print journalism student at the University of North Texas with a newfound minor in sociology, Boyd hopes to become a freelance writer once he graduates in May of 2017. He wants to travel all across the United States and cover the interesting stories that he finds when visiting.

Please welcome him and share your story ideas and tips with Sam at editorial@ myImessenger.com. If you see him on the street or out in the community, introduce yourself and shake his hand.

Reappraising Commissioners Court

by SAM BOYD I Meesenger Reporter An otherwise uneventful Dallas County Commissioners Court meeting, taking place in the Allen Clemson courtroom with its rows of pink chairs and two story walls that feature a surrounding layer of glass along the second story, was further made interesting by the seeming rift between commissioners.

After the invocation and resolutions, which included the retirement of Deputy Laura Hines as well as the acknowledgment of Mental Health Awareness Month, things started to get a bit interesting around the presentation regarding the Dallas Central Appraisal District,

presented by executive director/chief appraiser W. Kenneth Nolan.

Nolan discussed how the residential reappraisal that he ran, which consisted of 450,000 accounts for this year alone, experienced the most change with more homes being reappraised, while also seeing a larger change in prices, at almost a 10% increase. Nolan further said that this was due in part to a higher demand for houses in the area where houses are also very limited.

Commissioner John Wiley Price indicated that this was because Dallas County has one of the lowest tax rates of any county in the state. Dallas itself is the third largest growing city in the world.

A positive job market

Dallas County Commissioners Court

and a favorable business climate are the reasons why the commercial reappraisals have experienced change.

However, Judge Clay Jenkins seemed a bit opposed to the reappraisal, with his concern mostly focusing on the changes to the reappraisal for residential neighborhoods.

Jenkins repeatedly stated that he was looking out for middle class working families.

“We have to do what is in

the best interest of our citizens,” Jenkins said.

Jenkins also noted that wage rates have only increased 3%, so compared to the 10% housing increase, this would make it more difficult for citizens to purchase houses.

Commissioners Price, Dr. Elba Garcia, and Mike Cantrell continued to push for the reappraisal, while Commissioner Dr. Theresa M. Daniel seemed to be neutral to the proposal.

“We are damned if we do and damned if we don’t,” Price said.

Cantrell added that the commissioner’s court had to make a decision as part of their jobs.

“You have to do your job or people get hurt,” Cantrell said.

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Remembering Because I Said So Spiritually Speaking

by James A. Washington

I was reminded about this on Mother’s Day and will think of it again on Father’s Day. It’s a familiar subject coming from me and worth repeating.

Obedience! The perspective from which I’ve always engaged this subject of obedience to God is that of ‘want to’ vs. ‘have to.’

From a parental point of view, you’d love to have your children obey you out of the relationship you’ve developed over the years, where they value your advice and do what you tell them to do out of respect and love rather than simple discipline and consequence. If a wholesome relationship does indeed exist, then the child will want to comply out of the recognition of the parent’s love. Mom or Dad is telling me this because they’ve got my back.

If all one does is obey the rules because of the

consequences of the punishment associated with disobeying the rules then, the rules are generally thrown out the window when the rule maker is no longer around. I guess what I’m really trying to say is, when grounded in love, people respond favorably according to the wishes and will of the person who is the object of that love.

By our very nature, we want to look good in the eyes of the people we’re trying to impress.

Jesus says, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching.” John 14:23. Examine this use of the term obey.

What Christ is saying is the same thing that many a mother and father want to believe about their kids.

We all know the things that would upset Mom and Dad. We know this because they spent a lifetime (yours) instilling their values and integrity into your character. You might still do things they wouldn’t condone, but you certainly know the difference between the right and wrong of it because of your upbringing.

That upbringing, if nurtured in the spirit of love,

reveals to all of us the source and nature of the consequences and the resulting discipline. It’s still all about love. Y’all know that ‘this is going to hurt me more than it’s going to hurt you’ thing.

Christ is merely reminding us that if you love Him, then obeying

“IF ANYONE LOVES ME, HE WILL OBEY MY TEACHING.” -JOHN 14:23

Jesus constantly refers to the love of the Father. How many of you do what your mother would expect of you and your mother has been dead for years? How many of you try to pass those same expectations along to your kids? Why? I submit that you do this because of the relationship you have or had with your mother. That’s why I am convinced the key to understanding obedience to God is establishing or reestablishing a relationship with the Almighty.

This is achieved by studying His Word, getting inside His commandments and emulating as best you can the life of Christ, who carried out the wishes of His Father to the letter. “I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me, but the world must learn that I love the father and I do exactly what my Father has commanded me.” John 14:30-31.

To obey should be an act of love. Our goal should be to understand God’s love for us and simply do our best to return it. Act accordingly, so to speak.

His rules, His teachings, which were given to us out of love of the Father, should come from the heart out of our Christian experience.

Our desire to please should override our mere compliance to the rules.

The point is obedience to God has so much more to do with wanting to do the right thing for the right reason, than doing the right thing because it is law. One is the result of May God bless and relationship and the other keep you always… is the result of fear of consequence.

Throughout scripture,

James

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Just Get Funky!

Quit Playin’

by Vincent Hall

Bobby: James, what you gonna play now?

James Brown: Bobby, I don’t know, but whatsenever I play, it’s got to be funky!

