8 13 2014

VOL. 63, No. 31

www.tsdmemphis.com

August 7 - 13, 2014

75 Cents

Youth-driven political forum yields lessons Memphis Youth Manifesto event is an investment in the future

by Kelvin Cowans Special to The New Tri-State Defender

With the temperature of the 2014 political season running as hot as a car with a bad radiator, The Memphis Youth Manifesto – a wing of The New Olivet Baptist Church run independently by young adults – held it’s annual political forum on Tuesday.

Headed up by the Rev. Antonio Sims and the Rev. Kirstin Cheers, the event held at Arrow Academy of Excellence, 645 Semmes St., allowed Memphis youth to ask politicians whatever they wished. The exchange between the politically explorative youth and a panel of politicians was a made-to-order educational experience.

“I look at things and I look at them from the point of an educator. I ask you all to be more involved with the school board,” said Freda Garner Williams, who is running for School Board District 1. “Whether you are in school or have already graduated, your community needs you. If you have decided to just move on with your life and only attend to the things that you believe directly affect you, then you leave that school board to its on devices and that is not a good thing.”

That is especially true if there is no educator around to speak out and challenge some of the issues that are obviously wrong or not in the best interest of the children, said Williams, who served as president of the old Memphis City Schools board.

Leitha Conley had this question for Williams: “For those seniors that are in high school right now, what are your plans for them?”

“The first thing I would do is make sure they all know that they have opSEE MANIFESTO ON PAGE 3

Election Commission Chairman Robert Meyers spoke to the Memphis Rotary Club on Tuesday, telling attendees he had spoken earlier in the day with the local U.S. Attorney about the presence of federal monitors for the Aug. 7th election. (Photo Gary S. Whitlow)

Election draws federal monitors The Memphis Branch NAACP will open when the polls open on Election Day to answer questions and identify problems during the election process. Call 521-1343 for election questions or problems.

Be prepared to give your contact information and the name of the precinct. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

by Karanja A. Ajanaku and Brittney Gathen Among those closely watching the Federal and State Primary and Shelby County General Election on Election Day (Aug. 7th) will be a crew of federal monitors dispatched by the U.S. Department of Justice.

That’s just the result sought by a local group that has been pushing for such intervention for some time.

The group includes State Rep. G. A. Hardaway, former Shelby County Commissioner Julian Bolton, former Shelby County Commission Chair and current Democratic nominee for Shelby County Mayor Deidre Malone, former Shelby County Democratic Chair and current candidate for Shelby County Commission Van Turner, former Memphis City Councilwoman TaJuan Stout Mitchell, Shelby County Democratic Party Chair Bryan Carson and former Shelby County Democratic Party

Chair David Cocke.

“As a result of this action by the President of the United States, the Department of Justice and the Shelby County Commission, we feel the voters will have more comfort in going to the polls to vote on Thursday, Aug. 7th,” read a release from the group issued shortly after word of the federal monitors began to circulate. “We need every single person to get out to vote and to rest assure that intimidation at the polls will not be tolerated.”

News of the federal monitors came on the same day that some members of the group visited the Federal Building Downtown to make their request anew to Ed Stanton Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee.

The Shelby County Election Commission welcomed the presence of the monitors.

“I was pleased to learn that the DOJ would come down and monitor the election. I believe this further supports our continued commitment to transparency,” said Robert Myers, Election Commission chairman, in a released statement.

Myers and Richard Holden, administrator of elections, made a request for representatives from the

Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division during a telephone call at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, according to the release. Myers also broached the matter at the University Club, where he addressed the Memphis Rotary Club.

“I wanted to call the U.S. Attorney and express some concerns that I had and also let him know that we didn’t really have any problems with monitors (and) find out what his plans are in that regard,” Myers said in remarks to the media following his Rotary Club address. “As I continually say, we are transparent. We want to be transparent, and if that’s what people believe that they need to see in SEE MONITORS ON PAGE 3

Improving Miss. care homes involves hopes and prayers for AfricanAmerican elders

by Alice Thomas-Tisdale Jackson Advocate

The Rev. Antonio Sims (left) and the Rev. Kirstin Cheers headed up The Memphis Youth Manifesto Political Forum, which included an appearance by and City Court Judge Tarik Sugarmon, who now is running for Juvenile Court Judge. (Photo: Kelvin Cowans).

MEMPHIS WEEKEND FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

H-93o - L-75o H-91o - L-75o H-93o - L-75o Isolated T-Storm Scattered T-Storm Scattered T-Storm

REGIONAL TEMPS LITTLE ROCK NASHVILLE JACKSON, MS

Friday H-96 L-75 H-89 L-71 H-94 L-75

Saturday H-95 L-75 H-89 L-00 H-95 L-70

Sunday H-96 L-74 H-00 L-00 H-91 L-70

JACKSON, Miss. – A nursing home stay can be temporary. Roderick Ephram couldn’t be happier about that. His mother, Willora Ephram, better known as “Peaches,” returned home recently from Trinity Mission Health and Rehab in Clinton, Miss., after recovering from pneumonia.

Peaches Ephram, age 90, is considered the matriarch of Jackson and is renowned for having operated Peaches Restaurant in the Farish Street Historic District for over 50 years. It was her establishment where Barack Obama made a campaign stop in 2007 during his run for the White House.

“I couldn’t give her the care she needed at home,” said Roderick. “She was very weak. It took three months for her to recover and get the rehab she needed.”

Obama seeks ‘long term’ partnership with Africa

Only 20 percent earned state’s top rating Trinity Mission is one of 34 nursing homes within 50 miles of Jackson, Miss.

Only 11 received an overall rating of five stars from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

In the Mississippi Delta, the percentage is even bleaker. Out of 33 nursing homes, only three received five stars. Facilities in Greenwood have the highest marks across the board.

Housing for elders needing continual care begins to describe what a skilled nursing facility provides. Most nursing homes have at least one registered nurse available for at least eight straight hours a day and at least one licensed practical nurse on duty round the clock.

SEE ELDERS ON PAGE 5

BEST IN BLACK AWARDS Voting runs July 21-Aug. 8 www.bestinblackawards.com

President Barack Obama delivers remarks at the U.S.-Africa Business Forum during the U.S. Africa Leaders Summit in Washington, D.C., Aug. 5, 2014. (White House Photo: Lawrence Jackson)

by George E. Curry NNPA News Service

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama announced Tuesday that the federal government and private U.S. companies are investing $33 billion in Africa – $12 billion in new commitments – as part of an overall plan for his administration to strengthen its relation with the world’s second-largest continent.

Speaking to nearly 50 African heads of state and top officials at the U.S.-Africa Summit at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in the nation’s capital, Obama said: “As president, I’ve made it clear that the United States is determined to be a partner

in Africa’s success – a good partner, an equal partner, and a partner for the long term.

Although this is the largest gathering of African leaders ever convened by a U.S. president, China has had several such conferences and has a strong presence in Africa, building infrastructure and making loans, without attaching the United States’ concerns about democracy or human rights.

Offering an indirect contrast to China’s presence in Africa, President Obama said, “We don’t look to Africa simply for its natural resources; we recognize Africa for its greatest resource, which is its people and its talents and their potential. We don’t simply want to

The UniverSoul Circus is coming The ‘Big Top’ will pitch its tent at the Hickory Ridge Mall the week of Aug. 26 - Sept 1.

See Entertainment, page 9

extract minerals from the ground for our growth; we want to build genuine partnerships that create jobs and opportunity for all our peoples and that unleash the next era of African growth. That’s the kind of partnership America offers.”

Obama announced five steps that he said will “take our trade with Africa to the next level.”

• Work to renew the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA); • Provide $7 billion in new financing to promote American exports to Africa as part of the “Doing SEE OBAMA ON PAGE 2

ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith had his say and it’s real ‘At the end of the day, he did not lie.’

See Sports, page 12

Page 2

Tri-State Defender

August 7 - 13, 2014

NEWS

Americans benefit from helping Africans

OBAMA CONTINUED FROM FRONT Business in Africa” campaign; • Partner with Africa to expand electricity, a requirement for economies to flourish; • Help African countries trade with one another and • Do more to empower the next generation of African entrepreneurs.

Most of the government funding will come from existent U.S. development banks and therefore will not require new spending approval from Congress.

The United States does most of its trading in Africa, primarily in the energy sector, with just three countries – South Africa, Nigeria and Angola.

“Our entire trade with all of Africa is still only about equal to our trade with Brazil – one country,” the president stated.

“Of all the goods we export to the world, only about 1 percent goes to Sub-Saharan Africa.

So we’ve got a lot of work to do. We have to do better – much better. I want Africans buying more American products. I want Americans buying more African products.”

Obama said, “I’m pleased that in conjunction with this forum, American companies are announcing major new deals in Africa. Blackstone will invest in African energy projects. Coca-Cola will partner with Africa to bring clean water to its communities. GE will help build African infrastructure. Marriott will build more hotels. All told, American companies – many with our trade assistance – are announcing new deals in clean energy, aviation, banking, and construction worth more than $14 billion, spurring development across Africa and selling more goods stamped with that proud label, ‘Made in America.’”

After the president’s speech, on-stage interview with Takunda Chingonzo, a 21year-old wireless executive in Zimbabwe, illustrated the complexity of relations in Africa.

Chingonzo said, “I’m working on my third startup – it’s

by LaTrina Antoine NNPA News Service

Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and spouse Keïta Aminata Maiga arrive at the White House for a group dinner during the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit Aug. 5, 2014, in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images) called Saisai. We’re creating Zimbabwe’s first free Internetaccess network, hence liberating the Internet. So in our working, we came to a point in time where we needed to import a bit of technology from the United States, and so we were engaging in conversation with these U.S.-based businesses. And the response that we got time and time again was that unfortunately we cannot do business with you because you are from Zimbabwe.”

He continued, “…And I understand that the sanctions that we have – that are imposed on entities in Zimbabwe, these are targeted sanctions, right? But then we have come to a point in time where we as young Africans are failing to properly engage in business with U.S.based entities because there hasn’t been that clarity.”

Obama said, “Well, obviously, the situation in Zimbabwe is somewhat unique.

The challenge for us in the United States has been how do we balance our desire to help

the people of Zimbabwe with what has, frankly, been a repeated violation of basic democratic practices and human rights inside of Zimbabwe.

“And we think it is very important to send clear signals about how we expect elections to be conducted, governments to be conducted – because if we don’t, then all too often, with impunity, the people of those countries can suffer. But you’re absolutely right that it also has to be balanced with making sure that whatever structures that we put in place with respect to sanctions don’t end up punishing the very people inside those countries.”

The U.S. has a diplomatic presence in Harare and, like the European Union, has been moving toward normalizing relations with Zimbabwe.

Obama said technology will forever alter how countries in Africa and elsewhere around the world are governed.

“The reason the Internet is so powerful is because it’s open,” Obama explained.

“…And what facilitates that, and what has facilitated the incredible value that’s been built by companies like Google and Facebook and so many others, all the applications that you find on your smartphone, is that there are not restrictions, there are not barriers to entry for new companies who have a good idea to use this platform that is open to create value. And it is very important I think that we maintain that.

“Now, I know that there’s a tension in some countries – their attitude is we don’t necessarily want all this information flowing because it can end up also being used as a tool for political organizing, it can be used as a tool to criticize the government, and so maybe we’d prefer a system that is more closed. I think that is a self-defeating attitude. Over the long term, because of technology, information, knowledge, transparency is inevitable. And that’s true here in the United States; it’s true everywhere.”

WASHINGTON – Increasing United States investment opportunities in Africa could help the economy create more jobs for Americans, according to U.S. officials.

“Our economic and commercial partnership is a two way street,” Penny Pritzker, U.S. Secretary of Commerce, told African leaders at the U.S.-Africa Summit. “Goods and services exports from the U.S. to African markets support roughly 250,000 jobs here at home.”

Pritzer announced several new initiatives that will begin to strengthen the business relationships with the U.S. and Africa, including 10 new trade missions to Africa and 10 reverse trade missions to the U.S. by 2020.

She also said the Commerce Department created “a one stop shop web portal,” trade.gov/dbia to assist U.S. industry engagement in Africa.

The fiscal portal enables American businesses to learn about African markets, find financing tools, and discover potential projects, contacts, and resources.

