2011 - New York Beacon

Transcription

New York
Beacon
website:
NewYorkBeacon.net
Vol. 18 No. 12
Showing the Way to Truth and Justice
E-Mail
[email protected]
March 24, 2011 - March 30, 2011
75 Cents
END OF AN ERA
Obama
unwavering
on Bush
taxdies
breaks
forinrich
Film legend
Elizabeth
Taylor
at 79
LA
END OF AN ERA – Beloved movie goddess Elizabeth passed away in a Long Angeles hospital Wednesday. She was 79 years old.
(See Story On Page 3)
President Chávez condemns 'no-fly' zone bombings in Libya
(See Story On Page 3)
National leaders, superstars headline
NAN national anniversary convention
NEW YORK BEACON, March 24, 2011 - March 30, 2011 newyorkbeacon.net
2
Senator Charles E. Schumer
Schumer urges immediate
bus drivers licenses audit
United States Senator Charles
E. Schumer has called on the New
York Departments of Motor Vehicles to conduct an audit of licenses issued to drivers of lowcost tour buses in light of emerging evidence that the driver of
Saturday’s deadly crash on I-95
may have provided false statements and documents in order
to continue operating as a driver.
According to reports, the
driver of the World Wide Tour
bus had received several driving
violations on his record but was
able to maintain his commercial
license and allegedly used a false
name at one point to protect his
commercial license.
“Last Saturday’s accident
could very well be just the tip of
the iceberg. As more and more
questions are raised as to how
this individual obtained and
maintained a commercial driving
license, it’s vital to the safety of
New Yorkers and those who ride
these buses that we know drivers have safe driving records
and valid licenses. There is a real
worry that some of these lowcost companies are cutting corners on safety and a thorough
review of all the drivers of firms
operating in this market can answer the questions that must be
answered,” said Schumer. “I am
calling on New York State’s Departments of Motor Vehicle to
conduct a top-to-bottom review of
the driving credentials of the drivers of these low-cost tour buses to
ensure that only those eligible to
hold commercial driving licenses
are behind the wheel.”
There are well over one hundred
tour bus companies registered with
the Federal Motor Carriers Safety
Administration (FMCSA) operating in New York that transport tens
of thousands of travelers a month.
Schumer noted that, in New York
alone, the New York City Department of City Planning estimates that
curbside bus travel in the
Chinatown-area of Manhattan produces more than 2,000 arrival and
departures per week. Experts have
noted that in 2010 there had been
significant growth in the industry,
almost all of which comes from
curbside discount services.
Earlier this week, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo called for a
state inspector general review of
how the driver of the World Wide
Tour bus that crashed last week was
able to obtain a commercial drivers
license in New York State. Subsequently, the driver of the bus has
had his license suspended after it
was determined that his application
for a license contained false information. According to the Associated Press, the driver of the bus
was not permitted to drive because
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 25)
Rev. Al Sharpton, president of
National Action Network (NAN)
and one of the country’s foremost
leaders for civil rights, announced
that National Action Network will
mark it’s 20th anniversary April 69 in New York City.
A star-studded dinner honoring Muhammad Ali, Earvin
“Magic” Johnson, Samuel and
Latanya R. Jackson and others
will kick-off 3-days of powerful
workshops, seminars, and addresses that will be televised and
on live radio featuring top government officials, civil rights leaders and academicians.
Each year NAN hosts the convention to bring together influential leaders in civil rights, government, business and media to
focus on the issues most important in civil rights that year. Education, healthcare, youth violence
and social justice will be the major issues addressed at the 2011
convention.
The four day event, which
will honor the legacy of Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr., will
consist of a series of plenary
sessions, panels and special
events. Past panelists and
special guests have included
President Barack Obama, Vice
President Joseph Biden, President Bill Clinton, Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton, Secretary
of Education Arne Duncan,
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Sean
Donovan, Secretary of Health
and Human Services Kathleen
Sebelius, Speaker Newt
Gingrich, and many others.
During the Convention NAN
will host its 13th Annual Keepers of the Dream Awards on
Wednesday, April 6, 2011. The
awards - given each year in
April to mark the anniversary
of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s
death — honor those who
have continued to advocate for
the principles for which Dr.
King gave his life. The Keepers of the Dream awards are
given by members of the civil
rights community who have
committed themselves to fairness and racial harmony.
Magic Johnson Foundation promotes the health, social, educational
and physical well-being of urban
youth. Jim Brown’s Amer-I-Can
Foundation provides programs that
improve life-skills and community
services in the public school systems and through implementation of
community programs. All of the honorees have been tireless in their pursuit of opportunities for social justice and civil rights.
Rev. Al Sharpton
Among the honorees this
year are: Muhammad Ali;
Samuel and Latanya R. Jackson,
The Samuel and Latanya R.
Jackson Foundation; Sylvia
Rhone, President, Universal
Motown; Phil Griffin, President
MSNBC; Earvin “Magic”
Johnson, Magic Johnson Enterprises, Lee Saunders, Secretary-Treasurer of the American
Federation of State, County,
and Municipal Employees,
AFL-CIO; Lamell McMorris,
Founder, Perennial Strategy
Group, Perennial Sports and
Entertainment, and Perennial
Law Group; Jim Brown, NFL
Hall of Famer, Amer-I-Can Foundation. There will be a keynote
address by Dr. William Cosby.
Honorees are being highlighted
for various initiatives that foster
education, increase diversity and
inspire economic development.
Muhammad Ali will be honored for
his legacy as a champion, leader,
humanitarian, and artist. Through
their Foundation, Samuel &
Latanya R. Jackson have supported educational programs.
Phil Griffin, President of
MSNBC, has been a leader in the
communications business while
expanding current diversity initiatives at NBC Universal intended
to increase diversity in a wide
range of areas including programming and employment. Earvin
“Magic” Johnson has fostered
economic development in communities across the country and the
Throughout each day there will be
a number of panels and break-out
sessions taking place that will examine important issues in Labor, Education Reform, Politics, Housing,
Media, Healthcare, Youth, Black
Church, Education, Criminal Justice,
Labor, Gun Violence, Real Estate &
Foreclosures, Sports & Entertainment, and Black Empowerment. In
addition to the panels, there are also
a number of plenary sessions that
feature cabinet members and other
prominent individuals. In support of
NAN’s mission and its work to empower persons to achieve the American Dream, NAN’s Resource Center
will be free to the public and house a
plethora of resources from health
screenings to education and social
service materials and a job fair. Overall, the NAN Resource Center will
work to inform convention attendees with accurate information that
can be used immediately to help better their lives.
The convention will close with a
televised symposium entitled: Measuring the Movement: Black
Leadership’s 12-Month Action Plan
featuring Black leaders of constituencies across the country who will
for the second year assess where we
are and what they and their respective organizations will pledge to do
over a 12-month time-frame to further critical issues impacting people
of color including, but not limited to,
education reform, unemployment,
health care and more. The collective
will discuss the real problems and
how we will not only hold the President and Administration of the
United States accountable, but how
we will hold ourselves accountable
and tangibly measure our movement
over a 12-month period to enact
change.
Food Stamps and tax aid kept poverty rate in check
By Sam Roberts
Without a flood of food stamps
and tax benefits for low-income
families, about 250,000 more New
Yorkers would have slipped into
poverty at the height of the recession, according to calculations released Monday by city
officials.
As it was, while the federal
poverty rate for the city remained
about the same from 2008 to 2009,
17.3 percent, by a measure developed by the city it rose to 19.9
percent. The city takes into account factors the federal standard does not — higher local
costs of living and expenses for
health care, commuting and day
care, or the value of benefits like
food stamps, housing allowances
and tax credits that can supplement
cash income.
“To a large degree, economic
stimulus programs and policy initiatives aimed at bolstering family
income succeeded in preventing a
rise in poverty in New York City,”
according to the report by the
mayor’s Center for Economic Opportunity.
“Not every antipoverty program
meets its goals and deserves to be
protected,” the report by Dr. Mark
Levitan, the center’s director of
poverty research, says, “but calls
for across-the-board cutbacks to
programs that help low-income
families cannot be justified by the
assertion that when it comes to
poverty, ‘nothing works.’ ”
The center concluded that the
poverty rate would have been
three percentage points higher
without federal tax programs
passed in 2009 for low-income
families and an aggressive city
program to enroll New Yorkers
who were not receiving public
assistance but were eligible for
food stamps, coupled with higher
food stamp benefits.
The food stamp caseload grew
by 13.2 percent, or more than
100,000 cases, from 2008 to 2009
(and by nearly 29 percent among
two-parent families). With more
recipients and higher benefits, the
value of food stamps received by
city residents ballooned by nearly
39 percent from 2008 to 2009, to
$1.9 billion.
“This is an instance when I
agree wholeheartedly with the
mayor’s office,” said Joel Berg,
executive director of the ’New York
City Coalition Against Hunger.
“The added equivalent of income
to buy food has been a lifesaver.”
Dr. Levitan credited a combination of factors, including a federal
waiver of limits on assets of a food
stamps applicant, and the city’s
own efforts “to bring in more
people who are not the traditional
welfare population, but are more
the working poor.”
A deeper look at the poverty
rates showed that different groups
fared worse than others.
From 2008 to 2009, the poverty rate
soared from 31 percent to 35 percent
among single parents and also rose,
from 19.9 percent to 21.7 percent,
among working-age adults with only
a high school degree.
The poverty rate for children and
the elderly was nearly the same —
just below 24 percent.
The rate varied from 13.5 percent
among non-Hispanic whites to
nearly 25 percent among both Hispanic and Asian New Yorkers; both
groups have higher proportions of
immigrants who might have been ineligible for some programs that require citizenship or longer residency
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By Les Blough
Sen. Kervin Parker
Sen. Parker sentenced
to three-year probation
By J. Zamgba Browne
Special to NY Beacon
State Senator Kevin Parker
barley escaped jail term this week
and losing his seat in Albany
stemming from a conviction last
December on criminal mischief
charges. Instead, Supreme Court
Judge Neil Jon Firetog sentenced
him to three year probation.
The judge could have sentenced Sen. Parker to a two-year
jail term on two misdemeanor
counts for a scuffle he had with
a New York Post photographer.
A jury had convicted Parker on
two counts of criminal mischief
in relation to the May 2009 incident. The Senator reportedly
damaged the photographer’s
camera and vehicle.
The jury reached a verdict on
Dec. 7, 2010 and Parker was to
have been sentenced on Jan. 27,
2011. But due to record breaking
storm, the court couldn’t get the
matter and sentencing was postponed.
Sen. Parker was to have been
tried by the Brooklyn District Attorney, but the case was transferred to Staten Island District
Attorney due to conflict of interest.
At the last minute, it was dis-
covered that a Brooklyn prosecutor, Wynton Sharpe uninvolved in
the case happened to be a family
member of one of Parker’s political
rivals, Wellington Sharpe.
Sharpe was challenging Parker in
an upcoming Democratic primary
for the 21 st Senatorial District,
which includes Flatbush.
At the trial, photographer William
Lopez testified that his finger was
injured by the strap of his camera
after Sen. Parker wrestled it out of
his arms during the scuffle outside
the Senator’s home on Avenue H.
The photographer was assigned
to take the picture of Sen. Parker’s
home because it was reportedly
due to go into foreclosure. Parker
was apparently trying to prevent
the photographer from taking the
picture.
Staten Island Assistant District
Attorney Kathleen DiGiovanni,
head of the Career Criminals Unit,
said in her sentence memo that
Parker showed no remorse for his
actions, and she asked the judge
to consider the Senator’s history
of abusive behavior.
DiGiovanni recommended a 60day split sentence – 30 days in jail
and 30 days of post-release supervision as well as restitution of
$1,194 to the photographer for
damage of his car.
“We must be prudent. We know
what our political line is: We
don’t support invasions, or massacres, or anything like that no
matter who does it. A campaign
of lies is being spun together regarding Libya. The U.S. government is behind the campaign to
remove Qadhafi.” —-President
Hugo Chávez in a speech to university graduates in Venezuela
Venezuelan President Hugo
Chávez told South Americans on
VTV and TeleSur that the attack
on Libya by the West’s “men of
war” is aimed at seizing the North
African country’s oil reserves.
Earlier this month Chávez announced a peace plan, backed by
other Latin American presidents,
for Libya. Qaddafi accepted the
proposal but the rebels, armed by
the U.S., Israel and Saudi Arabia,
rejected the offer of foreign mediation for peace.
President Chávez condemned the military assault against
Libya in a televised address to
the nation, stating that the United
States and its European allies
are attacking the country to seize
its petroleum. He called the
assault against Libya by the U.S.,
France and others, “disgusting”.
He continued in his televised talk
to the nation.
“These are the men of war …
what irresponsibility. Behind this
is the hand of the United States
and its European allies, instead of
taking the path that we have
modestly proposed they choose
more death, more war. They are the
masters of war ... They want to
seize Libya’s oil. The lives of
President Hugo Chavez
Libya’s people don’t matter to them and unwarranted intervention in the
at all ... It is deplorable that once internal affairs of a sovereign
again the warmongering policy of state. He repeated that the war
the Yankee empire and its allies is now descending upon the Libyan
being imposed, and it is deplorable people is, ”another imposition of the
that the United Nations lends it- warmongering policies of the Impeself to supporting war, infringing rial Yankee and its allies” and called
on its fundamental principles in- it “... unfortunate, and it is
stead of urgently forming a com- unfortunate that the United
mission to go to Libya. We know Nations endorses the war, in conwhat’s going to happen: bombs, travention of its fundamental prinbombs, war, more suffering for the ciples.”
people, more death.”
Fidel Castro, and Evo
Chávez denounced the attack on Morales, President of Bolivia, Daniel
Libya as “pulverization” of international law and as a dangerous (CONTINUED ON PAGE 23)
Film legend Elizabeth Taylor
is dead at 79 in Los Angeles
Elizabeth Taylor, the violet-eyed
film goddess whose sultry screen
persona, stormy personal life and
enduring fame and glamour made
her one of the last of the old-fashioned movie stars and a template
for the modern celebrity, died
Wednesday at age 79.
She was surrounded by her four
children when she died of congestive heart failure at Cedars-Sinai
Medical Center, where she had
been hospitalized for about six
weeks, said publicist Sally
Morrison.
“My Mother was an extraordinary woman who lived life to the
fullest, with great passion, humor,
and love,” her son, Michael Wild-
ing, said in a statement.
“We know, quite simply, that the
world is a better place for Mom having lived in it. Her legacy will never
fade, her spirit will always be with
us, and her love will live forever in
our hearts.”
Taylor was the most blessed and
cursed of actresses, the toughest
and the most vulnerable. She had
extraordinary grace, wealth and voluptuous beauty, and won three
Academy Awards, including a special one for her humanitarian work.
She was the most loyal of friends
and a defender of gays in Hollywood when AIDS was still a stigma
Elizabeth Taylor
Support grows for national peace rally in NYC on April 9
More than 500 organizations
have now endorsed a national
peace protests in NYC on Saturday April 9 and 10 in San Francisco to protest the no-fly zone
imposed on Libya..
The NYC police recently finalized the permit for the April 9
march and rally, with the rally to
begin at noon at Union Square
in Manhattan.
UNAC is also opposing the
US’ role in imposing a no-fly
zone in Libya, which has include
US missile attacks.
The demonstrations have three
main priorities:
- To rebuild America during this
Great Recession by redirecting the
trillions of American tax dollars
spent on wars and corporate bailouts to fund programs for jobs,
education, health care, housing
and the environment.
- The immediate, total and unconditional withdrawal of all U.S.
troops, mercenaries and contractors from Afghanistan, Iraq and
Pakistan; and the immediate closing of all U.S. bases in those countries.
- Stop the government attacks on
trade unions, civil and democratic
rights, and immigrant communities.
Endorses of the April 9 rally
include Center for Constitutional
Rights, Muslim Peace Coalition
USA, 1199 SEIU, Veterans for
Peace, International Action Center, Pax Christi USA, Women’s International League for Peace and
Freedom, Fellowship of Reconciliation, Black Agenda Report, Code
Pink, American Muslim Association of North America. National
Assembly to End U.S. Wars and
Occupation, Islamic Leadership
Council of Metro NY, War Resisters League, Iraq Veterans Against
the War, Cynthia McKinney (
Former US Congresswoman &
2008 US Green Party Presidential
Candidate), and Cindy Sheehan.
SEIU 1199 United Healthcare
Workers East is the largest single
union in the US. Union President
George Gresham organized a presentation by Malik Mujahid of the Muslim Peace Coalition and Joe
Lombardo of UNAC to the 200-person 1199 executive board on Feb.
18. The leadership body voted to
endorse April 9 under the slogan,
“Money for Jobs, Not War.”
UNAC has actively been supporting the rebellions in North Africa and Wisconsin. The historic la(CONTINUED ON PAGE 23)
3
President Chávez, backed by S. American
presidents condemns the attack on Libya
Cong. Charles Rangel introduces
Universal National Service Act
4
City Comptroller John C. Liu
Liu starts Depart of Ed.
public demanded audits
City Comptroller John C. Liu
announces he has launched audits of two controversial technology programs run by the Department of Education (DOE). These
audits represent a small sample
of the many requests for audits
of DOE operations that the comptroller received at his “Audit
Town Hall” meetings held in all
five boroughs earlier this year.
“We conducted these Audit
Town Halls to hear from the public, the customers who are supposed to be served by government,” said Comptroller Liu.
“That New Yorkers are not shy
about speaking their minds helps
us do our job better, and in the
end improves city government.
“People came to the Audit
Town Halls with a lot of questions about how the Department of Education spends their
tax dollars,” said Deputy
Comptroller for Audit H. Tina
Kim. “We’ve seen before how the
City’s IT projects can run up exorbitant fees when they’re not
properly monitored.”
Based on a suggestion re-
ceived at the Manhattan Town
Hall, the Comptrollers’ Office
has started an audit of the
DOE’s Achievement Reporting
and Innovation System (ARIS).
In 2007 the DOE hired IBM to
develop ARIS, an $80 million
data collection system to track
students’ academic records in
unprecedented detail. Wireless
Generation, an IBM subcontractor, is credited with leading
ARIS’ development.
New Yorkers at both the Manhattan and Bronx Town Halls
also asked the Comptroller to
a u d i t t h e D O E ’s “ i Z o n e ”
project that was intended to increase the use of innovative
technologies in classrooms.
Early reactions to iZone’s efforts have been mixed.
In the coming months, Comptroller Liu will announce additional audits of City agencies
that were suggested by residents of the five boroughs.
The Comptroller’s Audit
Town Halls were attended by
530 New Yorkers who offered
190 ideas for audits.
Cong. Charles Rangel on
Thursday introduced the Universal National Service Act, commonly referred to as the draft bill,
ahead of the 8th anniversary of the
invasion of Iraq on Saturday,
March 19, 2011. The congressman,
a Korean War Veteran, has introduced similar legislation in the past
that addresses not only the need
for a more equitable military draft,
but also establishes a universal
requirement for National Service.
“The test for Congress, particularly for those members who support the war, is to require all who
enjoy the benefits of our democracy to contribute to the defense
of the country,” said Rangel. “So
few families have a stake in the war
because it is being fought by other
people’s children.”
Despite being called an “allvolunteer” army, Rangel notes
that economic reasons drive many
of our nation’s military recruits to
join the armed forces in addition
to patriotism.
“The largest segment of our
fighting force comes from large
urban centers with high unemployment, and from economically
depressed small towns,” said
Rangel. “This small portion of the
population forces many soldiers
to take multiple tours of duty,
sometimes as many as six deployments.”
H.R. 1152 would reduce the burden and sacrifice that the 1% of
the American population makes in
defending our nation by requiring
30 million people in the United
States between the ages of 18 and
25 to perform two years of national
service in either the armed services
or in civilian life.
“We make decisions about war
without worry over who fights
them. Those who do the fighting
have no choice; when the flag
Cong. Charles Rangel
goes up, they salute and follow
orders,” Rangel said.
Current statistics regarding the
well-being of our troops are staggering. Presently, 25% of all active
duty members in the Armed forces
suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress
Disorder (PTSD). The Army’s current suicide rate is at an all time
high, and the suicide rate in the
Marine Corps is even higher. This
is in addition to the 5,900 fallen
and 38,000 wounded soldiers as a
consequence of our operations in
Iraq and Afghanistan.
By mandating a two-year term
of national service, the Universal
National Service Act will improve
the well-being and vitality of our
nation’s servicemen and women
and will more effectively provide
for the defense of the United
States.
“The question of whether we
need a draft will be important as
long as this country is placing
thousands of its young men and
women in harm’s way,” said
Rangel.
According to Rangel, universal
national service would a positive
bonding experience for an entire
generation to give back to their
country.
“It’ll be the Peacecorps for our
own country. And we wouldn’t be
starting from scratch, but instead
building on the current community
service infrastructure that we have
through national programs like
Americorps or local initiatives like
NYC Serve,” said Rangel.
“From helping to rebuild New Orleans, providing security at our
nation’s ports, or working in areas
of extreme poverty in this country,
there are plenty of jobs that will not
only help our young adults learn
about their country, but also provide them with invaluable experiences and training that will enrich
their lives. “
The Universal National Service
Act Of 2011, originally introduced
as the nation prepared for the invasion of Iraq, would provide for:
A national service obligation—
either military or civilian—for every
citizen and permanent resident, male
and female, of the U.S., aged 18 to
25
Persons may inducted to perform
military service only if a declaration
of war is in effect, or if the President
declares a national emergency necessitating the induction of persons
to perform military service and immediately informs Congress of the
reasons for the declaration.
Defines “national service” as either military or civilian service as defined by the President that promotes
national or homeland security.
Give the President the authority
to establish the numbers of persons
to be selected for national service
and the means of selection.
Directs the President to prescribe
the regulations necessary to carry
out the act.
Deferments for education through
the age of 24 if they are full time students.
Deferments may be made for
physical or mental disability, or under claims of conscientious objector.
You can’t hide from these cameras
The owner of a car caught drivBy James Harper
Special to the NNPA from the ing through a red light where the
cameras are installed will receive a
Daytona Times
$158 citation. The state gets $83
The Rev. Victor Gooden and of the money and the city collects
his wife were involved in an acci- $75. Tickets will begin to be issued
dent in April 1991 on the corner on April 4.
Daytona Beach city officials
of Orange Avenue and Martin
Luther King Jr. Boulevard in have received permission from the
Florida Department of TransportaDaytona Beach.
Both he and his wife were in- tion for five locations it requested
jured by someone who ran a red to have red light cameras installed,
light at that intersection. At the according to the city’s public intime, there were no cameras and formation officer. The contractor
no way to identify who was driv- recently began installing cameras
ing the car. Gooden, who is an at International Speedway Bouleadvocate for cameras at intersec- vard and Clyde Morris. It takes
tions to catch red light runners, about two weeks to install five
related this story to Daytona cameras, which includes running
Beach commissioners at a meet- cable and pouring concrete for the
ing last October when they de- bases, said Susan Cerbone,
cided to approve installing cam- spokesman for the city of Daytona
eras at selected intersections Beach.
“There is a 30-day warning pethroughout the city.
The pastor said he is in sup- riod before notice of violations is
port of the program because he issued. The intersections were sebelieves that behavior can be lected based on crash data,” she
controlled. “Behavior is con- explained. The first five intersectrolled by guidelines and rules; tions are: Nova Road and US 92,
the commission sets the rules to Nova Road and George Engram
make it safer,” he said.
Boulevard, Nova Road and Mason
The camera captures a picture Avenue, Ridgewood Avenue (US
of a car’s license plate while it’s 1) and US 92; and Clyde Morris
running a red light. A fine is then Boulevard and US 92. Four of the
mailed to the owner of the car.
five intersections are located in the
Camera tickets in Daytona Beach
majority Black section of the city.
Some critics have raised concerns
about drivers who may be ticketed
unfairly due to the sensitivity of
the cameras.
“It’s about behavior modification. We are looking for people
that are blowing the red lights. The
objective is to reduce crashes,”
Daytona Beach Police Chief Mike
Chitwood told the commissioners.
Chitwood said the red light
cameras also would help catch
criminals. “If you do a drug
deal or rob a bank, you are not
stopping at that red light and
sometimes we don’t get any information other than it was a
blue car. If the car goes through
a red light, it gets the license plate
number... it gives us a starting point
that we may not have had to begin
with,” he said.
Daytona Beach City commissioners approved the installation of the
cameras last October with a vote of
5-2.
At least one Florida senator Rene
Garcia wants the red light law approved last year repealed and has
filed a bill to do so. The law is an
“unwarranted, big-brother initiative,” said Garcia, R-Hialeah in a
statement last month announcing
he had filed the bill (SB 672).
If Garcia’s bill were to pass, the
measure would require cameras be
removed from state roads by next
July. At least 50 communities in
Florida had red light cameras last
year.
The main objections have been
that the cameras violate drivers’ civil
liberties, a fear of wrongful ticketing, and that they gouge unsuspecting residents.A study released by
the Insurance Institute for Highway
Safety found that red light cameras
saved 159 lives during a four-year
period ending in 2008 in a study of
14 major U.S. cities.
For more information about
Daytona Beach’s red light camera
program, visit www.codb.us/news/
red-light-cameras.
5
6
Libya’s Gaddafi: Is there method in the madness?
By Gregg Reese
Special to the NNPA from Our
Weekly
On Saturday, March 12, an
American naval battle group anchored around the aircraft carrier
Enterprise gathered in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of civilwar-torn Libya, ready to provide
either humanitarian aid or military
intervention as the drama in that
polarizing nation unfolds.
This staging of military force is
reminiscent of another assembly
that occurred in the same region
on a March day in 1986 as the
United States faced off against
Muammar Gaddafi (alternately
spelled Gadhafi, Khaddafy, or
Kaddafi, etc.) who at 41 years in
office is the longest ruling nonroyal head of state. By virtue of
his garish wardrobe, his act of
granting asylum to notorious
Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, his
elite force of 40 virgin bodyguards
(known unofficially as the Amazonian Guard), his voluptuous
blonde Ukrainian nurse, his provocative proclamations, rumors of
his complicity in terrorist violence, his verbal provocations to
the West and overall eccentricity,
he has never remained out of the
media spotlight.
Gaddafi first came to power
when he and a cadre of junior officers overthrew King Idris I in
1969. In staging this coup, they
emulated Gamal Abdel Nasser’s
Egyptian Revolution of 1952,
which is viewed as a pivotal point
in both Arab history and Third
World politics because it inspired
the subsequent overthrow of several governments in the Middle
East. Gaddafi quickly adopted a
policy of opposition to the West,
and to America especially, earning the enmity of no less than
President Ronald Reagan, who
dubbed him “the mad dog of the
Middle East.” Throughout his
reign, questions have been raised
about his sanity, but he is undoubtedly a wily manipulator and
a master of political presentation,
alternately adopting the causes of
Pan-Africanism, Pan-Arabism,
and pro-socialism, as the needs
fit the situation to achieve his own
ends.
The production of oil in the
1960s transformed this traditionally impoverished nation into one
of the most affluent in the region,
and Gaddafi used this jackpot to
finance such radical military outfits as the Irish Republican Army
(IRA), the Palestine Liberation
Organization (PLO), and any
group considered oppositional to
imperialism. He also earned
American loathing, because of his
suspected culpability in a rash of
1981 terrorist bombings in France
and Italy.
Allegations of Libyan involvement in a series of airport
firefights and hijackings spurred
the U.S. deployment of warships
off Libya’s coast, leading to a series of armed engagements between aircraft and ships from both
forces on March 23, 1986. Libya
suffered the loss of several vessels and dozens of personnel.
Additionally, on April 5, 1986, a
2-kilogram bomb exploded in “La
Belle,” a West Berlin discotheque
frequented by off-duty African
American servicemen, which
prompted a U.S. airstrike in which
several Libyans died and one
American aircraft was shot down.
In the years following, a number
of international incidents further
strained international relations,
especially the 1989 detonation of
a bomb on a Pan Am flight over
Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all its
passengers and crew, along with
11 townspeople hit by debris as
the plane plunged to the earth.
