June 30th, 2022 edition

St. LouiS AmericAn

Mayor, county exec push ARPA funds for reproductive healthcare

By Sophie Hurwitz

For the St. Louis American

Hours after Roe v. Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt certified in a legal opinion that the state’s “trigger law” is now in effect, meaning that abortion procedures are illegal in the state of Missouri.

In St. Louis, hundreds gathered outside of what was until last week the only facility providing abortions in the state: the Planned Parenthood clinic in the Central West End. But beyond the protests come the questions of what the majority of Missourians, who support abortion access, can do.

On the local level, in St. Louis and St. Louis County leaders are attempting to pass two parallel bills redirecting some national American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding towards financing travel to states that provide abortions–primarily to the Hope Clinic across the river in Illinois. It was already inundated with Missouri patients before

Raise the praise

Maverick City Music & Kirk Franklin performed a melody of gospel hits during their St. Louis show last Thursday, June 23 for The Kingdom Tour at Chaifetz Arena.

Protesters marched from Planned Parenthood to The Grove on Friday, June 24, 2022 to protest the U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Local activist Alisha Sonnier was encouraging protesters to get involved in the process of getting Missouri laws changed to allow abortion access.

Differing opinions

Couples weigh in on vaccines for children five and younger

By Sylvester Brown Jr.

The St. Louis American

Alex & DJ Johnson don’t fit in the categories of anti-vaxxers or COVID conspiracy theorists.

The couple, who are not vaccinated, boast of a lifestyle of exercise and healthy eating. They consider themselves self-educated, well-researched and up to date on current affairs, including the coronavirus pandemic.

Mostly, they get their information about the virus and vaccines from traditional medical and news platforms, not fringe, controversial or suspect websites. Exercising (“five days a week”) and being careful

NNPA joins national Get Out The Vote effort

‘There can be no fear in this’

By Alvin A. Reid The St. Louis American

Barbara Arnwine, Transformative Justice Coalition [TJC] founder and president, issued a challenge to Black voters as the November midterm elections approach.

“Our goal is to not play defense. We must find a way to play offense, Arnwine said last week in New Orleans during the 2022 National Newspaper Publishers Association 195th Convention.

“We must register the unregistered. Then, we must turn out those that are registered. We need massive voter participation.”

n “It is a totally concentrated assault on our voting.”

– Barbara Arnwine, Transformative Justice Coalition [TJC] founder and president

According to TJC, there are about10 million African Americans who are eligible to vote but who are unregistered. Arnwine’s organization and the NNPA announced a get-out-tovote campaign targeting those 10 million Black voters and getting as many as possible to vote in the 2022 midterms.

“The NNPA has talked about the vote, and there is no better time for us to show our power,” NNPA Chair Karen Carter Richards said.

Arnwine, an attorney, said the outreach effort cannot be a one-time deal.

“About 30% of new registered voters actually vote. The more contacts they have after registering, the more likely they are to vote. If they receive six contacts reminding them their vote is critical, the chance they vote goes up to 65%.

“If they receive eight of these contacts, that number goes up to 85%.”

Daryl Jones, TJC board chair, said the organization had recorded 72 voter suppression tactics to prevent a large population from casting ballots. Among them are strict voter laws in many Republican-led states, including Missouri, deceptive robocalls; early voting cuts; and voter intimi-

More bad news

Supreme Court sides with cops in Miranda ruling

Antwon & Adrianne Blakemore with their kids Andrea 2, and Amir 4, chose to vaccinate their children.

by prohibiting sanctions against police officers who fail to read a suspect their Miranda rights.

The Justices voted on Thursday, June 23, to limit the ability to enforce those rights, noting that suspects who aren’t warned about their right to remain silent can no longer sue an officer under federal civil rights laws.

Further, the opinion noted that even if the evidence is obtained by cops when they fail to read Miranda rights, an individual can’t use that in a potential criminal trial.

The court declared that the Miranda warning still protects a constitutional right, but the notice itself is not a right that would trigger the ability to

Photo by Jennifer Sarti / St. Louis American

Photo by Taylor McIntosh / St. Louis American

Photo by Wiley Price / St. Louis American

Naomi Osaka partners with LeBron James in media company launch

Tennis phenom Naomi Osaka and basketball great LeBron James are partnering to launch the media company, Hana Kuma

Hana Kuma, which translates to “flower bear” in Japanese, will feature culturally inclusive stories for all ages including televi sion shows, documentaries, and anime programs. The company will also offer production, development, and strate gic resources.

“There has been an explosion of creators of color finally being equipped with resources and a huge platform,” Osaka said in the statement.

“In the streaming age, content has a more global perspective. You can see this in the popularity of television in Asia, Europe, and Latin America that the unique can also be universal. My story is a testa ment to that as well.

“I’m so excited for what we are building at Hana Kuma.

We will bring stories to life with this goal in mind: to make unique perspectives feel universal and inspire people along the way.”

Holly Robinson Peete honored with Hollywood Walk of Fame star

Veteran actress Holly Robinson Peete recently received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

“Being immortalized on Hollywood Blvd is so exciting,” Robinson Peete City News Service. “It’s a permanent tribute to a four-decades-plus career in TV.

Legacy stuff!”

Robinson Peete’s career launched in 1979 when she starred in the made-fortelevision movie “Dummy,” alongside LeVar Burton

She dedicated the star to her mother, Dolores Robinson, her manager for 30 years.

“She dreamed big for herself bringing her kids west from Philly in ‘74,” Robinson Peete said. “If it wasn’t for her boldness and courage to create a better life for us I would not be getting this star!” Robinson Peete said she knew she wanted to act after she walked on the set of “Sesame Street,” at 5 years old.

Her late father, Matt Robinson played high school teacher Gordon Robinson

in the series.

“I did a scene with my dad and Big Bird where I blew my one line,” Robinson Peete recalled. “The line was ‘Hi Gordon.’ But I kept saying ‘Hi Daddy.”’

Kevin Hart’s plant-based restaurant to debut

Kevin Hart isn’t just a funny man, he soon will be known as a restaurateur. Later this summer in Los Angeles, the comedic mogul will open the first location of his quick-service restaurant called Hart House. The business will only sell plant-based food and offer top-notch customer service.

“Kevin sort of conceptualized this idea at the beginning of the pandemic,” Andy Hooper, co-owner of Hart House, told Los Angeles Magazine at a private tasting of the new concept.

more.

“I think one of the things that’s important when you’re thinking about building the next generation of quick service restaurants is acknowledging that it’s going to be plant-forward,” Hopper said. “That’s where things are going, both out of taste preference, but also out of necessity. So when you think about a future that is set up that way, you have to consider all of the things that are going to go into ultimately making that a sustainable experience for everyone.”

Chef Michael Salem, former head of culinary innovation at Burger King will serve as Hart House’s executive chef.

“If I were advising him at the time, I would say, ‘Don’t you dare ever start a restaurant, and don’t you ever start a restaurant in the middle of COVID,’ but after almost two years of really working on this menu and getting the food to a place where it can deliver on that promise, we’re ready to go and we’re excited to tell the world about Hart House and excited to serve the food.”

Hart House’s menu will include plant-based burgers, “chick’n” sandwiches, salads, and

“It’s one thing when you hear someone’s idea and you get excited about working with a celebrity. It’s another thing when you hear about somebody’s idea and it actually really resonates with your life’s work and that’s what happened to me,” Salem said.

“I’ve seen too many animals die. I’ve been too guilty about the food I’ve been serving the community, making people really unhealthy for a long time, and I just don’t think it’s necessary. I think this is really the future of fast food, so that’s why I took the gig. I just thought it was an incredible chance to really make a difference and leave a legacy on food service and an industry that’s been so good to me.”

Sources: Black Enterprise, Los Angeles Magazine, Fox 11

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Kevin Hart

“Many Americans have no idea that the Supreme Court’s infamous Dred Scott decision was far worse.”

Voters, not the Supreme Court, will determine country’s future

By Carl Snowden

The long-expected US Supreme Court decision ending constitutional protections for abortions in America was handed down. A rally was called, and people showed up at the People’s Park in Annapolis to lend their voices to this opprobrious decision. Sharon Blugis asked me to speak at the rally. As I watched the various speakers eloquently protest this decision, I thought about my 18-year-old granddaughter, who had no idea that her right to decide for herself may be coming to an end. As I watched speaker after speaker denounces the court decision, I thought about how this isn’t a new issue for African American women.

Long before the 1973 landmark decision, Roe v. Wade Black women were trying to control who could and couldn’t impregnate them.

n

Many Americans have no idea that the Supreme Court’s infamous Dred Scott decision was far worse. In that decision, the court, in essence, said that Black people had no rights that white people were bounded to respect. In fact, not only were Black women subject to rape but their offspring were sold as chattel. Slave masters forced Black women’s sons to commit acts of incest with their mothers, sisters, aunts, and others. This is an unpleasant and inconvenient truth, but it did occur.

indeed witnessed America at its worst. Yet, it is the following story that gives me determination and optimism.

In 1857, when the devastating Dred Scott decision was handed down by the Supreme Court, the abolitionist leaders of the day gathered at a church to see how they would respond.

In attendance were Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, David Walker, Lucretia Mott, and others. They were concerned that the Dred Scott decision would set the abolition movement back for generations.

Frederick Douglass, the noted orator, couldn’t find the words to inspire his comrades. Walking into that meeting late was Sojourner Truth. She noted the despondency in the group and asked, “Frederick, what is wrong?”

Frederick Douglass quickly recapped the Dred Scott decision and concluded that “whites were not bound to respect the rights of Black people.”

Sojourner Truth responded, “Is that all?”

Douglass assumed that this illiterate Black woman did not understand what he said and again, in a condescending and patronizing way, explained how terrible this decision was and then asked Sojourner Truth, “Now do you understand?”

“We can choose to complain, or we can organize.”

In my life’s journey, I have seen many court decisions and many of them have been frankly disappointing and often damaging. Before deciding that women do not have a constitutional right to seek abortions, the Supreme Court gutted the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

There is concern that this super majority conservative court, may strike down other hardfought gains. Some people believe that we are headed for a new civil war.

Indeed, as we approach the Fourth of July holiday, there are many people who see a dark future ahead. Over the years, I have gained a new appreciation for faith and determination.

I have seen this side of America before. Yet, I have faith in the future. Given the increase in gun violence, massacres, and a nation moving sharply to the right, one wonders how I can still remain optimistic.

As a student of history, I am well aware of where we are. As a person who lived through the assassinations of Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, President John F. Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, and Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton, I have

It is Sojourner Truth’s response that gives me great hope. She in essence said, “Frederick, I didn’t know you followed the Supreme Court, I thought you followed a Supreme being. Don’t put your faith in them, put your faith in a God that will never forsake us.”

Sometimes as Dr. King once said, “only when it gets dark enough can you see the stars.”

The recent Supreme Court decision shows us that elections have consequences. American democracy requires the participation of its citizens to make it live up to its ideals.

While the Supreme Court has over the years handed down dreadful decisions, the fact of the matter is that voters can and will determine the future of this nation.

We can decide to make America better and not bitter. There is the court of law and the court of public opinion.

What Sojourner Truth knew is what we must know, the price of freedom isn’t free, it never has been. We can choose to complain, or we can organize.

Voters going to the ballot box in August and November will decide what kind of America we will have. I end this editorial with the sage advice that I gave at the aforementioned rally, which former President Barack Obama gave, “Don’t boo, vote.”

Carl Snowden is a civil rights activist and convener of the Caucus of African American Leaders. This commentary was originally published in the Capital Gazette, Annapolis, Maryland

As I See It - A Forum for Community Issues

Mental illness no excuse for all mass murders

By James B. Ewers

Shootings of any kind are bad. They shame us, they embarrass us, and they injure us. Oftentimes, they kill us.

Guns have the consequences of life and death. During these days and times, they are causing too many deaths.

It seems daily someone is being killed because of gun violence.

Our society is suffering mightily because of it. Families once whole are now being torn apart because of this cycle of doom and gloom.

Using guns and not thoughtful ways of talking has become how we settle disagreements. Plainly stated, we shoot each other instead of talk to each other.

We are spiraling down each day. Is this the way of the future?

Critics of gun control are still waging a battle against reasonable proposals and solutions.

They point to mental health as to why gun violence is out of control.

Their position is to point to every mass shooting and say mental illness is the cause.

Many of us in the public square disagree with this line of thinking.

Did Dylann Roof suffer from mental illness when he shot those nine Black people in Charleston South Carolina? Let us remember they were attending a church service.

Did Payton S. Gendron have some type of mental strife when he killed ten Black people in Buffalo New York? They were shopping at a gro-

cery store. What about hate as a reason for these shootings?

According to reports, 19.86% of adults in America are experiencing some type of mental illness. This means approximately 50 million people have mental health challenges.

I, along with many others, believe it is irresponsible to say that every time a person gets injured or killed that the shooter has a mental illness. It is wrong to use mental illness as the only reason for these shootings. When Black men are killed by law enforcement officers, are we to assume that they have a mental health problem? I don’t make that assumption. What assumption do you make?

Despite this rash of senseless shootings and killings, there may be hope and help on the horizon.

Recently, a bipartisan group of 10 Democratic senators and 10 Republican senators brokered an agreement on school safety and gun measures.

Reports say that the proposal will be strong enough to counter- act the filibuster. It will need 60 votes to do so.

Chris Murphy, Democratic senator from Connecticut said on Twitter, “We have a deal. Today a bipartisan group of

20 senators (10 D and 10 R) is announcing a breakthrough agreement on gun violence-the first in 30 years-that will save lives.”

There are some major components to this proposed piece of legislation.

For example, there will be additional vetting for people who want to buy guns and there will be monies available for school-based mental health programs. This regulation will stem the tide of those who want to purchase guns as before there were little to minimal background checks.

It is my opinion that this budding piece of legislation will put a stop to the overreach of the NRA (National Rifle Association). Some say they are the nation’s most powerful lobbying group.

Gun advocacy and safety groups are pushing for this legislation to be enacted. For many of them this has been a long time coming. The student-led movement, March for Our Lives and one of the co-founders, David Hogg said, “In a less broken society, we would be able to require background checks every single time someone wants to buy a gun, and we would ban assault rifles outright. But even if one life is saved or one attempted mass shooting is prevented because of these regulations, we believe that it is worth fighting for.”

I do, too.

Columnist James B. Ewers Jr. held leadership positions at Savannah (Georgia) State and Miami University Middletown, Ohio.

Commentary Bring Brittney Griner home soon

By Marc Morial

It’s hard to imagine the feeling of dread Cherelle Griner experiences each day that her wife, NBA star Brittney Griner, is wrongfully detained in a hostile nation with a long history of persecuting LGBTQ people.

When a scheduled call on their wedding anniversary last went unanswered 11 times over several hours, Cherelle was devastated.

“This would have been the first time for me to actually just hear her in real time and to truly know if she’s okay or to know if she’s seconds away from not being in existence anymore,” she told the Associated Press.

This week, as Brittney Griner’s detention in Russia surpassed four months, the National Urban League joined more than 40 other civil and human rights organizations to call on President Biden and Vice President Harris to strike a deal for her release.

In a letter to the President and Vice President, we acknowledged Griner as an American hero, wife, daughter, sister, teammate, antibullying advocate, Olympian, and WNBA superstar who is enduring inhumane treatment, deprived of contact with her family.

“We join Brittney’s family, friends, colleagues, and loved ones in deep appreciation of your Administration’s ongoing efforts to secure her freedom,” we wrote. “The U.S. Government has acknowledged that Brittney is essentially a political pawn in classifying her as wrongfully detained. While these have been critically important measures, we now urge you to make a deal to get Brittney back home to America immediately and safely.”

