Chicago Crusader 4/14/2012 E-Edition

Blacks Must Control Their Own Community

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•C•P•V•S• AUDITED BY

To The Unconquerable Host of Africans Who Are Laying Their Sacrifices Upon The Editorial Altar For Their Race VOLUME LXXI NUMBER 51—SATURDAY, APRIL 14, 2012

PUBLISHED SINCE 1940

25 Cents and worth more

Indicted representative told to go to work

By J. Coyden Palmer In a bold public move Tuesday morning, an African American lawmaker urged indicted state Representative Derrick Smith to return to his job in Springfield or resign.

Speaking at a press conference in City Hall, 28th Ward Alderman Jason Ervin said Smith’s behavior since his indictment last month is hurting the residents of his ward. Smith has missed several votes in the state legislature and his whereabouts are unknown.

Ervin said his office is fielding calls from residents and community groups on a regular basis about Smith’s absence in Springfield. He said his constituents could be losing out on state monies needed for projects in the area. Ervin hopes the public pressure applied by him and other political leaders will force Smith into returning from work or resigning all together.

“Rep. Smith has every right as an American to due process under the law,” Ervin

began. “But the people of his district also have a right to have someone voting for their interest. That’s what this is all about; not his guilt or innocence on the charges.”

Smith was taken into custody last month by the FBI after they say he allegedly accepted a $7,000 cash bribe from an undercover informant. Smith has not spoken to the press or released any statement on the charges. Despite the indictment, Smith overwhelmingly won his primary race last month. Just days after his win, prominent African American political leaders called for him to step down.

“To stay at home and do nothing while collecting a check is completely unacceptable,” Ervin said. “He does not have a right not to go to Springfield, not to represent the district. It is about the district, about the service to the district, not about him personally, but about the service to the constituents.”

Several important bills could be voted on during Smith’s absence including one that

Aid cuts may stymie Black students’ educations

By Wendell Hutson

If Antonio Slosberry does not get a Monetary Assistance Program grant from the state next school year he may not be able to return to school until August 2013.

“That (MAP) grant pays for my classes and without it I have no other means to get back into school,” he said. “I do get a Pell grant from the federal government but that

AID CUTS WILL impact Black community college students like Antonio Slosberry, who come from low-income households. They are holding their collective breath to see if the state awards them a Monetary Assistance Program grant for the upcoming school year.

money is used to buy books, school supplies and other expenses associated with school like bus fare and cell phone.”

Last month the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, which administers the MAP grant, ran out of money for the need-based program, so now any college student who applies for state-assistance and is eligible will be put on a waiting list.

“Simply put, there is no more money,” said John Samuels, a spokesman for the Illinois Student Assistance Commission. “(For the upcoming school year) the Illinois General Assembly allocated $387 million to MAP grant and those monies were matched with enough eligible students by March 19.”

Students can receive a maximum of $4,719 MAP money per school year. The maximum a student could receive from MAP for a school year is $4,719 and the money can only be used to pay tuition at an Illinois school and not housing, according to Samuels. The minimum MAP grant a student receives is $300 and is based on a student’s household income and family size. Unlike student loans, which must be repaid, the MAP grant does not have to be paid back and is funded by Illinois taxpayers.

Phillip Jackson, executive director of The Black Star Project, a youth mentoring, non-profit organization in Chicago, said lawmakers should change the use of finan-

Rep. Derrick Smith

Alderman Jason Ervin

would allow qualified Illinois residents the right to carry handguns for their own protection. The legislation failed by only a handful of votes last year with Smith voting against it. Proponents of the measure see Smith’s absence or not having a replacement as a problem.

“I think the Democratic Party has put the

community in peril as this is something important that deals with people’s personal security and for them not to have their voices heard is an injustice,” said Shawn Gowder, vice president of the Chicago Firearms Safety Association.

cial aid.

“Students should be able to use financial aid for any school expense. Housing is typically the biggest cost for students,” Jackson said. “There should be no restrictions for MAP. There are no restrictions for using student loans or the Pell grant.”

The lack of funding comes at a time when more applications are being processed for state assistance. In 2010, 141,380 students received a MAP grant and for the 2011 school year 147,210 received it, according to state data.

Samuels said community college students will be affected the most by cuts and early cutoffs because those students tend to ap-

ply for aid after March when the ‘money pot’ usually runs out.

And some Black legislators said despite their efforts to get more funding for the MAP program it has not been an easy sale in Springfield considering the state’s financial situation.

This school year the MAP program had its funding cut by 5.2 percent, which reduced it to $387 million from $403.3 million, state records showed.

“It has not been easy but is something I will continue to fight for up until my last day in office,” said state Senator James Meeks, D-15th District. “Not only is there (Continued on page 3)

(Continued on page 3)

AID CUTS TO the MAP grant program will affect Black community college students as they will have a harder time securing funding to attend school this fall now that the state’s Monetary Assistance Program has run out of money.

NEWS

Governor appoints Black healthcare professional

By Wendell Hutson

After losing one Black healthcare professional to a local Black university, Governor Pat Quinn wasted no time in appointing another Black professional as director of the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH).

And while the recent announcement that Dr. La Mar Hasbrouck, 44, will assume the post this month was welcoming news to some in the Black community, it was disheartening to Hasbrouck’s boss in Kingston, N.Y. where Hasbrouck has worked as director of Ulster County’s Health Department.

“Dr. Hasbrouck has been instrumental in helping transition from a troubled county health department and moving along the creation of a health department that is the best in the region,” said Ulster County Executive Michael Hein. “(And) the fact that the Governor of Illinois has recruited Ulster County’s Public Health Director is a testament to Dr. Hasbrouck himself as well as the Ulster County Health Department’s amazing accomplishments.”

Hasbrouck’s last day at Ulster County is April 13 and his first

day at the IDPH is April 23.

But Quinn was all smiles when he made the April 2 announcement.

“I am pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. La Mar Hasbrouck, who will strengthen Illinois with his global public health expertise,” he said.

Following in the steps of Dr. Damon Arnold, who left last year after four years in the position to oversee a new public health master’s program at Chicago State University, is no easy task, admitted Quinn.

“But I know Dr. Hasbrouck will do well,” Quinn added.

One thing Hasbrouck, who earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley and a medical degree from the University of California at Los Angeles, brings to the job is a background that includes global disease experience.

For 11 years Hasbrouck worked at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where he was part of the epidemic intelligence service. He also has worked to reduce and eliminate diseases abroad, including efforts to eradicate polio in Bangladesh.

In a statement, Hasbrouck thanked his current employer for

the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of the residents it serves.

“I would like to thank the County Executive for the opportunity to work with him on modernizing the County Department of Health, said Hasbrouck. “Ulster County is a special place. It is clear that County Executive Hein understands the importance of a healthy community and is taking the steps necessary to make Ulster County the healthiest county in all of New York State.”

According to Hein, during Hasbrouck’s tenure he was able to maintain full compliance with all New York State Department of Health regulations.

“Dr. Hasbrouck also oversaw the process of creating collaboration between the Department of Health and the Ulster County Mental Health Department, which has generated economies of scale related to support staffing and space,” explained Hein.

News that a Black man will remain at the helm of the state’s health department was well received by some Black residents, who depend on free health care services by the state.

“I am 72 years old and on a fixed-income. I depend on the

generate sufficient revenue, said Glen Richardson, who had owned the retail store with his wife Renee since 2007. “Simply put, it was unprofitable for us.

The costs associated with running a business rose to a point where we could not control it.”

Rent was a major factor in Richardson’s decision to temporarily shut down operations.

“We still have our franchise license so it’s just a matter of finding a new location we can afford,” he added. “We are now hopeful that we can relocate the business elsewhere, possibly in the Hyde Park community or another South Side location by year-end.”

Richardson said one reason he likes Hyde Park is because there is little competition there and it is an established community with major retailers that attract people to the area.

“Besides, President Obama lives in Hyde Park and he is an ice cream lover and it would be so cool to have the president and his family as customers,” chuckles Richardson.

The diverse, middle-class community is also home to the University of Chicago whose 15,000student population frequent stores heavily in Hyde Park, added Richardson.

The Bronzeville community is another South Side location being considered especially since Richardson is a resident there.

East Lake Management and Development Corp., a Black-owned real estate company, is a major landlord in Bronzeville whose commercial buildings are mainly occupied by other Black-owned businesses, such as the Chicago Defender newspaper.

Downtown Chicago loses another Black business

By Wendell Hutson

When the highly publicized North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s summit kicks off next month at Chicago’s McCormick Place those attending will have to travel a little farther to find a fullservice ice cream store.

That’s because Marble Slab Creamery, a Black-owned, fran-

ANOTHER BLACK BUSINESS closing makes life a bit more complicated for residents in the loop who want ice cream from the Marble Slab Creamery. The local ice cream store, had temporarily closed in December due to dwindling sales sparked by the struggling economy. chise ice cream store at 1241 S. Michigan Ave., closed its doors in December due to its inability to 2

The closing affected 20 employees, mostly Black, college students.

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Dr. La Mar Hasbrouck state to provide me with health services because I cannot afford insurance,” said Leslie Baker. “I feel better knowing that the good services I receive are derived from the leadership of someone Black.”

As sorry as Hein is to lose such a valuable employee, he said he wishes him nothing but the very Mrs. Richardson said their former 1,200 square foot ice cream store was not your ordinary ice cream store.

“Unlike Baskin Robbins and other ice cream stores Marble Slab’s ice cream is gourmet and made fresh daily,” she explained.

In Illinois, there is another Marble Slab Creamery in downstate Savoy but it is not Black-owned.

And along with 60 ice cream flavors to choose from customers also were able to buy other desserts, such as brownies. Once the business reopens Richardson said he plans to expand the product line to include other items, such as coffee and soup. By doing so, he said these items would help sustain the business during the wintertime when business is slow for most ice cream stores.

“About 70 percent of its annual sales are generated from April to September,” Mrs. Richardson said.

“God will continue to bless us whether we have an ice cream store or not. He (God) has plans for us and now it is a matter of waiting on the Lord to see where we’ll end up next.”

It was nearly five years ago when the Richardsons became franchise owners but only after both enjoyed successful careers in corporate America. The couple, married for 15 years, had put up $100,000 to achieve their dream of having their

Blacks Must control their own coMMunity

best.

“Dr. Hasbrouck and I have worked closely over the past 2 1/2 years to transform a troubled county health department into one with a reputation for reform and efficiency and I wish him great success in his future responsibilities,” added Hein. own business.

“I always wanted to start my own business,” Richardson said. “Prior to opening up Marble Slab I spent 24 years in retail management.”

After earning a bachelor’s in business from Columbus State University in Georgia and an MBA from the University of Georgia, Mrs. Richardson relocated to Chicago to accept a management job at Leo Burnett USA where she spent 20 years before joining her husband in running the business full-time.

“I stayed at Leo Burnett even after we opened the shop. Richardson has all the retail management experience anyway, so I knew he could handle it,” she said. “I am the behind the scenes person who manages the finances.”

Additional information about most articles appearing in issues of The Chicago Crusader are available on our website at www.chicagocrusader.com

The Chicago Crusader

NEWS

Laid off Black employees reinstated at CPS

By Wendell Hutson

The Chicago Public Schools was recently ordered by an arbitrator to reinstate eight Black employees it laid off in 2010 due to budget constraints.

The reason for the reinstatement, according to Marielle Sainvilus, a spokeswoman for CPS, is because the “manager made some misjudgments in the application of performance criteria in conducting layoffs, which the arbitrator felt produced an irrational and impermissible result, even though the criteria were legitimate.”

The Chicago Teachers Union filed a grievance last February on the employees’ behalf and is delighted it was successful at getting their jobs back.

“This is a victory for paraprofessionals across the district,” said CTU President Karen Lewis.

“CTU’s field staff, under the leadership of June Davis, helped these brave individuals stand in solidarity and fight together to restore their jobs and demand respect for their peers. Instead of cutting the specialists who offer our students these critical health interventions the district should be adding more of them.”

In his arbitration ruling Lawrence Cohen concluded that technicians Tangela Burton, Darnitia Ciscero, Robert Faulkner, Edna Johnson, Cheryl JollyHansford, Sheila Lott, Gloria Prince, and Percy Suggs were “cherry-picked” and “capriciously

and arbitrarily laid off,” according to Stephanie Gadlin, a spokeswoman for the CTU. Regardless of what the official reasons are for the reinstatement, Ciscero is eager to return to work.