The bomb contained Semtex, a
Czechoslovakia-manufactured
plastic explosive heavily exported
to Libya, raising suspicions that
Gaddafi was behind the attacks,
although the Libyan government
has always denied responsibility.
Regardless of the veracity of these
claims, Gaddafi has significant ties
within the American infrastructure.
The best known of these is arguably the one with another controversial figure, Minister Louis
Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam.
Farrakhan visited Libya and
Gaddafi in 1984, with a delegation
that included Jeremiah Wright,
President Barack Obama’s former
pastor. Gaddafi, in turn, made overtures to Farrakhan with a $5 million interest-free loan, and in 1996,
the promise of an outright gift of
$1 billion.
The Clinton administration
quickly moved to block the donation, in keeping with U.S. policy
preventing financial ties between
this country and Libya.
These provocative behaviors
may be balanced by the memory
of a $220,000 loan extended to
presidential sibling Billy Carter in
1979, a man who, aside from his
famous brother, Jimmy Carter, was
most prominently known for the
Muammar Gaddafi
prodigious amounts of beer he
drank. The loan was in exchange
for Billy’s role as a lobbyist for
unspecified Libyan business ventures within the U.S. A more troubling association is the one alleged
by American law enforcement involving ties to a South Side Chicago-based street gang led by Jeff
Fort. Starting out as the Black
Stone Rangers in the late 1950s,
the group metamorphosed over
the years into the Black P. Stone
Nation, and became affiliated with
the Civil Rights Movement in the
1960s. It also became one of the
early beneficiaries of affirmative
action projects, receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in
grants from President Lyndon
Johnson’s War on Poverty program. By the mid-1980s, the group
adopted an Islamic faction that
called itself the “El Rukn Tribe of
the Moorish Science Temple of
America,” or El Rukns for short.
Through police wiretaps, they
were linked to Gaddafi, who allegedly financed them and supplied
them with weapons, in a scheme
to carry out attacks on police stations, military bases, and other targets within the United States.
A contingent of El Rukn leaders supposedly made trips to
Panama and Libya to meet with
Gaddafi’s delegates.An enduring
bond American businessman
Jomo Salade (not his real name), a
longtime exporter of African artifacts, proclaims that much of the
bad press Gaddafi receives is a
result of the pro-African ties the
Libyan has pursued, noting his
long support of post-colonial
rebels, especially in South Africa.
Before one accepts the precept
that Gaddafi is Satan incarnate, the
possibility must be considered
that much of this reputation has
been fostered by a biased media
and the American tendency to
denigrate any regime not acting
within the parameters of Yankee
benefits and American interests.
Salade urged the perusal of media
outlets outside the sphere of U.S.
influence, including Chinese and
Russian news sources. Notably,
iconic activist Nelson Mandela
still fondly refers to Gaddafi as
“brother leader.” Mandela is said
to have been instrumental in
smoothing things diplomatically
in the aftermath of the Lockerbie
disaster, famously bypassing a
United Nations-sponsored air embargo to visit that beleaguered
nation in 1997.
Mandela has remained steadfast in his support of Gaddafi and
Libya, in remembrance of their previous support of him in his
country’s struggle against apartheid. This allegiance has continued in the presence of considerable criticism from normally cordial allies, including the United
States.
Mandela has summed up this
position with the following
statement: “This man helped us at
a time when we were all alone,
when those who say we should
not come here were helping the
enemy.”
Salade believes that much of the
dissent in Libya challenging the
Gaddafi regime comes from two
major factions.
Many within the younger generation have long been dissatis-
fied with the slow process of promised social reform. On the other end
of the spectrum, are the hard-line
Muslim fundamentalists, who resent Gaddafi’s efforts to make Libya
a secular state. This latter statement is an intriguing idea, since it
presents the novel notion of Gaddafi
as a moderate. It should also be
noted that Gaddafi has recently
blamed al Qaeda and Osama bin
Laden for the current uprising. In
keeping with his proclamations of
Pan-African solidarity, Gaddafi has
intervened to prevent the mistreatment of Black Africans who come to
find employment in Libya as “guest
workers,” and counts mercenaries
from the dark-skinned Tuareg nomadic tribesmen as a vital part of
his security force. The outcome of
the internal strife within Libya is still
up in the air. In spite of a moratorium freezing much of this volatile
head of state’s assets across the
globe, he is by all accounts beating
back the opposition and retaking the
territory initially lost. Gaddafi reportedly still has vast fortunes in
the currency of various nations
socked away in the country, at banks
and covert locations, along with
substantial funds in the accounts
of family members and trusted minions throughout the world. The accessibility of such a fluid war chest
will likely impact this resilient Middle
Eastern strongman’s ability to sustain national control.
The current turmoil in the Middle
East remains a focal point, because
so much dissension is occurring
within a small geographic region
during a short period of time.
Within a few weeks, instability
has emerged in Algeria, Bahrain,
Djibouti, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Oman,
Tunisia, Yemen, and escalated into
major insurrections in Egypt and
now Libya.
Root factors behind this mass
dissatisfaction vary from country to
country, yet there is a commonality
within this region, which was
shaped by the aftermath of World
War II, says James L. Gelvin, a professor of history at UCLA specializing in the Middle East.
Most of this region has teetered
on crisis—when not stabilized by
authoritarian rule, often imposed by
outside influences or the dictates of
global powers spurred by the allure
of natural resources. Among the
reasons for the present unrest: First
and foremost is the breakdown of
the social compact between governments and the population. Most of
these governments, be they monarchies, populist regimes, etc., were
shaped by the postwar machinations of western powers, because
of the economic advantages the area
offered, including admission to the
region through the strategically important Suez Canal, which connects
the Mediterranean and the Red
seas. But, most important is ready
access to the lucrative oil fields.
Internally, the populations of
these countries benefited from extensive social support systems, in
the way of government subsidies
such as consumable goods and
other financial assistance. Governments provided staples including
education, employment, healthcare,
and so on. Gelvin elaborates: All
the governments were committed to
national planning, nationalism,
strong state intervention into the
economy, and were welfare states
providing their citizens with a num(CONTINUED ON PAGE 25)
By Joy Childs
t o r, A p r i l 11 , 1 9 1 3 . )
The
Special to the NNPA from the L.A. Liberator’s masthead read, “DeWatts Times
voted to the cause of good government and the advance of the
As readers know, newspaper Afro-American.” Even shortly
readership is dwindling because after his death in 1914, the Black
of competition from online media. Press apparently had a signifiNotwithstanding the shrinkage, cant role in his life, as a topic in
the Black newspaper has played his funeral program read “The
and continues to play a critical Negro Press and Its Struggle.”
and relevant role in the commuTheir Purpose, Then and
nity for at least one important rea- Now While Black newspapers
son: For their its history, Black no longer tout the advantages
newspapers have addressed and of migration or publicize from an
responded to the needs of Blacks. anti-slavery point of view, a
In light of Black Press Week, the c o m m o n t h r e a d t h a t r u n s
L.A. Watts Times is giving read- through Black newspapers is a
ers a look at the evolution of the rather simple one: to print inforBlack newspaper and its current mation of interest to Black folk.
state. In a 1982 article in Ebony Black publishers could tell you
Jr., Managing Editor Mary C. that they’re filling this void by
Lewis wrote about “The Birth of providing information that inthe Black American News,” writ- terests their communities. For
ing:
example, the Arizona Informant,
“Black newspapers were born which has been around since
to be giants; the times demanded 1958, is now owned by the famit of them. So much needed to be ily of Cloves C. Campbell, Jr.,
said in those times: about the hor- whose family acquired the Phoerible facts of slavery and its nix-based publication in 1971.
shameful way of chaining human
Campbell contends that, “daibeings’ bodies, minds and lives; lies don’t want to — can’t —
about the unequal way free Blacks cover issues of importance to
received (or didn’t receive) edu- Blacks … We have our point of
cation, housing, and jobs; about view on news that you don’t get
the brave struggle Blacks made from The Arizona Republic or
their lives; and about the laws
being made that would weigh
Blacks’ futures.”
But, there was no one to tell
those stories — that is, until 1827,
when Freedom’s Journal was
founded by John B. Russworm,
who was the first Black graduate
of an American college, and writer
Samuel Cornish. Their expressed
purposes for the journal were: (1)
to publicize from an anti-slavery
point of view and (2) to print information of interest to Black folk.
Along with these purposes, another was to encourage migration.
Robert Sengstacke Abbott
founded the Chicago Defender
newspaper in 1905, according to
the publication’s website, which
boasts that by the start of World
War I, it was the nation’s most
influential Black weekly newspaper. That, it turns out, is historically significant: During the war,
the paper used its considerable
influence in support of The Great
Migration, its website says.
It continued: The Defender extolled the virtues of life up North,
published job listings and featured train schedules — and was
distributed by Pullman porters to
assist in migrant relocation.
Robert Sengstacke Abbott
These efforts were celebrated, as
May 15, 1917, was even desig- CNN or Fox …” He adds, “The quality of life — that they won’t
nated Great Northern Drive day. biggest value (of the paper) is get elsewhere.”
House, who was named to
The Defender added that it was the fact that you record the
largely due to its support of The Black history of Arizona every head the paper in 2008, came
to the Defender with a vision
Great Migration that Southern week.”
And as a Black publisher, to “create an integrated platreaders relocated in droves to
Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, and Campbell says that he can say form that includes Web, events
even New York. At about the what he wants to say and “give marketing, and traditional print
same time, migration from the his writers more latitude than a advertising.” He acknowlSouth to the West Coast was be- daily paper to get the perspec- edges that while the paper’s
ing encouraged by Jefferson L. tive of our readers …” Michael c o r e a u d i e n c e i s s t i l l t h e
House, the Chicago Defender’s hardcore reader who typically
Edmonds, a newspaperman.
A publisher of two Black publisher and president, echoes have not embraced the Internet,
newspapers — the Pasadena Campbell’s views, saying that the paper does have a digital
Searchlight and the Liberator what brings him joy in his role and online presence to serve
— Edmonds is credited with is that the Black press is serv- the needs of its younger readchampioning the idea that “op- ing the Black community’s ers. As he sees it, “We have
portunities for material ad- needs by conveying informa- the best of both worlds.” A Revancement are greater in Cali- tion that’s “relevant and that vitalized Black Newspaper Enfornia” and that “the kindly provides them with information vironment Today, nearly 200
feelings existing between the on which they can base deci- Black newspapers across the
races in this city is nowhere sions about business, health, country comprise the National
surpassed.” (From The Libera- crime — those that impact the Newspaper Publishers Asso-
Danny Bakewell
Cloves C. Campbell
ciation (also known as the
Black Press of America).
Campbell says, “There’s a revitalized Black Press under the leadership of Danny Bakewell, Sr. …
Our heyday was in the ’80s and
early ’90s, but corporations tried
to kill us off … Bakewell has got
us focused again on what’s important: unity and the news …
Under him, we’ve gotten our
swag back, as the young people
say!” Campbell feels that too
often, “White publications focus on the bad …” and that
“There’s enough coverage from
the White press about the bad,
it’s the inherent responsibility
(of the Black press) to point
out the good …”
Danny J.
Bakewell, Sr., executive publisher
and CEO of the Los Angeles Sentinel and L.A. Watts Times, points
to the longstanding and supportive role of the Black Press in the
struggle for civil rights when he
states that, “Whatever stature
and appreciation and influence
that I have in this country as well
as in Los Angeles, I owe to the
Black Press. They have always
carried what I’ve done as well as
what other” civil rights leaders
have done. He added that the
press has covered any and every other Black person of stature in the African-American community.
Bakewell noted that, “There’s
simply no Black civil rights
l e a d e r, t h e r e ’s n o b u s i n e s s
l e a d e r, t h e r e ’s n o r e l i g i o u s
leader, there’s no politician that
has reached their station in life
in the community without coming through the Black Press.”
The Black Press: Then and now
7
8
Editorial
Poor children are stranded at sea
New York
By Marian Wright Edelman
Child Watch
Beacon
Walter Smith: Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
Miatta Haj Smith: Co-Publisher & Executive Editor
William Egyir: Managing Editor
Nuclear: The other ‘N’ word
By Gary L. Flowers
NNPA Columnist “…have no
fear for atomic energy, for none
of [it] can’t stop the
time…”
Bob Marley (Redemption
Song)
Within the African
American community, contrary
to conventional wisdom, there
are two “N” words: Nigger and
nuclear. Both words conjure a
cacophony of good, bad, and
ugly feelings among Black
people.
For example, egregiously degrading as White supporters of
American slavery conceived
the word “nigger”, African
Americans, until the recent
past, have used the term in affectionate ways, amazingly to
linguistically turn a terrible
term upside down for the positive. What Whites meant for
evil, Blacks extracted good.
Yet, when corporate executives, sports commentators,
and movie stars were accidentally caught using “nigger” to
describe African Americans
during the past 20 years the
ugliness of America’s unresolved open racial wound was
exposed.
The other “N” word in the
African community is nuclear.
Similar to the word nigger,
when “nuclear” is mouthed
good, bad, and ugly emotions
surface. For many African
Americans over 70 years old
any discussion of nuclear energy horrifically harkens their
thoughts to the nuclear bombs
dropped on Japanese cities of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August of 1945. Not before, and
not since, has the world seen
such massive destruction than
when America bombed Japan to
end World War II.
The partial meltdown of
nuclear reactors in Three Mile
Island in Pennsylvania and
Chernobyl, Russia in the 1970’s
and 1980’s served to scare
many people of the catastrophic
potential of nuclear reactors.
I remember working on a legal
case in 1995 with the Lawyers’
Committee for Civil Rights Under Law in which spent nuclear
rods were proposed to be buried in Homer, Louisiana (the
largest concentration of African Americans in the region).
Local residents were petrified
by the thought of nuclear matter being anywhere near their
houses. I vividly remember a
Black woman telling the team
from the Lawyers’ Committee
office that she did not want to
“light up like a Christmas tree”
because of radioactive nuclear
rods.
Yet, in many ways, the dilemma that all humans must address in providing energy for
global nations is what source
of energy is most efficient and
least lethal to people. All
known energy sources have
their good qualities and bad
ones. According to a consensus of world scientists, for example, extracting, processing,
and burning oil and gasoline
for automobiles and industrial
machines is expensive and
contributes to global warming.
Similarly, coal is abundant but
when burned to provide electricity emits toxic gases that
erode the earth’s ozone layer
that supports life. The science
of harnessing the power of
solar and wind energy has not
developed enough to solely
supply the energy needs of six
billion people currently living
on earth or beyond. The future of energy production will
most likely be comprised of
more than one energy source.
In such a context nuclear energy has the potential to be
very good and very bad as an
energy source.
On the good side, apart from
the effects of natural disasters
such as earthquakes, and the
issue of storage, nuclear energy can be a powerful, clean,
and efficient form of energy.
For example, 80% of the energy needs of France is provide by nuclear reactors. The
bad side is occurring in Japan
today.
The history of nuclear technology can be akin to the development of aeronautical science: over time, it becomes
safer. Airplanes of the 20 th
As Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Julia Cass prepared the recent Children’s Defense Fund’s
report “Held Captive”: Child Poverty in America, she traveled to the
Mississippi Delta, the ravaged cities of New Orleans and Baton
Rouge in Louisiana, and the birthplace of the suburban American
dream in Long Island, New York to
see several different sides of contemporary American child poverty.
Despite the different circumstances children in these diverse
communities faced, Cass found
that there was something very familiar about the effects of child
poverty everywhere she looked.
The report’s title came from 13year-old Audrey, who Cass met in
rural Lambert, Mississippi.
Cass heard Audrey say something “that captures the feeling of
poverty that only those caught in
it know and that could have been
said by most all the children I met
while researching this report. I remarked that Audrey seemed isolated in this decaying town where
34.5 percent of households live in
poverty. ‘Yeah,’ she said, ‘Isolated.
Remote island. Held captive.’”
For Cass, Audrey’s words summed
up a particular truth about poor
children’s lives. Cass found that
most of the young children she
talked to wished most for “ordinary things or experiences that
most children who are not poor take
for granted. Jillian, 8, who lives
with her parents and brother in a
single motel room in Hempstead,
N.Y., described the bedroom she
wants—real big, purple, with a pink
princess bed and purple and white
shelves for Barbie dolls. Jason, 9,
has lived in 11 places in his short
life and now stays in a homeless
shelter in New Orleans.
He wishes he could be ‘in an
actual house with my own room
and closet and stuff’ and be on a
swimming team and go to the
beach and surf.” But, being “held
captive” on the “remote island” of
poverty, as Audrey describes it, puts
even what may seem like ordinary
childhood experiences impossibly
out of reach. As Cass says: “For
poor children... poverty means more
than money. For them, it can be a
life sentence of exile from the larger
society... Poor children and children
who are not poor live in utterly different worlds.”
Cass continues: “All parents, no
matter how much money they have,
need all the help they can get to raise
happy, productive children, but parents who are not poor have more
time and money to invest in them.
They raise their children in decent,
safe neighborhoods, send them to
good schools, take them on trips,
buy them books, bicycles and computers, get them counseling or tutoring if they need it, and music, or
art lessons if they want them. They
read to them and become involved
in their school and other activities.
They do this because they know it
makes a difference, and even in
tough economic times, they struggle
to offer extras to their children. Think
of it this way: Children who are not
poor live on land. They can see the
horizon and make choices and plans
as they move forward into the future. They have opportunities, experiences and supports unknown
by poor children. They are on the
playing field.”
But, Cass says, “Poor children
swim in a sea of poverty. It is all
they know. They go to inferior
schools and day care centers where
everyone around them is poor.
They live in poor, rundown, unsafe
neighborhoods. Compared to other
children, they are exposed to more
family turmoil, violence, instability,
and chaotic households. They are
read to infrequently by their undereducated parents, watch more TV,
and have less access to books and
computers. Their parents and almost everyone they know are poor
and struggling. They lack nutritious
food. They receive less social support. Most cannot see land no matter how hard they paddle. They give
State of Black America:
Town Hall to explore jobs of the future
By Marc H. Morial
To Be Equal
Next Thursday, I invite you to
join the debate about the number
one issue facing the nation – the
deep and persistent jobs crisis
that has been especially devastating in urban communities of
color. As part of the National Urban League’s annual Legislative
Policy Conference in Washington,
D.C., we will convene a free State
of Black America town hall meeting on March 31st, from 10 a.m. to
noon at Howard University’s
Cramton Auditorium.
A panel of notable policy experts, scholars, and journalists
will lead a public dialogue about
ways to end the jobs crisis in our
communities. But, the most important voices invited to this meeting
belong to you – the student struggling to pay college tuition, the
father who lost his job six months
ago and is wondering if he will
ever be able to support his family
again, the single mother having to
choose between child care and
health care for her kids.
The great recession has seen a
loss of more than eight million
jobs. Many of those jobs are in
declining industries and may
never return. According to a recent CNN Money news report,
“Home building lost nearly 1 million jobs since the start of 2008,
while the auto industry shed
300,000 manufacturing jobs due to
plant closings. The finance and
real estate sectors lost more than
500,000 jobs.” Unfortunately,
many of those lost jobs are never
coming back.
That is why the discussion
about bringing jobs back to urban America must focus on ensuring that people in our communities are educated, trained, and
have access to the jobs of the
future.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics
(BLS) projects that between 2008
and 2018, the industries projected
to produce the largest number of
new jobs are health care and social assistance, and professional
and business services. And,
nearly half of all new jobs created
during those years will require
some type of post-secondary
education. Because of high dropout rates and low college graduation rates in communities of color,
it is projected that 70 percent of
prime working age African American adults and 80 percent of Hispanics will lack the requisite education for almost 40 percent of projected new jobs.
Clearly, immediate action is
needed to turn this picture
around. The National Urban
League’s 12-point Blueprint for
Quality Job Creation offers several
powerful remedies, including a plan
to boost minority participation in
emerging Broadband and Green Industries. We also call on Congress
to reform, revise, and reauthorize
the Workforce Investment Act to
focus on preparing and retraining
workers for 21st century jobs by targeting young adults with less than
college education as well as high
school dropouts and older workers
whose jobs were eliminated by the
recession. We must also do more
to reverse troubling recent trends
in minority high school dropout
and college enrollment rates.
These are just some of the
ideas that will be discussed at the
March 31 st town hall meeting.
We need your input too. If you
can’t attend in person, the event
will be webcast live at www.nul.org
beginning at 10am ET. You can also
join the conversation on
Twitter@NatUrbanLeague using
# SOBA11 or on Facebook. Marc
H. Morial is the president and CEO
of the National Urban League.
9
Pointless shootout between Jalen Rose and Grant Hill
By George E. Curry
NNPA Columnist
Forty-five years ago, Texas
Western University’s all-Black
starting lineup defeated No. 1ranked University of Kentucky
all-White basketball team for the
1966 NCAA Men’s Basketball
Championship.
The gaame, played at the
University of Maryland’s Cole
Field House on March 19, 1966,
sent major White universities
scouring the country for African-American players, literally
changing the face of college
basketball. Pat Riley, a member of Adolph Rupp’s losing
team and former coach of the
Los Angeles Lakers, was a
member of the Kentucky team
that lost 72-65.
Jerry Bruckheimer, who made
“Glory Road,” a movie about
the game, told the El Paso
Times: “Pat Riley told me this
great story that Magic Johnson
came into his office when he
was coach of the Lakers and
said, ‘Had not David Lattin
dunked that ball over you, I
wouldn’t be in here [the
NBA].’”
Judging from the controversy created by former Uni-
versity of Michigan and Chicago
Bulls basketball star Jalen Rose,
one would be forgiven if he or
she thought that Michigan’s allfreshmen and all-Black “Fab
Five” played in the most historic
college games.
They didn’t. The team made it
to the NCAA finals twice, losing
each time. The 1991 University
of Michigan freshmen basketball
players were considered the
greatest class ever recruited.
They included Jalen Rose and
Chris Webber, of Detroit, Juwan
Howard, of Chicago, and, Texas
standouts, Jimmy King and Ray
Jackson.
In addition to being talented,
they were brash, talked trash, and
popularized baggy gym shorts
and shaved heads.
But, it was Rose’s comments
in a documentary that he produced about the Fab Five that
created a controversy that has
gone into overtime. In the documentary, Rose said, “For me,
Duke was a person. I hated
Duke, and I hated everything
Duke stood for. Schools like
Duke don’t recruit players like
me. I felt that they only recruited
players that were Uncle Toms.”
First, Rose’s statement isn’t
true. Second, even if it were,
they were exceptionally talented
Uncle Toms, defeating Michigan all four times the Fab Five
faced Duke, including one national championship game.
To his credit, Rose later said
that was the view he held of
Duke at the time, not today.
Former Duke star Grant Hill
answered Rose in a New York
Times op-ed.
“It was a sad and somewhat
pathetic turn of events, therefore, to see friends narrating
this interesting documentary
about their moment in time and
calling me a bitch and worse,
calling all black players at Duke
‘Uncle Toms’ and, to some
degree, disparaging my parents
for their education, work ethic
and commitment to each other
and to me,” said Hill, who now
plays for the Phoenix Suns.
Calvin Hill, a Yale graduate, had
a successful NFL career as a
running back for the Dallas
Cowboys. His wife is an attorney.
Rose said his father was an
NBA player who had no role in
his life. Largely left out of the
public controversy was the
clear impression that Rose hungered for a family unit that included his father. Without that,
however, he played on his image of a kid who grew up on
the rough streets of Chicago.
Michael Wilbon, who covered
both Hill and Rose as a columnist for the Washington Post and
now share duties with Rose as
ESPN commentators, knows
both men well.
“Trust me, Grant Hill and
Jalen Rose ain’t all that different,” Wilbon wrote. “They’re a
lot more alike than they are dissimilar, even if they did come
from different sides of the
tracks. And, right now, way too
much is being made of the fact
that they did. Calvin Hill,
Grant’s father, was no more an
‘Uncle Tom’ for providing every opportunity and advantage
for his kids than Rose would be
now for providing every opportunity and advantage for his. It’s
called the American Dream, and
the only real difference here is
the Hills grabbed hold of it a generation before the Roses.”
New York Times columnist
Bill Rhoden, a graduate of Morgan State University, in Baltimore, had an interesting take on
the war of words.
“My view about the Fab Five,
then and now, was that these
young men had chosen the right
pew but had gone to the wrong
church. Seen through the prism
of black power and empowerment, and also from the point of
view of one who attended a black
college, the Fab Five had simply
made a wealthy white institution
wealthier and had missed a grand
opportunity to catapult a historically black college or university
to the mountaintop of March
Madness.”
He continued, “Did Rose
have any idea of the impact
they would have had on history had they elected to attend
a historically black college or
university? Yes, the stage
would have been smaller, television nonexistent, at first.
But the novelty of their act and
then the courage of what they
represented would have attracted attention. The Fab Five
would have been the story of
March Madness, not simply a
spectacle.”
George E. Curry, former
e d i t o r- i n - c h i e f o f E m e rg e
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.
At last, Africa is really on the move
By Harry C. Alford
Beyond The Rhetoric
It has been three years
since we last visited an African nation. Judging from
our latest report much
progress has been made.
According to our Vice President of Special Programs,
Charles DeBow, “cranes are
everywhere”. That is a great
indicator as the construction
of new buildings, plants, etc.
means economic growth and
jobs.
Chuck has just returned
from a 10-day trade mission
to Ghana, Kenya, and Ethiopia and his optimism is immense. The trade mission
was organized by the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce,
which is having a fresh look
at Africa and likes what it
sees.
Each of these nations has
a written plan as to how it is
going to grow and create a
middle class amongst its
population. They each recognize that education and
commerce must go hand in
hand. Ethiopia for example
currently has nine current but
has another 10 universities
under construction. As businesses are created and grow,
they will have an educated
workforce to blend into the
growth. The Internet and the
growth of mobile phones are
making the potential for
growth immense.
Like the United States, energy will be the lifeblood of
this growth. Ghana has recently discovered oil and is
currently processing it. Ethiopia probably has the largest
potential for oil but has yet to
explore for it. Kenya has a
smooth system for importing
its oil needs. Electric plants
are immensely needed and this
will require a lot of capital.
Alternative energy such as
windmills, bio-mass, etc. are
being utilized also.
But, the key will be massive
electrical power stations and
all three nations are starting to
address that need.
As with any other part of the
world, China is there meddling. This nation does not
play by the rules and is trying
to compete with the United
States, and everyone else,
through monopoly and malfeasance. The most stunning example is the following. Presi-
dent George W. Bush was
very kind to Africa. He
signed the Africa Growth
and
Opportunity Act
(AGOA) and implemented
the Millennium Challenge Account, which awards billions
of dollars for infrastructure
to African nations that exhibit true democracy and
good governance.
The big problem with the
Millennium Challenge Account is that there were no
stipulations that American
businesses must be used in
the process. Thus, when
Ghana was awarded the first
round of funding for the program China ran in. No company, Ghanaian, U.S. or otherwise would be able to
compete with China when
the contracts were released.
So, when the bidding for the
new George W. Bush Highway went into action China
won. How did they do it?
There is no cost of labor.
China has brought in prisoners from the nation and
has made them slaves doing
construction labor in
Ghana. Imagine that, 21 st
century and now slaves are
being imported to Africa.
Have you gotten back up yet?
What’s worse after their sentences are up they must stay
in Ghana for the rest of their
lives, i.e. exiled from their
homeland. Our State Department has done nothing about
this and it is time to hold them
accountable.
How can United States tax
money be used to sponsor slavery?
In regards to AGOA, China
and the U.S. textile industry
encouraged the Congressional
Black Caucus to make an
amendment to it. In order to
qualify for duty free imports
from Africa you no longer
have to use African raw materials in regards to textiles.
Thus, China sends its cotton
to Africa after it has been processed by prison slaves.