Last month, the U.S. Department of State officially reclassified Griner as “wrongfully detained,” signaling a significant shift in the way the agency handles her case. While one of the criteria for the designation is “credible information indicating innocence of the detained individual,” the change means the U.S. considers any legal proceedings in the Russian courts to be irrelevant to her case.

Russian prosecutors claim illegal vape cartridges containing hashish oil were found in her luggage as she entered the country. She has not formally been charged.

The lack of publicity in the early weeks of her detention has become a source of controversy. However, many suspect the WNBA was concerned that the case would draw attention to the league’s dismally low salaries compared to other sports leagues, which is the reason Griner was in Russia in the first place. Women’s basketball players can earn exponentially more than their WNBA salaries playing overseas.

Surely, Griner’s race, gender and sexual orientation have played a role. “Imagine if Tom Brady were being held by Russian officials right now,” sportswriter Will Leitch observed.

“This month our nation honors America’s diverse journey towards freedom, equality, and justice for all with the observation of the Juneteenth Federal holiday, the 50th anniversary of

landmark Title IX legislation, and LGBTQ+ Pride,” we wrote in our letter to the President. “Brittney’s intersectional identity embodies this celebration of America’s strength and diversity. As a celebrated world-class athlete, she also demonstrates the uniquely unifying power of sports.”

From the Olympic Games to the World Cup, the sport has long been recognized unifying global force. Even the United Nations General Assembly’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development states, “We recognize the growing contribution of sport to the realization of development and peace in its promotion of tolerance and respect and the contributions it makes to the empowerment of women and of young people, individuals and communities as well as to health, education and social inclusion objectives.” Few athletes embody this spirit of goodwill more than Griner. When she saw unhoused people in Arizona walking outside without shoes on her way home from practice, she began carrying shoes in the trunk of her car to give to away, an effort that led to the establishment of BG’s Heart and Sole Shoe Drive in 2016. She is an outspoken anti-bullying activist, and she’s been honored by GLAAD and the Human Rights Campaign for her work defending the rights and dignity of LGBTQ individuals. Her ongoing detention is an indefensible and agonizing attack not only on Griner herself, her wife, and her family, but on the sanctity of sport and the safety of all athletes traveling to compete internationally. President Biden and Vice President Harris must make every effort to bring her home immediately.

Columnist Marc H. Morial

Guest Columnist By James B. Ewers

Guest Columnist Carl Snowden

SLACO, partners launch 10 Little Libraries project

St. Louis American staff

The Saint Louis Association of Community Organizations [SLACO] and partners recently broke ground for the first of 10 Little Free Libraries, which will serve seven St. Louis neighborhoods.

With residents of the neighborhoods leading the way, AmeriCorps, SLACO, C.A.R.E, St. Louis Arts Chamber, and other groups have been working to open the inaugural site at 4061 Enright on the Hodiamont Tracks for six months.

“We are breaking the Delmar Divide. Change cannot happen in neighborhoods without resident impact and involvement.

I am just thankful for the residents, all the organizations, and people that donated books or volunteered,” said Judith Arnold, urban planner/community organizer of SLACO.

Change and Action for Racial Equity [CARE], a group of volunteers pursuing racial and social justice, is leading this initiative to launch 50 Little Free Libraries in St. Louis and surrounding areas.

“So many people have their eyes on these seven neighborhoods and want to invest in the area again. SLACO’s goal has always been to keep the residents engaged in these activities, keep their voices heard, and be part of the change.”

“We’re excited about this project. Education and knowledge have unlimited benefits and is a catalyst to improving circumstances,” said Kisha Greenidge-Kader, CARE director

“By launching these libraries, we are breaking down barriers to book access, promoting literacy, increasing book ownership, and encouraging families and communities to read a diverse selection of books. We hope this initiative encourages lifelong book readers and learners, and the benefits will last for generations.”

SLACO is repurposing vacant lots and using the properties to line up with the plans Great Rivers Greenway has proposed for The Greenway on the Hodiamont Tracks and the North Central Plan.

SLACO will log these sites, the little libraries, and the books inside with the National Chapter of Little Free Library.

We must protect Black women who beat Trump

By Liz Dwyer

It’s been 60 years since Malcolm X’s famous speech where he told the truth about the treatment of Black women in the United States.

Brother Malcolm said, “The most disrespected person in America is the Black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the Black woman. The most neglected person in America is the Black woman.”

Anyone who thinks those words aren’t still true should watch footage of the House Jan. 6 committee testimony of former Fulton County, Georgia, election workers Wandrea “Shaye” Moss and her mother, Ruby Freeman.

Do you know how it feels for the President of the United States to target you?” Freeman asked during her testimony.

Although Black women may be disrespected, unprotected, and neglected, we are still the heart of democracy.

Ruby Freeman’s courage, and that of her daughter Shaye Moss, to testify — despite enduring two years of racial terrorism because of Donald Trump’s lies — is proof that although Black women may be disrespected, unprotected, and neglected, we are still the heart of democracy. And the Black community can’t wait until white supremacists physically harm Freeman and Moss to turn their names into a clarion call — hashtagged or otherwise — for justice.

In their June 21 testimony, the mother and daughter both described the horrific, racist threats they have been subjected to since Trump and his minions began their campaign of harassment against them.

Freeman had people calling her house threatening her and showing up at her home.

“I don’t introduce myself by name anymore, I get nervous when I bump into someone in the grocery store who says my name. I’m worried about who’s listening. I get nervous when I have to give my name for food orders,” Freeman testified.

In America, if you’re a Black woman, you’re always fair game for attack.

The harassment started in December 2020 when Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, falsely claimed that security camera footage of the two women helping count ballots showed them passing around a rigged USB drive like “vials of cocaine or heroin.”

Then, in a January 3, 2021 phone call to Georgia election officials, Trump falsely accused them — by name — of rigging the presidential election against him and causing him to lose Georgia to Joe Biden. Trump mentioned Freeman’s name 18 times, calling her a “professional vote scammer,” a “hustler,” and a “known political operative.”

The two women’s lives turned into hell to the point that they were forced to start GoFundMe campaigns in December 2021 because it wasn’t safe for them to go to work.

“I worked with Fulton County Voter Registration from 2011 to 2022, and it gave me pleasure helping the public learn everything about voting,” Moss wrote on her GoFundMe page

Keep in mind, Moss and Freeman stepped up at one of the riskiest moments of the COVID-19 pandemic. No vaccines were available on election day and total infections skyrocketed past 100,000 per day for the first time on November 4, 2020, the day after Americans went to the polls.

Despite this, Moss and Freeman went above and beyond to ensure people in Atlanta could safely vote.

After watching Moss’s testimony, white author, activist, and CEO Elizabeth Cronise McLaughlin asked some real-talk questions that indicate she understands what Malcolm X said six decades ago:

“Do we love Black women, who show up to vote for Democrats more than any other voting bloc? Do we love Black women, who organize our democracy daily and fight for its survival? Do we love Black women enough to say that this line that was crossed that destroyed the safety and the sanctity of the lives of Shaye Moss and Ruby Freeman is a point of no return? Do we love Black women?”

Liz Dwyer is managing director of Word in Black

Six-time Olympic medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee poses with children on the campus of Washington University in St. Louis on Wednesday, June 22. Joyner-Kersee and other St. Louis Olympians led hundreds of St. Louis area youth around the track at Francis Olympic Field, site of the 1904 Olympic Games, in observance of World Olympic Day.

Photo by Bill Greenblatt / St. Louis American

On the right track

Liz Dwyer

Judith Arnold

dation.

“This isn’t a game. There can be no fear in this,” he said.

The initiative will use multivehicle “votercades” to get out the vote. Tour buses will visit swing states ahead of the November elections to register and mobilize new, and registered, Black voters.

“The first form of voter suppression is self-suppression,” said Benjamin f. Chavis, NNPA president and CEO.

“What if those 10 million were registered? We wouldn’t have worried about Donald Trump or the craziness of what the U.S. Supreme Court is doing now. Elections have consequences. The overturned Roe v. Wade, the overturned gun laws – are consequences of elections.”

Arnwine said TJC’s mission includes “working for systematic change that achieves racial justice, gender, economic and social justice, and human rights through public education and engagement initiatives that attend equally to hearts and minds as well as the social systems and structure in which they exist.”

It has created a “voting rights map of shame” to inform the public of threats to America’s democracy, how to protect their voting rights, and steps to take to ensure the ability to cast a ballot and make

Vaccines

Continued from A1

of what they put into their bodies has helped the Johnsons navigate the pandemic. Both contracted COVID in 2021 before vaccines were available nationwide. But, other than DJ’s loss of taste and smell and Alex flu-like feelings, both said they recuperated within a few days. From the knowledge they

sure it’s counted. Arnwine called new voting laws and other tactics “vicious.”

“It is a totally concentrated assault on our voting.”

She warned that the effort to shut down Black voting could include physical and mental intimidation.

[Anti-voting rights organizations and individuals] have trained 10,000 people to be poll disruptors to go to only Black polling sites,” Arnwine said.

“They’re not sending them to white polling sites, and if you watched the [Jan. 6] hearings, this is a concentrated effort to disempower Black voters,” she stated.

According to Davis, more than 18 million people are eligible to vote but don’t know it.

“They are the felony disenfranchised,” Davis insisted.

“They are confused. It’s intentionally done in various states. For example, in some states, you never lose your right to vote, and in some states, you can run for office if you’re incarcerated,” he explained.

“That call and response from our brothers and sisters are vital. It’s movement time, it is time to Get-Out-The-Vote” Chavis said.

“With the Transformative Justice Coalition, the NNPA will help move our people forward to get out this vote. In 2022, we will make the critical difference in the midterm elections in terms of increasing Black voter participation throughout the country.”

have gleaned, the Johnsons are adamantly opposed to having their 22-month-old baby girl be among the children 6 months of age and older who are now eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccines.

On the other end of the spectrum, Adrianne and Antwon Blakemore are all in on vaccinating their two children ages two and four, especially the eldest who will start school in the Fall. Both Adrianne and Antwon are fully vaccinated. Adrianne said it

wasn’t a hard decision for her and Antwon.

“I’m from Chicago. We travel back and forth to be around my family So, we knew it was something we had to do.”

Another factor that feeds Adrianne’s pro-vaccine attitude was the highly reported death of her 15-yr-old cousin Dykota Morgan who lived in Bolingbrook, IL. The teen died in 2021, less than three days after testing positive for COVID-19. Her death occurred

just months before the FDA authorized the emergency use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine for children 12 years of age and older.

“That made me even more convinced it (COVID) was real,” Adrianne confessed.

It’s not a matter of being reckless, DJ insists. It’s a legitimate effort to take control of their and their child’s health and well-being.

“For the last five decades or so, parents have taken a step back from genuinely getting involved with the overall health of our kids,” DJ explained.

“They just trusted the pediatricians, doctors, and the healthcare systems to do what’s best for their children. As parents, we need to be a lot more actively involved with those conversations, treatments and all that stuff.”

Recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) accepted the recommendation of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and recommended the use of the Moderna and PfizerBioNTech COVID-19 vaccines for nearly 20 million children who are younger than 5.

Results from a new Kaiser Family Foundation study showed just 18% of US parents of children in the recently approved age-group plan to vaccinate their kids.

Hesitancy, the report said, was fueled by delays in approving the vaccine. According to the report, 38% of surveyed parents said they will wait and see before vaccinating their youngest kids, 27% said they will definitely not vaccinate, and 11% said they will do so only if required.

The Johnsons are not among this vaccine-hesitant group.

“Why would we take the risk of pumping our child full of this unapproved, untested emergency use experimental

drug?” DJ asked after listing his concerns.

DJ said he hasn’t seen convincing data that proves young children are even at a high risk of contracting COVID19. His wife, Alex, noted the medical system’s history of experimenting on Black people as reason not to trust it today.

Alex questions the Food and Drug Administration’s expedited “emergency use authorization” of vaccines and says he’s found proof that there are direct links to rising cases of obesity, ADHD, Down Syndrome, and autism among young people connected to COVID vaccines.

Depending on where you search the Internet, there are sites that somewhat corroborate, refute, or outright dismiss DJ’s assertions. For example, the CDC said that all the scientific studies published to date point to the same conclusion: the shots are safe. Yes, like any vaccine, COVID-19 vaccines do cause side effects, but most are mild or moderate and go away within a few days on their own and serious reactions are rare, according to the CDC.

DJ wasn’t deterred by the fact that 1 million people in the US have died from COVID19 or, according to experts, at least 1,433 of those deaths were among children and young people (CYP) aged 0-19 years. When told that 200 kids under five in this country have died from the virus, DJ was still opposed to vaccinating his child.’

“We’ve lost more kids to gun violence than COVID every year,” DJ asserted, while stressing his opposition to vaccinating his baby. “That doesn’t outweigh the risk of potentially bringing harm to my child. That doesn’t make sense to me.”

The Blakemores are also well-informed. After much research, the Blakemores said

they are opting toward the Pizer vaccine for their child. Additionally, Adrianne gave a lot of credit to her children’s pediatrician, Shirley M. Knight, M.D., for helping in their decision.

“She’s amazing,” Adrianne said, referencing Dr. Knight. “She’s good at providing and explaining information and having conversations with us to help us understand.”

As the Kaiser Family Foundation report noted, there are a significant number of parents hesitant about vaccinating their very young children. Many have lingering questions such as: “Are the vaccines safe? How effective are they, especially against Omicron and its sub variants? Should a child who recently had COVID-19 get vaccinated?”

Although the Blakemores have made up their minds about vaccinating their children, Adrianne isn’t exactly chomping at the bit to get her kids inoculated.

“They’ll be vaccinated but I’m not sure when. I’m not in a rush,” Adrianne confessed. “I’m still looking at the news and statistics just to make sure what’s coming down the pipeline.”

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

Related Note:

Affinia

Healthcare announced it has received its first shipment of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 6 months to 5 years old. Children in that age group will be able to receive the vaccine by appointment at Affinia Healthcare locations where pediatric services are provided. Parents or guardians can make an appointment for their children by calling the Affinia Healthcare appointment line at 314-814-8700.

Barbara Arnwine, Transformative Justice Coalition founder and president, and Daryl Jones, TJC chair, announced at the National Newspaper Publishers Convention in New Orleans that the organizations are launching a nationwide Get Out The Vote campaign through the use of “votercades.”

Photo by Alvin A. Reid / St. Louis American

Roe fell. The bills would also help finance childcare for women who need to travel for reproductive care–though it’s not yet clear exactly how those funds would be distributed.

On Monday, Mayor Tishaura O. Jones announced that Board Bill 61 would allocate $1.5 million in American Rescue Plan funds to a Reproductive Equity Fund for nonprofit organizations, which could access the money through grants from the St. Louis Department of Health, which would receive an additional $250,000 to administer grants through the fund.

“We expect to be sued for this,” Jones said.

“We are working to see what is allowable, if this is allowable. This is a time to act, and the people elected a Mayor to act on their behalf.”

According to a statement from Pro-Choice Missouri, the bill would make St. Louis the fifth in the country to grant or pledge municipal funds for abortion support.

On Wednesday, County Executive Sam Page announced that a similar bill would be voted on in the County Council, which is set to meet in 10 days to decide how they plan to spend their remaining $74 million in ARPA funds. Page said he hopes that $1 million of that number will go to reproductive health services, as well as transportation for those who might seek procedures, such as abortions, that are no longer available in Missouri.

“I’m going to do all I can to help those who are being left behind by this recent court decision,” Page said. “We do not leave our most vulnerable behind in the name of political gain.” He added that he believes this is a legal use of ARPA funds, and emphasized that the money will not be used to directly pay for abortions.

