August 22nd, 2013 edition

Community supports Normandy students

By Rebecca S.Rivas

Morgan,a member of the Normandy High School Alumni Association, waved at students and teachers as they entered on the first day of school.

Keon Gilbert, assistant professor in

Of The St.Louis American

Photo by Rebecca S.Rivas

By Sandra Jordan Of The St.Louis American

Photo by Wiley Price

Constance Gully

Krisha Meriweather,9,and Kayla Wright,9,competed at foosball recently at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St.Louis’ Herbert Hoover location in North St.Louis.

Chat Leonard is director of college counseling at Metro Academic & Classical High School.

Photo by Wiley Price

Alphonso Ribero shades LL Cool J

In a recent interview with “Access Hollywood,” former “Fresh Prince of Bel Air” and “In The House” star

Lee Thompson Young

Source says no suicide note from

The production of TNT’s “Rizzoli & Isles” has been suspended for the week as investigators reportedly hunt for the reason cast member Lee Thompson Young committed suicide.

Young, 29, was found dead Monday in his North Hollywood apartment with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, police said.

“It’s still a mystery. Evidently he was a cleancut kid who didn’t use alcohol and had no reported drug problem,” a law enforcement source told the Daily News Tuesday.

The source said investigators recovered a gun at the scene but had not found a suicide note as of late Monday.

“He was ill. You don’t just do this,” a source told

Alphonso Ribero let’s everyone know in no uncertain terms that Will Smith was his preferred rapper co-star.

“(I was) coming from ‘Fresh Prince,’ where everybody was about the show, about making the show better, our rehearsal process was all about making it great. ‘In the House’ was exactly the opposite. It was like, ‘I’m gonna collect a pay check, but my life is about everything else.’

LL was about his music at the time. He was not focused on working hard as an actor...

Coming back to do the last season, I basically was like; ‘I don’t wanna do the last season’. They convinced me to do it, but I said I will do it as long as I don’t have to work with LL.”

Kanye dusts ‘Idol’

A source told Us Weekly that Kanye West was offered the third and final spot on American Idol’s judging panel for the upcoming 13th season.

The insider says that after thinking it over, however, he decided to pass; in part because he worried it would hurt his reputation.

“He didn’t want to lose any street cred. So he turned it down,” the source said.

DMX arrested in North Carolina

DMX was arrested in North Carolina last night after the car he was driving in made an illegal turn and cops found marijuana in the car.

After police pulled the car over it was also determined that DMX had warrants for driving without a license.

During the arrest, which was caught on tape, DMX can be heard screaming, “This ain’t no normal traffic stop! 18 cops, 5 cars! Get the [expletive] outta here man!”

DMX is scheduled to go before the judge sometime today and may be facing up to 15 days in jail.

‘Blurred Lines’ of sampling and copying sparks lawsuit

In order to shield “Blurred Lines,” Robin Thicke, Pharrell Williams and Clifford Harris, Jr. are going to court.

A lawsuit was filed Thursday in California federal court by the trio against Marvin Gaye’s family and Bridgeport Music, which owns some of Funkadelic’s compositions. At issue are complaints about similarities between “Blurred Lines” and at least two songs.

According to the suit, a copy of which was obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, “Plaintiffs, who have the utmost respect for and admiration of Marvin Gaye, Funkadelic and their musical legacies, reluctantly file this action in the face of multiple adverse claims from alleged successors in interest to those artists.

The suit claims the Gaye family is alleging that “Blurred Lines” and Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up” “feel” or “sound” the same, and that the “Gaye defendants are claiming ownership of an entire genre, as opposed to a specific work.”

“But there are no similarities between plaintiffs’ composition and those the claimants allege they own, other than commonplace musical elements,” states the lawsuit.

Sources: Twitter.com, New York Times, TMZ.com, US Weekly, CNN.com, Hollywood Reporter, Access Hollywood, New York Daily News

Paul Reiter’s killer convicted

Diverse jury

decides Rico Paul guilty of murdering American circulation manager

By Chris King Of The St. Louis American

On Friday, a diverse St. Louis jury found Rico Paul guilty of killing Paul Reiter, the longtime circulation manager of The St. Louis American. After a few hours of deliberation, the jury found Paul, 21, guilty of first-degree murder, first-degree attempted robbery and armed criminal action. Sentencing is set for September 17. Melissa Gilliam successfully argued the case for the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office, and Mathew Waltz of the Missouri State Public Defender Office provided able defense.

Reiter interrupted Paul and an accomplice in the act of robbing Reiter’s next door neighbor in the 5000 block of Idaho on the morning of May 9, 2011. Reiter yelled that he would call the police if they didn’t stop the burglary, and Paul responded by fatally shooting Reiter, 58, who died clutching his cell phone with 911 dialed but not called.

The prosecution’s best evidence was the defendant’s videotaped confession, made the day after the crimes were committed. The way the video recording was made and published to the jury made it all but impossible to refute or discount it as evidence.

Paul sits alone in the interview room. He does not look as if any harm has come to him. Detective Dan Fox and Detective Dan Sweeney enter, sit politely and read Paul his Miranda rights. Paul consents to doing the interview without a

lawyer present. The detectives then ask him questions about the crimes.

The tone of their questioning is insistent but respectful. When Paul asks to speak to Sweeney alone, the other detective leaves the room. When Paul asks for another suspect to be included in the interview, Sweeney leaves him alone with the video still recording as he goes to check.

By the time Sweeney had obtained from Paul a complete confession to attempted burglary and shooting the good Samaritan neighbor, there is about an hour of uninterrupted viewing of Paul in the interview room. He says he understands his rights, he never asks for a lawyer, he is never threatened or assaulted in any way – and he confesses to the same evidence the police had collected from the crime scene.

The youth rattled off a

series of specific crime scene details that the detectives had not mentioned and only someone who was there would know. The gun he said he used shoots the same caliber as the bullet that killed the neighbor. He said only one shot was fired, which was true. He even stood and mimicked the way he had to lean up in order to shoot down over the tall wooden fence that separates the home he was burglarizing from the home of the neighbor.

After he confesses, Paul is left alone. A friend who was brought in for questioning along with him is sitting in the adjacent interview room.

Paul then yells to his friend in the next room, “They got witnesses on me – it’s too late, bruh,” which confirms the confession.

In his closing defense of Paul, Mathew Waltz, the public defender, tried to raise reasonable doubt in the jurors

On Friday, a St. Louis jury found Rico Paul guilty of killing Paul Reiter, the longtime circulation manager of The St. Louis American, and of two lesser charges. Sentencing is set for September 17.

regarding some conflicting details in the evidence.

Eyewitness neighbors across the alley, who lived to testify, picked Paul out of a police lineup two days after the crimes were committed and testified that he had a male accomplice. These witnesses were sure that Paul was the burglar and shooter, but they underestimated his height and weight.

The male accomplice they witnessed does not match Paul’s confession, which was that he attempted the burglary with a 15-year-old girl accomplice.

That discrepancy is accounted for in the videotape of Paul’s confession. In other comments yelled to the next room, he seems to be telling his friend that he is confessing, but not implicating the friend.

“I got you, blood,” Paul assures his friend. “You hear me?”

No accomplice has been arrested or charged in the case.

Making history ... again

Remember the March on Washington? August 28, 1963. Tens of thousands of activists on the National Mall. A preacher’s son from Atlanta talking about his dream for the country. We don’t need a history lesson. Even if we weren’t at the March itself, Dr. King’s words are etched into our minds as deeply as they are inscribed in stone at the base of his memorial. The preacher’s son has taken his rightful place in the pantheon of national heroes. We don’t need to watch a rerun of that fateful day. We need a sequel.

On Saturday, August 24, the NAACP is co-hosting a sequel to the March on Washington for Jobs and Justice: the 2013 March on Washington. The march begins at 8 a.m., at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Join us.

In the past month, hundreds of cities held vigils and rallies to protest the Zimmerman verdict. The nation is having a serious conversation about racial profiling for the first time since 9/11. In North Carolina, Moral Mondays has grown larger with each passing week. We have the numbers, and we have the capacity for motivation. The question is whether we will allow ourselves to be motivated.

n If this year has shown us anything, it’s that the work of the 1963 march is not yet finished.

If this year has shown us anything, it’s that the work of the 1963 march is not yet finished. Texas and South Carolina are sprinting forward with voter ID after the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act. African-American unemployment has flat lined. Our children are gunned down each and every day in senseless acts of violence. Trayvon Martin lies in the ground after one such senseless act.

At the same time, our culture of civic engagement is experiencing a renaissance.

So join us – NAACP, National Action Network, Realizing the Dream and others – on the National Mall on August 24. The 2013 March on Washington will be a people’s movement. It will not be fueled by cash - it will only be energized by your decision to participate. We need you there to help us gain a critical mass of voices, and prove once again that organized people can beat organized money any time.

On this 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, we should celebrate our history, but it’s more important that we never stop making history. Meet us at the Lincoln Memorial. Join us on August 24. For information about buses going to the march from St. Louis, contact Leslie Broadnax at 314-546-9573, Nikia Gist 314-412-1027. Ben Jealous is president/ CEO of the NAACP

Guest Columnist

Benjamin Jealous

Editorial /CommEntary

Education inequality and us

It’s not likely we are going to agree any time soon about how to best address the crisis in education. It’s likely we will continue to battle our way through privatizing public policies, the self-protectionism of teacher’s unions and administrators, see-saw court rulings and Bandaid fixes that backfire. But at least we should attempt to agree that there is a crisis and what it means. Missouri has three unaccredited public school districts, two of those in St. Louis County. Accreditation for public school districts is achieved and lost through a bureaucratic process. However flawed this process might be, no one doubts that the districts deemed as failing by the state have dire problems in terms of academic performance. A bright student with a supportive infrastructure can have some degree of success under almost any conditions, but the conditions in our failing districts should not be tolerated. Even a provisionally accredited district like St. Louis Public Schools shows academic performance and graduation statistics that must be improved if our public education system is to provide what our youth need and deserve. So that is the crisis: too many of our children are not learning. The plural personal pronoun – our – is essential to an understanding of the crisis: these are our children. Parents in a St. Charles County school district made national headlines recently with the ugly way they rejected youth from one failing St. Louis County school district, and a venerable columnist at St. Louis’ only daily newspaper offended many by standing up for those angry (white) parents. But we disagree that it is possible to erect barriers, mentally and demographically, that exclude the children (many of them black) who are being failed by our educational system. There is no need to feel especially warmhearted about people unlike oneself to come to

this realization. The youth we do not properly educate are not – in an increasingly competitive global economy – going to become productive members of the workforce. They are more likely to become costly and, indeed, dangerous drains on the rest of us. It’s not an exaggeration to say that we can educate them now or incarcerate them later, and between the failure of education and the onset of incarceration there will be damages to people and property and the destruction of innocent lives.

This is everybody’s problem. We can no longer ignore it or fail to recognize what it is and what’s at stake. Our public education system is leaving too many youth unprepared to enter the mainstream of our society. The education inequality responsible for these outcomes is devastating to our region and nation’s well being. It is more burdensome to the people most directly impacted, who are not being properly educated, not enjoying all the bounty of this rich nation, and in many instances doing damage to themselves and those closest to them. But it’s burdensome to all.

Keeping “those kids” excluded from more successful school districts is not going to solve this crisis. Shipping some of “those kids” to more successful school districts is not going to solve it. We believe a less politically fragmented metropolitan area and a more unified school district would make it easier to achieve longterm progress in educational outcomes in this region, though fierce political battles await any reformer pursuing a merged St. Louis city and county or a unified regional school district. Whatever we do, as we have often urged, we must reach all of our children at the earliest age with quality education – ideally, as an extension of the child’s experiences at home with their prarents, their first teachers.

Good news for colorblind justice

For all who believe in colorblind justice – and want to see fewer African-American and Hispanic men caught up in the system – there are two items of good news: a judge’s ruling ordering changes in New York’s “stop and frisk” policy and Attorney General Eric Holder’s initiative to keep nonviolent drug offenders out of prison.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg is having a hissy fit over U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin’s finding that the policy amounted to “indirect racial profiling.” On his weekly radio show, the mayor wouldn’t even say Scheindlin’s name, calling her “some woman” who knows “absolutely zero” about policing.

If and when Bloomberg calms down, I’d like to ask him the fundamental question posed – not in these words, of course – by Scheindlin’s ruling: Would it kill you to stop and frisk some white guys, too?

Blacks and Hispanics make up about half of New York City’s population but were targeted in 86 percent of the 532,911 “stops” last year under Bloomberg’s policy, which encourages police to detain

and search individuals if there is “reasonable suspicion” that the person “committed, is committing, or is about to commit” a crime. The reason most often cited for a stop is that the individual made “furtive” movements.

In nine out of 10 cases, the person is stopped – and sometimes frisked – but no evidence is found of any offense. Bloomberg argues that this kind of proactive policing actually prevents crime, and he credits “stop and frisk” for making New York the safest big city in the country.

I’m all for safe streets. I’m also aware that there is no consensus crediting “stop and frisk” with any impact on the crime rate, but I’m willing to accept the premise that an active police presence can deter criminals. My problem is that African Americans and Hispanics are being singled out disproportionately for these arbitrary searches.

Bloomberg says this is because most violent crime occurs in black and Hispanic neighborhoods, with black and Hispanic victims. But the numbers indicate that AfricanAmericans and Hispanics are being given too much “stop and frisk” scrutiny – and that whites are being given too little.

According to an analysis by the New York Civil Liberties Union, blacks and Hispanics who are stopped are more

Letters to the editor

Education at the cinema

If you have not seen Fruitvale Station, you must. And parents, please take your children so they will get an education on the struggle of being a black male in America that they will not get in school.

likely than whites to be frisked. But just 2 percent of blacks and Hispanics who are frisked are discovered to be carrying weapons, while 4 percent of whites who are frisked have weapons. So if the aim is to find illegal guns, police should frisk more whites.

Why such fuss over a few minutes of inconvenience and indignity? Because blacks and Hispanics who come into contact with the criminal justice system for any reason are more likely to be arrested, charged and convicted than whites, and are likely to serve longer prison sentences.

Of more than 26,000 stops last year for alleged marijuana offenses, 61 percent were of African-Americans and only 9 percent were of whites. But surveys show that whites are equally or more likely to be marijuana users. We know that nationwide, according to federal figures, African Americans are four times as likely as whites to be arrested, charged and imprisoned for minor drug offenses.

Ending the presumption that African-American and Hispanic men are beyond redemption would be a powerful legacy for the first black president and the first black attorney general to leave behind.

Eugene Robinson’s email address is eugenerobinson@ washpost.com.

We are all more than any specific characteristic. We are all made up of many parts, and the totality of these parts defines us. That’s how a democracy is intended to function.

Glenn Burleigh, St. Louis

Education, employment and prison

When school reform only makes it worse

the U.S. Naval Hospital Guantanamo Bay The article was picked up by the Department of Defense and ended up being seen internationally. Daryl has received calls and messages from all over the world congratulating him on his new post. Only The St. Louis American can make news travel that far and that fast!

Shaughnessy H. Daniels Via email As I See It - A Forum for Community Issues

Iatrogenic? Now, there’s a word we rarely hear. It essentially is a medical term that refers to the unfortunate condition in which the remedy causes more difficulty than the condition for which it was prescribed. A bit like using leeches for bleeding to rid the body of the disease.

So, consider the most recent action of the Missouri Supreme Court, a decision that now has gained attention on both the local and national level and unveiled again our country’s stereotypical conditioning, racial bias and xenophobia in recent school board meetings. This decision will be yet another school reform effort that will prove iatrogenic. It will join the ranks of past experiences of the idea that school reform is served by merely transferring students from one school setting to another – the Voluntary Transfer Program. Many experts, and those not so expert, will argue the gains and losses regarding that program. Regardless, it appears to have little effect upon improving learning experiences for the students it was designed to serve. How about No Child Left Behind? Here is yet another example of a remedy that held great promise for changing the achievement gap. Thirteen

years later we still have the achievement gap, and according to some research it has gotten worse rather than better.

A number of years ago, David Tyack and Larry Cuban wrote a book entitled Tinkering toward Utopia. In this book, they explore the very nature and failure of school reform. Their conclusions reflect well the notion of iatrogenic. Our remedies seem to worsen the original difficulty.

Both Normandy and Riverview Gardens school districts now face a financial disaster that will no doubt diminish resources for those students who remain in the unaccredited districts. These same districts will also encounter even greater levels of demoralization. The whole affair only serves to strengthen distorted racial conditioning about poor, African-American children and families.

Those schools receiving these students, as has already been demonstrated, will have to address community issues that are lodged in fear, confusion and stereotypical conditioning. The efforts to convey a sense of inclusiveness and appreciation for these new students will be a challenge given the narratives of academic failures, discipline behavior and dysfunctional families that have preceded their arrival.

But, it is time for a reality check. These transfers are happening, and though the court decision will be followed with continual debate and discourse over the next few weeks, students are being transferred. The question,

therefore, is what will the districts both losing and gaining students do for creating a learning environment of belonging?

Yes, I said it, a place of belonging – a descriptor that rarely is found in the first sentence of a school reform strategy. However, clearly we know the results of students who don’t feel a sense of belonging, regardless of their intellectual prowess. They seek it somewhere outside of school and ultimately find it in places for which we cringe.

Will school and community leaders have the courage to create conversations to interrupt the bias and stereotypical conditioning that diminish invitation and acceptance? Will classroom teachers examine unconscious bias that may interrupt authentic, caring relationships? Will parents see that diversity in schools for their children is a strength not a deficit?

Someone once said that the culture of the school is the long shadows of the adults within the building. So what will those long shadows look like for students who stay and for those who leave?

George Washington Carver once said that learning is about relationships. My hope is that to avoid the iatrogenic nature of this reform, we focus upon relationships and the courage to shape them differently for the sake of our young people.

Tony Neal is president/ CEO of Educational Equity Consultants, LLC.

The film is about Oscar Julius Grant III, a loving son, husband and father who cared a great deal about his family and was willing to do anything necessary to keep the family afloat. Oscar Grant was like many other African-American males within America, which constantly reminds us what it means to be a black man in America.

We are labeled as criminal, given very few second chances and subjected to either the prison-industrial complex or death itself. We continue to fight for our daily survival and are limited to dead-end jobs to provide for our families and ourselves.

Oscar Grant’s case has given me an education about being black in America and the prison-industrial complex that wipes out communities by removing men from their families through incarceration or death.

Grady Brown, East St. Louis

Dysfunctional democracy

Former President Jimmy Carter has had the guts to come forward and admit that “America no longer has a functioning democracy.” Here we have a formerly elected head of state saying that he no longer believes that the nation he was elected to lead has a “functioning democracy.”

The balkanization of progressive political organizations into affinity group silos is part of the problem. This is in no way intended to say that these groups aren’t essential to building a more progressive and inclusive society, but there are too many folks fighting for the tiny bit of oxygen given to us.

This also isn’t to say that coalition groups are a cure-all. Most of these organizations simply work alongside or vend services for the campaigns of these same affinity groups. But at this point we need some entity whose entire goal is pushing and educating the public about democracy.

Public education lasts 13 years and employment about 40 years. Deficient public education will cause crime, but sincere education will prevent crime. Employers’ ignorance will cause crime, socially conscious employers will prevent crime. Sincere education may fail, socially conscious employers may fail, but prison is not the only solution to crimes anyway.

Education rehabilitation and employment rehabilitation may be better solutions than prison time. St. Louis County and city prosecutors need such rehabilitation programs, rather than automatic prison sentences.

The stereotyping will continue if the crimes continue, but do not forget failing education and failing employment are providing opportunity for crime.

John L. Grimm, Via email

Idiot on a scenic riverway

What kind of moron changes their ATV’s oil next to one of the most beautiful rivers in our country, especially while people are swimming in it?

