Bulletin011018

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 10, 2018

AN AMERICAN PRINT MEDIA PUBLICATION

CIVIL RIGHTS GROUPS WANT ALABAMA’S NEWEST SENATOR TO HIRE MINORITIES

ERICA GARNER REMEMBERED

FOR HER RELENTLESS CAMPAIGN FOR JUSTICE

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By Stacy M. Brown Erica Garner, who became an activist for all who were wronged by the American justice system, died on Saturday, December 30.

She was 27.

A

Twitter account associated with Erica Garner spoke of her compassion for humanity. CNN reported that her family is controlling the account.

“When you report this you remember she was human: mother, daughter, sister, aunt,” Garner’s account tweeted. “Her heart was bigger than the world. It really, really was. She cared when most people wouldn’t have. She was good. She only pursued right, no matter what. No one gave her justice.”

Investigating your police department’s handling of Hate Crime reports

By Ken Schwencke Courtesy ProPublica As part of our Documenting Hate project, we posted a story detailing how and why law enforcement a g e n c i e s mishandle hate crime data, Make a public records which they’re request to your local asked to report annually to law enforcement the Federal agency for records Bureau of of bias-motivated Investigations. crimes reported to or investigated the We’re opening agency. up the records we collected for that story so journalists can assess how their local law enforcement agencies n Hate Crime, see page 2

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By Lauren Victoria Burke Black voters propelled Doug Jones’ to a historic victory in Alabama’s special election for Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ vacant Senate seat. Now, civil rights groups are calling on the Senator-elect to hire Blacks and other minorities to high-level positions in his Washington, D.C. office.

In a letter to Jones, the groups recommended that the Senator-elect interview at least one person of color for every senior position in his office; commit to hiring As a new member of the diverse candidates; U.S. Senate … ensuring and hire at least one racial diversity among person of color as his [Sen.-elect Doug Jones’] legislative director, staff would enhance the chief of staff or his deliberation, innovation, c o m m u n i c a t i o n s legitimacy, and outcomes director.

Seventeen groups of [the] office and of the signed the letter Senate as a whole. including the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies; the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights; the National Action Network; the NAACP; and the National Urban League.

“As a new member of the U.S. Senate, you have an opportunity to show your constituents that not only do their voices matter, but that their experiences and skills are vital to the work that you do to represent them,” n Civil Rights, see page 3

Garner famously and fiercely sought justice for her father, Eric Garner, who died from a police chokehold in Staten Island, New York on July 17, 2014.

She led marches and demonstrations in New York City and other places, and even appeared on national television imploring the Department of Justice to review the circumstances that led up to her father’s death.

Erica Garner’s mother, Esaw Snipes, said, “She was a fighter, she was a warrior and she lost the battle. She never recovered from when her father died,” according to CNN. Snipes said that Garner suffered from the effects of an enlarged heart after giving birth to her son three months ago, CNN reported. n Garner, see page 3

Trump DOJ pushes for citizenship question on census, alarming experts

By Justin Elliott The Justice Department is pushing for a question on citizenship to be added to the 2020 census, a move that observers say could depress participation by immigrants who fear that the government could use the information against them. That, in turn, could have potentially large ripple effects for everything the once-adecade census determines — from how congressional seats are distributed around the country to where hundreds of billions of federal dollars are spent.

The DOJ made the request in a previously unreported letter, dated Dec. 12 and obtained by ProPublica, from DOJ official Arthur Gary to the top official at the Census Bureau, which is part of the Commerce Department.

The letter argues that the DOJ needs better citizenship data

to better enforce the Voting Rights Act “and its important protections against racial discrimination in voting.”

A Census Bureau spokesperson confirmed the agency received the letter and

said the “request will go through the well-established process that any potential question would go through.” The DOJ declined to comment and the White House did not respond to a request for comment.

New Federal pot rule sparks latest clash over states’ rights

By Sudhin Thanawala The decision by Attorney General Jeff Sessions to rescind an Obama-era policy on federal marijuana enforcement sparked an outcry from Republicans and Democrats.

They argue that Sessions is trampling on the rights of states that have decided to

legalize pot for medical or recreational use, or both.

Pot remains illegal under federal law, and Sessions’ new direction lets federal prosecutors in states where marijuana is legal decide how aggressively to enforce that n Sessions, see page 7

Observers said they feared adding a citizenship question would not only lower response rates, but also make the census more expensive and throw a wrench into the system with just n DOJ, see page 2

MLK’S UNHERALDED VICTORIES RECORDED IN THE BL ACK ge 10 PRESS n See pa

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THE BULLETIN, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 10, 2018

Hate Crime continued from page 1

they cover measure up.

In the course of our reporting, several large police departments told us that their lack of records on hate crimes reflected the fact that their citizens weren’t often the victims of such crimes.

But our reporting found evidence of spotty record keeping across the country, in departments large and small. Some agencies, like Miami-Dade’s county police, told ProPublica that they had failed to fill out forms that would identify crimes as having a bias motivation, even when the evidence supported such a classification. Other agencies sent us records of crimes they marked as biasmotivated but were omitted from their reports to the FBI. Reporting local stories using this data is fairly straightforward: Make a public records request to your local law enforcement agency for records of bias-motivated crimes reported to or investigated the agency.

Here is an example of such a request.

Compare those to the records that agency has reported to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting system. You can see the number of crimes reported by your local law enforcement agency to the FBI below. Also, compare the numbers your local agency has reported to the FBI with numbers reported by agencies in similarly sized cities. If they’re much higher or lower than you’d expect given the population size, ask why.

If there are discrepancies, ask about the agency’s process for recording and responding to hate crimes. Is there a check box on a crime incident report form to mark it as a potential hate crime? When and how are officers instructed to check those off ? Is there a second level of review to determine whether something is or is not a hate crime? How do authorities treat incidents like racist graffiti or property damage? These questions can give you insight into whether the agency and officers within it treat hate crimes as the FBI and experts expect.

To help reporters get at these answers, we’re providing seven years of FBI hate crimes data for every agency in the Bureau’s records below, along with documents from agencies that responded to our public records requests.

NEWS Democrats move to offense on health care; seek ‘big ideas’

By Ricardo AlonsoZaldivar Democrats are shifting to offense on health care, emboldened by successes in defending the Affordable Care Act. They say their ultimate goal is a government guarantee of affordable coverage for all.

I T H Republicans unable to agree on their vision, D e m o c r at s are debating ideas that range from single-payer, governmentrun care for all, to new insurance options anchored in popular programs like Medicare or Medicaid. There’s also widespread support for authorizing Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices, an idea once advocated by candidate Donald Trump, which has languished since he was elected president.

Democrats are hoping to winnow down options during the 2018 campaign season, providing clarity for their 2020 presidential candidate. In polls, health care remains a top priority, particularly for Democrats and independents.

“We’re tired of just playing defense,” said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., the party’s 2016 vice presidential candidate. “It is

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now time to talk about the next big idea. It is a good time for everybody to put their big ideas on the table.” His offering: “Medicare-X,” a new public insurance plan using the government’s marquee health care brand.

Rising Democratic ambitions come as a cloud of uncertainty lingers over former President Barack Obama’s health law.

While major provisions have survived the GOP onslaught, some Republicans are vowing to go for repeal again. Congress has ended the health law’s requirement that most people get coverage, and that’s expected to lead to higher premiums in 2019. But bipartisan legislation to stabilize insurance markets doesn’t seem to be getting traction.

Obama’s former health secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, says she sees Democrats reclaiming a core belief that health care

should be a right guaranteed under law.

“Coverage for all is as much of an organizing principle for Democrats as eliminating Obamacare is for Republicans,” said Sebelius. “But it turned out that (Republicans) didn’t have any idea what that meant. I think Democrats have a much clearer vision.”

Time will tell. Here’s a sample of ideas under debate

by Democrats and others on the political left: • Medicare for All: Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders made single-payer, government-run health care the cornerstone of his campaign for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination. It remains the most talked-about health care idea on the left. Financing would be funneled through the tax system.

Individuals wouldn’t have to worry about deductibles, copays or narrow provider networks.

Although state-level attempts to enact single-payer care have foundered because of the large tax increases needed, about onethird of Sanders’ Democratic colleagues in the Senate are cosponsoring his latest bill.

• Medicare-X: The legislation from Sens. Kaine, and Michael Bennet, D-Col., would allow individuals in communities lacking insurer competition to buy into a new public plan built on Medicare’s provider network and reimbursement rates.

Medicare would be empowered to negotiate prescription drug prices. Medicare-X would be available as an option through HealthCare.gov and state health insurance markets. Enrollees could receive financial assistance for premiums and copays through the Obama health law.

Eventually, Medicare-X would be offered everywhere for individuals and small businesses.

• Medicare Part E: Yale University political scientist Jacob Hacker has proposed a new public health insurance plan based on Medicare, for people who don’t have access to job-based coverage meeting certain standards. It would be financed partly with taxes on companies that don’t provide insurance. Consumers would pay income-based premiums.

Hospitals and doctors would be reimbursed based on Medicare rates, generally lower than what private insurance pays.

“The crucial part of this is that n Democrats, see page 7

DOJ continued from page 1

two years to go before the 2020 count. Questions are usually carefully field-tested, a process that can take years.

“This is a recipe for sabotaging the census,” said Arturo Vargas, a member of the National Advisory Committee of the Census and the executive director of NALEO Educational Fund, a Latino advocacy group.

“When you start adding lastminute questions that are not tested — how will the public understand the question?

How much will it suppress response rates?”

The 2010 census included a handful of questions covering age, sex, race, Hispanic origin, household relationship and owner/ renter status — but not citizenship.

“People are not going to come out to be counted because they’re going to be fearful the information would be used for negative purposes,” said Steve Jost, a former top bureau official during the 2010 census.

“This line about enforcing voting rights is a new and scary twist.” He noted that since the first census in 1790, the goal has been to count everyone in the country, not just citizens.

There have been rumblings since the beginning of the year that the Trump administration wanted to add a citizenship question to the census.

Adding to the concerns about the 2020 count, Politico reported last month that the administration may appoint to a top job at the bureau a Republican redistricting expert who wrote a book called “Redistricting and Representation: Why Competitive Elections Are Bad for America.” The Census Bureau’s population

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A recent Census Bureau presentation shows that the political climate is already having an effect on responsiveness to the bureau’s American Community Survey, which asks a more extensive list of questions, including on citizenship status. count determines how the 435 U.S. House seats are distributed.

The law governing the census gives the commerce secretary, currently Wilbur Ross, the power to decide on questions. They must be submitted to Congress for review two years before the census, in this case by April 2018. A census spokesperson said the agency will also release the questions publicly at that time.

A recent Census Bureau presentation shows that the political climate is already having an effect on responsiveness to the bureau’s American Community Survey, which asks a more extensive list of questions, including on citizenship status, to about one in 38 households in the country per year. In one case, census interviewers reported, a respondent “walked out and left interviewer alone in home during citizenship questions.”

“Three years ago, [it] was so much easier to get respondents compared to now because of the government changes … and trust factors. … Three years ago I didn’t have problems with the immigration

questions,” said another census interviewer.

The Justice Department letter argues that including a citizenship question on the once-a-decade census would allow the agency to better enforce Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which bars the dilution of voting power of a minority group through redistricting.

“To fully enforce those requirements, the Department needs a reliable calculation of the citizen voting-age population in localities where voting rights violations are alleged or suspected,” the letter states.

The letter asks that the Census Bureau “reinstate” the question.

The full census, however, hasn’t included questions about citizenship since 1950. The Census Bureau has gathered such data in other surveys. The bureau switched the method of those surveys after the 2000 census. Today, it conducts the American Community Survey every year, which includes questions about citizenship, along with many other questions. The survey covers a sample of residents of the United States.

Experts said the Justice Department’s letter was misleading.

And they questioned the Justice Department’s explanation in the letter, noting that the American Community Survey produces data on citizenship that has been used in Section 2 cases.

“You could always have better data but it seems like a strange concern because no one in the communities who are most affected have been raising this concern,” said Michael Li, senior counsel at the Brennan Center’s Democracy Program.

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THE BULLETIN, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 10, 2018

NEWS

How hospitals are failing Black mothers

A PROPUBLICA ANALYSIS SHOWS THAT WOMEN WHO DELIVER AT HOSPITALS THAT DISPROPORTIONATELY SERVE BLACK MOTHERS ARE AT A HIGHER RISK OF HARM.