“There is a pathway to use ARPA funds to help women who are trying to make a difficult decision. We will not participate in paying for abortion services … we will follow the state law. But we do believe

Cops

Continued from A1

bring a civil lawsuit.

“Another day, another horrific set of politically-motivated opinions from the GOP-packed Supreme Court,” tweeted Democratic Representative Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.

“Miranda rights hanging by a thread while a 110-year old gun control law is struck down. #ExpandTheCourt, or are we just surrendering?”

Brett Max Kaufman, senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), said in a statement that the decision “widens the gap between the guarantees found in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and the people’s ability to hold government officials accountable for violating them.”

Kaufman vowed that the

Beaming with Pride

After a two-year pandemic pause, the St. Louis

community together to march in support of the LGBTQIA+ community, celebrate the diverse

of belonging in the community. This year’s parade traveled down Market Street, between 10th

as a background.

that ARPA funds can be used to support transportation, or childcare, or other types of activity for women who are making a very difficult decision.”

These bills, if passed, wouldn’t just apply to abortions. Some doctors in Missouri worry that the new law may criminalize those who treat ectopic pregnancies, which occur when an egg implants in the fallopian tube, generally cannot be carried to term, and endanger the life of the mother. Furthermore, the law may criminalize certain forms of birth control such as intrauter-

ACLU would “keep fighting to make sure our country lives up to the Constitution’s guarantees.”

“This morning SCOTUS destroyed our Miranda rights and struck down a New York law requiring cause to conceal and carry a gun,” tweeted Democratic Representative Jamaal Bowman of New York.

“Just 6 people are destroying our democracy.”

The significance of this right cannot be overstated— throughout much of our country’s history, especially during the Jim Crow era, many false confessions were coerced from suspects via illegal methods, which oftentimes meant violence. But in 1966, the high court took steps to eliminate this problem with their landmark ruling in Miranda v. Arizona, “which required the police to warn suspects that they have the right to remain

ine devices (IUDs), meaning that transit and support services could also be critical for those who might require those forms of birth control.

While the Mayor and the County Executive have thrown their weight behind bills meant to mitigate the damage wrought by the repeal of Roe, the direct enforcement of the law–or lack thereof–will be left to the offices of Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner and County Prosecutor Wesley Bell, respectively.

Wesley Bell signed on to a letter by over 80 prosecutors across the country asserting that they would refuse to pros-

silent and to access to an attorney.”

In the case at hand, Terence Tekoh was a hospital worker, “who was accused of sexually assaulting an immobilized female patient at a local hospital in 2014.” Carlos Vega, a sheriff deputy for Los Angeles County questioned Tekoh, but had failed to read him his rights as required by the precedent of Miranda v. Arizona. While Tekoh ultimately did confess to the crime, he was tried and acquitted – even after the introduction of his confession at trial. He then filed suit against the officer under Section 1983 of federal law.

Lower courts were split on the issue of “whether the warning given to criminal suspects before they talk to authorities…is a constitutional right or something less important and less defined,” and thus the case rose up to the level of the Supreme Court.

ecute providers of abortion care. At a press conference Wednesday, he held that his reasoning behind that decision is that abortion is not a public safety concern.

“‘We have limited resources, and prosecutors every day make decisions on how to best utilize those resources,” Bell said. “Our priority is violent and serious offenses, and prosecuting those cases. In a case like this, in a situation like this,

and

and

with respect to abortion providers … there is no public safety concern. There is no public safety issue. In fact, quite the opposite—this is about protecting our residents. And we will use our discretion accordingly.”

Bell, however, doesn’t have an abortion clinic in his district, so it is unlikely that he will be called upon to prosecute such a case. Kim Gardner, whose district does house Planned Parenthood, did not sign on to the letter by prosecutors who are refusing to pursue abortion-provider cases.

“The Circuit Attorney remains committed to ensuring the safe delivery of comprehensive reproductive health services in the City of St. Louis,” a representative of Gardner’s office wrote in a June 24 statement.

Grand Pride Parade returned on Sunday, June 26, 2022. Pride STL says the parade brings the

groups in STL,

allows people to find a place

Street

18th Streets, with the Gateway Arch

Photo by Taylor McIntosh / St. Louis American

Voter advocates pelt Gov. Parson for ignoring veto request

‘An attack on Black voters”

St. Louis American staff

Missouri voter protection advocates Wednesday condemned Governor Michael Parson’s signing of H.B. 1878, the elections bill passed by the General Assembly last month.

“We are disappointed that Governor Parson did not consider the voters of Missouri who will be harmed by H.B. 1878,” said Denise Lieberman, director and general counsel of the Missouri Voter Protection Coalition

She said her organization is considering a legal challenge to some of the bill’s provisions.

“H.B. 1878 is breathtaking in the ways it undermines our elections - hampering voter registration drives, making it illegal to help people get absentee ballot applications, enshrining an unconstitutional strict photo ID provision, allowing the Secretary of State to order voters removed from the rolls at his discretion, allowing partisan lawmakers to be part of challenges to voting

laws, opening the door to sham audits and more,” she said.

Nimrod Chapel, Jr., president of the Missouri State Conference of the NAACP, said the battle is just beginning.

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“We will work with the community to make sure the rights of Missouri voters are restored and everyone can have their vote counted,” he said.

“The NAACP has long raised concerns about Missouri’s efforts to implement a discriminatory voter ID law, and it is one of the reasons we have issued a travel advisory for the state. Democracy in Missouri is not a safe place for Black voters.”

The NAACP was a plaintiff in a 2017 challenging a prior iteration of Missouri’s photo ID law.

Marilyn McLeod, President of the League of Women Voters of Missouri, which was also a plaintiff in the prior legal challenge, said: “The right to vote is our most basic right and is the cornerstone of all of our rights,” said Marilyn McLeod, president of the League of Women Voters of Missouri,.

“This legislation provides unnecessary roadblocks to our most basic right. Among its many provisions, it requires an extremely limited form of ID to be able to vote which will disenfranchise thousands of citizens who are fully qualified to vote.”

The Rev. Darryl Gray, Missouri Faith Voices executive director, called the bill “a blatant attack on Black Missourians.”

“[It] is an attack against our basic rights and freedom. Black people and our allies will not sit idle while our basic human rights are threatened, we will meet this threat in the courts, the ballot box, and the streets if necessary.”

“We have fought long and hard for the right to vote; to see the clock turning back now is devastating,” said Patricia Jones-Macklin of the Greater Kansas City Chapter of A. Philip Randolph Institute.

“We cannot stop now. We must fight for our right to vote, and we must exercise our right to vote!”

Jennifer Slavik Lohman, who chairs MOVPC’s AntiDisinformation Working Group said “lawmakers leveraged disinformation about our elections to manufacture a pretext for unnecessary, suppressive legislation. Their brazen manipulation of irrational fears about fictional problems is an outrageous attack on our freedom to vote, and is nothing short of election sabotage.

“Missourians everywhere

Photo by Wiley Price / St. Louis American

Nimrod Chapel, Jr., president of the Missouri State Conference of the NAACP, says his and other organizations will continue fighting new voting laws.

Misery’s Role in Roe’s Repeal

Last week, Attorney General Eric Schmitt signed a memorandum, authorizing the nation’s first “trigger law,” or the automatic and total ban on abortion following the repeal of Roe v. Wade. By “triggering” the abortion ban - which would not and did not take effect until A.G. Schmitt signed it - Missouri once again made history in one of the worst ways possible.

Although the Supreme Court case that overturned women’s right to control their own bodies, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, originated in Mississippi, the EYE simply cannot ignore the prominent role played by Missourians in the larger movement to repeal the rights established under the Reconstruction-era constitutional amendments. From licensed attorneys who know better to zealous white supremacists, Missouri anti-abortion advocates have made their racist agenda known far and wide: the assault on civil rights is far from over.

man and others like her, will stop at banning abortion? While most religious people are moved by their faith to help and inspire others, Coleman undoubtedly has used her narrow interpretation of the Bible to further oppression not just against women, but against every other class that previously enjoyed protections under the 14th Amendment. As an attorney, Coleman knows immediately and understands the consequences of the laws she’s drafted - and nevertheless, this girl boss persists.

We’ll start with the “young mom of 6” who “blasts Lizzo and Beyoncé” while she gleefully strips other women of their rights - State Representative Mary Elizabeth Coleman Coleman has worked hard to become the face of the national anti-abortion movement - and in the process, one of the figureheads for the “Christofascist” movement in Missouri. Like a less savvy Phyllis Schlafly, hiding behind designer clothes and expensive makeup, Coleman has wielded both her wealth and privilege in an effort to criminalize abortion for both the mother and medical provider, to allocate taxpayer dollars to religious programs that lie to pregnant women about basic biology, and to push false information as scientific fact -- all in just one bill. Other instances where Coleman - as a Missourilicensed attorney - has known of the unconstitutionality of her bills include legislative attempts to ban all forms of birth control and to ban pregnant women from leaving the state of Missouri to seek abortion medical care. In other words, this state representative seeks to prevent people from crossing state lines to access health care. Do we really believe that attacks on constitutional rights, like Cole-

Coleman’s performative spectacle was joined by her colleagues and fellow “champions” for white supremacy, Rep. Nick Schroer and Sens. Mike Moon and Bob Onder. Schroer, of course, is remembered for his declaration that white privilege is “fictional,” while Moon’s and Onder’s recent antics in the Missouri Senate include attempting to strip state and federal funding from women’s cancer screenings and prevention programs and to ban gender-affirming medical care in the state. Schroer’s own history of unconstitutional legislation includes a 2022 bill banning public funds going to licensed abortion facilities (with the only facility in Missouri being Planned Parenthood) and a 2019 ban on abortions after 8 weeks with no exceptions for rape or incest survivors. Moon and Onder, in particular, were part of the Republican in-fighting from this spring’s legislative session, where they held hostage the senate floor with a filibuster until their demands for an unconstitutional congressional map were met.

As we predicted in our May 18 column, the U.S. Supreme Court is not finished with its mission to pull back on all civil rights protections that find their roots in the 14th Amendment. Justice Clarence Thomas who has been the only Black justice on the Supreme Court for 30 years, said in his dissent, citing selective history, “For that reason, in future cases, we should reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents, including Griswold Lawrence, and Obergefell.” In other words, after the court’s ruling overturning two landmark legal precedents protecting a woman’s right to abortion Justice Thomas

advocates for the repeal of Griswold v. Connecticut, which allowed married couples to buy and use birth control without government interference in 1965; Lawrence v. Texas, which repealed criminal punishments for sodomy between consenting adults in 2003; and Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same sex marriage in 2015. Thomas did stop short of naming Loving v. Virginia, the 1967 Supreme Court case based on the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment that struck down bans on interracial marriages. This might be difficult for him as he is in an interracial marriage with right-wing activist Virginia Thomas

Other rights now at risk of loss include the right to public education, the right to live in the neighborhood of your

choice, the right to have and use a credit card, and the right to sit on a jury.

These concerns are not simply the EYE overreacting: the dissenting opinion states, “[e]ither the majority does not really believe in its own reasoning. Or if it does, all rights that have no history stretching back to the mid-19th century are insecure. Either the mass of the majority’s opinion is hypocrisy, or additional constitutional rights are under threat. It is one or the other.”

The Justices, of course, refer to the enactment of several post-Civil War constitutional amendments to the Bill of Rights, including the 13th Amendment, which legalized slavery through the institution of mass incarceration; the 14th Amendment, guaranteeing equal protection and due process; and the 15th Amendment, which gave voting rights to Black men.

chattel slavery. In consideration of everything that has happened in the last week, we would be foolish to believe that this is not an intentional effort to return this country to its pre-Civil War politics.

The EYE acknowledges the local leaders who have stepped forward for women, including Mayor Tishaura O. Jones and Alderwoman Annie Rice (Ward 8). Rice is the aldermanic sponsor of Board Bill 61, which would establish a fund that helps abortion-seekers with the logistical hurdles of the medical procedure. Mayor Jones has acknowledged that the “Sue Bully” - Attorney General Schmitt - likely will sue the City over the establishment of the fund.

But these are the very rights that the ultra-conservative Supreme Court seeks to limit; after all, the United States is a nation that didn’t even make it through the first few steps of Reconstruction and reparations to the survivors of

“This is a time to act, and people elected a mayor to act on their behalf,” Jones said at Monday’s press conference.

We wish every Supreme Court in the country, including the nine Justices who are not bound by the existing Code of Justice for U.S. Federal Judges and every state supreme court - to first enact their own codes of conduct and standards. Right now, there are no conflict-of-interest standards for the top judges in

the country. The justices who politically supported Trump’s “Big Lie” had (and have) no obligation to recuse themselves from hearing the cases involving the disgraced former president. As voters, we should have no expectation for ungoverned, undemocratic judges to make the right decisions for the citizens they supposedly serve, when these institutions have no rules or restrictions regulating their conduct. Change must begin there. Since we won’t hold our breath for this U.S. Supreme Court to do the right thing, in the meantime we encourage our readers to contact every single Missouri legislator who has played a role in the blanket dismantling of Roe v. Wade, bodily autonomy, and the anticipated repeal of every right bestowed under the 14th Amendment. Voters can find legislators’ contact information through the Missouri Secretary of State’s website.

And we thank the elected leaders who have stepped forward with immediate action, to not just offer placations of public statements but concrete, tangible legislation, and resolutions to protect everyone impacted by reproductive injustice.

Eric Schmitt

Clarence Thomas

SLPS places Prop S on August 2 ballot to improve schools

analyses conducted during the district’s recent restructuring (and closing of seven schools), “suggest a sense of urgency in pursuing a bond issue.”

“Nearly half (44%) of District buildings are 100 or more years old with compounding maintenance needs. In addition to the daily wear and tear of hundreds of children on stairwells, restrooms and floors, the pandemic has pushed air quality and other environmental concerns to the forefront.,” he said.

funds would be used to support facilities acquisition, construction, improvements, renovations, and upgrades across all SLPS schools and facilities.

According to Superintendent Kelvin Adams, facilities

Gregory F.X. Daly, St. Louis collector of revenue and St. Louis City Comptroller and Chief Fiscal Officer Darlene Green will co-chair the campaign.

“I signed on to help in this process so SLPS can make much needed improvements in our city’s schools. This is a solid investment in our commu-

nity,” he said.

“In a District this size, the needs far exceed the $160 million but, passage of Prop S would go a long way toward improving the overall educational experience for students and teachers.” Green said she is also pleased to join the effort.

“Our students and teachers are entitled to learn and work in comfortable, safe, and healthy environments. SLPS leaders have maintained a balanced budget for 12 years and consistently earned favorable audits,” she said

“This bond issue, which will fund essential improvements to our schools without raising taxes, further demonstrates the type of fiscal responsibility our community expects and deserves.”

The last bond issue city voters considered in August 2010, which was also named Prop

Kelvin Adams, St. Louis Public Schools Superintendent, was joined by Gregory F.X. Daly, St. Louis collector of revenue, Darlene Green, St. Louis comptroller and chief fiscal officer, and members of the SLPS board of education in announcing support for Prop S, which will be on the August 2, 2022, city ballot.

Photo courtesy of SLPS

S, passed with 75% of vot-

ers approving $155 million to renovate schools.

“All those projects were completed within budget. Now, more than a decade later, more repairs are needed. It’s sort of like maintaining your home. Over time, the repairs keep coming,” Adams said.

The funding will be used for facilities work including, but not limited to air quality, lead removal, security improvements, HVAC, roof repairs, and bathroom upgrades.

“Every one of the more than 60 schools and buildings in SLPS will be touched in some way by these upgrades, improvements and repairs,” said Adams.

