12 26 2012

VOL. 61, No. 51

www.tsdmemphis.com

December 20 - 26, 2012

75 Cents

Jones vs. Pickler and the public’s right to know

School board two-steps on call for resignation Special to The New Tri-State Defender

by Karanja A. Ajanaku David Pickler was a late arrival to Tuesday’s Unified School Board meeting. Martavius Jones had been keeping an eye out for him, having concluded that he could not go forward with what is being a labeled a “bombshell” if his fellow board member was not present.

“There is no way that I can make these assertions without him being present,” Jones said Wednesday in an interview with The New Tri-State Defender. “I would have waited until the next meeting.”

Pickler showed up and Jones made his move, introducing a resolution with this kicker: “Therefore be it resolved that the Shelby County School Board of Education requests the immediate resignation of Mr. David Pickler for failure to publicly disclose the apparent conflict of interest and direct or indirect benefit and/or personal gain received by virtue of his public office.”

The justification, according to Jones,

David Pickler

Martavius Jones

has to do with funds that school districts put aside under the Tennessee School Boards Association. That money covers the liability of other post-employment benefits (OPEB) amounts.

In his resolution, Jones asserts that Pickler and/or Pickler’s financial services company raked in $105 thousand in fees ($30,000) and commissions ($75,000) related to OPEB funds totaling $12 million.

Jones pressed forward despite a caution from Dorsey Hopson, the school board attorney, that he could be stepping onto shaky legal ground, perhaps opening himself up to a defamation of character suit. A 24SEE SCHOOLS ON PAGE 2

“Weʼve been through this before and it wonʼt get easier, but we will get through it,” Memphis Police Director Toney Armstrong told a crowd that gathered at City Hall Plaza Wednesday night to mourn the loss of Memphis Police Officer Martoiya Lang.

(Photo by Nicole R. Harris)

“Going to college in our family is not an option, it is a lifestyle,” said Gary Greer, pictured with his daughter, Amber, and his wife, Robin (Courtesy photo)

‘Grustling’

The chronicles of a ʻDadʼ and a daughterʼs road to college Special to the New Tri-State Defender

by Kelvin Cowans

This was not the 1980’s television hit “The Cosby Show,” where the problems of the central characters were solved in 30 minutes or less.

This father was not a doctor who was married to a lawyer living in a spacious brownstone with five kids in tow but never a mention of a late bill.

Interviewing Gary Greer about the often-stressful times of putting his daughter, Amber, through college was more like reality TV. In TV land, I helped the Grinch steal Christmas. I was Malcolm X’s right hand man, so he never died. I was the missing African American on “Friends” and I went to visit Oprah when she was in jail in “The Color Purple.” I married Thelma from

MEMPHIS WEEKEND

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

H- 4 9o - L - 3 1o Su nny

H- 5 6o - L - 4 1o S unn y

H- 5 7o - L - 5 0o Most ly Clo ud y

REGIONAL TEMPS LITTLE ROCK NASHVILLE JACKSON, MS

Friday H-55 L-32 H-43 L-28 H-55 L-31

Saturday H-60 L-44 H-50 L-31 H-62 L-39

Sunday H-61 L-49 H-53 L-45 H-66 L-53

“Good Times,” Denise from “The Cosby Show,” Jada Pinkett from “A Different World,” Jennifer Anniston from anything and Julie Chen from “The Talk.”

All the while Gary Greer – now the coordinator at the Memphis City Schools’ Pupil Services Center – was in the real world with his foot planted on the neck of adversity.

College was a 5½ experience for Amber Greer. She changed her major a couple times.

“Still, no matter what, we knew she wasn’t going to quit and that she would finish,” said Greer. “Going to college in our family is not an option, it is a lifestyle. My graduating class (LeMoyne-Owen College) celebrated 25 years just last year.

SEE GRUSTLING ON PAGE 2

- INSIDE -

• Democrats throwing black women ‘under the bus.’ Why? See Opinion, page 4.

• Significant dip in HIV infections among AfricanAmerican women. See Nation, page 5.

• Holiday shopping and African Americans. See Business, page 7.

• Dr. Frank A. Thomas takes farewell salute in style. See Religion, page 10.

‘We Bleed Blue’ in honor of Officer Lang Special to The New Tri-State Defender

by Latrivia Nelson

Women from myriad walks of life in many shades of blue gathered at First Baptist ChurchBroad Street on Tuesday in remembrance of slain Memphis Police Officer Martoiya Lang, the first female MPD officer killed in the line of duty.

They are part of a new campaign – We Bleed Blue – put together, in part, to raise funds to help assist Lang’s four daughters, who range in age from 2-14 years of age. The campaign’s organizers feature Ruby Wharton, partner in The Wharton law firm and wife of Memphis Mayor AC Wharton Jr.; former Shelby County Commission Chair Deidre Malone; Shelby County Dist. Atty. Amy Weirich; former Memphis City Council member TaJuan Stout Mitchell; and National Democratic Committee Member Gale

MPD. Lt. Caroline Mason attended in uniform – her presence moving some of the women to shed even more tears. (Photo

by Chris Hope) Jones Carson.

Lang, 32, was a member of the Organized Crime Unit (OCU) and was serving a drug warrant in Southeast Memphis on Friday (Dec. 14) when she was shot. She died later at the Regional Medical Center at Memphis. A second OCU officer, William Vroomah, was also injured during the shootout. He was treated at the MED and later released.

SEE LANG ON PAGE 2

Still producing human capital LOC Sesquicentennial: Part II Special to The New Tri-State Defender

by Marcey Evans

Over mountains and through valleys, The LeMoyne-Owen College has endured all types of financial, social and economic terrain. Today – after 150 years of weathering storms – faculty, students and alums agree that the college is strong as it breaks ground toward continued growth and improvement.

A story that began with society’s “least of these” in 1862, LeMoyneOwen – operating under a different name – was a school and safe house for runaway slaves and freedmen.

After moving to Memphis in 1863, the institution experienced one of its first setbacks when a fire consumed it during race riots. Conflict and civil unrest remained after the withdrawal of federal troops in 1866, but the college – then called Lincoln Chapel – was rebuilt and reopened its doors in

The LeMoyne-Owen College has served many students during its 150 years, including these in the science lab in 1954. (Courtesy photo) 1867 with 150 students and six teachers.

This same open-door policy persists today, as the institution continues its mission to “provide a transformative experience educating students for urban-focused leadership, scholarship, service and pro-

fessional careers.”

John Harris, Ph.D., has walked the grounds of LeMoyne-Owen for more than 50 years as a student and then a professor. He has served under eight of the college’s eleven presidents, SEE LOC ON PAGE 6

Page 2

NEWS

SCHOOLS

been for an error. Here’s the deal: Jones received a packet of information from the Tennessee School Boards Association, including a memorandum dated July 20, 2012. It came from Leigh Mills, the TSBA director of finance, and is addressed to “Martavius Jones, Memphis City Board Chairman” and “Kriner Cash, Memphis City Superintendent.”

The error is that Jones was not the school board chairman at that time and should never have gotten the information packet, which noted on the memorandum page that TSBA had received the $12 million contribution and invested with American Funds. It included a breakdown of the investments.

A financial adviser, Jones knew his way around the financial data provided. He noted that the financial adviser was listed as Teresa Bailey, which did not ring any bells. An additional notation under her name listed “LPL Financial LLC” and an address “1135 Halle Park Cir Collierville, Tn 38107-7083.”

That did ring a bell.

Flipping through several pages, Jones came across a page with Bailey’s photo and information identifying her as “executive vice president and senior planning partner, Pickler Wealth Advisers.”

Pickler is the president and chief executive officer.

One board member, Mike Wissman, noted during the resolution debate that the FBI had contacted him, perhaps as much as eight weeks ago.

Wissman said the FBI agents

called the inquiry a “witch hunt.”

In his interview with the TSD, Jones said, “I think we get that information from the FBI, not a school board member. Let the FBI tell us that.”

During the board’s debate on the resolution, Pickler offered no comment. According to published reports, he later committed to preparing a formal response to the assertions made

by Jones. He reportedly acknowledged that the FBI had checked into the matter and found no basis for going forward. And, he is quoted as saying that he was disappointed in how Jones moved on the matter.

Asked why he chose to go the resolution route, as opposed to maybe going to the president of the board, or something like that, Jones said, “We are conducting the public’s business. Do I conduct the public’s business in a private meeting. No. “The public’s business needs to be discussed, deliberated, acted upon in public. The disclosure requirement is not incumbent upon me. I’m not benefiting from it, I don’t have a financial interest in it.”

Jones said prior to being elected to the school board, he attended meetings, learning at one of them that MCS had a $10 million pension plan that he subsequently went after as financial adviser. He didn’t get.

Since that time, he said he has made no effort to land such contract.

“Absolutely not,” he said, “because I sit on the board now.”

GRUSTLING

KC: Awesome!

GG: The thing is that Amber eventually showed more interest in basketball than the other sports and had a scholarship to go to TSU (Tennessee State University) to play and she went. I only had to pay a little money here and there at first and that was cool. I didn’t save up for her college as I should have, so this worked out in our favor.

But after her first year of college her grades dropped and she lost her scholarship but she needed to stay in college. So as a good Dad I had to become what I call a Grustler. That’s grind and hustler put together. I simply refused to take out loans for her tuition.

I would take money off of my credit cards then pay that back.

But then during this time, all kinds of things were happening.

I had two hot water tanks go out at our house, AC unit, the furnace, and I’m a married man. I had a mortgage, insurance and the up-keep of our vehicles.

There came a time that I couldn’t put it on a credit card, so I had to work on the side of working. I would referee basketball games, hold basketball camps and DJ and save money from it all for her education.

Every now and then I’d get help from family or her mother, where I’d pay the tuition and she’d pay for the books.”

my Icy Hot or whatever and I was grustling. I sold my Suburban and I stopped shopping, and I love to look nice. I started taking my food to work for lunch because that’s what I had to do. I just didn’t want her to graduate with debt like we once did. I took away her excuses.

CONTINUED FROM FRONT

page packet that he is certain – then and now – puts him on sound footing fortified his resolution.

“There is not a single thing in my resolution that is not based on evidence. The stuff that I put in the resolution comes from information included in those 24 pages that are immediately after the resolution,” Jones said.

“For Mr. Hopson to provide that, I’m fine with it because I know good and well that I never say Mr. Pickler stole anything. I never say that he did anything criminal. I never said he did any type of embezzlement that was going on; none of that. My comments for the most part last night were limited to what was in that resolution.”

Board members, several of whom were audibly unhappy about Jones’ move, balked at adding the resolution to the evening’s agenda, eventually deciding to set up a threemember ethics panel to weigh the allegations against Pickler.

“I’m fine with that,” Jones said of the ethics panel. “It is out of my hands. It’s in the public domain, which is where it belongs. If you are sitting on a public body and an employee of yours or your firm is doing business with that public body, the public needs to know.

“And if you didn’t (inform the public), I think you need to resign your office,” said Jones.

None of the drama, he said, would have unfolded had it not CONTINUED FROM FRONT

Kelvin Cowans: While in High School it’s understood that most kids will be prompted to behave a certain way because mom or dad is watching and are there to say follow the straight and narrow. However, when in college, no professor is coming to your dorm room to wake you up for class. So, what did you tell Amber about your expectations of her?

Gary Greer: I expressed to her that the way that she had been raised was that when it’s a directive from me, then you don’t have a choice. When I give you an option, then you have a choice, and you are then made aware of the consequences of the choice you make.

With her going off to school, I asked her did she know what was important to me as her Dad; because to me there is a difference between a father and a Dad in my book. A father is the person who dropped the seed. They may be around or may not be. To me, a Dad sacrifices no matter what the situation intels. He makes sacrifices for the child’s benefit to make sure that the child needs are met.

I wanted her to understand the difference between the two.

If she got to college and messed it up, then I wanted her to know that I would give her a time period of six month’s from when she messed it up to get out of my house or go to the military and let them pay for your college. Had it been a boy, then he would’ve had six weeks.

As a great Dad I know how to love you from a far, so she needed to know up front what I expected of her as a Dad. I didn’t raise no loose woman, so I don’t expect you to get up there to college and be loose. I bought her first flower, I took her on her first date and opened the doors for her. There is a level of standard that her mom and I set for her to have and that’s the bottom line.

