**chicago Crusader 05/10/14 E-Edition

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY www.chicagocrusader.com

Blacks Must Control Their Own Community

To The Unconquerable Host of Africans Who Are Laying Their Sacrifices Upon The Editorial Altar For Their Race AUDITED BY

•C•P•V•S•

VOLUME LXXIV NUMBER 3—SATURDAY, MAY 10, 2014

PUBLISHED SINCE 1940

25 Cents and worth more

McHugh Construction settles scam lawsuit

By Glenn Reedus Even though several women and Blackowned construction companies were slated to be involved on major projects based in Chicago’s African-American community, they were shut out of the work by a whiteowned, big-time construction company.

Described in a recent lawsuit as “politically connected,” James McHugh Construction, headquartered in the South Loop, created two sham companies— Perdel Contracting, Corp. and Accurate Steel Installers, Inc.—to divert about $50 million of $150 million in federal and state grants away from the minority-owned firms.

McHugh’s scam, according to Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, included construction work in Chicago on the Washington Boulevard and Monroe Street viaducts over Interstate 90/94; the Wacker (Continued on page 16)

THE CTA’S RED LINE expansion project was one of more than a half-dozen contracts James McHugh Construction Co. was accused of using a sham company to win and divert jobs from minority and women-owned companies.

Peace celebration for mothers at DuSable Museum

By Wendell Hutson Cleopatra Cowley-Pendleton, mother of slain teenager Hadiya Pendleton, said even though she is still coping with the murder of her only daughter, she plans to attend the second annual Mother’s Peace March and Celebration at the DuSable Museum of African American History.

“I am here still dealing with it. This will be the second Mother’s Day I have to spend without her, but I know, in time, the pain in my heart will heal,” Cowley-Pendleton told the Crusader. “It’s comforting to know that other mothers, who have lost their children to violence, will also be there to support one another.”

Hosted by the nonprofit organization, EarthHeart Foundation, the event is from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 10 at the museum, 740 E. 56th Place. A march through nearby neighborhoods will take place from noon to 1 p.m., followed by a program with speakers, including Cowley-

CRUSADERNEWSPAPERGROUP

@CRUSADERNEWSPAP

NATHANIEL AND CLEOPATRA COWLEY-PENDLETON, parents of slain teenager Hadiya Pendleton, plan to attend the second annual Mother’s Peace March and Celebration May 10 at the DuSable Museum of African American History.

Pendleton and Robin Robinson, a former news anchor for Fox 32 News.

The foundation’s “Mother of Magnitude” award, will be given to a woman for her outstanding work towards peace and justice in her community. Organizers say the event was created as a way to bring women together to help solve challenges they may face.

“The Mothers’ Peace Celebration was inspired by the actions of peace activist women of the last centuries. Mother’s Day was actually started by women like Julia Howe (who wrote the Battle Hymn of the Republic) and Alice Jarvis at the end of the Civil War as a day to celebrate peace and reclaim their sons from the horrors of war,” said Deirdre Koldyke, founder of the EarthHeart Foundation.

“And, that’s what we are here to do as well—reclaiming our children from the violence that harms them; reclaiming the day for the meaning that goes beyond the cards (Continued on page 2)

INSIDE THIS ISSUE Steve and Marjorie Harvey Foundation is youth friendly (See story on page 11)

NEWS

JET Magazine makes major change ending print edition next month

By J. Coyden Palmer The magazine that many Black people grew up with on the cocktail table in the living room and in hair salons and barbershops around the country will no longer be as we know it. JET Magazine announced on May 7 they will be switching to an all digital format at the end of June. Johnson Publishing Company (JPC) is making the proactive decision to adapt to the changing needs of its readers as their desire to get information quickly and easily increases, according to a statement released by the company.

The magazine was first published in 1951 by JPC founder John Johnson. JET is currently the third largest African American magazine with a subscription base of 700,000, according to JPC. Officials say they do not want long-term readers to think of this as the end of JET, but rather a shift to make it better and more accessible.

“There is more news and far less time to read it,” said Linda Johnson Rice, chairman of JPC. “We are not saying goodbye to JET, we are embracing the future as my father did in 1951 and taking it to the next level.”

With the switch, JET will be trying to capture more of the 18-35 year old market, which by far prefers digital over hardcopy, according to recent studies. That market is important to the growth of any business and with limitless media choices, the board chairman of JPC said it was a decision that needed to be

made.

“The JET magazine online presence is continuing to grow, and JPC feels strongly we can provide great and timely content to our readers with the first weekly digital magazine app in the African-American space,” said Desiree Rogers, CEO of JPC. However, longtime readers the Crusader spoke with had mixed reviews. Larry Collins of Avalon Park said he will miss the hardcopy version even though he is not a subscriber.

Collins said when he visits his barber every other Saturday, he usually reads JET while he is waiting.

“I mean JET is the conversation starter in my barbershop. Sometimes I will walk in and there will be a hot debate about something they read and I just join in the fray,” Collins said. “And as a guy, of course we want to see who the ‘Beauty of the Week’ is. It will be hard to do that now, if not impossible. I understand why they are doing it but I’m still sad to see it go.”

Another longtime reader is 21 year-old Spencer Watkins. He said he grew up with JET and Ebony magazines as his parents are subscribers. He said it will be strange not seeing the magazine around his parents’ house but he thinks if the content is just as good in the online version, it will not be a problem.

“JET is not the first magazine I read, but I do read it,” Watkins said.

“I will download their app and read it on my phone or on the computer at work when I’m interested.

But others like Sylvia Hammond, a retired teacher, said the magazine was how she would often teach students how to read. Hammond said JET was something interesting to young people and when you are trying to teach them how to read, it was always good to have something of interest around the classroom.

“It was not required reading and I never used it as a replacement for the textbook but it was a good addition to have magazines throughout the classroom,” Hammond said. “Anything I could do to encourage reading I did. I also think many of the positive images about Black people that the kids saw in JET was very important and allowed them to dream about their future. These are things the mayor and education leaders don’t understand when they put such an emphasis on data and test scores.”

The new app, which will be available for tablets and all mobile devices, will be updated weekly, and will offer breaking news daily. It will include video interviews, 3-D charts and archival photos. Currently, JET has 10,000 digital-only subscribers, according to Rogers. Those subscribers will receive instructions on how to get the new app and continue receiving Jet. People who choose not to go with the digital version will have the option of converting over to the Ebony hardcopy. Rogers added that there are no plans to switch Ebony over to an exclusively online format and said the magazine is doing fine financially.

JET MAGAZINE FOR more than 60 years has featured some of Black America’s most popular entertainers, politicians and sports figure. The weekly magazine is widely known for its centerfold Beauty of the Week photograph.

Nigerian Government Fails Our Missing Girls – and Our Country Oluwa Tosin Adegbola reflects on crisis back home.

By Oluwa Tosin Adegbola NNPA Guest Columnist The cold facts stare us in our face: Fact 1: More than 300 girls were abducted from the rural northeast region of Nigeria on April 15 while attending secondary school; 276 are still believed to be held captive.

Fact 2: The federal government has yet to forcibly intervene to get our girls back.

The issue isn’t just that the government hasn’t fully addressed this atrocity, the deeper questions are: What decisive action is necessary to put a stop to what is becoming a normal occurrence?

Does the Nigerian government have what it takes and what it needs to make this happen?

Results of a search on the activities of Boko Haram leaves a sickening feeling in your stomach. A deeper void settles in the pit of your stomach when you search for responses from the government regarding this latest tragedy. And the response? Silence. Dead Silence. It’s hard not to wonder why, and it becomes a little easier to understand the 2

Saturday, May 10, 2014

Oluwa Tosin Adegbola seeming apathy from Nigerians home and abroad.

I called my sister, Temitope George, because I could not help but think of my niece. She is a mother of two sons and a daughter living in Lagos whose words echoed what I had heard from almost every Nigerian I had spoken to, “’So what’s next?’… ‘We’ve begun to expect it’ … It’s a terrible state. Nigeria is fast becoming like a woman in an abusive relationship … ‘It’s terrible, but a reality.’” I have yet to speak to a Nigerian who doesn’t know someone who has been personally affected by a killing or kidnapping in the hands of the terrorist group.

The mass killings in Nigeria read like

a bad dream, a dream that no one is waking up from, and the next chapter is only written to outdo itself in numbers of casualties it leaves behind.

The reports show that this is indeed the highest number of persons targeted by the Islamic radical group. And perhaps that is why many Nigerians who have taken to social media to express their despair with the situation are invariably asking, “What number will become too outrageous.”

It appears that the latest transgression has garnered the most voluminous commentary. Not the 59 boys attending boarding school that were killed in February 2014. Not the 40 killed in September 2013. Not the 185 killed in January 2012. This is all too familiar.

Lest I point any fingers of apathy towards anyone, I too, a Nigerian living in the United States have become apathetic. Did I hear about the prior killings? Yes, I did. Did I decry it publicly as I am doing now? Regretfully, I did not. Did I act? Again, no. I heard or read each headline, shook my head, expressed my disdain within my own small circles, and that was that.

Why was my reaction to this one different?

The truth is, as with each prior occurrence, when this one happened, my

THE 5,000 MILES between First Lady Michelle Obama and the site of the kidnapping of more than 200 Nigerian teenaged girls three weeks ago did not deter her from sending a strong social media message. initial reaction was the same. However, ents’ faces, brought me to tears. Tears of each time I heard the number – 234 – anger. Reading that a group of women, (albeit not officially confirmed), there who had already marched once before, was a rage building within me. I found were marching again on April 30, demyself scouring the Internet for any manding some response from the government, I turned to social media with new updates.

There was a false claim within a cou- the desire to join or start a campaign to ple of days of abductions that the girls support them and give voice to the were home. However, when parents of girls.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t a lot. My the girls started lashing out in pain at such falsehood, the statement was later desire was simple and my questions endless. First, everyone needs to know retracted.

(Continued on page 3) Seeing the helplessness on the par-

BLACKS MUST CONTROL THEIR OWN COMMUNITY

www.chicagocrusader.com

NEWS

Renowned band director leaving Rich South

By J. Coyden Palmer The man who has sent dozens of African American high school musicians to colleges on scholarships will be leaving his post as band director at a south suburban high school later this month.

Yolandus “Y. L.” Douglas, who during his tenure at Rich South took the band to the Olympics in London in 2012 and Washington D.C. to march in the inauguration day parade, will now be taking his talents to Thornridge High School in Dolton. Douglas leaves Rich South after eight years. Douglas said the opportunity to fill the position at Thornridge, his alma mater; along with a change in the program at Rich South are the reasons for his move.

“The opportunity to return to Thornridge and become the band director there is a great honor,” said Douglas earlier this week at a party thrown in his honor. “I mean this is where I graduated from and I will be replacing the man who was my band director in high school. That is something very special to me.”

Douglas will replace the retiring

David Eanes. Eanes has been at Thornridge for the 27 years and said it is time for him to move on and allow another the opportunity. He said Douglas’ hiring will increase the profile of the band tremendously and the students will benefit from his knowledge.

He also said having one of his former students move into his role is very fulfilling.

Douglas said curriculum changes at Rich South also play a role in his departure. Because band is an elective and there are so many required core courses, Douglas said he fears he will lose many kids because of logistics.

“There are only so many classes a student can take,” he explained.

“Obviously they will concentrate on the core required courses, which makes it hard to convince those who really are not into music from the start to give it a try.”

During a 2012 interview with the Crusader, Douglas said many of the students he helped get scholarships at Rich South knew nothing about music as freshmen when they joined the band. He said music helps students with math and teaches them how to work with others because the

Nigerian Government . . .

(Continued from page 2) about this. Second, why has international media not covered this as vigorously as the coverage of the missing Malaysian flight 370? Why are world leaders just beginning to decry this outrageous occurrence? Has the government reached out to the families?

What support is being given to the families? Finally, what will it take to end this?

Moreover, what will the noise accomplish? Regardless of some Nigerians lashing out at the government and accusing them of inaction, one has to respect the reality that to effectively shut down an extremist radical group such as Boko Haram, is no easy task. However, what many Nigerians like myself are seeking is a show of humanity from the government through it all. A public acknowledgment of the pain, despair,

helplessness and anger felt by the families would be a step in the right direction. The noise therefore, of persons who are campaigning on social media, organizing rallies and reaching out to the families, is to let the family know that we care. That we understand that this is unacceptable and that we stand with them in solidarity, seeking an end to these atrocities.

Public silence, even if there is action behind the scenes, cannot be the answer from the Nigerian federal government. Too much is at stake.

RICH SOUTH BAND Director Y.L. Douglas is leaving the school after eight years to take the same position at Thornridge High School in Dolton. Douglas graduated from Thornridge in 1989. During his time at Rich South, Douglas’ students were awarded over a million dollars in college scholarships. His band has performed for President Obama, the Summer Olympics in London and in 2011 at the Chick-Fil-A Bowl. band itself is a team. Douglas said he was disappointed that many school districts were cutting funding or disbanding music programs all together in an effort to balance budgets.