For more information about Prop S, please visit, www.slps. org/PropS

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Pain, purpose, and God’s Plan

By Anthony J. Kiekow

Sharing stories about my personal experiences is nothing new for me, but the following story is the most personal and painful one I’ve ever shared.

The CDC estimates that about one out of every six adults will experience a significant mental health issue in their lifetime. My experience came in 2015. At the time, I was a successful news reporter, living in a great city and married to a wonderful woman. I can trace my troubles back to something that started as a beautiful experience. From the moment I learned I was going to be a father, I envisioned having a boy. On March 3, 1999, Little Ant was born. His arrival motivated me to pursue my dream. I had always wanted to be a news reporter, but insecurities stemming from childhood trauma had derailed my progress. When Little Ant was born, I wanted to set a good example, so I started to turn my life around. By 2009, I had earned a degree in journalism. I also had become something I never had - an active, present father.

I was only 17 when Little Ant was born, so in many ways, we grew up together. While I took my role as a father seriously, I also considered him to be my best friend. We had a secret handshake, shared inside jokes, and talked about our dreams. When he reached school age, we spent many nights doing our homework together. While I studied journalism, he practiced addition and subtraction. After I graduated from college, I began to believe that my dream was all part of God’s plan for me and that I had an obligation to pursue it with all my heart. In early 2010, I was offered a reporting job for an NBC television station. Unfortunately, it meant I had to move to Dayton. I planned to visit Little Ant as often as possible, and he was supposed to spend the summers with me in Dayton. Unfortunately, my low salary and demanding schedule made

it difficult to visit Minneapolis with any regularity. Parenting is a tough job but parenting over the phone is next to impossible. While, I thrived in front of the camera, behind the scenes my relationship with Little Ant was deteriorating. When my first summer in Dayton arrived, Little Ant refused to spend it with me. In response, I began to push for him to live with me permanently, but the more I pushed, the more damage I seemed to do to our relationship. By 2014, our interaction had been reduced to an occasional phone call. To him, I was just a vaguely familiar voice that grew more distant each day. During an argument in the spring of 2015, he said that I chose my career over him, so I wasn’t his dad anymore. I could hear the hurt in his voice. Our relationship had reached its lowest point to date. I was devastated. In the summer of 2015, I was offered a reporting job in Dallas. The role would put me in position to become a network reporter, according to my agent. It seemed to be another sign that I was following God’s plan. However, my experience in Dallas was a nightmare. The verbally abusive managers, shockingly low salary, dangerous working conditions, and never-ending work schedule left me feeling anxious and defeated at the start and end of each day. Eventually, my faith and self-esteem began to crumble. My childhood insecurities returned. I had worked so hard for so long and sacrificed so much only to feel miserable. I felt like I traded my relationship with my son for nothing. Those feelings pulled me into a deep state of sadness. I left television news in 2016, but I didn’t have the tools to express my feelings or properly heal.

On the surface, I seemed fine to most of my family and friends, but inside I was filled with guilt and regret. Later, I learned that childhood trauma trained me to hide my pain. By 2020, I began to recognize the cost of my inability to open up, so I decided to seek professional help. Unpacking my pain and becoming more open was a slow process.

The breakthrough came when I shared the darkest details of my past with my wife. Before I could complete a single sentence, the pain began to pour out of my eyes. With tears streaming down my face, I showed every scar the world left on my heart. Honestly, before that night, I didn’t even think I was still capable of crying.

My newfound willingness to be vulnerable didn’t erase the past, but it did help me see the kind of man I want to be in the future. It also helped me see the true purpose of the plan God designed for me. It was never about being a reporter. The purpose was always about preparing me to help other people by sharing stories about my personal experiences. Some stories will be about pain, others will be about joy. To fulfill my purpose, I’ll need to experience both. I hope sharing this story helps someone else who is dealing with mental health issue or trying to repair a relationship.

I know I still have some difficult times ahead, but thanks to therapy, I understand that continuing to open up about the pain I experience is the only path forward.

I wish I could say that Little Ant and I have repaired our relationship and are best friends, again. I can’t, but I have been able to let go of the guilt and regret I carried for so long. Much of our story is yet to be written. I still hope it has a happy ending.

Anthony J. Kiekow is a former FOX2 news reporter and Associated Press award winner.

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Summertime means kids home from school, outside fun, gathering with friends and visiting with grandparents.

And all summer long, natural gas provides the energy you need to:

• Help slow the spread of COVID-19 by washing your hands and clothes with warm water

• Cook healthy meals on your natural gas stove—even when the power is out

• Enjoy comfortable showers and baths

This summer, extra financial assistance is available to help with your natural gas utility bill for qualified families and individuals. So that means you can keep the energy you need all year long.

To learn more about the application process, contact one of the agencies listed below.

Guest Columnist Anthony J. Kiekow

“Taking Care of You”

Black women die at alarming rate from uterine cancer

Misdiagnoses a problem

By JoAnn Weaver For The St. Louis American

Black women had more than twice the rate of deaths from uterine cancer when compared to other racial and ethnic groups according to a recent American Medical Association (AMA) study.

In addition, Black women also are diagnosed with a more aggressive type of uterine cancer at higher rates.

Researchers analyzed U.S. cancer data for women 40 and older and found overall uterine cancer death rates increased by 1.8% per year from 2010 to 2017, according to the

n Researchers analyzed U.S. cancer data for women 40 and older and found overall uterine cancer death rates increased by 1.8% per year from 2010 to 2017.

study.

“The worrying issue is that more and more women are being diagnosed with aggressive types of cancer, who are more at risk of dying of disease,” Dr. Dineo Khabele, Washington

Bobie Williams helps Black men address healthcare issues

By Ashley Winters

St. Louis American

The

While National Men’s Health Month draws to a close at June’s end, the St. Louis Health Department’s mission of helping Black men and all members of under-served communities continues year-round. Imperative to reaching better health outcomes throughout the region is finding ways to get more men into doctor’s offices.

“We want all men to have health insurance,” said Bobie Williams, city Department of Health men’s health service manager.

However, Williams knows for many Black and brown men, a lack of health insurance is one of many health disparities they might face.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the disparity in life expectancy between men and women grew in 2020 from 5.1 years in 2019 to 5.7 years in 2020.

Heart ailments are a leading cause in the drop in life

University School of Medicine professor and chair of Obstetrics & Gynecology said.

“They’re more at risk of getting a late diagnosis when the cancer has already spread and is harder to treat.”

An estimated 65,950 new cases of uterine cancer will be diagnosed in the U.S. this year and 12,550 women are expected to die from it, according to the AMA.

Khabele said some obstetrics and gynecology departments lack adequate uterine screenings and sometimes fail to see the signs that indicate an individual may have uterine

‘A blueprint to your body’

n According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the disparity in life expectancy between men and women grew in 2020 from 5.1 years in 2019 to 5.7 years in 2020.

expectancy for Black and brown men.

According to a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health report, in 2018 for every 100,000 deaths in America, Black men dying from heart disease comprised nearly 300. White men comprised 213. The report also concludes that 57% of Black men are diagnosed with hypertension, compared to white men at 50%.

Williams is determined to help keep all men healthy and seeks to reduce the large gap between healthy white men and healthy men of color.

He has served 14 years with the department and directs its Health and Equity Program. It partners with

AIDS testing still a must

By Alexa Spencer

It’s been 27 years since the United States observed its first National HIV Testing Day on June 27, 1995.

Black people are still contracting the virus at higher rates than other groups, and advocates say it is imperative for African Americans to still get tested.

“The thing that we know about HIV is that the earlier you know your HIV status, the longer you can live. That is a fact,” said Rae Lewis-Thornton, an activist who’s been advocating for HIV prevention and care for over four decades.

“Testing is even more incredibly important because you can’t get treatment if you don’t know your HIV status.”

About 560,000 people in the U.S. learned they contracted the virus in the 1980s when the epidemic began. Black people were among those most affected. Sadly, not much has changed.

Today, Black people account for just over 40% of all new HIV diagnoses. Over 290,000 of us have progressed to stage three HIV, developed AIDS, and died since the 1980s, according to 2016 statistics.

Lewis-Thornton, who found out she was living with HIV after donating blood in 1987, said that technology has become so advanced and by using it, “We really can save someone’s life.”

“We’re squandering this technology. It took them almost five years to develop an HIV antibody test. We’ve come a long way from 1985 when testing became available,” LewisThornton said. “It wasn’t even available for general testing. It was available for blood supply and so the point is that we needed this technology. We have it and now we need to put it to use.”

Dr. Sherry Molock, an associate professor at George Washington University who examines the development of HIV prevention programs in African American faith-based communities, agreed that HIV research has advanced.

“With the advent of new medications like PrEP (Pre-exposure prophylaxis), HIV is now a manageable disease but it’s still important that people get tested regularly and engage in safe sex behaviors,” Molock shared with Word In Black Molock, who also researches HIV risk in

Bobie Williams is the St. Louis City Department of Health men’s health service manager.

Dr. Dineo Khabele, Washington University School of Medicine professor and chair of Obstetrics & Gynecology, said the mortality rate for Black women with uterine cancer could be reduced if there were more Black women physicians.

Photo by Selena Jabara / Washington University

Photo by Wiley Price / St. Louis American

Alexa Spencer

By Marty Schladen For The Missouri Independent

The Federal Trade Commission last week announced what some believe could be a game-changer when it comes to the rising cost of prescription drugs.

The agency — which is meant to protect fair competition — said it would look into the murky practice by which drugmakers grant rebates and other fees to insurer-owned pharmacy middlemen in exchange for better treatment of their products. The FTC wants to know whether that system is encouraging insurers and their middlemen to unfairly exclude cheaper drugs based on secret benefits they’re getting from drugmakers.

“American families and businesses should never pay higher prices for medicine due to unlawful business practices,” the commission said in a policy statement. “For this reason, challenging healthcare industry conduct that may raise prices and stifle innovation is a top priority for the Federal Trade Commission… and the commission will use its full authority under the FTC Act to do so.” There’s some evidence that the system of rebates and discounts raises drug costs.

The three largest drug middlemen, CVS Caremark, OptumRx and Express Scripts, together control more than 70% of the marketplace.

Known as “pharmacy benefit managers” or PBMs, they contract with insurers, create pharmacy networks, determine

Cancer

Continued from A12

“We do know that bleeding after menopause is abnormal but because Black women are often diagnosed with fibroids, which are benign and can cause bleeding, this can cause a delay in diagnosis,” Khabele said.

“A lot of times, there is a misdiagnosis, while ignoring these symptoms of abnormal

Williams

Continued from A12

the St. Louis Integrated Health Network, and together they help men navigate through healthcare services.

“Taking Care of You”

Drugmaker rebates, fees face scrutiny of FTC Murky

practices being examined

reimbursements and facilitate transactions.

Crucially, they also negotiate big rebates and other fees with drugmakers in exchange for favorable placement on the PBMs’ “formularies” — lists of which drugs are covered and which of those will have the lowest copayments.

In other words, if a drugmaker wants its product to be covered by a PBM and be most attractive to consumers, it has to provide big rebates and other fees to do so. PBMs often boast that they pass rebates on to their customers, but the deals are often non-transparent and it’s hard to know whether some of the funds they used to call “rebates” have simply been reclassified as “fees.”

In fact, the PBMs enjoy

bleeding by physicians, health care workers, and often by our own people in communities who don’t necessarily understand that any type of bleeding even if you have fibroids is not normal.”

Irregular bleeding can be a warning sign, but there is no recommended screening test.

In an AMA cohort study of 208,587 women with uterine cancer, linked mortality and cancer registry data showed uterine cancer mortality rate annual increases of 3.4%

an exemption from federal antikickback law that allows them to engage in the practice of extracting rebates and fees. The Trump administration proposed ending the exemption, but never acted on it.

Granting ever larger rebates and fees appears to be driving up list prices of drugs.

A 2020 paper published by the University of Southern California’s Schaeffer Center found that each $1 increase in rebates correlated with a $1.17 increase in list prices

And while insurer-affiliated PBMs aren’t paying those list prices, others, such as the uninsured, are. Also, deductibles and payments by Medicare recipients in the coverage gap pay can be based on those inflated list prices. In addition, if the PBMs and their affiliated insurers are quietly

among Asian women, 3.5% among Black women, 6.7% among Hispanic women, and 1.5% among White women, irrespective of histologic subtype or stage at diagnosis.

Mortality rates were found to have increased by 1.8% for uterine cancer overall and 2.7% for non-endometrioid subtypes, whereas mortality rates of less aggressive endometrioid cancers remained stable.

Additionally, Khabele said technology cannot reliably detect uterine cancer.

pocketing a portion of the rebates and fees they’re getting, those paying for coverage would seem to face higher prices as well.

Industry groups representing insurers and drug manufacturers didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

But there’s at least limited evidence that the current system can crowd out cheaper alternatives.

An analysis last year concluded that over a threemonth period, the biggest Medicare Part D managedcare plans were forcing 60% of patients needing the multiple sclerosis drug dimethyl fumarate to buy the most-expensive, brand-name version if they wanted their insurance to cover it. Almost all of the rest had to make

“There are also problems with our ultrasounds’ modality which is non-evasive imaging. Sometimes the way we measure the abnormal lining of a uterus can be misleading for the aggressive types of uterine cancer,” Khabele said.

“Many times, it can be missed because if Black women have fibroids, they can affect the measurement of the lining of the uterus.”

According to Khabele, less than 50 Black women are gynecologic oncologists. She

Illustration courtesy of Missouri Independent

higher copayments if they wanted an alternative, the report by 46brooklyn Research said

The branded drug, Tecfidera, carries a list price of more than $8,000 a month, while generic versions can list for less than $900 a month. The drug also could cost as little as $40 a month when purchased at pharmacies operating completely outside the insurance/PBM system

Perhaps not coincidentally, all of those big insurers — which cover 85% of Part D recipients — are affiliated with PBMs. CVS, UnitedHealth and Cigna are owned by the same corporations that own the topthree PBMs, while Anthem, Centene, Humana and Kaiser had affiliated PBMs of their own, often contracting part of their business out to one of the big three.

said if more Black women specialized in this area, they would be able to treat medical conditions specific to Black women.

“We’re not being diagnosed early enough because people are missing these symptoms,” Khabele said.

“Sometimes Black women are also not always getting offered the right treatment and are not getting access to clinical trials.”

According to Khabele, physicians are misdiagnos-

The three largest drug middlemen, CVS Caremark, OptumRx and Express Scripts, together control more than 70% of the marketplace.

The FTC said it intends to determine whether the health care giants are using such “vertical integration” to stymie competition and drive up costs.

“For many years, the Commission has received complaints about rebates and fees paid by drug manufacturers to pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and other intermediaries to favor high-cost drugs that generate large rebates and fees that are not always shared with patients,” the agency’s policy statement said. “These rebates and fees may shift costs and misalign incentives in a way that ultimately increases patients’ costs and stifles competition from lower-cost drugs, especially when generics and biosimilars are excluded or disfavored on formularies.”

ing Black women for uterine cancer because they don’t understand the warning signs in addition to not having a standard screening test.

“There is a lot of work that needs to be done to the medical establishment to ensure that we’re getting the appropriate care and access to care across all populations,” Khabele said. Pull Quote: “Less than 50 Black women are gynecologic oncologists,” Dr. Dineo Khabele said.

The city’s Hispanic population is the most likely to be uninsured, registering at 21.7%.

According to the report, if health insurance coverage rates were equitable, nearly 11,000 more Black residents would have health insurance.