Ashish J. Thakkar, founder and managing director of Mara Group, a pan-African multisector business headquartered in Dubai, introduced a panel on “Expanding Opportunities: The New Era For Business In Africa.” The panel was part of the Africa Business Forum of the summit. Panelists discussed the future of U.S.African partnerships and identified ways in which both countries could strengthen business ties and enable greater economic progress, such as investing in education, energy and infrastructure.

The panel, moderated by former President Bill Clinton, included Aliko Dangote, president and CEO of Dangote

Group; Jeff Immelt, CEO at General Electric; Andrew N. Liveris, president, chairman & CEO at The Dow Chemical Company, Phuti Mahanyele, CEO at Shanduka Group; and Doug McMillon, president and CEO, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. According to Bloomberg L.P., the host for the forum, foreign investment in African economies will reach a record $80 billion in 2014 with many U.S. companies leading the way, such as IBM. However, there are significant business and financial opportunities that remain untapped, Bloomberg said.

When asked what could U.S. businesses could do to accelerate the process of investing in Africa, Immelt replied, “The number one thing is get local.”

He said there needs to be local flexibility risk-based financing along with regional integration in Africa, such as an East African alliance.

Mahanyele said investment in the youth of Africa was a huge contribution to helping the advancement of U.S.Africa investment.

“The key issue is making sure youth are educated to continue the growth of our continent,” she said.

Agreeing that a way to spur greater economic investment in Africa is through education of young people, Liveris said American companies could bring supply chains and training that would be a generational move.

He said Africa can move faster than other countries, in economic development, if American companies focused on working with African schools.

“I think the U.S.-Africa summit is history in the making,” Thakkar said. “Instead of bringing Silicon Valley to Africa, let’s bring Africa to Silicon valley.”

(Special to the NNPA from the AFRO.)

Tri-State Defender

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August 7 - 13, 2014

NEWS MONITORS CONTINUED FROM FRONT order to have faith in our transparency, then I’m happy to comply with that. We just don’t have anything to hide.”

On Monday, the Shelby County Board of Commissioners, adopted a resolution requesting oversight intervention by the Department of Justice.

None of the Republican members of the Commission voted for the resolution, all present choosing to abstain.

At the Commission meeting, Rep. Hardaway said, “We’ve all been alarmed at the rate of infractions, incidents even in registration in preparing for the election process and during the actual early voting cycle that we have gone through. There have been documented instances where we’ve had trained election officials to give wrong information, to give guidance to voters that in essence disenfranchises them.”

He said there also had been

“We have serious problems with the administration of our elections here in Shelby County, amounting to constitutional violations,” former County Commissioner Julian Bolton told the County Commission on Monday as he asked for their help in securing federal oversight. issues with machines and processes not in place to insure the integrity of the vote.

Bolton pulled together much of the data that Hardaway and the local group relied upon in pushing for the Commission to ask for federal intervention.

“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t believe and I hadn’t collected enough evidence based upon my 24 years involvement right here with the Election Commission, my seven campaigns that I ran and my involvement in dozens of other campaigns,” said Bolton.

“I would not be here if I were not convinced that we have serious problems with the administration of our elections here in Shelby County, amounting to constitutional violations.”

Bolton earlier had brought the County Commission infor-

mation from a specific incident involving the County Commission race that pitted Martavius Jones and Reginald Milton.

Milton was declared the winner, a result challenged by Jones.

After not hearing back from the County Commission, Bolton said he was back four days out from the Election because “the infractions continue.”

“We are worried about the integrity of this election,” said Bolton. “We are worried because machines went down in Whitehaven on Friday, a busy voting period, causing people not to be able to vote and walk away from the polls. We are worried because people who come to the polls with ballots in their hands are being told that you can’t take that ballot into the polling place. With the (official) ballot being 14 pages

long, many people cannot remember all those names. They need that aid.”

Bolton asked for the commissioners “to get hands on in this election.”

The release from Bolton and the group expressing concern about the election said the collective action by the Obama Administration, Stanton and the County Commission affected “all the lives of those who live and work in Shelby County and the future of this great metro. We truly appreciate their willingness to help uphold the integrity of each and every vote and voter.”

Also Tuesday, Congressman Steven Cohen’s office released a letter to U.S. Atty. Eric Holder dated Aug. 4th. In the letter, Cohen made reference to previous instances in which he

“I ask you all to be more involved with the school board,” Freda Garner Williams, who is running for School Board District 1, told youth at the Memphis Youth Manifesto Political Forum.

(Photo: George Tillman Jr.)

MANIFESTO CONTINUED FROM FRONT portunities to further their education for free right here in Memphis. That they don’t have to go to some of our large universities and be out of all that money for tuition,” said Williams. “The second thing I would do is make sure they understood the process and timing they have to be familiar with as far as applying for college and the different applications.

“The third thing I would do is make sure they know how to invest themselves because fun is good but there is a time and place for fun. Also, I have always believed that there should be at least one student on the school board so that the youth can feel even more comfortable approaching the board with suggestions and other things as well.”

The candidates on hand included City Court Judge Tarik Sugarmon, who is running for Juvenile Court Judge. Sugarmon introduced himself as a graduate of Morehouse College (1978), noting that it also is the alma mater of the Rev. Dr. Kenneth T. Whalum Jr.,

had written to the DOJ about “the inability of the Shelby County Election Commission to properly administer elections.” Pointing out that he had asked for federal oversight in those instances, Cohen wrote that, “I must renew this request as the Commission continues to fail in its duty to ensure that voters have an opportunity to have their voices heard.”

One voter, Cohen said, reported being told by an election official at a polling site that he could only vote in the Republican primary even though election rules permit a voter to choose which primary in which to vote. Similar stories have become all too familiar and warrant the DOJ monitoring, he wrote.

Asked about the concerns being expressed about the

pastor of The New Olivet Baptist Church, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “I’m very impressed that you all have come out to be informed about politics. I have always lived up to my family’s

tradition of giving back to your community. My father and mother instilled that value among others into me as a small child,” said Sugarmon. “I encourage you all to vote and to be consistent voters because

voting is very important. The responsibility of citizenship and voting are very important.”

Speaking directly about juveniles, Sugarmon, the son of retired Circuit Court Judge and civil right’s icon Russell Sug-

armon, shared some numbers.

“Shelby County is only 14 percent of the state of Tennessee population yet we are responsible for 56 percent of the transfer from Juvenile Court to adult court and that's

Election Commission, Meyers said, “We do take them into account. At the same time, in all of 2013, we ran more than a dozen elections. We have no systemic or serious problems.

It seems to me that we’ve addressed past problems that we’ve had, and we’re trying very hard to move forward; some people just won’t let us.

“They keep wanting to focus back with past misdeeds, but we’re through that, and we’re ready for this election,” said Myers. “It doesn’t matter to us whether you’re Democrat, Republican, or Independent, come out, cast your ballot.

We’ll correctly account for it, correctly tabulate it, and correctly report it.”

Registered voters who have not cast their ballots should come out and do so, said Myers.

“We’re prepared for you.

We want you to come out and vote. There’s no reason for you not to come out and vote and exercise your civic responsibility.”

a problem,” he said. “It is a problem from the way that it is set up, the way that the matters are adjudicated and tried there.

That’s what has lead to the way that minorities have been unfairly treated there.”

Sugarmon described himself as “a vote of change,” saying he would introduce a mentor program “where we assign adults to kids to make sure that they are going to school and getting their school work; someone that cares and desires to work with the school and that particular child’s parent.

Yes, this has been done before, but it hasn’t been done by me.”

With news breaking about federal monitors being assigned to keep an eye on the Aug. 7th elections, Sugarmon was asked for his thoughts about the development.

“I think it’s a wonderful thing and I say they should’ve been here,” said Sugarmon.

“We welcome them here.

There are many errors in the process and it’s time we got them in order. When the numbers don’t match up that is a huge problem.”

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

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Tri-State Defender

August 7 - 13, 2014

OPINION John H. Sengstacke Publisher (1951 - 1997)

The Mid-South’s Best Alternative Newspaper

Palestinian and the Black American freedom struggles

FLASHBACK: 2007

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

Powered by Best Media

Cuts to Section 8 will increase homelessness in the city of Memphis Homelessness is a major issue in the City of Memphis. According to a 2013 report by the Community Alliance for The Homeless, homelessness has decreased by 13 percent between 2012 and 2013. However, one does not have to look high and low to observe the faces of countless men, women, and yes, even children who won’t have a safe place to sleep tonight.

Obviously, there are many factors that contribute to homelessness. The greatest contributor to what has become a national epidemic in the United States is an appalling lack of affordable housing. Rents today are higher than ever, forcing families and individuals to tighten their belts on other basic necessities such as food, transportation, child care, and medical costs.

In 2012, Memphis was ranked with the highest overall poverty rate of Metropolitan Statistical Areas with populations greater than 1,000,000, with 28.3 percent of people living below the poverty line. This is almost twice the national average of 15.9 percent of Americans living in poverty.

Housing Choice Vouchers (Section 8) are one of the few safety nets for low-income households, struggling to survive and avoid becoming homeless. Rents continue to climb and incomes continue to fall. As more and more families find themselves in unstable housing situations, waiting lists continue to grow. The unfortunate result is that only one in four individuals in desperate need of housing assistance actually receives it. In Memphis, the waiting list for Section 8 housing is around 10,000.

Recently, cuts to vouchers have left even more families without stable homes. Last year, the sequester created a 72,000 national reduction in households receiving vouchers.

Adding to this significant blow to low-income earners is the House of Representatives’ recent cuts to rental assistance to the tune of 80,000 households. The Senate’s version of the HUD budPaul get would deepen Garner these cuts by 76,000 vouchers.

Those are the numbers, but let’s put a human face on this issue. These cuts will have the most devastating consequences for those least able to afford housing. People with disabilities, the elderly on fixed income, veterans, and poor families will inevitably suffer the most. Across the country, programs such as the 100k Homes initiative have been making headway in the fight to end chronic homelessness. In Memphis, this program has effectively ended 471 collective years of homelessness in 8 months.

However, there are countless individuals that are on the brink of becoming homeless. If we do not take action against these massive cuts, the progress being made could easily be reversed. We cannot allow this to happen.

This is a crisis like none other, but we can all do something to help.

Contact your Congressional representatives and let them know that these cuts to rental assistant programs are unacceptable.

– Paul Garner Organizing Coordinator HOPE (Homeless Organizing for Power & Equality) Mid-South Peace & Justice Center

The NFL & domestic violence in spotlight

by Jeremy Bamidele According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, 1.3 million women are victims of physical assault by an intimate partner each year.

Nearly one-third of female homicides are committed by an intimate partner.

The cost of intimate partner violence exceeds 5.8 billion dollars a year.

Domestic violence is a serious social issue with violence being communicated, learned and spread from generation to generation. Boys who witness domestic violence are over twice as likely as those who do not to repeat this violence against their intimate partners. It is common for children to witness abuse since 3060 percent of those who engage in violence against intimate partners also abuse children in the household.

Violence against women is a learned phenomenon and just as boys can grow up learning to abuse women so can they also learn not to abuse. It is the responsibility of the community to band together to protect its women and daughters against the dangers of domestic abuse.

Domestic abuse has been declining for the last two centuries; however, it remains prevalent, and if the issue is ignored, it maintains the momentum to once again become part of accepted popular culture. While laws can help to fight domestic violence by lowering the legal threshold of what is considered by the courts to be abuse, a far more important and effective course of action is public media broadcast aimed at changing the public’s sentiment towards the issue. The government and those with social influence must co-opt their power to send the message that domestic abuse has no place in modern society.

Most recently, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has come under media scrutiny for what many are calling a

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

lax response and penalization towards Baltimore Raven’s running back Ray Rice.

Rice was captured on video dragging his unconscious wife, and then fiance, following a physical domestic dispute out of an Jeremy elevator in an AtBamidele lantic City Casino.

Rice, who pled not guilty to assault, avoided a trial by agreeing to enter counseling. In late July, the NFL handed down its sentence of half a million dollars and a two-day suspension. This to many may seem like a large sum of money and therefore a reasonable punishment. However, when compared to other punishments the league has rendered in response to much lesser crimes, the punishment is considered by many to be nothing short of appalling.

The response to the Rice incident is not ideal. It sends a message that has too often been modeled in the past – that domestic abuse is not an issue to be taken seriously. It sends the message to the public, and especially their fan base, that it is permissible. Celebrity has afforded Rice many social benefits, but the ability to batter woman to the point of unconsciousness without reasonable legal and professional reprimand should not be one of them.