Last year I had an experience with said moron on the Current River. I am amazed to see how some local residents near the Ozark National Scenic Riverways neglect and damage the most beautiful parks in Missouri. I urge our National Park Service director, Jonathan Jarvis, to take a stand and better protect this prestigious park from future idiots!

Chibueze C. Onukogu Florissant

Good news travels fast

Thank you for the wonderful story on my big brother Daryl Daniels being designated Commanding Officer of

Columnist Eugene Robinson

Guest Columnist

Tony Neal

Parents and students picked up information at the St. Louis Public Schools’ recent Back to School Fair. Photo by Wiley Price

Registering to walk for the cure

Pam and Taylor Hill register for the JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes. Taylor is 11 and was recently diagnosed with T1D (type 1 diabetes).The event will be held October 6. Visit http://www2.jdrf.org for more information.

Ferguson-Florissant recognized forschool breakfast program

The Ferguson-Florissant School District received a Gold award from the Missouri Department of Elementary & Secondary Education (DESE) and the Midwest Dairy Council for increasing the number of students receiving school breakfast. The $4,000 award will be used for health and wellness activities in the district.

All Missouri public, charter and private school districts participating in the national school lunch program were automatically entered in the challenge and were categorized into one of four tiers based on district enrollment.Winners were determined as the top school districts in each of the four tiers with at least a 20 percent increase in daily school breakfast participation per child enrolled. The Ferguson-Florissant School District won the Gold award in the Tier One category of districts with 10,000 or more students enrolled.

“Research strongly supports the impact a healthy breakfast has on student success,” said Dr. Art J. McCoy, superintendent of the Ferguson-Florissant School District. “We are proud to help ensure all children in the Ferguson-Florissant School District have access to a healthy breakfast at school.”

Auction of tax delinquent property

Saint Louis County conducts its annual sale of tax delinquent property on the fourth Monday of August each year, which this year will be August 26. The sale will start at 10 a.m. in the County Council Chambers on the first floor of County Administration building in Clayton. Sales will be made to the highest bidder at public auction. Registration for the auction will begin at 8:30 a.m. on the day of the sale and is required for participation. Tax sale listings and accompanying instructions can be accessed online at http://revenue.stlouisco.com/Collection/TaxSales. For questions about the tax sale, call 314-615-4207.

Garden seeks VolunteerInstructors

The Missouri Botanical Garden is seeking Volunteer Instructors. Volunteer Instructors are asked to make a commitment of four hours – one day a week – from September through December and February through May. Instructors typically teach classes as a team, leading groups of approximately 10 students each.

Instructor training will take place at the Missouri Botanical Garden on Monday, Aug. 19 through Friday, Aug.23 from 9 a.m. to 3p.m. Volunteers will learn inquiry-based outdoor teaching strategies and have many opportunities to observe school groups and practice teaching before being assigned to lead a group. For more information, contact Jackie Juras, volunteer program manager, at 314-577-5187 or jackie.juras@mobot.org. For a complete list of volunteer opportunities currently available, visit www.mobot.org/volunteer.

We are all strangers

By Gloria J.Browne-Marshall Columnist

Last year, in Jacksonville, FL, Jordan Davis, 17, African-American and unarmed, was killed in a mall parking lot, while sitting in his car. Michael David Dunn, 46, white, claims Davis pointed a shotgun after Dunn told Davis to turn down his music. Dunn shot his 9mm into Davis’ car and sped away. Now charged with first degree murder, Dunn relies on Florida’s Stand Your Ground law, pleading self-defense. His trial begins in September.

Very recently, in Escambia, FL, Roy Middleton, 60, African-American and unarmed, was searching his mother’s car for cigarettes when police approached, guns drawn. Police began firing even after Middleton complied with requests to put up his hands. Middleton survived a barrage of shots fired at close range. Although police suspected Middleton of trying to steal the car they have yet to explain why they shot him.

Recently, in Milwaukee, WI, John Henry Spooner, 77, white, was given a life sentence for the murder of Darius Simmons, 13, African-American and unarmed. Darius was shot by his neighbor after Spooner accused Darius of robbing his home. When Darius, who had been at school that day, denied the theft Spooner shot the boy in the chest and again in the back.

Pointing to a high rate of black-on-black crime is a ready response to these society-on-black crimes. Blackon-black crime is an important but separate issue. It is separate because all crimes are primarily intra-racial. This is so among whites, Latinos, and Asians. Poverty-ridden communities, no matter their race, will have high crime rates.

Inter-racial crimes, specifically white-on-black murders, have a long history in America. This Trayvon/Zimmerman verdict is about acquitting a man who committed murder based on an irrational fear of a black boy. This Zimmerman illogic implies if it scares you than there is a legal right to shoot it.

Consider those who fear that lower-class woman wearing an NRAtshirt driving a dented pick-up truck. If there is a confrontation over a parking space, barking dog or grocery price she is likely armed and dangerous. It could be your life or hers unless you shoot first.

Men on motorcycles riding a roaring hog with long hair and leather jackets may raise fear in the mom driving a minivan. If this motorcycleriding free spirit is not wearing a helmet then they could be considered reckless, trouble-makers. Why wait to know if he is asking directions; shoot first. Ajury will understand.

Black men, under this fear test, should arm themselves against unwarranted attacks by fear mongering Zimmerman-types obsessed with delusions of African male prowess or cowered by unsubstantiated racial prejudices.

Black people in America are like the canary in the coal mine, says Harvard Professor Lani Guinier. Asick canary predicts deadly trouble in the mine below. The fate of African-Americans can reveal the future of others in America. Soon, everyone is Trayvon.

White men with tattoos become Trayvon. Tourists speaking a foreign language. An inter-racial group of students. Drivers of trucks bearing confederate flags. The homeless. Drunk neighbors. Weight-lifters. Catholic priests. Playground bullies. Bossy relatives. Outliers of any kind. Diversity is America’s greatest strength. If xenophobia – a fear of outsiders – remains a rationale for murder then this nation has no future. We are all strangers to someone.

Gloria J. Browne-Marshall is an associate professor of Constitutional Law at John Jay College and a writer covering the U.S. Supreme Court.

Gloria J. BrowneMarshall

Photo by Dave Myers

Continued from A1

“I’ve been here forever, since kindergarten,” said Makayla, who attended Normandy High for her freshman and sophomore years. “It was a big difference for me. I missed my friends and the teachers. We are like a big family here, and I feel more comfortable learning here.”

Makayla is part of the 75 percent of students in Normandy School District who chose to stay in the district –rather than transferring to a school in an accredited district at Normandy’s expense, as per Missouri law.

Marla Smith, Makayla’s mother and an alderwoman in Pagedale, was one of the alumni waving at school buses on the first day of school and holding up signs that said, “Normandy rocks.”

As a board member on the Normandy High School Alumni Association, Marla said she believes in Normandy’s programs and teachers. “Our money needs to stay here in our district,” she said. “This is our home school, and our kids need to be here in our home school.”

Every month, $1.5 million –or $15 million for the school year – will leave the district because nearly 1,200 students have chosen to transfer to other schools, said William Humphrey, president of Normandy’s Board of Education. The school district will be able to pay its bills for this school year, but after that Normandy will be out of money, he said.

“At this point, we are planning on having a successful school year,” said Humphrey, who was part of the rally in front of Normandy High on Monday.

“Right now, we are evaluating all our options fiscally, but the more important thing is that the Legislature take the time to understand the impact of this decision. There are some things they can clearly do.”

The two unaccredited school districts in St. Louis, Normandy and Riverview Gardens, are both hoping that state legislators will bail them out financially. It was the legislators who passed the law that got them here in the first

place, Humphrey said.

In June, the Missouri Supreme Court upheld a 1993 state law that gives students living in unaccredited school districts the option to transfer to neighboring districts – and the failing districts must pay for students’tuition (and transportation costs to one specified district.)

For both Normandy and Riverview Gardens, about 25 percent of their student populations chose to transfer out of their districts. Last year,

Normandy had about 4,100 students, and Riverview Gardens had 6,000. Riverview lost 1,400 students through the transfer program this year.

James McGee, mayor of Vinita Park, joined the greeters at 6:30 a.m. on Monday and held up a sign that said, “Normandy students, we believe in you.”

Last week, several North St. Louis County mayors met with Gov. Jay Nixon about Normandy’s financial crisis and other issues.

deadline. She said she visited several offices hoping someone would help her – including administrators at McClure South Berkeley High School, where her son wanted to enroll. Her son Kenneth wants to go to college, and they both fear that graduating from an unaccredited district will hurt his chances to attend a good university.

Now, Kenneth will have to wait until the 2014-15 school year to transfer. The deadline to enroll in the transfer program for next year is February 1, 2014.

“I feel it’s wrong to make us leave our kids here,” Delores said. “My son’s not feeling good about it today because he knows that this is a failing district.”

However, Makayla and her younger brother, Bryce, a sophomore, both feel that the challenge of regaining accreditation has made the school more united.

“We believe we can make a difference,” Makayla said.

“Why leave when you can change something at our school and make it better? I think if we encourage our friends to do what we do, make good grades and come to school, I think it will make a big impact.”

“It was very positive,” said McGee, who represents one of the 24 municipalities that send students to the Normandy School District and participates in Beyond Housing’s 24-to-1 initiative.

Not everyone shared his optimism on the first day of school. Delores Anderson, a district mother, said she was forced to leave her son, an incoming freshman, in the district.

“I’m really upset about it because I feel I went through hell and back for two weeks,” she said.

Anderson said her work schedule did not allow her to meet the transfer application

GULLY

Continued from A1

The board will launch a search for a new president soon, and the regents expect to select a new leader before the 2014 fall semester.

“We are very grateful for Dr. Walker’s leadership and service at Harris-Stowe,” said Thelma V. Cook, chairwoman of the Board of Regents.

Walker was appointed Harris-Stowe president in August 2011, succeeding Dr. Henry Givens Jr., who had served as president for 32 years. Walker informed the board of his decision to retire this month in a letter, according to a press release.

Makayla also believes that many of the students who left will have a similar experience she did and will want to come back home.

This year, Normandy Superintendent Ty McNichols said the school district is putting a strong emphasis on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) topics, which will help in regaining accreditation.

Bryce said the students understand the urgency of earning back the district’s accreditation status, and they want to help.

“I’m not going to let my school down,” Bryce said. “It needs kids like me to get it back on its feet. We need to do our work and have the mentality to work hard.”

Gully first served as comptroller and since 2001 as vice president for business and financial affairs. More recently, she has served as an executive vice president. She came to Harris-Stowe after practicing public accounting for 10 years, specializing in auditing and management consulting for government and not-forprofit clients. Students will be back on campus next week, and she is excited about that.

“We will continue to foster and embrace our community partnerships.”

– Constance Gully,interim president of Harris-Stowe State University

“I wish to thank you, the Board of Regents, faculty, staff and students for allowing me the opportunity to serve the university and the citizens of Missouri,” Walker stated in the letter. “I have enjoyed working at the university and the opportunity to make a positive difference in the education of our students.”

Before coming to HarrisStowe, Walker was the president of Bluefield State College in Bluefield, Va. Walker also held various positions in higher education, including vice president for academic affairs at Harris-Stowe State University.

He served, for six years, as the assistant commissioner of education in the Division of Urban and Teacher Education for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in Jefferson City.

“He was very supportive of the students,” Gully said. “It was good to work with him.” The board notified Gully on Thursday about Walker’s retirement and offered her the interim position.

“It was a big surprise,” Gully said. “I was nervous, but I have been at Harris Stowe for 15 years, and it’s important to me. Basically my response was, ‘Whatever is needed for me to serve, I’ll do it.’”

“I look forward to working with students, faculty, staff and the overall St. Louis community to continue HarrisStowe’s proud tradition of excellence in education,” Gully said. “We will continue to foster and embrace our community partnerships.” Gully led the campus expansion committee that oversaw the planning and construction of the university’s most recently built facilities.

“Constance Gully has been a vital force for the growth and development of HarrisStowe as a full-service university for more than a decade, and she is widely respected on campus as a sensible, capable leader,” Cook said. “We know she is the collaborative leader to continue the university’s progress during this transition time.”

In addition to her campus roles, Gully is an active leader in the St. Louis community, serving on Metro’s Board of Commissioners to oversee the region’s transit agency, chairing the Dr. Martin Luther King State Celebration Committee, as well as serving on the Board of Directors of the St. Louis Zoo Association and the United Way Women’s Leadership Cabinet for Education.

She is married to Andre Gully and has a son, Nicholas. Cook said, “We are confident that during the search process we will attract an outstanding president to bring vision, growth and excellence to Harris-Stowe for the benefit of the St. Louis region.”

On Monday morning,Normandy Superintendent Ty McNichols consulted with Vernon Betts of 100 Black Men of Metropolitan St.Louis and Lt.Chris Clay of the Wellston Police Department outside of Normandy High School on the first day of school in the district.Several members of the 100 Black Men joined the rally to support the schools.

Photo by Carl Bruce

SCHOLAR

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will address racial, ethnic and gender health disparities and identify effective communitybased intervention strategies.

“This grant will provide me with an opportunity to try and engage not only men who are medically underserved, but to begin to engage a range of interested parties such as physicians, nurses, business and community leaders,” Gilbert said.

cerned individuals and groups to discuss and develop strategies to improve the health and well-being of black men in this area.”

“It opened my eyes to the unique and complex issues that AfricanAmerican men face.”

“In many ways, I want this grant opportunity to become a rallying cry for those con-

LEONARD

Continued from A1

desk sits a large Saint Louis University coffee mug.

“I have an obsession with visiting schools and bringing that information back to my students,” she said.

This self-professed “geek” and her “obsession” with universities, which she has put to work on behalf of students for more than 30 years of college counseling, has earned Leonard recognition as the St. Louis American Foundation’s 2013 SEMO Counselor of the Year.

On Friday, September 13, she will be honored at the Salute to Excellence in Education Scholarship and Awards Gala, held at the America’s Center Ballroom, along with 2013 Lifetime Achiever Lynn Beckwith Jr., 2013 Stellar Performer Art McCoy and others.

This year marks Leonard’s fourth year as a college coun-

Gilbert, who has master’s degrees in public affairs and African-American studies as well as a doctorate in behavioral community health sciences, said he discovered his passion for AfricanAmerican men’s health during his Kellogg Health Scholars post-doctoral training at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

“It opened my eyes to the unique and complex issues that African-American men face,” he said. “It fit with my interest in disease prevention and

selor at Metro. Metro is a magnet school in the St. Louis Public School District, which is under the leadership of Head Principal Wilfred D. Moore and Assistant Principal Wade Mayham. The school’s small size – last year’s total enrollment was 320 students – fosters intimacy between students, faculty and staff.

Metro cultivates a diverse learning environment, with African Americans comprising 50 percent of the student population; Caucasians, Asians and Hispanics make up the other half.

Metro suits her, she said, because the students are serious about their education and embrace academic rigor.

“It’s cool to be smart at Metro,” she said. Metro’s graduation rate has been nearly impeccable over the past three years. According to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education website, Metro had a graduation rate of 100 percent in 2012 and 100 percent in 2011. The school’s gradua-

health promotion and gave me a specific group of people of focus on.”

Typically, healthy men don’t go to the doctor as frequently as women partly because of the absence of structured medical appointments that females have, such as regular mammograms and pap smears to serve as reminders that it’s time to get an annual physical.

“There also is this piece of masculinity embedded into the understanding of why men behave differently than women,” Gilbert said. “Masculinity is formed and shaped differently in black communities than white com-

tion rate in 2010 was 97.3 percent.

Since 2002, the school has been classified by the International Baccalaureate Organization as an International Baccalaureate Affiliate School that incorporates a pre-university curriculum. In 2012, Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report both ranked Metro among the country’s best high schools. Leonard strives to introduce these diverse, talented students to an array of schools. She estimates that nearly 50 percent of Metro students attend schools out of state, such as Yale, Columbia and Emory universities and the New Mexico Institute of Technology. She also has helped students matriculate at in-state colleges and universities, such as Washington

munities.” African-American men are more likely to avoid doctors than Caucasians, Gilbert said.

“They don’t make the time to take care of their health,” Gilbert said. “AfricanAmerican men also may feel distrustful of doctors and the health care system. They are more likely to shut down and not return rather than to find a new doctor.”

As a group, AfricanAmerican men face additional challenges, Gilbert added. They tend to have less education and fewer social supports than Caucasians. They are more likely to live in poverty with fewer resources.

“I have an obsession with visiting schools and bringing that information back to my students.”

– Chat Leonard, 2013 SEMO Counselor of the Year

University, St. Louis College of Pharmacy and Southeast Missouri State, which she said is one of her favorite schools. She has been on her present career track since she was the age of the youth she advises. In high school, Leonard thought it would be “pretty neat to be a counselor.” She volunteered in the counseling department at Richwoods High School in her hometown of Peoria, Ill. She was finishing up her bachelor’s degree in speech and theater, with a minor in education, at Fontbonne University when she decided to pursue a counseling career. She taught for a year at Kirkwood High School while she pursued a master’s degree in counseling education at the University of MissouriSt. Louis. She also pursued

Because passage of the Affordable Care Act gives all U.S. residents easier access to health care, Gilbert believes now is an opportune time to engage African-American men in the health care system.

Enrollment through the Gateway to Better Health demonstration project funded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services at the public health centers has opened the door for many men to access and utilize healthcare services.

Gilbert said he will build on the research of others in understanding the unique profile of African-American and examine which behaviors, such as diet, exercise and stress relief, are most relevant to keeping them healthy.

As he conducts his research, Gilbert will network with mentors, recipients of New

doctoral studies at Saint Louis University.

Her first stint as a college counselor was at Parkway South High School. She then moved on to Clayton High School, where she was a college counselor for 13 years.

Leonard was recently selected as one of eight educators nationally to serve on the advisory board for Questbridge. Questbridge is an outreach organization that connects talented, lowincome students with educational opportunities at some of the nation’s top colleges and universities. She is also affiliated with the National Association for College Admission Counseling, Missouri Association for College Admission Counseling and the College Board.

Her greatest accomplishments aren’t rooted in academia, she said, but in her faith and family. She adores her husband, Jesse. Their son Jarod attends college in Florida. She is a member of

Connections grants and other researchers funded by RWJF engaged in parallel work and studying topics in adjacent areas.

“I hope that as more people find out about the work I am doing that they will want to become full partners to address the health and well-being of black men in the St. Louis area,” Gilbert said.

“I want fraternities, the Urban League, 100 Black Men, physicians, factory workers, cooks – the whole spectrum of organizations that work with black men and those organizations and concerned citizens – to become aware and want to help with this initiative.”

Contact Gilbert at kgilber9@slu.edu.

St. Monica Catholic Church in Creve Coeur, where she served as vice president of the school board and secretary of the parish council. That said, her profession is also a passion.

“I’m very passionate about what I do,” she said. “I’m really very humbled and honored that the St. Louis American Foundation and Southeast Missouri State University decided to bestow this honor on me. It’s really cool.”

The 2013 Salute to Excellence in Education will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, September 13 at the America’s Center Ballroom, following a reception at 6 p.m. Tickets are on sale now. Individual tickets are $85 each/$850 table, and VIP/Corporate tickets are $1,500 table. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.stlamerican.com and click on Salute to Excellence, or call 314-5338000.

Keon Gilbert

Jefferson Bank protests remembered

CORE, History Museum collaborate on 50th anniversary events

By American staff

The Missouri History Museum and the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Jefferson Bank demonstrations with various public events to be held August 28- 30.

Many of the jailed demonstrators from around the country will be present for the programs at the Missouri Historic Museum and at a commemorative reenactment of the historic demonstration and picketing that will be held 4–6 p.m. August 30 at the present Jefferson Bank location, 2301 Market St.

The History Museum programs are:

• “A Report Card to the Community: A Look at Banking Practices, Then and Now,” 7 p.m.