This includes helping them gain access to health insurance, a primary physician, and an annual preventive health examination. Since 2019, the program has provided men’s health presentations to over 260 men in St. Louis. According to a city of St. Louis study, African Americans are twice as likely to not have health insurance as other members of the community. That means that 20,000, or 14% of African Americans in the city are uninsured. Just 7% of white residents are uninsured.

Williams encourages men to complete preventive health

AIDS

Continued from A12

examinations, adding that most men don’t get an annual exam even if they are insured.

“You gotta know what’s going on with your body,” said Williams, emphasizing how important it is for men to have a trusted primary physician

“The keyword is ‘trusted.’ You’re not going to share vital information or personal information, like how your body is feeling with someone you do not trust.”

He recommends men have a lipid panel completed and discuss results with a doctor. It is a blood test that measures the

amount of certain fat molecules called lipids in blood. Men should also inquire about their enzyme number count, and blood pressure.

Williams calls those numbers, “the blueprint to your body.”

During community conversations, Williams addresses the top 10 diseases that impact Black and brown men at a disproportionately higher rate compared to white men.

They are heart disease; cancer; strokes; chronic lower respiratory disease; Alzheimer’s disease; kidney

disease; diabetes; and, as of 2021, COVID-19.

To keep men of color engaged and proactive about their health, Williams suggests lifestyle changes that promote a healthier mind and body.

He hopes to change the narrative of how men view their bodies, by changing attitudes about health that begin when they are young.

“It starts from childhood, our culture teaches boys that when they are hurt to ‘man up’ and that type of attitude reinforces men ignoring their bodies when something is wrong,”

get tested, and if they’re HIVpositive, to get treated, but she also recognizes the individual and structural barriers to doing both.

sexual minority men (SMM), or gay and bisexual men, says while rates of infection are decreasing among this group, “HIV is still disproportionately impacting Black youth. Black SMM is less than 1% of the U.S. population but represents 26% of new HIV cases.”

It’s no secret that Black women are also disproportionately impacted by the virus. Despite making up less than 15% of the U.S. female population, Black cisgender women account for nearly 60% of new diagnoses.

that HIV risks are higher in both Black heterosexual and LGBTQ youth and that homonegativity beliefs and policies increase risk,” Molock said.

priority to know their status.

The data shows that 76% of Black people over age 18 reported that they’d been tested for HIV, compared to 58% of Latinos and 50% of White people.

he said. “We are conditioned that our bodies don’t matter.” To slow that thinking throughout communities, Williams and the Brown School at Washington University are partners in the Home Grown initiative. It will be a St. Louis version of the national initiative, My Brother’s Keeper The local effort is for young boys and men from underserved communities and will help them promote overall healthy lives.

cared for right away. And we’re not virally suppressed,” she said.

“Stigma, fear of disclosure of sexual identity, concerns around violation of confidentiality, costs of tests, and location of services” are just a few of the reasons why some people find it harder to access healthcare.

Alexa Spencer is a reporter and columnist for Word In Black cancer.

And Black trans women account for 46% of new diagnoses among transgender women. Molock believes it’s important for Black folks to

“Changes have to be made not only at the individual level but at community and structural levels as well.”

According to a poll conducted by Kaiser Family Foundation in 2014, a portion of Black folks have made it a

“Folks may not realize

Still, Lewis-Thornton says testing for the Black community is a must.

“We still have more HIV cases. Whether you’re gay or straight, that doesn’t matter. Male or female. We’re not

“And if you’re not virally suppressed — which is really the real piece — when you’re not virally suppressed, you’re still at risk for HIV-related health issues and you can infect somebody else.”

Guys With the Fries serves comfort food, Kool-Aid

‘We’re on a dollar and a dream’

Co-owners Akia Kemp and Rory Owens outside their new restaurant Guys With The Fries in the Kingshighway West neighborhood located at 1330 Aubert Ave.

By Ashley Winters

The St. Louis American

St. Louis has a new fully loaded French fry spot, Guys With The Fries, recently opened in the Kingshighway West neighborhood located at 1330 Aubert Ave.

Co-owners Akia Kemp and Rory Owens

bring “the backyard boogie” with every meal.

“It’s just something the city needs, it’s our neighborhood,” said Owens.

Owens says that it is imperative for Black entrepreneurs to invest in communities north of Delmar.

The family-owned restaurant is an intimate space that has old-school R&B playing over the

speakers while serving comfort food and KoolAid.

“It’s our food, this is the food we eat when we have a family get-together, it’s for us,” said

Kemp.

Guys With The Fries has that good ole days kind of vibe, you have the down-to-earth cashier that welcomes guests with his quick wit and jokes that has the customers laughing out loud.

But it wasn’t always laughing and jokes. In the beginning, Kemp says their restaurant was a labor of love. Both owners are new to the food industry and didn’t have a blueprint to use as guidance.

“We’re on a dollar and a dream, we just do whatever gotta be done,” said Kemp.

Before Guys With The Fries opened its doors for business, major renovations were needed. It took the entrepreneurs close to a year before they

See FRIES, B2

PeoPle on the Move

Christina Dancy named program manager

L.

Christina L. Dancy, who joined Edward Jones in 2019, was recently named program manager, community initiatives and systems. She is responsible for leading the strategy and execution of complex projects and initiatives aligned with the firm’s purpose and community engagement commitments and in partnerships with internal stakeholders, nonprofits and civic organizations. Yancy is a past recipient of a St. Louis American Foundation Young Leaders Award.

Dallas Adams is new communications manager

Great Rivers Greenway recently welcomed Dallas Adams as Communications Manager for the public agency. As communications manager, Adams is tasked with promoting the agency’s mission, vision and projects. She will focus on both day-to-day and long-term strategic external communications and marketing as well as internally supporting the many departments and efforts of the agency. Adams will also be responsible for establishing and maintaining critical partnerships and collaborations that enhance visitor experience and awareness of the greenways. Her prior experience includes nearly four years with the Starkloff Disability Institute, where she most recently held the position of communications manager.

Tasha Jordan, a science teacher at Johnson-Wabash 6th-Grade Center in the Ferguson-Florissant School

By Alvin A. Reid

Veal Ligon named lead at Filament LLC

LaKecia Veal Ligon has recently joined Filament as their experience and operations lead focused on supporting the project needs of the company. She will manage Thinksgiving, new Filament projects, and help pilot new company offerings. Throughout her career, she has worked in nonprofit operations, communications, event planning, and project management. She is a graduate of Webster University with an MA in nonprofit leadership and a BA in psychology.

Photo by Wiley Price / St. Louis American

Christina

Dancy

Dallas Adams

Tasha

LaKecia Veal Ligon

Photo courtesy of CAASTLC

Fries

could have their grand opening.

Kemp says he became an electrician almost overnight.

Kemp is a designer by trade and owner and operator of Signature Design Gallery LLC. Ownes is a social media influencer in the gaming industry. Neither has a background in running a restaurant but with the help of family, friends, and the community they make it work.

And making it work is what they are good at.

The Philly Steak Loaded Fries is a sandwich draped in hot melted cheese on a bed of fries. The restaurant sometimes has a line outside as people wait to order chicken wings and a house specialty, the chicken

Bills

Continued from B1

tion of their 30,000 eligible customers use funds to help with sewer bills.

“We know that a water bill is not the only bill that families need to pay, and sometimes customers need assistance,” said Rich Svindland, president of Missouri American Water.

“We encourage our customers to utilize the temporary federal funds made available through Low Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP), as well as Missouri American Water’s H2O Help to Others Program, enhanced installment plans, and budget billing.”

LIHWAP funds can help with disconnection or reconnection fees, the threat of disconnection, past due bills, and current bills. Missouri American Water’s customers that live in St. Louis County and St. Charles County can access funding for LIHWAP and H2O Help to Others by contacting the Community Action Agency of St. Louis County, Inc. (CAASTLC).

MSD Project Clear’s sewer and stormwater customers in St. Louis County can also contact CAASTLC. MSDPC’s city of St. Louis customers can access funds through the

philly egg rolls. Everything is made in-house, by Owens’ aunt.

Kemp says what makes their restaurant stand out compared to other eateries is their food is made with love, they bring affordable prices and quality to the community.

“It’s a Black-owned business with good food, we are serving the community, we are trying to change our neighborhood,” said Owens.

“The northside doesn’t have a lot of options when it comes to getting good food, all we have are franchise fast food places.

The owners say they are not in the business of exploiting the community that has been so good to them. Quality food and good customer service are top priorities.

“We want our customers to keep coming back,” said

Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis.

Detricia Beach calls CAASTL “a Godsend” after being introduced to parenting and employment classes.

“I had gone through a tough period and needed a bit of direction. With the skills given to me, I increased my self-esteem, became a homeowner and a role model for others,” she said.

After suffering a stroke in 2021 and contracting COVID19, she faced difficulty in paying bills.

“I could not make ends meet. I received assistance with rent, gas, electric, water and sewer payments through a coordinated package amounting in over $3500 including LIHWAP,” she said.

Marion Gee, MSD Project Clear director of finance, is encouraging every eligible family to apply.

“Funds available through LIHWAP can relieve some of the pressure that working families are facing and provide greater peace of mind that basic needs like water and sewer services are being met,” she said.

For LIHWAP, if all household members currently qualify for TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) or SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits, you are automatically eligible for LIHWAP. But an

Owens said.

“It’s an experience, you come in, you might hear Marvin Gaye playing in the background. Order your food, eat and chill. It’s that kind of place, it’s a vibe.” Owens and Kemp haven’t done any real advertising or marketing, and say the business they have been getting is all word of mouth.

“That’s a true testament to the food we are serving, it’s needed,” Kemp said. Both Kemp and Owens hope to expand to DoorDash and GrubHub and are making plans to be a part of the Taste of St. Louis this year.

“All of this is a blessing, this came out of nothing, it’s been hard getting everything up and running, but it’s worth it. We got something special,” Kemp said.

application must be completed to receive the benefit.

Customers must provide documentation of current or delinquent water and wastewater bills at application time to be eligible for assistance with both.

Households that previously received LIHEAP may be eligible again if their income is still at or below the income for their household size, and all other eligibility is met.

To be eligible:

• An applicant must be responsible for paying their water and/or wastewater (sewer) bill.

• All household members must be a United States citizen (or have been legally admitted for permanent residence)

• Have $3,000 or less in your bank accounts, retirement accounts, or investment

• Meet specific income guidelines based on your household size.

To apply for LIHWAP, visit mydss.mo.gov/utility-assistance/lihwap. You can also contact your local contracted agency to request an application be mailed to you.

Make sure all of the required documentation requested in the application and your current (last 30 days) water or wastewater bill.

Renters who do not pay their water and/or wastewater bill directly to the utility company must include the Lease Agreement(s), all other requested information, and the Landlord Documentation Request Form. If you pay your own water and wastewater bill to the utility company, submit your bill(s) with your application. You do not need to complete the “Landlord Documentation Request” form.

Households who have suppliers who do not actively participate with the LIHWAP program to distribute funds to their clients will not be approved for LIHWAP.

If you have moved after submitting an LIHWAP application contact the contracted agency where you submitted your application. You will need to complete a new application with your new address, and submit it and a copy of the water and/or wastewater bill, which shows your new address.

Co-owners Akia Kemp and Rory Owens are proud to say that Guys With The Fries is a family-owned restaurant with aditional help from friends.

Photo by Wiley Price / St. Louis American

n “Let’s show them why Arrowhead is the loudest stadium in the world.”

– Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes announcing World Cup 2026 is coming to K.C.

Sports

JUNE 30 – JULY 6, 2022

InSIdE SportS

By Earl Austin Jr.

American salutes prep track stars

Asinga, Brown Athletes of Year

It was an exciting year of track and field in the St. Louis metro area. We will now put a bow on the season with the announcement of the St. Louis American 2022 All-Area Track and Field Team. Congratulations also go out to the girls’ teams at Cardinal Ritter, Parkway Central and Westminster Christian and the boys’ team at Principia for bringing home state championships back to St. Louis. Also, congratulations to our St. Louis American Track and Field Athletes of the Years, who are junior Issam Asinga of Principia (boys) and sophomore Aniyah Brown of Cardinal Ritter (girls). Here is a look at the members of the St. Louis American All-Area Track and Field Team:

First

100-meter dash: Aniyah Brown (Cardinal Ritter)

200-meter dash: Aniyah Brown (Cardinal Ritter)

400-meter dash: A’laji Bradley (Pattonville)

800-meter run: Camryn Hubbard (Pattonville)

1,600-meter run: Grace Tyson (Lafayette)

3,200-meter run: Grace Tyson (Lafayette)

100-meter-high hurdles: Genesis Dixon (Kirkwood)

300-meter low hurdles: Maya Anderson (MICDS)

4x100-meter relay: Cardinal Ritter

4x200-meter relay: Parkway Central

4x400-meter relay: Cardinal Ritter

4x800-meter relay: Lafayette Long Jump: Aaliyah Elliott (John Burroughs)

Triple Jump: Maya Anderson (MICDS) and Brooke Moore (Westminster)

High Jump: Mason Meinershagen (Oakville)

Shot Put: Vanessa Polk (John Burroughs)

Discus: Josie Hapacki (Highland)

Pole Vault: Mason Meinershagen (Oakville)

Javelin: Jenna Teakert (Parkway North)

Boys

100-meter dash; Issam Asinga (Principia)

200-meter dash: Issam Asinga (Principia)

400-meter dash: David Richard (Wentzville Liberty)

800-meter run: Jacob Meyers (Festus)

1,600-meter run: Ryan Watts (Edwardsville)

3,200-meter run: Ryan Watts (Edwardsville)

110-meter-high hurdles: Demarlynn Taylor (East St. Louis)

300-meter intermediate hurdles: Chase Vickery (Wentzville Liberty)

4x100-meter relay: East St. Louis

4x200-meter relay: MICDS

4x400-meter relay: MICDS

4x800-meter relay: Festus

Long Jump: Amel Abdul-Mumin (Hazelwood West)

Triple Jump: Nicholas Deloach (Cahokia)

High Jump: Braden Goellner (St. Charles)

Shot Put: Kaian Roberts-Day (Festus)

Discus: Larry Minner (Westminster)

Pole Vault: Sullivan Gleason (Fort Zumwalt North)

Javelin: Payton Brown (Hillsboro)

Second Team

Girls

100-meter dash: A’laji Bradley (Pattonville)

200-meter dash: Kayelyn Tate (Parkway Central)

400-meter dash: Charlye Moody (Cardinal Ritter), Nnenna Okpara (Parkway Central)

800-meter run: Josie Baker (Kirkwood)

1,600-meter run: Ally Kruger (Wentzville Liberty)

SportS EyE

With Alvin A. Reid

3,200-meter run: Ally Kruger (Wentzville Liberty)

100-meter-high hurdles: Maya Anderson (MICDS)

300-meter low hurdles: Skyye Lee (Parkway Central)

4x100-meter relay: Incarnate Word Academy

4x200-meter relay: Cardinal Ritter

4x400-meter relay: Parkway Central

4x800-meter relay: Nerinx Hall

Long Jump: Brooke Moore (Westminster)

Triple Jump: Hannah Wallace (Cardinal Ritter)

High Jump: Faith Atkins (McCluer North)

Shot Put: Charnay Davis (Hazelwood West)

Discus: Jlynn Humphrey (Troy)

Pole Vault: Sophia Schrader (Parkway North)

Javelin: Alexis Miller (Summit) Boys

100-meter dash: Ryan Wingo (SLUH)

200-meter dash: Ryan Wingo (SLUH)

400-meter dash: James Milgie (Whitfield)

800-meter dash: Josh Allison (Hillsboro)

1,600-meter run: Charles Krasnoff (Ladue)

3,200-meter run: Charles Krasnoff (Ladue)

110-meter-high hurdles: Devon Walker (Parkway Central)

300-meter intermediate hurdles: Julian Juszczyk (Lutheran North)

4x100-meter relay: St. Mary’s

4x200-meter relay: SLUH

4x400-meter relay: Whitfield

4x800-meter relay: Fort Zumwalt West

Long Jump: Kendall Gurley (Francis Howell)

Triple Jump: Jordan Brooks (Edwardsville)

High Jump: Amel Abdul-Mumin (Hazelwood West)

Shot Put: Sterling Webb (Westminster)

Discus: Ashton Noble (Roxana)

Pole Vault: William Geiler (Eureka) Javelin: Cole Blackstock (Wentzville Liberty)

Girls headed to Louisville

Several top St. Louis area grassroots girls’ basketball programs will be headed to Louisville next week to compete in the Run 4 Roses Classic, which is held at the city’s Convention Center. I went to this event last year and it is quite a spectacle with more than 1,000 teams from all over the country and distinct parts of the world as well. Included in the field are St. Louis area teams such as Lady Brad Beal Elite, Napheesa Collier Elite, Midwest United and Knights Basketball Academy, who feature exceptionally talented players from the Class of 2023 down to the Class of 2027. The event runs from July 5-8. I am looking forward to getting back to the Bluegrass state to check out this prime-time basketball showcase.