“I think we have to continue to push music to our kids. It is such

an important part of the African American culture. And there are so many students who may not excel in traditional academic courses but when they get into music, they find their niche; something they love and can use it to get into college or give them a

career skill as musicians,” Douglas said.

During his tenure at Rich South, the band received $15 million in scholarship monies. At its peak the band had 106 members.

Currently the membership is under 40, according to Douglas.

Oluwa Tosin Adeqbola is an associate professor and chair of the Department of Strategic Communication in the School of Global Journalism and Communications at Morgan State University. She can be reached at oluwatosin.adegbola@morgan.edu.

Peace celebration . . .

(Continued from page 1) and candy.” together to express our hope and An EarthHeart member said the willingness to work for peace.” foundation works throughout the Sunday marks the second Mothyear to bring peace to the lives of er’s Day Cowley-Pendleton said everyone especially mothers. she will have to spend without her “Throughout the year, we, in daughter, Hadiya, a student a EarthHeart and elsewhere, engage King College Prep, who was shot in endless actions and discussions and killed Jan. 29, 2013. to aid our children and communi“I am used to having her with ty,” shared Lori James. “Our me on this day. It was always ‘our’ Mothers’ Peace Celebration pro- day, but now she is no longer vides a once-a-year opportunity to here,” added Cowley-Pendleton. come together and let every “Mother’s Day will never be the mother and child and father come same for me.” www.chicagocrusader.com

BLACKS MUST CONTROL THEIR OWN COMMUNITY

Saturday, May 10, 2014

3

EDITORIAL

EDITORIAL

300 AFRICAN MOTHERS Mother’s Day 2014 will be observed on Sunday, May 11 in the United States. This holiday has been celebrated since 1908, and this year marks the 106th year of its observance. It started with Anna Jarvis who, in 1908, held a memorial for her mother. Since that time, people all over the world celebrate maternal bonds and the influence of mothers on society, including god mothers, foster mothers, and other primary nurturers.

This year, however, a number of mothers are experiencing very, very troubling times. Every mother who has lost a child to urban violence will experience a bittersweet observance. Shocking, however, is the grief that a large number of African mothers are facing this year due to the abduction of 276 girls from a Nigerian school on April 15. According to Nigerian authorities, at least 53 of the girls escaped, which leaves 223 still in captivity at press time. It has been said that 2 of the girls have died from snake bites, and 20 or more are ill. (Nigerian police have said that more than 300 girls were actually abducted).

The group claiming responsibility for this incredible deed is Boko Haram, an Islamist terrorist group allegedly with ties to Al Qaida. The leader of the group, Abubakar Shekau, said in an hour-long video, “I abducted your girls. I will sell them in the market, by Allah.” “There is a market for selling humans. Allah says I should sell. He commands me to sell. I will sell women. I sell women.” (The name Boko Haram means “Western Education is a sin.” This is perhaps a clue as to why the girls were abducted from an institution of learning). Shekau further stated, “Girls, you should go and get married.”

A number of people have criticized the need for special observances dedicated to women, averring that women have attained the respect for which they have long sought. But this latest attack on womanhood should dispel this notion. This blatant disregard for women and girls is currently reverberating around the planet.

It has set off a firestorm of controversy and indignation among many conscious people, and demonstrations have been had to call attention to this horrible crime.

Every girl that was abducted has a mother, had a mother, or will at some time in life possibly become a mother. Mothers are the bearers of civilization; they carry the future in their wombs. The traumatized girls who have been kidnapped will no doubt carry memories of this event with them for the rest of their lives. Moreover, when they, themselves bear children, this trauma can pass on to them, which can cause the devolvement of society.

On another note, it is no secret that the trafficking of women and girls is going on at an increasing pace in the United States and other places around the globe. Slavery is alive and well. Ironically, this latest incident, the kidnapped Nigerian girls, happened on the African continent and was perpetrated by Africans! Womanhood, and by extension, motherhood, is being attacked. The womb is being attacked! What those who are committing these crimes don’t realize is that these acts will come back to haunt them in the form of dysfunctional families and other social ills.

One other thing; the fact that girls are being denied education that would help them navigate away from their circumstances toward better lives is absolutely horrendous. Concerned people everywhere need to rise up in opposition to this descent into certain hell for a significant number of women and girls. With this said, have a safe and thoughtful MOTHER’S DAY! 4

Saturday, May 10, 2014

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR April 30, 2014 Dear Veterans: As we celebrate Memorial Day, Flag Day and Independence Day, I would like our veterans and their families to consider the security of one of the most important documents they possess, their DD-214 military discharge records.

One year ago this Flag Day, my office celebrated the opening of our Veterans Services Office. This was a very proud moment for me, because my family has a proud history of serving this nation. My father and husband have served - as well as my brother and sister - and my son presently serves this great nation as a Captain in the United States Army.

As we honor those who served before us and serve us now, I want to urge all veterans to safeguard their DD-214 military discharge records with the Cook County Recorder of Deeds-Veterans Service Office. This document is proof of your honorable service, and is what is required to apply for your well-deserved benefits such as medical care, educational benefits, and VA loans for housing, among others.

In a time of need, wouldn’t you like the peace of mind that your family can access these valuable documents in a safe and secure fashion if they are ever lost? Letting them know, in advance, that our office has a copy can save them time and worry, especially if you are unable to communicate to them the location of this document. We

record the DD-214 and provide you a certified copy, both for free, and if you or a member of your family ever need to retrieve a certified copy of a DD-214 that you have recorded, it is only $1.25.

Many times, when I attend veteran’s events, I am asked about the security of recorded DD-214s. I want to take this opportunity to allay any fears you may have about this. All DD-214s are protected from public view, and are available only to the person named in the document, the named person’s dependents, the county veteran’s service officer, and representatives from the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs. DD214s stored in my office are not public records.

Veterans may record their DD214s at our Downtown Chicago Office at 118 N. Clark, or at any of the courthouses conveniently located in Cook County. These locations are in Bridgeview, Markham, Maywood, Rolling Meadows and Skokie (at this time, certified copies are only available at our Downtown Office). If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at (312) 603-5788 or visit Cook Recorder.com.

I want to thank all our veterans and their families for the sacrifices they have made in order to protect our freedoms at home, and spread the message of hope and peace throughout the world. I also want to wish everyone a safe and happy summer.

BLACKS MUST CONTROL THEIR OWN COMMUNITY

Sincerely, Karen A. Yarbrough, Recorder of Deeds

We need to re-work some definitions Dear Editor The tragic and senseless killing of a teenager by a 14-year-old girl and her uncle’s role in the shooting has me thinking we need to re-define at least one title and definition in our society.

The first one is uncle. I don’t know (Continued on page 17)

CHICAGO CRUSADER (U.S.P.S. 596080)

Editor-Publisher

Dorothy R. Leavell Advertising Director

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. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

VOL. LXXIV NO. 3 MAY 10, 2014 _______________________________________________________________________________________

Published Weekly NATIONAL ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE

New Concept Media Service P.O. Box 377946 Chicago, IL 60637 Member National Newspaper Publishers Association __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Subscription Rates - $25 Per Year $14.00 for 6 months $44.00 for 2 years

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Periodicals Paid at Chicago, IL POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: THE CHICAGO CRUSADER 6429 South King Drive Chicago, IL 60637

www.chicagocrusader.com

COMMENTARY

Let’s Save Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

Beyond The Rhetoric

By Harry C. Alford NNPA Columnist

My time in Washington has given me a real primer on the phrase “flavor of the week.” This week, all of the buzz in the nation’s capital is housing. Specifically, the Senate Banking Committee is set to consider Johnson-Crapo, a significant piece of legislation that would completely reconstruct the housing finance system as we know it, eliminate Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In their place, the bill would create a new government-backed mortgagebond insurer and regulatory agency called the Federal Mortgage Insurance Corporation (FMIC) to oversee the secondary mortgage market.

But since there is no African-American member of the Senate Banking Committee, it is worth reviewing why this issue is so important to millions of current and prospective African American homeowners – and why the current proposal is a dangerous one.

In the past five years, the privatelyowned, publicly-traded Fannie and Freddie have been central to bringing stability to the federal housing market, with a full return to profitability earlier this year. But with Johnson-Crapo, Congress is threat-

Harry C. Alford ening to jeopardize that stability and undo years of resilience from American taxpayers. That’s the wrong direction.

Instead, Congress should be looking to bolster that stability by expanding access to and ensuring affordability of homeownership for all Americans – and especially for underserved communities.

The problems that African American and minority borrowers face obtaining access to mortgage credit are well-documented, and should not be a surprise to members of Congress. According to a report in the

Washington Times, home loans have been tough to get for most Americans since the crisis, as banks severely tightened lending standards and caused millions of consumers to go into default and lose their good credit ratings. The credit crunch has been especially harsh for minority communities hit disproportionately by foreclosures. In fact, only 131,000 Black families obtained mortgages in 2012, compared with nearly 600,000 in 2005 before the crisis, according to the Urban Institute Center for Housing Finance Policy. And overall, the share of Black borrowers dropped from 8 percent to 4.8 percent over the overall market in that time, and Hispanic borrowers dropped from 13.3 percent of purchases to 8.6 percent.

As written, Johnson-Crapo does not address these underlying structural concerns to the housing finance market. And per reporting by the Washington Times, some Democrats on the Banking Committee realize that fact, as they’ve asked to revise the legislation to add mandates that would require private lenders to offer loans to Hispanics, Blacks and other disadvantaged groups. The fact that these requests have been met with resistance is troubling.

At best, this legislation would preserve a status quo that keeps the

dream of homeownership out of the grasp of countless middle- and lower-income African American families.

That’s not a real reform effort – it’s an affront to the taxpayers who supported Fannie and Freddie, and who are looking for leadership from Congress to give them an honest shot at pursuing the dream of American homeownership.

The only meaningful reform is one that serves all Americans – especially those who have been locked out of homeownership through no fault of their own. Preserving and strengthening Fannie and Freddie only expands opportunity and brings more qualified borrowers into the system.

It’s a goal that makes sense for borrowers and lenders, builders and brokers, and hard-hit communities looking to come back from a foreclosure nightmare. What’s more, broadening access to homeownership, by encouraging the responsible use of credit, is an important step for driving entrepreneurship – one of the nation’s economic engines, and one the administration has dedicated ample resources to jumpstarting.

When used properly the mortgage financing process via Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was a beautiful and productive transaction. As a

former real estate broker let me say that if you follow the rules to the program things were locked tight and guaranteed to work. What happened is that more than a few banks and Wall Street decided to stretch the rules or just break them down right. Sooner or later the “jig” was going to be exposed and the bottom fell out. Tragedy came to many homeowners who were persuaded to take these subprime mortgage packages. They have paid the price severely.

Let’s not close the book and kill off Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It works if done properly. Let’s clean up the mess and begin to once again do it right. The intent should be to safeguard the process.

Years after the financial crash, our elected leaders surely know they have one chance to get housing reform right. Doing so requires fidelity to two broad principles: expanding opportunity, and ensuring stability of the markets. Johnson-Crapo fails to meet both of these goals, and moving forward with this ill-conceived bill would risk doing more harm than good.

Mr. Alford is the Co-Founder, President/CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce®.

Website: www.nationalbcc.org Email: halford@nationalbcc.org

The Question No One is Asking Donald Sterling

By George E. Curry NNPA Columnist Why would a white racist have sex with a person of color?

That’s the question that few people in the media want to raise, let alone address. But it is an age-old contradiction not limited to Donald Sterling, the hate spewing soonto-be former owner of the Los Angeles Clippers.

Beginning with slavery in the original colonies – even earlier in Africa with the arrival of European colonizers – white men have forced themselves on Black women. Caucasian men from Thomas Jefferson on the left to South Carolina Senator and longtime arch-segregationist Strom Thurmond on the right have projected one image in public while having sex – even children – with Black women under the cover of darkness. They were talking white (superiority) while sleeping Black.

I don’t for a moment pretend to know how to explain this obvious contraction. But in the case of Thomas Jefferson, the chief author of the Declaration of Independence, contradictions became a way of life long before he bedded and had children with Sally Hemings, a Black woman.

Jefferson will forever be inextricably linked to these words in the Dewww.chicagocrusader.com

claration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

At the time our Founding Fathers were proclaiming unalienable rights from God, most of them were enslaving God’s dark-skin creations. Jefferson enslaved nearly 200 African Americans.

As Columbia University history professor Eric Foner wrote, “Slaves, of course, experienced the institution of politics and law quite differently from white Americans. Before the law, slaves were property who had virtually no legal rights. They could be bought, sold, leased and seized to satisfy an owner’s debt, their family ties had no legal standing, and they could not leave the plantation or hold meetings without permission from their owner.”

And white owners did not need anyone’s permission to violate Black women.

Jefferson began having sex with Sally Hemings, one of his domestic servants, when she was a teenager. The Thomas Jefferson Foundation acknowledges that it “and most historians believe that, years after his wife’s death, Thomas Jefferson was the father of the six children of Sally Hemings mentioned in Jefferson’s records,

George E. Curry including Beverly, Harriet, Madison and Eston Hemings.”

