December 21st, 2023 Edition

Michael Kennedy Sr., 2024 Lifetime Achiever in Business

Retired chairman and CEO of KAI Design & Build

By Chris King For the St. Louis American

The journey of Michael Kennedy Sr., retired chairman and CEO of KAI Design & Build, to becoming the St. Louis American Foundation’s 2024 Lifetime Achiever in Business began with what Kennedy remembers as a distasteful situation in the early days of minority inclusion.

“In the late 1970s, minority participation was being forced on publicly funded developments. In the design industry, majority-owned architectural firms were required to team with a minority-owned firm for 10% of the work.

See KENNEDY, A6

Michael Kennedy Sr., retired chair and CEO of KAI Design & Build, said a “distasteful” experience led him to founding the business as Kennedy Associates in 1980.

You better shop around

The Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis recently hosted a special holiday shopping and networking event at its regional headquarters to support entrepreneurs in three of its business empowerment programs. The Center for Entrepreneurship, the Women’s Business Center, and Save Our Sisters jointly hosted the event where shoppers were able to find unique gifts for the holiday season from 50 different vendors, all of which receive some level of support from Urban League entrepreneurship programs.

Noir Bookshop takes books to children a new way

By Andrea Y. Henderson St. Louis Public Radio

The Noir Bookshop is placing a vending machine in recreation centers and community centers across St. Louis to give book access to children who live in areas where it is hard to find reading materials without transportation. The free book machine will dispense, beginning in January, about 150 paperback and hard copies of children’s books, young adult series, graphic novels and other genres of books for infants through

can visit the bookstore or any others to

read and collect books, said Ymani Wince, owner of The Noir Bookshop in south St. Louis.

“How do I ignore the sort of book desert situation happening in my own city?” Wince said. “I just feel like if people have the power to change someone’s lives with the stroke of a pen, or in ways that are not going to harm, why not do that.” In St. Louis, white students at public or charter schools are more than twice as likely to read proficiently in the third grade than Black students. Many of those Black students

Tenacious Tech Boy

DeJuan Strickland honored for his ingenuity

By Alvin A. Reid St. Louis American

Rather than forget a fourth-grade experience that once left him hungry after school lunch time, DeJuan Strickland used it as an inspiration. He didn’t have money in his lunch account, but he remained in the cafeteria. He sat at a lunch table and watched other students eat. It made him wonder why free lunch programs, for all students, do not exist in all districts.

“You should have free lunch everywhere because kids need to eat. If I can’t eat, then I can’t work as efficiently as I’m supposed to, my body’s not going to feel right,” Strickland explains. He decided to help eliminate lunch debt for the students at McCurdy Elementary School and created the Teen Tech Boy Lunch Heroes initiative. Teen Tech Boy Lunch Heroes is a fund from which students can draw money when they have negative lunch balanc-

See STRICKLAND, A7

By Alvin A. Reid St. Louis American

The close of her first semester came with a tiding of joy for Dr. Keisha Scarlett, Saint Louis Public Schools superintendent. SLPS has shown improvement in student progress, according to the latest Annual Performance Report (APR) for the 20222023 school year. The advancement is particularly evident in progress from 3rd to 4th grade in English Language Arts (ELA) and from 4th to 5th grade in Math. There was also a “significant increase in the progression from 8th grade Math to See SLPS, A6

Photo by Wiley Price / St. Louis American

Photo courtesy of the Urban League

DeJuan Strickland

Keisha Scarlett

St. Louisan ‘Basketball Wives’ star Brittish Williams speaks on her 15 fraud charges

‘Basketball Wives’ star Brittish Williams is now opening up in a recent interview on appealing her sentence and reportedly pleading for a delayed prison surrender date. She opened up about pleading guilty to 15 federal fraud charges and what allegedly prompted the misconduct. The charges included five counts of misuse of a social security number, four counts of bank fraud, and three counts of making false IRS statements.

Williams said she had a “very bad gambling problem.”

“Horrible. Like

when you think about people being on drugs or being alcoholics, I don’t think there’s anything worse than gambling,” Williams said. “Because you have this thing where you think that you can constantly make this money or you think you can take this money and make it into this or make it into this… I had a gambling problem that was so bad, I don’t even understand how no one knew.”

Williams is charged with using $140,000 in “pandemic disaster loans” to fund a luxurious lifestyle, submitting $139,000 in fake medical bills, underreporting her earnings, and tax evasion of about $30,000.

Andre Braugher, Emmy-winning actor ‘Homicide’ and ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine,’ passes away

Andre Braugher, the Emmy-winning actor who played gritty drama for seven seasons on “Homicide: Life on The

Street” as Frank Pebleton and modern comedy for eight seasons on “Brooklyn 99,” as Captain Ray Holt died Dec. 12 at age 61.

Homicide: Life on The Street was Braugher’s breakout role for which he won an Emmy for a lead actor in a drama series in 1998.

Braugher’s “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” co-star Terry Crews paid tribute to hum.

“Can’t believe you’re gone so soon,” Crews said. “I’m honored to have known you, laughed with you, worked with you and shared 8 glorious years watching your irreplaceable talent. You showed me what a life well-lived looked like.”

of assault and harassment of his former girlfriend during a domestic dispute on Monday by a jury in New York City, CNN reports. Following the verdict, Priya Chaudhry, Major’s attorney, said he “still has faith in the process and looks forward to fully clearing his name.”

The trial began on December 4 after an alleged domestic dispute occurred between Majors and his former girlfriend, Grace Jabbari. Majors had pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor charges of assault and aggravated harassment.

Born and raised in Chicago, Braugher graduated from Stanford and received a master’s of fine arts degree from Juilliard.

Jonathan Majors found guilty by New York jury

Jonathan Majors was found guilty

Variety reported that Marvel Studios and Disney had parted ways with Majors. He was slated to star in “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty’’in 2026, where he would reprise his role as Kang, and another film, “Avengers: Secret Wars,” centered around his Marvel character, projected to be released in 2027.

Yahoo News, The Shade Room, CNN, Variety

Jonathan Majors Andre Braugher

Ferguson-Florissant asks for community help with fighting

‘It’s about safe schools’

By Alvin A. Reid St. Louis American

Joe Davis, FergusonFlorissant School District superintendent, called on his community to help him in a time of need and it responded with support on Monday evening.

The district, like others in the St. Louis area, has been plagued by a rash of fights during the semester. Parents, community members, and elected officials attended the meeting and dozens more people were present via ZOOM.

“It’s no secret. This is an issue I need community support on,” Davis said as the meeting opened.

“This [fighting] problem in schools is manifesting from our community. It is bigger than our schools, but our schools have an important role to play.”

Davis, who said just 5% of the student population is responsible for the problems, then let people share their thoughts on how to quell fighting in the district’s schools.

Sharon Robinson, a retired math teacher from the Ferguson-Florissant

district said “[schools] can’t be responsible for society.”

“Children aren’t the problem, our society is.”

Robinson said social media has become a catalyst for student fighting, adding that many of the conflicts are “issues of self-esteem.”

“Let’s see if we can figure this out as human beings.”

Kevin Spraggins three children attended schools in the district, and his son is now a teacher at McCluer High School.

“He says sometimes there are three or four fights a day,” Spraggins explained.

Spraggins suggested that a task force be created to deal with the fighting problem.

“That 5% of households, the accountability needs to be addressed. Someone needs to go to the parent to try to work this out.”

Spraggins added that parents are taking matters into their own hands and going to schools to confront a student who is trou-

bling their child.

“That crosses a line,” Davis said. “We have folks coming to buses.”

Rom Kemper, speaking on ZOOM, said the district should implement “a zero-tolerance” policy for fighting, a suggestion the audience applauded.

“It’s not the job of the school. It’s not the job of the community. It’s the parents’ job,” he said.

“Nobody wants to see a child thrown out of school. But discipline, rules, and respect start at home with the parents. If we

Ferguson-Florissant School District Superintendent Dr. Joseph S. Davis invited the

trict’s

and

are going to get things in order, these things need to be instilled at home.

Davis said, “I’m never going to throw a child away,” earlier in the evening. He added he had been summoned to Jefferson City last year to address the number of suspensions in his district.

“You can’t just suspend them; the issue is “why are they fighting.”

Davis said every case is looked at separately when it is decided a suspension is required.

“Are there patterns of behavior?” he asked.

Erica Dallas, who has a son in elementary school,

said she backs a zero-tolerance policy for fighting.

“My 9-year-old is just trying to handle the situation. He has gone from school to school. I try to teach him the best I can to do the right things. He says to me, ‘mom, I don’t want to go to school.’” Through Dec. 15, the number of fights in the district has fallen when compared to the same time period in 2022. However, fighting has increased at the middle school and high school levels.

Davis provided a December 2023 year-todate discipline summary that showed a: 19% decrease in fighting (K-12); “significant” decrease in fighting in seven of nine secondary schools; 58% decrease in weapons incidents; 24% decrease in drug/tobacco related incidents; a 23% decrease in students not in class in six secondary schools.

“What we want is no fighting in our schools,” Davis said. Davis added that the conversations on stemming fighting would continue with the community and within the district.

“At the end of the day, it’s about safe schools.”

Photo by Wiley Price Jr.

Guest Editorial

A gift list for the Missouri legislature

By Janice Ellis

What presents do you hope Santa will leave under the Christmas tree at the Missouri Capitol? They will await legislators when they arrive on Jan. 3, 2024.

Each of us can help Santa out as he is making his list and checking it twice.

The best-wrapped box contains a crystal ball that implores legislators to muster the collective will to actually pass meaningful policies and bills to make life better for most Missourians.

We can see those gathered around the tree smiling, shaking their heads in agreement, even glad-handing in acknowledgement that it would be a great departure from the infighting, grandstanding, and gridlock that have been the standard fare the last several legislative sessions.

Hopefully, legislators want to improve their dismal performance of the last session

In the present marked “education,” they will find lots of reasons and evidence to help improve the outcomes for Missouri’s children — increased availability and access to childcare, early education programs to meeting the technological and other resource needs of elementary and secondary students.

“miscellany,” contains a host of tools for legislators to address needs like overhauling the child welfare agency by first addressing adequate funding and staffing to fix one of the largest foster care systems in the country.

Missouri, like many states, is experiencing growing homelessness, especially in metropolitan areas. It is a problem, if available tools are applied, that can be effectively addressed if not totally minimized.

The continual use of lead pipes to deliver drinking water is still a generational health issue. Adopting a plan and schedule to remove them to meet the Environmental Protection Agency 10-year deadline is an imperative.

Will legislators use the tools in the miscellany box to finally pass a sports wagering bill that will keep billions of dollars in revenues within the state?

What about fixing the problems — from guaranteeing the quality of the product to equity in granting licenses to operate dispensaries — that plague the cannabis industry?

As I See It - A Forum for Community Issues

Keep an eye on Angela Alsobrooks

By Roger House

The campaign of Maryland’s Angela Alsobrooks for the U.S. Senate may be the most consequential election facing Black Democrats in 2024. That’s because her candidacy can serve as a springboard to a more inclusive Senate chamber and to the consolidation of Black political power in a Southern state.

Alsobrooks is the county executive of Prince George’s County, a suburban powerbase for affluent Black families in Maryland. She is a former state’s attorney for “PG County” as well. A lifelong resident of Maryland, she announced her candidacy to fill the seat of Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin, who will retire in 2024. If elected, she promises to focus on legislation aimed at bolstering the economy and reducing crime, among other priorities.

Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois (19931999).

Advocates urged action after the death of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). California Gov. Gavin Newsom attempted to quell the stir with the one-year appointment of Laphonza Butler, a former president of the political action group Emily’s List. The appointment did little to placate the hopes of Black women for a full-term senator.

What will legislators find in the present marked “health care?”

There are a host of opportunities in that box to address some tough and lingering issues when it comes to availing Missourians access to the best health care in multiple areas.

Let’s begin with providing citizens the opportunity to weigh in and vote on a 2024 ballot measure to help resolve the abortion issue.

Within the health care box are also tools to ensure Missourians who most need Medicaid can get it, including vulnerable children. Then there are the ongoing problems of how the program is poorly administered — or failed to be administered at all.

There is voluminous data on the problems as well as solutions to make it easier for those who most need Medicaid services to get them.

The biggest box under the tree, labeled

Perhaps one of the most important items in the miscellany box is how to best preserve the right of Missourians to cast a vote. Will legislators use the tools within their disposal to protect and prevent the disenfranchisement of large groups of its citizens?

How do we help break the partisan infighting, side shows and gridlock on issues that represent the wishes of the minority — book banning, transgender participation in sports, preventing the teaching of the history of race in America?

Are you making a legislative wish list? Are you checking it twice?

What standards will you use to measure the effectiveness of your representative and senator in using the tools available to them to address some of our most pressing issue for the state when they return to the capitol on Jan. 3?

Missouri Independent columnist Janice Ellis analyzes educational, political, social and economic issues across race, ethnicity, age and socio-economic status.

There are six candidates in the state’s Democratic primary, including Rep. David Trone (D-Md.), a three-term member of the House of Representatives. Also trending is Will Jawando, a progressive member of the Montgomery County Council. Alsobrooks and Trone are considered the leading candidates, but Trone holds a financial advantage as the founder of alcohol retailer Total Wine & More. He has put nearly $10 million of his own money into the campaign.

Alsobrooks has raised about $1.7 million in recent months. It is an overall strong fundraising performance, but her campaign is at a stark financial disadvantage. This should raise alarm bells with supporters on a number of levels.

Black women have decried their lack of representation in the Senate since the departure of Kamala Harris, who made history as the first Afro-Asian woman elected from California but opted to leave for the historically symbolic — but relatively unimportant — vice presidency. Since then, advocates like Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) have called on party leaders to help a Black woman get elected to the Senate. That’s because across history, only two Black women have made it to the chamber: Harris (2017-2021) and

Some have looked to the Senate campaign of Rep. Lee, who announced her candidacy after Feinstein’s death. Lee has been a dedicated representative of the Oakland community since 1998. However, the voting power of Black people in California has been in decline for years with the loss of population. To date, Lee polls far behind the better-funded campaigns of Reps. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who earned a national profile as the leader of the Donald Trump impeachment hearings.

Then there is the senate campaign of Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, the sole House member of the small blue state of Delaware. She is the handpicked replacement of retiring Sen. Thomas R. Carper. Rochester may very well cruise into the Senate as an overall favorite of Black voters and white liberal Democrats.

Delaware, like Maryland, can fly under the radar as a state with a sizable Black population of about 23%. Yet, the community lacks the organization and talent pool of professionals that fuel larger Maryland. Her campaign could further the cause of a more inclusive Senate chamber.

The national Black leadership must be conscious of putting its limited resources into a campaign with both good odds and the chance to forge a strong statewide organization. That’s where the Senate candidacy of Angela Alsobrooks is worth a look.

Roger House is associate professor of American Studies at Emerson College

Unions gain momentum in 2023

By Lee Saunders

When working people stand together, raise their voice and show their power, they win.