The end product such as
pants, coats and dresses arrive to America duty free with
labels saying “Made in
Kenya”, “Made in Uganda”,
etc. What has happened is
that cotton farmers in various
African nations have been put
out of business. What President George W. Bush has
done for Africa is truly beautiful. We should not let a
shameless nation like China
mess it up and cause harm to
our Motherland. It is important that the delivery of these
programs is consistent with
the true intent. There is too
much at stake here and we
should be the vanguards.
Of the three nations visited,
Kenya is the busiest. However,
Ghana and Ethiopia also have
it going on. It is up to us to
have American companies invest and explore the opportunities in this rich continent.
IBM has now put up 16 facilities and is looking to greatly
expand from that. Newmont
Mining has produced more
than $2 billion in revenue in its
first few years in Ghana. Africa, the “Last Frontier” will be
no frontier much longer but a
part of the new and better
modern world.
To read our written report on
the Africa Trade Mission go to
the National Black Chamber of
Commerce website.
M r. A l f o r d i s t h e c o f o u n d e r, p re s i d e n t / C E O o f
the National Black Chamber
o f C o m m e rc e ® . We b s i t e :
www.nationalbcc.org Email:
[email protected]
www.twitter.com/nationalbcc
Opinion
10
African Scene
AFRICOM goes
to war in Africa
The US Africa Command is
now at war on the continent of
Africa. And not surprisingly,
the war is about oil.
“R2P” – Responsibility to
Protect – is the Obama
regime’s favored formula for
pouring mud in the otherwise
clear waters of international
law. The philosophy – actually,
a political position seeking legal recognition – amounts to a
kind of super-power judicial
waiver couched in the language of nobles oblige, the
obligation of the strong to help
the weak. In the real world, the
strong only help themselves –
in this case, to Libya’s oil reserves, the largest in Africa.
(Glen Ford)
The US is starting its war
from its seabase.
Libya is among the world’s
largest oil economies with approximately 3.5% of global oil
reserves, more than twice
those of the US.
An invasion of Libya under
a humanitarian mandate would
serve the same corporate interests as the 2003 invasion and
occupation of Iraq. The underlying objective is to take possession of Libya’s oil reserves,
destabilize the National Oil
Corporation (NOC) and eventually privatize the country’s
oil industry, namely transfer
the control and ownership of
Libya’s oil wealth into foreign
hands.
Libya is a Prize Economy.
“War is good for business”. Oil
is the trophy of US-NATO led
wars.
Wall Street, the AngloAmerican oil giants, the US-EU
weapons producers would be
the unspoken beneficiaries of
a US-NATO led military campaign directed against Libya.
(Michel Chossudovsky)
It authorizes air strikes,
drone strikes, cruise missile
attacks on ground targets. The
only thing that is expressly excluded is a foreign military occupation force, but that is a
carefully drafted distinction
from an invading force. When
the United States invaded Haiti
in 1994 it had 24,000 troops
there in Haiti. We always maintained that this was
not a foreign military occupation force. So there is legally a
distinction between invading
and occupying. So technically,
under this resolution, even
ground troops can be deployed
to Libya.
The workings of the imperial
brain are plainly visible in the
output of the corporate press,
which act as ventriloquist
dummies to power. Suddenly,
the media have all undergone
a crash course in the intractable nature of Libyan tribal
politics – a subject until now
totally unknown to the western
press. After a quick education
from the State Department and
designated think tankers, corporate media dutifully prepare
the public for the possible drawing of an American “line in the
sand” somewhere before the
gates of Benghazi
“The West is clearly considering the ‘option’ of partitioning Libya.”
Western reporters, who are
such quick studies when it
comes to tribalism and other
perceived pathologies of exotic, non-western peoples, have
not yet figured out who the
rebels are, politically.
The western media, and the
governments they serve, are
caught in crossfire of contradictions. The U.S. wants desperately to position itself on the
“right” side of some aspect of
the
unfolding
Arab
Reawakening. The West dearly
wishes to appropriate to itself
a section of the “Arab revolt,”
so as to bomb an evil “dictator” on their behalf. The western media’s job is to do the public relations work, presenting
these “pro-western” combatants in the most attractive light.
However, it appears the media
are having trouble packaging
the Libyan rebels as sufficiently
virtuous “freedom fighters” –
one suspects because, on
closer inspection, many turn
out to be fundamentalists or
tribalists.
Partition and dismemberment
of countries with independent
governments has been a strategy that the U.S., British and
French governments employed
in the Kurdish region of Iraq
after the 1991 war, in Yugoslavia in the mid-1990’s, and recently in Sudan, which until
January was Africa’s largest
country. Of course, the biggest
prize for imperialist expansion
through the act of dismemberment was the break-up of the
Soviet Union in 1991. For decades during the so-called Cold
War the U.S. government, and
especially the Central Intelligence Agency, crusaded on
behalf of the “captive nations”
of the Soviet Union. Its breakup was immediately followed by
the eastward expansion of the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the incorporation of
the western and southern republics of the former Soviet
Union into the U.S. sphere of
influence.
The breakup or de facto partition of Libya would be a great
historical tragedy for the
people, but would become a
boon for all of the western oil
giants.
At the very moment that the
Muammar Gaddafi
Laurent Gbagbo
Gaddafi, Gbagbo show disregard to AU
Two les enfants terrible have
African leaders wringing hands.
They are Libya’s Muammar
Gaddafi and Cote d’Ivoire’s
Laurent Gbagbo.
Gbagbo’s notoriety reached a
high with a rejection of presidential elections results last year.
In a rare occurrence, the AU, the
UN, which organised the delayed
elections, the EU, and other observers unanimously declared
Alassane Ouattara the winner.
Well, Gbagbo assumed superiority of judgement. He had won.
Yet the same Gbagbo was primarily the cause of the presidential
elections delays and a civil war
that split the country.
African leaders’ actions were fast
but withered as fast. The Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, suspended
Cote d’Ivoire and threatened
forceful ouster, the CFA currency
union’s central bank in Senegal
froze Cote d’Ivoire’s account, and
the AU suspended the country.
Gbagbo remains defiant. Sporadic violence has continued,
claiming up to 400 lives by some
accounts.
Last week, Gbagbo again rejected AU’s Peace and Security
Council proposals to end the crisis. Ouattara’s consolation: still
president-elect.
Undeterred, the AU now plans
a committee to pay homage to
Gaddafi. Incidentally, Gaddafi and
comrade-in-terrorising-citizens,
Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, are
council members. Hello peace and
security!
Nearly four weeks ago, a substantial section of Libyans copied their neighbours in Tunisia
and Egypt.
They went to the streets to demand an end to Gaddafi’s 42-year
dictatorial rule. Unlike the ousted
Tunisian and Egyptian presidents
who had rigged elections, Gaddafi
never pretended to allow any.
The adjectives Gaddafi used to
describe the demonstrators
showed the intensity of the contempt he has for opponents. L’état
ces moi!
He sent police and soldiers to
kill the «impudent» citizens. A rebellion erupted. It was all weaponry go!
The Arab League, Gaddafi’s
other hat, condemned violence
against peaceful demonstrators.
The League could do little about
Gaddafi’s money. The biggest
chunk is in institutions in the “imperialists” capitals.
What’s in Arab countries and
Africa, the continent he strives to
be “king” of once the envisioned
United States of Africa came into
being, if ever, is peanuts.
Additionally, by butchering in-
stead of negotiating with his opponents, Gaddafi carries the ignominy
of forcing the League to ask the “imperialists” to intervene in an Arab
state.
On Saturday, the League endorsed
a no-fly zone that some countries in
the West favour but fear an Arab
and African backlash.
They already have frozen
Gaddafi’s assets and insisted he
must step down, which only one
African president has done.
Combined, Gaddafi and Gbagbo
have exposed again the AU and the
League as, at best, useless. “Paper
Tigers,” the late Chairman Mao
Zedong would say.
It’s obvious the AU and the
League are incapable of persuading,
let alone discipline, their les enfants
terrible, even when consensuses of
wrongdoing exist. So, after warnings
go unheeded, why not let the “imperialists” loose and fast?
After Rwandan rebels ended
genocide in their country and
Burundians were still fighting,
Uganda’s President Yoweri
Museveni told a news conference
in Entebbe:
“We have told them (Burundians)
if there’s genocide, we are going in.”
No genocide occurred. In any
case, as US President Barak Obama
said in his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, “Some wars are necessary.”
Zimbabwe law draws a bead on Coke
Special to the NNPA from the GlN
Opposition critics in Zimbabwe are lambasting a government
takeover threat announced by
President Robert Mugabe of
close to 800 companies who fail
to practice “affirmative action”
and give locals 51 percent ownership of company shares.
U.S. beverage manufacturer
Coca Cola is among the 800 foreign companies that skipped last
year’s deadline to transfer shares
to Africans.
“We have now
reached the process of de-registering defiant companies and any
time from now, some companies
will be closed for defying the
indigenization law,” the Permanent
President Robert Mugabe
Secretary in the Ministry of Youth
Development, Indigenization and
Empowerment, Prince Mupazviriho
told the state-owned Sunday Mail
newspaper. Swiss owned Nestle
Zimbabwe is also on the hit list after
the company refused to buy milk
from the Gushungo dairy farm,
owned by President Mugabe’s wife
Grace, following pressure from human rights activists.
South African-owned platinum
miner Zimplats has also been targeted after President Mugabe accused it of externalizing its profits.
Critics accuse President Mugabe’s
party Zanu-PF of using the company takeovers as a campaign strategy ahead of elections expected
later this year.
On the first day of spring in
New York City, Borough President Scott Stringer was joined
by green entrepreneurs, innovative-minded gardeners, public school teachers, and community leaders to proudly announce the winners of the firstever Manhattan communityscale composting contest.
Wo r t h y a p p l i c a n t s f r o m
across the borough submitted
proposals, and now twentythree winners will receive
grants of up to $750 to purchase equipment, tools and
materials to start, expand and
grow
neighborhood
composting programs.
The winners have designed
ground-breaking composting
programs which include a solar powered compost-fueled
t e a b r e w e r, a c o o p e r a t i v e
composting system to convert
thousands of gallons of organic waste from nearby businesses into fertilizer, a webplatform which promotes
composting by connecting
people with drop-off sites, and
a partnership with a community center which will compost
organic waste from 200 daily
meals prepared for seniors.
Grant recipients are based in
nearly every neighborhood
across Manhattan, from the
East Village to Inwood to
G o v e r n o r ’s I s l a n d a n d
Hamilton Heights.
In January the neighborhood-empowerment organization Citizens Committee for
New York City pledged to contribute matching funds for
funding small-scale composing initiatives, significantly expanding the program and doubling the amount of eligible
grant recipients.
“Neighborhood composting
is key to our environmental
and physical health in New
York, and this new program
will go a long way in transforming everyday food and yard
waste into organic nutrients that
will make our gardens grow and
produce more food for New Yorkers,” said Manhattan Borough
President Scott M. Stringer. “I
applaud the Manhattan SWAB
and Citizen’s Committee for their
commitment to making our city
more green and sustainable. Offering these grants to innovative
and far-sighted composting programs will help ensure that the
people who call Manhattan home
will have a healthy and environmentally responsible future.”
“The recent submissions for
our small grant program to help
community groups do more
composting have shown that
composting initiatives are
sprouting up in many different
places in Manhattan, from
schools, community gardens to
housing developments and social service groups,” said SWAB
Composting Committee Chair
Christine Datz-Romero. “We
were pleased to see that the applicants made the connection
between diverting valuable materials out of our waste stream
to nourish gardens, green space,
and ultimately their community.
We would like to congratulate
the twenty-three projects that
were selected for the grant award
and are confident that their
projects will make strides to
move the city to greater
sustainability.”
“Citizens Committee is proud
to join Borough President
Stringer and the SWAB to support these twenty-three neighborhood composting initiatives,” said Peter H. Kostmayer,
CEO of Citizens Committee for
New York City. “These volunteer-led composting projects are
proof that city residents can take
small but concrete steps towards
making New York a more sustainable city. Congratulations to all
Scott Stringer
the grant winners and to Bor- started composting in order to
ough President Stringer and improve our very poor soil and
the SWAB for their initiative provide nutritious material for
to bring composting to the growing plants. I believe that
neighborhoods of Manhat- it’s easy to compost non-food
tan.”
items in school gardens and
“Nowadays, New Yorkers other green spaces in the City.
can compost their fruit and The PS11 Garden Committee
vegetable scraps with a small appreciates the efforts of Manamount of effort,” said Lauren hattan Borough President Scott
Gill, PS 11 PTA Garden Coor- Stringer’s office, the Citizen’s
dinator. “Here at PS11, we Committee for New York and
the Manhattan Solid Waste Advisory Board to help those of us
struggling to raise funds in our
neighborhoods, green spaces
and schools. Composting activities are picking up momentum
and New Yorkers will be able to
change their behavior slightly to
reduce waste and increase soil
fertility as we green-up the City.”
Organic waste diversion is central to increasing the City’s residential recycling diversion rate.
Currently, food and yard waste
together make up over 20% of
the residential waste stream.
The City’s Bureau of Waste Prevention, Reuse and Recycling
has one operative, permitted
composting facility in Staten Island to compost yard waste generated by landscapers and supports the NYC Compost Project,
a compost outreach and education program for NYC residents,
nonprofit organizations, and
businesses. This program will
build upon the City’s efforts to
help foster and expand community-based compost programs in
Manhattan by providing small
grants to qualifying organizations.
The Citizens Committee of
New York City was founded in
1975 by Osborn Elliott and Jacob
Javits to encourage ordinary
New Yorkers to volunteer to fill
the gaps left by the city’s cutbacks during fiscal crisis. Citizens Committee stimulates and
supports self-help and civic action to improve the quality of life
in New York City and its neighborhoods and currently support
over 127 resident-led efforts in
all of the five boroughs.
The Manhattan Solid Waste
Advisory Board (SWAB) is a citizen advisory board appointed
jointly by Manhattan Borough
President Scott Stringer and
New York City Council members representing districts in
Manhattan.
AOL and Queen Latifah
announce content partnership
Queen Latifah
social
issues
and
Special to the NNPA from the t o
entrepreneurialism. Viewers
Los Angeles Sentinel
will have the ability to influAOL and Queen Latifah an- ence potential future series that
nounced a content partnership are produced. “With Queen
that Queen Latifah will execu- Latifah’s proven track record
tive produce and also star in a to create content that resovariety of original video web nates with a broad audience,
series to be featured across AOL is excited to partner with
AOL’s network of sites. AOL’s such a dynamic personality and
Blackvoices.com, a leading bring her unique perspective
website for African-Ameri- to the digital space,” said Tim
cans, will showcase the series Armstrong, chairman and CEO
in a specially created hub de- of AOL.
“Our production company,
signed to enhance the site’s
current video offerings that Flavor Unit is always in search
are increasingly popular with for a perfect partner when we
create original content and
its audience.
In addition, Queen Latifah’s with this new web series, AOL
production company, Flavor is certainly it,” said Queen
Unit Entertainment, will serve Latifah. “It’s very exciting to
as the main producer of the collaborate with them as they
original web series. The short are leaders and will help bring
form, talk show format web se- our show to the masses.”
The announcement follows
ries will cover topics ranging
from entertainment and sports, a number of recent acquisi-
tions and partnership deals
from AOL including the agreement
to
acquire
The
Huffington Post, the acquisitions of the TechCrunch network of sites, the social software start up Think Labs, Inc.,
a n d 5 m i n M e d i a , t h e We b ’s
largest video content syndication platform.
In the second half of 2010
alone, AOL closed deals with
more than 20 premium content
partners and digital studios to
deliver a mix of high quality programming to AOL’s audiences.
Video franchises across AOL’s
owned and operated properties
include, AOL Sessions; The
Engadget Show; Translogic on
AOL Autos; a number of shows
on Cambio.com - Cambio Connect, Cambio Style, Cambio Goes
Home, and Cambio Cares; and
the Secret Millionaire’s Club on
AOL Kids.
Winners of the Manhattan community
scale compositing contest announced
11
12
Opinion
The empowerment of Black American families
By Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr.
NNPA Columnist
One of the most important
keys to the advancement of the
Black American community is the
empowerment of Black American
families. There are numerous
research studies that continue
to dwell solely on the deficit social progress statistics or on the
pathology of African Americans
in 2011. For sure there are many
persistent social and racial inequities that besieged African
Americans. But, it is also persistently unhealthy to only focus on the negative without ever
offering participatory solutions
to these problems and inequities. I believe that it is vital to
promote the economic, cultural,
political, and social development
of our families and communities.
Empowerment is the process of
establishing and maximizing
ones true potential to attain and
sustain power and control over
one’s personal development,
education, wealth, health and
shared-contributions to the advancement of humanity and the
world. Of course, the best form
of empowerment is self-empowerment. You can’t give someone
empowerment. It has to be
earned. People have to be directly involved and they have
to participate in helping to shape
and nurture their own self-empowerment. African Americans
cannot and should not wait for
someone else to liberate us or to
empower us. Yes, the government and the state do have social responsibilities for the overall social conditions of society,
but to make people solely dependent on a “welfare state of
mind” is itself ultimately self-de-
structive and counterproductive.
We have had a long history of overcoming the odds and by the grace
of God and hard work and struggle
we have as a people collectively
achieved great strides forward. The
challenge today is to understand
both the problems and the solutions
concerning our families, and then to
actively participate in achieving and
fulfilling those solutions. While it
is true that currently in the United
States married couples make up almost 75% of all families, among African Americans only 44% are married-couple families. But that statistic does not tell the whole story. The
multiple family structures in the African American community are different from White Americans because of history, culture, poverty,
and disproportionate incarceration
of African American males. Yet the
“extended family” ties, bonds and
relationships among African Americans remain strong despite the tremendous stress and social pressures on the African American community.
Sixteen years ago when I worked
to help organize and coordinate the
Million Man March, it was done expressly to raise the level of consciousness and responsibility of
African American men in particular
to take a greater responsibility and
atonement for the strengthening of
our families and communities. It was
the largest public demonstration
and mobilization ever in Washington, D.C. in the history of Black
Americans. The truth is immediately
after the Million Man March, not
only did Black on Black crime and
murders dramatically decrease
across America, there was also an
increase in Black marriages, Black
adoption of black children, Blackowned business development and
a significant surge in Black youth
cultural leadership and economic
advancement through hip-hop
and other creative genius. Then
five years later in 2000 at the Million Family March, a national effort was successfully launched to
raise the consciousness level and
community involvement in the
building and sustaining black
family life. After the Million Family March, marriage bureaus
throughout the United States reported a statistical increase in
Black marriages. Reflecting back,
the importance of those two massive gatherings in Washington,
D.C. only serves to remind us that
we do have the capacity to speak
out, stand up, and take our responsibilities seriously for the ongoing redemption and empowerment
of our families and communities.
We have more opportunities today than ever before to make more
of a difference to improve the quality of life in our communities. Selfimprovement is a key to community development. I want to especially encourage our young
brothers and sisters to seriously
consider the benefits of building
strong, loving, and successful
families. The economic recovery
of the African American commu-
nity will be dependent both on building strong businesses and families.
Don’t let the negative self-destructive forces of hopelessness and
cynicism take hold on your consciousness.
Whatever the problems we face
today, we can make tomorrow a better day, if we work together, build
together, share together and fight
for freedom, justice, equality, and
empowerment together.
Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. is senior advisor to the Black Alliance
for Educational Options and president of Education Online Services
Corporation.
Don’t cut Head Start program!
By Judge Greg Mathis
Mathis’ Mind
After being urged by President
Obama to invest in our nation’s
students, you would think our
federal lawmakers would do anything they could to preserve a program that sets the foundation for
a lifetime of achievement, right?
Wrong. Once again, Republicans
are moving to cut a program that
helps average Americans and, in
this case, specifically the poor.
The Head Start Program is yet another social program the Republican Party has targeted for major
cuts. Head Start provides educational and health services to low
income children and their families.
Head Start has been one of the
most studied early education programs since it began more than 40
years ago. The program has
proven itself to be one of the
United States’ most successful
social experiments and an efficient
use of taxpayer dollars. Research
shows students who complete
Head Start do better both socially
and academically and are less
likely to drop out of high school.
Yet, Republicans want to cut the
program by more than 22-percent.
They say Head Start isn’t as effective as supporters claim. To be
fair, some studies show that
achievement levels of some Head
Start attendees start to drop off
after first grade.
However, this could speak to
the quality of the school they enroll in after the program. Additionally, the program’s opponents say
too much money is spent maintaining the program and not
enough on enrolling new students.
It’s not clear if the Republican
Party is against poor people, working mothers, low income children
or all three. All of the cuts it’s leaders have moved to make have been
to programs the support and empower the poor. If they are successful in taking away the build-
ing blocks that many have used to
create a foundation for future success, America’s middle class will
continue to shrink and the number
of families living below the poverty
line will increase.
If the Republicans were serious
about balancing the budget they’d
take a look at programs with inflated
and misappropriated budgets, starting with the military. Sure, it’s critical that the U.S. has a strong military in place but studies have shown
that program is rife with wasteful
spending. It’s not the only area
where money is either being wasted
or being misused. A good, honest
budget scrub will show the Republicans – and Democrats – just which
programs can handle significant
cuts. If you believe in the power of
Head Start and can testify to how it
helped a child – past or present – in
your life, call your elected officials.
Let them know that they absolutely
cannot cut Head Start. Our
children’s – and our nation’s – success depends on it.
Japan and infrastructure
By Julianne Malveaux
NNPA Columnist
I am among the many
who are stilled, freighted, and
challenged by the tsunami
and nuclear power breakdown in Japan. The tragedy
raises all kinds of questions
including a very selfish one
– what would we do if a tsunami hit the United States?
As we see people missing,
and watch the tragedy, I wonder how we would cope if
anything like that happened
here. What would happen if
New Orleans happened in
Washington, New York, or
San Francisco? How prepared
are
we
for
tragedy? President Barack
Obama has talked about infrastructure development and
the many ways that we might
improve our highways, byways, and roads. This is a
first step. It seems to me that
2001, 2005, and Japan are reminders that all of us need to be concerned about the quality of our
infrastructure and our emergency responses to unexpected
acts of nature. What might we
do if 10-foot gales of water hit
one of our major cities? Is this
something that we have even
thought about?
At a time when we must be
prepared to do much more, it appears that we are prepared to do
much less. In other words, we
are in the middle of an economic
meltdown, and people are talking
about spending less money.
Doesn’t Japan suggest we
should spend more to shore up
our infrastructure?
The fact is that we in the
United States have chosen not
to invest in infrastructure for
more than a generation. We drive
over potholes, look at detours in
roads, and send children to
school in dilapidated buildings, and we think it’s okay.
We know that we could invest
more, and we could achieve
more, but we have decided that
we don’t want, to quite move
in that direction. We have to,
w e s a y, p a y a t t e n t i o n t o
money. But, we also have to
pay attention to our future and
to outcomes.
Among the outcomes we must
be careful of are outcomes in education. It is challenging to find
that so very many people think
we should cut educational spending because we are in a budget
crunch. Cutting education is like
a farmer eating her seed corn, deciding to sacrifice consumption
today for investment tomorrow.
If we are to excel as a nation, we
need to invest fully in education.
We’ve not done so. Why do we
have crumbling schools and state
of the art prisons?
The United States leads the
world in having educated
people who are 55-64. Nearly
40 percent of us have AA or BA
d e g r e e s . We h a v e n o t i m proved our ability to deliver
educational services in 30
years, so that nearly 40 percent
of those 25 to 34 have AA and
BA degrees. We lead in the
education of seasoned people,
but we rank 10 th in the education of younger people. That
speaks poorly to our possibilities for the future.
What must we do? We
must spend the dollars that we
need to strengthen our infrastructure. We must put dollars
into education. This is hardly
the time to cut back on an investment on the future. Instead of holding back, we must
move forward, boldly, with our
investment. Japan should be
a wake-up call for all of us. A
country that was seen as stable
has been destabilized by a
natural disaster.
Could that happen here? Further, what else could happen here
to hurt us? We are so complacent about education that we run
the risk of being run over by dozens of other world powers. Yes,
there are dozens of others now,
and even that might be disconcerting for those of us who are
wedded to a paradigm that places
the United States first.
If we take the call to wake up
then we will look at infrastructure and opportunity. Can we
learn from Japan, or will we simply offer the compassion that we
offer to so many others? Learning means doing something different. Is that within the realm
of our possibility?
Julianne Malveaux is president of Bennett College for
Women in Greensboro North
Carolina and author of Surviving and Thriving: 365 Facts in
Black Economic History,
13
Justice Department issues scathing
report on New Orleans Police Dept.
14
Wyclef Jean
Wyclef was not shot,
says examining medic
By J. Zamgba Browne
Special to NY Beacon
A claim made by former
Fungees rapper Wyclef Jean
that he was grazed on the hand
by bullet in his native Haiti on
Sunday as he observed the
country’s runoff presidential
election, turned out to be a flat
out lie.
A doctor who treated the
Grammy winner said he was injured by glass and not a bullet
as the rapper claimed. Police
could not confirm if Jean’s injury was caused by a bullet or
shattered glass.
The rapper was reportedly traveling through the country’s capital, Port-au-Prince on Saturday
night and stepped out of his car
to make a phone call; he said he
heard the sound of a gun and then
realized he was grazed.
Wyclef ’s injury was described as a superficial wound
after treatment at a local hospital. Sources said that he did
not comment on whether he
thought he was specifically
targeted in the incident. “I
cannot even speculate,” he
was quoted as saying.
Law enforcement officials
said that Wyclef refused to give
a statement about what precisely happened.
A Haitian-American with residency in the State of New Jersey, Wyclef told reporters he
was traveling Haiti’s capital, to
campaign for Michel (Sweet
Micky) Martelly.
“You can wound a man, but
you cannot stop a revolution,”
said Wyclef ‘s sister, Melky
Jean, apparently referring to
the fact that her brother is also
interested in becoming president of Haiti.
“I pray for a peaceful election day. I pray that democracy
is restored in Haiti, and there is
an end to the violence and suffering,” said Melky Jean.
Meanwhile, the rapper is reportedly out of the hospital and
resting comfortably following
the incident.
“Fortunately, Wyclef ’s fine,
undeterred by the incident and By Richette L. Haywood
looking forward to his return NNPA Contributor
home to finish his forthcoming
album,” said his spokesman
There has been considerable
Derek Johnson.
progress made in America during
the four decades since the
Wilmington 10 became the international cause celebre for injustice to those activists involved in
the civil rights movement.
That was evident earlier this year
when
the City of Wilmington,
ment fought to bring down a
North
Carolina
presented procladictatorship that banned collecmations
to
the
nine
Black men and
tive bargaining, so they know
one
White
woman
—
who became
what they are talking about.”
the
focus
of
one
of
the longest
The Brazilian unions called
and
most
controversial
civil rights
on the United States to guarancases
in
U.S.
history.
tee “full freedom of association,
But, Black newspaper publishcollective bargaining, and freeers
attending the National Newsdom of expression and assempaper
Publishers Association
bly” for public employees.”
Foundation’s
Black Press Week,
The six national confederain
Washington,
D.C., last week, do
tions that signed the letter are
not
believe
the
apology comes
the CUT, Forca Sindical, CTB,
close
to
righting
the wrong done
UGT, Nova Central, and CGTB.
to
the
young
men
and woman
The signers represent nearly
convicted
of
arson
and
sentenced
five million affiliated workers,
to
a
total
of
282
years
for
burning
while bargaining for some 50
down
a
White-owned
neighbormillion formal sector workers in
hood grocery story in 1971. The
the country.
The USW represents 1.2 mil- National Newspapers Publishers
lion active and retired workers Association (NNPA) Chair, Danny
in North America in a wide vari- J. Bakewell, Sr., announced, the
ety of industries and both the more than 200 member trade group
will collectively fight to get a parpublic and private sectors.
Brazilian unions ask Pres
to back Wisconsin workers
In a letter to President
Barack Obama on March 19, six
Brazilian labor confederations
expressed their solidarity with
public employees in Wisconsin and other states who are
fighting to defend collective
bargaining rights.
