VOL. 62, No. 35
August 29 - September 4, 2013
www.tsdmemphis.com
75 Cents
‘Because they marched…
March event gives TSD freelancer shot at history Special to The New Tri-State Defender
by George Tillman Jr.
TSD launches 2013 Best in Black Awards Year two of the online poll and awards event
It’s that time. The questions are once again being asked. Who has the best hot wings in Memphis? What about soul food? What is the best barbershop in Memphis? Who’s the best hip-hop artist? Best choir? Youth entrepreneur? How about beauty salon? What nail salon tops all others? The second annual Best In Black Awards hosted by The New Tri-State Defender will shine a light upon some of the best African-American businesses, community organizations and entrepreneurs in the Mid-South. TSD Publisher and President Bernal E. Smith II said the BIB Awards celebrate African-American owned and supported businesses in the Mid-South, serving as a marketing and recognition platform for those same companies while ultimately encouraging the community’s next generation of business leaders. The BIB Awards will also give the community a true voice in identifying and elevating those businesses most deserving of the community’s support. “It’s a creative way to poll the community about the individuals businesses and organizations that they most support while identifying those with the best brands and reputations,” said Smith. The www.bestinblackawards.com
President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama wave to the large crowd on the National Mall on the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington on Wednesday (Aug. 28). (Pete Souza/The White House)
…America changed’ CNN
by Kevin Liptak WASHINGTON – Heralding the long fight toward racial equality that many say hasn’t ended, President Barack Obama commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech Wednesday on the same steps the civil rights leader spoke from half a century ago. “His words belong to the ages, possessing a power and prophecy unmatched in our time,” Obama told a diverse crowd that gathered under gray skies and intermittent drizzle to attend the hours-long ceremony. Dr. King, Obama said, “gave mighty voice to the quiet hopes of millions,” hailing leaders who braved intimidation and violence in their fight for equal rights. On that August day in 1963, when King and his fellow marchers attended what he labeled “the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation,” few in that crowd
• ‘Let Freedom Ring’ celebration sounds at City Hall. See page 2. • WLOK plans ‘Memphis Children’s March.’ See page 2. • 50 years later: What do we do NOW? See Opinion, page 4. • How will history judge the 2013 March on Washington? See page 4. • GOP critic should take a history lesson from Malcolm and Martin. See page 4. could have imagined that half a century later, an African-American president of the United States would mark the occasion with a speech in the same location. And during his remarks from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Obama cast his own election to the Oval Office as a consequence of persistence and courage from leaders
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Wharton visits White House for gun violence talks with Obama
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such as King. “Because they kept marching, America changed,” Obama said. “Because they marched, city councils changed and state legislatures changed and Congress changed and, yes, eventually, the White House changed.” While other, negative changes have forestalled the push toward racial harmony, Obama stressed Wednesday that the work of civil rights leaders had permanently changed the discourse between races in America. “To dismiss the magnitude of this process, to suggest, as some sometimes do, that little has changed, that dishonors the courage and the sacrifice of those who paid the price to march in those years,” Obama said. Adopting words from another of King’s speeches, Obama declared that “The arc of the moral universe may bend toward justice, but it doesn’t bend on its own.” Leaders speaking at Wednesday’s
I boarded a flight early Friday morning (Aug. 23) headed to Washington, D.C. for the 50th Anniversary March on Washington. On the plane was Congressman Steve Cohen, the Rev. Samuel “Billy” Kyles, who knew Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. well, and Tonja Sesley Baymon, the programs director of the Memphis Urban League. Realizing that the March on Washington anniversary included the journey there, I went to work capturing images. We landed at Reagan National Airport about 11 a.m. (ET) and headed to baggage claim. I turned around and there was John Conyers, the Congressman from Michigan. I introduced myself and asked if I could get a photograph of him, along with an interview. He said, “Yes.” Now I was two for two. I jumped in my brother Joseph’s taxi and we went to Howard University to meet with Jefferi Lee, the head of the television station at the university. We talked about a future showing of the documentary, “Million Woman March: the March, the Impact, the Progress from 1997-2013.) The documentary, which I am making, will include footage and shots of the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington. I left Howard University and went to scout the Lincoln Memorial. Crews were setting up last minute works and performing sound checks. I was thinking and seeing how I was going to get in and get the shots that I needed to get back to Memphis for the weekly news. That night before bed, I checked my equipment, film, SD cards, batteries, etc. About 5 Saturday morning, I headed into D.C. My brother dropped me off at the gate on Constitution Ave. All media had to report to the sign-in desk, where I picked up my yellow media badge, which gave me access to the media risers. That would be my jumping off point for even bet-
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“He was just really engaged,” said Mayor A C Wharton Jr., speaking of President Obama, who presided over a gun violence discussion with various mayors at the White House on Tuesday. (White House photo)
Mayor A C Wharton Jr. was part of a select group of mayors invited to join President Barack Obama at the White House this week to discuss curbing youth violence. Wharton’s visit coincided with the 50th Anniversary of the historic 1963 March on Washington, where civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. Speaking about gun violence, Wharton said, “It’s really perplexing because Dr. King did not die for that; that was not the dream he had.” Wharton added that there’s much work to be done, “particularly when it comes to our youth, who are needlessly having their futures destroyed
before they have a chance to realize the American dream that Dr. King spoke of so eloquently.” Wharton has said his top priority is to end the cycle of violence and create safe and vibrant neighborhoods throughout Memphis. President Obama, he said, encouraged him to speak frankly and from the heart about his concerns surrounding youth violence during the hour-long Tuesday (Aug. 27) meeting, over which the president personally presided. “He was just really engaged – not from reading some position paper, but you could just see him speaking as a parent, as someone who lived in a large city, speaking of the troubles he’s had in life,” Wharton said. “It SEE VIOLENCE ON PAGE 11
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MARCH ON WASHINGTON: 50TH ANNIVERSARY August 29 - September 4, 2013
Tri-State Defender
The Rev. Al Sharpton (pointing) of the National Action Network was among those on the frontline of the anniversary march. Others included Martin Luther King III (to the right of Sharpton), AFSCME President Lee Saunders (far right), National Urban League President/Ceo Marc Morial (left of Sharpton), and the parents of Trayvon Martin and their lawyer (far left). (Photos: George Tillman Jr.)