“The outlook was bleak because paraprofessionals are thought to be the ‘little people’ and not a lot of emphasis is placed on what we go through in dealing with the district—we’re here to help our students get the support they need,” she said. “I appreciate what CTU did for us. They never stopped being our advocates.

They fought long and hard and because of that we all were able to stand together during this fight.”

The group of employees worked as audiometric and vision screening technicians who assisted students with hearing and vision loss.

According to the CTU, more than three-fourths of CPS students come from families who are eligible for free lunch. And about 15,000 students are homeless, which means students in poverty are more likely to struggle with poor health, including hearing or vision problems that affect their school performance.

Additionally, the employees will also receive back pay, which Sainvilus estimates to be under $500,000.

“The grievant shall also be made whole for any lost wages and benefits subsequent to their layoff,” Cohen added.

There is no timetable set on when the employees will actually

LAID OFF BLACK CPS EMPLOYEES were recently reinstated to their jobs at the Chicago Public Schools after the Chicago Teachers Union filed a grievance on their behalf. From left to right: CTU PRSP Field Specialist Anthony Lopez, Technicians Shelia Lott, Technician Darnitia Ciscero, CTU Vice President Jesse Sharkey, Technician Tangela Burton, Technician Gloria Prince, Technician Robert Faulkner, Technician Edna Johnson, PRSP Field Specialist Anita Burks, CTU President Karen Lewis, CTU Financial Secretary Kristine Mayle, Technician Cheryl Jolly-Hansford, CTU PRSP Field Staff Coordinator June Davis, Technician Percy Suggs, and CTU Recording Secretary Michael Brunson. return to work but Sainvilus added, “CPS is working with the CTU on the reinstatement process.”

One dislocated employee had doubts if he would win his jobs back considering the thousands of tenured teachers who also lost their jobs in 2010.

“Personally I didn’t think we’d ever get our jobs back,” said Suggs. “I applied to 60 schools (over a two year period) and not one of them would call me back.”

The relationship between the CTU and CPS went sour after the school district laid off over

Aid cuts may stymie Black students’ educations (Continued from page 1)

an education disparity in Illinois but a complete unbalanced approach to funding public education.”

Meeks, who is retiring from the Senate, steps down January 2013.

Last year Governor Pat Quinn proposed increasing funding for MAP by $50 million but that proposal died in the Illinois House. Had it succeeded 17,500 more students could have received a MAP grant, Samuels estimated. State officials, however, are looking at adding $80 million to pre-education funding.

Twenty-one year-old Slosberry, who attends Olive-Harvey College on the far South Side, uses the $3,456 Pell grant he normally receives each year from the federal government to pay living expenses.

“Politicians need to remember that not all community college students live rent free with their parents or relatives. Some students have their own apartment or are paying to live elsewhere,”

The Chicago Crusader

explained Slosberry. “I stay with my grandmother but she does not work so I try to help her when I can.”

The City Colleges of Chicago (CCC) network is the largest community colleges stystem in the nation. The seven collages have 120,000 students. According to Ana Vargas, CCC spokesperson, 35 per cent of the students are Black, 35 per cent Hispanic and whites and Asians make up 18 and 7 per cent, respectively. And women are the bulk of the students at City Colleges at 59 percent.

In 2010 there were 13,105 MAP recipients at City Colleges but for the 2011 school year it increased to 16,063, according to City Colleges records. About 80 percent of City Colleges students receive financial aid.

Full-time students receive more financial aid too. At City Colleges a student must be registered for at least 12 hours to be fulltime, which Jackson said is stan-

dard at most community colleges and four-year universities.

When City College students fall short of receiving enough financial aid one option they could pursue is seeking assistance from the City Colleges of Chicago Foundation, a non-profit organization that awards scholarships to its students.

But not all community colleges have a foundation to help students.

Dianne Holmes, 19, attends South Suburban Community College in South Holland where there is no foundation she can turn to.

“My parents took out a loan to help me last year but they said this year I am on my own and I certainly understand,” Holmes said. “They are still paying on their student loans from when they went to college like as is so many Black parents. Frankly, I think public colleges (including junior colleges) should be free since it is already funded with tax dollars.”

Blacks Must control their own coMMunity

1,000 employees in 2010, many of whom were tenured teachers, due to budget constraints. The union and school district began bumping heads at the start of the school year when it attempted to begin implementing a longer school day without negotiating with the CTU. However, after an October ruling by the Illinois Labor Relations Board, which concluded that CPS had violated collective bargaining rights, the school district ended its recruitment of schools into its longer school day program. Beginning in June CPS will be able to extend the school day for all schools without union consent.

Most recently, the Illinois

Supreme Court ruled that laidoff tenured teachers in Chicago do not have a right to be rehired later. The February ruling followed cuts made in 2010 that put nearly 1,300 teachers out of work. But later about 715 teachers were recalled, according to CPS officials.

Still, the CTU filed suit against CPS once laid-off tenured teachers were not first in line to get open positions.

In its 5 to 2 ruling, the court ruled the school board’s layoff and rehiring procedures do not mimic those in other districts and state law does not require preference for out-of-work tenured teachers.

Indicted representative told to go to work (Continued from page 1) A legislative committee is investigating the charges against Smith and could have him removed from office. His replacement would then be chosen by other Democratic leaders.

Cong. Danny Davis and Secretary of State Jesse White are just two of the influential people calling for Smith to resign. White said if Smith does not resign before the general election in November and chooses to remain in the race, he will find an independent candidate to run against him. White’s stance came after the lawyer representing Smith made an explosive allegation last week that his client’s indictment came after Smith refused to give information to the feds about Jesse White, who Smith’s lawyer claims was the person they really wanted.

“What I’m telling you is that we

Saturday, April 14, 2012

have had people coming into our office and tell us that the federal government was leaning on Derrick Smith to give up names, and Jesse White was one of those names,” Atty. Victor Henderson told WLS radio last week.

Dave Druker, spokesperson for Jesse White laughed when reached for comment by the Crusader.

He called the allegations untrue and said it was the work of a desperate lawyer representing his client.

“Jesse White has a 36 year unblemished public record and we will have no further comment on this ridiculous allegation,” Druker said.

The person who answered the phone at Smith’s West Side office said he was unavailable for comment and abruptly hung up the phone when contacted by the Crusader.

3

EDITORIAL

OPINION

TRAYVON MARTIN’S MURDER REVISITED

In a March 31st editorial, we used the most up-to-date information that we had at the time regarding Trayvon Martin’s murder. Afterwards, we received a letter from a reader who had issues regarding some of the assertions put forth by the editorial. One of these is that George Zimmerman, the volunteer community watch person who shot Trayvon, is Hispanic, and not White. It was also pointed out that Trayvon was not squeaky clean and, based on Twitter accounts allegedly belonging to him, was an advocate of violence and was adopting a thug posture. Finally, the reader pointed out the deception by the media in printing images of Trayvon that were taken at an earlier, pre-thug time, and concluded that is was for the purpose of pushing racism as the seat of the issue. The reader blamed the manipulation of the liberal media in this regard on the Democrats and Barack Obama.

In response, we have this to say: George Zimmerman’s father is White and his mother is Hispanic, therefore, he is onehalf Hispanic, but make no mistake, he is a White Hispanic.

Secondly, whether or not Trayvon was a thug or a thug wannabe was not a justification for him to be followed and then shot dead by Zimmerman. Trayvon was unarmed, and no doubt, profiled by Zimmerman. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure this out. Lastly, it is very true that the earlier pictures of Trayvon portrayed him as looking much younger and very innocent. More recent pictures told a different story, but can we blame this on the “liberal media,” or were these the first pictures provided by a grieving family? And how in the world can it be assumed that Barack Obama, himself a victim of racism, would reach down to manipulate this situation to look like racism. The facts of the case themselves scream racism; it does not take any kind of manipulation to force this conclusion. Moreover, subsequent actions, like the racist street sign in one state and racial slurs attributed to Zimmerman put the nails in this coffin.

The truth of the matter is that many well-meaning Americans are in deep denial when it comes to the issue of racism.

This “post-racial” society is so divided by racism that it practically seeps up from the cracks of the American infrastructure.

And it is curious that events like the Trayvon Martin murder could be viewed in any other way.

When reading online commentaries about this situation, the racism becomes very, very evident. In fact, take ANY issue that garners public attention, go online, and watch it turn into a racial battle with epithets tossed around like crazy balls of hatred.

Many Blacks are genuinely confused by the responses they get from White people when Blacks complain about racism.

THIS IS PROBABLY BECAUSE THE AVERAGE WHITE PERSON HAS NO REAL CONCEPT OF WHAT WENT ON DURING SLAVERY; they are uneducated in this regard.

THE ATROCITIES ARE NOT really known, AND IT WASN’T UNTIL THE MOVIE “ROOTS” THAT THE BROADER COMMUNITY WAS SOMEWHAT INTRODUCED TO THIS PHASE OF AMERICAN HISTORY! Many younger whites have not even seen Roots and have not read the book by Alex Haley that inspired the movie; they are not motivated to do so because they do not see a connection between themselves and the issue of slavery. Because of this, many whites have become “deniers” not unlike the incredible ostrich-like holocaust deniers.

Yes, America is rippled through and through with racism, and will remain a sick society until this is recognized and seriously addressed by all Americans. A luta continua.

4

Saturday, April 14, 2012

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Blacks Must Support Blacks Open Letter to all Blacks in Chicago: I hope somebody will help me to never have another holiday season like the last one. I don't know how many others have thought about it.

If you have not thought about it, I want to put it on your mind.

Think about all the money you spent buying gifts for your friends and yourself. We did not have a Black-owned supermarket or grocery store where we could buy our groceries for the holidays. We once had a number of food supermarkets, but now we don’t have one.

We have had eight or nine Black car dealers, selling cars, now I don’t know where I can go and buy a car from a Black dealer in Chicago. We had the largest furniture store Black-owned in the country (Seaway). We don't have it now. Blacks in Chicago have many cars, but it is hard to find a gas station owned by Blacks. There are other things we use to have, and we don't now.

Some people may wonder what happened to cause these changes. I shall try to explain.

At one time in our city whites would not hire Blacks for anything except for cleaning the store or putting stock on the shelves. During the Civil Rights Movement other races were forced to hire Blacks in all positions including managers and supervisors. After that was accomplished, Blacks went in the

wrong direction. African Americans started spending almost all of their money with those white business owners who hired Blacks. In addition, many foreigners came into the country and opened businesses in the Black community. Some of those same foreigners were not allowed to operate in other communities. But Blacks accepted everybody. Therefore, they all flocked to the Black community. The Black consumers started supporting other business more than their own. That caused almost all Black businesses to close.

I am hoping in the year of 2012 Blacks will come together with our dollars and open some Blackowned and operated food supermarkets, hardware stores, more clothing stores, and what ever other stores we need. If we do as suggested, the next holiday season we will be able to spend our money with our people. The money will stay in the community.

Rights Movement.

The closest thing we have ever had to true Black leadership is the nation’s Black Press. It was a member of the Black Press that was instrumental in helping lead the migration of Black folk from the South to the North.

And nearly 100 years later it is time for the Black Press to re-assume that role. There have been too many egregious acts by governmental entities, deranged people and es(Continued on page 17)

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J.L. Smith 6429 South King Drive Chicago, Illinois 60637 773-752-2500 An independent newspaper serving the Southside Westside and Northside, printing the news impartially empowering what it believes to be right and appealling what it believes to be wrong without regard to party politics. Devoted to the Industrial, Educational, SocioPolitical and Educational advancement of Black people.

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The Black Press should step up

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Blacks Must control their own coMMunity

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The Chicago Crusader

BEYOND THE RHETORIC

The Peoples’ Enemy – Poverty Industrial Complex

By Harry C. Alford NNPA Columnist

It’s time for us to figure this all out. A giant scourge is in our pockets draining us of our precious money. Our federal income tax revenue amounts to trillions of dollars. Yet, there is an evil system out there that “sucks” a trillion of those dollars from us in various ways. You hear about the Military Industrial Complex which reaps its federal dollars from the federal Departments of Defense, Energy, NASA and others. But few of you realize the activities of the Poverty Industrial Complex. Some critics refer to these activities as “Poverty Pimping” but do not look at its origins or what makes it exist and, in fact, continually grow.

Poverty is real big business. The more people we have living under poverty, the more money is made from the benefactors of other peoples’ misery. The federal agencies that oversee these activities include the Departments of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Health and Human Services, Labor, Justice and Agriculture. Silent and impor-

Harry C. Alford tant partners are the drug industry and illegal immigration which creates despair, violence and poverty in many communities and also feed our prison systems and jails with 20% of all the incarcerated people in the world.

