New York Beacon

Transcription

New York Beacon

New York
Beacon
website:
NewYorkBeacon.net
Vol. 18 No. 45
Showing the Way to Truth and Justice
November 10, 2011 - November 16, 2011
E-Mail
[email protected]
75 Cents
HE KILLED MICHAEL
Dr. Conrad Murray convicted of manslaughter
OFF TO THE SLAMMER – Michael Jackson’s doctor Conrad Murray looked grim following the involuntary manslaughter verdict by the jury. He was immediately handcuffed and
taken to jail where he is reportedly under suicide watch.
(See Story On Page 3)
Fourth woman accuses Cain of sexual harassment
(See Story On Page 3)
NAACP, officials demand NYC, DEP
stop leaving Southeast Queens soaked
NEW YORK BEACON, November 10, 2011 - November 16, 2011 newyorkbeacon.net
2
By Juliet Kaye
Mayor Michael Bloomberg
Mayor unveils initiative
to help small businesses
By J. Zamgba Browne
Special to NY Beacon
Mayor Bloomberg recently
launched his new initiative to
help the city’s small businesses
grow and connect immigrant entrepreneurs in particular with brokers, buyers and wholesalers.
Bloomberg cited the plight of
a young entrepreneur, Ken
Rothman whose father died in
1985. He said shortly after
Rothman’s father’s death, he
came to New York City from Boston to close up the clothing store
his dad was operating on Fifth
Avenue
But when Ken arrived, Mayor
Bloomberg said, he had second
thought and instead poured his
heart into reviving the family
business. “Ken moved the store
into a former bank building on
Union Square, which at the time
was racked with abandonment
and crime,” said Bloomberg.
The Mayor said Ken teamed up
with his brother, Jim, and together
they got to work rebranding the
business and, in the process,
helped turn the entire neighborhood around.
“Today, Union Square is one of
the most vibrant, dynamic areas of
our city – and the Rothman’s store
had done so well that it’s moving
into a larger location up the block,”
said Mayor Bloomberg.
“Rothman’s store is a great example of how our city’s retailers can
revive neighborhoods, galvanize
investment, attract visitors, and
create jobs for New Yorkers,” said
Bloomberg.
The Mayor said helping more
retailers achieve these goals will
give the city’s economy the kind of
boost it needs during these tough
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 25)
A press conference held at
the Jamaica Branch NAACP
called on the Mayor and the
DEP Commissioner to stop the
deplorable and inhumane
flooding conditions in Southeast Queens, which residents
have been enduring since the
city took over Jamaica Water
Supply in 1996.
Leroy Gadsden, president
of the Jamaica NAACP, with
local elected officals, announced the NAACP has
launched a civil rights and environmental justice investigation into the flooding conditions in the community, saying the water table problem
has been caused by “overt and
benign neglect by New York
City.”
The investigation will determine the extent of the damage
caused by the city’s neglect
and the extent of the city’s liability in the causation of these
damages as well as exploring
whether the city has engaged
in the fair treatment of all citizens regardless of race, color
or national origin with respect
to community development
and deployment of resources
and their neglect of the environmental needs of the 650,000
citizens of South East Queens.
A s s e m b l y m a n Wi l l i a m
Scarborough said the DEP
Commissioner has known
about the rising ground water
since 2003 and the consequences of not pumping out
the ground water. Jamaica
Water Supply had been pumping out millions of gallons of
ground water each day from
it’s 69 wells until the city took
over in 1996.
Commissioner Emily Lloyd
testified before the City Council Committee on Environmental Protection at City Hall on
Sept. 24, 2007 that if the
ground water table wasn’t reduced, it negated the sewers
for which the city spent $240
million dollars in the past decade, defeating their purpose.
The ground water is now at
30 feet, higher than many basements which has created flooding situations through out the
community.
York College pumps a million
gallons of water a day. Millions
of gallons of water are pumped
out of the Parsons subway station. DEP plans to start pumping the ground water in 2018,
and that may be only temporary
while a ground pipe is being repaired. By 2018, conservative
estimates are the ground water
will between 50 to 60 feet, affecting the majority of properties in the community.
Assemblywoman Barbara
Clark said this was a struggle
the community has been going
through for many years.
“We fought the city about
the water that wasn’t fit to
drink in the 90s and now we’re
dealing with that same water
killing us.” She has asked the
previous DEP Commissioner to
stop issuing building permits
halting new home construction
and that wasn’t done resulting
in flooding of all the homes
built on water logged ground.
Donovan Richards, Chief of
Staff for Councilman James
Sanders, said their office has
been inundated with calls from
flooded homeowners for the
past decade. Seniors can’t
pump the water out of their
homes. What is an 80 year old
supposed to do, he asked.
Reverend Charles Norris of
Bethesda Baptist Church said
it was unacceptable for DEP to
wait until 2018 to start pumping. The Mayor has to do something now. Children with asthma
can’t wait till 2018.
Southeast Queens Environmental Justice Council Chair
Andrea Scarborough called the
actions or inactions of the city
intentional environmental injustice.
“We have a city agency responsible for delivering wa-
ter to this community safely. DEP
knew when they stopped pumping the water it would create a
health impact.”
The NAACP, local elected officials and local civic associations
are going to flooded homes, trying to put a dollar amount on the
property damage, though they
can’t put a dollar amount on the
health costs. Property damages
and costs are averaging $20,000
to $30,000 per home.
Leroy Gadsden encouraged
property owners and those with
damages caused by flooding to
file a complaint with the city
comptrollers’ office for remuneration and said the NAACP would
help them file. The NAACP office
is located at 189-26 Linden Blvd
in St. Albans and their phone
number is 718-723-3653.
Property owners who have experience flooding are asked to call
Assemblyman William Scarboroughs’ office at 718-723-5412, or
any of their elected officials to
report their flooding issues and
damages so an accurate assessment of the scope of the problem
can be made.
The community is encouraged
to contact neighbors and friends
who have dealt with flooding and
ask them to make the call. As the
standing water continues to rise
each year, more and more property owners will be experiencing
flooding. Estimates are that
100,000 property owners have already been impacted by the
ground water problem.
Gadsden and Scarborough said
they were prepared to go to court,
but don’t want to waste tax payer
dollars on a court case when
those dollars could be used to
solve the problem.
Scarborough and other elected
officials will hold a public meeting on flooding on Thursday,
Nov. 10 at 7:30 p.m. at the Robert
Ross Johnson Family Life Center
at 172-17 Linden Blvd. in St.
Albans.
Please RSVP Elizabeth BobbPogues at 718-723-5412 or:
[email protected].
Cuomo signs law expanding health care treatment to victims of autism
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo
has signed a law that will require
health insurance providers to
offer coverage for the diagnosis
and treatment of autism spectrum disorder.
The legislation will help families afford the expensive health
care costs related to treating
loved ones with autistic disorders. Under the new law, health
insurance companies will be required to provide coverage for
treatment of autism spectrum
disorders, though coverage may
be subject to deductibles, copays, and coinsurance consistent with those imposed on other
benefits.
“This bill will help thousands
of families across New York who
struggle to obtain proper care for
loved ones affected by autism
spectrum disorder,” Gov. Cuomo
said. “When it comes to autism,
early diagnosis and treatment is essential, and it is inexcusable that
financial constraints would stand
in the way of a brighter future for
those affected by this disorder. This
bill opens the door to families seeking earlier treatment and better results. I thank Senator Fuschillo and
Assemblyman Morelle for sponsoring this much-needed legislation.”
Previously, state law only required that insurance coverage not
exclude the diagnosis and treatment of autism disorder. While some
health insurers provide limited coverage for ASD treatment, such as
vitamins or occupational therapy,
most do not offer coverage for treatments that are deemed not medically necessary. Families had little
choice but to pay out-of-pocket for
the necessary treatment, with costs
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo
sometimes more than $50,000 per
year. Many families cannot afford
to pay for treatment without a severe economic hardship and may
have to forgo effective early treatment of ASD for their children.
With the signing, New York is
the twenty-ninth state to require
health insurance coverage for
conditions relating to autism spectrum disorder. As with other states,
this legislation caps the cost of
services per year. The law takes
effect one year after its enactment
on Nov. 1, 2012 and applies to insurance policies issued or renewed after that date.
Autism spectrum disorders are
a group of complex, pervasive developmental brain conditions that
are often characterized by difficulties in social interaction, impairments in communication, and repetitive patterns of behavior. ASDs
occur in approximately one in every
110 children in all racial, ethnic and
social groups, and studies suggest
that it is four times more likely to
occur in boys than girls. Early detection of ASDs, when followed by
the right interventions, can lead to
better outcomes in functioning. In
New York, approximately 30,000 individuals under the age of 19 have
been identified with an ASD.
New York State offers a number of
services and supports to individuals with ASD and other developmental disabilities, including the Department of Health’s Early Intervention
Program, preschool special education services and special education
services for school children under
the auspices of the State Education
Department, and an “Autism Platform,” provided by the Office for
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By William Kaye
SMOKIN’G JOE knocks down Muhammad Ali during their first
fight at the Madison Square Garden. Joe won the fight.
Joe Frazier loses
fight to lung cancer
By Tom Payne
Joe Frazier had to throw his
greatest punch to knock down
“The Greatest.”
A vicious left hook from Frazier
put Muhammad Ali on the canvas in the 15th round in March
1971 when he became the first
man to beat him in the Fight of
the Century at Madison Square
Garden.
“That was the greatest thing
that ever happened in my life,”
Frazier said.
It was his biggest night, one
that would never come again.
The relentless, undersized
heavyweight ruled the division
as champion, then spent a lifetime trying to fight his way out
of Ali’s shadow.
Frazier, who died Monday
night after a brief battle with liver
cancer at the age of 67, will forever be associated with Ali. No
one in boxing would ever dream
of anointing Ali as The Greatest
unless he, too, was linked to
Smokin’ Joe.
“I will always remember Joe
with respect and admiration,” Ali
said in a statement. “My sympathy goes out to his family and
loved ones.”
They fought three times, twice
in the heart of New York City and
once in the morning in a steamy
arena in the Thrilla in Manila in
the Philippines. They went 41
rounds together. Neither gave an
inch and both gave it their all.
In their last fight in Manila in
1975, they traded punches with a
fervor that seemed unimaginable
among heavyweights. Frazier gave
almost as good as he got for 14
rounds, then had to be held back
by trainer Eddie Futch as he tried
to go out for the final round, unable to see.
“Closest thing to dying that I
know of,” Ali said afterward.
Ali was as merciless with Frazier
out of the ring as he was inside it.
He called him a gorilla, and mocked
him as an Uncle Tom. But he respected him as a fighter, especially
after Frazier won a decision to defend his heavyweight title against
the then-unbeaten Ali in a fight that
was so big Frank Sinatra was
shooting pictures at ringside and
both fighters earned an astonishing $2.5 million.
The night at the Garden 40 years
ago remained fresh in Frazier’s
mind as he talked about his life,
career and relationship with Ali a
few months before he died.
“I can’t go nowhere where it’s
not mentioned,” he told The Associated Press.
Bob Arum, who once promoted
Ali, said he was saddened by
Frazier’s passing.
“He was such an inspirational
guy. A decent guy. A man of his
word,” Arum said. “I’m torn up by
Joe dying at this relatively young
Michael Jackson’s doctor was
convicted Monday of involuntary
manslaughter in the pop star’s
death for supplying the insomniaplagued Jackson with a powerful
anesthetic to help him sleep as he
rehearsed for his big comeback.
Dr. Conrad Murray, 58, sat
stone-faced as he heard the verdict that could send him to prison
for up to four years and cost him
his license to practice medicine.
He was handcuffed and immediately led off to jail without bail to
await sentencing Nov. 29.
The verdict marked the latest
chapter in one of pop culture’s
most shocking tragedies Jackson’s 2009 drug-overdose
death at age 50 as he was about to
mount a series of heavily promoted concerts in London that he
hoped would turn his career
around after a slide prompted by
child-molestation allegations and
years of bizarre behavior.
Members of Jackson’s family
wept, and his mother, Katherine
Jackson, said, “I feel better now.”
The crowd outside the courthouse erupted in cheers.
Defense attorney Ed Chernoff
later said the verdict was a disappointment and would be appealed. Asked how Murray took
the verdict, Chernoff said, “He’s a
pretty strong guy.”
The jury deliberated less than
nine hours after a six-week trial that
depicted Jackson as a tormented
Dr. Conrad Murray
genius on the brink of what might
have been his greatest triumph but
for one impediment - extreme insomnia.
Prosecutors portrayed Murray as
an incompetent doctor who administered propofol - an extremely potent anesthetic normally used during surgery - in Jackson’s bedroom
without adequate safeguards and
botched his care when things went
wrong.
Murray, who did not testify, told
police that he administered only a
small dose on the day Jackson died.
His lawyers blamed Jackson for his
own death, saying the singer gave
himself an extra, lethal dose while
Murray wasn’t watching.
Prosecutors said that theory was
crazy, and in any case, they argued,
Murray should not have left Jackson alone.
Prosecutors also said Murray
abandoned his medical judgment
Michael Jackson
for money: According to testimony,
Jackson planned to pay the cardiologist $150,000 a month for an extended tour in Europe.
For six weeks, as Jackson undertook strenuous rehearsals, Murray
infused him with propofol every
night, the doctor told police. He said
he later tried to wean Jackson from
the drug because he feared he was
becoming addicted.
In the end, the doctor was never
paid a penny because Jackson died
before signing a contract with
Murray. There is no law against administering propofol or the other
sedatives. But expert witnesses for
the prosecution said that using
propofol at home without lifesaving
equipment on hand was an egregious deviation from the standard
of medical care. Prosecutors called
it gross negligence, the legal basis
for an involuntary manslaughter
charge.
Fourth woman accuses presidential
contender Cain of sexual harassment
By Peter Johnson
Sharon Bialek of Chicago became the first woman accusing
Herman Cain of sexual harassment
to go public Monday, describing
an alleged incident in Washington in 1997 in which the presidential contender, then the president
of the National Restaurant Association stuck his hand up her skirt
and tried to pull her head toward
his crotch.
“I said, ‘What are you doing?’”
alleged Bialek, who said she had
contacted Cain for help getting a
job. “You know I have a boyfriend. This isn’t what I came here
for.”
According to Bialek, Cain answered, “You want a job, right?”
Bialek claims that after the incident she rejoined her boyfriend
and told him that Cain had been
“sexually inappropriate.” She also
said she had confronted Cain recently at a Tea Party event and
asked him, “Do you remember
Herman Cain
me?” and that he had confirmed
that he remembered her and “he
kind of looked uncomfortable.”
Cain campaign spokesman J.D.
Gordon immediately responded
with a statement that said, “All allegations of harassment against
Mr. Cain are completely false. Mr.
Cain has never harassed anyone.”
Bialek, now 50, appeared with attorney Gloria Allred at a press conference at New York’s Friars Club.
Two other women filed complaints
of sexual harassment against Cain
while he helmed the NRA, but neither has spoken publicly. On Friday,
Joel Bennett, an attorney for one of
the first two accusers said she
would decline to come forward and
discuss the case further.
On Monday, Bennett described
Bialek’s story to ABC News as familiar. “I’m not authorized to give
specifics, but the conduct is similar
and it’s corroborating evidence for
the complaint my client filed.” The
blonde Bialek is similar in appearance to the two earlier accusers,
whose identities have been confirmed by ABC News.
According to the Associated
Press, a third woman also alleges
sexual harassment by Cain while
working at the trade group, but said
did not file an internal complaint
because one of her coworkers had
already done so.
Hundreds take to streets to protest waves of senseless killings
J. Zamgba Browne
Chants of “Enough is Enough,
Stop the Violence, Stop the Killings reverberated through the
streets of Brownsville in Brooklyn last Saturday, as hundreds
gathered for a march and rally to
protest the wave of violence in
the community and elsewhere in
the borough.
Organizers said the march which
started at the site of the Oct. 21
fatal shooting of 34-year-old
Zuranan Horton, mother of 13, was
designed to highlight the seriousness of gun violence in the community.
The march, “Ride, March, Rally”
as it was called, ended up at City
Hall via the Brooklyn Bridge.
Horton was hit in a cross fire between rival gangs as she used her
body to shield some local kids
who were returning home from
school.
The protest rally featured more
than a dozen caskets that were carried to symbolize deadly crimes in
Brownsville and across New York
City’s five boroughs.
Sen. John Sampson who couldn’t
attend the rally told reporters that
his sympathy goes out to the
Horton family. “Our streets have
become killing fields for gun-crazy
people who are not concerned
about the safety of innocent bystanders,” said Sampson.
He urged communities like
Brownsville across the New York
City to join forces to “battle this
cancer that is claiming far too many
innocent lives.”
The Senator cited New York Police Department statistics to date
which indicate that 23 murders in the
3
Pop King Michael Jackson’s doctor
Murray is convicted of manslaughter
Occupy The Hood calls young people
of African descent to improve their world
4
By Phillip Jackson
Sen. Bill Perkins
Sen. Perkins unveils website
to help unemployed find work
Sen. Bill Perkins (D- Manhattan) announces the launch of an
innovative
new website designed to provide
New Yorkers with adequate resources to find employment. This
website takes thousands of jobs
listed throughout the New York
State Jobs Bank and sorts them
by region to help job seekers
evaluate what positions are available in their area.
“The people of my district are
hard-workers, but they need job
opportunities here at home to
show what they can do,” said
Senator Perkins. “With the
economy still struggling to improve, it
is crucial for the unemployed to
have all possible resources available to not only find immediate
employment, but to find long term
careers.”
The Jobs Express website features easy-to-use drop-down
menus that display useful information for job seekers all on one, concise page. The site also includes
videos that offer advice to job seekers and an electronic job-matching
tool known as “Skills Matching and
Referral Technology” (SMART),
which generates job leads from resumes. The Labor Department will
update the job listings on a daily
basis.
Currently, the New York State
The Occupy Wall Street
Movement has captured the
imagination of the world. We
now have Occupy Tokyo, Occupy Berlin, Occupy Mexico,
Occupy Australia, Occupy Brazil, Occupy Denmark, Occupy
Asia and even Occupy Antarctica. But where are the voices
of young people of African descent and why are their voices
silent?
On Saturday, Nov. 19, 2011,
people of African descent are
being encouraged to join the
Occupy Wall Street Movement
in their cities and in their communities. But before occupying Wall Street or any street, we
need to properly and successfully occupy the minds and
spirits of people of African descent with thoughts of improvement, achievement, excellence, progress and cooperative labor. We must do this every day until we have created a
new world in which people of
African descent will thrive!
The movement is being organized by the Black Star Project
based in Chicago. For more information call: 312/771-1010 or
email
at
[email protected]
To look at the evening news
on the occupations, it would
seem as though young White
men and women suffer most
from the problems of our societies and the world in which we
live. That is absolutely not
true! In fact, the suffering from
social and economic ills of
people of African descent
around the world is hugely disproportionate. So why has the
“Occupy Movement” not inspired more young Black
people across the globe to demand change and improvement
in their world?
Some say Black people have
too many “real” problems to be
concerned about the volatility
of the stock markets or whether
Fortune 500 companies will
each capture another billion
dollars. Some say that Black
Americans have forgotten the
lessons learned from the civil
rights movement. And others
say that young Africans and
young Black Americans today
have been reprogrammed with
technological toys, various
forms of entertainment and
other relatively mindless distractions. Regardless, young
Black people around the world
do not understand that decisions that govern the quality
of their lives are being made
without their input.
But a glimmer of hope has
come to us in the form of a
s p i n o ff f r o m O c c u p y Wa l l
Street. It is called Occupy The
H o o d . W h i l e O c c u p y Wa l l
Street addresses the viciousness of capitalism, uneven distribution and control of world
resources, corrupt and ineffective governments, lack of human well-being across the
world, climate change and the
environment, wars and global
violence and other dire issues,
Occupy The Hood is being led
by young people of African
descent and addresses issues
that cause people of African descent to suffer.
And while we must absolutely stand in solidarity with
our White, Asian, Arab and
Hispanic brothers and sisters
working to change the world,
we must also organize to directly improve the conditions
in our “hood”.
If things are going to change
f o r u s f o r t h e b e t t e r, y o u n g
people of African descent around
the world must begin the real
work of nation-building. This
work begins by getting in action
in their communities, in their villages, in their cities and in their
countries—to generate and ensure safe and prosperous places
for us. We cannot wait for our
parents, our leaders, Wall Street
or those who occupy Wall Street
before we take control of our futures and our destiny. We must
organize and get into action now
doing the work to save our race!
On Nov. 19, people of African
descent around the world will
join in this work to Occupy The
Hood.
This work calls us to mentor
youth in schools and in communities, assist and support senior
citizens, work with men in jail,
prison and ex-offenders, clean up
neighborhood paper, trash, etc.,
walk safety patrols in communities, take youth to faith-based
services, read to children at local schools, organize community
health walks/runs, hold community-wide voter registration
drives, organize men to take their
children to museums, parks,
sporting events and cultural
events, organize volunteers to
help at local hospitals, shelters,
recreational and park-district facilities, shop at Black-owned
stores, and design and develop
additional community-building
direct actions.
For young people of African
descent, Occupy The Hood is
this generation’s civil rights
movement! Launching Occupy
Wall Street took only three days.
How long will it take us to Occupy The Hood?
AG urges feds to protect consumers against phone bill fraud
By J. Zamgba Browne
State General Eric
Schneiderman has called on the
federal government to adopt
stronger regulations to protect
consumers against the phone bill
fraud known as “cramming.”
Schneiderman has already
teamed up with a multistate coalition including 16 additional attorneys general to urge the Federal Communications Commissions (FCC) to enact rules that
would prevent unauthorized
third-party charges on telephone
bills.
“Consumers in New York and
across the nation deserve action
against the predatory an exploitative charges that drive up phone
bills and impose burdensome
costs in money, tine and energy
to correct,” said Attorney General Schneiderman.
He explained that ‘cramming
occurs when third parties – other
than the phone service provider
– add unauthorized charges to
phone bills for non-call related
services like e-mail, website hosting, discount buying programs or
voicemail services..
Schneiderman said investigations by his office, as well as complaints received by these inves-
tigators, reveal that consumers do
not intend to purchase these services and rarely make use of them.
In addition, he said most consumers are unaware that they are exposed to such fraudulent billing
practices just by using a wireless
or landline service.
Rules currently under consideration by the FCC would be limited
to landlines, and rely only on better phone bill disclosures and options to allow consumers to request blocks on such charges.
In contrast, Schneiderman said
Eric Schneiderman
that comments filed with the federal agency, explained that based
on experiences in their states, federal anti-cramming regulations
need to be stronger than those proposed.
Giving that landline ‘cramming’
charges are often phony and imposed without consumers’ consent, Attorney General Schneiderman urged the FCC to ban all nontelephone, third-party charges on
landline telephone bills.
“If the FCC fails to implement
such a ban, Schneiderman said the
attorneys general in the effort to ban
the practice, landline telephone
companies would be required to automatically block all third-party
chards unless and until the consumer opts to accept such charges
for a specific vendor by consenting
through a phone call to their telephone company.
Schneiderman also called on the
FCC to extend its regulations to protect wireless telephone users, as
more and more consumers rely exclusively on wireless telephone services
Texas radio ad offers hand gun training
but not to Obama supporters, Muslims
Special to the NNPA from the Afro- voice his twin passions—gun adAmerican Newspaper
vocacy and distrust of Muslims, socialists and Obama supporters, acIf you want to take advantage of cording to Reuters.
the Texas law that allows adults to
Keller said in the ad for his class
carry a concealed handgun, Crockett on how to effectively use a conKeller will be happy to help you learn cealed pistol, “If you are a Socialist
how to handle your sidearm—as liberal and/or voted for the current
long as you didn’t vote for Presi- campaigner in chief, please do not
dent Obama or are a Muslim. Keller, take this class.” Keller goes on to
a licensed gun dealer authorized to explain that you will be barred from
train and certify handgun owners for taking his class because…“you have
handgun carrying permits in Mason, already proven that you cannot
Texas, is paying for radio ads to make a knowledgeable and prudent
decision as required under the law.”
Keller’s approach to teaching may
trigger a challenge to his gun instructor credentials. After Keller’s
ad began in Mason, a town about
120 miles away from the state capital in Austin, the Texas Department
of Public Safety issued the following statement: “Certified instructors
are required to comply with all applicable state and federal statutes,
and conduct by an instructor that
denied service to individuals on the
basis of race, ethnicity, or religion
would place that instructor’s certification at risk.” Reuters has reported
that the department has initiated an
investigation into the matter. The class,
typically a one-day course, teaches gun
carrying methods and gun use, in addition
to how to clean and maintain a handgun.
Texas allows adults to carry concealed
weapons if they have successfully completed a class similar to that being advertised by Keller. Keller wrapped up his
radio by saying: “With no shame, I’m
Crockett Keller. Thank you, and may God
bless America.”
5
6
Conyers: DHS subpoena authorization request is premature
The House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Immigration
Policy and Enforcement voted to
authorize the subcommittee chairman to issue a subpoena to the
Department of Homeland Security
(DHS) following a request from
Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX.) for
sensitive law enforcement data
related to persons who have come
into contact with the Immigration
and Customs Enforcement
Agency (ICE). Ranking Member
John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) made
the following statement at the
subcommittee’s meeting:
“The congressional subpoena
is one of the most powerful weapons in this committee’s arsenal.
So I take the proposal under consideration today very seriously.
However, I do not believe that it
is appropriate for the subcommittee to be authorizing the issuance
of a subpoena today given the
breadth of the information requested, the complexity of the
privacy issues involved, and the
considerable effort that has been
made by the Department of Homeland Security and the Department
of Justice to provide a response
to the request. Also, as this
markup began, we had no assurance that the Majority would not
make this massive amount of sensitive information public.