HBCUs could be just what MLB needs to increase Black players

With big-name former NFL players including Deion Sanders at Jackson State and Eddie George at Tennessee State, HBCU football is all the rage. The increased attention is great. It certainly helped get four HBCU players selected in the 2022 NFL Draft, compared to zero in 2021.

Major League Baseball’s Black participation level is dreadful. Just 7.2% of its players on Opening Day 2022 rosters were African American, down from 18% in 1991. Yet, there could be a new, and old, portal to unknown Black baseball players that MLB should become involved with in a big way.

er, Marvin Freeman. Team Freeman prevailed 6-2 over Team Grissom. Joseph Smith, an HBCU All-Star outfielder from Savannah State, told the Florida Star, “I love this opportunity.”

Alvin A. Reid

The 2022 Minority Baseball Prospects [MBP] HBCU AllStar Game was held in June at Truist Park near Atlanta. Sixty players from 57 HBCUs were invited to display their respective talents in the game. These teams were coached by former Florida A&M and Atlanta Braves outfielder Marquis Grissom and former Jackson State and MLB pitch-

“A lot of African American people don’t really get the exposure and experience to do stuff like this so it’s a once in a lifetime dream.”

Morehouse College pitcher Casey Coates also called the game and accessibility to coaches and scouts “a dream at first.”

“[It] also proves that we, just like other people who aren’t minorities, can do what they do as well. We’re just as talented as they are.”

Malik Bell, an Albany State University infielder, was proud to represent his HBCU, and all the respective baseball programs throughout the nation.

“It’s awesome because at Albany State it feels like we put our school on the map. For somebody else outside of Albany State to notice our efforts and hard work we put in during the season. I like that, he said.

Fellow Albany State player, outfielder Lavoisier Fisher said before the game, “it’s going to be lit.” “We get to come out, perform, show exactly what our coach has been teaching us. It’s going to be a fun experience out there.”

Rashad Webster, a Stillman

College assistant coach, said there is a will among HBCU players to reach the Major League level.

“There is more fire inside of these gentlemen to make it to the next level because everybody wants to be the next pioneer when it comes to the game of baseball,” Webster said.

“A lot of trials and tribulations come with being a minority baseball player. Whether that be on the field or off the field there’s a lot of things that you must handle mentally before you get out on this baseball field. A ton of struggle comes with being a minority baseball player.” Freeman said, “it is not where you’re at it’s how you play.”

“HBCUs are not as funded as some of the other larger schools, but we still have some of the best talent in the country and hopefully these guys will get an opportunity to show that they compete on whatever level they are on.”

Savannah State coach Roberto Alonso Jr., also let MLB know that it will take more than talk to increase Black participation in the game, and on HBCU campuses.

“If we continue to build the HBCU schools and help them with the funding that is needed to promote baseball, get these kids more acclimated, more educated on a baseball diamond instead of on a street corner we’re going to have a lot more success stories,” he said.

The Reid Roundup Jack Flaherty left his third start of the season last Sunday with “a dead arm.” The outing against the Chicago Cubs was to be his longest stint of the season, it did not happen. I’m as big a Flaherty fan as there is, but he’s got to get healthy, and start winning games before a dead arm puts his career in critical condition… Like Flaherty, Chris Archer of the Minnesota Twins has been dealing with injuries over the past two seasons. Archer is having an impressive season, pitching five scoreless innings in a 6-0 win over Colorado last Saturday. In five June starts, he allowed four earned runs over 23 innings for a 1.57 ERA while working on limited pitch counts like Flaherty…With NBA free agency opening on June 30, several teams are angling for a shot at Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal. If you are a Wizards fan, don’t panic if he opts out of his current deal. It could mean he would sign a new ‘super-max’ deal with the team. If he does not opt out, word is he could then ask for a trade.

Earl Austin Jr.

Principia’s Issam Asinga

Savannah State slugger Joseph Smith

Photo by Chris Auckley / Principia.edu

Dr. Keshia Elder named dean of College of Optometry at UMSL

To become first Black female dean of optometry in the U.S.

By Heather Riske UMSL Daily

When Dr. Keshia Elder assumes the role of dean of the College of Optometry at the University of Missouri–St. Louis later this year, it will mark a historic moment both for UMSL and the field of optometry at large. Elder, who previously served as an associate clinical professor at UMSL from 2011 to 2016, will be the first Black female dean of optometry in the country.

“I am proud that I’m able to serve my profession, my students and my colleagues in this role,” she said. “But it’s also astounding because it’s 2022. Who would have thought it would take until 2022 to meet this milestone?”

Currently the director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and director of Externships at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Optometry, Elder has over 20 years of experience stretching across different corners of the optometry field. Her move into the DEI realm, she said, was a natural one, inspired by her

By Kristine Kleine

own experience both academically and professionally and her determination to improve that experience for other people of color.

At UMSL, Elder will continue to build on her decades of experience furthering diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the profession, specifically highlighting the need to establish a diverse, safe, supportive and welcoming optometric environment and to hire diverse leadership.

Elder, who holds a Doctor

of Optometry and two master’s degrees – one in vision science and a second in instructional design – all from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, has a lengthy and varied résumé. Each of her experiences, she said, have worked together to uniquely prepare her for this new role.“I have a very diverse background, and I have had my fingers in a lot of different components of optometric education,” she said.

Her career began as an officer and optometrist in the U.S. Navy Medical Services Corps from 1998 to 2003, an experience that she said instilled in her the importance of looking out for your people and making sure that everyone is well-taken care of. Her time with the navy continues to set the tone for how she interacts with patients and colleagues today.

Elder is actively involved in the optometric community nationally, holding roles with the American Academy of Optometry, the National Optometric Association and the Association of Schools & Colleges of Optometry, among others.

Leonard Singh to be next chairman, president of Ameren Illinois

An executive with more than 30 years of utility experience

Ameren Corporation announced that Leonard “Lennty” Singh will be the next chairman and president of Ameren Illinois. Singh joins Ameren July 1 and will assume the role when Richard Mark retires on Aug. 1. Singh has extensive experience in both electric and natural gas operations. He most recently served as senior vice president for Consolidated Edison Company of New York.

“Lenny’s deep experience and industry knowledge is well-suited to lead service to our 1.2 million electric customers and more than 800,000 natural gas customers in the state of Illinois,” said Marty Lyons, chief executive officer of Ameren.

“He has a proven track record of developing and executing strategic plans as well as demonstrating a steadfast focus on safety, customer satisfaction, continuous improvement, action and accountability. He is also known as a highly effective coach and mentor, skilled in motivating teams to produce

positive results and reliable service for customers.

“We look forward to his strategic input as a member of Ameren’s Executive Leadership Team. Richard and Lenny will work closely together throughout July, meeting with team members and key stakeholders to execute a smooth transition.”

During his time at Con Edison, Singh served in a variety of roles, including leading Customer Energy Solutions, Manhattan Electric

Operations as well as serving as chief engineer and general manager of Gas Operations. He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Polytechnic University, and a master of business administration degree from Columbia University.

“I am thrilled to join Ameren,” Singh said. “This is an exciting time of change and transition in the energy industry, and I am ready to draw on my many experiences in the industry to help the company prepare for the future as we power the quality of life for our electric and natural gas customers. I look forward to building on the work that’s been done at Ameren Illinois by helping to drive the success of the business in the next phase of the energy transition –for the benefit of communities across the state.” Singh is married and has two children. A native of Guyana in South America, Singh immigrated to the New York vicinity in the 1980s.

AIA elects Kimberly Dowdell as its first Black woman president

The Architect’s Newspaper

Kimberly Dowdell has been elected as the 100th president of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), making history as the first Black woman to hold the position. Dowdell was elected by delegates at

the virtual 2022 AIA Annual Meeting held on June 9; her one-year tenure as president begins in 2024 and starting next year she will serve as the 2023 AIA First Vice President/2024 President-elect.

Dowdell studied at Cornell University where she graduated with a bachelor of architec-

ture in 2006. While at Cornell, she co-founded Social Economic Environmental Design (SEED), an initiative dedicated to setting standards for economic, social, and environmental justice around the world. She has since

Kimberly Dowdell

dedicated her career to issues concerning environmental justice, while also promoting diversity and equality within the profession and at local scales.

Dowdell went on to receive a master of public adminis-

tration degree from Harvard University in 2015 and currently works as marketing principal at HOK Architects in her hometown of Chicago.

In her role as AIA president, Dowdell will continue to represent minority architects. She will also dedicate her time to making architecture more

accessible, taking action against climate change, and promoting the use of technology.

“As the 295th living Black woman to earn an architectural license in the U.S., I am keen to help young women and people of color,” Dowdell said in a statement published by the AIA.

Dr. Keshia Elder

Leonard “Lenny” Singh

Homegrown sound for St. Louis City SC

Mvstermind will tap into local music arsenal as director of musical experience

By Chad Davis St. Louis Public Radio

(St. Louis Public Radio) – St. Louis City SC has picked local rapper Mvstermind to select music by local musicians that the club will play at matches and events. The team announced last week that as the soccer club’s director of musical experience, Mvstermind will curate the music from fan suggestions during the club’s inaugural season. Fans will use an online form to select the local artists and songs they’d like to hear played at games.

The effort will give exposure to emerging St. Louis talent, he said.

“This allows us to build the actual platform that this city needs for artists, for our budding talent, to be able to display this not just to only our city but to the world,” Mvstermind said. “This is the type of energy that’s going to be necessary in allowing St. Louis to get back to its title being the gateway.”

The partnership will include a workshop led by Mvstermind and St. Louis City SC this summer that will give fans the opportunity to contribute to the team’s sound and image, though more details will be provided later. He said it’s essential that the region rallies behind artists to continue to build up the local music scene.

“Someone can be doing some amazing things and at the end of the day, you might not even know that it’s happening,” Mvstermind said. “So [I] really want to utilize this form and moments for people to submit, for us to become fully aware of the arsenal that St. Louis has.”

St. Louis City SC leaders worked to create an interactive fan experience over the past two years. Music was always going to be a significant part

St. Louis’ rich arts culture

AMP

showcase returns to Mad Art Gallery 7th year

By Danielle Brown

The St. Louis American

To dwell or not to dwell?

Brock Seals chose the latter and established his creative Art, Mimosas, and Pancakes showcase in 2015 during a time when he felt there was a lack of available venues that represented young artists’ work.

Seals’ idea came when he was still a painting novice attempting to tap into St. Louis’ local art scene and scope out how to get his art shown. After talking with fellow artistic minds, he learned they faced the same challenges. He took matters into his own hands, stumbling upon Mad Art Gallery to host his first art show. It offered Seals and other creators the opportunity to have their respective work viewed by others. That inaugural show sold out, something Seals didn’t expect would happen.

of the team’s game day experience, said Matt Sebek, St. Louis City SC’s chief experience officer.

“At a broad level, this entire project is about showing off the renaissance that’s happening in St. Louis,” Sebek said. “We want that stadium to be a reflection of all the brilliance going on from the local makers and doers in the community.”

Mvstermind said the partnership will shine a light especially on the region’s hip-hop artists.

“Hip-hop is one of those genres that is actually fully inclusive and immersive of all of the other genres,” Mvstermind said. “That’s always been my philosophy. I’ve been an individual who’s been inspired by every single thing. And so my mission is to allow that to unfold so that we can be able to see the full sounds that make the

heartbeat of St. Louis.” The collaboration is the St. Louis rapper’s latest endeavor. Mvstermind released the EP “Great” last year, the second of three interconnected EPs. He also collaborated with St. Louis-based startup Maven to produce

Husbands’ tradition of Black LGBTQ arts, cultural fest continues

By Danielle Brown The St. Louis American

Annual arts and cultural festival, WerQfest honoring the black queer, trans and nonbinary community returns to The Big Lot for year three on Saturday, July 9, 2022.

Husband duo, Tre’Von “Tre G” Griffith, singerproducer, and Shelton BoydGriffith, fashion, and beauty editor curated their first event in 2020 after feeling that there was a need for it because of the lack of representation for Black LGBTQ folx.

“We weren’t expecting it to be as big as it was, but it worked and I was like, ‘okay we’re doing the right thing,’” Seals said. “Let’s do it again and follow that same blueprint.”

Seals will host the seventh annual event, which would’ve been his eighth, but the COVID19 quarantine placed it on pause. Artists of all mediums, visual, graphic design, fashion design and more, exhibit their works. For some, it will be the first time they have their work shown.

Pancake art from local company Pancakes also creates their signature artwork featuring delicious

See AMP, C6

“We came up with the idea because with me being an artist I’ve always had a dream of creating a safe space to be myself and I wanted the same for queer artists,” Griffith told The St. Louis American last year in an interview about the fest.

mance venues. Griffith told The St. Louis Post Dispatch last year in an interview that the fest was well received and helped attract interest for the 2021 main event.

Since the first two fests were a success, the third year in the row is expected to generate a much bigger response. This year’s lineup includes drag star Maxi Glamour as hosts with national acts Julian King, Season 16 of The Voice, and Sevndeep, Season 1 of OutTV’s Hot Haus. King, originally from Philadelphia, is excited to perform and visit St. Louis for the first time.

“I wanted us to be able to express ourselves and literally just be.”

The inaugural WerQfest was virtual and included some of Tre G’s favorite artists. The Kranzberg Arts Foundation supplied the perfor-

“It feels great to be part of the festival,” King said.

“Since I’m from Philly I didn’t know much about it until I was invited to come. I’m looking forward to bringing my soul and swag to St. Louis’ Big Top stage.” King, who identifies as gay and prefers the pronouns he/him/his and “legend,” is happy about the platform WerQfest gives for all Black LGBTQ folx. He recalls when he was younger how those spaces were nonexistent.

“The more we create these paces the more spaces can exist and the easier it is to knock down the barriers in between our communities and shed light on the future generations to come,” King said.

Photo by Maurice Meredith | The St. Louis American

Photo courtesy of St. Louis City SC

Brock Seals sits inside his art gallery located in Tech Artista while he talks about his seventh annual Art, Mimosas, and Pancakes showcase.

Local rap artist Mvstermind was appointed director of musical experience for St. Louis City SC.

Operation Ten City Tour kicked off in St. Louis

Events held Juneteenth weekend

St. Louis American staff

The Operation Ten City Tour got off to a rousing start in St. Louis, providing economic and spiritual resources for business owners, training for next generation of leaders, employment opportunities, and small business loans.