That’s the lesson of 2023, a year in which workers boldly asserted their rights and refused to accept less than their fair share of the value they create.

Through October, nearly 500,000 workers had taken the courageous step of going on strike this year, three times the number that did during the first 10 months of 2022. And almost 900,000 union workers have won pay hikes of at least 10% over the last year.

AFSCME affiliates across the country have been a part of this wave of strike activity. From workers in Yamhill County, Oregon, to employees in the Morgan County, Ohio, school district, AFSCME members withheld their labor until their employer afforded them the respect they deserve.

This is happening across the economy – from health care to hospitality. Writers, actors, and other workers in the entertainment industry hung together for months until they finally got a better deal from their employers.

of Black people, in the public as well as the private sector. My father was a bus driver in the city of Cleveland, and while we sure weren’t rich when I was growing up, his union wages and benefits meant that we could have a decent life. Unions are a force for racial equity. While there are still major pay and wealth gaps between Black and white workers, they would be much larger if not for unions. And in 2022, median earnings for Black union members were more than 20% higher than for Black workers who don’t belong to a union. No wonder African Americans are more likely to be union members and more likely to support unions than the population at large. So, as we look at strategies for growing the labor movement, organizing Black workers must be a top priority.

Guest Columnist Lee Saunders

Perhaps the year’s highest-profile worker action came from the United Auto Workers. In an unprecedented gambit, the union went on strike against all of the Big Three automakers – Ford, General Motors and Stellantis – at the same time. UAW now has contracts with all three companies that include life-changing raises of up to 160%, as well as greater retirement security and union protections for those working on electric vehicles.

When workers are able to organize, bargain collectively and go on strike when necessary, the benefits are felt especially in communities of color. Unionization has been an economic lifeline for generations

Workers of all races are feeling empowered and emboldened, claiming their seat at the table and inspired to take collective action. And strong public support is the wind at our back. Recent polling demonstrates that unions enjoy sky-high approval ratings, particularly among young people. Growing numbers of people want unions to be stronger and believe they are good for the economy.

As we close out 2023 and look ahead to a new year, the challenge for those of us in the labor movement is to build on this momentum. We must continue standing up to the boss and organizing new workers. We must continue bargaining good contracts and electing pro-worker allies. We must continue, every day, to talk about and demonstrate the power of the union difference.

Lee Saunders is president, American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME).

Guest Columnist

Roger House

Guest Columnist Janice Ellis

Family supports HSSU in Carolyn Morris’ name

St. Louis American

The family of the late Carolyn D. Morris gathered at Harris-Stowe State University on December 8, 2023, to present the Carolyn D. Morris Endowed Scholarship to the university. The scholarship, valued at $30,000, is a testament to the impact Mrs. Morris had on the lives of her students and the educational community, according to her family.

Morris, an alumna of Harris Teachers College, dedicated over 30 years of her life to teaching in St. Louis Public Schools and SLPS Special Education Program, leaving an indelible mark on countless students. The scholarship continues her legacy by providing financial support to fulltime students at the university.

The scholarship and check presentation were the result of a collective effort by Morris’ children: Yonderland Strong, Venda Harris, Walter C. Morris Jr, and Pamela MorrisThornton.

“When our mom passed away back in March, we wanted to do something to preserve her legacy,” Strong said.

“This scholarship is a surreal moment for all of us, and we hope it can be an opportunity for others to do the same.”

The scholarship embodies the principles instilled by Morris – grace, integrity, dignity, service, and education. It stands as a lasting tribute to a woman who believed in providing hope and support to every student, regardless of their background.

“This preserves our mother’s legacy,” Morris-Thornton said.

“It will allow those going through hardship to continue pursuing a quality education, provide more opportunities for higher learning, and ultimately maintain quality talent in the education field.”

Harris-Stowe President LaTonia Collins Smith , who attended the event, said the university provides educational opportunities for individuals seeking a rich and engaging academic experi-ence.

“We offer programs designed to nurture intellectual curiosity and build authentic skills that prepare our students for success in a diverse society,” she said.

Stop ignoring violence prevention effort

By Dr. Stephanie Myers

For 12 years, Black Women for Positive Change has sponsored annual days, weeks and months of non-violence, families, voters rights and opportunities.

It is our belief that with the epidemic of violence gripping the nation, America should be anxious for new approaches that can promote violence prevention, anger management, conflict resolution and de-escalation of violence.

The Gun Violence Archive reports that there have been at least 35,275 people who have died from gun violence this year and 50% were suicides. However, despite our outreach to governors, members of Congress, mayors and national leaders there has been very little response to our efforts to start a violence prevention movement.

Not everyone is turning a deaf ear. In September 2023, President Joe Biden created the vital Office of Violence Prevention, and Congresswoman Gwen Moore (D-Wis.) and Congressman Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) are supporting our efforts.

Included are Everytown for Gun Safety, National Black Nurses Association, National Association for Community Mediation, 100 Fathers Inc., and some law enforcement and faith-based organizations. But this is not enough. Our nation needs a national grassroots movement with citizens and institutions from all sectors.

In 2024, we must “Change the Culture of Violence in America, and the World,” by urging use of new methods for peace and reconciliation. For example, this year during the Month of NonViolence, we focused on “Restorative Justice Peace Circles,” in schools and organizations. These peace circles provided adults and children with forums where they were able to honestly express anger, interact with peers, analyze their moods and to find ways to resolve conflicts without violence or suicide.

This year, we engaged over 3,400 adults and children, in 84 activities including Peace Circles, in 15 U.S. states and eight overseas countries. Children in elementary schools in South Korea; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.; Houston, Texas; Ivory Coast and Nigeria, had open nonjudgmental discussions about anger they were feeling and how to resolve it. Global peace discussions were held with professionals in the United States, England, Scotland and Canada where health professionals, educators and law enforcement personnel discussed how to stop domestic violence, and how to teach de-escalation of violence. There was even a session on the impact of artificial intelligence on society, and how it can be used to foster global peace.

As we hear daily news about violence increasing in the U.S. and overseas in Ukraine, Israel, Palestine, Sudan, Ethiopia, and other countries, we are all alarmed. It is urgent that people come together to implement nonviolent, non-militaristic solutions since history shows that more violence, increased punishment, expanded prisons and lack of mental health for suicidal adults and children, are not the answer.

Let’s stop ignoring the discipline of violence prevention and start to overhaul the American culture of violence. We must advocate for funding for programs that establish peace circles in schools, make state and local departments of parks and recreation safe centers of nonviolence, and build on programs that teach the time-tested philosophies of Dr. Martin Luther King, Mahatma Ghandi, Nelson Mandela and other nonviolent leaders.

Sadly, much of the violence in our nation begins at the kitchen table and is the fault of law enforcement that commits violent acts against innocent people.

Our children, adults and law enforcement must learn how to de-escalate violence and how to use different approaches to resolving disputes and anger, other than taking guns and shooting family members, co-workers, fellow students, or shooting themselves.

The year of 2024 will be the 13th year of Non-Violence, Families, Voters Rights and Opportunities. Will the readers of this article stop ignoring violence prevention and take leadership in their communities? If yes, contact us at Bkwomen4poschange@gmail.com or visit our website at www.blackwomenforpositivechange.org.

Stephanie Myers is national co-chair of Black Women for Positive Change. She can be reached at Bkwomen4poschange@gmail.com.

The family of Carolyn D. Morris joined Harris-Stowe State University President LaTonia Collins Smith in a check presentation in the name of the acclaimed educator.

Photo courtesy of Harris-Stowe

Stephanie Myers

Most of the time, the minority-owned firm did not have the experience to do the 10%,” Kennedy told The American “So, the majority-owned firms would often give the minority-owned firm 10% of their fee, but they would explain to their clients that their fee would need to be 10% more than usual, because they were going to have to do the work for the minority firm. That approach was very distasteful for both the architect and his client.”

Out of that distaste emerged what would become a significant new local, regional and national player in the designbuild markets.

“Their distaste for that practice presented an opportunity for me to provide a minority-owned firm that could actually do the works,” Kennedy told The American. “I accomplished creating that firm and becoming recognized for our excellent services and became the first choice of both the majority-owned firms and their clients.”

Kennedy founded his firm in St. Louis as Kennedy Associates, Inc. in 1980. Though his first success as an entrepreneur, it was not his first attempt. “I always dreamed of having my own business, but never understood how that could happen,” Kennedy said. “I did, in fact, work for several firms before starting my first attempt in 1975, which failed after two years, but I learned a lot before founding KAI.”

Kennedy had wanted to be an architect since boyhood. He became fascinated watching homes being built in his Richmond Heights neighborhood that were designed by African-

SLPS

Continued from A1

9th grade Algebra,” as per the Missouri Assessment

American architect Charles Flemming. Though in 1963 a high school guidance counselor advised him that Washington University’s school of architecture would not enroll a Black student, the university reached out to Kennedy in 1969 as the Civil Rights Movement gained steam and invited him to enter the School of Architecture as a graduate student. He soon became the first African-American architect registered in the State of Missouri. Though his local roots are strong, Kennedy’s business vision was wider than local from the beginning. He soon opened offices in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. (Dallas remains one of Kennedy’s favorite travel destinations.) KAI now employs a diverse team of 135 architects, engineers, interior designers, builders and support staff at its headquarters in St. Louis; offices in Dallas-

Program (MAP) tests.

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) report highlighted a more than 30% increase in Algebra scores for

Fort Worth, Kansas City, and Atlanta; and additional project offices throughout the U.S.

KAI’s projects in other states include the Martin Luther King, Jr. Recreation and Aquatic Center in Atlanta; DFW International Airport, Dallas Area Rapid Transit and South Oak Cliff High School in Dallas; Reby Cary Youth Library in Fort Worth; and

VIA Metropolitan Transit Brooks City Base and San Antonio Promise Zone in San Antonio, Texas.

However, its largest footprint remains here at home. Local buildings to KAI’s credit include the Millennium Center at the University of Missouri–St. Louis, The Deaconess Center for Child WellBeing, Boys & Girls Club of Greater St. Louis Teen Center of Excellence, St. Louis Community College Center for Nursing & Health Sciences, Lucas

SLPS compared to the previous year.

Last year the district was “back to pre-pandemic conditions,” said Scarlett.

“It proves the very best place for our students is

Crossing Elementary in Normandy, Gateway Middle School for Science and Technology, Clyde C. Miller Career Academy, Harris-Stowe’s William L. Clay Early Childhood Center, the St. Louis Justice Center, and affordable housing units in Old North St. Louis.

KAI’s trademark is high, glass-paned roofs that invite in ample natural light. One of Kennedy’s favorite designs is the “spinal cord” of the Career Academy. It’s a three-story atrium space that looks like a prism of window panes from the outside. The peak of the prism acts as a spine that connects the gymnasium, cafeteria and offices of administration, filling them all with fresh light and life, Kennedy said.

Many of KAI’s projects have served an important public service. KAI got its first major

in school. We have made a substantial investment in adopting our core curriculum. It makes a big difference to have the resources.”

She called the positive

and carefully led and grew it by my bootstraps and much prayer to just over 100 employees. Michael was trained to manage a large corporation, and he has added the programs and procedures over the years that now guide KAI Enterprises.”

In 2004, Kennedy Sr. rebranded Kennedy Associates, Inc. into KAI Design & Build. Four years later, his son became KAI’s president. Kennedy Sr. retired in 2017. In 2019, his son restructured KAI Design & Build into parent company KAI Enterprises with four new subsidiaries – KAI Design, KAI Engineering, KAI Build and KAI 360 Construction Services. That same year, Michael B. Kennedy followed in his father’s footsteps again when he received the St. Louis American Foundation’s 2019 Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

national recognition, a National Endowment for the Arts award, after designing the 21 Metrolink stations in St. Louis.

“We’ve done so much in this community, and there is still a lot in the community to improve, so we hope to be working on it for a long time,” Kennedy told The American – back in 2010.

That was when Kennedy received his first business award from the St. Louis American Foundation, the 2010 Entrepreneur of the Year Award. By then, Kennedy had been grooming his successor – his oldest son, Michael B. Kennedy – for a decade. He recognizes that he owes some of his lifetime achievement to his son and successor.

“The key to KAI’s future is the perfect timing of Michael’s joining the firm in spring of 2000,” Kennedy said. “I had started a small firm

trends in ELA and Math scores “encouraging, adding that “we have a long way to go.”

SLPS continues to rank among the state’s highest in fostering individual student growth, a metric that measures a student’s advancement over a school year, irrespective of their starting level.

It achieved an “Above Average” rating in both ELA and Math, encompassing all students and specific student subgroups.

“The progress in student growth is crucial as we strive towards equitable education for all St. Louis children,” she said.

“Our ability to meet students at their educational level and guide them to substantial advancement is a solid foundation we plan to build upon.”

“I am particularly pleased to have been selected by the Salute to Excellence in Business planners because The American has over the years been a supporter of KAI,” Kennedy said of his latest and culminating accolade. “One of my strongest driving forces always was to be recognized as an example of excellence as a representative of all African Americans.” What advice would he offer to young minority professionals looking to enter the design-build field?

“It is extremely important that they build a strong foundation for any career and then build their experience completing one step at a time,” Kennedy said. “By the time they get to step number 10, steps 10 to 100 will fall like dominoes.”

Rebecca Rivas and Alvin A. Reid contributed to this report.

tive developments, there remains significant room for improvement in overall ELA and Math scores. Efforts are underway to address this.”

The Board of Education for the City of St. Louis has identified four District priorities: 3rd Grade Math, 3rd Grade Reading, Climate and Culture, and College and Career Readiness. Concentrated efforts in these areas are expected to enhance student outcomes and subsequently improve scores.

n SLPS continues to rank among the state’s highest in fostering individual student growth, a metric that measures a student’s advancement over a school year, irrespective of their starting level.

SLPS also ranks in the top 10% in terms of positive placement of graduates, indicating a high rate of graduates pursuing further education or entering the workforce.

Other improvements came in graduation rates and college career readiness. SLPS accumulated half the possible points in those categories within the state’s evaluation system.

“Despite these posi-

Additionally, SLPS is set to launch a major, citywide literacy initiative early next year.

“The current scores reflect our present standing, but our focus areas delineate our future direction,” Scarlett stated.

Scarlett, who arrived from Seattle to begin her job on July 1, 2023, called St. Louis “a city that really appreciates public education.”

“I believe SLPS will be the choice school district for all of our St. Louis families.”

SLPS improvements stand out as the annual performance reports released Monday showed 70% of districts had a lower score for the 202223 school year than the previous year.

Michael Kennedy, founder of KAI Construction, in his West Port Plaza offices in West County on Friday, Dec. 8, 2023.

Photo by Wiley Price / St. Louis American

Continued from A1

live in book deserts, a geographical location where it’s difficult to access books, computers or other materials that will help improve literacy without transportation.

According to Unite the Literacy’s book desert map, homes in pockets of south St. Louis and many households in north St. Louis do not possess 100 or more books. The literacy nonprofit suggests from its research that the number of books in a home correlates with children’s reading proficiency levels.