By Annie Waldman Every year in the United States, between 700 and 900 women die from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. For every woman that dies, dozens more experience severe complications, which affect more than 50,000 women annually.

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HE U.S. rate of maternal mortality is substantially higher than those of other affluent nations and has risen over the past decade. Outcomes for black women have led the way, intensifying efforts by medical experts and academics to understand what’s driving the racial disparity.

A complicating factor in understanding how hospital care figures in is that hospitals take on different proportions of tough cases — patients who have less access to consistent, quality prenatal care or have chronic health issues, like diabetes or heart disease, that make pregnancy and childbirth riskier.

Some prominent researchers are using a methodology for analyzing birth outcomes that attempts to even the playing field.

The California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative, which studies maternal deaths and develops techniques to prevent them, looks at how well hospitals respond to obstetric hemorrhage, typically defined as losing more than 500 milliliters of blood during a vaginal birth or a liter of blood during a cesarean section. Why hemorrhages? Because women of

all races experience them at roughly the same rates and their likelihood is less affected by factors like race or economic status, said CMQCC medical director Dr. Elliott Main.

CMQCC evaluates hospitals by calculating what percent of women who hemorrhage during birth wind up with major complications.

Researchers count both the complications more directly related to hemorrhages, like hysterectomies and blood transfusions, and those that could be indirectly related, including

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embolisms, blood clots, heart attacks, kidney failure, respiratory distress, aneurysms, brain bleeds, sepsis and shock. Ultimately, this approach measures how often doctors prevent complications when a hemorrhage occurs, and when looked at over time, can show if a hospital has been able to improve.

ProPublica used the metric to analyze inpatient hospital discharge data collected by New York, Illinois and Florida for 2014 and 2015, examining all obstetric cases that were coded as involving hemorrhages — about 67,000 cases in all.

We also put each hospital into a category based on the concentration of black mothers who gave birth there, defining facilities as low, medium or high black-serving. We crafted our analysis so that it reflected the racial distribution of mothers delivering in each state. In New York, if black mothers represented roughly a third or more of the deliveries at a hospital, we considered the hospital high black-serving. In Florida, we considered a hospital high blackserving if about 40 percent of the mothers were black. In Illinois, we considered a hospital high blackserving if at least half of its mothers were black.

In New York, we defined a hospital as low black-serving if less than eight percent of the women delivering there were black. In Illinois, the

cutoff was 14 percent. In Florida, it was 18 percent.

Across the three states, about one in 10 hospitals in our analysis was high black-serving — in some cases, extremely high. Ninety-nine percent of the mothers who gave birth at Jackson Park Hospital and Medical Center in Chicago were black.

While a handful of low blackserving hospitals had high complication rates, our analysis found that, on average, outcomes at hospitals that served a high number of black patients were far worse.

In New York, on average, high black-serving hospitals had complication rates 21 percent higher than low black-serving hospitals.

In Illinois and Florida, high blackserving hospitals had complication rates 11 percent higher.

When we limited our patient pool to only mothers of average birthing age — between 25 and 32 — who did not have any chronic conditions like heart disease or diabetes, the pattern remained largely the same.

This bolstered the notion that differences in care, along with patient characteristics, affected outcomes.

Deeper analysis of the data for each state underlined this finding. At low black-serving hospitals in New York, just under a third of the women who hemorrhaged had complications. At high black-serving hospitals, that rate climbed to about half.

Garner continued from page 1

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“I warned her everyday, you have to slow down, you have to relax and slow down,” Snipes said.

According to Erica Garner’s Twitter account, the activist went into cardiac arrest and suffered major brain damage from a lack of oxygen.

In a statement about Erica Garner’s work as an advocate for criminal justice reform, Rev. Al Sharpton called her a warrior.

Sharpton famously joined the Garner family in their push for justice against the New York City Police Department.

“Many will say that Erica died of a heart attack, but that’s only partially true because her heart was already broken when she couldn’t get justice for her father,” Sharpton said. “Her heart was attacked by a system that would choke her dad and not hold accountable those that did it.”

On a summer day in July 2014, officers approached Eric Garner whom they said was selling loose cigarettes near a store in Staten Island.

A video released showed Officer Daniel Pantaleo grabbing Garner from behind and applying a chokehold while other officers helped

tackle Garner, whom family members said had asthma.

On the video, in a plea that has resonated around the world, Garner is heard saying, “I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe,” repeatedly.

He died shortly after the incident.

A grand jury failed to indict Pantaleo and, in 2015, the city settled a civil claim by Garner’s family against New York for nearly $6 million.

Before and despite the settlement, Erica Garner pushed for justice and, with a national platform, her voice became as big as any in the fight for freedom, justice and equality.

“I had the honor of getting to know Erica and I was inspired by the commitment she made working towards a more just world for her children and future generations,” Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders tweeted.

“She was a fighter for justice and will not be forgotten.”

Erica Garner supported Sanders’ 2016 campaign for president, even appearing in an ad for his campaign.

“Though Erica didn’t ask to be an activist, she responded to the personal tragedy of seeing her father die while n Garner, see page 7

Civil Rights continued from page 1

the letter said. “Ensuring racial diversity among your staff would enhance the deliberation, innovation, legitimacy, and outcomes of your office and of the Senate as a whole.”

The letter continued: “Members of Congress cannot fully represent all the communities they were elected to serve without advisors that reflect the whole of America.”

According to a study conducted by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, “just 7.1 percent of senior Senate staffers, defined then as chief of staff, legislative director, communications director, and committee staff director, were people of color.”

Jones is the first Democrat to win in Alabama in a quarter of a century.

According to a CNN exit poll on Alabama’s recent special election, “30 percent of the electorate was Black—a higher share than in the 2008 and 2012 elections, when Barack Obama was on the ballot. The exit poll showed that 96 percent of Black voters backed Jones.”

Jones crushed Moore in three particular counties— Jefferson, Madison and Mobile—where Black voters showed up at the polls in dramatic fashion with massive turnout in the “Black Belt.”

Black women backed Jones with 98 percent of their votes and 93 percent of Black men that cast ballots supported Jones. Sixty-three percent of White women voters supported alleged sexual predator Roy Moore.

In September, Moore made bizarre comments on slavery.

“I think it was great at a time when families were united, even though we had slavery, they cared for one another. People were strong in the families,” said Jones.

“Our families were strong, our country had a direction, and we corrected many of the problems.”

The win was an embarrassing and stunning defeat for Donald Trump and his former White House political advisor Steve Bannon in one of America’s most reliably Republican states.

The Democratic Party has been under heavy criticism for the perception that the party’s leaders have taken Black voters for granted and failed to fund grassroots organizations that assist with African American outreach efforts.

Jones was able to win the attention of Black voters, because of his role in prosecuting the murderers of four Black girls, who were killed at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama on Sunday, September 15, 1963.

That tragic bombing by the Ku Klux Klan killed Addie Mae Collins (age 14), Carol Denise McNair (age 11), Carole Robertson (age 14), and Cynthia Wesley (age 14).

The murders marked another critical turning point in the Civil Rights Movement.

Jones prosecuted Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr. and Bobby Frank Cherry, two members of the Ku Klux Klan, for their roles in the 1963 murders and won convictions for Blanton in 2001 and Cherry in 2002.

Jones was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1997 to be U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama.

Tina Johnson, who had accused Roy Moore of sexual misconduct, wept after Doug Jones was named the winner of Alabama’s special election.

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THE BULLETIN, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 10, 2018

OPED

Hope for the new year

By Marian Wright Edelman This is a time to stand and fight for the futures of our children and the soul of our nation with all our might! I am strengthened every morning by reading these words over my kitchen sink — based on a poem first published in 1905 and anonymously adapted over the years. Its bottom line: Never, ever give up fighting for what you believe in.

You have to think high to rise, You have to be sure of yourself Before you can win a prize.

and drain my energy.

Be Thou my focus and order my words and steps to meet our children’s needs.

Life’s battles don’t always go To the stronger or faster man, But sooner or later the man who wins, is The fellow who thinks he can. **

If you think you are beaten, you are; If you think that you dare not, you don’t; If you’d like to win, but you think you can’t, It’s almost a cinch that you won’t.

I also share a prayer of surrender:

O God, Thou knowest my dreams and hopes for the children of America and of the world and the many child dreams and hopes that violence, homelessness, hunger, poverty, and drugs turn to dust.

Be Thou my and their dreamkeeper and grant them hope and help in our times.

If you think you’ll lose, you’ve lost; For out in the world you’ll find Success begins with a fellow’s will, It’s all in the state of mind.

Full many a race is lost Ere even a step is run, And many a coward falls Ere even his work’s begun.

Think high and your deeds will grow, Think low and you’ll fall behind.

Think that you can and you will, It’s all in the state of mind.

If you think you’re outclassed, you are;

O God, Thou knowest that I cannot read, understand, or retain all I think I need to know.

Remember for me and understand for me what I do need to know.

O God, Thou knowest I am bone weary and worn down after many years of labor.

Be Thou my strength, energy, and perseverance.

O God, Thou knowest that my internal nerve and voice quaver unconfidently amidst all those who speak with unjust certainty.

Be Thou my confidence and clarity and anchor.

O God, Thou knowest how scattered are my thoughts and activities that tire me out

Thank You, God, for hearing my cries as You heard Hagar’s long ago. ** You do not need to know precisely what is happening or exactly where it is all going.

What you need is to recognize the challenges and opportunities offered by the present moment and embrace them with courage, faith, and hope. Let’s keep building the nation and world all our children need and deserve.

Marian Wright Edelman is President of the Children’s Defense Fund whose Leave No Child Behind® mission is to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities. For more information go to www.childrensdefense.org.

The Importance of diversity in media ownership THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT COULD MAKE IT HARDER FOR MINORITIES TO OWN MEDIA COMPANIES

By Armstrong Williams As the United States becomes increasingly diverse, the necessity for that diversity to be reflected in business becomes all the more important.

As one of only three African American owned TV station licensees in the country, I recently wrote the FCC voicing strong support for the advancement of minority ownership and diversity. I saw the pending Tribune-Sinclair merger as presenting a historic opportunity for the FCC and Justice Department to advance minority ownership within the context of the divestiture requirements the government would require for regulatory approval.

The government generally, and the FCC specifically, has acknowledged the need to enhance minority ownership for 40 years.

Congress also has recognized the poor state of minority ownership.

The 1996 Telecommunications Act contains language aimed at increasing female and minority ownership of broadcast licenses (and other important communications mediums), and requires the FCC to limit and remove “market entry barriers for entrepreneurs and other small businesses” and to do so by “favoring diversity of media voices.”

As the U.S. becomes increasingly diverse, the necessity for that diversity to be reflected in business becomes all the more important. Congress and the public both have an obligation to help the Department of justice understand the importance of minority ownership in broadcast television in a diversifying landscape. Diversity of thought, culture, and ideas should be equally represented. Giving more minorities access and opportunity to ownership will foster the right environment to do just that.

So, imagine my deep concern when I heard the Justice Department was wavering in its decision to allow station divestitures to my AfricanAmerican owned companies, where the transaction included joint sales agreements (JSA), shared service agreements (SSA), and loan guarantee agreements. Such arrangements were routine for the FCC until it hastily implemented television Joint Sales Agreement attribution rules in 2014, under the previous administration’s

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As the U.S. becomes increasingly diverse, the necessity for that diversity to be reflected in business becomes all the more important. chairman, Tom Wheeler. Those rules, however, were reversed and eliminated on November 20, 2017.

The Department of Justice should respect that decision. For example, broadcast ownership has permitted Howard Stirk Holdings to create an incubator for African American journalism students by providing tuition scholarships, while providing field experience outside of the classroom. If we were not broadcast owners, I am sure none of that would have been possible.

It also gives us the opportunity to cover the stories that others are not covering, for whatever reason. We tell the stories of everyday people that are often overlooked. As part of our public interest obligation, we vow to continue doing this with our live town halls across our regional affiliates where we discuss family, community and other critical cultural issues. Our town halls provide a unique platform for the long form discussion of key issues that are important to many American communities—both Black and White. We have covered in depth the water crisis in Flint, the Charleston church terrorist attack, the Las Vegas terrorist attack, the Manchester terrorist attack live from Europe, the moral challenges facing America, and many other topical issues. We need more of these forums and not less. This is critically important to African American communities, especially as media voices they identify with are diminishing daily.

