June 12th, 2014 Edition

St. LouiS AmericAn

BioSTL launches St. Louis Bioscience

Inclusion Initiative on June 19

By Rebecca Rivas

Of The St. Louis American

You don’t have to be a researcher or chemist to be a successful entrepreneur in the bioscience industry, said Cheryl Watkins-Moore, director of bioscience entrepreneurial inclusion at BioSTL. And that’s just the message she hopes to drive home to local minority and women professionals this year through a series of talks, networking events and training sessions – all offered for free

n “St. Louis is really primed with the excitement in the entrepreneurial community. It really has inspired me.”

– Cheryl Watkins-Moore

through BioSTL.

“You don’t have to be a PhD,” said Watkins-Moore. She herself was trained as a physician, has an M.B.A. and a range of executive experience in the life

sciences. Most recently, she served as an Entrepreneur In Residence with the BioGenerator.

“With any type of business, understanding your market is the key

thing. This is a fast-growing market. If you have those skills, this could be a great opportunity.”

In February, BioSTL received a $100,000 grant from the Blackstone Charitable Foundation to pilot the St. Louis Bioscience Inclusion Initiative intended to identify and nurture high-potential women and minority bioscience entrepreneurs in St. Louis.

Assuming her director position at BioSTL earlier this year, WatkinsMoore will lead and guide the initiative.

“We are trying to reach out to those professionals who already have great skills and probably have done different things in their careers,” she said, “and who are interested in becoming potential entrepreneurs or

District 189, on June 4.

STEM Project organized the demonstration as a hands-on approach to learning science.

‘What

would Jesus eat?’ Christ Deliverance Ministry combats obesity

By Bridjes O’Neil

FOCUS St. Louis names new leader

Yemi S. AkandeBartsch will succeed founding exec director Christine Chadwick

By Chris King Of The

St. Louis American

On Tuesday FOCUS St. Louis, which touts itself as “the region’s most comprehensive leadership organization,” announced that Yemi S. Akande-Bartsch would succeed Christine Chadwick as its executive director, effective July 1. Chadwick, the organization’s first and only executive director in its 18-year history, previously had announced her retirement.

n “It’s a cumulative education, part civic, part leadership. Hence the term ‘civic leadership.’”

– Yemi S. Akande-Bartsch

“If we simply just do what Jesus did, we would be much healthier,” Ringo said. Briant K. Mitchell of BKM Boot Camp led the 5K race through Midtown, and after the

action at Cardinal Ritter College Preparatory High School as a crowd of onlookers cheered them on. They were taking part in Christ Deliverance Ministry’s third annual Mind and Body 5K health and fitness event held Memorial Day weekend. The event is the brainchild of Christ Deliverance Ministry pastor Cynthia Ringo, who said the grassroots church is “dedicated to fighting obesity.”

race he conducted a boot camp inside Cardinal Ritter’s gymnasium.

This year, Mind and Body welcomed the Ronald McDonald Care Mobile, a mobile vision clinic, which provided free, on-the-spot eye exams for children. Representatives from DePaul Hospital, a sponsor of Mind and Body,

Although a national search was conducted –led by Mark Lindgren, incoming president of the FOCUS board, and June Fowler, former board member and program alumna – Akande-Bartsch was promoted from within. For the past two years, she has served as vice president of Leadership and Alumni Programs at FOCUS. She has a total of 15 years of experience in leadership training and holds a doctorate in communications from the University of Oklahoma. Akande-Bartsch, 46, will celebrate her first anniversary with husband William “Bill” Bartsch this Sunday. “So we are newlyweds, sort of kind of,” she said. The American talked to her about FOCUS St. Louis and how it is that someone can actually

Sigma Aldrich scientist Ashley Fischer demonstrates a chemical reaction to Tavion Mosley, Nautica Wilson and Dale Bell, students at Lincoln Middle School in East St. Louis School

The Inspire

Photo by Wiley Price

Cheryl Watkins-Moore is director of bioscience entrepreneurial inclusion at BioSTL.

Photo by Lawrence Bryant

Brock honored for lifetime achievement

County NAACP recognizes national board chair at Freedom Fund Dinner

By Bridjes O’Neil

Of The St. Louis American

Last Tuesday, the St. Louis County NAACP hosted its 76th Annual Freedom Fund Leadership Dinner at the Clayton Ritz-Carlton Hotel.

Roslyn M. Brock, chairman of the NAACP National Board of Directors, was presented with the Margaret Bush Wilson Lifetime Achievement Award. Brock told The American she was honored to receive an award named after a woman she considers to be a “committed civil rights heroine.”

“To be the first AfricanAmerican woman to lead a historic civil rights organization is phenomenal,” Brock said of

Margaret Bush Wilson, who served nine years as national NAACP board chairman. “And I serve in her legacy. It’s a responsibility to uphold that leadership.”

Brock was also this year’s keynote speaker. She has devoted 30 years to the organization and is the youngest person and fourth woman to hold her current position.

She was instrumental in the selection of attorney Cornell William Brooks as the association’s 18th national president and CEO after Benjamin Todd Jealous submitted his resignation last year. A search committee made the final selection out of more than 450 candidates,

Defending LBJ’s legacy

Fifty years on, former President Lyndon Johnson received the tributes he earned. Four presidents praised his contribution. “I lived out the promise of LBJ’s efforts,” said President Obama, defending Medicare and food stamps, signature LBJ achievements. Bill Clinton praised LBJ for demonstrating “the power of the presidency to redeem the promise of America.”

The Great Society, the War on Poverty, Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act opened locked doors. But for decades, LBJ’s achievements have been slighted. Liberals scorned him because of the war in Vietnam. Conservatives loathed him because of the Civil Rights achievements. The War on Poverty, despite dramatically reducing poverty in America, was dismissed as a failure. New Democrats dismissed him for believing in big government.

Brock said.

When asked which direction she hopes the new president and CEO will take the organization, she said: “Only higher and higher.”

“We need to really re-connect with our base and make sure that our message is relevant and resonates with the new generation of social justice advocates,” Brock said.

John Gaskin III of St. Louis County NAACP, who serves on the national board, said Brock embodies many of Wilson’s leadership qualities as forwardthinking, selfless individuals. Brock’s legacy has been to

But as the Civil Rights Summit at the LBJ Library in Austin, Texas, recognized last week, Johnson was a giant, standing alongside Roosevelt and Lincoln as presidents who saved America. Under Johnson, the scourge of segregation was finally ended. Millions of the poor were provided a ladder up out of poverty and despair. Johnson’s reforms – Civil Rights, Voting Rights, Immigration, Medicare, child nutrition, food stamps and more – were nearly as great as those of FDR, and unmatched since. Helped by allies like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Johnson had a legacy he could invoke; but his

fill a void in today’s world by reaching back and bringing others along, Gaskin said.

“This woman is probably one of the youngest Lifetime Achievement honorees that the NAACP has had in the country,” Gaskin said, while introducing Brock. “This woman has sacrificed more for this entire organization than most people have their entire lives.”

Brock, in turn, acknowledged Gaskin’s leadership as a member of the national NAACP Board of Directors and a member of its Executive Committee.

own leadership, passion, energy and skills were indispensable.

President Obama invoked one of LBJ’s famed lines: “What the hell is the presidency for, if not to fight for causes you believe in?”

Acknowledging Johnson’s greatness in our rear-view mirror is important because it may help us in looking forward through the windshield. America is more unequal than ever. Our schools are segregated by race and by class. We rank second to the lowest among industrial nations in the assistance we provide to the poor. The middle class

Roslyn M. Brock, chairman of the NAACP National Board of Directors, was presented with the St. Louis County NAACP’s Margaret Bush Wilson Lifetime Achievement Award at its 76th Annual Freedom Fund Leadership Dinner and also gave the keynote.

Photo by Wiley Price

More work needs to be done to raise the hopes, dreams and expectations of our children, Brock said during her speech.

The survival of our community rests on our ability to break the chains of illiteracy, violence and poverty, Brock said.

In other awards, the Commitment to St. Louis Award was presented to Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Lou Brock.

The St. Louis American was honored for its advocacy in health care, education, scholarship and economic empowerment initiatives.

Donald M. Suggs, publisher

is sinking; we suffer mass unemployment with newlycreated jobs too often offering low pay and few hours.

The millennial generation is graduating into the worst economic straits since the Great Depression.

Basic rights are under assault. State after state is passing measures that suppress voting — limiting voting days, ending Sunday voting, demanding voter ID, stripping the right to vote from nonviolent drug offenders who have served their time, and more. The Supreme Court has weakened the Voting Rights Act.

Republicans in the Congress want to turn Medicare into a

and executive editor of The St. Louis American, accepted the award.

The St. Louis County NAACP also recognized a group of “Most Inspiring” St. Louisans: Angela Brown, MD, Washington University School of Medicine; Kevin Demoff, St. Louis Rams; Margarita Flores, Anheuser-Busch; Douglas Koch Sr., Brown Shoe Company; Brittany Packnett, Teach for America St. Louis; Shanti Parikh, Planned Parenthood; and Ida Goodwin Woolfolk, community leader. Gaskin said the fundraiser generated nearly $180,000 in net proceeds that will be used to implement the NAACP’s policy objectives. Funds will also be used to help the branch secure a bid for the 2016 national NAACP convention. Gaskin served as dinner chair for the third straight year. At 21, he is the youngest Freedom Fund chairman in the country.

FOX2’s Mandy Murphey, KMOV’s Sharon Reed, and KSDK’s Art Holliday co-anchored the dinner, attended by 780 guests. Next year’s venue will most likely be changed to accommodate a growing crowd, Gaskin said. Follow this reporter on Twitter: @BridjesONeil.

voucher, gut Medicaid and turn it into a block grant, slash food stamps, Pell grants, and other support for the vulnerable.

Analysis by the Center of Budget and Policy Proposals finds 69 percent of the cuts just passed by Republicans in the House come from programs for low wage workers. We do well to honor Lyndon Johnson. He understood the power of government to make America better. But it is not enough to honor his legacy. It is time to stir ourselves, as he did, to not simply defend his contributions, but to extend them to meet our own modern challenges.

Columnist Rev. Jesse Jaskson Sr.

Editorial /CommEntary

Needed: partnerships of vested self-interest

Since the release of the final “For the Sake of Us All” report, which was covered in depth in last week’s St. Louis American, we have been reflecting on something that Chris Krehmeyer of Beyond Housing said at the community conference about the report. He employed a curse word, which we will print here for the intended effect. “If you read this report to page 68 and you’re not mad as hell …” Krehmeyer said, trembling, without finishing the thought. The first 68 pages of the report provide infuriating data on the suffering of black people in the St. Louis region, particularly black people living in areas of north St. Louis city and county. The data are followed by three pages of proposed policy changes to address these deadly and depressing race-based disparities. “If you don’t heed the call for action in this report,” Krehmeyer said, “we can come back in a few years and do this again.”

To the credit of conference organizers, they stacked their response panels with seasoned community organizers, like Krehmeyer, who have labored for years to improve the very communities studied in this report. The study was led by Jason Q. Purnell, an assistant professor at the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University, who organized a research team of mostly junior AfricanAmerican faculty from WUSTL and Saint Louis University. Academics are accustomed to speaking to one another or captive audiences of students. It showed grit and determination for academics to reach out and assemble panels of community organizers and invite them to respond. This was not research conducted to burnish an academic career, but rather research released to instigate positive social change.

To that end, we also have been reflecting on a collegial, but testy, exchange between Krehmeyer and Sandra Moore of Urban Strategies, who sat together on the last panel of the conference. Krehmeyer said that one thing Beyond Housing never does is come into a low-income, majority-black community and tell them, “We need some new people in here.” Krehmeyer said, “We believe we can improve the community working only with the people who are already there.” His respect for the transformational potential latent in our communities is inspiring, but Moore – seasoned by years of working in economically distressed areas across the nation – responded with a coldeyed assessment of development potential in our most impoverished communities where racebased disparities are the most alarming.

“I do work with developers who invite other people in,” Moore said. She meant primarily McCormack Baron Salazar, with which Urban Strategies is associated. We also thought of Paul McKee Jr. of Northside Regeneration project, who was sitting in the conference audience. “When the ground is cheap and the people are poor, you need to build something to

Research compiled in the “For the Sake of All Report” revealed that the disparity between black and white unemployment in St. Louis city and county was higher in 2010 than at any time in the previous 40 years.

draw people to that market,” Moore said. She then said one of the most amazing statements in a conference rich in memorable quotes: “St. Louis is a very, very, very, very, very, very cold market.” That was seven repetitions of “very” to emphasize how cold the St. Louis market – especially North St. Louis – is compared to other markets where Urban Strategies has done projects, such as San Francisco, New Orleans and Pittsburgh. “How you encourage people to come into a market this cold,” she said, “is the opportunity to rebuild.” Their respective approaches also clashed on the question of scale. Beyond Housing is working to change Pagedale one intersection at a time, whereas Urban Strategies does projects of a much larger scale – much like the project McKee envisions with Northside. In depleted areas like North St. Louis, Moore said, “you can’t do a one-off project or two, three, four houses at a time. It does not work. You need a comprehensive approach. You need to build a partnership out of the vested self-interest of a wide array of players.” As much as we respect Beyond Housing and value Krehmeyer’s work, we believe Moore is talking rightly about the scale of development needed to make the transformative change that long-neglected North St. Louis needs. Otherwise, as Krehmeyer said so well himself, we’ll just come back in a few years and do this all over again. In the meantime, the human suffering and deprivation continue, with no substantive improvement in sight.

As I See It - A Forum for Community Issues

Race and inclusion in the county

Next month we will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which opened the doors of equal opportunity across this country. Unfortunately, those doors remain closed in St. Louis County government spending. Councilwoman Hazel Erby proposed Minority & Women Business Enterprises (M/WBE) participation legislation that addresses the discrepancies between the freedoms outlined in the Constitution and the reality of life in conducting business with county government. Yet the County Council voted down HER legislation creating the Office of Diversity Programs.

County Councilman Mike O’Mara – an official with the United Association of Plumbers, Fitters and Welders – submitted legislation removing a portion of the original legislation that would have exempted the diversity program from the standards imposed by organized labor apprenticeships.

O’Mara’s substitute legislation would put the implementation and enforcement of the diversity program in the hands of the county’s purchasing agents, giving the agents authority to receive and investigate complaints concerning compliance and to initiate investigations concerning compliance.

O’Mara’s substitute legislation would restrict the use of independent contractors

or “leased employees” of independent contractors or “leased employees” for on-site work.

The legislation establishing the Office of Diversity was defeated by a vote of 5-2. Ironically, when the County Council passed an ordinance (No. 25,298) in December 2012 that favors union contractors over non-union contractors, the vote also was 5-2. That bill prohibited non-union construction contractors from participating in county projects over $25,000.

Two Democratic members of the council who voted for the pro-union bill in December 2012, O’Mara and Patrick Dolan, are affiliated with unions. They also voted to kill legislation establishing the Office of Diversity Programs. Across the country, there have been calls to end affirmative action and other policies and programs gained during the Civil Rights Movement, mostly based on the claim that civil rights legal victories leveled the playing field. We’re living in a strange moment when generations who inhabit the same neighborhoods and social networks draw on wildly different experiences of growing up American. With respect to race and politics, county voters primarily consist of three cohorts. The civil rights generation came of age politically in the 1960s and ‘70s and helped bring about a revolution in social justice. Race is the essential, underlying fissure that runs through all their political debates. They are convinced that racism is the principal motive for Republican obstruction and offer the ugliness of the opposition to President

Six points concerning Bergdahl

Bringing Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl home was the right thing to do, and President Obama did it in a mostly reasonable way. The highvolume “debate” about Bergdahl’s homecoming sounds like the ravings heard around the water coolers of Crazytown. Here, in descending order of importance, are the issues the Bergdahl affair presents – and a rational way to think about them.

1. “We leave no soldier behind on the battlefield.” This is the commitment we make to the men and women who serve in the U.S. armed forces. The promise was made to Bergdahl, and the nation was honor-bound to respect it.

Five years ago, Bergdahl apparently walked away from his post in Afghanistan’s Paktika Province near the border with Pakistan. Earlier, he had expressed his disillusionment with the U.S. conduct of the war – more than that, his shame – in an email to his father. The Washington Post reported Thursday that nearby villagers reported seeing Bergdahl walking around in a daze, unwilling to accept food or water, deaf to their warnings that he was heading into a dangerous area full of Taliban. Was he a deserter? Quite possibly. Did he somehow take leave of his senses? That seems possible, too. These are questions for the military

justice system to answer, and Bergdahl should be held accountable. Deserting one’s post in a combat zone is a grave offense.

But Bergdahl has not been found guilty of anything, or even formally accused of anything. He was, until his release, an active-duty U.S. Army sergeant being held by the Taliban. We cannot decide whether or not to secure a captive soldier’s release based on his or her political views –and we certainly cannot take into account what the soldier’s father might think about U.S. foreign policy.

Recent proof-of-life videos from the Taliban appeared to show that Bergdahl’s health was deteriorating. Meanwhile, the U.S. war effort in Afghanistan soon will come to an end. The time to act was now.

2. Reports that six U.S. servicemen died on missions searching for Bergdahl have been denied by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. My impression is that this may be a matter of semantics. For example, troops at an outpost under Taliban fire might have been ordered not to evacuate if there were reports that Bergdahl could be in the area. In my book, such duty should count as participation in the search.

The nation’s hearts should go out to the families of any who died looking for Bergdahl. These men were bravely doing their job, as defined by their commanders: Bring home a U.S. soldier being held by the enemy.

3. Was the price of

Letters to the editor

Part of the elite

The passing of Maya Angelou in some ways symbolizes the waning of an era for the black arts literary and poetry movement. She was part of the elite class of writers that included Gwendolyn Brooks, Jayne Cortez and Amiri Baraka, to name a few. Her body of work gave words and imagination to so many voiceless young people. From the great beyond, she’ll continue to inspire aspiring writers and fans alike.

Stefan Bradley, SLU

Obama as proof.

The second group grew up during the period of racial reconstruction. The significant fights were over, but the minefields of racial tensions, stubborn prejudices, stereotypes and political correctness remained. These county voters are Democrats and independents and sincerely disappointed by Republican obstruction.

The third group, the millennials, have been nurtured in a racially complex country and imagine that all the significant racial battles are over. These county voters are progressive, but they care less about political parties than their parents do. The Pew Research Center proclaims that 50 percent of all millennials (now ages 18 to 33) considers themselves independents. They are looking for a transformative change. They support a knowledge-based economy, which will be the trend of the future, if it is not already.

Perhaps the most glaring aspect of St. Louis County racial politics today is the redrawing and shaping of district lines to seclude voting strength in certain areas.

There is a rumor circulating among the County Council that Erby’s proposed legislation was introduced at the behest of County Executive Charlie Dooley. Those of that mindset are united by a common error on this matter – and, perhaps, by a common aversion to their African-American neighbors.

Pruitt is president of the St. Louis city chapter of the NAACP and political action chair for the Missouri NAACP.

Legacy lives on

Maya Angelou was a fearless writer, poet and activist who made the world a better place for her generation and those to follow. Her powerful words taught scores of young women, particularly those of color, to believe that they are phenomenal and that their voices should never be silenced. Dr. Angelou rose from poverty, segregation and violence to become a force on stage, screen and the printed page. Her legacy lives on in all of us.

Roslyn Brock, Chairman NAACP Board of Directors

Inspiration to us all

I was so profoundly moved by Maya Angelou’s book “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” that when the Equinox Chamber Players asked me to write a musical composition for their woodwind quintet, I knew that Maya was going to be a part of it. We had just moved to St. Louis, and I was overwhelmed that St. Louis was the birthplace of so many strong and outstanding women, especially Maya. My composition of four movements “Freeing the Caged Bird” was a musical response to her book. She was a truly outstanding trail blazer and role model for both men and women, and her motto, “I rise,” should be an inspiration to us all.

Barbara Harbach

Bergdahl’s freedom too high? No. The five Taliban commanders released in exchange should properly be described as one-time Taliban commanders. I don’t doubt that they were powerful, dangerous enemy leaders at the time of their capture. But all have been held at Guantanamo since at least 2002. The war and the world have changed. It defies credulity that any of them could re-emerge after such a long absence and regain command; for one thing, many of the fighters they once led are dead. The release does boost the Taliban’s morale, however, so the deal is not cost-free.

