May 10th, 2012 Edition

Baptists convene in STL

‘Aspiritual boost to the region’

By American staff

“The week will be jam-packed with classes, seminars, choir rehearsals, health fairs, street services, outreach activities, concerts and – most importantly – preaching,” said the Rev. Sammie E. Jones, senior pastor of Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church. Jones is Host Committee co-chair for the National Baptist Congress of Christian Education’s 107th Annual Session, which meets June 1723 at America’s Center in St. Louis.

“Each day the 30,000plus Baptists will be in study, prayer and worship from morning to midnight.”

– Rev. Sammie E. Jones,Host Committee co-chair

“Each day the 30,000-plus Baptists will be in study, prayer and worship from morning to midnight,” Jones said.

Host Committee cochairs include Dr. Harold Butler (pastor of the Northern Missionary Baptist Church, St. Louis) and Dr. Zachary Lee (pastor of the Mount Paran Missionary Baptist Church, East St. Louis).

“Attendees will experience lifechanging worship and preaching, informative panel discussions and empowering breakout sessions led by some of the country’s most dynamic pastors, Christian educators and ministry leaders,” Jones said.

The National Baptist Congress of Christian Education serves as the primary training arm of the National Baptist Convention, as mandated in its constitution. The convention in St. Louis will get started 7 p.m. Sunday June 17 with an Opening Worship Service. At 7 p.m. Monday, June 18, a See BAPTIST, A7

Dr. Wilkins leaves St. Louis

By Sandra Jordan Of The St.Louis American

‘Salute’to SisterEbo

St. Louis American Foundation honors ‘Excellence in Health Care’

By Sandra Jordan Of The

St.Louis American

Nurses, a pediatrician, health administrators and a civil rights pioneer were honored for exemplary work in health care at the St. Louis American Foundation’s 12th annual Salute to Excellence in Health Care Awards Luncheon held Saturday, May 5 at the Frontenac Hilton.

Sister Mary Antona Ebo, retired Franciscan Sisters of Mary, was honored as the Lifetime Achiever in Health Care.

“We are to be a sign to the rest of the world,” Ebo said. “Whether we are in a synagogue, a mosque or a

temple, whatever you want to name it – be out there on the street with our sisters and brothers who have needs.”

In 1967, Ebo became the first African-American woman religious executive director of a Catholic U.S. hospital – St. Clare’s Hospital in Baraboo, Wisconsin. For two years she served as executive director of the Wisconsin Conference of Catholic Hospitals.

Ebo received nursing training at the St. Mary’s Infirmary School for Nursing for Negroes in St. Louis and served as director of Medical Records at St. Mary’s

See EBO, A11

“Consuelo’s leadership has been key to establishing collaborative relationships with community organizations.”

– Larry J.Shapiro,M.D., dean of Washington University School of Medicine

S.M. Wilson asks for $2M to meet MBE goal on rec center

“Once that list is submitted, the contractor is responsible for that amount of MBE/WBE participation at the bid day cost.” – Board of Public Service President Rich Bradley

goal. Taxpayers should pay an extra $2.174 million for minority participation, according to the letter. At the end of the project, Jaeckle estimates that the project’s total conSee WILSON, A7

Photo by Wiley Price

Sister Mary Antona Ebo,the first African-American woman executive director of a Catholic U.S. hospital,was honored as Lifetime Achiever in Health Care at the St.Louis American Foundation’s Salute to Excellence in Health Care held Saturday at the Frontenac Hilton.

Photo by Wiley Price

Liberace lover alleges secret affair with Michael Jackson

In a live television interview on Entertainment Tonight, Liberace’s former live in lover Scott Thorson claims he had a passionate affair with Michael Jackson Thorson claims he and the King of Pop shared an intimate, sexual relationship in the eighties.

“Michael and I had a relationship that... would cross the boundaries,” Thorson reveals in an exclusive sit down with ET’s Christina McLarty

“That’s about all I’m comfortable saying… We were both young.”

for the big screen featuring Matt Damon and Michael Douglas. He is presently penning a follow-up.

Nicki Minaj caught on tape?

Allhiphop.com sources are saying

Nicki Minaj allegedly has a sex tape that is set to leak any day now. Many might assume the co-star is either her rumored fiancé, Safaree, or her Young Money boss, Lil’ Wayne. Sources close to the hip-hop news and gossip site say that the man who is in the alleged sex tape with Nicki Minaj is none other than G.O.O.D. Music

While he concedes that not many will believe that he and Michael were lovers, he says that the two became unlikely friends while he was dating Liberace. After a period of friendship, their relationship blossomed into more.

Thorson details his tumultuous relationship with the King of Pop and more in Behind the Candelabra: My Life with Liberace, a book he wrote in 1998 which is currently being adapted

couple’s children pending a full custody hearing, and ordered that the children undergo psychological counseling Wheless ruled that the injuries to Pilar Sanders, which she alleged her husband inflicted during an April 23 scuffle at their $5.7 million home in Prospect, were a result of Deion Sanders defending himself from her assault. Wheless said that since Deion Sanders experienced no pain, it was only simple assault, which is punishable by a fine.

Tami Roman in hot water with hair company for failure to plug

rapper Big Sean. The two allegedly slept together right around the time they shot the music video for Big Sean’s “Dance (A$$)” remix, and the whole thing was caught on tape.

Deion awarded temporary custody following Pilar ‘home invasion’

A Texas judge ordered Deion Sanders’ estranged wife Pilar to stay at least 500 yards away from the former NFL star’s suburban Dallas home in a ruling stemming from a scuffle between the pair last month.

State District Judge Ray Wheless also gave the Hall of Famer temporary custody of the former

“Basketball Wives” star Tami Roman is in the middle of a lawsuit that demands specific editing of the show.

of action is justified since the hair care product company didn’t pay her in a timely fashion.

Closing arguments up next in Hudson family murder trial

The Defense and the Prosecution have both rested their case in the William Balfour murder trial.

William Balfour is accused of murdering Jennifer Hudson’s mother, brother and 7 year old nephew in 2008 because his then wife, Jennifer’s sister Julia,

TMZ is reporting Crème de la Crème hair company filed suit against the reality television star back in March, claiming that she didn’t follow through with her commitment to mention the company’s name during the show. Instead, she plugged her own line. So the company is demanding that Vh1 pull the video clips of Roman mentioning her own line of products. As consequence, a whole episode could be blocked altogether.

But she’s firing back now saying that one, she is the victim and two, millions would suffer if the show was pulled. She also says her lack

Funny way of showing ‘Appreciation’

By Byron Clemens

For

There

irony to be gained by taking a look at Teacher Appreciation Week through the warped, Alice-inWonderland lens in Jefferson City, Missouri.

We wonder if the Legislature will cut ParentsAs-Teachers and/or Early Childhood Education? Will they fully fund the schools’ foundation formula or make districts compete for a smaller and smaller share of funds?

A bill to lower the mandatory age of attendance

(I hope readers are sitting down) from age seven to age five languishes as the lobbyists from the American Legislative Exchange Council (the Florida “stand your ground” authors), a multibillionaire school choice advocate and the latest education, snake oil flim flam artists make the rounds. What is an “appreciated teacher” to think?

Senator Jane Cunningham and Representative Scott Dieckhaus are on ALEC’s education task force. Rex Sinquefield spends millions in campaign contributions and creating “astro turf” parent groups. Moreover the new traveling media, carpet bagger, Michelle Rhee invades Missouri to weigh in on public education (based on her admittedly “slightly exaggerated success” as a temporary Baltimore teacher gig and her, let-usbe-kind, “controversial” and mercifully short tenure as chancellor of D.C. schools).

Yep all the privateers –excuse me, all the extremely, well-funded, school “choice” advocates – are blowing sulfur and brimstone around the state capitol building. Of course when they say school “choice” they mean they mean what schools the “privateers” choose. And they choose to ignore the steady progress St. Louis is making in general including the fact that all high schools in the city have gained accredited status.

So instead of funding Early Childhood Education and Parents as teachers ALEC, Rex and Rhee have chosen to “Appreciate Teachers” by unleashing their lobbyists and media machine to promote two radical, rightwing bills.

Dieckhaus’s HB 1526 takes away local control from school districts and seniority protection for employees. Why is that districts across Missouri have “seniority” rules? Because it makes sex, race, age, politics or even teachers who stand up for student safety not a reason laying that teacher off. If a weak, misguided administrator chose to save money by hiring two temporary cheaper workers to replace a more senior staff person and churn them with new temporary workers, it destabilizes schools.

In fact, the real issue now is not getting rid of teachers it is finding and keeping them. Fifty percent of new teachers (nationwide) leave the classroom within five years. HB1526 squeaked by with one vote to spare and now moves to the Senate.

Then we have ALEC’s champion state Senator Jane Cunningham’s support of SB576. SB576 would expand charter schools, allow any not-for-profit to sponsor a charter school regardless of their educational qualifications and create a new bureaucracy to oversee charter authorization (this one is straight from the ALEC boilerplate). This would take authority away from the Department of Elementary and Second Education, where such control belongs. The bill passed the Senate last week and now goes before the House. If the public supports

public education, as polls attest, with local control and oversight of taxpayer dollars, they might call their senator and say, “I appreciate teachers and my local school district – vote no on HB1526.”

And if you feel particularly appreciative, you might call

your representative and let them know you would like them to ignore the radical, right-wing agenda of ALEC, Rex and Rhee and vote no SB576 in the House. I know we would appreciate a little support during Teachers Appreciation

Week.

Clemens is American Federation of Teachers’ St. Louis Innovation Fund Pre-K Project Organizer and Regional VP AFT MO (AFLCIO).

Byron Clemons

Editorial /CommEntary

One year without Paul Reiter

Yesterday, it had been exactly one year since Paul Reiter was here with us to manage the delivery of this newspaper to you. On May 9, 2011, Paul was shot and killed while interrupting the burglary of a neighbor. We have thought a lot about that fateful morning, a Monday morning, the only day of the week Paul did no work for the newspaper. We have thought a lot about his decision to interrupt the burglary, as opposed to the other things he might have done when he heard the commotion next door. He might have let the burglar proceed, but Paul respected his neighbors and their property too much for that. He might have called the police and let them arrest the youth, but we believe Paul respected the youth and his potential too much to simply cast him to the cops. We believe it’s precisely because Paul respected everyone and wanted what was best for everyone that he interrupted the burglary and gave the would-be thief an opportunity to get away before he had committed a more serious crime than breaking someone’s window. For this, Paul was shot dead. It was a senseless and tragic murder, and many of us continue to mourn his loss as if it were yesterday.

Knowing we could not replace Paul with anyone, we did not replace him with anyone. We replaced him with an entire company that took over the management of our delivery routes and that continues to employ many of the drivers Paul managed. The fact that you can still pick up a copy of our newspaper is perhaps the only thing that has not changed since then, because the loss of a committed, intelligent, generous and loving person like Paul leaves a loss that never goes away. All of us here continue to feel this loss in our own ways. Of course, his family – committed and impressive people, like Paul himself –struggle with these feelings even more than we do, and our thoughts remain with them on this tragic anniversary, particularly with Paul’s mother, Agnes Veronica Reiter, and his son, Christopher Paul Reiter.

In our struggle to understand and cope with this devastating loss, perhaps the best we can do is emulate the man who respected everyone equally – the neighbors whose home should be protected and the young thief who deserved a chance to walk away from the scene of the crime before he committed it. Yes, Paul, we still wish you had been a little less respectful of others, a little more selfish – for once – on that Monday morning last year, but you remained true to yourself until the end. We promise we will continue to struggle to do the same.

City public schools: here to stay

Paul Reiter cherished the hard-hitting political coverage in the newspaper he delivered (and managed the delivery of) for 22 years, and in what would become the last years of his life he read the paper each week to see how we were holding Mayor Slay accountable for his actions. So in Paul’s name, we ask the mayor to take a good, long look at the Missouri Supreme Court’s ruling on the Turner case and face the facts that he is going to have to learn to live and work with the St. Louis Public Schools. Last summer when the court first ruled that SLPS was required to pay the tuition of district students attending schools in accredited districts in the county, Slay seemed to fret over every negative ramification of this ruling except that it could very well bankrupt his city’s public school district. It appears to us that Slay would welcome a bankrupted city school district and the consequent “crisis economic” motive for starting from scratch. That is not happening, at least not from the Turner ruling. We hope the mayor realizes he is going to have to join forces with others who seek to improve the city public schools to benefit the district’s children, rather than cheerlead their destruction.

Witch hunt for the zombie voter

Republicans are waging the most concerted campaign to prevent or discourage citizens from exercising their legitimate voting rights since the Jim Crow days of poll taxes and literacy tests. Four years ago, Democrats expanded American democracy by registering millions of new voters – mostly young people and minorities –and convincing them to show up at the polls. Apparently, the GOP is determined not to let any such thing happen again.

According to the nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice at New York University, which keeps track of changes in voting laws, 22 statutes and two executive actions aimed at restricting the franchise have been approved in 17 states since the beginning of 2011. By the center’s count, an additional 74 such bills are pending.

North City needs a master plan

There are strong and legitimate reasons to decry the poor leadership skills and lack of political savvy by many elected North St. Louis officials. And so I appreciate Philip Johnson’s critique of North City leaders.

I have lived in North City for over 20 years, own a home there and raise children in that precarious environment. I have seen nothing in North City but neighborhood decline and decay with a high rate of murder, rape, robbery, vandalism, unpaved streets, alleys riddled with potholes, littered sidewalks, trashed-up yards, boarded up houses and businesses, broken windows in vacant buildings, gang activities, idle and unemployed youngsters, drug peddlers, speed car racing on residential streets and lack of strong police presence.

A little more than 20 years ago, the downtown Baden neighborhood was a booming and lively community with a bank, post office, national retail chain store, grocery store, hardware store, restaurants, public park, police station nearby and a decent elementary school.

Today, they are no more. They’ve been replaced with liquor stores all around. The only significant symbol of governmental presence in the community is the City of St. Louis fire house on North Broadway. Real property values have vanished. The few businesses that remain, including residential rental businesses, have suffered tremendously.

Residents of this area travel into the county to shop and find services, with a tremendous loss of tax revenue for the city. Banks’ redlining is pervasive. Criminal gangs and drug dealers have overtaken the area. Police respond quickly only when shooting is reported and someone is perhaps dead.

On speaking to some police officers near the scene of a recent shooting just up the street that claimed the life a 24-year-old young man, one stated frankly that they are hampered by lack of manpower. He advised me to talk to the politicians.

In the presence of these maladies, typical for the North Side, I do not see a strong stand taken by elected North City leaders to address these issues.

In reviewing legislation during the 2010-2011 and 2012-2013 legislative sessions, I counted nearly 40 board bills that were passed dealing primarily with neighborhood redevelopments. Virtually all of them were

written and sponsored for the redevelopment of South City and Central City neighborhoods. I blame this squarely on the inability of North City elected officials to master the craft of local government politics. Elected local leaders have to stand up and fight to secure a share of the public pie for their community.

Common ground is needed to come up with a bold plan to rehabilitate North St. Louis city. Perhaps one way to move forward is to call for leadership summit of North City elected leaders to map out strategy. Looking back 20 years ago today, I still say that I am disappointed that well into the 21st Century the rigidly political polarization – the north/south dichotomy, the isolation of many for the few and all that which divides rather than unites us – is still well entrenched in St. Louis politics. It will be an injustice if we leave political problems of this magnitude for the next generation to solve. I do not think that will be right. The answer has to be now. My hope is that the progressive elements of this city will see what is wrong and come together to find lasting solution and

Correction

Last week a photograph of Ericca Willis, publisher of Who’s Who in Black St. Louis appeared with a caption reading Debbie Monterrey. We regret the error.

Waiting for the judge

Why did you ask me to send to you my legal argument and then did not print a word of it?

You quoted both Eric Vickers and a retired jurist, but took not a single excerpt from my legal memo and reasoning.

just based on politics and posturing. In fact, it looks a lot like the attacks we see on Medicare and Medicaid in the latest Republican House budget. The Ryan Republican budget would cut Medicaid for millions more seniors, children, people with disabilities and shift the burden of providing health care for them to middle class families and states. It would also repeal the Affordable Care Act and end Medicare as we know it.

As a doctor, I tell you that Medicaid works for seniors, works for kids, works for people with disabilities, works for families.

Willie Ellis and the late Reverend Shirley Deavens, to name a few, who served God and others whole heartedly. And while I thank you all, I also thank Jesus who I believe to be the true inspiration of your efforts.

Allif H. Dove Via email

As Republican strategists are fully aware, minorities are overrepresented among the estimated 11 percent of citizens who do not have a government-issued photo ID. They are also painfully aware that in 2008, President Obama won 95 percent of the AfricanAmerican vote and 67 percent of the Hispanic vote. It doesn’t take a genius to do the math: If you can reduce the number of black and Latino voters, you improve the Republican candidate’s chances. If photo ID laws were going to be the solution, though, Republicans had to invent a problem. The best they could come up with was The Menace of Widespread Voter Fraud. There is no Widespread Voter Fraud. All available evidence indicates that fraudulent voting of the kind that photo ID laws would presumably prevent – someone shows up at the polls and votes in someone else’s name – just doesn’t happen.

For a while, the GOP pointed to South Carolina, where Republican Gov. Nikki Haley said that “dead people” had somehow cast ballots in recent elections. But then the state’s election commission investigated claims of 953 zombie voters. The number of voters came from a crude comparison of records done by the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles. The elections commission actually found 207 contested votes. Of that total, 106 reflected clerical errors

The most popular means of discouraging those young and minority voters – who, coincidentally, tend to vote for Democrats – is legislation requiring citizens to show government-issued photo identification before they are allowed to cast a ballot. Photo ID bills have been approved by Republican-controlled legislatures in Alabama, Kansas, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin, and by referendum in Mississippi. Only one state with a Democratic-controlled legislature – Rhode Island –passed a law requiring voters to produce identification, and it does not mandate a government ID with a photo. In Virginia, Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell has not decided whether to sign a voter ID bill the legislature sent to his desk. What could be wrong with demanding proof of identity? Plenty.

by poll workers, 56 reflected errors by the motor vehicles department, 32 involved people who were mistakenly listed as having voted, and three involved people who had cast absentee ballots and then died before Election Day. That left 10 contested votes – count ‘em, 10 – that could not be immediately resolved. However, the commission found no evidence of fraud. Or of zombies.

Of course, there are other potential kinds of electoral fraud; crooked poll workers, for example, could record votes in the names of citizens who actually stayed home. Election officials could design ballots in a way that worked to a specific candidate’s advantage or disadvantage (see Florida, 2000). But none of this would be prevented by photo ID. Even more sinister are new laws, such as in Florida, that make it much more difficult for campaigns – or anyone else – to conduct voter-registration drives. If you thought Republicans and Democrats agreed that more Americans should register to vote, you were sadly mistaken. Florida requires that groups conducting registration drives be vetted and that registration forms be submitted within 48 hours of when they are signed – an onerous and unnecessary burden that only serves to hamper anyone seeking to expand the electorate.

In the name of safeguarding the sanctity of the ballot, Republicans are trying to exclude citizens they consider likely to vote for Democrats –the young, the poor, the black and brown. Those who love democracy cannot allow this foul subterfuge to succeed.

Your retired jurist obviously was not good at his job. He quoted from a part of the Constitution that applies to state representatives and not state senators. As a jurist, he should know that you look to the intent of the constitution not just the words, when you interpret a clause.

Further, if this case goes to an appeal it goes directly to the Missouri Supreme Court not to the Court of Appeals.

I have submitted my legal briefs to several interested parties. Each one of them have concluded that my interpretation is correct.

However, I am but a lawyer, not the judge deciding the case nor a member of the Supreme Court.

I will wait for the judge to decide whose interpretation of the Constitution makes more sense – an interpretation that says you do not have to live in a district that you want to represent or an interpretation that says you do.

Elbert

Walton Via email

Medicaid works

The Supreme Court is hearing arguments against expanding Medicaid to another 17 million people over the next few years. These arguments aren’t based on Medicaid’s health outcomes among children or seniors; they aren’t based on testimony from those who have received services from Medicaid; they aren’t even based on data that show how well Medicaid controls costs compared to private insurance.

