November 16th, 2017 Edition

Woke COGIC

By Kenya Vaughn Of The

Lyda Krewson. They met in response to weeks of unrest following the not-guilty verdict in the Jason Stockley trial for the 2011 fatal shooting

Sister Ebo passes at 93

‘Sister of Selma’ also bore witness at Ferguson

By Gloria Ross For St. Louis Public Radio

Sister Mary Antona Ebo, one of Martin Luther King Jr.’s most reluctant but eventually most powerful converts to the Civil Rights Movement, died Saturday, November 11. She was 93. Sister Ebo, who had previously suffered strokes, entered hospice last week. When King called on the nation’s religious leaders to join the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights march, Sister Ebo was a Franciscan Sisters of Mary nun in St. Louis. She was aware that hundreds of earlier

ArchCity Defenders sues to close Workhouse

Claims violations of the First, Eighth and Fourteenth amendments ApriL 10, 1924 - november 11, 2017

By Jessica Karins For The St. Louis American

The St. Louis legal advocacy organization

ArchCity Defenders has filed a lawsuit against the city’s Medium Security Institution, also known as the Workhouse. They hope to obtain a ruling that will close the institution, widely criticized by protestors and political activists as inhumane.

At a press conference on Monday, November 13 at Christ Church Cathedral, ArchCity lawyers and two of their plaintiffs spoke about conditions at the Workhouse which led the organization to regard detention there as cruel and unusual punishment and,

n “They will leave you for dead at the Workhouse.”

– Diedre Wortham

Suggs accepts Jefferson Award

American publisher calls for action to address racial inequality

By Chris King Of The St. Louis American

Donald M. Suggs, publisher and executive editor of The St. Louis American, was faced with a dilemma when the Missouri Historical Society offered him its 2017 Thomas Jefferson Award. It’s the highest honor bestowed by the society that runs one of his favorite local institutions, the

Missouri History Museum, and it recognizes those who “have played a crucial role in the betterment of our community,” which is certainly a role he strives to fulfill with this newspaper, the St. Louis American Foundation, and his extensive board commitments. It’s also named after a white supremacist who owned slaves and sired children with a woman he

See SUGGS, A7

St. Louis

held in St. Louis.

The leadership body of The Church of God In Christ surrounded Presiding Bishop Charles E. Blake Sr. on the steps of St. Louis City Hall on Friday, November 10 during a press conference that followed a meeting with Mayor Lyda Krewson. They met to address the verdict in the Jason Stockley

Photo by Wiley Price

Sister Mary Antona Ebo

Photo by Wiley Price

Tyrese to act as his own attorney?

Tyrese Gibson is locked in a legal battle with his ex-wife, Norma Gibson. She is seeking to obtain a permanent restraining order against him after alleging that he pushed their 10-year-old daughter Shayla to the ground and beat her.

Sources close to the singer and actor told The Blast that he will now be representing himself in the trial. His former attorney, Terry Levich Ross, reportedly filed documents stating a substitution of attorney in the case.

Meanwhile, Tyrese has filed documents to have the restraining order application thrown out, in which he claimed he believes Shayla had been coached into telling a story while under her mother’s care.

Norma has claimed Tyrese should be

kept away from them both because of his alleged abuse. He insists the accusations are false, and his former spouse is just bitter because of his marriage to Samantha Lee Gibson, which took place earlier this year.

According to TMZ.com, Norma’s lawyer told the court it’s essential for the judge in their custody war to demand a mental evaluation of the actor considering recent, bizarre actions – namely his video rants on social media.

happened when I was a young man. I’m not going say [when it happened] but that’s what it is. I’m not thirsty so I don’t have to tell my business.”

Is Meek’s case being probed by the FBI?

Darius McCrary claims he was abused by Hollywood exec Former “Family Matters” star Darius McCrary responded to the several sexual assault and harassment scandals that have been exposed in recent weeks by saying he, too, was

“I was inappropriately touched by a Hollywood executive, and I’m not gone tell on nobody,” McCrary told TMZ. com paparazzi outside the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills. “This

Meek Mill was recently sentenced to two to four years in jail for a probation violation by Philadelphia judge Genece Brinkley. But after the decision was publicly criticized for being too harsh, the FBI has apparently launched its own investigation into the matter.

“The feds have an interest in the judge and [her] potential relationships,” A source told the New York Post Page Six column. “This is an investigation looking into a possible extortionate demand. Undercover agents have been in the courtroom monitoring the Meek proceedings since April 2016.”

According to Mill’s attorney Joe Tacopina, the judge showed “enormous bias” against the rapper, who broke the terms of his probation, which related to his drug and weapons case in 2009.

Tacopina also accused Brinkley of acting “inappropriately” by repeatedly asking Meek to cut his ties with Roc Nation, and instead

OVEN FRESH PIES.

sign with Charlie Mack, whom Meek was connected to earlier in his music career.

“Mack had previously told Meek how he, ‘knows the judge and he could help him with his case,” the insider told Page Six. Mack has reportedly denied having any sort of relationship with the judge.

Serena said to become a married woman this weekend in New Orleans PEOPLE Magazine is reporting that Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian are preparing to wed this weekend in an intimate ceremony in New Orleans.

“A source tells PEOPLE wedding guests are flying in to the city as early as Wednesday,” People.com said. “Rumored guests include Kris Jenner, Beyoncé, JAY-Z and possibly Prince Harry’s girlfriend Meghan Markle The couple’s wedding will reportedly be held at the Contemporary Arts Center.” The rumored wedding is less than three months after the birth of their daughter Alexis Ohanian Jr. Williams and Ohanian began dating in 2015. Ohanian proposed last year.

Sources: The Blast, TMZ.com, People.com, Celeb Buzz

Tyrese

Darius Mcrary

Thomas Harvey looks back on work of ArchCity Defenders

Cofounder of civil rights law firm leaving firm and St. Louis to join wife in L.A.

By Jessica Karins

For The St. Louis American

Thomas Harvey, the executive director of legal advocacy organization ArchCity Defenders, is leaving the organization he helped found at the end of this year. Harvey sat down with The St. Louis American for a conversation about the past and future of ArchCity and its mission to fight what he calls “the criminalization of poverty.”

Harvey and two other attorneys founded ArchCity Defenders after graduating from law school to advocate for homeless people in St. Louis who were facing fines and imprisonment because they were unable to pay traffic tickets and court fees.

“We started with folks who were experiencing homelessness, and they would tell us whatever legal problems they had,” Harvey said. “Everybody had a municipal court case and they had a warrant from that case, and they were telling us that they had been locked up for what seemed like an outrageous number of days to me – 50, 60 days.”

With an attorney in their corner, ArchCity’s clients were able to easily clear their arrest warrants. But their fines continued to pile up, and Harvey realized that for every person they were helping, there were a hundred more they couldn’t help.

On the advice of one of their board members, ArchCity’s founders set off on a road trip to consult what Harvey calls the “Fortune 500 of Poverty Law” – the Southern Poverty Law Center, Southern Center for Human Rights, Georgia Justice Project, Alabama Appleseed – about what they could do differently.

“Every one of those folks, we’d tell them about what was going on in the municipal courts,” Harvey said. “I think it was the Southern Poverty Law Center who said, ‘That’s worse than

we’ve ever seen in Alabama, that’s worse than Mississippi, that’s worse than Georgia.’ Southern Center for Human Rights said, ‘If you wanted to make people poor and keep them poor, this is the system you would come up with, right?’ We just realized there was no way the three of us volunteering and a couple of other people was ever gonna make a dent in that.”

With limited resources, ArchCity Defenders set out to expand what they could offer to their clients. They started with a court-watching program that statistically validated what their clients had been saying, and later established teams to challenge abusive practices in court.

Since then, they have filed a number of lawsuits aiming “to end cash bail, debtors’ prisons, and the criminalization of poverty,” resulting in reforms across the St. Louis area. They have also filed several suits against police brutality.

In the Los Angeles area, where he is moving to join his wife, Sheridan Wigginton, Harvey will maintain his focus on laws that disproportionately

n

“We want to end the criminalization of poverty and race in St. Louis.”

– Thomas Harvey, ArchCity Defenders

affect impoverished Americans, tackling a national effort to raise funds for cash bail. He also still has high hopes for the future of ArchCity Defenders.

“We are definitely not meeting the demand right now,” Harvey said.

“We are turning people away. We turn people away every day for direct

Thomas Harvey, cofounder and executive director of ArchCity Defenders, testifying before a Missouri Supreme Committee to review municipal courts in St. Louis in November 12, 2015. He will leave the firm at the end of this year, with Blake Strode succeeding him in leadership.

Photo by Wiley Price

services – people who are evicted, folks who are in jail currently, and we also don’t have the resources for the impact litigation we want to bring about without continuing to develop the civil rights litigation team. That’s the crucial area.”

By focusing on lawsuits, Harvey hopes the organization will be able to change the St. Louis region enough that fewer people will need direct legal services. While ArchCity defenders will never have enough resources to help every person in poverty who needs legal representation, he said, they may have enough influence to change the laws that adversely affect them.

“I think the greatest strength of the organization is to be able to look at one individual case and say, ‘This is representative of a bigger systemic issue, this is how we might be able to plug into a media campaign, here’s how we might be able to support an ongoing political narrative’ – without

endorsing a candidate or anything like that, just saying, we want to end the criminalization of poverty and race in St. Louis,” Harvey said.

The St. Louis area has made some progress towards that in the past few years, Harvey said, but not enough. He believes that since post-Ferguson reforms have taken effect, judges have been less eager to impose fines and prison time for violations resulting from a lack of money. Instead, they’re shifted to sentences of community service.

For Harvey, though, this is not an end to the problem. If a defendant is sentenced to community service for a crime based on inability to pay fines or fees, it does not solve the problem of their poverty. It merely requires them to find the time and resources to get to a community service job, and it does not change the fundamental problem: that they are being punished for their lack of funds.

“If there’s one thing we still want, it’s for judges and prosecutors to have an understanding of who is actually coming before them,” Harvey said.

“And that disconnect between the judges’ and prosecutors’ race and class is so large that they can’t even conceptualize what that is.”

Harvey hopes ArchCity will be able to change that, along with other unfair legal issues that still plague St. Louis. These, he said, include crimefree housing ordinances that have the effect of discriminating against poor and black people, and the practice of police issuing “wanted” alerts to circumvent the judicial review of the warrant process.

Harvey’s successor at ArchCity Defenders, Blake Strode, hopes to address these issues. He said the dual focus on impact litigation and direct services Harvey has promoted is what makes ArchCity unique.

“Nationally there aren’t a lot of organizations that are able to do that or that are willing to do that and have that as their, sort of, organizational model,” Strode said. “So I think we’re very unique in that way, and that’s something that I am intent on preserving. I think that’s largely a function of Thomas’ leadership.”

Jessica Karins is an editorial intern from Webster University for the St. Louis American.

Editorial /CommEntary

Stenger dodges $18M county deficit his administration racked up

St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger is not known for his candor. So we weren’t surprised to learn that Stenger had buried news of a financial crisis on page 34 of a 358-page County Budget. But there it was, plain as day: By 2019, the county’s revenue will not cover expenses “[a] bsent any changes to the revenue structure (i.e. property tax rate) or programs and services (service reduction or elimination).”

In other words, county government is broke. Its recently adopted sales tax increase will only bail out the county until 2019, when property tax increases or service reductions will be needed. And the budget hole is big, indeed, with the official Budget Briefing suggesting that the deficit will be a little over $18 million.

After years of insider deals for his campaign donors, Stenger’s profligate spending has caught up with him. As County Councilwoman Hazel Erby said, “For the last three years, Steve Stenger has squandered county resources for the benefit of his own personal agenda. Now, because of his gross mismanagement, the citizens of St. Louis County are facing higher taxes and/or severe service cuts.”

A responsible county executive would have addressed this issue long ago. And a responsible leader would address it head-on now. But Stenger has not shown himself to be a responsible county executive. In a hastily-called press conference on Tuesday, November 14, Stenger argued that County Council members worried about the $18 million budget deficit are simply engaged in “election-year politics.” At his press conference, Stenger could have offered concrete solutions, but instead he came across as veritable Trumplike, dishing out double-speak, attacks on his political opponents, and empty

assurances that everything will be great. His only concrete proposals - pension reforms and cutting jobs – will only amount to small droplets in an $18 million-sized bucket. By not addressing this crisis head-on, Stenger is committing county executive malpractice. Now is the time for Stenger to set aside his personal grudges and his sizable ego, and work with County Council members to craft solutions to avoid this impending crisis. There is a good reason Stenger buried his warning of a financial crisis. He had hoped to avoid discussions of raising taxes or cutting services before his August 2018 primary. After all, the 2018 budget cycle in the County Council would not begin until September 2019. At that point, he would likely blame the council for not heeding the warning he had buried in the budget, and claim it was their fault for not addressing the budget crisis starting with the 2018 budget process. So Stenger was caught yet again. We are not holding our breath that he will begin to lead like he should. In the absence of his leadership, the County

Council will need to take a close look at the 2018 budget. A close look requires not only looking for cost savings and new sources of revenue, but also possibly expanding the county auditor’s office so that it can lead the process of identifying waste, fraud, and abuse in the way the Stenger administration spends taxpayer money. The irony of Stenger burying the county in a deficit with sweetheart deals to his campaign donors is not lost on us – and should not be lost on voters. Stenger led a whisper campaign – he made some of these whispers to one of our editors – alleging corruption by Charlie Dooley while running against him in the 2014 Democratic primary. The Post-Dispatch took the bait, running more than a year of stories and editorials accusing Dooley of corruption with very weak sourcing. Like Trump, who promised to drain the swamp but has in fact exponentially added to the muck, Stenger has not cleaned up county government. He is only making a bigger mess of it, and voters will pay – as may Stenger himself when they pick up a ballot with his name on it.

Commentary

A clear and explicit repudiation of Trump

What happened at the polls Tuesday, November 7 was a good old-fashioned butt-kicking that exposed the cynical fraud called Trumpism. Hallelujah, people, and let’s do it again next year.

Perhaps Republicans forgot that Hillary Clinton – rightly or wrongly, a candidate distrusted by much of the nation – won nearly 3 million more votes than Donald Trump. Or that bigger crowds came to Washington to protest Trump’s inauguration than to celebrate it. Or that voting trends in special elections since Trump took office were against the GOP. Maybe all of that slipped Democrats’ minds as well. Many expected Ralph Northam to squeeze out a victory over Ed Gillespie in the Virginia governor’s race, but I don’t know anyone who predicted Northam would win by 9 points, the biggest margin in that contest in more than three decades. And no one imagined that Democrats would nearly erase the GOP’s 32-seat advantage in the Virginia House of Delegates, with recounts pending that could still put Republicans in the minority.

I hope the message to the Republican Party is clear: If you embrace Trump’s angry, nativist, white-nationalist politics of division, you will pay a price. Democrats did well from coast to coast, winning the New Jersey governorship and control of the Washington state senate, among other triumphs. It’s possible, of course, to read too much into an offyear election. But Virginia is especially telling because it is a genuinely purple state – and

because Gillespie ran a flat-out Trumpist campaign. His television ads were among the most appalling I’ve ever seen. One tried to link Northam with the murderous MS-13 street gang, composed largely of Central American immigrants – an echo of Trump’s jingoistic screeds. Another claimed Democrats were accusing all Trump supporters of racism.

Columnist Eugene Robinson

Another pro-Gillespie ad took aim at National Football League players who kneel in protest during the national anthem – a cohort that happens to be almost exclusively AfricanAmerican. And yet another sought to link Northam, who is a pediatric neurologist, with a sex offender who went to prison on child pornography charges. The result was an antiRepublican tsunami. In metropolitan areas across the state, voters turned out in huge numbers to defeat Gillespie and the rest of the GOP ticket.

It was a clear and explicit repudiation of Trump and what he stands for. Tolerance, inclusiveness and common decency are still American values, it seems.

Democrats won the Virginia governorship with a candidate who is not, shall we say, overburdened with charisma. They did it without a vivid and unforgettable bumper-sticker message. And they swept the state without forsaking progressive principles. Perhaps

Prop P’s passage doesn’t mean we don’t need police reform

By the Coalition Against Police Crimes and Repression

Tuesday’s Prop P vote results show that St. Louis city residents want more accountability from elected officials and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.

More than 40 percent of the voters sent a clear message that they are not willing to give up their hard-earned dollars to continue with the current state of public safety. Although backers of Prop P carried the day, we will continue to advocate for a complete and total culture change in the police department and a shift in funding priorities that raise the quality of life citywide.

Specifically, the Board of Aldermen needs to step up its oversight of the SLMPD’s fiscal impact on the city and review internal policies across the board, including but not limited to the department’s use of force guidelines, moonlighting, residency, promotions and training. A

financial audit would be a good place to start, and cracking down on police brutalizing residents would be a necessary follow up.

The Coalition Against Police Crimes and Repression (CAPCR) has been advocating for a re-envisioning of public safety that de-emphasizes the ineffective “arrest, prosecute and incarcerate” model while addressing the systemic pathology, economic inequality, and underlying societal foundations of crime and violence in our communities.

Prop P monies have been earmarked for the circuit attorney’s office, hiring of police and firefighters, pensions, equipment and youth services and community development. CAPCR opposes using Prop P revenue to continue militarizing the police – they should not be indistinguishable from the U.S. armed forces in dress and weaponry, like the tactical SWAT unit.

The best public safety environment would include restorative justice alternatives

Letters to the editor

It’s time for gun control

to incarceration for misdemeanors and non-violent crimes, encouraging economic activity that creates jobs and provides opportunities for starting businesses, community policing that proactively solves problems instead of generating resentment and mutual distrust, shifting the handling of certain situations away from lawenforcement and into the hands of capable social workers, real accountability for police abuse and harassment of city residents, establishing an autonomous Office of Civilian Oversight with the resources and personnel to function effectively.

This list is by no means exhaustive, but it is intended to set in motion a transformative culture change in the SLMPD and serve as a beneficial model for other cities. The mission of the Coalition Against Police Crimes and Repression (http://capcr-stl. org) is to end police crimes and abuse, end the criminalization of a generation and expose the prison industrial complex.

the most stunning result came in Prince William County, a Washington exurb, where Danica Roem became the first openly transgender member of the state legislature – defeating Del. Robert G. Marshall, who called himself Virginia’s “chief homophobe.”

Some of Trump’s apologists sought absurdly to claim the result was unsurprising because Virginia is a blue state anyway, which simply is not true. It’s headed in that direction, but the state legislature remains solidly in GOP hands (depending on those recounts) and seven of the state’s 11 members of the House of Representatives are Republicans. That’s no Democratic stronghold.

Trump came up with an exculpatory spin: Gillespie would have won easily if he hadn’t kept Trump at arm’s length. That is beyond ridiculous. Exit polls showed Trump’s approval at 40 percent – considerably worse than Gillespie’s eventual showing. Gillespie was wise not to have Trump at his side; he was unwise, and craven, to run a full-bore Trumpist campaign. In the final days, as polls tightened and it seemed Gillespie had a chance, Trump piled in with a series of antiNortham tweets, obviously planning to claim all the credit for a GOP victory. Oops.

Democrats do need a resonant message that connects with as many voters as possible. They do need fresh and appealing candidates for 2018 and beyond. But Tuesday’s election sent a righteous message about what the country thinks of the Trump presidency. Republicans can save themselves and their honor – or go down with the ship.

Every time there’s a mass shooting they always say that this is not the time to talk about gun control, and that we should pray for the people who were killed and wounded. No! Stop the praying! It’s not working! Praying is like giving a sick person a placebo. It’s a fake remedy. Do religious people not see that you are being exploited by politicians and gun manufacturers for profit? How many church shootings will it take before you figure out that you are being scammed? Having a gun in your hand doesn’t make you safe. Taking the gun out of the hands of crazy people makes you safe. If you’re going to pray, then pray for wisdom and realize that surely we can do better than this.

Marc Perkel Gilroy, California

Steam and Captain Cousins

What’s wrong with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department? Quite a lot, actually. Fixing the “wrong” is like eating an elephant. You take one bit at a time. One of the bites is a reasonable concept; fair treatment for all. That concept involves annotation. The P.D. fails miserably in this area.

The disciplinary case of Captain Ryan Cousins is a case on point. If, over the years, police administrators had been required to annotate disciplinary rules and decisions, subsequent disciplinary actions would (presumably) have to

be consistent with previous actions. But that’s not the way the P.D. works. Annotation is an enemy of police management. Steam trumps rules and regulations. (Steam is a connection to influential people or politicians.) Rules do not constrain cops who have steam. When an officer with steam gets in a jam, he/ she calls their steam, and steam fixes the problem. The result is police management’s slapdash application of rules and regulations that ebb and flow to accommodate influential people and, or, politicians. So, was Capt. Cousins justly or unjustly punished? Was he the victim of a department vendetta? Or a victim of command mismanagement? Or did he violate department rules? Was steam involved? Did police management adjudge the captain in accordance with previous disciplinary actions? If the rules were clearly annotated, would Cousins have been treated differently? All good questions. Michael K. Broughton Green Park

A line of police in riot gear confronted a group of police accountability protestors in St. Louis on September 29. Photo by Lawrence Bryant

Photo by Jason Rosenbaum/St. Louis Public Radio

St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger

Trauma-informed in Normandy

Pamela Parker, a teacher at Washington Elementary School in the Normandy Schools Collaborative, participates in an exercise during the first of three trauma-informed trainings at the school. The collaborative is in its second year of providing trauma-informed training for all staff, which falls in line with a statewide initiative established by the Missouri Department of Secondary and Elementary Education (DESE). “To meet the needs of many of our students, the trauma-informed training will provide our staff another tool to help us to better understand and respond to children who have gone through Adverse Childhood Experiences,” said Charles Pearson, Normandy superintendent.