Armstrong Williams is the manager/sole owner of Howard Stirk Holdings I & II Broadcast Television Stations and Executive Editor of American CurrentSee online Magazine. Watch our “Right Side Forum” every Saturday Live Newschannel 8 TV 28 in DC, 10:30 am - 11:00 am and repeats 6:30 pm EST.

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THE BULLETIN, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 10, 2018

OPED

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The more im portant qu estion is: Have I d one anythin g or said anythin g that shou ld land me in jail, if jail is defin ed as that spir itual place th at present-da y Sadducee s and Pharisees w ant to send people like me?

Spiritually speaking, real Christians have always had targets on their backs

By James Washington I heard Bishop T.D. Jakes of The Potter’s House in Dallas, Texas preach a sermon, one night, that really caught my attention. He reminded those in the audience that most of the Bible was written from a jail cell. I think his overall message had something to do with his prison outreach ministry, which I understand to be significant. I was so struck, however, by the reality of God’s Word and direction coming from the deep faith of those imprisoned, that the concept has never left me. What is it about being a believer, a walking, talking believer that somehow frightens those in power, so much so, that a jail cell or worse is a reasonable solution to the imagined problem?

History suggests that professing one’s belief in Jesus Christ as Lord can literally be a death sentence. The Bible teaches us that eventually our belief will be put to the ultimate test. Have you ever wondered why God’s teachings are so feared by those who believe in other religions?

I used to say Jesus’ message made so much sense that, even if He didn’t exist, we should invent Him. Now that I’m saved, I guess you could say I know I’m a candidate for assassination. My point, as I was being enlightened by Bishop Jakes’ reference, is that I don’t view myself as a threat to anyone based upon my belief in one God, the Holy Trinity and the truth of Jesus Christ, but the world in which I live does view me in this manner. I suppose, the more important question is: Have I done anything or said anything that should land me in jail, if jail is defined as that spiritual place that present day Sadducees and Pharisees want to send people like me? If I haven’t said or done anything, then maybe I better get going and stir things up.

In their day, the apostles, Paul and others, were indeed looked upon as threats to the establishment; that meant governments and principalities, as well as the church hierarchy. If nothing else, I don’t think anyone would argue that on His worst day, Jesus was the quintessential revolutionary. It still amazes me how such principles of unconditional universal love for humankind got Him killed; then it always hits me that this kind of philosophy will ultimately attack and undermine entrenched institutionalized power of all kinds. That’s when I realize that if you are a believer in Christ, you are most certainly a threat to Man, because Man craves power and Christianity abdicates all power to Jehovah. We stand as representatives of that truth and stand trial everyday with the world as our judge and jury. That explains that target on the backs of believers throughout history and should remind us all of the target on our own backs. All I can encourage you to do in the face of all this is to stay the course and know our defense attorney is on the case 24/7. The prosecuting attorney has already lost this case. So, when you’re alone in your cell remember, you have already won. The battle is over.

The verdict is in: We won.

May God bless and keep you always.

James Washington is a father, husband, Christian and writer. James is also the owner and publisher of the multimedia company The Dallas Weekly.

You can follow James on Twitter at @ JAWS_215.

Relocating U.S. embassy to Jerusalem a bad move

By Bill Fletcher, Jr. I wasn’t really surprised by Trump’s willingness to threaten the world for daring to stand up to his aggressive move of the United States embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem; hearing U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley suggest that the U.S. was taking names, made this entire scenario something close to comical. If Palestinian lives were not at stake it would, indeed, be the making of a comedy.

What is noteworthy is that the Trump Administration is not even going through the pretense of attempting to lead the world.

Instead, their approach has been one of crass bullying. Do what the U.S. wants, or else. While most of the world has been used

to one or another version of this, e.g., gunboat diplomacy in the global South, what is different here is that this foreign policyby-intimidation is targeted at the traditionally close allies of the U.S. Most of the world immediately recognized that Trump’s commitment to shift the embassy to Jerusalem was a cynical move to appease his base. What seemed to have astounded international observers is that Trump and his advisors seemed to have little to no sense of the global ramifications of this move. Interestingly, Trump and his team sincerely seemed to be believe that their theoretical peace proposal for the Israelis and Palestinians could still go forward.

Fat chance.

Instead of attempting to build

global coalitions among partners, Trump is following the tried and true antics of the schoolyard bully: Make life difficult for those around them and intimidate those who you wish to be on your side. This does not amount to the makings of a stable and healthy alliance. At best, it is a situation of the sheep and the shepherd.

Many in the foreign policy realm of the U.S. establishment are feeling the emergence of a leadership void among the socalled developed countries. Trump may believe that he is leading, but bullying others and attempting to reverse every Obama initiative does not make for leadership. Instead it looks, to much of the planet, like acting out. Other global powers including Germany, Russia,

France and China are stepping forward, competing to build their respective alliances, sometimes overlapping one another. And while this happens Trump, seems more comfortable sitting back and relaxing, or perhaps savoring in a moment in which he seems to be more concerned with enriching the super-rich rather than even going through the motions of advancing a productive foreign policy agenda.

This upcoming year will certainly be a year of struggle, both domestically and internationally, against this insanity.

Bill Fletcher, Jr. is a talk show host, writer and activist. Follow him on Twitter @BillFletcherJr, Facebook and at www.billfletcherjr.com.

As the old year fades, so does my memory Dr. James L. Snyder Memory is a very tricky thing, at least for me it is. Looking back over a year’s span of activity, my memory seems to pick and choose what it remembers. After all, I do not have the brain capacity I once had.

Often some old-timer will moan about how much he misses the good old days. I am not sure if he is thinking of World War II or the Great Depression. I am positive that during the Great Depression, some wonderful memories were created, but I am not sure anyone wants to return to those thrilling days of yesterday.

The bad was not as bad as we remember and the good not as good as we boast.

Some things are best forgotten, while some things should never be forgotten; my trouble has always been remembering which is which.

Several things about the old year bear serious consideration.

The past year, in my opinion, was not just one year, but several years flowing together. Sometimes I am not sure which year I lived.

This past year, like all its brothers before it, actually consisted of three years.

First, there is the year that really was. “Just the facts, ma’am.”

I am a little fuzzy about this one. For one thing, looking at my checkbook entries (at least the ones I remembered to enter) the past year was a completely different one than I recall.

I really do not recollect having

all the fun suggested by my bank statement. Why is it no matter how much money I put into my bank account, more money comes out?

It is a Ponzi scheme in reverse.

Evidently, some phantom creature has access to my checkbook.

President Ronald Reagan was accused of voodoo economics.

Reviewing my bank statements, I could be accused of “Who-do” economics. If I ever find that “Who-Do” rascal, I will balance my checkbook on the top of his head.

My income tax statement is another perplexity. I can never figure it out either. If the government said I made that much money, I must have made that much money and owe that much in taxes.

Speaking of the government, what I do not understand is how they know how much I owe, to the penny, along with millions of other Americans?

Second, there is the year I remember.

This year is much shorter than the previous one, for some odd reason. The year I remember had only two months; this month and last month. And believe me, “last month” is a stretch for me.

Honestly, I remember paying the electric bill, contrary to what the electric company says. My problem with the electric company is that during the space of a year they send me 12 bills and I can only remember two. Let’s just split the difference.

They penalize me for screwing

up, but they do not credit my account when they screw up — like being without electricity for four days — twice this past year. Oh, that I remember, and remember well. In fact, if my memory serves me correctly, it was more like 90 days.

I remember deducting the monthly service charges from my bank each and every month.

Well, maybe not “each and every” month. Why those three checks bounced is beyond my comprehension.

Should the bank charge a larger fee for a bounced check than the face value of the check?

I personally do not think so. Isn’t it the bank’s business to keep their records straight? Why do I have to spend so much time each month on my checkbook account?

Last, but certainly not least, is the year the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage remembers.

At times, I am tempted to think (at least it’s what I call thinking) my wife lives one life and I live something altogether different from hers. The things she remembers that took place during the year are beyond my remembering.

I am beginning to believe she remembers things that never took place. Of course, and I say this with all sincerity, I would never contradict her memory.

For the life of me, I do not know where I was when all these things happened she says happened. Nor do I know where I was when I promised to do all those things she

said I promised.

Even in my right mind, (of which I do not have much left) I would never concede to help remodel the family room. I would never accuse her, heaven forbid, of taking advantage of me in this area. The thought is not a stranger in my head, although rational thoughts are.

King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, framed his thoughts this way, “Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them” (Ecclesiastes 12:1).

Solomon’s idea was, “now” is more important than “then.”

The Apostle Paul had the right idea with this matter of remembering. “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).

It is not important how much I can remember about the past, as long as I do not forget to set Christ before me in all I do in the coming year.

Dr. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God Fellowship, 1471 Pine Road, Ocala, FL 34472. He lives with his wife in Silver Springs Shores. Call him at 352-687-4240 or e-mail jamessnyder2@att. net. The church web site is www. whatafellowship.com.

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THE BULLETIN, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 10, 2018

FOOD

Think Outside the Lunchbox FAMILY FEATURES

E

ating the same thing every day can make lunch seem so “blah.” Now’s the perfect time to break out of the lunch rut and add some excitement to your meals.

Thinking outside the traditional lunchbox is easy with the right ingredients. Perk up your noontime noshing with fresh, seasonal ingredients coupled with kitchen pantry classics, like California Ripe Olives, which add a unique flavor and bold, distinctive color to any dish.

California farmers grow more than 95 percent of the ripe olives consumed in the United States. From planting, pruning, harvesting and processing, they make sure that the highest quality olives come from their farms to your table – one can at a time.

Adding olives to any lunch can help bring California sunshine to each and every bite. Try some of these portable and packable recipes to add excitement to lunch on-the-go and find more at calolive.org.

Greek Salad in Jars

Courtesy of Simply Recipes Makes: 4 salads Salad Dressing: 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar 1/4 teaspoon salt, plus additional, to taste (optional) pinch of black pepper, plus additional, to taste (optional) 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano 1 teaspoon honey 5 tablespoons olive oil 4 pint-size canning jars with lids Salads: 1/4 medium red onion, thinly sliced 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved 1/2 large English cucumber, sliced 1 yellow or orange bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch pieces 3/4 cup California black ripe olives 1/2 cup (4 ounces) crumbled feta cheese 4 small handfuls fresh baby spinach or other dark, leafy greens 4 pita bread rounds, halved (optional) To prepare dressing: In small bowl, whisk together vinegar, salt, pepper, oregano and honey.

Gradually whisk in oil. Taste. Add additional salt and pepper, if desired.

Divide dressing between four pint jars.

To assemble salads: Divide onion between four jars.

Divide tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, olives and feta cheese between jars. Pack remaining space with spinach, compressing leaves slightly.

Secure lids and refrigerate up to two days.

To serve: Empty salads into bowls and toss with dressing.

Serve with pita bread.

Note: Store and transport salads upright so dressing stays on bottom.

Deliciously Different Smoked California Ripe Olives can produce a crave-worthy culinary surprise and become one of your favorite flavor discoveries. There are a few easy ways to make your own smoked olives, including preparing them on the grill with these quick steps:

1. Soak wood chips in water for 30 minutes. Drain well.

2. Pierce a foil pan several times with a

small, sharp knife and spread wood chips in a single layer in the pan. Set directly on hot coals or metal bars on a gas grill. Close the lid and set heat to high only under the pan of chips.

3. When chips are smoking, place

drained California Ripe Olives in a grill basket on grill with the burners off. Close the lid and smoke for 30 minutes.

Black and White Pizza Makes: 1 pizza

Maple Olive Cheesecake Bites Makes: 16-20 mini cheesecakes Nonstick cooking spray 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs 2 tablespoons butter, melted 3 tablespoons sugar, divided 6 ounces cream cheese, room temperature 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup

2 1 1 1/4

tablespoons flour teaspoon vanilla extract egg cup coarsely chopped California Ripe Olives Heat oven to 325 F and coat 16-20-cup mini muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray.

In small bowl, stir together graham cracker crumbs, butter and 1 tablespoon sugar. Place equal amounts into each mini muffin cup then press firmly into bottom of each cup. Working with one cup at a time, press small piece of plastic wrap onto

surface and press crust firmly into mini muffin cups.