The jarring statistics of the number of St. Louis students having trouble reading proficiently by the third grade and the many households without access to books grew heavy on Wince and inspired her to make a change.

“It’s really easy to write people off based on socioeconomic status, but that has nothing to do with what’s going on intellectually,” she said.

Wince received a grant from Forward Through Ferguson to help purchase “ONYX” — the vending machine — which is created by Inchy’s Bookworm. Once students

Strickland

Continued from A1

es. Strickland has raised nearly $10,000 to erase lunch debt for all students in the Hazelwood School District, which has 25 schools.

The fund is also helping another local school district with its lunch debt.

“This is bigger than me. This is for all the kids that didn’t have enough money to get their own lunch and then now they’re fed,” he said.

His goal is to turn the initiative into nonprofit, and he has created a GoFundMe account to garner continued support from his community.

His effort has drawn local and national attention, including an appearance on The Jennifer Hudson Show.

“Grateful to Mrs. Jennifer Hudson for having me on her show,” Strickland wrote on Instagram.

“Had an amazing time with everyone. Hoping my story makes an impact. Join me in supporting a cause close to my hearteliminating negative lunch balances.”

Hudson was grateful too and presented the teen with

locate the machine, they can insert a token from the recreation or community center where it is housed and receive a free book.

Wince hopes the machine will encourage reading and help students of color build their own home libraries.

“I have no idea who these books are going to touch or what sort of ideas

a $5,000 donation. Strickland was also featured in TIME for Kids and ESSENCE magazine.

He told ESSENCE missing lunch that day “was rough on me.”

“And I don’t want other kids to experience that.”

His initial fundraising goal was $400. That quickly climbed to over $8,000 and is now at almost $10,000.

According to The Education Data Initiative, the national public school meal debt is $262 million annually. It estimates Missouri has 243,110 food-insecure children, totaling $43,905,666 in school meal debt.

And the accolades keep coming Strickland’s way.

In November, he was named a GoFundme Hero, and his Tech Boy Tech Boy is also helping spread the word on the importance of STEM education.

“Honestly, it just gave me more motivation to keep going just to keep, like, pushing on and to try to help as many kids as possible because I’m able to see the difference and impact, and it’s just honestly amazing,” Strickland says.

“Tech Boy” was originally a story that Strickland wrote, “because

it might spark … but I’m hoping that it becomes something for everybody in the community,” she said. Children need to have access to books from every genre, said Lisa Greening, executive director of Turn the Page STL, a literacy initiative that helps children read proficiently by the end of

third grade.

“Many of these children go to schools that don’t have librarians and don’t have library time,” Greening said. “So they’re not bringing them home from school anymore.”

She said the book vending machine will give students access to the tools they need that can help them become proficient

Ymani Wince found a unique way to address the problem of ‘book deserts.’

The owner of the Noir Bookshop is placing book vending machines in rec and community centers throughout the area.

readers and change the narrative in their minds about what it means to be a reader.

“If you don’t see that as something that you do — read — you don’t do it,” Greening said. “But if you go to the after school program, and everybody’s lining up at the vending machine, and you see books in there that look

I wanted a technology superhero,” he said in a KSDK profile “Tech Boy is about a young high schooler who

has a path to technology and uses the power of STEM to defeat the villain in the story,” he said. “I wrote ideas down,

Jennifer Hudson interviewed DeJuan Strickland on her show recently and donated $5,000 to his Teen Tech Boy Lunch Heroes initiative which erases lunch debt for Hazelwood School District students and others.

typed ideas down, and looked for information on google.”

Aside from the Marvel character “Black Panther,”

like you and have people that have spirits just like you … then that becomes what you do.” Through the Noir Bookshop’s “Books Are Good” campaign, people and organizations can donate books from the store’s wishlist to help keep the vending machine stocked.

Strickland saw there were no Black superheroes in the universe.

“I saw that there was a lack of Black protagonist and Black representation,” he said.

He said Tech Boy to enlighten kids like himself about the benefits of science, technology, engineering, and math.

“It promotes Black and tech literacy and STEM. I decided to implement all the knowledge that I’ve had and put it into this story,” he said.

“I feel like that’s important because a lot of kids especially of color don’t get this opportunity.”

To assist DeJuan Strickland and the Teen Tech Boy Lunch Heroes, visit www.gofundme.com/f/ team-tech-boy-lunch-heroes-initiative.

Photo courtesy Noir Bookshop

Photo courtesy of The Jennifer Hudson Show

Wrap artists

St. Louis American

Members of the East St. Louis Fire Department (ESLFD) were excited to respond to a call on Tuesday, Dec.19. The Local 23 members delivered wrapped presents to students in the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville East St. Louis Center’s Project Success program.

“This event was given to provide hope and happiness during the holiday season to children in foster care,” Tiana Montgomery, Project Success program director, said during the second annual Holiday Wishes party on the Wyvetter H. Younge Higher Education Campus.

“I hope that our program students realize that they are special, and that they can have their wishes granted.”

Montgomery asked each of her students to provide

three wishes for the holidays. She also obtained their coat and shoe sizes. The list was given to the ESLFD to fulfill the requests.

“I see myself in these kids,” said ESLFD Capt. Andre Howliet.

“These kids need to see someone showing love towards them, and the East St. Louis Fire Department is happy to do that!”

Howliet, who was briefly homeless and in foster care when he was 10 years old, contacted Montgomery last year about the fire department providing gifts to Project Success children.

“I’m so grateful that the Lord watched over me and brought me out of bad situations,” said Howliet, who has been a firefighter for the past 24 years.

“Being able to give is a blessing to me. No one has to tell me to do it. I seek out those who can bene-

fit from benevolent acts, especially children.”

Montgomery said the toy giveaway is important because it serves children whose basic needs may not be met.

“The firefighters not only purchased what the children wanted, but what they needed, such as new coats and shoes,” she said.

“Watching the students’ faces light up with excitement and enthusiasm was a priceless moment for me. It makes me realize why I am here and just how much the Project Success Program has a significant impact on the lives of our program students and their families.”

In addition to the toy, coat, and shoe donations from the fire department, Project Success families were gifted with $100 Walmart gift cards from First Baptist Church of Chesterfield, Mo.

The Project Suc-

cess Program is a comprehensive afterschool tutorial enrichment childcare program, which services children ages 5-14 from the communities of Belleville, Brooklyn, East St. Louis, Cahokia Heights, Madison, Venice, and Washington Park each year. The SIUE East St. Louis Center program provides tutoring/ homework assistance, enrichment activities, nutrition, field trips, along with recreational and cultural activities to participating youth. The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services funds the program. It is designed to serve children who are in protective custody and are referred by the Department of Children and Family Services caseworkers.

Courtesy photo

Project Success Program Director Tiana Montgomery helps distribute toys from the East St. Louis Fire Department Local 23 to her students.

‘TakingCareofYou’

Young Black males With ADHD often overlooked

‘Underdiagnosed, untreated’

Wesley Jackson Wade is a licensed clinical mental health counselor who practices in Durham, North Carolina. Wade was diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and dyslexia in 2020, after years of grappling with the symptoms of those conditions. Wade counsels Black youth and adults to help identify neurological conditions.

By Claire Sibonny Kaiser Health News

As a child, Wesley Jackson Wade should have been set up to succeed.

His father was a novelist and corporate sales director, and his mother was a special education teacher. But Wade said he struggled through school even though he was an exceptional writer and communicator.

He played the class clown when he wasn’t feeling challenged. He got in trouble talking back to teachers. The 40-year-old says he often felt anger

that he couldn’t bottle up.

As one of the only Black kids in predominantly white schools in upper-middle-class communities — including the university enclaves of Palo Alto, California, and Chapel Hill, North Carolina — he often got detention for chatting with his white friends during class, while they got only warnings.

He chalked it up to his being Black.

Ditto, he said, when he was wrongly arrested as an eighth grader for a bomb threat at his school while evacuating with his white friends. He

wasn’t surprised that his behavioral issues drew punishment, even as some of his white friends with similar symptoms instead started getting treatment for attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder.

“Black kids at a very young age, we start dealing with race, we have a lot of racial stamina,” said Wade, who now lives outside of Durham, North Carolina. “But I didn’t understand until later on that there was probably something else going on.”

By Anissa Durham

As we close out the year, prioritizing health during the holiday season is essential. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. And to make matters worse, research shows most heart attacks happen between Christmas and New Year’s.

The holiday season is a time when many families come together to share in gift-giving and home-cooked meals. Tables are plated with slow-roasted ham, mac and cheese, and candied yams. Amid the holiday spirit, the tradition is often to overeat, drink too much, and indulge in sweets we’ve waited for all year. Unfortunately, the foods Black families love during this time are not the healthiest for their hearts. Holidaythemed foods with lots of salt, fat, and sugar can contribute to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and heart attacks. This may raise concerns for Black men and women, who had higher rates of heart disease deaths than white people in 2019.

n Holidaythemed foods with lots of salt, fat, and sugar can contribute to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and heart attacks.

To help keep our community healthy and informed, I spoke with two physicians about ways you can protect your heart during this holiday season.

Dr. Richard Benson is a vascular neurologist and director of the Office of Global Health and Health Disparities at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Dr. Albert Hicks is the section chief of heart failure and transplant at the University of Maryland.

Here are their top five tips.

1. Monitor your salt Doctors recommend we consume no more than two grams of salt per day. There are a lot of sneaky processed foods out there. Processed meats in

Northview closure a chaotic Christmas nightmare

Residents abruptly ordered out

By JoAnn Weaver St. Louis American

170 residents, many of them seniors with health conditions, were dispatched into the cold and workers were left without paychecks following the sudden closing of Northview Village Nursing Home on Friday Dec. 15, 2023.

After learning they would go unpaid, workers left the facility. The closure is part of Northview’s controversial financial history, which includes fines and federal violations over $140,000. A condemned sign is now on the facility’s front doors.

The Missouri Department of Health, which regulated the now closed facility, worked through the weekend to rehouse residents.

“[We] became aware of the situation and were in touch with the administrator. Our regional team worked through [Friday] night to ensure the approximately 170 residents were cared for and safely

n The closure is part of Northview’s controversial financial history, which includes fines and federal violations over $140,000. A condemned sign is now on the facility’s front doors.

relocated,” the department said in a statement.

“The last resident left the facility just before 6 a.m. Saturday. Our team is following up with the facilities to check in on the residents who were transferred.”

Northview is owned by Makhlouf Suissa, who is listed as an

See NORTHVIEW, A11

Photo by Eamon Queeny / KFF Health News

Anissa Durham

St. Louis Mayor Tishaura O. Jones said the owners of Northview Village should be “ashamed” of their abrupt decision to displace hundreds of residents and the frontline workers who care for them during a rally outside the closed facility on Tuesday.

Photo courtesy of SEIU

Northview

Continued from A10

owner of several nursing homes through the St. Louis region, Missouri, and Illinois.

Lenny Jones, state director for SEIU Healthcare – Missouri and Kansas, called the situation “much worse for the residents who were moved in the middle of the night where family members could not track them down. They lost most of their possessions during the move and they’ll never see them again.”

“Residents have been moved to 15 different nursing homes. Some of the residents were in the Alzheimer’s/dementia ward. Some were in psychiatric units. They have psychological behavioral issues that get worse without appropriate medicines. This kind of change can be extremely disruptive. There were stories of some who just disappeared, walked out the door, and left.”

“Northview Village Nursing Home has been a cornerstone in our community for many years. We are even more devastated for the residents and workers to be without jobs and residence right before the holiday season,” said Fredrecka McGlown, St. Louis Agency on Training and Employment SLATE executive director. She said SLATE is connecting dislocated workers to employment opportunities “to ensure they can continue to provide for themselves and their families beyond this unfortunate incident.”

Heart

Continued from A10 some cases have been labeled carcinogens. All processed meats, including lunch meat, turkey, sausage, and bacon, are unhealthy. If you’re going to eat meat, make sure it’s freshly cooked and not processed in a can or tube.

2. Know your blood pressure numbers

Blood pressure is measured using two numbers. The first number, your systolic blood pressure, measures the pressure in your arteries when your heart beats. The second number, your diastolic blood pressure, measures the pressure in your arteries when your heart rests between beats. If the measurement reads 120 systolic and 80 diastolic, you would say, “120 over 80,” or write, “120/80 mm Hg.” If left unchecked, high blood

ADHD

Continued from A10

After spending years grappling with selfdoubt and difficulty, he learned he had ADHD and dyslexia, two diagnoses that often overlap. He was 37. It’s long been known that Black children are underdiagnosed for ADHD compared with white peers. A Penn State report published in Psychiatry Research in September studied the extent of the gap by following more than 10,000 elementary students nationwide from kindergarten to fifth grade through student assessments and parent and teacher surveys. The researchers estimated the odds that Black students got diagnosed with the neurological condition

pressure can damage the cells of your arteries’ inner lining and cause a hardening called arteriosclerosis, blocking blood flow to your heart, brain, and kidneys, as well as to your muscles.

Keep in mind that your blood pressure changes throughout the day based on your activities.

• Normal Blood Pressure for Most Adults, Less than 120/80 mm HG

• High Blood Pressure, 130 or higher/80 or higher mm HG

3. Develop healthy habits

Preventing heart disease is more effective if started early in life. Quit smoking, adopt a balanced diet rich in fruits and vegetables, and avoid illicit drugs and excessive alcohol. These steps are paramount to reduce your risk of heart disease and stroke. Reducing your choles-

were 40% lower than for white students, with all else being equal — including controlling for economic status, student achievement, behavior, and executive functioning.

For young Black males, the odds of being diagnosed with ADHD were especially stark: almost 60% lower compared to white boys in similar circumstances, even though research suggests the prevalence of the condition is likely the same. The racial ADHD divide isn’t merely a health concern. It’s deepening inequity for Black children, and especially Black males, said the study’s lead author, Paul Morgan, the former director of the Center for Educational Disparities Research at Penn State. He now leads the Institute for Social and Health Equity at the University of Albany.

Emergency job fairs have been organized to assist the workers in transitioning to new career opportunities. These events are on Friday, December 22, 2023, and Wednesday, December 27, 2023, from 9 a.m. to noon at 1520 Market St, 1st Floor Conference Room,

St. Louis, MO 63103. Parking is available at the nearby Kiel Center Garage, with validated parking tickets upon presentation.

Confirmed employers participating in these fairs include A.O.S., Avalon Gardens, BJC, City of St. Louis Department of

Former workers stand outside the Northview Village Nursing Home following a press conference near the facility on N. Kingshighway. SLATE has scheduled two job fairs for displaced workers. The first is 9 a.m. to noon Friday, Dec. 22 and the other from 9 a.m. to noon Wednesday, Dec. 27.

Health, City of St. Louis Department of Personnel, DelHaven, SLPS, Smiley Manor, University City Forest Manor, and Union Manor, and with additional invites extended to other prospective employers.

