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Broward County's Oldest and Largest African American Owned and Operated Newspaper oud PPaper aper ffor or a Pr oud PPeople...Sinc eople...Sinc Proud Proud eople...Sincee 1971 VOL. 44 NO. 41 50¢ A Pr THURSDA THURSDAYY, NOVEMBER 19 - WEDNESDA WEDNESDAYY, NOVEMBER 25 25,, 2015

Paris attacks investigation: Latest Homeless Awareness developments

Belgian Abdelhamid Abaaoud has been named as the mastermind of the Paris attacks By Eliott C. McLaughlin, CNN (CNN) -- A Renault with Belgian plates, syringes in a

hotel room and a cell phone containing a chilling message were among the Tuesday focuses of the wide-ranging

School Board elects Dr. Rosalind Osgood, Chair and AbbyM. Freedman,ViceChair

multinational investigation into last week’s terror attacks in Paris that killed 129 people. — French President Francois

Hollande says his country “is at war” after three teams of gunwielding ISIS suicide bombers hit six busy locations. His military backed up the statement by pounding ISIS targets in Syria with airstrikes. Russia also launched airstrikes and cruise missiles there. — Meanwhile, a glimmer of hope for Syria’s civil war, as America’s top diplomat says a ceasefire could be on the horizon. Here’s the key information at this stage: The latest — NEW: Investigators in Paris have recovered a cell phone believed to belong to one of the attackers, which could yield insight into the plot and the suspected network behind it, counterterrorism and intelligence officials told CNN. The phone contained a message sent sometime before the attacks began to the effect of: OK, we’re ready, the officials said. — NEW: Police asked for the public’s help identifying a suicide bomber from the Stade France. (Cont'd on Page 5)

“To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.” 1 Corinthians 4:11 (CEV)

By Bobby R. Henry, Sr. Homelessness has taken on a new face. Same issues of: displacement, embarrassment, resentment weighted down with discontent. The only difference is that we are seeing it in our immediate families. We ride by the usual places, now we drive a little slower, looking more intimately for the unusual suspect, fearing that we will see one of our own. How easy it is to speed by the beggars on our street corners, turning our heads to avoid eye contact, fixing this lie in our minds that if I don’t see them then they won’t see me. We have fabricated this preconceived intention to avoid this nonhuman entity because in our minds eye, it really does not exist. It does not subsist because we think we have killed it by turning our heads and removing it from our sights. You may not see it but like weeds in a well manicured yard, there is plenty of trouble underneath. Like most things that have deep roots if the ‘root’ of the problem is not addressed, then nothing will change; the problem will be recurring. (Cont'd on Page 12)

Former ““American American Gang stster” er” Ear om a liflifee of crime ttoo Gangst Earll Llo Lloyyd’s journe journeyy frfrom finding God and ultimat ely eexperiencing xperiencing rredemption edemption ultimately Meet Broward Judicial Candidate Florence Barner

By Charles Moseley (Part I of a II Part series)

OSGOOD

FREEDMAN

On Nov. 17, 2015, The School Board of Broward County, Florida, elected Dr. Rosalind Osgood as Chair and Abby M. Freedman as Vice Chair for the 2015/16 school year. The election took place during the School Board’s Annual Organization Meeting.

Dr. Rosalind Osgood, a Broward County native, was elected in November 2012 to represent District 5. She is a Broward County Public Schools graduate of Fort Lauderdale High School. (Cont'd on Page 5)

To say that Earl J. Lloyd has led an unusual life would be an understatement and not begin to tell the story of one man’s journey in life, a journey which began 75 years ago, in the rural community of Fayetteville, N.C. From that point up until this day, Lloyd has traveled down a road filled with circumstances the likes of which novels have been written and depicted on the silver screen. Upon closer examination, Lloyd’s life was fairly uneventful early on. His father, Henry J. Lloyd, was a successful business man who owned Lloyd’s Dinette. He and his wife, Marie had five sons. Earl recalled what life was like living in the South for Blacks where even at an early age, the vestiges of post reconstruction were alive and well. He described Fayetteville

Earl Lloyd spent the majority of his life behind bars before he discovered the acceptance that a crime filled life could not provide as he learned how God could turn a menace to society into an apostle who preached a gospel of hope to others who had also chosen crime as a way of life. Lloyd is shown with his mother Marie Lloyd and his grandmother Sheryl Walker during a prison visit. as, “a racist town”, a town where slaves were once sold at the market house right in the middle of the town on Hayes St. “There were things that I experienced at an early age that let me know that the playing field wasn’t equal. Even as a little boy being deprived of things other kids would enjoy that were white because my daddy was always very protective of his family,” recalled Lloyd. Lloyd said he never saw his father wear overalls or khakis. His father was a well respected business man who belonged to the local Prince Hall Masonic Lodge. Years later, his son Earl also would become a Mason. All of those things left an impression on Earl and his brothers who experienced a religious up-

Divers discover Tuskegee Airmen’s secr ets in secrets Lake Hur on Huron (Read story on page 12)

Pleading Our Own Cause

By Staff writer

WWW.

bringing, and were forced to attend church by their grandfather. The family instilled in them to do the right thing like going to school and getting their education. Lloyd and his brothers walked five miles a day to school, yet were still expected to help out the family in the only way they knew how in the early years. “I was strong at an early age because we had to work the fields,” said Lloyd, eluding to the fact that many Blacks were required to help support their families at an early age doing migrant work. His parents divorced when he was 14, a fact which he said contributed to him turning to a life of crime at an early age.

dedication to the practice of law and the respect with which she treats her colleagues is reflected by her rating of AV Preeminent by MartindaleHubbell (a rating bestowed on fewer than 7 percent of attorneys nationwide).

(Cont'd on Page 5)

(Cont'd on Page 12)

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Civil trial attorney, former Broward prosecutor and a mother of two, Florence Taylor Barner has thrown her hat into the political arena by announcing her candidacy for Broward County Court Judge in Group 3. Barner has built a reputation in Broward County as a trial attorney in both civil and criminal courtrooms, and her

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Page 2 • November 19 - November 25, 2015

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Terrorist attack colors Children’s White House Arts event By Courtne Dixon Howard University News Service WASHINGTON – It was scheduled to be an upbeat, educational experience at the White House for children across America and featuring some of America’s most legendary performers — and it would be. But before that could happen, first lady Michelle Obama needed to attend to the somber business of the deadly terrorist attack in Paris that left 128 people dead and hundreds more wounded and assure the 40 children attending the “Broadway at the White House.” “As my husband said on Friday, this was an attack not just on France, our dear friend and ally, but on all of humanity and our shared values,” Obama told the 40 high school students from various performing arts high schools.

Although the world mourns, she said, that strength and values that the children at the event represent must be protected. “And the beauty is that all of you here,” she said. “Our young people that are here, you all reflect that passion, that creativity. “You all are a part of those values that the president talked about. That’s what we’re protecting. We’re protecting what you all represent” Determination and resilience are key to fostering those values, Obama said. She turned the panel, which included Broadway and movie actress Cicely Tyson, comedian Whoopi Goldberg, actress and television star, and Latin singer and film producer Gloria Estefan, to illustrate her point. “It took a lot more than their just pure, raw talent for these folks to be where they are, she

said. “They weren’t born knowing how to act or direct or sing. Their achievements took years of honing. “And that’s something we want to remind all young people. It looks easy up here. You think that the path is always straight, but it rarely is.” Other panelist included “Glee” actor Matthew Morrison, Broadway’s “Fun House” actress Gabriella Pizzolo, composer of “Cats” and many other award-winning Broadway musicals Andrew Llyod Webber, director of “Hair” Diane Paulus and co-founder of film distributor Miramax Harvey Weinstein. Tyson said she overcame many issues in her career. “I turned “no” into “on,” move on,” she said. “I never allowed anything anyone said to me to dissuade me from whatever I was feeling was my mission.” Pizzolo, 12, started acting at

First lady Michelle Obama needed to attend to the somber business of the deadly terrorist attack in Paris that left 128 people dead and hundreds more wounded and assure the 40 children attending the “Broadway at the White House.” age six and has since performed in two Broadway plays. She told the students about her persistence and motivation. “I really wanted to do it, so I did it,” she said. Estefan who will be presented the highest civilian award, The Medal of Freedom, said that in pursuing her dream, she and her husband were able to live a life they love. “This is a skill, a beautiful thing to be able to do,” Estefan said. “We made a living at what we do, which is a passion for both

of us.” Goldberg encouraged the students to pursue their careers in acting, but warned becoming a star is often by chance. “Oftentimes stars are accidental,” she said. “So if you love what you do, you can do it anywhere. If you’re an actor you can go anywhere and act.” Obama, the founder of the “The Reach Higher” and “Let Girls Learn” initiatives, said believes that education is paramount success regardless of the field.

“Going to school and getting that foundation is only going to prepare you to do the kinds of things you want — whether it’s singing or producing or song-writing,” she said. “So, never, never think that school is just sort of that side thing you do to get where you want to be. School and education lays the foundation so that you can ultimately be great at what you do. It’s all relevant.”

Have the AIDS talk with your Kids, because Alicia Keys said so By Clarissa Joan Human Immunodeficiency Virus infection (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) are a spectrum of conditions that affect over 35 million people worldwide. According to the Center for Disease Control, African Americans have the most severe burden of all racial/ethnic groups by accounting for 44 percent of new cases. Also known as HIV/AIDS, these conditions destroy the body’s immune system’s ability to protect its self against harmful bacteria and other illnesses. In 2003, Grammy award winning superstar, Alicia Keys, co-founded the Keep A Child Alive organization to realize the end of HIV/AIDS. Now, 12 years later, she believes it’s time for parents to talk to their kids about the impact of HIV/AIDS.” PEOPLE magazine interviewed Keys about her thoughts on the subject as it relates to parenting. “It’s important to talk to our kids about having compassion and not ostracizing people who are infected or affected by AIDS. We must understand this is something we still are fighting and we can make tremendous strides if we keep this at the top of our list. We’ve come so far, and it would be such a shame not to take it all the way. My

dream – the dream we all have – is to know we have created an AIDS-free generation. And we can do that. I hope that people who read this will be inspired to join us, learn more and be part of the end.” This coming Nov. 5, 2015, Keys and her staff at Keep A Child Alive will be hosting their annual fundraising gala, The Black Ball at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City. Last year alone the event raised $2.4 million for the organization. In its 12 year long history fighting the epidemic worldwide, KCA has served over 300,000 people and they have witnessed improvements in the lifestyles of those living with disease. Medications now exist that make it 96 percent less likely that a person with the condi-tions will pass it on to a partner or loved one. But what does all of this have to do with you and your child? Is it Alicia Keys’ business, how you communicate social issues in your home, and why does she care? When Keys was young, her mother’s good friend passed away from HIV/AIDS. “My mother’s friend passed from AIDS,” the singer, 34, told PEOPLE. “I think I was eight or nine-years-old. I was old enough to know that he wasn’t there anymore and to ask for him. My mother, of course,

KEYS couldn’t really explain to me what it meant.” In the PEOPLE interview Keys, now a mother herself, shares how she speaks to her own children about her work with Keep A Child Alive, “My oldest is only five, so I definitely talk to him about being compassionate for people in different circumstances. When I leave, he’ll say, “Mommy, where are you going?” or “When are you coming back?” I’ll tell him, “I’m helping some kids who are just like you and they need us to help them because they’d be really sick if we didn’t.” She acknowledges that her toddler children are too young to understand the complexities of the illnesses, but that laying the foundation for compassion and understanding is still a priority of hers. All children are different and they process new information on their own accord no matter what similarities they may have in age or grade level. With that being said, when should we speak to our children about death, sickness, poverty, illnesses, and common concerns about the preservation and the dignity of human life? Are you ready to talk to your kids about HIV/AIDS? Do you believe this conversation will make a difference in their lives? We’d love to hear your thoughts. Clarissa Joan is a spiritual life coach and editor-in-chief of The Clarissa Joan Experience. She resides in Philadelphia, Penn. with her husband, their two girls, and a yorkie named Ace. Clarissa is also an expert in impact investing. She is the Communications Associate at Impact America Fund.

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November 19 - November 25, 2015 • Page 3

Westside Gazette

Broward Commissioner Marty Kiar selected to serve as Mayor Broward Commissioner Barbara Sharief selected as Vice Mayor complishments we made this year. Upgrading our traffic signalization system is one and expanding our libraries back to six days a week,� said Ryan.

Broward County also celebrated its 100th birthday this year with a series of Cen-tennial community celebra-tions. “I’m grateful for the trust and respect that you have given me in this past year,� Ryan told his fellow Commissioners. “I look

forward to the year ahead under our new Mayor.� The Broward County Charter stipulates that Commissioners, elected from single member districts, vote annually in November for the position of Mayor and Vice Mayor.

