January 21st, 2016 Edition

To impeach – or not – in Jennings

By Chris King Of The St. Louis American

see what is really going on,” Robert Cotton Sr. said. See

By Rebecca Rivas Of The

“people

Art Museum was all about paying the tribute forward to the next person, or back to an elder who came before. The celebration of King’s memory focused not on King himself but on his fellow civil rights leader Julian Bond (1940-2015), in the museum’s tradition of honoring

American professionals under age 40 has been selected as the 2016 class of Salute to Young Leader award recipients. Nominated by colleagues, friends and family, they are chosen by their peers and will be profiled in the February 25 edition of The St. Louis American. They will be honored at the St. Louis

Photo by Wiley Price

Photo by Lawrence Bryant

Photo by Wiley Price

Jennings Mayor Yolonda Fountain Henderson spoke at the end of a City Council hearing about its vote to initiate the impeachment process against her at City Hall on Saturday, January 16.

Leslie Gill

OG Aunt Viv picks bone with Jada over Oscar boycott

On Monday, Jada Pinkett Smith released a video suggesting that minorities boycott the Academy Awards.

“Is it time that people of color recognize how much power and influence, that we have amassed, that we no longer need to ask to be invited anywhere?” she said in the video. “Maybe it’s time that we recognize that if we love and respect and acknowledge ourselves in the way in which we are asking others to do, that that is the place of true power.”

Entertainers such as Spike Lee and Snoop Dogg have spoken out in solidarity with Pinkett Smith’s action against the Oscars, but her husband’s former “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” co-star Janet Hubert used the opportunity to reheat her longstanding beef with the Smiths.

pay bills. And you’re talking about some [expletive] actors and Oscars. And it just ain’t that deep.”

Hubert once again accuses Will Smith of sabotaging her career. She then went on to explain how the Smiths are actually part of Hollywood’s ongoing problem of not providing opportunities to actors of color – and that Jada’s whole action is in response to Will not getting nominated for an Academy Award for his role in “Concussion.”

“There’s a lot of [expletive] going on in the world that you all don’t seem to recognize. Our boys are being shot left and right. People are starving. People are trying to

“Just because the world doesn’t go the way that you want it to go doesn’t mean that you can go out and then you start asking people to stand up and say we can overcome for you,” she said. “You ain’t Barack and Michelle Obama, and y’all need to get over yourselves. You have a huge production company that you only produce your friends, your family and yourself. So you are a part of Hollywood. You are a part of the system that is unfair to other actors. So get real.”

Tichina Arnold blasts soon-tobe ex by texting sex tape

According to TMZ, actress Tichina Arnold sent a group text to her friends and family containing a sex tape of her husband Rico Hines and his mistress explaining, “It’s over between Rico and I. This

is where I part ways and all bets are off. “I can’t for the life of me understand why Rico would video himself [expletive] ‘raw dog’ ONE of his MANY extraneous [expletive] that ‘trick’ on him for his money,” Arnold reportedly continued in the message that contained the explicit video. People Magazine confirmed last week that the two were headed for divorce. They were married in 2012.

Birdman

and Weezy reunite

On New Year’s Eve, rapper Lil Wayne and Cash Money CEO Bryan “Birdman” Williams publicly ended their estrangement by appearing together on stage in Miami.

At a party this past Tuesday night in Miami, Birdman, with Weezy by his side, got on the mic and announced to the crowd that their bond is stronger than ever.

“This my [expletive] son and I’ma die for him, I’ma live for him, and I’ll [expletive] kill for him, ya heard me?” Birdman shouted. “That ain’t gon’ never change. It’s YMCMB for life.”

50 Cent’s latest beef may benefit people of Flint

The latest celebrity internet feud of Rapper/ actor 50 Cent may have indirectly contributed to aiding the people of Flint, Michigan during their contaminated water crisis.

As 50 Cent and rapper Meek Mill duked it out on Instagram, a follower suggested that they redirect their energy and use the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday to help the people of Flint.

“I got 50k to donate to waters ... Let’s see if we can have @50cent match me! I’m pretty sure Flint supported us,” Mill said in response to the comment. “Serious post contact .... Roc nation will purchase for me and ship! Not even just him all entertainers! I ain’t got the tine posting memes and [expletive]… it’s my dawg hometown too! #FORMLKDAY”

50 Cent responded with a few more jabs at “You know you only trying to donate so you can try to use it in court,” 50 Cent responded. “You don’t have money to give away. When Nicki [Minaj] find out you playing with her money…boy, oh boy, you’re in for it!”

Sources: Facebook.com, Twitter.com, Instagram.com, TMZ.com, People.com

Slay appoints Crime Commission

Crime was up 2 percent in the city 2015, with 188 homicides

By Rachel Lippmann

Of St. Louis Public Radio

Crime in the city of St. Louis went up from 2014 to 2015, driven by a nearly 8 percent spike in crimes against persons.

“One hundred and eighty-eight people lost their lives to senseless and destructive violence the city of St. Louis in the past year,” said St. Louis Mayor Francis G. Slay. “Overall crime was up 2 percent over the previous year. None of these deaths were warranted, and neither of those numbers are acceptable.”

Every individual crime – except for burglaries, vehicle thefts and rape – was up year over year, though a quarter of the increase in arsons came from a series of church fires in October. Aggravated assaults with a gun – which St. Louis Metropolitan Police Chief Sam Dotson calls an unsuccessful homicide – climbed 13 percent.

“Too many guns are on the street. When we arrest people, we don’t get the outcomes from the court,” Dotson said. “And I’m still perplexed why we’re here for over a year, still talking about an armed offender docket, and we haven’t gotten one.”

Part II crimes — less serious offenses, such as larceny, simple assault and vandalism — were up more than 13 percent from 2014 to 2015.

Dotson noted that over the last 10 years, crime in the city had dropped nearly 50 percent. And he also was keen to point out that the increase in crime slowed later in 2015. Compared to 2014, crime was actually lower in September, October, November and December.

Also on January 11, the mayor named the 15 members of his reconstituted Commission on Violent Crime They are Kelvin Adams, superintendent of St. Louis Public Schools; Mack Bradley, founder of StandPoint Public Affairs; James Clark, vice president of

discussed

community outreach for Better Family Life; Bridget Flood, executive director of the Incarnate Word Foundation; Bruce Franks, co-founder of 28 to Life; Erica Henderson, director of the St. Louis Promise Zone; Beth Huebner, criminology professor at the University of Missouri-St.

n The mayor’s new Commission on Violent Crime includes Kelvin Adams, James Clark, Bruce Franks, Erica Henderson, Rod Jones, Whitfield Montgomery and Joe Yancey.

Louis; Ginger Imster, executive director of Arch Grants; Rod Jones, the president of Grace Hill; Missy Kelley, president of Downtown STL Inc.; Whitfield Montgomery, a safety officer at SLPS; Carrie Pettus-Davis, assistant professor at Washington University’s Brown School of Social Work; Nedim Ramic, attorney with Barjric and Ramic Law Office; Joe

Walsh, director of security for the St. Louis Cardinals; and Joe Yancey, executive director of Places for People

Many of the names on the list are from familiar organizations with their own crime-fighting programs. But Bruce Franks, of 28 to Life, said the commission forces everyone to compare notes.

“It’s like ‘Transformers,’ right? Like ‘Voltron,’” he said. “Everything comes together to create one big machine that’s going to help fight this.”

Slay said the commission’s members have been asked to oversee the implementation of his new crime-fighting strategy, the Prevention, Intervention, Enforcement, Reentry (PIER) Plan. They will likely meet quarterly in public meetings and release annual reports.

Slay angrily dismissed the notion that the committee is nothing more than a lastminute response to crime, or that other issues proved more important.

“The press focuses a lot of attention on things like the stadium or minimum wage,” Slay said. “Believe me, we spend a lot more time on the other things we talked about in the PIER Plan.”

Follow Rachel Lippmann on Twitter: @ rlippmann. Reprinted with permission from news. stlpublicradio.org.

Bills aim to suppress voters

By Jeanette Mott Oxford Guest columnist

Empower Missouri (formerly Missouri Association for Social Welfare, founded in 1901), provides leadership, research, education, and advocacy to improve public policy and programs impacting the health and welfare of all Missourians. We oppose both HB 1631 and HJR 53 because we believe the constitutional right to vote will be suppressed, especially among four groups.

Those living in poverty. Forty percent of Missouri households have annual incomes of less than $33,000. Getting a photo ID can be almost impossible for persons with no discretionary income, little access to transportation, and long distances between themselves and sites where IDs can be obtained. Those in rural areas face great challenges due to lack of public transportation. A photo ID can seem like a meaningless luxury for those whose daily struggle is occupied with keeping housing and utilities secure and food on the table.

Those who are transgender and in transition. It is very difficult for a person who is transgender to get a photo ID that matches his/her current gender. Those who cannot afford surgery often have no access to an ID that accurately reflects the name and gender by which they are now known. Those with low incomes often cannot afford gender confirmation surgery.

Persons with disabilities. Unfortunately those with disabilities, physical or mental, are disproportionately poor in our state. They may also face barriers such as lack of access to vehicles adapted to their needs or affordable transportation support from others.

Women. Often women change their names upon marriage. If living in poverty, the challenges cited above may mean women are especially impacted by photo ID requirements to vote.

Voter impersonation fraud is not an issue that is threatening our state. We question why time is allotted to this topic when so many pressing issues do confront us daily.

We consistently rank in the 10 worst states related to hunger. Our school foundation formula is not fully funded. Four out of five persons with mental illness do not receive treatment due to underfunding of the Department of Mental Health. Our tax system is inadequate, unfair, and outdated (with an income table that dates from 1931).

Surely the time devoted to this non-issue could be better spent elsewhere.

Editor’s note: Both HB 1631 and HJR 53 were passed out of the House Committee on Elections after the committee received this testimony.

Rachel Lippmann / St. Louis Public Radio

St. Louis Metropolitan Police Chief Sam Dotson and Mayor Francis G. Slay

the 2015 crime numbers on Monday, January 11.

Columnist

Jeanette Mott Oxford

Editorial /CommEntary

Reclaiming MLK for voting rights

We have just celebrated the second Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. national holiday after the Ferguson uprising, the second MLK Day when protestors declared the need to “Reclaim MLK.” There can be no doubt that Dr. King’s fierce urgency has been tamed in the act of commemorating him for many years. Without question, many elected officials quote Dr. King with false piety at this time of year and then immediately return to pushing policies that undermine his life work.

That was clear in Missouri, where the Legislature returned to work after MLK Day and immediately took up bills designed to hinder, rather than expand, the right to vote. The bills, HJR 53 and HB 1631, are connected. HJR 53 is a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow for a photo ID requirement, and would need to first be passed by Missouri voters. HB 1631 is a bill that would implement the details of the photo ID requirement.

Republicans perennially claim such a law is needed to eliminate voter impersonation. Democrats perennially point out that there is no voter impersonation fraud in Missouri, though there are many low-income and otherwise marginalized people who will lose the right to vote if this legislation is passed – or be forced to pay to get an ID, making it a de facto poll tax. Needless to say, Republicans across the country have calculated that the voters denied the franchise by such legislation would likely vote Democrat.

In reclaiming MLK, we must not forget that his most basic struggles still require our attention and participation. Voter ID bills have been passed in Missouri twice before, but thrown out by the Missouri Supreme court and vetoed by Gov. Jay Nixon. As long as this Republicandominated Legislature views selective disenfranchisement as helpful to its candidates, we will need to reclaim MLK by fighting against photo ID voter initiatives and bills.

On the other hand, the spirit of Dr. King surely would fight for Senate Bill 924, which would allow Missouri citizens convicted of a felony and on probation or parole to vote. State Sen. Jamilah Nasheed (D-St. Louis) actually found a Republican co-sponsor for this bill, state Sen. Rob Schaaf (R-St. Joseph), despite the expectation that the felons who regain the franchise through passage of this legislation would be likely to vote Democrat.

“Probation and parole are meant to prevent citizens convicted of crimes from doing bad things – not good things, like voting,” Schaaf said in a statement. “Not only does the current law undermine our democratic system, but it disproportionately affects African Americans, a group that has already been the object of far too much legal discrimination” – and a group that almost universally votes to defeat candidates

from Schaaf’s party. We praise Nasheed and Schaaf for their leadership and encourage voters to pressure their legislators to support this bill. Voting rights advocates also are watching how U.S. District Judge Rodney Sippel rules on a suit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (on behalf of district residents) alleging that the Ferguson-Florissant School District’s current process of electing school board members discriminates against African Americans. Student enrollment in Ferguson-Florissant is about 80 percent black, while African Americans are roughly half of the voting age population in the district. The current board – with all members elected at large, rather than by district – has two blacks and five whites, making blacks much less represented on the board than they are in the district or in the district’s classrooms. “The experience in the Ferguson-Florissant School District shows that equal opportunity has not yet arrived for African-American voters,” Tony Rothert of the ACLU argued before the court. As other districts also vote for school board members at large, including Hazelwood, Parkway, and Mehlville, this ruling could have a wide impact. We believe the ACLU reclaims MLK by raising this issue in the courts.

As I See It - A Forum for Community Issues

Public education must be fully funded

By Coretta Bozeman Guest columnist

For the last five consecutive years, the state Legislature and Governor Nixon have failed Missouri’s K-12 public school students. Since 2010 they have not fully funded the Foundation Formula, also known as Senate Bill 287.

Guest Columnist Coretta Bozeman

The funding stream for MO K-12 schools relies heavily on property taxes, so that schools in propertyrich districts have a distinct advantage over those schools in property-poor districts. Most of these school districts are located primarily in rural and urban settings.

Bill 287 was supposed to provide districts in propertypoor communities the monies they needed to help them pay for teachers, learning materials, building safety equipment, etc., so that they could be on the same playing fields as schools in wealthier communities. The plan worked for five years.

In 2010, the Legislature and Governor Nixon started slicing the Foundation Formula. Every year they took nearly $500

L

By Eugene Robinson Columnist

If you thought the political landscape couldn’t be more unsettled, think again. In the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, Bernie Sanders is surging. Hillary Clinton now faces not a coronation, not a cakewalk, but a contest – one she could lose. Has there ever been a worse election to be an establishment candidate? Certainly not in my lifetime. When a pitchforkpopulist billionaire is leading one party’s race and a selfdescribed socialist is rapidly gaining ground in the other, we’re somewhere we haven’t been before.

For much of the past year, Clinton led Sanders in national polls by more than 20 points. Now, according to the Real Clear Politics average, her lead has shrunk to less than nine points – and the most recent survey, a CBS/New York Times poll released this week, showed just a seven-point gap. State polls should make Clinton even more nervous. Her once-comfortable lead over Sanders in Iowa is now just four points. And in New Hampshire, Sanders – a longtime senator from nextdoor Vermont – leads Clinton by six points. It is within the realm of possibility that the presumptive Democratic nominee could lose both of the first two states. Then what? It’s tempting to look for parallels from 2008: Clinton had the backing of the party establishment, but an insurgent named Barack Obama beat her in Iowa and ran away with the nomination. However, this year comparisons with previous election cycles

probably don’t mean much. Instead, we should look at Sanders and his message. All along, his campaign has enjoyed less media coverage than it deserves. Many journalists accepted the conventional wisdom that he is too unpolished and too far to the left to win the nomination – despite evidence that substantial numbers of Democrats disagree. Sanders’ central campaign theme is inequality. Over the past four decades, he argues, “Wall Street and the billionaire class” have “rigged the rules to redistribute wealth and income to the wealthiest and most powerful people of this country.” He proposes to do something about that. He wants wealthy individuals and large corporations to “pay their fair share” in taxes. He wants to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour and put millions of people to work by spending $1 trillion over five years to renew the country’s aging infrastructure.

Sanders denounces freetrade pacts, such as NAFTA – and President Obama’s Trans-Pacific Partnership –contending they drive down wages and eliminate American jobs. On this question, he agrees almost word-for-word with Republican front-runner Donald Trump.

Sanders wants to make tuition free at public colleges and universities. He wants universal child care and pre-

kindergarten. He supports equal pay for women – by law – and a requirement that employers provide at least 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave and a minimum of two weeks’ paid vacation.

And Sanders supports truly universal health care. He describes it as “Medicare for all” and notes that every other major industrialized nation considers medical care a right.

Clinton supporters looking for a reason to panic should consider the way the campaign attacked Sanders on health care this week. Chelsea Clinton, stumping for her mother in New Hampshire, charged that “Senator Sanders wants to dismantle Obamacare, dismantle the CHIP [children’s health] program, dismantle Medicare and private insurance.”

Come on, be real. Sanders doesn’t want to eliminate government health programs, he wants to combine them all into one comprehensive system. A more honest line of attack might be that Sanders has yet to spell out how he would pay for universal health care – or get it through a hostile Congress.

Such misleading parsing of language can only be read as a danger sign. I can’t help but recall how Bill Clinton invited a backlash in 2008 by calling the Obama candidacy a “fairy tale.” Maybe Hillary Clinton should try leaving the family at home.

Sanders still has an uphill battle, especially after Iowa and New Hampshire. But the Clinton campaign has a fight on its hands – and anything smacking of politics-as-usual is more likely to lose votes than win them.

million away from the program. Now almost six years later, the program has lost almost $2.5 billion.

What this means to you is that Missouri’s K-12 public school students are being cheated out of a quality education. More importantly, to keep the state running we need educated folk. Unfortunately, we are losing the battle.

We cannot build a strong employment base without an educated community. This is why the minimum wage battle is such a heated issue. According to a 2013 CNBC survey that ranks states’

n It is impossible to have signification and substantive job creation without an investment in public education.

employment, education, wages, etc., Missouri’s workforce is 48th in the nation. Yet, we rank 19th for the cost of doing business. On the other hand, the State of Georgia has a workforce that ranks No. 1 in the nation and 28th for the cost of doing business. The

etters to the editor

Weeds and bad cops

State Senator Jamilah Nasheed and State Rep. Shamed Dogan announced on January 5 the filing of legislation intended to weed out the bad cops in Missouri. The bill contains provisions regarding racial profiling pertaining to vehicle and pedestrian stops by police. The legislation certainly is a step in the right direction … but only a step.

Developing the always fair and racially balanced law enforcement agencies that employ only intelligent, wellrounded, knowledgeable and impartial cops is certainly a goal worthy of achievement. But how do you get there?

Good gardening holds the answer.

To avid gardeners, beautiful flowers and wholesome vegetables are desirable; weeds are not. Weeds are harmful to gardens. Once weeds get rooted, it is a difficult, tedious and ongoing process to rid the garden of them. So it is best to assure that weeds don’t get started in the garden.