George Tillman Jr. staking out his position at the Lincoln Memorial. (Photo: Courtesy)
MARCH
Memphis civil rights icon the Rev. Samuel “Billy” Kyles.
Simeon Wright, the cousin of civil rights martyr Emmett Till.
WLOK plans ‘Memphis Children’s March’
CONTINUED FROM FRONT
ter position, once I saw an opening. As the sun came up people were streaming in by the thousands. I checked my equipment one more time, especially the cell phone so I could communicate with the TSD’s executive editor, Karanja A. Ajanaku, back in Memphis. I had begun to send him cell phone shots of where I was positioned, giving him a view of what was going on. “Keep’m coming, George,” he said. The event started and I was right on top of it all. The who’s who was coming in and I was awash in the click, click, click of a sea of cameras. I began to shoot and move, keeping my eyes on the primary subjects so that they would not get out of sight before I got to them. I knew my biggest challenge – getting in position to shoot the march down Independence Ave. – still lay ahead. Camera-carrying men and women from myriad parts of the world jockeyed to the front line. I found an opening and snapped away like a photographer possessed. For over an hour, the lines of marchers kept rolling out from the starting point. Later, after all the steps had
Merlie Evers-Williams approaches the podium to deliver her remarks.
been taken on a historic day marking an even more historic day, and as I stood while awaiting a taxi, I had a chance encounter with one of the day’s most moving speakers, Merlie EversWilliams, whose late husband, Medgar, is a civil rights martyr. On the morning of June 12, 1963, Evers was murdered in his drive-
way in Jackson, Miss., and 2 ½ months before the 1963 March on Washington. During her speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Evers-Williams had said, “There are efforts to turn back the clock of freedom and I ask you today, will you allow that to happen? … Take the words ‘stand your
ground’ in a positive sense. Stand your ground in terms of fighting for justice and equality.” As our paths crossed, EversWilliams simply affirmed that she had made her way to the nation’s Capitol to let the world know that the voices of Medgar Evers, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and many others are still being heard.
‘Let Freedom Ring’ celebration sounds at City Hall
In conjunction with The King Center in Atlanta and cities across the nation, the City of Memphis celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington with a “Let Freedom Ring” belling-ringing commemoration at City Hall on Wednesday. “This 50th anniversary celebration is a perfect opportunity for each of us to examine how Dr.
King’s dream has manifested in our lives, to look for ways to further his vision, and to renew our commitment to participating in government, peacefully co-existing and prosperity for all,” Mayor A C Wharton Jr. said. The local celebration included performances by Hattiloo Theatre and soloist Dr. LaSonya Hall, deputy director of Parks & Neigh-
borhoods. Also, Pastor Marron Thomas of Innovation Church recited the “I Have a Dream” speech, Pastor Gregorio Diaz of Nueva Dirección offered remarks on Dr. King’s dream 50 years later, and Cailan Smith, 8, and Jack Sullivan, 9, rang the freedom bell. “Today’s commemoration renews my drive to address those things in my City that Dr. King and
so many others fought and died for,” Wharton said. “We owe it to the legacies of Dr. King, Rosa Parks, Medgar Evers, our own Dr. Benjamin Hooks, Maxine Smith, Rev. Samuel “Billy” Kyles and others, to continue to fight the good fight for justice and jobs, for safe and vibrant neighborhoods, quality education for our children and equal opportunities to prosper.”
Gilliam Communications, owners of radio station 1340WLOK, invites all parents, students, youth organizations and churches to be a part of the Memphis Children’s March commemorating the historic March on Washington. The 39th Annual WLOK Stone Soul Picnic is the highlight of the Labor Day Weekend music festival and commemoration. Families and participants are encouraged to gather on Riverside Drive at Georgia Avenue at 11 Saturday morning, with the Children’s March beginning at 12:00 noon. Marchers will proceed down Riverside Drive into Tom Lee Park for brief speeches by local organizers, including AFSCME Local 1733, the SCLC, the City of Memphis Ambassadors Program, the Black Farmers & Agriculturalists Association, the Memphis & Shelby County Education Association, and the Mid South Peace & Justice Center. The school or youth group with the largest contingency of marchers will win movie passes from Malco Theaters. The WLOK Stone Soul Picnic is the largest and longest-running gospel music festival in the region. All events are free and open to the public. For more details, visit wlok.com or contact Tony Nichelson at 901-336-2399.