Dellwood recognized for beautifying bus stops

Metro transit will recognize the City of Dellwood on Thursday, November 16, as the municipality that has adopted the most MetroBus stops in St. Louis County during the first year of the Adopt-A-Stop program. Metro launched Adopt-A-Stop with the goal of increasing civic pride while creating a more pleasant transit experience for Metro riders and residents in the neighborhoods and communities Metro serves. The City of Dellwood was an early adopter of the program that is geared toward keeping MetroBus stops clean, attractive and free from litter.

Father’s

Support Center opens site on Cherokee Street

In August, in partnership with St. Louis nonprofit Guardian Angel Settlement, Father’s Support Center opened a fourth service location at 2700 Cherokee Street to more conveniently reach south city and county residents. For more information, visit http://fatherssupportcenter.org.

Nominate an inspiring STEM teacher

The Challenger Learning Center is seeking nominations from people who were inspired by an area teacher to pursue a degree or career in a STEM field for its Inspiring Teacher Awards. Nomination deadline is November 28. Make nominations at http://www.challengerstl.org/inspiringteacher.

Prop P was a line in the sand

By Jamala Rogers For The St. Louis American

Proposition Pain (aka Prop P) passed last week with nearly 60 percent of the vote. It was an overall low voter turnout, but the South Side carried the day, especially wards 12, 16 and 23. The sales tax is expected to generate about $20 million annually. Although most of it will go to the police department, some coins were thrown towards the circuit attorney. For Prop P opponents, there was no coordinated ground strategy to educate voters on the issue or a Get Out the Vote campaign. When there are few funds in the mobilizing pot, one must successfully organize people around a simple, yet effective message.

Black elected officials stood down or talked out both sides of their mouths regarding Prop P. There were no sample ballots. Mayor Krewson was invited to come to North Side ward meetings with a message of fear if the proposition failed to pass. For the older residents most likely to come out on election day, it resonated with their most basic instincts. No North Side ward defeated the proposition; the narrowest margin was in the 18th Ward, where Terry Kennedy is alderperson.

The St. Louis Central Labor Council voted to support Prop P. A chunk of the $375,000 raised for the passage of P came from unions. When the Organization for Black Struggle sent its “No on Prop P” literature to its usual union printer, the print job was refused because the printer also gets business from the St. Louis Police Officers Association (SLPOA) and affiliated law enforcement groups. The black community and black union members are getting weary of this fair-weather relationship with labor. We stand with labor, but it’s not always reciprocated when we need genuine solidarity.

The braggart police association (“whose streets?”) and its notorious bully business agent Jeff Roorda think this is a mandate for more of the same in our neighborhoods. Mayor Krewson is so uninformed as to think that black folks of any intelligence voted for the measure as a demonstration of their confidence in police. It’s much more complicated than that.

Krewson’s collusion with the SLPOA is blatant but unacceptable. She cow-towed to a backroom deal to get the support of police for the measure by assuring them they would get the bulk of the funds. She has implicitly supported the gestapo tactics of the police on non-violent protestors in the aftermath of the Jason Stockley verdict.

Krewson claimed she finds Roorda’s behavior disgusting – even chiding him for his attack on Tishaura O. Jones, her opponent during the 2016 mayoral campaign. Krewson has called for his firing. Yet, there she was on the night of Prop P, celebrating with Roorda, despite his history of corruption and intimidation.

That’s why Prop P was a line in the sand. It’s about whether this city moves forward with a new vision of public safety for its black citizens, or whether the police association continues to be the puppeteers of city government. The association keeps making it crystal clear: It’s their way or the highway.

Opponents of Prop Pain are not backing down. We are organizing for more accountability and transparency at the budget level, at the policy level, at the street level. Those with backbone and political clarity are welcomed to join us. Those who voted for Prop P – and who will inevitably be angered by the broken promises of safety and security – will be welcomed into our ranks with open arms.

Jamala Rogers

Continued from A1

stifling heat in the summers to frigid cold in the winters; inconsistent and inadequate provision of medical care and mental health treatment; poor air quality and proliferation of mold caused by the jail’s lack of ventilation and inadequate sanitation; overcrowding; insufficient staffing; and a culture of fear created by frequent violence and retaliation, including by jail staff,” the lawsuit reads.

“These conditions not only violate the United States Constitution, but also run afoul of the most basic standards of human decency.”

The suit was filed in federal court and relies on constitutional arguments, as there are few federal laws regulating prisons. ArchCity Defenders charges that the Workhouse conditions violate the First, Eighth and Fourteenth amendments. They are seeking monetary damages for the seven plaintiffs in the case, two of them anonymous, all formerly incarcerated at the Workhouse.

The lawsuit also asked that either the Workhouse be closed

EBO

Continued from A1

An interfaith contingent of 54 from St. Louis arrived in Selma on the morning of March 10, 1965, three days after what became known as “Bloody Sunday,” when state police attacked a group of 600 demonstrators at the Edmund Pettus Bridge, who were on a 50-mile walk to Alabama’s capitol in Montgomery to demand an end to voting discrimination. For safety, their chartered plane landed on a makeshift runway in a farmer’s field. The Archdiocese of St. Louis had originally planned

or the city be required to pay a $10,000 fine each day it does not install air conditioning or end the facility’s mold problem.

Blake Strode, recently chosen as the executive director of ArchCity Defenders, said up to 99 percent of detainees at the Workhouse are awaiting trial and have not been found guilty of any crime. They are incarcerated, he said, mostly because they cannot afford to pay cash bail after being arrested on minor charges.

One plaintiff, James Cody, was held at the Workhouse for nine months on a probation violation. Cody described the facility as being overcrowded and in a state of disrepair. He was housed, he said, in a 70-person dorm with only one working toilet, sink or shower and no air circulation, with no pane in the window near his bed.

“I made a promise that I would actually say something about it,” Cody said.

Another plaintiff, Diedre Wortham, said she was denied medication at the Workhouse for her high blood pressure and faced unsanitary conditions, including black mold. Wortham said prison staff seemed unconcerned about her medical condition, although she had

to send only priests, but later agreed to send six nuns as well, including Ebo, the only African American nun. The diocese also sent two rabbis, other St. Louis clergy and some lay leaders. The “Sisters of Selma,” as they became known, were the first delegation of nuns to join the protest. They stood front and center in the marchers who were headed to the Selma courthouse to try to register to vote.

In full habits, the Sisters of Selma “stole the show from the boys,” Sister Ebo recalled. And she was the star. Reporters, many of whom had never seen a black nun, swarmed her. They asked why she was there. “To bear witness,” she said. From Selma to Ferguson,

just been hospitalized while in custody at the City Justice Center.

“They will leave you for dead at the Workhouse,” Wortham said.

Jamala Rogers, executive

Sister Ebo bore witness for more than half a century.

“She’s the most famous person people don’t know,” Philip Deitch, a longtime friend and fellow activist, said in 2017. “I’m president of her fan club – a position many others claim with the love and admiration we share for her.”

When the St. Louis religious delegation arrived in Selma, they went directly to Brown Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church, the gathering place and launching point for the protestors. As she entered the church, Sister Ebo was surprised to hear Andrew Young Jr., the future executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, U.S. ambassador

director for the Organization for Black Struggle, also appeared at the press conference to support the lawsuit and advocate for closure of the Workhouse. Rogers said conditions at the

to the United Nations, Georgia Congressman and mayor of Atlanta, introduce her as “one of the great moral forces of the world.”

With the St Louis group out front, they marched only half a block. They were stopped by Selma’s mayor, Joe Smitherman, backed by a wall of heavily armed state troopers among a sea of Confederate flags.

The marchers had been thwarted again, but this time they had diminutive, bespectacled and beautiful, 40-year-old Antona Ebo. She explained to local officials, the crush of reporters and the world, why she was in Selma.

She told them that the day before, she had voted in St. Louis. “And I’d like to come here today and say that every citizen – Negro as well as white – should be given the right to vote,” she said. “That’s why I’m here today.”

No one crossed the Edmond Pettus Bridge that day, a bridge named for a Confederate general and reputed Ku Klux Klan leader. They knelt and prayed before returning to the church, home and into history.

Conversion to Catholicism

Elizabeth Louise Ebo, Betty Lou to her family, was born April 10, 1924, in Bloomington, Illinois. Her mother, Louise Teal Ebo, died when she was 4. Unable to keep the family afloat, her father, Daniel Ebo, took Betty Lou and her two older siblings, Walter Ralph and Mary Jeanette, to live in the McLean County Home for Colored Children in Bloomington.

A little boy at the home was Roman Catholic, but was not permitted to attend his church. While she and the boy were on an errand one day to pick up day-old bread, he sneaked into a Catholic church; Betty Lou followed.

She was moved by the boy’s solemn longing for his church and the communion ritual he described. When he went to the altar to pray, “I cased the joint, and it was so beautiful,” she told the Archdiocese of New Orleans Clarion Herald in 2014.

Sister Ebo came from a long line of Baptists but that day marked the beginning of her conversion to Catholicism.

As a child, she was hospitalized several times for tuberculosis. A nurse and the hospital’s visiting priest helped her get into Holy Trinity Catholic High School in Bloomington, where she was the only African-American student. At age 18, she converted to Catholicism.

After graduating from high school, the young woman applied to a Catholic nursing school, but was rejected because of her race. Undaunted, she applied to the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps at St. Mary’s Infirmary, a program that trained replacements for the hospital’s volunteer nurses serving in World War II. The infirmary was a hospital for

Nicole Wilson, an attorney for ArchCity Defenders, talked about the firm’s federal suit against the City of St. Louis regarding the city’s Medium Security Institution, also known as the Workhouse, in a press conference on Tuesday, November 14. ArchCity seeks monetary relief for seven plaintiffs and calls for the facility to be closed due to constitutional violations.

facility, which has been the subject of several previous suits, go unchecked because those incarcerated there are largely poor and black. Rogers said, “There is nothing now that could be done

blacks, but the young woman who would become Sister Ebo was the first African American accepted into its nursing program.

In 1946, she and two others were the first AfricanAmerican women to enter the Sisters of St. Mary in St Louis (now the Franciscan Sisters of Mary).

Sister Ebo worked in medical records at Firmin Desloge Hospital in St. Louis from 1955 to 1961, then for a year at St. Mary’s Health Center in St. Louis. She became director of medical records at St. Mary’s Infirmary in 1962. That same year, she earned a medical records administration degree and in 1970, she earned a master’s in hospital executive, both from Saint Louis University. She had just been promoted to department head at St. Mary’s Infirmary, the first black person to attain that position, when she heeded the call to Selma in 1965. Two years later, she became head of St. Clare Hospital in Baraboo, Wisconsin. She was the first African-American woman in

n “Every citizen –Negro as well as white – should be given the right to vote. That’s why I’m here today.”

– Sister Mary Antona Ebo is Selma in 1965

the nation to run a Catholic hospital.

The following year, with a growing awareness of the civil rights struggle, Sister Ebo helped found the National Black Sisters’ Conference. She earned a master’s in theology of health care from Aquinas Institute of Theology in 1978, spent several years as a chaplain at St. Mary’s Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin, and later at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, before returning to St. Louis.

Sister Ebo was bestowed several honorary doctorates over the years and spoke about her experiences across the U.S. and internationally. In 2012, the St. Louis American Foundation honored Sister Ebo with a Lifetime Achiever Award in Health Care.

Sister Ebo, who casually referred to Jesus as “J.C.,” compared chaplaincy to being a clown.

“Clowns don’t do a lot of talking,” she told the old Catholic Herald Citizen “They’re quiet. They bring happiness by smiling in a way that is both happy and sad. It’s a wry smile that says, ‘I’ve experienced life – both the gladness and the sadness. I’m human just like you.’”

From Selma to Ferguson

Sister Ebo’s dedication to civil rights never waned.

She and civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks received the Eucharist from Pope John Paul

II during his 1999 visit to St. Louis.

That same year, she met Deitch on a nationwide Freedom Ride 1999 bus trip to Mississippi by the national NAACP and the Religious Action of Reformed Judaism. They were going to commemorate the deaths of civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, who were murdered by the Ku Klux Klan in 1964 and call for charges to be reinstated against Edgar Ray Killen, the Klansman and Baptist minister who had organized the murders. It was on this trip that Sister Ebo crossed the Pettus Bridge for the first time with the brother of James Chaney on one side and with St. Louisan Barbara Umbogy, the cousin of Michael Schwerner on her other side. Following a jury deadlock, Killen was convicted of manslaughter by a second jury in 2005.

Sister Ebo returned to Selma several times over the years, however, in 2013 she crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge with Democratic U.S. Rep. John Lewis as her escort. In 1965, Lewis, who became the enduring symbol of Bloody Sunday, was a Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee leader who suffered serious injuries on Bloody Sunday.

One of her proudest moments was in 2010, when she received a kiss on the cheek from the first African American U.S. President Barack Obama after she offered the invocation at a St. Louis dinner organized by Senator Claire McCaskill. Shortly after, a thenFerguson police officer shot and killed black teenager Michael Brown on August 9, 2014, Sister Ebo had her friend Deitch drive her to the site of Brown’s death so she could again bear witness. When a reporter from Birmingham interviewed her, she advised him to delve deep.

“You are not here to take a superficial picture,” the St. Louis Review reported her saying. “The mistake I think many of us made in the ‘60s is we were taking somebody else’s word for it; you have to look under the rug.”

Sister Ebo is survived by two cousins, Yvonne Dada Bratton of Buffalo, New York, and Sandra Mayo of Annapolis, Maryland, and a sister-inlaw, Maxine Ebo of Rancho Cordova, California. Visitation will be 9 a.m. Monday, November 20 at St. Alphonsus Liguori “Rock” Church, 1118 N. Grand Blvd. A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m., with Archbishop Robert J. Carlson presiding.

In lieu of flowers, donations would be appreciated to Cardinal Ritter High School, the archdiocesan Peace and Justice Commission, St. Matthew Church, St. Nicholas Church or St. Alphonsus Liguori “Rock” Church. Republished with permission from news.stlpublicradio.org.

Photo by Wiley Price

with the Workhouse to reform it.”

Jessica Karins is an editorial intern for the St. Louis American from Webster University.

SUGGS

owned, which would have to be understood as nonconsensual sex that Jefferson initiated. Suggs agreed to accept the award, but began to fret about how to address this dilemma.

To compound the challenge, the award is given by the Thomas Jefferson Society at its annual dinner. This is the Missouri Historical Society’s leadership donor group, comprised of many of the wealthiest and most powerful people in the St. Louis region. Though mainly white, they are Suggs’ peers in many civic groups. Many of them also are decisionmakers at institutions and companies that support his newspaper and foundation –including the Missouri History Museum itself, a longtime partner of the paper, on whose Board of Trustees Suggs served for years.

Jefferson’s white supremacy and domestic history of what would least charitably be called interracial rape.

“Harvard Law professor Noah Feldman has affirmed that while Jefferson, a founder of the U.S. Constitution, wrote that ‘all men are created equal,’ he believed Africans were inferior and fathered children with an enslaved woman. But his colleague and contemporary,

n “Race is being exploited by some duplicitous politicians as a leverage point to rouse a dissatisfied and disaffected working class.”

– Donald M. Suggs

His solution was to praise Jefferson’s role as “the intellectual architect of the nation’s highest ideals,” as Suggs said in his acceptance speech on Thursday, November 9, yet allude to

COGIC

Continued from A1

Continued from A1 of Anthony Lamar Smith. Blake didn’t discuss what took place during the conversation, but he shared the letter presented to Krewson.

“As pastoral leaders, we understand the frustration and outrage of citizens at yet another failure of justice regarding the shooting death of a black man at the hands of a police officer,” Blake read. “We encourage lawful protests that seek the redress of grievances and offer our prayers for the family of Mr. Smith and the entire community.”

Several faces from the frontline of the Stockley verdict protests were on hand to observe the news conference –including Melissa McKinnies, Cori Bush, Rev. Darryl Gray, State Rep. Bruce Franks Jr. and Tory Russell.

“As an organization, we have been responsible for generating over $125 million in the St. Louis regional economy over the past seven years, so we must also challenge responsible parties to correct the wrongs of a justice system that is deeply broken,” Blake read. “We thank you for your willingness to meet with our delegation to discuss strategies to improve police-community relations and to address the concerns of residents.”

Alexander Hamilton – himself a distinguished co-founder of the U.S. Constitution – genuinely rejected the idea of racial inferiority and insisted that enslaved Africans were entitled to a right to liberty.” Suggs read to a sold-out crowd of civic leaders in the Grand Hall of the Missouri History Museum.

“Yet even Hamilton felt he could not, at the time, afford to free his own slaves in his will. This contradiction resonates with our current situation. America, at its best, has repeatedly aspired to establish racial equality in the face of slavery and segregation. Yet, the need to accommodate the realities of economics, politics and the prejudice of others – which is to say, the difficulty even well-intentioned people can have in accepting the true cost

and proactive efforts with regards to police-community relations. Blake said COGIC stands in agreement with community demands that included mandatory use of body cameras (and support of legislation that would make it a criminal offense for police not to wear issued body cameras or to properly upload the footage), subpoena power for the Civilian Oversight Board and adoption of the Ferguson Commission report’s calls to action.

“We are obligated to urge strong consideration of steps to ensure that there will be justice in police-involved shootings,” Blake read. “We also support the enactment of necessary systemic changes in this critical area. In response to community concerns, COGIC supports our members engaging in orderly and peaceful direct action during our conference. Movement toward the goals and initiatives outlined above will greatly impact our deliberations regarding where to hold future convocations and other conferences.”

n “As pastoral leaders, we understand the frustration and outrage of citizens at yet another failure of justice regarding the shooting death of a black man at the hands of a police officer.”

– COGIC

St. Louis has been the host city of the Holy Convocation since 2010. Before then, it was held in Memphis – the location of the denomination’s headquarters –for more than a century. COGIC is contracted to bring Holy Convocation back to America’s Center through 2019.

of meaningful change – has continued to hold back racial equality.”

Looming behind him, with its backside to Suggs and the audience, was Karl Bitter’s colossal sculpture of Jefferson.

Suggs’ historical departure did more than register a black man’s grievances with Jefferson while accepting a ward named for him. Suggs argued in his conclusion that “the realities of economics, politics and the prejudice of others” continue to hold back

Rev. Darryl Gray, who has been an active organizer in the Stockley verdict protests, said the gesture was appreciated, but could have been stronger

“They should have come down here before they got started to let us know that they are standing with us –and we should have been up there with them right now,” Gray said. “If they stand for

racial equality, and those negative forces are being stoked by the man holding the nation’s highest office.

“Currently our segmented society is being torn even further apart. Race is being exploited by some duplicitous politicians as a leverage point to rouse a dissatisfied and disaffected working class,” Suggs said.

“Conservative columnist David Brooks warns that a new culture will have to be built, new values promulgated and

us, then they should have been standing with us.”

Gray said the situation is symbolic of a disconnect between the activist and faith communities.

“We talk about white silence is violence,” Gray said. “But church silence is violence too – and I’ve been in ministry for 35 years.

Oftentimes, the church will stay quiet for too long. Local

a new social fabric will have to be woven, one that brings us into a better relationship with each other.’ That is work that sorely needs to be done to embrace a better vision for America.”

His speech was met with a standing ovation from some of the powerful people in the St. Louis region.

His peer publisher Ray Hartmann, founder of The Riverfront Times and current publisher of St. Louis Magazine, praised Suggs for

clergy has been standing beside the protesters, and not apart. Today, this church stood apart.”

Melissa McKinnies, another active protest organizer, was more optimistic about the gesture.

“The leaders of the church said that they would present these suggestions to the mayor, and they did it,” McKinnies said. “These are things that

couching his criticism and call to action in terms of respect that his distinguished audience could readily appreciate.

“I’ve been to an awful lot of nice events like this, but it’s really rare to hear the honoree make remarks that are as candid and profound as what Donald Suggs had to say tonight. He said what needed to be said with an amazing touch of class and grace.” Suggs’ speech is available at stlamerican.com and will appear in print next week.

we want in place. They said they were going to do their part to try to hold the city accountable.”

She was especially impressed by COGIC’s threat to move its lucrative convention business elsewhere.

“Hopefully,” she said of COGIC, “if it comes down to it, they will be willing to hold onto their check.”

Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis President and CEO Michael McMillan was also on hand to hear Blake read the letter.

“We are concerned about both the actions of former officer Stockley and the way law enforcement and its administration are carried out. We unequivocally affirm the excellent job that many police officers do daily. We appreciate the fact that police officers literally put their lives on the line daily,” Blake read.

“Yet, we cannot ignore the fact that there are numerous citizens who have experienced unjust targeting, humiliation, loss of physical freedom, and even physical harm at the hands of a relatively few St Louis police officers. The historical record will show that this is not a new phenomenon, nor simply the perspective of a few troublesome activists.”

The letter included recommendations such as independent investigations for police-involved shootings

“Every effort must be made to blunt reasonable cries for transparency and to give the community greater confidence,” Blake said. “We call all community stakeholders to speak clearly, in a unified voice against police misconduct and for systemic changes in the best interest of the entire city of St. Louis.”

Once the letter was read in its entirety, COGIC pastor Rev. Phillip Brooks closed the news conference with prayer.