4. I said the way Obama did this was “mostly” reasonable. The president should and could have informed Congress that he was going ahead with a prisoner exchange that he knew would be controversial.

5. The optics of the deal’s announcement were unfortunate. The White House knew there were serious questions about how and why Bergdahl left his post. Officials also knew that Bergdahl’s father, Robert, had coped with his son’s captivity by growing a long beard, studying Islam and learning Pashto, the language spoken by the Taliban.

6. And finally, National Security Adviser Susan Rice. First she’s given incomplete talking points about Benghazi, then she’s dispatched to say on the talk shows that Bergdahl served with “honor and distinction.” If I were Rice, I’d start taking Sundays off.

University of Missouri-St. Louis

Friend of the AARP

Maya Angelou was a longtime friend of AARP and of people 50-plus. She entertained and enlightened audiences at our National Event & Expo for many years as our members listened in on her intimate conversations with luminaries such as Quincy Jones, Norman Lear, Whoopi Goldberg and others. “At 50,” she told us, “you become the person you always wanted to be.” In 2010, I had the distinct honor and pleasure of presenting Maya Angelou with the AARP Andrus Award, our association’s highest honor. Then 82, her body was frail, but her mind was sharp and her spirit was strong. She was certainly a rainbow in all of our clouds that evening.

A. Barry Rand, CEO, AARP

Harlem’s own

I am deeply saddened by the loss of Harlem’s own, Dr. Maya Angelou. Her infinite wisdom and knowledge which she bravely shared with the world will be forever treasured in our hearts and memories.

I remember with great pride and joy when she was selected to read her poem at the inauguration of President Bill Clinton in 1993. The nation was moved with the poignancy of her words as she offered a renewed hope in mankind and stressed the links between all people. The power of her message was also evident in her character and in the way she forged, both gracefully and forcefully, a path for those who were oppressed and needed her encouragement. She was a dedicated teacher, using her experiences in the Jim Crow South to spark national dialogue on racism, equality and forgiveness – teaching us that “no one of us can be free until everybody is free.” She was a selfless activist, fighting for the rights of those who were silenced. She was honest and bold, daring to tell her story to the world in hopes that it would All letters

Columnist Eugene Robinson

Columnist Adolphus M. Pruitt

inspire and motivate.

U.S. Rep. Charles Rangell Harlem, N.Y.

Blunt’s staff hosts Mobile Office at City Hall

U.S. Senator Roy Blunt’s staff will host a Mobile Office 3-4 p.m. Thursday, June 19 at St. Louis City Hall. Mobile Offices are opportunities for Missourians to discuss their questions or concerns with the federal government one-on-one with members of Blunt’s staff. Blunt’s Columbia office also extends one-on-one service to all Missourians who have an issue with a federal agency or need additional assistance. Call at 573-442-8151 or write to 1001 Cherry Street, Suite 104, Columbia, Missouri 65201.

Mental health first aid training

Provident is offering Mental Health First Aid training in the St. Louis area, providing free sessions to over 180 community individuals, thanks to a grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health.

Mental Health First Aid, an eight-hour training course, teaches participants a five-step action plan to assess a situation, select and implement interventions and secure appropriate care for the individual. The certification program outlines risk factors and warning signs of mental health problems, builds understanding of their impact and reviews common treatments. For more information, visit www. providentstl.org or call Tameka Brown at 314-802-2582.

Schools recognized for sustainability

Five schools have been recognized by the Ferguson-Florissant School District’s Green Ribbon Schools program for their efforts in demonstrating sustainable and fiscally responsible practices in five key areas. The award is given annually by the district’s Green Committee for sustainability in energy usage, gardening, recycling/waste reduction, reducing water run-off/erosion and promotion of sustainability practices. Green Ribbon School award winners for 2014 are Parker Road, Commons School and Ferguson Middle School (platinum award), Cross Keys Middle School (gold award), Lee Hamilton (silver award).

Africa on stilts

For Bertha

By Ruth-Miriam Garnett

The St. Louis American

For

My dear friend and colleague Bertha Gilkey-Bonds transitioned May 24.

Bertha and Maya Angelou were featured in the seminal volume, “I Dream A World, Portraits of Black Women who Changed America.” Maya was born in St. Louis and raised in Arkansas. Bertha was born in Arkansas, raised in Indiana from age 3 to 9, before reuniting with her mother in St. Louis. I wrote last week about Maya, with whom I had one conversation. This week, I’m writing about Bertha, with whom I had many.

Whenever returning to St. Louis from New York City, I always find a flower in the desert. After college it was Betty Jordan Lee, the Fisk- and Howard-educated editor of Proud Magazine whose work was published in Carter G. Woodson’s Journal of Negro History. In Betty, Bertha and I shared a mentor. Betty’s Jeff-Vander-Lou Communications Resource Center was established with a $300,000 grant from the Mott Foundation on the second floor of Proud. Betty hired me to compile an arts issue for the magazine downstairs and to teach journalistic writing upstairs for high school students, alongside video and photography instructors Susan Christine Mullen and Billy Collins.

Working with Betty and her associate Joe Palmer, then president of the St. Louis Black Journalists, was a goldmine, aptly sustaining the intensity of my Harvard years.

I met musicians, writers, actors, dancers and visual artists recommended by local practitioners, including Joe Charles, Julius Hemphill, Kelvyn Bell, Jerome Williams, Gary Sykes, Ptah Williams, Quincy Troupe, Eugene Redmond, Shirley LeFlore, Arthur Brown, Russell Coates, Seitu James Smith, Ken Calvert and Lamerol Gatewood.

I love reminding Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ken Cooper, who contributed an article, that I was his editor. I also love reminding my brilliant JVL student Ann Scales, later to become Washington correspondent for the Boston Globe, that she staged a walk-out of my class to protest rigorous academic standards.

After reorganizing projects in St. Louis, Bertha took her tenant management and ownership model to Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia and Baltimore. She traveled abroad to 10 countries, consulting with governments on low-income housing for new immigrants.

Bertha and I began work on her memoir in February. We planned travel to meet with educators interested in her education model, which is pure genius. Trust me on that.

Betty and Bertha, both mothers, understood the necessity of educating our children, while loving them unreservedly. Both embraced her anointing courageously, never swaying from principle. I will never abandon their vision.

This wasn’t my first time at the rodeo. My own brave and wonderful mother took me to picket lines at age four.

I will keep you abreast of how things unfold.

Ruth-Miriam Garnett is author of “Laelia,” a novel, and two collections of poetry, “Concerning Violence” and “A Move Further South.” A second novel, “Chloe’s Grief,” will appear in fall 2014.

Ruth-Miriam Garnett

A stilt walker entertaining the crowd at the African Arts Festival held in Forest Park recently anointed Rashad Stewart, 3, his sister Aniya Stewart, 7, and their aunt Kimburly Hatchet near the World’s Fair Pavilion.

Photo by Wiley Price

OBESITY

Continued from A1 were also on hand offering free health screenings.

Six women, including Jashonda Dupree, of the Mind and Body’s 100-plus club, were recognized for losing a total of more than 600 pounds.

Dupree chose to take control of her weight. At her heaviest, she weighed nearly 300 pounds. Her doctor prescribed three different blood pressure medications, and she grew “tired” of taking pills, she said. Dupree lost a total of 113 pounds within a year.

needs, Ringo said. “What would Jesus eat?”

Ringo asked rhetorically. The answer, she said, is simple: food as God prepared it, fresh out of the earth and into our bodies. She said the Bible mentions that Jesus ate “whole foods” and walked everywhere He went. The body is meant to be in motion, she said.

n Pastor Cynthia Ringo said the Bible mentions that Jesus ate “whole foods” and walked everywhere He went.

Dupree encouraged women who need that extra push to get healthy.

“You have to pray about it,” Dupree said. The Bible is one go-to source for your health-related

BioSTL

Continued from A1

working alongside potential entrepreneurs in biosciences.”

As part of the initiative, BioSTL is also partnering with Prosper (an entrepreneur support organization for women), St. Louis Economic Development Partnership, Washington University Office of Technology Management, CORTEX and Women Entrepreneurs of St. Louis (WEST).

The initiative’s kick-off event is a networking and business forum at 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 19 at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, 975 N. Warson Rd.

The forum will look at what’s happening in the bioscience marketplace locally, as well as introduce some

Ringo gained momentum in her health care routine after a visit with her doctor. In 2010, Ringo became the primary caregiver for her husband after he suffered a stroke. Her doctor warned her to take better care of herself to prevent an onslaught of illnesses that might prevent her from taking care of her husband, Ringo said.

That same year, members of the Christ Deliverance Ministry congregation, led by Ringo, made it their mission to help one another achieve

of the region’s resources and funders for startups and entrepreneurs. Then attendees will get a chance to meet and network with funders and “the players” in the market, she said.

On July 17, BioSTL will host a panel discussion with entrepreneurs who have started businesses in the bioscience field without having research or science backgrounds. The event will be held 6-8:30 p.m. at the Third Degree Glass Factory, 5200 Delmar Blvd. “Once you raise the awareness, what’s next?” Watkins-Moore said.

“Training.”

Next, BioSTL will host a 10-week boot camp for those who are ready to start creating a business plan. The sessions will feature experts in business strategy and development, legal matters, federal regulations and other areas. At the end of the 10 weeks, participants can

their goals of losing weight and getting healthy. To accomplish this, Ringo held seminars and workshops, and the group

enter their business plans in a competition for seed money to help fund their businesses.

The boot camp will be part of Cortex’s Center for Emerging Technologies Square One (SQ1) program.

SQ1 is an “on-ramp” entrepreneurial training aimed at developing technology and bioscience entrepreneurs. Details on the training are still being finalized, she said.

participated in boot camp classes led by Mitchell. “Encourage yourself every day about what you can do,”

development organization.

“I’ve always loved the startup community,” she said.

“St. Louis is really primed with the excitement in the entrepreneurial community. It really has inspired me. And if I’m not doing it myself, how can I tell someone else to do it?”

n “When you are missing pieces of your community that can be represented, you are missing areas of innovation.”

– Cheryl Watkins-Moore

Currently, Walker-Moore is doing exactly what she’s encouraging other people to do – creating her own startup company.

Moore is the founder and CEO of a young startup, UPstart Innovations, LLC, a medical technology

Pastor Cynthia Ringo and Briant K. Mitchell of BKM Boot Camp flank Jashonda Dupree at Christ Deliverance Ministry’s third annual Mind and Body 5K health and fitness event held recently at Cardinal Ritter High School.

Ringo said. “All things are possible to him that believes.” KSDK NewsChannel 5’s Nichole Berlie hosted a

Charitable Foundation grant.

It’s no secret that the numbers minorities and women in the bioscience field are low, she said.

“You can look at strictly at how many people are graduating out of science programs and staying here,” she said. “Those numbers are dismal.”

As an Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) with the BioSTL, Walker-Moore led and mentored early startup organizations and provided business expertise to founders and/or their management teams in order for them to become successful, viable entities. Watkins-Moore will now be shifting her focus towards the Blackstone

Pushing for more diversity and inclusion in the bioscience industry is a must, she said.

“When you are missing pieces of your community that can be represented, you are missing areas of innovation,” she said. “Ideas and innovation come from various backgrounds.”

That’s why the initiative is also trying to engage children in bioscience early on, as well as talk with high school students about non-traditional careers in bioscience, such as computer programming.

“There is a strong need to

Healthy Living seminar at the Mind and Body event featuring keynote speaker

Dr. Edgar Everett III, a St. Louis-area chiropractor and Logan University graduate. Dr. Everett presented “Creating a Reality of Oneness in the Hearts and Souls of the Black Community.”

The African-American community is full of excuses when it comes to taking care of their health, he said.

“I don’t have the money to buy organic or fresh,” he gave as an example of an excuse. “I don’t have the money to spend for a work out class. I don’t have the money to go see a nutritionist to learn more about my health.”

He asked if others noticed the vast number of dialysis centers popping up each year in urban communities. The audience murmured in agreement.

“Guess where there aren’t dialysis centers?” he said. “West County. They don’t need them.”

Follow this reporter on Twitter: @BridjesONeil.

provide motivated African Americans the opportunity to acquire higher education that will support entrepreneurial outcomes,” said entrepreneur and philanthropist Brenda Newberry.

William Tate, professor and director, Center for the Study of Regional Competiveness in Science and Technology at Washington University, agreed. “Pathways from discovery to biotechnology entrepreneurship are challenging and exciting,” he said. “The opportunity to generate value added in terms of the conception of business ideas is increased by including collaborators with different life experiences.”

To register for the upcoming BioSTL events, visit biostl. org/about/inclusion. For more information, contact Dr. Cheryl Watkins-Moore at cwatkinsmoore@biostl.org or 314-880-8868.

Photo by Tom Paule/Lifetime Media

BARTSCH

Continued from A1 sign up to be taught how to be a leader.

The St. Louis American: In the interview process, what did it seem the board was looking for?

Yemi S. Akande-Bartsch: In my perception, they were looking for a leader who can build on the great foundation Chris Chadwick has built over the past 18 years and take things to the next step.

The American: What is that next step?

Akande-Bartsch: That’s a conversation we will have with the board at large over the next couple of months as we undergo strategic planning.

The American: You’ve been vice president of Leadership and Alumni Programs at FOCUS. What did you do in that role?

Akande-Bartsch: Part of my responsibility is developing programs for our 8,500 alums. That entails helping leaders who have gone through our program further develop their leadership competencies.

Also, I developed a diversity fellows leadership program, working in collaboration with our board to develop best practices in diversity and inclusion. It’s a program that helps leaders understand their region better in terms of diversity and what they can be doing on a personal, professional and community level. In addition, I have served as director of the Coro Women In Leadership program, a leader program for mid- to seniorlevel women executives. Part of my responsibility also was developing customized programming. For the Urban League, we developed a leadership program for their rising leaders, a ninemonth program that concluded at the end of May when they graduated their first cohort.

The American: When and why did you come to St. Louis? Akande-Bartsch: I came in August 2012, so I am coming up on my two-year anniversary. Why St. Louis? First and foremost, the work FOCUS St. Louis is doing in the community and region was of interest to me. I actually visited St. Louis a couple of years before I moved here to conduct best civic leadership interviews. I was surveying all the different civic leadership organizations, and people nationwide kept telling me I needed to talk to Chris Chadwick. It was supposed to be a 15-minute interview with Chris, but it turned into a two-hour meeting. We kept in touch, and when the vice president position came open, a search firm reached out to me.

Also I have siblings here (brother Benjamin Ola Akande, dean of the business school at Webster University, and sister Bola Akande, city administrator for the City of Brentwood). They had been trying to get me here for quite some time, so when the opportunity came up I couldn’t say no.

The American: So you are still basically new to St. Louis. What are your perceptions of St. Louis, compared to Cleveland, where you came from?

Akande-Bartsch: Very much like Cleveland, race seems to be an issue that many struggle with in St. Louis. I would also say that St. Louis is a very small big town; I would venture to say there is one degree of separation here. St. Louis is also very friendly. People opened their doors to me and helped me to understand the blueprint of St. Louis and helped me to navigate the region. That was of tremendous value to me.

I am also intrigued by the talent attraction initiative, which shows a very globally thinking city. The Mosaic Project, led by Betsy Cohen, is trying to increase the number of foreign-born immigrants who relocate to St. Louis. That is very attractive to me.

by

Peace

The American: Aren’t you yourself a foreign-born immigrant who relocated to St. Louis?

Akande-Bartsch: Yes, I am a Nigerian naturalized citizen. My parents came to study the U.S. and started out in Louisville. They believed in the transformative power of education. I lived with them a couple of years in Louisville and then went back to Nigeria, where I went to primary school and high school. When it was time for my college education, I set my sights on the U.S. based on my parents’ experience that it would take me further.

The American: By putting you in the leadership position,

do you see that as FOCUS St. Louis making a commitment to opening St. Louis to immigrants?

Akande-Bartsch: Absolutely. I see Focus St. Louis, and a number of different organizations that we call our friends, as being committed to inclusive excellence.

The American: I have to admit, it seems strange to me that someone would join an organization that teaches them to be leaders. It seems that leaders take the lead, rather than sign up to be taught what to do.

Akande-Bartsch: I disagree. I believe if you have training, your leadership style

might be transformed. You can talk to any of our alums. One comes to mind, the CEO and president for Doorways, Opal Jones. She was transformed as a result of the Coro Women in Leadership program. She said if it wasn’t for that program, she probably wouldn’t have considered applying for that CEO position. We have had alumni go on and start their own non-profits. We have alumni who are now more engaged in their community than ever.

You are looking at leadership competency, but what we do is much more. We help people become better educated about their community and what are the issues that need leadership.

Poverty, homelessness, education, human trafficking –these are all issues that affect the community, and people need to be better informed so they can decide at what point they going to engage with these issues on a personal, professional or community level. It’s not that if you go through our program, you will automatically be named CEO. That’s not the intent. It’s a cumulative education they get, part civic, part leadership. Hence the term “civic leadership.”

For more information, visit www.focus-stl.org or @ FOCUSst on Twitter.

Veronica Woolfolk danced with joy on Saturday during the Amherst Park Peace Festival, sponsored by Gitana Productions. Amherst Park is located near the intersection of Skinker and Page in the Hodiamont neighborhood of North St. Louis.

dancer

Photo

Wiley Price

Metro expands service on Grand Line

15 articulated 45-seat buses went into service this week

By Jason Rosenbaum

Of St. Louis Public Radio

Jordan

The north St. Louis County resident is a regular rider on Metro’s buses. When he rode the Grand Boulevard line, it was filled to the brim.

“I can see that it’s already packed, and the need is already there,” Wilson said.

Wilson’s experience isn’t uncommon. With more than 9,000 passengers riding every day, the Grand Line is often so crowded that people can’t get on when a bus arrives. That’s why Metro purchased 60-foot articulated buses, which should increase capacity by around 25 percent. Seven of the buses started serving the Grand Line on Monday.

“Not only will it be more comfortable for them to ride it, it will offer extra capacity so we can actually attract more people to the system,” said Metro CEO John Nations. “So a lot of people who now do not have the ability to get on it will have the ability to get on it. It’s

another opportunity for them to ride public transit.”

Metro purchased 15 used articulated buses for $6.4 million. Each bus went through a thorough restoration, from the wiring to the engines.

Each articulated bus has 54 seats and more room for standing passengers. Currently, Metro’s largest bus has 40 seats.

“More than anything else, it represents an improvement in the transit product for the people who need it,” said Metro chief operating officer Ray Friem. “People have been telling us we need more service on Grand. We need better service on Grand. And this is our response to that.”

Two of the articulated buses were parked near Midtown for a press conference. After getting a good look at them, St. Louis resident Grover McKinney called the vehicles “unique.”

But McKinney added the new buses did present an obvious question.

“What I’m tripping on is, if they’ve got to make a turn … how they’re going to make

the turn?” said McKinney, a regular rider of the Grand Boulevard Line. “That’s a long fella there, you know what I mean?”

Nations said Metro’s drivers have told him that longer buses are “not difficult to drive.”

“As a matter of fact, they like driving them,” Nations said. “So they can add more capacity, which means more happy passengers. And, at the same time, the way the bus is actually constructed, it turns the corner just like a regular bus would.

“As matter of fact, the drivers were telling me it was neat to be trained in them,” he added. “They’re looking forward to driving them.”

Fifteen articulated buses are expected to be on the Grand route by the end of the year. Wilson hopes that they catch on.

“I wish them good luck. I’d like to see them on other routes too. But then again, we’ll have to see how they do on this route first,” Wilson said. “Because the Grand Line is everything.”

Reprinted with permission from news.stlpublicradio.org.

Metro purchased 15 used articulated buses for the No. 70 Grand Line for $6.4 million. Each bus went through a thorough restoration, from the wiring to the engines.

Photo by Parth Shah | St. Louis Public Radio intern

Joseph Thomas Ozier, Jr.

Joseph Thomas Ozier, Jr., affectionately known as “Chinch”, “Joe”, and “Uncle Jr.”, was born July 24, 1946 to the union of Joseph Thomas and Rachel Lee King Ozier in Charleston, Mississippi.

