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As NNPA Prepares for 75th Anniversary: President Happy New Year and Envisions Black Press as ‘mainstream’

By Hazel Trice Edney

NNPA President Benjamin Chavis (Photo by Roy Lewis/Trice Edney News Wire)

(TriceEdneyWire.com) Civil rights leader Benjamin Chavis, now president of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), says he envisions Black newspapers as becoming the “new mainstream” rather than an alternative press as it is often called.

“The Black Press, I believe has an opportunity where it can make even more traction than it has in the past,” Chavis said in a recent interview with the Trice Edney News Wire. “In other words, I don’t see the Black Press as a side press from the mainstream press. I want the Black Press to become the new mainstream because the demographics are changing.”

Chavis was among the speakers at a gala celebration for the 50th Anniversary of the Washington Informer Newspaper, published by NNPA member Denise Rolark Barnes.

Black-owned newspapers are often called specialty, alternative or minority press by government agencies and corporate America.

But, according to an analysis of U. S. Census Bureau population stats, people of color, including African-Americans, will gradually increase to become a clear majority of America’s population over the next four decades.

“All in all, minorities, now 37 percent of the U.S. population, are projected to comprise 57 percent of the population in 2060,” according to a U. S. Census report. “The total minority population would more than double, from 116.2 million to 241.3 million over the period.”

During that period, “the Black population is expected to increase from 41.2 million to 61.8 million” as the white population will peak in 2024 - 10 years from now - and then gradually decrease by 20.6 million by 2060, the Census reports.

(Cont'd on Page 3)

un-stuff your drawers But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.

1 Timothy 6:11

By Bobby R. Henry, Sr. What images come to mind when you hear or read the words, “stuffed drawers”? Do you see disproportioned bodies of people who have a close resemblance to Cabbage Patch Kids that are swollen, blown up and squashed into old fashion underpants with short legs? Or do you see dresser drawers not completely closed, overstuffed and over flowing with plenty of clothes that you forgot you had and you probably couldn’t wear them even if you went on a slim fast diet for four straight years?

For me, up until recently this vision of overstuffed drawers reminded me of having more than enough and not knowing what to do with it.

After telling my son, who is home from college enjoying his Christmas break that he needed to get rid of some of his junk that covers his room floor like a new decoration, it jarred my mind as if I was a participant in an old Christmas toy, ‘Rockum-Sock-um fighting robots’, that I too needed to get rid of some stuff.

(Cont'd on Page 4)

How do you go from South Central to Princeton? This Civil rights leaders at odds as Ferguson protests grow amazing Black woman did it

By Dr Boyce Watkins Dominique Reese ’06 never forgot her South Central Los Angeles roots. She was the first graduate of Crenshaw High School to attend Princeton, the

first person in her family to attend college, and now is operating a business that teaches financial literacy to low-income youth and adults.

She says she is living proof that after-school programs

Tensions with New York City police go beyond racial issues: commissioner

Police officers salute as the hearse of New York City police officer Rafael Ramos drives along his funeral procession route in the Glendale section of Queens, Dec. 27, 2014, in New York.

By Frank MCGurty NEW YORK, N.Y. (Reuters) - Tensions between New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and the police are rooted in issues that go beyond racial relations, the police commissioner said on Sunday, a day after the funeral of one of the two officers slain a week ago in their patrol car.

The tensions “involve labor

contracts. They involve a lot of history in the city that’s really different from some of what’s going on in the country as a whole,” Bill Bratton said on NBC’s Meet the Press.

“You need to understand this isn’t just about policing,” he said. “This is about the continuing poverty rates, the continuing growing disparity between the wealthy and the poor.”

(Read full story www.thewestsidegazette.com)

Pleading Our Own Cause

REESE work. In high school, she took part in the Riordan Scholars Program, a highly successful initiative that helps students from underserved communities achieve their college dreams through Saturday seminars at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. It was there that a fellow program participant, who later attended Princeton, first told her about the University.

“He encouraged me to apply and that was that,” says Reese.

She was accepted at eight of the country’s top universities, but says she chose Princeton because of its remarkable “no loan” financial aid program.

“None of the other schools could beat Princeton’s financial aid package,” she says.

Once at Princeton, Reese became an economics major. She met Jean Baldwin Grossman, a professor in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs who is an expert on after-school and youth-mentoring programs for disadvantaged youth. And with Grossman as her adviser, Reese put her dual passions to work, writing her senior thesis on the effects of after-school programs on graduation outcome and community-service participation, while also analyzing the economic implications of such

programs for society at large.

She tested her scholarship in the real world. Reese became one of the first coordinators of the Black Student Union’s Leadership and Mentoring Program (LAMP), a program that she says assists “students of color with their transition to college, pairing incoming freshmen with mentors, either juniors or seniors, and providing programming throughout the year, preparing them mentally, academically, personally and socially.”

She also was director of the Black Arts Company, a campus dance troupe that explores the varied dance traditions of the African Diaspora. “Programs like this are part of what makes Princeton special,” says Reese, “because they allow students to express themselves creatively and socially, while enjoying the best academic experience in the country.”

After graduating, she went to work as an analyst for Merrill Lynch in Hopewell, N.J. She took advantage of the economic downturn a few years later to return to her passions. In 2009, she founded CommuniTree LLC, a business dedicated to teaching financial literacy to youth and adults. The company, based in New York City, provides one-on-one money management counseling, financial literacy sessions and financial education programs for nonprofit and for-profit organizations.

“I enjoy my career as a social entrepreneur, and in true Princeton fashion strive to be in the nation’s service by annually educating 120 American youth and adults about money,” she says. Reese also volunteers with the South Central Scholars Alumni Association in Los Angeles, where she teaches eighth grade students about college; has mentored youth in Harlem and Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood; and is a Big Sister and national mentor with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America.

The Rev. Al Sharpton addresses families and supporters of several African Americans recently killed in confrontations with police at a rally in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 13, 2014.

(Photo: Pete Marovich, EPA)

By Yamiche Alchidor Protests against police treatment of Black people have laid bare growing tensions between longstanding civil rights groups that have battled discrimination for decades and new groups of leaders who want an edgier approach.

Activists who spurred demonstrations across the country after a white police officer shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old Black man in Ferguson, Mo., now demand a prominent voice in a national conversation about race, challenging the primacy of established civil rights organizations such as Al Sharpton’s National Action Network and the NAACP. While the newer activists may share goals with more experienced groups, they have clashed with them in attempts at joint efforts.

That divide went on public display this month at a march

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organized by Sharpton in Washington, D.C., when activist Johnetta Elzie, 25, and other protesters pushed to the front of the stage and demanded a share of the spotlight.

“This movement was started by the young people,” Elzie, of St. Louis, said at the Dec. 13 march. “We started this. There should be young people all over this stage. This should be young people all up here.”

It was the second time in the last five months that Ferguson protesters had chastised the old guard. In October, during an interfaith service in St. Louis, young activists interrupted the program by heckling speakers and shouting for a place on stage. Eventually, several clergy members ceded their spots to protesters, who told the crowd that NAACP President Cornell William Brooks was out of touch.

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Policing the police: White House launches task force on 21st Century policing, Congress passes “Death In Custody Bill”

By NewsOne Now Recently, Congress passed the “Death In Custody Bill.”

The new bill, sponsored by Congressman Bobby Scott, requires police departments to report when someone dies in custody in a jail or is involved in a shooting.

