The Westside Gazette

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NUL report: Black America remains in crisis Michael Brown and John Crawford signaled that police

By Freddie Allen, NNPA Senior Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON, D.C. (NNPA) – When it comes to the equality in America, a new report by the National Urban League says that Blacks are missing nearly 30 percent of the pie.

The annual State of Black America (SOBA) report compared how well Blacks were doing in economics, health, education, social justice and civic engagement.

In the introduction to the report, Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League, wrote that “on many fronts, Black America remains in crisis – and we see justice challenged at every turn.”

Morial added: “The world watched as non-indictments of the police officers responsible for the deaths of unarmed Black males including Eric Garner,

accountability for taking Black lives was reaching a modernday low – and that the widespread and dangerous mistrust between law enforcement and too many communities of color in America was reaching a new high.”

Morial also expressed concerns about separate and unequal resources in schools, double-digit unemployment in the Black community and continued attacks on voting rights.

The Black equality index increased from revised score of 71.5 percent in 2014 to 72.2 percent in 2015. In 2005, the Black equality index was 72.9 percent.

Higher scores in social justice (56.9 percent reported in 2014 report vs. 60.6 percent in the 2015 report) and health (78.2 percent vs. 79.8 percent) fueled the rise in the index. The economic indicator also rose slightly from 55.4 percent to 55.8 percent.

“The education (from 76.7 percent to 76.1 percent) and civic engagement (from 104.7 percent to 104 percent) indexes both declined slightly,” stated the report.

The report said that fewer Blacks are falling victim to violent crimes and a lower number of Black high school students are carrying weapons, which had a positive affect on the social justice index. The report also credited the Affordable Care Act and a decline in binge drinking for helping to improve the health index.

However, the report found that gaps in unemployment and homeownership widened.

“With an index of 65 percent, the smallest Black–white unemployment gap was in the Providence–Warwick, RI–MA metro area, where the Black unemployment rate was 13 percent and the white rate was 8.5 percent. Last year’s most equal metro—Augusta–Richmond County, Ga.,–S.C.—fell to #13 this year as the Black unemployment rate increased from 13.3 percent to 16.5 percent and the white unemployment rate was essentially unchanged.”

Toledo, Ohio’s Black unemployment rate was 22.6 percent, the highest rate among the metro areas in the study.

The National Urban League also reported that the, “Black and white incomes were least equal in San Francisco–Oakland–Hayward, Calif., where the gap was 42 cents on the dollar.”

Morial wrote that 2014 was a catalytic year propelled by cataclysmic circumstances, “little accountability for law enforcement responsible for killing unarmed Black men, teenagers and children; a continual assault on voting rights; widening economic inequality gaps; and an increasingly partisan education debate far more rooted in political agendas than in putting our children first.”

Morial continued: “While we celebrate the tremendous progress and transformation of our nation, we have a continuing need to be vigilant, to persevere and to protect past gains. We must not allow the forces of division, intolerance and rightwing extremism to turn back the hands of time.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. (NNPA) – Barbara R. Arnwine does not back down from a fight.

After the U.S. Supreme Court issued a series of rulings that limited the rights of employees to sue their employers for discrimination, she was a key player in a coalition that effectively reversed the rulings by persuading Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1991.

When many members of her own staff at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law were reluctant to file suits against federal agencies in con-

nection with Hurricane Katrina, she persisted, eventually winning a couple of landmark verdicts.

And when so-called progressive forces urged her to be quiet about voter suppression in the wake of Barack Obama’s election as the nation’s first Black President, Arnwine was not deterred, issuing a famous “map of shame” identifying the states where such activity was underway.

The Lawyers’ Committee has announced that after 33 years –26 at the national level and seven years with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law of the Boston Bar Association – Arnwine will step

down as president and executive director, effective June 30.

“She has steered the Lawyers’ Committee into a more active public policy role on a wide range of contemporary civil rights issues, including the response to Ferguson,” said Marc H. Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League.

“She has been a valued colleague, and a faithful servant. We will miss her leadership.”

Ralph G. Neas, former chairman of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition of more than 200 organizations, said, “Barbara has been a tireless champion on behalf of civil rights for all Americans. Especially note-

When the whirlwind passes, the wicked is no more, But the righteous has an everlasting foundation. — Proverbs 10:25 (NASB) Bobby R. Henry, Sr. Recent trials may leave you shaken and might even have you questioning where or what do you put your faith in. It may appear that you are unprotected and left out in the perils of danger all alone.

But, what appears ain’t necessarily what it is.

You may have come out of the conflict scarred and batteredbut you came out and if you were to take a close evaluation of the entire situation, you would find the true essence of the conflict.

There is nothing written in the Word that says you will never experience trials, troubles or tribulations. Nothing that says people won’t lie, defame or slander your good name.

There is no guarantee that you will not experience sickness or misfortunes. In Proverbs 12:13 we read that the righteous person “shall come out of trouble.” You will not be exempt from complexities or trying predicaments but with God even what looks like insurmountable odds, you can come out victorious. You will not be defeated by that which has been meant for your failure; He will turn it around. What’s for you is for you and can’t nothing stop that; it might be hindered, but that too shall pass.

(Cont'd on Page 9)

93 million prepaid cardholders are unprotected

Arnwine resigns as head of Lawyers’ Committee Barbara Arnwine

By George E. Curry NNPA Editor-in-Chief

A crack in the foundation can cause the whole house to crumble

ARNWINE worthy were her leadership in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1991 and the enforcement of the Voting Rights Act.” (Cont'd on Page 9)

Miss Japan is half-Black, and a lot of people don’t like it Ms. Broward County 2015 Bestor of Harvard says that the named Broward 100 Youth Reported by Victor Ochieng reaction to Miyamoto’s role could be because of a widely Ambassador The crowning of Ariana held Japanese feeling that their Miyamoto on March 8, 2015 as Miss Japan was historical. Her modeling role didn’t just end there, as her win meant that she’ll be representing Japan in the Miss Universe pageant.

This is a reason for Japanese people to celebrate, because Miyamoto is indeed beautiful and has what it takes for the global competition. But that isn’t how every Japanese citizen is looking at it.

Sadly, to some in Japan, the whole issue is now boiling down to the model’s racial background. Miyamoto has a Japanese mother and an African father. According to the Japanese culture, such a person is a “haafu,” and doesn’t provide an incontestable representation of the country. Of course, Japan

MIYAMOTO is a known homogeneous country with only a small population of other races. But then again, the fact remains that Miyamoto is still Japanese.

Anthropology and Japanese Studies Professor Theodore

Pleading Our Own Cause

culture isn’t accessible to outsiders.

Not every Japanese person is against Miyamoto being the face of the East Asian country, though. There are those who strongly feel that Miyamoto’s role to represent Japan in Miss Universe contest is good for the country.

“The controversy that has erupted over her selection is a great opportunity for us Japanese to examine how far we have come from our self-perpetuated myth of homogeneity while at the same time it shows us how much further we have to go,” says Megumi Nishikura, a Japanese who directed a documentary on mixed races in Japan.

(Cont'd on Page 5)

Miramar’s Allyson Walker will salute the history of the county

BROWARD COUNTY, FL - Recently, in Broward County, a host of young ladies from the diverse municipalities came forward to begin an adventure in the Ms. Broward County 2015 pageant.

For many of them, it would be one night of pageantry learning how to be confident in front of an audience, speak with distinction and remembering to breathe while performing on a spot-lit stage. For a select four, it would be the beginning of a year of change, challenge and chance.

(Cont'd on Page 5)

WALKER

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By Charlene Crowell NNPA Columnist When it comes to financial services, many consumers are surprised by the range of fees attached to their transactions.

From mortgages to checking accounts, credit cards and more, regulations for these products establish the ‘rules of the road’ for consumers and creditors alike.

Yet, one financial product with growing popularity has no comparable consumer protection: prepaid cards. For example, if a consumer has an account with a bank or credit union, their money is federallyinsured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) up to $250,000. Even when employers use prepaid cards for payrolls or when government benefits are issued on these cards, consumer protections are lacking.

Moreover, when fees are attached to worker wages and public benefits payments, consumers are shortchanged with no legal redress.

(Cont'd on Page 9) MEMBER: National Newspaper Publishers Association ( NNPA), and Southeastern African-American Publishers Association (SAAPA) Florida Association of Black Owned Media (FABOM)

Page 2 • www.thewestsidegazette.com • March 26 - April 1, 2015

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

Centurion celebration: A family legacy

Educating the kids nobody wants

By Kevin P. Chavous After giving a recent education reform speech in Georgia, a 30-something man approached me to discuss my views on the increasing school expulsion rate for kids, particularly boys of color. He told me that his wife was a special education teacher; that she worked with troubled kids and she had developed a close relationship with a young boy who had been expelled several times from his school. The man’s wife said that she had been asked to work with the boy because his classroom teacher suspected that the boy had Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD).

Apparently, the boy had been having fits and would, on occasion, throw chairs around the classroom. The teacher reportedly was fearful for her safety and the safety of the other kids in the class.

The man then told me that his wife found out that the boy was consistently abused at home and had no outlet to get the counseling help that he needed.

As she began to work with the boy, his behavior improved and his attitude towards school improved. When I asked the man about the boy’s grade, he smiled and said, “Mr. Chavous that is why I wanted to talk with you.

The boy is only four years old, and he did not have ADD. My wife can’t believe that she keeps getting more and more of these intervention calls from preschools. What can be done about this?”

Good question.

In 2005, Yale professor Walter Gilliam shocked the nation with the first research showing that preschoolers are expelled at three times the rate of children in kindergarten through 12th grade. He showed that young African-American boys like the boy referenced above are most vulnerable to what he calls “the capital punishment of schools.”

And while preschoolers’ expulsion rates continue to outpace their K-12 school counterparts, the fact is that all school expulsion rates are growing along with the high school drop-out rate. All of which begs another question, “Who will educate the kids that nobody wants?”

In answering both questions, we must be honest about who will not educate these kids: most local school districts. It is increasingly clear that the vast majority of local school districts - especially in urban America are either unwilling or unable to educate the growing number of kids coming from disadvantaged backgrounds. And since our teaching core has begun to feel the pressure of having their students do well on standardized tests, they do not have the energy or often the skill set to address the needs of our most challenged school population group. As a result, the average local school district resorts to easy special needs labels as a way to get these troubled kids out of the classroom so they won’t affect the other students. As the saying goes, ‘one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch’. So, they kick these kids out of school.

Fortunately, around the country, there are a number of schools who take pride in educating the kids that nobody wants. Schools like the Hope Academy Charter School in Kansas City, Maya Angelou Charter School in D.C. and the Legacy Charter School in Greenville, S.C. Each of these schools, and several others like them, make it their mission to value all of the kids they serve and they refuse to write kids off based on their background, home life or previous school experience. Knowing that schools like these exist, wouldn’t it make sense for our most challenged school districts to eagerly

By Staff Writer

CHAVOUS embrace these alterna-tive programs?

Apparently not.