The letter, addressed to the
President during his visit to
Brazil, states that the Brazilian
unions “are surprised, and
must register our protest, that
on the grounds of ‘budgetary
reasons’ some U.S. state governments are limiting and even
extinguishing basic rights won
by public employees.”
“We deeply appreciate the
solidarity of our Brazilian sisters and brothers,” said United
Steelworkers International
President Leo W. Gerard.
“The Brazilian labor move-
By Lee A. Daniels
review” of the beleaguered police
Special to the NNPA from force, one that would help him
thedefendersonline.com
bring about its “complete transformation.” Certainly, the resultA U.S. Department of Justice re- ing document leaves no doubt
port on the New Orleans Police that a complete transformation is
department released last week has vital. For, believing its prosaic
described it as wracked by a cul- title, “Investigation of the New
ture of incompetence and corrup- Orleans Police Department,” it is
tion that is “serious, systemic, one of the most damning indictwide-ranging and deeply rooted” ments of an entire police departand in need of complete reform.
ment – and, implicitly, of a city
The city’s police force, which governmental structure responnearly completely collapsed when sible for its oversight – in the
Hurricane Katrina devastated the modern history of policing.
city in 2005, has been the subject
The report states that, bolof multiple city, state, and federal stered by its unwillingness to adinvestigation since then. Some of here to seemingly basic rules and
these probes have led to criminal bureaucratic procedures, the New
indictments and convictions of Orleans force indulged in “patmore than a dozen officers thus terns or practices of unconstitufar for unprovoked lethal and tional conduct and/or violations
deadly use of force against inno- of federal law” so pervasive and
cent citizens in the storm’s after- constant that they came to be roumath.
tine. They include: unwarranted
But, this investigation, con- use of force; illegal stops,
ducted by the federal agency’s searches and arrests; rampant disOffice of Civil Rights, deliberately criminatory behavior toward New
did not consider those cases. In Orleanians of color, lesbian, gay,
one sense, it didn’t need to be- bisexual and transgendered citicause, it stated, pointedly, “these zens; and, often, women who reserious deficiencies existed long ported that they has been sexubefore” Hurricane Katrina struck. ally assaulted. Not surprisingly,
In fact, the department was en- sanctions against police officers
meshed in scandal in the 1990s who abused their positions were
after a series of criminal convic- virtually non-existent.
tions of police officers – includOne of the more striking indicaing the conviction of two for mur- tions of the depth of the
der – exposed widespread prob- department’s managerial incompelems. But, its deterioration in the tence cited in the report was that
wake of Hurricane Katrina, with a its canine unit was so badly miswider national and even interna- managed—the police dogs were
tional audience looking on, has so badly trained—that they often
forced the concerted, multifaceted attacked their own handlers.
effort at reform now underway.
These attitudes and practices
New Orleans Mayor Mitchell J. made New Orleans itself less safe
Landrieu, elected in February for its law-abiding citizens, the
2010, last year asked the Justice federal report stated, in part beDepartment for a “top to bottom cause police officials had often
failed to investigate actual crimes
and because their behavior produced a widespread distrust of the
department among many citizens
that inhibited their calling on or cooperating with police officers when
they witnessed a crime being committed.
In fact, the report states, New
Orleans criminal courts have trouble
empanelling juries because so many
prospective jurors say they
wouldn’t trust the sworn testimony
of police officers. “There is nobody
in this room that is surprised by the
general tenor and the tone of what
this report has to say,” Mayor
Landrieu said at a news conference
in New Orleans.
He was flanked by Thomas E.
Perez, the Assistant U.S. Attorney
General in charge of the department’s
Office of Civil Rights, and New Orleans’ police chief, Ronal Serpas,
and other city and federal officials.
The city and the Justice Department will sign a consent decree that
maps out specific avenues of reform,
which will be overseen by the federal court.
They said that Chief Serpas has
already begun making substantive
reforms of the department, aided by
a revision of some civil service rules
to give him more flexibility in hiring,
shifting, and firing personnel within
it and the report pointedly praises
what it describes as “a remarkably
strong shared commitment to the
City [among New Orleanians] that
spans race, class, and neighborhood … [and] provides a strong
foundation upon which to transform” the police department.
Lee A. Daniels is director of Communications for the NAACP Legal
Defense and Educational Fund,
Inc. and Editor-in-Chief of
TheDefendersOnline.
Black Newspaper Publishers call
for justice for Wilmington 10
don.
“We are going to tell the story
of the Wilmington 10,” said
Bakewell, during his message on
the Power of the Black Press.
“And, we think it is incumbent for
us to fight for a pardon for those
10 people… justice to this day has
not been served.”
Although, there was never
proof any of the 10 young people
charged were involved in the burning down of the store, which occurred when court ordered school
desegregation in the southern
city was met with resistance when
the all Black high school was shut
down while the White high school
remained open. It took nearly a
decade after their imprisonment
for arson before a federal appeals
court would overturn the convictions in 1980. “It was just an amazing time in the history of our community, an ugly time,” said
Wilmington, N.C. Mayor Bill Saffo,
recalling the events in February
1971, reported the Star News, last
month during the 40th anniversary ceremony commemorating
the incident. The 10 – mostly African American teenagers involved
in a boycott of the county school
system – were “done a tremendous injustice,” Saffo said.
Bakewell said justice will only be
accomplished with a pardon of the
Wilmington 10, the first case to be
officially declared as political prisoners by Amnesty International. To
that end, he said the association,
which has been among the organizations fighting for justice for those
men and women since the early
years of the case, will continue to
push for a full pardon. “Not a pardon of forgiveness, but a pardon of
innocence,” he said.
Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., the
most well-known of the group, was
in attendance at the announcement. Still an activist, working with
young people, Chavis, told the Black
publishers “I never lost hope. All
these things were done to break our
spirit… But, I never lost hope.”
Hoping to use his experience to encourage youth, Chavis said he has
always been a strong supporter of
the Black Press. “The pen is powerful,” said Chavis, who is a columnist for the NNPA. “I am very concerned about young people. Because we have a brother in the
White House, (people are saying)
we ought to just chill. I refuse to let
those who would distract us or take
us out win.”
15
Health Care Reform is still the law
Special to the NNPA from the Los
Angeles Sentinel
State Senator Parker
New Yorkers reminded:
March is Red Cross Month
Senator Parker (D-21) is reminding New Yorkers that March is
American Red Cross Month, and
encouraging all New Yorkers to
help their communities and not for
profits like the Red Cross.
American Red Cross Month is
a longstanding tradition marking
the important work of the organization which has provided critical assistance during people’s
time of need for more than 125
years. Founded by Clara Barton,
who served wounded soldiers in
the Civil War, she helped inspire
the profession of nursing; the
principles of the Red Cross can
be summed up in this Barton
quote: “I have an almost complete
disregard of precedent and a faith
in the possibility of something
better.”
Senator Parker said, “The Red
Cross is the cornerstone humanitarian organization of our country
and, even New Yorkers not affiliated with the organization are inspired to help our neighbors. Every year thousands of residents’
lives are touched by the aid its
employees and volunteers provide,
and we can use this month to raise
awareness of their activities.”
The American Red Cross is part
of the world’s largest humanitarian network – 97 million volunteers
helping in 186 countries and has
operated as the nation’s leading
emergency response organization
since its inception. The organization provides humanitarian aid nationally and internationally, supports the armed forces and their
families and acts as the nation’s
(from page 23)
SACRAMENTO - Attorney General Kamala D. Harris filed a friendof-the-court brief in the U.S. Court
of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
strongly asserting the legality of
federal health care reform and urging the court to uphold the law.
“The law strikes an appropriate—
and constitutional—balance between national requirements that
will expand access to affordable
healthcare while providing States
with flexibility to design programs
that achieve that goal for their citizens,” the amicus brief states. In
December, a federal judge in Virginia ruled that the law’s requirement that individuals maintain
health insurance or pay a fine is
unconstitutional.
Attorney General Harris, joined
by eight other attorneys general,
rejected that view in a brief filed
yesterday in Richmond, Virginia.
They argued in the amicus brief
that the Constitution gives Congress broad powers to regulate
interstate commerce. The failure
of millions of Americans to purchase health insurance has a significant impact on the states. In
2008, the cost of uncompensated
care was $43 billion nationally. In
California, the annual cost of covering the health care expenses of
the uninsured is $455 per individual and $1,186 per family.
The new law’s minimum coverage provision will reduce the need
to shift the cost of uncompensated
care of the uninsured—and will
thus reduce the expenses absorbed by the states and by individuals with health insurance.
Further, the brief states that the
Affordable Care Act does not
“commandeer the states to implement a federal program” but rather
provides them with important
tools to cooperate in order to provide their citizens with access to
affordable and reliable health care.
Other states joining California in
this brief are Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Maryland,
New York, Oregon, and Vermont.
In January, the same group of at-
Kamala Harris
torneys general filed an amicus ter is to emphasize there will be a
brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals greater need for physician, office
for the Sixth Circuit regarding the and clinic staff. There will be a great
constitutionality of the Affordable demand for more nurses of all
Care Act.
types, technicians, medical assisTo buttress the attorney gen- tants and receptionists....
erals’ effort in supporting the
This demand for medical care
President’s Health Care Reform employees presents the ideal situAct, Dr. James A. Mays, a primary ation to institute a solid foundation
care physician, who has been op- of permanent employment in this
erating a clinic in South Los An- respected profession and at the
geles for decades, has written a same time, provide positive direcletter to President Obama in which tion for our young population...”
he stated, in part, “... I have three As someone who is on the front(3) offices serving diverse groups line in providing healthcare service,
of people. I would like to con- Dr. Mays is uniquely qualified to
gratulate you on the passing of highlight the positive, long-term
the Health Reform Bill. It is much effects of the President’s Health
needed.... The reason for the let- Care Reform Bill.
Researcher probes protein that may prevent diabetes in obese people
Yumi Imai, MD, is investigating
a protein that may prevent obese
people from developing Type 2
diabetes. The National Institutes
of Health (NIH) are supporting
her ideas with a $1.15 million research grant.
A report released in October by
the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention projects that due
to rising obesity rates, cases of
diabetes are expected to double,
perhaps even triple, in the U.S.,
by 2050.
Obesity is believed to cause inflammation in fat, liver and muscle
— all the places where insulin
works, explains Dr. Imai, assistant
professor of internal medicine and
physician at the EMVS Strelitz
Diabetes Center. Obese people
typically require more insulin to
regulate their blood sugar. However, inflammation in their fat tissue makes their bodies produce
less insulin, and causes the insulin they do produce to be less effective.
But not all obese people develop
Type 2 diabetes. Over the next five
years, Dr. Imai hopes to learn what
process makes the in-sulin-producing islet cells weaken in some
obese individuals, but not in others.
She suspects the key is a regulatory protein called adipose differentiation-related protein (ADFP)
that facilitates the efficient use of
lipids. Lipids are fatty molecules
that the body uses to store energy.
There are high lipid levels in fat,
and when people are obese, those
lipids eventually move into the
blood. When that happens, those
lipids then circulate throughout
the entire body and wreak havoc,
Dr. Imai explains.
Lipids are not inherently bad,
cautions Dr. Imai. “You need a certain amount, you simply should
not have too much.”
Dr. Imai’s research is based on
the theory that ADFP creates a
pathway for the lipids to flow
safely through islet cells, allowing the cell to absorb energy from
the lipids, but preventing the lipids from overwhelming and ultimately damaging the cell.
But Dr. Imai believes that in dangerously overweight people with
too little ADFP, lipids in the blood
will enter the islets, stray from that
path and damage the cells over
time. She theorizes that this un-
controlled flow of lipids through
islets makes the cells sick and can
even kill them, which could lead
to poor insulin production and
eventually diabetes.
It may be that people who are
obese but don’t get diabetes have
naturally high ADFP levels.
“We don’t know if increasing
ADFP in islets would help prevent
diabetes — but it could. That’s
what we hope to discover with this
study,” Dr. Imai says.
ADFP would be a new target for
diabetes treatment and prevention
Dr. Imai says. This protein has
been studied in the liver and in
belly fat as it relates to obesity,
but no one has looked at how it
works in islets and how that might
relate to Type 2 diabetes.
Her research team will use tis-
sue cultures and mouse models to
determine what happens when
ADFP levels are manipulated and
how these are affected by a highfat diet.
“Dr. Imai is a promising young
investigator, and the Strelitz Diabetes Center is fortunate to have recruited her,” says Jerry L. Nadler,
MD, director of the center and chair
of internal medicine. “Given the rising worldwide epidemics of obesity and, con-sequently, diabetes, her project is a vital component of our efforts to fight this
disease. If she can identify why
the insulin-producing islet cells
are damaged in certain people,
the results could provide exciting new treatments to prevent
diabetes and its devastating
complications.”
Health
16
THE ADAMS REPORT Ask Deanna!
©
Fashion, Beauty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . .& Stuff
By Audrey Adams
Spring Prep
Audrey Adams
Tired of the dreary
weather? Hold on tight because even though officially
spring; we have a few more
days of uncertain weather.
You made it through this
winters freezing temperatures, snow, sleet, ice, rain
and windy, dark, damp conditions, so take heart. Warm
weather is on the way!
How have utilized these
last few months? Perhaps
you have added a little too
much insulation (and we’re
not talking sweaters either)
to your frame to keep you
warm. Is your skin feeling
rough and tight? Did you go
a little overboard when you
decided to stop working out
because you thought you
could live off of body fat
instead of burning it off?
Did you think for one
minute that you wouldn’t
have to pay the piper at
some point? Now, I’ll bet
that you think you can get
it together quickly . . .
wrong! It is going to take
time, dedication and a real
commitment to reallocate the
remaining winter days to
implement a self-re-improvement program.
If you are wondering
where to start, might I suggest at the beginning with
the basic body? — Yours. Only
look at what your reality is and
what it is you want it to be
within reason. After you bathe
take a good look at yourself in
a full length mirror to see where
that extra insulation settled.
You’ll probably notice that the
muscle definition that you
worked so hard to achieve during the summer months has almost vanished into the insulation. Are those thighs and arms
less than tight and wiggling like
gelatin? Think for a moment
about all the comfort food you
indulged in and how you might
modify your diet a bit. I do not
advocate being someone you’re
not or trying to look like the
waifs in magazines. The only
thing that is important is to be
the best you can be. What do
you feel you need to do?
A healthy body isn’t just
about how much you weigh and
the firmness of your muscles, it
is also about healthy skin, and
maintaining all of your working
parts. Have you had a complete
physical? If not get one before
starting any diet or exercise programs that you might have in
mind. Make an appointment to
see your internist, gynecologist, dentist and any other specialist depending upon your
particular needs.
It’s up to you to decide where
and when, how and if to begin.
You have to stop wearing those
bulky winter clothes at some
point. Think about it. See you
next week.
RADIO ON DEMAND:
T h i s w e e k ’s f e a t u r e s o n
TALKWITHAUDREY.com
Author GLORIA FELDT
joins, Audrey Adams to talk
about her book, NO EXCUSES: 9 Ways Women Can
Change How we Think About
Power. Feldt served as president and CEO of Planned Parenthood
Federation
of
America, the nation’s largest
reproductive health and advocacy organization, from 19962005. Power Make-Over: Feldt
explains how women ca n
change the way they think
about power, and therefore
achieve the life they want.
She coaches women through
a power make-over by providing 9 ways that women
can achieve the career, personal, and leadership goals.
To l i s t e n a n y t i m e v i s i t
www.talkwithaudrey.com
Most Common Tax Filing Errors: As if you didn’t know . . .
tax season is kicking into high
gear but . . .
Do you know how the last
minute tax changes will affect
your upcoming tax filing? GREG
ROSICA, tax partner in Ernst &
Young’s Personal Finance Services group has up-to-date information about what you
need to consider when filing
your 2010 tax return and how
to set a clear action plan for
the current filing year and beyond. To listen anytime visit
www.talkwithaudrey.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]
Obama as Hitler image angers
store patrons in Florida
By Nicolas Grizzle
King said police were looking
Special to the NNPA from The into the legality of the gatherCommunty Voice
ing.
“This is killing our business right
A protest outside a Rohnert now,” said another employee. The
Park supermarket drew police protestors were not involved with,
involvement last week thanks or cleared by Raley’s management.
to a controversial sign featur- ”It’s not Raley’s at all,” the eming President Obama with a ployee said. The reason for the
Hitler-style moustache.
attention-grabbing poster is
“Obama has done so much Obama’s health care bill, said
for us,” said Rita Stedman, a Nicole James, who was one of
German woman who was up- the two women gathering sigset by the sight of the poster. natures for the LaRouche Politi”This is a nice town, Rohnert cal Action Committee. “Hitler’s
Park, why here?” Activists health care bill... is an exact repfor the LaRouche Political Ac- lica of Obama’s health care bill,”
tion Committee set up tables she said.
and signs outside Raley’s and James, 28, is an African-Amerirefused to budge, despite mul- can woman from Los Angeles.
tiple requests to vacate by the Her partner, Myhoa Steger, is
market’s staff and shoppers. 34 and has worked full time gathPolice were on scene, but told ering signatures for the commitStore Director Brian King they tee for the past eight years.
had a legal right to be there. Steger said she was surprised
The shopping center is owned at the opposition to the images,
by Codding Enterprises, and saying the response was not as
negative in other cities she had
been. ”This is a really strange
town, it’s messed up.” James
said about 15 people had signed
up to receive more information
in the four hours they were in
front of the store. Shopper
Mary Jane Guerra was offended
by the image on the poster. She
said the two women started
singing the National Anthem
when she asked them to leave.
”This is just not right,” she
said.
“Some people have an emotional response instead of
thinking things through,” said
James.Caption:Nicole James,
left, and Myhoa Steger drew the
ire of several Raley’s customers in Rohnert Park with their
image of President Obama with
a Hitler mustache on Tuesday.
They are activists for the ultraright LaRouche Policital Action
Committee.Photo by Nicolas
Grizzle
(Real People, Real Advice)
Ask Deanna! Is an advice column
known for it’s fearless approach
to reality-based subjects.
Ask Deanna! can be heard every Sunday on KTYM
AM 1460 at 3:00pm in Los Angeles , CA .
Dear Deanna!
I have been designated as the babysitter and caregiver for
my younger brothers and sisters. My mother started having
kids again after I turned thirteen. Now I’m in college and I
can’t get my homework completed, I stay tired all the time. I
try to talk to my mother but she is always fussing about her
boyfriends, my siblings’ fathers and money. I don’t want to
quit college or ruin my relationship but it looks as if that’s where
things are heading. What can I do?
Tamyra Jackson
On-Line Reader
Dear Tamyra:
Families stick together no matter what and in your case,
you have to be the glue. You may not see it, but your mother
is doing the best she can with what she has. All you can do is
hang in there, help the best you can and push yourself harder to
become better and achieve. You should work out a schedule
with your mother, college and the kids and be sure to rest and
stay focused. You will get your reward in the end after you’ve
done the right thing.
Dear Deanna!
I am fresh out of a long term relationship and I really enjoy
my single life and freedom. My girlfriends all envy me and now
their boyfriends are accusing them of cheating and looking for
men when they hang out with me. I am not going to water
down my lifestyle right now and my friends are having a hard
time with this. They say that I am acting loose and as if I don’t
have any morals. I think they’re tied down to balls and chains
and are jealous. Am I wrong?
Happy and Free
On-line Reader
Dear Happy:
The men of your friends are insecure and obviously don’t
know their women as well as they think. If your behavior is
affecting them, you need to cool off and slow it down a bit
when you’re around them. These are your friends and you need
to still show some respect and regard for the differences in
your relationships, or lack thereof. At the end of the day, enjoy
your life and realize that everyone is responsible for their choices.
Yours just appears more fun right now
Dear Deanna!
My husband is very selfish and inconsiderate. We have a
healthy relationship, our finances are good and we are good
parents to our children. The biggest issue in the relationship is
the fact he won’t help with anything. I have to do all the shopping, cleaning, planning for activities and everything to run the
household and our lives. If I don’t do things he’ll sit like a lump
on a log. If things don’t get done, we argue. How can I get
him to meet me in the middle?
Tired
Toledo , OH
Dear Tired:
Your husband is a lost cause if you don’t have him trained or
house broken by now. You should look on the bright side and
be glad he has a job, he’s not abusive and he’s involved with the
children instead of being on a milk carton like a dead beat dad.
Take an analysis of the pros and cons in your marriage and if
the negatives are more than the positives seek counseling, hang
in there and do the best you can to motivate your husband and
get him moving.
Ask Deanna is written by Deanna M. Write Ask Deanna!
Email: [email protected] or write:
Deanna M, 264 S. La Cienega, Suite 1283 ,
Beverly Hills , CA 90211
Website: www.askdeanna.com
17
Ghanaian business leader is first
African-born recipient of award
Jose Stable
Berkeley College athlete
is named All-American
Brian Maher, Berkeley College
athletic director, announces that
freshman forward Jose Stable of
Brooklyn, NY, has been named to
the All-American team by the
United States Collegiate Athletic
Association (USCAA) for basketball. Mr. Stable is a student at the
New York City Midtown Campus.
“Jose has had an exceptional
year, so it is no surprise that his
achievements are being recognized both at the regional and
national level,” Mr. Maher said.
“His hard work and dedication
have earned him this recognition.”
Mr. Stable was named Player of
the Week by the USCAA two
times in January — once for leading the Berkeley College Knights
to the championship at the NHTI
New Year’s Tip-Off Tournament
in Concord, NH, and again for his
performance in a game against Albany College of Pharmacy and
Health Sciences, during which he
collected his eighth double-double
of the season.
A leader in business education for 80 years, Berkeley College is accredited by the Middle
States Commission on Higher
Education and enrolls nearly
9,000 students — including
more than 800 international students — in its Baccalaureate
and Associate degree programs. The College has four
New York locations —Midtown
Manhattan, Lower Manhattan
in the Wall Street area, Brooklyn, and White Plains. And in
New Jersey there are four locations —Woodland Park, Paramus,
Woodbridge, and Newark. Berkeley College Online also offers full
degree programs. Programs are offered in more than 20 career fields.
The website address is
www.BerkeleyCollege.edu.
The 2011 John Jay Awards, presented annually by Columbia College, honored five accomplished
alumni for distinguished professional achievement.
Andrew F. Barth (CC’83),
Alexander Navab (CC’87), Kenneth Ofori-Atta (CC’84), Michael
Oren (CC’77) and Elizabeth D.
Rubin (CC’87) received their
awards at a dinner ceremony at
Cipriani 42nd Street in New York.
Barth, Navab and Ofori-Atta are
leaders in finance. Rubin is an
award-winning journalist and a
contributing writer to The New
York Times Magazine and other
publications. Oren has been the
Ambassador of Israel to the
United States since 2009.
The diverse accomplishments
of this year’s award-winners
speak to the varied backgrounds
and interests of Columbia College
students and alumni. Barth is the
chairman of Capital Guardian
Trust Company and Capital International Limited. Ofori-Atta, who
is from Ghana, is the executive
chairman and co-founder of
Databank Financial Services,
based in Ghana’s capital, Accra.
Ofori-Atta is the first African-born
recipient of the John Jay Award.
Navab, who is a partner and cohead of North American Private
Equity for Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., was born in Iran and
fled the country with his family at
the start of the Islamic revolution.
Oren worked on a kibbutz in
Israel as a teenager, served in the
Israel Defense Forces in the 1982
war with Lebanon and now represents Israel in the United States.
As a war correspondent, Rubin
has reported from the front lines
of conflicts in the Balkans, Africa,
Kenneth Ofori-Atta
Iraq and Afghanistan.
During remarks delivered at the
dinner, President Lee C. Bollinger
read a letter from Columbia
Trustee Robert K. Kraft (CC’63)
recognizing Oren, who was appointed to the position of ambassador by Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu. “There’s
something very fitting about
Michael receiving the John Jay
Award. Both Michael Oren and
John Jay served their country in
critical diplomatic roles representing their country in sensitive
foreign capitals at a time of crisis,” the letter said. “It is a privilege to know Michael, to call him
a friend, and to see him honored
by my alma mater.”
The John Jay Award Dinner is
held annually and benefits the
John Jay Scholars Program, which
aims to extend and enhance the
academic and extracurricular ex-
periences for outstanding first-year
students at Columbia College. Leeza
Mangaldas (CC’11), who spoke on
behalf of the John Jay Scholars, many
of whom attended the dinner, was
born in a small fishing village in the
state of Goa, India.
“On the 16-hour plane ride to New
York and Columbia, I could see my
life was going to change,” she said.
“Though the rural, sea-salt air made
for an idyllic childhood, Columbia
University in the City of New York
seemed like the glorious antithesis to
everything I’d known.” An English
major with a concentration in visual
arts who has held summer internships
in Hong Kong and Mumbai,
Mangaldas plans to return to India
after graduation and work in the film
industry.
The John Jay Awards, named for
founding father and first secretary of
the treasury, alumnus John Jay, have
been presented annually since 1979.
Ban schools with poor graduation rates from NCAA tournament
By Perry Green
ineligible for post-season glory.”
Special to the NNPA from the His remarks came hours after writAFRO-American newspapers
ing on the Washington Post’s
opinion page that schools “need
If a school can’t keep at least to stop trotting out tired excuses
half of its athletes on pace to for basketball teams with poor acagraduate, it should not compete demic records and indefensible disfor a National Collegiate Athletic parities in the graduation rates of
Association (NCAA) champion- white and black players.”
ship and be cut out of the multiDuncan also recommended the
million dollar post-season pay- NCAA restructure its post-season
out, Secretary of Education Arne tournament revenue-distribution
Duncan said last week.
formula, which currently pays the
In a crusade launched in the conference of each school $1.4
early stages of the NCAA basket- million for every game their team
ball championship tournaments, plays in the tournament.
Duncan zeroed in on the failure
“Right now the formula handof 10 of the 68 schools in the Di- somely rewards teams for winvision I men’s tournament to be ning games in the tournament,
on track to graduate half of their but does little to reward teams
players, noting that Black play- for meeting minimal academic
ers are particularly ill-served.
benchmarks,” said Duncan. “I
“If you can’t manage to gradu- simply cannot understand why
ate half of your players, how seri- we continue to reward teams for
ous is the institution and the failing to meet the most basic
coach and the program about of academic standards off the
their players’ academic suc- court.” He was citing the findcess?,” Duncan told reporters. ings of the Knight Commission
“Teams with academic progress on Intercollegiate Athletics.
rates below [that level] should be
That group, formed in 1989 to
Arne Duncan
combat college sports scandals
by the John S. and James L.
Knight Foundation, called for
tougher standards for schools
and student-athletes a decade
ago. He also cited the University of Central Florida’s Institute
for Diversity and Ethics in Sports’
annual study report that found
that 10 of the 68 schools currently
involved in the NCAA Tourna-
ment carry academic progress
rates (APR) of less than 925,
which would create a graduation
rate of less than 50 percent.
The academic progress rate is
an NCAA measure of the
progress toward graduation of
student-athletes.
Dr. Richard Lapchick, the primary author of the study, noted
that only 59 percent of Black basketball players graduate, far less
than the graduation percentage
of Whites at 91 percent. The reports show percentages are even
lower among schools such Kansas State University, where 100
percent of White players graduate, yet only 14 percent of Black
players graduate. The University
of Akron also graduates every
White player, but has a zero percent Black player’s graduation
rate.
According to the Knight Commission, in the last five years,
teams that had graduation rates
of less than 50% or an APR standard of less than 925 earned 44
percent of the total $409 million
distributed. NAACP President Ben
Jealous agreed with Duncan, but also
acknowledged the high graduation
rates made by the other 58 schools in
the NCAA Tournament.
“When you are coaching studentathletes, you have a responsibility to
them both as an athlete and a student,” said Jealous, who highlighted
programs like those at Xavier University, which sends designated personnel to check on players frequently to
make sure they attend class and study
regularly.