On Dec. 19, Roland Martin and the NewsOne Now Straight Talk panel discussed the potential impact this bill

will have on police departments around the nation.

NewsOne Now panelist, Lauren Victoria Burke told Martin the bill is “substantial.”

She also stated this bill “requires the department of justice to not only just look at the statistics with regards to deaths in custody, but to do something about it when they get the numbers.”

The bill “is the law of the land given that the President signed it yesterday,” Burke said.

Also on Dec. 18, President Barack Obama signed an executive order creating the Police Accountability Task Force.

They have been tasked with going around the country and coming up with recommendations to bring back to the President to create the accountability between police forces and the community.

Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama told Martin via phone during

the radio portion of the show, “The recommendations back to the President will be these are the best practices that we see.

The report will obviously be public and it’s designed to help local law enforcement and communities take specific steps to enhance that process.”

Jarrett added, “We don’t want to predetermine what those recommendations will be so we certainly know that there are very best practices around the country already and we want to highlight what those best practices are.”

New Year’s resolutions encounter pros and cons

By Derek Joy Ah, yes. It is that time - 2015.

New Year’s Day. The New Year so often reflects much of what is associated as a time of renewed hope, new beginnings, even a second chance to accomplish this, that or the other.

Give way Oprah: Nigerian oil tycoon Alakija, becomes richest Black woman Detective Al Diamond, Sgt. Eddie Cruz, Det. Carlo Fargnoli, Officer Chris Carita, and Det. Rich Rivera of the Fort Lauderdale Police Department journey to New York to show their support for fallen officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos. The two uniformed NYPD officers were shot dead by lone gunman Ismaaiyl Brinsley, 28, as they sat in their marked police car on a Brooklyn street corner — in what investigators believe was a crazed gunman’s assassination-style mission to avenge Eric Garner and Michael Brown.

ALAKIJA FromInformationNigeria.Com Fashion designer turned oil tycoon, Chief (Mrs.) Folorunsho Alakija, is now officially the richest Black woman in the world with an estimated net worth of $7.3 billion.

To sit atop that envious position, Alakija, 62, had to displace media mogul, Oprah Winfrey, who has an estimated fortune of $2.9 billion, according to Forbes.

Currently, Africa boasts 55 billionaires and they’re worth a staggering $143.88 billion in total, according to pan-African magazine, Ventures Africa.

Mother of four, Alakija, started her career as a secretary in a bank in the mid-1970s, then ventured into Fashion designing before she finally tried her hands in the booming oil business – where she had her biggest break.

In 1993, her company, Famfa Oil, was awarded an oil prospecting license, which later became OML 127, one of Nigeria’s most lucrative oil blocks.

According to Ventures Africa reports, Mrs. Alakija’s company owns a 60 percent stake in the block, valued at around $7.3 billion.

Questions abound. New Year’s Resolutions command much attention. Is it worthwhile to make resolutions; are they valid, have you made any?

People were asked these questions. While several people, including elected officials, chose not to answer, others had some interesting things to say.

“For me, it’s a waste of time,” said Marguerite Mosley, a retired Miami Dade Public School teacher, when asked about making New Year’s Resolutions.

Added Frank Pinckney, a retired Metro Rail dispatcher: “No. I do not think they are worthwhile.”

On the other hand, some think differently.

“Making New Year’s Resolutions gives clear thinking people an opportunity to strive and improve and secure their situations,” said Vanessa Thomas, a Pompano Beach resident.

“Some people don’t make them because they can improve their lives whether it’s New Year’s or not.”

For sure, improving one’s quality of life is always a consideration. There are those who make New Year’s Resolution to make a conscious effort to reach certain goals, achieve desired results, or engage in an exercise of deception futility.

Of course, the person making those resolutions, whether it is the first time or one of many, does so with a purpose.

“I’ve made them in the past and I‘ve stuck with most of the important ones,” said Henri Scarlett, a security guard seeking a teaching position with the Miami Dade Public Schools.

“They can be very worthwhile, even the typical ones like losing weight. It’s about what the individual wants for their life. But simply making the resolution isn’t enough. You have to work to bring it to fruition.”

Shift the focus to the role of making New Year’s Resolutions with respect to parenting.

Fritz Etienne, Sr., whose son, Fritz Jr., starred for the Memphis University Tigers in a victory over Brigham Young University in the inaugural Miami Beach Bowl, and daughter Albreia, a 10th grade honor stu-

SCARLETT dent in Miami Northwestern High School’s Medical Magnet Program, are given freedom to grow without parental pressure.

“There’s nothing wrong with making New Year’s Resolutions. Me, personally, I think they should be made as you go along in life,” said Etienne, Sr. “You shouldn’t have to wait until the New Year.

“I’ve never really sat down and tried to tell my kids to make resolutions. I just tell them to try to do better. I tell them to work hard.”

Curiously, a step further into the political arena and no sitting elected official contacted chose to respond.

However, former El Portal Mayor Daisy Black, who was recently defeated by then Councilwoman Claudia Cubillos, weighed in.

“No. I don’t make resolutions because I’ve never accomplished them. I may make 10 and accomplish maybe five or six,” said Black, who recently received a Proclamation from the Florida State League of Cities recognizing her 20 years of public service.

Black served 20 years (not consecutive) on the El Portal Village Council, eight as mayor.

“My thing in the public arena is to do a lot more of the community service thing. We used to have a program called “The Village Cares,” where we did things for senior citizens and youths,” said Black. “That’s a program I’d like to bring back.”

Consumer group suesAetna, alleges discrimination

By Julie Watson A consumer advocacy group has filed a class-action lawsuit against Aetna Inc. saying a new policy violates the privacy of people with HIV and AIDS by requiring them to get their medications from its mail-order pharmacy.

Consumer Watchdog filed the lawsuit last week in federal court in San Diego. It says sending the drugs through the mail puts privacy at risk because packages could end up at the wrong address or be seen by others. It also says the mail is not a reliable way to ensure people get their medications on time.

The group alleges the policy also violates the federal health care law because it discourages people with HIV and AIDS from signing up for the company’s insurance.

Aetna spokeswoman Cynthia Michener said the policy is part of its ongoing strategy to keep health plans affordable and help with medication adherence. People can also opt

out, she said.

“To opt out, members only have to call the number on their ID card,” she said in an email to The Associated Press. “Requests will be processed the same day.”

The plaintiff is a San Diego man who is anonymous in court documents. If he opts out under the policy, he would face exorbitant costs since his local pharmacy would be considered out of network, said Consumer Watchdog attorney Jerry Flanagan.

The plaintiff fought with the company for more than a month to be allowed to continue going to his local pharmacy at no extra cost, Flanagan said. He added that the policy violates the Affordable Care Act to end discrimination against patients based on their health condition.

“Requiring health plans to offer coverage for patients with a preexisting condition means little if the insurer can charge these patients exorbitant co-insurance or only cover care through inconvenient and ineffective mail-order requirements that put the patients’

health and privacy at risk,” he said.

In May, two health organizations filed a similar complaint with federal health officials alleging some Florida insurance companies were violating the Affordable Care Act by structuring their insurance plans in a way that discourage consumers with HIV and AIDS from choosing those plans because they wouldn’t be able to afford the high co-insurance rates.

Health insurance company Cigna later agreed to change its prescription drug policy.

Consumer Watchdog in the past has filed similar lawsuits against two other insurers, United Healthcare and Anthem Blue Cross of California. Both cases were settled and Flanagan said members can opt out of the mail-order requirement.