From l to r : Broward County Commissioners Mark Bogen, Dale V.C. Holness, Lois Wexler, Vice Mayor Barbara Sharief, Mayor Marty Kiar, Commissioners Tim Ryan, Stacy Ritter, Beam Furr and Chip LaMarca. BROWARD COUNTY, FL -- Broward County Commissioners recently choose Vice Mayor/Commissioner Marty Kiar to serve as Mayor and Commissioner Barbara Sharief to serve as Vice Mayor. “I’m am declaring this the ‘Year of Good News’ in Broward County,� said Mayor Kiar. “During this year I hope that each Commissioner will choose to highlight those who are doing good things in Broward. We will also showcase the good services of Broward County.� Mayor Kiar was born in Pembroke Pines and is a lifelong resident of Broward County. In 2006, Kiar was elected to serve in the Florida House of Representatives. He was re-elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2008 and in 2010. In 2012, Kiar was elected to the Broward County Commission

and served as Vice Mayor this past year. Commissioners selected Barbara Sharief to serve as Vice Mayor. Sharief served as Broward Mayor in 2014 and was the first African American female to serve as Mayor. She also served Vice Mayor in 2013. Sharief was born in South Florida and raised in Broward County. In the 2015 State of the County Address outgoing Mayor Tim Ryan said that Broward County is “running on all cylinders.� He noted that Port Everglades, Fort Lauder-dale Hollywood International Airport and Broward parks and li-

braries were operating effectively, providing residents and visitors with great service and programs. Major accomplishments this year included the 20th Anniversary of Broward County’s Human Rights Ordinance, “which remains a model for the state,� said Ryan. Expansion of the Domestic Partnership Ordinance, passage of an expanded Living Wage Ordinance, a new Broward Animal Care Shelter and progress toward becoming a “no-kill� shelter were among the highlights of the Commission. “There are also two key ac-

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Page 4 • November 19 - November 25, 2015

Westside Gazette Local nonprofit receives boots to aid youth gardening program

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State FFarm arm® YYouth outh Advisor y Board grants $33,825 to local program Advisory BROWARD COUNTY, FL -- On Nov. 13, 2015, HandsOn Broward was awarded a $33,825 service-learning grant from the State Farm® Youth Advisory Board to support its experiential youth gardening program. This is the second year that HandsOn Broward has received this competitive grant, joining 62 community organizations selected across the United States and Canada, includ-

ing seven programs in Florida. HandsOn Broward team members, State Farm® Youth Advisory Board representatives, and school and community volunteers were on hand for the check presentation and to break ground on the first garden of the grant period at Liberty Elementary School in Pompano Beach. Building upon its successful 2014-15 program, which assisted 15 elementary schools in designing and building edible

gardens, HandsOn Broward will expand the 2015-16 program to include middle and high schools. Students from the selected schools will create, build, and maintain sustainable gardens, and will learn to engage in healthy eating, nutrition, and environmental stewardship. “Thanks to the support of State Farm, we’re able to bring service-learning to thousands of students throughout Broward County,” said Dale Man-

dell, HandsOn Broward’s CEO. “We believe that hands-on experiences are particularly effective in teaching the importance of healthy living and environmental responsibility. We’re grateful to State Farm for sharing our vision.” “State Farm supports service-learning because it integrates service to the community into classroom curriculum using a hands-on approach to mastering subject material while fostering civic responsibility,”

State Farm Public Affairs Community Specialist, Jose Soto, addresses Liberty Elementary students before planting the school's new garden. said Jose Soto, State Farm community specialist for the Broward County area. “Servicelearning is an excellent way to engage students outside of the traditional ‘chalk and blackboard’ model, and the YAB really liked this project’s core goals.” The State Farm Youth Advisory Board has granted over $32 million in grant money since its inception in 2006, empowering youth to implement servicelearning in 520 communities. To learn more about HandsOn Broward’s upcoming service opportunities or to schedule a volunteer orientation at your organization or place of business, call (954) 233-1300 or visit us online at www.HandsOnBroward.org For more information, please visit http://www.statefarm.com or in Canada http:// www.statefarm.ca.

Should we criminalize HIV?

JONES By Opal Jones and Theodore (Ted) Kerr Reposted from St. Louis American, Aug. 19, 2015 In August, we saw Michael Johnson, a 23-year-old Black college student, sentenced to 30-plus years in prison on HIV criminalization-related charges. David Magnum was also sentenced to 30-plus years in prison, and Robert Smith has been held on $50,000 bail for attempting to expose a person to HIV. This is part of a disturbing trend: an ongoing criminalization of people living with HIV, at the same time as more people are living with HIV in Missouri. This prompts us to ask: Is criminalization how to deal with HIV? As the president and CEO of Doorways, an interfaith organization providing housing and supportive services for people living with HIV/AIDS, and a Doorways volunteer, we say no. Every day we see how support for people living with HIV is what is needed to end the epidemic, not criminalization, something echoed in a 1987 oped printed in the St. Louis American, “AIDS is a public health problem, not one that should be criminalized.” Written before MO. REV. STAT. § 191.677 was passed, the op-ed illustrates that even when less was known about the virus, it was understood that isolation and penalization were not answers to the crisis. Yet, since 2008, we have seen more than 15 prosecutions and arrests for HIV exposure in Missouri. Meanwhile, the number of people living with HIV in the state is increasing. In 2008, 9,877 people in Missouri were living with HIV; by 2013, the number rose to 11,704. While this reflects the good work Doorways and other care providers are doing – people with HIV are living longer – it also indicates there has not been a significant drop in new cases. (Read full story on www.thewestsidegazette.com)

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November 19 - November 25, 2015 • Page 5

South Florida flooding will mak eK atrina conditions ‘a walk in the park make Katrina park’’ By Audrey Peterman Writing for the Westside Gazette since 1985, I’ve mostly focused on changes in the built and natural environment as well as our national parks. In the 90s my husband Frank and I drew attention to the urban redevelopment efforts increasing the density of downtown redevelopment, and shared how the Black community could leverage environmental justice measures to make sure we benefit from the change. We kept you abreast of issues connected

to the restoration of the Everglades and worked with Rep. Carrie Meek to get a clause included in the federal Water Resources Development Act of 2000 stating that minorities had to be part of the economic opportunities from the restoration. So it feels surreal that in 2015 the issues have accelerated to an extreme and yet my friends and family seem almost completely unaware that South Florida is in the bull’s eye for flooding from climate change as the ocean rises in the next 15

School Board elects Osgood and Freedman

School Board members for the 2015/16 school year. (Cont'd from FP) Osgood earned both a Master’s and Doctoral degree in Public Administration from Nova Southeastern University. She also earned a Master’s of Divinity degree from New Orleans Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Abby M. Freedman, a resident of Parkland, was elected in 2012 to represent District 4. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Florida and earned a Juris Doctorate from Stetson University College of Law. Freedman is

married to Dr. Alan Freedman and is the mother of three children: Beau, Jarrod and Harrison. Following is the listing of School Board members for the 2015/16 school year: Dr. Rosalind Osgood, Chair; Abby M. Freedman, Vice Chair; Robin Bartleman, Heather P. Brinkworth, Patricia Good, Donna P. Korn, Laurie Rich Levinson, Ann Murray, Nora Rupert and Robert W. Runcie, Superintendent of Schools To learn more about The School Board of Broward County, Florida, visit browardschools.com/ schoolboard.

years. It’s bizarre to get emails from organizations around the country that use Fort Lauderdale as Ground Zero for the worst climate effects, yet few of my friends that live here even seem to know. A brief Google search for “South Florida flooding and sea level rise” will shock you with where the water is projected to be in just 15 years, 2030. Think New Orleans after Katrina, except that there will be no “after,” as this becomes the new normal. I wouldn’t blame you for thinking I sound hysterical, because any sane person would reason that if such a thing is on the horizon and there’s something we can do about it, we would all know and be involved. I can tell you categorically that cities across the country are using “adaptive” management that look at development in a whole new way, focused on dealing with the coming flooding. Professionals have made this their field of expertise, and some of them are available through our Diverse Environmental Leaders Speakers Bureau. The Mayor of Baltimore told me in a recent interview that they issued their Climate Action Plan in 2013, developed in consultation with all sectors of the community so that as many people as possible understand the threat and are part of the solution. Why are we so far behind? Recently I received an invita-

tion from the South Florida Regional Planning Council to the SE Florida Regional Climate Leadership at the Casa Marina Resort in Key West Dec. 1-3. Maybe that’s a beginning. But the way to handle something that affects all of us cannot be for a few people to huddle in a resort and decide. We need a wide scale communications effort that gets the right information to the right people through the right sources so that everyone knows what’s coming and feels that the solutions include their interests. Last week Friday, Nov. 13, members of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the world’s leading climate scientists, met

Paris attacks investigation: Latest developments between those arrested and the (Cont'd from FP) Police issued a photo of him. Following the attack at the Stade de France, police found an emergency passport or similar document identifying him as a 25-year-old Syrian using the name Ahmad al Muhammad, which authorities believe is fake. Analysis: Paris explosives are a key clue to plot The investigation — There is a “strong presumption” that a second suspect linked to the Paris attacks is still at large, an official source close to the investigation told CNN. The other suspect is Salah Abdeslam. — One of the voices heard in an ISIS video claiming responsibility for the Paris attacks is that of Fabien Clain, a French senior ISIS operative, according to a French security source. Clain, who was convicted in 2009 for his involvement in al Qaeda in Iraq recruitment effort, is suspected of having a link with a plot to attack churches in Paris in April and the thwarted attack on the high-speed Amsterdam-toParis train in August, European security officials told CNN. — German police say they’ve now arrested five men and two women in Alsdorf, though Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said there does not appear to be a close connection

Paris attacks. — Les Beguines, a A Brussels bar registered to one of the Paris attackers, Ibrahim Abdeslam, was closed for drugrelated offenses eight days before the Paris attacks, according to Molenbeek, Belgium, Mayor Francoise Schepmans. — A black Renault Clio with Belgian plates found in Paris’ 18th arrondissement, on the north side of the city, had been rented by Salah Abdeslam, the 26-year-old French citizen being sought in connection with the attacks, police sources said, according to French media outlets. — German police say their arrest tally in connection with the Paris attacks is now five: Two women and a man were arrested in an initial operation in Alsdorf, while two others were apprehended during a second operation in the same town. — Police searching two suburban Paris hotel rooms rented by Salah Abdeslam found syringes that may have been used to make the other attackers’ explosive vests, French media reported. The rooms contained pizza boxes, as well as tubes and other material that are being tested for explosives, according to the reports. — Prior to the Paris terrorist attacks, France and its allies tried to target Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the prominent ISIS member believed to have planned the attack, a French source close to the investigation said. They were unable to locate him, the source told CNN. Secretary of State John Kerry told CNN he could not confirm the report. — Officials have identified some of the suspects, while one remains on the loose and two remain unidentified. Abaaoud is believed by counterterrorism officials to be the likely link between the senior ISIS leadership and the militant group’s operatives in European countries, while Salah Abdeslam remains on the run. Officials have identified three of the suicide bombers as Frenchmen Samy Amimour, Ismael Omar Mostefai and Bilal Hadfi. The newspaper, Le Monde, reports that Salah’s older brother, Ibrahim, was one of the suicide bombers. — Salah Abdeslam was the subject of a “routine check” on a motorway in northwest Austria on Sept. 9, said Karl Heinz Grundboeck, spokesman for Austria’s Interior Ministry. The routine check did not result in any further investigation. (Read full story on www.thewestsidegazette.com)

in Miami to talk about how to get people to care about climate change. They agreed that focusing on our wallets might be the way. Flooding will cost us millions of dollars in lost property, lost revenue and loss in quality of life. I’m presuming that research showed that money is the way to our hearts. We’ve always felt it was more important to focus on the opportunity and responsibility to take care of our life support system and benefit as citizens from everything involved. The Hispanic community is getting involved. This week I received an invitation to the VotoLatino Power Summit at the Frost Art Museum at FIU, Nov. 17, at 6:30 p.m., “Defending Our Future: Fighting Climate Change in South Florida.” Where is the leadership in the Black community? It is well established that non-white Americans and people who are poor suffer the greatest hard-

ships when environmental disasters occur, and are least prepared economically to deal with them. What will it mean when the land west of the train tracks currently occupied by Black citizens suddenly becomes the only high, dry and desirable land? We should be at the front of the line talking with our government officials and requiring them to show us their plan. Since we are obviously not getting this vital information from state and local government, it falls to our elected officials, our state, local and federal representatives to make that demand. But that will not happen until we start calling the people we vote into office and demanding to know what’s happening on this issue. Ignorance will be no defense. (Audrey Peterman is an environmentalist and writer living in Fort Lauderdale. www.earthwiseproductionsinc.com)

Former ““American American Gang stster” er” Ear om a lif Gangst Earll Llo Lloyyd’s journe journeyy frfrom lifee of crime to finding God and ultimately experiencing redemption

“I ruled a notorious gang known as The Greenside. I was also on top of the River Rats Gang”. (Cont'd from FP) “When my mother and father separated and we were with our grandmother Sheryl Walker, it was then. We didn’t have any structure. My life just didn’t have any structure to it.” When young 11-year-old Earl moved to Fort Lauderdale he had already begun looking for acceptance on the streets where he found a liking for the allure and excitement that was part of the criminal element in the community. He said he brought his problems with him. By the time he became a teenager he had already dropped out of school in the seventh grade and he was involved with older guys who committed crimes which got him in the life he felt offered the excitement he was looking for. “I sought out people who were just as aggressive as I was. Crime seemed to be the answer,” he concluded. He was sent to Marianna, Fla. to reform school at 14. There were 20year-old guys there.” “I ruled a notorious gang known as The Greenside. I was also on top of the River Rats Gang,” which according to him was due to “a bowlegged girl I liked who was involved in gang activities.”