The family soon relocated to St. Louis, Missouri where he was raised along with seven siblings. He was educated in the St. Louis Public Schools System where he attended Dunbar Elementary and Soldan High School. He furthered his education at St. Louis Community College at Forest Park. He served in the U.S. Army 1964-67 with a tour in Vietnam August 1966 through August 1967.

Chinch was joined in holy matrimony to Arnice “Niecy” Ozier on December 27, 1969 and to this union were born four children. Joe worked in various capacities, for the City of St. Louis, Treasurer’s Office - Parking Division before retiring after 10 years of service. He was employed many fields including mechanic, plumber, carpenter, and electronics technician.

Junior seemed to have a special place in his heart for all children especially his grandchildren. He never complained and will always be remembered, for his contagious smile that always brightened the room even in his last days. There was rejoicing in Heaven and here on Earth May 9, 2014, as he confessed and accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Savior. He made his transition on May 14, 2014 at 6:53 pm. He was preceded in death by his wife of 42 years

(Arnice “Niecy”), parents (Joseph & Rachel); and two sisters (Joyce & Carol). He leaves to cherish his memory: two daughters, Adriene “Angel” Myles-Taylor (Anthony), Kelley Paul of Witchita, KS; three sons, Jahad A. Ozier (Katherine), Kamal “Lil Man” Ozier, Germaine “Busta” Ozier (Titisha); two sisters, Keddist Almaz Sellassie, Nettie Ozier; three brothers, James “Jay” Ozier (Anita); John E. Ozier (Sheilah); William E. Ozier (Tammy); fourteen grandchildren, three great grandsons and many family members and friends.

Earl C. Beeks, Sr.

Earl C. Beeks, Sr., a lifetime educator, passed away on Saturday, May 31, 2014 in St. Louis, MO. Earl C. Beeks was born to Lewis and Virgie Lee Beeks on July 11, 1926 in St. Louis, MO.

Mr. Beeks attended the St. Louis Public Schools. While attending Vashon High School he was very active and excelled in all sports, the concert choir and class plays. Mr. Beeks was a member of the National Honor Society and president of the 1944 graduating class.

Mr. Beeks joined Metropolitan AME Zion Church at the age of seven years old and remained active in the church programs including Sunday School, Junior and Cathedral Choir, Bible School, Christian Endeavor, Steward Board, and served on The Lucas Heights Board of Directors. While attending Lincoln University from 1944 to 1948 he excelled in academics. He also was selected as an All-

Midwest Conference athlete. As a sophomore he was initiated into The Omega Psi Phi Fraternity. After receiving his B.S. degree he entered Washington University in St. Louis, MO and received a Master’s degree.

As an educator, Mr. Beeks’ career began as the principal of Carver Elementary School in Fulton, MO. Later he taught and coached at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, MO, and Vashon High School in St. Louis. Mr. Beeks was the first African America principal of University City High School and later promoted to the position of Director of Student Services until he retired.

Mr. Beeks is survived by Audele Beeks his beloved wife of 66 years of marriage, his daughter Anita Barner, Ph. D., (Dr. Robert) of Los Angeles, CA, Earl, Jr., M.D. (Dr. Esther) of St. Louis, MO, Grandchildren Tasceaie, Ph.D. (Jason, Ph. D.), Alexis (Michael), Michaun, Robert, Jr., Earl III, Victoria and David, Great

grandchildren Sarah and Rio. Linda Marie Elazer-Davis

Linda Marie Elazer-Davis passed away on May 30, 2014 from pneumonia complicated by Parkinson’s disease. Linda was born in St. Louis, MO on August 28, 1952, to Claude Elazer and Willa Mae Elazer. After graduating from Beaumont High School in 1970, she attended Harris-Stowe State College, receiving a Bachelor’s degree in Education. She later earned her Master’s degree from Webster University. Linda was united in Holy Matrimony to Joe Davis and from this union, one daughter, Jocelyn Althia Davis was born. Linda was baptized at an early age. She united with Cote Brilliante Presbyterian Church where she was a member for over 40 years. She served as an Elder, Deacon, Sunday School teacher, a member of the Gospel choir and J.O.Y Club. Her

Linda Elazer-Davis

church family meant the world to her. In addition to the love and attention to family and church, Linda was active in the community serving as a board member at St. Martin’s Child Center and she was an active board member of her Townhouse Association. Linda taught elementary school in New Jersey and also in the St. Louis Public Schools. She retired from the Lindbergh School District after more than 20 years. She was creative and enthusiastic. She had this tremendous passion to teach, mentor, and nurture children. As a result of this enthusiasm, she became one of the first Missouri teachers to have a computer based classroom. She was admired by her co-

workers, staff members, parents and students. Linda had a great inner spirit that affected the way she lived and treated people. She lived her life with loving kindness, strong will, optimism, and determination. Prior to her illness she loved to sing and dance. She was lively and happy. Linda and her daughter, Jocelyn were inseparable and enjoyed doing everything together. She enjoyed traveling the world with her daughter, family and friends. She will forever be a part of our hearts. Linda leaves to mourn, her father, Claude Elazer (Erma), her daughter Jocelyn Davis, her sisters, Althia ReedTweiten and Bonita White, brother Melvin Reed and sisterin-law Sandra Reed. She also leaves a host of nieces and nephews, numerous cousins, together with an assembly of loving relatives, extended family and beloved friends.

Joseph Ozier, Jr.

Earl C. Beeks, Sr.

Slay, demolition and black political solidarity

“What it is, it ain’t” is the foundational philosophy of the Political EYE. Even a press release with the feelgood subject line “Dangerous Buildings to be Torn Down to Make Way for Redevelopment” is suspect to the EYE when it comes from a political source, in this case, the office of Mayor Francis Slay

“The City of St. Louis will begin tearing down 26 vacant, condemned buildings near Ranken Technical College both to reduce crime and to prime the area for redevelopment,” said the mayor’s release. “The City will spend approximately $275,000 of its dedicated demolition budget on the project area. Of the eight contracts that have been awarded to demolish 13 of the buildings so far, 100 percent of them have gone to minority-owned firms.” Wouldn’t you know it, a political tussle ensued on the way to the demolition. Mayor Slay rolled out the good news standing with state Senator Jamilah Nasheed, but without the alderman for the area in the 4th Ward getting the wrecking ball, Ald. Samuel Moore The sun rises and sets, in the eyes of many aldermen, over aldermanic courtesy. It has elements of an expectation for respectful inclusion mixed with the ring needing to be kissed.

memo written by Team Four Architects (and how a PostDispatch report got it confused with other materials submitted for the same massive civic plan) is another story. In a call to the EYE, French focused on the role of Nasheed. He said she and Ald. Jeffrey Boyd are both becoming allpurpose black official allies for the Slay administration. Slay doesn’t have to have a relationship with the black officials who are not compliant with him, French alleged, so long as Slay can get Nasheed or Boyd to do pressers with him.

n “This was blatant

disrespect

and

Francis ‘the North Side Slayer” trying to take credit for doing something in North St. Louis.”

To the people who don’t know what is going on (always a large majority of any viewing public), it looks like the black community is behind the mayor. Slay even has both genders covered in his choice of black surrogates.

– Ald. Samuel Moore

Ald. Antonio French noted what he took to be Moore’s exclusion by Slay in an angry note added above an email forward of the mayor’s press release (being shoveled by Maggie Crane, one of a growing number of former journalists who found more stable employment with the Slay administration). Ald. Sharon Tyus – seldom a colorless quote – was copied on French’s forward, and Tyus raised the Team Four Plan flag in her reply. The Team Four Plan is a symbolic boogeyman for any colonialesque neglect or destruction of North St. Louis. The actual facts of the

“They’re like the new Charles Bryson,” French alleged of Nasheed and Boyd, raising modern St. Louis’ most notorious example of a black official willing to betray the black community for personal political gain. For it was Bryson who accepted Slay’s promotion (sorry if you have heard this one …) to director of public safety so a black guy would be the putative boss who demoted Fire Chief Sherman George Even Anthony Thompson of Kwame Construction, a sometimes business partner with the Slay administration, said at the time – on the record – that Slay promoting Bryson simply to demote Chief George “was like calling out a slave to whip another slave.”

French suggested that the EYE call the allegedly excluded alderman, Moore, and promised to email his cell phone number.

“What it is, it ain’t,” the EYE reflected in the meantime. Maybe it looks like that to French, but maybe it’s really something else. The EYE reflected on previous instances of printing criticism of Nasheed without calling her for a reaction. It’s hard to blame

someone for expecting to get their say in a public forum –no different than an alderman expecting to get the call when good news in his ward is going to be paraded to the public. So the EYE called Nasheed, and Nasheed called right back.

“That’s (expletive),” Nasheed said of French’s account, with the expletive being a dirty word for the excrement of a male of the Bos taurus (cattle) species.

Nasheed said she was not being used by Slay at all. In fact, she said, she and her chief of staff, Eric E. Vickers, first took the demolition idea to Slay. “How can Slay be using me if it was my idea?” Nasheed said. As for Moore, she said, he was asked to participate in the press event, but declined, not wanting to line up beside Slay. What it is, it ain’t, once again, according to Moore. He said Nasheed approached him about the idea months ago and told him to contact someone in the mayor’s office. Moore said he had been tearing down buildings in his ward for years – as many as 500, he claimed – and didn’t want to deal with Slay because “I’m not

interested in being one of the mayor’s boys.”

“Why wouldn’t I want credit for tearing down abandoned buildings in my ward?” Moore said. “I am called the ‘brick alderman’ because I chase down brick thieves. But this was blatant disrespect and Francis ‘the North Side Slayer” trying to take credit for doing something in North St. Louis. What’s all the fuss over 26 buildings coming down?”

Solidarity and the wrecking ball

Nasheed, on the other hand, makes no secret of her reciprocal political support for Slay. Slay shifted some campaign money to Nasheed’s campaign fund when she was momentarily thrown off the ballot for state senator, based on a residency dispute. Nasheed claims that donation kept her campaign alive long enough to get back on the ballot, via a court ruling, and eventually win the race for state Senate. So she feels she owes the mayor political support and

has been paying it back – and intends to get some things done working with him to benefit her constituents in the process.

Boyd has been playing the Slay back-scratch game for much longer than Nasheed, and look where it has got him.

With three citywide elected officials on the August 2014 primary ballot, Boyd took an endorsement from Slay before filing even opened. He took Slay’s endorsement for license collector, the only one of those citywide seats currently being held by an African American, Mavis T. Thompson. She was appointed by Gov. Jay Nixon after Michael McMillan left to office to run the regional Urban League.

French might not have had all of the facts entirely straight concerning Slay, Nasheed and the new demolition project in North St. Louis, but the EYE certainly thinks French has a clear and accurate view of the Slay administration’s demolition plan for AfricanAmerican political solidarity.

Promote a black functionary to demote a black fire chief (a principled and deeply beloved person with a place in the

history of the fire service in this state). Endorse a black man to run against a competent incumbent black woman, when there is a white man and a white woman defending citywide offices on the same primary ballot. Wager a few of your bottomless campaign funds on a dark horse candidate for state Senate – and then strut to the payout window and collect on that winning bet over and over and over again when she actually wins. French said the community plays a role in this game. “This is also a consequence of African Americans not voting in large enough numbers and not donating to political campaigns,” he said. “It makes it easy for some black elected officials to, in their minds, go where the money and votes are. This works to the advantage of a white mayor of a majority-black city who is hugely unpopular among black people. It doesn’t matter how unpopular the mayor is if those black people don’t vote, organize and hold their elected officials accountable.”

www.stlamerican.com

That was then: in 2008, Jamilah Nasheed attacked her primary challenger, Kim Gardner, by claiming Mayor Francis Slay was running Gardner against her. Nasheed and Slay are now close political allies.

Blues donate rink to Mathews-Dickey

Youth from the MathewsDickey Boys’ and Girls’ Club bonded with Louie, the St. Louis Blues mascot, after the Blues and Clayco donated a new street hockey rink to the club on June 4.

Photo by Wiley Price

Clayco contributes materials, manpower to North City street hockey rink

By Nell Whittaker

American

Louis

Of The St.

The “St. Louis Blues 14

Fund Rink of Dreams” was unveiled at the MathewsDickey Boys’ and Girls’ Club in North St. Louis on Wednesday, June 4 thanks to the efforts of the St Louis Blues and Clayco.

Children of all ages sat quietly on the as-yetunscuffed concrete rink, brand new hockey sticks in hand, surrounded by the people who all helped to create this space for them to use all year round.

“It’s a great day for hockey in St. Louis,” said Mike Claiborne, emcee of the event, as he introduced the people who made “my dream a reality.” He grew up only four blocks from the rink’s location, and this was a major factor in his dream of seeing a rink built for the children of the community to use.

“We played on the street, behind service stations, denting all the cars,” he said.

The ceremony was not only an unveiling for the rink, but also the first day of the Mathews-Dickey street hockey program. This will be a two-

week rules-and-skills camp for local children to master the basics of the game. “When we used to come and set up street hockey games for the children of MathewsDickey, the kids would all be saying, ‘Come back soon!’” said Tom Stillman, Blues owner. “Well, now we’re back for good.”

Stillman’s co-owner, David Steward, founder and chairman of World Wide Technology, was represented at the unveiling by Ann Marr, vice president of human resources for WWT.

The St. Louis Blues 14 Fund was established in 1998 to honor player number 14, Doug Wickenheiser, who passed away in 1999 after a long battle with cancer. The fund’s mission is to positively impact programs and services that improve health and wellness of youth in the St. Louis area. Through the fund, the Blues donated hockey sticks, padding, goals and barriers to the rink, as well as a monetary contribution. Clayco donated building materials, tools and manpower to the project.

The Blues have another motive for the establishment of a rink for children, as they

hope to sow the seeds for future sporting success. Far fewer African-American children play hockey than their white counterparts, and with the building of this rink there is the hope that black children will come to love and excel in the game. Perhaps a future St. Louis Blues star sat crosslegged on the concrete at Mathews-Dickey.

“If nothing else, I bet this will lead to some hockey scholarships coming out of North St. Louis,” Claiborne told The American Martin Mathews, cofounder and president of the club, spoke with an American flag button pinned to his lapel.

“If you’re an American, you can witness almost anything,” he said. “I saw the Blues and their president building a rink together, here in North St. Louis. We’re not going to sing the blues, we’re going to dance to the Blues today.”

Nell Whittaker was a spring intern with The St. Louis American from Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. She is traveling in America before starting at the University of Cambridge in the fall.

Mikki Brewster, PECaD community leader and volunteer Mikki Brewster celebrates her birthday this month. It’s a birthday she almost didn’t get to celebrate. Mikki is a breast cancer survivor and community leader working with PECaD to let women know that yearly mammograms are the key to the early detection and treatment of cancer. Read more about Mikki and screening for breast cancer in today’s “From the Doctor” column in the Health Matters section African-American

Pink Pizzazz “The Cotton Club”:

“In Memory of Sandra McDowell”

By Jason Alderman

Financial advice for new fathers

Each year when Father’s Day rolls around, I’m reminded that I wouldn’t trade the experience of raising my two kids for the world. But when I think back to how naïve my wife and I once were about the costs of raising children, I can’t help wishing we’d been better prepared.

If you’re a new dad, or about to become one, you’d better sit down. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a typical middle-income family can expect to spend over $241,000 to raise a newborn child until age 18 – and that doesn’t even include prenatal care or college costs.

Right now, you’re probably more worried about getting enough sleep than funding your retirement. But at some point, you’ll need to plot out a financial roadmap to ensure your family’s future financial security. As one dad to another, here are a few strategies I’ve learned that can help: Start saving ASAP. It’s hard to save for the future when your present expenses are so daunting, but it’s important to start making regular contributions to several savings vehicles, even if only a few dollars at a time:

• Establish an emergency fund with enough cash to cover at least six months of living expenses. Start small by having $25 or $50 a month deducted from your paycheck and automatically deposited into a separate savings account.

McDEW

Continued from B1

Selva told The American. “He is exactly the right leader, at the exactly the right time, to empower the men and women under his command to continue their vital contributions to our nation’s security.”

“Throughout my career I’ve had supervisors who’ve given me the opportunities to grow as a person and a leader,” McDew said. “Gen. Selva is definitely one of those. We share a bond of trust that

• Even if retirement is decades away, the sooner you start saving and compounding your interest, the faster your savings will grow. If your employer offers 401(k) matching contributions, contribute at least enough to take full advantage of the match.

• Once those two accounts are well established, open a 529 Qualified State Tuition Plan to start saving for your children’s education.

If funding these accounts seems impossible, look for a few luxuries you could cut from your budget for six months – lattes, eating out, premium cable, etc. After six months, evaluate whether they

will continue as he moves into his new job, and I move into mine.”

n “Any efforts that support STEM education have huge implications for our collective future. That’s why it requires a commitment from all of us to support young people seeking education.”

– Gen. Darren McDew

Asked about one goal he would like to accomplish within his first three months on the job, McDew didn’t speak of aircraft or flight plans, but people. “Simple: I want every airman in our command to understand how much I believe in them, trust them, and count on them to lead,” McDew said. “Their service is the greatest gift any person can give to their nation. At the same time, that service is not easy. In a time of uncertainty and great challenges for America and our Air Force, we

were actual “needs” or simply “wants” you can live without. Get insured. If your family depends on your income, you must be prepared for life’s unexpected events, whether an accident, illness, unemployment or death. Get adequate coverage for:

• Health insurance. Everyone needs medical insurance, no matter how young or healthy.

• Homeowner/renter’s insurance. Don’t let theft, fire or another catastrophe leave your family without a home or possessions. To reduce premiums, consider choosing a higher deductible.

• Life insurance. You’ll

probably want coverage worth at least five to 10 times your annual pay – more, if you want to cover college costs. And don’t forget to insure your spouse’s life so you’ll be protected as well.

• Disability insurance. Millions of Americans suffer disabilities serious enough to miss work for months or years, yet many forego disability insurance, potentially leaving them without an income after a serious accident or illness. Ask about your employer’s sick leave and short-term disability benefits and if long-term disability is offered, consider buying it.

• Car insurance. Almost every state requires insurance if you own or drive a car, and for good reason: It protects you financially should you cause an accident or be hit by an uninsured driver. Make sure you have sufficient liability coverage to protect your net worth and income – it only takes one serious accident to wipe out your savings.

And finally, spend responsibly. If you buy things you don’t really need or can’t afford, you’ll just end up having to work longer hours to pay for them – time you could have spent watching your kids growing up.

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

U.S. Air Force demographics

• 73 percent white • 14 percent African-Americans

• 3.1percent Asian

• 0.6 percent American Indian or Native Alaskan

• 1.1percent Native Hawaiian / Other Pacific Islander

• 3.3 percent identified more than one race

• 4.7 percent declined to respond

need airmen who are not timid, but who will lead us boldly into the future.”

Air Force Chief of Staff

Gen. Mark Welsch III lauded McDew during the Change of Command ceremony.

“He was the No. 1 squadron commander out of 25 at the wing at Charleston, he was the No. 1 colonel at McChord Air Force Base, and the No. 1 of seven ops group commanders in the numbered Air Force as a group commander,” Welsch

said of McDew.

“Later he was the No. 1 wing commander in 15th Air Force, the No. 1 brigadier general in 18th Air Force – the list just goes on, and on, and on – always No. 1.”

Ron Moore, who directs the Pre-College Initiative for the St. Louis Alumni chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), sees McDew as No. 1 too.

“We actually nominated him for NSBE’s Lifetime

Business Briefs

New collaborative permitting process for regional projects

Area officials announced a collaborative permitting process for area building projects that will leverage new technologies, share common data, and provide single source web access to permitting for the St. Louis development community. The newly expanded Accela solution also will provide operations cost sharing for St. Louis County and the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District (MSD), electronic plan submissions, mobile inspections, citizen web access, and document-tracking and workflow. St. Louis County has utilized the Accela software since 2006 to support its planning, zoning, permitting, inspection and code enforcement processes. Phase I of the new system is expected to be operational by the end of Q1-2015.

Better Family Life to host social media seminar

Better Family Life, Inc. will host an Effective Social Media and Marketing for Small Business and Non-Profits seminar 8:30-11:30 a.m. Thursday, June 19 at the BFL Cultural, Education and Business Center, 5415 Page Blvd. Organizations will learn how to increase their social media presence for greater visibility. Participants will learn about marketing and branding, Linked-In, Facebook and Twitter, and website development skills. The presenter will be Nikki Smith, Founder of ad*do Advertising and Marketing. The seminar fee is $20. For more information or to RSVP, contact Carlton Jones at 314367-3440 or cjones@betterfamilylife.org.