“It has been said that justice delayed is justice denied. We have come to lift our voice for justice and equity. We thank you for our presiding bishop, Bishop Charles Edward Blake, representing the millions of members of the Church Of God In Christ who have come to this fair city for the last seven years to add to the growing economy. Economy is important, but justice is more important,” Brooks prayed.

“Today we pray that for the voices of those who have been voiceless. We pray for those who have been victimized by this violence.”

Photo by Wiley Price

A capacity crowd in the Grand Hall at the Missouri History Museum listened to Donald M. Suggs, publisher and executive editor of The St. Louis American, accept the 2017 Thomas Jefferson Award from the Missouri Historical Society on Thursday, November 9.

Reading the tea leaves of Prop P’s easy victory – and where it was defeated

The kind of veteran politicians who used to meet at Beffa’s – the faceless, signless brick building on Olive in Midtown – used to say that in St. Louis, there are two political parties: black Democrats and white Democrats.

Recent observations and elections suggest that things may be changing. There now appear to be four parties: black establishment Democrats, black independent activists, white progressive Democrats, and white conservative DemocratRepublicans. Let us take a quick walk down memory lane and then briefly take each bloc in turn.

One of the biggest mistakes people in American politics have made for over a century has been to assume that black politics is monolithic. In fact, since Denmark Vesey and Nat Turner chose open rebellion while most slaves chose more veiled forms of it, black politics has always been more nuanced than portrayed by white observers.

black voters, who could potentially unite with white insurgents to create problems for white machine politicians. For many years, this problem was especially acute in increasingly black wards such as Craig Schmid’s 20th Ward, wards where white incumbents felt most threatened by black immigration.

Such is the case in St. Louis. Blacks began moving south from the Central Corridor and North Side decades ago, sometime voluntarily, other times due to displacement following the razing of large public housing projects such as Pruitt-Igoe and Darst-Webbe. Nearly all South Side wards were controlled by white aldermen and committeepeople with no incentive to register

One particularly disturbing way that the machine solved this: to purge the voter file after presidential elections, which typically draw a larger, younger, and more heavily black turnout than municipal races. In the black-controlled North Side wards, there was less historical reason for aldermen and committeepeople to lead the purging of voter rolls. Because of the aforementioned migration patterns, and because of the divergent strategies of established North and South politicians, the South Side’s black population is somewhat newer, younger, and more progressive than the North Side’s cadre of established Democrats, personified by U.S. Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay, or at City Hall, by Aldermen Sam Moore, Frank Williamson, or Terry Kennedy. The South Side’s black population is less tied to Democratic Party infrastructure – which shouldn’t surprise anyone, given how long it was snubbed by that very apparatus.

Political and cultural splits

in the white community have traditionally received more attention. Many of the old heads among us, our political world-view forged in the pathbreaking battles of the 1980s and ‘90s – such as Virvus Jones’ first comptroller race, or Freeman Bosley Jr.’s races for circuit court clerk and mayor – still conceive of the Central Corridor as the integrated swing area where closely contested citywide elections are won or lost.

But that’s not really the case anymore.

A city evolves: new map to victory

In the 1970s and ‘80s, soon after a mass exodus from the city began, white so-called “urban pioneers” –white people sure do love to

“discover” places blacks have happily inhabited for decades –began rehabbing neighborhoods like Soulard, Lafayette Square, Compton Heights, Benton Park, and the Central West End. The rehabs were, for the most part, done beautifully using period architecture and materials, and helped those neighborhoods appreciate to the point where CWE manses routinely go for well into the seven figures, with homes in some other neighborhoods selling around $750,000.

Younger people – writers, waiters, tattoo artists, grad students, musicians, and other anti-establishmentarians – became priced out of these increasingly affluent neighborhoods. They began gravitating instead to nearby neighborhoods such as Shaw, Tower Grove South, Fox Park, and McKinley Heights – and later, to Tower Grove East, Benton Park West, and Dutchtown. They took with them their progressive political values – which helps explain why the old Central Corridor wards like 6 (Lafayette Square, Compton Heights), 7 (Soulard) and the CWE (28) started voting less like liberal bastions and more and more like the distant, overwhelmingly white, deep South/Southwest city wards like 12 (Boulevard Heights/Carondelet), 23 (Lindenwood), and 16 (St. Louis Hills).

It also helps explain why the neighborhoods to which young white progressives moved –and often, where some blacks already lived – became the new progressive bastions.

Sometime in the early 2000s, various factors intertwined to catalyze the emergence of this nascent white progressive bloc. The first major factor was the liberal base’s white-hot antipathy to President George W. Bush and his Middle Eastern adventurism. The second factor was the rise of Howard Dean, who energized and helped to organize a sizable group of white city progressives. A third factor

Jeff Roorda, business agent for the St. Louis Police Officers Association, enjoyed Prop P election results with 23rd Ward Alderman Joe Vaccaro on November 7.

Photo by Carolina Hidalgo / St. Louis Public Radio

was the 2004 congressional candidacy of political science professor Jeff Smith, whose vigorous grassroots campaign mobilized a multiracial cadre of progressives looking for a candidate willing to thumb his nose at the decaying Democratic machine embodied by Russ Carnahan. The precinct results in that primary offered a hint of what was to come: huge wins for Smith in the emerging South Central Corridor – wards like 8, 9, and 15. Weak mayoral challengers like Irene Smith Maida Coleman, and Lewis Reed prevented this coalition from coalescing again for over a decade. Then along came another young, dynamic candidate with crossover appeal, Treasurer Tishaura O. Jones, who constructed a similar multiracial coalition that nearly propelled her to victory in a hotly contested mayoral race. Jones ran strongest in the same neighborhoods where Smith’s base emerged – Shaw, Tower Grove South, Tower Grove East; her four strongest wards all have strong, rising contingents of white progressives that she seemed to dominate: 8 (47 percent), 9 (40 percent), 15 (53 percent), and 20 (39 percent). She ran weakest in the same deep South Side neighborhoods (St. Louis Hills, Lindenwood) where Smith mostly failed to get traction. The old Central Corridor wards with neighborhoods like Soulard and the CWE that were once quasi-liberal bastions had grown affluent, fat, and happy, losing their anti-establishment edge and supporting the establishment, law-and-order candidate, Lyda Krewson

Politics of Prop P

The victory of Proposition P last week cannot be analyzed according to the old, Beffa’s paradigm. It is best understood through the new paradigm.

The election doesn’t reflect

a stark racial divide. While there was certainly some black opposition to Prop P and while the whitest wards were easily the most supportive (with huge margins is wards like 12 and 16), the opposition wasn’t centered in the black community, but rather among the most progressive whites in relatively integrated wardsthe same neighborhoods Jones dominated in her mayoral race, like Tower Grove South, Benton Park, Shaw, and Dutchtown around Cherokee Street.

It also confirmed the aforementioned trend: The geographical Central Corridor (wards 6, 7, 17, 28), which once had integrated neighborhoods with much of the city’s more liberal white base, isn’t all that liberal anymore. It’s older, more established, less hip, more conservative, more pro-police than pro-social justice. In this new paradigm, the old-school North Side black Democrats were largely OK with giving higher salaries with no added accountability to the Lawrence O’Tooleled police force that “owned the night” during protests. Black politicians, according to Jamala Rogers, “stood down or talked out both sides of their mouths regarding Prop P.” Rogers judged that for “the older residents most likely to come out on election day,” the pro-P message of fear “resonated with their most basic instincts.”

This led to the relatively comfortable victories for P in 95 percent black wards like the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 21st, 22nd, and 27th wards. In each of those wards, P earned between a narrow band of 53-57 percent. New-school, South-CentralCorridor black independents weren’t OK with giving more of their tax dollars to the men in blue chanting “Whose streets? Our streets!” – and neither were their white neighbors. In some of the same wards where Jeff Smith and later Tishaura Jones broke through by building diverse, progressive coalitions, P went down handily, garnering just 44 percent of the vote in the 8th Ward (Shaw) and the 20th Ward (Dutchtown), and just 36 percent in the 15th Ward (Tower Grove South). Aldermanic opposition from people like Megan Ellyia Green and Cara Spencer in the 15th and 20th wards, respectively, probably contributed to P’s defeat in those areas.

Predictably, the same deep South Side wards that gave Krewson her largest margins in March gave Prop P its biggest wins, as it coasted with 65 percent in the 10th Ward, 64 percent in the 11th Ward, 67 percent in the 13th Ward, 76 percent in the 12th Ward, and an amazing 81 percent in the cop-heavy 16th Ward. But what may be more notable is that P took 58 percent in the 7th and 17th wards, and a whopping 68 percent in the 28th Ward – all Central Corridor wards once seen as more progressive, but which have now forfeited that label to the diverse South Central Corridor.

As Rogers concludes, the police association and its “notorious bully business agent” Jeff Roorda view the easy victory of Prop P as a mandate for more of the same behavior. But Mayor Krewson must not accept their view as easily as she accepted their endorsement. Yes, older residents of some crime-plagued North Side neighborhoods voted fearfully. But as the EYE has noted, political winds continue to shift in the city towards the type of diverse, progressive coalition that is most skeptical of the SLPOA – and Krewson. She won this skirmish, but would be wise to recognize the long-term trends at work and implement Prop P in a way that addresses the concerns of not just the city’s black citizens, but also those of the white progressives whose tepid support for her last time could disappear altogether by the occasion of her presumed 2021 re-election bid.

Bringing St. Louis’ civil rights story to kids

History Museum publishes Standing Up for Civil Rights in St. Louis

By Kristie Lein For The St. Louis American

Questions of justice, civil disobedience, equality, and advocacy can be complex for both adults and children to untangle. Nonetheless, authors Amanda E. Doyle and Melanie A. Adams welcomed the challenge in their latest book, Standing Up for Civil Rights in St. Louis published this month by the Missouri History Museum Press. It traces the story of the men and women who have tirelessly fought for civil rights throughout our city’s history in a way that’s approachable for upper elementary school readers. It also encourages kids to be agents of positive change.

Two free public events are taking place at the Missouri History Museum in the coming days to celebrate its release – and you’re invited.

“In today’s social and political climate, it is more important than ever that students begin to learn civil rights history in order to put the events around them in context,” Adams said. “Upper elementary students understand many of the concepts inherent in civil rights. By studying history, they see that people have always come together to fight for justice.”

But Adams and Doyle found out that the fight wasn’t always easy to explain.

“There were so many things that we wanted to dive into deeper – such as the Dred Scott decision – and got tangled up in legalese that an adult would have trouble understanding, let alone a fourth grader,” Adams said.

introducing those actual words so we could give kids a context to relate the historical situations we explored to questions that arose throughout the civil rights era of the 1950s and 1960s – and questions that still persist today.”

The last several years have been tumultuous ones in our city as the fight for equality carries on, but the authors are hopeful that meaningful change can occur. It might even be led by the kids who read their book, Adams said.

“It sounds cliché, but I want kids to know that anyone can make a difference. If they see something that needs to change, they should do it and not wait for others to make the first move.”

The cover art for Amanda E. Doyle and Melanie A. Adams’ new book, Standing Up for Civil Rights in St. Louis, drawn by Darnell Chambers.

Still, the authors made a conscious decision to be straightforward in their presentation.

“Telling these stories of people and issues –when you come right down to it – can be sad and maddening. It’s a lot for kids to hear and understand,” Doyle said.

“We tried to be truthful but sensitive to our readers. It’s difficult yet crucial to break down ideas like segregation, advocacy, and supremacy. Melanie and I wanted to make sure we were

Doyle agreed.

“If we show them the past, distant and recent, we can show them that it’s all made up of individual people making individual choices. What one, or two, or a thousand people did then directly affects how we live right now. It can empower a kid to understand his or her own chance to be a leader,” Doyle said.

“I hope they get excited about all the huge, important steps toward more universal civil rights that have sprung from this town. I hope it sparks something for them when they see the Tandy railroad engine at the Saint Louis Zoo, and they think, ‘Wait, that’s named for Charlton Tandy! And I know why.’ And I really hope it gives us all context for figuring out how the story of St. Louis today fits into everything that has come before. That context can provide us with the tools we need to be a leading force in the fight for equity and racial justice.”

On Saturday, November 18, at 2 p.m., kids will have the chance to hear the authors read from Standing Up for Civil Rights in St. Louis at the Missouri History Museum and ask questions. Afterward, they can also design a protest sign based on an issue that’s important to them. An adult-focused program takes place on Tuesday, November 21, at 7pm, when the authors discuss the process of writing the book. An author Q&A and book signing will follow both events. Admission is free.

Drawing of Ferguson protests by Darnell Chambers

Working together for healthy babies

FLOURISH St. Louis convenes health care professionals to combat infant mortality

By Sandra Jordan Of The St. Louis American

Our children need health insurance

Kids who are insured have a lower risk for hospitalization

By Cenia Bosman For The St. Louis American

Clinton Peabody housing resident Kaitlyn Haynes lives in one of the apartment buildings that is overrun with mice that show up day and night. FLOURISH St. Louis is bringing together entities that are collaborating to reduce health and safety hazards, promote safe sleep practices and to reduce transportation barriers to prenatal and infant care to reduce the high rate of infant mortality in the St. Louis area. n “Black babies, regardless of where they live, are four times more likely to die in their sleep than white babies.”

An early morning summit by FLOURISH St. Louis on Friday, November 10 brought together groups combatting infant mortality in the St. Louis area at the beginning of Veterans Day weekend. This group of health professionals and insurance managers are looking at barriers that hinder good prenatal and infant care.

“Many sleep-related deaths are preventable, yet they still occur too often,” said Melinda Ohlemiller, CEO of Nurses for Newborns – with an alarming race-based disparity. “Black babies, regardless of where

– Melinda Ohlemiller, CEO of Nurses for Newborns

they live, are four times more likely to die in their sleep than white babies

FLOURISH St. Louis data indicates that 260 babies die before their first birthday

each year in St. Louis. In fact, the infant death rates in St. Louis and surrounding communities are so high that businesses that are normally competitors are working together to tackle this problem.

“This is another prime example of how the FLOURISH approach helps bring together organizations that once worked independently – the silo effect – to address the issue of infant mortality collaboratively and to reach beyond traditional medical and public health solutions,” said Melba Moore, director of the St. Louis Health Department. FLOURISH announced some key

n There is evidence that improved health among children covered by CHIP translates into gains in school performance and educational attainment.

Many families who are served at the Community Action Agency of St. Louis County, Inc. receive assistance through the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Families may find themselves at a very moderate-income level but still above the financial guidelines to receive Medicaid. Most frequently they are just getting by, living from pay check to pay check, and the cost of paying a monthly insurance premium would create a tremendous hardship. Funding the program expired on September 30, and Congress has not yet reauthorized the program. Millions of children from low- to middle-income families in Missouri and across the United States are in danger of losing access to health care. Children with health insurance are more likely than those who are not covered to receive early care for health problems, and they are at lower risk for hospitalization. Also, there is evidence that improved health among children covered by CHIP translates into gains in school performance and educational attainment over the longer term. By providing an anchor within the health care system, CHIP coverage gives children and families access to vital preventive services and helps protect families’ economic security.

CHIP is essential for our communities, families and children in our state.

Cenia Bosman is executive director of Community Action Agency of St. Louis County.

Clean Power Plan helps St. Louis breathe

By Dr. Raymond G. Slavin

For The St. Louis American

For the past four years, I have run the Allergy and Asthma Clinic in the Roberts Building on North Kingshighway, between Page Boulevard and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive. Our clinic provides free allergy testing, breathing testing, medications, and counseling for adults as well as children five and older.

In my 52 years as an allergist and asthma specialist in St. Louis, I have seen allergy seasons that have varied from year to year. But in the past few years, I have seen an increase the number of patients and the severity of symptoms they are suffering. Also, allergy seasons have grown longer.

More can be done to prevent allergy and asthma issues change, and there is some evidence that pollen, particularly ragweed, is becoming more potent. Furthermore, as many who are reading this may attest, allergy seasons that used to end in October are now extending into November. And symptoms are worse, the medication that used to work just doesn’t seem to do the job. For people in St. Louis, asthma is a particular

I believe this is due in large part to climate change. There is no question that pollen and mold seasons are getting longer with climate

n Pollen and mold seasons are getting longer with climate change, and there is some evidence that pollen, particularly ragweed, is becoming more potent.

See BREATHE, A11

Photo by Wiley Price

Raymond G. Slavin, MD, professor emeritus of Internal Medicine at Saint Louis University School of Medicine (center), with two clients he described as his “prized patients.” Sandra Alexander of St. Louis (left) and Kenneth Naugles of Cahokia, Illinois, (right), both had severe environmental allergies that were brought under control by immunotherapy –allergy shots.

Cenia Bosman

Preventing seniors from falling

HUD awards WUSTL $665K for healthy homes research with St. Andrew’s

By Sandra Jordan Of The

American

St. Louis

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes recently awarded $665,000 to Washington University to study fall prevention among seniors living in St. Andrew’s affordable senior housing system. WUSTL received the grant from HUD’s Healthy Homes Technical Studies Grant Program to translate fall-prevention research into removing home hazards. Susy Stark, assistant professor of Occupational Therapy Neurology and Social Work at WUSTL School of Medicine, said they want to reach every St. Andrews resident in each of its buildings, estimated at 600 seniors, by the end of the three-year study.

FLOURISH

Continued from A10

collaborations that address underlying infant-mortality issues. Managed care providers Home State Health, Missouri Care/Wellcare and United Healthcare have come together to standardize the way they provide transportation service for Medicaid patients. The new initiatives will make it easier to access care for the 20 percent of St. Louis households that do not own a car or the more than one-third of residents who do not live near a public transit hub.

“FLOURISH listens to moms who live this experience, and they told us that access to transportation is one important context in infant mortality,” said Kendra Copanas, executive director of Generate Health St. Louis, the organization leading FLOURISH St. Louis’ efforts.

“It’s a very cumbersome system to get around in St. Louis if you don’t own a car.”

FLOURISH’s transportation action team came up with three areas to improve transportation that would benefit Medicaid recipients and health care providers.

“We can identify state policy implications and advocate for the importance of transportation; and align and inform the region’s public transportation,” Copanas said.

“This is a health issue.” Other collaborations included a grant from the BUILD Health Challenge to improve medical transportation access.

FLOURISH is working with the City of St. Louis Department of Health, SSM

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Continued from A10

problem, one that is more acute in the African-American community, which comprises a large percentage of the patients I see at the clinic. In St. Louis city, children’s asthma rates are twice the national average and asthma death rates are three times the national average. African-American children accounted for 91.9 percent of all childhood asthma-related emergency room visits in St. Louis City in 2008. This disproportionate impact is triggered by air pollution from sources like coal-fired power plants and diesel trucks, among other sources.

“We do a screening to see if people are at risk for falling,” Stark said. “We’ll test their balance, for example, and ask them questions about things like how many medications they take and then based on those responses, if they are at high risk for fall – which we expect two-thirds of the folks we test will be – then we will provide home safety interventions.”

They will study the effect of the intervention in a real-world setting and the implementation strategy, its cost effectiveness and success in reducing the rate and risk of falls.

Fall-prevention interventions will be tailored to the needs of each resident. Stark said whatever a person needs is what they will provide.

“It could be things like night lights that come on

Health, Project LAUNCH/ Vision for Children at Risk, and St. Louis Children’s, Barnes-Jewish and Mercy hospitals.

FLOURISH also is advocating for additional funding for the St. Louis portable crib program, which had funding cut in October.

Area hospitals are being encouraged to become infantsafe-sleep certified through the national organization Cribs for Kids, committing to always model best practices when babies are in the hospital and educate parents on infant sleep safety.

“Parents learn so much from watching medical professionals, so we applaud those who are taking steps to make sure safe sleep is a priority,” said Melinda Ohlemiller, CEO of Nurses for Newborns. Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital is safe-sleep certified and other hospitals are in stages of certification, she added.

Ohlemiller said some risks are outside of a family’s control. FLOURISH and the St. Louis Health Department are advocating for residents in the mice-infested ClintonPeabody housing – where the rodents are creating serious health and safety risks for infants and children.

“Mice were found in the apartment complex’s pantries, food boxes, ovens, drawers, cribs,” Ohlermiller said. “One mom documented 52 mice in her home within the complex. The city health department found 22 of 31 buildings in this development have mice and babies, and children live in the majority of these units. Residents’ requests for relief have gone unaddressed,

The consequences of this are hurting our city. Kids are missing school due to asthma attacks, and their parents are missing workdays because of their own asthma or from having to stay home to care for their child suffering an attack. This something we neither can nor should tolerate. While my work focuses on treatment of these allergy and asthma issues, I believe there is much more that can be done in the name of prevention of allergy and asthma issues. We can’t just snap our collective fingers and magically make these problems go away, but we can implement policies that will help reduce emissions and clean our air so that we

n “A lot of times, it’s teaching these older adults what the risks might be in their home so they can make better choices and not put themselves at risk for falling.”

– Susy Stark, WUSTL School of Medicine

automatically when a person gets up to use the restroom at night; it could be a grab bar by the toilet so that can be steady when they get off the toilet; it could be something as easy as making sure the carpeting or the throw rugs are secured to the floor so they don’t slip when somebody is walking,” Stark said.

“But a lot of times, it’s

teaching these older adults what the risks might be in their home so they can make better choices and not put themselves at risk for falling.”

The researchers want to do everything they can to make sure residents do not fall. However, should an older adult find themselves heading for the floor unexpectedly, Stark said, they will teach them how to

respond. “We also teach older adults how to get up safely if they do fall,” Starks said, “and some techniques on how to ask and call for help – things like using their cane, perhaps, to pound on a wall instead of their voice, if they are not being heard, so they can be rescued.”

