National Center for Civil and Human Rightstribute Powered by Real Times Media
Volume 87 • Issue 40
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Atlanta Jazz Fest lineup
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Michelle Obama addresses HBCU
Page 9 May 14-20, 2015
Atlanta’s
mounting problem of children in the
sex trade
May 14-20, 2015
COVER STORY
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Jimmy Carter, Rotary seek to abolish human trafficking horrors in Atlanta
• How big is the sex trade in Atlanta and the state of Georgia? It is estimated to generate more revenue than the illegal drug and gun trade combined. Nationwide, reports state that human trafficking generates $40 billion dollars annually, more than McDonald’s ($5.46 billon), Google ($10.74 billion) and Walmart $15.70 billion) combined. Former president Jimmy Carter and the Rotarians Against Child Slavery convened for the “World Summit: End Sexual Exploitation 2025.” “The Carter Center is committed to abolishing the sex exploitation industry by encouraging every nation to adopt the Swedish model, which emphasizes the prosecution of those who purchase or profit off the sale of sex,” said former president Jimmy Carter. “Targeting prostitutes and those who have been forced into the industry is a wrong approach.” Carter added that the ratio to the arrest of the prostitutes or under-aged girls in relation to the men who purchase the sex is 25-to-1, which he calls ridiculous. “Given the uneven application of such laws, it is also time for the United Nations to pass a proposed United Nations convention against sexual exploitation, to stamp out safe havens for sex profiteers,” insisted the former president. “In addition, adequate resources are needed to provide care and services for those who need it to leave the sex trade or escape from bondage. There is so much work to do and the movement to end human sex slavery is growing. I hope that you will participate. We are working with Rotary and other partners to host a global summit on this issue.” Dave McLeary, a leader with The Rotary who
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Founded August 5 1928; Became Daily, March 12, 1932 W.A. Scott, II, Founder/Publisher August 5, 1928 to February 7, 1934
By Terry Shropshire A television news producer’s voice quivered as he recounted the horrors of the underage sex trade that’s become big business in the city of Atlanta – often conducted right under our noses and frequently in plain sight. One female pimp, he said, bragged that she took in over $35,000 a week off the backs of four underage girls, with some of the sex slaves being forced to have intercourse with 2030 “johns” a day. The producer, speaking at the World Summit to End Sexual Exploitation at the Carter Center, said his disbelief soon dissolved into disgust as he rode along with a local Atlanta police vice squad during a raid. “We literally went exit by exit on one of these raids along I-285, from seedy hotel to seedy hotel, arresting pimps and rescuing young girls, all under the age of 18,” said CNN producer Leif Coorlim. The producer who is not known for naiveté, casually asked the officer in charge if it took several weeks or months to set up these exhausting stings. “He said ‘no, our officers got on the Internet last night, and made the calls this morning and now we’re making all these arrests tonight. This was less than two miles from where we are now sitting,” said Coorlim. “‘We could do this any night of the week, any time of the year,’” the officer added, talking to a stunned Coorlim, as he mentally worked to digest all of the disturbing sites during this police ridealong. As he spoke several months, later he remains in a state of disbelief of just how big sexual exploitation of young girls and boys is in the city of Atlanta, the state of Georgia and the United States.
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is working directly with the Carter Center on this issue, said his emotional and permanent attachment to this issue began when he heard the horrific sex-exploitation story of Melissa from his hometown of Roswell, just north of Atlanta. “My story started with a girl named Melissa. Turns out that she was trafficking in downtown Atlanta. And when the Rotary event was over, one of the members gave her a big hug. And I asked him ‘How do you know her?’ And he said ‘She used to babysit my kids when she was younger.’ That hit too
close to home for me.” That experience led McLeary to organize the Candlelight Vigil at Centennial Olympic Park — to increase awareness of groups who have put sexual exploitation at the top of their hit list. It also serves as a rallying tool for former victims, such as Dr. Brooke Bello, who survived being kidnapped, beaten, drugged and trafficked. Bello staved off the overwhelming thoughts of suicide that came along with her ordeal, and went on to become an ordained minister in Sarasota, Fla, and founder of her own organization, More To Life. Bello’s story resonated with the hundreds in attendance at the recent Candlelight Vigil, many of them survivors themselves who were either kidnapped of preyed upon by those who exploited their feelings of low self-esteem or drug addiction. Bello explained to the crowd of sympathizers
that her virginity had been stolen from her by a trusted family member, and then another, all as a preteen. So she and a friend ran away from home and “jumped from the frying pan into the fire,” looking for love and a replacement father for the one who abandoned her. The problem was that she went looking on the mean streets along Hollywood Blvd. where seasoned predators lurked, and quickly pounced on her and her friend, ultimately selling them into sex slavery. The Candlelight Vigil was a cathartic experience for Bello and many others who attended. “The candlelight vigil is the culmination of a three-day event we did with President Carter at The Carter Center during the World Summit,” McCleary said. “Fourteen different countries came, and organizations from around the nation came in to work together to come up with solutions to human and sex trafficking,” he said. “The name of the Candlelight Vigil is ‘The Power of One.’ It takes one individual to make a difference with human trafficking, and that’s what this is all about tonight.” McCleary says The Carter Center and The Rotary are uniquely positioned to tackle worldwide human trafficking and sexual exploitation because Atlanta is one of the nation’s and world’s leaders in this deplorable, but highly-profitable industry. “It’s one of the biggest problems here in Atlanta. It’s a $200 million industry here in the city. We have more than 100 girls being forced into prostitution [in metro Atlanta] every day. And it’s not just a problem here, but all over the world.” The problem, McCleary said, is multifaceted. “It’s not just legislative. We’re dealing with demand. It’s the men who are buying all these children. We cannot have that. We’re addressing that issue as well. We just passed a bill in Georgia called the Safe Harbor Bill. Part of that is public awareness. We need to let people know this is an issue that we need to address,” exclaimed McLeary. “We’re excited about the32 groups that came together at The Carter Center from all over the world to the United States to come up with a 10-year solution. We’re going to come up with a plan and every year after that we are going to continue to build upon that solution to come up with a [final] solution to end this problem,” he concluded.