KC: I’m catching certain words that you’re using – directive, sacrifice, intel. Do you have a military background?

GG: Yes, I do, I’m a former Marine. As a former Marine, you are taught to do things a certain way and in excellence, from shining my shoes to making my bed. I found that training to take me a long way in life. My dad was also a former marine and I instilled much of the training I had and how he raised me into her.

Amber graduated number 13 in her class with honors at Melrose High School in 2007, all while playing volleyball, basketball, track and softball. At the time Melrose didn’t even have a golf team, and I remember her heading up a campaign for them to have one. As a result, some kids that came behind her received golf scholarships.”

Tri-State Defender

December 20 - 26, 2012

KC: Her beautiful and softspoken mother, whom I have met, is Mrs. Robin Greer, who is a program manager at Bridges, Inc. USA, correct?

GG: “Indeed. Sometimes (our) income tax check refunds were for tuition payments, we sacrificed a lot. Many times I wouldn’t allow Robin to help because I felt it was my duty.

I’d be out there with sore knees and all officiating games because it had to get done. I had

KC: So the long-awaited end result to this sacrifice was a college graduate.

GG: Yeah, a college graduate, a psychology major. She’s getting ready to go to nursing school and I got reservations about her taking out loans for that. I wish all parents, and especially in the black community, understand that you do whatever it takes when it comes to your child’s education.

We have to get to the point where we understand this. We have to get to where we understand the fiscal part of life. We have to know and understand words such as investments, tax shelters, mutual funds and annuities.”

KC: I agree, anything you want to say to Amber?

GG: I love you to death.

Your mother and I love you unconditionally and we expect even more out of you. You come from a family full of people who have all kinds of degrees and that’s just how we get down. Going to college is the culture of our family for many generations. We have one family member who actually has six degrees.

I just thought it best that I put my best foot forward to make sure she had an even playing field for a good life. This is real life and you have to look at it that way for your kids.

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

LANG

CONTINUED FROM FRONT

Traveno Campbell, 21, is charged with Lang’s murder.

At the We Bleed Blue kickoff, each woman who spoke at the podium did so with the same call-to-action but a different request of the public during the Lang family’s time of need.

“Last Friday was a day of tragedy,” said Wharton, “because this lady in the line of duty was slain. She put her life at risk every single day for us.

And for that we are eternally grateful to her and all the officers and first responders who put their lives at risk every day.

“Unfortunately, she left four little children. And it’s really easy to say our hearts are heavy but the question is what do we do,” said Wharton. “And that is why we’re here today. There are great needs that will have to be met.

And we need Memphians to come together and help.”

Weirich challenged citizens to remember the Lang family for years to come, reminding the public that even with justice served, all the holes would not be filled in the family’s heart.

MPD. Lt. Caroline Mason attended in uniform – her presence moving some of the women to shed even more tears. In a reverent tone, Mason spoke about the history of women in the Mem-

phis Police Department. She thanked citizens for their outpouring of support and honor extended to “our first fallen ‘shero.’”

Malone noted the various banks, including Suntrust, Regions and the Bank of Bartlett, that are accepting donations on behalf of Lang’s family.

She also called for a moment of silence at 11 a.m. on Thursday (no matter where people are) as part of an “hour of remembrance” when the first visitation is held for Lang.

In addition, Malone asked the public to demonstrate unity for first-responders by wearing something blue on Thursday, and/or donate to Lang’s children’s community fund.

“I challenge as a member of the Philanthropic Black Women, who made a contribution of $2,000 to the Lang Community Fund, to other organizations to donate no matter how big or small,” said Malone. “We know that it will definitely help. So, we ask you to support this effort.”

“Our hearts are bleeding blue as a community response for our fallen shero,” said Mitchell. “We are standing in the gap with all of our officers. And we will do what we need to do to support them. In the months to come, Madam DA, you will see us in courtrooms.

“We will be activists for legislation. We will sound the alarms in our communities and

push for good legislation that will keep our streets safe, and we will get our churches involved, like this wonderful church, First Baptist Broad. We are the women behind the civic clubs and neighborhood groups and we can get this done.”

An emotional Gale Jones Carson called for communities to pay attention to their surroundings. “We need to pay close attention to people around us, and when we see things, we need to report to social workers, police and first responders, because they may save a life.”

The first visitation for officer Lange will be from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday at M.J. Edwards Funeral Home at 1165 Airways.

A second visitation will be from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday at Hope Presbyterian Church at 8500 Walnut Grove.

A “Sea of Blue” procession of Memphis police vehicles will begin at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday in the 2600 block of Hollywood, heading south to eastbound Interstate 40 to Walnut Grove and will end at Hope Presbyterian Church.

Two police cars and a Memphis Fire Department ladder flying an American flag will be located on the interstate behind 1062 N. Mendenhall Cove, the address where Lang was fatally shot.

The funeral service is at 11 a.m. Friday at Hope Presbyterian Church.

NEWS

Tri-State Defender

Page 3

December 20 - 26, 2012

Six more schools added to Achievement School District Special to The New Tri-State Defender

Six more Memphis area schools are joining Tennessee’s statewide Achievement School District (ASD) – an announcement made at a press conference (Dec. 14) last Friday at Frayser Achievement Elementary School in the Frayser neighborhood of North Memphis.

“We’re thrilled to welcome these schools to the ASD,” said ASD superintendent Chris Barbic. “We’ve seen great things happening in our schools this year, and can’t wait to begin working with our new parents, students, teachers and community members to prove the possible.”

The ASD encompasses six schools, with Friday’s announcement signaling a doubling next year. The ASD will serve as both an operator and an authorizer of schools that are now a part of the district.

As an operator, ASD is directly responsible for the management of its schools, and as an authorizer, it recruits and selects high performing charter schools to join its network.

Find me in ‘Frayser’: ASD – school operator

The ASD has set deep roots in the Frayser area, running three schools this year: Frayser Elementary, Corning Elementary and Westside Middle School. Now they approved to operate two additional campuses in the Frayser area: Georgian Hills and Whitney elementary schools.

DeAndre Brown, executive director of Lifeline to Success, said he has seen a change in Frayser this school year. “The ASD has truly become part of the community, and our kids are learning in ways they never have before.”

Frayser Elementary joined the ASD this fall, beginning its climb to the top 25 percent of schools in the state. Like other schools that have joined the ASD, Frayser performed in the bottom 5 percent of schools in the state. This group of schools, known as “Priority” schools, is receiving statewide attention.

On average, only 1 out of 10 students in Priority schools can read and do math on grade level. And in Frayser, 11 out of the 14 schools are priority schools – the highest concentration of the bottom 5 percent schools in the state.

“In just a semester here at Frayser, we have seen significant academic gains with our students, and we know they can reach further heights this spring,” said James Dennis, Principal of Frayser Elementary.

The ASD as authorizer

The ASD is positioning other top performing school operators to do the same in other parts of the city. The charter operators that have been selected to serve as the management entities for ASD schools include Aspire Public Schools; Capstone Education Group (Cornerstone Prep); Gestalt Community Schools (GCS), and KIPP Memphis Collegiate Schools.

Orange Mound will now have a new educational partner in Aspire Public Schools, a newcomer to Memphis. Aspire has built its reputation operating public schools in California. Beginning this fall, Aspire

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will team with Hanley Elementary School.

“We are excited about working with families and students in the Orange Mound school community,” said Allison Leslie, executive director, Aspire Public Schools-Memphis Region.

“Aspire Public Schools provides students with a proven rigorous education, helping to

prepare students for success in their future endeavors-in higher education, work, and citizenship. With our College for Certain mission in mind, our goal is to prepare students at Hanley Elementary to earn a college degree.”

Along with Aspire, the ASD announced that Gestalt Community Schools, operaters of the Power Center Academy in

Hickory Hill, will phase in operations at Klondike Elementary, beginning next year with kindergarten and first grade, and adding a grade each year.

Gestalt already operates one ASD School. Gordon Science and Arts Academy serves students zoned to Humes Middle School.

Another local top-performing school operator, KIPP

Memphis Collegiate Schools will begin work with Corry Middle and Shannon Elementary next fall. At Shannon, KIPP will operate grades PreK and kindergarten, adding a grade each year; at Corry, KIPP will operate the 5th grade, adding a grade each year.

ASD schools were chosen and matched with charter man-

agement operators based on a range of factors, including need (school and feeder pattern performance), potential for impact (school and feeder pattern serve a high number of students), and community input.

The community engagement process was led by the volunteer Achievement Advisory Council, the ASD, and the ASD’s charter operators.

Page 4

John H. Sengstacke Publisher (1951 - 1997)

The Mid-Southʼs Best Alternative Newspaper

A Real Times Newspaper

OPINION

Tri-State Defender

December 20 - 26, 2012

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

New senator, same white conservative ideology

Violence is ‘as American as Cherry Pie’ NNPA Editor-in-Chief

by George E. Curry

WASHINGTON – In the late 1960s, black revolutionary H. Rap Brown, now known as Jamil Abdullah al-Amin, was often quoted as saying violence is “as American as cherry pie.” More than 40 years after the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) firebrand made that pronouncement, the numbers supports his assertion.

According to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, nearly 100,000 people in the U.S. are shot each year in murders, assaults, suicides, accidents or by law enforcement officials. Of the 31,593 who died in 2008 from gun violence, 2,179 were murdered; 18,223 killed themselves; 592 were killed accidently; 326 were killed during police intervention and 273 died, but the intent was unknown.

The report shows that 66,769 survived gun injuries, including 44,466 who were injured in a gun attack; 3,013 were injured during a suicide attempt; 18,610 were shot accidently and 679 were shot during police intervention.

On average, according to the Brady Campaign: • Every day, 270 people in America, 47 of them children and teens, are shot in murders, assaults, suicides, accidents and police intervention; • Every day, 87 people die from gun violence, 33 of them murdered; • Every day, eight children and teens die from gun violence; • Every day, 183 people are shot, but survive their gun injuries and • Every day, 38 children and teens are shot, but survive their gun injuries.

• Every time there is mass murder, there are flashbacks to earlier killings: The University of Texas tower sniper in 1966, the 1986 post office shootings in Edmond, Oklahoma that inspired the term “going postal,” the Columbine High massacre in 1999, the deadly shooting spree at Virginia Tech in 2007, the Fort Hood Texas mass murder in 2009, the weird-look on the face of Jared Loughner after he fatally shot six people and injured 12 others last year, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, in Tucson.

This year has seen an unusual number of high-profile shootings. In April, three black people were killed and two more injured in Tulsa as part of a hate crime. In July, 12 people were killed and 58 were injured in Aurora, Colorado at the midnight premier of the Batman movie, “The Dark Knight Rises.” And in August, seven people were killed at three injured at a Sikh temple in a Milwaukee suburb.

Other terrorizing acts also come to mind, including Timothy McVeigh’s 1995 bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City and Ted Kaczynski, the Harvard-educated “Unabomber,” who was sentenced to eight consecutive life sentences in 1998 for killing three people and injuring 23 others over a 20year period.

And, now a mass slaughter at an elementary school.

At a prayer vigil Sunday night in Newtown, Conn. for the 20 children, most of them 6- or 7-years-old, and six adults, President Obama said it is time to explore what can be done to curb gun violence.

He said, “Can we honestly say that we’re doing enough to keep our children – all of them – safe from harm?

Can we claim, as a nation, that we’re all together there, letting them know that they are loved, and teaching them to love in return? Can we say that we’re truly doing enough to give

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

all the children of this country the chance they deserve to live out their lives in happiness and with purpose?

I’ve been reflecting on this the last few days, and if we’re honest with ourselves, George the answer is no.

E. Curry We’re not doing enough. And we will have to change.”

In the wake of the latest shooting spree, even some longtime National Rifle Association supporters are saying we need more stringent gun laws.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-West Va.) – who has an “A” rating from the NRA – said: “I just came with my family from deer hunting,” Manchin said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “I’ve never had more than three shells in a clip. Sometimes you don’t get more than one shot anyway at a deer. It’s

“It’s time to move beyond rhetoric. We need to sit down and have a common-sense discussion and move in a reasonable way.”

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-West Va.)

common sense. It’s time to move beyond rhetoric. We need to sit down and have a common-sense discussion and move in a reasonable way.”