Recently, charter school authorizers in Philadelphia rejected the application of Ligouri Academy, who made that city the same offer that Hope Academy, Maya Angelou and Legacy made to their cities: let us teach the kids who are the kids toughest to educate. Ligouri, through its founders Mike Marrone and Pat Wright, planned on using a model that included a personalized and individualized curriculum, which has been proven as an effective strategy for all students, but especially critical for disengaged learners.

The proposed Liquori model has yielded impressive results for the most challenged students in places like Fresno, Calif., Buffalo, N.Y. and Chester, Pa.. Still, the authorizers in Philadelphia denied Liquori’s application - even though, according to research conducted by the National Center for Dropout Prevention Network, 5,000 ninth grade students within the School District of Philadelphia, have a less than 1 percent chance of graduating high school.

At some point, our education elite will wake up to the fact that one size does not fit all.

And that having a menu of education offerings available to educate kids with different needs helps not just those kids, but all kids.

This year, as the Westside Gazette family travels to South Carolina for our family reunion, we will also celebrate the 100th birthday of Mrs. Ellametter Cooper Bullock. Aunt Ellametter was born on March 15, 1915 to Ben and Hattie Cooper in Clarendon County, S.C. Of the six children born to the couple, only Aunt Ellametter and Aunt Willow Dean, 95, remain to tell our family’s history. The Coopers were sharecroppers and when each child was old enough to work, had to help out on the farm.

Aunt Ellametter married Clarence Gerald and to this union four children were born – Hattie, Moses, Mack and Peggie - though all are now deceased. Later, she married John Bullock and she bore him six children – James, Sylvester, Daisy, LeRoy, Clara and Rose.

Clara is now deceased. Aunt Ellametter and John were farmers as well, picking cotton and tobacco to provide for their family.

Aunt Ellametter was also a housekeeper and she worked in the kitchen at Gordon School.

Although John died at an early age, that didn’t keep Aunt Ellametter from raising her 10 children. She even raised many of her grandchildren, too! It’s no wonder her children, grandand great grandchildren, indeed her entire family, have so much love and respect for such an amazing woman!

Aunt Ellametter knows her strength comes from the Lord and it is no wonder that she is the oldest member of Saint Mark Baptist Church. She sang in the choir and was very active until well into her 90s. Although she doesn’t get around the way she used to, she feels pretty good most of the time and

Happy Birthday Aunt Ellametter. doesn’t have to take a lot of medicine. She has lived in the same house for the last 40 years and takes great pride in her home.

She shares stories of growing up with her brothers Ben, Jake, Esau, Gaines, and sisters Geneva, Elizabeth, Willow Dean, Azra Lee and Roberta with

family and her memory is as sharp as a tack. She has no wrinkles to speak of.

As her nephew, Levi, gave her her birthday gift, she was so happy, she started dancing!

Happy 100 th Birthday Aunt Ellametter from your Westside Gazette family!

Sixth grader threatened with racist note: ‘You Don’t Belong Here “N**ger”’

Guy Anthony: I wanted to live The hospital ran all sorts of tests—except, I would learn later, an HIV test.

Two years would pass before I was tested for HIV. I tested positive. Until then, I had never knowingly met anyone living with the disease. It was rarely discussed in school and never discussed at home. By the time I received my diagnosis, my Tcell count had dropped to 280 and my viral load was over 500,000.

(Read full story on www.thewestsidegazette.com) Guy Anthony is a treatment-adherence program coordinator for Us Helping Us, People Into Living Inc. in Washington, D.C. As I casually strolled down Hollywood Boulevard on an uneventful day in Los Angeles, I received a phone call from one of my best platonic friends. I answered, and the muffled voice on the other end blurted out three words that changed my life forever: “I have HIV.” Our silence was deafening.

When I finally came to, I looked up and found myself standing directly in front of the Los Angeles LGBT Center. Was this a sign from God? Should I go in— find out my own fate? I took a deep breath, walked up the stairs and asked the receptionist where the HIV testing department was located. She pointed toward the elevator. At that moment, I realized that the nightmare I had tried to forget was about to come back to haunt me.

Before I even walked into the Los Angeles LGBT Center, I knew I was infected with HIV. Only 21-years-old, I already felt it in my spirit; two years prior, I had felt it in my body. The rape I endured at 19 will live with me forever. My parents took me to the hospital when I became deathly ill the week afterward.

NyZeria’s (r) mother, Gina Neely (l), says she’s been trying to get the district to take action ever since the first incident.

By Naturally Moi Authorities in Indiana are investigating racial threats made against a sixth grader who attends Concord Intermediate School.

NyZeria Neely has been a student at Concord schools for

Hastings introduces resolution honoring Dr. Elmira Mangum as the first female president of Florida A&M University

CONGRESSMAN HASTINGS

DR. MANGUM

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) Congressman Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL) introduced a resolution honoring Dr. Elmira Mangum as the first female president of Florida A&M University: “Dr. Elmira Mangum is paving the way for women across the country to realize their dreams and achieve greatness.

That is why I was proud to introduce this resolution honoring her as the first permanent female president of Florida A&M University (FAMU), one of the nation’s most distinguished Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

“She is a trailblazer who serves as a role model for men and women alike. Dr. Mangum

has already made great progress in advancing the institution and this is clearly only the beginning for her.”

Joining Hastings original cosponsors of the resolution include (eight): Reps. Corrine Brown (D-FL), Kathy Castor (D-FL), Ted Deutch (D-FL), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Frederica Wilson (D-FL), John Mica (R-FL), Richard Nugent (R-FL), and Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX).

Congressman Alcee L. Hastings serves as Senior Member of the House Rules Committee, Ranking Democratic Member of the U.S. Helsinki Commission, and Co-Chairman of the Florida Delegation.

years and never expected to become the target of racist peers.

“I never expected this to happen in sixth grade,” she told WSBT 22.

NyZeria says a classmate called her the N-word once, then on another occasion she found a note in her locker telling her to watch her back. About a week later, there was another note left in her locker, again calling NyZeria the N word, and telling her that she doesn’t belong.

NyZeria says, “I was irritated and aggravated. It was just depressing.”

The girl spoke with the principal about the note but was told not to worry about it.

“A couple minutes after that he called me down to his office and we talked about it. He told me not to worry about the note because it was just words. But, I felt like it was more than just words,” NyZeria recalled.

NyZeria’s father, Avonn Pratcher, feels that school officials failed his daughter by not taking her complaint seriously.

“I feel that my child shouldn’t be going through this,” he told the station.

NyZeria’s mother, Gina Neely, says she’s been trying to get the district to take action ever since the first incident.

Neely says she’s gone to the school so much to meet with school officials that eventually she was banned from the school.

She moved her kids to Elkhart Community Schools.

“A child can’t learn in an environment where she doesn’t feel comfortable,” she says.

NyZeria says she’s trying hard not to allow the racial harassment to dampen her spirits.

“I just try to keep my head up and stand tall,” she says.

“We want every child to have the best possible education in a safe learning environment,” said the superintendent of Concord schools in a statement.

March 26 - April 1, 2015 • www.thewestsidegazette.com • Page 3

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

Fort Lauderdale High student Elijah Manley visits Capitol Hill

By Charles Moseley Typically, teenage boys are more interested in the latest video game to choose to play on their Play Station 3, rather than knowing the latest news on our nation’s political landscape, but Elijah Manley is not your typical teenager.

Over the past several years, the 16-year-old Fort Lauderdale High sophomore has not only studied the inner workings of government and the judicial system, he has actively participated in rallies to exercise his First Amendment rights of freedom of speech and voiced his opinion on issues impacting his

community during commission meetings on the local level.

Manley recently had one of his dreams come true thanks to the Congressional staff of U.S. Congressman Alcee Hastings. Manley received a special treat during a visit to our nation’s Capital, one that he will not soon forget, thanks to Congressman Hastings. Hastings’ staff allowed Manley a chance to tour the United States Congress and observe real government in action.

“I was pleased to meet my constituent, Mr. Elijah Manley, during his visit to our nation’s capital. Elijah shared with me his interest in public service. I look forward to seeing him achieve his goals and wish him much success,” said Congress-

man Alcee L. Hastings (FL20).

Aside from his studies he is enrolled in the ROTC program at Fort Lauderdale High and plans to serve in the military as well as attend college before pursuing a career in government on the political level.

Manley is also an active member of the 100 Black Men of Greater Fort Lauderdale’s Leadership Academy mentoring program.

Manley’s recent trip to Washington D.C. also afforded the native Floridian another opportunity to experience snow up close and personal and, according to him, upon arriving in D.C. at the end of a long road trip, “It was COLD!”

Manley agreed to share some of the highlights of his trip with the Westside Gazette, as well as offer his views on why he chose to not only read about government, but why he has become civically engaged on certain issues, as is the right of all citizens of the United States.

Westside Gazette (WG): When and why did you develop an interest on how our government works and also our judicial system in the United States?

Elijah Manley (EM): “I became interested in our government and judicial system when I learned that my mother was a victim of police brutality. President Obama’s election increased

Fort Lauderdale native serves aboard USS New Orleans

By Lt. J.G. Christopher Hanson, Navy Office of Community Outreach Public Affairs SAN DIEGO, CALIF. – A 2004 Hallandale High School graduate and Fort Lauderdale, Fla., native is serving aboard USS New Orleans (LPD 18), one of the Navy’s newest and most advanced amphibious ships, designed to deliver Marines and their equipment to and from war zones.

Petty Officer Third Class William Hodor is a ship serviceman aboard the San Diegobased San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship. The ship is longer than two football fields at 684 feet, 105 feet wide and weighs more than 24 tons.

Four diesel engines can push the ship through the water at more than 24 mph.

USS New Orleans is the fourth Navy ship to be named for the city of New Orleans, and is the second vessel in the San Antonio-class of high-tech amphibious assault ships.

As a 29-year-old with numerous responsibilities, Hodor said he is learning about himself as a leader, sailor and a person. He added that it is an exciting time

HODOR to be in the Navy, and serving aboard a ship has truly made him a better person. “Before I joined the Navy, I had limited experiences at home. Now, I have interacted with people from all over the world, which has opened my eyes on how to solve problems,” said Hodor.

He also said he is proud of the work he is doing as part of the New Orleans’ 361-member crew, protecting and defending

America on the world’s oceans.

“The Navy allows us to project America’s strengths around the world, though force or humanitarian assistance. We can be anywhere in the world in a short period of time,” Hodor explained.

Sailors’ jobs are highly varied aboard USS New Orleans. Approximately 46 officers and 381 enlisted men and women make up the ship’s company, which keeps all parts of the ship running smoothly — this includes everything from washing dishes and preparing meals to handling weaponry and maintaining the engines.

Another 700 or so form the deployable Marine Corps battalion and New Orleans is capable of transporting the battalion and landing them in hostile territory via helicopters, vertical takeoff and landing aircraft and air-cushioned landing craft.

“New Orleans is truly a fine warship and it is our duty to bring her to life,” said Capt.

Doug Verissimo, the ship’s commanding officer. “Our Sailors have been working very hard bringing her from a post-deployment repair period to our upcoming tactical in-

tegration with our Marine teammates. I feel an unparallel sense of pride working alongside our nation’s finest.”