These prisoners create a high demand for tax paid law enforcement and judicial people. They also leave behind families who will be dependent on tax funded welfare entities just to live and be housed. No one in the Poverty Industrial Complex wants to decrease poverty or even stabilize it.

They want it increased and out of control. That means more money. People in poverty are indeed “CASH COWS.” Let me go through just one example of how this Poverty Industrial Complex works. The U.S. Department of HUD gets about $50 billion a year of your federal tax dollars. Most of this money is distributed to your communities via Community Development Block Grants and housing money known as HOME and HOPE VI which is used via public housing, Section 8 certificates and low cost housing. All of this money is subject to Section 3 of the HUD Act (24CFR Part 135). Section 3 says that 30% of all new jobs coming from HUD funding should be given to people living in public housing or under the poverty level. 10% of all contracts coming from this HUD money should go to Section 3 businesses (firms that hire these Section 3 residents). In essence, millions of new jobs for people living in poverty and billions of dollars in contracts going to the businesses that hire them every year. Sounds beautiful right?

There is one big problem – it is

not enforced! No recipient of HUD money enforces this poverty eliminator. Thus, the poverty grows.

Section 3 was created back in 1968 by HUD Secretary George Romney (Mitt Romney’s father) as an answer to street violence in Black neighborhoods such as the 1965 Watts Riot. It was strengthened in 1993 by HUD Secretary Jack Kemp after the Rodney King Riots. That is 43 years of missed opportunity. Administrations after administrations have come and gone without even chipping away at poverty via Section 3 of the HUD Act. Let me give you a living example.

The Chicago Housing Authority is a typical example of noncompliance of Section 3. I have just received a copy of an audit done by HUD on this housing authority, dated January 5, 2012 (Oh, I know they are upset that I have this). In the audit it is determined that CHA for the fiscal years of 2008, 2009 and 2010 had received $1.3 billion dollars in HUD funding and had not delivered one contract to a Section 3 business nor hired one Section 3 resident. That is a rip off of

$130 million (10%) and over 13,000 new jobs for the residents of CHA. Oh what this money and job growth could have done for the housing residents and local businesses. It would be a game changer and the fact that it is the law and not enforced is the biggest tragedy of all. Poverty would decrease and the quality of life in our neighborhoods would be increasing. However, the Poverty Industrial Complex forbids this and will not let it happen.

HUD will write up noncompliance reports on these entities but nothing happens beyond that.

They won’t enforce the law nor cease funding noncompliant entities which is just about all of them. Case in point: The city of Jacksonville, Florida was found noncompliant back in 1993. It is now 2012 and they still are noncompliant and HUD just looks at them and keeps providing annual funding. Poverty lives!

him to run away from him.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, Zimmerman told police he lost sight of Trayvon and got out of his SUV to follow him on foot.

Zimmerman said he was returning to his vehicle when Trayvon allegedly approached him from the rear. The two exchanged words and began fighting. The neighborhood watch captain claimed Trayvon knocked him to the ground with a punch in the nose. Zimmerman said Trayvon climbed on top of him and began slamming his head into the sidewalk.

Zimmerman told police that he began yelling for help, but two voice experts hired by the Sentinel concluded that the voice heard screaming for help on the 911 tapes was not that of the neighborhood watch captain. During the scuffle, Zimmerman pulled his 9 millimeter semi-automatic handgun and fatally shot Trayvon once in the chest.

Police said that when they arrived, Zimmerman was bleeding from the nose, had a swollen lip and had cuts on the back of his head.

Those details were leaked by police to the Orlando newspaper in hopes of bolstering Zimmerman’s case. However, even if everything Zimmerman said is true – which is doubtful – he was clearly the aggressor, not the victim. He was

the one who pursued Trayvon against the advice of the 911 dispatcher. And with police officers en route, he decided to leave his SUV and hunt for Trayvon.

Even supporters of Florida’s Stand Your Ground law don’t believe Zimmerman should be allowed to hide behind the controversial legislation.

State Rep. Dennis Baxley, the Ocala Republican who sponsored the bill in the House, told the Tampa Bay Times, “They got the goods on him [Zimmerman].

They need to prosecute whoever shot the kid. He has no protection under my law.”

Jeb Bush, who signed the bill into law when he was governor of Florida, agrees.

“This law does not apply to this particular circumstance,” he said.

“Stand your ground means stand your ground. It doesn’t mean chase after somebody who’s turned their back.”

Florida statute 776.013(3), known as the Stand Your Ground law, says, in part: (a) person who is not engaged in an unlawful activity and who is attacked in any other place where he or she has a right to be has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily

harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.

Trayvon was clearly operating within those boundaries when he faced-off against Zimmerman. He was a guest in one of the townhouses and therefore had an undeniable reason to be in the neighborhood. He had no duty to retreat simply because Zimmerman was the aggressor.

And Trayvon had every right to believe that the person who had been stalking him was intent on inflicting great bodily harm.

Regardless of how Zimmernan’s family tries to spin the facts, it was Trayvon Martin who had the clear right to stand his ground. Whatever he did to Zimmerman was totally justified. And Zimmerman had no right to kill a 17-year-old youth carrying only a bag of candy and iced tea.

Mr. Alford is the co-founder, President/CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce®. Website: www.nationalbcc.org. Email: halford@nationalbcc.org .

Trayvon Martin was Standing His Ground

By George E. Curry NNPA Columnist

Most people are asking whether Florida’s ‘Stand Your Ground’ law should apply to George Zimmerman, the 28year-old neighborhood watch captain who killed an unarmed Trayvon Martin. That’s the wrong question. A better one is, given the circumstances, did the law protect Trayvon when he physically confronted Zimmerman?

In a word, yes.

Looking at the 2005 law from a different perspective – through the eyes of 17-year-old Trayvon instead of Zimmerman – is critical because the debate over what happened on Feb. 26 in Sanford, Fla. is being misframed.

Some facts are undisputed: Trayvon was walking home from a nearby 7-Eleven store, where he had purchased a bag of Skittles and a can of Arizona iced tea, when he was spotted by Zimmerman, who was driving a SUV. Zimmerman dialed 911 and reported seeing a suspicious Black male in the gated townhouse community.

Though he had no proof, Zimmerman claimed that Trayvon appeared to be high on drugs. When Zimmerman confirmed that he was following

The Chicago Crusader

George E. Curry Trayvon, the 911 operator specifically told him to stop following Trayvon and that police officers were on their way to the scene. Instead of following instructions, Zimmerman continued to follow Trayvon.

What happened next is unclear because we are left only with Zimmerman’s version of events. We do know that shortly before he was shot to death, Trayvon had been talking on his cell phone with his girlfriend. She later told Trayvon’s family lawyer that he told her he was being followed by a strange white man. She urged

Blacks Must control their own coMMunity

Saturday, April 14, 2012

George E. Curry, former editor-in-chief of Emerge magazine, is editor-in-chief of the National Newspaper Publishers Association News Service and editorial director of Heart & Soul magazine. He is a keynote speaker, moderator, and media coach. Curry can be reached through his Web site, www.georgecurry.com You can also follow him at www.twitter.com/currygeorge.

5

COMMENTARY

Worrill’s World

TAKING A DEEP LOOK AT OURSELVES

By Dr. Conrad W. Worrill

(Dr. Conrad Worrill, National Chairman Emeritus, National Black United Front (NBUF) located at 1809 East 71st Street, Suite 211, Chicago, Illinois, 60649, 773-493-0900, Fax# 773-493-9819, E-mail: nbufchic@sbcglobal.net, Web site: nbufront.org)

Dr. Conrad Worrill The current crisis in America and the world requires that we as African people take a deep reflective look at our condition in light of the streams of violence in our communities.

Day in and day out we can observe the increased number of African people killing each other, mentally and physically abusing each other, stealing from each other, being dishonest with each other, and the list goes on and on. These negative inci-

BY JULIANNE MALVEAUX NNPA COLUMNIST Dimitris Christoulas was a retired pharmacist whose neighbors said had enormous dignity. At 77 years old, he looked forward to a comfortable old age. He had saved during his 35-year career and did not expect government to, at all, be involved in his pension. But the austerity budget that Greece has imposed on its citizens reduced Christoulas’ pension. So he killed himself, writing in a suicide note that he would rather have “a decent end” than forage through garbage to find enough “rubbage to feed myself.” Neighbors say he wanted to send a political message. They say the law-abiding man was a committed leftist, so meticulous that he paid his condo fees ahead before he took his life.

The Christoulas suicide has mobilized many in Greece, some of whom describe his act as one of fortitude, not simply despair. Some describe it as a “political act” because it took place in a public square 6

dents occur, in part, because segments of the African community in the United States are disconnected from the moral and ethical traditions that have characterized relationships among African people in the past.

The problem with segments of African people in this country being disconnected from the great contributions of African people to the civilizations of the world has resulted in far too many of us believing that the current situation we find ourselves in cannot be changed. Many African people believe that the condition of African people in America is permanent and there is nothing we can do to change our circumstances. Therefore, this disconnected group of African people has chosen the easy road. They travel on the road of cooperating and collaborating with the forces of white supremacy who continue to demonstrate they will do any and everything in their power to keep African people in this country, and the rest of the world on the bottom.

This has resulted in many African people in America (and the world community), developing a “bottom mentality.” In other words, many of our people buy into whatever the white supremacy forces feed us through the media, (mis)educational institutions, and religious institutions.

What we are constantly being fed is that we are on the bottom and we will remain on the bottom. What

the white supremacy forces offer individual African people in America, is that as an individual you can get off the bottom if you join us, if you “pull yourself up by your bootstraps.” Never mind your group, your family and your cultural ties, “there is nothing that can be done with those people. Join us and everything will be alright.” If you join us, “you can obtain a good job, buy a nice house in a good neighborhood, buy a nice car, take nice vacations, and some of you, whom we chose, can even live with us.”

We were not always like this as a people. We did not have a “dog eat dog” mentality and this is what we must examine as we continue to struggle to overthrow the system of white supremacy and its impact on us as a people.

The Creative Force of the universe has endowed us with the capacity to make great contributions to the world.

A simple inspection of the ancient Nile Valley civilization of Kemet (Egypt) should inspire all African people to respect their history and to hold themselves in high esteem. Kemet and the Kemetic people, our ancestors, were the creators of math, science, architecture, writing, governance, astronomy, astrology, medicine, art, and so much more. The Kemetic people amassed great wisdom that was left as instructions written in Medew Netcher (Divine Speech) or what Europeans call hi-

eroglyphs.

One place we can examine this ancient Kemetic wisdom is in a book entitled, Selection From the Husia: Sacred Wisdom of Ancient Egypt.

The Husia gives insight into how our ancestors viewed life, death, human relations, marriage, parenting, use of power, God, family, and the standards of moral and ethical conduct. Reading these spiritual texts elicits strong feelings in and for African people in a most profound and spiritual way. Peruse these words from The Husia: The Book of Ptah Hotep: “Do not terrorize people for if you do, God will punish you accordingly.

If anyone lives by such means, God will take bread from his or her mouth.

If one says I shall be rich by such means, [he] she will eventually haveto say my means entrapped me.”

This passage continues: “If one says I will rob another, he will end up being robbed himself.

The plans of men and women do not always come to pass, for in the end it is the will of God, which prevails.

Therefore, one should live in peace with others and they will come and willingly give gifts, which another would take from them throughfear.”

Written about five thousand years ago, the wisdom of these words of instruction should cause African people to reflect on their significance as we struggle to create a greater good for our race. The wisdom of our an-

cestors should give us the inspiration to rededicate ourselves to the continued struggle for the liberation of African people worldwide.

As a race of people our survival and development is dependent upon each other. A greater responsibility is placed upon those of us who proclaim the African Way after the ravaging of African civilizations, African culture, African minds, and African lands.

As I have repeated many times in previous columns, we have a responsibility and a duty to our brothers and sisters to build institutions based on African spirituality, ethics, and morals, and give back that which the Creator has given us, “All Life, Power, and Health, like the Sun Forever.”

I urge all African people to take a meditative moment and look deeply inside of ourselves as a people. Let us restore what the ancient Black people of Kemet called Maat: Divine Order, Harmony, Balance, Truth, Justice, Righteousness, and Reciprocity.