South Carolina, like Virginia, had laws prohibiting both interracial marriage and intercourse between Blacks and whites. If a free Black man had sex with a white woman in South Carolina during the Colonial period, he would automatically lose his freedom, according to Judge A. Leon Higginbothan, Jr.’s book, “In the Matter of Color.”

Years later, Strom Thurmond’s interracial dalliances would represent the height of hypocrisy.

Running for president in 1948 on the Dixiecrat ticket he said: “I want to tell you, ladies and gentlemen, there’s not enough troops in the army to force the Southern people to break down segregation and accept

the Negro into our theaters, into our swimming pools, into our homes and into our churches.”

Fifty years ago, Thurmond led the filibuster against the 1964 Civil Rights Act, still the longest debate in Senate history.

Thurmond referred to Negroes as “nigras.” But while publically despising Blacks, he had a different attitude in the bedroom, impregnating his parents’16-year-old maid. The daughter of that encounter, Essie WashingtonWilliams, wrote in her autobiography, “As much as I wanted to belong to him, I never felt like a daughter, only an accident.”

Armstrong Williams, a Black conservative who began working for Thurmond in 1978, recalled the senator confirming he was WashingtonWilliams’ biological father.

“The subject came up again while the senator and I were attending a South Carolina State football game in Orangeburg. He mentioned how he had arranged for Mrs. Williams to attend the college while he was governor…,” Williams wrote. “‘When a man brings a child in the world, he should take care of that child,’ he told me, and added, ‘She’ll never say anything and neither will you. Not while I’m alive.’”

And neither did – until after Thurmond’s death.

Considering the history of Thomas Jefferson and Strom Thurmond, no

BLACKS MUST CONTROL THEIR OWN COMMUNITY

one should have been surprised when Donald Sterling told his mistress, who described herself has part Mexican and part Black: “It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you’re associating with Black people. Do you have to?…You can sleep with [Black people]. You can bring them in, you can do whatever you want. The little I ask you is not to promote it on that … and not to bring them to my games…

“I’m just saying, in your lousy f******* Instagrams, you don’t have to have yourself with, walking with Black people…Don’t put him (Magic Johnson) on an Instagram for the world to have to see so they have to call me. And don’t bring him to my games.”

Donald Sterling, far from being a rarity, simply added another link to the long, scandalous U.S. history of hypocrisy.

George E. Curry, former editorin-chief of Emerge magazine, is editor-in-chief of the National Newspaper Publishers Association News Service (NNPA.) He is a keynote speaker, moderator, and media coach. Curry can be reached through his website, www.georgecurry.com. You can also follow him at www.twitter.com/currygeorge and George E. Curry Fan Page on Facebook.

Saturday, May 10, 2014

5

COMMENTARY

MALCOLM X COMMEMORATION AND AFRICAN LIBERATION DAY CELEBRATION: PART II

Dr. Conrad Worrill, Director/Professor, Carruthers Center for Inner City Studies (CCICS) located at 700 East Oakwood Blvd, Chicago, Illinois, 60653, 773-268-7500, Fax: 773-268-3835 E-mail: c-worrill@neiu.edu, Website: www.ccicschicago.org, Twitter: @CCICS_ Chicago.

Dr. Conrad Worrill This is the second of a two part series discussing the origin and development of African Liberation Day. The month of May is very important in the worldwide African Liberation Movement. Dur-

ing this month, throughout the African world Community, African Liberation Day (ALD) is celebrated.

It is important that African Liberation Day be a vehicle to continue to highlight the problems, challenges and the future of African people everywhere. The challenges facing Africa and African people worldwide require that we remain dedicated to the cause of Africa’s redemption and liberation. One way we can continue to showcase that dedication is to actively participate in all of the African Liberation Day activities throughout the world.

On Saturday, May 17, 2014 the Jacob H. Carruthers Center for Inner City Studies is sponsoring the Malcolm X Commemoration and African Liberation Day Celebration. The featured guest lecturer will be Dr. Marimba Ani, anthropologist, African Studies Scholar, and author of Yurugu: An African Centered Critique of European Cultural Thought and Behavior.

Additionally, the day’s activities will include a performance by TIMELESS GIFTS, Joan Collaso’s Youth Program for the Performing Arts, video footage of Malcolm X and ALD Celebrations, and messages of solidarity from organizations in the African Community of Chicago. The program will be held at CCICS, 700 East Oakwood

Boulevard from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

The colonial period in Africa, as well as the enslavement of African people who were captured and brought to North America, had a devastating impact on Africa and African people.

African people did not sit idly by. Just as we resisted our slave circumstances in America, African people resisted their colonial condition. Pan African meetings were called to plot strategy to end colonial rule. The Garvey Movement and the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) galvanized African people worldwide to embrace the idea of African independence under “One God, One Aim, and One Destiny.” The Garvey period in our history, more than any other era, laid the foundation for what we now call African Liberation Day. African people began waging a battle to reclaim their lands. This has been a long and bitter struggle.

Resistance to white supremacy and colonial domination took many shapes and forms.

The Pan African meetings (19001945) provided a mechanism for a small group of African leaders to plan and plot strategy for African freedom. The Garvey Movement of the 1920s brought the idea of African freedom and independence to the masses of our people around the world. “Africa for the

Africans – At Home and Abroad,” was a slogan that captured the spirit of African people. This slogan gave a clear understanding of who we are as a people and what we should be struggling for.

It was not until the early 1950s that the first African country gained political independence in the movement to reclaim Africa. That country was Ghana, under the leadership of Kwame Nkrumah, who led the Ghanaian people to their fight against British colonialism. Shortly after this successful defeat of the British, Sekou Toure led the people of Guinea towards their independence from French colonialism. Right on the heels of this victory was the victory of Patrice Lumumba and the people of the Congo, who won the battle, for a brief moment, against Belgium.

This independence movement sparked an onslaught of African people reclaiming their territories and led to the formation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in May 1963. (This is why we celebrate ALD in May.) It was during this period that Malcolm X linked the struggle of African people in this country with the struggle of African people worldwide.

It is interesting to note that the Civil Rights Movement in this country was sparked in Montgomery (1955) at approximately

the same time the independence movement in Africa began (195657). The call for Black Power (1966) sparked a discussion in the Black Liberation Movement in America that placed the re-identification with Africa and African people on the Movement’s agenda, once again. This renewed a new phase of the Pan African Movement.

The call for support of our brothers and sisters fighting against the Portuguese in Angola, Mozambique, and Guinea Bissau led to the formation of the African Liberation Day held in the country on May 27, 1972 that attracted over 60,000 African people. African Liberation Day has become an institution in America since that time.

African Liberation Day is a day when all Black people should come together. As I have emphasized many times before, whether you were born in Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia, South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Jamaica, Belize, Bahia, Germany, England, France, Alabama, Georgia, or on 47th Street in Chicago, as long as you are Black, you are an African with a common heritage and a common set of conditions.

We must continue to fight against racism and white supremacy as we demand reparations for African people in America and worldwide.

COLD WINTER OR STALLED RECOVERY?

By Julianne Malveaux NNPA Columnist During 2013, the US economy experienced a reasonable level of growth. The 3.4 percent growth rate in the second half of 2013 represented a solid growth rate, not enough to trickle down to those who live at the periphery of the economy. Those with low or stagnant wages might find that their lives have not improved by 3.4 percent. Indeed, the gain from gross domestic product growth may mostly be captured by the wealthy.

The first quarter of 2014 was an amazing disappointment. Instead of the modest growth of 3.4 percent from the second half of 2013, the economy grew by just one tenth of one percent. This is one of the slowest growth rates in the five years of so-called economic recovery. Based on these data, the economy grew more than 300 times 6

Saturday, May 10, 2014

more slowly than it did in the last half of 2013. Some say we are growing at a snail’s pace, but even the most sluggish snail can do better than this!

Can we blame this stagnant economy on the harsh winter we have experienced? Between snow, hail, sleet and rain, housing starts have slowed. People who might hit the malls are staying home.

People aren’t buying cars at expected rates. Since consumer spending drives about three-quarters of our nation’s economic growth, postponed spending dampens growth. But consumer spending has not slowed as much as GDP has. Spending on health care (thanks to Obamacare) and on other services suggests that consumers have had mixed engagement as spenders.

On the other hand, businesses aren’t spending as much as they might, and their holding off on spending both makes it difficult

Dr. Julianne Malveaux for them to add employees to their payrolls. It also impacts GDP. What are these businesses waiting for to persuade them to invest in the economies that went into debt for their survival? Banks aren’t lending

as much as they might, and even consumer credit is tighter than it should be. Consumers are spending despite, not because of, sluggish economic growth.

Growth might be stronger if the job market were more robust. I’m writing before first Friday unemployment rates are released, but these rates, on the high side of six percent, are not likely to go below that level. Wages are stagnant.

Every measure that President Obama has introduced for job creation our Congress has rebuffed unemployment assistance. While economic growth is, at best, sluggish, there are many who have not experienced any recovery at all.

While macroeconomic indicators deal with overall issues of economic growth, few indicators are disaggregated by race or income status. The Obama initiatives to raise wages, lower unemployment and create jobs are important because they are modest ways to

BLACKS MUST CONTROL THEIR OWN COMMUNITY

spread the wealth and to ensure that economic growth is more evenly distributed. After all, we know that those at the top garnered the most gains from money thrown at them because they were “too big to fail.” Are those at the periphery just too small to survive?

We can’t have sustained economic growth when those who depend on banks to provide funds for economic expansion are shut down.

We won’t have sustained economic growth if (officially) one in 15 people, and one in eight African Americans cannot find work. Economic recovery is meaningless to someone who lost a home during the great recession, and is clawing back to survival. While those with mortgage challenges were promised relief, few of them have received it.

Some expect the economy to come roaring back in the second (Continued on page 17) www.chicagocrusader.com

GOSSIPTARY

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!

some mess called on her to “be there” and uphold her wifely duties. We wish First Lady Jenkins had used her conceal carry permit to bust a cap in his gospel singing bootie. But back to the tea…

As we tol’ yahll a while back, someone posted a photo of the man brushing his teeth in his birthday suit with

PREACHERS WIVES Just when you thought no one could top Bishop Henry Lyons and the Country Preacher in the marriage immorality department, little Charlie Jenkins of Fellowship Baptist Church fame may have topped them both.

And, once again, we is feeling sorry for his wife, who is left standing by her silly ass man, who had his way all day and then when he got caught up in

www.chicagocrusader.com

Charlie Jenkins what looked like his thumb stuck up his behind. We tol’ yahll that the people who posted that photo claimed some woman that Jenkins had fired was extoring him for $10,000 and was promising to release more photos if she wasn’t paid for her years of “service.” We also left a glimmer of hope

that the picture floating all over de world was actually a Photoshop of the Grammy-award winning preacher and that since he hadn’t said anything that maybe this was some kind of sick hoax on a very deserving Negro preacher. Well, weeks ago, we heard grumblings that little Charlie all but admitted he done been caught in compromising positions. Not one to gossip, de Chatterbox said we better hol’ up ‘cause dem ex-Fellowship worshippers got some kind of grudge against the “Awesome” preacher. Well, apparently, dey wasn’t lying when they said dis fool got up in his pulpit three weeks ago and with his wife by his side, told the congregation that he had been letting his God-given staff exorcise the demons out of the netherparts of some woman affiliated with his business-oritented ministry.

Well apparently, he took it too far and named the woman outright. He then claimed the sister was trying to blackmail him, but because God was an AWESOME God, that he was gonna stand strong against dis woman and keep on keeping on.

De only problem with it all is de woman wasn’t no fool and she came forward and told some friends who told some other friends who told one

more friend who told us dat she wasn’t the one who sent the picture. In fact, the woman seemed a little upset since, “looks lak dat (n-word) was cheating on me and his wife,” she is said to have said. But what’s even more startling than the text messages dis woman claim she got and is getting ready to share with the entire world, is the fact that a man is said to be ready to come forward and proclaim that Jenkins’ true mistress is a MISTER. Yes, dey are now saying this brother is the freak of the week and he will put Sampson and King Solomon to shame with the people he don’t done it with—or so the gossip people are saying. We find it hard to believe that Rahm Emanuel’s chief Negro preacher in charge is this reckless. But, there he was on Easter Sunday admitting his eight-year sin to the world. The woman say they ended on good terms so there wasn’t no need for her to put his private parts on the internet. Another person said, “Jenkins has been an embarrassment to Fellowship since he took it over 13 years ago. He ain’t nothing but a hustlin’ ass (n-word) who used that Joshua Generation foolishness on an aging old man (Clay Evans) and hustled his way into the helm of one of Chicago’s flagship

BLACKS MUST CONTROL THEIR OWN COMMUNITY

churches. This (n-word) ain’t (sword). He got all kinds of schemes and tricks and every Sunday he’s announcing some new project that needs funding. He opened up a fast food joint with a convicted felon and didn’t pay dem kids. Then he tried to start a clothing line. Then he wanted to launch a label and played people on that. Now he’s got this million dollar charter school he done hustled out the city—and he ain’t tell not one of us at FEED that’s what he was gonna do until the deal was cut. This cat ain’t (sword). He’s a hustler and a pimpin ass (n-word) who takes advantage of God’s people in order to elevate himself. He had a chick on the side for eight years. Not two years. Not one day. Eight years. At no point was he gonna say (s-word) to us until he got caught. That’s why Fellowship done lost about 3,500 people since he took over. We all at Greater Harvest. Only dem loyal Rev. Evans people is sticking with this fool because they trying to protect Rev. Evans’ legacy. We praying for him and his wife—who looked broken standing up there next to dat fool—like we pray for anybody who has their business put out there.