Police departments fostering “who you know” hiring criteria, career paths based on nepotism and cronyism, and supervisory and command positions staffed by political cronies always cultivate bad cops. They are like the lackadaisical gardeners who plant the seeds of weeds mixed with those of flowers and vegetable, then cultivate both. So to achieve “good cops,” it is best to set the standards high: Elevate qualifications, identify and promote only those with leadership and management qualities, and develop career paths based on knowledge and performance.

Michael K. Broughton Green Park

Educational options

Have you ever stood outside a store’s display window and looked longingly at goods that were so close, yet completely out of your grasp? Now imagine that what is on the other side of that thin boundary isn’t any consumer good; instead, it’s the opportunity to attend a great school where students are excelling. That is exactly the position many

translation is that corporations can keep our wages low because we do not have the educational strength of Georgia.

Our legislators all say that job creation is critical. But it is impossible to have signification and substantive job creation without an investment in public education. At the end of the 2015 legislative session, the sum of $74.2 million was included for the formula. However, as reported by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, there was still a shortfall of $442.4 million. We therefore should have had $516.6 million. Our Legislature and governor need to quit taking from education to fund other projects. Education needs to be established as a priority. The obligation to fully fund the Foundation Formula needs to be fulfilled. Remember, the bill was passed. Help us by contacting your representative and making your voice heard. Launch a social media campaign to make sure that the message is loud and clear: Public K-12 education in the State of Missouri is a priority that must be fully funded.

Coretta Bozeman is president of the Gamma Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

All letters are edited for length and style.

students in north Saint Louis County find themselves in.

In Normandy, for example, students have few educational options. There are no public magnet schools or public charter schools. Even the ability to be bussed to other suburban school districts could be in jeopardy. Yet, just beyond the school district lines are highperforming charter schools. Recently, The St. Louis American highlighted the success of the “tough love” program at North Side Community School, a charter school in the St. Louis Public School District. Located just minutes from school districts in northern St. Louis County, the school excels while others struggle. It looks like exactly the kind of program that students in Normandy need.

If Missouri were to allow charter schools to enroll students across school district boundaries, students in Normandy could attend North Side. What’s more, charter schools might be more inclined to open in Normandy, a district with relatively low student enrollment. It’s time to remove

these prohibitive boundaries and allow students to choose the schools that will meet their needs.

James V. Shuls

Lake St Louis

Undeniable legacy

The world has truly lost an extraordinary artist. Natalie Cole was a fantastic talent who made an indelible mark internationally due to her remarkable talent, poise and grace. Throughout her career, Ms. Cole’s songs have served as the soundtrack to many remarkable moments in many people’s lives, including my own. We appreciate and value her unparalleled contributions to the arts and the timeless duet of “Unforgettable” with her father, the late Nat King Cole. My prayers and condolences are with Ms. Cole’s entire family. She may no longer be with us physically, but her undeniable legacy prevails. U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters Los Angeles

Guest Eugene Robinson

Photo by Wiley Price

A scene from the 2016 MLK Day march in downtown St. Louis.

Dancing for Dr. King

David McCall, a junior at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School, performed an interpretive dance piece with elements of ballet at the MLK commission’s kick-off event at Harris-Stowe State University on January 9.

Renovated Rock Road Branch reopens

St. Louis County Library will open the renovated and expanded Rock Road Branch, 10267 St. Charles Rock Road in St. Ann, at 9 a.m. Friday, January 22.

An additional 4,000 square feet have been added to the building, making way for a second meeting room and a larger children’s area. Teens will have a designated space with computers and fun furniture. The renovated branch features a computer lab, where patrons can take free classes on a variety of technologyrelated topics; a business center with fax, copy and scanning machines; a café area with tables, a laptop bar and vending machines; a quiet reading area; and two private study rooms.

The renovated Rock Road Branch was designed by Bond Architects. The project’s budget was $3.2 million and was funded by proceeds from a 2012 tax initiative. It is part of a multi-year, $120-plus million campaign to renovate or replace 19 branches within the library district. For more information, visit www.slcl. org/your-library-renewed.

Better Learning Communities Academy Charter to lapse

On December 18, the University of Missouri notified Better Learning Communities Academy that the school’s charter would lapse after June 30, 2016. As a result, the academy will close as a charter public school at the end of the 2015-2016 school year. It will continue to meet and provide for students’ needs throughout the remainder of the 2015-2016 school year. Services to students will continue, including all special services for which children qualify through IEP and 504 plans, breakfast and lunch programs, and state MAP testing. A transition team has been formed to guide all aspects of the charter school closure process and find new school homes for students.

Cracking down on crooked debt collectors

By Charlene Crowell Guest columnist

As holiday revelers toasted the season, a key federal regulator took two steps to ensure that 2016 would bring an important change for consumers harassed by illegal debt collector actions.

On December 16, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ordered EZCorp, Inc. to refund $7.5 million to 93,000 consumers and pay an additional $3 million in penalties for illegal debt on high-cost payday and installment loans.

CFPB found that EZCorp collected debts with a litany of illegal actions that included visits to homes and/or workplaces. Even worse, by requiring payments via electronic fund transfers, consumers often wound up with multiple charges. The required electronic withdrawals from consumer accounts frequently triggered additional overdraft fees charged by banks. CFPB’s investigation that began in July determined multiple violations of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act’s ban on unfair or deceptive acts or practices.

Days later on December 28, CFPB filed a proposed settlement in federal court that once approved, will stop a Georgia-based law firm and its principals from flooding courts with lawsuits that were as faulty as they were prevalent in harming consumers. Some consumer advocates believe that this first-of-its-kind suit and settlement together set a significant precedent.

This second enforcement action culminated a July 2014 lawsuit brought by CFPB against a Georgia-based law firm, Frederick J. Hanna and Associates, for operating an illegal debt collection lawsuit mill. Specifically, CFPB charged the firm with two major violations: intimidating consumers with deceptive court filings that enabled the firm to churn out hundreds of thousands of lawsuits over a four-year period from 2009 to 2014; and introducing faulty or unsubstantiated evidence to support its lawsuits, resulting in the collection of millions of dollars each year – often from consumers who may not have owed debts.

n People struggling to pay their bills should not also fear harassment, humiliation or negative employment consequences because of debt collectors.

“The Hanna firm relied on deception and faulty evidence to coerce consumers into paying debts that often could not be verified or may not be owed,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “Debt collectors that use the court system for purposes of intimidation should reconsider how their practices are harming consumers.”

With court approval, Hanna and Associates and its principals will pay a $3.1 million penalty; end illegal collection and intimidation tactics; be banned from filing or threatening lawsuits without substantial and specific documentation on the affected consumer’s debt; and stop the use of deceptive court documents to support its cases.

In addition, three of the law firm’s clients – JP Morgan Chase, Portfolio Recovery Associates and Encore Capital Group – must also revamp their debt collection practices and then refund millions to harmed consumers. These actions stem from separate collection cases.

“People struggling to pay their bills should not also fear harassment, humiliation or negative employment consequences because of debt collectors,” concluded Cordray. “Borrowers should be treated with common decency. We will not tolerate illegal debt collection practices.”

Here’s hoping that more deceptive and illegal lending practices are brought to an end in 2016.

Charlene Crowell is a communications manager with the Center for Responsible Lending. She can be reached at Charlene.crowell@responsiblelending.org.

Charlene Crowell

Photo by Wiley Price

GILL

Continued from A1

said Aaron Phillips, chairman of the organization’s board of directors. “She is high-energy, and I think 2016 is going to be a good year for Annie Malone.”

Gill, a St. Louis native, replaces interim CEO William Young, who served in that role since February 2015 after former CEO Darryl Wise left.

“I am a CEO that they are expecting to really change things,” said Gill, who most recently served as executive director of the St. Louis region for College Summit. “This is a turnaround.”

Annie Malone serves about 1,500 children every year and has an annual budget of $2 million – which is lower than it has been in the past, Phillips said.

Much has changed for Annie Malone since its founding as the “St. Louis Colored Orphans Home” in 1888. The center has preserved its home base at 2612 Annie Malone Dr. in the Historic Ville Neighborhood since

LEADERS

Continued from A1

5:30 p.m. Thursday, February 25 at the Four Seasons Hotel St. Louis.

This year’s cohort of Young Leaders includes a university president, a senior VP at one of the largest non-profits in the region, a deputy chief of staff and a co-chair of the Ferguson Commission. Other Young Leaders include the founding director of the Center for Diversity and Inclusion at a major university, an engineer, a general manager and a senior construction inspector. While their career paths are diverse, they have one thing in common. They are all highperforming, young AfricanAmerican professionals who

1922. When other ethnic orphanages closed in the 1950s, Annie Malone continued to provide residential care and emergency shelter. However, the center now faces a new era of privatized foster care

have received significant success in their professional field, as well as working in service to the community.

“A critical element of sustainable progress and success in a community is able, committed leadership,” said Donald M. Suggs, president of the St. Louis American Foundation. “These young people represent our fervent hope and aspirations for a better future for our community.”

The 2016 Class of Young Leaders, in alphabetical order, are:

Megan Marion Banks Project Engineer SM Wilson & Co.

LaTanya N. Buck, Ph.D Founding Director, Center for Diversity and Inclusion

management in Missouri, which has kept the center struggling to stay open for the past decade. When the state’s Department of Social Services decided to award its foster care management to the best-bidding consortiums of

Washington University

Tiffany Charles Vice President, Marketing Manager The Commerce Company

Rasheen L. Coleman

Assistant Director of Development City Garden Montessori School

Jasmine Davis Vice President and Senior Product Manager, Capital Market Services

Wells Fargo Advisors

Yinka Faleti

Senior Vice President, Philanthropic, Donor and Community Services United Way of Greater St. Louis

Kaylan Holloway

private agencies in 1997, Annie Malone formed the Northside Consortium with two other agencies and received a contract. But in 2005, they lost their contract to other consortiums.

Since then, the position

Social Studies Teacher

Central VPA, St. Louis Public Schools

Leonard C. Johnson III Deputy Chief of Staff City of St. Louis Treasurer’s Office

Eric Madkins

Assistant Vice President, Community Affairs ManagerMidwest Regions Bank

Deatra N. McFarlin

Lead Quality Systems Analyst Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals

Melanie Moore Talent Acquisition and Employment Branding Lead Monsanto Company

Ebonee F. Shaw Sr. Director of Special Events

of CEO has been a revolving door, and Phillips said the 20-member board has also been in a transitional mode.

However, Gill said she plans on staying for a while.

“I have been known as a change agent in my career,” she said.

“We are fortunate to have this long legacy in the community, but the past 10 years have been filled with leadership changes and program disruptions.”

She said her job is to rebuild the community’s confidence in the organization and truly live up to their mission.

nonprofit that helps high schools raise their college enrollment rates. She also previously served as chief operating officer and chief of external affairs for the Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri, where she managed a budget of $9.7 million.

n “I am a CEO that they are expecting to really change things. This is a turnaround.”

– Leslie Gill

“Most importantly, we have to do some real strategic soul-searching on: How do we remain relevant, move forward and not look back?” she said.

“What will the next 100 years look like for Annie Malone? That might look very different from what the past 100 years have been.”

Gill intends to bring in the skillset she developed at College Summit, a national

Saint Louis Crisis Nursery

Andre Stevens Manager Daugherty Business Solutions

Dana Townsend Account Manager, Emerging Markets Equifax

Keith J. Ware Director, African-American

Male Initiative St. Louis Community College

Dwaun J. Warmack, Ph.D.

President Harris-Stowe State University

Aisha D. White Manager, State and Local Tax RubinBrown LLP

Betherny Williams Senior Construction Inspector

She also had been chief operating officer for mission delivery for the Girl Scouts of Atlanta, where she oversaw a staff of 75 and managed an $18 million budget. Prior to that, Gill spent 10 years in Washington D.C., where she served in several management roles for Mayor Anthony A. Williams’s office. She had been hoping to find an opportunity that would let her build some roots in St. Louis long-term, she said. And now that she’s found it, she intends to go full force ahead. She said, “I’m hoping to instill a level of confidence in the organization that will generate a level of support that the agency has never seen before.”

Missouri Department of Transportation

Quentin J. Williams, MBA General Manager Cintas Group

Rev. Starsky D. Wilson, M.Div.

President & CEO Deaconess Foundation

The presenting sponsor for the 2016 Young Leaders program is Wells Fargo Advisors.

Tickets for the Salute to Young Leaders Networking Awards Reception, to be held at the Four Seasons Hotel St. Louis at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, February 25, are $25 and can be purchased online at stlamerican.com or by emailing kdaniel@stlamerican.com or calling 314-533-8000.

Leslie Gill, who starts her new position as chief executive officer of the Annie Malone Children and Family Service Center on January 25, visited with clients at the center on January 15.

Photo by Wiley Price

JENNINGS

Continued from A1

“We should do the right thing, I don’t care what it costs, if the evidence is there.”

A number of residents who supported the mayor said they did not attend meetings and did not know the allegations being made against her.

When asked to explain their grievances with the mayor, the council said that counsel had advised them not to discuss specific allegations. This left a complete stalemate between the mayor’s supporters and her critics, who appeared equally divided among speakers, though most of those who attended did not speak.

Many of the mayor’s supporters pointed out that she was the city’s first black mayor, which drew applause, though Cotton and several other residents (and council members) critical of her were black.

One white resident who supported the impeachment process said he “hated” the mayor, which drew a gasp of revulsion from the crowd, but many white residents appeared as disgusted and offended at this expression of hatred as black residents did.

The council members and mayor were allowed to speak at the end.

Councilman Rodney Epps did the most to explain what sparked the impeachment process. When newly elected, Henderson filed suit against every council member –including herself, since she served on the council that approved the policies she now sought to overthrow – and every city department head. The goal of Henderson’s suit was to impose a strong mayoral system in Jennings and empower her to fire and

MLK

Continued from A1

“The youth who led the Civil Rights Movement are now my elders.”

Keynote speaker Eugene B. Redmond honored Bond largely by naming Bond’s influences. Redmond discussed Bond’s intellectual debt to W.E.B. Du Bois and how much he learned from fellow activists such as Ella Baker and Fannie Lou Hamer. In his closing remarks, Redmond dwelled on local civil rights leaders Frankie Muse Freeman, Percy Green II and Ivory Perry, as emblems of Bond. In parting, Redmond encouraged the audience to read a novel that Bond loved, “Jubilee” by Margaret Walker. Even the musical selection involved a passing of the torch. Shalom Church (City of Peace), which has a nationally charting gospel record, was represented by its Next Generation Choir. In fact, the annual event itself had a torch passing, as this was the first time since the museum started the Freedom Celebration in 2002 that Renee Franklin, director of Community Partnerships, did not lead the event.

Still, with all the shifts of focus, an image of Julian Bond did emerge: a pathbreaking journalist, organizer, legislator, leader of the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee and the NAACP –and poet. Redmond, a widely published poet and poetry editor, first wrote about Bond as a poet in his landmark 1976 study of African-American poetry, “Drumvoices.” In a sassy piece of light verse by Bond, which Redmond read, the focus of the celebration returned to Dr. King, though as a punch line: Look at that girl shake that thing, We can’t all be Martin Luther King.

Creighton better captured the serious mood of the crowd. He imagined Dr. King appearing today and asking for an update on the nation he died trying to liberate. Creighton said we would have to tell Dr. King, “A 12-year-old AfricanAmerican boy with a toy gun in an open-carry state was gunned down in two seconds and no one was held responsible. I’d hate to tell him we’re still not created equal.”

hire her own department heads. Two department heads have since resigned, claiming the mayor created a hostile work environment, though Epps did not mention that.

Also,

counselor advised

members not to discuss

at the

Epps said the mayor’s actions already had brought law suits against the city – starting with the suits against the city that the mayor filed herself, which were dismissed by a circuit judge – and is convinced that she will cost the city more in legal fees the longer she stays in office.

“It will cost a little up front,” Epps said of the impeachment process, “but if you don’t correct the mess we’re in, it will cost you a lot more in the end.” In her own defense, the mayor admitted she had made mistakes, without being specific, but said she had not broken any laws. She ended her brief remarks sounding as if she were standing at the altar of a church, rather than the podium at city hall.

“I’ve got God with me,” Henderson said. “I don’t worship man. I worship Jesus Christ.”

Jennings Councilman Rodney Epps told residents who don’t attend council meetings about the law suits that Mayor Yolonda Fountain Henderson filed against the city during a hearing about the council’s vote to initiate the impeachment process against the mayor at City Hall on Saturday, January 16.

Photo by Wiley Price

Changing course

Latest breast cancer screening guidelines point to need for better screening methods

By Sandra Jordan

Of The St. Louis American

At Il Monastero at Saint Louis University, breast cancer support group

The Breakfast Club held a forum to clear up confusion about new breast cancer screening guidelines on January 11, the same day the U.S. Preventive Task Force released its final breast cancer screening recommendations. Those recommendations differ from guidelines released two months ago by the American Cancer Society (ACS).

“These recommendations were based on European women, from Sweden and Canada and we weren’t represented in the studies,” said Sherrill Jackson, founder and president of The Breakfast Club.

ACS recommendations are that it is a woman’s choice to mammogram screening at ages 40-44, with annual mammograms from age 45 to 54, with women 55 and older switching to mammograms every two

Report

n ACS recommendations are that it is a woman’s choice to mammogram screening at ages 40-44, with annual mammograms from age 45 to 54, with women 55 and older switching to mammograms every two years.

years. The USPSTF recommends women in their 40s weigh the benefit of potential harm vs. good, and starting at age 50 – recommends mammography every two years until age 74. The new recommendations apply to women with no symptoms or heightened risk of breast cancer. This would be women ages 40 and older with no preexisting breast cancer, diagnosed high-risk breast lesion, no known underlying genetic mutations; no first degree relative (mother, sister, child) or second

degree relative (grandmothers and aunts) with breast cancer and who do not have a history of chest radiation at a young age.

“It is well established that early detection combined with effective treatment reduces breast cancer mortality,” said Helen Chesnut, executive director of Susan G. Komen Missouri. “Komen believes screening tests, if recommended by a healthcare provider, should be covered by insurers and government programs no matter a woman’s age.”

Advocacy groups and individuals who promote breast cancer screening via mammography are not particularly happy with the new recommendations. After all, it is the only clinical screening available, and breast cancers in minority and poor women are aggressive and show up at younger ages.

