December 2nd, 2021 edition

St. LouiS AmericAn

More protests headed McKee’s way

By JoAnn Weaver The St. Louis American

Developer Paul McKee’s stubbornness will soon be met with more protests as the battle to force a name change for a medical facility carrying the name, Homer G. Phillips Hospital continues. A community meeting is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Thursday at Southside Wellness Center to discuss tactics and also pressure St. Louis Board of Aldermen members to support a city resolution condemning use of Homer G. Phillips Hospital on McKee’s small, three-bed facility.

By D. Michael Cheers

Special correspondent

The St. Louis American

PARIS - Journalists hailed Josephine Baker’s April 16, 1975, funeral cortege as a final curtain call when thousands lined the streets of Paris to catch a glimpse of the hearse carrying her body to L’église de la Madeleine (the Church of Madeleine).

Throngs stretched their arms toward her casket outside the church, rubber-necking to see her hearse and a motorcade draped in floral arrangements meandering through the theatre district where she performed in Paris during the early 20th century. Now, present day, like many, I travelled to Paris for Baker’s encore performance. I sim-

n ‘France gave me everything. I will give my life for France.’” – Josephine Baker

ply had to attend, and not even the latest strain of COVID-19, Omicron, spiking the pandemic’s stats around the globe, could keep me from Baker’s final bow at the grand Panthéon monument atop Montagne Sainte-Geneviève in the Latin Quarter. This is France’s most hallowed resting place for French luminaries. Black expatriates who live in the City of Light were joined by many from the U.S., like me, who boarded Thanksgiving weekend flights

and braved the chilly weather for the solemn event. French President Emmanuel Macron remarked of the St. Louis native, “There is no greater French woman than you.”

I was not yet born in 1952, when Baker gave a homecoming concert at St. Louis’ Kiel Auditorium Convention Hall for any patron who could buy a ticket. She refused to perform inside segregated venues. As a youth, I reveled, reading about Baker in Jet and Ebony magazines in the 1960s. Following her death, I combed the archives of the Chicago Defender, Pittsburgh Courier, the Amsterdam News, and the NAACP’s Crisis magazine, reading accounts on Baker chronicled by

n State Sen. Steve Roberts Jr. said he “needed to review” the highly publicized resolution and call for a name change on the controversial facility before making a comment.

Community organizer Walle Amusa said the group that held the public hearing at City Hall also supported the protest at the medical facility on Jefferson Avenue.

“We are meeting again to basically launch a petition drive,” said community organizer Walle Amusa.

“The meeting will gather community support, sentiment and call on leadership in the community. It’s a simple request (asking) Paul McKee and the medical facility’s board of directors to change the name.” The group, which held a protest outside the facility at Jefferson and Cass on Nov. 13, worked with Alderwoman Sharon Tyus of the 1st Ward to create Resolution 138, which has passed from the Board of Aldermen health committee to the full board.

“Our hope is that many other aldermen will support the resolution and pass it along so Mr. McKee and his private clinic board of directors can understand that the name Homer G. Hospital is not theirs to take,” Amusa said.

“The name was originally granted by the aldermen in the 1930s, and it is kind of preposterous that a private developer of a three-bed clinic would appropriate it to himself. It’s a simple case of

Fight against ‘food apartheid’

Pandemic has pushed more Black Americans into urban farming

By Karen Robinson-Jacobs

St. Louis American

The

As Patrice Preston Rogers planted collards, cabbage, and cauliflower this year in a once-vacant lot in East St. Louis, she was prepping for a harvest of hope and better health for the area her dad called home.

Two years ago, before the COVID-19 pandemic took hold, Ronald Preston died at age 75 after suffering from “hypertension, high cholesterol, other dietary issues from residing in a food desert,” said Preston Rogers.

“I was looking to do … something beneficial, productive with the land. And that’s how I came up with the community garden.”

Just as the coronavirus laid bare health care inequities decades in the making, it exposed gaping holes in society’s food safety net.

“I inherited this land, and I wanted to do something productive with it,” she said of the plot on North 11th Street, blocks from the Katherine Dunham Museum and steps from a wide swath determined by the USDA in 2019 to have low access to healthy foods.

Across Metropolitan St. Louis, in neighborhoods where livable wages and traditional grocers are in short supply, Blacks already in urban agriculture are expanding and new recruits have joined in. Each aims to create home-grown solutions to the redline-induced problem of limited access to healthy foods. That focus on access, along with the broader racial reckoning wrought by the videotaped murder of George Floyd, has given food jus-

French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a final tribute to Josephine Baker at the Pantheon in Paris. Macron called Baker a “war hero, fighter, dancer, singer, and civil rights activist.”

Jamie Edwards tends an urban garden that was a vacant lot in North St. Louis on Nov. 12, 2021. Edwards said she’s had to overcome escalating costs and accidental demolitions as she tries to feed the community.

Photo by Wiley Price / St. Louis American

Photo by D. Michael Cheers / St. Louis American

Louis Vuitton’s first Black creative director, Virgil Abloh loses cancer battle at 41

Virgil Abloh, 41, Louis Vuitton’s menswear designer, and founder of Off-White, Italian luxury fashion house died after a cancer battle Sunday.

“We are devastated to announce the passing of our beloved Virgil Abloh, a fiercely devoted father, husband, son, brother, and friend. He is survived by his lov ing wife Shannon Abloh, his children Lowe Abloh and Grey Abloh, his sister Edwina Abloh, his parents Nee and Eunice Abloh, and numerous dear friends and colleagues,” an post read.

Abloh battled a rare form of cancer called cardiac angiosarcoma. The fam ily thanked everyone for their love and support and asked for privacy as they grieve. No word on Abloh’s funeral arrange ments.

Janet Rollé becomes American Ballet Theatre’s first Black woman CEO, executive director

Janet Rollé makes history as the first Black woman in the American Ballet Theatre’s 82-history to serve as its CEO and Executive Director.

“Through dance, I learned how to be a professional, the value of discipline and technique, and my love for the creative process. These lessons have always been at the core of my professional life and work,” she said in a statement, according to the news outlet.

She also said she’s looking forward to keeping the company’s iconic legacy alive and growing its influence.

“It is, therefore, a singular privilege to be entrusted by the Board to preserve and extend the legacy of American Ballet Theatre and to ensure its future prosperity, cultural impact, and relevance,” she said. “To come full circle and be in a position to give back to the art that has given me so much is a source of unbridled and immense joy.”

Barbados crowns Rihanna it’s 11th National Hero

Barbados has two victories to celebrate.

It’s now a republic for the first time in history, and Rihanna is now the country’s 11th National Hero. A ceremony was held

Monday by the nation’s Prime Minister Mia Mottley.

“Ambassador Robyn Rihanna Fenty has given service to Barbados, which has been exemplified by visionary and pioneering leadership,” Prime Minister Mottley said during the Monday night ceremony.

Rihanna was honored Tuesday in a separate ceremony where she was honored with a medal covered with Barbados’ outline.

“This is a day that I will never, ever forget. It’s also a day that I never saw coming,” she said in a brief speech in which she encouraged the youth to continue pushing Barbados forward. “I have traveled the world and received several awards and recognitions, but nothing, nothing compares to being recognized in the soil that you grew in.”

Fans support Young Dolph’s longtime lover Mia Jaye

Young Dolph fans have been ushering in their support for his partner Mia Jaye’s business following his untimely death.

Jaye launched the “Black Men Deserve to Grow Old” campaign last year through her clothing brand, Momeo after her brother was killed by an unhappy customer over a $3,000 car deal.

The company’s website states the campaign’s mission is to aid families, especially women and children facing adversities, including financial and psychological challenges.

TMZ reported the campaign’s sales have significantly increased since Dolph was

shot and killed outside Makeda’s Cookies in Memphis, Tennessee on Nov. 17 .

A brand manager told the outlet the company’s demand has grown from 20 orders per day to 250 to 600 orders per day. They also added part of its influx comes from the Young Dolph tribute hoodie titled, “Black Men Deserve to Grow Old.”

Before his tragic death, Dolph was said to become a spokesperson for the campaign.

Countless public figures initiated and inducted into BGLOs

The National Pan-Hellenic Council’s season hasn’t only been busy for regular people, but celebrities and other notable figures receiving their letters.

Ambassador Attallah Shabazz, daughter of Malcolm X, and Collete V. Smith, the NFL’s first Black female coach, was recently inducted into Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Other famed inductees include Ledisi and MSNBC show host Joy-Ann Reid

Last month, activist Tamika Mallory was inducted into Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. She was pinned by Glenda Glover, the organization’s international president.

Last month, actor Lance Gross was initiated into Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. In an Instagram post he said the accomplishment was a “Long time Komin” and that he is the 4th member of his line, RESUR9ENCE.

Sources: cnn.com, balleralert.com,

By Sophie Hurwitz

City to expand homeless shelter capacity as temperatures drop

The St. Louis American

Director of Human Services

Yusef Scoggin plans to ensure that no one will freeze to death in St. Louis this year.

Last winter, five unhoused people died on the streets in the freezing cold, and this year is predicted to be one of the coldest winters on record.

Scoggin released a plan Monday for unhoused services for the winter. The plan includes a Dec. 1 launch of the city’s warming bus system and shuttles to shelter buildings, 598 permanent shelter beds, and “additional overflow housing” to be made available by Dec. 1. St. Louis Winter Outreach, an all-volunteer organization, also has its services listed on the memo from City Hall: they will be operating an additional 30-40 beds, depending on the night.

According to a survey earlier this year, there are about 1,000 unhoused people in the City of St. Louis at any given time, though counting a transient population is always difficult and inexact.

The City has received $43 million through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and is currently taking proposals to distribute that funding.

These proposals “will provide a whole host of options for folks, including emergency shelter, safe haven, safe outdoor options, as well as a number of engaging activities from a case management standpoint, with the goal being to get people into permanent housing,”

Scoggin said.

Eight million dollars are allocated for emergency shelter, according to St. Louis City documentation, $1.25 million to intentional encampments, $3 million to rapid rehousing, and $1.5 million to permanent supportive housing, among other allocations.

Scoggin said more information about which people and organizations will be getting the funding to execute their proposals will be available in the coming weeks.

“The influx of this funding from the federal government has been a godsend, but it also comes with a certain level of responsibility to ensure it’s executed and vetted appropriately,” he said. “And the response is overwhelming…This is the largest single request for proposals we’ve probably done in this office, ever.”

Meanwhile, some unhoused advocates feel the urgency of the cold weather and wonder if this winter will be any different

from the rest. Representatives from Tent Mission STL, Unhoused STL, the Sunrise Movement, and the Party for Socialism and Liberation held a rally on the City Hall steps Nov. 13, demanding better emergency shelter resources as temperatures began to drop.

Ramona Curtis of Unhoused STL, a direct-service and advocacy organization that serves as a resource hub for the unhoused, was among them.

“We have 1.25 million dollars for a tent encampment. If the funding is there, and people are cold...where’s that tent encampment? Because we need it now. It’s cold now. This is ridiculous,” Curtis said at the rally.

Curtis emphasized tent encampments, she said, because

many of St. Louis’ unhoused have had negative experiences with emergency shelters in the past: whether because of mental illness, due to shelter drug and alcohol requirements, because the shelters can feel dangerous to members of at-risk groups such as the LGBTQ community, or because some shelters separate families.

“If I’m with my man, and we have a child, he can’t come with me. If I have a dog or a cat, they can’t come with me. Once you become unhoused, the system only helps you as a single person—they don’t help you stay together with whatever you might consider or define to be a family to you,” she said.

So, while the number one goal for her is “more shelter and warmth,” she emphasized

traditional shelters may not be enough.

Over 400 people have signed a recent online petition asking for more urgency on this issue from the City.

KB Doman, a volunteer with Tent Mission STL and Winter Outreach, has been working with people on the streets of St. Louis for four years now, and she’s helpful that this year, under Scoggin’s watch, things might change.

“The language this administration uses is different,” Doman said.

And she said she remembers Scoggin’s track record of working alongside grassroots unhoused advocacy groups from his time as a human services official in St. Louis County.

“Even when he was with the county, he always answered our calls, if we needed help with a family that was outside or was sleeping on the streets,” she said. “I’m really hopeful for these next few weeks to see what proposals get approved for the next year and to see if any major differences will be here, as far as shelter capacity and shelter accessibility go.”

Scoggin said he would continue to work with community organizations, shelters, the Housing Authority and grassroots advocates, among other groups, to keep people from losing their homes and expand shelter capacity.

“The [number of beds]...still needs to increase, subject to a lot of the challenges within society, eviction being some of that,” he said. “And so we will continue to do that by any means necessary in crossing those bridges, building those bonds, strengthening those partnerships.”

The stakes, in the coming weeks and months, are high.

“We have the funding,” Doman said. “Now’s the time to really expand capacity to... actually get people into housing so that they don’t keep having to go back to shelters. And just to keep people off of the concrete when it’s freezing cold this winter because that’s the stakes. We had five people freeze to death last winter, and we don’t want that to happen again.”

Photo by Shahla Farzan / St. Louis Public Radio

Kevin Strickland gets a measure of justice, but MO needs to write him a check

By The Kansas City Star Editorial Board

He had to wait more than 42 years — more than almost anyone in U.S. history — but Kevin Strickland received a small measure of justice Tuesday. Judge James Welsh, a retired appellate judge, granted a motion to exonerate Strickland and ordered him released from prison. Strickland, 62, was convicted of a 1978 triple murder he had nothing to do with. Most of his adult life was stolen by the state. Missourians should celebrate the outcome of Strickland’s decades long pursuit of justice. We congratulate Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker, who sought Strickland’s release after the General Assembly enacted a statute allowing her to do so. And the community must wrap its arms around Kevin Strickland and help him make the most of his new freedom. But Strickland wasn’t saved by the “system.” The system put him in prison, erroneously, and worked overtime to keep him there. The “system” fought viciously to keep him in custody, long after the rest of the world became convinced of his innocence. For this, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson and Attorney General Eric Schmitt deserve the condemnation of every Missourian who thinks justice is real, and not a joke. Parson refused to commute Parson’s sentence, or issue a pardon, after receiving several requests to do so. Schmitt sent lawyers to court to block Strickland’s release, and to exercise every possible delaying tactic to deny the inmate his day in court. Both men stammered and sputtered on Thursday when asked to explain their brutality. Parson said he “respected” the judge’s decision. He said nothing about respecting Kevin Strickland. The governor revealed no regrets about prevent-

ing Strickland from visiting his dying mother or attending her funeral. A spokesperson for Schmitt said the politically ambitious attorney general “defended the rule of law,” which insults common sense: Strickland, who is Black, spent four decades in prison because the rule of law in Missouri was violated, grotesquely. Schmitt was an integral part of that. If the “rule of law” means keeping an innocent person in prison, what kind of law are we talking about?

n Missouri Gov. Mike Parson and Attorney General Eric Schmitt deserve the condemnation of every Missourian who thinks justice is real, and not a joke.

As of late [Wednesday], neither man had publicly apologized to Strickland for the state’s stunning error and stubborn refusal to own up to it. If either had any decency, or even the will to fake it, they would tell him they’re sorry. But then, they aren’t. This newspaper worked tirelessly to investigate and report on Strickland’s innocence. But let’s also be clear: If The Star contributed in any way to Strickland’s original conviction, through less than thorough reporting or antiBlack bias, we do apologize to him, and to the community. Missouri law doesn’t require compensation for Strickland’s decades in prison, so he’s a free man with friends but few resources. “I have nothing,” he told a reporter. Private donors may help, but it won’t be enough. The governor, and the attorney general, must ask lawmakers to compensate Strickland next year. The Kansas standard — $65,000 for each year in custody — sounds about right. It would cost Missouri about $2.7 million, which it surely has. If they won’t do it, a lawsuit should change their minds. Then the legislature can consider a broader bill requiring more compensation for the wrongly convicted.

This editorial originally appeared in The Kansas City Star.

Commentary

The power of one

There are 221 House Democrats, including the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. There are 50 Senators in the Democratic Caucus, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Vice President Kamala Harris. She is positioned to cast a 51st vote to break any 50/50 Democratic-Republican vote. But none of that accumulated institutional power matters unless you have the 50th vote in the Senate. Forty-nine Senators and a tie-breaking Vice President only matter if you get the 50th Senator. The Senate Majority Leader, the Speaker of the House, even the President of the United States, doesn’t matter until you get that 50th Senator. When I was making my bones in this political game, a battle-tested political ward boss told me there were only two political positions that really mattered - the first person with them or the last person they needed. Of the two, you want to be the second. The first person with them gets rewarded out of gratitude. The last person they need gets paid upfront, out of necessity. Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia has staged a political clinic on what it means to be the last person in the Senate that a sitting President needs. He has demonstrated the power of a single vote when that vote is held by someone committed and ruthless. Another lesson I learned was that real power in politics is not about what you support but what you’re willing to oppose. The power lies in ‘No.’ Sometimes you say no to exact a price, sometimes you say no to prove a point, and you always say no if it will deny your political enemies an advantage. The most powerful person in any political situation is the person who doesn’t want or need anything. At least it doesn’t appear they want or need anything. You can exact any price, kill any deal. I referenced being ruthless as

well as committed. Ruthless is defined as having or showing no pity or compassion for others. I have no idea what Manchin is committed to, but on the ruthless scale, he’s Sen. Mitch McConnell’s even change. Manchin represents one of the whitest, poorest, unhealthiest, and uneducated states in the country. West Virginia is 93% white and 4% African American. It’s the second poorest state in the country, with a median income of $48,850 and 17.5% poverty rate. It has the nation’s second lowest life expectancy and the country’s lowest percentage of adults with a bachelor’s degree or higher. Did I mention West Virginia is 93% white, 4% Black?