(Continued on page 9)

Saturday, May 10, 2014

7

COMMUNITY CALENDAR

LINCOLN PARK ZOO’S SECOND SATURDAYS GARDEN TOUR: On Saturday, May 10, at 10 a.m., join Lincoln Park Zoo’s Horticulture Department for a free garden tour. New plants and areas will be highlighted each month as they blossom with the seasons. Meet at the information kiosk at the Patio at Café Brauer. The cost is Free!

Lincoln Park Zoo is located at Cannon Drive & Fullerton Parkway. For more info visit: www.lpzoo.org CELEBRATE FIFTY YEARS OF FIERCE, FABULOUS FASHION! Don't miss the opportunity to experience the fashionable fifty-year legacy of the Ebony Fashion Fair exhibition at the Chicago History Museum. The legendary Ebony Fashion Fair Exhibit closes on Sunday, May 11. Come and explore the amazing couture collection from iconic designers such as Yves St. Laurent, Christian Dior, Oscar de la Renta, Emanuel Ungaro and so many other designers that graced the runway at the Ebony fashion shows. Come and discover how Eunice Johnson overcame adversity in order to bring designer fashion to African American communities, while raising millions of charitable dollars for civil rights initiatives, scholarships and hospitals in need of assistance. So gather your friends and family and make it a fun outing to the Chicago History Museum. Visit www.chicagohistory.org/inspiringbeauty for more information.

PIN-A-SISTER/EXAMINATE COMADRE: More Black and Latino women die from breast cancer than white women, even though more white women are diagnosed with the disease. Register for Access Community Health Network’s 8th Annual Pin-A-Sister™/Examinate Comadre™ ribbon-pinning event to help raise breast cancer awareness.

Faith-based and community organizations from around the city, state, nation and globally will join on or around Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 11, (May 10 in Mexico) to recognize those affected by breast cancer. To register, visit the website at www.pinasister.com or call Paulina Guzman at 312-526-2087.

PULL UP A CHAIR FOR ON THE TABLE: On Monday, May 12, thousands of Chicago-area residents-from Lake Forest to Park Forest and Streeterville to Warrenville will pull up a chair for communitywide conversations about our region's future as part of The Chicago Community Trust's On the Table initiative. The mission? To generate new ideas, inspire bold solutions and cultivate collaborations that advance our communities in the right direction. The Sun-Times plans to participate and we hope readers will 8

Saturday, May 10, 2014

consider hosting a small gathering in their neighborhoods and communities as well. The Chicago Community Trust is marking its 99th birthday with this imaginative public square and “invites you to join thousands of others to help re-imagine the Chicagoland region's future and renew our commitment to the communities we share. As the Trust prepares for its second century, the hope is these On the Table conversations will dissect, discuss, debate (with civility, of course) and ultimately define specific ways that we can work together to build and sustain strong, safe and dynamic communities.” The goal is to engage at least 1,000 individuals and organizations to host small (1012 people) mealtime conversation gatherings on Monday, May 12.

On the Table is closing in on reaching its goal of 1,000 hosts and 10,000 participants region-wide, but more hosts are still needed. Chicagoland residents from all walks of life are signing on to host these On the Table conversations over coffee, breakfast, lunch and/or dinner in homes, offices, parks, community centers, schools, restaurants and even one in a jail. All voices and ideas are important for this initiative. Visit OnTheTable2014.com to learn more and register to host an On the Table gathering of your own for Monday, May 12.

AUTHOR GREGORY JONES AT CPL’S MEET THE AUTHOR: In May, join the Chicago Public Library’s Whitney Young Branch, 7901 S. King Drive, as it hosts its springtime Meet the Author series. Meet and greet several emerging Chicago novelists and discover what inspires them as they read from and discuss their work. A question and answer session will follow the readings and books will be available for purchase at the events. On Tuesday, May 13, at 6 p.m., author Gregory Jones discusses his book The Last Lady Standing, a riveting biography of Maeola Barksdale and her long journey from the rural plantation fields of Arkansas to the urban mecca of Chicago during the Great Migration. Visit chicagopubliclibrary. org for more information.

ALEXANDER JIN PIANO RECITAL: Chicago Public Library, in cooperation with the Emilio del Rosario Foundation, hosts two piano recitals featuring a pair of accomplished teenage musicians. One of them will take place on Friday, May 16 at 12:15 p.m. in the Cindy Pritzker Auditorium of the Harold Washington Library Center, 400 S. State Street. Fourteen-year-old Alexander Jin was inspired by his grandfather, who was a composer, and has been very interested in music from an early age. For more information, visit chicagopubliclibrary.org.

ED MCELROY, (center) host of “The Ed McElroy Show,” recently interviewed Karen Yarbrough (left), Cook County Recorder of Deeds and Cliff Carlson (right), Publisher of Irish American News. That show will air at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, May 20 and again on Tuesday, May 27 on Comcast Channel 19. McElroy is Past National Commander of Catholic War Veterans, U.S.A. DISNEY EXHIBIT EXTEND- through August 3, 2014. From draw one of their favorite characters ED! D23 PRESENTS: TREA- Mickey Mouse to Mary Poppins to in the Animation Academy. The exSURES OF THE WALT DISNEY Captain Jack Sparrow, the exhibition hibit is not included in Museum ARCHIVES TO STAY AT MSI features more than 300 artifacts from Entry but can be added to an ExTHROUGH AUGUST 3, 2014: nine decades of Disney’s rich histo- plorer ticket package. D23 Gold Due to popular demand, the Muse- ry—including props, costumes, and Silver Members will receive a um of Science and Industry, located memorabilia, and artwork from clas- special discount on exhibit entry. at 5700 S. Lake Shore Drive in sic Disney animation, theme park at- For more information and to buy Chicago, is extending the run of tractions, television shows and live- tickets, visit msichicago.org. For Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives, action films. Hands-on activities more information about D23: The presented by D23: The Official Dis- allow kids and adults alike to explore Official Disney Fan Club, visit ney Fan Club. Guests will be able animation technology from all 53 D23.com. This exhibit is presented to enjoy the exhibit ONGOING Disney animated films and learn to by Walgreens.

Extended Coverage You check the weather report.

You look at the sky and try to gauge what the day will be like.

And if there is any doubt, you’ll probably take an umbrella. *** Smart move. And similar thinking goes for insurance, too. You’ve insured your house and your car, perhaps a boat and a motorcycle, too. But if there is a terrible accident, will your liability coverage be enough? You need an umbrella.

Milton E. Moses

*** Umbrella coverage? Of course!

You can count on us for complete insurance services at Community Insurance Center, Inc., 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@communityinsurance.com or visit the website at www.communityins.com.

*** An umbrella policy sits on top of all your other coverages and boosts the liability limits for them all. *** What’s the worst that can happen? That’s what an umbrella policy protects you against. And if you are sued for millions, the policy even covers legal costs. *** The best part is how little such protection costs, just a few hundred dollars vs. millions at stake.

Plan on coverage equal to one or two times your exposed net worth.

BLACKS MUST CONTROL THEIR OWN COMMUNITY

www.chicagocrusader.com

BUSINESS

A Billion Dollar Growth Industry: Debt Buying and Collection Abusive and predatory collection tactics now commonplace

By Charlene Crowell Are you or someone you know being pursued or harassed late into the evenings and on weekends by debt collectors? If so, research shows that you are among one in seven Americans being pursued by debt collection agencies.

In a newly-released chapter in its State of Lending series, the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) found that debt buying and debt collection is big, big business. Among publiclytraded debt buyers’ income grew from $582 million in 2009 to more than $1 billion in 2012.

And amid these billion dollar deals, scant regulation allows profiteers to take advantage of financially-distressed consumers, often securing court judgments for debts that may not even be owed. A 2009 Federal Trade Commission analysis of 3.9 million consumer accounts, found only six percent of the accounts came with any documentation.

The new report also cites a disproportionate impact on low and moderate income communities. Black communities were also found to have higher rates of debt buyer lawsuits and default judgments.

“The sheer lack of accountability in

But enough is enough. We gone hold these fools accountable. Jenkins needs to step down now. Recuse himself for ten years and get his life together. He can live off his hustles and his record dealings. We’re sick of this (n-word.)”

-ImaTONI WATCH We hear some big wigs are gearing up to “go have a talk” with Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. Dey aim is to make her run

this industry is astonishing,” said Lisa Stifler, CRL policy counsel and coauthor of the report. “There is no requirement to verify debt information or inform a consumer about the transfer of debt. Sometimes a consumer learns about a debt only after an onslaught of collection attempts – or worse – a judgment is entered and wages are garnished or a bank account is seized.”

Debt buyers, specializing in purchasing delinquent debts and charged-off accounts pick from a range of products and services: credit cards, auto loans, utility and phone bills, tax liens, medical services and more. Often times, the only information transferred in debt transactions are a name, last known address, and purported amount owed. Lenders that typically sell charged-off debts, offer these accounts “as is” without any assurances or guarantees to the data’s accuracy of amounts owed or collectability of the debts. Over the past few years, the 19 largest banks sold about $37 billion in charged-off debt each year.

The result is that many times, debt buyers attempt to collect from or sue the wrong people, overstate the amount, or even collect illegitimate debts.

he can disrupt it enough so she don’t win. He been playing dat part for years. Now dis group of Negroes is now saying this is Harold all over again and as long as a Tim Evans don’t pop up (noting that Doc Walls and Bob Shaw are no Gene Sawyer) dat she is de one for them. Except one person was overheard saying, “Look she ain’t gone be no better than Rahm. She’s one of them North Shore liberals and that’s who she runs with. But we’ll take her ass over Rahm any day. He wants too much for that little money he’s offering us to keep the Negroes in check. Toni is safe enough dat whites will vote for her and Blacks. Once she’s in, that’s another story.”

-ImaSPEAKING OF BUSTED

Toni Preckwinkle against the Tiny Emperor in the 2015 election. At least one of the persons who will step to her is actually working for Rahm Emanuel—though he is gonna pretend he’s “down for the people.” The trick is if he can’t get his foot in her maybe to campaign, that www.chicagocrusader.com

Bishop Larry Trotter

Charlene Crowell The financial gain for the debt buyer is a purchase of accounts often for only cents on dollars owed. From 2006-2009, the nation’s top debt buyers purchased $143 billion in consumer debt; but paid only $6.5 billion, approximately 4.5 cents on the dollar purchased. Then they are able to turn around a significant profit by collecting the full amount of the account.

This is reminding people at Sweet Holy Spirit Church where Bishop Trotter reigns supreme of a time when he got in some mess with his wife. We hear now that he’s remarried and no longer taking baths with his two-yearold female grandchild, that things have somewhat calmed down. We also hear his followers have been successful in squashing all of the closeted gay rumors plaguing his ministry as well.

Unfortunately, consumers are often unaware that their accounts have been sold to third parties. Usually it is only after consumers begin receiving phone calls, letters, and correspondence from firms they do not know that they learn their accounts were sold. Some do not learn of the debt buyer until after a judgment is entered against them, and they find their wages garnished or bank accounts seized. Other consumer abuses include collection tactics that include offensive language during collection attempts, illegal threats to sue, and misrepresentation on amounts owed or the legal status of a loan.

As more debt buyers turn to the courts to sue consumers for debts owed, many obtain default judgments in their favor when consumers fail to appear in court. Missing a court appearance can happen for a variety of reasons including that no notice of a lawsuit was ever received, a lack of understanding of the court process or the inability to secure legal representation.

When courts order a default judgment in the debt collector’s favor, collectors gain an extension on the life of the debts and also the legal right to collect in a variety of ways including

bank account seizure, wage garnishment and property attachment. All too often, default judgments are based on inaccuracies, incomplete or outdated personal information or questionable claims.

“What we’re seeing is a pattern of predatory practices when it comes to some kinds of debt buying and collection – and that’s what is concerning,” said Mike Calhoun, CRL President. “Just as a lender has the right to collect debts owed, borrowers should have the right to information about their debt and how it’s being handled and collected.”

It should be noted that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Federal Trade Commission share regulation of this industry. Further, CFPB recently began the process that will likely to lead to the first-ever rules overseeing debt collection.