“It happens because coaches decide to make sure that the young men
are prepared for victory in life and not
just on the court.” Duncan suggested
that barring schools with poor graduation rates from the NCAA tournament would motivate more programs
to follow Xavier’s lead.
“The dream of playing in the NCAA
tournament is what brings so many
student-athletes on to these college
campuses,” he said. “If the right behavior is rewarded and bad behavior
is punished, you would see all of
these schools doing things in a very
different way, very quickly.”
Education
18
AUDREY'S
SOCIETY
WHIRL
17th Annual Awards Dinner
More than 300 luminaries
attend Shared Interest gala
By Audrey J. Bernard
Lifestyles & Society Editor
Shared Interest, a leading New
York-based international social
investment fund, mobilizes resources for South Africa’s economically disenfranchised communities to sustain themselves
and build an equitable nation. Its
$14 million dollar guarantee fund
has leveraged credit of more than
$95 million to struggling South
African communities that were
once considered “unbankable.”
Each year, the non-profit organization honors individuals and
institutions whose initiatives promote and protect human rights,
gender equality, economic justice,
and democracy in South Africa.
At its 17th annual awards dinner
Monday, March 14, 2011 at New
York City’s beauteous Gotham
Hall, Shared Interest paid tribute
to two pioneering financial institutions and a leading AIDS activist and organization for investing
in the well-being of South Africa’s
low-income communities and advancing their economic and social rights.
The awards dinner honored
Vuyiseka Dubula and Nobel Peace
Prize-nominee Treatment Action
Campaign (TAC) for launching
successful campaigns to expand
access to comprehensive prevention and treatment services to
people living with HIV/AIDS in
South Africa. Currently, 5.6 million people are living with HIV in
South Africa. Dubula, TAC’s Secretary General who is HIV-positive, has been an outspoken advocate for the rights and dignity
of people living with HIV.
Calvert Investments and
Calvert Foundation were jointly
recognized for their long commitment to socially responsible investment to help rebuild and
serve poor communities in South
Africa. “We are very proud to
have been a part of South Africa’s
historic refutation of apartheid
and its subsequent progress towards greater social, political and
economic justice,” said Wayne
Silby, co-chairman of Calvert
Foundation and president of the
Calvert Social Investment Fund.
“Through Calvert Foundation’s
community development programs, we hope to help the South
African people build on their success, creating the jobs and businesses that will drive great prosperity in the years to come.”
“Sustainable and responsible
investing can be a powerful force
for good,” said Barbara Krumsiek,
Calvert’s CEO and chairman, not-
Lisa Hall, Wayne Silby, Barbara Krumsiek
Karen & Philip Berry
Hon. David N. Dinkins, Brian O. Dodson
Linnie McLean, Donna Katzin, Vuyiseka Dubula
Hon. George Monyemangene, Mark Grier
ing that the divestiture techniques spite having no direct investthat Calvert first applied in South ments in South Africa during the
Africa have since been employed apartheid era, the company was a
to put economic pressure on re- signatory to the Sullivan Prinpressive regimes in Sudan and ciples, a corporate code of conMyanmar. “We continue to refine duct on doing business in South
and enhance our approach to Africa. As of December 31, 2010,
achieve both competitive invest- Prudential’s public investment
ment returns and positive social units have over $300 million of
change.”
client assets invested in South
Lisa Hall, president and CEO of Africa.
Calvert Foundation said: “Shared
Mark Grier, vice chairman of
Interest delivers incredible social Prudential Financial, Inc., acimpact while also using investment cepted on behalf of Prudential
dollars wisely and making the most Financial Inc. “Prudential is dediof their resources to serve the cated to supporting ventures that
people of South Africa.” Calvert create healthy and sustainable
Foundation has made loans to communities all over the world,”
Shared Interest for over a decade. said Grier. “We applaud Shared
“I am so pleased to be honored by Interest for working to help crethem, and also proud to be associate a more sustainable future.
ated with their mission and their Prudential is honored to be recwork.”
ognized by this outstanding orPrudential Financial, Inc. re- ganization.”
ceived the corporate award for more
“On the 17th anniversary of
than a century of corporate citizen- Shared Interest and South Afriship and social responsibility, and can democracy, we are extremely
for investing in some of the most proud to recognize these esimpoverished communities. De- teemed honorees for their com-
Sandra Bookman
Tsidiile Loka Lupindo
Susan L. Taylor, Donna Katzin
mitment to investing in low-income bassador Fikile Magubane, H.E.
communities and building a just, Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool, H.E.
peaceful and prosperous South Ambassador Baso Sangqu and SuAfrica,” said Donna Katzin, execu- san L. Taylor and Khephra Burns
tive director of Shared Interest. served as honorary chairs. Philip
“Building an economic democracy and Karen Berry, Don Lowery and
in South Africa has begun. We Tim Smith served as co-chairs. This
year’s major corporate sponsors
need to finish the job.”
The evening featured a power- were Prudential Financial Inc.,
ful musical performance by Tony Johnson & Johnson, Calvert InAward-nominee singer and actress vestments, and The Nielsen ComTsidii Le Loka Lupindo who is best pany.
Since 1994, Shared Interest has
known for originating the role of
Rafiki in the Broadway production been mobilizing US investors, phiof The Lion King. Sandra lanthropists, corporations and faithBookman, anchor of WABC-TV based organizations to invest in
Eyewitness News, served as the black South Africans by providing
microfinance organizations, agriculevening host.
Over 300 distinguished U.S. and tural cooperatives, small busiAfrican leaders and top diplomats nesses and low cost housing orgaattended the social gathering with nizations with access to capital.
proceeds going to provide Black Shared Interest has been hailed by
South African entrepreneurs with esteemed leaders such as Archaccess to credit and technical sup- bishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu and
port to launch small businesses, former President Nelson Mandela
create jobs and build secure new as one of the most promising institutions for economic empowerment
communities.
Joyce and Hon. David N. in South Africa.
Dinkins, Danny Glover, H.E. Am- (Photos by Imagezs of Us)
19
20
21
22
Women’s History Month Celebration
West Harlem Group Assistance & Mama Foundation for the Arts salute women in broadcasting
March is designated as
Women’s History Month in which
the Nation sets aside time to reflect on the extraordinary accomplishments of women and honors
their role in shaping the course of
our Nation’s history. President
Barack Obama has made the celebration official by proclaiming
March 2011 as “Women’s History
Month.”
In his Proclamation, President
Obama stated: “Today, women
have reached heights their mothers and grandmothers might only
have imagined. Women now comprise nearly half of our workforce
and the majority of students in
our colleges and universities.
They scale the skies as astronauts, expand our economy as
entrepreneurs and business leaders, and serve our country at the
highest levels of government and
our Armed Forces. In honor of
the pioneering women who came
before us, and in recognition of
those who will come after us, this
month, we recommit to erasing
the remaining inequities facing
women in our day.”
Heeding the President’s call to
celebrate women and acknowledge the important role they’ve
played and continue to play in the
core of our country, the West
Harlem Group Assistance, Inc.
and The Mama Foundation for
the Arts, Inc. proudly present a
Women’s History Month Celebration in which they will honor three
exemplary women in broadcasting
simultaneously with the ceremonial Ribbon Cutting for the official opening of the Dempsey Theater Wednesday, March 30, 2011,
6:30 pm to 8:30 pm. The
celebratory event will take place
at the Oberia Dempsey Multi-Service Center, 127 West 127th Street
(between Adam Clayton Powell Jr.
Boulevard and Lenox Avenue)
and is free and open to the public. Doors open 6 p.m. sharp!
Toya L. Beasley, on-air personality, WKRS-FM, and founder and
CEO, SistaFriendz; Adriane T.
Gaines, president & general manager, WWRL-AM 1600; and Ann
Tripp, news director, WBLS-FM
and WLIB-AM, are the outstanding and praiseworthy honorees.
During the event a special musical tribute to the honorees will
be performed by the electrifying
cast of Mama, I Want to Sing and
Vy Higginsen’s Gospel for Teens
Choir. Cheryl Wills, evening and
weekend anchor, New York 1
News, will host the event. For
more information call 212-8621399 ext.26.
Toya L. Beasley is founder and
CEO of SistaFriendz, a 501(c)(3)
nonprofit organization established to educate, equip and empower women for success in their
personal and professional lives.
The organization uses programs,
workshops, mentoring sessions,
career guidance and other initia-
Toya L. Beasley
Adriane T. Gaines
Ann Tripp
“Our history is our strength 2011 Women’s History Month”
tives to help women understand
their true worth so they can reach
their full potential.
Beasley is also the well-loved
radio personality and friendly voice
of New York City’s WRKS-FM,
better known to fans as 98.7 KISSFM. With KISS-FM since 1989,
she started as a programming assistant and worked her way up to
program director, a position she
held for 10 years. Due in large part
to Ms. Beasley’s undying and ongoing efforts, WKRS continues to
be a leader in ratings and in community involvement.
Beasley recently relinquished
her managerial duties, founded
SistaFriendz and started her own
media and entertainment consulting business. However, she has
maintained her presence at WRKS
and recently took on additional responsibilities by hosting New York
City’s number one Sunday morning gospel program, KISS Inspirations. She is also the host of the
weekday gospel show, Morning
Glory and also co-founded the
KISS Inspirations Choir.
Beasley’s resume includes programming such as the KISS WakeUpClub, the Wake-Up Club Community Tour, the nationally syndicated Michael Basiden Show,
Rhythm Review with Felix
Hernandez, The Hour of Power with
Rev. Al Sharpton, Randy Jackson’s
Hitlist, The Donnie McClurkin
Show and Bishop T.D. Jakes’ Empowering Moment.
In the community, Beasley has
been an instrumental leader of the
annual KISS Kids Coat Drive, the
annual KISS Community Choice
Awards, KISS-FM’s Turkey Drive
and the St. Jude Children’s
Radiothon, called Prayer Vigils.
She is also the creator and producer of Night of Healing, which
has taken place every year since
September 11, 2001. Beasley’s professional accomplishments are
many, but nothing drives her more
than her passion for God and His
people. She has worked diligently
to communicate that passion onto
the airwaves and into the urban
community.
Adriane T. Gaines is president
and general manager of WWRL
AM 1600. Gaines, whose career in
broadcasting and management
spans more than three decades,
was appointed president and
general manager of radio station
WWRL in October 1995, where
she oversees its operation and
management.
Upon this appointment, Gaines
stated that her commitment to
take the company to new heights
while continuing the programmatic thrust of the station and its
inspired tradition of community
service.
Today, ’RL serves as a cultural
bridge connecting New York’s diverse communities, with a format
of progressive talk, Monday-Friday. The Saturday format features
Caribbean music and news, and
Sunday is dedicated to inspirational ministries and infomercials.
She serves as secretary of
the parent company, Access.1
Communications Corp, which
owns and operates one television station and twenty-two
radio stations in Louisiana,
Texas and Atlantic City, NJ;
SupeRadio, a syndication company with 35 nationally syndicated shows; as well as NBN
Broadcasting, which is one of
the two founding partners of
the American Urban Radio Networks.
Prior to her appointment at
WWRL, Gaines served as senior vice president of the
American Urban Radio Networks, a joint venture of NBN
Broadcasting, Inc. and
Sheridan Broadcasting Corporation. Her responsibilities
with the network ran the gamut,
from spearheading communications initiatives to serving as
general manager in 1982 of two
company owned radio stations, KATZ-AM and WZENFM in St. Louis, Missouri.
In 1978, she co-founded The
World Institute of Black Communications/CEBA Awards, a
division of NBN Broadcasting.
The program was designed to
improve the imagery of African
Americans in the media and
their participation in the communications industry. She
served as the executive director of the CEBA Awards for 15
years, until 1992.
Gaines was also an instrumental participant in the television cable franchise frontier.
Her role as liaison to the team
which put together a winning
franchise package in 1983, netted her a prize position with
Queens Inner Unity Cable System, located in Queens, NY.
QUICS was established as a
joint venture between Inner
City Broadcasting, Time
Warner and Unity Broadcasting Network.
Gaines currently serves as a
board member for The Joan
Mitchell Foundation, and corporate advisor for The
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and
The National Black Sports and
Entertainment Hall of Fame and
Museum. Memberships include: American Women in
Television and Radio and New
York City Press Club.
She has received many honors and awards including; The
Alumni Association of The
City College of New York, Communications Educator of the
Year; Bronx County Borough
President’s Club; Who’s Who
of American Women and Who’s
Who Among Black Americans;
The Greater Harlem Chamber of
Commerce, Key Women in Media & Communications; The
National Association of Media
Women, Media Woman of the
Year-NY; The National Respect
Yourself Youth Organization;
The Network Journal, Influential Black Women in Business
Going The Distance; the New
York NAACP, Honorary Golden
Life Membership Award; the
National Action Network,
Women of Excellence Award;
The Support Network, Inc.,
Community Service Award;
Caribbean American Chamber
of Commerce, Women History
Maker Award; Talkers Magazine, 2005 Judy Jarvis Memorial Award; and the American
Urban Radio Networks, 2010
Urban Knight Award.
Gaines graduated cum laude
in 1979 from Fordham University in New York with a B.A. in
communications. She resides in
New Jersey.
Ann Tripp currently provides
the twice-hourly “news and
views” on nationally syndicated
“Steve Harvey Show” on WBLS.
She is also the host of “Healthful Solutions” (on cable), a narrator of certain Showtime television specials, and is the executive producer, researcher and
“voice” of the nationally-syndicated Black History Minute
(United Stations Radio Network), where she profiles the
historic, cultural, political and
social milestones of AfricanAmericas.
Tripp began her on-air career
at age 14 at WNYC, as an announcer, actor and singer on the
weekly, variety show produced
by the Police Athletic League.
She graduated from City College,
toured Europe for a few years as
a singer and then began her adult
media career as a street reporter
and on-air personality at
WHN…a position she held for 6
years. Tripp then worked at
WNEW, before moving to WKTU
as a news announcer and interviewer for the next eight years.
Tripp has taught broadcast
journalism at the National Broadcasting Network and conducted
media seminars at Jersey City
State College. She is a member
of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the
New York Press Club and the
National Association of Negro
Business and Professional
Women Clubs, Inc.
Tripp has received three New
York City Council Proclamations,
the Ida B. Wells Journalism
Award, the Lincoln Center Award,
Best Female New York City Radio Newscaster and Outstanding
Young Woman in America.
She has also been honored by
the New York State Broadcasters
Association, U.S Congressman
Edolphus Towns, Alpha Kappa
Alpha and Zeta Phi Beta sororities, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity,
Bellevue Hospital, the Boy
Scouts, the Bedford-Stuyvesant
Healthy-Heart Program, the
American Kidney Foundation,
the Jackie Robinson Center for
Physical Culture, the CaribbeanAmerican Chamber of Commerce
and Industry, the Network Journal, 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care, Legends of
Brooklyn and Safe Horizon.
She has served on the board
of directors of the Harlem Beauty
Pageant, the New York Lung Association, Safe Horizon (formerly
Victim Services), and the Make
the Grade Foundation.
Tripp’s television appearances include Geraldo, Good Day
New York, Donahue, Like It Is,
The Maury Povitch Show, The
Adam Walsh, The Ed Gordon
Show and the United Negro College Fund Telethon (as a host for
four years). She has been quoted
in both The New York Times and
New York Newsday.
President Chávez, backed by S. American presidents condemns the attack on Libya
Ortega, President of Nicaragua,
Rafael Correa, President of Ecuador, Cristina Ferdinez, President of
Argentina - all stand with President Chávez against the U.S./
NATO invasion of Libya indicating that the western media reports
of Libya’s military action as an attack on civilians is a lie. Rather
their view is that Libya’s military
action is nothing more or less than
a heroic national defense against
a foreign-backed insurrection to
achieve a coup d’etat to gain con-
trol of Libya’s petroleum reserves.
Fidel Castro asked why the U.N.
Security council exists and said
that NATO’s military force, ”serves
only to show the waste and chaos
generated by capitalism.”
Evo Morales accused the U.S.
& Company of a strategy to, “invent a problem, but their problem
is their desire to take control of oil.”
President Chávez condemned
Barack Obama of launching another war patterned after the US
wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, noting Obama’s fraudulent Nobel
Peace Prize. He also pointed out
the hypocrisy of French and
other European leaders, saying
that they assume the right to own
and control the world. He said
that the freezing of Libyan
accounts in U.S. and European
banks (estimated at $200 billion)
“a robbery, it’s looting, taking
advantage of Libya’s internal
conflict.” He continued, “What is
that called? Intervention in another country’s internal affairs ...
We demand a true cease-fire.”
The capitalist media and most
of the bamboozled “left” media ignored the fact that Qaddafi de-
clared a cease fire before the attack and the barbarians who demanded a cease fire “or else” also
ignored it and launched their
t o m a h a w k m i s s i l e s t o d a y.
There is absolutely nothing
Qadaffi nor the Libyan government could have done to prevent this invasion and the
world knows it.
The world is at war. Nowhere in the capitalist nor the
“alternative media” is the “war on
terror” called World War III but
World War III it is. Axis of Logic
has always seen the “war on terrorism” as a two-pronged war without end: Two pronged?
Make no mistake. These
wars were designed in and delivered by the Counsel on Foreign
Relations, driven by the “Israel
Firsters” in Zionist lobbies like
AIPAC for two reasons in this order: 1. for a “Greater Israel” and 2.
For capitalists’ control and theft of
the world’s remaining petroleum resources.
“We don’t expect the people of
the world to respond to a call from
Axis of Logic to unite against
these monsters. Oppressed people
will unite first in portions relative
to growing awareness - as have the
Egyptians, Tunisians, Libyans,
America Latinos and even the
people inside the United States
as they have begun to join in the
states of Wisconsin, Ohio and
I n d i a n a . To n i g h t Te l e S u r i s
showing Venezuelans gathering
en masse in Caracas and at the
US and French embassies
to protest the imperial war
against the sovereign state of
Libya.”
Support grows for national
peace rally in NYC on April 9
(from page 3)
bor upsurge in Wisconsin is sending shock waves through the political establishment, as tens of
thousands of union members and
their supporters stage a people’s
rebellion against the country’s
most aggressive anti-union attack
by a state government. From its
beginning, UNAC has promoted
unity between the anti-war and labor movements, recognizing that
it is working people who pay for
these unjust, endless wars with
our blood and tax dollars. UNAC’
fight is here - for decent jobs at
union wages; an end to evictions
and foreclosures; universal access
to health care and higher education; a society free from racism,
sexism and homophobia; and the
right of every worker to join or organize a union so together we can
defend our rights.
At great risks to their lives, activists organizing to oppose oppressive, dictatorial regimes in the
Middle East and North Africa have
inspired us by their courage and
determination. We ruefully acknowledge past and continuing
U.S. support for dictatorships and
military rule in the region. We recognize that the U.S. has been directly involved in supplying weap-
ons and other forms of support to
regimes that have committed atrocious human rights abuses against
civilians.
Conscious of our responsibility
to stop the United States from further manipulations that would interfere with movements on behalf
of true democratic developments
in other countries, UNAC calls for
an immediate halt to U.S. intervention in regions and countries where
mass mobilizations are challenging
oppressive regimes.
“We have seen the horrific consequences of U.S./UN imposed
economic sanctions against Iraq,
as well as the consequences of
U.S./UN operation of “no-fly
zones” over northern and southern Iraq, prior to the U.S. Shock and
Awe attacks and invasion.
“ We therefore oppose any form
of U.S. military or economic intervention in Libya, Egypt, Bahrain,
Tunisia and other countries where
movements are rising in opposition to dictatorships and military
rule.”
The NYC UNAC group recently
called several protests with respect
to the US and UN military attacks
on Libya. The protests opposed
the US/UN/NATO no-fly zones
and US support for the Saudi invasion of Bahrin.
New Yorkers reminded:
March is Red Cross Month
(from page 15)
primary blood bank. Everyday tens
of thousands of Americans are
aided by the Red Cross:
200 times a day, American Red
Cross volunteers help a family
who has lost everything in a
house fire or other disaster.
475 times a day, the American
Red Cross connects deployed service members with their families.
21,000 times a day, a patient receives blood through the American Red Cross blood program.
43,000 times a day, someone receives life-saving American Red
Cross health, safety and preparedness training.
The senator concluded, “Red
Cross Month is a time to acknowledge the giving and humanitarian
spirit that exists throughout the
Red Cross in the form of volun-
teers, donors, partners and employees. To give thanks and honor to
the members of the Red Cross, I encourage New Yorkers to take the
time this month to give back to an
organization that gives us so
much.”
There are many ways to contribute to your local Red Cross, including volunteering, giving donations,
taking a CPR class, or giving blood.
There are chapters throughout all
regions of the state, which makes
supporting the one most applicable
to your area a simple process. To
learn more about the Red Cross,
donate, or find your local chapter,
visit www.redcross.org.
Other great organizations serving
our community include:
New York Cares: http://
www.newyorkcares.org/
City Harvest: http://
www.cityharvest.org/
(from page 3)
23
24
Film legend Elizabeth Taylor is dead at 79 in Los Angeles
(from page 3)
in the industry and beyond. But
she was afflicted by ill health,
failed romances (eight marriages,
seven husbands) and personal
tragedy.
“I think I’m becoming fatalistic,”
she said in 1989. “Too much has
happened in my life for me not to
be fatalistic.”
Her more than 50 movies included unforgettable portraits of
innocence and of decadence,
from the children’s classic “National Velvet” and the sentimental family comedy “Father of the
Bride” to Oscar-winning transgressions in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” and “Butterfield 8.”
The historical epic “Cleopatra” is
among Hollywood’s greatest onscreen fiascos and a landmark of
off-screen monkey business, the
meeting ground of Taylor and Richard Burton, the “Brangelina” of
their day.
She played enough bawdy
women on film for critic Pauline
Kael to deem her “Chaucerian
Beverly Hills.”
But her defining role, one that
lasted long past her moviemaking
days, was “Elizabeth Taylor,” ever
marrying and divorcing, in and out
of hospitals, gaining and losing
weight, standing by Michael Jackson, Rock Hudson and other
troubled friends, acquiring a jewelry collection that seemed to rival Tiffany’s.
She was a child star who grew
up and aged before an adoring,
appalled and fascinated public.
She arrived in Hollywood when
the studio system tightly controlled an actor’s life and image,
had more marriages than any publicist could explain away and
lasted long enough to no longer
require explanation. She was the
industry’s great survivor, and
among the first to reach that special category of celebrity — famous for being famous, for whom
her work was inseparable from the
gossip around it.
The London-born actress was a
star at age 12, a bride and a divorcee at 18, a superstar at 19 and a
widow at 26. She was a screen
sweetheart and martyr later reviled
for stealing Eddie Fisher from
Debbie Reynolds, then for dumping Fisher to bed Burton, a relationship of epic passion and turbulence, lasting through two marriages and countless attempted
reconciliations.
She was also forgiven.
Reynolds would acknowledge
voting for Taylor when she was
nominated for “Butterfield 8” and
decades later co-starred with her
old rival in “These Old Broads,”
co-written by Carrie Fisher, the
daughter of Reynolds and Eddie
Fisher.
Taylor’s ailments wore down
the grudges. She underwent at
least 20 major operations and she
nearly died from a bout with pneumonia in 1990. In 1994 and 1995,
she had both hip joints replaced,
and in February 1997, she underwent surgery to remove a benign
brain tumor. In 1983, she acknowledged a 35-year addiction to
sleeping pills and pain killers. Taylor was treated for alcohol and
drug abuse problems at the Betty
Ford Clinic in Rancho Mirage,
Calif.
Her troubles bonded her to her
peers and the public, and deep-
ened her compassion. Her advocacy for AIDS research and for
other causes earned her a special
Oscar, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, in 1993.
As she accepted it, to a long ovation, she declared, “I call upon you
to draw from the depths of your
being — to prove that we are a
human race, to prove that our love
outweighs our need to hate, that
our compassion is more compelling
than our need to blame.”
The dark-haired Taylor made an
unforgettable impression in Hollywood with “National Velvet,” the
1945 film in which the 12-year-old
belle rode a steeplechase horse to
victory in the Grand National.
Critic James Agee wrote of her:
“Ever since I first saw the child ... I
have been choked with the peculiar sort of adoration I might have
felt if we were in the same grade of
primary school.”
“National Velvet,” her fifth film,
also marked the beginning of
Taylor’s long string of health issues. During production, she fell
off a horse. The resulting back injury continued to haunt her.
Taylor matured into a ravishing
beauty in “Father of the Bride,” in
1950, and into a respected performer and femme fatale the following year in “A Place in the Sun,”
based on the Theodore Dreiser
novel “An American Tragedy.”
The movie co-starred her close
friend Montgomery Clift as the
ambitious young man who drowns
his working-class girlfriend to be
with the socialite Taylor. In real life,
too, men all but committed murder
in pursuit of her.
Through the rest of the 1950s
and into the 1960s, she and
Marilyn Monroe were Hollywood’s
great sex symbols, both striving
for appreciation beyond their
physical beauty, both caught up
in personal dramas filmmakers
could only wish they had imagined.
That Taylor lasted, and Monroe
died young, was a matter of luck
and strength; Taylor lived as she
pleased and allowed no one to define her but herself.
“I don’t entirely approve of
some of the things I have done, or
am, or have been. But I’m me. God
knows, I’m me,” Taylor said around
the time she turned 50.
She had a remarkable and exhausting personal and professional
life. Her marriage to Michael Todd
ended tragically when the producer died in a plane crash in 1958.
She took up with Fisher, married
him, then left him for Burton. Meanwhile, she received several Academy Award nominations and two
Oscars.
She was a box-office star cast in
numerous “prestige” films, from
“Raintree County” with Clift to “Giant,” an epic co-starring her friends
Hudson and James Dean. Nominations came from a pair of movies
adapted from work by Tennessee
Williams: “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”
and “Suddenly, Last Summer.” In
“Butterfield 8,” released in 1960,
she starred with Fisher as a
doomed girl-about-town. Taylor
never cared much for the film, but
her performance at the Oscars
wowed the world.
Sympathy for Taylor’s widowhood had turned to scorn when
she took up with Fisher, who
had supposedly been consoling her over the death of Todd.
But before the 1961 ceremony,
she was hospitalized from a
nearly fatal bout with pneumonia and Taylor underwent a
tracheotomy. The scar was
bandaged when she appeared
at the Oscars to accept her
best actress trophy for
“Butterfield 8.”
To a standing ovation, she
hobbled to the stage. “I don’t
really know how to express my
great gratitude,” she said in an
emotional speech. “I guess I
will just have to thank you
with all my heart.” It was one
of the most dramatic moments
in Academy Awards history.
“Hell, I even voted for her,”
Reynolds later said.
Greater drama awaited:
“Cleopatra.” Taylor met Burton while playing the title role
in the 1963 epic, in which the
brooding, womanizing Welsh
actor co-starred as Mark
Antony. Their chemistry was
not immediate. Taylor found
him boorish; Burton mocked
her physique. But the love
scenes on film continued away
from the set and a scandal for
the ages was born. Headlines
shouted and screamed.
Paparazzi snapped and
swooned.
Their romance
created such a sensation that
the Vatican denounced the
happenings as the “caprices of
adult children.”
The film so exceeded its
budget that the producers lost
money
even
though
“Cleopatra” was a box-office
hit and won four Academy
awards. (With its $44 million
budget adjusted for inflation,
“Cleopatra” remains the most
expensive movie ever made.)
Taylor’s salary per film topped
$1 million. “Liz and Dick” became a couple on a first name
basis with millions who had
never met them.
They were a prolific acting
team, even if most of the movies aged no better than their
relationship: “The VIPs”
(1963), “The Sandpiper”
(1965), “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” (1966), “The
Taming of the Shrew” (1967),
“The Comedians” (1967), “Dr.
Faustus” (1967), “Boom!”
(1968), “Under Milk Wood”
(1971) and “Hammersmith Is
Out” (1972).