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NEWS
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The National Center for Civil and Human Rights hosts tribute dinner On Wednesday, May 6, The National Center for Civil and Human Rights, Inc. hosted the Power to Inspire Tribute Dinner, an awards reception and dinner to honor trailblazers who have dedicated their lives to creating a more equal and just world for all. The inaugural event was held at The Center in a tent on Pemberton Place and drew more than 550 supporters. The event raised $650,000 for educational opportunities for students and others to experience The Center and all it has to offer. Estela Barnes de Carlotto, an Argentine human rights activist and leader of the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, was among the night’s honorees. Senora Carlotto, whose portrait hangs in The Center’s Human Rights Gallery, has dedicated her life to reuniting more than 100 missing children with their families after Argentina’s The Dirty War. After a 37-year search, she found her own grandson in 2014. Other honorees included Vernon Jordan,
NCCHR Chairman Emeritus, business executive and civil rights activist; Kerry Kennedy, human rights activist, writer and current president of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights; and Ada Lee and Pete Correll, Atlanta philanthropists who led efforts to improve healthcare access, support youth development and art programs. The Tribute Dinner was the culmination of the Power to Inspire Human Rights Summit held on May 5-6 at The Center. The summit featured discussions on global environmental justice, human trafficking and the Atlanta Student Movement. The dinner was chaired by Amy and Cecil Conlee, Ingrid Sanders Jones, Beth and Gregg Paradies, and Ava and Ross Rossin. The host committee was chaired by Bari and Russell Love and Stephanie and Jerome Russell. Honorary chairs included Richard Anderson of Delta Air Lines and Alex Cummings of The Coca-Cola Company.
Georgia man found hanging from a tree Gay street performer By Lynette Holloway Forty-three-year-old Roosevelt Champion III – found hanging from a tree on Monday, May 11 allegedly killed himself, according to the results of a forensic autopsy which has been recently released. Champion’s body was discovered by a neighbor in Greensboro, Georgia. Police had recently questioned him about the death of a 55-yearold White woman, and his death triggered speculation of foul play, the report says. Champion was found hanging by a strap like those used
to secure cargo on car roofs, with no visible wounds and his feet brushing the ground. But a forensic autopsy concluded that the manner of death was suicide and the cause of death was hanging, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in a statement. “After a thorough autopsy examination, there was no evidence of any inflicted trauma to Champion’s body,” the agency said. Miranda Wright, one of Champion’s sisters, spoke to NBC Atlanta affiliate WXIA and raised doubts about findings in the autopsy report, saying her brother was not suicidal.
‘Baton Bob’ wins settlement with city
Isakson, Perdue co-sponsor legislation to roll back EPA’s power plan U.S. Senators Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., and David Perdue, R-Ga., this week joined a bipartisan group of senators in introducing legislation to roll back the Environmental Protection Agency’s massive proposed new rule to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants. The Affordable Reliable Energy Now Act will ensure reliable and affordable energy, put jobs and the economy first and curb federal overreach. “Georgia’s families and busiU.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, nesses depend upon affordable, R-Ga. reliable electricity,” said Senator Isakson. “They want to know that the lights will turn on when they hit the switch. The EPA’s proposal will limit Americans’ energy choices and create unfavorable economic conditions for stakeholders without producing any tangible environmental benefits.” “President Obama’s executive overreach has created a Constitutional crisis in this country, and his latest power grab through the EPA will hurt American families and businesses,”
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said Senator Perdue. “Georgians and all Americans deserve a government that takes steps to grow the economy rather than put in place more burdensome energy regulations. I will continue to fight for a smarter energy policy and prevent President Obama’s EPA from this audacious overreach.” The legislation, which takes into account EPA’s proposed regulations for both new and existing power plants, also requires EPA to submit to Congress a U.S. Sen. David Perdue, report describing the quantity R-Ga. of greenhouse gas emissions the Clean Power Plan is expected to reduce, and to conduct modeling to show the impacts of the rule on the climate indicators used to develop the rule. Senators Isakson and Perdue have sent letters to President Obama and EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy calling for the proposed rule’s withdrawal, raising serious concerns over the administration’s proposed Clean Power Plan.
By Terry Shropshire An Atlanta City Council sub-committee has determined that the street performer known as “Baton Bob” was wrongfully accosted and arrested and are set to offer $20,000 to settle his lawsuit. Bob Jamerson, aka “Baton Bob,” says Atlanta police infringed upon his First Amendment rights when they arrested the dancer on Peachtree Street in Midtown approximately two years ago. Jamerson, who was often seen dancing up and down Peachtree Street before the arrest, was in proximity to Colony Square celebrating the Supreme Court’s decision to end the federal gay marriage ban when officers approached him. A police report stated that Baton Bob refused to obey officers to stop his show and leave the area. They also said he deliberately kicked officers when they tried to grab his hand. Jamerson accuses officers of brazenly violating his rights to free speech. The decision to settle with Jamerson was approved by a sub-committee. The settlement expects to be approved by the full Atlanta city council next Monday.