“With prudent oversight at the federal and state levels, there’s no reason why this problem can’t be fixed,” concluded Calhoun.

ing to de Cloudy Times, as a convicted felon he didn’t think nothing was wrong with him taking a job for a community group whose job it was to dole out anti-violence money while at the same time doling out the money

your man take one for the team.

-ImaAND ON THE WEST SIDE Since we is thinkin’ bout preachers.

Folks are whispering and worrying about the mental condition of the Rev. Marshall Hatch of New Mt. Pilgrim Baptist Church. The haters are saying that in his quest to be the “next Jesse Jackson without putting in 30 years of work” he is “messin’ up.” First they claim he was on board with bringing the FBI informant/Reverend/Hustler/MSNBC anchor Al Sharpton to the West Side to live two hours a day in a luxury apartment as he “fought crime.” Then they say he didn’t use his Harvard-training since to tell one of his administrators in charge of church grants NOT TO get the grants from his state-paying job. That administrator would be none other than the husband of MBA/JD/MA/BS-degree having Dorothy Brown. Apparently, accord-

Rev. Marshall Hatch to his church where he served as a grant administrator. Now we understand he “did nothing wrong,” but both he and his wife must remember that Black-oh-vich got sent up to the big house for TALKING on the PHONE about his golden parachute.

He never exchanged any actual senate seat, nor was any money transferred.

In this case, dollars got in pockets and dis ain’t gone be pretty. In de meantime, Ms. Brown had better HUSH HER MOUTH by saying “leave my man alone! They after me!” No lady.

You’re an elected official. Let your man take the heat. You do NOT want this ABOUT YOU. You will get 30 years in jail if this is about You. Let

BLACKS MUST CONTROL THEIR OWN COMMUNITY

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

-ImaSPEAKING OF TEAM . . .Will NBA legend Michael Jordan have to sell his NBA team now that he’s strangely confessed to being a racist? Okay he didn’t say that, but he did admit in his latest book that some white man wrote for him that he’s had numerous racist thoughts. What NEGRO tells white people this mess when you got $500 million in the bank. Now watch some of his white employees (‘cause he don’t hire no Black people) pop up and claim he called them “honkey.” Since he’s gone on record of saying he’s had racist feelings, how’s he gonna prove that honkey wrong? Donald Sterling anyone?

-ImaFALLOUT We heard that the reason the head of the Los Angeles branch of the National Association of Coloreds resigned had little to do with him awarding a man with several housing discrimination cases against him with the NAACP’s highest L.A. honor. We hear a number of Black celebrities called and ask for their $750 back from their membership dues which would have cost the branch a whopping $75,000 in the first week of this Donald Sterling controversy alone.

Saturday, May 10, 2014

9

EDUCATION

West Side alternative school means a second chance There is no shortage of news accounts about young Black students, particularly in urban areas dropping out of school. One West Side school is registering stories about students dropping in.

The CPS Ombudsman Program, 2411 W. Congress Pkwy., is helping students who have dropped out, for whatever reason, complete their educations. The school, in its first year of operation here, has 482 students – all of whom are looking for a second chance. The second Ombudsman site is at 7500 N. Harlem Ave. and there are 101 students there.

Ombudsman’s highest concentration of learning centers is in Georgia with 44, and Illinois has 27 such centers.

“We’re grateful for the support of Alderman Bob Fioretti, Alderman Jason Ervin and CPS that enabled us to open Ombudsman Chicago

Shmeek Johnson West,” Ombudsman Chicago principal Chaun Johnson said. “We invite students who are interested in graduating from high school ready for college and career to take advan-

tage of this new option, which is conveniently located on the West Side.”

Shmeek Johnson is one such student and said he is confident the second chance he is getting at Ombudsman will propel him to his dream of attending college. When the now-17-year-old senior dropped out of North Lawndale College Prep School, he was among the 27 percent of young African American males in Chicago who do not have a high school diploma. Then he enrolled in Ombudsman.

Johnson was working at the nonprofit YMEN when a fellow worker not only told him about Ombudsman, but also took him to the Congress Parkway location.

He described the classes as “good.”

“They are giving me an opportunity to get back on track and where I need to be,” the West Side resident added. One of seven children, Johnson said his favorite subject is math.

Like many youngsters his age, Johnson has aspirations of playing football. He understands that opportunity may not materialize so he has what he terms his “Plan B,” which is to become a physical therapist.

He came to his current school three credits short of the 16 necessary for graduation. He added he would have his three credits in time for a January graduation.

The principal also described the Ombudsman environment as one where “students feel valued, confident, independent, accepted, proud of what they accomplish – and hopeful for their future.” He also said, “Ombudsman Chicago is one of the new options CPS is offering to help students graduate from high school prepared to make positive choices about college, a career – about life – after high school.”

De Anna Leonard’s academic career is fueled by the desire to be a liv-

De Anna Leonard ing example for her daughter. Ironically, it was the birth of her daughter a little more than a year ago that caused her to drop out of school.

Unlike many of her counterparts, Leonard didn’t struggle academically. She explained that she needed to work at a faster pace than traditional schools allow. “I didn’t fit in at my old high school,” she added.

She also offered, “I am a fast-paced worker and enjoy learning at my own pace. Long school days just weren’t my thing. I felt like I was being taught the same thing over and over again,” continuing, “I was just ready for the real world.”

After Ombudsman, Leonard plans to attend Malcolm X College and

then pursue a military career specializing in nursing. “My mother got her education and I want to be able to serve as a role model for my daughter, too.”

Odds are Leonard will complete the requirements to attain her CPS certificate given that during the 2011-12 school year, 84 percent of Ombudsman students graduate, completed their academic year at Ombudsman, or returned to their district schools closer to or at grade level.

About Ombudsman Ombudsman Educational Services is a division of Educational Services of America (ESA), the nation’s

leading provider of behavior therapy and alternative and special education programs for children and young adults. ESA partners with more than 250 public school districts in 23 states to serve 13,500 students each year in more than 160 schools and programs.

Ombudsman’s alternative education and dropout recovery programs help communities combat the staggering social and economic costs of high dropout rates. Since 1975, Ombudsman Educational Services has educated more than 155,000 atrisk students and students who have previously dropped out – and introduced them to all the opportunities a real high school diploma provides.

CHICAGO MAYOR RAHM EMANUEL honored and congratulated national male Copa Coca-Cola Champions, San Antonio Silvers during the City Council meeting at Chicago’s City Hall recently. As part of the “Together We Create the World’s Cup” campaign for this year 2014 FIFA World Cup™, Copa Coca-Cola has brought soccer fans together allowing everyone to celebrate their love and passion for the game. Soccer is the fastest growing sport in the United States and events like Copa Coca-Cola helped spread the sport’s popularity by giving even more teens the opportunity to play and get active. (Photo credit: Brooke E Collins/City of Chicago) 10

Saturday, May 10, 2014

BLACKS MUST CONTROL THEIR OWN COMMUNITY

www.chicagocrusader.com

COMMUNITY

Steve and Marjorie Harvey Foundation is youth friendly

By Wendell Hutson Entertainer Steve Harvey and his wife Marjorie said his foundation’s annual gala is more than a fundraiser, it’s an opportunity for people to invest in youths and to keep them from dying on the streets.

“The real work is from ground people in the community. And you don’t need money to be effective in a

The annual gala for the Steve & Marjorie Harvey Foundation (SMHF) was held in Chicago last week and hosted by the Harveys, who are also Chicago residents. Among the youth programs offered by the foundation is “Girls Rule the World,” which previously was restricted to young girls in Atlanta, where the Harveys have a home, but over the next five years the program will expand to other

STEVE AND MARJORIE HARVEY hosted their annual gala in Chicago for their foundation, which aims at helping at-risk youths.

THE REV. COREY BROOKS was honored for his community service work at the 2014 Steve & Marjorie Harvey Foundation Gala. Brooks was accompanied by his wife Anna and son Cobe. child’s life,” Harvey said. “If every cities including Chicago, according man that was a father would just be to Marjorie. a daddy to their children we could This year’s gala was held at the stop all of this mess [youth vio- Chicago Hilton hotel and honored lence].” several individuals for their commu-

IN CHICAGO LAST WEEK to attend the 2014 Steve & Marjorie Harvey Foundation Gala was Morgan Harvey, daughter of Steve and Marjorie Harvey, with her husband Kareem. www.chicagocrusader.com

MAGIC AND COOKIE JOHNSON were honored May 3, 2014 for their philanthropy at the Steve & Marjorie Harvey Foundation Gala in Chicago. nity service work. They were the Magic said he was honored for the Rev. Corey Brooks, pastor of New reward but said “there’s much more Beginnings Church on the South work that needs to be done.” The Side; Steve Pemberton, chief diversi- Magic Johnson Foundation runs ty officer for Walgreens; Clint similar youth programs as the Culpepper, president of Sony Screen SMHF but Cookie said, “our scholGems; and Ervin “Magic” and his arships are not a one-time award but wife Earlitha “Cookie” Johnson. a four-year commitment.”

For Brooks, who was accompanied The executive director for the to the gala by his wife Deliah and his 13-year-old son Cobe, receiving the “Helping Hand” award from the foundation is encouragement for him to continue his pursuit to build a $20 million youth center at the corner of 67th Street and King Drive.

ACTRESS HOLLY ROBIN“To date, we have raised $1 milSON-PEETE was in Chicago to lion toward our $20 million goal so attend . we have a while before we get there SMHF is Harvey’s daughter, Brandi but eventually we will get there,” Harvey.

Brooks told the Crusader. “My goal One of the missions of the foundais to build this youth center with no tion is to “show young people they debt and that means raising the can be anything they want in life,” money independently. said Brandi, who added that while When he is not working at his BRANDI HARVEY, daughter of the foundation is based in Atlanta its church or as a community activist, Brooks said he loves to attend a Bulls Steve and Marjorie Harvey, is ex- boys mentoring program is held at game, go fishing at Lake Michigan ecutive director of the foundation, Chicago State University.

“Each year 100 young men beand hanging out on the South Side. which although based in Atlanta, “There’s nothing like being on the also has a mentoring program at tween 13 and 18 years-old and who South Side,” added Brooks.

Chicago State University for boys. live in a single-female headed household come to Chicago to hang out with my father and other male mentors for a weekend, explained Brandi. “It is a time when boys learn how to better become a man.”

The Rev. John Hannah, pastor of New Life Covenant Church on the South Side, attended the gala for the first time.

“Any of us who grew up in Chicago know how important it is to have youth programs, Hannah said. “I grew up on the West Side so I know that’s how programs like this can grab our young people and bring them to a safer place.”

Rhythm and Blues singer KEM, who said he applauds the Harveys for everything they have done for youths, entertained about 300 THE REV. COREY BROOKS, pastor of New Beginnings guests.

(Continued on page 16) Church on the South Side, accepts award from Steve Harvey.

BLACKS MUST CONTROL THEIR OWN COMMUNITY

Saturday, May 10, 2014

11

ENTERTAINMENT

By Raymond Ward Kung Fu and Wu Shu Warriors: “Cirque Shanghai” is proud to return this summer to Chicago’s Navy Pier with a brand new show, “Cirque Shanghai: Warriors.” Performances will begin on Wednesday, May 21 and run through Monday, September 1 at the Pepsi Skyline Stage located on Navy Pier, 600 East Grand Avenue in Chicago.

By Elaine Hegwood Bowen, MSJ

Home examines mental illness and its hardships

GBENGA AKINNAGBE, center, Victor Williams, third from left, James McDaniel, third from right, and Isiah Whitlock, Jr., far right, are among the cast members, along with Scandal’s Joe Morton, in “Home.”

Now in its ninth consecutive summer season at the Pepsi Skyline Stage, this latest installment of “Cirque Shanghai” combines the impressive acrobatics audiences have enjoyed in the past with the martial prowess of Chinese Kung Fu and Wu Shu masters. The result is a pow-

erful display of athleticism and the mastery of disciplines that formed the backbone of military might in ancient China for thousands of years.

This summer’s production of “Cirque Shanghai: Warriors” brings an extraordinary line-up of thrilling acts to the stage including The Kinetic Poles, the powerful Water Meteor and the heart-pounding Pageant of Arms. Returning to the production from last year is the fate-tempting “Wheel of Destiny,” and China’s premier daredevil steel-globe motorcycle troupe, “Imperial Thunder.” The performance schedule is as follows: Wednesday at 2, 6 and 8:00 PM Thursday at 2 and 8:00 PM Friday at 2, 7, and 9:00 PM Saturday at 2, 6 and 8:00 PM Sunday at 2 and 4:00 PM Tickets are on sale via Ticketmaster at 1-800-745-3000 or www.tick(Continued on page 13) 12

Saturday, May 10, 2014

First-time director Jono Oliver brings to life a brilliant movie that covers the issue of mental health in such a soft, caring way that allows “The Wire” actor Gbenga Akinnagbe to shine.

It is rare that a film from a firsttime director receives one award but when a feature is honored with 15 substantive awards, it is truly remarkable. “Home” won honors at 14 film festivals in 2013, and Oliver’s movie also competed against “12 Years a Slave” and “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom,” among others, during the recent NAACP Image Awards.