Many, including television sports show host Keith Olbermann, are calling for commissioner Goodell’s resignation. How the NFL responds will influence the future of its and the public’s reaction towards domestic abuse.

(Jeremy Bamidele is a nationally syndicated journalist. He can be reached at jbami@sas.upenn.edu.)

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Democrats’ smart butt white boys syndrome In 1984, former UN Ambassador Andrew Young described the inner circle of Democratic presidential nominee Walter Mondale as “smart a– White boys” who thought they knew everything. Obviously, they didn’t because Mondale lost the general election by a large margin to Ronald Reagan.

Knowing that in a president’s second-term the party in power usually loses 29 House seats, along with the real possibility of Democrats losing control of the Senate this year, some party leaders are trying to give the appearance they are in control and Democrats will buck that historical voting trend.

In an interview with a group of African-American reporters last week, for example, Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.), chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), described how much better positioned Democrats are this year compared to past off-year elections. He spoke of the DCCC hiring a diversity director for the first time, adding a national voter training director, creating an Internet platform for vendors of color and allowing resumes to be dropped off in the field.

In other words, he talked about the kind of things smart butt white boys talk about. My fear is that another group of smart butt white boys will lead Democrats down the path of defeat unless the strategists reverse course.

The upcoming mid-term election may be yet another example of black voters never getting the credit they deserve winning seats for the party but getting an overabundance of blame when Democrats get their heads handed to them.

The Washington Post, carried a story under the headline, “Will black voters be House Democrats’ midterm firewall?” In the story, Israel noted that in 15 of the top 25 districts being targeted by the DCCC, blacks make up at least 10 percent of the votingage population, enough to provide the margin of victory.

“We have a unique challenge in offsetting drop off with AfricanAmerican voters, with Hispanic voters, and with young female voters,” Israel said. “So we’re tackling those challenges head on.”

In the meeting with reporters, Israel mentioned efforts from getting commercials cut by First Lady Michelle Obama to getting black voters to sign cards committing them to vote in November. As Election Day nears, those cards will be mailed back to prospective voters, hoping that action will get them to turn up at the polls.

The most troubling aspect of the exchange with Israel was that he appears to be putting more faith in such long-shot gimmicks as voter commitment cards than reaching the black community through the Black Press.

In fact, when pressed on the issue of utilizing black media, Israel said while there may be some black media buys, “The vast majority of our budget is spent on one thing – that is buying television time. That’s it.”

That may be “it” for Democrats in November if they think the best way to reach vlack voters is to lump them in with everyone else who watches TV. Even if television reaches more black votGeorge E. ers than black Curry newspapers, radio stations, magazines and Internet sites, it is not as trusted by African Americans as the Black Press.

As a Nielsen study found, “Companies mistakenly believe there are no language barriers, that a general market ‘one-size-fits-all’ strategy is an effective way to reach AfricanAmericans. Just the opposite is true.”

If smart butt white boys are as smart as they think, they would recognize that in the black community, the messenger is as important as the message. And that is not limited to the Black Press. It also applies to the largely white-controlled 527 organizations established in recent elections that acted as though they knew more about our community than grass root organizations that are on the ground every day, yet continue to struggle for funding.

Democrats face another hurdle – 67 percent of the Democratic base does not know there is a mid-term election in November, according to polling done for the DCCC by Cornel Belcher, an African American.

In addition, a poll conducted by the Pew Research Center in July found: “Currently, 45% of registered voters who plan to support the Republican in their district say they are more enthusiastic about voting than in prior congressional elections; that compares with 37% of those who plan to vote for the Democratic candidate.”

Democrats need to give blacks something to vote for rather than overly relying Republican calls for impeachment to motivate the black base.

According to an analysis of the black vote by the Associated Press, African Americans voted at a higher rate than whites in 2008 and 2012. Obviously, having Barack Obama’s name on the ballot was a key factor.

Blacks can vote at high levels again in 2014 if they understand the success or failure Obama’s last two years in office will be determined by who gets elected in November. But if Democrats stubbornly stick to relying on television to reach black voters, they will lose in 2014 just as smart butt white boys lost 30 years ago.

(George E. Curry is editor-in-chief of the National Newspaper Publishers Association News Service (NNPA.) He can be reached via www.georgecurry.com. Follow him at www.twitter.com/currygeorge and George E. Curry Fan Page on Facebook.)

FACEBOOK FAN OF THE WEEK Name: Barbara Buggs Barbara Buggs is this week’s TSD Facebook Fan of the Week!

She is a native Memphian and proud alumni of Melrose High. Buggs also loves music and sports, especially the Memphis Grizzlies.

Thanks Barbara Buggs for excelling in Memphis and for being a part of the TSD Facebook family!

Knowing of my concern about justice for the Palestinians, a friend sent me a link the other day regarding Palestine and Black America. (http://www.tabletmag.com/jewishnews-and-politics/180382/studentsjustice-palestine#undefined) The essence of this piece is the author’s allegation that Palestinians cannot and should not compare their struggle to that of the AfricanAmerican struggle for justice.

Bill Actually, there is Fletcher Jr. nothing new in this piece. Those who oppose justice for the Palestinians regularly drag out quotes from various historic African-American leaders in order to attempt to make their case. While this may sway some people, it does not settle the matter of whether comparisons of the Palestinian situation and that of African Americans are legitimate.

To consider such comparisons you have to look at a few things. Let’s start: 1. Beginning in 1947, Palestinians, including Christians and Muslims, were removed from land that they had inhabited for thousands of years. The Palestinians, by the way, had not just appeared in that portion of the Middle East in the recent past. It is now clear that, genetically speaking, the Palestinians have their roots in the ancient Hebrews.

2. With the establishment of Israel in 1948, a dual system was implemented that, among other things, permitted the expropriation of Palestinian land for alleged security reasons. The land was not returned to the Palestinians.

3. A dual educational system was established, with Palestinian citizens of Israel receiving inferior and poorly funded education.

4. Israel has held onto land that it captured in the June 1967 war in violation of international law, resolutions and precedent. It then began a process of settling the land, again, in violation of international law.

5. The Palestinians in the Occupied Territories have absolutely no security, with their homes subject to being destroyed or seized, and their land divided. The creation of the socalled Security Wall does not conform to the 1949 Armistice line but goes through Palestinian territory, frequently cutting off Palestinians from their own land.

6. Palestinian citizens of Israel cannot settle in Israel with a Palestinian spouse who comes from the Occupied Territories.

7. Israel refuses to accept the right of return for Palestinians who were driven from their land – or vacated their lands ‘temporarily’ (they hoped) – in the 1948-49 war or the 1967 war. Again, this violates international law.

So, the question is really who or what does this sound like? Does this sound like the workings of a democracy? Or, in the alternative does it sound more like the experience of Native Americans in the U.S; African Americans in the Jim Crow South; and Africans in apartheid South Africa?

The Palestinians have the right to compare their struggle with ours based on the profound similarities in experience. This is not a matter of rhetoric or sleight of hand; it is about history and current reality.

(NNPA columnist Bill Fletcher, Jr. is a racial justice, labor and global justice writer and activist. He is a senior scholar with the Institute for Policy Studies. He can be found on Facebook and at www.billfletcherjr.com.)

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Tri-State Defender

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August 7 - 13, 2014

NEWS ELDERS CONTINUED FROM FRONT However, among most African Americans, there remains a stigma attached to relocating an elder family member to a nursing home, or more frightening, a convalescent home, a rest home or the old folks’ home, which are usually permanent.

Yet, more and more adult children of aging parents are making the tough decision whether or not to manage their loved ones at home or begin the challenging, if not painful, process of filling out an application for nursing home residency.

Sometimes the decision is made for them following hospitalization or diminished capacity associated with dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease.

Trinity Mission provides a wide range of services for both short-stay recovery, often following hospitalization, as well as ongoing supportive services for individuals requiring long-term care. The facility offers orthopedic, neurological, cardiac, pulmonary and wound care services, as well as interventions for other medically complex diagnoses.

“I thank the Lord for being back home; he is my strength,” said Peaches, who also survived triple-bypass surgery last year.

What Peaches likes best about returning home is no surprise to her pastor, Richard Lind of Morning Star Church in Utica.

“I like being able to get up on Sunday morning and get dressed to go to church,” she said.

Pastor Lind didn’t wait until Sunday to see his faithful churchgoer. He stopped by her home for an evening bible study, along with

Congressman’s son, Fattah Jr., charged with fraud PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The son of a Philadelphia congressman has been indicted on bank fraud, tax and theft charges, accused of stealing federal funds for city schools and using business loans to pay off mostly personal expenses, including more than $30,000 in

Willora “Peaches” Ephram, left, age 90, listens as a local official reads a proclamation honoring the 50th Anniversary of her Peaches Restaurant. (Photo: Alice Tisdale/Jackson Advocate) her son and four nieces.

Health care workers are developing various models to improve everyday situations addressing the needs of elders.

Often they are using creative solutions to empower individuals to live full and positive lives.

There is also a movement to decrease nursing homes’ reliance on psychotropic medications, often merely to quiet residents so they don’t demand much limited staff time. Again, recent federal nursing home regulations are helping bring about these changes.

At the top of the Mississippi nursing homes list are those with a rating of five stars from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for their overall performance in health inspections, nurse staffing and quality of medical care. About one Mississippi nursing home in five has earned the top rating.

But the success of kinds of improvements in health care rules and practice will depend on how well they are able to support seniors’ ability to remain close to home.

As Peaches put it, “The love of my family really picked me up. I wake up at night and think about how good God has been to me,” Peaches said. “Thank God I have a home and so many people who love me.”

Medicaid rules enacted in recent years benefited Peaches, who spent 90 days in rehab. Under rules implemented in 2010, nursing home residents who have been in a facility for over 90 days are asked whether they want to talk to someone about returning to the community. If a resident is interested, the facility must help the senior get more information on a potential move.

Medicaid’s Money Follows the Person program, which Con-

gress passed in 2005 prior to its extension by the 2009 Affordable Care Act (ACA), had overseen tens of thousands of moves from institutions to home or other non-institutional community settings in 41 states.

The demonstration program encourages more flexible use of Medicaid funds, allowing that money to “follow” beneficiaries to the home or community setting they choose.

As the population ages, and baby boomers live longer, the number of nursing homes and related facilities will continue to rise in the inner cities and rural

communities. And as the needs of seniors change, nursing homes will need to adapt.

For instance, years ago, nursing homes provided simple care such as room and board, monitoring of medications, personal care (dressing, bathing, toilet assistance), 24-hour emergency care and some social and recreational activities.

Today, facilities are charged with offering physical, occupational, infusion and speech therapies, as well as specialized care for dementia and other chronic conditions.

New terminology, such as

“person-directed care” – allowing patients to pay a family member or friend to care for them – and “culturally specific care,” help to define new frameworks to address the care of elders or people with disabilities.

While the nation continues to focus on insuring people for basic health care, it is the areas of long-term care or end-of-life care that are developing new ways of enhancing well-being for patient and their families.

(This article, which is made available via New America Media, is adapted from a series Alice Thomas-Tisdale wrote for Mississippi’s Jackson Advocate, where she is publisher. She developed the series supported by a MetLife Foundation Journalorganists - in Aging Fellowship ized by The Gerontological Society of America and New America Media.)

gambling debts, federal prosecutors announced Tuesday.

Chaka Fattah Jr., 31, surrendered at the federal courthouse and vowed to clear his name.

He was scheduled for a court appearance later Tuesday.

“I just think that this entire investigation has been politically motivated and I’m looking forward to my day in court,” he told WPVI-TV at the courthouse.

A federal indictment accuses

Fattah, son of Democratic U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah, of lying about his income to obtain more than $200,000 in business loans.

He used one $50,000 loan, intended “for working capital to support business operations,” to pay down more than $15,000 in credit card debt and pay off more than $33,000 in casino gambling debt, prosecutors said.

He is also charged with theft of federal funds from the city

school district, filing false income tax returns in 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2009, and failing to pay $51,000 in taxes on time in 2010.

His consulting companies – 259 Strategies and Chaka Fattah Jr. & Associates – billed themselves as providing educational consulting, diversity consulting, audit services, technical assistance and community relations, along with research and computer consult-

ing, the indictment said.

The government said he inflated expenses related to at least $930,000 in federal funds he received for a charter school program for at-risk middle school students.

Fattah has a lawsuit pending against the IRS over a 2012 search of his Philadelphia home that he says damaged his reputation.

