The Westside Gazette

Page 1

PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID FT. LAUDERDALE, FL 33310

PERMIT NO. 1179

Westside Gazette Broward County's Oldest and Largest African American Owned and Operated Newspaper VOL. 46 NO.6

50¢

A Pr oud PPaper aper ffor or a Pr oud PPeople...Sinc eople...Sinc Proud Proud eople...Sincee 1971

THURSDA Y, MARCH 16 - WEDNESDA Y, MARCH 22, 2017 THURSDAY WEDNESDAY

Preservation or Progress: The Case of the Mizell Center

Top left corner -- the first Provident Hospital1938, Top middle -- the second Provident Hospital 1941 and the final Provident Hospital served the community until the 1960s. (Photo credit Fort Lauderdale Historical Society) By Nicole Richards the earth engrained in DNA. It American Blacks and land is said the relationship between perfectly, for how else could (Part I of self and soil is so strong the something that demanded the III Part Series) crossing of water, whether river blood of enslavement be so In West Africa there is a or ocean, dilutes who you are. valued by the enslaved? After belief in the shackling of souls This philosophy characterizes Emancipation, land promised to land. The soil colors the skin; the relationship between the pride of ownership to those

whose very bodies were formerly owned. To the newly free, land ownership was a sanctified act. The historical and cultural significance of Black owned land has become central to the current heated conversation electrifying Sistrunk Boulevard. Sitting vacant on the corner of Sistrunk and 14th Terrace is the Mizell Center, named after the great Dr. Von D. Mizell, one of the most significant Black figures in Broward County history. The building, now infested with mold and laden with disrepair, stands vacant as yet another symbol of decades of neglect. As a part of the City of Fort Lauderdale’s community revitalization efforts of the Sistrunk Corridor (read: gentrification), demolition of the center has been proposed to clear the land for the L.A. Lee Family YMCA, currently located just two blocks south of the Mizell Center, itself badly in need of repair and expansion. (Cont'd on Page 3)

A town of freed slaves -- on Robert E. Lee’s old estate -- was destroyed to make Arlington cemetery; Freedman’s Village was touted as a model was a haven for so-called ‘contraband’ people houses, community when it was dediBy Heather Gilligan

Milton Rowe, left, and Wayne Parks, both descendants of people who lived in Freedman’s Village, walk where the village once stood in Arlington National Cemetery in 2010. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)

Sojourner Truth was outraged, but her feelings didn’t show in a letter she wrote about her meeting with Abraham Lincoln in October 1864. She’d gone to Lincoln to call his attention to the conditions at settlements for former slaves, including one called Freedman’s Village, where she asked to be appointed as a counselor. “I was never treated with more kindness and cordiality,” she wrote to a fellow abolitionist of her meeting with the president. Lincoln granted her request to work at the camp, and Truth lived there for a year, preaching and otherwise advocating for the people who lived there. Freedman’s Village, which started in 1863 with 50 wooden

cated, with farms, a hospital, an orphanage, and a home for the elderly. By 1864, though, conditions were dismal. People were hungry, unwanted by the surrounding community, and exploited by opportunists. “I am a going around among the colored folks and find out who it is sells the clothing to them that is sent to them from the North,” Truth wrote to her daughter, deeply dismayed, shortly before her meeting with Lincoln. Through the work of Truth and missionary organizations, the camp became a permanent home for former slaves. That home lasted until 1890, when it was razed—residents driven from their homes—to make way for Arlington National Cemetery. (Cont'd on Page 10)

Florida’s Female-led film crew accepts award & screens feature at Filmapalooza in Seattle

In honor of National Women’s Month “A gracious woman attains honor, And ruthless men attain riches.” Proverbs 11:16 (NASB) By Bobby R. Henry, Sr. As we begin National Women’s Month, I would like to take a moment and reflect on what we have learned from the women who have touched life and shaped its destiny, from those who have been a whisper like a soft breeze blowing across a lowly meadow in the Garden of Eden to those who have reverberated like resounding thunder that transverse the vast wetlands of the Everglades. Like a mother’s guarded care of her babies, women have not discriminated to care for others. They have taken this world to feed upon their breast to nourish and care for those who did not come through her. With delicate hands women have ignored our deficiencies and shaped and molded us with the perfection of a skilled sculptor trained by God. Even though we come to her broken, battered and scarred, she knows she must prepare us for what lies ahead. Like the woman who poured perfume on Jesus, she had done something to prepare Him for His burial. (Cont'd on Page 10)

St. Thomas gridiron player Myles Wright follows suit of older brother; commits to Florida Institute of Technology By Charles Moseley The football coaching staff obviously liked what they saw in last year’s recruit Justin Wright so they decided to give his younger brother Myles an opportunity to show how well they were at judging local football talent. Even to the casual observer their decision was a no brainer. In other words, simply stated, they wanted another one, just like the other one. When you access the meaning of the word “student athlete” Justin Wright fits all the criteria both on and off the field of play. Not only did he excel during his four year tenure at St. Thomas Aquinas High School, a perennial national football powerhouse, but he distinguished himself in the field of academics as well. Case in point: Myles graduated with honors in the Class of 2017 with a GPA of 4.7. His list of accomplishments at St. Thomas Aquinas High School

WRIGHT also included National Spanish Honor Society, National Honor Society, Varsity Football Letterman 10-12 year, Varsity Track & Field Letterman ninth-10th year, Principal’s Honor Roll ninth-12th year. (Cont'd on Page 5)

Submitted by G. Wright Muir FORT LAUDERDALE, FL — The South Florida-based female-led team of filmmakers known as the 1310 Bandits brought home their second win from Filmapalooza and screened their first feature film, “Kali Mah Tina,” in Seattle, Washington. When artist residents of the 1310 Gallery, Tabatha Mudra and Niki Lopez, decided to compete in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale 48 Hour Film Project (48HFP) competition back in 2015 they had no idea their team—the 1310 Bandits—would one day be an award-winning filmmaking team. Now barely two years later they have several films under their belt and the 1310 Bandits have grown to easily 30 people including core members Nikki Saraiva, Rozie Rozae and Dana Dellacamera. (Cont'd on Page 5)

(Cont'd on Page 5)

Trump continues to take salary despite promise. Bandits accepts award at Filmapalooza in Seattle. L to r: G. Wright Muir, Niki Lopez, Tabatha Mudra & Nikki Saraiva.

Pleading Our Own Cause

WWW.

(Read full story on Page 3) (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

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