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After 16 years the time has come...
“The best time to leave the stage is while people are still clapping.” — Min. Eddie Robinson By Bobby R. Henry, Sr. “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.”- Ecclesiastes 3:1 If ever there is a scripture that is befitting of departures as they
pertain to the Ministers of Music at the New Mount Olive Baptist Church (NMOBC) in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., this one certainly applies. Minister of Music, Eddie Robinson, will be moving on after 16 years of delivering
some of the most soul stirring gospel music in the history of the church. Four of the NMOBC Ministers of Music have a history of serving the church combined for most of 80 plus years. Dr.
Beyond survival: Life after rape ceivable that someone could be normal, much less happy after experiencing what I had.” Silence and other hurdles to healing The circumstances around Lori’s assault were atypical – there was more than one assailant, they were strangers,
Alfred Pinkston served for over 40 years; Mrs. Alma Lewis served for over 23 years; Robinson has over 16 years and Ms. Shirley Bell directed the Children’s Choir for 37 years. “I came to New Mount Olive on Feb. 2, 1999. I came as a result of an invitation of Dr. Mack King Carter, who recruited me from Atlanta. He was interested in getting one of my mentors, Dr. Jimmy Abbington to come, but Dr. Abbington recommended me. Dr. Carter called me on July 4, 1998 and we had an almost threehour conversation inviting me to come work with the choir in September,” said Min. Robinson. It appears that music has always been a focal point in Robinson’s life and one can feel and see this in his approach in delivering his talents. Robinson continued, “As a child growing up in South Carolina, I knew I would be doing music. At the age of 12 when I began playing for my first church but I never had any idea that I would be doing it on this scale. “My grandmother was the force that drew me to gospel. She insisted that we go to Sunday school and church every and there was a weapon involved. In more common circumstances – when the people know each other or are related; when alcohol is involved or there has been previous sexual/ romantic involvement; when the perpetrator is a prominent figure; or when the survivor became pregnant – the decision to report a rape can be even more agonizing.
Sunday and would not allow us to sing “the Blues” in her house. From an early age, I developed a love for church and singing.” Robinson’s talents were not limited to the choir stands on Sundays and it is obvious that this development took several influences to create. Moses Barnes, a member of Mount Olive Men’s Choir spoke of Robinson’s diverse talents, “Min. Robinson transformed the male chorus from a fifth Sunday singing group to a regular scheduled group each month. "For many of us who were not gifted singers but more of background singers, Min. Robinson provided encouragement and training that allowed the male chorus to grow from a group of about 15-20 males to about 30-40. He also allowed many of the members to become more proficient in their individual singing talent. He even established a uniform dress code for our group." "The male chorus may have been one of the smaller singing groups at Mount Olive but he treated us with the same training and professional care as he did with his signature singing groups. Min. Robinson has a
great since of humor which made all the group members feel welcomed and relaxed at rehearsal sessions. He has been a key asset to the growth and development of the male chorus and we will surely miss him.” Robinson is seen like an octopus with so many different abilities, one would need as many tentacles. “I was influenced by people I met down through the years as a part of the National Convention of Gospel Choirs and Choruses. I’ve been attending for 32 years. My childhood friend, Richard Odom, who is a professor at the University of D.C. encouraged me to attend. His high school music teacher, Rosemary Griffin was the person who took me to the convention at the age of 13. I grew up in the convention founded by the Father of Gospel Music, Dr. Thomas Dorsey. From there, my gifts (songwriting, singing, directing) were developed and as a result I’ve been afforded opportunities that are unimaginable considering I came from a small town in SC of less than 3,000 people. (Cont'd on Page 9)
Amazing: This 10-year-old has started taking college courses towards a math degree
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Supreme Court’s Shelby ruling makes Selma a ‘Footnote’ OKADE By Krystle Crossman When most of us were in fourth or fifth grade we dreaded stepping into math class. The numbers, the equations, having to show your work is just too much for some. Then there is Wellsal, UK native Esther Okade. She is just 10 years old and has recently started undergraduate math courses with
(Last of a Series) WASHINGTON, D.C. (NNPA) – “On May 15, 1995, two men ran up behind me as I approached my apartment building, and one of them pointed a gun at my head. In the hour that followed, I was blindfolded, gagged, tied facedown to my bed, and raped by both.” Eight years after that horror, Lori Robinson published those words as an introduction to her guidebook for Black sur-
vivors and their loved ones, titled I Will Survive: The African American Guide to Healing from Sexual Assault and Abuse. Since then, Lori, who moved from Washington, D.C. to Detroit, has enjoyed a fulfilling, happy life. But on that night 20 years ago, she didn’t know how, or if, she would recover. “I remember asking if, after such assault, women went on to have normal lives, get married, have children, be happy,” she writes in I Will Survive. “It sounds silly to me now, but on May 15, 1995, I found it incon-
Pleading Our Own Cause
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Black women endure menopause Howard University News longest Service
Lori Robinson and her husband, Ollie Johnson. (Photo courtesy of Lori Robinson) By Jazelle Hunt Washington Correspondent
Open University. She is on a quest to get her PhD and someday soon she would like to own her own bank. Esther’s college dreams began when she was just seven years old. She knew that it was where she wanted to be and wanted to be there as soon as possible.
Jesse Jackson says Supreme Court setback overshadows Selma (NNPA Photo by Freddie Allen) By Freddie Allen, NNPA Senior Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON, D.C. (NNPA) – As Washington lawmakers, local officials and activists prepare to march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge to observe the 50th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday” in Selma, Ala., some civil rights leaders want them to remember that voting rights are still under at-
tack. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., the president and founder of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, recently convened a meeting of voting rights advocates and community stakeholders in Washington, D.C. to review the past, present and future of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA). (Read full story on www.thewestsidegazette.com)
By Elaina Johnson Special to the NNPA from
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WASHINGTON, D.C. (NNPA) – Sarah Finney, 57, said she gets hot flashes throughout her body at least once an hour. She even wakes up in the night with so much perspiration that she looks like she just left working out at a gym, she said. “Hot flashes are very annoying,” said Finney, a married mother of two who declined to use her real name. “A surge of heat goes through my body, sometimes accompanied by nausea. As the energy builds, I begin to sweat from my hair, neck, chest and underarms.” (Cont'd on Page 9) MEMBER: National Newspaper Publishers Association ( NNPA), and Southeastern African-American Publishers Association (SAAPA) Florida Association of Black Owned Media (FABOM)