Even Rupert Murdock, CEO of News Corp., asked rhetorically on his Twitter account, “When will politicians find courage to ban automatic weapons?” Murdock’s media empire includes Fox News, which strongly advocates pro-gun positions.

Although it may not seem like it, America is less violent than it was two decades ago, according the FBI crime statistics. The homicide rate, which peaked at 10 per 100,000 in the early 1990s, is now about half that rate. However, the same can’t be said of mass murders, defined as involving the deaths of at least four people.

James Alan Fox, professor of criminology, law and public policy at Northeastern University in Boston, said there is no pattern with mass murders. He said there were 645 mass-murder events between 1976 and 2010.

Even at its greatly reduced level, the U.S. is far more violent than other high-income countries. Data from the World Health Organization for 2003 from 23 heavily populated high-income countries showed that the U.S had far higher rates of firearm deaths than the other 22 countries studied.

In fact, of the 23 countries examined, 80 percent of all firearm deaths occurred in the U.S., 86 percent of all women killed by firearms were females living in the United States and of all children 14 and under killed by firearms, 87 percent of them were in the U.S. Speaking in Connecticut, President Obama said, “Since I’ve been president, this is the fourth time we have come together to comfort a grieving community torn apart by a mass shooting. The fourth time we’ve hugged survivors. The fourth time we’ve consoled the families of victims. And in between, there have been an endless series of deadly shootings across the country, almost daily reports of victims, many of them children, in small towns and big cities all across America – victims whose – much of the time, their only fault was being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

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Democrats throwing black women ‘under the bus.’ Why?

What is it about Democratic presidents and black women that result in the women always being thrown under the bus? Black women gave President Obama 96 percent of their vote in 2012 – compared to 87 percent for black men – but somehow black women end up with tire marks on them.

Remember when the “first Black president,” Bill Clinton, totally dissed Lani Guinier, the first black woman professor tenured at Harvard Law School?

In April of 1993, Clinton nominated Guinier to be the Justice Department’s Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. She was accused by right-wing conservatives of being a “Quota Queen” (a play on Reagan’s incendiary “Welfare Queen” language). Right-winger Clint Bolick’s editorial opposing Guinier in the Wall Street Journal doomed her nomination.

Clinton refused to defend or fight for Guinier. Mind you, this was a woman who was in Clinton’s wedding!

Then there was Shirley Sherrod. In July 2010, she was forced to resign from her position as Georgia State Director of the Rural Development Agency for the U.S. Department of Agriculture because of an edited video from a speech 24 years earlier to a Douglas, Ga. NAACP chapter.

Right-winger, Andrew Breitbart, who drastically altered and posted the distorted video on his web site, did it in his attempt to embarrass the Obama administration.

Sherrod – with sharp public criticism of her from NAACP President Ben Jealous – was unceremoniously forced to resign her position by the Obama administration, only to find out that Breitbart had intentionally edited her speech to make it look as though she hated white people when, in fact, she had been helpful to white farmers in Georgia. Obama called her after the fact, but by then it was too late.

Now there is Susan Rice, Obama’s Ambassador to the United Nations. She was widely considered to be Obama’s first choice to be Secretary of State. I was thoroughly encouraged when Obama drew a line in the sand and came out strongly with his support for Rice during his press conference on Nov. 14. I was heartened to see Obama finally show some spine. I cheered as he vowed to go toe-to-toe with Republicans for someone he claimed to believe in.

He said at the time: “…She gave her best understanding of the intelligence that had been provided to her.

If Senator McCain and Senator Graham and others want to go after somebody, they should go after me.

And I’m happy to have that discussion with them. But for them to go after the U.N. Ambassador who had nothing to do with Benghazi and was simply making a presentation based on intelligence that she had received and to besmirch her reputation is outrageous…”

But my excitement quickly turned into disappointment when instead of fighting, Obama accepted Rice’s decision to withdraw her name from

consideration.

Where is the righteous indignation from the usual blowhards: Al Sharpton, the NAACP, the National Urban League, and the Congressional Black Caucus?

Where are all the Raynard women who Jackson railed against the incendiary language coming from Republican Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham?

Why aren’t they assailing Obama for not standing up and fighting for Rice? I would have more respect for Obama had he nominated Rice and lost (though she would have ultimately been confirmed) rather than him running from a fight, as he always does.

Thus far, I have not heard a word from Melanie L. Campbell, president and CEO, National Coalition for Black Civic Participation; Marcia Dyson, partner, M & M Dyson, LLC; Ingrid Saunders Jones, chair, National Council of Negro Women; Susan L. Taylor, CEO and founder, National CARES Mentoring Movement; Susan Scanlan, chair, National Council of Women’s Organizations and president of the Women’s Research & Education Institute; Vivia A. Fox, president, Foxy Brown Productions; Natalia A. Francisco, founder/executive director, Women of Worth & Worship, LLC, E. Faye Williams, national chair, National Congress of Black Women; Yvonne Scruggs-Leftwhich, president & CEO, Center for Community & Economic Justice; Claire Nelson, president & CEO, Institute of Caribbean Studies; Sophia A. Nelson, author; Tamika Mallory, national executive director, National Action Network; Julianne Malveaux, economist, columnist and lecturer; Julian B. Kiganda, president, African Diaspora for Change; Nicole Lee, president, TransAfrica Forum; Avis Jones-DeWeever, executive director, National Council of Negro Women; or Tanya Clay House, chair, Civil Rights Law, National Bar Association.

These are the same women that just last month signed and circulated a letter of support for Rice’s nomination and chastised Republicans for the language used towards a black woman.

There is absolutely no doubt that Rice is imminently qualified for any job dealing with foreign affairs or national security. Rice’s withdrawal had nothing to do with Republicans and everything to do with another black woman being deemed expendable and not worth fighting for by another Democratic president.

(Raynard Jackson is president & CEO of Raynard Jackson & Associates, LLC., a Washington, D.C.based public relations/government affairs firm. He can be reached via www.raynardjackson.com.)

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(NewsOne) – In theory, I should be happy that a black man is going to the Senate. Even if it is a tiny, tiny sprinkle of color, it is undoubtedly needed in the sea of whiteness that makes up the Michael U.S. Senate.

Arceneaux Enter South Carolina’s Rep. Tim Scott, who was recently appointed to replace Jim DeMint as one of the state’s two representatives. Scott will be the first black Republican senator since Ed Brooke (R-Mass., 1967-79), and yet, I’ve been happier to hear the voice of a belligerent bill collector for my private student loans than I was to read about this guy getting a bump in title.

As you’ll soon begin to hear more frequently, the 47-year-old Senate appointee has an interesting, even admirable background. Raised by a single mother, as reported by the New York Times, “(Scott was) a lost child who struggled with school and with life until a Chick-fil-A franchise owner took him on as a protégé and schooled him in conservative principles.”

Unfortunately, therein lies much of the problem with Scott joining the Senate.

Traditional conservative values are an acquired taste (that tend to leave me feeling sour), but those who harbor them aren’t automatically political bad apples.

Likewise, conservative blacks aren’t necessarily “sell outs” or “Oreos” or whatever term you can think of Tim to argue they are Scott less than.

The same cannot be said of Scott’s ilk, though.

As a member of the Tea Party, Scott represents a bastardization of conservatism. He is a part of the fringe element of the Republican Party that partially built its clout on exploiting racist sentiments. Not to mention, if Scott exhibits any of the behavior he displayed in Congress, he’ll be nothing more than another nuisance getting in the way of actual work being done in Washington.

Here a few examples: A year ago, when talks over the debt ceiling were deadlocked and the country was on the brink of defaulting, President Barack Obama asserted “that the debt ceiling itself was an unconstitutional infringement on the 14th Amendment.”

Scott responded by entertaining the notion of impeaching Obama.

Two months after entering Congress, Scott would propose a bill that would kick entire families off of food stamps if even a single member went on strike. But in 2010, Scott said, “My hope is I will take that experience and help people bring out the best that they can be. Coming from a single-parent household and almost flunking out of high school.” Meanwhile, South Carolina’s black poverty rate stands at 38 percent.

As a South Carolina state representative, Scott backed a proposal to cut the state’s entire HIV/AIDS budget, even though South Carolina ranks in the top-third of reported AIDS cases. Who he defended instead were the oil companies, helping them to keep $50 billion in subsidies. When asked if this seemed fair, Scott retorted, “Fair is a relative word.”

When asked about his South Carolina congressional colleague, Rep. Trey Gowdy said in an interview last week, “There is not a kinder, more humble, sweet-spirited person. That is somewhat antithetical to what you’d expect at this level of politics.”

Yes, the anti-poor, anti-gay, antidiseased, pro-big-oil politician sounds like quite the sweet soul.

Black people are not a monolithic, but when you don’t look out for your own, it’s clear that you are in a position to help make it worse for other blacks. Tim Scott may be on his way to becoming the first black Republican senator of South Carolina, but his policies aren’t at all different from the out-of-touch, older white man he’s replacing.

It’s history, but whoopity damn doo.

(Michael Arceneaux is a Houstonbred, Howard-educated writer and blogger. You can read more of his work on his site, The Cynical Ones.

Follow him on Twitter: @youngsinick)

NATION

Tri-State Defender

‘Significant’ dip in new HIV infections among African-American women CDC ʻcautiously optimisticʼ

A new incidence report released Wednesday (Dec. 19) by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is the first to show a statistically significant decline in new HIV infections among African American women (21 percent comparing 2008 to 2010).

While additional years of data are needed, the CDC reports that it is cautiously optimistic that “this could be the beginning of a longer-term trend.”

Still, African-American women continue to represent the majority (64 percent) of new infections among women.

The finding about AfricanAmerican women was one of several key findings the CDC noted as it released estimates of the number of new HIV infections in the United States – including new data for 2010 and trends in recent years. The incidence estimates, published online in CDC’s HIV Supplemental Surveillance Report, provide the most up-to-date picture of the U.S. HIV epidemic.

Other key findings include: • Overall, the number of new HIV infections in the United States has remained stable at 50,000 per year over

the last decade; • In 2010, there were 47,500 new infections; • New infections among young gay and bisexual men (ages 13-24) continued to rise sharply (by 22 percent comparing 2008 to 2010); • Young, black gay and bisexual men continue to bear the heaviest burden and now account for more new infections than any other subgroup – a total of 4,800 in 2010; • Gay and bisexual men of all ages, races and ethnicities, African Americans, and Lati-

nos continue to be most affected by the epidemic; • Gay and bisexual men represent 2 percent of the U.S. population but a majority (63 percent) of new HIV infections, and the number of new infections in this group increased 12 percent comparing 2008 to 2010; • African Americans represent 14% of the U.S. population but almost half (44 percent) of new infections; the number of new infections remained stable comparing 2008 to 2010;

• Latinos represent 16 percent of the U.S. population but 21 percent of new infections; the number of new infections remained stable comparing 2008 to 2010.

The annual number of new infections in the United States has remained stable despite continued increases in the number of people living with HIV, indicating that HIV testing, treatment and prevention programs are making an important impact – but incidence still persists at far too high a level, the CDC reports.

Obama: Proposals to address gun violence due by January (CNN) – The nation will have a set of recommendations to address widespread gun violence within weeks, President Obama announced Wednesday (Dec. 19).

Vice President Joe Obama will lead an inter-agency group to come up with “concrete proposals no later than January – proposals that I then intend to push without delay,” the president said.

Speaking five days after a gunman killed 27 people, including 20 children, at a Connecticut elementary school,

Page 5

December 20 - 26, 2012

Obama said that “if there is even one thing that we can do” to prevent such tragedies, “we have a deep obligation, all of us, to try.”

“This is not some Washington commission. This is not something where folks are going to be studying the issue for six months and publishing a report that gets read and then pushed aside. This is a team that has a very specific task to pull together real reforms right now.”

No single law or set of laws can prevent gun violence, the

president said.

But the complexity of the issue “can no longer be an excuse for doing nothing,” he said.

The “complex” issue demands action on gun laws and work in making “access to mental health care at least as easy as access to a gun,” he said.

The country also needs to tackle a “culture that all to often glorifies guns and violence,” he said.

“And any actions that we must take must begin inside the home and inside our

hearts.”