“Our concern is that these recommendations don’t take into account the disparities that already exist,” Jackson added. “The other concern is – if this recommendation becomes a

See CANCER, A11

inds food insecurity continues to be major issue

A report released January 11 by the Missouri Foundation for Health states food insecurity in Missouri continues to be a major issue, affecting one in five households with children. The comprehensive report is the newest publication in the MFH Health Equity Series: Food Insecurity. It examines Missouri’s food system, including how social determinants of health impact food security and food access, as well as the connection between disparities in health outcomes and an inequitable food system. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization defines food security as a situation that “exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.” Food insecurity can lead to a host of health problems, including diabetes and paradoxically, obesity, which is a result of people eating what they can afford or access. Too often is high-calorie, processed and nutrition-deficient foods.

“The face of hunger has definitely changed, and the numbers regarding food insecure families in Missouri are stagger-

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization defines food security as a situation that “exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.”

ing,” said Ryan Barker, vice president of policy at MFH. “No one should have to worry about

See REPORT, A11

Compelling reasons to exercise

Compelling reasons to exercise

As a child, I was always quite pleased when my arguments with my friends or even my parents revealed that I was correct. Although, the inner satisfaction of knowing that I was on target in my defense should have been enough for me, yet it was not. In each of those scenarios, I had to end it with “I told you so!” Now, that may sound slightly juvenile but I’m sure many of you did the same thing!

Thirty-something years later, I again want to yell: “I told you so!” What am I so excited about now, you ask? Recently, researchers have reported that exercise may prevent lower back pain. Basically, the researchers reviewed about 23 studies with roughly 31,000 people and found that exercise alone or exercise with education can prevent back pain.

To me such a claim seems intuitive but you would be surprised at the number of people who fail to see how exercise could improve their mobility or prevent injury. Too many people see exercise simply as a means to lose weight and not a vital aspect of their health like breathing oxygen! In my almost 20 years of practicing medicine, I’ve never heard anyone say that “No, I haven’t breathed in three months.” See the connection. Ludicrous, isn’t it?

However, exercise not only improves musculoskeletal issues, but many other conditions as well. Let’s take depression, for instance. A 1999 study divided men and women into three groups. One group received an antidepressant, Zoloft. The second group exercised and the third group did both. After 16 weeks, participants in all three groups could no longer be classified as depressed. Furthermore, 6 months later, researchers found that individuals who continued to exercise were less likely to relapse into depression again. Excellent news for those individuals experiencing a winter slump! Get moving and watch your mood soar!

Let’s not stop there. Exercise improves circulation, which in turn increases sexual arousal. Genital sensation, vaginal lubrication and sexual excitement are all improved by good blood flow. Often times stress inhibits women from fully enjoying sex and experiencing orgasm. But endorphins released in the brain with exercise can improve sex particularly for women by releasing that tension. Now, if that does not encourage regular vigorous exercise, what will? In my opinion, advertisements for gym memberships should mention the above benefits and I guarantee the lines to join would be out the door!

Lastly, regular exercise could help prevent conditions such as hypertension, diabetes and obesity. I admit genetics plays a huge role in which diseases an individual will be diagnosed with in their lifetime, but it does not have to be an absolute certainty. I have shared my story many times in this very column. Almost every woman in family is obese. It saddens me to say that but it’s the unadulterated truth.

However, I choose not to have obesity be my destiny. Exercise is a way of life for me. Some days are better than others. Some days I work out and get to that recommended maximum heart rate for my age and other times I may only walk the dog. Whatever the case may be, every day I am focused on movement!

Bottom line: exercise is good for you in more ways than not! Try it and see!

Your Family Doctor, Denise Hooks-Anderson, M.D. Assistant Professor SLUCare Family Medicine yourhealthmatters@stlamerican.com

Denise HooksAnderson, MD

A8

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • JANUARY 21 – 27, 2016

At Il Monastero at Saint Louis University, breast cancer support group The Breakfast Club held a forum to clear up confusion about new breast cancer screening guidelines on January 11.

Photo by WIley Price

Metro East shuffle

Touchette Hospital doubles capacity for patients with mental illness as St. Elizabeth’s Hospital stops accepting behavioral health patients

By Durrie Bourscaren St. Louis Public Radio

As officials at Touchette Regional Hospital cut a bright red ribbon on Tuesday for the opening of a new behavioral health center, another Metro East hospital made preparations to close its own division for the same type of care.

Though hospital representatives said the shuffle will centralize services and improve patient care, advocates argue that patients still have a hard time finding a spare bed during a mental health emergency.

“I usually hear a story like that at least once or twice a week,” said Jessica Gruneich, the executive director for the Southwest Illinois chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. “It’s repeated in support groups, education classes. Caregivers, parents, adult children say, ‘We had to go to the ER and wait a day or two before my fill-in-the-blank family member could get a bed on a unit.’”

Inpatient care for mental health includes intervention and stabilization for people whose illnesses like schizophrenia, depression and post-traumatic stress reach a crisis

CANCER

Continued from A10

policy, insurance policies won’t pay for women to get a mammogram at 45. If anything is going on with the women, it’s going to be diagnosed later.”

Unfortunately, the scientific outcomes do support mammography screening as a tool to reduce breast cancer deaths for women in their 40s, according to the American Cancer Society’s Chief Medical and Scientific Officer, Otis Brawley, MD.

“It’s fair to say we need a useful screening test for women in their 40s; it’s also fair to say that mammography is not a very good test for women in their 40s,” Brawley said. “It’s a much better test for women in their 50s an it’s an even better test for women in their 60s, and part of the reason for that is actual density of the breast.”

While mammography is beneficial to early detection when cancers are more treatable, many women find lumps or breast abnormalities on their own.

“Most women who do well who are diagnosed in their 30s and 40s find their own lump rather than a mammogram finding it,” Brawley said. He added that studies have shown that women screened with mammography have a 20 percent lower death rate, than women without any screening.

“A 20 percent lower death rate from breast cancer – that translates that screening did not help 80 percent of the women who needed it to help them,” Brawley explained.

Continued from A10

having enough food; therefore, we’re hoping this report will serve as a resource to those looking to step in and assist Missouri residents with getting what they need to overcome food insecurity in our region.” According to the report, common characteristics of those who are food insecure

point. The new 30-bed center at Touchette’s location in Centreville will care for adults as inpatients and can provide

outpatient services for both adults and teens. Concurrently,

Elizabeth’s, which is owned by the Hospital Sisters Health System, helped guarantee the

Not speaking of any specific group or organization, Brawley told The American that advocates for screening have “hijacked” the issue – with billions of dollars going into screening that does not reduce mortality, when those dollars could be better spent developing a better screening tool for younger women.

“The advocacy community, and some people who are doctors who don’t understand screening have hijacked this

include: low-income households, households headed by a single parent, households headed by an AfricanAmerican or Hispanic person, households within a principal city of a metropolitan area, individuals who are renters, individuals who are younger in age and individuals who are less educated. In 2013 in the U.S., one in four Hispanic households (23 percent) and African-American households (26 percent) experienced food insecurity. The rate for

entire issue and they spend a lot of time lobbying for money to screen women in their 40s with mammography and they spend very little time, if any, lobbying to develop better screening tests,” Brawley said.

“You will find that there is some attempt to develop, CT of the breast … ultrasound of the breast; there is some MRI screening of the breast that’s out there, but an organized effort to find something that actually works for younger

both of these populations was almost twice that of the national average (14 percent). A variety of people from different background experience food insecurity in Missouri. Some suffer because they live in urban “food deserts,” where there are not nearby groceries with a variety of fresh and nutritious foods, Residents in rural areas often face transportation issues in reaching grocery stores many miles from where they live. Food insecurity rates have

women – it is not happening.”

New recommendations say women should weigh potential harm vs. good for annual screening or mammography screening at earlier ages.

Potential harms include false positive results, radiation exposure, stress and anxiety, unnecessary biopsies, over-diagnosis and overtreatment for a breast cancer that may not become a health threat in a woman’s lifetime.

“These new screening

been rising in Missouri for the last 10 years. On a scale of one to 50, where one is the most food insecure and 50 is the most food secure, Missouri ranked sixth for food insecurity and second behind Arkansas for hunger.

Missouri Foundation for Health continues to make significant investments toward reducing food insecurity in the state. Given the fact that many food insecure households seek assistance through food banks, in late 2013 MFH created a

While mammography is beneficial to early detection when cancers are more treatable, many women find lumps or breast abnormalities on their own.

$10 million loan to build the center in Centreville.

James Dover, division president for HSHS, disputed the idea that there would be fewer available beds for behavioral health in the Metro East after the shuffle.

Thirty new beds are now available for patients seeking mental health treatment at Behavioral Health Services in Centreville.

“Bed count doesn’t matter anymore; it’s an integrated program,” Dover said. “Our average daily census ran around nine patients a day.”

The director of Touchette’s newly-opened Behavioral Health Services, Desarie Holmes, said the center will double the space for mental health patients at the hospital, which formerly had only 12 beds and often ran at capacity.

“People need to be able to seek proper treatment, proper care,” Holmes said. “They have an opportunity and a place that’s safe, secure, and they can work out and learn the tools they need to live healthy and productive lives.”

Reprinted with permission from news.stlpublicradio.org

on African American, Hispanic, Latino, LGTB and medically underserved women.

“The most important thing that women who are concerned about breast cancer and women who are concerned about decreasing breast cancer mortality, especially in Missouri, need to be worried about the women who don’t get screened even though recommendations are that they do get screened,” Brawley said. “And they need to be worried about quality of care, because we have good signals that we have a large proportion of the population that gets less than optimal quality care.”

He said Missouri is one of 14 states with worse breast cancer outcomes.

“In Missouri, we have data that show that one-third of women, whether they are white or black who are supposed to get radiation therapy after a lumpectomy for breast cancer do not complete the entire course of radiation therapy,” Brawley said. “There is a goodly number of women who are prescribed chemotherapy, either oral or IV who do not take it.

recommendations bring the potential to lead to reduced accessibility to and coverage for health screenings from both private and public insurers,”

Chesnut said.

The breast cancer forum was held in conjunction with Saint Louis University and Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine.

Jackson said her group will look into a collaboration that involves pulling together data

series of Emergency Food Access grants. The Foundation partnered with the Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri, Ozarks Food Harvest, Southeast Missouri Food Bank and St. Louis Area Food Bank to support infrastructure improvements. Each organization received $1 million to enhance both its facilities and those of its community-based partners.

“This is a serious issue, and we, as an organization, have been committed to using

“How do you know when the doctor is not doing you a good service? The best way to do that is to actually get a second opinion on almost every major decision in your breast cancer care.”

Read the American Cancer Society recommendations at www.cancer.org. Read the final USPSTF breast cancer screening recommendations summary at http:// tinyurl.com/h6pnh58.

our resources to fight against hunger in our state,” said Dr. Robert Hughes, president and CEO of MFH. “Nutritious food options should be affordable and accessible in all of our communities. We are doing what we can to address this problem through various initiatives at the Foundation, including our infant mortality and childhood obesity work.” Read the full report online at www.mffh.org.

Surrounded by staff, project partners, and local dignitaries, Dr. Desarie Holmes, director of Behavioral Health, cuts the ribbon to Touchette Regional Hospital’s new Behavioral Health Center.

OK, so I’m over it. After 21 seasons, the St. Louis Rams are packing up and headed back to sunny Los Angeles. I get it, whether it’s fair or not. And anyone who didn’t see this

ESL folks lose business with Rams exit

coming is either delusional or intellectually challenged. All of the signs were there if one paid attention. Plus, after 14 seasons of sitting in the press box at Rams

games, I’m sure that I can find more productive things to do with my Sundays, like going to church or spend time with my family, for instance.

Most of the whining (primarily from the spoiled credentialed local sports media elite) stems from the reality that, after two decades of kissing the backsides of Rams management, owner Stan Kroenke made a gangster business move and didn’t think enough of them to share the details.

It also stems from the reality that no longer will they indulge in free lunches at Rams Park, out of town travel to Rams road games and free prime rib, brisket, beverages, brats, nachos, etc. as they enjoy Rams games from the cozy confines of the press box. Oh, and a few of them will lose an extra paycheck as the “Voice of the Rams,” game announcers or as

pre- and post-game analysts. In short, they’ll have to justify their existence on Sundays now. Tough break, guys. However, I’m more concerned about the impact on a few good folks in East Boogie. For instance, you probably didn’t realize that, for over a decade, the Rams’ uniforms were cleaned and repaired by New York Cleaners, an East St. Louis business owned by the McIntosh family for over 50 years.

You also may not be aware that another ESL native, Chantelle Overton, was employed by the Rams as a sideline photographer (one

of a very few black female photographers in the entire NFL) and was responsible for many of the awesome action photos of the Rams that you may have viewed online or in Rams publications. Those are the folks that I immediately thought of when the Rams announced their move, as well as numerous ESL folks working the concessions at the Edward Jones Dome; not a bunch of sniveling, buttkissing media cry babies who are upset because the Rams’ gravy train just ended for them. No, I’m concerned for New York Cleaners because every time I saw a Rams player run onto the field in their immaculately maintained uniforms, I thought about East Boogie and how excellently the McIntosh family must do their work, that of all the dry cleaners in the bi-state area, THEY were chosen. That’s a

contract that they will no longer have. And it’s perturbing to me that I won’t see my home girl, Chantelle Overton, hustling up and down the Rams sideline, clicking the shutter of her camera and capturing throws, catches, tackles and big plays on Sunday afternoons. These folks quietly represented East Boogie well and I’m proud of them, but sad that they will lose because of the Rams relocation.

Our politicians in ESL could stand to learn from their example of excellence. So I salute them and wish them nothing but the best because they are the best at what they do.

Email: jtingram_1960@ yahoo.com; Twitter@ JamesTIngram.

More deaths from guns than cars

By Mariah Stewart Ferguson Fellow

More people died from guns than from motor vehicle accidents in 21 states in 2014, according to a new report. Missouri – with 943 deaths from guns and 801 deaths from motor vehicle accidents – is among those states.

The Violence Policy Center (VPC), a research group that advocates for gun safety legislation, has found in past reports that traffic fatalities have been declining due to what the organization calls “effective regulation,” such as safety prevention initiatives, improved vehicle and highway design, and efforts from the government and advocacy groups. Firearm-related deaths, meanwhile, have only climbed.

MEDICAL WARNING

IVC Filters are medical devices designedtopreventpulmonary embolism by catching blood clots that may be traveling through your bloodstream. Studies have indicated that retrievable IVC filters mayhave caused multiple types of adverseevents,including:

Fracture causing metal pieces to spread throughout the body

Migrate to the heart and lungs

Perforate major organs

The FDA is aware of these adverse event reports and twice has recommended that retrievable IVC filters be removed as soon as safely possible.

Schlichter, Bogard and Denton has a national reputation for successfully resolving medical device injury and death cases. There are time limitationsonpursuingclaimsso call us today for a free consultation.

The VPC analyzed the latest available data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which tallies all gun deaths, including suicides and accidents, and all fatalities in car crashes. As the number of people who die in car crashes goes down, the organization said, the number of people who die from guns is going up needlessly.

“Firearms are the only consumer product the federal government does not regulate for health and safety,” VPC

Legislative Director Kristen Rand said in a press release.

“Meanwhile, science-based regulations have dramatically reduced deaths from motor vehicles in recent decades. It’s well past time that we regulate firearms for health and safety just like all other consumer products.”

“The historic drop in motor vehicle deaths illustrates how health and safety regulation can reduce deaths and injuries that were at one time thought to be unavoidable,” the report stated.

In 2014, Missouri recorded 943 deaths from guns and 801 deaths from motor vehicle accidents.

When VPC first compared firearm and traffic deaths in 2009, gun deaths exceeded fatal motor vehicle accidents in only 10 states. That number more than doubled in just six years.

Nine out of 10 American households in 2014 had access to cars, while only one-third had access to guns, according to the group. Automobile deaths far outpaced gun deaths for years, but that gap has been closing steadily over the past decade. In 2014, the Center for American Progress predicted that more young Americans would die from guns than motor vehicles in 2015. Other reports have made similar predictions across all age groups, suggesting that 2015 could be the first year gun deaths would top automobile deaths nationwide.

Last year’s data are not available yet, but the VPC shows that vehicle deaths still exceeded gun fatalities nationwide in 2014 – 35,647

to 33,599. However, the organization says gun deaths will surpass motor vehicle deaths in more and more states if current trends continue. Gun violence kills an average of 36 people a day in the U.S. – a number that doesn’t include suicides, which account for more than 60 percent of all firearm deaths – and many experts say the time to rethink our approach to the problem is overdue.

Congress has not budged on restrictions it passed two decades ago that have kept the CDC from researching gun violence as a public health issue. Earlier this month, a number of senators called for a hearing on the years-long blockage and pushed for the agency to research the issue.

U.S. Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) also presented legislation that would invest $10 million a year over the next decade into the CDC’s gun violence research.

“The epidemic of gun violence in America is not preordained, it is preventable,” Markey said in a press release announcing the legislation.

James Ingram

WEEK 20

GET THE LITTER

Most of us know better than to throw our trash on the ground or out the window.Yet, it’s impossible not to see litter literally everywhere. Because some people don’t understand the impact they have with their trash, litter is still a huge problem. One mile of any given stretch of highways has, on average, 16,000 pieces of litter. To make matters worse, the estimated cost of picking up litter is 30 cents per piece! This makes litter removal 10 times more expensive than regular trash pick up from your home.

One small change we could all make today is picking up litter as we see it. This should be done carefully, as litter is obviously dirty, but the next time you go for a walk outside grab a plastic grocery bag. You can use the bag as a glove or bring some yard gloves with you to stay clean. It’s amazing how much litter you’ll find in just a few minutes of looking for it. You can even take it one step further and recycle all the litter you find too!

ONE SMALL CHANGE is an ongoing series that challenges us to take very small steps toward being more environmentally-friendly. If we all participate then ONE SMALL CHANGE can make a big difference! participate, then ONE SMALL CHANGE can make a big difference!

NEWSPAPER IN EDUCATION

What Is ASize?Serving

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

Warm Up & Cool Down

Slip Sliding Away...

Ice can be dangerous for several different reasons.

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.

> 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.

> 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.

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

Healthy Kids Healthy Kids

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.

Learning Standards: HPE 2, HPE 4,

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 legs again, and

> 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.

> What other ice hazards are there?

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

continue with reduced speed movements until your heart rate begins to slow down. 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: HPE 2, HPE 5, NH 1

Bean & Cheese Roll-up

Directions: Spread the last three ingredients onto one side of the tortilla. Warm the tortilla in the microwave for 10-15 seconds, long enough to start to melt the cheese and soften the tortilla. Roll up the tortilla.