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BUSINESS
May 14-20, 2015
BlackBusinessList.com hosts entrepreneur networking in College Park College Park, Georgia - Unity remains the call of the hour as current events related to police brutality and excessive force continue to trouble the minds of Blacks across the country. In that spirit, BlackBusinessList.com has revamped and relaunched its popular website and is in process of establishing a satellite chapter in the metro. Locally, a networking meeting for the College Park chapter took place on Tuesday, May 12 at Club E Atlanta in College Park. Guest speaker Marcia L. Knox of Cetera Advisor Networks LLC addressed BBL members and guests and shared valuable tips on long-term wealth and risk management. “What we’re doing at BlackBusinessList. com is creating a culture where Black business people understand that it is our first priority to circulate the dollars in the Black community by spending money with each other,” says Stephen Wicks, BBL president and founder. In this time of protests and calls for financial boycotts he suggests that individuals not only refrain from spending money with non-supportive businesses, but also place emphasis on patronizing Black companies and entrepreneurs. “We should learn how to redirect
Porsche opens $100 million North American headquarters in Atlanta By Terry Shropshire Porsche Cars North America Inc. held the grand opening of its U.S. headquarters – One Porsche Drive – in Atlanta recently featuring Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and executives from Porsche’s world headquarters in Germany. The facility is located just off the northeast edge of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The new headquarters is expected to house 400 employees, about 100 of which will be new to Georgia.
our dollars back to the Black community.” Mr. Wicks also notes that business owners need to ensure they conduct their affairs in ways that earn and retain the trust and loyalty of today’s Black consumers. BBL members are held to higher standards, and customers in search of quality, ethical and professional companies to spend their dollars with will find them listed in the BBL directory. For more information contact: Stephen Wicks at SWicks@BlackBusinessList.Com
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Porsche Cars North America is the exclusive U.S. importer of Porsche sports cars. The facility features a technical training center, classic car restoration and display area, business center, restaurants and a Porsche Experience Center with a 1.6-mile test track. The invitation-only announcement kicked off with a press conference and ended with the Grand Opening Evening Event taking place later on the evening. The party lasted well into the night with “Porsche After Dark” going well past midnight.
Steve Harvey to address Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Summit in Atlanta
From South Atlanta to the White House
The Entrepreneur and Her Business
Carmyn Roots started raising seed funding for MarketplaceMeet.com about a year ago and built an online marketplace where businesses seeking brand or product awareness can partner with individuals with mass social media popularity (influencers) and exchange promotion for compensation. Carmyn describes the B2P sharing platform as a new age marketing channel for businesses targeting Millennials who spend hours each day on their social media. The platform also creates a way for entrepreneurial influencers (most of which are women across a wide spectrum of ethnic backgrounds) worldwide to earn substantial passive income. The White House event was designed to connect young entrepreneurs with established business leaders and investors to create deeper partnerships across borders and accelerate global economic growth. The event provided a unique opportunity to bring global attention to women and young entrepreneurs by highlighting the importance of investing in those creating innovative solutions for the betterment of the economy. Carmyn who is often the only woman or minority CEO at these types of events was pleased to see so many fellow female entrepreneurs from all over the globe developing impressive new ventures.
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Carmyn Roots, 28-year-old minority female tech entrepreneur from South Atlanta was among 75 entrepreneurs selected from around the world to attend the White House for the Emerging Global Entrepreneurs Event on Monday May 11. The group heard remarks from President Obama and each had the opportunity to bounce ideas off of Shark tank investors Mark Cuban, Barbara Corcoran and Daymond John.
Join Black Enterprise at the 2015 Entrepreneurs Summit hosted by Nationwide now through Saturday, May 16, at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta, with a powerhouse lineup of some of the nation’s most accomplished and celebrated entrepreneurs and motivational speakers. Steve Harvey, No. 1 New York Times best-selling author, Emmy Award-winning television host, and renowned radio personality, is confirmed as one of the Summit’s keynote speakers at the 2015 Entrepreneurs Summit. An annual highlight of the Summit is the presentation of the nation’s top awards for African American business achievement and community involvement. The Black Enterprise Trailblazer Award will be presented to legendary record producer, musician, and humanitarian, Quincy Jones; and music executive and entrepreneur Clarence Avant, at the BE 100s Gala on Friday, May 15. The 2015 Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Summit boasts high-powered sessions on critical business topics such as: Attracting Angel Investors; Accelerating Your Tech Startup; The Art of Raising Money, It’s Called Show BUSINESS, and Selling Your Ideas and Building Consumer Brands. Along with Harvey other confirmed speakers include Michael Eric Dyson, Roland Martin, Jermaine Dupri and Lisa Nichols.
For the aspiring entrepreneur, The Small Business Success™ Boot Camp offers practical advice on how to take your business to the next level. Plus, the Black Enterprise Elevator Pitch Competition will award $10,000 for the best new business idea. Attendees of the 2015 Entrepreneurs Summit will also have for the first time the opportunity to tap into all the latest Black Enterprise developments taking place in and around the Summit courtesy of the new BE Events app. Available for free on Android, iOS and other smartphones, the app allows visitors to access the full event schedule, browse the event social media updates, receive information on all the speakers taking part in the Summit, as well as develop a personal event planner to remind them of their must-attend sessions. It also features a detailed interactive floor plan to help attendees navigate the session rooms as well as keep attendees fully up-to-date with the latest developments through a link to the #BESummit social media tag. Attendees will also receive push notifications in the event of room changes and Black Enterprise giveaways. To download the app for free, visit the iTunes App Store and Google Play Store. To read this article in its entirety visit atlantadailyworld.com online
May 14-20, 2015
COMMUNITY Warrick Dunn Charities and partners surprise a new homeowner
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Warrick Dunn Charities partnered with Atlanta Habitat for Humanity and Aaron’s Inc. to surprise first-time homebuyer, Wanda Boykin, who is a working single mother of four. Warrick Dunn, former National Football League all-pro running back and philanthropist began the Homes for the Holidays program in 1997 during his rookie season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. HFTH was created in honor of Dunn’s late mother, Betty Smothers, a Baton Rouge police officer who was killed during an after-hours security shift, while seeking out her dream of homeownership. Homes for the Holidays is a program designed to support single parents that are firsttime homebuyers. Since 1997, HFTH has served 142 single parents and 388 dependents in 13 markets across the country. HFTH continuously works toward assisting single parents on their quest to homeownership by providing recipients with a fully furnished home as well as a completely stocked kitchen and pantry. In addition, support services such as education, financial literacy, and health and wellness are developed in order to create sustainable households.