Researchers will train the facility staff, offer treatment to everyone and compare the results.

“We’ll compare the people in building B to building A to see if there is any difference –that will be the research design – but, eventually, everyone after three years will get the treatment,” Starks said.

The WUSTL grant came in a package of $4.2 million in grants to eight universities and public health organizations, intended to develop new and improved methods to identify and control residential health

literally for years. Can you imagine living like this? Think about infant safety.”

Mice can bite, of course, and they can trigger allergies, asthma and other serious conditions for small children and pregnant mothers. Parents may think they are protecting the babies from the mice by putting them in the bed with them – where they could suffocate.

Babies should sleep on their backs in a crib or pack-nplay on a firm mattress with a fitted sheet, without blankets, pillows, soft toys or other bedding that could obstruct breathing.

After the opening session, participants selected two 15-minute breakout sessions to go further into quality prenatal care, safe sleep environments, behavioral health services and transportation access.

FLOURISH St. Louis also wanted to find creative opportunities to bring (and fund) prenatal care for expectant mothers into safe, non-traditional settings where they naturally gravitate, such as schools.

“It could be a church, could be at a library, it could be a grocery store – we have clinics in grocery stores, why not prenatal care?” Copanas

Free Asthma and Allergy Clinic

The free Asthma and Allergy Clinic, located at 1408 North Kingshighway Blvd., Suite 213, St. Louis, MO 63113, runs 1-2:30 p.m. every other Wednesday, by appointment. To make an appointment, email hrc@slu.edu or call 314266-7661.

can reduce the pollutants that trigger asthma and allergy attacks in the first place. Under the administration of President Barack Obama, the Environmental Protection Agency developed the Clean Power Plan, the nation’s first-ever plan to reduce the

emissions from power plants and promote cleaner sources of energy. Recently, however, the Trump Administration’s EPA, led by Administrator Scott Pruitt, announced plans to roll back the Clean Power Plan, effectively promoting the

2014 infant mortality data in the St. Louis area from Vision For Children At Risk’s 20172018 report “Children of Metropolitan St. Louis: A Data Book for the Community.”

hazards, including lead-based paint, mold, radon and pest infestations.

HUD says these grants are particularly important to protect vulnerable populations, such as children, seniors, and people with chronic illnesses such as asthma, from exposure to these hazards. Other HUD healthy homes grants awarded to locations in Illinois, Colorado, Michigan, Ohio, Virginia, New Jersey, and New York.

“It’s critical that we continue supporting evidencebased methods that make our homes healthier places to live,” said Matt Ammon, director of HUD’s Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes.

“We know that poor quality housing can contribute to injury and illness, which is entirely preventable.”

For more information on St. Andrew’s Senior Systems, visit http://www.standrews1.com.

less than adequate prenatal care, 17 percent pre-term births, and 23.3 percent of babies born with low birth weights. Its five-year infant mortality rate is the highest on the Missouri side of the St. Louis region at 15.1 percent per 1,000 live births. In the Metro East, East St. Louis and Washington Park, Illinois (zip code 62204) are even higher, at 15.9 percent per 1,000 live births, according to Illinois Department of Public Health Data reported in the 20172018 edition of “Children of St. Louis: A Data Book for the Community by Vision for Children at Risk.” Major regional health care, housing, community service organizations, St. Louis city and county government and elected state leadership were represented among the 75 participants for the summit. Attendees committed to take steps to help address infant mortality in the region by increasing health care access, transportation resources and new funding for portable crib donation programs.

said. “That is really an exciting solution to do that because you have the pharmacy, you have the health care and you have food. And Medicaid will provide transportation to your health-care appointment and to pharmacy. You can use that opportunity to then get fresh food. It’s a great way to use resources and for families to get their needs met.” The summit took place at 24:1 Cinema in Pagedale. Infant health data on Pagedale (zip code 63133) from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services indicates the city has 40.9 percent of infants born to mothers with

development of energy sources more likely to pollute our air and water.

While the Clean Power Plan would by no means have eliminated asthma or allergies, the cleaner air it worked towards would help the patients I see and countless others that suffer from these respiratory issues.

According to the EPA, the Clean Power Plan is projected to prevent 90,000 asthma attacks, 300,000 missed work and school days, and 3,600 premature deaths annually by 2030. Repealing these standards, however, means more sick kids, more expensive hospital visits, and thousands of premature deaths that could have been prevented.

Repealing the Clean Power

“We referred to the summit as a ‘regional call to action,’ because to address this complex crisis, our leaders in all major sectors must align around this important issue,” Copanas said, adding, they cannot do it alone. “We expect the summit attendees to bring information and ideas back to their organizations and to commit to actions that help more babies live to celebrate a happy and healthy first birthday.” For more information, visit www.FLOURISHstouis.org. The March of Dimes offers safe sleep tips for babies at http://bit.ly/2iYq8OU.

Plan is not the direction we should go. We need to maintain the Clean Power Plan to reduce emissions from power plants and promote cleaner sources of energy. Doing so will help us all breathe a little easier.

The free Asthma and Allergy Clinic, located at 1408 North Kingshighway Blvd., Suite 213, St. Louis, MO 63113, runs 1-2:30 p.m. every other Wednesday, by appointment. To make an appointment, email hrc@slu. edu or call 314-266-7661. Dr. Raymond G. Slavin is professor emeritus of Internal Medicine at Saint Louis University School of Medicine.

Courtesy of FLOURISH St. Louis

Healthy Kids Kids

Sensible Thanksgiving Eating

Nutrition Challenge:

Thanksgiving is a day that we take a moment and remember the things/people that we are thankful to have in our lives. But let’s be honest, many Thanksgiving celebrations also include food – and a lot of it! But if you remember just a few simple tips, you can enjoy the day without the extra calories (and uncomfortably full stomach).

Follow the Meal With a Walk!

Being Thankful WALK!

Why not start a new tradition this year? After your Thanksgiving dinner, have your family take a walk around the neighborhood. This is a great way to spend time with your relatives, see who’s in town for the holiday, and can help prevent the all-too-common post meal stomachache. Walking aids digestion, keeps you away

Thanksgiving is a great time to remember all of the people/things that have had a positive impact on your life.

Why not have each person around the table say one (or two or three!) thing(s) that they are

> Remembering week seven’s divided-plate lesson, try to fill at least half of your plate with healthy vegetables/fruits.

> Eat slowly. That way you’ll know when you’re full before you’ve overdone it.

> Limit desserts; choose just one. Or if you want to try a few different kinds, ask for a small “sample” of each.

> Can you think of any other tips?

Learning Standards: HPE 2, HPE 5, NH 1, NH 5

from the dessert table and even helps with that after-dinner slump that affects many people after a big meal. In addition, getting up and moving will get your body back into calorie-burning mode. What are some other ways to be “active” after your Thanksgiving dinner?

Learning Standards: HPE 1, HPE 2, NH 1, NH 5

thankful for, before you begin eating? You could even make a game out of it: each person writes down what they’re thankful for on a small card. Someone then reads each card as the group guesses who wrote it.

Learning Standards: HPE 2, NH 4

Crunchy Chickpeas

Ingredients: 1 Can Garbanzo beans (chickpeas) Olive oil Salt (to taste)

Optional:

Chickpeas will get crisp when cooled.

Beverly Marie Dotson, Palliative Care Social Worker

Where do you work? I am a palliative care social worker (consultant) at Christian Hospital North East Campus. Where did you go to school? I graduated from Beaumont High School. I then earned a certificate in gerontology, an associate’s degree in human services, a bachelor’s degree in human services, a master’s degree in social work, a master’s certificate in non-profit management and leadership and I’m currently pursuing a master’s certificate in palliative care.

What does a palliative care social worker do? I go see patients who are sick… I bring smiles and laughter to make them feel better. I get a chance to watch their favorite television show together along with talking about our families. I share jokes to pass the time along so they don’t feel lonely. Most of all, I give them a smile and bring treats to let them know that someone really cares about them.

Why did you choose this career? I chose this career because I love helping people! I get the opportunity to hear their stories and help them feel better!

What is your favorite part of the job you have? I work with the doctors and nurses to help take care of patients. Sometimes I bring ice cream to a patient’s room and we just sit and talk about life!

Learning Standards: HPE6, NH3

“Questions or comments? Contact Cathy Sewell csewell@stlamerican.com or 314-289-5422

MCU attacks schoolto-prison pipeline

Activist group urges districts to ‘build pathways and keep kids in class’

By Tiffany Shawn For

The St. Louis American Break the pipeline. Build the pathways.

This is the theme of Metropolitan Congregations United’s campaign to end the school-to-prison pipeline, which officially began in 2014.

“You measure a society by the welfare of the children,” said Regina Gray, a representative of MCU. “Are our children okay?” she asked of the audience, who collectively shouted, “No!”

MCU is a community organization that puts faith into action by developing leaders who move their congregations, organizations, and communities to change public policy for the common good. During their work surrounding data of the St. Louis city and county school systems, they noted how police are entrenched in our schools and the unconstitutional practices in our juvenile courts and began to mobilize the community.

“What divides us is our racism,” said David Gerth, executive director of MCU.

“Somehow it’s okay to belittle women and attack immigrants. Somehow it’s also been okay to fuel the fire of racial hatred.”

His experiences observing and partaking in protests, marches, and led him to an even greater passion: children’s rights.

“But what really gets me excited,” he said, while fighting back his emotions, “is when we push back to break the schoolto-prison pipeline and to build pathways and keep kids in class.”

Which kids? Kids who look like Maki Pickett, an elementary-school-aged child who repeated the words, “I am an African American leader,” during a poem which opened the event on Thursday, November 9 at Harris-Stowe State University.

In 2015, black elementary school children were more likely to be suspended in Missouri than in any state in the nation, according to a study by the Center for Civil Rights Remedies at UCLA. Missouri had the greatest disparity between how often black and white students were given outof-school suspension for the same infractions.

n “For children to succeed they must be in the classroom.”

– Carolyn Randazzo, MCU.

Missouri is still leading the way in out-of-school suspensions, according to the “Missouri’s Pipeline of Injustice: From School to Prison” report released by American Civil Liberties Union in September 2017.

“For children to succeed they must be in the classroom,” said Carolyn Randazzo, who presented on behalf of MCU. One route to ensuring children making poor choices are being given a fair shot is to embrace new strategies. St. Louis Public School teachers have begun the intensive study of traumainformed training while also banning in-school suspensions for students in kindergarten through second grade.

Stacey Clay, deputy superintendent for the Office of Student Support Services for SLPS, noted the trauma students incur and the associated effects poverty can have on families. This can manifest itself into undesirable behaviors in children while in school.

Another alternative route to discipline is through the Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports program. Clay said there’s now staff on hand in the central office whose sole purpose is going into the schools and assisting with building a positive school culture.

“There aren’t separate funds available for the resources and staff needed to fully put a program together which nurtures the social and emotional needs of students,” Clay said. “So there is a need for separate allocations to support and provide assistance which families so desperately need.”

St. Louis county judges chose for a second year to decline the invitation to MCUs forum, but three county officials came in their place, including a chief juvenile officer and court director of programs. They committed to encouraging school districts and police to reduce the number of referrals sent to the court system and committed to analyzing and minimizing the data surrounding the racial disparities affecting our children. Lastly they committed to working on more treatment, and less punishment for children entering the court system.

As Aysha Gray, a student leader with MCU and a mistress of ceremonies for the event, told the crowd, “We have a chance to be on the right side of justice.”

WWT cuts ribbon on new headquarters

CEO:

‘Our vision is to be the best technology solution provider in the world’

By Jessica Karins

For The St. Louis American

St. Louis-based technology company World Wide Technologies (WWT) held a ribboncutting ceremony at its newly opened corporate headquarters in Maryland Heights on Tuesday, November 7 that was attended by WWT co-founder and Chairman David Steward, St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson, and even a few bald eagles. Outside the seven-story, 208,000-squarefoot building that will serve as the company’s new corporate headquarters in Westport Plaza, Steward spoke to his employees and other observers about WWT’s growth since its

n “We’re a very open, diverse workforce.”

– WWT Vice President of Human Resources Ann W. Marr

founding 27 years ago.

“After all the time that we have been in business, to see this sight and to live this day is extremely, extremely important for not only us in the business, but to me very personally, as I see all of you,” Steward said. “No one does anything

alone. This is a council of many. It’s a wise council.”

The speakers were occasionally interrupted by eagles flanking the side of the stage on the arms of their handlers, a patriotic touch for a company that recently hired retired U.S. Army Lt. General Bob Ferrell as its vice president of federal strategy and has a substantial book of business with the federal government.

Like Ferrell, WWT CEO Jim Kavanaugh sees cybersecurity as an important growth opportunity for the company’s future.

“Our vision is to be the best technology solution provider in the world,” Kavanaugh said.

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American staff

Associates of Edward Jones raise more than $6M, a first for any local company

The United Way of Greater St. Louis raised $75,650,000 through its fundraising campaign, 2017 campaign co-chairs Michael Neidorff (chairman, president and CEO of Centene Corporation) and Mark Burkhart, managing principal with Burkhill Real Estate, announced on November 8.

n “The St. Louis region has been incredibly generous in coming together for the campaign powered by United Way and demonstrating the true concept of community.”

– Michael Neidorff, campaign co-chair

“Once again, the St. Louis region has been incredibly generous in coming together for the campaign powered by United Way and demonstrating the true concept of community – people helping people,” Neidorff said at a celebration at the Four Seasons Hotel St. Louis. More than 100,000 residents and 1,800 companies donated to United Way, which supports one in three people throughout the greater St. Louis region. The community campaign is United Way’s largest source of funding, which includes strategic investments, such as grants, issue-based funding and donor-directed investments. United Way raises $75.65M for community needs

See UNITED, B2

Brian Jones received a $2,000 grant from the Maritz Arts & Education Fund for Teachers. Maritz grants are awarded to spur creativity in the classroom. He is a theater and drama teacher in the 7th-8th Grade Center in the Normandy School Collaborative Jones and will use the grant to

Valerie E. Patton

Anjanette Clark

Brian Jones

Dr. Eboni January

Jim Triplett

Photo courtesy of DeClue Photography

Lewis Diuguid

World Wide Technology Chairman David Steward spoke at the ribbon-cutting for the new World Wide Technology world headquarters in Maryland Heights on Tuesday, November 7. Joining him on the platform were Archbishop Robert J. Carlson and other WWT executives: CEO Jim P. Kavanaugh, President Joe Koenig, Vice President of Human Resources Ann W. Marr and Chief Financial Officer Thomas W. Strunk.

Mike DeCola, CEO of HBM Holdings and board chair for United Way of Greater St. Louis Board of Directors; 2017 United Way of Greater St. Louis campaign co-chairs Michael Neidorff, chairman, president and CEO of Centene Corp., and Mark Burkhart, managing principal of Burkhill Real Estate; and Orvin Kimbrough, president and CEO of United Way of Greater St. Louis.

Financial fraudsters get a get-out-jail-free card by Trump

By Charlene Crowell

A bill signed on November 1 by President Donald Trump sealed an unfortunate fate for consumers seeking financial justice. By signing H.J. Res. 111, both the president and Congress have together knocked down consumer protections to favor financial businesses and corporations.

In Washington-speak, it’s about a rule that ends mandatory or forced arbitration. CFPB’s rule was as simple as it was basic: Consumers who have been similarly harmed by the same lender or creditor ought to have their own day in court –together. Like the board game Monopoly, the president and Congress have given financial services firms a “get-out-of-jail-free” card. But the problems consumers face in personal finance is not a game. By their actions, those entrusted with leadership in the federal government betrayed their oaths of office to serve the public. Instead, they are serving private interests and profiteers who exploit consumers with deceptive and unfair practices. Before the president’s signing of the ill-advised resolution, Richard Cordray, the ever-embattled director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), made a personal appeal on behalf of America’s consumers.

“This letter is not about charts or graphs or studies,” wrote Director Cordray to President Trump. “Instead it is simply a personal appeal to you, asking you to uphold this rule. … [T]his rule is all about protecting people who simply want to be able to take action together to right the wrongs done to them.”

“When people are wronged or cheated, they deserve the chance to pursue their legal rights,” added Cordray. An arbitration study by the CFPB found that arbitrators rule in favor of the company more than 9 times out of 10. For years, creditors and financial institutions buried forced arbitration clauses in the fine print of agreements. If

a consumer could not resolve a financial dispute directly with the company, the only alternative was to take the dispute to arbitration.

With forced arbitration, consumers forfeit their right to seek legal redress. And as the financial institution or creditor selects and pays the arbitrator, the deck is stacked against consumers.

It is also noteworthy that every major bank supported repealing the arbitration rule, as did the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

In addition to the CFPB, the American Legion, the Military Coalition, AARP, civil rights groups, some elected officials and others stood with and for consumers.

In the aftermath of the president’s actions, consumer advocates let loose their wrath.

“President Trump had a clear choice to make today, between Wall Street and the rest of us,” said Amanda Werner on behalf of Public Citizen and Americans for Financial Reform. “He chose Wall Street.”

“This law lets companies force consumers into a secret arbitration system rigged against them – discouraging claims and allowing companies like Wells Fargo and Equifax to hide widespread consumer abuse,” added Melissa Stegman, a senior policy counsel with the Center for Responsible Lending.

There is nothing great about shafting consumers who only want to be treated fairly in the marketplace. This latest Washington scenario blatantly ignores why the CFPB was authorized in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act.

At a time when millions of people lost their homes and family wealth to foreclosures, the CFPB was created to be the nation’s first-ever federal agency pledged to financial fairness in a range of lending and credit concerns. For Blacks and Latinos who are frequently targeted by deceptive and

predatory lending, CFPB’s creation was a particularly important development: people of color bore the brunt of the foreclosure crisis’ lost wealth.

People who filed complaints with CFPB about deceptive and illegal financial practices found financial relief with their government’s support: Over the last six years, more than 29 million Americans have received nearly $12 billion, thanks to efforts of Director Cordray and his staff.

These figures are not just a sign; they are proof that efforts to right the many financial wrongs have delivered real relief. Considering how complicated financial transactions can be, CFPB’s existence has reassured the nation that the pursuit of financial fairness is at work.

The story of forced arbitration highlights the importance of the CFPB and why it must remain a champion for consumers.

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

UNITED

continued from page B1

Burkhart said, “Because of the generosity of so many, United Way, its member agencies and partners will continue to help people with basic needs, education, health and financial stability.”

The St. Louis Regional Business Council, which represents more than 100 area firms, raised more than $13.5 million this year.

Fourteen companies, their employees and participating labor unions were recognized for combined team gifts of more than $32 million this year. Team gifts combine the donations of employees with the company’s corporate contribution.

At the $6 million or more level in team gifts were the associates of Edward Jones. This is the first time in United Way history that a company has raised $6 million for its campaign. This year, Edward Jones associates invested more than $6.1 million into the community through United Way. At the $3 million or more level in team gifts were employees of Enterprise Holdings, Inc. and Monsanto Company. At the $2 million or more level in team gifts were employees of Anheuser-Busch, Ameren, Centene Corporation, Spire, Wells Fargo Advisors and Worldwide Technology.

At the $1 million or more level in team gifts were employees of BJC HealthCare, Emerson, Mastercard Operations and Technologies, Nestle Purina PetCare Company and Schnuck Markets, Inc. Neidorff and Burkhart were joined during the evening’s celebration by United Way board chair and CEO of HBM Holdings Company Michael DeCola, and Orvin Kimbrough, president and CEO of United Way of Greater St. Louis.

The West Florissant Avenue Great Streets Project Team is working on finalizing design recommendations for West Florissant Avenue’s street improvements. The team hopes to hear from business owners about vehicle access, customer travel habits, West Florissant business owners’ input sought and their plans for the future.

This information will help them finalize design concepts before they unveil them for the public in early 2018. If you are a business owner, please fill out the survey linked at www.westflorissantavenue. com. The project team also will be working with the Cities of Ferguson and Dellwood and the West Florissant Avenue Business Association to connect with business owners. If you would like to schedule time to meet with the project team, email Courtney Mueller at cmueller@vectorstl. com or call 314-6215566.

Charlene Crowell

n “If he continues to work on his craft, which is seems like he does, the Lakers got a good one.”

– LeBron James, on Lakers rookie point guard Lonzo Ball

Sports

PreP Football notebook

With Earl Austin Jr.

Porter’s

CBC to meet Blue Springs for Class 6 state title

The first state championship trophy in the Missouri state football playoffs will be handed out this Saturday night when perennial powers CBC and Blue Springs hook up for the Class 6 state title.

Saturday’s game will be held at Plaster Field on the campus of Missouri State University in Springfield. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

CBC defeated Eureka in the semifinals to earn its third state-championship game berth in the last four years. Blue Springs defeated Park Hill in a battle of Kansas City area powers in the other semifinal game. Blue Springs advanced to last year’s Class 6 Show-Me Bowl, where they were defeated by Kirkwood 28-21.

All of the other five classes are holding their semifinals games around the state. Here is the schedule of those games with a brief preview of the ones involving St. Louis area teams.

Class 5 Fort Zumwalt North at Pattonville, Saturday, 1 p.m. – Fort Zumwalt North is one game away from appearing in the state championship game for the second consecutive year. The Panthers have boasted a stingy defense throughout its undefeated season. Pattonville has been on a big roll since losing two early games in the season. The Pirates pulled off one of the biggest surprises in the postseason by knocking off defending state champion Vianney in last week’s state quarterfinals.