Jones said Mayor Tishaura Jones, state Sen. Karla May, and Alderwoman Sharon Tyus want an investigation and accountability.

“Number one, finding out what happened to make sure there’s compensation, not just for the workers, but to the residents. More importantly, ensuring that this never happens again,” he said.

terol will also lower your risk of developing a wide variety of serious health issues, including stroke and heart disease.

Smoking harms every organ in the body, including the heart. Any amount of smoking, even light or occasional smoking, damages the heart and blood vessels.

ADHD has been diagnosed in nearly 1 in 10 children in the United States, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study published in 2022, with rates surging nearly 70% in the past two decades. It is often a lifetime condition that can be managed with treatments including therapy and medication. Untreated, children with ADHD face much greater health risks, including drug addiction, selfharm, suicidal behavior, accidents, and premature death. By adulthood, many people with undiagnosed ADHD have spent years feeling isolated and hopeless, just as Wade did.

Even before Wade’s diagnosis, he was helping similar college students in a career counseling role at North Carolina State University. Today, he’s a licensed mental health and addiction counselor and

4. Exercise

At a minimum, you should be exercising 30 minutes a day, three days a week. Preferably with a combination of aerobic exercises as well as some resistance, like using weights.

It’s not good to binge on anything, including exercise during the hol-

doctoral student, but he said it’s been hard to see his successes.

“To the rest of the world, this is a Black man with two master’s degrees, and he’s a PhD candidate, and he has two licenses and certifications,” he said. “But to me, I’m a brother who’s had a lot of bad luck with people and jobs I’ve gotten fired from. I’ve never been promoted, ever, in my professional life.”

Wade’s experiences of race and ADHD are intertwined. “ADHD is an accelerant to my Black experience,” he said. “I can’t separate my experiences as a Black boy and Black man from my experiences of understanding my neurodivergent identity.”

People who study and treat ADHD cite several reasons why young Black males fall under the radar, including teachers who are racially biased or have lower expectations of

idays; just take things in moderation. Following a healthy eating plan and keeping physically active on a regular basis will significantly lower your risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, and other chronic and debilitating health problems.

Black students and don’t recognize an underlying disability, and Black parents who are distrustful of teachers and doctors, fearing they’ll label and stigmatize their children.

“We’ve known for a long time that ADHD diagnoses are not made in a vacuum. They’re made in a geographic context, cultural context, racial context,” said George DuPaul, a psychology professor at Lehigh University who studies nonmedication interventions for ADHD.

Studies have shown that ADHD underdiagnosis contributes to harsher school discipline and to the “school-to-prison pipeline.” Black kids routinely face punishment, including criminal prosecution, for problem behavior and mental health conditions such as ADHD, while white kids are more likely to be diagnosed with behavioral conditions and

5. See a doctor

They recommend everyone to see a primary care doctor and to get a checkup. Your physician can test to see if you have the beginning signs of chronic diseases. Do you have early signs of high blood pressure? Are you presenting with early signs of Type 2 diabetes? Do you have high cholesterol that puts you at risk for developing a stroke? Does kidney disease run in your family? These conditions can lead to much more deadly conditions, such as strokes, heart failure, heart attacks, and even death.

“If you know what you’re consuming, and what you’re at risk for — you’re empowered to do something about it,” Hicks says.

“And you’re less likely to fall victim to biased opinions that affect your health care.”

Anissa Durham is health reporter for Word In Black

receive medical treatment and support. There’s a common saying: “Black kids get cops; white kids get docs.” Looking back, Wade said he is grateful he got diagnosed, even if it came late. But, he said, learning about his condition earlier would have given him more confidence navigating school, work, and life. “If I was able to get a diagnosis, I would have had a lot more support and love in my life,” he said.

Still, Wade wonders what the ADHD label would have meant for him as a child.

“I remember how it felt to not be seen, to not be heard, and to have your needs dismissed,” he said.

“It feels good to see other people getting the help that they need and know that it helps Black people as a whole and generations of those families.”

Photo courtesy of Northview Village Nursing Home

Nutrition Challenge:

>

Holiday Eating!

The holidays bring parties, family time, plays, concerts and more. Many of these events also include food! Let’s review some ways to eat smart during these fun times.

> Eat a healthy snack before attending such an event — this way you won’t be tempted to overdo it.

> Remember to fill ½ of your plate with fruits/vegetables.

Follow The Leader!

Choose one leader from your group of friends. Everyone should line up behind the leader and follow him or her throughout the house, yard or playground. The leader will do a variety of actions using their arms and legs: jumping, skipping,

NEVER, ever play with any kind of gun. Even if you think the gun isn’t loaded, or maybe it looks like a toy — it isn’t worth taking a chance. Immediately tell an adult if you find a gun. And

eat healthy during the holidays?

— BONUS —

Healthy eating helps your body fight off winter colds and other sickness.

Learning Standards: HPE 2, HPE 3, HPE 5, NH 1, NH 5

clapping, etc. Do what the leader does until they change to a new action. Take turns being the

remember that many kids are killed each year by a gun that they thought was unloaded.

Learning Standards: HPE 5, NH 5 No Guns!

leader and creating more difficult, interesting and fun activities along the way. Following the leader is a great way to stay active, increase your heart rate and burn calories throughout the day. Have fun!

Learning Standards: HPE 2, HPE 5, NH 1

Salsa-Guac

juice and salt. Use as a dip for baked tortilla chips.

Crystal Christian, Executive Assistant

that it can be used to bring adjustments where needed. That creativity can be used for retreats, meetings, training, and presenting, amongst other things.

Learning Standards: HPE6, NH3

“Questions or comments? Contact Cathy Sewell csewell@stlamerican.com or

Questions or comments? Contact Cathy Sewell csewell@stlamerican.com or 618-910-9551

Third-grade students Qur’an Muhammad, Andre Dickerson, and Theo Anderson in Ms. Stovall’s class at Gateway MST Elementary School, are investigating energy transformations using circuits.

The Science of Tooth Decay!

Tooth decay is an important and serious childhood illness. If it isn’t treated, it can affect eating, speaking, learning, and selfesteem. Untreated tooth decay can also lead to bacterial infections.

How can you prevent tooth decay? First, look at your diet. You need nutrients, such as calcium and magnesium to make sure your teeth are strong. Eating a healthy diet will provide nutrients to strengthen your teeth. Make sure you limit sugary snacks and juices. Brush your teeth immediately after eating these snacks. Soda and tea

SCIENCE INVESTIGATION

Background Information:

Does

Have you noticed the word “fluoride” on your toothpaste? In this experiment, you will observe the effect of fluoride on your teeth.

Materials Needed: • 2 Hard-Boiled Eggs

• Fluoride Gel or Solution, 4 oz. to 6 oz. • 3 Clean Plastic Containers • Several Cans of Dark Soda

• Water Process:

q Put a hard-boiled egg in a plastic container, cover it with the fluoride gel and let it soak for 24 hours. After 24 hours, remove the egg and rinse it with water.

MATH CONNECTION

Try these fun math activities to celebrate good dental health!

Graphing: Create a graph that represents your class’ favorite toothpaste flavor: mint, bubblegum, fruit, etc.

Average: How many baby teeth have you lost? Calculate the class average of the number of teeth lost.

DID YOU KNOW?

AFRICAN-AMERICAN CELEBRITY DENTIST: Dr. Catrise L. Austin

can also damage the enamel that covers your teeth and protects them.

Next, you need to keep your teeth clean. You should brush your teeth twice a day and floss your teeth regularly. It’s very important to brush your teeth before you go to bed so that food residue does not build up on your teeth.

For More Information, Visit: http:// www.eschooltoday.com/tooth-care-forchildren/tooth-gum-dental-decay.html.

Learning Standards: I can read nonfiction text for main idea and supporting details.

w Place the egg from step 1 in a clean plastic container and label it “treated with fluoride.”

e Place the remaining hard-boiled egg in the remaining clean plastic container and label it “untreated.”

r Cover both eggs with dark soda. Change the soda solution every 12 hours for the next two days.

t Compare the two eggs—color, texture, etc.

Analyze: Which egg was stronger? Which egg had a brighter color? What can you conclude about the effectiveness of fluoride?

Learning Standards: I can follow sequential directions to complete an experiment. I can analyze results.

Catrise L. Austin was born in Michigan on May 2, 1970. When she was visiting an orthodontist to receive braces, she knew immediately that she wanted to become involved in dentistry. In 1988, she graduated from Flint High School and was voted prettiest smile. Austin received her B.A. degree in psychology, in 1991, from the University of Maryland. Five years later, she received her PhD in dental surgery from the same school. After moving to New York, she completed her advanced dental training at Brooklyn Lutheran Medical Center.

In 1998, she opened her own practice, called VIP Smiles. Many famous celebrities are her patients: Toni Braxton, Paula Abdul, Missy Elliot, Common, and many more. Austin has appeared on the Discovery Health Channel, The Queen Latifah Show, The Ricki Lake Show, and Good Morning America. She has been profiled in magazines including Glamour, Essence, Self and Black Enterprise.

Austin was named one of the 25 Most Influential Black Women in Business in 1999. She belongs to numerous professional organizations including the American Dental Association, New York County Dental Society, American Association of Women Dentists, American Academy of Cosmetic Dentists, Academy of Sports Dentistry, National Association of Black Female Executives in Music and Entertainment, Black Sports Agents Association, and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.

You Can Visit Dr Austin’s Website at: https://vipsmiles.com/

Learning Standards: I can read a biography about a person who has made contributions in the fields of science, technology, and mathematics.

Use the newspaper to complete the following activities.

Activity One

Tone: Have you ever had someone tell you they didn’t like your tone? They are referring to your attitude. In literature, tone is the author’s attitude toward a topic. It can be serious, playful, sarcastic, sympathetic, etc. Choose three articles from different sections of the newspaper and identify the author’s tone.

Over or Under: Dentists recommend brushing your teeth for two to three minutes. Have a partner time you as you brush your teeth. Were you over or under the suggested time?

Tooth Fairy Travels: Choose a city mentioned in the newspaper. If the tooth fairy had to travel to your house from that city, how many miles would they need to travel?

According to the Academy of General Dentistry, the average person only brushes for 45 to 70 seconds a day, although the recommended amount of time is 2-3 minutes. Set a timer when you brush your teeth!

Learning Standards: I can add, subtract, multiply, and divide to solve a problem. I can create a visual graph to represent data.

In ancient times, the Romans used a mixture of bones, eggshells, oyster shells and

In China, September 20th is an official holiday known as “Love Your Teeth Day.” The hardest tissue in the body is the enamel covering our teeth. Just like fingerprints, tooth prints are unique to each individual.

Activity Two — First Impressions: A first impression is the opinion you form about someone when you first see or meet them. Look for photographs in the St. Louis American of people you think would make good friends. Describe why you chose the pictures. Did you choose them because of the words (text) or the photograph?

Learning Standards: I can use the newspaper to locate information. I can identify author’s tone and describe first impressions.

This special Newspaper In Education initiative is made possible, and delivered to classrooms, through The St. Louis American Foundation and its NIE

The St. Louis American’s award winning NIE program provides newspapers and resources to more than 8,000 teachers and students each week throughout the school year, at no charge.

Photo by Ms. Stovall

Ashley Winters

The St. Louis American

St. Louis native Leland “Metro Boomin” Wayne, Diamond-certified Grammy Award-nominated producer and entrepreneur received the city’s highest honor from Mayor Tishaura O. Jones when he was presented a Key to the City on Thursday “in recognition of his years of commitment to supporting single mothers and families.” Wayne hosts a series of events, including his annual holiday celebration in partnership with Rung for Women in 2023 marking the seventh “Single Moms Are The Real Superhe-

roes” campaign. Rung for Women helps provide essential resources and seeks to build a positive community for single mothers and their children. Rung for Women helps single mothers transition toward independence through career coaching, skills training, and additional needed resources.

Metro Boomin is known for his unparalleled talent and groundbreaking contributions. He stands as the undisputed best producer of this generation. With chart-topping albums and visionary collaborations, he is creating an indelible mark on the music scene.

Notably, Metro’s foray into film includes

executive producing the Spider-Verse soundtrack, where his touch enhances the highly anticipated movie. Seamlessly merging music and cinema, his appearance on the soundtrack and extraordinary talent create unforgettable experiences for global audiences. Beyond his artistic endeavors and continually pushing creative boundaries, Metro Boomin’s multifaceted career has cemented his status as an industry visionary.

Ashley Winters is a Report for America reporter for the St. Louis American.

Thursday, December 14th, St. Louis native Leland “Metro Boomin” Wayne received the city’s highest honor, being presented with the key to the city. In our newspaper for the week of December 14th-20th, it was brought to our attention immediately following publication that the photo used for Metro Boomin was incorrect and we promptly corrected it in our e-edition and online.

The St. Louis American extends our sincere apologies to Leland “Metro Boomin” Wayne, his family and team, for this mix-up as well as to Mvstermind, the musical artist and activist who was incorrectly identified, as well as the entire city of St. Louis. For 95 years, we have prided ourselves on being a pillar in journalism and in the community. We will always seek to represent St. Louis on the highest level. The St. Louis American thanks everyone for their attention to this matter and for holding us accountable. This article has been updated and is being republished here and online (stlamerican.com). We appreciate you all. - The St. Louis American Editorial Team

HOSPITAL: Safety Street: Keeping Kids Safe

St. Louis Children's Hospital believes in "doing what's right for kids" and that includes not only keeping them healthy, but keeping them safe as well. The Safety Street program does just that - teaching kids preventative safety measures before accidents even happen.

Safety Street is an interactive program that incorporates life-size cityscape picture panels and working traffic lights to help children learn important safety lessons. Our trained professionals teach them how to safelycross streets, bicycle helmet safety, how to react if they encounter a stranger, how to find a police officer if they need help, and more.

The Safety Street program is another way St. Louis Children's Hospital is visible in your community "doing what's right for kids."

Photo by Ashley Winters | St. Louis American

Leland "Metro Boomin" Wayne was joined by his siblings on the City Hall Rotunda steps after receiving a Key to the City from Mayor Tishaura Jones on Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023.

Business

Women supporting women

I Am My Sister makes paths to home ownership

Jeanice Baker, CEO of Explore St. Louis, holds the Tenacious Leadership Award she received during the first I Am My Sister Foundation Fundraiser Luncheon on Dec. 16, 2023. Joining her were Ivy Grant, the foundation’s founder and president, and Quenesha Catron, I Am My Sister board member.

By Ashley Winters

St. Louis American

Ivy Grant, I Am My Sister Foundation founder and president, is determined to help women along their journey towards home ownership.

The organization held its inaugural fundraising luncheon on December 16, 2023, at the Renaissance St. Louis Airport Hotel, and Grant told guests its goal is serving single mothers with low-to-moderate income levels who seek to build wealth through homeownership.

“I Am My Sister is a reflection of my own story,” said Grant.