May 14-20, 2015
The journey to homeownership has been trying for Boykin. After applying to Atlanta Habitat’s program in 2011, and not meeting the qualifications, Boykin was determined to better her situation. Since then, Boykin has completed sweat-equity hours and the necessary courses to reach her goal of homeownership, which serves as a long-awaited triumph after losing her mother at a young age. Boykin is proud to continue in her grandfather’s footsteps of homeownership, thus leaving a legacy for her children. “Every home celebration changes a life! We are honored to have great partners like Aaron’s Inc., Delta Air Lines, Inc. and always our Habitat for Humanity family. Together, we were able to make a dream come true for The Boykin Family.” said Warrick Dunn, Founder of Warrick Dunn Charities.
Wanda Boykin received the ultimate Mother’s Day surprise as she walked into her new Atlanta Habitat home. Over the past week, Warrick Dunn Charities and several volunteers spent countless hours completely
furnishing the Boykin home. In addition to the fully stocked and furnished house, Ms. Boykin received $5,000 in down-payment assistance.
WellCare donates $10,000 to the Partnership Against Domestic Violence in Georgia
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WellCare Health Plans, Inc. (NYSE: WCG) announced on Wednesday, May 13 that the WellCare Community Foundation donated $10,000 to the Partnership Against Domestic Violence, which is the largest non-profit domestic violence organization in Georgia. PADV will use the donation to continue providing professional, compassionate and empowering support to women and children affected by domestic violence in the metro-Atlanta area. A supporter of the PADV for more than five years, WellCare presented this year’s contribution during the Hearts with Hope Gala on Saturday, May 2. The Gala is the largest annual fund raising event for PADV, generating approximately $500,000 a year to support the organization’s mission. For 40 years, PADV has worked to end domestic violence by offering safety and shelter for women and their children; restoring power, self-sufficiency and control to domestic violence survivors; and by educating the public on the effect this pattern of behavior has on the entire community. “Domestic violence is a health care problem of epidemic proportions, causing immediate trauma and chronic health conditions such as depression, anxiety and substance abuse,” said Ginny Yates, Pharm.D.; senior director of pharmacy, WellCare of Georgia; and former PADV board member. “We are committed to supporting organizations like PADV that help empower those directly impacted to heal and educate communities about intolerance.” “We are dedicated to ending domestic violence and empowering those who have been affected by it,” said Daphne Walker, president
and CEO of the PADV. “Our partnership with WellCare allows us to help change the lives of approximately 19,000 women and children each year through emergency intervention, violence prevention and long-term advocacy.” To reach PADV’s Metro Atlanta Crisis Lines, call 404-873-1766 in Fulton County or 770-963-9799 in Gwinnett County. Georgia residents statewide can call the 24-hour tollfree crisis line at 1-800-33-Haven (42836). For more information about PADV, and how you can get involved, visit www.padv.org. As of March 31, 2015, WellCare serves approximately 593,000 Medicaid and PeachCare for Kids® plan members, 32,000 Medicare Advantage plan members and 25,000 Medicare Prescription Drug Plan members in Georgia.
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May 14-20, 2015
ENTERTAINMENT
Has Claudia Jordan traded her ‘RHOA’ status for a new show? Is season 8 of Bravo’s “Real Housewives of Atlanta” in Claudia Jordan’s future? That’s the big question as Wetpaint Entertainment cites Jordan’s response last week to a fan that asked if she is returning for the hit show’s next season. “I don’t know yet. But I had a really really MAJOR interview with a TOP 3 network today about a show,” Jordan tweeted to the fan.
Factoring into the situation is the assumption that if Jordan doesn’t rejoin her fellow housewives for season 8, she will move on to bigger and better things. Jordan’s desire to jump ship to the new show was implied with her tweet, considering that she’s touting it as a something worth checking for. “Hopefully, if there is another season for me, there can be some resolve to some of these issues with people and we can start getting back to the fun as an entire group,” she told Wetpaint regarding the possibility of doing another season of “RHOA, adding that she “thinks” it would be something she might agree to. Jordan’s venture in to other pastures may not be much of a surprise in light of the rough treatment she got this past season from NeNe Leakes as well as old, insensitive remarks she made about Tiny Harris that resurfaced Although Jordan’s return is up in the air, one person who won’t be coming back is Demetria McKinney, who recently signed a record deal and is focused on her music career. Nevertheless, the real question may be whether viewers will even see a season 8 for “RHOA.” As it stands now, Bravo hasn’t renewed the reality show.