Careers

Dr. Muyibat Adelani, Orthopedic Surgeon

Where do you work? I work at Washington University School of Medicine. Where did you go to school? I graduated from University City High School. I received a BS in Exercise Science from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, and an MD from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee.

What does an orthopedic surgeon do? I take care of people with hip and knee problems. I see patients in my office and perform hip and knee replacement surgery.

Why did you choose this career? I chose this career because I wanted to help people be more active. I can eliminate pain from hip and knee problems with joint replacement surgery so that people can get back to do doing what they love.

What is your favorite part of the job you have?

My favorite part of my job is seeing patients get better after surgery. When I see people whose pain is gone after a hip or knee replacement, I know that I have done my job.

Learning Standards: HPE6, NH3

The St. Louis American’s award winning NIE program provides newspapers and resources to more than 7,000 teachers and students each week throughout the school year, at no charge.

Students in Stephanie Litteken’s 5th grade class at Grifith Elementary School get a STEM lesson in how to find elements of non-fiction using the newspaper. Pictured are Nariyah Grice, Dara Robinson, Lyana Carter, JaMon Johnson and Corde McDowell. Griffith Elementary is in the Ferguson-FLorissant School District.

Louis American

Neurobiology is the study of the brain and nervous system of humans and animals. This study allows scientists to understand how the brain functions when it is healthy and how to cope when there are different disorders or injuries that affect brain function. MRI machines allow doctors to see the brain in action and to learn more about it. Scientists believe that the brain is not fully developed until age 25. Different areas of the brain develop at their own pace. For young teens, the frontal lobe of the brain that impacts decision making and impulse control

SCIENCE EXPERIMENT

Background Information:

In this experiment, you will see how smell affects your taste buds.

Materials Needed:

• Small Cups • Cotton Swabs or Q-tips • Different Foods With Similar Textures (ex: ketchup, mustard, barbecue sauce, sweet and sour sauce, and maple syrup)

• Pen and Paper for Charting

• Partner for the Experiment • Blindfold

Procedure:

is slowly developing. That’s why many adults exclaim, “What were you thinking?” when they are frustrated with teens. Because the brain develops until the age of 25, it is especially important for young people to avoid drugs and alcohol because it easier for this age group to get addicted and substance abuse will have a very severe and devastating impact on permanent brain development.

Learning Standards: I can read nonfiction text for main idea and supporting detail. I can make text to self and text to world connections.

Taste vs. Smell

e Blindfold the taster as the tester puts a little bit of one food on the taster’s tongue with a cotton swab.

r The taster tries to identify which food they are tasting as well as whether it is salty, bitter, sweet or sour.

t The tester records the taster’s answers on the chart for each food they taste.

y When the taster has tried all the foods blindfolded, they will taste them each again but with their nose plugged as well. (Make sure you have them taste the foods in a different order.)

African-American Neurobiologist Erich Jarvis

Erich Jarvis was born on May 6, 1965, in Harlem. Both of his parents were musicians. At an early age, Jarvis was interested in music, dance, and the arts. He attended the High School of Performing Arts. After graduation in 1983, he attended Hunter College. While working on his degree, Jarvis worked as a Minority Access to Research Careers (MARC) Fellow and studied bacteria while he earned his bachelor’s degree in mathematics and biology. From 1988-1985, he attended the Rockefeller University where he earned his PhD in molecular neurobiology and animal behavior. He specialized his research in the study of songbird vocalizations.

Once Jarvis earned his PhD, he stayed at Rockefeller University as a professor, and he lead the Science Outreach Program of New York, going to inner-city schools to teach them lab skills. His goal was to inspire students to pursue education, develop critical thinking and problem solving skills, and to seek a STEM-related career. In 1998, Jarvis left Rockefeller and became a professor for the Department of Neurobiology at Duke University. He also worked for the Department of Cognitive Neuroscience and the Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology.

In 2005, Jarvis led a team of 28 neuroscientists who proposed a new classification system for the bird brain as they researched the similarities between the brain of a bird and the brain of a mammal. Three years later, he received the honor of becoming an Investigator for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He has published more than 50 journal articles and has been a contributor to numerous books.

q Draw a chart for your results. Write the name of each food you are testing in separate rows along the left side. Draw two columns for each taster. Label each column with the taster’s name and “unplugged” and “plugged.”

w Make some predictions about which foods will be easier and harder to identify by smell. Will it be easier or harder to taste the foods with your nose plugged or unplugged?

MATH CONNECTION

Did you know that you can find math in music? Time signatures tell how many beats per measure. Each note has a different numerical value. Many songs involve patterns in the music or lyrics. In honor of Jarvis’ songbird research, today’s math review is musical.

z A whole note is worth 4 beats, a half note is worth 2 beats, a quarter note is worth one beat. If a measure has 4 beats, how many different combinations can you create with these notes? ________

x Janice practiced her clarinet for 20 minutes on Monday, 35 minutes Tuesday, 10 minutes Wednesday, and 60 minutes Thursday. What is the average number of minutes she practiced each night? ________

DID YOU KNOW?

Did you know there are 4,000 species of songbirds?

u Once the taster has tried each food with his/her nose plugged, switch who tastes and who tests and go through it all again. When you’ve both had a chance to taste, compare your results.

Learning Standards: I can follow directions to complete an experiment. I can analyze the conclusions of the experiment and make deductions.

c In the fifth grade classroom, each student plays an instrument. 6 students play the saxophone, 8 students play the trumpet, 3 students play the drums, and 5 students play guitar. How many students are there total? ________ Write a fraction that represents the number of guitar players. ________

v A popular R&B song is 3 minutes and 50 seconds long. If the chorus is 20 seconds and is played 3 times in the song, how many total minutes of the song are devoted to the chorus? ________ Write a fraction that represents the portion of the song that is the chorus? ________

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

Jarvis’ success in his field as a pioneer in the study of songbird neurobiology has won him many awards, including the National Science Foundation Alan T. Waterman Award, the Dominion Award, Strong Men and Women of Excellence, African American Leaders and the National Institute for the Humanities’ Director’s Pioneer Award. Also, Jarvis has served as the director of the Neuroscience Scholars Program for The Society of Neuroscience, he is a member of Duke University’s Council on Black Affairs and a founding member of the Black Collective at Duke University. Jarvis followed his passion for music and learning and it has led him to a successful career. Learning Standards: I can read a biography about a person who has made contributions in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

MAP CORNER

Enjoy these activities that help you get to know your St. Louis American newspaper.

Activity One —

Plural Words: Find 10 plural words in the newspaper and cut them out. Glue them to a piece of paper and write the root word next to each (or circle the word in the newspaper and then write it on a piece of paper).

Activity Two —

Sports Team Travels: Keep track of a sports team’s travels. Find distances between cities on a map. Measure the distance between each city they visit. How many total miles did they travel?

Learning Standards: I can use the newspaper to locate information. I can identify root words. I can read a map and use addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division to solve a problem.

Photo by Wiley Price/ St.

‘Excellent service,’ Stenger, Belmar and the Post

The St. Louis PostDispatch has been accused by Ferguson protestors of playing “stenographer” for police in the region, and it’s a matter of public record that the paper helped remove Charlie Dooley from the county executive seat and replace him with Steve Stenger through a relentless battery of news reports and editorials based on anonymous allegations of corruption in the Dooley administration.

Well, this past week the Post was not playing stenographer for St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar, and it was Stenger, not Dooley, looking corrupt in the paper’s news and editorial holes.

In a sense, the Post did play stenographer for Belmar and Stenger, in the sense that the paper simply reported what they said, or wrote, but the paper reported things these powerful men said that they most certainly would have preferred to remain hidden from public view.

The Post unearthed and published previously sealed letters to a district judge that Belmar and Stenger wrote on behalf of Michael Saracino II. He was sentenced in December to 24 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to possession and intent to distribute more than 1,000 kilos of marijuana. “He had been arrested in 2014 as part of a federal and local drug sting in a massive drug dealing operation that included airplanes and spanned several states,” Tony Messenger wrote

in a ruthless opinion column that followed on the news report by Christine Byers and Robert Patrick. “Evidence in the cases included at least one firebombing, beatings and a kidnapping.”

Saracino got a break in sentencing from U.S. District Judge Catherine Perry, compared to what the prosecutor requested and federal sentencing guidelines. In letting Saracino off relatively easily, she was only doing what the county’s chief executive requested.

“Based on my experience with Michael and his family, I respectfully request that you grant him leniency in your sentencing for the crimes he has committed,” Stenger wrote to the court. Though he did not use official stationary, he did use his office address. His name and office address should be a sure giveaway to the judge that this was the county executive asking for leniency for the confessed drug dealer.

Stenger said he met Saracino when the young man served him at one of his family’s restaurants. “He provides excellent service to all of his customers,” Stenger wrote to the judge, as if penning a Yelp review rather than an appeal for leniency.

Ah, but it was Stenger who was providing excellent service to a former customer. Though he did not disclose this past client relationship to the judge, the Post sifted through court records and found that Stenger represented Saracino when

if so at what salary ($77,500). Hampel fits into this story about “excellent service,” who provides that service, and who gets paid for it.

Hampel was a veteran reporter at the Post-Dispatch who covered St. Louis County government when the Post got started on its years-long jeremiad against the Dooley administration. Hampel reported on Dooley when corruption fever was raging among St. Louis federal investigators and prosecutors.

A series of elected officials –state Senator Jeff Smith, his accomplice state Rep. Steve Brown and state Rep. T.D. El-Amin – all were forced to resign from office (and Smith and El-Amin reported to prison) after being caught redhanded committing crimes.

he pleaded guilty to refusing to take a breath test during a traffic stop in 2012.

(The Post also noted that Saracino has charges pending on a 2013 arrest for money laundering after he was arrested at a casino with $26,870 in cash. “He told investigators it was from restaurant wages and tips,” the Post reported. This bonanza of tips would back up Stenger’s claim that Saracino “provides excellent service” at the dining table.)

Belmar does not come right out and ask for leniency, but the fact that he is the police chief – writing to the court on police chief letterhead – presumably lends force to his gentler nudge. Belmar writes to offer “humble insight” to the Saracino family’s support for their young felon. Belmar referred to them as an “honorable” family, presumably not intending the allusion to William Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar,” where noble cutthroats are praised as “honorable men.” Belmar suggests to the court that the family, not the state, can handle Saracino’s punishment and rehabilitation, saying the family will “provide

the right type of support, and demand accountability from him.”

About that family: the “excellent waiter” and drug dealer is the nephew of John Saracino, who was a member of the St. Louis County Board of Police Commissioners –and, as such, one of Belmar’s bosses. John Saracino resigned from the police board to accept a spot in Stenger’s cabinet (after the Post helped get him elected county executive) as director of constituent services. See, constituent services! Excellent service must run in this family. John Saracino was drawing down $130,000 a year from the county for his excellent service, until the Post’s coverage of the leniency letters forced his resignation.

(The Post does not make this connection, but another Saracino uncle, Bartholomew Saracino, previously served on the St. Louis city police board, when it was under state control, along with Mayor Francis G. Slay. Bart Saracino and Mayor Slay were the bosses of St. Louis Police Chief Joe Mokwa. Remember him? Clean as a whistle, that copper. Wasn’t he?)

The American contacted spokespersons for Belmar and Stenger to see if they would speak to us about the Post’s report. Belmar declined through his spokesman. Neither of Stenger’s communications operatives provided the dignity of a response, even though both – Cordell Whitlock and Allison Blood – are former journalists.

Whitlock did answer a request to see if another former journalist, Paul Hampel, still works for the County (yes) and

Smith and Brown obstructed a federal investigation into a past campaign reporting impropriety that Smith lied about under oath, and El-Amin extorted a bribe from a gas station owner. This string of high-profile busts had everyone casting rumors about who was next. In this climate, the Post gave Hampel a front page spot in October 2009 for a story where anonymous sources claimed that corruption in St. Louis County went “all the way to the top.”

That story tried to connect alleged corruption in the Dooley administration to one of his staffers resigning in the wake of personal tax issues.

Hampel’s sourcing for Dooley’s alleged corruption was no tighter than “unconfirmed rumors” or “whispers swirling through county government headquarters.”

At the time, The American questioned Post Deputy Metro Editor Alan Achkar about running a front-page news piece alleging criminal corruption with no tighter sourcing than “rumors” or “whispers.” Akbar said he justified the Post’s editorial decision “in the context, the atmosphere, the environment” of recent corruption convictions and ongoing corruption probes.

Achkar, predictably, refused to divulge Hampel’s anonymous sources for these swirling whispers. At the time, Stenger was a County councilman and frequent scourge of Dooley in news and political stories. When Stenger challenged Dooley for county executive, the EYE suspected that Stenger had been Hampel’s deep throat for those swirling whispers of corruption.

This suspicion became strengthened after Stenger paid a visit to The American for an editorial board visit. Though Dooley was the County’s first black chief executive, Stenger

– a white man from South County – actually requested an editorial board meeting with us before Dooley did, and the EYE gave Stenger a fair hearing and reported a neutral story where he made a case for his candidacy. Stenger followed up by asking the paper’s managing editor to lunch, and during lunch Stenger went on and off the record. His accusations of corruption in the Dooley administration were shared off the record. This routine was perfectly consistent with Stenger appearing on the record in some Post reports about Dooley, while being an anonymous source when criminal corruption was alleged. All of this came back to mind when Hampel resigned from the Post and accepted a vague “Special Projects” post with the Stenger administration (he is now called “policy advisor,” per Whitlock). The EYE wondered if Hampel was being repaid for his previous “excellent service” as a journalist, pushing Stenger’s anonymous allegations of corruption past his editors and onto the front page. After Stenger hired Hampel, The American approached Post editor Gilbert Bailon to ask if he had conducted an internal review to see if Stenger was one of Hampel’s anonymous sources for allegations of Dooley’s corruption – for which Dooley was never interviewed by investigators, let alone charged. Bailon’s response: “We don’t divulge the identity of any anonymous sources.”

Hampel and Stenger have never responded to requests to discuss their past relationship as journalist and source.

Back to the Post of today: The report on Belmar and Stenger’s letters was excellent public service journalism –truly, in this case, “excellent service” – but the protestors’ claim that the Post’s news reporters are “police stenographers” does still ring true, in part. The Post’s report on the leniency letters is framed from the point of view of the police union. Gabe Crocker County police union rep, is the first named source in the story, and the County coppers are the heroes in the headline.

Interestingly, Stenger blamed the story on Crocker, claiming the copper was exacting payback for being denied one of the Stenger administration hookups that Saracino and Hampel landed. The Post reported that Stenger accused Crocker of merely “having an ax to grind” for being turned down for a job in his administration.

Photo by Maurice Meredith

St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar, John Saracino and St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger attended service at Shalom Church (City of Peace) on January 18, 2015.

Business

Diversifying occupational therapy

Harris-Stowe partners with WUSTL School of Medicine in degree program

By Rebecca Rivas

Of The St. Louis American

About five students from Harris-Stowe State University each year will able to enter Washington University’s leading occupational therapy program, university leaders announced Friday, January 15 at an agreement-signing ceremony.

“No longer will there be borders that separate our institutions,” said Dwayne Smith, provost and vice president of academic affairs at HarrisStowe. “As higher-education institutions, we have a mission to ensure that we add value to our community and our region. Producing a diverse profession in occupational therapy is one such avenue.”

Occupational therapists help people who have physical, mental or cognitive challenges to participate in the things they want and need to do in their daily lives.

n “As higher-education institutions, we have a mission to ensure that we add value to our community and our region.”

– Dwayne Smith, Harris-Stowe

social work at Washington University School of Medicine.

Washington University’s occupational therapy program will celebrate its 100th year in 2018, after beginning as a reconstructive aid program during World War I, Baum said.

Many of the students at the medical school and division of biological sciences are not from the community, said Will Ross, associate dean for diversity and professor of medicine at the medical school. And most of Harris-Stowe students are, he said.

Vince Bennett is the new president of McCormack Baron Salazar, Inc. He is responsible for the overall performance of the development company, overseeing all aspects of operations and managing a team of design, construction, legal, finance and management staff. He previously served as chief operating officer. Former president Kevin McCormack is now chief executive officer of the corporate holding company, MBA Properties, Inc.

Lakesha M. Butler was awarded the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Champion for Diversity Award, which is presented to a faculty member who has demonstrated an exemplary level of dedication to SIUE’s mission of fostering equal opportunity, as well as exhibited outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion. She is a clinical associate professor of Pharmacy Practice.

Larry Thomas was elected board chair at Provident, Inc., a mental health agency with the mission of helping individuals and families to a brighter future through counseling, suicide prevention and intervention, and community support programs. Thomas, who previously served as vice chair, replaces Stuart Greenbaum. Thomas is a partner at Edward Jones.

The new Cooperative DegreeConferring program allows Harris-Stowe students to earn a dual undergraduate and graduate degree by attending both institutions. These students would complete their bachelor’s degrees in three years and then continue their education at the Washington University School of Medicine, where they could earn a master’s in occupational therapy within two years or a doctorate within three years.

American staff

“In order to improve population health for all individuals in the future, we need a diverse and talented group of students to enter the field of occupational therapy now,” said Carolyn Baum, Elias Michael executive director and professor of occupational therapy, of neurology and of

Ross believes the Harris-Stowe students will enrich the conversation and change the way WUSTL medical students tend to their patients in the future.

“Frankly, they are going to be trained by the Harris-Stowe students,” he said. “It won’t be the other way around. It’s a collaboration of peers, of equals. And that’s only going to make our diversity efforts better.”

Students must complete six prerequisites

Stenger orders County’s

first Disparity Study

January 27 is deadline to apply to conduct it

St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger has ordered the county’s first-ever assessment of the way it awards contracts to businesses owned by minorities, women, veterans and the disabled.

“My vision for St. Louis County hinges on the participation of every segment of this region’s workforce,” Stenger said. “To that end, the county will undertake an extensive Disparity Study to show us exactly where we stand today.”

The county is soliciting a request for proposal (RFP) for a Disparity Study that will gauge the participation of businesses owned by minorities, women, veterans and the disabled in construction and other contracts awarded for county projects.

Among the RFP’s requirements will be a thorough review of policies and procedures related to the county’s procurement of goods and services; the conducting of at least three

n “The study must suggest reasonable and practical methods to evaluate options for future programs to eliminate and/or decrease any active or passive discrimination.”

Town Hall meetings with key community stakeholders; and an extensive analysis of laws, regulations, news articles and census data related to contracting processes.

The RFP itself was reviewed by Jovita Foster, an attorney with the firm of Armstrong Teasdale.