Wednesday, August 28, AT&T Foundation Multipurpose Room

• “Civil Disobedience Training,” 2-4 p.m.

Thursday, August 29, AT&T Foundation Multipurpose Room

• “Jefferson Bank Protests: Looking Bank, Looking Forward,” 7 p.m.

Friday, August 30, Lee Auditorium.

All events are free.

In the protests 50 years ago, members of CORE, which constituted nearly all of the youthful African-American leadership in St. Louis, and nearly 100 black citizens were arrested, jailed and fined by the downtown business

establishment for protesting racial injustice in employment and in business practices.

The leadership of the protests included Congressman Bill Clay, Robert Curtis, Raymond Howard, Charles Oldham, Marian Oldham, Norman R. Seay, Herman Thompson and Ken Webb.

Their main legal representative was attorney Margaret Bush Wilson, who was also president of the St. Louis Branch of the NAACP.

“The arresting of these individuals was preceded by years of peaceful protest, sitins, informational picketing and on-going negotiations that focused on the racial discrimination policies and employment at the downtown department stores and the separation of services based on race in their female attire, shoe departments, and food services,” said Ken Webb, of CORE and the NAACP.

“Black women were not allowed to try on many of the same hats, shoes and other female apparel items as white women for it was considered to be too intimate, and blacks were not served food at the same counters visited by white patrons in some stores.”

After years of blatant racial discrimination and the failure of negotiations, African Americans decided to focus their efforts on a thriving, white-owned business that had existed for years in the heart of their community. Negotiations with Jefferson Bank officials had failed while they continued to discriminate in their employment practices and policies. They hired African

Americans to fill janitorial positions only.

When the bank protests led to mass arrests, activist Percy Green assisted in organizing citywide efforts to raise funds for bail and fines for the demonstrators. They were joined by attorneys from the St. Louis NAACP and the Mound City Bar Association that included their president, James Wilson, and Hugh White, a retired former fighter pilot who had flown in Europe with the Tuskegee Airmen.

A small group of AfricanAmerican women, including state Senator Gwen Giles, Margaret Bush Wilson and Pearlie Evans, worked behind the scenes to organize additional informational demonstrations for the jailed demonstrators and fund-raising events,

Among the public figures who came to speak in St. Louis on their behalf was Stokely Carmichael, then under F.B.I. surveillance, and the Modern Jazz Quartet performed at one fundraiser.

After months of negotiations by St. Louis NAACP lawyers and the payment of their fines from funds raised within the black community, the jailed demonstrators were released.

Webb said, “These protests led to a beginning of dismantling of overt racial employment discrimination policies by the major financial power brokers in St. Louis.”

For History Museum information, visit www.mohist. org. For information on the demonstrations, call Ken Webb at 314-355-6254.

Pamela

Naomi Stiles

Pamela Naomi Stiles was born on February 21, 1955 in St. Louis, Missouri to the parents of Bishop Steward Stiles, Sr., and Mrs. Lela E. Stiles. She was the second child of four. Pam was the only girl. She professed her hope in Christ at an early age and was baptized in the name of Jesus Christ at the Lively Stone Church of God under the leadership of the late Bishop Phillip Lee Scott. She was a member of the New Jerusalem Temple Church of God where her father, Bishop Steward Stiles, Sr., is the Founder and her brother, Bishop Phillip L. Stiles, Sr., is the Pastor. Pam received her formal education in the University City School System. In 1973, she graduated from University City High School. She also completed study at the Vocational Training Center of St. Louis, Missouri as a Certified Nurse Assistant in November, 1984. She was united in Holy Matrimony to Charles L. Burns in 1978. To this union two children were born. She later was united in Holy Matrimony to Walter A. Coleman who she resided with for five years until the Lord called him home. Pam was a wonderful, kind-hearted, considerate and loving person. She always tried to keep the peace and discourage negative activity in others. She enjoyed life and was very passionate about her family and close friends.

Her mother, Lela E. Stiles and her brother, Gerald (Jerry) L. Stiles preceded her in death.

On Monday, August 12, 2013 in her home, Pam went to sleep in the arms of Jesus. She leaves to cherish her memories: her father, Bishop Steward Stiles, Sr.; stepmother, Elder Elizabeth A. Stiles; three daughters, Evangelist Selena R. Arms (Jermaine), Lynette L. Williams (Devon), Theresa D. Stiles; one son, Ronald L. Simpson, Jr.; two brothers, Elder Steward Stiles, Jr.

(Cricket), and Bishop Phillip L. Stiles, Sr. (Tequisha); one uncle, Deacon Lozell Stiles, Sr.; fifteen grandchildren, two step-grandchildren, as well as a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

In memory of William Edward White

March 9, 1955 –August 15, 2006

The number seven represents good fortune for some, For me it represents a time when my day was darkened beneath the sun; Seven years ago when your footprints from earth’s sand were erased, Tears of sorrow covered every part of my face; But it was of God’s will and this I cannot question, Although my heart may ache – the pain God has surely lessened;

It is because of His grace I am comforted and He allows me to hear,

Echoes of your laughter still within my ears;

It is because of His mighty power I am shown in my mind’s eye, The times we shared as a family by and by; My love for you will continue to go on,

An unconditional love like we have through Jesus Christ God’s Only Begotten Son; Each one of us in the family misses you every day, But know, my dear brother, God strengthens us in every way. Written by: Diane C. Francis

Maggie Frazier

Maggie Carolean Frazier was the only child born to the union of Henry L. and Earline K. Frazier. Raised in a Christian atmosphere, Maggie was baptized at an early age at Northern Baptist Church in St. Louis. She was a participant in many ministries, but she was committed to ushering. Her love for ushering can be traced from being a junior, to Young Adult, and then Senior Usher.

As an usher she held many offices. She was the captain of Group III and she also loved being chairperson for the Usher’s Annual Day. Part of her fondness for travel included going to the conventions with the National United Church Ushers Association and attending Central Regional and State Ushers meetings. Maggie was an active student at Laclede Elementary School. She was a proud alumnus of Soldan High School, remembered for participating in the speech and pep clubs, as well as a majorette with the marching band. Her affection for the Soldan Tigers continued throughout her lifetime by working with the Soldan Alumni Committee. She continued her education and received her Bachelor of Science degree in nursing at St. Louis University. Among her favorite activities was the Order of the Eastern Stars, as she served as Past Matron with the Chapter of Phoenix #81 and was a member of the Daughters of Isis. She was also a member of the Medinah Court #15. Maggie had a very strong work ethic. She proved that by working at the Missouri Pacific Railroad Hospital. She gained her experience as a surgical nurse at Homer G. Phillips Hospital. After its closing, she worked at City Hospital #1, the Veterans Administration Hospital, Jewish Hospital, and ended at Deaconess Hospital when her health would no longer permit her to continue. Maggie had a full life with few regrets. She had love shown to her from family and friends. She loved giving time to help others in any capacity when her health permitted. She leaves to cherish her memories: cousins Clara Denise Seals and Odell (Shirley) McCarty and other family members; her friends Evette Taylor, Sheryl Novel, oldest friend Patricia Hamilton, Barbara Bell, Thelma Watson and Ada V. Williams. She died Thursday, August 15, 2013 at Delmar Gardens North in St. Louis, MO. In lieu of flowers, she requested donations be given to Community Women Against Hardship, Inc., 3963 West Belle Pl., St. Louis, MO, 63108.

The Missouri History Museum and the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) will commemorate the 50 year anniversary of the Jefferson Bank demonstrations with various public events to be held August 28- 30. Photo by Wiley Price

Pamela Stiles

Maggie Frazier

Community Briefs

Camp Classic hosts debate competition

Diamond Watkins, 12, had a fear of public speaking, so when asked if she wanted to join the debate team at the Gateway Classic’s Summer Youth Program, her answer was no thanks. But by the end of that week, Diamond had peeked in several times on the team’s early instruction and figured that debate didn’t look all that scary.

Diamond was recently joined by five other students and crowned Debate Champion as the youth hosted the 2nd Annual Gateway Camp Classic Debate. When many youngsters are spending their time with summer activities such as swimming and recreation, these six camp attendees have been brushing up on affirmative, negative,

Race wealth gap leads to larger police forces

University of Missouri sociologists recently documented the influence of racial division and economic inequality on the size of a city’s police force.

Guðmundur Oddsson, PhD candidate in sociology in MU’s College of Arts and Science, and his colleagues examined data from 64 American cities with populations of more than 250,000. They found evidence that cities tend to increase the size of their police force when high levels of poverty exist along with greater economic inequality between racial groups.

rebuttals, research and cross exanimate speeches.

The debate program was spearheaded by one of the Gateway Classic’s Scholarship Recipients, Precious Taylor. Taylor, a junior at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff approached the foundation to set the curriculum, mentor the Camp Classic participants and

“Municipal governments can use our research to inform policies that reduce inequalities in cities, which may subsequently reduce the expense of increasing the size of their police forces,” said Oddsson, co-lead author.

“Our study suggests that race and class inequality intertwine to influence police force size,” said co-lead author Andrew Fisher, sociology doctoral student in MU’s College of Arts and Science.

“Importantly, our study grants support to the theory

showcase their talent at the featured debate.

“The Gateway Classic is a great foundation for youth,” said Taylor.

The participating students in the 2nd Annual Gateway Camp Classic Debate were Diamond Watkins, Samar Slaughter, Charm Woolfolk, Gerria Young and Demetria and Darah Ballard.

that the police mainly protect the interests of dominant groups, that is, whites and the affluent.”

The International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy published Fisher and Oddsson’s study, “Policing class and race in urban America.” Study co-author

Takeshi Wada worked with Fisher and Oddsson while Wada was a sociology faculty member at the University of Missouri.

new Healthy Kids series! This program will run each week throughout the school year.

Wild, Wild East

For those who live in, frequent or hang out on the East side of the Mississippi River, there’s an old expression that “crap is just allowed to go on.” Apparently U.S. Attorney Stephen “Marshal Dillon” Wigginton and St. Clair County State’s Attorney Brendan “Festus” Kelly received that memo and have taken some proactive measures to reverse that perception.

In a high-profile drug sting targeting rampant drug dealing in East St. Louis, Washington Park, Alorton and Brooklyn over the past three months, Kelly has announced the recent arrests of about three dozen people and brought charges against 58 suspected drug dealers.

Describing it as a “state of lawlessness” which “occurs with impunity” and is “the hallmark of a failed state,” “Operation Wild, Wild West” – an investigation run by the Illinois State Police and the undercover Metropolitan Enforcement Group of Southern Illinois – began in May with funding from a $150,000 federal grant.

police department of 55. Kelly partially agreed, adding, “If you get the perfect cop, he can do great things, but in the face of this level of activity, this level of violence, this level of drugs that are flowing into the community, it’s very difficult for them to overcome that.”

But there’s also the sense of hopelessness that stems from a lack of jobs and economic opportunities among the residents of these targeted communities on the East Side and in “the hood” in general.

Gangsters, prostitution and a criminal subculture, have been a prominent part of the Metro East’s DNA for over a century, but working-class jobs in meat packing plants, factories, chemical plants or political patronage jobs historically provided a means of survival for the underclass.

The sting resulted in charges including cocaine and heroin delivery, conspiracy, possession of illegal guns and armed violence.

The arrests, many the result of videotaped drug transactions at ESL gas stations during daylight hours, as well as open drug sales near churches, schools and public housing, underscore the brazen nature of the East Boogie’s “open secret.”

ESL Mayor Alvin Parks chooses to describe the problem as “a state of challenges,” pointing to the need for more manpower, equipment and training for his understaffed

Kids

Now that many of those jobs are nonexistent, illicit means of “hustling” as well as a permanent welfare culture have created a toxic mixture of dependency and a predator mentality that has become reckless, brazen and flagrant.

This problem is far bigger than any Metro East mayor, the state’s attorney, police or sheriff’s department. A problem only exacerbated by the political obstructionism of conservatives in their efforts to neutralize President Obama. And unless job creation and job training become a national priority, we will continue to write and talk about the “The Wild, Wild East,” which is only a symptom of a much larger national problem.

Email: jtingram_1960@ yahoo.com Twitter@ JamesTIngram.

Where do you work? I currently work at Barnes Jewish Hospital. Where did you go to school? I graduated from Hazelwood East High School in 1990, earned an Associate of Applied Science, Human Services, from Florissant Valley Community College. I had an opportunity to go to Harlem, New York, and received my Certificate of Completion of Patient Navigation Certification and Curriculum in 2009 at the Harold P. Freeman Patient Navigation Institute at the Division of the Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care and Prevention.

What does an outreach navigator do? In my career, we reach out to help women in our communities with funding to receive free breast x-rays if they qualify. We make sure we build a strong and personal relationship with women and help them become more aware of needing this type of health care all through their lives.

Why did you choose this career? I chose this career because some people in the community helped and reached out to me and my family when we were in need, so I wanted a job that I could help and give back, I wanted to be able to help someone who was in need.

What is your favorite part about your job? It is when we look at the faces of these women and tell them that they have qualified for their x-rays and they do not have to pay for it.

Learning Standards: HPE6, NH3

Samar Slaughter presents the affirmative side at the Gateway Classic Summer Camp Debate

James Ingram

CLASSOOM SPOTLIGHT

SCIENCE CORNER

Imagine you have the best chocolate chip cookie recipe that you like to make for family and friends. Imagine you sold this recipe to a company. Now, they need to produce thousands of cookies each day. Each cookie must be the same size and have the same taste. What kind of equipment would they use? How would the recipe change? How could they produce the cookies at a low cost? These are the questions for a chemical engineer. Chemical engineers use math, chemistry, and physics to solve problems, such as pollution. They design equipment and find ways to make chemicals. Chemical engineers work in labs, factories, or testing

SCIENCE EXPERIMENT

What Is Chemical Engineering?

sites. In order to become a chemical engineer, you will need to earn your bachelor’s degree, taking courses in math, English, chemistry, biology, physics, social studies, and computers. Engineering majors often do projects as teams, so cooperation skills are very important. If you are a creative and curious person who loves math, logic, and solving problems, this is a good career for you.

Materi-als + Chemical Engineer + Manufacturing Facility = Cookies

For More Information and Interactive Games, Visit: www.discoverengineering.org.

Learning Standards: I can read nonfiction text to gain information about careers in math, science, and technology.

Make A Bubble City!

As you know, chemical engineers are good problem solvers. One method of problem solving is trial and error. That means, you try your idea and learn from any errors you make. Sometimes your ideas work well, sometimes they might need some revising. In this experiment, you are going to use your problem solving skills to create square bubbles.

Materials Needed:

• 1 Cup Liquid Dishwashing

Soap • 4 Teaspoons Sugar • 2 ½

Cups of Water • Mixing bowl • Spoon

• Straws

• Wire Coat Hanger • Paper • Pencil

Directions:

q Mix the soap, sugar, and water in the mixing bowl to create a bubble solution.

MATH CONNECTION

w Working with a group, brainstorm ideas of how to create a device that will create square bubbles.

e Use trial and error to evaluate your ideas.

r Record your results on paper, noting what worked and what didn’t work. What changes did your group make?

t Discuss results as a class.

Discussion Questions: Did your group work well together? Were you able to create square bubbles? What method was the most effective?

Learning Standards: I can follow directions to complete an experiment. I can use trial and error to evaluate my ideas. I can work cooperatively with a group.

Can You Recognize the pattern?

Calling all problem solvers! Put your skills to the test as you find the pattern in the following problems.

2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16

40, 36, 32, 28, 24, 20

3, 9, 15, 21, 27, 33, 39

24, 36, 48, 60, 72, 84

3, 3, 9, 27, 243

Learning Standards: I can use addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division to solve a problem.

Describe the pattern_______________________________________

Describe the pattern_______________________________________

Describe the pattern_______________________________________

Describe the pattern_______________________________________

Describe the pattern_______________________________________ (hint, use multiplication!)

DID YOU KNOW?

Chemical Engineers are

SCIENCE STARS

1ST FEMALE AFRICAN AMERICAN TO RECEIVE A DOCTORATE IN CHEMICAL ENGINEERING:

Photo/Technology฀Association฀of฀Iowa

Lilia Ann Abron

Lilia Ann Abron was born on March 8, 1945, in Memphis, Tennessee and was the first African American woman in the nation to receive her doctorate degree in chemical engineering. Abron’s father was a principal and her mother was a school teacher who taught art and geography. Her parents and three siblings encouraged her interest in science and encouraged her education.

Abron earned her bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 1966 from Lemoyne College, her master’s degree in 1968 from Washington University, and her doctorate degree in 1972 from the University of Iowa.

Abron worked for the Kansas City Water Department and went on to become a research engineer for the Metropolitan Sanitary District of Chicago. She taught sanitary engineering at Tennessee State University, Vanderbilt University, and Howard University. Abron founded PEER Consultants, an environmental engineering consulting firm. PEER provides solutions to contamination problems to government and private industry clients. Some of Abron’s clients included the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy. Abron’s firm was active in the Boston Harbor cleanup and worked in South Africa to build energyefficient homes.

Abron is a member of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, The International Women’s Forum, the Water Environment Federation, American Water Works Association, and American Society of Civil Engineers. Abron has been active in the community, serving as the president of the Washington, D.C., chapter of Jack and Jill of America, Inc., and as a board member of the Baptist Home for Children. She has received numerous awards, including the Hancher-Finkbine Alumni Medallion from the University of Iowa, the Magic Hands Award by Lemoyne-Owen College, and she was elected to the National Academy of Arts and Sciences. She has three sons and five grandchildren.

The฀water฀was฀so฀dirty฀in฀Boston฀ Harbor฀that฀a฀song฀was฀written฀ about฀it฀in฀1966฀by฀the฀Standells,฀ called฀“Dirty฀Water.”฀In฀1985,฀the฀ Massachusetts฀Water฀Resources฀ Authority฀(MWRA)฀was฀created฀to฀ clean฀up฀Boston’s฀Harbor.฀Today,฀the฀ Environmental฀Protection฀Agency฀ (EPA)฀calls฀Boston฀Harbor฀a฀“great฀ American฀jewel.”฀

Discussion Questions: Dr. Abron’s consulting firm helps companies use resources to be less harmful to the environment. What are ways you can help the environment every day? What kind of city departments do you think need engineers? Why? Why is sanitary engineering important?

Dr. Abron is active in many organizations to help her community. In what ways can you help your community?

Learning Standards: I can read a biography to learn about an African American who has made strides in the field of math, science, and/or technology.

Science involves identifying a problem and finding a solution. Find a newspaper story about a problem and a solution. Summarize the problem and solution in a paragraph.

In addition to natural hazards, there are also chemical hazards (such as pollution), biological hazards (such as pollen and viruses), safety hazards (such as workplace safety, transportation), and personal hazards (such as smoking and drinking). Discuss the risk of these hazards, then find newspaper stories or pictures and identify the type of hazard that is illustrated.

Learning Standards: I can use the newspaper to find information. I can locate a problem and solution. I can categorize.

Ms. Hamilton’s 4th Grade Class Bryan Hill Elementary SLPS

Bryan Hill fourth graders Brandy Pointer, Keishaun Rainey, Keshawn Pearson, and Talia Mallory work on their journals as a STEM project with teacher Bertha Hamilton. Photo by Wiley Price Teachers, if you are using the St. Louis American’s NIE program and would like to nominate your class for

Andrew Grove, the founder of Intel, majored in Chemical Engineering?

Nasheed takes stock of the veto override

State Sen. Jamilah Nasheed, chair of the Missouri Legislative Black Caucus (MLBC), is asking caucus members to inform her of how they intend to vote when Missouri Republicans attempt to override Governor Jay Nixon’s commendable veto of House Bill 235. HB 235 is billionaire financier Rex Sinquefield’s backward tax cut legislation. Like similar legislation in Kansas, this bill would drastically cut funding for area schools, cut mental health funding and give huge tax breaks to the wealthy.

