UPW Urban Pro Weekly

UPW URBAN PRO WEEKLY

KEN MAKIN:

What’s one pillar more or less? Why a fallen relic should rest in pieces DECEMBER 29, 2016 • VOL. 6 NO. 5

Photo by Vincent Hobbs

Happy a a z n a Kw The Progressive Religious Coalition presents

the 10th Annual Interfaith Celebration Thursday, January 5, 2017 • Tabernacle Baptist Church 1223 Laney Walker Blvd., Augusta, GA

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: REV. DR. WILLIAM BARBER II

UrbanProWeekly - December 29, 2016

Jingle Jam Swimmers An ARC women’s relay swimmer competes during the Jingle Jam swim meet held at the Augusta Aquatics Center. The meet featured competitive diving and swimming heats with ARC, A.R. Johnson, Westside, Davidson Fine Arts, Westminster, Augusta Prep, Lakeside, Evans, Greenbrier and Aquinas. (December 13, 2016 Augusta, GA) Photo by Vincent Hobbs/Sports Journal

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Contributors VINCENT HOBBS Photography & New Media KEN MAKIN contributing columnist

3 UrbanProWeekly - DECEMBER 22 - 28, 2016 ITHNAN RESUTA (L) stands near her display table for Culture Beautiful during the 6th Annual Umoja PreKwanzaa Cultural Community Festival, held at Paine College’s HEAL Complex. The festival is a celebration of African-American culture and arts, featuring artists, vendors and live performances. (December 17, 2016 - Augusta, GA) Photo by Vincent Hobbs

Annual Kwanzaa Fest is celebration of culture and arts Artist Baruti Tucker paints an art piece entitled “Beautiful” with his finger technique during the 6th Annual Umoja Pre-Kwanzaa Cultural Community Festival, held at Paine College’s HEAL Complex. The festival is a celebration of AfricanAmerican culture and arts, featuring artists, vendors and live performances. (December 17, 2016 Augusta, GA) Photo by Vincent Hobbs

UrbanProWeekly -DECEMBER 22 - 28, 2016

GLENN HILLS SENIOR ROBERT DREW moves down the court as a Josey player defends during a Round Ball Classic game held at Paine College’s HEAL Complex. The Eagles defeated the Spartans 60-56. (Dec. 20, 2016 - Augusta, GA) Photo by Vincent Hobbs/Sports Journal

Round Ball Classic Basketball Tourney AIKEN HIGH SCHOOL’S DESTINY WILLIAMS (R) moves down the court as ARC’s Queen Adams (L) defends during a Round Ball Classic game held at Paine College’s HEAL Complex. The Lady Musketeers defeated the Lady Hornets 56-46. (December 20, 2016 - Augusta, GA) Photo by Vincent Hobbs/Sports Journal

SLAVE-BASED HISTORY STILL HAUNTS AUGUSTA

Spirits of apartheid, oppression are sad, yet strong pillars of our community

n unfortunate car accident wipes out an old, meaningless relic. Big deal, right? It wouldn’t matter much, except local media and city officials want to make a big deal out of a “haunted pillar.” Leave it to Augusta to inquire about rebuilding an item with ties to slavery. Here’s the backstory: Augusta’s “Haunted” Pillar, a “tourist attraction,” was wiped out after it was hit by a car last weekend. The pillar was a part of the Lower Market, which was a source of economy during the 1800s. Part of that economy was slaves. Now, city officials are debating whether to rebuild the pillar, or let it rest in pieces. It never ceases to amaze me how the establishment wants to keep symbols of past oppression alive in our minds. The ideology of these bigots in power is that it’s not about slavery, it’s about “history.” It’s about “tradition.” Well, kudos to the accident that knocked that last piece of evil “tra-

dition” out of commission. I wish it would be just as easy to cast out the “haunted” spirits of apartheid and oppression that still run rampant in Augusta today. Even with an influx of Black elected officials and a majority AfricanAmerican population, our community still faces economic and political apartheid. Other than economic disparity, how else can one explain how our community has so much potential, yet so little power? Speaking of ghosts and haunted objects, our commissioners are damned if they do and damned if they don’t. Why? Because they answer to the whims of local media and big business instead of the people. I explained to a commissioner a couple of months ago that the Commission, on the whole, had lost touch with the community. Their decision-making process is regularly scrutinized in the media, and the gains they do make are rarely felt on the community level.