Tri-State Defender
OBAMA
MARCH ON WASHINGTON: 50TH ANNIVERSARY August 29 - September 4, 2013
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anniversary event, including Obama, stressed that income disparity, high unemployment and a shrinking middle class have slashed hopes for attaining equality for millions of Americans, though the president said those facts couldn’t erase the forward march of the civil rights movement. “To secure the gains this country has made requires constant vigilance, not complacency,” he said, adding later: “We will suffer the occasional setback, but we will win these fights. This country has changed too much.” Other speakers marked the great progress toward King’s goal of racial accord, though many suggested that the dream was far from realized, specifically citing voter identification laws that critics say prevent African-Americans from casting ballots, and the verdict in the closely watched Trayvon Martin murder trial. “We have come a great distance in this country in the 50 years. But we still have a great distance to go before we fulfill the dream of Martin Luther King Jr.,” said U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Georgia, adding that progress toward King’s goal could be marked by his own election to Congress. “But there are still invisible signs, barriers in the hearts of humankind that form a gulf between us,” said Lewis, the only speaker from the 1963 march who also spoke Wednesday. Another leader from King’s era of the civil rights movement, Myrlie Evers-Williams, said the United States had “certainly taken a turn backwards” in the quest for civil rights. Two former presidents also delivered remarks, each representing a distinct era in the movement for equal rights in America. President Jimmy Carter, speaking ahead of Obama, asserted that recent developments in American policy would have disappointed King. “I believe we all know how Dr. King would have reacted to the new ID requirements to exclude certain voters, especially
On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, President Barack Obama praised the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders, saying: “Because they kept marching, America changed. Because they marched, the civil rights law passed ... a voting rights law was signed. ... And yes, the White House changed.” (Photo: Pool/CNN)
African Americans,” said Carter, a Democrat. “I think we all know how Dr. King would have reacted to the Supreme Court striking down a crucial part of the Voting Rights Act just recently passed overwhelmingly by Congress.” And another Democratic president, Bill Clinton, argued during his speech for working together against stalemates and inaction, saying King “did not live and die to hear his heirs whine about political gridlock.” “It is time to stop complaining and put our shoulders against the stubborn gates holding the American people back,” Clinton said. Neither of the living former Republican presidents attended Wednesday’s event – in fact, no elected Republican deliv-
ered remarks at the fiftieth anniversary commemoration. George H.W. Bush and his son George W. Bush both opted out, citing health concerns. The latter is recovering from a recent heart procedure. Before Obama addressed the throngs gathered at the Lincoln Memorial, civil rights leaders past and present remembered the decades-long movement to secure equal treatment and rights for African-Americans. The daughters of two presidents key to enacting the Civil Rights Act were also present – Lynda Johnson Robb and Caroline Kennedy, who Obama recently nominated as ambassador to Japan. Celebrities and entertainers at the event included Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey, who star as husband and wife
in one of the summer’s hottest movies, “Lee Daniels’ The Butler,” about life in the White House through the eyes of the (mostly black) hired help. Winfrey declared King had seen injustice and “refused to look the other way.” “We, too, can be courageous by continuing to walk in the footsteps of the path that he forged,” Winfrey said. Two musicians who performed at the 1963 march also sang Wednesday. Peter Yarrow and Paul Stookey, from the trio Peter, Paul and Mary, sang Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind,” backed by Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, the parents of Trayvon Martin, whose 2012 shooting death sparked a national conversation about race. Mary Travers, the third artist in the group, died in
2009. Obama’s most personal remarks on race ahead of Wednesday’s speech came in the aftermath of the July verdict that found Martin’s killer not guilty. In the crowd at the Lincoln Memorial, attendees of the anniversary event used the occasion to remember back to where they were when they first heard King’s “I have a Dream” speech. “I grew up in a segregated environment. I never met a white person till I was a junior in college,” said Betty Waller Gray, who traveled to Wednesday’s march from Richmond. “It was just so emotional to be here today after knowing where I was in 1963. I was just a kid finishing high school back then.”
Gilbert Lyons, an employee of the National Park Service, actually attended the original March on Washington half a decade ago, and heard King utter his famous works in person. “I went home with it in my head. I even spoke to my wife about it,” he said. “It stayed with me. And the more I heard about Martin Luther King, the more things he was doing, I said, ‘this man is great.’ He is a gentleman that can bring America back to themselves like they’re supposed to be. We’re not supposed to be this race and that race. We are Americans.” (CNN’s Joe Johns, Stacey Samuel, Athena Jones and Larry Lazo contributed to this report.)
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OPINION
August 29 - September 4, 2013
• Bernal E. Smith II President / Publisher • Dr. Karanja A. Ajanaku Executive Editor
How will history judge the 2013 March on Washington?
50 years later What do we do NOW?
Fifty years, half a century, five decades – a milestone by any standard, and a sufficient passing of time to allow for deep reflection and measurement of one’s relative position and progress with great expectation of significant growth and accomplishment. One might simultaneously reflect in some disappointment with a lack of forward progress and achievement and even more so with a retardation of growth during a space of 600 months. Understanding of both are necessary to answer the most urgent question of today: Where do we go from here? As numerous celebrations, acknowledgements and commemorations have come and gone for the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, it is clear that it marked a watershed moment for the United States. And most certainly for African Americans in our on-going quest for equitable opportunity and evolution as citizens in a country where we were once held as chattel property, counted as 3/5th of a person, and ruled by the U.S. Supreme Court as non-citizens with the inability to bring legal actions before the courts. (Dred Scot vs. Sandford 1857) The momentum of the movement and the march of 1963 would lead to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Civil Rights Act of 1968. The funny thing about momentum is that as much as you can build it towards a crescendo of accomplishment, you can just as quickly lose it, finding it difficult (at best) to recapture. It’s like that basketball team that presses its way to a 20-point lead but relaxes its sense of urgency to end up losing the game by 2 points; great demonstration of potential but ultimately no victory. So it stands that during the past 50 years, the momentum of the movement and the energy, passion and effort emanating from the march of 1963 began to wane, and wane significantly. Less significant legislation would be passed during the 1970’s, while the remaining decades would see significant retractions in key parts of legislation that was meant to achieve equity and equality in economic, civil and human rights. Without question, it is the laws of the land that establish the environment and systems by which economic, educational and civil achievement (or the lack thereof) is ultimately obtained by people under that law, making the system of voting and lawmaking critical to every aspect of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Influences to that system, such as public protest of the 1960’s, seem to have lost their momentum and impact, while the backroom influence of lobbyist and the ultra wealthy has grown to epic proportions to the detriment of the masses. St. Augustine once said, “ … an unjust law is no law at all.” And no truer words have ever been spoken. When one could be killed for teaching a slave to read, people of African decent in America found ways to learn to read anyway. When only white male property owners had the right to vote, women and people of color fought for the right to vote and obtained it. Clearly, the types and kinds of laws that go into effect at local, state and federal levels create the dynamics by which quality of life is improved or significantly hampered for citizens governed by that law. An evaluation of key life indicators for African Americans since 1963 shows severely stagnant or “hampered” growth and quality of life: • Black unemployment remains in the double digits and twice that of whites, and from 1963 to 2012 averaged 11.6 percent. Meaning blacks as a whole have remained in a perpetual recession during the last 50 years. • Blacks continued to be incarnated
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
at significantly higher rates than whites and have significantly higher potential to be involved with the criminal justice system. According to the Pew Research Center, blacks are six times as likeBernal E. ly to be incarcerSmith II ated as whites. In 1960. for every 100,000 persons there were 1,313 black inmates and 262 white inmates. In 2010 there were 4,347 blacks compared to 678 whites. • The black poverty rate is not declining but growing. The biggest drop in black poverty came in the decade of the 1960’s. From 2001 to 2011 it grew from approximately 21 percent to 28 percent and remains three times the poverty rate of whites, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. • Black family life has declined. Increased rates of single-family households, out-of-wedlock births and divorce rates have negatively impacted families and poverty. According to Pew, in 1960, 61 percent of black adults were married. In 2011, only 31 percent, and although marriage has declined across the board, the decline has been significantly greater in black households. The U.S. Census recently reported 52.1 percent of black children living in single parent households compared to only 19.9 percent of white children. Stress, other health factors, lack of insurance and poverty levels are all impacted by these statistics. • The wealth and income gap between blacks and whites has grown, and for the past 30 years the gap has not only NOT improved but has grown, especially since the Great Recession beginning in 2008. White wealth is now six times that of blacks. • In a perpetuation of the vestiges of slavery, (Willie Lynch, Jim Crow and the like) the rate of black-onblack violent crime continues to be alarmingly high, with little to no attention, effort or resources. According the Bureau of Justice stats, nearly 9,000 African Americans are murdered each year, with 93 percent of those coming at the hands of other African Americans. In a 10-year period that’s 100,000 people – almost double the number of U.S. soldiers killed in Vietnam during that 13-year war. Where do we go from here? More marches, more protest? Organizing? Planning? Cooperative economics and strategies? VOTING IN MASS early and often? More loving and less hating and “hatin’ on each other?’’ More reading and less watching? More saving and building and less spending? More attention to the issues and less to the shoes (red bottoms, clothes and bling)? Demanding better education, better health care, better access to opportunity, business, resources and housing? Ultimately, the answer is a resounding YES to all of these, coupled with a swift sense of purpose and evasive consistent action that will begin a new movement. The next wave of momentum that will produce significant positive change and be reflected on 50 years from now will come only when we adopt, move and never lose what Dr. King called, “the fierce urgency of now.” Understanding the trials of the past, yesterday has gone and tomorrow has not yet arrived. It is what we do with NOW that truly matters.