Carthage at Staley, Saturday, 1 p.m.

Class 4 Ladue at Parkway Central, Friday, 7 p.m. – This is a rematch of an earlier meeting, which was won by Ladue in Week No. 4. Parkway Central

See INSIDE, B5

In the ClutCh

With Ishmael H. Sistrunk

Devon Alexander returns to the ring

MPJ is MIA

Though only eight years have passed since Devon Alexander “The Great” captured his first major crown, it’s seems like a lifetime ago. That’s because Alexander’s boxing career has been a series of peaks and valleys. After a two year-layoff, which included a dangerous fight that gloves, feints and jabs are futile against, the 30-year-old Alexander is hoping to begin his ascension back to the mountaintop Tues., Nov. 21 when he faces off against Walter Castillo on FS1. At just 22 years old, Alexander defeated Junior Witter to capture the WBC World Super Lightweight Title. Seven months later, he knocked out Juan Urango in the 8th round to add the IBF title to his collection. Another St. Louis boxing star was born. After rattling off another victory against Andriy Kotelnik, the sweet science’s talking heads couldn’t seem to stop gushing about the skilled southpaw and his unlimited

H. Sistrunk

potential. Alexander suffered disappointing loss against Timothy Bradley and his consistently “accidental” head butts. Alexander’s first loss was followed by an impressive four fight win streak, including consecutive victories against Lucas Matthysse and Marcos Maidana, two of the sport’s most-feared heavy hitters. With his name being floated around as a possible Floyd Mayweather Jr. opponent, Alexander was upset by Shawn Porter in Dec. 2013. After bouncing back with a win versus Jesus Soto Karass, Alexander dropped two more fights in a row. First he was outclassed by Amir Khan. Next, he was beaten by Aron Martinez, an unheralded fighter who entered the bout as a 50-to-1 underdog. Many boxing insiders felt that it was a wrap for the former welterweight champion’s career. He wasn’t at a crossroads. He was at the ‘Crossroads,’ the one Layzie,

Earl Austin Jr.

Krayzie, Bizzy and Wish rapped and sang about. The former champion recently revealed that he has See CLUTCH, B5

been battling opioid addiction. After undergoing sinus surgery following his victory over Maidana, Alexander was

prescribed Tramadol for the pain and got hooked by the medication. Before you write off the

addiction story as a convenient excuse for a fading fighter,

Ishmael

McCluer South Berkeley’s Jordan Jenkins (55) blocks for Devon Blanchard (1) during Saturday’s Class 3 quarterfinal game. The Bulldogs would fall to the Falcons of Blair Oaks at McCluer South-Berkeley 32-16.

Photo by Wiley Price

Devon Alexander will return to the ring for the first time in two years on Tuesday night. The former unified welterweight champion will face Walter Castillo in a 10-round bout on FS1.

SportS EyE

With Alvin A. Reid

Porter’s mysterious injury a Mizzou bummer; Power 5 missing black leaders

Missouri blasted Wagner 99-55 on Monday night, moving to 2-0 in what should be an amazing season for coach Cuonzo Martin’s Tigers.

It is a bummer, though, that college basketball’s top freshman, Michael Porter Jr. didn’t play and is out indefinitely with a somewhat mysterious leg injury.

Martin says Porter’s left leg is injured – and that’s it.

“I don’t know how serious (the injury is),” Martin said.

“It’s hard for me to say that, but I think it’s day to day. That’s the best assessment for me to say right now. It’s day to day.” Martin was asked if Porter sought a second opinion on the injury –which suggests that it is more than a “day-today” thing.

“I understand you want that information,” Martin said in the postgame press conference.

reason he played those minutes was because he was listed as a starter and he didn’t want the Tigers to incur a technical foul.

Where are the MU haters?

Porter’s setback comes as Mizzou announced record season ticket sales. The total number sold, 9,572, is almost a 4,000-ticket increase over last season’s total. Martin’s hiring and his recruiting have brought a level of excitement to Columbia not matched in years.

Missouri’s football team is suddenly 5-5 and in contention for a bowl appearance after whipping Tennessee last Saturday.

So, what happened to all the haters? Where are all the people who said Missouri would never compete again and that the entire university is in shambles because of on-campus unrest and a threatened boycott by black football players two years ago?

“We just played (Wagner).

… The truth of the matter is I’m not a doctor. I can’t give you more than that. I don’t want to give you more. It’s not my job to give.

“So out of respect for Mike, his family, I think the best thing is, it’s day to day. If I had more, I’d give you more.” Porter remained in the locker room during the game, and a team spokesperson said that was because it was less strain than sitting on the bench or standing.

I’m sorry, but that sounds ominous. Martin said Porter would not travel to Utah for the Tigers’ game on Thursday night.

Porter played two minutes in Friday night’s victory over Iowa State before leaving the game. Martin said the only

Winning can cure a lot of ailments – and it also can shut the mouths of many people who think inclusion and fairness are dirty words.

Top 25 lacks black coaches

The first 10 teams in the AP men’s basketball Top 25 this week are Duke, Michigan State, Arizona, Kansas, Villanova, Wichita State, Kentucky, Florida, North Carolina and USC.

What do these hoop powerhouses have in common? None of these teams have a black head coach.

What do the next 15 teams that round out the Top 25 have in common? You guess it; none of them has a black head coach. For all the diversity talk the

NCAA does, and the dozens of black coaches it has at its various levels, it seems that

opportunities to lead traditional powers are solidly in the hands of white men.

The closest black coach to the Top 25 is Alabama’s Avery Johnson, whose Crimson Tide is first among “Others Receiving Votes.” He is followed by Rhode Island’s Ed Cooley and Missouri’s Martin.

All three should see their respective teams crack the Top 25 before Thanksgiving. College basketball’s Top 25 is dominated by black players, yet there are currently no Top 25 black coaches. Hmmmm.

It doesn’t add up – until you note that there are few black athletic directors at Power 5 schools.

Carla Williams was recently named athletic director at the University of Virginia, making her the only black, female Power 5 AD.

She is joined by nine black men. The conference breakdown, including Williams, is ACC (3), Pac 12 (4), Big Ten (2) and SEC (1). The Big 12 has zero.

When asked how she thinks she will be perceived by young African-American women, she said, “You want to be an influence, a positive influence. And this is my way of doing that, she said.”

She replaces the retiring Craig Littlepage, who was the first black AD in ACC history. He was almost moved to

tears when he introduced her, saying “I’m proud to say, if there’s a place, this is the place because this community has been through a lot.”

Littlepage was referring to the violent Nazi/Klan rally in Charlottesville that left a woman dead after she was struck by a vehicle driven by an avowed racist.

“I watched it all play out on television, and I felt bad for the university and bad for Charlottesville,” Williams said.

“What happened was not a reflection on UVA and the Charlottesville community. I was hurt for what this community went through.”

L.A. Rampage

The L.A. Rams are 7-2 after a 33-7 win over the depleted Houston Texans on Sunday.

Rookie head coach Sean McVay’s team is on pace to score more points than the 1999 “Greatest Show on Turf” St. Louis Rams.

The ’99 Rams scored 526 regular season points. The 2017 Rams are the NFL’s highest-scoring team in 2017, tallying 32.9 points per game. If they match that total the next seven games, they will top the team that featured Hall of Famers Kurt Warner and Marshall Faulk, and receivers Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt More than 60,000 fans were at the game, and the Rams are

building a fan base before moving into their new, stateof-art $2 billon stadium in two years.

“There’s no better way to do that than to be winning, and quite frankly to be doing that in an entertaining fashion,” Rams COO Kevin Demoff told the L.A. Times. “Winning is the cover charge for any organization. You have to do a lot of things right on the field and off the field to connect with the community.”

As with Mizzou haters, you don’t hear much from the Rams haters here in St. Louis. It was a franchise worth saving regardless of the team’s record and its oddball owner, Stan Kroenke It was easy to say the Rams aren’t missed when they were losing. What will St. Louis say when it is watching the Rams in the playoffs in January?

Alvin A. Reid was honored as the 2017 “Best Sports Columnist – Weeklies” in the Missouri Press Association’s Better Newspaper Contest. He is a panelist on the Nine Network program, Donnybrook, is a weekly contributor to “The Charlie Tuna Show” on KFNS and can also be heard on Frank Cusumano’s “The Press Box.” His Twitter handle is #aareid1.

Alvin A. Reid

Mizzou’s Michael Porter Jr. is out indefinitely with a somewhat mysterious leg injury.

St. Louis area natives shine in pro ranks

Adrian Clayborn sets Falcons record with six quarterback sacks

By Earl Austin Jr. Of The St. Louis American

The St. Louis area is well represented with athletes who are in the professional ranks. As a new feature, the St. Louis American will chronicle the progress of these former area standouts.

Adrian Clayborn (Atlanta Falcons): The Webster Groves product enjoyed a performance for the ages in the Falcons victory over the Dallas Cowboys. The defensive end registered a franchise record six quarterback sacks in the Falcons 27-7 victory.

Ezekiel Elliott (Dallas Cowboys): The former John Burroughs Star served the first of his six game suspension and his absence was felt in the Cowboys 27-7 loss at Atlanta last Friday. So far, Elliott has rushed for 791 yards on 191 carries and seven touchdowns.

Jeremy Maclin (Baltimore

CLUTCH

Continued from B3

consider the fact that Alexander spent eight months undergoing rehab and detox. His fight against Castillo will be his first bout since being released from rehab.

“Two years is a long time to be away from something you love, but I wanted to make sure when I come back that I would be 100 percent my old self,” Alexander said in a statement. “My last outings were not me, and a lot of my fans and people that know me are aware of that.”

Kevin Cunningham, Alexander’s longtime trainer, has always been his pupil’s biggest fan. He’s confident that his fighter will return to form and prove that his best performances have yet to come.

“He’s beating up worldclass fighters, world champions, in the gym every day,” Cunningham told Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole. “This is the old Devon. He’s sharp and got his stuff back.”

Though Tuesday’s matchup is a far cry from Alexander’s days of defending and challenging for world championships, he’ll still be fighting several important battles in the ring. First, he’ll have to overcome the demons of addiction, especially as he returns to the stress

INSIDE

Continued from B3

jumped out to a 17-0 lead in that game only to see Ladue storm back to take a 38-23 victory. Friday night’s rematch has a little more on the line with a berth in the state championship game at stake. Platte County at Webb City, Saturday, 1 p.m.

Class 3 Lutheran South at Mt. Vernon, Saturday, 1 p.m. –Lutheran South continues its historic postseason run into this weekend’s state semifinals. The Lancers knocked off previously undefeated Park Hills Central in the quarterfinals to earn their trip to the Final Four. Maryville at Blair Oaks, Saturday, 1 p.m.

Class 2 Lamar at Lutheran North, Saturday, 1 p.m. – The small school game of the year in the state of Missouri. Lutheran North has been dominant all season and they survived their big showdown with Trinity, the other dominant Class 2 team in the area. They will now face a Lamar team that has won the last six state championships in Class 2 while riding a 47-game winning streak in the process. Gear up for another prime-time showdown in North County. Lafayette County at Clark County, Saturday, 2 p.m.

Ravens): The Kirkwood High product is currently playing for the Ravens after spending the two seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs. For the season, Maclin has 27 receptions for 310 yards and three touchdowns.

Sheldon Richardson (Seattle Seahawks): The former Gateway Tech football Star is in his first season with the Seahawks after four seasons with the Jets. In eight games, the defensive tackle has 10 tackles, two fumble recoveries and one interception.

Jairus Byrd (Carolina Panthers): The former Clayton High Star is currently in his ninth season in the NFL, his first with the Panthers.

Bradley Beal (Washington Wizards): The former Chaminade College Prep AllAmerican guard has developed into one of the top shooting guards in the NBA. Through

associated with fighting in front of the cameras and bright lights.

“I want to be an advocate for people who are fighting an addiction,” Alexander told Iole.

“I’m a living, breathing witness to what can happen. I want to be that voice that says, ‘It’s hard, but you can break the cycle. You can beat this and go on with your life.’ That’s what I’m fighting for.” Still, Alexander can’t afford to focus too much on the outof-the-ring distractions when he has an opponent trying to knock his head off of his shoulders. A loss to Castillo (26-4-1, 19KO) would likely cement the end of Alexander’s career as a relevant, championship-caliber fighter.

Let’s hope that Cunningham is right and that “old Devon is back.” Boxing is always better when fighters from the 314 represent!

Where’s MPJ?

Mizzou basketball returned to relevance this summer on the strength of two key signings:

Coach Cuonzo Martin and allworld recruit Michael Porter Jr. However, the Tigers are two games into the season and Porter has only seen just two minutes of action. The reason is because Porter suffered a yet-to-be disclosed hip knee leg injury leading up to the season opener against

Class 1

Lockwood at Thayer, Saturday, 1 p.m. East Buchanan at Monroe City, Saturday, 1 p.m.

Edwardsville and Highland are still alive in Illinois

Metro east schools

Edwardsville and Highland are still alive and kicking as the Illinois state playoffs have also

12 games, Beal is averaging 24.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.3 assists while shooting 49 percent from the field, 37 percent from 3-point range and 81 percent from the free throw line.

Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics): The former Chaminade College Prep AllAmerican is currently one of the top rookie performers in the NBA. As a starting forward, Tatum has helped the Celtics to a 12-2 record, which is the best in the NBA. Tatum is currently averaging 13.6 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.6 steals while shooting 48 percent from the field and 47 percent from 3-point range.

Patrick McCaw (Golden State Warriors): The second year guard from CBC was able to play a big role off the bench in the Warriors run to the World title last season. He is still a valuable reserve on a loaded Golden State team.

the Iowa State Cyclones. The injury caused Martin to hold Porter out of all but two minutes of the opener (Martin said Porter Jr. only started the game because he was already listed as a starter when he reported the injury. Mizzou would have been assessed a technical foul if the starting lineup was changed.). Porter also sat out the entire game versus the Wagner Seahawks.

Mizzou hasn’t missed a beat without its freshman sensation. The Tigers average margin of victory after two games is a whopping 29.5 points. A blowout victory over Wagner is not surprising, but the Tigers’ 15-point victory over Iowa State was an eye opener.

Despite the victories, Mizzou fans fear the worst because of the tight-lipped way Mizzou officials are treating Porter’s injuries. When Porter missed the Wagner game, he watched from the training room instead of sitting on the bench. Still the team didn’t acknowledge his absence until halftime when team officials were hounded by reporters.

Coach Martin doesn’t seem to have clarification from the doctors and trainers about the cause or severity of his preseason All-American’s injury.

“I don’t know how serious [the injury is], it’s hard for me to say that,” Martin told reporters. “I think it’s day-to-day, that’s the best assessment for

reached the state semifinals stage this weekend.

Edwardsville will host perennial state power Wilmette Loyola Academy on Saturday in the Class 8A semifinals.

Kickoff is schedule for 2 p.m.

The Tigers lost their first three games of the season, but have gone on an impressive run since then to advance to the state Final Four.

Highland will travel to perennial power Rochester on

PreP Athlete of the Week

Will Kelly

Priory – Boys Soccer

The freshman forward enjoyed a dominant postseason in leading the Rebels to the Class 2 state championship.

Kelly scored two goals in the Rebels’ 3-0 victory over Lincoln Prep in the state championship game. He added one goal and an assist in a 3-0 victory over Southern Boone in the state semifinals.

Kelly’s postseason run got going when he scored two goals in Priory’s 4-1 victory over John Burroughs in the sectional playoffs. He also had one goal and an assist in a 3-1 victory over Duchesne in the state quarterfinals.

For the season, Kelly was Priory’s top offensive player with a team-high 15 goals and four assists.

me to say right now.

Other Missouri officials have given reporters a steady diet of “no comment,” “no further information at this time” and “maybe we’ll have an update tomorrow, but probably not” style responses. In fact, the Tigers refuse to comment on whether Porter will travel with the team to Utah. Considering the Tigers history with bad luck, it’s making everyone go nuts in anticipation that Mizzou landed the No. 1 player in the country only for him to suffer a serious injury before the season got rolling. Hopefully, Porter’s injury is not serious and the team is simply being cautious and protective with its star player. There are benefits for the Tigers to allow Porter to recover until he is 100%. There’s less risk for re-injury. Other players get opportunities to develop. The team also will gain confidence from every victory won while its headliner sits on the sidelines. Still, the Tigers athletic department has to do better in terms of communicating with the media and the public. Tickets are sold out to Tigers games in a large part because of MPJ’s impact. People are driving several hours to Tigers games in hopes of getting a glimpse of a bona fide NBA lottery pick.

I have no doubt that Porter’s injury is legit, and potential-

Saturday in the semifinals of the Class 4A state playoffs. Kickoff is at 4 p.m. Both teams feature high-powered offenses. Highland scored 77 points in a victory over Herscher in the state quarterfinals last Saturday. Rochester has won six state championships in the past seven years.

ly serious. But the silence or muddled messages from school officials remind me of the NBA’s past issues with sitting its stars without warning. Mizzou officials are playing

the St. louiS AmericAn college AthleteS of the Week

Andrew Mahone

The junior from Springfield, Illinois was one of the top individual performers at last weekend’s Jimmie Open in Jamestown, North Dakota.

Mahone finished the tournament with a perfect 4-0 record in winning the championship in the 197-pound weight division. Mahone followed up

The junior hitter from Lancaster, California was named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association AllCentral Region Team after an excellent season.

The 6’0”

Missouri Baptist University – Wrestling digs during her dominant junior campaign. She was also named to the AllUniversity Athletic Association Second Team. Ufondu helped lead the Bears to the UAA title, a national Top 20 ranking, and a berth in the NCAA Division III National Tournament.

with a pair of victories in helping the Spartans to team victories over Lyon and Marian in their opening matches in the American Midwest Conference. He also picked up three victories as he finished in sixth place at the Maryville Invitational earlier this week.

‘Who’s on First’ with Porter’s injury status and the joke is on the fans.

Follow Ishmael and In the Clutch on Twitter @ IshmaelSistrunk.

The Webster Groves product Adrian Clayborn enjoyed a performance for the ages in the Falcons victory over the Dallas Cowboys by registering six quarterback sacks.

n “I see all of you. No one does anything alone. This is a council of many.”

WWT has over 4,000 employees, , including about 2,000 in the St. Louis region, and

20

The new company

a 300-seat

and one of the

screens in North America. It also features outdoor terraces designed to host public events and aid in the revitalization of Westport Plaza. Kavanaugh told St. Louis Public Radio he expects WWT’s employee count to hit about 4,500 by the end of the year. The company is expanding at its logistics center in Edwardsville as well as in Washington, D.C. Kavanaugh told St. Louis

– WWT co-founder and Chairman David Steward

Public Radio the next phase of building would occur at World Wide Technology’s former headquarters, just a few blocks away, which is now the new technology campus.

Kavanaugh said the new headquarters was designed to create an open workspace that would foster collaboration and innovation. “It is very open, very collaborative, very inviting, but also it’s a very practical, very functional

workplace,” he said.

Vice President of Human Resources Ann Marr said the construction of the new headquarters was done with diversity in mind. The prime general contractor on the joint venture with Clayco was blackowned TW Constructors, a local contracting company focused on “advancing the minority workforce in St. Louis.” WWT self-reported 36.8 percent for minority- and women-owned business on the project.

“We’re always looking for ways to partner with other companies,” Marr said. “We’re a very open, diverse workforce.”

Jessica Karins is an editorial intern for the St. Louis American from Webster University.

Financial Focus

By Andre K. Nelson, AAMS

Five tips for women business owners

Photo by Wiley Price

Todd Weaver, CEO of TW Constructors, visited with World Wide Technology Chairman David Steward at the ribbon-cutting for the new World Wide Technology world headquarters in Maryland Heights on Tuesday, November 7. TW Constructors was the prime general contractor on the joint venture with Clayco.

Living It

A young readers’ guide to Civil Rights in St. Louis

Book serves as companion to History Museum Exhibition

By Kenya Vaughn

Of The St. Louis American

“You could write the entire story of civil rights by going back to the history of St. Louis.”

- Judge Nathan B. Young

In a 1964 editorial, the St. Louis American co-founder proclaimed that blueprint for the civil rights struggle can be found within our city. His words were the inspiration and anchor for the Missouri History Museum exhibition #1 in Civil Rights: The African American Freedom Struggle in St. Louis. The 6,000-square foot exhibition – which is currently on display –opened in March of this year and reveals the often-untold story of St. Louis’ leading role in the struggle for racial justice.

It’s only fitting that the same quote opens Melanie A. Adams and Amanda E. Doyle’s

Faith and soul

Grammy Award-winning contemporary gospel favorite Kirk Franklin and renowned soul singer Ledisi provided an unlikely, yet uplifting mix of music when they shared the stage at The Peabody Opera House on Wednesday, Nov. 1 for The Rebel, The Soul & The Saint Tour. The concert also featured rising gospel star Major.

“Standing Up For Civil Rights in St. Louis.” The book is an abbreviated literary companion for young readers who visit the exhibition – and introduces them to the national impact that the battle for civil rights being fought in St. Louis.

“Local people and events that happened here changed the daily lives of all Americans,” Adams and Doyle said in the book’s

Discussions for Adams and Doyle’s “Standing Up for Civil Rights in St. Louis” will take place at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 18 (for youth) and at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 21 (adults) at The Missouri History Museum, 5700 Lindell in Forest Park. For more information, visit www.mohistory. org.

introduction. “These changes started even before Missouri was a state! And they are still happening today.”