Broward County's Oldest and Largest African American Owned and Operated Newspaper

As NNPA prepares for 75th anniversary: President envisions to salute the Informer and its Black Press as ‘main stream’ (Cont'd from FP) Chavis sees this increase as a prospective boon for NNPA’s more than 200 Black-owned newspapers as it anticipates its 75th anniversary in 2015 - but only if certain strategies are put in place.

First, he said, the Black Press must focus on a stronger economic foundation by generating more revenue. African Americans spend $1.2 trillion a year, he said, noting that Black newspapers must partner with the Black Church, Black banks, Black colleges and Black organizations to network and support the Black Press.

This strategy would require much unity, Chavis says. “This is beyond connecting the dots.

The dots have to converge ...There’s too much disunity in our community. And I’m not just talking about organizational disunity. I’m talking about disunity even among the so-called personalities...In my long career in civil rights I’ve seen what happens when leadership goes in divergent paths...To me, it’s a disservice to our community to allow personality conflicts to get in the way.”

Secondly, white-owned businesses must be made to understand the value of supporting Black newspapers as businesses and as a sustainable institution, the same as the broadcast media, Chavis says.

“To reach people in our community. They can’t just look at something on TV or hear it on the radio and act. They’ve got to look at it and read it more than once. That’s the value of the Black print press,” he said.

“The pen has to have an economic undergirding so that what is written gets distributed;

so that what is written gets circulated. Sometimes we overlook the necessity to the strong economic foundation in our quest for freedom, justice and equality.”

Finally, Chavis said, Black newspapers must take full advantage of the digital universe.

“Technology, particularly digital technology can be a great equalizer. Some people think the digital will supplant the print. I don’t. To me, the digital will make more valuable the print press because every day it’s about the content. We have the content, but we have not aggregated the content,” he said.

Denise Rolark Barnes, who has been publisher of the Informer for 20 years, succeeded her now late father, Dr. Calvin Rolark, a prominent D.C. businessman and Black leader.

Barnes recalls how the Black Press has led America’s media when it comes to many of the issues that have now emerged as headline news for whiteowned media, such as police brutality, economic justice and voting rights.

“The more you do it, the more stories you realize need to be told; the more you realize that our community, our Black history every day is being thrown away,” says Barnes, in an exhibit hall showing historic front pages and photos from the Informer. “I’ve learned that history does repeat itself and is repeating itself.”

Hundreds of people packed into the Carnegie Library in Downtown Washington, D.C.

legacy during the event in late fall.

Iconic radio talk show host Joe Madison recalled how the Black Press has been so audience-specific that readers know that those who advertise in Black newspapers specifically want to reach Black people. “It means it’s for us,” Madison said.

Madison also underscored Black newspapers as a chronicler of Black history. “Most of us would not have known about Emmett Till had it not been for the Black Press. Most of us wouldn’t have known, quite honestly about Martin Luther King Jr. if it wasn’t for the Black Press because white media certainly wasn’t publicizing it...The Black Press is, as Frederick Douglass would probably say, our North Star.”

Ben Chavis is one who has benefited tremendously from the Black Press. He is one of the historic Wilmington 10, who was pardoned by North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue two years ago in a 1971 firebombing amidst the civil rights struggle. The pardon finally came after the Wilmington Journal of North Carolina, published by Mary Alice Thatch, escalated the campaign for justice.

Concludes Chavis, “It is in the business of not only reporting the news, but defending the news when it comes to the interest of Black people.

That’s what gives the Black press its unique value, not only to Black America, but to the rest of America.”

Happy New Year from Our Family To Your Family

January 1 - January 7, 2015 • www.thewestsidegazette.com • Page 3

Page 4 • www.thewestsidegazette.com • January 1 - January 7, 2015

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Pompano Beach Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. spreading love!

“Equality lies only in human moral dignity. ... Let there be brothers first, then there will be brotherhood, and only then will there be a fair sharing of goods among brothers.”… Fyodor Dostoyevsky and turkeys throughout the community going to every door.

The members of the Pompano Kappa League, which is the Fraternity’s mentoring group, came out in full force as this was their first community service project of the new school year. Superintendent Robert C. Runcie even came out and took part in the event, sharing a moment of “love”. The Brothers of The Pompano Beach

Alumni Chapter and the Kappa Foundation would like to thank the law firm of Farmer, Jaffe, Weissing, Edwards, Fistos & Lehrman, PL., Senergy, Scott Vengel, CPA., Alpha & Omega, Matt Kahn, CPA, Law firm of Lawler, Winston, White & Murphey, International Jewelers Design, the Foundation of those with special needs and The Church of Christ Holiness Unto the Lord and the spirited volunteers.

Happy New Year and un-stuff your drawers (Cont'd from FP)

Broward County School Superintendent Runcie addresses volunteers.

In 2010 with the economy in

By Willie (Jimmy) Brown, a spiral down fall, the need to President, Kappa Foundation find willing partners to share of Pompano Beach in on this experience became more apparent.

On Nov. 23, 2014, the PomThe Brothers formed an allipano Beach Alumni Chapter ance with then State Rep. Perry and the Kappa Foundation of Pompano Beach along with Kappa League members, kept up with tradition by hosting their annual Thanksgiving By Julianne Malveaux, Turkey Drive, feeding over 500 NNPA Columnist families in Pompano Beach and Fort Lauderdale. The Brothers Rafael Ramos had been a of Pompano Beach Alumni school security guard before he Chapter started this tradition joined the New York City Police almost 20 years ago by hosting Department two years ago. Raa Thanksgiving dinner at the mos, 40, was married and had Collier City Commerce Center two children. The youngest child, Jaden, 13, fondly refor senior citizens in the area.

Over the years, many of the membered his dad on Facebook senior citizens expressed a de- and Twitter, describing his dad sire to invite their family mem- as “the best father I could ask bers to share in on the festivi- for.” Already, many in the Raties. Without hesitation the Bro- mos family say they have forgiven the Ismaayl Brisley, the thers decided to provide a tur- man who executed Rafael Rakey and basket with all of the mos and his colleague, Wenjian trimmings to the seniors instead Liu, on Dec. 20. of preparing the cooked dinner.

Liu, 32, attended the College With the desire to do more, of Staten Island and Kingsthe Brothers contacted the man- borough Community College. agement of Golden Acres com- He was a dedicated police officer munity in Pompano and ex- who, according to news reports, pressed the interest of provid- chose his career out of a sense ing every family that lives there of duty and obligation. He had with a Thanksgiving basket been married for just two and turkey. The first year, a months.

Eric Garner, 43, was also total of 300 families were blesmarried and had six children; sed.

Volunteers get ready to work.

E. Thurston, Jr., and the Law Firm of Farmer, Jaffe, Weissing, Edwards, Fistos & Lehrman, P.L. and together we fed another 300 families. Determined to do more, in 2013 we increased our families to 500.

Kappa League members prepare baskets.

This year with a few more partnerships and over 60 volunteers we were able to supersede that number and fed over 500 families. The day began with a reception for the sponsors and volunteers and then the distribution of the baskets

Innocent Blacks and white cops – All lives are valuable the youngest, Legacy, was born just three months before his father died. Garner’s death was ruled a homicide, probably because he was placed in a chokehold, a forbidden police maneuver. At 400 pounds, he suffered from diabetes and asthma, but – despite sinister efforts to blame Garner’s health for his death – those diseases did not kill him.

A cursory view of the last moments of his life show excessive police force and medical indifference to a man whose dying utterance, “I can’t breathe,” has become the mantra for a movement.