Redevelopment of Old Post Office Square to be completed soon

A partnership among Webster University, Dominium Development and multiple commercial enterprises will complete the final piece of the nearly 20-year redevelopment effort of Old Post Office Square in downtown St. Louis through a $116 million renovation. With its new Gateway Campus, Webster University will serve as the lynchpin in this final Old Post Office Square renovation project. Dominion, a Minneapolis-based developer, will head the effort. It plans to restore the first two floors and the building’s mezzanine into offices, classrooms, a café and an art museum. The structure was designated a city landmark in 1980. The project is slated for completion in 2016.

Achievement in Government Award, which he won and accepted at our national convention in Nashville, Tennessee,” Moore said.

McDew is a member of the St. Louis Alumni chapter of NSBE. He works with the Pre-College Initiative, in which k-12 students are encouraged to attend college and pursue technical degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

“Gen. McDew takes time out of his busy schedule to help develop the next generation of professional engineers,” Moore said, “and that is impressive.”

McDew earned a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering and understands the need for youth to learn about STEM.

“STEM education is incredibly important for America and the world,” McDew said. “In a time when we face incredibly complex

problems, the future of mankind depends on bright, passionate young people who have the education and drive to solve them. Any efforts that support STEM education have huge implications for our collective future. That’s why it requires a commitment from all of us to support young people seeking education.”

Whether in his official role as commander or volunteering with area youth, McDew is dedicated to building confidence in others.

“Throughout my career and life, I have been fortunate to have people who were willing to invest in me,” McDew said. “When I needed stretching, they put me in positions that stretched me. When I faced doubt, they showed me the possibilities for success that lay before me. That continues even until today, and it is a role that I feel obligated to fulfill for others.”

n “I don’t believe in curses. I believe in God.”

– Richard Sherman, when asked about the Madden Curse when selected for the cover of Madden 15

Sports

TRaCk & FIeld noTebook

With Earl Austin Jr.

Austin Achievement Awards

Cardinal Ritter

College Prep

standout Charles Jones is the St. Louis American Co-Male Athlete of the Year for boys track and ield. He shares the award with sprinter Mike Wells of Cleveland Naval Jr. ROTC.

Earl’s best athletes, teams and performances

By Earl Austin Jr.

Of The St. Louis American

As the 2014 track and field season comes to a close, here are the annual 2014 Austin Achievement Awards.

Earl Austin Jr.

By Palmer L. Alexander III

Rebuilding the Faulk legacy

Is Zac Stacy the Rams’ new premier running back?

Around this time last season, the St. Louis Rams’ backfield was in need of Isaiah Pead or Daryl Richardson to fill the void as the premier back when long-tenured running back Steven Jackson left for greener pastures. And with some of the sample doses that we saw of both running backs, in either practice or preseason games, you came away with the feeling that they would do well in carrying the football.

But, that never happened. Richardson was hobbled by an injury, and when he did play it was like watching a person run in a room with the lights off. Pead’s season got off on the wrong foot, or wrong hand. In the preseason opener against the Cleveland Browns, Pead looked spooked, holding the football like it was a lit firecracker.

Oh, no! Here we go again. More problems on top of the problems we already have.

Enter Zac Stacy. The fifth-round pick in last year’s draft snatched the opportunity that was there for the taking. After just getting one carry against the Arizona Cardinals, the Rams turned back to Stacy. And he became the stabilizer for the run-heavy offense the Rams feature now. Week in and week out, Stacy carried the football and the team started to form an identity.

n No question, the job is still Stacy’s, but injuries happen.

Schaefer and Mayweather break from GBP

The New York Knicks’ coaching search is finally over. After getting jilted at the altar by Steve Kerr, Knicks President Phil Jackson dusted off his designer cufflinks and wooed five-time NBA champion Derek Fisher with a five-year, $25 million contract. Fisher will replace Mike Woodson, who was shown this door in April after the Knicks missed the playoffs. Fisher is an interesting choice as the Knicks’ head honcho. His coaching experience is nil. He almost literally stepped off the

Co-Male Athlete of the Year: Charles Jones (Cardinal Ritter) – Jones concluded his stellar career by winning three gold medals at the Class 3 state championships in Jefferson City. He won the 800-meter run for the third court and into a head coaching position. His former team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, was eliminated from the playoffs just 10 days before he was officially named the Knicks’ coach. I’m not even sure if he’s had time to trade in his Nike KD’s for a fresh pair of Salvatore Ferragamos. Regardless, the hire made sense for Jackson. While former Warriors coach and Brooklyn native Mark Jackson might have made perfect sense for the city of New York, Fisher makes more sense for the franchise. Phil Jackson and his 11 championship rings as

year in succession and added the 400-meter title as well in a Class 3 record time of 47.01 seconds. On the final run of his career, C.J. turned in a blistering 46.85 anchor leg to spark the Lions to a victory in the 4x400-meter relay. Jones is headed to Texas Tech.

Co-Male Athlete of the Year: Mike Wells (Cleveland

Naval Jr. ROTC) – The premier sprinter in the St. Louis metro area, Wells finished his career by winning three gold medals at the Class 2 state championships. Wells won the 100-, 200and 400-meter dashes in his final state meet. He finished his career with nine individual state championships. He also led the Commanders to the Class 2A state title in 2012. He is headed to Oklahoma University.

See TRACK, B5

Phil reels in Fish in NYC

Then on a national stage on Monday Night Football against the Seattle Seahawks, Stacy crashed and plowed and made tacklers miss en route to a breakout performance of 26 carries 134 yards – the lone highlight in a frustrating 14-9 loss to the Seahawks. From that point on, Stacy took claim of the position. In just one season, he scored more touchdowns than Pead and Richardson combined. Pead is still here, but for how long? Richardson now is with the New York Jets. And the Rams also have second-year running back Benny Cunningham and rookie Tre Mason.

No question, the job is still Stacy’s, but injuries happen. The Rams have some healthy battles at RB, as we all know. So it

a coach loom large and will cast

n I’m not even sure if Fisher has had time to trade in his Nike KD’s for a fresh pair of Salvatore Ferragamos.

in two of three seasons only to get the ax. Across the East River, Jason Kidd just finished up his rookie season holding the clipboard. He started out rough also after getting catty with and eventually banishing assistant coach Lawrence Frank. Kidd eventually figured it out and led the Nets to the Eastern Conference Semifinals where they ran into the Miami Heat. Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers had several winning seasons as a newbie in Orlando before winning a championship in Boston.

See CLUTCH, B4

Ishmael H. Sistrunk

Photo by Wiley Price

Palmer L. Alexander

Phil Jackson’s looming shadow should provide comfort and security from the bright lights of New York for new coach Derek Fisher.

C

With Mike Claiborne

Cards still have goods to win

NCAA on trial

When the Peter Bourjos and Randal Grichuck deal was made for David Freese, those who charged with being experts decided that Borjous would be the second coming of Jim Edmonds or Willie McGee.

Now is the time to pay attention to the baseball season, as we have now arrived at Flag Day on the calendar. That means teams have dealt with weather, injuries, streaks, slumps and hope, not to mention disappointment. Managers now know who can do what, and general managers now know what to look for to help their teams. Some teams get hot out of the gate and surprise some in doing so. The real surprise is how they fade or put distance on the rest of the teams. Yes, we know the Cubs will fade for sure, as the rebuilding continues, and some will awaken and wonder how they got to the spot they are in. Every team knows who they are and some will try to improve. How that is done will be interesting, as some will try to dump salary, others will add youth and yet others will just be patient and see what happens. The fans, they are all in for winning now, as they buy tickets of the present and not the future. Everyone is now a manager, general manger or owner wannabe. That used to be fun for sports talk radio, only now it exposes how little some know about what it takes to win, who can play, who is hurt, and who can help provided you move someone else. We all think we are a little smarter than the old days of calling sports

CLUTCH

Continued from B3

Back to Fisher. In addition to his five championships as a player, he earned respect and showed tremendous leadership skills as the president of the player’s association during the 2011 lockout. Now Fish hopes those leadership skills learned during the lockout chaos will translate to the bench. That experience may turn out to be his best preparation as he attempts to turn around a team suffering from a chronic case of abysmalitis and recurring disappointment. His thorough understanding of Phil Jackson’s preferred triangle offense is the main reason he was chosen. His hard work and humility is why he will succeed. Fisher won’t turn around the tumultuous Knicks overnight, but with Jackson’s powerful presence behind him, he’ll bury the Knicks’ recent rickety results like a sweet rainbow jumper.

Schaefer and Mayweather split from Golden Boy

Longtime Golden Boy Promotions co-founder and CEO Richard Schaefer recently announced his resignation from the company. While Oscar De La Hoya is the company’s figurehead, Schaefer ran the day-to-day operations for more than a decade. The former Swiss banker was the key figure in promoting the boxing’s two most successful PPV fights: De La Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. (2.5 million

radio open lines and making preposterous trade proposals, only to be met with “thank you for your call” and a roll of the eyes. Now you can tweet your ideas.

That brings us to the St. Louis Cardinals. In the spring, most said they would win the division if they stay healthy.

When the Peter Bourjos and Randal Grichuck deal was made for David Freese those who charged with being experts decided that Borjous would be the second coming of Jim Edmonds or Willie McGee. One has to wonder if those experts ever saw

buys) and Mayweather vs. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (2.2 million buys).

The break up is no surprise in the boxing world, as rumors of a rift between De La Hoya and Schaefer surfaced months ago. Much of the drama is said to be because of De La Hoya’s desire to end the “cold war” between GBP and Top

Bourjos play. If they had, they would have learned that he struggles at the plate. He has shown flashes, but nothing like what we were led to believe. His defense has been more than solid, as he has caught everything in the vicinity. Maybe that is what they meant when it came to the Edmonds comparison.

While they were at it, most tried to bury Jon Jay who has been on two World Series teams. How he was treated by some in the media was just plain wrong, and yet Jay remained a pro – as did Bourjos, though some wanted

Rank Boxing and its CEO Bob Arum. For years the two promotional companies have not played nicely together, preventing some of the most wanted fights, such as Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao.

Though Mayweather is not officially signed to Golden Boy on any sort of long-term deal,

a cat fight. Good for the center fielders to focus on being good teammates. There have been struggles in all areas, and in most cases fixable solutions have been set forth by manager Mike Matheny and his staff. The Cardinals are younger than last season, and there is more responsibility being put on these players to play and, in some cases, lead. Without Carlos Beltran and Chris Carpenter, it is a different team and everyone needs to find their role and then execute. There are some interesting debates on when and where

Schaefer has been the chief promoter of Mayweather’s last several bouts on a perfight basis. Considering that Mayweather is not particularly fond of Arum or De La Hoya, it’s no surprise that he vowed to cease doing business with Golden Boy the moment Schaefer called it quits. While Schaefer has yet to

Oscar Taveras plays. He comes with great promise, but at some point promise has to lead to results provided that opportunity is afforded. The Cardinals should still win this thing, only it will be more challenging than we thought in the spring. There will be more streaks and slumps, along with injuries, but they are deeper than everyone else in the division and they have a wealth of experience in playing down the stretch. If they need something to get them over the hump, they have the means to get it. Enjoy the real season.

The long-awaited trial involving Ed O’Bannon and the NCAA is now under way and, no matter what the outcome may be, the NCAA will never be the same. O’Bannon and other former college athletes sued the NCAA a few years ago claiming they were not compensated from the merchandise and marketing bonanza the NCAA now relishes. The old standard set forth by the NCAA said that the athletes are getting a free education, seeing the world and getting three square meals a day. That almost sounds like what the U.S. Army is offering, with the exception of getting shot at from time to time. O’Bannon is out to prove that nothing was free, as he put in more work playing basketball than he did going to class. Before trial started, the NCAA offered to settle by paying $20-40 million to all of the plaintiffs. After the lawyers, some stood to make a few hundred dollars, while others could make as much as $15,000. Not even close on what they were due, so O’Bannon used his college education. He knew how to say, “Bring it on.” Win or lose, the NCAA will have to change how they do business. Why they did not offer more up front is a mystery that will cost them. Remember Curt Flood and his challenge of Major League Baseball’s reserve clause. Flood lost, but the owners knew something had to be done. Say hello to free agency as we know it today, where players are paid for their services in a more equitable manner. At the end of the day, the NCAA will have a different look and perhaps a different role in college sports. The next hurdle they will have to clear is dealing with the major conferences, as it will not take much now for them to bolt and form their own entity. Yes, the new day for college sports is just around the corner and I cannot wait.

announce any formal future plans, it’s widely expected that he’ll either team up with boxing advisor extraordinaire Al Haymon or jump over to Mayweather Promotions to make it a legitimate promotional outfit. Either way, with boxing’s two biggest power brokers on his side (and stock in Golden Boy), Schaefer will surely land on his feet. Sadly for boxing fans, the split now represents another hurdle to putting the best fighters in the ring together. Sigh.

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

Mike Claiborne

Most tried to bury Jon Jay who has been on two World Series teams. How he was treated by some in the media was just plain wrong, and yet Jay remained a pro – as did Bourjos, though some wanted a cat fight.

Five Hazelwood Central High School track members

– including Alliah McClendon (left) and Ashley Henderson – made the decision to compete at the state championships in Jefferson City on Saturday, May 31 rather than attend their graduation that evening.

Athletes choose state track over graduation ceremony

American staff

Five Hazelwood Central High School track members made the decision to compete at the state championships in Jefferson City on Saturday, May 31 rather than attend their graduation that evening.

“I knew this would be the last opportunity for me to compete at the state level,” McClendon said. “I’ve been training to compete since my sophomore year. I didn’t make the finals in my sophomore year; junior year I didn’t make it to districts. And I knew my team would need the points to place at state.”

McClendon and Henderson made the trek back to St. Louis to celebrate at the Hazelwood West High School graduation at 7 p.m. McClendon said it was a little strange wearing her gold cap and gown amongst the sea of Wildcat red and black, but she says it was worth it.

n “I knew my team would need the points to place at state.”

– Alliah McClendon

“I can say that I graduated and placed at the state championships in the same day,” she said.

McClendon, who competes in the hurdles and is also a member of the Central High

TRACK

Continued from B3 for themselves by winning the Illinois Class 2A state championship for the first time. Cahokia had several talented girls, led by freshman Mariya Hudson, jumper Reynesha Lewis and throw Daisha Townsend.

Female Athlete of the Year: Jasmine Barge (McCluer North) – The junior hurdler was a dominant force in leading the Stars to their first state championship in the school’s history in track. Barge won four gold medals at the Class 4 state championships, including the 100-meter high hurdles and 300-meter low hurdles. She shattered the state record in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of seconds. She also ran legs on the Stars’ statechampion 4x200 and 4x400meter relays.

Boys Team of the Year: Cahokia – The Comanches track dynasty continued as they won their fourth consecutive Illinois Class 2A state championship in Charleston. Cahokia fought off a great challenge from Maple Park Kaneland from Chicago to win their seventh state title.

Sophomore jumper Ja’Mari Ward and senior hurdler

Gary Hickman led a deep and talented Cahokia squad that scored 90 points at the state meet.

Girls Team of the Year:

McCluer North – The Stars wrapped up a tremendous season by winning the Class 4 state championship in Jefferson City. Junior Jasmine Barge was a force of nature in the hurdles, but the Stars also had a core of excellent athletes and some dominant relay teams, which won state titles in the 4x200 and 4x400.

Breakthrough Performance: Cahokia girls – Living in the shadow of its powerhouse boys program, the Comanche girls made a name

Freshman of the Year: Mariya Hudson (Cahokia) –Hudson finished an excellent debut season by winning the state title in the 400-meter dash and leading the Comanches to the IHSA Class 2A state championship. She also earned All-State medals in the 200 and long jump.

First Team Boys

100 – Mike Wells (Cleveland Naval Jr. ROTC)

200 – Mike Wells (Cleveland Naval Jr. ROTC)

400 – Charles Jones (Cardinal Ritter)

800 – Charles Jones (Cardinal Ritter)

1,600 – Patrick Perrier (O’Fallon)

3,200 – Patrick Perrier (O’Fallon)

110-meter high hurdles – Gary Hickman (Cahokia)

300-meter IM hurdles – Craig James (Edwardsville) Shot Put – Martinus Mitchell (Collinsville) Discus – Adam Roth (Northwest) Long Jump – Ja’Mari Ward (Cahokia) Triple Jump – Ja’Mari Ward (Cahokia) High Jump – Bryant Boyd (Kirkwood) Pole Vault – Andrew Scherff (Francis Howell North)

4x100-meter relay –Edwardsville (Craig James, Isaiah Michl, Fontez Davis, Rene’ Perry)

4x200-meter relay – McCluer (Sharvon Gunn, Kevin

softball team, will continue her track career at William Woods University in Fulton, Mo.

The other seniors from Central who competed at the track championships were Marcus Davis, Myles Cameron and Brandon Shunn.

“We know this was a hard decision for our seniors on the track team but I am so impressed with these young adults,” said Bruce Green, Central High principal. “The dedication to their sport shows an admirable level of maturity and selflessness, characteristics of true winners, both on the field and in life.”

The Central girls and boys track teams both placed third overall in the state meet.

Spraggins, Henry Jones, Raequan Stallings).

4x400-meter relay – CBC (Dominic Vaiana, Jerrick Powell, Jerred Pasley, Steven Hickman).

4x800-meter relay –Hazelwood Central (Myles Cameron, Marcus Davis, Thedrick Davis, Brandon Chunn).

First Team Girls

100 – Ashley Henderson (Hazelwood Central)

200 – Ashley Henderson (Hazelwood Central)

400 – Mariya Hudson (Cahokia)

800 – Hannah Long (Eureka)

1,600 – Hannah Long (Eureka)

3,200 – Hannah Long (Eureka)

100-meter high hurdles –Jasmine Barge (McCluer North)

300-meter low hurdles –Jasmine Barge (McCluer North)

Shot Put – Sophie Rivera (Brentwood)

Discus – Cecilya Johnson (Lutheran South)

Long Jump – Traci Mills (Soldan)

Triple Jump – LaJarvia Brown (Alton)

High Jump – Kelsey Shannon (Belleville East)

Pole Vault – Emily Peston (St. Clair)

4x100-meter relay – McCluer

South-Berkeley (Octavia Cato, Raheema Westfall, Raven Fletcher, Kamira Franklin).

4x200-meter relay – McCluer

North (Michaela Austell, Kiana Harvey, Rachel Culberson, Jasmine Barge).

4x400-meter relay – McCluer North (Sydney Rodgers, Jasmine Barge, Miche-Ala Woods, Rachel Culberson).

4x800 – Eureka (Eilish Overby, Hannah Long, Faith Reynolds, Andra Staicu).

Bowler signs with Mo Bap

na¬ment in 2013, at which time he was ranked sixth in the state. The prior year, he was on Pattonville’s bowling team that placed 17th in the state competition.

Second Team Boys

100 – John Moten (John Burroughs)

200- Cortez Bolin (Gateway)

400 – Marcus Davis (Hazelwood Central)

800 – Dylan Quisenberry (Lafayette)

1,600 – Dylan Quisenberry (Lafayette)

3,200 – Michael Karls (Festus)

110-meter high hurdles – Craig James (Edwardsville)

300-meter IM hurdles – Gary Hickman (Cahokia)

Shot Put – Khalen Saunders (Parkway Central) Discus – Tom Malloy (Duchesne)

Long Jump – Tre Curry (Francis Howell Central)

Triple Jump – Jalen Monigan (Cahokia)

High Jump – Luke Joslin (St. Charles)

Pole Vault – Gianni Cook (University City)

4x100-meter relay – Eureka 4x200-meter relay –Edwardsville

4x400 – East St. Louis

4x800 – Lafayette

Second Team Girls

100 – Kamira Franklin (McCluer South-Berkeley)

200 – Lydia Harold (McCluer)

400 – Maya Cody – (Lutheran South)

800 – Kate White (Ladue)

1,600 – Courtney Rogers (Lutheran-St. Charles)

3,200 – Kristen Adams (Francis Howell)

100-meter high hurdles –Jasmine Berry (Belleville West)

300-meter low hurdles –Jasmine Berry (Belleville West)

Shot Put – Aaliyah Covington (Edwardsville) Discus – Jordan McClendon (John Burroughs)

Long Jump – LaJarvia Brown (Alton) Triple Jump – Kayla Marshall (Collinsville)

High Jump – Jordan Small (Visitation)

Pole Vault – Claire Buck (Triad)

4x100-meter relay –Hazelwood Central

4x200-meter relay –Hazelwood Central

4x400-meter relay – McCluer South-Berkeley 4x800-meter relay – O’Fallon

Taylor Anderson-Sneed signed to bowl for Missouri Baptist University. He was a member of Pattonville High School’s bowling team and qualiied for the state tour-

Emerson awards 2014 Gold Star Grants

Lexington Elementary in SLPS awarded funds for physical activity project

American staff

Emerson gave 2014 Gold Star Grants to teachers from Marian Middle School, LaVerna Evans Elementary School, Lexington Elementary School, Koch Elementary School and Rosati-Kain High School.