We had, and lived by Maat before the coming of Europeans. We must return to the ways of Maat so we can survive the white supremacy genocidal onslaught. We must look deep into ourselves! And as our respected ancestor Dr. John Henrik Clarke often said, “If we did it once, we can do it again!” In view of what is happening in the world, we must never lose sight of who we are and our condition.

Julianne Malveaux during the morning rush hour.

Generally, Greece has a lower level of suicide than the rest of the countries in the European Union, but last year suicides rose by 45 percent, giving it, now, one of the highest rates. Many attribute the increase in suicides to the economic crisis.

Anecdotal cases are reported – of the anchorman who killed himself when his contract was not renewed, of the couple with a disabled child whose public sector jobs were eliminated who threatened to throw

themselves off a balcony, of a man who set himself on fire when a bank foreclosed on his home.

The United States is threatening an austerity budget. We are threatening, like Greece, to balance the budget on the backs of the least and the left out, of the poor and the needy.

We have maintained the Bush tax cuts even though we do not need to, because Republicans want to respond to their donors, not to working people. And as I read that the Newt Gingrich’s health think tank has gone bankrupt, I wonder that this man would dare run for President of the United States when he has set up a fiscal flim flam house (one of his creditors is his wife).

President Obama had it exactly right when he railed against Republican values. The most recent statistics about poverty point to its upward trend not downward decline. To be sure, these data measure challenges between 2009 and 2010, and many think that when data come out in September to speak to 2011, poverty rates may trend down, just as unemployment rates have. At the same

time, too many Americans live in hardship. The unemployment rate in Greece is 21 percent. The unemployment rate in Black America exceeds 25 percent.

Yet we Americans are docile recipients of our poverty and unemployment. Except for the Occupy movement, there has been extreme silence about our current conditions. Still the Christoulas suicide makes me wonder what silent acts of desperation Americans are experiencing because of economic austerity. How many robberies or suicides are economically motivated, and how many are unreported because they don’t take place in the public square? How many seniors are actually foraging for food, or lining up at soup kitchens because they don’t have enough to eat?

How many young brothers feel that they improve their lives by going to jail where they at least get “three hots and a squat”? How many folks care enough to explore these questions and find answers?

Dimitris Christoulas has a bevy of friends who say he didn’t really com-

mit suicide, that killing himself was a message and an act of protest against the ways that Greece’s financial crisis has an unequal impact on the wealthy and the poor. While killing oneself is an extreme way to protest economic inequities, it has also been a way to rivet Greece’s national attention on the hardships that too many in that country are facing. What does it take in the United States, with unemployment still high, with foreclosures still out of control, with too many people managing “underwater” mortgages? What would happen if the economically aggrieved showed up in a public square?

Would Mitt Romney or Rick Santorum even pay attention?

The Christoulas suicide shines light on the human effects of austerity budgets, not just in Greece but also in the rest of the world. We should take heed on his public action, as it is repeated, though silently, behind closed doors.

MURDER BY AUSTERITY

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Blacks Must control their own coMMunity

Julianne Malveaux is President of Bennett College for Women in Greensboro, North Carolina.

The Chicago Crusader

By Ima Gontellit EDITOR'S NOTE: This column is published as political satire, street gossip and humor, and therefore should not be considered as fact but rather as matter of opinion. None of the items therein are collected by the news gathering staff of the Crusader Newspaper Group. Items forwarded to The Chatterbox are kept confidential unless otherwise requested by the author in writing. For submissions please forward to: AChicagoCrusader@aol.com. Original photography and artwork are permitted.

Thank you for reading!

PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH!!!

President Barack Obama was busted recently when it was revealed that his campaign “army” is almost lilly white here in his Chicago headquarters. Ima ain’t surprised and glad that we didn’t say it. I’m sure Ima’s name will be buried deeper in mud than it was before this column, but Ima don’t give a damn. If it is the truth, let it be tol’. Ima received a note from a noted political strategist and guru saying nothing has changed since 2008. How hypocritical can you be? The President signed an executive order last August requiring federal agencies to develop plans for improving workforce diversity, and he doesn’t practice diversity himself.

Now we know he didn’t hire or accept the folks in his campaign army, but it’s just like everything else, white folks are in charge.

When do we really call the shots?

I guess never. The 4th of July speech would never have occurred with these panty waists we have now. Frederick Douglass had more courage in one finger than most of our oreo leaders.

We already know we ain’t gonna make any money from the campaign. If you identify with Chicago you are automatically disqualified if you are of the darker hue.

We might as well have a white man in the White House, ‘cause we ain’t got nothing coming from there anyway!!!

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was to get us to purchase certain goods and products. Well, maybe they’ll hire a Black Rocket Scientist to help them figure it out. Until then, know that their messages are not directed to you unless they use our newspapers to pitch to us and a Black agency to design the ad. What a bunch of smarties!!!

-ImaIS IT BETTER LATE THAN NEVER? Who would have thought that

almost every city in the United States has a street named after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. except for the city that he died in. That was the case until last week when Memphis, Tennessee finally named a street for Dr. King. You know the old saying is “better late than never,” Ima ain’t so sure that applies to this. They should have been the first city to name a street, as a constant reminder that they took the most articulate, peace loving individual away from a world which is still in dire need of his philosophy.

Obama’s Army airing. Mary J. said if she had seen it prior to release she could have told them that it was a NO SHOW!! I am wondering when folks will realize that Blacks and whites are not the same? And that they cannot produce an ad depicting us as a lover of chicken or watermelon, no matter how

much we like the products. They keep trying to get rid of Black advertising agencies and ask them where they are going to place their ads to reach folks of the darker hue? They say we all read the white press. We may read the white press, but we don’t trust them. And Ima thought the idea

-ImaBURGER KING AD REBUKED Once again Caucasians should know that Black folk are not dark skinned white people. They believe that mainsteam advertising agencies can create commercials that are acceptable to Black people. That myth went out the window recently when their Mary J. Blige spot was rebuked and they had to withdraw it from The Chicago Crusader

Blacks Must control their own coMMunity

Saturday, April 14, 2012

7

HYDE PARK ART CENTER EVENTS: On Saturday, April 14, from 7 pm to 11 pm, the Hyde Park Art Center will honor Dawoud Bey, Anita Blanchard and Martin H. Nesbitt at their annual Spring Gala. Mayor Rahm Emanuel is serving as honorary cochair of the event, with Penny Pritzker, Bryan Traubert, and Madeline Murphy Rabb co-chairing. The Hyde Park Art Center recognizes these important leaders in Chicago’s cultural, civic, and business communities as exemplary models of how one can invest and make change in Chicago’s thriving and diverse cultural community. The Hyde Park Art Center is located at 5020 South Cornell in Chicago. For more information call 773-324-5520 or visit www.hydeparkart.org.

FREE MARQUETTE BANK EVENTS: On Saturday, April 14, Marquette Bank will host a Kids’ Spring Party at the Marquette Bank located at 6155 S. Pulaski Road in Chicago. Enjoy games, giveaways and refreshments between 1 pm and 3 pm. Everyone is welcome to attend this free event. For more information, call 1-773-476-5110 ext.

1220. On Saturday, April 14 & 21, Marquette Bank will host a twopart Free Personal Finance Class at the Marquette Bank located at 6316 S. Western Avenue in Chicago.

These classes will cover the basics of household budgeting, maintaining a checking account, keeping up with bills, understanding credit and how banking works. Session 1 (April 14) is from 9 am to 12 noon and Session 2 (April 21) is from 9 am to 11 am.

There is no cost or obligation for attending this free class. Attendees earn a Personal Finance Credit. Seating is limited. To register, call 1-773-9184624.

FREE EMPLOYMENT LAW LECTURE: The Chicago Public Library and the Chicago Bar Association partner to present Law at the Library, a free monthly lecture series focusing on today’s hot and timely legal topics. Law at the Library invites participants to listen to an experienced legal professional, ask general questions, and check out materials on a variety of legal topics – at no charge! In addition, all Chicago Public Library locations serve as community centers which provide access to books, databases and journals that can help Chicagoans learn more about legal issues. Law at the Library programs are free and open to the public.

Registration is not required. The topic of the April 2012 Law at the Library seminars is Employment Law and an upcoming lecture takes place on Monday, April 16, 12:15 pm, in the Chicago Authors Room, 7th Floor, Harold Washington Library Center, 400 S. State Street.

Call 312-747-4300 for further in8

formation.

COMMUNITY CALENDAR

COOK COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION CLE SEMINAR: On Thursday, April 19, at 12:15 pm, there will be a CLE Seminar sponsored by the Cook County Bar Association. The topic: Decision of the Illinois Supreme Court - Retroactivity of college expenses. The presenter is Judge Dominique Ross. The event will take place at 29 S. LaSalle Street, Suite 610 in Chicago. One hour of CLE credit is provided. The fee is Complimentary for CCBA members and $25.00 for non members. To RSVP, contact Nakita Perdue, at nlperdue@thecookcountybar.org A CONVERSATION WITH AUTHOR YIYUN LI: On Thursday, April 19 at 6 pm in the Cindy Pritzker Auditorium, Harold Washington Library Center, Yiyun Li, author of the spring 2012 One Book, One Chicago selection Gold Boy, Emerald Girl, discusses her life, work and the inspiration behind her intimate stories with Chicago writer Achy Obejas. (Book sales are provided by The Book Cellar). The Harold Washington Library Center is located at 400 S. State Street in Chicago.

KIRBY KAISER CHICAGO STYLE MIXTAPE RELEASE PARTY: On Friday, April 20, from 7 pm - 10 pm, Kirby Kaiser will perform at the O’My’s: “Chicago Style Mixtape” Release Party. It will take place at Reggies Rock Club, 2109 South State Street, Chicago, IL. Details: O’MYS - KIRBY KAISER- WILD JESUS & THE DEVIL LETTUCE FAMILY PARTY BAND. Come boogie with the best and burn this mother down!!! It will be a night to remember with new material and special guests. Cost: $8 pre, $10 door for ages 17+. Buses will be available to pick up guests in the loop. For tickets, visit http://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/event/105001. Hailing from Chicago, Illinois, 19-year-old singer-songwriter Kirby Kaiser delivers the blue-eyed, airy melodies of a 60’s girl group in a melting pot of soul, jazz, du-wop, tinged with the melancholy of teenage romance reminiscent of the Cults, Ronettes, and Best Coast. Kirby’s EP was released September 28 with Groopease (http://www.groopease-.com), and in a mere 6 months she has been featured in Metromix, Fakeshore Drive, The Deli National and Brooklyn Vegan, in addition to opening for The Smith Westerns (http://-www.smithwesternsmusic.com/)at the Vitaminwater Winter Party at the Hard Rock Hotel in Chicago. Check out her Music Video for her single “There’s a Boy”: http://www.you-

Saturday, April 14, 2012

tube.com/watch?v=eukV6DoPfyk

IMMERSIVE SPACE EXPERIENCE AT THE ADLER PLANETARIUM: Deep Space Adventure is ONGOING at the Adler Planetarium, and is presented in the new Grainger Sky Theater.

The Adler Planetarium is located at 1300 South Lake Shore Drive on Chicago’s beautiful Museum Campus. Deep Space Adventure is

a new, immersive space experience like no other in the world! Deep Space Adventure takes you aboard the observation deck of a futuristic starship where you will be surrounded by the larger-than-life phenomena of our dynamic Universe. The centerpiece of Deep Space Adventure is the Grainger Sky Theater, which offers audiences the most immersive, technologically enhanced theater experience ever developed – with space

imagery in the highest resolution and quality possible. Audiences will encounter the Universe at a level of realism that can only be surpassed by actual space travel.

The Adler Planetarium does not offer advance ticket sales. Show and exhibition tickets are sold on a first-come, first-served basis at the Adler box office. Visit www.adlerplanetarium.org or call 312-922-STAR for more information.

COOK COUNTY STATE’S Attorney Anita Alvarez presented local law school students with summer internships during a recent ceremony. Marcell Taylor, who is from Chicago’s Marquette Park neighborhood, is currently attending the Chicago-Kent College of Law. State’s Attorney Alvarez presented Taylor with the award during the C.F. Stradford Awards Ceremony, which was held at the Parkway Ballroom.

theft, plus the usual health and life insurance. ***

Whether you run a mammoth department store or a little holein-the-wall gift shop, you need insurance protection for a retail store. Big or small, the needs are similar. *** The building property itself must be protected. Contents and personal property damage must be covered, too. This may include merchandise that was sold and not yet delivered. Replacement cost endorsements may be a worthwhile extra expense.