– Make it Funky, 1971 I strolled down the celestial sidewalks of Funkville the other day. I passed by the purple palace where Prince lives now, hung a right at Hard Work Avenue and stopped to have a chat with James Brown.

I said “James; I know you’ve seen Donald Trump and the millions of racists he’s convinced to resurface…What we gon’ do now?”

James smiled and replied, “y’all gon’ have to get funky.”

Now the term “funk music” gets thrown around a lot, but James reminded me what funk is and what it ain’t. Funk may be the

only antidote for this new strain of xenophobia and nativism that’s gone viral.

Wikipedia says; “Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-to late 1960s when African American musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of soul music, jazz, and rhythm and blues.”

Stop right there. Funk set precedent and protocol for Hip-Hop and Rap, and it has to be included. James took it to the bridge, but we got to take it to the polls.

I hear the new funk sound each time my sassy, socially-savvy daughter, Alison and I conduct debates on Hillary v. Bernie.

Those of us who’ve been voting for decades must respect and respond to a new generation that demands to be heard. It’ll take a consolidated “neofunk campaign” to defeat Donald and his arrogant “esprit de corps.”

Don’t be fooled, you cannot talk down to the Hip Hop/Rap generation.

We didn’t teach them enough of our own history, so they depend on what they see and not what you say. They ain’t impressed by that pow-

er sign Afro pick or the liberation jump suit you sported in 1972. They want to know when and how you intend to cede power. And if you look at the aging Black leadership in Congress and across the nation you understand why.

“Funk de-emphasizes melody and chord progressions used in other related genres and brings a strong rhythmic groove of a bass line played by an electric bassist and a drum part played by a drummer to the foreground.”

In other words, we may not all hear the same musical scheme, so we got to follow the funky beat.

The beat is that strong urge that informs your drive and direction.

The beat will get us in the groove of voting, political activity and, above all, a salient awareness of what’s happening in our communities. The funky beat will drive you to vote

against that “Chump named Trump” and everyone who aligns with him. Any politician who is brazen enough to bypass an opportunity to publicly denounce this demagogue should be targeted and run out of office.

Finally, “Funk uses the same richly-colored extended chords found in bebop jazz, such as minor chords with added sevenths and elevenths, or dominant seventh chords with altered ninths.”

Funk chords use the Black and the White keys, and getting funky means that we don’t discriminate. We play the chromatic scale.

Our national climate is beginning to feel more and more volatile and unsafe for minorities. We cannot afford to alienate those Whites who respect our personhood. We cannot summarily dismiss a group of people just because we hold disdain for some of its members.

In 2016, we gotta stand with our Hip Hop/ Rap crowd, feel the beat, and hit on every chord; natural, sharp or flat.

And whatsenever we do, James Brown says; “It’s got to be funky like neck bones, candy yams and turnips…Just Funky!”

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Sister’s pregnancy embarrassing preacher’s family nant. I just can’t believe her. After she told my parents, my mother called my brother and me to let us know. I immediately rushed home and could see the pain and trauma on my mother’s face. This is the worst thing that could ever happen to my family and I’m not sure if we can recover. I am so angry right now, I just cannot speak. Help me to explain to her that she has ruined, ruined our family.

And Alma, how can I assist my parents in this terrible situation?

Dear Alma, Signed, My younger, non-marA Sistah’s Shame ried sister is pregnant and she is going to ruin our standing in the communi- Dear Sistah’s Shame, You know what, I need ty. I don’t know what she thinking or how she could you to turn all the way let this happen. She is around and sit yourself only thinking about her- down. I hear your story self and being totally self- and I see where you’re ish. My father is the pas- coming from, but you tor of a very large church. need to slow your roll My parents are very and calm down. Let’s restrong leaders, loving and alistically review what supportive parents who your sister’s pregnancy is taught us to be ambitious. – unplanned, sure, unexI will graduate from pected, yep, traumatic… college this year with a Aaah, I don’t think so.

Fortunately for your business degree and plan to return to assist my par- family, this isn’t your ents in the ministry. My problem to solve. This brother is a sophomore situation will be managed in college, majoring in between your parents and architecture. And here your sister. I know it’s comes my baby sister, a hard for you to believe high school junior, preg- or perceive, but your sis-

ter’s pregnancy is a mere pimple on the face of your family. A pothole on your kinfolk’s path of perfection. Does that make it right? No, but it does make it better than most.

Without a doubt, your parents will see your sister to the finish line. She will be provided with support, reassurance, medical treatment, food and shelter.

You’re suffering from embarrassment, sweet pea, and there’s no need to call the doctor, because it won’t kill you. If you can’t offer the love and support that’s needed at this time, step back, and allow yourself to be seen and not heard. For the next nine months, this isn’t about you or your parents, it’s about your little sister.

Here’s a newsflash: From our problematic

projects to our pretentious gated communities, every family in America is hosting homemade shickity behind closed doors.

Yours isn’t immune.

Don’t let your child’s eye view of various manicured lawns dupe you.

A young, single woman who finds out she’s pregnant without support is hopeless, heartbreaking and traumatic.

Have a heart to heart talk with you mom and let her know how you feel.

She’ll reassure you that these feelings of disappointment will pass, and your family will rise to the occasion, continuing to be and serve as an example of forgiveness and love of family. Once you and your family lock eyes with that petite package of sweet baby smiles, you’ll feel more than just joy in the morning.

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