Collectively, the San Antonioclass ships will functionally replace more than 41 ships providing the Navy and Marine Corps with modern sea-based platforms. Amphibious transport dock ships are warships that embark, transport, and land elements of a landing force for a variety of expeditionary warfare missions. These ships support amphibious assault, special operations or expeditionary warfare missions and can serve as secondary aviation platforms for amphibious ready groups. Because of their inherent capabilities, these ships have been and will continue to be called upon to also support humanitarian and other contingency missions on short notice.

As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s high-tech amphibious assault ships, Hodor and other New Orleans sailors are proud to part of a warfighting team that readily defends America at all times.

“I love reaching out and helping new, young Sailors and being a mentor to them. I’m proud to be able to shape their lives and help them make the right decisions,” said Hodor.

Congressman Alcee Hastings recently met with one of his constituents, Elijah Manley, at his Congressional office, allowing the young aspiring politician a chance to experience the inner workings of the U.S. Congress. my involvement in the American Government System.”

WG: You have embraced taking up the cause for social justice particularly in regard to issues that impact young people in our society. Share some of your insights regarding that subject and some of your experiences as a youth advocate?

EM: “I think that, unfortunately, society does not respect youth voices and hear them equally as they do adult voices.

I believe that youth should be represented in a serious manner, and be someone’s constituency. It is unfair to discriminate against youth. Crime rates are influenced by ageism, which is discrimination based on the sole factor of age. I believe in equality for all age groups, and that youth are important aspects of our community.”

WG: Why do you think it is important for young people as yourself to become active in their community?

EM: I believe that when there is youth voice included in any-

thing, society will have an idea of what the youth population wants. If we abstain from being involved, not only will ageism increase, but adult figures will feel that they don’t need our voice. History has proven this to be true. It is also daily life, where youth are seen as “inferior” to older folks.”

WG: You recently traveled to Washington, D.C. and visited Capitol Hill.

What motivated you to do so and what was that experience like?

EM: “Well I was originally going to DC to protest Benjamin Netanyahu and have more members of Congress skip his speech.

But when I arrived, I had the chance to visit monuments, and speak to over 50 Congressmen and Congresswomen. I spoke about youth rights, expressed my concerns, and had a great few days. I spoke with Congressman Hastings, my representative. That was the best part.

Meeting other activists that shared my values was delightful. I’ve learned a lot, and I am open to learning more. My activism is about to get real, and I need all the help I can get.”

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

Page 4 • www.thewestsidegazette.com • March 26 - April 1, 2015

Community Digest

Publix is Proud to Support Community News WHERE SHOPPING IS A PLEASURE

Event

Join OLCDC and Bookleggers Library for a fun-filled, family-friendly afternoon at the park, complete with Free books and BBQ, Saturday, March 28, 2015 from 1 to 4 p.m., at Magnolia N. Community Park, 2123 Ali Baba Ave., Opa-locka Fl. For more info contact Karla Gottlieb at (305) 687-3545 ext.

229.

Festival

Show Arabian Tales from OpaLocka, Friday, April 3, 2015 from 7 p.m. to 12 a.m., at Miami Design District, 380 N.E. 59 St., Miami, Fla. There is a fee.

Symposium Florida Diversity Council presents the 4th Annual Women Leadership Symposium for High School girls, Saturday, April 11, 2015 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at Florida International University Biscayne Bay Campus, 3000 N.E. 151st N. Miami, Fla. Theme: Know Your Worth: Be-You-Tiful!

Volunteer Third World Film Festival, hosts the FIU honors College Third World Cinema Team, Saturday, March 28, 2015 Film Noir vs. Ned-Noir at The Arc (Arts & Recreation Center), 675 Ali Baba Ave., Opa-locka Fl. For more info contact Nina at nmerc005@fiu.edu or (954) 8304949.

Event META, a monthly art series at the ARC, Sunday, March 29, 2015 from 1 to 4 p.m., at The Arc, 675 Ali Baba Ave.,Opalocka, Fla. This event is free and the community is welcome.

For more info call (305) 6873545.

EDUCATION MATTERS Every Child Deserves a Chance to Succeed.

Volunteers are the backbone in making Relay For Life at Carter’s Park a success.

This is your chance to come together to celebrate the lives of people who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and fight back against the disease. Whether you’ve decided to volunteer just as an individual, with a group, or for a community service, you will be gratified by the impact you can have by your helping. We are encouraging high school students to participate, so they may earn community service hours which are a graduation requirement.

If you are interested in volunteering your time, please call (954) 560-7877 or email your information to sannbynes@gmail.com

ATTENTION RADIO LISTENERS

We have free gifts for everybody who calls into the show and shares their opinion. Listen every Saturday at 4 p.m. to Spiritual Downloads with Anna Stephenson on WWNN Radio AM 1470.

It’s a live Call in talk show that discusses everything from Spiritual Matters to what matters to you. The show can also be heard on the Internet at wwnnradio.com; just click on the listen live button. Your voice is the most important part of the show.

So call in and let us hear what you have to say. The toll free call in number is 1-888-565-1470. Also e-mail Anna Stephenson at annasmiami@aol.com with a subject you want to hear discussed on the show. The show also interviews special guests Like Jessica Reedy from Sunday Best. Shelia Raye Charles, Melba Moore and different preachers and gospel musical artists and politicians.

Fish Fry

Dillard High School Class of 1968 having annual scholarship fundraising, Saturday, March 28, 2015 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., at Northgate Neighborhood Park, 3555 W. Oakland Park Blvd., Oakland Park. For more info contact Roma (Bebop) Roberts at (954) 854-4778 or Jake Walters at (754) 2447318. Donations are accepting.

Volunteers

Seminars

The Fraud in Florida seminars are free and will be held from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at these dates and locations: Tuesday, March 31 - Pompano Beach, 1600 South Fed. Hwy. Please RSVP in advance to blaise.dacosta@bscu.org, or call 954-486-2728 ext. 5017. For more information, visit https:/ /www.bscu.org/seminars.

Event Sistrunk Historical Festival Organization seek to fulfill it’s mission, we are seeking individuals to help make a deeper impact in our Broward County community. Our Executive Director has scheduled a Board/ Volunteers Retreat and we cordially invite you to attend our upcoming retreat, Saturday, March 28, 2015 from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m., at Walker Elementary School, 1001 N.W. Fourth St., Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Should you find that you are able to attend, please R.S.V.P. by March 25, 2025 via email.

Health Fair

Community Health Fair, Saturday, March 28, 2105 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Dr. Carter G. Woodson Park, 3490 N.E. Third Ave., Oakland Park, Fla. Health screenings and information, free giveaways, food and beverages. Promoting healthy living today for a better tomorrow. Healthy You, Healthy Me, Healthy Us.

Conference Destiny Worship Center International, GMAC Men’s Conference, theme entitled “Judah Unleashed”, on Thursday, March 26-Sunday, March 29, 2015. On Saturday, March 28, at 4 p.m., there will be a dinner, donations are asked, at 1737 N.W. 38 Ave., Lauderhill, Fla. Speakers are Apostle Clive O’Brien from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. and Apostle Ulysses Ruff of Chicago, Ill. For more info call (954) 733-3211.

YOU HAVE READ THE REST, NOW, READ THE BEST

Roosevelt Gardens Park, located within the Broward Municipal Services District, will join the countywide celebration of Florida Bicycle Month 2015 by hosting a Bike for Life neighborhood park bike rally, Wednesday, March 25, 2015 from 3 to 6 p.m., at Roosevelt Gardens Park, 2841 N.W. 11 St., Fort Lauderdale, Fla. For further info call the park at (954) 357-8700.

Happenings at African-American Research Library and Cultural Center

African-American Research Library and Cultural Center, 2650 Sistrunk Blvd., Fort Lauderale, Fla. · On Display – Children’s Week: One Voice for Children Exhibit · Book Displays: Women’s History Month and Malcolm · Monday and Wednesday – Free IRS Income Tax Assistance at 6 p.m.

Youth Service – (945) 3576209 · Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday – Free Homework Help: After school help with homework for grades K-12 from 3 to 5 p.m. For more info call (954) 357-6157.

BrightStar Credit Union, one of the largest credit unions in South Florida with more than 55,000 members, will hold a Repo and Used Car Sale, Saturday, March 28, 2015 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., at Pompano Beach Elks Lodge, 700 N.E. 10 St., Pompano Beach, Fla. This event is free and open to the community. For additional info call (954) 486-2728 or visit www.bscu.org/autosale.

· Wednesday, March 25, at 3:30 p.m., - Wi and PS3 for Teens. · Tuesday, March 31, from 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. – Microsoft Excel II · Gallery through April 2015 is Color and Carnival an Art Exh i b i t i o n featuring the multi-talented Alicia Teramo. For more info (954) 357-6210 or visit broward,org/library.

Free Computer Classes schedule – Pre-registration is required to all classes. Call (954) 357-6239. Due to limited seating, registration begins 6 days prior to each scheduled class.

Pre-registered students are asked to arrive 15 minutes before class to work in.

For additional info for free classes being offered at other library locations call (945) 3576236.

Event

Walk

Repo Used Car Sale

Join your neighbors, friends and local businesses for the Community Flea Market Social!, Saturday, April 11, 2015 at Riviera Beach Housing Authority, Congress Ave., between Blue Heron and MLK Blvd., on the grounds of the old IvyGreen housing complex. To Benefit Healthy Food, Healthy Living The only Full-time Food Bank in Riviera Beach! For more info visit tysMedia.net/ HFHL.html or call Marian Dozier at (561) 628-5835.

The American Heart Association is the oldest and largest national non-profit voluntary health organization in the world, dedicated to reducing disability and death from cardiovascular disease and stroke, our nation’s no 1 and no. 4 killer and your employees’ greatest health risk. The 2015 Broward Heart Walk, Sunday, April 12, 2015 at Nova Southeastern University.

Classes

Free SAT & ACT Prep at Regional Libraries program schedule 2015 All Sessions mandatory attendance · Session 1: SAT/ACT Grammar and Reading Techniques and Strategies · Session 2: SAT/ACT Grammar and Reading Practice · Session 3: SAT/ACT Math Techniques and Strategies · Session 4: SAT/ACT Math Practice and Science Techniques and Strategies · Session 5: SAT/ACT Science Practice and Essay Techniques and Strategies West Regional – (954) 7651560 · Tuesday, April 7 – Session 2: from 5 to 7:30 p.m.

West Regional Library (954) 357-7990 · Wednesday, April 1 Session 1: from 5 to 7:30 p.m · Wednesday, April 8 – Session 2: from 5 to 7:30 p.m. · Wednesday, April 15 – Session 4: from 5 to 7:30 p.m. · Tuesday, April 28 – Session 5: from 5 to 7:30 p.m.

Celebration

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., Zeta Rho Omega Chapter Celebrates 60 years of service and Salutes its 2015 Women of Distinction, Sunday, April 26, 2015 at 12 noon at the Marriott Harbor Beach, 3030 Holiday Dr., Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Celebrity Emcee Brois Kodjoe.