If there is any state in the Union, with no Black people to speak of, that needs all of Biden’s Build Back Better (BBB) agenda funded at the highest levels, it’s West Virginia. When Joe Manchin scales back or refuses to fund BBB, he’s not hurting Black people in West Virginia. He’s showing callous disregard for the health and well-being of white people in his state.

It is ludicrous for a Black political leader or pundit to think there’s a serious conversation you can have with Manchin about the political well-being of Black people.

But this isn’t solely about Manchin. Any Senator can be him; you just have to have the capacity and will to hold someone else’s agenda hostage.

I believe, if you’re Black, voting rights bills are an existential metaphysical issue. Voting rights are to Black people what water is to fish. The only thing that separates us from

As I See It - A Forum for Community Issues

January 6 Capitol insurrection rages on

By Marc Morial

When former President Trump tried to block the release of White House documents to the House committee investigating the deadly January 6 insurrection, a judge reminded him presidents are not kings, Trump is not President, and presidential executive privilege exists for the benefit of the Republic, not any individual.

Now former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who escaped justice on mail fraud and money laundering thanks to a pardon from his old boss, is trying to use Trump’s non-existent privilege to excuse his own flouting of the law.

A federal grand jury indicted Bannon on two counts of criminal contempt of Congress after ignoring the committee’s subpoenas. His defense, that he was heeding legal advice that he respect Trump’s baseless claims of executive privilege, is ludicrous and outrageous.

Even if the former president were entitled to executive privilege – and, again, he is not – it would not apply to his communications with Bannon, who left the White House in 2017.

Furthermore, even if privilege did apply to those communications, ignoring a dulyissued Congressional subpoena for more than seven weeks is not the way to invoke it.

As legal experts Norman Eisen, Joanna Lydgate, and Joshua Perry wrote in a CNN op-ed:

“A person who wants to invoke a legitimate privilege in good faith doesn’t simply ignore a subpoena. He responds on time, and he negotiates. He turns over all relevant documents that aren’t covered by the privilege and produces a privilege log indicating which documents he isn’t turning over and why. He doesn’t simply

fascist racial oppression or possible genocide is our ability to participate in and leverage the American political system. It’s why the most reactionary and oppressive elements of white America have always tried to limit, or block outright, our ability to function politically.

What if we had Black elected leadership that was in a position to dictate the policy agenda for the entire United States government, including the President of the United States?

As you read this, we have that capacity. You can’t say ‘it can’t be done.’ We’ve been watching Manchin do it. He’s willing to stand on no, which means nobody gets anything until he gets his way. He got his way.

There are two Black Democratic U.S Senators, Cory Booker of New Jersey, and Raphael Warnock of Georgia. There are currently 56 African American members of the U.S. House of Representatives. Democrats control the House by a three-vote margin.

This means nothing, and I do mean nothing, can happen in Washington D.C. without the support or consent of the Black members of Congress.

How did voting rights get relegated to the bottom of the political agenda? There are Black folks who are shocked President Biden could do that, because he wouldn’t be the President but for Black voters.

I’m never surprised or shocked when white Democrats moonwalk on commitments to Black people, but to have Black elected officials, who have effective control of the U.S. government and, by extension, the fate of country, let it happen is beyond comprehension. There are only two answers: a cowardliness that borders on moral depravity or criminally negligent political incompetence.

We got the numbers. Our problem is we obviously don’t have the players.

skip out on a scheduled deposition. He shows up, answers when he can, and invokes the privilege on a question-byquestion basis.”

He faces a minimum sentence of 30 days and a maximum of one year in jail and fines ranging from $100 to $100,000 on each count of contempt of Congress.

Bannon made no secret of his treasonous intent when he surrendered to the FBI, saying, “We’re taking down the Biden regime.”

The others who have been ordered to ignore the Committee’s subpoenas: former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, former deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino, former Defense Department Chief of Staff Kash Patel, and former Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Clark, must decide whether their loyalty lies with the United States of America, or with their disgraced former boss.

Trump’s Congressional allies already have declared their contempt for the rule of law, as Politico reported, “strongly signaling that a future GOP-led House would use the threat of criminal prosecution to extract testimony from Biden’s aides.”

What exactly did they think they were doing when they issued more than 100 Congressional subpoenas to President Obama’s administration? Every one of those subpoenas, like every subpoena, carries the threat of criminal prosecution if it is ignored.

Congress has not just the

Letters to the editor

Praise for The American’s Wiley Price

Kudos to St. Louis American photographer Wiley Price for being named 2021 Media Person of the Year by the St. Louis Press Club organization. Wiley has not only persevered through the growth pains of a local media market that has yielded many individual success stories, but he has chronicled in pictures an urban community that for decades struggled to keep up with the prosperity of other U.S. cities. He has been the face of the American newspaper and a central figure in its enormous growth as an award-winning periodical recognized around the country. Without fail Wiley has been on the scene for more stories rife with repercussions in the Black community than any reporter or photographer in the state. He has become a staple in the tru-

authority but a duty to conduct oversight of the President and his administration. Some of the very same members feigning outrage over the January 6th Committee’s investigation were perfectly content to exercise the very same subpoena power they now decry.

Unlike many of the Congressional investigations conducted during the Obama era, some of which even Republican members admitted were purely political, the U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol is focused on the gravest threat to the republic in modern history. Those who attacked the Capitol sought to overturn an election through terrorism and violence in defiance of the Constitution and every principle we, as Americans, hold dear. Though law enforcement quelled the mob on January 6, the attack on the nation rages on through those who defy the Committee’s duly-issued subpoenas and seek to sabotage their investigation.

“It’s unfortunate that Mr. Meadows has chosen to join a very small group of witnesses who believe they are above the law and are defying a Select Committee subpoena outright,” Committee Chair Bennie G. Thompson and Vice Chair Liz Cheney said in a statement. “Mr. Meadows, Mr. Bannon, and others who go down this path won’t prevail in stopping the Select Committee’s effort getting answers for the American people about January 6th, making legislative recommendations to help protect our democracy, and helping ensure nothing like that day ever happens again.”

Marc Morial is president and CEO of the National Urban League.

for length and style.

est sense of journalistic doggedness and media integrity; through his on-the-scene coverage of civil disturbances, street protests or marches for justice. He is a fighter who has helped catapult our neighborhoods, municipalities and elective government to a better place than it was several decades ago. There couldn’t be a better choice for this honor than Wiley Price, alongside of whom I proudly worked in the print media and could always depend on to record the visual images that no wordsmith could capture with pen and paper. He is a St. Louis original and most worthy of the lofty honor being bestowed upon him by the St. Louis Press Club. I’m sure I join the legions who congratulate Wiley.

Kevin Boone, St. Louis

Columnist Mike Jones

Columnist Marc H. Morial

Celebrating the magic of the season

Inaugural Diaper Bank diaper giveaway event set for Dec. 11

St. Louis American staff

The St. Louis Area Diaper Bank will host its inaugural Diaper Blowout Drive-Thru on Saturday Dec. 11 from 1 to 3 p.m. Up to 50 diapers per child under the age of three will be distributed at the event on the parking lot of the Community Impact Network located at 1623 Kienlen.

A child or car seat must be present to receive the diapers, which are limited and available while supplies last.

The St. Louis Area Diaper Bank collects, stores, and distributes 250,000 free diapers per month to struggling families through a network of 56 community, nonprofit, educational and health care partners serving low-income women and children. More than 5.1 million diapers have been distributed in St. Louis including nearly 900,000 diapers during the height of the pandemic.

The Diaper Bank also has a period supply program that collaborates with the Alliance for Period Supplies to ensure access to menstrual hygiene products. The St. Louis Alliance for Period Supplies (STL APS) ensures access to menstrual hygiene products, which allows full participation in daily life.

The program distributes period supplies through community partners, as well as advocates for the elimination of “period poverty.”

More than 450,000 period supplies have been distributed in St. Louis, with 10,800 period supplies allocated each week. Last year two-thirds of low-income women in St. Louis could not afford men-

strual hygiene products, with 46% of low-income women having to choose between food and period supplies.

Founded in 2014, the St. Louis Area Diaper Bank provides diaper access to the region’s low-income families, as well as raises community awareness about the causes and consequences of diaper need.

The nonprofit is a member of the National Diaper Bank Network, a nationwide nonprofit dedicated to eliminating diaper need and “period poverty” in America.

According to the Network:

• It costs $1,000 to diaper one child for a year, which is up to 15% of the take-home income of a parent earning minimum wage

• 1 in 3 families across the country experience diaper need, however, the need is greater in low-income communities

• No public benefit programs allow for the purchase of diapers

• Nationally, 57% of parents experiencing diaper need who rely on childcare said they missed an average of 4 days of school or work in the past month because they didn’t have diapers

• 64% of moms who get Diaper Bank diapers report leaving their child in soiled diapers longer than they want in order to make a small diaper supply last longer

For more information about the first-time drivethru event, call (314) 624-0888 or visit their website, www.stldiaperbank.org.

When Black is offensive and controversial

By Oseye Boyd

Remember back in 2020 when brands took to their social media pages and blacked out the profile image to show solidarity with Black Lives Matter?

Remember how companies promised to be more inclusive and diverse, to do better?

It seems like ages ago, but it was just a year ago. Unfortunately, our collective attention span is short in America, and we’ve forgotten about it and moved on. I thought the campaigns, which included pledges to be better, were dubious to begin with. Were these companies truly committed to the real work of change, would it last or was it just for show? You know, another way to for capitalism to capitalize. Turns out much of it was performative. Who would’ve guessed?

As someone who works in Black media, I took a special interest in whether brands would put their money where theie blacked-out profile was and if it would continue long term.

YouTube is one of the companies that pledged to work to “dismantle systemic racism” and support Black creatives and the Black community. In June 2020, YouTube’s CEO Susan Wojcicki announced a multiyear $100 million fund for “amplifying and developing the voices of Black creators and artists and their stories” on the brand’s official blog. YouTube also took steps to protect people from hate speech and harassment on its platform.

Sounds great, doesn’t it?

It does until you realize YouTube parent company Google made it difficult for advertisers to connect with YouTube videos that dealt with “Black Lives Matter” content.

An investigation found that YouTube parent company Google blocks advertisers from using dozens of social and racial justice terms including Black Lives Matter, to find YouTube videos and channels upon which to advertise,” according to a study and article by The Markup, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates how businesses use technology to change society.

What’s interesting is Google didn’t block keywords such as “all lives matter” and “White lives matter.” Google Ads did block “Black power,” but it didn’t block “White power.” Other blocked keywords included “reparations,” “colonialism,” “antifascist,” “American Muslim” and “sex work.”

When contacted about this disparity, Google added even more words and phrases to the list: “Black excellence,” “LGBTQ,” “Say Their Names,” “antiracism,” “civil rights,” “Black is beautiful,” “believe Black women,” “abolish ICE,” “Black trans lives matter,” “I can’t breathe,” “queer,” “Muslimfashion.”

In addition to Google keeping ad dollars out of the pockets of Black people, a Vice Media Group analysis found “content related to the death of George Floyd and resulting protests was monetized at a rate of 57% lower than other news content.” A senior vice president at Vice went on to detail how a large entertainment company’s ad agency sent a list of blocked words that included “Black people” and “Black Lives Matter” but issued a statement of support for the Black Lives Matter movement that same week.

The duplicitousness isn’t surprising.

Basically, Black people and all things concerning Black people are controversial. As someone who works in Black media, this is disheartening and anger inducing. It’s maddening to know an article on an issue as important as decreasing maternal mortality for Black women and infant mortality for Black babies could be viewed as controversial because the word “Black” is used. How then do we disseminate important information to our community? It’s a given in the Black Press that some might not like what you do, and you may not get ads because of it. However, you don’t expect to learn the biggest search engine in the country has a concerted effort to steer ad dollars away from Black media just because you use the word “Black,” and at the same time allowing for the use of actual racist phrases.

Growing up I learned Black is beautiful. However, the society teaches you our very existence is controversial and offensive.

Oseye Boyd is editor of the Indianapolis Recorder.

Visitors Camille Brooks (left) and Elizabeth Danielle take a photo as they prepare to ice skate after the opening of Winterfest in Kiener Plaza in St. Louis on Friday, Nov. 19, 2021. Winterfest celebrates the magic of the season in downtown St. Louis with ice skating, holiday lights, music, igloos and night markets.

Photo by Bill Greenblatt / St. Louis American

Oseye Boyd

Continued from A1

tice activists more ammunition. They are targeting not just the absence of retailers but also, and more pointedly, what they see as the systemic racism vexing bereft neighborhoods colloquially known as “food deserts” but which they call sites of “food apartheid.”

After decades of seeing tax credits thrown at corporate-owned grocery stores, both planters and activists are pushing for a more sustainable solution to healthy food access, one that casts people of color in directorship roles and leads to what activists call “food sovereignty.”

“Black people in urban areas are currently and increasingly interested in controlling our food system and resisting against the violence that our people experience through the corporate-controlled food system,” said Dara Cooper, co-founder of the National Black Food and Justice Alliance, a coalition focused on “creating a just food and land revolution.”

“I’m not saying we don’t want access to grocery stores, but my point is we want deeper solutions.” Since the pandemic began, community organizations, nonprofits and the federal government have been scrambling to head off what loomed as a major food catastrophe.

The deadly virus shuttered businesses, slashing worker incomes. Schools across the nation, a source of food for millions of children, shut down.

In 2020, one in four Black residents across the U.S. experienced food insecurity — more than three times the rate for white households — according to Feeding America, the nation’s largest charitable hunger-relief organization.

Rise of the Black farmer

Against that backdrop, many groups looking specifi-

cally to help Black Americans get a shovel in the ground say they have seen exponential growth.

Bryan Ibrafall Wright, founder of the Black Urban Gardening Society based in Oklahoma City, said his group has had “easily” over 30,000 membership inquiries since the beginning of the pandemic. The four-year-old group has accepted about 5,000 new members.

“Many of our members are in low-income communities and they look to agriculture as a means to supplement their diets, their incomes as well,” he said.

Leah Penniman, co-director of Soul Fire in the City, an urban ag program in New York State, has seen a dramatic increase in participation in that program since the pandemic’s onset -- from 10 families to 50 to now 70.

“Since Black folks were and are disproportionately impacted by COVID, it makes sense to see an increase in urban gardening participation at this time,” Penniman said.

Blacks have been linked to American soil since before a patch of disparate communities became united states.

Even after the post-slavery U.S. government went back on its promise of 40 acres and a mule, African Americans have tried to coax a livelihood from the dirt.

In 2017, there were 35,470 farms in the U.S. with Black or African American producers, less than 2% of all U.S. farms, according to the most recent census of agriculture. It’s also a fraction of the historical census of Black farmers.

In 1920, of the 6.5 million U.S. farm operators, 925,708

were Black, compared with 5.5 million white farmers, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. African American participation has declined steadily, as Black farmers faced not only the vagaries of weather but also, many say, discrimination from the USDA.

“Statistically, Black farmers are still underrepresented and under-supported in comparison to their white counterparts,” said LeeAnn C. Morrissette of the National Black Food & Justice Alliance.

Claims against the U.S. government got a very public airing during a class-action lawsuit, known as Pigford, that alleged that USDA discriminated against African Americans who applied for loans or other farm benefits between Jan. 1, 1981, and Dec. 31, 1996.

In 1999, that case led to what was described as the

Jamie Edwards tends an urban garden that was a vacant lot in North St. Louis on Nov. 12, 2021. Edwards said she’s had to overcome escalating costs and accidental demolitions as she tries to feed the community.

who operate on notoriously thin margins, routinely point to profit and loss statements that guide them to open in areas with higher incomes and steady foot traffic.

One of the largest food trade groups is FMI, the Food Industry Association, which describes itself as the “champion for feeding families and enriching lives with nutritious, safe and affordable food.”

Spokeswoman Heather Garlich said in a statement “grocers are open to feedback and conversations to better meet the needs of the neighborhoods in which they serve,” adding, “our industry embraces community in every way possible.”

She did not answer questions about the neighborhoods grocers abandon.

New Black farmers, new hurdles

In urban areas, where backyards and vacant lots are plentiful, a fresh crop of gardeners and farmers has taken root.

largest civil rights class action settlement in U.S. history.

Many Black farmers, however, still had trouble accessing settlement benefits, according to media reports.

Meanwhile, billions of dollars in debt forgiveness for farmers of color were included as part of pandemic relief. But a judge has put the money on hold following lawsuits filed by white farmers claiming that the program amounts to reverse discrimination, according to John Wesley Boyd Jr., president of the National Black Farmer’s Association. In a segment on “Good Morning America,” he countered: “they really should be ashamed of themselves … they don’t know what discrimination is.”

“Black people have been slaves,” he said. “We’ve been sharecroppers and survived through horrific laws of Jim Crow. …. And we’ve been discriminated against, from a systematic standpoint, at the United States Department of Agriculture, and it’s time for those things to change.”

Food deserts to food apartheid

The sense that the harm done to people of color, both food producers and consumers, is systematic and not just happenstance or naturally occurring, is behind not only the ire of Black farmers but also of activists working to change the food access narrative, beginning with a change of names.

A review of “food deserts” on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website noted the earliest use of the term was said to be in Scotland in the early 1990s, where it was used to describe limited access to an affordable and healthy diet.