The grants, which are awarded annually through a competitive application process open to past recipients of the Emerson Excellence in Teaching Award, will support a range of projects that would otherwise not have been funded.

“These dedicated teachers demonstrated how their projects in the classroom will reflect the pillars of the Emerson brand – technology, innovation and leadership,” said Patrick J. Sly, executive vice president for Emerson.

Heather Olson, a teacher

ROME

Continued from B1

changes. It means you were founded to educate primarily African Americans. It has nothing to do with your current numbers. We have maintained many of our traditions and much of our culture that derives from being primarily African-American, yet we have new traditions, new cultures, that have developed.

The American: What are some perceptions you need to defeat with this rebranding?

Rome: It depends on who you talk to, but some people look at the HBCU designation as positive and others don’t. It’s important to embrace our rich history and past, and also

at Marian Middle School in St. Louis, is the recipient of a $2,500 grant, which will fund the “Understanding Physical Disabilities” project. Olson plans to educate students about physical disabilities through a hands-on program. Students will build a wheelchair ramp using the Pythagorean Theorem and will meet individuals with physical disabilities to better understand their needs.

Marian Middle School will invite professionals who work with people with physical disabilities to speak with students. Marian Middle School will also receive $2,500 from Emerson.

Debbie Hargrove, a 4th grade teacher at LaVerna Evans Elementary School in O’Fallon, Ill., is the recipient of a $2,500 grant to fund the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Museum project. The grant will be

to explore new possibilities and opportunities. The two are not mutually exclusive. It’s time to rebrand and focus on our positive aspects and outstanding programs: our nursing program, agricultural program, business program, criminal justice program. We need to emphasize programs that are really, really good and make those our signature programs.

I have heard people make the comment, in the short time I have been there, that Lincoln is a party school. I attended the University of Georgia (MA, 1991) and University of Texas (Ph.D., 2001), and I expect the University of Missouri is the same, and I find much more of a party and social atmosphere at larger research institutions than at Lincoln.

The American: When and

used to bring the Mobile Ed Productions STEM Museum to LaVerna Evans Elementary to help diversify classroom instruction by engaging students with interactive activities such as building an arch, printing 3D models, utilizing pulleys, programming robots, and building structures. LaVerna Evans Elementary will also receive $2,500 from Emerson.

Russell Arms and his fellow

Photo: Emerson

Emerson

Executive Vice

President Patrick J. Sly (fourth from left) celebrates with Robin Ward, Marsha SmithAtkins, Russell Arms, Myra Pendleton and Timberly Walton.

teachers Timberly Walton, Marsha Smith-Atkins and Robin Ward at Lexington Elementary School in St. Louis will receive a $10,000 grant to fund the “Snapshot of the Day” project. To encourage physical activity and healthy eating habits, 5th grade students will receive iPads that contain a specially designed application connected to the school’s lunch and dinner program. Students will learn to monitor

n “Diversity brings rich experiences for students preparing for the marketplace with workplace diversity and the ability navigate to deal with diversity.”

– Kevin D. Rome, Sr.

from where did you come to Lincoln?

Rome: I started June 1, 2013. I came from North Carolina Central in Durham, and prior to that I was at Morehouse College in Atlanta.

The American: Compare and contrast those schools to Lincoln.

Rome: North Carolina Central had 8,500 students, compared to Lincoln with

3,000 students, so it is a much larger student population. Morehouse was largely African-American with a very small presence of nonAfrican Americans, so it’s a different culture when you have the diversity we have. It brings some rich experiences for students as young people preparing for the marketplace with workplace diversity and the ability to navigate and deal with diversity.

The American: What is

and improve their nutrition and physical fitness, set and track individual nutrition goals and increase their physical activity to at least 60 minutes a day. Lexington Elementary will also receive a $5,000 grant from Emerson. Fifth grade instructor Rachelle Wilson and team member Holly Redman at Koch Elementary School in St. Louis will receive a $10,000 grant to fund a capstone program through Junior Achievement called JA Biztown. The program is designed to introduce students to basic business practices, entrepreneurship and financial literacy. The grant will allow for the purchase of Kindle Fire HD Tablets, which students will use to communicate with business partners, create financial planning, research products and establish bank accounts for payroll, inventory

the effect of being in the state capital?

Rome: If legislators read the local papers, they hear more about Lincoln than other state institutions. Sometimes, because we’re there, probably we’re taken for granted more than other institutions. Legislators probably go to their home districts for the purpose of visiting a university. When we’re so close, they’re probably less likely to take a day and go visit. We need to do a better job of getting legislators to campus.

The American: How has your family adjusted to the move?

Rome: My family loves it. My wife (Stephanie Baker Rome) works at the University of Missouri in urban education.

and business planning.

Koch Elementary will also receive a $5,000 grant from Emerson.

Lauren Lester and Karen Daues, physics and chemistry teachers at Rosati-Kain High School in St. Louis, will receive a $10,000 Gold Star grant to develop the Science and Technology interpreted through Engineering and the Arts (STEAM) initiative. STEAM, which takes a look at the traditional STEM elements while incorporating fine arts, will allow RosatiKain to diversify students’ learning experiences. The grant will help fund field trips and research opportunities such as a Six Flags Physics Day, where students will study amusement park rides in motion and the use of accelerometers.

Rosati-Kain will also receive a $5,000 grant from Emerson.

The American: Why did your family move from Chicago if you were in North Carolina?

Rome: My wife got a job at the University of Chicago, so I was hoping to move to the Midwest to support her and be closer to my family. I didn’t have any idea we would end up in Missouri, when this opportunity came along. So they came to me in Missouri instead of me going to them in Chicago. God had a different plan than I had, and His plan was better.

Our kids (twin boys, Kevin Rome Jr. and Kendel Rome, age 9) attend St. Peter Catholic School. My family moved to Jefferson City from Chicago, Hyde Park, so they appreciate the smallness of Jefferson City.

Welcome to ‘Suite STL’

New American columnist to provide content exploring city’s tastemaker scene

By Kenya Vaughn

Of The St. Louis American

“My vision is to showcase that St. Louis has a lot going on and plenty of interesting people doing great things,” said Jami Ballentine Dolby, creator of The STL Suite. “The plan is to give all readers unrestricted insight into that world.”

The column and social media platform will launch via The St. Louis American on July 3 as a new

‘Hat’

element of the paper’s social scene coverage.

“I really love engaging people –it’s probably because I’m so nosy,” Dolby said with a laugh. “But seriously, I am truly interested in introducing people, places and things and sharing what everyone is doing.”

Dolby also has a serious passion for St. Louis – where she was born and raised.

She is eager to show residents, particularly the young professional

natives who tend to complain that the city is one-dimensional, why they should feel the same way that she does.

“When we moved back, the first thing people asked me was, ‘Why?’

luncheon raises $346K for park

Whimsical is the theme for 23rd annual Forest Park Forever fundraiser

By Gentry W. Trotter

For The St. Louis American

Many in the African-American community turned out to support Forest Park Forever’s Hiram W. Leffingwell Award Luncheon, better known as the “Hat” Luncheon, on June 5.

“Forest Park is a St. Louis jewel,” said Susan Buford, who co-chaired the 23rd annual luncheon. “This helps to maintain the park, which belongs to all of us throughout St. Louis.” The luncheon draws about 1,000 guests, mostly women. However, businessman David Mason annually purchases a table for brave men who attend wearing various forms of baseball caps. This year, the event raised $346,000 for park maintenance and education.

One of the luncheon’s founding committee members, Mary Polk, was thrilled that a third generation of supporters are ensuring that the fundraiser continues. She pointed to elder Jean Gore’s appearance, as she arrived in a wheel chair. Jean’s daughter, Jeanne Gore Roberts, is

a member, and Jeanne’s daughter, attorney Jeanne Roberts Johnson, rolled into this year’s fundraiser with much enthusiasm and two friends in tow.

This year, many young civic and corporate sets decided to go with whimsical hats – 250th city celebration cakes, flowered bike helmets and food topped with Tums.

This year’s winner for “The Best Show” was a youthful Sydney Cross, and KMOV’s Jasmine Huda was emcee.

“The 2014 Leffingwell Award ‘Hat’ Luncheon was a fantastic success,” said Forest Park Forever Executive Director Lesley Hoffarth.

“This event reminds us that Forest Park is a community treasure beloved and supported by so many.”

“When Tony got out of the hospital after getting his leg amputated,” Denise Thimes said of Tony Simmons, “he had a gig the next day.”

Local music scene loses gifted accompanist and musician and dear friend

By Kenya Vaughn Of

The St. Louis American

“I always told people he was my musical husband,” singer Denise Thimes said of Tony Simmons. “We had been working together for 30 years.”

Sadly, Thimes became a musical widow this weekend when her friend and beloved pianist passed away this weekend from a heart attack at the age of 50.

A native of Kansas City, Simmons began his professional career in St. Louis when late local legend Mae Wheeler recruited him as her pianist from the Missouri School of the Blind. He was just 17 years old. Although he was blind since the age of 7, it was Simmons’ ability on the keys – not his lack of sight – that made him stand out.

“Tony’s disability was never a handicap,” Thimes said. He would become known for his signature piano riffs.

One night with her in Santa Monica, long ago

By K. Curtis Lyle

Photo by Lawrence Bryant

Above right: Sydney Cross won “Best Show”

Above left: James Buford, luncheon co-chair Susan Buford and Minga Furr Photos by Gentry Trotter

Above: KMOV Channel 4’s news anchor Jasmine Huda served as emcee

Left: Barbara Pozzi, Gayles Jones and Jeanne Roberts Johnson

How to place a calendar listing

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

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

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

concerts

Sun., June 15, 7 p.m., Father’s Day Explosion starring The Whispers, Stephanie Mills, The Stylistics, Regina Belle and more. Chaifetz Arena. For more information, visit www. ticketmaster.com.

Tues., June 17, 7:30 p.m., Notes From Home presents The St. Louis Big Band Swing, Foxtrot, & Waltz: A Concert of Swing Era Dance Music. Join the 18-piece St. Louis Big Band for a night of music illed with the melodies of the swing era. Vocalists Joe Scalzitti, Courtney Loveless and Rachel Bisch will be featured as well as clarinetist Heather Decker. The Sheldon, 3648 Washington Blvd., 63108. For more information, visit www.metrotix.com.

Wed., June 18, 8 p.m., The Pageant presents Lauryn Hill. 6161 Delmar Blvd., 63112. For more information, call (314) 726-6161 or visit www. stubhub.com.

Fri., June 20, 8 p.m., The Fox Theater presents The O’Jays and Chaka Khan. 527 N. Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, visit www.metrotix.com.

Sat., June 21, 6 p.m., Hot 104.1 FM presents Super Jam 2014 starring K. Michelle, Juicy J., August Alsina and more. Scottrade Center. For more information, visit www.ticketmaster.com.

Sat., June 28, 1 p.m., Plush St. Louis presents SLUMFEST 2014. The St. Louis Underground music festival returns for its 5th year as the biggest Hip Hop Festival in the Midwest that showcases all four elements of Hip Hop under one roof. 3224 Locust St., Ste 101, 63103. For more information, visit www. slumfest.com.

local gigs

Sat., June 14, 10:30 p.m., Beale on Broadway presents Carl Weathersby. Vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist Carl Weathersby is a soul-blues crooner in the classic Chicago tradition. 701 S. Broadway, 63102. For more information, call (314) 621-7880.

Mon., June 23, 7 p.m., Pop’s Nightclub presents Dizzy Wright. 401 Monsanto Ave., East St. Louis, IL., 62201. For more information, call (618) 274-6720 or visit www. stubhub.com.

Fri., June 27, 9 p.m., The Rustic Goat presents Andre Delano. Andre Delano has demonstrated his amazing ability to woo a crowd with his saxophone time and time again. His live performances are energetic and dynamic with an incredible sensual undertone that is quite surreal. 2617 Washington Ave., 63103. For more information, visit www. metrotix.com.

Sat., June 28, 1 p.m., Plush St. Louis presents SLUMFEST 2014. The St. Louis Underground music festival returns for it’s 5th year as the biggest Hip Hop Festival in the Midwest that showcases all four elements of Hip Hop under one roof. This event will consist of: over 60 Local and Out of State Hip Hop artists/group performances, over 20 of the area’s hottest DJ’s, and B-Boy/B-Girl Dance competition for a cash prize. The event will also include a Producer beat battle, Emcee Freestlye Battle, and live displays from Grafiti Artists. 3224 Locust St., Ste 101, 63103. For more information, visit www.slumfest.com.

Sun., June 29, 6 p.m., Carondelet Park hosts The Carondelet Summer Concert Series. Admission is free for all. Bring your chairs, blankets, and friends. The Carondelet Summer Concert Series has

Calendar

more than 25 concerts this year in Carondelet’s most beautiful parks. 3700 Holly Hills Blvd., 63116. For more information, call (314) 752-6339 or visit CarondeletEvents.com.

Sun., June 29, 6 p.m., Donny Hathaway Tribute starring Chuck Flowers, The Rustic Goat, 2617 Washington.

special events

Thurs., June 12, 7 p.m., The Safe Connections Young Professionals host Love. For Friends. For Family. For a Cause. The Safe Connections Young Professionals are hosting a swanky summer night out to enjoy some live music and celebrate having healthy relationships with all those we love. The event will feature delicious hors d’oeuvres and an open bar, a local band and exciting silent auction. The event will be held at Olivia’s on The Hill, 4915 Daggett Ave., 63110. For more information, visit safeconnections.org.

Sat., June 14, 9 a.m., Gateway Arch Grounds hosts Get Outdoors at the Gateway Arch. Jefferson National Expansion Memorial will celebrate National Get Outdoors Day. The day’s free, family friendly activities include a kids’ walk, rock climbing wall, fitness sessions, live music, amateur radio demonstrations, pioneer activities, geocaching, orienteering, a bicycle safety town, solar-powered

s’mores cooking, Bobber the Dog, and much more. 200 Washington Ave., 63102. For more information, visit www. gatewayarch.com.

Sat., June 14, 6:30 p.m., The NBMBAA-St. Louis Chapter will host its first trivia night-80’s style!!! “How Far Back Do You Go?” All proceeds with benefit their Leaders of Tomorrow program. The Heights, 8001 Dale Ave St. Louis, MO 63117. For more information, contact Dana Townsend or Carrie Sanders trivianight@stlblackmba.org (636)230-2404.

Sun., June 15, 7:30 a.m., Kirkwood YMCA hosts GO! St. Louis All-American 5K & Fun Run. A father’s day tradition, the popular All-American 5K & Fun Run attracts more than 3,000 participants, and is open to participants of all ages and itness levels. The race starts in Kirkwood and inishes in downtown Webster Groves. The course is primarily downhill, so it’s billed as St. Louis Fastest 5K. Participants receive a t-shirt, inisher medals and lots of post-race treats. Finish in the top three in your age group and receive a McArthur’s apple pie. 325 N. Taylor Ave., 63122. For more information, visit gostlouis.org.

Sat., June 14, 6:30 p.m., Mixxer Exchange presents Dirty Makeup 2014. Fusing fashion, style, hair and makeup. The premise of the networking event is to showcase St Louis very own talented artists. The event boasts demonstrations by celebrity artists and local

Father’s Day Explosion starring The Whispers (left), Stephanie Mills, The Stylistics, Regina Belle and more. See CONCERTS for details.

vendors to include independent makeup artists, fashion designers and hairstylists. There will be body painting, live models and a host of other special activities including a VIP Meet & Greet with St. Louis’ own Shan Keith of Project Runway: Under the Gunn. Regional Arts Commission, 6128 Delmar Blvd., 63112. For more information, call (314) 8635811 or (504) 606-3447.

Fri., June 19, 7 p.m., 14th Street Artist Community Center hosts Curl Friend Fridays - Youth Poetry Slam. Curl Friend Friday is a monthly event to celebrate natural hair. During this event you can ask questions, participate in open discussion, and hear from natural stylist around the area. You do not have to be natural to attend. This month Curl friends will host a Youth Poetry Slam to celebrate and honor the youth in our lives and community. Come shop, eat, drink, and be entertained while enjoying this laid back night of the artwork, poetry, music, great items from local vendors, and more. Youth welcome to enter the Poetry Slam event ages 1320. Three categories include Jr. High, High School & College. 2701 14th St., 63106. For more information, email curlfriendfridays@gmail.com.

Fri., Feb. 20, 1:15 p.m., Gateway Connection Orientation, an orientation to the St. Louis Region for people of color to Introduce people of color who have recently relocated to the St. Louis region; offer a sampling

of the area’s major cultural, entertainment and recreational opportunities and venues; Encourage the participants to become involved in community activities and civic groups; Create a shared experience for the participants and allow the participants to meet and network with other professionals of color. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri, 501 N. Grand Blvd #100, St. Louis, MO 63103. For more information call 314.444.1121.

Fri., June 20, 5:30 p.m., The Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis and the Urban League Guild present 2014 Salute to Women in Leadership Gala. Renaissance St. Louis Grand Hotel, 800 Washington Ave., 63101. For more information, call (314) 615-3668 or visit www.ulstl.org.

Fri., June 20, 7 p.m., Wells Fargo Advisors presents A Zoo Ado. Creative casual party beneits the Saint Louis Zoo. Evening includes dinner, dancing, silent auction, and more. Ages 21 and up only. 1 Government Dr., 63110. For more information, visit www. stlzoo.org.

Sat., June 21, 10 a.m., Knights of Columbus Park hosts Fiesta in Florissant. Latin festival with Quincenara Fashion Show, petting zoo and pony rides along with childrens pavilion. Lots of Latin foods, drinks and crafts. Giveaways from the stage and dj music. Main Street Florissant, MO 63032.

Mon., Jun. 23, 11 a.m., Project COPE will hold its 10th annual Golf Tournament at the Norman K. Probstein Golf Course in Forest Park. Foursomes are invited to sign up for the event, which will beneit COPE, a 28-year-old re-entry program in north St. Louis City that helps newly released ex-offenders make productive new lives. Jim Holtgrieve, who was Captain of the United States Walker Cup teams in 2011 and 2013 will serve as honorary chairman. To sign up for the Golf Tournament or to get more information, please contact the Project COPE ofice at 389-4804.

Tues., June 24, 10 a.m., Diverse Military presents St. Louis Veteran Community Expo. This event is to promote employment opportunities, continued education and other vital resources to our veteran

community. Doubletree Hotel, 1973 Craigshire Rd., 63141. June 28 – 29, Soldiers Memorial Park hosts PrideFest. 1315 Market St., 63103. For more information, visit pridestl.org.

comedy

Sat., July 5, 7 p.m., Humor for Hire presents The Clean Comedy Series: Family Funny hosted by DeAndre Whitner. A clean comedy show for all ages to enjoy at the Kranzberg Arts Center in the heart of the Grand Center Arts and Entertainment District. 501 N. Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, visit www.deandrewhitner.com or call 314.329.1503.

Aug. 9, 6 p.m. & 8 p.m., The Four Seasons welcomes Bill Cosby. For more information, visit www.ticketmaster.com

literary

Mon., June 23, 7 p.m., Left Bank Books hosts author Michael Kahn, author of Face Value. 399 N. Euclid Ave., 63108. For more information, call (314) 367-6731.