Before long Lloyd had developed quite a name for himself on the streets of Broward County. As time wore on young Lloyd discovered at the time that he “could do something better than most people-control others through fear in the criminal world. He was hired as a body guard for members of the syndicate including the likes of Pokey Baines, the head of the Irish Syndicate gang. “I was sought because I was an expert marksman, I was a fighter. I always felt that a man could never defeat me.” Little did he know what a price he would ultimately have to pay for making that decision to lead the life of a gangster and the toll he would pay. He continued a life of crime as a gang leader in South Florida and later in New York, where he fled as a fugitive of justice for a robbery which resulted in a murder charge. It was then he said that he “realized how precious life was and what it meant to be free. Everybody thought when I would take control of a major drug area and I would see it my name on the street was Tommy Sands, or TT which stood for Terrible Tommy.” He ran his drug organizations with an iron fist. At the height of his criminal career he had money and all the things that go with it - fancy cars, fine women but he said he would give it all up just to be free. “I was still being sought.” He was 25 when he fled to New York. First he fled to Queens in Long Island, N.Y. but he said it was “too laid back, too quiet. I said ‘no I’ve got to get in the jungle’.” That prompted his relocating to the Bronx, N.Y. in an area known as Fort Apache. He quickly established himself after he knocked out a local gang leader. To maintain order amongst the gang members he controlled required being the most violent of the violent. He was constantly on the lookout to protect his turf from intrusion from other rival gangs. When he was threatened by another gang leader he said, “I would always step forward. I demanded respect,” the code that gang members new had to be guarded often with their lives.

Page 6 • November 19 - November 25, 2015

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Immigrant awarded nation’s highest honor By Courtne’ Dixon, Howard University News Service WASHINGTON – Amid the nation’s contentious debate

over immigration –which has fueled demonstrations and allegations of racism — President Barack Obama awarded the nation’s highest military honor

to a Washington-area man whose mother is African and who only became a U.S. Citizen in 2001. Only three Congressional

Holiday challenges and addiction By Debbie King The holidays are both a blessing and a curse for someone who struggles with addiction. You want to be with your family, friends, and loved ones but the pull of the beast is so powerful that it consumes your life, your spirit, and your soul. To restate the old familiar adich, “I want my cake and eat it too.� What one must learn is how to “Respect the Beast to Defeat the Beast�, especially during the holidays. The holiday season is meant to partake in festivities. Where there are festivities, there are equal or more temptations. This holiday season welcome and share love, peace and joy with those who support your recovery. Here’s my message to those in recovery who want to enjoy the freedom of what this life has to offer during this holiday season. To understand and appreciate Love, Peace, Joy, and Giving. 1. BE GRATEFUL. Write a list of gratitude. Be specific in expressing the hell from which you came to appreciate the peace you now know. Writing out a list of what you’re thankful for can shift your mood and attitude. NEVER FORGET WHERE YOU COME FROM , TO APPRECIATE HOW FAR YOU HAVE COME. 2. BE ORGANIZED. Identify your holiday triggers individually and write what coping skills you can use to avoid any setbacks or distractions to your recovery program. List your Sober Support Group in its entirety. Be very selective in what invitations you accept. 3. BE REAL. Set realistic

KING goals for yourself when going out this holiday season. Don’t place unnecessary stress on yourself. Setting unobtainable goals may set you up for failure. Remember recovery is not a race; it is an ongoing marathon. 4. BE CAUTIOUS. Avoid Holiday gatherings/parties that would tempt you to relapse. Be very selective in what invitations you accept. Steer clear from any events where there is chance of substance to be present. Stay strong! Your loved ones will support you. 5. BE POSITIVE. Avoid the negative people, places and things that initially put you in harms’ way. Spend quality time with your loved ones and support group. Peace and positivity only. 6. BE GENEROUS. Go and give back to the less fortunate. Volunteer. Visit the sick and suffering. Feed the homeless.

Remind yourself that you’re not the only one going through hardship. 8. BE HELPFUL. Attend an AA meeting and help another addict in need. You may recognize your struggle may not be that big when relating to other addicts. Sometimes the best way to help yourself is to help someone else in need. Keeping things in perspective is essential for an attitude of gratitude. Don’t forget to PRAY! Never forget to say thank you for the gift of life, health and freedom. Prayer and meditation rejuvenates your spirit and allows you to clear your mind of all negatives and focus on the positive. About Debbie King She was born to boxing promoter legend Don King and his late wife Henrietta King on August 29,1961 in Cleveland, Ohio. Growing up with notable public figures, Deborah was overwhelmed by the “daily plethora of new experiences.� With her parents placing such importance on normal education, Deborah was sent to a private girls’ school in Pennsylvania so she can earn her high school diploma with some privacy. Following high school, Deborah enrolled at Baldwin Wallace College where she was a member of the National Honor Society and Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, until she transferred to the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. A Dean’s list student, Deborah at graduated from Jay College in 1983 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in criminal justice and a minor in forensic science. (Read full story on www.thewestsidegazette.com)

On Nov. 12, 2015, Opening the ceremony with prayer in the East Room of The White House, President Barack Obama awarded the Medal of Honor to Retired U.S. Army Captain Florent Groberg for conspicuous gallantry for his actions supporting Operation Enduring Freedom in Kunar, Afghanistan. (Photo by Cheriss May, Howard University News Service) Medals of Honor, have been awarded this year and only 3,513 since its inception in 1862. One now belongs to former Capt. Florent “Flo� Groberg, 32, who attended middle and high school in Bethesda, Md., and ran track for the University of Maryland. Groberg, who was born in France and became a naturalized citizen just before his graduation from Walter Johnson High School, was presented the award for saving the lives of dozens of American servicemen by foiling the plot of two suicide bombers in Kunar, Afghanistan, during his second tour. Three years ago, Groberg noticed a man acting “eery� as he and a U.S. military convoy were making their way through Afghanistan, he said on a video on an Army website describing the events. He left the formation to find that the man had a bomb strapped to his chest with a hand on the trigger. Groberg pushed the man down, but the bomb still exploded and caused the bombs of a second suicide bomber to explode prematurely.Groberg’s

split second decision saved many lives and minimized the devastation, Obama said during the White House presentation. “Capt. Groberg’s immediate actions to push the first suicide bomber away from the formation significantly minimized the impact of the coordinated suicide bombers’ attack on the formation, saving the lives of his comrades and several senior leaders,� he said. Although Groberg’s actions were swift, he could not prevent the deaths of four Americans by the bombs, Sgt. Maj. Kevin J. Griffin, Maj. Thomas E. Kennedy, Maj. Walter D. Gray and Ragaei Abdelfattah, 43, a U.S. government aid worker and a former master planner for Prince George’s County. Groberg said he was honored to receive the award. “This medal belongs to true heroes, Command Sgt Griffin, Maj.Gray, Maj. Kennedy, Ragaei Abdelfattah who made the ultimate sacrifice and didn’t come home, and it also belongs to their families,� he said. Obama said Groberg’s train-

1 out of 8 homeless people are children (under 18). Over 50% of young people in shelters and on the streets report that their parents told them to leave or knew they were leaving and didn’t care. Be thankful if you have a warm bed to sleep in at night and a parent that cares about your safety. Homelessness is real and very dangerous.

What are you

most thankful for? ELEMENTARY STUDENTS 60 words or less MIDDLE SCHOOL 125 words - 150 words HIGH SCHOOL 175 words - 225 words DEADLINE - Nov. 22nd

Please e-mail your name, grade and response to generationnext@thewestsidegazette.com The winner will receive a free GENERATION NEXT T-SHIRT! Plus, your response will be featured in our upcoming Thanksgiving issue!

November 25-27

Thanksgiving Break

Would you like to add to our calendar, send your youthful event info to: generationnext@thewestsidegazette.com

ing as a cross country runner probably influenced his actions. “Training, guts, teamwork, what made Flo a great runner made him a great soldier,� he said. “Distance running is really all about guts — and as one teammate said, Flo could ‘suffer a little more than everyone else could.’ “So day after day, month after month, he pushed himself to his limit. He knew that every long run, every sprint, every interval could help shave off a second or two off his times. And as he’d find out later, a few seconds can make all the difference.� Groberg’s leg was badly injured in the attack, requiring 33 surgeries to fix it. He said he regrets that he couldn’t save the lives of his friends and that he commemorates their sacrifices and lives with a bracelet he said he seldom takes off. “It was the worst day of my life, because even though we defeated the enemy, I lost four of my brothers,� Groberg has said.

Ways to support your child when he/she struggles academically: s Model how to struggle with a task, persevere, and succeed s Focus and reinforce your child’s efforts. s Focus on your child’s strengths while working on his or her weakness. s Be positive, diligent, and supportive. s If your child struggles with reading. 1. Expose children to reading materials that will capture their interest. 2. Keep high-interest books and reading materials on hand. 3. Be a good role model for your children. s Build reading and writing into daily activities.

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November 19 - November 25, 2015 • Page 7

Publix is Proud to Support Community News

Community Digest

WHERE SHOPPING IS A PLEASURE

Health Fair

“Taking Back The City” Free Community Health Fair & Outreach, Sunday. Nov. 22, 2015 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., at E. Pat Larkins Community Center, 520 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Pompano Beach, Fla. For more info call Vivian Bryant, Inner City Outreach Ministreis Coordinator at (954) 249-4137.

Festival

The Patch Urban Farm and Market will host its annual Fall Harvest Festival in celebration, Saturday, Nov. 21, 2015 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at 1201 W. Dania Beach Blvd., Dania, Beach, Fla. For additional info call (954) 924-6801.

Presentation

Happenings Around The City of Fort Lauderdale

Event

Dillard Class 1968 hosting their annual pre-holiday Dinner/Dance/Party, Saturday Nov. 28, 2015 at 8 p.m. until at the Northwest Federated Women’s’ Club Bldg. For ticket info contact Annette Barnes-Walters at (754) 224-7317.

Fair

Networking

* National Association of African American in Human Resources invites you to Speed Networking Mixer: · Friday, Nov. 20 – Game Night, from 7:30 p.m. to 12 midnight, stay tune for details · Saturday, Nov. 21 – Community Service, at 8:30 a.m. at Urban Farm. Stay connected for more info.

Miramar Cultural Center ArtsPark offers a free audience participatory presentation introducing Proyecto Papalotl, Saturday, Nov. 21, 2015 at 2 p.m., in the Miramar Botanical Garden, Miramar Town Center, 2400 Civic Center Place, Miramar, Fla. For additional info the Danza Mesoamerican community participatory presentation, email Education@miramarculturalcenter.org or contact Kelly Armstead at (954) 602-4519. - Free and open to the public.

Concert

Meeting

Pompano Beach Arts is proud to presents two spectacular concerts, during one weekend filled with the music of legends, The Music and Magic of Michael Jackson, Saturday, Nov. 21, 2015 at 7:30 p.m., and Windborne Symphony Queen/ Led Zeppeline, Sunday, Nov. 22, at 7:30 p.m. at Pompano Beach Arts, 41 N.E. First St., Pompano Beach, Fla. For cost and additional info call (954) 284-0141.