The 75-page book stretches from the Missouri Compromise to the unrest in Ferguson with a plain tone that is non-intimidating and easy to

Yvonne Orji drops industry gems

‘Insecure’ co-star discusses journey from pageant stage to primetime

By Tiffany Shawn For The St. Louis American

When asked whether they were “Team Issa or Team Lawrence,” several in the audience at Webster University Monday night were smart enough to yell, “Team Molly!” for guest of honor Yvonne Orji. When Orji was asked about her choice between Issa and Lawrence, she joked, “You’re trying to mess up my job!”

As she sat before the crowd at the Luhr

Building November 13 in a talk presented by the Multicultural Center and International Student Affairs, Orji took them on the ten-year journey that ultimately led to her current situation as co-star in Issa Rae’s Golden Globe Award nominated hit HBO show “Insecure.”

It was 2008 and she was working on her master’s degree in public health.

“I put out a YouTube video about Obama when he was elected, and Issa was drawn to it,” Orji said. Time passed and through social media, Orji hit Rae up because she was moving to Los Angeles. They had never talked prior to this but Issa was having a house party and invited Yvonne, who was basically a stranger. They quickly realized there was a mutual connection.

When Yvonne released her trailer for the to-be-developed sit-com “First Gen,” Rae sent it to her “Awkward Black Girl” YouTube series following. The clip became Orji’s “Insecure” audition tape.

The path to “Insecure” began when divine intervention led Orji to try standup in 2006. She was asked to compete in a beauty pageant. Hesitantly she agreed. Orji didn’t know she would be asked to perform in a talent competition. Until that moment in her life she thought she had no talent. An inner-voice – one that she called the voice of God – told her to do a comedy routine. She replied, “No.” Orji was worried about being booed by the crowd of Africans. “We are rude!” she exclaimed. Having nothing else to present, she went ahead with the comedy act. It went especially well. The decision to perform during that pageant led Orji to her calling. Her parents wanted her to go to medical school. No one they knew had taken the route she desired. “I moved to New York believing I was the black sheep,” Orji said. “My mom called me a jester.” She asked her family to give her

‘If you build it, they will come’

Local filmmaker Sunni Minx’s journey includes creating opportunities

By Sharee Silerio For The St. Louis American

As a kid, when Sunni Minx was asked the age-old question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” her response was what most children say.

n Create the opportunity, which takes more work, but is way more rewarding.

“It’s ‘I want to be a doctor. I want to be a lawyer. I want to be a fireman,’” she said. “You never think, ‘I want to be a writer or movie director.’ You don’t think it’s possible, even as a dream, because you’re raised to be in a box. It’s not something on the list, especially for a black girl.” As a five-year-old, Sunni, wearing a onesie, would sit in front of the television, captivated by the screen. There weren’t as many black female directors or producers then as there are today – which still isn’t a lot – but for Sunni, the scarcity of black women in this space solidified the idea that pursuing a career in filmmaking or television was a long shot. So, she did what anyone who feels like their dream is out of reach does – she kept it bottled up inside of her.

To prepare for a more “practical” career, she

Photo by Lawrence Bryant

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.

holiday haps

Sat., Nov. 18, 3 p.m., Ameren Missouri Festival of Lights. Come out for live entertainment, the lighting of the tree, a fireworks finale, and more. Kiener Plaza, 601 Market St., 63101. For more information, visit www. christmasinstlouis.org.

Sat., Nov. 18, 4 p.m., King of Hearts MC Thanksgiving Food Drive. We’re giving away free food while it lasts for those in need. We are also accepting donations. 5508 Labadie Ave., 63120. For more information, visit www. facebook.com.

Dec. 8 & 9, Unity Theatre

Ensemble returns to the stage with an encore of its original gospel musical, Make a Joyful Noise, Ivory Theatre, 7622 Michigan Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri.

Nov. 21 – 22, Fox Theatre presents Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer the Musical 527 N. Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, visit www.metrotix.com.

Fri., Nov. 24, 8 p.m., A November Affair: Black Tie & Pearls Event. Join us for an after Thanksgiving evening of entertainment and fun. Listen to the sounds of Syner-gee with the silky voice of Ronni- G. Orlando’s, 2050 Dorsett Rd., 63043. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Sat., Nov. 25, 6 & 9 p.m., Holiday Winds Tour. Enjoy Althea Rene and Elan Trotman together with The Coleman Hughes Project for your upcoming holiday musical feast. Harris-Stowe State University, 3026 Laclede Ave., 63103. For more information, call (314) 496-7751.

Tues., Nov. 28, 5:30 p.m., Operation Food Search’s Holiday Rap ‘N Pack. Participants will sort winter

coats and pack food for food insecure children and their families. 1644 Lotsie Blvd., 63132. For more information, visit www. operationfoodsearch.org.

Sat., Dec. 9, 9 a.m., Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., St. Louis Alumnae Chapter presents Breakfast with Santa. Pancake breakfast, photos with Santa, toys, and more. Innovative Concept Academy, 1927 Cass Ave., 63107. For more information, visit www.DST-SLA.org.

Thurs., Dec. 14, 7:30 p.m., St. Louis Symphony IN UNISON Chorus Gospel Christmas: A Soulful Celebration with Dianne Reeves, Powell Symphony Hall. For more information, visit www.slso.org.

concerts

Through Nov. 18, Jazz St. Louis presents Russell Gunn’s Blackhawk Revisited feat. Jimmy Cobb. 3536 Washington Ave., 63103. For more information, visit www. tickets.jazzstl.org.

Sat., Nov. 18, 7 p.m., The Sheldon Concert Hall presents Cecile McLorin Salvant. 3648 Washington Blvd., 63108.

Sun., Nov. 19, 5 p.m., CWAH’s 29th Annual Circle of Support Gala featuring Nicole Henry Sheldon Concert Hall, 3648 Washington. Tickets now available by calling 314-2897523 or www.cwah.org.

Sun., Nov. 19, 6 p.m., Ol’ School 95.5 & T.S. present A Night of Romance with Freddie Jackson. With special guests Kim Massie and Rhoda G. The Ambassador, 9800 Halls Ferry Rd., 63136. For more information, visit www. metrotix.com.

Tues., Nov. 21, 7 p.m.,

The Pageant presents the Savage x The Soul Tour feat. Tank & Leela James. 6161 Delmar Blvd., 63112. For more information, visit www. thepageant.com.

Fri., Nov. 24, 8 p.m., Fresh Heir Believe Album Showcase. .Zack, 3224 Locust St., 63103. For more information, visit www. metrotix.com.

Sat., Nov. 25, 8 p.m., Exquisite Taste and S. Hartwell Jones & Associates present The Bobby Rush Show with DJ Ice Berg Omega Center, 3900 Goodfellow Blvd., 63120. For more information, visit www. metrotix.com.

Sun., Nov. 26, 6 p.m., MMDA presents Up Close and Personal with Avant & Keke Wyatt. Skip Viragh Center for the Arts, 425 S. Lindbergh Blvd., 63131. For more information, visit www. metrotix.com.

Sun., Nov. 26, 6 p.m. (5 p.m. doors), LooseCannon and RockHouse Ent. Presents Kid Goalss EP release concert. The Pageant. 6161 Delmar.

Sun., Dec. 3, 8 p.m., The Sheldon Concert Hall presents Damien Escobar: The Heart and Soul Tour 3648 Washington Blvd., 63108.

local gigs

Sat., Nov. 18, 7 & 9 p.m., .Zack presents Jeanette Harris: Grown & Saxy 3224 Locust St., 63103. For more information, visit www. metrotix.com.

Sun., Nov. 19, 2 p.m., Webster Groves High School Jazz 1 Motown Tribute Grandel, 3610 Grandel Sq., 63108. For more information, visit www.metrotix.com.

Sun., Nov. 19, 4 p.m., National Blues Museum presents Soulful Sunday with Kingdom Brothers. 615 Washington Ave., 63101. For more information, visit www. nationalbluesmuseum.org.

Mon., Nov. 20, 9 p.m., Old Rock House presents Wax Tailor: Solo Set & Guest 1200 S. 7th St., 63104. For more information, visit www. metrotix.com.

Fri., Nov. 24, 6 p.m., The

Brotherhood (Testimony of Music, Life, Living and Celebration of Artistic Excellence) featuring Ptah Williams, Darrell Mixon and Gary Sykes, The Dark Room, 3610 Grandel Square. For more information, visit https:// racstl.org/event/brotherhoodtestimony-music-life-livingcelebration-artistic-excellence/

Fri., Nov. 24, 9:30 p.m., The Late Show with Chuck Flowers featuring Antonio Foster (keys), Melvin Moore (bass), and Drew MH Bethany (drums), The Dark Room 3610 Grandel Sq www.artistecard.com/ CFlowers

Fri., Nov. 24, 8 p.m., Fresh Heir Believe Album Showcase. .Zack, 3224 Locust St., 63103. For more information, visit www. metrotix.com.

Sun., Nov. 26, 3 & 6 p.m., If Only for One Night –Legends of Soul Tribute Featuring the music of Gladys Knight and Patti Labelle. Artists will also cover the music of Sam Cooke, Chaka Khan, and more. .Zack, 3224 Locust St., 63103. For more information, visit www. metrotix.com.

Sat., Dec. 2, 7:30 p.m., STL Free Jazz Collective & Douglas R. Ewart. 14th Street Artist Community, 2701 N. 14th St., 63107. For more information, visit www. facebook.com.

special events

Thur., Nov. 16, 6:30 p.m., Memory Care Home Solutions hosts the 11th Annual Memories & Melodies. Help us honor those who are dedicated to community service, leadership and philanthropy. The Chase Park Plaza, 212 N. Kingshighway, 63108. For more information, call (314) 645-6247.

Fri., Nov. 17, 9 a.m., Urban League Fall Hiring Event. Attending companies include UPS, SLU, Dots Foods, and more. Village of Cahokia Fitness Center, 509 Camp Jackson Road, Cahokia, IL. 62206. For more information, visit www.ulstl.org.

Fri., Nov. 17, 11 a.m., The St. Louis American Foundation’s 18th Annual Salute to Excellence in Business Education Awards & Networking Luncheon. Four Seasons Hotel, 999 N. 2nd St., 63102. For more information, call (314) 5338000.

Fri., Nov. 17, 6 p.m., Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis invites you to their Great Futures Gala Proceeds help continue youth outreach programs. 2901 N. Grand Blvd., 63107. For more information, visit www.bgcstl. org.

Fri., Nov. 17, 6:30 p.m., Kingdom House Trivia Night. Eight rounds of trivia with prizes for the three top teams. Proceeds benefit literacy programs. Luhr Building, Webster University, 475 E. Lockwood Ave., 63119. For more information, visit

www.kingdomhouse.org.

Nov. 17 – 18, Operation Food Search’s 19th Annual Empty Bowls Fundraiser. Proceeds from the sales of the handcrafted pottery items will benefit OFS’ hunger relief efforts. Plaza Frontenac, 1701 S. Lindbergh Blvd., 63031. For more information, visit www. operationfoodsearch.org.

Sat., Nov. 18, 9 a.m., Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., St. Louis Alumnae Chapter presents Delta Academy. This program is designed for girls ages 11-14 to be introduced to role models in non-traditional careers. Cardinal Ritter College Prep, 701 North Spring Ave., 63108. For more information, visit www.dst-sla. org.

Sat., Nov. 18, 6:30 p.m., Better Family Life invites you to the 31st Annual Unity Ball – Resilience: Bridging the Delmar Divide Marriott St. Louis Grand, 800 Washington Ave., 63101. For more information, visit www.betterfamilylife. networkforgood.com.

Sun., Nov. 19, 5 p.m., Perfect Wedding Guide Wedding Show. We bring everything you need for your big day to one place. Ballpark Village, 601 Clark Ave., 63102. For more information, visit www. stlballparkvillage.com.

Sun., Nov. 19, 5 p.m., Community Women Against Hardship’s 29th Annual Circle of Support Gala. Featuring Nicole Henry Quartet. Sheldon Concert Hall, 3648 Washington Blvd., 63108. For more information, visit www.metrotix.com.

Tues., Nov. 28, 5:30 p.m., Operation Food Search’s Holiday Rap ‘N Pack. Participants will sort winter coats and pack food for food insecure children and their families. 1644 Lotsie Blvd., 63132. For more information, visit www. operationfoodsearch.org.

comedy

Fri., Nov. 17, 8 p.m., Team Gateway to a Cure & iHeartRadio present Laugh Off to a Cure. Feat. Jill Kimmel, Michael Winslow, Rodney Hood, Kevin Downey, Jr., and more. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., 63112. For more information, visit www. thepageant.com.

Sat., Nov. 18, 8 p.m., Stage Therapy presents the Teachers Only Comedy Tour. An exciting comedy show for Educators and anyone looking for a laugh. Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center, UMSL, 1 University Blvd., 63121. For more information, visit www.touhill. org.

Thurs., Nov. 23 – Sun., Nov. 26, The Laugh Lounge presents comedy legend Michael Colyar, The Laugh Lounge, 1208 W Florissant Ave, Florissant, MO 63033. For more information, visit www.thelaughloungestl.com

Thur., Nov. 30, 5 p.m., Celebrating Dick Gregory: Part II. The second part of our tribute focuses on A Lifetime of Activism and Comedy with a screening of Unsung

Kenya Vaughn recommends

The Laugh Lounge presents comedy legend Michael Colyar. See COMEDY for details.

Washington University School of Law, 1 Brookings Dr., 63130. For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.

literary

Thur., Nov. 16, 7 p.m., Left Bank Books hosts author Gail Lukasik, author of White Like Her: My Family’s Story of Race and Racial Passing 399 N. Euclid. For more information, visit www.leftbank.com.

Thur., Nov. 16, 7 p.m., St. Louis County Library hosts author Elisabeth Rosenthal author of An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back Library Headquarters, 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd., 63131. For more information, visit www. slcl.org.

Fri., Nov. 17, 8 p.m., Take

The A-Train with Bobby Norfolk and Tom George feat. Beverly Brennan Highlighting Langston Hughes, Booker T. Washington, Billie Holiday, and more. The Link Auditorium, 4504 Westminster Place, 63108. For more information, visit www. facebook.com.

Sat., Nov. 18, 2 p.m., Show Me Adventure Kids Book Signing with Author Deborah Reinhardt. Hear from the author, illustrator, and artist. Enjoy the new exhibit, “RECLAIM”. St. Louis Artists’ Guild, 12 N. Jackson Ave., 63105. For more information, visit www. stlouisartistsguild.org.

Sat., Nov. 18, 7 p.m., 4th Annual iScribe Poetry Soirée: Grown & Blessed Edition Part II. Give God the glory through praise & poetry. Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 N. Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, visit www. spokenmoments.com.

Sun., Nov. 19, 1 p.m., St. Louis County Library presents Stars of Young Adult Literature Showcase

Featuring Angie Thomas, Laini Taylor, Holly Black, Neal Shusterman, Meg Medina, and Brendan Kiely. Library Headquarters, 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd., 63131.

Tues., Nov. 21, 7 p.m., St. Louis on the Air hosts US Army Captain Flo Groberg, author of 8 Seconds of Courage: A Soldier’s Story from Immigrant to the Medal of Honor with Don Marsh Community Room at UMSL at Grand Center, 3651 Olive St., 63108. For more information, visit www.left-bank.com.

Wed., Nov. 29, 7 p.m., St. Louis County Library hosts author Khizr Khan, author of An American Family: A Memoir of Hope and Sacrifice 399 N. Euclid. For more information, visit www.leftbank.com.

art

Through Nov. 30, The Griot Museum of Black History presents Black Women Speak. We invite AfricanAmerican women to present works that interpret issues faced by African-American women. 2505 St. Louis Ave., 63106. For more information, visit www.thegriotmuseum. com.

Through December 31, Mickalene Thomas: Mentors, Muses, and Celebrities The Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, 3750 Washington Blvd. St. Louis, 63108. For more information, visit http://camstl. org/ or call (314) 535-4660.

lectures and workshops

Nov. 18 at 2 p.m. & Nov. 21 at 7 p.m., Standing Up for Civil Rights in St. Louis. Saturday’s event is for kids to hear authors Amanda Doyle and Melanie Adams. Tuesday’s event is for adults to discover how Doyle and Adams shaped St. Louis’s civil

Kenya Vaughn recommends

Community Women Against Hardship’s 29th Annual Circle of Support Gala Featuring the Nicole Henry Quartet For more information, see CONCERTS.

rights history. Missouri History Museum, 5700 Lindell Blvd., 63112. For more information, visit www.mohistory.org.

Tues., Nov. 21, Tues., Nov. 28, 2 p.m., Seniors Home Care presents Free Family Caregiver Training. Learn about incontinence care, home safety, Alzheimer’s/dementia, handling caregiver stress, and more. 504 Marshall Ave., 63119. For more information, visit www.seniorshomecare. com.

Wed., Nov. 29, 6:30 p.m., Segregation by Design. Missouri History Museum, 5700 Lindell Blvd., 63112. For more information, visit www. mohistory.org.

Sun., Dec. 3, 2:30 p.m.,

Talk + Action Workshops. “FaciliTrainers” from NCCJ St. Louis will lead an education workshop, with discussion on issues of employment equity. Missouri History Museum.

Sun., Dec. 10, 3 p.m., Human Rights Day 2017. Join us for a special panel discussion on the condition of human rights in our contemporary society. Missouri History Museum.

theatre

Fri., Nov. 17, 7 p.m., KHJ

Production presents Got to Be Real. A play focusing on the with the harsh yet sensitive reality of HIV/AIDS. Christ Pilgrim Rest MB Church, 1341 N Kingshighway Blvd., 63113.

For more information, call (314) 367-2974.

Nov. 17 – 18, Independent Theatre Co. presents Random. Patience Davis stars in this one woman show about idiosyncrasies of an ordinary family starting what they think is an ordinary day. Theatre Guild of Webster Groves, 517 Theatre Ln., 63119.

Wed., Nov. 29, 6 p.m., Contemporary Art Museum presents Performance: Gendering Memories of Iraq. A reflection on concepts of diaspora, immigration, and community. 3750 Washington Blvd., 63108. For more information, visit www.camstl. org.

Sun., Dec. 10, 1 p.m., Civic Arts Company presents Race

A one-act play based on Studs Terkel’s Race: How Blacks and Whites Think and Feel About the American Obsession. Missouri History Museum, 5700 Lindell Blvd., 63112. For more information, visit www. mohistory.org.

health

Tues., Nov. 28, 2 p.m., Seniors Home Care presents Free Family Caregiver Training. Learn about incontinence care, home safety, Alzheimer’s/dementia, handling caregiver stress, and more. 504 Marshall Ave., 63119. For more information, visit www.seniorshomecare. com.

Fri., Dec. 1, 3 p.m., World AIDS Day 2017. Remember those who have lost their battle with HIV/AIDS and recognize individuals who exemplify dedication to the HIV/AIDS community. Missouri History Museum, 5700 Lindell Blvd., 63112. For more information, visit www.mohistory.org.

Sat., Dec. 9, 11 a.m., Double Dutch ShowcaseHealthy Schools Healthy Communities. Wohl Rec Center, 1515 N. Kingshighway Blvd., 63113. For more information, call (314) 2860539 or email HSHC@bjc.org.

spiritual

Fri., Dec. 3, 6 p.m., Healing Woman Ministries presents Ladies Night at the Bistro Ladies, come together for an evening of comedy, live entertainment, food and more. University City Library Auditorium, 6701 Delmar Blvd., 63130. For more information, call (314) 5905673.

film

Thurs., Nov. 23, Roman J. Israel, Esq. starring Denzel Washington opens in theatres nationwide.

Continued from C1

earned a bachelor’s in psychology from Maryville University in 2008, then went to community college to study nursing a couple of years later.

“You have to come to the point where you really dig inside yourself and see what it is that you really want to do every day as work. I made my mind up and said, ‘I’m going to do film.’”

Her way back to film and television started over a decade ago in another creative space – music, which is where she crafted her stage name, “Sunni Minx.” The singer’s nickname represents her personality, a blend of her zodiac nature as a Cancer – beauty, beast, glamour, masculine yet feminine, but overall, balanced.

In 2014, she took her interest in writing music videos further by producing trailers for reality television shows. One of the shows was picked up by BET, but it wasn’t produced. After crossing this off her bucket list, she took a break.

“I was telling a few people about a story that I wrote, and they really liked it. And I was just thinking, ‘I’m going to go ahead and shoot this thing.’ It just lit that creative flare again.”

Thus, “Sunshine,” a short film turned web series, was born. Originally written as a book in 2013, Sunni rewrote the

story as a movie then again as an episodic project. Described as “Power” with a female lead, the show is centered on Sunshine, a young lady with a beautiful soul whose childhood experiences impact her life as an adult.

“Sunshine The Series” premiered in May 2016 to a full house at The Lux Theatre. A few days later, the series’ trailer for the first episode was published on YouTube, and since then has collected over 59,000 views. The first season of the show premieres this winter.

With everything Sunni does, her vision is to create entertaining content that audiences can relate to and appreciate.

“I have so many synopses and scripts written, [that] I’m looking to start working immediately,” Sunni said. “And not just put stuff out on YouTube or Amazon Prime. I still want a major label. I really see myself making major moves in this business.”

Although her moves come with challenges, she doesn’t let them, nor anything or anyone, deter her from her goals, as her drive to do what she loves comes from within.

“Your motivation has to be more than just your passion. Your motivation has to be more than about the money. For me, it’s more than just my family. It’s more than just my friends. It’s really more than just me. What motivates me is that I can be in a position to change the lives of many people.”