For cost and additional email www.zetarhoomega.org

Event

Mount Olivet Seventh-day Adventist Church present "Moms Are Amazing" with special features "2015 Mother of the Year and Spotligh on Moms on Saturday, May 9, 2015 at 4 p.m. at 649 N.W. 15 Way, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Contact Mira Massey at (954) 629-1150, Leticia Murray at (954) 4962993 or Sarah Shaw at (954) 789-9658 for more information.

Cotillion

United Way of Broward is looking for volunteers: Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. and Zeta D.O.V.E. Foundation invites you to attend its 61st Debutante Cotillion and Masters Ball on Saturday, April 11, 2015, at the Westin Cypress Creek Hotel, 400 Corporate Dr., Fort Lauderdale, Fla., 33324.

Seating is at 6:30 pm, Dinner at 7 pm, followed by Sub Debutante Presentation, Crowning Miss Blue Revue, and Debutantes and Masters “Presentation to Society.” Enjoy dancing for the remainder of the evening. For more info cll (954) 873-0922.

We are looking for volunteers that can dedicate one hour per week, for 25 weeks to read to first grade students for the 2014-2015 school year -- No experience is necessary; just a love for children. Volunteers must complete and pass a background check.

ReadingPals takes place during school hours.ReadingPals runs from September 2014 to June 2015.

Through the ReadingPals initiative volunteers read with children at 14 public schools and 6 childcare centers throughout Broward County. For more information about volunteering, training dates and volunteer requirements for the ReadingPals initiative please contact Lola Jordan at (954) 453-3738.

Garage sale and Fish & Girts Breakfast sale Saturday, March 28th at 8-11:30am located at 2732 SW 8th Street, Fort Lauderdale 33312. Fish Dinner sale from 4-8pm

March 26 - April 1, 2015 • www.thewestsidegazette.com • Page 5

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

Jazz in the Gardens 2015 beats last year’s record of people attending at Sun Life Stadium

Ten years of fruitful music

SHEILA E

By Starla Vaughns Cherin cluded young blood Karina Iglesias, sexy Maxwell, John Coming up to the gate of the 10 th Annual Jazz in the Gardens (JIG) Music Festival there were all manner of Mercedes S430, Escalade Ext, Lexus Sport and Infiniti M35 with auto tags hailing from Pure, Michigan, Minnesota, Tennessee, Georgia and South Florida, all inching into the massively packed festival grounds for a musical experience.

Ten years of fruitful music building brings the event to a mile stone reaching greater heights in music and garnering fans from across the nation.

This year’s two day line-up inRUN DMC

Erinosho, Brian Culbertson, Toni Braxton, running with Run DMC, Valerie Tyson, The Men of Soul, Jeffrey Osborne, Peabo Bryson, Freddie Jackson and Howard Hewitt, multiinstrumentalist Sheila E, the bold R. Kelly and always on time Erykah Badu, a favorite of JIG fans.

Punctuated by the comedy of co-host Rickey Smiley and D.L. Hughley, with appearances by J. Anthony Brown, the festival was an Instagram hit. Hughley tells of going to the hospital and guarding his phone in the process. “My wife said I’ll keep your phone while you’re in the hospital. I told her no that’s alright. I went to the hospital with my phone lying on my chest. You are not going to catch me! My colon might be clean but my call history is not!”

Energetic showman Jeffrey Osborne lifted the crowd, who sang back to him as he sang, danced, jumped and sweated his love on stage. “Back In Love Again”, The Woo Woo Woo song had everyone waving cell phones in the air lighting up the night. “My favorite song is Love Ballad. I never get tired of singing it,” Osborne said.

About JIG at Sun Life Sta-

The Prancing Elites: This TV show could possibly change the world

The Prancing Elite

By Naturally Triece Are you ready for the Prancing Elite Project? I can promise you that this is like nothing that you have ever seen before.

The newest Oxygen reality television series features a dance group which is not gender specific, even though some would call them transgender.

The group consists of members; Adrian Clemons, Kentrell Collins, Kareem Davis, Jerel Maddox and Timothy Smith, whom are challenged socially by the norms that exist in our society.

The dance group of Mobile, Ala. just wants to be accepted in the J-Setting world, allowing cheerleading to meet hiphop with a style of dancing that can resemble Beyoncé’s Single Ladies music video.

“The Prancing Elites’ positive perseverance through life’s countless hurdles and rejections will tug at the heartstrings of Oxygen’s young, open minded and diverse audience,” according to Rod Aissa, the executive vice president of the original programming and development at Oxygen Media. “With vibrant personalities, an abundance of humor and even more determination, this authentic group holds true to themselves and never stops celebrating who they are.”

The trailer on the Oxygen site which promotes the series being added to their infamous list is just a small taste of what will be seen throughout this first season. The five best friends show their struggles with acceptance as well as their support and love for each other.

They live and love with one

common goal in mind, and that is just to dance.

The group is currently banned from performing in any local festivities and hometown parades, as well as competitions, so in turn they are taking their talents elsewhere, teaching local classes in the community as well as dancing at college football games. They dance wherever they can, even on boat cruises!

The Prancing Elite will make their big debut on Wednesday, April 22 at 10 p.m. on Oxygen.

What do you guys think?

Too much for TV or should these gentlemen have the right to tell their story?

VIEW VIDEO ON OR WEB PAGE AT: thewestsidegazette.com Instagram: Naturally Triece

Miss Japan is halfMs. Broward County 2015 named Broward Black, and a lot of people don’t like it 100 Youth Ambassador (Cont'd from FP)

(Cont'd from FP) Last year, Yesenia Molina of Margate wore the sash and tiara, representing Broward County on the road to the Miss America Pageant. This year, City of Miramar resident and student of Nova Southeastern University Allyson Walker was crowned Ms. Broward County 2015.

Walker will not only advance toward the dream of being Miss America, she will earn a college scholarship, serve as a spokesperson for the beauty, history and diversity of Broward County and be the official Youth Ambassador for Broward100 Celebrating the Art of Community, participating in celebration activities throughout the year; and will audition for a

role in the grand finale event, Duende As Broward County celebrates its 100th anniversary, this year’s pageant will salute the rich history of the County.

The other winners in this night’s pageant were: Jenice An, Miss Broward County’s Outstanding Teen, City of Weston; Ludwig Louizaire, Miss Gold Coast, City of Lauderhill and Katarina Wronka, Miss Gold Coast’s Outstanding Teen, City of Key Largo In this opportunity to move forward into the world as an ambassador, “many of these winners have gone on to become national network TV stars or Broadway sensationalists,” said the Master of Ceremonies, Alexander Lewy, American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Former Vice Mayor of Hallandale Beach.

Emi Foulk, a Japanese woman currently studying Japanese history at UCLA, says that Miyamoto’s role is a great development, and nobody should have expected anything less. A model, particularly one in a competing role, must look extraordinary, and that’s what Miyamoto represents.

Miyamoto’s case is quite common in different cultures. Although some may not explicitly admit it, a number of people don’t agree with being represented by someone who does not possess the common phenotype of the respective group.

Even in the U.S., some halfBlack Americans have expressed concerns about being ostracized by the Black community.

The best one can do, however, is to give Miyamoto a thumbs-up and hope that she succeeds in her journey.

By Maria C. Montanez FMU Intern

JACKSON

ERINOSHO dium, Osborne said, “This is a setting you don’t get all the time, singing before thousands of Black people in a venue like this. It is wonderful and inspiring.”

Freddie Jackson talked about his new cook book Tasty Love. I lost 107 pounds,” said Jackson. “I dieted for 12 years and have been off a diet for three years eating the things that are featured in the cook book. I’m living the lifestyle and now I’m eating to live.

Check it out.”

Poet Rebecca Butterfly Vaughns attends JIG every year. “There is a sense of beauty in seeing someone’s vision like Jazz in the Gardens become a reality to later blossom into something beyond their wildest expectations.”

More than 60,000 people showed up at Sun Life Stadium to one of the most important music events in South Florida on March 21 and 22. For two days, legends of Jazz, R&B and Hip Hop filled the audience with powerful energy through their authentic talents. Erykah Badu, Maxwell, RUN-DMC dominated the stage. Brian Culbertson and his trombone delighted jazz lovers.

On the second day, as the heat of Miami Gardens started fading and the breeze kicked into the environment, Culbertson hit the stage with his sensational style of manipulating the trombone. This was just the appetizer of the great entrée that music fans were going to experience.

Around 8 p.m., RUN-DMC put the audience to dance and took them back to the 80s.

Joseph Simmons and Darryl McDaniels performed with the same intensity and energy these two have on stage.

At the rhythm of My Adidas, most of the spectators held their shoe as a symbolic moment for the Hip Hop culture.

Erykah Badu set the tone at Sun life stadium. “If you change your perspective, you’ll change circumstances” she expressed to the audience to show great appreciation for what music does.

This undoubtedly talented woman left the audience speechless. Her presence and humor spread all over the venue.

The moon accompanied Badu’s voice and lyrics as the audience sang along her songs.

BADU Bag Lady, Next Lifetime and other classics were listened by thousands of people. Her prominent movements to her music and her extravagant but simple outfit left this second day of the 10th annual music festival as one of the best. Time was not a concern. Badu left the stage at Maxwell’s disposal nearly at 11 pm.

The energy was still intact.

The most expected artist came on with his sensuality that characterizes him. His elegant burgundy suit and his particular voice were the perfect mix to close JIG 2015 with such spectacular spectators.

It is clear the effect that music has on people. Hip Hop, R&B and Jazz keep prevailing in the heart of many Americans. This event has become a tradition for many families and people from different generations.

No doubt 2016 will surprise us with more legends of this music that never stops giving us new perspectives as Badu expressed to us that night.

(Photos by Jonathan Jackson, Student Intern Photographer)

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

Page 6 • www.thewestsidegazette.com • March 26 - April 1, 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.

Is Scott telling the truth about climate change and global warming?

By Roger Caldwell Governor Scott likes to embarrass Florida by implementing ridiculous policies, which makes the national media ask questions such as “where’s the leadership in the state, and what are they thinking?” In 2011, there was an unwritten policy in Scott’s administration that the state Department of Environmental Protection employees had been ordered not to use the term “climate change” and “global warming.”

Florida Governor Scott has always denied that he ever directed state officials to refrain from using such terms.

Even last week Scott said, “First off, it’s not true. Let’s look at what we’ve accomplished: we’ve had significant in-

vestments in beach re-nourishment in flood mitigation.”

As usual, Scott has learned to never answer a question directly, and with the truth. Instead, our governor would rather tell reporters the good job he is doing in the state, and what he has just accomplished. By ignoring questions, Scott can keep his distance from reporters and issues that he refuses to address.

The Florida Center for Investigative Reporting published a report last week which quoted employees of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection who claimed that their supervisors advised them to refrain from mentioning the words that scientists have used to describe the global rise in temperatures. Scott’s supervisors told their employees that they

would not be allowed to discuss anything that was not a true fact.