The term caught on in the U.S. and became shorthand for low-income urban areas, with high concentrations of people of color and a distinct dearth of traditional grocers.

The USDA has changed the name of its former “Food Desert Locator” map to the Food Access Research Atlas. It has not officially used the term “food desert” since 2013, pivoting to the more clinical “low-income and low-access” term, a USDA spokeswoman said.

That verbiage, activists say, omits what they see as a crucial feature of the corporate and political policies that lead to the current landscape — racism.

“In food apartheid, I also use the term food redlining and … Jim Crow, policies are explicitly racialized and explicitly anti-Black, right?” noted Cooper of the Food and Justice Alliance. “Apartheid conjures a more accurate picture of the disparities that we’re addressing, and it also points to the intentionality behind the conditions that Black communities are experiencing within ... the mainstream corporate-controlled food system.

“The term ‘food deserts’ ended up erasing the particular anti-Blackness behind what was happening with the corporate-controlled system,” she said.

When accused of abandoning low-income areas, grocers,

The Preston Community Garden marks the last local venture for the family behind Preston Construction, a longtime East St. Louis business. Preston Rogers said the area has long been short on major grocers, though there was some improvement with the 2018 opening of Neighbors Marketplace less than a mile away.

She said the garden is still needed and called assistance from family and local organizations including Gateway Greening, Operation Food Search and the Urban League “a blessing.”

But for other urban ag startups, the ground has been rocky.

Before the pandemic hit, Jamie Edwards took $6,000 from a bonus she earned while working at Amazon and plowed it into a small garden on land leased from St. Louis on the city’s north side, just up the road from a pawn shop, an auto parts store and an official “low access” area.

“The area is not the safest area …you have all kinds of things going on around you,” she said of the neighborhood where incomes can dip below the poverty line. “But this is where the need for food justice is going on. So that’s why we chose [that] location.”

Following a series of mishaps — including having the young garden accidentally demolished twice — Edwards opted to move her efforts to another city-owned lot about five miles away. There, she uses raised beds because the underlying dirt is filled with rubble.

Edwards is growing peach and pear trees and hopes to add chickens. Across the street, another vacant lot sports a bumper crop of discarded furniture.

Her nonprofit, City Blossoms, offered to buy the new lot but was rebuffed because Edwards is not a St. Louis resident. So neighbors are attempting to buy the land for her nonprofit, she said.

Laura Costello, director of real estate for the St. Louis Development Corp. confirmed city policy is to sell to local residents.

Edwards, who lives outside the city but has family in the neighborhood, said she remains committed to the garden but has found the process of getting up and running more hurdle-filled than she’d hoped.

“Due to the pandemic, wood prices are astronomical,” she said, doing mental calculations on her spending thus far.

“Again, another expense the everyday person that’s living in the city can’t afford. If they can’t afford the food, how do you think they’re going to afford the stuff to put the garden together?”

“The Barren Mile: COVID19 and the fight against food apartheid,” -- a special project of Report for America and its parent company, The GroundTruth Project -- was reported and written over five months by four newsrooms: The St. Louis American, New York Amsterdam News (N.Y.), The Atlanta Voice (Ga.) and Black Voice News (Riverside, Calif.).

Karen Robinson-Jacobs is The St. Louis American / Type Investigations business reporter and a Report for America corps member.

Photo by Wiley Price / St. Louis American

Black press correspondents stationed in Paris during World War II. I was only a few years out of high school when Baker died of a stroke 46 years ago. She was 68. No longer living in St. Louis, I nonetheless, remember clamoring for prose and tributes of Baker’s death in Black media. Now, armed with my St. Louis American press credential, I carefully composed photographs that I had taken and felt would resonate with a Black American audience. Apropos to this, Melba and Nathaniel Sweets, longtime publisher/editor of the St. Louis American, who gave me, a Normandy High School sophomore who could only afford a second-hand pawnshop camera, a press credential, and the opportunity to work for their family enterprise.

My fascination with Baker, the beloved Black Venus, stretches beyond her illustrious 50-year career as a cabaret singer and sometimes scantily clad performer. My obsession centered on reading about a woman who came from the Mill Creek Valley neighborhood of St. Louis. Historian Tyler Stovall, writing in African Americans in the City of Light, said, “Freda J. McDonald, who everyone called Josephine, grew up in conditions of the most terrible poverty. Her family lived in a one-room shack infested with bugs and rats, and the young girl soon learned to look for food in trash cans.”

Stovall describes Baker, at 11, witnessing the 1917 East St. Louis riots. She saw Black folks running for their lives from rampaging white mobs.

“To young Josephine, the riots seemed like a vision of the Apocalypse. ‘I never forget my people screaming pushing to get to the bridge, a friend of my father’s face shot off, a pregnant woman cut open. I see them running to get to the bridge. I have been running ever since.’”

I was haunted by the fact that I’d once read about Baker’s poverty and was now watching thousands of diverse Parisians line four blocks of cobblestoned streets that had been red carpeted for her memorial. The crowds stretched from Luxembourg Gardens on the city’s West Bank to the Pantheon. Her coffin, carried by Air Force personnel, made frequent stops where recordings of her voice punctuated the air with

Protests

Continued from A1 moral decency. When a private individual and developer thinks it’s okay to appropriate the legacy of a people, we have very serious problems.”

The American left voicemails and sent emails to State Sen. Karla May to get her stance on the highly publicized issue and resolution 138. State Sen. Steve Roberts Jr. said he needed to review the resolution before giving a comment on the document, and the issue of naming the medical facility after Homer G. Phillips.

Mayor Tishaura Jones, Comptroller Darlene Green, and Congresswoman Cori Bush have already announced their support for the name change for McKee’s clinic.

Repeated attempts for a comment from Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed have not been answered.

Ollie Stewart, Southside Wellness Center director, said she and other protest organizers still seek an audience with McKee and his board members.

“We tried to get him to come to a meeting with the Board of Alderman to ask politely if he could change the name,” she said.

“Homer G. Phillips meant more to the Black community to the economy than what is being said. When the hospital was open, the people in that area had jobs, homes, black businesses, and kids going to school and college.

“I was in Ghana, and I met a lady who said her husband interned at Homer G. Phillips Hospital. She rented rooms

excerpts from her speeches and beloved songs. I got choked up hearing her “J’ai deux amours” (Two Loves). On the eve of Baker’s pantheonization, a metro station near Bobino Cabaret, the place she last performed, was renamed in her honor. In fact, Baker, who came to Paris in 1925 as a singer and dancer would, throughout her life, used her fame to bring voice to a plethora of human and civil rights causes. She adopted 12 children she fondly called her Rainbow Tribe, and 11 of whom attended the service.

I’ve been coming to Paris for more than four decades and never tire of learning about the cohort of Black men and women artists, writers, photographers, singers,

from people in the community, a home in Glasgow, and we don’t see the dollars coming into the community anymore because we don’t have jobs.”

Stewart said when Homer G. Phillips Hospital closed in 1979, it helped create “a whole generation of poor” St. Louisans.

“They weren’t poor because they didn’t work, but because there were not good jobs in their area,” she said.

“They had to leave because they didn’t have insurance. They went from jobs that paid $9-$10 per hour with insurance at the time, and had to find jobs that paid $3.50-$4 per hour going from house to house.”

Stewart said the group would continue to support the resolution and get the petition signed to show the community wants a name change.

“Why does he want the center to be named after Homer G. Phillips?” she asked.

“I think it’s a matter of respect, and, without asking any questions to the community, they’re saying they can do whatever they want to do, which is the thing I don’t like.

“What we hope is that McKee and the board of directors will understand that there is a growing momentum of supporters in the community, religious and otherwise, who are simply making a very simple request to change the name.”

Amusa said “there is a growing momentum of supporters in the community, religious and otherwise, who are simply making a very simple request to change the name.”

In the meantime, McKee and the facility are faced with more protests and community action.

and musicians from the U.S., who found refuge and acceptance in Paris that seemed in stark contrast to America’s brand of racism. I was not alone at this week’s event, in fact, Devon Moody-Graham from East St. Louis remembers herself, an eight-year-old student at AM Jackson Math and Science Academy, writing a book report on Josephine Baker.

Inspired by Baker, MoodyGraham took French classes in high school, but her classmates could never raise enough money for French immersion trips. However, that did not stop her as she said, “I love all things Josephine Baker and Paris.” Moody-Graham said she has travelled to Paris four consecutive years now. In March, she plans a trip to Paris for her son Gregory, 17. She

will lead a women’s empowerment trip next June, and it will connect Black women entrepreneurs with Black Parisian businesswomen. Kathleen Dameron was born in St. Louis and raised in East St. Louis. She is a multicultural training facilitator who has been living in Paris since 1976. She commented on the importance of France honoring Josephine Baker. “Black women tend to get written out of history. They disappear. They don’t exist,” she said. “It’s important right now to do this honor. Josephine Baker was [much more] than an entertainer in a banana skirt. One of the things that moved me so much this evening was hearing her say, ‘France gave me everything. I will give my life for France.’” And indeed, she did.

A coffin containing soil from Missouri, France and Monaco where Josephine Baker made her mark, is carried into the Pantheon, the France’s hallowed tomb of heroes, in Paris on Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021. Thousands of French citizens along with visitors from around the world came to Paris, lining the streets for the solemn service at the Pantheon, the final resting place for French luminaries. Baker is the first Black woman to receive the country’s highest honor. Her body remained in Monaco at the request of her family. She is buried at the Monaco-Louis II Cemetery.

Photo by D. Michael Cheers / St. Louis American

State PSC investigating Spire pipeline communication with customers

About 650,000 people rely on Spire for gas

By Sophie Hurwitz

The St. Louis American

Environmentalists accused Spire Inc. of fearmongering after the company sent an email Nov. 5 warning customers their natural gas service might be shut off this winter if a major pipeline is shut down Dec. 13.

However, a Spire STL Pipeline representative said the email was sent out in the name of clear and open public information.

Spire officials said an extended Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Permit would allow them to avoid a shutdown, and commissioners indicated they would approve the permit during their Nov. 18 meeting. As of Dec. 1, however, the permit has not yet been officially extended.

Even so, the Missouri Public Services Commission is investigating Spire’s emails and other communications with customers, which PSC staff said: “appear to reflect an attempt by Spire to mobilize public opinion, through fear, in order to potentially pressure federal authorities to extend the pipeline’s authorization, at least through the winter.”

In response to the PSC investigation, Spire said in a Nov. 19 statement to The Missouri Times, “We will continue to cooperate with the PSC to ensure that customers have the information they need on this situation when it is available.”

“At Spire, our job is to keep people safe and warm. And we believe in doing the right thing, even when it’s not easy, so we’ll keep being honest with our customers and communities in hopes that everyone is prepared for winter.”

About 650,000 people rely on Spire for their residential and commercial gas and heating across the St. Louis region, and most of that natural gas is provided through the Spire STL Pipeline. Running 65 miles and connecting to other pre-existing pipelines and gas facilities in Illinois before reaching St. Louis, the $280 million pipeline has operated since 2019.

The Spire STL Pipeline is currently operating under a temporary emergency permit issued by the FERC, but that permit is set to expire Dec. 13. In Spire’s email, the company said unless the FERC grants them another temporary emergency permit, residents should prepare for the possibility of gas shutoffs.

“We’re confident that we’ve done everything we can to demonstrate the critical role the pipeline plays in providing the St. Louis community with energy, but there are no guarantees it will operate beyond Dec. 13,” Spire wrote in the email. “Natural gas outages are extremely rare. However, a St. Louis winter without the STL Pipeline in service is a different situation.” The email suggested some residents may be asked to turn down their thermostats or limit their stove use during the winter months to conserve energy unless the pipeline remains operational.

‘There are no guarantees’ about shutoffs

In January 2020, the Environmental Defense Fund filed a lawsuit against the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on behalf of Illinois residents whose land was seized through eminent domain to build the Spire STL Pipeline. The lawsuit alleged the commission did not thoroughly review Spire’s application to build the pipeline, and Spire had not followed proper procedures in constructing and running the pipeline. The U.S. Federal Court of Appeals ruled the initial 2018 approval of the

pipeline’s construction was unlawful because Spire had failed to demonstrate a need for the pipeline.

However, by the time the original permit was overturned, the Spire STL Pipeline had already been pumping gas for two years.

Natalie Karas, senior director and lead counsel in EDF’s Energy Program, said in a Nov. 11 press conference the EDF has no intention of jeopardizing St. Louis consumers’ access to heating. The EDF called Spire’s Nov. 4 email “fearmongering,” stating that Spire “falsely suggesting that utility customers could be left without gas heat this winter due to a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.”

Spire STL Pipeline representative Jason Merrill said that emailing customers was done in order to be transparent about the situation.

“We hope that the FERC will greenlight a temporary emergency certificate to get us through the rest of the winter, but … there are no guarantees,” he said. “We wanted to be transparent with our customers and let them know this is a possibility if there’s not a Spire STL pipeline after Dec. 13. It would not be the right thing to do to communicate that to people on Dec. 13.”

The Spire STL Pipeline brings in gas from the Marcellus Shale in Appalachia and the Rockies. According to Spire, pipelines operating in the St. Louis region before 2019 brought in primarily gas from Texas and the Gulf Coast region.

Spire spokespeople have repeatedly noted when Winter Storm Uri left thousands in Texas without power for days, St. Louis was unaffected because, with the new pipeline, the region is no longer reliant on gas from that area.

“There would have been up to 133,000 homes and businesses that would not have had reliable gas supply because there was not enough gas coming from that region to other places,” Sean Jamieson, general counsel for the Spire STL Pipeline, said. “It would have cost this region up to $300 million to procure that gas.”

The EDF also accused Spire of self-dealing because Spire’s primary supporting documentation to get the pipeline permit was a contract with its own subsidiary, Spire STL Pipeline.

“It feels like a powerless situation”

U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, D-St. Louis, called on the company Nov. 17 to “immediately issue a public correction of the decontextualized Nov. 4 email for all its customers.”

“I am gravely concerned that Spire Inc. may be actively weaponizing the fears of our community members — many of whom are low-income individuals, families with small children and older adults — for their own personal gain and profit,” she wrote. “If Spire Inc. is deliberately provoking widespread fear instead of directing all efforts to preventing service interruptions, that would be tantamount to corporate malpractice.”

Bush also requested the FERC begin a full investigation into the pipeline.

Sarah Watkins, an organizer with the housing rights advocacy group Homes For All, said many of the community members she works with are scared of what a gas shutoff could mean.

“It’s the extortion of more money from us as the pandemic continues. It’s completely unfair that we have to suffer from Spire, a corporate entity, from their wrongdoings,” Watkins said, adding that a Spire customer she spoke with

Missouri President

ence. The company has issued a dire warning to customers that their

The state Public Service Commission is investigating a correspondence

Program.

is “really scared … it feels like a powerless situation. She was talking about getting a generator … almost in a state of panic.”

Watkins said this fear comes at a time of consistent utility rate increases across the board, while many renters and homeowners are still reeling from the economic effects of the

pandemic. Even though some city and state rental assistance programs can also provide aid for utilities, a utility shutoff could mean that “section eight tenants lose their vouchers.”

St. Louis County Councilwoman Lisa Clancy said people in her district are worried because of the email.

“This is a manufactured cri-

sis,” she said. “Spire needs to take responsibility for their role in this.”

Six St. Louis aldermen and two members of the St. Louis County Council submitted a letter to Spire asking for more communication from the company and a rate increase cap on gas costs.

“We are demanding that

Spire Missouri issue clarifying information to its customers as soon as possible, in the same manner, and to the extent, they sent the Nov. 4 communication,” they wrote. “Customers deserve to know that there will not be anyone in the St. Louis region who goes without heat this winter because of the ongoing regulatory proceedings.”

Are you on Medicare and Medicaid? Then you might qualify for our new Essence Dual Advantage plan (HMO D-SNP). If you’re eligible, you could get lower out-of-pocket costs and additional benefits all in one plan.

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Oscar Mckinley Bayless: Pastor,

Husband, Mentor, Community Father, And So Much More

Oscar McKinley Bayless was a pastor, husband, mentor, community father, and so much more. Pastor Bayless’ “Ministry of Helps” began long before he obtained the title of Pastor. In the church, the “Ministry of Helps” is defined as anything that helps the minister to accomplishGod’s Will of saving lives and creating disciples. Saving lives and making disciples for Jesus Christ was a mission that Pastor Bayless accepted when he became a devout Christian. He left drugs and the streets to follow God and answer the call God had on his life, and he never looked back.

Oscar began his barber career in Meechum Park. He later transformed a back room in his home in Kinloch. He found a small space in a small plaza on Airport Road. Oscar’s Barber and Beauty Salon was established in the 1970s. For almost half of a century, people would flock to Berkeley, Missouri to visit Oscar’s Barber and Beauty Salon to receive an array of services. Many people came to Oscar to get their hair fixed after someone else messed it up. The word on the street was, “If Oscar can’t fix it, nobody can!” Oscar took pride in his work, but he also took his life’s mission of positively changing lives and creating disciples for Christ just as seriously. Oscar was a man of integrity who lived a moral, upstanding life for all of the world to see, touching the lives of countless people.