Wed., June 25, 7 p.m., St. Louis County Library hosts author Randy Lewis, author of No Greatness without Goodness. Former Walgreens Senior Vice President Randy Lewis bet his career that he could create an inclusive workplace at one of America’s biggest corporations where people with disabilities could not just succeed, but thrive. His book is the powerful story of a corporate executive who realized that we all have a greater responsibility to make the world a better place for everyone, including those with disabilities. Library Headquarters, 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd., 63131. For more information, call (314) 994-3300.

theatre

Mon., June 16, 7 p.m., New Line Theatre hosts Auditions for Bonnie & Clyde and Jerry Springer the Opera. Open auditions for the regional premiere of Bonnie & Clyde, running October 2-25, and Jerry Springer The Opera, running March 5-28. Performers need to come to only one of the dates. No appointments are necessary; but actors should arrive before 7:00 to sign in. New Line is a non-union professional theatre

company and is always very eager to ind multi-racial casts. Washington University South Campus Theatre, 6501 Clayton Rd., 63105. For more details, and for character breakdowns and vocal ranges, call (314) 773-6526 or visit www. newlinetheatre.com/auditions. html.

Through June 21, 1 p.m., Opera Theatre of Saint Louis presents The Elixir of Love. This light-hearted comic gem is illed with magical delights. Nemorino (sung by René Barbera, winner of Plácido Domingo’s Operalia world opera competition) is desperate to win the love of Adina — and thinks that a “love potion” from a traveling salesman can help. He’s prepared to wait for its magic to kick in, until he discovers Adina has suddenly become engaged to his rival. 130 Edgar Rd., 63119. For more information, visit www. ExperienceOpera.org.

Through Sat., June 28, 8 p.m., Opera Theatre of Saint Louis presents The Magic Flute. Mozart’s most enchanting masterpiece returns in an all-new production, directed and designed by fashion icon Isaac Mizrahi. In this fantastic fairy tale, a prince goes on a quest to rescue a beautiful princess. His companion, a bird catcher, hopes to snare true love. 130 Edgar Rd., 63119. For more information, visit www. ExperienceOpera.org.

Through Sat., June 21, 8 p.m., Opera Theatre of Saint Louis presents The Magic Flute. Mozart’s most enchanting masterpiece returns in an all-new production, directed and designed by fashion icon Isaac Mizrahi. In this fantastic fairy tale, a prince goes on a quest to rescue a beautiful princess. His companion, a bird catcher, hopes to snare true love. But in the end, it’s revealed that no one’s magic is ever quite as it seems. 130 Edgar Rd., 63119. For more information, visit www.ExperienceOpera.org.

June 25-July 1, The Muny at Forest Park presents Tarzan. One Theatre Dr., 63112.

Sat., June 28, 12 noon, The St. Louis Black Repertory Company annual open auditions. The Black Rep’s new rehearsal space, 6662 Olive St, Saint Louis, MO 63130. These auditions constitute The Black Rep’s Equity Principal Auditions for the 2014-15 season. The Equity hour is from 12PM –1PM. For information visit http://www.theblackrep.org

arts

Fri., June 28, 6 p.m., Open Studios STL Kick-off Party

More than 150 artist studios and art spaces open to the public over the course of one weekend. Explore on your own, take guided tours, enjoy special events, and get to know St. Louis’s artists. Enjoy refreshments, chat with the artists, and plan your weekend itinerary. A printed map will also be available at CAM. To view the complete list of participating artist, a searchable map, and more information, visit openstudiosstl.org.

Through July 27, Urban Wanderers: A Partnership with Stray Rescue of St. Louis. Urban Wanderers is a heartwarming art exhibition featuring professional works of art inspired by Stray Rescue’s companion animals. Artists will paint, photograph and sculpt a Stray Rescue dog or cat that has been abandoned, abused or neglected. Stray Rescue shelter dogs will create works of “arf,” using their paws, tails and noses. All artwork will be available for purchase via an online auction. Proceeds directly benefit Stray Rescue of St. Louis. A reception to kickoff the exhibition will be held on June 6, at 5 p.m. St. Louis University Museum of Art, 3663 Lindell Blvd., 63108. For more information, call (314) 977-2666 or visit www.strayrescue.org/ urbanwanderers2014.

The Pageant presents Ms. Lauryn Hill. For more information, see CONCERTS.

lectures

Fri., June 13, 9 a.m., Fair Housing Seminar: HUD Equal Access Rule and the LGBT Community. Join us for a daylong discussion on housing discrimination in the LGBT community and ways to state and federal law to increase access to fair housing for LGBT people and families. St. Louis County Council Chambers, 41 S. Central Ave., 63105.

Tues., June 17, 7 p.m.,

The Missouri History Museum hosts Green Jobs, Green Justice and Building Capacity in Urban Communities. Saint Louis University urban planning professor, Sarah Coffin, explores how urban planning and policy researchers uncover the barriers to green economic development and identify the missing community capacity elements that can help promote green jobs and green justice. 5700 Lindell Blvd. Forest Park, 63112. For more information, visit www. academyofsciencestl.org.

Sat., June 21 & 28, 9 a.m., Meramec College hosts Starting and Managing a Small Business. Are you thinking about starting and managing a small business in Missouri? Designed for individuals who are considering starting a business, have made the decision to start or who have been in business for less than two years, this program will discuss: The basics of business ownership, planning for success, organizational forms of

business, legal and regulatory environment, recordkeeping and information management, marketing, financing and resources. Program is offered in collaboration with the Small Business and Technology Development Center. 11333 Big Bend Rd., 63122. For more information, visit www. missouribusiness.net/calendar.

Sat., June 21, 9 a.m., Woman’s Place will offer a free workshop on HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS, All women are welcome. Explore the dynamics of healthy relationships, differences in healthy and unhealthy behaviors, and add to your basic communication tools. 8300 Morganford Rd. Preregistration is required. Call 314-645-4848 by June 18 to reserve your place. Visit www.womansplacestl.org for more information.

Tues., June 24, 10 a.m., Centene Center for the Arts and Education hosts The Medinah Workshops. The Medinah Workshops are sessions of poetry, iction, playwriting, and creative noniction workshops and tutorials for high school students. The workshops start on Tuesday, June 24, and run twice a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 10:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m., through July 17. Held at the Centene Center for the Arts and Education in St. Louis’s Grand Center neighborhood, the workshops will be led by River Styx editors. 3547 Olive St., Ste 150, 63103. For more information, visit http:// riverstyx.org/events/Medinah. php.

health

Sat., June 14, 6:30 a.m., Downtown St. Louis hosts Susan G. Komen St. Louis Race for the Cure. Help save lives and end breast cancer. The Komen Race for the Cure Series is the largest series of 5K runs/itness walks in the world. The Susan G. Komen St. Louis Race for the Cure® raises funds for the local ight against breast cancer, celebrates breast cancer survivors, and honors those who have lost their battle with the disease. Market St. and S. Tucker Blvd., 63190. For more information, visit www. komenstlouis.org.

Sat., June 14, 11 a.m., American Red Cross Blood Drive. The American Red Cross in collaboration Congressman Lacy Clay are hosting a blood drive. Blood is always in demand and just 3 pints can save a life. St.

Louis Job Corps Center, 4333 Goodfellow Blvd., 63120.

Sat., June 21, 8 a.m., Delta Dental Health Theatre hosts Plaquey Wacky 5K race. The fundraising event will feature a 5k race, along with a “tooth wizard” family 1 mile run/ walk race and a toddler dash. After the race there will be educational activities regarding health. There will also be bounce houses and music. The event will be held at Wilmore Park Hampton Ave., 63109. For more information, visit http://www.leetfeetstlouis. com/racing/highlighted-races/ plaquey-wacky-5k.

Sat., June 28, 12 p.m., Regional Arts Commission hosts Get Fit 4 Autism: Raising Awareness Through Art & Fitness. The event will feature: Belly Dance, AfroFusion, Salsa & Zumba to a live Afro-Latin band, Silent auction of work by artists on the autistic spectrum, A Get Fit Bar with healthy, but tasty treats, food, giveaways and more. A portion of the proceeds will beneit The Turner Center for the Arts, a non-proit art studio that strives to foster the personal growth of artists with disabilities through creative self-expression. 6128 Delmar Blvd., 63112. For more information, visit GLoveBoxX. com.

Saturday, June 21, 2014 at 2:15 p.m., True Light Missionary Baptist Church Black History Program, “A Taste of Blackness” in Clopton Hall after the Fabulous Fashion & Program.2838 James “Cool Papa” Bell Ave., For more information, call the Church Office at (314) 5311801.

Sun. June 23, 3:00 p.m. St. Matthew C.M.E. Church Women’s Day. “Women Worshiping in Spirit and in Truth” Anointed Guest Messenger Rev. Mary S. Thomas, Pastor of Crossroads Outreach Christian Ministries. 312 Attucks, Kirkwood, MO. For more information call (314) 965-7144.

Sun., June 29, 3 p.m., The Joys of Glory Gospel Singers present Major Day –Childhood Hunger Service Special guests include Ivy Airs, Jordan Airs, Dello Thedford and Gospel Symphonic Choir, and more. Solomon Temple M.B. Church, 4859 St. Louis Ave., 63115. For more information, call (314) 3551528 or (314) 533-8705.

‘Feels Good’

SIMMONS

Continued from C1

“I’m gonna miss that sound,” said Thimes. “Tony had a sound that no one else could place on your song. He came from gospel, but he had the jazz, the blues and R&B and all of that rolled into one.”

Although his role was to accompany others, it was hard to shift focus away from him – especially when he was charged with cueing in the singer with an introductory solo. His hands moved across the keys and created notes that wrapped around the selection like a loving embrace.

“As we say in the business, ‘he would put it in the pocket,” Thimes said. “I worked with musicians from all over the world, but no one could lay it down like Tony.”

He had suffered a series of health problems in recent years – kidney failure, triple bypass surgery and even having his leg amputated. As his health continued to forsake him, making music remained a priority.

He even released a solo album, “The Master Key,” in 2006, two years after being diagnosed with kidney failure.

“I’m telling you that this boy bounced back from everything,” Thimes said. “When Tony got out of the hospital after getting his leg amputated, he had a gig the

next day.” What was to be another great gig for Simmons will now be a tribute to him.

“It was really an honor for Tony to play for all the people that he played for,” Thimes said. “To work with local stars and legends – he really prided himself in that.”

Although he was known for his music, his contemporaries knew and loved him for so much more.

“He had this voice that you couldn’t help but imitate whenever you were telling a story about him or reciting something funny he said,” Thimes said, as she went for a full-on impersonation: “Honey, let me tell ‘ya something.’”

In a hilarious bit of irony, Thimes says that Simmons will also be remembered for his sense of direction and being able to navigate others through the city.

“I remember being lost over on the South Side, and I was trying to call some people to find out where I was,” Thimes said.

“Tony called me while I was trying to call somebody to find my way. He said, ‘Well, where are you?’ I told him. He said, ‘You just need to continue on this way – do you see that Shell station on your right?’ I was floored.

‘Do you see the Hardees on your left?’ Tony got me where I needed to go.”

Simmons will also be remembered for his love of the people he delivered his

music to, and his lifelong desire to give back.

“We didn’t know Tony was an organ donor,” Thimes said. “In spite of all of the health challenges that he had, here’s somebody who has gone through dialysis, triple bypass, he’s blind, but yet he still wants to help somebody else. That just speaks volumes to the kind of heart that he had.” Simmons also always wanted to start a fund for blind musicians. Now Thimes and other musicians hope to collaborate with the Missouri School of the Blind to set up a scholarship in his name.

“Even though he didn’t have that kind of assistance, he wanted to provide it for others,” Thimes said. “If I were to describe Tony in one word, it would be overcomer – because that’s what he was.”

Tony Simmons final services are as follows: A Wake/Jam Session will take place on Sunday, June 15 from 5-8 p.m. at St. Luke’s Memorial Baptist Church, 3623 Finney Ave., Saint Louis, MO 63113. The funeral will take place at 10 a.m. on Monday, June 16 at Galilee 2845 Washington Blvd, St. Louis 63103. To donate to the Tony Simmons Memorial Services Fund, send donations to: P.O Box 4511 - St. Louis, MO 63108 or call (314) 7730337.

Continued from C1

The question rubbed me the wrong way. I actually hated that question, because I wanted people to say, ‘Why not?’” Dolby said.

“St. Louis is one of those places where people that are from here hate it, but people that move here absolutely love it – they feel like there’s always something to do, it’s affordable and it’s a place where you are always meeting great people.”

Her husband’s job relocated them to Philadelphia for a few years, but Dolby was more than happy to return.

“I want people to know that St. Louis is not just a place that you’re stuck in. St. Louis is a place that you can grow in and has so much to offer,” Dolby said.

“Just because you were born here, you went to high school here and you went to college here does not mean that there aren’t a lot of people in the city you don’t know and a lot of places you haven’t been and

a lot of things in this city you still need to explore.”

With a few weeks until launch, Dolby has already prepared content and is working towards creating “a brand within the St. Louis American brand” that will illustrate not only what’s right about St. Louis, but who’s right as well.

“I want to highlight a lot of individuals, and I want to highlight that community piece too,” Dolby said. “Nonprofit is my passion. This column is really about giving back to and showcasing the city.”

Her professional experience includes work with the Demetrious Johnson Foundation and the City of St. Louis, in addition to her own marketing and public relations firm. For fun, she created and managed a popular local entertainment/nightlife blog in the mid-to-late 2000s. The married mother of a oneyear-old moves throughout an array of professional and social circles.

“I can speak from a lot of angles,” Dolby said. “I plan to target the moms, the housewives, the entrepreneurs,

the tastemakers, the ‘young and single in the city’ – because I’ve been all of those things.”

But all of her angles are pointed in one direction.

“Right now, I’m focusing on using The STL Suite to be the ‘Saleswoman of the Year’ for St. Louis,” Dolby said. “I want to sell St. Louis back to the natives – and let them know how good the city is. I want The STL Suite to be the place to read about what’s going on in the city and how you can stay connected.”

Her intention is to show people the many things that are right for our city through the vantage point of a young professional.

“I’m talking about personal accomplishments as well,” Dolby said. “If you’re interesting and you feel like you support St. Louis, then you’re who we need to be talking about.”

The STL Suite will debut in The St. Louis American and on stlamerican.com on July 3. Check out Facebook/thestlsuite and @thestlsuite on Twitter and Instagram.

R&B stood for Rhythm and Ballpark village as Tony! Toni! Toné! headlined the first major urban concert in the newly built entertainment complex that caters to Cardinals fans Sunday evening. Fans couldn’t help but groove along at the sold-out show as the band presented some of the classics from their catalogue that spans 25 years.

Photo by Lawrence Bryant

Celebrity ‘Made Up’ Madness

Leading beauty authorities shared tricks of the trade with STL

By Danie Rae, Stylebroker For The St. Louis American

On Sunday, St. Louis was graced with some of your favorite beauty artist’s favorite beauty artists at the “All Made Up Showcase” produced by St. Louis’ own Madisin Rian, along with her mother Melissa Bradley, at Friends – A Meeting Place.

The showcase brought celebrity makeup artists AJ Crimson and Renny Vasquez, along with celebrity hair stylist Tymothe Wallace, to give an intimate look into what it takes to become a celebrity beauty artist.

With creator Madisin Rian being an international a highfashion model, she always comes in contact with premier hair stylist and make-up artists who create the trends that we love today. She and her mother, who is also a hair stylist, felt the need to bring a platform that shows what it takes to break into the celebrity beauty world – or to achieve a celebrity look without much effort.

Featured beauty guru and celebrity makeup artist AJ Crimson has been in the beauty industry for more than 10 years. He recently launched his own makeup line, AJ Crimson, which consists of a crème foundation and a BB (blemish balm) cream made to compliment women of all shades, as well as a talent management group, Blackboardgroup.

MAYA

Continued from C1

entertainer, the extravagant athlete, the terrible child and even the sensitive and reclusive poet.

Maya Angelou, 1928-2014, met, knew, cooperated with, collaborated with, opposed (almost always with aplomb and dignity), represented, intimately probed, sometimes dissected, sometimes corrected, sometimes used every one of these black masks. She was able to accomplish this admirable feat of human complexity and visionary clarity by incorporating into her being, quite early, what the Yoruba call “Ashe,” or the ability to make things happen.

From a childhood of poverty and abuse in rural Arkansas to world renown, recognition and even celebrity, she seemed to always to carry an air, an aura, that said, “Here I am, a fountain of positive energy: dip into me.” I hesitate to use the word “healer,” because it sounds a little mystical and a little precious; but Bob Marley’s reggae classic, “Positive Vibration,” comes immediately to mind.

to Santa Monica to a booksigning. I didn’t really want to go, but since I was living in her trailer in her backyard virtually for free, and she was a 69-year-old semi-invalid who walked with two canes, my choices were limited. So that evening we headed out to Santa Monica.

On the way, I asked whose book signing it was. She answered, “Maya Angelou.” I said, “Frances, Maya Angelou is a world-renowned figure. The place will be packed. There’ll be long lines. We’ll

n She was able to accomplish human complexity and visionary clarity by incorporating what the Yoruba call “Ashe,” or the ability to make things happen.

never be able to get in.”

minutes.”

At minute number seven, the door swung open. He motioned for us to follow him. Caught up in disbelief and elation, I got out of the car, went around and opened the door for Frances and basically carried her – remember the two canes – up the side dock stairs and into the back of the room. Where, lo and behold, Maya Angelou was sitting facing a room of a thousand people, standing in line waiting for her to sign their books. She turned, saw Frances being carried by me, jumped up, came rushing to us and threw her arms around Frances. I felt bad for ever doubting Frances!

After introducing me to Maya, Frances and I sat like royalty at the signing table from which she dispersed her signature as a gift to the people.

Frances then proceeded, again, to educate me on the breadth, depth and endless power of her social connections. She said that when Maya had first come to L.A. to pursue an acting career, she had lived with Frances. She said that she was Maya’s first real mentor.

“Providing women with more options and solutions to their beauty issues is what motivates me to continue to grow my product and brand,” Crimson said. Adding to the night of beauty and inspiration, the dynamic makeup and hair duo (and Instagram sensations)

Renny Vasquez and Tymothe Wallace gave a peek into their craft, offering trade tips. Vasquez began his career as a makeup artist seven years ago while being a hair stylist’s assistant. Now his client list includes celebrities like Brandy, Nia Long and Michelle Williams.

He has taken his career to a new plateau by moving his client base from the D.C. area to L.A. He explained how he relied on his faith in God to make a move that ultimately took him to the next level. He and Wallace connected

with Madisin and Melissa by being Madisin’s go-to beauty guru guys. They formed this alliance when Wallace relocated his brand to L.A., where he found that doors have been opened beyond his imagination.

“Once I moved to L.A., I was in the thick of things and was able to book jobs that made sense in terms of adding to my portfolio and career,” Wallace said.

Also in attendance were local beauty mavens Judy Draper and Gwen Morrow, as well as some of St. Louis’ top stylists who have been in the beauty game for over 20 years.

In 1987-88 I was living in Los Angeles, a 43-year-old failed poet and ex-English teacher working in a business that sold letterheads and envelopes by phone to meanspirited lawyers all over North America.

I was living in a trailer in the backyard of an elderly actress named Frances Williams, who claimed to have been an intimate friend of every well-known African American of the 20th century, from Ethel Waters, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington to W.E.B. Du Bois and Martin Luther King Jr.

One evening Frances asked if I would like to drive

I was totally skeptical. I said, “Frances, where are we going to park?” She said to pull into the alley behind the building, go onto the dock and knock on the back door. I did what I was told. After some minutes, a young guy came to the back door and opened it. I explained my quest. He looked at me quizzically, then politely said he’d see what he could do and closed the door.

I got back in the car and explained the situation to Frances. Surprisingly, she didn’t seem upset at all. She just said, “Let’s give him five

I noticed a guy approaching us from the signing line whom I recognized. We had gone to high school together. We caught one another’s eye and nodded. I always thought him a bit pompous when we were kids, but I was in no position to be judging anybody. As he reached Maya, he held out his book and she asked his name. He said, “Oh, just sign it to Dr. Dawes.” Maya paused, took a small breath and replied, “I’m sorry, honey, but we don’t do no doctors here. Just tell me your name.” He sheepishly repeated his name twice, spelled it for her, and she wrote it down. He moved on. I felt strangely justified. At the end of the evening, after Frances and Maya had taken 15 minutes to catch up, we hugged her, said our goodbyes, and dragged ourselves back in the direction from which we had come. Of course, I was doing most of the dragging, but it was worth it.