That’s because the challenge to Medicaid in the Supreme Court isn’t based on what’s good for our health, it’s

Thanks to Medicaid, middle-class families can afford around the clock nursing home care for sick or elderly parents and grandparents with Alzheimer’s, cancer, strokes, and other debilitating illnesses. Also thanks to Medicaid, millions of seniors and people with disabilities have the choice to continue living at home and to stay independent. Thanks to Medicaid, when working parents lose their jobs and their health care coverage, their children can still get check ups, dental care, eyeglasses and treatment for illness.

Instead of refiguring the budget to give the wealthiest one percent trillions of dollars in tax breaks by cutting Medicaid and Medicare for our families, lawmakers should protect our healthcare. The Supreme Court should do the same.

Dr. L. Toni Lewis SEIU Healthcare Chair

They served God and others

I believe that a large number of people in this community would agree with the idea of thanking you and your staff for the tireless effort for good that you make each week in printing your newspaper. Please do not underestimate the impact that you make not only in this community but in the United States. Your excellent performance is admirable. You have and undoubtedly will continue to make a profound impact in our community.

I especially thank you for highlighting the works of many men and women, such as the late Bishop Dwight H. McDaniels, the late Bishop

Guest Columnist Michael Okpara

Columnist Eugene Robinson

The late Paul Reiter Photo by Wiley Price

Summerschool, band camp registration

Registration for summer school and band camp in the Hazelwood School District is open and will continue through May 18. Summer classes begin in June.

Academic Adventures, the elementary summer program, focuses on developing language, literacy and critical thinking skills, math concepts, reasoning and problem-solving. Students will be exposed to a variety of reading materials and children’s literature. Nine District elementary schools will serve as sites for the summer program – Arrowpoint, Barrington, Cold Water, Garrett, Grannemann, Lawson, McNair, Townsend and Walker.

Sunny Start is for new kindergarten students and is designed to help prepare children for school in the fall. The program includes language skills, pre-reading activities, basic math concepts and fine- and grossmotor skill development. Students will attend at the elementary summer school sites.

For middle school students, courses are offered in core subjects such as communication skills, math, science and social studies, and a variety of electives.

QUEST, the transition program for new sixth-grade students, is integrated into summer school. The program gives students the opportunity to meet teachers, make new friends, become familiar with the school building, participate in team-building activities and learn the expectations and rules of the school.

Summer classes and QUESTwill be held at each middle school in the district.

The high school summer program is designed to provide enrichment courses for graduation requirements and to assist students who were unsuccessful during the regular school year. Course offerings include core curriculum and electives. Summer school will be held at each District high school.

Bus transportation will be provided for students who live more than a mile from school. Elementary school students are offered breakfast at no cost. Breakfast is available for purchase for 75 cents for middle and high school students.

U. City turns on lights at golf course

On April 24, evening golf enthusiasts were once again able to hit a few balls after dark at Ruth Park Golf Course. At the April 23 University City Council meeting, the City Council voted to turn the lights back on at Ruth Park to accommodate the start of the golf season in St. Louis.

Ruth Park Golf course will now be open until 9:30 p.m. The last basket of balls will be sold at 9 p.m.

The lights at Ruth Park were turned off after complaints were received from residents who lived across the street from the driving range. Residents said that the lights from the golf course streamed into their homes. After the complaints, the City decided to make Ruth Park open only during daylight hours.

The Park Commission and Traffic Commission are looking at solutions to decrease the light disturbance to nearby residents.

County NAACP educates voters

Curtis Preyer looks over voter information provided by the St. Louis County Branch of the NAACP on Saturday afternoon at West Side Missionary Baptist Church.U.S.Rep.Wm.Lacy Clay faces reelection with a primary challenger on the August 7 ballot, and President Barack Obama faces reelection for the last time on November 6.

Grant will buy laptops forCounty cops

The St. Louis County Police Department is eligible to receive $90,837 in grant funding from the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program. These funds will be used to purchase additional laptop computers for police cars which will allow officers to perform routine tasks in the field. Officers will be able to electronically receive calls for service/assignments, check for warrants on suspects, and use many of the applications developed to assist officers in doing their jobs.

Each laptop computer along with its associated equipment to mount it in the police car costs just over $4,500. This grant will allow the department to purchase approximately 20 new laptops and some of the additional items required for each installation.

The JAG Program assists state, tribal, and local governments in preventing and controlling crime based on local needs and conditions. JAG blends other programs together to provide agencies with the flexibility to prioritize and place justice funds where they are needed. The department has historically used these funds to help pay for laptops for police cars.

Citizens can comment on the use of the funding by calling (314) 6155308 or by sending a letter to the St. Louis County Police Department’s Planning and Analysis Unit, 7900 Forsyth Blvd., Clayton, 63105.

Student loan debt in context

By Michelle Singletary Washington Post

My oldest daughter just returned from touring several colleges she’s interested in attending next year. I’m hoping the school on the top of her list will be one of my favorites, North Carolina A&Tin Greensboro. I’m also pulling for my alma mater, the University of Maryland, College Park, but she says it’s too close to our home, about 17 miles away.

“You won’t think it’s too close if you have to walk,” I said.

Olivia was not amused.

My husband and I have told our daughter that she can apply to any college she likes. But we have saved just enough to cover tuition plus room, board and books for four years based on estimated in-state school expenses. If she gets accepted at a school where the cost is more than the money we have set aside, she has to get scholarships or grants to make up the difference. She cannot take out any student loans. Nor will we.

This process should be a lot easier, thanks to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. It has introduced one of the best college cost tools I’ve seen, a Financial Aid Comparison Shopper.

In April, about 1.5 million students will be receiving multiple admissions letters, the bureau says. But once they’re accepted, their families have to figure out how to pay for school. With total education debt crossing the $1 trillion mark, it’s the second largest source of consumer debt after mortgages, according to CFPB Director Richard Cordray.

The problem is that the financial aid information that families receive is presented differently, and often is incomplete and hard to figure out.

“We know that putting student loan debt into context is particularly important for students and parents,” Cordray said.

The bureau’s shopping tool allows you to select three schools at once and then compare tuition, fees and other expenses. The worksheet also has a debt burden scale indicating how tough it might be to pay the loan based on the average national salary of graduates with a bachelor’s degree. People can see how much they could be paying every month if they go the student loan route.

Try out the worksheet, which is available at www.consumerfinance.gov/payingforcollege. Let the bureau know what you think and any improvements you think it could use.

“We will use public feedback to inform the development of a more robust Financial Aid Comparison Shopper,” Cordray said.

Michelle Singletary

Photo by Wiley Price

WILKINS

Continued from A1

Wilkins came to St. Louis 12 years ago. She completed her residency in internal medicine at Duke University and accepted a fellowship in Geriatric Medicine at BarnesJewish Hospital/Washington University School of Medicine.

“As smart as I thought I was and as much as I thought I knew, I really didn’t get to learn about people and patients and taking care of people until after I was actually done with all of my training,” she said.

“Alot of what I’ve learned, I’ve learned from patients, I’ve learned from their families. They really taught me so much. That continued education has been through the people of St. Louis.”

Wilkins said learning that there were so many St. Louisans who are dedicated to making St. Louis a healthier

place made it easy for her to stay so long.

“It was easy to stay given the interest and opportunity to pursue my academic interest as well as to be involved in a lot of the activities of the community that were focused on community health and wellness and educating the community,” Wilkins said.

Larry J. Shapiro, M.D., executive vice chancellor for medical affairs and dean of Washington University School of Medicine, said Wilkins has been as asset to both the university and the community.

“It was with her foresight that the Center for Community Health and Partnerships was established,” Shapiro said.

The center seeks to pair the university with local organizations to jointly address community-identified health and wellness priorities and to disseminate culturally relevant health information to reduce health disparities.

“Consuelo’s leadership has

been key to establishing collaborative relationships with community organizations and to improving the relevance and impact of research,” Shapiro said.

Edward Lawlor, Ph.D., dean of the Brown School at Washington University, agreed.

“Consuelo Wilkins has done an extraordinary job of developing a plan to build and sustain community-academic partnerships to address the health needs of the St. Louis community,” Lawlor said.

“Her energy, vision, and leadership will have a lasting impact on the center and the Institute for Public Health, which remain committed to working collaboratively with the community to improve the health of St. Louis residents.”

Robert Freund, chief executive officer of the St. Louis Regional Health Commission, described the same impact.

“Dr. Wilkins has made a considerable difference in our community, especially in deepening St. Louis’understanding of the power and importance of developing equal and mutually beneficial partnerships between medical researchers and the people in the communities in which they live, work, teach, and study,” he said.

Community commitments

Her leadership extended to community and professional organizations. Wilkins served on the executive council of the Mound City Medical Forum. In 2006, under her leadership, Mound City received the National Medical Association’s outstanding chapter of the year award.

“I am deeply saddened by the loss of such a tremendous talent,” Mound City member and SLUCARE physician Denise Hooks-Anderson, M.D., said of Wilkins’move. “Not only has she been a marvelous colleague, she has been a phenomenal friend.”

She is known for her way with patients – and colleagues.

“She kind of leads you into where she’s at and what she’s thinking,” said Rosetta Keeton, community relations and volunteer manager at St. Louis ConnectCare. “That is one of her talents – making you feel like what you think and feel matters.”

Her community commitments were many and varied.

Wilkins chairs the Affordable Housing Commission in St. Louis and serves on the boards for the Wyman Center, Saint Louis Zoo and the United Way of Greater St. Louis, where she serves in the Women’s Leadership and African American Leadership cabinets.

‘Sort of a dream’

As medical accuracy editor for The St. Louis American, Wilkins kept a loyal readership of 200,000 engaged on community health issues.

“The American has really been such a life-changing experience. It changed the way I think about so many things,” Wilkins said.

“Just the feedback that I received from so many people who I’ve never met before –some of them who I’ve never seen before who are kind enough to send me a note. That’s sort of a dream for people doing health care who want to change people’s lives in a positive way.”

Her colleague Will Ross, M.D., associate dean for diversity, assistant professor of medicine, and a senior fellow at the Center for Health Policy at Washington University, watched her progress at the paper.

“Consuelo started working with The American shortly after she came here,” said Ross M.D., who formerly served as health editor for The American

“She essentially elevated that medium by writing a number of really personal editorials about how to empower communities and individuals to be more health-conscious.”

Donald M. Suggs, publisher and executive editor of The St. Louis American, feels the loss of her leaving professionally and personally.

“Dr. Wilkins’departure from St. Louis is a great loss for her patients, the community, The St. Louis American and me and my family personally,”

Suggs said. “Brilliant, accomplished and tireless, she is also a caring person who was inspirational and beloved to all who knew her well. Although she was highly successful in a high-level academic environment, she was always modest and unassuming in her personal demeanor.”

Ross sees a personal source in her caring commitment.

“It comes from having this personal connection with the community throughout maturation – she’s one who loves and respects the community because they are tied to her roots,” said Ross.

“She knows where she was born [Mississippi], and she recalls some of the inequities in her own community and she was resolute in addressing those inequities.”

Her resolution moved Washington University forward, Ross said.

“She proved to be able to go out a lot further than some people can see at the medical school,” Ross said.

‘A very attractive opportunity’

The opportunity for greater community engagement with major support made the Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance too promising to pass up.

In Nashville, Wilkins will lead the transition of the alliance to a primarily research-focused program and will manage a $1.5 million budget. She will assist both institutions in identifying and recruiting new faculty as well as assisting current faculty in research development.

Wilkins said, “It was a very attractive opportunity, not just because of the institutions, but because I would have the ability to affect the program as it developed from the beginning.”

She will be equipped with a substantial commitment of both time and resources from Meharry and Vanderbilt.

“As I went through the interview process it was clear to me that both institutions value both the alliance and their relationships to each other, but also they valued this new vision to be more involved with communityengaged research,” she said. Wilkins will also continue her research aimed at identifying and addressing risk factors for cognitive impairment in older adults.

Wilkins will have offices and faculty appointments on both campuses. At Vanderbilt, she will serve as associate professor of medicine in the Institute for Medicine and Public Health. At Meharry, Wilkins will serve as an associate professor of medicine in the Medical College.

‘An equally painful loss’

The Wilkins family that will move to Nashville includes her husband, family practice physician Kenneth Wilkins, M.D., a daughter, Alese Wilkins, and a son, Kenneth “Trey” Wilkins. Dr. Kenneth Wilkins has been a staple at Myrtle Hilliard Davis Comprehensive Health Centers.

“He’s been that center, that anchor, giving them a sense of security and comfort,” Ross said. “That’s an equally painful loss.” Wilkins will take the breadth of her experience and success in community engaged research to her new role on June 1.

“While she will be greatly missed, we wish her all the best in the next chapter in what has already been an illustrious career,” Suggs said. Freund said, “While she will be deeply missed here, we all wish her great success in Nashville, and remain hopeful that her legacy will continue to flourish in our universities and our community in the years to come.”

An advisory committee of community and university representatives will assist in identifying a new director to build upon the foundation created by Dr. Wilkins. Shapiro said, “We remain committed to the program she established here and especially to continuing the dialogue and planning with community representatives.”

Consuelo Hopkins Wilkins,M.D.,greeted William A. Peck,M.D.,longtime former dean of the Washington University School of Medicine,at the St.Louis American Foundation’s 2012 Salute to Excellence in Health Care.

Photo by Wiley Price

WILSON

Continued from A1

tract value will be $19.6 million – if the city agrees to their requests.

‘Soldiers’story

Court records show that S.M. Wilson’s struggle to meet the minority goal began months before they signed their contract with the Board of Public Service on July 13, 2010.

On May 24, 2010, S.M. Wilson’s biggest minority subcontractor was starting to enter into bankruptcy proceedings in St. Louis City Circuit Court, according to dockets.

In December 2009, Soldiers Plumbing Inc. had been awarded a sub-contract for $2.6 million – which made up twothirds of the $3.8 million that S.M. Wilson needed to satisfy the city’s original 25 percent minority goal.

Soldiers’owner O’rion

Jackson said he told S.M. Wilson leaders in early 2010 that he was going to shut down his plumbing business. The company offered financial help, Jackson said, and tried to urge him to join the project in a joint venture. Jackson declined. He said it would have been a “passthrough” deal, which he said is strictly set to benefit the prime contractor.

“[S.M. Wilson leaders] were upset that I wasn’t going to take help,” Jackson said. “They wanted to control me and move me through passthrough situations. I wasn’t going to do it. Sometimes the best thing to do is just let a dead horse die. You live and learn. Henry Ford filed bankruptcy several times.”

In an interview with TheSt. Louis American, Wilson and Jaeckle said they knew Jackson was struggling financially. But they said they never heard about his intent to file bankruptcy until after they signed the O’Fallon contract.

“We did not become aware that his plight was that severe” until after the contract was signed, Jaeckle said. “We see contractors that get into financial complications. If we can help, we help.”

“It would be ridiculous to execute a contract with an owner if you knew one of your subs was going to crash and burn,” Wilson said. “If we executed a contract and then he goes bust, I got to pay for it, not the client. You would never execute a contract on purpose

with someone you knew was already bust.”

Wilson asked rhetorically, “Why would we do that? To achieve the numbers? No way.”

“That would not be a smart business decision,” Jaeckle said.

The timing of Jackson’s bankruptcy – filed before the contract was signed – raises the question of whether the city is responsible for the contractor’s hardships in meeting the 40 percent goal.

The American asked Board of Public Service President Rich Bradley if the city is responsible for paying such costs if the contractor’s problems with meeting minority participation occurred before the contract was signed.

Bradley responded in an email, “The project was bid on December 22, 2009.The contractor was required to submit a list of M/WBE contractors within a couple of days after. Once that list is submitted, the contractor is responsible for that amount of MBE/WBE participation at the bid day cost.”

Bids,goals and bonds

Through a Sunshine law request, The American obtained Board of Public Service documents for S.M. Wilson’s $2 million request.

In a nutshell, S.M. Wilson argues that the city’s request to substantially increase the minority goal after the bids were submitted forced them to use subcontractors who were not the lowest bidders originally. The late request also delayed the project, escalating labor and material costs.

When S.M. Wilson first bid on the project in December 2009, it was $1 to $2 million below the other bidders. Soon after the bids were in, the Board of Aldermen – led by the Black Caucus – decided they wanted to increase minority participation for the Northside project. The original goal was 25 percent minority business enterprise (MBE) and 5 percent women business enterprise (WBE).

In June 2010, the aldermen gave a verbal recommendation to push for goals of 40 percent MBE, 8 percent WBE, and minimum 32 percent minority workforce.

Rather than rebidding the project – and giving the other bidders a chance to achieve the higher participation goals at a cheaper price – city officials worked out an agreement with S.M. Wilson.

Richard Bradley, BPS presi-

dent, said that thebonds sold forthe recreational centers (south and north) were approaching expiration.

“The ultimate decision to not throw out the bids and rebid the project was based on this funding issue in conjunction with the bidding schedule,” Bradley said. “The funding needed to be expended or we wouldpossibly risk losing the funding for the project.”

In negotiations, BPS agreed to give S.M. Wilson more money to meet the goal. According to a BPS “change

“They wanted to control me and move me through pass-through situations.I wasn’t going to do it.”

– O’rion Jackson,Soldiers Plumbing Inc.

order # 1” dated Jun 16, 2010, BPS awarded S.M. Wilson $650,000 to “increase minority workforce participation to minimum 32% and increase MBE participation to 40%.”

But since then, S.M. Wilson has kept coming back for more.

In March 2011, S.M. Wilson asked for another $1,163,065 – for the same minority requirements covered in the June 2010 change order. But the city only awarded them $523,888. Recently, they asked for another $361,091 “in additional costs we have incurred to meet the goal,” the request letter states.

In total, Jaeckle said the city owes the company an additional $1,000,229 to achieve the minority goal.

Escalating costs

Typically there’s an evaluation period between the time the bids for projects are due and the contract is awarded –which usually takes about two months. In this case, it took six months.

Several of the contractor’s claims for “escalation” costs include labor or material increases – due to the fourmonth delay. Escalation costs are calculated based upon the amount given on “bid day.”

S.M. Wilson has asked for labor escalation claims for several companies. Yet in our investigation, the American could not find evidence that these companies provided a bid on bid day – nor were they included in the Dec. 24, 2009 subcontractors’list filed with

the city’s DBE office. In a Sept. 30, 2011 letter, S.M. Wilson’s Dean Forth requested $947,669 for escalation charges for such companies.

BPS representatives had a similar problem in their investigation, according to records.

The documentation in Forth’s letter lacked sufficient detail and was concerning, Zachary Hamilton, of Kwame Building Group (the construction management company on the project) said in an Oct. 5, 2011 email to BPS chief engineer Tom Behan.

If these subs did not bid on bid day, “this claim could be considered an attempt to defraud the city and will be taken very seriously,” Hamilton wrote to Behan.

Hamilton advised Behan to request backup documents (i.e. original bids and dates.)

However, the documents that S.M. Wilson provided in a following Oct. 15, 2011 letter did not include original bids or documents for all companies in question.

Jaeckle said, “We have provided supporting information. It’s a pretty clear story.”

In the interview with Jaeckle and Wilson, the American went over change orders, requests for further funding and the supporting documents provided to the BPS office. When some of the totals didn’t add up, Jaeckle provided answers by thumbing through his own files.

“There’s constant dynamics in this project,” he said. “The paper trail is extensive. You might be missing a piece of paper inadvertently.”

When the American asked for any documents that might be missing from BPS files, Jaeckle said he couldn’t provide them directly. He would have to ask the city’s permission.

Bradley said the escalation costs concern the city.

“To date, no escalation claims costs have been awarded as sufficient backup and documentation has not been provided to the City,” Bradley said.

‘Whatever it takes’

Alderman Antonio D. French of Ward 21, where the project is located, said he supports S.M. Wilson’s request for reimbursement.

When he and the Black Caucus sat down with Wilson in early 2010, they told him to do “whatever it takes to meet that goal,” French said.

“There were dozens of times where subcontractors ran into issues with unions, taxes, business licenses,” French said. “He funded some of the companies to meet the goal.”

French said he hasn’t seen the backup documents for the funding requests, but he is proud of the project and pleased that S.M. Wilson met the goal.

“I said that if they meet the goal, I would be their number one cheerleader,” French said. “So I am going to keep my end of the deal.”

French disclosed that S.M. Wilson held a fundraiser for his political campaign a few weeks ago.