(Bernal E. Smith II is President/Publisher of The New Tri-State Defender. Email him at besmith@tristatedefender.com.) DISTRIBUTION: Tri-State Defender is available at newsstands, street sales, store vendors, mail subscription and honor boxes throughout the Greater Memphis area. No person may, without prior written permission of the Tri-State Defender, reprint any part of or duplicate by electronic device any portion without written permission. Copyright 2013 by Tri-State Defender Publishing, Inc. Permission to Publisher, Tri-State Defender, 203 Beale Street, Suite 200, Memphis, TN. 38103. Back copies can be obtained by calling the Tri-State Defender at (901) 523-1818, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays.
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March on Washington: "It feels like an ocean." (Photo: TSD/ George Tillman Jr.)
GOP critic should take a history lesson from Malcolm and Martin
Earlier this week, the Republican National Committee (RNC) and Chairman Reince Priebus hosted a great 50th anniversary commemoration of the March on Washington. It was truly wonderful to see the best of what America stands for. In attendance were blacks, whites, hispanics, Asians, Democrats, Republicans, Independents, males and females. In other words, it was America. As I sat there and listened to the various speakers during the program, it dawned on me just how diverse the crowd was. I was also reminded how there were many differences of opinions represented in the room, but for that moment in time, we all rallied around that which we could all agree on – that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the March on Washington, helped move America toward delivering on its promise of equality for all. I was also reminded that not everyone in the civil rights community agreed with Dr. King’s approach. Some within the movement wanted a more aggressive, militant approach to the movement – namely Malcolm X. Malcolm X didn’t like the idea of non-violence. His position was, if you strike him, he was going to strike you harder. Many in the movement didn’t support the Montgomery, Ala. bus boycott or many of the sit-ins at various restaurants (Woolworth). No one disagreed with the goals of the movement, but many had other views on how to best accomplish the goal of true equality in America. Even those who disagreed with Dr. King’s methods, all made positive contributions to the goal of the movement, albeit in their own way. This is the very reason why Dr. King and Malcolm X are equally revered, especially within the black community. They had vastly different approaches, but both made positive contributions to the movement. In a similar vein, you have some Black Republicans constantly criticizing Reince Priebus and what he is trying to do to get more blacks involved in our party. First the complaints were that the party had no blacks on staff; then it was that he hired the wrong blacks; then that the hires were just window dressing. Enough, already! The biggest critic of Priebus’ moves has been someone by the name of Crystal Simone Wright. I can criticize a member of my family, but I will not allow an outsider to do so. Wright has absolutely no Republican Party credentials whatsoever. She holds herself out to be a Republican strategist, but with no track record. I was recently given some information on her political background and noticed some interesting tidbits. She registered to vote in Washington, D.C. on March 12, 2002. She last voted on April 23, 2013. In 2002 her party affiliation was Republican. During this 11-year-period, she was eligible to vote in 20 elections. During eight of those 20 elections, her party affiliation was Republican.
During the other 12, her party affiliation was no party affiliation or Democratic Party. As recently as 2010, she was registered and voted as a Democrat. This means that during this 11-year period Raynard she was only afJackson filiated with and voted Republican 40 percent of the time. Based on the numbers, she is a 60 percent Democrat or unaffiliated. So, I guess that should explain her giving money to recent senate candidates like former Florida Democratic Congressman, Kendrick Meek (one of the most liberal members to serve in Congress). What is most amazing about this so-called Republican operative is that she constantly criticizes the party and Priebus specifically; but yet I have learned through two media sources that she has met privately with people in the RNC begging them to give her a consulting contract to help the party with the black community. The last meeting took place last month. She was totally and thoroughly rebuffed by the party, according to my sources. So, Ralph Abernathy, er, I mean Crystal Simone Wright, how can the party be as bad as you say; but yet you want to make a living helping the very party that you claim doesn’t care about people like you? Lord knows I have been a very harsh critic of my party over the past few years, but unlike Wright, I have constructively engaged with the party in order to be part of the solution and not perpetuate the problem. As with Dr. King and Malcolm X, they disagreed with each other’s approach, but yet each made positive contribution to the cause. Wright was too busy trying to get a consulting contract to pay much attention to their example of peaceful coexistence. So, my message to Wright can best be conveyed through the immortal words of Jack Nicholson in the movie, “A Few Good Men:” — “I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom I provide, then questions the manner in which I provide it! I’d rather you just said thank you and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon and stand a post. Either way, I don’t give a damn what you think you’re entitled to!” In the end, Wright is wrong simply because she can’t handle the truth. (Raynard Jackson is president & CEO of Raynard Jackson & Associates, LLC., a Washington, D.C.based public relations/government affairs firm. Reach him via www.raynardjackson.com. Follow him on Twitter at raynard1223.)