According to the RFP, “The ultimate goal of the Disparity Study is to provide a statistical evaluation that compares the percentages of available, qualified certified minority-owned, (MBE), women-owned (WBE), Veteran Owned

Businesses (VOB), and Service Disabled Veteran Owned Businesses (SDVOB) to the percentage of such entities within the relevant market that are qualified and willing to undertake St. Louis County’s available construction and other work with the percentage of total St. Louis County’s construction and other dollars that are presently awarded for County projects.”

Also, the RFP states, “The study must suggest reasonable and practical methods to evaluate options for future programs to eliminate and/or decrease any active or passive discrimination.”

To view the RFP, look under “News” at http://www.stlouisco.com/. Disparity Study proposals will be accepted until 5 p.m. Wednesday, January 27. Proposals must be submitted to: Paul Kreidler, St. Louis County, 41 S. Central, 8th Floor, Clayton, MO 63105.

Rev. Regina Lowe is the Faith Outreach manager for the Alzheimer’s Association, St. Louis Chapter. Rev. Lowe holds a bachelors in Business Economics from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. She has worked in the for-profit sector as an accountant and business analyst. Ordained in the African Methodist Episcopal church, she is currently working on her MA in Christian Formation and Non-Profit Administration.

Ronnie L. White joined the Academy of Missouri Squires, which honors Missourians for their accomplishments on the community, state or national levels. He is U.S. District Judge for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. Baseball Hall of Famer Osborne Earl (Ozzie) Smith and Donald M. Suggs, publisher of The St. Louis American, also joined the academy.

Gabrielle Clay has joined HOK as a project accountant in St. Louis. She will work with the corporate accounting team and regional offices to maintain accurate and timely accounting records. Prior to joining HOK, Clay was a

Vince Bennett

Larry Thomas

Rev. Regina Lowe

Ronnie L. White

Lakesha M. Butler

Gabrielle Clay

Dwyane Smith, provost and vice president of Academic Affairs for Harris-Stowe and Washington University’s Carolyn Baum, Elias Michael executive director and professor of occupational therapy, of neurology and of social work, signed an agreement to allow Harris-Stowe students to attend Wash. U.’s occupational therapy program.

Photo by Wiley Price

Personal Finance

Look closely at Social Security in 2016

By Nathaniel Sillin

If you’re not close to retirement age, it’s easy to ignore what Social Security is doing. However, some significant announcements late last year make now a very good time to pay attention. What follows is a summary of notable changes to Social Security at the start of 2016 and ways to ensure you’re making the right retirement planning and claiming (http:// www.consumerfinance.gov/ retirement/before-you-claim/) decisions based on what’s ahead:

1. 2016 Social Security payments won’t increase. In late October, Social Security (https://www.ssa. gov/myaccount/) announced that there wasn’t enough inflation in 2015 to create a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to monthly benefits this year. Understandably, this announcement shook up recipients who look to Social Security for a significant part of their monthly income. It’s only the third time payments were frozen in the past 40 years since automatic COLA adjustments began, but here’s the rub – all three occasions occurred after 2010. In short, most seniors will have to live with an average monthly payment of $1,341 with married beneficiaries receiving a total of $2,212.

2. Married and divorced individuals may have to rethink the way they claim benefits. Also last October, Washington settled a federal budget battle in part by closing some notable loopholes in Social Security law that allowed certain married couples to substantially increase their benefits over time and certain divorced individuals to claim benefits from former spouses under certain circumstances. These new restrictions on so-called file-and-suspend and restrictedclaim strategies go into effect

FAITH

continued from page B1 at Harris-Stowe, hold an accumulative 3.25 GPA at the

time of application and fulfill other admission requirements, including a minimum of 30 hours of OT-related experience or observation and score above specified standards on the GRE exam.

this coming May. In short, if you’re close to age 62 (the earliest age you can start claiming Social Security benefits) getting qualified advice has never been more important.

3. Other COLA-related issues. When there’s no costof-living adjustment, there’s no change in the maximum

amount of earnings subject to the Social Security tax, which will stay at $118,500 in 2016. This means earnings above that level aren’t subject to the Social Security portion of the payroll tax or used to calculate retirement payouts. At the same time, the Social Security earnings limit for people who work and claim Social Security payments will stay

n “We need a diverse and talented group of students to enter the field of occupational therapy now.”

– Carolyn Baum, Washington University School of Medicine

“This newest partnership with Washington University is advantageous for our students,” Dwaun J. Warmack, president

of Harris-Stowe, said in a statement, “because the need for occupational therapists is expected to increase as baby

worker who signs up for Social Security this year will be $2,639 per month, down $24 from $2,663 in 2015. The reason? Social Security noted that despite no cost-ofliving adjustment there was an increase in the national average wage index, one of the statistical guideposts the agency uses to calculate benefits.

5. Service changes. If you haven’t created a My Social Security account, do so for two reasons: First, there have been reports of ID theft related to thieves attempting fraudulent signups for such accounts. Second, the agency is making more detailed account data available online such as estimates of monthly payments at various claiming ages. Also, Social Security expanded office hours in some of its field locations in 2015, so if you need face-to-face assistance, check hours of operation at your closest local office (https://secure.ssa.gov/ ICON/main.jsp).

at $15,720 in 2016 for people ages 65 and younger. Social Security beneficiaries who earn more than this amount will have $1 in benefits temporarily withheld for every $2 in earnings above the limit.

4. Some benefits are going down – a little. The highest possible Social Security payment for a 66-year-old

boomers age and advances in occupational science progress.”

Qualified Harris-Stowe students will be eligible to enter the program as early as the 2017-18 academic year.

Taevin Lewis, currently a sophomore and Student Government Association vice president, said she plans on applying to the program as a junior.

“Growing up as a child, you always want to be a

Bottom line: Social Security froze benefit amounts for the coming year, and that has an impact on both current and future recipients. You can’t fully understand your retirement without understanding how Social Security works, so now’s the time to learn.

Nathaniel Sillin directs Visa’s financial education programs. To follow Practical Money Skills on Twitter: www.twitter. com/PracticalMoney.

doctor, lawyer, or fireman or a princess,” she said, laughing. “I decided to go into the medical field.” She started off looking into physical therapy and then found out about occupational therapy. “This fits me perfectly,” she said. “I love helping people, especially when you are in the position to help them long-term with everyday things.”

Follow this reporter on Twitter @RebeccaRivas.

“We have a lot of things to get better at. That’s going to take a lot of guys looking themselves in the mirror and it all starts with our leader (James) over there and dwindles on down.”

– Cleveland Cavs’ Kevin Love

Vashon stuns CBC

The Vashon Wolverines are back in the statewide conscience of high school basketball under the direction of Tony Irons, the son of legendary Hall of Fame coach Floyd Irons.

The Wolverines have won 11 games this season, but were still looking for that signature win to officially announce the return of “The V.” That goal was accomplished on Monday when Vashon from a 25-point third-quarter deficit to stun CBC 71-70 at the Remembering the Dream MLK Classic at SLUH. Freshman guard Mario McKinney scored on an offensive put-back with .04 seconds left to complete of the most improbable comebacks in the illustrious history of the Vashon program. The Wolverines trailed by 25 points in the third quarter before unleashing their full-court pressure defense that forced numerous turnovers and finally wore the Cadets down in the fourth quarter. Junior guard Daniel “Peanut” Farris led the charge with 16 points. Fellow junior Casey Cody-Jackson added 13 points while 6’7” senior Daimon Taylor scored nine points and the 6’0” McKinney added seven points. Vashon improved its record to 11-4 on the season against a rugged schedule. Their losses have come to the likes of Chicago-area powers Chicago Morgan Park and Chicago Kenwood and Hazelwood Central. The Wolverines will be one of the top teams to watch in the upcoming Class 4 state playoffs when March Madness rolls around. In another featured game at the MLK Classic, host SLUH defeated Hazelwood Central 58-47. Junior guard Brandon McKissic scored 15 points while senior guard Matt Nester added 13 points, including the 1,000th of his career. Seniors Xavier

Ray Lankford should get owners’ vote for Cardinals Hall of

WBC Heavyweight Champion Deontay Wilder won’t be confused with the likes of Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis or Mike Tyson anytime soon. The man known as “The Bronze Bomber” doesn’t possess the classic, precision boxing skills as Louis, the footwork, speed or elusiveness as Ali or the hypnotic head movement as Tyson’s bob and weave. However, the 6-foot-7 American heavyweight does have a signature trait that has propelled him to the top of the heavyweight division – raw, unadulterated power. Wilder (36-0, 35 KO) put that fight-altering –ending power on display Saturday night. The charismatic Wilder faced Artur Szpilka (20-2, 15KO) at the Barclay Center. It was the first night in 115 years

that heavyweight titles were on the line in Brooklyn. Szpilka was seeking to become the first Polish fighter to wear a major title around his waist. Days before the fight, Szpilka initiated a small scuffle during a press event when he head-butted Wilder as the two were jaw-jacking. During the fight, the crafty southpaw proved to be just as pesky as he fared better than many expected throughout the fight.

A heavy underdog, Szpilka used movement and solid boxing to neutralize Wilder’s jab and his wide, looping right hands over the first eight rounds of the fight. He ate a few big shots, but remained undeterred. Though Wilder was up on the scorecards, Szpilka fought well and was certainly in the fight. Then came the ninth round. Wilder gave the fans

First

By Earl Austin Jr. Of The St.

American

Louis

For the first time in history, two St. Louisans were selected to compete in the McDonald’s All-American High School Basketball Game in the same year. Jayson Tatum of Chaminade College Prep was selected to the play in the boys’ game while Alecia Sutton of Parkway North was selected to play in the girls’ game. Both players were placed on the East All-Star Team. Sutton will not be able to participate due to a seasonending knee injury, but she got the invitation as one of the top point guards in the country. The 39th McDonald’s boys’ game and 15th annual girls’ game will be played on March 30 at the United Center in Chicago.

The 6’9” Tatum is in the midst of a spectacular senior season in which he is averaging 28.6 points, 9.2 rebounds and 3.1 assists a game while leading the Red Devils to a 16-5 record against a national schedule.

Being selected to the McDonald’s game is the capper of a brilliant career that has included three gold medals as a member of USA Basketball in international competition. He is currently ranked the No. 2 player in the nation by ESPN.com. Tatum has already scored 2,333 points in his career with many

Ishmael H. Sistrunk

With Ishmael H. Sistrunk

Deontay Wilder lands a devastating KO punch that knocked Artur Szpilka unconscious as Wilder defended his WBC Heavyweight Championship and extended his undefeated record to 36-0.

Earl Austin Jr.

Photo by Lawrence Bryant

Photo by Showtime Championship Boxing

Alecia Sutton

Jayson Tatum

SportS EyE

With Alvin Reid

Ray Lankford should get owners’ vote for Cardinals Hall of Fame

Just like the St. Louis Cardinals current 25-man roster, the ballot of players that fans will vote on for 2016 induction into the team’s Hall of Fame includes no black players.

Nominated for induction are Chris Carpenter, Keith Hernandez, Jason Isringhausen, Mark McGwire, Matt Morris, Edgar Renteria, Scott Rolen and Joe Torre

Two players will be elected from this list, which was put together by a “Red Ribbon Committee,” which has done a decent job of including black players on past ballots.

A veteran player (who was with the Cardinals and retired at least 40 years ago) will be selected by the committee, and team ownership will select a fourth member.

Four black players who should be in the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame are Vince Coleman, George Hendrick, Ray Lankford and Bill White

While Hendrick is my top all-time Cardinal, Coleman a fan favorite and White a truly historic figure in team history, I endorse Lankford to Cardinals’ owners for 2016 enshrinement. His numbers speak loudly.

Lankford is the only Cardinal to hit 20 home runs and steal 20 bases in more than one season – and he did it five times (1992, 1995-1998.) When his career ended, he was among the Cardinal Top 10 in home runs (third with 228), stolen bases (fifth with 250), runs scored (eighth with 928), runs batted in (eighth with 829), and bases on balls (fourth with 780). Lankford hit more home runs at Busch Stadium II (123) than any other player. In true “The Natural” fashion, Lankford launched a pinch hit home run in his final Major League at bat on October 3, 2004.

Lankford was also in the on-deck circle when McGwire hit his record 62nd home run in 1998.

Vote no on McGwire

Use of performanceenhancing drugs is not the only reason that Mark McGwire should not be voted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, in my opinion. His entire career does not meet HOF standards, especially when you then add the steroid use. He definitely does not deserve to be in the Cardinals Hall of Fame because the

ONLY reason he would be inducted was for the 70 home run season in 1998. He admittedly said the accomplishment was fueled by

performance enhancers, and save the “they didn’t help him hit home runs” nonsense.

Magic Johnson: Rams fan

Earvin “Magic” Johnson former NBA megastar with the L.A. Lakers and a minority owner of the L.A. Dodgers, was the first to sign up for the right to buy Los Angeles Rams season tickets.

Johnson sent Tweets saying “so excited” and “can’t wait to see OUR team next season!” when $100 deposit reservations for season tickets were made available on Monday.

As of Tuesday, the reservation list had soared past 8,000. The deposit doesn’t guarantee a season ticket, but it does give priority over the general public. The deposit is refundable and people can stay on the waiting list for the 2017 and 2018 seasons.

Season ticket holders at the L.A. Coliseum will receive priority to purchase season tickets for the new Inglewood Stadium, which should open in 2019. Those season tickets won’t go on sale until 2017. Johnson also said that he planned to call Rams owner

RAMS

Continued from B3

more games left to play. He joins former Chaminade stars David Lee and Bradley Beal as McDonald’s All-Americans.

Stan Kroenke next week to discuss buying a corporate suite. I’ll bet Kroenke takes that call personally.

Black to the future

New Cleveland Browns head coach Hue Jackson had barely held the job an hour before some pundits were saying that would be the destination for soon-to-beformer Washington quarterback Robert Griffin III Reports are that Jackson would not sign the deal unless the team rids itself of the troubled Johnny Manziel

While Griffin III might have a larger upside that Manziel, if Jackson has no use for the former Texas A&M star, why are people guessing he wants to take on RG III’s baggage?

That’s easy: Both Jackson and Griffin are black. I’d like to assume that people think Jackson, a true offensive genius, can get the best out of Griffin. Unfortunately, I don’t think that is the case. I think it comes down to racial thinking – that it will take a black man to get the best out of black man.

Iginla is a rare NHL 600 man

I was all so wrapped up in the Rams leaving for L.A. that I forgot to congratulate Jarome Iginla for registering his 600th goal earlier this month. His goal helped propel the Kroenke-family-owned Colorado Rockies to a 4-1 win over (ironically) the L.A. Kings.

Iginla, known for his wicked wrist shot, actually registered his 600th goal on a cross-ice pass that hit a Kings defenseman’s skate and ricocheted into the net.

“Six-hundred feels pretty good,” said the man who will be recognized as the NHL’s greatest player of color in history.

As for the crazy goal, he said, “That was definitely one of the lucky ones, but I’m not too picky. I’ll take it.”

Alvin A. Reid is a panelist on the Nine Network program, Donnybrook and appears on ABC’s The Allman Report and several sports radio shows. His Twitter handle is @aareid1.

The 5’8” Sutton has been a star at Parkway North since starting the first game of her freshman season with the Vikings. Sutton’s season and prep career ended in the semifinals of the Visitation Christmas Tournament when she suffered a torn ACL against Kirkwood. Up to that point, she was averaging 14.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.9 steals for the Vikings, who were 8-0 at the time. Sutton finished her stellar prep career with 1,470 points, 402 rebounds, 384 assists and 242 steals. Sutton played 95 games at Parkway North, in which the Vikings compiled an impressive 85-10 record. She is the second St. Louisan to be selected to the McDonald’s Game, following former Incarnate Word star and current University of Connecticut starter Napheesa Collier, who played in last year’s game. Tatum will play collegiate basketball at Duke University next season while Sutton will be headed to the University of Texas.

n The 5’8” Alecia Sutton has been a star at Parkway North since starting the irst game of her freshman season with the Vikings.

Alvin Reid

n Four black players who should be in the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame are Vince Coleman, George Hendrick, Ray Lankford and Bill White.

Ray Lankford’s numbers as a St. Louis Cardinal should make him a 2016 inductee to the team’s Hall of Fame. The vote will have to come from owners, because he is not included on the fan ballot this year.

CLUTCH

Continued from B3 by WBA and WBO champion Tyson Fury. Fury dethroned Wladimir Klitschko in November to become the man most consider as the ‘real’ heavyweight champion of the world. The 6-foot-9 Fury attempted to steal Wilder’s spotlight by getting in his face, calling him out and putting on a WWE worthy show on the microphone. Wilder, never shy for words, took it all in stride and promised to hurt Fury badly if he was brave enough to sign a fight contract.

As exciting as the notion of a Fury vs Wilder fight may be, the reality is that both have difficult obligations to fulfill in their next bouts. Fury is set to give Klitschko a rematch later this year and Wilder is set to face his mandatory contender, Alexander Povetkin in his next bout. Should the two champions both emerge victorious in their upcoming bouts, it could set up the most highly-anticipated heavyweight title fight in years.

St. Louis native wins

IBF Heavyweight Title

The undercard bout for Wilder vs Szpilka featured St. Louis native Charles Martin versus #1 IBF contender Vyacheslav Glazkov. The bout was for the IBF version of the heavyweight title. Fury won the strap from Klitschko but was stripped just days after his victory for opting for a Klitschko rematch instead of facing Glazkov. (Gotta love those sanctioning bodies.) While I’m sure Martin has dreamed of becoming heavyweight champion of the world for years, the victory probably didn’t come like he wished. Glazkov slipped after landing a body shot during the thirdround. After getting to his feet with a noticeable limp, Glazkov twisted his knee and went down again moments later after Martin landed a glancing blow. With a suspected torn ACL, Glazkov was unable to continue and thus Martin claimed the vacant title.

In Martin’s defense, it’s certainly no fault of his that Glazkov was injured and forced to quit early. Martin

PREP

Continued from B3 Sneed and Dominique Dobbs scored 20 points each for the Hawks.

In the opening game, St. Mary’s defeated Pattonville 64-57 as sophomores Tony Burkes and Yahuza Rasas scored 18 and 17 points, respectively to lead St. Mary’s. Junior guard Destan Williams scored 27 points to lead the Pirates.

Javon Pickett to Illinois

Standout junior Javon Pickett of Belleville East gave a verbal commitment to the University of Illinois over the weekend. The 6’4” Pickett chose Illinois over Drake, SLU, Illinois State and SIUE.