Sunni looks forward to preparing for this position by learning, networking and building her brand. This past August, she was accepted into the University of California, Los Angeles’ (UCLA) screenwriting program.

One step and project at a time, she is transforming her dreams into reality. Whether it’s creating content in St. Louis, moving to Los Angeles for the screenwriting program or traveling to Atlanta to mingle with industry professionals, her goal is the same.

“I plan on getting out there and really making a name for myself and letting my work speak for itself. You gotta be about what you talk about,” Sunni said. “You’ve got to put yourself in the position that has the opportunity. Or, you create the opportunity, which takes more work, but is way more rewarding. You know, they say, ‘If you build it, they will come.’ I believe that.”

For updates on Sunni Minx’s projects, follow her on Facebook and Instagram, including “Sunshine The Series” on Facebook and Instagram.

Sharee Silerio is a St. Louisbased freelance writer, Film and TV writer-producer and blogger. Review her freelance portfolio at ShareeSilerio. com then connect with her on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Continued from C1

digest and allows readers to relate with ease.

Adams and Doyle will discuss the content of the book with youth and adults in two separate talks at The History Museum. Saturday afternoon (Nov. 18) will cater to young people. Tuesday evening’s event will be geared towards adults.

“Standing Up For Civil Rights in St. Louis,” features four U.S. Supreme Court Cases with St. Louis roots that fought for individual freedom as well as equal education and housing rights – Scott V. Sandford (1856), Gaines V. Canada (1938), Shelley V. Kraemer (1947) and Jones V. Alfred H. Mayer Co. (1968).

The book also provides some of the lesser known civil rights heroes of St. Louis. Among them are John and Mary Meachum, Lincoln University co-founders Charlton Tandy and Moses Dickson, Rev. George Stevens, James Milton Turner, Henry Winfield Wheeler and Percy Green.

“You’ll meet brave men and women who spoke out and fought back. You may already know some of their names,”

Adams and Doyle said. “Take a good look at your school, post office, or a park or playground you like. There’s a good chance that place was named after a local civil rights activist, like Marian Oldham, Norman Say or James Milton Turner.”

The book also gives a nod to Judge Young, who ran The American’s editorial page for more than four decades. His editorials often included civil rights struggles taking place in

ORJI

Continued from C1

time to pursue a career within the entertainment industry.

“I found a community and that’s what let me know I was on the right path,” Orji said. “I also don’t believe in taking no for an answer.”

She went out on a limb and reached out to a writer who was

the region and abroad.

Just like the exhibition, the book closes by touching upon the community’s response to the death of unarmed teen

Michael Brown by former Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson on August 9, 2014.

“Was Ferguson the start of a new civil rights movement? Or will it become an overlooked moment? The answer remains to be seen.”

also a member of the Ibo tribe, a people with origins chiefly in southeastern Nigeria.

“I shot a comedy special and sent it to him. That got me an internship in a writers’ room. Then I Googled ‘writers room,’” Orji laughed. “I put myself out there before I was ready. You’re never going to be ready.”

Without confirmation of the start date for the writer’s room internship, she decided to go to Los Angeles on faith. “The day

Discussions for Adams and Doyle’s “Standing Up for Civil Rights in St. Louis” will take place at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 18 (for youth) and at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 21 (adults) at The Missouri History Museum, 5700 Lindell in Forest Park. For more information, visit www. mohistory.org.

I bought my ticket is the day the work started.”

Though Orji was not in any of Rae’s run of “Awkward Black Girl,” she was asked to come in and audition for HBO because Orji reminded Rae of her best friend. Rae made no promises. “The rest is history,” Orji said.

“Insecure” is an honest representation of black culture. But she doesn’t necessarily feel a responsibility to portray such.

“Not everyone sees themselves in the characters represented. But you can still be entertained and moved by it,” Orji said. “I’ll get, ‘I am Molly.’ And I’ll tell women, ‘Girl don’t say that out loud!’ But it’s good for us to see her process. That’s the beauty of Molly. She embraces her journey.”

Orji can’t wait for her stock in Hollywood to rise so she can pay her success forward.

“Once I’m in [the industry], that’s my opportunity to be what Issa was for me,” Orji said. “I’m never comfortable. I’m content and happy, but never comfortable. There’s more work to do.” Orji shared that she’s finished her first movie with Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish, which will be released next September. And she’s still working on her show

“First Gen,” about a Nigerian American family being produced by David Oyelowo.

“I’m very specific. Family friendly. Wholesome. And if it’s not there I’m going to create it,” Orji said of her image and brand. “Molly is probably who I would’ve been had I not gotten saved at 17. I can tap into the essence of her. I know the ups and downs. I’m not her specifically, but can still channel her.”

In one of the final scenes of an episode from the second season, her character is to walk to the door in lingerie.

“[Prior to this] Wardrobe gave me the selections. I’m conservative and I had to protect the brand,” Orji said. “Director Melina Matsoukas wanted to shoot me from the back and I was like, ‘Maybe no!” She chose something sexy that included a robe. “I want to leave something to the imagination for my man one day. I told Melina, I’m gonna work the heck outta this clavicle and shoulder though!” Orji sold the modesty.

“These are the conversations I have to have. I have my vision too,” Orji said. “Know your forte. Know yourself. Know your brand.”

Celebrations

Church Anniversary Retirement

Congratulations to Galilee Missionary Baptist Church, 4300 Delmar, St. Louis (Rev. Dr. Carlton R. Caldwell, Pastor) on its 119th Church Anniversary, Sunday, November 26, 2017, 10:30 a.m. After the morning service with Pastor Caldwell, there will be a Special Mortgage Burning Ceremony. The afternoon service will begin at 3 p.m., Rev. Joseph Garris and New Jerusalem Baptist Church will be our guests. The public is welcome to attend this special celebration.

7606 Natural Bridge at 1:00 p.m.. Dates are (Saturdays) January 13, February 17, March 17, April 21, May 19 and June 2. For more information call (314) 8698312 or email bhsco1968@ att.net. Pass the word and lets celebrate!

Beaumont Class of 1968 will celebrate its 50-year reunion June 8-10,2018. Yes, Class ‘68 will begin Milestone celebration 6th month on 8th day. Our 2018 meetings in preparation will be held at STL County library located

Beaumont High Class of 1973 is planning its 45th reunion for next year! Please check the Beaumont Facebook page for scheduled meetings and conference calls. Any questions, contact: Rita at 314-241-5419.

Beaumont High Class of 1978 will celebrate its

A grand retirement celebration is planned for Pastor Dewitt White Sr. (pictured with wife, Annie White) of El Bethel M.B. Church on Saturday, December 9 at 5 pm at Maryland Heights Community Center. He has served 30 glorious years as God’s servant. Call 314-3699481 for information and reservations.

40-year reunion in 2018. For further information, please contact: Marietta Shegog Shelby, 314-799-5296, madeshe@sbcglobal.net.

Homer G. Phillips and St. Louis Municipal School of Nursing is planning an all class reunion in June 2018. Please send your name, address and telephone number to: Homer G. Phillips Nurses Alumni, Inc., P.O. Box 8033 St. Louis, Missouri 63156.

McKinley Class of 1978 will celebrate its 40-year reunion July 27-29, 2018 at the Embassy Suites-Airport. For more information please

Birthdays

Happy 9th Birthday to Ayanna Nunn on November 21! Daddy loves you!

O.C. Montgomery will soon celebrate his 99th birthday. He was born November 28, 1918 in Louise, Mississippi. Happy Birthday, Daddy Mont!

contact Barbara Lindsey, Barbara_Lindsey@icloud.com or Marvin Woods, mwoods@ projectcontrolsgroup.com , (314) 647-0707.

Northwest High School Class of 1978 is planning its 40-year reunion for next year. PLEASE reach out to our classmates, tell them get ready for this. If you have any questions please contact Sly at (314) 397-0311 or email us at northwestbluedevils@78gmail. com. Check us out on Facebook Northwest High School-Class of 1978. Sumner Class of 1976 Annual Christmas Party

Saturday, December 23, 2017, 7 pm at DEJAVU II Cafe, 2805 Target Dr. 2 for 1 drink specials (5:307:30pm), free parking, No cover charge but $5 (40-Yr Class Reunion Attendees & Guest) or $10 for all others for the Catered Food. Limited Reserved Seating AVAILABLE until 10pm. (Doors open 5pm/closes 1am) For more info, call B. Louis at 314.385.9843.

University City Class of 1978 will hold its 40th reunion May 25-27, 2018. For more information please email ucityhs1978@gmail. com

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, wedding, engagement announcement, anniversary, retirement or birthday, send your photos and a brief announcement (50 words or less) to us and we may include it in our paper and website – AT NO COST – as space is available Photos will not be returned. Send your announcements to: kdaniel@stlamerican. com or mail to: St. Louis American Celebrations c/o Kate Daniel 2315 Pine St. St. Louis, MO 63103 FREE OF CHARGE

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

St. Louis, MO 63103 Deadline is 10 a.m. on Friday. If you’d like your class to be featured in a reunion profile, email or mail photos to us. Our email address is: reunions@ stlamerican.com

Swag Snap of the Week

Lunch and a read with Rickey Smiley. I spent my Thursday afternoon with comedian and radio personality Rickey Smiley at Lowe’s Entertainment in celebration of Rickey’s new book, “Stand By Your Truth: And Run Like Hell” which just hit the shelves. Okay, maybe I was only there an hour – but it was a whole lunch. I had a good little time rubbing elbows with some of my favorites from the Radio One St. Louis family – like Christina Bailey, Boogie D, Gary Gunter, Victoria Said It and Chesley Waddell. I also ran into Zumba Diva Chass Joy and my girl Rhoda G. Rickey Smiley was nice enough at first – and he’s come a long way as far as interacting with folks over the years. He has an aversion on people imposing on him by demanding a cell phone photo. He had photographer Art set up to take a picture of every fan so that everybody would be happy. Ain’t it always that one that threatens to mess it up for everybody. For them being able to get the pic from Hot 104.1’s Facebook in a matter of hours wasn’t fast enough, so they had to try to sneak someone up to take the pic on the side. Rickey caught it and he was not pleased. He quickly regrouped, until somebody try to push their idea for a movie, or play or something on him as he was signing their book. He had the folks stop the music to let it be known that the man or woman was out of order for doing so. He really let them have it. I can’t say I’m mad at Rickey for it, either. Besides those two little unpleasantries, it was still quite a bit of fun – and some really good food. Oh, and before I forget, let me congratulate Chesley on her engagement!

A delightful dirty south throwback. I had a great little time going down memory lane at The Marquee Friday for their southern rap all-stars concert Friday night with Mia X, Juvenile and 8Ball & MJG. As the first lady of No Limit, Mia X can do no wrong in my book period. So, when she got on that stage making me feel like the Marquee had a time machine that took me back to the mid-to-late 1990s, she earned a pass from here to infinity regarding my fandom. Juvenile comes to town just about every second Friday, so I wasn’t expecting to feel one way or the other after seeing him for the fifth time in 2017. However, Mia X teed it up for me to pay more attention to him than usual. Luckily for him, he didn’t disappoint. With that black sweater and matching cap, he looked more like an elder ready to play dominos in the park than a rap veteran ripping the stage with nastiest of lyrics. I got life though, I’m not going to lie. The only disappointment for me came when he didn’t play the “Cash Money takin’ over for the 99 and the 2000s” intro for his “Back That Thang Up” up finale. 8Ball & MJG closed the show – and any regular reader knows how hard I go for that dynamic duo. As they took the stage at 2 a.m. and I rapped along to “You Don’t Want Drama,” it felt like déjà vu. And I will keep my suspicions that they have been booking shows in St. Louis for the past three Novembers in a row so they can secretly attend the Holy Convocation to myself.

A funnyman at the Marquee. Saturday night I doubled back to the Marquee for Element Saturdays. This week they had a special celebrity guest in comedian Michael Blackson. He was already here doing a weekend run at Helium. I don’t see it for him enough to sit through a whole set of his that isn’t a warm up for somebody else, so I passed on catching his actual act. But I figured I would roll through and kick it with him – well kick it around him would be more accurate. It was cool. The Marquee wasn’t nearly even close to bustin’ at the seams like it was for the rap show the night before, but Blackson seemed cool and the people seemed pleased. And I was able to squeeze out another Partyline item on an especially slow week.

Cackles with Capone. I ended my weekend by catching the comedian Capone at The Laugh Lounge Sunday night. I know his name sounds like an early 90s New York or Philadelphia rapper and you’ve never heard of him. I was in the exact same place as you until I saw a Facebook Live interview conducted on location at the Laugh Lounge by A. Keith Turner When I first tuned in, I was like, “if he was really poppin’ I would at least know who he is.” But then after learning that he was the host of the famous Amateur Night at The Apollo for a gang of years, I decided to check him out. You’d have to be funny to do that for any length of time or you’d get booed off right along with the contestants, right? Turns out I was right. I hollered – especially when he roasted Laugh Lounge owner Jessie Taylor for knowing everybody at the show personally and Willie Lynch Jr. for infusing a bit of “What The Health” into his act. And when he talked about the cussin’ match gone wrong with the Chinese cab driver, I was downright weak. But not only did he make me laugh, he had the nerve to give me a motivational speech after his set that had me ready to conquer the world. I was really caught off guard and not just with the unexpected caliber of his comedy. He told the folks that they can do anything they put their minds to if they are willing to work hard for it. That bit about us having faith that an airplane pilot we never met will get us to our destination safely, but not believing in ourselves and our talents hit the nail on the doggone head! Oh, and I’ll be back to the Laugh Lounge Thanksgiving weekend to check out

too.

Michael Colyar

Fat kicked back with Mia X after she opened a nostalgic Dirty South Hip-Hop show also featuring Juvenile and 8Ball and MJG Friday @ The Marquee

Della, Dorian and Cmilz arrived early to grab a VIP booth Friday @ MOOD

Precious and Melissa enjoyed a few laughs during their girl’s night Saturday @ Shi Sha

Morgan Brittany and Breanna were in chill and chat mode during SAT Night VIBE @ Shi Sha

Lo and Renee opted for a night on the town Saturday and made their way to the O Bar just as it filled up

Tecumseh turned up with Michael Blackson as he celebrated six sold out headlining shows at Helium @ Element Saturdays @The Marquee

Kim and Odis made sure they were in the house to catch the southern legends of hip hop Friday night @ The Marquee

Rayban Robbie and Rob The Brand met up and chilled Saturday night @The Marquee

Dapper gents hit Ovii and Niro stepped into The Marquee for Element Saturdays

Radio host, television personality and comedian Rickey Smiley with St. Louis’ own saxophone phenom Rhoda G at the signing and lunch in celebration of his new book “Stand By Your Truth” Thursday afternoon at Lowes.

Photos by V. Lang

Darren and Wildflower dared not miss the Rumpshaker dance party @ Blank Space Saturday

DIRECTOR OF INVESTIGATIONS

The University of Missouri Office for Civil Rights & Title IX invites applications for Director of Investigations. This position oversees our response to reported violations of MU antidiscrimination policies. http://hrs.missouri.edu/find-ajob/staff/index.php, enter job ID 24621.

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

A small not-for-profit is seeking application for the position of Chief Operating Officer to open January 1, 2018. The candidate must possess a comprehensive understanding of notfor-profit organizational functions and systems that include planning, administration, resource development and marketing. The position assist the CEO in the effective management of the agency. Candidates who have a least five years of demonstrated effectiveness in a nonprofit setting will be considered. An undergraduate degree is required, with an advanced degree such as MBA or Masters in Nonprofit Management highly desirable. Recent retirees can also apply. Send resume and salary requirement to P.O.Box 23247, St. Louis, Mo. 63156

MANAGER Need a Property Manager to manage your property? Special HOLIDAY monthly rate - 5% for the 1st 50 clients*. Call JKadlet Realty today at 314-260-9633.

PERSONAL CARE

Director, Neighborhood Business Development

St. Louis Development Corporation (SLDC) seeks a Neighborhood Business Development Director. A full description can be found on-line at www.stlouis-mo. gov/sldc select “Careers at SLDC” and follow the online application process.

SLDC offers a full range of benefits including deferred comp, 401(a), and medical insurance. SLDC is an equal opportunity employer. Successful candidate must be a St. Louis city resident or establish residency within 180 days of completing a probationary period.

SLDC values a diverse workforce, and is an equal opportunity employer.

MEDICAL MANAGEMENT ANALYST

Medical Management Analyst

DISPATCH OFFICER

Explore St. Louis / America’s Center seeks a full time Dispatch Officer to monitor and operate the Building Automation Systems which include the CCTV, Fire and Lighting control system for monitoring building property and the HVAC BAS Systems. Must have computer knowledge in Microsoft Word and Excel, the ability to effectively communicate information to Public Safety Officers & building staff and initiate work orders and incident reports. Minimum of a High School diploma or GED, one to two years related experience. Must be able to pass a background check, drug screen and knowledgeable in Microsoft Office. This is a 24/7 operation. The potential candidate must be able to work all shifts which include days, nights, weekends and holidays. Email resume & cover letter to jobs@explorestlouis.com;

ATTORNEY

Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, Inc. (LSEM), a non-profit law firm which provides high quality civil legal assistance and equal access to justice for persons living with low-income/ low-opportunity and the elderly without charge, seeks an attorney to work in its Consumer Law Program. For more information and application instructions visit our website at www.lsem.org. This

Are you looking for an opportunity in the field of education, a year of service to enrich the lives of others, and/or a chance to be a part of something life-changing?

Blueprint Schools Network is seeking passionate, qualified individuals to apply for the Blueprint Fellows Program in East St Louis, IL! Positions for 2017-2018 will start immediately and run for the full school year. Our Fellows are the foundation of our daily, small group math tutoring program designed to bolster academic achievement and educational equity across our national partner school network. Using a comprehensive math curricula, Fellows provide instruction to five or six groups of no more than four students daily. Fellows receive a paid stipend as well as medical, dental, and vision benefits at no-cost on the employee level of coverage. To learn more and access the online application, please visit our website at http://www.blueprintschools.org/fellows.

NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS

Sealed bids for the Halls Ferry Road – ARS Infrastructure will be received at the Office of the Director of Procurement for the County of St. Louis, County Government Center Administration Building, 41 South Central Avenue, 8th Floor, Clayton, Missouri 63105, until 2:00 p.m. on December 6, 2017, and at that time will be publicly opened and read.

St. Louis County Project No. AR-1480, Federal Project No. STP-9900(655) consists of removal and replacement of deteriorated and/or damaged pavement, joints, curbs, and sidewalks; pavement surfacing and texturing; superpave asphaltic concrete overlay; removal and replacement of sidewalk curb ramps, and other incidental items on Halls Ferry Rd from 500 feet north of St. Cyr Rd to St. Louis City Limits within St. Louis County and other incidental items necessary to complete the above in a workmanlike manner.

The successful Bidder or Bidders shall be required to comply with the most current applicable Federal (Davis-Bacon Act) and State statutory provisions concerning the payment of prevailing wages on public works, Section 290.210 through 290.340 R.S. Mo. 1959, as amended. All contractors must be on the Missouri Department of Transportation’s approved contractor listing, seven (7) days prior to bid opening.

Contractors and sub-contractors who sign a contract to work on a public works project shall provide a ten (10) hour OSHA construction safety program, or similar program approved by the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, to be completed by their on-site employees within sixty (60) days of beginning work on the construction project.

St. Louis County hereby notifies all bidders that it will affirmatively ensure that in any contract entered into pursuant to this advertisement, businesses owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals will be afforded full opportunity to submit bids in response to this invitation and will not be discriminated against on the grounds of race, color, religion, creed, sex, age, ancestry, or national origin in consideration for an award. Plans and specifications will be available on November 13, 2017 from the St. Louis County Web Site (www.stlouisco.com), or by contacting County Blue Reprographics, Inc., 1449 Strassner Drive, St. Louis, Missouri 63144, (314) 961-3800. There will be no refunds on any documents purchased. Select the following link to view/purchase plans and specifications for this project:

http://countyblue.boxlake.com/viewJobs.asp?action=list&group_id=9999

Bids must be accompanied by a certified check or bidder’s bond in an amount equal to 5% of the total bid. All checks shall be made payable to “Treasurer, St. Louis County.”

Responsible for assisting Claims Department personnel with medical related issues on their claims. To apply, please visit: www.safetynational.com and click on the Careers tab.

ASSOCIATE NETWORK ANALYST

REJIS is currently seeking an Associate Network Analyst, to provide a wide range of services from installing, maintaining desktop PC’s, switches, routers and firewalls, servers, communication troubleshooting and support.

To see our benefits or apply for this or other jobs, please visit:www.rejis.org

EOE/Minorities/Females/Vet/Disabled/ Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity

The REJIS Commission has developed an EEOP Utilization Report as required by the United States Department of Justice. It is available for review on our website at rejis.org/employment.

K-12 PROGRAM COORDINATOR

An Equal Opportunity Employer COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR The United Way of Greater St. Louis is seeking a Communications Coordinator. Please visit our website at http://www.stl.unitedway.org

MISSISSIPPI FLOODWALL ORS PUMP STATIONS REHABILITATION

Notice of Request for Qualifications (RFQ)

Notice is hereby given that The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District (District) will receive sealed Statements of Qualifications for Design-Build Services for Mississippi Floodwall ORS Pump Stations Rehabilitation under Letting No. 12483-015.1, at its office, 2350 Market Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63103, until 2:00 PM on Monday, December 11, 2017. All Statements of Qualifications are to be addressed to the Attention of Mr. Rich Unverferth, Director of Engineering, and must be time stamped and deposited in the bid box located on the First Floor Main Entrance. No submittals will be accepted after the 2:00 PM deadline. The Project is summarized as follows:

1. Baden Pump Station – Sewer Closure Gates (GW3P-1, -2 & -3). Remove and replace three 9 foot wide by 16 foot tall steel roller gates and ap purtenances with new stainless steel roller gates and appurtenances. Provide concrete rehabilitation in the vicinity of the gates. Rehabilitate and upgrade three hydraulic actuators.