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The 1963 March on Washington was a pivotal moment for African Americans, a day when people joined to fight for jobs, peace and justice. More than 250,000 people traveled to WashJulianne ington despite the Malveaux scourge of segregation. Many who were driving had to carefully select the places they could stop and eat (actually most brought goodies from home) or relieve themselves. Despite obstacles, a quarter of a million people, gathered peacefully and with dignity. As a result of the March, the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964, and the Voting Rights Act in 1965. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. continued his activity for jobs, peace and justice helping to organize the march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965, which was interrupted by Bloody Sunday. He spoke, in 1965, to Playboy magazine, suggesting that “compensation” (he didn’t use the word reparations) would be the only way to close the economic gap between African Americans and Whites. He began connecting poverty with war in his 1967 speech “Beyond Vietnam.” When he died, he was organizing the Poor People’s Campaign, envisioned as a way to bring tens of thousands of people to Washington, D.C. to demand that each department of the federal government recognize and ameliorate poverty issues in housing, education, health and other areas. The Poor People’s campaign was more muted than expected in the wake of Dr. King’s 1968 assassination, but some of the people came anyway. Even before the 2013 commemorative march was organized, estimates were that 100,000 would join that March. In 1963, about 1.3 percent of our nation’s 18.9 million African Americans marched. … The 100,000 estimate represents just .2 of one percent of our nation’s 44 million African Americans. Proportionately, the 1963 march drew 5 times as many African Americans as the 2013 March. What does this mean when we look at the status of African Americans then and now? In 1963, the movement had clear goals. African Americans had been denied employment rights, civil rights, civil liberties and voting rights. The hundreds of thousands of African Americans who came to Washington were protesting, not only the restoration of these rights, but also a stop to the police brutality that had killed or crippled supporters. People were so focused that change was made, and when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, he articulated his vision for our nation. He said: “I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits.” He set out an agenda that was economic, social and political. Fifty years after the March on Washington, we have yet to achieve the metrics that Dr. King offered. Millions experience “food insecurity” or have nothing to eat several times a month. The education gap has not been closed and African-American students are differently treated than others in the K-12 education system. Where is the equality? Paraphrasing Dr. King, African Americans have twice the negatives and half the positives in terms of equity. Little freedom has been achieved, especially when trillions are spent on senseless wars, while our national unemployment rate exceeds 7 percent and the unofficial black unemployment rate is 25 percent. In the five years after the 1963 March on Washington, there were setbacks, but also the achievement of far-reaching goals. After the commemoration, the several events in Washington, DC, parallel events in other cities, and the NAACP’s online march, what will be the results? Will this generation be as effective as Dr. King and his generation was? Will we mobilize around Voting Rights after the setback of a Supreme Court decision? Will we push to close the employment gap between African Americans and others? In 1963, African Americans were desperate to effect change. In 2013, there is neither desperation nor a passionate push for implementation. In five or 10 years, when there is another commemorative gathering, how will history judge us? (NNPA columnist Julianne Malveaux is a Washington, D.C.based economist and writer and president emerita of Bennett College for Women in Greensboro, N.C.)
BUSINESS
Tri-State Defender
Page 5
August 29 - September 4, 2013
MONEY MATTERS
What advantages does a biweekly mortgage offer?
One of the most precious assets that you are likely to possess as you progress through life is your home. Owning their own homes is something that most Americans strive for. Unfortunately, for the vast majority of people, one of the major drawbacks in owning a home is the long-term mortgage that must be paid off. Mortgages often stretch out 30 years with interest and principal repayments. Most mortgage repayments
are made on a monthly b a s i s . However, arranging to make payments biweekly can have a dramatic effect on Charles h e Sims Jr., CFP t amount of money you have to pay and the time frame before it is all
paid off. Under a biweekly mortgage, instead of making the payments once a month, you make half the payment every two weeks. If your mortgage is $1,000 per month, under a biweekly system it would be $500 every two weeks. You make 26 payments per year, which is the equivalent of 13 monthly payments rather than 12. The extra payment should be taken directly off the principal, reducing the payment schedule accordingly.
The effect of biweekly mortgage payments can be dramatic. For example, if you currently have a $150,000 loan at 8 percent fixed interest, you will have paid approximately $396,233 at the end of 30 years. However, if you use a biweekly payment system, you will pay $331,859 and have it completely paid off in 21.6 years. You save $64,374 and pay the loan off 8.4 years earlier! The savings you realize us-
ing a biweekly payment schedule can save you nearly half of what it cost to buy the house in the first place. An increasing number of mortgage companies are now offering a biweekly payment option. It is even possible to convert your current monthly payments into a biweekly schedule. Some companies will attempt to charge you to refinance the loan. However, this is not always the case and shopping around can save you
money in refinancing charges. Be wary of independent companies offering to do this for you for a fee – you can do it for yourself for free. You should receive professional financial advice when considering switching to a biweekly mortgage payment schedule. (Charles Sims Jr. is president/ CEO of The Sims Financial Group. Contact him at 901-682-2410 or visit www. SimsFinancialGroup.com.)
ON OUR WAY TO WEALTHY
Road to Retail:
O’Taste & See Simply Delicious Pies and Quiche Barbara Jackson is a woman blessed with a gift to cook. She runs from the title of chef but the taste and presentation of her food places her with the best of the best. As humble as they come, Jackson, the owner of O’Taste & See Simply Delicious Pies and Quiche, proves that with hard work and dedication to your passion, dreams do come true.