Apart from his pastoral, entrepreneurial, and mentoring duties he was a devout husband, father, and family man. He was married to his wife, First Lady Sandra Bayless, for 50 years. Together they built a legacy of love and servanthood, providing their services of helping others as well as their gift of cooking to their family, friends, the church, and the

community. They were a team, and their bond was unbreakable. Oscar and Sandra would cook an array of homemade dishes on the holidays and transform the barber and beauty salon into a familystyle dining room. Family, friends, and people from the community would flock to the shop to experience the love and cooking of this beautiful couple. They didn’t turn anyone away; they had an open-door policy. All who took advantage of the opportunity were ecstatic to receive it. Outside of holiday gatherings, the couple used their gifts of love and cooking at the church on Fish Fry Friday. People would come from near and far to get their fish dinners. Many have heralded the church fish fry’s at Tabernacle of Faith and Deliverance as the “Best Fish Fry in Town.” He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Sandra Bayless; his son, Boris M. Bayless of St. Louis, MO; six daughters Tammy Smith, Detroit, Michigan; Stacy Hollins (George), Angela Bayless, Monica Bridgett, Shalimar Ali El, and Tanesha Bayless all of St. Louis, MO. His sister, Cynthia Bayless of St. Louis, MO; his brother, John T. Bayless (Angela) of St. Louis, MO. His grandchildren Novah Ali-El (Devenn), Amber Scott (Markese), Jaydah Bayless, Oscar Bayless, Angela Bayless, Joshua Bayless, Chase Bayless, Peyton Bayless, Charlie Bayless, and Trevon Gee. His great grandchildren Amir Amari Ali El, PrinceBomani Shai Ali El, AngelZayan Takassi Ali El, Emiras Bayless, Zaid Scott, Zaire Scott his God children, Lynette Poston, Kimberly Mitchell, Danielle Alexander, and Sierra Long and a host of family and friends. His mother Lucille Bayless, father William Bayless, grandmother Warlena Lee, brothers William Bayless II and Winslow Bayless, preceded him in death.

Photographer Wiley Price named a 2021 Media Person of Year

(1120 AM), Monterrey joined the station in 2003 and now anchors the news for “Total Information AM” at 5 a.m.

St. Louis American Staff Veteran St. Louis American photographer Wiley Price has been named a St. Louis Press Club Media Person of the Year.

“I’ve loved working at the St. Louis American for more than 35 years and it has been rewarding to cover the AfricanAmerican community in St. Louis,” Price, a member of the Missouri Photojournalism Hall of Fame, said.

“It’s an honor being grouped with the other honorees who I hold in high esteem.”

Also being honored are: Elliott Davis: A reporter and anchor at KTVI (Channel 2) since 1980, Davis is bestknown for his government watchdog feature “You Paid For It.” Joe Holleman: A PostDispatch staffer since 1989, he has reported on news and features and has written the columns “Life Sherpa” and “Joe’s St. Louis.” Debbie Monterrey: A morning-show host at KMOX

Kay Quinn: For more than 32 years, Quinn has anchored and reported on most of the station’s newscasts. Currently, she anchors the station’s 4 p.m. newscast.

The Nine PBS show “Living St. Louis” and its team of Jim Kirchherr, executive producer, and Ruth Ezell, Anne-Marie Berger, Kara Vaninger and Brooke Butler. Since 2004, the program has highlighted various people, places, and culture in the St. Louis region.

As the COVID-19 pandemic first swept into the area, Price remained steadfast in serving The American’s print and online readers.

“I knew I would have to be out there. Because the role of The St. Louis American, and what the community has come to expect from us, is to tell our story within the story. In order to tell that story, the stay-athome orders that we were given couldn’t possibly apply to me,” he shared in a 2020 article.

“When you are a photographer, your job is to be on site. You can’t take a picture through a phone. There is no way around it. I’m not a portrait photographer or

someone who shoots objects on a table. I shoot people for a living. When was the last time I took a picture, and somebody wasn’t in it?”

“Each of the honorees has made outstanding contributions to journalism and to the St. Louis community,” said Joan Berkman, Press Club president in a statement. “We are proud to announce such a distinguished group.” Berkman said a date has not been announced for an awards ceremony, but that honorees will be recognized in a live and in-person event in the spring.

Photo by John Frey Photography

Wiley Price speaking with journalists during a protest outside the Old Courthouse in June.

Wash U senior Kennedy Young a Rhodes finalist

Founded STL Re-Entry Collective

By Sophie Hurwitz

St. Louis American

The

Washington University

senior Kennedy Young was recently named a finalist for the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship. However, most of Young’s work resides in the spaces between the academy and the grassroots activism she’s enmeshed herself in since arriving in St. Louis three years ago. When she first arrived at Wash U, Young said, she felt frustrated by the “Wash U bubble” -that is, the student population’s isolation from the broader St. Louis community.

“I felt like being a college student, I was really removed from the general St. Louis community, and I don’t think that the community that I have on campus is representative of the community of St. Louis,” she said. So, she asked professors and friends how to break out of that sphere and engage more deeply with St. Louis.

The first cracks in that bubble appeared with an internship at ArchCity Defenders, which solidified Young’s desire to work in prison reform and abolition. She said she then became a tutor with Wash U’s incarcerated student program, and during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic founded the STL Re-Entry Collective, a mutual aid group dedicated to meeting the basic needs of those recently released from jail. All this work, Young said, taught her things that she

wasn’t able to access in the classroom.

“It’s one thing to sit in class and talk about the Delmar divide or talk about people experiencing homelessness, or being incarcerated, but it’s different when you’re actually working with people who are experiencing these things,” she said.

Along with a group of formerly-incarcerated people and allies, Young was inspired to found the STL Reentry Collective in July 2020.

According to the collective’s website, 44% of those incarcerated in Missouri will find themselves returning to jail at a later date, and those staggering recidivism rates can be decreased by ensuring that people have their basic needs met upon their return to the outside community.

“Sometimes, the most pressing things that you need are tied to money, like money for clothes, money for rent and things like that,” she said. “And so we already knew that formerly incarcerated people needed money and then the pandemic happened, and really heightened all of these different inequalities.”

The collective ran a mutual aid fund, which is currently on hiatus after operating for several months and manages an online and print reentry resource guide.

Jami Ake, assistant dean in Arts & Sciences and a co-founder of the St. Louis Reentry Project, said Young’s experiences as a scholar, activist and public servant uniquely prepare her to tackle the stubborn challenge of criminal justice reform.

“What is particularly impressive about Kennedy is her remarkable ability to translate her academic learning from the classroom to the community and back again in the service of changing individual lives and the structures that limit those lives,” Ake wrote in her recommendation for the Rhodes.

For Young, the secret to being effectively involved in criminal justice reform is to listen to others: both inside and outside the classroom. In class, she said, she has read scholars like Angela Davis and Bryan Stevenson, who have helped her solidify her personal politics of prison abolitionism, but she emphasizes that learning can be found in the streets, too.

“Sometimes, the academy thinks that knowledge is only cultivated here,” she said. “But I’m a firm believer that knowledge is also cultivated outside, in the community, by activists. I think we need to do more of a bridging there.”

So, Young carries her practice of listening out of the classroom and into the wider community.

“People know what will work best for their community, what will work best for their lives,” she said. “And sometimes they just need someone to stand next to them and help them achieve what they already know they need.”

Kennedy Young

“Taking Care of You”

DePaul Hospital hosts food distribution event

place in the parking lot of DePaul Hospital in Bridgeton.

Nov.

The

500 vouchers given to people facing food insecurity

By JoAnn Weaver

“We

that’s affecting our patrons and affects their health, so this is something tangible that we can do as a hospital system to help serve our communities outside of the hospital and make sure that their health needs are met through good nutrition and food,”Stephanie Bellman, senior community health specialist at SSM Health, said.

Leaders, staff and volunteers distributed pre-assembled food boxes for each family that arrived with a voucher at the event.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for us to

reach neighbors who need nutritious food,” Carlton Adams, chief operating officer at Operation Food Search, said.

This collaboration brings together the resources of two major food banks in the area, according to Adams.

“When you think about the way food banks work, both of our organizations distribute to our neighbors through food pantries and soup kitchens,” he said. “However, since

Helps cognitive function, can reduce blood pressure

n Walking can also help lower blood pressure and blood sugar. 150 minutes of exercise is recommended weekly.

I recently listened to a radio program about the benefits of walking, and it caused me to reminisce about the way I feel when I go for long walks. One of my favorite activities is to wake up early on Saturday mornings and take a vigorous stroll through one of our local parks. I enjoy the quiet, the fresh air, but most importantly, I enjoy the way it makes me feel when done. I typically have this burst of energy that propels me for the rest of the weekend. As a busy professional mother of a young adult daughter and a teen-aged girl, I need all the energy I can get to manage such a lifestyle. However, what do scientists say about walking? Let’s start with cognitive function. For instance, in seniors, walking reduces the risk of depression, stress, and dementia. I frequently recommend walking as a first-line treatment for patients who are experiencing anxiety. Therapy paired with exercise is well tolerated and for most people produces significant improvement. Walking can also help lower blood pressure and blood sugar. 150 minutes of exercise is recommended weekly. This can be accomplished with walking. Not having a treadmill or gym membership should not stop you from walking. Mall walking or using your hallway can be the perfect locations to achieve your exercise goals. Both are safe and can be done in inclement weather. These methods are also great options if concerned about being in gyms during the COVID-19 pandemic. I recommend walking in malls to my patients when they give me excuses for not exercising. Mall walking is also great for individuals who may live in unsafe areas or neighborhoods that lack sidewalks or parks. I can’t talk about the importance of walking without also stressing the lack of walkable communities in minority neighborhoods. This disparity contributes to obesity and just overall poor health. As a community we must demand that where we live includes necessities such as banks, pharmacies, and grocery stores that are accessible without having to drive a car or take

County Executive Page tears into Missouri judge on lifting mask mandate

‘No evidence of omicron variant in St. Louis County’

By JoAnn Weaver

The St. Louis American

St. Louis County Executive Sam Page addressed a Missouri judge who declared public mask mandates in the state were “invalid” during his Monday briefing.

“Our fight against the COVID-19 pandemic was presented with two new challenges last week: the emergence of a new menacing variant on the other side of the globe and an uninformed court decision in another part of this state,” Page said. “Although both occurred outside of St. Louis, we will feel their effects.” Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green ruled Monday a state health department rule allowing local public health agencies to issue orders

to control the spread of disease were unconstitutional, according to the judgment document.

“The most recent challenge came last week when a Republican judge who has to run for re-election in a rural, Trump-loving county entered a ruling about masks in a lawsuit between radical anti-maskers and the attorney general,” Page said.

Green said the department did not have the authority to “permit naked lawmaking by bureaucrats across Missouri” on page seven of the lawsuit.

“Even though St. Louis County was never a party in the case, or even asked to provide this position, the judge purported to declare all of our

public health orders invalid,” Page said.

“How a judge can do that is for lawyers and the bar to decide, but we know this is dangerous. We know it undermines our strong COVID policies.”

The ruling went on to list how different functions of public health departments were also “invalid,” which Page mentioned in his briefing.

“Apparently, in that judge’s view of the world, our Department of Public Health should not be allowed to investigate dog bites, close a restaurant to prevent a hepatitis outbreak, control the spread of tuberculosis, or take actions to limit the spread of STDs,” he said. “This may be the kind of government-free world COVID deniers would

n The city has no plan to drop its mask mandate, despite the judge’s ruling.

want to impose on us, but it’s not the kind of world St. Louis County wants to live in.” This issue will be turned over to the County Council, according to Page.

“I hope that the people of St. Louis County will not get distracted by the legal wrangling and political posturing and not lose sight that

Louis Area Food

Photo by Wiley Price / St. Louis American

See ANDERSON, A15

Denise HooksAnderson, MD

Sam Page

“Taking Care of You”

Missouri to test drinking water for ‘forever chemicals’

EPA to set limits for PFAS next year

By Allison Kite Kaiser Health News

Missouri could start testing small drinking water systems for harmful “forever chemicals” by the end of the year as the federal government ramps up its own regulatory efforts.

Missouri Department of Natural Resources spokeswoman Susan Bloomer said the agency would start sampling drinking water systems serving fewer than 3,300 under a grant from EPA and finish ahead of the federal agency’s plan to sample larger systems.

The family of ubiquitous chemicals, known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, have been used in manufacturing since the 1940s and are commonly used in food wrappers, stain resistant fabrics, cleaning products, cosmetics and foams used by firefighters.

That widespread usage has allowed PFAS to contaminate drinking water in some places and expose residents to the

DePaul

Continued from A14

a lot of the people who work there are volunteers, many food pantries and soup kitchens have shut down because of the pandemic.”

Operation Food Search provides emergency food packs to numerous school districts, independent schools and community sites in addition to continuing their regular food distribution serving 200,000 people a month, according to their website.

“We’re happy to participate,” Adams said. “I think the collaborations are important because we serve many of the same neighbors, but every time we can expand our reach is another way to get the folks in need because maybe we’re not reaching them in a way we could.”

In addition to SSM Health and Operation Food Search, St. Louis Area Foodbank recognizes alleviating food insecurity is essential for ensuring good healthcare outcomes,

chemicals, which are linked to reduced kidney function, thyroid disorders and various pregnancy disorders, including low birth weight.

Earlier this month, the Environmental Protection Agency released a roadmap to rein in PFAS contamination.

according to a statement. President and CEO of St. Louis Area Foodbank Meredith Knopp said the collaborative event is set to distribute nutritious food and meals to over 500 families in the community.

“I think it’s important to recognize that hunger doesn’t take a holiday; there are a lot of families that are struggling, especially with higher food prices and basic necessities,” Knopp said. “This is our second distribution with SSM DePaul Hospital, and we have another one planned in December.”

This is the second food distribution event held at the hospital in 2021, according to a statement. In June, the same organizations collaborated to distribute food to more than 160 families.

SSM Health will continue partnering with Operation Food Search and the St. Louis Area Foodbank this year. A food fair event will be held Tuesday, Dec. 21 at SSM Health St. Joseph Hospital in St. Charles.

“We are at a different location each week doing these across our 26-county territoPage

Continued from A14 masks save lives and that wearing a mask and getting vaccinated are the best ways to protect them,” he said. Page went on to say there is no evidence to suggest that the new omicron variant is in St. Louis County. The city has no plan to drop its mask mandate, despite the judge’s ruling.

Anderson

Continued from A14

public transportation. Walking can also be utilized to achieve healthy weight

“We do believe that the city’s mask mandate is still in effect,” Nick Dunne, a spokesman for Mayor Tishaura O. Jones, said. The city Board of Aldermen extended the mask mandate on Tuesday, Nov. 23, the fourth time it had taken that action per state law that requires it be done every 30 days.

Dunne said Green’s ruling targets local-level health orders issued by the state Department of Health and

goals. Depending on your weight, the speed and length of walking, 140-300 calories can be burned per hour. Adding ankle or arm weights can increase these numbers. Burning calories shouldn’t be the only goal, however.

The plan includes “steps to control PFAS at its sources, hold polluters accountable, ensure science-based decision making and address the impacts on disadvantaged communities,” according to a release from the White House.

“For far too long, families

across America – especially those in underserved communities – have suffered from PFAS in their water, their air, or in the land their children play on,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a press release. “This comprehensive, national PFAS strategy will

EPA Administrator

Michael Regan recently unveiled the agency’s PFAS Strategic Roadmap at North Carolina State University. The plan, which includes Missouri, will begin with smaller water systems, then move to larger ones.

substances, increase monitoring and assess toxicity for certain chemicals.

Under the roadmap, all large drinking water systems will be tested for PFAS between 2023 and 2025. EPA is expected next year to set limits on PFAS in drinking water, much like it does for other contaminants, and require monitoring for the chemicals.

DNR previously tested for PFAS in water systems serving more than 10,000 people between 2013 and 2015, Bloomer said. It detected none. She said in 2016, Missouri University of Science and Technology assessed 15 water systems potentially in proximity to businesses using PFAS and found only low levels of the chemical at most of the sites.

A separate analysis by DNR and the U.S. Department of Defense identified PFAS contamination in Ozark Steel Fabricators’ well in Farmington. It had to be abandoned and the water supply replaced by the Farmington municipal provider.

deliver protections to people who are hurting, by advancing bold and concrete actions that address the full lifecycle of these chemicals. The roadmap sets out timelines to regulate PFAS in drinking water, designate certain chemicals as hazardous

“This roadmap will not solve our PFAS challenges overnight,” Regan said in an intro to the plan. “But it will turn the tide by harnessing the collective resources and authority across federal, Tribal, state, and local governments to empower meaningful action now.”

ry in Missouri and Illinois,” Knopp said. “This drive-thru food distribution model was

Senior Services, adding the city’s current mandate wasn’t issued under that authority.

Page said there is no evidence to suggest that the omicron variant is in St. Louis County.

On Tuesday, Dr. Clay Dunagan talked about what is known so far about the variant in the St. Louis Pandemic Task Force briefing.

“It’s been reported in South Africa, but a number of countries in the world have already identified patients

one we had before the pandemic for efficiency to feed as many families as we can quick-

who have COVID infections with omicron,” Dunagan said. “It appears to be easily transmitted and perhaps more so than delta, although we don’t know that for sure yet, but there is no reason to believe that it won’t sweep across the world and become a new variant for us to worry about.”

Dunagan said it is “uncertain” how quickly the new variant will spread across the globe. According to the map in the briefing, cases have been identified in Canada.

Walking up hills can strengthen your core and leg muscles. A strong core will help support your back and prevent injuries. Since the pandemic hindered our ability to spend time with our family and friends, walking is a healthy way to start to gather again with our loved ones. This time of the year provides a beautiful backdrop with the changing colors in the trees. Walking can also be an alternative to unhealthy options such as overeating at restaurants.

with SSM Health takes food to waiting cars during the food drive in the parking lot of DePaul Hospital in Bridgeton.

ly, but it is something we have really perfected through the COVID-19 pandemic because we want everyone to be safe.”