“Clearly, there are significant
and complex privacy issues raised
by the subpoena. As I understand it, the Chair is seeking sensitive law enforcement information on 300,000 or more individuals who have come to ICE’s attention over the last two and one
half years. This includes information on individuals who may be
U.S. citizens as well as lawful permanent residents.
“Second, I do not believe we
are at a point where any of us can
state that recourse to negotiations
have failed. From the day Secretary Napolitano left this chamber
last Wednesday to the moment we
started this meeting, DHS has
worked diligently to provide us
with a full response to Chairman
Smith’s questions. Just two hours
ago, DHS informed my staff and
Congressman John Conyers
Chairman Smith’s staff that although the FBI is not permitting
DHS to release FBI numbers, DHS
is right now generating a response
that will provide the committee
with almost all of the information
requested.
“I cannot speak about the delay that preceded last week’s oversight hearing, when the Chairman
raised the matter with the Secretary. But with respect to the delay
that has taken place over the past
week, I understand that is related
to the sensitive nature of the information requested, particularly
the privacy concerns and the
breadth of the request.
We have every reason to believe
that the administration worked diligently to solve those problems
and we now know that information will be on its way within the
next few days. “Until we have
some sign of deliberate delay, and
as long as our line of communication with DHS remains open and
productive, I cannot support this
subpoena. “Having said that, I
would like to state for the record
that the committee has a legitimate
oversight role with regard to ICE
and that when necessary the authorization of issuance of subpoena may be appropriate. As a
former Chairman I was not shy
about protecting the committee’s
prerogatives, even going to the
house floor and the courts where
and when necessary.
“For example, the U.S. Attorneys subpoenas issued by Judiciary in the 110th Congress came
at the end of a months-long, bicameral, bipartisan negotiation.
“With respect to Administration
officials, we only resorted to a subpoena when individuals failed to
appear despite our negotiations.
For example, we only compelled Karl
Rove to appear after he refused our
invitation and invoked an absolute
immunity from testifying before the
committee—and even then we accommodated his request to be deposed, rather than to give testimony.
“With respect to materials we requested from the Department of Justice, we first engaged in a lengthy
back-and-forth with all parties—
documents were provided, we took
the opportunity to react, and we
shared them with the minority. Only
after that process broke down did
we resort to a subpoena.
“Moreover, the U.S. Attorney
subpoenas came in the context of a
national inquiry of considerable
public interest and controversy.
Subpoenas were only issued after
multiple hearings on both sides of
the Hill, after the questions under
investigation were fully understood
by all parties.
“In comparison, this committee’s
inquiry into a particular and recent
policy of the Department of Homeland Security has just begun. We
have had only a few minutes to
study the privacy concerns—raised
by the FBI, as well as DHS—that
appear to hold back the Administration at this point. We do not yet fully
understand the inter-agency process that led to this decision by the
Administration.
“This premature subpoena short
circuits the constitutionally required
accommodation process. As Chairman, I worked to fulfill our obligation, under law, to work out our disputes before resorting to subpoena.
I only ask the same today.
“I also recognize that there is precedent for the committee seeking
information on criminal convictions
involving undocumented aliens as
recently as 1999. I understand and
appreciate the Chair’s frustration
that his request has been pending
since late August.
However, given the breadth and
complexity of this request, the involvement of multiple agencies and
the very sensitive privacy issues, I
believe that at this point in the process our focus should be on negotiations, not confrontation.”
Gadhafi son Seif al-Islam said to be in the Sahara
By Mchelle Faul
A fugitive wanted by the International Criminal Court, Moammar
Gadhafi’s one-time heir apparent
appears to have disappeared in
the Sahara Desert’s ocean of
dunes and could remain hidden
for months in an area more than
twice the size of Texas.
Seif al-Islam Gadhafi may be
plotting a counterrevolution,
scheming about a getaway to a
friendly country, or negotiating a
surrender to the ICC. Nothing has
been heard of him since sources
on Oct. 28 said Tuareg nomads
were escorting him the length of
Libya and that he was close to
the Mali border.
“My latest information is that
they are not in Mali and they are
not in Niger yet either,” Malian
legislator Ibrahim Ag Mohamed
Assaleh said this week, adding to
the mystery of his whereabouts.
Gadhafi, a 39-year-old Britisheducated engineer, could be deliberately feeding disinformation
from a desert where national
boundaries are unmarked and
unpoliced and where smugglers
and al-Qaida gunmen roam freely.
Analyst Adam Thiam, a columnist for Le Republicain newspaper
in Mali, said life in the desert for
long periods outside of isolated
oases is nearly impossible, but
that a zone in Mali has water, livestock and small game. However
the area is used by al-Qaida in the
Islamic Maghreb, an extremist
group which has “no love of the
Gadhafi family,” Thiam said.
Gadhafi violently repressed
Libya’s own Islamist movement
and was a longtime enemy of alQaida.
Gadhafi and his late father’s
former chief of military intelligence,
Abdullah al-Senoussi, have reportedly been traveling in separate convoys escorted by Tuaregs,
the hardy nomads who understand best how to survive in the
Seif al-Islam
desert. Loyalty to the ethnic group
trumps nationality, and the
Tuareg’s traditional stomping Libya and southwest to Niger,
grounds stretch across North Af- Mali, Burkina Faso and Chad.
Gadhafi and al-Senoussi are
rica, from Morocco and Algeria to
both wanted by the ICC for allegedly organizing and ordering attacks in Libya that killed civilians
during the revolt against Moammar
Gadhafi.
More than a dozen countries in
Africa don’t recognize the international court, but even some that
do ignore its arrest warrants amid
criticism that the Hague-based
court goes after a disproportionate number of Africans. Sudanese
leader Omar al-Bashir, wanted for
genocide and war crimes committed in Darfur, attended a conference in Malawi last month with no
problem, though Malawi is a member of the ICC.
In the area where Gadhafi is believed hiding, only Algeria is not a
signatory. Algeria was a staunch
supporter of Moammar Gadhafi
and has given refuge to his wife, a
daughter and two other sons, but
now is trying to establish ties with
Libya’s new leaders.
Gadhafi is “more problematic
than the rest of the family for Algeria,” said Libya’s ambassador to
South Africa, Abdalla Alzubedi.
He said he has no independent
information about Gadhafi but said
he does believe media reports that
his convoy is carrying gold, diamonds and cash — which could be
his passport to freedom.
“I don’t doubt that they have a
lot of money,” Alzubedi said. “They
treated Libya like a private estate
and their private bank. They could
take any amount of money, any
amount of gold.”
South Africa’s Beeld newspaper
has quoted local mercenaries as
saying a group of guns for hire is
protecting Gadhafi. ICC prosecutor
Luis Moreno-Ocampo has said
South African mercenaries may be
trying to spirit Gadhafi away to Zimbabwe, which does not recognize
the international court.
Some fear Gadhafi could rally
Tuareg fighters, newly and heavily
rearmed while they fought to defend
his father’s regime, to stage an insurgency. Thiam said up to 500
Tuaregs in 130 vehicles had fled
Libya to northern Mali after the fall
Hundreds take to streets to protest waves of senseless killings
7
Hundreds of New Yorkers participated in a mock funeral procession through city streets. (Photos by Lem Peterkin)
City Council Member Charles Barron addresses the crowd.
The signs say it all.
Hundreds take to
the street to protest
(from page 3)
An aggrieved mother speaks to protest participants.
73rd Police Precinct area and 21 in
the 75th Precinct were committed
in the last several weeks.
“These are troubling statistics.
There are too many guns in our
community. Until we end our
youth love affairs with guns then
the end result will always be tragedies like what happened to
Horton,” he declared.
Another Brooklyn lawmaker, Assemblyman Nick Perry observed
that gun violence these days is
quite appalling and called for swift
action to arrest the situation.
Councilman Charles Barron, a
staunch supporter of the protest
March rally said the shootings and
killings in Brownsville are worrisome. He charged that “blood of the
innocent s is being spilled too often in the area. “This is total madness, and it must stop,” he added.
Some of the protesters said if
Horton were blond or white she
would have catapulted to the top of
the news. Instead of being heralded
for her bravery, critics say her life is
currently being held up for scrutiny
and debated in the blogosphere.
8
Editorial
Botswana: A well kept secret
New York
Beacon
ByHarry C. Alford
Beyond the Rhetoric
Walter Smith: Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
Miatta Haj Smith: Co-Publisher & Executive Editor
William Egyir: Managing Editor
Stop the violence against women
By Dr. Julianne Malveaux
NNPA Columnist
The Fort Worth Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority,
Incorporated held its annual Sisterhood Luncheon last Saturday,
and I was privileged and honored
to be the keynote speaker. A
cloud hovered over the luncheon,
though, and the media was there
to talk about it. Four Delta women
have been raped in the Dallas Fort
Worth area in the last year by a
serial rapist who appears to be
targeting women in their 50s and
60s. The rapes have caused such
alarm that the national President
of our sorority, Cynthia Butler
McIntyre, has issued an alert,
suggesting caution in displaying
Delta identification on automobiles, and in wearing identifying
t-shirts and sweaters.
Every two minutes, someone is
sexually assaulted. More than
200,000 people, mostly women,
are sexually assaulted each year.
But only one in sixteen rapists will
spend even a moment in jail –
more than 60 percent of all rapes
are not reported to the police.
Most rapes occur within a mile of
a victim’s home, or in her home,
and almost two-thirds of all rapes
are committed by someone the
victim actually knows. Nearly 80
percent of all rapes are perpetrated
on women under 30, so the Delta
rapes are unusual in many respects. Still, Delta Sigma Theta
Sorority has the opportunity to
turn the pain of these rapes into
an empowering moment by organizing to stop the violence
against women. The Violence
Against Women Act (VAWA) was
authored by Vice-President Joe
Biden when he was the senator
from Delaware. It became law in
1994, and was reauthorized in 2000
and 2005. It is up for reauthorization again this year, and while it
should face no trouble in Congress, who knows with this Congress? While there should be no
resistance to this reauthorization,
it is important for women to remind
their congressional representatives that this critical legislation
must be reauthorized. Additionally, there is a federal agency that
focuses on implementing VAWA
by providing resources to organizations dedicated to preventing
violence against women.
The Office on Violence against
Women (ww.ovw.usdoj.gov) is
part of the Department of Justice.
Earlier this fall, they held a meeting of university chancellors and
presidents to talk about campus
safety and violence against
women, since college-aged young
people are more likely to be victims of such violence than others
are. The office urges people needing assistance to reach out to the
National Domestic Violence
Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE or the
National Sexual Assault Hotline at
1-800-656-HOPE.
Although we are well into the
twenty-first century, we still treat
the crime of rape with nineteenth
century sensibilities. Many
women lack the courage that the
Guinean victim of former World
Bank President Dominique
Strauss-Kahn (also known as
DSK) showed. Yet her treatment
is a cautionary tale about why so
many victims are silent.
After Naffissatou Diallo spoke
up, we learned all her business –
that she cleaned rooms for $25 an
hour in New York, that she had
an acquaintance or fiancé who
may have been involved in drugs
and was incarcerated in Arizona,
that she may have lied on her immigration application, and that
she may have earned income that
she did not report. Before it was
all said and done, charges were
dropped. Then DSK fled back to
France where he spoke of an “inappropriate relationship” with
Diallo. Give me a break!
When does spilling your semen on someone you do not
know constitute a relationship?
I digress. The point is that many
women don’t speak out because
they don’t want to be dragged
through the media mud of scrutiny into their past lives. Even a
prostitute can be raped, but the
prostitute wouldn’t likely get a fair
trail, especially if her abuser were
rich and powerful. The victim’s
character is still placed on trial,
and that shouldn’t be the case.
And yet, how many women judge
victims of rape with the same
harsh scrutiny that others have.
What was she wearing? Was she
asking for it? Was it just miscommunication?
VAWA does not address many
of these questions, and perhaps
it cannot. We have to change the
culture so that rape is so repugnant an act that most people will
not consider it as an option, that
penalties are so harsh that people
can be thrown under the jail for
such crimes. Four members of
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority were
There are 54 nations comprising
the continent of Africa. We look
at these nations, too often, as all
the same – third world striving to
enter the second world. South
Africa is an exception as it, in total
economic terms, is first world. The
problem here is that the wealth is
greatly weighted to a distinct minority of the population and that
is by race, i.e. white. Slums, violence and hopelessness are as
prevalent in South Africa as they
are in the lowest rung of nations
that endure wholesale poverty.
Last week, I was in for a revelation. We took a Trade Mission to
Botswana and found a modern
nation with a solid middle class and
beautiful neighborhoods. It is time
for the rest of the world to look at
Botswana as something special.
How did Botswana get it right?
Perhaps the major event is a consistent democracy and good governance. This nation gained its
independence in 1966 and has not
had one day of political unrest or
manipulation. Prior to that it was a
“British colony” by choice. Yes,
they asked Britain to take it in. Not
because they wanted to be colonized but they had a big fear of
invasion/annexation by South Africa, Namibia, Angola or Zimbabwe
–all of which borders the nation.
Being part of the British Empire was
insurance for the time being. Early
in the 1960’s there was a significant finding under the surface of
the land of the nation. Botswana,
as it turns out, has been blessed
with diamonds. They have diamonds by the billions of annual
dollars and for many decades to
come. Wisely, and quickly, they
set themselves free from the guidance of Britain and became its own
“boss”.
Today, the diamond industry
accounts for 50% of the national
revenue of the nation. Their good
governance allows them to invest
this revenue into the lives of its
people. There is free education
through four years of college for
everyone. The medical delivery
system is offered to all as a right not
a privilege. Their infrastructure is
more advanced than most nations
on the continent. I must admit that
their asphalt roads seem superior to
ours. The structure of their downtown buildings would rival any U.S.
city. The proper management of their
natural resources has brought many
blessings to the whole nation not
just to a few Swiss bank accounts
owned by corrupted officials.
We had the opportunity to visit
the richest diamond mine in the
world, the Jwaneng Diamond Mine.
It was absolutely awesome. The
biggest highlight was meeting the
General Manager of the mine. He
was a well educated and articulate
brother. That’s right – the world’s
richest diamond mine is managed by
a child of Africa. The majority of
the staff was also indigenous Africans. The nation has a joint-venture with DeBeer’s Diamonds (South
African firm). It seems to be working out for both. One of the participants of our Trade Mission was Signet Diamonds (Kay’s Jewelers,
Jared, etc.). I believe they were convinced at the end of our trip that
they must put a significant office in
Botswana and concentrate their new
efforts in this fantastic nation. Remember, the majority of all diamonds
in the United States come from
Botswana and most of us don’t
know that.
Another natural resource the nation has is the natural beauty of its
women. We heard about this but
couldn’t imagine until we journeyed. All the men on the mission
had sore necks from looking at all
the Lena Horne/Halle Berry types
walking here and there. My wife and
I are now kidding our sons that they
must first visit Botswana before they
decide on a wife (mother of our
grandchildren). In recent years,
Botswana has provided two Miss
Universe’s and many in the final
selections.
Most important to us is the fact
that Botswana has a great inventory
of entrepreneurs. The banks are
lending and there is an ample
amount of quasi government/pri(CONTINUED ON PAGE 25)
Black America’s 2011 economic challenge:
Overcoming income inequalities through better consumer choices
By Charlene Crowell
NNPA Columnist
The agency mandated to provide Congress with impartial, nonpartisan and timely analyses seldom makes headline news. But
this week when the Congressional
Budget Office (CBO) released
findings on its analysis of the
nation’s income inequalities from
a 30-year review (1979-2007), media coverage exploded.
After assessing the net income
shares of people in 525 cities and
towns, the agency’s top-line finding was reminiscent of lines from
a Broadway production, “There’s
no shame in being poor – but it’s
no great honor either.”
According to CBO, the nation’s
top one percent of household income more than tripled during
these years, while middle class
households either slipped into
poverty or barely held on to their
standard of living. Middle class
income earners representing 60
percent of the population accounted for only 40 percent of after-tax household income. And
among America’s lowest earning
workers – about 20 percent of the
population, the growth in average
real after-tax household income
was only 18 percent.
In part the report advised, “The
rapid growth in average real
household income for the one
percent of the population with the
highest income was a major factor contributing to the growing
inequality in the distribution of
household income between 1979
and 2007. Shifts in government
transfers and federal taxes also
contributed to the increase in inequality.” A plain English translation of this finding seems to be
that the 30-year span of trickledown economics at work has not
brought a drop of prosperity to
99 percent of the nation. No wonder the nation has seen a
groundswell of demonstrators
referring to themselves as the
‘99ers’.
For African-Americans in particular, these ill-advised policies
have been particularly painful – unemployment rates double that of
the rest of the nation, neighborhoods dotted with foreclosures
and short-sales, a lack of affordable housing for former homeowners,
and for those lucky enough to still
have a job - incomes trailing the
rest of the nation.
If there was ever a time ripe for
change, it surely must be now. We
cannot continue along the same
30-year path that has led to such
pathetic results. The nation needs
the return of a robust economy and
a time when vigorous enforcement
from our federal consumer-watch-
dog agency convinces more businesses to become more consumerrespectful.
It is equally important that as consumers of color we direct our dollars to education, businesses and
enterprises that value all we bring
to the marketplace table. According
to the Nielsen Company’s recent
report, The State of the AfricanAmerican Consumers, 43 million
African-American consumers together represent nearly a trillion
dollars of purchasing power each
year. Before Black Friday, the day
following Thanksgiving and traditionally the busiest retail shopping
9
Cain isn’t able…to keep his lies straight
By George E. Curry
NNPA Columnist
And Cain talked with Abel
his brother: and it came to
pass, when they were in the
field, that Cain rose up against
Abel his brother, and slew him.
– Genesis 4:8
In Biblical times, Cain slew
Abel. Today, another Cain –
Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain – can’t put to
death the allegations by at
least three women that he sexually harassed them in the late
1990s during his tenure as
president of the National Restaurant Association. Cain’s
shifting and contradictory explanations are part of a larger
pattern of what FactCheck.org
calls “a proven ability to
spread outrageously false information – such as accusing
Planned Parenthood of ‘genocide’ and concentrating abortion clinics in black neighborhoods.”
Cain has mismanaged the
sexual harassment claims from
the beginning.
Politico reported on Oct. 30: “During
Herman Cain’s tenure as the
head of the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s,
at least two female employees
complained to colleagues and
senior association officials
about inappropriate behavior
by Cain, ultimately leaving
their jobs at the trade group,
multiple sources confirm…”
T h e We b s i t e r e p o r t e d ,
“…They signed agreements with
the restaurant group that gave
them financial payouts to leave
the association. The agreements
also included language that bars
the women from talking about
their departure.” Cain said in a
speech at the National Press
Club on Oct. 31 that he was “unaware of any settlement” with
women who had accused him of
sexual harassment. Later, on
that same day, he gave a different answer in an interview with
Greta Van Susteren on Fox News.
According to a transcript of
the program, Cain said, “The one
[complaining employee] that I
am familiar with worked in the
Washington office. And I can’t
even remember her name because
she had not been a long-term
employee. But I do remember the
formal allegations she made in
terms of sexual harassment.”
When asked about the settlement, Cain replied: “Maybe three
months’ salary or something like
that, just vaguely trying to recall it.” The next day, in an interview with Robin Meade on CNN,
Cain changed the payoff amount
to “somewhere in the vicinity of
three to six months.”
According to the New York
Times, it was even larger. On
Nov. 2, the newspaper, citing
three unnamed sources with “di-
rect knowledge” of the case,
said the women were given a
year’s salary to leave the trade
association.
In his interview with Van
Susteren, Cain said that he
was having difficulty recalling
all the details of the alleged
sexual harassment incident because it was 12 years ago.
However, in a story published
Nov. 2 on Forbes magazine’s
online site, Cain said he had
shared the sexual harassment
allegations with a consultant
he used in his failed 2004 U.S.
Senate campaign in Georgia.
The Politico story also noted,
“Cain, who has been married
to his wife Gloria for 43 years,
did tell at least one campaign
staffer this year about the
possibility that claims of
sexual harassment could surface, according to the aide.”
The candidate who likes to
lecture people about personal
responsibility has chosen to
play the blame game. He told
Van Susteren, “I have no idea
who’s egging this on, who’s
on this witch hunt...”
And there was this exchange on CNN:
MEADE: So you feel this is
a smear campaign? From
whom, do you think?
CAIN: I absolutely believe
that this is an intended smear
campaign using these two
cases – like I said, I’m not even
aware of the second one. It’s a
smear campaign. When they
cannot –
MEADE: By whom? Do you
know by whom?
CAIN: We don’t know. We
have no idea.
Later in the program, Cain
blamed “the innuendoes from
all the news reports that
haven’t been presenting the
facts.”
In the Forbes interview, Cain
shifted the blame from the media to Curt Anderson, a former
Cain consultant now working
for Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s
presidential bid. After Anderson denied the charge, Cain’s
backed away from his allegation.
That is not the only example
of Cain flip-flopping. He was
interviewed Oct. 19 on CNN by
Piers Morgan. After Cain said
he is opposed to abortion under all circumstances, Morgan
pressed the GOP presidential
candidate.
MORGAN: But you’ve had
children, grandchildren. If one
of your female children, grandchildren, was raped, you would
honestly want her to bring up
that baby as her own?
CAIN: …No, it comes down
to it’s not the government’s
role, or anybody else’s role to
make that decision. Secondly,
if you look at the statistical incidents, you’re not talking that
big a number. So what I’m saying is it ultimately gets down to
a choice that that family or that
mother has to make. Not me as
president, not some politician,
not a bureaucrat. It gets down
to that family. And whatever they
decide, they decide. I shouldn’t
have to tell them what decision
to make for such a sensitive issue.
But in an Oct. 30 interview on
“Meet the Press” with Bob
Schieffer, Cain took adopted a
different position.
CAIN: … I am pro-life from
conception, period. I was – that
piece that was pulled out was
taken totally out of context when
we were talking about –
SCHIEFFER: Okay, so in other
words – you don’t – would not
ever believe in abortion if rape,
incest or the health of the mother
was involved.
CAIN: Correct. That’s my position.
As we have seen,
Cain’s position changes frequently, sometimes within the
same day. Maybe contradicting
himself or outright lying is the
curse of Cain.
George E. Curry, former editor-in-chief of Emerge magazine
and the NNPA News Service, is
a keynote speaker, moderator,
and media coach. He can be
reached through his Web site,
www.georgecurry.com. You can
also follow him at:
www.twitter.com/currygeorge.
Success of President Barack Obama: The God-factor
By Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. termine the successful outcome
of long protracted struggles beNNPA Columnist
tween those that are oppressed
We all should well remember and their oppressors. The asthat in the aftermath of Presi- pirations and struggles of Afrident Nelson Mandela winning can people for freedom, justice,
the election in South Africa in equality and empowerment have
1994, there soon began a grow- helped to advance the cause of
ing list of cynics and political f r e e d o m a n d j u s t i c e f o r a l l
pundits who mistakenly be- people throughout the world.
lieved that President Mandela The most brutal forms of slavery,
was compromising too much genocide and apartheid for cenwith the political forces of op- turies never extinguished or
position at the expense of pay- eliminated the God-given humaning attention to the socioeco- ity of African people across Afnomic needs of the core of his rica, nor across the Americas.
base constituency in the Afri- Today we must not allow ourselves to get lost in the desert
can National Congress.
Today, some of us are hear- of despair and hopelessness being similar misplaced remarks cause of the persistence of povand accusations about Presi- erty, unemployment, and injusdent Barack Obama, in particu- tice even though we have Black
lar from some African Ameri- presidents in many nations tocan leaders and critics. It was day including the United States.
just three years ago in Novem- But we should not take what
ber 2008 that our votes for free- progress that has been made for
dom were felt and celebrated granted.
The fact of the matter is that
all over the world with the elecboth Mandela and Obama not
tion of President Obama.
People were literally danc- only achieved historic and monuing in the streets. Historic elec- mental political victories, they
tions of Black people to na- both with their own unique intional and global positions of tellect and outstanding leaderpolitical and economic power ship abilities have helped to
n e v e r o c c u r s o l e l y i n a shape the world community betv a c u u m . M a n d e l a ’s a n d ter to advance the cause of libObama’s elections respec- eration, freedom and empowertively, I believe, represented ment. The truth is there is more
the evidence of the God-fac- opportunity today for African
tor that ultimately helps to de- Americans to move forward more
than ever before if we would
work harder together, pool our
trillion-dollar resources, and
raise up another young generation of freedom fighters,
entrepreneurs, and institutionbuilders.
Thus, I stand firmly for the
re-election of President Obama
without reservation. We cannot afford to become cynical
and hopeless. Real social
change does not happen overnight or in three to four years.
But time is on our side because God is on our side if we
do the right things at the right
times at the right places not
just for ourselves but for all
people.
Don’t worry this is
not a sermon. It is, however,
a sober reminder to those of
us who may succumb to some
malignant cases of social amnesia or to those who are addicted to that self-destructive
disease known as “The Willie
Lynch Syndrome.” Yes, there
are ample reasons to express
concerns and criticisms about
the continuing plight of millions of our brothers and sisters in our communities who
are crying out for a better quality of life. But engaging in efforts to derail the re-election
of President Barack Obama is
foolhardy and counterproductive to the overall interests of
the African American, Latino
American and other progressive constituencies in the
United States. I like to quote
old African proverbs because
they are so universally relevant
to both the contradictions and
opportunities that we face today as we prepare to enter into
the 2012 national political season. A wise man from the
Congo once said, “Don’t be
fooled by those who want you
to exchange your soul for a trinket…… for the eternal is more
valuable than a thing that may
look good only for one moment
in time.”
W.E.B Dubois reminded us
that the soul of Black people
should never be for sale on the
auction block of political expediency. Do not let the Tea
Party sell you a cup of politically contaminated brew. Stay
sober and conscious of what is
happening. Remember Willie
Lynch. The 2012 elections in
the United States will be the
most important elections of our
lifetime. This will be a referendum on going forward or going
backward. In many states there
have measures put in place to
discourage and to suppress the
Black and other minority vote.