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You can wear your hoodie in Key and Peele’s ‘Negrotown’ Are you Black? Check. Do you live in America? Check. Do you fear getting shot and killed just because you’re Black? Check. Are you sick of unchecked racism? Check. Then Comedy Central’s Key & Peele have imagined just the place for you in a hilarious musical sketch called “Negrotown.” Jordan Peele unveiled the video from the comedy team on Wednesday, tweeting that he “had to release this one early.” Michael Key plays a man named Keegan who has devised a way to “escape racism when he’s stopped by police. The show opens with a cop stopping and handcuffing Key after spotting him walking down an alley. After Key’s head gets slammed on the car door, Peele, playing a homeless man, ushers him into a colorful world named “Negrotown,” where the cabs always stop, where hanging out in groups “doesn’t mean you’re in a gang,” where “you can wear your hoodie and not get shot.” …
The perfectly timed sketch comes when America is racked by racial tensions once again after the latest death of a Black man at the hands of police. Freddie Gray, 25, died last month in Baltimore after sustaining fatal injuries while in police custody, reigniting sometimes-violent protests over police brutality in Black communities around the country. Comedy has long served as a mechanism to relieve political and social tensions, but is “Negrotown” spot on, or is it too over the top? Too view the “Negrotown” visit atlantadailyworld.com
Atlanta Jazz Festival turns up the party downtown with new Jazz Crawl on Edgewood Here’s the schedule: Woodruff Park: Atlanta Streetcar Stop *Music by saxophonist Ryan Whitehead from 6-7:30 pm The Atlanta Streetcar (three cars in rotation) will run until 11 pm *Music by trumpeter Jason Collier, cellist Ben Shirley, and guitarist Myles Brown from 6-7:30 pm The Edgewood Speakeasy: 327 Edgewood Ave SE *Film screening: Jazz - A Ken Burns Documentary from 6-7:30 pm *Music by the Gordon Vernick Quartet from 8:30-11:30 pm
Want to go to Atlanta’s hottest new jazz party? The Atlanta Jazz Festival Crawl On Edgewood will take place on Thursday, May 21 from 6-11 p.m. in downtown’s coolest club district. Attendees can ride the Atlanta Streetcar free of charge from Woodruff Park and enjoy live jazz on their trip. Admission is also free at participating clubs including The Edgewood Speakeasy, The Music Room, Noni’s, Delightful Eatz, Erosol (aka The Department Store) and The Sound Table. There will be DJs and live jazz all night. “More than ever the Atlanta Jazz Festival is taking jazz out to the people,” says Camille Russell Love, Executive Director of the City
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of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs. “To expand our offerings we’re introducing the new Jazz Crawl on Edgewood. If you work downtown, we invite you to stay and come to the party. Or if you’ve been looking for an excuse to come downtown this is an easy way to check out the Streetcar, grab a bite, enjoy a delicious libation, and listen to some great music.”
The Music Room: 327 Edgewood Ave SE *Music by DONNIE: Live ‘GoFundMe’ featuring Adrian Blue, Maleke O’Ney & Jaméz Rogers – hosted by Jamal Ahmad. Concert will be followed by a “TribalJazz” Dance Party with DJs NotSoNyce & Nickel-B. Event is from 8-11 pm. Delightful Eatz: 421 Edgewood Ave SE *Music by singer LaTosha Brown from 6-9 pm Noni’s: 357 Edgewood Avenue SE *Music by the Daniel Friedman Trio from 6-9 pm Erosol aka The Department Store: 467 Edgewood Ave SE *Music by DJ Cozy Shawn. He has been the opening DJ for Me’Shell N’degeocello, Noot D’Noot, Spacek, Wolfmother, Judi Chicago,
James Taylor Quartet/JTQ and many others. Music is from 6-9 pm. The Sound Table: 483 Edgewood Ave SE (outside street party) *Music by DJ Spinna at the “Kind of Blue & Green Party.” DJ Spinna revises Jazz and Soul marvels by Donald Byrd, Eddie Kendricks, Betty Carter, Roy Ayers and Al Jarreau. He is featured on Blue Note Revisited, a 2004 Blue Note Records remix-compilation. Music at the block party is from 8:30-11 pm. Sponsors for this year’s Atlanta Jazz Festival include Bank of America, PUBLIX, PNC Bank, Loews Atlanta Hotel, MARTA, Cantoni, The Coca-Cola Company, Fontis Water and the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau. Social Media: Find out about all the latest festival news, enter contests, and join the conversation! We’re on Facebook: AtlantaJazzFestival; Twitter: AtlantaJazzFest and Instagram: Atlanta Jazz Festival. The official festival hashtag is #AtlantaJazzFestival. The 38th Annual Atlanta Jazz Festival is presented by the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs. The mission of the Atlanta Jazz Festival is to educate and entertain a diverse audience of jazz fans and to nurture the next generation of jazz musicians. The festival is partially supported by Atlanta Jazz Festival Inc, a 501(c)(3) cultural, non-profit. For more information about the Atlanta Jazz Festival Crawl On Edgewood, visit the festival web site: http://atlantafestivals.com/ event/jazz-crawl-on-edgewood/.
May 14-20, 2015
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ENTERTAINMENT
May 14-20, 2015
Atlanta Jazz Festival adds new partners and events to 2015 lineup The Atlanta Jazz Festival is proud to announce several important new partnerships this year. In order to present the classic jazz film, One Night With Blue Note, the festival is working with the BronzeLens Film Festival and Blue Note Records. “Our mission is to educate and entertain people with the authentically American art form of jazz,” says Camille Russell Love, executive director of the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs. “And we are passionate about embracing the next generation of jazz musicians and giving them a platform at the Atlanta Jazz Festival.” Free screening of One Night With Blue Note at Landmark Midtown Art Cinema at 7 p.m. on May 20 The Atlanta Jazz Festival has partnered with BronzeLens Film Festival of Atlanta to present a free screening of One Night With Blue Note, a feature length jazz film directed by John Charles Jopson. The film features performances by Art Blakey, Kenny Burrell, Ron Carter, Stanley Jordan, McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock and others. BronzeLens will host a panel discussion after the screening featuring one of the artists from the film, Stanley Jordan. Joining him on the panel will be President of Revive Records, Meghan Stabile, along with noted Atlanta based musicians and music historians Joe Jennings and Rev. Dr. Dwight Andrews. Landmark Midtown Art Cinema is located at 931 Monroe Drive NE, Atlanta, GA 30308. Doors will open at 6:30 pm and the screening is at 7 pm. Admission is free, but an RSVP is required: An Evening with Blue Note will be presented at the Atlanta Jazz Festival in Piedmont Park beginning at 5 pm on May 23. This evening celebrates the artistic and musical collabora-
tion between Revive Music and Blue Note Records. An Evening With Blue Note features three artists who exemplify the defining ethos of Blue Note Records and Revive Music’s joint label partnership. The evening begins with Marcus Strickland, Revive/Blue Note’s most recent signing, and his group Twi Life. Following Strickland is Blue Note/Revive’s inaugural signing Otis Brown III, who will be performing music from his debut album, The Thought of You. To close out the evening, Grammy award winning composer, bassist and producer Derrick Hodge will perform music from his 2013 Blue Note album, Live Today. The Atlanta Jazz Festival will take place in historic Piedmont Park. Admission is free. Piedmont Park is located in the heart of midtown at 400 Park Drive NE, Atlanta, GA 30306.