Carlee McCullough: How did you get started in the food business? Barbara Jackson: I received an Easy Bake Oven in second grade for Christmas. I got two boxes of cake mix, white and chocolate. My mom loved nuts, so I added nuts to the top of the chocolate mix and actually made a brownie before I even knew what a brownie was. I continued to add different nuts to the tops. Later, I attempted to make other stuff in the Easy Bake Oven and burned it up. The wattage was not strong enough for what I wanted to do. CM: What do you sell at O’Taste and See? BJ: I have an array of desserts and entrees. As far as dessert is concerned, my best seller is my buttermilk chess pie that I also serve in three additional different flavors: coconut, chocolate and lemon. My second best seller is my pecan pie, which also comes as a chocolate pecan pie. We have sweet potato pie, along with a coconut variety as well. I make key lime, lemon and a millionaire pie. Brownies are another favorite. We sell cheesecake brownies and regular brownies with nuts. Our lunch items include: chicken salad, turkey and ham melts, salads, stuffed eggs, club sandwiches, and our most popular chicken fried club which has olives, bread and butter pickles, red onions, lettuce, tomato, swiss cheese, and bacon served on oat grain bread.
CM: Wow. I am getting hungry. What is a millionaire pie? BJ: I call it my ritzy pie because it has milk, whipped cream, pineapple, served on a graham cracker crust.
C M : What motivated you to produce a dessert line? BJ: My mother served as my motiCarlee McCullough vation and inspiration. She was a wonderful cook. We grew up with her cooking for other families. Whenever she cooked she always Barbara had a wonJackson derful presentation. She prepared cobblers and cakes. Every Friday we had wonderful desserts after dinner. She left a great legacy that I just kind of leaned on and it has carried me. CM: Do you cater as well? BJ: Yes. We design a menu for each client’s special needs.
CM: What motivated you to move into a retail space? BJ: I was busting out of the seams working from the house. I had eight refrigerators, two stoves and a walk in at my storage. It was time to move out of the house. So it was time to move it into a retail location. CM: What’s next for you? BJ: I would like to see my products placed in a few particular locations. We are working on it now. We would like to move more into the mass production and distribution side of the business and distribute our products in bulk to other retailers or distributors.
CM: What advice would you give to others interested in getting in the business? BJ: Trust GOD and get off the porch because you may be holding someone else back. You never know who is
watching you and who you inspire by your actions. Surround yourself with people that believe in your dreams.
CM: What advice would you give someone ready to go from part time to full time? BJ: Bloom where you are planted. If it is your passion and gift, GOD gives you an energy that you do not get from anywhere else. I would work a full time job and work into the night because it was my passion. Don’t wait. Get started where you are and it will evolve because GOD will let you know when it is time. You just have to listen. CM: How do you balance your business and professional life? BJ: You have to know that you cannot just be all one thing. I learned balance by teaching school. Balance is why I close at 5 p.m. and moved the business from my home. I never felt like I was not working at home. My family has also helped to keep me balanced and grounded. CM: Did you have a business plan? BJ: No I did not. I just knew that my food was good enough to please most. I had the support and guidance of some business-minded folks, like Mark Yates, that spent hours upon hours with me. He pushed his own work aside to help me.
CM: Any last words? BJ: Pray before you get off of the porch and allow GOD to present you.
• O’Taste & See Simply Delicious Pies and Quiche • Owner: Barbara Jackson • Address: 2045 E. Brooks Road • Hours: 11 a.m to 5 p.m. Monday thru Friday • Website: www.OTaste AndSeePiesAndQuiche.com
At A Glance
(Contact Carlee McCullough, Esq., at 5308 Cottonwood Road, Suite 1A, Memphis, TN 38118, or email her at jstce4all@aol.com.)
Linda L. Williford Pifer, PhD, professor in the Department of Clinical Laboratory Science at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, observes while Desiree Evans, a second-year medical laboratory science student, practices drawing “blood” from a device designed to simulate a vein in a human arm. (Photo: UTHSC)
UTHSC grant to aid promising female minority students The demand for medical laboratory scientists is expected to rise by at least 13 percent through 2020, according to the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Sciences. And salaries are also on the rise, with the median wage, based on location, estimated at $56,870. The unemployment rate of medical laboratory scientists is less than 2 percent. That’s why the Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, is hoping to put a career in medical laboratory science within reach of promising female minority students. The department recently received a $15,500 grant
from the UT Alliance of Women Philanthropists to help make that happen. The grant will help provide necessary “catalyst” funding to purchase books and educational supplies for deserving female minority students for one year. Recipients will pass on their books and other permanent supplies to the next group of students in need. “We have seen many students who are intellectually talented, but who have to work so many hours after school that they simply cannot succeed in earning their college degrees,” Dr. Linda L. Williford Pifer, professor in the Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, and Kathy Kenwright, chair of
the Department of Clinical Laboratory Science, wrote in applying for the grant. Cordova resident Desiree Evans, 27, a second-year medical laboratory science student, said the grant money is a big help. She had a baby boy in March and also works on campus as a student assistant. “It’s paying for my boards and textbooks, as well as scrubs, which saves a whole lot on my end, because money’s tight,” Evans said. Without the grant, she would have to work more, “which takes away time from me being at home with my husband and son.” (For more information, visit www.uthsc.edu.)
BUSINESS
Page 6
Tri-State Defender
August 29 - September 4, 2013
Partner up for success, says EconomicDevelopment Forum keynoter Special to The New Tri-State Defender
by Kelly Martin
Warren Thompson guides the largest minority-owned restaurant/hospitality company in the country, with revenues of over $320 million. He knows about the value of partnerships. On Wednesday (Aug. 28), Thompson, president and chairman of the Thompson Hospitality Corporation, pitched the importance of partnership and having likeminded partners while delivering the keynote address at the Economic Development Forum Power Breakfast at the Memphis Cook Convention Center.
The Mid-South Minority Business Continuum (MMBC) produces the Economic Development Forum (EDF) annually. For President & CEO Luke Yancy III and the MMBC team, the 2013 Economic Development Forum is another step in an ongoing push to grow minority and women-owned business enterprises (M/WBEs). This year’s forum kickedoff Tuesday with a business reception and concludes on Thursday. Mayor A C Wharton Jr. and Shelby County Mayor Mark H. Luttrell Jr. welcomed participants to the Power Breakfast and after a sponsor’s spotlight segment, Martha Perine
Beard, regional executive of the Federal Reserve Bank – Memphis Branch, Thompson. Radiating the Warren spirit of a Thompson diligent entrepreneur, Thompson highlighted peak relationships throughout his career that have helped shape his business into a success beacon. In 1992, he leveraged the buyout of 31 Big Boy (Shoney’s) restaurants.