Pickett is one of the area’s

showed up ready to fight and acquitted himself relatively well over three largely uneventful rounds. Winning via injury won’t earn him legions of fans or universal acclaim. However, having a title around his waist will provide Martin with a rash of opportunities to prove himself as a legit champion. Fringe contenders are already calling out the STL southpaw. He and his team have some inter-

leading scorers at 24.3 points a game. He is also averaging 6.8 rebounds while shooting 56 percent from the field in leading the Lancers to a 12-4 record.

Cardinal Ritter Classic set for this weekend

The Cardinal Ritter Classic will be held on Saturday with four boys games and one girls game on tap. The schedule is as follows: Soldan vs. Chicago Englewood, 1:30 p.m.; McCluer South-Berkeley vs. Cardinal Ritter (girls), 3 p.m.; St. Mary’s vs. Alton, 4:30 p.m.; Riverview Gardens vs. Jonesboro (ARK), 6 p.m.; Cardinal Ritter vs. Chicago Hales Fransciscan, 7:30 p.m.

Brother-Sister Act at Lutheran South

Senior Lezoghia Meneh and

esting decisions to make on his future plans.

Clutch or Nah

Nah: LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers getting mollywhopped 132-98 by the Golden State Warriors was embarrassing. After their fourth loss, the overrated chatter had started about the defending champs. Stephen Curry and Co. shut up that talk really quickly by making the Cavs

junior Leketor Member-Meneh of Lutheran South are one of the top brother-sister basketball acts in the state of Missouri.

Lezoghia is a standout of the boys’ team at South, averaging 18 points a game in leading the Crusaders to a 9-2 record. Leketor, a 5’8” guard, on the girls’ team leads the St. Louis area in scoring at 24 points a game. She is also averaging 10.3 rebounds and 4.9 steals for the 7-5 Crusaders.

Big Games This Week

Thursday, Jan. 18

Vashon at Soldan, 6 p.m.

CBC at Vianney, 7 p.m.

Friday, Jan. 19

Westminster at MICDS, 7 p.m.

North Tech at Miller Career Academy, 6 p.m.

Webster Groves at Pattonville, 7 p.m.

St. Louis American Prep Athletes of the Week

Aijah Blackwell

Whitfield – Girls Basketball

The 6’0” Blackwell is one of the top freshmen in the state of Missouri. She led the Warriors to a pair of big victories last week. Blackwell had 16 points, 10 rebounds, three steals and seven blocks in a 52-39 victory over Principia. She followed up with 19 points in a 67-56 victory over Ursuline Academy. For the season, Blackwell is averaging 19 points, 9.8 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 1.9 blocks while shooting 49 percent from the field. Blackwell was also selected to the All-Tournament Team for the MICDS Holiday Tournament.

Javon Pickett

Belleville West – Boys Basketball

The 6’4” Pickett averaged 22.5 points a game in leading the Lancers to a pair of Southwestern Conference victories last week. Pickett had 31 points, six rebounds and five steals in a 65-50 victory over Collinsville. He added 14 points in the Lancers’ 72-55 victory over Granite City. For the season, Pickett is averaging 23.4 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.0 steals in leading Belleville East to a 12-4 record. Pickett capped off his successful week by giving a verbal commitment to the University of Illinois.

look like that D-League team in Philly.

Clutch: Former CBC hoops standout Jordan Barnett has completed his transfer from the University of Texas to the University of Missouri. Per NCAA rules, Barnett will have to sit out until the start of the second semester next year, but nabbing the former Top 100 prep player is a boon for the boys in Boone County. Mizzou

generally struggles to nab top talent out of St. Louis. Barnett took the scenic route, but he’s back home and should play a key role down the line for the Tigers.

Nah: Mizzou and Kansas are no longer in the same conference and the sad sack Jayhawks refused to maintain the rivalry after Mizzou shook the Big 12 for the SEC. As a Tiger alum, it still brings

me great joy to see the No. 3 Jayhawks get shellacked 86-67 by unranked Oklahoma State. Sure, the Tigers are struggling to play .500 basketball but that’s not important. In down seasons, your joy must come from the demise of your foes, even old ones. Thanks KU!

Follow Ishmael and In the Clutch on Twitter @ IshmaelSistrunk

St. Louis native Charles Martin won the vacant IBF Heavyweight Championship after his opponent Vyacheslav Glazkov was forced to retire with an injury in the third round.

Photo by Showtime Championship Boxing

Black unemployment falls to lowest since 2007

Still higher than any other demographic

By Patrick Gillespie Of CNNMoney

Bruised by the recession, black workers are starting to make a comeback.

Black unemployment fell to 8.3 percent in December, down sharply from the 9.4 percent in November. It was the lowest mark since September 2007, before the recession began and lesser than half of the peak of 16.8 percent reached in 2010.

A surge of job gains at the end of last year benefited blacks, experts say.

Despite the progress, there was a lot of room for improvement. Blacks still have higher unemployment than every other demographic. Asian unemployment is 4 percent, white unemployment is 4.5 percent and Hispanic unemployment is 6.3 percent.

While it’s “an important improvement,” the black unemployment rate “would be unacceptable if that were the national rate,” says Valerie Wilson, an economist at the

Economic Policy Institute, a think tank.

The picture gets even murkier when you look at wages.

Black workers have seen their paychecks go down since the recession ended. In 2009 black median household income was $35,953. In 2014 it was $35,398, according to EPI. Hispanics household income has gone up a bit over that time and for whites it’s been flat.

The quality of jobs is another weak spot. Industries with low wages – typically restaurants and retail businesses – tend to have a higher concentration of blacks than whites, Hispanics or Asians. Even in higher-skilled industries like health care and education, there are more blacks in lower-paying jobs than other races.

And even though low-wage workers are benefiting from minimum wage increases, experts say blacks probably benefit the least.

The majority of the black populations in the U.S. live in

BUSINESS BRIEF

the South. And while dozens of states and local jurisdictions have raised the minimum wage, many Southern states with large black populations –Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana – have not.

Access to higher education explains some of the income gaps between blacks and other races, but it doesn’t illustrate the full picture. Blacks with the same education levels as whites still have a harder time finding work.

There are also more blacks with more college degrees than Hispanics in the U.S., yet Hispanics have a lower unemployment rate, according to Labor Department and Census data.

Blacks with the same credentials as whites and Hispanics also earn less. The median weekly paycheck for a white college grad in 2014 was $1,132. For a black college grad it was $895. Blacks earn less than Asians and Hispanics as well.

The St. Louis American is a CNN-Wire affiliate.

State moves M/WBE certification online

The Missouri Office of Administration has a new online application system for minority and women-owned business enterprises that will reduce the amount of time it takes to submit the necessary documentation to obtain M/ WBE certification. Previously, applications were typically submitted on paper and reviewed manually.

All certified M/WBE vendors appear on the Office of Equal Opportunity’s Directory of Certified M/WBE Vendors.

Both contractors and state agencies use this site as a resource in soliciting certified minority and/or women participation in ongoing projects.

To become M/WBE certified with the state, a business must meet the following requirements:

• At least 51 percent of the business must be owned by a minority and/or a woman;

• The minority and/or woman owner must be a U.S. citizen or lawfully admitted

permanent resident of the U.S.;

• The minority and/or woman owner must hold the highest position in the company and be capable of exercising direct control over the daily, as well as long-term decisions regarding the management, policies and operations of the firm; and

• The business must be organized as a for-profit business.

For more information or to apply online, visit oeo.mo.gov.

Financial Focus

By Roger Macon, AAMS

could be a discretionary one, in which you grant the advisor the right to make all the decisions on your behalf. A second fee-based arrangement is the per-hour charge, in which an advisor will charge you an agreed-upon amount per hour, then leave it up to

Alternatively, the account

Black & Single

The proof is not in the pics

Suggestive images are far from SMS love

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American

“Girl, what do you think it means?” she asked.

“Nothing,” I responded.

“Why would you take the time to privately send those kinds of pictures of yourself to somebody like that if you weren’t into them?”

“Because you know you would be flung into Facebook jail if you posted them,” I said.

n “So you really don’t think he likes me?”

“Girl, it’s a thing,” I said. “Like Yo Gotti said, ‘It goes down in the DM.’”

“Who is Yo Gotti?”

“No. I don’t.”

It was at this moment that I knew that she was completely out of touch and that the not so “new new” phenomenon of sending … um … let’s just say “private” photos via social media has been completely lost on my dear friend.

Like most of the folks entering their middle ages, Facebook is the only form of social media we truly immerse in –along with a little taste of Instagram.

So she has no idea of the type of shenanigans that go down on the channels driven by the young folks.

She was convinced that this gorgeous man she met out one night was into her because he would send

Black Power’s daughter

‘Sunset Baby’ explores the toll the movement takes on families

By Kenya Vaughn

Of The St. Louis American Through “Sunset Baby,” playwright Dominique Morisseau offers audiences a worst-case scenario postscript to the Black Liberation Movement.

The Black Rep’s 39th season continues with a staging of her critically acclaimed drama, which plays at the Edison Theatre through January 31.

Instead of benefactors of the relentless pursuit of freedom and

equality, Morisseau shows the next generation as casualties of the sacrifices made by the movement’s soldiers.

The love child of the ultimate Black Power couple, lead character Nina has been reduced to the femme fatale of a Bonnie and Clyde outfit content with hustling their way to happily ever after.

Named after Nina Simone, she spends stolen moments soaking in the haunting contralto that illustrated the

Next Generation of Gospel

Rev. Sekou drops blues album

‘The Revolution Has Come’ released January 31 at 2720 Cherokee

By Chris

King

Of The St. Louis American

on Wednesday, February 3 at 7pm in Clark-Fox Forum in Hillman Hall. www.stlamerican.com

The Rev. Osagyefo Sekou’s debut record, “The Revolution Has Come,” got its start at a protest in Oakland, in a jail cell in St. Louis, in the choir room at Soldan High School and at a gambling house in the Arkansas Delta.

“After a year in the streets, I had the blues, so I needed to sing,” Sekou told The American Sekou spent a year in the streets – of Ferguson, Baltimore, Oakland, Cleveland – following the police killing of Michael Brown Jr. in August 2014. After the one-year anniversary of Brown’s death, Sekou was “stressed out, not thinking right,” so he flew to the San Francisco Bay area to see a friend. It was supposed to be a vacation, but almost immediately Ashley Yates, a Ferguson protestor who

relocated to Oakland, took him to a demonstration. In the car was a woman, Jay-Marie Hill, who remembered him from a protest in Cleveland. He had helped wash pepper spray out of her eyes.

Sekou needed a momentary break from protests, police and pepper spray, so when Hill said she played in a band, he went to her place and hung out. They wrote 11 songs in six days. The songs were new, but they came from the past year on the streets. The hook to one song, “We Comin’,” he wrote with Tef Poe, the St. Louis rapper and Ferguson protestor, while jailed together in St. Louis.

Struggling against police and prosecutors may have given Sekou some blues he needed to sing, but he was a singer long before he was a protestor. In 1989, when he graduated from

See PLAY, C4

Photo by Lawrence Bryant

The Next Generation Choir from Shalom Church (City of Peace), under the direction of Timothy Price, performed at the Saint Louis Art Museum’s 2016 Freedom Celebration for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on Friday, January 15.

Rev.

direction of the legendary choir teacher Charles Gladney Jr. But that’s not where he got his start with

Erin Renee Roberts and Ron Himes star in Sunset Baby. Himes also directs. The Black Rep’s second production of their 39th season continues through January 31 at Edison Theatre.

How to place a calendar listing

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

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

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

black history activities

Fri., Jan. 22, 10 a.m., Black History Quiz, White Castle System, 11120 New Halls Ferry Rd. For more information, call (314) 5622916.

Sat., Jan. 23, 1 p.m., Central Cinema: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. presents King: A Filmed Record Pt. 2, St. Louis Public Library – Central Branch, 1301 Olive St. For more information, call (314) 2412288.

Sun., Jan. 24, 3 p.m., St. Alphonsus “Rock” Church Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Essay Contest and Church Celebration, 1118 N. Grand Blvd. For more information call (314) 382-9545.

Sat., Jan. 30, 1 p.m., MLK: A Call to Conscience, St. Louis Public Library – Central Branch, 1301 Olive St. For more information, call (314) 241-2288.

Sat., Jan. 30, 3 p.m., Afro World presents A Black History Gospel Celebration, 7276 Natural Bridge Rd. For More information, call (314) 389-5194.

February 1, 6 p.m., Pilot Pruitt and Soaring with other Sumner Alums, Come learn more about some of the high-flying alumni of Sumner High School – Wendell O. Pruitt of the Tuskegee Airmen, Roscoe Robinson Jr. of the U.S. Army an Edward Bouchet, Ph.D., Craft model airplanes, learn about the physics of a good paper airplane and discover more about these famous St. Louis men. St. Louis Public Library – Carpenter Branch 3309 S. Grand Blvd. For more information, call (314) 7715450.

Feb. 1-Feb. 28, African

American Inventions Exhibit, St. Louis County Library – Thornhill Branch, 12863 Willowyck Drive. For more information, visit www.slcl. org/black-history-celebration.

Mon., Feb. 1, 6:30 p.m., Discovery Club: African American Scientists and Inventors, St. Louis County Library – Indian Trails Branch, 8400 Delport Dr. For more information, visit www.slcl. org/black-history-celebration.

Tues., Feb. 2, 1 p.m. Central Cinema presents Black History Month with a screening of Freedom Riders, Auditorium, St. Louis Public Library – Central Branch, 1301 Olive St. For more information, call (314) 7715450.

Tues., Feb. 2, 4:30 p.m., Art and Soul, St. Louis County Library – Eureka Hills Branch, 156 Eureka Towne Center. For more information, visit www.slcl.org/black-historycelebration.

Tues., Feb. 2, 7 p.m. African Percussion, St. Louis County Library – Thornhill Branch, 12863 Willowyck Drive. For more information, visit www.slcl.org/black-historycelebration.

Wed., Feb. 3, 4 p.m., Snack Time Around The World: A Taste of African Heritage, St. Louis County Library – Thornhill Branch, 12863 Willowyck Drive. For more information, visit www.slcl. org/black-history-celebration.

Wed., Feb. 3, 4 p.m., Black History Month School Spirit, St. Louis Public Library –Central Branch, 1301 Olive St. For more information, call (314) 771-5450.

Wed., Feb. 3, 6 p.m., Indie Lens Pop-Up presents The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution. Director Stanley Nelson tells the vibrant story of a pivotal movement that feels timely

The Voice of a New Generation: A Conversation with MK Asante. For more information, see LITERARY.

Featured Event

Mon., Jan. 18, 3 p.m., St. Louis Crisis Nursery presents Martin Luther King, Jr. Art Show: Ferguson Children’s Art. In celebration of Dr. King’s life, we will be displaying children’s artwork. Special guest at the event will be local author, Rosalyn Madden. 1928 Gravois Ave., 63049. For more information, call (314) 292-5770.

(See MLK Day Activities)

all over again. Informational tables will be open at 6 p.m., with the film screening and discussion starting at 7 p.m. Missouri History Museum, 5700 Lindell Blvd., 63112. For more information, visit www. mohistory.org.

concerts

Sat., Feb. 6, 8 p.m., Jazz St. Louis welcomes Gregory Porter, The Touhill Performing Arts Center, UMSL. For more information visit www.touhill.org.

Sun., Feb. 7, 2 p.m., Friends of Scott Joplin presents Pianist Jeff Barnhart in Concert. Legendary pianist Jeff Barnhart brings his own interpretations of great Stride, Blues and Ragtime tunes back to the city where it all began. Scott Joplin House State Historic Site, 2658 Delmar, 63103. For more information, call (314) 629-4510 or visit www.friendsofscottjoplin.org.

Fri., Feb. 12, 7:30 p.m., St. Louis Symphony presents Lift Every Voice: Black History Month Celebration with Larnelle Harris. Join us as we commemorate the legacy

of African-American art, music, culture and community. 718 N. Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, call (314) 533-2500 or visit www. stlsymphony.org.

Sat., Feb. 13, 7 p.m., St. Louis Music Festival starring Fantasia, Joe and Maze Featuring Frankie Beverly. For more information, visit www.thechaifetzarena.com

Feb. 28, 8 p.m., Gary Clark Jr. - The Story of Sonny Boy Slim Tour, The Pageant, 6161 Delmar. For more information, visit www.thepageant.com, www.ticketmaster.com or call (314) 726-6161.

local gigs

Sat., Feb. 6, 3 p.m.,

Education 4 All presents Mid-Day Mini Jazz Concert & Fundraiser feat. Ron Wilkinson. 20 S. Sarah St., 63108. For more information, call (314) 397-8757

Jan. 20 – 23, Jazz at the Bistro presents Warren Wolf & Wolfpack. 3536 Washington Ave., 63103. For more information, call (314) 571-6000 or visit www.jazzstl.

org.

Jan. 27 – 28, Jazz at the Bistro presents Ptah Williams Quartet Williams is St. Louis’s most revered pianist. He has performed with Freddie Hubbard, George Benson, James Moody, and many other household names of jazz throughout his career. 3536 Washington Ave., 63103. For more information, call (314) 571-6000 or visit www.jazzstl. org.

Thur., Feb. 18, 6:30 p.m., Not So Quiet! Concert Series presents David Dee & The Hot Tracks Considered by many to be the reigning blues king of St. Louis, Dee has earned the title as bandleader, song writer, guitarist, entertainer, and singer through 40 plus years of road work, recording and performing. Central Library, 1301 Olive St., 63103. For more information, call (314) 2412288 or visit www.slpl.org.

special events

Sat., Jan. 23, 10 a.m., Relationship Church presents St. Louis Community Baby Shower. We are accepting donations of new and gently used baby clothes and items as well as formula and diapers. We will be giving these items away to low-income mothers in the community. This is a free event. The Gateway Foundation Building, 2012 Martin Luther King Dr., 63106. For more information or to volunteer, call (314) 5175056.

Tues. Jan 26, 7:30 p.m., G Arts Foundation presents a live cast recording of TLT Productions presentation of VOICES: Sounds of America. A musical montage inspired, produced and written by the youth of St. Louis! Sheldon Concert Hall, 3648 Washington. Tickets available at metrotix.com. For more info visit 4thegarts.org.

Fri., January 29, 7 p.m., Jack Daniel’s Honey Art, Beats & Lyrics , NEO on Locust (2801 Locust St.)

Sun., Jan. 31, 6:30 p.m., Lyrical Therapy and Model Ja’Ve present Xpressions Introducing a fashion meets spoken word runway show. Third Degree Glass Factory, 5200 Delmar Blvd., 63108.

