11 21 2012

A Special Tribute to African-American Men

See TSD’s Special Section

VOL. 61, No. 46

www.tsdmemphis.com

November 15 - 21, 2012

75 Cents

‘I Love Memphis enough, to tell them the Truth’ – Dr. Steve Perry

Dr. Steve Perry: The man behind ‘Save My Son’ Special to The New Tri-State Defender

by Kelvin Cowans

Kelvin Cowans

“Due to my lifestyle and the work that I do, I travel a lot. The two cities that I must say I travel to the most are Atlanta, Ga. – due to my CNN work – and Memphis, Tenn.

– due to speaking engagements. So when I speak about Memphis, trust that I know what I’m talking about. Although I’m totally plugged in on the school merger and exact issues that came to bring it about, I do know that Memphis children are beautiful and Memphis is going to have to take a stand and have just as much pride in its children

as it does its barbecue.”

– Dr. Steve Perry

I had to dive in as if “Breaking News” to direct Dr. Steve Perry’s conversation to his new TVONE show, “Save My Son.” It’s not that he doesn’t love the show, but the gravitas in his tone when he’s speaking about education assured me of his deep passion.

I figured we’d hop on the TV show, dig in on the mentors, moon-walk back to why he’s doing it, two-step to his national educational concerns and turn him loose from there. In keeping with the purpose-driven educator that he is, Perry began with a point, continued on point and ended on a point.

“It wasn’t my idea. A sister, Rochelle, and a company named Power House Productions presented an idea to me about a show that will work with black boys. That it wouldn’t just be a show, but also a movement,” Perry said in a special interview with The New TriState Defender.

“I have a lot of respect for TVONE and what they’re doing, and so I got with it. The draw of the show is basically that kids want someone that will talk to them. I have had the advantage of having celebrity mentors and that helps for the ones that they know.

SEE PERRY ON PAGE 3

Renowned educator Dr. Steve Perry weighs in on a range of topics from his new TVONE docudrama “Save My Son” to whatʼs more important to be proud of in Memphis – barbecue or children.

Obama open to fiscal deal with GOP First post-election news conference

WASHINGTON (CNN) – President Barack Obama on Wednesday opened the door to compromise regarding the impending fiscal cliff of tax increases and spending cuts.

In his first full-blown news conference at the White House since March 6, the president said he was encouraged by recent comments from members of the Republican Party surrounding the need for more revenue from the wealthiest Americans as part of a plan to reduce the deficit.

“Both parties voted to set this deadline, and I believe both parties can make these decisions together ... in a balanced and responsible way,” Obama said.

Standing by his previous statements about tax rates, the president called on House Republicans to agree to Senate-passed proposals that would extend current tax rates for those making $250,000 a year while allowing rates to return to higher levels for those making over that amount. He insisted that he would not accept a lower tax rate for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans.

His comments should not come as a surprise, he said, given his statements during the election.

“I’ve got one mandate to help middle class families and families working hard to get into the middle class,” Obama said.

The president is often criticized for not forging relationships with Congress, to the detriment of his agenda.

On Wednesday he acknowledged that history and said he can “always do better.”

His relationships haven’t “always manifested itself in the kind of agreement I’d like to see between Democrats and Republicans,” he said.

Obama’s post-news conference agenda included meeting with major CEOs, some of whom flexed their political muscle to defeat Democrats in elections last week.

He is expected to find backing for some of the administration’s positions ahead of negotiations with Congress on avoiding the fiscal cliff. Leaders of the largest companies have indicated they are holding back hiring and spending because they are worried SEE OBAMA ON PAGE 13

MEMPHIS WEEKEND

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

H- 6 0o - L - 3 4o Su nny

H- 6 1o - L - 3 3o S unn y

H- 6 3o - L - 3 6o S unn y

REGIONAL TEMPS LITTLE ROCK NASHVILLE JACKSON, MS

Friday H-62 L-37 H-59 L-33 H-65 L-36

Saturday H-61 L-36 H-60 L-33 H-65 L-38

Sunday H-62 L-40 H-62 L-38 H-66 L-39

A man of note…

Emerson Able Jr., legendary band leader at Manassas High School and the music mentor for some of Memphisʼ finest musicians, was honored with a Beale Street Brass Note during a presentation at the historic Daisy Theatre on Wednesday (Nov. 14). (Photo by Tyrone P. Easley)

Memphis, COGIC and the Bishop Porter ‘bridge’ Special to the Tri-State Defender

by Dr. Sybil C. Mitchell Bishop Brandon B. Porter of Memphis says his election to the Church of God in Christ General Board was a matter of obedience – not ambition – and that he sees himself in the role of bridging a “disconnect” between the city and COGIC. Porter, pastor of Memphis’ Greater Community Temple COGIC, was elected Tuesday (Nov. 13) during COGIC’s annual Convocation, which was held in St. Louis for the third consecutive year after 100-plus years in Memphis.

“Memphis is our Jerusalem, our Mecca. For the Church of God in Christ, this city is our legacy. There is a sense of belonging, a sense of history. This is our foundation….Ultimately, we want to see our church come back home,” Porter said in an interview with The New Tri-State Defender.

“Servanthood” was Porter’s motivation for seeking a place on the 12-member General Board, the governing body of the international Church of God in Christ.

Bishop Brandon B. Porter makes his case for a seat on the Church of God in Christ General Board during the denominationʼs annual convocation in St. Louis. Porter, who won election, envisions a “true meeting of the minds” that will position Memphis to once more host the annual gathering. (Courtesy photo) “This is a great victory for those of us who want to see the convocation come back to Memphis,” said Bishop Porter. “When the prospect

of moving to some other city was being discussed, I was not called to SEE COGIC ON PAGE 13

- INSIDE • Obama is a ‘Rockefeller Republican in ‘Blackface’. See Opinion, page 4.

• Rihanna: I see myself as art. See Entertainment, page 10.

• How the Grizzlies beat the World Champions. See Sports, page 9.

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November 15 - 21, 2012

Tri-State Defender

Tri-State Defender

PERRY

CONTINUED FROM FRONT

Like they may know Charles Barkley and Steve Harvey, but they may not know Roland Martin or Derek Anderson.

Still they respond to them all because these men are talking about things that they are going through.”

The show also gives Perry the opportunity to show “the other side” of celebrities such as NBA Hall of Famer, Charles Barkley.

“I met Charles late one night when I was out to eat in Atlanta. Someone told me that Charles was in the same restaurant I was in and wanted to meet me. So I meet him, and even while so many people are coming up and wanting his autograph and taking pictures with him he stayed on course with what he wanted to talk to me about, which was education,” said Perry.

“Atlanta, late at night, eating dinner and Charles Barkley wants to talk about education.”

‘Our sons can be saved’

“What do you think this show is going to do,” I asked Perry. “Can you really penetrate the consciousness of this generation?”

“Yes,” he said. “In this ‘Save My Son” movement we are going to prove that our sons can be saved. We are going to prove that the one thing that all of these kids are missing is love. That if they had love in their lives they will embrace it and consider change. Even with kids that are supposed to be so hard that family and neighbors have given up on.

“Love will make them consider leaving the gang, or going to school or doing their homework,” Perry said. “They will consider being a good dude, if they know that there is another option for them.”

My thoughts ran to the 2010 educational documentary “Waiting on Superman” and prompted me to ask whether collectively we’re still waiting on Superman.

“I don’t know if we’re waiting on Superman, but we are waiting on daddy,” was the Perry response.