“There are a lot of travel restrictions being imposed on individuals leaving South Africa, and those may slow it down some, but I think… it’ll soon be widespread,” Dunagan said. “Right now, what we’re looking for is information about how the mutations of the omicron variant effect … how easily it can be transmitted, how serious the disease it causes is, and if the mutations cause it to escape the immunity caused by either vaccination or natural infection.”

Nationally, President Biden said the variant is “cause for concern, not a cause for panic.”

“Sooner or later, we’re going to see cases of this new variant here in the United States,” he said. “We’ll have to face this new threat, just as we faced those that have come before it.” Biden urged those 18 and older who are at least six months out from their second vaccine shot to get the booster.

Operation Food Search volunteer Theresa Reisinger

Photo by Wiley Price / St. Louis American

Photo by Lisa Sorg / NC Policy Watch

PRESENT:

PRESENT:

Nutrition Challenge:

When we’re lucky enough to have a chance to go out for dinner, there are a few ways to stay healthy with our food

Dining Out.

What Is ASize?Serving

GRAINS

Don't Skip Breakfast!

Keep ‘em Whole!

The Smart Way!

Nature’s Colors

Warm Up & Cool Down

Do This. Not That!

Exercise Game

First Day of Spring!

Helping Others

Tech-Neck

for several different reasons.

We each need at least 3 servings per day of whole grains. But what does that mean? How can we know what foods contain whole grains?

See if the restaurant will let you “share” a meal. Many meals are two, three or more times an actual serving size.

In our “Super-Size” world, we can easily lose track of what an actual serving size means. When reading labels on a food or drink product, you can determine the nutrients, sodium, fiber, sugar and calories of a serving size. But be careful; just because it looks like one small bottle

Cola

Look at the ingredients list of a package of food you are about to eat. If the word “whole” is used, then there is most likely a whole grain ingredient. A few items that don’t use the word whole

As soon as you’ve divided your plate into the right size servings, ask your server for a to-go box. Go ahead and box up what you don’t need to eat right away. You can enjoy

Exercise Challenge:

Let’s make a game out of exercise!

Healthy Kids

Healthy Kids

Healthy Kids

Healthy Kids

If we divide the word, “breakfast” into two words we have BREAK & FAST. To “fast” means to go for a long period of time without eating. By the time morning comes, most of us haven’t eaten for sometimes ten hours or more! Our body needs a nutritious, healthy breakfast to start the new day. Kids who eat a healthy breakfast are better able to focus at school, tend to eat better (healthier) throughout the day and will have

those leftovers for lunch the next day!

are popcorn, wheatberries, brown rice and wild rice.

> Decide you’re going to switch from soda to water.

> Ask the server how the different menu items are prepared. Fried, sautéed, and

lifestyle. You can do this by forming new habits. For example, if you decide to eliminate sugary drinks completely, it only takes a few weeks until this becomes what you’re used to.

Here are the steps to making a healthy permanent change. We‘ll use the sugary drink change as an example.

First, locate either a deck of cards or two dice.

Getting plenty of whole grains in your diet can improve your health and reduce your chance for some chronic illnesses such as stroke, diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure. Visit wholegrainscouncil.com for more information.

Cocoa Puffers Cereal

more energy. Try including whole grains, fruits and proteins into your breakfast for a nice healthy start to your day!

> Start by substituting one drink per day to water.

> Avoid gravies, cheese sauces and other kinds of toppings that often just add fat and calories.

Rhonda Watson-Martin, BSN, RN

Weekly Newspaper in Education Program

Melissa Douglass, MSW

Try This: Make your own healthy granola bars or small baggies of trail mix. Many recipes can be found online and having them ready-to-go will make mornings easier!

> After 3-4 weeks, this change will become a habit.

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

of soda — it may not be considered one serving size. For example, a 20-oz bottle contains 2.5 servings. So if the bottle states “110 calories per serving,” that means the entire bottle contains a total of 275 calories! Remember to watch those serving sizes and you’ll have better control over what you’re eating and drinking.

> Stick with water to drink. Not only will you save money, but you won’t be adding in extra calories from a sugarfilled drink.

> Every few days increase the amount of water and decrease your soda intake.

Learning Standards:

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

> What are other ways to stay healthy while dining out?

When you automatically reach for water instead of soda, it has now become a lifestyle change!

Latoya Woods, DNP, APRN, FNP-C

Yonniece Rose, Registered Nurse

Where do you work? I am a family nurse practitioner for BJC Medical Group.

Where do you work? I am a school nurse with St. Louis Public Schools.

Where do you work? I am the founder and distance counselor for Goal Driven Counseling, LLC.

Where do you work? I am a school nurse at Monroe Elementary School.

even simmered can all mean, “cooked in oil.” Instead, choose baked or grilled options.

As spring approaches, warmer weather allows us all to get more outdoor exercise. Here are some ways to become a more active person.

Now that the weather isn’t so hot, and before it gets really cold outside, take a nature walk around your neighborhood. See how many different kinds of trees you see,

and how many different color leaves. Walk briskly enough to get your heart rate up, but bring a notebook to document your findings. Why is it important to increase your heart rate?

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

Secondly, when you are finished with any kind of strenuous (very active) exercise, take some time to cool down. You can slowly stretch your arms and

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

Instead of watching TV — ride your bike with friends.

legs again, and continue with reduced speed movements until your heart rate begins to slow down.

Learning Standards:

Try walking this same route every few days to observe the change in the leaves. How many different colors do you see? Did you find any trees whose leaves weren’t turning or any that have already lost all of its leaves?

Where did you go to school? I graduated from McCluer North High School. I earned an Associate of Applied Science in Nursing from Meramec College in Kirkwood and completing my bachelor’s degree at Webster University in Webster Groves.

March 20, 2021, is the first day of spring. With spring comes warmer weather and longer days (later sunset). Make it a habit to spend as much time playing outside as the weather allows.

It’s important that before you embark on any kind of exercise to remember two things: warm up and cool down. Start with some slow stretches and movement (like walking) to increase your heart rate a little. Warm up for a good five minutes before increasing your heart rate.

Instead of playing video games — play baseball, football, badminton, or some other active game.

Instead of surfing the ‘Net — go for a brisk walk around the neighborhood.

Let’s think of some ways to spread holiday cheer to others this year!

Some fun outdoor games to play include tag, kickball, basketball, Frisbee, and bicycling. Choose activities that increase your heart rate

Next you’ll need to make a list of different types of exercise: jumping jacks, sit-ups, lunges, etc. Write each exercise item on a small piece of paper or index

> NEVER walk on a “frozen” pond, lake, river or any other body of water. Just because it looks frozen does not mean it is safe.

Break into small groups and define what it means to be a bully. Share your ideas with the class. Did you have the same things listed (as the other groups) that you would consider as bullying behavior? Now back in your groups, create a newspaper ad that includes at least two of the following:

> Safely bake healthy holiday snacks and deliver them to someone who serves the community and has to work on Christmas day (police, firemen, nurses, doctors, etc.)

card and fold into a small square. Put these squares into a bowl. Take turns rolling the dice (or drawing a card) and selecting an exercise from the bowl. The total number on the dice or card tells you how many of the exercise you must do. Face cards (king,

and breathing. You want to have fun, but it’s also a great way to help keep your heart, lungs and body healthy. Make a list of your favorite 10 activities to do outdoors. Compare your list with your classmates and create a chart to see what are the most popular.

Can you think of other ways to be more active? Going outside and staying active not only increases your heart rate and burns calories, but it also helps you build friendships!

This warm-up and recovery period is important for your heart health. It also helps to reduce the amount of muscle pulls and strains.

Learning Standards: HPE1, HPE 2, HPE 5, NH 1, NH 5

queen or jack) should all count as the number 10. Aces are “wild” and you can do as many as you want! To really challenge yourself, have one person roll the dice and the second can select the exercise. See who can complete the exercise challenge first!

Learning

Where did you go to school? I graduated from McCluer High School. I then earned a Bachelor of Nursing and a Master of Nursing Practice from the University of Missouri – St. Louis. And finally, I earned a Doctorate of Nursing Practice from Maryville University.

Where did you go to school? I graduated from Whitney Young Magnet High School in Chicago, IL: same as former first lady Mrs. Michelle Obama. I then earned a Bachelor of Science in Social Work, and a Master of Social Work from the University of Missouri – St. Louis. I also completed two more years of supervision and exams to become a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in the state of Missouri.

Where did you go to school? I graduated from Sumner High School. I then earned Associate Degree in Nursing from Forest Park College and a BS in Business Administration from Columbia College.

The survival rate for infants born at 28 weeks gestation (7 months) is between 80-90%. Most pregnancies last 40 weeks. I educate families and prepare them for some of the obstacles that come along with having a premature infant. I also take pride in educating new nurses and preparing them as they transition into the role of a neonatal intensive care nurse (NICU RN).

What does a school nurse do? I love giving students medications, so they’re able to focus on learning. I clean and bandage wounds. I use medical equipment like a stethoscope, for example, to evaluate whether or not my asthmatics are breathing well. Moreover, I teach and promote healthy habits to my students.

What does a Licensed Clinical Social Worker do? I use technology to help teens and young adults explore their emotions, better understand their feelings, work through relationships, and address common challenges completely online through a computer, tablet, or smart phone. Similar to a Facetime call, I support and guide my clients from the comfort of their home or private location where they are comfortable

> What to do if you see someone else bullied.

> Make some holiday decorations or cards that could be donated to a local nursing home.

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

Learning Standards: HPE 2, HPE 4, HPE 5, NH 1

What does a family nurse practitioner do? Each day I have office visits with patients to help treat new health conditions and/or manage established health conditions. I perform physical examinations on patients, order labs, read x-rays results, and more.

How much time do you spend each day looking down at a phone, laptop or video game?

> If you are with someone that falls through the ice, first run (or call) for help. Do not try to go out onto the ice to help your friend. You can fall through the ice too.

Chiropractors around the country see young patients every day suffering from back, neck and head-aches resulting from the extra strain you put on your body when you look down for long periods of time.

> Clean out your closets and donate your unused coats. Many families cannot afford new winter coats this season.

> How bullying hurts others.

A BMI (Body Mass Index) is a generic way to calculate where your weight falls into categories (thin, average, overweight, obese). However, it’s a good idea to remember that a BMI may not take into consideration many things such as athleticism (how athletic you are), your bone density and other factors. Discuss your BMI with your

> What to do if you are bullied.

> What to do if YOU are the bully.

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

doctor if you have any questions. The formula to calculate your BMI is 703 X weight (lbs) ÷ height (in inches/squared) or search “BMI Calculator” to find an easy fill-in chart online. If your number is high, what are some ways to lower your BMI?

> Collect canned goods for local families to have plenty of food over the holidays.

1. Most importantly — take breaks! Have a goal of a 3 minute break every 15-20 minutes. Move around, stretch your neck and relax, without looking down!

> Also — remember to look up! Icicles injure numerous people every year. If you see large icicles forming over your front steps, ask your parents to use a broom handle to knock them off to the side before they break loose from your gutters.

Cracker-wiches

Ingredients:

8 Saltine crackers

Easy Hummus Dip

> What are some other things you could do to make a difference in the lives of others this holiday season?

Learning Standards: HPE 2, NH 2, NH 8

Why did you choose this career? I chose this career to help improve the health of my community.

Why did you choose this career? I’ve been a NICU nurse for 20 years. I came from a generation of nurses in my family and I believe I was born with this passion. I am extremely passionate about being a nurse and love the opportunities nursing provides, helping and caring for others.

Why did you choose this career? I am a St. Louis native, and was an asthmatic child who experienced frequent hospitalizations. Besides having the influence of nurses in my family, the local nurses who helped take care of me were my “angels” and always managed to nurse me back to health, thus sparking my interest.

Why did you choose this career? I chose this career because I enjoy being a support to teens and young adults in a very challenging phase of life that can be overwhelming. I enjoy teaching them how to best take care of themselves so they can live healthy and fulfilling lives.

What does a school nurse do? I assess the concerns of students who are ill, injured or experiencing alterations in their normal health. Nurses screen daily staff, students and visitors for safety. Monroe School is a pilot school for Covid-19 test sites in partnership with the city. Why did you choose this career? I love nursing because there are many opportunities in hospitals, schools, clinics and offices, insurance, legal and research. My passion is working in the schools with students, parents, staff and community partners.

Look through the newspaper for examples of ad layouts and design. Discuss the words “compassion,” “empathy” and “sympathy.” How do they each play into your response to bullying at your school?

> What other ice hazards are there?

2. Set your tech device in a holder to keep it at eye level, reducing the need to look down.

Learning Standards: HPE 2, HPE 5, NH 4

Learning Standards: HPE 2, HPE 5, HPE 7, NH 5, NH 7

“Questions or comments? Contact Cathy Sewell csewell@stlamerican.com or 314-289-5422

A couple of quick tips that will reduce that strain on your neck are:

> When walking on icecovered roadways or sidewalks, take baby steps. Walk carefully and slowly.

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

Frozen Yogurt Blueberry Bites

Ingredients:

4 Tbsp Peanut butter

Ingredients:

Ingredients: 1/2 Cp Vanilla Greek yogurt, 3 Tbsp Natural peanut butter, 1 Ripe banana (sliced and frozen), Splash of vanilla (optional) 6 Ice cubes

2 Large Strawberries

1 15-Oz Can Garbanzo beans

1 cup blueberries

1 Garlic clove, crushed

1 Tbsp Honey (optional)

1 cup non-fat Greek Yogurt

2 Tsp Cumin, 1 Tsp Olive oil, ½ Tsp Salt Directions: Combine all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Enjoy with baked tortilla chips or raw vegetables.

Directions: Slice stale bagel into thin rounds. Brush lightly with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake 10-15 minutes in a 325 degree oven, until crisp.

Directions: Blend all ingredients until Smooth. Makes 2 yummy smoothies!

Directions: Spread peanut butter on four of the crackers and top with sliced strawberries. Drizzle with honey and top with the other crackers to make four cracker-wiches.

Directions: Drop each blueberry into the yogurt. Using a spoon, swirl around to coat and place each blueberry on a cookie sheet topped with parchment paper. Freeze for at least an hour.

What is your favorite part of the job you have? Many chronic health conditions (diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure) are preventable, and early detection is key. Thus my favorite part of the job is partnering with patients to establish and manage a plan to help them each live a long and healthy life.

What is your favorite part of the job you have? I enjoy when a child tells you, “I want to be a nurse.” And best of all, I love the smiles, hugs and “thank-yous”.

What is your favorite part of the job you have? I get to witness the joy of a family taking home their baby that was at some point critically ill. These premature babies go through so much being born early; and to see them when they finally get to go home is an amazing experience, one I get to experience often. I love that I get to interact with babies all day on both a physical and developmental level.

Learning Standards: HPE6, NH3

Learning Standards: HPE6, NH3

What is your favorite part of the job you have?

What is your favorite part of the job you have? I love that my job makes talking about mental health not as scary and even makes it kind of cool. I love that I get to build valuable relationships with so many people that trust me to be there for them. I love that no matter where my clients are, we can simply connect with a video call and I can not only support them through hard times, but lots of good times as well.

“Questions or comments? Contact Cathy Sewell csewell@stlamerican.com or 314-289-5422

My childhood health challenges have given me sensitivity to children suffering with illness. After being given a new lease on life, I consider it an honor to be in a position to promote health to the children of my community, in whatever capacity I serve – in turn, being their “angel.”

Learning Standards: HPE6, NH3

Learning Standards: HPE 6, NH 3

Learning Standards: HPE6, NH3

“Questions or comments? Contact Cathy Sewell csewell@stlamerican.com or 314-289-5422

“Questions or comments? Contact Cathy Sewell csewell@stlamerican.com or 314-289-5422

“Questions or comments? Contact Cathy Sewell csewell@stlamerican.com or 314-289-5422

Banana PB Smoothie

Deborah Edwards, School Nurse

Entrepreneur TeByron Graham surviving, thriving during pandemic

TeByron Graham’s Freddie G’s Chicken and Waffles restaurant has bucked a trend during the pandemic. According to FORBES, Black business ownership declined more than 40% between February and April of 2020, and a House Committee on Small Business report concluded that Black businesses suffered the largest number of closures among any ethnic group in America due to the pandemic.

“We entrepreneurs have to adapt to what is ‘regular’ now as opposed to what it was two years ago.”

Sylvester Brown, Jr.

The St. Louis American

TeByron Graham, 46, couldn’t have predicted a pandemic sweeping the globe when he decided to open a new business.

In late 2019, he signed a lease to a building at 1435 Salisbury Street, not far from downtown. He planned to open a restaurant even though the previous restaurateur had closed her shop. TeByron (who prefers to be called Byron or “TB”) wasn’t deterred. He was convinced he

had a unique concept for St. Louis. The idea was inspired by a place he’d visited in 2018, “Lo-Lo’s Chicken & Waffles.”