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May 14-20, 2015
Ben Hill United Methodist hosts prostrate health summit Ben Hill United Methodist Church in Atlanta will host a Prostate Health Educational Symposium on Saturday, May 30, 2015. Reverend Byron Thomas, Sr. Pastor, Juanita Jackson, Chair of Care Ministry, along with Charles Smith and John Cutter, on behalf of the Prostate Health Education Network (PHEN), are inviting members of the local community to learn more about the disease and to get free prostate cancer screening. The event will raise awareness of prostate cancer, educate men about their prostate health, and focus on the importance of spiritual faith for those facing prostate cancer or living as survivors. The symposium focuses on specific prostate Reverend Byron Thomas, health topics including: screening and early detecSr. Pastor tion, treatment options, diet and nutrition, managing treatment side effects, advanced prostate cancer, and the importance of faith when facing cancer. The program is structured for healthy men at high risk for prostate cancer, prostate cancer survivors, caregivers, and family members. The symposium is free and open to the public, and includes breakfast for all attendees and participants. Free prostate cancer screening will be provided. Each PHEN symposium will be a high visibility event within its city led by PHEN Survivor Network members, who are warriors in the fight against prostate cancer. Participation includes local community, medical and political leaders, and PHEN’s industry partners and other supporters. “Ben Hill United Methodist Church is excited to partner with PHEN so that we can educate men and their families about a deadly disease. Together we will save countless lives,” says Reverend Thomas. PHEN will host Prostate Health Educational Symposiums in cities throughout the United States this year which will extend through the 7th Annual Father’s Day Rally Against Prostate Cancer on June 21, 2015. This annual event raises prostate health awareness within churches of all denominations, during their regular worship services. Prostate cancer survivors, along with those who have lost loved ones to the disease, are recognized with a special prayer of healing and support during the service.
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U.S. Christians more racially diverse than ever
While the Christian share of the U.S. population is falling, it is more racially and ethnically diverse than ever—a mirror of American citizens, according to a new study. Racial and ethnic minorities in 2014 made up 41 percent of Catholics, up from 35 percent in 2007; 24 percent of evangelical Protestants, up from 19 percent; and 14 percent of so-called mainline Protestants, up from 9 percent, says the report, which is the Center’s second U.S. Religious Landscape Study, a follow-up to its first comprehensive study of religion in America, conducted in 2007. The Christian share of the U.S. population is falling, the result of a rising number of adults who do not identify with any organized religion and belief in other faiths, the report says. While the fall in Christian affiliation is most pronounced among young adults, it is occurring among Americans of all ages, the report says. The changes are occurring among all demographics, including race, creed, sex, and education levels. Researchers attribute the fall to decreasing numbers of mainline Protestants and Catholics, which have fallen by about three percentage points since 2007. The evangelical Protestant share of the U.S. population also has dipped, but at a slower rate, falling by about one percentage point since 2007.
According to the Pew Research Center: To be sure, the United States remains home to more Christians than any other country in the world, and a large majority of Americans – roughly seven-in-ten – continue to identify with some branch of the Christian faith… Religious intermarriage also appears to be on the rise: Among Americans who have gotten married since 2010, nearly 40 percent report that they are in religiously mixed marriages, compared with 19 percent among those who got married before 1960. The rise in intermarriage appears to be linked with the growth of the religiously unaffiliated population. Nearly one-in-five people surveyed who got married since 2010 are either religiously unaffiliated respondents who married a Christian spouse or Christians who married an unaffiliated spouse. By contrast, just 5 percent of people who got married before 1960 fit this profile. The findings come as organized religion, namely Christianity in the U.S., has taken a hit in recent years amid high-profile gaffes by some church leaders, including a recent one by Creflo Dollar, minister of World Changers Church International in Atlanta. Dollar came under fire in March after asking parishioners to donate money so he could buy a private jet. He eventually pulled the donation page amid the uproar.
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EDUCATION
Knock Knock, Who’s There? The UnitedHealthcare Children’s Foundation is collecting children’s favorite knock-knock jokes and riddles for two upcoming joke books set to be released on World Smile Day, Oct. 2. Young comedians throughout Georgia now have the chance to be published and also help local children in need. The printed joke books will be available for sale, given out to hospitalized children, and will also be used to generate funds for medical grants that help families pay for their child health care needs. Children 17 and under, with the help of a parent or legal guardian, can submit their jokes online on the UHCCF website: http://www.uhccf.org/news-events/ submit-a-joke/ until May 31, 2015. UHCCF will confirm via e-mail if a child’s joke is selected and included in the book, and with permission from a legal guardian, will print the child’s first name, initial of last name, city and state with the published joke. Last year, UHCCF published its first joke book, “Little Book – Big Laughs Joke Book,” that contained more than 600 jokes for kids submitted by kids. The popularity of that book and the requests from parents and kids for additional joke books, now provides an opportunity for more kids to be published and to help more children in need.
Michelle Obama addresses first lady issues at HBCU commencement ceremony
By Terry Shropshire Michelle Obama was in rare form during her commencement speech at Tuskegee University recently, admitting to the graduates being the country’s first black first lady has taken a toll, Obama spoke to the students at the historically black Alabama college for about 90 minutes, enumerating the ways in which media especially held her to a different standard than other first ladies. “…Over the years, folks have used plenty of interesting words to describe me,” said Mrs. Obama. “One said I exhibited ‘a little bit of uppity-ism.’ Another noted that I was one of my husband’s ‘cronies of color.’ Cable news once charmingly referred to me as ‘Obama’s Baby Mama.’ ” “Back in those days, I had a lot of sleepless nights worrying what people thought of me,” she recalled. Obama added that she let the criticism get to the point where she would wonder if she was hurting her husband’s chances of becoming President, while also fearing what her daughters would think.