“There are a lot of people who just want their daddy to come home, sit at the dinner table, say, ‘I love you, I’m proud of you, how was your day?’ It would wash away the sins of decades and generations of actions. It will heal the hurt.’”

Fixed in solution-mode, Perry said if only 50 percent of area churches would come together on one issue for like an entire year, the issue would be removed, destroyed, wiped away in Memphis.

“The power of the Black Church in the north is one thing, but the power of the Black Church in the south is unmatched anywhere. The Black Church has power, but the problem is that the pastors can’t get along. If y’all could figure out a way to get your churches on the same page, you guys would be all set.”

‘The schools are terrible’

Perry says he’s yet to meet a person from Memphis that he didn’t think was smart. One of the biggest issues here, however, is “a significant majority that can’t read,” he said, adding that, “the schools are terrible.”

“I am indeed afraid for Memphis. I don’t know how you as a community can sustain yourself while having so few educated young people in the information age….There is no tech company that’s going to move to a community that doesn’t have people that can read. The jobs that pay and sustain an individual require a level of education that is not being produced in Memphis City Schools.”

He looks at cities such as New Haven, Conn. and Milwaukee, Wisc. and cities in states such as Alabama, Florida, Texas and Rhode Island and sees a similar dilemma.

“So is there something wrong with all the parents, seriously all of them,” he asks.

“Or is it the teachers who have been teaching in the system for 20 to 30 years?”

At some point, Memphis has to rise up,” said Perry.

“What I have always been so proud of as a black person is that there was a Memphis, and

NEWS

Page 3

November 15 - 21, 2012

that you have been able to organize in the way that you have. Watching those news reels about positive change has made me proud, but coming back to those communities and seeing the lack is frustrating,” Perry said.

“Memphis is traditionally rich in many things. You guys love your basketball team and they’re great, but how many of those guys graduate? They’re not all going to the N.B.A. Somebody has got to love you guys enough to tell you the truth.”

Noting that he has spoken at many Memphis churches and

colleges, Perry called the children here beautiful.

“Your educational leadership is outmanned. Putting pizza in a new box doesn’t make it new pizza. Brother (Kriner) Cash (MCS superintendent) is outmanned, and unless you bring in somebody who is going to fire a lot of people, then it’s a waste of time,” he said.

Put Perry in charge and he would break a huge school system down into smaller parts.

“I say the same thing in my home town. You cannot run 50 schools effectively.…So pick the ones you can run and give

the others to someone else.

That’s not acknowledging defeat, it’s acknowledging your limitations.”

‘That day’

Perry’s “Save My Son” show airs at 8 p.m. CDT on TVONE on Wednesdays. I asked if he did a show on Memphis, what hope for the city would it reflect.

“On the day that Memphis decides that it loves children as much as it loves its other traditions, it will change, on that

day. I hope that you guys can get to that day,” he said.

“Memphis loves its barbecue, Memphis loves its blues and can’t nobody pull the wool over your eyes on these things.

There is a science to it and you guys are able to tell someone, ‘No, that’s not good barbecue,” and you’re through with it,” Perry said.

“You know your music better than anybody. Everyone that lives there sings or has wrote at least one song. If you put your children first, then the same will be true. Your educators will say that they work

hard. Well, I work hard to be a good chef, but I don’t cook that well because I’m not a chef.”

(Dr. Steve Perry is the founder and principal of Capital Prepatory Magnet School in Hartford, Conn. Capital Prep has sent 100 percent of its predominantly low-income, minority, first-generation high school graduates to four-year colleges every year since it’s first class graduated in 2006.)

(Kelvin Cowans can be reached at (kelvincowans @hotmail.com)

Page 4

John H. Sengstacke Publisher (1951 - 1997)

The Mid-Southʼs Best Alternative Newspaper

A Real Times Newspaper

• Bernal E. Smith II President / Publisher • Dr. Karanja A. Ajanaku Executive Editor

Flashback: Dr. Cornel West gave 9-year-old Diamond Justice Payne of the University of Memphis Campus School some personal attention while signing his book, “Hope on a Tightrope, “after his lecture at the Rose Theatre on the campus of the University of Memphis in November 2008. Diamond attended with her mother, Renee Payne. (Photo by Earl Stanback/TSD)

Cornel West: Obama is a ‘Rockefeller Republican in ‘Blackface’

Real Times New Service

In an interview with Amy Goodman of “Democracy Now,” our dear brother, Dr. Cornel West, said that while he’s happy that Mitt Romney didn’t win the presidential election, our foreign policy is still imperialistic, politicians should be ashamed of spending billions on campaigns while people are living in poverty, and that President Barack Obama is nothing but a “Rockefeller Republican in blackface.

Said Dr. West: “I think that it’s morally obscene and spiritually profane to spend $6 billion on an election, $2 billion on a presidential election, and not have any serious discussion – poverty, trade unions being pushed against the wall dealing with stagnating and declining wages when profits are still up and the 1 percent are doing very well, no talk about drones dropping bombs on innocent people. So we end up with such a narrow, truncated political discourse, as the major problems – ecological catastrophe, climate change, global warming.

“So it’s very sad. I mean, I’m glad there was not a right-wing takeover, but we end up with a Republican, a Rockefeller Republican in blackface, with Barack Obama, so that our struggle with regard to poverty intensifies.”

But that’s not all.

He had some choice words for Rev. Al Sharpton, Dr. Michael Eric Dyson and Dr. Melissa Harris-Perry, as well. While the aforementioned scholars have been extremely vocal in their support of the Obama Administration, Tavis Smiley, who was interviewed along with Dr. West, said their support comes at the expense of critical thinking and a legitimate push for a black agenda: “…Lincoln isn’t Lincoln if Frederick Douglass isn’t pushing him. FDR isn’t FDR if A. Philip Randolph and Eleanor Roosevelt aren’t pushing him. LBJ isn’t LBJ if MLK isn’t pushing him,” Smiley said.

“We don’t believe in making excuses. We believe that if (Obama) is not pushed, he’s going to be a transactional president and not a transformational president. And we believe that the time is now for action and no longer accommodation. But that doesn’t happen unless you’re pushed.”

Dr. West said that Smiley was just being “very kind,” and gave his opinion to Goodman, straight no chaser: “I love brother Mike Dyson… but we’re living in a society where everybody is up for sale. Everything

Tri-State Defender Platform

1. Racial prejudice worldwide must be destroyed.

2. Racially unrestricted membership in all jobs, public and private.

3. Equal employment opportunities on all jobs, public and private.

4. True representation in all U.S. police forces.

5. Complete cessation of all school segregation.

6. Federal intervention to protect civil rights in all instances where civil rights compliance at the state level breaks down

OPINION

Tri-State Defender

November 15 - 21, 2012

is up for sale. And he and brother Sharpton and sister Melissa and others, they have sold their souls for a mess of Obama pottage. And we invite them back to the black prophetic tradition after Obama leaves. But at the moment, they want insider access, and they want to tell those kind of lies. They want to turn their back to poor and working people.”

Responding to Dyson’s statement that President Obama was “progressive,” Both Smiley and West said that President Obama is not, because to be progressive means taking risks, something that the president has not done.

“In the president’s forward motion in the second term to establish a legacy – and I don’t think that being president ought to be about a legacy; it ought to be about advancing the best for the American people. But in this conversation about his legacy, I want to see what risk he’s going to take,” said Smiley.