“ B e willing to hustle,” Thompson advised the attendees. “Get the job done before others realize there is a Cedrick job to get Sparks done.” After the breakfast session, which was emceed by WREG TV news anchor Markova Reed, a ribbon-cutting ceremony signaled that participants were free to make their way to the exhibit hall and to the various seminars that fea-
tured representatives from myriad industries and agencies WMC-TV5 news anchor Kym Clark guided the luncheon session, with MMBC Continuum President & CEO Luke Yancy III introducing the keynote speaker, Cedrick Sparks, the executive director for the City of Birmingham Mayor’s Office – Division of Youth Services. Sparks exuded a long-standing passion for supporting the youth. His witty, sermon-like message registered, with the audience giving him a standing ovation. Business owners, said Sparks, must pave the way for future generations. “Are you living the dream,
or are you a part of the nightmare?” Sparks asked, connecting his speech to the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his now famous “I Have A Dream” speech. On Thursday, the EDF luncheon speaker will be Dr. Ting Ho, executive director of Symphony Holding. He will address Business Acceleration with a National/Global Strategy. Featured seminars will be held throughout the day and followed by the closing ceremony. The Business Expo floor will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and will feature 150-plus businesses.
Facebook rolls out shared photo albums CNN
by Heather Kelly Next time you host a soiree, you can collect photos of the event from your guests in one album on Facebook. The social network has added shared photo albums so people can throw photos from an event or of a common subject into a single spot. The new shared album feature, first reported by Mashable, is rolling out to English-speaking users of the social network but will eventually be available around the world. When you create a new photo album, there will be a new button that says “Make Shared Album.” Click and add up to 50 other people you want contributing to the album. Each person can upload 200 photos for a maximum of 10,000 images in a single shared album. Every contribu-
tor can tag, edit and give captions to the photos they add. The album’s creator can decide who sees the photos by setting the privacy settings to just contributors, friends of contributors or public. You can only add individual contributors. There’s no option to open an album to your entire network or base one on a specific shared gathering such as a concert or sporting event. You can open up the floodgates a bit by allowing your friends to add anyone else they like to an album. “Hundreds of millions of photos are uploaded onto Facebook each day and today, we’re making it even easier for friends to share photos with the rollout of Shared Photo Albums,” the company said in a statement. Creating a single bucket for all the photos from an event is going to be a hit with wedding or other party guests, though the
50-person limit could be tricky if you throw proper ragers. The 68,000 people returning from the Burning Man festival next week can share their dusty photos memories in groups on Facebook instead of each posting them individually. A family vacation to Disney World can be immortalized in one spot. Birthday party guests can share their photos of the guest of honor blowing out candles from every possible angle. The shared photo album is not an original idea. Various startups such as Keepsy, Hipstamatic and Albumatic have tried to make sharing albums easy, but many require everyone downloading the same app or signing up for a service. It makes much more sense as an additional feature on a site that is already a popular place for photo-sharing. More than a billion people are on Facebook, and they’re
Facebookʼs main login page. (Photo: John Sanders/CNN)
sharing hundreds of millions of photos every day on the ser-
vice, according to Facebook. It’s surprising it took the
company this long to add this simple, helpful feature.
RELIGION
Tri-State Defender
Page 7
August 29 - September 4, 2013
LIVING THE LIFE I LOVE
Breast cancer, questions and prayer closets
Dear Lucy: I am a breast cancer survivor. I had a mastectomy almost 20 years ago. I had chemo and radiation. Recently the cancer has come back. I changed my diet to strict vegetarian, I exercised, I totally changed my lifestyle. I am a praying woman and I just feel like this is unfair and scary. Is there something I missed? – So Afraid and Tired
Dear Precious One: Please accept my outpouring of love to you. This is an often-repeated story with many types of cancer. There are many new and powerful treatments and diagnostic tools available today and I am sure that you have been a good steward of your physical health. I am also sure that you will consult and follow your physician’s advice as one should always do as you seek direction through prayer. The opinion that I share with you is not intended to be
medical in any way. For all that it is worth, here is what my experience has taught me about sickness in general and breast cancer in particular. There is an emotional component to any Lucy sickness. UnreShaw solved, deep, negative emotions simply have to be dealt with. This includes emotions like anger, unforgiveness, guilt, envy, deep distrust, lack of safety, along with feelings of unworthiness and undeserving. I have met many women with breast cancer who harbor deep hurts and unresolved anger over events and memories buried deep down inside. Is this
true for every woman with breast cancer? Maybe not. But there are some things that only we ourselves know and these are the things that only we can work on by ourselves and for ourselves. Here are a few ideas for working in your prayer closet with and for yourself. If these questions become hard to work with, seek the help of an experienced emotional counselor. Remembering that the breasts are referred to as the “bosom,” ask yourself, “What have I been holding very close to my bosom for a long time and unwilling to let go of?” On the other hand, “Is there something that I needed to or should have held to my bosom and let it go or had it snatched from me and never got over it?” Ask, “If this lump was a metaphor for something hard and walled off in my life, what would that be?” “Why and what have I taken in my life and turned
into stone and tucked away so that I don’t have to face it or deal with it?” Another really powerful question resonates around anger and unforgiveness. “Have I held onto some old hurt from long ago. Am I holding onto the pain, anger, resentment and unfairness of it?” Even when other parts of your life seem so successful and look so good to others, it is still possible to be holding on to junk that needs to be released. These are just a few of the questions I put to my clients. Most of the time I don’t have to ask because she will tell me as she speaks of her life. Women will talk about the awful dramas they have endured, the hurts, difficult relationships with their own mothers or their own guilt about not being a good mother. Or sometimes there are big and repeated dramas of not being loved and appreciated by the men in their lives. The most pre-
vailing emotions are profound sadness or anger that no amount of success can dissolve. I am not saying that any of this pertains to you. I only offer this as something you can do for yourself. This is inner work, work to take into your prayer closet. Begin by standing in front of the mirror and visualizing yourself sending showers of love to your bosom. Just love yourself, love this part of your body. This is a simple but wonderful little exercise. You may cry, or laugh. Just stay with it. In the meantime, you have my prayers. Blessings,
Lucy (Check out Lucy Shaw’s website at http://www.heartworks4u.com. You may send your questions to her by U.S. mail to: Heartworks4U, LLC; 4646 Poplar Ave. Ste 201, Memphis, TN 38117 or by e-mail to lucy@heartworks4u.com.)