“I have been successful in my business,” Fattah told

WPVI. “I earned every dollar legitimately, and I don’t think that this is the way an investigation is typically handled. I mean, they’ve spent millions of dollars working on this for 2½ years.”

Messages left with two Washington lawyers named in the suit as representing him were not immediately returned.

The congressman's office said it had no immediate comment.

New Medicaid rules

Enhancing patients’ well-being

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August 7 - 13, 2014

NAtioNAL

African Americans, a ‘Fourth Quarter People’

by Hazel Trice Edney TriceEdneyWire.com

The winner of the U. S. Minority Business Development Agency’s (MBDA) Lifetime Achievement Award says the economic fate of America’s African-American community “hangs in the balance” because “we are a fourth quarter people.”

Michael Grant, president of the National Bankers Association and its foundation, says, “Unlike our Hispanic and Asian brothers and sisters, we had to spend the first three quarters just getting in the game...So you see, all things being equal, our ethnic counterparts came to the game with a different mindset, a different set of circumstances, a different self-image, and already with some capital from back home.”

Grant was speaking during a joint press conference with the U. S. Black Chambers, Inc. two weeks after being notified he would receive the Minority Enterprise Development (MED) Abe Venable Legacy Lifetime Achievement Award Aug. 1.

The annual award is meant for a person who has exhibited “high standards of excellence, dedication and accomplishments over a lifetime,” said MBDA National Director Alejandra Y. Castillo, preparing to present the award. “This award is granted to two individuals who have played an integral role in the creativity and professional progress of minority business development over the course of their lives.”

The late Henry T. “Hank” Wilfong Jr., was also honored with the Legacy Award. He was founder of the National Association of Small Disadvantaged Businesses (NASDB), among a string of pioneering accomplishments that included service to presidents, governors and mayors. It was accepted by his widow, Wyllene Watson-Wilfong, who now runs the NASDB. Castillo said Wilfong was a “voice and

trumpeter” for minority business development and stability.

Grant has for decades advocated for African-American economic participation, growth and sustainability. In his remarks upon receiving the award, he credited strategic partnerships for his successes.

His activities over the past year alone includes a partnership with the U. S. Black Chambers Inc. and the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation to encourage African-American organizations to make their deposits in banks owned by African Americans.

Speaking at the press conference, Grant also joined with Busby to call for AfricanAmerican businesses and consumers to “choose to work and do business as a team” by supporting each other. He described how the African-American community has struggled to attain economic parity only to be surpassed by other ethnic groups.

He illustrated this by outlining the annual budgets of the three national chambers and the gross annual receipts of the businesses that they represent.

According to Grant: * The Hispanic chamber has an annual budget of $22 million. The average gross annual receipts of Hispanic businesses is $155,000. * The Asian Chamber has an annual budget of $11 million. The average gross annual receipts of Asian businesses is $327,000. * The African-American chamber has an annual budget of $900,000. The average gross annual receipts of African-American businesses is $71,000. And African American-owned businesses received only 1.7 percent of the guaranteed loans from the Small Business Administration last year.

Grant stressed that he did not cite the numbers to create “resentment and animosity” between the groups. He said, in the “fourth quarter” African Americans must break free of the past and strategize to take

U.S. Black Chamber President Ron Busby and former SBA Deputy Administrator Marie Johns congratulate NBA President Michael Grant on MEB’s Lifetime Achievement Award. (Courtesy photo)

NBA President Michael Grant receiving award from MBDA National Director Alejandra Y. Castillo. (Courtesy Photo) their place in America's economic mainstream.

During the first quarter – during slavery – “we struggled to prove that we were, indeed, men and women and not chattel, not someone's personal property.”

Lincoln’s handwriting found on book about race

by Kerry Lester Associated Press

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois – For years, librarians at a small central Illinois library gossiped that a tattered book lying on one of its shelves justifying racism may have been in the hands of none other than Abraham Lincoln, the Great Emancipator.

On Tuesday, state historians confirmed that theory by announcing Lincoln’s handwriting had been found inside the cover of the 700-page text, at the same time taking great pains to offer reassurance that the former president who ended slavery in the U.S. didn't subscribe to the theories at hand, but likely read the book to better educate himself about his opponents’ line of thinking.

“Lincoln was worried that the whole idea that you could segregate one group of people based on some brand new thinking would just carry on into other realms,” Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum Curator James Cornelius Tuesday said of Lincoln. “He could foresee the whole country coming apart over the issue that different people could be barred from different things based on different qualities.”

“Types of Mankind” makes a case that different races were formed at different times and places and thus can't be equals.

It was seized upon by slave owners during the Civil War era as support for their way of life. The authors suggested that Africans and Native Americans were fundamentally different from Caucasians, and enslaving them was part of the natural order.

Like so many other supposed Lincoln artifacts discovered in places the former president frequented, the authenticity of the inscription remained in question for years, until a new library director decided to have it inspected by experts at the state historical museum this summer.

“We didn’t know whether we should take it seriously,” Vespasian Warner Public Library Assistant Director Bobbi Perryman said.

But shortly after the 700page book arrived at the Lincoln Library and Museum, Cornelius made a swift assess-

ment by looking at handwriting and spacing between letters, one that was quickly backed up by other experts on staff, as well as an outside expert the museum asked to inspect the book.

“There are certain letters of the alphabet that Lincoln wrote in a way that were not common to his era,” Cornelius said, referencing Lincoln’s style of writing E’s and N’s. “A forger can typically do some of the letters in a good Lincolnian way. They’ll give themselves away on a couple of the others.

This all adds up.”

“Types of Mankind” was published in 1854 and circulated

for decades by the Vespasian Warner Library in Clinton, Ill. Local attorney Clifton Moore, a colleague of Lincoln’s, had donated thousands of books to the system, which formed the basis of the library’s circulating collection when it opened in the early 1900s.

The inscription inside “Types of Mankind” doesn’t bear Lincoln’s signature – but a note in his handwriting on one of the first pages states that the copy rightfully belongs to Moore.

Below that inscription is an attestation by another local attorney noting that Lincoln wrote inside the book in 1861, just before he left for Washington after being elected president.

Perryman said the library doesn't know exactly when the book was retired from circulation – only that it suffered significant wear and tear from being borrowed for so many years.

Perryman said the library is currently keeping the book in its safe deposit box, with plans to restore it eventually and put it on display in a secure place.

(Follow Kerry Lester on Twitter at http://twitter.com/kerrylester.)

During the second quarter, “we harmonized with the political agendas of President Abraham Lincoln and the radical Republicans to rebuild our lives with a reconstruction movement. We gained some equal protection under the

law.”

During the third quarter, Grant said, "our social engineers used the words of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States to mobilize national support – black and white – for equal accommodations and we secured the right to vote.”

Today, in the fourth quarter, he concluded, “Our ethnic selfesteem was elevated when President Barack Obama ascended to the highest office in this nation.” He said despite agreement or disagreement with Obama, “we needed him to succeed” in both elections for three key reasons: In a nutshell, those reasons were, first, to prove that “anything is possible if we'll pull together and get on one accord”; secondly, to dispel for all time “the myth that we are not endowed with great intelligence”; and finally, “We needed to see for ourselves the limits of political power alone.”

Grant announced that he would continue to partner with the USBC to raise the level of African-American business progress. “We finally have a business-oriented organization, with a clear vision, under committed, intelligent and inclusive leadership that is designed for the challenges of the 21st Century,” Grant said of the USBC, whose president, Ron Busby, also attended the MED awards ceremony.

Applauding Grant’s award, Busby said his recognition was important to underscore the role that African-American banks play in the economic future and success of the nation.

“Access to capital is one of the number one concerns for African-American owned businesses,” Busby said. “And through this partnership and relationships, we feel like we have the solution to be able to increase the number of black firms as well as grow our existing firms.”

Also applauding Grant at the MEB Awards Luncheon was former SBA Deputy Administrator Marie Johns, who said she knows he will use the distinction “to help strengthen the great platform that he already has to make sure there is the capital and the resources that African-American businesses need in order to grow, create jobs and help rebuild this nation's economy.”

Stressing the daunting task of strengthening minority-owned businesses, Castillo also announced a partnership between Busby's USBC and the MBDA. “We need to bring all of our human capital together to make sure that minority businesses are seen and are regarded and are respected as part of the future; I should say as the integral corner of the future of this great nation,” she said.

Grant concluded, “If the past is prologue, I’m betting in the year 2020, many of the economic gaps that exist between African-Americans and other groups will close. All we have to do is choose to work and do business as a team.”

Tri-State Defender

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August 7 - 13, 2014

BUSINESS ON OUR WAY TO WEALTHY

The Power of the Vote Aug. 7 is Election Day and while some participated in early voting, the majority of voters will not participate in the election at all. Voting is a right that was fought on many fronts by many people over many years. However, so few of us utilize this right that eluded us for so many years.

Disenfranchisement History has shown that the disenfranchisement took on many forms. The right to vote has been based on race, national origin, sex, property ownership, citizenship, religion, taxes, and income. Overall the individual states were allowed to determine who received voting rights without any federal involvement. So only approximately 6 percent of the population held the right based on the eligibility requirements.

Caucasian males excluded from voting When the U.S. Constitution was initially drafted, it did not address or define who could vote and who could not. As difficult as it may seem to believe, a faction of white men

were excluded from voting rights.

In 1776, the right to vote was restricted for the most part to Protestant CauCarlee McCullough c a s i a n property owners over the age of 21.

The land ownership requirement was estimated to be approximately 50 acres, which certainly excluded a tremendous amount of people, even a number of white males.

In 1790, a Naturalization Law was passed which effectively determined that only “free” white immigrants could become naturalized citizens.

In 1848, women joined with Frederick Douglas on the journey toward universal voting laws. Also in 1848, Mexican Americans were given citizenship, but were still disenfranchised as to voting due to the English language requirements and intimidation tactics.

It took until 1856 for all states to remove property ownership as a requirement to vote.

14th Amendment In 1868, the 14th Amendment was ratified and granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States, which included former slaves. This Amendment went on to forbid any state from denying any person “life, liberty or property, without due process of law” or to “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

But the states still had enforcement power of voting regulations, which were used as deterrents. The intimidation tactics used to restrict the actual ability of African Americans to register to vote included voting taxes, literacy tests, religion, and violence.

24th Amendment In 1964, the 24th Amendment was passed, which guarantees the right to vote in federal elections and cannot be denied based on the failure to pay taxes. This removed one intimidation tactic.

Voting Rights Act The grassroots movement

for voting forced a change in the law via the Voting Rights Act, which prohibited states from the use of the intimidation tactics and provided a mechanism for the federal government to enforce the law.

A sniper shot James Meredith while marching for voter registration between Mississippi and Tennessee. Over 4,000 African-American voters registered the next day. After healing, Meredith rejoined Martin Luther King Jr. in the march.

The ladies make their move Both Susan B. Anthony and Sojourner Truth attempted to vote in 1872. Anthony, in New York, was arrested and Truth, in Michigan, was turned away.

Wyoming was admitted as a state and became the first state to allow women the right to vote in its constitution in 1890. From New York to Washington, D.C., women started to march and demand the right to vote in 1912. Almost a decade later, women received the right to vote through the passage of the 19th Amendment.

Native Americans Although Native Americans were here in America when the settlers arrived, according to the Supreme Court in 1876, indigenous people were not included under the 14th Amendment and therefore could not vote. Under the Dawes Act of 1887, citizenship would be granted to Native Americans if they gave up their tribal affiliations. In 1890, the Indian Naturalization Act granted citizenship to Native Americans if their applications were approved, as in the case of immigrant naturalization. So, in sum, folks that were already here needed to apply to be accepted here. However, if Native Americans served in the military during World War I, they were granted citizenship.

Through the Indian Citizenship Act, Native Americans were given the right to vote.

Yet they were still subjected to the same acts of intimidation.

Asian Indians in the same category and those of Japanese origin. Almost 30 years later, the McCarran-Walter Act granted all folks of Asian descent the right to become citizens.

Voting age lowered to 18

Asian rights

As a result of the Vietnam War protests, the voting age was lowered to 18 via the 26th Amendment in 1971. Protesters felt if soldiers were old enough to fight they were old enough to vote.

Much blood has been shed to obtain and maintain the right to vote. If voting rights weren’t important and valuable, then why would the “powers-that-be” fight to prohibit so many from voting?

In sum, regardless of race, creed or ethnic origin, don’t take your right to vote for granted, because all of our ancestors would be rolling over in their graves. Show up at the polls and take someone with you.

