March 1st, 2012 Edition

Devon shows ‘Great’ness

Reed says Slay’s new pension plan breaks law

Aldermanic president bypasses mayor with bill in Legislature

By Rebecca S.Rivas

Of The St.Louis American

After having long conversations with both black and white St. Louis firefighters, Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed announced a plan purportedly to decrease escalating costs of the firefighters’pension system by $7.63 million at a press conference Friday.

The cost of funding the Firemen’s Retirement

System currently totals more than 56 percent of the total firefighter’s payroll – compared to 10.3 percent in 2001, according to two bills introduced by Alderman Craig Schmid earlier this month, Board Bills 270 and 271. Schmid pushed the bills forward on behalf of Mayor Francis G. Slay to dismantle the “unsustainable system with many unaffordable secondary bene-

See REED, A6

The cost of funding the Firemen’s Retirement System currently totals more than 56 percent of the total firefighter’s payroll – compared to 10.3 percent in 2001.

By Chris King Of The

is guided by the core values and key issues that I have always fought for: saving good jobs and creating new employment opportunities, making quality healthcare accessible for all, keeping a college education affordable and helping working families restore their economic security. I’m also striving to keep America safe and to defend

By Chris King Of The St.Louis American

Black Caucus leaders advance Lieutenant Governor candidate Legislature, no one took the time to show me around, but she did,” Carter said, grasping Lampe by the shoulder. “She came to me. She is on the ground with us.”

State Rep. Chris Carter accompanied Sara Lampe to her first interview at The St. Louis American because she was there for him when he needed grounding, and he wanted to see her campaign for Lieutenant Governor get off on the right foot in St. Louis. “When I came into the

State Rep. Steve Webb, who chairs the Legislature’s Black Caucus, also accompanied Lampe to the meeting.

“The most pressing issue to me is Sara Lampe,who is running for Lieutenant Governor,with state Rep.Sylvester Taylor and state Rep.Jamilah Nasheed

See LAMPE, A7

‘got it going on’

St. Louis American Foundation, Emerson give spirited thanks to best and brightest

American staff

“What’s the 411?” emcee Rebeccah Bennett said to the capacity crowd at the Chase Park Plaza on Thursday evening. “They’ve got it going on,” the crowd shouted back in unison. It was a fresh, fitting – and fly – way to recognize the sophomore class of Young Leaders being honored by the St. Louis

See LEADERS, A6

On Friday,Board of Alderman President Lewis Reed was joined by IAFF Local 73 president Chris Molitor (left) and Alderman Greg Carter,chair of the board's Public Safety Committee (right),with members of F.I.R.E.and Firefighters Local 73 at City Hall in announcing an alternative to Mayor Slay's recent proposed changes to the firefighters' pension system.

Photo by Wiley Price

See CLAY, A7

Wm.Lacy Clay

Russ Carnahan

Whitney Houston death said to be ruled accidental

According to E! News, officials are likely to rule Whitney Houston’s death an accident. Many speculated drug overdose or a lethal mix of prescription pills and alcohol when the singer was found lifeless in a Beverly Hills hotel on Feb. 11. But a source close to the entertainment news network says the actual cause of death is temporarily listed as “de ferred” on the death certificate pending the results of toxicology reports.

The source also pointed out that, “she had no marks on her body whatsoever to indicate a struggle, and she was the furthest thing from trying to kill herself.”Officials reported a few bottles of prescription drugs in her hotel room, but nothing looked unusual at the scene of her death.

The singer’s family always believed her death was accidental and was not a result of deliberate action

taken by Houston—or anyone else, according to the insider.

Tyga dances for armed audience after dinner

According to several sources, “Rack City” rapper Tyga was hemmed up following a show in Canada and goons forced him to perform while they brandished weapons.

Concert promoter told popular hiphop news and gossip site Hollywood Street King that the Young Money artist’s unfortunate encounter was indeed legit.

“Tyga was hungry after his concert, so we took him to a diner,” a promoter who goes by J.D, told the site. “I just paid him 15K and he’s acting like that. I was going pay for everybody’s meal. The same time Tyga got up with his doggie bag, some thugs approached us. They pulled out handguns. I thought they were going to stick us up, but instead they asked Tyga to dance.”

Body found on Rick Ross estate

According to TMZ.com, law enforcement officials are looking into a homicide that took place within the gates of Miami rap star Rick

Ross’ home. The celebrity news site says law enforcement sources told them Ross was NOT home at the time of the shooting and at this point in the investigation, he’s not considered a suspect. Cops reportedly found the victim lying inside a gate at the home. Sources say investigators don’t know if the victim has any connection to Ross, but since he is listed as the owner of the property, cops want to ask him a few questions about the situation.

Clive’s camp denies Whitney biopic rumors

Several media outlets said that just a few days after the funeral of pop icon Whitney Houston her musical mentor Clive Davis was in the works to assemble an all-star, a-list cast for a bio-pic chronicling her life and tragic death.

Cissy Houston wants law involved in finding leaked death photo culprits

Radaronline.com is reporting that Whitney Houston’s family, spearheaded by her mother, Cissy, is asking law enforcement to look into death scene photos that were leaked to the media in the days after the pop superstar died at the Beverly Hilton Hotel – including one pic of her body being wheeled out on the gurney in a body bag. A few days after Whitney passed away on February 11, a media outlet published a photo of Houston in a body bag on a gurney

Jennifer Hudson, Rihanna, Vivica A. Fox and Jordin Sparks were said to be on the short list of ladies in the running for the lead role and Willow Smith was reportedly being eyed to play Houston during her childhood days as a church singer.

A spokesperson for the legendary record exec says the scenario is all lies.

“There is no truth to this,” a rep for Davis told gossipcops.com. “Clive is not putting together a biopic.”

North County sets legislative agenda

American staff

On Feb. 9, community, civic, and business leaders attended the Legislative Reception for North County at SSM DePaul Health Center.

This event, hosted by the Greater North County Chamber of Commerce, the Maryland Heights Chamber of Commerce, North County Incorporated Regional Development Association and the Northwest Chamber of Commerce, allowed area leaders to hear from state legislators about matters affecting North County. Program moderator, Ann Brand, Government Relations Liaison from St. Louis Community College, presented the 2012 North County legislative priorities on economic development, education, healthcare, transportation and general issues.

A selection of that legislative agenda follows:

We support the protection of proven, performance-based tax credits that leverage private investment and stimulate employment and economic growth for our region and allow us to be competitive with other regions.

We support continued funding for job training to help attract new businesses and the expansion of existing businesses of all sizes.

We support policies that stimulate an entrepreneurial culture and enhance the growth of small businesses. We support greater access to markets for minority and women business enterprises in the public and private sectors.

We support initiatives to spur redevelopment efforts in economically distressed areas, such as tax credits for brownfield cleanup.

We support incentives and funding to enhance the region’s logistics, distribution, and transportation infrastructure capabilities, with an emphasis on international cargo and global competitiveness, including the State’s efforts in securing the International Cargo Hub at Lambert International Airport.

We support policies that expand access to high quality early childhood education programs, especially for at-risk children, we support a statewide quality rating system for early childhood programs.

We oppose programs that would divert public funding into private institutions if it is detrimental to our public school systems.

We support current charter schools using public funding be held to the same accreditation and academic standards as public school systems and parents should have access to recent performance results to aid in their decisions on where to place their children.

We support the Cooperating School District for Greater St. Louis’ critical characteristics that are needed in legislation to establish reasonable parameters for the movement of students from unaccredited districts to accredited districts.

We support protecting core funding and stable allocations during the current budget shortfall. Higher education, through its workforce training and skills development programs, is an important partner in our region’s efforts in developing plant and life science companies, expanding manufacturing, engineering interests and for additional workers in the health care field.

We support secure funding, through appropriation or bonding, for renovation of BentonStadler science complex on the University of Missouri-St. Louis campus, continued renovation of science labs for St. Louis Community College, and a plan to provide capital funding for maintenance and repair of buildings and equipment for both.

We support renewal of the Federal Reimbursement Allowance.

We support adequate Missouri transportation funding and a formula that reflects the economic strength and development needs of the St. Louis region and encourages the consideration of economic development and job creation impact when funding future projects.

We support policies and

funding for Metro that promote more effective and sustainable system operations, as well as system expansions in accordance with the Long Range Transit Plan.

We support legislation that would impose stricter regulations, with penalties, on lenders who engage in unfair and deceptive lending practices.

We support the State main-

taining the status quo as to workers right to organize. We support of the concept of the collection of electronic sales tax for online and remote sales purchases. For an electronic version of the complete agenda, visit greaternorthcountychamber. com, mhcc.com, NorthStLouisCounty.com or northwestchamber.com

State Senator Tim Green, state Rep. Tommie Pierson, state Rep. Bert Atkins, state Rep. Clem Smith, state Rep. Margo McNeil, state Rep. Rochelle Walton Gray, state Rep. Sharon Pace, North County Incorporated President Rebecca Zoll and state Sen. Jane Cunningham.

EDITORIAL /COMMENTARY

Get facts straight on Clemons case

In the case of Reginald Clemons, the State of Missouri has a rare opportunity to correct a series of egregious mistakes made by St. Louis police and prosecutors and inept defense counsel. Clemons was not unique, as a poor black man interrogated for the rape and murder of white women, in being subjected to police brutality and coercion. He was not unique, once charged for these crimes, in being targeted by prosecutorial misconduct. And the weakness of his defense counsel also was not unique. The combination has been nearly lethal for Clemons, because once convicted of murder and sentenced to death (he has never been tried for rape), his appeals process has been severely limited by his defense counsel’s failure to raise the objections that should have provided a strong basis for appeal.

The Missouri Supreme Court acted bravely in the name of justice in 2009 when it opened the Clemons case to a new evidence phase by appointing a Special Master with subpoena power. Many of us avidly anticipate Clemons’ new day in court when Judge Michael Manners holds a hearing this fall to review the case record in light of new evidence.

It is extremely discouraging, as we anticipate new evidence judged by new ideas, to see very old inaccuracies about this case broadcast by the Post-Dispatch in the voice of its veteran columnist Bill McClellan. In a column last week, McClellan claimed that Clemons and his co-defendants “all confessed.” It is sloppy when discussing a capital case to cite a confession without specifying a crime, but since Clemons was sentenced to death for the murder of Robin and Julie Kerry, McClellan clearly implies that Clemons confessed to murder. This is not true.

On April 7, 1991, St. Louis police recorded Clemons confessing to the rape of one of the Kerry sisters. He did not confess to murder. The judge who saw Clemons after his interrogation ordered him sent to the hospital for treatment (the police recorded no injuries to Clemons before the interrogation). When Clemons was released from the hospital, immediately on April 9, 1991 – with the assistance of the counsel he was unconstitutionally denied during his initial interrogation – St. Louis police recorded a very different statement. Clemons described how St. Louis detectives beat him when he asked to see a lawyer and then tried to beat him into confessing to murder. Clemons said he inally gave in and confessed to rape to stop the beating and because he knew DNA evidence would exonerate him.

McClellan’s column has the wrongheaded refrain that various claims made in Clemons’ defense are not “an argument for innocence.” While McClellan’s memory of the case is so poor he can’t even remember what Clemons did or did not confess to, his structural sense of criminal justice is even worse. The accused need not make an argument for their innocence. Innocence of the accused is assumed; it is guilt

that must be proven.

In arguing guilt, St. Louis prosecutors relied on coerced, scripted confessions and perjured witnesses. Key witnesses for the prosecution must have perjured themselves, since prosecutor Nels Moss separated the prosecutions of the three defendants who stool trial and the same witnesses provided conlicting eyewitness testimony at different trials. As for the DNA evidence that Clemons knew would exonerate him, the prosecution only produced it in 2010 during the Special Master’s new evidentiary phase. Moss deied a motion iled by Clemons’ defense counsel to provide the physical evidence collected from the one corpse rescued from the Mississippi River. Whatever DNA evidence has been retrieved, the corpse would have posed one major problem for the prosecution in 1991: the corpse had some clothing, whereas the coerced and scripted confessions had the Kerry girls being pushed off the Chain of Rocks Bridge.

McClellan’s memory also is deicient about the role of Thomas Cummins, the cousin of the Kerry sisters who irst confessed to their murder (after being coerced by the same police department using the same techniques described by Clemons). McClellan muses that “maybe” the cops didn’t believe Cummins when he irst professed innocence because of another case in another state. In fact, police didn’t believe Cummins because his hair was dry and parted and his clothes mostly clean and dry only moments after he claimed to have been thrown off a bridge into the middle of the Mississippi River. The jury might have fallen for Cummins’ story, and McClellan did, but the cops McClellan loves so much didn’t.

Thomas Cummins received a $150,000 settlement from the St. Louis police on the day Reginald Clemons was sentenced to death. A white man is beaten into confessing to murder and walks away with a check; a black man is beaten into confessing to rape and is convicted of murder and sentenced to death. These are the shameful facts about the Clemons case that McClellan seems to have forgotten. Fortunately, the Missouri Supreme Court remembered and Judge Michael Manners knows. Let justice be done at last.

Gulf War III isn’t an option

We’ve heard this quickening drumbeat before. Last time, it led to the tragic invasion and occupation of Iraq. This time, if we let the drummers provoke us into war with Iran, the consequences will likely be far worse. Yes, there are good reasons to be concerned about the Iranian nuclear program. But it doesn’t follow that launching a military attack – or providing support for an attack by Israel –would necessarily be effective, let alone wise. The evidence suggests it would be neither.

Obviously, Iranian oficials are lying when they say their nuclear program is entirely for peaceful purposes. But it is clear that Iran does not yet have the ability to build a nuclear weapon – and unclear whether the Iranian government, if and when it does achieve that capability, will take that inal provocative step.

Covert operations believed to have been carried out by Israeli intelligence agents, perhaps with U.S. assistance – a diabolically clever computer virus that crippled many of Iran’s enrichment centrifuges, along with the targeted assassinations of key Iranian scientists – have signiicantly slowed Iran’s progress toward being able to make a bomb. It is reasonable to assume that such actions, and their effectiveness, will continue.

But let’s also assume that sabotage, in the end, will not be enough to keep Iran from reaching its goal. What then?

First, it seems to me, you have to igure out why the Iranian regime has gone to the trouble and expense of mounting a nuclear program in the irst place. If you string together enough examples of the apocalyptic, anti-Semitic rhetorical venom that spews regularly from both religious and secular authorities in Iran, you might believe that as soon as the irst nuclear-tipped missile came off the assembly line it would be sent hurtling toward Israel. But if you look at the way the regime actually behaves, you’d have to conclude otherwise.

The Iranian government acts in ways that are inimical to the interests of Israel, the United States, our Western allies and the Arab states of the Persian Gulf. But it does not act in ways that are inherently irrational.

The regime wants Iran to be able to dominate the region as it did in the days of the Persian Empire. Like all dictatorial governments, it also wants to perpetuate its hold on power. Achieving nuclear capability would serve both these goals; a suicidal attack against Israel or the United States would serve neither.

The regime’s superpower ambitions were greatly furthered by the U.S. decision to go to war against Iraq, thus eliminating Iran’s chief rival. When Saddam Hussein had chemical weapons, he used them on his own people and against Iran, not against the West.

As I See It - A Forum for Community Issues

Don’t hesitate to call forAlzheimer’s help

I recall feeling helpless and confused at times, and wondered if I was doing the right thing. It’s like an avalanche – it starts as a snowball and once it begins going downhill, it just gets bigger and bigger and you realize that you can’t stop it. It used to be that you carried it around with you like some deep, dark family secret. It’s so hard to see that person slipping. You don’t want to accept it, but then they start to forget things. They have moments where things aren’t familiar to them, and then all of the sudden they don’t recognize you. I know all too well what millions of other families across the country are going through. About 10 years ago, my father and I were the primary caregivers for my mother, who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. I was delighted to hear the news about the National Alzheimer’s Plan and the ambitious goal of preventing and effectively treating Alzheimer’s disease by 2025. I also want to commend the Obama Adminis-

tration for dedicating additional inancial resources in the ight against the Alzheimer’s epidemic. However, the critical need to accelerate the Alzheimer’s movement and create awareness for Alzheimer’s disease, and the programs and services available to support those affected, is ever-present and growing. This need seems to resonate throughout the African-American community, as we are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease than other populations. Compared to the general public, African-Americans have a greater risk of developing diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and other cardiovascular complications, which could lead to a higher risk of stroke and Alzheimer’s disease.

It is common, and culturally acceptable, in the AfricanAmerican community to believe it’s the family’s responsibility to take care of their loved ones needs and not to impose on individuals outside the family.

A word to the family members and loved ones who are compassionately providing roundthe-clock care to people with dementia – you are not alone. You have one of the hardest jobs in the world, but you do not have to bare this burden on your own. Reach out to other people

to help alleviate the stress, because you have got to have help. You cannot and should not do it by yourself. Find a support group, get respite assistance and seek out education programs to help you plan for the future. There are resources available to assist with the dificult decisions and uncertainties people with Alzheimer’s and their families face. Even if you wake up in the middle of the night feeling helpless, you can call the Alzheimer’s Association 24/7 Helpline. Sometimes just having someone to talk to can make all of the difference in the world.

While a cure may not be around the corner, the momentum of getting to the corner is growing. Alzheimer’s disease can’t wait. Know the signs of Alzheimer’s and reach out for assistance. Not only is it OK to ask for help, it’s the right thing to do (for you and you’re loved one).

To learn more about Alzheimer’s disease or receive support, visit alz.org/stl or call 800-272-3900.

St. Louis American columnist and broadcaster Mike Claiborne is a board member of the Alzheimer’s Association St. Louis Chapter.

It’s also worth mentioning that Iranian leaders might look at Iraq and Libya, which abandoned their nuclear programs, and then look at North Korea, which did not, and conclude logically that the best way for a “rogue” government to survive is to make a bomb.

My guess is that the Iranians might stop short of actually testing a nuclear device. Simply letting the world know they’re able to make one would give them the added clout they seek.

To be sure, a world with a nuclear-capable Iran would be a more dangerous place – especially for Israel and the United States, but also for Saudi Arabia and every other nation within missile range. But is there an alternative?

Iran is a huge country, and its nuclear facilities are widely dispersed across forbidding terrain – in some cases, buried deep in mountainsides. I am not convinced that an Israeli air attack, even with logistical support from the United States and its regional allies, would be able to accomplish more than delay the nuclear program by a few years.

The United States could do a more deinitive job. But we would be talking about a massive, sustained bombing campaign of the kind that preceded the Iraq invasion. We’re not talking about some kind of one-day “surgical” strike. It would be war.

Are you ready for Gulf War III? If not, the only choice is to continue with diplomacy and sanctions. They aren’t great options, but they’re the best we’ve got.

Inclusion and inclusion goals

With respect to the substantive issue – i.e. black folks getting more contracts and jobs from MSD – there seems to be more energy and attention placed on MSD setting 25 percent minority contractor and worker goals than establishing a means of fulilling the goals. Twenty-two years ago, when the city’s 25 percent minority goal was put into law, having a percentage of public contracts designated for minorities was essential because it established a market share for black entrepreneurs (in order to overcome the historical discriminatory exclusion).

Minority percentage goals were always envisioned as having a sunset. It was expected that as more minority construction irms obtained public contracts they would grow and employ more minority workers, who would be the seeds for future black entrepreneurship, and that they would expand into the larger and more lucrative private sector market.

Thus, it was envisioned that a point in time would be reached when minority irms would ind and have a solid toehold in the construction marketplace due to their having grown into enterprises that could compete against the white irms in terms of cost and quality of services, and hence, minority goals would be unnecessary.