Art most effectively imitated life in the adaptation of
E d w a r d A l b e e ’s “ W h o ’s
Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” —
in which Taylor and Burton
played mates who fought viciously and drank heavily. She
took the best actress Oscar for
her performance as the venomous Martha in “Virginia
Woolf” and again stole the
awards show, this time by not
showing up at the ceremony.
She refused to thank the academy upon learning of her victory and chastised voters for
not honoring Burton.
Taylor and Burton divorced
in 1974, married again in 1975
and divorced again in 1976.
“We fight a great deal,” Burton once said, “and we watch
the people around us who
don’t quite know how to behave during these storms. We
don’t fight when we are
alone.”
In 1982, Taylor and Burton
appeared in a touring production of the Noel Coward play
“Private Lives,” in which they
starred as a divorced couple
who meet on their respective
honeymoons. They remained
close at the time of Burton’s
death, in 1984.
Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor
was born in London on Feb. 27,
1932, the daughter of Francis
Taylor, an art dealer, and the
former Sara Sothern, an American stage actress. At age 3,
with extensive ballet training
a l r e a d y b e h i n d h e r, Ta y l o r
danced for British princesses
Elizabeth (the future queen)
and Margaret Rose at London’s
Hippodrome. At age 4, she was
given a wild field horse that she
learned to ride expertly.
At the onset of World War II,
the Taylors came to the United
States. Francis Taylor opened
a gallery in Beverly Hills and,
in 1942, his daughter made her
screen debut with a bit part in
the comedy “There’s One Born
Every Minute.”
Her big break came soon
thereafter. While serving as an
air-raid warden with MGM producer Sam Marx, Taylor’s father
learned that the studio was
struggling to find an English
girl to play opposite Roddy
McDowall in “Lassie Come
Home.” Taylor’s screen test for
the film won her both the part
and a long-term contract. She
grew up quickly after that.
Still in school at 16, she
would dash from the classroom
to the movie set where she
played passionate love scenes
with Robert Taylor in “Conspirator.”
“I have the emotions of a
child in the body of a woman,”
she once said. “I was rushed
into womanhood for the movies. It caused me long moments
of unhappiness and doubt.”
Soon after her screen presence was established, she began a series of very public romances. Early loves included
socialite Bill Pawley, home run
slugger Ralph Kiner and football star Glenn Davis.
Then, a roll call of husbands:
• She married Conrad Hilton Jr.,
son of the hotel magnate, in
May 1950 at age 18. The marriage ended in divorce that December.
• When she married British actor Michael Wilding in February 1952, he was 39 to her 19.
They had two sons, Michael Jr.
and Christopher Edward. That
marriage lasted 4 years.
• She married cigar-chomping
movie producer Michael Todd,
also 20 years her senior, in 1957.
They had a daughter, Elizabeth
Francis. Todd was killed in a plane
crash in 1958.
• The best man at the Taylor-Todd
wedding was Fisher. He left his
wife Debbie Reynolds to marry
Taylor in 1959. She converted to
Judaism before the wedding.
• Taylor and Fisher moved to London, where she was making
“Cleopatra.” She met Burton, who
also was married. That union produced her fourth child, Maria.
• After her second marriage to
Burton ended, she married John
Warner, a former secretary of
the Navy, in December 1976.
Warner was elected a U.S. senator from Virginia in 1978. They
divorced in 1982.
• In October 1991, she married
Larry Fortensky, a truck driver
and construction worker she met
while both were undergoing
treatment at the Betty Ford Center in 1988. He was 20 years her
junior. The wedding, held at the
ranch of Michael Jackson, was a
media circus that included the din
of helicopter blades, a journalist
who parachuted to a spot near
the couple and a gossip columnist as official scribe.
But in August 1995, she and
Fortensky announced a trial
separation; she filed for divorce
six months later and the split became final in 1997.
“I was taught by my parents
that if you fall in love, if you want
to have a love affair, you get
married,” she once remarked. “I
guess I’m very old-fashioned.”
Her philanthropic interests included assistance for the Israeli
War Victims Fund, the Variety
Clubs International and the
American Foundation for AIDS
Research.
She received the Legion of
Honor, France’s most prestigious
award, in 1987, for her efforts to
support AIDS research. In May
2000, Queen Elizabeth II made
Taylor a dame — the female
equivalent of a knight — for her
services to the entertainment industry and to charity.
In 1993, she won a lifetime
achievement award from the
American Film Institute; in 1999,
an institute survey of screen legends ranked her No. 7 among actresses.
During much of her later career,
Taylor’s waistline, various diets,
diet books and tangled romances
were the butt of jokes by Joan
Rivers and others. John Belushi
mocked her on “Saturday Night
Live,” dressing up in drag and
choking on a piece of chicken.
“It’s a wonder I didn’t explode,” Taylor wrote of her 60pound weight gain — and successful loss — in the 1988 book
“Elizabeth Takes Off on Self-Esteem and Self-Image.”
She was an iconic star, but her
screen roles became increasingly
rare in the 1980s and beyond. She
appeared in several television
movies, including “Poker Alice”
and “Sweet Bird of Youth,” and
entered the Stone Age as Pearl
Slaghoople in the movie version
of “The Flintstones.” She had a
brief role on the popular soap
opera “General Hospital.”
Taylor was the subject of numerous unauthorized biographies and herself worked on a
handful of books, including
“Elizabeth Taylor: An Informal
Memoir” and “Elizabeth Taylor:
My Love Affair With Jewelry.” In
tune with the media to the end,
she kept in touch through her
Twitter account.
“I like the connection with
fans and people who have been
supportive of me,” Taylor told
Kim Kardashian in a 2011 interview for Harper’s Bazaar. “And I
love the idea of real feedback and
a two-way street, which is very,
very modern. But sometimes I
think we know too much about
our idols and that spoils the
dream.”
Survivors include her daughters Maria Burton-Carson and
Liza Todd-Tivey, sons Christopher and Michael Wilding, 10
grandchildren and four greatgrandchildren.
(from page 6)
ber of benefits, including universal education, healthcare, employment, and subsidies on food
and fuel. For these benefits, the
government demanded compliance. This worked well until the
economic crisis of the 1970s, initiated by the stock market downturn of 1973-1974, the 1973 Arab
oil embargo (prompted by American support of Israel during the
Yom Kippur War), an overall energy shortage, and a simultaneous rise in inflation and drop
in economic growth. It was further complicated by the International Monetary Fund’s pressuring the Egyptians to increase
privatization (a shift in control of
private services and businesses
from state of government manage-
ment to private individuals or
groups) and erosion of the social
protections that previously served
as a safety net for the masses. The
two factors specific to the Egyptian unrest are youth and the labor
movement. Unlike the current trend
in the U.S. population, where the
median age is skewing toward
middle age, 30 percent of the Egyptian citizenry range between ages
15 and 29, a percentage duplicated
in Tunisia. These populations include a huge proportion that is
highly educated but finds few employment prospects; they make up
“the core leadership” of the rebellion. Compounding this is an
economy that on the surface is expanding but only benefiting a select few at the top, while the general public must struggle without
the assistance of the social safety
net that previously served as a
buffer from poverty.
U.S. policy has always centered on two basic principles. First
and foremost, it has been unwavering in its support of the Jewish state of Israel. This loyalty is
arguably a major source of Arab
hostility toward America specifically and the West overall. One
might argue that America inherited this role of imperialist enemy
from the British, who previously
held sway throughout the area for
much of the 20th Century.
Second, American policy has
primarily focused on the security
of its access to that region’s petroleum deposits. Toward that
end, it has often turned a blind
eye to the internal strife that has
been a staple of many of these
countries—provided they did not
AFRICOM goes to war in Africa
(from page 10)
UN Security Council condemned the Gaddafi government for the use of violence
against the armed rebels in
Libya, a U.S.-backed violent
suppression of peaceful protestors was underway in
Bahrain and Yemen. Today, in
response to the killing of more
than 40 unarmed protesters in
Yemen, the White House statement urged “peaceful, orderly”
dialogue, and “an open and
transparent process.” The dif-
ference is that the Bahraini and
Saudi monarchies, and the
Yemeni government, exist as client dictatorships of the United
States. (Brian Becker)
The fields, and pipelines,
that the majority of the permits
and the pipelines are on the eastern side of Libya, south of
Benghazi, the stronghold of the
rebels. These rebels are the US
chosen good guys. Keep in mind
these “good guys” are prominent among those harassing and
killing African migrants in Libya.
The Africa Command in Libya
is engaging in imperial acquisition by calling it humanitarian.
“They”, Africans, in this case
Libyans, are helpless and dangerous, so “we” need to use
guns to help them. Just as with
other African countries, Libya
is treated as a place without
history or context, its politics
and history characterized only
as inexplicable tribal rivalries.
This is only the beginning of
the more condescension and
more war promised by
AFRICOM’s General Ham
Black Newspaper Publishers
call for justice for Wilmington 10
(from page 14)
Also, highlighting Black
Press Week were the 2011
N e w s m a k e r o f t h e Ye a r
Awards: Former Georgia State
Director of Rural Development
for the United States Department of Agriculture Shirley
Sherrod (Newsmaker of the
Year); Black farmers advocates
John Boyd and Timothy Pigford,
Sr. (NorthStar Community Service Award); Congressional
Black Caucus Financial Services
Committee (Political Leadership
Award); and Garth C. Reeves
(Lifetime Achievement Award.
The culminating ceremony, held
at Howard University, was the
Enshrinement ceremony to induct four decreased Black
publishers into the Black Press
Hall of Fame. They were: Cloves
Campbell, Sr. and Dr. Charles
Campbell, of the Arizona Informant Newspaper; Charles W.
Cherry, of the Daytona Times and
Florida Courier; and N.A. Sweets
of the St. Louis American.
Poor children are stranded at sea
(from page 8)
up and tread water. Too often,
they flounder... Even a poor child
who makes it onto land is not
equally poised to be successful
because the playing field is not
even. Worse, many are left behind in the sea of poverty, never
making it onto land at all.”
Cass sums up her metaphor
this way: “The banking system,
auto industry and other businesses considered ‘too big to fail’
are being rescued and subsidized.
Children are small, and they are
being allowed to fail. America is
allowing children like Audrey to
flop around in the sea of poverty.
Over the past 40 years, America
has added a patch here and there
to the safety net, but has never
made a serious, comprehensive,
sustained effort to bring children
out of the captivity of poverty even
though the well-being of children
is at least as important to the future
as the health of banks and major
industries—and vital to the
American ideal of equal opportunity for all.” Like the child’s drawing of a small figure in a boat in
CDF’s logo, we are leaving millions of poor children stranded
on remote islands or drifting
alone on a big sea.
Marian Wright Edelman is a lifelong advocate for disadvantaged
Americans and is the president of
CDF. Under her leadership, CDF has
become the nation’s strongest voice
for children and families.
Nuclear: The other ‘N’ word
(from page 8)
century were much more unreliable than those of today.
Similarly, nuclear energy science has come along way during the past 50 years. While
the aging water suppression
systems that power the crippled
nuclear reactors in Japan are in
crisis, the next generation of
nuclear technology that will have
passively cooled systems is widely
thought by physicists to be much
more durable under natural disasters such as earthquakes. Yet, accidents make all energy systems vulnerable.
Due to the fact that all energy
sources have positive and negative qualities it only makes sense
for global governments to pri-
oritize their use based on efficiency and the least destructiveness to life.
M For those who are deeply
religious as was Bob Marley,
human science is not a match
for the power of God. And,
God has the last word.
Gary Flowers is the executive director & CEO of the
Black Leadership Forum, Inc.
interfere with America’s two primary motivations. Any understanding of conflict within this
area of North Africa and Central
Asia must stem from these two
concrete propositions/premises.
The oil-rich Arab world is more dependent on outside food sources
than any other segment of the
globe, according to a recent
United Nations (U.N.) report.
The global fixation on Middle
Eastern petroleum is counterbalanced by that region’s dietary dependence on their neighbors’ cupboards. This appetite has recently
been inhibited by the specter of
drought in Russia, a major purveyor of groceries for North Africa and Western Asia. Pakistan,
another major wheat producer, has
the opposite problem, because
that area’s farmland has been
flooded by torrential monsoon
rains, resulting in price-gouging,
while the Russian Federation has
simply banned wheat exports altogether. Another U.N. report has
speculated that these events
might lead to a repeat of the 2006
spike in food prices and rioting
throughout Africa. Meanwhile,
here in the U.S. acres of wheat and
other grain fields are being plowed
under to take advantage of congressional incentives encouraging
the transition to corn for conversion
to biofuels, a practice that is pursued in Europe as well, which means
fewer sources of sustenance for the
Near Eastern pantry.
America will be impacted by these
proceedings, primarily because of its
addiction to petrol. Although each
of these individual countries has its
own infrastructure, as noted by Professor Gelvin, this is balanced by
shared similarities which will inform
coming events.
Gelvin predicts that the telling factors in the region are:1. What the
military decides to do: Will it side
with the protesters, the autocrats,
or, as in the case of Libya, split
apart?2. What is the breadth and
depth of the opposition? Does it
represent a broad swath of society,
particularly the young and workers?3. What cleavages are there in
society (sectarian, regional, tribal)
that might divide the opposition
movement or be exploited by governments? This first point has manifested itself already with the Egyptian Army’s withdrawal of support
for President Hosni Mubarak, who
was forced to resign. The second
factor was revealed with the progression of the Libyan civil war, where
the opposition has been beaten
back, after initial success in a few
early battles.
Food Stamps and tax aid
kept poverty rate in check
(from page 2)
in the state. Dr. Levitan explained
that Asians often have “cultural
issues about being reluctant to get
some kind of assistance.” The
poverty rate for blacks was 21.1
percent.
Given that the recession was
shorter and less severe in the city
than in the country as a whole,
the center found that by its measure the poverty rate declined in
2008 to 19.6 percent from 20.7 percent in 2007, and then stood at 19.9
percent in 2009, a statistically insignificant increase.
In 2009, the official federal poverty threshold for a family consisting of two adults and two children
was $21,756. By the center’s measure, for the same family living in
New York the threshold was
$29,477.
A 20 percent increase in the cost
of rent and utilities from 2005 to 2008
drove home the center’s conclusion
that public housing, rent vouchers
and other subsidies and rent regulations had the largest impact on the
poverty rate. Without those benefits, the center calculated, the poverty rate would have been six percentage points higher in 2009.
Similarly, unreimbursed medical
expenses added 3.1 percentage
points to the poverty rate, and twice
that among the elderly.
Titled “Policy Affects Poverty,”
the report is the third by the center,
which was created by Mayor
Michael R. Bloomberg to develop a
more modern means to measure poverty than the federal government’s
official criteria, which date from a
half-century ago.
Schumer urges immediate
bus drivers licenses audit
(from page 2)
of a previous license suspension
and several traffic violations. It
has been reported that the driver
received violations for speeding
in 1995 and for driving without a
license on two separate occasions. He was also charged with
giving an alias to police.
Schumer applauded the
governor’s efforts to investigate
and determine what exactly went
wrong in this particular case.
Schumer believes that while the
investigation unfolds, it’s vital to
the safety of New Yorkers that we
ensure that all drivers across the
whole low-cost bus industry have
valid licenses and safe driving
records. Only a full review by the
state’s Department of Motor Ve-
hicles can make that happen.
Earlier this week, Schumer requested that the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) begin a
top-to-bottom review of the Federal
Motor
carrier
Safety
Administration’s safety regime for
the industry. He also joined Senator
Kirsten Gillibrand in co-sponsoring
the Motorcoach Enhanced Safety
Act to strengthen bus safety and
improve driver training to reduce the
number of bus crashes and related
fatalities.
“Only a complete vetting of the
licenses and driving records of drivers operating these low-cost carriers will prevent people who have no
business behind the wheel of a vehicle that carries dozens of passengers from getting there,” said
Schumer.
25
Libya’s Gaddafi: Is there method in the madness?
26
WHAT’S GOING ON
By Victoria Horsford
OBAMA WHITE HOUSE
President Obama’s platter is full
with both domestic and international crises. He has to deal with a
recalcitrant GOP/Tea Party Congress on a destruction course
whose goal is to paralyze his governance, making him a one-termer.
Their intended actions will slow
the national economic recovery;
will accelerate the 2011/2012 budget fight and cut off funds to current budget. A pattern of extending the budget every two weeks
is unacceptable. The country is
divided along party and socioeconomic lines.
According to a recent NY Times
piece, interracial marriages are
ubiquitous in the USA. Obama has
to deal with its Asian ally Japan,
which is confronting a multi-tiered
catastrophe - an earthquake, a tsunami, nuclear reactors radioactive
emissions, all of which are wreaking havoc with the economy –
which is in need of humanitarian
and technical assistance. Now, the
U.S is engaged in three wars, Iraq,
Afghanistan, and Libya across
the Middle East, all in Moslem
countries, and is in an uncomfortable political situation with another ally, Pakistan. Obama appears to be up to the demands of
the job.
NY: Our peripatetic commander
in chief Barack Obama, just returning from his three-nation Latin
American tour to Brazil, Chile and
El Salvador, to promote trade, has
Harlem on his mind. President
Obama arrives on March 29 for a
DNC $30,800 per fundraiser at
Harlem bistro, the Red Rooster.
Later, he will attend an invitation
only “Thank You reception at the
Studio Museum in Harlem.
Haitian America Patrick Gaspard,
who ran the Obama White House
political office, which is now
closed, is part of Team Obama
2012. He is new Democratic National Committee (DNC) executive
director.
RANGEL’S 60 MINUTES
I was among a quartet of journalists invited to a 60-Minutes
session with the Dean of the NY
congressional delegation, Charles
Rangel. It was akin to a course in
advanced US politics by a master.
Charlie talked about the economy,
the US military engagement in
Libya, the 2010 Census results and
NY, what reapportionment augurs
for his congressional district,
which boasts two politicos –
Adam Clayton Powell and Rangel
- since the 1940s. He spoke about
congressional polarization, which
is at an all time high attributable
to the 2011 freshman class, people
inured to compromise and he explained in depth the economic
consequences if the executive
branch is unable to borrow
money. He hinted at the Machiavellian forces at work and play in
NYCNYS politics.
PHENOMENAL WOMEN
Harlem icon and matriarch, Dr.
Thelma Davidson Adair, is a remarkable woman. Born in the Jim
Crow south, in NC, she met President John Kennedy, worked with
Dr. Martin Luther King and traveled to 115 countries during that
time. She married to Reverend
Robert Adair, senior pastor at the
Mt. Morris Presbyterian Church,
during its glory days during the
40s and 50s. A widow, who has
earned a PhD, she still works full
time educating Harlem youth and
as a lecturer. She enthused. “I
learned early in life that limitations
do not limit gifts.”
Equal parts educated, pioneer,
community activist, mother,
grandmother, great grandmother,
Dr. Adair will be honored on April
3. Billed as a Celebration of 90
Years of Life, Legacy and Leadership of Thelma Davidson Adair,
the event unfolds in two parts,
beginning with an 11 am worship
service at Mt. Morris Presbyterian
Ascension Church on Mt. Morris
Park West at 122 Street in Harlem
and then a special brunch at
Gran Piatto D’Oro, from 2-4 pm.
For reservations, email
[email protected]
Diana Ross
SPRING FEVER
Bob and Dedra Tate’s Unlimited
Contacts hosts its Aries Birthday
Party, at Harlem’s tony supper club
Gran Piatto D’Oro, located at1429
Fifth Avenue at 117 Street, on
Thursday, March 24 from 6 pm to
midnight. Call 917.217.2222 for dinner reservations or for the $9.95
Bob Tate dinner special. Visit
granpiattorestaurant.com.
The 8th African Economic Forum
AEF, at Columbia University, in
Harlem, will be held on March 25/
26. The AEF will comprise 17 panels running the gamut from “Citi
presents The Changing Picture of
Financial Services in Africa;” to
“Innovations in Healthcare Delivery;” “Energy and Infrastructure;” “Women in Leadership;”
and to “Standard Chartered Bank
Presents India-Africa Trade and
Investment Summary.” AEF Keynotes are J. Kofi Bucknor, Fola
Adeola, Shanta Devarajan, Danny
Jordaan, Charles Brumskine, and
Dambisa Moyo. For full calendar
of AEF events, visit African Economic Forum at Columbia University on the internet.
Harlem’s NY Senator Bill
Perkins convenes the Forum on
Immigration Reform and Empowerment (FIRE) at Wadleigh Secondary School for Visual and Performing Arts, located at 215 West
114 Street, on Saturday, March 26,
from 10:30 am to 3 pm. Congressman Charles Rangel, State Senator Jose Serrano, Adriano
Espaillet, Assemblymen Herman
Farrell, Guillermo Linares, Robert
Rodriguez, Keith Wright,
Councilpersons Inez Dickens,
Robert Johnson, and Ydanis
Rodriguez, and Manhattan Boro
Prexy Scott Springer are onboard
as F.I.R.E speakers. Immigration
rights advocates and organizations such as the Council of African Imams of America, the Bahamian American Cultural Society,
NYS Federation of Hispanic Chambers, Associations of Burkina
Faso, of Mali and the Senegalese
of America are among a large group
of F.I.R.E participants. RSVP at
212.222.7315
Charles Rangel
Dr. Thelma Adair
The NYU/Tisch School of the
Arts, the NYU Institute of African
American Affairs and the Harvard
University W.E. DuBois Institute
will host BEAUTY AND FASHION: The Black Portrait Symposium on April 2-3. Panel titles are
1. Body and Image 2) Fashioning
Beauty, 3) ReShaping the Public
Imaginary Through Art 4) Performing Beauty and 5) Self Representation in Africa and the African
Diaspora photography, film, music and literature. John Akomfrah,
Anthony Barboza, Manthia
Diawara, Chester Higgins, Kalia
Brooks, Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Leslie King-Hammond, Maya
Amina Lake Duro Olowu, Lowery
Stokes Sims, Hank Willis Thomas,
Deborah Willis and Kehinde Wiley
are among the artists and scholars who will present.
This SYMPOSIUM 2011 is the
third in a series, the first of which
began at Harvard in 2004 which
was titled “Bridging the Gaps: First
annual Conference on African
American Art.” The second conference “HERE AND NOW: Afri-
can and African-American Art and
Film” was held at NYU in 2007. The
Conference is free but you must register,
email
[email protected]. For
full SYMPOSIUM calendar, visit
www.photo.tisch.nyu.edu/object/
piRegisterBeauty2011
See reference above to 90 Years
of Life and Legacy of Dr. Thelma
Adair on 4/3.
Malaika Adero’s Up South International Book Festival; the Religion
and Society Program at the Union
Theological Seminary; and the Caribbean Cultural Center and African
Diaspora Institute will sponsor a
lecture on Thursday, April 7, like no
other titled THREADS OF AFRICAN SPIRITUALITY IN THE
AMERICAS; Candomble Tradition
of Brazil, which toplines Valdina
Pinto, a Makota, (ritual elder) in the
Kongo-Angola Candomble tradition in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, herself one of the most important contemporary Candomble grassroots
historian and philosopher.
Ms. Pinto will be joined by panelists: Rachel Harding, PhD, historian and author of “A Refuge in
Thunder: Candomble and Alternative Spaces in Blackness;” Lorelei
William, activist, writer and entrepreneur; and Dowoti Desir, a priestess scholar of Haitian Vodou,
Malaika Adero and Marta Moreno
Vega are panel moderators. Admission is $20. Lecture will be held at
the Union Theological Seminary,
located at 3041 Broadway at 121
Street, Harlem. For more info visit
upsouth.org.
Reverend Al Sharpton’s National Action Network hosts its
20 th Anniversary National Convention, at the Sheraton Hotel NY
located at 811 Seventh Avenue,
Manhattan, from April 6-9. Convention calendar lists lunches,
dinners, plenary sessions.
Muhammad Ali, Earvin “Magic”
Johnson, Samuel Jackson and
Latanya Richardson are among
luminaries being honored at a
star-saturated Convention Dinner.
Panels and seminars will be numerous, covering topics like “Gun Policy
and Anti-Violence,” “Real Estate
and Foreclosures,” “Meeting Corporate Goals in a Challenged
Economy,” “Media and Race: Does
Today’s News Coverage Reflect Diversity and Fairness,” and “Education Policy in the 21st Century.” A
Great Debate 2011: Sharpton vs.
Hannity is on the calendar. US Cabinet secretaries and captains of industry, leaders of the faith community are among the diverse group of
Convention participants. Additional
NAN Covention offerings are the
Jobs Fair and Health Screenings, a
Fashion Show and the Keepers of
the Dream Awards Dinner. Visit
www.nationalactionnetwork.net for
Convention activities.
ARIES Birthday shoutouts to
Maya Angelou, Kofi Annan, Ambassador Shirley Barnes, Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar, Joseph Semper,
Dedra Tate, Rocky Horsford, III,
Karen Horsford, Patricia McConnell,
Eddie Murphy, Maxwell Sidberry,
Marva Richards, Diana Ross, Dedra
Tate,
A media consultant, Victoria
Horsford, is a Harlem-based
journalist and culture historian
who can be contacted at
[email protected]
NNPA Award Winner
27
By Don Thomas
Remembering
Nate Dogg’s hooks enhanced rap hits
Long Beach, California native
singer Nate Dogg, whose near
monotone crooning anchored
some of rap’s most seminal songs
and helped define the sound of
West coast hip-hop, died at age
41. His birth name was Nathaniel
ticularly melodic, but its tone at
times menacing, at times playful,
yet always charming provided
just the right touch on hits including Warren G’s “Regulate,” 50
Cent’s “21 Questions,” Dr. Dre’s
“The Next Episode” and countless
Check out some of Nate Dogg’s Best 20 Songs including “I’m Fly,”
“Just Another Day,” “Where You Wanna Be,” “Why,” “Regulate”
and “Shake That Ass,” on You Tube
D. Hale. He died of complications
from multiple strokes, said Attorney Mark Geragos.
Nate wasn’t a rapper, but he
was an integral figure in the
genre: His deep voice wasn’t par-
others.
While Nate provided hooks for
rappers from coast to coast, he
was best known for his contributions to the West Coast
soundtrack provided by the likes
of Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Tha Dogg
Pound and more. He was even part
of a super group featuring Snoop
Dogg and Warren G, called 213.
Nate who had suffered at least
two strokes since 2008, also put
out his own solo projects but was
best known for his collaborations
with others.
Last year, Warren G said Nate
Dogg was in therapy but needed
help. “Everybody just gotta keep
him in their prayers, ‘cause he had
two strokes and that’s real dangerous. And a lot of people don’t
come back from that,” G said in an
interview to HipHollywood. G
added, “Cause the game needs
him, I need him.”
After word of Nate’s death
spread tributes poured in on Twitter. “We lost a true legend n hip
hop n rnb. One of my best friends
n a brother to me since 1986 when
I was a sophomore at Poly High
where we met,” Snoop Dogg
tweeted.
Like Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg
got his start on Death Row when
he was signed to the label by Dr.
Dre. Nate got his start singing in
the local church choir. He
dropped out of high school to join
the Marines but after three years
was dishonorably discharged.
He briefly got involved with
the drug trade before forming a
musical group with Snoop and
Warren G. It was Warren G who
was credited with giving their music to Dr. Dre.
Nate Dogg made his debut on
Dr. Dre’s classic album “The
Chronic” and immediately distinguished himself with a trademarked sound. A low steady croon
that came across as intimidating
as the rap verses.
Nate’s vocals made him one
of the most sought after collabo-
Nate Dogg album cover
rators for rap songs. 50 Cent, who
tapped Nate Dogg for his 2003 love
song “21 Questions,” tweeted, “I
wrote the chorus to ‘21 questions’
I needed Nate to sing it for me. He
had a way of making everything
feel hard.”
Nate could be heard on songs
ranging from Ludicrous’ “Area
Codes” to Tupac Shakur’s “All
About U” to Eminem’s “Shake
That.” Even as times changed and
rappers came and went, he didn’t
fall out of fashion. He faced several legal problems.