We must challenge these repressive voting policies in every state and community. Be
careful what you pray for because our prayers will be an-
swered. That is why I am optimistic.
I believe President Obama will
be re-elected. But we must not
rest as if this is a done deal because it will be a struggle and
another historic contest. Don’t
miss or forsake your chance and
responsibility to participate in
civic action. Vote and make an
important difference. Yes every
vote will count if you vote! We
are at another pivotal time.
Watch closely how the U.S. Congress will handle the next vote
o n t h e d e f i c i t . Wa t c h t h e
economy turn around to the positive in the face of all the negative commentators.
Watch how President Obama
will continue to take the high
road doing the presidential debates. I am writing this piece for
the NNPA from Johannesburg,
South Africa where I am reminded that our struggle for freedom is constant.
The entire world is watching
America and the success of
President Barach H. Obama. No,
it will not be the X-factor, but it
will be the God-factor that will
ultimately win.
Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr is
senior advisor to the Black Alliance for Educational Options
(BAEO) and President of Education Online Services Corporation and the Hip-Hop Summit
Action Network.
Opinion
10
African Scene
Liberia election protest turns deadly
UN troops in Somalia
War games buffet Somalia
crisscrossed by deadly drones
(GIN) – The sounds of war are
roaring throughout East Africa as
the U.S. and other western countries guide deadly drones, train
troops, and stockpile weapons in
a build-up that had until recently
been rejected by African heads
of state.
Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the
Pan-African News Wire, wrote
this week that a combined force
of U.S. Predator drones and
French naval vessels had targeted
four towns in the southern region
of Somalia so that Kenyan military forces on the ground could
seize Kismayo, a port city under
the control of Al-Shabab.
At least 4,000 Kenyan troops
are fighting alongside the Somali
government’s troops, and fighters from the African Union,
Uganda and Burundi, it was reported.
Firm African opposition to a
U.S. military presence on the continent appears to have softened
as Algeria, Burkina Faso, Chad,
Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger,
Nigeria, Senegal and Tunisia have
all opened their doors to U.S.
counterterrorism training and
equipment of militaries to “preclude terrorists from establishing
sanctuaries,” U.S. sources said.
With military strikes, however,
come deadly errors such as this
week’s aerial bombardment of a
camp in Somalia for displaced persons. Kenyan planes seeking to
hit the base of the al-Shabab insurgents, strafed the camp,
wounding 52 including 31 children,
many with shrapnel, according to
the relief group Doctors Without
Borders.
The strikes have increased the
angry threats by the Al-Shabab
movement which vowed to avenge
the deaths of civilians.
“Kenya has brutally massacred
civilians already displaced by
hardship…We will ensure that
Kenya mourns more than we did,”
said regional official Sheikh
Abukar Ali Ada.
Gaddafi planned to retire
in friendly South Africa
By Fungai Maboreke
(GIN) - The late Libyan leader
Muammar Gadaffi believed he
was headed for Karoo, a desertlike area in South Africa, where
he would live in a tent under the
protection of his allies, when he
was fatally ambushed by joint
NATO-Libyan forces.
Reports of South African
fighters hired to guide the fallen
Libyan leader have appeared in
two South African papers in the
Afrikaans language. The South
African soldiers of fortune are
now stranded abroad but officials of the government, a former
Gadaffi ally, are offering no support.
“Any South African who is involved in military matters in Libya
would do so illegally and at own
risk. They are their own responsibility,” Siphiwe Dlamini, a defense
department spokesman, told the
newspaper Beeld. “According to
the Prohibition of Mercenary Activity Act of 2006, South Africans
are forbidden from entering any
conflict area in any part of the
world on either side,” Dlamini said.
Meanwhile, Gaddafi’s second
son, Saif al-Islam, continues to
make his escape through friendly
countries such as Niger, although
the International Criminal Court
which seeks his prosecution says
he is making contact for surrender
through an intermediary.
At least one person has died
after shots were reportedly fired
during an opposition protest in
Monrovia ahead of Liberia’s presidential run-off.
A BBC reporter saw the body of
a young man who had been shot
in the head.
Congress for Democratic
Change (CDC) candidate Winston
Tubman has pulled out of
Tuesday’s vote, alleging fraud.
Nobel Peace laureate Ellen
Johnson-Sirleaf, Africa’s Africa’s
first elected female head of state,
is running for another term.
She was first elected after
Liberia’s first post-war election in
2005.
These are the first elections
organized by Liberians since the
14-year conflict ended. The previous ones were run by the large
UN peacekeeping mission.
Justice Minister Christiana
Tah told the BBC that security
would be stepped up for the
elections following the violence and that an investigation
would be opened.
She could not confirm the number of casualties. Some CDC officials say four people died.
The rioting broke out after thousands of CDC supporters gathered outside party headquarters
to urge voters to boycott
Tuesday’s poll.
Police, backed by UN forces,
reportedly blocked a road to prevent the CDC activists from marching through the city, before the
shooting and stone-throwing
broke out.
Opposition activists are said to
have exchanged fire with the police, who also used tear gas.
But police spokesman George
Badue said officers had not used
live bullets.
He said only tear gas was used
by the police “to disperse the
crowd so that people who were
not part of the demonstration
could move about freely”.
As well as the dead man, the
UN peacekeepers backed up the Liberian police
BBC’s Jonathan Paye-Layleh, in
Monrovia, also saw three or four
other injured people who said they
had been shot.
Mr Tubman’s running mate,
former football star George Weah,
condemned the shooting of “unarmed protesters” and called for
the elections to be postponed.
President Sirleaf won the first
round last month but failed to pass
the 50% threshold needed for outright victory.
Mr Tubman and the CDC say
there was widespread vote-rigging - charges denied by the election commission and Mrs Sirleaf’s
supporters.
The US, EU and African Union
have all condemned the
opposition’s decision to pull out of
the run-off.
“It’s a bad signal... political leaders must be prepared to win or lose,”
said former Ugandan Vice-President
and head of the African Union observer mission Speciosa Wadira
Kazibwe, according to the AFP
news agency.
Prince Johnson, a former warlord
who came third in the first round,
has backed Mrs Sirleaf in the runoff.
While campaigning on Sunday,
Mrs Sirleaf said: “I know that nobody in this country, no matter what
the talk or rhetoric, nobody really
wants us to go back to war.”
New Zambian leader apologizes
for country’s historical blunder
(GIN) – In an extraordinary
move, the new Zambian leader
has offered neighboring Angola
his heartfelt apology for backing
that country’s rival in its catastrophic civil war.
New President Michael Sata
condemned Zambia’s “treachery”
in backing the rebel UNITA movement of Dr. Jonas Savimbi during
Angola’s 27 year-long civil war.
From 1975 to 2002, the rebel
UNITA received military aid from
the United States and South Africa while the currently governing MPLA received support from
the Soviet Union and its allies.
Over 500,000 Angolans perished
in the conflict.
Following Savimbi’s death,
President Michael Sata
UNITA abandoned armed struggle
and took part in electoral politics,
winning 16 out of 220 seats in the
2008 parliamentary election.
The apology suggests the two
sides may settle the mystery of a
$1.2-million account in a London
bank. The funds were claimed by
former president Frederick Chiluba
as his “personal” money but insiders say it was cash given by
Savimbi’s UNITA for services rendered, confirming Angola’s charge
of collusion between UNITA and at
least some individuals in the upper
reaches of the Zambian government.
The collusion was not thought to
have been driven by either ideology
or politics, but purely by greed.
By Yussuf J. Simmonds
Special to the NNPA from the
Los Angeles Sentinel
GOP Black billboards
‘GOP is the new Black,’
claim Florida billboards
Special to the NNPA from the lican. But this is a controversial
Florida Sentinel Bulletin
claim that has never been substantiated. Austin NAACP president
Conservative activist, Apostle Nelson Linder said that he feels the
Claver Kamau-Imani, who re- signs are disrespectful and that
cently said that Democrats are the Black voters should vote based on
party of the Klu Klux Klan is the whether issues that affect the comprominent image on two of the munity, including unemployment
four ads, which the group hopes and police brutality, are addressed
will “stir up a storm on the plan- by either party.
tation.”
“Martin Luther King was about
The signs definitely have civil rights and social justice activpeople talking. One sign in par- ist. That’s not the current Republiticular that hangs over Martin can Party.” The signs are also up in
Luther King, Jr. Boulevard in East Houston, Ohio and South Carolina.
Austin is drawing mixed reviews These are areas where high concenfrom residents there. It says: Mar- trations of people of color typically
tin Luther King, Jr. was a Repub- vote democratic.
This year marks the 13th annual Rainbow PUSH Citizenship
Education Fund awards dinner
In addition to a Leadership Luncheon Forum focusing on Jobs,
Business and the Economy,
Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rainbow
PUSH Citizenship Education
Fund (CEF) will hold the 13th
annual awards dinner to celebrate his 70th birthday and 50
years of service.
Rev. Jackson has often taken
the lead in challenging America
to do in deeds, what it says in
words - to provide positive action to its pretty-sounding
words. Following in the footsteps of his mentor, Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr., he has sought
to be inclusive and to establish
just and humane priorities for
the benefit of all people together on common ground
across lines of race, culture,
class, gender and belief.
The consistency of his work,
in providing for the downtrodden, is a hallmark of the Reverend and Rainbow PUSH CEF. In
addition to his work in human
and civil rights, and nonviolent
social change, Rev. Jackson believes that education is a leveling force and through the CEF,
he helps students to realize their
dreams.
According to PUSH CEF’s
website, “A hallmark of Reverend Jackson’s work has been
his commitment to youth. He
has visited thousands of high
schools, colleges, universities
and correctional facilities encouraging excellence, inspiring
hope and challenging young
people to study diligently and
stay drug-free.”
And to that end, CEF is a
Rev. Jesse Jackson
force in helping accomplish
those goals.
The Sentinel
spoke with Rev. Jackson about
the two upcoming events and he
said:”We’ve come full circle from
where Dr. King left us. Dr. King
last movement was about the
‘Poor People’s Campaign;’ we
occupied the mall in Washington and we called it ‘ Resurrection City .’
“Today, they’re occupying
Wall Street and really, the
agenda is the same: economic
justice; we’re free but not equal.
Too few people have too much
concentrated wealth made possible by government gifts and
breaks. Too many people have
too little and are neglected by
government policy.”
He emphasized the theme of the
upcoming leadership luncheon jobs , business and the economy and his focus seemed to be a prelude of what’s-to-come at that leadership forum.
“There are too many expensive
unnecessary wars; plants are closing and jobs are leaving. Therefore, we must now restructure our
economic priorities.
“The coming election will be a
big deal and will determine
whether the nation goes forward
or backwards. The right wing is
trying to restore the Tenth Amendment about state’s rights to undermine voting rights and workers’ rights to collective bargaining.
“Meanwhile, the issue of racial
justice must be put back on the
front burner because Black people
are usually the last hired and the
first fired. So here we go again lost the most jobs in the recession;
the most foreclosed homes; number one in infant mortality; number one in short life expectancy ...
so we must use our strength to
fight against these odds.”
Then speaking briefly on the
possible second term of President
Obama, the Reverend continued,
“It (the possible second term) must
produce some targeted focus on
the disparities in healthcare, and
employment, and denial of access
to capital ... and more of our youth
in jail. There must be some targeted focus.”
At the upcoming awards dinner,
celebrating Rev. Jackson’s birthday, the 2011 honorees will include
Al Davis (posthumously); Jenifer
Lewis - Actress, Aunt from the
Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Soul Food,
The Brothers; Hill Harper - CSI
New York - actor, motivational
speaker and author; Tommie Smith
- Mexico City Olympic Champion;
and Harry Johnson - CEO King
Memorial Foundation.
Bloomberg convenes international summit on business and job creation
Mayor Michael R.
Bloomberg today addressed
delegates representing 23 international cities during the
New York City Global Partners
Summit “Business Innovation
and Entrepreneurship: City
Strategies.” The Mayor and
Jeff Immelt, the Chair of President Obama’s Council on Jobs
and Competitiveness and CEO
of GE, discussed how global
cities can spur innovation and
create new employment opportunities.
Their conversation was part
of a three-day international
meeting of government officials and private sector representatives showcasing best
practices, such as promoting
entrepreneurship through access to capital and affordable
incubator space; facilitating
business creation by reducing
government red tape; supporting infrastructure for energy
efficient business development; and creating public-private partnerships which diversify the local economy and
develop the workforce.
The summit was developed
by New York City Global Partners, Inc. in cooperation with
the New York City Economic
Development Corporation, and
co-sponsored by Columbia University and the World Bank.
“Throughout history, cities in
every corner of the globe have
always been magnets for talented, ambitious people, and
that’s made us the birthplace for
the new ideas and new products
that spur human progress and
fuel economic growth,” said
Mayor Bloomberg. “Here in New
York City, we are focused on
doing all we can to encourage
that growth and create jobs, and
that’s why we are coming out of
the recession faster than the rest
of the country.”
The summit was attended by
delegations from Bangalore ,
Barcelona , Berlin , Bucharest ,
Budapest , Buenos Aires , Cape
Town , Geneva , Ho Chi Minh
City , Istanbul , Johannesburg ,
Karachi , Kiev , Lisbon , Luxembourg , Lyon, Montréal, Munich
, New York City, Panama City ,
Stockholm , Tel Aviv and Tokyo
.
During the summit, attendees
also heard from World Bank Institute Vice President, Sanjay
Pradhan; New York City tech
entrepreneur Kevin P. Ryan,
founder and CEO, Gilt Groupe;
and public and private leaders in
beyond,” said Seth W. Pinsky,
president of the New York City
Economic Development Corporation. “By bringing together leaders from around the world, and
allowing them to share their
ideas, this summit will encourage the type of creative thinking
necessary to strengthen the global innovation economy, and will
showcase New York City as an
emerging leader and model for
other cities near and far.”
“New York City Global Partners’ summits demonstrate the
continuing relevance to the global economy of the world’s great
cities,” said Professor Feldberg.
“During this summit, Global Partners has created a superb opportunity for participants to share
their experiences and learn about
innovative programs from 23 global cities in 18 countries.”
“This summit has tested the
leadership of global cities to
share their most creative ideas
about job creation and how cities are contributing to the economic recovery,” said Commissioner Marjorie Tiven.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg
“Implementing public policies
economic development from summit is underwritten by GE. that foster entrepreneurship and
Barcelona , Berlin , Buenos
“Innovation will be a critical job creation is undeniably one
Aires , Cape Town , Lyon driver of economic develop- of the most important challenges
Stockholm and Tel Aviv. The ment in the 21 st century and facing cities today.”
11
Rev. Jesse Jackson to headline annual
Leadership Forum and Awards Dinner
12
Opinion
African Americans as vital third leg in Haiti’s development
By Dr. Ron Daniels
Since the inception of the
Haiti Support Project in 1995, the
concept of “socially responsible” economic business investment and development has
been a central part of our mission. I recently wrote an article
entitled Implanting a “Black
Footprint” on an Economic
Renaissance for Haiti in which
I provided the historical context
and cultural framework for
people of African descent being
engaged in the reconstruction
and resurrection of Haiti after
the devastating earthquake.
As I prepare to leave for the
16 th Annual New York Carib
News Multinational Business
Conference in Jamaica, where
Haiti’s recovery post-earthquake will be a major focus, I
thought it would be important
to elaborate on the vital role African Americans can play in
building a brighter future for the
first Black Republic.
I contend that African Americans and other people of African descent in the U.S. should
be the vital “third leg” in Haiti’s
development. Obviously the
first responsibility for any
nation’s development is its own
people. Therefore, the people of
Haiti must always be in the forefront, the “first leg,” of shaping
the development and destiny of
their country.
The “second leg” is Haiti’s
vast and incredibly talented, experienced and relatively prosperous Diaspora, a resource
which contributes nearly $2 billion in remittances annually and
is energetically engaged in a
multitude of humanitarian and
development projects in Haiti.
But, there is potentially a “third
leg,” African Americans who
should be cultivated as a major partner in Haiti’s development. This is
the niche the Haiti Support Project
(HSP) has vigorously sought to fill
over the past 16 years, as a troubadour relentlessly touting Haiti’s history, culture, the necessity for a relationship with African Americans
and the need for African Americans
to become a vital partner in enriching the process of democracy and
development.
As an independent Black nation,
Haiti was the bright beacon of hope
and promise for Africans in America
struggling to break the yoke of generations of enslavement, southern
apartheid and de facto segregation.
Because Haiti was so important as a
symbol of possibilities for Black
people everyone, leaders of the
NAACP and other civil rights organizations vigorously protested the
U.S. occupation of Haiti (from 1915
- 1934) and consistently advocated
for constructive engagement to develop the nation.
For decades African American
churches and civic associations
have contributed to humanitarian
assistance and sponsored charitable
projects in Haiti. And, for a time the
first Black Republic was a favorite
destination of African American
tourists. However, largely due to
negative images of Haiti, African
American tourism has dwindled to
a trickle. This is a trend which can
and must be reversed.
George Fraser, president/CEO of
FraserNet, the largest network of
Black professionals in the world,
continually reminds us that despite
stubborn vestiges of racism and discrimination, African Americans earn
enough aggregate income to be
considered the richest Black nation
in the world. The civil rights movement has produced a thriving middle
class with millions of Black professionals, hundreds of high profile and
well paid artists, athletes and entertainers and a small but growing
sector of Black millionaires and
billionaires! African Americans
spend hundreds of millions of dollars annually on tourism, much of
it to travel to the sunny shores of
the Caribbean. Given these assets,
the historical affinity and relationship between African Americans
and Haitians should be the basis
for attracting thousands upon
thousands of African Americans
to Haiti as tourists.
In addition, African Americans
should also see Haiti as a prime
market for economic development/
business investment. Indeed,
through the Model City Initiative
in Milot in the north near the magnificent Citadel, HSP is actively
working with local officials and the
Local Development Committee to
encourage cultural-historical tourism as the foundation for people
based economic/business development. We say that every person of African descent should
visit the Citadel at least once in a
lifetime.
To fulfill this vision/mission,
HSP conducts annual Pilgrimages
to the Citadel and other important
cultural/historical sites so that
African Americans can be inspired
by an immersion with the Haitian
people and see a side of Haiti seldom portrayed in the news media.
Over the past few years, HSP has
exposed hundreds of African
Americans to Haiti, including
prominent leaders and personalities like Congressman Gregory
Meeks (the first member of the
Congressional Black Caucus to
visit the Citadel); Oklahoma State
Senator Constance Johnson;
former Massachusetts State Representative Marie St. Fleur; George
Curry, former Editor of Emerge
Magazine; Bev Smith, American
Urban Radio Networks; Gary
Flowers, Executive Director, Black
Leadership Forum; George Fraser,
President/CEO, FraserNet; Warren
Ballentine, Radio-One and
SIRIUS/XM Radio; Hazel TriceEdney, former Editor-in-Chief, National Newspaper Publishers Association; Omarosa, actress humanitarian; Joe Madison, “The
Black Eagle,” Radio-One and
SIRIUS/XM; Richard Muhammad,
Editor-in-Chief, Final Call newspaper; Herb Boyd, Staff Writer,
Amsterdam News, Reporter, Free
Speech T.V.; Edward Harris,
award-winning Filmmaker; and
Kango Kid, the first Haitian American Hip Hop Artist. Once Pilgrimage participants have experienced
the first Black Republic, they return to the U.S. as “Ambassadors
of Hope for Haiti!”
The African American market is
a gold mine waiting to be tapped.
First, it is important for African
Americans to get beyond the
myths and stereotypes propagated about Haiti to be willing to
visit and invest. HSP is focused
on attracting visitors to the Citadel to nourish the economy of the
Milot/Cap Haitien Region and to
identify individuals, organizations
and corporations interested in investing in tourism related enterprises.
In that regard, we are preparing
to launch a Haiti Investment Fund
as a vehicle to attract and leverage investment dollars for business ventures in Milot as part of
the Model City Initiative. We are
also prepared to function as a facilitator for African Americans interested in investing in other regions and sectors of the Haitian
economy. There are enormous opportunities waiting for investors
to step up to the plate. Why not
African Americans?
In order to maximize the potential
of African Americans at the vital
third leg in Haiti’s development,
however, the Government of Haiti
and the private sector must prioritize and take special steps to encourage investment from Black America.
HSP has stressed the need for the
President, Prime Minister, Ministers
of Government and key leaders from
the private sector to take advantage
of the Black Press in the U.S. to
clearly express interest in African
Americans visiting and investing in
Haiti. HSP has had some success in
arranging interviews for Haitian
leaders on Black Talk Radio but
much more needs to be done.
The government and the private
sector should actually devise a
strategy for cultivating African
American tourism and investment.
HSP has recommended that such a
strategy include an African American Advisory Commission for Tourism and Investment. Thus far this
recommendation has fallen on deaf
ears. Hopefully, this will change
under the Martelly Government.
Moreover, agencies within the U.S.
Government like USAID and international bodies such as the InterAmerican Development Bank
should also focus on devising strategies to encourage African American tourism and investment in Haiti.
Finally, the Clinton Foundation and
Clinton-Bush Initiative should be
exploring ways to engage African
Americans as major partners in
Haiti’s development post-earthquake.
At this juncture, the fact that African Americans could be an incredible source of tourism and investment does not appear to be on
anyone’s radar screen except the
Haiti Support Project. Unless this
changes, Haiti will miss a golden
Just say no – to corporate greed
By Marian Wright Edelman
NNPA Columnist
Repatriation. It’s a word many
schoolchildren
probably
haven’t yet learned to define or
even seen very often outside of
spelling bees. But when it comes
to corporate taxes, repatriation
is the cornerstone of an idea that
has the potential to severely
hurt millions of children and parents and widen the already historic and unconscionable gap
between the rich and the poor.
In its simplest definition, repatriation is bringing something
back to its country of origin—
returning it back home. One of
the solutions to the jobs crisis
being proposed by some of our
Congressional leaders and lobbied for aggressively by some
of the country’s richest corporations is a rehash of an old experiment: enacting a repatriation
tax holiday that would tempo-
rarily allow U.S.-based multinational
companies to bring home profits
they currently hold overseas at a
5.25 percent tax rate, instead of the
usual 35 percent corporate tax rate.
Under current tax law, multinational companies generally pay no
U.S. corporate taxes on foreign income until those profits are brought
back to the U.S. As the Center on
Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP)
explains, “This effectively allows
such firms to defer payment of the
U.S. corporate income tax on their
overseas profits indefinitely, even
though they may obtain an immediate tax deduction for many expenses
incurred in supporting the same
overseas investments.
This can produce a negative U.S.
corporate income tax—that is, a net
government subsidy—for overseas
operations. In addition to causing
the federal government to lose tax
revenue, this structure gives multinationals a significant incentive to
shift economic activity—as well as
their reported profits—overseas.”
The argument for the repatriation
holiday is that giving corporations
a huge incentive to bring profits
back right now—in the form of an
enormous tax break—would bring
billions of dollars back to the U.S.
economy that would be reinvested
and provide a big stimulus to our
economy. Corporate proponents
and their Congressional allies argue this will create desperately
needed jobs.
But the last time this was tried,
under a 2004 Bush Administration
plan, it didn’t work out that way.
Instead, as CBPP points out, “The
evidence shows that firms mostly
used the repatriated earnings not
to invest in U.S. jobs or growth
but for purposes that Congress
sought to prohibit, such as repurchasing their own stock and paying bigger dividends to their
shareholders. Moreover, many
firms actually laid off large numbers of U.S. workers even as they
reaped multi-billion-dollar benefits
from the tax holiday and passed
them on to shareholders.”
Many economists and scholars
believe that if corporations get
their way and get another repatriation holiday, history will
repeat itself—and once again
the corporations and their
shareholders, not American
workers, families, and children,
will be the only winners.
The nonpartisan congressional
Joint Committee on Taxation has
estimated the holiday would cost
the federal government about $80
billion over ten years in lost revenue.
The Economic Policy Institute’s
Andrew Fieldhouse puts it this
way: “While there are numerous
job creation proposals that would
meaningfully lower unemployment, some lawmakers are pushing counterproductive policies
disguised as job creation packages. The proposed repeat of the
corporate tax repatriation holiday is
one such wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
When the nation is already facing
a jobs crisis and many Congressional leaders are threatening to
slash nutrition, child care, and other
safety net programs children and
families rely on as a means of balancing the budget, revisiting a failed
idea instead of coming up with real
solutions and real jobs is a threat
children and families and our country cannot afford. As the Occupy
Wall Street protestors are shouting,
let’s “just say no to corporate greed”
and to Congress people who continue to raid from the poor and children to curry favor and campaign
contributions from the rich.
Marian Wright Edelman is a
lifelong advocate for disadvantaged Americans and is the
President of the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF). Under her
leadership, CDF has become the
nation’s strongest voice for children and families.
Marc Morial
Urban League CEO takes
national jobs tour in Ohio
As part of the National Urban
League’s War on Unemployment,
President and CEO Marc H.
Morial will visit Urban League
affiliates in Ohio during a national
“jobs tour” to promote the
League’s 12-Point Jobs Rebuild
America Plan and dialogue with
community members.
“The communities of Ohio and
the Rust Belt region have been
among the hardest hit by the national jobs crisis,” Morial said.
“I’m very pleased to lend my support to important job-creation legislation that will be announced tomorrow, and I look forward to
hearing from individuals and community leaders how we can advocate, on the local and national
level, for policies that address the
communities most affected and
help put Ohio back to work.”
Introduced earlier this year, the
Jobs Rebuild America Plan offers
a dozen dynamic and imaginative
measures to both rescue those
most profoundly affected by the
ongoing economic emergency,
while also remedying many of the
underlying causes behind the
recession’s inordinate and seemingly-amplified impact on the communities served by Urban League
affiliates.