Self-taught, Graham operated a barbershop across the street from the building he settled on after a year-long search. Without blinking, he decided to step away from the profession he’d practiced for 21 years and open “Freddie G’s

Chicken and Waffles.” He planned to open within the first months of 2020, but the pandemic derailed his plans. Thankfully, he used his savings and paid three months upfront on his lease. The landlord also worked with him until Graham was ready to open the venture in July officially. Surviving months of lockdowns and mandates, Freddie G’s opened to a consumer base that seemed anxious to escape quarantine and try something new. Today,

Dr. James T. Minor named SIUE’s 10th Chancellor

By Sophie Hurwitz

The St. Louis American

Southern Illinois University President Dan Mahony has named James T. Minor, PhD, as the 10th chancellor of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

The selection is pending formal SIU Board of Trustees approval, slated for Thursday, Dec. 2. Minor will assume his duties on March 1, 2022. A sociologist by training, Minor joins SIUE after a decade and a half in higher education, most of that time spent in administration.

“Dr. Minor is a straightforward and innovative leader who has the vision to maintain a positive trajectory for the entire SIUE community,” Mahony said. “Those are qualities we heard repeatedly from individuals at the previous institutions he served as well as students, faculty and staff in Edwardsville as we performed our due diligence to find the best leader for SIUE.” Minor most recently served as assistant vice chancellor and senior strategist in the Office of the Chancellor at California State University, which recently posted the highest graduation rates in its history. He has successfully advo-

James T. Minor, PhD.

cated for hundreds of millions of dollars in support of graduation initiatives and served as principal investigator for $7.5 million in funded programs and research. Prior to his post at California State University, Minor served as deputy assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Education, where he administered more than $7 billion in federal higher education programming. He has also served as an educational leader in the government sphere. In 2014, Minor was appointed by the Obama Administration as the Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Office of Postsecondary Education in the U.S. Department of Education, initially under Secretary Arne Duncan, then under Secretary John King Jr. until 2016.

PeoPle on the Move

Del Villar to lead Civil Rights agency

‘Mo’ Del Villar

Mayor Tishaura O. Jones recently announced the appointment of Monica “Mo” Del Villar as head of the Civil Rights Enforcement Agency. Del Villar joins the City of St. Louis from the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri, where she worked as a legislative and policy associate evaluating, reviewing, drafting, and editing state and local legislation on issues including voting rights, criminal & juvenile justice reform, First Amendment protections, reproductive freedom, LBGTQ advocacy, and immigrants’ rights. Prior to joining the ACLU of Missouri, she served as director of interim legal talent at Major, Lindsey & Africa.

See GRAHAM, B2 Hogan named SVP and director of DEI

n “Dr. Minor is a straightforward and innovative leader who has the vision to maintain a positive trajectory for the entire SIUE community.”

– Southern Illinois University President Dan Mahony

Minor will now be bringing that experience to SIUE, one of the area’s major educational institutions. In his role as chancellor, he will be leading a university that educates over 13,000 students each year.

“I am truly honored and excited about the opportunity to serve as the 10th Chancellor at SIUE,” Minor said. “The institution has made tremendous strides but is also well-positioned to extend its reach and impact. As we emerge from perhaps the most challenging season of our lifetime, I believe that SIUE will rise to advance its

Felecia Hogan has been promoted to senior vice president and director of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) at Commerce Bank. Previously, she served as Commerce’s senior vice president of operations where she led a team of 185 people in support of the bank’s commercial payment business. During her 28-year career with Commerce, Hogan has held various leadership positions and has a long history of managing large teams, developing talent and giving back to her community as well as being closely involved in the development of Commerce’s DEI efforts.

Pruitt-Adams appointed acting superintendent

Joylynn PruittAdams

Riverview Gardens School District announced the appointment of Joylynn Pruitt-Adams, Ed.D. as acting superintendent, effective November 15. Pruitt-Adams will lead the district following the announcement of Scott Spurgeon’s leave of absence until June 30, 2022 and his retirement on that date. Pruitt-Adams most recently served as superintendent of Oak Park and River Forest High School District 200 in Oak Park, Ill. Prior to her time at Oak Park and River Forest, Pruitt-Adams served as the superintendent of schools in the School District of University City.

Anderson named asset building counselor

Justine PETERSEN recently welcomed Ashley Anderson to its asset-building team in St. Louis. Anderson brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in the financial services field to her new position as an asset-building counselor. Specifically, she will launch and manage a pilot program that will refinance high interest rate auto loans found on credit reports of current JP borrowers. Additionally, she will intake, process and close consumer loans.

board appointment, new hire, award... please submit your People on the Move item (including photo) to kjones@stlamerican.com

Monica

Felecia Hogan

Photo by Sylvester Brown Jr.

Ashley Anderson

Continued from B1

Graham is looking to franchise the operation and add other ventures to his resume of entrepreneurial endeavors.

From a statistical standpoint, Graham is one of the lucky black business owners. According to Forbes.com, Black business ownership declined more than 40% between February and April of 2020 alone. The findings were based on a House Committee on Small Business report, which concluded that Black businesses suffered the largest drop among any ethnic group in America due to the pandemic.

Perhaps it was Graham’s upbringing that toughened him for the unexpected. He started cutting hair at the tender age of 13. Graham said he was inspired by relatives who bought land and uncles who operated their own limousine and trucking companies as a teen.

“I was always around entrepreneurs and blue-collar workers who became entrepreneurs. They just jumped into it,” he said. “I guess that’s where my fearlessness came from. Plus, I’m a firm believer in God. Instead of investing in a 9-to-5, I’ve always invested in me, and I’ve never let me down.”

Graham said he didn’t want to spend the rest of his life cutting hair. So, in 2012, he launched a line of energy drinks called “Zero2/60.” It’s manufactured by the same company that created the formula for rapper Nelly’s non-carbonated energy drink, “Pimp Juice.” This month, Graham plans to launch new flavors for his drink, including pineapple, green apple and orange. Graham is a divorcee with

Minor

Continued from B1

mission in new ways to serve the region, state and nation.”

A Detroit native, Minor went South for college and

four daughters and three sons. Adhering to the “pay it forward” mantra, he said he works hard to keep his kids and other young relatives involved in his enterprises. Two of his nephews deliver his energy drinks to vendors. They also work at Freddie G’s as a waiter and manager. Next year, he plans to open an ice cream shop on Washington Avenue downtown. Although he plans to run the operation, in theory, the shop will belong to his 7-yearold daughter.

“I just expect her to be a sponge, soaking up information

n “I was always around entrepreneurs or blue-collar workers who became entrepreneurs. They just jumped into it. I guess that’s where my fearlessness came from.”

– Byron Graham, owner of Freddie G’s Chicken & Waffles

from me,” he said. “I want to give her a head start, so when she graduates high school, she can venture on to more and more things other than an ice cream parlor. Who knows, she might have her own Coldstone ice creamery franchise.”

Although Graham wants his businesses to inspire young, black entrepreneurs, he hopes they never limit themselves to only serving the black community.

“It’s bigger than just our neighborhood,” he said. “My goal for Freddie G’s is to franchise it. I’m looking at a spot in O’Fallon, then St. Charles, then Columbia and Cape Girardeau. Before I named the restaurant after my grandfather, Freddie Graham, I thought

received his B.S. in Sociology from Jackson State University, an environment to which he credits his interest in serving students from diverse backgrounds and students who are the first in their families to attend college. After his time at Jackson State, Minor

about naming it ‘St. Louis Chicken & Waffles.’ Then I thought, ‘Nah!’ I want this to become a Midwest restaurant franchise.” Graham describes entrepreneurism as a 24/7 undertaking. He’s the producer of a weekly program called “Press Play Sports Talk Show” on the new AH TV Network. The show featuring former athletes he met at his barbershop previously ran on the local ABC 30 affiliate. At least 30 episodes are streaming on YouTube.

Even during an ongoing pandemic, Graham is still planning new ventures. Not satisfied with a talk show, energy drink company and a restaurant, Graham said he plans to break ground on a 5-star hotel with a garage attached and lofts on the top floors next year.

“I want to be the Joe Edwards (University City developer) of St. Louis,” he said.

He added that the new development-a block from Freddie G’s, near Highway 70, will be the perfect spot for out-of-towners who frequent the new NGA headquarters or overnight visitors of the upcoming soccer stadium downtown.

Being able to adapt to any situation quickly was the key to surviving COVID, Graham said. It’s also the main ingredient for creating your own legacy.

“We entrepreneurs have to adapt to what is ‘regular’ now as opposed to what it was two years ago,” he said. “We can’t allow the slow moments to make us think we’re failing. As an entrepreneur, you must be able to reinvent yourself and adjust to whatever is going on around us.”

Sylvester Brown Jr. is The St. Louis American’s inaugural Deaconess Fellow.

received a master’s degree at the University of NebraskaLincoln, and his Ph.D. in educational leadership and policy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. SIUE Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Jessica Harris, PhD, served as the Chancellor Search Advisory Committee Chair, leading a 28-person committee comprising faculty, staff, students and community stakeholders. Executive search firm WittKiefer assisted the search committee.

“Dr. Minor is a recognized thought leader in the field of higher education,” stated Harris. “He is a collaborative, mission-driven and equity-minded change agent who will lead SIUE in its response to a number of higher education’s most pressing challenges; in particular, the persistence of inequities.”

“Much progress and growth has occurred at SIUE these last several years; however, challenges remain,” Harris added. “I am confident that with Dr. Minor’s leadership, the best is yet to come for SIUE and I look forward to his arrival.”

Graham

The pandemic postponed the opening of Freddie G’s Chicken and Waffles, but once open owner TeBryron Graham started whipping up his recipes and customers have kept business booming through difficult economic times.

Photo by Sylvester Brown Jr.

Sports

InSIdE SportS

By Earl Austin Jr.

Cadets march to state title with 48-21 win over Liberty North

The CBC Cadets have reclaimed their position as the top large school football program in the state of Missouri.

Behind a dominant defensive effort, the Cadets throttled Liberty North 48-21 to win the Class 6 state championship last Saturday at Faurot Field on the campus of the University of Missouri-Columbia.

The Cadets have won three state championships in the past five years. They went back-to-back in 2017-18 before returning to the Show-Me Bowl this season. The Cadets’ defensive unit forced five Liberty North turnovers and scored two touchdowns.

Senior Justus Johnson scored on a 55-yard interception return while linebacker Michael Teason scored on a 37-yard fumble recovery. All-State defensive end Tyler Gant had an interception and a fumble recovery while Kendall Hutson also had an interception and a quarterback sack.

Junior running back Jeremiyah Love rushed for 127 yards and two touchdowns, including a 62-yard TD run which opened the scoring in the first quarter.

The Cadets finished the season with a 12-1 record, with the team’s only loss coming to Area teams Show-Me Bowl bound

The St. Louis area will have three more teams playing for state championships this weekend in Columbia. St. Mary’s continued its romp through the Class 3 state playoffs with a 62-12 victory over Mexico in the state semifinals last Saturday. The Dragons will face Kansas City St. Pius X for the state title at 11 a,m. Saturday.

Five-star prospect Kevin Coleman had a tremendous day for the Dragons as he scored four touchdowns. He scored on a 44-yard run, a 73-yard reception, a 48-yard punt return and an 89-yard kickoff return. Running back Jamal Roberts scored on runs of 93 and 12 yards and quarterback Canon Spann threw three touchdown passes.

Lutheran St. Charles will be making its first trip to the Show-Me Bowl after its 54-14 victory over Lafayette County in the Class 2 state semifinals. The Cougars will face perennial state power Lamar for the state championship at 3 p.m. Friday.

Senior running back A.J. Harris led the Cougars’ onslaught as he rushed for 123 yards and scored four touchdowns. He also added 71 yards receiving, giving him nearly 200 yards of total offense on the day.

Lutheran St. Charles will join St. Mary’s as the second team from the Archdiocesan Athletic Association to play for a state title this weekend.

Wentzville Holt will also be playing for a state title this weekend after defeating Fort Osage 34-14 in the Class 5 semifinals. The Indians must now face perennial state championship caliber Webb City for the title at 7 p.m. Friday.

Hoop teams win tourney titles

Several boys’ basketball teams opened the season by winning tournaments over Thanksgiving

weekend. Vashon won the Kevin Brown Memorial Tournament of Champions in Washington, Illinois. The Wolverines defeated Chicago St. Rita 59-52 in the championship game to complete a 4-0 weekend. Junior Kennard Davis Jr. was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament. University City defeated Fort Zumwalt North 69-48 to win the St. Francis Borgia Turkey Tournament for the second consecutive season. Senior guard Larry Abbey Jr. took home MVP honors for U. City. Lift for Life won the championship of the Metro East Thanksgiving Tournament, defeating the host school in the championship game. East St. Louis won the championship of the RPS 205 Tip-Off Tournament in Rockford, Illinois.

SportS EyE

With Alvin A. Reid

Lee Elder, the first Black golfer to compete in The Masters in Augusta, Georgia, died Sunday, Nov. 28, 2021, at the age of 87 in Escondido, California, There is a St. Louis connection to Elder’s historic career. He earned his birth in The Masters by winning the Monsanto Open in Pensacola, Florida on April 21, 1974. Monsanto’s world headquarters was in St. Louis County. It was impossible for Elder and other Black golfers to play in any PGA of America tournament until the organization eliminated its “Caucasians-only” rule. It was 14 years after Jackie Robinson first took the field with the Brooklyn Dodgers. In 1967, Elder finished ninth out of 122 players in PGA qualifying school to earn his place on the PGA Tour, He paid the $10,00 entry fee himself.

Hassan Haskins dominates Ohio State

Hassan Haskins has added his name to the folklore which surrounds the great Ohio StateMichigan football rivalry. The former Eureka High standout rushed for 169 yards and scored five touchdowns to lead the Wolverines to a 42-27 victory over the Buckeyes. Haskins carried the ball 28 times and averaged six yards per attempt. The victory snapped the Wolverines’ eightgame losing streak against its arch-rival, plus it clinched the championship of the Big Ten Conference East Division. The 6’1” 225-pound senior running back has been a workhorse for the Wolverines throughout the season. He has rushed for 1,232 yards while scoring 18 touchdowns. He has averaged five yards per carries.

Golf legend Lee Elder, Masters first Black player, passes away

the fifth hole of a sudden death playoff.

The Masters had announced in 1972 that an invitation would go to any player who won on the PGA Tour. After winning the Monsanto Open, Elder played in the 1975 Masters. He had to deal with death threats by phone and mail.

Alvin A. Reid

The following year, he tied Jack Nicklaus in the American Golf Classic in Akron, Ohio, after 72 holes, before losing on

He told CNN in 2015 that he was warned “to check behind every tree” during his rounds

“It was frightening. That was part of the reason for renting two houses. We did not want the people to know where I was staying.”

Elder was honored during the 2021 Masters and hit ceremonial first drives with Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player.

Region forces Kroenke, NFL to punt

The St. Louis region scored a touchdown worth a lot more than seven points. Try $790 million.

With a trial date set for early January pitting St. Louis, St. Louis County and

the Regional Convention and Sports Complex Authority against the NFL, the league and L.A. Rams owner Stan Kroenke caved in. St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones and County Executive Sam Page released a joint statement on Wednesday saying, “Today, St. Louis City, County, and the Regional Convention and Sports Complex Authority signed a $790 million settlement agreement with Rams owner

Lee Elder, the first Black golfer to play in The Masters in Augusta, Georgia, died Sunday, Nov. 28, 2021. He participated in the 54th Senior PGA Championship in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, in 1993 and watches as one of his shots sails.

Stan Kroenke and the National Football League.”

“This historic agreement closes a long chapter for our region, securing hundreds of millions of dollars for our communities while avoiding the uncertainty of the trial and appellate process.” Jones and Page reminded the region that some tough decisions lie ahead. Today’s victorious allies could become foes as negotiations begin on how the jackpot will be divid-

ed. “The City, County, and STLRSA are still determining how settlement funds will be allocated. We will provide more updates as they become available,” the statement said.

The talks will also include the attorneys that represented the region in the case. Are their respective firms really going to take home 35 percent of the prize as specified in contracts when they too on the case?

Look for that debate to go into overtime.

My guess is the St. Louis Cardinals, St. Louis Blues and MLS expansion franchise St. Louis City will try to get a piece of the settlement pie.

The respective franchise owners could base requests on the impact losing the Rams had on the region’s economy. A share of the $790 million could help them enhance facilities and put better teams on the field/ice, thus helping the region recoup some of those lost Rams’ dollars.

Once the settlement is divided, there probably will be an ask. The answer should be no.

The Reid Roundup Lee Elder was not the first Black golfer to win a PGA Tournament. Pete Brown in 1964 and Charlie Sifford in 1967 and 1969, won PGA Tour events… Grambling State kicker Garrett Urban made a 25-yard field goal to beat Southern University 29-26 in the 2021 Bayou Classic on Saturday, Nov. 27. Nearly 68,000 attended the game in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, the largest attendance on record since the game returned to the city after Hurricane Katrina, event leaders said… Wilberforce University announced its baseball program will return after an 80-year absence. Support from the Cincinnati Reds is helping bring baseball back to the nation’s oldest private HBCU… Michigan State University will offer head football coach Mel Tucker a 10-year, $95 million contract extension that would make him the highest-paid Black coach in American sports, according to the Lansing State Journal.

Earl Austin Jr.

Cameron Brown (8), Keion Willis (90) and another CBC teammate celebrate a touchdown in the Cadets’ 48-21 victory over Liberty North in the Class 6 state championship game in Columbia, Missouri

Photos by Nate Latsch / CBC High School

Photos courtesy of the PGA of America

NABJ to honor publisher of The Atlanta Voice with 2021 Legacy Award

The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) announced that Janis L. Ware, publisher of The Atlanta Voice, will receive its Legacy Award, a special honor presented during its 2021 Hall of Fame Inductees, Special Honors Recipients and Finalists ceremony.