“Our main goal with the Ten City Tour is to bring economic restoration and prosperity to the city of St. Louis and close the wealth gap in Black and brown communities,” said Bill Winston, senior pastor of the Chicago-based Living Word Christian Center.

Over 2,000 boxes of food were given away during two

food drives, 900 gas cards, $100,000 in new clothing, $10,000 in jewelry, $10,000 in stocks, iPads, and other gifts.

A “Pitch Competition” gave local entrepreneurs a chance to highlight products and services that have the potential for commercialization.

The first prize winner was Hilary Scott-Ogunrinde of NextGen Industries, who was awarded $10,000. Second prize winners were Andrew Mayhall and Andrew Martinussen of 3D Gloop, and they received $5,000. The third prize winner was Karen Hutchins of Next Level Education, who received $2,500.

State Sen. Karla May held a town hall and workshop dedicated to helping St. Louis-area residents begin the process to expunge felonies from their records. Land of Lincoln Legal Aid also provided information to help residents clear or pay Metrolink transportation fines

and violations.

The ministry hosted Freedom Unlocked targeting St. Louis youth and young adults, which included a Christian hip hop concert, the message, prizes, and food.

thorns, and nails, after the praying to not have to go through the save the world ordeal and that father forgive them, they don’t get it thing, I am sure Jesus was ready to get up out of here. Job well done!

Mission accomplished!

The ministry also conducted two workshops under the track “Entrepreneurship for Today’s Youth.”

A pair of workshops titled “The Millionaire Mindset” were hosted respectively by

I can’t help but sense His expectancy of being a member of the Godhead again, as He continued to fulfill His calling.

John Henderson and Roberta Hoskie.

Other workshops included “Starting Your Business in 7 days with Your Smart Phone” by Keon Morning; “Marketing Strategies to Make Your First Million” by Raul Davis; “7 Steps to Winning Government Contracts” by Chris Hollingsworth; “From Paycheck to Payroll: Becoming a Producer” by Demitrus Evans; “Raise Your Credit Score by 100 Points in 30 days” by Jeri Toliver; and “Making Money While You Sleep” by Catrice Wells. Hosted by Carol Daniel

our eternal life after death, then maybe we could look upon death a little differently than we currently do.

of KMOX, the tour concluded June 18 with a night of praise music featuring Cedric Shannon Rives and The Brothers, and Raytina Robinson, songwriter, recording artist and worship leader.

“I want to thank the people of the St. Louis area for coming and supporting us,” said Winston.

“We came to St. Louis with an emphasis on closing the wealth gap in Black and brown communities through entrepreneurship starting and scaling up a business. Ownership, especially business ownership, is one of the most powerful ways to create personal wealth that can be passed down to future generations.

“We brought tangible goods, such as clothing, food, and gas cards, to bless those in need while also having workshops with speakers who brought innovative ideas to stimulate creativity.”

By James Washington

For some reason, the phrase ‘rejuvenated in the spirit’ is resonating with me right now. My reference point, however, is the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, if you can believe that. I have been revisiting Christ’s last experience on earth and was struck by the fact that God’s Christ had to

be excited, if not relieved to be going home.

I mean, think about it this way: He humbled himself by putting on human skin to fulfill the new covenant under which we all now live.

Now, some of y’all might think I’m being a little sacrilegious here, but I promise you I am not.

After the beatings, stabbing,

TRYTHEYTHURSDAY

Visit one of our Ys on Thursdays to enjoy all the benefits of being a member for the day FOR FREE!

Join a group fitness class, take a splash in the pool, shoot some hoops or check out the fitness center’s top-of-the-line equipment.

Let’s go be God again. What a rush! Can you imagine the celebration in heaven at the return of this Son?

Now if you remember before He left, He spent a little more time hanging out, letting folk see touch and feel His redemption of us.

I know many of you can attest to a special feeling at knowing you’re going on summer vacations, to family reunions and other anniversaries and celebrations which bring sheer joy just at the thought of seeing loved ones soon. That anticipation is what I am describing as ‘rejuvenated in the spirit.’

I just believe if we could view the cross as a symbol of

I mean, really? If you call yourself a believer, then that’s what this is all about.

The party for Christ had to be incredible. If the truth be told that party is still going on and everybody is anticipating when you walk through the door.

That’s the “Jesus thing” again.

I find it illuminating that after death, Christ walked among us without the disfigured body on the cross, except for enough to make believers out of the doubting Thomases.

That’s proof that when you get to the party, you too will be perfect in your form and perfect in your reception. This may not be a typical column but, based on the cross event, you too are transformed from ‘glory unto glory.’

If you can feel what I feel today, then you understand being rejuvenated. I am because He is. I will because He fulfilled the Word and I’ll see you when you get there. I just know that’s a welcome to look forward to. May God bless and keep you always.

COMMUNITY FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT

ROOF REPLACEMENT INTERIOR RENOVATIONS

Sealed bids for the above project are being requested from the Community Fire Protection District and will receive sealed bids until 2:00 p.m. local time; July 5, 2022, at COMMUNITY FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT 9411 Marlowe Ave., St. Louis, Missouri 63114. Bids will be opened publicly and read aloud at the above address at 2:00 p.m. local time on the day of receipt. They may also be read aloud at a Board of Directors Meeting subsequent to the bid opening. A formal Pre-Bid Conference will not be conducted, but bidders are invited to tour the existing site and structure(s) to familiarize themselves with the existing roofs there-upon prior to submitting a bid for the work. Contact the Construction Manager to coordinate a site visit. LCS-Steve Layne (636) 734-6968. Contract documents may be obtained from Custom Blueprint & Supply, 1632 South Broadway, St. Louis, MO., phone 314.231.4400

Full-time, $15-$21/hour depending on skills and experience. Saint Louis City resident preferred for general apartment maintenance. Benefits include paid holidays, vacation and insurance package including IRA w/ employer match. Interested candidates, please contact Eldin Dogic at eldin.dogic@fox-grove.com or (314) 502-0864

Great Rivers Greenway is hiring a Volunteer Coordinator. Go to www.greatriversgreenway.org/jobs-bids

BID NOTICE

Great Rivers Greenway is hiring a Project Manager. Go to www.greatriversgreenway. org/jobs-bids to apply.

NOTICE FOR BIDS

METRO WEST FIRE PROTECTION

DISTRICT

Will receive sealed bids for an RENOVATION TO METRO WEST FIRE HOUSE #3, located in WILDWOOD, MISSOURI. Project No: 19-2750.02 Non-Mandatory Pre-Bid Date: July 6, 2022

Time: 9:00 am Bid Date: August 9, 2022 Time: 4:00 pm

Detailed Advertisement for Bids may be viewed at the following Plan Rooms: Custom Blueprint PH. 314 231 4400 (www.customblueprint-supply.com/ planroom) Dodge Data & Analytics (Online services only (www.construction.com)

NOTICE REGARDING FAMILY COURT COMMISSIONER VACANCY

TO ALL ATTORNEYS RESIDING IN ST. LOUIS COUNTY, MISSOURI

The Circuit Court of St. Louis County, Missouri, announces that it is soliciting candidates for the position of Family Court Commissioner of the Circuit Court of St. Louis County.

The Circuit and Associate Circuit Judges en banc will make the appointment for a term of (4) years at an annual salary of an associate circuit judge, payable by the State of Missouri.

Missouri law requires the Family Court Commissioner(s) to possess the same qualifications as a circuit judge, including those set forth in the Missouri Constitution, Article V, Section 21, to wit, they must be qualified voters of the state for the three years preceding their selection, residents of St. Louis County, Missouri for at least one year, at least thirty years old, licensed to practice law in Missouri; and possess all other qualifications as required by law. (See Chapter 487 R S Mo.)

Questionnaires and Candidate Instructions may be obtained by sending a resume and cover letter to St. Louis County Family Court, ATTN: Human Resources, 105 S. Central Avenue, Clayton, Missouri, 63105, or via email to SLCCourtJobs@courts.mo.gov. Completed questionnaires must be submitted in writing to St. Louis County Family Court, ATTN: Human Resources, 105 S. Central Avenue, Clayton, Missouri 63105, or via email to SLCCourtJobs@ courts.mo.gov on or before July 31, 2022. The appointment is scheduled to take place upon a vote of the Court en banc on or about August 10, 2022. EOE. Please contact the Human Resources Department at 615-4471 (voice) or RelayMo 711 or 800-735-2966 if you need any accommodations in the application process, or if you would like this posting in an alternative form

Help us advance our mission: ARCHS is seeking a Director of Research and Evaluation with a dynamic data informed approach to grant management, measurement, and storytelling. This position is responsible for supporting an effective system that monitors the progress, impacts, and successes of ARCHS’ funded initiatives. Candidates must demonstrate exemplary technical skills related to logic models, qualitative and quantitative research/analysis, surveys, data management/ analysis, scorecards, field observation, info graphics, and report writing.

Requirements: Minimum of bachelor’s degree, master’s degree (MBA) a plus; 5+ year experience; documented portfolio of evaluation/research; highly organized; deadline focused; outgoing; inquisitive; a strong coach, writer, and editor. Be prepared to provide examples of work on request.

Submit letter of application and resume at: https://bit.ly/3JApRZM

CITY OF ST. LOUIS

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION

2023 CDBG FUNDING CYCLE REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

The City of St. Louis will make available applications for the 2023 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding cycle beginning July 26, 2022 and ending at 4:00 p.m. CST on August 26, 2022.

Beginning July 26, 2022, the 2023 CDBG Request for Proposals (RFP) and related documents can be found on the Community Development Administration (CDA) website at: https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/government/departments/communitydevelopment/

The 2023 CDBG funding proposal deadline is Friday, August 26, 2022, 4:00 p.m., CST.

Grants Management System Training and RFP Workshop

CDA utilizes a grants management system called EGrAMS to streamline grant processes and to allow organizations to apply for funding online. CDA will hold a virtual training session for organizations interested in applying online via EGrAMS. CDA will host a workshop to answer questions on the RFP on Monday, July 25, 2022 at 9:00 a.m.

Instructions for attending the Virtual Training and RFP Workshop Session are available on the website: https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/ cda/.

Questions concerning the RFP process may be submitted to the Community Development Administration at CDBG@Stlouis-mo.gov CDA is an equal opportunity Agency. Minority participation is encouraged.

NOTICE REGARDING TREATMENT COURT COMMISSIONER VACANCY TO ALL ATTORNEYS RESIDING IN ST. LOUIS COUNTY, MISSOURI

The Circuit Court of St. Louis County, Missouri, announces that it is soliciting candidates for the position of Treatment Court Commissioner of the Circuit Court of St. Louis County.

The Circuit Judges will make the appointment for a term of (4) years, at an annual salary of an associate circuit judge, payable by the State of Missouri, pursuant to RSMo §478.003.

Missouri law requires the Treatment Court Commissioner(s) to possess the same qualifications as an associate circuit judge, including those set forth in the Missouri Constitution, Article V, Section 21, to wit, they must be qualified voters of the state, residents of St. Louis County, Missouri, at least twenty-five years old, licensed to practice law in Missouri; and possess all other qualifications as required by law.

(See RSMo Chapter 478).

Questionnaires and Candidate Instructions may be obtained by sending a resume and cover letter to St. Louis County Circuit Court, ATTN: Human Resources, 105 S. Central Avenue, Clayton, Missouri, 63105, or via email to SLCCourtJobs@courts.mo.gov

Completed questionnaires must be submitted in writing to St. Louis County Circuit Court, ATTN: Human Resources, 105 S. Central Avenue, Clayton, Missouri 63105, or via email to SLCCourtJobs@courts.mo.gov on or before June 30, 2022.

The appointment is scheduled to take place upon a vote of the Circuit Judges en banc on or about July 13, 2022. EOE. Please contact the Human Resources Department at 615-4471 (voice) or RelayMo 711 or 800-735-2966 if you need any accommodations in the application process, or if you would like this posting in an alternative form.

INVITATION TO BID

Sealed bids will be received by the Construction Manager, S. M. Wilson & Co. at S. M. Wilson Main Office, 2185 Hampton Ave., St. Louis, MO 63139, until 11:00 a.m. local time on July 6, 2022 for the Projects and Bid Packages described herein for the Pattonville School District. Bids MUST be sealed and hand delivered to the above address no later than the date and time noted.

Pattonville School District work includes:

Bid Package #0: Geotechnical Services RFP

A total of (27) borings and geotechnical report at three Elementary Schools and one Middle School in the Pattonville School District.

Bidders are not allowed to visit the site unless prior arrangements are made with the Construction Manager.

The bid documents will be available for viewing after June 20th, 2022 at BuildingConnected.com. (https://app.buildingconnected.com/public/5913928fce945d0a00d28943)

You can view the project by logging into the BuildingConnected site by setting up a free account on their Website.

The Construction Manager for this project is S. M. Wilson & Co. and the main contact is Mr. Patrick Aylesworth, Preconstruction Manager, 314-633-9689, patrick.aylesworth@smwilson.com This is a prevailing wage project.

S. M. Wilson & Co. is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Pattonville School District is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

CITY OF ST. LOUIS

VIRTUAL PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE 2023 FUNDING PRIORITIES

The Community Development Administration (CDA) will hold a virtual public hearing at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, July 15, 2022 to solicit feedback on annual Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnership (HOME) priorities/activities. The 2023 CDBG/HOME Funding Priorities document will be available on July 8, 2022 in draft form for review by any interested citizen. Copies of the priorities may be downloaded from the City of St. Louis website at https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/cda/ Written comments may be submitted to CDBG@Stlouis-mo.gov and will be accepted until 5:00pm on July 14, 2022.

Instructions for attending the Virtual Public Hearing are available on the website: https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/cda/.

The views of citizens, public agencies and other interested parties are encouraged. Interpreting services are available upon request by calling the Office on the Disabled at (314) 622-3686/voice or (314) 622-3693/TTY.

CITY OF ST. LOUIS BOARD OF PUBLIC SERVICE

REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS for PROFESSIONAL DESIGN SERVICES FOR THE RECONSTRUCTION OF TAXILANE CHARLIE FROM TAXIWAY SIERRA TO TAXIWAY GOLF AT ST. LOUIS LAMBERT INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. Statements of Qualifications due by 5:00 PM CT, July 26, 2022, at Board of Public Service, 1200 Market, Room 301 City Hall, St. Louis, MO 63103. RFQ may be obtained from BPS website www.stl-bps.org, under On Line Plan Room-Plan Room, or call Board of Public Service at 314-589-6214.

DBE participation goal is 23.00%

TOWER GROVE PARK RFQ

Tower Grove Park, 4257 Northeast Drive, St. Louis, MO 63110 is requesting qualifications for professional engineering and design services for new basketball courts. RFQ responses are due 7/19/22 by 1:00 p.m. Project information, registration and questions through Katie Aholt (katie@navigatebuildingsolutions.com or 636-359-8538).

Tower Grove Park hereby notifies all bidders that it will affirmatively ensure that in any contract entered into pursuant of this advertisement, businesses owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals will be afforded full opportunity to submit bids in response to this invitation and will not be discriminated against on the grounds of race, color, religion, creed, sex, age, ancestry or national origin in consideration for an award. Federal Land and Water Conservation Funds are being used in this project, and all relevant federal, state and local requirements apply.

REQUEST FOR PUBLIC COMMENT/NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING

East-West Gateway Council of Governments (EWG) seeks comment on amendments to Connected2045, the St. Louis Region’s long-range transportation plan, including the FY 2023-2026 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) and related Air Quality Conformity Document. The comment period will also satisfy Madison County Transit District’s and Metro’s public hearing and program of projects requirement of the Federal Transit Administration Sections 5307, 5309, 5310, 5317, 5337, and 5339 programs in the St. Louis Region.