Morial will visit three affiliates,
whose presidents - Stephanie
Hightower, of the Columbus Urban
League, Marsha Mockabee of the
Cleveland Urban League and Vince
Watts of the Urban League of Stark
County - will act as hosts for
Morial’s visit.
Nigerian sect kills
a soldier on duty
A military spokesman says a
radical Muslim sect in Nigeria’s
northeast has shot and killed an
on-duty soldier charged with
guarding a market.
Lt. Col. Hassan Mohammed
said Thursday that the soldier
was fatally shot after he walked
away from his post late Wednesday night to talk to civilians
nearby.
Cuba announced Thursday it
will allow real estate to be bought
and sold for the first time since
the early days of the revolution,
the most important reform yet in
a series of free-market changes
under President Raul Castro.
The law, which takes effect
Nov. 10, applies to citizens living
in Cuba and permanent residents
only, according to a red-letter
headline on the front page of
Thursday’s Communist Party
daily Granma and details published in the government’s Official Gazette.
The law limits Cubans to owning one home in the city and another in the country, an effort to
prevent the accumulation of large
real estate holdings. It requires
that all real estate transactions be
made through Cuban bank accounts so that they can be better
regulated, and says the transactions will be subject to bank commissions.
Sales will also be subject to an
8 percent tax on the assessed
value of the property, paid
equally by buyer and seller. In the
case where Cubans exchange
homes of equal value in a barter
agreement, each side will pay 4
percent of the value of their
home.
“This is a very big step forward. With this action the state
is granting property rights that
didn’t exist before,” said Philip J.
Peters, a Cuba analyst at the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Virginia. “If you think about it from
the point of view of a Cuban family, it converts their house from a
place to live into a source of
wealth or a source of collateral.
It’s an asset that can now be made
liquid.”
While the Gazette was available online, few Cubans have access to the Internet and most were
waiting for the booklet to go on
Fidel Castro
sale at kiosks around the country. to purchase property on the island
A handwritten sign posted at since they are not residents. Still,
Havana’s main distribution center they will be able to send money to
Thursday advised that the law help relatives buy new homes, and
booklet was not yet on sale.
there was speculation some might
On the streets of Havana, resi- try to buy homes themselves
dents said they were thrilled by through frontmen, something the
the news but anxious to see the government would likely try to prefine print.
vent.
“This is going to help me beThe change follows October’s lecause I have some money and now galization of buying and selling cars,
I will be able to buy a better though with restrictions that still
house,” said Oscar Palacios make it hard for ordinary Cubans to
Delgado, a 68-year-old office main- buy new vehicles.
tenance worker, adding he hoped
Castro has also allowed citizens
the government would enact other to go into business for themselves
changes to make it easier for Cu- in a number of approved jobs —
bans to find building materials for everything from party clowns to
home repairs. “This law will ben- food vendors to accountants — and
efit many Cubans.”
Cuban exiles will not be allowed
Atlanta arrests 53 in ‘Occupy’ park protest
“For more than two weeks, the
Special to the NNPA from the AtCity of Atlanta, downtown resilanta Daily World
dents and business owners have
Mayor Kasim Reed on Tues- shown tolerance and patience for
day revoked the executive order the members of Occupy Atlanta,”
he issued on Monday, Oct.17, al- Reed said. “The protesters, howlowing Occupy Atlanta protest- ever, moved from conducting an
ers to remain legally in Woodruff initially peaceful demonstration to
increasingly aggressive actions.
Park after 11 p.m.
Mayor Reed based his decision These actions led to my decision
on concerns about public safety today to revoke the executive orand escalating tension in the der. I would like to commend the
park. Throughout the day on Atlanta Police Department on exTuesday, one protester openly ecuting an operation that resulted
walked through the park with an in no incidents.”
Reed on Monday met with more
AK47 assault rifle, according to
than two dozen faith-based leaders
city reports.
At 11:50 p.m., city officials en- for more than an hour in his office
tered Woodruff Park and an- and asked for their assistance in trynounced to protesters that any- ing to negotiate with members of
one remaining in the park after Occupy Atlanta.
On Tuesday, Occupy Atlanta
midnight would face arrest. Two
subsequent warnings were issued leaders rebuffed the attempts of
and at approximately 12:45 a.m., several leading clergy members to
Atlanta police officers entered engage in a civil and productive diathe park and arrested 53 Occupy logue about the protest. Instead,
Atlanta protesters without inci- group members shouted down the
dent. Arrestees were transported clergy members on Tuesday and
to the Atlanta Detention Center, refused to formally meet until Thursincluding WAOK Talk Host Der- day.
There were increasingly dangerrick Boazman, and state Sen.
ous situations in Woodruff Park
Vincent Fort.
which contributed to Mayor
Reed’s decision. Occupy Atlanta
protesters attempted to hold an
unsanctioned concert over the
weekend without providing the
required security or crowd control plan.
Previously, demonstrators in-
serted wire hangers into electrical
sockets to create additional power
sources.
A number of other fire code violations occurred, including repeated storage of propane heaters and 20-gallon propane tanks
inside tents. With more than 75
tents located in a confined area,
these actions demonstrated a persistent and dangerous disregard for
public safety and were unlawful.
At press time, all of the protesters had been released and further
demonstrations were being
planned.
Bklyn First Book holiday partyto celebrate literacy program
First Book - Brooklyn
(http://www.firstbook.org /
brooklyn), announces its first
annual holiday party will be
held on Monday night, December 5 from 7- 9 p.m. at the
Galapagos Art Space located
at 16 Main St., Brooklyn in the
DUMBO neighborhood. The
theme for this year’s party is
“The Best of Brooklyn” and
the event will provide an
evening to celebrate supporting literacy in our community.
Donations from companies
and businesses representing
“The Best of Brooklyn” will be
featured during a raffle and an
auction during the event.
Nintendo of America, Green
Mountain Coffee, Callaway
Golf, Atlantis Resorts, Broadway Comedy Club and others
have already stepped up to
support this special event.
First Book - Brooklyn welcomes
donations of products and services for its event from the
Brooklyn business community
to help raise funds to provide
brand new books for children
in need in our community. Reading is core to a child’s ability
to succeed in school.
“We
are excited to raise awareness
of the importance of children’s
literacy in Brooklyn and to facilitate such an outpouring of
support from the community
for our kids in need. Books really do make a difference for
them. Thank you!,” say
Michele R. Wells and Jennifer S.
Wilkov, co-founders of the First
Book - Brooklyn chapter organization.
For more information about
making a donation, please email:
[email protected] or call
(917) 727-8434.
Subscribe and
advertise in the
New York Beacon
237 W. 37th Street,
Suite 203 New York,
New York 10018
Tel: (212) 213-8585
13
Cuba now legalizes sale and
purchase of private property
14
15
Saving lives through treatment and knowledge of science
they are less likely to infect othBy Tamara E. Holmes
Special to the NNPA from the ers. Likewise, there is clinical evidence that microbicides—comBlack AIDS Institute
pounds applied inside the vaWhile HIV-treatment ad- gina—can prevent HIV infection
vances have led to a drop of more in women. But despite the breakthan 70 percent in the rate of throughs, “if Black people don’t
AIDS deaths nationwide, Black know about the treatment for HIV,
Americans are still more likely they can’t utilize the treatment, and
than Whites to die from the dis- consequently don’t get to live and
ease. One reason for the dispar- thrive,” Abdus-Samad says.
To combat that stark reality, the
ity: a lack of knowledge among
African Americans about the sci- Black AIDS Institute has launched
ence behind HIV and the latest the Black Treatment Advocates
treatment options that can fight Network (BTAN), a collaboration
between the Institute, pharmaceuand prevent it.
“HIV isn’t the death sentence tical company Merck and commuit used to be if people know how nity organizations across the
to adhere to treatment,” says country. BTAN’s mission is to
Raniyah Abdus-Samad, training train and mobilize treatment advoand capacity-building manager cates to go into communities and
educate Black Americans with HIV
at the Black AIDS Institute.
There is no question that sci- about care and treatment options.
The program kicked off in 2010
ence has made great gains in
fighting the HIV/AIDS epidemic. in Houston; Jackson, Miss.; and
Antiretroviral (ARV) medica- Philadelphia, where treatment adtions taken daily can dramatically vocates received intensive scireduce one’s risk of becoming in- ence and advocacy training to prefected with HIV. Not only that, pare them to address critical needs
but research has shown that in their local communities. After
when people with HIV start tak- the training sessions, the advoing ARVs right after diagnosis, cates shared the knowledge with
others in their communities
through training programs of
their own that launched earlier
this year. The impact of the 2011
local training programs has been
life transforming, organizers say.
“We had people with HIV and
AIDS who thought, ‘As long as I
have my medicine, it’s okay if I
skip seven days,’ “ says Tamika
Curtis-Stiff, a program director for
Canton, Miss.’s G.A. Carmichael
Family Health Center, one of the
organizers of BTAN Jackson. After going through the training,
many of these same people understood that failing to take their
medication could jeopardize their
lives, Curtis-Stiff adds. Called the
Mississippi Treatment Academy
for HIV/AIDS Providers, the
Jackson training program was run
in partnership with My Brother’s
Keeper in Jackson.
Between June 27 and Aug. 31,
three Mississippi training sessions took place, in Jackson,
Greenwood and Hattiesburg.
“We wanted to offer the training
to the people that are actually
outreaching, trying to care for
people. We also wanted to extend
the training to people that are living with the disease and to social
workers and case managers,”
Curtis-Stiff adds. Participants
were tested on their knowledge
about the science and treatment
of HIV/AIDS, and some of the
people who answered only two
out of 33 questions correctly before the training scored 29 out of
33 afterward, Curtis-Stiff says.
Houston’s program, HIV Education & Literacy Program (H.E.L.P)
Houston, also proved to be a
success, says organizer Danielle
Houston, director of Education
for Houston’s Center for AIDS.
The program, developed by the
Center for AIDS in partnership
with the St. Hope Foundation,
also in Houston, focused on training people who work at AIDS service organizations to better understand the science of HIV so
that they can communicate that
information to their patients and
clients.
“We wanted clients to be able
to get consistent information
across all agencies,” says Houston. “If I ask a question in Agency
A, then go to Agency B, I get the
same answer.” Modeled after a college curriculum, the program provided participants with 28 hours
of science, research and advocacy
information, as well as 16 hours of
elective courses. “Once they completed all of that, we had a graduation ceremony,” she adds.
The Philadelphia program was
created through a partnership with
the Health Federation of Philadelphia and Liberation Fellowship
Community Development Corp.
Called the Philadelphia BTAN Information and Advocacy Project,
the eight-month effort focused on
training case managers, outreach
specialists and prevention counselors.
Moving forward, BTAN has
added three new cities to the mix:
Atlanta, Chicago and Los Angeles. “We were so excited and proud
to be a part of the programs that
our cities launched,” says AbdusSamad. “It’s amazing and inspirational to see Black people taking
care of Black people.”
Tamara E. Holmes is a Washington, D.C.-based journalist who
writes frequently about emotional
health and wellness.
First Lady joins food desert fight, urges fresh fruits, vegetablse for kids
By Wendell Hutson Special to Englewood, and Englewood comthe NNPA from the Chicago munities on the South Side and
one in the Austin community on
Crusader
the West Side, all by spring 2012.
For Obama, the homecoming
Keisha Abrams, a 43-year-old
diabetic, has shopped at a South brought back memories of when
Side Walgreens for 20 years and she observed people buying gronow shops there even more ceries at unusual places. “I can
since the drugstore chain sells remember seeing people buy their
fresh fruits and vegetables. “I groceries at gas stations at rispend just about as much time diculous prices because there
here (at Walgreens) as I do at were no stores that sold healthy
home. The employees know me foods,” Obama recalled. “A lot of
well and I know them and I am people don’t have the time or
thankful to Walgreens for offer- money to travel outside their
ing fresh fruits and vegetables,” community to reach stores that do
she said, emotionally. “And I sell fresh produce, fruits and vegthank First Lady Michelle etables, so they go to the closest
Obama for bringing awareness store and buy whatever is there.”
And when it comes to healthy
to this problem that has attached
itself to the Black community.” eating, especially for children,
On Tuesday Abrams joined Obama said America should to do
First Lady Michelle Obama and more than just give ‘lip service.’
Mayor Rahm Emanuel at her fa- “We can talk all we want about
vorite Walgreens, 11 East 75th making healthy choices about the
Street, to talk about the need to food we serve our kids, but if parents don’t have anywhere to buy
end food deserts.
The Walgreens stop was one those foods, then that’s all it is of three for the first lady who it’s just talk,” explained Obama.
also visited Iron Street Urban “Imagine what we could achieve
Farm and later attended an if mayors across the country
evening fundraiser in the West started taking on this issue.
Think about all the jobs we
Loop. Earlier Obama attended a
mayoral summit at City Hall, could create, all the neighborwhich consisted of eight may- hoods we could begin to transors from across the country form and what it means when our
along with executives from ma- children finally get the nutrition
jor grocery store chains, such as they need to grow up healthy. I
Jewel, Dominick’s, Save-A-Lot, am confident that - one neighborhood, one community, one city at
and Aldi.
As a result of the summit, gro- a time - we can ensure that all our
cery store executives committed kids have the happy, healthy futo opening 17 new stores in Chi- tures they deserve.”
The first lady’s appearance was
cago over the next few years.
They include a new Save-A-Lot closed to the public but well atstore in the North Lawndale tended by Black elected officials
community on the West Side by including Alderman Roderick
year-end and one in the Grand Sawyer, whose Sixth Ward inBoulevard, West Pullman, Mor- cludes the Walgreens Obama visgan Park, Calumet Heights, West ited. “Healthy eating is very im-
portant to the Black community
because studies have shown that
those who eat healthy live
longer,” Sawyer told the Crusader. “And at a time when Black
males are being murdered or sent
to prison at alarming rates, we
need to make sure that there are
stores like Walgreens in the Black
community that sell food items
to keep us healthy.”
Third Ward Alderman Pat
Dowell also attended and said “I
spoke with several CEOs today
about possibly opening up
stores in my ward and they were
generally interested in exploring
ways to do so,” she said. “In my
ward there are very few obstacles
that would prevent more grocery
stores from opening. Available
land is not a problem. And financial incentives are not a problem.” One problem Alderman
Leslie Hairston (Fifth Ward) said
that she sees is the misconception by corporate America that
there is no money to be made in
the Black community.
“There is plenty of money to
be made in the Black community,”
Hairston added. “I think if corporations can overcome this perception that there is no money
to be made in the Black community then we can start to move
forward in getting more businesses to operate in our communities.”
And Emanuel pledged to con-
tinue fighting to eliminate food
deserts, which he said exist primarily in underserved, economically deprived communities.
“It is unacceptable that a halfmillion Chicagoans do not have
access to healthy, fresh foods for
their family and I am committed to
the elimination of these food
deserts in our city,” said Emanuel,
just before he introduced the first
lady. “I am grateful to First Lady
Michelle Obama, grocery executives and mayors who joined us
today for their commitment to
working together to ensure that
residents have access to the
foods they need to make healthy
choices for themselves and their
families.”
Fighting chest colds and
bronchitis during flu season
By Susan Beane, MD
We’re about to enter cold
and flu season. There’s a good
chance you or someone in your
family may develop a chest cold
and cough this winter. If you
get sick, call your doctor’s office, and find out what you can
do at home to ease symptoms
without medication.
Doctors know that sick patients may ask for strong medicines like antibiotics, but there
are concerns with taking these
drugs too often.
These days, doctors know
that both adults and children
should avoid using antibiotics
to treat routine winter colds or
bronchitis. The worst thing
that could happen is that patients develop a resistance to
antibiotics.
This means the antibiotics
will no longer work when we
really need them to because
patients have often taken them
when milder treatments would
have helped.
Some at-home treatments to
relieve a chest cold include
hot, steamy baths and showers to reduce congestion; sipping hot tea with honey to ease
coughing; and drinking a lot of
clear liquids to keep your body
hydrated to fight disease. Overthe-counter medications are
often very helpful.
The chest cold and bronchitis must run their course and
will usually go away in seven (7)
to ten (10) days.
If you visit your doctor for a
routine chest cold, talk with
them. Let them know that you
are willing to look into other
treatments and want to avoid
using strong medications like
antibiotics.
Trust that your doctor will
prescribe antibiotics and other
stronger medications only when
it is necessary for you and your
family.
Dr. Beane is vice president
and medical director at
Healthfirst. For more tips on
leading a healthier lifestyle,
visit the Healthfirst Healthy Living website at:
www.Hfhealthyliving.com.
Health
16
THE ADAMS REPORT
Fashion, Beauty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . .& Stuff
By Audrey Adams
‘Tis the season!
Audrey Adams
It ‘tis the season to be . . .
generous. Thanksgiving is just
around the corner and then, we
are off to the start of the rest of
the holiday season. I love this
time of the year. Memories of
past holidays with family and
friends flood my mind. There are
visions of huge festive meals
and gifts piled high underneath
the Christmas tree, the giggles
of delight and squeals of discovery . . . . and a warm and cozy
home with loving parents. Then
there are the daily images on the
news, of men, women and children standing in long lines waiting for a holiday meal or bags of
food.
All very disconcerting when
commercials aired throughout
television programs are urging
us to buy, buy, buy! Economic
indicators will be released by the
government to let us know that
if we don’t spend money this
holiday season, that the
economy might suffer. Tell that
to those without jobs or those
who lost their homes and are on
the street. My goodness, they
would have you think that you
and you alone will rescue the
economy if you spend your hard
earned money during these few
weeks of madness! Oh, if only the
good tidings would last yearround!
What seems to be true though
is that the holidays always seem
to bring out the generosity of the
human spirit. Organizations host
holiday dinners for those less fortunate, gifts are collected for the
children of the less fortunate and
for a few short weeks life gets a
little better for them. What about
the rest of the year? Their needs
are still the same. They still sleep
in homeless shelters, under
bridges, in cars and go without
food and other life necessities;
needless to say, money is scarce.
They won’t be shopping until they
drop! Living from day to day takes
up most of their time.
So, while you are enjoying your
holidays, remember that life
doesn’t really change much for
people who struggle everyday just
to survive. Be thankful that you
enjoy life’s basics. Be thankful for
your health. If you can find it in
your heart to remember the less
fortunate during the holiday season; then you can surely find it in
your heart to remember them the
rest of the year. Be as generous as
you can every season because
poverty never takes a holiday.
Think about it. See you next week.
I invite you to visit my website,
TheAdamsReport.com and checkout my online radio show, Talk!
with Audrey for a series of interviews that will inform, motivate and
inspire you. Discover your personal power and use it to create
the life you want. Tune in to listen to a live broadcast of TALK!
with AUDREY . . . every Tuesday from 6:00 to 7:00 P.M. on
Harlem’s WHCR 90.3 FM.
This Week’s Featured Video:
Dr. Steven Lamm is my guest on
TALK! with AUDREY and we
discuss insomnia and its consequences. Dr. Lamm provides
insight into how it impacts millions of Americans’ daily lives,
and the reasons why everyone
should focus on getting at least
7-8 hours of sleep every night.
About Dr. Lamm: Steven
Lamm, MD, known to millions
as the doctor on ABC-TV’s The
View, is a practicing internist and
faculty member at New York
University School of Medicine.
A graduate of Columbia University and New York University
School of Medicine, he is active
in clinical research and in great
demand as a lecturer. To watch
anytime visit:
www.theadamsreport.com
Audrey Adams, former director of corporate public relations and fashion merchandising for ESSENCE continues to
motivate and inspire women
through her syndicated columns and motivational speaking engagements. E-mail your
fashion, beauty and lifestyle
questions or comments to her
at:
[email protected]
Serial rapist in Dallas said
to target sorority women
Special to the NNPA from the
Police in the Dallas area are
hunting a suspected serial
rapist who appears to be targeting alumnae members of
one sorority, and each of the
victims told investigators the
assailant seemed to have personal knowledge about them.
Four alumnae of the same sorority — black women in their
mid-50s to early 60s — were
raped in their Dallas-area
homes over the last 11 months,
apparently all by the same assailant, according to an alert
sent out by the Plano, Texas,
Police Department.
The most recent of the attacks occurred around 9:15
p.m. Friday in Corinth, police
said. The police statement did
not identify the sorority, but
the Dallas Morning News reported that it was Delta Sigma
Theta, and that the sorority
had sent out email alerts to
alumnae. Some alumnae of the
sorority told ABC News that
others. Besides the attack in
Corinth, in Denton County, two
of the rapes occurred in Plano
and other in Coppell, both of
which are in Dallas County.
The suspect, who is seen in
a surveillance video released by
the Plano police, is described as
a black man, estimated to be in
his late 30s to mid-40s, 5 feet
seven inches to 6 feet tall and
250 to 300 pounds. He has a
trimmed beard and short hair,
and possibly a receding hairline, police said. Each of the
four attacks happened between
9 p.m. and 4 a.m. According to
the Morning News the alerts
also advised that police have requested a full list of each
chapter’s members.
“I am sure this is alarming
and the area DFW Chapter
presidents have received many
phone calls in reference to these
incidents,” the email said. “Our
National President, National
Denise Gregory
First Vice President and Rethey themselves had not regional Director are aggressively
ceived the email alerts, but said gathering information to disthey had heard about them from tribute to the chapters.”
Ron Kunene
LOVING IT!
By Tony Felton
The roar of Ron
FOURTEEN YEARSSSSSS.
Can you hear the roarrrrrr?
From the inception, the workshops, out of town try-outs, to
the Broadway opening of ‘The
Lion King’ in 1997, Ron
Kunene has been there! This
man of extreme passion and intelligence has been so much
more to the enterprise than just
that of an ensemble member. He
has lent his Afrocentricity/
cosmo-centricity and world
history expertise to benefit
those of us who remain ignorant to the riches of the African nation and its peoples. His
stature is so calm by first
glance, but his inner roar
comes out loud and clear once
he begins to speak.
“I am loving this show, even after all these years, because I get
the opportunity through theater,
through story-telling, using it as
a platform, to teach people all over
the world about my homeland.
About my Africa.
“I come from an academic, political background. I grew up in
South Africa where apartheid had
reigned. I’ve met Nelson Mandela.
I thought my life was going to be
that of liberating my people from
the struggle politically. Yet, now,
I have been blessed to do it
through the arts. It amazes me!
“Julie Taymor, our Director, our
incredible costume designer, visionary, only she could have
brought this production to life; to
the state of where we see it today.
After the incredible success of
the movie, when I first heard that
they wanted to bring it to Broadway, I said to myself, ‘How in the
world is this going to work on
stage?’ Then we began to do
workshops in 1996; working with
Julie’s puppet creations, it was
not easy. After that, the out of
town try-out in (of all places) Minneapolis. Then to Broadway’s
Amsterdam Theater and now here
at the Minskoff; I am just amazed
by it all! Working on the Lion King
has helped me to appreciate what
a collaborative effect theater is.
From Julie to Elton John to Tim
Rice to Hans Zimmer, the cast,
crew and everyone connected
with this show. It takes all of us to
make it happen! And I love it!
“Besides being an ensemble
member of the cast, I have the
wonderful privilege of teaching new
members over the years the history
of my mother-land. I get to teach not
only the history of the different dialects used in the show, but I help
perfect the sound of the language.”
‘The Lion King’ the musical, for
those born yesterday, is unquestionably one the most magnificent
Broadway presentations in the history of American theater! The music, the scenery, the creativity, the
costumes, the awesome physical
display, and the narrative of a ‘boy’
becoming a ‘man’ even if that boy
happens to be a lion, is universal it
its appeal; accounting for the fact
that the production is seen all over
the world in ten different countries.
Record breaking crowds, packed
houses practically every night, it is
well worth the wait of six months if
that is the case. Should it come roaring into your city or near by, do not
hesitate to go see it. For staunch
musicals lovers it is a MUST. For
those who have never seen a Broadway musical is it a MUST.
“I am simply astounded,” Ron
continues, “at the response we
have received. And the celebrities that have come to see the
show, oh my GOD! (‘Walls of
Fame’ signed by the celebrities
exist backstage): the late
Michael Jackson and Eartha Kitt,
R o b e r t To w n s e n d , N e l s o n
Mandela, Oprah, Muhammad Ali,
and most especially for me, Mr.
Sidney Poitier. His backstage
visit was not just to tell us how
much he enjoyed the show, but
it became a lecture. He explained,
when we were in the Amsterdam
theater, that up on the eight floor
of that building, he rehearsed for
the stage production of ‘Raisin
In The Sun.’ In his eloquence, he
explained to us that we were
standing on the shoulders of our
ancestors; and greatly because
of them—-we are who we are today. What a wonderful experience that was.
“For me, this incredible journey with its plethora of global
cultures, global symbiosis; giving me the opportunity to inform
the entire world through the platform and story telling of musical
theater, about my country—
South Africa. I cannot find the
words to express my gratitude.
My ancestors would be so proud.
(Flashing his trademark Cheshire
cat grin) I now wait for Obama to
c o m e a n d s e e t h e s h o w. ”
LOLLLLLLLLL.
17
Career Education, Urban League partner to bring STEM to local schools
Career Education Corporation has awarded a $50,000
grant to the Chicago Urban
League in support of the Urban League’s efforts to increase African American participation in future careers
based in science, technology,
engineering and math—or
STEM. The grant was announced Oct. 31 at Benjamin E.
Mays Academy in Chicago,
where the Urban League hosts
a leadership development program for middle school students. The announcement,
which was part of a special
school assembly, featured local doctors, engineers and
other professionals who have
turned their STEM education
into successful careers.
“Our nation has fallen behind the rest of the world in
STEM education achievement.
Unfortunately, achievement in
these areas is worse among
African American students.