In large bowl of electric mixer, beat cream cheese, maple syrup and remaining sugar until smooth; beat in flour and vanilla on low speed. Add egg and beat until just combined; stir in olives.

Spoon equal amounts into each cup.

Bake 20-25 minutes, or until filling feels set.

Let cool completely then run small, thin knife around edge of each to remove from pan.

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus additional for pizza crust 1 cup onion, quartered and thinly sliced 2 tablespoons roasted garlic, minced 4 ounces small baby bella mushrooms, chopped flour 1 package prepared pizza dough 1 cup prepared Alfredo sauce 1 cup smoked mozzarella cheese, shredded 4 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, torn into 1/2-inch pieces 1 small boneless, skinless chicken breast, cooked and thinly sliced 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped

1 can (6 ounces) extra-large California Black Ripe Olives, drained and cut in wedges freshly grated ParmigianoReggiano Heat oven to 450 F and line large baking sheet with parchment paper.

In large skillet over medium heat, heat 1 tablespoon oil. Add onion, garlic and mushrooms, and cook, stirring frequently, 10 minutes, or until onions are soft. Reserve.

Roll pizza dough into thin oval on lightly floured surface. Transfer to prepared baking sheet and brush lightly with olive oil then spread evenly with Alfredo sauce.

Top with mushroom mixture, cheeses, chicken and rosemary.

Sprinkle olives over pizza.

Bake 10-15 minutes, or until cheese is melted and lightly browned around edges.

Serve with Parmigiano-Reggiano.

7

THE BULLETIN, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 10, 2018

NEWS Sessions continued from page 1

law.

Here’s a look at how states have broken with the federal government on pot and the tension that has generated: THE LEGALIZATION PUSH: Federal law classifies marijuana, heroin and LSD among the most dangerous drugs, with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. Efforts

to change that classification have failed. A federal judge in California in 2015 considered the issue, but then decided it was up to Congress to change the law if it wishes.

An increasing number of states, meanwhile, have legalized marijuana. California led the way in 1996, when voters approved marijuana for medical use. Colorado and Washington became the first two states to

legalize recreational marijuana with voter-approved measures in 2012. Eight states, including California, have now legalized marijuana for recreational use and more than 30 have medical marijuana programs.

Critics of Sessions’ decision, including members of the Republican Party, say the federal government should respect the wishes of local voters and stay out of states’ marijuana choices.

STATEPOINT CROSSWORD THEME: FAMOUS AMERICANS

They cite the 10th amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which says states have all powers that the constitution does not delegate to the U.S. government or deny them.

“Today’s decision announced by the Department of Justice is a direct violation of states’ rights,” said U.S. Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska. Alaska allows recreational marijuana use.

Republican U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner from Colorado said he’s placing a hold on Justice Department nominees in response to Sessions’ decision and will try to push legislation to protect marijuana sales in states where they are legal.

“With no prior notice to Congress, the Justice Department has trampled on the will of the voters in CO and other states,” he said in a Tweet.

STATE AND FEDERAL LAW CLASH: Marijuana’s status as an illegal drug under federal law has led to the prosecution of growers and dispensaries that appear to be operating legally under state law, and Sessions’ announcement is raising fears of a possible renewed crackdown. “The states can enact their own laws, but the federal government can say,

Democrats continued from page 2

you have guaranteed health insurance, just like you have guaranteed Medicare or Social Security,” said Hacker. He’s working with Democrats in Congress to turn the concept into legislation.

• Medicare at 55: Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., has introduced a bill that would let older adults buy into Medicare starting at age 55. Enrollees would be eligible for subsidies under Obama’s law. They’d also have the option of picking a plan through Medicare Advantage, which offers private insurance options.

• Medicaid Buy-In: Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M.,

‘We’re going to prosecute people and businesses,”’ said Alex Kreit, a marijuana law expert at the Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego. The U.S. Supreme Court in a 2005 ruling said the federal government could prosecute medical marijuana possession in states that had legalized the drug for medical use.

In 2011, California’s four U.S. attorneys announced that they were going after the state’s “widespread and illegal marijuana industry.” Prosecutors threatened landlords with prosecution unless they evicted tenants who were supplying marijuana and moved to seize properties where the drug was sold.

The DOJ under former President Barack Obama said in 2013 it wouldn’t interfere with state marijuana laws as long as the states tightly regulated the drug and made efforts to keep it from children, criminal drug cartels and other states.

Still, pot prosecutions continued.

CONGRESS STEPS IN: In 2014, Obama signed into law a congressional amendment that said the DOJ could not use money allocated by Congress

to prevent states that have legalized medical marijuana from implementing laws that permit its use, distribution and possession. A federal appeals court that covers much of the Western U.S. ruled two years ago that the law banned the DOJ from going after medical marijuana users and dispensaries in cases where no state laws were broken. The decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals covered California, Washington and seven other states.

While the ruling could complicate efforts to ramp up marijuana prosecutions in those states, it’s far from a panacea for marijuana dispensaries and users. Kreit said the amendment only applies to medical marijuana, so recreational users and businesses are not protected.

Additionally, the protection for medical marijuana disappears if the amendment is not renewed.

U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a Republican from California who co-sponsored the medical marijuana amendment, said during a conference call with reporters on Thursday that Sessions’ decision would create momentum for a law that wouldn’t have to be constantly renewed and would protect “all of the decisions” states make about marijuana.

have introduced legislation that would allow states to open their Medicaid programs up to people willing to pay premiums.

Although Medicaid started out as insurance for the poor, it has grown to cover about 75 million people, making it the largest government health program.

Expect more ideas as the year unfolds, said Neera Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress and a former top aide to Obama as well as Hillary Clinton. “Almost every Democrat is talking about truly universal health care,” said Tanden.

Some Republicans are taking note. In a recent floor speech, Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said Democrats “think they have good ideas and they’re just

proven wrong by the facts.”

Barrasso aimed his criticism at Sanders’ single-payer plan.

“Democrats who are pushing for a Washington takeover of America’s health care are still not coming clean about the rationing of care that it would cause,” he said.

But in Sanders’ home state of Vermont, primary care physician Dr. Deborah Richter says she believes it’s only a matter of time before the Unites States adopts single-payer. Activists who failed in an earlier attempt in the state are now focused on passing a plan that would cover just primary care.

“I think the next election will be a move to the left,” said Richter. “I feel it might be possible for us to do it in phases.”

in a Twitter post. “Erica had to fight for justice. Then for her own life…she didn’t deserve this, her father didn’t deserve this. Her family doesn’t deserve this. All this for being Black in America. I can’t.”

In a March 2015 interview on NBC News, Erica Garner spoke passionately about the

Black Lives Matter movement and other protests that sought justice.

She recalled the August 2014 shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and how it wasn’t until months later, when the video of her father’s death was released, that the Eric Garner incident received national attention.

Garner described seeing her father die via a cellphone video “a thousand-million times,” and when a grand jury failed to indict police officers, she said it was time to take her fight for justice to the streets.

“To me, it was just saying, ‘you know what? I’m just going to march,” she told NBC News.

Even when there weren’t television news cameras, Garner said she was determined to keep marching, to keep fighting.

“That’s the most annoying question I get. People ask, ‘when will you stop marching?

What do you want from marching?’ He was my father,” Erica Garner said during the interview. “I will always march.”

Garner continued from page 3

ACROSS 1. Echo sounder 6. Sheepish cry 9. Speed obstacle 13. Seven day mourning period 14. 100% 15. More painful 16. It’s often wreaked 17. Cardinal 3 18. Figure with vertex and rays 19. *Pop icon-painting pop icon 21. *Jackie O’s first husband 23. “You betcha!”

24. Off-color 25. Like TV’s Randall/Klugman couple 28. Genealogy “plant” 30. No, it doesn’t crawl in one’s ear 35. *World-famous yellow cartoon boy 37. Kuwaiti, e.g.

39. Tarzan’s swing 40. Indian nursemaid 41. Gardener’s pipe, pl.

43. Overeat 44. Last European colony in China 46. Surfer’s stop 47. Bone-dry 48. Choose by divine intervention 50. Police informer 52. Hi-____ 53. Chihuahua-Pug hybrid 55. By means of 57. *Norma Jean’s pseudonym 61. *His Airness 64. Naked protozoa 65. Not an amateur 67. Type of wave 69. Surrendered land 70. What iodine and quinine have in common 71. Like unbagged tea 72. *Kentucky’s Fort ____, named for first US Secretary of War 73. Aye’s opposite 74. English homework?

DOWN 1. Wildfire remains 2. *Famous American clarinetist, Artie ____ 3. Cher or Mariah Carey, e.g.?

4. Poacher’s ware 5. Prestige 6. Get-out-of-jail money 7. *Cassius Clay 8. Like Mary-Kate and Ashley 9. Capital of West Germany, 1949-1989

10. Push for something 11. Mix together 12. Mouse to a snake 15. Footwear to match toga 20. *Queen of All Media 22. Bo Peep follower 24. Renting 25. *2009 Nobel Prize for Peace recipient 26. Israeli statesman Moshe 27. Famous Slytherin member 29. Aphrodite’s son 31. Semis 32. Australian horse 33. Accustom 34. *Man behind Windows 36. Bangkok inhabitant 38. Between Phi and Kappa 42. Aussie gas station 45. Without clothes 49. Olden day “your” 51. Middle Ages garment 54. Remove from Google Maps 56. Dora the Explorer’s farewell 57. *Baseball Hall of Famer, Connie ____ 58. End of grace 59. Redecorate, e.g.

60. Wild goat 61. *Actor Bishop or punk rocker Ramone 62. Fusses 63. *Neil Armstrong’s employer 66. Ribonucleic acid 68. Grazing land LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION

being arrested in New York City by becoming a leading proponent for criminal justice reform and for an end to police brutality,” Sanders said.

The police “killed her unarmed, nonviolent father with an illegal chokehold and got off with nary a word,” activist Brittany Packnett wrote

SODOKU SOLUTION

8

THE BULLETIN, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 10, 2018

ENTERTAINMENT Songs by Jay-Z, Harry Styles among Obama’s favorites of 2017 Jay-Z, Harry Styles, Kendrick Lamar, U2 and Chris Stapleton were just some of the artists responsible for Barack Obama’s favorite songs of the year.

The former president shared an eclectic list of his favorite songs and books of 2017 Sunday on his Facebook page, including Jay-Z’s “Family Feud” and Styles’ “Sign of the Times.” The 22song list also singled out Lamar’s “Humble,” U2’s “Ordinary Love (Extraordinary Mix)” and Stapleton’s “Millionaire.

Obama writes that he wanted to continue the tradition he stared during his presidency of sharing his reading and playlists.

His books list includes “Grant,” by Ron Chernow, “Exit West,” by Moshin Hamid, “Anything is Possible,” by Elizabeth Strout and Amy Goldstein’s “Janesville: An American Story.”

Obama also gave a bonus shout-out to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s “Coach Wooden and Me.”

MARIAH CAREY MAKES IT THROUGH TIMES SQUARE SET UNSCATHED

Happy New Year, Mariah Carey.

The pop singer made it through her performance on “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest” cleanly this year after bungling it last year.

She sang her 1990s hits “Vision of Love” and “Hero” on Sunday night in Times Square, where revelers braved frigid temperatures to usher in 2018.

After Carey sang “Vision of Love” she looked on stage for some hot tea she said she was promised, but it wasn’t there. She quipped, “Oh, it’s a disaster.”

Last year it really was a disaster. Carey had technical difficulties during a live performance of her hit song “Emotions.” She stopped singing, paced the stage and told the audience to finish the lyrics for her.

Dick Clark Productions called Carey’s claim it sabotaged her performance “absurd.” But they worked out their differences.

Members of ABC’s broadcast team congratulated Carey on making it through her performance the second time around. Seacrest asked Carey how she felt.

“I’m feeling a lot better than last year,” she said, “when I had to get my own police escort.”

Photo courtesy of Freddie Allen/AMG/NNPA

Hollywood legend Jenifer Lewis shares memories from her rollercoaster career, during a special appearance at the Duke Ellington School of Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

BLACK HOLLYWOOD LEGEND PENS NEW MEMOIR

Jenifer Lewis Shares Secrets to Hollywood Success in New Memoir

By Lauren Poteat Jenifer Lewis, affectionately nicknamed “Auntie” in Black Hollywood, recently made a special appearance at the Duke Ellington School of Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. where she shared the trials, tribulations and triumphs of her journey to superstardom, while sending a strong message to millennials to stand up and find a purpose.