Wilson raises the question: “If the change orders were never paid, how much does S.M. Wilson lose?

$1.6 million.”

“It’s an awful lot of money to lose,” Wilson said. “We set up ourselves to lose that much money because S.M. Wilson and the Board of Public Service agreed to make this job happen. They said, ‘Don’t worry about the little stuff. Make this job happen.’

From that standpoint, we did that very thing. Board of Public Service is proud that they achieved those numbers. We are pleased to help them do it. The sticking point will be it cost more to do it. But what is more important? The fact that it costs more or that we were able to achieve the desired minority goals?”

Continued from A1

1,000-voice choir comprised of St. Louis-area Baptists will perform under the direction of Dr. Anita Watkins-Stevens, minister of music at the New Sunny Mount Missionary Baptist Church.

Dr. Elliott Cuff, dean of the National Baptist Congress of Christian Education, will deliver his Dean’s Address 2 p.m. Tuesday, June 19.

An Oratorical Contest for youth will be held 1 p.m. Wednesday, June 20. Dr. George W. Waddles Sr., president of the National Baptist Congress of Christian Education, will deliver his President’s Address 2 p.m. Thursday, June 21.

At 1 p.m. Friday, June 22, Pastor Jones and Dr. Julius Scruggs, president of the National Baptist Convention, will give the keys of a new home to a needy family. The Host Committee has partnered with Habitat for Humanity to build a house in the name of the National Baptist Convention. The Congress concludes with a Children’s Rally & Youth Rally 5:307 p.m. Friday, June 22, worshipping through song, poetry, drama, mime, stepping and dance.

“This will provide a spiritual boost to the region,” Host Committee co-chairs said in a statement. “The Host Committee is building collaborations with churches and businesses on both sides of the Mississippi River and will be prepared to roll out the red carpet.”

For more information, visit http://www.2012congress-stl.org.

2012 SALUTETO EXCELLENCE

IN HEALTH CARE AWARDS LUNCHEON

The St.Louis American Foundation held its 12th annual Salute to Excellence in Health Care Awards Luncheon last Saturday at the Frontenac Hilton.Special awards went to:Lifetime Achiever—Sister Mary Antona Ebo,Stellar Performer—Dr.Alison C.Nash,Health Care Administrator of the Year—Dwayne Butler,Health Care Advocacy Organization of the Year – St.Louis Integrated Health Network, as well as eight Excellence in Health Care Award recipients.

by Wiley Price – View more photos online at www.stlamerican.com

BarnesJewish Hospital’s Brenda

Dr.Denise Hooks-Anderson,Michelle Sanders,Dr.Consuelo Wilkins and Dr.Esther Beeks

C.

Washington University’s Dr.William Peck,Dr.Sarah England and Dr.Will Ross with Richard Liekweg,President of Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Group President of BJC Healthcare

Photos

2012 Excellence in Health Care Award recipients (left to right):Bonnie Woods,Constance Williams,Brandii Mayes,Rosetta Keeton,Dinah Hayes,Sheila R.Grigsby,Cheryl Boone and Ketly Angoma

Sister Mary Antona Ebo receives the Lifetime Achiever in Health Care award from emcee Sharon Stevens of KSDK NewsChannel 5. Leo Ming and Lauren Nash Ming

Sister Mary Antona Ebo is surrounded by some of the many colleagues who came out to support her.

Battle

Awardee Brandii Mayes

SLU’s Teri Murray congratulates Sister Mary Antona Ebo.

Family and friends congratulate awardee Sheila R.Grigsby of UMSL

Family members surround awardee Dinah Hayes of St.Luke’s Hospital.

Stellar Performer Dr.Alison C.Nash

Health Care Administrator of the Year recipient Dwayne Butler and his mother Betty Jean Kerr

Judge Charles Shaw

Dr.Alison

Nash with father Dr.Homer Nash

Mikki Brewster and Laurent Javois congratulate Bethany Johnson-Javois (center) of St.Louis Integrated Health Network

Mellve Shahid and Pam Marshall

Awardee Cheryl Boone with her family

Emcee Sharon Stevens hands out one of the many attendance prizes.

all preceded her in death.

Obituaries

Pamela Flowers

Pamela Renee (Bailey) Flowers departed this life peacefully on Saturday May 5, 2012. She was a devoted mother of Leslie (Jermarce) of Southern California, Aprille of St. Louis, and Brandi (Jamison) of St. Louis; loving daughter of Darlene Lucas Dyson, and the late Cliston Lucas; cherished Grandmother of Brooke (Aprille), Lajaila (Leslie), and Jermara (Leslie); beloved sister of Wanda and Greg (Carla); and aunt, and friend of many. Her life will be celebrated on Thursday May 10, 2012 at 10 am at Solomon’s Temple Church, 5569 Page Boulevard, St. Louis, MO

63112.

Interment will be at Piedmont Memorial Gardens, 3663 Piedmont Memorial Drive, Winston-Salem, NC 27107, where she will be laid to rest among her father and family members. In lieu of flowers, please contribute to: Forest Park Forever Attention: Amy Manger, Pamela Flowers Memorial, 5500 Grand Drove, St. Louis, MO 63112, visit www.forestparkforever.org, or call (314) 561–3296.

Helen L. Cooney

Asleep in Jesus Sunday May 6, 2012

Helen Louise Cooney was born in St Louis, MO on July 16, 1925, the first born child of Roy and Annie Lee (Jarman) Cooney. Her mother, father, and brothers, Leroy, Raymond, Jarman, Willard and Anthony

Helen is survived by six sisters and one brother, Mary Ann, Patricia Joyce, Kathleen Hallie, Michael Oliver, Ann Marie, Sylvia Carol and Sharon B. Also surviving are two sisters-in-law and two brothersin-law, as well as many nieces, nephews, great nieces and nephews, cousins and friends. After graduating from St Joseph’s Catholic High School for Negroes, Helen continued her education at Stowe Teachers’ College and St. Louis University. She retired from the City of St Louis after a career of over 40 years.

Helen leaves family deeply saddened by her departure but fortified by beautiful memories. Her generosity, kindness, warmth and love of family will be in our hearts forever.

Funeral services will be held Friday, May 11, 2012 at St. Alphonsus Liguori ‘Rock’

Church, 1118 N. Grand. Visitation will be from 9-11 am, with the Funeral Mass immediately following.

Lawrence Green

Celebrating the life of Lawrence Green, born to this earth on August 25th 1956 and left to be with the Lord on May 6, 2012. Most affectionately know Lawrence as “Mr. Green” of JRLW productions, his long time social club that created events such as the Two Club Jam, JRLW New Year’s Eve celebration, and most of all The Body Blast. Along with his social club, Lawrence was a dedicated bus driver for Metro and a dedicated police officer for the St. Louis Police Department. Lawrence leaves behind his loving wife and three children. He will be truly missed.

Visitation: May 11 from 4-7pm at Austin Layne Mortuary Renaissance Chapel, 7239 W. Florissant, St. Louis, MO 63136. Funeral Service: May 12 at 10am at Prince of Peace M.B. Church,

9350 Natural Bridge, Berkley, MO 63134.

In loving memory of Larecco A.J Penny

9-21-1977— April 30, 2006

You were part of our past; You are part of our present. You will be part of our future; You are part of our lives. We will always share your memories.

Love and miss, Aunt Kat and all your family and friends

Berneice J. Page

Asleep in Jesus on Tuesday, April 24, 2012. Beloved wife of the late Alderman John A. Page; dear mother of John O., Ramon A. (deceased); and Steven V. Page. She leaves to mourn a host of grand and greatgrandchildren. Known to most throughout the “Greater Ville” neighborhood simply as “Miss Page”, she and her husband John were very active in the community. They owned “Page’s Park & Eat” a mom and pop restaurant that was frequented by residents of the “Ville” for over 20 years. She will be missed!

Services: A memorial service will be held Saturday, May 12 from 2-4 pm at the St. Louis Dream Center, 4234 W. Margaretta, St. Louis, MO 63115.

Thelma

Cornelia Calvert

Thelma Cornelia Calvert was born January 7, 1924 in St. Louis, MO to the union of James and Luvenia Yorkley. She was the third of five

children born to this union. Both parents; brothers, James and Earl; and sister, Hazel, preceded her in death. Thelma was educated in the St. Louis Public Schools. She accepted Christ at an early age. In 1939, she married James L. Watson. To this union, three children were born. One son, James Jr., preceded her in death. In 1960, she united in holy matrimony to Tommie L. Calvert. No children were born to this union. They lived together and shared an abundance of love until God called Tommie home. She worked at Faith Hospital for many years until her first grandchild was born. She left to be a housewife and take care of Jacqueline and all the rest. Birdie, as she was affectionately known, received this name on a freezing cold winter day from her grandfather, when he called her a “snow bird”. The name changed many times over the years from “snow bird” to “bird” to “momma bird” and then “birdie”. She was loved by all her grandchildren. She loved to play Pokeno, eat shrimp and buffalo fish, play the lottery and drink Stag beer, until her illness. She was admired by all who came to know her. She departed this life on April 21, 2012. Birdie leaves to cherish her memory: two loving daughters, Thelma Jacobs and Earlean Hopson; one dear sister, Ollie Mae Curry; one sister-in-law, Bertha Yokley; eleven grandchildren, Jacqueline, Wanda (James), Theresa (Emory), Gewndolyn (Derrick), Karen, Kenneth Jr., Lynette, Keith, John Jr. (Ethyl), Michele (Lennard) and Sharon (Anthony); 38 greatgrandchildren and a host of nieces, nephews and friends.

Eight public high schools earn ‘Gold Star’

Lindbergh, Maryville and Valley Park high schools honored

American staff

Eight high-performing public high schools have been honored as Missouri’s “Gold Star Schools” for 2012, state education officials announced recently.

Three of the selected schools are in the St. Louis area: Lindbergh Senior High School, Maryville High School and Valley Park Senior High School.

The other schools are Bradleyville High School, Crane High School, Lawson High School and two Kansas City area schools, Center Senior High School and Park Hill South High School.

“These eight high schools are noteworthy examples of excellence in education across the state of Missouri,” said

Commissioner of Education

Chris L. Nicastro. “This recognition is attributed to the commitment of students, parents and staff to educational success.”

Established by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in 1991, the Gold Star program is designed to identify schools that are performing at a high level academically or making exceptional progress while serving a significant proportion of disadvantaged students. Recipients of the state’s Gold Star award may be eligible for the national Blue Ribbon Schools award pending results of this year’s state assessments. Blue Ribbon recognition will be announced this fall by the U.S. Department of Education.

Pamela Flowers

Helen L. Cooney

Larecco Penny Thelma Calvert

Berkeley raises flag at new City Hall NASA awards SLPS teacher fellowship

American staff

LoriAnn Carroll, a teacher at Gateway Institute of Technology in St. Louis Public Schools, has been awarded an Endeavor Fellowship with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

NASA’s Endeavor Science Teaching Certificate Project provides live, online training for educators working to earn a STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) certificate from Teachers College, Columbia University, N.Y.

“This year marks the acceptance of 51 new Endeavor fellows in Cohort 4,” said Katherine Bender, Education Specialist and lead for the project at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

“The project is funded through NASA’s Office of Education. Implementation is

through Glen Schuster and U.S. Satellite Laboratory, Rye, N.Y.”

Teachers engage with education experts, NASA scientists, and with each other to carry back to the classroom a greater understanding of NASA discoveries, to impact student learning in real-world contexts, to inspire a next generation of explorers, scientists, engineers and astronauts.

“Endeavor offers educators research-based ways to bring relevant NASA and STEM discipline content to a school’s curriculum. The project helps educators to do this effectively,” said Shelley Canright, Manager of Elementary, Secondary and e-Education at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

“The 2012 cohort of educators from around the U.S. represents many of our nation’s future leaders in science, mathematics and technology education.”

The highly-competitive

LoriAnn Carroll, a teacher at Gateway Institute of Technology in St. Louis Public Schools

NASA Fellowship is a model for effectual improvements in teacher practice. Endeavor is collaborating with the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, promoting effective strategies for teaching and learning.

The project was designed and is administered by the U.S. Satellite Laboratory Inc., of Rye, N.Y. Funding for the program is provided through the NASA Endeavor Teacher Fellowship Trust Fund, in tribute to the dedicated crew of the space shuttle Challenger.

For additional information about the Endeavor Science Teaching Certificate Project, visit: http://www.us-satellite.net/ endeavor/

For information about NASA education programs, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ education.

Navy 1st Class Petty Officer Paul Dixon, Berkeley Police Captain Steven Buckley and Berkeley Fire Captain Reggie Sankey participate in the flag raising ceremony at the grand opening of the City of Berkeley’s new City Hall and Fire Department on Saturday afternoon. Some 150 people attended the ceremony.

Photo by Wiley Price

LoriAnn Carroll of Gateway will learn STEM skills

Infirmary. She eventually made St. Louis her home. She was one of six and the only African-American nun who marched for voting rights on March 10, 1965 following “Bloody Sunday” in Selma, Alabama during the second

attempt to cross the Edmund Pettis Bridge. “It’s sad to think that 45 years later, we are talking about practically the very same thing all over again, only it includes a lot more people,” Ebo said of voter rights.

“The difference is that it’s not just African Americans. It does hit us the worst, but it includes the elderly, who can’t get out and get identification

for voting rights; it includes students. It’s suppressing the rights of people who want to vote.”

Father’s daughter

This year’s Stellar Performer in Health Care

Alison C. Nash, M.D. comes from a family of well-known and highly regarded physicians dedicated to improving health

in St. Louis. Nash, a pediatrician, also recently completed a two year term as president of medical staff at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. She and her father have practiced medicine in the North St. Louis community at 3737 N. Kingshighway since 1965.

“All the families have trust in what we provide, and I do not take that lightly,” Nash said.

She described her aunt, Dr. Helen Nash, and her father, Dr. Homer Nash, as “the most perfect role models and mentors one could ask for.”

“Although I had excellence training in pediatrics, what I learned about the practice of pediatrics, I learned from my father,” Nash said, during her tearful award acceptance. “During the 20 years we worked together, those have been the best years of my life, Dad.”

‘Ourpeople’

The St. Louis Integrated Health Network was honored as Health Care Advocacy Organization of the Year.

CEO Bethany JohnsonJavois, who accepted the award, said during the past 10 years of its partnerships, the IHN has organized a regional response to care coordination across hospitals and health centers; collected and integrated data for St. Louis in preparation for local and state health information exchange; and introduced nearly 4,000 indi-

viduals and families, primarily uninsured or on Medicaid, to a medical home.

“In the work that we do, we collectively strive to ensure that the health care system is responsive and coordinated to deliver quality services in the community,” Johnson-Javois said. “We have often been called ‘these people,’or ‘those people,’but we have the privilege of calling them ‘our people.’”

‘Passionate about service’

Dwayne Butler, president and CEO of Betty Jean Kerr People’s Health Centers, was named Health Care Administrator of the Year. In the four years, he has been at People’s, Butler said probably one of its greatest accomplishments was bringing the behavioral health services of Hopewell Center into the People’s family of services.

“It allows us to really begin to integrate behavior health services into our medical services, and we know that in underserved communities, behavioral health has been woefully ignored,” he said.

Butler said he was humbled to receive such an honor so early in his medical services career. He came to People’s after a career in investment banking.

“While the award bears my name, it certainly cannot be achieved by one person,” Butler said. “I have been

blessed to be surrounded by people who are passionate about service to the community.”

Eight honorees

Eight honorees received 2012 Excellence in Health Care Awards: Ketly Angoma, RN, BSN, clinical support nurse at SSM St. Mary’s Health Center; Cheryl Boone, RN, BSN, MA, interim director of Surgical Services at SSM St. Mary’s Health Center; Sheila R. Grigsby, MSN(R), RN, MPH, assistant professor of Nursing at the University of Missouri St. Louis; Dinah Hayes, PT, DPT,. MHA, director of Therapy Services at St. Luke’s Hospital; Rosetta Keeton, MHA, manager of community and volunteer services at St. Louis ConnectCare; Brandii Mayes, MPH, health equity program manager for the St. Louis Dept. of Health; Constance Williams, RN, BSN, school nurse at Soldan International Studies High School; and Bonnie Woods, BSN, MA, LNC, manager of Mental Health Services at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and interim manager of BarnesJewish Extended Care.

Major sponsors of the 2012 Health Salute include SSM Health Care, St. Louis College of Pharmacy, Barnes-Jewish Hospital and George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University.

David Steward buys into Blues

By Chris King Of The St.Louis

American

“I wouldn’t say it was a business decision, so much as a civic decision,” David Steward described his participation in an ownership group that has been approved to purchase the St. Louis Blues for $130 million. Though he declined to cite dollars or percentages, Steward said he is “one of a group of business leaders interested in preserving this team in our community.” Steward is founder and chairman of the $4 billion World Wide Technology, Inc. The majority owner and managing partner of the new ownership group is Tom Stillman, who

previously was a minority owner of the franchise. Stillman was “minority owner” in terms of percentages, but Steward, who is African-American, becomes a minority part owner of a major professional team in St. Louis in an historic sense. “Steward will be the first AfricanAmerican co-owner of any professional sports team of the four major sports in St. Louis,” said Michael Claiborne, St. Louis American sports columnist and Cardinals broadcaster. “He will also be the highest-profile African-American owner in the National Hockey League. Steward will join the likes of Earvin “Magic” Johnson, who is part of the ownership group that recently purchased the Los Angeles Dodgers, Michael Jordan of the Charlotte Bobcats and entertainer Jay-Z with the Brooklyn Nets of the NBA–all African Americans who are involved in ownership of major sports teams.”

The significance is not lost on Steward.

“I think it will be much more visible than ever before, having a person of color involved at this level,” he said. “I think we will see diversity as a more important value proposition, something that will broaden the audience and the value to the community overall.”

This relates back to his sense of having made a civic, rather than business, investment.

“The Blues as an organization is a civic asset like any civic asset of long standing. Having the team in this city makes the city more competitive, and more competitive on a global scale – as it should be.”

The blues were acquired along with their Peoria Rivermen affiliate of the American Hockey League and “significant interest” in the Peabody Opera House, a performing

David Steward

Redistricting and its discontents

The wacky quagmire that is the 2012 Missouri Legislature can be traced back to compounded cycles of aggressive, Republican redistricting. As a result of these successive cycles of redistricting, although Republicans have been losing more statewide raw-vote elections than they win – how else to explain a Democrat U.S. senator, governor, attorney general, secretary of state, treasurer and until recently auditor? – they dominate the Missouri Legislature and congressional delegation by wide, weird margins. That makes it good to be a Republican in Missouri, especially out-state Missouri, right? Maybe not. The Missouri Senate, in particular, is paralyzed right now by two ideologues who germinated in this falsely super-Republican soil. You have Jane Cunningham wanting everything, but especially wanting to make it illegal for the state to pay for training women in leadership positions. Yes, you have a woman state senator fighting for this regressive change. You have her standing on the Senate floor as a paid woman public leader rhapsodizing about homemaker as a career of womanly choice despite the reality of most 21st century American households. (You have rumored psychobiography at work in all this, namely, the man of her life once being beaten in an election by a woman trained by the Sue Shear Institute, whose funding is under attack by Cunningham’s Republican faction.)

There are plenty of people in Cunningham’s own party who want to kill her bill language. And that is because no one who is pulled as far to the wacky right as Cunningham should be framing bills and taking the floor in the Missouri Senate. She is a hologram created by a lopsided electoral paradigm – a poltergeist of partisan redistricting.

Then you have Jason Crowell emerging as a major league crybaby. Why does Senator Crowell want to hold the taxpayer-funded legislative process hostage? Because he isn’t getting everything he wants! He remembers being in the minority and having to bargain for everything he got, like most rational adults are forced to do. But now he is the smartest guy on the supermajority and wonders why he they haven’t been able to lay waste to every previous Democrat legislative victory. Why have they not been able to destroy prevailing wage, eliminate civil rights protections in civil suits and severely limit how much a trial lawyer can get a jury to force an employer to pay to an aggrieved employee?

Why don’t we have all the things we want? Crowell wants to know – and he is willing to hold the most powerful house of the Legislature hostage until he gets an answer.