Dillard High School monthly class meeting, Sunday, Nov. 22, 2015 at 4:30 p.m., at the Black Firefighter’s Hall, 1621 N.W. Sistrunk Blvd., S.W. corner of N.W. 17 Ave., and N.W. Sixth St., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

EDUCATION MATTERS Every Child Deserves a Chance to Succeed.

The City of Miami Gardens to host 5th Annual Science and Engineering Fair -Award Winning, Monday, Dec. 7, 2015 with the Science and Engineering Fair Competition, from 8 a.m. – 2 p.m. at St. Thomas University, at 16401 N.W. 37 Ave., Miami Gardens, Fla. The Fair concludes, Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2015, with the Science Fair Awards Presentation, from 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m., at the Betty T. Ferguson Recreational Complex, at 3000 N.W. 199th St., Miami Gardens, Fla. For more info contact Hilary Marshall at (305) 622-8062.

* Light Up the Beach, Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2015 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., Lighting Ceremony, at A1A and Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale – Free Holiday Concert, at DC Alexander Park, 501 Seabreeze Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, Fla. For more info visit www.fortlauderdale.gov. * 2015 Turkey Trot & Paddle, Thursday, Nov. 26, 2015 from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m., at DC Alexander Park, 501 Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd., S. of Las Olas on A1A. Register now at Turkeytrotftl.com * Open Streets Fort Lauderdale, Sunday, Nov. 22, 2015 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at E. Las Olas Blvd., from S. Andrews Ave., to S.E. 15 Ave., Fort Lauderdale, Fla. For more info. Visit www.fortlauderdale.gov/ openstreets.

TODAY'S BLACK NEWS IS TOMORROW'S BLACK HISTORY

Michael J. Satz State Attorney in collaboration with Howard C. Forman, Clerk of the Courts presents “ONE STOP” SEALING AND EXPUNGEMENT WORKSHOP: · Do you have an arrest record? · Do you qualify to have your record sealed or expunged? If you were charged with a crime in BROWARD COUNTYA and the case did not result in a conviction, you may be eligible to have a single arrest record sealed or expunged. (Only cases that occurred in Broward County in State Court will be reviewed). At the Urban League of Broward County, 560 N.W. 27th Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (954) 584-0777, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2015 from 3 to 7 p.m. (ID Required) For additional info please contact the Elizabeth Honorat at the State Attorney’s Office at (954) 831-7209.

NOTARY PUBLIC ON PREMISES 545 N.W. 7th Terrace, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Monday - Friday, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Call for more info call (954) 525-1489

Happening at the Fort Lauderdale Historical Society

Fort Lauderdale Historical Society Bringing History to Life, 2015-2016 Calendar. All exhibits, events and lectures take place at the New River Inn Museum of History, 231 S.W. Second Ave., Fort Lauderdale, Fla. For time and additional info call (954) 463-4431 or www.flhc.org info@flhc.org Events * Sunday, Dec. 6 - Holiday Craft Fair * Monday, Dec. 7, 2015 Holiday Twlight Tour * Monday, Dec. 21 - Holiday Lights Boat Tour

Meeting

Dillard High School Class of 1966 meeting the Third Thursday of each month from 7 to 8 p.m., at Osswald Park, 2220 N.W. 21 Ave., Fort Lauderdale, Fla. For more info call Marvalyn Davis at (954) 587-7472 or Hattie Eckford at (954) 735-0404.

Events

· Mondays from 8 - 9 a.m., Wednesdays & Fridays, from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m., at Delevoe Park, 2520 N.W. Sixth St., Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Fitness Program for older adults free classes presented by the YMCA. For older adults interested in increasing heart health, muscle strength, flexibility, and balance. Classes taught by certified instructors and are appropriate for the very frail to fit. For more info call (954) 3578801 · Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays, 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., at Roosevelt Gardens Park, 2841 NW 11th Street, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Fitness Program for older adults free classes presented by the YMCA. For older adults interested in increasing heart health, muscle strength, flexibility, and balance. Classes taught by certified instructors and are appropriate for the very frail to fit. · Second Saturdays, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., First Time Homebuyer Workshop at The Urban League of Broward County hosts educational workshops to help prepare you to purchase your first home. Learn about programs, funding opportunities, lender requirements and more. Earn a HUD Certificate of Completion for 8 hours of participation.

TO HAVE YOUR COMMUNITY EVENTS POSTED PLEASE CALL -(954) 525-1489 FOR MORE INFO FAX -- (954) 525-1861 OR EMAIL: wgproof@thewestsidegazette.com

Multicultural Holiday Celebrations at Broward County Library

’Tis the season to celebrate holidays from different places and varied cultures. From fun arts-and-crafts events to performances to an all-day holiday open house, Broward County Libraries offers great events for all ages and interests. All events listed below are free and open to the public. - Wednesday, Dec. 2 - Holiday Crafts: Create holiday ornaments and share your holiday spirit by making one to display at the library, children, register at Youth Services desk, 3:30 to 5:30 p.m., North Lauderdale Saraniero Library, 6901 Kimberly Blvd., N. Lauderdale, Fla. For more info call (954) 3576660 - Saturday, Dec. 5 - Holiday Book and Bake Fair, refreshments, balloon animals, face painting and more, children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult, presented by Friends of the Lauderhill Towne Centre Library, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Lauderhill Towne Centre Library, 6399 W. Oakland Park Blvd., Lauderhill, Fla. For more info call (954) 357-6406 -Saturday, Dec. 5 - Make a Gift, children, 11:30 a.m.to 12 p.m., Pompano Beach Library, 1213 E. Atlantic Blvd., Pompano Beach, Fla. For more info call (954) 357-7595 -Saturday, Dec. 5 - Holiday Bauble Craft, make pretty ornaments for your holiday celebrations, ages 3 & up, 2 to 3 p.m., South Regional/Broward College Library, 7300 Pines Blvd., Pembroke Pines, Fla. For more info call (954) 201-8825 -Saturday, Dec. 5 - Celebrate the Holidays with Whole Foods Market Pembroke Pines: Holiday Party Planning Across Cultures, 1 to 3 p.m., Miramar Branch Library & Education Center, 2050 Civic Center Place, Miramar, Fla. For more info call (954) 357-8090 -Thursday, Dec. 10 - Holiday Decorations, 4 to 5:30 p.m., Jan Moran Collier City Learning Library, 2800 N.W. Ninth Ct., Pompano Beach, Fla. For more info call (954) 357-7670 -Saturday, Dec. 12 - The Magic Toy Shop, ages 6 and up, younger siblings welcome with caregiver, 2 to 2:45 p.m., Alvin Sherman Library at Nova Southeastern University, 3100 Ray Ferrero, Jr. Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, Fla. For more info call (954) 262-5477 -Saturday, Dec. 12 -Super Saturday Holiday Open House: Grupo Naidy de Colombia Performance, 10:30 to 11:30 a.m., Make A Holiday Card with Barbara Freiberg, 10:30 a.m.to 1 p.m.; The Wonderful World of Puppets Performance, 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Holidays Paper Magic and School Daze Workshop, 1 to 2 p.m.; Broward Women’s Choral Group Performance, 2 to 3 p.m., Main Library, 100 S. Andrews Ave., Fort Lauderdale, Fla. For more info call (954) 357-7444 -Saturday, Dec. 12 - Wrap it Up! Tween program, 3 to 5 p.m., South Regional/Broward College Library, 7300 Pines Blvd., Pembroke Pines, Fla. For more info (954) 201-8825 -Saturday, Dec. 12 Amazonia Holiday Concert, 3 to 5 p.m., Weston Library, 4205 Aventure Blvd., Weston, Fla. For more info (954) 357-5420

Page 8 • November 19 - November 25, 2015

Opinion

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.

The Gantt Report

From the mouths of babes By Lucius Gantt Before we get into this week’s column I’d like to first say my prayers go out to all of the families whose loved ones and/or family members were injured or killed in the recent terrorist bombings in Paris, France. Anyone that tells you the best way to please Allah or God is for you to use automatic rifles and other weapons of mass destruction and go out and murder defenseless, unarmed women, chil-

dren and babies is not only a false prophet and a hypocrite, they are a traitor to their religion and also a traitor to their race! If you’re mad at an army, go after the army and leave the children and other innocents alone. Now, the so-called mainstream media, and in some cases, the Negro media, has suggested that America’s and the world’s Black leaders are primarily 60 or 70-year-old senior citizens that have been bought and sold a long, long time ago. These imperialist puppets will lie and tell you the best way to progress is to march, the best way to end police

Racism on College Campuses By George E. Curry, George Curry Media Columnist As I followed recent events at the University of Missouri that culminated in the resignation of its president for mishandling incidents of blatant racism on the Columbia, Mo. campus, I thought back to an article I wrote as a Washington correspondent for the Chi-

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cago Tribune nearly three decades ago. The article, published Feb. 17, 1987 long before this current crop of college students were born - ran under the headline, “Racial Climate Turn Cool on Campuses.” I began the article by recounting the story of Douglas Wilson, an African American, being paired with Wade Bartley, who is White, in a dorm room at Penn State University. “Luckily for both of us, I try very hard not to be prejudice (sic), but the fact is that because we are of different races, we are very different both physically and mentally,” Bartley wrote in a term paper. “...My roommate, like most Blacks today, abuse and overextend (sic) the rights they have received.” After reading the paper, Wilson was fuming. “The two never reconciled their differences, and Wilson finally moved out and roomed with another Black student.” I wrote. “While it is not the most dramatic example, some educators have called the Penn State incident symptomatic of an increase in racial tension on the campuses of the nation’s predominantly white universities. “More vivid examples rocked the Citadel, a military academy where five white cadets dressed in Ku Klux Klan regalia burst into the room of a Black cadets, and at the University of Alabama, where a cross was burned in front of a building that was to house a Black sorority.” I also noted that a Black woman leaving her job as a telephone operator at the University of Pennsylvania was called derogatory names and was struck by a bottle of urine thrown from a dormitory window. At Smith College, an elite women’s institution in Northampton, Mass., the minority cultural center was defaced with the inscriptions, “Niggers, chinks and spics stop your complaining” and “Niggers go home.” Two Black students at the State University of New York at Albany returned to their dorm and was met by a sign attached to their door reading, “We don’t want niggers on our floor. Leave tomorrow or die.” (Read full story on www.thewestsidegazette.com)

brutality and misconduct is to pray and the best way to end exploitation and oppression is to have a seat, or sitin! Oh, my brothers and sisters, you’ve been misled, you’ve been okey doked, you’ve been conned and you’ve been fooled! Don’t get this twisted, our good and faithful elders deserve love and respect but we have to stop being bamboozled by these modern day poverty pimps and “rock star civil rights leaders” that fly into your town on a jet, get picked up in a limo, ride to your church, give a fake played out speech or sermon, take up a bountiful collection from the poor, hurt, mistreated congregation and then leave town, leaving you broke and still mistreated! Well, The Gantt Report has been writing about what you should do but you won’t read it. Lucius Gantt has been saying it but you don’t listen. But when media devils like ESPN and Fox news report about it, now you think you should believe it! You saw Roots. Ever since slavery days, our future has been in the hands and minds of our youth! The Freedom Riders were young adults, the lunch counter protesters were kids in college, even the racist system of apartheid in South Africa began to crumble only after South African children stood up, protested and fought against the use of the Afrikaans language, which was the language forced on them by their Dutch oppressors! Today, the boys and young men on a Missouri college football team showed

the old Toms, Jemimas, Jezebels and Sambos how to get the 21st century oppressor’s attention! Prayer is good, but justice, liberty and correctness is not so much about the prayer, the march or the holding of hands and locking arms to sing We Shall Overcome. In a capitalist society like America, it’s all about the Benjamins! The athletes and students at the University of Missouri got exactly what they wanted when they decided to hurt the school’s cash flow. Missouri and every other major college in America, uses and abuses Black, and other, athletes. They make millions for themselves and make millions to pay coaches and they make millions to pay their friends to provide products and services desired by the college teams! Those young students united and got what they wanted, an insensitive, uncaring devilish school president to resign! Young people, listen to me now, read this column and take notes! Capital is the primary motivating factor in any capitalist country! Focus less on the rally and the march and focus more on the money! Just think what would happen if Black and other athletes that can’t get a bus ticket to go home, can’t buy a ball cap or a shirt, that can’t afford Uber or a taxi ride, that can’t afford to go see a movie, united and said we want to make money off of college games like the college devils do? (Read full story on www.thewestsidegazette.com)