Milton E. Moses

Businesses of all sizes depend on our know-how and our services at 526 E. 87th Street, your insurance headquarters. We have been serving the community since 1962. For more information about the services we provide, call (773) 651-6200. You can also reach us via email at: sales@ community insurance.com or visit the website at www.communityins. com.

*** It’s in business operations that needs differ. Jewelers and furriers will need different protection from that of a toy store or a clothing outlet. Most especially, if they offer repairs of customers’ items, they will need liability protection for those. *** Almost all retail operations need liability coverage of various kinds (umbrella insurance is strongly encouraged) and protection against crime against the business, all kinds of burglary and Blacks Must control their own coMMunity

The Chicago Crusader

BUSINESS

Charter One encourages small business owners to consider timely questions as tax season approaches deadline With only days remaining before the deadline for filing federal and state taxes, Charter One is offering small business tax help by encouraging small business owners to ask themselves a series of questions to help prepare for the April 17 deadline.

“Because most small businesses do not have dedicated accounting or tax departments, it is critical that they be prepared, organized and knowledgeable when filing their taxes each year,” said Scott C. Swanson, President of Charter One and RBS Citizens in Illinois. “Tax season presents both challenges and opportunities for companies of all sizes, and we’re encouraging our small business customers to ask themselves a few simple questions before filing their taxes this year.”

In addition to using small business tax services or consulting with a professional, Charter One encourages small business owners to consider the following seven questions: 1. “Is my company organized and prepared to file our tax returns?” Before beginning the process of filing a tax return,

small business owners should be sure all information regarding income and expenses is accurate and up to date. As this information is the basis of every tax return, it is worth the investment of time to ensure its accuracy.

2. “Have we carefully considered all appropriate small business tax deductions for 2011?”

Both federal and state tax codes make allowances for small businesses to deduct a number of expenses on a tax return. The list of expenses that qualify as small business tax deductions is extensive and can be confusing. By working with an accountant, small businesses can determine exactly what expenses are – and are not – deductible.

3. “Has my company made any investments in equipment that might be tax deductible?”

An accountant can give your small business tax help and explain the parameters and calculations for claiming deductions on any capital investments a business makes in new equipment. If your company made investments that helped you run your business in 2011, you may be able to deduct

these costs on your small business taxes this year.

4. “Have we documented and verified any charitable contributions made by our company in 2011?” Many small businesses support charitable programs and community events. Be sure to understand the tax considerations associated with these philanthropic efforts. In most cases, a contribution made to a registered 501(c)(3) organization is tax deductible.

5. “Are we doing all we can to collect on past-due accounts?”

One of the biggest challenges small businesses face is the collection of past-due accounts. If a vendor or customer has not responded to your invoices, partnering with a collection agency or dedicating a fixed amount of time each week toward contacting these past-due accounts by phone or in person could prove to be a cost-effective use of time.

6. “Is it time to review my business plan?” Tax time may be the right time to take a look at a company’s business plan to see if it needs to be updated, adjusted, or expanded to account for

changes in the local or regional economy or to take advantage of changes in a particular industry.

7. “Have I met with my accountant and banker to review 2011 and plan for 2012?” Just as it is sensible to have regular check-ups with a doctor, it makes good business sense for a small business to be in regular contact with its accountant, financial advisor and banker.

A leading provider of financial services to small businesses and a top SBA lender, Charter One’s Business Banking team also offers a variety of online tips, tools and business loan calculators to help small business owners develop strategies for growth and success.

The bank’s diverse offerings include small business loans, cash management tools and business services like banking benefits for employees.

To learn more, schedule a consultation with one of Charter One’s local Business Bankers online or by calling 1-800-4287463.

RBS Citizens, N.A., operating in Illinois, Michigan and Ohio. It has 365 branches and 554 ATMs. It has 110 branches and 258 ATMs in Illinois. Charter One’s website is charterone.com.

RBS Citizens, N.A., is a subsidiary of Citizens Financial Group, Inc., a $130 billion commercial bank holding company.

It is headquartered in Providence, R.I., and through its subsidiaries has more than 1,500 branches, approximately 3,900 ATMs and approximately 19,700 colleagues.

Its two bank subsidiaries are RBS Citizens, N.A., and Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania. They operate a 12-state branch network under the Citizens Bank brand in Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont, and the Charter One brand in Illinois, Michigan and Ohio. CFG has non-branch retail and commercial offices in more than 30 states. CFG is owned by RBS (the Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc). CFG’s website is citizensbank.com.

Are You a Part of the Revolution?

By Cheryl Pearson-McNeil

You know this already, but I’m going to share it with you anyway – there’s a digital revolution going on! Now when I say “revolution” I’m not talking about the overthrowing the government kind – but I am talking about a “sudden, complete or marked change in something.” And if you personally haven’t experienced this through digital technology in the last few years, I’d like to know where you’ve been living. I’m not going to say it’s someplace clichéish like under a rock – but I’m going to guess it’s some place pretty darn close, because even my 71year old mom has gotten with the program. She does everything from filing taxes online to scolding us kids via a Facebook post.

So yes, that’s revolutionary in my mind. But even I didn’t realize how pervasively digital technology has shaken things up until I saw Nielsen’s recently released U.S. Digital Consumer Report.

And my, my, my. What a difference a decade makes.

• 274 million Americans had Internet access as of the last quarter of 2011, which is more than double the 122.2 million of us with Internet access in 2000.

• The DVD took over as the

The Chicago Crusader

Cheryl Pearson-McNeil predominant home video format in 2002, making our VCRs almost obsolete – (I still keep a VCR/television combo in the house in case I ever want to watch the appearance I made on Oprah in the 80’s! Wouldn’t you?)

• When it comes to watching video, including TV shows and movies, 165.9 million Americans currently watch on a computer.

• Remember “Member Community Sites?” Me either. But, back in 2005, we spent 6.6 billion minutes on them. Fast forward to today and they’re known as Social Networks and blogs, and as of the last quarter of 2011 we spent 81 billion minutes on them, more than 12 times that 2005 figure.

Do you remember when you

had to visit “computer labs” to access data from a computer? And when cellular phones were as big as bricks? All that has clearly changed: now the “mini-me” version of a computer, aka, the smartphone, allows us to text, instant message, visit social media sites, watch video content, web browse, shop, email or actually talk to each other, any place, any time. And mobile phones are so small we keep them in our purses or back pockets and often accidently “butt call” people. (One of these days that’s going to get somebody into serious trouble… ) But let’s look at some of the other changes: • In 2006, 3.2% of mobile subscribers owned a smartphone. By

Blacks Must control their own coMMunity

About Charter One Charter One is a division of

the last quarter of 2011, that number had skyrocketed to 44%.

• Smartphone owners are evenly 50-50 male/female; 61% white, 12% African-American. Most owners (39%) skew younger, 1834; followed by those age 35-49 (30%), 50-64 (20%) and 65+ (6%).

• Though 12% of all Americans are smartphone owners, 48% of all African-Americans own a smartphone.

• 44% of all new mobile phones purchased by Blacks are smartphones.

• 64% of mobile phone time is spent on applications (Apps); and there are Apps for virtually everything. (FYI, data shows that APP use among adults peaks at 5 p.m., which means we don’t let playing with APPS interfere with our work day, right? Wink, wink.)

Even though we can watch video on the Internet or on our phones, television (albeit hightech) still rules:

• 76.6 million TV homes are high definition capable (67%).

• 58.6 million TV homes have digital cable (51%).

• 47.4 million TV homes have a DVR (41%).

• 35.9 million TV homes have 4 or more TV sets (31%).

Saturday, April 14, 2012

While talking about TV, I can’t forget the ubiquitous tablets and e-readers that have flooded the market since the introduction of the Amazon’s Kindle in 2007 and Apple’s iPad in 2010. Tablets, by the way, are the only category dominated by men (53% to 47%). They are also popular for multi-tasking purposes, while watching TV. • 57% check email during the program; 59% wait until the commercial.

• 44% surf the net during both.

• 44% visit social networking sites during both.

If you know someone who still needs to get with the program and join this digital revolution, please implore them to do so.

With a buying power of almost $1 trillion, we need marketers to understand like never before that we are front and present and highly accounted for when it comes to technology. I know You Matter. They need to know it too.

Cheryl Pearson-McNeil is senior vice president of Public Affairs and Government Relations for Nielsen. For more information and studies go to www.nielsenwire.com 9

EDUCATION science37 Junior Research Scientists Program comes to ASM After School Matters teens study important medical, environmental issues

After School Matters (ASM) Junior Research Scientists program at Columbia College Chicago’s Science Institute in the Department of Science and Mathematics is giving Chicago teens the tools and training necessary to become future scientists, capable of leading the way to important breakthroughs in challenging medical and environmental issues facing society. In this program, teens choose one of two program tracks—Cancer Research or Al-

ratories.

In the Alternative Energy track, they assess optimization of solar panel use, manipulating conditions that make the panels more or less effective, measuring currents and voltage to determine how solar panels can operate most effectively.

Both program tracks culminate with a final presentation in which teens share what they have learned through their research using computer software and technology, such as PowerPoint, Photoshop, stop-motion animation and Premier.

TEENS EXPLORE ALTERNATIVE energy applications through the development and use of solar panels. ternative Energy—to increase their proficiency in science and effectively communicate their findings through advanced computer visualization.

In the Cancer Research track, teens research the biology of cancer with the hope of understanding its development, working with cultures and designing experiments using a variety of techniques common to research labo-

like.

With the national focus on the need for a more skilled workforce in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM), After School Matters recognizes the importance of providing these kinds of opportunities for Chicago’s teenagers. The science37 and tech37 content area programs aim to spark an interest in the STEM fields, allowing teen participants the opportunity to discover their potential and find their path to a meaningful life by exploring and developing the essential skills necessary to be competitive for educational and career opportunities in the 21st century.

TEENS USE COMPUTER software to create a visual presentation demonstrating what they’ve learned in the lab and in the field throughout the program.

IN THE CANCER biology track of the program, After School Matters teens use high-tech lab equipment to study and treat cancer cells.

Throughout the program, teens are discovering a passion for science and technology as well as the hard skills that they will need to take further steps toward their future. Teen apprentice Tori P., currently a junior in high school, intends to study biochemistry in college and says that the handson nature of this program helps her to envision what an actual career in the science field can look

FUTURE SCIENTISTS LEARN vital skills about the biology of cancer in the After School Matters science 37 program.

10

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Blacks Must control their own coMMunity

The Chicago Crusader

COMMUNITY

Senator Hunter attracts scores of supporters H-Dog Restaurant, 4655 S. King Dr., recently was the site of a combination networking/fundraising event for state Senator Mattie Hunter (3-D). She was appointed to fill a senate vacancy, Hunter is known for her health and human services work in several African nations. The Chicago native has been in the senate since 2003. She serves on the senate health and human services committee as vice chair. She also is a member of the senate’s local government and senate government committees.

The Chicago Crusader

Blacks Must control their own coMMunity

Saturday, April 14, 2012

11

The NEW Four-One-One

ENTERTAINMENT

By Raymond Ward Entertainment Editor Imagine being 22 years old just graduating from Berklee College of Music living in New York and turning your gift of music into a much anticipated source of entertainment. Saxophone virtuoso Hailey Niswanger has done just that. Niswanger has created an indelible impression in the jazz world with the release of her 2009 debut, Confeddie. At 19 the saxophonist was even the subject of an enthusiastic Wall Street Journal profile by veteran jazz critic Nat Hentoff. The headline read: “This Teenager Has Got It.” The alto and soprano saxophone dynamo is preparing to release her second CD, The Keeper (Calmit Productions), on April 24.

Unlike many of her jazz musician contemporaries, Niswanger (pronounced “NICE-wonger”) unabashedly embraces the deep traditions of jazz. “Today you see a lot of artists mixing and mashing genres, but I want to stay true to jazz, I want to honor it,” says Niswanger, a native of Houston who was raised in Portland, Oregon. “While I listen to all kinds of music — classical, jazz, R&B, hip-hop — I want to be known primarily as a jazz artist.”

The Keeper certainly backs up that aim. The CD includes eight engaging Niswanger compositions, reflecting a wealth of modern and contemporary jazz moods, as well as classics by Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, and Cole Porter. Her colleagues on the session are pianist Takeshi Ohbayashi, bassist Max Moran, and drummer Mark Whitfield, Jr., plus, on three selections, guest trumpeter Darren Barrett. These inventive musicians are all associates from her days at Berklee, where she completed her B.Mus. in Jazz Performance late last year.