Consequently, for more than two decades the construction industry in this town has been conditioned to think a certain percentage of construction work has essentially been “set aside” for minority contractors. This minority inclusion mindset has extended beyond the public sector to the quasi-public institutions like the universities and hospitals, and to the private sector when there is sensitivity to minority consumers. Examples of minority goals being set on construction projects by the former include Wash U. and BJC, while examples of goals being set by the latter include Wal-Mart and Target. Why is it, with all these years of minority inclusion percentage laws and policies, that we cannot point to 10 black contractors in this town capable of bonding even a $1 million job? There are a myriad of reasons for this, and I would think and hope that this would

be analyzed before assuming that MSD setting 25 percent minority goals will itself result in more blacks getting contracts and jobs. Indeed, if not carefully structured and monitored, high minority percentage goals can actually lead to fewer blacks working, as the white irms will concoct “front company” arrangements in order to technically comply with the goals.

Eric E. Vickers St. Louis Komen Foundation about-face

The abrupt about-face done by the Susan G. Komen Foundation is the result of a society that has had enough of religious zealotry and political gamesmanship. The irestorm that erupted over Komen’s defunding of breast exams for Planned Parenthood is also responsible for bringing to public attention the seamier side of the Komen Foundation; stories that have not gained traction until the Planned Parenthood defunding captured media attention. News reports heretofore lost in the 24/7 news cycle are now coming to the forefront. One such report reveals that the Komen Foundation actually worked “behind the scenes” in an un-named state to torpedo breast cancer legislation. Another report tells of the Foundation working to stymie legislation on stem cell research. Another reveals that the Foundation spent over one million in 2009 to lobby the national healthcare bill. .

However, the bigger story is the damage done to Komen’s reputation. Why did they hire a religious zealot like Karen Handel for their management team? And despite repeated and varying denials by Komen CEO Nancy Brinker, the decision to discontinue funding to Planned Parenthood was obviously a decision which kowtowed to hard-right Republicans.

Michael K. Broughton Green Park

Condolences to Mrs. Peaston

What was the address in your story about David Peaston if

someone wants to send condolences to his wife?

Peggy Jones St. Louis

Mourners are asked to send condolences to the following address: PO Box 210732 St. Louis, MO 63121.

Guest Columnist Mike Claiborne

Recreation scholarships in U City

The Department of Community Development – Recreation Division is offering a recreation scholarship to income- qualified University City residents. Funding is limited. The scholarship award amount will be based on all household income sources, including related and unrelated individuals residing in a household. Individual and family scholarships are available. Scholarships are provided at a sliding scale, dependent on income. Scholarships are available for the following recreational programs: Youth before and after school programs, and city operated full day recreation programs (i.e. Summer Youth Recreation Program, etc.)

Fitness and/or Leisure education classes. Lessons and senior social activities will be limited to two (2) per person per fiscal quarter (July 1-Sept 30, Oct 1-Dec 31, Jan 1-Mar 31, Apr 1-June 30); Centennial Commons memberships and Heman Pool/Natatorium Swim Passes University City Sports Association or University City Soccer Club youth sports player fees. Applications are accepted year round. For more information, contact Leslie Eutz, 314.505.8617.

Drumline SHOWDOWN April 21

The 3rd annual SHOWDOWN will bring seven nationally renowned HBCU marching percussion ensembles to St. Louis to battle it out for $10,000 for their school’s percussion programs. The 2012 ensembles include Central State (Ohio), Harris-Stowe State, Howard, Kentucky State, Langston, Lincoln and North Carolina A& TUniversities. The competition will be hosted at Chaifetz Arena on Saturday, April 21.

The day will begin with a SHOWDOWN Parade on Market Street, which will feature guest HBCU drum lines as well as ensembles from across the region. At 11 a.m., the arena concourse doors will open for a free college recruitment/career/health/safety/crime prevention fair. At 1 p.m. the main stage doors will open for a 2 p.m. drum line battle. The SHOWDOWN is presented by the Show-Me Sound Organization.

Teen girls needed for HIV/AIDS prevention program

According to 2009 figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the rate of new HIVinfections among black women was 15 times that of white women, and over 3 times the rate among Hispanic/Latina women.

The Missouri Institute of Mental Health at the University of Missouri–St. Louis is working to stem the tide of new HIVcases by reaching out to young women in the black community and educating them about HIV/AIDS and substance abuse. People who get high, by drinking or taking drugs, may be more likely to engage in unprotected sex while under the influence.

MIMH’s Girls Holla Back! Program is devoted to reducingnew cases of HIV/AIDS, as well as reducing substance abuse among black females living in the St. Louis Metropolitan area. Girls Holla Back! will kick-off its spring session on March 3. The prevention program is free and runs a total of eight weeks. Eligible participants include African-American girls who are 12-17 years old. They’ll need to bring an adult female family member or guardian to take part in the program.

Along with drugs and HIVand AIDS prevention education, the program will offer free on-site HIVtesting, bonding activities and workshop sessions to help build youth and adult communications about sexual health.

For more information on Girls Holla Back! call 314-877-6487 or visit www.mimh.edu/ghb.

Is Black History Month still viable?

By Cynthia L.Banks For The St.Louis American

Just the other day while standing in line at a fast food restaurant a couple of teenage boys remarked that they were tired of the schools forcing them to take part in the Black History Month programs. They agreed that they did not see need to hash over things that were old.

I could not resist the need and asked them if they understood what it meant to learn about their history? Did they understand that what happened before they were born has given them the freedom they have now? They each looked at me and walked away. Aminute later one of the young men came back and said he understood but he still feels that we should focus on now not then.

Focus on now not then? How does one do that? As I gladly enter into my 60th year of living, I reflect on the things that have taken place during my life time.

One could say that I was lucky not to have been born in the South but in St. Louis. This is a city that has been, and to some degree still is, racially polarized. This polarization spawned busing before it became the norm.

I attended LacledeSchool in the mid ‘60s and was bussed to Lowell because of space. At that point Lowell was still 8590 percent white. Was this for racial balance? No it was because of lack of space. We may have attended the school, but we were separated from all the activities.

When other cities were taking to the streets, St. Louis remained calm. I feel that my parents and others like them were still too close to the happenings of the South to want to take part in the riots that could destroy the life they now had.

Thoseof my age group wanted to go out and take a stand, but living in our parents’homes that was not to be tolerated. During 1970 I did take a stand while attending Normandy High School. My family like others was part of the black flight that was happening during the late ‘60s early ‘70s and buying homes in a “better” class of neighborhood.

Having attended predominately all-black schools, this was culture shock for many of my peers. We were not allowed to be a part of many of the activities nor were we allowed to form clubs that were just for us. We held sit-ins and finally took over East Hall. The result from this was the permanent suspensions of 13 students and some major changes in how the black students were treated. I was one of those 13.

The Black History celebration is now a full month. I remember when it was just a week and all we learned was about what Abe Lincoln did to free the slaves. Every now and then they would bring up Charles Drew. They talked about Harriet Tubman and Nate Turner but in limited frames. Now that we have a whole month, we can focus on so much more and the students today do not want to learn about it.

Cynthia L. Banks

Earlier this winter,the Larry Hughes Family Foundation and Hughes Charities donated coats to Jennings School District.The coats were distributed amongst seven schools in the district.Team Hughes was at Woodland Elementary to personally hand out the coats.

Photo by Lawrence Bryant

LEADERS

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American Foundation and Emerson for their service to the St. Louis region.

The breakout hip-hop hit from Mary J. Blige’s debut album was given a new meaning nearly 20 years after it inspired plenty of grooves.

“You hear all of the things that they have going on in their professional lives and in their civic lives,” Bennett said. “We’re going to really make them feel special, because they are. They represent some of our best and our brightest.”

The ritual never got old as the 20 recipients – chosen by a committee of their peers from more than 100 community submissions – stepped forward to accept the honor.

The 2012 Young Leaders are: Lamar Agard, Lashanda R. Barnes, Stefan M. Bradley, Tasha Pettis Bonds, Charla M. Claypool, Desiree S. Coleman, Craig Glover, Carmen R. Guynn, Harlan B. Hodge, Nate K. Johnson, Raegan Johnson, Kenya M. Leonard, Kendra Neely-Martin, Richard T. Middleton IV, Serena Muhammad. Frederick J. Riley, Amber D. Simpson, Oluchi Lisa Uwah, Michael T. Whitley and Ronda F. Williams.

By the time the final name was called, an energy and fervor permeated the Chase’s Starlight Room full of bank vice presidents, senior corpo-

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fits” and form a system that brings an estimated $9.36 million in savings for the first year. (Further actuarial work would be needed to estimate future years’savings.)

rate counselors, education leaders, not-for-profit executives, inclusion compliance managers, realtors and health professionals, with personal interests that range from international outreach to organizing Salsa dance conventions.

“What we see here are individuals who have managed their civic responsibilities in a way that helps uplift us all,” Bennett said.

The awardees’people showed out in strength, too.

“I walked all over this room and have seen mothers and fathers and husbands and wives and grandparents and children,” said Kathy Osborn, director of the Regional Business Commission. “ I’m going to ask you to thank them for all that they’ve done to support our leaders.”

Title sponsor Emerson represented at the event.

“Emerson is proud to be the presenting sponsor for this second year,” said Teesha Hernandez of Emerson. “We are fortunate to have such dynamic young leadership to strengthen our community in the future.”

Author and activist Kevin Powell offered closing remarks, which were equal parts inspiration and challenge.

“I love and respect the Civil Rights Movement, but we have to have a different kind of leadership in the 21st century and the folks I saw walking up here represented

After Slay’s proposal outraged St. Louis City firefighters, Reed – a potential candidate for mayor in 2013 – gathered firefighters together to hash out a plan that appeased the firemen and cut costs. The main difference – and contested point – in the two politicians’plans is who controls the system. In Slay’s plan, the city would largely control the pension system, rather than its current eight-member pension board – which mainly consists of current and retired firefighters. The mayor

that – amen,” Powell said.

Then added: “I would recommend that you don’t call yourself a leader, just do the work.”

One awardee, Harlan Hodge, had been doing the work right up until the awards event. Hodge, who is president of Imagine Services and director of the non-profit afterschool program Character Chess, arrived a little late because he had just chaired a meeting with 30 kids talking about setting goals.

“By the time I left there, all of them had clearly defined their goals, and they have become accountable to each other about reaching their goals,” said Hodge. “That’s the greatest accomplishment I have today.”

St. Louis American Foundation President Donald M. Suggs often emphasizes the importance of encouraging a coterie of young professionals who mutually strengthen each other and their commitment to the St. Louis region. That work also was furthered at the Young Leaders event.

“When you hear about what other people are doing, it really inspires you,” said Oluchi Lisa Uwah, field perspective consultant, business development group at Wells Fargo Advisors. “I met a lot of great people; it was a great event.”

See the Young Leaders picture pages on pages A8-9.

appoints two seats on the board. Under Slay’s plan, the majority of the board members would be city officials rather than firemen. The Mayor’s Office did not return TheSt. Louis American’s request for comment on Reed’s plan. Reed called the mayor’s plan unconstitutional because it would affect existing employees’future retirement benefits. On Friday, Reed

by

obligation of contracts.”

passed out copies of a related 2010 law opinion by the Thompson Coburn law firm regarding whether or not the Missouri Constitution would allow such changes to the pension system.

In a March 2010 opinion written for state Sen. Jason Crowell on the Missouri State Employees’Retirement System (MOSERS), a Thompson Coburn lawyer wrote that the Missouri Supreme Court has not yet addressed whether it is legal to reduce future retirement benefits of current nonretired system members.

However, based on decisions in other Missouri cases involving changes in retirement systems, the lawyer wrote, “there is a significant probability that the Supreme Court of Missouri would rule that such a change to the MOSERS statutes violates the prohibition in article I, Section 13 of the Missouri Constitution against laws that impair the

Reed said the opinion is important information to have before embarking on a plan that cost taxpayers $2 million or more in legal fees.

However, on Feb. 23, 2012, Board of Aldermen attorney Dave Sweeney received a memorandum from a different Thompson Coburn lawyer – contracted by the mayor’s office – that gives aldermen the go-ahead for Board Bills 270 and 271.

The memo states that reducing future benefits for current employees falls within the city ordinance that governs the Firemen’s Retirement System.

The memo points to City Ordinance 49623, which states, “The City of St. Louis reserves the right to amend or repeal this ordinance at any time hereafter.”

Thompson Coburn lawyer Paul Griesemer and Deputy City Counselor Michael

Ethics Project boosts Judge Edwards

On Friday St.Louis City Presiding Family Court Judge Jimmie Edwards attended a luncheon at Mt.Zion MB Church with over 160 community leaders, organized by Dr.Christi M. Griffin (rear), founder of The Ethics Project, to help build a network of support for his progressive efforts.The Ethics Project seeks to find alternatives to incarcerations for non-violent offenses and to eliminate those factors that result in violent ones.

Garvin stated in the memo that the ordinances “contain no prohibition on the reduction of the rate of accrual for benefits that might be earned in the future.”

Last summer, Slay contracted Thompson Coburn for a $75,000 legal consultation regarding retirement pension reform. In total, their legal counsel ended up costing more than $250,000, said Tom Shepard, Reed’s chief of staff. The memorandum –which was not on Thompson Coburn letterhead – came to the board weeks after the bills were introduced and after Reed requested it from Slay.

As part of the talks, the black firefighters’group F.I.R.E. and Firefighters Local 73 agreed to establish a special committee that would be made up of equal number of members from both organizations. The “Bridge Committee” would meet monthly to discuss issues in the fire department, including hiring and testing, said Shepard.

Leaders of Local 73 are also proposing to amend their by-laws to reserve two seats on every committee in the union for F.I.R.E. members who are also union members. F.I.R.E. was formed in opposition to the white-dominated union and has often struggled with the union.

Abill is already in draft form in the Missouri Legislature that would enact Reed’s plan. Reed, some aldermen and firemen will be working hard to make sure it will get passed after it is introduced into legislative session, Shepard said. Shepard said they will get an ordinance passed before the upcoming budget year, despite the fact that the board’s session ends in April.

“There are no timing considerations that would prevent us from considering those savings,” Shepard said.

“We will get it done before the budget year starts.”

Photo

Wiley Price

LAMPE

Continued from A1

genuineness,” Webb said.

“Sara is genuine. We need to turn the tide if we are ever going to elect a Governor who genuinely stands up for black folks and represents everyone.”

Lampe, a term-limited Democratic state representative from downstate, is running for Lieutenant Governor, not Governor. But progressive legislators see a long line for the Governor’s Office forming behind Jay Nixon, starting with Attorney General Chris Koster and State Treasurer Clint Zweifel. None of these Democrats have enthusiastic African-American support, and Lampe’s most visible opponent for Lieutenant Governor –Susan Montee, the former State Auditor – is perceived as willing to get in line behind Koster and Zweifel. These Democrats said electing Lampe would provide a ray of hope for a statewide Democrat who is more responsive to progressive legislators.

Lampe, from the conservative Springfield area, has been able to raise money and garner votes from Republicans as well. She and her advocates think her hardest fight will be in the Democratic primary, which already has four announced candidates. Montee,

CLAY

Continued from A1

did not mention his challenger. In a message that Carnahan sent to supporters on Tuesday, he did not mention Clay either. The bulk of his message was not even devoted to the campaign Carnahan just filed to wage, but rather to his fervent wish his 3rd Congressional District will be redrawn (again) into something winnable for him.

who has held statewide office and most recently chaired the state party, is expected to outraise the rest of the field.

“They are going to have more money,” Webb said. “But can they galvanize the community? Can they galvanize the black community?”

Montee announced her candidacy in St. Louis City Hall, hosted by Mayor Francis G. Slay. St. Louis has four black citywide officials who work in the same building, and none of them joined her when she announced her campaign. The event was almost a total noshow for the black political community in the eastern half of the state.

“It would be easier for us to be with Susan and to sit back and watch how things play out,” Webb said. “But she has never taken the time to engage the African-American community. Not when she was in office, not when she ran the party, not in her campaigns.

We had no role in any of that.”

Webb also thinks mainstream Democrats are shortsighted if they think Montee can win a general election.

“She can’t win,” Webb said.

“She didn’t win against Schweich for State Auditor, and Schweich was weak. He was an unknown, and she lost to him. It’s time we start making our own decisions whether someone can win or not.”

Beyond the politics, Lampe’s advocates speak up

Carnahan stated, “Of course, we are still awaiting a decision from the Missouri Supreme Court on this gerrymandered map passed by the Republican legislature over the veto of Governor Nixon. Together, we have fought to challenge this map. I believe the maps are unconstitutional and if redrawn fairly, the people of the St Louis metro area would have three whole districts instead of only two, and statewide, Democrats would have at least three districts out of eight, instead of only two.”

for her policy stands.

“When I was serving on the Budget Committee, she stood up with me to save money for programs in the city of St. Louis,” Carter said. “Some of my own St. Louis city reps didn’t even stand up with me.

Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan – Russ Carnahan’s sister, of course –previously announced that candidates could file again in a different district if the court returns a different district map.

The city of St. Louis, previously split, north and south, between the 1st and 3rd congressional districts, now falls in the 1st District. With the city caught in the middle in this primary, Mayor Francis G. Slay came out on filing day with his candidate picked.

“Barring a court decision

She supported me in fighting for money for social programs and to fund the Office of Minority Health. And you don’t see many rural or nonurban Democrats who stand with us.”

State Rep. Rory Ellinger, a

throwing out the Congressional maps, the City’s Democratic voters will likely find both Lacy Clay and Russ Carnahan on their August primary ballots. That’s too bad. Being represented by two members of Congress is better than one. The map will make it difficult for voters who like both of them,” Slay stated.

“But, the map is not up to us. We will have to make a hard choice. I have. It is my intention to support Lacy Clay in that election. I have had a great working relationship with

progressive white man from University City, said Lampe also has the right skills for the job even if Lieutenant Governor is not a stepping stone for her.

“It’s the kind of office where you like to see someone

State Senator, then U.S. Representative, Clay over the years. His commitment to the City of St. Louis is deep and long-standing. Because of his experience, he fully understands the issues facing our city, and the people of our city.

It is my strong belief that the city’s many interests are better served by returning Lacy Clay to Congress in November 2012.”

Under the new redistricting, St. Louis County now is split between the 1st and the 2nd congressional districts. St.

Overflowing crowd for Angela Davis

The legendary activist and author Angela Davis spoke to an overflowing crowd at Christ Church Cathedral on Sunday afternoon in an event organized by the St. Louis Public Library. She spoke on black women in American history and culture. Her most recent books include “Are Prisons Obsolete?”and “Abolition Democracy.” She is currently completing a book on prisons and American history.

with executive ability, and Sara has been a principal, she has effectively run schools,” Ellinger said. “She knows how to delegate and make best use of other people – all sorts of other people, in an inclusive way.”

Louis County Executive Charlie A.

in

against Clay

also endorsed Clay on filing day. Core supporters of Clay said he had a bounce to his step on filing day and was genuinely looking forward to the campaign. His statement reflected as much: “I’m looking forward to this campaign, and I can’t wait to take my positive, progressive message to every neighborhood that I have the honor to represent.”

Photo by Wiley Price

Dooley – who ran

himself

2000 –

2012 SALUTETO YOUNG LEADERS

NETWORKING AWARDS RECEPTION

Last week,more than 500 attended the St.Louis American Foundation’s second annual Salute to Young Leaders Networking Awards Reception at the Chase Park Plaza.Twenty outstanding African-American professionals,age 40 and under,were honored at the special recognition event. These Young Leaders are high-performing,aspirational individuals who are already making a positive impact in our community.St.Louis-based Emerson served as the presenting sponsor of the event.

Photos by Wiley Price and Maurice Meredith –

The 2012 Young Leaders:(seated) Kenya Leonard, Carmen Guynn, Desiree Coleman, Raegan Johnson, Charla Claypool, Tasha Pettis Bonds, Ronda Williams, Lashanda Barnes, Kendra NeelyMartin; (standing):Craig Glover,Harlan Hodge,Serena Muhammad, Richard Middleton, Amber Simpson, Oluchi Uwah, Michael Whitley, Frederick Riley, Nate Johnson, Stefan Bradley, Lamar Agard

Awardees Michael Whitley and Ronda Williams with Cedric Cobb

Josalinn Smith and Rosalyn Robinson

Johnny Furr,Jr.made a special call for tutors for Education Express.