The organization is holding the ceremony virtually, on Saturday, Dec. 4, at 7:30 p.m. ET, through a free video stream that will include special guests, entertainment and interactive features.

“I am extremely honored to be chosen to receive the NABJ Legacy Award,” Ware said. “Despite being a publisher of a

newspaper for over 30 years, I’m always surprised when someone takes the time to recognize the work that my organization and I have done.”

“We’ve been at it for 56 years and since taking over for my father J. Lowell Ware, The Atlanta Voice has managed to

provide our community with the information that it needs. And in the process, we’ve managed to continue to up our game. In my eyes, it isn’t Janis L. Ware receiving the NABJ 2021 Legacy Award, but Janis L. Ware and The Atlanta Voice because when you honor me, you’re acknowledging my team and the work that we will continue to do for another 56 years and more.”

During the virtual awards ceremony, NABJ will induct eight new members into its Hall of Fame and award 14 Special Honors to Black journalists and communicators from around the world.

$1 million gift will create scholarship for Black law students at Mizzou

The University of Missouri announced a $1 million gift from Stueve Siegel Hanson. The Kansas City-based firm will establish the Stueve Siegel Hanson Law Scholarship to support Black students at the MU School of Law, and the Stueve Siegel Hanson Fund for Press Freedom to support Alfred Friendly Press Partners at the Missouri School of Journalism.

Lyrissa Lidsky, dean of the MU School of Law and Judge C.A. Leedy Professor of Law, said the gift will help further enhance the school’s inclusion efforts.

“Increasing the diversity of the legal field is one of the most important goals of

Mizzou Law and is vital to ensuring an equitable and just society,” she said. “This gift will help advance our goal and will help many underrepresented minority students pursue their dreams of becoming lawyers and making a difference in our world.”

Part of the gift will support the Alfred Friendly Press Partners, which provides opportunities for journalists from countries with underdeveloped media to receive hands-on training in U.S. newsrooms — including MU’s Columbia Missourian and KOMU-TV. By establishing the Stueve Siegel Hanson Fund for Press Freedom, the firm will support a journalist work-

ing to improve the legal system or race relations in that individual’s home country. Patrick Stueve, co-founder of Stueve Siegel Hanson and treasurer of the Alfred and Jean Friendly Foundation Board, said the two gifts complement the firm’s commitment to the pursuit of justice. “We want to be an agent of positive change in the legal system,” Stueve said. “It is critical that we support diverse legal minds to serve as our next generation of attorneys, advocates, judges and legislators, and it is critical that we support journalists who can bring transparency and accountability to governments around the world.”

Janis L. Ware

Living It

SLSO’s IN UNISON

season returns with holiday favorite

A special kind of love

“A

Gospel Christmas” with Oleta Adams debuts Dec. 9

By Danielle Brown The St. Louis American

For one night only, supporters can attend the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and IN Unison Chorus’ annual “A Gospel Christmas” concert and hear the vocal stylings of Oleta Adams. The performance will be Thursday, Dec. 9 at 7:30 p.m at Powell Hall.

Composed of local community members, many of which belong to churches across the city, IN Unison Chorus, conducted under the leadership of Kevin McBeth, continues its seasonal tradition of more than 20 years. This year is extra special as it returns after pausing from last year’s coronavirus pandemic quarantine.

n In addition to the show SLSO’s hall is wonderfully decorated for everyone to come and take pictures around their big beautiful Christmas tree.

According to McBeth, this will be Adams’ third time performing with the orchestra. She did “A Gospel Christmas” performance in the past and most recently performed for a Black History Month concert in February. He said she’s a fanfavorite of the company and audience members. “We couldn’t think of anybody better to have this restart of joining us for gospel Christmas,” he said. Adams, the chorus, and the orchestra will perform various songs within the realm of traditional gospel and traditional Christmas music, including “Holy Is The Lamb,” “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” “Christmas Time Is Here,” and more. She said the music won’t sound like you’re inside a church, but it will be good music for everybody. She also said the music will put people in the holiday spirit.

“It helps us recall the time of innocence before we had to worry about tax payments, pandemics, and so forth,” she said. “It’s about family getting together and caring about others. It’s recalling fun times we’ve had, the things that made us smile when we didn’t have to put up shields to protect ourselves. Instead, we let our hair down and enjoyed the moment.”

In addition to the show, McBeth said SLSO’s hall is wonderfully decorated for everyone to come and take pictures around their big beautiful Christmas tree.

“We’ve worked hard, especially this year, to put the Christmas in Gospel Christmas,” he said. “It’ll be a warm and fuzzy evening that I think will touch people’s hearts, and they’ll really enjoy.”

See SLSO, C8

Artist

said

Lydia Caesar’s “Legendary Love” EP showcases monumental companionship

By Danielle Brown

Louis American

St.

The

Love doesn’t have to hurt and take a toll on your mental health.

Lydia Caesar stands firm in that belief and said her upcoming EP, “Legendary Love” promotes the narrative everyone deserves to have a love that’s monumental.

“I feel like if you’re genuinely giving of yourself, your heart and working on your relationship, then you deserve a love that will go down in history from the legacy you’ve built,” she said.

She said often in the music industry, listeners hear a lot of negativity in songs surrounding infidelity and not being loyal to your partner.

She said she wants her music to depict love differently from what’s being portrayed in the

n “I feel like if you’re genuinely giving of yourself, your heart and working on your relationship, then you deserve a love that will go down in history from the legacy you’ve built.”

- Lydia Caesar

current climate.

“There are examples of love out here that

fight through the hard times and are trying to build something,” she said.

She said when listeners hear the EP’s tracklist, they’ll notice it isn’t perfect love songs, but it’s attention grabbing songs that highlight being loved the right way. According to her, some of the inspiration behind the songs come from a legendary love of her own, her relationship with her husband. They’ve been married for almost eight years and met when they were living in New York around the same time. She said after their first encounter, they fell in love quickly and were inseparable. They relocated from New York after he received a job offer at Nelly’s former Ex’treme Institute

Deck the Halls

Kirkwood alum makes directorial debut with “Kirk

Franklin’s A Gospel Christmas”

By Danielle Brown The St. Louis American

Typically, the average 18-year-old doesn’t have their life figured out or know what they want to do professionally.

Erica Sutherlin’s story looks different. At 18, she vowed to dedicate her life’s mission to all facets of the arts, primarily theatre. She said she worked within the arts community as both an actress and a director for 20+ years, until one day, she reached a crossroad realizing it was time for a change.

After speaking with her sister on the phone, who lived in Florida, she said she learned about a new job opportunity. It involved her love for the arts in some capacity, but it was now a different route—teaching.

“I taught at a visual performing arts school in St. Petersburg, Florida for about ten years all while I was still acting and directing profession-

ally.” she said.

Although she was teaching, she said she always knew she wanted to venture into television and film. In 2014, she and one of her mentors co-wrote and produced a movie, introducing her to filmmaking.

Concluding the project, she went to film school, which led her to walk away from teaching and theatre in 2017.

“I cashed in my 401K, all the savings I had and went to USC [University of Southern California],” she said. “I took this intensive journey for three years learning about filmmaking from different perspectives.”

She said from making connections and networking, that’s how she became one of the writers on “Voodoo MacBeth,” a film that recently

screened at the 2021 St. Louis International Film Festival. While working on the film, she became good friends with the casting director, who introduced her to Mychael Chinn, a former Lifetime TV executive.

Mychael Chinn is the creative visionary behind Lifetime’s “Kirk Franklin’s A Gospel Christmas,” inspired by his experience growing up in the Black church. Sutherlin makes her directorial debut with the film alongside Kirk Franklin and Tracy “Twinkie” Byrd as executive producers and writer Kourtney Richard, who wrote a screenplay the film is based around.

Film, C8

See Love, C2

Photo courtesy of Lydia Caesar

Lydia Caesar

when listeners hear the EP’s tracklist, they’ll notice it isn’t perfect love songs, but it’s attention grabbing songs that highlight being loved the right way.

Photo courtesy of Oleta Adams Facebook page Oleta Adams

musical school.

Having lived in New York her whole life, Caesar said she was nervous about the initial move, but she became more comfortable as the pair became more involved in the local scene.

“We came here and said we’re gonna take St. Louis by storm doing everything possible to make a mark here,” she said. “We started a company, Sauce Records, producing shows and recording songs with different artists. Our love was the fuel to everything we have going on because it’s a great example of two is better than one.”

One of her latest singles from the project, “The Ones We Love,” currently airs on BET Soul’s #SubSoul playlist, which plays three times a day, four days a week.

She said the opportunity came about after she phoned a friend who has connections with the network, asking if he could help her get her video played.

“I said to myself I really want more for this video than just putting it out on YouTube. I would love for it to get a stamp of approval from some of the machines that move these videos,” she said. “Thank God they loved it and didn’t have a hard fight with him using their connections to air it.”

She said the meaning behind the song comes from her driving her sister’s car one day in New York [her hometown] brainstorming trying to think of a concept. She said thought of the song’s chorus on the spot, “Why are we the way we are, the way we are with the ones we love?’”

Once she got home, she said she recorded the lyrics and the melody for the song. Then she sent it to her guitar player to listen to, and they finished putting the song together the next day.

“I wanted to talk about

n We came here and said we’re gonna take St. Louis by storm doing everything possible to make a mark here,” she said. “We started a company, Sauce Records, producing shows and recording songs with different artists.

-Lydia Caesar

the middle part in relationships when we fall in love and become complacent,” she said.

“We start to take our partners for granted. The people closest to us sometimes get the worst

of us because we stop putting in the work we did in the beginning.”

Caesar’s “Legendary Love” EP releases Dec. 9 in addition to the “Legendary Love Concert Experience” where she will perform songs from it at House of Soul. Tickets are currently on sale for the show at https://www.everythinglydia. com/.

“I’m looking forward to taking the stage and singing to everybody in St. Louis,” she said. Caesar is a Queens, New York native who grew up singing and ministering at her father’s church. She has opened for Patti LaBelle, Ciara, Ashanti, and more. She’s been featured on BET’s “106 & Park” twice.

Lydia Caesar’s “Legendary Love” EP releases Dec. 9 in addition to the “Legendary Love Concert Experience” where she will perform songs from it at House of Soul.

Families turn down Travis Scott offer to pay for funerals

Houston Defender Network

Several families of the 10 people who died from injuries in a massive crowd surge at the Astroworld festival have turned down an offer by headliner Travis Scott to pay for their loved ones’ funeral costs.

Attorneys for the families of four of the victims said Tuesday that they received a letter from Scott’s attorney, Daniel Petrocelli, in which the offer was made.

In a letter sent Nov. 24 to the attorneys for the family of 9-year-old Ezra Blount, Petrocelli said Scott extended his “deepest sympathies and condolences” to Ezra’s father, Treston Blount, and Scott had wanted to reach out personally “but does not wish to intrude on Mr. Blount’s privacy during his time of grieving.”

Ezra was the youngest person to die from injuries suffered during Scott’s concert at the sold-out festival on Nov. 5 that was attended by 50,000 people. The others who died ranged in age from 14 to 27. Some 300 people were treated at the festival site and 13 were hospitalized.

Travis is devastated by the tragedy that occurred at the Astroworld Festival and grieves for the families whose loved ones died or were injured. Travis is committed to doing his part to help the families who have suffered and begin the long process of healing in the Houston community,” Petrocelli wrote.

In his reply, Robert Hilliard, an attorney representing Treston Blount in a lawsuit against Scott, the concert promoter and others, declined the offer, saying that while he believes Scott feels remorse, Scott must see “that he bears some of the responsibility for this tragedy.”

“And perhaps one day, once

time allows some healing for the victims and acceptance of responsibility by Mr. Scott and others, Treston and Mr. Scott might meet — as there is also healing in that,” Hilliard said. “For now, Mr. Scott must respect the fact that his pain and his devastation pale to Treston’s, Ezra’s mom, and the other victims.”

Michael Lyons, an attorney for the family of 27-year-old Mirza “Danish” Baig, said he viewed the offer to pay for funeral costs partly as a public relations ploy by Scott to “soften people up” in the court of public opinion. Baig’s family declined the offer, he said.

“Sadly, for my clients, a check from Travis Scott … is not going to relieve the pain and suffering that they presently are experiencing,” Lyons said. “I think it will only make it worse.”

Richard Mithoff, an attorney for the family of 14-year-old John Hilgert, also declined Scott’s offer.

Valerie Cortinas Fisher, a lawyer for the family of 23-year-old Rodolfo “Rudy” Peña, said her clients are

grieving and have yet to consider Scott’s offer.

Peña’s family, who is from Laredo, Texas, traveled to Houston on Monday to visit a memorial site near where the concert was held.

Maria de los Angeles Peña, Rodolfo Peña’s mother, remembered her son a joyful person who loved life and was a good student.

“I want to say to the world, take care of your children, pray for them, watch where they go, and Travis Scott, God bless him. How there is earthly law, there is also divine law,” she said.

Tony Buzbee, who is representing the family of 21-year-old Axel Acosta Avila, said in an email Tuesday he had received a voicemail from a lawyer who was not Petrocelli making an offer for funeral expenses.

“The offer made didn’t warrant a response,” Buzbee said.

Attorneys for the families of others who died at the festival did not immediately return emails or calls seeking comment.

ANNOUNCING THE PHSU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE –LAUNCHING FALL 2022

DISCOVER PHSU

PHSU is excited to bring its forty-four year history of producing successful medical practitioners to our St. Louis campus. The Doctor of Medicine (MD) four-year curriculum is designed to produce culturally competent, clinically prepared physicians for communities across the nation and around the world. We are thrilled to be partnered with Mercy, a world class hospital system.

Visit stlouis.psm.edu to learn more about how PHSU’s programs can put you on your future path.

Photo courtesy of CNBC

The Astroworld memorial in Houston, Texas.

Religion

Power of Black pastors on display during Arbery murder trial

By David W. Marshall Trice Edney Wire

The first Gallup poll, which measured church membership in 1937, resulted in 73% of adult Americans confirming they had some type of religious affiliation. While membership remained around 70% during the next six decades, those who claimed to have a church affiliation fell below 50% for the first time last year in 2020. It is now at 47%. And with the overall decrease, the relevancy of Christianity, including the Black church, is being questioned even more. But those who always expressed ill will against the Black community will never question the relevancy of the Black church or its pastors. There are many rea-

sons behind the burning of a Black church, past or present. In the year Alabama Gov. George Wallace made his famous “segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever” speech, he also gave a very alarming newspaper interview. Wallace made it clear that Alabama needed a “few first-class funerals” to stop racial integration. One week later, four young girls were killed, and more people were injured during the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in downtown Birmingham.

One generation after the next has experienced the ability to spring back after major setbacks. Through emotional pain, we have seen the ability to adapt and withstand cruel hardships. We also see the frustration

and even desperation on the part of those who continue to resist any form of racial progress and equality. Throughout 400 years, white supremacy in America has been intimidated by the strength and determination of Black men and women as well as the Black church. In 2015, Emanuel AME Church was the location of the Charleston church massacre. Dylann Roof, a white supremacist, walked into the church during Bible study and 45 minutes later, he opened fire during the closing prayer. Nine church members were killed. Roof told one of the survivors

he spared her life so she could tell the world he was killing worshippers at Emanuel AME because he hated Black people. Forgiveness is a core value of the Christian faith. During the bond hearing, several family members of the victims told Roof they forgave him. While everyone was not as forgiving, the powerful message of forgiveness united the community.

The murder trial in Brunswick, Georgia, for three white men charged with Ahmaud Arbery’s killing shows the nation a valuable lesson. Kevin Gough, a defense attorney in

the trial, understands the symbolism and tradition of the Black church and Black pastors. The same is true for Roof. Roof hated Black people and chose the church as the venue to kill them while making his cruel statement. Traditionally, the church is seen as the symbol of moral strength and support within the Black community. So, it is no surprise that the presence of Rev. Al Sharpton and Rev. Jesse Jackson and other Black pastors was unwanted by Gough. The defense attorney stated we didn’t want “any more Black pastors” sitting in the courtroom with Arbery’s family. He claimed their presence was “intimidating” the jury. Who was really intimidated? The jury or the attorney?

It was ruled that Black pastors could not be barred from the courtroom. Gough’s three defendants were found guilty on all counts. The sight of Black pastors standing up for justice while supporting those who need it will never be irrelevant. Gough should have known better. When you are wrong in your efforts to remove one Black pastor, one hundred more will answer the call and come to his aid. That will always be the legacy of Black pastors. Now, tomorrow, and forever.

David W. Marshall is the founder of TRB: The Reconciled Body and author of “God Bless Our Divided America.”

By James Washington

Patience and prayer have been occupying a lot of my thinking time. It reminds me of something Pastor Frederick Douglass Haynes III of Friendship West Baptist Church in Dallas (where I got saved), said.

“There is no such thing as an emergency in eternity.”