Despite numerous studies that have put South Florida at great risk due to sea level rise, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection has been forced to keep their mouths closed on the subject. In the coming years, Florida will be hit hard by sea level rise. It would make sense now to account for new scientific predictions about sea level rise when making policies that affect coastal communities.

But since Scott is governor of Florida, the employees have learnt to keep their job by keeping their mouths shut.

Even though the story broke on March 8 in most U.S. media outlets, and international media outlets in England, Australia, Norway, France, Italy, India, and Japan, Scott denies that his

U.S. criminal justice system needs urgent reform

By Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. NNPA Columnist I know from firsthand experience that the “criminal justice system” today in the United States is in serious and urgent need of reform, repair and restructuring. Millions of families have been devastated by the “overcriminalization” of people in America.

Black American families in particular have suffered and continue to suffer

disproportionately as a result of an unjust system of justice.

When I was unjustly incarcerated in the 1970s as a member of the famed Wilmington Ten civil rights case, I personally witnessed how the massive warehousing of prison inmates in overcrowded prison cells led to unspeakable dehumanization and self-destruction. In fact, the inhumanity and senselessness of the prison system itself directly contributed to the increase in violence and prison recidivism.

Forty-five years ago, the myriad of problems concerning the nation’s courts and prison systems was not seen as a national priority. Today, however, the dysfunction of the criminal justice system is not only a matter of national and global disgrace, it has also now become a multi-billion dollar counterproductive albatross around the neck of the nation.

According to a fact sheet by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), during the last four decades the prison population in the U.S. “quadrupledfrom roughly 500,000 to 2.3 million people.” There are nearly a million Black Americans in jails and prisons across the country.

The NAACP has identified the following other racial disparities in U.S. incarceration: African Americans are incarcerated at nearly six times the rate of whites; Together, African American and Hispanics comprised 58 percent of all prisoners in 2008, even though African Americans and Hispanics make up approximately one quarter of the U.S. population; According to a November 2007 report titled, “Unlocking America,” if African Americana and Hispanics were incarcerated at the same rates of whites, today’s prison and jail popula-

tions would decline by approximately 50 percent; One in six Black men had been incarcerated as of 2001. If current CHAVIS trends continue, one in three Black males born today can expect to spend time in prison during his lifetime; One in 100 African American women are in prison; Nationwide, African-Americans represent 26 percent of juvenile arrests, 44 percent of youth who are detained, 46 percent of the youth who are judicially waived to criminal court, and 58 percent of the youth admitted to state prisons (Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice).

The recent public outcries about allegations of police brutality, prosecutorial misconduct, and unfair targeting of judicial sanctions based on race and socioeconomic status are all symptoms of a much border and larger systemic problem.

The problems of inequalities within the criminal justice system are structural and institutional. While the U.S. is only 5 percent of the world’s population, 25 percent of the world’s prisoners are being held in the U.S. Yet, the calls for reform of the criminal justice system are not revolutionary or misplaced. Both conservatives and liberals seem to agree that some fundamental changes need to be put in place when it comes to the nation’s courts, sentencing, jails and prisons.

What is missing is a sense of urgency to get reform actions and policies established. Every day and every hour Black America is negatively impacted by the criminal justice system.

(Read full story on www.thewestsidegazette.com)

Three Black Republicans’ race to the bottom

By Lee A. Daniels, NNPA Columnist Recently, I wrote that today’s Republican Party is gripped by a severe problem – an acting-the-fool dynamic produced by their allegiance to crackpot-conservatism – that causes Republicans of high and low status to say or do things that range from the silly to the vicious. I concluded in part that because these things largely go unchallenged by the GOP leadership, they help underscore how much the bigoted radical right controls the party.

All of the individuals I discussed then are white. However, last week, a trio of Blacks who love the GOP – Ben Carson, Jason L. Riley, and Stephen A. Smith – stepped forward with their own crackpot notions. You might say they proved once again that some Blacks are as capable of engaging in a race to the bottom of common sense and/or respectability as some Whites.

Speaking at a symposium at Vanderbilt University, Smith, an ESPN personality, declared that his “dream” was that “for one election, just one, every Black person in American vote Republican … Black folks in America,” he continued, “are telling one party, ‘We don’t give a damn about you.’ They’re telling the other Party, ‘You’ve got our vote. Therefore, you have labeled your-

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.

self ‘disenfranchised’ because one Party knows they’ve got you under their thumb.

They other party knows they’ll never get you and nobody comes to address your interDANIELS est.”

Thus, Smith put on display his stunning misunderstanding of the basic point of political electioneering: it’s the political party that substantively appeals to the voters for support. Equal to that was his astonishing ignorance of the past half-century of American politics – a period when Blacks forged a remarkable record of playing pragmatic politics in the only party, the Democrats that sought their support.

Remarkably, Smith also either didn’t notice or ignored the fact that in one recent election his wish had come true.

That was the 2014 bitterly contested race for the U.S. Senate in Mississippi between six-term Republican conservative Thad Cochran, and the Tea Party-backed extremist, Chris McDaniel. Cochran is a dyed-in-thewool conservative but also a man of courtly manners who has never treated his Democratic Senate colleagues as “the enemy,” as McDaniel promised to do. He was in significant danger of losing. Mississippi’s Black voters – the most reliably Democratic in the country – rushed into the Republican primary to vote for Cochran in massive numbers, ensuring that he would defeat McDaniel and be returned to Washington.

That was a dramatic example of the principle that has always ruled traditional Black politics: pragmatism trumps political ideology.

That’s something Jason L. Riley has made a career of pretending isn’t true.

(Read full story on www.thewestsidegazette.com)

supervisors and department employees were ordered not to use the words “climate change” and “global warming.”

The employees know that Scott will be gone in three years, and CALDWELL there are departments working on climate change even if they are banned from using the words. The Department of Transportation is studying how to accommodate sea level rise in the future road plans, and how to protect existing infrastructure. The state’s water management districts are modeling sea level rise projections.

The DEP is managing the damage to the coasts and monitoring saltwater incursions into freshwater aquifers.

Florida is preparing for climate change, even though the governor is trying to suppress the truth. It will be hard to plan for climate change when you can’t use the term. But the employees know when Scott is gone; the problems they are working on will not end. Governors and news cycles come and go, but the long thinking, and hardworking employees of the state agencies will still be here working on scientific projects, which improve the quality of life for Floridians.

Child Watch Low-income children to get shafted by congress

By Marian Wright Edelman, NNPA Columnist Congress is about to strike a deal that takes care of seniors EDELMAN and doctors but leaves low-income and “at-risk” children short. Congress’ annual struggle to avoid cuts in Medicare reimbursement rates so physicians will continue to give seniors the care they need is widely considered must-pass bipartisan legislation.

Known as the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) or “doc fix,” this annual process often provides a vehicle for moving other legislative health priorities.

Last year, it included one year of funding for the important Maternal and Infant Early Childhood Home Visiting program. While Congress has long discussed passing a permanent “doc fix” – leaders in the House of Representatives have now released an outline for doing it and plan to act on it this week. They hope the Senate will follow and act before the current “doc fix” expires March 31.

This is great news for seniors, but why is Congress leaving children behind by extending funding for the successful bipartisan Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and the Maternal and Infant Early Childhood Home Visiting Program (MIECHV) for only two years? The cost of the “doc fix” is about $140 billion, while a two-year extension of CHIP and home visiting funding is less than $6 billion. Yet in the House proposal this increase required an “offset” – meaning it had to be paid for, while the “doc fix” that is more than 20 times more expensive does not. This is profoundly unjust to children whose lives are equally important.

(Read full story on www.thewestsidegazette.com)

Looking beyond Ferguson, Mo.

By Claud Anderson, NNPA Guest Columnist The lack of respect for a Black man’s life, ANDERSON rights and contributions became infused into the nation’s national spirit and codified in the legal and political infrastructure. How the nation should view Blacks was laid down in the United States Supreme Court’s infamous 1857 Dred Scott v. Sanford decision. The majority opinion, written by Chief Justice Robert B. Taney, held: “[Blacks] had for more than a century before been regarded as beings of an inferior order, and altogether unfit to associate with the white race, either in social or political relations, and so far unfit that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect.”

That ruling, not reversed until the 1954 Brown decision, was locked into the collective American psyche and passed down from generation to generation of ethnic Whites.

(Read full story on www.thewestsidegazette.com)

To Be Equal Inequity in education funding shortchanges America’s future

By Marc H. Morial, NNPA Columnist “That all citizens will be given an equal start through a sound education is one of the most basic, promised rights of MORIAL our democracy. Ourchronic refusal as a nation to guarantee that right for all children, including poor children, is a national disgrace…It is a failure which threatens our future as a nation of citizens called to a common purpose, allied with one another in a common enterprise, tied to one another by a common bond.” – Senator Paul Wellstone, Teachers College, Columbia University, March 2000 Sitting beside his first teacher, “Miss Katie” Deadrich, in front of the oneroom Texas schoolhouse he once attended, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act into law on April 11, 1965. ESEA, commonly known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB), was a cornerstone in the president’s “War on Poverty” initiative. Its intent was to close the education achievement gap between children from lower- and higher-income families. Fifty years later, with Congress currently considering a reauthorization of the law, the gap in educational opportunity, achievement and funding is growing.

For the first time in our nation’s history, students of color are the majority of the U.S. student body. According to a recent survey by the Southern Education Foundation, a majority of all public school students are low-income. In another troubling milestone, the National Center for Education Statistics estimates that during the 2013-2014 school year, a majority – 51 percent – of public school students were deemed eligible for freeand reduced-price meals, a common indicator of poverty.

This is even more alarming when we consider a finding that our 2015 State of Black America® revealed and that we shared at the launch this week: On average, larger academic achievement gaps are in states with large urban areas home to large populations of people of color who live in highly segregated neighborhoods with high rates of concentrated high poverty.

(Read full story on www.thewestsidegazette.com)

I had a heart attack

By George E. Curry, NNPA Columnist Nothing was more startling than when a cardiologist looked me directly in the eyes and CURRY said matter-of-factly: “It looks like you had a heart attack.” I was dumbfounded. When? Where?

How much damage was done? Why didn’t I know it?

It certainly didn’t feel like I had suffered a heart attack.

I had just covered and participated in the 50th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday” in Selma, Ala. The ceremonies had special significance to me because as a senior at Druid High School in Tuscaloosa, I had participated in the last day of the march in Montgomery, where I saw James Baldwin and Harry Belafonte for the first time.

Ann and I arrived a day early, had dinner with Susan Gandy, the youngest of my three sisters, who had driven over to Montgomery from Tuskegee with her husband, Iverson, Jr., and my nice, Rachel.

In addition to covering the president’s speech Saturday, I had received a Freedom Flame Award that night and on Sunday morning was one of the speakers at the Martin and Coretta King Unity Breakfast. I walked across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Sunday and completed my writing and editing for the NNPA News Service on Monday.

We stopped in Buford, Ga. Tuesday en route back to Washington, D.C. to visit Ann’s son, Derek Ragland; his wife, April, and our grandkids, Austin, 5, and Autumn 1.