ENTERTAINMENT: CHICAGO STYLE

By Elaine Hegwood Bowen, MSJ

Chicago’s Psalm One heads to Harlem’s Apollo Theater 12th Tribeca Film Festival gets set for screenings My daughter, Psalm One (Cristalle Elaine Bowen), has been described as a “smart rapper” and has her own organization, Charm Lab, which works with children in local and national after school music programs.

from April 18-29 in New York and features both independent and mainstream films, many of which have not yet been distributed. This opportunity is a big nod for the Crusader, because not all media are credentialed to cover the festival.

sippi that featured Booker Wright – an African-American waiter who worked in a “whites only” restaurant. Booker went on national television and exploded the myth of who he was and his position serving the white community. Forty-six

Psalm One

Hailey Niswanger The time-shifting title track (and the album itself) is dedicated to Jeff Cumpston, her high school band director who died in a traffic accident in Zimbabwe, where he taught elementary school. The percolating “Straight Up,” which reveals, as elsewhere, what an amazingly mature player Niswanger is on both alto and soprano, was written for onetime Eddie Harris trumpeter Thara Memory, an afterschool arts program instructor during her high school days. “He changed my life, speaking exactly what he felt about my playing, my behavior, everything,” says the composer.

The sweetly-swinging “Norman,” which showcases Niswanger’s rich alto sound, is for 94-year-old Portland resident Norman Leyden, who has been an influence since the saxophonist was 10; “‘B’ Happy,” a potent blues written for two beloved childhood toys, spotlights the crisp work of drummer Whitfield — to whom the buoyant waltz, “Balance,” is dedicated.

Speaking of pianist Ohbayashi, she could be describing the contributions of all her bandmates: “No matter what direction I decide to go in, I know he’s going to pull through brilliantly.” He does, and they do.

Hailey Niswanger began her musical life with piano at age 5, then took up clarinet at age 8 and saxophone at age 10. She also played accordion for several years. “I was playing all the time,” she says. After graduating from (Continued on page 17) 12

Saturday, April 14, 2012

(See January 28 Chicago Crusader “Smart rapper mentors youngsters on the world of hiphop,” by Matthew Bruce).

She recently represented America SCORES, as she travelled to nine cities and worked with students on songs that they eventually recorded in a renowned studio. And more recently, she and students from CICS Avalon on the Southeast Side performed at a city-wide event featuring students from CPS schools. Psalm One had worked with the students for three months as part of an afterschool music enrichment program.

The event, Rock-N-Pop Circus, was hosted by the Intonation Music Workshop and was held at Alhambra Palace in the West Loop. Talent was flowing from all of the students involved, and parents attended, cheering their children on.

As an extension of her work with America SCORES, Psalm One will appear at the legendary Apollo Theater on April 16 at the America SCORES 6th Annual National Poetry SLAM!, where she will perform her own music, as well as perform alongside some of the students who participated in the national program.

Of course, I’m a proud mom, and after I recover from all the euphoria, I will also proudly represent the Chicago Crusader at the 12th Tribeca Film Festival, which runs

One offering is Benji, which will premiere at a Gala event and highlights the life of Chicago high school basketball player Ben Wilson. In 1984, 17-year-old Wilson was a symbol of everything promising about Chicago: a sweet-natured youngster from the South Side, and America's top high school basketball prospect. Nicknamed "Magic Johnson with a jump shot," Wilson's natural talents and drive assured his best years were yet to come. Then, in November of his senior year, the career of this exceptional youngster was abruptly and tragically cut short. Ben's grim fate sent ripples of horror through the city and the country.

Best known for their visionary music videos for such superstars as Kanye West and Mos Def, filmmakers Coodie and Chike bring viceral sophistication to a narrative that feels as raw today as it did 28 years ago. Told through awe-inspiring footage of his high school glory days along with candid interviews with teammates, coaches, family, and friends, Benji is a stirring portrait of a phenom admired both on the court and off.

Another film Booker’s Place: A Mississippi Story will also premiere, and it is a documentary that was originally made for NBC News about the changing times in Missis-

Blacks Must control their own coMMunity

years later, director Raymond De Felitta documents a journey into the past- and current-day Mississippi with Booker’s granddaughter, in search of who Booker Wright was, the intricacies surrounding his courageous life and untimely murder, and the role Frank De Felitta’s (Raymond’s father) earlier documentary may have played in it. After premiering at TFF, Booker’s Place will be released later this month throughout the nation.

Chris Rock will have some fun in a film to be premiered at TFF called 2 Days in New York. Passionate French photographer Marion (Julie Delpy) and her hip radio host beau Mingus (Rock) live a happily coupled life with their children in a homey New York City apartment.

When Marion's eccentric French family descends upon the pair unannounced, the couple is catapulted into two days of escalating mayhem, misunderstandings and culture clash. Between Marion's delightfully unhinged father (played gleefully by Delpy's real-life Dad, Albert), her sexually frank but juvenile sister, and her sister's boorish boyfriend (also Marion's ex), it will be all Mingus can do to stay sane while the in-laws are in town.

“Tribeca Film was founded as a (Continued on page 17)

The Chicago Crusader

ENTERTAINMENT

Tribeca Online Film Festival continues extension of festival experience Universal Studios 100th Anniversary Celebration With Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep and Judd Apatow Is Among the Live Streaming Events

The 2012 Tribeca Film Festival (TFF) unveiled the lineup and programming for the Tribeca Online Film Festival, presented by founding partner American Express. The third year of the pioneering digital initiative continues the extension of the TFF experience across digital platforms, allowing domestic audiences to view select feature and short films for free, including four world-premiere features to be streamed just after their TFF theatrical premieres. Audiences across the country will get front row access to the exclusive Festival content and hear filmmakers and industry leaders talking about the future of the industry as TFF’s 11th edition runs concurrently in lower Manhattan

from April 18 to 29.

The 2012 Tribeca Online Film Festival offers film enthusiasts new avenues to experience a film festival.

Audiences will get to vote, via tribecaonline.com, on the best online feature and short, with winners receiving a total of $16,000 in prize money. Tribeca Online is employing the latest digital video and web technology to deliver an immersive, interactive experience, re-contextualizing Festival content and presentation.

Four world premiere feature selections from the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival, and five short films, three of which are world premieres, will be available during the online Festival. Each film will have limited screening windows and capacity.

Reservations begin on April 10 for American Express Cardmembers (who will also get access to select content from distribution label Tribeca Film upon registration) and

A SCENE FROM the documentary Broke, which examines athletes and the psychology of men whose competitive nature carries them to victory on the field and ruin off it. (Photo credit: Rainer Hosch)

April 16 for the general public. Online viewers will be able to vote for the Best Tribeca Online Feature Film, a prize of $10,000, and the Best Tribeca Online Short Film, a prize of $5,000. Winners will be announced at the Tribeca Film Festival Awards on April 26. There will also be a social voting competition, based solely on popularity: the number of “likes” that film accrues on the Tribeca Online Film Festival film detail page. The feature film and the short film that drive the most Facebook likes on the page will each receive a separate $500 prize. Winners will be announced on April 30.

The complete list of feature films streamed on the Tribeca Online Film Festival is as follows: • Babygirl, directed and written

by Macdara Vallely. (Ireland, USA) – World Premiere, Viewpoints. For as long as she can remember, Bronx teenager Lena has watched her mom Lucy squander her life on a series of deadbeat men. When Victor, her mom’s latest boy toy, starts hitting on Lena, she sets up a trap to expose Victor for the creep he is… but the plan backfires. Macdara Vallely crafts a heartfelt drama about the emotional highs and lows in the moment between childhood and adulthood.

• On The Mat, directed and written by Fredric Golding. (USA) – World Premiere, Viewpoints and Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival.

Achieving greatness in high school wrestling requires a level of devotion unmatched perhaps by any other sport. That greatness has become a yearly expectation at Lake Stevens High, winner of seven

JOHN FORTE IN a scene from The Russian Winter. (Photo credit Ian McAlpin.)

Washington state championships in the past 10 years. Narrated by Lake Stevens wrestling alum Chris Pratt (Moneyball), this riveting documentary follows the team over the course of a season as they fight through injuries and academic issues to maintain their school’s legacy.

• The Russian Winter, directed

by Petter Ringbom. (Russia) – World Premiere, Spotlight. Brooklyn-born John Forté was a Grammy-nominated musician in The Fugees at 21 and a federal prison inmate at 26. When his prison sen-

tence was remarkably commuted in 2008, Forté was given a second chance to share his talents with the world. Chronicling his concert tour across Russia, this inspirational documentary takes us on Forté’s personal journey—one that’s as much about having his voice heard as having his music heard. In English, Russian with subtitles.

•Town of Runners, directed by Jerry Rothwell. (UK) – World Premiere, Viewpoints. Over the past two decades the small, rural (Continued on page 17)

American Reunion A Review by Bonnie DeShong In 1999, a great movie premiered in the theaters. It was the story of “middle” class suburban high school kids coming of age. All the boys were horny and all the girls were beautiful. You had the typical handsome but not so bright jock and the guy who was cute but shy and closest he comes to sex is a hilarious scene with a warm apple pie. Yes, American Pie of 1999 was a hilarious funny film.

It is now 2012, and all the “kids” are now adults and are coming back for their 10 year reunion. It’s the same characters, same actors, but something is missing. About 45 minutes into the movie I figured it out, it’s not funny or interesting. Wait, I take that back.

There is one person that sticks out in this film, Jim’s Dad played by Eugene Levy is far more interesting, and funny than anyone on the screen. Maybe because I am a “baby boomer” it is encouraging to know that there is sex, love, sex,

The Chicago Crusader

happiness, and sex after 60. Levy’s timing is impeccable.

Stifler (Seann William Scott), Jim (Jason Biggs), Finch (Eddie Kaye), Kevin (Thomas Ian Nicholas), and Oz (Chris Klein) have graduated and gone on to do reflections of their high school selves. Jim is married to Michelle (Alyson Hannigan) and since their 2 year old was born his experience

with sex is in flashbacks when he sees an apple pie. Stifler is still the party boy, Oz is a caricature of a TV sports reporter, Finch is having midlife crises in his 20’s and travelling the country on a motorcycle, and Kevin is just pathetic.

I say, “BYE BYE TO AMERICAN PIE.” AMERICAN REUNION is a Wait for DVD kind of movie.

JASON BIGGS AS Jim Levinstein, Thomas Ian Nicholas as Kevin, Chris Klein as Oz and Eddie Kaye Thomas as Finch in “American Reunion.”

Blacks Must control their own coMMunity

Saturday, April 14, 2012

13

WORLD OF MUSIC

By Barbara Wright-Pryor

Harvey Felder returns to conduct the Chicago Sinfonietta in historic concert As the Chicago Sinfonietta enters it 25th year of existence, guest conductor Harvey Felder will return for his second appearance with the orchestra to lead it in a concert featuring some of the repertoire for which it has attained fame in its concerts both here and abroad. The concert, “Past Tense, Future Tense” will take place in Orchestra Hall at

Symphony Center Thursday, April 19 at 7:30 pm.

Twenty-five years ago Maestro Paul Freeman founded the Chicago Sinfonietta and made real his dream of establishing an orchestra that would provide performance opportunities for musicians, soloists, and composers of color (nationalities was added to the mission statement

17 years after the orchestra’s founding) to perform the music of Black composers to create a more inclusive world for classical music.

At the time it was anticipated that when Maestro Freeman’s baton was ultimately passed on at some undetermined future date, it would be claimed by one of the many young conductors-intraining who, at the time of the orchestra’s inception, were at various stages of professional development; conductors who are repeatedly bypassed when music director posts with major orchestras become vacant regardless of their knowledge of the musical canon or their conducting ability; conductors such as Leslie Dunner, Kazeem Abdullah, John McLaughlin Williams, Andre Raphel Smith, William Eddins, and Michael Morgan, all of whom auditioned unsuccessfully to succeed Dr. Freeman. Executive Director Jim Hirsch and the

Chicago Sinfonietta Board of Directors awarded the Music Director post to Taiwan-born conductor Mei-Ann Chen.