Sat., Feb. 6, 7 p.m., William G. Harris Funeral Directors present Mardi Gras Bash feat. Dirty Muggs. The Ambassador, 9800 Halls Ferry Rd., 63136. For more information, call (314) 302-3630 or visit www. mcgeegents.eventbrite.com.

Sun., Feb. 21, 6 p.m., Community Women Against Hardship Black History Month Beneit Concert featuring Bethany Pickens, The Harold & Dorothy Steward Center for Jazz. 3536 Washington, St. Louis, MO 63103. Tickets available via the Jazz St. Louis Box Ofice, by calling (314) 571-6000 or online by visiting www. jazzstl.org

comedy

Jan. 28 – 31, Helium Comedy Club presents Arnez J. 1155 St. Louis Galleria, 63117. For more information, visit www. st-louis.heliumcomedy.com.

Sat., Feb. 13, 7:30 p.m. & 9:30 p.m., The Lumiere Casino welcomes George Wallace, Lumiere Live. For more information, visit www. ticketmaster.com.

Fri., Feb. 26, Chaifetz Arena welcomes Katt Williams. For more information, visit www. ticketmaster.com

literary

Tues., Jan. 26, 6 p.m., The Voice of a New Generation: A Conversation with MK Asante best-selling author M.K. Asante will discuss life for a young black man whose family confronted a struggling public education system, an aggressive prison industrial complex, mental health issues, and poverty in the age of Hip Hop. Boileau Hall (38 N. Vandeventer) on the campus of SLU.

Tues., Feb. 2, 7 p.m., Left Bank Books hosts authors John Wright, Sr., John Wright, Jr. and Curtis Wright, Sr., authors of African American St. Louis The book profiles some of the events that helped shape St. Louis from the 1960s to the present. Tracing key milestones in the city’s history, the authors pay homage to those African Americans who sacrificed to advance fair socioeconomic conditions for all. 399 N. Euclid Ave., 63108. For more information, call (314) 367-6731 or visit www. left-bank.com.

Thur., Feb. 4, 7 p.m., Maplewood Public Library hosts authors John and Sylvia Wright, authors of Extraordinary Black Missourians. The book chronicles the story of individuals who have set records, made discoveries, received international acclaim and awards, and led the Civil Rights Movement by breaking down racial barriers. 7550 Lohmeyer Ave., 63143. For more information, call (314) 781-2174 or visit www. maplewood.lib.mo.us.

Thur., Feb. 4, 6:30 p.m., St. Louis Public Library hosts author Andrea Davis Pinkney, author of Boycott Blues: How Rosa Parks Inspired a Nation and The Red Pencil. Boycott Blues presents a poignant, blues infused tribute to the men and women of the Montgomery bus boycott, who refused to give up until they got justice. Schlafly Branch, 225 N. Euclid Ave., 63108. For more information, call (314) 3674120 or visit www.slpl.org.

Tues., Feb. 9, 7 p.m., St. Louis County Library hosts author Chinelo Okparanta, author of Under the Udala Trees Inspired by her mother’s stories of war and Nigeria’s folktale traditions, “Under the Udala Trees” is Chinelo Okparanta’s debut novel about the dangers of living and loving openly. Library Headquarters, 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd., 63131. For more information, call (314) 994-3300 or visit www.slcl. org.

Fri., Feb. 19, 7 p.m., St. Louis County Library Foundation hosts authors Frankie Muse Freeman and Koran Bolden. Growing up in the Jim Crow-era South, Frankie Freeman learned lessons about discrimination. She also learned how to fight injustice and make a difference. Ms. Freeman is a legendary St. Louis civil rights activist, attorney and author of A Song of Faith and Hope: The Life of Frankie Muse Freeman. Koran Bolden is a youth motivational speaker and author of Rock, Paper, Scissors. Together, Freeman and Bolden will discuss the Civil Rights movement and discrimination issues, past and present. Library Headquarters, 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd., 63131. For more information, call (314) 994-3300 or visit www.slcl.org.

theatre

Jan. 22 – 24, Peabody Opera House presents Sesame Street Live: Make a New Friend 1400 Market St., 63103. For more information, call (314) 499-7600 or visit www. peabodyoperahouse.com.

Saturdays, Jan. 23 – Feb. 27, 11:30 a.m., Teens Make History presents Looking for Dunham. It’s a slow news day for the paper’s entertainment reporters when rumors that the great Katherine Dunham is in town start to circulate. Will they find Miss Dunham before the TV journalists get the scoop? Missouri History Museum, 5700 Lindell Blvd., 63112. For more information, visit www.mohistory.org.

Through Jan. 31, The Black Rep presents Sunset Baby. Kenyatta Shakur is alone. His wife has died, and now this former Black Revolutionary and political prisoner is desperate to reconnect with his estranged daughter. Edison Theatre, Washington University, 6445 Forsyth Blvd., 63130. For more information, call (314) 534-3807 or visit www. theblackrep.com.

Feb. 12 – 28, Metro Theatre Company presents And in This Corner…Cassius Clay. Based on the early life of Muhammad Ali in Jim Crow Louisville, the play tells the story of a young man who believes his potential is unlimited despite the segregation and racism he is surrounded by. Missouri History Museum, 5700 Lindell Blvd., 63112. For more information, call (314) 9327414 or visit www.metroplays. org.

Through Jan. 31, The Black Rep presents Sunset Baby. Kenyatta Shakur is alone. His wife has died, and now this former Black Revolutionary and political prisoner is desperate to reconnect with his estranged daughter. Edison Theatre, Washington University, 6445 Forsyth Blvd., 63130. For

more information, call (314) 534-3807 or visit www. theblackrep.com.

Feb. 12 – 13, Black Anthology presents Woke. Black Anthology was founded in 1989 to provide a means of commemorating the history and progress of African Americans. Since its creation, the program was totally student run, from the script to set and costume design. Edison Theatre, Washington University, 6445 Forsyth Blvd., 63130. For more information, call (314) 9356543 or visit www.edison. wustl.edu.

arts

Through Jan. 30, St. Louis Public Library presents African-Americans’ Journey to Islam. The exhibit features four, large colorful panels that detail how AfricanAmericans became involved in the Muslim community. Walnut Park Branch, 5760 W. Florissant Ave., 63120. For more information, call (314) 383-1210 or visit www.slpl. org.

Through Mar. 13, COCA presents Carl Richards: Money. Visualized. Carl Richards, author and creator of the weekly “Sketch Guy” column in the New York Times, makes complex financial concepts easy to understand through his elegantly simple sketches. This interactive installation invites visitors to create sketches, notes, and diagrams charting their own goals and realities. There will be an opening on Jan. 15 at 6 p.m. 524 Trinity Ave., 63130. For more information, call (314) 7256555 or visit www.cocastl.org.

Through March 2016, PulitzerArts Foundation hosts Kota: Digital Excavations in African Art The exhibition examines a new digital database created by Belgian computer engineer and independent researcher Frederic Cloth to study and reveal the hidden histories of Kota reliquaries. Featuring nearly ifty of these guardian igures, visitors will go through a visual process to detect groupings and similarities between the sculptures that will enhance understanding of their origins, creation, and function—information that has largely been considered lost. 3716 Washington Blvd., 63108. For more information, visit www.pulitzerarts.org.

lectures/ workshops

Thur., Jan. 21, 6:30 p.m., Don’t Shoot Coalition St. Louis presents South Side Body Cam Townhall. St. Louis already has a pilot body cam program in operation. Will these cameras be used to hold police accountable or to spy on us? Help sort

through the complicated policy choices to keep cams in check. South City Church, 2109 S. Spring Ave., 63110. For more information, visit www. dontshootstl.org.

Sat., Jan. 23, 10 a.m., Neighborhood Ownership Model: Court Advocacy Training. St. Louis residents, who were tired of worrying about the health of their neighborhoods, have taken action. The Neighborhood Ownership Model, developed by residents of the City of St. Louis in 2010, has now been adopted by many neighborhoods across the city. As a part of the program, the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office will give a presentation on court advocacy. St. Louis Public Library, Divoli Branch, 4234 N. Grand Ave., 63130. For more information, call (314) 615-3640 or visit www. circuitattorney.org.

Jan. 22-23, Coach Kim Burke’s 2nd Annual Personal Growth Series, This is a two-day growth experience to get unstuck and intentionally achieve your goals in 2016. Location: 4631 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63108. Friday’s session starts at 6PM. Enroll today at http:// www.qkiment.com/2016personal-growth-series/.

Tues., Jan. 26, 1 p.m., Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis presents Weatherization Services & Energy Savings Information Workshop. St. Louis Public Library, Divoli Branch, 4234 N. Grand Ave., 63130. For more information, call (314) 615-3640 or visit www.ulstl. com.

Wed., Jan. 27, 6:30 p.m., St. Louis Pubic Library presents Economic Growth and Racial Equity – A Conversation. Central Library, 1301 Olive St., 63103. For more information, call (314) 241-2288 or visit www. slpl.org.

Sat., Jan. 30, 9 a.m., Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis presents Financial Planning Day 2016. Your current financial situation does not matter. Don’t miss out on

this free, private consultation with an expert on a wide variety of personal finance issues including budgeting, debt management, estate planning, and more. There will also be a series of informative financial workshops presented during lunch beginning at noon. 8960 Jennings Station Rd., 63136. For more information or to RSVP, call (314) 506-5337 or visit www. ulstl.com.

Mon., Feb. 1, 1:15 p.m., Missouri History Museum presents From Michael Brown’s Death to 2016: Looking Back to Move Forward. 700 Lindell Blvd., 63112. For more information, visit www.mohistory.org.

Sat., Feb. 6, 9 a.m., The Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis presents FAFSA Completion Clinic. We are continuing our series of free financial aid workshops for students and their families to understand how to navigate applying for financial aid. The clinic will offer individualized, one-on-one, 30-minute appointments to help with FAFSA completion. 8215 Clayton Rd., 63117. For more information, call (314) 7257990 or visit www.sfstl.org.

St. Louis Music Festival starring Fantasia, Joe and Maze Featuring Frankie Beverly. See CONCERTS for details.

Marriage Conference: New Year, New Me, New Us. All married or engaged couples, and singles contemplating marriage are welcome. Friday evening we will have guest speakers including Apostle Cledell and Pastor Miki King. Featuring musical guest Ev. Daphne Rice. Saturday will be a celebration of marriage, which includes dinner and music by Saxophonist Rod Tate and Leandra Haynes and much, much more. 7091 Olive Blvd., 63130. For more information, call (314) 726-2009 or visit www.victorystl.com.

health

Mon., Jan. 25, 5:30 p.m., St. Louis Public Library presents New Year Success: Healthy Eating Tips. Come out for a discussion of healthy eating. Learn about the do’s and don’ts of eating healthy and a few tips to use when shopping for healthy food. Buder Branch, 4401 Hampton Ave., 63109. For more information, call (314) 7717040 or visit www.slpl.org.

Sat., Feb. 6, 6 p.m., Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital presents Heart & Soul. Join us for a night out to celebrate Heart Month benefiting the children served by the Dorothy and Larry Dallas Heart Center. This evening will feature a dueling piano performance, an auction, culinary delights by Executive Chef Nick Miller, and more. Bissinger’s, 1600 N. Broadway, 63102. For more information, call (314) 6786639 or visit www.glennon. org/heartandsoul.

spiritual

Jan. 29 – 30, Victory Christian Outreach Church presents Couples Ministry

Mon. & Thur., Feb. 2 –Mar. 31, 9 a.m., AARP Tax Assistance. Eligible Seniors may call the AARP tax help line and schedule an appointment for free tax preparation assistance. St. Louis Public Library, Buder Branch, 4401 Hampton Ave., 63109. For more information or to register, call (314) 525-1660. Tues. & Fri., Feb. 2 – Apr. 15, 10 a.m., AARP Tax Aide. We will provide free tax preparation assistance throughout this tax season by appointment only. St. Louis Public Library, Julia Davis Branch, 4415 Natural Bridge Ave., 63115. For more information or to register, call (314) 525-1660. Mon. at 3:30 p.m. & Sat. at 9 a.m., Feb. 6 – Apr. 11, University of Missouri St. Louis hosts Volunteer Income Tax Assistance. St. Louis Public Library, Schlafly Branch, 225 N. Euclid Ave., 63108. For more information, call (314) 367-4120 or visit www.slpl.org.

Mon., Feb. 8 – Apr. 11, 12 p.m., AARP Tax Help St. Louis Public Library, Kingshighway Branch, 2260 S. Vandeventer Ave., 63110. For more information, call (314) 525-1660.

movement through song. But those moments are few and far between. For the vast majority of “Sunset Baby,” Nina is seen as a cold-hearted villainess willing to do whatever it takes for a dollar.

The revolution that is a source of inspiration for many only conjures up resentment for Nina.

Her father Kenyatta Shakur was sent away for an attempted armored car robbery and sent to prison. Her mother Ashanti X never recovered.

Shakur’s “by any means necessary” methods for funding the movement meant that Nina was forced to grow up with an absent father and a shell of a mother who longed for the man who sacrificed their family for the race.

So when he reappears after an extended prison stay, the reunion is anything but a happy one – at best unreciprocated and at its worst hostile and confrontational.

When he steps foot into her grimy East New York efficiency apartment, it is clear that everything he was fighting against – crime, poverty and apathy – was dumped in his daughter’s lap.

But Shakur is suffering through the tension with the end goal of getting his hands on the highly sought after love letters Ashanti wrote to him,

but never mailed. Historians, intellectuals and institutions are clamoring for the rare perspective. Shakur is hoping to pierce Nina’s hardened heart before she is lured by the potential for a huge payout.

The play explores the toll the revolution takes on the families of its soldiers. The fractured relationship between Shakur and Nina is an example of how homes were torn apart, self-destructed or intentionally dismantled for safety’s sake. Nina, a seed planted as an extension of the revolution, is rigid and fruitless.

“Sunset Baby” is especially

n Morisseau shows the next generation as casualties of the sacriices made by the movement’s soldiers.

thick with dialogue – so much so that each conversation between characters feels more like an exchange of monologues.

The language of the play is as strong as the rage and resentment Nina has for her absent father.

Morisseau offsets the thick chunks of spoken words by moments of extended silence to set up scenes – and give Simone’s voice to linger within the transitions. The contrast is effective in giving the audience

an opportunity to let the words soak in without being bombarded.

For The Black Rep production, Ron Himes directs and stars as Kenyatta Shakur. Forgiving and introspective, he is the polar opposite of the righteously angry revolutionary leader that risked everything (and lost) for the cause one would imagine the character once was.

Erin Renee Robert’s Nina is enraged, but there is nothing righteous about it. Roberts authentically conveys the bouts of anger and indifference brought on by feelings of being forsaken by her parents’ priority for the revolution. She is intent on taking her pain out on society as the tough-as-nails counterpart to Damon (Lawd Gabriel), her partner in love and crime.

There is a disconnect in the chemistry between Shakur and Nina – that is, until Himes’ Shakur is forced to call on the rage and frustration of the revolutionary side he thought he had laid to rest. From that moment (which comes fairly late in the performance), Nina and Shakur fall into an authentic rhythm that is maintained until the one act play concludes.

The Black Rep’s presentation of Sunset Baby continues through January 31 at Edison Theatre (6445 Forsyth) on the campus of Washington University. For tickets or more information, call (314) 5343810 or visit www.theblackrep. org.

SEKOU

Continued from C1

music. Houston Cannon, the woman who raised him as his grandmother in Zent, Arkansas, provided him with a piano at an early age and saw that he was classically trained. “When I was 6 or 7, I sang in five foreign languages,” he said.

From that same early age, he learned the language of the blues. His blood grandfather, Richard Braselman, played blues in the Arkansas Delta with the likes of B.B. King, Albert King and Louis Jordan. But they never met.

As a small boy, Sekou was taken around by an uncle, McKinley Watson, who ran a gambling house. He would ride with his uncle to work and watch him count the money. He would ride with his uncle to his moonshine whiskey connection. Needless to say, gambling houses and moonshine stills are blues country.

And now, this classically trained, ordained minister has made a hard blues record. In his Delta youth, raised in a Pentecostal household, blues

SINGLE

Continued from C1

her a steady flow of semi-nude to NSFW photos (and a few videos) of himself via text.

Okay, back to the conversation.

“Yo Gotti is a rapper from Memphis that you are young enough to know about,” I explained. “Do you know what a ‘DM’ is?”

“Real cute,” she said. “Let’s get back to why I called you. So you really don’t think he likes me?”

“No. I don’t.”

“Why?”

“Girl, I just went through this,” I said, probably sounding exhausted at this point. “But I will make it plain as I circle back. He’s not on The Book. You’re not on The Gram. Your text inbox is the happy medium that allows you to see all of his business.”

She was holding onto the notion that he wouldn’t take the time to text her if he wasn’t genuinely interested.

Celebrating Dr. King with style

Toddlers, children and teens ripped the runway Sunday evening for LAHA Clothing’s ‘I Have a Dream’ youth fashion show at Epic Café.

was the devil’s music. But in the 21st century of street protests, he intends for his blues to drive demons away. “All I want this music to do is to help somebody to fight another day,” Sekou said. “That’s all I want to do – if it can get some of these demons off them.”

Sekou had a lot of help making these blues. The Fellowship of Reconciliation, which appointed him Bayard Rustin Fellow, previously released a record of Rustin performing spirituals and work songs, so it stepped up to fund a musical project by its Rustin fellow. Sekou’s friend Anasa Troutman, who manages India Arie, also helped to produce. The record is being released by FarFetched, a St. Louis label co-led by Damon Davis, a St. Louis artist and Ferguson protestor.

Sekou found his supporting musicians everywhere, as happens in St. Louis. Ferguson protestor Alexis Coleman sings vocals, and protestor Dhoruba Shakur plays drums. Tom Ray, owner of Vintage Vinyl, blows harp under his “Papa Ray” handle. Sekou ran into his horn players, the St. Boogie Brass Band, literally walking down

“Okay, I’m seriously not going there again,” I said.

“I know people who are on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Periscope all at the same time for no reason. Why would you think for one second that this man would see it as too much of a burden to send you a Snapchat screenshot of himself wearing a towel (or not)?”

His body is fantastic. He clearly works hard at keeping it up. And I’m quietly convinced that the positive reinforcement he gets from delivering packages (all pun intended) to the ladies through their cell phones also keeps him out of real jail for indecent exposure. Just kidding, but not really.