Akinnagbe has also played in “Graceland” and “Nurse Jackie.” He plays 33-year-old Jack Hall, a man suffering from mental illness, whose goal is to move out of his group home where he’s been receiving treatment and into an apartment of his own. By doing so, he hopes to rebuild his life, reconnect with his estranged son and put himself back on a path to normalcy. Rebuffed by his uncaring father, played by Joe Morton, and met with clearly well-deserved suspicion by his embittered ex-wife, played by Tawny Cypress, Jack becomes increasingly desperate, which fuels his life-changing journey and self-growth.

All Jack wants is to get out of the group home and get his own apartment, and while his release from the group home isn’t certain—he still has to pass the muster of the resident therapist Dr. Parker, played by James McDaniel—his dreams of becoming independent are. He is committed to starting a new life soon, and he is as committed to overcome all the obstacles that he knows are in his way.

Among these is the neighborhood drug dealer who is bent on enlisting Jack as one of his soldiers.

(Continued on page 13) BLACKS MUST CONTROL THEIR OWN COMMUNITY

www.chicagocrusader.com

ENTERTAINMENT

2014 Tribeca Film Festival announces attendance The 2014 Tribeca Film Festival (TFF), co-founded by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff, and presented by AT&T, recently announced that during the Festival’s 13th edition more than 400,000 people attended screenings, panels, talks and free community events – including the Tribeca Drive-In series, Family Festival Street Fair, Tribeca/ESPN Sports Day, as well as the first-ever Tribeca Innovation Week, which featured the Storyscapes installation at the Bombay Sapphire House of Imagination, the Future of Film series, Games for Change, the Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Awards, among others.

From April 16 through 27, the Festival hosted nearly 400 screenings and panels with more than 95 percent attendance. A total of 89 features and 57 short films from 40 countries were screened for more than 120,000 movie-goers and panel attendees during the course

of the 12-day Festival. For the first time ever, thanks to AT&T, an entire day of film screening tickets were free through “Film for All Friday,” where over 8,000 tickets were claimed for the screenings on Friday, April 25.

“The response to the films and all of our events throughout our 13th edition has been incredible. We have some of the best audiences in the world and it was great to see them embrace the filmmakers, creators and our new Innovation Week over the last 12 days,” said Jane Rosenthal, co-founder, Tribeca Film Festival.

Audiences from across the country received front row access to exclusive Tribeca content through the fifth annual Tribeca Online Festival (TOF), which returned with free streaming of a selection of four features and four shorts. TOF also hosted the juried #6SECFILMS Competition for a second year, along with the new Tribeca

Interactive & Interlude: A Music Film Challenge in collaboration with The Lincoln Motor Company, which invited storytellers to create interactive music films for Damon Albarn, Aloe Blacc and Ellie Goulding.

The free community events returned with the Tribeca Drive-In movie series on the Hudson River, which featured the classic “Mary Poppins,” celebrating 50 years, followed by a 30th Anniversary screening of Ron Howard’s “Splash,” and a screening of the documentary “Next Goal Wins.” Despite the unseasonably cold weather, more than 3,200 visitors came out for the free, outdoor films and participated in games and activities, including a “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”spelling contest, Samoan drumming, face painting, and soccer games.

The Festival hosted several performances by music legends such as rapper Nas following the world premiere of his film “Time Is Illmatic”

MUSIC GREATS HERBIE Hancock and Quincy Jones embrace during the screening of “Keep On Keepin’ On.” (Photo courtesy Tribeca Film Festival) and rocker Bob Weir after the world “Keep On Keepin’ On,” which repremiere of his film “The Other ceived a standing ovation.

In all, 923 industry delegates regOne: The Long, Strange Trip of Bob Weir.” Jazz luminaries Herbie Han- istered for TFF, representing 35 cock, Dianne Reeves, Roy Har- countries including Israel, Sweden, grove, Jon Batiste, and young prodi- South Africa, Poland, Italy, France, gy Justin Kauflin performed The Netherlands, South Korea, following the world premiere of Norway and Australia.

ACTOR NATE PARKER attends Tribeca Press Day for the film "About Alex" at the Carlton Hotel in New York City. (Photo by Thomas Concordia/WireImage)

JAMES BROWN AT the Newport Jazz Festival in a scene from “Untitled James Brown” documentary. (Photo courtesy Tribeca Film Festival)

Home examines mental . . .

(Continued from page 12) Jack’s character is so endearing, and, as shattered as his life is, he is also concerned about his fellow patients at the group home and one friend who lives on the street, working minimum hours delivering groceries. Jack wonders if he has taken his medication as he should and offers him some when he sees one day that the friend is a bit flustered and agitated.

And although Jack’s ex-wife tries to be understanding by letting Jack see his teen son, he can only be with him www.chicagocrusader.com

if she or her new husband serves as chaperone. Jack has a hard road ahead, and Oliver covers these steps nicely. He runs into roadblock after roadblock to secure sufficient, affordable housing that will be approved by the group home. But the smile on Jack’s face when he finally does get his apartment and invites his son over is priceless!

“Home” is a great first effort by Oliver. It examines mental illness outside of the confines of the group sessions, and each patient’s character is

allowed to be developed, so that the viewer gets a taste of each one’s issues.

“Home” is available from eOne Films, and Oliver succeeds in packing considerable dramatic impact, largely due to incisive characterizations, realistic dialogue and welldrawn milieu in this poignant film.

The DVD contains bonus audio commentary with director Jono Oliver and deleted and alternate scenes, as well as a photo gallery. Visit www.homethefilm.com for more information.

By Raymond Ward (Continued from page 12) etmaster.com/shanghai. Tickets are $19.50 - $39.50 for adults and $15.50 for children ages 3 to 12.

Special packages for summer 2014 include” The Navy Pier Fun Package containing a Emperor’s Court “Cirque Shanghai: Warriors” ticket, one, 40 minute Skyline boat cruise, a Ferris Wheel voucher; a Pepsi Skyline Stage $5 concession voucher and a 20 percent off RIVA Restaurant coupon for $43, with a children’s version available for $28. In addition, the Navy Pier Nightlife package combines a “Cirque Shanghai: Warriors” Emperor’s Court ticket, a Landshark Beer Garden $10 voucher and a Hagen Daas double scoop cone/cup voucher for $36.50.

BLACKS MUST CONTROL THEIR OWN COMMUNITY

Saturday, May 10, 2014

13

ARTS AND CULTURE

MOTOWN THE MUSICAL performances extended to August 9 Due to popular demand MOTOWN THE MUSICAL has added four weeks to its Chicago engagement before continuing on its national tour around the country.

The hit musical opened its national tour April 22 at The Oriental Theatre, 24 W. Randolph St., with performances through August 9 before continuing on its tour across North America.

Directed by Charles RandolphWright, MOTOWN THE MUSICAL is the true American dream story of Motown founder Berry Gordy’s journey from featherweight boxer to the music mogul who launched the careers of Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye and many more.

Featuring more than 50 classic hits such as “My Girl” and “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” MO-

Allison Semmes TOWN THE MUSICAL tells the story behind the hits as Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson, Berry Gordy and the whole Motown family fight against the odds to create the soundtrack of change in America. Mo-

town shattered barriers, shaped lives and made all move to the same beat.

Heading the national touring cast of MOTOWN THE MUSICAL are Chicago native Allison Semmes as Diana Ross and Clifton Oliver as Berry Gordy. Groundbreaking Motown artists Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gaye will be portrayed by Nicholas Christopher and Jarran Muse respectively. Leon Outlaw, Jr. and Reed L. Shannon will portray Berry Gordy’s boyhood counterpart and the roles of young stars Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder.

MOTOWN THE MUSICAL’s arrangements and orchestrations are

by Grammy and Tony Award® nominee Ethan Popp with co-orchestrations and additional arrangements by Tony Award® nominee Bryan Crook and dance arrangements by Zane Mark. Choreography is by Patricia Wilcox and War-

Chairman and CEO of SONY Music Entertainment Doug Morris and Motown founder Berry Gordy.

Show times are Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m.; Wednesdays at 2:00 and 7:30 p.m.; Thursdays at 7:30 p.m.; Fridays at 7:30 p.m.; Saturdays at 2:00 and 8:00 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Additional 7:30 p.m. performances on May 11 and July 6.

Please note: Performance schedule is subject to change.

Clifton Oliver ren Adams with scenic design by David Korins; costume design by Tony Award® nominee ESosa.

MOTOWN THE MUSICAL is produced by Tony Award® winning producer Kevin McCollum;

Tickets are on sale at all Broadway In Chicago Box Offices and by calling 800-775-2000; all Ticketmaster retail locations and online at BroadwayInChicago.com. Tickets are also available for groups of 10 or more by calling Broadway In Chicago Group Sales at (312) 977-1710. For more information, visit BroadwayInChicago.com or MotownTheMusical.com.

‘Symphony Center Presents’ Susanna Phillips and Eric Owens in recital Acclaimed soprano Susanna Phillips and bass-baritone Eric Owens will join Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) Assistant Principal Clarinet John Bruce Yeh, CSO Acting Principal Horn Daniel Gingrich and pianist Myra Huang for the final installment of the 2013-14 “Symphony Center Presents” (SCP) Schubert Song Series in a recital program in Orchestra Hall on Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 11 at 3:00 p.m. This program, filled with many of Schubert’s most beloved songs from the lieder repertoire, is inspired by the CSO Music Director Riccardo Muti’s season-long exploration of the gifted composer’s full range of work.

Susanna Phillips

The Sanctuary Choir of First Baptist Congregational Church (FBCC), 1613 W. Washington Blvd, presents “Look How Far God Has Brought Us” in celebration of their 70th anniversary on Sunday, May 18 at 4:00 p.m.

Special guests appearing on the concert are the Freedom Baptist Church Choir, Tiffany Collier, Conductor and the First Church of Deliverance Sanctuary Choir, 14 Saturday, May 10, 2014

The recital program will feature Schubert masterpieces “Gretchen Am Spinnrade” (Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel); “An die Musik” (To Music); “Der Hirt auf dem Felsen” (The Shepherd on the Rock) known for its delightful interplay between clarinet and soprano; and the lyrical “Auf dem Strom” (On the River) for horn, baritone and piano.

More than fifteen Schubert lieder selections inspired by 19th century German poets including Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Heinrich Heine and Wilhelm Muller will also be included on the program.

This performance will mark the recital debut of Alabama-born soprano Susanna Phillips, a graduate of the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ryan Opera Center, who made her CSO debut in Mozart’s Mass in C Minor in 2008. This summer Susanna Phillips will sing Fauré’s “Requiem” and Poulenc’s “Gloria” with Charles Dutoit, Strauss’ “Brentano Lieder” at Aspen Music Festival, and Mozart’s “Requiem” with the Mostly Mozart Festival. For the the 201415 season Phillips will return to the Metropolitan Opera for the seventh consecutive season starring as Antonia (Les Contes D’Hoffmann) and Musetta (La Bohème), the role in which she made her 2008 house debut.

James Bryson, Conductor. Admission is free and the public is invited to attend.

Mattie L. Robertson is Conductor of the FBCC Sanctuary Choir, Clara Handy-Griffin is Minister of Music, and Gale McCullom is Choir President. The Rev. George W. Daniels is Pastor. ********

Eric Owens (Photo/Dario Acosta) Recent opera roles for American bass-baritone Eric Owens include Sarastro in Mozart's “Die Zauber-

flöte” at the Metropolitan Opera, a reprise of his role as Hercules in the Peter Sellars production of Händel’s “Hercules” with the Canadian Opera Company and an acclaimed role debut as Vodnik in Dvorak’s “Rusalka” at Lyric Opera Chicago as well as upcoming Ring Cycle appearances at Deutsche Opera Berlin and the Wiener Staatsoper. In concert, Owens recently performed in Bach's “St. Matthew Passion” with the Berliner Philharmoniker under Sir Simon Rattle.

On this recital, Eric Owens, a favorite of CSO and Lyric Opera audiences, will be joined by hornist Daniel Gingrich and pianist Myra Huang on Schubert’s beloved “Auf Dem Strom.” Equally at home in orchestral, recital and opera performances, Eric Owens will return to Chicago in five performances of

Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 led by CSO Music Director Riccardo Muti to open the CSO’s 2014-15 season.

Tickets can be purchased by phone at 800-223-7114 or 312294-3000, online at cso.org, or at the Symphony Center box office at 220 S. Michigan Ave. Discounted student tickets can be purchased online, subject to availability, in advance or at the box office on the day of the concert. For group rates, call 312-294-3040.

Patrons dining at Symphony Center’s “tesori” restaurant on Mother’s Day will receive a complimentary special cocktail by presenting their May 11 concert ticket during the meal. Mother’s Day brunch will be served from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Reservations may be made in advance at tesorichicago.com or by calling 312-786-9911.