Islam – A religion of peace?
A Progressive salute…
“Christian Women of Strength, Faith and Unity” was the theme of Annual Womenʼs Day 2013 at Progressive Missionary Baptist Church (Aug. 25) and it carried over to a reception at a neighborhood venue. Arnetta Phillips Wilson of Hope Presbyterian Church in Cordova amplified on the theme at the 3 p.m. service. The Rev. Dr. James B. Collins was the host pastor. (Photos: Tyrone P. Easley)
The Rev. Patsy T. Brown, the exwife of the late Rev. Eddie Albert Brown Jr., was identified incorrectly in a story in last week’s edition. Rev. Brown, who died Aug. 5, also leaves two daughters, Wyndie
“Oh!” Henry and Angela Oliver; two sons, Eddie Albert Brown III and Patrick Jonathan (Michelle); six grandchildren, Sydney, Imani, Kylan, Kayla, Elijah and Wesley; a sister, Betty Gray-Streeter; a devot-
GETTIN’ IT RIGHT
ed niece, Dominique Chambers; a loving aunt, Zelda E. Webb; an adoptive mother, Leola Hines; his best friend, Bishop C.W. Fugh, and numerous other relatives and friends.
If Islam is ever to be understood and appreciated by Americans, then Muslims will need to stop trying to convince them that it is a “religion of peace.” Having just completed my 35th Ramadan – the month of fasting – I find it neither representative of nor true to the faith to portray it in any way as passive. If America is to reap the vitality that Islam can offer a society, then Americans will have to look beyond Muslim terrorists to see a religion that blossomed in a remarkably short span of time from one man’s vision in a cave to the world superpower that conquered the Persian and Byzantine empires and brought enlightenment to Europe. To understand this history as a continuing spiritual phenomenon Americans will need to understand the religion’s founder, Muhammad, and the text he brought, the Qur’an. The quote attributed to Jesus in the Book of Matthew provides an apt description of Muhammad’s life: “I come not to bring peace, but to bring a sword.” It was 600 years after the time of Christ and during Ramadan – the ninth month in the Islamic (lunar) calendar – that Muhammad, a 40-year-old Arab businessman, while meditating in a cave about the greed and corruption in society, had a revelation that he was called to preach the oneness of God. This brought him enmity from his fellow Arabs, who were polytheists; from the Christians who taught that Jesus was God; and from the Jews who rejected the prophecy of Jesus. It also brought him intense enmity from the political and business leaders, who saw him as detrimental to Mecca remaining a hub of world commerce and were insulted by his message that their wealth and power was no match for God. After 13 years of preaching the Qur’an, which Muhammad maintained was just him reciting the word revealed to him by God like previous prophets, his persecution in Mecca became such that he was forced to flee. He and a companion escaped to a cave just ahead of a group of assassins who had come to kill him, and during his 200-mile desert journey to the City of Medina his pursuers were uncannily
PRAISE CONNECT
thwarted. In Medina, Muhammad established a community constituted on the Qur’an, whose 114 chapters, called Suras, were recited by him over a 23year period. The Eric Qur’an, which E. Vickers says throughout, that it is meant for all mankind, touches on every aspect of life, including property, marital, inheritance and contract rights, the manner of prayer, caring for the poor, and even how to argue with adversaries. Sura VIII describes how two years after Muhammad and his followers had settled in Medina, God called them to go to war. It was Ramadan, and Muhammad’s ill-equipped army numbering 300 decisively and surprisingly defeated a vastly superior army of over a thousand, with the Ethiopian Muslim, Bilal, slaying on the battlefield his former slave master. Muhammad Assad describes how the permanent psychological effect of this war has profoundly shaped history in his transliteration of the Qur’an: “The spirit of passive sacrifice, so characteristic of their (Muslims’) earlier days, received its compliment in the idea of sacrifice through action,” Assad writes. “The doctrine of action as the most fundamental, creative element of life was, perhaps for the first time in the history of man, consciously realized not only by a few select individuals but by a whole community; and the intense activism which was to distinguish Muslim history in the coming decades and centuries was a direct, immediate consequence of the battle of Badr.” What Americans need to understand is that since the battle of Badr 14 centuries ago, acting against injustice is dearer to a Muslim than peace.
(Eric E. Vickers is a board member of the American Muslim Alliance.) (Special to the NNPA from the St. Louis American)
-A WEEKLY DIRECTORY OF MINISTERS & CHURCHES-
METROPOLITAN BAPTIST CHURCH Dr. Reginald L. Porter Sr., Pastor
767 Walker Avenue Memphis, TN 38126
ASSOCIATE MINISTERS
901-946-4095 fax 948-8311
Rev. Davena Young Porter Rev. Linda A Paige Rev. Luecretia Matthews SCHEDULE OF ACTIVITIES
SUNDAY Sunday School .....................8:30 am Morning Worship Service ....10:00am
WEDNESDAY Bible Study .........................10:30 am Mid-Day Prayer Meeting .....12 noon Evening Prayer Meeting........7:00pm FRIDAY Cable Channel 17 ............... 8:00pm
Dr. & Rev. Mrs. Reginald Porter
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
— Proverbs 1:7
—Ecclesiastes 9:11
ST. ANDREW A.M.E. CHURCH 867 SOUTH PARKWAY EAST Memphis, TN 38106
(901) 948-3441
Early Morning..........7:45 AM Church School..........9:45 AM Morning Worship......11:00 AM Bible Study For Youth and Adults Tuesday - 7:00 PM “Spirit, Soul, and Body!” AM 1070 WDIA Sundays, 10:00-10:30 AM
TV Cable Access Broadcast Tuesdays, 7:30 PM, Channel 17 Website:www.saintandrewamec.org Child Care Center (901) 948-6441 Monday-Friday 6 AM- 5:30 PM Emergency Food Pantry & Clothes Closet Wednesday 6 PM-8 PM
Rev. Kenneth S. Robinson, Pastor Rev. Marilynn S. Robinson, Pastor
“Ministering to Memphis-Spirit, Soul and Body”