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, DCalifornia, has said she will introduce legislation to reinstate the assault weapons ban that expired in 2004.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said Tuesday that the president supports that effort.

Obama also wants to close “the so-called gun show loophole which allows people to buy weapons without going through the background checks that are standard when you purchase” them retail, Carney said.

Time names President Obama ‘Person of the Year’ (CNN) – President Barack Obama is Time magazine’s Person of the Year for 2012.

“We are in the midst of historic cultural and demographic changes, and Barack Obama is both the symbol and in some ways the architect of this new America,” Time said in announcing its choice.

“In 2012, he found and forged a new majority, turned weakness into opportunity and sought, amid great adversity, to create a more perfect union.”

Democrat Obama won reelection to a second term in the Oval Office in November, beating Republican challenger Mitt Romney 51 percent to 47 percent in the popular vote and 302 votes to 207 votes in the Electoral College.

In doing so, he overcame political challenges – “Obama is the first Democratic president since FDR to win more than 50 percent of the vote in consecutive elections and the first president since 1940 to win re-election with an unemployment rate north of 7.5 percent,” Time points out – but also cultural ones, capitalizing on his popularity with “young people, minorities, Hispanics, and collegeeducated women” to show that “demographic change is

President Barack Obama

here to stay,” Time said.

The magazine’s four runners-up for Person of the Year were: • Malala Yousafzai, the 15-year-old girl who was shot in the head by a Taliban assassin for her outspoken support of education for girls in Pakistan.

• Tim Cook, Steve Job’s handpicked successor as CEO of Apple.

• Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically elected president who then won international praise for helping broker a cease-fire in the November fighting between Hamas and Israel in Gaza.

• Fabiola Gianotti, who led a team of scientists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in capturing the Higgs boson particle, the so-called God particle, which gives all other particles their mass.

NEWS

Page 6

Tri-State Defender

December 20 - 26, 2012

“Even when finances were not good, the programs were always strong, and the school has grown considerably over the years.” — John Harris

The last senior class of LeMoyne Normal School, 1911.

The faculty – early 1900s.

LOC

CONTINUED FROM FRONT

witnessing its history firsthand.

“We’re contributing to the economy to yield competent professionals to several disciplines,” said Dr. Harris, a mathematics professor and grant project director at the college. “Without LeMoyneOwen, I can’t think of how Memphis might be... We care about each other here, we care about students’ success, and we work to make them successful.”

Former Foreign Service Officer for the U.S. government and LOC alum, Dr. Herman Henning, is one of those success stories.

Although LeMoyne-Owen did not offer the curriculum he needed to pursue foreign affairs in the 1950s, he said dedicated professors at the college helped him pursue and attain his career goals.

“The relationship of the faculty to the student body was memorable. They went out of their way to help,” Henning recalled. “I don’t see myself as an exception. I saw people around me doing the same thing in their fields….Since you can’t see everything ahead of time, you need a solid foundation and LeMoyne-Owen College prepares you with that.”

The college’s foundation was sometimes shaken, however, due to fiscal instability

Commencement – 1948. (Courtesy photos)

and accreditation woes. It’s a time Dr. Harris said he remembers clearly. The tumultuous 1970s and early 2000s brought several challenges for the institution. Calling this time a “roller coaster,” Dr. Harris said some years were prosperous.

“Even when finances were not good, the programs were always strong,” he noted, “and the school has grown considerably over the years.”

Sophomore mathematics major Bianca Henderson said she benefits from the college’s rich history as she builds her own future.

“It (LOC’s history) actually opened my eyes. I see I can do anything to accomplish my goals and dreams,” said Henderson.

“As a student, LeMoyneOwen helps me to grow. I’ve become more mature since I’ve come to the school. The professors actually care and I like the small class sizes. I can stay in touch with my teachers, and I have a good relationship with the president.”

Dr. Kusum Singh, assistant professor of economics, has only experienced one year of the college’s history, but she echoes the prevailing sentiments.

“We are very focused on student success,” she said.

In addition to professor-student relationships, Dr. Singh noted the bond faculty has with administration.

“President Watson seems to have an unusually close rela-

A young Willie W. Herenton (20) on the basketball team.

Now and then, students enjoy the lawn setting.

tionship with his faculty, even including faculty in the decision-making process. I feel informed and valued when the president shares with us or asks for our suggestions in various decisions for the college,” she said, referring to the presi-

dent’s inclusion of faculty in this cabinet.

Dr. Harris said “shared governance” did not exist at LeMoyne-Owen until President Watson came.

“Decisions were made at the top and were sent down from

there,” he recalled, speaking of a time before the current president’s arrival when the faculty took a vote of “no confidence” in the college’s administration.

“When ‘Johnnie B.’ came, he opened (his doors) immediately. The animosity that ex-

isted between president and faculty has completely dissipated.”

Michael Robinson has taught social work at the college since 1996 and will begin his inaugural term as president of LeMoyne-Owen’s faculty organization in January 2013.

He serves on the president’s cabinet and acts as a liaison between administrators and professors.

“Transparency helps to create calm and a better mood among faculty and staff because we’re all participating and playing a role in the college’s development….The college has stability and direction….The president listens; he’s fair and can be trusted,” Robinson said.

“There is a buzz in the air about LOC….We are producing human capital to be an asset to the local community and globally. The college continues to offer opportunities to students, who may not have had a chance to achieve an education at an institution of higher learning.”

Education is important but, more than that, LeMoyneOwen prepares you for life, Dr. Henning added.

“What you carry out of there that’s intangible has the greatest value.”

BUSINESS

Tri-State Defender

Page 7

December 20 - 26, 2012

ON OUR WAY TO WEALTHY

Certification: Helping women make ‘that connection’

Blanca Robinson is the president of Women Business Enterprise Council South (WBENC South) and her mission is to help women succeed.

Carlee McCullough, Esq.: Please tell us about yourself and how you became interested in expanding and promoting economic opportunities for women in business?

Blanca Robinson: I have always been very passionate about women’s issues and the challenges they face, especially in the business arena and certainly for those involved in very non-traditional fields for a woman.

CM: Tell us about the Women’s Business Enterprise Council South (WBEC South).

BR: WBEC South is a 501(c)(3) organization that provides certification to businesses that are at least 51 percent woman-owned, managed, operated and controlled. We are a regional partner organization of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), serving the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, and the Florida Panhandle.

Through our partnership with WBENC, the certification we offer is nationally recognized and accepted by every major corporation across

ing women-owned firms for contracting opportunities. Through WBEC South, we help them make that connection.

Carlee McCullough

Blanca Robinson

the U.S. We are also an approved third-party certifier for the SBA’s WOSB certification (woman-owned small business) for those WBEs who may be interested in federal contracting opportunities and whose NAICS codes qualify for WOSB.

CM: What is a certified WomenOwned Business Enterprise (WBE)?

BR: It is a woman-owned business that has undergone an intense scrutiny and vetting process, and meets the criteria of ownership, management and control, contribution of capital and/or expertise, and independence.

CM: Why is certification important for WBEs? BR: Nearly every major corporation across the country has a supplier diversity initiative and they are seek-

CM: What are some of the benefits of certification?

BR: Certification helps to level the playing field. They become part of a national proprietary database that is accessed by the corporations across the country looking for WBEs. They have access to that database themselves so that they can in turn look for a contact within a given corporation and find out about opportunities.

They are eligible to exhibit at our regional conference as well as at the national conference and business fair.

CM: With all of the different certifications, how does a business owner decide which certification is more beneficial for their company?

BR: It really depends on their target market. Do they want to do business with corporate America, federal government, or local municipalities?

If they are interested in certain government contracts, we encourage them to contact the entity with which they wish to work to find out what certification(s) they accept.

CM: What are some common mis-

conceptions about becoming a certified WBE firm?

BR: One thing that all WBEs need to keep in mind is that certification is a great marketing tool, nothing more.

It will not guarantee a contract, nor should anyone think that corporations are going to start knocking on their doors immediately. The business owner still needs to get out there “hustle” her business, establish and build those relationships, and become actively engaged, meaning participate in regional and national events, network everywhere, and promote herself. She still needs to deliver on time and on budget.

CM: What type of corporations would be interested in doing business with a certified WBE firm?

BR: Nearly every major corporation has a supplier diversity initiative, and these industries are varied.

We have corporate members who are in oil and gas, energy and utilities, automotive, financial, recreation, manufacturing, food services, insurance, retail, healthcare…you name it.

They buy everything and we have WBEs who can supply nearly anything they need.

CM: How much does it cost to apply for certification?

BR: It is on a sliding fee scale,

Survey probes holiday shopping and African-Americans’ choices

Walmart – America’s largest seller of toys – surveyed African-American parents to ask them about their opinions on holiday toys.

The survey was conducted by Toluna online in November 2012 and captured responses from 500 African-American parents and 500 Hispanic parents. Of the respondents, 851 have children between 3 and 11 years old, and the remaining 149 respondents have children between 12 and 15 years old.

Here are the findings: Kids rule

Kids are the top priority when it comes to parents’ gift giving, with 88 percent of African-American parents agreeing that, in their families, it is more important that they buy toys for kids versus buying gifts for the adults.

Making their lists!

African American parents’ toy shopping lists are likely to also include board games, dolls and building toys.

Who’s naughty or nice?

Over 40 percent (43 percent) of African-American parents buy the same amount of toys regardless of how their child has behaved over the year.

Nagging really works

African-American parents wish there were more culturally relevant toys to give to their children. In

Dr. Lisa Williams and her line of Positively Perfect dolls. (Courtesy photo)

fact, African-American parents agreed the most (77 percent) with the desire for more toys that are

representative of their family’s race, ethnicity and/or culture.

MONEY MATTERS

Financial planning can offset wedding bell blues

The excitement starts with an engagement ring. This starts months of planning for the big wedding day. Invitations, dresses, flowers, tuxedos, and cakes must be chosen and purchased to make your lifelong commitment special. Why do couples spend so much time and money on this one day, yet spend very little time preparing for the next 50 years?

Jenny and Thomas returned from their honeymoon full of anticipation about their lives together. They were going to be very busy over the next couple of months merging their lives into one. In addition to moving into their new apartment, Jenny would have to update all of her identification documents to reflect her new name.

After they moved into the apartment, Jenny began updating addresses. Thomas had been giving Jenny his mail so that she could make a list. She began to notice that Thomas had accumulated quite a bit of debt over the years. In addition to his student loans, he had several credit cards with a total balance of more than $15,000. Also, she noticed that he had taken a large loan against his 401(k) at work.

Jenny had never been comfortable with debt. She always paid her credit

CM: Any closing remarks?

BR: One thing to keep in mind is that not all certified businesses are small entities or start-up companies.

In WBEC South we have several businesses with annual revenues in excess of $100M, one at nearly $1B. About 50 percent of our WBEs have been in business for 10 years or more. By contrast, less than 8 percent have been in business for less than three years. Regardless of where they might fall, we want to help them succeed.

Visit our website, www.wbecsouth.org, for additional information.

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

Walmart takes toy drive lead

Walmart, 577 Germantown Parkway, is hosting a toy and bicycle shopping spree for underprivileged children at the Neighborhood Christian Center, and the Ira Samelson Jr. and John Buckman branches of the Boys & Girls Club.

The drive kicked-off at Walmart on Wednesday (Dec. 19) and continues through Saturday. Volunteers from the AAU Cowboys will join Santa’s elves from the Neighborhood Christian Center and the Boys & Girls Club to collect toys and donations.

“Walmart is committed to spreading holiday cheer to those in need,” said Ashley Ross, director of community involvement for Walmart. “There are so many families in need. A lot of people are out of jobs and are doing their very best to make ends meet and give their kids something for the holiday.”

Tyrone Drakeford, director of the John Buckman Boys & Girls Club, said, “Many of our parents aren’t in a position to purchase toys and bikes for their children….Thanks to Walmart, we are hoping to surprise kids from ages 6 to 13.”

by Chris Isidore

The big morning

Toys like us

CM: What advice would you provide for small businesses?

BR: Identify where you want go with your business and who you want to target. Find a niche and don’t try to be everything to everybody. Be cognizant of your capabilities (or lack of), but do not feel that you are not ready for certification.