“Is he going to put himself on the line for poor people? Is he going to have an honest conversation about drones? As Doc said earlier, you know, is he ever going to say the word prison – the phrase, ‘prison-industrial complex?’ Reagan wouldn’t say ‘AIDS.’ Bush wouldn’t say ‘climate change.’ Will Obama say ‘prison-industrial complex?’ I mean, I want to know where the risk is that equates to being the most progressive president ever.”

These are legitimate critiques that all deserve to be addressed.

What remains to be seen is will President Obama do so, and will black voters turn out in 2014 to take back the House of Representatives so that he won’t be faced with the intense obstructionism of the last four years.

More importantly, will Smiley and West continue to face obstructionism from factions of the black community that believe any criticism of the president amounts to treason. And will they ever realize that Black America is not a monolith and just because Dyson, Sharpton and HarrisPerry do not agree with them, it does not make them “sell-outs”?

While Dr. West speaks nothing but truth as it pertains to poverty and the need for this administration to transparently and pro-actively address it, one also has to wonder if our dear brother would be so upset at his colleagues with access to the White House if he had been given that ticket to the inauguration.

(Special to Real Times New Service from the Atlanta Daily World) DISTRIBUTION: Tri-State Defender is available at newsstands, street sales, store vendors, mail subscription and honor boxes throughout the Greater Memphis area. No person may, without prior written permission of the Tri-State Defender, reprint any part of or duplicate by electronic device any portion without written permission. Copyright 2012 by Tri-State Defender Publishing, Inc. Permission to Publisher, Tri-State Defender, 203 Beale Street, Suite 200, Memphis, TN. 38103. Back copies can be obtained by calling the Tri-State Defender at (901) 523-1818, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays.

To shop digitally or not

Last year, when my favorite bookstore closed its doors forever, I actually sat in the car and shed a tear. Not as many tears when the record store closed. And I haven’t even stepped foot into a brick and mortar travel agency in more than 10 years. But, has anyone noticed that these once stable sources for browsing, longing and dreaming have gone by the wayside?

What? You didn’t dream of saving 15 paychecks to take that trip to Tahiti when you were in a bookstore or travel agency? Or didn’t enjoy browsing through genres of music you’d never heard of before when you were in a record store, just because the choices were there and you could? These bastions of enterprise are now but all obsolete. Thanks in large part to e-commerce.

How do you feel about that?

According to Nielsen, online shopping for consumer packaged goods (CPG) – which are grocery related products, such as food, or staples like diapers, cotton balls and coffee, and health and beauty products – is the fastest-growing e-commerce option, and expected to grow 25 percent annually through 2015. Now that’s fast – especially considering digital shopping accounted for just two percent of total CPG sales in 2011, with less than four percent of Americans buying CPG products online in any given month.

But, not to worry, while CPG ecommerce is growing fast, according to the findings of Nielsen’s newest in-depth analysis, “Digital Shopping, What You Need to Consider,” “clicks will not be replacing bricks” anytime soon, making it more of an evolution than a revolution.

Personally, other than buying books, I love shopping online because it requires minimal time and effort; and can be done in the comfort of my own home, car (while waiting for my son’s basketball practice to end) or wherever I might be. How about you?

Do you prefer virtual shopping or brick-and-mortar? Both options fulfill these requisites in their own way and offer benefits and drawbacks.

Nielsen’s Digital Shopping report confirms that CPG e-commerce benefits include: • Avoiding crowded stores/checkout • Easy price comparisons • Access to deals and coupons • Broader product range • Access to more retailers • Features like automatic replenishment • Ease of research • Readily available human online help If you have a headache, would you rather order your pain reliever online or run to the store for aspirin? Physi-

cal retailers offer instant gratification: • No waiting for delivery • Easy to address immediate or special needs • No shipping fees or stiff return policies • No inspecCheryl tion barriers (we Pearsoncan see, feel and McNeil smell our choices) • Exposure to promotions, sampling and signage • Ease of interacting with, evaluating and selecting products • Interaction with store associates The research shows that most of the products we purchase online are non-food items. It’s interesting to note that based on the analysis of 18 product categories, the mix of product sales in e-commerce is 60 percent non-food to 40 percen food; while the exact reverse is true of the total CPG picture, which is 60 percent food and 40 percent non-food.

The leading categories in online sales are diapers; diet aids; vitamins; skin care products and pantry staples such as coffee; cereal; dog food and toilet paper; with categories such as carbonated beverages; dairy; liquor; beer; produce and frozen food having the smallest sales. Makes sense, as factors such as refrigeration, perishables and weight come into play, making shipping cost-prohibitive.

The opportunities for brick-andmortar retailers to reach out to consumers online are rich, barely-mined territory. Many, who might have been skeptical of e-commerce, are now making it a strategic goal. For instance, some retailers are appealing to shoppers who don’t have time to make grocery trips and aren’t crazy about long lines or crowded parking lots. In some instances, consumers can order online or from an app on connected devices; then pick up the item(s) in-store at a convenient time.

(Don’t you love it?)

With our community’s projected purchasing power approaching $1.1 trillion by 2015, we are critical contributors to this growing shopping trend and marketers are responding accordingly. So, as you prepare to purchase items for your Thanksgiving dinner and other CPG items to make your holidays bright, remember you have the power – either online or in-person. Use it wisely.

(Cheryl Pearson-McNeil is senior vice president of Public Affairs and Government Relations for Nielsen.

For more information, visit www.nielsenwire.com.)

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OPEN LETTER: Students, faculty, alumni of The University of Mississippi

As student leaders of The University of Mississippi, we want to respond to the incidents that occurred on our campus last Tuesday (Nov. 6) night. The hateful, small-minded actions committed by some students are unacceptable and embarrassing; they have tarnished the reputation of the university we love so dearly.

This year was special as we celebrated the University’s fiftieth year of integration – we’ve made substantial strides in race-relations since 1962. However, after the re-election of President Barack Obama, a small group of students took to campus streets playing “Dixie,” shouting, “The South will rise again,” and screaming racial slurs at their fellow students. This behavior is absolutely unacceptable on The University of Mississippi’s campus, and it flies in the face of the University Creed.

Every single student on our campus pledges to uphold the values of the Creed at Orientation – including respect for the dignity of each person, and treating others with fairness and civility. And, it is every student’s responsibility to hold each another accountable for living a life that embraces the tenents of the Creed.

We’ve made progress as a community and as a university since James Meredith bravely integrated our institution, but election night reminded us we still have a long way to go. The University of Mississippi is not a perfect place – we must not be complacent. We cannot settle for the status quo or think we’ve come far enough. That type of mentality is the reason inequality, injustice, and prejudice still exist – and to move forward, we need to have meaningful dialogue with one another, faceto-face, not by tweets or text or Facebook.

To move forward as a student body and university, we need to discuss our differences and strive to genuinely understand one another’s backgrounds, cultures, and beliefs.

Long gone should be the days of self-segregation, of exclusion, of hateful words, and of ostracizing someone for being different. To students who believe what happened on our campus is somehow acceptable, and to those who partook in hateful speech: you are not welcome at The University of Mississippi. We do not want you here. Our campus is not a safe haven for hate.

The University of Mississippi is a campus for all who follow the principles of our Creed. We have our work cut out for us, but we’re ready for the challenge to keep progressing as a student body and as an institution. We are dedicated to fostering and honoring the University Creed not just on campus, but also as representatives for The University of Mississippi around the state, the nation, and the world.