In 1922, the Supreme Court ruled that people of Japanese origin could not become naturalized citizens. In 1923, the same court placed

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

MONEY MATTERS

Be careful about cashing out Since the recession, Americans have been keeping their jobs longer. In 2012, the average tenure for U.S. workers was 4.6 years, up from 3.7 years in 2002. Even so, there’s a good chance you may move on to a new job in the not-toodistant future, and when you do you could face a decision about how to handle any funds you have accumulated in your employer-sponsored retirement plan.

Typically, you have four choices, depending on the situation: • Leave the funds in your former employer’s plan (if allowed).

• Roll the funds over to a new employer’s plan, if your new employer has a retirement plan and allows a rollover.

• Roll the funds over to an IRA. • Take all or part of the funds as a cash distribution.

Preserving tax-deferred savings Although each has advantages and disadvantages, the first three approaches generally preserve the tax-advantaged status of your retirement assets and offer the potential for continued tax-deferred growth.

Consider, however, that if you receive a check payable to you from your former employer’s plan, 20 percent will be withheld for federal income taxes. You have 60 days

from the date of the check to roll over the entire distribution – including the tax withheld – to an IRA Charles Sims or a new employerJr., CFP sponsored plan; otherwise, amounts not rolled over will be considered a taxable distribution.

The fourth choice – a cash distribution – can be problematic. Although a quick infusion of cash may be appealing, it would be wise to proceed with caution before using a distribution for non–tax-advantaged purposes. Such a disbursement would be taxable as income, could be subject to a 10 percent early-withdrawal penalty, and might push you into a higher tax bracket. Moreover, by depleting your retirement account early, you might come up short when it’s time to retire.

Fortunately, cashing out has become less common, perhaps due to a greater understanding of the potential consequences.

Younger people are more likely than older workers to “take the money and run.” This is a disturbing trend, because younger people may have the most to gain by keeping their tax-deferred savings working for them over the long term.

To use one hypothetical example, a 30 year old who cashes out $16,000 could lose nearly $500 in monthly retirement income if he or she retired at age 67 and lived to age 93.

Withdrawal rules Distributions from tax-deferred retirement plans – such as 401(k) and 403(b) plans – are taxed as ordinary income.

Early withdrawals taken prior to age 59½ may be subject to a 10 percent federal income tax penalty, with certain exceptions such as the plan participant’s death, disability, or attainment of age 55 or older in the year of separation from service. (The age 55 exception does not apply to IRAs, annuity contracts, or modified endowment contracts.)

You could also avoid the 10 percent penalty by taking a series of substantially equal periodic payments, based on life expectancy, that continue for at least five years or until age 59½, whichever occurs later.

Separation from employment can be a stressful event, but it might offer you an opportunity to take control of any assets in your former employer’s plan. Be sure you understand the options so you can make an appropriate decision for your situation.

(Charles Sims Jr., CFP, is President/ CEO of The Sims Financial Group. Contact him at 901-682-2410 or visit www.SimsFinancialGroup.co m.)

The power of MUL...

The Memphis Urban League held its annual empowerment luncheon on July 31 at the Holiday Inn University-Memphis. Otha L. Brandon Jr., director of Government Affairs for Comcast, was the recipient of the “I Am Empowered” 2014 award. He is accompanied by Tonja Sesley Baymon, president & CEO of MUL. (Photo: Tyrone P. Easley)

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RELIGION RELIGION BRIEFS Commemorating the life, legacy of Presiding Bishop G. E. Patterson President Louise Patterson and the Board of Directors of Bountiful Blessings will commemorate the life and legacy of the late COGIC Presiding Bishop Gilbert Earl Patterson (1939-2007) on Sept. 22nd.

The observances kick off at 11 a.m. with a graveside memorial service at Memorial Park Cemetery at 5668 Poplar Ave. At 6 p.m., there will be a tour of Bishop Patterson’s artifacts in the Hall of Fame Room at the Memphis Hilton Hotel at 939 Ridge Lake Blvd.

A black-tie dinner is set for the hotel at 7 p.m. Bishop Joseph Walker III of Nashville will be the keynote speaker.

General seating: $150; dais, $200; Tables: $1,500. Call (800)-544-3571 to secure a reservation or mail request to Bountiful Blessings, Inc., P.O. Box 1, 38101.

For more information, visit www.bbless.org.

Agape’s Heartlight to feature Dr. Canada Agape’s 16th Annual HeartLight event will be held on August 15th at 7 p.m. at Hope Church (8500 Walnut Grove Rd.).

This year’s featured speaker will be renowned education reformer Dr. Geoffrey Canada, president/CEO and founder of Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ).

Canada was recently named one of “The World’s 50 Greatest Leaders” by Fortune Magazine in connection with the success of HCZ’s educational reform program in Harlem, New York’s schools and community. He was also honored by the National Civil Rights Museum with the National Freedom Award.

Agape will also bring ten-time Grammy Award winner CeCe Winans to Memphis for a concert during HeartLight 2014!

Tickets are on sale at AgapeMeansLove.org/heartlight-2014. Prices range from $15 to $40. The annual event is the faith-based organization’s single largest fundraiser of the year.

“The goal of this event is to engage our community and raise awareness of and support for homelessness, adoption and foster care and under-resourced communities in Memphis,” notes David Jordan, Executive Director for Agape.

“While we need to raise dollars to continue to provide services to children and families in crisis, we also need to raise awareness of and support for those we serve so that our citizens get personally involved in the restoration of our city and those who live in it,” said Jordan.

The presenting sponsor is IMC Companies.

BRIEFLY: The Salem-Gilfield Baptist Church kicked off its month-long 149th anniversary on Aug. 2 at 9:30 a.m. with a “Prayer Breakfast” at the church, 3176 Kimball Ave. Evangelist Patricia Lewis was the speaker. The church anniversary will culminate on Sunday, Aug. 31, at 3 p.m. with guest church St. John Baptist ChurchBarron. The Rev. James Delaney will deliver the message. Evelyn Herron and Reshun Wiseman are the co-chairpersons. The Rev. Stanford Hunt is the host pastor.

BRIEFLY: New Growth In Christ Christian Church (NGIC) will celebrate 24 years in ministry with a service that begins at 10 a.m. Sunday at the church located at 7550 East Shelby Dr. On Aug. 31 from noon to 2 p.m., NGIC Community Celebration Day will feature free food, back to school supplies, health screening and more. For more information: contact Vicki Johnson at 901292-5233 or call Dr. Sidney P. Malone at 901-482-6111.

‘A heart for people’ inspires the

Servant’s Circle

Minister Telisa Franklin launches non-traditional ministry

by Wiley Henry Special to The New Tri-State Defender

“I have a heart for people and I’ve always been a servant of the community. I just want to see people have the best in life,” said Minister Telisa Franklin, senior servant of the Servant’s Circle, a newly formed ministry that Franklin started Aug. 2.

The Servant’s Circle is a non-traditional, non-denominational church that holds service on Saturdays in a building that Franklin has used as her place of business along a business strip at 2988 Old Austin Peay Hwy. Service starts at 6 p.m. each Saturday.

“The ministry is a fellowship of people who want to serve,” said Franklin, the executive director of the Juneteenth Freedom & Heritage Festival before the name was changed this year to the Juneteenth Urban Music Festival.

The mission of the ministry, she said, is to “serve our God, serve our family and serve our community.” 1 Samuel 25-41 (NIV) is the foundational scripture: “She bowed down with her face to the ground and said, ‘I am your servant and am ready to serve you and wash the feet of my Lord’s servants.’”

“The bible says what you do for the least one of you, you do it to me. I took it upon myself seven years ago to serve the community,” said Franklin, who has hosted a ministerial boot camp, a Community Shoebox for Seniors Brunch, an STD forum for young men and

Minister Telisa Franklin women, an annual Thanksgiving dinner for the hungry and homeless, and other projects throughout the years.

Forty people attended the inaugural service.

“We serve on Saturdays as an alternative to Sunday worship,” said Franklin, a license minister with the Full Gospel Church Fellowship. She al-

so is an ordained evangelist, which was bestowed upon her by a pastor in the Baptist church.

“We worship for 60-90 minutes,” she said, “and get in all the traditional worship that people are accustomed to and then get right to the heart of worship – praising God.” “I really enjoyed the service. I felt those words were especially for me,” Charlette Pipkin, a native Memphian currently serving as a sergeant in the U.S. Army, texted Franklin later that day.

Following service, parishioners were treated to refreshments as a goodwill gesture and token of love and appreciation from the ministry’s staff. Many of them wore casual clothing, which she encourages during worship.

“I’m not a traditional pastor. I’m just the senior servant,” said Franklin, who conceived the idea for the ministry three years ago, but sat on it until she was compelled “by the Holy Spirit” to bring the idea to fruition.

“I was disobedient and didn’t want to lead people, so I presented the idea to a male pastor.

But he didn’t think that was what he wanted to do at the time.”

Now that the ministry is up and running, Franklin said there will be a service project each month for parishioners who want to perform community service.

Later this month, college students will be the recipients of their goodwill.

For more information about the Servant’s Circle, contact Minister Telisa Franklin at (901) 281-6337.

Consecrating the Bishop...

Bishop designate Elder Charles H. Mason Patterson Sr., pastor of Pentecostal Temple Church of God in Christ, delivered the message during “Pastor’s Revival,” which began the week of July 28. The revival was part of the church’s “40 Days of Consecration.” (Photo: Tyrone P. Easley)

Gratitude for service…

The members of Union Grove Missionary Baptist Church at 905 Ayers St. in North Memphis worshipped early Sunday morning on Aug. 3 and returned for a 2:30 p.m. service entitled “Walk Down Memory Lane/Reunion Celebration.” Toward the end of the service, they surprised their minister of music, Willie Jones, with words of gratitude and gifts for his more than 25 years of service. Jones shared the tender moment with his family including daughter, Miriam McWright LeDoux (left); wife, Jewel Ann Jones; nephew, Julian Jones; and mother, Beatrice Hutchison. Jone’s sister, Jacqueline Tenort, and brother, Clarence Jones Jr., were in attendance. (Photo: Wiley Henry)

PRAISE CONNECT -A WEEKLY DIRECTORY OF MINISTERS & CHURCHESMETROPOLITAN BAPTIST CHURCH Dr. Reginald L. Porter Sr., Pastor 767 Walker Avenue Memphis, TN 38126

901-946-4095 fax 948-8311

ASSOCIATE MINISTERS 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

“Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.”

– Psalm 55:22

Attend the Church of your choice

I can do all things through Christ which strength ? eneth me.

Phillipi ? ans 4:13

ENTERTAINMENT Tri-State Defender, Thursday, August 7 - 13, 2014, Page 9

‘Big Top’ excitement:

UniverSoul Circus

ready to fly high for Memphis fans

The UniverSoul Circus staff (Photos: courtesy of UniverSoul Circus)

Queens of Sheba from Ethiopia

Mesmerized fans

Caribbean Callaloo from Trinidad

The UniverSoul Circus is a family attraction that attendees most likely won’t forget. Ranked in the top 10 of Ticketmaster’s top 25 events, it is the only African-American circus in the world and the most requested family event in the United States.

With that in mind, lots of children and their parents in Memphis will be waiting for the UniverSoul Circus to pitch its big top tent at the Hickory Ridge Mall, 6075 Winchester Rd., for over-the-top, high-flying excitement the week of Aug. 26 – Sept. 1.

The UniverSoul Circus, born in 1994, is the brainchild of Cedric Walker, founder and president. During that time, Walker sought to create something different that would mesmerize an audience utilizing the specialized talent of African-American circus performers.

The circus toured 10 cities in 1997, 19 in 1999, and 31 in 2000.

By 2005, the circus expanded to 32 cities, including Memphis, an annual tour destination. The circus will move on to Detroit from Memphis, Sept. 4-14; and from Detroit to Milwaukee, Wis., Sept. 17-21.

“Our fans will witness dynamic young performers who combine the past with the future to create groundbreaking performance art that is unique in the circus world,” said Walker, who was quoted in a story about the circus in The Atlanta Daily World during the 2013 season.

The fans in Memphis expect nothing but the best from the UniverSoul Circus.

Tickets are available through all Ticketmaster outlets and online at Ticketmaster.com

Best-Selling African-American Books for Summer 2014 Special to The New Tri-State Defender

Autobiographies and books with political themes dominated both the hardcover and paperback non-fiction portions of the Power List, the quarterly compilation of best-selling books written or read by African Americans, which was released Monday.