I had my son at 18 and I became a first-time homeowner at 25. I want to create the same opportunities for other women. Sometimes, being a single

mom, you need the extra support and resources to reach your goals.”

The non-profit provides resources including financial coaching and mental health support. Grant calls the foundation “vital to the St. Louis community and an answer to the problem of building generational wealth and closing the wealth gap in the Black community.”

In addition to helping with establishing credit building and providing financial literacy courses, the organization partners with Tracee BerryMcGhee’s I Define Me Movement to help those who face trauma, depression, or anxiety.

Qualifications include single motherhood, first-time home buyer, and willingness to commit to completing the 10-week program required to grad-

Brandon Williams wins Jack Buck Award

Brandon Williams, vice president of team business and event operations for the St. Louis Battlehawks and former St. Louis Rams wide receiver, recently received the 2023 Jack Buck Award at the Missouri Athletic Club. Williams oversees team marketing, communications, game day event operations, community relations, ticket sales, local sponsorship sales and activations, and all business operations; and ensures alignment with the league’s business plan for the Saint Louis Battlehawks. He holds an MBA from Lindenwood University. The Jack Buck award was established in 1987 and is presented to individuals in recognition of enthusiastic and dedicated support of sports in the city of St. Louis

Peoples named an UMSL 60 for 60 alum

T. Christopher Peoples

T. Christopher Peoples was recently highlighted as a 60 for 60 alum at UMSL. Peoples, who is the first-ever equity and economic impact director for Great Rivers Greenway is currently implementing economic development strategies such as workforce training, affordable housing and community development for the agency’s Brickline Greenway, a planned $245 million new trail system connecting St. Louis, including the north part of the city where he grew up, through a network of paths and places emphasizing discovery, exploration and economic inclusion.

Dori Dailey, a graduate of the program, said she discovered I Am My Sister while scrolling on social media. She began the program in April 2022 and learned the foundation goes beyond helping women buy a home. She learned soft skills of networking and developed “a real sisterhood with the other cohorts and leaders.”

“This foundation empowers single mothers from the inside out to become homeowners. It encouraged me to want to learn more about owning a home. I was given the tools and resources needed by the foundation to move forward. I knew that I was in a safe supportive environment,” said Dailey It took Dailey about two years to pur-

See WOMEN, B2 uate.

Beyond College Webinar Series expanding in 2024

By Alivin A. Reid St. Louis American

Helps HBCU students in myriad of ways

The American’s Raven Whitener honored

St. Louis American Foundation Director Raven Whitener was selected as one of the first “Community Champions of St. Louis” by Anheuser-Busch, at their annual holiday party. Whitener received a check for $1,000 from the Anheuser Busch Foundation which was donated to the St. Louis American Foundation on her behalf. Whitener, who is also in charge of special events for The St. Louis American Foundation, graduated from Webster University with a degree in communications and public relations.

Thomas named to NSBA Leadership Council

When Wells Fargo launched its Beyond College initiative for the nation’s HBCUs a decade ago, online meetings and zoom conferences were not common, especially on college campuses. What is now the Beyond College Webinar Series began with 90-minute conference calls, according to Dewey Norwood, HBCU strategy lead at Wells Fargo.

“Our marketing partners put together the conference calls. They were beyond amazing,” Norwood said. The partners included Rainbow Push, the National Urban League, United Negro College Fund, and See BEYOND COLLEGE, B2

Dewey Norwood, HBCU strategy lead at Wells Fargo, presented a $70,000 ceremonial check to the Elizabeth State University Foundation in 2022. The Wells Fargo Beyond College Webinar Series is celebrating its 10th year, and over the decade it has provided more than $40 million in financial support to HBCUs in local markets. The company has also given direct sponsorships and commitments to individual HBCU academic and athletic programs.

Kaonis Thomas, KAONISFINEARTS of St. Louis, was recently named to the National Small Business Association (NSBA) Leadership Council. NSBA is the nation’s oldest small-business advocacy organization, and operates on a staunchly nonpartisan basis. Thomas, a recognized leader in the small-business community, joins the NSBA Leadership Council alongside other small business advocates from across the country as they work to promote the interests of small business to policymakers in Washington, D.C.

Brandon Williams

Photo courtesy of I Am My Sister Foundation

Photo courtesy of Dewey Norwood

Raven Whitener

Kaonis Thomas

Women

Continued from B1

chase her first home. While at times it seemed difficult, she said she trusted the process.

“I learned so much from being a part of I Am My Sister. It helped me prepare for my next goal and that is to go back to school,” she said.

The first cohort graduated 26 women in Spring 2023 and graduated 28 women in the fall of this year. The first graduate closed on her home last month, and six women are approved for home purchase and looking for a house.

Community support in 2022 totaled $13,800, and that increased in 2023 to $20,683, Grant would like to reach $50,000. $15,000 supports 30 women to complete the full program, $500 per participant.

“I knew I wanted to create a safe space and support for single moms and empower them to continue to strive to reach their goals just like I did against all odds,” said Grant.

With the support and encouragement from her parents, she was able to go away to school, graduate with her bachelor’s and master’s degree, and continue to accomplish her dreams.

Victoria Frison said, “Entering the I Am My Sister program is one of the best decisions I have made. It was a game changer for me.”

She strongly suggests other single moms looking to buy a home or simply

looking for sisterhood to join the foundation.

“I Am My Sister gave me all the tools I needed to succeed.”

She says Grant is very compassionate about helping her ‘sisters’ in the community, she graduated from the program in November 2023, and she is expecting to be a homeowner next year.

As a teen mom in 2008 Grant did not know what was in store for her future but she knew that she was no longer living for herself but also for her son and she wanted to ensure she did the best she could for him.

“Buying my first home helped me to understand how real estate can begin to build wealth and security for my family. I coupled my experience of teaching and my passion for homeownership, to expose, serve, and create opportunities for single moms like me, to provide lasting impact for their families.

Grant says many of her cohorts didn’t realize that I Am My Sister was a missing piece to their healing journey. Her cohorts have created a legacy to leave their children.

During the luncheon Yolanda Lankford, relations director and “Own Your Now” co-host, Jeanice Baker, CFO of Explore St. Louis, and Meghan O’Donnell, media influencer received Tenacious Leadership Awards.

To learn more or donate to the I Am My Sister Foundation, visit www.iammysis.org

Ashley Winters is a Report for America reporter for the St. Louis American.

Beyond College

Continued from B1

Thurgood Marshall College Fund.

“During those calls we said ‘here are opportunities and career pathways. These are the ways we can engage,” Norwood said.

The series has expanded to 12 sessions touching on a myriad of subjects “to help HBCU students along their academic experience.”

“It’s a 90-minute commitment,” Norwood said. “There is homework.”

Each online seminar allows students to learn from leaders on topics that range from finances to careers to mental health. Over the years, thousands of students have participated, and several new topics are being added in 2024.

Knowledge from professionals and experts involved with money management, managing student debt, entrepreneurship, maneuvering the ‘gig economy,’ job and career choices, and internships are part of the seminars.

The audience is no longer only HBCU students, according to Norwood.

“We have students as early as middle school and high schoolers. We also have people in their 50s,” he said.

The webinar audience also includes students who are not seeking business degrees.

“Whether its anthropology, zoology, or another field – no matter the desire – we want to get people connected to financial services,” Norwood said.

One of those services is the HBCU Legends Collection debit card program, which Wells Fargo customers can access for free through their design studio. There are now 40 HBCUs and organizations that support them in the collection.

“We asked ourselves, and we asked our leaders, ‘What else can we do to celebrate HBCUs?’” Norwood said upon the cards’ introduction two years ago.

Norwood also stated that the Wells Fargo HBCU corporate strategy “is to make sure we’re bringing African American talent to the table.”

“There are so many amazing talents. We are also tapping into alumni. Think of all the graduates who are doing great things.’

Over the last 10 years, Wells Fargo has provided more than $40 million in

financial support to HBCUs in local markets and through UNCF and the TMCF. Additionally, the company has given direct sponsorships and commitments to individual HBCU academic and athletic programs.

Wells Fargo research shows that participants “wanted more support on their financial journey.”

“How do I start a business? How do I buy a home? How do I do my resume? We get in-the-moment feedback, we get emails from students and administrators. We are listening to our constituents.”

Norwood added there is discussion on acquiring internships, something that many students fail to realize has an important timeline.

“The time to seek an internship for summer of 2024 was late summer or fall of 2023,” he explained.

There is a session on housing and building credit, and one entitled, “Protecting the bag.”

“This one includes elderly fraud protection. It’s not just about protecting your bag, it’s how to watch over relatives. How do you take care of others?

Another current topic of interest is what Norwood calls “social media smarts.”

“The decisions you make are important. Things that are put online are out there forever. We help students use social media in the right types of ways,” Norwood said.

He noted that the session also instructs students to “own past mistakes” that might be out there on social media.

“Let people know that you are not that person any longer,” Norwood said.

While the sessions are live, they are recorded and can be viewed on a YouTube channel hosted by Wells Fargo.

“It’s about careers and financial knowledge for our HBCU partners and the students,” Norwood said.

For the 2024 Wells Fargo Beyond College Webinar Series schedule and additional information, please visit Beyond College Webinar Series | Wells Fargo (wf.com) The Financial Journey is a unique series focused on financial education and opportunities. These stories have been created through a strategic partnership between Wells Fargo and Word In Black. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. is a member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

The inaugural Beyond College Webinar by Wells Fargo was actually a conference call. A decade later the series has expanded to 12 sessions where HBCU students, and others, learn from leaders on topics ranging from finances to careers.

Photo courtesy of Wells Fargo

n “There’s more that I can add to this team.”

– Andrew McCutcheon, 37, on playing another season with the Pittsburgh Pirates

InSIdE SportS

By Earl Austin Jr.

Christmas season brings wide array of basketball tourneys

The Christmas holiday season is upon us and that means we get to enjoy the feast of basketball tournaments throughout the St. Louis metropolitan area.

There are boys tournaments being played at Maryville University, MICDS, Collinsville, and St. Dominic while the girls will be playing at Visitation, MICDS, St. Joseph’s, Principia and Mascoutah.

Here is a look at some of the area’s top holiday tournaments.

Boys

Coaches vs. Cancer (at Maryville University), (Dec. 27-30)

Top Seeds: 1. Vianney, 2. Hickman, 3. Webster Groves, 4. DeSmet Championship Game: December 30, 7 p.m.

Top Players to Watch: Luke Walsh (Vianney), Iziah Purvey (Webster Groves), Brock Camp (Hickman), Andrew Moore (Troy), Riley Massey (DeSmet), Quinn Sunderland (Lindbergh), Scottie Adkinson (Webster Groves), Mason Dunlap (Eureka)

MICDS (December 23-29)

Top Seeds: 1. Ladue, 2. Francis Howell, 3. Edwardsville, 4. MICDS Championship Game, December 29, 7:30 p.m.

Top Players to Watch: Dwayne Foley (Ladue), Will Paulson (Francis Howell), Jayden Banks (MICDS), Chris Ketchum

(St. Charles), Oliver Kokal (Parkway Central), Malik Allen (Edwardsville)

Collinsville (December 27-29

Top Teams: Collinsville, Quincy, O’Fallon, Lincoln (IL)

Championship Game: December 29, 7:30 p.m.

Top Players to Watch: Jamourie Wysinger (Collinsville), Nick Horras (Collinsville), Rini Harris (O’Fallon), Bradley Longcour III (Quincy)

St. Dominic (December 27-29)

Top Seeds: 1. Sikeston, 2. St. Dominic, 3. Timberland, 4. Lutheran St. Charles

Championship Game: December 29, 5:30 p.m.

Top Players to Watch: Dontrez Williams (Sikeston), PJ Farmer (Sikeston), Jeremiah Neal (St. Dominic), Jacob Aydelott (Timberland), Will Salonies (Holt)

Girls

Visitation (December 23-28)

Top Seeds: 1. Incarnate Word, 2. John Burroughs, 3. Cardinal Ritter, 4. Lift for Life

Championship Game: December 28, 8 p.m.

Top Players to Watch: Nevaeh Caffey (Incarnate Word), Kaylynn Janes (Incarnate Word), Allie Turner (John Burroughs), Ai’Naya Williams (Cardinal Ritter), Hannah Wallace (Cardinal Ritter), Amaya Manuel (Lift for Life), Zoe Newland (Pattonville), Kate Rubel (Cape Notre Dame), Jayla Griffith (Hickman), Evelyn Shane (Ursuline)

Cordova Wolves’ Jaylyn Tyler (10) has a run in with Cardinal Ritter point guard Eric Brice (2) during the Ritenour Basketball Tournament Saturday, Dec.16, 2023 at Ritenour High School. The Wolves of Memphis went on to defeat the Lions of Cardinal Ritter 75-64.

MICDS (December 26-29)

Top Seeds: 1. Fort Zumwalt West, 2. Marquette, 3. Clayton, 4. Collinsville

Championship Game: December 29, 6 p.m.

Top Players to Watch:

S

Heidi Pickett (Fort Zumwalt West), Sydney Bode (Marquette), Cece Harris (MICDS), Jasmine Burks (Clayton), Talesha Gilmore (Collinsville) St. Dominic (December 27-29)

portS EyE

With Alvin A. Reid

VP Harris, like many of us,

Throughout the season I’ve been traveling on some weekends to Lawrence, Kansas to watch the KU Jayhawks play.

Over the past decade, I’ve gone back many times. I attended two games the season we won zero games. Wait, that happened twice. Thank goodness we are again bowl eligible for a second consecutive year. Hello, Guaranteed Rate Bowl in Phoenix on Dec. 26. There is just something about being on campus, being back where so many memories were created. The Hill. The tailgating. The stadium.

home the ‘Black College Football Championship’ with a 30-26 victory.

“We didn’t win, but it was a good game,” Harris said following the game –a game during which she danced in her suite and wore the biggest smile I’ve seen on her face in almost four years.

“FAMU did their thing.”

Harris said she attended the games at Howard, where she pledged Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and economics

OK, enough about me.

I’m here to raise a flask toast to Vice President Kamala Harris. Not only was she at the Celebration Bowl on Dec. 16 in Atlanta, but she was also having a good-old time cheering for her Howard Bison. After jumping to an early lead, Howard could not hold off Florida A&M and the Rattlers took

“I go back every year, many years for Homecoming and to be able to celebrate the team as an extension of celebrating the school and all HBCUs. It’s very much a part of a cultural appreciation; just the beauty of the work and the excellence.”

The Celebration Bowl should be celebrated for delivering what most bowl games do not – a competitive game.

After falling behind fired-up Howard 16-7,

Stowers (Lutheran St. Charles), Kyrii Franklin (Lutheran St. Charles), Mariah Mayfield (Hannibal), Morgan Davis (Francis Howell Central)

Midwest Invitational at St. Joseph’s & Principia (December 28-30)

Top Seeds: 1. Rock Bridge, 2. St. Joseph’s, 3. Beaver Dam, 4. Principia Championship Game, December 30, 4:30 p.m.