On Wednesday night, I felt a slight pain in my chest, but dismissed it as indigestion. It continued Thursday night. When the pain persisted Friday night, Ann insisted on taking me to the hospital and I acquiesced.

We ended up at Emory Johns Creek Hospital. To Ann’s disbelief, I grabbed my iPad mini, a book, my charger, and a notebook as we headed out of the door. I know how long the wait can be in emergency rooms and did not want to be without reading material if I became trapped in the waiting lounge.

(Read full story on www.thewestsidegazette.com)

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

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Healthcare Revitalization

By Pearl and Mel Shaw (Part One)

Healthcare is always in the news: advances in healthcare technology, groundbreaking research, and healthcare disparities are just a few. Yet there’s one story we rarely hear: the role of hospital or medical center related healthcare foundations. These foundations play important roles in communities across the country, bringing together leadership, vision, money and initiative to help improve the delivery of healthcare.

Wanting to learn more we spoke with Tammie Ritchey, vice president of development and executive director of Regional One Health Foundation in Memphis Tennessee. For the past 10 years Ritchey and the foundation board of directors have worked behind the scenes to help improve healthcare across the mid-South.

We started our conversation wanting to know – in general terms – the role of a foundation in the life of a nonprofit healthcare system. Not surprisingly, fundraising is a foundation’s most obvious role. Foundations raise money for research, new buildings, and investments in projects that improve patient outcomes and increase employee training, and more. But, according to Ritchey, fundraising isn’t always the most important role.

“A less visible role is the work of keeping the mission and vision of the healthcare system in the public’s mind,” Ritchey shared. “The relationships a

Pearl and Mel Shaw foundation forges with donors translates into the making of very strong advocates for not only the system it represents but also for improved community health care.”

Here’s an example she shared, related to the health system’s challenges in 2010, and how things have changed. “The system was losing a great deal of money; we were downsizing staff, looking at service lines to cut, and working with an interim executive team for a couple of years. Now, we have stable permanent leadership, progressive minded thought provoking visionary leaders who have created a clear mission and vision for the system, and are putting together the strategies to make the vision a reality. We have a formal physician’s group to care for our patients now, which we did not have before, and all team members are playing from the same play book, all pointed in the same direction.”

Communication and relationships were key to changing the situation. “During difficult economic times, the foundation spent a great deal of time communicating what was going on inside the walls of the hospital with those who support us.

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Blackonomics Caught between Barack and a hard place

By James Clingman, NNPA Columnist The experiment that featured a Black man in the White House is on the downside now. Folks in the Obama Administration are busy looking for their next job and jumping ship faster than rats.

But you can’t blame them; that’s the way it is in politics. You ride your horse as long as you can and then you find a new horse. That’s just what CLINGMAN folks in presidential administrations do. The question is: What horse will Black folks ride now?

With Barack came new line-dances at the clubs, new phrases, and new “hope” that would finally move Black people to the front of the line for a “change.” We were large and in charge, big-ballers and shot-callers, cool and stylish, but we soon found that we were not really running anything. Having bet the farm on our horse, we now look on in agony as he comes down the home stretch. We want to move the finish line a bit farther down the track because we don’t yet have the victory, and it looks like we’re not going to get it. All we can hope for now is just a little more euphoria before November 2016.

Black folks are now between Barack and hard place. We don’t know if we are pitching or catching. As that Richard Pryor movie asked, “Which way is up?” We invested nearly 100 percent of our political capital in our current president, thinking we would get a decent Return on Investment (ROI). Unless there is a drastic uptick in the next few months, our investment will be lost forever, because we know this experiment will not be done again for a long time.

Between Barack and a hard place means that Black people, collectively, are now without a comfortable place to turn, without someone we can look to for hope and change, and without what we considered to be a foothold in politics. Being between Barack and a hard place is causing anxiety, doubt, and even fear among some of our people.

Being between Barack and a hard place will make many of us revert to our political ways by staying on the Democrat’s wagon because the Republicans ignore us and don’t like us, anyway. We will rationalize our allegiance to the same party that takes us for granted, however. And some of us will opt out of the system altogether because we are so frustrated and angry at how the previous two terms went down.

It’s very uncomfortable being between Barack and a hard place. To whom will we turn? Will Hillary help us? Will one of the Republican candidates help us? Maybe Dr. Ben (Carson) will win and come to our rescue. What are Black folks to do in 2016 as we now find ourselves wedged between Barack and a hard place with no wiggle room? Maybe we could “apologize” to Hillary for abandoning her in 2008. Maybe we could do a public mea culpa to the Republicans. After all, we need someone to turn to now, right?

Well, here are a few thoughts. Maybe we can now turn to ourselves. Maybe now we will fully understand the error of our ways and make appropriate change. Maybe we will finally work together as a solid bloc to leverage our precious votes against the 2016 candidates. Maybe we will understand that no matter who resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Black folks still have to be vigilant about our political and economic position in this country.

And maybe, as we struggle to remove ourselves from between Barack and a hard place, at least a small percentage of us will organize around economic and political empowerment.

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

March 26 - April 1, 2015 • www.thewestsidegazette.com • Page 9

The Broward Mega, money-saving, record-breaking, wild water Switcheroo Contest is ready to make some lucky Broward homeowner a big winner vation, to explain why it’s important, and why they should be selected as the big winner.

The submissions can be anything: a jingle or a poem, employ social media or include a website, or even a poster, illustration or photograph.

The contest rules, application and evaluation criteria are all available at bwpSwitcheroo.com.

As part of the promotion, the Broward Water Partnership will have a Facebook contest, a Twitter contest and a YouTube contest….each with separate cash prizes.

“Our toilet rebate and conservation education program has already engaged thousands of Broward residents,” said Jennifer Jurado, Director of Broward County’s Environmental Planning and Community Resilience Division which coordinates water resource planning and conservation initiatives countywide, including the Conservation Pays Program.

“The Switcheroo will demonstrate how choosing WaterSense® and EnergyStar® appliances and fixtures provide immediate and long-term water and money savings as part of

Republican budget would shred safety net

In addition to spending less, the budget plans to revamp the tax code to secure new federal revenue. The proposal provides scant details on how this will be done.

The CBPP points out that the government already misses out on $1 trillion per year through waivers, credits, and tax breaks that disproportionately benefit the upper class; this is more than double the cost of the non-defense discretionary programs previously mentioned.

“Cutting only spending entitlements while shielding tax entitlements would be highly regressive,” Greenstein writes in a separate analysis of the budget. “It also would constitute a highly selective approach to so-called ‘entitlement reform’— cutting entitlement programs whose benefits go principally to poor and middle-class families, while asking for no deficitreduction contribution from the entitlements that are heavily skewed to people at the top of the income scale and include some particularly wasteful and special-interest-oriented programs.”

Budget resolutions are only a blueprint for a future detailed appropriations bill that will allocate every penny and eventually reach the White House for signature.

Families USA, a national health care consumers group, said the repeal of the Affordable Health Care Act would be devastating.

“The Affordable Care Act is the most significant health care reform since the enactment of Medicare and Medicaid half a century ago,” it said in a statement. “In just five years, it has reduced by one-third the portion of the population that is uninsured. Approximately 16.4 million uninsured Americans have gained health coverage.”

President Barack Obama has long asserted that he would veto any bill that spells an end to the Affordable Care Act. He also told a White House audience of educators last week that there would be “a major debate” on any attempts to divest in education. The stalemate will likely result in another partial or full shutdown this fall.

Greenstein warns: “If [the Committee’s] policies were to become law, ours would be a coarser, more mean-spirited nation with higher levels of poverty and inequality, less opportunity, and a future workforce that’s less able to compete with its counterparts overseas.”

The Broward Water Partnership (a collaboration of 18 local governments and water utilities) will award one lucky homeowner with new water and energy saving appliances including a refrigerator, washer, dryer, dishwasher, irrigation system and water-conserving

plumbing fixtures in for the kitchen and bath.

But winning won’t be easy.

As part of the application process, the Broward Water Partnership is asking applicants to provide more than a basic application. They’re asking people to think about water conser-

By Jazelle Hunt, NNPA Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON, D.C. (NNPA) – The Republican House budget will shred the social safety net designed to protect the most vulnerable citizens, severely cutting programs ranging from student loans to food stamps, according to a nonpartisan think thank.

“The budget would cause tens of millions of people to become uninsured or underinsured, make it harder for lowincome students to afford college, shrink nutrition assistance, and squeeze many other such programs,” writes Robert Greenstein, president of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP). “Consequently, it’s sure to significantly increase poverty, hardship, and inequality.”

In an effort to balance the federal budget without raising taxes or restoring them to prerecession levels, House Republicans plan to shrink spending in a variety of areas—especially health care and anti-poverty, food assistance, and housing assistance programs. The cuts will total $5.5 trillion over the next 10 years.

The House of Representatives Budget Committee’s proposal would drastically reduce or end federal funding to such programs, or reform them into state-run or meager versions of themselves.

Under this plan, the Affordable Care Act would be completely defunded, sacrificing the $1 trillion in federal in-

House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price (R-Ga.) come it generates through taxes, and also eliminating states’ expanded Medicaid. The CBPP finds that 14 million Americans would be left un-insured. The uninsured rate for Black people in particular has dropped from 24 percent to 16 percent, in the two years since ACA implementation.

Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and other health programs would also lose $1 trillion in funding by 2025. Greenstein, who has served three presidential administrations before creating CBPP, points out that this cut comes on top of the losses from repealing health care reform.

A crack in the foundation can cause the whole house to crumble (Cont'd from FP) While the storm is raging and the waters are rising faster than gas prices and you are dumping water out of a sinking boat with a thimble, don’t give in to doubt or give up to worry because God said that He would bring those who are in a right relationship with Him safely through.

When you hear people talking about how they were able to come through periods of devastation and they could not tell you how they were able to do it but they did, it’s true. Backed up against the wall and nowhere to turn, you find yourself pitted against the world, then you turn to the One who holds the world.

Some things you just have to experience for yourself.

That old song that says, “God bless the child that’s got his own” is so true, especially the child that has his/her own relationship with God. When YOU are going through something it becomes personal and when God works through that personally for you, that relationship is undeniable.

There are undeniable stories out there waiting to be shared by those who have experienced His grace with those who are still caught up in denial and those who are wondering which way to go, who to turn to and those who have given up.

Because we stand firmly on God’s word, does that mean that we are “all that and a bag of chips”? No. Does that mean we will not be visited by impure thoughts, inappropriate actions? No. But it does mean that we will not be defeated by those things. We won’t let those things get in the way of us getting our blessings.

For those who may have a crack in their foundation it’s never too late to have your foundation fixed by the One who created the Foundation. There is not a destruction known to man that can come against the Foundation built by God because He created it all. So if your foundation is being rocked and cracked by man’s/woman’s petty evil and wickedness, don’t give in to it; move on up to the higher, dependable Foundation, the One that made it all. Don’t allow a crack to become a gaping hole.