The one notable exception was a health-related book, “10-Day Green Smoothie Cleanse: Lose Up to 15 Pounds in 10 Days” by nutritionist and certified weight loss expert J.J. Smith, whose book was #1 among paperback non-fiction books for the quarter ending June 2014.

“Through my Facebook group, which has grown to about 100,000 people in 6 months,” says Smith, “I realized there were thousands of other people who were craving a simple and sustainable solution to lose weight and get healthy! This book was a labor of love written just for them.”

Other new non-fiction titles that performed well were the Toni Braxton memoir “Unbreak My Heart,” which debuted as the #1 hardcover book; “Mayor For Life,” the autobiography of former Washington, D.C. Mayor Marion Barry, which ranked #2; and “Things I Should Have Told My Daughter” by bestselling author

Pearl Cleage, which debuted at #3.

Among fiction titles, Walter Mosley’s latest release, “Debbie Doesn’t Do It Anymore,” was #1 in the hardcover category, followed by “A Wanted Woman” by Eric Jerome Dickey. Victoria Christopher Murray returns to the Power List with her latest release, “Forever An Ex,” which ranked #1 in paperback fiction.

Also notable about the Summer 2014 list was the inclusion of three authors who had more than one title

on the list: • Malcolm Gladwell’s books, “David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants,” and “Outliers: The Story of Success,” placed #6 in hardcover non-fiction and #2 in paperback nonfiction, respectively.

• Retired neurosurgeon and potential 2016 presidential candidate Ben Carson’s books, “One Nation: What We Can All Do To Save America’s Future,” and “America the Beautiful:

Rediscovering What Made This Nation Great,” placed #8 in hardcover non-fiction and #6 in paperback nonfiction, respectively.

• Fiction author Kimberla Lawson Roby also had two books included on the list, “The Prodigal Son,” which was #7 in hardcover fiction, and “The Perfect Marriage,” which was #4 in paperback fiction.

The Power List is compiled by collecting data from online booksellers, random samples on relevant Face-

book pages, and a quarterly survey of 1,200 African-American book clubs.

The list is released on the fourth Monday in the month following each calendar quarter, and is a joint project of AALBC.com, Cushcity.com and Mosaic Literary Magazine.

(The Summer 2014 lists may be viewed at the Power List web site: www.powerlist.info. Updates are included on the Power List Facebook and Twitter pages.)

Page 10

August 7 - 13, 2014

Tri-State Defender

ENTERTAINMENT OPENING THIS WEEK

Kam’s Kapsules: Weekly Previews That Make Choosing a Film Fun

by Kam Williams For movies opening August 8, 2014

BIG BUDGET FILMS “The Hundred-Foot Journey” (PG for mature themes, mild epithets, violence and brief sensuality) Three-time Oscar-nominee Lass Hallstrom directed this adaptation of Rochard Morais’ best-seller about an immigrant family which opens a Indian restaurant in a quaint village in the South of France, much to the chagrin of the steely proprietor (Helen Mirren) of a trendy bistro right down the street. Cast includes Om Puri, Manish Dayal and Charlotte Le Bon. (In English, French and Hindi with subtitles) “Into the Storm” (PG-13 for profanity, sexual references, and scenes of intense peril and destruction) Found footage thriller about some storm chasers and thrill-seekers who get more than they bargained for when they decide to film a tornado bearing down on a tiny town in Middle America. Co-starring Matt Walsh, Arlen Escarpeta, Richard Armitage and Sarah Wayne Callies.

“Step Up All In” (PG-13 for profanity and sensuality) 5th installment in the street dance franchise revolves around an L.A. crew which ventures to Vegas to enter a competition where the winning team lands a lucrative pro contract.

Ensemble includes Ryan Guzman, Briana Evigan, Adam G. Sevani and Stephen Boss.

“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” (PG-13 for violence) Reboot of the adaptation of the comic book franchise finds the anthropomorphic protagonists (Alan Ritchson, Noel Fisher, Jeremy Howard and Pete Ploszek) rising from NYC’s sewers to fight their archenemy (William Fichtner) and his army of ninjas, with the help of an intrepid, young reporter (Megan Fox). Cast includes Whoopi Goldberg and Will Arnett, with voicework by Johnny Knoxville and Tony Shalhoub.

“What If” (PG-13 for profanity, sexuality and partial nudity) Romantic dramedy revolving around a med school dropout (Daniel Radcliffe) who develops feelings for his BFF (Zoe Kazan), despite the fact that she lives with her longtime boyfriend (Rafe Spall). With Megan Park, Adam Driver and Mackenzie Davis.

INDEPENDENT & FOREIGN FILMS “About Alex” (R for profanity and drug use) Jason Ritter stars as the title character of this nostalgic drama about a group of college friends’ eventful reunion to care for a suicidal pal over the course of a three-day weekend.

Cast includes Aubrey Plaza, Maggie Grace, Max Minghella and Nate Parker.

“After” (R for profanity) Skeleton-in-the-

Whoopi Goldberg (Bernadette Thompson) and Will Arnett (Vernon Fenwick) star in “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” a Jonathan Liebesman-directed and Michael Bay-produced film about crime-fighting Ninja Turtles. (Courtesy photo) closet drama about a cash-strapped matriarch (Kathleen Quinlan) whose already-fragile family’s stability is further threatened by therevelation of her big secret. With John Doman, Darrin Dewitt Henson, Diane Neal and Pablo Schreiber (brother of Liev).

“The Dog” (Unrated) Gender-bending biopic about John Wojtowicz (1945-2006), whose robbery of a Brooklyn bank to pay for his boyfriend’s sex change served as the inspiration for the film Dog Day Afternoon.

“Fifi Howls from Happiness” (Unrated) Celebrity to obscurity documentary tracing the trajectory of the career of Bahman Mohassess, the flamboyantly gay artist known as the Persian Picasso, who went from national icon to persona non grata following the fall of the Shah of Iran in 1979. (In Persian with subtitles) “James Cameron’s Deep Sea Challenge” (PG for mild profanity and disaster images) 3D documentary chronicling the director of the Titanic’s submarine expedition to the

ocean floor.

“Keep on Keepin’ On” (Unrated) Reverential biopic about 93 year-old jazz legend Clark Terry, trumpeter and flugelhorn pioneer who played with everyone from Duke Ellington to Count Basie to Dizzy Gillespie to Quincy Jones.

“The Maid’s Room” (Unrated) Paula Garces handles the title role in this psychological thriller, set in the Hamptons, as a summer season housekeeper for a rich couple (Annabelle Sciorra and Bill Camp) covering up their Princeton-bound son’s (Philip Ettinger) deadly hit-and-run car accident. With Remy Auberrjonois, John Brodsky and Stefanie Brown.

“Web Junkie” (Unrated) Internet addiction is the subject of this expose’ examining a trio of adolescents undergoing treatment for the compulsive disorder at a rehabilitation center in Beijing, China. (In English and Mandarin with subtitles)

John Legend doles out $30,000 to The Soulsville Charter School Nine-time GRAMMYwinning musical artist and philanthropist John Legend has made a $30,000 contribution to The Soulsville Charter School through his charitable Show Me Campaign program, which he founded in 2007, the nonprofit Soulsville Foundation announced recently.

The mission of Legend’s John Show Me Campaign proLegend gram is to break the cycle of poverty. A private practice room in the adjacent Stax Music Academy, which the charter school students also use, has been named after Legend.

According to Soulsville Foundation spokesman Tim Sampson, “John Legend visited The Soulsville Charter School shortly after it was founded in 2005 with a class of 60 sixthgraders. He performed for them and offered them inspirational advice, pointing out that he had grown up with his share of economic difficulties.”

The students were in awe of Legend, Sampson said, and the energy that day was electric.

“It’s no surprise that John has gone on to achieve such great and well-deserved success and works so diligently to help those less fortunate on a number of fronts.”

“The music that was made at Stax Records was some of the most important in history,” Legend added. “It’s a phenomenal success story that the Soulsville Foundation is using that legacy in a way that changes the lives of so many young people by providing such valuable and unique education opportunities. I’m happy to support them.”

In the United States, the Show Me Campaign works to give every child access to a quality education through the promotion of scalable, proven solutions and programs. In Africa, Show Me has supported holistic development projects in the past and currently sponsors secondary school scholarships for girls.

Legend, who also works to raise funds and awareness for women’s equality issues, AIDS services, and other causes, serves on the board Teach For America, The Education Equality Project, the Harlem Village Academies, and Stand for Children. He serves on the Harlem Village Academies’ National Leadership Board.

The Soulsville Charter School (located on the same campus as the Stax Museum of American Soul Music) now serves approximately 600 middle and high school students. It boasts a 100-percent college acceptance rate among every senior who has attended the school. Its three graduating classes so far were comprised of 188 seniors, who have collectively received more than $20 million in scholarships and grants.

For more information about The Soulsville Charter School, visit www.thesoulsvillecharterschool.org. For more about the Soulsville Foundation (which also operates the Stax Museum of American Soul Music), visit www.soulsvillefoundation.org.

For more information about John Legend’s Show Me Campaign, visit www.showmecampaign.org.

Tri-State Defender

Page 11

August 7 - 13, 2014

COMMUNITY

New school year kicks off with big changes, big goals Some districts experience late school buses, no other major issues reported a veterinarian.

by Tajuana Cheshier, Oliver Morrison and Jaclyn Zubrzycki

Achievement School District

Chalkbeat Tennessee

The start of the 2014-15 school year Monday (Aug. 4th) marked the first day that eight districts – Shelby County Schools, which includes Memphis and some of the surrounding county, six new school districts in the Memphis suburbs, and the staterun Achievement School District – will operate simultaneously in this corner of southwestern Tennessee.

The stakes are high for schools across the county. Shelby County Schools has set a goal to dramatically improve the district’s graduation rate and academic performance in the next decade. The district’s lowestperforming schools are eligible to be taken over by the state.

The Achievement School District, which aims to dramatically improve academics in schools that were ranked in the bottom 5 percent in the state, is entering its third year and striving for increased stability and consistent results across its schools.

And the new districts in Arlington, Bartlett, Collierville, Germantown, Lakeland, and Millington are hoping to prove that their first year will go smoothly – and that the creation of their districts were worth the legal back-and-forth and debate that have dominated the public conversation around schools for more than three years.

Chalkbeat Tennessee visited schools in Shelby County Schools, the ASD, and two of the six new suburban school systems to see how the first day of school went.

Students check their schedules during a transition at Fairley High School. (Photo: Chalkbeat TN)

Shelby County Schools The first day of school often means a review of rules and procedures, but many teachers across the county hit the ground running to gauge what students know and which techniques they should use this year to get them to where they need to be.

Supt. Dorsey Hopson II toured classrooms where students were working on writing assignments and others where teachers were reviewing mathematical formulas.

Hopson said his goal this year is to “figure out a way to drastically improve student literacy and academics overall.”

Hopson spent the first day of classes visiting the brand-new Maxine Smith STEAM Academy, A.B. Hill Elementary, Riverview K-8 and Germantown Elementary.

While visiting A.B. Hill, Hopson along with his administration team and the school’s principal Veronica Parish walked in the surrounding neighborhood taking note of the blight in the area where students live.

“When I’m in schools like A.B. Hill that have only a handful of students, I understand the feeling the community has of ‘don’t close our school,’” Hopson said.

He called schools “a beacon of hope” in communities like A.B. Hill that have been stricken by poverty.

Hopson has often said that providing students with quality educational opportunities is the only way to stop the cycle of poverty in Memphis’ hardstruck areas.

Hopson praised A.B. Hill principal Veronica Parish for increasing student growth in the midst of facing district changes to grade configurations at her previous school, Riverview Elementary, which is now a kindergarten through eighth grade school under principal Rosalind Martin.

At Riverview, Hopson was greeted

by Martin, who was dressed in full military fatigues as part of this year’s theme of “Bootcamp to Improve Student Literacy.”

“I love your theme for literacy,” Hopson told the principal.

Riverview’s K-8 configuration is new this year, the result of the merger of Riverview Elementary and Riverview Middle School. Martin

Shelby County Schools Superintendent Dorsey Hopson II tours the neighborhood around A.B. Hill Elementary. He is accompanied by his administrative team as well as SCS Board member Chris Caldwell and members of local media. (Photo: Tajuana Cheshier/Chalkbeat TN)

Students at Fairley High School returned to a familiar, but somewhat different campus now that their school is operated by Green Dot, a state-approved charter operator. Fairley, which had been placed on the state’s priority list after ranking in the bottom 5 percent of schools in the state, is officially part of the Achievement School District rather than Shelby County Schools now.