Conductor Felder has selected four compositions from among the many conducted by Maestro Freeman over those twenty-five years: Alberto Ginastera’s “Variaciones Concertantes;” George Walker’s “Antiphonys for Chamber Orchestra;” Samuel Barber’s “Knoxville: Summer of 1915;” and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8, all performed in 1988 during the orchestra’s first year of exis-

transform lives. Citizen Musician activities in Russia include small ensembles performing for rehabilitation patients and disabled students in Moscow, and for children ages 5–15 in foster care in St. Petersburg. Members of the CSO will also offer master classes and chamber music performances in

The program will now include music by Bach, Busoni, Weber, Liszt and Schumann, along with Brad Mehldau’s Variations on a Melancholy Theme, a piece specially commissioned by Gerstein with his Gilmore Award prize

Tickets are $22–$84. Call 312294-3000.

The Sphinx Virtuosi, featuring the Catalyst Quartet, a Sphinx Ensemble, will perform “Music of the Americas” when it embarks on its 5th annual national fall tour. “Music of the Americas” will feature composers such as Astor Piazzolla; Alberto Ginastera; Osvaldo Golijov; Jessie Montgomery; Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson; and Hector Villa-Lobos.

The Sphinx Virtuosi have received continuous rave reviews from critics and audiences alike.

More than just a traditional chamber orchestra, the Sphinx Virtuosi is a conductorless ensemble of 18 accomplished soloists of color, each a virtuoso in his or her own right. Led by the principal players of the ensemble, Sphinx Virtuosi members have attended the top music schools in the country, in-

cluding the Juilliard School, Curtis Institute of Music and the New England Conservatory of Music.

Several of the members hold professional orchestral positions, including the Oregon, Charlotte, and St. Louis Symphonies.

Current venues on the 2012 tour include: Bucknell University, Weis Center - Lewisburg, PA; Carnegie Hall - New York City; Harris Theater - Chicago, IL; The Kennedy Center - Washington, D.C.; Luther College - Decorah, IA; New World Center - Miami, FL; Newman Center - Denver, CO; University of Florida - Gainesville, FL and University of Iowa - Iowa City, IA. Contact your local theater for the dates of performance.

For further information on the Sphinx Organization or the fall tour, go to sphinxmusic.org.

Riccardo Muti leads CSO in tour of Russia and Italy Harvey Felder

Riccardo Muti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) take their second overseas tour together since Maestro Muti became the Orchestra’s music director in September 2010, visiting six cities in Russia and Italy from April 15– 28, 2012.

Performances are scheduled in Moscow at the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory (April 18 and 19); at the Great Hall of the Philharmonia in St. Petersburg (April 21); and in Italy at the Teatro dell’Opera in Rome (April 23), the Teatro San Carlo in Naples (April 24), the Teatro Grande in Brescia (April 26), and at the Palazzo Mauro De André in Ravenna (April 27). Bank of America is the Global Sponsor of the CSO. Repertoire for this tour includes Dmitri Smirnov’s “Space Odyssey” (which the CSO premiered in January 2012), Strauss’ “Death and Transfiguration,” Franck’s Symphony in D Minor, Nino Rota’s Suite from “Il Gattopardo” (The Leopard) and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5.

The CSO’s concerts in Russia are presented under the auspices of the Obama-Medvedev Bilateral Presidential Commission, which takes place throughout the 2011/12 season in the four Russian cities where there are U.S. Embassies or Consulates. The CSO is the centerpiece of its year-long cultural festival called “American Seasons in Russia”—a cultural festival of the U.S. Department of State and the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation based on a concept that evokes the spirit of the Diaghilev’s 14

Sarah Hibbard

“Russian Seasons” in Paris many years ago. The goal of this festival is to promote awareness and disprove stereotypes between Americans and Russians through the cultural arts by presenting a variety of American performers and exhibitions. A range of arts genres are being presented, such as dance com-

Riccardo Muti panies, theater, jazz, Cajun, gospel and bluegrass performers. The CSO’s previous and only appearance in Russia was in November 1990.

While in Russia, musicians from the CSO are scheduled to participate in Citizen Musician activities.

The CSO’s Citizen Musician initiative, launched in January 2011 by the Institute for Learning, Access and Training at the CSO, calls on all musicians (professional, young and amateur), music lovers and music teachers and institutions to use the art form to bridge gulfs between people, to create community and to inspire and

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Moscow and St. Petersburg for conservatory students studying woodwind and brass instruments.

Conservatory students in Moscow are also invited to attend a rehearsal by Maestro Muti and the CSO. Following the concerts in Russia, Maestro Muti and the CSO travel to Italy for four performances, three of which mark debuts for the CSO. The first concert is in Rome, where they last performed together in 2007, and the remaining concerts in Naples, Brescia and Ravenna mark the first time that the CSO has performed in these cities.

tence. Soprano Sarah Hibbard is the soloist on Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915.

For this concert only, ticket prices are set at the 1987 box office price $18.00 and are available online at chicagosinfonietta.org or by calling 312.236.3681 ext.

2.

MUSIC NOTES

Pianist Maurizio Pollini has canceled all of his upcoming U.S. appearances, including his Symphony Center Presents Piano series recital on Sunday, May 13 at 3:00 pm for health reasons. Replacing Pollini for this recital is Kirill Gerstein, winner of the 2010 Gilmore Artist Award.

money. Tickets previously issued for this date will be honored.

Gerstein’s recital program consists of J. S. Bach English Suite No. 6 in D Minor, BWV 811; Busoni “An die Jugend;” Weber Invitation to the Dance, Op. 65; Liszt Waltz Caprice No. 6 from “Soirées de Vienna” by Schubert; Mehldau “Variations on a Melancholy Theme” and Schumann “Carnaval,” Op. 9.

Sphinx Virtuosi will perform“Music of the Americas” on Fall Tour 2012

Blacks Must control their own coMMunity

Sphinx Virtuosi The Chicago Crusader

SPIRITUALLY SPEAKING

Services held for jazz drummer Robert Guthrie The town of East St. Louis is known for its pool of talented musicians which includes jazz great the late Miles Davis and jazz drummer Robert Guthrie who joined the the ancestral realm recently.

Robert Guthrie, born in 1933, was the drummer for jazz great the late Gene Ammons, the late “Guitar” Red and a studio drummer for Universal Studio.

A resident of Country Club Hills Guthrie first developed a passion for Blues long before his introduction to Jazz. According to his biography, he was “an exciting, hard driving contemporary Jazz drummer, performing and travelling with many of the big names throughout the United States.”

Guthrie performed throughout the tri-state area of Illinois, Northwest Indiana and Southwest Michigan at such venues as

Looking for my West Side church people!

Each week the religious community is sharing the good news and works that help to make a society a better place to spend a lifetime.

Here at the Crusader it is our mission to support the religious community by sharing the stories taking place every day.

On a regular basis articles and requests for coverage are received from several South Side religious organizations. And now it is time for the West Side to show up and show out!!

It is real easy to become a part of the news scene at the Crusader.

You simply start by preparing a press release that is at least 525 words. The release should answer the questions: who, what, where, when and why/how in story form.

Your release also will include at least three quotes/statements— one from someone in leadership, one from a participant(s) and one from donor/supporter and it should include two to three photos with captions.

Only information pertaining to stories/events that are of a religious nature should be sent to crusader65yrs05@aol.com. (All other editorial materials should be directed to crusaderil@aol-.com, advertising concerns are received at achicagocrusader@aol-.com.)

Deadlines are normally Friday (including advertising reservations) before the following week’s edition. Calendar events should be sent three weeks prior to the event.

Representatives often inquire about how to get advertising for an upcoming event such as a church anniversary, pastor’s appreciation dinner or even a choir’s musical the

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advertising program may be useful to you.

There are three advertising options to consider. Each has its own unique appeal to satisfy the needs of a congregation.

The 50% off Program is a program that gives a group a discount of 50 per cent off the regular advertising rate. This program is available to the first 75 religious/nonprofit organizations and the offer expires June 30, 2012. This program is the most popular. The second program is familiar to most.

The Layaway Program is a 10month program that allows a group to pay on an ad campaign (usually consists of a ten-week ad campaign) so when the campaign is launched it is paid in full. And the Subscription Program requires the organization to secure 125 paid subscriptions and get two quarter page ads at no charge.

By developing ways to support the community the community grows stronger and becomes selfsustaining.

There are so many beautiful stories of success, gratitude, humilty and valor waiting to be told but you must first share. Let this be the first time and not the last time that you submit your story. Let the world know the works you do that make life in the community better for every one.

Remember to send your stories to crusader65yrs05@aol.com. Do not call. If additional information is needed you will receive a call or an e-mail message.

Summit, Illinois.

In addition to performing with Ammons Guthrie also collaborated with Red Saunders’ Big Band, Lefty Bates, Little Esther, Sonny Stitt, Chuck Berry, Della Reese, Cozzy Eggleston, Ruth Brown and many more.

Services for Guthrie began with a repast/wake on Thursday, April 12 beginning at 10 AM followed by an 11AM funeral service.

Family and friends gathered at the Hazel Crest Assembly Church, 17801 South Cicero to share memories about the Jazz great.

St. Casimir Academy in 1917.

Immediately following Mass, a reception for Cardinal George will be held at the Sisters of St. Casimir Motherhouse, 2601 W. Marquette Road. Meanwhile, alumnae are also invited to an

All-Class Reunion at Maria High School, 6727 South California Avenue, from 3 to 7:30 p.m.

Additional information is available by contacting Tracy DuffyJarrett at 773-925-8686, ext. 116, or visit www.mariahighschool.org.

Cardinal to celebrate Maria High School centennial Mass

Robert Guthrie Summer Festival, Baldwin, Michigan, Elkhart Jazz Festival and the Chicago Jazz Festival.

Guthrie earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1974 and his Master of Arts Degree in 1975 both from Governors State University in University Park.

Gutherie’s repertoire consisted of not only Jazz and Blues but it also boasted of music genres such as pop, rock, contemporary and Dixieland. Guthrie’s talents were shared with the general public via appearances on WLS-TV and WTTW where he appeared with Ammons. Through the Screen Actors Guild he also performed in local commercials.

Guthrie was generous with his talent and time. He provided community service through performing for an annual Mother’s Day Concert and performing for Summer Festivals in Harvey and

The100-year anniversary of St. Casimir Academy/Maria High School will be commemorated on April 21 at a12:45 p.m. centennial Mass at Nativity B.V.M. Church, 6812 South Washtenaw, with Francis Cardinal George as the principal celebrant. Parishes and congregations serving Maria students, elected officials, alumnae, former and current members of the Maria High School community and the Sisters of St. Casimir will be present. All are invited to attend.

History will stand out in the processional, which will include Anne Kaziauskas Casperson ‘70, daughter of Ruth Simutis Kaziauskas ’44, and granddaughter of Angela Ewald, who was the first person to receive a diploma from

Send your stories and pictures today!

Blacks Must control their own coMMunity

Francis Cardinal George

Saturday, April 14, 2012

15

TECH TALK

The Digital Battle For Your Privacy

By Billy Montgomery

Companies monitoring employee Internet usage at work has been in effect for several years.

Because it is a common practice, many people understand the scrutiny. But recent reports of employers requesting job applicants’ Facebook passwords could set a dangerous precedent.

The invasion of privacy that some companies are conducting is so disturbing until Facebook representatives are warning them not to make such demands of prospective workers, suggesting that businesses can open themselves up to discrimination lawsuits if applicants aren’t hired as a result of their prying. The reality is that while Facebook can make strong suggestions, it has no real way, nor is it the responsibility of the social media juggernaut, to police every company involved in the activity. What’s more alarming is that this is just the latest in ongoing attempts for the powers that be to snoop into our personal affairs.

Ever since the U.S. Patriot Act, which allows close government surveillance on Internet and phone use, was passed in 2001, American citizens have endured over a decade of government policies and corporate practices which have made it easier for agencies to track and access citizens' private digital communications. This new surveillance is more effective than a wiretap. In a wiretap, you can get into one person’s phone line, but with this digital surveillance, the monitors can tap into any connections the monitored has.

Aside from this, government agencies establishing interception spots around the country to analyze e-mails and phone calls of suspected terrorist activities. As has been noted in the Patriot act, regular American citizens can prepare to be caught up in some of the monitoring.

In many cases phone companies, Internet service providers, and financial institutions contribute to government’s unauthorized receipt of personal information, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation 2011 report, which analyzed the FBI's use of National Security Letters from 2001 to 2008, suggested that the FBI might have violated the law as many as 40,000 times during that period.

Some argue that the heavy monitoring fringes on constitutional violations. Specifically, the Fourth Amendment, which protects us against unreasonable search and seizure, is on trial as 16

the questionable new surveillance policies pierce our monitors.

Sadly, Americans have little effective recourse, even on the few occasions where we can prove we are being violated.