Top Players to Watch: Jayda Porter (Rock Bridge), Mari Miller (Rock Bridge), Dasia Scott (Principia), Kayla Jansen (St. Joseph), Ava McCulla (Parkway South), Elli Porter (Rock Bridge)

Mascoutah (December 27-29)

Top Seeds: 1. O’Fallon, 2. Breese Central, 3. Nashville, 4. Mater Dei Championship Game, December 29, 4:30 p.m.

Top Players to Watch: D’Myjah Bolds (O’Fallon), Heili Tart (O’Fallon)

Top Seeds: 1. Lutheran St. Charles, 2. Francis Howell Central, 3. Timberland, 4. Hannibal Championship Game: December 29, 4 p.m.

Top Players to Watch: Jordan Speiser (Lutheran St. Charles), Kennedy

Vashon is headed to Hawaii The Vashon Wolverines are competing in the ‘Iolani Classic’ in Honolulu, Hawaii this week. The Wolverines have been on the road quite a bit during the first month of the season. Vashon went 2-1 at the Kevin Brown Memorial Tournament of Champions in Washington, Illinois to begin the season. They have also played in the Norm Stewart Classic and the Chicago Classic as well.

got her college on

Florida A&M quarterback

Jeremy Moussa connected with Kelvin Dean for touchdown passes from 21 and 53 yards. Suddenly trailing, the Bison charged back in front 26-24 behind a field goal, and an interception return by Carson Hinton. Moussa then found Jah’Marae Sheered for a 38-yard game-winning touchdown pass.

Hey, good game and good times.

The Reid Roundup

Masyn Winn is projected to be the Opening Day shortstop for the St. Louis Cardinals when the 2024 season begins on March 28 on the road against the L.A. Dodgers. Jordan Walker will be patrolling

an outfield slot, giving the Cardinals two of the brightest Black prospective stars in baseball…Bradley Beal returned to the Phoenix Suns’ lineup on Dec. 12 after dealing with a back injury and scored 16 points in a 119-116 win over Steph Curry’s Golden State Warriors. He scored 14 points the next night in a 116-112

Beal sprained his ankle on Saturday against the

and is out for

weeks. Beal has played in five of the

26 games…When Anthony Lynn, Black head coach for the L.A. Chargers, was fired following the 2020 NFL season he had a 33-32 record. The Chargers didn’t hire Kansas City Chiefs Black offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, whose team had been to back-to-back Super Bowls. L.A. hired Brandon Staley. Staley was fired last week after a humiliating 63-21 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. The Chargers fell to 5-9 and Staley’s record upon his firing was 24-24… Houston Texans’ rookie phenom C.J. Stroud was out with a concussion and top receiver Nico Collins was sidelined by a calf injury. Yet, the Texans won a gritty contest over the Tennessee Titans 19-16 last Sunday. DeMeco Ryans has my mythical vote for AFC Coach of the Year. The Texans are 8-6 and would reach the playoffs if they win their remaining games.

Earl Austin Jr.

Alvin A. Reid

Vice President Kamala Harris attended the HBCU Cricket Celebration Bowl competition between her alma mater, Howard University, and Florida A&M University in Atlanta, Georgia. In the forefront is Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock.

Photo by Wiley Price / St. Louis American

Photo courtesy of Office of the Vice President

Patton’s ‘interim’ superintendent designation removed

The Riverview Gardens School District’s Special Administrative Board voted Tuesday, Dec. 12 to remove “interim” from the title of Tanya Patton, Ed.D. In October, the SAB named Patton as the interim superintendent, following the retirement announcement of Joylynn Pruitt-Adams, Ed.D. at the conclusion of the 20232024 school year. Patton will now serve as the permanent superintendent beginning July 1, 2024.

Tanya Patton

The board made its decision to help give continuity in district leadership in light of upcoming changes for the 2024-25 school year, including retirements and a planned reorganization of Central Services.

“Dr. Tanya Patton has the full support and confidence of the Special Administrative Board,” stated SAB President Veronica Morrow-Reel. “By removing the interim designation, we can reassure district stakeholders that her strong leadership will continue as we build a successful learning community.”

Deaconess accepting funding proposals up to $100,000

Deaconess Foundation (Deaconess) is currently accepting funding proposals for up to $100,000 to support timely grassroots advocacy, civic engagement, and community organizing efforts for policy change and systemic transformation in 2024, a crucial election year. The foundation is seeking funding proposals from community organizations, coalitions, and public policy campaigns positioned to focus on mobilizing people and resources to drive meaningful, systemic change that advances community health and well-being. Grants will be awarded for one year. The maximum grant award will be $100,000. Learn more, review a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document, and apply at deaconess.org/funding. Funding proposals for policy campaign grants must be submitted by 11:59 pm on Thursday, February 1, 2024.

It’s

always

the

right time to plan for retirement

Whether you’re just entering the workforce or plan to stop working in a few years, it’s never too early – or too late – to save for retirement.

Ideally, retirement planning and saving should start as soon as you get your first paycheck, but it’s easy to focus on more pressing expenses in your 20s, 30s and 40s, like paying for a house or raising children. By your 50s or 60s, however, you might feel you haven’t saved enough to avoid worrying about financial security in retirement.

There’s always time to make changes. Consider these options to protect your assets, build credit, and maintain and grow your investments for a financially worry-free future.

Start with the basics

No matter your age or current financial status, the following steps are the foundation of most retirement plans.

catch-up contributions for people 50 and over. That means you can contribute more than the government-set maximum each year, up to a certain amount, to make up for what you didn’t contribute in the past.

• Begin with a 401(k). If available, consider joining your employer’s retirement plan, like a 401(k). You can set up automatic deposits each pay period, and many employers will match your financial contributions, giving you more funds for the future.

• Consider opening an IRA. Find out if you’re eligible for an individual retirement account (IRA) and consider contributing what you can. You can have an IRA in addition to an employer-based plan.

• Put your money to work. A general investment account has the potential to grow your savings even more.

Play catch up

Understanding your current financial picture and planning for benefits, like Social Security and pensions, are important steps to figuring out how much income you may have in retirement.

If you’re nearing your projected retirement date and you don’t think you have enough saved to maintain your current or desired lifestyle, here are a few considerations to help get you in a better position.

• Make catch-up contributions. Many tax-advantaged retirement savings accounts, like IRAs and 401(k)s, allow

• Make sure you have adequate insurance. In addition to making sure your life insurance is current, look into long-term care and disability insurance before you retire to save money on future health care costs.

• Consider your home equity as part of the equation. If you plan to remain in your home, a home equity line of credit may be another option to fund certain expenses in retirement. If you choose to downsize to a smaller home, it may free up cash in your home’s equity for you to use.

• Tap other sources of income and equity. Do you have taxable brokerage accounts or other general savings? Include these funding sources, if you have them, when projecting how much you’ll have in retirement.

• Keep working. A growing number of people are working in semi-retirement and developing portfolios that produce passive income. Some might continue working full-time for longer than planned to build more savings. If you can generate enough income and are able to wait until age 70 to claim Social Security, it may allow you to maximize benefits over your lifetime.

Make a plan

No matter your current financial situation, set aside some time to review your options. There are many helpful tools, including articles, calculators and financial advice from professionals, to help you craft a roadmap to transition to your years in retirement.

Planning for your unique situation may help you get closer to where you want to be in retirement, even if you don’t feel that you’re there yet.

For more information and online retirement articles, tools and calculators, visit chase.com/retirement.

Content sponsored by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Living It

A new shade of ‘Purple’

Despite flaws, fans likely to connect with Bazawule’s reimagination

By Kenya Vaughn The St. Louis American

On Christmas Day, Black cinema’s latest cultural phenomenon will arrive when Blitz Bazawule’s reimagination of “The Color Purple” opens in theaters nationwide. Here’s the good news: A hybrid of the 1985 Steven Spielberg’s Oscar nominated film and the twice adapted Tony-winning Broadway musical based on Alice Walker’s 1982 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name; the film offers a visually stunning depiction of Blackness on screen that manages to offer its own unique viewing experience.

The great news is that Fantasia Barrino-Taylor is likely to get the flowers she deserved for her brief, but criminally underappreciated portrayal of Celie on Broadway in 2007. The utterly fantastic news is that all parties involved with the project proceeded with the utmost caution and care with regard to their task of remaking a beloved Black movie classic.

The bad news is that the heart and soul that connected so many to Walker’s now iconic characters – particularly through the novel and the original film – feel diluted in Bazawule’s take. Even worse are the occasions when attempts at nuance stumble into stereotype and caricature. The moments are scattered, but glaringly obvious.

Momentum for the film’s release is already at a fever pitch thanks to press rounds and “purple carpet” appearances during regional premieres by the

star-studded cast and production team.

Oprah Winfrey – who played Sophia in the original film – is a producer, along with Spielberg and Quincy Jones – who scored the first film.

Though the original film’s connection with audiences and Black culture exceeded expectation – and anyone’s imagination for that matter – its release

was embroiled in controversy. Spielberg was at the helm of the all-Black film that made household names of Whoopi Goldberg and Danny Glover and was a part of Winfrey’s ascent to pop culture icon status, as the film’s release seemed divinely timed with the start of her 25-year run as a nationally syndicated talk show host. Spielberg serving as

director meant that the film shared the asterisk of a long line of films with Black talent governed by a white perspective. In all fairness to Spielberg, he captured elements of authenticity in his take on “The Color Purple” that aside from

Kribmas greetings Jazz in the time of hip hop

Grammy winner, Ferguson native Emanuel Harrold to play City Winery next week

By Kenya Vaughn The St. Louis American

Brothers Keyon and Emanuel Harrold couldn’t look any less alike. But what they lack in physical resemblance, they mirror in disposition. Easygoing and humble, both are much more accessible than anyone could imagine considering that they play alongside some of the biggest names in music.

Their mutual temperament comes from their late mother Shirley – who despite being able to boast Grammy winners among her 16 children, made strangers feel comfortable enough to enter her Ferguson home without knocking.

Hip hop holiday event supports Chosen For Change

By Ashley Winters

The St. Louis American

December 23, 2023, will be a day filled with the magic of giving and spreading joy to families in need.

During his annual Kribmas concert, Grammy-nominated artist Smino and the Kribmas Foundation revealed that proceeds from the show will benefit the Michael Brown Sr. Chosen For Change

Organization.

The annual giveaway will hand out toys, clothes, and food for children under 12 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the STL ArtWorks located at 5959 Delmar. Families and kids can get free haircuts, partake in kid-friendly games, and get a chance to take a picture with Hood Santa,

This year’s event is infusing a nostalgic twist with the theme “A Michael Brown Christmas,” a playful homage to the classic Charlie Brown Christmas.

The Christmas community event holds a special place in Brown Sr.’s heart as it brings joy to those in less fortunate circumstances and serves as a therapeutic way for him to navigate through his grief during the holiday season.

“Despite the hardships we face during Christmas due to our grief, organiz-

They have made names for themselves individually, with Keyon on the trumpet and Emanuel on drums. Emanuel is best known as part of the band for Grammy Award-winning jazz vocalist Gregory Porter. And despite the hectic schedule that a successful music career demands, he is intentional about carving out time to work on his own projects and express himself as an individual artist. Emanuel will grace the stage at home next Wednesday with a special show at City Winery St. Louis.

The show promises to be a magically curated show that features jazz, soul, funk – and most importantly feel-good music – including music from his latest EP “We Da People,” which was released in January of this year.

“Emanuel will have some amazing artists singing their hearts out for you,” City Winery’s website proclaims. Among the featured artists will be Saunder Sermons – who has worked with the likes of Maxwell, Jay-Z and Rory Hargrove to name a few. Singer, rapper and produc-

will

Wednesday,

er Shareef Keys and guitarist Andrew Baillie will perform with Emanuel next week.

Emanuel’s playing style is understated, but infectious. Hearing him and Keyon play together – like on Emanuel’s 2022 track “Fight Harder” – gives Miles Davis and Jimmy Cobb 2.0. Just as Cobb was the heartbeat of “Kind of Blue,” Emanuel facilitates a hypnotic groove as Keyon’s horn carries listeners into the stratosphere. While Cobb and Davis sounded as if they had been playing together for their entire lives as the intricacies of Davis horn organically filled the spaces between Cobb’s pulsating rhythms, Emanuel and Keyon actually have been playing together all their lives.

See Purple, C8

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros Pictures

A reimagined adaptation of the Black cinema classic and Broadway musical ‘The Color Purple’ arrives in theaters on Christmas starring Fantasia Barrino-Taylor, Danielle Brooks, Taraji P. Henson, Colman Domingo and Corey Hawkins and a star-studded cast.

Photo by Lawrence Bryant Grammy Award-winning drummer Emanuel Harrold, who is also a native of Ferguson,

play City Winery St. Louis on

December 27.

Photo by Taylor Marrie | St. Louis American STL native Smino announced during his holiday benefit concert “Kribmas” that the Kribmas Foundation will donate proceeds from the event to the Chosen For Change organization.

Nutcracker!

12/22/2023 2:00pm

STL Sites &Sounds

12/22/2023 7:30pm

Gary’s

533-9900

Drag Trivia: Jewel Charger & Grocer

12/22/2023 9:00 pm12:00 am

Sophie’s Artist Lounge 3333 Washington Avenue St. Louis, MO

“Record Swap n’shop” hosted by Umami Ill Temperament with Re-

9:00 pm - 1:00 am

Sophie’s Artist Lounge 3333 Washington Avenue St. Louis, MO

Frosted: A Holiday Cocktail Experience

12/23/2023 11:00pm Tower Grove Park 4257 Northeast Drive

12/24/2023 9:00pm

Sophie’s Artist Lounge 3333 Washington Avenue St. Louis, MO

FAIRS, FESTIVALS AND MARKETS

Winterfest

12/22/2023 4:00pm

12/23/2023 12:00pm

12/24/2023 12:00pm

12/26/2023 12:00pm 12/27/2023 12:00pm 12/28/2023 12:00pm Kiener Plaza Park 500 Chestnut St, St. Louis, MO 63101 St. Louis, MO Free

ART ACTIVITIES, EXHIBITS AND MUSEUMS

“Record Swap N Shop” 12/23/2023 Sophie’s Artist Lounge

Please note City Hall will be closed as follows:

• Friday, December 22, 2023 - Closing at 12 noon

• Monday, December 25, 2023 - Closed the full day You may schedule a time to file by contacting the City Clerk at 314-5058605 or lreese@ucitymo. org. You may also walk in during the hours previously listed. https://www. ucitymo.org/calendar. Delmar Blvd 2nd FL. Room 4 - Clerk’s Office University City, MO

“Kwanzaa NgomaContinuing the Legacy of Dhati M. Kennedy” 12/26/2023 8:00pm “Kwanzaa Ngoma!” highlights the opening day celebration of Kwanzaa. “Kwanzaa Ngoma!” kicks off the celebration on the Day of Umoja (Unity). Kwanzaa is a seven-day cultural holiday affirming seven pro-Black values. Ngoma is a family event that is a lively evening of Afrikan drumming, music, dancing, and poetry. This year’s theme is “Kwanzaa Ngoma - Continuing the Legacy of Dhati Kennedy,” a Historian/Master Drummer recently recognized at the Diaspora African Forum in Dafur. Exodus Gallery 5075 Delmar Blvd St. Louis, MO Free

Northwest 79 Alumni Committee is NOW planning for their 45 Year Reunion. Please contact: Duane Daniels (314) 568-2057, Howard Day (414) 698-4261 or Martin Gray (706) 573-0852.