THERE’S no foolproof way to live this thing called ‘life.’ I can’t save the world, I can’t save you and ain’t nobody coming to rescue you,” said Lewis. “Do the work, look in the mirror and know this ain’t no rehearsal. This is life.”

Lewis continued: “Live, pursue happiness—sometimes it’s easier said than done—but we have to strive for that. You’ve laid down in front of these police

barricades, now get up, stay up and keep it moving, but don’t miss the beat of feeling...don’t just go willy nilly into the world.”

Detailing traumatic and heroic moments from her past throughout her special performance, Lewis talked about being molested as a teenager, her first encounter with illegal substances and growing to understand and cope with a bipolar disorder diagnosis.

“Feel your feelings. If you’re disappointed you feel, if you’re

hurt you feel,” said Lewis.

“Don’t you stay in a dark room and be quiet and if somebody inappropriately touches you or abuses you, you tell somebody.”

Compelled by the actress’s gripping, yet comedic words, audience members gushed over the opportunity to engage with the Hollywood legend and to share their own personal stories.

“Ms. Jenifer, I just wanted to say my daughter, she would of been 27, she was bipolar,” one district resident said. “We discovered it when she was 13.

When she was about 16 or 17 she heard you talking about being bipolar and it made her feel a little bit more comfortable with her treatment. She didn’t get all the way better, she passed away, but I’ve always wanted to meet you just to tell you, ‘Thank you,’ for giving my daughter that little

extra of amount of time on Earth to feel better.”

The always amusing co-star of the hit ABC sitcom “blackish,” recently published a deeply personal memoir titled “The Mother of Black Hollywood.”

Filled with comedy, sex, glamour, sorrow, pain, and good advice, Lewis’ latest over the top production—the story of her life—is a terrific read for anyone who has ever felt like they were ignored, but longed to have a voice.

Lewis said that she recently completed work on a new Disney animated TV series based on the movie “Big Hero 6” and plans to reprise her role as Jackie Washington in the mockumentary “Jackie’s Back!

2,” that will pick up where the original 1999 Lifetime channel movie left off.

Black Panther movie causing excitement around country

By Jesse J. Holland There’s a Black Panther party going on all around the country.

Superhero fans, movie fans and especially connoisseurs of black culture—American and African—are eagerly awaiting the debut of Marvel’s “Black Panther” movie starring comic books’ first black superhero with an enthusiasm not often seen in American cinema.

“Black Panther” viewing parties are being scheduled around the country for its February release, smack dab in the middle of Black History Month. Clothing lines are being designed around the bright colors and Afrofuturism styles of Wakanda. And Grammywinning rapper Kendrick Lamar was just named to produce the soundtrack.

And people are already calling the still-unseen movie one of the most important of 2018, despite the fact that the character that has only appeared once on the silver screen and until now, has not occupied the same pantheon as stalwarts like Superman, Batman and Spiderman.

But for some fans, none of that matters.

“As the father of two little black boys I’m super excited

to have a superhero that looks like them on screen,” said Glen Greezy of New York City, who plans to hit Times Square and see the movie on opening weekend along with more than 900 of his friends on Facebook.

“Other superheroes are great and I see their movies too, but something about having a black man as the main character in a superhero movie is extra appealing.”

“Black Panther,” starring Chadwick Boseman as the eponymous superhero, opens on February 16, picking up the adventures of the newly crowned African king and superhero who debuted in 2016’s “Captain America: Civil War.” Existing in the same shared universe as Iron Man, the Hulk, Captain America and Spiderman, the Panther, however, the Black Panther’s adventures center around his futuristic hidden homeland of Wakanda, considered to be the most technologically advanced

nation on Marvel’s earth. In the new movie, T’Challa, the Black Panther’s real name, must battle long-time adversaries with the aid of his all-female bodyguards and a CIA agent to maintain control of his country and prevent a world war.

Directed by Ryan Coogler, it also has an all-star cast including Angela Bassett, Lupita Nyong’o, Michael B. Jordan, Forest Whitaker, Danai Gurira, Sterling K. Brown and more.

For many people, the Black Panther movie isn’t just a movie; it’s a symbol of change. “‘Black Panther’ is just going to be really special. ... I don’t plug into film anticipation.

But I can feel it. A lot of my friends have asked me to go to the premiere! Everyone in my network is excited about it, and you can feel it when they’re not,” Daniel Kaluuya, the “Get Out” star who also is featured in “Black Panther,” told The Associated Press recently.

The internet explodes each time a new trailer, poster or piece of artwork debuts from the movie, sparking hashtags like (hash)BlackPantherSoLit and (hash)WelcometoWakanda.

Twitter declared that Black Panther was one of the most tweeted-about movies of 2017, and the only movie on the list that hadn’t premiered yet.

“Do we really have to wait until February!” lamented Elwood L. Robinson, chancellor of Winston-Salem State

University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on Twitter while sporting a Black Panther T-shirt.

Groups like MALIK Fraternity Inc., the first collegiate fraternity founded on the concept of African fraternalism, in Charlotte, North Carolina and the Intentional Community Building Collective and Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle in Baltimore, are assembling discussion panels on the movie’s themes.

Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the minds behind Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four and other Marvel comics, the Black Panther holds a unique position in comic book history.

While not the first black comic book hero—the first black character to headline his own comic book was Dell Comics’ Western hero and gunfighter Lobo in 1965—the Black Panther is considered the first black superhero, introduced as a supporting character in Fantastic Four in 1966 and later featured in his own book.

There has been a renaissance with black superheroes on television as well. “Black Lightning” debuts on the CW on January 16 featuring an educator who gains electrical

powers and becomes a superhero. “Luke Cage,” a television show about a former convict with superhuman strength and unbreakable skin, premiered on Netflix in 2016 and will begin a second season later this year.

Cage debuted in a selftitled comic book “Luke Cage, Hero for Hire” in 1972 with an exaggerated Afro and a catchphrase “Sweet Christmas!” He was followed

by Black Lightning in a DC comic book in 1977.

There have been other black superhero movies—Wesley Snipes starred as the vampire slayer Blade in one of the first Marvel movies, and Robert Townsend starred in a comedic parody of superheroes in “Meteor Man”—but their movies did not bring out the enthusiasm that the Black Panther is seeing.

“What is significant now, however, is that this age of convergence of film franchises with social media, a black superhero movie with an almost all-black cast conveys power, that we have arrived. It’s evolution,” said Christopher Chambers, a Georgetown University media studies professor.

9

THE BULLETIN, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 10, 2018

LEGAL NOTICE INVITING SEALED BIDS CITY OF COMPTON PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT “NOTICE INVITING BIDS” SEALED BIDS will be received at the office of the City Clerk, City of Compton, 205 South Willowbrook Avenue, Compton, CA 90220 on or before Thursday, January 18, 2017 at 10:00 AM, opened and read in the City Clerk’s Office, 205 South Willowbrook Avenue, Compton, CA 90220. The bid package will be available online at www. comptoncity.org on December 21, 2017.

All Bids shall be enclosed in a sealed envelope addressed to: City Clerk, City of Compton 205 South Willowbrook Avenue Compton CA 90220 And marked outside with: “STREET REHABILITATION PROJECT CDBG #13-01” DO NOT OPEN WITH REGULAR MAIL The proposed work shall be performed in accordance with the plans, specifications and other contract documents as specified herein and shall consist of the following general work descriptions: Install Asphalt Concrete (AC), install ADA compliant curb ramps, curb, gutter and sidewalk improvements, driveway improvements, striping and traffic loop replacement, street sign replacement, and other minor associated work.

A Prebid Meeting will be held on Thursday, January 4 , 2018 at 2:00 pm at Compton City Hall (second floor), 205 South Willowbrook Avenue, Compton, CA 90221.

Plans, Special Provisions and Proposal Forms will be available by December 21, 2017, at 10:00 am and can only be obtained by prospective bidders as follows: 1 CD of Plans and Specifications: No Charge 1 Hard Copy of 11x17 Plans and Specs: (duplication fee apply) City’s website at www.comptoncity. org If you need additional information, please call John Strickland, Project Manager at (310) 605-5505.

ALITA GODWIN CITY CLERK PUBLISH: December 20, 2017 December 27, 2017 January 03, 2018 January 10, 2018 January 17, 2018 SchId:69358 AdId:23114 CustId:314 -------------------------------------CITY OF COMPTON REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL FOR CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT SERVICES FOR THE STREET REHABILITATION PROJECT COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT - CDBG# 13-01 The City of Compton is soliciting proposals from qualified consultants to provide construction management services for the Street Rehabilitation Project CDBG# 13-01. Qualified Consultants are hereby notified that this project will be solely or partially funded with Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds as administered by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and shall adhere to all requirements under the CDBG Program.

Proposals will be received in the office of the City Clerk, City of Compton, 205 South Willowbrook Avenue, Compton, California, 90220 until 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 16, 2018. POSTMARKS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. All proposals must be clearly marked, “PROPOSAL TO PROVIDE CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT SERVICES FOR THE STREET REHABILITATION PROJECT CDBG# 13-01 IN THE CITY OF COMPTON – DO NOT OPEN WITH REGULAR MAIL” and shall be delivered during the business hours of 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday through Thursday, except holidays, to the City Clerk’s office.

Submit an original and four (4) copies and one digital copy on CD or USB drive of your proposals. Your proposed fee is required to be submitted under separate, sealed cover. All submittals are to be submitted in a sealed envelope bearing the name, address, and telephone number of the individuals or entity submitting the proposal to the attention of: City of Compton, Public Works Department, 205 South Willowbrook Avenue, Compton, CA 90220.All submitted proposals will be reviewed and analyzed by City staff and the proposal which best meets the City’s needs, will be selected for further analysis and negotiation.

The City of Compton reserves the right to reject any or all proposals submitted. No guarantee is made hereby that any contract will be awarded pursuant to this Request for Proposals, or otherwise. All costs incurred in the preparation of the proposals, in the submission of additional information, and/or in any other aspect of a proposal prior to the award of a written contract will be borne by the respondent.

Parties interested in obtaining a Request for Proposal (RFP) package can obtain a copy by downloading the RFP at www.comptoncity.org or contact the: Public Works Department City of Compton 205 South Willowbrook Avenue Compton, CA 90220 (310) 605-5505 SUBMITTAL DEADLINE To be considered, proposals must be submitted no later than Tuesday, January 16, 2018 at 5:00 p.m. to the City Clerk’s Office, 205 South Willowbrook Avenue, Compton, California, 90220.

Postmarks will not be accepted. The City may extend the deadline at its option.

Note: During this period of restricted contact, any attempt by a proposing firm, its representative or agent to contact, lobby, or make a representation to a member of the City Council, or any other official, employee, or agent of the City will be grounds for disqualification.

Alita Godwin, CMC Publish: 12/20/17 12/27/17 01/03/18 01/10/18 SchId:69411 AdId:23132 CustId:314 -------------------------------------NOTICE Notice is hereby given that Extra Space Storage will sell at public auction at the storage facility listed below, to satisfy the lien of the owner, personal property described below belonging to those individuals listed below at location indicated: 12714 S. La Cienega Blvd, Hawthorne CA 90250, 310-363-9305,

on January 23rd, 2018 @ 11:30PM. Unit Number, Account, Description of goods: 3052, Adenimiran Oluwole, household; 0070, Jacob Pote, home; 1166A, Margarito Lira, Household items; 0099, Zane Lopez, boxes; 1120, Phylicia Barrow, Home furniture; 1169, Donovan Cambell, Home and furniture and appliances. Purchases must be made with cash only and paid at the above referenced facility in order to complete the transaction. Extra Space Storage may refuse any bid and may rescind any purchase up until the winning bidder takes possession of the personal property.

CN944509 01-23-18 Jan 3,10, 2018 SchId:69428 AdId:23138 CustId:65 -------------------------------------T.S. No. 15-41074 008-018

APN: 6181-

NOTICE OF TRUSTEE’S SALE YOU ARE IN DEFAULT UNDER A DEED OF TRUST DATED 12/7/2006.