Tamir Rice never lived long enough to reach the legal age for marriage. He was just 12 years old when Timothy Loeman shot him to death. Loeman was described as “unfit” for police duty in Independence, Ohio but he somehow made it onto the larger, Cleveland police force. It took him all of two seconds to decide the precious little boy had a dangerous weapon,

although the 911 caller who alerted the police said the gun was probably not real.

Richael Brown, described as a “gentle giant” by his friends, also had his life cut short. He was killed by a remorseless Darren Wilson, who pumped 12 rounds into the young, Black man who was looking forward to attending community college. His words, “hands up, don’t shoot” have been printed on signs and T-shirts all over the world, as a symbol of police brutality and active resistance. A grand jury failed to indict Darren Wilson, whose testimony seems to have been coached by Robert McCulloch, a prosecutor whose actions were, at best, questionable. His killing, linked with those of Tamir Rice and Eric Garner, has sparked an international movement against police brutality and excessive police force.

(Read full story on www.thewestsidegazette.com)

My son, not being overly excited when I reminded him that he has chores to do as well as going to bed before the sun comes up for the next day, surprised me by creating a bag of give-a-ways of some of his favorite things, i.e. baseball caps, sneakers and other stuff.

Now the spotlight was back on me. Was I being selfish and hoarding stuff that I was not using which had many more years of use to it? This stuff was in good shape-"News flash” one man’s trash is another man’s treasure; why was I being greedy and becoming a bigger sinner?

This relationship with being selfish with stuff is what can happen when our God becomes the love of things.

Money, worldly possessions, pride, self serving services and all the things that influence ignoring God. I’m sure that there are a number of other things, but my drawers are filled to the brim and running over with this stuff.

When our lives are overrun with “stuff” we can become so full and so concerned with collecting that stuff that we make no room for God. If I were to replace the word ‘money’ in 1 Timothy 6:10 with ‘stuff’’ or with everything that refocused us from God, it should be better understood what happens when we become swallowed up by stuff gathering: For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

This New Year may be a good time to reevaluate the things we have and to give away to be used by others. Let’s un-stuff our drawers for the New Year and make room for God’s purpose in our lives.

“For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either.”

1 Timothy 6:7 (NASB) WHEN YOUR LIFE IS FULL OF GOD THE ONLY THING THE DEVIL CAN ADD IS SIN CORRECTION The story entitled "Carolyn Davis still making it happen through her love of teaching music "in the Dec. 25 - Dec. 31, 2014 the photo and story was by Courtney Shepard.

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Opinion Choked out

January 1 - January 7, 2015 • www.thewestsidegazette.com • Page 5

The Westside Gazette, under the Management of BI-ADs, Inc., reserves the right to publish Views and Opinions by Contributing Writers may not necessarily reflect those of the Staff and Management of The Westside Gazette Newspaper and are solely the product of the responsible individual(s) who submit comments published in this newspaper.

This one is different. We didn’t see George Zimmerman kill Trayvon Martin or Darren Wilson murder Michael Brown. Having only the perpetrators’ accounts to go by, we were left mercilessly at the Hands of Lady Justice. But the WHOLE WORLD saw a gang of New York’s police force literally choke the life from Eric Garner. And again, Lady Justice turned a blind eye to the truth and declared that despite the viral social media phenomenon that graphically proved the murderous intent of those modern-day “paddy rollers,” Eric Garner’s death deserved no finding of fault.

Is there really any wonder why Black Americans are beyond frustrated?

When you combine scant employment opportunities, ineffective public education, sparse healthcare options and cap it off with legally sanctioned murder, what should America really expect?

Time unfolds the evolution of changing social values

By Derek Joy Time is neverending.

And so it is, another year comes to an end. Yes, 2014 is all but gone and 2015 is ready to start anew.

Pretty much like the words of a song recorded long ago. Can’t remember the title or the artists. Just the refrain, “Ain’t it funny how time just slips right on away. . .”

People of color embrace the thoughts therein with keen familiarity. Time

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Bobby R. Henry, Sr. - PUBLISHER Pamela D. Henry - SENIOR EDITOR Sonia M. Henry Robinson COMPTROLLER Elizabeth D. Henry CIRCULATION MANAGER Carma L. Henry - DATA ENTRY Charles Moseley MARKETING DIRECTOR Norman Edwards & Ron Lyons PHOTOGRAPHERS Levi Henry, Jr. - CHAIRMAN Yvonne F. Henry EDITOR (Emeritus)

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passes without much progress away from self destruction, without much progress towards getting a fair shake from the governing body built on institutional racism.

JOY The ills of that system permeates the structure of Black American communities. Such communities are infested with low incomes, high unemployment, an assortment of crimes, including the drug trade and rampant violence.

Black on Black crime is what it is.

Worst of all is the constant drive-by shootings. Brazen thugs simply pick defenseless targets, blast away and drive away fearing neither capture nor punishment.

I talked with the eldest of my four sisters - Ruby - following the holiday drive-by shootings. First on Christmas in Overtown, where two were killed and four seriously wounded. A day later, more drive-by shootings in Liberty City, Coconut Grove, and again in Overtown.

“I don’t understand these people,” she said. “May they’re just crazy.

They need to do something about that.”

Doing something about such heinous crimes has plagued religious, community, political and business leaders. The tragedy is that they all do and say virtually nothing of consequence until it hits close to them.

Granted. It is somehow perceived as shocking when the two police officers were shot and killed in New York and one in Tarpon Springs, Fla. Politicians start talking.

Sure. Killing a public servant entrusted with serving and protecting the public does challenge social values. But, so, too, should the drive-by shootings that injure and kill innocent, defenseless people.

For reasons of a selfish nature related to personal power and gain, the so called leaders ignore the reasoning of city of Miami District 5 Commissioner Keon Hardemon, who categorized such violent behavior as “Domestic Terrorism.”

No doubt about it. People are being wounded and killed, property vandalized and destroyed. They live in fear of suffering the same fate should they identify any of the perpetrators.

That is terrorism. Yet little or nothing is being said or done about it. Instead, we see the trend perpetuating the perverted reality of how silence is golden. Just like that. Selling themselves for 30 pieces of silver.

Consequently, the changing social values are not really changing at all.

They simply shift the scenes and players.

So much to consider, so little time and even less constructive action to secure and preserve the quality of life for people of color. Meanwhile, enjoy a very happy and prosperous New Year.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR GUIDELINES The Westside Gazette welcomes your letters. Letters must be signed with name clearly legible along with a phone number and complete address. No unsigned or anonymous letters will be considered for publication. The Westside Gazette reserves the right to edit letters. The letters should be 500 words or less.

As we move from the ever-festering sense of outrage to the critical work necessary to determine what’s next, let’s consider, what are the real options?

Without question we’ll have to learn to more effectively exercise our political strength - such as it is. But political solutions generally require long-term negotiations — and lots of patience...and nobody is feeling patient right now.

Social activism and civil unrest clearly have a role to play in drawing attention and highlighting injustices like the deaths of Black men at the hands of police.

Fickle media, though, have a strange way of turning even the righteous indignation of Black America into a referendum on who’s guilty of the worst behavior — killer cops or angry Black folk. So that leaves us with impacting the economy as our one sure-fire strategy.

The year-long Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-1956) proved beyond all doubt that Black folk withholding their financial support could cripple even Jim Crow. The devastation heaped on Montgomery’s economy even made the U.S. Supreme Court cave in! There is no question that America today NEEDS the trillion dollars Black Americans pump so willingly into the economy. What would happen if those dollars went missing?