The problem is that his super-majority is an electoral hologram, a poltergeist of partisan redistricting. It doesn’t reflect the actual political will of the state it purportedly represents. Missouri politics still bears just enough contact with real, actual life in the form

of constituents and funding sources to sour the fantasies of Cunningham and Crowell – at least often enough to turn them into obstructionist, supermajority crybabies.

The irony is that much of the GOP’s financial support comes from the St. Louis region, with the state’s most substantial economy. Our business leaders are paying for this.

Ballot petition roundup

The Beacon reports that activists involved in two initiative-petition drives – to cap payday loan rates and to increase Missouri’s minimum wage – submitted more than 350,000 signatures to the secretary of state’s office shortly before deadline. The two groups were Missourians for Responsible Lending and Give Missourians a Raise, which had similar coalitions of community groups, religious leaders and unions. Give Missourians a Raise is seeking to increase the state’s minimum wage to $8.25 an hour, up a dollar. Missourians for Responsible Lending are seeking to cap the increase rate on payday loans at 36 percent, down dramatically from 400 percent. Each proposal needs certified signatures from 91,818 to 99,600 registered voters to

get on the November ballot, with a required minimum from at least six of the state’s nine congressional districts. Two other petitions, where signatures were submitted earlier, would increase the state’s tobacco taxes (to 90 cents a pack, from the current 17 cents) and give the City of St. Louis control of its police department, Rex Sinquefieldstyle, in partnership with Mayor Francis G. Slay and the St. Louis Police Officers Association. This is the local control language attacked by the ACLU for closing public records of internal police investigations and cutting off at the pass a potential Civilian Review Board.

No vote for Jamilah Elbert Walton felt the EYE took a cheap shot at him last week without giving him the dignity of printing any language from his legal briefs he helpfully submitted on request (see Letters, Page A4). So here is one of his arguments that certainly appeals to common sense, however uncommon common sense might be in Missouri politics. The “Contestee” in this brief is Jamilah Nasheed, who in the wake of redistricting has filed to represent a state Senate

Hilary in the house

Hilary Shelton, senior vice president of advocacy and policy for the NAACP (and a St. Louis native), spoke recently at a luncheon hosted by the St. Louis County Branch of the NAACP held at the Airport Marriott Hotel and then the next day at the NAACP’s voter registration drive in St. Louis.

Photo by Wiley Price

district (the 5th) where she does not presently live.

Attorney Watson writes, Contestee being a resident of senate district 4, would not even be able to vote for herself in the August 7, 2012 democratic primary election! It is incredulous to believe that the framers of our constitution 11 would intend that a candidate, who cannot even vote for herself, shall qualify to stand for election to public office. Such a proposition is totally contrary to the mandate in Section 6 that a candidate “shall have been a qualified voter for three years” (emphasis Elbert’s). Certainly if the constitution mandates that a candidate shall be a voter, it is the constitutional intent that said candidate shall be qualified to vote in the district which he or she seeks to represent! Contestee is only qualified to vote in District 4, not District 5; therefore, she is not qualified to be a candidate in District 5.” Elbert’s argument has something other than common sense going for it. It has a piece of political wisdom going for it as well. Political animals being what they are, it’s generally understood that regardless of who endorses whom, the only sure vote we ever know any politician is going to cast once he or she gets behind that electoral curtain is a vote for

himself or herself. Jamilah is more of a straight shooter – the EYE believes she votes her endorsements – but it is odd to contemplate that she won’t be able to vote for herself in August.

Bud and B.S. New York Times columnist Nick Kristoff has come forth with the most useless, wrongheaded, chest-thumping boycott campaign ever. Apparently Kristoff parachuted into Indian country to visit a liquor store on the edge of the Pine Ridge Reservation where Budweiser products are selling big. Without any apparent investigation into why Bud is flying off the shelf there, as opposed to Coors or Jack Daniels, Kristoff announced a boycott of Anheuser-Busch products, as if targeting sales of one brand at one liquor store is going to turn the tide against the admitted social misery of alcoholism among Native Americans. It’s like boycotting Snickers to end obesity in America.

The real howler is Kristoff’s suggestion that President Barack Obama get out his Indian reservation real estate pen and draw the offending liquor store inside the Pine Ridge Reservation, where alcohol sales are prohibited, putting it out of business. The EYE must inform the parachuting East Coast columnist that a liquor store will appear on any border between a wet and a dry territory. The only way this fanciful suggestion would succeed would be for Obama’s red-lining pen to keep going, drawing the entire continental United States inside Pine Ridge and keeping the newly expanded reservation dry. Unfortunately for the columnist, the Pine Ridge tribal council might decide to evict Mr. Kristoff and his employer from the Indian island of Manhattan, but at least they wouldn’t be selling all that Budweiser at that one liquor store anymore!

Seated First Row l-r: Cheryl McKissack; Rev. Dr. Jacqueline Brock; Shirley Drury; Mary Attyberry Polk; and Deryl McKissack. Seated 2nd Row l-r: Valerie Patton; Kimberly McKinney; Sandra Moore; Robbie Montgomery; Cindy Erickson. Standing l-r: Lou Brock; Kathleen Brady; Frankie Eichenberger; Adrian Bracy; Thelma Steward; Michael McMillan; Xernona Clayton; Richard Roundtree; Vanessa Foster-Cooksey; Fr. Lawrence Biondi; Chancellor Myrtle E. B. Dorsey; and Alderwoman Kacie Starr Triplet.

- A Tribute Fit for a Queen -

(St. Louis. MO) – Twenty outstanding women were recognized for their professional accomplishments and their comparable beyond the call of duty contributions to disadvantaged and underserved communities. The program was created by the St. Louis Community Empowerment Foundation, also known as the Vashon/JeffVanderLou Initiative, to recognize the tireless contributions of professional women. The 2012 Salute to Women in Leadership was held at the Renaissance Grand Hotel’s luxurious Crystal Ballroom. Over 325 guests attended this invitation only complimentary event. Michael McMillan, the Chairman of the Board and the Co-Founder of this 14-year old organization, served as the host and award presenter. Ida Goodwin Woolfolk served as the Mistress of Ceremonies. Other program guests included Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster who brought greetings; and Father Lawrence Biondi, President of St. Louis University who presented the Invocation. Sponsors were represented by Vanessa FosterCooksey of Anheuser Busch and Thelma Steward, World Wide Technology, Inc. and a contributing

partner, Walgreen’s. Each honoree received 175 gifts, recognitions and awards. Heading the list were numerous federal, state and city officials expressing their appreciation including bi-state Governors Jay Nixon-MO and Pat Quinn-IL. Congressman Lacy Clay sponsored having each honoree placed in the Congressional Record. This was only topped by a special volunteer service award and pin sent by President Barak Obama and an autographed photograph from Michelle Obama with a frame donated by Dior Designs. Vice President Joseph Biden sent salutary greetings as did former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, as well as U.S. Senators Claire McCaskill, Roy Blunt, Mark Kirk and Richard Durbin. U.S. Representatives Russ Carnahan, Maxine Waters and Jerry Costello sent official letters and resolutions. MO State Lt. Governor Peter Kinder, Attorney General Chris Koster, Secretary Robin Carnahan, Treasurer Clint Zweifel, Senator Robin Wright Jones and State Representatives Tishaura Jones, Karla May and Jamilah Nasheed. Joining the salutations were East St. Louis, IL

Mayor Alvin Parks, St. Louis County Executive Charlie A. Dooley, St. Clair County Supervisor Mark Kern and St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann, as well as the Honorable Freeman Bosley, Jr., 19th Ward Alderwoman Marlene Davis, President of the Board of Aldermen, Lewis Reed, and St. Louis County Councilwoman Hazel Erby. Each honoree received the traditional eagle representing Anheuser Busch and an Old World Globe Blue Glass Plate representing World Wide Technology. In addition, a shadow box with the Honorees photo etched in metal and an award from the License Collector’s Office of the City of St. Louis. Also, a framed collage of celebrities with personalized autographed photos from such notables as Ruby Dee, actress/poet; Richard Roundtree, actor who was also in attendance; National Baseball Hall of Famer, Lou Brock, who was also in attendance; Malik Yoba, actor; George Wallace, comedian-Mr. Las Vegas; Emmett Smith, National NFL Hall of Famer and Champion of Dancing with the Stars; Olympian, Jackie Joyner Kersee; Earth Wind & Fire with accompanying CD; Jon Hamm, actor-Emmy Award winning show, Mad Men; Richard Gant, Actor; and our own Denise Thimes, Queen of Jazz with an accompanying CD. She was accompanied by Tony Simmons. This year Honorees were in four categories: Former Lifetime Achievers; Special Recognitions; Salute to Women in Leadership Honorees; and 2012 Lifetime Achievement Honoree. St. Louis Community

Example of a gift table that showcases 175 gifts.

Xernona Clayton, Founder & CEO of the Trumpet Awards Foundation, is the 2012 Lifetime Achievement Honoree surrounded by well wishers who joined her for this tribute from 7 different cities.

Baseball Hall of Famer, Lou Brock; Rev. Dr. Jacqueline Brock and actor Richard Roundtree

Denise Thimes, Thelma Steward and Nicole Adewale

Frankie Muse Freeman, Esq., Dr. Katie H. Wright, Dr. Lillian Parks and Johnetta Haley

Dred and Harriet Scott statue to be unveiled

Foundation still $140K shy of fundraising target

American staff

*

A statue recognizing the major historic role played by Dred Scott and his wife, Harriet, will be unveiled on Friday, June 8 at the Old Courthouse, the site where the couple petitioned in 1846 for their freedom from slavery, setting in motion the presidential candidacy of Abraham Lincoln, the U.S. Civil War and three amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

The Dred Scott Heritage Foundation is still $140,000 shy of its target fundraising goal for the bronze sculpture by the St. Louis-born artist Harry Weber.

“Harriet and Dred Scott are true American heroes. For 12 years they actively fought for justice and freedom, the core values of the American dream,” said Foundation President and Founder Lynne M. Jackson, the great-great granddaughter of Dred and Harriet Scott.

“Their brave and tireless efforts led directly to the abolition of slavery in our country. A monument to their struggle for freedom is certainly called for, and there could be no better place for it than the very courthouse where their historic legal battle began.”

According to the online Dred Scott history exhibit at Washington University in St. Louis: “St. Louis’ Old Courthouse was the site of one of the most important events in American history. Dred Scott, a slave aged some 50 years, and his wife Harriet, petitioned for their freedom

n “Their brave and tireless efforts led directly to the abolition of slavery in our country.”

– Lynne M. Jackson

in 1846. The Scotts’ two trials, in 1847 and 1850 in Missouri, instigated a series of complex events which resulted in a Supreme Court decision, and ultimately hastened the onset of the American Civil War.”

The Dred Scott Decision inspired Abraham Lincoln to run for president.

According to historians, the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments were a result of the Dred Scott Decision and the Civil War.

“The memory of Dred Scott and the important shift he helped to bring about in American society is a story that deserves to be recognized and remembered for all future generations,” Jackson.

“We are appealing to individuals, corporations and foundations to help us get over the finish line prior to the June 8 unveiling.”

Tax-deductible donations may be made at http://www. thedredscottfoundation.org. Or contributions made out to The Dred Scott Statue Fund may be mailed directly to: The Dred Scott Heritage Foundation, P.O. Box 2009. Florissant, MO 63032-2009.

Gala recognizes Julian Bond’s retirement

friends and family.

Funds will endow namesake Professorship in Civil Rights at UVA

By Dana G. Randolph For The St. Louis American

A cadre of leaders of industry, business, arts, politics, community, culture and education honored civil rights icon Julian Bond in the grand ballroom of The Plaza Hotel in New York on May 2. The celebration was planned to applaud Bond’s retirement last month from University of Virginia where he was a professor, who taught courses on the Civil Rights Movement for the past 20 years. To ensure that his legacy continues, proceeds from the gala fundraiser have been earmarked for Julian Bond Professorship in Civil Rights and Social Justice at the University of Virginia.

Julian Bond served as Chairman of the NAACP from 1998 to 2010. He was a member of the Georgia House of Representatives and Senate for 20 years. He helped to found the Southern Poverty Law Center and served as the organization’s first president. He is a Morehouse College graduate. While there he co-founded the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the Committee on Appeal for Human Rights, an Atlanta University student civil rights organization that is credited with desegregating

the city’s parks, restaurants and movie theatres.

The Gala Committee planned an elegant tribute and enlisted famous admirers including Whoopi Goldberg, Rita Dove, Bebe Winans, Chrisette Michelle and Charlayne Hunter-Gault to pay homage. Harry Belafonte Jr. (King of Calypso) and Dave Matthews (Dave Matthews Band) served as Distinguished Co-Chairs.

Thaderine D. MacFarlane (Emeritus Trustee of The College Foundation Board at UVA and Kathy Thornton-Bias (President- Retail Division Museum of Modern Art) were the Gala Co-Chairs. A star studded guest list enjoyed popular humorists Wanda Sykes and Chris Tucker, hostess and host for the evening. Two of Bond’s native St. Louis family members attended the gala; Leslie F. Bond Jr. (Attucks Asset Management –Chicago) and Candace Bond McKeever (Strategic Solutions Group - Los Angeles). They are both proud of the contributions Julian Bond has made to the Civil Rights Movement as well his commitment to educating people about the significance of the movement and its continuing impact in our world today.

School fairs for former Imagine students

American staff

Students attending the Imagine charter schools in St. Louis found new education opportunities at a recent school fair, and two more events are planned in May and June.

More than 800 students and their families attended the first school fair April 28, where nearly 100 schools provided information about their facilities. Students were able to apply for and enroll in a school of their choosing for the 201213 school year. More than 3,800 students are expected to transfer to new schools as a result of the State Board of Education’s decision last month to close the Imagine charter schools due to poor academic performance and fiscal management. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education set up a Charter Transition Office in St. Louis last month to help families find a new school for their children.

“Parents and students of the closing Imagine schools care deeply about their education, and they came ready to find the school that’s right for them,” said Gwen Westbrooks, Charter Transition Office coordinator.

“Lines were forming before we even opened the doors for our first school fair.”

Two more school fairs are scheduled for May 12 (10 a.m.–2 p.m., South City Preparatory Academy, 2900 South Grand Blvd.) and June 5 (4–7 p.m. Imagine Academy of Environmental Science and Math, 1008 South Spring Ave.). Families with questions can contact the Charter Transition Office directly. The toll-free phone number is 866-791-4715, or they can send an email to: chartertransitionoffice@dese. mo.gov.

Model for Dred and Harriet Scott statue by Harry Weber.

Les Bond Jr., Gene Duffy, Julian Bond and Candace Bond celebrate with

BUSINESS

– 16, 2012

‘Shark Tank’ in the river city

By Malena Amusa For The St.Louis American

Kevin Bryant, founder of Inkosi

Advertising, knows all too well that entrepreneurs need a lot of support to get their ideas off the ground. That’s why at the launch of his first-ever Community Needs Expo May 11 and 12 there will be a panel of experts to teach entrepreneurs how to start and finance their business ideas.

PEOPLEON THE MOVE

Kacie StarrTriplett recently traveled to Copenhagen, Denmark to attend the 2012 Transatlantic Inclusion Leaders Conference. The conference, with participants hailing from more than 20 different countries, investigated the challenges facing minority leaders on both sides of the Atlantic as well as exchange best practices to overcome these difficulties. She is Alderman for Ward 6 in the City of St. Louis. Her trip was sponsored by the U.S. State Department.

Julia Thorpe received an educator award from North County Churches Uniting for Racial Harmony and Justice. Thorpe is assistant superintendent for student services in the Hazelwood School District. The honor recognizes her continuing support of NCCU and its principles of racial harmony and justice and to promote understanding in the community. She is a former director of special education for Special School District.

Reggie Jones was elected to the Board of Alderman for Dellwood on April 3. He has been appointed by Dellwood Mayor Loretta Johnson to become Chairman of the Parks and Recreation Board for the City of Dellwood. He was confirmed by the Dellwood Board of Alderman on April 23. He currently serves as Unit Director for The Boys and Girls Club of Greater St. Louis, formerly Herbert-Hoover Boys and Girls Club.

“At the expo’s shark tank, investors won’t give money, but a high dose of transformative advice.”

and electric bills.

– Kevin Bryant Entrepreneurial expo May 11-12 at America’s Center

“The panel is modeled after ABC’s show The Shark Tank, in which hopeful entrepreneurs try to convince rich investors to give them money,” Bryant says. “At the expo’s shark tank, investors won’t give money, but a

SBAbacks

Feds

“We

high dose of transformative advice.”

Through the shark tank and expo-at-large, Bryant and a team of partners aim to empower people with vital resources – including job and health fairs, a veteran’s resource village – and vouchers to help reduce parking-ticket fines

“Having a big exciting event where people can improve their lives makes sense to me,” Bryant says.

Last November, Bryant joined forces with business and non-profit leaders to plan this free expo that will take place at the America’s Center.

“Whatever is going to heal this community is going to come from a groundswell of people,” Bryant says.

As a result, Bryant invited Terrence J of the hit movie Think Like a Man to host the expo’s youth rally and panel on Saturday.

See TANK, B2

Normandy Mayor Patrick Green: ‘This will spur economic development’

By Rebecca S.Rivas Of The St.Louis

American

Natural Bridge Boulevard is a four-lane road lined with a university, public library, elementary and middle school. That equals a lot of pedestrian traffic.

“It’s a nice road; it gets the job done,” said Thomas George, chancellor of the University of Missouri–St. Louis during his presentation of the annual Chancellor’s Report on Friday. “But what we’d like to do is mix it up and make it look a lot nicer.”

On Friday, George announced that Normandy collaborators hit their $14 million goal last week to transform a portion of Natural Bridge Road between Lucas and Hunt Road and the inner belt of I-170 into a more pedestrian-friendly street. The plan is part of the St. Louis Great Streets Initiative, a program through the East-West Gateway Council

munity leaders to use their streets to enhance economic development and social activities in their communities. These projects promise a transformative effect on the community, said Betty Van Uum, senior official for public affairs and economic development at University of Missouri–St. Louis. In 2007, Van Uum heard about the Great

BUSINESS BRIEFS

Lambert to host national business diversity conference

Lambert-St. Louis International Airport will host the 28th Annual Airport Business Diversity Conference June 9 through June 12 at the America’s Center in partnership with the Airport Minority Advisory Council and the Federal Aviation Administration.

This year’s national conference will place key decision makers face-to-face with minority and women-owned businesses vying for millions of dollars in airport and aviation contracts in areas of capital improvement and construction, concessions and professional services.

“We are bringing to the St. Louis region airport officials and leading corporate executives who have the power to award contracts at large airports in the cities of Atlanta, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and more,” said Airport Minority Advisory Council Executive Director Shelby Scales.

Economy has added private sectorjobs for 26 straight months

Private employer payrolls increased nationally by 130,000 jobs in April, and overall non-farm payroll employment rose by 115,000.The unemployment rate dipped from 8.2 percent in March to 8.1 percent in April, according to the household survey.Though labor force participation fell over the month according to the household survey, since August the unemployment rate has fallen by 1.0 percentage point, from 9.1 percent to 8.1 percent.

The economy has added private sector jobs for 26 straight months, for a total of 4.25 million payroll jobs over that period. In the first quarter of 2012 private employment expanded by 697,000 jobs, the largest quarterly increase since the first quarter of 2006.So far this year, 827,000 private sector jobs have been added, on net. Manufacturing added 16,000 jobs in April.The economy has added 489,000 manufacturing jobs since January 2010. Other sectors with net job increases included wholesale and retail trade (+36,700), professional and business services (+62,000), and education and health services (+23,000).Transportation and warehousing lost 16,600 jobs, and construction lost 2,000 jobs.Local governments shed 12,000 jobs, mostly in education.

Reggie Jones

Kacie Starr Triplett

Julia Thorpe

Normandy Mayor Patrick Green

Kevin Bryant of Inkosi Advertising (far left) meets with his committee ahead of the Community Needs Expo they are launching May 11 and 12 to provide resources for entrepreneurs,job seekers and the St.Louis community.

Photo by Maurice Meredith

Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, once said, “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.” This is certainly true when it comes to investing: If you don’t know where you’re headed financially, then it is not as vital which investments make up your portfolio. If you do have a monetary destination in mind, then asset allocation becomes very important. The term “asset allocation” is often tossed around in discussions of investing. But what exactly is it? Simply put, asset allocation is about not putting all your eggs in one basket. More formally, it is a systematic approach to diversification that may help you determine the most efficient mix of assets based on your risk tolerance and time hori-

TANK

Continued from B1

Panelist Cedric Cobb, president of Edge Business Solutions, is excited to provide on-the-spot mentoring.