Awardee Lamar Agard

Awardees Raegan Johnson and Nate Johnson

Felicia Ezell,Kathleen Farid and Tanisha Black

Karla Scott won an iPad at the reception.

Mark Grady,Kira Van Niel and Cory Klines

Awardee Oluchi Lisa Uwah

Cyeria Jackson,Kimberly Topps,Danielle McPherson,awardee Lashanda Barnes,Petal Staley and Danielle Harris

Awardee Carmen Guynn

Awardee Richard Middleton,IV

Awardee Desiree Coleman,State Rep.Clem Smith and Shauntay Binion

Awardee Serena Muhammad

Elise Brown and Janelle Mosley

Reginald Phillips,Mike Sankey,awardee Craig Glover,Darius Young and Earl Winfrey

Redditt Hudson,Adrienne Hughes and State Rep.Clem Smith

Awardee Charla Claypool and Ameren’s Brian Leonard Awardee Kendra Neely-Martin and PNC Bank’s Rick Sems

Emcee Rebeccah Bennett chats with guests.

Kevin Powell with State Rep.Tishaura Jones

Awardees Stefan Bradley and Tasha Pettis Bonds

Awardee Amber Simpson

Erin and Charles Stewart with Emerson’s Teesha Hernandez

Naretha Hopson

Awardee Frederick Riley Valerie Patton,RBC’s Kathy Osborn,Randy Weller and Cheryl Polk Glynn Young,Tracy Pool and Tyson Pruitt

Awardee Kenya Leonard with Kevin Powell and Kira Van Niel Julia Robinson Thorpe,Roger Webb and Dadie Kagarawa

Attendance

prize winner Aurelia Skipworth

Awardee Harlan Hodge and Edward Jones’ Emily Pitts

Obituaries

Evelyn Tate Brown

God plucked her from this earthly place and planted her in His precious garden on Tuesday, February 7, 2012. She leaves to cherish her memories a loving and devoted husband, Manuel Brown, Jr.; her children, Wanda J. Aveytia (Ernesto) and Monica C. Harris (Robert); 5 grandchildren, Justin Gentilini (Nicole,) John

Gentilini, Shelley Lane (Adam), Jasmine and Lauren Harris; her sister, Yvonne Lewis; 3 greatgrandchildren, Olivia, Justin, Jr. and Sophia; a special aunt, Elizabeth Reed of Milwaukee, WI; goddaughter, Vanessa G. Reed of Milwaukee, WI, “other special” daughters, Angela Brown, Sandy Patterson of Cincinnati, OH, and C. Dene Brownlee, another :special” granddaughter Alexandra Mitchell and a host

of nieces, nephews, cousins and close friends.

Evelyn Tate Brown was the oldest child of Frederick English and Geneva Tate on September 22, 1933, in St. Louis, Missouri.

Evelyn was educated in the St. Louis Public Schools and graduated from Charles Sumner High School in 1951. She was employed by the U.S. Coast Guard for 30 years. She retired on disability in 1988.

She was a member of Christ Southern M.B. Church until joining St. John A.M.E. in 1964. She was a member of the Duke and Duchess Club, the Class Leader Council and a long time member of the Senior Usher Board until her health began to fail.

Louisiana Red dies at 79

Like so many other blues musicians, slide guitarist Louisiana Red long struggled to make a living in his native country, so in the early 1980s he moved to Germany where, to his delight, he found audiences far more receptive to his elemental sound.

He would return to the United States periodically for tours, and in 2009, one of the first things he did after again setting foot on his home turf was to send a copy of his latest album to the country’s first African American president, Barack Obama.

“Friends of mine played for

him back in Chicago, when he was raising funds for schools,” Red told the Boston Herald at the time. “I’m gonna write, ‘I hope you enjoy these blues. I’m proud of you.’”

Red died Saturday at a hospital in Germany, just a few nights after the president and his wife had hosted B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Jeff Beck, Mick Jagger and others at the White House for a celebration of the blues. The guitarist died at 79 after slipping into a coma brought on by a thyroid imbalance, according to a spokesman for his U.S. record company, Ruf Records, which released his latest album, “Memphis Mojo,” in September. Over the years Red received 14 nominations and three awards from the Memphisbased Blues Foundation, including a double win in 2010 for acoustic blues artist of the year and acoustic album of the year for his duet with pianist David Maxwell, “You Got to Move.”

The musician born Iverson Minter in Bessemer, Ala., on March 23, 1932 (some sources list his birth year as 1936), went through a series of stage names when he was establishing himself, but the nickname associated with his passion for oysters doused in Louisiana red pepper sauce is the one that stuck.

Red’s mother died within a week of his birth, and his father was lynched by members of the Ku Klux Klan when he was 5, prompting an aunt to place him

in an orphanage. He later lived with his grandmother and an uncle in Pittsburgh. He landed a deal with Chicago’s influential Chess Records after playing a song over the phone for label co-owner Phil Chess, who sent him a bus ticket for Chicago. The man who picked Red up at the station to drive him to meet Chess was Muddy Waters, who was to become one of the label’s biggest stars.

Waters and some of his band mates, including harmonica player Little Walter and guitarist Jimmy Rogers, played on some of Red’s recordings, and he appeared on records by other blues artists including Waters and John Lee Hooker.

“He’s kind of one of the originators,” Kim Wilson, singer and harmonica player for the Fabulous Thunderbirds, said Monday. “His career took off in the ‘60s, and he had a little bit more of a modern sound than Muddy and the guys from the ‘50s. He was a real pivotal guy for people like me, and he was a very, very good songwriter.

“He’s a blues guy, a real blues guy — not one of these guys who call themselves blues people. That’s an important distinction,” Wilson said. “When guys like that leave the planet, quality control goes out the window.”

Survivors include his wife, Dora.

Obit By Randy Lewis, Los Angeles Times

Alorton mayor pleads guilty to dealing crack

Randy McCallum, the recently resigned ex-mayor of the village of Alorton, Illinois, made news with his recent appearance in East St. Louis federal court.

McCallum, who told reporters that he was “clean as a whistle” following a federal raid of his home and Alorton Village Hall, pleaded guilty to stealing $1,000 from the village, attempting to deal crack cocaine as well as attempting to smuggle a controlled substance to an inmate and lying to a federal agent. This comes as the result of U.S. Attorney Steven R. Wigginton’s continued crackdown on systemic corruption by those in elected and public positions.

McCallum was recorded on May 20, by federal agents, as saying that he was looking for a “mother lode,” a reference to a major acquisition of drugs.

James Ingram

McCallum also got an officer (who was working for the feds) to smuggle a candy bar to an inmate, then cigarettes. Finally he gave the officer a blunt (cigar filled with marijuana) and a pack of cigarettes to be delivered to an inmate in time for the inmate’s birthday on December 15.

Coincidentally, McCallum’s son Randy McCallum Jr. was born on December 15, 1989 and is an inmate at the St. Clair County Jail on a double homicide charge. Yet, when McCallum emerged from federal court, he sported a pimped-out suit, fedora, designer eyeglasses and a big smile as if he had no contrition, remorse or even enough common sense to know that he had disgraced himself, his community and the office that he previously held.

It is precisely this type of arrogance, irreverence and disregard for voters, the law and his own family for that matter that causes voters to be cynical, apathetic and indifferent about the political process.

It was McCallum’s own former police chief, Michael Baxton, who was recently caught, in a similar FBI sting, in which Baxton was caught stealing Xbox gaming systems from a bait car , then lying to feds. So when the mayor and the police chief are crooks, then who is looking out for the community?

But the roundup of corrupt officials didn’t just stop with McCallum. On the same day that McCallum entered his plea, ESL police officer Larry D. Greenlee was also charged, by the federal prosecutor, with stealing a diamondstudded Rolex watch, valued at $3,000, from a federal “bait car”, on September 10, 2010.

I predict that U.S. Attorney Wigginton is far from finished with his efforts to expose public and political corruption and, before the year is through, many of those whose names have appeared in this column will be well on their way to a lengthy “vacation” at one of our many well-appointed federal facilities. Also, If you like my column you’ll LOVE my radio show, Sundays from 4-5pm on WGNU-920am radio. Tune-in and call-in. I’d love to hear from you Email: jtingram_1960@yahoo.com.

Evelyn Brown

Louisiana Red

Mayor Slay and Charles Bryson: the plantation version

In our business, it’s called burying the lead (actually, journalists call it the “lede”). They also left out the back story. In some circles they’d call it rolling over or playing punk. The EYE is talking about the Post-Dispatch’s coverage of the mayor’s demotion of the black man who was promoted to demote the city’s first black fire chief.

It’s not even the lead item of the Political Fix column tucked away on A11 of the Post’s (exceedingly low readership) Saturday edition. The lead item is a national ranking of members of Congress that found U.S. Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay tied for most liberal. Tucked between that and a rewrite of a Missouri Secretary of State press release about candidate filing minutiae is a whopper. It just isn’t written – or rewritten from the Mayor’s Office press release – as if it’s a whopper.

“Roth named public safety director” is the bolded bullet item given to this buried item in a buried column. Roth is Eddie Roth, who now has gone from the Board of Police Commissioners to Post-Dispatch editorial writer to now director of Public Safety for Mayor Francis G. Slay (with a couple other stops in between). All the stickers on Roth’s baggage would make for juicy political commentary, but no time for that – it’s straight onto the predecessor getting hit in the fanny by the door on his unceremonious way out. Roth, we are told, “takes the place of Charles Bryson, who will move into the mayor’s office as a neighborhood specialist, an area he covered before his move into public safety.”

We get nothing about Bryson’s amazing – indeed, historic – backstory, though the language in the Post could be suggestive. Saying Bryson “will move into the mayor’s office” makes it sound like he has been swatted into the doghouse. Or maybe moved back into the Big House, given the plantation metaphor so often used aptly by black people to describe St. Louis politics.

It’s impossible not to think of plantation politics when telling the story of Charles Bryson’s entrance and exit as director of the Department of Public Safety, running in and out of the Mayor’s Office to go there. The point was made forcefully by Tony Thompson, CEO of Kwame Building Group, a highly respected businessman who doesn’t hesitate to contract business with the city of St. Louis. When Mayor Slay promoted Bryson simply so there would be a black face on Fire Chief Sherman George’s boss when Chief George got fired, Thompson winced and said what many black people thought at the time: “That’s like calling one slave out to whip another slave.”

Hotheaded Sam

It’s still somehow surprising when, in the 21st century, you see an elected official wield power with such extreme disregard for racial feeling. But Slay did it and got away with it, and in the Post’s handling of Bryson’s demotion, clearly Slay will never be called to account by the majority media for this shameful episode. It shows a willingness to forgive – or, given Eddie Roth’s career switches, actively participate in – a method of governing that is essential to the Slay administration. Remember who got hit on the fanny by the revolving door in Public Safety when Bryson was called off the neighborhood do-gooder watch to axe Chief George. Bryson merely enforced a deadline and a threat issued by his predecessor, Sam Simon, whose family is deeply entwined with the mayor’s (Slay law-clerked for Simon’s father). Let’s not forget Sam Simon’s back-story. In the months Slay and Simon were harassing Chief George over his refusal to make fire department promotions from a contested list, Simon picked an endless number of fights with Chief George, who reported to him

directly. Simon, a former city cop, is known as a hothead and came natural to the assignment of making someone feel unwelcome. But it was a fight Simon picked with someone else that made it an easier decision for Slay to dump his family friend to promote a black man to demote the city’s first black fire chief. Simon wrote a hostile letter to the local vendor who sold the fire departments its airmasks. The city was embroiled in a high-profile lawsuit where the efficacy of this brand of airmask was in contention, and Slay and his legal advisors seemed to have decided that their case would look stronger if the city dramatically discontinued use of this company’s product. There was a catastrophic problem though. Simon was at war with his fire chief and neglected to inform him he was about to be deprived of all of his airmasks. The vendor called the fire chief and warned him that she had been told to come and pick up all of the airmasks her company had sold them – which was all of their airmasks. Chief George intervened, and the fire department kept its airmasks.

The EYE quoted Simon’s letter in full showing how he nearly left the fire department without airmasks. Slay took to his campaign blog saying some media want to weigh in critically about the fire department but report untruths. The next week The American printed a

scan of Simon’s actual letter, including his signature. This paper comes out on a Thursday. That Saturday Simon was announced as resigning from director of Public Safety (Slay’s senior staffers must dread Saturdays) for a position at Saint Louis University.

Hotheaded Sam Simon would prove to be no match for his successor Charles Bryson when it comes to making boneheaded plays. Wielding the axe

on a beloved, committed public servant like Chief George was only the beginning of Bryson’s public embarrassments.

This man went from neighborhood glad-hander to director of the city’s largest and most important office overnight. Bryson told The American the

week he was promoted that he never had managed more than a dozen people or had hiring and firing authority over anyone. Yet this was the man who was given the authority to demote Sherman George (as his first personnel move ever in any capacity) and then preside over, among other important things, the city’s jails. On Bryson’s watch, as followers of the news all over the world may remember, inmates had a way of releasing themselves – repeatedly – on their own recognizance. Since June 2010 alone, six inmates have escaped in four separate incidents.

The Post buried that at the very bottom of a buried item that is framed as a cheery note about Eddie Roth “speeding up his recent work coordinating law enforcement” for the city. But the Post can’t completely hide it. We are told, “Bryson’s tenure has been stormy. He has been criticized for jail escapes, cost overruns, overtime misuses and for a general lack of leadership and strength in office.” (Oh, and that Chief George thing, which the Post doesn’t revisit.)

Of course, an actual news report about this development would have asked the mayor why he didn’t just fire a bum like that. Why welcome Bryson back into your own office? But the Post has ignored the plantation politics that put Bryson where he was, and it’s only plantation politics that explains why Slay put him back where he is.

Jailbreak Charles

BUSINESS

On Sunday the University of Missouri–St.Louis hosted the daughter of Marguerite Ross Barnett, the first woman and the first African-American chancellor of UMSL,as it announced that a fundraising campaign for a memorial park in Barnett’s honor on the UMSL campus had hit the halfway mark.Her daughter,Amy DuBois Barnett,is editor-in-chief of Ebony Magazine.Pictured:Susan Sander,vice president of Fringe Benefits,Inc.and president of the UMSL Alumni Association;Hubert Hoosman,president and CEO of Vantage Credit Union and chairman of the campaign committee for Chancellor Marguerite Ross Barnett Memorial Plaza at UMSL;Amy DuBois Barnett;and UMSL Chancellor Tom George. Barnett,who was chancellor of UMSL 1986-1990,died in 1992 of cancer at age 49.

Law firm honored for diversity and mentorship

American staff

The St. Louis law firm Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale P.C. was twice honored for its commitment to diversity in the legal profession by the Washington University Black Law Student Association (BLSA).At the BLSAannual dinner on Saturday, Feb. 18, Greensfelder was presented with the Legal Employer Diversity

American staff

“There’s a general lack of awareness about the importance of legal assistance in protecting these businesses and non-profits.”

– Laurie Hauber UMSL recognizes transformative chancellor

To provide business-oriented legal counsel to small businesses operated by low-income entrepreneurs and to non-profit organizations in underserved St. Louis communities, Legal Services of Eastern Missouri recently launched the Community Economic Development Program (CED Program). The CED Program will provide clients with a full range of business legal services such as one-on-one legal representation, legal workshops, business legal clinics, legal trainings and legal audits and checkups.

Award while one of its attorneys, David Simmons, earned the Professional Mentorship Award. Greensfelder was selected as the recipient of this year’s Legal Employer Diversity Award because of a number of diversity initiatives it has implemented to create and foster a more diverse and inclusive workplace and legal community including:

Assoc.

Creating the position of Director of Professional Development & Inclusion in 2007 – a first for the St. Louis legal profession. Broadening diversity throughout the St. Louis legal profession by partnering with the Diversity Awareness Partnership to orchestrate the

MSD has

‘Once in a Lifetime’ opportunity

$4.7B project can foster inclusion and sustainable procurement practices

Laurie Hauber will lead Community Economic Development Program are going to pay for these improvements through higher sewer bills that the investment in our infrastructure improvements should come back to this community to the greatest extent possible. Whether the firm is minority, women, or is a small business, MSD contracting policy should be holistic in its strategy to find ways to create new opportunities. Too often, public agencies have missed the mark of creative sustainable procurement practices by merely setting arbitrary participation goals for M/WBE’s expecting that a punitive policy will have the affect of creating meaningful opportunities. These historic goals programs have not succeeded in providing meaningful opportunities for local firms and providing opportunities for growth and greater competition.

See HAUBER, B2

By U.S.Rep.Wm.Lacy Clay

For The St.Louis American

Little has been written about the largest public infrastructure project in the St. Louis area. The Metropolitan Sewer District has recently agreed to a $4.7 billion consent decree with environmental regulators. The effect of this upgrade to our aging sewer system will be to improve the environmental conditions of our community. Clearly, little could be more important than clean water and the elimination of sewer system overflows. That said, an unprecedented level of investment in our infrastructure creates a “Once in a Lifetime” opportunity for the creation of jobs. Jobs for the planning, design, and construction of the individual projects creating new opportunities for local professional firms and general contractors. But, if the procurement of the work does not include a robust strategy for local involvement of these firms, a huge opportunity for local employment and local firm capacity growth will be missed. I would argue that if local residents and businesses

The MSD board recently opposed an increase in the historic goals program where MSD sought to raise Minority and Women firm percentages without other capacity growth strategies. More of the

PEOPLEON THE MOVE

C. Godwin

Laurna C. Godwin has joined St. Luke’s Hospital board of directors to serve a three-year term. Godwin is

Jones

Edward Jones of St. Louis has rejoined Kwame Building Group as Project Manager, working on the St. Vincent Greenway project for Great Rivers Greenway. Jones has 26 years of experience in construction and previously worked for KWAME on projects including the Renaissance Grand Hotel, Natural Bridge enhancement, the Lambert East Terminal expansion and the Edward Jones Dome.

BUSINESS BRIEFS

St. Louis organizations net $150M in New Market Tax Credits

Last week the U.S. Treasury Department and Congressman Wm. Lacy Clay announced that two St. Louis organizations are among the 70 recipients nation-wide who have been selected to receive New Market Tax Credit funding. The St. Louis Development Corporation and US Bank will receive $150 million. The St. Louis Development Corporation will receive $50 million to offer a variety of financial products with flexible structuring alternatives. For nonreal estate businesses, SLDC will offer equity investments and below-market interest rate loans ranging from $500,000 to $15 million. For real estate businesses, SLDC will offer equity or equity equivalent investments ranging from $500,000 to $5 million, and loans ranging from $500,000 to $15 million, including belowmarket interest rate loans and leveraged loans.

US Bank Community Development Entity will receive $100 million to provide equity, equity-like debt and favorable loan rates and terms for real estate development and operating businesses. The target borrower will be a qualified business who will develop or rehabilitate commercial real estate as rental or owner-occupied property. Clay said, “I want to personally thank President Obama and Secretary Geithner for being so responsive to my efforts to win this funding for the St. Louis region.”

Boeing donates $1M forcharity care at Mercy Hospital

The Boeing Company has donated $1 million to support charity care programs at Mercy Hospital St. Louis with a gift of. Boeing’s gift, to be distributed over the next four years, will be used to renovate Mercy’s JFK Clinic and to expand Mercy’s outreach efforts to benefit underserved children and their families. More than 31,000 eligible uninsured or under-insured patients receive comprehensive medical care, obstetrical services and low-cost prescriptions annually at the JFK Clinic.

Edward

Laurna

Fred Onovwerosuoke

Greensfelder recognized by Wash. U. Black Law Student

Photo by Wiley Price

Wm.Lacy Clay

What are some smart ways to refinance?