The school is still called Fairley High School, and it is still required to serve all students who would have attended the school when it was part of Shelby County Schools. As of late Monday morning, some 500 students were at school. School leaders had planned for more than 600 students, and are hoping more students will enroll in the next few weeks.

Students on their first day back Monday said they were adjusting to the changes, which included new paint and classroom numbers. In some hallways, old pictures of the school mascot, a bulldog had been painted over; in others, new versions of the mascot had been “tattoed” onto the wall.

Early in the day, a group of seniors helped direct younger students to their new classes.

The students were also adjusting to new teachers. In one classroom, a teacher on her very first day called roll. “I might not pronounce all of your names correctly,” she said.

Megan Quaile, the chief growth officer for Green Dot, which also runs schools in California, said, “ACT scores at the school need to go up.

But we also want kids to want to be here.” Green Dot is tasked with improving the school’s academic performance dramatically.

One wrinkle Monday morning: Buses, provided by Durham School Services, were running close to 40 minutes late.

Before school started, Fairley teachers wrote individual resolutions for the new school year. Their resolutions, along with community members’ and students’, will be posted in the halls of the school.

James Sullivan, a former Shelby County Schools teacher who is now teaching Algebra 1 at Green Dot, said that he hopes to increase his students’ ACT scores so far.

The six schools that are directly run by the Achievement School District in the Frayser neighborhood also opened Monday. This is the ASD’s third year running schools, and the first year that the ASD has not added additional direct-run schools. Ash Solar, director of the direct-run schools, said school leaders were glad to be able to focus on improving schools and sharing best practices rather than on starting up new ones.

Six new charter schools, and 23 schools altogether, are part of the ASD this year.

Municipal School Districts

Shelby County Schools Superintendent Dorsey Hopson II talks academic goals with Riverview K-8 principal Rosalind Martin on the first day back to school Monday. Martin said her school’s theme this year is “Bootcamp to Improve Literacy.” Martin and her staff will wear their military gear each Monday during the school year. (Photo: Tajuana Cheshier/Chalkbeat TN) had been the principal at Riverview Middle.

Riverview K-8 is also one of the district’s Innovation Zone schools, which means the school has more site-based initiatives that it can use to address low student performance. The school will be one of the 16 sites that will participate in

the blended learning pilot, which will put computers in students’ hands so they can continue learning at school and home.

Martin said the students have longer days and an hour-long intervention time in subjects where they need to improve. Riverview is also using single-gender classrooms in

some subject areas. The impact has been fewer behavioral problems and improved performance, Martin said.

Riverview seventh grader Anthony Poindexter’s new school year resolution is to work to improve his reading skills, the subject is not among his favorites. Poindexter prefers math and hopes to become a football player or

In their inaugural year as independent school districts, not just students and teachers but leaders and administrators had an especially nervous and exciting first day in Lakeland and Arlington.

Parents at Lakeland elementary bought last minute supplies from the school store, hugged their students goodbye and then Principal Joretha Lockhart gave her first welcome on the intercom.

The pressure to keep performance high is also a factor for Arlington High, a high performing school last year.

“It’s easier to get to the top than it is to stay on top,” said Chris Duncan, principal. “Put the things in place to give opportunities for kids to succeed.”

But the first day ran smoothly, he said. “If you hadn’t been reading the papers or watching the news, you wouldn’t have known that anything was different this year.”

BRIEFS & THINGS Fund set up to help family of county employee killed while cutting grass An account has been opened at Evolve Bank & Trust to help the family of Shelby County Public Works employee Pierre Davis, who was killed this past Monday (August 4th) while cutting grass along a right-of-way near Raleigh.

“Mr. Davis had been married only a couple of months.

The tragedy has been especially difficult for his wife, Ashley, and their two young children, Pierre, six-years-old, and Andre, three-years-old,”

said Shelby County M a y o r Mark H. Luttrell, Jr. Luttrell asked that flags be lowered to half-mast at Shelby County faPierre cilities Davis through Saturday, the day of Davis’ funeral.

Davis, 29, an eight-year employee with Shelby County Government, was honored in 2011 as one of the County’s “Top Performers.” He worked

with his fellow employees at the Shelby County Roads and Bridges Department.

“Mr. Davis had a dedicated spirit to serve the public and was very kind to his fellow employees at the Shelby County Public Works Division. Those he worked closely with asked for the fund to be established to help his family,” said Tom Needham, director of Shelby County Public Works.

Contributions can be made to the family of Pierre Davis at Evolve Bank & Trust, 6070 Poplar Avenue, Suite 100, Memphis, Tennessee, 38119. Checks should specifically be made out to Ashley Harris Davis.

Family visitation for Davis

will held on Friday (August 8th) from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at M. J. Edwards Funeral Home, 4445 Stage Road. The funeral will be Saturday at 10 a.m. at the funeral home, with burial in Calvary Cemetery at 1663 Elvis Presley Boulevard.

Walgreens Way to Well Health Tour Bus stops The Walgreens Way to Well Health Tour Bus will be in the Memphis area from Aug. 1922 providing free health tests, assessments, education and consulting services.

The screenings measure 10 key health indicators that include: total cholesterol, glu-

cose, blood pressure, body mass index, body composition, skeletal muscle, resting metabolism, visceral fat, real body age and weight. The tests, valued at over $100, are administered to adults age 18 years and older by certified wellness staff and can be completed in approximately 20 minutes.

Tour stop locations: Aug. 19, 11 p.m. to 5 p.m. – 1800 N. Missouri St #2, West Memphis; Aug. 20, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. – 2 N. Main St.; Aug. 21, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., 1863 Union Ave.; Aug. 22, noon to 6 p.m., 4154 Elvis Presley Blvd.

All visitors will also receive a free AARP membership that

can be transferred to a friend or family member.

BRIEFLY: The next meeting of the Methodist North Hospital stroke support group for stroke survivors and caregivers is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Aug. 12th in Day Room One, HealthSouth Rehabilitation, 4100 Austin Peay Highway. This month’s topic is “Preparing stroke patients & families for natural disasters” led by Andrea Merriweather, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare safety officer/educator.

Light refreshments will be served. For more information, contact Connie Holland at 901-516-5947 or visit www.methodisthealth.org.

SPORTS Tri-State Defender, Thursday, August 7 - 13, 2014, Page 12

Claude Humphrey reflects ‘TSU Pride’ at Hall of Fame ceremony TSU News Service

Stephen A. Smith spoke during African American History Month at the University of Memphis. (Photo: Tyrone P. Easley)

Stephen A. had his say and it’s real

by Howard Robertson and Larry Robinson Trying to watch “First Take” lately has been an exercise in futility. Without the Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless dynamic, it’s just another mundane ESPN show lacking character, sizzle or opinion divergence. Stephen A. is still on suspension actually for speaking truth. Here’s an excerpt of what he said: “In Ray Rice’s case, he probably deserves more than a twogame suspension. But at the same time, we also have to make sure that we learn as much as can about elements of provocation. Not that there’s real provocation, but elements of provocation.”

Later, he wrote: “But be clear I wasn’t BLAMING women for anything. I was simply stating to take all things into consideration for preventional purposes. Period.”

Then Smith’s ESPN colleague Michelle Beadle flippantly wrote, “I was just forced to watch this mornings’ ‘First Take.’ A) I’ll never feel clean again B) I’m now aware that I can provoke my own beating.” Later she posted: “I’m thinking about wearing a mini-skirt this weekend…I’d hate to think what I’d be asking for by doing so.”

Stephen A. was suspended by ESPN for 5 Howard days primarily based on Beadle’s misconRobertson strued remarks about her colleague’s comments. The fact is, Beadle most likely violated ESPN’s internal social media policy, which forbids employees against making personal attacks on one another. He spoke about “elements of provocation” and we understand what he meant.

Pro-voke 1. To anger, exasperate or vex.

2. To stir up, arouse, or cause to act or behave in a certain manner. 3. To give rise to: evoke. – Freedictionary.com While only Ray and his wife Janay Rice know exactly what happened on that elevaLarry tor, she has admitted that she hit him. There Robinson is also heavy hearsay that she spat on him.

So, check out the dictionary definition above and ask yourself: Is it wildly or even remotely possible that either the admitted or alleged activity could be considered an element of provocation? Of course it could.

Violence, any violence against women is ALWAYS wrong. It is never justifiable or right but contrary to what both Stephen A. and Michelle said, it is very, very real. With over 60 combined years of marriage (to the same women) as well as over 100 combined years of manhood, we don’t need Michelle Beadle or ESPN insulting our intelligence or life experience. The insinuation that it is somehow impossible for women to incite, induce or infuriate their significant others to wrong and unfortunate acts of violence, is unrealistic and incorrect. Those are “elements of provocation” or “buttons” that men and women push on each other all the time. A physical altercation (i.e. slapping, spitting, hitting) of any kind is probably the most exacerbated element of provocation possible.

Most parents appropriately teach (taught) their children not to hit. But, let’s carry it a step further. What do most parents teach their children to do if they get hit? Turn the other cheek perhaps? Nope. Most parents teach their children to defend themselves, overwhelmingly meaning to hit back. Boys are typically and correctly taught not to hit girls under any circumstances.

But when age, testosterone and big boy emotions like love, sensitivity, insecurity and anger issues kick in, that “don’t hit girls” life lesson sometimes gets kicked to the curb. It’s not right…but it’s real.

In Stephen A.’s defense Whoopi Goldberg told her large, overwhelmingly female audience on “The View”: “If you hit somebody you cannot be sure you are not going to get hit back…you have to teach women; do not live with this idea that men have this chivalry thing still with them. Don’t assume that’s still in place. So don’t be surprised if you hit a man and he hits you back.”

So Stephen A. Smith should return to “First Take” soon and that will be a good thing. He has taken full responsibility for what he said. He’s been apologetic, contrite and taken the media blows and hits against his name and character…like a man.

At the end of the day, he did not lie. How he said what he said may not have been right…but it’s real. (“A Little R&R on Sports” is a nationally syndicated radio show available on hundreds of radio stations and digital platforms. Log onto randronsports.com or stream R&R live Saturdays at 11 a.m. EDT/10 a.m. CDT on sportsbyline.com. In Memphis tune in Saturday mornings, 9 a.m. on AM 790 ESPN Radio.)

NASHVILLE – “TSU Pride” was center stage Saturday (Aug.2nd) in Canton, Ohio, as Tiger great Claude Humphrey was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in front of thousands of spectators, including family members, friends and Tennessee State University fans led by President Glenda Glover.

“This is the proudest day in my life,” said Glover. “This very well deserved tribute to Claude Humphrey is beyond measure. I am just too proud to see this former Tiger and a product of Memphis, where I am from, to be enshrined into the Hall of Fame.”

Humphrey’s bust will be displayed in the Hall of Fame Museum alongside many other football greats. “I have so many mixed emotions right now,” said Humphrey as he received and unveiled his bust.

“I didn’t expect to get here, but I am sure glad that I did.”

Humphrey’s induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame is the second for a former Tiger, and it comes just three years after fellow defensive lineman Richard Dent was enshrined in 2011.

While many said Humphrey’s induction was long overdue, coming 33 years after he left the game, others saw it as a special moment for historically black colleges and universities (HBCU), with the enshrinement of three HBCU graduates on the same day. Michael Strahan, a graduate of Texas Southern University, as well as Aeneas Williams, from Southern University, were inducted with Humphrey.

“I am so happy for Claude, and it really speaks to the type of program we had at Tennessee State, having two players in the Hall of Fame,” said Dent. “It was a long-time coming, but well-deserved.”

Humphrey, Strahan and Williams were three of seven inducted on Saturday, joining Derrick Brooks, Ray Guy, Walter Jones and Andre Reed.

In his 30-minute speech, Humphrey paid tribute to his alma mater, making special references to President Glover for being present at the enshrinement,

After nearly 30 years, TSU great and Memphis native Claude Humphrey took his place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio on Aug. 2nd. (Photos: http://www.tnstate.edu/) and his former coach, the late John Merritt, whom he described as “the greatest coach in black college football.”

“A lot of recruiters came to visit me, but none like John Merritt,” Humphrey.

“To me, he was the greatest. We lost a total of five games in four years.”