“Girl, he is so thirsty for likes that he has ventured outside of social media to get them,” I said. “He clearly has your number. So why doesn’t he call you and try to get to know you – or try to transition himself from your text muse to a real life boo situation?”

She swears that he does ring her up almost as much as he drops into her messages.

“I’m sure,” I said. “Those calls go just like this: ‘Hey,

his street. He recorded the record in Nelly’s studio EI, Anthony Thompson’s studio TBeats and at Suburban Pro, Matt Sawiciki’s home studio in Sekou’s South City neighborhood.

Sekou understands that he is known as a liberation pastor, not a blues singer. At 44 – he will turn 45 on January 22 –he is at an awkward age to start a musical career. These factors gave him doubts. “I kept asking, ‘Is this something I need to be doing?’” he said. “But doors keep opening. It became a labor of love for a community that believes in music and in this work. I received so much grace.” But did he succeed in singing away the blues?

“Yeah,” Sekou said. “Of course, then I found new things to get sad about.” Rev. Sekou and the Holy Ghost will celebrate the release of “The Revolution Has Come” at 7 p.m. Sunday, January 31 at 2720 Cherokee St. Tickets are $10. For more information, visit http://wearefarfetched. net/ or look for FarFetched on Bandcamp or Soundcloud.

sexy, it’s me. Did you get my pics? You did. Did you like ‘em? Good. Check your messages, because I got some more for you. A’ight then.”

“I can’t stand you,” she said. I knew I was dead on.

“For real, we do talk. We really do. We talk about whatever’s happening in our lives. Just like, you know, regular conversation. It’s not bad either. That’s why I’m so confused and conflicted.”

I’m confused about why she would ever try to fool herself into thinking anybody bold enough to send you a weekly dose of quiet Playgirl Centerfolds is in any way, shape or form too shy to ask her out. Taking it slow is not an option for this particular dynamic.

“If you’re catching feelings, cut it off,” I said. “But if you can take it for what it is – and appreciate the fact that you get text images and somewhat personal attention without paying a subscription fee –carry on.”

Photo by Lawrence Bryant

Celebrations

Birthdays

was joined by

Sadie Bell Gray celebrated her 100th birthday on January 16! She is the mother of Rehoda Gray (deceased) and grandmother of Roland & Derrick Gray. Sadie serves on the mother’s board at Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church.

Reunions

Beaumont Class of 1967 will have another 50th reunion planning meeting on February 6, 2016 from 2-4:30 p.m. at Florissant Valley Library branch, 195 New Florissant Rd., Florissant, MO 63031.

Beaumont Alumni Class 1968 will have its 48-year class

reunion will be June 11-12, 2016. Meetings for the reunion will be at Florissant Valley Library Branch, 195 New Florissant Rd., S. Florissant, MO 63031, 4th Saturdays of the month. Schedule : Nov. 28, 2015, 2-5 p.m.; Jan. 23, 2016, 1-4 p.m.; Feb. 27, 2016, 1- 4 p.m. For more information call 314-869-8312.

Beaumont High School Class of 1971 is planning its 45th year reunion for July 22-24, 2016.Please send your contact information (address and phone number) to Gladys Smith at beaumont1971alumni@aol. com.

Beaumont High Class of

1984 can stay updated via our Facebook page “Beaumont Class of 1984”. We meet the last Friday of every month. Contact Rochelle Williams at rochellewilliams001@yahoo. com.

Soldan High Class of 1965 presents: “On the Road Again” to Washington, DC. Cost: $479 per-person, double occupancy, 6-Days and 5-Nights, Thurs. June2- Tues. June 7, 2016. First payment due now $75 each person. For more information and reservations contact: Corinne Stuckes (636)-294-4373, Brenda Yancey (314)-830-1334 or Isaiah Hair, Jr. (314)-387-7592 email: cstukes@charter.net.

The Clark sisters— Merdean, Odessa, Janice and family— wish their father, Okley Clark, a Happy 100th Birthday on January 26. Okley, a retired railroad worker and entrepreneur, is also the founder of Ringside Athletic Club. He is an active member of Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church.

Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband Willie (Will) Parker who celebrated his 45th birthday on January 18. I thank God for you, I love you and continue to be the godly man you are. All the best! With love from your family: wife Carrie (Keianna), daughters Brittney and Jasmin.

Soldan Class of 1971 is planning its 45th year reunion for: June 17-19, 2016 at the Ameristar Casino Resort & Spa, One Ameristar Boulevard, St. Charles, Mo 63301.

Soldan Class of 1976 reunion will be held June 10-12, 2016. For more information, email soldanclassof1976@yahoo. com or Facebook: Soldan High School Class of 1976.

University City High Class of 1976 is planning its Fabulous 40th year class reunion for June 24-25, 2016. We need your contact information. Please email your information to: weareuc76@gmail.com or call the UCHS Class of 76 voicemail at 314-301-9597.

University City Class of 1981 will have its 35-year reunion will be August 5-7, 2016. Please send your contact information to Denise Weatherford -Bell at msdenise38@yahoo.com.

Vashon January and June Classes of 1966 will celebrate our 50 year reunion October 7-9, 2016 at the Hollywood Casino, 777 Casino Center Drive, Maryland Heights, MO 63043. Contact Marilyn Stuckey, Chairperson, 314-438-8338, email: masystucup@att.net or Janice Holland, Co-Chairperson, 314-727-1695, email: jholland1695@att.net for more information.

Do you have a celebration you’re proud of? If so we would like to share your good news with our readers. Whether it’s a birth, graduation, wedding, engagement announcement, anniversary, retirement or birthday, send your photos and a brief announcement (50 words or less) to us and we may include it in our paper and website – AT NO COST – as space is available Photos will not be returned. Send your announcements to: kdaniel@stlamerican. com or mail to: St. Louis American Celebrations c/o Kate Daniel 2315 Pine St. St. Louis, MO 63103 FREE OF CHARGE

Reunion notices are free of charge and based on space availability. We prefer that notices be emailed to us! However, notices may also be sent by mail to: Kate Daniel, 2315 Pine St., St. Louis, MO 63103

Deadline is 10 a.m. on Friday. If you’d like your class to be featured in a reunion profile, email or mail photos to us. Our email address is: reunions@ stlamerican.com

East St. Louis Poet Laureate Eugene B. Redmond (center)

members of his namesake writers club: Darlene Roy, Charlois Lumpkin, Roscoe “Ros” Crenshaw and Jaye P. Willi at the group’s December 1 meeting, held at the East St. Louis/SIUE Higher Education Center, which coincided with Redmond’s 78th birthday.

MMG rapper Wale chilled in VIP with Steve of All Star Ent. before hitting the stage Friday night at The Marquee.

Where’s Wale? Remember back when 11:30 was club time? Those were the days. Now I have to settle for spending the night up in the club just to see A B-Lister perform 15 minutes of greatest hit snippets. I had been really excited to see Wale at The Marquee Friday night. Folks say his attitude is the pits, but he does put on a cute little show. But when it was all said and done I have never been so ready to see somebody do their little raps and go home in all my life. Friday night was clearly the Night of the Living 3 star chick. I saw chunky heels, wedges, polyester body dresses, quick weave and fake fur galore. I even saw a pair of cutoff jeans paired pantyhose and two inch church usher pumps. I thought I was going to name this entry wall to wall wale. But it was more like wall to the middle of the dance floor, or bar to the bathroom. Nichol Stevenson, Fred Finley and my boy A Plus were in the building, Boogie D was on the mic with his handy Ciroc bottle and Cuddy was turning up on the tables. But Wale was nowhere to be found. As usual, some run of the mill rappers performed lip sync battle but with their own material while we waited for who we came to see. Yung Ro (DeBarge) was the best of the bunch. I love his little box haircut. The slim guy with dreads had a taste of swag about himself, but I couldn’t take his content seriously after he told us to call him cheesecake in one of his raps. Cheesecake? Really? Wale strolled in about 1:30 a.m. with the folks were saying he had just performed at the White House even though he had just left the Fox stage tearing the club up with G Eazy and A$AP Ferg for what I’m guessing was an excuse for his tardiness. But the crowd seemed unmoved by the alleged news. He did an 18-minute medley, got mad with the folks up front for taking pictures and went on about his business. I’m hoping that he put his foot into the performance at the White House but really The Fox, because he barely bothered at The Marquee. He was hoarse by the time he got to us. The folks left looking sideways while grumbling and complaining.

April Simpson’s raw emotional send off. On Saturday I made it my business to help usher April Simpson out of St. Louis in good spirits by stopping through her going away party at Sweetie Pie’s Upper Crust. I don’t know what’s next for her, but some heavy hitters were in the building to bid her the best. Jackie Joyner-Kersee refuses to age and at this point it’s getting on my nerves. Really girl, do you have to make those of us who grew up watching you win gold medals at Olympics look like your elderly cousins? Anyway, Ms. Kersee wasn’t the only influential in the building. Blu Bolden of Derrty Ent., Kevin Johnson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Tammie Holland of 100.3 The Beat came through as well. April was presented with a resolution by BOA President Lewis Reed (which meant that I had a chance to say hi to Maurice Falls) and a few of April’s Fox 2 colleagues stopped through. I was thrilled to see her and Tim Ezell taking playful jabs at each other like the good old days. I didn’t realize how close they were until she spoke of him sitting in the hospital for the entire duration of her 12 hour surgery. Honestly, I didn’t realize everything April had gone through as far as her health challenges. I won’t go into details about it, but just know that she is truly a survivor and if she can come through on the other side of that, she’ll be fine as far as her career goes. Her brain surgeon was in the building as well – and delivered a full sermon that Darius Bradford roasted (all in good fun) during his remarks. Event organizer Orlando Watson and April shared a tender moment – and her sister, father and other family was on hand to join in the farewell.

A Serious Founders Day. Before I get accused of playing favorites, let me go ahead and wish ALL of the Divine Nine members who celebrate their Founder’s Day in January a happy belated one – Sigmas, Deltas, Kappas, and Zetas. But, since this is Partyline, I am here to chop it up about the sets I dropped in on. So the remainder of this entry is devoted to the AKAs and their Founder’s Day festivities Saturday night at the Omega Center. I moseyed on over to get some throwback Hillman College style partying in my life and was so glad I did! Them getting their strut on as they celebrated their 108th year was a serious matter indeed! As usual, the AKAs turned the party out and several other fraternities (especially the hosts) and sororities were on deck – showing that when it all boils down there is a bond of solidarity between them all.

Dynamic dreadlock duo. Back in November LooseCannon S.L.I.M. announced that Lil’ Wayne will be headlining the State of Emergency 3 concert on Sun. Feb. 21 at Chaifetz Arena. Turns out S.L.I.M. still has some serious acts up his sleeve. Tuesday he jumped on the air at Hot 104.1 FM with my boy A. Plus to let the folks know that 2 Chainz will be on the bill as well and three more acts are going to be announced sooner than later. As much as I wasn’t checking for Chainz the first couple of times I saw him in concert, I would be lying if I didn’t tell y’all he gave me life the last few shows – especially his most recent visit to the Chaifetz. And I’m expecting him to pull a repeat next month. And while Weezy has clearly been going through something – I think that his restored father son relationship with Birdman might mean we’ll get him at his best as well! Stay tuned for more details.

Raphael and Rashad were ready for Wale to rip it Friday @ The Marquee

Jackie and Tara @ The Marquee for Element Saturdays

Melanie celebrated her 40th birthday Sunday @ The OBar with her husband and business partner Andre by her side

Cameron and Bianca enjoyed their extended weekend @ the OBar for the Surge Sunday

Zeh came out with all of her girls Saturday night to celebrate her birthday @ HG

Jazzy and Fat-Fat were just some of the folks in the building to check out Wale Friday @ The Marquee

Tim Ezell, April Simpson and Tammie Holland during April’s going away party @ Sweetie Pie’s Upper Crust Saturday

Tree, Alexis, and Shayla enjoyed Style Code Saturdays @ Mood

Hitman Holla and Niddy got a chance to catch up @ HG for Status Sunday

Kim and Ericka came through the OBar Sunday night

Photos by Lawrence Bryant & John Scott

COORDINATOR

MATH TEACHER

PROJECT COORDINATOR

RESPONSIBILITIES:

The Project Coordinator will support the “Documenting the Now” project by providing daily project administration, managing grant finances and reports, and leading the planning and execution of multiple in-person and virtual meetings. The Project Coordinator will assist with marketing and outreach for the Documenting the Now project and related efforts within University Libraries; Manage the daily project needs and planning for the Documenting the Now project, including the scheduling of virtual project team meetings and coordinating communication for the group; and Coordinate all aspects of meeting planning for two annual in-person and several virtual Advisory Board meetings, including participant travel, booking meeting rooms, catering, preparing meeting materials, and writing reports of action items and decisions made to share with members and other stakeholders.

QUALIFICATIONS: Required: Bachelor’s degree required; 1-2 years demonstrated experience coordinating grant-funded projects in cultural heritage organizations; Excellent written and verbal communication and interpersonal skills; Research, analytical and data skills; Excellent computer skills including office management tools such as Microsoft Word, email, database tools and other office management software; Ability to manage complex projects with strict attention to detail; Efficient and effective team collaborator. Preferred: Experience with project management tools; Two to three years project management experience.

GENERAL INFORMATION: Washington University, located at the western edge of the city of St. Louis, is a medium-sized, independent, research university founded in 1853, and is internationally known for excellence in teaching and research and for the quality of its faculty and student body. The University libraries play an essential role in providing the support for these areas to the Washington University community. For more information, please visit the Washington University/Libraries web sites at www.wustl.edu and http://library.wustl.edu

EXCELLENTBENEFITS PACKAGE: 22 VACATION DAYS, TIAA-CREF, etc.

APPLICATION INFORMATION: Applications must be submitted online at https://jobs.wustl.edu. Reference job #32551. Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until

The Message

St. Louisans respond to fears of Islam Alone with God

‘Politics are trying to divide people between religion and nationalities and race’

By Kelly Moffitt

Of St. Louis Public Radio

The president of Maryville University’s Muslim Student Association wants to set something straight:

“People need to understand that the real face of Islam is the face you see in front of you right now,” said Shehmin Awan. “It is us three people.” Awan was at St. Louis Public Radio discussing Islam and Islamophobia along with Evren Senol, a real estate agent and a native of Cyprus (who was raised as a Muslim but now attends a Presbyterian Church), and Saba Fatima, an assistant professor of philosophy at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, who was raised in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

“It’s the billions of people who are practicing peacefully,” Awan continued. “It is not the face of ISIL or ISIS or whatever you want to call it. It’s not the face of a terrorist. It’s the face of a normal citizen trying to live their everyday life. All these politics are trying to divide people between religion and nationalities and race.”

Last month, the executive director of the St. Louis chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Faizan Syed said that he received a call threatening his organization in the wake of the San Bernadino shooting. Also in December, Mohammed Baban, a former Iraqi refugee, said he and a group of friends were accosted by a man screaming profanities at them outside their mosque in South St. Louis.

Recently, the California-based Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism released data that shows the rate of suspected hate crimes against Muslims in the United States has tripled since the attacks in Paris in November, with 38 attacks. This uptick in hate crimes has included assaults on those wearing a hijab, mosque vandalism and

Saba Fatima, an assistant professor of philosophy at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville; Shehmin Awan, president of Maryville University’s Muslim Student Association; and Evren Senol, a real estate agent and a native of Cyprus.

death threats made against Muslim-owned businesses.

“What a true Muslim is, is being confused with a terrorist who is not really practicing Islam but is pushing political causes in the name of a religion,” said Awan.

Presidential candidate Donald Trump has made statements condemning Muslims and saying they should be kept out of America.

Senol, Awan and Fatima said his statements have had an impact on their everyday conversations.

Awan related a story of a friend who was confronted by a man at Home Depot saying,

“I’m going to vote for Donald Trump just because I don’t want to see you here.”

“Trump has normalized saying hateful things about minority communities, be it Muslims, blacks, Hispanics,” Fatima said.

“That guy hates all minorities, it seems.”

“The difficulty is getting masses to really open their minds to understanding differences in cultures and accepting those

differences,” Senol said.

Awan said she first experienced Islamophobia when she was 6 years old. That was when 9/11 occurred, three hours away from her family’s home in Albany, New York.

“Someone asked my sister, ‘Do you have a bomb in your backpack?’” Awan said.

“They had known us for years, they knew we were peaceful people, they knew our families, we used to play together...”

Fatima said that is the responsibility of those who are not subject to hateful speech to engage in conversations with their friends and families making their stance in support of Muslims clear. “It is not sufficient to say it in your heart,” Fatima said.

Fatina said Muslim Americans also have an added responsibility “to engage in American politics, to go vote, to develop a platform of political demands.”

Edited for length and reprinted with permission from news.stlpublicradio.org.

One of the telling things about being a Christian, no matter how new the claim might be, is a newfound understanding and appreciation of being by yourself. I don’t mean being lonely or anything. I mean being alone with the Lord.

Some might call it prayer, others meditation. You can in call it what you want to, but being alone with God is a whole lot different than being alone without God. Understanding this reality once you’ve accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior can take some getting used to.

Many of us, including yours truly, at times have great difficulty dealing with self. We can find countless things to do with alone time on our hands; lights get turned on, channel surfing starts, music blasts, people get called and shopping gets done. We aren’t comfortable with who we really are. It might be fear. It might be shame. It could even be embarrassment. All of this and more comes into play when circumstances force us to look back over our own lives without external interference or internal rationalizations. That deafening silence we’re afraid of is filled with the rather loud volume of truth.

The closer you get to accepting the Lord’s call upon you, the more you come to understand that facing up to your inner demons is required learning; you can’t escape, you can’t hide. Coming to grips with one’s sinful past is a prerequisite for all future relationships and some you’re in right now, particularly the one with Jesus Christ.

It’s that “truth will set you free” stuff. The peace of reconciliation with one’s self begins and ends with the unadulterated truth that nothing can stand between you and the God who loves you; not your pride or ego, not your insecurity, not your sinful nature, not your clouded view of who you think you really are.

If God’s in the picture, it’s just you and Him. And He accepts no substitutes for you; no pretenders, gamesters, no pretense or facades. After all, He knows your essence and that’s what He wants. It’s actually what He demands. But isn’t that the beauty of what He offers all of us? Isn’t it His essence that we actually seek? Before you attempt to answer with “yes,” understand that “yes” means you will never be alone again, in life or in death. You better get used to the man or woman in the mirror. That is exactly who God made and whom He loves, warts and all. Now you can fill those otherwise lonely moments with the truth that you are surrounded by the ever-present crowd of One.

Photo by Kelly Moffitt / St. Louis Public Radio

Columnist James Washington