Recently, fixed mortgages were near their lowest rates in almost 30 years. And if you are one of the many people who took out mortgages in the few years prior to that, you may be wondering if you should look into refinancing. If your mortgage was taken out within the past five years, it may be worthwhile to refinance if you can get financing that is at least one to two points lower than your current interest rate. You should plan on staying in the house long enough to pay off the loan

HAUBER

Examples of legal matters the CED Program addresses include entity formation, employment, intellectual property, corporate governance, real estate, zoning compliance, contracts, tax matters, franchising and mergers.

Leading the program is attorney Laurie Hauber, who was hired by LSEM last fall to launch and manage the initiative. Prior to joining LSEM, Hauber served as the professor of the Community & Economic Development Clinic at Vanderbilt Law School. She also founded and directed the Boston-based Economic Justice Project, a program similar to the new LSEM project.

“Having the appropriate knowledge and expertise in these areas are essential in launching a program such as this,” said Jim Guest, Director of LSEM’s Volunteer Lawyers Program who is assisting Hauber.

With many low-income entrepreneurs lacking funds and facing other barriers, their

transaction charges (points, title insurance, attorney’s fees, etc.).

Afixed-rate mortgage could be your best bet in a rising interest rate environment, if you plan to stay in the house for several years. An adjustable mortgage may suit you if you will be moving within a few years, but you need to ensure that you will be able to handle increasingly higher payments should interest rates rise.

PERSONAL FINANCE

By Charles Ross

One way to use mortgage refinancing to your advantage is to take out a new mortgage for the same duration as your old mortgage. The lower interest rate will result in lower monthly payments. For example, if you took out a $150,000 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 7.5 percent (including

enterprises are often at risk because they do not have the sufficient resources to pay for basic legal assistance about liability risks, corporate governance matters, tax treatment and employment issues.

“Community economic development is critical to eliminating poverty in lowincome communities,” said Hauber. “There’s also a general lack of awareness about the importance of legal assistance in protecting these businesses and non-profits. Our program meets the need in an innovative, cost-effective way.”

While the project is new to St. Louis, more than 80 pro bono business law programs already exist across the country including Chicago, Kansas City, Austin, Texas, Washington, D.C, Atlanta, Detroit, Boston and New York.

LSEM’s CED works closely with other community partners, such as St. Louis County Economic Council Business Enterprise Centers; the Small Business Technology and Development Center; Justine Petersen; the BEGIN New Venture Center

Charles Ross

at St. Patrick Center; International Institute Community Development Corporation; Grace Hill Women’s Business Center; Center for Acceleration of African American Businesses; Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at Washington University; Regional Housing and Community Development Alliance; and the Nonprofit Resources Center.

In addition, St. Louis University Law School and Washington University Law School are involved in the project.

Through LSEM’s Volunter Lawyers Program, the CED Program is also working with law firms, corporate in-house counsel departments, and solo practioners who work on a pro bono basis. To date, seven law firms are already handling client cases with two other firms teaching community workshops under the CED Program.

Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, a United Way member agency, is an independent, non-profit organization that has provided high quality legal assistance in civil cases to the low-income community for more than 50 years.

transaction charges), your monthly payment is now $1,049. Refinance at 6 percent with a 30-year fixedrate mortgage of $150,000 (including transaction fees), and your payment will be $899 per month. That’s a savings of $150 per month,

which you can then use to invest, add to your retirement fund, or do with it whatever you please. Another option is to exchange your old mortgage for a shorter-term loan. Your 30-year fixed-rate payment on a $150,000 loan was $1,049 per month. If you refinance with a 15-year fixed mortgage for $150,000 — including transaction costs — at 6 percent, your monthly payment will be $1,266. This payment is only $217 more than your previous mortgage, but your

FIRM

Continued from B1 in 2011.

Co-coordinator and sponsor of the annual Diversity Clerkship Program and the St Louis Diversity Job Fair.

Supporting and actively participating in the Leadership Counsel on Legal Diversity, which unites corporate chief legal officers and law firm managing partners to advance

the goal of a diverse legal profession.Greensfelder community outreach also benefits a number of local legal associations dedicated to an inclusive workplace.

Implementing training and career development initiatives that foster an inclusive workforce and minority attorney professional development.

Reaching out to high schools with diverse student populations to expose students to legal career opportunities.

David Simmons was hon-

home will be fully paid for several years sooner, for a savings of more than $150,000! And some banks around the country are beginning to offer 10- and 20-year mortgages. Either way you look at it, it’s an attractive idea. Charles Ross is host of the syndicated radio program “Your Personal Finance.”

Contact him at P.O. Box 870928; Stone Mountain, Georgia 30087; or email to charles@ charlesross.com.

ored with the “Professional Mentorship Award” for his professional accomplishments following graduation from law school and his dedicated mentorship to Washington University School of Law student Kadeidra Honey.

Simmons is the third attorney from Greensfelder to receive BLSA’s Professional Mentorship Award.Edward Goldenhersh was honored with the award in 2009 and Danielle Carr received the award in 2010. Simmons is an associate in Greensfelder’s Litigation Practice Group where he represents clients in general civil and complex litigation with an emphasis on antitrust, securities, class actions, and premises liability matters.

Simmons received his law degree from the Washington University School of Law and has a degree in philosophy from the University of Missouri – Columbia.

same of a failed policy will not benefit our community. MSD recently announced that it intends to conduct a study to better understand our regions small business, minority, and women firms’capacity. When complete, I hope that MSD develops programs such as mentor/protégée, development of a small business bonding program with bonding firms, and procurement policies that include prequalification of firms in support of a new small business program. When other communities have faced these unprecedented infrastructure programs, they have developed new programs to make sure that local firms are not left behind. Where these programs have been successful, greater capacity supports increased competition which results in lowered costs. I am concerned about the future cost of this $4.7 billion dollar program and the impact that it will have on our citizens and businesses. MSD must find ways to reduce its costs so that the burden for our sewer system does not drive residents and businesses out of our community. Finally, MSD must roll up their sleeves, get innovative, and work with the community to find ways to fully involve local firms in the largest public infrastructure project in this region. No one is looking for or should receive handouts, but opportunities for

David Simmons of Greensfelder,Hemker & Gale and mentee Kadeidra Honey,a Washington University law student.

Danielle Carr,director of professional development and inclusion at Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale

“I think the ability to inspire teams and motivate a fan base is what helped me at Baylor University.”

– Heisman Trophy winner

Robert Griffin III,in an interview after the NFL Combine

Devon shows ‘Great’ness

Sectional playoff winners will advance to quarterfinals

By Earl Austin Jr. Of The St.Louis American

The road to Columbia continues this weekend with the state quarterfinals. The winners of Wednesday night’s Class 4 and 5 sectional playoff games will advance to Saturday’s quarterfinals with a berth in the Final Four on the line. The Class 5 boys quarterfinals will be held at the University of Missouri-St. Louis at 2:45 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. The Class 5 girls quarterfinal games will be held before the boys games at UMSL, beginning at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. Class 4 boys quarterfinals games will be held at Francis Howell Central at 2:45 p.m. and Farmington at 7:45 p.m. The Class 4 girls quarterfinals will be held at Howell Central at 1 p.m. and Farmington at 6 p.m. All of Saturday’s winners will be headed to Columbia for the state championships, which will be held from March 8-10 at the University of Missouri.

Tournament highlights

Here are some highlights from last week’s district tournament action around the area.

McCluer North won the Class 5, District 8 title with a thrilling 58-54 victory over rival McCluer on Saturday. Senior Jordon Granger had 25 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks to lead the Stars. McCluer North has won six district titles in the past seven years. In that span, head coach Randy Reed has won two state championships and advanced to the state-championship game three times. In recent years, Reed has been the most successful coach in the state of Missouri amongst the large schools. At 25-1 this season, this might be the best of his coaching jobs.

Parkway North won its first ever district title in boys basketball with a 57-46 victory over DeSmet in the Class 5, District 4 tournament at Parkway Central. Senior forward Darrell Johnson and junior guard Aaron Hines led the Vikings throughout the tournament. The 6’8” Johnson has been a beast in the postseason with his rebounding and shot blocking.

University City’s Travon Williams provided the most dramatic moment of the postseason to date with his 3-pointer as time expired to give the Lions a 73-72 victory over Westminster Christian in the Class 4, District 6 finals at MICDS. It was U. City’s first district championship in 26 years. Ayoung CBC team held off Webster Groves 6660 to win the Class 5, District 2 title at SLUH. The Cadets are loaded with young talent, but it was senior point guard Jared Barnes who stepped to the forefront with a game-high 26 points to lead the Cadets.

Imagine Prep made it back-to-back district titles with a 68-63 victory over Gateway Tech to win the Class 4, District 4 championship at Bishop DuBourg.

Among the top girls teams to win district titles last week were Incarnate Word Academy, St. Joseph’s Academy, Fort Zumwalt West, Kirkwood, Parkway South, Hazelwood Central, Francis Howell Central in Class 5 and Miller Career Academy, Westminster Christian, Jennings and St. Dominic in Class 4.

Devon Alexander dominated Marcos Maidana to win a unanimous decision in their 10-round welterweight boxing showdown at the Scottrade Center on

Earl Austin Jr.

Photos by Lawrence Bryant

Homecoming forOzzie and Willie

JUPITER, FLA. – Now that spring training is officially open for the World Champion Cardinals, there are few things that are certainly different. You know about Tony La Russa retiring by now, and Mike Matheny is the new sheriff. With that said, along with some new players there are new faces that once wore the Cardinal uniform. Yes, Ozzie is back, and if you think that is cool, he is joined by fan favorite Willie McGee.

General Manager John Mozaliek and Manager Mike Matheny invited the two to be guest instructors, and what a move that has turned out to be.

Both Smith and McGee have embraced the invitation with open arms and have made it their business to pass on what the game has given them to current and future Cardinals. McGee and Smith are working with a variety of players on base-running techniques as well as fielding skills. This is not just a face-time adventure; the two are putting serious work in. The sort of work that it took for Ozzie to become a Hall of Famer and for Willie to be a two-time batting champion as well as the National League Most Valuable Player. As for the current players, all eyes and ears are on the two legends as they just keep it simple. The players get it, and the results will be seen over the course of the season. For McGee and Smith, this is a better homecoming than anyone would have thought. Teamed with third base coach and former teammate Jose Oquendo, the memories and laughs are aplenty, as well as the stories that the current players and coaches seem to appreciate. This is a real plus

for the Cardinals to reach out to the past and get the players who help make Cardinal Nation what it is today. Others scheduled to appear are Jim Edmonds, Hall of Famers Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, Bruce Sutter and Whitey Herzog. If that does not help, I am not sure what will.

RGIII

The most valuable player in this year’s draft for the Rams is a guy they will not even draft. Baylor quarterback and Heisman Trophy Winner Robert Griffin III turned more than just a few heads at the NFLCombine late last week. While he did not throw one pass, everything else he did from a testing and drill aspect was off the chart. I say sign him up for the Olympics if he was that good. Here is the element that always reminds you that black quarterbacks at times still face the double standard.

Various media outlets reported how impressed teams were with Griffin’s off-field behavior and his interviews. He was also given high marks on his football aptitude. If he comes from an outstanding academic institution like Baylor, where he has already graduated, he won football’s highest individual award and he excelled at the combine, then why is Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck still so highly thought of to the point he has the label of “can’t miss”? They act as if RGIII was the second comingof Charles Manson. Here is a guy that has been a standup guy from day one, and yet he still has to prove something when others get a pass? If all holds as it is now, the

HOOPS

Continued from B3

All of Saturday’s winners will be headed to Columbia for the state championships.

boys regional tournament is being held this week in the metro east at Belleville East and Edwardsville. The Class 3Aregional tournament is being played at Belleville Althoff with East St. Louis and Cahokia holding the top two seeds.

Arch Madness

night at 8:15 p.m. The IHSAClass 3Aand 4A

The Missouri Valley Conference postseason tourna-

ment will be held this weekend at the Scottrade Center. Regular-season champion Wichita State is the No. 1 seed followed by No. 2 seed Creighton. The championship game will be held on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. The finals will also be televised on KMOV-TV. Several players from the St. Louis metro area will be coming home to compete in “Arch Madness.” They include Anthony James of Northern Iowa (Normandy), Keith Pickens (Oakville) and Nathan Scheer (Borgia) of Missouri State, Dantiel Daniels (Wentzville Holt) of Southern Illinois, Kenneth Harris (Gateway Tech) of Evansville and Charron Woods (Metro) of Bradley).

Mike Claiborne

Missouri Valley Conference this weekend

Scottrade Center hosts Men’s Basketball Tournament

Friday, March 2 Wichita State vs. ISI-SIU winner, 12:05 p.m.

(4) Illinois State vs. (5) Northern Iowa, 2:35 p.m. Creighton vs. Drake-Bradley winner, 6:05 p.m.

Evansville vs. (6) Missouri State, 8:35 p.m.

Saturday, March 3 Semifinals, 1:35 p.m. and 4 p.m.

Sunday, March 4 Championship Game, 1:05 p.m. (CBS Sports)

p.m. Friday.

cards, Alexander was one point away from posting a complete shutout.

Once again, Alexander showed the moxie of a champion because he entered the ring with so much riding on the line and under so much scrutiny. After suffering his first loss to Timothy Bradley and scoring a controversial split decision of Lucas Matthhysse in his last two fights, this was kind of a moment of truth bout for Devon.

There were many questions about his future and whether he could remain relevant as a championship contender.

Consider all of those questions answered with a resounding “HECK YES!!” In just 30 magical minutes, Alexander transformed himself from someone who was trending downward into a force who is now surging upward with a speeding bullet. He was that good on Saturday.

Even in victory, a very confident Alexander still remained humble in his post-fight interview with HBO’s Alex Kellerman. He noted that at 25, he is still a young fighter who is still striving to get better. He also noted the lessons learned from the challenges of his most recent fights.

Devon Alexander put himself back in the mix as someone who can challenge for championships and be in the conversation for future bigtime fights. With renewed confidence after this victory as a welterweight and now fighting under the banner of Golden Boy Promotions, the possibilities for Devon are great. The St. Louis boxing community and a national television audience got the oppor-

The “Great” in Devon Alexander “The Great” was back in full display last Saturday as the St.Louisan dominated Marcos Maidana to win a unanimous decision in their 10round welterweight boxing showdown at the Scottrade Center.

tunity to see the best of Devon Alexander last Saturday night. I look forward to more future greatness.

Photos by Lawrence Bryant

Financial Focus

By Roger Macon, AAMS, financial advisor

the possible length of your retirement, you can’t ignore the need to invest for growth, so you may need to consider some growth-oriented vehicles in your portfolio to help your income keep pace with inflation.

You can’t see into the future, so you’ll need to prepare for anything that comes your way.

penalty.)

• Living in retirement — Once you reach retirement, your investment emphasis will shift somewhat, from accumulating resources to making them last. By working with a financial advisor, you can develop a withdrawal strategy that can help make sure you don’t outlive the income you receive from your 401(k), IRAand other sources. At the same time, given

• Transferring your wealth — When you’ve worked hard your whole life, you want to be able to leave a legacy — one that allows you to provide financial resources to the next generation and to those charitable organizations you may wish to support. So, when it’s time to think about transferring your wealth, you’ll want to consult with your financial and legal advisors to create an estate plan that’s appropriate for your needs. And because these plans can take significant time to create, you won’t want to wait too long to start. So, there you have them: five key financial areas on which to focus as you travel through life. By doing your homework, planning ahead and getting the help you need, you can make the journey a pleasant and productive one.

This article was written by Edward Jones for use by your local Edward Jones Financial Advisor.

Forfurtherinformation contact RogerMason at (314) 481-3962 or1-800-EDJONES

New capacitybuilding program

Joint venture is recruiting 20 businesses

American staff

The Center for the Acceleration of AfricanAmerican Business (CAAAB) has launched a new program, “Catch the CAAAB to Accelerate Your Business’ Success.” It’s a capacity-building model designed to nuture, assess and strengthen critical business functions of select group African-American businesses in the infancy stage.

The project is a joint venture with CAAAB’s partner, IMPACTTraining and Consulting LLC, who will manage a team of consultants including, accounting, financial management, human resource management, legal, marketing and sales and social network marketing.

CAAAB announced the initiative recently during a breakfast meeting in the downtown St. Louis Bank of America Building, a CAAAB sponsor. The Incarnate Word Foundation, also a CAAAB sponsor, sponsored the breakfast.

Under the program, 20 businesses will be groomed, monitored and mentored for one year; development measurement will be analyzed against a battery of benchmarks to determine each business’readiness to stand on its own merits.

The small business consulting program will assist visionary entrepreneurs to overcome growth-killing obstacles that get in the way of becoming profitable enterprises, said Lora Gulley, President/CEO of IMACT.

Gulley is an adjunct faculty member at Maryville University and Washington

University’s Brown School of Social Work. For 15 years she has worked to improve performance of employees and service-driven organizations, provided an eye-opening accessment of small business start-up success.

Seventy-five percent of small businesses fail due to lack of resources within the first 18 months, her statistics showed. The failure rate of a small business is 25 percent greater “due to lack of resources” rather “than financial capital.”

“Alot of businesses just

Under the program, 20 businesses will be groomed, monitored and mentored for one year;development measurement will be analyzed against a battery of benchmarks to determine each business’readiness to stand on its own merits.

don’t know how to get started,” said Gulley, who is also a former basketball academic-all American and Hall of Fame inductee.

IMPACTis an independent consulting firm that provides custom training and organizational development solutions for optimal business performance, quality and results.

Gulley husband, business consultant Corey Gulley is a former Xerox executive and owner of The Car Doctor, an automotive service and repair shop in North St. Louis County. He said the power of the Catch the CAAAB model is fueled through its mission statement: To provide access to information and resources that will increase the success rate of small, minority businesses...And to strengthen their communities and positively impact the economy.

“How do we support the economic capacity that businesses can provide to our community?” he asked. “By utilizing our resources to encourage, empower and expand our entrepreneurs’footprints.”

Corey Gulley shared how family and community support has played a major factor in the growth and sustainability of his auto repair business for the past eight years.

Eddie Davis, President and

Exective Director of CAAAB, said small business owners must engage themselves in an “honest reality check” in order to give their enterprises a chance to make solid beginning steps.

“Research suggests that until businesses can see things objectively, honestly and with full transparency, it is difficult to have intentional and deliverate growth,” Davis said. Through the Catch the CAAAB program, IMPACT and the other consultants will work closely with the specifically targeted businesses by delivering:

• One on One Consulting (Mentoring)

• Strategic Planning

• Business Development

• Human

• Development/Training

• Financial Planning

• Risk Management

• Marketing/Sales.

Among CAAAB’s role in program will be to recruit the 20 businesses and raise capital and secure stakeholder support of the operation the program. CAAAB, founded in 2006, is a non-profit civic organization established to support the growth and development of businesses owned by African Americans. The center’s goal is also to use entrepreneurship as a tool for fostering economic independence among at risk and impoverished populations. Davis said CAAAB will continue serving the needs of small and disadvantaged businesses through it s regular technical assistance program, where the goal is to prepare these businesses to qualify for the Catch the CAAAB program.

During the introduction of the capacity building program, Lora Gulley said three keys small business success is attitude, planning and adapting.

“Do you have the mental stamina and toughness to start and run a business, creating a workable blueprint to know when you’re there and responding to a changing landscape?” she said. For more information about Catch the CAAAB program, visit www.CAAAB.org or call 314-533-2411, ext. 109.

Sassy Wanda Sykes

Comedy tour hits St. Louis March 8 at Opera House

By Kenya Vaughn

Of The St. Louis American

“This is where it all started,” EmmyAward winning comedian/actress/television host and writer Wanda Sykes said about her upcoming comedy tour that stops in St. Louis one week from today.

“I wanted to be a really funny stand-up comic and work all over the place. Everything else came from having that one focus.”