May 14-20, 2015
The first lady said eventually the only thing she could do to prevent others from defining her was to “ignore all of the noise.” “I had to be true to myself and the rest would work itself out,” she recounted, to cheers from the audience. The first lady also mentioned that simple gestures between she and the president became something else. “You might remember the onstage celebratory fist bump between me and my husband after a primary win that was referred to as a ‘terrorist fist jab,’ ” she reflected. Mrs. Obama said that both she and her husband, President Barack Obama, are painfully aware of people who “will make assumptions about who they think you are based on their limited notion of the world,” she said. “My husband and I know how frustrating that experience can be. We’ve both felt the sting of those daily slights throughout our entire lives.” Yet, this “black tax” is not an excuse to give up. “To succumb to feelings of despair and anger only means that in the end, we lose.”
May 14-20, 2015
Delta Sigma Theta Atlanta Alumnae Chapter goes back to school
Students in selected Atlanta elementary schools benefit from the volunteer efforts of women of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority’s Atlanta Alumnae Chapter. During the 2014 - 2015 academic year about 20 chapter members helped over 300 elementary school students improve and gain an appreciation for reading. Beecher, Towns, and Continental Colony were the selected partner elementary schools for this academic year. The students have an opportunity for one-on-one reading buddies and group mentors from third to fifth grade, while the kindergarten through second graders also enjoy volunteers reading stories to them. Many of the sorors — some retirees, some entrepreneurs, participate each month . The program is coordinated through the Media Specialist at each school; Kristie Stargell (Beecher Hills) Stephanie Davenport (Towns) and Sylvia Pierce,(Continental Colony) assign the volunteers to classrooms or individuals depending on the need at the time.
“Each month is something different, I just come ready to serve and assist where I can,” said Emma Fountain, chapter Read-In coordinator at Beecher. Whether it is working on a social science project or mathematics problems, reading is the root of education and the sorors come ready to serve. Utilizing the students’ workbooks, the internet, dictionary or other resources, the students seem to appreciate and benefit from the volunteers varied skill sets, which range from business and real estate professionals to retired school teachers, an author and reporter. Chapter volunteers at Continental Colony are Martha Anderson,Diane Easley,Betty Elias,Delores Green,Constance Hunter,Millicent McCaskill,Carrie Mosbley and Janie Strickland. Carol Carter is president of Delta Sigma Theta Atlanta Alumnae Chapter.
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HELP WANTED Terra Renewal Land Application Specialist, Atlanta/Douglasville/McDonough Area Class B CDL is required. Operate and oversee operations in assigned locations related to customers, application farmers/landowners relations and equipment. Operate commercial vehicle and land application equipment while maintaining a safe work environment. 2 years College preferred, positive attitude, dependable transportation, farming agriculture knowledge (preferred). Database Administrator w/MS deg. in Comp. Sc., Comp. Appl, Engg., or related & 2 yrs exp, Dev. advance level of PL/SQL code. Performance tuning, trouble-shooting & maintenance of DBs & loading data from various heterogeneous DBs like Teradata, DB2 & SQL Server to Oracle DB. Perform data migration & loading from flat files or DB to DB. Data modeling. UNIX Shell and Perl Scripting. E/R diagrams normalization/de-normalization. Com. Skills: PL/SQL, SQL Server, Teradata, DB2, UNIX Shell and Perl Scripting, exp. in Oracle DB creation, table space mgmt, creating DB links, schema profiles & roles, redo log & data files. Please refer to: TP-TT-04071 Sr. Programmer Analyst w/MS deg. in Comp. Sc., Comp. Appl, Engg., or related & 2 yrs exp, analyze, dsgn, dev., deploy & maintain softw., computer systems to meet proj. needs w/time/cost constraints including desg. & impl. of bus. plans, dev. plans, syst. study & req. analysis for n-tier syst. Create graphical UI using JSP, JSTL & HTML/DHTML. Write stored procedures & SQL queries in Oracle 10g. Review code & enhance softw. Solu. Work w/ users to formulate best softw. plans & analyze func. modules using OOPS tech. like Java/J2EE platform & JSR 168 portal tech.Com Skills: JSP, JSTL, HTML, DHTML, Java, J2EE , JSR 168 portal, OOPS tech. Please refer to: TP-TT-04072 Must be willing to travel and/or relocate to work in unanticipated locations throughout the US. No telecommuting. Fwd resume to HR, Techpillars, Inc. 6 Concourse Pkwy NE, Ste. 2950, Atlanta, GA 30328.
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GUEST COMMENTARY
GUEST COMMENTARY
by Phillip Jackson
by Julianne Malveaux
Convicted Atlanta teachers are national education heroes? New evidence shows that Atlanta Public Schools’ Black students excelled and out-performed Black students throughout nation. The 12 convicted Atlanta Public Schools’ educators — while heroes to their students — were convicted of racketeering. The prosecutor of the Atlanta Public Schools (APS) 12, Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard, is opening the Redemption Academy to help students who don’t need his help. Black Atlanta students have made phenomenal progress over the past 13 years, which is part of the reason that Black teachers in Atlanta were accused of cheating. The verdict against the teachers, who helped Black Atlanta students earn some of the best academic gains in America, proves that efforts to successfully educate Black students in America are still illegal practices. If Black students had not done so well, this district probably would not have been flagged for cheating and the APS 12 would not have been convicted of wrongdoing. Is this a warning to other Black teachers not to do too good a job teaching Black students? Let’s look at the hard academic facts of the APS by analyzing Atlanta’s National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores, the gold standard of educational testing in America. In a comparison of grade 8 reading assessments for Black students in Atlanta, in Georgia and in the United States between 2002 and 2013, the U.S. percentage of Black students at or above grade level increased from 13% to 16%, the Georgia percentage increased from 14% to 17%, but the APS Black students increased a stellar ten points, from 5% to 15%. According to these NAEP scores, the most rigorous evaluation of student achievement in America, the APS team, under the leadership of former Atlanta Superintendent Dr. Beverly Hall, did an outstanding job of educating Atlanta’s Black students! If the APS system had massive cheating, as we were led to believe during this trial, then it would follow that cheating would have elevated grades during the cheating, and, when “cheating” stopped, the grades should have gone down dramatically.