Home building slows, but still going strong

Nagging is the most persuasive technique that African American kids use to get the toy they want for Christmas. The technique is even more effective for African American parents (55 percent).

Over half of African-American parents (53 percent) always wait to open presents on Christmas Day.

based on annual revenues shown on their latest tax return. For businesses with revenues under $1M, the fee is $350 and then increases.

card balances each month.

Within a couple of months, Jenny had started to make extra payments on the credit cards. She felt satisfied that they could eliminate that debt within a year Charles Sims Jr., CFP with a little discipline. Unfortunately, Thomas wasn’t on the same page. Jenny was checking her email when Thomas flew open the door and grabbed Jenny’s arm.

“Come on, see what I got,” Thomas said as he led her downstairs.

There it was. A brand new SUV, complete with leather heated seats sat in the driveway.

“Isn’t it sweet?” he exclaimed.

“Uh, yeah but where did you get the money?” Jenny responded.

Jenny was not happy. All she could think about was how irresponsible this was. Also, shouldn’t he have consulted her on such a large purchase? Thomas instantly knew that

Jenny was upset. The first fight of their marriage was about to begin.

Money and finances can be a major source of stress for married couples. In fact, according to some sources, it is a common cause for divorce. Jenny soon found out that Thomas has very different attitudes about money than she has. His goals could be very different from hers.

Unless these differences are reconciled, it will continue to create friction in their marriage. In spite of the obvious need to discuss their finances and create goals, it is often difficult when you are living the “fairytale” of engagement and early marriage.

Financial issues could be even more complicated when it is not the first marriage for the bride, groom, or both. In addition to marrying the person, you could be marrying their debt and other financial obligations both now and in the future.

So, in addition to visiting the florist, baker, and dressmaker, engaged couples should schedule a time to visit a financial planner. A qualified financial professional will help you merge your financial life together. Here are some issues to discuss: • What are your financial priorities and goals?

• Who will handle the checkbook and pay the bills?

• How much money is OK to spend without consulting the other spouse?

• How much debt do you have?

How much is OK? • Are there assets that will not be joint after the marriage?

• Should there be a pre-nuptial agreement?

• What are your credit scores?

• Should you update your will and trusts?

• Should you update your beneficiaries?

Your financial planner will lead a discussion with you about these issues. From there, you can develop written financial goals and a plan for achieving them. This plan will make sure that you are working together towards a common goal. You should anticipate reviewing and updating your plan at least once per year. The result is less stress and the ability to focus your energies on the other important issues in a marital relationship.

(Charles Sims Jr. is president/ CEO of The Sims Financial Group.

Contact him at 901-682-2410 or visit www.SimsFinancialGroup.com.)

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) – The pace of home building slowed slightly in November but remained near the four-year high reached the previous month, according to a government report released Tuesday (Dec. 18).

Builders started construction at an annual pace of 861,000 homes last month, according to the Census Bureau, down 3 percent from October’s pace. But that still put starts 21.6 percent above year-ago levels – another sign of the recent rebound in the housing market.

Part of the decline may have been the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, which hit the Northeast on Oct. 29.

Builders’ application for new building permits rose 3.6 percent from October’s level and 26.8 percent compared with November of 2011. Permits are less affected by weather than are actual starts and are seen as an indicator of builders’ confidence in the market. A survey by the National Association of Home Builders Tuesday showed the highest level of confidence in the market since April of 2006, just before the housing bubble burst.

The housing market has been showing numerous other signs of recovery in recent months. Demand for homes have been helped by mortgage rates near record lows.

The Federal Reserve’s decision to buy $40 billion in mortgages every month is likely to keep rates low for the foreseeable future. The low mortgage rates, coupled with affordable housing prices and an improving job market have helped to restart home sales.

Foreclosures have fallen to a five-year low, reducing the supply of distressed homes available on the market and helping to lift home prices.

COMMUNITY

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December 20 - 26, 2012

Tri-State Defender

New monitor could be a lifesaver Special to The New Tri-State Defender

by Latrivia Nelson

In an effort to help save more lives, Rural Metro, a 911 emergency provider for Shelby County, is upgrading the current 911 system with the implementation of Physicontrol’s Lifepack 15 cardiac monitors.

The monitor gives EMS crews in the field an in-depth look at the heart with 12-lead capabilities or an opportunity to look at the heart from 12 different angles and help paramedics recognize the most serious conditions.

According to Katherine Kam, a reporter for WebMD, research shows heart attacks spike during the holiday season, with one circulation study

concluding that “The number of cardiac deaths is higher on Dec. 25 than on any other day of the year, second highest on Dec. 26, and third highest on Jan. 1.”

When dealing with cardiac problems, often when in transit from the original point of origin to the hospital via ambulance, the difference between life and death is what happens during the first part of an onset.

“We’re focusing on trying to save lives from the moment we arrive on the scene, because we know that every second counts,” said Glenn Miller, division general manager. “Recognition in the field is key to getting the life-saving care needed at the hospital.”

Once a patient is placed on a

monitor, the information seen by the crew can be transmitted immediately to the hospital.

The early recognition and transmission allows doctors and nurses in the hospital to activate cardiologists and cardiac teams that are literally waiting for the patients to get to initiate invasive care.

“This can cut valuable time opening patients’ occluded arteries, which can prevent further tissue and muscle damage and give patients an opportunity to fully recover,” said Miller.

The Lifepack 15 also adds key performance indicators for crews to see immediate feedback on how their interventions and treatments are having an overall effect on the patient in several ways: Waveform technology gives

crews a look at how effective CPR and chest compressions are being performed, helping to make sure CPR is consistent and effective as outlined by the American Heart Association guidelines; It relays an audible beat to allow first responders and EMS professionals to administer chest compressions at the correct speed; Capnogrophy monitors intubation and ventilations to the patient and continuous 12lead monitoring and alerts the paramedic of any cardiac changes.

All LP15s are equipped with blood pressure and pulse ox monitoring.

(For more information, visit Rural Metro’s website at www.ruralmetro.com.)

Physicontrolʼs Lifepack 15 cardiac monitors gives EMS crews in the field an opportunity to look at the heart from 12 different angles and helps paramedics recognize the most serious conditions. (Courtesy photo)

COMMUNITY

Tri-State Defender

BRIEFS & THINGS

MCS chief of staff takes off for Chicago

Memphis City Schools (MCS) Chief of Staff Dr. John Barker has been named chief of accountability officer for the Chicago Public Schools.

Barker will oversee all testing, research, and accountability issues for the district, which has 681 schools and more than 400,000 students.

“I am excited for Dr. Barker’s new opportunity and I know that he will take what he’s learned from his work in Memphis and do great work for the Chicago Public Schools,” said MCS Superintendent Kriner Cash. “Dr. Barker has been a great ‘spirit-bearer’ for the Memphis City Schools….In many ways, he has demonstrated to me that he is an administrative ‘irreplaceable.’ ” Barker began his career with MCS in 2003 as a research evaluator and ultimately led the department of Research, Evaluation, and Student Information prior to being named chief of staff in 2011. Most recently, he served as a member of the Transition Steering Committee and on the Executive Committee for the Teacher Effectiveness Initiative.

Barker will begin his new position in early January.

Page 9

December 20 - 26, 2012

Aerotropolis Master Plan Website up and running

A new website with updates on the Memphis Aerotropolis Master Plan is up and running.

The Aerotropolis Master Plan focuses on a 50-square mile study area surrounding the Memphis International Airport called Airport City.

The Airport City area encompasses some of the city’s struggling businesses, neighborhoods, and commercial and retail centers.

The web address for the new site is www.memphisaeroplan.com.

The website details the steps taken by project consultants to create the Master Plan, which is being developed with input from community leaders and business owners in the study area. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

(HUD) and the City of Memphis Division of Planning and Development have partnered through the FY 2010 HUD Community Challenge Grants Program to fund the Master Plan.

“Launching the website will give us a great opportunity to publicize what is going on with the project, because it is imperative that we redevelop Airport City not only to simulate the Memphis economy, but also to create new economic opportunities for the region,” said Chad Bowman, Aerotropolis Project Manager.

The goal is to develop a coordinated Master Plan of action that can provide a comprehensive guide for future development of the Memphis Airport City with recommendations relating to market strategy, land use

and urban design. The Master Plan will also identify opportunities to create new housing opportunities, a sustainable number of new businesses and jobs for an improved quality of life for Memphians as well as Mid-Southerners.

The website is complete with data, graphics, photographs, surveys and aerial views of neighborhoods and communities in the study area.

For easy navigation, information can be obtained by clicking one of several tabs: Home, Overview, Library, News, Events and Contact.

Under Home, for example, you’ll find a video presentation and a question: “What is the Memphis Aerotropolis?” Also you’ll find a series of photographs from six listening

tour sites under the Events tab.

“We are still gathering public input,” said Bowman. “So if anyone is interested in learning more about the project or providing input through their group or organization, please feel free to contact me, and I will make myself available.”

The Aerotropolis Master Plan, once fully implemented, is expected to transform Memphis into “a competitive, logistics and distribution and bio life sciences capital of commerce that will benefit the entire Mid-South Region.”

(Chad Bowman can be reached at 901.636.7160 or by email at chad.bowman@memphistn.gov.)

Newton School shootings scammers on the prowl

In the wake of last Friday’s tragic shootings in Newtown Conn., the Better Business Bureau serving the Mid-South is alerting consumers to reports of phony charity solicitations, supposedly on behalf of the families of victims of the Sandy Hook School shootings.

The BBB recommends donors to do their research before donating by following the tips below: Do your homework. Always research a charity at the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance website, www.give.org, before donating money.

Select a charity yourself. Rather than replying to a charity appeal, the BBB recommends choosing a wellknown charity or one that has been endorsed by local or state authorities in the aftermath of a tragedy.

Contact charities directly. Never click on links to charities on unfamiliar websites or in texts, emails or social media posts.

Make sure the charity has a presence on the ground in the affected area. See if the charity’s website clearly describes what the charity can do to address victims’ needs.

Find out if the charity is providing direct aid or raising money for other groups. You may want to consider “avoiding the middleman” and giving directly to those that have a presence in the region.

According to the BBB serving Connecticut, The United Way of Western Connecticut has partnered with Newtown Savings Bank to create the Sandy Hook School Support Fund to provide support services to the families and community that have been affected. Donations may be made online at https://newtown. uwwesternct.org or sent to: Sandy Hook School Support Fund c/o Newtown Savings Bank 39 Main Street Newtown, CT 06470 800-461-0672

Forest Hill service for Sandy hook

Forest Hill Funeral Home will host a service of remembrance in response to the tragedy which happened at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. The observance will be Friday (Dec. 21) at 5:30 p.m. in the chapel of Forest Hill East location at 2440 Whitten Road, Memphis.

“When words fail people turn to rituals and ceremonies to try to express emotions that are difficult if not impossible to put into words, this is why we are holding this simple ceremony – it is the least we can do,” said Todd W. Van Beck, General Manager of Forest Hill Also available this week at all three Forest Hill locations are register books which anyone can stop by and sign. The books will be sent to the appropriate people in Connecticut and will in time be given to the families of those who perished in the Sandy Hook Elementary tragedy.

BRIEFLY: Showtime Entertainment and Strong Cloud Management & Entertainment present the first Christmas Gospel Music and Comedy on Sunday (Dec. 23) at Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church on John Paul Drive (off Lamar and 240). Admission is free, with donations requested for local charities. Organizers also will be collecting toys for distribution Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital. Featured artists will include child gospel rapper “D3”,Yung Titan, singers Kayla Padgett, and Wendy O. There will also be comedy from Stephon Smith and BET’s own Spank E. Doors open at 5 p.m., with the show at 7 p.m. For more information, contact Showtime Entertainment at 901-493-0336 or S.C.M.E. at 901-257-9773.

Late night salute…

The American flag flies at half-mast outside The Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in honor of Memphis Police Officer Martoiya Lang, who was killed in the line of duty last Friday (Dec. 14). (Photo by Shirley Jackson)

Ugwueke moves up leadership ladder

Michael Ugwueke has been selected as executive vice president and chief operating officer of Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare.

Ugwueke is currently senior vice president, Methodist North and South Hospitals. He will begin transitioning to his new role in January.

As chief operation officer, Ugwueke will provide strategic and operational leadership for the system’s five adult inpatient hospitals and affiliated companies.