UNLESS YOU TAKE ACTION TO PROTECT YOUR PROPERTY, IT MAY BE SOLD AT A PUBLIC SALE. IF YOU NEED AN EXPLANATION OF THE NATURE OF THE PROCEEDING AGAINST YOU, YOU SHOULD CONTACT A LAWYER. A public auction sale to the highest bidder for cash, cashier’s check drawn on a state or national bank, check drawn by a state or federal credit union, or a check drawn by a state or federal savings and loan association, or savings association, or savings bank specified in Section 5102 of the Financial Code and authorized to do business in this state will be held by the duly appointed trustee as shown below, of all right, title, and interest conveyed to and now held by the trustee in the hereinafter described property under and pursuant to a Deed of Trust described below.

The sale will be made, but without covenant or warranty, expressed or implied, regarding title, possession, or encumbrances, to pay the remaining principal sum of the note(s) secured by the Deed of Trust, with interest and late charges thereon, as provided in the note(s), advances, under the terms of the Deed of Trust, interest thereon, fees, charges and expenses of the Trustee for the total amount (at the time of the initial publication of the Notice of Sale) reasonably estimated to be set forth below. The amount may be greater on the day of sale.

Trustor: DANIEL BRADFORD, AND DELPHINE BRADFORD, HUSBAND AND WIFE AS JOINT TENANTS Duly Appointed Trustee: Zieve, Brodnax & Steele, LLP Deed of Trust recorded 12/28/2006 as Instrument No. 06 2881231 in book , page of Official Records in the office of the Recorder of Los Angeles County, California, Date of Sale:1/18/2018 at 9:00 AM Place of Sale: Vineyard Ballroom, Doubletree Hotel Los AngelesNorwalk, 13111 Sycamore Drive, Norwalk, CA 90650 Estimated amount of unpaid balance and other charges: $774,817.92 Note: Because the Beneficiary reserves the right to bid less than the total debt owed, it is possible that at the time of the sale the opening bid may be less than the total debt owed.

Street Address or other common designation of real property: 601 SOUTH BRADFIELD AVE COMPTON, California 90221 Described as follows: As more fully described on said Deed of Trust.

A.P.N #.: 6181-008-018 The undersigned Trustee disclaims any liability for any incorrectness of the street address or other common designation, if any, shown above. If no street address or other common designation is shown, directions to the location of the property may be obtained by sending a written request to the beneficiary within 10 days of the date of first publication of this Notice of Sale.

NOTICE TO POTENTIAL BIDDERS: If you are considering bidding on this property lien, you should understand that there are risks involved in bidding at a trustee auction. You will be bidding on a lien, not on the property itself. Placing the highest bid at a trustee auction does not automatically entitle you to free and clear ownership of the property. You should also be aware that the lien being auctioned off may be a junior lien. If you are the highest bidder at the auction, you are or may be responsible for paying off all liens senior to the lien being auctioned off, before you can receive clear title to the property. You are encouraged to investigate the existence, priority, and size of outstanding liens that may exist on this property by contacting the county recorder’s office or a title insurance company, either of which may charge you a fee for this information. If you consult either of these resources, you should be aware that the same lender may hold more than one mortgage or deed of trust on the property.

NOTICE TO PROPERTY OWNER: The sale date shown on this notice of sale may be postponed one or more times by the mortgagee, beneficiary, trustee, or a court, pursuant to Section 2924g of the California Civil Code. The law requires that information about trustee sale postponements be made available to you and to the public, as a courtesy to those not present at the sale. If you wish to learn whether your sale date has been postponed, and, if applicable, the rescheduled time and date for the sale of this property, you may call (800) 280-2832 or visit this Internet Web site www.auction.com, using the file number assigned to this case 15-41074.

Information about postponements that are very short in duration or that occur close in time to the scheduled sale may not immediately be reflected in the telephone information or on the Internet Web site. The best way to verify postponement information is to attend the scheduled sale.

Dated: 12/22/2017 Z i e v e , Brodnax & Steele, LLP, as Trustee 30 Corporate Park, Suite 450 Irvine, CA 92606 For NonAutomated Sale Information, call: (714) 848-7920 For Sale Information: (800) 280-2832 www.auction.com _________________________________ Dalaysia Ramirez, Team Lead THIS FIRM IS ATTEMPTING TO COLLECT A DEBT AND ANY INFORMATION WE OBTAINED WILL BE USED FOR THAT PURPOSE. EPP 24060 12/27, 1/3, 1/10/2018.

SchId:69479 AdId:23157 CustId:108 -------------------------------------CITY OF COMPTON NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING Municipal Code Amendment Case No. 17-020339 Notice is hereby given pursuant to Sections 65090, and 65091 of the California Government Code that a

public hearing will be held before the Planning Commission of the City of Compton, at Compton City Hall, in the Council Chambers, 205 South Willowbrook Avenue, Compton, on Wednesday, January 17, 2018 at 7:00 p.m., for the purpose of considering a Municipal Code Amendment to regulate all offsite and onsite alcohol sales within the City of Compton. The project is also subject to the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act. If you have any comments concerning the proposed municipal code amendments, they should be submitted, in writing, to Robert Delgadillo, Interim Director of the Planning Division of the Community Development Department, 205 South Willowbrook Avenue, Compton, California, 90220.

Comments should be received by 1:00 pm, Thursday, January 11, 2018. If you have any questions, you may call the Compton Community Development Department at (310) 605-5532, Monday through Thursday, 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Alita Godwin, City Clerk Publish: January 3, 2018 and January 10, 2018.

SchId:69491 AdId:23162 CustId:314 -------------------------------------NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF REYMOND F. UMALI aka REYMOND FAMILAR UMALI Case No. 17STPB11432 To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of REYMOND F. UMALI aka REYMOND FAMILAR UMALI A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by Jose Pedralvez Umali, Jr. in the Superior Court of California, County of LOS ANGELES. THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that Jose Pedralvez Umali, Jr. be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent.

THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval.

Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.

A HEARING on the petition will be held on January 22, 2018 at 8:30 AM in Dept. No. 9 located at 111 N. Hill St., Los Angeles, CA 90012.

IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.

IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code.

Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law.

YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk.

Attorney for petitioner: MICHAEL R WEINSTEIN ESQ SBN 204050 LAW OFFICE OF MICHAEL R WEINSTEIN APC 1851 E FIRST ST STE 900 SANTA ANA CA 92705 CN944763 UMALI Jan 3,4,10, 2018 SchId:69566 AdId:23189 CustId:65 -------------------------------------T.S. No.: 9948-0098 TSG Order No.: 730-1706852-70 A.P.N.: 6179-008-009 NOTICE OF TRUSTEE’S SALE YOU ARE IN DEFAULT UNDER A DEED OF TRUST DATED 11/14/2006. UNLESS YOU TAKE ACTION TO PROTECT YOUR PROPERTY, IT MAY BE SOLD AT A PUBLIC SALE. IF YOU NEED AN EXPLANATION OF THE NATURE OF THE PROCEEDING AGAINST YOU, YOU SHOULD CONTACT A LAWYER. Affinia Default Services, LLC, as the duly appointed Trustee, under and pursuant to the power of sale contained in that certain Deed of Trust Recorded 11/21/2006 as Document No.: 20062580960, of Official Records in the office of the Recorder of Los Angeles County, California, executed by: WILLIAM MORELAND AND RHONDA MORELAND, HUSBAND AND WIFE AS JOINT TENANTS , as Trustor, WILL SELL AT PUBLIC AUCTION TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER FOR CASH (payable in full at time of sale by cash, a cashier’s check drawn by a state or national bank, a check drawn by a state or federal credit union, or a check drawn by a state or federal savings and loan association, savings association, or savings bank specified in section 5102 of the Financial Code and authorized to do business in this state).

All right, title and interest conveyed to and now held by it under said Deed of Trust in the property situated in said County and state, and as more fully described in the above referenced Deed of Trust. Sale Date & Time: 02/01/2018 at 09:00 AM Sale Location: Doubletree Hotel Los AngelesNorwalk, Vineyard Ballroom, 13111 Sycamore Drive, Norwalk, CA 90650 The street address and other common designation, if any, of the real property described above is purported to be: 512 SOUTH CHESTER AVENUE, COMPTON, CA 90221 The undersigned Trustee disclaims any liability for any incorrectness of the street address and other common designation, if any, shown herein. Said sale will be made in an “AS IS” condition, but without covenant or warranty, expressed or implied, regarding title, possession, or encumbrances, to pay the remaining principal sum of the note(s) secured by said Deed of Trust, with interest thereon, as provided in said note(s), advances, if any, under the terms of the Deed of Trust, estimated fees, charges and expenses of the Trustee and of the trusts created by said Deed of Trust, towit: $379,713.42 (Estimated).

Accrued interest and additional advances, if any, will increase this figure prior to sale. It is possible that at

the time of sale the opening bid may be less than the total indebtedness due.

NOTICE TO POTENTIAL BIDDERS: If you are considering bidding on this property lien, you should understand that there are risks involved in bidding at a trustee auction. You will be bidding on a lien, not on the property itself. Placing the highest bid at a trustee auction does not automatically entitle you to free and clear ownership of the property. You should also be aware that the lien being auctioned off may be a junior lien. If you are the highest bidder at the auction, you are or may be responsible for paying off all liens senior to the lien being auctioned off, before you can receive clear title to the property. You are encouraged to investigate the existence, priority, and size of outstanding liens that may exist on this property by contacting the county recorder’s office or a title insurance company, either of which may charge you a fee for this information. If you consult either of these resources, you should be aware that the same lender may hold more than one mortgage or deed of trust on the property. NOTICE TO PROPERTY OWNER: The sale date shown on this notice of sale may be postponed one or more times by the mortgagee, beneficiary, trustee, or a court, pursuant to Section 2924g of the California Civil Code. The law requires that information about trustee sale postponements be made available to you and to the public, as a courtesy to those not present at the sale. If you wish to learn whether your sale date has been postponed, and, if applicable, the rescheduled time and date for the sale of this property, you may call, 1-800280-2832 for information regarding the trustee’s sale or visit this Internet Web site, www.auction.com, for information regarding the sale of this property, using the file number assigned to this case, T.S.# 9948-0098. Information about postponements that are very short in duration or that occur close in time to the scheduled sale may not immediately be reflected in the telephone information or on the internet Web site. The best way to verify postponement information is to attend the scheduled sale. If the Trustee is unable to convey title for any reason, the successful bidder’s sole and exclusive remedy shall be the return of monies paid to the Trustee and the successful bidder shall have no further recourse. Affinia Default Services, LLC 301 E. Ocean Blvd. Suite 1720 Long Beach, CA 90802 833-2907452 For Trustee Sale Information Log On To: www.auction.com or Call: 1-800280-2832.

Affinia Default Services, LLC, Omar Solorzano, Foreclosure Associate This communication is an attempt to collect a debt and any information obtained will be used for that purpose. However, if you have received a discharge of the debt referenced herein in a bankruptcy proceeding, this is not an attempt to impose personal liability upon you for payment of that debt. In the event you have received a bankruptcy discharge, any action to enforce the debt will be taken against the property only. NPP0323094 To: COMPTON BULLETIN 01/10/2018, 01/17/2018, 01/24/2018 SchId:69610 AdId:23204 CustId:68 -------------------------------------T.S. No. 17-47974 013-015

APN: 6154-

NOTICE OF TRUSTEE’S SALE YOU ARE IN DEFAULT UNDER A DEED OF TRUST DATED 12/9/2015.

UNLESS YOU TAKE ACTION TO PROTECT YOUR PROPERTY, IT MAY BE SOLD AT A PUBLIC SALE. IF YOU NEED AN EXPLANATION OF THE NATURE OF THE PROCEEDING AGAINST YOU, YOU SHOULD CONTACT A LAWYER. A public auction sale to the highest bidder for cash, cashier’s check drawn on a state or national bank, check drawn by a state or federal credit union, or a check drawn by a state or federal savings and loan association, or savings association, or savings bank specified in Section 5102 of the Financial Code and authorized to do business in this state will be held by the duly appointed trustee as shown below, of all right, title, and interest conveyed to and now held by the trustee in the hereinafter described property under and pursuant to a Deed of Trust described below.