This year marks 25 years of working towards a goal that would eventually lead her to stardom. The sass that has been synony-

mous with

all of my problems,” Sykes said while serving a dose of the quick wit that made her a star. “My standup is pretty much a snapshot of what’s going on in my reality. And I just get so happy when I’m on stage and out of the house. I

Michael Marshall brings Quincy Troupe, Kelvyn Bell, Oliver Jackson to Hilo

By Chris King Of The St. Louis American

When Michael Marshall came home to St. Louis last year for an art opening, he explained the new direction in his art, moving from painting to monoprints. He explained that his Art Department at the University of Hawaii – Hilo lost a charismatic leader, the printmaker Wayne A. Miyomoto. Rather than accept a diminished role for the department in the wake of Wayne’s loss, Marshall stepped up to lead the Hilo print-

making studio. “We are not going to do less,” Marshall decided. “We are going to do more.”

Marshall is a man of his word.

What this “more” will mean for the Hilo Art Department was made clear with the Poetry & Blues Project that Hilo kicked off in early February. This was an extraordinary set of happenings in two senses: it’s extraordinary what a wide range of artistic talent Marshall brought together on the island, and it’s extraordinary how many of these artists are African-American men from St. Louis.

The project’s featured artists were Quincy Troupe and Kelvyn Bell, poet and guitarist, both black men from St. Louis now based in New York City (and no strangers to collaboration). They performed their carefully orchestrated arrangements of poetry and blues on a stage designed by Marshall and inspired by a remark made by Oliver Jackson, a visual artist from

Poet Quincy Troupe, musician Kelvyn Bell and visual artists Oliver Jackson and Michael Marshall collaborated on the Poetry & Blues Project at the University of Hawaii –Hilo in February. All of the artists are orginally from St. Louis. Marshall, who organized the project, chairs the Art Department at Hilo.

Robin Boyce busts in

Former radio personality weighs in on dating game

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American

I can’t say that I was expecting to have my inbox overwhelmed with stories of single ladies stepping outside of their station to step to men after my call to action. But crickets … really?

To be honest, I can’t be mad – mainly because I didn’t do the assignment either. In all fairness to myself, whenever I worked up the nerve to make the first move I would realize I was dressed like the Unabomber – sans the dark glasses and skullcap, of course.

n “Some men don’t really understand their roles anymore because they have gotten used to women coming after them.”

– Robin Boyce

St. Louis who was then Artist in Residence at Hilo. Marshall, who produced the overall event, created the performance environment with help from Jackson and others.

Wayne A. Miyomoto was more than a force at the Art Department. He also was a close friend of Marshall and an inluence on his work.

Marshall dedicated the Poetry & Blues Project to his late friend, who put the Hilo Art Department on the international map.

Marshall came a long way to take over leadership of an art department at a university in Hawaii. He grew up in North St. Louis, across the street from Beaumont High School. He also attended Beaumont before his mentors in the Honors Arts Program, which Marshall described as “the irst magnet school program for the visual arts in the St. Louis public school

See HILO, C4

I’m still going to do it, just to say that I have (and report to you how the dust settles). And I promise it will be sooner than later? But more interesting than what WASN’T among my many e-mails, was the note I received from local radio legend Robin Boyce. She would actually be thrilled to know that y’all didn’t bite with respect to my assignment, because she feels like it’s something that none of us should be doing in the first place. I must say that I don’t feel like the woman should approach the man either, but I figured if you’re NEVER getting approached that maybe we should adapt to what might a new dating paradigm (i.e., men sitting back with their feet up waiting for the women to work for what they want in a man).

But Ms. Boyce says that the whole notion of such is no bueno

“I used to be one of those ladies, but have learned a hard lesson,” she said. “It really is a man who finds a good thing! Spiritually, stepping outside of God’s will to approach a man first just messes everything up.” Her point was marinating on me in a way that I didn’t really imagine it would. Even though my decision to lay my mack game down (please feel free to laugh mercilessly at my expense for that phrase) had more to

Walter Kimbrough to speak at annual dinner March 12 at Millennium Hotel

By Rebecca S. Rivas Of The St. Louis American

Dr. Walter M. Kimbrough, president of Philander Smith College, will speak at the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis’ 94th Annual Dinner on March 12 at 7 p.m. in the Millennium Hotel Ballroom.

Photo by Fred Sweets

How to place a calendar listing

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

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

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

concerts

Mar2-3, 8 p.m., St. Louis Symphony presents The Firebird. 718 N. Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, call (314) 534-1700 or visit www.stlsymphony.org.

Sat., Mar. 3, 2012, 6:30 p.m., Granite City Illinois and Surrounding Area Business Owners prsents AWorld Famous Concert Starring the World Famous Platters Granite City Township Hall, 2060 Delmar Ave., Granite City, IL., 2040. For more information, call 618-6100935.

Sun., Mar. 4, 7 p.m., An Evening with the World Renowned Morehouse College Glee Club. Central Baptist Church, 2842 Washington Ave., 63103. For more information call (314) 935-5965 or (314) 265-8556.

Mon., Mar. 5, 8 p.m., Cappodonna: Black Cloud Tour2012. 408 N. Euclid, 63108. For more information, visit www.clubvivastl.com.

Sat., Mar. 10, 7 p.m., St. Louis Symphony presents The 5 Browns. 718 N. Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, call (314) 534-1700 or visit www.stlsymphony.org.

local gigs

Mar. 7, 7 p.m. (ladies free until 8 p.m.), Bad Boyz Softball and K&LEnt. Present Rhoda G. on the Sax, BSVLounge, 10070 Natural Bridge. For more information, call (314) 691-7515.

Sun., Mar. 11, 5 p.m., A Special Whitney Houston Tribute featuring Cheryl Brown and Friends, Jazz at the Bistro, 3536 Washington. Formore information, call 314-534-3663.

Grown Folks 2 for1 Happy

Hourwith Ms. Silky Sol, Saturdays from 5 p.m. – 8 p.m., The Avenue, 1901 St. Louis Ave.

special events

Through Mar. 3, Psychiatry: An Industry of Death Exhibit. Griot Museum of Black History, 2505 St. Louis Ave., 63106. For more information, call (314) 727-8307 or visit www.CCHSTL.org.

Fri., Mar. 9, 6 p.m., Craft Alliance presents Hot Tea: 13th Biennial Teapot Exhibition. 6640 Delmar Blvd., 63103.

Sat., Mar. 10, 10 a.m., St. Louis Craft Mafia presents Third Annual Green With Indie Craft Show. Grant Gym, Webster University, 175 Edgar Rd., 63119. For more information, visit www.greenwithindiecraftshow.com.

Sat., Mar. 10, 10 a.m., Eta Mu Sigma Chapterof Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. presents Girls’Youth Symposium 2012. This ‘girls only’event is presented for ages 9-18 in partnership with the Girl Scouts of Eastern MO. Overland Baptist Church, 9309 Midland, 63114. For more information, email EtaMuSigma1922STL@gmail. com.

Mon., Mar. 12, 7 p.m., Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis presents Ninety-Fourth Annual DinnerMeeting. Millennium Hotel St. Louis, 200 S. 4th St., 63102. For more information, call (314) 615-3688 or email specialevents@urbanleaguestl.org.

Thur., Mar. 15, 7 p.m., Rescued Nation & Harris–Stowe State University present Kingdom Builders Extravaganza— Rescued Nation Week. Harris

CALENDAR

Stowe Auditorium, 3206 Laclede Ave., 63103.

Sat., Mar. 17, 11 p.m., Baddgirls presents Ole School Skate Jam. Skate King, 6100 Natural Bridge Ave., 63120. Fri., Mar. 23, 7:30 p.m., Big Apple Social Club presents Charity Mouse Race & Casino. Proceeds to benefit a local shelter for pregnant women and their children. Medinah Temple, 1515 North Market St., 63106.

Sat., Mar. 24, Centerfor Survivors of Torture and WarTrauma – an organization dedicated to facilitating the healing and self-empowerment of torture and war trauma will be hosting their 10th Anniversary Gala and Auction with special guest acclaimed author Alice Walker, the Saint Frances Xavier Grand Ballroom, located on the campus of Saint Louis University. To reserve tickets for the 10th Anniversary Gala or for more information about the Center for Survivors of Torture and War Trauma, please contact 314-541-4610 or visit the organization’s website at www.stlcenterforsurvivors.org.

Wed., Mar. 28 6:30 p.m., Hazelwood Kindergarten Information Night. McCurdy Elementary School, 975 Lindsey Ln., 63031. For more information, call 314-9534650.

Berkeley Class of 1982 is celebrating its 30 year class reunion August 17-19, 2012 and is seeking classmates to attend the reunion and reunion planning meetings. For more information about the reunion please call Anthony Wilder 314-479-0110, Portland (Matthews) Whitlock 314-7669108, or Tammy Davis 314302-1339.

Apr. 13-15, St. Louis’Titanic Centennial Weekend. For more information, visit www.titanic2012stl.com or call (314) 657-5033.

Wed., Apr. 21, 6 p.m., 2nd Annual Trivia Night for Neighborhood Houses! St. Louis Gateway Classic Sports Foundation, 2012 Dr. Martin Luther King Drive, 63106 For more information, visit http://www.neighborhoodhouses.org.

Wed., Apr. 21, 7 p.m., MHT

Election 2012: Third Annual Trivia Night. Most Holy

A Special Whitney Houston Tribute featuring Cheryl Brown and Friends. See LOCAL GIGS for more information.

Trinity Catholic School, 3519 N. 14th St., 63107. For more information, call (314) 2419165.

literary

Sat., Mar. 10, 2 p.m., Author and St. Louis native Winfred Cook is returning home to take part in the FIFTH ANNUALAUTHOR SHOUT-OUT, Schlafly Branch Library. For more information, visit www.slpl.org.

Thurs., Mar. 15, 7 p.m., The St. Louis County Library Foundation presents celebrated novelist T. C. Boyle for a discussion and signing of his latest novel “When the Killing’s Done,” St. Louis County Library Headquarters, 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd. For more information Contact St. Louis County Library by phone 314-994-3300 or visit www.slcl.org

Sun., Mar. 24, 7 p.m., St. Louis County Library celebrates the 2012 Read St. Louis Memoirselection with a special event featuring Anne Lamott – who will discuss and sign hernew book “Some Assembly Required: AJournal of My Son’s First Son.” St. Louis County Library Headquarters, 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd. For more information Contact St. Louis County Library by phone 314994-3300 or visit www.slcl.org

comedy

Thur., Mar. 8, 8 p.m., Peabody Opera House presents Wanda Sykes Live. 1400 Market St., 63103. For more information, call (314) 4997600.

Sat., Mar. 10, 8 p.m., I’m Still Standing Tour starring Mike Epps, Chaifetz Arena. For more information, call (314) 534-1111 or visit www.metrotix.com.

theatre

Through Mar. 4, The Repertory Theatre of St.

Louis presents Race. When two high-profile attorneys find themselves defending a privileged white executive accused of raping a young black woman, facts quickly become secondary to underlying agendas. 130 Edgar Rd., 63119. For more information, call (314) 968-4925 or visit www.repstl.org.

Thur., Mar. 15, 7 p.m., Juice Box Diaries. The Juice Box Diaries are fun, provocative, and entertaining performances open to the public. Our ladies come to the stage to talk about their JUICE BOX, another word used for the triangle between their thighs. Emerson Theatre, Harris Stowe State University, 3026 Laclede Ave., 63103.

Through April 14, Shakespeare Festival St. Louis Shake 38 Performer Registration. Shakespeare Festival St. Louis, 5715 Elizabeth Ave., 63110. For more information, call 314/531-9800, ext. 113.

lectures

Sat., Mar. 3, 10 a.m., Girls Etiquette Workshop. This manners and Etiquette workshop is for girls ages 6-17. This is a four-session workshop. Economic Development Center, 5988 Mid Rivers Mall Dr., 63376.

Sat., Mar. 3, 10 a.m., Free Grantwriting Workshop. St. Louis Public LibraryCabanne Branch, 1106 N. Union Blvd., 63108. For more information, call (314) 7236206.

Wed., Mar. 7, 7 p.m., Mayor Cory Booker: How to Save the World With YourBare Hands. Touhill Performing Arts Center, One University Blvd., 63121.

Sat., Mar. 10, 3 p.m., New YearNew You Style Workshop. If you want to look and feel your absolute best in the new year, come to our workshop and let us show you how to define your personal style, dress for success andraise yourlevel of confidence.Studio of Fitness with Anika, 3526 Washington, 63103.

Tue., Mar. 13, 7 p.m., Lisa Ling: Open Heart, Open Mind. Touhill Performing Arts Center, One University Blvd., 63121.

Thur., Mar. 22, 6:30 p.m., St. Louis Community College invites you to FAFSAFrenzy. Get FREE help completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Wildwood Campus, 2645 Generations Dr., Wildwood, MO. 63040. For more information, call (636) 422-2000.

Sat., Mar. 24, 9 a.m., St. Louis Community College presents Parent Child Academy. This unique opportunity allows you to have fun with your child while experiencing learning activities that promote healthy eating. These lively sessions teach you interactive ways to enhance your family story and dinner times. St. Louis Community CollegeFlorissant Valley, 3400 Pershall Rd., 63135. For more information, call (314) 5134494.

Tue., Apr. 3, 7 p.m., Common: It’ll All Make Sense One Day. Touhill

Performing Arts Center, One University Blvd., 63121.

Dynamic Marriage Course:

8-week Marriage Enrichment Class, This 8 week, interactive, self educating course creates real and lasting change in your marital relationship. January 2012 Classes are forming. Contact (314) 265-5124 for more information.

Missouri History Museum presents The Civil Warin Missouri. Border state, slave state or Southern state, we may not agree on the label, but we can agree on the problem. It is too late to change the past, but it is the right time to learn from it and make a better future. For more information, visit www.mohistory.org.

health

Couples Massage, Saturdays, March 3— April 14, 7:00 p.m. InPower Institute, 5400 Nottingham Ave., 63109. For more information, visit www.inpowerinstitute.com.

Sat., Mar. 3, 10:30 a.m., Girls Holla Back! Spring Session Free Registration & Health Fair. In an effort to reduce new cases of HIV/AIDS and drug use among African American females in St. Louis, an 8-week FREE prevention program complemented with fun-filled communications and bonding activities will be hosted for girls ages 12—17 and one of their adult female family members. 5400 Arsenal St., 63139. For more information, call (314) 877-6487,

Hip Hop Cardio Class, Saturdays, March 3 to 31, 1:00 pm. Cardio fitness class that is guaranteed to help you burn at least 300 calories every class. InPower Institute, 5400 Nottingham Ave., 63109. For more information, visit www.inpowerinstitute.com.

Mon. Mar. 5, 10 a.m. – 12 noon. – Look Good…Feel Better by the American Cancer Society. Afree two hour work-

shop by trained beauty professionals who teach women in active cancer treatment simple beauty techniques for skin care, makeup application and coping with hair loss. Siteman Cancer Center St. Peters Call Laura to register: 314-2868172.

Tues. Mar. 6 & Tues. Mar. 27, Take Steps to Prevent Diabetes, Medical Office Building 3, 1020 Mason Rd. in Creve Coeur. Acertified diabetes educator will teach strategies to prevent type 2 diabetes including healthy food choices, exercises, and goal setting for weight management. Participants must attend both classes. Register by calling 314-867-3627 or go online at barnesjewish.org/classes.

Wed., Mar. 7, 6:30 p.m., St. Louis Diabetes Coalition presents My Eyes and Diabetes: Knowing How to Maintain Excellent Vision. Richmond Heights Community Center, 8001 Dale Ave., 63117. For more information, call (314) 338-3460.

Sat. Mar. 10, 6 p.m. – 22nd Annual Orchid AAFAir at the Coronado Ballroom in St. Louis. Tickets are $250 per person. For more information, call 314-645-2422 or visit www.aafastl.org.

Mon, Mar. 12, 10 a.m. – 12 noon. – Look Good…Feel Better by the American Cancer Society. Afree two hour workshop by trained beauty professionals who teach women in active cancer treatment simple beauty techniques for skin care, makeup application and coping with hair loss. Siteman Cancer Center West County. Call Emily to register: 314-996-3362

Mon. Mar. 12, 10 a.m. – 12 noon – Look Good…Feel Better by the American Cancer Society. Afree two hour workshop by trained beauty professionals who teach women in active cancer treatment simple beauty techniques for skin care, makeup application and coping with hair loss.

Siteman Cancer Center St. Louis (Barnard Health & Cancer Info Center). Call to register: 314-362-7844

Mon. Mar. 12, 10 am –12 noon– Look Good…Feel Better by the American Cancer Society. Afree two hour workshop by trained beauty professionals who teach women in active cancer treatment simple beauty techniques for skin care, makeup application and coping with hair loss. St. Anthony’s Medical Center. Call Lynn to register: 314-2868165

Thurs., Mar. 15, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m., American Red Cross Blood Drive, Christian Hospital Detrick Building Atrium. Walk-ins are welcome but priority given to those who register at www.redcrossblood.org and use the sponsor code: christianhospita; or contact Sandy Barnesat slm9123@bjc.org.

Thurs., Mar. 15, 6:00 p.m. –7:30 p.m., Taking Control of YourAsthma – Christian Hospital Asthma Management Program at

Mar.3, ForWord Ministries & ForWord Records Presents... Victory Is Mine Family Revival & Concert featuring Larry Rodgers. For additional details,see SPIRITUAL.

Northwest Health Care, 1225 Graham Rd. Community Rooms 1&2. The presenter will also discuss ways to help you find free/reduced asthma medication and equipment, Register at 314-747-WELL (9355).

Thur., Mar. 15, 10 a.m., Health FairforOlderAdults. Services includes PSA, Vision screenings, Bone Density screenings, EKG readings, Head and Neck Cancer screenings, medication review, BMI, blood pressure screenings and podiatrist. St. Alphonsus Rock Chruch, 118 N. Grand, 63106.

Mon., Mar. 19,1 p.m. - 3 p.m. – Look Good…Feel Betterby the American CancerSociety. Afree two hour workshop by trained beauty professionals who teach women in active cancer treatment simple beauty techniques for skin care, makeup application and coping with hair loss. St. Luke’s Hospital. Call to register: 314-205-6901.

Mon., Mar. 19, 10 a.m. – 12 noon – Look Good…Feel Betterby the American

CancerSociety. Afree two hour workshop by trained beauty professionals who teach women in active cancer treatment simple beauty techniques for skin care, makeup application and coping with hair loss. Saint Louis University Cancer Center. Call Cathy to register: 314-268-7015.

Wed. Mar. 21, Free mammograms at SSM Breast Care at St. Mary’s Health Center, 1031 Bellevue Ave., St. Louis, 63117. Free clinical breast exams, mammograms and breast care education for women age 40 and older with no insurance or insurance that does not pay for mammograms and haven’t had a mammogram in 13 months. The services are offered the third Wednesday of each month through a Susan G. Komen for the Cure grant. For appointments, call 314-768-8697 or visit ssmhealth.com/stmarys.

Wed., Mar. 21, 9-10 a.m., Diet & Lifestyle changes to prevent Colon Cancer– with Dr. Rehan Rafiq, gastroenterologist. Jamestown Mall Food Court. Call 314-747-WELL (9355) to register.

Sat. Mar. 24, CHIPS “A Night at the Savoy III” at the Hilton Saint Louis Frontenac. $150 per person. For more information, call 314-652-9231 or visit www.chipsstl.org.

Wed., Mar. 21, Free mammograms at SSM Breast Care at St. Mary’s Health Center. 1031 Bellevue Ave., 63117. For more information, call (314) 768-8697 or visit www.ssmhealth.com/stmarys.

Fr., Mar. 23, The 9 Energizing Breaths. Want more energy or mental clarity? Come learn the 9 Energizing Breaths from the book, The Power of Prana: “Breathe Your Way To Health and Vitality.” InPower Institute, 5400 Nottingham Ave., 63109. For more information, visit www.inpowerinstitute.com.

Sat., Apr. 21, 11 a.m., Health and Dental Care forKids Open House. Open House to

educate our community about the health services available at our facility. Other community partners will also be on hand to talk about their agencies and programs. 4055 Lindell Blvd., 63108.