Humphrey, the former Atlanta Falcon, who retired with the Philadelphia Eagles, was a three-time All-American defensive tackle at TSU from 1964 to 1967. He ended his collegiate career as the all-time leader in sacks at TSU with 39. He is tied for second behind Lamar Carter along with Dent.

Humphrey was selected in the first round of the 1968 NFL Draft going third overall to the Atlanta Falcons. During his rookie season he was named AP Defensive Rookie of the Year.

Humphrey played 13 seasons in the NFL with the Atlanta Falcons (1968-74, 76-77) and the Philadelphia Eagles (1979-81).

While with Atlanta, he was named

All-NFL or All-Pro eight times and was selected to the Pro Bowl on six different occasions.

Humphrey is only the second Falcon to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Ben Ray Harrell, a brother of Humphrey’s late wife Sandra, called the newly- inducted Humphrey “just an all over great guy.”

“This day is so fitting and could not have happened to a better person than Claude Humphrey,” said Harrell. “If there is anything that is missing here today is his wife not being here by his side. They loved each other very much.”

Nashville Councilman Howard Gentry, who presented a proclamation to Humphrey on behalf of the City Council, described the enshrinement as a fulfillment of former TSU President Walter Davis’ (1943-1968) dream for TSU to not just be recognized as a great sports program among “black schools,” but a great program compared to any in the nation.

“Claude’s induction and that of Richard Dent three years ago are an embodiment of that dream, and I couldn’t be prouder of their achievement” Gentry said.

Tony Wells, president of the Tennessee State University National Alumni Association, said the enshrinement of Humphrey was a very proud moment for the whole TSU family.

“His mention of TSU, President Glover, and his days at the institution (during his speech) before the whole world was an indication of his pride and his appreciation for the preparation he received at the school,” said Wells. “I couldn’t be prouder as I am today.”

Also toting the “TSU Pride” was the university’s 290-member marching show band, the Aristocrat of Bands, which put on a crowd-pleasing performance to thunderous, continuous cheers during the Pro Football Hall of Fame Parade in downtown Canton Friday. The band also put on another non-stop cheering, eight-minute performance during the half-time show of the nationally televised Hall of Fame game between the New York Giants and the Buffalo Bills at Fawcett Stadium.

New Hall of Fame inductee Claude Humphrey shared his special day with TSU Present Glenda Glover and fellow TSU great and Hall of Famer Richard Dent.

TRACKING THE TIGERS

Tigers to face Wichita State in ESPN Tip-Off Marathon For the fifth time since the event’s inception in November of 2008, the University of Memphis is scheduled to be a part of the annual ESPN 24-hour College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon.

Memphis and Wichita State are slated to play the 1 p.m. (CT)/2 p.m. (ET) contest Nov. 18 on ESPN in Sioux Falls, S.D. The match-up will be played on Heritage Court at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls. Tickets for the Nov. 18 encounter go on sale Friday, Aug. 8 at 12 p.m. (CT) via ticketmaster.com.

This is the second-straight season the Sanford Pentagon is hosting an NCAA Division I match-up. Last November, Wisconsin defeated St. John’s 86-75.

The November trip to South Dakota will be the first in Tigers basketball history.

The following are a few facts about Memphis’ history in the seventh-annual ESPN 24-hour College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon: • The Tigers previously played in the event in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011.

• This November match-up is the second time Memphis played its season opener in the ESPN 24-hour College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon. The other time was in 2011 in the Tigers’ win over Belmont.

• Memphis has a 3-1 record in the ES-

PN 24-hour College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon.

• The Tigers are 3-0 in home games played in the ESPN 24-hour College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon. Memphis is 0-1 in neutral-site contests.

• The Tigers posted home wins over UMass 80-58 in 2008, Miami (Fla.) 7268 in 2010 and Belmont 97-81 in 2011.

• Memphis’ lone loss was a narrow 57-55 setback to No. 1 Kansas in St. Louis in 2009.

• Three of the previous four appearances were part of college basketball exempt events (Puerto Rico Tip-Off in 2008; Hall of Fame Showcase in 2009; Maui Invitational in 2011).

• In 2008 and 2010, Memphis tipped off the ESPN 24-hour College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon, playing the first game of the marathon in the 11 p.m.

(CT)/12 a.m. (ET) time slot.

• In 2009, the Memphis-Kansas contest closed the marathon with a 9 p.m.

(CT)/10 p.m. (ET) game that finished at 11 p.m. (CT)/12 a.m. (ET).

• The 2011 Belmont game is the only Memphis mid-day game in its ESPN 24hour College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon history. That contest tipped at 11 a.m.

(CT)/12 p.m. (ET) at FedExForum.

Memphis is one of two American Athletic Conference men’s teams playing in

the ESPN 24-hour College Hoops TipOff Marathon. SMU is scheduled to meet Gonzaga in a 10 p.m. (CT) contest Nov. 17. The Connecticut women’s squad, the 2014 NCAA champion, will play Stanford at 8 p.m. (CT) Nov. 17.

The ESPN 24-hour College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon begins Nov. 17 at 6 p.m. with two games. The Baylor and Kentucky women's teams (ESPN2) and the Miami, Fla., and Florida men's teams (ESPNU) start the marathon Nov. 17.

The Nov. 18 Memphis-Wichita State meeting will be the 20th between the two programs, but the first since the 1982-83 season. The Tigers hold a narrow 10-9 lead in the series. Eleven of the 19 previous match-ups came in the late 1960s through the mid-1970s when Memphis and Wichita State both were Missouri Valley Conference members.

The cornerstone of the Sanford Sports Complex in Sioux Falls, S.D., is the Sanford Pentagon, a 160,000square-foot, five-sided facility featuring nine basketball courts, including the 1950s/1960s-inspired Heritage Court.

For more information, visit sanfordpentagon.com.

Source: University of Memphis Athletics

Tri-State Defender

Page 13

August 7 - 13, 2014

CLASSIFIEDS Legal Notices NOTICE TO BIDDER(S) Shelby County Government is soliciting written proposals on a competitive basis from qualified bidders to Furnish Three (3) Each Custom Fire Pumpers and One (1) Each Rescue Truck for Shelby County Fire Department. Information regarding this RFP is located on the County’s website at www.shelbycountytn.gov. At the top of the home page, click on the links “Department,” “P” for the Purchasing Department and “Bids” to locate the name of the above-described RFP. REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL DUE AUGUST 22, 2014 AT 4:00 PM RFP #15-007-07 Various Fire Apparatus 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

REQUEST FOR STATEMENT OF QUALIFICATIONS Legal Notice MSCAA Project No. 14-1381-00 to provide Consulting Design Services CONRAC Maintenance Facility – Design Statements of Qualifications for furnishing Consulting Design Services, as hereinafter set forth, will be received by Staff Services Division, Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority (MSCAA), 3505 Tchulahoma Road, Memphis, Tennessee, 38118, until 2:00 PM local time on Thursday, August 28, 2014. Use the above address for all means of delivery. A complete Information Package with submittal instructions, additional data, selection criteria and response format may be found on our website (www.mscaa.com) on or after August 5, 2014.

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The scope of work generally consists of the design of a consolidated rental car (CONRAC) maintenance facility. This CONRAC maintenance facility would include a shared building with multiple maintenance bays and a shared parking lot capable of 1,000+ spaces. The building would also include office areas, storage areas, a break room, restrooms, etc. The design will also include surveying the existing site to determine if any of the existing structures are capable of being reused. Expected tasks will include but not be limited to site surveying, system/equipment design, mechanical/electrical/plumbing engineering design, cost estimating, construction scheduling, bid phase assistance, construction administration support services and other efforts as required.

All Respondents are hereby notified that all updates, addenda and additional information, if any, shall be posted to the MSCAA website and Respondents are responsible for checking the MSCAA website up to the time of the proposal submission deadline.

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Part 26, Code of Federal Regulations, Department of Transportation, Subtitle A, Office of the Secretary, Part 21, Nondiscrimination in Federally Assisted Programs of the Department of Transportation issued pursuant to such Act. MSCAA further notifies all Bidders that it will affirmatively ensure that in any contract entered into pursuant to this advertisement, Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBE) will be afforded full opportunity to submit bids in response to this invitation and will not be discriminated against on the grounds of age, race, sex, color, national origin, creed, religion, sexual orientation or disability in its hiring and employment practices, or in admission to, access to, or operation of its programs, services and activities. The DBE participation goal for this contract is 30% in accordance with the requirements of the Contract Documents. This project is Federal Grant Funded. Therefore, the only participation that will be counted toward meeting this goal will be participation by certified DBEs, the owners of which have been certified as having a personal net worth less than $1.32 million.

This project might be funded with Federal and/or state grants. A Notice to Proceed for Design will be issued once funding is

established. The MSCAA reserves the right to reject any and all responses in whole or in part to this solicitation, and is under no obligation to award this project to any of the firms or teams of firms responding to this request.

MEMPHIS-SHELBY COUNTY AIRPORT AUTHORITY Scott Brockman, President & CEO

PUBLIC NOTICE THE MEMPHIS URBAN AREA METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION In compliance with federal regulations 23 CFR 450, the Memphis Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) is proposing three (3) amendments to the FY 2014-2017 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). All three (3) TIP amendments were included in an IAC Air Quality Exempt Packet. The MPO will present a resolution to designate Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) as the recipient for Federal Transit Authority (FTA) Section 5307 and Section 5339 funds in the Memphis Urbanized Area (UZA). The MPO will present a resolution to designate MATA as the recipient for FTA Section 5310 funds in the Tennessee portion of the Memphis UZA, and to designate Mississippi Department of Transportation as the recipient for FTA Section 5310 funds in the Mississippi portion of the Memphis UZA. The MPO will present its updated Title VI report to the TPB for approval and submission to TDOT. The public is hereby given notice that these documents are available for review 8:00 AM until 4:30 PM Monday through Friday in the offices of the Memphis MPO located at 125 N. Main Street, Room 450, Memphis, TN 38103 or for download from the Internet at: www.memphismpo.org. The English and Spanish language copies are also available for public review in the library systems of Shelby, Fayette, and DeSoto counties. Written public comments on the amendments will be accepted through Wednesday, August 20, 2014.

Comments may be submitted to Pragati Srivastava, Memphis MPO, 125 N. Main Street, Room 450, Memphis, TN 38103 or via email at Pragati.Srivastava@memphistn.gov. The Memphis MPO TPB will hold a public hearing on Thursday, August 21, 2014, 1:30 PM, at the UT Health Science Center, Student Alumni Building, 800 Madison Avenue, Memphis, Tennessee,

38103 to accept oral comments and take action on the proposed items.

It is the policy of the Memphis MPO not to discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, national origin or disability in its hiring or employment practices, or in its admissions to or operations of its program, services, or activities. All inquiries for Title VI and/or the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), or for persons with disabilities that require aids or services to participate either in the review of these documents or at the hearing may contact Mitchell Lloyd at 901576-7146, fax (901) 576-7272; or email Mitchell.Lloyd@memphistn.gov to make accessibility arrangements no less than five days prior to the August 21, 2014 Transportation Policy Board meeting.

This notice is funded (in part) under an agreement with the State of TN and MS, Departments of Transportation.

NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC The following person(s) has asked the City of Memphis Alcohol Commission for permission to sell beer for OFF premise consumption: Aplicant: JCS International, LLC James Lee D/B/A: Cordova Farmers Market Location: 1150 N. Germantown PKWY Anyone desiring to circulate a petition FOR or AGAINST said establishment selling beer at this location must secure the petition blanks from te undersigned Commission at 2714 Union Ave. Extended 1st floor.

Must be filed no later than Tuesday, August 19, 2014 Billy Post, Chairman Eugene Bryan, Member Barry Chase, Member Africa Gonzalez-McCloy, Member Sherman Greer, Member Erma Hayslett, Member Jared Johnson, Member Johnsie Wallace, Member Wayne West, Member NOTE: This ad should appear in a newspaper of general circulation no later than Wednesday, August 6, 2014 Aubrey J. Howard, Executive Secretary City of Memphis Alcohol Commission

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The Junior Lawyers, managed by Robert Akiens, and the Grays, managed by Charles Mohammad, squared off in the championship game of the Tri-State Youth Baseball Academy, Inc. at Jesse Turner Field on Saturday (Aug. 2nd). The Junior Lawyers were the victors. Tony James is the Academy’s chairman. (Photo: Tyrone P. Easley)

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