“He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honor. For the foundations of the earth are the LORD’s; upon them he has set the world.” 1 Samuel 2:8 (NIV) GOD’S FOUNDATION IS THE ROCK THE WORLD WAS BUILT UPON-WHAT ABOUT YOUR LIFE?

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is slated to lose $125 billion. In 2013, Black people were 25.7 percent of all SNAP recipients; the same year, a national-representative Pew Research Center survey conducted the same year found that Black people were twice as likely as Whites to have used the food stamp program at some point in life.

The proposed budget would retain these and other mandatory safety net programs through federal block grants.

Full responsibility for managing the grants and running the programs would be left to state governments. The CBPP asserts that block grants would not be enough on their own for most states to adequately administer these programs, and low- to moderate-income families would suffer most for it.

Medicare would lose $148 billion over the next decade, and would become a “premium support model” voucher system, in which seniors can choose their own insurance plan via marketplaces (similar to the current Affordable Care Act).

Medicare would apply each recipient’s benefits directly to the insurance company he or she has chosen.

Black seniors with Medicare tend to have significantly lower-than-average incomes and savings as well as more chronic health conditions than others, making Medicare much more critical to their survival.

As wealth gaps widen and health disparities persist, the need for effective Medicare will likely continue or deepen for Black retirees in the future.

In addition to weakening social programs, the proposed House budget also caps the maximum Pell Grant award limit for outstanding low-income college students, on the grounds that the recent expansion of what constitutes “need” shortchanges the most needy students.

There would be $759 billion less for discretionary funding.

This money supports nonmandatory, but important provisions, such as job training opportunities, early childhood programs, climate change and renewable energy research, scientific and medical study, transportation, and more.

The only increased spending would go toward the War on Terror, which would see an additional $20 billion over the next 10 years.

Arnwine resigns as head of Lawyers’ Committee (Cont'd from FP) Arnwine started thinking about retiring five years ago, but was urged to postpone her move until after the organization could get through a capital drive and observance of the group’s 50th anniversary.

“Then, of course, all the voter suppression stuff started to happen. When that happened, there was no way I could go,” she said.

Energized by yet another fight, the high-energy Arnwine was the point person in the fight against voter suppression.

Morial said, “To execute the election protection effort, she marshaled countless people hours, donated by volunteer lawyers, to staff a hotline, which served as an essential tool for

the entire civil rights community.”

It was her “map of shame” that riveted the Black community. In 2011, her organization produced a color-coded map of the United States detailing efforts to suppress the Black and Brown vote.

Unlike many who were discouraged by the brazen political power grab, Arnwine said as a student of history, she had come to expect such shenanigans.

“I know that you only advance when you’re vigilant and you fight constantly,” she explained. “In fact, one of the theories I talk about is that some expect Black progress to be linear when, in fact, it zigzags. We make tremendous advances and then there’s a backlash – people fight against

basic practices at home.”

From March 1 – 30 residents who live in Broward Water Partnership communities can apply online or at dropbox locations.

The rules, the competition evaluation criteria and the application can be found at BWPSwitcheroo.com.

The Switcheroo Contest is sponsored by: BrandSmartUSA, Outfront Media, the Miami Herald Broward, WaterOptimizer, CBS4 and Cox

Radio Easy95 and Hot105 This program is part of the c o n t i n u i n g ConservationPays.com initiative to educate, engage and support Broward residents and business in water conservation efforts. Some Partnership members are providing low flow aerators and showerheads for free and some are providing toilet rebates—up to $100 per toilet for homes, businesses and nonprofits.

THE ESSENCE OF OIC -- The essence of OIC is the people. From the many talented and passionate people who work for OIC of South Florida, to the thousands of adults and youth whom we serve every year, people are at the heart of everything we do.

Opportunities Industrialization Centers of South Florida (OICSFL) is a community based workforce development, education and training organization that prepares individuals for the world of work by reducing barriers to employment, providing comprehensive vocational skills training and fostering youth aspirations through prevention and intervention strategies that support positive youth development and strengthen families. To date, OIC of South Florida has secured over $31 million to serve South Florida. OIC of South Florida honors its graduates.

93 million prepaid cardholders are unprotected (Cont'd from FP) With each card issuer also setting its fee schedule and assessments, multiple added costs for usage can widely vary. Fees can include some or all of the following typical transactions: ATM cash withdrawal, balance inquiry, bill payments, card cancellation, inactivity, monthly usage, replacement of lost or stolen cards, and overdraft fees.

According to FDIC, among the largest users of prepaid cards are 25 million unbanked consumers and an additional 68 million who are underbanked, preferring these cards or other alternative financial it.

“Sometimes you’re zigging and zagging at the same time.

You can have a President Obama elected, in part because of the Black vote, but at the same time have voter suppression.”

A larger problem, Arnwine said, is that America refuses to address racism in a meaningful way.

“If the goal is white supremacy and Black subordination, and you don’t have the structural mechanisms built into society to destroy that imperative, then the imperative is going to operate,” she said. “The laws are helpful in fighting that imperative, but we don’t have enough structures. People are scared to fight structural racism.”

(Read full story on www.westsidegazette.com)

services to traditional institutions.

The term ‘unbanked’ refers to those who have no existing relationship with a traditional financial institution such as a bank or credit union. ‘Underbanked’ consumers have such a relationship but turn to a range of alternative financial services for most of their personal financial transactions.

Unbanked and underbanked consumers are also disproportionately consumers of color – Black, Latino, and Native American.

The combination of growing prepaid usage and lack of financial regulation has caught the attention of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

In remarks at a field hearing last November, Richard Cordray, CFPB Director, stated the agency’s concerns.

“Many of these prepaid [card] consumers are living paycheck to paycheck, and are engaged in a constant battle to make ends meet,” said Cordray.

“They are some of the most economically vulnerable among us, and most of them have no idea that the prepaid cards they choose to purchase are largely unregulated at the federal level and carry few if any protections under federal consumer financial law.”

(Read full story on www.westsidegazette.com)

Page 10 • www.thewestsidegazette.com • March 26 - April 1, 2015

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

Little Known Black Women History

How did this former slave become the wealthiest Black woman in Los Angeles?

MASON

By April V. Taylor Bridget Mason, known as Biddy to most people, was born a slave on a Hancock, Ga. plantation. Before she became a midwife and herbal medicine practitioner, she was separated

Prathia Hall — (1940 – 2002) of Philadelphia was arrested and indicted under Georgia’s anti-trespass law during recent sit -in demonstrations, leaves Federal Court here 3/23 after she was released under $1,000 property bond. In 1978, Hall followed after her father to become a Baptist preacher in Philadelphia. Before that, as a civil rights activist in Georgia, she was shot by a white gunman, shot at by police and jailed many times. A powerful orator, her signature phrase, “I have a dream,” may have inspired MLK’s most famous speech.

(Bettmann/CORBIS)

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.

March 5, 12, 19, 26, 2015

from her parents and sold multiple times to plantations in Georgia, Mississippi and South Carolina. When she was 18, Mason was a gift to Robert and Rebecca Smith as a wedding present and relocated to a plantation in Logtown, Miss. While there, Mason had three daughters, all of whom were fathered by her slave master.

In 1847, after the Smiths were converted to the Mormon religion, Robert Smith moved his extended family and 90 slaves to the Utah territory. On the 2,000 mile journey, Mason was forced to walk behind her master’s wagon. The journey lasted some seven months.

Church leader Brigham Young had counseled Smith on freeing his slaves but for years, he declined.

When Young asked Smith to join him in establishing a Mormon community in California, Smith agreed, most likely unaware that California had entered the Union as a free state and that any slave brought across its borders was automatically free. With increasing antislavery sentiment, Smith eventually decided to move his family and slaves to Texas, but he was delayed when Hannah, one of Mason’s daughters, was close to giving birth. Charles Owens, the man who courted Hannah told Mason how she could win her freedom.

Owens’ father was able to convince a local sheriff to hold Smith’s slaves in a county jail to protect them and keep Smith from taking them back to a slave state. On Jan. 21, 1856, Mason and Smith’s other slaves were granted their freedom. Owens’ father invited Mason to move to Los Angeles and live with him and his family.

Mason agreed and soon began working as a nurse and midwife for Los Angeles physician John Strother Griffin.

She earned $2.50 a day and quickly became well known for her midwifery skills and her herbal remedies. After working for 10 years, Mason had saved $250 and used it to buy two lots on the outskirts of the city, making her one of the first Black women to own property in Los Angeles.

Mason built small houses on the land that she rented out

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NOTICE CALL FOR BIDS THE SCHOOL BOARD OF BROWARD COUNTY, FLORIDA, is seeking bids for the following bids/RFPs. Please log onto www.demandstar.com to receive more information and to download the bid/RFP documents: Title/No.:Floor Machines and Supplies (Catalog) – ITB 16-011B Due Date: 4/7/15 @ 2:00 p.m.

The School Board of Broward County, Florida, prohibits any policy or procedure, which results in discrimination on the basis of age, color, disability, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, marital status, race, religion, sex or sexual orientation. Individuals who wish to file a discrimination and/or harassment complaint may call the Director, Equal Educational Opportunities/ADA Compliance Department at 754321-2150 or Teletype Machine (TTY) 754-321-2158. Individuals with disabilities requesting accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA), may call Equal Educational Opportunities/ADA Compliance Department at 754-3212150 or Teletype Machine (TTY) 754-321-2158.

and also used the land for gardening over the next 18 years.

When she was 66, she was able to sell a portion of the land for $1,500. She then built a commercial building and rented out storerooms. Over the next several years, Mason acquired more land, and as Los Angeles grew, her land became prime urban

real estate, forming the basis for her substantial wealth.

In 1872, Mason, along with her son-in-law Charles Owens, founded and financed the city’s first Black church, the First African Methodist Episcopal Church. Mason donated the land the church was built on.

By the late 1800’s, Mason’s land

was just one block from the city’s main financial district, and Mason had become the wealthiest Black woman in the entire city.

Mason eventually accumulated a fortune of nearly $300,000, becoming a known philanthropist by feeding and sheltering the poor, giving pri-

soners at the local jail gifts, and founding an elementary school for Black children. Mason died Jan. 15, 1891 at the age of 73.

She was buried in an unmarked grave. Fittingly, a marker was placed on her grave in 1988 by Mayor Tom Bradley, the first Black mayor of Los Angeles.

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

March 26 - April 1, 2015 • www.thewestsidegazette.com • Page 11

Parents: Children will have it harder than they did

By Jazelle Hunt, NNPA Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON, D.C. (NNPA) – A majority of American parents believe their children will face a harsher coming-of-age than they did, according to a new survey – and no one feels this more acutely than Black parents.

In a recent NBC News State of Parenting Poll, 63 percent of parents felt their children would face more problems growing up than they did. For

Black parents, the figure was 72 percent.

“That feeling is real… that children growing up today are growing up in a more complex society, with respect to issues like racism, institutional racism, structural racism, and the educational system, and growing inequality,” says George Garrow, executive director of Concerned Black Men National, which seeks to enrich the lives of Black children and parents through mentorship and community-building.