Black voting education and action in Florida in that our ancestors fought the 2016 Campaign something for and some even died, but many By Roger Caldwell As the 2016 election cycle ramps up in Florida, the success of the Black vote will be determined by the Black Women vote and organization. In 2008 and 2012, Black women had the highest turnout of any group, with 60 percent of 18 to 29-year-old Black women hitting the polls in 2012 despite a national decline. Black women all over the country have already started educating themselves about voting through its Power of the Sister Vote, launched by Essence magazine last month. This is very important in Florida, because there will be a tour in Orlando, and this is the beginning of a statewide organization throughout the state. As more sisters in Florida get organized, and registered to vote, Black men must step up to the plate. In 2014, the Black community in Florida did a poor job going to the polls, and the Republicans won every powerful office in the state. With 2.5 million Blacks registered to vote in Florida, the majority are members of the Democratic Party. But many Black registered voters in Florida believe that our issues are not addressed by the Florida Democratic Party. This year is the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, but there appears to be no excitement and enthusiasm for this achievement in the Florida Black community. Voting rights is

young Black voters are not registered, and many may not vote in 2016 election. They think voting is a sham, and it does not matter what politician wins in the election, because they all are corrupt. But, if Black Lives Really Matter, it is time for Blacks in Florida to take action and start educating each other that our vote is our voice. President Obama would not have won Florida, if Blacks did not go to the polls and vote. If more Blacks, young and old are registered to vote in Florida, and we vote as a bloc, more Blacks and Democrats will be voted into office, because voting percentages are down. In the Orlando mayoral election in 2015, only 15 percent of the registered voters in the city went to the polls and voted. If 500,000 new Blacks are registered in Florida, and the 2.5 million Blacks already registered, vote as a bloc, we can start the transformation of Florida into a Blue state. Black women in Florida must wake up the sleeping giant in the Black Florida vote. A Black united front must start with Black women coalitions, and Black men must get engaged and be on board. Many Black men in Florida are not able to vote, because of their criminal disenfranchisement. The number of Black felons in Florida has ballooned significantly, due to the growing number in the Black prison population, but Black men can still vote if they make voting a major issue. (Read full story on www.thewestsidegazette.com)

Recollections of my 1995 article on the business of college athletics danced in my head when I heard the news about the University of Missouri football team’s refusal to play until the president of that University, Tim Wolfe, resigned or was dismissed. The players said, “due to his negligence toward marginalized students’ experience” and his lax attitude regarding racial issues on campus, they would no longer participate in football activities. Ultimately, Tim Wolfe resigned. As I noted in 1995, and in several articles on college athletics and the billions of dollars they generate, money is the name of the game. When coaches of college teams earn several million dollars per year and half-billion dollar

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.

stadiums are being built, the actual laborers, the players, get lost in the shuffle. Well, the players on the University of Missouri football team are far from being invisible as they are making a statement that has divulged an economic vulnerability. There are lessons to be learned and actions to be replicated from this case. According to an article on CBS Sports, “Canceling game with BYU would cost Mizzou $1,000,000.” Everything boils down to dollars, if you look deeply enough, and the young men on Missouri’s team are illuminating that reality by their actions. The same thing could be done in professional athletics as well, in an effort to change the business-as-usual approach to racial inequities and mistreatment in the general society. It would be much more effective than Tshirts and hoodies. Instead of wearing shirts with a nice-sounding slogan on them, or hoodies that connote illegal killings of Black folks, Black armbands, or writing something on their shoes, Missouri football players chose the “nuclear option,” as some in Congress would call it. They put their prospective livelihoods and their scholarships on the line by actually doing something substantive rather than symbolic in response to their legitimate concerns about the conditions on their campus.

By Lee A. Daniels, George Curry Media Columnist If you read or listen to much of the media, you have to be wondering what would cause Black college students and their allies among other students and faculty at two prominent universities to stage nonviolent, institution-shaking protests - one of which resulted in the sudden resignation of two of the in-stitution’s top officials. Are these disruptions at the University of Missouri and Yale University the result of student protesters using “political correctness” and “mob rule” to threaten the very foundation of “free speech” and “freedom of expression” and “civilized discourse” that should be the basis of these institutions’ existence? That’s what one could surmise from the hysterical reaction coming from many quarters of the mainstream and online media. The reality, however, is far different. The reality is that today, at the dawn of the 21st century, Black college students and other students of color, on predominantly White campuses in very small numbers, continue to face what Blacks at White colleges have always had to navigate: an environment in which there are manifold signs they’re not really welcome. Too often, their interaction with White students, faculty and administrators is far from being “coddled” - a word and sentiment that reeks of the central justification for the notorious 1896 Supreme Court Plessy decision validating “separate but equal” doctrine as the law of the land. That’s why the protests at Yale and the state of Missouri’s flagship university campus (Mizzou) underscore what’s always been a fundamental question for Black collegians at White colleges: What should be the response to the continual words and actions of some significant number of White students and faculty in these communities of higher learning that are intended to denigrate them and deny them their place as full-fledged members of that community? (Read full story on www.thewestsidegazette.com)

Are you better off in 2015 than in 2009?

By Don Valentine

The sacrifice these young people are making cannot be overstated, and I commend them for being strong and committed enough to put core values before fame. Fortunately, they won their game Saturday against Brigham Young University 20-16, upping their record to 5-5 for the season. They took a principled stand against racism. Other athletes have already fought that battle and some are still paying the price decades later. Tommie Smith, John Carlos, Muhammad Ali, Curt Flood, and Craig Hodges, just to name a few, took their stands against the system and took the blows that their peers were unwilling to take. They paid a hefty price for having the temerity to stand up and speak out. The Missouri football players now find themselves in a crucible of consciousness, and we should stand with them and assure that they do not suffer the same fate as their forerunners. If they are “Blacklisted” by the NFL, Black people - and other sympathizers should boycott NFL games. The same goes for Head Coach Gary Pinkel who took the unusual step of standing with his players.

That famous question ushered in Ronald Reagan to a 2 term Presidency. Let me posit that you and the rest of the United States are better off than when President Bush left office. The current administration is widely criticized as one of worst in American history. Not only do the current conservative pundits from Rush Limbaugh to Sean Hannity espouse that view, there are a plethora of articles extolling how worthless this President has been to the U.S. Moreover, seminal publications from the respected Brooking’s institute, to the Washington Times and marginal blogs like “Forward Progressive.com” have all supported the concept that this President is one of the worst of all time. Let’s examine it from the above Reagan perspective. In 2009 the country was mired in 2 multi-Billions dollar armed conflicts. The widely acknowledged malfeasance used to pull the U.S. and allies into the war in Iraq has to put that administration into the worst 10 of all time. Consider that the U.S. Department of Defense reported in May 29 2012 that we had 4,491 U.S. personal killed in the Iraq war. That is a well researched number, due to the necessity of military paper work that has to be processed. The Associated Press reported on April 14, 2009 that 110,600 Iraqi’s had been killed in the war. The current President is clearly, not responsible for the death of over 115,000 people and we have not factored in the amount of deaths from our allies. Truth be told, I voted for Mitt Romney. I was a fan of his Mass. health plan. That is almost the same paradigm the current President implemented. For his effort to implement some form of affordable health care he has been routinely vilified.

(Read full story on www.thewestsidegazette.com)

(Read full story on www.thewestsidegazette.com)

University of Missouri’s football team wins on and off the field By James Clingman

Demonizing Black student protest

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

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 PASTOR 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"

Westside Gazette 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.

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!

St Paul United Methodist Church 244 S.E. Second Avenue Deerfield Beach, Florida 33341 (954) 427-9407 EMAIL EMAIL:: Stpaulmeth@bellsouth.net WEBSITE WEBSITE:: saintpauldeerfield.com

Rev. Dr. Jimmie L. Brown Senior Pastor

SERVICES

Sunday School .................................................................................... 10 a.m. Sunday Worship ................................................................................ 11 a.m. Bible Study (Tuesday) ....................................................... 11 a.m. & 7.p.m.

WEEKLY SERVICES & EVENTS SUNDAY

Obituaries

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

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.

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

Mount Hermon A.M.E. Church Reverend Henry E. Green, Jr., Pastor 401 N.W. 7th Terrace, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33311 Phone: (954) 463-6309 FAX 954 522-4113 Office Hours: Tuesday - Friday 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Email infor@mthermonftl.com

SUNDAY CHURCH SERVICES Worship Service ..................................................................... 7:30 & 10:30 a.m. Fifth Sunday ONLY .................................................................................... 10 a.m. Church School ........................................................................................ 9:15 a.m. BIBLE STUDY: Wednesday ....................................................................... 10 a.m. Gems & Jewels Ministry Senior Wednesday Wednesday (Bible Study) .................................................... 12 Noon & 7 - 8 p.m. Daily Prayer Line ...................................................................................... 6 a.m. (712)432-1500 Access Code296233#

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

Dr. James B. Darling, Jr., Pastor/Teacher 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) Christian Growth & Orientation .................................. 8:30 a.m. But be doers of the Word - James 1:22 nkjv - “A Safe Haven, and you can get to Heaven from here”

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

To Have Y our Chur ch placed in our Chur ch Your Church Church Dir ector oday (954) 525-1489 Director ectoryy, call us TToday

145 NW 5th Ave., Dania Beach, FL 33004 (954) 922-2529

Senior Pastor

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

Rev. Dr. Ileana Bosenbark, Senior Pastor

St. Ruth Missionary Baptist Church

Dr. Marcus D. Davidson,

Faith United Church of Christ

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

November 19 - November 25, 2015 • Page 9

James C. Boyd Funeral Home FREEMAN Funeral services for the late Annie Pearl Freeman – 87 were held Nov. 14 at James C. Boyd’s Memorial Chapel with Rev. Clarence Gallager officiating. Interment: Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens (Central). GILES Funeral services for the late Baby Girl Shallom Giles were held Nov. 13. Interment: Sunset Memorial Gardens. LITTLE Funeral services for the late Earl Dyrone Little, Jr. – 41 were held Nov. 14 at James C. Boyd’s Funeral Home. REESE Funeral services for the late Juanita Reese – 67 were held Nov. 14 at James C. Boyd’s Memorial Chapel with Elder Dennis J. Williams, Sr officiating. Interment: Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens.

McWhite's Funeral Home BAKER Funeral services for the late Biella Vincent Baker - 73 were held Nov. 14 at Grace Fellowship Center Church of God with Bishop Lascelles Cammock

officiating. Interment: Forest Lawn Central. BOODLAL Funeral services for the late Charlitha Tameka Williams – Boodlal - 33 were held Nov. 16 Elder Vandy Prophet, Sr officiating. ISAACS Funeral services for the late Linden F. Isaacs – 57 were held Nov. 15 at Lauderhill Seventh day Adventist Church with Elder Brathwaite officiating. Interment: Lauderdale Memorial Park. KNOWLIN Funeral services for the late Mother Retha Mae Knowlin – 77 were held Nov. 14 at McWhite’s Funeral Home with Pastor E. Victor Robertson officiating. Interment: Forrest Lawn Memorial Gardens. TAYLOR Funeral services for the late Sylvia Denease Simmons Taylor – 55 were held Nov. 14 at McWhite’s Funeral Home Chapel Rev. Arthur Huff officiating.

Roy Mizell & Kurtz Funeral Home IRVIN Funeral services for the late Mother Stella Pearl Irvin – 84

WORSHIP SERVICES Wednesday (NOON DAY PRAYER) ............................................. 12 -1 p.m. Wednesday (PRAYER MEETING & BIBLE STUDY) .................... 645 p.m. Sunday Worship Service ................................................................. 10 a.m. Fifth Sunday Worhip Service ............................................................ 8 a.m.

Williams Memorial CME “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

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 I accept the way I look? By Carey Kinsolving and friends (Part Two of Three) “I can learn to accept my appearance as a unique creation of God if I could have a little more money so that maybe I can get a pony!” says Madeline, 10. First you get the pony, and then you’ll want the hat, western shirt and boots. Everyone wants a pony. It’s something that we desire to make us look better. But after we get our pony, there’s always another one just over the horizon. For years, my pony has been a baby blue Jaguar convertible. If I could only get a Jag, I know I would look sooo much better. But then, I would have to have the little sports car hat and driving gloves as well. “I can be happy with the way I look by remembering when Seth’s sister said I look cute,” says Joshua, 6. Hey, if Seth’s sister says you’re cute, that’s great. But what if another girl says you look like a bull with buck teeth? What happens then? Grant, 11, has something to say about this: “Throughout my life, people called me names because that’s the way most people think about my looks. God created me, and you should know God created you the way you are for a reason.” Only the divine perspective can lift us above the chatter of people who try to get ahead by name calling. Every time I fly on an airplane, I’m always amazed at how quickly the people and cities below become so small. If you could travel to the moon, the entire Earth would appear were held Nov. as a dot. 13 at First Bap(Read full story on tist Church www.thewestsidegazette.com) Piney Grove with Rev. Elder Kenneth Taylor Sr. officiating. Interment: Sunset Memorial Gardens. LAMBERT Funeral services for the late John Edward Lambert - 65 were held Nov. 14 at Mt. Nebo Baptist Church with Rev. Kito D. March officiating. Interment: Sunset Memorial Gardens. THARPE Funeral services for the late Sarah Maw W a l k e r Tharpe – 78 were held Nov. 14 at Mt. Bethel Baptist Church with Rev. Jo Branch officiating. Interment: Sunset Memorial Gardens.