Chicago is alive with ‘The Sound of Music’

By Barbara Wright-Pryor Lyric Opera of Chicago’s new production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s beloved Broadway musical The Sound of Music opened April 25 with performances running through May 25, 2014, at the Civic Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Drive and immediately became one of the hottest tickets in town.

The production’s all-star cast led by Billy Zane as Captain von Trapp recently retired from the Austrian Navy and Broadway star Jenn Gambatese as Maria, the nun who left the cloister temporarily to serve as governess to widower Trapp’s seven children, has livened the City with the sound of music!

Lyric Opera’s new production of “The Sound of Music,” directed by Marc Bruni with choreography by Denis Jones, has been revised from the many previous stage and screen (Continued from page 17)

Billy Zane (Captain von Trapp) and Jenn Gambatese (Maria) Photo/Todd Rosenberg

BLACKS MUST CONTROL THEIR OWN COMMUNITY

www.chicagocrusader.com

SPIRITUALLY SPEAKING

A Moment to Super Size Your Thinking

By Effie Rolfe Fighting for Love. It’s an ageold story—girls arguing over a boy. But this time, things went too far. What started as an argument on Facebook between two 14-year-old girls who reportedly were once best friends, resulted in one killing the other with a .38 caliber handgun. Supposedly, the 14-year-old that pulled the trigger was given the gun by her 24year-old uncle. This devastating news sent shock waves throughout the Chicagoland community and personally ripped my heart.

Girls and boys have been known to fight throughout time but this really got completely out of control. The end result was a life gone too soon and another life locked behind bars. What does all of this have to do with self-love? I firmly believe that if parents teach their children self-value, love and worth from the womb, perhaps senseless violence such as this would be slim to none. Our children must understand that they are made in God’s image and

Effie Rolfe likeness. When you believe that you are beautifully and wonderfully created by God, then fighting over anyone is unacceptable.

Unfortunately, I fear that too many of our youth, as well as adult sisters, don’t understand who or whose they are. Nothing or no one is ever worth fighting or arguing over, point blank period.

I recall seeing a documentary on public television about young girls throughout Africa and Asia getting raped as young as two and a half years old by relatives. Even though these are different cultures and countries—love is universal—we are very similar and really just want to live, love and be loved. Those crimes left the girls with devastating consequences of permanent physical, emotional scars and demonic soul ties. The documentary brought to light that so many girls around the world are looked upon as second-class citizens with few opportunities for education or advancement in life. They work in the fields to care for the family, marry at a young age, are a victim of slave trafficking and prey to repeated rape. In Cambodia, a woman once sold to a brothel

said by the time the girls are 12 to 14 years of age they are considered too old to work there. One girl about 10 years old rides her bike 17 miles each day which is the equivalence of 2 hours through dangerous swamp, fields and rural areas to get to school.

Over 200 million girls wake up each day around the world with no opportunity to get an education.

I reflect on this story because our young people in the United States have been blessed to receive an education but far too often choose not to take advantage.

Sometimes it’s due to misplaced priorities, weak family infrastructure, lack of positive role models and BAD choices. Two former best friends that fought over a boy ultimately led to one being murdered.

Let’s take this time to be proactive. Begin to aggressively pray and teach our children how valuable life is for all. As we embrace Mother’s Day—mom, dad, grandparents and the entire support system can all do more to lead,

guide, protect and love our children. Let us continue to instill within each child the essence of character, integrity and the beauty of their souls. God has gifted each of us with divine purpose and talents to be blessed, as well as a blessing. This should be written in their hearts and echoed as fundamentals of life. Just as the television documentary indicated, little girls really want an opportunity to just grow up, experience true love from parents and friends. Unfortunately, for these two 14-year-olds, the very love that they sought—‘til death do we part—will never happen. The lesson for all of us is that true love is serious business and you can only receive it by having a relationship with a loving Father.

Do you know what love is...? ©Effie Rolfe is the author of “Supersize Your Thinking,” a Media Personality and Motivational Speaker. You can visit my website: effierolfe.com or follow me at twitter.com/effiedrolfe.

The Crusader Gospel Corner United American Progress Association presents their Annual “PreMother’s Day Breakfast” on Saturday, May 10 at True Light Church Baptist, 7300 S. Maryland Ave, in Chicago. The program is 9:00 a.m. - 12 p.m. and the donation is $15. For tickets and information call Pamela Dominguez at 773-902-7730 or email: mzpamelal@yahoo.com. *** Violence of all types exists in practically every walk of life. And because of this, the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Ind., have scheduled a two-day workshop in May focused on learning skills of nonviolence for daily living.

“Living nonviolently in a violent world,” will take place beginning at 7 p.m., Friday, May 16, and concluding at 5 p.m., Saturday, May 17. The workshop will take place in Owens Hall at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Ind. Sister Paula Damiano, director of the Providence Spirituality and Conference Center, said the workshop has been in the “planning stages for many, many months. I knew we wanted to have something that would help people come to a better sense of what it means to live nonviolently,” Sister Paula said, “and to really get some tools to learn how to live that way.”

The goal of the workshop is to deepen the nonviolent life while building a more just and peaceful world. Participants will focus on nonviolence on three levels, including personal, interpersonal and systemic.

They will learn tools in conflict resowww.chicagocrusader.com

lution and skills to critically analyze and understand the different forms of violence that impact communities.

The Sisters of Providence Peace with Justice Committee organized the workshop. Sister Kathleen Desautels, who ministers at the 8th Day Center for Justice, Chicago, is a member of the Peace with Justice Committee.

She said 8th Day Center for Justice was asked to find facilitators for the workshop.

According to the center’s mission statement, it “acts as a critical alternative voice to oppressive systems and works to change those systems.”

Among the center’s list of goals are promoting justice, equality and human dignity, to stand with people who experience violence and discrimination. Liz Deligio, an 8th Day staff member working for the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration Community and Jerica Arents class of ‘99 agreed to facilitate the workshop.

“The day-and-a-half will include such activities as input from the presenters, viewing a TED talk followed by discussion, various interactive nonviolent techniques, process and conversation,” Sister Kathleen said.

“There will be time given for personal reflection, as well as collective sharing of practical activities/techniques to continue the topic when one returns home.”

Those participating in the workshop will explore how working together can build “collective power to make change happen. The change we are talking about here is an on-going, life-renewing challenge to deepen one’s commitment to live more in-

tentionally the value of nonviolence in one’s personal, family and community life encounters,” Sister Kathleen said.

“Another hope is that those who participate might understand more deeply how the culture of violence that permeates society needs the collective energy of all who are willing to join with others to build toward another world view.” To register for the workshop, call 812-535-2952 or email provctr@spsmw.org. Those interested in attending the workshop are asked to register prior to Saturday, May 10.

tors’ first allies.

Christ Universal Temple’s senior minister, Reverend Derrick Wells is delighted to have Karen Lewis as the Mothers Day speaker, and looks forward to her encouraging his congregation to build better communities.

Christ Universal Temple, a New Thought Christian Church, was founded in 1956 by The Reverend Dr. Johnnie Colemon. The Reverend Derrick Wells became the new Senior Minister in 2011.

Karen Lewis that students, parents, teachers and the community members are educa-

*** Carl Hearne and Priesthood’s Black and White affair CD release concert is Sunday, May 18 at 8 p.m. Special guest Vincent Tharpe and Kenosis, Ryan Booker and the Greater Harvest Mass Choir hosted by Pastor Mark Smith, co-host of “Angela and Mark” in the AM. The event will be held at Greater Harvest M.S. Church, 5141 S. State Street in Chicago. *** Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis will be the guest speaker for Mothers Day Service May 11, 2014 at 10:30 a.m. Christ Universal Temple, 11901 S. Ashland Ave., Chicago.

Karen Lewis was elected president of a 30,000 member Chicago Teachers Union in 2010. Ms. Lewis has taught in the Chicago Public School system for over 22 years. She believes

Dr. Johnnie Colemon

*** “Stepping Into a New Era” is the theme of the 61st Anniversary Celebration of The Congregational Church of Park Manor, United Church of Christ, 7000 S. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Chicago. The celebration will take place on Sunday, May 18, 2014, 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

The exciting afternoon will feature fellowship, food and fine music.

Soloists Tierra Whetstone and Kawana Williams will join George Cooper’s instrumental trio. The Rev. Dr. Terrill N. Murff is Senior Pastor.

George Cooper is Minister of Music.

Committee Co-Chairs are Gernell Austin, Abraham Smith, Dorothy Toney and Sirretta Vincent.

Send Your Church News Send your church news to the Chicago Crusader Newspaper at 6429 S. King Dr., Chicago, IL 60637, by email: crusaderil@aol.com or by fax to 773-752-2817. Please email pictures in JPEG format only and do not email flyers. For more information call 773-752-2500.

BLACKS MUST CONTROL THEIR OWN COMMUNITY

Saturday, May 10, 2014

15

HEALTH

Local Chicago businesses join forces to promote healthy self esteem ‘Beauty is More than Skin Deep’ Essay Contest Encourages Teens to Examine Inner Beauty Several Chicago-area businesses have banded together to sponsor an esteem-boosting essay contest for high school seniors in the Chicagoland area. Encouraging young women to dig deep within themselves to understand the true meaning of beauty and how their own beauty surpasses physical appearance, the “Beauty is More than Skin Deep” project will award one lucky high school female a head-totoe $1,000 prom sponsorship. Prize includes a complimentary styling session with Chicago-based professional image consultant Domonique Natasha and Glam Squad, consisting of complimentary make-up, nail, and hair services, as well as a prom dress, accessories, shoes and photos, all provided by sponsoring Chicago companies (Domonique Natasha, Taije Simon (Established Hair Stylist), Marisha Manicures, The Frock Shop, Luxo Luxo Designs, Lafeal Scott Photography, and Mary Kay

Cosmetics).

“In today’s society, young women are constantly faced with the concept that beauty is only skin deep, which is resulting in a skewed perception of womanhood that will stick with them for years,” said Domonique, the founding sponsor of this project.

“That’s why it’s so important that we find ways to reinforce the concept that beauty is more than one’s physical appearance, and through this contest we hope to encourage in our participants a better understanding of their own self-worth.”

To enter the contest, high school seniors across Chicago can submit an essay (maximum of 500 words) titled “Beauty is More Than Skin Deep” that explains in as much detail as possible how their beauty surpasses physical appearance. Entries must be submitted via email to submissions@domoniquenatasha.com by 11:59 p.m. on May 11, 2014. The winner will be chosen by a panel of judges from the sponsoring companies. The winner will be announced by Tuesday, May 13, 2014 and featured on www.domoniquenatasha.com.

ILLINOIS SECRETARY OF STATE Jesse White honors Kennedy-King College (KKC) for their efforts in promoting the state’s Organ/Tissue Donor Program as well as their commitment to registering new donors. White teamed up with community colleges statewide for the “Be a Hero” public awareness campaign. The initiative gave students the opportunity to create their own campaigns and earn community service hours while promoting the Organ/Tissue Donor Registry. Secretary Jesse White (far right) is shown with (l-r) Arshele Stevens, president of Kennedy King College, Aaron Hurns, a living kidney donor and president of the King’s Men Initiative and Brandon Nichols, director of Academic Support Services.

McHugh Construction settles scam lawsuit (Continued from page 1) Drive viaduct from Randolph to Monroe Streets; the North Avenue Bridge; the Chicago Transit Authority’s Red Line Howard Station; and portions of the Brown Line, and the east and westbound Interstate 88 Fox River Bridge in North Aurora.

The contracts were funded in whole, or in part, by the state; the federal government; the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority; and the Regional Transportation Authority. Additionally, McHugh was recently slapped with a $12 million whistleblower lawsuit judgment.

“The investigation revealed Perdel and ASI did not fulfill the DBE requirements on seven public construction contracts that McHugh obtained and for which it submitted false claims from 2004 to 2011 to the state and federal governments,” stated Madigan.

Though minority and womenowned companies were shut out of getting the work, only state and federal governments received payments. The whistleblower also gets paid. The exact breakdown is $4.8 million for the state; $7.2 million to the federal government; and the whistleblower receives $2.4 million or 17 percent.

The U.S. Attorney for the Northern Illinois District Zachary Fardon and Attorney General Madigan claimed McHugh “violated the federal and Illinois False Claims Act by making false statements and claims for payment to government agencies regarding McHugh’s compliance 16

Saturday, May 10, 2014

with federal and state requirements to include disadvantaged businesses in the construction projects.”

Officials learned of McHugh’s diversions through Ryan Keiser, a white employee working for Perdel.

According to the lawsuit, it was Keiser who managers instructed to create false paperwork to cover up the scam. Keiser blew the whistle on McHugh in 2008.

The lawsuit states that Keiser falsified paperwork including labor hours, purchase orders and other documents—all at the insistence of McHugh’s managers. McHugh was doing the work, claiming a white female owned the company.

Mike Kanovitz of Loevy & Loevy—the law firm that won the settlement in federal court—explained that the exhaustive steps the government takes to investigate and substantiate such claims usually takes years. He added that because whistleblower filings are sealed by the feds, even the company that is being investigated is unaware of what is going on. “Only the whistleblower and the (federal) prosecutor are aware of the filing.”