Sat., May 5, 9 a.m., 8th Annual Walk Run ‘n Roll. Tremayne Shelter, Creve Coeur Park, 11400 Olde Cabin Rd., 63141. For more information, visit www.WalkRunNRoll.org. Free Flu Shots will be provided by Betty Jean Kerr People’s Health Centers to the Hazelwood School District during the last few weeks in December. The vaccinations will be made available during regular school hours. For more information, please call (314) 367-7848 ext. 1209.

Mar. 1 – Mar.3, ForWord Ministries & ForWord Records Presents...Victory Is Mine Family Revival & Concert featuring Larry Rodgers, The King’s Sanctuary & Outreach Ministry, 7330 Olive Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63130 (March 1st & 2nd @ 7pm (Revival) and March 3rd @ 5pm (Concert). For More Info, Contact: 314732-6652 or 314-727-7015. Sat., Mar. 10, 1 p.m., Prince of Peace Church invites you to “OurGolden Day”. Come commemorate the eighty-nine year history during the “Farewell Service” followed by a parade to the “Dedication Service.” 2741 Dayton St., 63106. For more information, call (314) 531-1762 or visit www.princeofpeacembcstl.org.

Sat., Mar. 10, 7 p.m., MW Entertainment and Powerof Change music Ministry presents Benefit Campaign Concert feat. Kierra “KIKI” Sheard. Power of Change Christian Church, 2348 Jerome Ln., Cahokia, IL. 62206. For more information, visit www.poccc.org.

SCIENTIFICALLY SPEAKING

The YES Program’s Impact

Toni Stovall Senior, North Technical High School

The YES Program has really made a big impact on my life. It has offered me so many different opportunities! Beyond just the opportunities, it’s really like another home to me.

I am a teen parent and when I found I was expecting my 2nd year in the program I was afraid. I thought everyone was going to judge me when I start showing at work. No not at all! They continued to think highly of me and let me know that it wasn’t the end of the world. They gave me some really good resources incase I ever needed them and some offered to be there for me if I ever needed anything. That really encouraged me to keep going and not give up. Even now, my supervisors and other co-workers always ask about my child. Wanting to know how is the baby and the new accomplishments. They love when the baby visits and most hate if they miss the visit.

The YES program is more than a job to me. Its place where I know they care about my future and work hard on making it better.

Continued from C1

system,” helped him gain admission to John Burroughs School on scholarship. From Burroughs it was on to the University of Illinois–Champaign, an MFA at Yale University and a successful career as artist and academic.

It was not a stretch at all for Marshall to reach back towards Black St. Louis to organize a multi-disciplinary art production. As Paul Carter Harrison and John-Gabriel H. James point out in their program notes, all of the featured artists from St. Louis “share a deep memory and relationship to the highly celebrated Black Artist Group formed in St. Louis back in the midSixties.” In BAG, the notes continue, “artists of diverse disciplines collaborated to collectively perform staged events with poets, musicians and artists.” Younger artists like Bell have been brought along into this St. Louis legacy.

As an example, the notes

They have us take surveys to see what kind of way to tend to learn best and how we can work with other people that are the same or different learners. From the surveys and the feedback they gave me, It helped me learn more about myself. .

The YES Program has built a great foundation in my life and led me in the right direction.

I couldn’t imagine my life if I was never a YES teen. I can’t say thank you enough to the people who support and help keep this program running. This program introduced me to STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) careers and helped prepare me for them.

Toni Stovall

They teach us life skills from how to communicate, shake a hand, write a letter, work with people, and what employers are looking for. They also help with our school life, they offer tutoring, college prep, help on resumes, FAFSA, scholarships and grants. The YES Program offers so much, and has helped me heal through hard times.

mention the African Continuum event that featured Jackson, St. Louis composer and saxophonist Julius Hemphill, and Senegalese drummer Mor Thiam. Fittingly, the lead producer of African Continuum, Donald M. Suggs, traveled from St. Louis to Hilo for the Poetry & Blues Project. He was joined by another black man from St. Louis, photojournalist Fred Sweets. In Hilo they worked with yet another black St. Louisan, Theo O’Neal, general manager of University Radio Hilo, which broadcast performances by Troupe, Bell and Hawaiian musician Brother Noland. As Brother Noland’s contribution makes clear, AfricanAmerican artistic traditions that originated in St. Louis were at the heart of the Poetry & Blues Project, but Marshall organized a lot of other energy around that center. Poetry slam champion Bridget Gray, Hawaiian author Lois-Ann Yamanaka, African-American playwright Paul Carter Harrison and several of Marshall’s diverse colleagues at Hilo all contributed.

Paul Carter Harrison and

John-Gabriel H. James – who are not from St. Louis – make an eloquent case for the historical artistic importance of St. Louis, and especially Black St. Louis – a case made in much greater detail by local scholar Kevin Belford in his seminal illustrated history Devil at the Conluence In St. Louis, Harrison and James write, “the conluence of blues and urbanity was channeled through the Mississippi River.” In the interplay of Troupe and Bell, these two brothers from St. Louis, they hear “improvisational techniques such as vamps and repetition, rhythmic breaks, and the call and response of trading fours, at times mindful of the spontaneity of Charlie Parker, the lyricism of Smokey Robinson, the cool tonal ferocity of Miles Davis, the driving force of James Brown, and the ancestral grace of Julius Hemphill.”

The only thing you can say to that is, “Amen.” For videos, see the YouTube channel of the Hilo Art Department, http://www.youtube.com/user/UHHiloArt.

SYKES

Continued from C1

get to stay in all of the inest hotels with room service – and when I’m at home I can barely get a Hot Pocket.”

But the room service is the icing on the cake of returning to her irst love within the entertainment industry – where it all began when she started moonlighting as a comic back in 1987 while working days as a procurement oficer with the National Security Agency.

Those days seem light years away thanks to a solid career in comedy catapulted when she became a member of the Emmy-Award winning writing team of HBO’s Chris Rock Show in 1997. From that moment to this one she can essentially say “been there, done that” to just about every element within the industry.

She’s been a cast member for major network sit-coms (including The New Adventures of Old Christine, Wanda Does It and Wanda At Large), her own talk show and countless guest appearances and recurring roles on shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm. And her ilm and voice overwork is equally of note

URBAN

Continued from C1

perfectly matches with the goals and mission of the Urban League,” said James H. Buford, president and CEO of the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, Inc.

On Friday, the Urban League announced this year’s honorees of the night. The Regional Business Council, Francella Jackson (director of community programs for the East St. Louis Police Department), and Nate Johnson (president of Real Estate Solutions) will receive Awards of Merit. Frankie Muse Freeman will be honored with a Chairman’s Award for her numerous community achievements.

SINGLE

Continued from C1

do with me stepping outside of my fears than finding man of my dreams, she made me conflicted about the whole thing. In one of those serendipitous moments, I ran into her in real life and (naturally) she took the opportunity to drive her point home even more – essentially saying that the abundance of good quality women in St. Louis has made provisions for men to take us for granted. She even added that approaching them would allow them to perpetuate their already out-ofpocket behavior. If that’s not a knife twist, please tell me what is. But the truth hurts … right?

“There are so many women

thanks to roles in the Ice Age franchise and other animated ilms like the blockbuster ilm

Rio

It goes without saying that she’s in a different place than when she started, but her new approach to comedy has as much to do with living life as it does honing her craft.

“When I irst started, I was just iguring out how to be funny,” Sykes admitted. “As you get older you get more conident, but by the time you get to your forties you don’t give a [expletive].”

But as an established celebrity comic there are more challenges and pressures – which is what she looks forward to most on this new venture.

“You can expect a damn good show,” Sykes said. “You’ve got to be on point at this stage in the game, and I love pushing myself.”

The surprising aspect of Sykes’ career is that as an undeniably black comic she was instantly embraced by the masses.

“My audience is more white than black, but the age of the crowd is across the board,” Sykes said. “I love the diversity. I don’t know where it comes from though. Maybe it’s just being authentic and having a realness that people can relate to.”

These groups and individuals help the Urban League fulill its mission of Empowering Communities and Changing Lives of over 50,000 individuals in St. Louis City, St. Louis County and St. Clair County, IL, said Buford.

The annual meeting wasn’t designed to be a social event 94 years ago. It was – and still is – a meeting to give the community an annual report on the Urban League’s accomplishments and goals. New board members will be announced, and Buford will also give a report.

For Buford, this is his 27th annual dinner as CEO. He said this year, the Urban League is looking towards building its inancial reserves and identifying a facility for a new outreach center.

Kimbrough’s insight will be particularly of interest to

out here who do that for men,” Boyce said. “Some men don’t really understand their roles anymore because they have gotten used to women coming after them – only because there are so few of them to choose from. Men then feel that they can have whoever they want and how many they want.

There are lots of women out here who are willing to go along with that, but there’s no way I can play that game.”

I feel her … I truly do.

But I can’t avoid the burning question that is singing in the spirits of single ladies that are reading this right now.

“Well, if they won’t go to us, and we can’t go to them … then what are we supposed to do?”

According to Boyce, purposeful waiting is the only way out of this twisted dynamic.

She also has a way of turning something that anyone might have been thinking into a oneliner that anyone would wish they had said irst.

“I’m you,” Sykes said. “I’m everybody. It’s a gift also – this just the way I was wired. As a kid I would get spankings for it.”

These days her zings are earning packed houses and praises on television, the standup stage and in ilms.

As far as the near future, Sykes is excited about her upcoming role in Hot Flashes, a ilm about a group of middleaged women who decide to get their high school basketball team back together and play the current team for a charitable cause. She’s also lending her voice to Ice Age Four But her focus today was preparing to have St. Louis curled over with laughter next week. “You might even pee yourself a little bit,” Sykes said. “You’ll be able to take some things I say home with you and chuckle throughout the rest of the week.”

Wanda Sykes will be performing her award-winning comedy on Thursday, March 8 at the Peabody Opera House. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www. ticketmaster.com.

many in the audience. He has been recognized for his research and writings on HBCUs and African-American men in college, including the creation of the Black Male Initiative at Philander Smith College that has been a model for similar programs. Kimbrough was recently appointed to serve as president of Dillard University beginning July 2012.

“We are pleased to honor this year’s awardees with our Awards of Merit and Chairman’s Awards for their exemplary service in helping the greater St. Louis community,” Buford said. For ticket information to the 94th Annual Dinner, please call 314-615-3668 or email specialevents@urbanleague-stl.org.

“No, it is not easy out here when it comes to dating,” Boyce admitted. “In fact, it is downright scary! I’ve gotten to a point in life where I just really like my own company, have a good network and reach out to enjoy life anyway with different positive activities. Who knows, I may get approached one day being busy gleaming the fields. And guess what? It’s ok if I don’t!” All right then, Ms. Boyce! While I can say that I’ve gotten used to it being me, myself and I as my thirties ease on by, the truth is I’m not necessarily okay with it. So the dilemma becomes: adapt to date, or simply don’t (as in, don’t date). And quite honestly, the more I think about it the tighter I cling to the fence.

If It Wasn’t For the Women

Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis (RAC) 6128 Delmar Boulevard

Saturday, March 10, 2012, 10:00 am-12 noon RSVP: 314-655-5444

The Saint Louis Art Museum, in collaboration with the St. Louis Metropolitan Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. is pleased to celebrate women’s history month with an encore presentation of If It Wasn’t For the Women. This special program will recognize the triumphs and struggles of three talented women of color in the arts. Featured speakers are Renee Stout, Vivian Gutierrez and Dail Chambers.

Renee Stout is an internationally acclaimed Washington, DC based artist who uses a variety of media including painting, drawing, sculpture, photography and installation. Her work is inspired by the African Diaspora, her Haitian family roots, as well as her immediate environment and current events. Stout’s artwork is on view in two Saint Louis Art Museum exhibitions, At the Crossroads: Exploring Identity in Contemporary Art (now through April 8) and An Orchestrated Vision: The Theater of Contemporary Photography (through May 13.

Vivian Gutierrez, born in Matagalpa, Nicaragua, formerly resided in St. Louis, but has recently relocated to Michigan. At a very young age, Gutierrez found herself fascinated with poetry and different art expressions. Her inclination toward the

subject of spirituality and respect for women’s strength has always been the main subject and theme of her work. Gutierrez is a palette knife artist working with mixed media, oil and other materials.

Dail Chambers, a multimedia community artist, exhibits widely both regionally and nationally. She is the founder of Yeyo arts collective, a group of five artists who opened Gya, a non-profit community arts center that creates arts and culture experiences in the St. Louis region. Chambers’ art is deeply rooted in her early childhood experiences and family history. Growing up in a matriarchal home setting and her growth as a young mother is the foundation of her art. Please join us on Saturday, March 10 at the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis, 6128 Delmar Blvd., for this program celebrating the artistic and professional contributions of these three women, the women whose shoulders they stand on, and the women to follow in their footsteps. A luncheon reception will follow the program. The program is free but space is limited. For more information, please email rochelle.caruthers@slam.org and to reserve your seat call 314-655-5444.

For more information and a complete listing of programs at the Saint Louis Art Museum, please visit www.slam.org.

~ CELEBRATIONS ~

Family-style birthdays

On February 25, 2011

Birthdays:

Leatha Brown (69) — March 1

Keon Brown — March 2

Brittney D. Parker — March 4

questions/info on these events our e-mail address is beaumontclassof67@sbcglobal.net

Beaumont of class of 1967 will host its 45th class reunion on Saturday, June 9, 2012 at The Sheraton Westport Hotel, 191 Westport Plaza, St. Louis, MO 63146. Cost is $100 per person. On Friday, June 8, there will be a meet and greet and on Sunday, June 10 worship service and a brunch— locations to be determined. For

Berkeley Class of 1982 is celebrating its 30 year class reunion August 17-19, 2012 and is seeking classmates to attend the reunion and reunion planning meetings. For more information about the reunion please call Anthony Wilder 314-479-0110, Portland (Matthews) Whitlock 314-7669108, or Tammy Davis 314302-1339.

Hadley Tech Classes of 19621963 are preparing for our 50th reunion in October of 2012. If you are interested in participating, your contact information is needed as soon as possible. Please call Virdell Stennis at 314-773-8177,

Cheryl Patrick turned 51. Cheryl is the proud grandmother to Kaia GivensMcCray (pictured), who turned 1 on February 17, 2012. Also, Cheryl’s sister, Sophia McCray turned 54 on February 24. Wishing you all a happy and healthy birthday!

From your sister, Filicia Patrick

Hellon Jefferson at 314-3073681 (jeffersonhellon@yahoo.com), or Wilhelmina Baker at 314588-0779/314-630-9647.

O’Fallon Technical High School Class of 1963 is planning its 50th reunion for the fall of 2013. If you are interested in participating, your contact information is needed as soon as possible.Please contactJustine Crow at (314) 838-2010 or jcrowsnest@aol.com

McCluerNorth Class of 1992 is looking to celebrate its 20year reunion. We are in the process of planning a dinner/dance. Your contact information is needed ASAP. Go to the web-site at mccluernorth1992.com

New Princess

Do you

Riley-Ann

Riley-Ann was born on January 22, 2012 to India Sha’nai Marie Boyd-Monroe and Richard J. Lee, Jr. of St. Louis. Riley-Ann was 6 lbs 13 oz, 18 inches and arrived at St. Mary’s Hospital at 2:54 pm. This is India’s and Ric’s first princess.

Centenarian

Happy 100th Birthday to Irving Garland “Penn” Abram! He is a World War II veteran, and he has been a faithful member of Union Memorial United Methodist Church for over 60 years.He loves to watch the St. Louis Cardinals and is known for his caramel cake. Irving Abram

SumnerAlumni Association presents its 9th Annual Round-Up Sun., Feb. 26, 2012, 1-4 p.m. at Sumner High School.Reception will be held in the gymnasium from 1-1:45 p.m. with displays, souvenir items, photographer, and more.New and renewal of alumnimemberships acceptedin the foyer.Program starts at2 p.m. in the auditorium. Round-Up focus is “Salute to the Military”(Sumner Alumni Active/Retired) and Entertainment.For more info, contactP. Mason at 314.556.3944, J. Vanderford at 314.454.0029 or email: sumnersince1875@yahoo.co m.Vendors are welcome ($50 in advance); contact B. Louis at 314.385.9843.

SumnerHigh School class of 1962 is planning its 50-year reunion for June 2012 and is looking for the January and June graduates to participate in the planning. Please call Eldridge”Bogie”Bryant, Sr. at 314-489-0532, email address eldridgbrya@sbcglobal.net and Lillian Foster Curlett at 314269-6450.

Vashon High School Class of 1965 will be celebrating “The Class of 65 at 65” at The Hilton St. Louis Airport on April 21, 2012 beginning at 7p.m.- Midnight. The cost is $50.00 per person. For information contact Cleo at 3831934, Bernice at 534-8282, or Yvonne at 618-206-8101 or email Vashon65Alumni@yahoo.com

words or less) to us and we may include it in our paper and website – AT NO COST – as space is available Photos will not be returned. Send your announcements to: kdaniel@stlamerican. com or mail to:

4242 Lindell Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63108. Deadline is 10 a.m. on Friday. If you’d like your class to be featured in a reunion profile, email or mail photos to us. Our email address is: reunions@ stlamerican.com

Jags at Gateway Institute of Technology—Jesseca, Jamorie, Kyesha (manager), Teri and Brionca! From Your Cheer Mom, Ms. Marie

RELIGION

Scenes from a homegoing

A Tribute to the Legacy of David Peaston was held Saturday, February 11 at Shalom (City of Peace) Church . Peaston passed Wednesday, February 1, 2012 of complications from diabetes at the age of 54. His death was international news, covered by the Washington Post and the Hollywood Reporter and many other media. The Sumner High School graduate and former St. Louis Public Schools educator honed his talent on some of the biggest stages in St. Louis, following in the footsteps of his mother Martha Bass and his big sister Fontella Bass. He went on to be a national sensation at the Apollo Theatre and sign a deal with Geffen Records, releasing two R&B records and one gospel album. Mourners are asked to send condolences to the following address: PO Box 210732, St. Louis, MO 63121.

So when they continued asking Him, He lifted up Himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him irst cast a stone at her.” John 8:7

As the news media reported on the death of Ms. Whitney Houston, I, like so many others, was shocked about her sudden passing. Little by little I began to notice statements of adoration spoken by the media slowly turning in to statements of condemnation. The personal demons she struggled with became the forefront of the news reported on her. We all have fallen short of the glory of our Creator. Yet so many of us sit in judgment and have the tendency to think one sin is worse than the other. But, I am sure in the eyes of God there is no degree to sin. A sin is a sin.

Even born-again Christians will have struggles between the lesh and the spirit. We are not immune from sin. Our battle will continue as long as we breathe the breath of life. Only through the grace and mercy of God are we forgiven. Again, some will say her public persona contradicted her personal belief in God.

Some have questioned her salvation. None of us will ever know what transpired between Ms. Houston and God at her inal moments. We can only speculate.

If Ms. Houston had not

ever done anything special in life, her home-going celebration accomplished a great feat. It brought the world to church with the ediication of faith, hope, and charity. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. 1 Cor 13:13 It was evident from testimony after testimony that Ms. Houston never gave up on her faith in Christ. Her faith, the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, dominated these testimonies. Although her struggles continued on and off, many attested to the fact that her hope in Christ remained strong. Holding on to the charity or unconditional love that Christ gives, further I believe, she knew God would never forsake her. This same unconditional love, God showed to Ms. Houston, has been given to all of us. The Almighty God sacriiced His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to save our souls from sin. No matter what our personal demons are, He will give us an avenue to freedom as long as we have faith and trust in Him. No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. I Cor 10:13

is accepting Inspirational Messages from the community. Send your

Diane C. Francis

St. Louis celebrates life of gospel singer David Peaston

Photos by Wiley Price

Celebrity Swagger Snap of the Week

Legendary announcer Michael Buffer and the lovely Ms. Aloha Mi-Sho both had major roles in the surrounding festivities when Devon Alexander was once again a featured ighter for HBO’s Boxing After Dark. Aloha’s beautiful vocals were highlighted as she sang the National Anthem and Mr. Buffer earned another $5 million for uttering his trademark phrase “Let’s get ready to rumble.”