Sean Higgins, president, Ole Miss College Democrats; Associated Student Body senator, College of Liberal Arts Allen Hamilton, chairman of the Mississippi Federation of College Republicans Kimbrely Dandridge, president, Associated Student Body Brian Barnes, resident, Interfraternity Council Kendrick Hunt, president-elect, National Pan-Hellenic Council Kate Kellum, president, Panhellenic Council Lauren Wright, president, Black Student Union Josh Moore, president, Residence Hall Association

Tri-State Defender

NEWS

November 15 - 21, 2012

Supreme Court to hear Voting Rights challenge

WASHINGTON (NNPA) – After hearing oral arguments earlier on whether an affirmative action program at the University of Texas is constitutional, the United States Supreme Court has agreed to review a challenge to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, paving the way for the court to rule on two major civil rights issues by next summer.

The court agreed last Friday (Nov. 16) to hear a case from Shelby County, Ala. that questions whether Congress exceeded its authority when it voted in 2006 to renew Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, which requires jurisdictions covered by the legislation to pre-clear any election law changes with the U.S. Attorney General or the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. Oral arguments in the voting case are expected to be held in February, with rulings in both the voting rights and affirmative cases likely to be announced next summer. Two lower courts have upheld the constitutionality of the Voting Rights Act extension.

The Voting Rights Act was originally passed in 1965. Section 5 was extended by Congress in 1970, 1975, 1982 and for another 25 years in 2006. It was approved the last time with broad bipartisan support.

Shelby County, the fastest growing county in Alabama, argues that the pre-clearance provision of Section 5 violates the Tenth Amendment and Article IV of the United States Constitution. Both provisions grant states

power to regulate its elections.

Shelby County went to court after the Justice Department rejected a redistricting plan that apparently played a role in the defeat of Ernest Montgomery, the only black member of the 5-member city council in Calera, Ala. Montgomery was elected to the council in 2004 from a district that was nearly 71 percent black. The district was redrawn two years later, reducing the black presence to 23 percent.

Montgomery narrowly lost his 2008 re-election bid to a white challenger. But the Justice Department invalidated the election because district changes had not been pre-cleared.

Attorney generals in six states covered by Section 5 – Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, South Carolina, South Dakota and Texas – filed a joint brief

in support of Shelby County.

Surprisingly, the National Black Chamber of Commerce, which describes itself as “a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to the economic empowerment of African American communities through entrepreneurship,” filed a friend-of-the-court brief supporting Shelby County’s position opposing continued federal oversight under the Voting Rights Act. “…Section 5 is no longer necessary to combat widespread and persistent discrimination in voting and now, perversely, serves as an impediment to racial neutrality in voting and to the empowerment of state and local officials who represent minority constituencies,” the National Black Chamber of Commerce said in its brief.

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BUSINESS

Tri-State Defender

November 15 - 21, 2012

ON OUR WAY TO WEALTHY

Bankruptcy & Chapter 7: ‘Fresh start’

A Chapter 7 bankruptcy typically is filed by individuals, couples or businesses. Frequently referred to as the “fresh start” or liquidation bankruptcy, Chapter 7 usually allows the debtor to receive a discharge from unsecured debts. A discharge means that the debtor is no longer responsible for paying these debts and creditors can no longer collect on these debts.

Trustee

In Chapter 7, the trustee has an immense amount of power, including the ability to take ownership and control of the debtor’s nonexempt assets. The trustee will then analyze them to determine whether to leave the assets with the debtor or sell them to satisfy debts. In most Chapter 7 cases, there are little to no assets.

These cases are typically called “no-asset cases,” which means that any creditor possessing an unsecured claim will be out of luck and will receive no payment because there are no assets to distribute.

Exempt property

In any bankruptcy filing, the debtor is typically worried about what property they will be allowed to keep. The property that is excluded from distribution to creditors and protected from liquidation is called exempt property.

Under the Bankruptcy Code, each state is allowed to adopt its own exemption laws, which the debtor may use instead of the federal exemptions.

Exempt property usually includes, but is not limited to: automobiles up to a certain value; reasonably necessary clothing; reasonably necessary household goods; household appliances; jewelry up to a certain value; pensions; equity in the debtor’s home up to a certain amount; tools of the debtor’s trade or profession up to a certain value; public assistance such as welfare, social security, and unemployment compensation; and damages awarded for personal injury.

Non-exempt property

Property that is not excluded from distribution to creditors is called non-exempt property.

Items that are not included in the exempt categories are lumped into the non-exempt category, which means that they are fair game for the trustee to consider liquidating. These items include: cash, bank accounts, stocks, bonds, and other investments; expensive musical instruments, if they are not tools of the trade of the debtor; hobby collections such as stamps, coins, and other valuables; family heirlooms; secondary vehicles; and additional real estate holdings.

Chapter 7 eligibility

If a debtor is current on the house, car or other secured assets, he or she may keep those assets under Chapter 7, if they are exempt. If not current, the debtor may have to surrender those

assets in order to file Chapter 7.

Meeting of the creditors

Whether you are filing a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13, it will be necessary for the debtor to attend a brief hearing before the trustee.

Carlee McCullough This hearing is very professional, organized, and designed to verify under oath what is in the petition.

Reaffirmation

If a debtor wants to maintain a certain asset, the debtor may choose to reaffirm the debt. In a reaffirmation agreement, the debtor and creditor agree that the debtor will continue to pay all or part of an otherwise dischargeable debt after bankruptcy. The creditor promises not to repossess the property as long as the debtor continues to pay.

Reaffirmation must be entered into before discharge and must be signed by the debtor and filed with the court. Unless the trustee requests additional information, the debtor will not be required to do anything more after this hearing.

The trustee will send a report to the judge recommending discharge. Approximately three months after the judge receives the recommendation, the judge will sign the order of discharge and close the case.

Discharge

“Discharge” under Chapter 7 bankruptcy refers to releasing the debtor from repayment of certain debts. Bankruptcy does not wipe out all debts, only certain debts. No more calls or letters may be sent in an effort to collect from the debtor. Additionally, the discharge does not apply to any co-debtor or guarantor’s liability.

Remaining debts

Certain debts are not discharged upon the completion of a Chapter 7. Such debts include: debts not listed on the schedules filed on the petition; most student loans, unless in the case of undue hardship; recent federal, state and local taxes; child support and alimony; government-imposed restitution, fines and penalties; court fees; debts resulting from driving while intoxicated; and debts because of the debtor’s fraud, willful and malicious acts, embezzlement, larceny or breach of fiduciary duty, and frequently debts from a divorce settlement agreement or court decree.

NEXT WEEK: Chapter 13.

(Contact Carlee McCullough, Esq., at 5308 Cottonwood Road, Suite 1A, Memphis, TN 38118, or email her at jstce4all@aol.com.)

Robotic surgery...

John Lefever, regional MAKOplasty specialist, demonstrates the $1 millionMAKO Robot at Saint Francis Hospital. The surgeon-controlled robotic arm will be used to treat adults with early to mid-stage knee osteoarthritis. (Photo by Wiley Henry/The Carter Malone Group)

MONEY MATTERS

End-of-year tax tips The end of the year is fast approaching, so now may be a good time to start thinking about steps that could help reduce your 2012 income tax liability. Of course, before you take any specific action, be sure to consult with your tax professional.

Consider income timing. Some tax experts recommend deferring income to the next tax year, if possible, to help lower gross income. The situation this year is more complicated because federal income tax rates are scheduled to be higher in 2013. Congressional action on taxes may not become clear until the new Congress takes office after the first of the year.

Examine your capital gains and dividend strategy. The favorable tax rates on capital gains and dividends are scheduled to expire after 2012. Because the future of these provisions is uncertain, you may want to reconsider your strategy before the end of the year.