The sale will be made, but without covenant or warranty, expressed or implied, regarding title, possession, or encumbrances, to pay the remaining principal sum of the note(s) secured by the Deed of Trust, with interest and late charges thereon, as provided in the note(s), advances, under the terms of the Deed of Trust, interest thereon, fees, charges and expenses of the Trustee for the total amount (at the time of the initial publication of the Notice of Sale) reasonably estimated to be set forth below. The amount may be greater on the day of sale.

Trustor: RONNIE CESAR SALAZAR, A SINGLE MAN Duly Appointed Trustee: Zieve, Brodnax & Steele, LLP Deed of Trust recorded 12/23/2015 as Instrument No. 20151616711 in book , page of Official Records in the office of the Recorder of Los Angeles County, California, Date of Sale:1/31/2018 at 11:00 AM Place of Sale: By the fountain located at 400 Civic Center Plaza, Pomona, CA 91766 Estimated amount of unpaid balance and other charges: $237,605.94 Note: Because the Beneficiary reserves the right to bid less than the total debt owed, it is possible that at the time of the sale the opening bid may be less than the total debt owed.

Street Address or other common designation of real property: 2417 EAST HATCHWAY STREET COMPTON, California 90222 Described as follows: As more fully described on said Deed of Trust.

A.P.N #.: 6154-013-015 The undersigned Trustee disclaims any liability for any incorrectness of the street address or other common designation, if any, shown above. If no street address or other common designation is shown, directions to the location of the property may be obtained by sending a written request to the beneficiary within 10 days of the date of first publication of this Notice of Sale.

NOTICE TO POTENTIAL BIDDERS: If you are considering bidding on this property lien, you should understand that there are risks involved in bidding at a trustee auction. You will be bidding on a lien, not on the property itself. Placing the highest bid at a trustee auction does not automatically entitle you to free and clear ownership of the property. You should also be aware that the lien being auctioned off may be a junior lien. If you are the highest bidder at the auction, you are or may be responsible for paying off all liens senior to the lien being auctioned off, before you can receive clear title to the property. You are encouraged to investigate the existence, priority, and size of outstanding liens that may exist on this property by contacting the county

recorder’s office or a title insurance company, either of which may charge you a fee for this information. If you consult either of these resources, you should be aware that the same lender may hold more than one mortgage or deed of trust on the property.

NOTICE TO PROPERTY OWNER: The sale date shown on this notice of sale may be postponed one or more times by the mortgagee, beneficiary, trustee, or a court, pursuant to Section 2924g of the California Civil Code. The law requires that information about trustee sale postponements be made available to you and to the public, as a courtesy to those not present at the sale. If you wish to learn whether your sale date has been postponed, and, if applicable, the rescheduled time and date for the sale of this property, you may call (714) 848-9272 or visit this Internet Web site www.elitepostandpub. com, using the file number assigned to this case 17-47974. Information about postponements that are very short in duration or that occur close in time to the scheduled sale may not immediately be reflected in the telephone information or on the Internet Web site. The best way to verify postponement information is to attend the scheduled sale.

Dated: 1/4/2018 Z i e v e , Brodnax & Steele, LLP, as Trustee 30 Corporate Park, Suite 450 Irvine, CA 92606 For NonAutomated Sale Information, call: (714) 848-7920 For Sale Information: (714) 848-9272 www.elitepostandpub.com _______________________________ Christine O’Brien, Trustee Sale Officer THIS FIRM IS ATTEMPTING TO COLLECT A DEBT AND ANY INFORMATION WE OBTAINED WILL BE USED FOR THAT PURPOSE EPP 24180 Pub Dates 01/10, 01/17, 01/24/2018 SchId:69613 AdId:23205 CustId:108 -------------------------------------NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF MARIE ANDERSON Case No. 17STPB11491 To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of MARIE ANDERSON A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by Paula Smith in the Superior Court of California, County of LOS ANGELES. THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that Paula Smith be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent.

THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval.

Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.

A HEARING on the petition will be held on January 30, 2018 at 8:30 AM in Dept. No. 79 located at 111 N. Hill St., Los Angeles, CA 90012.

IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.

IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code.

Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law.

YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk.

Attorney for petitioner: LARRY D LEWELLYN ESQ SBN 141687 LAW OFFICES OF LARRY D LEWELLYN 3255 WILSHIRE BLVD STE 1024 LOS ANGELES CA 90010 CN944794 ANDERSON Jan 10,17,24, 2018 SchId:69616 AdId:23206 CustId:65 -------------------------------------T.S. No. 17-47974 013-015

APN: 6154-

NOTICE OF TRUSTEE’S SALE YOU ARE IN DEFAULT UNDER A DEED OF TRUST DATED 12/9/2015.

UNLESS YOU TAKE ACTION TO PROTECT YOUR PROPERTY, IT MAY BE SOLD AT A PUBLIC SALE. IF YOU NEED AN EXPLANATION OF THE NATURE OF THE PROCEEDING AGAINST YOU, YOU SHOULD CONTACT A LAWYER. A public auction sale to the highest bidder for cash, cashier’s check drawn on a state or national bank, check drawn by a state or federal credit union, or a check drawn by a state or federal savings and loan association, or savings association, or savings bank specified in Section 5102 of the Financial Code and authorized to do business in this state will be held by the duly appointed trustee as shown below, of all right, title, and interest conveyed to and now held by the trustee in the hereinafter described property under and pursuant to a Deed of Trust described below.

The sale will be made, but without covenant or warranty, expressed or implied, regarding title, possession, or encumbrances, to pay the remaining principal sum of the note(s) secured by the Deed of Trust, with interest and late charges thereon, as provided in the note(s), advances, under the terms of the Deed of Trust, interest thereon, fees, charges and expenses of the Trustee for the total amount (at the time of the initial publication of the Notice of Sale) reasonably estimated to be set forth below. The amount may be greater on the day of sale.

Trustor: RONNIE CESAR SALAZAR, A SINGLE MAN

Duly Appointed Trustee: Zieve, Brodnax & Steele, LLP Deed of Trust recorded 12/23/2015 as Instrument No. 20151616711 in book , page of Official Records in the office of the Recorder of Los Angeles County, California, Date of Sale:1/31/2018 at 11:00 AM Place of Sale: By the fountain located at 400 Civic Center Plaza, Pomona, CA 91766 Estimated amount of unpaid balance and other charges: $237,605.94 Note: Because the Beneficiary reserves the right to bid less than the total debt owed, it is possible that at the time of the sale the opening bid may be less than the total debt owed.

Street Address or other common designation of real property: 2417 EAST HATCHWAY STREET COMPTON, California 90222 Described as follows: As more fully described on said Deed of Trust.

A.P.N #.: 6154-013-015 The undersigned Trustee disclaims any liability for any incorrectness of the street address or other common designation, if any, shown above. If no street address or other common designation is shown, directions to the location of the property may be obtained by sending a written request to the beneficiary within 10 days of the date of first publication of this Notice of Sale.

NOTICE TO POTENTIAL BIDDERS: If you are considering bidding on this property lien, you should understand that there are risks involved in bidding at a trustee auction. You will be bidding on a lien, not on the property itself. Placing the highest bid at a trustee auction does not automatically entitle you to free and clear ownership of the property. You should also be aware that the lien being auctioned off may be a junior lien. If you are the highest bidder at the auction, you are or may be responsible for paying off all liens senior to the lien being auctioned off, before you can receive clear title to the property. You are encouraged to investigate the existence, priority, and size of outstanding liens that may exist on this property by contacting the county recorder’s office or a title insurance company, either of which may charge you a fee for this information. If you consult either of these resources, you should be aware that the same lender may hold more than one mortgage or deed of trust on the property.

NOTICE TO PROPERTY OWNER: The sale date shown on this notice of sale may be postponed one or more times by the mortgagee, beneficiary, trustee, or a court, pursuant to Section 2924g of the California Civil Code. The law requires that information about trustee sale postponements be made available to you and to the public, as a courtesy to those not present at the sale. If you wish to learn whether your sale date has been postponed, and, if applicable, the rescheduled time and date for the sale of this property, you may call (714) 848-9272 or visit this Internet Web site www.elitepostandpub. com, using the file number assigned to this case 17-47974. Information about postponements that are very short in duration or that occur close in time to the scheduled sale may not immediately be reflected in the telephone information or on the Internet Web site. The best way to verify postponement information is to attend the scheduled sale.

Dated: 1/4/2018 Z i e v e , Brodnax & Steele, LLP, as Trustee 30 Corporate Park, Suite 450 Irvine, CA 92606 For NonAutomated Sale Information, call: (714) 848-7920 For Sale Information: (714) 848-9272 www.elitepostandpub.com _______________________________ Christine O’Brien, Trustee Sale Officer THIS FIRM IS ATTEMPTING TO COLLECT A DEBT AND ANY INFORMATION WE OBTAINED WILL BE USED FOR THAT PURPOSE EPP 24180 Pub Dates 01/10, 01/17, 01/24/2018 SchId:69622 AdId:23208 CustId:108 -------------------------------------NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF: EARNEST T. MCCOY CASE NO. 17STPB09399 To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the WILL or estate, or both of EARNEST T. MCCOY. A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by VIRGINIA MCCOY in the Superior Court of California, County of LOS ANGELES. THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that VIRGINIA MCCOY be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent.

THE PETITION requests the decedent’s WILL and codicils, if any, be admitted to probate. The WILL and any codicils are available for examination in the file kept by the court.

THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act . (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval.

Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.

A HEARING on the petition will be held in this court as follows: 03/06/18 at 8:30AM in Dept. 57 located at 111 N. HILL ST., LOS ANGELES, CA 90012 IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.

IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code.

Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law.

YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory

and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk.

Attorney for Petitioner MATTHEW C. YU - SBN 256235 LAW OFFICE OF MATTHEW C. YU 3620 PACIFIC COAST HWY STE 200 TORRANCE CA 90505 1/10, 1/17, 1/24/18 CNS-3087332# THE COMPTON BULLETIN SchId:69625 AdId:23209 CustId:61 -------------------------------------APN: 6139-019-011 TS No: CA01000138-17 TO No: 95311562 NOTICE OF TRUSTEE’S SALE YOU ARE IN DEFAULT UNDER A DEED OF TRUST DATED November 9, 2006.

UNLESS YOU TAKE ACTION TO PROTECT YOUR PROPERTY, IT MAY BE SOLD AT A PUBLIC SALE. IF YOU NEED AN EXPLANATION OF THE NATURE OF THE PROCEEDINGS AGAINST YOU, YOU SHOULD CONTACT A LAWYER. On February 5, 2018 at 09:00 AM, near the fountain located in the Civic Center Plaza, 400 Civic Center Plaza, Pomona, CA 91766, Special Default Services, Inc., as the duly Appointed Trustee, under and pursuant to the power of sale contained in that certain Deed of Trust Recorded on November 29, 2006 as Instrument No. 06 2638987 of official records in the Office of the Recorder of Los Angeles County, California, executed

by VICTOR M. ESTRELLA, A SINGLE MAN AND JAVIER ESTRELLA, A SINGLE MAN AS JOINT TENANTS, as Trustor(s), in favor of MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS, INC. as nominee for HOME LOAN SPECIALISTS, INC. as Beneficiary, WILL SELL AT PUBLIC AUCTION TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER, in lawful money of the United States, all payable at the time of sale, that certain property situated in said County, California describing the land therein as: AS MORE FULLY DESCRIBED IN SAID DEED OF TRUST The property heretofore described is being sold “as is”. The street address and other common designation, if any, of the real property described above is purported to be: 15402 SOUTH TARRANT AVENUE, COMPTON AREA, CA 90220. The undersigned Trustee disclaims any liability for any incorrectness of the street address and other common designation, if any, shown herein. Said sale will be made without covenant or warranty, express or implied, regarding title, possession, or encumbrances, to pay the remaining principal sum of the Note(s) secured by said Deed of Trust, with interest thereon, as provided in said Note(s), advances if any, under the terms of the Deed of Trust, estimated fees, charges and expenses of the Trustee and of the trusts created by said Deed of Trust. The total amount of the unpaid balance of the obligations secured by the property to be sold and reasonable estimated costs, expenses and advances at the time of the initial publication of this Notice of Trustee’s Sale is estimated to be $120,879.93 (Estimated). However, prepayment premiums, accrued interest and advances will increase this figure prior to sale. Beneficiary’s bid at said sale may include all or part of said amount. In addition to cash, the Trustee will accept a cashier’s check drawn on a state or national bank, a check drawn by a state or federal credit union or a check drawn by a state or federal savings and loan association, savings association or savings bank specified in Section 5102 of the California Financial Code and authorized to do business in California, or other such funds as may be acceptable to the Trustee. In the event tender other than cash is accepted, the Trustee may withhold the issuance of the Trustee’s Deed Upon Sale until funds become available to the payee or endorsee as a matter of right.