“There are a lot of topics not fully discussed with our young people,” says Cobb, 36. “So this is a perfect forum to talk and get guidance at a critical time in your life.” Looking back at his own

SBA

Continued from B1

lion. Early Stage Innovation Funds must invest at least 50 percent of their investment dollars in early stage small businesses.

What is asset allocation?

zon. Asset allocation seeks to manage investment risk by diversifying a portfolio among the major asset classes, such as stocks, bonds, and cash alternatives. Each asset class has a different level of risk and potential return. At any given time, while one asset category may be increasing in value, another may be decreasing in value. Diversification is a method to help manage investment risk. Asset allocation and diversification do not guarantee against loss. So if the value of one asset class or security drops, the other asset classes or securities may help cushion the blow.

Dividing your investments in this way may help you ride out market fluctuations and protect your portfolio from a major loss in any one asset

life, Bryant says he owes his development to a series of mentors, events, and youth programs in St. Louis that nurtured his ambitions. By age 20, Bryant was in college and feeling the rush of successfully selling his own ideas. “I made and sold airbrushed shirts and my own art work,” says Brant, 40. “Later, I ran a youth program and fell in love with helping people.”

In St. Louis, Bryant has gone from owning a book store, then a lounge, to han-

By Charles Ross PERSONAL FINANCE

class. Of course, it is also important to understand the risk versus return tradeoff. Generally, the greater the potential return of an investment, the greater the risk. As a result, the makeup of a portfolio should be based on your risk tolerance. Generally, you should not place all your assets in those categories that have the highest potential for gain if you are concerned about the prospect of a loss. It is essential to find a balance of asset classes with the highest poten-

Charles Ross

tial return for your risk profile. Other factors that are important to developing an asset allocation strategy are your investment goals and time horizon. When you are considering how to diversify your portfolio, ask yourself what you want to accomplish with your investments. Are you planning to buy a new car or house soon? Do you aspire to pay for your children’s college education? When retirement rolls around, would you like to travel and buy a vacation home? These

dling advertising campaigns for A-list clients such as rapper Nelly and non-profits including Grace Hill Health Centers.

After helping many nonprofits and charitable organizations reach their target audiences, he realized he could do even more to connect charitable services to people who need them.

“There are more than 35 billion dollars of charitable funds raised every year in Missouri alone,” Bryant says. “The question is, ‘How do you

get the charities to spend it on something that draws more people to their services?’”

Friday, the expo will answer this question – and kick off with amnesty for parking tickets and a job fair powered by Prudential insurance firm, Levy Restaurants, and SLATE, the city’s job training and employment agency. Humana, a health insurance company, will provide a special Veteran’s Village with more than 40

factors should all be considered when outlining an asset allocation strategy. If you require a specific amount of money at a point in the near future, you might want to consider a strategy that involves less risk. On the other hand, if you are saving for retirement and have several years until you will need the funds, you might be able to invest for greater growth potential, although this will also involve greater risks.

Whichever asset allocation scenario you decide on, it’s important to remember that there is no one strategy that fits every type of investor.

Your specific situation calls for a specific approach with which you are comfortable and one that could help you pursue your investment goals.

booths dedicated to veterans’ needs.

At the same time, people can learn about the Gateway to Better Health program which reduces co-pays for doctor visits. And a health rally Saturday will dive into Yoga, Zumba and a boot camp with mixed martial artist Jermaine Andre, who is also presenting a fight in honor of American troops Saturday night. Throughout the expo, people can engage workshops on

The information in this article is not intended to be tax or legal advice, and it may not be relied on for the purpose of avoiding any federal tax penalties. You are encouraged to seek tax or legal advice from an independent professional advisor. The content is derived from sources believed to be accurate. Neither the information presented nor any opinion expressed constitutes a solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security. This material was written and prepared by Emerald. ©2012 Emerald Connect, Inc.

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.

job preparedness, fundraising, credit repair, home ownership, and wealth development.

“This is really a call for altruistic people to come together,” Bryant says. “When we hook up and do something, that’s when we change the world.”

To learn more about the expo’s Shark Tank event and the Community Needs Expo May 11 and 12, call (314) 361 – 3984 or visit

www.CommunityExpo.org.

“Early-stage small businesses face difficult challenges accessing capital. At the same time, in this financial climate, venture capital funds are find-

“This initiative is intended to promote American innovation and job creation by encouraging private sector investment in early-stage small businesses,” said SBA Administrator Karen Mills.

ing it difficult to raise money from institutional investors. By licensing and providing SBA financial backing to Early Stage Innovation Funds, we hope to expand entrepreneurs’ access to capital and encourage innovation as part of President Obama’s Start-Up America Initiative launched last year.”

As part of the Start-Up

America Initiative, SBA intends to commit up to $1 billion in SBAguaranteed leverage over a five-year period to selected Early Stage Innovation Funds using its current program authorization. High-growth potential, early stage companies commonly experience a gap in the availability of funding between $1 million and $4 million levels. This gap is often referred to in the venture capital industry as the “Valley of Death.” Since January 2006, less than 10 percent of all U.S. venture capital dollars went to seed funds investing at those levels, and 69 percent of those dollars went to just three states: California, Massachusetts and New York.

The Early Stage Innovation Fund initiative will target this gap by licensing and guaranteeing leverage to funds

focused on early/seed stage investments.

SBICs are privately-owned and managed investment firms that are licensed and regulated by SBA. SBICs use a combination of funds raised from private sources and money raised through the use of SBA guarantees to make equity and mezzanine capital investments in small businesses. There are nearly 300 SBICs with more than $17 billion in capital under management.

Afinal rule, effective April 27, 2012, was published in the Federal Register at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/ FR-2012-04-27/pdf/201210120.pdf. It sets forth regulations for Early Stage Innovation Funds with respect to licensing, capital requirements, distributions, and capital impairment among other things.

More information on the Early Stage Innovation Fund initiative and the regulations governing these SBICs may be found at www.sba.gov/inv/earlystage. For more information about the SBA’s Investment Division, SBIC program, Impact Investment Initiative and Early Stage Innovation Funds, go to www.sba.gov/INV. The web site offers much useful information including segments for: SBIC Applicants, SBIC Licensees, Private Partners & LPs, and Entrepreneurs & Small Business Owners. The site also includes useful SBIC forms, up-to-date news and reports, and detailed information and descriptions of the Impact Investment Initiative and Early Stage Innovation Fund.

“You’re a great champion. You’re the toughest guy I’ve ever fought.”

– Floyd Mayweather Jr. to Miguel Cotto after defeating him last Saturday night in Las Vegas

TRACKAND FIELD NOTEBOOK

With Earl Austin Jr.

Field

Chris Caldwell of Lafayette High School,left,wins the Boys

high hurdles during the 2011

Race to Jeff City

By Earl Austin Jr.

Of the St.Louis American

The road to the Missouri State Class 3 and 4 Track and Field Championships in Jefferson City begins this weekend with district meets around the area. The Class 3 district meets involving area schools will be held at Farmington, Lutheran South, MICDS and St. Francis Borgia. The top four qualifiers in each event will advance to next weekend’s sectional competition at Ste. Genevieve and MICDS.

Area Class 4 schools will be competing at district meets at Lindbergh, Marquette, McCluer and Parkway Central. The top four qualifiers in each event will advance to sectional competition on May 18 at Poplar Bluff and Timberland.

Missouri Class 1 and 2 schools

Class 3 and 4 district meets this weekend Earl

I had the opportunity to be

will be competing in sectional meets, with the top four finishers advancing to the State Championships in Jefferson City on May 18-19. Area Class 2 schools will be competing at the Principia Sectional.

East Side sectionals

On the Illinois side, the postseason meets for girls take place this week with IHSA Sectionals. The Class 3Asectional will be held at Normal on Friday at 2 p.m. The

Ashley

area’s top metro east programs will be in Normal, including defending state champion East St. Louis as well as Southwestern Conference rivals Edwardsville, Belleville West, Belleville East and O’Fallon. The Illinois Class 2A sectional meet with metro east schools will be held at Salem on Thursday, beginning at 4 p.m. The top qualifiers in the sectional meets will advance to the IHSAState Championships in Charleston, Ill. on May 18-19.

INSIDE SPORTS

With Earl Austin Jr.

Jumping Comets

The McCluer Comets unleashed their excellent stable of jumpers at last weekend’s Suburban North Conference championships at McCluer. Malik Ray and DaVonna Riley finished first and second in the high jump. Both cleared the winning height of 6 feet 6 inches, but Ray won on fewer misses. Senior Darrion Dillard won the triple jump with an effort of 47 feet 5.5 inches. On the girls side, McCluer’s Alauna Ray won the high jump and triple jump. Ray cleared 5-5 to win the high jump and bounded 37-9 to win the triple jump. Teammate Taysha Wright also finished second in the long jump.

‘Money’ earns his money

By Ishmael Sistrunk

Of The St.Louis American

Saturday night many boxing fans forked over their hard-earned $60-$70 with expectations to see entertainer extraordinaire Floyd Mayweather Jr. dodge, duck and dance around his opponent Miguel Cotto. With the exception of Bernard Hopkins, no active boxer comes close to the defensive wizardry Mayweather displays in the ring. But as much as the brash talk and flashy ways reel in the fans, his opponents’inability to land solid punches usually reel in the wins.

But a funny thing happened at the start of the scheduled boxing lesson – a bona fide fight broke out. While Mayweather won a comfortable decision on the scorecards (118-110, 117-111, 117-111), the fight itself was anything but. The champion/underdog Cotto came forward relentlessly the entire fight. Unlike many Mayweather-fallen foes, his pressure was effective at times. Each time Mayweather backed into the ropes, Cotto picked up his proverbial shovel and dug hard shots into his opponent’s rib cage. Though Mayweather often shimmied, smiled and countered throughout the exchanges, it was clear Cotto’s body assault created openings up top.

Mayweather almost always leaves fights with little to no signs of wear and tear.

as well as McCluer North head coach Randy Reed, his wife Frances and the rest of the North Star family for inviting to share in this special ceremony for these fine young men. And for those keeping score, that’s three state and four Final Fours in a six-year period for the

McCluer North Stars. Harumph!!!

shared lunch and fellowship with a group of adult role models (including yours truly) to make this a truly special event. Former St. Louis Cardinal Ricky Horton and St. Louis Ram Aaneas Williams gave very inspiring speeches to the young people. I would like to thank Travis Brown of the SLPS for the invitation to this wonderful ceremony. This event should be a staple in the community for years to Earl Austin Jr.

The following Wednesday, I attended the inaugural St. Louis Public Schools Scholar-Athlete Luncheon at the Missouri Athletic Club. This event honored more than 300 high school athletes from the SLPS who have achieved a grade-point averaged of 3.25 or better. This was a fantastic gathering of talented young people, who

But card-carrying fan club members and devoted detractors shared the same befuddled looks upon seeing the 43-0 fighter in the corner with a bloody nose. While his 2007 bout against Oscar De La Hoya was extremely close on the scorecards, no fighter had pressured Mayweather as successfully since Jose Luis Castillo nearly a decade ago. Even though Cotto landed a paltry 21 percent connect percentage (no surprise, considering Mayweather’s aforementioned defensive pedigree), the fact that the man who averages an astounding 46 percent connect percentage according to CompuBox was also held to a meager 26 percent shows Cotto’s effectiveness.

Make no bones about it, even Cotto performed better than many expected, Mayweather still proved to be the superior fighter. Cotto may have caused some depreciation to “Money’s” milliondollar smile, but in the end the victor was clear and the new champ showed rare graciousness in his win.

“You’re a hell of a champion, the toughest guy I ever fought,” Mayweather said to Cotto during his

Photos by Wiley Price

In Saturday night’s bout between undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr.and Miguel Cotto, the champion/underdog Cotto (left) came forward relentlessly the entire fight.

110-meter

Missouri StateTrack &

Championships last year at Lincoln University.At center, is Taron Street of Marquette and,at right,is Jordan Helenkamp form Webster Groves.Caldwell set a new meet record in the event at last week’s Suburban West Conference meet.

Sophomore

Henderson of Hazelwood Central

CLAIB’S CALL

With Mike Claiborne

You can’t play through a suicide

The suicide of NFLgreat Junior Seau has opened up a can of worms. The concussion issue has once again resurfaced and everyone has an opinion. It’s truly created a stir. The days of boasting on having your bell rung or seeing stars after a violent collision are gone.

The NFLhas elected to put their head in the sand until recently, as they know the mother of all law suits is coming. Already more than 100 former players have joined in a class action suit claiming the concussion issue was never addressed properly by the NFL when they knew that the results could be devastating.

Turn on ESPN or Real Sports on HBO and there is a player who readily admits he is not right after playing football mainly because of the blows to the head he received while playing. In most cases, players were allowed to go back into competition once they were able to say their name, and players themselves devised ways of skirting the issue out of fear of losing their jobs.

received, though a study is yet to be completed. As the lawsuit continues, more players will figure out that they should be part of this landmark venture. While many will claim that the game was good to them, more will find themselves out of the game before they are 30, broke and divorced with physical challenges that will start to grow like weeds in a pasture.

The NFLhas to be careful here because the lawsuits that will be spawned from this issue could be devastating. Then what would happen if parents start to sue junior league and high school football programs for not providing proper protection from such injuries?

Sign a waiver, you say? What parent would put their child in harm’s way to prove that he is tough and he can one day play in the league?

My mistake on that question, as there are more than I would like to think about right now. Little Johnny could become the next Dave Dureson, who committed suicide partially due to post-concussion issues. Perhaps the next Junior Seau.

NFLhas made a fortune on preying on the meek. The socalled tough-guy sport has convinced players that the only way you can play is to play through it. One-time coach Jerry Glanville interpreted NFLas Not For Long if you stay hurt or linger on the sidelines.

Player have been manipulated for so many years they wear the concussion like some merit badge. These are the same ones who in a few years will not even be able to remember their name.

When Kurt Warner came out last week and expressed a concern about his children playing football, he was lambasted as being clueless. ESPN analyst Merril Hoge spoke out against Warner and his feelings, though Hoge’s own career was cut short because of sustaining too many concussions. Yes, that is what we are working with here.

The Seau suicide has not been directly linked to the multiple concussions he

At some point something more than lip service will have to remedy a tragic issue. Then it will again go to the back burner once training camp begins. The everybody just wants the games, no matter how many lives it affects.

So long,Blues

The St. Louis Blues had the second best record in the history of the team, only to get vanquished in the second round by the L.A. Kings who should go on to win the Stanley Cup. What’s next for the Blues?

Another year of coming up short. The Blues have the second longest streak of getting to the Stanley Cup Finals and are tied with the L.A. Kings as having the longest run of not winning the Cup.

New ownership is on the way and they will have their work cut out for them as the team will need money to compete and it’s time to perhaps

about the long-term effects of multiple concussions.

spruce up the building. It will be an interesting off-season for St. Louis, as the battle cry of “wait till next year” can be heard again.

NBA on TNT

The so-called tough guy sport has convinced players that the only way you can play is to play through it.

Story lines are plentiful as injury and upset have been part of the first round of the NBAplayoffs. The condensed schedule has worn many players down

INSIDE

Continued from B3

come.

Finally, I had the opportunity to serve as the public address announcer for the opening home game for the St. Louis Surge of the Women’s Blue Chip Basketball League.

The Surge is a semi-pro women’s team that features many former prep stars from the St. Louis metro area. Such players as Rita Adams (East St. Louis), Jordann Plummer (Cardinal Ritter) and Kari Koch (Elsberry) have come back to play for the Surge after outstanding college careers. Nearly 800 people turned out at the University of

and the injury bug has bitten MVPDerrick Rose, Barron Davis, Josh Smith and others. It looks like we have Oklahoma City and Miami on a collision course for an NBA Final. It will also feature the future of the league with Durant, Westbrook, Lebron and Dwayne Wade in the mix. The unfortunate thing is

Missouri-St. Louis’Mark Twain Building to watch the ladies put on a show in a 67-51 victory over the Illinois Shooting Stars. Not only was the crowd big, but it was loud and enthusiastic, which made for a great atmosphere.

It was also great to see so many area youth girls basketball teams in the house to take in the action. After the game, the little girls had a chance to meet the Surge players in an autograph session that took nearly an hour. The youngsters could not get enough of the Surge players.

Congratulations to team owner Khalia Collier and her staff for putting on a great show for the fans. Collier has put together a talented staff of young people and they have

when the Finals roll around the games will be seen on ABC, which means that TNT and its pre- and post-game show will go away. The NBA on TNThas the most informative and yet funny show any sport has to offer. Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley and Ernie Johnson are light years ahead of any show on any network involving any sport. I will miss them. It’s must-watch TV.

Not for my money

Once again Floyd

worked tirelessly to assemble a quality team, attract sponsors and build a fan base.

The Surge will return to action for another home game on Saturday, June 2 at UMSL.

Tip-off is at 7 p.m. If you enjoyed the first game, come on back and bring a friend.

Lots of them.

To cap off a great two-week period of activities, I will be the Master of Ceremonies at the Larry Hughes Athletic Awards Luncheon, which will be held on Saturday at the St. Louis Gateway Classic Sports Foundation. At this event, we will be honoring some of the top high school athletes in the St. Louis metro area. It is always one of my favorite events.

CLUTCH

Continued from B3

post-fight interview. “I had to fight hard, suck it up. He’s no pushover.”

Mayweather went on to state that he stood and traded with Cotto by design. He wanted to show fans he could duke it out with a tough fighter and produce exciting fights instead of just exciting press conferences. As with many things, his decision may have been a carefully calculated business decision. On June 1, the champ must turn himself into authorities to begin an 87-

Mayweather Jr. proved that he is one of the best fighters in the world. While you can only watch him on pay-perview these days, I have elected to take a pass on making his pockets fatter. I will only pay to see Mayweather fight one person: Manny Pacquiao. These two have verbally sparred to the point that they have run out of excuses on why they will not fight. Spare me, please. This fight should have taken place two years ago, and they should get it done before they start to gray.

day jail sentence. Knowing he’d be off the scene for a few months, he decided to leave his fans with a gem to hold them over until his release.

Mayweather vs Pacquiao: Git r done

Hopefully during his downtime, he will come to his senses and ease up on all the ridiculous demands and accusations and agree to fight Manny Pacquiao in the winter. Despite absolutely no evidence or reasonable suspicions, Mayweather continues to assert that Pacquiao takes performance-enhancing drugs and that fighting him would be a “health risk.” Yes, while Pacquiao turned pro at 106 lbs. he was only 16 years old. What amateur weight class did Mayweather win the National Golden Gloves title at 16 years old? You guessed it – 106 lbs. It’s not that difficult. Pacquiao has agreed to the testing, Mayweather needs to agree to a 50/50 purse split. The two top fighters in the sport have both shown signs of vulnerability in their last fights. Presuming Pacquiao gets by Tim Bradley and his head butts of horrors on June 9, it seems to be now or never for the latest “fight of the century.”

Follow In the Clutch on Twitter @intheclutchstl and online at www.stlamerican.com

Mike Claiborne

The suicide of NFL great Junior Seau once again has the sports world buzzing

Runnin Rebels win Ozark Regional title

Congratulations to the STL Runnin Rebels on winning the Amateur Athletic Union Ozark Region 17U boys championship last weekend at St.Louis Community College at Forest Park.The Runnin Rebels defeated the Missouri Magic Extreme,Missouri Impact and TC Hoops to win the championship and advance to the AAU National Tournament later this summer.The team members are (in alphabetical order) Malik Brown (Career Academy),Deion Davis (Vashon),Chaz Gilmore (Fort Zumwalt West), Callen Hall (Francis Howell North),Justin Jackson (Gateway Tech),Austin Kemp (Fort Zumwalt West),Derrick Mitchell (Vashon),Rekardo Owens (Brentwood),Andrenos Powell (Gateway Tech),Rashod Richards (University City),Shawnteze Sanders (Career Academy),Demetrius Stapleton (Career Academy).The head coach of the Runnin Rebels is Damon Hill.

TRACK

Continued from B3 of Hazelwood East, who finished second with a 24.28. Henderson also won the 400 as she helped lead the Hawks to the conference title.