“Working with Michael these last several years, I know his commitment to Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare is rooted in a deep personal connection to our mission,” said Gary S. Shorb, president and chief executive officer. “I know his leadership will be positive for the patients and families we serve.”

Ugwueke said he was honored to have been chosen for the leadership role at Methodist.

“It is my goal to continue to focus on the important work we do for the health and well-being of

the people we serve,” said Ugwueke.

“Guiding me will be my passion about patient- and Michael family-cenUgwueke tered care, building strong bonds with physicians, ensuring excellent clinical quality and fostering community wellness.”

Ugwueke has a bachelor’s degree in biology from Shaw University, a master’s of public health from Emory University and a doctor of health administration and leadership degree from the Medical University of South Carolina. Over the last 26 years he served in planning and operational leadership roles in health care organizations in Atlanta, Sarasota, Fla., Washington D.C., and the Chicago area.

Earlier this year he was named one of Modern Healthcare’s Top 25 Minority Executives in Healthcare.

Tennesseans to lead National Black Caucus NASHVILLE – The National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBCSL) will be led by Tennessee Rep. Joe Armstrong (D-Knoxville), who will serve as president of the organization over the next two years.

Joining Armstrong in leading the group will be Rep. Karen Camper (DMemphis) who will continue to serve as Region IV Chair (Ky., Tenn., Va., and W.Va.), as well as Rep. Brenda Gilmore and Rep. Johnny Shaw, who will serve as Executive Committee members at-large. Allyson Sneed, legislative assistant to Rep. Shaw, will serve as chair of the staff organization.

“I am honored to be chosen by my peers to serve as the President of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators,” said Rep. Armstrong. “I look forward to working with my colleagues to expand the caucus and find new and better ways to serve our African-American constituencies.”

NBCSL, founded in 1977, is an organization dedicated to developing and promoting educational, research and training programs to help African-American legislators be more effective when considering and introducing legislation that affects their constituents.

“This is a great opportunity for me to be a voice for rural African-Americans within the Black Caucus,” said Rep. Shaw. “I hope to use this opportunity to inform other legislators about the work we’ve done in Tennessee, and to learn from my colleagues how we can be more effective in our state.”

In addition to a newly elected board, NBCSL has for the first time allocated funds to the regional chairs for the purpose of promoting policy engagement between the states.

“I am grateful to be chosen by my peers to once again serve as Regional Chair,” said Rep. Camper. “I am excited about the opportunity to use these new resources to work with other states in our area so that we can learn from each other about the best ways to help improve the lives of our constituents.”

Too often the needs of AfricanAmericans are neglected by state legislatures, said Rep. Gilmore. “By amplifying our voices through NBCSL, we can ensure that important issues and programs are not forgotten as we work to make our states better places for all.”

The new NBCSL Executive Committee will take effect on February 1, 2013.

TSD STUDENT OF THE WEEK

University of Memphis student Xavier Jones is participating in GE Capital Aviation Services’ AMS (Asset Management Services) University Co-Op Program.

As part of the co-op program, Jones is learning about AMS’s business model, key market drivers and competitive landscape while honing his analytical, presentation and persuasion skills as he completes his studies. He will work for the marketing and sales team three days a week through next May. “I’m grateful to the University of Memphis for preparing me and giving me the chance to be exposed to opportunities such as this one, as well as all of the new programs and mentorship opportunities that many stu-

dents are taking advantage of now,” Jones said.

Jones is pursuing his bachelor’s degree in business administration. Last year he completed a summer internship with GE Capital in Norwalk, Conn., where he gained experience in loan reviews and internal auditing.

Before that he operated his own graphic design business.

Jones also is an Emerging Leader scholar; he volunteers at local middle schools and has taught classes in music, history and preparing a path to college. He is an active member of his fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha Inc. A graduate of Mitchell High School, Jones is the son of Pejetta Dyson and Albert Jones of Memphis.

Xavier Jones

RELIGION

Page 10

Tri-State Defender

December 20 - 26, 2012

LIVING THE LIFE I LOVE

Thanks Miss Emma for our Christmas message

Dear Lucy: This has been a really hard year for me and my family. I am on a fixed income, I have three of my grandchildren living with me and it can get real hard. I don’t have lots to give this Christmas and I am tired just watching and listening to all the talk about buying and spending on things that they forget the next day. So much for just one day. The Lord has been good to me and I hope to see another Christmas. We made it through and I just thank the Lord.

– Miss Emma

Dear Miss Emma: You didn’t really ask a question and that’s alright. I suspect that you could write this week’s article for me. You said, “the Lord has been good to me.” I guess that just about sums it up. It’s been hard sometimes and the Lord has been good.

We made it through to see this Christmas. Is your income really fixed? You made it through.

I bet there were times when you simply stopped and decided to rest in the Lord and those were

the times that what was thought to be fixed managed to stretch. When we have done all we can do, just rest in the Lord. That’s when we get the victory!

We all have so much to give every day of the year. I love Isaiah 61: 1-3. Check it out. I know that you are preaching “good tidings to the poor” every day when Lucy you give your testimony of Shaw the Lord’s goodness. And when you care for your grandchildren you are binding up the broken hearted. How many captives have you set free this year as you opened the prison doors and talked of hope and the Lord’s goodness? Who did you help through their mourning? And what about the times when you searched and found something beautiful to think, to say and to do when everything seemed to be turning into ashes?

And right when you thought you could go no more, you just started saying “praise God from whom all blessings flow” and that spirit of heaviness fell away. And sometimes you looked at those grandchildren and thought you didn’t have the strength. But somehow you were able to see them as trees planted in the good soil that only you could provide and knew that you could go on just a little bit more.

Somehow, you just knew that God would get the glory. These are just some of the things you have already given, Miss Emma.

Decide right this minute that you will continue to see with God’s eyes. Take credit for your faith, your hope and remember all of the ways and times that The Lord has been good. Take credit for what you have already given and what you will continue to give by the grace of God. In this season we celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ...the same one who stood up to preach in his home town of Nazareth and read this same scripture (Isaiah 61:1-3) and sat

down. This was his ministry. It is yours and mine too. This is how we celebrate every day.

Sounds like you are doing just fine. Thank you, Miss Emma for our Christmas message.

Wishing you all, beauty for ashes, healing of broken hearts, liberty from your captivity, the recovery of sight to the blind and freedom from all oppression. This is the acceptable year of The Lord!

Blessings, 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. Get your free gift at http://www.heartworks4u.com/) (For help with the feelings that get in the way of prayer and peace of mind, get Lucy’s new book, “BE NOT ANXIOUS.” Order it directly from her at 901-907-0260 or from her website.)

‘Eternally grateful’ Pastor Thomas takes farewell salute in style Special to The New Tri-State Defender

by Deborah Bracy Alston During her welcome remarks last Sunday for those attending the Black Tie Retirement Celebration honoring the Rev. Frank Anthony Thomas, moderator Brenda Greene relayed that the staff had asked Thomas what he wanted to do at his retirement party.

“Laugh, have fun and listen to good music,” was the reply, said Greene.

That’s exactly what took place during the 3½ hour black-tie soiree at the Hilton Hotel.

The crowd roared with laughter as Christian comedian Broderick E. Rice dished out barrels of jokes. Celebrants were in stitches from the moment he took the mic until “May the Lord watch between me and thee, while we’re absent, one from another.”

Rice, the deputized watchdog over the twenty or so program participants, who had four minutes to make their remarks, kept it moving.

He was certainly the prophetic answer to Thomas’s “have fun and laugh” request.

The request to “listen to good music” was answered by Will Graves & Soul. Their soulful and passionate sound most definitely lifted the crowd’s spirits. And special musical guest, Evangelist Paul Stephen Heflin, took the guests “into the spirit” with acappela solo.

The thematic format of fun, laughter, music and celebratory remarks kept the guests sitting on the edge of their seats, waiting to see what was next.

A LOL moment came when long-time family friend, Donna Brumfield, exceeded her fourminute timeframe. Rice stepped on the platform next to Brumfield, as if to take the mic.

Brumfield gave him that sister-girl neck-moving motion as if to say, ‘Oh no you didn’t,’ as she completed her last two paragraphs.

The audience roared. Pastor Thomas, whose retirement after 15 years is effective Dec. 31, had to be having the time of his life.

The night was chunked full of beautiful memories. “Precious memories. Painful memories. And powerful memories,” according to the

keynote speaker, the Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, who Thomas calls a mentor.

Various presenters showered Dr. Thomas with tributes, accolades and acknowledgements.

The Rev. Dr. Alise D. Barrymore of The Emmaus Community in Chicago Heights (Illinois) described Thomas as prophet who “called me unto myself. I celebrate you as a teacher and a homiletician.”

Mayor A.C. Wharton Jr.’s remarks spoke to the servitude of Thomas.

“Whenever there was an emergency in the city, we could always call on you. We didn’t call ‘FEMA.’ We didn’t call ‘TEMA.’ We always called BEMA (the Boulevard Emergency Management Administration). You were always there for us and we appreciate it.”

As Mayor Wharton presented Dr. Thomas with a key to the city, he said, “You might be wondering, why would you give a key to the city when someone is leaving? It’s because you’re always welcome. The key to the city says we always want you back.”

Dr. Joyce Thomas’s sister, Renee S. Burton, called her brother-in-law, friend. “He was the friend with the car. A lover of books. A gift of gab, who had a giving spirit. He gave advice to the group, and it was often unsolicited.”

The Rev. Dr. Craig Strickland, senior pastor of Hope Presbyterian Church in Cordova, reflected on his friendship with Rev. Thomas.

“We met through adversity. It’s sometimes how relationships form,” said Strickland.

“Frank reached out to me and said, ‘Can we just be friends?’ We met once a week for six months and we became friends….I love you at the Boulevard and you love me and you know that,” declared Strickland.

The Rev. Dr. Cynthia Hale, a colleague and pastor of Ray of Hope Christian Church in Decatur, Ga., said, “He has pastored his colleagues through the years, and I am one of them….You always made us so proud.”

In his pastoral charge for retirement, Bishop Claude R. Alexander, Jr. of The Park Church in Charlotte, N. Car., said, “Prosperity gains friends but adversity proves them. You have

The Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. keynoted the farewell to the Rev. Dr. Frank Anthony Thomas and his wife, Dr. Joyce Thomas. (Photos by Tyrone P. Easley)

The Rev. Dr. Frank Anthony Thomas, and his wife, Dr. Joyce Thomas, say thanks to church folk from Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church, family members, colleagues from near and far, pastors, friends, and sons and daughters in ministry.

given God and the people integrity of hand and heart. Take your steps into the next things of God cheerfully, boldfully, confidently, victoriously, and worshipfully.

The Rev. Dr. Wright, former pastor to nowPresident Barack Obama, and unquestionably

PRAISE CONNECT

known as pastor to Drs. Frank and Joyce Thomas, encapsulated the remarks of the earlier presenters after his introduction by the Thomases’ daughter, Minister Rachel Sojourner Thomas.

Dr. Wright delivered a slow, methodical and historical account of “the numerous memories that flood my mind, every time I heard that man’s (Thomas’) name.”

A rain shower gave way to a torrential downpour, as Wright chronicled Thomas’s journey with anecdotal accounts of those memories, which he correlated with the life of the Apostle Paul.

In closing remarks, First Lady Thomas said, “I thank God that I came to serve with you. For every experience I’ve had, it’s made me a better person. As I move forward, I know I can live the life I want to be. I will never forget you.”

Pastor Thomas then made an admission: “There are not many time I’m speechless, but today I’m absolutely speechless.

“I’m eternally grateful for each of you.”

(Dorothy Bracy Alston is a consultant, journalist, author, freelance writer and, adjunct English professor. Visit Dorothy’s blog at http://www.CisbaAssociates.blogspot.com; follow her on Twitter @dbalston, Facebook at www.facebook.com/dorothybracyalston, email her at DBAlston@hotmail.com or call 901570-3923.)

-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”

Tri-State Defender

RELIGION

A song for the sisters...

December 20 - 26, 2012

Meah King, a teacher at East High School, opens with a song during the 5th annual Sister始s Angel Network Give-A-Way held last Saturday (Dec. 15) at Glenview Community Center. King is the daughter of Joyce King, the group始s president.