One thing is certain, Black-owned businesses would appreciate the opportunity to supply the goods and services we — literally — spend our last dimes on. And this is no fairy tale, make-believe scenario. This may just be the defining moment in reasserting our right to be — not just heard — but truly listened to. The lessons learned over a half-century ago about organized action are just as valid today. Did those poor folk in Montgomery suffer while having to walk instead of riding the bus? Absolutely! But they suffered because they knew their cause was right and just.

The question, then, is whether we’ve learned enough over the last 60 years to know how to suffer for a short term in order to build a better future for others?

Could we stand not having that Starbucks in the morning? Could we live without that weekend shopping spree? Could we have a festive holiday without Crown Royal and Ciroc? Do we really need that Benz, Lexus or Rover? Is the latest 4G smartphone really that crucial? Are we really serious about letting America know that #BlackLivesMatter, or is that just a catchy slogan that makes you feel better - right along with #HandsUp and #ICantBreathe?

The U.S. Black Chambers, Inc. is absolutely certain that economic impact is the one tool at our disposal that works every time. It requires organization, it requires commitment, it requires more than lip-service. We recognize that there is no “magic wand.” We know that going to jail and burning our own communities is attention-grabbing, but these are ONLY reactions. Our nationwide distress calls for ACTION! One last thought: it’s kinda dated, but dust off your copy of Douglas Turner Ward’s Day of Absence... What if, just what if, nobody showed up for work tomorrow? When they call to check on you to see why you’re not at work, tell ‘em “...I can’t breathe...”

In the Spirit of Success, Ron Busby, Sr. President/CEO U.S. Black Chambers, Inc.

The Black Athlete Let’s tow Mike Ditka and Charles Barkley into the 21st Century

By Omar Tyree, NNPA Columnist In the middle of an American turmoil between the police force and AfricanAmerican men, what I would like in 2014 is more social awareness, logic and sensitivity from the Mike Ditkas and Charles Barkleys of the world.

Both high-profile Hall of Fame athletes and outspoken commentators came from poor, hard-working families. Dikta, born Michael Dyczko to an Ukrainian family in Carnegie, Penn., excelled in football to escape working in the Pennsylvania steel mills and factories of the 1950s and 60s. Likewise, Barkley excelled in basketball to escape generations of poverty and racism in Leeds, Ala. in the 1970s and 80s.

The pair of hard-nosed and tenacious athletes played their respective sports like gladiators with swords and shields in hand. They were manly and proud of it. They had no problem expressing themselves either, saying the type of things that other men would only think about. Ditka and Barkley were able to get away with it, too. That’s why hardened, old-school men love these guys.

They allowed Joe Blow and Sammy Washington to validate their own unfiltered and uncompromised opinions. Now we have a nation full of no-named Ditkas and Barkleys all over the Internet on Twitter and Facebook, saying whatever the hell they want without enough thought behind it.

What does this have to do with Black America’s issues with the police? Well, if you haven’t heard, Mike Ditka, who calls himself an “ultra conservative,” recently made comments that the citizens of Ferguson, Mo. used the police killing of teenager Michael Brown as “a reason to protest and go out and loot.”

He confessed that he didn’t understand the uproar, and that he doubted the St. Louis Rams football players who flashed a “hands up, don’t shoot” symbol during their introductions in a recent game against the Oakland Raiders “care about Michael Brown or anything else.”

Ditka says that there are a lot of different things in society that athletes can complain or protest about. Why choose Michael Brown?

Well, Tavon Austin, Steadman Bailey, Jared Cook, Kenny Britt and Chris Givens – who all happen to be Black and play professional football for the St. Louis Rams – consider the loss of Black life, coupled with injustice from the local police force, important enough to talk about. And why shouldn’t they? The last time I checked, a human life was more important than anything, including football and basketball.

After playing professional football for 11 years, coaching for a dozen more, and now commentating on hundreds of NFL games and thousands of players, many of whom happen to be Black as well, you would think Mike Ditka would know a little more about African American culture to at least be sensitive to the complexities of American society and race. But evidently, at age 75, with more than 50 years of being a teammate, a coach and a commentator around AfricanAmerican men who are fathers, sons, husbands, brothers, uncles and so forth, Ditka has apparently learned nothing about them. Or, maybe he only cares to think about the ones he knows and likes.

I find this lack of knowledge and sensitivity amazing. But it happens every day in America. Many ethnicities, cultures, races, creeds and classes go to work and stand right next to each for 40 or 50 years, and still don’t know enough about each other to care. Mike Ditka calls it being “old-fashioned.”

I call it being selfishly American. We are surface people, who find it very uncomfortable to dig deep enough to understand someone else’s truth and struggles, even as we begin 2015. But real truth is more complex than a bunch of shocking sound bites. That’s where Charles Barkley comes into play as an

Alabama Black man, who often gets away with saying things that whites and Blacks consider cute, mainly because he says it so shamelessly TYREE with his country accent. But that doesn’t make what he says factual.

Barkley has now aggravated his own family members by commenting on the same Missouri issue as Ditka, calling the Ferguson looters “scumbags.” He then went on to explain himself by adding more kerosene to the fire. “In all fairness, there are some people out there who are crooks.

We, as Black people, got a lot of crooks.”

Yes, Barkley said it and he’s not backing down from it.

Well, thanks a lot, Charles Barkley.

That comment sure helps America to deal with its police issue with AfricanAmericans. I’m sure thousands of hardcore police will just love that one.

But the truth is: every race, culture and class has crooks, particularly when they are challenged by economic imbalances. British, Italian, Irish, Jewish, Polish, Russian, Australian, Spanish, French, Mexican, Canadian, Brazilian, Jamaican, African, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, you name it; we all have crooks. The United States of America itself is based on the stolen land by crooks, who no longer want us to talk about it. African-Americans, also happen to be stolen people. But that’s too much information to handle.

This is supposed to be a sports column with no history lessons or politics.

That’s the problem with Mike Ditka and Charles Barkley. Their shoot-fromthe-hip comments create more American extremists, who are eager to press the kill button, while still lacking vital information.This extreme emotionalism of uniformed people creates a society of angry warmongers, who are unwilling to comprehend the logic of more humane compromise. I’m speaking to law enforcement officials as well here. Please learn more about the people you police instead of blindly dictating terms to them. Is America still a democracy?

Meanwhile, Ditka and Barkley remain above the fray as esteemed and wealthy citizens, corralling the masses to war with their gladiator swords and shields in hand, whether they understand their uninformed words and actions or not.

My New Year’s wish is that exathletes and public figures will develop the appropriate social awareness, logic and sensitivity about our serious world issues before they speak, text or videotape the wrong things.

That way, we can prepare ourselves to avoid more of the atrocities that have yet to come. At the very least, I pray for more qualified journalists to offer voices of reason.

Yes, informed journalists matter, too.

To Your Family From Our Family The Westside Gazette Newspaper

Page 6 • www.thewestsidegazette.com • January 1 - January 7, 2015

Broward County's Oldest and Largest African American Owned and Operated Newspaper

AF amily T hat Prays T ogether, Stays T ogether Family That Together, Together

Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church

Church Directory

Worship T his and Every Sunday at the Church of Your Choice This

Bethel Missionary Baptist Church 2211 N.W. 7th Street, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33061 Church: (954) 583-9368 Email: bethelmbchurchfl@att.net

Reverend Jimmy L. English

1161 NW 29th Terr., Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 33311 (954) 581-0455 ● Fax: (954) 581-4350 www.mtzionmissionarybapt.com

WORSHIP SERVICES Sunday Worship Service .............................................................................. 8:00 & 11:00 a.m.