Ashley burns

Sophomore Ashley Henderson of Hazelwood Central burned up the track in winning the 200-meter dash at the Suburban North meet. Henderson finished first in a blazing time of 23.89 seconds. She edged Tianna Valentine

Record hurdler

Lafayette High’s Chris Caldwell won the 110-meter high hurdles at the Suburban West championships in a meet record time of 14.12 seconds. Caldwell’s time breaks a 29year old record, which was set

ST. LOUIS

A

MERICAN

by former Kirkwood High star Alvin Miller back in 1983.

Tripple winner

Francis Howell’s Whitney Adams won three events at the Gateway Athletic Conference South Division Championships. Adams won the 100 in 12.3, the 200 and 24.72 and the 400 in 56.65 to lead the Vikings to the overall team championship.

Prep Athlete of the Week

Alauna Ray

McCluer – Girls Track

The talented junior jumper took home two gold medals and set two new meet records at last weekend’s Suburban North Conference meet at McCluer.

Ray won the high jump and triple jump with two excellent individual efforts. She won the high jump by clearing 5 feet 5 inches. She came back to win the triple jump by bounding 37 feet 9 inches.

It was the second consecutive Suburban North title for Ray in the triple jump. She won the event as a sophomore with a jump of 37-6.

Ray also earned All-State honors as a sophomore in the high jump where she finished sixth at the Class 4 state championships in Jefferson City. Ray was also a state qualifier as a member of the Comets’4x400-meter relay team.

She will be a state contender in both events this season.

Ray will compete in this weekend’s Class 4, District 5 meet at McCluer.

One segment in the first phase is an “industrial area,”which includes the UMSL campus,two Normandy Public Schools and a St.Louis County library.A large planted median with separated bike lanes are planned and Great Rivers Greenway also will create a 10-foot-wide jogging path on either side of the street,which will connect to the St.Vincent Greenway trail.

NORMANDY

Continued from B1

year, $2-million process to create plans and construction drawings. Federal stimulus helped with $1 million and the rest came from various other funds, Van Uum said.

As part of that process, city officials held public community meetings to listen to suggestions from community members and business owners.

Natural Bridge was selected for the Great Streets project because of the stable nearby communities, proximity to the MetroLink station and the amount of revenue UMSLstudents and faculty could generate for businesses such as restaurants, said David Wilson, senior manager for environment and community planning for the Gateway Council.

“There hasn’t been any development of this sort in 40 or 50 years, if not longer,” said Patrick Green, mayor of the City of Normandy. “This will spur economic development and make the space more useful for residents. It is a holistic,

comprehensive way to tackle major issues along the corridor.”

What George announced on Friday was that the three collaborators have accumulated full funding, $14 million, for the project’s first phase, which stretches east of Hanley to Lucas and Hunt.

Most of the funding comes from MoDOT, yet a “significant hunk” comes from St. Louis County and Great Rivers Greenway, Van Uum said. For now, the money is spilt between$1,463,000for engineering, $250,000 for right of way and $10,243,000 for construction, Wilson said. In addition, East-West Gateway will provide $1.2 million in “enhancement” funding, and that comes with a local match of $300,000.

One segment in the first phase is an “industrial area,” which includes the UMSL campus, two Normandy Public Schools and a St. Louis County library.

“We hope it will look like Wydown next to Washington University’s campus,” Van Uum said. “It will come down to one lane through traffic in

both directions with a large planted median and separated bike lanes.”

Great Rivers Greenway also will create a 10-foot-wide jogging path on either side of the street, which will connect to the St. Vincent Greenway trail.

The next segment is what they call “the Wedge,” which is a roundabout with Florissant Road and Pasadena Boulevard.

“We hope it will be a kind of campus-town activity,” he said. “It will also serve the existing neighborhoods needs for retail. That area was historically the commercial town center, and we hope to bring that back to that purpose that it once enjoyed.”

Nancy Thompson, community outreach manager of Great Rivers Greenway, said it’s worth it to narrow the vehicle area on Natural Bride to provide better accommodations for pedestrians and bikers.

“I’m hoping the outcome is a more vital neighborhood east and west of the university campus,” Thompson said. “There are really good individual businesses, and tying them together in a more cohesive plan is very worth while.”

Son of Dunham

ESL dancer Keith Williams teaches what the master taught him

By Nancy Fowler Of The Beacon

Triple-threat performer Keith Williams learned to dance the way he learned to walk and talk. With the whole family watching, clapping and making their own moves, the youngest of seven grew up getting down, at home and at church picnics in mid-century East St. Louis. Williams, 57, studied drama in high school, and he never took a dance class until college. While majoring in physical therapy at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, he happened upon a class at another school, Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville. There, he fell in love – with the

Katherine Dunham technique. Taught by Dunham company original member Archie Savage, the class changed his life.

“I was blown away by the culture and the rhythms. It moved me so much that I transferred,” Williams said.

In the mid-70s, Midwestern boys eyeing a dance career risked ridicule when it came to telling their parents. But Williams’ family embraced his choice.

“I was very fortunate; I didn’t grow up with inhibitions about who I was and being a man, being a strong man,” Williams said. “So I had a freedom that a lot of men possibly didn’t have – particularly men growing up in a place like East St. Louis.”

As a student at the Katherine Dunham Center for Performing Arts, Williams took master classes from Dunham herself, who was by then in her mid-60s. But dance was only part of the program.

“At the Dunham school, you

have to study everything: dance, acting, voice, languages and drama,” Williams said. Williams’ only sister Debbie Griffin realized her younger

Gospel, like Mother likes it

Chaifetz Arena brings the soul on Sunday

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American

“I love to see Christian entertainment,” said 94-yearold Azelie Pitts. “It lifts your spirit it makes you feel good. Sometimes you can go in feeling low and it will bring you back up.”

Pitts is excited about the upcoming Mother’s Day Gospel show featuring Mary Mary, Fred Hammond, Jessica Reedy, gospel comedian Eric Broderick and local choirs Westside Missionary Baptist Church Choir and Church on the Rock.

But the fact that she’s being honored as part of the Mother’s Day show with the Gospel Fest Mother of the Year Award for a lifetime of service as an exceptional matriarch makes this Mother’s day festivity all the more special.

“We are just elated,” said Mary King, Pitts’ daughter. “She has been such a good mother to all of us and shown us – and so many others – such love.”

The concert will take place on Sunday at the Chaifetz Arena.

“She was brought to my attention and God put in on my heart to honor her,” said concert promoter Daryel Oliver, who plans to make the concert and the accompanying honor an annual event. “Then after you look at her history 15 children and a mover and a shaker in the church community it was definitely the right decision.”

Pitts is the mother of 15

children, 13 are still alive and 12 will be on hand as she is celebrated by the city of St. Louis during the concert. She will receive a special proclamation from City Hall as a part of the festivities.

“I knew how my mother raised us, and I tried to raise my children the same way,” Pitts said. “I had an excellent role model.”

Pitts, one of ten children raised in St. Louis historic neighborhood known as The Ville believes that her family’s faith-based way of life was the root of her being considered an outstanding mother.

“I’d take them to church and teach them the Christian way to live,” Pitts said. “My family is what I’m all about. I tried to teach them how to pray, to honor their mother and father, to love one another – and to love and respect other people.”

Pitts will be 95 in two months and she’s still an active member of Victory Christian Outreach Church – attending church every Sunday.

“I thank him every morning that I am clothed, in my right mind and have the use of my limbs, Pitts said. “A lot of people are not as fortunate as me. I move slow sometimes, but I’m still blessed because I am able to get around and to go worship with the Saints. I’m a deaconess and I love to fellowship with

Artists respond to Wole Soyinka

Michael Marshall, Robert Powell, Dail Chambers contribute to Poetry Scores show

KMOV-TV traffic reporter reveals unlikely route to morning news

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American

By the time Sande Stevenson landed in front of KMOV-TV viewers in September as the traffic reporter for the morning news show, she had already made a name for herself. Stevenson would be hard to miss by anyone paying attention to the media mix at many of the major events – entertainment in particular. She’d be at the front line of plenty of red carpets with her face beat (that’s a good thing), her hair snatched and her big red STL-TV microphone with a camera man in tow.

Turns out the path that led her to become a member of a top 20 market morning news crew is as unbelievable as it is inspirational.

“When I first started at STL-TV, I was a volunteer,” Stevenson said. “I never went to school for broadcast journalism. I just really wanted to try it out. I felt like I had a knack for it, I just didn’t have the formal training –but I was willing to learn.” Stevenson – a believer in the “create your own path” road to success – vowed to make an opportunity for herself when she knocked on the door of STL-TV’s Andre Holman.

She had a degree in communications from University of Kansas, but her concentration was in Public Relations. The summer before she graduated, she worked as an intern for MTV. But upon graduation she worked as a communications professional for several years before deciding to follow a lifelong hunch and step in front of the camera.

“I had to convince Andre I was worth giving a shot,” Stevenson said.

“I said, ‘If it doesn’t work out, just drop me – because you’re not paying me.’”

He took her up on it. But to her surprise, when she first stepped in front of a camera she “sucked” (her words, not mine). But she kept at it, further honing her skills by way of STL-TV and with her YouTube channel featuring her

– is contributing a silver point drawing that includes studies of a centipede.

“The large insect has a powerful sting that causes major distress for most people. For my chickens, discovery of a centipede in the yard is a cause for celebration, loud clucking and running throughout the yard in a desperate attempt to keep the prize away from the other birds,” said Marshall, who raises chickens for eggs to feed his

See ART, C4 “Falling prey to,” Jeffrey Swanson

Keith Williams teaches a Katherine Dunham dance class in Webster Groves.

Photos by Nancy Fowler

Sande Stevenson

Mary Mary

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

May 11 – 12, 8:30 p.m., Robbie’s House of Jazz welcomes national recording artist/saxophonist, Bobby Watson, 20 Allen Ave. in Webster Groves. For more information, call (314) 9685556.

Sun., May 13, AVMBB Productions presents The Biggest Mother’s Day Event 70’s Style feat. Enchantment. The Ambassador, 9800 Halls Ferry Rd., 63136. For more information, call (314) 4564826 or visit www.allschoolsallclass.vpweb.com.

Sun., May 13, 3 p.m., The Mildred Thimes Foundation forPancreatic Cancer presents The 16th Annual Denise Thimes & Friends Special Mother’s Day Concert: Honoring OurMothers –“The Givers of Life.” Sheldon Concert Hall, 3648 Washington Blvd., 63108. For more information, call (314) 773-0337.

Through June 25, Missouri History Museum presents Twilight Tuesdays, Free OutdoorConcerts, Lindell and DeBaliviere in Forest Park. For more information call 314-746-4599 or visit www.mohistory.org.

local gigs

Fri., June 8, 9 p.m., L.L.C. Back TogetherConcert Show. The Ambassador, 9800 Halls Ferry Rd., 63136. For more information, call (314) 495-5974 or (314) 869-9090.

special events

Thur., May 10, 5:30 p.m., The Consortium for Leadership Development Program Launch Reception.

Bellerive Country Club, 12925 Ladue Rd., 63141. For more information, visit www.consortiumforleadershipdevelopment.com.

Fri., May 11, 11 a.m., Sister Salute Celebrating Women of Color. Millennium Hotels, 200 N. 4th St., 63102. For more information, call (314) 4735257 or email sistersalute1@gmail.com.

Fri., May 11 – Sat., May 12, The Community Needs Expo offers a Job Fair with hiring opportunities on the spot, a Youth Rally hosted by Terrence J and Staci Static, health and fitness rallies, a Veteran’s Village and more. Free and open to the public at the America’s Center (701Convention Plaza). Call (314) 361 – 3984 or visit www.communityexpo.org for more information.

Sat., May 12, 8:30 a.m., Girls on the Run St. Louis hosts Girls on the Run 5k. Girls on the Run aims to positively impact girls across the St. Louis community through our unique program that combines health and wellness education with a goal-oriented running program.Soldier’s MemorialDowntown St. Louis, 1315 Chestnut St., 63103. For more information, call (314) 8626266.

Sat., May 12, 1 p.m., Celebration of Women of Color2012 Awards feat. Angela Winbush. This event is an honoree ceremony designed to celebrate the greatness of women. St. Louis Room, St. Louis University, 221 N. Grand, 63103. For more information, call (314) 732-3232.

Sat., May 12, 8 p.m., UFC Veteran and MMAWorld Champion Jermaine Andre present AFight forOur Troops. Athrilling MMAand kickboxing fight night dedicated to the thousands of men & women who risk their lives fighting for our freedom. War

CALENDAR

veterans will also have an opportunity to apply for jobs at a Career fair and can participate in the free ‘Job Readiness, Resume Building and Business Workshops’. America’s Center, 701 Convention Plaza, 63101. For more information, email kevin@inkosidesigns.com.

Sun., May 13, 6 p.m., Ladies of the Midwest presents The Blast continues. Blackmon’s, 127 Collinsville Ave., East St. Louis, IL, 62201. For more information, call (618) 5318522 or (314) 612-0423.

Thur., May 17, 4:30 p.m., Citizens for Modern Transit will host The Great Race. The event will place TEAM TRANSIT, TEAM BIKE and TEAM CARSHARE in a battle to see which transportation mode can travel from downtown St. Louis to Clayton the fastest. Post Office Plaza, 815 Locust St., 63101. For more information, call (314) 4369090.

Fri., May 18, 8 p.m., Berkeley Alumni Class of 1982 hosts “Berkeley Alumni Spring Fling Dance.” The Machinists Hall Inc., 12365 St. Charles Rock Rd., 63044. For more information, call (314) 479-0110 or (314) 766-9108.

Fri., May 18, 12 p.m., Support Dogs hosts “Dogs in the Ruff” 2012 Golf Tournament. 18-hole, 4 person scramble. Norman K.

Probstein Golf Course in Forest Park. For more information call (314) 977-2325.

Sat., May 19, 4th Annual Anthony Smith Memorial 3on-3 Basketball Tournament. For ages: 3rd-4th grade boys/girls – 40+ men/women. Tournament benefits: leukemia lymphoma society, Anthony Smith scholarship fund, & Hope Unlimited. Concordia Luther Church Kirkwood, 505 S. Kirkwood Rd., 63122.

Sat., May 19, 11 a.m.,

Omicron Theta Omega Chapterof Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., presents Pink Pizzazz Mardi Gras Brunch feat. Denise Thimes. Proceeds to benefit the scholarship fund. Norwood Hills Country Club, 1 Norwood Hills Country Club Dr., 63121. For more information, call (314) 283-8213.

Sat., May 19, 8 a.m., Shalom Church City of Peace presents The Benjamin Price Benefit Golf Classic. Eagle Springs Golf Course,2575 Redman Rd., 63136.

Sat., May 19, 8 p.m., Sistahs Entertainin U presents “That 70’s Party, The Remix,” The Ambassador. 9800 HALLS FERRYROAD. For more information, call 314-210-1651 or 314-398-0574

Sun., May 20, 10 a.m., Kemp Auto Museum Concours d’

Week Festival 2012. Soldiers’ Memorial Park, 1315 Chestnut St., 63103. For more information, visit www.stlblueswee.com.

Webster University Film Series presents Sing Your Song, exploring the iconic life of Harry Belafonte. See FILM for more information.

Elegance. Every spring, nearly 70 of the world’s most rare and treasured American and European automobiles come together. Proceeds benefit Ranken Jordan Pediatric Hospital. Kemp Auto Museum, 16955 Chesterfield Airport Rd., 63005. For more information, call (636) 537-1718.

Sun., May 20, 6 a.m., SumnerAlumni Class of ’70 hosts ABlast from the Past FundraiserPicnic. Forest Park Ground 7. For more information, call (636) 2400670.

Tue., May 22, 5 p.m., CCHP News & Networking Event. Please join us in recognizing the outstanding efforts of Dr. Consuelo H. Wilkins, founding director of the Center for Community Health & Partnerships, and learn more about our transition planning. Institute for Public Health Office, 600 S. Taylor Ave., Suite 122, 63130. For more information, call (314) 7479212.

Fri., May 25, 8 a.m., St. Louis Morehouse College Alumni Association & Parents Association present Maroon Tigers Golf Classic Norwood Country Club, 1 Norwood Hills Country Club Dr., 63121. For more information, call (314) 265-8556.

May 25 – 27, Mid America Chevy Dealers presents Blues

Sat., May 26, 11:30 a.m., St. Louis Morehouse College Alumni Association & Parents Association present Men of Style: Annual Scholarship Luncheon Fashion Show. St. Louis Frontenac Hilton, 1335 S. Lindbergh Blvd.,63131. For more information, call (314) 265-8556.

Saturday, May 26, 8pm Ladies Night Out All White Pole Dance Party. More information and registration at www.sexysistasfitness.com or 314-884-5477.

May 28, 7:30 a.m., The 38th annual University City Memorial Day Run, in front of the University City Public Library, 6701 Delmar Blvd., 63130, ) by 7:20 AM. The Fun Runs will be held on Trinity Avenue in the neighborhood behind City Hall (6801 Delmar) and will begin at 9:15 AM for children 9 and older, and at 9:30 AM for those 8 and under. Register online at http://bigriverrunning.com/ucitymemorialdayrun.php

Sun., May 27, 7 p.m., The 13 Black Katz presents Black Katz Roc, Copia, 1122 Washington Avenue, St. Louis MO 63101.

Through May 31, National Archives at St. Louis presents “Documented Rights.” Exhibition showcasing milestone documents drawn from National Archives holdings to illustrate this nation’s continuing process of defining human and civil rights. For more information, call (314) 8019313.

Sat., June 2, 12 p.m., “Who Is My Neighbor.” There will be a Neighborhood Prayer, Gospel Singing, Praise Dancing, Free Health Screening, Free Books for kids, and Resource Information. Hodiamont and Minerva by Gateway Roofing Company, 6117 Minerva, 63133. For more information, call 314-225-8630.

Sun., June 3, 5:30 p.m., 27th Annual Cassidy Turley/ Ronald McDonald House DinnerAuction. The night’s activities include a cocktail reception, silent auction, dinner, oral auction, and a high roller raffle drawing with a $10,000 prize. Meadowbrook Country Club, 200 Meadowbrook Country Club Estates, 63011. For more infor-

mation, call (314) 932-4132.

Mon., June 4, 7 a.m., 27th

Annual Cassidy Turley/ Ronald McDonald House Golf Tournament. All proceeds will help RMHC St. Louis provide a “home-awayfrom-home” for families of seriously ill children receiving medical treatment at a St. Louis-area hospital. Meadowbrook Country Club, 200 Meadowbrook Country Club Estates, 63011. For more information, call (314) 9324132.

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.

comedy

May 11 – 12, Funny Bone St. Louis presents Tim Meadows. 614 Westport Plaza, 63146. For more information, call (314) 469-6692 or visit www.stlouisfunnybone.com.

Sat., May 12, 8 p.m., Royal Comedy Tour feat. Sommore, Bruce Bruce, Mark Curry, and more. Chaifetz Arena, 1 S. Compton Ave., 63103. For more information, visit www.metrotix.com.

literary

Thur., May 10, 2 p.m., Book Launch – Qualified, Yet Single: Why Good Men Remain Single. Dr. Dwayne L. Buckingham, Psychotherapist and Relationship Expert will launch his new book, and will alsogive a free sneak peak screening of the film to purchasers of the book.Book

Signing from 2 p.m. – 5 p.m. Film pre-screening from 7 p.m. – 9 p.m. Tivoli Theatre, 6350 Delmar Blvd., 63130.

Sat., May 12, 10 a.m., St. Louis Public Library Buder Branch will host author Frank Absher, author of KMOX: The Voice of St. Louis 4401 Hampton Ave., 63109. For more information, call (314) 206-6779.

Mon., May 14, 7 p.m., The Reverend Curtis Black Book Event. Meet New York Times bestselling author Kimberla Lawson Roby as she talks about your favorite pastor the

Reverend Curtis Blackand sharesher ninth installmentThe Reverend’s Wife! Julia Davis branch of St. Louis Public Library, 4415 Natural Bridge Ave., 63115. For more information, call (212) 3641424.

Sat., May 16, 7 p.m., St. Louis Public Library Schlafly Branch will host author Isabel Wilkerson, author of The Warmth of Other Suns. 225 N. Euclid Ave., 63108. For more information, call (314) 206-6779.