Hair and makeup gurus Tymothe Wallace and Renny Vasquez with ‘All Made Up Showcase’ presenters

Madisin Rian and Melissa Bradley Sunday afternoon at Friends – A Meeting Place. Photo by Arlis Davis

~ Celebrations ~

Student achievers

Christian Kelly was recently accepted into Dance Theater of Harlem’s summer program!

Christian is an 11-year old honor student at Saint Margaret of Scotland School, a member of the dance ministry at St. Alphonsus ‘Rock’ Church and is training in honors dance classes at COCA.

Dillon Scott, an eighth grade graduate of MICDS, was selected to participate in Close Up conferences in Washington DC. Each year students and teachers nationwide attend these civic education programs to get a view of our nation’s government and experience democracy in action.

Reunions

Contact Rochelle Williams at rochellewilliams001@yahoo. com.

Central High School Class of 1979 is planning its 35 year reunion for August 29-31, 2014. Please check out our Facebook page, “Central High School Redwings class of 1979” for class updates or call 314-374-8523 or 314-5415645 for more information.

Beaumont High School Class of 1984 is planning its 30 year class reunion for October 3-4, 2014. Reunion dinner will be held Saturday, October 3 at Hilton at the Ball Park. Please check us out on Facebook page “Beaumont Class of 1984” for class updates. The class meets the last Friday of every month.

Jennings Senior High School’s Class of 2004 will be hosting its ten-year class reunion July 26-27, 2014. If you are a member of the Class of 2004 and you would like to participate, please contact your Class President, Alona Sistrunk, at alona724@gmail. com with your name (and

Just married

Kimberly Michele Martin of University City and Lester Haynes II of Dellwood were united in marriage on May 10, 2014 at Catering to You in St. Louis. The bride is the daughter of Dena Martin (Henry) and the late Orlando F. Martin. Kim is an Insurance Specialist with SSM. The groom is the son of Janice Harris and Lester Haynes I. Lester is a Houseman at Omni Hotels Inc. They will reside in St. Louis with their children.

Birthdays

Happy 40th Birthday, Darius S. Daniel Sr. on June 12! (Pictured with Darius S. Daniel II)

Kaleb Huntley and Timothy Allen—June 6

name at the time of graduation if it has changed), your address, your phone number, and your email address. We will be in touch soon with additional information.

McKinley’s Class of 1984 would like to invite McKinley alumni to come and join them on a three-day, two-night, cruise to the Bahamas to celebrate their 30th year class reunion September 19-22,2014. For Information contact: Ms. Vanessa Thomas (Group Specialist) Mon-Fri 11:30 am-8:30pm at 1-(800)514-9986 Ext: 7565 or email vthomas@ vacationtogo.com

Normandy High School Class of 1994 will hold its 20th Reunion Weekend, August

22-24, which will include a Meet and Greet, All White Party, and Ol’ School Field Day. For more information please visit our website at http://nykeawatts.wix.com/ normandy1994.

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

onelene@att.net.

Soldan Class of 1966 is celebrating with an “Old School Dance” Sunday, June 15, 2014 at Christian Hospital’s Atrium Banquet Center, Derrick Building, 11133 Dunn Road 63136 from 5- 9 pm. Dinner Served at 6 pm, cash bar, $50 per person. For ticket information please contact 314-521-8540.

Soldan High School Class of 1974 will hold its 40th Reunion Weekend, August 15-17, 2014 at Hollywood Casino & Resort, St. Louis. More info to come soon!

St. Matthew Lutheran School Alumni Association hosts its first all class Alumni Reunion, September 12-14, 2014. Please contact Rita Jackson at 5506945 or rjayplus@ymail.com for further details.

Sumner High School Class of 1954 60-year class reunion, August 15-17, 2014 at the Sheraton Westport Hotel, Plaza Tower. For more information contact: Audrey Poindexter - (314) 383-7174; email: ajpoin@charter.net or Marlene May - (314) 567-9629; email: All reunion announcements can be viewed online!

Sumner High Class of 1974 will be having its 40th class reunion, July 18-20, 2014 at the Doubletree by Hilton St. Louis Chesterfield Hotel, 16625 S. Swingley Ridge Road, Chesterfield, MO 63017. Sunday morning services will be at New Beginnings M.B. Church, 4055 Edmundson Road, St. Louis, Mo 63134 at 10 am with a memorial brunch following services. Contact Joyce Bush Cruesoe at 314-484-1552, or Denise Washington Nicks 314-6423366 for information.

Sumner High School Class of 1984 is planning a 30 year reunion for August 22-24, 2014. For more information please contact Priscilla (Ms. Prissy) at 314-556-3944, or Robin Allen at 314-369-9549.

University City Alumni Association invites you to a day of relaxation and listening to the sounds of Tim Cunningham, Saturday August 2, 2014 at Mt. Pleasant Winery, Augusta Mo. $30 per person (Transportation provided by Vandalia Bus Lines.) Seating is a first come basis.

Bus accommodates 50 people. This event is open to everyone. (DEADLINE FOR MONEY IS JUNE 17, 2014)

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

More details contact: Denise Weatherford-Bell (314) 4846318.

Vashon High School Class of 1979 has planned our 35th Class Reunion weekend for August 15 - 17, 2014. For more information or to provide your contact information call 314-371-9653 or email vashonclassof1979@gmail. com. Visit our Facebook group: Vashon High Class of 1979 35th Class Reunion, for upcoming activities and updates.

Gospel for Father’s Day

Rev. Shadrach Robinson presents ‘Present-day Men of Honor’

By Bridjes O’Neil

Of the St. Louis American

National Gospel artist the Rev. Shadrach Robinson will present a Father’s Day concert “Present-day Men of Honor”

7:30 p.m. Friday, June 13 at St. Louis University’s II Monastero, 3050 Olive St.

The concert will highlight fathers and men in the St. Louis community who have made a difference in the lives of their families and communities.

The concert will feature performances by Cedric Shannon Rives, William “Rainey” Rainer Jr., Jessie Prather and Gregg “Happy Guitar” Haynes, with a special appearance by award-winning step team Gentleman of Vision.

Father’s Day is recognized, but it is not celebrated at the same level as Mother’s Day, Shadrach said. He thought of his father, the late Cleophus Robinson Sr., who was a man devoted to his family and church, he said.

“Sometimes they just need somebody to recognize that they’re doing a good job –the small things that make a difference,” Shadrach said.

Shadrach comes from a musical family. His father was known internationally as a gospel artist.

“He recognized what I had even before I became aware of it,” he said of his father.

his three adult children.

“To go through what I’ve gone through and understand how God has brought me through all of that makes me more devoted and committed to my family and to the church family where I serve,” Shadrach said.

For eight years, Shadrach has led Friendship Missionary Baptist Church at 5597 Etzel Ave. In his role, he has come to realize that fathers today are facing many challenges, he said. Shadrach, who grew up in a two-parent household, believes absent fathers have led to a breakdown in the home and that a lot of children lack that solid foundation. Men must step up to the plate if they are to save their families and communities, he said.

Shadrach said his father gave him a foundation by setting clear boundaries. Shadrach said he owes much to his father.

“I really didn’t see all of this at the time,” Shadrach said. “When I lived at home, I was frustrated and mad. But, he gave me some structure.”

Shadrach will promote the release of his third album “Grace Instead” by playing select songs from his album at the concert.

The title was inspired by a sermon he heard about the difference between God’s justice and His mercy. God really does not give any of us what we truly deserve because we all fall short in glory, he said.

“That’s where that title comes from,” Shadrach said.

“He didn’t give me what I deserved; He gave me ‘grace instead.’”

He independently released his third album after parting ways with his former label. He said he wanted to be free to express himself and share the messages of God. The album is based upon recent past experiences that temporarily left him in a dark place, yet through God’s grace he said he began to see the light. The first song off the album entitled “Why?” explains how Shadrach tried to go through life on his own and discovered he could not make it without God, he said. This relationship helped him to become a better father to

A Father’s Day contest was held in conjunction with the concert. Through social media, the public nominated and voted for someone who they believed to be a “man of honor.” Three winners will be selected and announced at the concert. The grand prize includes a men’s designer twopiece suit ensemble courtesy of K&G fashions, two tickets to a St. Louis Cardinals home game, and a $50 gift card. Each nominee will receive a gift at the concert.

For more information contact: Leslie Thompson at 314-378-5111 or ctmusic06gmail.com. Follow this reporter: @ BridjesONeil.

InspIratIonal Message

Simple question, simple answer

In Bible study I once took a class called “Taking the Word into the World.” The premise was that those of a Christian belief system should be doing something, acting in some way that distinguishes them in how they are looked upon on this human plane of existence. For me, at the time, it was somewhat confusing because how many of us really know and understand where we fit in God’s kingdom?

One of my more anointed friends constantly reminds me that God’s plan for you and me is not very complicated at all. We make it more complex than it needs to be, and the devil revels in our self-imposed intellectual morass. How often have you questioned your purpose, your mission, you ministry or your duty to the Lord?

I know, more often than not, I wind up doing nothing in the name of God because I have confused myself by questioning what I should be doing. Now the devil loves this stuff. The mere questioning keeps me from doing anything, and I’m the one asking the questions.

The answer is clearly stated in Ephesians 2:10. “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Simple question. Simple

answer. Do good works. It’s the Christian playbook. I believe we can all tell the difference between good works and bad works. It is not a confusing concept. I have no business procrastinating about doing good works. As a matter of fact, scripture reminds me that this work is indeed prepared for us to do in advance. It is our spiritual destiny to perform good works that will always present themselves to us as opportunities to help others.

If, and only if, we accept the Word of God as the Will of God, can we understand how to react to this crazy world in which we live. “Be very careful then, how you live, not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” Ephesians 5: 15-17. My mission as a Christian is to do good works. My mission as a man of God is to do good works. When the opportunity presents itself (and it will, because the devil will see to it), I am now programmed to make the right choice. All I need to concern myself with is undergirding everything I do with the fundamental principle of goodness. Now I may fall short, but I won’t fall off.

The American is accepting Inspirational Messages from the community. Send your column (no more than 400 words) as a Word document and pasted text to cking@stlamerican. com and attach a photo of yourself as a jpeg ile. Please be patient; we will run columns in the order received.

James A. Washington

The Rev. Shadrach Robinson will present a Father’s Day concert “Present-day Men of Honor” 7:30 p.m. Friday, June 13 at St. Louis University’s II Monastero, 3050 Olive St.

Celebrity Swagger Snap of the Week

The one and only Diddy came through to help LooseCannon S.L.I.M. celebrate his birthday at the Coliseum on Sunday night and the result was one for the record books. The entertainment mogul and brand specialist had the club leaning as he pumped them up and shared his signature Ciroc Vodka with the crowd.

Sunday Fun day. There must have been an epidemic of folks falling asleep on the job myself included after the way the promoters decided to gang up on us and hold every event for the entire week on Sunday. I’d call them out for being downright inconsiderate if it hadn’t been pound for pound one of the best non-holiday single-day kicking experiences I’ve had in all my years of beating the streets. Although I made a few stops during the week, just to show y’all how Sunday was to the max, I’ve decided to devote this week’s edition exclusively to my stops that day. And please note that I had to omit a couple of places I hit for the sake of space! (Check stlamerican.com for the full rundown) Ready. Set. Go!

The day part saga continues. My never ending day kicked off 4:45 p.m. at Harry’s – which was absolutely __________ (insert new slang for bananas). So many people stopped through that I had to park at our offices (yes, four blocks over at 2315 Pine) and walk over because it was the only available space I could find. I really think that the folks showed up thinking Diddy was going to poke his head in. He didn’t, but it didn’t seem to matter. The vibe was…well, let’s just say more soulful than the typical laid back energy that seems to be standard with the day party experience. I’ve never seen so many ladies turned up in sundresses on a Sunday since my days of frolicking back and forth between Fairground and O’Fallon Park. Hey, I can’t be mad because they weren’t too cute too kick it hard.

R&B at Ballpark Village. Ballpark Village finally welcomed a full-on urban audience to its abode as they kicked off their “Rhythm Series” with Tony, Toni, Tyrone (formerly Tone) and special guest Nikko Smith. That Ballpark Nation area was packed like in the peak of the Missouri Black Expo concert days! People of all ages were partying and grooving together from the get! As usual, folks were complaining about the band not being the same since Raphael Saddiq left. What I don’t understand is how people can show up and expect to see him (or be mad when they don’t) knowing he HAS NOT been with the group for 15 of the 25 years they’ve been a band. Help. It should be a non-issue already. Now, with that off of my chest I feel like I can go on with my rundown of this show. It was good enough as far as the performance, even though I truly believe that Nikko Smith outperformed the Tonys. I believe the root of him outshining the main attraction was because of how the energy level dropped when the Dollar Tree Raphael Saddiq unveiled, from his space age pimpin’ poncho, a backless halter muscle shirt item. People were shocked clean out of the groove. And just when they were reconnecting with the crowd this poor soul with a 100 percent synthetic struggle blonde wig joined them on stage for a rendition of “Anniversary.” In her determination to freak down every member of the band she managed to get herself escorted off stage by security. Somebody tell her that you cannot whip your hair when it is comprised of man-made materials because it doesn’t flip, it lifts – and exposes all of the business in your kitchen.

Diddy popped his head in for a taste of the show and was meeting and greeting like he was running for political office. All in all, the Rhythm Series kickoff was a resounding success! A special thanks to promoter Vito and crew for bringing the first show to fruition. I can’t wait to see what’s next!

Acoustic soul Sunday. Thanks to Harry Colbert, acoustic soul prince Anthony David was back in town for a special two show set at Lola. I was underwhelmed by him at Plush, but he really redeemed himself last Sunday! India.Arie’s musical fraternal twin had folks grooving to the old and the new as he brought his Simple Man Tour to the STL. It was quite simple indeed: A man, a guitar and a Tyler The Creator outfit. I got my life and so did everybody else!

Diddy in the City. Usually Capricorns and Pisces are the ones going the hardest as they rep their Zodiac sign. But team Gemini got an all new look thanks to LooseCannon S.L.I.M. and what will probably go down as the kicking experience of the year…maybe even the past five years. Let’s start off with how the line looked like it began at 8 p.m. Then, as soon as the doors opened the club was at capacity. It was so hot up in there that if my girl Meghan O hadn’t blessed me with a glass of water they would have been “LeBroning” me out of the Coliseum. Everybody who was ANYBODY was in the building. Staci Static (who was celebrating her b-day weekend as well) Laudie, Guccio, Phil Assets, Sir Thurl, Mocha Latte, and too many to name. Then Diddy showed up and shut it all the way down. Now everybody knows Diddy’s net worth is closer to a billion than it is to a million. So to see him go full speed ahead to turn the club up when whatever money he was paid couldn’t be anything other than pocket change by Diddy standards gave me a whole new level of respect for him. This, especially after chicks like Karruche Tran and Tierra Marie come through and act all unbothered, knowing full well they needed every coin promoters flung their way for a guest appearance. Sweat soaked Diddy was EVERYTHING! He rapped, he hyped, he danced, he popped bottles and he jumped into the crowd. The train of Ciroc bottles that he shared with the folks crammed along the front of the stage will have them talking about toasting with Diddy to their grandkids when they are in an assisted living facility. And there were still people trying to get in after he was rolling out. It was so epic that after nearly twenty years of not thinking one way or the other about him, I figure he’s at least worth me lurking on his social media pages. I was so thrilled with the experience that I want to keep S.L.I.M.’s tradition going. You’re hearing it here first that I’m saving up and should have his booking fee secured just in time to bring Diddy back for my 50th birthday bash. I’ll have to check Diddy’s schedule, but if he’s available, the two D’s (as in Diddy and

will be shutting STL down again circa 2031!

Delores)

DNA crew Pam, Matika, Nate and Will celebrated the two year anniversary of DNA Boutique with a special bash @ Soho Saturday night

Tony Toni Tone backstage with Vernon Bracy and Nikko Smith for the debut of Ballpark Village’s Rhythm Series Sunday afternoon

Alexis, Alexis, Taylor and Jada kicked their weekend off Friday night @ The Rustic Goat

Keith and Farrah were among the huge crowd who came out for a taste of Tony Toni Tone @ The Rhythm Series kickoff Sunday afternoon @ Ballpark Village

Sandra, Felecia and Andrea got a taste of acoustic soul thanks to Anthony David’s Simple Man Tour STL Stop Sunday @ Lola

Tony Toni Tone showed love to Diddy’s STL visit and Tiara was able to meet Dwayne Wiggins while waiting for Diddy to arrive Sunday night @ The Coliseum

AJ Crimson, Renny Vasquez, Melissa Bradley, Madisin Rian, Staci Static and Tymothe Wallace were on deck as the All Made Up Showcase shared tricks of the beauty trade Sunday afternoon @ Friends A Meeting Place

Diddy made a stop at Ballpark Village to see Tony Toni Tone before he played host at The Coliseum and was happy to snap a pic with Donta Wade

Tonya, Fallon, Ashley and Jonette getting their Day Party on Sunday afternoon @ Harry’s

Kerry and Dano celebrated five years in the promotions game @ their Hella Fly Anniversary Party Friday night @ The Marquee

Photos by Lawrence Bryant

Realtors for the community Husband and wife team partner in realty

By Marissa Price For The St. Louis American

When she first started Haywood Realty Group in 2001, 27-year real estate expert Andreal HaywoodHoosman said that she was excited about the “possibility of opening up my own company and offering something different than what the community was receiving.”

She vividly remembered the six long months she spent working tirelessly alongside fellow agents to ensure that when she opened her doors for business, the community would be just as enthusiastic about her new company as she was. All of her hard work certainly paid off.

n “It’s a great time for buyers, because the current historically low rates are expected to stay relatively consistent for the next 30-36 months.”

– Hubert Hoosman

Haywood Realty Group became a successful real estate company, servicing Kansas City, Missouri for more than a decade.

Fast forward 13 years. She and her husband, Hubert Hoosman, former president and CEO of Vantage Credit Union, have re-named and re-launched the company and moved home to St. Louis to expand their business. Haywood-Hoosman Realty, located at 15 S. Florissant Rd. in Ferguson, is a licensed real estate company that focuses on residential and commercial real estate and property management and represents both buyers and sellers in Missouri, Illinois and Kansas. She said this re-branded company has fulfilled her desire to be an “all-in-one shop.”

Haywood-Hoosman Realty handles all of the basic functions of a real estate company, such as working with buyers and sellers who want to buy, lease, rent and sell properties. It also aims to be what Hubert Hoosman refers to as a trustworthy “consumer advocate.”

Andreal Haywood-Hoosman offers her financial literacy skills relating to mortgages and insurance, and the company as a whole offers assistance with credit restoration and maintenance programs at no cost to clients. The

in recent years, appears to be on the rebound, according to Hubert Hoosman. “It’s a great time for buyers, because the current historically low rates are expected to stay relatively consistent for the next 30-36 months.” He advised that “those who are considering buying a home should get serious about it, because the area real estate market is rebounding.”

If you are one of those prospective buyers, Andreal Hoosman encourages you to “take your time to understand what you are about to experience and start researching 6-12 months before you are ready to buy a home so that you completely understand the home-buying process. Do not take finding a realtor lightly.” She said the realtor you choose “can make or break a process.”

“Buying a home is the most important investment you’re going to make in your life,” Hubert Hoosman said. “Find someone who is prepared to represent you with integrity.”

Prospective buyers should also take the time to thoroughly understand preapproval and down-payment procedures before they start the home-buying process. For many buyers, “the main challenge is preparing,” Hubert Hoosman said.

He added that it is important to protect your credit score to “receive the quality rates that are out there,” but if you have less-than-perfect credit, “credit restoration is not that challenging – it just takes patience. We don’t turn away clients with subpar credit scores; instead, we help them to restore their credit at no charge.”

They said that their end goal is to watch every client, either residential or commercial, “unlock the door and walk into their new house or shop.” They remain involved with community organizations like the Empowerment Network, Community Women Against Hardship, NAACP, Make a Wish Foundation and the Special Education Foundation. Haywood Hoosman Realty is proud to announce it will be a Pink Glove Sponsor at this year’s Sista Strut. The husband and wife team said they are “deeply committed as a company to always be active in this community.”