2. Baden Pump Station – Shutter Gates (SG3-1, -2, -3 & -4). Rehabilitate four 11 foot wide by 11 foot tall steel shutter gates.

3. Harlem Emergency Closure Structure – Sewer Closure Gates (EC4A-1, -2, -3 & -4). Rehabilitate four 71 inch wide by 156 inch tall stainless steel slide gates. Provide concrete rehabilitation in the vicinity of the gates. Rehabilitate and upgrade two hydraulic actuators.

4. Mill Creek Pump Station – Sewer Closure Gates (GW15P-1 & -2). Remove and replace two 9 foot wide by 20 foot tall steel roller gates and appurtenances with new stainless steel roller gates and appurtenances. Provide concrete rehabilitation in the vicinity of the gates.

5. Mill Creek Pump Station – Shutter Gates (Z-1, Z-2, Z-3 & Z-4). Rehabil itate three 10 foot wide by 10 foot tall steel shutter gates and one 5.5 foot wide by 5.5 foot tall steel shutter gate.

Statements of Qualifications will be received from all companies meeting the requirements of the RFQ Documents. RFQ Documents are available for free electronic download. Please go to MSD’s website (www.stlmsd.com) and look for a link to “ELECTRONIC PLANROOM.” RFQ Documents are also available for viewing or purchase at Cross Rhodes Reprographics located at 1712 Macklind Avenue, St. Louis MO 63110. All design-builders must obtain a set of RFQ Documents in the name of the entity submitting the Statement of Qualifications. The Metropolitan

ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES PLANNER I East-West Gateway Council of Governments has an opening for an Environmental Services Planner I position. Starting salary is $36,750 annually. Please follow the link to view post at http://www.ewgateway.com/AboutUs/JobAds/jobads.htm An Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action Employer

One and Two Bedroom WAITING LIST OPENING

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Kendelwood Place Apartments located in Black Jack, Missouri in accordance with regulations outlined by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and in accordance with the Section 8 Tenant Selection Plan for the above project will reopen the ONE AND TWO BEDROOM waiting list for all individuals from December 18, 2017 through December 21, 2017. Then again February 5, 2018 through February 8, 2018. Applications will be available to the public and accepted each business day during this open period from 10:00AM –3:00PM at the Kendelwood Place Leasing Office, 12404 Centerbrook Drive, Black Jack, Missouri 63033. Also, an electronic version is available to download at www.proequity.com but must be signed, returned with a picture ID, and social security card within the open period. In addition to the Approved Tenant Selection Criteria, eligibility is based on annual income limits which vary by household size and location. Federal fiscal year 2017/2018 Income limits may be found at www.HUD.gov. Kendelwood Place Apartments shall not discriminate because of race, color, sex, religion, familial status, disability, handicap, national origin, sexual orientation or gender identity in the leasing, rental or other disposition of housing. There is no application fee, picture ID and a social security card is required. No applications for this notice will be accepted after December 14, 2017 and February 8, 2018 at 3:00PM.

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP)

The City of St. Louis, Department of Health (DOH), Bureau of Communicable Disease Grants Administration is requesting proposals from local organizations, community agencies, universities, local governmental entities and other interested parties eligible to receive federal funds to provide the following service(s): Referral for Health Care and Support Services, Planning Council Support Services. Interested parties are encouraged to respond to the solicitation for proposal beginning Friday, October 27, 2017. An RFP packet may be obtained from Phillip Johnson, Secretary I, DOH, 1520 Market Avenue, Room 40027, by either calling 314-657-1556 or via email JohnsonP@stlouis-mo.gov. Interested parties may also download the RFP from the City of St. Louis website at http://www.stlouis-mo. gov/government/procurement.cfm.

If interested parties have downloaded the proposal from the website, they must register with Mr. Johnson; in order to be notified of any changes or amendments to the RFPs. The deadline for submitting proposals is 4:00 p.m. Tuesday, December 12, 2017 at the address referenced above.

www.stlamerican.com

NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS

Sealed bids for Musick Avenue at Gravois Intersection Project, St. Louis County Project No. CR-1544, will be received at the Office of the Director of Procurement for the County of St. Louis, County Government Center Administration Building, 41 South Central Avenue, 8th Floor, Clayton, Missouri 63105, until 2:00 p.m. on November 29, 2017.

Plans and specifications will be available on November 6, 2017 from the St. Louis County Web Site (www.stlouisco.com), or by contacting County Blue Reprographics, Inc., 1449 Strassner Drive, St. Louis, Missouri 63144, (314) 961-3800.

DIRECTOR OF PROCUREMENT AND ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES ST. LOUIS, COUNTY

Public Notice of Single Source Procurement

Notice is hereby given that the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is proposing to procure temporary help services from Randstad Technologies LLC in an effort to support the IT Technology Plan. The District is proposing single source procurement for this service because it does not have the internal expertise to fulfill this Information Technology role. Any inquiries should be sent to strenz@stlmsd.com. Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

LETTING #8654

LETTING #8653

CONCRETE & BRICK REMOVAL/ REPLACEMENT AND COMPLETE SIDEWALK INSTALLATION, SP-106

Sealed proposals will be received by the Board of Public Service in Room 208 City Hall, 1200 Market Street, St. Louis, Mo. Until 1:45 PM, CT, on December 19, 2017, then publicly opened and read. Plans and Specifications may be examined on the Board of Public Service website http://www.stl-bps.org/planroom.aspx (BPS On Line Plan Room) and may be purchased directly through the BPS website from INDOX Services at cost plus shipping. No refunds will be made.

A mandatory pre-bid conference for all contractors bidding on this project will be held on November 28, 2017, at 10:00 A.M., Room 305, City Hall, 1200 Market Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63103.

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

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

NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS

Sealed bids for Baxter Road (West) ARS Infrastructure, St. Louis County Project No. AR-1547, will be received at the Office of the Director of Procurement for the County of St. Louis, County Government Center Administration Building, 41 South Central Avenue, 8th Floor, Clayton, Missouri 63105, until 2:00 p.m. on November 29, 2017.

Plans and specifications will be available on November 6, 2017 from the St. Louis County Web Site (www.stlouisco.com), or by contacting County Blue Reprographics, Inc., 1449 Strassner Drive, St. Louis, Missouri 63144, (314) 961-3800.

NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS

Sealed bids for Jennings Station South St. Louis County Project No.AR-1585, will be received at the Office of the Director of Procurement for the County of St. Louis, County Government Center Administration Building, 41 South Central Avenue, 8th Floor, Clayton, Missouri 63105, until 2:00 p.m. on November 29, 2017. Plans and specifications will be available on November 6, 2017 from the St. Louis County Web Site (www.stlouisco.com), or by contacting County Blue Reprographics, Inc., 1449 Strassner Drive, St. Louis, Missouri 63144, (314) 961-3800.

DIRECTOR OF PROCUREMENT AND ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES ST. LOUIS, COUNTY

DIRECTOR OF PROCUREMENT AND ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES REQUEST FOR BIDS

BIDS

Curtiss-Manes-Schulte, Inc. is soliciting bids from MBE/WBE/SDVE/ DBE subcontractors and suppliers for work on the Medical Science Building, 1st Floor Lab Renovation, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO. Bids are due November 30th by 12:00 pm and can be faxed to (573) 392-4527 or emailed to shawn@cmsgc.com. For more information, call Shawn @ (573) 392-6553.

Curtiss-Manes-Schulte, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

The St. Louis County Port Authority (the “Authority”) is soliciting proposals from qualified contractors to research and develop a food industry cluster study and strategy in St. Louis County, Missouri.

To be considered, proposals must be received no later than 3:00 PM on Friday, December 8, 2017. Proposals should be sent by e-mail to hbean@stlpartnership.com, or to St. Louis County Port Authority, c/o St. Louis Economic Development Partnership, ATTN: Howl Bean II, 7733 Forsyth Blvd., Suite 2200, St. Louis, Missouri 63105. DBE, MBE, and WBE firms are encouraged to bid.

The Request for Proposals may be obtained from the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership’s web site at www.stlpartnership.com. The Authority reserves the right to reject any or all proposals and to waive informalities therein. Any questions should be directed to Howl Bean II, Staff Attorney, St. Louis Economic Development Partnership at (314) 615-7663 or hbean@ stlpartnership.com.

St. Louis Economic Development Partnership Equal Opportunity Employer

P.A. SYSTEM REPLACEMENT – PHASE II

At St. Louis Lambert International Airport

Sealed proposals will be received by the Board of Public Service in Room 208 City Hall, 1200 Market Street, St. Louis, Mo. Until 1:45 PM, CT, on Tuesday, December 19, 2017, then publicly opened and read. Plans and Specifications may be examined on the Board of Public Service website http://www.stl-bps.org/planroom.aspx (BPS On Line Plan Room) and may be purchased directly through the BPS website from INDOX Services at cost plus shipping. No refunds will be made.

Bidders shall comply with all applicable City, State and Federal laws (including MBE/WBE policies). Mandatory pre-bid meeting will be held on Monday, November 27, 2017 at 1:30 PM in the Ozark Conference Room at the Airport Office Building, 11495 Navaid Rd., Bridgeton, MO 63044.

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

LETTING #8651

CONCRETE & BRICK REMOVAL/ REPLACEMENT AND COMPLETE SIDEWALK INSTALLATION, SP-104

Sealed proposals will be received by the Board of Public Service in Room 208 City Hall, 1200 Market Street, St. Louis, Mo. Until 1:45 PM, CT, on December 5, 2017, then publicly opened and read. Plans and Specifications may be examined on the Board of Public Service website http://www.stl-bps.org/planroom.aspx (BPS On Line Plan Room) and may be purchased directly through the BPS website from INDOX Services at cost plus shipping. No refunds will be made.

A mandatory pre-bid conference for all contractors bidding on this project will be held on November 14, 2017, at 10:00 A.M., Room 305, City Hall, 1200 Market Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63103. Bidders shall comply with all applicable City, State and Federal laws (including MBE/WBE

BIDS Five Oaks Associates, LLC is accepting bids for the following project for University of Missouri, Columbia: Medical Science Building First Floor Research Laboratory Renovation. Project No. CP 171091. It bids on Thursday, November 30, 2017. We would like to have your bids by 9:00am. You may fax your bid at: 573-6829514; email at: admin@5oaksassociates. com. You may reach us at 573-682-1314 for any questions.

SEALED BIDS

for Replace Cooling Tower, James C. Kirkpatrick State Office Building, Jefferson City, Missouri, Project No. O1718-01 will be received by FMDC, State of MO, UNTIL 1:30 PM, 11/16/2017. For specific project information and ordering plans, go to: http://oa.mo. gov/ facilities

The City of University City is accepting sealed bids for at least 2,000 Residential Roll-out Trash and

REQUEST FOR BIDS DIVERSE

SUBCONTRACTORS

QuesTec Mechanical seeks proposals from certified MBE/WBE/SDVE subcontractors & suppliers on the Replace Tunnel Utilities - Hearnes Forensic Complex for Fulton State Hospital in Fulton, MO. Electronic Documents may be viewed at no cost at http://planroom.adsmo.net/ viewJobs.asp?action=view&job_id=6594 QuesTec is soliciting bids for concrete, structural steel, general works package, mechanical insulation, seismic restraint, testing & balancing, VFD, electrical, and site work. Bids are due by 12:30 p.m. on 11/30/2017. To contact us for further details or questions please call 573-8750260, fax 573-875-0299, or email Estimating@QuesTec.us.

REQUEST

FOR PROPOSALS The St. Louis Economic Development Partnership (the “Partnership”) is soliciting proposals from qualified firms to provide liaison services with federal level governmental officials, agencies and elected representatives.

To be considered, proposals must be received no later than 3:00 PM on Friday, December 8, 2017. Proposals should be sent by e-mail to hbean@stlpartnership.com, or to St. Louis Economic Development Partnership, ATTN: Howl Bean II, 7733 Forsyth Blvd., Suite 2200, St. Louis, Missouri 63105. DBE, MBE, and WBE firms are encouraged to bid.

The Request for Proposals may be obtained from the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership’s web site at www.stlpartnership.com. The Partnership reserves the right to reject any or all proposals and to waive informalities therein. Any questions should be directed to Howl Bean at (314) 615-7663 or hbean@ stlpartnership.com.

St. Louis Economic Development Partnership Equal Opportunity Employer

Notice

Eastern Missouri area. Any inquiries should be sent to ltreat@stlmsd.com. Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

REQUESTS FOR PROPOSALS

The Locust Business District, a special taxing district in the City of St. Louis, is seeking vendors to provide the following services:

• Street Sweeping • Trash Removal • Snow Plowing • Handyman Services

• District Security • Administrative Assistant Services

• Audit Services • Marketing Services • Management Services • Legal Services

Visit locustbusinessdistrict.com for info & to respond to the RFPs.

of Purchasing, 300 S. Broadway, St. Louis, MO 63102, and immediately thereafter opened and read. Bid documents can be accessed on our website at www.stlcc. edu/purchasing or call (314) 539-5225. EOE/AA Employer.

NOTICE OF REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS

Notice is hereby given that the City of Richmond Heights is requesting qualification submittals for construction management - agency services for improvements to THE HEIGHTS Community Center and Memorial Library. Submittals will be received no later than 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 5, 2017. Interested firms may obtain a complete copy of the RFQ by visiting the City’s website at www.richmondheights.org.

INVITATION TO BID

You are invited to submit a bid proposal on the Replace West Dock Concrete project for the United States Postal Service located at 1720 Market Street, St. Louis MO 63103. Tarlton is soliciting bids for the following on this project: fencing and guardrails, reinforcing steel, concrete, concrete saw cutting, masonry work, metal fabrications, caulking, painting, scale equipment, fire protection work, mechanical work, plumbing work, electrical work and earthwork. Tarlton encourages small, minority and woman owned businesses to bid this project. Goals are for Small Business: 39.2%, Minority Owned Business: 4.8%, and Woman Owned Business: 6.5%. Subbids are due at 1:30 p.m. on December 1, 2017. These may be emailed to John Siess at JMSiess@tarltoncorp.com. Any questions regarding this bid may be directed to John Siess at 314.633.3300. Tarlton is an equal opportunity employer.

REQUEST FOR BIDS

BIDS

R.G. Ross Construction seeking bids from certified MBE/WBE/Section 3 companies for the King Louis III Fire Damage Repairs bidding November 30, 2017. Project consist of Repairs to (4) fire damaged units at 1104 & 1108 14th Street, St. Louis, MO 63104. If interested in bidding, please contact Gary Glover or Gabby Zottarelle at 314 638-9255.

Subcontractor bids are due by 12:30 p.m. Thursday, December 14, 2017. You may email bids to jmorrow@kciconstruction.com or send a fax to 573-346-9739. Please call if you have any questions: 314-200-6496.

TO ADVERTISE

Email Angelita at ajackson@stlamerican.com

NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS

Wachter, inc. is soliciting subcontractor bids for the New Addition & Renovation at Litzsinger School, due 12/14/17 at 10:00 am. Plans and Specs are available at County Blue (314-961-3800) or electronically via: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ hhuurnp75koa9ux/AAAn5ZmGe7Or1Td0WBYjCiYya?dl=0 This project requires that a good faith effort be made to utilize Minority, Women, and Service- Disabled Veteran Business Enterprises. All labor to be performed under this contract shall be subject to the Wage Rate Statute of the State of Missouri, and requirements of the Federal Davis-Bacon Act of 1982 as amended. Fax bid to (636) 464-1960 or call (636) 464-3555 EOE/AA

Public Notice of Single Source Procurement

Notice is hereby given that the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is proposing to procure: Sulzer XFP 400R-CH3 pumps and repair kit. The District is proposing single source procurement to Municipal Equipment Company for this equipment because they are the exclusive representative for the Eastern Missouri area. Any inquiries should be sent to ltreat@stlmsd.com. Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

NOTICE

MO Network Utility Transport, LLC is proposing to construct a 124-foot overall height utility pole at 3306 Eminence Boulevard, St. Louis, Missouri 63114. The proposed structure would not be lighted. MO Network Utility Transport invites any interested party to request further environmental review of the proposed action under the FCC’s National Environmental Policy Act rules, 47 CFR §1.1307, by notifying the FCC of the specific reasons that the action may have a significant impact on the quality of the human environment. This request must only raise environmental concerns and can be filed online using the FCC pleadings system at www.fcc.gov or mailed to FCC Requests for Environmental Review, Attn: Ramon Williams, 445 12th Street SW, Washington, DC 20554 within 30 days of the date that notice of this proposed action is published on the FCC’s website. Refer to File No. A1091676 when submitting the request and to view the specific information about the proposed action. (S1403/9MOX000837)

40 years a pastor

Kossuth Church celebrates leadership milestone with Pastor Robert

Strong Sr.

By Jessica Karins

For The St. Louis American

A St. Louis Church of God in Christ

(COGIC) congregation is celebrating 40 years of leadership from its longtime pastor, now a COGIC auxiliary bishop, Robert Strong Sr.

For 25 of those years, Strong also worked full-time at General Motors, but his first focus has always been on his faith and the church he has helped to thrive.

Strong is the senior pastor of Kossuth Church of God in Christ, located in North St. Louis and named after its original location on Kossuth Avenue. Strong has lead the congregation since 1977. Under his leadership, it has expanded with the construction of a 38-unit senior citizen living center and a multipurpose complex.

Strong became an auxiliary bishop of COGIC in 2013, and he plans to keep expanding the church’s ministry.

“I’m grateful to the saints who have supported this ministry and have been the joy of my salvation. I greatly appreciate their efforts and untiring labor of love,” Strong said. “As God expands our ministry, we exhort the people of God to anticipate higher heights and deeper depths, as we explore the exceeding greatness of God’s power, which He has made known to us through Jesus Christ.”

Kossuth Church is home to a number of charitable services. The church owns a food pantry, Konenia House, which serves the surrounding community, and also hosts a weekly hot lunch program. They also sponsor drug and alcohol recovery, prison outreach, and GED-assistance programs.

For Strong, faith has inspired his education as well as his good works. After becoming a pastor, Strong earned a bachelor’s degree in biblical studies and a master’s degree in ministry from Lael Bible College.

Strong has written three books about ministry, in addition to a number of booklets. Since 1998, he has served as the Midwest

Regional Sunday School superintendent.

Kossuth Church’s multimedia arm, Flame of Fire Outreach, produces a radio program that also helps spread the church’s message. In addition, Strong travels the country to preach and speaks annually at Auxiliaries in Ministry International Conventions. He has sponsored church trips to Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Italy and France. Family is also an important part of Strong’s ministry. His wife, Jaynes Strong, works alongside him and is an important part of the church’s leadership. They have been married for 51 years and have seven children and 14 grandchildren.

Strong said that above all, he is grateful to God for placing him in the ministry.

“I’m grateful to God for our founding

fathers and pioneers of this great Kossuth heritage, who amidst depressions, hardships and struggles, kept a clear vision of holiness for the many generations that followed,” Strong said.

“I’m always thankful to God for my family, especially my wife and seven children. I’m so grateful for my wife, Sister Jan, and her partnership in these 40 years of ministry; her unselfish, never failing support and understanding has been matchless. My children, who despite the fact that I wasn’t able to explain why, have always cared and made the sacrifices that has upheld and supported our ministry. God will always remember them.”

Jessica Karins is a St. Louis American editorial intern from Webster University.

The Message Listening to God

You know God uses people in the strangest ways to carry out His will. Maybe I should say that God uses the strangest people to carry out His will.

The Bible is full of men and women chosen by God to do His will on earth who they themselves felt uneasy accepting the tasks. Moses was a murderer. Paul killed a few Jesus lovers in his time. Rahab was a whore and Jacob was – well, y’all know all about Jacob’s shortcomings.

God uses the least of us to carry out His plan, in spite of what we think we’re capable of or, what we think we’re worthy of. Most of the prophets were reluctant participants in how God’s message for His people was delivered. Most did not want anything to do with carrying the Word, either because they didn’t think they were worthy, or they didn’t think the people would listen or, they didn’t feel the people were worthy of God’s blessing and deliverance.

Anyone and everyone is a candidate for greatness in the eyes of the Almighty. I used to think that only the ones called to preach had the gift of ministry. Slowly I’ve come to accept that we all have a ministry according to the will of God. You cannot refuse God when He comes a knocking.

What are you reluctant to do in the name of God? Only you know if you’re in denial. Only you know if you’re trying to convince God to choose somebody else. How long will it take you to realize that sooner or later you’re going to do what God is telling you to do? God just might take no as your answer and abandon you all together.

“When I say to a wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sins, and I will hold you accountable for his blood.” Ezekiel 3:18. How do we know when God is talking to us? I believe God will not allow Himself to be confusing to you. I believe He is talking all the time. The key for us is to make a very deliberate and conscious effort to hear Him. That requires persistence and prayer. Together they insure that listening becomes habitual.

I’m trying to hear God each and every day. Jesus is Lord, and if you also believe this, then you better tell somebody.

Columnist James Washington

Kossuth Church of God in Christ, located in North St. Louis, is celebrating 40 years of leadership from its longtime pastor, now an auxiliary COGIC bishop, Robert Strong Sr.