Make your January mortgage payment early. If you make next year’s first payment on or before December 31, you might be able to take an additional interest deduction this year.

Give to charity. If you itemize deductions, you typically are able to deduct the value of both cash and non-cash charitable contributions from your taxable income. Be sure to

keep receipts and other records required by the IRS. Use up your flexible spending account (FSA) funds. Although this action may not reduce your taxes, you risk losing the money if you don’t use the funds in a medical FSA before the end of the plan year. You can use Charles Sims Jr., CFP these funds for qualified, unreimbursed medical expenses, including insulin and some over-the-counter items such as bandages, contact lens solution, and selfdiagnostic tests. Over-the-counter medicines are not reimbursable without a doctor’s prescription.

(Charles Sims Jr. is President/ CEO of The Sims Financial Group. Contact him at 901682-2410 or visit www.SimsFinancial Group.com. The information in this article is not intended to be tax or legal advice, and it may not be relied on for the purpose of avoiding any federal tax penalties. You are encouraged to seek tax or legal advice from an independent professional advisor.)

RELIGION

Tri-State Defender

What Jesusjokes tell us

Page 7

November 15 - 21, 2012

COMMENTARY

by Edward J. Blum and Paul Harvey Special to CNN

Did you ever hear the one about Jesus being Mexican?

Well, he was bilingual; he was constantly harassed by the government; and his first name was Jesus.

Or, perhaps Jesus was Irish?

He loved a good story; he never kept a steady job; and his last request was for a drink.

Or maybe it’s possible that Jesus was Californian? He never cut his hair; he was always walking around barefoot; and he started a new religion.

You may not have heard these Jesus jokes, but you’ve heard others. They represent a comedic trend that has animated the United States since the 1970s. More and more comedy gimmicks hit on Jesus, his ethnicity and his relationship to politics. Laughing with (and at) the Lord is now fodder for major motion pictures, barroom comedy tours, graphic novels, t-shirts and bumper stickers.

How is it that a figure sacred to so many Americans has become the punch line of so many jokes? And why is it acceptable to poke fun at Jesus when other sacred figures are deemed off limits or there is hell to pay for mocking them?

The explanations are as numerous as the laughs.

Immigration shifts from the 1960s changed the ethnic and religious faces of the country so no tradition dominates today. The Christian right made such a moral spectacle of itself that it practically begged to be mocked. The emergence of “spiritual, but not religious” sensibilities left many Americans willing to denounce or laugh about traditional faith.

The public rise of agnosticism, atheism, and secularism led to aggressive mockery as a form of persuasion….

(The) comic bits delve into some of our thorniest and unresolved problems. The jokes reveal

much more about us than they do Jesus. They speak to how our society has changed, how it hasn’t, and what we’re obsessed with….

From the 1980s to the present, the number of prominent Jesus jokes has multiplied like loaves and fishes…: • “South Park” featured Jesus as a weak-kneed host of a local talk show who boxes the devil.

• “Family Guy” had Jesus perform magic tricks that wowed his ancient audience….

• “Saturday Night Live” let Jesus chastise Tim Tebow for using the Lord’s name in vain and ended the bit by declaring that the Mormons have it right….

The Jesus jokes not only reveal how tangled our reli-

gious, racial, economic and political positions have become, but also how many outlets there are for the jokes. In these tense times, when presidential hopefuls point fingers at one another and families unfriend one another over political and cultural differences, laughing may be one way to talk about the problems without killing one another.

(Edward J. Blum is a historian of race and religion at San Diego State University.

Paul Harvey is a history professor at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.

Read the full commentary at www.tsdmemphis.com)

LIVING THE LIFE I LOVE

‘Tyranny’ of the moment and the search for life

Dear Lucy: I have been having a lot of physical problems for a year. I was so afraid of what it might be that I didn’t go to the doctor. I also didn’t have the time or the money. I was busy just trying to keep my head above water, pay the rent and feed my kids. My mother died from cancer and I have always been afraid I would too. I ended up in the emergency room last week and now I know that my fears were right. The doctor talked to me really bad about being so stupid and not going to the clinic to get checked out earlier. I feel sick, stupid and scared. Tell me something, anything to help!

– Sick, Stupid and Scared Dear SSS: First, I send you showers of Light and Love. I just wrap you in a cloud of Gods grace! You are not the first person to travel this road and probably not the last.

Fear is a hard taskmaster and comes to us in many forms. But we can always know it is present because we have the negative emotions to prove it.

Those emotions, (fear, shame, guilt, blame, anger, Lucy overwhelmed, Shaw etc.) create a vibration in us that just brings on more of the same.

That’s what living in the tyranny of the moment can do to you. You were doing the things that seemed the most important in the moment. You also thought that what you were doing to work and care for your children was good, unselfish and was all about being a good mother.

want these awful things I am afraid of or do I want to be well, healthy and whole?”. Stop thinking on stupid and reverse into happy. At first it may seem hard, but do it anyway. You have the power of your thoughts and the presence of God to support you.

Also ask yourself, “Do I believe my way of thinking can make a difference?” That’s a no brainier. Your past ways of thinking and not listening to your own sweet spirit got you into this, so choosing a new way of thinking can help you out.

Another question: “Having been so stupid, do I deserve to get better?” Of course you do! But now is the time to love yourself first and then your children. Jesus also said that one of the great commandments is “to love your neighbor as yourself.” That means that you learn to love yourself so that you know what loving others is all about.

So, eat well; rest well; pray well; laugh

RELIGION BRIEFS

Dr. Thomas maps future after Memphis

When Dr. Frank Thomas announced this past summer that he was stepping aside as senior pastor of Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church, he noted that he had “suppressed the call to teach for many years in order to serve as a pastor.”

Now its clear where Thomas, who began leading Mississippi Blvd. in 1999, will heed that call. He has been appointed to the Christian Theological Seminary (Indianapolis, Ind.) faculty and as director of a new institute that will be part of the seminary’s new Center for Pastoral Excellence. He will become a professor of homiletics.

According to Christian Theological Seminary President Dr. Matthew Myer Boulton, the institute will focus on preaching, worship, and sacred rhetoric.

“Preaching and worship are the events through which most Christians experience and explore their faith,” Boulton said. “And in particular, African American traditions of Christian preaching and worship have made extraordinary, iconic contributions to American life.

“Dr. Thomas’ background and expertise will help root the institute’s

Sometimes we just don’t know when and how to decide that being selfish is the right choice. Your sweet spirit was warning you and you didn’t listen. Unfortunately, it is human nature to pay more attention to what we don’t want rather than focusing on what we do want. You were paying attention to your mother’s experience.

We tend to get what we attend to.

I am sure that you are getting medical help now. One of the best times to learn to use your power for choosing right thoughts followed by right actions is when your back is up against the wall. Often, when Jesus would heal, he asked two questions: “Do you want to be healed?” And, “Do you believe I can do it?” So now, you can learn a new skill.

Every time you feel afraid of the cancer, the treatment, death, your children’s future, stop and ask yourself, “What is it that I really want? Do I

work in that vibrant legacy, even as he helps us reach out to a wide range of other cultural traDr. Frank ditions and conThomas stituencies.”

Thomas’ experience connecting “Dr. Thomas’ church work with background and community de- expertise will velopment com- help root the plements the seminary’s em- institute’s work phasis on promot- in that vibrant ing social justice, legacy, even as said Boulton. he helps us “We are reach out to a preparing pastors who can go out wide range of and serve in ways other cultural that are attuned traditions and to the pressing is- constituencies.” sues of the day.