Closing Day for City Council Candidate Filing forApril 2024 Election 12/26/2023 8:00am The first day of filing at 8:00 a.m. Filing will close at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 26, 2023. Each Declaration of Candidacy must be filed with the City Clerk at the City Hall, 2nd floor, room 4, 6801 Delmar Blvd, University City MO. Declarations will be accepted as follows: Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.5:00 p.m.

Winter break at the Missouri History Museum

Winter Getaway runs December 27–31. Visit mohistory.org/events for more information.

By the Missouri Historical Society

Have a fun-filled winter break at the Missouri History Museum! Through December 31, stop by the Museum to help us reach our year-end goal: to color all 176,400 square inches of the Coloring STL exhibit! The first 500 participants each day will receive souvenir stickers and six-color crayon wheels. Share your Coloring STL artwork on social media (#ColorEveryInch) to enter special giveaways for coloring books and swag from our exhibit and The Culture exhibit at the Saint Louis Art Museum. At Thursday Nights at the Museum on December 21, join us for a not-sosilent night with the St. Louis Christmas Carols Association. This joyful and interactive program begins at 6:30pm and will feature dynamic live performances by singer Lynn O’Brien, the Kingsbury Place Singers, the Red & Black Brass Band, and more! Come early at 5:00pm to enjoy food and drink, snap a picture in our photo booth, and enjoy a cozy evening out with family and friends.

From 10:00am to 1:00pm on December 27–31, families can enjoy live performances, hands-on art activities, storytelling, and more at Winter Getaway. On Wednesday, December 27, bring your favorite stuffed animal or “lovey” to a special “Step into the Story” event featuring books about bears, followed by a special showing of the family-friendly documentary Unstuffed: A Build-A-Bear Story. Founder Maxine Clark will join as a guest storyteller

and stay after the documentary screening to share her personal stories as former Chief Executive Bear. Plus, you won’t want to miss photo opportunities with larger-than-life furry friends! For an added treat, pre-order a special Teddy Tea Takeaway box from the Key Bistro. The theme for Thursday, December 28, is “Hip-Hop and You Don’t Stop.” Families are invited to join dance workshops, decorate their own mic craft, and learn about the history of hip-hop through Step into the Story: Hip-Hop, an interactive large-scale story experience in the Lee Auditorium.

Adults are invited to dress in their favorite hip-hop styles and return that evening for Thursday Nights at the Museum at 5:30–10:00pm to close out the year with a celebration of 50 years of hip-hop. Join St. Louis’ “God Pops of Hip-Hop” DJ G. Wiz, Tamika “LadyJock” Harvey, and friends for this party that honors the evolution of hip-hop in St. Louis and pays respect to the music, dance, and art of hip-hop culture. Paint Louis artists will create customized tagged name art for guests and fill more than a dozen colorable buildings in Coloring STL until they’re dripping with street art style. Plus, save the date for Thursday Nights at the Museum on January 18, “St. Louis Women of Hip-Hop,” featuring the documentary I Am Hip Hop and a conversation with St. Louis women who have made their mark on the industry over the years. At “On the Road Again” on Friday, December 29, take a trip with the Museum as we learn about the history of the planes, trains, and automobiles

that helped us traverse our great nation. Check out our travel-themed artifact touch table, go on a vehicle scavenger hunt, make road-trip-themed crafts, and don’t forget story time.

On Saturday, December 30, at 11:00am, the Museum will host a special performance of A Jazz Story. Experience the story of jazz, a uniquely American creation, through local musicians and educators from the Sheldon. Although designed for children in elementary and middle school, this program is equally engaging for adults. Before or after the performance, create take-home crafts such as a paper “stained glass” window decoration inspired by our Coloring STL exhibit and more.

On Sunday, December 31, Noon Year’s Eve at the Missouri History Museum returns with a family celebration featuring a balloon drop when the clock strikes noon! Rock out to live music by FIRE DOG in the Grand Hall; make some crafts before the new year begins; explore the galleries with a numbers scavenger hunt; and join us for a special, supersized New Year–themed story time where we will learn about food traditions like Hoppin’ John, las doce uvas de la suerte (the 12 grapes of luck), and Lunar New Year dumplings. Coloring STL is presented by the William T. Kemper Foundation. Winter Getaway is sponsored by Employees Community Fund of Boeing, Dana Brown Charitable Trust, PNC Grow Up Great, the Rudolph and Mary Francis Wise Endowment Fund, and the Saigh Foundation. African American History Initiative programming is presented by Wells Fargo.

Saint Louis Art Museum celebrates Kwanzaa: Ubuntu – I am Connected

Join the Saint Louis Art Museum in partnership with the St. Louis Metropolitan Alumnae Chapter, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., for our annual Kwanzaa celebration of family, culture, and community. Kwanzaa is an African American holiday designed around seven principles that promote unity, self-determination, cooperation, community, and faith. Originally created in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga, Kwanzaa is now celebrated by millions of people and is recognized as a significant winter holiday. On Saturday, December 30, the Art Museum will host its annual Kwanzaa Celebration with a day of art making, performance, and a self-guided tour and scavenger hunt.

This year’s theme is Ubuntu – I am Connected. Ubuntu, a term of the Zulu from South Africa that translates to “I am a person through other people; my humanity is tied to yours.” Jeanice Baker, St. Louis Metropolitan Alumnae Chapter, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Chapter President, commented, “Because we are all connected, we celebrate Kwanzaa as a time of coming together-- we empower each other to innovate and collaborate to build a stronger community.”

The Saint Louis Art Museum hosts one of the city’s largest Kwanzaa celebrations each year. The museum-wide event incorporates the Kwanzaa principle of the day, and visitors can experience a variety of African and African American cultural traditions. In addition to the day’s events, scavenger hunts will be available at the Art Museum’s information centers from December 26 through January 1, including the day of the Kwanzaa Celebration on December 30.

This year, the Art Museum’s celebration includes connections throughout the Art Museum, including The Culture: Hip

Kwanzaa

Ubuntu – I am Connected Saturday, December 30 10 am-2 pm Saint Louis Art Museum FREE

Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century exhibition. We invite you to connect with your creativity by making your own The Culture inspired customized gold chain, create a puzzle piece artwork to be added to a collaborative mural, and enjoy a special Garry Simmons Garage Lab activation with DJ Phillip Berry beginning at 10 am.

The Art Museum’s Kwanzaa performance includes African dancing and drumming by Spirit of Angela West African Dance & Drum and presentations by members of St Louis Metropolitan Alumnae Chapter, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Visitors wishing to attend the free performance in The Farrell Auditorium can pick up tickets at the Art Museum visitor information centers onsite only starting at 10 am on December 30. Tickets are limited and will be distributed while quantities last. There is a limit of six free tickets per person. For more information about the Art Museum’s annual Kwanzaa Celebration and other events, visit slam.org.

This program is supported by the Dana Brown Endowed Fund for Education and Community Programs.

Religion Ladysmith Black Mambazo releases new gospel album

‘Uniting

people through art’

Special to The American

Legendary South African singing group

Ladysmith Black Mambazo is eager to bring hope to fellow citizens as it releases a new album titled Songs from South African Churches.

Since their formation in 1960, the group has produced several top hits like Amazing Grace, Homeless, and Nomathemba, which has made it a household name in the South African music scene in their ability to unite people through art. With the entire world surviving the devastating COVID-19 pandemic, the group is eager to bring back hope to every citizen – which is what inspired it to come out with the album.

Speaking to news and entertainment publication The Citizen, one of the lead vocalists of the group, Sibongiseni Shabalala, gave more insight into the inspiration of the album.

“We all lost our loved ones or know someone who lost someone during the pandemic, so we wanted to record songs that will soothe people’s spirits and remind them that God is still with us, and He loves

us all. It is also a prayer album,” he explained.

“Our wish is for all people to heal, be comforted, and be strengthened to carry on with life and all its challenges.”

He added that South Africans have been “amazing” in showing continuous support to the group.

In return, they wanted to show that they cared about their fans and that we are all in this together.

Songs from the South African Church is comprised of songs including “Wonderful Love” and “Unkulunkulu,” which is an affirmation of God’s love that doesn’t choose, according to the group.

Shabalala said the album is mainly inspired by the love they have received from fans throughout the years.

“This album was most influenced by the desire of the group to show the fans that we care about them, and we suffered together during the tough times, and we pray for everyone to be able to heal around the world,” he said.

Songs from the South African Church album is available on all digital streaming platforms.

Lady Smith Mambazo has released a new gospel album entitled ‘Songs from the South African Church.’ Included is the song ‘Unkulunkulu,’ which is an affirmation of God’s love.

CeCe Winans homecoming concert

After traveling the United States in 2023, including a concert at Cheifetz Arena in St. Louis, CeCe Winans has scheduled a homecoming concert on

March 21, 2024, in Detroit at The Fox Theatre.

The “Believe for It” tour closed with the October 19, 2023, St. Louis date, and Winans will soon be back on the road.

Winans’ “The Goodness Tour,” begins on Feb. 28 in Shreveport, Louisiana, and closes May 3 in Brandon, Florida, outside of Tampa. It includes 15 concerts.

Winans, 59, tells the Detroit News she is planning to release new music in 2024. Her last album, the live “Believe for It,” was released in 2021. It was honored with a Grammy for Best Gospel Album.

Winans has not performed in the Detroit area since July 2017. The best-selling female gospel artist of all time, Winans has tallied 15 Grammy Awards, 31 Grammy Nominations, 27 Dove Awards and 15 Stellar Awards.

Courtesy photo

12TH

DIRECTOR & COORDINATOR

The Housing Authority of East St. Louis, Illinois (ESLHA) is seeking a highly qualified and motivated applicants for the position of Executive Director. Please visit our website at www.eslha.org SLDC IS EXCITED

STL MAIN STREET PROGRAMS EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS

Executive Directors are responsible for leading the economic development and sustainability of the organization. Will direct efforts to integrate entrepreneurship and foster economic growth and development. Must have experience with small businesses, fund development, grant writing, and working with diverse groups of people. Community engagement, place-based development, or leadership experience is preferred. Accepting Resumes now through January 10th. Apply now: Delmar Main Street DelmarmainstreetSTL@gmail. com

Dutchtown Main Street Latasha@dutchtownstl.org

PUBLIC NOTICE

Notice is hereby given that the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District Requests for Quotes, Bids and Proposals are posted online for public download. Please navigate to www.msdprojectclear.org

> Doing Business With Us

> View Bid Opportunities

Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

SEALED BIDS

Bids for RE-BID Replace HVAC and Controls at Shady Grove State School, Project No. E2010-01 RE-BID, will be received by FMDC, State of MO, UNTIL 1:30 PM, January 18, 2024, via MissouriBUYS. Bidders must be registered to bid. Project information available at: http://oa.mo. gov/facilities

SEALED BIDS

Bids for Replace Fire Sprinkler System, Cottage 2 (Bissel Hall), Missouri Hills Youth Center, St. Louis, Project No. H2306-01 will be received by FMDC, State of MO, UNTIL 1:30 PM, 1/23/24. For specific project information and ordering plans, go to: http:// oa.mo.gov/ facilities

BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN PLANNING COORDINATOR

The Planning Coordinator supports the development and creation of plans and may serve as the primary contact for small projects involving contracted partners, municipalities, schools, or engineering firms. Managing all planning tasks including developing documents, creating maps, and analyzing data. Read the full job description here. To apply please send a cover letter and resume to hr@trailnet.org

RECREATION SUPERVISORRENTAL SERVICES

The City of Richmond Heights is accepting applications for the position of Recreation Supervisor - Rental Services

$54,338 - 58,321. To apply go to https://richmondheights. applicantpro.com/jobs/

REQUEST FOR BIDS

Millstone Weber, LLC is soliciting proposals for the Improve I-70 Columbia to Kingdom City Design-Build Construction project that will include pavement demolition, pavement construction, excavation, storm sewer, bridge demolition, bridge construction, culverts, guardrail, traffic control, signage, electrical, seeding, erosion control, pavement markings and miscellaneous work as developed through the design process. Please phone 636-688-8795, fax 636-949-3129 or email mike. nowak@millstoneweber. com. Quotes can be sent to bids@millstoneweber.com NLT 01/05/24 4:00 pm CST. Millstone Weber encourages MBE/WBE subcontractors & vendors to bid this project. Requests for project information and opportunities can be sent to bids@millstoneweber.com

Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri is growing! We’re now accepting applications for two brand new roles – (1) Director, Girl Recruitment and Outreach, and (2) Engagement and Belonging Coordinator. The Director, Girl Recruitment and Outreach provides strategic leadership and management for the recruitment and outreach efforts of GSEM’s 28-County Eastern Missouri Council. The Engagement and Belonging Coordinator promotes and provides leadership for the causes of girl empowerment, gender equity, social justice, access, and belonging. Apply at https://www.girlscoutsem.org/ en/discover/our-council/careers. html. EOE

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Launched in 2021, the mission of the Gateway Early Childhood Alliance is to create and sustain an early childhood system that ensures Black and Brown children and families have access to high-quality early childhood care and education. The Gateway Early Childhood Alliance is seeking an Executive Director to replace their Founding Executive Director.

This position is responsible for catalyzing a regional coordination nonprofit that drives early education (ECE) quality and access in St. Louis seeking to provide the most benefit to underrepresented, marginalized, and highest need communities.

For a full job description and to APPLY, visit: https://tinyurl.com/24dyx35z

SEALED BIDS

Bids for Renovate Mechanical/ Electrical/ Life Safety at Jefferson State Office Building, Project No. O1911-01, will be received by FMDC, State of MO, UNTIL 1:30 PM, January 25, 2024 via MissouriBUYS. Bidders must be registered to bid. Project information available at: http://oa.mo. gov/facilities

SEALED BIDS

Bids for Repairs to Storm Water Components, Algoa Correctional Center, Project No. C2306-02 will be received by FMDC, State of MO, UNTIL 1:30 PM, January 18, 2024. For specific project information and ordering plans, go to: http:// oa.mo.gov/ facilities

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

Momentum Academy is looking to contract with a firm to provide Managed Technology Services. All proposals due no later than December 30th @ 12pm. Contact Carshaundra Baker, operations@ momentumacademystl. org, for more information.

TO ANNOUNCE EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

The St. Louis Development Corporation (SLDC) is eagerly seeking candidates to join our team as we endeavor to bring economic justice to St. Louis City residents and communities that were disproportionately impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

There are multiple 2-4-year limited term positions available, term of employment will vary for each position.