The public comment period begins Friday, 7/1/22, and ends Thursday, 8/4/22. The documents, comment forms, and a summary of the documents will be available on EWG’s website at www.ewgateway.org. Throughout the comment period, EWG staff will answer questions on the documents. Comments or questions must be received or postmarked by midnight Thursday, 8/4/22. Send comments via the comment form on the website, by email to TIP@ewgateway.org, or by mail to East-West Gateway Council of Governments, Attn: TIP, 1 S. Memorial Drive, Ste. 1600, St. Louis, MO 63102.

The public is also invited to view these documents and supporting materials at a series of open house meetings. Dates and locations are listed below. Each meeting will be held between 4:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

• Tuesday, 7/12/22 – Arnold Rec Center, 1695 Missouri State Rd, Arnold, MO 63010.

• Wednesday, 7/20/22 – SIUE East St. Louis Center, 601 James R. Thompson Blvd., Building D, East St. Louis, IL 62201.

• Thursday, 7/21/22 – Pacific City Hall, 300 Hoven Dr., Pacific, MO 63069.

• Tuesday, 7/26/22 – St. Charles City-County Library, Spencer Road Branch, 427 Spencer Rd., St. Peters, MO 63343.

• Wednesday, 7/27/22 – The Heights, 8001 Dale Ave., Richmond Heights, MO 63117.

During the open house meetings, staff will also be available to discuss EWG’s long-range transportation plan update, Connected 2050, which will lay the foundation for transportation decisions and investments over the next 25 years.

EWG is committed to ensuring that all meetings are both ADA and LEP accessible. To request a reasonable accommodation for the open house meetings please contact EWG’s Title VI Coordinator at least 48 business hours prior to an open house meeting at (314) 421-4220 or (618) 274-2750 or titlevi@ewgateway.org

SOLICITING BID

Helix Realty is seeking proposals for bids for 28,000 sf of loft conversions. Scope of work includes Demolition. Carpentry, Drywall, Painting, Fire Protection, Plumbing, HVAC and Electrical and has diversity participation goal. Contact Stephen Levin 314 496-9150 slhelix@gmail

AUCTION NOTICE

The following people are in debt to Gateway Storage Mall. The contents of their storage unit(s) will be sold at auction to compensate for all or part of that debt.

Notice To Small (SBE), Disadvantaged (DBE), Minority (MBE), Women’s (WBE), Service Disabled Veteran Owned (SDVOB) & Veteran Owned (VOB) Businesses Advertisement RIVER CITY CONSTRUCTION, L.L.C., 6640 AMERICAN SETTER DRIVE, ASHLAND, MISSOURI 65010, (573) 657-7380 (PHONE) (573) 657-7381 (FAX) IS SEEKING QUALIFIED SMALL,

DISADVANTAGED, MINORITY, AND WOMEN’S BUSINESSES FOR

WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITY IMPROVEMENTS AT MOBERLY CORRECTIONAL CENTER, MOBERLY, MISSOURI. OPPORTUNITIES IN THE FOLLOWING AREAS: SITE WORK, EXCAVATION, PAVING, LANDSCAPING, CONCRETE, STEEL METALS, FINISHES, ELECTRICAL, PROCESS INTERCONNCTIONS, POLLUTION AND WASTE CONTROL EQUIPMENT, WWTP EQUIPMENT, UTILITIES. ALL INTERESTED AND QUALIFIED SMALL,

DISADVANTAGED, MINORITY AND WOMEN’S BUSINESSES SHOULD CONTACT, JASON BROWN TO DISCUSS THE SUBCONTRACTING OPPORTUNITIES. ALL NEGOTIATIONS MUST BE COMPLETED PRIOR TO THE BID OPENING BID DATE OF 7/28/2022 @ 1:30 PM.

PROPOSALS WILL BE EVALUATED IN ORDER ON THE BASIS OF LOW RESPONSIVE BID

RECEIVED. A COPY OF YOUR CURRENT STATE OF MISSOURI SBE/DBEWBE/MBE

CERTIFICATION AS A MUST ACCOMPANY ANY WRITTEN PROPOSAL OR QUOTATION THAT YOU SUBMIT. ALL DBE/MBE/WBE FIRMS MUST PROVIDE PROOF OF CERTIFICATION WHEN SUBMITTING A BID.

BID DOCUMENTS MAY BE OBTAINED BY:

1) Email your company name, contact name and phone number, as well as the project you are interested in to bid@rccllc.com

2) You will then receive an email invitation for that project with a link to our SmartBidNet system.

LETTING NO. 8751

7TH STREET IMPROVEMENTS

FEDERAL PROJECT NOS. CMAQ5436(603) & STP-5436(604

Electronic bids submitted through the Bid Express Online Portal will be received by the Board of Public Service until 1:45 PM, CT, on AUGUST 2, 2022, then publicly opened and read. Proposals must be submitted electronically using “Bid Express Online Portal” at https://www.bidexpress.com/businesses/20618/home. Plans and Specifications may be examined on the Board of Public Service website http://www.stl-bps.org (BPS On Line Plan Room) and may be purchased directly through the BPS website from INDOX Services at cost plus shipping. No refunds will be made.

A pre-bid conference for all contractors bidding on this project will be held July 12, 2022 at 9:00 a.m The pre-bid conference will be held in 1520 Market Street, Suite 2000, Boardroom #278, St. Louis, Missouri 63103.

Bidders shall comply with all applicable City, State and Federal laws (including MBE/WBE policies).

All bidders must regard Federal Executive Order 11246, “Notice of Requirement for Affirmative Action to Ensure Equal Employment Opportunity”, the “Equal Opportunity Clause” and the “Standard Federal Equal Employment Specifications” set forth within and referenced at www.stl-bps.org (Announcements).

Auction at Gateway Storage, Belleville- Royal Heights location will be held online with www.storageauctions.com Tuesday, August 2nd, 2022, at 10:00am CST. A cash deposit will be REQUIRED for all winning bids.

Gateway Storage, Belleville Royal Heights: A22—Cory Lee, B05— Tammy Williams, C04—Vernice Smith, D22—Kelvin Luster, E07—Yvette Peals, K08—Natasha Caldwell, K25—Jason Blair, K33— Danyaile Hopson

Auction at Gateway Storage, Tower Plaza and Mascoutah Avenue will be held online with www.storageauctions.com on Wednesday, August 3rd, 2022, at 10:00am CST. A cash deposit will be REQUIRED for all winning bids.

Gateway Storage, Belleville- Tower Plaza and Mascoutah Avenue: 21—Jennifer Allen, 22—Nikolas Tutza, 318—Nikolas Tutza, 633—Rachelle Russell

For all rules, regulations, and bidding process, please contact www.storageauctions.com. All other questions, please contact (618) 2338995 or mail: 17 Royal Heights Center, Belleville, IL, 62226

BID NOTICE

Great Rivers Greenway is seeking bids for installation of new piping to existing bridge deck drain in St. Louis, MO. Go to www.greatriversgreenwy. org/jobs-bids to apply by July 29, 2022.

PUBLIC NOTICE

Notice is hereby given that the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District Requests for Quotes, Bids and Proposals are posted online for public download. Please navigate to www.msdprojectclear.org > Doing Business With Us > View Non-Capital Bids (commodities and services) or >Visit Planroom (capital construction bids)

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

SEALED BIDS

Bids for Interior and Exterior LED Lighting Upgrade, Ike Skelton Training Site, Project No. T2128-01, will be received by FMDC, State of MO, UNTIL 1 : 3 0 P M , 7/28/2022 via MissouriBUYS. Bidders must be registered t o b i d . F o r specific project information, go to: http://oa.mo. gov/facilities

SEALED BIDS

Bids for Replace Roof System, Multiple Assets, F a r m i n g t o n C o r r e c t i o n a l Center, Project No. C1922-01, will be received by FMDC, State of MO, UNTIL 1 : 3 0 P M , 7/28/2022 via MissouriBUYS. Bidders must be registered t o b i d . F o r specific project information, go to: http://oa.mo. gov/facilities

SEALED BIDS

Improvements, M

Center, Moberly, MO, Project No. C1806-01 will be received by FMDC, State of MO, UNTIL 1:30 PM, July 28, 2022. For specific project information and ordering plans, go to: http:// oa.mo.gov/ facilities

SEALED BIDS

Bids for Upgrade F

m System Missouri Supreme Court B u

g , Jefferson City, MO, Project No.O2008- 01 will be received by FMDC, State of MO, UNTIL 1:30 PM, July 21, 2022. For specific project information and ordering plans, go to: http:// oa.mo.gov/ facilities

SOLICITING BID

K&S Associates, Inc. is soliciting MBE/WBE/SDVE/DBE/VBE for the following project for the Month of July 2022 – MU, Columbia –East Campus Utility Improvements for the New Veterinary Medicine Diagnostics Laboratory Building. Plans and Specs can be viewed at www.ksgcstl.com Please submit bids to Dennis Dyes estimating@ ksgcstl.com or Fax 314-647-5302

Request For Proposals (RFP) for Veterinary Services Sealed Bids Wanted

Bidding documents may be obtained at Lambert St. Louis International Airport® - Airport Properties Division, Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., or by calling (314) 426-8184. This RFP may also be obtained by visiting our website at www.flystl.com (Click on “Business”).

ROBERT SALARANO AIRPORT PROPERTIES DIVISION MANAGER

At St. Louis Lambert International Airport

Electronic bids submitted through the Bid Express Online Portal will be received by the Board of Public Service until 1:45 PM, CT, on AUGUST 09, 2022, then publicly opened and read. Proposals must be submitted electronically using “Bid Express Online Portal” at https://www.bidexpress.com/businesses/20618/home. Plans and Specifications may be examined on the Board of Public Service website http://www.stl-bps.org (BPS On Line Plan Room) and may be purchased directly through the BPS website from INDOX Services at cost plus shipping. No refunds will be made.

A mandatory pre-bid conference for all contractors bidding on this project will be held July 19, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. The pre-bid conference will be held in Ozark Conference Room, 4TH Floor of the Airport Office Building, 11495 Navaid Rd., Bridgeton, MO 63044.

Bidders shall comply with all applicable City, State and Federal laws (including MBE/WBE policies). All bidders must regard Federal Executive Order 11246, “Notice of Requirement for Affirmative Action to Ensure Equal Employment Opportunity”, the “Equal Opportunity Clause” and the “Standard Federal Equal Employment Specifications” set forth within and referenced at www.stl-bps.org (Announcements).

www.stlamerican.com

PUBLISHER’S NOTICE:

Advertised herein is subject to the Federal Fair Housing Act, which makes it illegal to advertise any preference, imitation, or discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial\status, or national origin, or intention to make any such preference, limitation, or discrimination.

“We will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law. All persons are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised are available on an equal opportunity basis.”

a partnership that will give fans the opportunity to contribute to the

livestreamed performances that drew on augmented reality.

St. Louis City SC will begin play next year. The

hotcakes. Stemming from the name, mimosas are poured in celebration of the night’s artwork.

He said this year’s show is special because the number of featured artists has almost doubled in size compared to previous years.

“I have about 50 artists including local artists and outof-town artists,” he said. “I have people coming in from L.A., Detroit, Chicago to [experience] our culture. Some of these people have never been

team announced earlier this year that its home field will be called Centene Stadium, after the Clayton-based health organization signed a deal for the naming rights for the 22,500-seat stadium. In January, the team named Bradley Carnell, a former South African soccer player

to St. Louis or heard anything about our art scene. I wanted to change that and expose them to it.”

For the submissions, he said he and his team sought out uniqueness and originality.

“I pride myself on giving a lot of beginner artists their first opportunity to display some artwork,” he said. “I recognize talent. I don’t trip off accolades. I trip off if you’ve got some good quality work that I feel will connect with the audience.”

Some of this year’s lineup includes Bojo, Maxa, Jabbstract, Grand Martell, and more. Sooner or later, Seals said he hopes to expand AMP by

and former assistant coach for the New York Red Bulls, head coach.

This article was republished with permission from news. stlpublicradio.org as part of a content sharing partnership between St. Louis Public Radio and The St. Louis American.

upgrading to a larger venue and taking it on tour to other cities. While expansion is a goal, he plans to keep it as an annual event people can look forward to.

“People enjoy having to wait on it. It’s like holidays, you only get one Christmas,” he said.

Art, Mimosas, and Pancakes is Saturday, July 9 at 8 p.m. at Mad Art Gallery, located at 2727 South 12th Street, St. Louis, MO 63118.

For tickets and more information about AMP, visit Eventbrite. Follow AMP on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for updates.

WerQfest

Continued from C1

King released his “Can We Go Back,” single earlier this year and said the crowd can expect to hear his new single, “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” inspired by George M. Johnson’s novel.

Local acts include headliner Bates & Strangers, Frankie DoWop, Eldraco + Free Nation, Noah Fence, and DJ Nico Marie. Jay-Marie is Holy, DDare Bionic, and A.M. Strings will appear in virtual satellite stage performances. Their performances will be live streamed at the festival and shared on Instagram as an homage to the festival’s original virtual format.

Bates, the frontrunner of Bates & Strangers, who identifies as a masculine presenting lesbian using the pronouns she/ her/hers said the festival is necessary because not many who look like her are afforded the same opportunities as their white counterparts.

“You don’t see many women who look like me who are open about their sexuality getting put on large platforms,” Bates said.

“Because with pride and most organizations you predominantly see white males at the top, it’s important we create our own spaces so that everyone can be included.”

Bates also said being a headliner is not only a win for her but also a feat for her band, who gives her music the life it deserves.

“This performance is one for the books, I’m coming with super high energy with The Strangers and I’m excited to break into this part of St. Louis’ music scene because I don’t perform enough for the LGBTQ community,” Bates said.

She said fans can expect to hear “Put It Out There,” from her latest studio release, “My Homies Is Dyin’” a mashup of Stevie Wonder’s “Pasttime Paradise and Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise,” and more.

The Strangers include Klick Klack, Zo, Qui, Kemp, Volume Speaks, Madison, STNTN, Mz Tigga, DCR, and DJ Deeway.

and Kristian Blackmon, culture leader and curator with the arts impact honor.

n “We came up with the idea because with me being an artist I’ve always had a dream of creating a safe space to be myself and I wanted the same for queer artists.”

- Tre’Von “Tre G,” Griffith

of the proceeds received from sales will be donated to Trans Housing Initiative in St. Louis (THISTL), a trans-led social justice organization created to fight the injustices of housing for trans folx in St. Louis, and The Trevor Project, a national suicide and crisis organization for LGBTQ folx.

The 2022 WerQ Awards for Arts Impact and Community Advocacy recognize two high-achieving individuals committed to civic engagement, innovation, and diligence in the Black community of St. Louis. This year’s recipients are Ohun Ashe, activist and creator, with the community advocacy honor,

A special 2022 merch capsule collection with limited edition shirts, hats, bags, outerwear and more in collaboration with Profield Reserve will be unveiled Friday, July 8. A portion

“Tre and I are really excited to see how this vision that we had in the middle of the pandemic continues to scale and grow,” Boyd-Griffith said. “The festival is getting huge and this year is the stepping stone for it to be on the same level as Afropunk or Lollapalooza. We’re working to scope what that looks like for a major Black queer fest in the industry.”

Visit www.werqfest.com for tickets and more information about this year’s festival.

Photo courtesy of Andrea Petty

Be.Be performs at WerQfest 2021 at City Foundry STL.

Artist Mvstermind and St. Louis City SC have formed

team’s sound and imagethis summer.

Photo courtesy of St. Louis City SC