Dr. Matthew Frank’s leaderMyer Boulton ship in connecting congregations to the broader community is inspiring and challenging as we launch this new effort.”

Fannie Clark, Tennessee Mass Choir ready to roll

The Annual Concert of Fannie Clark & The Tennessee Mass Choir will be held at Middle Baptist Church-Whitehaven, 801 Whitehaven Lane, on Sunday (Nov. 18), beginning at 5 p.m.

Radio personality Michael Adrian Davis of 95.7 Hallelujah FM will narrate the annual concert, which a free event and open to the public.

Special guests will include Jackson Avenue & Reginald Henderson Jr. The host pastor is Dr. Lester Basken.

BRIEFLY: Memphis Theological Seminary will mark its 100-year celebration of the Joseph Newburger Mansion with a home tour on the corner of East Parkway and Union Ave. on Nov. 17 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event is free. Parking will be available in the lot off Union Ave. and at Lindenwood Church across Union.

BRIEFLY: The Neighborhood Christian Centers, Inc. (NCC) hosts its 4th annual Chicken Strut event from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Nov. 19 from its main headquarters on Jackson Avenue near the uptown com-

munity. Registration begins at 8 a.m., with the strut at 9 a.m. Expect lots of games, contests and lipsmackin’ chicken refreshment.

BRIEFLY: Trinity CME Church, at 1096 Thomas, will hold its Annual Thanksgiving Day Service on Nov. 22, beginning at 10 a.m., with special guest speaker the Rev. Willa Ross, pastor of Collins Chapel CME Church. The Rev. Roland Johnson Jr. is the host pastor.

BRIEFLY: Trinity CME Church hosts its Annual Family & Friends’ Day Celebration on Nov. 25. The morning service begins at 10:30 a.m., with host pastor the Rev. Roland Johnson Jr. delivering the keynote. The guest minister for the afternoon service will be The Rev. Willie B. Boyd, Jr., pastor of Martin Temple CME Church, will speak during the 3 p.m. service.

BRIEFLY: New Friendship Missionary Baptist, 724 E. Georgia, will host the Twenty-Seventh Celebration of Love and Appreciation for its pastor, the Rev. E.D. Wright, and the church’s first lady on Dec. 2, beginning at 11:30 a.m.

For more information, contact trustee Jeanette B. Jefferson at 901332-0219; church number, 901527-9653.

PRAISE CONNECT

well; hope well; and choose well.

“Choose ye this day whom you will serve.” If you want to stop being sick, stupid and scared, then you can do it by choosing to think about what you truly want and stop focusing on the past or an undesirable future.

Look for the good no matter how small and at night before going to sleep, think on and give thanks for every little pleasure that you had that day. No blame, no shame, no guilt.

Begin every day by reading Phillipians 4: 4-8 and do it!

Much, much love, Lucy

(You can watch Lucy on Channel 17 (Comcast) every Thursday at 10:30 am. (Send your questions to her by U.S. mail to: Heartworks4U, LLC; 4646 Poplar Ave. Ste 201, Memphis, TN 38117 or by e-mail to lucy@heartworks4u.com.

BOOK NOTE

In “Unfinished Business: Black Women, the Black Church and the Struggle to Thrive in America,” author Keri Day (Orbis Books) explores “the Black Church as a black religious site that can offer not only hope and cultural flourishing for poor black women but can also participate in a project of economic justice toward their well-being.”

-A WEEKLY DIRECTORY OF MINISTERS & CHURCHES-

METROPOLITAN BAPTIST CHURCH Dr. Reginald L. Porter Sr., Pastor

767 Walker Avenue Memphis, TN 38126

ASSOCIATE MINISTERS

901-946-4095 fax 948-8311

Rev. Davena Young Porter Rev. Linda A Paige Rev. Luecretia Matthews SCHEDULE OF ACTIVITIES

SUNDAY Sunday School .....................8:30 am Morning Worship Service ....10:00am

WEDNESDAY Bible Study .........................10:30 am Mid-Day Prayer Meeting .....12 noon Evening Prayer Meeting........7:00pm FRIDAY Cable Channel 17 ............... 8:00pm

Dr. & Rev. Mrs. Reginald Porter

TEMPLE CHURCH OF GOD IN CHRIST

672 So. Lauderdale 38126 P.O. Box 314 Memphis, Tn 38101 Phone (General) 774-1572 Pastor: 775-0740 Secretary: 775-1909

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

WEEKLY SERVICES

Sunday Sunday School 9:00 a.m.

Morning Worship 10:30 a.m.

Night YPWW 5:00 p.m.

Night Service 6:00 p.m.

Tuesday Night Prayer 6:00 p.m.

Bible Study 7:15 p.m.

Wednesday Choir Rehearsal 7:00 p.m.

Friday Morning Prayer 9:00 a.m.

Night Service 7:30 p.m.

BROADCASTS 9:30 a.m. Sunday WDIA - 1070 AM

No Telecast Service

Dr. David Allen Hall Pastor

— Proverbs 1:7

“The Founder’s Church”

First Pastor: Senior Bishop C.H. Mason

Greenwood Christian Methodist Episcopal Church 3311 Kimball Ave. Memphis, TN 38111 (901) 744-7531 (901) 744-7664

Worship Services

THE BLVD Ea s t 6 7 4 5 Wo l f R i v e r B o u l e v a r d @ Kir by Pa r k wa y (i n t he Cla r k Ope r a M em phis Ce nt e r ) Me mp h i s T N 3 8 1 2 0

Dr. Frank A. Thomas Senior Servant

Sunday Sunday School Worship Service

Clarence Kelby Heath Wednesday Pastor

Noon - 1 p.m.

6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

9 a.m.

10:30 a.m.

ST. ANDREW A.M.E. CHURCH 867 SOUTH PARKWAY EAST Memphis, TN 38106

(901) 948-3441

Early Morning..........7:45 AM Church School..........9:45 AM Morning Worship......11:00 AM Bible Study For Youth and Adults Tuesday - 7:00 PM “Spirit, Soul, and Body!”

AM 1070 WDIA Sundays, 10:00-10:30 AM

TV Cable Access Broadcast Tuesdays, 7:30 PM, Channel 17 Website:www.saintandrewamec.org

Child Care Center (901) 948-6441 Monday-Friday 6 AM- 5:30 PM Emergency Food Pantry Rev. Kenneth S. Robinson, Pastor & Clothes Closet Rev. Marilynn S. Robinson, Co-Pastor Wednesday 6 PM-8 PM

“Ministering to Memphis-Spirit, Soul and Body”

Page 8

BRIEFS & THINGS

COMMUNITY

Tri-State Defender

November 15 - 21, 2012

Pancreatic cancer awareness month

When Republican Gov. Bill Haslam officially declares November Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month next week, he will have no stronger bi-partisan supporter than State Rep. Lois DeBerry of Memphis.

DeBerry, Speaker Pro Tempore Emeritus, is a pancreatic cancer survivor.

Last month, doctors delivered good news – no traces of the disease were detectable of the disease that she had been batRep. Lois tling for almost DeBerry three years.

“It’s the best Christmas present I could get,” DeBerry recently told The Associated Press.

The first female speaker pro tempore in the House is asking other cancer survivors and supporters to join her at the Tennessee Capitol at 10 a.m. on Nov. 19 to help raise awareness of pancreatic cancer and to encourage support for research and treatment.

Buses headed to Nashville will depart at 6 a.m. on Nov. 19 from Case Management, Inc. located at 4041 Knight Arnold (Getwell and Knight Arnold). The round trip fee is $35.