In the Internet age, we willingly exchange our personal information with companies for the convenience of using their services.

Any rationally thinking individuals can understand that some extra surveillance is in order to protect law-abiding civilians from terror. However, when the power is abused and there is little means to address the grievances, it leaves a “free” nation feeling somewhat captive.

of our security abroad and in our homes. Whether it is online or offline, we can’t afford to function as a democracy living in fear of invasion of our personal lives.

As we become more reliant on Internet and mobile technology for our existence, we shouldn’t compromise our privacy for abuse from the private sector and government. While we are basking in the rays of new technology, we should remain vigilant that our traditional civil rights do not change.

Technological advances should not alter what the nation was founded on including the defense

Billy D. Montgomery is a professor of journalism at Roosevelt University in Chicago, Ill. His teaching concentration is on new media and technology and multimedia reporting.

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Blacks Must control their own coMMunity

Billy D. Montgomery

The Chicago Crusader

Tribeca Online Film Festival continues extension . . . .

(Cont’d. from page 13) Ethiopian town of Bekoji has been the unlikely home to numerous Olympic champion long-distance runners, whose athletic success has paved the way for a generation of young Ethiopians searching for a better future.

With a keen artistic eye, TFF award winner Jerry Rothwell (Donor Unknown) follows two teenage track hopefuls who face the challenge of growing up and striving for greatness in a developing nation. In Amharic, Oromo with subtitles.

The short films streaming on Tribeca Online are: BFF (World Premiere) Directed and written by Neil LaBute. Jack and Jill have been “best friends forever,” and when Jill suspects that her boyfriend is cheating on her, Jack offers to help her.

CatCam (New York Premiere) Directed by Seth Keal. German engineer Jürgen Perthold was intrigued about where his newly adopted stray, Mr. Lee, disappeared to for days on end, so he developed the CatCam to help solve the mystery.

Scenes from a Visit to Japan (World Premiere) Directed and written by Joel Schlemowitz. An experimental film invoking diverse cultural landscapes, suggesting a collective struggle of humanity between apocalyptic visions of the past, present, and future, and the redemptive power of the human spirit.

Transmission (International Premiere) Directed and written by Zak Hil-

Chicago’s . . .

(Con’t. from page 12) distribution platform to help filmmakers find audiences and, equally important, audiences find films utilizing new connections and strategies,” said Geoff Gilmore, Chief Creative Officer for Tribeca Enterprises. For more information about the 12th Tribeca Film Festival, visit www.tribeca.com-/festival.

ditch. Following a deadly pandemic that has decimated the world’s population, a father drives his nine-yearold daughter from the west coast of Australia to the safe zone.

Doggy Bags (World Premiere) Directed and written

by Edward Burns. A young man suspects the girl he is dating to be hiding a secret after she routinely orders massive amounts of food to go. Produced by American Express as a result of the 2011 My Movie Pitch contest. This film is ineligible for awards.

Nine additional short films will be made available through FOCUS FORWARD – Short Films, Big Ideas, a partnership between GE and CINELAN. Five will premiere on tribecafilm.com beginning today, April 9, when the Tribeca Online Film Festival site goes live. The last four, which are world premieres, will debut on tribeca-film.com on April 25, simultaneous with their TFF premieres at Tribeca Cinemas. The four world premiere films are directed

by Nelson George, Katy Chevigny, Steven Cantor, and Michèle Ohayon. Each film is three minutes long and tells an amazing story of innovators making our world a better place.

Select events will be streamed live as part of the Tribeca Online Film Festival, with TFF’s many other events, Q&As and conversations being captured on video for dynamic segments to be posted each day on tribecafilm.com, giving online audiences a comprehensive Festival experience.

Among the live events scheduled are: • April 19 at 3 p.m. EDT A celebration of Universal Studios 100th Anniversary, featuring Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep, and Judd Apatow sharing their favorite moments and memories from Universal’s extraordinary history.

• April 26 at 7 p.m. EDT -

The NEW 411 (Continued from page 12) Portland’s West Linn High School in 2008, she entered Berklee. There she was named a member of the inaugural class (as were her bandmates Ohbayashi and Whitfield) of the Berklee Global Jazz Institute, under the artistic direction of Danilo Perez.

In 2009, Niswanger became the alto saxophonist in Boston’s eclectic Either/Orchestra, a position previously held

by Miguel Zenon and Jaleel Shaw. The first female member of the band in its 25-year history, Hailey remained with E/O until early 2012, when she moved to Brooklyn to focus on recording and developing the next phase of what is sure to be a brilliant career.

The Chicago Crusader

TFF Awards Night, saluting the best of the Festival; • April 27 at 11 a.m. EDT - Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Awards, celebrating innovation across the media,

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entertainment and technology spectrum.

Visitwww.Tribecaonline com for all the details.

Submitted by Elaine Hegwood Bowen, MSJ

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (Cont’d from page 4) pecially law enforcement.

Not too long ago the local Black Press rallied around the issue of the president of Chicago State University’s president keeping his job.

The underlying story was there are several forces looking to displace the president for their own interests.

But last week, a Black man, Howard Morgan was sentenced to 40 years in prison on attempted murder charges. But for some reason only Morgan’s family and a handful of supporters are railing about the inequality of the sentence. This is not merely a local story, it is a national one that needs the local Black Press to start to get the nation to see that extreme injustice here.

Morgan, a railroad police officer, was shot 28 times by four Chicago police offers and survived. Through some crazy twist in our criminal justice system, Morgan who admittedly shot at the officers in self-defense was given this extreme sentence.

Surely the Black Press can issue an immediate and clarion call for a federal review of the case, the sentencing judge as well as a reversal of the sentence. There is absolutely no way that Morgan could have done what he is accused of doing. The Black Press, beginning with our local papers, can shine a long and bright light on this situation.

It baffles me how the Black Press can take the lead in ensuring that someone keep a six-figure salary and job, but have yet to speak out in a unified voice about the injustice done to Morgan.

When we have heard from the Black Press, then we are almost assured the other voices in the community – preachers, legitimate activists, academicians, and others with a social conscience – will lose their apprehension and fears of speaking up and demand justice.

We don’t need marches or rallies on the front of this but a coherent, unified and strong voice and rationale on why the Morgan verdict must be reversed; and that’s how we can prevent something so wrong from ever happening again.

Gloucester Murphy LEGAL NOTICE Notice is hereby given, pursuant to “An Act in relation to the use of an Assumed Business Name in the conduct or transaction of Business in the State,” as amended, that a certification was filed by the undersigned with the County Clerk of Cook County. File No. D12129569 on the 19th day of March, 2012. Under the Assumed Name of King of Glory Salon with the business located at 4852 S. Michigan Chicago, IL 60615. The true name(s) and residence address of the owner(s) is Michelle Lee Bailey, 4852 S. Michigan #2 Chicago, IL 60615.

3/31/12, 4/7/12, 4/14/12 Notice is hereby given, pursuant to “An Act in relation to the use of an Assumed Business Name in the conduct or transaction of Business in the State,” as amended, that a certification was filed by the undersigned with the County Clerk of Cook County. File No. D12129458 on the 14th day of March, 2012. Under the Assumed Name of Taylor Maid For You with the business located at 3045 Bernice Road, Apt. 2s Olympia Fields, IL 60438. The true name(s) and residence address of the owner(s) is LaToya K. Burkhalter, 8354 S. Maryland, Chicago, IL 60619, Tanesha T. Taylor, 3045 Bernice Road, Apt. 2s Olympia Fields, IL 60438.

LEGAL NOTICE STATE OF INDIANA

) IN THE MONROE COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT ) SS: COUNTY OF MONROE ) JUVENILE DIVISION In the Matter of: CIARA LEWIS A Child Alleged to be a Child In Need of Service AND Tamika Lewis, Mother and Morese Brown, Alleged Father

) ) ) ) ) ) )

Cause No: 53C07-1112-JC-000873 SUMMONS FOR SERVICE BY PUBLICATION & NOTICE OF CHILD IN NEED OF SERVICES HEARING

TO: MORESE BROWN NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN to the above noted parent, whose whereabouts are unknown, and who is the alleged parent of Ciara Lewis (date of birth March 3, 2006), that the Indiana Department of Child Services has filed its Verified Petition Alleging the Child to be in Need of Services, in accordance with Indiana Code 31-34-9-3, and that an adjudication hearing has been scheduled with the Court.

THE ADJUDICATION HEARING at which Morese Brown must appear is scheduled for the 11th day of June 2012, at 3:00 pm at the Monroe County Court, 301 North College Ave, Bloomington, IN 47404. At said hearing, the court will consider the Petition and evidence thereon and will render its decision as to whether above named minor child(ren) is/are a child(ren) in need of services and shall enter adjudication accordingly.

UPON ENTRY OF SAID ADJUDICATION, A DISPOSITIONAL HEARING will be held in which the Court will consider: (1) Alternatives for the care, treatment, or rehabilitation for the child; (2) The necessity, nature, and extent of your participation in the program of care, treatment, or rehabilitation for the child; and, (3) Your financial responsibility for any services provided for the parent, guardian, or custodian of the child, including child support.

YOU MUST RESPOND by appearing in the case in person or by attorney within thirty (30) days after the last publication of this notice, and in the event you fail to do so, an adjudication on said petition and a dispositional decree may be entered against you without further notice.

THE ATTORNEY REPRESENTING THE INDIANA DEPARTMENT OF CHILD SERVICES, is Michael D. LoPrete, #28286-49, Monroe County Local Office, 1717 W. 3rd Street, Bloomington, IN 47404.

Date this 27 day of March 2012. __________________________________ Clerk of Monroe County

Blacks Must control their own coMMunity

Saturday, April 14, 2012

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CALL 773-752-2500 TO PLACE YOUR WANT AD 18

Saturday, April 14, 2012

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The Chicago Crusader

HEALTH

Secretary of State launches organ, tissue donation campaign Secretary of State Jesse White urged all Illinoisans to join the state’s organ and tissue donor registry, following the unveiling of an ad campaign featuring Vikki Tulcus, a long-time advocate of the organ/tissue donor program, who now finds herself in need of a kidney.

“This campaign shows that you never know when you or someone close to you may need for an organ transplant,” White said.

“Vikki has been working with the organ donor program for almost 10 years, helping donor and recipient families as well as those who are waiting for transplants.

Now Vikki finds herself in the same position as 5,000 others in Illinois who are waiting---she’s waiting for the generosity of an organ donor to save her life.”

Currently there are more than five million people registered to become organ/tissue donors in Illinois, however more than 300 people die each year waiting for an organ transplant.

April is National Donate Life Month. Organizations will be working together to promote organ and tissue donor awareness throughout the state. Television

and radio ads will air statewide throughout the month in English and Spanish. The ad will also be played on approximately 650 movie screens across the state.

In the ad, Vikki, who currently works for the Secretary of State’s Organ/Tissue Donor program, says, “Before my job depended on the organ donor program, now my life depends on it.” The spot features the song “I’ll Stand

by You” by the Pretenders.

Illinoisans can register by visiting LifeGoesOn.com, calling the Illinois Secretary of State Organ/Tissue Donor Program at 1800-210-2106, or while obtaining or renewing an Illinois driver’s license or state identification card at any state driver’s license facility.

White will attend events throughout Illinois to encourage donation. Libraries are distributing organ and tissue donation materials and hosting donor drives. Donor drives and displays will be featured at health fairs, health clubs, schools, universities and hospitals statewide.

Donate Life Illinois partners include the American Liver Foundation-Illinois, Biological Re-

The Chicago Crusader

Blacks Must control their own coMMunity

SECRETARY OF STATE Jesse White urged all Illinoisans to join the state’s organ and tissue donor registry, following the unveiling of an ad campaign featuring Vikki Tulcus, a long-time advocate of the organ/tissue donor program, who now finds herself in need of a kidney. Both are pictured above. Currently there are more than five million people registered to become organ/tissue donors in Illinois, however more than 300 people die each year waiting for an organ transplant. Illinoisans can register by visiting LifeGoesOn.com. source Center of Illinois, Gift of Hope Organ & Tissue Donor Network , Heartland Lions Eye Bank ,Illinois Eye-Bank, Illinois

Secretary of State Organ/Tissue Donor Program, LifeSource, Mid-America Transplant Services Musculoskeletal Transplant

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Foundation, National Kidney Foundation of Illinois and the National Marrow Donor Program.

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Saturday, April 14, 2012

Blacks Must control their own coMMunity

The Chicago Crusader