Meanwhile, we live in a community where Black folks virtually have no voice. We don’t vote with regularity, and we don’t attend city meetings with awareness or urgency. Our biggest media influence exists in the entertainment realm, not in the informational realm. That is dangerous, because we allow corporations and entities who deal out oppression to create the narratives for the Black community. Talk about a nightmare coming to life! It’s hard to break this “spell” because we’re used to being second-class citizens. We’re literally fighting the ghosts of slavery and oppression in Augusta, and so many of our people are hopeless, due to real-life poverty, or the reality of “Trump’s America.” Personally, I think it’s time we exorcise these demons by exercising the resources we do have. Commissioners, stop answering to corporations and the establishment. Ask the people what they need and

vote in their best interests. Brothers and sisters, we have to support our elected officials – not by sucking up to them. We have to go to city meetings and be aware of what’s going in our community. Finally, we must show economic solidarity! Support Black businesses, and likewise demand respect from ALL businesses. I’m ready to reverse the curse in 2017. Even a blinded Samson torn down the pillars of the Philistines. Let’s open our eyes and use our strengths to our advantage. Ken J. Makin is the founder of “Makin’ A Difference,” a media conglomerate that incorporates podcasting/radio, social media and commentary. The podcast is available at soundcloud.com/makinadifference. Updates on the show are available at facebook.com/makinadifferenceshow. Ken can be reached by email at makinadifferenceshow@ gmail.com or by text at (803) 2702331.

LETTERS: Bakari Sellers to be keynote Donald Trump’s capitalist vision flawed Donald Trump has stacked his cabinet with capitalist business leaders who agree with his vision of great again. To Trump, great again means rich, upper class Americans are secure, middle class Americans are insecure, and poor Americans stay poor. Therefore, in the book, A People’s History of the United States, written by Howard Zinn, a passage describes a time when America was great according to Trump. In their July 4, 1876 centennial celebration, working class Americans expressed disillusionment in their own written Declaration of Independence. In it they said, “The present system has enabled capitalists to make laws in their own interest to the injury and oppression of the workers. It has made the name Democracy, for which our forefathers fought and died a mockery and a shadow, by giving property

(the rich) a greater amount of representation and control over legislation. It has therefore, prevented mankind from fulfilling their natural destinies on earth. It has destroyed morals and fostered crime, corrupted judges, ministers and statesmen, shattered confidence, love and honor among men, and made life a selfish, merciless struggle for existence instead of a noble and generous struggle for perfection, in which equal advantages should be given to all, and human lives relieved from unnatural and degrading competition for bread..” Therefore, since capitalists have not changed, the noble and generous struggle for perfection will not happen under a Trump presidency. Kevin Palmer, Martinez, GA.

speaker for Aiken Community MLK, Jr. Celebration Bakari Sellers, an attorney and CNN political commentator, will be the keynote speaker for the 2017 Aiken Community Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration presented by Aiken Technical College and University of South Carolina Aiken. The celebration will be held Sunday, Jan. 22 at the University of South Carolina Aiken Convocation Center, 375 Robert M. Bell Parkway in Aiken. A service fair featuring area nonprofits will kick-off the event at 2:30 p.m. followed by the program at 3 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. This year’s theme is: “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter”, a quote by Dr. King.