For more information, contact Hazell Jones at 901-327-4008 or by email via hazelljones@ hotmail.com

Arts education and outreach gets ArtsMemphis boost

ArtsMemphis has awarded $283,150 to 27 different arts education and outreach projects – a funding effort partially to help local arts organizations bring arts projects to underserved neighborhoods and to use the arts as an agent for social change.

The grants are part of the $3.3 million ArtsMemphis plans to distribute to arts and cultural organizations during 2012-13. ArtsMemphis launched the grant program with a three-year, $750,000 lead grant from the Assisi Foundation of Memphis, Inc. The program emphasizes collaboration among groups while focusing on bringing a wide array of arts to underserved neighborhoods, including Binghamton, Frayser, Hickory Hill, Orange Mound, Soulsville and Whitehaven.

The following arts organizations are recipients of the arts and education grants: Audio Theater for the Visually Impaired™, Ballet Memphis, Blues City Cultural Center, Buckman Performing and Fine Arts Center, Circuit Playhouse Inc, Collage dance Collective, Cotton Museum and Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum, Creative Aging, Levitt Shell, Hattiloo Theatre, Memphis Acoustic Music Association, Memphis Brooks Museum, Memphis College of Art, Memphis Cultural Arts Enrichment Center, New Ballet Ensemble and School, Playback Memphis, Project: Motion, RiverArtsFest, STAX Museum of American Soul Music/STAX Music Academy, Temple Israel Museum, Tennessee Shakespeare Company, Metal Museum, The Orpheum Theatre, Theatre Memphis and Visible Music College.

BRIEFLY: Mid-South Kwanzaa and RBG productions will present the 2nd Annual Kwanzaa pageant and is looking for talented youth to participate as contestants, performers, and hosts.Contestants will be divided into three age categories: 1-4, 5-8 and 9-12. Performers should be age 14-18. Hosts must be between the ages of 15-18. For more information, contact Pam Brown via email (dominise1@gmail.com) or telephone (901-236-2021). The deadline is Nov. 17.

BRIEFLY: The Shelby County Health Department in partnership with other community organizations will host a free community health fair on Friday (Nov. 16) at Southland Mall from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more information, visit www.shelbycountytn.gov and follow the Shelby County Health Department on Twitter, http://twitter.com/ShelbyTNHealth.

Michael Mallory (left) with his fellow Barksdale Club member Dennis Head at the Barksdale Boys Club in the 1970s.

They were reunited this year as part of the Boys & Girls Club 50th anniversary celebration. (Courtesy photos)

50 years down, Boys & Girls Clubs stepping into the present

by Christopher A. Owens and Megan Klein

Somehow, Michael Mallory’s sneakers have always guided him down the path that led to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Memphis. Whether it was walking a few blocks around the corner to the Barksdale Club, or hiking six miles from his Midtown home to the Samelson Club in Highland Heights, Mallory knew the Boys & Girls Clubs was his ticket to staying on the straight-and-narrow.

Growing up as the 10th of eleven children in a two-bedroom Orange Mound duplex, Mallory’s family moved to Midtown in July 1974. A succession of lazy summer days and lack of activities for youth compelled him to seek positive outlets to occupy his time. He decided to follow his older brothers, Eric and Kenny, to the Barksdale Club.

The Boys Club on Barksdale, first club in the Boys Club of Memphis, opened in 1962.

The Phoenix Club chose to found a local chapter of the Boys Club of America in Memphis as part of its mission to provide professional after-school programming for kids. Jim Carlile was hired as the first executive director and led the organization for more than 30 years, retiring in 1992.

The decision to check out the Barksdale Club represented a turning point for Mallory and is a refreshed memory for him as he joins with others in celebration of the Boys & Girls Club 50th anniversary.

“I had nothing else to do. I was surrounded by poverty where we grew up,” said Mallory. “The Boys & Girls Club was a safe haven for me. If it wasn’t for the Boys Club, I don’t know where I would be today.”

Mallory was stretched and challenged by the activities the Boys Club offered, including attending Camp Phoenix, a Boys & Girls

Michael Mallory and Charles Griffin, vice president of Operations for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Memphis, outside the original location of the Barksdale Boys Club, which opened in 1962.

Clubs-sponsored summer camp that currently serves more than 250 students each July. From learning about trails and using maps, to experiencing diversity in an up-close-and-personal way, Mallory’s initial anxiety about leaving home soon turned into a teachable moment.

“I was really scared to go. I was a long way from Memphis and I didn’t want to leave my parents,” said Mallory. “But I learned so much through the camp meetings, and it taught me so much about diversity.

With no phone, we had to work things out right there. I learned so much about life.”

The closing of the Barksdale Club in 1979 represented only a minor detour for Mallory.

He navigated his way through Memphis’ urban jungle to the Ira Samelson Club. Undeterred by the six-mile distance between his house and the Samelson Club, he caught the bus daily to participate in the Club’s sports

and education activities.

Now a salon executive, a barber instructor, a limousine fleet owner and a fashion entrepreneur, Mallory uses his salon, Michael’s Magnificent Cuts & Styles, as a platform to speak to customers about his experiences as a club kid. He has hired club alumni to work in his salon and recruits new club members by encouraging parents to enroll their children in club activities.

“Michael is a prime example of the impact of the Club on a kid’s life,” said Charles Griffin, vice president of Operations for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater. “He is an ideal role model for the surrounding community. Our members see an example of someone who came from their neighborhood and became successful by building on their Club experiences.”

Like Mallory, the Boys & Girls Clubs has stepped into its next phase of growth. The organization operates six traditional clubs, a technical training center and Camp Phoenix, a summer residence camp. Club members are challenged in five program areas: Character & Leadership Development, Education & Career Development, Health & Life Skills, The Arts and Sports, Fitness & Recreation.

A national survey of Boys & Girls Clubs alumni showed that 91 percent of alumni say they are leading fulfilled lives, 57 percent say that their Club literally saved their lives.

Occasionally, Mallory takes a stroll down memory lane, reminiscing with his old buddies.

“It’s like a brotherhood, and when we get together, it’s like a family reunion,” said Mallory. “Getting the alumni involved to reach out and inspire people to visit the Clubs would be a great thing.”

(For more information on the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Memphis or to make a donation, visit www.bgcm.org.)

GETTING IT RIGHT

In last week’s edition, a story under the headline “Economics and education – a work in progress” included an incomplete reference to a quote

by Memphis City Schools Supt. Dr. Kriner Cash. The story should have read, “It’s no longer about cheap labor but about cheap genius,” he said, pointing out that 43 percent of Asians in the incoming class at Grinnell College in Iowa had a perfect 800 on their SAT test, according to the book “That Used to Be Us: How America Fell Behind in the World It Invented and How We Can Come Back” by Thomas L. Friedman and Michael Mandelbaum.