Yay for Young Leaders. I’m thrilled that y’all took my advice and opted to sell out the St. Louis American Foundation’s Salute to Young Leaders for the second year in a row. We are two for two with this thing and all parties involved were beyond pleased at how you came to offer a round of applause to the rising stars of St. Louis. Now I will say that some of y’all got beside yourselves with the side chatter, but other than that it was a smash hit from start to inish. Every time I see Rebeccah Bennett grace the microphone I am blown away! Imagine if the best parts of Iyanla Vanzant and Oprah had a baby. That pretty much sums up her powerful presence. And national young leader Kevin Powell gave our Young Leaders something to think about as they press forward with making the world a better place for all people. I want to jack Rebeccah’s catch phrase for the evening to sum it all up. “What’s the 411? Young Leaders’ got it goin on!” See y’all next year, but in the meantime check out all of the photos on pages A8 & A9 and stlamerican.com!

Caribbean Global Warmth. I stopped through my beloved Enoch’s monthly installment of Global Warmth and it was like a baby island excursion from my usual grind. I don’t know if it was the heat of the packed lower level of Brennan’s or Mario Pascal’s sick Reggae scat vocals and accompanying mean guitar game, but by the time I blew the spot I was ready to ind a West Indian man and get my groove back – well, it hasn’t really left, but you know what I’m saying. By the time Mario served me that last sip of Bob Marley style get down, all I needed was a Pina Colada, a tye-dyed sarong and a tall glass of chocolate water named Dexter St. Christopher and my imaginary vacation would have been complete. Eye Candy Year 6. Friday night was indeed a throwback by way of the best of the Eye Candy beauties that have been crowned over the course of the past six years. The Loft was poppin’ Friday as some of my faves – like Michelle,Akeyla, Shanell, Bridgette and plenty others stopped through to pay homage to Mo Spoon and the rest of the MPAC crew. If they are doin’it this big for year six, I can only imagine how it’s gonna GO DOWN for the tenth.

Blasting Speakerboxx. Since I’m talking throwback, I might as well give my rundown of SYGU’s Speaker Boxx. Am I the only one who feels like I’m reliving that one scene in “Beat Street” where they have that party in an abandoned building and tear the roof off the sucka by way of an extension cord running from next door whenever I partake? I knew when I rolled up to Lola’s sweaty windows Friday night that the dance loor was getting’utterly served (as usual) and I was right!

Breaking rules with the Blues. I caught so much life from the 7th Annual St. Louis Blues Festival Saturday night at the Chaifetz that I barely know where to begin. I guess I’ll start with my favorite act of the evening...our own Shirley Brown. I didn’t know what to expect when she walked on stage serving me an electrocuted Aretha Franklin thanks to a wayward wig that matched her Chewbacca fuzz gown and extremely sloppy exposed cleavage. But when she opened her mouth those incomparable vocals all but melted over the microphone. She made it sound so easy I yelled “Hello Barbara… this is Shirley,” for ive songs. And I was sent to the second heaven when she cussed out the band for not pickin’ up on the song and said “I don’t know no damn Whitney Houston songs…” during her special tribute partial rendition of “Saving All My Love” before abruptly stopping mid-song and saying she already preached her funeral so that’s all she’s gonna do. Actually, Shirley’s tribute did more for me than Marvin Winans’ whole eulogy, but that’s beside the point. ...now back to the show. I must mention the one lowlight that had me ready to start an elderly foster care business to save some STL silver foxes. People, please make sure that y’all’s granny’s pensions and SSI checks are enough for them to have spending money on the boat. If not you might catch them doing something strange for some change in front of thousands of folks during intermission of the blues show. When they said that it was a “60 plus dance contest” I knew it would be all bad, but I had no idea. The winner limped up to the stage and dropped it like it was hot the best way she could with some sort of duck back stanky broke leg combination for a mere $100. I blame the emcee/host/security/comic relief/chicken fryer/Mel Waiter backup singer because I could tell by the look on his face that the whole thing was his idea. Speaking of Mel Waiter’s, for some reason the folks really didn’t feature him like they typically do. Y’all didn’t even budge when he tried to take y’all to church by saying “Jesus brought ‘Got My Whiskey’ and ‘Hole in the Wall’ to y’all and I want to thank him right now.” Mel, I know He works in mysterious ways, but I don’t think encouraging people to be loose, get drunk and tear the club up via the blues is one of them. I’m just sayin…there was a better way of phrasing the blessings you’ve received over the course of your career. But I was able to move beyond that weird moment thanks to the low-drop side hunches of Sir Charles and Millie Jackson’s raunchy rhymin’self. Girl, you still breaking up homes and knocking folks the [expletive] out at 85…well, how can I possibly be mad?

Erro’s rising soul star. Things went from great to even better as I scooted around the corner to Plush to get my annual dose of Eric Roberson. Not only did he give me a groove with his classic soul jams, he was in rare form with his off-the-cuff song “Power Drill” thanks to the gleefully gutterish minds in the crowd. I still caught life from it all. And when Theresa Payne blessed the mic, it was the best performance I had seen since Devon Alexander put his grown man sized smack down on that other dude over at the Scottrade. I wish the world would hurry up and take notice of him… and Theresa too!

After the ight it’s the afterparty. Since I brought up Devon’s victory, I might as well crown the afterparty champion. And the win went to the Loft with respect to the crowd without a doubt. Now EXO didn’t really have the mass of folks, but they were getting’ down all the same – which shocked me considering the crowd’s vibe was initially serving me _______ (insert new slang for grown and sexy). And while their b-day bash didn’t

constitute as an after party, I do want to give a shout out to the

and

really

“Mustache Brothers” aka Demond (of Jakada Clothing)

his younger bros George and Kareem for the laughter and some good fellowship at Binion’s.

Samimah and Jarred celebrate her b-day Friday night @ The African Palace

Kim, Mika Sha’, and Tricky of Close to Famous kick it Friday night @ The City

DJ Cuddy with DJ Darryl on the ones and two’s @ HBO’s Boxing After Dark @ The Scottrade Saturday night

Mo Spoon and some of the models celebrate six years of Eye Candy Friday night @ The Loft

Demond Turner, Falicia Turner, Charisse BakerIngram, Kareem Spann, Danielle Gibson, George Silcky Spann celebrated a heap of family birthdays Saturday night @ Binion’s

Ebony Magazine Editor-in-Chief Amy DuBois Barnett, daughter of former University of Missouri-St. Louis Chancellor Dr. Marguerite Ross Barnett, with Alex Detrick, Missouri History Museum’s Assistant Director of Community Education and Events (and UMSL alum) Sunday @ UMSL Photo by Wiley Price

Mr. and Mrs. Loggins enjoy the soulful sounds of Eric Roberson Saturday night @ Plush

Roy Jones Jr. and James Clark from Better Family Life observe Devon Alexander at his inest Saturday night @ The Scottrade Center

Platinum Producer Willie Woods and Attorney Daniel Brown along with rising STL R&B star Miss Tiff at her listening party last Sunday @ Shock City Studios.

Boxing legend Evander Holyield with Richard Banks and James Jones in the Signature following the Devon Alexander ight Saturday night @ Scottrade center Photo by Maurice Meredith

Samantha Diane, Jasmine, and Teonna surround soul singer Eric Roberson following his concert Saturday night @ Plush

Evander Holyield and Maurice Falls were on hand to cheer Devon Alexander on @ his weigh in Friday afternoon @ City Hall

Photos by Lawrence Bryant

Real careertalk from ‘Real Housewives’ ST. LOUIS A

Nelly’s ex’Treme Institute hosts and Kandi Burruss and Phaedra Parks

Special to The American

The Vatterott College

ex’treme Institute by Nelly-St. Louis is sponsoring a speaker series beginning today (March 1) to help educate aspiring musicians and producers about how to break into today’s music industry. Speakers will provide tips on how to be successful in a music career, whether as a producer, engineer, singer or songwriter.

The first event in the series will feature Kandi Burruss and Phaedra Parks, who are costars on the popular reality show, “Real Housewives of Atlanta.” Aside from being TV stars, both women have extensive experience in the entertainment field and will be able

to share their perspectives on the entertainment industry, the music industry, and living in the spotlight. Burruss is a Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter who is known for her work with music groups such as Xscape and TLC. She has experience in many facets of the industry, working for other artists as well as recording and touring to promote her solo album.

Parks is an entertainment attorney and served as a legal analyst for NBC and Fox News during the recent case involving Michael Jackson’s doctor, Conrad Murray. In 2010, Parks was recognized by the Atlanta Business League as one of Atlanta’s Top Women of

Influence Ex’Treme Institute, a new music production school in St. Louis, allows students to gain

real life experience working alongside artists, producers and engineers in the music industry. The 9,000-square foot

facility houses a recording studio, a music engineering space, and a design studio in which students can work on creating album covers and other music related artwork. Students can create their own schedule, choosing from the available courses. The courses are designed for all types of music genres. The March 1 event will be held at the Lumiere Place Casino Theater Room from 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Tickets are $45 per person and include light appetizers. Alimited number of VIPseats are available for $55. To purchase tickets online, visit www.eibynelly.com. For more information call (314) 657-4444.

FAFSA Workshop for parents,seniors

Kandi Burruss and Phaedra Parks, co-stars of “Real Housewives of Atlanta,”are the first speakers in the new industry career series organized by Vatterott College ex’treme Institute by Nelly-St.Louis.

Parents of seniors at Hazelwood Central High School are encouraged to attend an FAFSAWorkshops to learn more about completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid scheduled for March 13. Attendees will learn the basics of financial aid, learn about scholarships, and get help applying for aid online. Sessions are offered from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. and from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. Representatives from the Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis will share information about the FAFSAprocess. Parents and students need to provide W-2 returns; 2011 federal tax returns; social security numbers; driver’s license numbers; dependency status; date of birth; records of untaxed income such as social security, veterans, welfare, child support benefits; and information on savings, investments, business/farm assets. For more details about the FAFSAWorkshop, contact Cary Lewis, Jr., guidance counselor, at (314) 953-5421.

High heels can cause long-term health problems

By Consuelo H.Wilkins,MD

Click, clack, click, clack, click, clack. The sound of high-heeled shoes striking the floor is one that I have grown accustomed to hearing. As I arrived at the recent event honoring young leaders, it was a sound that I and many other women made as we crossed the hotel lobby.

Just as I had done on many other occasions, I changed from my flat driving shoes into my heels just before getting out of my car. The shoes I wore that night were a metallic pewter-colored leather and they were making their debut. I paused briefly before putting them on and wondered if I would regret wearing the new, 3 ? inch heels to a 2-hour event where I would stand most of the evening. Over the years, I’ve learned not to sacrifice comfort for style but it can be difficult to predict how comfortable a shoe will be after standing for hours. Ashoe

that feels comfortable during the few minutes that you are trying on shoes before buying them. Nonetheless, I put on my new shoes and tossed my flats in my purse, just in case.

After about 45 minutes of standing, my feet begin to ache a little. With no empty chairs in sight, I decided to lean on a nearby table to see if I could avoid more pain. There I stood, again wondering if my feet would pay the price because I wanted to wear fabulous shoes. Unfortunately, temporary foot pain is not the only issue I could suffer due to wearing high heels.

Podiatrists have warned of the potential foot problems related to high heels for many years. Among the issues relat-

Consuelo H. Wilkins,M.D., Medical Accuracy Editor

ed to high heels are ingrown toenails, hammer toes, stress fractures and nerve damage. But how could something some beautiful be so harmful?

According to the American Podiatric Medical Association, there is a long list of health conditions associated with high heels. Because high heels change the natural position of the foot, pressure is placed on the different parts of the foot. This creates a domino effect because you then have to change the way that you walk which can result in serious injuries such as stress fractures and arthritis.

Some of the problems associated with frequently wearing high heels are Ingrown toenails.

Constant pressure on your toes and nail beds from being forced against the front of your shoe by a high heel can lead to nail fungus and ingrown toenails.

Corns and calluses. Thick, hardened layers of skin develop in areas wear the shoe and foot rub. Painful rubbing can occur from wearing a high heel that slides your foot forward in your shoe. Hammertoe. When your toes are forced against the front of your shoe, an unnatural bending of your toes results.

This can lead to hammertoe — a deformity in which the toe curls at the middle joint. Your toes may press against the top of the toe box of your shoe, causing pain and pressure.

Tight heel cords. If you wear high heels all the time, you risk tightening and shortening your Achilles tendon — the strong, fibrous cord that connects your calf muscle to your heel bone. Over time, the Achilles tendon shortens to the point that you no longer feel comfortable wearing flat shoes.

Stress fractures. Tiny cracks in one of the bones of your foot, stress fractures, may result from the pressure high heels place on your forefoot.

Some of the negative effects of wearing high heels can be avoided by limiting the amount of time you wear high heels. It’s also important to choose sensible shoes. Choose shoes that have a wider heel base for more support and select materials that are more flexible. Also, foot size often changes over time so get your foot measured every few years.

Consuelo H. Wilkins, M.D., is medical accuracy editor of The St. Louis American and associate professor of medicine and psychiatry, Division of Geriatrics and Nutritional Science, at Washington University – St. Louis

YourHealth Matters

Abi-monthly special supplement of the St. Louis American March 1, 2012

YourHealth Matters provides up-to-date information, from an African-American perspective, about one of the most important subjects in evryone’s life – their personal health.

Donald M. Suggs, President and Publisher

Kevin Jones, Senior Vice President, COO

Dina M. Suggs, Senior Vice President

Chris King, Editorial Director

Consuelo Wilkins, MD, Medical Accuracy Editor

Sandra Jordan, Health Reporter

Debbie Chase, Director of Health Strategy & Outreach

Onye Ijei, Barb Sills, Pamela Simmons, Sales

Michael Terhaar, Art/Production Manager

Angelita Jackson, Cover Design

Wiley Price, Photojournalist

In addition to taking insulin,high blood pressure medicine and daily anti-rejection medications,Agnes Rusan’s kidney healthy regime today consists of regular exercise,baked foods,drinking lots of water.

Agnes’new kidney

By Sandra Jordan

Of The St.Louis American

Agnes Rusan of St. Louis didn’t want to get her hopes up when she got an 11 p.m. telephone call on the night of April 14, 2011 that a kidney may be available and she needed to get to the hospital by midnight. After all, this would be the second such call for her, but the donor kidney that became available a few

“They were amazed at how I look, because dialysis makes you really dark and a charcoal kind-of-like color and my color came back and I may have had a glow.”

– Agnes Rusan

months earlier ultimately went to someone else.

Rusan had been undergoing home dialysis since 2006 for kidney failure due

to uncontrolled high blood pressure (see Your Health Matters, St. Louis American, March 17, 2011).

Including final testing for compatibility, Rusan said it took about 10 hours before she knew that this time, the antigens, tissue typing and serum crossmatch were all in her favor.

“They always call three people for

See KIDNEY, page 5

Photo by Wiley Price

HEALTH BRIEFS

New indicators of future renal failure caused by diabetes

Scientists at Joslin Diabetes Center have identified two novel markers that, when elevated in the blood stream can predict accurately the risk of renal (kidney) failure in patients with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. The findings have immediate diagnostic implications and can be used for the development of new therapies to prevent or postpone the progression of renal disease in diabetes.

In two studies published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology recently, researchers found that high concentrations of Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor 1 and 2 (TNFR1 and TNFR2) accurately predict the risk of renal function loss in Type 1 and in Type 2 diabetes ten years in advance. Currently available clinical tests cannot identify people at risk with that level of precision.

“These markers are excellent predictors of early and late renal function decline in patients with diabetes,” said senior author Andrzej Krolewski, MD, PhD, section head of Genetics and Epidemiology at Joslin. “Our findings may improve clinical care for patients who are at risk of kidney damage.”

Renal complications, also known as diabetic nephropathy, are one of the most lifethreatening complications of diabetes. Over the course of many years, this damage frequently leads to end-stage renal disease (ESRD), when the kidneys are no longer able to work at the level needed for everyday life. About a half million people in the United States have ESRD, which requires dialysis or kidney transplantation. Nearly 44 percent of these cases are due to diabetes. Currently, there is no accurate noninvasive test to identify patients at high risk of ESRD.

“Currently, one of the important problems in the clinical care of patients with diabetes is the lack of an accurate, noninvasive tool for the early identification of those at high risk of renal function loss,” said Krolewski. Agrowing body of evidence indicates while high blood sugar contributes to renal injury in diabetes, certain inflamma-

tory mechanisms are also involved.

Krolewski said a diagnostic test to measure TNFRs in blood will be developed soon and available for patients, and “In the meantime, our findings suggest that mechanisms underlying the association between TNFRs and high risk of renal function decline may be a target for new drug development.”

Gastrointestinal bleeding: what many kidney failure patients stomach

Bleeding in the upper gastrointestinal (GI) tract causes serious health problems –and even early deaths – for many patients with kidney failure, according to a study appearing in a recent issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology (JASN). The findings indicate that greater efforts are needed to prevent and treat upper GI bleeding in these patients.

Poor kidney function puts people at risk for upper GI bleeding, which occurs in the esophagus, stomach, or first part of the intestine. Kidney failure patients on dialysis are particularly prone to developing the condition.

Researchers from Stanford University School of Medicine and Far Eastern Memorial Hospital, in New Taipei City, Taiwan and their colleagues analyzed data from 948,345 patient files in the US Renal Data System, which compiles information on the vast majority of dialysis patients in the United States.

Among the major findings, the rates for upper GI bleeding were 57 and 328 episodes per 1,000 kidney failure patients per year according to stringent and lenient definitions of upper GI bleeding, respectively. This is more than 10 times higher than in the general population.

Overall, 11.8 percent of kidney failure patients died within a month of bleeding, although the 30-day mortality rate declined significantly over time (from 12.3 percent in 1998 to 10.5 percent in 2007).

In contrast to trends in the general population toward lower rates of upper GI bleeding, the findings indicate that rates among patients undergoing dialysis have not changed considerably between 1998 and 2007. Although 30-day mortality rates related to upper GI bleeding declined, negative effects of upper GI bleeding on kidney failure patients remains substantial.

Tenofovir, leading HIVmedication, linked with risk of kidney damage

Tenofovir, one of the most effective and commonly prescribed antiretroviral medications for HIV/AIDS, is associated with a significant risk of kidney damage and chronic kidney disease that increases over time, according to a study of more than 10,000 patients led by researchers at the San Francisco VAMedical Center and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).

The researchers call for increased screening for kidney damage in patients taking the drug, especially those with other risk factors for kidney disease.

In their analysis of comprehensive VAelectronic health records, the study authors found that for each year of exposure to tenofovir, risk of protein in urine – a marker of kidney damage – rose 34 percent, risk of rapid decline in kidney function rose 11 percent and risk of developing chronic kidney disease (CKD) rose 33 percent. The risks remained after the researchers controlled for other kidney disease risk factors such as age, race, diabetes, hypertension, smoking and HIV-related factors.

For individual patients, the differences in risk between users and non-users of tenofovir for each year of use were 13 percent vs. 8 percent for protein in urine, 9 percent vs. 5 percent for rapidly declining kidney function and 2 percent vs. 1 percent for CKD. “However, these numbers are based on the average risks in our study population, and patients with more risk factors for kidney disease would be put at proportionately higher risk,” said principal investigator Michael G. Shlipak, MD, MPH, chief of general internal medicine at SFVAMC and professor of medicine and epidemiology and biostatistics at UCSF.

Patients were tracked for an average of 1.2 years after they stopped taking tenofovir. They remained at elevated risk for at least six months to one year compared with those who never took the drug, suggesting that the damage is not quickly reversible, said Shlipak. “We do not know the long-term prognosis for these patients who stop tenofovir after developing kidney disease,” he cautioned.

KIDNEY

Continued from page 3

every one kidney,” Rusan said. “That way, if I don’t work out or the second person – at least someone can get that kidney.”