Instead, after a small decrease, the scores continued to rise because of the groundwork, momentum and educational reforms instituted by Dr. Hall and the whole APS educational team, signaling real and substantial learning! You can’t make the kind of progress produced by Dr. Hall and her team by cheating! Based on the NAEP scores and the progress made by Black students in Atlanta, these educators should be going to Washington to run the U.S. Department of Education, instead, they are headed to prison. A few questions not answered about this trial: Did other big-city school districts have similar levels of cheating? Answer: Yes. Did other school districts in the state of Georgia have similar cheating events? Answer: Yes. Is cheating a statutory crime in Georgia that requires a court case or prison term? Answer: No. Was any other school district in this country or that state treated like Atlanta Public Schools? Answer: No. So the cheating in Atlanta was no better or no worse than anywhere else in Georgia or in the United States? Answer: Correct. That being the case, all things considered, cheating or not, did the Black students of Atlanta dramatically out-perform Black students in the entire state of Georgia and in the United States. Answer: Yes. Then why did we allow Fulton County to convict and sentence (up to 20 years) 1st- and 2nd-grade teachers and other educators, who refused to plead guilty to cheating? Answer: ??????? According to the scores reported by NAEP, Dr. Beverly Hall and the APS 12 are national educational heroes for their indisputable success at educating Black students in America! At the very least we owe them all an apology for malicious prosecution in addition to restitution for court costs and reinstatement into the jobs they loved and at which they were great! Phillip Jackson is founder and executive director of The Black Star Project.
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For-Profit Colleges : Let the buyer beware According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, about 1.7 million people will receive their Bachelor’s degrees, and another nearly 750,000 will receive associate’s degrees this May and June. The numbers have been rising over the past ten years, with 22 percent more receiving bachelor’s degrees (the growth in women’s degrees is faster than that of men), and 12 percent more associate’s degrees (again, with the degrees awarded to women growing faster than those awarded to men). Too many of these students will graduate with heavy debt. While the data suggest that the average student graduates with about $30,000 of debt, the fact that some students have no debt at all makes the number even higher. African American students are nearly twice as likely to graduate with debt as Caucasian students. And it is often much harder for African American students to find jobs than it is for others. Still, a college degree makes a difference in life chances and lifetime earnings, which is one of the reasons that public policy has focused on postsecondary education. Students who have attended for-profit colleges go to school with the same hopes and dreams as those who attend traditional not for profit universities. They attend schools like Kaplan and DeVry and Corinthian because they want to improve their education and find better jobs. They go into debt, and seek grants because they believe the investment is worth it. And too many of them have been sold a bill of goods. Corinthian Colleges, Inc. had more than 77,000 students at its peak, although those numbers have dropped since then. Their students, in 2012-2013 were mostly adults who worked full time, mostly minority (51.8 percent), and mostly low-income enough to qualify for Pell Grants (72.9 percent). According to one source, these students borrowed more than $7600 each year to pay for their education. Corinthian is among the for-profit schools that depend on the federal government for their income stream. They direct them to apply for Pell grants, push them to seek federal student loans that have subsidized interest rates, and encourage them to get bank loans with higher interest rates. They tell students that these loans are worth it because it will help them get better jobs later. The federal government has been scrutinizing Corinthian and other for-profit colleges for years, especially because they have found that these colleges often exaggerate their success in placing students in better jobs. Now, Corinthian Colleges have shut down, leaving more than 16,000 students stranded. These students
have used up semesters of their Pell grant eligibility (which is capped at 12 semesters), and have thousands of dollars of debt. If they are mid-degree, they face the challenge of trying to transfer credits to another college. While there may be some relief for these students who owe money, others will either be forced to repay debt or imperil their credit standing. Is Corinthian the exception, or is it the rule in the world of for-profit colleges? We know that these colleges target adult learners, and market to minority populations. More than half of the students at Corinthian were students of color, and at many of the other for-profit colleges the enrollment of minority students exceeded 30 percent. We know that these colleges rely on tuitions for their profit, which means that when they find students who qualify for Pell grants, it boosts their bottom line. According to the California Association of Private Postsecondary Schools (CAPPS), at least 60 percent of the students enrolled in the top six for-profit colleges received Pell grants. Corinthian topped the group with nearly 73 percent of their students receiving Pell grants, but ITT Technical Institutes was not far behind with a 71.8 of their students receiving Pell grants. In comparison, 39 percent of the students at public colleges, and 34 percent at private nonprofit colleges have Pell grants. Some for-profit colleges do a better job than Corinthian, and many have not run into trouble with the federal government. Still, because taxpayer dollars are being used to finance these colleges, they must be more carefully scrutinized both by the federal government and by accrediting associations. Furthermore, the Corinthian debacle is a warning to students who might get a lower cost and better education by going to a public university or to a community college. Before enrolling in one of these colleges, students need to consider other options, and also check on the placement records these schools like to brag about. Students of color are especially vulnerable to the hype these colleges offer. They say they provide opportunities and jobs, but too often they don’t. They market to those at the periphery; those who believe their lives would be significantly improved with education. Their lives can improve with more learning, but the students must beware of for-profit colleges that often promise more than they can give, and push students into debt. The closing of the Corinthian Colleges, Inc. is a cautionary tale for those who choose for-profit colleges as the gateway for their hopes and dreams.
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