Sun., May 17, 1 p.m., St. Louis Public Library Divoli Branch will hostauthor Hari Campbell, author of Shawmaul’s House. 4234 N. Grand Blvd., 63107. For more information, call (314) 2066779.

Wed., May 23, 7 p.m., The St. Louis County Library Foundation is pleased to present acclaimed western-suspense author Craig Johnson for a discussion and signing of his latest novel “As the Crow Flies” St. Louis Library Headquarters, 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd. Contact St. Louis County Library by phone 314-994-3300 or visit www.slcl.org.

theatre

May 11 – 19, 8 p.m., Gitana Productions presents Muddy River. Cardinal Rigali Center, 20 Archbishop May Dr., 63119. For more information, call (314) 721-6556 or visit www.gitana-inc.org.

Sat., May 12, 10 a.m. & 2 p.m., Calling all Singers, Actors and Dancers for JPEK LASTCHANCE AUDITIONS, Adults and youth ages 10 and up may audition. No experience, extreme confidence, Demetrious Johnson Charitable Foundation/Eddie Mae Binion Center, 724 Nth Union, 63108. Prospective talent must bring : Headshot, Resume , 2 prepared monologues, 1dramatic and 1 comedic or , 1 prepared monologue and 1 song. For more information, call (314) 3598299.

Through May 13, The Black Rep presents Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. In a 1927 recording studio, legendary blues singer, Ma Rainey, finally shows up to record her new album, despite battling musicians and tight-fisted producers. Hilarious and heartbreaking. Grandel Theatre, 3610 Grandel Sq., 63108. For more information, visit www.metrotix.com.

May 17 – 20, Unity Theatre

Ensemble presents Everything Must Change: Message in the Music Through song, poetry, and dance, explore racism and discord in our culture and the need for harmony. The Ivory Theatre, 7622 Michigan Ave., 63111. For more information, visit www.utensemble.org.

May 23 – June 24, The Black Repertory presents Insidious. Atorrid dark comedy of downlow terrorism in the age of AIDS. Taboo twists and turns, a gripping scenario, a shattering climax. (For mature audiences only). Grandel Theatre, 3610 Grandel Sq., 63108. For more information, visit www.metrotix.com.

May 25 – Jun. 17, 8 p.m.

Shakespeare Festival St. Louis presents Othello Shakespeare Glen in Forest Park (Fine Arts Drive).

Sat., May 26, 12:30 p.m., State Representative Rochelle Walton Gray hosts a Community Fair. Presentations by the YMCA, the St. Louis County Police Department, Missouri Career Centerand more. The Emerson Family YMCA, 3390 Pershall Rd., 63033. For more information, call (573) 751-5538.

June 1 – 3, Missouri Ballet Theatre presents Cinderella. Edison Theatre, 6645 Forsyth Blvd., 63105. For more information, visit www.missouriballettheatre.org.

arts

May 26-May 28, 21st Annual St. Louis African Arts Festival, World’s Fair Pavilion in Forest Park. For further information or to volunteer visit www.stlafricanartsfest. com or call the festival hotline at (314) 935-9676.

Through June 1, Foundry

The Inaugural Community Needs Expo featuring actor and television personality Terrence J. See SPECIAL EVENTS for details.

Art Centre presents Faith Ringgold: American Quilts. Internationally renowned artist and author best known for her painted story quilts—art that combines painting, quilted fabric and storytelling. 520 N. Main Center, 63301. For more information, call (636) 2550270 or visit www.foundryartcentre.org.

10th Street Gallery presents the opening reception for Lance Omar Thurman’s upcoming photography exhibit “Nostalgia,” 10th Street Gallery, 419 N. 10th Street, St. Louis, MO 63101. Visit www.10thstreetgallery.com

THE GALLERYof the University City Public Library is seeking applicants forjuried one-month shows forthe 31st season. Ashort resume of artistic background, 12 images of recent work on a CD, and a list with dimensions and medium of each piece are required. Send or bring entries to: THE GALLERY, University City Public Library, 6701 Delmar Blvd., University City, MO 63130 by Monday, April 30. For further information, call Lexine Pranschke at 314.727.3150 or email lexine@ucpl.lib.mo.us..

lectures

Sat., May 12, 9 a.m., John Burroughs School hosts their

Practice Test. For fifth graders considering an independent school education.755 South Price Road, 63124. For more information, call (314) 9934040 or visit www.jburroughs.com.

Sat., May 12, 10 a.m., An invitation to parents and guardians of children currently attending an Imagine CharterSchool in St. Louis. At these school fairs, meet and talk to people from the St. Louis Public Schools, the magnet schools and other charter schools with opening for the 2012-2013 school year. South City Preparatory Academy, 2900 S. Grand Blvd., 63118. For more information, call 866-791-4715 or visit www.dese.mo.gov/qs/charter/tr ansition-office.htm.

Tues., May 29, Empowering Entrepreneurs Across America Network: May network, Vashon High School, Library, 3035 Cass Ave. For more information, please contact Rhonda McAlister at (314)282-7201.

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

Sat., May 19, 7:30 a.m., American Heart Association hosts 2012 Metro St. Louis Heart Walk. Fun-filled family oriented, non-competitive walk through the streets of downtown St. Louis. Participants can choose a 1 or 3-mile route, that will lead you to the warning track at Busch Stadium. Busch Stadium, 700 Clark Ave., 63102. For more information, call (314) 692-5662.

Sat., May 19, 8 a.m., Community Women Against Hardship presents 8th Annual

Walk-A-Thon. Tower Grove Park, 4256 Magnolia Ave., 63110. For more information, call (314) 289-7523 or visit www.cwah.org.

Sat., May 19, 4th Annual Anthony Smith Memorial 3on-3 Basketball Tournament. For ages: 3rd4th grade boys/girls – 40+ men/women. Tournament benefits: leukemia lymphoma society, Anthony Smith scholarship fund, & Hope Unlimited. Concordia Luther Church Kirkwood, 505 S. Kirkwood Rd., 63122. Sat., Jun. 2, 1 p.m., The St. Louis American, Komen St. Louis and Siteman Cancer Centerpresent Circle of Promise ASpecial Breast CancerAwareness Event and Wellness Fair featuring Rickey Smiley Morning Show co-host Ebony Steele and a and doctor panel discussion at 2 p.m., Emerson Performing Arts Auditorium, HarrisStowe State University.

Fri., May 11, 7 p.m., The Women of the New Northside Missionary Baptist Church will host theirfirst “WOW Gathering”, Women Only Worship, The Rev. Traci D. Blackmon, pastor of Christ the King United Church of Christ, Florissant will be the guest preacher. New Northside MB Church 8645 Goodfellow Blvd. For more information contact the church office at 314-381-5730.

Sun., May 13, 6 p.m., Mothers Day Gospel Fest feat. Fred Hammond and Mary Mary. Chaifetz Arena, 1 S. Compton Ave., 63103. For more information, call (314) 977-5008.

Sat., May 19, 4:30 p.m., Stayafloat Foundation presents Gospel Splash Fundraising Concert. Christ Our Redeemer A.M.E. Church, 13820 Old Jamestown Rd., 63033.

brother had a special talent when she saw him in a college production of “Porgy and Bess.”

“That’s when I knew my brother was going somewhere,” Griffin said. In 1979, Williams was among a group of dancers who accompanied Dunham to New York City.

“I had a taste of New York and Carnegie Hall and that was incredible for me. And my mother had a chance to see me perform in Carnegie Hall,” Williams said.

While in New York, Williams decided to take advantage of the city’s dance offerings. Then, following a couple of Muny seasons and acquiring his equity union card, he went back to New York.

Williams performed in “Once on This Island” and “Legs Diamond” on Broadway and in numerous Off-Broadway shows. Touring shows including “Porgy and Bess,” “Five Guys Named Moe,” “Bubbling Brown Sugar” and “The Music of Andrew Lloyd Weber” took him to Europe, Japan and Australia. As he danced, sang and acted around the globe, Williams sent Dunham a program from each of his shows. Dunham, who died in 2006 at the age of 97, was a social activist and author as well as a choreographer of more than 90 dances.

“Ms. Dunham’s whole thing is that, as a human beings, we should not only be conscious of our spirit and our energy

in class but we should carry that out into the world so we are contributors to the world,” Williams said.

One of roughly two dozen certified instructors of the Katherine Dunham Dance Technique in the world, Williams further holds the distinction of being certified by Dunham herself. In 1997, Williams won a prestigious Katherine Dunham Dance Award.

Following his certification, Williams returned to teach where he’d been taught, at the Katherine Dunham Center. Later, he became an adjunct instructor at Washington University and Lindenwood University. He’s also worked as a teacher-in-residence at various universities across the U.S. and in other countries. In 2004, Williams’ career in education took a different turn. Since then, he’s been teaching academic subjects in the St. Louis public elementary schools. As he worked on his advanced degrees, substitute teaching gave him an income and a flexible schedule.

n “So I had a freedom that a lot of men possibly didn’t have –particularly men growing up in a place like East St. Louis.” – Keith Williams

Now, he enjoys teaching a Katherine Dunham class on Monday nights at Caston’s Ballet Academie in Webster Groves. A self described “single soldier,” he has a grown son and 15-year-old grandson in San Antonio. In 2008, Williams received an master’s of art in directing at Lindenwood, and he’ll complete an MFA in directing from Lindenwood this spring.

Along the way, he won a wide array of awards including a Woody King Jr. Award for best actor in “Damn Yankees” and Kevin Kline Awards for best supporting actor in “The Full Monty” and Best Choreography in “Sarafina.”

With his second master’s degree, Williams hopes to become a university professor and he may eventually pursue a Ph.D. Visiting Africa and Brazil are also goals.

“The main thing drives me is the blessing of another day,” Williams said.

Edited slightly and reprinted with permission from stlbeacon. org.

Continued from C1

family on the Big Island of Hawaii.

“If I could get over my perception – or if I were desperate enough – how would I relate to this insect as food? A reflection inspired by the Soyinka poem.”

In Soyinka’s poem, the famished children await the return of “father forager.” Soyinka is a Yoruba man and father with his own intense family commitments. He wrote “Ever-Ready Bank Accounts” while unjustly incarcerated by the Nigerian government during his nation’s civil war, and the forced separation from his family weighed heavily on his mind and haunts the poems he wrote in prison, which appeared in the 1972 volume Shuttle in the Crypt Robert Powell seized upon the poem’s family imagery for his contribution to the art invitational. According to the simple rules Poetry Scores sets for its art shows, each work must be titled using a direct quote from the poem. Powell chose for his title the concluding lines of the poem, “Grandmother arched

DRIVE

Continued from C1

first-hand experiences with fashion, food and fitness.

In the videos she washes her weave, completes killer workouts and offers beauty and makeup tutorials.

Over the years, she became one of the most recognized faces of STL-TV and an internet sensation with more than 13,000 subscribers to her YouTube channel.

Holman grew into a mentor and a great support system that allowed her to develop the skills to handle a professional blessing that she would have never dreamed possible when she first stepped into his office asking for direction as a “personality.”

She believes the marriage of her work on STL-TV and her YouTube channel led to an opportunity to interview for KMOV-TV.

“A year ago I would have never thought I would be on

GOSPEL

Continued from C1

people and I love

“I’m

in pain still shapes – A loaded question mark?”

“I chose this because it fits the theme of my art well,” Powell said: “Grandmother nurturing the children, hoping for a better tomorrow with nothing to hold onto but ‘the Audacity of Hope.’”

For Chambers, it is second nature to make art based on literature. “I attribute my imagination to reading,” she told Nancy Fowler of The Beacon, who reported that Chambers has a quote from poet Nikki Giovanni spanning her studio walls. Even the artist’s daughter Tiggy, short for Antigone, is named for a literary classic, the Sophocles play.

“Wole Soyinka’s writings and concepts have been influencing my artwork for the past six years,” Chambers says. “I look forward to expressing this deep connection in the upcoming Invitational show.”

Marshall, Powell and Chambers are new to the Poetry Scores Art Invitational, an annual event event dating back to 2005 that is going twice-annual this year.

Regular contributing Poetry Scores artists with work in the May 18 show include Andrew Torch (who also is guest co-curator), Michael Hoffman, Dana Smith, Tony Renner,

Channel Four,” Stevenson said. “Never in a million years did I think I would be on a major morning news show. If I had gone to most people and said I wanted to be on morning news, they would be like, ‘Girl, please,’ because I don’t fit that mold.” Stevenson is the first to admit that the process that ultimately landed her in front of hundreds of thousands of viewers each morning was far from a cake walk.

She says that the interview process was one of the most spiritually uplifting and spiritually draining experiences of her life.

“I had to get over so many fears,” Stevenson said. Most surprisingly, a fear of live television was among the top of her list.

“Anybody who’s watched me and saw me at the very beginning, it’s a 180,” Stevenson said. “Now I’m having fun with it.”

The start of her workday begins at 1:45 a.m. Stevenson says that every day she comes from work with a new nugget of information – either from

Azelie Pitts

been my protector all the way that’s why I’m able to talk with you today.” Her family is equally elated.

Carmelita Nunez, Stefene Russell and Dawn Majors. The art invitational is also a silent art auction. Poetry Scores will use its portion of the proceeds to release a musical score to Soyinka’s poem that is being composed on commission by bicycle day, a three-man orchestra from Istanbul, Turkey. Onur Karagoz of bicycle day has summarized the theme of Soyinka’s poem as “Embrace mankind! Embrace mankind! Embrace mankind!”

Though Soyinka will not attend the May 18 event in St. Louis, he is participating in the project, which he described to the Alton Telegraph as “a very special celebration of creative collaboration.”

Soyinka will discuss his poem and the Poetry Scores project live on St. Louis radio Monday, May 14. He will provide a live interview to the poetry show on KDHX, “Literature from the Halibut,” 9-10 p.m. next Monday at 88.1 FM and www.kdhx.org. For more information, visit www.poetryscores.blogspot. com or www.madart.com. Disclosure: Chris King, American managing editor, is co-founder and creative director of Poetry Scores.

her morning show family or her mentor Holman, who tunes in regularly.

“I take it all in and I enjoy every bit of it. It was a blessing and I’m just so thankful for the opportunity,” Stevenson said.

Now Stevenson is being counted among those stories. Her role at KMOV-TV has already expanded to include two more segments, “What’s Hot on the Web” and “Pin of the day.” And this weekend she will be among the women honored at the inaugural Sisters Salute event.

“People have it ingrained in their minds that in order to do certain things you have to be a certain way and go about doing those things in a certain way,” Stevenson said. “But there are so many success stories of people who defied all types of odds and still reached a certain level of success.”

Sande Stevenson can be seen on KMOV-TV from 4:30 a.m. – 7 a.m. weekdays and on her YouTube Channel at http://www.Youtube.com/ TheSocialiteLife.

“We are delighted and we are all rallying around and coming in from all over for the occasion,” King said. “She was very happy and we are very thankful for the recognition. We are so honored. They couldn’t have picked a better person – they couldn’t have selected a better mother.”

The Mother’s Day Gospel Fest featuring Fred Hammond and Mary Mary, Mary, Fred Hammond, Jessica Reedy, gospel comedian Eric Broderick, Westside Missionary Baptist Church Choir and Church on the Rock and honoring Azelie Pitts will take place at 6 p.m. on Sun., May 13, at Chaifetz Arena, 1 S. Compton Ave., 63103. For more information, call (314) 977-5008.

Student shines in poetry contest

Elysha Kennedy, a seventhgrader at River Roads Lutheran School in north St. Louis, is among the winners of the 2012 Citywide 7th Grade Poetry Contest, a literary competition for students who attend school in the city of St. Louis. Elysha won for her poem “Why Now?”

The winning students received $25 cash prizes and will have their poems published in an anthology donated to the students, their school libraries and the St. Louis Public Library. Each student will also be featured in their own YouTube film clip along with the written text of their poem. The Citywide 7th Grade Poetry Contest is sponsored by The 7thGradePoetry Foundation, a pioneering St. Louis arts organization that hopes to create a more talented and diverse generation of poet laureates in the United States. Seventh-graders from every public, private, parochial, and charter school in the city of St.

Louis participated. River Roads Lutheran School is located at 8623 Church Rd. in north St. Louis, and is a member of the St. Louis-based Lutheran Elementary School Association (LESA).

RAC conducts first STL artist census

May 14 deadline for free iPad drawing

American staff

The Regional Arts Commission (RAC) is undertaking “Artists Count,” the first census of artists working in the St. Louis area. The census, which started in April and runs through early July, will survey thousands of area artists and creatives including writers, dancers, poets, filmmakers, musicians, photographers, graphic designers, actors, singers, composers, architects, performance artists, crafters and educators.

“Anyone who considers himself or herself an artist –

whether they earn their living solely from their art or also work part-time at other jobs –should respond to the survey,” said Jill McGuire, executive director of RAC.

The anonymous survey is available at www.artistscount. com. All those responding by May 14 will be entered into a drawing for an iPad.

They will be asked a variety of questions to get a full understanding about their workspace, living space, their financial viability as artists and what they need to thrive in St. Louis.

“In St. Louis, cultural institutions have a high profile and their importance to the community and the economy is well documented,” McGuire said. “The findings from this study will not only help RAC document artists’ valuable contributions but also create new policies for artist funding.”

This census will provide a wider understanding of the creative ecosystem in St. Louis, and the information gathered will help guide RAC in its support of artists, especially helping them find affordable living and working space.

“RAC will be a catalyst in establishing partnerships with real estate developers and government officials to integrate artist needs with community redevelopment needs,” said McGuire.

Artists Count is being executed by William Cleveland, principal of the Center for the Study of Art and Community and Dr. Patricia Shifferd, CSA&C research associate.

Fill out the form at www. artistscount.com. The survey is also available in printed form by contacting RAC at 314-8635811 or artistscount@stlrac. org.

History Museum starting ‘Fire’

New exhibit on fires in St. Louis opens May 19

By Melanie Adams

As summer approaches, the Missouri History Museum will be hot as fire. Fire! Friend and Foe, a new exhibit at the Museum opens on Saturday, May 19. This exhibit, created by the Museum staff, features artifacts that tell the story of fire, its benefits and its dangers, in the St. Louis region. Whether it is a simple spark or a roaring inferno, fire elicits both fear and fascination. Fire warms us but it can just as easily destroy us. Flames can engulf a city leaving death and destruction. But, by harnessing fire, workers forge sturdy steel and artists create delicate glass objects of great beauty.

Using artifacts from its extensive collection and from local collectors, the History Museum examines the mystifying duality of fire. You will discover how early Cahokia dwellers used fire. You will learn the history of St. Louis’ volunteer and professional firefighters. You will gain an understanding of the horrors and heroism of fires—including the Great Fire of 1849. Exhibit highlights include industrial tools associated with blacksmithing, welding, and brewing; outdoor camping and grilling items; domestic objects such as cast iron stoves, fireplace tools—and 19th century toys fueled by fire! Historic objects, images, and stories will explore the surprising ways fire is both a friend and a foe. For our youngest visitors we have included play areas where they can dress up as firefighters or gather around a faux-campfire. But it isn’t all fun and games. A miniature house featuring fire hazards and escape routes will help adults initiate conversations with children about the importance of home safety.

To help kick off the exhibit and the start the summer season, the Museum will feature a variety of family friendly programs including a visit from Smokey Bear, venerable mascot of the Forest Service. This weekend will be fun for children of all ages. From 11am to 1pm you can take your picture with not only Smokey Bear, but also with the always popular Fredbird of the World Series Champion St. Louis Cardinals. If singing is more your thing, you can sing along with Celia around a make believe campfire. In addition to signing and pictures, there will be make-and-take craft activities with a fire theme. No fire program would be complete without a visit from members of the St. Louis

FIRE! Friend and Foe

May 19, 2012 - September 3, 2012

Cost: Cost: Adult: $7; Senior/Student/ Military/Tour Groups: $5; Children 6-12: $3; Children 5 and younger: Free; Free for summer youth groups with advance reservations. FREE for members for their level of membership

Saturday, May 19

11am –pm: Visit and take pictures with Fredbird

11am -2pm: Visit and take pictures with Smokey Bear and see Smokey Bear memorabilia

11:15am -12pm: Fire-themed sing-a-long with Celia on North Lawn

12:00pm: Exhibit opens to public

11am -2pm: St. Louis firefighters with fire truck and in the circle – stop by and talk to them any time 11am -2pm: Hands-on make-and-take activities in Grand Hall – make a sparkly paper “fireworks,” a giant firehouse picture, and St. Louis Cardinals crowns

Sunday, May 20

1pm – 4pm: Visit and take pictures with Smokey Bear and see Smokey Bear memorabilia; visit St. Louis firefighters and fire truck on north circle drive

Fire Department who will bring their trucks and talk about life as a firefighter.