Sunday School ............................................................................................................... 10:00 a.m.

Communion Service (1st Sunday) ......................................................................... 11:00 a.m.

Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting ........................................................................... 6:30 p.m.

Wednesday Night Bible Study ................................................................................... 7:00 p.m.

Saturday (2nd & 4th) Growth & Orientation ........................................................... 9 a.m.

But be doers of the Word - James 1:22 nkjv - “A Safe Haven, and you can get to Heaven from here”

St. Ruth Missionary Baptist Church 145 NW 5th Avenue Dania Beach, FL 33004 Office: (954) 922-2529

WORSHIP SERVICES Sunday Worship ............................................................. 8 a.m. & 11 a.m.

Sunday School ........................................................................... 9:30 a.m.

Wednesday (Prayer Service & Bible Study) ............................... 7:30 a.m.

Saturday (Women Bible Study) ............................................................ 8 a.m.

"Baptized Believers working together to do the will of God"

Bishop Victor T. Curry Senior Pastor/Teacher WORSHIP SERVICES

6201 NW 57 Street Tamarac, FL 33319 954-721-1232 uccfaith@bellsouth.net faithbroward.org

Bible Study (Wednesday Night) ...................................................... 6:45 p.m.

Sunday School .............................................................................. 8:45 a.m.

Sunday Morning Service ............................................................. 10:00 a.m.

Obituaries

"Historically the First Church in the City of Tamarac!”

Rev. Dr. Ileana Bosenbark, Senior Pastor WEEKLY SERVICES & EVENTS SUNDAY Worship Service (Communion 1st & 3rd Sunday) ........................................................... 10 a.m.

F.A.I.T.H. Academy for Children (Spiritual Formation) K-12 ................................ 10 a.m.

TUESDAY F.A.I.T.H. Academy for Adults (Spiritual Formation) - Office Complex ...... 10:30 a.m.

WEDNESDAY Worship & Arts Ministry Rehearsals (Open Auditions) - Sanctuary .............................. 7 p.m.

First Baptist Church Piney Grove, Inc. 4699 West Oakland Park Blvd.

Lauderdale Lakes, FL 33313 Office: (954) 735-1500 Fax: (954) 735-1939 fbcpg@bellsouth.net

James C. Boyd Funeral Home DUKES Funeral services for the late Ronald Sherrod Dukes, Jr. - 26 were held Dec. 27 at James C. Boyd’s Memorial Chapel with Min. Latrina Womack officiating.

Rev. Dr. Derrick J. Hughes, Pastor SUNDAY SERVICES Worship Services .......................................................... 7:30 & 10:45 a.m.

Children's Church ........................................................ 7:30 & 10:45 a.m.

Communion (First Sunday) ......................................... 7:30 & 10:45 a.m.

New Members' Class .................................................................... 9:30 a.m.

Church School .............................................................................. 9:30 a.m.

Baptist Training Union (BTU) .................................................... 1:00 p.m.

Wednesday (Bible Study) ...................................... 11:15 a.m.. & 7:00 p.m.

Harris Chapel United Methodist Church Rev. Juana Jordan, M.Div E-MAIL:juana.jordan@flumc.org 2351 N.W. 26th Street Oakland Park, Florida 33311 Church Telephone: (954) 731-0520 Church Fax: (954) 731-6290

SERVICES Sunday Worship ................................................. 7:30 a.m. & 10:30 a.m.

Sunday School .............................................................................. 9:00 a.m.

Wednesday (Bible Study) ........................................... 11a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Mount Calvary Baptist Church

800 N.W. 8th Avenue Pompano Beach, Florida 33060 Church Telephone: (954) 943-2422 Church Fax: (954) 943-2186 E-mail Address: Mtcalvarypompano@bellsouth.net

Reverend Anthony Burrell, Pastor SCHEDULE OF SERVICES SUNDAY

New Member Orientation ........................... 9:30 a.m.

Sunday School ................................................ 9:30 a.m.

Worship Service ........................................ 11:00 a.m.

WEDNESDAY Prayer Meeting ............................................... 6:00 p.m.

Bible Study ..................................................... 7:00 p.m.

HARRIS Funeral services for the late Terry Brent Harris – 54.

STEEL Funeral services for the late Oliver Steel – 74.

McWhite's Funeral Home WALLACE Funeral services for the late Ernest Wallace - 64 were held Dec. 27 at McWhite’s Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Timothy Jackson officiating. Interment: Forest Lawn Central.

Roy Mizell & Kurtz Funeral Home

"Doing God's Business God's Way, With a Spirit of Excellence"

New Birth Baptist Church The Cathedral of Faith International Bishop Victor T. Curry, M.Min., D.Div. Senior Pastor/Teacher 2300 N.W. 135th Street Miami, Florida 33167

ORDER OF SERVICES Sunday Worship ........................................................ 7:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m. & 7:00 p.m.

Sunday School ....................................................................................................... 9:30 a.m.

Tuesday (Bible Study) ......................................................................................... 6:45 p.m.

Wednesday (Bible Study) ............................................................................... 10:45 a.m.

1-800-254-NBBC * (305) 685-3700 (o) *(305) 685-0705 (f) www.newbirthbaptistmiami.org

New Mount Olive Baptist Church 400 N.W. 9th Ave., Ft. Lauderdale 33311 (954) 463-5126 ● Fax: (954) 525-9454 CHURCH OFFICE HOURS Monday - Friday 8:00 - 4:00 p.m.

Dr. Marcus D. Davidson, Senior Pastor WORSHIP SERVICES & BIBLE STUDY Sunday .................................................... 7:15 a.m. 9:00 a.m. & 11:00 a.m.

Sunday School ............................................................................ 10:00 a.m.

Wednesday Noonday Service .................................. 12:00-12:30 p.m.

Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting ............................................ 6:30 p.m.

Wednesday Night Bible Study ................................................... 7:00 p.m.

Where the kingdom of God is increased through Fellowship.

Leadership, Ownership and Worship F.L.O.W. To Greatness!

A FAMIL Y THA T AMILY THAT PRA YS PRAY TOGETHER ST AYS STA TOGETHER

“PRAYER IS THE ANSWER” 644-646 NW 13th Terrace Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33311 (954) 462-5711(Ministry Office Line) (954) 462-8222(Pastor’s Direct Line) Email: wm_cme@bellsouth.net (Church} pastorCal50@yahoo.com (Pastor)

Rev. Cal Hopkins.

M.Div) Senior Pastor/Teacher

Rev. Dr. James B. Darling, Senior Pastor

PASTOR

Faith United Church of Christ

Williams Memorial CME

BLAND Funeral services for the late Clara Bland - 96 were held Dec. 27 at Mount Hermon A.M.E. Church with Rev. Henry E. Greene, Jr. officiating. Interment: Sunset Memorial Gardens.

COBB Funeral services for the late Selvin Cobb, Sr. - 84 were held Dec. 29 at New Mt. Olive Baptist Church with Dr. Marcus D. Davison officiating. Interment: South Florida National Cemetery, Lake Worth, Fla. HOWARD Funeral services for the late Brenda Lee Howard - 54 were held Dec. 28 at New Hope Baptist Church with Rev. Ricky Scott officiating.