5 UrbanProWeekly - DECEMBER 22 - 28, 2016

MAKIN’ A DIFFERENCE COMMENTARY by Ken Makin

UrbanProWeekly -DECEMBER 22 - 28, 2016

Rev. Terence Dicks honored by National Legal Aid organization AUGUSTA Georgia Legal Services Board Member Terence Dicks was honored by the National Legal Aid and Defender Association with a client contribution award at their annual conference last month. Terence Dicks life’s work is worth formal acknowledgment, from his firsthand dealings with renowned singer James Brown, to decades fighting for the rights of African Americans in Augusta. An excerpt from a letter written by Lisa Krisher, also an Augusta resident and the litigation director at Georgia Legal Services, detailing her reasons for nominating Rev. Dicks follows: According to Lisa Krisher, litigation director at Georgia Legal Services, “Rev. Dicks deserves the 2016 NLADA Client Contribution Award for his three decades in community service and involvement, including founding and leading many organizations with an emphasis on civil rights, needs of inner city and low-income children, and civil legal representation for persons with low and moderate incomes.” The son of an army solider, Rev. Dicks has lived most of his life in Augusta. During high school and for about seven years following, Rev. Dicks was a radio announcer for local radio stations. That experience helped him as the co-coordinator of the James Brown Appreciation Day in Augusta in 1986, the first organized appreciation of Mr. Brown in Augusta. Rev. Dicks recognized Mr. Brown’s efforts to end rioting in Augusta and encourage better relations between races. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Brown made Rev. Dicks the manager of Mr. Brown’s first concert in Augusta. Long an advocate of expanded public transit, Rev. Dicks is the immediate past chairman of the Richmond County RUNS MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH will hold its Christmas Day Services on Sunday, December 25th at 8am. and its Holy Communion Services and New Years Day Services on Sunday, January 1, 2017 at 8:00 a.m. The church is located at 717 Williston Rd, Beech Island. The Rev. Stevie Berry is the pastor.

864 Broad Street – 4th Floor Augusta, Georgia 30901 – 1215 (706) 826-1000 Fax: (706) 826-4612

HELEN MINCHEW President

ANGELA D. PRINGLE Ed.D. Superintendent of Schools

C. GENE SPIRES Chief Financial Officer

NOTICE TO PROVIDERS The County Board of Education of Richmond County, Georgia, is providing public notice of its intent to award a contract to Magnatag Visible Systems for mobile Master Class Schedule Board Systems.

The Rev. Terence Dicks Transit Citizens Advisory Committee and remains an active member. Augusta’s transit system has been limited in service, but it is much needed to help residents go to jobs, medical appointments and other places. Recently, in part because of his leadership, Augusta Transit added three holidays for bus services helping persons without vehicles reach jobs on those days. He also is an active member of the Richmond County Board of Elections. He continues educating people about voting and organizes and participates in voter registration drives. Rev. Dicks is the go-to person in the east central area of Georgia on a variety of issues, from civil rights to nuclear safety. He uses his knowledge and experience from his association with GLSP to offer counsel and leadership to others who are trying to improve the quality of life for Georgians, and particularly the community of Augusta where 26 percent of the residents live below the federal poverty level and more than 50 percent are African American.

Lucy Craft Laney Museum of Black History BROWN SUGAR STITCHERS QUILT GUILD EXHIBITION THRU DECEMBER 30, 2016 The Brown Sugar Stitchers Quilt Guild of Atlanta, GA is a diverse group of AfricanAmerican quilters from all over the metropolitan area. The crafters of this guild have gained popularity both regionally and nationally. This is their fourth visit to the museum, becoming a staple of the November to December schedule. The Annual International Doll Exhibition will accompany the quilts.

Magnatag Visible Systems has been presented as the sole source for this purchase. Magnatag Visible Systems has an integrated master scheduling system required by the school district. Detailed specifications and requirements for the K-12 mobile master class schedule board systems may be found on our website at www.rcboe.org or by contacting the Business Office at (706) 826-1298. Any supplier capable of providing the identified good/services or who may disagree with the sole source for this purchase may challenge this sole source determination by filing a written protest to the following individual: Dr. Angela D. Pringle Superintendent of Schools c/o Mr. C. Gene Spires 864 Broad Street, 4th Floor Augusta, GA 30901 The protest must be received no later than 3:00 p.m., on Thursday, January 5, 2017, and must include supporting documentation of the protest.

COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION OF RICHMOND COUNTY The Richmond County School System will accept bids and request for proposals until 3:00 p.m., Wednesday, January 11, 2017, for the following: 1. 2017 Summer Food Service Program RFQ#17-764 2. Commodity Processing RFP #16-765 3. Kitchen Equipment Smallwares Bid #420 4. Xerographic Paper Bid #421

Bid specifications may be obtained by contacting Cecilia Perkins in the Business Office at perkice@boe.richmond.k12.ga.us or 706-8261298, on our web site at www.rcboe.org, or at Richmond County School System, Central Office 864 Broad Street, 4th Floor, Augusta, GA 30901. The Richmond County School System reserves the right to reject any and all bids and to waive technicalities and informalities. COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION OF RICHMOND COUNTY By: Dr. Angela D. Pringle, Secretary

7 UrbanProWeekly - DECEMBER 15 - 21, 2016

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UrbanProWeekly - DECEMBER 15 - 21, 2016

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