Hoosmans said the educational features they offer free of charge “set us apart in this market.”

This “market,” or the real estate market, which has been a source of concern for many St. Louis residents

The Hoosmans will be hosting a community open house at their Ferguson office this September. For more information, call 314-787-9192 or go to www.vhhrealty.com.

Andreal Haywood-Hoosman and Hubert Hoosman of Haywood-Hoosman Realty pose before a house they are selling at 2845 Victor St. in South St. Louis.

Photo by Maurice Meredith

Mortgage complaints top CFPB’s 2013 List

Complaints grow despite National Mortgage Settlement assistance

By Charlene Crowell Center for Responsible Lending

In mid-March, the monitor for the National Mortgage Settlement announced that participating banks had completed terms of the agreement affecting 49 states. Collectively, Bank of America, Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo provided over $20 billion in borrower relief to more than 600,000 troubled homeowners.

Of these monies, at least $10 billion was used to reduce principal owed on homes with market values lower than their mortgages and others that were either delinquent or at-risk of default. Another $3 billion benefited borrowers who were able to refinance their homes at

lower interest rates than their original mortgages.

The remaining $7 billion assisted a variety of programs from service members who were forced to sell their homes at a loss, to anti-blight efforts, short sales and transitional assistance.

Despite these positive steps, the housing crisis is still not over for far too many households.

n New data released by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) reveals that mortgages remain the number one complaint category for the second consecutive year.

New data released by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) reveals that mortgages remain the number one complaint category for the

second consecutive year. In 2013, mortgage complaints filed with CFPB grew to 60,000, compared to 19,250 complaints the previous year.

Speaking to the newly-released data, CFPB Director Richard Cordray said, “At a market level, complaints give us insight into what is happening to consumers across the country, right now. They are also our compass and make a difference by informing our work and helping us identify and prioritize problems for potential supervisory, enforcement and regulatory action.”

When CFPB analyzed consumers’ mortgage concerns, loan modification, collections and foreclosures accounted for nearly 60 percent of those received. Other mortgage complaints included loan servicing, payments, escrow accounts, mortgage brokers and origination.

The irony of the continuing mortgage saga is that the national settlement called for new servicing standards that would correct the kinds of conduct that harmed consumers in recent years. The settlement also included explicit servicing requirements to remedy key problem areas:

• Providing a single point of contact for borrows to call when seeking information about their loans and adequate staff to handle calls;

• Requiring servicers to evaluate all available option to homeowners before beginning foreclosures;

• Stopping past consumer abuses such as lost paperwork and improper documentation; servicers were to end the practice of robo-signing foreclosures and instead ensure a full review prior to those filings; and

• Restricting banks from foreclosing

while the homeowner is being considered for loan modifications that would make mortgage payments more affordable.

CFPB’s complaints highlight a harsh reality of our country’s economy. Its findings can and should serve as a bellwether for continued policy reforms that address yet unmet needs.

However while CFPB can tally its complaints, the anguish that homeowners continue to suffer cannot be calculated. The American Dream of homeownership became a nightmare during the housing crisis and continues to be so for large numbers of homeowners. It is also relevant to note that for many troubled borrowers, the decision to purchase a home remains the single largest investment of their lifetimes.

Since the financial crisis that began in September 2008, approximately 4.9 million homes were lost to foreclosures as of January this year. Additionally another 1.9 million mortgages were in serious delinquency, 90 days or more past due. These data points were tallied by CoreLogic, a firm specializing in financial analysis.

The 600,000 homeowners helped by the national settlement began important remedies to the crisis. And it is still too soon to measure the effectiveness of CFPB’s new mortgage rules that took effect in January.

It is therefore clear that more important work remains before America’s housing market returns to full health. Communities of color that were targeted for predatory mortgage loans have endured the brunt of foreclosures and lost wealth. Even for neighbors who remain in their homes and are current on their mortgages, reduced property values affect their home investments as well.

No community – especially those that were financially preyed upon – should be left out of the nation’s recovery.

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

Housing recovery ignores black community

New report identifies nation’s housing hot spots

By Charlene Crowell Center for Responsible Lending

Scholars from several of the nation’s most-esteemed colleges and universities jointly concluded that the nation’s so-called housing “recovery” is bypassing communities of color and working class neighborhoods. Underwater America, their new report, analyzed negative equity and foreclosure data using zip codes within both cities and metro areas.

According to the report, nearly one in 10 Americans or – 28.7 million—live in the 100 hardest hit cities from the housing crisis. Among the 395 hardest-hit zip codes across the country, blacks and Latinos represent at least half of the population. And in 57 cities, at least 30 percent of all mortgaged homes are still underwater –owing more on their loans than their homes are now worth.

the highest housing hardships. In order of severity they are: Georgia (61), Florida (55), Illinois (47), Michigan (38), Ohio (33), New Jersey (32), Maryland (24), Missouri (21), California (17), Nevada (10) and North Carolina (10).

The zip code analysis also revealed negative housing patterns in specific city neighborhoods. Again, ranked by the rate of severity, the following cities had serious and multiple neighborhood problems: Las Vegas, Atlanta, Jacksonville (FL), Orlando, Chicago, Tampa, Detroit, Miami, Memphis, Virginia Beach, Riverside (CA), Kansas City (MO), St. Louis, Cleveland and Milwaukee.

n Among the 395 hardest-hit zip codes across the country, blacks and Latinos represent at least half of the population.

Published by the Haas Institute for Diversity and Inclusion at the University of California at Berkeley, the report’s authors come from Occidental College, Nathan Cummings Foundation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, The New School and George Washington University.

Commenting on Underwater America, John A. Powell, Haas Institute Director and Professor of Law, Ethnic and African-American Studies said, “The Underwater America report is important because it reveals that a large part of the country is not only not recovering, it is largely being ignored. These are disproportionately black and Latino communities.”

Today, homeownership represents 92 percent of the net worth for blacks and 67 percent for Latinos. Whites, by comparison, only have 58 percent of their wealth in their homes. And despite rising home prices in many areas of the country, owner-occupied housing still remains $3.2 trillion below 2006 levels. By examining trends by zip codes, the new report determined which states had

For example, in Atlanta, more than 400,000 consumers remain underwater on their mortgages. Another 5,400 homeowners in 2013 went into either default or foreclosure. Additionally, the market’s home prices are still 27 percent below their peak levels.

“These challenges faced by cities represent opportunities for communities to empower themselves to save their homes, their neighborhoods and restore their community’s wealth”, added Powell.

The irony to this still-unfolding saga is that over succeeding generations, buying a home was a reliable gateway to building wealth and financial security. Owning a home ‘free and clear’ was a cause for celebration attested to family financial security.

But as earlier research by the Center for Responsible Lending has revealed and was also cited in the Haas report, the years leading up to the housing crisis found communities of color – Black and Latino - targeted for high-cost, risky loans even when borrowers qualified for lower-cost and more sustainable mortgages. Instead of earning home equity, many borrowers of color lost thousands of dollars in what is often the single largest investment of a lifetime.

Cook vegetables in small amounts of water. Avoid overcooking, which reduces nutritional value.

Energy efficiency at your fingertips

Laclede cares about your safety, comfort and your pocketbook, so here are household tips to help you enjoy natural gas from Laclede Gas as efficiently as possible. And we’re not just talking about smart wintertime habits. These are ideas that can save you money all year long.

Home Heating Tips

• Clean warm-air registers, baseboard heaters, and radiators regularly. Make sure they‘re not blocked by furniture, carpeting or drapes.

• Have your gas furnace inspected in late summer/early fall to ensure proper performance and safety.

• Keep your thermostat low in the winter. Each extra degree adds about 4 to 5 percent to your heating bill. When you leave for the day or over the weekend, lower the setting about 5 degrees. For longer absences, lower the thermostat to 55 degrees (but don’t set it lower because your pipes may freeze).

• Never use your oven, range or outdoor grill to heat your home. These appliances are not designed for home heating.

Cooking Tips

• On a gas range, use the smallest flame possible – flames should never exceed a pan’s width.

• Water boils faster in covered pans.

Add a lid and save time.

• Cook vegetables in small amounts of water. Avoid overcooking, which reduces nutritional value.

• Preheat the oven only when necessary (when you bake cakes and quick breads). The broiler needs preheating only for rare steaks.

• Each time you open the oven it loses about 20 percent of its heat. Save energy by keeping the oven door closed while cooking to prevent heat loss.

Hot Water Tips

• Take short showers instead of baths.

• Always keep the thermostat on your hot water heater no higher than the “normal” setting.

• Avoid running water unnecessarily while shaving or brushing teeth.

Laundry Tips

• Always look for the ENERGY STAR label when shopping for appliances.

• Use cold water to pre-rinse dishes for the dishwasher and for washing clothes.

• Wash only full loads of dishes and clothes.

• Don’t over-dry your clothes in the dryer, which can ruin delicate clothing and waste gas.

Dry towels in a separate load from lighter-weight items.

Source: Laclede

Financial protection in action

Over $3.8B in refunds and relief returned to 12.6M consumers

By Charlene Crowell Center for Responsible Lending

If there was one key lesson from the recession it is that financial services need effective regulation. It took billions of lost wealth, largely through millions of foreclosures before lawmakers took decisive actions to ensure that never again would such financial calamity be allowed to happen again.

Nearly three years since the enactment of the historic Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act, the nation’s first-ever fulltime, federal consumer watchdog, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), was created and began a steady and strong effort to serve the nation. With transparency, fairness and inclusion as its guiding values, CFPB’s new rules for a variety of lending areas are being enacted or considered. Regardless of the product affected, the goal remains the same: rein in unfair, discriminatory and predatory lending practices.

the 354,600 consumer complaints it has received as of this month further inform and guide the Bureau’s work.

Even the most cursory view will reveal that:

§ CFPB’s enforcement actions have returned over $3.8 billion in refunds and relief to 12.6 million consumers.

§ For the first time ever, 30 million consumers, struggling to recover from the recession have protections from abusive debt collection practices that unfairly tarnish their credit records, jeopardize future employment opportunities and add unnecessary costs to access credit.

For communities of color, these efforts are particularly important. Black and Brown consumers together have borne the brunt of paedatory lending in all of its nefarious forms. Through litigation in cooperation with the Justice Department, banks have been fined and restitution ordered for unnecessary foreclosures and robo-signed foreclosures. More recently, a lender was fined a half million dollars for its failure to observe new mortgage lending rules that took effect in January.

CFPB’s true irony, however, it that multiple, measurable achievements have occurred despite determined and nagging opposition. In America, varying views can be spoken – even acted upon. But there is simply no denying the benefits of a full-time consumer cop on the beat. In a relatively short period of time, CFPB has, in many ways, been a model for ensuring fairness, transparency and effective rules of the road.

The Bureau regularly reports to Congress with appearances before each chamber and twice each calendar year. While CFPB engages panels of advisors that include small business leaders in the development of all proposed rules,

§ CFPB has aggressively engaged stakeholders by visiting 23 metro areas in 21 states for its town halls and field hearings. All events have been opened to the public and included a range of perspectives from various stakeholders. Witnesses have included businesses, academicians, consumers and others commenting on a variety of lending issues like debt collection, auto and payday loans, and abusive overdraft fees,.

§ New rules now govern the $10 trillion mortgage industry, providing consumers protections at every stage of the process of purchasing and paying for a home.

Public input has also been vital to the Bureau’s decision-making process. Public comments have been an important perspective on all proposed rules. In cooperation with its Office of Service Member Affairs, CFPB has also visited 80 military installations. Multiple advisory boards broaden CFPB’s knowledge to consumer lending.

With these and many other actions to its credit, CFPB is, in fact, actively pursuing its mission: to be the number one consumer cop for America. Real needs are being met and deliberate actions are curtailing what needs to stop.

Of course, we all know that enacting meaningful financial reform is a deliberate, often contentious process; but real progress is being made.

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

Charlene Crowell

By Jason Alderman

New mortgage rules protect against risky loans

Good news for people shopping for a mortgage – and for current homeowners facing foreclosure because they can no longer afford their home loan: New mortgage regulations drafted by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently took effect and they provide a slew of new rights and protections for consumers.

One of the cornerstones of the new mortgage rules is that lenders now are required to evaluate whether borrowers can afford to repay a mortgage over the long term – that is, after the initial teaser rate has expired. Otherwise, the loan won’t be considered what’s now referred to as a “qualified mortgage.”

Qualified mortgages are designed to help protect consumers from the kinds of risky loans that brought the housing market to its knees back in 2008. But obtaining that designation is also

important to lenders because it will help protect them from lawsuits by borrowers

who later prove unable to pay off their loans.

Under the new ability-to-pay rules, lenders now must assess – and document – multiple components of the borrower’s financial state before offering a mortgage, including the borrower’s income, savings and other assets, debt, employment status and credit history, as well as other anticipated mortgage-related costs.

Qualified mortgages must meet the following guidelines:

• The term can’t be longer than 30 years.

• Interest-only, negative amortization and balloon-payment loans aren’t allowed.

• Loans over $100,000 can’t have upfront points and fees that exceed 3 percent of the total loan amount.

• If the loan has an adjustable interest rate, the lender must ensure that the borrower qualifies at the fully indexed rate (the highest rate to which it might climb), versus the initial teaser rate.

• Generally, borrowers must have a total monthly debt-to-income ratio of 43 percent or less.

• Loans that are eligible to be bought, guaranteed or insured by government agencies like Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration are considered qualified mortgages until at least 2021, even if they don’t meet all QM requirements.

Lenders may still issue mortgages that aren’t qualified, provided they reasonably believe borrowers can repay – and have documentation to back up that assessment.

New, tougher regulations also apply to mortgage servicers – the companies responsible for collecting payments and managing customer service for the loan owners. For example, they now must:

• Send borrowers clear monthly statements that show how payments are being credited, including a breakdown of payments by principal, interest, fees and escrow.

• Fix mistakes and respond to borrower inquiries promptly.

• Credit payments on the date received.

• Provide early notice to borrowers with adjustable-rate mortgages when their rate is about to change.

• Contact most borrowers by the time they are 36 days late with their payment.

• Inform borrowers who fall behind on mortgage payments of all available alternatives to foreclosure (e.g., payment deferment or loan modification).

With limited exceptions, mortgage servicers now cannot: initiate foreclosures until borrowers are more than 120 days delinquent (allowing time to apply for a loan modification or other alternative); start foreclosure proceedings while also working with a homeowner who has already submitted a complete application for help; or hold a foreclosure sale until all other alternatives have been considered.

For more details on the new mortgage rules, visit www. consumerfinance.gov/mortgage.

Bottom line: You should never enter into a mortgage (or other loan) you can’t understand or afford. But it’s nice to know that stronger regulations are now in place to help prevent another housing meltdown.

Jason Alderman directs Visa’s financial education programs. To participate in a free, online Financial Literacy and Education Summit on April 2, 2014, go to www. practicalmoneyskills.com/summit2014.

Research fellow educates Crown Center staff

American staff

Weekly staff training is typical for the staff of Crown Center for Senior Living, an affordable housing development in University City. Staff is taught how to work effectively so that residents are safe and successful.

Recently, Crown Center staff was trained by a special instructor. LaDoris Payne, Crown Center resident, was among 45 community members who graduated from the Community Research Fellows Training program offered for the first time by the Washington University School of Medicine. Payne’s project was chosen for funding at the conclusion of the program.

“I’m thrilled to be a part of this program,” LaDoris Payne said. “Our work could provide much needed research for those reaching out across many disciplines to help others.”

Amy Neuman (Crown Center program coordinator), Dr. Paulette Sankofa, LaDoris Payne (Crown Center resident), Joan Klearman and Regina Bugee (Crown Center program staff)

Summer is a good time to buy

Advice from Southern Commercial Bank

If you’re thinking about refinancing your existing home loan or purchasing a new home, now is the time. In addition to historically-low interest rates, prospective buyers can enjoy a number of benefits by taking advantage of the summer season to shop for a home.

Many realtors advise their clients that one of the best times to put a home on the market is in the spring so that sellers can get their homes sold before the heat of summer. Sellers who listed their homes in the spring but have yet to sell are now realizing that they were asking too much for their properties.

n There are also fewer people out shopping for a new home during the summer, which means you will be competing with fewer buyers.

Alternately, if they’re just now getting their homes on the market, they missed the spring buying frenzy. If the home is empty, the seller probably won’t want to take care of the yard or pay utilities during the summer. In any of these circumstances it could be advantageous for them to consider a lower offer.

There are also fewer people out shopping for a new home during the summer, which means you will be competing with fewer buyers. Even a

RECOVERY

Continued from page 5

Underwater America states, “For African-American and Latinos specifically between 2005 and 2009, they experienced a decline in household wealth of 52 percent and 66 percent respectively, compared to 16 percent for whites. This reflects, in large part, disparities in foreclosure rates among these groups, since for most Americans, and particularly for people of color, their homes are their largest source of wealth.”

“These challenges faced by cities represent opportunities for communities to empower themselves to save their homes, their neighborhoods and restore their community’s wealth”, added Powell.

low offer may be attractive to a seller if there are no other offers being made. When you’re ready to take the next step toward home ownership, consider applying for a mortgage from the bank that’s right in your community. Southern Commercial Bank has been lending money to homeowners since 1891, often serving several generations in the same family.

We offer several types of loans, including FHA loans that require very little money down and FNMA (fixed rate) options. We can work with you to customize a home loan to meet your specific needs including a pre-approval which can increase your buying power.

Southern Commercial Bank’s experienced representatives will treat you with dignity and respect. Once your loan is approved, we are always accessible should you have any questions or concerns. It’s our goal to make your home buying process a positive one.

Southern Commercial Bank is an Equal Housing Lender.

Source: Southern Commercial Bank

The report recommends remedies that include a defined role for nonprofit organizations in addition to efforts by governments and banks. The three stakeholder groups working together could and should reverse the losses of recent years.

According to Saqib Bhatti, one of the report’s authors and a fellow with the Nathan Cummings Foundation, “We believe that if banks are unwilling or unable to write down underwater mortgages to the current market value of the homes, then local officials should take the decision out of their hands.”

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

The state of financial capability in America

By Kathy Freeman and Mary Suiter Of The St. Louis Fed

Understanding financial matters and being equipped to make informed financial decisions – our personal financial capability – is key to not only weathering financially difficult times and making ends meet but also building toward a financially stable future. We would like to present some startling findings regarding the state of financial capability in the United States.

According to a 2012 study on financial decision-making by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s Investor Education Foundation, 19 percent of people surveyed reported spending more in the previous year than their annual income that year, and that didn’t include what they spent on a home, car or other big investment.

The study also found that 56 percent of participants lacked a rainy day fund sufficient to cover three months of

expenses in case of emergencies. FINRA also asked participants five questions on personal finance topics that the average person might encounter in everyday life. Only 39 percent of study participants could answer three or more questions correctly.

Closing these gaps involves tackling the economic, structural and societal issues that underlie them. That won’t happen overnight and is beyond what any one person or family can do. But there are things each of us can do – or encourage others to do – to move further on the road of personal financial capability.

Here are some places to start:

providers, such as payday lenders and car-title lenders.

n When we take steps to improve our personal finances, we are increasing our chances for a financially secure future.

• Get a free personal credit report once a year from all three agencies: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion at www. annualcreditreport.com. Your credit report is used to determine your credit score, and your credit score plays a role in every aspect of your life. A low score can get in the way of renting an apartment, buying a home or getting a job.

• Establish good credit by paying bills regularly and on time; contact a creditor if a payment is going to be late.

• Pay yourself first by starting to save. You could start by putting your income tax refund into a savings account. No amount is too small.

The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis offers free resources for classrooms and the general public to help people better understand economic and personal finance topics. They are available at www.stlouisfed.org/ education.

When we take steps to improve our personal finances, we are increasing our chances for a financially secure future. We are also setting an example for our children and other young people to do the same.

• Open and use a checking or savings account at a bank or credit union.

• Avoid nontraditional financial

• Avoid unnecessary debt.

• Create and stick to a household budget.

Kathy Freeman is vice president of the Office of Minority and Women Inclusion at the St. Louis Fed. Mary Suiter is assistant vice president and economic education officer at the St. Louis Fed.