“Dear MLBC members,” Nasheed’s assistant wrote in an email: “Sen. Nasheed has requested your vote of YES, NO, or UNDECIDED regarding your vote relative to the veto override attempt for HB 253. This request is time sensitive so as soon as possible please email your response to me as soon as possible.”

The EYE is amazed if any Black Caucus member would even consider reversing their vote and siding with the Republicans on tax cuts that would be very harsh on their constituents. House Speaker Tim Jones has been rededicating himself to overriding these irresponsible tax cuts – which would do tremendous damage, especially to the poor people urban legislators like the Black Caucus members were elected to represent.

Jones originally reported to media outlets that he was not confident that he could beat Nixon’s veto, despite vetoproof 60 percent majorities in the Senate and House. Why is Birther Jones now reenergized to take on the governor?

Sinquefield has raised the ante and spent nearly $2.4 million to fund an ad campaign and lobbying effort to pass HB 253. In case he is willing to spend any more money to help his legislation during, veto override session, the Black Caucus and all Missouri Democrats should resist any temptation. No one in the Black Caucus should end up on the wrong side of this dreadful legislation when the Legislature reconvenes in September.

Talk to us

A thoughtful reader of the EYE sent us a detailed 7-page letter, postmarked August 13, pertaining to a recent column. This incisive summary from an anonymous writer said our assessment of the racial overtones of a recent news event was more accurate than we realized. This document, written from the inside, supplies much additional information, which is starting to check out as we ask around. We ask that the person who mailed us this document contact our managing editor at cking@stlamerican. com. We will protect your anonymity, but wish to ask you

for interviews, were we aware that we were not endorsing any African Americans? Yes,”

Messenger told the NAACP forum.

“Did that bother me? Yes. But not enough to change my mind. But I was aware of the fact and it did bother me and I knew it was a problem with the community.”

Messenger then made a remarkable statement, given the officially color-blind and objective editorial policies of most daily newspapers, including his.

“Moving forward in the next election, if there is a candidate who is close, that could effect the decision,” Messenger said. “I am aware if this happens too many years in a row, it could create a perception in the community.”

To be clear, Baringer –the Post’s (white) candidate for license collector – is not standing for election.

politics in the city suggest that because Mr. McMillan is black, Mr. Nixon will be under some pressure to appoint a black successor. Ms. Baringer is white, as are four of the incumbent county officeholders,” Horrigan writes. “We care less about what color the new license collector is than whether he or she will work to close the office down.” Horrigan’s sense of St. Louis politics through the prism of race has evolved to the coloring book phase of psychosocial development. He confesses to see in “color,” but not to care what color a candidate is. The history of African Americans and their struggle for proportionate representation in government – which certainly includes leveraging Democrat officials with appointing power to appoint black folks to offices that a black candidate has seized – is lost on Horrigan.

Alderman Antonio French saw red over this.

some questions. Thank you.

Spineless Slay

Nasheed’s other new unlikely ally (ever since her primary run last August), Mayor Francis G. Slay, seems to be dodging declaring whether or not he supports the major regressive tax proposal pushed by his single largest campaign donor, Sinquefield.

Eli Yokley of Politico reports that “Maggie Crane, a spokesperson for Slay, declined to weigh in on the mayor’s position on the bill, which Republican lawmakers are hoping to enact into law by overriding Nixon’s veto.”

Yokley adds that Slay’s biggest campaign donor has shelled out nearly $2.4 million to fund an ad campaign and lobbying effort to pass HB 253.

Kansas City Mayor Sly James, on the other hand, is showing the spine to resist Sinquefield that Slay always

notably lacks. “Mayor James supports the veto,” James spokesperson Joni Wickham told Politico

Kevin in color

When the Post-Dispatch ran what amounted to an endorsement of Donna Baringer for St. Louis license collector last week, the EYE was reminded of something Post editorial page editor Tony Messenger said at an NAACP town hall forum at Shalom Church (City of Peace) in June.

Messenger brought up himself the fact that the Post endorsed not one single black candidate in a number of contested primaries last August. Then he did a little on-thespot soul searching about this pattern of his all-white editorial board endorsing only white candidates.

“When deciding which candidates to endorse from the people we had invited in

The incumbent, Michael McMillan, has resigned to take Jim Buford’s old job at the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis. His successor as license collector will be appointed by the governor. But a number of candidates are basically campaigning for the appointment, and instead of Baringer the Post could have endorsed (for example) Karla May (good idea) or Jeffrey Boyd (bad idea), both of whom are black.

The EYE supposes neither black candidate was “close” enough to being worthy for the Post to take into consideration its long streak of white-only endorsements (other than the paper’s endorsements of Barack Obama for president).

Needless to say, the Post did not say it endorsed Baringer because she is white. The paper endorsed her because she claims “she’ll work to eliminate the office,” which the paper considers to be a redundant office. Kevin Horrigan, whose byline is appended to the piece, does briefly raise the issue of “color” (by which, the EYE presumes, he means race), but only to dismiss it.

“The reality of race

“The ‘color-blind’ Kevin Horrigan continues his long streak of all-white endorsements – again based on things that are in no way qualifications for the job,” French wrote to Horrigan and his editor, Messenger.

“Since when is wanting to do the best job for the city trumped by a political promise to eliminate the job entirely? I wonder if that was part of the equation in past Post endorsements of Gregory F.X. Daly when he held the position for many years? Was he ever asked to eliminate his own office before receiving the paper’s endorsement?” French then recommends Horrigan for sensitivity training. The EYE knows – the EYE knows. First, Missouri rodeo clowns. Now, Kevin Horrigan!

“I suggest the owners of the Post-Dispatch invest in some much-needed sensitivity training for Mr. Horrigan,” French writes. “Perhaps it will open his eyes to how his words are interpreted by many of the Post’s African-American readers.”

CELEBRATING OUR HERITAGE

Remembering the Past, Revitalizing the Present, Rejoicing in the Future

Saturday, August 24, 2013 10:00 am - 3:00 pm at

The Y is having a celebration and we want you to join us! Whether you come to the Y to work or play we want you to share with us what the Y means to you. Were you part of the Pine Street Y or the Page Park Y, if so join us for an afternoon of fun and memories. The community celebration is open to all Y members past and present.

There will be music, dance, activities, food and more for all ages. Contact the Monsanto Family YMCA at 314.367.4646 for more information.

Jamilah Nasheed, chair of the Missouri Legislative Black Caucus, has been querying her members where they stand on a Republican tax cut bill that Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed – and they have all already voted against.

BUSINESS

AUGUST22 – 28, 2013

Attracting diverse talent, driving growth

AQ&Awith Rich McClure, regional chair of Teach for America

By Rebecca S.Rivas

Of The St.Louis American

Abusiness executive with a background in Missouri public policy, Rich McClure cares deeply about healing the region’s educational inequities. McClure is the president of UniGroup and former chief of staff for then-Missouri Governor John Ashcroft (who went on to serve as U.S. Attorney General). McClure is also the regional chair of Teach for America. He spoke with TheSt. Louis American about Teach for America’s impact on the region.

WebsterU to open Ghana campus

First programs to focus on business, international relations

By Rebecca S.Rivas Of The St.Louis American

Ghana is one of the fastest growing economies in Sub-Saharan Africa, and one of its emerging international markets is higher education.

In 1999, only two private universities existed in Ghana. Now the country’s National Accreditation Board lists 43 private institutions offering degree programs, and most are Ghanaian-owned.

Webster University could be one of the few foreign institutions added to that list, if the university receives approval from the U.S. Higher Learning Commission in Chicago. Recently, Webster earned its accreditation from the Ghana’s Ministry of Education to open a campus in the country’s capital, Accra. Tom Oates, campus director, expects the university to open in January, pending the commission’s approval. Webster already has campuses in Europe

See WEBSTER, B2

“What we challenge our corps members to do is to prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that demographics do not have to define destiny.”

– Rich McClure

TheSt. Louis American: Looking at your past experience in public policy and also your current experience in civic organizations, you

are deeply embedded in St. Louis and invested its future. Where does education come into play in pushing St. Louis forward? Rich McClure: We have so much work as a city to do to ensure that all kids have access to excellent, equitable education. And what’s encouraging is that every day great teachers and great principals prove that that’s possi-

See McCLURE, B6

Good and bad news in black employment stats

Black unemployment down; share of black women holding jobs remains static

By William Spriggs For The St.Louis American

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its latest report on the job market on Aug. 2. It had some good news for African Americans: The Black unemployment rate in July dipped to 12.6 percent, its lowest level since January 2009.

The BLS also reported that since August 2012 the unemployment rate for adult black men (those older than 20) remains below its 14.4 percent level in January 2009 and was reported at 12.5 percent in July. More importantly, the share of black men holding jobs continues to rebound from its record low of 56.5 percent in 2011 to 59.2 percent, almost equal its level of 60.4 percent in January 2009. That was the good news.

PEOPLEON THE MOVE

Marlon E. Lutfiyya has been named the Director of Diversity & Inclusion at Husch Blackwell. Lutfiyya joined Husch Blackwell as Professional Development Manager in March 2012, and his new appointment encompasses both roles. As Director, Lutfiyya will lead and advance the ongoing development and implementation of the firm’s diversity and inclusion strategies. He is stationed in the firm’s Chicago office, but will promote these efforts firmwide.

Serena Muhammad has joined the Saint Louis Mental Health Board as senior project director for Strategic Partnerships. The MHB administers public funds for behavioral health and children’s services in the City of St. Louis. Muhammad most recently served for eight years as the founding executive director of America SCORES St.Louis, a youth development program.

Lionel J. Phillips has joined the Board of Directors for the Today and Tomorrow Foundation, which assists faith-based and private schools in providing educational opportunities for economically disadvantaged families in the St. Louis region by generating financial assistance for scholarships from local and national funding sources. Phillips is Executive Systems Architect Manager for IBM Corporation.

Lizz Brown has moved her show to headline the WQQX 1490 AM morning drive line up starting at 6 a.m. Brown has conducted over 10,000 interviews with news makers from all over the world. She has appeared on MSNBC, CNN and Air America. She is the recipient of the Media Excellence Award presented at the Press Club in Washington DC. Brown is also an attorney.

BUSINESS BRIEFS

Most area non-profits met fundraising goals in 2012

More than six in 10 nonprofits in the St. Louis region reported meeting their fundraising goals in 2012, and 64 percent said they raised more money last year than in 2011, according to a survey conducted by The Rome Group, a local consulting firm serving the nonprofit sector.

The local results are consistent with national numbers from Giving USAthat reported total charitable giving in the U.S. in 2012 was $316.23 billion. That represents an increase of 3.5 percent from 2011, or a 1.5 percent increase after adjusting for inflation. For more information, visit www.theromegroup.com.

Employers pledge to support Missouri National Guard veterans

Nearly 3,000 Missouri employers have taken the Show-Me Heroes pledge to provide employment assistance to Missouri National Guard veterans, resulting in nearly 4,500 Missouri veterans earning jobs. “The actual number may be significantly higher,” said 2nd Lt. Jon Barry, director of the Show-Me Heroes Program, since employers self-report their data voluntarily.

ing much movement to return to its January 2009 level of 57.9 percent. Since more than half the black workforce is female, it means the labor market news was mixed at best.

The bad news was that the unemployment rate for adult black women (those older than 20) remained above its January 2009 level (though it did fall to 10.5 percent) and the share of adult black women holding jobs, at 55.5 percent, is not show-

The Black labor force is older now than during past major downturns in the mid-1970s and early 1980s. In 1975, the black unemployment rate spiked to 15.4 percent. In 1982 and 1983, the black unemployment rate skyrocketed to above 20 percent for a nine-month period starting in October 1982.

The Great Recession downturn of 2008 was much more severe than both the 1975 and 1982 downturns, and the black unemployment rate reached 16.8 percent in March 2010. But the black labor force was much younger in the 1970s and 1980s, and younger workers have the highest unemployment rates (in July the unemployment rate for black teenagers was 41.6 percent). Today, the labor force participation of

Show-Me Heroes was introduced by Governor Nixon and is administered by the Missouri Division of Workforce Development within the Department of Economic Development.

Most Guardsmen serve part-time and leave jobs and businesses when they deploy. Since Sept. 11, 2001, Missouri has fielded approximately 17,600 individual deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo, the Sinai, Qatar and areas around the world. For more information, visit www.moguard.com.

Judicial Commission seeks applicants forMissouri Court of Appeals

The Appellate Judicial Commission is accepting applications for judge of the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, to fill the impending vacancy that will be created August 15 with the retirement of Judge Kathianne Knaup Crane. Citizens are encouraged to nominate candidates for the commission’s consideration.

The Missouri Constitution requires that a judge of the Missouri Court of Appeals be at least 30 years old, licensed to practice law in Missouri, a United States citizen for at least 15 years and a qualified Missouri voter for at least nine years.

Nominations should be submitted to the commission by e-mail at EDJudgeVacancy@courts.mo.gov

Marlon E. Lutfiyya

Serena Muhammad

Lizz Brown

Lionel J. Phillips

In this Feb.25,2011 photo,Kevin Steger,a Teach For America instructor,shows his fifth-grade class at Bel-Ridge Elementary in the Normandy School District the importance of good math skills in every day work environments.

See SPRIGGS, B6

William Spriggs

Photo by Wiley Price

Rich McClure

Should you become executorof someone’s estate?

By Jason Alderman

One of the most important decisions you’ll make when writing your will is determining who should be named executor of your estate. Even if you’re just leaving behind household goods and a small savings account, someone –whether appointed by you or the state court – must settle your affairs. Some people consider it an honor – or duty – to take responsibility for ensuring that their loved one’s final wishes are carried out. But serving as an executor can be onerous and time-consuming, even for those with a strong financial or legal background. In a worstcase scenario, executors who act imprudently or in violation

of their duties can be sued by beneficiaries and creditors.

Plus, you’ll likely have to deal with the dreaded probate, a court-supervised process of locating and determining the value of the deceased’s assets, paying final bills and taxes, and distributing what’s left to the heirs.

Before you agree to serve as an estate’s executor, make sure you understand what will be required of you. Major responsibilities often include:

ï Manage paperwork on behalf of the estate, including the will, trusts, insurance policies, bank, investment and retirement account statements, birth and death certificates, marriage, prenuptial agreement or divorce papers, military service records, real estate

deeds, tax records, etc.

ï If the estate is complicated or likely to be contentious, you may want to hire a lawyer and/or accountant to help navigate the maze of paperwork.

ï File a certified copy of the will with the local probate court, which will determine if probate is necessary.

ï If the probate court confirms you as executor, you’ll be issued a document called “letters testamentary,” which gives you legal authority to act on the estate’s behalf, including opening a bank account in the name of the estate to pay outstanding debts (loans, utilities, medical bills, credit card balances, etc.)

ï Notify all interested par-

ties of the death. These might include: government agencies (Social Security, Veterans Administration, Medicare, U.S. Post Office, DMV); financial institutions; creditors; current and former employers; retirement plan administrators; investment firms; insurance companies; doctors and other professionals; landlord or tenants; utilities, etc.

ï You’ll often need to send a copy of the death certificate to close out accounts, claim insurance benefits, change ownership of assets or accounts to the estate or a beneficiary, so order ample copies through the funeral home or county health department.

ï Locate assets, including personal property, bank accounts and safe deposit box

WEBSTER

Continued from B1 and Asia, but the Accra location would be its first campus in Africa.

“It had been since the 1990s that Webster looked to set up another residential campus,” said Webster University Chancellor Elizabeth Stroble. “As I came on board in 2009, we were all engaged in the conversation to say, ‘If you want to be a truly global university, which we pride ourselves on, Europe and Asia are important, but they are not all of the globe.’”

Stroble said that many of the universities in Ghana have waiting lists for students, and the campus’focus population will be Ghanaian students. University admission for students in Ghana is highly competitive, according to the U.S. Embassy of Ghana.

For example, at the public University of Ghana, 22,865 students applied for admissions in 2008, but 8,774 students were finally enrolled.

“Ghana is a country with intense interest in education,” Oates said. “There are more than 100 private high schools. They are solid students with a strong sense of rigor.”

In the early 1990s, the country set out to attract more private universities to help meet the country’s growing demand for higher education. In 1993, the country established an accreditation structure for private universities, and all universities were declared tax-exempt.

However, in July government leaders decided to do away with the tax exemptions for private universities, creating a controversy among both university owners and students. The Conference of Heads of Private Universities of Ghana released a statement that explained that the decision was unfair for the 26 percent of Ghana’s college students who attend private institutions and called for “immediate restoration of the tax exemption.”

Stroble said university leaders are aware of the situation.

“It is a dynamic situation,

contents, and ensure that they are protected until sold or distributed to inheritors. This may involve updating home and car insurance, changing locks, overseeing appraisals of property that must be sold, etc.

ï Collect money owed to the estate, such as outstanding wages, insurance benefits, retirement plan benefits and rents.

ï Notify heirs about their bequest.

ï File the deceased’s final federal, state and local tax returns, as well as federal and state estate tax returns, if applicable.

ï Once probate has closed, you will distribute the remaining assets to named beneficiaries.

ï Because acting as an

executor can be very time-consuming (often taking months or years), you are allowed to charge the estate a fee for your time – usually a percentage of the estate’s value, as dictated by state law.

In short, both parties should thoroughly understand what’s required of an estate’s executor to make sure it’s a good fit. There’s no shame in saying no if it’s beyond your abilities, and plenty of professional help is available – and advisable –if you do need assistance.

Jason Alderman directs Visa’s financial education programs. To Follow Jason Alderman on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ PracticalMoney

Webster University has purchased

Webster University

Chancellor Elizabeth Stroble said that many universities in Ghana have waiting lists, and the campus’focus will be Ghanaian students.

one that requires more information from officials in Ghana, and it is something that we are closely monitoring,” Stroble said. “We are still committed to the new campus in Ghana and look forward to our grand opening in Accra.”

Webster University partnered with Wadi Degla Holding Company, based in Cairo, Egypt, to acquire the location for the new campus and help in its reconstruction.

In January, Oates relocated to Accra to get the campus up and running. Oates teamed up with his executive assistant Victoria Adeborna, a native Ghanaian who earned her MBAat Webster, to get the

programs started. The first graduate program will be a Master of Business Administration, and undergraduate programs include international business, international relations, and media communications.

The campus will also eventually provide an opportunity for U.S. students to study at Webster University in Ghana. Stroble said she’s spoken with some African-American students who feel that this will be a tremendous opportunity.

“In St. Louis, it’s very important for our AfricanAmerican students to feel that their present reality as well as their heritage is a part of what makes Webster who it is,” she said.

“I think starting a campus in Africa makes that very tangible and real. It’s more than lip service. It’s a real commitment to say that ‘your history, your heritage and the growing importance of Africa in the world economy and world environment is where Webster needs to be.’”

these two buildings in Accra,Ghana as its initial hub for the university’s first campus in Africa.

“There simply is no blueprint for handling what Johnny and his family have gone through.”

– Texas A&MAD Eric Hyman on QBJohnny Manziel reportedly signing 4,400 autographs for sale

Sports

FROM THE EAST SIDE

ESL, Cahokia in NFL

Hawthorne and Armstead try to make it with the Steelers and Saints

For former Metro East prep football standouts Terry Hawthorne (East St. Louis) and Terron Armstead (Cahokia), running out of the tunnel with their new NFLteams had to fulfill the dreams of a lifetime.

But with Week 3 of the preseason fast approaching, there is plenty of work to do for Hawthorne, who plays for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Armstead, who is with the New Orleans Saints.

“Camp is coming to a close, but it’s really just about the midway point of the team development process,” Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said in a recent interview.

Terry Hawthorne, the Steelers’fifthround draft pick, made his NFL debut last Monday night against the Washington Redskins.