These positions will assist in the administration and implementation of various Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (SLFRF) Programs targeted for households, small businesses and communities adversely impacted by the pandemic.

All positions will be funded in whole or in part through an allocation of Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) from the US Department of the Treasury and the City of St. Louis’ Community Development Administration.

To see the full job description of positions available and to apply online go to: http://www.stlouis-mo.gov/sldc/ and click on “Careers at SLDC.” SLDC is an equal opportunity employer and values diversity.

MANAGER - INSURANCE OPERATIONS

In the role of Insurance Operations Manager you will be part of one of the fastest growing lines of business at Safety National. You will work closely with our team of Public Entity Underwriters and your contributions of helping this team grow will be felt throughout Safety National.

To apply, please visit: https://www.safetynational.com/careerspage/

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

The Heartland Regional Investment Fund, LLC (“HRIF”) seeks a Certified Public Accounting firm to conduct independent audits of financial records and to prepare and file associated tax returns, for a period of up to three years. The services shall include HRIF and its related, subrecipient entities. A copy of the full RFP is available at https://stlpartnership.com/ rfp-rfq/. Submissions should be received no later than 3PM CT on Thursday, January 18, 2024.

St. Louis Economic Development Partnership Equal Opportunity Employer

NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS

Sealed bids for the Hanley Road (A) Resurfacing project, St. Louis County Project No. AR-1716, Federal Project No. STP-5407(617), will be received electronically thru the County’s Vendor Self Service portal at https://stlouiscountymovendors. munisselfservice.com/Vendors/ default.aspx, until 2:00 PM on January 17, 2024

Plans and specifications will be available on December 18, 2023 from the St. Louis County Web Site (www.stlouiscountymo.gov) or by contacting Cross Rhodes Print & Technologies, 2731 South Jefferson Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63118 (314) 678-0087.

DIRECTOR OF PROCUREMENT AND ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES ST. LOUIS, COUNTY

NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING

A public meeting for the Jennings Station Road–Chain of Rocks Drive Resurfacing project, St. Louis County Project No. AR-1855, Federal Project No. STBG-9901(683) will be held on Wednesday, January 17, 2024, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. at the Bellefontaine Neighbors Community Center located at 9669 Bellefontaine Road, St. Louis, MO, 63137.

The goal of this meeting is to inform the public and local stakeholders of St. Louis County’s plans for this corridor.

The following QR code will link to the in-person meeting information on the St. Louis County Department of Transportation and Public Works website:

SEALED BIDS

Bids for Repairs to Storm Water Components, Tipton Correctional Center, Project No. C2306-03 will be received by FMDC, State of MO, UNTIL 1:30 PM, January 18, 2024. For specific project information and ordering plans, go to: http:// oa.mo.gov/ facilities

SEALED BIDS

Bids for Repair Paving, Infrastructure, Bellefontaine Habilitation Center, St. Louis, MO, Project No. M1904-01 will be received by FMDC, State of MO, UNTIL 1:30 PM, January 18, 2024. For specific project information and ordering plans, go to: http://oa.mo. gov/facilities

REQUEST FOR BIDS

RIHC Contracting is preparing a bid for the University of Missouri – Columbia, MO – South Farm Swine Research & Education Facility Addition. We are requesting bids from MBE/ WBE/SDVE contractors for the following items: Subcontractor Services - Concrete, Masonry, Metal Fabrications, Animal Penning, Rough Carpentry, Wood Trusses, PVC Paneling, Damp proofing, Waterproofing, Insulation, Metal Roof Panels, Insulated Metal Wall Panels, Sheet Metal, Joint Sealants, Doors and Frames, Gypsum Board, Resinous Flooring, High Performance Coating, Bath Accessories, Stainless Steel Casework, Fire Suppression System, Plumbing, HVAC, Electrical, Lightning Protection System, Fire Alarm System, Earthwork , Concrete Paving, Chain Link Fence, Seeding, Site Utilities, Foundation Drainage. The project bids January 11, 2024. We will need your bid to us no later than noon on January 10, 2024. Contact Carl Wegman at 573.513.5723 or cwegman@rcco.com to receive access to the bidding documents.

CONFLUENCE ACADEMY SUMMARY STATEMENT

Confluence Academy LEA recently received an unmodified opinion on an audit of the district’s Financial Statements for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2023. The areas covered under the audits, were accounting of financial statements, compliance with state law and compliance with laws governing federal programs.

An unmodified opinion is the best opinion any organization can receive. CliftonLarsonAllen, LLP performed the audit.

The report states, in part “in our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the organization as of June 30, 2023, and the changes in its net assets and its cash flows for the year then ended, in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.”

Confluence Academy LEA uses three major funds to account for its financial activity — the general fund, teachers’ fund, and capital projects fund.

Among all three funds, the report states that Confluence Academy LEA had total revenue of $70,520,452 for the 2023 fiscal year compared to $49,851,300 in fiscal year 2022. 2023 revenues by fund were $34,310,784 for the general fund, $22,705,207 for the teachers’ fund and $13,504,461 for the capital projects fund.

The report shows that general revenues accounted for $37,616,428 in revenue or 60% of all revenues. Program specific revenues in the form of operating grants and contributions accounted for $18,744,046 or 40% of total revenues.

The LEA had $52,879,724 of expenditures in fiscal 2023 compared with $45,456,814 in fiscal 2022.

The auditors report showed in total, net assets have decreased by $1,536,807 for total net assets of $22,098,184 at fiscal year ended 2023.

The report shows balances for the general, teachers’ and capital projects funds totaled $17,250,005, $0, and $287,485 for a total governmental funds balance of $17,537,490 at fiscal year ended 2023.

The audit report can be viewed online by visiting www.confluenceacademy.org and clicking on the Information/ Financial Reports/Audit link.

PUBLISHER’S NOTICE:

Advertised herein is subject to the Federal Fair Housing Act, which makes it illegal to advertise any preference, imitation, or discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial\status, or national origin, or intention to make any such preference, limitation, or discrimination.“We will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law.

All persons are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised are available on an equal opportunity basis.” Call Angelita Houston at 314-289-5430 or email ahouston@stlamerican.com to place your ads today!

REQUEST FOR BIDS

Alberici Constructors, Kwame Building Group and the Saint Louis Zoo seek bids from qualified firms to submit proposals for a project at the Saint Louis Zoo WildCare Park. The project consists of subcontractor scopes of work related to construction of giraffe and rhinoceros barns. To request bid documents, please send an E-mail to stlzoobids@alberici.com.

SOLICITING BID

Reinhardt Construction LLC is Soliciting Bids from MBE/ WBE/DBE/Veteran/SDVE for the following:

CP230841 National Swine Resource and Research Center –Construct Additional

Contact: Mike Murray ; mikem@ reinhardtconstructionllc.com

Phone: 573-682-5505

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FOR FACILITIES

MANAGEMENT

3940 DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING DRIVE, 63113

ISSUED DECEMBER 19, 2023 RESPONSES DUE JANUARY 9, 2024

The Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority of the City of St. Louis, (LCRA) is seeking Proposals from qualified firms for facilities management.

Selected firm(s) will provide facilities management at a former electrical manufacturing facility at 3940 Dr. Martin Luther King Drive. At least one mandatory site walkthrough is required on either December 29, 2023 or January 3, 2024 at 10:00 a.m..

Responses will be received at 1520 Market Street Suite 2000 St. Louis, Missouri 63103 (Attention: Security Services RFP), until 4:00 PM on January 9, 2024.

The Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) allocated to SLDC, passed through the St. Louis City Community Development Administration, may provide funding for certain projects. SLDC is an equal opportunity employer and values diversity.

The full invitation and all other documents may be downloaded at:https://www. stlouis-mo.gov/government/procurement.cfm

SOLICITING BID

Reinhardt Construction LLC is Soliciting Bids from MBE/ WBE/DBE/Veteran/SDVE for the following:

CP230851 South Farm Swine Research & Education Facility Addition

Contact: Mike Murray ; mikem@ reinhardtconstructionllc.com

Phone: 573-682-5505

INVITATION TO BID

Young Voices with Action Inc. (YVWA) is soliciting bids from qualified general contracting firms for the Rachel R. Grady Home Repair Program in Wellston, MO. The work generally consists of roofing, electrical, plumbing, drywall, painting, masonry, carpentry, heating and cooling and flooring repairs and/or replacements on several homes.

Bid documents may be obtained from YVWA by emailing a request to youngvoiceswithaction@gmail.com.

Bids are to be submitted to: Marc Taylor – Project Manager PO Box 300051 St. Louis, MO 63130

Any questions or clarifications should be directed to the Program Manager at 314-665-4302. YVWA will accept sealed bids for the work submitted via email until Saturday January 13, 2024, at 3:00pm at which time bids will be opened and read aloud.

The activity is funded in whole or part by the St. Louis County Port Authority. All applicable county regulations shall be in full force and effect.

Site Development for Aircraft Assembly and Flight Testing

St. Louis Lambert International Airport St. Louis, Missouri

The Federal Aviation Administration has approved a Finding of No Significant Impact/Record of Decision (FONSI/ROD) for the improvements identified at the St. Louis Lambert International Airport, St. Louis, Missouri. The FONSI/ROD is being made available to the public pursuant to Part 1506 of the Council On Environmental Quality Regulations concerning implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act. The FONSI/ROD can be viewed online at https://www.flystl.com/ civil-rights/public-notices-and-reports and copies can be viewed at the airport administration office, the Berkeley City Hall, and the following local libraries near the airport: Ferguson Municipal Public Library and the Bridgeton Trails, St. Charles Rock Road, Florissant Valley, Prairie Commons, Parkview, and Natural Bridge branches of the St. Louis County Library. Copies can also be viewed at the Federal Aviation Administration, Airports Division, 901 Locust St., Kansas City, MO 64106.

Continued from C1

“I’ve played for as long as I can remember – even before I could remember,” Harrold said. The brothers got their start as part of their grandfather Frank Harrold Sr.’s The Memorial Lancers Drum and Bugle Corps. Emanuel was still a teen when he made his musical bones performing with local jazz icons like Willie Akins and Ptah Williams before heading to New York City to hone his craft at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. Soul singer Bilal, Robert Glasper, the late Roy Hargrove are among the school’s most famous alumni that includes the region’s own Marcus Baylor,

Shedrick Mitchell and, of course, Emanuel’s brother Keyon.

“Jazz, it’s more like an abstract piece of art – it’s like a ‘knowing the rules in order to break them’ kind of thing,” Emanuel told The American in 2016. “But you have to know the rules.”

With more than two decades of experience and two Grammy wins under his belt thanks to his collaborations with Porter, it is safe to say that Emanuel knows the rules. And he uses his knowledge to not only create new modes of expression within his chosen genre, but also serve as a reminder that jazz is a critical ingredient within the origin story of hip hop.

“America’s true classical music is jazz,” Emanuel said. “It perfectly expresses what we have gone

through as a people in this country – and its roots can be found within genres that are considered uniquely and distinctly American.”

Audiences will get the opportunity to connect those roots with the new and the next thanks to the way Emanuel frames his music from his vantage point of the hip hop generation. “Like Miles [Davis] said, ‘There is only good music and bad music,’” Emanuel said. “So, let’s make music good.”

Emanuel Harrold will play City Winery St. Louis (3730 Foundry Way, St. Louis, MO 63110) at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, December 27. Doors will open at 6 p.m. For more information, visit https:// citywinery.com/st-louis or call (314) 678-5060.

Norman Jewison’s 1984 film “A Soldier Story,” John Landis’ “Coming to America” in 1988 and Bill Condon’s “Dreamgirls” from 2006 are typically absent from white-directed Black films.

“The Color Purple” 2023 pays homage to the Hollywood glamour and grandiosity of large-scale

musicals such as “Cabin in the Sky,” “Stormy Weather” and “Porgy and Bess” with Blackness in all of its splendor splashed across the screen. Bazawule – a Ghanaian filmmaker best known for Beyonce’s “Black is King” – bore the weight of Black American culture on his shoulders with this adaptation. It was a different kind of pressure than Ryan Coogler must have experienced with “Black Panther” and his presentation of an Afrofuturistic community shielded from the racial terror that goes hand in hand with colonization. Bazawule was charged with navigating through racism, sexism, misogyny, domestic abuse, sexual abuse and other trauma of Black people living in the Jim Crow South a generation after slavery and create a film that at the end of the day is a manifestation of Black joy and defiant idealism. For the most part he is successful, though the film fails some endearing – and complex – moments that lovers of the original film might consider essential and have committed to memory. It’s hard to say if they were forsaken to make way for a new identity, an attempt at sensitivity, lightheartedness or lack of awareness with respect to “The Color Purple” sacred cows.

A redeeming liberty of Bazawule is how he offers a peek into the heart and mind of Celie and her coping mechanism for surviving such soul crushing conditions.

Luckily for the director, his cast is relentless in their collective attempt to create new opportunities to connect with viewers.

Colman Domingo leans more towards St. Louis

Kribmas

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ing this event each year becomes a source of light,” said Brown Sr.

“It’s our method of transforming sorrow into joy, extending a helping hand to those in need, and achieving healing through giving. While Christmas may be difficult for us, we turn it into a beacon of hope for others.”

Kribmas has become a St. Louis holiday tradition, and this year’s show

native Kingsley Leggs’ portrayal of Mister –which Leggs originated on Broadway – than Danny Glover’s film presentation. There is a thread of charm and an inkling of humanity that peeks out from the very moment Domingo’s Mister is introduced as opposed to Glover – who commits to torment and terror except for in his most vulnerable moments. The celebrity cameos and bit parts are abundant throughout the course of the nearly 40 years that are captured in the film. Among the best are Deon Cole as Celie’s father Alphonso and Jon Batiste as Shug’s husband Grady. Fantasia, Taraji P. Henson as Shug Avery and Danielle Brooks as Sophia are receiving the lion’s share of buzz for their performances. Barrino-Taylor and Brooks are up for Golden Globes. Domingo and Corey Hawkins – who shines in every way as Harpo as he proves himself a triple threat– are worthy of award nods as well. Phylicia Pearl Mpasi was such a perfect fit for the role of young Celie that it would lead one to believe that a scientist was in the audience for one of Fantasia’s Broadway performances and had the foresight to clone her just in case a musical version of the film made its way to the screen 18 years later. As conversations regarding the film continue, the hope is that Costume designer Francine Jamison-Tanchuck, choreographer Fatima Robinson and cinematographer Dan Laustsen are heaped with praise along with the cast.

“The Color Purple” opens in theaters nationwide on Christmas Day. The film is rated PG-13 with a running time of 140

played before a packed house at The Pageant. The event was founded in 2016 by Smino and Sierra “Sie” Brown and fans waited in line for over an hour before the show to get as close as possible to the stage. For additional details on supporting this cause, please visit their website at www.chosenforchange. org.

Ashley Winters is a Report for America reporter for the St. Louis American.

Harrold

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros Pictures