The property offered for sale excludes all funds held on account by the property receiver, if applicable. If the Trustee is unable to convey title for any reason, the successful bidder’s sole and exclusive remedy shall be the return of monies paid to the Trustee and the successful bidder shall have no further recourse.

Notice to Potential Bidders If you are considering bidding on this property lien, you should understand that there are risks involved in bidding at a Trustee auction. You will be bidding on a lien, not on the property itself. Placing the highest bid at a Trustee auction does not automatically entitle you to free and clear ownership of the property. You should also be aware that the lien being auctioned off may be a junior lien. If you are the highest bidder at the auction, you are or may be responsible for paying off all liens senior to the lien being auctioned off, before you can receive clear title to the property. You are encouraged to investigate the existence, priority, and size of outstanding liens that may exist on this property by contacting the county recorder’s office or a title insurance company, either of which may charge you a fee for this information. If you consult either of these resources, you should be aware that the same Lender may hold more than one mortgage or Deed of Trust on the property. Notice to Property Owner The sale date shown on this Notice of Sale may be postponed one or more times by the Mortgagee, Beneficiary, Trustee, or a court, pursuant to Section 2924g of the California Civil Code. The law requires that information about Trustee Sale postponements be made available to you and to the public, as a courtesy to those not present at the sale. If you wish to learn whether your sale date has been postponed, and, if applicable, the rescheduled time and date for the sale of this property, you may call In Source Logic AT 702659-7766 for information regarding the Special Default Services, Inc. or visit the Internet Web site address listed below for information regarding the sale of this property, using the file number assigned to this case, CA0100013817. Information about postponements that are very short in duration or that occur close in time to the scheduled sale may not immediately be reflected in the telephone information or on the Internet Web site. The best way to verify postponement information is to attend the scheduled sale. Date: January 8, 2018 Special Default Services, Inc. TS No. CA0100013817 17100 Gillette Ave Irvine, CA 92614 (949) 225-5945 TDD: 866660-4288 Lisa Welch, Trustee Sales Officer SALE INFORMATION CAN BE OBTAINED ON LINE AT www. insourcelogic.com FOR AUTOMATED SALES INFORMATION PLEASE CALL: In Source Logic AT 702-6597766 SPECIAL DEFAULT SERVICES, INC. MAY BE ACTING AS A DEBT COLLECTOR ATTEMPTING TO COLLECT A DEBT. ANY INFORMATION OBTAINED MAY BE USED FOR THAT PURPOSE. ISL Number 36572, Pub Dates: 01/10/2018, 01/17/2018, 01/24/2018, THE COMPTON BULLETIN SchId:69638 AdId:23214 CustId:669

10

THE BULLETIN, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 10, 2018

CELEBRATING MLK’S LEGACY

MLK’s unheralded victories recorded in the Black press

By Stacy M. Brown Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. will always be remembered as a social activist and Baptist minister whose role was integral in the Civil Rights Movement.

P

U B L I C LY a n d p r i v a t e l y, King fought for equality, justice and human rights for African Americans and others who suffered from racism, segregation and other injustices.

His sermons, including the “Drum Major Instinct,” and his speeches like, “I Have a Dream,” are as important as they are legendary.

But, those closest to King recalled some of his more unheralded feats. They also recalled the importance of the Black Press during the movement.

“I would say King’s abiding commitment to focus on poverty and to deal with the wealth and equity gaps, and particularly the conditions of the poor, has been less heralded than his other accomplishments,” said Dr. Clarence Jones, a visiting professor at the University of San Francisco and a scholar and writer-in-residence at Stanford University’s Martin Luther King Jr. Institute.

Jones met King in 1960 when he was 29 and King was 31.

Jones served on King’s legal team and help draft many of his most important speeches, including the 1963 “I Have a Dream” masterpiece.

But, it was a speech that King delivered just five days before his April 4, 1968 assassination that Jones remembers most.

“I’ve said so often that the sermon he gave at the National Cathedral in Washington was most important,” Jones said. “He captioned the speech, ‘Sleeping Through a Revolution,’ and

that’s exactly what he’d say today, if he were here.”

Many of King’s accomplishments were aided by his relationship with newspapers like the Atlanta Daily World, the Pittsburgh Courier and other Black-owned newspapers, Jones said.

“The two essential pillars of support of the Civil Rights Movement were the Black Church and the Black Press,” he said. “The Black Press was critically important, and King had a healthy appreciation for the Black Press.”

Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr., another close confidant of King, agreed.

“The kinship King had with [former EBONY and Jet owner] John Johnson, [National Newspaper Publishers Association founder] John Sengstacke and others was apparent, and he realized their value and they recognized his value,” Jackson said.

Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., the president and CEO of the NNPA, said he will always cherish the days that he worked with King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

“I witnessed, first-hand, the fearless courage of Dr. King as he spoke out against global racial injustice and war when it was not popular to do so,” Chavis said.

Chavis continued: “The mainstream press routinely mischaracterized Dr. King as a principle-less agitator. But, it was only the Black-owned newspapers during the 1960s that would, without apology, tell the truth that Dr. King was both a theological and intellectual

Wikimedia Commons

MLK on the Mall in Washington, DC. genius whose worldwide vision, activism and principles demanded a public stance against the unjust Vietnam War, and against the duel racist Apartheid in America and South Africa.”

Chavis recalled one of King’s most famous quotes: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

Dr. Wornie Reed, the director of the Race and Social Policy Center at Virginia Tech, who marched alongside King in the 1960s, said too few people knew about King’s major project when he was assassinated, “The Poor People’s Campaign.”

“The Memphis garbage workers strike was a side issue, the kind he was frequently involved in. He was putting in long days and nights across the country, calling on all of us who cared to come to Washington to help him to put maximum pressure on the federal government to come forth with concrete plans to reduce poverty

in this rich country,” Reed said.

“King was promoting a level of pressure that the federal government had never faced before. And many of us were organizing groups to do just that.”

Reed continued: “When King vowed to stop commerce in Washington, to stop planes, buses, and trains, in other words, to close Washington down, he gained the support of all the radical Black groups who had abandoned King and the SCLC. These groups had tired of the ‘soft’ approach of the Civil Rights Movement. Many readily agreed to go to D.C. and help him do just that.”

Sadly, the childhood poverty rate is higher now than it was in 1968 when King was assassinated—then, it was between 15 and 16 percent, Reed said. Now, the national child poverty rate was 18 percent in 2016, according to the Children’s Defense Fund.

The poverty rate for Black

children under 18 years old is 30.9 percent.

Also, Reed said, the Black Press was more important to King and the Civil Rights Movement early on during the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the early days of the sit-in movement.

The Black Press provided vital coverage of the activities and the leading personalities in the movement, he said.

“Often the major press was concerned with the disruptions of the movement while the Black Press tended to provide more information about what the activities meant on the ground in Black communities,” Reed said.

National Urban League President Marc Morial said King’s profoundly important, but less heralded work on economic justice, particularly toward the end of his life, left a legacy that the Urban League champions today.

“In his final speeches and his

plans to launch a ‘Poor People’s Campaign,’ Dr. King laid out his extraordinary vision for a country that provides equal access to economic opportunity and prosperity to all, no matter their color or creed—a dream that organizations like the National Urban League are still fighting for,” Morial said.

Since its inception, the Black Press has played an integral role in communicating the raw and uncompromising struggle of King and African Americans across the country, Morial added.

“The Black Press remained on the front lines of the Civil Rights movement, offering a glimpse into the everyday lives of African Americans far before mainstream media paid attention,” said Morial.

“In many ways, the Black journalists were a critical pillar of the movement and of communication Dr. King’s vision for a more equal America to the world.”

King’s lasting impact on equity in education MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. WAS A CHAMPION FOR EQUITY IN EDUCATION

By Stacy M. Brown Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s influence on the Civil Rights Movement is indisputable, but his fight for equity in education remains a mystery to some.

That fight began with his own education.

“He clearly had an advanced, refined educational foundation from Booker T. Washington High School, Morehouse College, Crozer Theological Seminary, and Boston University,” said Reverend Jesse Jackson, Sr., the founder of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. “His education in his speeches and sermons and writings were apparent and he wanted us all to have that type of education.”

King completed high school at 15, college at 19, seminary school at 22 and earned a doctorate at 26.

“Dr. King laid down the case for affordable education for all Americans, including Polish children—from the ghetto and the barrios, to the Appalachian mountains and the reservations—he was a proponent for education for all and he believed that strong minds break strong chains and once you learn your lesson well, the oppressor could not unlearn you.”

Rev. Al Sharpton, the

founder and president of the National Action Network (NAN), said that NAN works with Education for a Better America to partner with school districts, universities, community colleges, churches, and community organizations around the country to conduct educational programming for students and parents.

“The mission of the organization has been to build bridges between policymakers and the classrooms by supporting innovations in education and creating a dialogue between policymakers, community leaders, educators, parents, and students,” Sharpton said.

“We’re promoting student health, financial literacy, and college readiness in our communities, just like Dr. King did.”

King was a figure to look up to in both civil rights and academia, Sharpton told the NNPA Newswire.

“Then, when you look at his values, he always saw education, especially in the Black community, as a tool to uplift and inspire to action,” Sharpton said. “It’s definitely no coincidence that a number of prominent civil rights groups that emerged during Dr. King’s time, were based on

Photo courtesy Abernathy Family Photos/Wikipedia Commons

Civil Rights Movement co-founder Dr. Ralph David Abernathy and his wife Mrs. Juanita Abernathy (not pictured) follow with Dr. and Mrs. Martin Luther King, Jr., as the Abernathy children march on the front line, leading the Selma to Montgomery March in 1965. The children are (left-right): Donzaleigh Abernathy in striped sweater, Ralph David Abernathy III, and Juandalynn R. Abernathy in glasses. college campuses.”

Sharpton added that King routinely pushed for equality to access to education.

“Just as importantly, he always made a point to refer education back to character— that we shouldn’t sacrifice efficiency and speed for morals,” Sharpton said. “A great student not only has the reason and education, but a moral compass to do what’s right with his or her gifts. It’s not just important to be smart, you have to know what’s right and what’s wrong.”

Dr. Wornie Reed, the director of Race and Social Policy Research Center at Virginia Tech who marched with King, said when he thinks of King and education, he immediately considers the late civil rights leader’s advocating that “we should be the best that we could be.”

“King certainly prepared himself educationally…early on he saw that education played a crucial role in society, but perceived it as often being misused,” Reed said. “In a famous essay that he wrote

for the student newspaper at Morehouse in 1947, he argued against a strictly utilitarian approach to education, one that advanced the individual and not society.”

Maryland Democratic Congressman Elijah Cummings, who remembers running home from church on Sundays to listen to King’s speeches on radio, said King had a tremendous impact on education in the Black community.

“Dr. King worked tirelessly to ensure that African Americans would gain the rights they had long been denied, including the right to a quality education,” said Cummings. “His fight for equality in educational opportunities helped to tear down walls of segregation in our nation’s schools.”

Cummings continued: “He instilled hope in us that we can achieve our dreams no matter the color of our skin. He instilled in us the notion that everyone can be great, because everyone can serve and there are so many great advocates, who embody this lesson.”

In support of education equality, civil rights leaders across the country are still working to ensure all students, regardless of color, receive

access to experienced teachers, equitable classroom resources and quality education, Cummings noted further.

For example, the NAACP has done a tremendous amount, across the country, to increase retention rates, ensure students have the resources they need, and prepare students for success after graduation—whether it be for college or a specific career path, Cummings said.

During his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in Oslo, Norway, King said: “I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality, and freedom for their spirits.”

The need for high quality education in the Black community is universal and the route to get there may be different, but education does matter, Jackson said.

“Dr. King told me he read a fiction and a non-fiction book once a week. He was an avid reader and, in the spirit of Dr. King, today we fight for equal, high-quality education,” said Jackson.

“We fight for skilled trade training, affordable college education and beyond.”