Hawthorne, the Steelers’fifthround draft pick, made his NFL debut last Monday night against the Washington Redskins at Fed Ex Field. Hawthorne had some minor knee surgery during the off-season, which slowed him during much of training camp. With the Steelers keeping only nine or 10 defensive backs, Hawthorne had to make a big first impression to make the team. He made the most of his first action in the NFLagainst the Redskins. With 13 minutes and 46 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Hawthorne recovered a Washington fumble at the Redskins’ 40-yard line. Terry took a big step on Monday night toward making the final roster on the big stage if he stays healthy. I know some of you might think I’m crazy for talking about him in this manner when it’s only a pre-season game. But where we are from, we take pride in our kids’achievements. Whether he makes the team or not, I am still proud of him. And if I don’t write about it, it might not be talked about at all in our local media.

Terron Armstead, the pride of Cahokia who played college ball at the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff (UAPB), is doing his thing with the Saints. The 6’5” 304-pound tackle is currently third on the Saints’unofficial depth chart. Currently listed as a tackle, Armstead has the versatility to play either on the left or right side. Early in the preseason, the rookie has been playing on the left side of the Saints’offensive line.

IN THE CLUTCH

With Ishmael H.Sistrunk

Greed, scandal, lawsuits and

While obtaining a quality education is the primary reason many teens and 20-somethings pack up and escape move away from Mom and Dad, it’s often the wicked college parties and unfiltered social scene that keep these young adults excited about pursuing higher education. With the seemingly unending supply of cheap booze and party venues, it’s here that many people learn to balance responsibility (schoolwork) and fun.

Still, at nearly every college party you’ll find those students who haven’t yet mastered the balance. Whether it’s the guy passed out on his feet while leaning on a speaker blaring “Blurred Lines” or the young lady “red nosing” barefoot because she’s tired of falling

down in her heels, every college party has a person (or 12) who has partied to the point of impaired judgment. It’s time to take away the NCAA’s big red cup. Yes, the NCAAhas turned into that 12th-year sophomore that shows up to every event on campus mumbling about something that nobody understands or cares about. With each convoluted rules change, corrupted investigation and public lawsuit defense, the organization has almost run out of ways to contradict itself

The NCAA has almost run out of ways to contradict itself regarding student athletes.

regarding student athletes. Last week, Mike Claiborne talked about the Ed O’Bannon suit that seeks to end the NCAAcashing in on its players’likenesses with video games, memorabilia and more without sharing so much as a dime with said athletes. The NCAA’s perceived exploitation of student athletes has long been discussed, but until now nothing has really been done, AUGUST22 – 28, 2013

Top players to watch

Prep football is just one week away

We are one week away from the beginning of the 2013 high school football season. As the new year begins, here are a few of the top players to watch in the metro area.

Adewale Adeoye (Ritenour): Athletic defensive end who recorded 18 sacks as a junior.

Harry Ballard (McCluerNorth): Talented sophomore receiver who had 35 receptions for 673 yards as a freshman.

Justin Baker(Lutheran North): Junior quarterback who threw for 3.065 yards and 30 touchdowns. Jonathan Bonner (Parkway Central): Senior defensive end who had 64 tackles and 12 sacks. Committed to Notre Dame. Courtland Brooks (Soldan): Senior receiver who should be one of the top offensive performers in the Public High League.

TylerCreath (CBC): Senior quarterback who threw for 2,697 yards and 30 touchdowns.

Vianney’s Markel Smith led the St.Louis area in rushing last season with 2,250 yards and 30 touchdowns.

Marcus Jester(DeSmet): Senior running back who rushed for 1,722 yards and 20 touchdowns. Committed to Illinois State. Jimmy Jones and Ahmad Huddleston (Hazelwood East): Senior running back duo that returns to lead the Spartans’offense. Roderick Johnson (Hazelwood Central): Senior offensive lineman (6’7” 350 pounds) who has received offers from several major Division I program.

Alim Muhammad (MICDS): Speedy senior receiver who will provide big-play ability for the Rams.

Deantrell Prince (Living Word): Senior receiver who had 36 receptions for 769 yards and 21 touchdowns.

Matt Quarrells (Hazelwood Central): Tall 6’3” senior receiver who had 41 receptions for 759 yards and seven touchdowns. Bri’on Sanders (WebsterGroves):

See INSIDE, B5

With Earl Austin,Jr.

The NCAA found itself in another PR firestorm when ex-Marine Steven Rhodes was initially denied eligibility to play college football because he played in a recreational football league while serving his country.

Terry Hawthorne of East St.Louis,Illinois is trying to make it with the Pittsburgh Steelers as a defensive back.

Ishmael H. Sistrunk

With Maurice Scott

Maurice Scott

See EAST SIDE, B5

Earl Austin Jr.

CLAIB’S CALL

With Mike Claiborne

Whose business is it anyway?

It was reported last week that Detroit Tiger star Prince Fielder filed for divorce back in May. My first reaction was: I hope the family will find a way to remain civil for the sake of the two children. My second reaction was: divorce is real, I should know. My third reaction was: whose business is it anyway?

We saw this scenario with Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs when someone thought it was a good idea to get into his business during the playoffs. An athlete may play and perform like something is troubling him, but why is it the media’s business to dig into the player’s personal life trying to find out why?

“He is going through some personal problems” should be enough of an explanation. It is unfortunate that many people in our business make their bones on the backs of people who do not deserve an invasion of their privacy.

Prince Fielder’s plight will be used to explain why he is not more productive on the field, but distractions are a part of life. How well you deal with them is the challenge and what separates us in how we achieve success. It just bugs me when those who have nothing in common with the person in question become obsessed with someone else’s personal issues, especially when we don’t know the real facts of the matter and it’s none of our business.

Can you spare me with the alibi of “I’m just doing my job” or “the public has a right to know”? People just like being nosey. Trust me, if we printed the stuff about the people who print the stuff, it would stop, fast.

CLUTCH

Continued from B3 all in the name of preserving amateurism.

With O’Bannon’s antitrust suit gaining steam, college bigwigs are scrambling to get out of the way of the multi-billion

Manziel’s money

The NCAAcontinues to prove they cannot get out of their own way. The most recent example isthe caseof Texas A&M Quarterback and Heisman Trophy Winner JohnnyManziel. He has been accused of selling his autograph right after he won the Heisman last year. Multiple witnesses have come forward to say it happened on more than one occasion. Manziel comes from old Texas oil money and apparently could care less about college football. He wants to be a rock star and come and go as he pleases, and if the NCAAgets in the way, that’s too bad.

As of yet, no reprimand has come from the NCAA. The league has singled out other athletes who committed similar rule violations with suspensions and harsh punishment to the program they played for. In this case, not a peep.

Fixing the NCAA

As promised, let me offer the beginnings of a template that would help fix this evergrowing problem that is called the NCAA. Step one: tender resignations from everyone who works there above the position of receptionist. They need to clean the whole place out, as the culture appears to be toxic.

Step two: pay the athletes something. This would solely apply to revenue-generating sports. No longer can the schools that take advantage of college athletes say that they are getting a “free” education. If the NCAAwants to tie edu-

dollar backlash that could result. The SEC and other major conferences have announced they will no longer license their conference names and logos to appear in future video games. The NCAAalso announced it will stop selling jerseys on its website after ESPN’s Jay Bilas blasted their hypocritical ways of profiting

cation to athletic performance, then set aside a certain amount of money that the athlete would receive during the school year. If they meet certain academic requirements, then that money is rolled over into the next year. For example, if a player receives $5,000 per year and

off individual players while forbidding the same players from earning money off their own names. This week, the NCAA found itself in another PR firestorm when ex-Marine Steven Rhodes was initially denied eligibility to play college football because he played in a recreational football

he stays eligible and in good standing, with each year he stays an additional $5,000 is deposited in his account. This money could be used for a variety of things should that player not succeed in pro sports. At that time, they are free to use the money to start their next career. Those who

league while serving his country. He wasn’t paid to play and didn’t accept any cash from big bank boosters. As a matter of fact, the five-year military veteran is a walk-on player for his Middle Tennessee State football team. Still, somewhere in the absurdly long, confusing and idiotic NCAArulebook, it

choose to leave school early would be required to repay the money received.

Step three: a committee of athletic directors, investigators, coaches and players should be appointed to construct new rules that apply to today’s games. This committee would serve no more than three years,

states that a player who doesn’t enter college within a year of graduation loses a year of eligibility if they compete in any organized sport. That’s right, you too can lose your college eligibility if they find out about your church league appearance.

Amidst the resounding backlash from the public (we all love our veterans), in a rare move the NCAAmade a snappy decision to counteract its own stupid rule and granted Rhodes an immediate waiver and a full four years of eligibility. Between O’Bannon, Johnny Manziel, Penn State, concussion-related lawsuits and other recent notoriously negative moments in the press, it seems the NCAAwanted a break from being the bad guy. I understand the association’s resistance to the idea of paying players directly. There is a certain appeal to the idea of keeping amateur athletics – well, amateur. However, the NCAAhas cashed in on its athletes at every opportunity, and a majority of the billions earned has gone into the coffers of coaches, school and conference executives and others who have very little influence on the education that is supposed to be so near and dear to the NCAA’s heart.

Here’s a novel idea. Why doesn’t the NCAAcontribute a significant portion of money to the deteriorating

as you would want new blood to continually combat the new tricks the crooks develop in response to new rules. Cheating is a crushing issue, and the NCAAis currently clueless on how to implement its own meaningless rules.

state of the American K-12 education system? After all, U.S. high schools supply a vast majority of the players suiting up for college sports. Why can’t the NCAAgive a financial boost to those schools and help develop better prepared student-athletes? In a study by Education Week rating the quality of education in the U.S. by state, Maryland’s B+ grade was tops in the nation. The nationwide average was a solid C+. If the NCAAis sincerely focused on education, why don’t they use the funds of those billion dollar TVdeals to build better students instead of bigger stadiums?

Spare a few of those brilliant Ph.D.s across college campuses to help high schools find a better way to educate our children. Of course, that’s as much of a pipe dream as expecting the NCAAto get anything right on the first try. The organizational structure of college athletics is surely about to crumble under the weight of greed, scandal and lawsuits. Hopefully, the endless list of silly bylaws will be crushed under the weight of its colossal failure as we witness the emergence of genuine concern for student athletes and improving the education for all.

Follow Ishmael and In the Clutch on Twitter @IshmaelSistrunk and Google+.

It was reported last week that Detroit Tiger star Prince Fielder filed for divorce back in May.And,so?

Mike Claiborne

Ray-Ray Armstrong,a converted safety playing linebacker,got plenty of playing time against Green Bay and was a constant nuisance to the Packers.

RAMS ROUNDUP

With Palmer L.Alexander III

No time to get frazzled

0-2 Rams can still get act together

There has been plenty of activity going on with the St. Louis Rams since the preseason began.

Following the loss to the Cleveland Browns, the Rams announced that starting linebacker Jo-Lonn Dunbar will be suspended the first four games of the season because he failed a test for PEDs (performance enhancing drugs).

Recently-signed Will Witherspoon has moved up on the depth chart and is going to start in the place of the suspended Dunbar.

Coach Jeff Fisher was very irritated with Dunbar, saying that it was selfish on his part because in the end you are hurting the team. And to make matters worse, two of the Rams’first four games will be against division rivals Arizona and San Francisco.

Then, you have many fans and media alike wondering what is going on with Isaiah Pead. All eyes were on him during the open practices out in Earth City. Sometimes, he looks like he’s nervous and unsure, and then the next thing you know he’s blowing up a defender while picking up the blitz. The clock is ticking.

Rookies Benjamin Cunningham and Zac Stacy look better every time you see them on the field. And secondyear man Daryl Richardson is

making big strides, benefitting from being in this offense for a second straight year. Then we have Bernie Kosar disrespecting Rams’receivers coach Ray Sherman and backup quarterback Kellen Clemens while working as commentator on the Cleveland Browns Broadcast Network. Kosar drew the ire of Rams coach Jeff Fisher who kindly returned serve to Kosar.

Coach Jeff Fisher was very irritated with Dunbar, saying that it was selfish on his part because in the end you are hurting the team.

So, once all of that drama was out of the way, the Rams played their second preseason game against the Green Bay Packers on Saturday. The Rams lost again. And it was just a sloppy-looking game. Everything about the game was sloppy. The Rams had nine penalties, a lot of missed tackles, dropped passes and a few turnovers.

However, there were some nice moments. Rookie Tavon Austin caught four passes, and tight end Jared Cook had a 37yard run and catch, showing off his 4.49 speed. Chris

junior is rated one of the top defensive ends in the nation.

Continued from B3

Senior linebacker who led the Statesmen with 149 tackles last season.

Markel Smith (Vianney): Led the St. Louis area in rushing last season with 2,250 yards and 30 touchdowns.

Brian Wallace (CBC):

Senior 6’5” 295-pound offensive lineman who returns to anchor the Cadets’line play.

Armon Watts (CBC): Senior 6’5” 275-pound defensive end who had 57 tackles and four sacks. Committed to Arkansas.

Antonio Weston (Kirkwood): A6’4” receiver who had 25 receptions for 433 yards for the Class 5 state champions.

Terry White (Francis Howell North): Normandy transfer who had more than 2,500 yards of total offense as a quarterback.

Raymond Wingo (SLUH): All-purpose athlete who had more than 1,500 yards of total offense and 25 touchdowns.

Renell Wren (Lutheran North): A6’5” 250-pound defensive end who has collected several major Division I offers over the summer.

From the Metro East

Terry Beckner(East St. Louis): The 6’4” 250-pound

TannerFarmer (Highland): Senior offensive lineman who has committed to Nebraska.

Dwayne Hendrix (O’Fallon): Senior 6’4” 245pound defensive end who had 12 sacks. Has several major Division I collegiate offers.

Craig James (Edwardsville): Senior cornerback who led the Tigers with six interceptions last season. Kentrail Moran

Givens caught another pass of more than 50 yards from Sam Bradford.

The defense gave up some big plays, but they didn’t let the Packers into the end zone until the fourth quarter. The Rams defense did bend but didn’t break.

And that was mainly because of the constant pressure of linebacker Ray-Ray Armstrong. Armstrong, a converted safety playing linebacker, got plenty of playing time and was a constant nuisance to the Packers. He played with a reckless abandon and tons of energy.

Armstrong is exactly what the Rams are going to need next week against the Denver Broncos and going forward, especially with the Dunbar suspension. Let’s see how he progresses in the next two games.

The next game is the socalled dress rehearsal for the regular season opener. The Rams will be in Denver facing the Broncos and Peyton Manning.

Still, no time to get frazzled because of the 0-2 record in preseason. Clearly, the Rams have a couple of more games to get the kinks out. Just the little things, like cutting down penalties, dropped passes, turnovers, and missed tackles.

(O’Fallon): Sophomore tailback who rushed for 699 yards and seven touchdowns as a freshman.

Naterance Strong (East St. Louis): Junior 200-pound tailback who is ranked among the nation’s best at his position.

Greg Taylor(East St. Louis): Senior defensive back who has committed to the University of Missouri.

Kyron Watson (East St. Louis): Senior linebacker who led the Flyers with 118 tackles. Committed to Kansas.

Team Primus finishes second at nationals

Team Primus,a team of top girls’basketball players from the state of Missouri, recently finished as runners-up at the USA Basketball 3x3 National Tournament. The team was made up of Cierra Porter (Columbia Rock Bridge),Alesia Sutton (Parkway North),Napheesa Collier (Incarnate Word) and Sophie Cunningham (Columbia Rock Bridge).Team Primus finished with a 6-1 record in the tournament in advancing to the championship game.Collier was the 2013 St.Louis American Player of the Year while Sutton was the Freshman of the Year.

EAST SIDE

Continued from B3

The sources around the Saints’camp are very pleased with Terron, and expect him to be ready to contribute if one of the starters at one of the tackle positions gets injured.

“We have a lot of confidence in Terron,” one team source told me. “Sure, he’s got a lot of footwork and technical things he needs to work on. But in the long run, we see a very bright future for him.”

Coming from an HBCU in UAPB, Armstead turned heads during this year’s NFLcombine by running one of the fastest 40-yard dashes by an offensive lineman in the history of the event. Armstead turned in a time of 4.71 seconds.

Always humble and very respectful in high school, Armstead hasn’t changed during his recent climb to potential stardom in the NFL. In a conversation the last time UAPB played in the St. Louis Gateway Classic football game, head coach Monte Coleman had nothing but praise for the gentle giant.

And with preseason games remaining against Houston and Miami, Armstead will continue to get his opportunity to learn from good left tackles in starter Charles Brown and his backup, Jason Smith. He will also continue to impress Saints head coach Sean Payton as he evaluates his roster in preparation for the home opener against conference rival Atlanta Falcons.

Good luck, Terron Armstead!

Terron Armstead of Cahokia, Illinois is trying to make it with the New Orleans Saints as an offensive tackle.

Photo by G.Newman Lowrance/ St.Louis Rams

SPRIGGS

Continued from B1

young black workers is very low, so they do not influence the overall black unemployment rate as much today. Only 37 percent of black teens were employed or actively looking for work in July – that is, “in the labor force” and counted in the unemployment rate.

Among black men, in 1975 and 1983, about one in four of those in the labor force was between 16 and 24. Today, that age group represents about one in six. So, the group with the highest unemployment rate is a smaller factor in today’s data. This downturn has driven the labor force participation of young people to all-time lows.

Many have dropped out of the labor force for school (almost one in five African Americans 16 to 24 is not in the labor force but enrolled in school), but many have just dropped out.

Alittle more than one in four African Americans 16 to 24 is neither in school nor employed or looking for work.

In 1975, 48 percent of the black men in the labor force were older than 35. The 1983 downturn chased older workers out of the labor force-many choosing to retire or file Social Security disability claims-so the share of black men in the labor force older than 35 fell to 45 percent.

Today, 60 percent of black men in the labor force (those employed or actively looking for work) are older than 35. This is the group with the lowest unemployment rate, suggesting the rate today is lower than would have been the case in 1972 and 1983 when younger workers remained a bigger share of the Black labor force. So this complicates comparing unemployment rates across time, making it a paradox that Black unemployment is high with such a high share of older workers.

McCLURE

Continued from B1

ble. We know that it can be done working in close partnership with parents, families and community members.

TheAmerican: What impact do you feel Teach for America is having on the St. Louis community, particularly the African-American community?

Rich McClure: Just a little over 10 years ago, in 2002, we had 33 corps members. If you look at the group for this coming year, it’s going to be 165 to 170 members. Over that time period, we now have 450 alumni in the region, partnering with St. Louis Public Schools, Normandy, Riverview Gardens and Hazelwood, as well as our charter-school partners of KIPP, St. Louis Charter, South City Prep and Confluence Academy. In only 10 short years, Teach for America has grown to be a big supplier of education and leadership talent.

In St. Louis, like many cities, we see major opportunity gaps between economic and racial lines that are morally wrong. Our corps members are charged to teach in the highestneeds schools – schools which tend to be disproportionately African-American in their populations. What we challenge our corps members to do is to prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that demographics do not have to define destiny. We work hard to bring an increasingly diverse group of teachers to St. Louis. In fact, over one-third of our incoming teachers self-identify as people of color, and more than 35 percent grew up low-income communities. We have teachers from all backgrounds. However, we know the teachers who share the backgrounds of their students have potential for a profound impact.

Fueling this diverse talent pipeline, we see a growing number of corps members with local ties to St. Louis: alums of SLPS and graduates of Washington University, Saint Louis University and University of Missouri – St. Louis. In 2012, Teach for America was the largest employer of graduates from

While older workers have low unemployment rates, they get stuck in the unemployment rut. Almost 40 percent of the 2.5 million unemployed African Americans in July have been unemployed longer than six months. This is another marked feature of the Great Recession. In 1975, the share of long-term unemployed among unemployed workers peaked at 21 percent. In the 1982-83 downturn, the longterm unemployed got up to 26 percent of the unemployed. In this downturn, the share of long-term unemployed reached 44.9 percent.