In 1996, he was acquitted of an
armed robbery charge; a jury deadlocked on another and he was not
retried. In 2000, Nate Dogg was
accused of trying to kidnap an exgirlfriend, but those charges were
dismissed. He pleaded no contest
to gun possession and was sentenced to probation.
In January of 2008, he suffered a debilitating stroke but a
few months later was arrested
for stalking and threatening his
estranged wife. He appeared in
court in a wheelchair. The charge
was dropped a year later.
Nate Dogg spent the last years
of his life trying to rebound from
his medical problems. “All dogs
go to heaven ... RIP NATE DOGG,”
tweeted Snoop Dogg.
Soul/Disco Singer
Loleatta Holloway dies at the age of 64
Loleatta Holloway was the “House Mother of Disco!” Paradise Garage in the Village went wild when one of her songs was
played...Her music has made history and her music will live in our souls forever!.....
Soul and Disco singer Loleatta Holloway
64, passed away on Mon., Mar. 21, after a
brief illness, her manager Ron Richardson
announced (via Spinning Soul).
Holloway’s biggest hit “Love Sensation” came in 1980 and proved a major inspiration to a variety of dance acts that followed. Her vocal from the track was most
notably sampled on Black Box’s 1989 UK
No. 1 “Ride On Time,” although at the time
the Italian house trio employed a French
model to mime along to Holloway’s powerful vocal.
After starting her career as a gospel
singer, Holloway signed to Aware Records
in the early 1970s but with only two albums
under her belt the label went out of business and she moved on.
Loleatta signed with the Gold Mind label in 1976 and scored her biggest success
with the B-side “Dreaming” which launched
her career as a Disco Star. In all she recorded six albums between 1973 and 1980.
Enter tainment
28
MELLOW FELLOW
Classic groove masters
still in Mint Condition
Edited by Audrey J. Bernard
Once upon a time there were
great funk/R&B bands like Earth
Wind & Fire, The Meters, War,
Kool & The Gang, Slave, and numerous others who constantly
broke down musical barriers. The
musicality of these units was superior – they could rock or funk
out as easily as they could move
the crowd with a tenor soulful
ballad.
The rise of electronic music
gradually undermined self-contained bands but in the 90s a dynamic young new band emerged
— Mint Condition — now the
greatest self-contained R&B
band of our time. Anointed early
on by superstar producers Jimmy
Jam and Terry Lewis (formerly of
the band The Time), Mint Condition does it all — delivering hardbitten funk with a hip hop edge,
rocking out with screaming lead
guitar, and crooning lush, “babymaking” soul ballads.
Formed in the early ’80s in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Mint Condition began with lead singer
Stokley Williams, guitarist Homer
O’Dell, keyboardist Larry
Waddell, keyboardist/saxophonist Jeff Allen, keyboardist/guitarist Keri Lewis, and guitarist/bassist Rick Kinchen.
The six talented musicians combine a variety of influences and
experiences to shape their own
sound. Williams began playing
classic West African instruments
at the age of four, while O’Dell
grew up listening to his father play
blues bass and singing with him
in a family group.
Waddell played in a recording
arts band at school and mastered
keyboards by listening to jazz
greats Oscar Peterson and Herbie
Hancock. Exposed to his father’s
extensive jazz collection, Allen
played keyboards and sax in local bands throughout his highschool years, as Lewis was mastering keyboards, percussion, and
guitar while attending school.
Kinchen’s first and strongest influence was his family, all of whom
played instruments and encouraged his interest in music. He
developed his skills as a bass
player by listening to records by
Stanley Clarke and Louis Johnson
of the Brothers Johnson. Kinchen
played in various bands in his
native Chicago and performed at
several productions at KennedyKing College before moving to the
Twin Cities.
Together, the much sought after band has amassed a string of
hits and performs hundreds of live
shows each year. In the Fall of
2010 when Prince took the podium
at the legendary Apollo to announce his “Welcome To
America,” and his plans to feature his favorite artists, it was no
shock to many that Mint Condi-
tion was among them. The only
band on his list that day? Mint
Condition.
During the month of February,
TV One tapped the grove masters
as the house band seen and heard
every night on the show “Way
Black When,” which celebrated
the biggest African American
stars throughout the ’70s, ’80s
and ’90s.
Mint Condition marks the 20th
anniversary of its first chart hit
with the release of 7… which is
They have always delivered
these elements live but here they
are a part of their studio work.
Nothing is formulaic or routine
with Mint Condition, starting with
the opening tracks “Can’t Get
Away” and “I Want It,” which are
seamlessly linked to play straight
through, to “Twenty Years Later,”
an off-the-wall narrative depicting
a 47 year-old addict wondering
what happened to the last twenty
years of his life, which opens with
acoustic guitar and climaxes with
band that can also rock out, is that
some of their biggest hits have
been ballads and 7… delivers several more great ballads that are destined to be classics including the
inspirational “Unsung,” “Not My
Daddy,” the duet with Kelly Price
and Stokley, with its unique lyric
take on male/female relationships
and, of course, the first hit single
from the album, “Caught My Eye,”
with subtle lyrics that stand head
and shoulders above the “sex you
up” love ballads dominating the
“Each member of the band is equally invested in both the music and the group itself,” Larry El explains.
“So when performing we can more readily live on the edge, musically speaking, where it’s most interesting, and still not lose the original spirit and intent of the songs. Any given member can readily play what
any other member is thinking or feeling.”
the consummate R&B group’s
seventh studio album due out on
Shanachie Entertainment/Caged
Bird April 5, 2011. The sultry album spawned two current hit
singles — the sumptuous
“Caught My Eye” and “Not My
Daddy” featuring lead singer
Stokley’s duet with Kelly Price.
“This time around we decided
to not let ourselves become
bogged down with strict thematic
or musical boundaries,” notes
keyboard player Larry El. “We
wanted, instead, to do a project
that would be expressive of life’s
multi-facets. For the first time in
our career, we looked back into
our own musical catalogue for inspiration and resources. Without
being a direct throwback, 7…
weave threads of nostalgia into
the musical mix. It’s kind of an
ode to Minneapolis, Mint Condition style.”
7… sounds unlike anything
else in the R&B world -or any
other world — today, once again
demonstrating that Mint Condition is one of those rare artists on
the scene with their own unique
sound. Along with the boss boy
group’s bedrock funk and R&B
balladry, elements of jazz, rock,
and hip hop come into the mix.
an ironic jaunty Vegas-style vamp.
It is the kind of organic creativity that only Mint Condition could
achieve, an extra ingredient that
years of playing together make it
possible for them to deliver. In an
era dominated by singles, 7… is
truly an album, designed to be
heard as a whole.
“Each member of the band is
equally invested in both the music
and the group itself,” Larry El explains.
“So when performing we can more
readily live on the edge, musically
speaking, where it’s most interesting, and still not lose t he original
spirit and intent of the songs. Any
given member can readily play
what any other member is thinking
or feeling.”
It is this kind of organic, edgy
creativity that has made Mint Condition one of Prince’s favorite artists. “In many ways, he (Prince)
continues to be a mentor for us,”
says guitarist O’Dell. “He’s a musical genius yet is never condescending. He has a way of making
you feel he’s your biggest fan —
we certainly are his! He’s the best.
Watching him perform always
sends you back to the shed; you
know you still have work to do.”
An unusual fact for a funk/R&B
scene today.
“The lyrics (of “Caught My
Eye”) tell it all,” relates Stokley,
who wrote the tune with Larry
El. “It’s a literal translation.
But, at the heart of it all, is vulnerability. We have all felt
those `first encounter’ butterflies before. The band knew everybody would be able to relate
to that.”
The members of Mint Condition met as teenagers growing
up in the Twin Cities — Minneapolis-St. Paul —amidst a thriving music scene energized by
Prince, The Time, Jam & Lewis,
The Replacements, Soul Asylum and many other artists.
Keyboardists Lawrence El
and Keri Lewis, guitarist O’Dell,
keyboardist/saxophonist Jeff,
drummer/vocalist Stokley, and
bass player Ricky came together
in the performing arts program
at Central High School. Playing together in different combinations led to them forming
Mint Condition; a gig at the
famed First Avenue club in 1989
caught the attention of superproducers Jimmy Jam and Terry
Lewis, formerly of The Time,
and they were signed to Jam &
Lewis’ Perspective Records.
Meant to be Mint, their debut
album, was released in 1991.
Their first single, a New Jack
Swing-styled number, had only
modest success but it was a ballad, “Breakin’ My Heart (Pretty
Brown Eyes),” which has become
one of the classic R&B ballads
of our time, that was their breakthrough, hitting #3 on the R&B
charts and #6 on the Pop charts,
with the follow-up “Forever In
Your Eyes” hitting #7 on R&B
charts.
Further hit singles and albums
followed with “U Send Me
Swingin’,” “Someone To Love”
and “So Fine” all hits From The
Mint Factory album, “What Kind
Of Man Would I Be” (another acknowledged classic) and “You
Don’t Have To Hurt No More”
from Definition of a Band.
Meanwhile the band earned its
spurs as a live act, touring relentlessly and, unlike so many artists, delivering not only a performance equal to their studio work
but one which often surpassed
it. As a result, their legions of
fans would turn out for a Mint
Condition show whether they
had a current hit out or not.
After Perspective Records
folded, Mint Condition signed
with Elektra, delivering more hits
with “If You Love Me” and “Is
This Pain Our Pleasure” from the
Life’s Aquarium album. In the
early 2000s the group took a
break from their relentless recording and touring schedule.
They resumed as a quintet
with only keyboard player Keri
Lewis absent (though he sometimes re-joined them for specific
shows releasing a new album Living the Luxury Brown on their
own Caged Bird label in 2005,
hitting again with “I’m Ready.”
Their high-energy live performance was captured with the release of Live at the 9:30 Club
and then 2008’s E-Life yielded
another hit with “Nothing Left To
Say.”
Two decades on, Mint Condition stands along with The Roots
as the only high-profile examples
of a self-contained, hit-making
Black music band, and with
Mint’s emphasis on songs and
great singing, the sole band carrying on the great tradition of
R&B funk bands such as Earth,
Wind & Fire, The Meters, War,
The Commodores, Lakeside,
Slave and many more that were
an important, progressive element of the Black music scene in
the Seventies and Eighties.
“We’re fortunate that people
have come to expect us to march
to our own drum, musically
speaking,” says bassist Ricky.
And even though we have
carved out our own unique creative path, we’ve always been
well embraced.” (Writer Ed
Hogan contributed to this profile)
Film Strip
By Marie Moore
Contributing Scribe
The cast of the extraterrestrial
film, “Paul,” was in New York recently and the New York Beacon
had an opportunity to talk with
them and its director, Greg
“Exactly,” says Bateman.
“When we really needed you to
blow up the White House,“ he continued. “That’s an ‘Independence
Day’ joke; it’s not political at all.”
It might not have been political but
paying homage to Will Smith’s
mega movie hit, but the idea of the
there is not, if you know what I’m
saying, but the thing is that we
may never meet because of the
distances between our worlds are
so enormous.”
Mottola has his theory about
intergalactic travel also. ”I always
loved the mythology of aliens,”
(L-R) Graeme (Simon Pegg), Ruth (Kristen Wiig), Clive (Nick Frost) and Paul (Seth Rogen) try to stay
on the highway in the comedy-adventure “Paul.” While in America’s UFO heartland, two sci-fi fans
meet an alien who brings them on an insane road trip
Mottola. I asked them what I
thought was a typical question
and expected a typical answer
like, “Why are you here?”
Fortunately for the readers the
question opened up a can worms.
The first two to enter the room
were Jason Bateman (Agent
Lorenzo Zoil) and Kristen Wiig
(Ruth Buggs). The two were
asked if face to face with an alien,
what would be your first question?
“I would say, ‘Why is your
head so big?’ Assuming that it
looks like Paul,” Wiig weighed in.
“I’d say, ‘Why now?’ ‘Where
were you a few years ago?’”
Bateman quipped. “When we really needed them,” Wiig added.
previous administration’s policies
that set the country on a downward
slide towards financial ruin became
a hmm moment.
Nick Frost (Clive Gollings/
Writer) really took a leap when and
said, “I would ask them what they
eat and how they prepare it.” His
longtime friend, co-writer and road
buddy in the film, Simon Pegg
(Graeme Willy) remarked that Frost
is a ‘keen chef,’ and poised an interesting question.
“I would, I guess, enquire about
the secrets of interstellar travel. I
mean, they’d have to have overcome an extreme hurdle to get here.
That’s the thing; I think there’s definitely life on other planets. There’s
more chance of there being life than
he allows. “I believe they have
to be out there somewhere. Specifically speaking, there must be
other intelligent life forms,
whether they come and pull
pranks on our livestock seems a
bit unlikely but I love the idea of
aliens as folklore and it would be
so cool if they were really here.”
When you look at science fiction, there are a lot of road trips
whether it be “Star Wars,” “Star
Trek,” “Lost in Space,” or “Fantastic Voyage.”’ “I guess it’s a
journey into the future itself,”
Pegg explains.
“The very nature of science
fiction is about pioneering into a
time that we don’t yet know or a
technology that we don’t yet
(L-R) Doreen, Everald, (Vinette Pryce center), Hewitt and Paulette, along with several others celebrated Ms. Pryce’s birthday at the spacious Fort Lee, New Jersey home of host Angelo Ellerbee/
CEO of Double Xxposure Public Relations. (Photo: Hakim Mutlaq)
know. So in that respect it has the
momentum of a journey. So, yeah,
it is. It’s sort of about uncharted
territory and that’s what the road
trip is all about, the sort of voyage
of discovery.
“So in that respect, yeah and
it’s a metaphor for travel, I guess,
science fiction. It’s a metaphor for
forward movement, forward momentum. For us, it was just about
wanting to make ‘Easy Rider’ and
put an alien in it. That was it. The
agreement was to make Greg’s
[Mottola] first film ‘Daytrippers’,
but instead of Liev Schreiber we’d
have ET.”
At times in the film, fun was
poked at religion and they say it
comes with the territory. “I wasn’t
bothered by it,” Wiig says, “because I really didn’t feel like we
were making fun of it. It was an interesting character choice for someone who’s about to see an alien for
the first time, because if you see one
or if we realize they’re there that
does ask a lot of questions in regard to religion.
And I think they took that and
they made it a very funny character
trait more than making fun of anyone or making a statement about
anything I think.” “Maybe I’m an
idiot, which I’ve been called,”
Bateman says, “but the creationism
thing, seeing an alien wouldn’t necessarily debunk that because then
wouldn’t the creationist say, ‘Well
yeah, he created the aliens as well.
He didn’t just create life on Earth,
he also created life on all these other
places, we just haven’t been able to
see them yet.’”
‘Paul’ conjures up political, religious
and extraterrestrial thoughts
29
30
2011 EME Awards
Recipients not present forfeit
rights to prestigious trophies
KINGSTON, JAMAICA - Organizers of the recent Excellence
in Music & Entertainment Awards
(EME), disclosed that award recipients who were not present at
the 7th annual presentation ceremony at Devon House in
Kingston, Jamaica will not receive
the prestigious trophies this year.
“The executive committee of
the EME Awards made the unanimous decision that award recipients who were in Jamaica at the
time of the event and who choose
not to attend the event or send a
representative to collect the
award(s) on their behalf, have
forfeited their rights to the trophy.
“We realize this is an unprecedented decision but after careful consideration, we feel this is
the right decision and something
that must be done to protect the
integrity and longevity of the
event” founder and CEO Richard
‘Richie B’ Burgess said.
“The EME Awards was conceived to honor and recognize
the accomplishments of our own
local reggae/dancehall stars in
categories such as DJ of the Year,
Best New Artist, Vocalist of the
Year, Producer of the Year and the
new category Artist of the De-
Richard ‘Richie B’ Burgess Founder/CEO of EME Awards
cade.
“If those being honored don’t
see the need to attend or participate in the process, then they do
not deserve to receive the award.
Respect goes both ways. It is as
simple as that” he reiterated.
Burgess said Shaggy and
Wayne Wonder’s appeal to their
peers to support the ‘local artistes
and local music’ points to a bigger
problem in the industry. “It is
sad when international acts like
Trina or Eve commit to travel to
Jamaica, just so they can be here
to collect their awards, while our
own reggae stars choose to stay
home.
“This is a symptom of a bigger
problem in our industry that has
to be addressed sooner than later.
The industry is on a downward
spiral. If corrective actions are not
taken immediately, we stand to
back pedal on some of the significant strides that were made by
those who preceded us in the industry” he noted.
On the positive side, Burgess
said the EME Awards had many
things to celebrate, including the
international coverage the event
garnered this year.
“A lot of work went in producing
and promoting the event not just in
Jamaica but to the international
community as well.
“I am happy to report, we received positive pre-coverage in the
USA Today, Fuse TV, the NY Daily
News, Live News India, On Wax
Magazine, Ace Showbiz, MTV, Hip
Hop Weekly, Hip Hop Wired and
the Star Magazine in England,
which all carried editorial content
about the 2011 EME Awards.
“We registered hits from as many
as 176 different countries around
the world including the USA, UK,
Russian Federation, Belgium,
Kenya, Poland, India and China.
Search engine results on Google for
EME Awards 2011 reached nearly
500,000, which demonstrates the
international appeal of our music.
“This speaks to the need for
us as a country to seize the opportunities to properly market
and promote our music. Concerning the fate of future presentations, Burgess said the
biggest challenge the EME faces
is corporate sponsorship. The
truth is, much more assistance
is required from corporate businesses, the JTB and the government if we are to survive“ he
said.
Coming Soon
‘Sinbad: It’s Just Family’ debuts in April
Compiled By Don Thomas
Don’t call this his comeback
— Sinbad never left! But the
internet declared him dead, his
family splintered apart, movie
roles became sparse and he lost
his home. The only place left for
him to go was up, and not only
was he going to do it all over, but
he was going to do it right.
Now remarried to his ex-wife,
he’s taking the kids and moving
back in with her, ready to take on
his revamped role as husband,
father and working man. But having his wife and two semi-grown
kids back under one roof is driving him crazy!
There’s way less privacy and
way more chaos and drama than
anyone had in mind. WE TV’s
newest reality series, “Sinbad: It’s
Just Family” premieres on Tues.,
April 12 at 10pm ET/PT with six
hour-long episodes, immediately
following new episodes of
“Braxtons Family Values.”
Fifteen years ago, Sinbad was
at the top of his game — hit
sitcom, successful talk show, a
promising movie career and the
perfect family. But then it all went
away —shows were canceled, he
got divorced and financial crisis
hit. But that wasn’t the end for
him. He decided things needed
to change so he fired his agent,
kicked his 30 plus entourage off
the payroll and kept his focus on
his original passion of stand-up
comedy.
He remarried his ex-wife,
Meredith, and is now leaving his
“man cave” behind and moving
back into their original home, along
with his two grown kids, Paige and
Royce. Readjusting to this new
life has its up and downs for everyone in the house. For 25- yearold Paige and 22-year-old Royce,
who enjoyed their freedom while
living in Sinbad’s “man-mansion,”
it’s a bonus that they’re able to still
tap mom and dad for some added
support and home-cooked meals.
But as an aspiring singer with a
budding career, Paige is itching for
more freedom. Royce, a student
with music aspirations and a knack
for martial arts, doesn’t mind his
new situation as much, but wants
to claim the guesthouse as his own
— a constant source of disagreement between him and Sinbad.
Meanwhile, Meredith’s once
clutter-free home is now overrun with boxes upon boxes of
Sinbad’s belongings — two
houses worth! To Meredith, it’s
useless junk. But to Sinbad, it’s
meaningful. While Meredith’s
calm nature balances Sinbad’s
animated theatrics, the two just
as often collide. “Sinbad: It’s
Just Family” reveals the humor
and drama that fuels them as
they face financial struggles,
privacy issues and the perils of
living together again.
Sinbad
The Apollo Theater stages first
ever Dining with the Divas
Dining with the Divas: Yolanda
Ferrell-Brown, Deborah Roberts, Alicia Bythewood
How many of you have been to
the historic Apollo Theater for an
event and imagined what it would
be like if you were on that great
stage where stars were born and
legends made? Well scores of
women can cross another thing
off their bucket list as they finally
made it to the great stage and was
not booed off by an “Amateur
Night” audience or swept off by
the legendary “Sandman.”
These special ladies were attendees at the First Annual Dining with the Divas luncheon that
took place on Valentine’s Day,
Monday, February 14, 2011, in the
actual theater – onstage and in
the spacious part of the orchestra. Interior designer David Monn
LLC – with the creative eye of
Apollo board member Yolanda
Ferrell-Brown – turned those
plum areas into an elegant sea of
flaming red décor – tablecloths,
votive candles, red seats and exotic floral arrangements.
As the joyful Abyssinian Baptist Women’s Choir sang the gospel truth, resplendently dressed
women – mostly in red hot power
suits – took their seats at beautifully arranged tables replete with
miniature boxes of delicious
Jacques Torres Chocolates and
expensive La Caravelle champagne and Georges Duboeuf
wines.
It was a task getting these social butterflies to sit down as they
flitted from table to table to network. However, once seated they
were warmly welcomed by Jonelle
Procope, president & CEO, Apollo
Theater Foundation, Inc., to the
iconic theater’s celebration of extraordinary women. She then introduced the Diva co-hosts, Diva
host committee and Diva committee members made up of some of
the most powerful women in the
political, corporate, entertainment,
financial and media arenas.
ABC News correspondent
Deborah Roberts and Leslie
Uggams, board member, Apollo
Theater Foundation, Inc., regaled
the ladies about the Apollo’s rich
history; while Diva co-hosts
Marcia Gay Harden and Mira Nair
gracefully summed up the essence
of the event that benefitted the
Apollo’s year round education
programs and community activities. The Apollo Theater Education Program extends the Apollo’s
commitment to enhancing the life
of the community.
After an indescribably delicious lunch catered by Great
Performances, an Apollo Theater Academy student selected
the door prize-winning name,
Harriette Mandeville, of designer Nicole Miller‘s dazzling dress purse. As the impressive lunch came to a close,
Procope did not have to twist
Renee Billy, Jacqueline Nickelberry, Thurayya Mitchell
Alicia Bythewood, Yolanda Ferrell-Brown, Jonelle Procope, Joannie
Danielides, Rita Jammet, Claudette Blackwood, Debra Shriver
Alexis Cepeda Maule, Dionna McPhatter, Lucia Riddle
Tonya Lewis Lee, Marcia Gay Harden
Sade Baderinwa
arms to get luminaries to leave
the comfort of their tablemates
and continue to mix and mingle.
What a powerful chat fest!
A daunting event such as this
takes hundreds to pull off and
Ny'Asia McKinstry, Lynn Whitfield & Asha Whale
Hope Knight, Verdery Roosevelt,Pat Stevenson
LaTonya Richardson, Leslie Uggams, Pauletta Washington
Garnell Shumate, Renne T. Billy, Andrea Williams, Beverly
Smith, Sharland Norris
co-hosts Lynn Whitfield, Yolanda Ferrell-Brown, Jonelle Procope
make look effortless and this
event was no exception. To
that end, Procope thanked the
event’s generous sponsors:
MTV Networks, Estee Lauder
Companies, GE, Rubenstein,
Corporate Counsel Women of
Color. She also thanked those
who provided products including Great Performances,
Bernardaud, La Caravelle
Champagne, Estee Lauder
Patricia Hill, Joyce Jackson,
Joanne Hill
Mira Nair
Companies, Georges Duboeuf,
J a c q u e s To r r e s C h o c o l a t e ,
Hearst Corporation (print design)
and Patane Press Inc. (printing).
(Photos by Audrey J. Bernard &
Shahar Azran)
31
KICKIN’ IT with Lifestyles & Society Editor Audrey J. Bernard
32
On the TUBE
The Braxton sisters take over WE tv
What do you get when
you mix a quintet of opinionated women with celebrity,
money and a television camera? You get 10 new episodes
of one-hour original series,
they yell, cry and harmonize
their way across the Braxton
family stage.
These tight-knit sisters are
not afraid to reveal the intricacies of their sisterhood as they
battle it out for the spotlight
with sibling rivalry, man drama,
The Braxton sisters, Toni, Traci, Towanda, Trina, Tamar and Mother
Evelyn pose pretty for the lensman
“Braxton Family Values,” premiering on WE tv Tues., April
12 at 9pm (ET/PT).
Join Toni (The Superstar),
Traci (The Underdog),
Towanda (Mrs. Congeniality),
Trina (The Wildcard), Tamar
(Baby) and their headstrong
mother Evelyn (The Force), as
bankruptcy, a DUI and much
more. See if their sisterly bond
can withstand the trials and
tribulations of life in the ‘fab’
lane.
Like their famous sister Toni
Braxton, Traci, Towanda, Trina
and Tamar were all blessed with
the gift of song and shared that
gift as a group called “The
Braxtons,” managed by their
mom Evelyn.
Fast forward a few years, and
Toni Braxton is a mega-star with
hit song after hit song and too
many accolades to count. Traci
has an unexpected pregnancy,
Towanda decides to pursue acting, Trina becomes back-up for
Toni and a wedding singer, while
Tamar strikes out on her own to
chase her rising star.
Mom Evelyn also experienced change when she divorced the love of her life, the
girls’ father, for his chronic philandering. With their worlds
turned upside-down and the
meteoric rise of Toni’s fame, the
family had to dramatically adjust
to life after stardom.
Toni Braxton is now fighting
her way back to the top. After
battling debilitating illnesses
that left her out of the spotlight,
she’s looking to regain her status in the industry. She enlists
the help of her sisters, but the
drama they bring proves to be
too much at times.
As Traci dreams of rejoining
her famous sister on stage as a
background singer, Tamar wants
nothing to do with the background. She wants to be front
and center and isn’t afraid to let
everyone know that doowhoppin for Toni is not what
she needs.
Towanda wants nothing
more than to escape life as
To n i ’s a s s i s t a n t , b u t To n i
doesn’t seem ready to give her
up and shuns any new assistant
that she gets. Trina wants to be
respected for her choices as a
The 21st Annual “Ms. Full-Figured USA Pageant” was held at Newark, New Jersey’s Robert Treat
Hotel. Theresa Randolph of JT Pageant Productions crowned three new queens: (standing) Christiana
Tarawally, Shequanda Hamilton and Tanya Means. Each won cash and a tiara. (seated) Ms. Randolph,
Pageant Founder/Director.
(Photo: A. Syncere Zakee)
musician, even if that includes
performing with a cover-band,
but her sisters can’t believe
that makes her happy and make
fun of her for it.
As if the sibling drama
weren’t enough, the sisters
have to deal with turmoil erupting in their personal lives.
From Toni’s bankruptcy problems and Traci’s possessive
husband to Towanda’s lackadaisical marriage, Trina’s problem drinking and Tamar’s misdirected issues with everyone
the trouble never ends with
the sisters.
Yet through it all, they have
each other’s back and prove
that even though they fight
hard, they love harder. The
series will unveil the realities
of sisterhood and dispel the
myth that money solves everything. As if the spotlight was
not crowded enough, The
Braxton’s will have even more
competition!
In support of their new show,
www.WEtv.com invites viewers
to showcase their own singing
talents in an online competition
beginning April 12 th. Visitors will
upload videos of themselves
singing a 60-90 second version
of Toni Braxton’s number one-hit,
“Un-Break My Heart.” They will
be judged by WEtv.com voters
with the winner being handpicked by The Braxtons.
The grand prize is $2,500 in
cash and a meet-and-greet with
all of the Braxton’s. The reality
show is produced by WE tv and
Magical Elves Productions. Executive Producer for WE tv is
Annabelle McDonald, SVP of
Original Productions & Development is John Miller. Check out
all of the fun www.WEtv.com.
Off-Broadway
33
By Ernece B. Kelly
Drama Critic
Woodie King’s New Federal
Theatre is hosting an exquisite
“winner” —playwright Bill Harris’ passionately complex and fascinating “Cool Blues”. Referred
to as A Play in 4 Movements, the
drama centers on two jazz musicians, horn player, B (Marcus
Naylor) and Kid Welpool (Jay
Ward) a pianist.