Page 10 • November 19 - November 25, 2015

BUSINESS

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Black women demand for policy changes to help spur minority-owned businesses By Victor Ochieng

FUNdraising Good Times #GivingTuesday By Pearl and Mel Shaw

If you care about our dollars, you should care about our businesses. Call and have your Ad placed on this page (954) 525-1489 or E-mail

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Have you heard of Giving Tuesday? Thanksgiving is all about giving thanks for the blessings in our lives. Black Friday and Cyber Monday kick off the holiday shopping season. Then there’s Giving Tuesday which, as you may guess, is all about giving – this time to nonprofits. Founded in 2012, Giving Tuesday will be celebrated this year on December 1st. What began as a partnership between New York City’s 92nd Street Y and the United Nations Foundation has grown into a day of giving that engages over 30,000 organizations worldwide. It’s a big deal. If you visit GivingTuesday.org you will find toolkits, case studies, and ideas. The website has suggestions for donors as well as non-profits. The section on “ideas” is rich in suggestions for how families, businesses and schools can get involved. There are even ideas for city-wide engagement. Tips for nonprofits. Learn everything you need to know to launch a Giving Tuesday campaign. There’s a link to the Knight Foundation’s Giving Day Playbook which includes so many tools helping ensure a successful Giving Tuesday campaign. The playbook includes sections on planning, outreach, day-of logistics, follow-up and assessment, and resources. This playbook is an excellent tool. It

covers just about everything: processing payments, sample tweets, crisis management... GivingTuesday.org has suggestions to increase year-end giving, and links to download logos and graphics that you can modify to integrate your logo or use as is. If you haven’t yet started, it’s not too late. Tips for donors. Giving Tuesday has a Great Giving Toolkit that includes topics such as “How much can I afford to give?” and “How will my donation be used?” and “Does my company offer a matching gift program?” The toolkit is about more than Giving Tuesday – it can help you throughout the year. As a donor, you will get inspired by so many emotional appeals that grab your heart. As you review these, consider how each nonprofit fits into your plan for giving. What?!?! A plan for giving? Yes, we recommend thinking through your philanthropy. Set aside money to give based on emotion, whim, or because a friend asks. (Read full story on www.thewestsidegazette.com)

Minority businesses have been going through several policy challenges that make it difficult for them to grow. With government contracts mainly going to the big companies, it’s a challenge for the small companies owned by minorities to penetrate the market and compete with the big ones. It’s for such reasons that many business people and lobbyists such as Andrea Harris keep putting more pressure on the government to effect some policy changes that will provide a lifeline for smaller companies. Andrea Harris, the founder of N.C. Institute for Economic Development, has been on forefront on fighting to open opportunities for women-and-minority-owned businesses. It’s through her efforts that in 2014, she earned a lifetime achievement award from the Triangle Business Journal. During the Black Women in Business Conference held on Thursday at the PNC Arena in Raleigh, Harris shared her various efforts to expand market accessibility for minority and women-owned businesses. The conference was attended by more than 20 women business leaders and was centered on finding ways to create, identify, and explore business opportunities. To provide ready information on how minority businesses are nurtured, Harris’ latest effort is to lobby the federal government to make it mandatory for government contractors to report on details of the number

of minority subcontractors that they work with. This will be in addition to what the federal government currently requires of government contractors such as reporting on women-owned businesses and veteran-owned businesses that they work with. Harris believes that if the government does that, it will inspire the contractors to do more with minority-owned businesses. Currently, contractors aren’t required to make monthly payments to sub-contractors, something that Harris believes negatively affects small businesses. This is why she wants Congress to pass a law requiring contractors to pay monthly. “If you are a small business, particularly one owned by an African American woman, you can’t wait 90 days for payments to go through,” Harris says. “Your banker doesn’t care what your contract says. That’s driven a lot of firms to stop doing contracting work.” (Read full story on www.thewestsidegazette.com)

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Miami Heat: How the defense became legit

November 19 - November 25, 2015 • Page 11 Westside Gazette Miami Heat: Layoff Goran Dragic for a bit, please & thank you By D’Joumbarey A. Moreau

By D’Joumbarey A. Moreau It’s very early, yes. The season is only nine games in yes. But it’s ok to get optimistic about the Miami Heat. If you’ve been very impressed with the way that Miami has played their last nine games then good for you because it’s warranted. Miami has been playing their tails off and one of the reasons why they’ve been winning games is because they’ve gone back to their winning roots. On the court, the Heat franchise was built on a few ideas. It was built on sacrifice, hard work, and teamwork. It was built on staying in front of your opponent and not allowing him to take and make easy shots. The Heat franchise was built on championship caliber de-

ASHLEY HENRY SUN CONFERENCE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Florida Memorial’s Ashley Henry is this week’s Sun Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Week. Henry averaged 17.5 points and 12.5 rebounds over two games for the Lions. She tallied 13 points and 10 boards in a 56-54 loss to Edward Waters. She followed that up with a 22 point, 15 rebound effort in a four point loss to Florida A&M. She shot 57.1 percent (12-of-21) from the field on the week.

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. Nov. 5, 12, 19, 26, 2015 IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE 17TH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, IN AND FOR BROWARD COUNTY, FLORIDA CASE NO: 15013092 (40-91) VARION JOSE HARRIS, Petitioner and DEBBIE LEE BROWN, Respondent

NOTICE OF ACTION FOR DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE (NO CHILD OR FINANCIAL SUPPORT) TO: Debbie Lee Brown Respondent's last known address 4811 Northwest 19th St. Lauderhill, Florida 33313 YOU ARE NOTIFIED that an action for dissolution of marriage has been filed against you and you are required to serve a copy of your written defenses, if any, to it on Varion Jose Harris, whose address is 4811 Northwest 19th St., Lauderhill, Florida 33313 on or before December 17, 2015 and file the original with the clerk of this Court at 201 Southeast Sixth St., Fort Lauderdale, Floirda 33301 before service on Petitioner or immediately thereafter. If you fail to do so, a default may be entered against you for the relief demanded in the petition. Dated November 2, 2015 HOWARD C. FORMAN As Clerk of the Circuit Court Edna Edmond, Deputy Clerk Nov. 5, 12, 19, 26, 2015

fense. This year Miami looks like they are back to their bread and butter because the Heat have started playing the defense that we’ve been accustomed to seeing in the past decade and a half. Utah Jazz head coach Quin Snyder, who leads one of the best defensive teams in the NBA said this when he spoke about the Heat’s defense. “They’re one of the best defensive teams in the league, if not the best” said Snyder. When the praise about your team defense comes from other opponents, it’s truly a compliment. Don’t look now but the Heat look like they are charged up. Outside of the Cleveland Cavaliers who hold an 8-2 record and were on an eight-game winning streak, the Heat isn’t too far behind from the Eastern Conference leaders. Currently, the Heat is in the fourth spot in the Eastern Conference but they are only two games behind Cleveland for the No. 1 spot. In addition, they’ve been playing basketball at a high level and they are tied for the secondlongest winning streak in the Eastern Conference. The Heat are surging at the perfect time because the beginning portion of their schedule is mainly played at home and they are in the middle of a long home stretch where they’ve already started on a three-game winning streak. (Read full story on www.thewestsidegazette.com)

Miami Hurricanes: It’s time to start looking forward ByD’Joumbarey A. Moreau Depression, it’s a terrible feeling. That feeling of depression affects SCOTT many of us today in our normal lives and it plays a big part in our future if we don’t control it. For most fans of the Miami Hurricanes, watching them play against the North Carolina Tar Heels was depressing. It was depressing to watch Miami get destroyed. It was depressing to know that the season was over before our eyes. Fans expected Miami to play strong and hungry since they were playing for their ACC Championship lives. Instead, watching Miami play on Saturday night in one of the biggest games of the year was depressing because for the second straight time against a ranked opponent it looked like we didn’t even deserve to play on the field with our opponent. Who could forget the Clemson game? Now we have the North Carolina game to add to the mantle as well. For many people, their depression about this team started to kick in at different times in the game. The minute that we saw North Carolina’s wide receiver/return specialist Ryan Switzer caught a punt, gathered himself with two steps, made one defender miss and then break up the sideline for a 78 yard touchdown return. It signaled the beginning of the end for a season that Miami could’ve found themselves playing in the ACC Championship game. That punt return was symbolic for Miami because it only marked what everyone has been sharing for years, this program needs to stop living in the past and start working to build their future. What was really disappointing to see is how undisciplined this team is. (Read full story on www.thewestsidegazette.com)

DRAGIC

The Miami Heat have been missing a legitimate starting point guard for the past five years. Before in the past people would get upset because they felt that the point guard position was the final piece to the roster that would make it whole. Well now that Goran Dragic is finally in town and he’s starting the Heat finally have a legitimate starting point guard. To start the season, Dragic hasn’t been his normal self. On the year, Dragic’s averaging a pedestrian 10.6 points, and four assists per game, numbers from a point guard that would have him sitting on most NBA benches. But what most people don’t know is what really has been missing from his game has to do more about his personal life than it does with playing basketball. Dragic for some time

has been away from his family and it’s a real problem to his game. When a man gets married to a woman they get joined together as one. Who can survive while they are missing the other half of their body? Dragic has been without his wife and two children, including a new infant baby girl, for almost three months. However, now that Dragic has been finally reunited with his family, fans should get excited about how well he’ll start to play with his focus being back on hoops instead of worrying about the well-being of his family without his presence. “It’s going to be much easier, to go to practice, come back into a full house, I can talk with somebody. I still can talk with the players, but it’s not the same, you know” said Dragic. (Read full story on www.thewestsidegazette.com)

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Page 12 • November 19 - November 25, 2015

Westside Gazette Finishing Fence of slain Baltimore father becomes cause came the 295th homicide victim in a city where murders have now climbed past 300. On a bright, crisp Sunday morning, dozens gathered to pitch in and help complete that dream. Attorney Ivan Bates, a friend of Fenwick’s father, helped launch the event through social media and a hashtag #FinishTheFence. “We decided we had to do something,” said Bates, who is also defending one of the police officers in the death of Freddie Gray. “I was able to get out of court early, go over to Home Depot, and I think I had the easy part. I was just getting the supplies.” Keith Talley, a pharmaceutical company employee who also is a good friend of Fenwick’s father, echoed those statements. By Briahnna Brown Howard University News Service BALTIMORE, MD. — Concerned residents, friends, political figures and police officers came together to finish what a slain father had started. Kendal Fenwick, 24, was gunned down outside his home

“Our mission here was to just finish what he had started to just show solidarity throughout the community to say we support him and we support their family,” Talley said. There was a strong sense of community among the friends and strangers that came to help finish what Fenwick started. Many people were ready to pitch in, most wearing their old and worn jeans, sweatshirts and boots that would soon be covered in fragrant dirt and grass. Some even came straight from church service, still in their Sunday best, to show their support. Jeremy Eldridge, also an attorney and a family friend, walked up to the house with boxes of donuts and coffee to help the volunteers get the day started.

on Park Heights Avenue in west Baltimore. He was in the process of building a fence around his backyard to keep drugs and drug dealers away from his family home. A truck driver, Fenwick wanted to give his three children a safe haven in the midst of a city plagued by violence. For his actions, police said, he be-

Divers discover TTuskegee uskegee Airmen’s secr ets in Lake Hur on secrets Huron By Michael Cottman, Urban News Service

(Cont'd from FP) Florence was born and raised in South Florida and has lived here all of her life. As a law student at the University of Florida, she got “behind the scenes” insight into the daily life and responsibilities of a Judge when she worked and learned under the tutelage of both Judge Jennifer D. Bailey and Judge Ohlman. Florence was also part of a team that aided indigent clients in the pursuit of post-conviction relief based on trial court irregularities in sentencing. Prior to attending the University of Florida, Florence attended and graduated from Barry University in Miami Shores, FL where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, Summa Cum Laude. In addition to being a Criminal and Civil Trial Attorney, Florence has been involved in the community of South Florida, volunteering her time with Restoration of Rights Workshops, Broward Humane Society, Share-a-Pet Pet Therapy, and student mentoring mentoring. Professionally, she mentors for the Florida Bar Young Lawyer’s Law Student Division Mentoring Program, and is a member of several local organizations including T.J. Reddick Bar Association, Florida Association of Women Lawyers, and the Broward County Women Lawyers Association. Florence has also been a guest legal analyst and commentator for Perspectives, WSRF 1580 AM and a sports photographer for Eastside Boxing. Florence’s parents taught her first-hand the motto of