Aspokeswoman at Barnes-Jewish Hospital said contacting two people for one kidney is usually the norm. In case someone else is a stronger match and, with so few donated organs, they don’t want the donated kidney to go to waste.

“The operation took about five hours,” she said. For the first couple of days, she remembers being in pain at the incision site and feeling “out of it.”

“The kidney didn’t react right away but on the third day, it started kick-jumping up,” Rusan said.

Shortly after being released from a four or five day hospital stay, a spike in blood sugar sent her back to the hospital for another week. Rusan said she never had diabetes until she started dialysis.

“I had controlled blood sugar problems before, but with the medicine I had to take for the transplant not to reject, it was prednisone that induced my blood sugar,” Rusan explained.

She couldn’t eat anything when she came home from the hospital, and her regular liquid diet was the issue.

“They said I could have orange juice, cranberry juice and apple juice, but I didn’t know I was supposed to have sugar-free. So I just had all the wrong stuff,” Rusan said. “When I got back to the hospital they taught me the blood sugar diet and I’m on the blood sugar diet right now.”

With her blood sugar again under control with insulin injections, she looked ahead to recovery and feeling better.

“The Saturday before Mothers’Day, I was able to eat – my taste came back and I was able to eat, and when I started eating, I started getting my strength back,” she said.

“It was a long process — It was about a month-and-a-half.”

In addition to taking insulin, high blood pressure medicine and daily anti-rejection medications, Rusan’s kidney healthy regime today consists of regular exercise, baked foods, drinking lots of water, diet soda on occasion and ixnay on the processed stuff.

“I went back to work in July and then I started walking every morning before work – and that helps,” she said.

Her coworkers noticed a big difference.

“They were amazed at how I look, because dialysis makes you really dark and a charcoal kind-of-like color and my color came back and I may have had a glow,” she said. “Everyone said I looked really good.”

Rusan is thankful her donated kidney and for the love and support of her family, friends, and to all who cared for her at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, where she said she got the royal treatment.

“The transplant staff, along with the nurses and aids; to the food man who brought me my food and the cleaning people, I was treated like a queen – I have never been treated like I was treated – they were all so great,” Rusan described.

“They got it going on over there – they were all so caring and nice. You know how sometimes you can go to a hospital and feel like they don’t really care? I never got that feeling there.”

Mayo Clinic makes kidney & pancreas transplant available to HIV-infected patients

Mayo Clinic in Florida is now offering kidney and pancreas transplants to HIVpositive patients with advanced kidney disease and diabetes. Evidence is now solid that HIV-positive patients have the same favorable outcome in terms of patient and allograft survival as non-HIV positive organ transplant recipients, said Dr. Mary Prendergast, a kidney specialist whose focus is the care of patients who

receive kidney and pancreas transplants.

“With the utilization of HAARTtherapy to control HIVdisease, it is very clear that solid organ transplant is both feasible and successful,” Prendergast said.

“We are very excited to be able to offer this service, which will provide end-stage kidney disease patients an alternative to years of difficult dialysis treatment.”

Concerns in the past relating to the

necessity of utilizing anti-rejection medications to transplant already immunosuppressed HIV-positive patients have been overcome with solid evidence that there is no increase in either the incidence of opportunistic infection or an acceleration of HIVdisease Prendergast said, as demonstrated in a recent large multi-center U.S.-based study, published last November in The New England

Journal of Medicine

Prendergast said criteria for transplantation in HIVpositive patients include an undetectable viral load and CD4 count greater than 200 cells per cubic millimeter. Patients will be eligible to receive both deceased and living donor transplant organs.

The prostate cancerscreening controversy

In the news recently, there has been debate about prostate cancerscreening. What should African-American men make of the prostate cancerscreening controversy?

You are correct about recent news attention. The US Preventive Services Task Force recently caused controversy and confusion by recommending that no man in the general population ever receive a PSA(prostate-specific antigen) screening test. This recommendation applied equally to high-risk men including African Americans and men with a family history of prostate cancer. The Task Force concluded that there was not enough evidence that PSAscreening reduced death. They also concluded that

the test led to over-treatment of prostate cancer.

However, African-American men are more likely to develop prostate cancer than any other racial group. They also have higher rates of death from the disease. The studies that the Task Force relied upon for their recommendations did not include enough AfricanAmerican men to assess either the risks or benefits of screening for this group. The only well-established risk factors for prostate cancer are race, age and family history of the disease.

Because African-American men have a higher risk of the disease, it is essential for these men to talk to their doctors about the benefits and risks of prostate cancer screening. There are no early signs and symptoms of prostate cancer. So, while the PSAtest is not perfect, it is the only tool available to identify the

basic health of the prostate gland and alert health care providers to potential prostate issues.

Where can I find a doctorand more information about prostate health?

Visit www.siteman.wustl.edu. Try our online tool to test your disease risk www.yourdiseaserisk.wustl.edu.

If you need help finding a doctor, visit www.211.missouri.org or call 2-1-1 from most landlines (1-800-427-4626 from cell phones).

Visit www.cdc.gov/cancer/prostate for prostate health information.

The Program for the Elimination of Cancer Disparities (PECaD) at the Siteman Cancer Center is working to eliminate local and regional disparities

in cancer education, prevention and treatment through community outreach, research and training. To learn more about prostate cancer or to get involved with the PECaD Prostate Cancer Community Partnership, call 314747-4611, email PECaD@siteman.wustl.edu or write to us at SCC-PECaD, Campus Box 8100, 660 S. Euclid Ave, St. Louis, MO, 63110. Look for future articles in HealthMatters.

Send yourquestions about cancerto SCC-PECaD, Campus Box 8100, 660 S. Euclid Ave, St. Louis, MO, 63110, or PECaD@siteman.wustl.edu. Look forfuture articles in HealthMatters.

JDRFhonors Walk to Cure Diabetes corporate teams

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation recently congratulated all Family and Corporate Walk Teams who participated in the 2011 JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes.

“We had a great evening that honored your outstanding achievements in helping JDRF Metro Saint Louis/Greater Missouri Chapter raise $1.3 million for diabetes research,” said Marie Davis, executive director.

More than 250 people gathered at the Holiday Inn Southwest/Viking Conference Center on January 29 for the annual awards celebration.

The JDRF raises awareness to improve the lives of persons living with type 1 diabetes and has award more than $1.6 billion for research toward a cure.

Edward Jones team members are honored for outstanding fundraising efforts for the JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes.

(L-R)Ally Bartholomew, JDRF special events manager; Diana Starnes, 2011 Chair, Family Walk Teams;Maurice and LaSheena Ayuso;Teresa Severino; Tremayne Fisher and Christina Reilly,JDRF Director of Family Development.

Photo provided by JDRF/Dave Myers

Mon. Mar. 5, 10 a.m. – 12 noon. –

Look Good…Feel Better by the American Cancer Society. Afree two hour workshop by trained beauty professionals who teach women in active cancer treatment simple beauty techniques for skin care, makeup application and coping with hair loss. Siteman Cancer Center St. Peters Call Laura to register: 314-286-8172.

Tues. Mar. 6 & Tues. Mar. 27, Take Steps to Prevent Diabetes, Medical Office Building 3, 1020 Mason Rd. in Creve Coeur. Acertified diabetes educator will teach strategies to prevent type 2 diabetes including healthy food choices, exercises, and goal setting for weight management. Participants must attend both classes. Register by calling 314-867-3627 or go online at barnesjewish.org/classes.

Sat. Mar. 10, 6 p.m. – 22nd Annual Orchid AAFAir at the Coronado Ballroom in St. Louis. Tickets are $250 per person. For more information, call 314-645-2422 or visit www.aafastl.org.

Thurs. Mar. 15, 8 a.m. -11 a.m., Heart Screenings by SSM Heart Institute – $20, SSM St. Mary’s Health Center, 6420 Clayton Rd., Richmond Heights, Mo. 63117. Screening includes LDLcholesterol, triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, total cholesterol, cholesterol ratio, blood glucose, body fat analysis and blood pressure - $20; on the ground floor near West Entrance. For more information, visit ssmhealth.com/heart or call 1-866-7763627 to register.

Mon, Mar. 12, 10 a.m. – 12 noon. –Look Good…Feel Better by the American Cancer Society. Afree two hour workshop by trained beauty professionals who teach women in active cancer treatment simple beauty techniques for skin care, makeup application and coping with hair loss.

Siteman Cancer Center West County.. Call Emily to register: 314-996-3362

Siteman Cancer Center St. Louis

CALENDAR

(Barnard Health & Cancer Info Center). Call to register: 314-362-7844

St. Anthony’s Medical Center. Call Lynn to register: 314-286-8165

Thurs., Mar. 15, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m., American Red Cross Blood Drive, Christian Hospital Detrick Building Atrium. Walk-ins are welcome but priority given to those who register at www.redcrossblood.organd use the sponsor code: christianhospita; or contact Sandy Barnesat slm9123@bjc.org.

Thurs., Mar. 15, 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m., Taking Control of YourAsthma – Christian Hospital Asthma Management Program at Northwest Health Care, 1225 Graham Rd. Community Rooms 1&2. The presenter will also discuss ways to help you find free/reduced asthma medication and equipment, Register at 314-747-WELL (9355).

Mon., Mar. 19,1 p.m. - 3 p.m. – Look Good…Feel Betterby the American CancerSociety. Afree two hour workshop by trained beauty professionals who teach women in active cancer treatment simple beauty techniques for skin care, makeup application and coping with hair loss. St. Luke’s Hospital. Call to register: 314-205-6901.

Mon., Mar. 19, 10 a.m. – 12 noon –Look Good…Feel Betterby the American CancerSociety. Afree two hour workshop by trained beauty professionals who teach women in active cancer treatment simple beauty techniques for skin care, makeup application and coping with hair loss. Saint Louis University Cancer Center. Call Cathy to register: 314-268-7015.

Wed. Mar. 21, Free mammograms at SSM Breast Care at St. Mary’s Health Center, 1031 Bellevue Ave., St. Louis, 63117. Free clinical breast exams, mammograms and breast care education for women age 40 and older with no insurance or insurance that does not pay for mammograms and haven’t had a mammogram in 13 months. The

services are offered the third Wednesday of each month through a Susan G. Komen for the Cure grant. For appointments, call 314-768-8697 or visit ssmhealth.com/stmarys.

Wed., Mar. 21, 9-10 a.m., Diet & Lifestyle chages to prevent Colon Cancer– with Dr. Rehan Rafiq, gastroenterologist. Jamestown Mall Food Court. Call 314-747-WELL(9355) to register.

Sat. Mar. 24, CHIPS “ANight at the Savoy III” at the Hilton Saint Louis Frontenac. $150 per person. For more information, call 314-652-9231 or visit www.chipsstl.org.

Mon., Mar. 26, 10 a.m. – 12 noon, Look Good…Feel Better, by the American CancerSociety. Afree two hour workshop by trained beauty professionals who teach women in active cancer treatment simple beauty techniques for skin care, makeup application and coping with hair loss. Siteman Cancer Center St. Louis (Barnard Health & Cancer Info Center)Call 314-362-7844 to register.

Tues. Mar. 27, 7 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Diabetes Alert Day free screenings at Christian Hospital Diabetes Institute, 11155 Dunn Road, Suite 101N, Professional Building 1 (Hwy. 367/I-270 interchange). Call 314-747WELL(9355) to register.

Tues. Mar. 27, 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Diabetes Alert Day free screenings at Northwest HealthCare, 1225 Graham Road, Florissant, Mo. Call 314-747WELL(9355) to register.

Wed. Apr. 11, 8 a.m. -11 a.m., Heart Screenings by SSM Heart Institute –SSM DePaul Health Center, 12303 DePaul Drive, Bridgeton, Mo. 63044, on the Main Entrance. Screening includes LDLcholesterol, triglycerides, HDLcholesterol, total cholesterol, cholesterol ratio, blood glucose, body fat analysis and blood pressure - $20. For more information, visit ssmhealth.com/heart or call 1-866-776-

3627 to register.

Sat. April 21, 6:30 p.m. – 11:00 p.m., Denim & Diamonds Christian Hospital Auxiliary 2012 Charity Ball. For more information, call 314653-5634.

Wed. Apr. 25, 8 a.m. -11 a.m., Heart Screenings by SSM Heart Institute –SSM St. Clare Health Center, 1015 Bowles Ave., Fenton, Mo. 63026 in the St. Francis Lobby. Screening includes LDLcholesterol, triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, total cholesterol, cholesterol ratio, blood glucose, body fat analysis and blood pressure - $20. For more information, visit ssmhealth.com/heart or call 1-866-7763627 to register.

Sat. April 28, 8:30 a.m., St. Louis Kidney Walk at Saint Louis University. Walk starts at 10 a.m. For more information, call 314-961-2828 or visit www.kidneyemo.org.

Sundays, 10 a.m., Alcoholics Anonymous Group 109 meets in the 11th floor conference room at Christian Hospital, 11133 Dunn Road at I270/Hwy. 367. This is an open meeting for alcoholics, drug addicts and their family and friends.

Mondays, 7 p.m., “Tobacco Free for Life” support group – free weekly meetings at St. Peters Mo. City Hall. Supported by SSM Cancer Care; RSVP initial participation to 636-947-5304.

Tuesdays, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m., Help for a drug-free life - chemical dependency information meeting. Call 314-8393171.

Wednesdays, 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m., STEPS Schizophrenia Support Group

This nationally recognized program provides education and support for those with schizophrenia. Group is facilitated by an experienced STEPS nurse. For more information, call 314839-3171.

HEALTH RESOURCES

Sexual Health

St. Louis County Health Department offers free, confidential testing, counseling and treatment at the North Central Community Health Center, 4000 Jennings Station Road, St. Louis, MO 63121. For more information, call 314-679-7800.

St. Louis Metropolitan HIV/AIDS Program offers confidential or anonymous Testing at St. Louis ConnectCare, Suite 203 at 5535 Delmar, St. Louis, Mo. 63112. For more information, call (314) 879-6468.

Respiratory Health

Free lung function screening - Christian Hospital Breathing Center at Northwest HealthCare, 1225 Graham Rd. For more information, call 314-953-6040.

Prescription Cost Help

St. Louis ConnectCare Retail Pharmacy – Offers a $4 generic prescription program. Hours are 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. Mon. – Fri., no weekends or holidays. Located at 5535 Delmar Blvd. in St. Louis, Call 314-879-6208.

Schnucks Pharmacies – now offers certain prescription prenatal vitamins for free and offers nocost generic prescription antibiotics at select locations.

Wal-Mart Pharmacies – offer select prescriptions for $4 or less for a 30-day supply or $10 for a 90-day supply. View the complete list at www.walmart.com/pharmacy.

Prostate Cancer

The CancerCenterof The Empowerment Network at 6000 W. Florissant in St. Louis provides information on prostate and other types of cancer, and services and support. For more information, call 314-385-0998.

Nutrition

Food Outreach provides food, meals and nutritional education/ counseling to eligible persons living with HIV/AIDS or cancer in St. Louis. For more information, call 314-652-3663 or visit www.foodoutreach.org.

Angel Food Ministries operates in hundreds of churches nationwide and offers heat and serve meals, canned and fresh food boxes at a reduced cost. Find the nearest locations by zip code at www.angelfoodministries.com.

Medical

St. Louis ConnectCare offers walk-in services Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and most holidays. For information, call 314-879-6300.

Salam Free Saturday Clinic, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. at the Isom Community Center at Lane Tabernacle CME Church, 916 N. Newstead, St. Louis, Mo. for those who are uninsured. For more information, call 314-533-0534.

Information

Missouri 2-1-1 offers referral and information on a wide range of social service and helpful resources. Call 2-1-1.

Health Partnerships:

The CenterforCommunity Health and Partnerships: Building Bridges forHealthy Communities works to develop and support beneficial community-academic partnerships to address the health needs of the St. Louis. For more information, email publichealth@wustl.edu; phone 314-747-9212 or visit publichealth.wustl.edu.

Eye Health

Free glaucoma screenings at Myrtle Hilliard Davis Comprehensive Health Center, 5471 Dr. Martin Luther King Dr. St. Louis, 63112 (second floor - Health Education Dept.).Walk-in screenings are Mon. - Fri., 8:00 a.m. to 4:.30 p.m. For more information, call (314) 367-5820 ext. 2259.

Dental

Free Dental Hygiene Clinic - No charge dental exams, x-rays, cleanings and other dental services for children and adults provided by dental students at Missouri College. Patients needing more extensive dental work (fillings, crowns, etc.) will be referred to local dentists. For information, call 314-768-7899.

Diabetes

SSM St. Mary’s Health Center provides free, Diabetes Support Group sessions the second Tuesday of every month from 6 – 7 p.m. to address health management issues. It’s located at Meeting Room 1 on the second floor, 6420 Clayton Rd. in St. Louis. To register, call toll free 866SSM-DOCS (866-776-3627).

Nine in 10 U.S. adults get too much sodium every day

Main sources of sodium include many common foods

Nearly all Americans consume much more sodium than they should, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Most of the sodium comes from common restaurant or grocery store items.

The latest CDC Vital Signs report finds that 10 types of foods are responsible for more than 40 percent of people’s sodium intake. The most common sources are breads and rolls, luncheon meat such as deli ham or turkey, pizza, poultry, soups, cheeseburgers and other sandwiches, cheese, pasta dishes, meat dishes such as meat loaf, and snack foods such as potato chips, pretzels and popcorn.Some foods that are consumed

several times a day, such as bread, add up to a lot of sodium even though each serving is not high in sodium.

“Too much sodium raises blood pressure, which is a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke,” said CDC Director Thomas R. Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. “These diseases kill more than 800,000 Americans each year and contribute an estimated $273 billion in health care costs.”

The report notes that the average person consumes about 3,300 milligrams of sodium per day, not including any salt added at the table, which is more than twice the recommended limit for about half of Americans and 6 of every 10 adults.The U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommend limiting sodium intake to less than 2,300 milligrams per day.The recommendation is 1,500 milligrams per day for people aged 51 and older, and anyone with high blood pressure, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease, and

African Americans.

Key findings in the report:

• Ten types of foods account for 44 percent of dietary sodium consumed each day.

• 65 percent of sodium comes from food sold in stores.

• 25 percent of sodium comes from meals purchased in restaurants.

Reducing the sodium content of the 10 leading sodium sources by 25 percent would lower total dietary sodium by more than 10 percent and could play a role in preventing up to an estimated 28,000 deaths per year.

Reducing daily sodium consumption is difficult since it is in so many of the foods we eat.People can lower their sodium intake by eating a diet rich in fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables

without sauce, while limiting the amount of processed foods with added sodium. Individuals can also check grocery food labels and choose the products lowest in sodium.CDC supports recommendations for food manufacturers and restaurants to reduce the amount of sodium added to foods.

“We’re encouraged that some food manufacturers are already taking steps to reduce sodium,” said Dr. Frieden. “Kraft Foods has committed to an average 10 percent reduction of sodium in their products over a two year period, and dozens of companies have joined a national initiative to reduce sodium.The leading supplier of cheese for pizza, Leprino Foods, is actively working on providing customers and consumers with healthier options.We are confident that more manufacturers will do the same.”

To learn more about ways to reduce sodium, visit www.cdc.gov/salt.

Areader wants to know: “Why does the skin darken when people are on dialysis?”

The answer comes from Dr. Theodore Otti, nephrologist at St. Louis ConnectCare.

“There are chemicals that are not able to be taken out by the dialysis process. There are a lot of chemicals and in the body –we call them middle molecules and we don’t have any standard way to measure them. So what we want to remove are small particles. Those middle molecules, some of them have hormonaleffects, and that’s why they get darkerand darkerand darker.”

Do you have a health-related question? Email your question to yourhealthmatters@stlamerican.c om. Rather than a personal reply, a health professional will provide an answer that we will share with all readers in a future issue of Your Health Matters.

Skin darkening from dialysis Your Health Questions Matter