Similarly, the women and minority-owned companies that didn’t receive any work were unaware of McHugh’s shenanigans. If those companies decide to sue McHugh, according to Kanovitz, the federal government will not be involved, and the suit would be under a different set of laws.

Patricia M. McHugh, the company’s chairman, and Bruce E. Lake, McHugh’s president used the com-

pany’s website to issue an expansive assessment of the settlement.

In part, the statement read, “Still, we chose to settle this matter to allow us to focus our energies and resources where they belong: on fulfilling the requirements of our existing contracts and continuing to compete for both public and private contracts.

After 26 months, the facts show: • “The investigation into McHugh’s actions has concluded with no charges against the company. All the relevant federal, state, and local governments agree that McHugh is a responsible contractor, fully eligible to compete for any project, and that no adverse action will be taken.

• “There are no questions as to the quality and integrity of McHugh’s work, nor has there been any suggestion that McHugh did anything improper with any funds paid on those projects. McHugh has designed and implemented new compliance and training policies that are considered the best of their kind in the construction industry.

• “McHugh has long supported the goals of DBE programs, but is also committed to improving clarity of that process for all companies. As part of that commitment to supporting disadvantaged and womenand minority-owned businesses, McHugh has contributed $2 million to the City of Chicago to improve its program for the benefit of all disadvantaged contractors. Anything that can be done to bring better understanding to that process will always have our full support.

• “Most important of all, this settlement allows us to officially put this matter behind us. While it has been a trying time, we are able to turn the page as a stronger company than we were two years ago. We have continued to grow both our private and public sector work and our company’s foundation, finances and bonding capacity are just as strong today as many of the iconic structures we have built around the world.”

Madigan also noted that as a result of the settlement, two McHugh employees: Michael Gould, former senior vice president of infrastructure, and Ben Johnston, former general counsel, were terminated. McHugh must not hire or retain either individual in any capacity, Madigan added.

The attorney general explained that McHugh, the Federal Transit Administration, Federal Highway Authority, and the chief procurement officer for the Illinois Department of Transportation as well as the chief procurement officer for the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority reached a separate agreement.

McHugh, according to Madigan, agreed to take steps to ensure future disadvantaged business enterprise (DBE) compliance.

Based on the agreement, McHugh will: hire and retain an independent monitor who will report at least quarterly to the state, federal government and City of Chicago on its evaluation of McHugh’s efforts to comply with DBE requirements on its public construction contracts statewide; create and publicize a dedicated, independently administered private hotline through which anonymous complaints of improper conduct may be reported; establish a separate, independent position at McHugh for a corporate compliance officer, whose responsibilities include conducting training sessions and investigating any reported complaints of non-compliance; and initiate a corporate compliance program to train and educate McHugh employees about DBE rules and regulations.

The company also will present information about DBE requirements at informational events to promote DBE compliance by construction companies around the state.

Steve and Marjorie Harvey . . .

(Continued from page 11) “To be able to participate in something like this [youth fundraiser] is a privilege,” said KEM, who has a new album set to be released later this year featuring rapper Snoop Dogg.

The Harveys have six children in-

BLACKS MUST CONTROL THEIR OWN COMMUNITY

cluding Morgan Harvey, who recently moved to Chicago from Atlanta with her husband Kareem.

“The one thing I love about Chicago is its food. There are so many different food places to choose from here,” she said. www.chicagocrusader.com

Chicago is alive with ‘The Sound of Music’ (Cont’d from page 14) versions into a lively, brightly colored and highly entertaining music-filled performance that is captivating audiences of all ages. This writer found it extremely difficult to refrain from singing along with the

artists.

Broadway and TV veteran Edward Hibbert cut a lively figure, though slightly unscrupulous, as impresario Max Detweiler. Kudos to operatic sopranos Christine Brewer (Mother Abbess) and Eliza-

beth Futral (Elsa Schraeder, Captain von Trapp’s betrothed) for their stellar singing.

Local talents Betsy Farrar (Liesl), Brady Tutton, (Friedrich), Julia Schweizer (Louisa), Michael Harp (Kurt), Isabelle Roberts (Brigitta), KyLee Hen-

nes (Marta), Nicole Scimeca (Gretl), and Zach Sorrow (Rolf) were delightful as the children of the recently widowed Captain von Trapp.

Michael Yeargan’s immaculate set designs and Alejo Vietti’s colorful period costumes

were enhanced by master designer Duane Schuler’s lighting. Rob Fisher, making his Lyric Opera debut, conducted 37 members of the Lyric Opera Orchestra and the 25member choral ensemble of nuns that included 12 members of the Lyric Opera Chorus, Michael Black, chorus master. Mark Grey’s amplified sound design allowed those seated furthest away from the stage to hear every word spoken and every note sung without distortion.

“The Sound of Music,” last-

ing just two hours and fortyfive minutes including one intermission, is the second work in Lyric Opera of Chicago’s American Musical Theater Initiative that was launched in 2013 with a new production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma!”

American Musical Theater Initiative productions begin after the close of the regular opera season.

Ticket prices for “The Sound of Music” start at $29 and are available at lyricopera.org or by calling 312-827-5600.

COLD WINTER OR STALLED (Cont’d from page 6) quarter, but I don’t expect the growth rate will be much higher than three percent.

Further the growth rate does nothing to close the wage and income gap that clearly slows economic growth.

Who gains and who loses based on the growth rate?

This is as an important an issue as is the issue of sluggish

economic growth.

Julianne Malveaux is an author and economist based in Washington, DC. She is also Founder and President of Economic Education a 501 C-3 organization focused on personal finance and economic policy education and their connection.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (Continued from page 4) how we can call anyone an urges his niece to shoot uncle when he chooses to someone else, knowing that travel and give his niece a gun if caught and convicted, the and urge her to shoot another niece will lose her freedom. youngster. That simply is not NO! That is a pea-brained an uncle. An uncle is a person thug who would do that. It is who can be called upon to a sick person. I could go on help out the family. An uncle but by now you surely unis someone who makes sure derstand the male who handhis niece understands she is a ed that child the gun is about good person, regardless of as far removed from being an physical attributes. An uncle uncle as one can get. teaches his niece how to shoot Fortunately the code of sia basketball. An uncle brings lence in this incident was his niece gifts even though it broken and someone shared is not her birthday. An uncle information that got this fool encourages his niece to do her arrested. Of course, it is up to best in school. An uncle is al- the courts to determine the ways quick with a smile extent and length of his punwhenever his niece enters the ishment if he is convicted. room.

Regardless of the blow the An uncle certainly is not courts deal this coward, there someone who boards a bus is nothing that will make with a gun tucked away, trav- him what an uncle really is. els and gives it to his niece. An uncle is not a person who Kevin Johnson

HOUSES FOR SALE

www.chicagocrusader.com

BLACKS MUST CONTROL THEIR OWN COMMUNITY

Saturday, May 10, 2014

17

HOUSES FOR SALE

18

Saturday, May 10, 2014

BLACKS MUST CONTROL THEIR OWN COMMUNITY

www.chicagocrusader.com

SPORTS

Kennedy-King College women’s basketball player earns national honor Antania Hayes selected to NJCAA All-America Team Among Antania Hayes’ accomplishments during her freshman season with the Kennedy-College women’s basketball team in 201314 were ranking first nationally in NJCAA Division I in rebounding and third in scoring, being the top vote-getter on the NJCAA All-Region IV Team and claiming the Region IV Player of the Week honor four times and the NJCAA Player of the Week award once.

Hayes, however, received her biggest accolade when she was recently selected as an NJCAA second team All-American. In doing so, she becomes the third All-

Antania Hayes

American in team history, joining April Hargrow (2011-12) and Naelonda Zamudio (2005-06), who were both honorable mention picks.

Hayes, a 6-foot, 1-inch forward, averaged 26.2 points, 19.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.0 steals per game for the Statesmen, who concluded the year with a 20-7 record and a runner-up finish in the Region IV Tournament.

Hayes published a double-double in all 22 of her appearances, had game highs of 37 points, 27 rebounds, six assists, four steals and three blocks, totaled at least 18 points and 11 rebounds in every game, and scored 30 or more points in seven outings.

Led by Hayes, Kennedy-King, which had three victories in 201213, was able to produce its best record since the school reinstated the program in the 1996-97 season.

“Antania is one of the most gifted basketball players I have had the pleasure of working with. In just one season, she has elevated our program to the national level,” said Kennedy-King’s first-year head coach Brittanny Johnson. “I am so proud of Antania’s accomplishments - both on and off the court. She is very deserving of this honor.”

A graduate of Martin Luther King High School in Detroit,

ANTANIA HAYES became the third Kennedy King women’s basketball team player to be named an All American.

King is enrolled in KennedyKing’s General Studies Program and is pursuing an associate degree. She hopes to major in kinesiology at a four-year college.

About City Colleges of Chicago City Colleges of Chicago is the largest community college system in Illinois and one of the largest in the nation, with 5,800 faculty and staff serving 115,000 students annually at seven colleges and six satellite sites city-wide. City Col-

leges of Chicago is in the midst of a Reinvention, a collaborative effort to review and revise City Colleges programs and practices to ensure students leave City Colleges college-ready, career-ready and prepared to pursue their life’s goals.

City Colleges of Chicago offers intercollegiate athletics at six colleges: Richard J. Daley College (men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s basketball), Kennedy-King College (men’s soccer, men’s and women’s basketball),

Malcolm X College (men’s soccer, volleyball, men’s and women’s basketball), Olive-Harvey College (men’s and women’s basketball, baseball), Harry S. Truman College (men’s soccer, men’s and women’s basketball) and Wilbur Wright College (men’s and women’s basketball). City Colleges of Chicago is a member of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). For more information about City Colleges of Chicago, call: (773) COLLEGE or visit www.ccc.edu.

Girls on the Run-Chicago to host 5K races with 6,500 girls alum and 10th grader at Whitney Young High School. “I proved something to myself when I crossed the 5k finish line, and I have taken that lesson so much farther. I know it is up to me to put myself out there to accomplish the goals I set for myself.”

This year’s run will be a part of a morning full of activities. Radio personality Bonnie Greene will be on hand at all three races to act as the announcer, and sponsors will host activity booths for the participants. Three thousand spectators will line the course to inspire the runners to do their best. Post-5k entertainment includes face painting, tiara decorating, food, music, games and giveaways.

To register, or for more information go to www.gotrchicago.org/gotrc5k or email info@gotrchicago.org.

Local 5k (3.1 mile) brings together 3rd-8th grade girls, parents, friends and the running community for a day of inspiration, sweat and girl power On May 10, May 17 and June 1 more than 14,000 friends, parents, mentors and members of the Chicagoland community will run in a 5k accompanied by their eight to fourteen-year-old girls at the Girls on the Run–Chicago 5k Series presented by McDonald’s. This race series marks the culmination of a 12-week curriculum implemented at more than 285 schools across six counties and raises money for Girls on the Run-Chicago, a not-for-profit organization that uses a 5k training plan as a backdrop to educate and inspire girls to be joyful, healthy and confident.

Race series dates and locations include: • Saturday, May 10 at St. James Farm in Warrenville, IL (4,000 expected participants) • Saturday, May 17 in Grant Park in Chicago, IL (7,000 expected participants) • Sunday, June 1 at the Vernon Hills Athletic Complex in Vernon Hills, IL (4,000 expected participants) “After participating in the Girls on the Run Spring 5k, the girls know that they have the power to accomwww.chicagocrusader.com

About Girls on the Run-Chicago TWO PARTICIPANTS PROUDLY display the medals received after competing in the Girls on the Run – Chicago 5K race. This year’s races, occurring on three Saturdays, will draw runners and families from the city and suburbs. The non-profit program host more than 300 events in Chicago each year. plish anything they put their minds The Girls on the Run-Chicago All finishers will receive a special finto,” said Kris Smart, Girls on the Spring 5k is the capstone of the girls’ isher’s medal, goody bag and t-shirt.

Run-Chicago executive director. “It is spring after-school program during Proceeds go to expanding the proamazing to see the families and friends which they spent 12 weeks learning grams across the Chicagoland area. from neighborhoods all across Chica- skills that help them to develop the “Physical activity is so closely connectgoland celebrating this achievement confidence and character they need to ed to emotional well-being,” said Grace together as they cross the finish line.” become strong and healthy women. Vargas, a Girls on the Run-Chicago BLACKS MUST CONTROL THEIR OWN COMMUNITY

Girls On The Run®-Chicago uses the power of running to change the way girls see themselves and their opportunities. The nonprofit after school program is hosted by more than 300 Chicago area sites annually.

The interactive curriculum builds self-esteem and improves physical and emotional health by combining life skills lessons with training for a 5k (3.1 mile) run/walk , the Girls on the Run Spring 5k.

Saturday, May 10, 2014

19

20 Saturday, May 10, 2014

BLACKS MUST CONTROL THEIR OWN COMMUNITY

www.chicagocrusader.com