The share of black men holding jobs continues to rebound from its record low of 56.5 percent in 2011 to 59.2 percent.

Each month, the BLS also reports on the flow of workers into, and out of, unemployment. The employed can become unemployed or retire, and the unemployed can get a job, or quit and drop out of the labor force, or remain stuck looking for work another month. July continued the pattern that the unemployed were more likely to drop out of the labor force than to land a job, and the majority remained stuck looking for work. Of the almost 12.5 million unemployed Americans in June, 55 percent remained unemployed in July.

People are getting stuck because the hiring rate in the economy – the share of jobs that are from new hires –remains stuck at a low near 3.1 percent. So, new opportunities are not being created to clear the backlog of people stuck in the unemployment line. Each month, few people who are employed are quitting and getting another job, and few firms are hiring new workers.

Washington University, so I think that shows we are working hard to retain talent in this region – and diverse talent.

All of those things, we hope, will come together to have a profound impact on the African-American community, over time.

TheAmerican: Teach for America is in Normandy and Riverview Gardens school districts. What do you see are some of the potential effects of the recent Missouri Supreme Court ruling regarding student transfers from unaccredited schools?

Rich McClure: Our teachers are called to teach students wherever they find themselves. We are going to be in districts that have high free-andreduced lunch populations. If those students choose another alternative, we will help prepare them for their new schools. If they choose to stay in the districts we’re teaching, then our corps members are called to set high expectations and provide a high quality of education.

TheAmerican: How can public policy play a role and what do legislators need to do?

Rich McClure: First and foremost, great schools come from school leaders and effective excellent teachers. That’s what Teach for America is about, growing that pipeline of

So while there was some good news in the numbers for African Americans in the July report, the labor market remains underperforming. At the current rate of job creation, we are still more than six years away from making up the backlog of unemployed and underemployed workers. For young people, that is six years too long.

Members of Congress are back at home in their districts. Republicans appear prepared to return to Washington in September so they can hold up any discussion of generating jobs in favor of cutting the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamps), and continuing the sequestration and its cuts to Head Start, housing assistance and extended unemployment benefits-programs that put money into the pockets of American workers struggling to survive the worse labor market since the Great Depression.

Despite a reversal in trend from the huge and ballooning deficits that the tax cuts to America’s richest 5 percent from the Republican tax agenda of 2001 and two unfunded wars and the greatest loss of jobs and American household income since the Great Depression, Republicans appear prepared to hold the government and the American people ransom to their fixations on “Obamacare” and the long-run cost implications of Medicare.

The president has been out to rally America so we can focus instead on the immediacy of the lack of jobs and income. Let’s hope Republicans hear the concerns of people outside Washington.

William Spriggs serves as chief economist to the AFLCIO and is a professor of Economics at Howard University. He is also former assistant secretary for the Office of Policy at the United States Department of Labor.

very effective teachers who are committed to education equality. That’s what we focus on. From a public policy perspective, legislators can provide an environment where excellent schools can thrive. It’s important that that’s what they focus on.

TheAmerican: What aspects of education are you most passionate about?

Rich McClure: We have such a challenge of educational inequity in St. Louis. In 2012, only 18 percent of the lowincome SLPS, Normandy, Riverview Gardens High School seniors enrolled in a four-year college. That is a tremendous opportunity to create new opportunities for those students to drive economic growth.

The college-ready rate is a critically important measure for our region. Unfortunately, this fuels pervasive low expectations, and that’s just morally wrong. What we have to do is realize there are wonderful models of successful teachers, successful school leaders and successful schools, who by setting high expectations get wonderful levels of academic performance, well above state averages and get students ready for college. That’s what we need to focus on.

For more information on Teach for America, visit http:// www.teachforamerica.org/.

Photo by Dave Myers

Walgreens funds juvenile diabetes research

Brentwood Walgreens recently hosted a July Fun Day to benefit JDRF.“Walgreens has been a national supporter of JDRF for 20 years and in that time we have raised more than $20 million by selling paper sneakers for $1 each,”said Brentwood Walgreens Pharmacy Tech Tabitha Berry.“We’re so proud we could raise $1,670 during July.”

Annie Malone goes Caribbean

Children & Family Service Center’s Soiree is Friday

American staff

Though the Annie Malone Children & Family Service Center’s annual May Day Parade is a fan

Peacefest 2013, which begins 10 a.m. Sunday, August 25 at Forest Park’s Central Field, will feature a concert headlined by R&B singer Chante Moore.

Peacefest in the park

Chante Moore helps BFL close Family Week 2013

By Kenya Vaughn

Louis American

Of The St.

“At Better Family Life we have the organizational infrastructure to work towards peace every day, but we use Peacefest as kind of like a revival,” said James Clark, vice president of community outreach for Better Family Life.

“Peacefest gives people a chance to come together, celebrate and enjoy the company of other peace-loving people.” Every year, the event serves as the culmination of BFL’s Family Week – which Clark admits felt like “Family Month” this year because of an expansion of their Amnesty Project. For 2013, BFL’s “Family

See PEACE, C4

favorite, it is more of a “friend-raiser.” The annual Soiree is the agency’s major fundraiser, and it’s set for this Friday, August 23 at Annie

Malone’s headquarters, 2612 Annie Malone Drive in The Ville Neighborhood.

“This is huge for us,” said Annie Malone’s CEO Darryl L. Wise.

“We depend on individual donations. We have to maximize our fundraising potential.” This year’s Soiree has a

Caribbean Nights theme. Participants are encouraged to dress in laidback, dressy-casual attire to fit the Caribbean Nights theme. The evening will feature music with a Caribbean/ reggae flavor and nationally acclaimed, award-winning artist Daniel Hodges, who will be unveiling

See MALONE, C5

A natural phenomenon

Twists, cinks, curls, waves, locs, braids and blowouts ripped the runway for a standing room only audience Sunday night at the Four Seasons for Uhuru Salon’s Natural Hair Revolution 2013 hair show and competition. Participating salons included Beauty By Design, Da Rootz, Locs of Glory, Napps (pictured above) and Womack’s Barber and Beauty Style.

Photo by Lawrence Bryant

Shedrick Mitchell returns home to sing gospel in his old school

By Kenya Vaughn Of The

St. Louis American

“When we would circle up for prayer, for some reason I would always be by her,” Shedrick Mitchell said of the late Whitney Houston.

“And when she would pray, she would be squeezing my hand so tight. I would be like, ‘Nippy, you’ve got a

man’s hand grip.’” He spent nearly decade as the lead keyboardist for Houston’s band. From 2004 until her untimely passing last February, a man from St. Louis was backing her up on keyboards.

“Even in New York, I represent St. Louis so hard,” Mitchell said. “I lived 19 years in St. Louis and I’ve lived the past 19 years in New York, but I

new class on blast

By A Plus

For The St. Louis American

The smoke has cleared and the dust has settled from last week when Kendrick Lamar had all of music on the edge of its seat with his verse on Big Sean’s “Control.” The song, which didn’t make Big Sean’s upcoming album because of “sample clearance issues,” leaked last week and quickly made headlines. Not only because of his ambitious decision to call himself the best MC in the game, but he named names when he blasted his classmates.

In the verse that had everyone fired up, Lamar vowed to “murder” (with words) Jermaine Cole, Big K.R.I.T., Wale/ Pusha T, Meek Mill, A$AP Rocky, Drake/ Big Sean, Jay Electron’, Tyler, Mac Miller and referred to them all with a phrase we can only print as “[n-word expletive].”

“‘Control’ Verse Leaves HipHop Saying ‘Good Lord,’” was how MTV prefaced their version of the breaking story that just might have had Kendrick Lamar making history as the first rapper to appear on TMZ for actually rapping.

In the scheme of things – as far as diss records goes – it was quite modest when you think of songs like Tupac’s “Hit ‘Em Up,” Ice Cube’s “No Vaseline” or even LL Cool J’s “I’m Bad.” Actually, it’s not even a diss. It’s more of a call to arms to the other MCs reminding them – and the

love and miss St. Louis so much.”

After graduating from McCluer High School, he received a full scholarship to the Mannes College music program in New York City. He went on to work with Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan, Al Green, Jay-Z and

Whitney. Mitchell was recently inducted into McCluer’s Wall of Fame for his work as a musician and Shedrick Mitchell –performing onstage with Maxwell at the 19th Annual ESSENCE Music Festival

Photo by Lawrence Bryant

How to place a calendar listing

1.Email your listing to calendar@stlamerican.com OR

2.Visit the calendar section on stlamerican.com and place your listing

Calendar listings are free of charge, are edited for space and run on a space-available basis.

concerts

Sun., Sept. 1, 8 p.m., VNBBM Productions presents Funkfest 2013 feat. Confunk-shun and the Dazz Band. The Ambassador, 9800 Halls Ferry Rd., 63136. For more information, call (314) 869-9090 or visit www.metrotix.com.

Fri., Sep. 13, 8 p.m. Fox Concerts presents Fantasia with special guest Musiq Soulchild, Fox Theatre. For more information, call (314) 534-1111 or visit www.MetroTix.com, by calling 314-534-1111.

Sat., Sept. 14, The Pageant presents Will Downing The SilverTour. 6161 Delmar Blvd., 63112. For more information, call (314) 726-6161 or visit www.thepageant.com.

Thur., Sept. 19, Fox Concerts presents What Dreams May Come Tour starring J. Cole and Wale, The Fox Theatre. For more information, call (314) 534-1111 or visit www.metrotix.com

Sat., Sept. 21, 7 p.m., CMC Productions presents Mel Waiters and Shirley Brown The Ambassador, 9800 Halls Ferry Rd., 63136. For more information, call (314) 8699090 or visit www.metrotix.com.

Sun., Sept. 22, 5 p.m., The Sheldon Concert Hall presents ABenefit forKim

Massie. An all-star line-up including Denise Thimes, Eric “Guitar” Davis, Anita Jackson, Roland Johnson, Cheryl Brown and Adrienne Felton. All proceeds will go to Kim’s medical and personal expenses during her recovery from a thyroidectomy. Additional donations can be made at any Regions Bank. Please notify the teller that you are donating to the Kim Massie Benefit and use “Kim Massie” as your verification code. 3648 Washington Blvd., 63108. For more information, call (314) 533-9900.

Sept. 25 – Sept. 28, Jazz St. Louis presents The Yellowjackets, Jazz at the Bistro, 3536 Washington. For more information, visit www.metrotix.com or call (314) 534-1111.

Oct. 8, Live Nation presents the “So You Want ATour?” tourstarring Drake with special guest Miguel. Tickets on sale Friday, June 28. For more information, visit www.livenation.com.

local gigs

Fri., Aug. 23, 9 p.m., Hammerstone’s presents Roland Johnson & The Soul Endeavors. 2028 S. Ninth St., 63104. For more information, call (314) 773-5565.

Sun., Aug. 25, 6 p.m., Union Communion Ministries presents Free Concert feat. Boogie Chyld. Ivory Perry

CALENDAR

Park, 800 N. Belt, 63112. For more information, visit www.ivoryperrypark.com.

Sat., Aug. 31, 9 p.m., Kirkwood Station Restaurant & Brewing Co. presents Ralph Butler. 105 E. Jefferson Ave., 63122. For more information, call (314) 966-2739.

Sundays, 6 p.m., Chuck Flowers Live, InSpot, 5854 Delmar.For more information, visit www.artistecard.com/cflowers

Saturdays, 3 p.m., The Kendrick Smith Quartet, Premier Lounge, 5969 Dr. Martin Luther King Drive. For more information, call (314)385-5281 or e-mail crusadersforjazz@hotmail.com.

special events

Fri., Aug 23, 8 p.m. Meeting In The Ladies Room Presents...Candid Conversations. Open, honest and no holds barred dialogue amongst women pertaining to men and relationships. St. Louis Room inside the Blueberry Hill, 6504 Delmar Blvd, 63130. Only 13 seats per session and tickets will not be sold at the door. For $10 ticket purchase visit www.mitlr.net or (618) 670-9648.

Fox Concerts presents Fantasia with special guest Musiq Soulchild. See CONCERTS for more information.

Fri., Aug. 23, 9 p.m., Health and Fitness Awards Night presents ACommunity Softball Challenge. Brothers of the Church of God in Christ vs Brothers of the Nation of Islam. Health services and grooming products available for men of color. Bridgeton Municipal Athletic Complex,13161 Taussig Rd., 63044.

Sat., Aug. 24, 10 a.m., The 26th Annual Equality Day Brunch, which celebrates the 93rd anniversary of women getting the vote, Crowne Plaza Hotel, 7750 Carondelet, Clayton, MO. For more information, contact Diane Ludwig, at 573.642.464 or DBLudwig22@aol.com, for details.

Sat., Aug. 24 – Sun. Aug. 25, 10 a.m., Festival of Nations, Amultiethnic celebration featuring dance, music, food, cultural and educational exhibits, folk art demonstrations, and craft market. Presented by the International Institute and 125 community organizations, Tower Grove Park on the City’s South Side. The event will take place nearest S. Grand and Arsenal. A free shuttle service will be available throughout the Park.

Sat., Aug. 24, 10 a.m., St. Louis Reconciliation Newtwork hosts MLK50. Commemorate the 50th anniversary of Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Kiener

Plaza, 600 Market St., 63101. For more information, call (314) 409-7123.

Sat., Aug. 24, 11 a.m., The Boys & Girls Clubs of GreaterSt. Louis and the Gamma Eta chapterof Phi Beta Sigma hosts Back-toSchool Bash. Bring your kids to any of the three listed locations to receive free backpacks, school supplies, beauty and barber haircuts. Herbert Hoover Club (2901 N. Grand Ave., 63107); Adams Park Club (4317 Vista Ave., 63110); Spanish Cove apartments (1708 Sane Remo Court, 63138). For more information, call (314) 335-8000 or visit www.bgcstl.com.

Sat., Aug. 24, 11 a.m., Beloved Streets of America presents 2nd Annual MLK Legacy Walk/Rally ‘March of ’63: 50 Years Later’, 5901 Dr. Martin Luther King Drive. For more information, call (314) 452-1579 or visit www.themlkdrive.org

Sun., Aug. 25, 10 a.m., Better Family Life presents Peace Fest 2013, Back to the Basics: Faith, Family and Neighborhood. Special guests include Michael Jai White, Chante Moore, Darius Bradford, Jay Mo, and more. Forest Park. For more information, call (314) 381-8200 or visit www.facebook.com/pages/STL -Peacefest.

Sun., Aug. 25, 1 p.m., Cutz, Curlz & Clothes Back 2 School VendorEvent. Giveaways for the kids. Raffles for everyone. Free Barber and Styling services for the kids by licensed professionals on clean hair only. Earl Nance Elementary School, 8959 Riverview Blvd., 63136. For more information, visit www.blacc5events.bigcartel.co m.

Sun., Aug. 25, 4 p.m. (show begins at 7 p.m.), Maatology Productions presents the 5th Annual Mista Couture Charity Style Contest, LaPerla Dining Hall, 312 N 8th Street St Louis, Mo 63106. For more information, call 314.243.9728 or e-mailsnaphoney2011@gmail.com.

Wed., Aug. 28, 11 a.m., St. Louis Job Fair. Featured companies include Macy’s, Walgreens, Aaron’s, The Art Institute, and more. Doubletree Hotel St. Louis at Westport, 1973 Craigshire Rd., 63146. For more information, call (702) 818-8896.

Sat., Aug. 31, 8 a.m., The Alzheimer’s Association presents Walk to End Alheimer’s. The nation’s largest event to raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer’s care, support and research. Participants can learn about Alzheimer’s disease and how to get involved with this critical cause. Together, we can reclaim the future for millions. Busch Stadium, 700 Clark Ave., 63102. For more information, call (800) 272-3900 or (314) 801-0465.

Sat., Aug. 31, 10 a.m., STL Night Riders Corvette Club presents 4th Annual All Corvette Show & All Cars, Bikes and Trucks Show. Forest Park Upper Muny Parking Lot, Macklind Dr. and Union Dr., 63110. For more information, call (314) 8987448 or visit www.stlnightriders.com.

Sat., Aug. 31, 9 a.m., Selena J presents Rich Healthy Hot: How to Radically Energize YourFinances, Relationships, & Physical Attraction. Nutritionist Shawn Stevenson will speak on topics such as steps to getting rid of unwanted body fat, healthy food shopping on a budget, and improving sleep quality. Embassy Suites St. Louis Airport, 11237 Lone Eagle Dr., 63044. For more information, visit www.selenaj.com.

Aug. 31, 1 p.m., What About Us: ASalute to Black Men. The purpose is to spotlight the positive contributions of black men and celebrate them. Event will feature visual artists, poets, musicians, small business owners, etc. Regional Arts Commission, 6128 Delmar.

Sat., Aug. 31, 9 p.m., SoHo’s All White Affairwith Love & Hip Hop Atlanta’s DJ Traci Steele. Soho Lounge, 4229 Manchester Ave., 63110.

Sun., Sept. 1, 6 p.m., 13 Black Katz presents Thick Chicks Roc with DJ Marc Edwards. Top of the Met at Kemolls, 211 N. Broadway, 63102. For more information, call (314) 477-4249 or visit www.13blackkatz.com.

Sun., Sept. 1, 7:30 p.m. & 9:30 p.m., Jokes and Jazz. A night of neo-soul R&B and jazz with songstress Vivian Green and comedian Earthquake and a host of others. Ameristar Casino Resort Spa, 1 Ameristar Blvd., 63301. For more information, call (314) 289-8180.

Sun., Sept. 1, 8:30 p.m., Net

Work Inc. Presents All White And Denim Party 2 starring The Dirty Muggs and hosted by Rock Obama, Harry’s , 2144 Market. For more information, call (314) 726-1785.

Through Sept. 3, Missouri History Museum presents Gridiron Glory; The Best of the Pro Football of Fame Exhibit. The exhibit will also include spectacular footage from NFLFilms’unparalleled archives. 5700 Lindell Blvd., 63112. For more information, call (314) 746-4599 or visit www.mohistory.org.

Thur., Sept. 5, 3 p.m., Columbia College hosts 2nd Annual Job Fair. This is an opportunity to discover employment opportunities and network. Be prepared when meeting with employers by providing a current resume, information to complete job applications and be in appropriate dress. 4411 Woodson Rd., 63134. For more information, call (314) 429-5500.

comedy

Fri., Sept. 13, 8 p.m., The Peabody Opera House presents Kevin James. 1400 Market St., 63103. For more information, call (314) 4997600.

Oct. 5, The Fox Theaterwelcomes Chris Tucker, The Fox Theater. For more information, call (314) 534-1111 or visit www.metrotix.com

theatre

Aug. 31, 7 p.m. (6 p.m. doors), Kingdom Vision Ministries presents The gospel stage play How Did I Get Here? Written/Directed By

Kanoi Clark AStory about a church girl was always a good girl until she gets distracted by men and success! Ivory Theater, 7620 Michigan Ave. Tickets available at Transformation Christian Book Store, 4071 Page. For more information, call 314-535-0555

September5 – September15, The Black Rep presents the St. Louis premiere of Daniel Beaty’s one-man show EMERGENCYstarring Ron Connor, Washington University’s A.E. Hotchner Theatre. For more information, call (314) 5343810.

Sep. 19 – 21, 8 p.m. Shakespeare in the Streets, Shopkeepers and artists are just a few of the Grove and Forest Park Southeast residents who will appear alongside professional actors in a play artfully adapted from William Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, as part of the second annual, wildly popular event.

Sept. 20 – 22, Dance St. Louis presents Chicago. Fox Theatre St. Louis, 527 N. Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, call (314) 5345000 or visit www.metrotix.com.

The Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis (CAM) and Gateway Foundation are pleased to announce a call to

artists for the sixth edition of Great Rivers Biennial. To be eligible for participation, artists must reside in the metro area, including St. Louis City and the counties of St. Louis, Jefferson, and St. Charles in Missouri or St. Clair, Madison, and Monroe counties in Illinois, for at least one year prior to the application deadline of August 26, 2013. Artists meeting the eligibility requirements are invited to apply. For more information, visit camstl.org/grb.

Through Sept. 30, The Griot Museum of Black History presents, Crowning Glory, This exhibitexplores four main themes with more than 50 hats and head-coverings and other artifacts from The Griot’s collections and private citizens. The exhibit is curated by Lois D. Conley, Founding Executive Director and James A.Vincent, historian.The Griot Museum of Black History, 2505 St. Louis Ave., St. Louis, MO 63106. For more information, call (314) 241-7057 or visit http://www. thegriotmuseum.com

Bombeck Global Humor Writing Competition, Donna Volkenannt, will share tips and strategies she’s learned over years of judging and entering writing competitions. UMSLJC Penney Building, One University Blvd., 63121. For more information, call (314) 516-6590.

health

Sat., Aug. 24, 10 a.m., Operation Food Search and Faith Communities Joined forHealth present a Free Culinary Workshop, Calvary MB Church, 2822 Dr. Martin Luther King Dr. For more information or to RSVP, all (314) 286-0095 or e-mail fcjh2013@gmail.com.

lectures

Sept., 5, 6 p.m., the Gamma Omega Chapterof Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated will host Saving OurSisters (SOS): A Community Forum on Domestic Violence, The SOS Forum will feature a resource fair and panel discussion. Missouri History Museum, 5700 Lindell Blvd.

Sat., Sept. 7, 9:30 a.m., Create a New You: Changing YourMind to Change Your Life Workshop with Sharonda Ellis. YES, you can lose the weight! Each goal requires its own set of tools. You’ve tried several diets and gyms but you didn’t get the results you wanted. You’re not a failure. You just didn’t believe you had what it took to be successful. Lewis & Clark Library, 9909 Lewis and Clark Blvd., 63136. For more information, call (314) 732-3232.

Sat., Sept. 14, 1 p.m., Write to Win: Writing Tips from a Contest Judge. Frequent contest judge and first place winner of the 2012 Erma

Mon., Aug. 26, 6:30 p.m., Free Wellness Center. Learn about the obesity epidemic and how it affects your wellbeing, ways to decrease your risk of disease, and why 85% of “Diets” fail. DePaul Hospital, May Community Education Center, 12303 DePaul Dr., 63044.

Sat., Aug. 31, The Alzheimer’s Association’s Walk to End Alzheimer’s, Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Start or join a team today, at alz.org/stl or by calling 800.272.3900.

Every 2nd Saturday through December, 9 a.m., Create a New You!

“Changing YourMind to Change YourLife” Workshop, Lewis and Clark Branch Library,9909 LewisClark Blvd. St. Louis, MO 63136 Reserve your seat at www.eventbrite.com/org/326 2273172

spiritual

Sat., Aug. 24, 6:30 p.m., Southern Mission Baptist Church presents Praise & Worship with Shedrick Mitchell & Manifest. McCluer South Berkeley High School, 201 Brotherton

Ln., 63135. For more information, call (314) 323-5760 or (314) 521-3951.

Through Sun., Aug. 25, (Sundays, 8:30 a.m.) Washington Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church presents Dillie Slaughter& FosterTripp Lecture Series: The 50th Anniversary Of The March On Washington featuring Rev. Dr. Lerone Martin (Aug. 25), Washington Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church, 3200 Washington Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63103. For more information, call (314) 533-8763 or e-mail washtabernacle@att.net.

Sun., Aug. 25, 4 p.m., Southern Mission Baptist Church Family and Friends Day, Southern Mission Baptist Church (SMBCWest), 1800 Oak Tree Street, St. Peters, MO 63376. For more information, call (314)521-3951.

Aug.

mation, visit website to book www.qwiktripps.com

Thurs., Sept. 19, 7 p.m. (6 p.m. doors), “FunkJazz Kafé DIARYOFA DECADE (Story Of A Movement), Q&Aw/ the film’s director hosted by Coco Soulfollowing screening, Missouri History Museum, Lee Auditorium. For more information, visit www.mohistory.og.

VNBBM Productions presents Funkfest 2013 feat.Con-funk-shun and the Dazz Band.See CONCERTS for details.

EPA funds youth sustainibility project

The Computer Village Green Technology Center has received a collaborative grant from EarthForce and EPA Region 7 to implement the St. Louis Sustainable Villages Consortium (STL SVC).

The STL SVC will engage and educate youth about electronic recycling, proper disposal, urban agriculture, conservation, renewable energy, improving green space and understanding local pollution problems. Project partners include The Open Space Council, Lewis Place Historical/ Preservation, St. Louis Torch Bearers 2 and Computer Village Green Technology Center. A major focus of the grant is to develop youth leaders that have an elevated sense of environmental stewardship and civic duty. The program will coordinate its activities

with regional sustainability plans.

“It is our hope to grow the STL SVC each year, adding members and stakeholders that will promote sustainable practices on a community level,” says Michael Nelson, project manager for the grant. For more information, contact Michael Nelson at 314-533-1900 or nelson5933@sbcglobal.net.

KendricK

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listening audience – that hiphop is a competitive sport. We seem to have forgotten because of how everybody else is so quick to jump on each other’s records and clique up.

But Kendrick calls out his friends – including J. Cole. And Big Sean wasn’t even safe on his own song.

Kendrick’s shining moment in “Control” didn’t even have anything to do with the so-called diss. “I ain’t wearing no more designer [s-word expletive]” was the best bar on the song. I mean, think about it. We you used to look at hip-hop and be like, “Yo, what do I need to be up on next?” But now all we hear is “Versace, Versace, Versace.” The average fan can’t go to Frontenac to buy that. Real talk, the average rapper can’t even afford it.

PeAce

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Week” kicked off the first week of August, but Peacefest is happening the final Sunday of the month.

They’ve held crime summits, networking events and their popular amnesty program under the theme of “back to the basics – faith, family and neighborhood,” but on Sunday it will be a big party at Forest Park’s Central Field.

Peacefest 2013 will feature a concert headlined by R&B singer Chante Moore with special guests Ray, Goodman and Brown and an appearance by actor and martial artist Michael Jai White.

“Chante was like, ‘How can I play a bigger role?’” Clark said. “Ray, Goodman and

What Kendrick is saying is that you have to give all of yourself and not just be some convoluted image – some sort of super swag.

And if we are going to keep this thing called hip-hop alive we are going to have to start giving a damn about what we’re saying and not just selling people an image.

But Kendrick realized that you can’t just be rappity-rap, so he engaged people by giving personality to his bars. He made it to where he can say he’s the best doing it right now and not have people balk at it. Which brings us back to the list.

For those rappers who didn’t hear their name coming from the best guy that’s doing it right now, you should feel like you didn’t graduate. It’s like sitting at the commencement ceremony and being like, “Yo, what just happened? They didn’t call my name.”

But for those who didn’t, it’s not about dissing Kendrick; it’s about making the best

Brown wanted to come in early to help promote the festivities. And Michael Jai White, his thing was we need to begin to teach our young people martial arts. We have to do something to curb this gun violence thing.”

The event (which kicks off at 10 a.m.) also includes a car show, softball and kickball for young people and adults, as well as an expanded children’s play zone. While the atmosphere will be upbeat, Clark said that a special guest will remind everyone why it’s so important to remember the peaceful intention of the event.

“Tracy Martin – Trayvon’s father – will be with us at Peacefest this year,” Clark said. “And his sentiments are it’s time for America to heal and it’s time for the AfricanAmerican community to heal –and that’s all about peace.”

Clark says that BFL promotes neighborhood-based resource delivery 365 days a year through their housing, workforce, youth and clinical divisions, but he feels Peacefest can spark a movement.

“We hoist it up to say, ‘Every summer, St. Louis, let’s focus on peace,’” Clark said. “We want that to reverberate in St. Louis and, because we are centrally located, to become a regional and national event.”

This year’s theme – Back to the Basics – is the perfect springboard to do so.

“We’ve got to get back to the basics,” Clark said.

music you possibly can. Wiz Khalifa’s best response to being absent from the verse should be to make an album so dope that Kendrick will wish that he had mentioned him. Although most of the sensation and chatter has died down, I think the song brought forth a really engaging conversation about hip-hop – the music, not the lifestyle and the commercialization that has been infused into popular culture – and a reminder of its roots and history in competition.

I don’t think the verse will spark some sort of feud or beef – especially among frontrunners like Drake and J. Cole. What I think will happen is that they will answer back with better music … which is great for us as listeners – and great for them too as artists.

A-Plus is the evening on-air personality (7 p.m. – 12 midnight) for Radio One St. Louis’ Hot 104.1 FM.

“We have strayed away from our faith. We have lost our connectedness in the families, and we’ve lost the infrastructure in our neighborhood. It’s going to take good people coming together to say, ‘We need to begin to network,’ or ‘we have to begin to look out for each other more.’ We can no longer let the vocal minority dominate the landscape. It’s 10 percent of the population that is holding 90 percent of the population in fear.”

Clark also feels that St. Louis’ negative reputation for crime is an advantage when it comes to spearheading Peacefest as a national initiative.

“What city better to host Peacefest than St. Louis, being dubbed the most dangerous city in America?” Clark said.

“We see Peacefest becoming a national event, because America is on the brink. We are either on the brink of spiraling out of control as a community, or we are on the brink of galvanizing and reclaiming our families and our neighborhoods.”

Peacefest will begin at 10 a.m. Sunday, August 25 at Forest Park’s Central Field. The event is free and open to the public. For a full lineup of festivities, times for scheduled events and/or more information, call 314-381-8200 or visit www.betterfamilylife. org.

Towards a New Civil Rights Movement

When I talk to young people, they sometimes raise the failure of my generation and beyond in making this a better country –one that protects the rights of all regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion and age. Our circular progress (or rollback of progress) can land on a generation where it’s really a struggle to survive, let alone aspire and achieve. There are lessons that not just young people must consider, but our society as a whole if we are to utilize the anniversary of the March on Washington as a benchmark in human development.

As the nation revs up for the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom (yes, that’s the full name) and St. Louis is poised to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Jefferson Bank protests, we should not get stuck in nostalgia. We need to celebrate the tremendous achievements of the Civil Rights Movements, but also intentionally chart the future.

The backdrop for the 1963 March was the demand for jobs, quality of education, affordable housing, and accessible health care as well as to end of all forms of discrimination. In 2013, those demands are still real and still valid.

A 2009 study by the

University of California –Berkeley noted that on the eve of the Great Depression, the top 1 percent of Americans took in 23.9 percent of the nation’s income. In 2007, on the eve of the Great Recession, the 1 percent took in 23.5 percent of the nation’s income. If one is short-sighted, it looks like nothing has changed. There were many positives changes in attitudes, practices, policies and laws as a result of the convergence of the the Civil Rights Movement, the Black

n The beneficiaries of those struggles must come out of their comfort zones and join the ranks of the disenfranchised and oppressed.

Power Movement, the Peace Movement and the Women’s Movements. All targeted the white male power structure (government, corporations, and individuals). They gave direction to the environment and anti-global movements that came later. However, too many felt that these movements’ hardfought reforms would be in place forever. They failed to understand that the fight is twofold – winning and defending. You must stay organized to maintain and defend whatever

material gains you win.

As usual, whatever suffering America is experiencing, black folks are still disproportionately affected. African Americans have the highest unemployment rates, the highest disparity rates in education and health and so on.

Given the right wing’s attacks on our gains, some are calling for a New Civil Rights Movement. I think that’s absolutely appropriate because what’s missing now, in addition to a more focused strategy, is the sheer numbers of people needed for the adversary to take us seriously. This also means those who were the beneficiaries of those struggles must come out of their comfort zones and join the ranks of the disenfranchised and oppressed.

I’ll add one more dimension to the call for a New Civil Rights Movement: the bold call for a new U.S. Constitution.

Let’s be real about it, the original one was mainly written for a very narrow group of wealthy, white males. That’s why excluded groups have to wage an endless battle to be included. We’ve cobbled together some amendments here and there to patch up the holes, but that has proven to be insufficient.

I think it would be empowering to engage citizens in a process of deciding what kind of country they want –especially at this juncture of our history where, once again, wealthy, white (mainly) males are dictating to the 99 percent. Negative history only repeats itself when we The People allow it.

Community Brief

Special ed services available

By Legal Services of Eastern Missouri

Is your child making poor grades? Struggling to retain or use information? With the new school year upon us, it is important to remember that there are resources available for families who have children with special education needs. The following are some legal checkpoints to help your child get off to a good start in school this year.

Communication with your child’s school is critical. No one will ever know your child as well as you. To be the best advocate you can for your child, you and your child’s teacher need to exchange information regularly. You and your child’s teacher are a team. Special education services are available at no cost to qualifying students under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act. To qualify for special education services, your child must have a disability that impacts school performance. If you think your child needs special education testing, make your testing request in writing. Schools have a legal duty to locate and test all children who may need special education services. Be patient but persistent; the testing process can take quite awhile. The decision regarding special education eligibility is up to your child’s special education team, not your child’s doctor. If your child qualifies for special education services, an Individualized Educational Plan will be

written for your child’s special educational needs.

n To be the best advocate you can for your child, you and your child’s teacher need to exchange information regularly.

Getting your child special education services is only

the beginning of the process. Ensuring that promised services are provided and that your child is making progress with special education services requires dedication and attention to detail by the parent. If your child doesn’t qualify for an Individualized Educational Plan, ask your child’s school about a Section 504 plan to protect your child from discrimination in instruction and programming due to a disability. Public schools have an obligation to test and make accommodations and modifications for children with disabilities.

MANIFEST

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producer. On Saturday, August 24 he will return to his alma mater as they host him and the New York-based male gospel ensemble Manifest.

“They’re an amazing group,” Mitchell said of Manifest.

Last December he came home to join fellow McCluer classmate and former Yellowjackets drummer Marcus Baylor to headline The Sons of St. Louis concert at Jazz at The Bistro. They used to sneak into the club as high school students.

“It used be called Just Jazz and was run by a woman named Barbara Rose,” Mitchell said.

“It came to a point where she was like, ‘I know these guys. They are up and coming musicians. So just set them up a little spot and make sure they aren’t getting any alcohol and we’re good.’”

He began his career as a musician at Southern Mission Baptist Church, where his father, Bishop John Mitchell Jr., serves as senior pastor.

“I tell my mom and dad thank you all the time for those times that I wanted to be on the basketball court or going hard with my boys, but my dad would be like, ‘Shedrick!’ – calling me in to practice,” Mitchell said.

“And I would be like, ‘Dang, nobody but me has to do this.’ But now look how far it has taken me.”

Now Mitchell has been a member of Maxwell’s band for five years.

“He’s a good dude and a very giving person – he kind of reminds me of Whitney in

MALONE

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a commemorative painting to celebrate the legacy of Annie Malone.

“Donation will allow us to improve on our many needs, especially in programs and services,” Wise said. “The local and state funding we receive is insufficient to cover the cost of running our programs, two of which operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. We need additional funds to continue to effectively run high quality programs.”

The center’s programs include Crisis Care and Emergency Residential Services, Transitional Living Program, Emerson Academy Special Education Therapeutic School and Parenting Education.

In a new twist, this year’s “honorees” are the programs

that aspect,” Mitchell said. “I enjoy working with him.”

Known for employing some of the best musicians in the world – including three from St. Louis – Maxwell gives his band liberty to showcase their gifts, and Mitchell makes the most of it.

“If you’re playing to crickets, they’re not connecting,” Mitchell said. “My thing is being able to and trying to connect with the people.”

He credits his mother, Sandra Mitchell – and the church mothers – for driving home that lesson.

“My mother would say, ‘Boy, you’re playing all of these notes, but sometimes you have to just hold the note for a little while,’” Mitchell said.

“And those mothers of the church would be like, ‘Hallelujah.’ I was like, ‘Oh, I think I understand now.’”

and services that the agency provides to enhance the quality of life for children and families, said Niecy Davis, special events /marketing coordinator for Annie Malone.

“Our honorees will be our programs this year to let people know exactly what Annie Malone is all about,” Davis said. “Not only do we have a fantastic parade but many wonderful programs. The Soiree is designed to introduce people to our programs and raise money to continue and expand our cause.”

Annie Malone has evolved over the years into multifaceted social services organization, annually serving more than 600 children and families in residential care and in the crisis center and 1,000 teenagers through community based programs. Annie Malone is finding new and different ways to provide social services not just in the city, but also the county and statewide.

“Today we are focusing

n “I’ve lived the past 19 years in New York, but I love and miss St. Louis so much.” – Shedrick Mitchell

In doing so he says he bears witness to the power of music, which is ultimately a higher power.

“The power of music is God,” Mitchell said. “He is the sound of music – He is the sound of everything. And if you just stop and listen… that’s God. You can hear Him in every note.”

He misses hearing God in Whitney’s voice.

“She was just a beautiful soul, so giving and amazing,” Mitchell said. “There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t miss her or think about her.” Southern Mission Baptist Church will present Praise & Worship with Shedrick Mitchell & Manifest at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday August 24th at McCluer South Berkeley High School, 201 Brotherton Ln., 63135. For more information, call (314) 3235760 or (314) 521-3951.

on crisis prevention and intervention. Our main goal is to try to prevent abuse and neglect and impact youth homelessness,” Wise said.

“We provide crisis care services, so when parents experience those unforeseen circumstances such as homelessness, no electricity, maybe they have a place to stay but the children do not, they can bring the children to us and we can provide a safe and secure environment while the parents address the needs they have.” Joseph Anderson, president of 100 Black Men of St Louis and James Buford, recently retired executive director of the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, will be honorary chairpersons. The Soiree begins at 7 p.m. with the serving of food. A cash bar will be available. An after-party is set to kick-off at 10 p.m. To RSVP and for tickets, call Niecy Davis at 314-531-0120 or at ndavis@ anniemalone.com.

Jamala Rogers

20th anniversary

Brenda and Henry Jackson celebrated 20 years of marriage on August 21. My husband has been a rock for me, especially since a cancer diagnosis in December 2011 and the return of cancer in July 2012. That’s “in sickness and in health.” Love you. God did it!

25th anniversary

Reunions

All reunion announcements can be viewed online!

Beaumont Classes of 1965, 1966 and 1967 join us for dinner and dancing at the Embassy Suites Hotel (St. Louis Airport) on October 12, 2013 from 7:30pm to 12:30am. Hosted by Beaumont Class of 1966. For further information contact: Jacque’Hughes-Hayes 314-971-7012 orJosh Beeks 314-303-0791.

Beaumont High School Class of 1969 is preparing for its 45th reunion in 2014. Please join us Saturday, September 21 from Noon-3 pm at the Vagabond Mansion, 4315 Westminister Pl. for a planning meeting. Contact info: LaDonne Felton at beaumontclassof1969@yahoo.com

Beaumont Class of 1979 will be meeting to discuss our 35th reunion plans. Please join us at 1pm on at the St. Louis County Library below level auditorium room, 195 New Florissant Road, 63031: on August 24. For additional information, please contact Scarlett McWell at 314-4587782 or send email to msscarletto@yahoo.com or Sandra Hooker at ayaina612@sbcglobal.net

Beaumont High School Class of 1983, Save the Date! Please prepare for our 30 year Class Reunionon October 4, 5, and 6.Please send emails with home address to bhsco1983@gmail

East St. Louis High School calling all members of the ‘74‘85 Eastside High XC teams! AXC Reunion of runners will be held September 6-8, 2013 at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows in Belleville,IL.Several activities are scheduled. If you have not contacted Coach Wilson please do so ASAP, and spread the word to other runners. The

~ CELEBRATIONS ~

Do you have a celebration you’re proud of? If so we would like to share your good news with our readers. Whether it’s a birth, graduation, wedding, engagement announcement, anniversary, retirement or birthday, send your photos and a brief announcement (50 words or less) to us and we may include it in our paper and website – AT NO COST – as space is available Photos will not be returned.