We see the results in the preparedness of some students
entering our postsecondary
schools. So we’re proud to work
with the Chicago Urban League
to improve the emphasis on
STEM subjects and careers
among local middle schools
students,” said Walter Pryor,
vice president of government
affairs for Schaumburg, Ill.based Career Education Corporation. “More students need to
see that studying science, technology, engineering and math
can lead to interesting and rewarding careers.”
“We are grateful to Career
Education Corporation for their
partnership and for making this
tremendous investment in our
children,” said Andrea L. Zopp,
president and CEO of the Chicago Urban League. “An education curriculum with an emphasis on science, technology,
engineering and math can lead
to a promising career. African
American children are being left
out of their future jobs because
of a lack of exposure to STEM.
We must change this trend and
our NULITES program is one
of the best programs to introduce STEM to young people.
This support from Career Education Corporation builds on
our 95 year tradition of creating educational, economic,
and social opportunities with
the power to transform
people’s lives.”
STEM education will be integrated into the Chicago Urban League’s curriculum for
the National Urban League Incentives To Excel and Succeed
(NULITES) program in January
2012. The NULITES program,
a National Urban League initiative that the Chicago Urban
League has operated since
2007, works with local middle
school students to develop
leadership and academic skills
to ensure success in high
school, a successful transition
into college and ultimately
graduation with a higher education degree.
STEM education and career
exploration will be added to
NULITES activities that include educational seminars,
financial workshops, high
school preparation sessions,
community service projects
and field trips. Since its local
inception, students in the Chicago Urban League’s NULITES
program have consistently
demonstrated increases in
academic performance, leadership and social skills, and high
school preparation. NULITES
programs are currently offered
at Benjamin E. Mays Academy
and Charles S. Deneen and
Elihu Yale Elementary Schools.
In an inspiring demonstration of what lucrative opportunities are available to those
who pursue STEM careers, the
grant announcement featured
several local professionals
who motivated more than 100
students to take advantage of
STEM education. Special presenters at the Mays Academy
assembly included:
•Jason Coleman, an engineer
who is the Executive Director
of Project SYNCERE, an organization that introduces students to
the STEM fields;
•Octavia Hooks, manager of community affairs at the Museum of
Science and Industry;
•Dr. Daniel Johnson, Section
Chief, Academic Pediatrics, Associate Chair for Research, Associate Professor, The University of
Chicago Medical Center;
•Carmen Patton, an executive in research and innovation in the ethnic development division of
L’Oreal; and
•Dr. Karriem S. Watson, Clinical
Research Specialist, Department
of Neurosurgery, University of Illinois Medical Center.
In addition to curriculum and
guest speakers, the Career Education Corporation-supported
NULITES STEM component will
include a variety of hands-on activities that will give students
first-hand exposure to STEM careers. Those opportunities will include visits to the Museum of Science and Industry and Microsoft
offices.
Obama acts to ease
burden of student loans
Special to the NNPA from the Obama in as many days, following
action to aid homeowners and
boost hiring of military veterans.
President Barack Obama is tak- The White House wants to show
ing steps to ease the burden of he is an activist president battling
student loans, the White House a “do-nothing” Congress. The loan
said on Tuesday, potentially help- changes do not require approval
ing millions of cash-strapped col- by Congress.
lege graduates in a tough
Republican lawmakers blocked
economy.
a $447 billion jobs plan put forward
President Obama plans to ac- by President Obama last month
celerate a plan to cap student loan because it raises some taxes.
payments at 10 percent of income,
The White House estimates the
bringing it forward to start in 2012 loan changes could cut monthly
instead of 2014.
payments for 1.6 million graduates.
“Steps like these won’t take Student debt will also be forgiven
the place of the bold action we after 20 years, compared with 25
need from Congress to boost our years under current law.
economy and create jobs, but they
More than 36 million Americans
will make a difference,” he said in have federal student loan debt, but
a statement.
only 450,000 have so far taken adThe loans initiative will be the vantage of the existing incomethird such move by President based repayment program.
President Barack Obama
HUMAITARIAN TRIP — One Hundred Black Men, Inc. of New York City delivered high-tech graphing calculators and other essential electronic school supplies provided by Walmart to students at
École Bon Samaritain (The Good Samaritan School) in Trou Baguette, Haiti. The nine-member
delegation include board member and Regional General Manager and Vice President of Operations
for Walmart New England Paul Busby; Executive Director Steven Board; Board member Rudolph
Combs; member Alain Leroy; HELP Center School Affiliate member Andress Appolon; Board member Mark Smith, representative of École Bon Samaritain; First Vice President Fitzgerald Miller;
Treasurer R. Emanuel Scott, Jr. and members Jessie Wooten and Curtiss Jacobs.
Education
18
AUDREY'S
SOCIETY
WHIRL
By Audrey J. Bernard
Lifestyles & Society Editor
The Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) celebrated 24
years of education advocacy on
Monday, October 24, at the
Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers in New York City at a star-studded awards dinner gala marking
over 2 decades of the advancement of TMCF’s core principle —
Developing Minds... Delivering
Dreams — as the organization
grooms the nation’s future leaders of industry, government and
education.
With over 1500 guests from the
worlds of entertainment, business
and global leadership in attendance, this prestigious annual
gala – which was streamed live
for the first time in its history –
exceeded its financial expectations raising $1.6 million for its
Leadership Institute and $1.5 million for the dinner, bringing the
total to $3.1 million. The donations will aid the nearly 300,000
students attending TMCF’s 47
public HBCUs in their goal of
achieving a higher education.
In 2012, TMCF will celebrate its
milestone silver anniversary. The
upcoming occasion was commemorated with three donors
committing $2.5 million in gifts to
TMCF: Altria, Walmart, Inc. and
MillerCoors.
Hosted by multi award-winning
gospel icon Pastor Shirley Caesar, the gala was attended by an
array of luminaries to honor the
organization’s legacy, such as
Blair Underwood, Cuba Gooding,
Jr., Lynn Whitfield, Carl Lewis,
Rockmond Dunbar, Lamman
Rucker, Melyssa Ford, among
others.
The TMCF 2011 honorees are
visionaries who share a common
thread of distinguished service
and philanthropy. These individuals were recognized for their
singular achievements and indelible impact on the lives of our next
generation of leaders and included:
International humanitarian of
the year award: UN SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon; breaking
barriers award: Russell Simmons,
chairman, Rush Communications;
founders award: John Esposito,
former president and CEO,
Bacardi USA, Inc.; community
leadership award: Rollin L. Ford,
executive vice president and chief
information officer, Walmart Store,
Inc.; corporate leadership award:
Jesse L. Calloway, vice president
and general manager, Tobacco
Processing & Manufacturing,
24th Annual Affair
Over 1500 guests attend Thurgood
Marshall College Fund star-studded gala
The Hershey Staff
Honoree Jesse L. Calloway, TMCF board member Larry
Waters, TMCF president & CEO Johnny C. Taylor, TMCF
board chairman & CEO of Gallup Jim Clifton and honoree John Esposito
Cuba Gooding,Rollin Ford
Blair Underwood, Pastor Shirley Cae- Marsha Ambrosius, Delroy Lindo, Lynn Whitfield, TMCF board member Hardy Dorsey, TMCF
alumni honorees Tommy W. Dortch and Carl
Taimak, Grace Gibson
sar, Rebecca
Turnipseed, actor Rockmond Dunbar
as a gift for attending the dinner.
The stellar program also boasted
enjoyable performances by singer/
songwriter and Grey Goose Rising
Icon Marsha Ambrosius, UN Ambassador Maya Azucena, and Everybody Hates Chris star, actress
and singer Tichina Arnold.
“Our 24th Anniversary Dinner was
a tremendous success, as TMCF
generated an impressive amount in
support of our vital purpose,” remarked Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., president and CEO of TMCF. “We’re
thrilled with the outpouring of donations from individuals and sponsors alike, whose support fuels our
ongoing mission to ensure
underrepresented scholars have
access to a quality education and
Jesse Calloway & family
Mistress of Ceremonies Pastor TMCF board members Noel opportunities. As we prepare for
Hankin and Raquel Oden
Shirley Caesar
our silver anniversary, armed with
renewed purpose and determination, TMCF remains committed to
elevating our talented HBCU
achievers to serve as the nation’s
future leaders of industry, government and education.”
The Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF), named for
the U.S. Supreme Court’s first
African-American justice, was
established in 1987. TMCF supports and represents nearly 300,000
students attending our 47 member
schools, which include public Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs) and Predominantly
Maya Azucena
Tichina Arnold
Dr. N. Joync Payne, honoree John
Russell Simmons
Black Institutions (PBIs). TMCF’s
Esposito, Carl Lewis
work is critical to guaranteeing
Philip Morris, USA; and educa- ley State class of 1972; and Carl roccan Marinated Shrimp with our country a robust and diverse
tional leadership award: Dr. Thelma Turnipseed, Morgan State Uni- Vegetable Israeli Cous Cous and pipeline of talented workers and
Fresh Parsley, Sweet Red and Yel- future leaders.
B. Thompson, former president, versity, class of 1969.
This year’s sponsors included: low Pepper Coulis (appetizer); PaUniversity of Maryland Eastern
TMCF achieves its vision of
The Charmer Sunbelt Group cific Halibut with Pineapple Changing the World … One
Shore.
Another highlight of the es- (chairman sponsor); Gallup and Sambal,1/2 Oven Roaster Parsley Leader at a Time by focusing on:
teemed evening’s festivities in- Miller Coors (president sponsor); New Potatoes, Carrots and Hari- scholarships; capacity building
cluded a tribute to Historically and Altria, AT&T, Coca-Cola, cot Vert, Rustic Dinner Rolls (main and programmatic support; and
Black Colleges and Universities Comcast, Costco, ING, Lowes, course). Dessert was served dur- public policy and advocacy.
(HBCUs). On behalf the TMCF NBA Cares, Walmart, Wells Fargo ing the Post dessert reception in TMCF is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt
Alumni Association and its presi- and the U. S. Army Cadet Com- the New York Ballroom. All wines charitable organization and has
were provided by Moet Hennessy a “Four Star” rating by Charity
dent Hardy K. Dorsey, two distin- mand (partner sponsors).
During the delightfully reward- USA and The Hershey Company Navigator.
guished HBCU alumni were honored: Tommy W. Dortch, Fort Val- ing evening guests dined on Mo- gifted each attendee with a KISS (Photos by Ronnie Wright)
By Ashahed M. Muhammad
heard by thousands nationwide via
Assistant Editor
USTREAM. Photo: Timothy 6X
Special to the NNPA from the The Minister described how on
Final Call
Sept. 17, 1985, he experienced something that would forever alter the
(FinalCall.co) - In his first ma- course of his life, forever linking him
jor national interview since the and Col. Gadhafi together. While in
death of Libyan leader Muammar the small Mexican village called
Gadhafi, the Honorable Minister Tepoztlan, Minister Farrakhan deLouis Farrakhan sat with promi- scribed how during the night while
nent radio personality Cliff Kelley sleeping, he was transported to a
for an in-studio interview at large mechanical aircraft. ComWVON 1690AM.
monly called Unidentified Flying
Minister Farrakhan entered the Objects, in the Nation of Islam,
studio October 25 with a focused these mechanical aircraft are reand extremely serious look on his ferred to as wheels, or baby planes,
face as Mr. Kelley asked him how and they all emanate from the
he was feeling.
Mother Plane or Mother Wheel—a
“I feel like I have lost a very, human-built planet measuring a
very important member of my own half-mile by a half-mile.
family. I can’t take the assassiWhile there, the Minister heard
nation of Muammar Gadhafi the voice of his teacher, the Honorlightly, as I could not take the able Elijah Muhammad, and reassassination of my brother, or ceived guidance.
my mother, or my wife or my chil“I have described this over and
dren lightly. That’s the kind of over again to those who believe,
relationship that we had and that and of course, those who disbewe have,” Min. Farrakhan relieve. But a Scroll rolled down with
sponded. “I come to say to the cursive writing on it. And as I beworld that the Nation of Islam gan to get closer to it to read it, I
mourns the loss of a great brother, heard the voice of the Honorable
leader, the Lion of the Desert, the Elijah Muhammad as hopefully you
Lion of Africa, and those who are hearing my voice right now. He
rejoice at his death, your laugh- told me that: ‘The president has met
ter will turn to tears and your joy with his joint chiefs of staff to plan
will turn to sorrow and great pain a war,’ and he wanted me to make
because of what the Western known the president’s plans. And
world and those collaborators he said, ‘Tell them that you got it
will lose as a result of his betrayal from me, Elijah Muhammad, on The
and his ultimate assassination.” Wheel,’” Minister Farrakhan reA full media contingent was counted.
present for the interview and
The Minister said later, while in
thousands viewed live via the West African country of Ghana
internet webcast as Minister during a world tour in 1986, it beFarrakhan described his close came clear that war was planned
relationship with Col. Gadhafi. against the North African nation of
The Minister said his relationship Libya. The Minister sent his family
began with Col. Gadhafi in the late back to the United States and trav‘70s during the time of his work eled immediately to Tripoli to warn
to rebuild the Nation of Islam af- Col. Gadhafi. After doing so, the
ter the departure of the Honor- Minister left Libya to return to the
able Elijah Muhammad. In fact, U.S.
the relationship between the Na“Before I could leave Libya, an
tion of Libya and the Nation of American jet was shot down and
Islam goes back even further to the war, it looked like, was going to
1971 when the Hon. Elijah start. But I was blessed to get out;
Muhammad obtained a loan from and while I was in Saudi Arabia,
the Libyan leader to purchase America bombed Benghazi, Tripoli,
what is now the international his home—the communications
headquarters of the Nation of Is- center,” said Min. Farrakhan. “His
lam. A full media contingent was life was spared, and I knew then that
present for the nearly two-hour God had made a brother for me, and
interview, which was seen and made me a brother to him. And
that’s how our relationship began.” It took 25 years for current U.S. President Barack H.
Obama to fulfill what was started
under the president at that time—
Ronald W. Reagan. The bombing
of Libya in 1986 was considered
the most expensive assassination
attempt ever, until this most recent assassination attempt, which
began in February of this year, he
said. Something has been set in
motion that will ultimately bring
about the end of the United Nations and again, the Minister lamented, “Your joy—I hate to
say—your joy will be short lived,
for what you have done, America,
England, France, Italy, Canada,”
he added.
“You succeeded in being the
author of the assassination of a
sitting president, or ruler of his
country. Well, what are the consequences of such an act? None
War that is on the horizon and in
killing Muammar Gadhafi, you
have upset revolutionaries
throughout the world, and American interests are in danger, now,
because the spirit that is in the
world that loved him will be to do
harm to American interests.
“Well, is that your spirit, Minister
Farrakhan?” he asked rhetorically.
“I don’t need weapons. The
weapon that I have is the tongue
that God gave me, and The Word
that He gave me to speak and The
Warning that He gave me to give
America and the world. No, I don’t
have that in my heart. But the scripture is very clear: ‘Vengeance is
Mine, sayeth the Lord’—and you
are about to reap all that you have
sown—and then some!” Again
drawing from his teacher, the Minister said following the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy,
Minister Louis Farrakhan
of us can trust the United Nations
again because it is a pawn of the
Western world. No nation that had
weapons of mass destruction
would dare give them up as
Muammar Gadhafi gave up his!”
The Minister said Pakistan, and
North Korea will keep their
WMDs and other nations without them will seek to obtain them
as the only means of protecting
their sovereign nations against
the rapacious greed of the warmongering Western powers.
“You have earned, now, a Great
the Honorable Elijah Muhammad
said “there is no king, no ruler, no
prophet who enjoys 100 percent
the love of his people.”
“That
has never happened in these 6,000
years and it certainly is not so in
America, and it was not so in
Libya. I never lived in Libya, so I
don’t, like the Libyans, know
Libya; but I know something of
the good of Muammar Gadhafi
that made me to love him as a
brother, and to feel a great sense
of loss at his assassination,” he
said. The Minister then read the
reported will written by Col. Gadhafi
said to be written less than a week
before his death. It had been reported that Col. Gadhafi said he
would be martyred in Libya, and that
he wanted to die where he fought.
“He was killed in a military uniform,” said Min. Farrakhan.
“Gadhafi died in honor, fighting for
the Libya that he believed in! They
would never have won if NATO was
not bombing day in and day out!”
He then drew attention to the photos of Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton, shaking hands with Col.
Gadhafi’s son Mutassim—Libya’s
National Security Advisor—approximately a year and a half ago.
Mutassim was also reportedly killed
on Oct. 20. This shows that an
avowed enemy should be watched,
and that others in leadership should
be watched for signs of betrayal he
said as he turned to members of the
Nation of Islam inside the studio.
Our enemy, and receiving a pat on
the back from your enemy, should
never lull you to sleep (thinking) that
the enemy has changed!” said Minister Farrakhan, his voice reaching
a crescendo.
“The enemy is the enemy and
when you fall on that knowledge
that is when the enemy will take us
out! The betrayals of his inner
circle— don’t think that that is overseas—that is in our own house!
And we, today, need to watch for
those close around for signs of betrayal, because it is written in the
scriptures of the Bible that in the
Last Days, perilous times will come.
And betrayal will be one of the marks
of the end of the world because
people will feel that they’ll be safer
betraying a good cause—a just
cause—to save their lives.”
The Minister had sharp words for
Pres. Obama and Secy. Clinton, as
he exposed the backstabbing skullduggery of international leaders. He
said the war profiteers will be moving into Libya to rebuild the infrastructure that they were responsible
for destroying. He also criticized
the Obama administration’s use of
extrajudicial assassinations using
Special Forces and Unmanned
Aerial Vehicles, referred to as
drones. For example, Osama bin
Laden was captured without a
How Black is Herman Cain?
By Harry C. Alford
A lot of people are quick to
disclaim presidential candidate
Herman Cain as a natural Black
or African American simply because of his conservative, probusiness views. It really puzzles
me how people think political
persuasion identifies your race.
The founder of the Republican
Party, Frederick Douglas, was indeed Black. The “Father of Black
Economic Empowerment”,
Booker T. Washington, was also
very much Black. Republican
President Richard M. Nixon got
38% of the Black vote –yes, they
were really Black. Let’s take a
good look at Herman Cain and
determine if there is anything to
dispel his Black appearance.
Mr. Cain was born in Memphis,
Tennessee on December 13, 1945.
These were serious Jim Crow times
in a very segregated South. His
mother was a cleaning woman and
domestic worker – just like my
mother. His father was born on a
farm and worked as a barber, janitor and as a chauffeur. These were
humble Black roots for Mr. Cain but
they were also proud roots. His
forefathers were slaves – just like
mine.
His family (parents and brother)
soon moved to Atlanta and settled
initially in The Bluff area. His
father’s proudest moment came
when he and his wife saved enough
money to buy their first home in
Collier Heights. Herman grew up
in the Black side of Atlanta never
doubting his blackness and pure
African American roots. He
graduated from Archer public
school in 1963 and proudly began his matriculation through
Morehouse College. He graduated from this Black institution in
1968. He soon married his wife
Gloria who recently graduated
from another renown Black institution, Morris Brown College.
Her career includes being a
teacher and librarian.
His family (wife, son and
daughter) have lived a productive life in Atlanta and never forgetting that they are indeed descendents of the African American experience in America, replete
with slavery, struggle, discrimina-
tion and obstacles not sustained
by any other people on earth.
They know it but still they rise!
Much of their strength is gathered
in their membership in Antioch
Baptist Church right there in inner city Atlanta. Mrs. Cain sings
in the choir while Herman is one
of the associate ministers. He has
been a member of the church since
he was ten years old. Antioch is
part of the National Baptist Convention, USA. It doesn’t get any
blacker than that.
His bachelor ’s degree at
Morehouse was in mathematics
and he began his career as a ballistics analyst for the U.S. Department of Navy (civilian GS schedule). While working there he went
through a graduate program in
computer science at Purdue University and received his master’s
degree. He then leveraged his
master’s degree to begin his corporate career starting with The
Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta as
a computer systems analyst. Ironically, one of the chauffeur jobs his
father had was for the President of
Coca Cola – only in America!
His other corporate experience
would be of many accomplishments
with Pillsbury where he had key
management positions with their
Burger King subsidiary and then
with its Godfather’s Pizza subsidiary. It was here where he began
his notoriety as his successes at
both places became legendary.
19
Farrakhan: U.S. role in Libya’s Gaddafi’s fall,
and overseas meddling leading to fall of nation
20
Beacon On The Scene
Healthfirst ribbon-cutting ceremony
celebrates opening of new Corp HQ
GRAND OPENING RIBBON-CUTTING - (L-R) Congressman Charles Rangel, Congressman Jerrold Nadler, NYS Assemblyman “Speaker” Sheldon Silver and Pat Wang
(Healthfirst President & CEO) do the honors of cutting the ribbon. (Back Row) Dr. Mathieu Eugene, NYS Assemblywoman Grace Meng, Brooklyn Borough President Marty
Markowitz, NYS Senator Malcolm Smith and Congresswoman Yvette Clarke enthusiastically looks on.
(Photo: Ronnie Wright)
Healthfirst, a not-forprofit managed care organization offering low or
no-cost health insurance
to eligible individuals and
families living in the New
Yo r k m e t r o p o l i t a n a r e a
a n d N e w J e r s e y, c e l ebrated the opening of its
new corporate headquarters at 100 Church Street
in Lower Manhattan with
a ribbon-cutting ceremony, on Monday, November 7, 2011.
The special ceremony
marked the consolidation
of the organization’s two
N e w Yo r k - b a s e d c o r p o rate offices at 25 Broadw a y a n d 1 2 3 Wi l l i a m
Street into one central location. Healthfirst new
headquarters occupies
172,000 square feet over
four floors joined by a dra-
matic interior glass staircase. The space is designed with an open floor
plan featuring low partition
heights to let in the natural sunlight and foster employee collaboration.
The new offices have
also earned a certified gold
rating from the Leadership
in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)
green building rating system, developed and administered by the U.S. Green
Building Council.
“The transition to our
new corporate headquarters marks a milestone for
Healthfirst as we begin a
new era in this modernized
space after a three-year
long search. We look forward to continuing our
presence in the heart of
the business district of
Lower Manhattan with
new offices conducive to
staff growth and future
expansion,” said Pat
Wang, Healthfirst President and CEO.
Local politicians who
attended the ceremony included,
Congressman
Charles Rangel, Comptroller John Liu, “Speaker”
Sheldon Silver, Manhattan
Borough President Scott
St r i n g e r, B r o o k l y n B o rough President Marty
Markowitz, Senator Daniel
Squadron (D-NY25), Senator
Eric Adams (D-NY20),
Congresswoman Carolyn
Maloney (D-NY14), Congresswoman Yvette Clarke
(D-NY11), Congressman
Jerrold Nadler (D-NY8),
Congressman Edolphus
“ E d ” To w n s ( D - N Y 1 0 ) ,
New York State Assembly-
woman Grace Meng (DNY 22), Councilwoman
Margaret Chin (D-NY1),
Councilwoman Dorothy
Goosby (D-Hempstead
District 1), Councilman
James Sanders, Jr. (D-NY
31) and many other invited
guests.
“We were so delighted
and overwhelmed by the
huge turnout we received
from our elected officials,
healthcare providers, community partners, and other
supporters.
It was very gratifying to
have so many people help
christen our new home and
show their support for our
mission
to
provide
healthcare services to
those who need it most,”
said George Hulse, Healthfirst Vice president of External Affairs.
About Healthfirst
Established in 1993,
Healthfirst provides a variety of government-sponsored health insurance programs, including New York
State’s Child Health Plus,
Family Health Plus, and
Medicaid, as well as Medicare Advantage.
The Healthfirst family
of companies includes
H e a l t h f i r s t i n N e w Yo r k ,
Healthfirst NJ in New Jersey, and Senior Health Partners (SHP), a managed long
term care plan serving Medicaid-eligible clients in New
York City. For more information, visit the company’s
websites at:
w w w. h e a l t h f i r s t . o rg a n d
w w w. h e a l t h f i r s t n j . o rg .
(D.T.)
21
22 NEW YORK FASHION WEEK FASHION FLASHBACKS with Fashion & Beauty Editor Audrey J. Bernard
Harlem’s Fashion Row 2011 Beautifully
Out of Place presentation was awesome!
Themed Beautifully Out of Place, the Spring 2012 collections of Joseph Bethune (Bethune Bros.), Kellia
Rogers (Kebero), Jakia Handy (Ingram Talley) and Onyenauchea Nwabuzor (Ana Kata) were awesome!
The show was held at The Allen Room in Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, Broadway
at 60th Street, New York City on Friday, September 16, 2011. Target sponsored a pre-cocktail event honoring Tyson Beckford, June Ambrose and Donna Williams followed by the private press fashion presentation sponsored by Target, Centric, Ginger+Liz colour collection, par 7 and Jones. (Photos : gastrochic.com)
Target honorees, presenters and staff at cocktail reception
Forever 21 not just for the twentysomethings . . .
D u r i n g t h e 2 0 11 F a s h i o n
Night Out, fashionistas
flocked to Herald Square’s
Forever 21 which has taken
Big Apple style conscious and
trend-savvy shoppers by
storm! The youth-flavored
store has quickly become the
source for the most current
fashions at the greatest value.
And it’s not just for the twenty
set. I stopped into the Herald
S q u a re St o re b e f o re t h e
crowds took over and was able
to take photos of some of the
exciting creative clothing designs and the accessories to
make the designs pop – all at
affordable prices! Forever 21
has become a New York staple.
Happy 97 Birthday
An intimate evening with Hal Jackson
and friends at NYC’s Battery Gardens
Hal Jackson and his lovely wife Debi Jackson surrounded by well-wishers pose with his 97th Two living legends Hal Jackson and Stevie Wonder in conversation
birthday cake. The dynamitic duo co-host “Sunday Classics,” which airs on WBLS 107.5FM.