(Photo by Tyrone P. Easley)

Page 11

ENTERTAINMENT Tri-State Defender, Thursday, December 20 - 26, 2012, Page 12

WHAT’S HAPPENING MYRON?

LIVING WELL: 101

Soul, comedy and ‘gifts’

As the holidays unfold and 2012 comes to a close, here are a few events to round out the rest of your year.

Spirit Magazine

Join Spirit Magazine for the “Spirit Making a Difference Awards” Banquet on Thursday (Dec. 20) at 7 p.m. at the Holiday Inn University of Memphis located at 3500 Central. Music will feature national recording artists James Fortune and Courtney Little.

For more information, call 901-3967957, email spiritmemphis@aol.com or visit their website at www.spiritmemphis.com.

Myron Mays

Young Girl, c. 1855; Photographer unknown; Ambrotype; (Courtesy of The Kinsey Collection)

Angie Stone, Faith & Dwele

Hey, don’t forget your last chance to enjoy a great evening of R&B before Christmas Day on Saturday (Dec. 22) as Angie Stone, Faith Evans and Dwele make their way to the Cannon Center. Mix & Mingle Entertainment always puts on firstclass concerts and this will be no different! The show kicks off 8 p.m.

Tickets are available at the Cannon Center box office, all Ticketmaster outlets and ticketmaster.com. I’ll see you there.

‘The Gift’

What does Christmas mean to you?

D.R.A.M.A. Productions Presents “The Gift” on Saturday (Dec. 22) at Greater Harvest Church Ministries located at 3509 Boxdale at Winchester Road. Doors open at 5:30. Donation is $20 for adults and $10 for children. This includes dinner as well.

Tickets are sold in advance only and may be acquired by contacting Mattie Sanford at 901-212-4280, sanford_mattie@yahoo.com or Elaine Webb at 901-201-7007.

The B.I.T.

P.A. Bomani and the B.I.T. Allstars are back for another exciting installment of The B.I.T. on Dec. 28. This is the last show of 2012 and features special guest poet Hardface. The B.I.T. features the best in local sketch and improv comedy. If you’ve never experienced this type of show, you’re in for a treat. The B.I.T. is being held at Open Heart located at 2489 Broad Ave. Admission is $10 and show times are 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Arrive early for good seats!

Peace & Freedom Weekend 2013

For the past few years there has always been a great weekend of entertainment lined up for MLK Weekend.

Next year shouldn’t be any different as AMS Concerts presents the 7th Annual Peace and Freedom Weekend, featuring Southern Soul King Sir Charles Jones and the infamous Bobby Rush at Sam’s Town Casino in Tunica. It goes down Jan. 18 at 8 p.m. Tickets are on sale now at all Ticketmaster outlets and online at ticketmaster.com.

2012 Holiday Party Tour

Wow, this has been a very busy holiday season! However, the holiday cheer is quickly coming to a close. But not before I top things off with about three more events. I’m looking forward to checking out The Redwing Group’s Christmas Reception at Metro 67 on this Thursday night, as well as the Memphis Urban League Young Professional’s Christmas Party on Friday (Dec. 21) at the Crescent Club, located at 6075 Poplar Ave., from 6 p.m. until 10 p.m. Then I’ll rest for a few days, enjoy a little Christmas dinner and get prepared for my yet undetermined New Year’s Eve festivities.

Field Hands, 1988, Jonathan Green; Oil on Masonite, 36 ¼ x 28 ¼ in. (Courtesy of The Kinsey Collection)

Simple steps to start an extensive art collection Special to The New Tri-State Defender

by Aja Roache

Art collecting is a profitable practice that few people embrace.

Huge art and artifact collections like that of Bernard and Shirley Kinsey are filled with original works by key figures in the legacy of AfricanAmerican culture.

Quite literally, the Kinsey’s are the stewAja ards of numerous imporRoache tant African-American works of art and artifacts. Though the bevy of artists in their collection is atypical, it is a testament to the importance of keeping your mind and your pocket open to art.

The Kinsey’s are just one example of well-known African-American art collectors. Civil rights activist Paul R. Jones, Dr. Walter O. Evans, and Bill and Olivia Cosby are a few others. Certainly these are exceptional examples of middle- and upper-middle class African Americans of a certain generation who collect, but it brings to light that we do collect art. They each have experienced the financial and personal benefit of art collecting, but the practice is often seen as an activity for “the mature middle class.”

The truth is these individuals started their collecting journey as young professionals and some as early as college.

Yet another unrecognized aspect of starting a collection is being unaware of the potential treasures you may already posses, including art by regional or folk artists. Original artwork that is well documented, be it by a student or local artist, intrinsically increases in value. So, check your storage closets and attics for original artwork and start your research. Check for the artist’s sig-

(Got an event you’d like for me to cover or attend? Email me at Myron@whatshappeningmyron.com)

United States Soldiers at Camp William Penn, 1863, Supervisory Committee for Recruiting Colored Regiments; Chromolithograph print.

nature and begin compiling articles written about the artist or their exhibitions.

Also, conserving the condition of art by getting it framed or properly displayed is important. The more you value your own art, the more valuable it becomes to others.

The popular television show “Antiques Roadshow” regularly affirms these practices while appraising objects based on principles applicable to art. The adage, “one man’s junk is another man’s treasure,” is true. Capitalize on original artwork donated to another source.

Many serious art collectors have at least one or two finds at a good price from thrift and secondhand stores, so do not be embarrassed to start your journey there for original art.

So, why are young adults less inclined to consider art collecting as a practice to pursue? Ironically, one possible and simple answer to that question is that although art is ubiquitous, it is generally underappreciated in our society.

Think about it: your trip to the bank, a café or even on a college campus like Florida A&M University would be a shade less

inviting if it were not for the art that graces the walls or the public sculptures or murals.

Because of this, art might be perceived as simply an aspect of décor in the same vein as a candle or an area rug. This impression can lead to sticker shock to those who visit an art gallery and see the prices next to a work of art.

Keep in mind artists spend money in buying materials, not to mention the time and energy it takes to conceive and create. They often only raise the profit margin just enough to break slightly above even.

Do not let price tag fears intimidate your art buying experience; not all original works of art will break the bank. Art can be surprisingly affordable, especially when purchasing directly from an artist or another novice collector. Consider visiting a graduate student show at a university gallery or an art festival where you may have an opportunity to negotiate with the artist for a great price.

Lastly, a good rule of thumb is to simply buy what speaks to you. Do not worry about current trends or if the artwork matches your dining room. Always buy original signed works of art. The poster-sized prints at the department store, albeit affordable and convenient, will not yield any value in the long run.

You do not have to belong to a certain age group or socio-economic class to start your own collection. Original art is valuable and for many, like the Kinsey’s and now hopefully you, art collecting supports the artist and becomes a smart investment in so many ways.

(Aja Roache is an assistant professor in the Fine Arts Department at Florida A&M University, where she teaches classes in art management and is the gallery coordinator for the Foster-Tanner Fine Arts Gallery.

Join Roache on Dec. 27 at 6 p.m. for a live Twitter chat get tips for starting your art collection. Follow @ FAMU_LivingWell.)

10 Best Black Books of 2012

Parting shot

Have a very Merry Christmas! Also make sure you join me next week as I bring you “The Year in Review.”

I’ll share 2012’s most memorable highlights, which includes the good, the bad as well as the odd. Until then, that’s what’s happening.

Bernard and Shirley Kinsey

Special to The New Tri-State Defender

by Kam Williams

1. “Tuskegee Love Letters” by Kim Russell

2. “Iconic: Decoding Images of the Revolutionary Black Woman” by Lakesia D. Johnson 3. “Help Me to Find My People: The African-American Search for Family Lost

in Slavery” by Heather Andrea Williams

4. “The Black Chicago Renaissance” Edited by Darlene Clark Hine and John McCluskey, Jr. 5. “The Courage to Hope: How I Stood Up to the Politics of Fear” by Shirley Sherrod 6. “Inspiration: Profiles of Black Women Changing Our World” by Crystal McCrary with Nathan Hale Williams

7. “American Tapestry: The Story of the Black, White, and Multiracial Ancestors of Michelle Obama” by Rachel L. Swarns

8. “Grace, Gold & Glory: My Leap of Faith” by Gabrielle Douglas

9. “Obama Talks Back: Global Lessons A Dialogue with Americaʼs Young Leaders” by Gregory J. Reed, Esq. 10. “Hi! My Name Is Loco and I Am a Racist” by Baye McNeil

ENTERTAINMENT

Tri-State Defender

Page 13

December 20 - 26, 2012

OPENING THIS WEEK

Kam’s Kapsules:

Weekly Previews That Make Choosing a Film Fun

Special to The New Tri-State Defender

by Kam Williams

For movies opening December 21, 2012

BIG BUDGET FILMS

“The Guilt Trip” (PG-13 for violence, profanity and drug use) Dysfunctional family comedy about a scientist (Seth Rogen) who, against his better judgment, invites his overbearing mother (Barbara Streisand) to tag along on a cross-country journey in search of a distributor for his new invention. With Ari Graynor, Kathy Najimy, Colin Hanks, Nora Dunn and Casey Wilson.

“Jack Reacher” (PG-13 for violence, profanity and drug use) Tom Cruise stars as the title character of this adaptation of “One Shot,” the Lee Child suspense thriller about a military veteran-turned-drifter enlisted by a suspected serial killer’s (Joseph Sikora) defense attorney (Rosamund Pike) to help clear her client’s name. With Robert Duvall, Richard Jenkins and David Oyelowo.

“Monsters Inc.” (G) 3-D rerelease of the Pixar animated adventure about the world’s largest scare factory whose frightening creatures meet their match when a feisty, fearless toddler (Mary Gibbs) wanders into the place one night. Voice cast includes John Goodman, Billy Crystal, Steve Buscemi, Jennifer Tilly and James Coburn.

“This Is 40” (R for sexuality, nudity, crude humor, drug use and pervasive profanity) Midlife crisis comedy, a spinoff of Knocked Up, revolving around a jaded married couple (Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann) who find themselves facing both financial and relationship troubles as they turn 40. Supporting cast includes Jason Segel, Megan Fox and Charlyne Yi.

INDEPENDENT & FOREIGN FILMS

“American Empire” (Unrated) Eco-documentary indicting the U.S. and the capitalist system for destroying the planet’s natural resources in the name of civilization and progress. Featuring commentary by John Robbins, Tariq Ali and economic hit man John Perkins.

“Amour” (PG-13 for mature themes and brief profanity) Romance drama, set in Paris, about a retired music teacher’s (Jean-Louis Trintignant) desperate attempt to keep his word to his bed-ridden wife of 60 years (Emmanuelle Riva) never to move her to a nursing home. With Isabelle Huppert, Alexandre Tharaud and William Shimmell. (In French and English with subtitles) “Barbara” (PG-13 for sexuality, mature

In the darkest hour of the night, elite Navy SEALs raid Osama Bin Laden's compound in ʻZero Dark thirty.ʼ (Photo by Jonathan Olley/Zero Dark thirty, LLC.)

themes and smoking) Nina Hoss handles the title role in this character-driven drama, set in East Germany in the Eighties, about a physician banished to a tiny hospital on the Baltic Sea after trying to get transferred to the western side of the Berlin Wall. Support cast includes Rainer Bock, Christina Hecke and Ronald Zehrfeld. (In German with subtitles)

“Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away 3-D” (Unrated) Romantic fantasy about an attractive young woman (Erica Linz) who falls in love at first sight with a handsome trapeze artist (Igor Zaripov) performing in the circus.

With Dallas Barnett, John Clarke and Matt Gillanders.

“The Impossible” (PG-13 for brief nudity, disturbing images and intense disaster sequences) Fact-based drama, set in Thailand, recounting a family’s real-life struggle for survival after a tsunami hits the oceanfront resort where they’re vacationing. Starring Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor and Geraldine Chaplin. (In English and Thai with subtitles) “Not Fade Away” (R for sexuality, drug use and pervasive profanity) Rock and roll saga, set in the Sixties, about garage band from suburban Jersey’s attempt to make it big.

Ensemble includes James Gandolfini, Brad Garrett, Isiah Whitlock, Jr., John Magaro, Jack

Huston, Will Brill and Christopher McDonald.