“helping the lesser of your brothers” when they began delivering turkeys to neighbors who couldn’t afford them at Thanksgiving. Florence and her family continued doing this for 15 years. Florence and her husband also volunteered their time visiting a local nursing home and spending time with those who did not have families of their own. Florence met her wonderful husband Richard “Bill” Barner in Fort Lauderdale nearly ten years ago and the two have been inseparable since. They faced personal struggle in 2013 when they learned, early into her second pregnancy, that she and her unborn baby could perish due to complications. She made the tough decision to suspend her career and remain on full bed rest for nearly 6 months. During that 6 months, family tragedy struck again when Florence suddenly and unexpectedly lost her beloved sister-in-law. “That was terribly hard on me, my husband, my career, the rest of my family,” said Florence of a tough 2013. “But I did what I had to do, my husband did what he had to do, and I eventually returned to the courtrooms that I love so much as a healthy mother of two. “These experiences made me stronger. They made me who I am and more than anything else these experiences gave me the perspective needed to serve the people of Broward County.” Florence will appear on the Aug. 30, 2016 ballot for County Court Judge, Group 3. She can be reached at Florencebarner4judge@gmail.com.

each and every one of our victims. “There’s an unfinished life behind each and every one of Baltimore’s homicide victims, and to do this today, I think it’s a shining example. Hopefully, it sets the tone going forward that we just can’t accept violence and we can’t accept the taking of such an innocent and productive life.” The rate of homicides in Baltimore this week climbed to 301, something the city has not seen since the 1990s. The homicide rate began rising in May of this year after the riots following a march in memory of Gray, who died in police custody after being taken to jail in police van. Six police officers, three of them Black, have been charged in Gray’s death. (Read full story on www.thewestsidegazette.com)

Homeless Awareness (Cont'd from FP)

Meet Broward Judicial Candidate Florence Barner

The Barner familiy

“We just had a lot of people who were hurt and didn’t know what to do with the pain,” Eldridge said, “and in manual labor we are able to find catharsis.” About 60 people pitched in to help, so many, Talley said, that they ran out of tools and gloves for the workers. More than a dozen police officers from the department’s Community Partnership Division were digging holes and placing posts to help finish the fence. Baltimore’s newly-elected police commissioner, Kevin Davis, came to lend support. Davis said he was pleased that so many officer volunteered to help. “What a way to honor Kendal Fenwick,” Davis said. “I wish we could do this for every person whose life is taken in Baltimore, because there’s a story behind

For Erik Denson, a NASA engineer at the Kennedy Space Center, descending 30 feet into the depths of Lake Huron to help preserve the legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen was a cherished, unforgettable experience. “I embarked on a mission of a lifetime,” said Denson, a graduate of Howard University. “One that would touch our hearts and souls.” Early last summer, Denson and six other underwater explorers made history by conducting a five-day archeological survey of a Bell P-39Q Airacobra fighter plane piloted by 2nd Lt. Frank Moody, a 22-year-old Tuskegee Airman from Los Angeles. After crashing his plane on April 11, 1944, his body washed ashore in Port Huron, Michigan, a few months later. The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of fighter and bomber pilots who fought in World War II and were the first AfricanAmerican military aviators in the U.S. Armed Forces. Moody was flying a training mission over Lake Huron when his aircraft malfunctioned. He was one of seven documented Tuskegee Airman whose planes nosedived into the Great Lakes as they trained to battle the Nazis in Europe. David Losinski, a helicopter pilot with the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, and his son, Drew, were in a boat helping the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality on an unrelated project when they spotted the submerged door of Moody’s airplane. Losinski discovered Moody’s plane on April 11, 2014 — 70 years to the day after the pilot’s accident — and alerted archeologists from the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Denson, who works in eastern Florida, was part of the seven-person volunteer team that documented the wreckage, which included the engine, tail, gauge panel, wings and a radio. It marked the first time that Black underwater explorers helped examine the remains of a submerged airplane once piloted by a Tuskegee Airman. “As an alumnus of Tuskegee, I had heard of the Airmen, but at that time in my life, it didn’t have much meaning,” said Ernest Franklin, who was part of last summer’s mission. “But

as the week progressed . . . I started getting closer to 2nd Lt. Frank Moody, the pilot that died in the plane we were documenting.” The Tuskegee Airmen formed the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group of the United States Army Air Forces. When the pilots of the 332nd Fighter Group put red paint on the tails of their P-47s and later, P-51s, the nickname Red Tails was coined. But despite their superior military abilities, they were still subjected to the South’s racially segregationist Jim Crow laws. (Read full story on www.thewestsidegazette.com)

The difference in the homeless situation now is that the weeds (problem) have left the vacant lots, come into our yards and now they are creeping into our homes. We know the homeless personally. One would like to believe that we are so inclined to concern ourselves with the plight of our families that we will do what is necessary to elevate or assist them in overcoming unwanted situations, even if it’s for a little while. We like to honestly accept as truth that there are those who want to be homeless; all homeless people are not mentality insane. Even if they are, you aren’t, so what would make you feel like that? You just don’t care-it’s not me so why should I give a damn! That’s the same kind of attitude that seeps into the spirit and that caused the first murder. “Then the LORD said to Cain, ‘Where is your brother Abel?’ ‘I don’t know,’ he replied. ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’” Genesis 4:9 Yes, we are committing murder when we force ourselves to turn aside from addressing the issues of homelessness. We will have to one way or another. Up close and personal or from a distance, homelessness is more pervasive and all-encompassing than ever before and if unchecked, it will swallow us up whole. As with any problem or task, the first thing to do is to prepare yourself. Arm yourself with information; seek out people who are experienced in the matter and understand the goal that you are trying to accomplish. “But more than anything else put God’s work first and do what he wants. Then the other things will be yours as well.” Matthew 6:33 If we are truly concerned about where we are headed spiritually, then our outlook on the less fortunate should direct our course of action while we wrestle with which position we should be in to lend a hand. Family members or not, we are all one family. The king will answer, “Whenever you did it for any of my people, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you did it for me.” Matthew 25:40 Homelessness has become more than being with out a home. Must we continue to make it to mean without a family? “When I stopped looking and visited the homeless under the tree, I discovered that those homeless people looked a lot like me. So I began to visit more regularly and discovered that they did not want sympathy; what they wanted was to be treated like family.” — Bobby R. Henry, Sr. ONE LOVE, ONE GOD, ONE FAMILY.

Mae C. Jemison, astr onaut, astronaut, physician Born in 1957, in Decatur, Ala. and raised in Chicago, Ill. Daughter of Charlie (a custodian and contractor) and Dorothy (a teacher) Jemison. Education: Stanford University, degree in chemical engineering and AfroAmerican Studies, 1977; Cornell University, M.D., 1981. Her career includes: Medical intern, Los Angeles, Calif., beginning 1981; staff doctor with Peace Corps in West Africa, 1983-85; CIGNA Health Plans of California, Los Angeles, general practitioner, 1985-87; NASA, Houston, Tex., astronaut, 1987-92; Dartmouth College, teaching fellowship, 1993 -present The Jemison Group, founder, 1993-present. Memberships: Board of directors, Scholastic, Inc.; board of directors, World Sickle Cell Foundation, 1990-92; board of directors, The Keystone Center-board of directors Natl Urban League; honorary board member, Center for the Prevention of Childhood Malnutrition; advisory committee, American Express Geography Competition; American Medical Association; American Chemical Society; American Association for the Advancement of Science. On Sept. 12, 1992, over five years after joining NASA, Jemison became the first African-American female to go into space. She served as a science mission specialist during an eight-day voyage upon the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Jemison’s job was to study weightlessness and motion sickness on the seven-person crew. She also conducted an experiment with tadpoles. “We wanted to know how the tadpoles would develop in space with no gravity,” she explained to Essence.

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Westside Gazette

Local student cchosen hosen tto o present video game at Whit e House White

November 19 - November 25, 2015 • Page 13

by Artist Yvette Michele Booth

Broward Education Foundation sponsored summer gaming camp for minority youth

Andrew Gayle is interviewed by NBC Universal in Washington, D.C FORT LAUDERDALE, FL – Andrew Gayle, a 10th grade student at Lauderhill 612 STEM-MED Magnet School, was one of 20 minority students in the country, and the only student from Florida, who traveled to the White House to present a video game he created during a summer gaming camp sponsored by the Broward Education Foundation and the City

of Lauderhill Police Department. Gayle was selected as a Fellow in the Leaders on the Fast Track Video Game Innovation Fellowship Challenge, which is sponsored by Entertainment Software Association and the Hispanic Heritage Foundation. The Fast Track Video Game Innovation Fellowship challenges minority youths, ages 15 to 25,

to develop video games and apps addressing social issues impacting their communities. “I had the pleasure of attending the camp when the final awards were announced and all of the students are amazing,� said Thomas Severino, president and CEO of Broward Education Foundation. “Andrew’s video game was fantastic, bringing awareness to pollution and the value of recycling.� While in Washington, D.C. for the recognition, Gayle attended a media and awards event, a Congressional briefing at the U.S. Capitol and a White House briefing with the Department of Science & Technology. “The difference between typical and competitive is the degree of passion and work,� said Randall Deich, an educator at Lauderhill 6-12. “Andrew has proven that he is competitive. This experience has provided Andrew the insight to realize that his dream of starting his own video game company is within his reach. His path is clear.�

I asked his advice for the readers who are artists. He said, “If you have a job, keep a job, it will help you to keep painting. “ and then I asked him what is the big picture? He replied it is “See what you want to do. It is in your heat and your head before it is in the hand. Make the little picture in your head before you realize it on the canvas� - Ferdie Pacheco

Miami, FL , “Right from the tubeâ€?, Ferdie Pacheco says, we both then began to laugh and simultaneously then said together “Pure Colorâ€?. I immediately felt like I was visiting an Uncle whom I had not seen in a while. Often it is said that if you have a career outside of art, then the art is secondary. This is far from the truth for Pacheco. It seems as though the DUW LV WKH WKUHDG WKDW KDV VHZQ WKURXJK KLV SUROLÂżF career as: a medical doctor, author of over 20 books, Boxing Consultant,and Commentator for NBC, winning Emmys and an array of awards. Many may also remember from thier youth that Pacheco was known as, “The Fight Doctorâ€? serving as a corner man for twelve world champions, including Muhammad Ali for seventeen years.

Hallandale Senior High School Chargers football team join in the Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church 300 Men in Black. Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church was filled to the brim with Black men in black supporting of the theme: “There’s A War Cry for Soldiers of the Lordâ€?. Bishop Victor T. Curry delivered a message from the Book of Psalms that resonated through the church like thunder. As Bishop Curry asked the question, “Are you a Psalm One manâ€?, a questionable atmosphere hoovered in the sanitary like a dark cloud until the message was brought forth and then the Son from heaven rained down like a burning sparkle in the night.. What a message! Pastor Joe C. Johnson—“It was a wonderful blessing seeing the men of Ebenezer along with the other men of the community to emphasize the strength and unification of brotherhood. The message delivered by Bishop Victor T. Curry hit the target dead center‌ Our goal is to help men appreciate and carry out their God given mission. ‘The Psalm One Man’ is definitely the goal of our coming together. We need that man to stand as an example in the home, community, church, political and social agenda. Yes, you see that we involved the women, because it is together as each assume their Godly positions and our lives are strengthen. Let us not get confused with man’s ways and God’s ways.â€? Pastor Anthony Sanders of Higher Vision Ministries (Commissioner of Hallandale Beach) “Ebenezer’s 300 Men In Black service painted a picture of the Power of Unity, but also a shared Vision of what can become.â€?.