A magical evening of wining, dining and dancing was experienced by all in attendance at WBLS’ “Sunday Classics” host and broadcast legend, Hal Jackson’s, 97th
birthday celebration held at the tony Battery Gardens in Manhattan. Jackson was lifted up in song by a bevy of recording artists including Gerald Alston, Ted
“Wizard” Mills, Melba Moore, Meli’sa Morgan, Valerie Simpson, Alyson Williams, Sherry Winston and Stevie Wonder, who delivered a impromptu mini-concert,
which he closed with everyone belting out HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR HAL backed by WBLS radio personality Jeff Foxx and his band. (Photos: Debi Jackson)
(L-R) Recording artists Ted “Wizard” Mills, Meli’sa Morgan, Melba Moore, Gerald Alston, Valerie Simpson and Stevie Wonder, along with well-wishers belt out the “Birthday
Song” for Hal Jackson
Entertainment Special
23
CATWALKIN’ with Fashion & Beauty Editor Audrey J. Bernard
24
Custo Barcelona 2012 S/S
presents a Tripolar collection
Designer Custo Dalmau
CUSTO BARCELONA Spring/
Summer 2012 collection at the
Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week in Lincoln Center
was named Tripolar and presented in three parts. Dual
was a casual look that was suitable for both sexes and featured contemporary graphics
on shorts, blazers in greys,
beiges, blues, khakis and
blacks in an array of textures
including linen, cotton and
silk and synthetic fabrics.
Kaleidoscopio featured tightfitting and elastic dresses,
swimwear and jackets in attention commanding tones of
beige, brown, ochre, coral pink,
turquoise and acid green.
Lastly, Mirame was for the
night replete with 3-D garments in purple, turquoise,
pink, orange and grey in silk
and linen combined with nylon, acetate rayon and manual
applications to achieve 3-D effects. Adding to the lure of the
night collection was the shiny
— gold, silver and copper —
textures.
(from page 6)
of Moammar Gadhafi’s 42-yearold regime. Hundreds of other
Tuareg fighters have gone home
to Chad and Niger.
Many Tuaregs are furious
about how Gadhafi was captured
and killed. Mosques in Tuareg
towns across the Sahel dedicated
last Friday’s prayers to the
memory of the slain Libyan
leader, who used some of Libya’s
oil wealth to build mosques and
religious schools across the region
and who glorified the tribes’ nomadic lifestyle.
A Western diplomat said
Wednesday that he has information
suggesting al-Senoussi crossed
into northern Mali this week,
though he cautioned that “a man
like this could create false leads for
people to follow.” A Tuareg source
said al-Senoussi was in northwest Mali on Monday.
On Oct. 28, a Tuareg leader said
Gadhafi was nearing the Mali border and could cross into the country that night. These sources
spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of
the subject.
That same day, ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said
he was in indirect negotiations
widespread bias continues
(from page 8)
day of the year, African-Americans have the opportunity to be
better stewards of the purchasing power we hold in our own
hands. We can and should use
our economic clout to forge new
awareness and respect for our
economic strength. Moreover,
that strength would best be
shared with those that value our
choices in every purchase or investment.
If lenders are reluctant to offer transparent transactions that inform us before a debt
is incurred, we need to walk away
with our money, our credit and our
self-respect. Whether the product
is a new credit or debit card, auto
financing, or a mortgage, we must
remember that loyalty in business
should be earned – not given
away. No one has or ever will beg
their way out of poverty. But by
becoming wiser consumers, we
can begin to carve our own path
to prosperity.
Charlene Crowell is a communications manager with the Center for Responsible Lending. She
can be reached at:
[email protected]
Botswana: A well kept secret
(from page 8)
vate investment and technical
assistance resources for the growing businesses. The Bank of
Botswana suggested that we establish a Holding Company made
up of firms wishing to do business in Botswana and listing the
company on the Botswana Stock
Exchange. We are making plans
for that.
The Chamber of Commerce of
Botswana, BOCCIM, opened its
arms to us and we are now working
on a Memorandum of Understanding. Our entrepreneurs and theirs
will have a living process of interaction, joint venturing and doing
business in both nations from here
on out. Together we will grow from
this. Before we left, one of our par-
ticipants had already established
a joint venture with one of
BOCCIM’s members. Let it be
known, that if you want to do international business COME TO
BOTSWANA.
Mr. Alford is the co-founder,
President/CEO of the National
Black Chamber of Commerce®.
Website: www.nationalbcc.org.
Email: [email protected].
Stop the violence against women
(from page 8)
each year. Delta can use the pain violence against women.
Dr. Julianne Malveaux is
violated in the Dallas-Fort Worth of these rapes to lead the nation in
area, and more than 200,000 drawing a line in the sand. Enough president of Bennett College for
people are violated in our nation is enough. It is time to stop the Women in Greensboro, NC.
with Gadhafi about his possible
surrender for trial. Libyan officials
then announced that they want
Gadhafi.
“We want to try Seif al-Islam in
Libya,” said military spokesman
Col. Ahmed Bani. “He committed
his crimes here in Libya. He committed murder. He is our enemy.”
Since then, nothing has been
heard of Gadhafi.
The ICC has asked all countries
to refuse over-flight rights to
Gadhafi but the Sahara is dotted
with remote landing strips used
regularly by smugglers.
Gadhafi himself never spoke of
leaving his homeland.
“We have Plan A, Plan B, Plan
C. Plan A is to live and die in Libya.
Plan B is to live and die in Libya.
African Americans as vital
third leg in Haiti’s development
(from page 12)
opportunity to utilize the ties that
bind people of African descent in
the U.S. to Haiti as a bond that
could yield substantial dividends.
HSP is determined that this opportunity not be lost. January 17-21,
2012, we will lead yet another Pilgrimage Delegation to Haiti to
underline the importance of cultural-historical tourism and socially responsible investment.
And, the Pilgrimage of Hope
Humanitarian Cruise originally
scheduled for this year that was
postponed due the Cholera epi-
(from page 2)
People with Developmental Disabilities that offers certain services and support for individuals with ASD, most of which are
Medicaid-funded and provided in
conjunction with an individualized service plan.
Senate Majority Leader Dean
G. Skelos said, “Thousands of
families throughout the state are
facing critical choices between
providing quality care for children and adults with autism or
jeopardizing their finances. This
bill will give them access to the
tools that have been proven to
make a difference in the life of an
individual with autism. I thank
Senator Fuschillo and Senator
McDonald for their leadership,
and commend the Governor for
partnering with us to get this
done.”
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said, “A government that
steps up to ensure a brighter fu-
ture for vulnerable children and
adults – especially in difficult times
such as these – is a government
with its priorities in order. I thank
the Governor for standing up for
those afflicted with Autism Spectrum Disorders and for their families who are striving to give them
the best care possible; and to my
colleague, Assemblyman Joe
Morelle, for his leadership and his
tireless efforts to help make today
possible.”
Senator Charles J. Fuschillo, Jr.
said, “Today is a great day for individuals with autism. For years, families have fought for access to treatment coverage for their loved ones.
This new law will afford individuals with autism the opportunity to
receive treatments and therapies
they need without being forced to
spend tens of thousands of dollars
out of pocket every year. I thank
Governor Cuomo for signing this
law which will dramatically improve
the lives of every New York family
affected by autism.”
Senator Roy J. McDonald said,
“Autism is quickly erupting into
epidemic levels with diagnosis
rates climbing at an astonishing
level, this is a mental health issue
that is going to get much worse
before it gets better and this legislation helps real people and their
families. I want to thank Governor Cuomo for his leadership and
support of this bill, along with my
colleagues in the Senate and Assembly who sponsored this legislation.”
Assemblyman Joseph Morelle
said, “With Governor Cuomo’s
signature today, families will no
longer have to decide between
affording health care for one
child or college education for another. New York has proven with
this law that we remain a state that
looks out for everyone, especially those who face hardship
through no fault of their own. I
thank the Governor for his leadership and attention to this issue,
and I commend my colleagues in
the legislature for passing this
important bill.”
Nigerian sect kills a soldier on duty
(from page 13)
robes and opened fire, hitting
Mohammed said a sus- the soldier in his chest and head.
No arrest had been made in
pected member of the Boko
the
killing Thursday.
Haram
sect
pulled
a
Boko
Haram has claimed reKalashnikov rifle from his
sponsibility for a string of assassinations and bombings in
northern Nigeria in its campaign to implement strict
Shariah law in Africa’s most
populous nation.
demic is now slated for 2013. We
hope somebody is listening and taking notice. Africans in America can
be the vital “third leg” in Haiti’s development!
Dr. Ron Daniels is president of
the Institute of the Black World 21st
Century and Distinguished Lecturer at York College City University of New York. His articles and
essays also appear on the IBW
website www.ibw21.org and
www.northstarnews.com . To send
a message, arrange media interviews or speaking engagements, Dr.
Daniels can be reached via email
at [email protected] .
Mayor unveils initiative
to help small businesses
(from page 2)
Cuomo signs law expanding health care treatment
Plan C is to live and die in Libya,” he
told CNN Turk after rebels took the
Libyan city of Benghazi in February.
After the rebels stormed into Tripoli on Aug. 21, they announced
that they had captured Seif al-Islam.
But he turned up in the middle of
the night two days later at the luxury
Rixos Hotel where journalists were
confined, flashing a big smile and a
V-for victory sign. Appearing confident and defiant, he got into a white
limousine escorted by armored
SUVs and took reporters on a tour
of “the hottest spots in Tripoli.”
That’s the last time he was seen
in public — wearing a full beard in
place of his usual designer stubble
and dressed in camouflage trousers
and a green T-shirt.
times. “We unveiled a package of
initiatives to support neighborhood retailing corridors,” he
added
Mayor Bloomberg’s new initiative includes a training program
for local economic development
leaders to sharpen their skills in
promoting and strengthening
their retail districts.
“We will work with community
organizations to determine the retail needs of their neighborhoods
and then to attract the kinds of
businesses that are currently lacking,” said Bloomberg.
“We will also create a competition to fill temporarily vacant spaces
around the city with ‘pop-up
stores,’ which are a great way for
generating buzz for neighborhoods
and bringing in more shoppers,”
“And we will set up a new online
portal for the retail industry, which
will contain a database of vacant
properties, marketing and demographic information about neighborhoods, and a list of the city’s
programs to help retailers,” he
added.
Sen. Perkins unveils website
to help unemployed find work
(from page 2)
Job Bank has 42,370 job openings, including 22,684 in New York
City.
“This website will save job seekers time and aggravation in a process that can be a long and painful one. Creating such an innovative and useful tool to put New
Yorkers back to work is a step in
the right direction for Governor
Cuomo and New York State,”
Senator Perkins concluded.
For further employment resources, there are 88 public OneStop Career Centers across New
York – including one at 215 West
125th Street – where job seekers can
go for additional free
services.
To find the closest Career Center
to you, check out http://
www.labor.ny.gov/
workforcenypartners/osview.asp
and http://www.nyc.gov/html/sbs/
wf1/html/contact/
contact.shtml
For job listing in New York City,
please
visit
http://
w w w. l a b o r. n y. g o v / j o b s /
regional.shtm.
For more information about services offered by New York State for
job seekers,
visit www.labor.ny.gov.
25
Gadhafi son Seif al-Islam said to be in vast Sahara
26
WHAT’S GOING ON
By Victoria Horsford
THE U.S. WEEK IN REVIEW
The week opened with a 11/6 NY
Times Magazine cover story “SO,
IS OBAMA TOAST?: The 2012
Forecast” by Nate Silver, which I
found unimaginative. It is a rather
dull metrics study based on projected Obama approval ratings;
GDP and manipulations of historical records and how he will compare with Messrs Romney and
Perry, everyone but Herman Cain,
the GOP frontrunner as of 11/8.
“Is Obama Toast” incensed
Obama’s 2012 campaign manager,
who used it to make an internet
donation pitch.
Former President Bill Clinton says
about his new book, BACK TO
WORK, “I am trying to help
Obama; but he seems to have lost
his narrative” Clinton uses the
book says one reviewer to attack
the Tea Party agenda re: reduced
government. He takes President
and Congressional Democrats to
task for their inability to articulate
their work and accomplishments.
He rails against the Dems inability to raise the debt ceiling when
they had a majority in both houses.
He references how confused the
President emerged after the budget 2011 summer budget negotiations with the GOP. At 196 pages,
BACK TO WORK sounds like an
accessible read.
On Herman Cain, I think his 15
minutes of fame is about to expire.
Before his metaphorical demise, I
recommend NY Times 11/4 Op-ed
piece DON’T CALL HERMAN A
MONSTER, by Charles Blow
which is as good an analysis as
any about what Cain symbolizes
for the GOP. Now that contestant/
woman #4 has gone public on 11/
7, about his alleged sexual misconduct, his poll numbers are traveling south like his false candidacy.
JOB OPS
Congressman Charles Rangel invites job hunters to the Rangel
Career Fair at CCNY
The Great Hall of Shepard Hall on
West 138 Street and Convent Avenue on Monday November 14,
from 10 am to 3 pm. Participating
employers are Microsoft, Walmart,
MTA, CBS, NY Life Insurance,
NYS Police, Hertz, Delta Airlines,
Estee Lauder, JP Morgan, AMC,
US Peace Corps. Come dressed for
job interview. Bring resumes
For more info, call 212.663.3900.
Visit rangel.house.gov or
facebook: cbrangel.
PEOPLE IN THE NEWS
Congrats to New Yorker Sheryl
Salomon, who was named Editor
in chief, theroot.com. She is succeeds veteran Haiti-born journalist/author Joel Dreyfuss, who relocates to Paris where he will write
family memoir and its interface
with Haitian history
PEOPLE IN THE NEWS
African American radio broadcast
pioneer Hal Jackson and impresa-
rio extraordinaire Hal Jackson was
feted by friends and celebrities
alike last week on the occasion of
his 97th birthday anniversary and
his 72 year in broadcasting. His
wife and WBLS co-host, Debi reports that Meli’sa Morgan, Ted
Wizard Mills, Melba Moore were
among the entertainers who performed at Battery Gardens in NY.
See the October Black Enterprise
Magazine cover story “Breaking
Through Walls” about the 75 Most
Powerful Blacks on Wall Street, a
subject not covered by BE since
2006. Story introduction states.
Former stalwarts were acquired for
pennies on the dollar, widespread
layoffs ensued and the market indices have yet to return to their
highs of 2007.” The usual suspects are still afloat like Bernard
Beal of M.R. Beal & Co; Ronald
Blaylock, Founder & Managing
Partner, GenNx360 Capital Partners, Alphonse “Buddy” Fletcher
Jr, Christopher Williams, Williams
Capital Group and James
Reynolds,Jr. CEO, Loop Capital
Markets.
However, John
Utendahl, no longer has his
eponymous company; he is Vice
Chairman Deutsche Bank Americas.
Supermodel, uber business
woman Tyra Banks new book
MODELLAND, her first work of
fiction is a five-year labor of love,
a story which reads like a roman a
clef about Tyra as a teen. Protagonist is a 15 year-old Tookie De La
Crème, whose life is transformed
when she successfully enters the
mad, infectious world of international modeling. MODELLAND, is
the first in a trilogy and is being
marketed to young adult readers,
age 12 and up.
REST IN PEACE: Joe Frazier, 67,
former heavyweight boxer who
battled
with
gladiators
Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, died after losing his battle
with liver cancer, a recently diagnosed illness. Known as Smokin’
Joe, Frazier had a fierce left hook.
Retired WCBS-TV newsman, Vic
Miles, 79, died last month. Miles
worked for Channel 2 for 28 years
as an anchorman and reporter best
known for his “Our Block” neighborhood reports.
Claudia Mae Bryant, 93 of Trenton, NJ, died on November 7. She
is the mother of Dr. Alvin Bryant,
Dr. Willie Bryant, Claude Bryant,
Dr. Wilbert Bryant, Sylvester
Bryant and Brenda Bryant. Funeral
services will be held in NJ next
week; and her interment will be in
Orlando, Florida.
AUTUMN CALENDAR
The Audelco ritual is a cross between the Oscars and the Tonys,
which rivals any opening night,
red carpet gala. It is glitterati
night! The 39th Annual Vivian
Robinson Audelco Recognition
Awards for Excellence in Black
Theatre will be held on Monday,
November 14 at the Harlem Stage/
Aaron Davis Hall on the CCNY
campus at 133 Street at Convent
Avenue, at 6:30 pm. The night, electric with excitement, is a show of
lights, action, paparazzi cameras,
glamour and filled with eager anticipation. Broadway and Off
Broadway theatre are part of the
Hal Jackson
Cheryl Wills
Bernard Beal
Audelco nomination mix. Plays
such as “It Ain’t Nothin’ But The
Blues;” “Knock Me A Kiss;”
“Doo Wop Love;” “By The Way,
Meet Vera Stark;” “Tearing Down
The Walls,” “Antony and
Cleopatra;” “Henry V,” and “The
Shaneequa Chronicles” compete
in awards categories like best
drama, best actress, best actor,
Sheryl Huggins Salomons
best director, best producer. Actors come out of the woodwork to
attend this annual rite.
NY1 anchor Cheryl Wills and Fine
artist cum philanthropist Danny
Simmons will co-host. Ms. Grace
Jones is Audelco president.
Audelco co-chairs are theatre
denizens, LaTanya Richardson
Jackson and Samuel Jackson and
Hattie Winston and Harold Wheeler.
Tickets price points are $35, $75,
$150. Call 212.368.6906 or visit
audelco.net for complete list of nominees and production companies.
Margaret Troupe’s HARLEM ARTS
SALON in collaboration with Coffee House Press, hosts a book release party for Victor Hernandez
Cruz’s “In The Shadow of Al
Andalus,” a collection of poetry, on
Sunday, November 13, 2:30 to 5:30
pm, at Margaret and Quincy’s home
at 1925 Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard, Suite 7L, Harlem. Book explores the relationship of Arab artistic influences in Spain, Puerto
Rico and North Africa. Call
212.749.7771
or
visit
harlemartssalon.com.
Visit the CEMOTAP CENTER, located at 135-05 Rockaway Boulevard, South Ozone Park, Queens, NY
on 11/12 at 2 pm, for an update on
CEMOTAP talks with WABC-TV
management re: a suitable replacement host for Gil Noble’s public affairs show Like It Is. James McIntosh, MD, Bernard White, Larry
Hamm, Councilman Charles Barron
and Lisa Noble, Gil’s daughter. Admission is free. Call 718.322.8454.
The Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium, producers of the annual CBJ
Festival , celebrates its 12th Anniversary on November 16 at Sugar Hill
Club, 609 DeKalb Avenue, near
Nostrand Avenue in Brooklyn.
Event features music of Ahmed
Abduallan’s Diaspora and will include and award presentation to
The Noel Pointer Foundation. For
more info, call 718 4687.1527.
The one man tour de force theatre
piece, unFRAMED, Portrait of A
Man In Progress, is written and performed by Iyaba Ibo Mandingo, an
Antigua-born poet, visual artist and
performance artist, returns to the NY
stage for two days next week, November 17 and 20 at 80 St. Marks
Place, near First Avenue, Manhattan. UnFRAMED is Mandingo’s
odyssey from Antigua to NY and
beyond, from puberty to adolescence to manhood, a highly original
plot twists and turns trip, mesmerizing and bizarre. A multi-tasker,
Mandingo paints while he narrates
his colorful unFRAMED life to the
audience. Tickets are $20. For more
info,
visit
www.unframedtheplay.com.
The Neighborhood Technical Assistance Clinic presents CHAMPIONS
FOR
BEDFORD
STUYVESANT, at the Victoria
Mansion, 247 Hancock Street,
Brooklyn, NY, on December 1, from
6-9 pm. The 2011 Champions For
BedStuy, who will be honored are
Seth Edwards, JP Morgan VP Community Relations; Ralph Bumbaca,
TD Bank SVP; and Marilyn Gelber,
Brooklyn Community Foundation
Executive Director. . Founded by
Valerie Oliver Durrah, Brooklyn’s
pre-eminent social entrepreneur, the
NTAC is a nonprofit, which effectively connects dots, matching philanthropic groups with their outreach to and support of community
and faith based programs. Event
tickets are $75, $100 and $300. For
full calendar of events, visit
www.neighborhoodclinic.org or call
718.455.3784
NNPA Award Winner
27
By Don Thomas
Lending Their Voices
Morgan Freeman and bevy of stars in St. Jude
Thanks and Giving campaign this holiday season
helping raise awareness and
funds for St. Jude, one of the
world’s premier centers for the research and treatment of pediatric
cancer and other deadly childhood diseases.
Heartwarming national television spots for the campaign will
air featuring each celebrity paired
with the biggest stars of all - St.
Jude patients. The spots will air
across broadcast and cable networks in English and Spanish and
online. The celebrities are also
featured in a movie trailer that will
appear on screens nationwide at
theatre industry giants including
Regal Entertainment Group, AMC
Entertainment, Cinemark and
Carmike Cinemas as well as many
others.
In addition, the trailer will be
Freeman, who appears alongside
St. Jude patients Mia and Camryn
in one of this year’s television
spots.
Created by Marlo Thomas and
her siblings Terre and Tony Thomas, the campaign brings together
celebrities, media and corporations to ask shoppers to “Give
thanks for the healthy kids in your
life and give to those who are
not.”
“Fifty years ago my father,
Danny Thomas, went to the entertainment industry to help him
found St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital,” said Marlo Thomas, national outreach director for
St. Jude. “It means so much to the
Thomas family that the new generation of entertainment has also
taken the St. Jude families to their
The late Danny Thomas
Founder
For 50 years, the entertainment industry has embraced the
lifesaving mission of St. Jude
Children’s Research Hospital .
when Danny Thomas set out to
build the hospital in 1962, some
of the biggest stars of that era
such as Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Elvis Presley, Sammy Davis
Jr., Dinah Shore and Jack Benny
donated their time and talents to
help raise awareness and funds
for St. Jude.
Today, that tradition continues with celebrities from film, television, music and sports all donating their time, talents and support to the 2011 St. Jude Thanks
and Giving campaign. Starting
this November, Jennifer Aniston,
Robin Williams, Morgan Freeman, George Lopez, Shaun White,
Dwyane Wade and singer Luis
Fonsi will join Marlo Thomas in
George Lopez
Marlo Thomas, creatorMorgan Freeman poses with St. Jude patient
during Thanks and Giving campaign television commerical
shown on American Airlines and hearts and are committed to St.
Delta Air Lines flights. All the Jude’s lifesaving mission of findspots, as well as exclusive behind- ing cures and saving children.”
the-scenes footage, will debut at
The campaign will also get a
www.stjude.org on Nov. 22.
boost of star power from several
“No family ever pays St. Jude new and returning friends of St.
for treatment thanks to the thou- Jude that encompass a wide specsands of people across the coun- trum of the entertainment industry who support programs like try.
Thanks and Giving. With your
This year actress Katharine
help, we can help give hope this McPhee will serve as the Give
holiday season to kids battling Thanks Walk grand marshal and
cancer and other deadly will walk alongside St. Jude supdiseases,”said actor Morgan porters at the New York City walk.
History Channel star Mike Wolfe
and his Antique ArchaeologyNashville crew will rally his fans
to donate to St. Jude in support of
his participation in the Nashville
Give thanks Walk and Disney stars
Elise Neal and Adam Irigoyen will
join walkers at the Los Angeles
event.
On the fashion front model Lily
Aldridge is modeling the new
DKNY tee-shirt from the St. Jude
Holiday Gift Book that features a
poem written by 10-year-old St.
Jude patient Micah.
Country music artist Blake
Shelton, comedian George Lopez
and actor Hill Harper have taken
to the airwaves and recorded special radio messages in English and
singer Luis Fonsi has recorded
messages in Spanish that will air
on more than 200 radio stations
across the nation during the holiday season.
The campaign was created to
build awareness and raise funds
for St. Jude during the season that
exemplifies thanks and giving to
so many. The official kickoff event
for the campaign is the annual
walk held on Saturday, November
19 in 80 communities nationwide.
The campaign then runs from
Thanksgiving week through the
end of the year.
St. Jude is the nation’s leading
pediatric research and treatment
center devoted solely to children
with cancer and other deadly diseases. It is the only pediatric cancer research hospital that covers
all of the costs for treatment,
travel, food and lodging for each
patient and a family member.
“It’s always so inspiring to
meet the St. Jude patients and their
families each year. They have this
incredible strength and spirit that
remind you that although they are
just kids they are fighting for their
lives against a very adult disease,”
said Jennifer Aniston, who appears alongside St. Jude patient
Hayli in one of this year’s television spots.
“Throughout my years of participating in the Thanks and Giving campaign and supporting St.
Jude I have been able to meet some
incredible little kids like Trevor.
Although St. Jude is a place dealing with some very serious issues,
it is also a place filled with so much
hope and laughter,” said Robin
Williams, who appears alongside
St. Jude patient Trevor in one of
this year’s television spots.
“St. Jude Children’s Research
Hospital is a place filled with so
much hope. By participating in
Thanks and Giving you can help
St. Jude continue its research to
find cures for kids, like Coraliz, battling cancer and other deadly diseases,” said George Lopez, who
appears alongside St. Jude patient
Coraliz in one of this year’s television spots.
“On the court I go up against
(missing pic: marto thomas)
Marlo Thomas creator
some pretty big guys. But those
guys don’t have anything on the
strength I see in these St. Jude patients. I hope that basketball fans
across the country will join me and
help these kids who are in the biggest fight of their lives,” said
Dwyane Wade, who appears
alongside St. Jude patients Raul,
Gracie and JaLise in one of this
year’s television spots.
“It’s so cool to visit St. Jude
Children’s Research Hospital and
hang out with patients like Evan.