“On the Road” (R for drug use, profanity and graphic sexuality) Screen adaptation of Kerouac Beat Generation classic about an aspiring writer (Sam Riley) who undergoes a transformation while embarking on a crosscountry road trip with a couple of free-spirited hedonists (Garrett Hedlund and Kristen Stewart). With Amy Adams, Kirsten Dunst, Viggo Mortensen, Terrence Howard, Alice Braga and Steve Buscemi.

“Tears of Gaza” (Unrated) Pacifist documentary examining the fallout of modern warfare as visited upon women and children subsisting in bombed out homes without roofs or walls, and basic like food, water and electricity. (In Arabic and English with subtitles)

“Zero Dark Thirty” (R for profanity, disturbing images and graphic violence) War on Terror docudrama, directed by Oscar-winner Kathryn Bigelow (for The Hurt Locker), chronicling the efforts of the CIA Agent (Jessica Chastain) spearheading the decade-long hunt for Osama bin Laden (Ricky Sekhon) culminating in his death during a daring, nighttime assault on his compound in Pakistan. With Jason Clarke, Jennifer Ehle, Kyle Chandler, Jeremy Strong and Harold Perrineau.

HOROSCOPES

Dec. 20–26, 2012

ARIES Someone in the family is ready to give you something. Open yourself up to it. Home improvement – mental, physical and spiritual– is this week’s best theme. Seek the simple pleasures from a neglected hobby this week.

TAURUS How efficient you are this week! Your busy mind is focused on productivity and achievement. Both come easily to you, so take your advantage and press forward.

GEMINI Entertainment and companionship are high on your list of things to enjoy this week. Use your mental gifts to speed carefully through your work so that you’ll have more time for fun this week.

CANCER Your only real caution this week is to watch your budget. Other than that, happiness remains the focus, as relationships heat happily up. Your family is very supportive and loving right now; let them meet your new admirer.

LEO Romantic daydreams may distract you from work this week; try to stay focused, but also enjoy your mental trips to romantic sunnier spaces. These images will inspire you to take action regarding a trip or get-together with your honey.

VIRGO Partnerships continue to be featured this week. This week is especially favorable for a fresh start or a new beginning for you in love.

Avoid distractions at work this week and you’ll get much accomplished.

LIBRA Friendship remains highlighted; you may be attending a social event with good friends, or may be planning one. Whichever, it will be a very happy occasion. Be happy! You’ve got many loving friends.

SCORPIO You may find out this week that the project you didn’t really want to work on has been scrapped. That leaves you plenty of time to finish up the stuff you want to work on! Money concerns ease up. This week a romantic get-together will remind you of what bliss really is!

SAGITTARIUS Keep an eye on your budget this week, but also indulge your creative senses with the visual and the tactile. You might find yourself wanting to “feel” something new in your hands. Just the feeling may be enough; you don’t necessarily have to spend money to satisfy your artistic urge this week.

CAPRICORN Call early in the week and make a date so you can catch the person that you want to spend time with this week. An old love may turn up in your romantic mix, and romance will be very sweet if you rise above the temptation to remember why you split in the first place!

AQUARIUS Your vibes are calling to you this week to think fondly of all the love you are now giving and have given. Love itself makes you a better you. So act the fool and love with all your big sunny self. If things get stressful repeat your magic word to yourself: LOVE! PISCES Some quiet time could fill the bill nicely for you this afternoon. You need some space to let your creativity spread out, so keep enjoy the moments of solitude and make your necessary phone calls later. Relax!

Source: NNPA News Service

Page 14

HEALTH

December 20 - 26, 2012

CHEF TIMOTHY

Obese or just plain fat!

by Chef Timothy Moore Ph.D, N.M.D, C.N. Special to The New Tri-State Defender

The days of thinking that thicker, big, or just plain plus-sized individuals are in the minority as it relates to size has changed for a lot of us.

We are now the majority when it comes to our our dress, pants or waist size. Our growing girth often makes us feel secure as we look at ourselves in the mirror of life.

There used to be a time when “extra large” meant you had to shop at a specialty store to buy your clothes. Some of us were embarrassed to tell anyone where we bought our clothes. In most cases they already knew where we shopped because they shopped at the same store too.

We have become a nation of believing bigger is better. Our larger size makes us feel safe. It protects us from our present emotional needs in life that bring the challenges we all face on a daily basis. We often overlook those emotionally charged issues and start seeing ourselves as normal, when in fact we are not happy with ourselves as individuals.

What has happened to us as a society of people that we believe being unhealthy and obese is just the standard way of life?

A few health issues related to obesity: high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, lupus and blindness are some of the health concerns that have now gotten our attention, but in most cases this awareness comes way too late.

We love to eat foods that are unhealthy. In most cases these foods offer little to no nutritional value.

However, they do provide some form of emotional comfort for the stressful unbalanced issues that we face. Whether they are caused by perceived difficulties in our work environment, family, church, spouse, relationships, children or seeking our place in a society where we are always trying to be accepted by everyone, the resulting stress causes discomfort to us.

It is now being reported that obesity has become a bigger health crisis worldwide than hunger with the exception of a few countries such as in sub-Saharan Africa. It has now become the leading cause of disabilities as it relates to our obese healthcare, reports the British medical journal, The Lancet.

We live in a time when being FAT is normal. This belief is very misleading, but as a culture we accept it just the same way we accept driving our automobile daily. We see both as just a normal part of life.

According to the CDC, AfricanAmerican women make up the largest obese group of Americans. I would attribute a lot of that to emotional distress. Things such as having witnessed abuse as a young child towards a parent, loved one, or friend of the female origin led to wanting to always feel safe. It is as if being obese will provide some form of security, which as we now know leads to other female health-related issues, including breast cancer, hot flashes, irregular menstrual cycles and hormone imbalances.

It’s time to stop this madness of obesity which is the leading cause of unwanted diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and stoke. These three time bombs are the leading causes of

Dr. Timothy Moore

our present health epidemic.

This preponderance now occurs world wide mostly as a result of consuming a western diet. Meals that mainly consist of processed foods, fried foods, and sugary drinks are related to so many preventable injuries, sicknesses and

untimely deaths.

In his book “Reversing Heart Disease,” Dr. Dean Ornish talks candidly about sudden cardiac death.

An interesting point he brings out relates that approximately 40 percent of the people who dies from heart disease didn’t even know they had a heart problem until they died from it, clearly not the best way to find out.

Ask Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn Jr, who wrote “Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease,” what he tells his clients when they ask for a prominent symptom and he relates DEATH; there is no short cut to great health.

Imagine the crazy thought of not being able to eat crispy fried chicken, a fried apple pie, or some tender, delicious golden fried shrimp. It would seem inhuman to go though life without these foods that we have grown accustomed to love. It seems like a crazy idea, but is the potential alternative of cutting off one’s foot or leg or having to have surgeons crack your chest open because of a heart attack acceptable as normal, and OK too? I really don’t think so.

Why then has “bigger” or “supersize me” become so accepted in today’s society as a misleading form of protection?

I can remember as a young boy that the preacher, policeman and some individuals of great importance seeming to appear larger than life to us. However, the meaning of the phrase totally changed as we began to take note of the world’s overall health crisis.

We will all encounter some unpleasant challenges as we go through this journey. That’s one of the realities of life. So, let’s began to make those necessary health changes that will strengthen our bodies and our emotional well-being as we face those inevitable occurrences that affect our emotional stability and our physical appearances.

As with any change, there are obstacles that will try to hinder us. This will also be true in our quest to have great health or regain our health.

Nevertheless, we must stay focused and dedicated. This is a lifetime commitment with the end result being the quality of our own life.

Legal notices

NOTICE TO BIDDER(S) Shelby County Government is soliciting proposals from consultants or consultant teams for the provision of professional services to conduct a survey of major employers and key employment centers in the region to determine employee transportation patterns. Interested parties must download the solicitation directly from the Countyʼs website, unless otherwise indicated in the solicitation invitation. Please visit the Countyʼs website at www.shelby countytn.gov. All solicitations are listed under “Purchasing Bids.”

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL DUE FRIDAY JANUARY 18, 2013 AT 4:00 PM RFP #13-012-30 BUS TRANSIT TO WORKPLACE STUDY Shelby County is an equal opportunity affirmative action employer, drug-free with policies of non-discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, color, national or ethnic origin, age, disability or military service.

THE RIGHT TO REJECT ANY AND ALL BIDS IS RESERVED By order of MARK H. LUTTRELL, JR., SHELBY COUNTY MAYOR SHELBY COUNTY GOVERNMENT LEGAL NOTICE TO BIDDERS Sealed bids will be received at the Office of the City of Memphis Purchasing Agent, Room 354, City Hall, 125 N. Main, Memphis, TN 38103, January 18th, 2013 until 2:00 p.m , for furnishing the City of Memphis with the following: FOR THE DIVISION OF: PUBLIC WORKS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF: PW 04029 Central Avenue from Patterson to Zach Curlin Federal Project No.: STP-EN-9409(74) State PIN: 041796.00 Central Avenue from Patterson Street to Zach Curlin Street in Memphis, Shelby County 1. The Prime Contractor and all Sub Contractors must prequalify with the Department of Transportation in accordance with Section 54-5-117 of the “Tennessee Code Annotated” and Tennessee Department of Transportation Rule 1680-5-3 prequalification of contractors before biddable proposals will be furnished.

2. The City of Memphis hereby notifies all bidders that a 25%Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) goal has been set

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Plans, Specifications and attendant deposit information available, until the time set for opening bids, from: Janet Prejean, (901) 636-2462, City of Memphis, Construction Inspections, 2599 Avery Avenue, Memphis, TN 38112.

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THE RIGHT TO REJECT ANY AND ALL BIDS IS RESERVED Notice of intent of award will be issued after review of all opened bids. Any protest of award must be filed in writing with the Purchasing Agent within ten calendar days of the intent of award announcement.

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(Dr. Timothy Moore teaches nutrition, heart disease and diabetes reversal through a plant-based lifestyle. He is a professional speaker, wellness coach and personal plant-based chef. He is the author of “47 Tips To Reverse Your Diabetes.” He can be reached by email at cheftimothy@cheftimothymoore.com, visit him at www.cheftimothymoore.com or follow him at www.twitter.com/cheftimmoore.)

Study: 2 Out of 5 Black Women Skip Exercise Because of Their Hair News One

by Ruth Manuel-Logan

According to a new study published by Wake Forest University School of Medicine, scientists discovered that two out of every five Black women or 40 percent avoid exercise because of hairdo worries, reports Medscape News Today.

Black women’s attitudes about their hair just adds to a growing concern about the lack of healthful fitness habits from a population that has the highest rates of being overweight and obese compared to other groups in the United States. Government estimates state that 4 in 5 African-American women are overweight or obese.

“As an African-American woman, I have that problem, and my friends have that problem. So I wondered if my patients had that problem,” said Dr. Amy McMichael, the study’s senior researcher and a dermatologist at the university.

According to Dr. McMichael, hair care for African-American women can be not only a time-consuming process but a costly one as well. “Many black women will wash their hair, perhaps once a week, in order to maintain their hairstyle or in many cases, their chemical process.

Oftentimes, these women avoid at all costs even the remotest possibility of sweating their coiffed hair out, so going to the

gym for them is certainly not an option,” Al Martinez, who owns Al’s Millennium Cuts and Beauty Salon in Bridgeport, Conn., told NewsOne exclusively.

Dr. McMichael and her team interviewed 103 Black women, ages 21 to 60, about exercise frequency and type and their reasons for exercising or avoiding exercise, as well as several questions about hair care and its association with exercise.

More than half of these women were exercising less than 75 hours per week, which is 50 percent less than the government-recommended beneficial exercise requirement of 150 hours per week.

More than 25 percent of the women said they didn’t bother to exercise at all. One third of the women admitted they exercised less than they would actually like to because of their hair. Another 50 percent of women said they might consider changing their hairstyles in order to incorporate more exercise into their lives.

Dr. McMichael points out that there are women who also strategically make hair appointments based on their gym activity.

Martinez says, he tries to suggest hairstyles that work best for women who are exercise enthusiasts. But one thing he does warn his female clients about is that, “obsessing about your hair becomes a moot point if you can’t maintain the health of your body!”

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