“We as adults are being affected by these things, and if we’re being affected then young people certainly are. Our kids are being raised in a time where… the kids are not going to have the opportunities that we had 25 years ago, 30 years ago.”

Parents who had little faith in today’s education system were likelier to foresee greater challenges for their children.

These parents of little faith were in the minority, however. In the case of Black parents, 51 percent rated their child’s education as “good,” on a scale from “excellent” to “poor.”

Most of the parents who rated their children’s education experience as “fair” or “poor” also believed that their children would have a harder time growing up. Only 18 percent and 9 percent of Black parents gave “fair” and “poor” ratings, respectively, but Black parents made up the largest share of both ratings.

The outlook on growing up was bleak even among the satisfied parents, 57 percent of whom still felt their children would face more problems.

“I always thought…we’d be, now, in an era of better schools.

But when you look at the terrain we’re not there yet…particularly with Black kids and the schools they are going to,” Garrow said.

“While we may live in a society with greater options for some, those things haven’t necessarily materialized for Black children, and Black families.”

Interestingly, 51 percent of all parents felt that school would not prepare their children for the job market unless their child also went to college. Further, a sizeable 86 percent said their children would need more than a high school degree to achieve The American Dream.

Although many parents believed the journey to adulthood would be harder for their children, 53 percent also believed that their children would be the same or better off once they grew up. While Black parents were most likely to worry about their children’s present experiences, they were also more likely to be optimistic about their child’s future than White parents were—but not more opti-

mistic than Hispanic parents.

Additionally, younger, Democrat, and/or low-income parents were more optimistic than older, Republican, and/or higher-income parents; Black people tend to fall into the former categories. (Political independents are evenly split).

While the worry about modern childhood remains high, research suggests the sentiment is declining with each generation, as the standard of living gets better. In the 1998 results of this same survey, 78 percent of parents believed their children had more problems.

At the same time, outlook on the future of the next generation seems to have remained steady. Over the past few years the Pew Research Center has surveyed approximately 2,500 parents with similar questions.

From 2008 to 2012, roughly half of parents believed their children would have it better off when they reached adulthood. Interestingly, roughly 60 percent of the same respondents believed that they had a better standard of living than their parents did at the same age.

At a time when the nation is rallying against unchecked police violence on Black people (among a host of chronic social and political problems), Garrow points out that Black families have to dig deep to find optimism for the future. But, he also believes that positive adult involvement and community building are the keys to helping children navigate an increasingly complex society.

“We can no longer live under the idyllic notion that kids—as long as they don’t get into trouble, as long as the ‘behave themselves’—that they’re going to grow up to be responsible citizens, be educated properly, and have opportunities in life.

All of our kids are at risk,” Garrow says. “[The finding] is really tragic because it should not be this way. Each society should be able to build upon the successes of the previous generation.

[W]e really need a reality check to determine what we need to do so we at least have a chance at offering our kids a better life.”

Morehouse College men now have a distinguished of the Terry Funeral watch to match their mystique CEO Home.

Hodges Watch Company donated a new watch at the Morehouse Candle-In-The-Dark Gala to benefit general scholarship fund. The silent auction winner was Morehouse Alumnus Burrell (r) and Hodges who created the trademark design.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Howie Hodges, class of ‘82 at Morehouse College, took his commitment to “The House” seriously when he created a trademarked design for a signature watch to be exclusively worn by the formidable Morehouse Man. Hodges Watch Company (HWCo) donated one of the

“luxury hand-assembled” watches to the college to be auctioned at the 2015 Annual Candle in the Dark Gala that was recently held in Atlanta, Ga. The silent auction winner was Morehouse Alumnus Gregory T. Burrell, class of ‘90, a prominent businessman from Philadelphia where he is president &

The HWCo watches are an élite and limited Morehouse College collection where only 350 will be offered for sale. Morehouse gets a percentage of all sales through an approved licensing arrangement.

Watches are custom-madeto-order with a remarkable layered dial of iconic “Graves Hall” crafted from sterling silver, over iridescent mother-of-pearl. All movements are SWISS made and imported by HWCo. Hodges, says, “I have a passion for watches, and I wanted to design and manufacture a “collectable timepiece” that could be passed down from generation-to-generation of Morehouse men and to help my Alma Mater and have fun doing so.

And, to remind me of the momentous years I spent on campus.”

For more detail about the various styles of watches in the Morehouse Collection, one can visit the website at www.hodgeswatch.com or contact Hodges at the hodgeswatch@gmail.com About Hodges HWCo Founder C. Howie Hodges II is a second generation Morehouse™ Man from the Class of 1982 and is the son of the late Clemmon H. Hodges, Class of 1951. He’s married to his college sweetheart Elizabeth “Beth” Jackson Hodges, the eldest daughter of distinguished Morehouse™ Alumnus, the late Maynard H. Jackson, Jr., Class of 1956.

Boyd Anderson High School student leaders take over Tallahassee during Spring Break to learn firsthand how our state government works. School Board Member Dr. Osgood was one of 4 members who hosted a student delegation from across the County. Rose Alexander, Abigail Graham and Youselene Beauplan are among the students who attended.

Bobby Dubose, (Florida House of Representatives, representing the 94th District), addresses Broward County student delegation of MTL (Mentoring Tomorrow’s Leaders) & SGA (Student Government Association) during Spring Break in Tallahassee.

Page 12 • www.thewestsidegazette.com • March 26 - April 1, 2015

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

Giuliani supporting Loretta Lynch nomination

AG Nominee Loretta Lynch (White House photo by Pete Souza)

By Freddie Allen, NNPA Senior Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON, D.C. (NNPA) – In recent weeks, Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City, claimed that President Barack Obama didn’t love America, blamed the President for creating the atmosphere that led to the shootings of two police officers being shot in Ferguson, Mo., and said that he should speak more like the beleaguered Bill Cosby on issues of race.

There is one issue, however, that he is in total agreement with President Obama — Loretta Lynch’s qualification to become the next attorney general.

“Loretta Lynch is more than qualified. She’s over-qualified to be the attorney general,” said Giuliani. “She is as well-qualified as some of the best attorney generals that we’ve had.”

During a call with reporters last Friday, Giuliani admitted that he didn’t often agree with President Obama, but whether

the president is a Republican or a Democrat he is entitled to his choice.

The former mayor and presidential candidate said that the confirmation process has become distorted over time.

“Republicans torture Democrats and Democrats torture Republicans. Who started it? Only God knows and it has now become the Hatfields and McCoys,” said the former New York City mayor.

Giuliani said that he was impressed by the way that Lynch, as a United States attorney in New York, prosecuted cases to protect New York City and, on the few occasions that she had to investigate the city, she was fair.

“She makes decisions on the merit,” said Giuliani. “She’s not a political operative in any sense.”

Lynch, who was first confirmed as a United States attorney during the Clinton Administration in 1999 and again during the Obama Administration in 2010, has also under-

gone three FBI background investigations.

Giuliani joined a chorus of lawmakers, law enforcement officials and civil rights leaders urging Senate Republicans to confirm Lynch.

Rep. G.K. Butterfield (DN.C.), the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), called the delay in confirming Loretta Lynch political.

“The politics that Republicans have played with her nomination are deplorable and opposition to her nomination is nothing more than a political ploy to once again use any means necessary to show their disdain for President Obama,” said Butterfield. “This is a travesty. We should not deny the President of the United States his choice of a qualified candidate.”

Wade Henderson, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition of 200 civil and human rights groups, said that the Senate Republican majority is using every excuse it can find to delay or obstruct Lynch’s confirmation.

“And the one thing these excuses all have in common is that none of them have anything to do with the nominee herself,” said Henderson. “We know that senators can walk and chew gum at the same time and that this is just the latest turn in what has been the most mishandled and manipulated confirmation process in memory.”

Even Eric Holder, the current attorney general who was held in contempt of Congress on a Republican-majority vote in 2012 over a gun trade investigation, recently quipped that the Republican Congress has delayed the Lynch confirmation because they discovered a new fondness for him.

Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said that when it comes to the

Senate calendar, Loretta Lynch was being asked “to sit in the back of the bus,” and that the delay was, “beneath the decorum and dignity of the United States Senate.”

Louis Freeh, a partner of Pepper Hamilton, LLP and a former Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), agreed that politics is driving opposition to Lynch’s nomination.

“The nomination is being held up for political reasons.

Some of the senators didn’t like her answers on immigration,” said Freeh. “The fact of the matter is that she supports the immigration policies of the President. What nominee would come before the Senate for the attorney generalship who did not support the policies of the President? Nobody has made any credible arguments about her competency her independence or her integrity.”

Freeh continued: “You don’t want any attorney general to start his or her tenure there otherwise qualified with that sort of a cloud.”

Giuliani said that the President is entitled to appointments that agree with his point of view and that playing partisan politics over nominations not only impedes the ability of any President to get his job done, but also discourages people from going through this process.

“It is a golden opportunity for my political party to show that we’re going back to the original intent of the framers of the Constitution in the way that the confirmation process should work,” said Giuliani. “Maybe, just maybe, if we have a Republican president two years from now we can appeal to the Democrats to do the same thing.”

Empire shows that Black dollars matter

By Ron Busby, Sr. NNPA Columnist According to a Nielsen consumer report, African Americans are voracious consumers of media, watching 37 percent more television than any other slice of American demography. While that’s not new news, it is disturbing that we don’t completely understand the connection between our TV consumption and the huge profits generated by our connection to television.

To be fair, some TV programming can actually be beneficial.

The recent coverage of the 50th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday” opened the eyes of generations of Americans who were unaware of the brutality of racial oppression in America.

Much of television, however, is simply escapist entertainment for us, but a tremendous cash cow for programmers and advertisers. Take for example Empire on Fox. The network is known for its history of racist banter and has exploited Black America while simultaneously benefiting from Black consumers. Statistics show that Empire is Fox’s highest grossing show in three years, which translates into a huge pay-off for Fox. How big?

How about the $45.2 billion Comcast/Time Warner merger?

How about the $48.5 billion AT&T acquisition of DirecTV or the estimated $1.3 trillion dollars spent annually by Black

consumers? Not to mention the $20 billion lawsuit filed by the National Association of African American Owned Media and Entertainment Studios Networks, against Comcast, Time Warner, and other civil rights organizations as party to a plan to ensure that profits from Black viewership continue pouring into the same pockets?

We’ve watched with interest and commented on this situation earlier, but the situation has not improved. We will reserve judgment on the soundness of Entertainment Studios Network’s CEO Byron Allen’s pending legal action, but there are a few things of which we are absolutely certain: No telecom giant has a plan for meaningful participation/ inclusion of Black business in their day-to-day procurement activity; No programming giant has a plan to include, develop or support the development of positive Black portrayals to any meaningful degree; No cable/pay TV provider makes programming targeting Black consumers available at their basic service level, which requires their best customers to pay extra to view their favorite shows; No advertiser using the TV/ PayTV medium includes Black business in any significant way in the development, production, delivery/distribution of their products to this loyal consumer base.

(Read full story on www.thewestsidegazette.com)