Interment: Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens – Central.

Announce Obituaries * Memoriams * Services

WORSHIP THIS AND EVERY SUNDAY AT THE CHURCH OF YOUR CHOICE

The WITNESS of “The WILL” Sunday Worship Experiences ................................................................ 7:45 and 11:00 a.m.

Sunday School ................................................................................................................. 9:30 a.m.

Tuesday Night Triumph {Prayer, Praise and Power} Prayer Meeting ................................................................................................................ 7:00 p.m.

Bible Study ........................................................................................................................ 7:30 p.m.

We STRIVE to PROVIDE Ministries that matter TODAY to Whole Body of Christ, not only the Believers, but also for those stranded on the “Jericho Road”!

“Celebrating over 85 Years of FAITH and FAVOR! Come to the WILL ... We’ll show You the WAY: Jesus the Christ!”

KIDS TALK ABOUT GOD

How can husbands love their wives as Christ loves the Church?

By Carey Kinsolving and Friends (Part Two of Part Two) “My daddy works for my mommy and makes money,” says Ellen, age 6.

Lance, 6, shares a similar view: “Mama can stay at home, and the mommies can rest. Mommies can ask daddies to go get something, like food for the kids.”

Everything really begins at the altar, says Kimberlee, 6: “When the husband got married, he said he would love her and take care of her. When they get married, they say stuff like that.”

But there’s more than economics and chores, says Elliot, 6: “A husband should hug and kiss his wife, give her flowers and pick up the kids. He should also feed the dog.”

Well, we still have chores, but a little hugging and kissing along the way will make them seem effortless. Besides, your dog will appreciate your cheerful attitude.

To maintain that smile, consider advice from Constance, 11: “Men, do not argue with your wives, for you will never win.

Wives will always try to win an argument.”

There’s an ancient proverb that says, “If mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.” Choose your arguments carefully.

To promote harmony, Kelsey, 11, offers this advice: “I think that husbands and wives should listen to each other and consider each other’s ideas and thoughts. They should appreciate each other, be thankful for one another and be happy if something good happens to one of them.”

Three short Bible verses confirm Kelsey’s insight: “Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.” (James 1:19) “In everything give thanks.” (I Thessalonians 5:18) “Rejoice with those who rejoice.” (Romans 12:15) Marriages could be revitalized if the couples listened, thanked and rejoiced. Couples should listen to God, thank him for their spouse’s uniqueness and rejoice in the Lord for marital blessings.

When a husband hears God, he’ll listen to his wife as the unique person God created to bring him into greater conformity with Christ. He’ll find creative ways to express his appreciation.

He’ll encourage her and rejoice in her growth, achievements and interests. He might even learn how to be gracious to smiling in-laws who believe their daughter could have done better. Wise wives know that listening, thanking and encouraging are twoway streets.

“Be kind and faithful to your wife as God was to the church,” says Meredith, 10. “Husbands should honor and care for their wives like God cares for us.”

Meredith gives us the view from heaven. Just as animal sacrifices in the Jerusalem temple foreshadowed the greater reality of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross for our sins, so marriage serves as an illustration of something greater.

Even though all marriages after Eden consist of two imperfect people, all have one thing in common when they begin and hopefully for their duration — love.

Think about this: Jesus demonstrated love for his bride when he willingly allowed himself to be sacrificed for her sins. In the Bible, the universal church consists of all people who by faith have been made pure by the cleansing power of Jesus’ sacrificial death. The bride, who has kept herself pure for her husband, is the metaphor (the bride of Christ) God chose to label this mysterious union of Christ and his people. (Ephesians 5:22-33) Jesus’ passion for his bride makes all human love seem tepid by comparison.

Memorize this truth: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for her.” (Ephesians 5:25.

Ask this question: Do you look at your wife in the light of heaven’s grand design?

“Kids Talk About God” is distributed by Creators Syndicate.

To access free, online “Kids Color Me Bible” books, “Mission Explorers” videos and all columns in a Bible Lesson Archive, visit at www.KidsTalkAboutGod.org. To read journey-of-faith feature stories written by Carey Kinsolving, visit www.FaithProfiles.org.

Broward County's Oldest and Largest African American Owned and Operated Newspaper

BUSINESS

January 1 - January 7, 2015 • www.thewestsidegazette.com • Page 7

FAMU rebounds - Academic achievements, patents & fundraising soars

UNITY IN THE COMMUNITY DIRECTORY

MANGUN

MOORE

DAVID

TALLAHASSEE, FL — The Florida A&M University Board of Trustees welcomed the good news. President Elmira Mangum revealed a dramatic change in academic growth, recruitment and fundraising.

“FAMU must be “best in class” and that requires outside financial resources, which means cultivating and obtaining gifts from major corporations. Increased endowments are components of my vision for FAMU’s future,” according to

Dr. Mangum. The former Cornell vice president for planning and budget is making good on that promise by surpassing November 2013 fundraising totals by 150 percent for this fiscal year. FAMU acquired $2.8 million in cash gifts during that time, the vast majority from alumni which is another reversal. The president’s scholarship gala raised a record $550,000 while alumna Cheka Rose Green’s “10 for 10” campaign re engaged alumni by

raising $150,000 so far. The financial gifts total almost $7 million since Mangum’s April arrival on the highest of seven hills in Tallahassee.

Pursuing the president’s strategic plan is designed to increases the university’s global influence. That effort is reflected as she completes her senior leadership team. A new provost will take the academic helm of FAMU. Marcella David, a University of Iowa professor of law and international stud-

ies is a recognized legal scholar and human rights advocate.

Dr. Timothy P. Moore currently Auburn University’s associate Vice President for advancement and research development.

Moore has exceptional fundraising and research accomplishments that demonstrate expertise in the commercialization of patents and important public private partnerships.

One such patent obtained in November by Dr. Madhavi Gangapuram is reflective of anti-cancer causing agents that kill cancer cells without harming normal cells. FAMU has received over $21 million in research dollars this year for similar efforts.

Dr. Mangum presided over her third graduation this year where 700 students became alumni. Selected graduates were awarded the President’s Strong Finish Award that totaled $200,000. The funds come from the $5 million gift from FAMU alumnus and Microsoft Chairman John W. Thompson and his wife Sandi. The awards will help pay down the student’s debt with an additional $1,000 to help new alumni transition to the workplace.

For more information on FAMU, visit www.famu.edu

FUNdraising Good Times

Your 2015 secret to success: an assessment taskforce

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We often start the new year with enthusiasm and high expectations, and yet by yearend so many of our great plans are unfulfilled. Will 2015 be another year of doing the same thing and expecting different results, or will this truly be a new year?

Here’s a suggestion for nonprofits who want to focus on different results: create a shortterm assessment task force to review your planning processes and the people and resources available to implement your plans.

Your task force should be a small, focused working group comprised of people who are committed to your organization but not currently involved in its operations. Task force members could include a major donor, past program participant, a new board member, or a local business person or faculty member. What you don’t want is a task force comprised of the executive director, development director, and board chair. You want fresh eyes on the organization. Those who are at “arms length” can ask questions and make suggestions without the knowledge or “baggage” that comes from knowing “we tried that three years ago” or “the board would never approve that” or “we can’t afford that.”

Members will look at your organization with the goal of helping you achieve your goals.

Four steps for task force members.

Step one. Review the organization’s strategic plan; fundraising plan; and marketing, communications and social

Pearl and Mel Shaw media plan. Look at program descriptions, goals, objectives, outcomes and impact; and financial reports and fundraising reports. If the nonprofit is an educational institution, review recruitment, enrollment, retention, and graduation reports.