Fireman’s painted leather parade hat worn by Fred Lauman of Franklin Fire Co., 1844, from Fire! Friend and Foe, a new exhibit at the Missouri History Museum that opens on Saturday, May 19.

Happy anniversary

May 13

Happy Anniversary to my lovely wife of 6 years, Kimberly McGahee-Edwards. Thank you for loving me through thick and thin. Thank you for our beautiful children, Traveon, Kristina and Naia. People said we were only supposed to last a year. We proved them wrong!

Love, Kenneth Edwards

New grads

Ashley R. Simmons

University of Arkansas Pine Bluff

BAin Criminal Justice

ï Magna Cum Laude

ï Alpha Kappa Mu

ï Honors College

Jacqueline L. Thompson

University of Louisville

Master’s of Fine Arts in Theatre Arts

ï BAin Communications, Clark Atlanta University ‘01

ï Certificate in Radio/TVBroadcasting, Broadcast Center in St. Louis

Reunions

Beaumont High School’s 50th reunion forJanuary and June classes of 1962 will be held on September 15, 2012. Addresses needed: Send name, address, phone number and email address to: beaumontclass@comcast.net.

Beaumont class of 1967 reunion schedule of events:

~ CELEBRATIONS

Ashley R. Simmons

Saturday June 9, 2012, Meet and Greet at 5 p.m. followed by dinner at 7 p.m. at the Sheraton Westport Hotel, 191 Westport Hotel, St. Louis, Mo. 63141. Sunday, June 10, 2012, Worship services at Lane Tabernacle 10 a.m. 910 N. Newstead Ave. Abrunch after services if Sweetie Pies new location will be open as planned. Cost of reunion is $100, for information/questions/update s our e-mail address is beaumontclassof67@sbcglobal.ne t.

Hadley Tech Classes of “62-63” will be celebrating their 50th class reunion at theMarriott Hotel St. Louis Airport, October 12-14, 2012.For imore information contact:Hellon Jefferson at

Jacqueline L. Thompson

314-307-3681, Virdell Stennis at 314-773-8177 or Wilhelmina Baker at 314588-0779.

Northwest High School Class of 1972 will have its 40 year reunion the weekend of July 20, 2012. Please go to Classmates.com for details and to RSVP.

Northwest High class of 1982 is celebrating its 30 year reunion August 31September 2.We are currently looking for classmates to attend our upcoming fundraiser events.For more information call Johnny Bolden at 456-1776 or Herman Hopson at 573-2304290.

SumnerClass of 1992 planning group is getting ready to

~

Sweet 16!

On May 13, our little sister, Shania Cummings will turn 16 years old. Mom is not here with us, but we know she would be so very proud of the strong, beautiful young lady you are turning out to be and so are we. Happy Sweet 16 Shania!

Love you, Your big sisters: Kim, Shanetta, Brandy, Alexis and Cynthia Happy 16th birthday to my son Myles Carson on May 7, 2012. We love you very much!

From, Your mother, Shernelle; brother and sister, Mia and Mason; and grandparents, Norman and Connie

More birthdays

Kendra Alvonna Fields-Foster (21) — May 9

Nedra Sutton (35) — May 10

Roise L. Temple — May 11

celebrate its 20th Class Reunion on July 20, 21, 22, 2012. For more information contact Karen Pickens (314) 378-8270, Patricia Matz (314) 610-4343, Melissa Baylarck (314) 276-3262 or Joe Westbrook (314) 2655631 for questions.

SumnerHigh School classes of 1946-1951 will be celebrating their “ninth” fouryear reunion August 24-26, 2012, at the Airport Marriott Hotel, 10700 Pear Tree Lane in St. Louis. We’re still in the process of rounding up all of our graduates and would like very much for you to contact us, as soon as possible if you would like to be included in this much anticipated event. Call Barbara Campbell Hunt for

additional information at 636-561-6796.

Vashon High School 85th Celebration BBQ and Car Wash Fundraiser, Saturday May 5 at Vashon High School, 9am-6pm, sponsored by Unified Alumni Association, Cozy Marks, President.

SumnerHigh School classes of 1962 are planning its 50year reunionfor August 17th-19th, 2012 and are looking for the January and June classes to participate in the planning. Please call Eldridge”Bogie”Bryant, Sr. at 314-489-0532, e-mail: eldridgbrya@sbcglobal.net and Lillian Foster Curlett at 314-269-6450.

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

Reunion notices are free of charge and based on space availability. We prefer that notices be emailed to us! However, notices may also be sent by mail to:

Kate Daniel, 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

Sleeping through a counter-revolution

Obama’s religious enemies are on the march – are we?

By Walle A. Amusa

For The St. Louis American

I read the story in the St. Louis Post Dispatch about the April 14, 2012 sermon delivered by Roman Catholic Bishop Daniel Jenky of Peoria, Illinois. Then I read the entire sermon. It was sheer poison cloaked in the garb of religiosity.

In the sermon, Bishop Jenky compared the first African-American President Barack Obama to Hitler of Nazi Germany and Stalin of the Soviet Union. Further, he compared President Obama to Bismarck, who “in the late 19th century waged a Culture War against the Roman Catholic Church by closing down every Catholic school and hospital, convent and monastery in Imperial Germany” and to Clemenceau, “nicknamed ‘the priest eater,’ who tried the same thing in France in the first decade of the 20th Century.”

In the sermon, Bishop Jenky claimed President Obama was “intent on following a similar path” Then he declared, “This fall, every practicing Catholic must vote, and must vote their Catholic consciences, or by the following fall our Catholic schools, our Catholic hospitals, our Catholic Newman Centers, all our public ministries could easily be shut down.”

It was bigoted and outrageous. Bishop Jenky created a false enemy and a scary scenario. Then he

for their programs and services. And that is good. These institutions hire hundreds of thousands of Catholics and non-Catholics. According to Bishop Jenky, these Catholic schools and hospitals should be able to discriminate against non-Catholics who work for these agencies by denying them insurance covered health care benefits guaranteed, by law, to other Americans.

The Anti-Defamation League is to be commended for strongly condemning poisonous homily and calling on Bishop Jenky to apologize to President Obama. But we must do more.

Where, we must ask, are the fearless armies of clergy and parishioners ready to stand shoulder to shoulder with our Jewish brothers and sisters in the Anti-Defamation League to say NO to this poisonous homily and counter-revolution unfolding right before our eyes?

InspIratIonal

Message

Ask

devalued, denigrated, and insulted President Obama while casting his lot with the counterrevolutionary currents that threaten to sweep away the hard won gains of the last 60 years. Falsely, Bishop Jenky claimed that if re-elected, President Obama would close Catholic schools, hospitals, Newman Centers and all Catholic public ministries. This is fear mongering of the worst kind.

All President Obama has done is to uphold the law and insist that any church-affiliated organization that accepts tax dollars cannot and should not discriminate against any American in their delivery of services or health care benefits.

President Obama spent a lot of energy and political capital to pass the Affordable Health Care Act. This law provides health care coverage for 33

million uninsured Americans, free preventive health care coverage for all Americans and eliminates the deadly practice of denying coverage to people because of pre-existing health conditions.

This law allows millions of young people to stay on their parent’s health insurance until they reach the age of 26 and requires employers to cover contraceptive and other reproductive services for their female employees just as they do for their male employees. The law does not in any way permit the use of tax dollars for abortions.

The law is supported by millions of Americans including the Catholic Nuns. Bishop Jenky opposes this law.

Catholic hospitals and schools, not churches, accept of millions of dollars in government funds every day

The only thing that stands in the way of this counterrevolution is the re-election of President Barack Obama, a Democratic-controlled Senate and House of Representatives. If not stopped at the ballot box, this counter-revolution will destroy not just the Affordable Health Care Act, but Medicare for seniors, Medicaid for the poor, Pell grants for students, collective bargaining rights for workers, voting and civil rights for millions of people, job training programs and force more middle class families into poverty.

Will our religious leaders sleep through this counter revolution? Or will they mobilize like never before to get all their parishioners to vote their anti-racist and anti-bigotry conscience?

It is amazing how The Holy Spirit can teach us glorious divine truth through the simple things in our life experiences. God dispenses His blessings according to the riches of His grace, not according to the poverty of our faith. It is by grace and grace alone that we can even begin to receive anything from God. Yes Grace – God’s RACE I remember an incident that happened a few years ago. My family and I went to Cracker Barrel to eat dinner. We were famished. You know how it is when you have skipped lunch and end up having a late dinner? You feel like your stomach is about to fall off and bite your knee caps on the way to the floor.

her dinner? Before I could get YES or NO out of my mouth my oldest son sternly said, “NO! You cannot have both!” I quickly turned to him and said, “I am the Daddy here, I determine what she can or cannot have, not you, plus she was talking to ME! NOT you!”

Then I turned to my daughter and said, “Yes, honey, you can have both.” Then The Holy Spirit started talking, and I got a message. Nobody, and I mean nobody, can answer you for your Daddy.

If you ask your Daddy for something, your brother and sister cannot determine if Daddy is going to give it to you!

Cracker Barrel usually brings you the biscuits and the corn bread muffins out first. When our waitress brought the first round out, notice I said first round, we started gearing up to snatch biscuits and cornbread like each one would be loaded with one hundred dollars bills. My oldest son at that time often thought he was the authority to his younger brother and sister.

As my wife started passing out the plates for our biscuits and cornbread, my daughter asked me could she have a biscuit and cornbread before

If you ask Father God for something, your brother or sister in Christ cannot determine what Father God will say or how He will answer. If you have the faith to ask for and believe it, then no one can stop you from receiving it.

You know Cracker Barrel was not even about to run out of biscuits and cornbread. Do you not know your Daddy is not going to run out of resources either, and however big you ask does not make Him nervous? What do you have the faith to ask for? By all means ask Him, and don’t let someone answer you who isn’t your Daddy!

Stephen McCrary

Audience members listen as President Barack Obama delivers remarks at a reception in Atlanta, Ga., March 16.

Official White House Photo by Pete Souza

Celebrity Swagger Snap of the Week

Thanks to Cornell Boone of Shift 58 R&B star Mya came through the Social to celebrate the release of her new album K.I.S.S. The evening featured a Q&A session and sneak preview of her 6th studio release.

Don’t come for the Diamond Divas. As I knew I would, I got another hot note in direct opposition to the one I printed before. The anonymous note came for everybody who didn’t catch life from Black Women Rock – and even me for allowing someone else to express such. Here we go:

“I’M APPALLED THAT ANY BLACK WOMEN WOULD SAY THE THE BLACK WOMEN ROCK GALA WAS HORRIBLE. I BROUGHT MY MOM TO THIS EVENT BEAUSE IT WAS A CELEBRATION OF BLACK WOMEN. FROM THE TIME WE ARRIVED ON THE RED CARPET WE WERE GREETED BY A JAZZ SAXOPHONIST –AWESOME IDEA. THE FOOD WAS AMAZING. THE SHOW WAS GREAT. I MUST SAY THAT WE HAVE A WIDE VARIETY OF BLACK WOMEN WHO ARE DOING POSITIVE THINGS AND ARE ON THE MOVE. EVERYTHING WAS ELEGANT AND THE VENUE WAS VERY TOP OF THE LINE. VIVICA FOX WAS AMAZING AS WELL. IF THERE IS ANYBODY WHO DIDNT ENJOY THIS EVENT I THINK ITS SAFE TO SAY THAT YOU ARE A HATER.”

All caps girl…? You better be appalled and express it through your type face! Let me say that I NEVER (those caps were just for you) said I hated The Black Women’s Rock Gala – D. did. And I’m not mad at her for expressing her displeasure, just like I’m not mad at you for enjoying yourself. Now that we’ve explored all sides of the story, I’m putting this to rest…well except for one thing. A wonderful male mover and shaker pointed out to me that the ladies in the game are getting honored every twenty minutes, but he’s still waiting for the folks to show the fellas some praise. He had a point. The women, chicks, girls have all rocked – but we’ve rolled right past the brothers. The idea of “Black Men Rock” really got me excited. Y’all work amongst yourselves to pull it together properly and I will be sure to do my end in pumping it up!

A K.I.S.S. from Mya. I know the boys come from every nook and cranny whenever the lovely Miss Mya comes to town and rightfully so. And I must say that she’s almost as fine as I am in real-life (*pause*). Her visit to EXO on Friday night wasn’t nearly as packed as it usually is when she skips to the Lou, but she had a respectable audience to preview her new album K.I.S.S. (short for Keep It Simple and Sexy). As I said before she looked gorgeous and unlike the photoshop tends to suggest, she is “thicka than a snicka” –which was obviously a pleasant surprise to all of the males within a threeblock radius who couldn’t help but get up close and gawk. I’m not tryin’ to dry-snitch, but I may or may not have seen some folks who were on the clock tryin’ to get up in her personal space. Hot 104.1’s Mz. Janee chopped it up with the R&B hottie about her life in the music industry and her new projects. I was delighted to see that her questions had Mya appear to almost have a little bit of personality with her responses…well, almost. Anyway, I liked the CD and I liked the format of the evening. Hopefully the HotFoxy and EXO will team up for more events like it…now if we could only get some of y’all to act like you’ve got some home training and use y’all’s inside voices during the interviews we would really be cooking with grease.

Peeling out with Plies. After I watched Mayweather’s marginal win over Cotto and nearly fell asleep from the elderly ring announcers, I decided some ratchet rap music was what I needed to get enough pep in my step to pop off my post-fight festivities. How convenient was it that the godfather of senseless trap music would be in the flesh for foolery in the flesh. Sadly it was not to be. My worst case scenario prediction was that Plies would perform in front of tens of fans, be underwhelmed by the crowd and ride out. He rode off alright, but never stepped foot on the stage. And all 38 of us were wondering why. Well, word on the curb is the powers that be told Plies to sit tight in the parking lot while the local acts served on stage. To all of our unpleasant surprise, Plies rode off into the moonlight after allegedly sitting twice as long as they said he would have to wait. From what I heard about how he burned rubber out of that parking lot he has a future as a getaway driver if his rap game keeps gets weaker. Even though Kirk Franklin’s evil goon twin Plies was an utter bust, nothing but death could keep me from the Ambassador when my new trap treat 2 Chainz takes the stage next Friday (May 18). I wonder if he would be up for Few Chainz (y’all know y’all love it whenever he’s played on Hot 104.1 FM) providing the opening entertainment. I believe if he’s approached in the right way about agreeing with it he’d be game. I mean honestly, with his lyrics I just don’t believe he can’t catch a cackle and appreciate the homage that Few Chainz serves.

Half-life with Howard Hewett. Let me tell y’all that I had been thrilled for weeks to hear that R&B throwback Howard Hewett would be serving some of his greatest hits on stage at the Sheldon. Just the thought of his fantastic falsetto bouncing off of the lovely and legendary acoustics of that building backed by a glorious live band gave me life beyond measure. Unfortunately only half of my wish would come true. Howie (as I call him) sent me to high pitch heaven from hello, but his voice was the only instrument to grace the stage after that school jazz band opening act packed up and punched. I don’t know if I would have it in my heart to charge folks $45 when I know the talent is tuned in to a track machine, but that’s just me. Either way the show went on. Alyson Williams sickened my soul by adding a monologue turned Negro spiritual about the sound not being to her satisfaction. I wanted to stand up and yell out “Girl, you are singing to a CD! Next time just pack a karaoke machine as a backup so you won’t put another audience through this.” She sounded pretty good though. Howard and his Hawaiian Silky served from hello. He had me forget he was even singing to a track thanks to the way he jumped down and fondled the females in the audience while never missing a beat – or an F Sharp. He ran his fingers through one woman’s hair so tough that it looked like he had put her in a headlock when he got done. I’m sure she was thinking unclean thoughts about him the whole night. But I was thanking the universe personally for sending Howard to the right sista to serenade and hair sift. That could have gone a totally different way because what

of the fellas don’t know is

too.

plenty

that quick-weaves come in cropped styles

Lovely couple Kim and Tony enjoy an earful of Mya’s new music Friday night @ EXO

Lisa and Erika start off their Cinco de Mayo weekend at 1st Fridays at the Drunken Fish on the Landing

Phyllis and Kay wait for Plies to perform Saturday night @ The Ambassador night

Donni and Triggy grooving to DJ AJ @ 1st Fridays @ The Drunken Fish

Corey and Autumn were among the crowd that had the club on lean for fight night Saturday @ The Loft

Brittany Marie and Janae and plenty STL stars were in the building on Friday for the A-List Party @ The City Brittney and Wesley Dandrige share a date night @ The City Friday night for the A-list Party

Cherronda and Cherrita kick of their Cinco De Mayo weekend festivities @ 1st Friday @ The Drunken Fish on the Landing

Hot 104.1’s DJ Cuddy and Dj Sir Thurl a.k.a. Team Lou Gotti Boyz on deck at the Loft for the Maywether Fight party Saturday night

Dj Jo Prima and Dj Reminisce tag teaming the 1&2’s at Exo Friday night for Mya’s listening party

Mario and Bea experience a special celebrity edition of the Social Friday night @ EXO

Nicole and Ashley kick off their weekend @ A-list Fridays @ The City

Special to The American

Walking into the chapel, you could feel the energy and excitement in the air as more than 1,000 guests gathered for the Box Tops for Education Town Hall event at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia recently. The mission – to engage in a critical conversation around the importance of a solid primary education for our nation’s children, while encouraging each other to become more involved in that effort as parents and as a community.

The Town Hall, hosted by comedian Steve Harvey, attracted a diverse panel of education experts and celebrity moms for the discussion, which was moderated by National Cares Mentoring founder Susan L. Taylor.

These celebrities and key stakeholders, including LifeLearn President Dr. Jacquelyn Jackson Fleming; Spelman College President

Box Tops for Education Town Hall

Celebrities and communities advocate for education

Beverly D. Tatum; actress Tisha Campbell Martin; Grammy Award winning artist Chilli from girl group TLC; and Grammy Award winning singer-song writer Monica, all attended the event because they know the critical importance of education. Taylor assured the guests that this Town Hall was something different.

“Believe me, this was a call to action for all of us,” said Taylor. “What we had was a lively discussion about our children’s development and about what we must do as parents, teachers and responsible members of the community to ensure that our young ones are self-sustaining contributors to their families and community in ways that matter most. All of this starts with pre-school and a strong primary education.”

Panelists spent time talking about their own experience with education, taking care of their children and wanting the

president of General Mills’ Baking division Anton Vincent.

Box Tops for Education is a program that started in response to the growing number of schools experiencing financial difficulty. It offers an easy way to earn cash for schools in your community by purchasing participating products, clipping the coupons and turning them in for cash. The cash can, in turn, be used for whatever the school needs.

Pictured (from left):

Tops for

Brand Manager Tommy Hillman,LifeLearn Associates President Dr.Jacquelyn Jackson Fleming,Spelman College President Dr.Beverly D.Tatum, nationally-syndicated radio air personality Steve Harvey,editor emeritus of Essence magazine Susan L. Taylor,TLC’s “Chilli,” actress Tisha Campbell Martin, singer/songwriter Monica and General Mills Baking division President Anton Vincent at the Box Tops for Education Town Hall at Morehouse College in Atlanta,Georgia (Photo:Business Wire).

The Box Tops for Education program offers parents easy, everyday ways to earn cash for their school. The program began in 1996, as more and more schools struggled to make ends meet. Each year enrolled schools receive a program kit to help them build their own comprehensive fundraising campaign. Most schools designate a program coordinator to develop ways to encourage parents, school staff and community members to clip Box Tops from participating products and bring them to school. After the collected Box Tops are sent in to General Mills, the school receives a check, equivalent to 10 cents for every Box Top redeemed to spend on anything they choose. Schools have used the cash from Box Tops for Education to purchase items such as computers and computer software, library books, art supplies and playground equipment. To learn more about Box Tops for Education visit www.btfe.com.