At times it appears that we want God’s time to be reconciled with our own. God do it now. I need you yesterday. Why are you taking so long? Prayer, I now believe, is the mechanism by which we can understand in

some small way how God’s time works. In today’s world, obviously, we all have a tendency to want what we want when we want it, including things we pray for. We want to be delivered from, sent to, rescued from or have our immediate problem solved immediately, like now. We do this as if God operated on our individual timetable and, some of us actually question His judgment when He takes too long or has the gall not to answer our super intense prayers. As determined by our body clocks, we even evaluate prayer itself based on

how long it takes God to answer. Many of us treat this as if God was on 24-hour call, just waiting on us to email or text Him. Hopefully, I‘ve come to understand, that through prayer and legitimate belief in God’s power, that one will eventually get the most sought-after answer. It will be the right one and it will be right on time, God’s. Think about it. How often can you look back over your own life and thank God that you didn’t get something or someone that you begged and pleaded for? Was it a job? Maybe a potential spouse or man or some

woman you couldn’t live without? Now through the blessing of hindsight, the best thing that could have happened is that it didn’t happen. How often would you say that had you gotten what you prayed for when you prayed for it, now, with certainty, it would have been ‘can we say a disaster?’ For me, it is a matter of faith that through prayer, the Lord will bless you with what you need, when and only when He knows you can handle or appreciate it. We’ve all heard the saying that God will not put more on us than we can handle. I personally know and can testify that that was not my belief. Quite a few times I’ve known for a fact that I could not make

it another day. I’ve known on many occasions that I couldn’t go another further, only to find that by the grace of God when the sun came up the very next day, so did I. How about you? It’s at these times you begin to realize that the key is to leave it after you’ve placed it in the hands of God. Let go and let Him.

Jesus did the dirty work. Now all you have to do is remember why. “ said to them, ‘It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by His own authority.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you’…” Acts 1:7-8. This power, I feel, is evident when patience and prayer come together and

reveal to you that there is a divine reason for you to experience whatever it is that you go through during your time here on earth. Without trials and tribulations, there is no experience and without experience, there is no wisdom. Unless you submit to the will of God, there is no personal salvation. Without salvation, prayer cannot and will not be answered. So, when you want God to hurry up because you’re about to lose your mind up in here, that’s proof you’re not ready. My own testimony tells me that until I could and did give it all up, I couldn’t appreciate anything He might have had for me. Like Abraham, it is only with total belief that the ram shows up in the bush. May you always find your ram, and may God bless you always.

ACCOUNTANT I

The St. Louis County Library is seeking qualified applicants to fill a Full-time Accountant I position. The Accountant I will perform accounting services for the Library’s Foundation and Pension Plan to ensure accurate financial information.

A Bachelor’s degree with emphasis on accounting is required. Two years of accounting experience in Government or Non-Profit entities preferred. Must have high proficiency in Microsoft Excel and Word. Salary - $41,668 plus paid benefits. Apply online at https://www.slcl.org/ content/employment. Equal Opportunity Employer.

SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER

Urban Strategies, Inc is seeking applicants for the Family Support Specialist Manager and a Senior Project Manager. To view the full job description for Family Support Specialist Manager visit https://tinyurl.com/5bvpuwsp and for Senior Project Manager visit https://tinyurl.com/uej8mvhf or our website www.urbanstrategiesinc.org After entering our website, click on Who We Are and select Join Our Team to find career opportunities. USI is an Equal Opportunity employer, and this position is funded in whole or in part with Choice Neighborhood Initiative grant funds from the US Department of HUD. Deadline to apply is 12/22/21

www.stlamerican.com

2 ABC PARENT COACHES

In preparation for the launch of a new clinical program, Mental Health America of Eastern Missouri is actively hiring two ABC Parent Coaches. Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC) is an intervention designed to help parents provide nurturing care and engage in sensitive interactions with their young children, which helps children learn to regulate their behaviors and emotions. ABC is new to the St. Louis region, which provides an exciting opportunity for the parent coach to be a part of adding a new service to our area. Parent Coaches will be responsible for training in and implementing ABC with families with children ages 6 months to 4 years in the families’ homes. Full cost of training and certification in ABC is covered. Salary rang is $45,000 to $55,000. Rich benefit package including health insurance and paid time off. Please mail resume and cover letter to Brittany.graham@mha-em.org

POLICE OFFICER

The City of Maplewood is seeking qualified applicants for the position of Police Officer. Starting salary is $60,464 with a top pay of $83,433 (six-year step increase plan). Applications may be acquired at the Maplewood City Hall or online at www.cityofmaplewood.com Applicants must have current Missouri POST Class A certification. Submit applications to the attention of Sgt. Kerry Daniels (314-646-3621) by Friday, Dec. 17th, 2021.

The City of Maplewood is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

DIRECTOR

The City of Clayton is recruiting for the next Director of Parks & Recreation. Apply now: https://claytonmo. applicantpro.com/jobs/ EOE

POLICE OFFICER

The City of Richmond Heights is accepting applications for the position of Police Officer, $60,667 DOQ. To apply go to https://richmondheights. applicantpro.com/jobs/ . Applications will be accepted from December 10, 2021.

HUMAN RESOURCE DIRECTOR

Provident Behavioral Health (PBH) has opening for a Director, Human Resources. For further details and to apply online, go to https://www.providentstl.org/ about-us/career-opportunities/. PBH is an equal opportunity employer and values diversity. final product to our customers.

CITY OF ST. LOUIS ST. LOUIS COUNTY

JOINT REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS— DISPARITY STUDIES

Date of Issuance: November 23, 2021

Proposal Due: January 11, 2022 at 2:00 pm CST

On November 23, 2021, the City of St. Louis and St. Louis County jointly issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to provide disparity studies for the City’s Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprise (M/WBE) Program under Ordinance 70767 and St. Louis County’s M/WBE program. This RFP may be found at https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/government/departments/counselor/ index.cfm under “Procurement”, on the City’s procurement page (https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/government/procurement/), by emailing Nancy Walsh at walshn@stlouis-mo.gov. The deadline for questions regarding the RFP is Tuesday, January 4, 2022. The deadline for submitting sealed proposals is 2:00 pm on Tuesday, January 11, 2022. Sealed proposals must be submitted in strict compliance with the instructions in the RFP. The City reserves the right to reject all proposals. Minority and Women-Owned Businesses are encouraged to apply.

PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE

The Planning and Zoning Board of the City of Pagedale will hold a Public Hearing on Thursday, December 16, 2021 at 6:00 pm via ZOOM to hear citizen’s comments regarding Petitions to “D” Industrial property located at 7013 Page and “Vacant/ Agriculture” properties located at 1307 Colby and 1313 Colby to “C” Commercial consistent with the City of Pagedale City Codes and/or Ordinances. Also a second hearing will be held for 1264 Ferguson Ave to rezone the property from Commercial to Industrial. And a third hearing will be held for 1284 Kingsland for a variance if need to rebuild for any reason.

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 Non-Capital Bids (commodities and services) or >Visit Planroom (capital construction bids)

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

BID NOTICE

K&S Associates, Inc. is soliciting MBE/WBE/SDVE for the following project for November-Upgrade HVAC-Missouri School For the Blind-Plans and Specs can be viewed at www.ksgcstl.com submit bids to estimating@ksgcstl.com or Fax 314-647-5302

REQUEST FOR BIDS

America’s Center is seeking bids for new server and storage hardware. The project includes equipment only. Please send an email to ITBIDS@explorestlouis. com to request information on the specific hardware needed and to submit your quote. We will be accepting proposals through 3:00pm, 12/15/2021. America’s Center reserves the right to reject any or all proposals. EOE

HERPETARIUM GENERATOR RFP 2021

The Saint Louis Zoo is seeking bids from qualified contractors to install a 275kw diesel powered, stationary generator and automatic transfer switch at the Herpetarium. Bid documents will be available as of 12/1/2021 on the Saint Louis Zoo website: stlouiszoo.org/vendor

LETTING #8738

Lambert Airport Replacement of Emergency Generators #50 & #80

Aschinger Electric is seeking quotes from Lambert Airport certified BDD Contractors & Suppliers for this bid. The ability to work with a collective bargaining unit is required. Proposals must be received no later than 17:00 hours Friday December 10, 2021.

Contact: Aschinger Electric at 314-343-1211

NOTICE OF GENERAL MUNICIPAL ELECTION

In accordance with the state law and ordinances of the City of Berkeley, notice is given that a General Municipal (non-partisan) Election shall be held in the City of Berkeley, Missouri on Tuesday, April 5, 2022 for the duly qualified electors of the City to select the following positions for Council positions four-year

immediately prior to the election.

• Proof of residency and Photo Identification is required.

• No person may be a candidate for election to public office in this city unless her/she is at least eighteen years of age, a citizen of the United States, who at the time that they file their statement of candidacy, shall be delinquent in any tax, fee, fine, penalty, charge or any other financial obligation or liability of any kind or nature to the city.

• Candidates for any public office cannot have been found guilty or pled guilty to a felony under U.S. law, a felony under Missouri law, or an offense in another state that would be considered a felony in Missouri. RSMo 115.306.1

• Candidates for any public office cannot be delinquent in payment of taxes (No Exceptions). State income taxes, Personal property taxes, Municipal taxes, Real property taxes on the place of residence, nor

CITY OF ST. LOUIS ST. LOUIS LAMBERT INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

SOLICITATION FOR BID (SFB)

Service: Interior Live Plant Maintenance Services

Pre-Bid Meeting Date: November 17, 2021 Meeting will be held via Zoom. See SFB for details.

Question Due Date: November 19, 2021

Bid Due Date: December 15, 2021

M/WBE Goals & Incentives:

struction, goods, and other

to

contracts on contracts $300,000 or less to prime African American, Hispanic American, Asian American, Native American and Women-Owned Business Enterprise Bidders.

Point of Contact: Gigi Glasper – gxglasper@flystl.com

Bid documents may be obtained at St. Louis

SEALED BIDS

Bids for Roof R e p l a

m e n t , K a n s a s C i t y DOLIR Building, K a n s a s C i t y, MO Project No. O1912-01 will be received by FMDC, State of MO, UNTIL 1:30 PM, January 6, 2022. For specific project information and ordering plans, go to: http:// oa.mo. gov/facilities

SEALED BIDS

Bids for Replace Security System S o u t h e a s t C o r r e c t i o n a l C e n t e r Charleston, MO, Project No. C180401 willbe received by FMDC, State of MO, UNTIL 1:30 PM, Thursday D e c e m b e r 30, 2021. For specific project information and ordering plans, go to: http://oa.mo. gov/facilities

EducationPlus is a local school cooperative that is accepting bids for Furniture until January 15, 2022. Bid documents can be downloaded at https://edplus.org/314858_2.

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

City of St. Louis Healthy Home Repair Program Program and Construction Management

The City of St. Louis through its Community Development Administration (CDA) is seeking proposals from non-profit organizations to assist in the program and construction management of the Healthy Home Repair Program (HHRP). CDA has received an allocation of American Rescue Act Plan (ARPA) funding to supplement its existing Healthy Home Repair Program. The program is currently funded primarily by Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) and HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) funds. CDA seeks to augment the HHRP with ARPA funds so that more homeowners can be assisted on an annual basis. CDA will award a contract to the lowest and most responsive proposal. Project selection is subject to federal funding and is at the sole discretion of the City of St. Louis.

The RFP in its entirety will be released on the Community Development Administration (CDA) website on November 15, 2021: https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/cda/. Proposals must be submitted no later than 4:00 p.m. on December 15, 2021 to Bill Rataj, Community Development Administration, 1520 Market St – Suite 2000, St. Louis, MO 63103. Questions concerning the RFP may be directed to RatajB@stlouis-mo.gov.

CDA does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, familial status or sexual orientation in the administration of the program.

CDA is an Equal Opportunity Agency

Minority Participation is Encouraged

St. LouiS american Bids & Public Notices

PUBLIC NOTICE

NOTICE IS HEREBYGIVEN by the municipalities listed below has previously adopted and has in force a use tax that certain purchases from out-of-state vendors will become subject to an expansion of the use tax as provided by state law at the rates identified below. Pursuant to Section 144.761 RSMo, a petition of registered voters may be submitted to the City Council/ Board of Aldermen/Board of Trustees calling for an election to repeal the local use tax.

The St. Louis County Department of Human Services, Homeless Services Program, is seeking proposals for the Housing Urban Development FY20 Emergency Solution Grant CV-2 (Corona Virus) funding. The total funding available is $3.187.544.00

These special ESG-CV-2 funds are to be used to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) among individuals and families who are homeless or receiving homeless assistance; and to support additional homeless assistance and homelessness prevention activities to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19.

Proposals are due by 2:00 p.m. on December 16, 2021. Request For Proposal details and specifications can be obtained at the St. Louis County Bids and RFPs webpage located at https://stlouiscountymo.gov/services/ request-for-bids-and-proposals/

BID NOTICE

The Pattonville Fire Protection District is accepting sealed bids for Information Technology (IT) Support Services. Specifications may be obtained at the District Administrative Offices: 13900 St. Charles Rock Rd., Bridgeton, Missouri between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Specifications may also be obtained via our website www.pattonvillefd.com. All bids must be in a sealed envelope clearly marked “BID: Information Technology (IT) Support Services” and mailed or delivered to the Pattonville Fire Protection District offices no later than 3:00 p.m. Friday, December 10th, 2021. All bids are scheduled to be opened by the Board of Directors at their meeting on December 15th, 2021 at the Pattonville Fire Protection District Administrative Offices. The Pattonville Fire Protection District reserves the right to reject any or all bids, to waive variations or formalities, and to negotiate changes, additions, or deletions. The District reserves the right to accept the bid which it deems to be in the District’s best interest. The District also reserves the right to extend the time to submit bids, as well as extend the time to open bids. If you should have any questions, please call (314) 739-3118.

The Pattonville Fire Protection District hereby notifies all bidders that it will affirmatively insure that in any contract entered into pursuant to this advertisement, minority business enterprises will be afforded full opportunity to submit bids in response to this invitation and will not be discriminated against on the grounds of race, color, or national origin in consideration for award.

PATTONVILLE FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT Jim Usry Fire Chief

ADVERTISEMENT FOR RFP

SUPPORT SERVICES

The City of St Louis Department of Health is seeking separate proposals for an agency providing Psychosocial Support Services.

Requests for Proposals may be obtained beginning November 19, 2021, by downloading from the City of St. Louis website at https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/ government/procurement.cfm. Contact Tanya Madden for questions: DOHGA@stlouis-mo.gov, (314) 657-1532 (email preferred).

The deadline for submitting proposals is January 18, 2022, by 4:00 P.M. via email at: DOHGA@stlouis-mov.gov

The Department of Health reserves the right to reject any or all responses with or without cause.

PDF and in Microsoft Word. Agencies may also request that a copy of the application and instructions be emailed to them by contacting the SLPO office at stlphil@ sbcglobal.net. SLPO office hours are Mondays and Thursdays from 8:30 a.m. to

“Kirk Franklin’s A Gospel Christmas,” starring Demetria McKinney and Chaz Shepard, journeys a young pastor trying to find her voice as a woman, leader, and singer. She leaves behind her hometown of Chicago and her mother’s megachurch to become a smalltown church pastor. Along the way, she dives deeper into selfdiscovery and entangles herself in romance.

Due to safety protocol, Sutherlin was unable to meet face-to-face with Franklin. Instead, they communicated via phone and Zoom. She said it felt surreal to work with him and know she was on the phone talking to him.

“I received the first draft of his music because we had to rearrange it to fit the story and make it not sound like his Christmas album,” she said. “While I was listening to his music, I received an email saying they were waiting for my feedback on his music. I was in another place. It took me three hours before I could respond to that email. I had to sit myself down and say, ‘girl, look you are the director. Give this man

SLSO

Continued from C1

Adams said attending the show is a great opportunity to introduce youth to instruments they normally wouldn’t get to listen to. She recalls how the music made her feel when she was younger and went to shows.

“I still remember being in junior high when they used to have these concerts and the orchestra would play ‘Peter

“I remember the first time we met face to face, which was in the studio he came in [he’s always a big personality, big energy] recording songs,” she said. “The producer was like, ‘Do it like this and then I want you to go here.’ He was like, ‘Yeah, yeah, got it, got it. Let’s go for the take,’ and it would be perfect. That’s not something that you can teach. It comes with you.”

notes on his music.’”

She and McKinney also developed a great professional relationship which blossomed into an on-camera friendship.

“It was a delight. She really represented being in the number one spot,” she said. “She’s very talented, always eager to learn and willing to try something new.”

Sutherlin enjoyed working with Shephard, who she said always had a lot of positive energy.

and the Rabbit’ or some sort of orchestral piece,” she said. “I could listen to all the sounds of the different instruments, and I just became so enamored with all of the music in the classical form. That can grow some wonderful musicians who probably may be at the moment don’t know how far they wanna go in it but perhaps something that we do that night can really inspire young people.”

McBeth strongly encourages people to hear Adams sing if they haven’t, as she’s what he calls “the voice of our generation.”

The film comes with many firsts for Sutherlin. It’s Lifetime’s first gospel Christmas movie, and Sutherlin is the first African American woman to direct it, it’s her directorial debut, her first time as a writer with Lifetime, and her first time executive producing with Lifetime. “I have a lot of feelings about it,” she said. “I feel happy, excited, exuberant, nervous.” She said she feels overjoyed and has been counting her blessings regarding the film.

“This movie is not my movie at all. I am the shepherd,” she said. “It’s their movie, the people’s movie. I make movies for regular people to enjoy, have a good time, escape for a little bit and resonate with.”

“Kirk

“It’s a distinct voice, and it’s beautiful to watch her sing because she typically sings from the piano,” she said. “In addition to being an amazing singer and arranger, when she sits at the piano we have an amazing time. It’s something to be experienced. I’m hoping that we sell the place out.” Guests must be fully vaccinated or have a negative COVID test within 72 hours of the concert date or a negative antigen test within 24 hours of the show. Tickets can be purchased at https://www.slso.org/.

Erica Sutherlin always knew she wanted to venture into television and film.