Community policeman…

Police Director Toney Armstrong was the man in middle and center of attention during a forum Monday (Nov. 12) evening at Annesdale Cherokee Baptist Church, where the Rev. Dr. Dwight Montgomery (right), head of the Memphis SCLC chapter, is the host pastor. On the other end is the Rev. Dr. L. LaSimba M. Gray Jr., who leads Rainbow PUSH in Memphis and is the pastor of New Sardis Baptist Church. (Photo by Tyrone P. Easley)

A cut above…

Warren Lewis – master barber, community partner and entrepreneur – celebrated his 80th birthday on Monday (Nov.12) with a host of supporters, including City Council Chairman Myron Lowery, who saluted him at Bridges in Uptown Memphis. (Photo by Tyrone P. Easley)

SPORTS

Tri-State Defender

Page 9

November 15 - 21, 2012

Tigers jump North Florida and keep the hammer down

by J.R. Moorhead

Special to The New Tri-State Defender

Dwyane Wade drives past Tony Allen. Wade was held to eight points in the Grizzlies 104-86 victory over the Miami Heat Sunday at the FedExForum. (Photo by Warren Roseborough)

How the Grizzlies beat the World Champions Special to The New Tri-State Defender

by Kelley Evans

The Miami Heat game plan coming into the sold-out FedExForum (Nov. 11) was to keep Memphis from feeding the ball inside to big men Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph.

Sure. That sounds pretty good, except that the plan backfired as the Grizzlies darted past the world champs 104 to 86. And it was the second unit that led the charge.

The Grizzlies were up 8576. Grizzlies backup point guard Jarryd Bayless missed a shot that was captured by the Heat’s three-point guru Ray Allen, who ran to the other end for the court in pursuit of a lay-up. A hustling Bayless caught up to Allen and swatted the ball away. Grizz starting forward Rudy Gay retrieved the ball and threw it to reserve Wayne Ellington, who made his sixth three-pointer of the night with 7:20 left to play.

The crowd began to party.

Outside shots – not points in the paint – made the night for Memphis, a team not known for its three-point shooting.

The Grizzlies made 14 of 24 three-point attempts and shot

87.5 percent from the line.

Ellington finished with a career-high 25 points, leading all scorers and finishing with seven three-pointers.

“You get in the zone where you feel like you can’t miss,” said Ellington.

Grizz head coach Lionel Hollins said the Heat did a nice job of hindering Memphis’ effort to swing the ball and get into the post.

“We finally put Wayne in the game to swing and that became the wide-open three for a wideopen shot,” said Hollins.

Bayless said the Memphis bench “just wanted to come in, continue playing the right way and continue getting everybody open looks. We were able to do that and it worked out well.”

Starting point guard Mike Conley, who finished with 18 points and 9 assists, said a lot of guys came up big. “Wayne (Ellington) obviously was the MVP of the night. It was just a fun game to be a part of.”

Gay finished with 21 points and eight rebounds while Randolph collected his sixth consecutive double-double (18 points, 12 rebounds).

Chris Bosh led the Heat with 22 points and eight re-

bounds. Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said his team had not prepared for Memphis’ outside shooting.

“You try to protect the paint against this team because they have so many guys that can control the paint, especially with Z-bo (Zach Randolph) and Marc (Gasol),” said the Heat’s superstar forward LeBron James.

“You go into a game with a game plan. You know he (Ellington) was there for the taking. He made us pay for some mistakes. Some mistakes we didn’t have, he just actually shot the ball extremely well.”

James finished with 20 points, 10 boards, six assists and two steals.

“Just an overall great team game, there isn’t much that I can complain about,” said Hollins.

The Grizz, who defeated the Houston Rockets on Nov. 9 (93-85) at the FedExForum, are now 5-1 to open the season, the team’s best start in franchise history.

Memphis will face the redhot New York Knicks on Friday (Nov. 16) at FedExForum, with the game televised on ESPN.

Victory No. 2…

One up and one down for Tigers in WNIT

Joe Jackson goes airborne for this pass to team mate Tarik Black. (Photo by Warren Roseborough)

son was a top performer, recording 14 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists in 34 minutes. Tarik Black also had a quality outing, posting 18 points and 7 rebounds.

Getting into foul trouble has been a problem for Black during his tenure with the Tigers. He had three fouls in Memphis’ most recent outing

and that resulted in him only playing 26 minutes. No doubt, Memphis is much better when Black is on the floor.

The 17th ranked Tigers have a tune-up game against Samford this Saturday (Nov. 17) before heading to the Bahamas to compete in the Battle for Atlantis tournament.

Keiwan Malone could not quite snag this pass, but Devon Walker of Tulane was called for pass interference, making it a good play for the University of Memphis. The Tigers defeated Tulane 37-23 at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, recording their second win of the season. (Photo by Warren Roseborough)

Special to The New Tri-State Defender

by Kelley Evans

Quick thinking, dominant defense, collective ball handling and back-to-back scoring were all plentiful as the University of Memphis Women’s Basketball team started its regular season with an opening-round route of Grambling State University (Nov. 9) at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse.

Out-rebounding Grambling 49-31, the Tigers played fast and furious in bringing home a 92-42 victory.

Mooriah Rowser, one of two freshmen in the starting lineup, led all scorers with a game-high 24 points and eight rebounds followed by Nicole Dickson with 20 points and seven rebounds.

The 12-for-20 shooting performance for Rowser was the sixth-most field goals scored by a Memphis freshman in school history.

Memphis forced 34 turnovers on Grambling, with 21 in the first half and held them to 22.7 percent scoring from the field.

Pa’Sonna Hope scored double figures with 10 points off the bench. Freshman Ariel Hearn led Memphis with 12 assists.

Dayla Threatt led Grambling State in scoring finishing with 11 points, including eight from the free-throw line.

The win over Grambling State advanced Memphis to the

In recent years, the University of Memphis basketball team has had a problem with playing down to the competition. That problem manifested in last week’s exhibition when the Tigers came out slow in the first half against Christian Brothers University and actually trailed at halftime.

Memphis won by double digits, but coach Josh Pastner wasn’t happy with the overall effort. He wants to see his team play hard all 40 minutes.

So it wasn’t a surprise this past Monday (Nov. 12) when Memphis came out firing against the Ospreys of North Florida. The Tigers did seem a little sluggish right out of the gates, but with the help of Antonio Barton’s 11-point first half Memphis jumped out to a 47-25 lead at the break.

It was good to see Barton – a crucial piece of the Memphis success formula – get into a rhythm early, considering that he and Pastner had a sideline disagreement in Memphis’ exhibition game against CBU, with Barton sent to the locker room during the second half.

The Tigers continued to showcase their dominance in the second half and cruised to their first victory of the regular season (88-61). Joe Jack-

The University of Memphis Womenʼs basketball team was way more than Grambling State could handle in the WNIT opening round. (Photo by Kelley Evans)

second-round of the WNIT at Middle Tennessee State University, where they fell 82 to 68 to the six-time NCAA tournament-goers, the Blue Raiders.

“I’m proud of this team.

Middle Tennessee is a very good program and this is a very tough place to play as the visiting team,” said head coach Melissa McFerrin. “We had some mistakes that we can work out in practice. We only got out-rebounded by one on the road, but we gave up some stuff in transition defense that we will need to work on.”

Memphis cut the score to 10 with just a couple of minutes to go. “And then fatigue kind of got us,” McFerrin. “That comes with experience, getting some endurance late in the game, but I’m not at all disappointed in this effort.”

The 37 points scored by the Blue Raiders in the second half all came in transition and from the line.

Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir tied her career-high, leading Memphis with 16 points. Hearn added a career-best 13 points, while Dickson (11) and Rowser (10) each added doubledigits. Dickson led the Tigers with five rebounds, while Abdul-Qaadir added four steals.

Middle Tennessee had four players in double-digits. Icelyn Elie led the Blue Raiders with 30 points and five rebounds. Ebony Rowe added 19 points and Kortni Jones finished with 14.

NEXT: Memphis travels to Illinois State (1-1) for the Preseason WNIT Third Round consolation game on Sunday (Nov. 18).