St. Jude is giving these kids the
care they need, but they also have
programs in place that give them
the opportunity to still be kids
while undergoing treatment,” said
Shaun White, who appears alongside St. Jude patient Evan in one
of this year’s television spots. To
learn more about the campaign and
to learn about the more than 60
brands participating in the campaign, visit www.stjude.org.
Elise Neal
Enter tainment
28
Diego Binetti Spring/Summer
2012 collection is Bal Masque
Designer Diego Binetti
surrounded by models
DIEGO BINETTI’S Spring/Summer 2012 collection presented during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week was something straight out of a fairytale. The look was angelic and the designs
were the personification of fabled femme fatales caught up in a mythical fairyland. The
designs were soft and billowy with special attention to detail. The lighthearted colors
were dreamy, light and airy. The fashion world’s love affair with the designer prevails as
he proves over and over again that he’s found the secret garden. He never disappoints
his fans who are bound by his magical creations. Adding to the mystique of the models
were the beautiful masquerade masks made of feathers and crystals. (Photos courtesy Diego
Binetti)
Flick Chat
29
By Kam Williams
Movie Critic
By the time Wall Street titan Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda)
was charged
with running a billion-dollar
Ponzi scheme, it was already
too late for
the authorities to find the fortune that he had ostensibly
hidden in offshore accounts.
As a condition of being released on bail before trial, he
was ordered kept under house
arrest in his luxury penthouse
at The Tower, an exclusive
high-rise located on Central
Park West.
While this development
might have prevented the arrogant embezzler from becoming a fugitive of justice, it simultaneously left him surrounded by some of those
he’d swindled. For, not only
had he stolen from the
wealthy, but he had also talked
the staff at The Tower into
trusting him with all the assets
in their pension fund.
Consequently, the callous
con man’s victims include
building manager Josh (Ben
Stiller), Lester the doorman
(Stephen Henderson), Enrique
the bellhop (Michael Pena),
Odessa the housekeeper
(Gabourey Sidibe), Charlie the
concierge (Casey Affleck) and
bankrupt, fellow resident Mr.
Fitzhugh
(Matthew
Broderick).
Reluctant to let Shaw walk
away with their money, the
group hatches a plan to take
the law into its own hands,
upon learning that the remorseless embezzler has
stashed about $20 million in
Ben Stiller
Eddie Murphy
cash somewhere in his condo.
After all, as employees, they
certainly have intimate knowledge about and unusual access
to the inner workings of The
Tower, although they will still
need the help of a real crook,
since none of them have ever
cracked a safe before.
So, Josh enlists the assistance of Slide (Eddie Murphy),
a motor-mouthed petty thief
he’s occasionally encountered
on the street. Once Slide joins
the conspiracy, the only remaining hurdles involve first
gaining access to an apartment guarded by the FBI, and
then robbing it right under the
nose of the accused who’s restricted to the premises, 24-7.
This is the promising
premise of “Tower Heist,” the
latest buddy comedy directed
by Brett Ratner. While the
teaming of Eddie Murphy and
Ben Stiller doesn’t come close
to matching the inspired,
On Veterans Day Friday, November 11 baseball Hall of Famer and Mets great Tom Seaver and 2011
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Darlene Love will be on hand at Citi Pond at Bryant Park to
honor both current and former members of the armed forces in a prelude to the annual New York
City Veterans Day Parade. The event is FREE and open to the public to honor and thank the men and
women who serve our country. Veterans and current members of the U.S. Armed Forces, along with
their families, will be honored. All branches of the military will be represented at this event along
with other honored guests.
screen chemistry of Chris
Tucker and Jackie Chan in
Ratner’s “Rush Hour” trilogy,
the talented twosome nevertheless manage to generate
enough laughs, with the help
of a colorful support cast, to
make you forgive the fact that
the crime caper grows increasingly improbable the further
the film unfolds.
A funny, if farfetched, revenge fantasy for folks bilked
by the likes of Bernie Madoff.
Excellent (3.5 stars). Rated
PG-13 for profanity and sexuality. Running time: 104 Minutes. Studio: Universal Pictures. To see a trailer for
“Tower Heist,” visit: http://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=Z4KXF7NWFRE
Victims turn tables on con man
in Murphy-Stiller buddy comedy
30
Award Winning
Actor David Heron lands lead
in the new Xoom.com TV ad
Compiled By Don Thomas
Jamaican born David Heron,
the award winning playwright,
producer and one of the most
successful Caribbean actors of
the past decade, has landed the
coveted lead role in the new
Xoom.com TV ad for its new mobile site, which rolls out in the
Diaspora (today) November 9th.
Heron, who flew to Los
Angles, California to shoot the
commercial was extremely elated
about the role. “I’m really happy
to be associated with this great
product, which enables our Jamaicans here in the USA to easily and conveniently remit funds
home with their mobile phone,”
Heron said.
With the new Xoom.com mobile site, the Diaspora can send
money to Jamaica from anywhere, anytime using their
Smartphone. Their loved one can
pick up the money in minutes at
over 100 locations island wide,
including Victoria Mutual Building Society (VMBS) and Capital
& Credit’s Reggae Money Express.
Customers can also send
money directly to their loved
one’s bank account at any bank
in Jamaica, that way they can receive the money safely and securely without leaving home.
Customers can access the new
Xoom mobile site by visiting
xoom.com on their iPhone, Android Phone or any other
Smartphone.
“Our mobile site is especially
convenient for Jamaicans who
don’t have time to go to the
money transfer location between
jobs or who don’t have Internet
access at home,” said Jamaicanborn Julian King, senior vice
president of marketing and business development at Xoom.
Actors David Heron and Kimberly Whittaker on the set of the new Xoom TV commercial in Los Angles, California
Heron, who performed some
of his own stunts in the commercial, added “Filming the
commercial was a blast, with a
terrific and professional cast
and crew. But, the best part for
me was doing some of my own
stunts — riding on a pink bicycle meant for a five year old
girl! Holding on to the back of
a moving truck while riding a
bike half my size is now the es-
sence of cool for me! I would
do it again in a second!”
“We had fun shooting this
commercial for the Jamaican
community. David was perfect
for the part of Xoom husband.
We were honored to work with
one on the Caribbean’s most
successful artists on this
project,”
said
Theresa
Pasinosky, marketing director
for Latin America and the Car-
ibbean at Xoom, who was on
hand in Los Angles when Heron
shot the commercial.
Heron first came to the attention of Jamaican theatre audiences as a playwright, with
the runaway success of his first
play “Ecstasy,” which toured
three continents. Since then he
has penned five more stage
plays, all of which have earned
commercial and critical acclaim.
Jamaican born actress Kimberly Whittaker, who played
Heron’s wife in the Xoom commercial, has had guest roles on
ABC’s “Castle,” “The Closer,”
“Law and Order LA,” and NBC’s
“Outlaw.” She has also starred
on ABC’s “I Survived a Japanese
Game Show.” She will play the
lead role “Kathleen” in her first
3D Sci-Fi movie “Exedia Nation”
later this year.
On the Bookshelf
‘Ashamed to Die,’ the AIDS epidemic in the South
Author Andrew Skerritt
By Kam Williams
Book Review
“HIV/AIDS remains a significant public health and social justice crisis in the United States, and
the South in particular is heavily
burdened… Poverty, poor education, and limited community re-
sources conspire against people
who live in the rural South…Even
as America has dispatched billions
to fight this disease overseas, our
small rural communities remain vulnerable to the sinister threat of HIV/
AIDS.
The enemy isn’t just the physical illness. It’s ignorance; it’s the
guilt and shame-inducing silence
that kills our young…HIV/AIDS is
more than a disease—it is a symptom of the larger problems of social inequalities and racial/ethnic
health disparities… It’s time to end
the silence and to provoke an eruption of empathy, compassion and
community action to alter the sad
trajectory of AIDS in our small
towns.”
Excerpted from Chapter One
(page 11) When the AIDS epidemic exploded about 30 years
ago, it initially ravaged the gay
community. But the number of homosexuals infected dropped dramatically due to a combination of
safe sex education and medical
breakthroughs. Simultaneously,
however, the AIDS rate among
Blacks has continued to skyrocket to the point where twothirds of the new female cases in
the country are African-American, meaning a sister is 15 times
as likely to become HIV+ as a
white woman.
And these statistics are even
worse in the South where eight of
the states with the highest infection rates are located. But Andrew Skerritt didn’t need help from
the CDC to appreciate the toll the
plague is taking on Black folks in
the region.
For the London-born, professor of journalism at Florida A&M
University could observe how
such factors as denial, shame, racism and poverty had collaborated
to prevent AIDS patients from receiving proper treatment.
In “Ashamed to Die,” he
chronicles that societal failing as
witnessed in the Clover, South
Carolina, a typical tiny town where
talk about AIDS is considered taboo.
Consequently, many of the infected remain in denial and undiagnosed, especially since, “the
health department couldn’t force
a person to be tested even if a contact gave them names of people
exposed tom AIDS.”
Nonetheless, symptoms of the lethal illness eventually do appear,
as the body becomes susceptible
to a variety of opportunistic infections. Sadly, the author found that
“Caring for people with AIDS is
the kind of thankless work few are
willing or even equipped to do.”
And in the case of Dr. Robert
Ball, he ended up broke and “a pariah in his own community,” when
he was abandoned by his regular
patients because he allowed those
with AIDS to share the same waiting room and office. And not only
did the 42 year-old physician even-
tually lose his practice, but his wife
and his home, too.
Still, his plight pales in comparison to that of those dealing with
the debilitating ailment on a dayto-day basis. “Those dying of
AIDS long for comfort, someone to
hold their hands,” since “no one
wants to die alone,” Skerritt concludes.
Apparently, no one wants to die
forgotten either. For, in fascinating
fashion, he proceeds to put a face
on the disease by devoting individual chapters to the life stories of
several ill-fated patients and devoted caretakers.
A sobering manifesto practically
begging African-Americans to acknowledge the omnipresence of an
escalating plague decimating the
community.
To order a copy of “Ashamed to
Die,” visit:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/
obidos/ASIN/1569768145/
ref%3dnosim/thslfofire-20
Mikki Taylor’s Commander in Chic
book is something to be thankful for
Commander in Chic featuring
First Lady Michelle Obama
most polished hues for all skin tones. In “The Gam
Slam,” Taylor tells you how to work summer-pretty legs
year-round—from how to keep them even-toned and
satiny smooth to vein-free.
Taylor took great care in talking to the experts about
what we need to know to manage our lives from the
inside out — from our mental and physical health and
wellness to the importance of self-nurturing.
As a result, you’ll find guiding principles on diet
and exercise for the various stages of your life — from
age twenty and beyond. You’ll also find the critical
information you need to know to nourish your wellbeing so you can continue to be the empowered woman
you are called to be.
To sum it up, Commander in Chic is a gold mine of
information that will inspire you — from head to toe,
inside and out — on how to truly style, now and for
years to come.
Taylor, editor-at-large at Essence Magazine, and the
president of Mikki Taylor Enterprises, LLC, a strategic
branding, consulting and communications company,
has attended many preview book signings for her popular new book leading up to the post Thanksgiving Day
release date.
The book has garnered lots of attention and Taylor
has been signing books like a rock star, most recently
at a celebration book bash hosted by Essence magazine and fashion designer Tracy Reese with CNN’s
Soledad O’Brien at Reese’s fashionable downtown
store in SoHo on Wednesday, November 2, 2011 from 79 pm where Taylor – looking gobblelicious — greeted
fashionistas in a fabulous Reese design.
On Wednesday, November 30, 2011, Taylor will bring
her gilded pen uptown to autograph books at Harlem’s
Hue-Man Bookstore, 2319 Frederick Douglass Boulevard, Harlem, New York. (Photos by Brad Barket)
On November 29, 2011, right
on the heels of people having
given thanks at “Thanksgiving
Day” gatherings, the much anticipated tome by media veteran and style maven Mikki
Taylor, Commander in Chic:
Every Woman’s Guide to Managing Her Style Like a First
Lady, is set to be released by
Simon & Schuster.\
The page turner that channels
Taylor ’s admiration for this
country’s chic First Lady
Michelle Obama and her inimitable style is something we can
all be thankful for. The book is
totally delish — like the Thanksgiving Day dinner with all the trimmings.
Commander in Chick display at Tracy Reese boutique
Michelle Obama has brought
fashion back to the White House
and Taylor’s book chronicles the
“Consider Commander in Chic as your personal
First Lady’s peerless style. “Consider Commander in Chic as your
style diary — one where you’ll find everything you
personal style diary — one where
need to know to possess great style — simply,
you’ll find everything you need
to know to possess great style —
effortlessly, and for keeps.” Mikki Taylor
simply, effortlessly, and for
keeps,” says Taylor.
Taylor has been a mainstay
on the nation’s major networks,
radio stations, and newspapers
who look to her not only to discuss the “Obama look” and the
First Lady’s feverish impact on
style, but also to hear Taylor’s
own smart advice on looking polished and pulled together.
Taylor’s been privy to Obama’s
style philosophy as well as that
of countless celebs through her
longtime role as beauty and cover
director at Essence magazine,
where she collaborated with
Obama’s team on fashion and
beauty choices for prime photo
shoots for the magazine.
Now Taylor is sharing the
keys to the Obama look with
her diary-like observations,
tips, and Mikki-isms (her short,
ultra-clever style aphorisms)
for women everywhere. Taylor knows we all want to possess a signature look and a Stylist Phillip Bloch, Marvet Britto, Lola Ogunnaike
Zuri, Mikki Taylor, DMC
wardrobe of bankable pieces
that allow us the kind of versatility where we never have to
worry about what to wear
again!
Cover-to-cover, the book is
full of stunning photo-graphs
that take the guesswork out of
what works. Every chapter in
the book shares the kinds of
concrete information and inspiring style ideas that not
only make getting dressed a
fabulous experience, but define
what will make you “a woman
to remember!”
Here is everything you need
to know about style — from
your glossary of high-performance hair products and “do
how-to’s” to the best makeup
finds and techniques to what
you need to know to grow your
Mikki Taylor, Johnny Wright
Lisa Price and guest
nails long and strong to the Tracy Reese, Mikki Taylor
Judith Curr of Simon & Schuster, Mikki
Taylor, Soledad O'Brien
Stylist Phillip Bloch, Mikki Taylor,
VH1's Janelle Snowden
31
BOOKIN’ IT with Lifestyles & Society Editor Audrey J. Bernard
32
Bubba Smith
UPDATE: Bubba Smith, the former NFL player-turned-actor
and TV pitchman, died of acute drug intoxication and other
conditions, the Los Angeles County coroner’s office said. A
caretaker at the 66-year-old Smith’s home in Baldwin Hills
found his body on Aug. 3. Autopsy results showed the 6-foot-7
Smith had high levels of the weight-loss drug phentermine in
his system, coroner’s spokesman Ed Winter said in a news release. He also had heart disease, an enlarged heart and up to
75 percent blockage of some blood vessels. Smith was the top
overall pick in the 1967 draft after playing at Michigan State,
where he was an All-America pick in 1966. His No. 95 jersey
was retired in 2006. He spent five seasons with the Baltimore
Colts, where he played on the 1971 Super Bowl team, and two
seasons each with Oakland and Houston. As an actor, he
played soft-spoken Officer (Moses Hightower) in the “Police
Academy” movie series. He also appeared in such television
series as “Good Times,” “Charlie’s Angels,” and “Half Nelson,”
and was a regular in the ground-breaking Miller Lite commercials featuring retired players.
On the Bookshelf
‘How Could My Husband Be Gay?’
Author J’son M. Lee
By Kam Williams
Book Review
band, and three beautiful children. Ondrea soon discovers
that her husband, Marceous
“Have you ever ignored any K i n g , i s n o t t h e m a n s h e
red flags regarding your mate? thought she married.”
“How Could My Husband Be
Gay?” may cause you to never
Excerpted from the
make that mistake again.
Foreword (pg. xi)
[The book] is an autobiographical look into the life of
For some reason, dudes on the
Ondrea Davis. On the out- down-low seem to be more of a
side, Ondrea’s life is nothing problem in the Black community
short of a fairy tale. She has a than in society in general. Perhaps
dream home, the perfect hus- that’s because the pressure to be
macho in African American culture
leads to a lot of gay guys to pass
themselves off as straight.
That’s what happened in the
case of Marceous King who
bodaciously deceived his bride on
May 15, 1999, the day they exchanged wedding their vows.
Ondrea now admits to being so
“blinded by love” that she failed
to heed warning signs like her husband having teenage males “spend
weekends over our house” and his
subsequently developing a particularly close relationship with
one, Fernando, who came to accompany the couple almost everywhere they went.
Deep in denial, Ondrea allowed herself to become pregnant with twins soon after their
first anniversary. In this vulnerable state, she was informed not
only that Marceous’ “friend”
Fernando had come out of the
closet, but that he would be
moving in with them because of
problems in living with his parents.
Nonetheless, it wasn’t that long
before Ondrea was expecting again.
And two weeks before the baby
was due, her secretive spouse
dropped a big hint that he was in
some sort of crisis when he suddenly “asked me to get on my
knees and pray with him.” But it
was only after testing positive for
an STD that she finally was forced
to see the light.
At that point, Ondrea prayed,
“Lord, I know I made a mistake
marrying Marceous. I am so sorry
and apologize from the bottom of
my heart. Please make a way of escape for me and the kids.”
And for the balance of this
heartbreaking autobiography,
we witness the valiant efforts of
a desperate sister summoning
Author Ondrea L. Davis
up the courage to extricate herself from a tragic situation for
the sake of herself and her
children. Equal parts intimate
memoir and cautionary tale,
“How Could My Husband Be
Gay?“ is an engaging pageturner about an ill-fated romance that was doomed from
the start.
To readers benefiting from
20-20 hindsight, the author
might look like about as gullible a girl as they come. But
before judging Ondrea too
harshly, just remember that she
was only 21 when she unwittingly jumped the broom with a
groom who had no interest in a
mate with a womb.
If it saves even one naïve female from a similar fate, Ondrea
is owed a big debt of gratitude
for going public with her harrowing nightmare about being deceived by a partner with a hidden homoerotic agenda. Foreword by T.J. Adams, Sr.
NEW YORK ARTS
33
By Mira Gandy
Artist & Scribe
A must see, is the exhibition at
the New Museum by artists
Steffani Jemison and Jamal
Cyrus, centered on Black periodicals published between 1902 and
1940, titled Alpha’s Bet Is Not
Over Yet. The exhibition title is a
paraphrase from the theorist and
artist Rammellzee (1960-2010).
Massive magazine racks were
installed to hold over 400 complete reproductions of provocative publications such as, The
Crisis founded by W.E.B. Dubois,
A Record of the Darker Races,
and The Messenger, one of the
first magazines to publish works
by Langston Hughes: World’s
Greatest Negro Monthly; Ebony
and Education: A Journal of
Reputation.
Also in the exhibition are a series of newly commissioned posters by contemporary artists as
well as, a collection of contemporary chapbooks, zines, and selfpublished books.
Jemison and Cyrus’s impetus
for Alpha’s Bet Is Not Over Yet
came from the “Book Club”
(2010), a think tank and reading
group, organized by the artists
for Project Row Houses in Houston. They were interested in looking at different forms of Black literacy and approaches to language, the written word, self-education and the democratic distributions of knowledge.
This might all sound too
“heady” however, this is not an
over intellectualized project
meant to be viewed from one singular perspective and entry point;
nor is it an historical exhibition
highlighting the history of Black
journals from the first half of the
twentieth century. This exhibition
is an interactive, breathing work
of art that becomes activated as
soon as you walk into the space.
Firstly, just seeing these independent publications, side by
side, in one place, makes one feel
the centuries of Black voices
coming off the pages. Secondly,
because these voices are diverse,
intelligent, Black voices unabashedly commenting on issues of
race, politics, religion, science, art,
social injustice and education,
these works are meant to be and
engaged with; while the space
also functions as a reading room
and discussion space for all visitors.
Additionally, the artists have
organized public readings of selections from the magazines,
which are open to the public.
Selections will be read in the gallery November 10, November 17,
and December 1, during the New
Museum’s free Thursday evenings.
Visitors to the exhibition will be
able to suggest passages from the
presented materials for public
readings. The project is also accompanied by an illustrated pub-
lication that borrows the form of a
reader — a compendium of essays,
interviews, and selections from the
periodicals and posters on display.
Edited by Steffani Jemison and
designed by Nikki Presley, The
Reader includes contributions from
Adebukola Bodunrin, Jamal
Cyrus, Egie Ighile, Mitchell Jackson, Steffani Jemison, Ryan Inouye,
Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts/The Freedwoman’s Bureau, Ethan Swan, and
Greg Tate.
I must admit, it was a bit overwhelming to be confronted with
all of these publications at once
because of the density. I did not
know where to start, but I soon
experienced that whatever journal I picked up, whether it was a
Black socialist magazine, or read
a story about a Black inventor, or
reviewed the coverage of a horrific lynching, or I just liked the
beautiful art cover, I was captivated.
What I learned from the co-organizer of the exhibition was that
the artists’ intent in presenting
these independent Black publications in an exhibition was to allow
the viewer to find his or her own
entry point into these materials
which reveal such a vast body of
information that exists, with the
hope that new truths emerge by
having the works housed all together.
Ultimately, Jemison and Cyrus’s
goal is to allow this information to
continue to fuel people’s aspirations, hopes and actions, by looking at and talking about these writings and recognizing its relevance
to issues of race in America today.
Visit www.newmuseum.org for more
information.
(Photos by Naho Kubota)
Museum as Hub: Alpha’s Bet Is Not
Over exhibition at The New Museum
THEATER with Second Night Reviewer Audrey J. Bernard
David Henry Hwang’s Chinglish opens on B’way to rave reviews
34
Chinglish lights up
Longacre Theatre marquee
The triumphant journey to see
the realization of the fruits of his
arduous labor culminated in the
critically acclaimed opening of his
play on Broadway. And if you
ask the jubilant director David
Henry Hwang about his provocative creation, his face lights up like
the famed Rockefeller Center
Christmas Tree.
The Tony Award-winning and
two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist’s
long awaited Chinglish opened at
the Longacre Theatre, 220 West
48th Street, New York City on
Thursday, October 27, 2011 to
rave reviews
Once again, Leigh Silverman,
who just won a 2011 OBIE Award
for directing both Go Back To
Where You Are and In The Wake,
leaves her imprint all over this tour
de force and she couldn’t have
asked for a more talented cast.
Chinglish stars Gary Wilmes
and original cast member Jennifer Lim — along with other original Goodman Theatre cast members Angela Lin, Christine Lin,
Stephen Pucci, Johnny Wu and
Larry Lei Zhang with Tony
Carlin, Vivian Chiu and Brian
Nishii all give spot-on performances in a play that will have
you thinking long after you leave
the theater.
Set in an American assembly
room in the city of Guiyang,
China, Chinglish is about the
unpredictable complications that
result when an American businessman, despite his self-possessed cultural ignorance, seeks
to expand his market by forging a
relationship with government officials in a major Chinese city.
Although he has hired an Australian entrepreneur who has lived
in China to assist him, he soon
finds that the complexities of such
a venture far outstrip the expected
differences in language, customs
and manners – and calls into questions even the most basic assumptions of human conduct.
The play provides a barrel of
laughs at the expense of both
culture’s petty differences and ignorance. What I found particularly
impressive was that Hwang made
it alright to find humor at the expense of one’s cultural differences
without the guilt. He pushed the
sense and sensibility envelope all
the way and the audience loved it.
Chinglish design team includes David Korins (scenic design); Anita Yavich (costume
designer); Brian MacDevitt
(lighting design); and Darron I.
West (sound design).
Chinglish has been developed in association with The
Public Theater. The Broadway
production is produced by Jeffrey Richards; Jerry Frankel;
Jay & Cindy Gutterman/Cathy
Chernoff; Heni Koenigsberg/
Lily Fan; Joseph & Matthew
Deitch; Dasha Epstein; Ronald
& Marc Frankel; Barry &
Carole Kaye; Mary Lu Roffe;
The Broadway Consortium;
Ken Davenport; Filerman
Bensinger; Herbert Goldsmith; Jam Theatricals;
Chinglish Opening Night Curtain Call
Olympus Theatricals; Playful
Productions; David & Barbara
Stoller, Roy Gottlieb; Mary
Casey; and Hunter Arnold in association with The Goodman
Theatre.
The producers hosted a fabulous
Opening Night after party at the
swank Brasserie 8 ½ on 57th Street
following the performance.
(Photos by Joseph Marzullo/
B'way press diva Irene Gandy and
her daughter Mira
Julie Taymor
David Henry Hwang with Chinglish's star Jennifer Lim
Jennifer Lim
Ang Lee
Christine Lin
Angela Lin gets cheeky with Tony winner B.D. Wong
Cast of Chinglish at post Opening Night celebration Stephen Pucci, Angela Lin, Larry Lei Zhang, Jennifer Lim,
Gary Wilmer, Christine Lin, Johnny Wu
Gary Wilmes, Leigh Silverman (director), Brian MacDevitt
(lighting designer)
Michael Feinstein
Richard Thomas
Andre De Shields
David Hyde Pierce
David Henry Hwang with his children and wife Kathryn Laying
Off-Broadway
35
By Ernece B. Kelly
Drama Critic
The title of the young and
talented playwright Kirsten
Greenidge’s drama, “Milk Like
Sugar” promises a sweet treat,
and there’s some of that. But
there are equal parts hatred
and bitterness in this snapshot of teenagers who’ve lost
their way.
The play, running a taut 100
minutes, opens in a tattoo shop
where girlfriends—Talisha
(Cherise Boothe), Margie
(Nikiya Mathis) and Annie (Angela Lewis) bop in to wait for
the tattooist Antwoine (LeRoy
McClain). Talisha and Margie
tease Annie— the heart and
soul of the play—about what
design she wants.
“This is gonna be forever.
So be sure it’s what you want,”
Antwoine cautions, as she
switches back-and-forth between a lady bug and a flame.