We meet them in the first scene.
Ensconced in the plainest of sets,
B is eating take-out chicken while
trying to convince Kid that he’s
better off with him than in a hospital.
But that’s an obvious lie!
When Kid isn’t blacked out, he’s
disoriented and unable to remember where he is. It takes the playing and re-playing of a jazz recording for him to recognize his
own piano work. Adding to the
scene’s intensity is B’s ostensible
self-confidence and cocky smile
which raise questions about his
motives. Eventually, audiences
understand that their getting back
on the bandstand is more important to B—he’s “gotta prove I’m
not washed up”!
“I’m gonna change the world
for you,” B promised his mother
(Stephanie Berry), and she re-
minds him of his words in one of
several scenes where she drifts back
into his memory along with his exwife Chim (Maria Silverman).
Confusing at first, these characters show up on the edges of the
stage or in the aisles and initially,
audiences simply don’t know who
they are or what they’re talking
about. But eventually, their significance becomes clear.
A third woman Baroness
Alexandra Isabella von Templeton
(Terria Joseph) shows up in the second movement. B pops in unexpectedly at her opulent apartment.
Having just returned from the
governor’s charity ball, she has
nothing but sour criticism for the
society folk in attendance.
Feeling trapped in her privileged life, the baroness prefers the
“primitive” kind of freedom she
finds in jazz circles and with men
like B. “It’s so groovy having you
here,” she says imitating their jazz
lingo,
Parallels between the lives of
Charlie Parker and B are clear—both
began playing in their teens, had a
white wife, and a rich, white patron.
On this level, the playwright explores an individual’s life. But, at
the same time, the play is much
larger. For B’s distress over the regular mistreatment from club owners,
managers, and police falls on most
jazz musicians in America. And
when the baroness summons her
doctor (Ezra Barnes) to the apartment to examine B, both institutional discrimination and personal
prejudice get played out.
(L-R) Stephanie Berry, Marcus Naylor, Maria Silverman in scene from New Federal Theater’s production of “Cool Blues.”
(Photos: Gerry Goodstein)
“Cool Blues” succeeds because fine acting —especially
Naylor who shines as B in an exhausting role—is employed in
the service of a sturdy drama.
(The baroness’ final monologue
could be halved to prevent the
audience’s attention flagging).
Augmenting this is Sean
O’Halloran’s fine sound design
[jazz pieces], Ali Turns’ meticulously observed costumes,
Shirley Prendergast’s lighting
and Anthony Davidson’s set
design which efficiently converts the stripped-down set of
the first movement into the
opulent apartment of the bar-
oness.
In short, “Cool Blues” has
the rich texture and compelling
characters, combined with poetic
dialogue, having the power to
amuse or anger, of the best of
drama. “Cool Blues” is at New
Federal Theatre, 466 Grand
Street thru April 3 rd.
The Harlem community and visiting neighbors from the outer boroughs joined forces to celebrate the 85th Anniversary of the Wadleigh Performing Arts High School located on West 114
Street, during a foot stompin’ good time dance-a-thon free event held Sat. Mar. 12 from 12 noon
to 3pm. Aside from recognizing the accomplishments of the talented school attendees were also
treated of swing lessons/films about the legendary Savoy Ballroom legacy, presented by the
Harlem Swing Dance Society
(Photo: Louis Boone 111)
(L-R) Marcus Naylor and Jay Ward in compelling scene from “Cool Blues”
‘Cool Blues’ sings on key !
34
Entertainment Special
Adults Family Trip
At Disney — The Fun Gets Better With Age
March madness is no
longer just about basketball
for a handful of selected media who recently took part in
a 3-day Disney “fam” trip introducing Walt Disney World
Resort for Adults: The Fun
Gets Better With Age that took
place Tuesday, March 1, and
concluded Thursday, March
3, 2011. This was not your
ordinary “fam” trip as everything was on a deluxe scale
starting with our accommodations.
Guests stayed at Disney’s
fabulous five-star Animal
K i n g d o m L o d g e a t Wa l t
D i s n e y Wo r l d R e s o r t i n
Florida. The deluxe resort is
an African lodge-style hotel
set amidst a 43-acre wildlife
preserve, where more than 30
species of exotic animals roam.
We arrived at all different
times and from all different
places Tuesday, March 1, 2011
and were magically transported by Disney’s Magical
Express to Disney’s Animal
Kingdom Lodge where we
were met by a bevy of Disney
Destinations staff -- Annette
Gibbs, Craig Dezern, Carole
Munroe, Laura Spencer, Sarah
Smith, Belinda Frazier, Xavier
Guzman, Belinda Wilson, Kim
Simons and Tijuanna Compton
Nunn -- who helped to make
our stay a “magical” one and
gave us a taste of what was to
come -- a whirlwind of events.
Highlights of The Fun
Gets Better With Age featured
where Baby Boomers should
stay for the ultimate adult experience. Suggested resorts
included Disney’s BoardWalk,
an entire district dedicated to
Boomers featuring the best in
dining, entertainment and recreation along a boardwalk that
evokes the charm of early
Mid-Atlantic coastal inns.
For recreation, golf, tennis,
horseback riding and fishing
are key. The Vacation Kingdom contains one of the
country’s top golf resorts,
Disney’s Osprey Ridge Golf
Course, Magnolia, Palm and
Lake Buena Vista courses.
The resort also has 30 of the
finest tennis courts in Central
Florida. And the bass fishing
is a fisherman’s dream come
true.
Then there is the “take me
away moment” at the two fullservice spas. The Spa at
Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort combines Disney’s expertise in service with natural spa
therapies from around the
world. The Grand Floridian Spa
& Health Club offers 17 treatment rooms for massage, herbal
wraps and aromatherapy.
Eating places abound. From
breakfast to lunch to dinner,
adult dining is a delightful culinary attraction. From a highly
energized breakfast at The
Wave, Kona Café or Whispering Canyon Café to a lunch
break at any number of lunchtime places to a regal dinner at
Victoria & Albert’s where guests
dine on Royal Doulton china,
Cristofle silver and Riedel crystal.
us over to tour Disney’s All Star
Resorts Family Suites and
Disney’s Bay Lake Tower followed by a lovely welcome reception at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort. Then after a brief
return to our room, we enjoyed
Signature Dining at Citricos
where we soaked in relaxed sundrenched southern European
Grand Floridian Resort & Spa”
that afforded us a 50 minute
massage or manicure/pedicure
while luxuriating in the Victorian elegance of a lavish Resort
and spa that pays homage to
Palm Beach’s golden era.
Wednesday evening we
dined at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge Jiko Restaurant.
stimulates the imagination from
beginning to end. At show’s end
we participated in a Meet ‘n Greet
with performers from Cirque Du
Soleil.
Our last day of adult events,
Thursday, March 3, 2011, separated the men from the women —
Epcot Tour and Activities for the
Ladies and Richard Petty’s Driv-
Guerlain specialists with Disney Destinations staff
And after a fun-filled day,
adults can get their boogie on
at a number of nightlife places
including Downtown Disney
West Side (Virgin Megastore,
House of Blues, Wolfgang Puck
Café, Bongos Cuban Café) and
Downtown Disney Pleasure Island (Fuego by Sosa Cigars for
a smoke and premium cocktails
and the Raglan Road Irish Pub
and Restaurant).
The “fam” trippers had a
wonderful time and lots to report back to their readers. Here’s
a condensed itinerary of all that
we did during another wonderful time at Disney. And, as I always say, nobody throws a
party like Disney! Now I can
definitively add to that slogan
— The Fun Gets Better With
Age.
ambience while enjoying flavorful American fare inspired by
the legendary cuisine of
Provençe, Tuscany and the
Spanish Riviera. The marketfresh Mediterranean cooking is
fresh, light and simply stylish.
After dinner we attended a
dessert reception at Marina and
b e d a z z l e d b y t h e “ Wi s h e s
Nighttime Spectacular Fireworks” that illuminated the sky
over the Magic Kingdom Park.
Later that evening some of us
returned to Disney’s Animal
Kingdom Lodge and others
were transported to Downtown Disney to party hardy.
On Wednesday, March 2, after a hearty breakfast, we were
off and running on a Wild Africa Trek in unexplored areas of
the Harambe Reserve featuring
an “up close and personal” exDigest of a Disney Diva
perience with intriguing African
wildlife species. Relaxation folAs soon as we checked in a lowed our wildlife encounter at
special mini-coach chauffeured a “Spa Activity at Disney’s
The restaurant is known for its
twin wood-burning ovens roar
and the soothing, warm colors of
an African sunset bring energy to
this remarkable restaurant’s
comfortable setting. Taste creative American cooking that is
a unique blend of multi-cultural
influences — from the Mediterranean coast, India and Europe. Savor seafood, steak,
chicken and vegetarian offerings infused with the vibrant
flavors and fragrant spices of
Africa.
After dinner we were
whisked over to Downtown
Disney Westside to attend a
performance of Cirque Du
Soleil’s “La Nouba.” Live it up
at this spellbinding show created exclusively for the Walt
Disney World Resort - a mustsee for anyone who wants a
truly dazzling evening of spectacular entertainment. La
Nouba transforms the ordinary
into the extraordinary and
ing Experience for the Men. Voyagers enjoyed the hidden wonder of the park and Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival.
The ladies went gaga over a visit
to the Guerlain in France store with
friendly fragrance and make-up specialists, tea in United Kingdom and
Germany’s Karamell Kuche. The ladies were transported to France vicariously through Marie Line Patry,
national fragrance beauty director,
Guerlain Paris and Guerlain specialists – Caridad Canales, Ginger
Mazickien and Norma Gonzalez -pampered us with free makeup sessions and upon leaving presented
us with great gift bags containing
Guerlain products.
The adventure-seeking men
went hog wild over the Richard
Petty Driving Experience at Walt
Disney World Speedway where
they experienced the ultimate
thrill of riding in or driving a race
car around the one-mile tri-oval
speedway.
Compiled by Don Thomas
110 high school students came
to Walt Disney World Resort for
the 2011 Disney’s Dreamers
Academy (DDA) with Steve
Harvey and Essence magazine to
“the place where dreams come
true” on a quest to elevate their
aspirations and kindle new
dreams during a weekend filled
with challenging “Deep-Dive”
educational workshops, heartfelt
words of encouragement and
candid advice, from March 3
through March 6.
Syndicated radio personality
Steve Harvey, who along with Essence magazine and Disney World
hosted the teens from 22 states and
the District of Columbia, told the
students that “dreams are what
fuels everything in a person’s life.
It makes you go to school, it makes
you want more, it makes you obey
the law, it makes you think of how
to be a kind person, it makes you
think before you act so you can
anticipate your future.”
Essence magazine’s editor-at-
large, Mikki Taylor, headed an allstar line-up of motivational speakers, entertainment and sports figures, and world-class business
professionals. The “Deep 20 personalized and interactive Dive”
sessions allowed the students to
become fully immersed in various
career experiences. The interactive
workshops educated Dreamers in
fields ranging from marine biology
to journalism, to the performing arts
and culinary arts.
Additional encouragement came
from popular entertainment mogul
Raven Symone during her commencement speech that concluded the four-day event who
told graduates, “Don’t focus too
much on the celebrity part. Celebrity lights always dim. ‘Iconic’
is timeless.”
The commencement also included remarks from awardwinning gospel music icon
Yo l a n d a A d a m s , D i s n e y ’s
Dreamers Academy executive
champion Tracey D. Powell,
Essence Communications
president Michelle Ebanks,
Coca-Cola North America senior brand activation manager
Stella Ringer, and Jostens senior manager of market development Gloria Garcia.
For the first time in the four
year history of DDA, five students were awarded internships,
four with this year’s Essence
Music Festival in New Orleans
– funded by Essence Communications, the Walt Disney World
Resort and Coca-Cola – and an
internship with Footman-Brewer
Enterprises, LLC.
(L-R) High School Student A’Dorian
Murray-Thomas of Newark, N.J. (back
row), Tracey D. Powell, executive champion
for DDA with Steve Harvey and Essence
magazine (front row), high school student
Alexis Coates of Auburn, Ala. (back row),
Mikki Taylor, Essence magazine’s editor-atlarge (front row), actor/comedian Steve
Harvey (back row) and student Princeton
Parker of Los Angeles, Calif. (front row)
serve as the grand marshals March 3, 2011
in the daily parade at the Magic Kingdom
in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
(Todd Anderson, photographer)
Actor, comedian and radio host Steve Harvey
(center) poses for a photo March 4, 2011 with
high school students (L-R): Jordan Murrell
from Benbrook, Texas, Chelsea Scott from
Ft. Washington, Md., Diamond Sims from Miami, Fla., and Kyla Hunter from Brooklyn,
N.Y., during a break in his radio show broadcast at Disney’s BoardWalk Resort in Lake
Buena Vista, Fla. Harvey hosted his nationally syndicated radio program “The Steve
Harvey Morning Show” live from Walt Disney
World during the fourth annual DDA with
Steve Harvey. (Matt Stroshane, photographer)
Walt Disney World
horticulturalist Les
Frey (right) gives a
group of high school
students a greenhouse
tour March 4, 2011 during a culinary career
workshop session at
DDA with Steve
Harvey and Essence
magazine” at Disney’s
Hollywood Studios in
Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
(Todd Anderson, photographer)
35
Dreams come true at Disney’s Dreamers Academy
36
Disc Chat
There’s just no stopping’ ‘Uncle’ Charlie
Grammy Award nominee
Charlie Wilson once again
proves the staying power of soulful R&B with the beautiful and
timeless ballad “You Are.”
The single’s reign over the top
of Billboard’s Urban AC has now
lasted more than 12 weeks.
In fact, the song is on track to
break the chart’s all-time record
of 18 weeks. The standout
track—featured on the singer/
songwriter’s third solo Jive
Records album Just Charlie is his
third No. 1 on Billboard’s Urban
AC chart. In addition, “You Are”
(ß click to listen) not only marked
his biggest career debut on that
chart. It also gave Wilson his
highest debut on Billboard’s Hot
R&B/Hip-Hop chart.
The single later peaked at No.
13 on that chart signaling the
singer’s competitive strength
against such contemporary peers
as Alicia Keys, Kanye West and
Snoop Dogg.
Over the last two years, Wilson has become an unflagging
chart fixture. His previous
singles “Charlie Last Name:
Wilson” and “There Goes My
Baby” spent six weeks and nine
weeks at No. 1 on Urban AC.
The latter single’s performance
as well as that of its Grammy
Award nominated album Uncle
Charlie resulted in him being
named Billboard’s 2009 Urban
AC Artist of the Year.
Kanye West, the Insomniax,
Wirlie Morris and Gregg Pagani
who produced Wilson’s “There
Goes My Baby” are among the
producers who collaborated on
Just Charlie. This latest effort
follows his 2009 sophomore album Uncle Charlie, which
earned two 2010 Grammy Award
nominations for Best R&B Album and Best Male R&B Vocal
Performance for “There Goes
My Baby.”
The album resided on the
Urban Adult Contemporary Albums chart for more than a year
after debuting at No. 1 on the
R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart.
Wilson recently made his third
trip to Kuwait and Iraq to perform for the American troops
touring the bases between February 18 th and March 2 nd.
Wilson is scheduled to appear on “The View” on ABC
April 22 nd and on “The Trumpet
Awards” on TV One April 24 th.
For Wilson’s complete concert
schedule and updates, visit:
www.unclecharliewilson.com
Charlie Wilson
Tené (left) will bring
back the romance,
voice, look and passion with during a upcoming performance
at Ashford and
Simpson’s Sugar Bar
on the Upper West
Side of Manhattan on
Wed. Mar. 30. Her
performance will also
be broadcasted via
live simulcast so fans
around the globe can
experience her powerful voice from their
homes.
On April 27th B. (Barbara) Smith, celebrity, lifestyle entrepreneur,
style maven and restaurateur will join the rotating cast of the OffBroadway hit “Love, Loss, and What I Wore.” Opening night, April
28th, will mark her theater debut in a play written by Nora Ephron and
Delia Ephron that uses clothing and accessories and the memories
they trigger to tell funny and often poignant stories. Ms. Smith’s run
will conclude on May 29th.
African American beauties gives thumbs up during St. Patrick’s Day, Thurs Mar 17, 2011. The parade
started at 44th Street and 5th Ave, and marched North to 79th Street. (Photo: Louis Boone)
Angelo Ellerbee, founder/CEO of Double Xxposure extends a warm
greeting to Vinette K. Pryce during her birthday celebration, which
he hosted at his spacious Fort Lee, New Jersey home.
(Photo: Hakim Mutlaq)
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37
38
SPORTS
39
By Jason Clinkscales
Health is everything in life, not just in sports. Yet no
matter how much talent resides in the clubhouse, if players can’t be slotted into a lineup when needed, the team
suffers. There’s a hope that a fully-healed Alex
Rodriguez can be the difference between the Yankees
losing in the ALCS and winning another World Series
crown. However, the Yanks may be entering this 2011
campaign with the first true injury concern from Curtis
Granderson.
So far, the team’s health story has been about third
baseman Alex Rodriguez, who recently spoke about his
physical state. He told beat writers in Tampa that the
hip that sidelined him to start 2009 and slowed him down
in 2010 feels the best it has in a long time. Though spring
training numbers are usually not indicative of regular
season success, Rodriguez’s preseason numbers show
that he’s gotten that old comfort back in his swing. As
of Tuesday, he’s notched a hit in every game he’s appeared in (14), including five home runs. In addition, it
appears that the hip is also strong enough on defense
as well,. Even with the pains the last two years,
Rodriguez was still an upper-echelon player at the hot
corner.
In turn, as soon as ‘A-Rod’ has provided some lift in
the usually confident Yankee Universe, Curtis
Granderson inspired some concerns. Earlier this week,
he strained his right oblique muscle while taking batting practice. At press time, the severity of the injury
wasn’t clear, though the team was concerned that he
may not be available for the season opener. Any injury
of the leg for a speedster like Granderson is concerning
not only running the bases, but manning the spacious
centerfield on defense. Though the team typically has
several insurance policies for the outfield – including
the once-great defender in Andruw Jones – Granderson
covers the most ground of the outfielders on the roster.
Granderson may not have the offensive credentials of
the guys above him in the lineup, but there’s always a
chance that the strained muscle can be a prolonged
issue throughout the season. At the same token, it could
be much ado about nothing. He could have just sat out
a game or two at worst in the regular season and manager Joe Girardi would make the temporary adjustments
until ‘Grandy’ was fit enough to return. Yet, in spring
training, there’s no reason to take chances with everyday players if you don’t have to.
Health certainly didn’t hurt the Yankees last season,
despite the beaten drum of the age of their biggest stars
like Rodriguez, Jorge Posada and Derek Jeter. Yet, it’ll
always be a story because it’s baseball; the sport that
defines the classic adage, “it’s a marathon, not a sprint
Let’s just hope that Grandy’s injury is much to do about nothing.
(Photo by Marc Rasbury)
Knicks surpassed by Celtics, Pierce, 96-86
By Derrel “Jazz” Johnson
The New York Knicks were
held to 35 second-half points
and the Boston Celtics came
back from a 15-point deficit to
win, 96-86 at Madison Square
Garden Monday night. The
New York Knicks led 45-30 on
a three-pointer by Chauncey
Billups with 3:40 left in the second quarter, and took a 51-37
lead into the second half. The
Knicks held the Celtics to 15
second-quarter points. The
Celtics slowly and methodically chipped away at the
Knicks lead in the third quarter, eventually cutting the lead
to six, 69-63 on a lay up by
Glen Davis to end the quarter.
The Celtics held the Knicks to
18 points in the quarter.
The Celtics cut the Knicks
lead to 2, 71-69, on a dunk by
Jeff Green, but the Knicks responded with a 11-4 run, highlighted by 7 points by Billups,
to take an 82-73 lead. A 13-0
run by the Celtics from that
point gave them the lead, 8682, as Paul Pierce responded
with 7 points during the run.
After the Knicks tied the game
at 86, the Celtics closed the
game on a 10-0 run, 4 of which
were scored by Ray Allen.
Carmelo Anthony led the
Knicks with 22 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists, while
Billups added 21 points (11 in the
fourth quarter), 3 rebounds and 3
assists. Amar’e Stoudemire finished with a double-double, 16
points and 11 rebounds, and
Ronny Turiaf scored 11 points and
blocked 4 shots.
The Celtics were led by allstars Kevin Garnett, with 24
points, 11 rebounds, and 4
steals, and Paul Pierce, with 21
points (13 in the fourth quarter)
and 6 rebounds. Ray Allen
scored 15 points and grabbed 8
rebounds, and Rajon Rondo
scored 13 points and dished out
12 assists.
The game was a defensive,
physical battle that featured
playoff intensity and bloodshed
on both ends. Celtics reserve
Troy Murphy left the game with
a bloody nose, and Allen received a cut on his head that
required him to leave the game
and receive seven stitches, be-
fore returning. Anthony laid
on the court for a few minutes
after running into Rondo and
receiving a cut. Perhaps the
most intense moment was allstar power forwards Garnett
and Stoudemire diving for a
loose ball at mid court that resulted in a jump ball.
When asked what changed
after the first half, Celtics head
coach Doc Rivers responded
“we just played basketball. We
didn’t make one adjustment,
not one. We played the way
we were capable of playing.
We were more physical and we
made some shots. We just
played our defense. It was a
good win for us and to pull it
out against those guys is always nice.”
Paul Pierce talked about his
team’s intangibles. “There’s
just something about this team.
We have an extra gear and we
know when to turn it up. We are
a veteran team and we know how
to push the button to get where
we need to be.
Knicks head coach Mike
D’Antoni was very complimentary of the Celtics. “You have
to give them credit. They get
into you and they make it tough
to find a good shot, that’s why
they’re competing for a World
Championship.”
The Knicks are 7-9 since the
Carmelo Anthony trade. The
Knicks will host the Orlando
Magic on Wednesday. Let’s they
have better luck against the
Magic.
Yankees Spring Training: Healed
A-Rod and a hurting Grandy?
40
BEACON
Marc Rasbury
SPORTS
Not ready for primetime players
By Marc Rasbury
You heard this from me before.
The Knicks are a work in progress
and Monday’s game was Exhibit
A. Yes, we all are elated that the
Knicks pulled the trigger on trade
that brought Carmelo Anthony to
Gotham. But if you thought that
this deal was the equivalent of
the Dave DeBusschere trade of
the late sixties, then you are really kidding yourself. There are
two problems here. The first is
that the trade was step in the process, which is far from complete.
The second is that the team, as
presently constructed, is too inconsistent to win consistently.
We love the trade but the team
had to break up the unit that was
slowly becoming a nice squad.
They were not going to win a
championship this year, but there
was a buzz in the Garden to which
we have not seen in a long time.
Raymond Felton was having a
career year. It was going to be
hard to resign Wilson Chandler
who is on the verge of becoming
a star. Danilo Gallinari will become
a legit player in the League and
the team does miss Timofey
Mozgov. It is not that Mozgov is
an All Star but he has a special
skill set that made him a nice cog
in D’Antoni’s system.
All of these guys have turned
Denver’s season around going 92 since the trade. However, collectively they do not trump the
value that Anthony brings to the
table. I look at this as taking a
step back so that the team can
take two or three steps forward.
The Knicks lost two of their best
defenders for a team at that time
was one of the worst defensive
teams in the League. They lost
Amare, pictured here, and Anthony have to get on the same page.
(Photos by Marc Rasbury)
some size in Mozgov but he could
not stay on the court due to foul
trouble anyway. Some feel that their
fast break has come to a crawl without Felton. Nevertheless, you had
to make this trade to make the
Knicks a viable or desirable destination for future free agents.
Now a couple things must take
Second, Mike D’Antoni has to
convince his squad to share the
ball. I can not be the only one that
sees that this team is successful
on the offensive end when they
share the ball. They generally get
high percentage shots when the
ball moves two or three times each
procession. They get in trouble
place for this team to succeed in
the future. First, Donnie Walsh
has to find some decent size to
shore up his leaking defense. This
individual does not have to score.
He just has to rebound, defend the
paint and stay out of Amare
Stoudemire’s and Anthony’s way
on offense.
The big bracket busters
By Marc Rasbury
If you were like me and picked
the eleven Big East teams to advanced deep into the tournament,
you were basically eliminated
from your office pool after the first
weekend. My brackets had more
red ink on them after the Round
of 64 than some of my high school
English papers. I went heavy with
the Big East teams and paid
dearly for it. Does this mean that
the Conference was over-rated?
Hell no!
Let’s get one thing straight. The
Big East earned those eleven
bids. They had the best out-ofconference record of any League.
They had at least six teams in the
Top 25 all season long. And, the
conference strength of schedule
was off the charts. Based on the
criteria of the selection committee, which Big East team would
you have eliminated?
The eleventh team selected,
Marquette, is still in the hunt after they defeated conference ri-
val Syracuse. The same goes for
the tournament champion UCONN
who defeated conference rival Cincinnati. The funny thing is that out
of the remaining Sweet 16 participants, UCONN and Marquette,
were middle of pack teams in conference play with 9-9 records. I
know that St John’s, Villanova,
Louisville and Georgetown all lost
in the first round while Syracuse,
West Virginia, Notre Dame and
Pittsburgh got bounced in the second round. However, all Louisville,
Pittsburgh and Syracuse had to do
is make one foul shot each and,
perhaps, they would still be alive
as well.
Yes, the Big East’s performance in the tournament was
disappointing, but it should not
take away from the year that
this conference had. It was one
of the more dominating marches
from beginning to end. I still
think that UCONN has an excellent chance of bringing home
the bacon. That would be a nice
end to a superb season.
The Cardinals ran into brick wall in the NCAAs after turning their
season around.
when they come down and start jacking up quick shots. That is one of
the reasons they lost that double
digit fourth quarter lead against Boston. When they shared and moved
the ball, they were successful. When
they put up quick shots, they played
into the Celtics’ hands as Boston was
then able to come up some stops,
which were converted into easy baskets.
I’m convinced that D’Antoni will
get Stoudemire and Anthony on the
same page. That is just going take
some time, perhaps next year. But it
is not going to work if both star players do not give up a piece of their
game. If Walt and Pearl could learn
to play together, so can Anthony and
Amar’e.
Finally speaking of Anthony and
Amar’e, to take the Knicks to the next
level both stars are going have to
dedicate themselves on the defensive end. If you look at the top teams
in this League, their best players play
just as hard on both ends of the court.
The Celtics, the Heat, the Lakers, the
Bulls and the Spurs all have multiple
stars who play brass knuckle defense. When your best players go all
out on the defensive end that has a
trickle down effect on the rest of the
roster. There is no way a role player
is going to dog it if he sees a Kobe
Bryant, LeBron James or Derrick
Rose busting their tail on defense.
The ironic thing is that in their last
two loses, the Knicks actually played
well on the defensive end holding
their opponents under at or under 100
points. That is a far cry from their
past performances. The only problem was that they had trouble scoring something that one would think
would be inconceivable two weeks
ago. That is this team’s problem in a
nut shell. This team has a bipolar personality. You do not know what you
are going to get game-to-game or
quarter-to-quarter for that matter.
When they score, they do not play
defense. When Knicks play defense,
they do not score. Or they will play
great defense for three quarters or
they will have these offensive lapses
like the one they had in the final period of Monday’s game.
Inconsistency has been this team’s
problem even before the trade. That
is not going to change until D’Antoni
settles on a rotation and/or Walsh
comes up with missing pieces. Both
may not happen until next season but
the coach and team president might
not survive this season. ESPN
Radio’s Steven A Smith reported that
the D’Antoni watch is officially on
indicating that the coach is on the
hot seat. After all he has done for
this franchise including reestablishing stability, Walsh still has not been
offered a contract extension.
We should be happy just to participate in a post season series after
what this team has put us through
the past decade. However, this is
New York and patience is not one of
our strong points. As we watch the
post season games, please keep in
mind that the New York Knicks are a
work in progress.

2011 - New York Beacon

Transcription

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