Send your announcements to: kdaniel@stlamerican. com or mail to:

Birthdays

St. Louis American Celebrations c/o Kate Daniel 4242 Lindell Ave St. Louis, MO 63108 FREE OF CHARGE

Just married

Birthdays

deadline to register and make payment is Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2013. For more information or to register call Coach Wilson 618-467-1486 or email: roewilson@charter.net

East St. Louis SeniorHigh Class of 1974:The Steering Committee is diligently planning our special 40-year reunion in June 2014.Contact dyj54@yahoo.com to be added to the class Facebook page to stay informed.For additional information, contact:314-4065354 or 618-580-2006.

FairU-City is Sept. 6-8 in Heman Park, University City. Food Tickets: $1.25/ticket, Ride Tickets: $3.00/ticket. For more information including hours and events: info@fairucity.com or 314505-8696. Want to be a Fair U City vendor? Contact: info@fairucity.com

Neighborhood Houses is hosting a reunion for Camp Tambo, Summer Day Camp, After-School Programs, Teen Club, Caroline Mission, Fellowship Center, Dignity House, St. James Center,

Friedens Haus, Junior Leaders and Dolphin Defenders in celebration of 100 years of service in St. Louis. All former families and former employees of Neighborhood Houses are invited to a reunion BBQ on Saturday, August 24, 2013 at Caroline Mission (2828 Caroline Street, 63104) from 3-6 p.m. Children are welcome! hamburgers, hot dogs, chips and soda will be provided. For more information or to register, call us at (314) 3831733 ext. 17 or email kmccadden@neighborhoodhouses.org

Old Neighborhood Reunion, Inc. will host it’s 12th Annual Street Festival on Saturday, September 21 from Noon-6 pm, 2700 Block of Howard St. (between Leffingwell and Howard St.). Music, food, games, raffle, attendace prizes.

3rd Annual Riddick School and Evans reunion will be held on Saturday, September 7, 9 am-9 pm at the corner of Evans and Whittier. Grab your family, friends, picnic baskets, chairs, water, etc and come on out for a great time. For more info call 314-389-0956.

Soldan High School Class of 1961 will celebrate its 52nd Anniversary High School Class Reunion, September 6-8, 2013. To register or obtain additional information, please contact Ellen Vernor, 314-3611535 or e-mail Lynn Steele, steelelynn@aol.com.

(CORRECTION) Sumner Class Of 1974 has started planning its 40th class reunion. Meetings are held each third Saturday of the month at 2-4 p.m. AtNew Beginnings Missionary Baptist Church, 4055 Edmundson Rd., 63134. Please contact Marsha D. Roberts-Moore at sumnerclassof1974@yahoo.com, 314367-3159 or Joyce BushCruesoe at cruesoe2195@att.net, 314-4841552.

SumnerClass of 1978 will host its 35th reunion on October 18-20, 2013 at the Sheraton Clayton Plaza Hotel St. Louis. Please pass the word on to others who are out of town. Contact our Class of ’78 voicemail at 314-735-1083 for more information and someone will get back to you.

Reunion notices are free of charge and based on space availability. We prefer that notices be emailed to us! However, notices may also be sent by mail to:

Kate Daniel, 4242 Lindell Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63108. Deadline is 10 a.m. on Friday. If you’d like your class to be featured in a reunion profile, email or mail photos to us. Our email address is: reunions@ stlamerican.com

Vashon Class of 1965 will have a picnic on Sunday, September 22, 2013 at Tanglewood Park, 1199 Chambers Road, St. Louis, MO. Time: Noon-8:00 pm. Information: Contact Cleo at (314) 383-1934.

Islam – a religion of peace?

Ramadan reflections on Muhammad and the Qur’an

By Eric E. Vickers For The St. Louis American

If Islam is ever to be understood and appreciated by Americans, then Muslims will need to stop trying to convince them that it is a “religion of peace.” Having just completed my 35th Ramadan – the month of fasting – I find it neither representative of nor true to the faith to portray it in any way as passive.

If America is to reap the vitality that Islam can offer a society, then Americans will have to look beyond Muslim terrorists to see a religion that blossomed in a remarkably short span of time from one man’s vision in a cave to the world superpower that conquered the Persian and Byzantine empires and brought enlightenment to Europe. To understand this history as a continuing spiritual phenomenon Americans will need to understand the religion’s founder, Muhammad, and the text he brought, the Qur’an.

The quote attributed to Jesus in the Book of Matthew provides an apt description of Muhammad’s life: “I come not to bring peace, but to bring a sword.” It was 600 years after the time of

Christ and during Ramadan – the ninth month in the Islamic (lunar) calendar – that Muhammad, a 40-year-old Arab businessman, while meditating in a cave about the greed and corruption in society, had a revelation that he was called to preach the oneness of God.

This brought him enmity from his fellow Arabs, who were polytheists; from the Christians who taught that Jesus was God; and from the Jews who rejected the prophecy of Jesus.

It also brought him intense enmity from the political and business leaders, who saw him as detrimental to Mecca remaining a hub of world commerce and were insulted by his message that their wealth and power was no match for God.

After 13 years of preaching the Qur’an, which Muhammad maintained was just him reciting the word revealed to him by God like previous prophets, his persecution in Mecca became such that he was forced to flee. He and a com-

panion escaped to a cave just ahead of a group of assassins who had come to kill him, and during his 200- mile desert journey to the City of Medina his pursuers were uncannily thwarted. In Medina, Muhammad established a community constituted on the Qur’an, whose 114 chapters, called Suras, were recited by him over a 23- year period. The Qur’an, which says throughout, that it is meant for all mankind, touches on every aspect of life, including property, marital, inheritance and contract rights, the manner of prayer, caring for the poor, and even how to argue with adversaries.

Sura VIII describes how two years after Muhammad and his followers had settled in Medina, God called them to go to war. It was Ramadan, and Muhammad’s ill-equipped army numbering 300 decisively and surprisingly defeated a vastly superior army of over a thousand, with the Ethiopian Muslim, Bilal, slaying on the battlefield his former slave master.

After completing his 35th Ramadan –the month of fasting – a local Muslim reflects on the history of “this continuing spiritual phenomenon.”

Muhammad Assad describes how the permanent psychological effect of this war has profoundly shaped history in his transliteration of the Qur’an:

“The spirit of passive sacrifice, so characteristic of their [Muslims’] earlier days, received its compliment in the idea of sacrifice through action,” Assad writes.

“The doctrine of action as the most fundamental, creative element of life was, perhaps for the first time in the history of man, consciously realized not only by a few select individuals but by a whole community; and the intense activism which was to distinguish Muslim history in the coming decades and centuries was a direct, immediate consequence of the battle of Badr.”

What Americans need to understand is that since the battle of Badr 14 centuries ago, acting against injustice is dearer to a Muslim than peace.

Eric E. Vickers is a board member of the American Muslim Alliance.

Relationships can be difficult; but let’s talk about the one with self.

How do you love yourself?

Well, that’s a peculiar question.

It’s all about how you treat yourself; how you feel about yourself; and how you conduct yourself in your relationships with others.

Have you been neglecting the most important relationships in your life, the one with self and the one with God? You and God should be your top priority.

I think sometimes we can focus so much on our need to please others that we forget about what’s really important in life, including self and God. When you are unbalanced within, unhappy with self, and unhappy with life it is impossible to have healthy relationships with others.

You will always seek an outside source for happiness, which does not equate real happiness. Happiness is within; it can be expressed through emotions. It is a state of mind that should be developed and unaltered by life conditions and circumstances.

I’m not saying that we don’t sometimes have bad days, but we must learn to possess an intrinsic motivation for what makes us happy. What is our reason for living? What is our purpose in life?

A relationship alone is not going to fulfill this ultimate desire for happiness and purpose in life. We must learn and find out what we want from life and be happy with ourselves before getting into relationships. Otherwise, the relationships will lack balance. As it is within, so it will be without. Work on you; love God; love yourself; and love your life so that you can learn to better love others in a healthy way.

Scripture

400 words) as a Word document and pasted text to cking@ stlamerican.com and attach a photo of yourself as a jpeg ile. Please be patient; we will run columns in the order received.

Raechel Rivers

Eric C. Vikers

Celebrity Swagger Snap of the Week

Rapper Jibbs, Tim from “Welcome to Sweetie Pies” and Dj Beatz were just a few of the STL Stars getting their shine on at Free Time and 1st Fridays Glow Saturday night at Atomic Cowboy.

RIP Stage. I kick off Partyline with a heavy heart this week. I woke up Sunday morning with my phone and Facebook blowing up because of the tragic passing of Domonique Harden a.k.a. Stage. I really don’t feel the need to go into details about her death – mainly because my purpose in mentioning her was to let people know that I will miss her as much as everyone else. For those of you who may not remember her by name, she was a gorgeous promotional model and Eye Candy alum. And while I didn’t know her outside of social circles, she seemed as beautiful inside as she was on the outside – and the outpouring of love for her on social media (the #StagesDay hash tag, in particular) shows that I’m right about it. She was barely 28 years old – which is when you truly start growing into who you will be and laying the foundation of the legacy you’ll leave. Let us pray for her family and friends – and continue to honor her by making the most of our own lives.

Save the date for Salute. I know there are a couple of other things going on the night of Friday, September 13. But you would be downright silly if you opt out of The 26th Annual Salute to Excellence in Education Gala The festivities give folks an opportunity to peep St. Louis’ formal swag as we honor the best and brightest in education. And the after party is ALWAYS poppin’! This year we have the legendary DJ Kut on the tables and MC Lyte on the mic. That’s right, you read it correctly…the ONE AND ONLY hip-hop legend will be playing host at the Budweiser Black Crown Dance Party. We sell out every year, but we might have some scattered seats somewhere in the mix. Call (314) 533-8000 or visit stlamerican.com for more information. Glow on the Grove. So, I am clearly going to have my work cut out for me when it comes down to nailing down my favorite events for 2013. And Glow 2013 is a fierce contender! Free Time and the fellas of 1st Friday teamed up and took their show from Mike Shannon’s to the Atomic Cowboy in the Mangrove. I’ll admit I took it as a downsizing –until I arrived. The Atomic Cowboy outdoor space is absolute life! The fancy furniture and set-up had me feeling like all the power players in the STL had escaped for an ultra-sexy island getaway, and Saturday night was the grand finale party. But for me the party began with the people watching on the never ending journey from my parking space. I mean, where else but the…let’s just say colorful scene of the Mangrove, can you accidently bump into a man dressed up as the Tin Man on a Saturday night in August? And by dressed up, I mean spray painted silver (head to toe) with matching hot pants and Jodeci boots. And I saw more Dollar Tree replicas of Beyoncé’s new “Cadillac Records” inspired haircut than I thought humanly possible – and not just from the girls (what? It was the Mangrove). But back to Glow. You know you’re doing something right when you’re at capacity OUTSIDE. I got my life from everyone who came through – including Tim and Jenae from “Welcome To Sweetie Pie’s,” Jibbs, comedian Jovan Bibbs and Eddie from SYGU to name a few. DJ Reminisce and Shadzilla kept the crowd hyped too. There were some folks in the building from ATL who stopped through the party and one of them was like “I didn’t know St. Louis gets down like this.” She could tell from my “girl, bye” sideeye that our club scene can be about that life – even to an ATLien. Thanks Free Time and 1st Fridays for showing those out of town folks how we do it in “The Lou.”

A nick at NHR 2013. Sunday night I made my way to Uhuru Salon’s 2nd Annual Natural Hair Revolution (NHR) at The Four Seasons. Hair and shapes galore made the most of their time traipsing down that catwalk – do you hear me? I don’t really have a high tolerance for doing the most on the runway –especially twerking and homemade posing. Luckily, with the exception of the Josephine Baker impersonator, I was mostly spared. On a side note, what in the world did urban fashion shows do for music before Alicia Keys’ “Girl on Fire” came out? I promise I haven’t been to a show that didn’t play the song AT LEAST once since she wrote the doggone thing. And another favorite soundtrack is the gasp chorus as a women takes a bite out of that catwalk because she’s doing too much in her heels. There were some technical woes here and there, but for the most part I thoroughly enjoyed myself – that was until the winners were announced. I thought that Napps had, by far, the best presentation and total package and so did most of the judges. And the pearl clutches and heavy, stunned sighs as somebody other than Napps won made the response to that poor woman’s stumble seem like a whisper. And I still don’t know who came in third place. Word on the curb is that somebody miscalculatedthejudges’talliesandthepowersthatbedidn’twanttoembarrass the faux winner by snatching their check back. And while it ended on a sour note, I still want to encourage the folks at Uhuru to keep growing the Natural Hair Revolution – and send a shout out to Beauty By Design, Da Rootz, Locs of Glory, Napps, Womack’s Barber and Beauty Style and all the folks behind the scenes for participating this year too. I mean, whatever anyone had to say about NHR in a negative light can’t trump the fact that there’s nothing like it in our area and it has the potential to be a major contender as far as a highlight of the year. That being said, there is some tightening up that needs to happen on the logistical side – most importantly (if the rumor is true) when it comes to counting the votes and picking the right winner.

Tweet and Rahsaan on the Café Soul stage. Y’all have two weeks to get your tickets, for what is in my opinion one of the best national tickets that Café Soul has had since they began blending major label artists in the mix. Tweet and Rahsaan Patterson will bring a new level of soul as Angie, Nichol, Tendai, Deevine Soundz, the band and the rest of the crew celebrate seven years in the game on Saturday, September 7 at The Pageant. Y’all don’t understand how geeked I am about this show. It’s going to be a classic!

Honey, Foxi, Seven, Evelyn and Taneisha started unwinding for the weekend Friday with a trip to The Rustic Goat

Keona ,Faren and April were feeling the warm weather and chill atmosphere @ The Cabana Club @ Soho

Chrysma and Domonique aka Stage Saturday

night @ Glow @ Atomic Cowboy. They were later involved in a car accident that tragically claimed Domonique’s life. RIP Stage

Amanda of Dab Cupcakes and Kashell kicked Friday night for the Leo Bash Friday night

Birthday boy Damien chose The Office as his designated celebration spot Friday night

Phil from Liquid Assets was in the building as Topher celebrated his b-day with an afternoon bash Sunday @ Copia Photo by King Tungsten Photography

Diamond, Alexi and Kendra had a candy land vibe going on as a part of the weekly LA nights set Saturday @ The Coliseum

Tara from Tasty Treats with Shaki, who was starting her pre- birthday festivities Sunday afternoon thanks to a day party hosted by Copia

Malcom, Kevin, Drew and Darryl enjoying the scene at the Cabana Club Friday night at SOHO in the Grove

Krystin, Nicole and Tiffany took in the best and brightest on the hair scene thanks to Uhuru Salon’s Natural Hair Revolution 2013 Sunday night @ The Four Seasons

Photos by Lawrence Bryant

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN

Scholarship awarded in name of education advocate

Plus, 43 Crossroads College Prep graduates net more than $9 million

American staff

The Dr. Marla Coleen Clark Oakes Memorial Scholarship has been established to honor the memory and legacy of a wife, mother, sister, daughter and friend who served her church family and community through the advocacy of education.

Dr. Oakes began her career in education as a Reading Therapist with the Success in Reading Program. After earning a Master’s degree in Education, she worked as a speech pathology coordinator, assisting high school students with language disorders.

She held a number of positions within the District of Columbia, Fairfax County and Prince George’s County Public Schools, as well as serving as an adjunct instructor for the Department of Special Education at Howard University, in Washington, D.C.

In 1996, Dr. Oakes earned her Ph.D. in Communication Sciences and Disorders from Howard University.

After receiving her Ph.D., Dr. Oakes continued publishing articles and received numerous honors and awards for her work. During 2005, she served as Assistant Superintendent/Specialized Services Officer for the St. Louis Public School System and later served as the Superintendent of Special Education for the District of Columbia Public School System in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Oakes was an exceptional educator and passed her passion for education to her children Dr. Phillip Jones, Jr., Daphne Jones and Mrs. Danielle Rease, MBA.

The scholarship award presentation was held on Sunday, August 11 at Northern

Missionary Baptist Church, Dr. Harold J. Butler, Pastor. The 2013 Scholarship Recipient is Ms. Malinda Rowsey, Education Doctoral student. The recipient was presented with a certificate and a $1,500 award during the Northern Baptist Youth Choir Annual Day service.

Presenting the award was Dr. Butler, along with members of the Scholarship Committee, Sisters Helena Smith, Eunice Tyus, Minnie Hinton, and Alfreda Wilbon.

Every Crossroads graduate received scholarship

Crossroads College Prep’s senior class of 43 students has

achieved a new high.In addition to the outstanding list of college acceptances, every member of the senior class received merit-based scholarship offers of four-year values totaling more than $9 million.

Seven members of the Class of 2013 seniors received scholarships and grants covering full tuition at the colleges they have chosen to attend. In addition, eight seniors received merit scholarships covering half or more of the tuition at the colleges they’ve selected.

The average annual scholarship being used by the Class of 2013 next year is $15,175 and the average annual tuition at the selected colleges is $29,826.

Crossroads College Prep is committed to offering a rigorous academic curriculum to many students in the St. Louis region who otherwise would

not be able to afford to attend. Nearly half of the student body, hailing from 60 different zip codes, receives some form of financial aid.

Two graduating seniors in the past three years have also been named Gates Millennium Scholars – a highly competitive award that covers all tuition, room and board, fees, and books for the winners up through graduate studies.

Intern program prepares Cardinal Ritter students

For a decade Cardinal Ritter Prep has been placing current students and alumni in internships throughout the metropolitan area through its Intern Leadership Program. On August 1, twelve young men and women completed the sixyear program where their commitment and accomplishments

were recognized. The students were selected as sophomores and completed the program after their junior year in college.

This year’s key note speaker was Steve Parks, director of Diversity at Ameren. Parks spoke about culture and how different cultures enhance the workforce.

With the financial support of the Danforth foundation and the partnership of local St. Louis businesses, the Intern Leadership program was born in 2001. An alumnus, April Cotton was hired to implement this program.

“The Intern Leadership Program gives our students a competitive edge in the workplace,” states Cotton.

The program’s objectives are to place high school students in internships with local program partners with hopes of

continued placement throughout their college career. In addition students are trained in career readiness and employability skills throughout their junior and senior year in high school with enhanced training during college.

This work-based learning opportunity provides incentives for talented, educated African-American students to choose to live in, work in and provide leadership in the St. Louis region for civic and economic life after college graduation. Their experience helps them to more easily compete more confidently in this competitive job market. The program also offers mentoring, leadership development and career assessment throughout college and beyond.

“The Intern Leadership Program gave me an advantage over my peers by introducing me to the workforce,” says Ashley Edwards. “I now can carry myself with confidence and hold my head high when put into various business scenarios.”

Partnerships with local St. Louis companies will allow students to more easily transition from school to the workplace and gain on-the-job experience.

The Intern Leadership Program has served over 200 students and has partnered with over 35 St. Louis based 5 companies and organizations. Ninety percent of its students are employed in the St. Louis area. This year’s program partners include: Ameren, Archdiocese of St. Louis, Cardinal Glennon Foundation, Clayton Capital Partners, Commerce Bank, International Food Group, KAI Design & Build, Laclede Gas Company, Nine Network of Public Media, QuickSpark Media, St. Louis Catholic Education Center, St. Louis Center for Family Development, Unigroup, VAMedical Center and World Wide Technology.

Back Row:Helena Smith,Eunice Tyus,Minnie Hinton.Front Row:Barbara Rowsey (mother of recipient),Malinda Rowsey (recipient),Alfreda Wilbon and Dr.Harold J.Butler