His warning could well apply to
the more important events the
three teens are discussing—
their intention to have babies.
(L-R) Tonya Pinkins and Angela Lewis
“It’s going to be mad cool”
to have baby showers together
and to buy fancy Coach or
Burberry diaper bags, they believe.
Margie wants a stroller like
Beyonce’s. And mixed in with
all this animated chatter are
nuggets of misinformation
about babies like, “don’t eat
breakfast or you’ll have a boy.”
“These little babies gonna
love us for us” Talisha claims,
providing the clearest understanding of why the three have
agreed to this pregnancy pact—
a subversion of the American
Dream of husband and wife raising a child. Here only the man’s
sperm is needed. Annie is attracted to Malik (J. MalloryMcCree) even though he’s not
interested in being a “baby
daddy.” Margie’s already impregnated by Jerome, and
Talisha is involved with an older
guy.
The playwright doesn’t indicate a time or place for “Milk
Like Sugar” but hints abound
that these Black teens are struggling in an impoverished urban
setting—the title refers to the
powdered milk the government
provides—in today’s environment where their fascination
with the latest personal technology is endemic. (Adrienne C.
Moore) plays Keera, a high
school misfit who’s unmercifully teased for having a portable radio with an antenna!
In their world, parents are absent or lost in fantasies. Given
little love and even less encouragement, the girls are terribly
vulnerable, and the downward
spiral of their lives is recounted
in the final minutes of the play.
Rebecca Taichman skillfully di-
‘Working together is success’
—Henry Ford
The Crew: (L-R, Top - Bottom) Rafael Melendez, Patrick Smith, Theda
Dennis, Brien Hill, Gerald Paterson, Troy Busby Xavier Smalls,
Ramell Melendez, Jermaine Rowe, Tyrone Baxter
“I love the excitement of
a great idea. Seeing an idea
come alive on stage to the
enthusiastic applause of
theater-goers is like eating
potato salad, collards, and
sweet potato pie after
starving in the desert. But
none of a great ideas’ success is possible without
the support of the troops
behind the scenes.
“For example, the technical crew of “Mama, I Want
to Sing” is my left hand, my
right hand, and my rock. They
are the first to arrive and the
last to leave. Master communicators, the techies (as they
are fondly called) are in sync
with one another, the actors,
musicians, and the producers.
While the production is up
and running, techies deal
with unexpected emergencies
and solve problems that I
don’t usually even hear
about.
“For sure we can’t perform
“ M a m a , I Wa n t t o S i n g ”
w i t h o u t t h e c h o i r, p r i n ciples, and the band. But we
neither could we perform
without the stage manager,
stage hands, lighting and
sound technicians, ushers,
and wardrobe personnel.
“I favor food blessings
that acknowledge God and
the many hands that are responsible for bringing the
food to our bellies—blessings that directly or indirectly acknowledge the
farmers, truckers, and
cooks.
“Of course the head of
the behind-the-scenes team
is the Almighty One, and for
this we are grateful. I am
also deeply grateful to the
actors, and musicians. But
today, I stand to applaud the
crew.
Thank you for your attention to detail, your commitment to be your best, and for
your foundational support
of “Mama, I Want to Sing,”
says Vy Higginson, founder/
CEO The Mama Foundation.
(L-R) Nikita Mathis, Cherise Boothe, Angela Lewis, LeRoy McClain
rects the seven outstanding
actors throughout.
A brilliant touch is using the
actors as stagehands, moving
props on and off stage. In doing so, they extend the drama’s
emotional tenor as they exchange intense looks.
Two scenes worth special
mention are Keera’s confrontat i o n w i t h A n n i e ’s m o t h e r,
played by the incomparable
Tonya Pinkins (“Caroline, or
Change”), and an earlier scene
in which Annie’s doubts about
the pregnancy pact begin getting under Talisha’s skin.
Yet with all this fine craftsmanship—including sound and
scenic design—and its authentic contemporary feel, “Milk
Like Sugar” remains, at heart, a
clichéd, stereotyped portrait of
Black individuals mired in their
dysfunctional community.
“Milk Like Sugar,” is currently in performances Off
Broadway at Playwrights Horizons’ Peter Jay Sharp Theater
on West 42 nd Street
‘Old wine in shiny, new bottles’
36
Farrakhan: U.S. role in Libya’s Gaddafi’s fall,
and overseas meddling leading to fall of nation
(from page 19)
weapon, however, he was killed
by Special Forces before being
brought to trial for the crimes he
was allegedly responsible for.
Anwar al-Awlaki, an American
citizen, was killed in Yemen by a
predator drone. A few days later,
his 16-year-old son, was also
killed by a drone.
“Now, Muammar Gadhafi and
his sons lie dead! Saddam
Hussein and his sons lie dead!
Well, what about your sons?
They’re dying in Iraq on the ba-
sis of a lie! They’re dying in Afghanistan on the basis of a lie!
And now drones are in Pakistan,
drones in Somalia, drones in
Yemen! When will it stop?
America, do you think that you can
get away with this?” he asked.
Even during the station breaks for
Cuba now legalizes sale and
purchase of private property
(from page 13)
has pledged to streamline the
state-dominated economy by
eliminating half a million government workers.
Cuba’s government employs
more than 80 percent of the workers in the island’s command
economy, paying wages of just
$20 a month in return for free education and health care, and nearly
free housing, transportation and
basic foods. Castro has said repeatedly that the system is not
working since taking over from
his brother Fidel in 2008, but he
has vowed that Cuba will remain
a socialist state.
Cubans have long bemoaned
the ban on property sales, which
took effect in stages over the first
years after Fidel Castro came to
power in 1959. In an effort to fight
absentee ownership by wealthy
landlords, Fidel enacted a reform
that gave title to whoever lived in
a home. Most who left the island
forfeited their properties to the
state.
Since no property market was
allowed, the rules have meant that
for decades Cubans could only
exchange property through complicated barter arrangements, or
through even murkier black-market deals where thousands of dollars change hands under the table,
with no legal recourse if transactions go bad.
Some Cubans entered into
sham marriages to make deed
transfers easier. Others made
deals to move into homes ostensibly to care for an elderly person
living there, only to inherit the
property when the person died.
The island’s crumbling hous-
ing stock has meant that many are
forced to live in overcrowded
apartments with multiple generations crammed into a few rooms.
Even divorce hasn’t necessarily
meant separation in Cuba, where
estranged couples have often been
forced to live together for years
while they worked out alternative
housing.
According to the Gazette, the
new law will eliminate the need for
approval from a state housing
agency, meaning that from now on
sales and exchanges will only need
the seal of a notary.
Cubans will also now be allowed
to inherit property from relatives
without having to live in it first,
and they will be able to take title of
property of relatives or others who
emigrate.
Previously, such properties
could be seized by the state.
commercials, Minister Farrakhan
continued to teach. At one point,
he directed his attention to the
members of the media contingent
present in the studio. He said the
corporate media is “bought and
paid for” and many who work in
media are afraid to tell the truth.
Most don’t know the truth of
Gadhafi’s accomplishments, his
efforts to unify Africa, his support
for revolutionary movements, nor
is the unsuspecting public aware
of the evil carried out by the American government globally, he said.
“This is a hell of a betrayal of
the American people when you will
not tell them the truth because
you’re afraid that if you tell the
truth, your bosses will take your
job from you!” said the Minister.
“You don’t have a democracy when
you don’t have a free press!
Then pointing to the cameras he
said, “You’re all slaves—and you
love it! So you deserve what you
get! The erosion of your democracy! You’ll soon be the laughing
stock of the world,” adding that
soon those involved in the growing Occupy Wall Street movement
could soon be targeting the media.
“Look how long it took you all
to talk about what was going on in
New York! It took you two weeks,
because the same people that control the banks control the media! You
all know it but are afraid to say it!
But God put it on Farrakhan to say
it for you! And maybe one day
you’ll get some courage to stand
up and give America free media! A
real, free fourth estate,” he said.
Minister Farrakhan again chided the
American government for its continued arrogance citing a recent decision by Pres. Obama to send
troops into Uganda, even while announcing complete troop withdrawal in Iraq. He also pointed out
that though the U.S.-led NATO operation appears to have been successful from their point of view, the
Libyan National Transitional Council leader Mustafa Abdul Jalil announced the nation will be governed under Sharia law, which
America claims to be fighting all over
the world.Minister Farrakhan and radio host Cliff Kelley discuss
America’s foreign policy and the
aftermath of the assassination of
Col. Muammar Gadhafi. .
“Oh America, America, you’re
blinded by your arrogance! You’re
blinded by your military power and
it’s leading you, step-by-step, to
your destruction,” said Min.
Farrakhan. “I want you to know that
you’re through as a world power!
Through! Through!”
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38
The Giant swag
(from page 39)
the Superbowl, dropping nearly
every ball, leapt for Manning’s
spiral with his Popeye arms fully
extended, and miraculously
caught it and pinned it to the side
of his helmet while in mid-air —
when all the money was on the
table — we found out. But it had
seemed like the ball was going to
slip off, because there was just
no way anyone could make that
kind of circus catch, especially
while being hit by two Mack
trucks—and having your arm
tomahawked by a massive Patriot
missiling in on an angle. But
Tyree took the first mid-air hit, and
then the other, but somehow held
on, like the ball was crazy glued
to his hand and helmet.
And then time stopped…and
everything seemed to move in
slow motion…all the fans were
on their feet watching Tyree’s
huge body fall, wondering if he
could defy the laws of physics
and hold on to that precious
ball...Would the glue hold as he
was being rocked by two Patriots
almost simultaneously? Tyree
thudded to the turf between the
defenders, who were certain they
had broken up the play, but when
they staggered to their feet and
heard the roar of the largest
Superbowl crowd ever, they found
out.
We found out again when extraordinary receiver Plaxico Buress
shook his defender out of his
socks to get separation, like “You
can’t defend me, son! Didn’t you
see that clinic I put on last week in
Green Bay!” And then Plaxico
seemed to be all alone in the end
zone, the end-zone colored Giant
blue. As Plaxico ran in, he looked
up over his right shoulder for the
ball with 37 seconds remaining on
the clock. Then he looked over his
left. Again, time paused as viewers held their collective breath,
wondering, like Plaxico, where is
the ball? In those eternity long
seconds, Plaxico’s mind seemed to
be racing. His face mirrored our
high anxiety. He seemed to be
wondering, did Manning throw it,
is it coming, did Eli get sacked, is
it all over for us?
And then… there it was, two seconds later, dropping in perfectly
over his right shoulder on
Plaxico’s third look back, special
delivery, right on time, the prettiest spiral Plaxico had ever seen…
Exhale…Plax didn’t have to drag
his feet. There was a lot of space
on that Giant blue turf. He cradled
the ball like it was a baby and ran
into football lore. But he seemed
as shocked as the rest of us when
the zebras’ arms shot straight up
to signal touchdown. Plax’s face
said, “Did that just happen?!” Yes,
and the game was over. Giantsz 17.
Patriots 14. Plax — who had called
the win like Namath had called it
for the Jets victory in the ’69
Superbowl — was astonished. He
knelt to pray as cannons blasted
from everywhere.
A roar went up all over New York,
from the top of Bronx to the bottom of Brooklyn. It was a stereo
cheer that shook ’hoods from the
Isle of Staten to the County of
Queens, and it hadn’t been heard
in the City since Reggie Jackson
hit three home runs back-to-back
for the Yankees in the 1976 World
Series.
The Patriots, who Vegas had
winning by two touchdowns,
thought they had put the final nail
in New York’s coffin several times
during the last 15 minutes of the
Superbowl, but they didn’t count
on the gigantic heart of the almostdeceased in a fourth quarter that
saw three lead changes. They
didn’t count on Manning and
Tyree and the rest of the resilient
Giants rising to the awesome challenge.
Manning, who would become
the Superbowl MVP, is now the
fourth best quarterback in the
league, with a 102 passer rating (122
in the fourth quarter) and five comefrom-behind victories. The next four
weeks will be a staunch test for the
Giants and their injury-riddled defense as they face elite quarterbacks
and championship-caliber teams. It
will be left to be seen whether the
odds-makers have the Giants losing or giving thanks at the end of
November.
Vegas had counted on Brady and
the Pats winning their fourth
Superbowl in 2008. But on that cool
February night in the Arizona desert,
their luck had run out. The fat lady
would not sing for New York. Frank
would sing for New York.
Joe Frazier loses
fight to lung cancer
(from page 3)
age. I can’t say enough about
Joe.”
Frazier’s death was announced in a statement by his
family, who asked to be able to
grieve privately and said they
would announce “our father’s
homecoming celebration” as
soon as possible.
Manny Pacquiao learned of it
shortly after he arrived in Las
Vegas for his fight Saturday night
with Juan Manuel Marquez. Like
Frazier in his prime, Pacquiao has
a powerful left hook that he has
used in his remarkable run to stardom.
“Boxing lost a great champion,
and the sport lost a great ambassador,” Pacquiao said.
Don King, who promoted the
Thrilla in Manila, was described
by a spokesman as too upset to
talk about Frazier’s death.
Though slowed in his later
years and his speech slurred by
the toll of punches taken in the
ring, Frazier was still active on the
autograph circuit in the months before he died. In September he went
to Las Vegas, where he signed
autographs in the lobby of the
MGM Grand shortly before Floyd
Mayweather Jr.’s fight against Victor Ortiz.
An old friend, Gene Kilroy, visited with him and watched Frazier
work the crowd.
“He was so nice to everybody,”
Kilroy said. “He would say to each
of them, `Joe Frazier, sharp as a
razor, what’s your name?’”
Frazier was small for a heavyweight, weighing just 205 pounds
when he won the title by stopping
Jimmy Ellis in the fifth round of
their 1970 fight at Madison Square
Garden. But he fought every
minute of every round going forward behind a vicious left hook,
and there were few fighters who
could withstand his constant pressure.
How Black is Herman Cain?
(from page 19)
Subscribe and Advertise in
the New York Beacon
The New York Beacon, 237 W. 37th Street,
Suite 203 New York, New York 10018
Tel: (212) 213-8585
Never, not once, did this child
of the Jim Crow South forget his
roots. Eventually, he and a group
of investors bought Godfather’s
from Pillsbury and it became more
successful. He moved to Omaha,
NE where it was based. This
shocked the business world.
This newly established magnate
was Black and would never let
you mistake him for anything
else. Herman Cain – strong,
proud and black to the “bone”his story continues.
Herman learned much about
banking by becoming the
Deputy Chairman of the Federal
Reserve Bank of Kansas City and
eventually became the Chairman.
He has also done a stint as CEO
of the mighty National Restaurant Association which gave him
experience with lobbying in
Washington, DC and an understanding of politics at the national level. After that he moved
back to Atlanta.
This career is phenomenal.
The frosting on the cake is that
it belongs to a proud Black man.
I first heard Herman Cain speak
in 1989. A Black social service
group I belonged to at the time, International Frontiers, was having its
annual convention in Omaha, NE.
They proudly introduced him as the
Godfather of Black Business in
Omaha.
He wore that mantel proudly and
spoke to us about Black economic
empowerment via self-determination (just like Booker T. Washington). I became impressed then and
that hasn’t changed since.
Herman Cain is now running for
President of the United States. If
elected, he will be the first president to come from African American (descendents of slaves) heritage.
The first to grow up in and during the Jim Crow South. The first
to be a graduate of an HBCU and a
lifelong member of a black Baptist
church. Is Herman Cain black? He
is black to the “bone”. It doesn’t
get blacker!
Mr. Alford is the co-founder,
president/CEO of the National
Black Chamber of Commerce®.
Website: www.nationalbcc.org.
Email: [email protected].
SPORTS
39
Andrew Rosario
The New York Jets lost 3 straight
road games and were left for dead
after only 5 games in the 2011 football season. It wasn’t so much that
they lost those games after starting the year 2-0. It was the way
they lost them. They lose by 10
traveling across the country to
face the Oakland Raiders in the
Black Hole. The following Sunday night they get abused back
east by the Baltimore Ravens. The
final was 34-17 but the game was
never that close. They had a
chance to right the ship when
they faced hated division rival
New England Patriots. They only
trailed by 3 at halftime but could
not stop Tom Brady and company
in the second half as the Pats
amassed 446 total yards by games
end. Running back Ben-Jarvus
Green Ellis trampled over Rex
Ryan’s defense for 136 rushing
yards.
Then the infighting began with
veteran wide receiver Santonio
Holmes calling out the offensive
line and their failure to protect
quarterback Mark Sanchez.
When Derrick Mason, Plaxico
Burress and Holmes complained
to Ryan about the offensive play
calling, Mason gets traded to
Houston. Although Ryan and
General Manager Mike Tannenbaum denied it, many in and out
of the organization felt Mason
was used as a scapegoat. The
New York Jets were in a early season crossroad when they faced
the winless Miami Dolphins. Although they came away with the
victory, Miami gave them a run
for their money. The more tal-
ented San Diego Chargers came
into Met Life Stadium before the
Jets were scheduled for their bye
week. Sanchez threw 3 touchdown
passes to Burress and Shonn
Greene rushed for 112 yards.
The defense forced 2 Phillip
Rivers interceptions and shutout
the Chargers in the second half.
After the bye, their next 2 games
would be against the Buffalo Bills
and the rematch against New England with a chance to distance
themselves and put themselves in
the position to win the division.
One down one to go.
In what may have been their best
defensive performance, the Jets
shook off a first half of offensive
mistakes and buffaloed the Bills
27-11. How dominant were they
defensively? They only allowed
14 first downs for the entire game
while picking off 2 Ryan
Fitzpatrick’s passes.
Buffalo did not score in the first
half. They kicked a field goal early
in the third quarter and did not
score again until the game was
totally out of reach. Fitzpatrick had
averaged 234 yards per game. He
ended up with 191. The running
game, led by Fred Jackson, came
into the game averaging 135
yards. The Jets stuffed them, giving up only 96 yards. If not for a
first quarter Sanchez red zone interception, a fumble and a Nick
Folk missed field goal, the game
would have been a complete
laugher.
The New York Jets had been 0-2
under Rex Ryan coming off the
bye week. He reminded the team
of that stat and it must have
caught their attention. Now he’s
hoping they can keep the momen-
Caption?
tum going when Wonder Boy Tom
Brady comes to town Sunday
night.
A win would at least give them a
tie, depending on what Buffalo
does when they travel to Dallas
Sunday afternoon.
Know one thing: The Jets will be
looking at the tapes from the New
York Giants-Patriots game to see
what Big Blue did on both sides of
the ball to come away with a 24-20
victory. It was the first time the two
teams met since the Giants blew up
New England’s quest to run the
table in the 2006-2007 season win-
ning the Super Bowl in Arizona.
Although the game Sunday did
not have that kind of significance,
it showed the Giants could overcome injuries at key positions
against a quality team. Running
back Ahmad Bradshaw was out
with broken bone in his right foot.
Starting wide receiver Hakim Nicks
hamstring prevented him from
playing. Still, Eli Manning showed
why he is becoming one of the
elite quarterback’s in the league.
Twice, with his team trailing, he
drove them down field to take the
lead.
First, down 3 (13-10) with a little
more than 7 minutes to go, Manning directs a 8 play, 85 yard drive
connecting on a 10 yard touchdown
pass to Mario Manningham. Brady
gets the ball with 3 minutes to go
and good field position as
Manningham was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. 9 plays later,
the Patriots took their last lead of
the day when Brady found tight end
Ron Gronkowski for a 14 yard
touchdown pass. With 1:36 left in
regulation, a field goal would have
sent the game into overtime. Manning wanted it all.
Starting at their own 20, Manning
completed passes to wide receiver
Victor Cruz (19 yards) and tight end
Jake Ballard (28 yards). Looking
down field on his next pass attempt,
Manning stepped up in the pocket
and scrambled for 12 yards. On the
next play with Cruz streaking towards the end zone, Manning
heaved the pass as Cruz got
bumped by free safety Sergio
Brown who is called for pass interference. It set up the game winning,
1 yard touchdown pass to Ballard.
Both the New York Jets and the
New York Giants set themselves up
with big wins to dictate how their
season will go from this point on.
After losing 3 in a row, many were
ready to throw dirt on the Jets. They
can put some room between them
and New England with a win Sunday night. The Giants travel to San
Francisco to play the surprising (71) 49ers.
It only gets more interesting after that as they face the Eagles, New
Orleans and Green Bay. Hopefully,
they can get both Bradshaw and
Hicks back. They’re going to need
them.
The Giant swag
By Mark Anthony Mills
The nine-point underdog Giants
stomped into New England’s
house on Sunday and squashed
their hopes of being the sole
leader of their division. For the
first time in 74 quarters, the muchtouted Patriots offense could
only put a donut on the board in
the first half. After three lead
changes in the fourth quarter, with
15 seconds remaining and New
York down by three, Giants quarterback Manning hit tight end
Ballard with a bullet for the thrilling 24-20 victory, and yet another
happy ending in the Book of Eli.
The agonizing defeat ended the
Pats’ home win-streak at 20, their
first home loss in five years, while
marking the first time New England has lost two in a row in
eight years.
For Brady, the Pats quarterback
known for fourth-quarter heroics
but who threw two interceptions,
it halted his record streak of winning 31 regular-season home
starts. The Pats can surely wait
another three years before seeing the Giants again.
Sunday afternoon’s drama appeared eerily reminiscent of
Superbowl 42 as Big Blue manhandled the line of scrimmage and
defused the Patriots’ explosive air
attack, while Ballard’s amazing
catch to maintain the fourth-quarter drive, a la David Tyree in the
Superbowl,. “You dream about
making catches like that,” Ballard
would say later. But unlike in the
Superbowl, the Giants were playing against one of the most porous defenses in the league. Fittingly, the 6-2 Giants now stand
alone atop their division. But that
really doesn’t matter. What does
is that when the City needed them
most, back in 2008, the Giants
played like New York.
That year the underestimated
Giants executed Operation Desert
Storm by marching into Arizona
with swagger and crushing the
Patriots’ dream of a fourth
Superbowl ring. With more than
70,000 in attendance at that
Superbowl, many of whom were
chanting thunderously — GI ANTS! BOOM A YEA!!! GI ANTS! BOOM A YEA — the GMen fractured the Patriots’ hearts,
Caption?
and in the process resurrected a
city that had been on life support
since the towers fell. That game is
now etched in NFL lore. That vic-
dust knees and reminded us of
whom we are.
No one had expected the Giants
to beat the unbeaten, 18-0 Patriots.
But when the unexpected happens,
you find out what kind of man you
are. On that fateful Sunday night,
we found out about the Giants.
When Giants’ defensive monster
Michael Strahan flexed his massive
frame after sacking the great quarterback Tom Brady in the first quarter, we found out. The Giants’ Justin Tuck would sack Brady twice
more, while the rest of the Giant D
applied the type of pressure on
Brady throughout the game that he
had not seen all season.
When it seemed like Giant quarterback Eli Manning was firmly “in
the grasp,” and being capsized by
a tsunami of Patriot blue shirts in
that do-or-die fourth-quarter drive,
but he somehow bob and juked to
escape, plant his back foot and
launch a rocket to Tyree with less
than three minutes remaining, we
found out…
tory did for New York what the
When Tyree, who had the worst
Saints’ Superbowl win did for week of practice ever leading up to
Katrina-ravaged New Orleans. It
lifted New York up off of its bomb(CONTINUED ON PAGE 38)
Big New York football wins
40
BEACON
Marc Rasbury
SPORTS
When the world runs through Harlem
By Marc Rasbury
There is no doubt that the Village of Harlem is one the top
tourist destinations in the world.
If you need to validate that just
ask the participants of the ING
New York Marathon after completing the home stretch of this
grueling test of endurance.
Over 47,000 runners-a recordstarted the Marathon in Staten
Island and in the end Geoffrey
Mutai of Kenya and Firehiwot
Dado of Ethiopia were the first
to cross the finish line respec-
tively.
I have been covering or attending this race as either a member
of the media and/or resident of
Harlem for the past twenty years
and the one thing I can assure
you is that the runners love running through Harlem. The residents and the area’s businesses
go out of their way to encourage
the marathoners to make it
through the final four miles of the
event.
As the racers come down the
138th Street Bridge to Fifth Avenue, they are greeted by thou-
sand of Harlemnites who gather
along Fifth Avenue from the
Bridge to 110th Street to cheer and
encourage the runners as they
try to complete the final leg of
the race. It is normally at this
point that most runners hit that
proverbial wall where they seem
as if they can not go any further.
Well the residents of Harlem traditionally do not let that happen.
They line the streets inspiring
the runners cheering them on in
their own unique way. You have
a series of DJs spinning some of
the current and classic hits all
down Fifth Avenue. Then there
is a group of African Drummers
at 128th Street. And for the past
four years, The Greater Harlem
Chamber of Commerce has
partnered with the New York
Road Runners Club to produce
the Harlem Miles in an attempt
to make the runners jaunt
through Harlem even that much
better.
The GHCC set up series of
stages at 135th, 125th and 117th
streets and at Marcus Garvey
Park where gospel, R&B, ‘ Jazz,
and Latin/Salsa performers ser-
enaded the runners. The entertainment was so well received that
some of race participants stopped
dead in their tracts to take in the
acts.
I have interviewed hundreds
runners over the years and most
of them have expressed how much
they enjoyed running through
Harlem and needed that extra boost
to complete the race. I’m sure other
neighborhoods and sections of the
City get out and encourage the
runners, but I doubt any neighborhood does it like Uptown. (Photos
by Marc Rasbury)
Drummers: Every year this Drum Group lifts the runners spirits.
Rangle and Wright: Congressman Charles Rangle and Assemblyman Keith Wright were
on hand Sunday
Fifth Avenue and 125th Street was the place to be during the race.
Harlemnites: Harlemnites do their best to get the runners past that proverbial wall.

New York Beacon

Transcription

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