Financial services

Fed’s hiring practices void of diversity, Says Rep. Maxine Waters By James Wright U.S. Representative Maxine Waters recently took the federal government’s financial services agencies to task for not promoting racial and ethnic diversity in their employment ranks. On Nov. 5, 2015 Waters, the ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee (HFSC), along with members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC)and the Hispanic and Asian- Pacific Islanders Caucuses, commented on “The Dodd-Frank Act Five Years Later: Diversity in the Financial Service Agencies� report. The document criticized seven financial services agencies for not implementing the equal employment opportunity portions of Dodd-Frank, the 2010 law that mandated Wall Street and other financial firms improve their practices regarding consumer protection. “I am disappointed to find that, more than five years after the enactment of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act and the Dodd- Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act that included provisions intended to promote workforce and supplier diver-

sity and inclusion, the federal financial services agencies have largely failed to improve on these critical matters,� Rep Waters said at a press conference on the report. “As communities of color continue to face an insurmountable wealth gap and as African- American unemployment remains stagnant at 9.2 percent, our nation cannot afford to have a federal government that is out of touch with the needs of racial and ethnic minorities and women and their daily financial challenges.� The report was compiled by the Democratic staff members of Waters’ committee and focused on the hiring practices, especially of senior management, from 2011-2013 of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Federal Reserve Board (FRB), Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and National Credit Union Administration (NCUA). The report concludes that minorities and women remain underrepresented in the workforce

U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters says federal agencies need to do better job of hiring minorities. (AFRO File Photo) of the agencies in a manner that is out of proportion to their percentages of the American population, minorities and women are significantly underrepresented at the level of senior management, and Black employees generally receive lower performance management ratings than White employees. (Read full story on www.thewestsidegazette.com)

Art started very young and grew very humorously for Pacheco. The following quote from his Silver When you meet a legend there are always some Screen Artist Biography sums up the beginning of gold nuggets given to you along the course of the Pacheco’s art life as: conversation. We talked a little about boxing, a lot about art and much about life. Jack Dempsey’s 1 2 “Like other exceptionally creative individuals, Pa- 3 punch is forever in my heart. Barely scratched the checo showed precocity in childhood where he be- surface getting to know the movement uniquely exJDQ GUDZLQJ DQG SDLQWLQJ DW WKH DJH RI ÂżYH 3DFKH- pressed in his art. His voice ever remains echoed in co realized that he wanted to become a doctor and my mind from his days as a boxing announcer giving began assisting in surgery. Through medicine, he us blow-by-blow account and that afternoon that he studied the human form, which in return gave his art shared snippets from life. He is enamored with nature anatomical integrity.â€? and the beauty that is created from nature. He commented on the lushness of color in nature and how It is this anatomical integrity that makes the sig- patterns repeat themselves from on leaf to another. nature of a Pacheco. He utilizes the muscles in his VXEMHFWV WR DVVLVW LQ GHÂżQLQJ WKH FKDUDFWHU ,QWHQVH It was at the Ft. Lauderdale ArtBlend Gallery where pure color created with oil is applied to these muscu- , ZLWQHVVHG P\ ÂżUVW 3DFKHFR SDLQWLQJV WKHUH ZHUH lar structures and draws the viewer in to get to know Muhammad Ali, Gandhi, and Einstein. and question the story behind his art. Painting remains his passion and his popularity is Pacheco stated, “I am a narrative painter, I paint fast spreading to other countries within the Art World. storiesâ€?, and he had many stories to share during the If you would like to meet Mr. Pacheco he will be one interview. Before little Havana in Miami was what it is of featured silver screen guest artist at ArtBlend in today, Pacheco practiced medicine and lived there. January 2016. He charged 5 dollars for a visit and found humor in his ghetto existence. He would create cartoons to For more information visit: http://silverscreenartists. share with his colleagues on the most humorous com/events/ situations in his medical practice. Delivering babies for next to no money in a promise for return check ups throughout their lifetimes. He doesn’t know how many babies he delivered and has not a full count on how much art he has produced simultaneous throughout his life. He is a great lover of jazz and when a subject appears he sets out to capture the moment. What’s the story of this art career? It mirrors the rest of his life, as big, bold and duly noted. His paintings are in the collections of many leading personalities and celebrities such as Andy Garcia, Evander +RO\ÂżHOG DQG 6KLUOH\ 0DF/DLQH WR QDPH D IHZ His skills earned him the Gold Medal and First Prize in Tonneins, France: First Prize, Best Colorist at Musee Du Luxembourg. His painting of Gandhi is a U.N. Postage Stamp, unveiled in 2009 at the United Nations on the International Nonviolence Day which is Gandhi’s birthday.

ART on AIDS & HIV South Florida has Highest AIDS Rates in USA. Artist of all ages have a message to share in helping this epidemic that is affecting our community. Experience OWNING UP, the new, powerful and moving multimedia exhibit that tells the stories of HIV+ Millennials through portraits and stories in their own words about facing the HIV/ AIDS epidemic. On opening night, join us and enjoy the opportunity to meet some of the inspiring young people who are a part of this groundbreaking presentation. OPENING RECEPTION Friday, November 20, 2015 from 7-9PM World AIDS Museum and Education Center located at 1201 NE 26th Street Suite 111 Wilton Manors, FL 33305 http://www.worldaidsmuseum.com Photography Credits: Westside Gazette Stock Photography,World AIDS Museum for ART on AIDS & HIV, Silver Screen Artist, Frank Billoti for Pacheco Art

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Page 14 • November 19 - November 25, 2015

Westside Gazette Can Ben Car son help GOP attr act Blac s? Carson attract Blackk voter ers? By Daniel White, Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from TruthBeTold.News (TriceEdneyWire.com) Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson has launched a new radio campaign — featuring a Carson-inspired rap, meant to grow his appeal among African-American voters, according to his campaign. The $150,000 advertisement, interspersed with rhymes from rapper Aspiring Mogul and bits from Carson’s stump speech, will air for two weeks in eight urban markets. The ads are an attempt to connect with Black voters “on a level they appreciate and follow and see if we can attract their consciousness about the election,” Carson campaign spokesman Doug Watts told ABC News. “They need to get involved and express their voice through their vote.” Carson has a firm hold on second place in the race for the GOP presidential nomination,

without much sign of slowing down. This is an odd territory for Carson — being that he is, among other things, a Black man. Other than the rap ad, Carson hasn’t done much to address the Black vote head on. Nor does he have dedicated campaign staffers who focus specifically on outreach to AfricanAmericans, unlike some of his opponents. All of this — combined with controversies over his comments and questions about his past — contributes to statements that the former neurosurgeon and Democrat will have a hard time helping the Republican Party attract enough Black voters to win the Oval Office. TruthBeTold.news decided to take a closer look at Carson’s prospects with African-Americans as he prepared for another opportunity to woo voters on the main stage of the Fox Business Network debate in Milwaukee Nov. 10.

The Facts Citing the 2012 election results, where 80 percent of all non-whites voted for President Barack Obama, Harvard scholar Leah Wright Rigueur, Ph.D., argues that the GOP is in the middle of a race crisis. “During time of a racial crisis, Black voters tend to reject the Republican Party,” said Wright Rigueur, a professor of public policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. “That’s because African- Americans generally do not trust the Republican Party to have their best interest in mind when it comes to racial issues.” Mitt Romney, the Republican nominee, received the lowest number of support from Black voters since 1964 — only 6 percent. And Black turnout at Republican primaries barely hits 2 percent. So how is Ben Carson, a Black man, running a successful campaign for the GOP nomination? He isn’t necessarily relying on Black votes. (Read full story on www.thewestsidegazette.com)

HONORING LAUDERHILL VETERANS: Presented by Win Hoffman, US Army, Operations Specialist & Staff Sergeant and Inverrary Association Challenge Presented by Jim Notarianni, Crew Chief, on B-47 Bombers, Air Force; Pictured with Commissioner Margret Bates are Gloria Johnson and Robert Franklin of the United States Air Force; Samuel Battle and Vincent Ferriero of the United States Navy; Douglas Crumpler, David Smith and Raymond Smith of the United States Army.

Ben Carson speaks to students at Iowa State University. (Instagram)

Morgan State University hosts Health and Hip Hop Conference In an effort to increase awareness about HIV/AIDS among young Black men, a group disproportionately impacted by the epidemic, health-care providers and community stakeholders hosted the Health and Hip Hop Conference on Oct. 24, 2015, at Morgan State University in Baltimore. Students from Maryland’s four historically Black colleges and universities—the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Bowie State University, Coppin State University and Morgan State University—participated in the event, which included a spoken-word competition; breakout sessions on hip-hop, sexual health and HIV/AIDS prevention; and performances by local hip-hop artists. Roughly 150 students attended, according to conference organizers, and more than 50 people were tested for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. The daylong program was sponsored by the Black AIDS

Messaiah Ramiskoon, an MC, youth advocate and threetime winner of “Showtime at the Apollo,” comments on homophobia in Hip Hop at the Health and Hip Hop Conference at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Md. Institute, the Maryland Department of Mental Health and Hygiene, and the Morgan State University School of Community Health and Policy’s Get SMART (Students/Society Mobilized and Retooled to Transform) Project. Grim Jackson, an 18-yearold freshman communications

major at Morgan State, said that he can relate to people who suffer from stigma associated with AIDS; when he was younger, students made fun of his mental disability. (Read full story on www.thewestsidegazette.com)

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Westside Gazette

Advancing Justice conference gives advocates hope for meaningful criminal reform

“It’s the dawn of a new day in criminal justice, ” said Taifa. By Curtis Bunn, Urban News Service New Orleans — Something unique has happened: Advocates from all political and social backgrounds liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans and a wide range of players from all socioeconomic backgrounds have united to inspire criminal justice reform. At the Advancing Justice 2015 conference in the Crescent City last week, criminal justice reform leaders met and discussed, advised and surmised, in hopes of reducing mass incarceration and its impact on families and communities. “It’s the dawn of a new day in criminal justice, ” said Nkechi Taifa, senior policy analyst for civil and justice reform at Open Society Foundations in Washington. “This conference has people in the same room for the same purpose and commitment that never would share the same space. That’s what gives me so much hope that real change can happen. People from all walks have come around to see this issue as something that needs fixing.” The conference, sponsored by the Charles Koch Institute, featured 300 attendees, including an array of nonprofits that focus on specific areas of criminal justice, as well as thinktank leaders, politicians, judges, lawyers and former inmates. These concerned citizens are attacking criminal injustices for different reasons. For many, it is about saving families and communities. For others, It’s about saving money and curbing the high cost to tax payers

every time someone is imprisoned. This ideological motley crew insists it can work harmoniously to advance what the conference embraced as its theme: “An Agenda for Human Dignity and Safety.” Congress is weighing six bills that address criminal reform in various ways, said Julie Stewart, president and founder of Families Against Mandatory Minimums, a civil liberties organization. But none is gaining much traction with lawmakers, she said. So, those who can influence policy or circumvent it through their respective organizations say they are seeking to make a dent, with Advancing Justice as a catalyst. “This moment in history is so rare that if we don’t get as much out of it as we can, ” Stewart said during the panel discussion on sentencing and public safety, “crime could go back up, and people will not be as willing to do more for reform.” The conference raised many concerns. Among them: * Harsh sentencing. Mandatory minimum penalties give judges no room to administer prison time based on their assessment of defendants’ potential for good citizenship. The same amount of time is levied against a career criminal and a first time offender, with many convictions leading to at least five years for nonviolent crimes, often in the drug-enforcement sphere. “Our sentencing (mandatory minimums) does not deal with the reality of the streets,” said Pennsylvania Court of Appeals Judge Richard Nygaard. “(We need sentencing) to have a redemptive value ... and

not be so punitive. We have to build humanity into it.” *Re-entry into communities after incarceration. “Our world is very unforgiving,” said Tina Naidoo, the executive director of the Texas Offenders Re-entry Initiative. “The returning citizens are crippled from being good, productive citizens.” Finding work for an ex-offender to provide for himself and/or his family “is near impossible,” Naidoo said, because laws banning the convicted from particular occupations and the stigma that comes with a criminal record “have taken away their rights to live because they are continuing to be punished.” Leroy Perry, re-entry coordinator at New Orleans Mission, said released persons have “the challenge of being stereotyped, reconnecting with family, social adjustment, employment. They come out disadvantaged ... and that’s what has to be addressed to give them a chance to succeed after they have paid their penance.” Lamont Carey, 40, of Washington, spent 11 years in prison on a drug charge. He said his illegal involvement was a socioeconomic issue. “It was strictly about making money to get out of a community that was hopeless.” Since his release, Carey has used education as a catalyst to re-enter society, and he eventually started a nonprofit that helps returning citizens get adjusted to life as free men. (Read full story on www.thewestsidegazette.com)

“Lest We Forget" In Loving Memory of the late Douglas Evans, Jr. Happy Birthday November 2, 2015

We miss and love you, your sisters, Merlene & Cassie Mae and your family; Emily, Doug III and Cassandra

On Nov. 8, 2015 Models enjoy modeling the latest collection of exciting jeans and men’s dress suits by our local designer Eugene Jones. His collection was introduced at The Signature Grand by Adventure Fashions “Fashion Fever” Fashion Show.

November 19 - November 25, 2015 • Page 15

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