Look at demographics of communities served and their identified and emerging needs.

Step two. Create a list of questions that arise during the review. Add to the list as you contemplate the documents holistically. What’s missing?

Where are the redundancies?

Individual questions should be shared with fellow task force members. What are the common themes that arise?

Step three. Meet individually with the executive director or president, fundraising leadership, program directors, accountants or bookkeepers, board members, clients or students and others who you believe can provide insights and answer questions. Happy New Year!

Copyright 2014 – Mel and Pearl Shaw Mel and Pearl Shaw position nonprofits, colleges and universities for fundraising success.

For help with your fundraising visit www.saadandshaw.com or call (901) 522-8727.

(Read full story on www.thewestsidegazette.com)

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Page 8 • www.thewestsidegazette.com • January 1 - January 7, 2015

Grammy-nominated R&B Crooner Johnny Gill new album, Game Changer, in stores now Game Changer features collaborations with New Edition, Babface, Tony Dixon, Chuck Harmony and more

NEW YORK, NY -- Recently, Grammy®-nominated, multi-platinum selling artist Johnny Gill (New Edition, LSG, Heads of State) released his long-awaited solo project, Game Changer. The 12-track album features sexy titles such as Your Body, Strung Out, Role Play, Can’t Keep My Hands Off You, as well as the chart-topping lead single Behind Closed Doors. Game Changer is available on iTunes, Amazon, Google Play and at retail.

Game Changer, released through Gill’s label J Skillz Records, also features songs written and produced by Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, Tony Dixon, Chuck Harmony, Greg Pagani, Ralph Stacy, Wirlie Morris, Andre

Brissett and Vidal Davis, including a song featuring New Edition—the group’s first new song together since 2004.

With an unmistakable trademark style, Gill has altered the sound of R&B music for decades with a signature sound that pairs superior singing with extraordinary showmanship— with hits such as My, My, My, Rub You The Right Way, Where Do We Go From Here”and Boys To Men. With a seemingly endless list of hits, ranging from his time in New Edition to the allstar trio LSG (Gerald Levert, Keith Sweat and Johnny Gill) and Heads of State (Bobby Brown, Johnny Gill and Ralph Tresvant), it’s easy to see why Gill serves as the prototype for the supreme R&B singer.

Jill Scott to be honored at 2015 Essence’s Black Women in Music event

SCOTT NATIONWIDE — During Grammy Awards Week celebration, singer Jill Scott will be honored at Essence magazine’s sixth annual Black Women in Music event. The threetime Grammy Award winner will be honored for her incredible achievement, singular artistry and powerful storytelling.

The highly anticipated event, which will kick off a yearlong celebration of the publication’s 45th anniversary, will be held on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2015. There will be several fea-

LEGAL NOTICES PUBLICATION OF BID SOLICITATIONS Broward County Board of County Commissioners is soliciting bids for a variety of goods and services, construction and architectural/engineering services. Interested bidders are requested to view and download the notifications of bid documents via the Broward County Purchasing website at: www.broward.org/ purchasing.

Jan. 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, 2015

tured performances representing music from the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s.

Vanessa K. DeLuca, Essence editor-in-chief, comments, “Jill Scott is the quintessential Essence woman. Like many of the female artists who inspired her, she has touched the collective soul of women across generations.”

Michelle Ebanks, president of Essence, comments, “Essence was groundbreaking in its founding 45 years ago, as is Jill Scott in her impact on music and the arts. She is a fearless innovator, and it is our honor to continue to build community by bringing together music industry influencers and fans during Grammy Week for an epic celebration.”

Scott herself comments, “It will be 15 years in July that my first album came out, and Essence has been there the entire time. I’m truly honored.”

Launched in the year 2010, Essence’s Black Women in Music celebrates the music careers of both emerging and established artists. Former honorees include Solange Knowles, Mary J. Blige, Kelly Rowland, Janelle Monáe, and many othes.

Broward County's Oldest and Largest African American Owned and Operated Newspaper

Page 10 • www.thewestsidegazette.com • January 1 - January 7, 2015

Broward County's Oldest and Largest African American Owned and Operated Newspaper

Miami Dolphins highlights from an eight and eight season

FORMER DOLPHINS DEFENSIVE TACKLE MANNY FERNANDEZ HONOR ROLL INDUCTION AT HALFTIME -(Opening statement) – “I want to thank everybody that’s here today and I’m looking forward to this game being a Dolphin win, they love to come from behind. This is an honor I never expected or really thought four years ago, when I went into the Walk of Fame, that’s where it was going to end. But here I am. I have so many people to thank. I want to start with Mr. (Stephen) Ross for just putting together a spectacular week for me and the other alumni and members of the Dolphin family. It’s been a great week, this is a great day and I am extremely humbled to join all of the names up there in this Honor Roll. A very, very special day in my life, only second to January 14, 1973. I’m looking forward to the day when we’re going to be back there. Thank you all for being here today. A real quick special thanks to my wife Marcia, who after 41 years is still with me, here today, and has spent so many nights with ice packs, heating pads and massages and keeping me going week-to-week, love you.” L-r: Jarvis Landry, Brandon Gibson, Samson Satele, Brian Hartline, Terrence Fede, Jordan Kovacs, Ja'Wuan James, Jason Fox, Ryan Tannehill, T.J. Heath, Mike Pouncey, Caleb Sturgis and Brandon Fields.

L-r: Miami Dolphins President & CEO Tom Garfinkel, Miami Gardens Mayor Oliver G. Gilbert III and Miami Dolphins Senior Director of Community Affairs Twan Russell.

MIAMI DOLPHINS DISTRIBUTE TOYS TO MIAMI-DADE, BROWARD AND PALM BEACH COUNTY STUDENTS -- Several Miami Dolphins players, coaches, cheerleaders, Miami Dolphins Women’s Organization (MDWO) members and mascot T.D. welcomed 125 students from Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach County partner schools to the team’s training camp facility for a holiday toy event. “It’s exciting to be out here, to be able to give back to the community. We’re putting a smile on these kids’ faces for a wonderful holiday,” said G Mike Pouncey. Pouncey was joined by 15 of his teammates for the event, including John Denney, Terrence Fede, Brandon Fields, Jason Fox, Brandon Gibson, Brian Hartline, T.J. Heath, Ja’Wuan James, Reshad Jones, Jordan Kovacs, Jarvis Landry, Samson Satele, Caleb Sturgis, Ryan Tannehill and Jason Trusnik. The evening concluded with MDWO members and players distributing presents.

Each kid provided a toy wish list with items they would like for the holiday. Players and coaches, along with MDWO members, collaborated together to fund the entire event and provide the toys that were given. All students also received a tablet.

GRIMES AND WAKE NAMED TO PRO BOWL -- Miami Dolphins cornerback Brent Grimes and defensive end Cameron Wake have been selected to the 2015 NFL Pro Bowl squad, the NFL announced. The annual contest will be played on Sunday, Jan. 25, 2015 at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., site of Super Bowl XLIX. The game will be televised live on ESPN at 8 p.m.

(Photos By David Muir)

2014 MIAMI DOLPHINS TEAM AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED -- Quarterback Ryan Tannehill was selected for the Dan Marino Most Valuable Player Award, defensive end Cameron Wake won the Don Shula Leadership Award and tackle Jason Fox took home the Nat Moore Community Service Award, it was announced recently.